…If I owned Naruto, I wouldn't be writing on fanfiction. A Harsh truth, I know…

Chapter 5: Itachi's Discovery

All around her was a red wasteland, encased by a red sky. Only the moon that hung above seemed normal. Her own form was a black silhouette outlined in white. And to her immense anger, she realized that she was naked.

Mangekyo sharingan. Sakura shivered. She knew this was a creation of her own mind and the mind of a certain Akatsuki. Her eyes narrowed.

"Itachi." The name was like poison on her lips.

As instantly as she said it, she was surrounded by cloaked figures. The shackles were back on her hands, chaining her loosely to the ground. She did her best to cover herself.

"You bastard," She growled.

Itachi stepped out from amid the faceless figures and waved his hand. Suddenly she couldn't speak any longer.

"This is my world, Sakura-san. Nothing happens here that I don't want. And since this is also a portion of your mind, I have complete access to your memories."

She hugged her arms around herself more tightly.

Itachi smirked. "People are less inclined to be bold when they are naked, wouldn't you say?"

Her green eyes were weary but not defeated. Itachi decided it was time to start working on her mind. He motioned with his right hand and an image of Tsunade appeared.

The blond figure laughed. "So, my amazing apprentice is reduced to this? All those years wasted on your training." She shook her head. "Perhaps I was the foolish one for taking a chance on a girl who had no obvious talent."

Sakura swallowed hard. No. It's not real. He's just using your own fears and insecurities!

But as much as she fought it, she knew it was affecting her. Sakura shut her eyes against the taunting image.

"I don't think so," Itachi whispered. Sakura's eyes snapped open against her will.

The vision of Tsunade vanished. Itachi could tell that the effect it had had on Sakura was minimal. He would have to delve deeper into her head if he wanted any information.

Images sprung up all around her.

Itachi seemed to study each one as he ran through them in her mind.

Ino and Sakura as children. He watched the images, amused, but it was not what he was looking for. Next, Naruto and Sakura. Some of the images were more recent and interested him slightly, but it was still not what he wanted. Tsunade had her own little corner in the young woman’s mind, but it was mostly training and medical jargon that he didn’t want to bother with. Kakashi blinked into existence before them briefly, but the memories of him were nothing relevant.

Itachi's gaze narrowed and he looked at Sakura's form. She still clutched her vulnerable nakedness but her head was lowered and sweat ran in droplets off her brow.

Interesting. Itachi stepped closer to her. He could tell she was struggling against something. Perhaps…trying to prevent him from seeing something?

He sent a stronger surge of power into her head, causing Sakura to cry out in front of him. She couldn't hold back the image he was ripping from her mind. Sakura moaned softly.

And Itachi smiled in triumph.

When he had first questioned the intent behind her hatred, he had never expected something like this. It was almost such a cruel memory in itself that he didn't need to alter it for it to torture her.

Sakura ground her teeth together, hoping that the sound of her own twelve-year old voice would be drowned out. But she could still hear it. She could still hear herself begging Sasuke to stay. She could hear her pitiful voice confessing her feelings for him—as if she had thought he didn't already know. And she could hear his cruel and short replies.

This was the memory that interested Itachi the most. This was what she had been hiding from him. But the image that tied it all together was one of Sakura, older, sitting alone with stack of papers around her. She was studying. She was learning about—him. And she knew he was what had driven Sasuke away.

That was why she hated him. She hated him because her love for his brother demanded it. She was an avenger in her own right. An avenger of Sasuke’s pain.

Itachi played the scene over and over again. Sometimes he changed it slightly, making Sasuke say things that had never been said. But for the most part, he simply let it replay in its own natural, sad, entirety.

When he finally stopped, only he and Sakura remained in the vast emptiness of the red world. He had expected to hear her sobbing. But he was greeted only by silence.

She sat there in the red dirt, making no more effort to hide herself. Her arms hung limp at her sides and her green eyes stared at the ground. She knew she had just given Itachi another reason to abuse her. Not only could he hurt Naruto, but he could use her feelings for Sasuke as well. She doubted that her memories were any amo against the long lost younger Uchiha, but she knew that Itachi would find a way to manipulate them for his own purposes. Even if it was just to hurt Naruto more.

He had seen from her thoughts that Naruto cared for her deeply.

Itachi watched her in her defeat. Oddly, it was not a sight he relished. He had touched something else when he had pushed into the deeper part of her mind. Something that pushed him back just as forcefully.

Now, he had a new question that needed to be answered, but it required much more time in the mangekyo world than he could manage right now.

He released her from his jutsu.

Back in the cell, Itachi dropped Sakura's chin from his hold. She turned away from him, leaning her head against the stone wall. She couldn't have pushed him away if she tried. The strain of the mental trauma had made her ready to pass out.

Itachi did not back away. He watched her carefully, this pink-haired woman who had fallen in love with his brother. If she noticed his continuing presence, she ignored it.

Finally, he stood and walked out. He was equally weary and would need to regain his strength if he was going to attempt the jutsu on her again.

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"How do we know that is where Sakura is being held?" Naruto looked at Orochimaru in distrust. The former Akatsuki member was their authority on Akatsuki, but it went against Naruto's better judgment to listen to him.

