Dark Truths Undiscovered

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters. Nor do I own the songs used within.

I know I know I have another story that I need to work on but this one won’t leave me alone! Read and review!


Sakura woke to blinding pain behind her eyes and cool air against her flesh. She tried to sit up, felt her stomach roll in protest and forced herself to lie very still. She willed the wave of nausea away, breathing deeply, nearly panting Her body ached, burned in places. The familiar feeling of deeper wounds trying to close themselves.

She tried to focus and heal herself, but her chakra seemed sluggish, and the effort too great. She was still again, letting her senses unfurl around her. A steady pattering sound somewhere nearby. Water she thought. The drumming of the rain. Had it been raining before? She didn’t believe so.

If it was rain, why wasn’t she soaked and chilled? She had been outside, stealing through the forest surrounding her precious village. Standard patrol for members of ANBU. More so when rumors of fugitive shinobi picked up.

Flashes of images came to her, broken and incoherent. Making her dizzy. Making her stomach heave and flop dangerously . The forest, flashes of moonlight on kunai and swords. The clouds rolling in over the white pearl in the sky, the feeling of foreboding. Of eyes just beyond her reach raking over her.

Distant sounds of combat reached her through the stillness, other ANBU having found quarry to the south. Her own had been a minor work out at most, though she had sustained some smaller injuries. She turned to join them, eager to feel the burn of exertion in her muscles. Yes, she recalled that. What had happened then?

Dark mist swirling through the branches, an oddly sweet scent filling her nostrils. And suddenly the world tilted. She tried to brace herself against it, her mind feverishly working. Her limbs felt heavy, her eyelids like lead. Drug? Poison? Her heartbeat hammered loudly in her ears, the blood roaring.

This couldn’t be happening! She was Sakura Haruno, a respected member of ANBU! Her legs trembled as though her slight weight was too great to hold up any longer. She sensed another then. A darker presence coming closer. She had done the only thing she could, she lifted her head to the sky and cried out for the one person strong enough to save her no matter how bleak the situation.

“Naruto!”

The she turned, sword held in heavy hands, prepared to fight until there was nothing left in her.

~

Naruto heard the anguished cry lifting over the forest. He looked down at the fugitives, bound and subdued.

“That’s Sakura” he told the ninja working beneath him. They nodded, knowing that the man next in line to be Hokage would fly to her aid. It would have been no different if it had been one of them.

In a flash of spiked golden hair he vanished into the shadows. Blue eyes narrowed as the wind rushed past him. Sakura had not called out to him on a mission or patrol in years.

She didn’t need to.

The fact that her voice had rent the night sky as it had filled with him a burning dread.

He burst into the clearing, following her scent, the kyuubi urging him onward. The scent of blood nearly knocked him over. His eyes taking in the sight before him. Branches marred by deep gashes, the bite of a blade. Shuriken buried deep in the rough bark, kunai as well.

Below the ground was gouged with the marks of a battle, earth upturned, brush flattened and broken. And everywhere he looked, the delicate leaves seemed to have been painted in crimson with a carefully artistic hand. Droplets nearly black against the greenery.

He knew this blood. It was hers. He lifted his face to the sky, taking in deep breaths, tasting the many scents on the air. Blood, sweat, fear, anger and then the subtle sweet notes he could not name. The fox within however growled softly and Naruto understood. This was a mild poison.

‘She’d have become paralyzed by it’ the fox told him.

Naruto grit his teeth. Had she been too much of a challenge for her attacker? Had they used such cowardly means to subdue her and then fight her?

Again, Kyuubi shook his head, ‘I think not. She is not here Kit. And tonight’s prey was far too weak to be who they claimed.’

Naruto had thought so too. Akatsuki were famed fighters. Skilled in many things, hardly brought down easily. The intruders tonight had worn the garb of them but lacked what it took to truly be one of them.

“A distraction” Naruto ground out, his large fists clenching at how easily they had been led by the nose, “But there must have been at least one member, a true member to have orchestrated this.”

Kyuubi agreed. They searched the area carefully. Naruto was beyond irritated that the cloying sweetness seemed to prevent him from tracking Sakura’s scent. At this rate, they would lose her. At least for a while. He’d not give up that easily. He’d lost one, he wouldn’t lose her too.

