Dreamscape – an Itachi & Sakura story
By: MitsukiShiroi

Disclaimer: Naruto and all its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

A/N: I wrote this one ages ago (2006 or something) and I never published, so I figured it's about time I did.

Spoilers up to chapter 400, so don't read it if you don't want to get spoiled. Story is set just before the Hidan and Kakuzu arc.

This is my last fanfiction. I've enjoyed these past couple of years with you all, but it's come to an end. Fanfiction doesn't draw me in the way it used to, and while I stopped reading it a couple of years ago, I guess now is also the time that I stopped writing it. Simply put, though I still love ItaSaku, I don't feel like writing about this pairing anymore. I've written all the stories I wanted about them.

Thank you all for these magnificent couple of years. I've laughed and cried together with you all while writing the stories, smiled at your reviews, cried with joy after people started sending fanart to me and loved every single one of you because you simply read the things I wrote.

Dreamscape is my final project. It was formerly known as the 'SupersekritItaSaku' project, and I knew that this would be my final fiction, which was why I didn't publish it until now. It'll also be my largest piece, with four 'books', each spanning around 10 chapters, so there's a lot to look forward to!

I hope you'll enjoy this piece as much as I will.

Dedicated to all of you.

BOOK ONE: FUGUE

Chapter One – Bonding

"Naruto!" she yelled out, desperate as she saw more Akatsuki members appear on the scene. Behind her, she felt the warmth of Sasuke's chakra caressing her back as he activated the Chidori.

Her blond team-mate was in front of her, but he was no longer the cheerful boy she had come to know. Instead, four tails surrounded him like a barrier of some sorts, while his entire body had been covered in black fur. His teeth, or rather fangs, looked razor sharp as he concentrated a large mass of chakra in his mouth.

"Sasuke!" Sakura turned around, desperate. "We need to help Naruto! If he stays this way, he'll grow out of control!"

But as she faced Sasuke, she realized he wasn't listening.

In the midst of all the bodies and all the blood, Sasuke stood there, knees bend and his Chidori chirping. He had a minor injury; a small line of blood dripped down his cheek, down to his jaw until it fell on the ground and mingled with the blood of all their fallen comrades. Sasuke was gritting his teeth and his usual alert, yet tranquil eyes were now staring to something, or someone right in front of them, burning with hate.

As she followed his gaze, completely forgotten about Naruto in that moment, Sakura quickly realized that Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke's long lost brother, was standing a few yards away from them, eyeing Sasuke back with disinterest.

In those few seconds, it seemed as if time had stopped. She couldn't hear Naruto's vicious growls anymore or the unknown Akatsuki member as he tried to fight the demon fox. All she could hear right now was the Chidori and her instinct telling her that this was wrong and that Sasuke needed to be stopped, or he'd get hurt again, regardless of the amount of training he received while being with Orochimaru.

As she stretched out her hand to get a hold of Sasuke, he finally moved and within a second, he was gone, the blue chakra of his jutsu making a track through the air as he dashed towards his older brother, who still looked unfazed.

Everything passed in a blur after that.

She blinked and Sasuke was right in front of Itachi, ready to finally have his revenge and go on with his life.

He struck and Itachi blocked easily.

Itachi whispered something while Sasuke tried to strike Itachi with his second hand. Again, the elder Uchiha blocked the attack without even breaking a sweat, frustrating Sasuke immensely.

Another blink and it was over.

Sasuke was on the ground, his hands buried in his hair as he doubled over, screaming in agony and despair as Itachi looked down upon him, before moving his gaze to Naruto, who had completely lost control by now.

With the speed of lightning, his hand shot out of his Akatsuki cloak, holding a kunai. Not paying any attention to the pink-haired medic, he sprinted towards his goal.

If Itachi reached Naruto, it would be the end, she was sure of that.

