A/N: There is some foul language and mild violence in this chapter. Not enough to warrant me changing the rating of the story, but if anyone feels it should be bumped up to 'M', let me know.

Chapter 6: Visions

'Well, this is just perfect.' Sasuke glared over at the shinobi walking up the stairs in front of him, escorting him to his new apartment.

After leaving the hospital, Kakashi had brought him to a more residential area of the village. Just before entering the building, he had made some excuse to leave and vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving him alone – or so he thought. Out of the shadow of the alleyway, his new babysitter emerged.

As if it wasn't bad enough that he was going to have to be baby-sat for the next year, his guardian was one who was very familiar to him.

Eyes closed to mere slits as he smiled at him, the nin's artificial smile rubbed him the wrong way, just as it had when he had first met him in Orochimaru's lair. Unfortunately, that meeting had not gone very well, probably due to the fact that the smiling ninja had been sent to assassinate him, a detail that Sasuke was unwilling to overlook.

"I hope we can get along together," Sai commented pleasantly. "I'm going to be around a lot in the future, and being a fellow member of Team Kakashi, I really hope that unpleasantness we experienced a few months ago won't taint our working relationship."

Sasuke's jaw clenched. 'Unpleasantness'? That's how this jerk saw his mission to assassinate Sasuke? But he kept his mouth shut, ignoring the soulless stare aimed in his direction. One thing was for sure, this guy was creepy as hell.

"Why are you smiling like that?" he asked, no longer able to ignore the ninja's fake façade. If he was going to have to put up with the guy watching his every move for the foreseeable future, he was going to have to at least cooperate with him, much to his chagrin.

"I've read in a book that a smile can do much to alleviate an uncomfortable situation." Sai explained. "You see, I'm sure that you may be uncomfortable being in my presence since, the last time you and I interacted with one another, we were trying to kill each other. I realized that these are less than ideal circumstances to cultivate a healthy working environment, so I wanted to put your mind at ease that I no longer mean you any harm, since my mission from Lord Danzou has been abandoned and I am no longer obligated to take your life."

As Sai continued walking down the hallway towards the entrance to the apartment he would soon share with Sakura, Sasuke could only stop in his tracks and stare at the clueless ninja in front of him. 'Does this guy seriously think that a fake smile and a failed mission is going to just sweep everything that happened under the rug? It doesn't change the fact that a member of the Elder Council ordered a hit on me, something else that I'm going to have to deal with - eventually.'

Brow furrowed in thought, he quickened his pace to catch up with the ROOT agent standing in front of a locked door. Withdrawing a key from his weapons pouch, Sai handed it to Sasuke and stepped aside, allowing him to open the door himself.

"I've been told to inform you that though you may hold the key to that lock, so does each member of the team assigned to watch over you and Sakura."

Teeth gritting at the reminder that he would have absolutely no privacy (even if it was just a façade) for the next year, he shoved the key into the lock and gave it a harsh twist, unlocking the door and stepping into his new home.

All in all, it wasn't as bad as he had anticipated. To the right of the entryway was a laundry room, which was convenient for Sasuke, since being under house arrest meant that he couldn't leave to go to the laundromat to wash his clothes at his convenience. Across the hall from the entryway was the kitchen, fully equipped with shiny new appliances. At the end of the entryway was the common area, an open floor plan containing a dining area and a separate sitting area. The sitting area had a secondary entrance to the kitchen and was fully furnished with a set of plush black couch and loveseat and a tv stand against the far wall. Flanking the tv was a pair of bookshelves, already stocked with what appeared to be medical texts and a few fiction novels. And, if he wasn't mistaken, Sasuke could see a set of very familiar novels tucked in the bottom corner of one of the bookshelves, no doubt donated by Kakashi. Walking down the only remaining hallway, he peered in a doorway to his left, finding a study, apparently set up for Sakura's use if he were to go by the numerous scrolls and medical paraphernalia littering the desk. Closing the door behind him, he glanced across the hall, into a bathroom. Nothing of interest to see in there, he continued down the hall and met with a set of doors on either side of the hall. Choosing the left door, Sasuke opened it and found a bedroom.

