Disclaimer: I do not own Naurto
Chapter Six: Strength and Sickness
The five Hakumei shinobi came flying at her, hands flashing with seals or pulling out kunai. Before they could cast jutsu or throw their knives, Sakura centered her chakra into her right fist. Her arm tingled with the effort, invigorated. With a grunt she threw a punch to the earth below her, blue-green chakra flaring as flesh and bone met dirt and grass. It was like a landmine exploded. Dirt and varying chunks of rock and earth sprayed in all directions and a surge of energy was released, throwing the oncoming ninja off course. Some wheeled back like ragdolls, the others took the sudden burst with more grace, landing on their feet or hitting the ground hard. A huge crack marred the earth, the jagged line continuing its course with a groan of protest, ending at the base of a tree. Wood and bark splintered in a spray of shrapnel and the sentient thing came crashing down in a crash and a shower of leaves. She could hear grunts of pain from a few of her attackers. Dust filled the clearing, making it difficult to see.
Suddenly a figure appeared, the lingering dust curling behind them like eerie, gossamer tendrils, making them look like an angry apparition. The early morning sunlight filtered through the canopy, glinting off their mask and the cold steel of their kunai. They swung the blade at her and she caught their wrist in her hand, using the momentum to swing them behind her and to the ground. From her own person she drew a blade and with a flick of her wrist let it lose. It found its target with that unforgettable sound of metal piercing flesh and a grunt of pain as it drove into the ninja's neck, dispatching him. It somewhat surprised herself that taking down the first ninja had been that easy. She felt slightly sorry for them.
Two more came. The dust was starting to settle. She could see the remaining two ninjas collecting themselves from her initial blow to the ground and tree a handful of yards back. Of the two approaching, one was casting a jutsu and the second wielded a handful of shuriken. Fire spewed from the first ninja and came rushing towards her and the second let loose their arsenal. With the help of her chakra she pushed away from the ground, small crevices forming from the effort as she went. The ball of fire seared past her, its heat unbearably strong as it licked at her front. It collided with the earth in a spray of lashing tongues of red and orange, shuriken in its wake. Sakura had been quick enough to dodge the flames but not the metal. One of the stars tore into the flesh of her left thigh and the second her right hip. Luckily the aim wasn't too true and the steel cleaved into her skin just minimally. It was enough to cause her to hiss in pain and for crimson life to dribble out from the wounds. The rest found their mark in the ground or the trees with dull thuds! and sharp thwacks!
Sakura landed on her back with an 'umph!' wind knocked out of her. She sucked in breath greedily. Before she could move the ninja with the shuriken was coming down on her, tantō in hand. The steel bore down at her like a stake, and she rolled quickly to the side and out of impending death. She heard the ninja curse as their sword ate into the ground, and there they knelt down like they were waiting to be knighted, hands clenched about the hilt. Scrambling to her feet and into a crouched position, Sakura prepared to finish him off. The katon user vaulted over their teammate before she could, kicking off of the other ninja's shoulders to gain speed, their own blade in hand as they flew towards her. Steel cut through the air in a swish as Sakura kicked off the ground again, the blade coming within millimeters of her abdomen. She felt the tug of the steel as it ripped through her shirt. Boots hit the ground and she skidded back to watch the ninja prepare another volley of fire. As their hands flashed she pulled another kunai from her person and launched it at the shuriken user who was rising to their feet having abandoned his sword. With a groan of pain he fell to his knees and slumped forward and was no more.
The fire style shinobi finished his seals and fireballs spit their way at Sakura in quick succession. With chakra filled hands she blocked them, the orbs exploding as they made contact with her palms. She could only catch the first three before the smoke was too thick to see through. It stung her eyes and made the back of her throat burn, not to mention the skin of her face. She let herself fall heavily to the ground, gravity pulling her down, as the remainder of the fireballs swarmed by overhead like angry wasps. Fighting the urge to cough, she used the smoke screen created by the jutsu to her advantage. She could sense the shinobi and a small cough betrayed their location as their own jutsu backfired on them in the end, the smoke too thick for them to bear.
As a skilled taijutsu user, Sakura engaged the ninja in hand-to-hand combat. She landed a chakra laden punch to their forearm they used to block the attack just in time. Bone shattered beneath her onslaught and the ninja whimpered slightly. They were tough, though, and retaliated with a swift kick to her thigh. If the wound from the shuriken hadn't been there it wouldn't have hurt as much. She gritted her teeth and felt her eyes tear up, hot, fresh blood flowing down her leg.
