My Own Worst Enemy

Warning: DarkFic, violence and abuse

Chapter 1 - Slavery Can Be Suffocating

Sasuke made his way through the dark tunnels of his brother's chosen home with a grimace. They had managed to catch the guards unaware, but one had still gotten off an alarm. His comrades were all bogged down by the surge of ninja who'd come boiling out of the building like a swarm of angry ants. Itachi, however, hadn't been among them, and Sasuke wanted his brother's blood.

But not nearly as much as he needed to know that Sakura was alright. He would even let his brother go if it meant returning her unharmed. But if Itachi had so much as moved one of the girl's bubble-gum pink hairs out of place, Sasuke would kill him.

It took a lot to get Sasuke's mind off his brother; Sakura was the first person to ever do it. And he'd left her lying on a park bench after declaring her love for him, having spurned her and then knocked her unconscious. He hadn't wanted her to follow. He never should have left. It was all his fault.

He'd finally returned to Konoha, only to have yet another confrontation with Sakura. She hadn't been flinging romantic feelings in his face, but she was still his teammate, and she had been concerned. Even he had felt bad about what he'd said the instant the words were out of his mouth, but before he could apologize, she'd run off deeper into the woods. And he'd let her go, figuring that she'd calm down and then they could talk. After all, it was never a good idea to be too close to an angry medicnin, even one who hadn't trained for the past two-and-a-half years under the Hokage, as Sakura had.

That was the last time he, or anyone else, had seen her. At first, he'd been under suspicion of having gotten rid of her somehow; there would always be people, he feared, who would never be able to see past his former alliance with Orochimaru. He'd been a fool in so many ways. But there was no evidence to support that theory, so he was merely put under heavier guard and allowed to resume his activities as a ninja.

For months, they had no clue what had befallen the missing member of Team 7, until someone had spotted her with Itachi on one of Akatsuki's many raids against Konoha. And the someone who'd seen her was Naruto.

Akatsuki had been trying to capture him and extract the Kyuubi, and Sakura was with them. That was all Naruto had told him, but it was all Sasuke had needed to revive his desire to exact revenge on his traitorous brother. Though even that revenge took second place to getting Sakura back to the village. He'd been working with several teams of Anbu to find this place, this veritable maze of a cave. They were still fighting near the entrance, but he'd managed to slip past, leaving a pair of kunai in one of the ninja standing in his path before clearing the fray and searching for his prey.

Using his sharingan, he was able to tell where his brother's lair was. It had far too many sensory ninjutsu on it. He smirked slightly at his brother's stupidity for hooking up with a group of people who he could trust so little.

It was just around the next corner and the younger Uchiha sped up, only to stop short. The doors to his brother's chambers were open and Itachi sat on a cold slab of stone, seemingly facing his younger self, their faces were so alike. The only difference was the worry on Sasuke's face, but when he saw Sakura, even that fled and the cruel hatred in his eyes matched that of his brother.

She was clothed in a sleeveless, black gi that ended far above her knees, red shorts covered in fishnet showing for about an inch below its hem. The neckline was lined in white and was far too low for her, exposing a hint of her budding cleavage. The whole garment was trimmed with red stitches, tied with a red obi with white cloud outlines, and matched Itachi's coat. Her hair was matted and a dark redish-brown, unlike her normal pink. He couldn't figure out why she'd dyed it.

"What do you think you'll accomplish with this raid, otouto-chan?" the seated figure asked. As Sasuke's eyes flitted to Sakura and back, Itachi almost smiled. "Oh? You think to reclaim what you have lost."

He beckoned to the girl, and she came willingly to stand before him, leaving Sasuke to stare at the Uchiha paddle on the back of her gi, one drawn in white paint and...

Oh, no... that's blood! And by the marks on her arms, it was probably her own. Instantly, the hair color also made sense, and he felt his own blood begin to boil.

"Itachi, you bastard! What have you done to her?" he demanded.

The seated figure ignored his insults, locking eyes with the cowed slave in front of him. "Well, girl, this whelp thinks to carry you away. Will you leave me?"

Sakura shook her head and time stopped for Sasuke. Everything around him kept moving, but he was frozen and could not respond as she turned and sat between his brother's spread legs, letting him wrap his arms around her from behind. Then Itachi reached a hand into her gi, pushing it off one shoulder and exposing the top of one small breast, which he fondled, and Sasuke found control of his mind and body again.