This room was obviously meant for Sakura. A decent sized bed dominated the room, already made with crisp white sheets and a pale pink comforter. Next to the bed was a small table holding a lamp and a single framed photograph. Curiosity tugging him forward, he slowly strode forward, grabbing the frame to get a closer look. Immediately his gaze was drawn to the masked face of his first sensei, his single exposed eye crinkled in an exasperated smile. To the right, Kakashi was ruffling the hair of his obnoxious blond once-teammate who bore a grimace on his face while glaring daggers at the black haired boy next to him. Next, his eyes took in the expression on his own – much younger – face. If he was to be honest with himself, not much had changed in his expression over the past few years. His face usually still bore the scowl reflected in the picture. He honestly can't remember the last time he actually smiled. Honestly, with a homicidal brother responsible for the death of everyone he'd ever loved, abandoning the only home he'd ever known on his own quest for power, and being under the tutelage of an insane rogue nin who had an unnatural obsession with Sasuke's body.

With a humorless chuckle, he finally turned his gaze at the face he'd been avoiding looking at. Sakura's bright smile was almost blinding when compared to the rest of the faces in the picture. Her innocence and naivety radiated from her very being. It was hard to believe that this girl could have become the protégé of the fifth Hokage. Oh, he'd heard the stories, listened to the rumors whispered in the halls of the Sound base. Whether they were true or not was a different matter altogether. There was no way the Sakura he had known could be credited with the defeat of a member of the Akatsuki, but that's what had been murmured behind covered mouths.

Shaking his head with disbelief, he gently replaced the simple wood frame. Turning to inspect the rest of the room, he noticed a simple cherry wood dresser in the corner topped with a simple mirror. There was a sliding glass door which he assumed led to a balcony on the far wall, and a set of closed folding door, hiding a closet. His perusal complete, he turned on his heel and nearly ran into Sai.

"I don't think Ugly would really appreciate you going through her room before she even has a chance to look at it herself," he commented with a grin.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "That's none of your business," he snarled, brushing past the silent ninja to storm across the hall into his own sleeping area and slamming the door behind him.

He didn't really know why, but there was just something about the boy he left in the hall that just straight up pissed him off. Whether it was his fake expressions, their shared history of violence, or the idea that he had been replaced by his former teammates, it didn't matter. If he had to deal with the boy for the next year on a daily basis, there was sure to be bloodshed.

Rolling his shoulders to relieve some of the stress gathering there, he glanced around the space he would claim as his own. The first thing he noticed was the Uchiha crest on the far wall. His eyes widened. He recognized that crest. It had hung over his bed in his old apartment.

"Naruto made some suggestions on how to make your transition back to the village easier."

Whipping his head around, he saw Sai standing in the open doorway of his room. Dammit, how had he not heard the door open? "Did I give you permission to come into my room?"

With a chuckle, the young man glanced around the room. Simple to the point of being militaristic, the only furniture in the room was a full bed covered in black bedding and a black dresser against the far wall. He noticed that this room had a door leading out to the balcony as well, but was covered with dark grey curtains. In fact, the color scheme in the room was so monochromatic that the only splash of color was the crimson of the uchiwa hanging on the wall.

"We seem to have a misunderstanding here, Uchiha. You think that you have any control over what happens in this place." He shook his head, bemused. "You don't. You are only here because the council decided you are too valuable to kill. That doesn't mean we care about your comfort. You are going to be under constant surveillance and if any one of the operatives detect even the slightest hint of insubordination or resistance from you, we have already been given the green light to remove that threat. You may be considered too valuable to kill, but if you prove to be too much of a threat, well… Necessary sacrifices will be made."

The implication behind his threat was clear. Toe the line or the council will erase him.