Leaping from branch to branch he nearly whooped with relief when something drew his eye. A small scrap of material nothing more, but it was not her clothing. It was Akatsuki.

‘Clever girl’ Kyuubi remarked.

Naruto agreed lifting the bit to his nose. “I know this scent” he muttered darkly, “Uchiha”.

~

Sakura recalled fighting with her leaden limbs. Felt again the bite of a blade in various areas, but she had refused to give up. It was then that she’d seen…him. Swirling crimson eyes, dark hair. A sinister outline moving over her as her strength sapped. Blood ran in rivulets down her arms and legs, even her stomach. She was going to die.

She had bared her teeth at his bored expression, struggled to lift the blade lying in useless fingers.

“Still fighting?” he asked, his voice a soft shade of blackest velvet, tinged with cold amusement. She lurched forward to strike but her body was too far gone and she merely slumped to the ground.

He rolled her over, looking into eyes greener than spring fields.

“So much fight little ANBU” he mocked, “But it will do you no good. For now you will sleep and come with me.”

She felt his arms slip beneath her, lifting her easily, far too easily and she could do nothing but scowl weakly up at him.

His eyes seemed to trap her, sending her spiraling into a dark place, where thought was not possible. She fought against it, but he was too strong. Sakura gave a pained whisper as the tide of his will swept over her, sucking her under to some unknown fate.

“I… itachi.”

That had led her to this point, laying in a dark place, listening to rain, hurting in her body and her heart. She was his captive for whatever reason. She surged upwards making her body move despite it’s protests. She stumbled from the low bed, her legs still unsteady.

She felt a painful pull at her ribs and looked down, seeing bandages and a stain of blood spreading over the snowy linens. She’d just reopened a wound. That was peachy she thought glumly, but it served it’s purpose. It helped to clear her mind of the drugging cobwebs and forced her feet to move.

It was dark, the light from the window barely enough to see by. She found the wall, and pressed herself against it, using it as her guide as her hands felt for the door. She found the knob several minutes later, however it was locked. She stepped back, focusing her chakra into her legs, she would kick that damn door down and she’d kill Itachi.

Or she’d run and wait until Naruto found her to come back and finish the bastard off. The thought of her blonde companion bolstered her spirits and she crouched, prepared to kick the door off it’s hinges. She tensed, ready.

“I wouldn’t do that” came a voice. His voice.

She whirled around to face him fell back against the door. Apparently, she was weaker than she’d first thought. Her eyes darted around the room trying to find him. He was very good at concealing everything about himself.

“Come out you bastard” she growled.

Much to her surprise he did. Seeming to melt from the shadows like a demon from her childhood nightmares. A mere foot from her. He was taller than her by a good foot and a half. Sakura had never grown taller than a dainty five foot four inches… with heels.

Gone were the days when Naruto was the smallest. By far. She tilted her head back to meet his gaze. Cold and bored, she thought. Emotionless.

‘What did you expect from someone who slaughtered his whole family?’ Inner Sakura demanded to know.

Itachi regarded her in the silence for several minutes.

Sakura lacked his patience and snapped at him, “What the hell are you looking at? What do you want?”.

He only stepped closer, crowding into her bubble. She knew this game well. Intimidation. When she’d been younger several other shinobi had used this tactic. New ANBU recruits often received it.

She refused to step back, to give him even the slightest retreat. Her head tipped further back and she held his cold gaze with a scorching one of her own. An eternity seemed to pass for her, and neither moved. She held herself taut as a bowstring. She was unarmed, but she would use her fists, her feet, her forehead, her teeth to take him down. She didn’t care.

Even as she planned bloody, vicious deaths for him, she couldn’t help but thin of her lost teammate as she stared at him. Would Sasuke have grown to look like him? Exactly like him. Would his eyes have grown so hard and cold? Of course they would have, she reminded herself, and all because Itachi had wanted that.

The resemblance was startling really, she could almost let herself believe that it was Sasuke before her and not the crazed killer of a sibling he had. But almost wasn’t good enough.

She flinched when his hand moved towards her and she blocked him, only to have him rush forward, pushing her against the door with his body.

