The long, narrowed hallway screamed madness. Surrounded by crimson walls, without a solid ceiling or ground, Sasuke found himself paralyzed in eternal darkness.

In front of him stood a man, tall, listless and pale with his black hair, falling loosely on his shoulders. Other than a few minor differences, Sasuke felt as if he was looking into a living, breathing mirror. His heart started to pound loudly as he stared blankly into the man's onyx eyes, afraid to move, afraid to breathe.

"Little brother."

Sasuke snapped out of his transfixed stare. He knew that voice so well.

"Itachi?" His fingers formed a tight fist at his sides, feeling the rage surging through his veins. He suddenly froze by the sight of a small pistol in the man's hand—

The barrel was pointed right at his head.

"Why are you alive?"

Desperation and vulnerability kicked in, making him feel like he was 8 again, standing in the hallway looking into his parent's room that was covered in blood. A tear ran down his cheek. Why? He asked himself.

The voice echoed in between the red walls, deep down in the darkest parts of his mind, and he stared in the man's emotionless eyes for the last time as he pulled the trigger.

Sasuke snapped his eyes open, breathing heavily. He turned over in bed to see a pair of emerald eyes staring back at him.

"It's okay." Sakura gave him a gentle smile, reaching out to touch his sweaty forehead. "I sometimes have one of those, too."

"What?" He replied dryly, touching the wet pillow drowsily. He didn't know whether he'd been sobbing or sweating profusely.

She moved closer to him as he remained still. Brushing his wet bangs back, she whispered "Nightmares."

He closed his eyes to the thrilling sensation of her breath. It both calmed and excited him as he felt relieved under her gentle but firm touches. The feeling of her fingers moving over his forehead was soothing and he was so caught up with the rhythm that he found himself yearning deeply for more.

For the first and only time in his life, Sasuke was happy with his drunken decision and he couldn't hide how much he valued being woken up in her company. He felt safe. Whole. In her arms, he could forget about all the issues and things tossing around in his head.

"Who is Itachi?"

Her sudden question shocked him. He took a moment to understand it as he hadn't been expecting her to hear that name. Aside from all the good feelings, He felt a little too exposed right now.

"What're you talking about?"

"You called him, while you were asleep. Is he someone close to you?" Sasuke's frown deepened, although he knew she couldn't fully make out his face in the dark. "Like a brother?" she asked.

With that last question, he jolted upright in bed, feeling like his recent relieved headache had just returned even worse than before.

Sakura watched him as hung his head clutching his dark locks. Her brow creased. Maybe I went too far. Getting up instantly, she put her hand on his shoulder as she tried to take a look at his face in the twilight; it was already dawn and the dim light from the window threw his face into shadows and highlights. As usual, his face was intense, drowning in old pains. She had so many questions she'd been dying to ask since their dance but if those hurt him this much, she'd rather keep quiet.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"You shouldn't be." Sasuke cut her off with a sharp tone. "I just don't want to talk about it."

A chill crashed over Sakura, like a bucket of ice water had just been thrown over her head. She withdrew her hand quickly, biting down on her tongue; she grabbed her nightgown and stood up.

Sasuke watched her silently as she began to take a few steps away from him, his heart started racing. He knew he sounded harsh again, but it was completely unintentional. Did I hurt her again?

She leaned against the doorframe, dark shadows veiling her face. She let out a deep breathe. "I don't want you to feel bad while you're here—"

"I don't." Sasuke stated firmly, getting up.

"You interrupted me again." Sakura huffed after a long pause, although her breath hitched as he started to come closer.

He stood mere inches away from her. He could see how surprised and somewhat uneasy he'd made her. "I never feel bad here."

She gave him her sweetest smile. She probably had no idea that it could melt men but it soon faded when her eyes fell on his swollen nose. She raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "You're hurt."

Sasuke gingerly touched his nose only to grimace in pain. No wonder it hurt like hell. He'd completely forgotten about his fight with Naruto. "It's nothing."

"I'll see about that." Her face was flushed. It was odd to Sasuke how worried she looked and how stern and demanding she sounded at the same time. "Sit down."

"It's not bothe—"

"I said sit down." Sasuke's eyes widened at her slightly amused tone. Maybe it was her turn to take the control, not that he minded anyway.

Grabbing his arm, she tugged him over to the bed and turned on the bedside lamp. Sasuke squinted his eyes tight against the harsh light. Moaning, he felt the pain from his nose run into his head, as if someone was stabbing into his brain.