"Well then, traitor," Sai began with a smile plastered on his face, "I'll leave you to get settled." He turned on his heel and began walking down the hall. Sasuke didn't bother to see him out. But before he heard the front door close he heard the asshole call back to him, "Just remember, we'll be watching."

X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X

Opening my eyes, my gaze rests upon the dry, cracked rock under my hands. My vision is blurry around the edges, but I can clearly see my hands. Except, those aren't "my" hands at all. My hands are pale and feminine with short nails and callouses on my knuckles from hundreds of hours of extensive strength training. These hands, the ones currently holding up my bodyweight, these hands are masculine, with purple nails and a red and gold ring on the right hand. These are DEFINITELY not my hands.

I blink as a splash of blood pools between my hands. I ignore it for now as I push myself up to my knees and look across the rocky expanse at my opponent. It's Sasuke! He's beaten and bleeding, but there's no denying that the man glaring at me in with gritted teeth and pained eyes is Sasuke. As I take in his desperate expression, his entire appearance changes. The curse seal on his shoulder melts across the rest of his body like flame consuming paper. His hair lengthens and fades from ink black to a storm-cloud gray. Where once was porcelain skin, now a stony hue replaces it. Across the bridge of his nose, a black marking bisects his face, drawing attention to the most disturbing change – his eyes. The whites of his eyes are now jet black, soul less, and filled with rage, the once black irises taking on the color of freshly spilled blood. This creature is not Sasuke. This thing I gazd upon is an abomination, the final result of a life devoted to revenge and a thirst for power.

During Sasuke's twisted transformation, the air around me had turned orange and began to flicker, as if I was standing in the midst of an inferno. I know that I'm seeing a visual manifestation of chakra. Around me, a spectral skeleton forms. A blazing ribcage encases me, tinting my vision with crimson. I can see Sasuke's mouth move as he speaks to me, but unfortunately, I am only able to see my surroundings, not hear them. He's too far away – and my vision is far too hazy – for me to decipher what it is that he says. But clearly whatever he is saying to me is not complimentary in the least - if his snarling face is anything to go by.

Frustration at my lack of control growing, I watch helplessly as Sasuke doubles over in pain, clutching his own body and clearly struggling against something. Dropping to his knees as the pain grows to be too much for him to handle, I can only watch idly as a hoard of white snakes erupts out of his left shoulder. What the hell is happening to him?!

It's like something out of a legend. Sasuke's mouth is slack as he screams in silent agony. The snakes grow and grow until a multi-headed beast is looming over me, its snow white scales glistening in the sunlight and fangs from its many mouths dripping poison. I had never seen anything like it before in my life, and as a kunoichi of the hidden leaf and apprentice to the fifth Hokage, I've seen many fantastic sights before. The markings around the beasts' eyes remind me of another evil snake: Orochimaru.

I'm not sure why his foul name whispered in my mind as I look at this horrific creature, but that detail became unimportant to me as I watch the monster get closer and closer to where I stand. I walk forward to meet the creature head on, my spectral bodyguard wrapping around me with every step that I take. In the space of a heartbeat, one of the bleached heads lunges toward me and without hesitation, the being protecting me severs its head from its body with a single strike of its flaming blade. I'm not sure where the blade even came from since my eyes are trained on the writhing abomination before me and I can only see the sword out of the corner of my eye. Another strike from my blade sends several more serpent heads flying. The remainder of the snakes go on the offensive, wrapping themselves around the glowing chakra being I'm still surrounded by, in a futile attempt to squeeze my armor to dust. One final slice frees me from my scaly prison and decapitates the last of the heads, save one.

The sole surviving snake rears its head back and unhinges its jaw. What is it doing now? Getting ready to attack? No, from within the depths of the serpent's throat, a dark head emerges. Long black hair and skin so pale it looks blue indicates the identity of the man, as if the fact that he was crawling out of a snake's gullet didn't tip me off beforehand. Orochimaru. My initial hunch had been completely on the mark.