Blow after blow was dealt as the smoke cleared. She was no Lee or Gai, but it was clear she was the better fighter. After two years of not using the skill it took her a little longer than normal to find herself a suitable opening to finish them off. Sakura landed kicks and punches on the ninja, wearing him down, while they landed a few of their own from time to time. Her use of chakra allowed her to rip her wrists or ankles from their hands whenever they managed to catch her. Finally she was able to end it when an opening presented itself. Her knuckles bore into the side of the ninja's head and chakra surged. They died instantly from the impact before they hit the ground.
She looked for the other two shinobi just in time to see an arsenal of weapons hurling her way. Using a nearby body as a macabre shield, she hoisted it up in time to feel as it became riddled with senbon, the needles hissing through the air. A few found their way past. One dug into her right shin, another her left shoulder. Grunts of pain escaped her. The others nicked her where she was exposed, but what mattered was that her vitals were protected. Although they smarted like hell, the wounds were not fatal. When the onslaught ceased she let the body fall to the ground, the backside like a silver porcupine. With a heavy kick of her leg at the ground she let loose another chakra surge and another rift formed. Having learned their lesson the first time the two ninja were more cautious and anticipated the move as the huge crevice raced towards them, threatening to devour their legs. One of the ninja pulled a few blades out and the other hesitated.
"Try and take her alive!" she heard them say. It was the handsome fellow.
"Keep dreaming!" she yelled out in return. With a huge gust of chakra release she launched herself off of the ground and towards the armed ninja. She let out a yell, a battle cry, as she cocked her arm back. The sight of her flying towards them startled the ninja and her opponent waited too long to retaliate. Sakura let loose her arm and sent the ninja flying backwards and into a tree. It cracked and groaned, and the ninja fell down to the earth in a crumpled heap and did not get back up. Landing upon the same tree, she used chakra to cling to the trunk as she whipped her head around, long tail of pink hair flying, to look upon her last opponent.
It had been so long since she had battled ninja. Her body coursed with the remembrance of it all: the blood, the yells of pain, her own pain, her heavy breaths and her pounding heart. It was almost overwhelming. She felt strong again. The last two years had seen no action other than the sporadic days of training she'd do from time to time by herself. Sakura had thought that she had forgotten how to fight, how to kill, how to be a shinobi. Despite herself she couldn't help but feel enthralled, alive. Her body hadn't forgotten.
"I suppose this was a bad idea after all," the man admitted from where he had landed, crouched down low and anticipating Sakura's next attack.
"You're damn right it was," she growled, her jade eyes as cold as ice as she looked down at the man with rage on her pretty face.
"I don't particularly wish to die today…" with that comment the man was gone in a flash.
"Shit," she spat out, and immediately took off after him. She couldn't afford to let him slip away, let him know that she was alive. Let him go back to Hakumei and tell his superiors. That speed that let him catch up to her let him get away just as fast. Sakura ran as hastily as she could, pushing herself, straining every muscle, every sinew of her being. Inch by agonizing inch she slowly caught up to him. He had been wounded himself by her first blow. If not for that and her incredible chakra control she knew this would be futile. She retrieved the last of her kunai and shuriken. Taking careful aim, which was difficult as she ran, she let loose her weapons at the shinobi racing through the branches of the trees, hoping to slow him down. The first fell short. The second almost clipped him in his haunches. At that he began to retaliate, hurling his own weapons back her way. She deflected them with a kunai or a chakra laden hand. Throwing a third one, the blade streaked through the air with the eerie glow of her chakra still lingering to it, and it caught him in his left calf just as he landed on a tree branch. Stumbling, he toppled to the ground and fell on all fours like a cat. Sakura was on him in an instant. To the man's credit, he surprised her. Kunai in hand, he held the steel to her throat just as she had her right hand about his neck, fingers wrapped tight. Her left held down his other arm, pinning it across his front as she straddled him.
"Well, well," he said, his voice strained from the pressure on his larynx. It echoed hauntingly off the inside of his mask. The porcelain was shaped into the likeness of a wolf and she found that fitting for a man like himself. Like a wolf in sheep's clothing. This close she could see his pale colored eyes through the slits. "It looks like we're at a stalemate." Her hand gripped tighter about his neck, but in turn he pressed his kunai more firmly against hers. She could feel the cold steel bite into her flesh, drawing blood. "I imagined a different set of circumstances in this position," he teased, but Sakura didn't indulge him.