"Get away from her, Itachi!" he growled.

His brother only laughed and continued his attentions to the girl sitting stoically in front of him. He scraped his teeth against her bare shoulder, making her shiver and Sasuke's blood boil.

"Leave her alone!!""

Sasuke suddenly flew at his brother, chidori in one hand and a kunai in the other. Itachi managed to dodge the attack, pushing Sakura off in the process.

She landed limply on the floor, not even trying to soften her impact. While the brothers dueled, she lay there as if dead, barely breathing at all, paying no attention to her surroundings whatsoever. She didn't care if she died. There were things worse than death, as she knew, and people worse than any devil. And no amount of fighting could erase that from her memory.

At last, Itachi had Sasuke by the throat, pinned to the slab just above Sakura's prone body. She could see clearly as Sasuke struggled, as his face went red... then purple... then grey as he stopped twitching at all. And all the while, Sakura cheered silently.

It was Sasuke's fault that she was here, and it was Sasuke's fault that she had never known love before Itachi-sama. If it hadn't been for him, she never would have gone running from him and stumbled across the pair of Akatsuki slinking through the forest near Konoha, would never had stared in rapt fascination at the sharingan one used constantly, would ever have endured the pain of days of torture, all in her mind in less time than it takes to blink an eye before suffering through months of actual torture. If it weren't for Sasuke, she would still be whole without Itachi-sama. Now she couldn't live without him.

A kunai flashed in her field of vision and Itachi-sama pulled his arm out of view. Oh no! Is he hurt?

Itachi looked up to see the doorway blocked by a clump of Anbu and his eyes narrowed. He could take them, but what was the point? He moved toward a door in the back wall of the room. Maybe his brother would live and maybe not, but he hardly cared. As for the litle tramp... he looked back and saw her staring at him, begging him with her eyes to take her with him.

Heh, they can have her. Perhaps she'll show them the same pleasure she gave me? The thought made him smile cruelly and he decided to leave her there. After all, she was of no further use to him. He disappeared through the door and most of the Anbu followed him leaving four hurrying to the injured genin.

Sakura saw him pause in the doorway and look at her. His eyes regarded her as they would a piece of meat at the market, then deemed her unworthy of consumption. "Itachi-sama! Don't leave me!" she screamed, reaching out to him, and then she fainted as he did just that.

Three of the rescuers huddled around Sasuke, one a mednin, and helped him to breath again after the expert flow of chakra began to ease the swelling in Sasuke's throat.

The other knelt beside Sakura, pulling her gi up to cover her again, then tugging her own black robe off and wrapping it around the girl's thin, slack frame. She picked her up, but waited until the boy could see that their charge was safe before carrying her out of the room.

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I hope you have enjoyed the first chapter of my story. I wrote this a long time ago, but didn't have the courage to post it back then. Now, however, I feel up to sharing.

Thanks to all my readers who voted for this story as the next one I should post. And thanks to you new readers for taking the time to peruse my work.

Warning: this is a DarkFic. There will be nasty stuff, and angsting over said nasty stuff, and memories of even nastier stuff still. If you're not partial to that kind of story, I completely understand, and no offense will be taken if you choose not to finish reading this work. But I hope that most of you will give it a chance.

A lot of research went into this piece, and I'd like to thank a few people for their contributions. First and foremost, my writing buddy, Lenera, for opening my eyes to what actually goes on in the mind of an abuse victim. If it weren't for my discussions with her, this story would never have been conceived, let alone actualized.

Next, I'd like to thank Dr. John, the psychiatrist at my University, for the time he spent explaining mental disorders and reactions to traumatic events. Every time I had a question, he had an answer, or was willing to look one up.

And lastly, my roommates, who had to put up with the angst I exuded while writing this. It's hard to get into the mindset of a Stockholm victim without the depression leaking over at least a little into your real life. So thanks, girls.

Anyway, as this story's already completely written (I will be tweaking each chapter as I post it, but that's beside the point) I'll be able to post more regularly. So keep your eyes peeled for the next chapter and, please, READ AND REVIEW!

Have a great day, and good reading!

Crimson Iris