Unfortunately, Itachi's little demonstration made quite an impression on Sakura's subconscious. The minute she finally fell asleep, the nightmares began.

Sakura shrank back against the headboard, wide eyes fixed on Itachi's strangely intense face. "W-what are you doing?" she whispered as he planted his hands on either side of her waist, trapping her and leaning in.

He smirked, eyes almost sharingan bright. "Why, Sakura? Are you frightened?"

She gulped as the male, threatening weight of his body bore down on her. "Y-y-yes."

"Poor little Sakura," Itachi purred, lifting one hand to stroke her face, slowly and deliberately.

She tried to steady her voice. "What are you doing?" she asked again, louder this time.

He chuckled softly and brushed his lips teasingly across her sensitive ones. "Surely you know, child. Don't tell me they never explained it to you."

"E-explained what?" Sakura stammered, trying to avoid the soft kisses he was trailing across her face and neck.

Itachi's hand came to rest on her chest, directly over her heart. "The process by which you will help me renew the Uchiha clan, of course. Foolish girl…" He caught hold of her dress and, with the suddenness that can only occur in dreams, ripped it from her body.

She was unable to stifle a cry of fear as she found herself completely exposed to Uchiha Itachi's burning gaze. "P-please," she stammered. "Please… Don't…"

His teeth dragged across her bare, shaking shoulder. "Yes, Sakura. Beg. Plead. Cry." He chuckled cruelly. "Don't you see? It only makes this more… fun."

Sakura came awake with a strangled cry and tried to break free of Itachi's arms. Her heart was pounding and tears were dripping down her face.

"Sakura-san?" Itachi asked sleepily. He opened his eyes and viewed her with what looked very much like concern. "Are you all right, child?"

"Stay away from me!" she cried shrilly, struggling. He released her and she scrambled as far away as she could get without falling from the bed. "Don't touch me!" she sobbed. "Keep your hands off me, you monster! Just leave me alone!"

Itachi studied her in silence, then gently lifted the blankets to cover her shaking body. She jumped and lifted one arm to ward him off. Pathetic. "Good night, Sakura-san," he said softly. Then he retreated to his side of the bed, wondering what had frightened her so.

o-o-o-o

Konan noticed Sakura's traumatized expression the next morning at breakfast. "Itachi-san," she said when there was a lull in the conversation, "would you entrust Sakura-chan to me for a little while?"

Itachi glanced between them, then nodded assent. "Take good care of her, Konan-san."

The older kunoichi held out a hand and Sakura scampered over to her with another fearful glance at Itachi. Konan smiled slightly and led her to the room she shared with Nagato. "Now, then," she began when Sakura had settled onto a cushion, "tell me what has happened between you and Itachi."

The pink-haired girl shifted uncomfortably. "Well… It's not really that anything happened… it's… it's just…"

Konan handed her a cup of tea. "Take your time, Sakura-chan, and tell me everything."

Encouraged by the blue-haired woman's look of concern, Sakura confided her conversation with Itachi and the disturbing dreams it had provoked. When she finished, she finally looked back up at Konan, who was sitting on her heels with eyes half-closed in thought. "Is… is he going to h-hurt me? What do I do?"

"Calm down," Konan suggested, opening her eyes. "Being taken by force is a fear all women share, but Itachi does not do such things."

"But – but he killed his entire family in cold blood!" Sakura pointed out, green eyes wide. "Why would he balk at doing anything to a girl he thinks he owns?"

"Would he be teaching you to fight if he intended to abuse you?" Konan pointed out. When Sakura paused to consider that, she smiled slightly. "Sakura-chan… Our world is far more complicated than you have been led to believe. If you can look past your fear and anger for a moment, you may find that Itachi is not the creature of nightmare you have been raised to dread."

o-o-o-o

When Konan returned her to Itachi later that day, she was quiet and withdrawn, thinking things over. It was true that Itachi had not exactly conducted himself like a bloodthirsty monster during her time here. If anything, he had been almost… kind. He had taken good care of her, as he'd promised, and given her the personal training Kakashi-sensei never bothered to offer.

