Thanks a lot to all those who read and reviewed the story! Really gave me the motivation to go ahead and write the next chapter.

Anyway, on to the story.

I DO NOT OWN NARUTO.

CHAPTER 16

A tremendous force sent Sakura crashing against the far wall. She tasted blood in her mouth. But she quickly got to her feet again. She knew that he was just testing her. This wasn't really a battle. He simply wanted to know how 'worthy' an opponent she was to test his skills on. But she wasn't going to give him that satisfaction. She wasn't going to reveal to him what she was truly capable of. But she couldn't keep getting beat up either.

"What, you're not in the mood to entertain me, Sakura-san?" Itachi sneered. "That's just too bad. And here I was hoping to have some fun."

Too quick for the untrained eye, Itachi moved behind Sakura. But she was ready for him and lazily dodged his attacks. It had been over and hour since he had engaged her in this cat-and-mouse- like game and she was getting tired. Concentrating only on not getting hit, she realized too late that the Itachi behind her was only a kage bunshin. The real Itachi caught her and slammed her against the wall, causing another thin trickle of blood to flow between her lips and down her chin. He pinned her wrists above her head with one hand and lifted her chin with the other so that she was looking straight into his merciless eyes.

"You know, Sakura," he said icily, "you foiled my plans. You made my foolish little brother play the good boy and he returned to Konoha. Orochimaru was too soft on him, I think. Either that, or he just couldn't control Sasuke."

Sakura said nothing. She would not give in. She tried to avert her gaze and chose to stare at the ceiling over his shoulder.

"You know, don't you?" Itachi went on. "You know why dear Sasuke left Konoha. You know why he craved power, don't you, Sakura-san? Shall I show you, Sakura? Shall I show you how I moulded my little brother?"

Itachi once again forced her to look into his eyes. Before she could even blink, before she could even think of closing her eyes, onyx turned to crimson, and she was staring at the deadly twin spiraling pools of the mangekyo sharingan.

Sakura found herself standing in a dark street. Above her the sky was blood red. The world of the mangekyo is a strange and confusing one. She looked down at herself: it was like she was a drawing on a blackboard. She was black outlined in white. She looked up when she heard a noise. She saw a little boy of about seven approach. He stopped when he seemed to notice the absence of lights at the windows and the dense silence. He lifted his head and frowned, pouting slightly.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura gasped with realization. As the seven-year-old Sasuke began to run, her surroundings melted away. She now found herself standing in a spacious room. In front of her, a man, his face hidden from her in the shadows, mercilessly slew the woman weeping at his feet. Her blood dripped from his katana onto the floor, soaking the floorboards, leaving their permanent stain of death there.

Next thing she knew, she was running frantically through a house. Why was she running? But she had no control over her own body. The windows she passed seemed ridiculously high. So were the door handles. She was taking more steps than she normally did when running. Her legs felt shorter than they had been a moment ago. She felt her mouth open and heard herself call out, "Kaa-san! Tou-san!" But the voice was not hers. It was little Sasuke's.

And so, Itachi forced her to experience what Sasuke had endured the night Itachi had murdered his whole clan. As seven-year-old Sasuke, he forced Sakura to 'relive' that night several times over, without altering any part of the true story.

After what had seemed like countless hour or even days to Sakura's mind, Itachi released her. She was back in her cell, staring at his red eyes, his pallid, expressionless face.

Itachi let go of her arms and stepped back. Immediately, rivers of tears poured down Sakura's cheeks as she slumped onto the cold stone floor. She was shaking uncontrollably, crying in choking sobs, hardly able to breathe.

Uchiha Itachi turned his back on her and left the cell, shutting the door loudly behind him, the clang of steel echoing loudly on the stone.

Sakura awoke from a restless sleep that involved dreams of red skies, pained screams and cries of "Kaa-san! Otou-san!" and "Nii-san! No! Why are you showing me this!" her back ached from having slept on the stone floor and her head throbbed. Pushing herself up to a sitting position, Sakura surveyed her cell. She heaved a sigh of relief to find that she was alone. There was a tray of food on the floor. Sakura could tell it wasn't drugged, but she was in no mood to eat just now. She dared not even open her mouth for too long out of fear that she might vomit. The young Sasuke's screams filled her mind's ears and she clutched wildly at her own hair.