His fingers splayed over the bloody bandages at her middle. She hissed in pain as he pressed into them without mercy. But she refused to cry out for him. She would not do that.

“You have opened your wounds” he said in a deadpan voice. He might have been discussing the weather, but his hand pressed slightly deeper, “I’d prefer you not bleed to death before you hear me out.”

He stepped back, watching her sag against the door, her arm coming over her wounded middle. She panted for air, her pain no doubt great as he’d meant it to be. Still, she’d not released even a whimper.

He could almost respect that.

Almost.

He stepped back towards the bed, lighting the lamps as he went. She blinked against the intrusion of light. The room was not nearly as stark as the darkness had led her to believe. She glanced at her captor who stood beside the bed, a medical kit in his dark nailed hands.

“I can do that myself” she bit out.

He merely lifted a dark brow, “Sakura” he said as though testing her name, “We are not comrades, we are not friends. You would do well to not test the limits of my patience”.

His tone had not changed in the least but the shiver that moved through her made his veiled threat all too clear. She made her way to the bed, her pace slow and painful. He stared at her waiting for her to drop like a stone, the bandages were shining now with the wetness of her blood. She bit her lip and crossed the room.

Her legs gave just as she reached the bed and he said nothing, merely wrapped an arm around her and put her where he wanted her. She slumped there, brow dotted with sweat. Her wounds weren’t life threatening, she was sure, but she was in bad shape.

She began to protest when deft fingers began unraveling soiled bandages. She tried to slap his hands away with a growl of female indignation.

“I have medical training” she told him coolly.

He lifted his now dark eyes to her face, “Is that so?” he asked, “Well doesn’t that just make you special. Now shut up.”

She opened her mouth to berate him, but he was already wiping blood from her wound. She glanced down to see the extent of the damage for herself and grimaced.

“You will need to take time to heal” he said almost absently. She scowled at his dark head which was bent to his task.

“I wouldn’t be in this mess if you hadn’t done it in the first place” she snapped.

He grunted softly, “If you hadn’t insisted on fighting me you wouldn’t have been hurt… badly.”

She blinked in surprise when his hands began to glow a soft greenish blue with chakra. She felt no killing intent at all. He had medical training? He must have read her thoughts she decided, for he merely looked up at her and muttered something about her not being so special after all.

It chafed to be taunted by him. “I will kill you” she told him softly, her voice devoid of emotion. He simply wrapped her bandages around her, tying the end tightly but neatly and rose to his full height.

He moved to the corner and returned with her sword and several kunai, dropping them beside her on the bed.

She blinked and gaped, “You’re giving them back?” she asked.

He arched a brow, “There is no reason why I should not” he told her, “You are no threat to me… at all.”

With that, he turned and walked to the door, not bothering to look back as he closed it behind him, the lock clicking loudly in the silence.

It was only then that Sakura realized he’d just insulted her abilities on every level. Her shout of outrage filled the room and she vowed a most painful and very involved death for him. The poking of every major organ with sharp objects was mentioned in shrill tones. He didn’t return and she still didn’t know why she had been taken.

~

Tsunade paced behind her desk, her amber eyes filled with worry. Naruto’s report had left her in this state. Sakura, gone, taken. Why? The reasons were plentiful, and none reassuring. No one knew the inner workings of the older Uchiha’s mind, if it worked at all. He was a mad man, a driven one at that.

She had expected him to try and take her adopted brother instead and perhaps that was part of his plan after all. She lifted her head when the door to office opened and shut with a snap. Naruto stood there, looking angry, tired, worried. Everything she felt.

He likely blamed himself for this whole mess. But it wasn’t his fault. She faced him squarely, noticing the pack beside the door.

“What are you doing?” she demanded, pointing at it.

He shrugged, “Going out for a bit” he replied easily.

She arched a brow, “A bit? How long is that?” she asked.

He shrugged again, “For as long as it takes”.

She sighed heavily, “This wasn’t your fault” she tried but he shook his head sharply.

“I can’t do it Tsunade” he growled, “I can’t sit here and wait for news. I lost him I won’t fail her too. And you,old lady, can’t stop me.”

She frowned at him, “I am still Hokage” she pointed out.