Breathing heavily, she stood up; ignoring the pain that flamed through her abdomen thanks to the wound she had received earlier. Without even thinking clearly, she mimicked Itachi's gesture and grabbed a kunai of her own as she ran towards the Sharingan-user, determined to stop Itachi before he'd reach Naruto.

Itachi seemed to realize that someone was heading his way as he stopped mid-way and turned around, just in time to avoid Sakura's attack.

He countered incredibly quick, striking her in the leg. Sakura gasped in pain and attempted again to strike him, but he was just too fast for her as he moved out of the way.

Waiting for this opportunity, she activated one of her medical jutsu as she tried to reach his legs in order to cut the tendons.

She cried out in pain as a kunai hit her in the shoulder, successfully numbing her arm. A hand shot out, grabbing her by her shirt as he lifted her up with ease. In a last, ditch attempt to keep her honor and look her enemy in the eye, she noticed that his Sharingan had transformed into Mangekyou. Itachi was staring at her with his poker face, before the corners of his mouth turned into something akin of a smirk.

There was no time to make a remark towards the Uchiha, or even to pray that she would survive this encounter as she suddenly felt as if she was pulled away from reality.

As she looked up, the blue sky turned into blood-red and the white clouds turned ominously black. Dazed, she looked around, scanning the environment, until she realized that she was on the road where she saw Sasuke for the last time. Where she thought he was going to leave them all and never come back.

In front of her, Sasuke appeared, dressed in the attire he wore when he trained under Orochimaru.

"Sakura…" he whispered gently, before his eye color changed to gold and he gained the same, disturbing smirk that Orochimaru had.

"Sakura," he repeated her name over and over again, each time sounding more like the snake-shinobi.

She closed her eyes, frightened of the images and the sound of Sasuke's voice as he slowly changed into Orochimaru. It had been her biggest fear for years and to see it become a reality, even if she were captured in a genjutsu, was just too much.

"Don't close your eyes," a deep voice said from behind her and as she turned around, she noticed Naruto looking at Sasuke, before his gaze shifted to her.

His usual electric blue eyes were now dark blue, radiating anger and hatred as he looked at his team-mate. "It's your fault. You couldn't stop him. It's because you're weak."

Orochimaru's voice sounded from behind her. "Good for nothing."

Their words pierced through her soul as if they had slapped her in the face. By the time they were done gloating, Sakura was curled up while trying to drown the sounds out and after a while, it stopped.

As she looked up, bewildered and surprised that it was over already, she saw her parents in front of her.

Both had died last year, when Orochimaru and his Sound shinobi tried another attempt to destroy Konoha completely. They weren't quick enough during the evacuation and the Sound shinobi got to them before the Leaf ninja could help them out.

"How can he know about this…?"

Sakura stood up and tried to reach them, but before she could even move an inch, kunai flew towards her parents from every possible reaction and Sakura could only watch as they pierced crudely through her parents, ultimately killing them.

She shook violently as she watched her parents drop to the floor and started hyperventilating, still shaking as she started crying. She wasn't worth being a kunoichi if a single genjutsu broke her this easily.

Genjutsu…

Though her mind was jumbled and she was in shock because of the images that were in front of her, she attempted to break the genjutsu, using the last of her chakra, but to no avail. The sky remained blood-red and the clouds were still pitch-black.

Clenching her jaw, she closed her eyes, blocking out her parent's demise as they fell down again, reminding herself that it was just an illusion, no matter how real it seemed. They weren't hurting anymore; there were no kunai coming at them anymore.

Tears streamed freely over her cheeks as she grabbed a kunai and stabbed herself in the leg as Inner Sakura cheered her on, not wanting to lose as she pushed the invading chakra out of her mind. With one last gasp, Sakura removed the sinister chakra that belonged to Itachi.

To her utmost surprise, the sky reverted to its original color and she was back on the battlefield, though now on the ground as Itachi had apparently let go of her.

The last thing she saw before passing out because of pure exhaustion was Itachi staring at her while clutching his head uncharacteristically and the ANBU that were nearing the scene of the fight quickly.