But he killed Sasuke-kun's family, she reminded herself, watching him spar fluidly with Sasori, dodging poisoned weapons and precisely disabling puppets. He's evil!

Sakura was silent all through dinner, offending Deidara and puzzling Kisame. Konan gave her an encouraging smile as she and Leader-sama departed for the evening. The young kunoichi tried to summon up all her courage as she followed Itachi back to his room. The S-rank missing nin politely held the door open for her. She walked inside and stood next to the bed, biting her lip.

"Was your day with Konan-san productive?"

"Oh! Um… yes. Yes, it was, uh, productive."

Itachi tilted his head slightly. "Something continues to bother you, Sakura-san."

She wrapped her arms around herself and struggled to find the right phrasing. "Itachi-san… Um… Why did you decide to keep me?"

His only response was to lift an eyebrow.

Sakura elaborated nervously. "The thing is… you pointed out last night what Deidara-san might want from me… And you said you were going to make me useful… And I know you said you wouldn't force yourself on a woman, but… Well… I was supposed to help Sasuke-kun revive the Uchiha clan, and I just… I'm afraid that… you have the same idea in mind. Only, you know… with you." Inner Sakura facepalmed at the clumsy words she was offering to the master of mind games, but outer Sakura was too emotional to care.

Itachi considered for a moment, then decided that a bit of honesty would save him some trouble later. "The thought has occurred to me." He heard her sharp intake of breath and saw her eyes widen in fear. He had hated being looked at with that expression since he was a child and had only come to loath it more as his reputation grew. "But I have no intention of harming you," he said quietly.

"So… what?" Sakura gasped. "You'll manhandle me, but you'll at least be gentle about it? Maybe hypnotize me into submission instead of just holding me down?"

Wonderful. Now the girl was crying. He slipped the sleeve of his Akatsuki robe over his hand, took hold of her chin, and proceeded to wipe the tears away. When her face was dry, he let his hand drop, continuing to hold her gaze with his. "Sakura-san. Pay attention, as I will only say this once."

She nodded, continuing to stare at him with her overly large green eyes.

Itachi spoke in his slowest, most deliberate tone of voice. "If my child ever grows inside of you, it will be because you chose to lie with me of your own free will. Is that clear enough for you?"

"Y-yes," she stammered.

Itachi smiled slightly. "Good." He rested one hand lightly on her ridiculous pink hair. "Now, get some sleep. I have another mission to carry out."

Sakura tucked herself into bed and watched him tie on his hitai-ate. "Itachi-san?"

"Yes?"

"…Thank you."

o-o-o-o

"You know, you didn't have to hit him quite that hard to be convincing," Jiraiya commented when he slipped off to meet Itachi after the missing-nin had… introduced himself… to Naruto. "I thought you loved your little brother!"

Itachi grunted. The memory of his exchange with Sasuke still irked him.

After verifying that his younger brother was still badly in need of his protection, he lifted him by the throat and held him against the wall. "I'm surprised at you, Sasuke. Aren't you going to ask me what I've done with your pretty little bride? Your noisy friend was certainly… curious."

"Hn," the younger boy grunted. His eyes narrowed. "Like I care."

"What?" Itachi asked softly. He had not been expecting that response.

Sasuke's face remained blank. "She was annoying."

"Itachi? Hello? You still awake?"

The ex-Uchiha heir shook his head and turned back to Jiraiya. "I did not save my little brother so that he could become so… cold."

The Sannin shrugged. "Look, he's a teenage boy. They don't admit their emotions very easily. I'm sure he's worried sick about the girl, he's just not ready to admit it. Especially not to… well, to you."

"Hn." Itachi traced the rim of his teacup. "I wanted better than this for him."