So Itachi had really mercilessly slaughtered his own clan, his family, his parents. He had showed Sasuke. He had let his little brother live on, forced him to hate in order to grow strong. Sakura knew now what Sasuke had gone through. She knew now why he had been so cold, so harsh, looking only to have revenge. She knew only too well now. She had lived it. Well, not exactly, but she had been forced to relive that night. Not once. Not twice. Not three times. Forty-eight times. It had been many hours in that timeless world of the mangekyo sharingan, and yet only a split second in reality. How was that possible? How could her mind have lived forty-eight night and her body a mere second? It was not logically possible. But such was the deadly power of the mangekyo sharingan. How she had counted, she didn't know. She just knew it had been forty-eight nights. It might not have had any physical effect on her body, but the mental and emotional trauma was severe.

Sakura understood Sasuke's desire for revenge. She knew now the hurt and the pain. She had felt it all. She had seen through his own eyes his parents' bloody corpses. Through his eyes, she had seen how merciless Itachi's killing spree had been. Then, an icy cold thought struck her. How many times in the past had Itachi used the mangekyo on his younger brother? How many times had he tortured the boy's mind, forcing him to hate, to seek power, revenge? How many other people had he used those deadly eyes on?

Sakura heard footsteps on the other side of her cell door and quickly got to her feet. The heavy steel door opened and Itachi entered, followed by his shark-like partner, Kisame. Itachi eyed the untouched food on the floor. He was amused, but his face didn't show it. Kisame, however, leered.

"Hn. That's not good, Sakura-san," said the older Uchiha brother. "You mustn't deprive your body pf food now. That wouldn't be healthy."

"Shut up, you bastard," was the stern reply.

"It's like that now, eh?" said Kisame, quickly positioning himself behind Sakura and grabbing her upper arms.

"Let go of me!" she cried, struggling to free herself from his strong grip.

"Now, now, Sakura-san," said Itachi. "Don't struggle too much or you'll get hurt." Sakura's vain movements stopped. Not that she was taking any orders from him, of course. She just knew that there was no point. She could not fight these two together. Not in her current state.

"Here's the deal," the older Uchiha went on. "You give me what I want and I won't hurt you."

The shadow-nin scanned the trees surrounding the area in which the dilapidated shack was located. His team was good. There was no visible indication that any of them were there at all.

"Everybody in position?" said Shikamaru softly.

"Hai!" four other voices sounded in the device wedged on to his right ear. Shikamaru was about to issue an order when he heard a quiet whine from Akamaru and Kiba whisper softly.

"What is it, Inuzuka?" he asked.

"Nothing," said the dog-trainer. "Akamaru thought he smelled something familiar. But the scent's disappeared just as quickly and I don't sense anyone's charka close by."

"Alright, but we have to be careful all the same. It's unlikely that we were followed. If we had been followed by the enemy, they should have attacked us long ago and not let us get here. I don't think there are any guards patrolling the area, but be on alert. We don't want to call anybody's attention."

"Hai," said the four voices in his ear.

"Okay then. Hinata, scout the area. Radius of fifty meters. In and around that shack. Check for obvious signs of disturbance or any indication that someone was here recently."

"Hai," said the Hyuuga heiress. Silence followed during which Hinata used her Byakugan eyes to search for signs of a human being. "No one is here," she said eventually. "At least none that I could detect. Actually it seems as if the thick dust on the floor hasn't been disturbed for many years."

Shikamaru frowned. "Let's move in," he said. Nara formed a hand seal and extended his shadow from his lofty perch atop the tree, using the forest shadows to aid him. A translucent shadow-hand groped for the door and pushed. The wood creaked unpleasantly and the hinges moaned their annoyance at being so rudely disturbed from their peaceful sleep. A puff of gray smoke later, five shinobi appeared in the middle of an immensely dusty room. The floor was gray with dust so thick it almost looked like it were stone instead of wood. The numerous shelves that housed thick books, scrolls and jars of eerie things, some of which still simmered evilly, appeared to have a makeshift curtain of cobwebs.