"Stay still." She ordered, gently cradling his face in her hands as she examined his nose. "I didn't realise you knew kickboxing, too."

Sasuke felt like smirking but the alcohol's effect that had made him numb all night had long worn off and now the pain had paralyzed his facial muscles.

It wasn't too swollen though, so she didn't think it was broken. That was definitely good news.

"No wonder I didn't notice earlier, it's not broken. We just need to put some ice to reduce the swelling. "

"I told you so." Sasuke shielded his eyes with one hand and slowly opened them, only to see a half smirk plastered on her face.

"They got you good though."

"He got lucky."

"Who did it?" She asked airily.

Sasuke shook his head disapprovingly, "An asshole."

"That you probably don't want to talk about, huh?" Sakura said bitterly before waving her hand." Not a big deal."

Letting out a groan, Sasuke pushed himself up from the bed, "I need to shower."

"Bathroom's at the end of the corridor. You can grab a clean towel from my wardrobe, then we can think of something to fix that perfect face of yours." Sakura paused, nervously considering what she'd just said. "I mean perfectly normal—"

Sasuke looked at her amusedly as he got up. Still in his boxers, he said, "I'd like you to join me." He folded his arms over his bare chest and threw her a smug smile.

This time round, the pink-haired woman wasn't surprised at all. She softly got up, putting her hand on his chest as she smiled. "How about you try asking me a little nicer…"

It took everything in Sasuke not to grab her wrists, pin her to the wall and kiss her the way he did the other night. He gazed at her wet pink lips before fixing his eyes on hers again.

A few seconds passed but nothing happened. Feeling a little disappointed, she sighed, "Don't forget to turn on the cold water big boy. I'll go make breakfast."

And that was the worse punishment she could mete out to him. Sasuke watched her pass silently, still not believing how he felt weak in her presence. She had the power to be both strong and vulnerable at the same time and she didn't need much effort to switch between them.

Who knows? Maybe if he'd swallowed his pride for once and brought himself up to say the magic word, he wouldn't be depending on a cold shower to ease up the ache of his erection.

Although Sakura felt incredibly confident with her smart comment and how she'd just taught his naughty boy a lesson, she wasn't expecting silence in return. For a second, she actually thought, she had had him in the palm of her hands. Guess that was just wishful thinking.

The sun had already peeked over the horizon when she opened the blinds in the living room and shuffled her bare feet to the kitchen. Turning on the tea maker, she reached for the condiments and took out a mug. Her heart started to race up when she strained her ears to listen to the shower. A small smile crawled on her lips. How long have I been living in this apartment, alone, even before my divorce?

She shook her head from side to side to get the unpleasant thoughts out before she walking back to the cabinet for picking up another mug.

"I thought you didn't notice me."

Sakura froze as her feet became rooted to the floor. The voice didn't belong to Sasuke and it's familiarity sent chills down her spine. She slowly turned around, secretly praying her imagination was just playing tricks on her; her mouth fell open and her eyes grew wide.

Kabuto Yakushi, her ex-husband, was standing there, in flesh.

"Hello dear, long time no see."

Naruto didn't want to wake up but the cheerful sounds of birds chirping outside the open window was just too much to bear. He put the pillow over his head, but he could still hear them. Soft wind rustling the leaves, squirrels fussing at him from the oaks, crows talking in the distance, it seemed as if the whole universe enjoyed disturbing him first thing in the morning. He tossed, turned and finally threw his pillow across the room before sitting up, at first wondering where he was.

His gaze travelled over the bedroom that didn't belong to him. He blinked several times, remembering being at the Hyuuga's lake house after escaping the CBI the other day. He groaned and lowered his head, " Oh no…"

The previous night was literally ride through hell for him. He was too angry that even refused to talk to Hinata and he was the most cheerful person she'd known since high-school. Feeling like his body had been buried six feet under, the moment Naruto's head hit the pillow, he sank into a deep sleep. He had had never, ever, experienced such craziness in his whole life.

The yesterday events were so phenomenal, he wondered even if they were real. He felt completely drained of energy. First, getting into a fight with his best friend, and then finding out that his recent client, who happened to be his best friend's older brother who was also in charged in the murder of said person's parents, had not only escaped detention but also killed a CBI agent on his way out. The very same CBI who were also working for the yakuza and now they were after his client—oh and him too and his girlfriend.

Great! Not being all over today's news can be a miracle.

