Survival of the Fittest

A.N. Sorry, it took me longer to update than I expected. I’ve been really busy lately. It won’t take me as long to update this time… as soon as I post this I am starting on chapter 3. If I can make a satisfactory chapter in the next couple of hours I’ll post it today. If not, probably tomorrow.

/I don’t own Naruto. Come on folks, you know that./

Chapter 2
All’s Fair In Lust and War

Sakura stared out of the window behind the Hokage’s desk, looking at the destruction of her village with blurry and unfocused eyes. She could see smoke pillars and fire littering the landscape, along with the rubble of buildings destroyed and the bodies of Konoha’s shinobi and citizens… her family and friends. Seven days… it had taken seven days to cause this destruction, and it would take as many months to repair it. She could still smell the stench of rot and death, even as she sat ensconced high in the Hokage’s tower. She wondered which of her friends were alive, and which were dead. …Iruka. Although Sakura mourned the loss of her close friend, she could not bring herself to shed any more tears. There were just too many emotions to deal with at one time, and she was feeling the weight of them on her shoulders. Her mind did the only thing that it could do in an overwhelming time like this… shut down. She did not feel the numbing of her fingers from the January chill, or feel the protest of her stomach from lack of nutrition. All she could feel was…empty.

She didn’t turn to see who had opened the door behind her, opting instead to keep her gaze locked onto the grizzly scene ahead, thinking this was going to be one of the last times that she would see the city from this view. It was not common practice for enemy-nin to allow any native shinobi to live after a hostile takeover. A shinobi will continue to be a shinobi, even when stripped of the title. That is why they are slaughtered instead, to remove any possible threat of a rebellion.

The gruesome scene before her clouded over with a dark shadow, pulling her mind out of its fog and bringing her eyes into focus. She was not at all surprised to see Sasuke standing before her, leaning against the Hokage’s desk, looking at her with an expression she had never seen grace his features before. It discomfited her, knowing that the man standing before her now was not the boy and childhood friend she had known and loved.

“The Hokage will be with you shortly to discuss your… fate.” Sasuke’s mellow voice sounded so unusual to her, but somehow fit with his overall image. Sakura merely blinked several times, not responding to his statement.

They did not have to wait long before the Hokage arrived. Sasuke moved to sit in the matching brown leather chair beside her, while Sakura kept her gaze straight ahead. The mind-numbing shock of the past week was enough to quell any desire to peek at the one who was responsible for the current state of affairs. After all, a few seconds would not change a thing. So she continued her glassy-eyed stare in the distance, hearing rustling behind her in the room somewhere, all the while feeling Sasuke’s eyes on her, causing a chill to race through her body.

“Haruno Sakura.” A deep, rich, soothing voice washed over her, it’s vibration causing a chill of another kind to overcome her. Sakura’s head snapped up and her eyes went wide as Uchiha Itachi loomed in her center of vision, taking a seat behind the Hokage’s desk… His desk?

“You!…Itachi!…What…?” The confusion was written plainly on her features as her eyes darted back and forth between the two brothers, mouth gaping. Sasuke smirked as he could see a tiny spark of the Sakura he used to know, just lingering below the surface. He could almost see the wheels turning in her head, trying to put together the puzzle. They could feel the tension in her body rise as it rolled over them in waves. She was suddenly stiff, eyes wary, and her heartbeat accelerating. Wasn’t this the man Sasuke had vowed to kill? What did he call it? Ah, yes… his life’s ambition? And yet here they were… together, and Sakura had the feeling that they were at ease with each other. What could this possibly mean? Itachi gave her a few moments to process her thoughts before he continued.

“As a prisoner of war, it is my duty as Hokage to sentence you. Now, as you did not participate in the destruction of our army, I am willing to be graceful. You have my niisan to thank for that.” Here, Sakura turned her questioning gaze to Sasuke, who merely responded with the tiniest smirk and a nod of his head. “It has been decided, Haruno Sakura, that you will be escorted to the Uchiha compound, and in lieu of punishment… death or otherwise… you are remain inside the walls until such a time as you bear the first heir to the Uchiha clan. You will then be announced along with the child at a ceremony that will honor you as the new matriarch.”

