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The Eighteenth Hour: Still

When her attention was focused on Itachi again, she was on the ground. The vines keeping her on the stake had been removed, so she had slid to a sitting position against the cross structure.

She could stand up.

She could walk away.

But she couldn't.

Although she was free to move in this world, she found that her limbs wouldn't respond. Her body was too distressed to move.

Seeing that Itachi had not pulled his weapon out, she turned her gaze back towards the scenery.

She couldn't move, so might as well enjoy the view.

The Nineteenth Hour: Brave

Itachi knew he was letting her off easy. When these "seventy-two hours" were up, she would not even be half as damaged as his other victims. But just when he decides she had been spoiled enough, he sees her calm expression and stops.

You are trapped in a dreadful genjutsu. How can you appear so calm, he finds himself wondering.

Then, he comes to a revelation. She is not calm.

No, she is just brave.

The Twentieth Hour: Bare

Seeing her audacity, he realizes something. She is far from innocent. This is a kunoichi who has witnessed the deaths of her comrades, the betrayal of her first love, and the truths of the flawed world they live in. He has seen the determination and ferocity of her spirit throughout this experience, but he has also seen her weakened state: the way she cries out when stricken by a sudden hit, the way she gasps when pierced by a sharp blade, and the way she struggles to hide all of this.

Yes. In front of him, without even taking off her clothes, she is stripped bare.

The Twenty-First Hour: Sympathy

Sakura can't come to understand how such a gentle person can become a missing nin. She was not a masochist. She most definitely did not enjoy being tormented, but she would know when the opponent actually wanted to hurt her. From the light prods and slashes of his blade, and maybe the occasional jab, she could tell he did this half-heartedly. And if she had not stopped him in the beginning (which felt like many hours ago), she knew he would still be apologizing for every strike.

It had been "hours" since he had last hurt her, and by the looks of it, it doesn't seem like he will be hurting her any time soon.

It confused her a little. He was supposed to be her enemy, yet here she was empathizing with him. Maybe the "hours" of torture really did some heavy damage to her brain.

The Twenty-Second Hour: Stroll

It hurt a lot, but she somehow endured it enough to stand up. She began walking.

"Where are you going?" he asked. By the sound of it, he had no intention of following her. "You cannot escape from here."

"I'm not trying to," she snapped. "I'm just taking a walk. Is that so bad?" When he didn't reply, she continued. "Besides, you don't look like you're about to stab me any time soon. So why waste the free time?"

From this, he understood that Sakura was a very diligent person. Wasting time was not something she liked to do. But he also understood that she was stupid.

"You're hurt, Sakura," he pointed out, as if it wasn't obvious enough.

She looked down at the blood all over her alabaster skin. Looking at it caused the pain to flare up all of a sudden, and she tried not to wince. "It's an illusion anyway," she said in an attempt to convince herself that the pain was not real, that it really was only an illusion.

"You are mistaken. The injuries may not be real, but the pain is." He seemed genuinely worried for her, but that could just be her distressed brain at work. "I have witnessed people put into a coma after being released."

She stood there for a moment, not knowing what to say. She was definitely scared of her well-being after these "seventy-two hours", but somehow she knew he had gone easy on her. The pain she was feeling now must have been nothing compared to the pain Kakashi-sensei had felt. Knowing that, she smiled. "Would you like to go on a stroll with me?"

A/N: Thank you for reading! In return for this little piece of literature, would you honour me with a piece of literature (review) of your own? HAHA (I can't talk like that, I'm sorry.)