He lifted a golden brow, “And I am still unimpressed. Besides my luck is much better than yours.”

She blushed at the reminder of her poor gambling streak. “You can’t go alone” she muttered.

He shook his head, “I can, but I won’t. I’m taking Shino and Shikamaru with me. I’ve already cleared the mission lists. You won’t miss them… much.”

The blonde folded her arms over her ample chest, “Prepared aren’t you?” she asked testily.

He nodded, crossing the room.

She tried to shoo him away, but as was his habit before departure he came around her desk to plant a loud kiss on her cheek.

“If you see Kakashi send him along too, if you can part with him for that long” he said waggling his eyebrows.

Her response was to lay a heavy book upside his head, “Get out! Before I change my mind!” she bellowed. He shrugged into his pack and reached for the door. Her voice stopped him, “You be careful” she added gently, “I couldn’t bear it if you didn’t come home.”

He smiled gently, “Miss me that much?”

She snorted, “Hell no, I just want you alive to inherit the paperwork!” He chuckled and nodded, closing the door behind him.

He waited a moment, knowing her all too well. Sure enough, he heard a soft sniffle from the other side of the door.

“NO CRYING BAA-CHAN!” he shouted loudly with a smirk, hearing something hit the door with a solid thud.

Ritual complete, Naruto set off in search of his friends.

~

Sakura was pacing the length of the room, her strength returning. Much as she was loathe to admit it, Itachi was a skilled healer. He checked her bandages no matter how many times she demanded he not. Once again, she was unimportant in the eyes of an Uchiha.

She jumped when the door opened, not because he had startled her, but because she wanted the hell out of her room.

“There you are” she snapped.

He met her eyes with some small amusement in them, “Careful Sakura, I might think you missed me.”

Her mouth fell open then snapped shut, “As if” she growled, “I miss my freedom.” He said nothing, only stood at the door. She looked past him to the world beyond.

She wanted to bolt, to run, but he’d catch her and damn if he wouldn’t give her that ‘I am so much better than you’ look.

She hated that look, maybe more than she hated the person who wore it so often. “What?” she asked, when he continued to stand there.

“Get out here” he said, “Today your training begins.”

She blinked in confusion, “Training? What the hell are you talking about?”

He stepped into the hallway, “You can’t attack Orochimaru’s compound at your current level and hope for any real success. So it falls to me to train you. Hurry up.”

She thought she couldn’t be shocked by anything he did or said anymore. Nearly a week with him had given her that impression. She was wrong. “Attack Orochimaru? Why?”

Hadn’t the snake user been part of his group in the past?

He was already walking and she hurried to follow him, “Suffice to say that I dislike him” Itachi said, “And I refuse to let him have Sasuke.”

Sakura nearly tripped over her own feet, the older Uchiha glancing back in question of her clumsiness.

“Shut up” she muttered, “You surprised me is all.” She ran over his words in her mind, “You love him don’t you?” she asked.

Itachi stiffened, it was barely perceptible but she saw it. “In a way I suppose, the way one might love the sea that drowns them.”

She frowned, couldn’t he talk like a normal person? Ever?

He led her through the halls of a large mansion, which she could only assume was headquarters for them. They passed few, none spoke to them, several stared at her. She hated that, their eyes like bugs on her arms, crawling over her.


Itachi didn’t seem to notice, leading her to the large dojo. She looked around at the pristine room, the racks of shining weapons.

“What are we going to do?” she asked, eager to have some form of exercise.

Itachi shrugged out of his long robe and faced her, “We are going to fight. Or at least... you are going to try and fight me.”

Her cheeks heated, inner Sakura clamoring for blood and lots of it. “I am not some child” she shot back at him, “I am a respected member of ANBU. I can fight.”

Her bravado didn’t have the desired effect, he looked downright bored. “Hardly my level.”

She faced off against him muttering about cocky bastards and asshole Uchihas. Her temper flaring like the sun itself. She rushed at him only to have him leap away, he didn’t even touch her.

After several minutes she grew angry , “Are we sparring or dancing?” she demanded.

He lifted his brow, “You tell me” he replied, “So far you’ve only launched half assed attacks at me that an infant could dodge. You won’t be freeing anyone at this rate.”