"Naruto-kun?" Naruto sat up straight when Hinata hung the door open and came inside. She smiled softly and stood next to the bed. "I made you ramen for breakfast."

Even though the sight of her was like pouring rain on fire, Naruto didn't respond quickly. Sitting with crossed legs, he pretended to be deep in thought. What he didn't realize was that he actually looked like a sulking 5 year old.

"Naruto-Kun," Hinata called again, sitting on the edge of the bed," Don't be grumpy, I know you love ramen."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, "I don't!" He disagreed but soon the growling sound of his stomach said otherwise.

Hinata couldn't hold back her giggle but once she saw Naruto indeed looked very red and serious. Her brow creased and she moved closer to touch his face. "Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not." Naruto deadpanned.

"Do you want me to get you some medicine?"

Naruto shook his head and pressed his lips together. Ignoring Hinata's question, he said. "You know what scares me, Hinata?" He paused for a second, looking at the girl's surprised expression as he continued, "Not the police, not that goddamn yakuza and not those CBI jerks but your father, hating me—" She arched an eyebrow, as Naruto pointed at himself. "I ruined your life."

Hinata's eyes widened as she titled her head, "But you didn't ruin anything Naruto-kun."

"Yes I did. Don't you see? I dragged us into this. If only I hadn't accepted that case or—" Naruto seethed, "or even met up with that bastard.

"It's not your fault." She moved closer and put her hand on the side of his face, smiling. "Besides my father already hated you, so this won't change anything."

Naruto's face dropped as he put his hand on the left side of his chest, "Ow, thank you."

"I just don't want to leave you alone in this."

"And I don't want you to get hurt." Naruto responded, taking her hand gently. "If only I could kill that bastard now." Hinata froze in her trace, looking slightly annoyed with Naruto's bluntness. "I mean not that I can't do it now." He stared right into her eyes. "I'll go kill him right away and we bury him next to the lake. Pshh, no one will notice, eh?"

She blinked a few times, letting what she'd just heard sink in. "You're not serious now, are you?"

"Honey, I'm dead serious." Naruto said nonchalantly.

Hinata gasped. "But you know he's not the bad guy."

"He's charged with first degree murder."

"You don't know if he actually did that."

"I know he killed a CBI." Naruto argued as silence hung between them.

Hinata's eyes were filled with concern, genuine concern, for themselves. It took her a few seconds to look away from Naruto's gaze and stare at the mattress. "Listen…" She started, searching for right words to convince him, "I don't say he's innocent, no… and to be honest he does scare me… a little, b-but…" She stammered. "But I trust your judgment."

Giving her a dry laugh, Naruto grabbed her shoulder. "I don't even trust myself, Hinata."

"But I do." She stated, this time not tearing her eyes away from his. "I know you'll find a way to get us out of this." Standing up, before Naruto got a chance to disagree, she put on her angelic face once again. Reaching for his hand, she said. "Now come, don't let your ramen get cold Naruto-kun."

Sitting on a rock next to the lake, Itachi gazed out into the distance at the snow-capped mountains. With his hands shaking, he took a deep drag from his cigarette. A part of him knew he would eventually end up like this. Alone and isolated, searching for his true self. He only wished it would go differently. Sasuke would never forgive him. That much he knew and all he wanted now was to wipe those false memories out of his little brother's mind before he died. That was why he needed to survive.

One day, he'll understand.

The sun was just beginning to rise over the tall trees that surrounded him, the air still chilled with the icy cold of dawn. A few wispy clouds hung in the otherwise blue sky. He inhaled deeply, suddenly feeling vulnerable. He was drenched in sweat. Taking another long drag, he started coughing.

"It's peaceful here, ain't it?"

He looked over his shoulder at the blonde man, standing with his hands in the pockets of his sweatshirt, staring straight ahead. Itachi returned his gaze back to the lake as he heard Naruto's footsteps crunching in the leaves. He sat a few feet away from him.

"Hinata-chan told me you didn't have breakfast." Naruto asked, not that he cared at all; he was just trying to make conversation with him to get to the main point.

Itachi shrugged, taking a drag from his smoke which caused him to end up coughing again, "I'm not hungry." The sounds of nature filled the long silence spun between them.

Rubbing his hands against each other, Naruto felt more than a little on edge now, "Don't you wanna talk about the shit we're in now?" He spat furiously.

"I'm not sorry," Itachi didn't even look at him as he replied, "For what happened to you."