"Why did you attack me?" was her answer. She couldn't help but try and get some information from the scum before she dispatched him, careful with talk as to not make him slit her throat by her own stupidity. She feigned she didn't know, curious of what he'd say. "What do you want?"
"There's a new age approaching… a new era. A new vision. Some shinobi will be welcome, welcome to help make it a new golden age. Others will be… vanquished. Which do you want to be, Haruno-san?" At last he had the decency of showing her some respect. "Twilight is going to cover the lands in its ethereal glow. Hakumei will see it happen."
"See what happen?"
"A world of dreams. Everyone will have what they want. All will be possible for shinobi."
"For shinobi? What about the rest of the people? The civilians?"
"What about them?" He said it in such a menial manner, as if he were referring to insects. Sakura frowned more deeply, those eyes growing colder. "You could join us. You could be a queen, exalted, revered. Anything at your fingertips. The world at your feet. All you have to do is come with me. Come with me and you'll see the new hope for our world. For shinobi."
Sakura's reaction was only to twitch a brow in her boiling anger. Having heard enough, she released a jolt of chakra from her fingertip that went into his neck and severed his spinal cord, killing him. That hand fell limp and the kunai's edge was gone from her neck. Rising to her feet, she spat on the man and then turned her back to him. Reaching down, she pulled out the senbon still in her shin and the one in her shoulder. Pale light flooded her hands, this time to heal, and she set to work closing up her wounds. As her adrenaline wore off her parasympathetic nervous system kicked back into full swing, and the pain became noticeable.
Her body ached worse than before. Her hands stung from chakra use she wasn't used to. She sighed deeply as she finished up her task. Sakura didn't bother to do anything with the bodies of the fallen. She was too fatigued, and out here in the middle of nowhere, she thought it unlikely they'd be found. Besides, they didn't deserve any kind of proper burial in her eyes. Animals could come and take them away for all she cared. They had been animals themselves.
Finding her bearings, she headed north and back to Hougyoku, back to her home, and back for more answers.
Sakura ran as steady and as quickly as she could without draining herself, only stopping near the shrine to quench her thirst and hunger. She pushed through the pain of her aching limbs, ignoring the cries of her body. Her clothes were torn and bloodied, so she veered around Kahan by many leagues. She couldn't afford to draw attention to herself. If only she knew how to mend fabric with her chakra, she mused. By the time she made her way around Kahan and back to the road to the farming villages, still taking cover in the flanking trees and not the main road itself, the sun was low in the sky. Once she finally passed into Hougyoku, the sun was setting magnificently in golds and reds.
With the same stealth she used to leave she returned to her home. Like in Kahan she didn't want to worry people with her appearance. Kinshou greeted her with a mewl from his same spot on her bed. His pupils dilated at the scent of her person but he didn't budge.
"I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't moved since I left," she mused aloud and the cat tucked down more and gave a clipped meow, as if saying, 'what's it to you?' Stripping down she jumped into her shower and savored the hot water that came pouring down onto her sore muscles. It was all she could do to just stand there for many long minutes and let the heat ease her pain. Her wounds were all gone, so only dried, caked on blood washed away to reveal slightly tender skin beneath. With another session they'd be flawless. She was too tired to bother at the moment.
All she wanted to do was to fall into her sheets alongside her fat, lazy cat and sleep the night away, but she couldn't. She had to go to the clinic and check on Itachi. Her body protested but she knew her mind would keep her up anyway. Changing into something more practical for the clinic, she slipped on her sandals, grabbed her belongings, including the medication she had taken, and left. Despite her troubled thoughts she allowed herself to appreciate the night sky and the stars strewn like diamond dust against the dark expanse, the moon a happy half of silver orb in the midst of them all.
When she got to the clinic, Sakura's heart dropped when the worried face of one of the nurses came to greet her as she stepped inside from the employee entrance. The nurse hurried towards her down the long hallway from the only airborne isolation room their little clinic was outfitted with. She knew without the nurse having to tell her that Itachi was now in that room.
"Sakura-sama! Thank goodness your back!" Sakura was on edge promptly and asked what happened, immediately heading for the room as the nurse gave her a report, painting a grim picture for Sakura. Essentially, Itachi took a turn for the worse during the night and steadily deteriorated, eventually needing to be pulled from sedation due to respiratory distress, and his newest onset was hemoptysis - he was coughing up blood. To be safe they moved him to the isolation room in case whatever illness he had was contagious. In the antechamber, both Sakura and the nurse donned their appropriate protective gear, from gowns to gloves to fitted masks and face shields, before rushing into the room with the nurse spitting off their assessments, diagnostics and interventions all the while. A handful of other staff were inside, including Yanagi. His own gown was speckled with blood, his forehead glistening with sweat despite it being relatively cool in the room.