The snake sannin just smiled at his question.

And despite the young man's reservations, Kakashi seemed to take what Orochimaru was saying at surface value.

"Alright," He said, pointing at a poorly drawn map in the dirt. "It won't take us long to get to Earth Country. But we're going to have to assume that there are more Akatsuki there than just Itachi and Kisame."

The shinobi nodded.

They debated on a plan, Kabuto being the only true contributor from the Sound. Both Orochimaru and Sasuke remained quiet. But of the two, only Orochimaru seemed to be paying attention.

After a while, they gathered their things and headed off into the woods.

As they traveled, Kabuto ventured to ask Sasuke how he was doing.

The Uchiha looked at him in annoyance. "Why can't we kill them and go do this ourselves?"

Kabuto looked at him in surprise. He had been worried Sasuke was regressing back into his old feelings. But this irritated outburst proved him wrong.

"Sasuke-kun, we may need their help to get through Akatsuki. And without the Kyuubi, Itachi will not let us get close enough to him to attack."

"Yet, you've known where he was all this time and we are only now going after him."

The statement was accusatory and Kabuto cringed. “You know Orochimaru-sama promised it would be the first thing you accomplished once he had secured your body as his next vessel. You are not powerful enough alone.”

He has shown me so many new jutsus. Sasuke's brow furrowed. There are things Orochimaru is holding back from me. He doesn't want me to become more powerful than he is.

But as he tried to elaborate on that thought in his mind, he became disoriented and images of Itachi flooded his head.

Once again, his focus was only on revenge.

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It had been at least two days since Itachi had entered her mind. Sakura wasn't sure if it had been longer or not. The only window was not within view of her cell and she had to judge the time of day by the amount of light that was cast in the corridor.

But she was grateful because in those last few days, it had been the strange blue man who had brought her food and checked on her periodically.

Kisame was much less inclined to speak with her. He almost seemed disgusted with the fact that he had to be bothered with taking care of her at all. As far as he was concerned, she should just be forgotten about until the Kyuubi showed up.

Itachi's thoughts were similar—at first.

He enjoyed tormenting the medic. She had a certain determination about her that made her unique from so many other shinobi prisoners he had seen.

And if she had hidden her hatred for him a little better, he might have left her alone. But it had been clear from the moment they fought in the darkness of her home, that she knew who he was and she was more than willing to give up her life if it meant taking his.

For never having met her in person, that seemed like an excessive reaction to him.

So he had made a game of torturing her, thinking normal interrogation tactics would bring it out eventually. He had been wrong, of course. His irritation had forced him to take the easy way out and extract the knowledge himself.

He had found out what he wanted. But he had uncovered something much more interesting.

Whatever was lurking in the dark recesses of her mind had pushed him away as if his power was meaningless. It was something he had never encountered before.

Something that required more studying.

He sat up and pulled on his cloak. Maybe later today he would pay another visit to their guest.

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Earth Country never failed to impress Naruto whenever they traveled through it. A land of cliffs, rocks, and mountains, it was littered with caves and hidden caverns.

It was the perfect place for any hideout.

They stopped briefly for some food and Naruto watched openly as Kabuto pulled rations from his pack. Since the beginning, the Sound ninjas had declined any meal offer from team seven whatsoever. Naruto had thought it was rude at first, but as he watched the weird young man prepare their meals, he had a sneaking suspicion as to why.

When Kabuto saw he was being watched, he immediately blocked Naruto's view by turning his back to him. A moment later, the Kyuubi host watched as he handed a bowl to Sasuke.

His eyebrow rose slightly. Hadn’t Sakura-chan mentioned something about possible chakra-altering drugs and forbidden jutsus? He was sure she had been trying to research it back in Konoha.

Before anyone could stop him, he raced over and knocked the bowl from Sasuke's hand.

Everyone stared in shocked silence as the bowl clattered to the ground, spilling its contents everywhere.

Sasuke fixed Naruto with a glare that would have normally stopped the young man in his tracks. But instead, Naruto's blue eyes narrowed angrily and he pointed at Kabuto.

"You! What did you put in that food! How long have you been sneaking Sasuke your stupid drugs?!?"

Kabuto smiled slightly.

It was Sasuke that answered. "You worthless idiot!" He snarled. "Those pills were to help me sleep."

"To help you sleep!?! Are you serious? You don't see anything wrong with just taking whatever pills they choose to feed you? How do you know that that's all you're getting? Who knows what else is in that slop!"

Orochimaru stood up, his expression serious. "Naruto-kun, go back to your own meal."

It was not an order. It was not a request. It was a warning.

Kakashi grabbed Naruto's arm and pulled him away. "Don't be a fool." He whispered. "Even if you're right, you've made your point and there's nothing more that can be done."

The young man's shoulders slumped. "Kakashi-sensei…"

"No, now forget about it."

Naruto cast a glance back over his shoulder.

Sasuke still stood, staring down at his broken bowl. Whatever thoughts were going through the Uchiha's mind, the look on his face indicated that they were dark thoughts indeed.

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Coming soon: Chapter 6: Akatsuki

I just wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed so far—especially those of you who followed over from my previous story. Thank you for all your support, it makes the arduous updating schedule worth while.