Jiraiya's eyebrows rose behind the rim of his glass. "What are you talking about?"

The dark eyes suddenly looked far older than Itachi's real age. "I wanted Sasuke to have what I never could."

"And what is that?"

He took a thoughtful sip of his tea. "I do not even know the word."

o-o-o-o

When Itachi returned to the base, Sakura watched him carefully for evidence for or against her image of him as a cold-blooded killer. Mostly, what she found was evidence of a truly human man who read poetry in his spare time, treated her with respect, and sought to win battles with as little damage to his opponents as possible. Of course, she had only ever watched him spar with other Akatsuki, but from what Kisame said, the habit extended to serious battles.

Sakura didn't exactly become friendly, but she was now more curious than antagonistic. Konan was right; there was more to the Akatsuki, particularly Itachi, than just a band of savage rogue ninja. Even Kisame had traces of normalcy in him, chatting with her about Itachi's missions and regaling her with inappropriate jokes.

As usually happens in the real world, the greatest change happened when she was least expecting it. Itachi had brought her back to his room after dinner and handed her the next installment of the tactical theory lesson plan he had worked out for her. Rather than sitting down with a book of his own or beginning to clean his equipment, however, Itachi simply stood and stared out the window with an expression she couldn't read.

Sakura pretended to be interested in her assignment, but she was constantly glancing over the edge to look at Itachi. After a few moments, he carefully unclasped the necklace he always wore, clutched it in his hand, and pressed it to his heart, still staring out into the night.

"Itachi-san?" she finally dared to ask. He glanced toward her. "Is… is there a story behind that necklace?"

"Hn." He opened his hand and looked at it. "It was my mother's."

His mother's? Sakura was about to inquire further when her eyes fell to the calendar on the wall and she realized what day it was. The anniversary of the Uchiha massacre! She returned her gaze to Itachi, who was once again wrapped in his own thoughts, holding his mother's necklace against his heart. Was he… mourning?

On an impulse, she slid off the bed and insinuated her small hand into the one dangling by Itachi's side. She had the privilege of seeing Uchiha Itachi look startled before his eyes softened ever so slightly and he resumed looking out the window. "Itachi… did you love your mother?" she asked in a small voice.

"Dearly," he whispered.

Sakura shifted uncertainly. "You… you said that killing her was necessary."

"Hn."

She felt tears sting her eyes. "What could have been so important that it made it necessary to kill your mother?"

Sakura wasn't sure what response she expected – probably none – but she was definitely not expecting Itachi's openly grieving look and the words, "Civil war."

o-o-o-o

Sakura wasn't sure when she had fallen asleep, but she woke up tucked carefully into the bed. Itachi was still staring out the window. Over the course of the night, he had told her the true story of the Uchiha massacre in his minimalist, detached fashion. It hadn't even crossed her mind to doubt him; his effort to repress the tortured look in his eyes was confirmation enough.

"Sakura."

She jumped when she realized Itachi was looking at her. "Yes?"

He seemed to struggle for a moment with what he wanted to say. "What I did… five years ago… was it… right?"

"What?" Her green eyes widened in disbelief that the Uchiha Itachi could be unsure… could regret… "Why are you asking me?"

Itachi sighed and returned his gaze to the window. "Our world was a different place when I was a child, Sakura. Torn by war. I was raised to do what was necessary – without flinching, without question. The matter of right and wrong… it is a luxury you possess that I never did."

Sakura slipped out of the bed and slowly trailed over to his side. She slipped her hand into his, as she had done the night before, and looked out the window with him. "I don't know," she finally whispered. "I could never have done it, but… that doesn't necessarily make it wrong."

"Hn." Itachi glanced down at her and his lips curved just the slightest bit. "Thank you, Sakura."

She smiled up at him and leaned her head against his arm, offering the only comfort she could. And that was when she finally accepted that Uchiha Itachi was truly not who she had believed him to be.