"There you are!" he breathed out from Itachi's bedside. "About damn time you got back!" Sakura frowned deeply, but she only had eyes for Itachi. That dark, pained gaze met hers, and he knew she went. Knew she saw and she believed. She thought she saw some relief pass across his face but suddenly it was devoured as he violently coughed, reaching up quickly to remove the oxygen mask he wore to cough up red sputum into a soft pad of gauze. Yanagi waited for him to shakily wipe his mouth clean before taking it from him and setting it in a metal basin that contained a pile of bloodied gauze pads, then offered him a new one.
"I'm sorry," was all she could think to say as she watched Itachi take a deep, shuddering breath, his mouth hanging open. The vapor of his breathing fogged the plastic oxygen mask with each breath he exhaled. It seemed impossible that he looked even more pale than when he showed up with one foot in the grave the other day. Tearing her eyes from him, she looked at Yanagi and explained that the nurse had given her report.
"We don't know the cause of his pulmonary hemorrhaging, but you can see his chest x-ray there," Yanagi admitted, jerking a thumb over his shoulder to the light board hanging on one wall and the image stuck to it. Sakura tore her gaze from Itachi's to look at it and grimaced at what she saw. "We've managed to keep him stable enough to avoid intubation." As she listened, Sakura looked from the x-ray to an intubation tray sitting nearby, then to the IV pumps near Itachi and its many infusions. One had a bag of blood and its saline counterpart currently infusing, and she knew from the nurse who gave her report that he had already received a unit earlier that day. "On top of it all, he just started complaining of severe abdominal pain. We were about to do another x-ray, but now you're here." Sakura stepped closer to Itachi, already funneling chakra into her hands. "Did you see anything the other day when healing him? This is such a rapid onset."
"No, I didn't," she admitted, her worry knitting her brows together as she leaned over Itachi.
"Sakura…" the word fell from Itachi's lips in a painful manner. While the others thought simply he was saying her name to identify his newest medic, Sakura knew it was for a completely different reason. With a pleading look from her eyes that said 'not now', he remained thankfully quiet. This was too much for her to handle. She didn't need the staff knowing that they knew each other or where she had actually been. That would cause even more mayhem.
"Don't worry," she said, unsure if she was trying to persuade herself or him. Placing her gloved hands on his chest, she closed her eyes and concentrated on what her chakra showed her. She found all of her mendings from Saturday morning were still intact and nicely healing. Yet, in its wake there was new damage. Damage that wasn't caused by steel or jutsu, or anything of that sort. Whatever it was, she assumed it had to be some kind of illness. Why didn't she see it the other day? There was no way she'd have passed it up without noticing. It must have showed itself aggressively within the past two days she had been absent, or maybe she had been too focused on his injuries she simply didn't think to look for any signs of disease.
The barrier between his pulmonary capillaries and alveolar sacs was so thin that blood was literally seeping into his lungs in multiple clusters of the sacs, the tissue having been eaten away somehow. Moving her hands down to his abdomen, she discovered that the walls of his small intestines were invaded by ulcers in varying locations. They actively bled into his GI tract, contributing to his abdominal pain. In order to stabilize him, she quickly did what she could to help stop the bleeding in his lungs and intestines. To help manage his pain, she washed her chakra throughout his body, acting like an analgesic. Itachi visibly slackened in relief.
Though her chakra allowed her to see at a relatively microscopic level, she couldn't get much more detailed than that. She needed to take samples of the tissue to run tests on so she could get a better diagnosis. Explaining this aloud to everyone in the room, she sighed deeply at the turn of events.