Sakura nearly quit breathing, she was so caught up in Itachi words. She had paled visibly, and sweat started forming at her brow. They wanted her to do what? Surely they couldn’t be serious! And why her anyways?

“This is outrageous!” Sakura whispered fiercely. “I cannot allow this to happen! Surely you can find a more suitable … solution.” Sakura clasped her hands together in a desperate attempt to keep them from visibly trembling.

Itachi kept his face neutral as Sakura protested. He knew this would happen. Sasuke had informed him already of her righteous sense of anger. But he was certain that he would be able to persuade her.

“The only other option is execution.” Itachi stated firmly. In the blink of an eye Itachi had appeared behind Sakura and held a kunai to her throat. Sakura froze and her breathing became erratic as she felt the razor-sharp blade sting against the soft skin of her throat.

“Is being a mother so horrible that you would give your life to avoid it?” Itachi spoke, his lips brushing against the shell of her ear. For the third time in the last few minutes Sakura shivered, causing the blade to knick her pale flesh. She detested how both Itachi and Sasuke made her feel so many conflicting emotions. She bit her bottom lip as she weighed her options.

“You will have exactly 10 hours to decide. I expect your answer in the morning.” Itachi removed the steely blade from Sakura’s neck, not bothering to clean the trickle of blood off before returning it to its pouch. “Until then, Sakura.” Itachi returned to his seat behind the desk and picked up a stack of papers and began writing.

“Alright, Sakura. Follow me.” Sakura was staring so intently at Itachi that she nearly forgot that Sasuke was even in the room. She looked to him and nodded mutely, not really able to form any words. She stood and walked to the door, lightly touching her throat where the kunai scratched her. Sasuke opened the door and guided her along the halls, his hand resting on the small of her back. Sakura did not object, although she may have if she were not so lost to her thoughts. What would she do? They continued down the hallway until they reached the end. Sakura stiffened when she realized exactly where he was taking her. The basement. Reserved for the finest enemy and missing-nin to be found. Her steps slowed as she approached the door that was so thick that it could muffle and drown out the finest handiwork of Morino Ibiki.

Sasuke smirked as Sakura’s steps slowed showing her hesitation. He had to push her a little to remind her to keep moving. He took a few seconds to admire her curvy figure from behind. She had filled out rather nicely, much more than her waif-like prepubescent figure would have led you to believe she would have. His eyes lingered where her narrow waist flared into her shapely hips. Yes, her body was made for motherhood. Sasuke tampered down on the urge to push her against the basement wall and get started.

He kept his left hand on her lower back as his right hand reached around her to open the thick oak door. It moaned loudly, almost indicative of the gruesome activities that took place there. Sakura took deep breaths as Sasuke walked her to the last cell on the left. She tried not to look into each cell as she passed by, but her morbid curiosity was her downfall. She saw civilians and a few random shinobi, but as she neared the open cell that would be hers, she spotted one of her most precious people.

Kakashi lay on the rotted musty cot, his visible eye glazed, one arm dangling off the side and drenched with blood. His head lolled to the side and dried blood clotted in his hair beside his temple. Sakura nearly screamed, using her hand to muffle the sound of her shock. She broke contact with Sasuke’s hand as she ran to Kakashi’s cell.

“Kakashi! Kakashi! It’s me, Sakura! Are you alright?” Salty tears ran down her face as she tried to converse with her unresponsive friend. “Kakashi, wake up!” Only the slight rise and fall of his labored breathing proved his body was not lifeless. Sakura spun on her heel to face Sasuke. “What’s wrong with him?” She demanded.

