…I do not own Naruto…

Chapter 12: Love is a Battlefield

She wasn't sure what woke her, but as Sakura opened her eyes she was greeted with the type of darkness that generally spoke as a precursor to the dawn. A small blue line was visible through the trees on the horizon, informing her that she had about and hour or two before she would see the sun. Within the forest, the darkness was thick. It lay like an inky blanket over the slumbering trees, impossibly dark due to the increased shadows the meager line of light in the sky created.

She wasn't sure just how long she'd been out. Judging on her chakra level, it couldn't have been more than an hour or so. After a moment, her senses came back to her and she realized with distaste that she had been bound up again.

That's the thanks you get for helping. Pangs of resentment shot through her. Well, never again.

But she knew she only lied to herself. Even if she hadn't been a medic, Sakura's personality predisposed her toward helping others. She didn't know if she could let someone—anyone—lay in pain while she could help.

Her eyes now adjusted to the darkness, she could make out a slender form standing next to her.

Karin.

As if she could read her thoughts, the other woman spoke up quietly. "Sasuke-kun needed his rest. I took his shift at watch."

"Why am I tied up?" Sakura shifted uncomfortably.

"My own precaution. I didn't think we'd be able to get you under control again if you were fully awake. When you slipped into that little chakra-induced coma, I saw it as a perfect opportunity."

"Didn't I already tell you that I wasn't going to try and escape?"

"Your words mean even less to me than they do to Sasuke. Since it is my watch, I didn't want to take the risk."

"You really hate me quite a bit for knowing nothing about me," Sakura whispered, hating the words as they came out. Hadn't someone just said that to her not but a few days ago?

Karin smirked. "How about we don't talk now?"

Sakura was about to mumble a 'fine with me' when she felt a strange sensation reverberate through the wood of the tree. When she realized what was about to happen, her eyes sought Karin's in the darkness.

The other kunoichi had become instantly aware of what was going on as well, but she only had a split second to react and save herself…

…as the limb they had been standing on cracked and fell toward the ground.

A cold pallor gripped Karin as she watched the branch and Sakura vanish with alarming speed into the darkness below.

Her eyes wide with anxiety, she said softly to herself, "Sasuke's gonna kill me."

Broken, splintered pieces of wood fell through the air like rain as medic and massive log dropped toward the earth. Sakura had fallen many times before but she had never been bound hand and foot like she was now.

It was impossible to avoid other branches in her downward spiral, and she bounced off of them painfully. By the time she saw the forest floor beneath her, she could barely register that death was imminent.

However, the moment she closed her eyes for impact, she landed softly against something and felt herself moving horizontally. She opened her eyes slightly, unable to make out the features of her savior. Tentatively, Sakura lifted a hand and ruffled the hair of the shinobi's head.

"Sasuke!"

For a moment, silence greeted her.

But then her heart dropped as she heard the words,

"Wrong Uchiha."

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"Naruto, come take a look at this." Yamato said as they sat around the late-night campfire. When the blonde youth didn't respond to his summons, the ANBU member looked up. "Naruto!"

"Eh?" The young man's attention snapped back from what he'd been looking at.

Yamato smiled as he looked over at an unsuspecting Hinata, who happened to be in the direction he'd caught Naruto looking. "I said to come take a look at this. You too, Hinata."

The heiress and kyuubi youth sidled up next to their teammate. In his hands, he held the black book Kabuto had so kindly left in his wake.

"What kind of stuff about Akatsuki does it have in there?" Naruto asked.

"Well, what you see here," he pointed at the writing next to a picture of the late Hidan, "is a detailed history about each member. It tells their family ties, country of origin, and the reason the organization was interested in them in the first place." He flipped the page. "But here is the interesting part. I am not sure what Orochimaru's goal was when he joined, but he has written his own notes about the abilities of each individual. Most importantly, he has noted what he perceives their weaknesses to be."

Hinata studied the sannin's scrawled writing. "I-It looks like he was studying them…l-l-like r-rats."

"That sick bastard!" Naruto's eyes flashed. "Even among his own kind he was plotting something!"

"Wait, Naruto, there's more. There's something in particular I wanted to show you." He flipped through to the back portion of the book, and when he'd found the section he wanted, he set it on the ground in front of him.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he read the contents. After a few moments, he reached down and turned one page and then another. After ten pages or so he stopped, his expression one of disbelief.

Yamato simply nodded as his teammates finished up the extensive reading on Uchiha Itachi.

"Is it possible?" Naruto whispered. "Is it really possible?"

Hinata looked up as she read the last entry, her voice just a whisper. "Orochimaru found a flaw in the sharingan?"

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Dawn had given way to early morning and early morning to late as Itachi traveled through the forest. He held on to his burden loosely, too occupied with where he was headed to be concerned about what he was carrying. He knew she was still alive and awake no less, which was enough for him at the moment. In a few hours she would have enough chakra to heal most of her wounds.