"Getting the samples will hurt," she told Itachi, unwilling to beat around the bush. He just gave the tiniest of nods, his face still holding on to that indifferent mask of his even if his jaw was a bit tight with discomfort and his skin shone with perspiration. She asked for clean slides and the sterile containers appropriate for the task. Immediately one of the staff members left to go bring them; as she waited, she scoured the rest of his body, searching for any other signs of damage. Pursing her lips, Sakura concentrated on her task once they returned. With meticulous precision she removed a small section of the tissue in his intestine, enveloped in chakra. She did her best to try and numb the area with her chakra. With a quick twitch of her hand, a small incision in his skin appeared and a little orb of blue light emerged. Within it a small piece of flesh floated. Itachi squared his jaw against the pain and his body tensed, but he made no sound other than to take a deep breath. As soon as it had come out, her free hand went to mend the incision. The staff holding a little glass slide was at her side, the item held delicately in their hand. Sakura, the tissue sample afloat in her chakra, maneuvered the light to the glass and gently set down the sample. She repeated the process a few more times from different sections of his intestines, and then moved to his chest to take as many samples from his lungs. Itachi endured the pain each time with just a grimace and deep, steadying breaths. Some of the samples went to the slides while the others she gently placed into small containers.
Yanagi offered to inspect them first so Sakura could remain with Itachi. He and one of the staff cleaned up and left the room to head to their little lab. Sakura focused back on her patient. Letting her chakra surge in his cells, Sakura stimulated mitosis to strengthen the thinned lining of his lungs, stabilizing the barrier for now. She didn't have the time to individually heal each ulcer in his intestine, but she had stopped the bleeding and the analgesic chakra would help with his pain, at least. Coupled with whatever pain medication they administered so far, Itachi looked significantly more comfortable. Already his breathing was steadier and no longer sounded so wet. Itachi eventually closed his eyes and slipped into unconsciousness now that his body wasn't riddled in pain. Having stabilized him, she gave the nurses and staff a few orders to carry out before heading into the anteroom to remove her gear and thoroughly scrub her hands. Hurrying over to the lab she found Yanagi at the microscope, his mouth pulled into a deep scowl.
"Do you see anything?" Sakura asked as she stopped at his side. It worried her when he didn't answer her right away.
"Oh, I see something, alright. If I had to guess… it's some sort of parasite; protozoan. But it's difficult to say for certain." Sakura couldn't help but frown deeper. Protists were often more difficult to treat with their complex cell structures.
"What is it? Can you identify it?" Again, Yanagi didn't answer right away. It worried her more.
"I… don't know." Sakura laid a hand on his shoulder in a silent request. Yanagi rose from the stool, allowing her to sit down and take a look for herself. What she saw stumped her. The little critters swimming around were unusual. They looked like nothing she was familiar with. She leaned away and addressed a staff member standing expectantly nearby, eager to help.
"Get those samples on medium and incubated. I want them tested thoroughly. Draw blood cultures, too, if you haven't already. We'll keep him on airborne isolation precautions to be safe." Protozoan infections were typically not airborne, but she wanted to be safe until his cultures resulted. If he had another contagious infection aside from the parasite, she didn't want an epidemic wiping out the village. She hoped in the time since he'd been at the clinic it hadn't spread to anyone else. Protozoan infections were usually spread through the oral-fecal route, and easier to control. But if he had a bacterial or viral infection on top of it? Sakura's blood chilled, and she prayed for the best. The staff member nodded and got right to work. Yanagi sat down in a nearby chair looking exhausted as he rubbed at his face behind his glasses.
"Poor guy," he breathed out wearily. "This was so unexpected. I wonder where he picked up such a nasty bug." Sakura was more curious about when. How long ago did he contract this infection? Sakura could tell that this wasn't something sporadic. During her more thorough investigation she noted scar tissue in his lungs and intestine that said he had had this infection for many long years. She hadn't been looking for it when she first healed him, so she missed it. If it was a recurrent infection she wondered how he previously managed it. It would be helpful to know, but for now, she'd let him rest. A nurse suddenly appeared in the doorway, asking for further orders. "For now, I think it best if we put him on a broad-spectrum anti-protozoal," Yanagi suggested, specifying what he wanted, and then listed off more blood tests to draw and monitor. The nurse verified the orders and went back to gather her supplies.
"I'll watch over him. Go home and rest, Yanagi-sama." He didn't need to be told twice. He gathered his things and wished the team goodnight. At the late hour one of the nurses left with him to walk him home despite his protests. Without much else to do, Sakura convinced the others to go home as well an hour later. Itachi was stable and she would manage on her own. She could always call someone if she needed help. Emi was the last one there.
"Did you get the medication you needed, Sakura-sama?" she asked her before leaving.
"Yes. I did," she replied with a tight smile.
"Good. I'll see you tomorrow, then?" Sakura agreed and bade Emi goodnight, trying not to let the guilt of her lie cloud her mind too heavily.