I watch, rage filling my soul, as the man solely responsible for Sasuke's abandonment of the Leaf Village begins to monologue. For once, I'm happy that I can't hear anything, because I'm sure that if I had been forced to listen to the snake Sannin's slithery voice spew his vile filth, I would have snapped and gone on a murderous rampage. My eyes widen when, with a single, lightning-fast thrust, Orochimaru is impaled with my blazing weapon. Orochimaru seemed completely unfazed by the attack, continuing to mock me. In the blink of an eye, Orochimaru's mouth stops moving, his eyes grow wide, and then, he's being sucked into my blade. What… the… fuck?!

I have no idea what the hell is going on. One moment Orochimaru is looming over me, gloating over his apparent victory and the next, he's gone, leaving Sasuke behind, whole and relatively unharmed.

The previous attack must have taken a toll on my host. Once again I'm looking at the ground as more blood spews from me. My hand covers my mouth as I violently cough up blood. Sasuke tries to take advantage of my momentary weakness by throwing a shuriken at me, but it's easily deflected by the spectre surrounding me. I slowly advance towards Sasuke, my steps shaky and unsteady. He grits is teeth and draws his katana, the strength of his will the only thing keeping him standing at this point. His attack is easily rebuffed and he swiftly backs away from my bloody outstretched hand.

Finding himself trapped against a wall bearing the Uchiha clan's uchiwa crest, I can see the blind panic in his eyes as I continue to advance on him. He shrinks away from my reaching fingers, but it's pointless. He cannot avoid me. He has nowhere left to run. He's mine.

Except I don't kill him. I don't harm him at all. Instead of striking a killing blow, like I had anticipated, I merely poke him in the forehead with my bloody fingers. I see his eyes widen at the gesture, blood from my fingertips running down his face, before my world tilts and I fall face first into the wall behind Sasuke.

X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X

Sakura gasped as she shot straight up in her hospital bed, her heart racing and her eyes wildly scanning the room for potential dangers. Still disoriented from her dream, her mind was still racing as she tried to differentiate between reality and subconscious. Her blurred vision did little to aid her regain her senses, but slowly, she came down from her panicked high and realized that she had only had a dream. It was just a dream. A strangely vivid and detailed dream, but a dream nonetheless.

The light shining through her window told her that it was morning, but that did little to ease her mind. As she organized her scattered thoughts, there was one piece of information that kept prodding at her: the ring on her finger in the dream. She had seen that ring before, on more than one occasion. It had been on Itachi Uchiha's finger every single time that he had confronted her team. What did it mean? Had it really been a dream, or had Itachi somehow come to her in her dreams and showed her what he had seen literally with his own eyes?

She had heard of this phenomeon before. While studying under Lady Tsunade, Sakura had read hundreds of medical scrolls and performed dozens of procedures herself. While it was only a feeling, she thought that her situation sounded a lot like what was known in the mednin community as "Cell Memory Phenomenon".

In the few cases she had read up on, when a person receives an organ through a living donor, in some rare cases, the recipient claims to experience a change in preferences, whether that refers to their hobbies, sexual orientation, or foods. In extreme cases, the donor recipient undergoes a personality change and takes on similar traits as the organ donor.

The more she thought about it, the more Sakura could feel the pit in her stomach growing deeper. If her instinct was right, it meant that she really was experiencing Itachi's memories, another extremely rare side effect of Cell Memory Phenomenon. If she was experiencing something as rare as reliving memories, there was a very real possibility that she could also take on some of Itachi's personality traits or personal preferences.

Her heart hammered in terror at the possibly becoming like Itachi in any way. He was a traitor to the Leaf. A criminal wanted by every single one of the Five Great Nations. The man who murdered his entire clan on a freaking whim and sent his only living relative down a twisted spiral of revenge and blood. The man hadn't had a single redeeming quality to him and the thought of becoming like him in any way was enough for Sakura to feel herself begin to panic.