“I don’t know.” Sasuke played dumb. “But he is scheduled for execution tomorrow at noon.”

“What!” Sakura shrieked. She turned to Sasuke, eyes brimming with tears. “Please Sasuke, NO! How could you do this? He was our sensei!” She pleaded. “How many times has he saved our lives? YOUR life?”

“It is beyond my control. The Hokage has ordered it.” Sasuke looked nonplussed.

“Please help him! Surely you have some pull with your brother!” By this point Sakura had grasped the front of Sasuke’s black shirt with both hands and clinging to him almost as a drowning person would to a life raft.

“No, not unless there is something in it for him. And I hardly see how he would benefit from sparing Kakashi’s life.” He responded.

“Please, tell him that I’ll do whatever he wants on the condition that he calls off Kakashi’s execution! I cannot bear to lose him as well!” Sakura was all but choking on her words, looking up to Sasuke from the floor as she begged on bended knee for his help. Sasuke hated that he had a soft spot for the petal-haired kunoichi, but he would sooner kill you than admit to that.

“Would you really, Sakura? Would you really do anything?” Sasuke raised his eyebrow in question. Sakura hesitated only for a moment before responding.

“Yes. To spare my friend, I would do anything.” Sasuke was taken aback by the intense desire that shone through her watery eyes. Although he expected this response due to her fiercely loyal nature, he was loathe to admit that he was a little jealous of her love for their ex-sensei, however platonic it may have been. But no matter, it would serve to get him what he wanted in the end. Sakura.

“Are you willing to trade your life so that he might live, Sakura? Are you willing to bear the next generation of Uchiha’s and stand as our matriarch?” Sasuke stared deeply into her eyes as he spoke, his sharingan lulling her into a nearly hypnotic state.

“Hai.” She whispered.

“Very well. You will wait here while I submit your request to the Hokage.” Sasuke escorted her the remaining distance to her cell. He locked her in and walked away, leaving her to watch his retreat from her spot behind the bars. Sakura sunk to the floor, overwhelmed with her present circumstances. Would Itachi let Kakashi live? He would no doubt be locked up for the rest of his life. There was no way that Itachi or Sasuke would be dumb enough to let him go free. Sakura wondered for the first time if Kakashi would rather be dead than suffer that fate.

Sasuke was excited that everything seemed to be working out in his favor. Sure, he could have easily found another beautiful warm body to take her place, but he didn’t want anyone else. In his mind, Sakura had always been his. The years that he had spent away did not change that as far as he was concerned. It was only a small matter of time before he would get his chance to begin one of his life’s greatest ambitions - reviving the Uchiha clan.

He needn’t tell her that it didn’t matter to them if Kakashi lived or died. Itachi had destroyed his mind with the Mangekyou. He would never be the same again. He would remain in a state of insanity, mingled with a few minutes of clarity here and there. He had seen this so many times before… usually ending up with them taking their own lives in one of those precious few minutes of sanity…

End Chap. 2

A.N. I’m not sure how many more chapters I will write. But I will continue as long as I see fit. Leave a review if you like the story. It helps motivate me.

Special thanks to:

Krickets – thanks for the review. The time jumps will be covered, hopefully to your liking. I wrote it that way on purpose. It just seems a little less dull than to write everything in chronological order, ne?

Siy – thank you for reviewing!

Anonymous – Here you go!

rissy169 – Ditto! Thanks for the review!

Poornmiserable – Hope you like it…

Raefire – Thanks for taking the time to review. Hope you like it as well.

Emu – Enjoy!

Hellagoddess – Thanks!

ZehM – Glad you enjoyed it! Hope you will like the upcoming chapters as well!

randi – I’m glad that you like it!

Little_looney – Your review made my day!

horohoro’s _slave - I’m so happy that you liked it – and don’t worry – I got the hint!!

Freridi – Thanks! I think so too!

Silver-geisha – I will continue it – for now. I think that there as been enough of an interest for me to continue for now….