It was just her and Itachi in the clinic then, and the building felt much emptier and quiet. Sighing deeply, she rubbed her tired eyes and groaned as she gathered up any needed supplies before she headed back over to Itachi's room. She geared up again, but didn't bother with the face shield since he wasn't coughing up blood anymore. Entering his room, she looked longingly at the chair as she set her supplies down. Not yet. She wanted to do another assessment. Making sure his vitals were still stable and checking all his infusions, she flooded her hands with chakra. Looking at his face, she saw his oxygen mask was replaced with a nasal cannula, and one of the nurses had washed the sweat from his skin. Already his color looked better. Once she was finished with her assessment, she worked a bit more on his lungs until she was satisfied with their progression. The ulcers in his intestines she'd work on tomorrow, but she washed her chakra down the walls again to make sure his pain was managed. Sakura finally let herself sit down in the chair near his bedside with a small groan. She was exhausted, and wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and sleep. When Itachi suddenly spoke she visibly flinched and an undignified sound came from the back of her throat.
"You went."
Her heart raced and she took deep breaths to slow it. Looking at him she found his heavy gaze on her.
"Shit… I thought you were asleep." He looked a tad apologetic but said nothing in response to the statement. Nerves calmed, she nodded her head. "I did."
"Why did you go?" She was slightly surprised he wanted to know. Itachi didn't strike her as someone who got into personal details like those. That she went would be good enough for him she had thought.
"I…" she paused and smiled wearily even if he could not see her mouth, but her eyes softened. "These people have been good to me. For two years I've been living here, in peace. I promised I wouldn't bring any harm to them when they discovered I was a shinobi. I plan to keep that promise." It seemed a good enough answer for the enigmatic Uchiha; he closed his eyes for a moment, as if satisfied with her reason.
"You want to protect them," he stated. Sakura nodded when he looked upon her again. "If that's the case, then you should consider leaving Hougyoku, Sakura-san." She was afraid he'd say that, but that same thought nagged her ever since the night before. Worrying her bottom lip between her teeth for a moment, she exhaled heavily.
"I know. I know I should… I should have never stayed in the first place, really. In the back of my mind I always worried that something like this would happen eventually. I just didn't think it'd come so quickly."
"Neither did anyone else," he retorted, as if trying to make her feel better. It caught her off guard, and she had to avert her eyes for a moment. "The threat we lived under for so long was disposed of. No one thought another would rise again so soon."
"But now it has." She saw him give a small nod from under her lashes. "I was attacked," she said when a small gap of silence ensued, looking at him once more. Itachi's gaze sharpened on her, more out of curiosity than concern. Obviously she was fine if she was sitting here, talking with him. That look asked her to elaborate. "A squad outside of Yoen. A man recognized me in town. I tried to avoid a confrontation, but they were too fast for me. I think they were just scouts who took a chance. I let none survive." Itachi condoned the choice with a hum of approval as if expecting nothing less of her.
"Only one?" he asked in a way that almost sounded amused - amused at their foolishness. Only one, pathetic scouting squad against the monstrously strong, pink haired kunoichi? What had they been thinking? Sakura pursed her lips and she nodded. "Fools." She couldn't help the small gust of humorous breath that escaped her, but she sobered quickly.
"Behind the fall, I overheard a conversation between two shinobi. They said they were looking for me, just like you said. That they would send out multiple squads. I heard them say that six attacked you. I can't afford that many shinobi to come scouring these civilian lands, putting these people in danger. I couldn't live with myself if my new friends and family died because of me."
"You're going to leave, then?" The manner in which he asked it sounded a little hopeful, a little like, 'so you're going to help me, then?' but it was hard to say coming from a blank-faced man like him. Looking away again, Sakura wore a troubled expression.
"I don't know… I don't think I should stay in Hougyoku, not with Hakumei looking for me. Not if me being here will put Hougyoku in danger. I want to help you, but… Forgive me if I'm still weary around you, Itachi-san. My entire life I was told that you were a threat, a dangerous enemy to avoid at all costs." Itachi didn't look offended and only blinked slowly at her. "The night of the massacre… It… I need to know why. Why would the Sandaime order you to kill your entire clan… why did you let Sasuke live? Why did you fake your death? Why?"
After a long silence as he gathered his thoughts, Itachi spoke:
"It began during a time before Konoha even existed, before the hidden villages came to be and the warring clans were still at large… It began with Uchiha Madara's love of war."
Itachi continued to tell the tragic, fateful story about that night, and Sakura listened with rapt attention, unsure of what she was about to discover and unsure if her faith in her old home would be shattered by his tale…