She saw red, lunged at him, aiming a deadly kick for his smirking face. He held very still, and at the last minute caught her ankle twisting it enough to throw her momentum off. She flew across the room and collided with the wall, landing in a graceless heap.

He waited patiently for her to regain the breath he’d just knocked from her. She pushed to her feet, the fire still snapping in her eyes. Again she lunged and again she was tossed. Her anger now getting the better of her, even though she knew better.

On her last lunge, Itachi caught her easily shoving her against the wall, pinning her with a hand at her throat.

As he slowly reduced her oxygen he leaned closer, “Fighting with anger is a sure way to lose” he told her, “Calm, cold efficient. You will be these things Sakura or I will kill you in this dojo.”

He released her, letting her suck in the air she was starved for.

“You … are … a sick bastard” she panted at him.

He smirked only slightly, “No. I simply demand the best of my fighters. You have yet to show me anything of promise. It’s beneath you.”

He lashed out at her again, forcing her to backflip to avoid him. He landed in a crouch, her palm pressed to the floor.

She glared at him, “I’m not your fighter!” she shouted at him.

He turned his back on her, “You are until I am done with you. I know that you wish to save him, and your village won’t be sending anyone after him. This is your one chance of success, you are intelligent enough to know that. I cannot retake him without you both.”

She blinked, both? “You mean Naruto.” she said, understanding dawning in her eyes.

He nodded, “Sasuke was unable to finish him off. It is my opinion that though he does not admit it, if faced with the two of you and your impending demise he might break Orochimaru’s hold over him. If only for a time but I need only a small window of opportunity. After that you can take my failure of a sibling home, if I haven’t killed him, and I shall have the Kyuubi.”

She scoffed, “Naruto won’t go down that easy, you won’t get that fox.”

The Uchiha gave her a smile that made her blood run cold, “He will come.” he assured her, “After all… I do have you. And it’s no secret that the future Hokage is rather….. attached to his friends.”

Hours later she could only reflect on his words, her body ached from the beating he’d given her. He was right, she was good but he was so much better. She needed him to get Sasuke back. If life would ever be normal for the three of them again, she had to depend on him….. At least for now.

A knock at the door sounded and she glanced up to see Deidara, the blonde demolitions expert enter, a tray in one hand. He set her dinner down and gave her a chilly cursory glance.

"A ninja with pink hair hmm"

She blinked at him and clenched her fists, "What is your problem? Why can't you just let me go?"

He strode to the chair, catching her jaw in one hand. She could hear the little teeth on his palm mouth grit together. "I don't have one kunoichi" he said flatly, coldly, "You do. You better shape up and start meeting his demands or Itachi WILL kill you hmm."

She shrugged from him, "That would make your life easier. Why do you care anyway?"

He shrugged, "I don't yeah. But you should."

Then he was gone and Sakura was left to ponder if she had really seen some spark of warmth in those teal orbs.

She couldn't do this. She had to train hard.

As soon as she got the younger Uchiha back, Itachi was dead. She would make sure of it.

~

Itachi sat behind his desk, sifting through reports. He should go and check on her, he’d been rather vicious today. But then, this was just the beginning, she needed to toughen up. The door opened and he glanced up to see Kisamie enter. His shark -like appearance and distinct smell, still irritated Itachi but work was work.

“What is it?” he asked.

The other man leaned against the wall, “Why her Itachi? Why have you brought her here?” It was not the first time he had questioned the dark genius.

Itachi grunted, “Because she is useful and it is my decision.”

Kisamie smirked, “She’s pretty. Feisty too, the men and I like that in a woman.”

Itachi moved so swiftly he had no time to prepare. He was pressed Kisame against the wall, a sharp blade at his throat.

“Leave it” Itachi growled, “she isn’t here for you. You will not go near her, no one will touch her. She is under my protection until her training is complete or I kill her in the process. Understood?”

The other could only nod and swallow hard. Itachi stepped back, resuming his seat.

“Awfully protective aren’t you?” the other risked.

Swirling crimson eyes lifted to him, “Only until I reach my objective. Get out.”

Having been duly dismissed, the shark man turned and departed.