Clipped footsteps approached her door, bringing her focus out of her own thoughts and back to reality. Recognizing the cadence of steps as they came closer to her room, she braced herself. It was far too early and she was far too frazzled to be prepared for a confrontation with her master. But the Hokage waits for no one and slid her door open with a bang, storming into the room with a sense of urgency and authority.

"So, finally awake, are we?" Tsunade remarked. Sakura could barely see, but she could definitely sense the exasperation on her teacher's face. "How did you sleep?"

Silence descended upon the small room as Sakura hesitated. "Milady," she began. "I have a hypothetical question for you."

Tsunade's eyebrow rose. Usually her student was blunt to the point of being offensive. She wasn't one to beat around the bush. So her obvious hesitance intrigued the older woman. "Go on," she encouraged.

"Hypothetically speaking, if a person who receives a donated organ were to say, dream about the donor's memories, how likely would it be that the recipient would experience other related side effects of the transplant?"

Shock jolted through her body at her student's murmured inquiry. To say Tsunade was surprised at this line of questioning would be an understatement.

"Sakura, are you saying that you dreamed Itachi's memories?" Tsunade was incredulous. The ramifications of such a thing could be utterly disastrous if anyone found out about it. To think that someone as innocent and loyal as Sakura had Itachi's memories rattling around her brain was shocking. On the other hand, depending on what Sakura "remembered", it could potentially give Konoha inside access to the Akatsuki, something they sorely needed.

"I'm speaking hypothetically," Sakura reminded her. "I'm not saying such a thing did or did not happen. I know what that information could mean to the village, and I am not ready to deal with the consequences of something like that, even if it were to happen."

Tsunade sighed, shifting her weight to her hip and crossing her arms under her chest. "I understand, Sakura. It's true that if you were to be seeing Itachi's memories through your transplant, the council would be after you for information before you could snap your fingers. And you're right, you're in no condition to have to deal with the interrogation squad, even if it is through something outside of your control." She easily acknowledged her student's trepidation, but as the leader of the village, it was her responsibility to use every tool at her disposal to protect it too. "Just allow me to remind you of the serious threat the Akatsuki poses. They are after Naruto. They've already captured and extracted at least six of the tailed beasts. It won't be long until they come for Naruto too. We need every advantage we can get if we're to stand a chance against them, Sakura."

Sakura looked away, her sensei's words cutting into her like a knife. She knew the stakes. She probably knew better than most. She had been there when Gaara was found dead. She had stood against the Akatsuki, had fought – and defeated – one of their members. She knew exactly how deadly powerful they were. "I'm fully aware of the threat the Akatsuki pose, Lady Tsunade, perhaps even more than you do," she growled. "However, I don't know what is happening to me right now. Not only do I have my messed up vision to deal with, I've got to not only learn how to use the Sharingan, but I've got to deal with Sasuke, too. You know that he is going to be difficult and unpleasant throughout this entire ordeal, and that's putting it lightly. I have enough on my plate already without adding on Itachi messing with me from beyond the grave. So, forgive me for my disrespect, but quite frankly, milady, I am not going to be telling anyone a damn thing until I'm ready, because I am not going to be manipulated into backing down on this."

Tsunade blinked in surprise at the vehemence in Sakura's attitude. I guess she's finally reached her breaking point, she mused to herself. "No one is going to manipulate you into anything, Sakura-"

"Just guilt trip me, then. Don't think I didn't notice how quickly you brought Naruto into the conversation to play on my fear of him getting taken by the Akatuski," she retorted.

Reaching a hand up to massage the tension brewing behind her forehead, Tsunade sighed in resignation. "I'm not trying to guilt you into doing anything either. I'm just trying to protect the village."

"I know that," she acknowledged. "Can you just answer my question, please? If I was seeing Itachi's memories, how likely would it be for me to develop his personality or become like him in any way?"

Carefully considering the question, she began pacing around the room, gathering her thoughts. "You have to understand, Sakura, there are so few of these kinds of cases, I honestly can't tell you whether it will or won't happen. We just have to play it by ear and see what happens."

Giving her mentor a baleful stare, Sakura scoffed. "That's hardly reassuring."