Sakura did her best to relax and not allow her body to resist the person holding her. She'd been so tense initially that all her muscles ached with the strain. When she sensed Itachi's speed slow, she decided to chance her luck. "These ropes, can you remove them?"

He glanced down at her, one eyebrow raised slightly. "Of course."

"Will you?"

"No."

Sakura summoned what little energy she had and twisted in his arms. "Is there a reason you won't?"

"I am surprised I have to explain it to you, kunoichi. You of all people should know that you're less likely to hinder me or attack me if you are restrained. Besides, I do not have the ability to create chakra bonds. If I take them off, there is no way to re-bind you. Besides, we are almost far enough away that I will stop soon."

She chose silence after that. She was too tired to fight on the level he demanded of her. Itachi seemed to sense this as well, and he glanced down at her dirty features, amused to find her eyes closed.

She was strong. The strongest female ninja he'd seen in a long time. Yet she was so fragile at the same time. She broke almost every unspoken shinobi law—her and her loud-mouthed companion. The pink-haired young woman could shatter stone; heal critical wounds where others would have failed in the attempt, and here she was resting, battered, bruised, bound and in the arms of someone for whom she felt only contempt.

She was a complete mystery to him.

He set her down when he reached an area he deemed safe, ignoring her accusatory glare as she struggled against her ropes.

"Do not blame me, Sakura."

"Just tell me why." She was forced to lay on her back since her arms were tied behind her. "Why couldn't you just leave me to die?"

"I find it hard to believe that you'd accept death so readily. Regardless, the tree limb was no accident. I am the one who broke it away from the tree."

Her green eyes went wide. "What!?!"

He regarded her coolly. "I could not get close enough to get you without risking my position. Even when concealed, skilled shinobi are able to sense trace chakra signatures. And that female in Sasuke's group is adept in that area."

"So you just broke the branch?"

He nodded. "I sent a diminutive stream of fire through the root system and up the trunk. It collected in the joint of the branch where you lay and eventually caused enough weakness that the weight of the limb forced it to crack away."

"That still doesn't answer my question," Sakura replied.

Itachi walked over to her and knelt down. "Why?"

"You know what I'm asking."

He sighed. "This is a test, Sakura. It has always been a test."

When she looked at him, uncomprehending, he frowned slightly but decided to explain. "There is something within all those of Uchiha blood. It is evil, powerful, but it has been diluted by generations of impure breeding. Our parents, however, were both of Uchiha blood. They were not related, merely from separate branches of the clan. Their union created a merger of blood that has not been seen since the beginning. It gave their two children…unique properties."

Sakura had forgotten about how close Itachi was kneeling next to her. She stared up at his expressionless face, wondering why he was telling her this.

Itachi continued. "We both possessed the ability to obtain the final level of the sharingan. We were both born of…old blood. But it was Sasuke who held a greater potential. I saw it in him from the moment I laid eyes on him. He was different. He was special. He was dangerous."

The Uchiha watched Sakura's lips form the word 'dangerous' but he didn't hear her say it. He nodded. "Sasuke is not fully human. A portion of him, inherited from our ancestors, is demonic. I brought it to the surface in order to test him. I needed to know if Sasuke's human side could control his demon side. But it seems that I have found my answer."

The pink-haired medic shook her head. "I'm not sure I understand completely. What makes you think Sasuke is beyond redemption?"

"I have seen him in his demon form. It seems that he has come to rely on it for power. There will come a time when he will be unable to change back from it."

She was silent for a moment, staring up at the cloudless sky. "And I am a part of this?"

Itachi nodded. "You are his last chance to win his life back. If he decides poorly, then I will kill him."

"But he's your brother."

"There is no place in the world for a monster the likes of what Sasuke will become. It will be a horror you cannot even imagine."

"Is it the only way?"

He shrugged. "It is now."

Sakura was so immersed in her thoughts that she did not register the sound of a water bottle being opened. She was even more surprised when a wet cloth touched her cheek. Out of pure reaction, she jerked away.

"Relax, Sakura. Your face is simply dirty."

"I don't care if it's dirty," she said awkwardly.

Yet she was even more disturbed when he replied, "I do care."

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Sasuke's eyes traced from the heat-blackened wood splinters to the bodiless area of the forest floor. By all rational thought, Sakura's broken form should have been laying in the debris on the ground. But the burned tree limb told him another story. It was a tale he was none too thrilled to deduce.

Only one person could have Sakura. It was a thought that made Sasuke's blood boil. His brother was only giving him another reason to kill him.

The other members of Hebi stood nearby, quiet, aware that their leader was dangerously angry.

Without a word, Sasuke picked his direction and signaled them to move out.

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A lone shinobi emerged from the waterlogged battle ground. He stood, shakily; surprised that he had come out of it alive.

Without a care to the body that lay behind him, he headed off in his original direction.

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Coming soon: Chapter 13: The Measure of Greatness