"Geez, can you Uchihas be even bigger asshole?" Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Talking to this guy was even harder than he thought. Too bad he'd promised Hinata not to make it any worse or else he would—" Hey listen up jackass, as your lawyer here, I need to know everything and by everything I mean literally from the beginning."

Naruto watched the man took a gigantic gulp of smoke and started coughing. He felt that the coughing wasn't normal and got confirmation when he'd started coughing blood. The blonde man frowned, stepping closer to him. "You're alright?"

Itachi bent to spit the remaining blood in his mouth before inhaling deeply. "I don't have much time." He was pale like a dead man walking. Naruto wondered if he really was suffering from a serious disease or if it was only an act. "I'll tell you everything but before all that- " He paused and stood straight, making up his mind. He knew he couldn't back away now. He didn't want to.

"Madara Uchiha, he's responsible for all this madness."

It had been two years, two damn years. She'd filed for divorce from him but nothing had happened. He didn't want to let her go; thinking he could own her like a property and doing whatever the hell he wanted to do. She knew that people who had casually dropped into any bar would have more connection with each other than them.

Until six months ago, when Yakushi shockingly agreed on a divorce through mutual consent and then disappeared. He didn't even show up at the court, although it was no surprise considering that it was a sneaky liar like him, someone who could never have the courage or the humility to confess to his adultery and also the false accusations of calling his wife a hallucinating and crazy woman.

And after all that, she was sure she could have the right to hate him for a lifetime and never wanted to see him ever again. Yet, he was here. Right in front of her, looking far too real to be a ghost of the past.

"How did you get in?" Her voice was raspy and dry, like she had just been harshly awakened from a dream.

Kabuto didn't look impressed at all. Like none of that had happened as he shrugged and pushed his glasses up along his nose. "With keys."

His voice sounded as nonchalant as before but it managed to cause a thrilling shiver run through Sakura. For a second, she found herself trapped in her old relationship and the bittersweet taste of it started to remind her of how awful it really was.

Her normally calm and pleasant demeanour slowly changed and her face contorted in an all-consuming anger; her nostril flaring, her eyes flashing and closing into slits as her hands closed into fists. Kabuto was lucky to be standing a good few feet away from her or else it would go worse than she expected.

"I ASKED HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET IN?"

It was as if he enjoyed deliberately provoking her to anger as he smiled broadly, "What? Is it that weird for me to have our apartment's key?"

Sakura knew she was capable of murder at the moment. Her face contorted in anger as she pursed her lips together and slammed her fist on the counter. "This is MY apartment. There's no we. This is not ours! WE'RE DIVORCED!" Shaking her head, she took a deep breath. "And it's been almost a year! A YEAR!" She looked around and groped for her phone. "I'll call the cops."

In a split second, Kabuto appeared next to her and grabbed her wrist, trying to yank the phone out of her hands, smirking. "What if I want to make up?"

Sakura glared at him daggers as her face struggled to declare itself in a definitive emotion, unable to decide between rage, grief or even fear. Tears started to form in her eyes. The worst part was that she knew he could see it and how he enjoyed every second of it and it tore her heart to shreds. Instead of letting him enjoy the show though, she laughed to hide her true pain. She gave him a continuous maniac laugh before raising her free hand and punching him hard in the face, three times in rapid succession, before taking a step back and breathing like a deranged dragon.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOME!"

Stepping back, Kabuto touched his sore face but before he could say something else, he was stopped by another voice.

"What's going on here?"

Sakura's eyes flashed open wide as she watched Sasuke with only a towel covering his private parts. The moment his eyes met Kabuto's they both stiffened. Kabuto used the wall to gain control of his balance, fuming. The dangerous flash of hatred running through his eyes didn't go unnoticed by Sasuke. "Sasuke-san," He hissed, voice like a lethal knife. "Wasn't stealing my position enough that you decided to fuck my wife behind my back too?"

Sasuke glanced over Kabuto's shoulder. His blood boiled the moment he saw how hurt Sakura looked and how hard she tried to hide her despair and shattered pride. His senses were overwhelmed with a mixture of sadness and rage. He would never let anyone hurt her like that.

"Get out." He said in a low, threatening tone.

Kabuto clenched his jaw in return. "This is my home. You're the one who should get out."

His muscles contracted. Slowly and gradually, he stepped to Kabuto, looking right into his eyes, knowing that with every passing second, he was closer to hitting the gray-haired bastard.

"Didn't you hear her? You leave now or I finish what she'd started."