"Whoa, Hinata was right," said Naruto. "I bet even the spiders have left this place."

"Aw shit! Is that a human heart?' said Kiba incredulously, pointing at a jar that held what indeed looked like a human heart immersed in a glittering green liquid.

"It appears that way," Shino drawled.

"Oi, Nara," said Kiba, "What is this place anyway? Why did you bring us here?"

"Yeah," Hinata chirped. "This place is rather — uh — creepy, so to speak."

Shikamaru sighed. He had to tell them anyway. What he wasn't so eager to see was the looks of shock and horror on their faces as they realized who or what they were going up against. But before he could say anything, the fox Jinchuuriki stepped up to him.

"Shikamaru," said the kyuubi vessel softly.

"What, Naruto?"

"Tell me this place isn't what I think it is."

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play around now, Shikamaru. Why are we here? Is that bastard snake involved in this? Or, more likely, did he start this mess?"

"What are you saying, Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata, bewildered. Kiba and Shino looked just as puzzled.

"Shikamaru," said Naruto. "Why haven't you told them yet?"

The shadow master looked down at the blond for a moment. He had really hoped that it wouldn't come to this, that they wouldn't have to come to this wretched place. If anything happened to these shinobi under his command — his friends — it would be his fault. One wrong call and he could get them all killed. He didn't want that on his head. He wouldn't be able to live with the shame, the regret. But this was no time to show weaknesses or hesitation. He was their jounin captain on this mission. He had to lead the way. They all depended on him. So he hitched his usual bored and annoyed expression on his face, and when he spoke, his voice was void of all feeling and emotion.

"I was about to just now before you started talking, dobe," he said. But Naruto caught the hint of uneasiness that Nara had been unable to fully mask. No one else seemed to notice though.

"Shikamaru, just what are you two talking about?" asked Kiba, frustrated.

The shadow-nin looked the three of them over slowly.

Why? Why did the missions he captained his friends on usually involve them being in the face of imminent death? He remembered the first times he had captained his friends on a 'rescue mission' (that was what they called it, but it was more of trying to forcefully drag the damn Uchiha traitor back to Konoha — preferably after beating him to bloody pulp). That was his first mission as captain. He had just become a chuunin. His first mission as captain. A-rank, was it? It didn't matter. What mattered was that all his friends had come face to face with death. And they bravely stood up to it, fighting against it. Chouji was the first to sacrifice himself. He gave everything. Taking that red pill was like committing suicide. Kiba came so close, too. He probably never forgave himself for what he had put Akamaru through that day. He would have certainly died if Kankuro had arrived even a few minutes later than he did. And Neji — Neji came the closest to dying that day. In fact, if it hadn't been for the tireless efforts of Shizune and the team of healers working for hours on end, they would really have lost him. Neji had pushed himself even when it was already evident to him that he was slowly dying. Lee got through his ordeal thanks to an innocent mistake. Lee shouldn't have been there in the first place. He had been badly injured in the chuunin exams by Sabaku no Gaara. He ended up fighting alongside Gaara himself. And he, Nara Shikamaru, though he was the captain, he came out of it with the least injuries — just fatigue and a broken finger. But even he, for his great intelligence, had gotten into a tight spot and had to be saved by Temari, who, like her brothers, arrived right on time. Naruto had another story all together. He had come face to face with Sasuke. The person they were trying to 'save'. Their comrade. The one Naruto saw almost as a 'brother'. Sasuke had fought with the intention of killing him. And he had come very close. A whim, was it, that he had let Naruto live? But never mind Sasuke, the damn idiot was back now and was clearly on their side.

Shikamaru did not want to go through that experience again. But here he was. There was no running away, no avoiding it. His fears, his memories had chased after him and finally caught up, demanding he go through this again. And this time, he swore to himself, he was doing a much better job of it. His IQ of 200 be damned if he lost even one of them today.

"This," said Shikamaru slowly as if he was choosing his words very carefully, addressing Shino, Kiba and Hinata.

"This is the former lair of the third of the legendary sannin: Orochimaru."

::CherriesandRoses89::