"It wasn't meant to be."

Glancing out the window, Sakura tried to find the silver lining to this particular rain cloud. "So, when can I get out of here? No offense, but I prefer being the one holding the clipboard, not having my name on one."

With a chuckle, Tsunade walked to the foot of her bed grabbed the clipboard Sakura had mentioned to glance at her progress. "I can probably get you out of here tomorrow, barring any unforeseen complications." Sakura visibly brightened at the news. "But you'll still have to come by daily for me to work on your eyes. They're still not close to one hundred percent, are they?"

Sakura gave her a blank stare. "Hardly. I can see much better since I first woke up a few days ago, but they're still pretty hazy. Plus, with the damned Sharingan constantly activated, my chakra is being drained as fast as I can replenish it." She looked away and mumbled to her teacher, "How much longer until my eyes are fixed?" She waited patiently, knowing that the answer she got may not be the one she wanted.

"I'll be straight with you, Sakura. It may be a long time until your eyes are completely healed. The damage Itachi did to his eyes would be damn near irreparable to anyone but me. I've got to go in and repair each individual optic nerve, as well as each connection to your nerves as well. There's a lot of work to be done and not a lot of time to do it. I'm doing the best I can, but you've got to be patient. If he had seen a healer while he was alive, his eyes wouldn't be as bad as they are now, but I think that he didn't want to admit that he was going blind. It would be a huge weakness that his enemies could exploit, after all."

"Is there anything I can do? Can I work on it myself?"

She contemplated this suggestion briefly. "Make a scalpel blade," she demanded.

With furrowed brows, Sakura did as she was told, chakra glowing off her hands in a gentle wave.

"Good, your chakra network has stabilized and the Sharingan doesn't appear to be affecting you too badly." She tapped her chin as she thought about it. "I don't see why you can't work on it yourself, but as you are already aware, the Sharingan is constantly draining you and will continue to do so until you learn how to turn it off. I don't recommend using more than ten percent of your chakra daily. We don't know how much the Sharingan is taking from you just to stay active, so until you can deactivate it, no training and no extensive healing, understand?"

"I understand." Sakura could hardly contain her excitement. Not only was she getting out of her own personal hell (in the form of being trapped in the hospital as a patient), but she had been given the green light to begin working on her eyes. Things were definitely looking up for her. The only blemish on the situation was that when she left the hospital, she got to go home to a surly prick a serious attitude problem and a grudge against her. Oh well, nothing's perfect.

Thank you for reading. I apologize for not updating sooner, but with the holidays and dealing with frozen pipes (thank you global warming for giving me -25 degree temperatures while I'm out of town so my pipes freeze and I don't find out until I come home with my young daughter), I didn't get much time to write as I would have liked. This chapter gave me some trouble because Sakura was not cooperating with me. Sasuke is easy because he's just bitter and hates everything, but Sakura is giving me a hard time with how she feels about this whole situation. I do know that even though she's happy to have Sasuke back in the village, she's not going to be very patient with his emo-ass being a prick to her for things in the past and things beyond her control. So I'm looking forward to her getting fed up with his attitude and putting him in his place.

I hope you all can kind of see where I'm going with this story, and what's going to happen (to some extent), but I don't want to be cliché about it. I'm trying to keep it as canon as possible, but obviously there's going to be some things that deviate from the canon-verse.

If there's anything you want to see specifically, let me know and I'll see what I can do to make it happen. Reviews go a long way to keep me motivated to keep this story going. And on that note, I'd like to give a special shout out to cinnamon0325 for their repeated reviews. Thanks for the feedback and I hope I can live up to everyone's expectations.

Next time on Truth:

Sakura finally gets released from the hospital (I know I planned on having that happen in this chapter, but the storyline didn't let that happen), moves in with Sasuke, and makes a mess of things (literally and figuratively). Plus, a confrontation with the Council of Elders puts our duo on edge as suspicions take root about the villages illustrious leaders.