Kabuto stood there, glaring at Sasuke a moment longer. Then he straightened himself up, threw back his head and cleared his throat. "You don't know who you're dealing with Sasuke-san. With Orochimaru-sama at my side, I'm going to crucify you. I can make you lose everything you've ever had; I can burn you to the gr—"

"You're done?"

Kabuto threw him a smirk and shared one last glance with Sakura. "You're going to regret this." He said but as he was about to turn around, his arm was grabbed violently.

"Keys." Sasuke ordered darkly, yanking the keys out of his grip. He opened the door and before he got a chance to object, he shoved him out.

Shutting the door, Sasuke turned to look at Sakura. She was still standing behind the counter, now noticeably shaking. Her eyes pinned to the ground, she murmured, " He'd never come here before…." She looked at him, now a teardrop running on her cheeks.

Sasuke walked up to her but she held a hand to stop him. "I'm alright." Wiping her wet face with the back of her hand, Sakura started walking to the dark corridor.

"You sure?" Sasuke called and she stopped.

"Yeah." She tried her best to sound casual but it was no secret to him now how broken she had become in only a few minutes. "I'll go take a shower."

"Sakura?"

Sakura turned and as their eyes met again, he found himself unable to think properly. He'd never comforted anyone in his life before and he could never imagine how hard it could get especially with a woman as strong as her. The only thing he knew for sure was that he cared for her and he wanted to let her know he was there for her. He wanted to reassure her that he wasn't going to hurt her like that but he didn't say anything. In that very moment, something inside of him knew that he was going to regret it later.

"He's in there, with my fucking ex-wife." Kabuto sat in the passenger seat of a dark Mitsubishi, parked across the building, and shut the door then curled up his lip in anger and said, "I swear I'm going to fucking kill hi—"

"Shut up, I don't wanna hear anymore." The purple haired woman behind the steering wheel cut his words off, staring at the road up ahead.

Kabuto could see how stiff she looked. However he rolled up the car's window and faced her. "What're you going to do now, Tora?" He sneered, "Knowing he treats you like trash but fucks someone el-"

"I said, shut up" Tora suddenly screamed, slamming her hands on the steering wheel, anger welling up inside, too great to contain. "Shut up, shut up, shut up" Another slam, accompanied by another scream. "SHUT UP!"

She turned to the man with a flushed face, now grinning manically, she pulled out a pistol. "Would you please?"

Kabuto was taken aback by her reaction and instantly raised his hands. Suddenly out of breath, he stuttered, "Where did you get that?"

"Did I give you permission to talk?" She arched an eyebrow. Letting out a deep breath, she said." I can kill you here, then that bitch up there. But I've changed." She threw him a smile which was anything but sweet and innocent. "I … I don't want to rush into things anymore. Slowly and smoothly, slowly and smoothly, slowly and smoothly. I'll go through this. And you're here to help me, right?"

Psycho was the only word that came to his mind. Previously, he knew that Orochimaru's favorite girl, Tora, was unpredictable, but this level of craziness was something he'd never guessed.

Kabuto nodded slowly, his eyes still fixed on the silver pistol in her hands as he gulped. "Only for Orochimaru-sama's sake."

Tora's grin widened, "Good boy, Kabuto-chan. Orochimaru-sama will be so proud of you." She always knew people would never dare to reject her quests. It was only Sasuke, but he too was about to see the consequences of his actions.

A/N :

Hello everybody and I'm alive! YAY! Bella's here!

So Aside from all the excuses blah blah whatever you already know, I want to tell you while I was taking a looooooong break from FF, a lot happened in my real life. For instance I turned 23 on May 13th and I dyed my hair blue, then it wore off so I had to dye it brown or else I would look like a hag (bleaching duh!) and I had my first red wine, which I very much enjoyed. I also took German language courses " Ich schreibe eine Geschichte" and I just started reading Anna Karenina, ( I'm not a fan of Leo Tolstoy but this one is amazing)

That was good news, bad news is I went through a loooooooooong period of depression. It lasted a few months but hopefully I've come out alive with a new purpose in life. Hope I hold on to that. pshhhhh

Anyway during this time of craziness and fun, I'd check my e-mail from time to time and receiving favorites and follows and sometimes even reviews and PMs from you guys really really delighted me. I really don't know what to say but those were the only times I smiled thanks to you.

I hope I get back on routine faster and starting from now on, I try to update more frequently.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, sorry for the errors here and there, this chapter isn't edited yet.

And cheers!

See you soon in the next chapter!