--

She awoke in a field, the bright rays of sunlight warming her skin as she opened her eyes, her mouth curved just little shy of a smile. Summer had finally come to Konoha. Was about time too.

It was quiet all around, the only thing she could hear were some birds in the distance. There was no sound of shuriken being thrown towards her, or kunai meeting in the heat of a battle.

She sighed in content, knowing she had to go back to Konoha, back to the battles and back to her family in just a little while, but the ground was too comfortable and the sun was too tempting for her to resist.

Finally, she got up and stretched a little before looking down as she checked her clothes for any potential dirt.

What she saw though, wasn't the uniform she had gotten from Tsunade. Instead, she was wearing pants that were a light shade of grey, and a dark-blue colored shirt with a high collar.

But that wasn't what scared her most.

The fact that she had become a male overnight scared her more, and although she wanted to panic, her mind didn't listen and her hands - which were big, calloused and clearly belonged to a man - continued to brush off the dirt before they adjust her, or his hair.

As soon as long, dark strands of hair fell in front of her eyes, Sakura was sure she had spent too much time mulling over Sasuke's situation. Because judging by the attire and the color of the man's hair, she was obviously dreaming about being him.

'Sasuke' started moving, casually pocketing his hands as he strode towards a set destination, apparently heading for his house.

Sakura sighed, not knowing what exactly was going on, but knowing that she thoroughly enjoyed the warmth and the peace. She wondered about Sasuke and about Naruto and how the both of them were doing, but she dismissed it quickly. There were a lot of ANBU on their way to them, she could see that before she passed out.

They had to be fine.

But what about her?

Did she die and is this just a strange dream before she'd pass on? If so, then why was she dreaming about being Sasuke himself?

Puzzled about the entire situation, she tried to move her hands and feet, but her body wouldn't listen and just moved forward. She could feel everything; the soft grass against her feet, the fabric of her clothes, and the soft hair that framed her - or his - face.

Perhaps this is what they call a lucid dream?

Finally, she reached what seemed the border of Konoha, a few buildings dooming up in front of her, while children played near the edge of the forest where she walked out of. The children looked up at her, gazed in awe before they bowed deeply.

She looked down, knowing that she looked imposing on the little children and tried to smile somewhat. Albeit uncomfortable, the children smiled back; apparently appreciating the effort she took in showing them that she had no bad intentions.

As she walked away from them, she could feel their looks piercing in her back, filled with envy, perhaps, and definitely with determination.

She took a right turn and stopped in front of the huge entry of a compound. As she looked up, she noticed that it belonged to the Uchiha clan, but unlike her time, people were walking in and out, and the district seemed lively, rather than the gloomy and dark atmosphere it normally had.

Another sigh and she started walking again, passed the entrance and stepped inside the Uchiha district. Several people looked over their shoulders and smiled friendly while waving. She made a deep bow before continuing her walk to wherever it was she was going.

What struck her as the strangest thing was that the people inside the district were definitely Uchiha clan members; all of them wore the emblem either on their backs or arms and some of the men even resembled Sasuke.

After another set of turns, she finally arrived at her destination; a large, posing house with the traditional sliding door, rather than the more modern doors they had in her time.

Sakura tried to see if she could see who lived there, but the man didn't look at the names what were displayed in the bold kanji next to the door, but rather stepped in, removed his shoes and walked into the house.

He slid open another door that led to a small porch with a view of the garden. A small bamboo fountain was located there, as were several kinds of flowers and a pond. It looked serene and as if someone had been taking a lot of care of it.

But instead of admiring the pretty scenery, she took an immediate left and calmly walked over the porch before taking another left, seemingly leading her to the back of the house, where a small boy sat on the wooden floor.

The boy was sitting in the opening of two glass sliding doors, a gentle smile gracing his lips as he looked outside, enjoying the cool breeze as it passed by. He was wearing shorts in a lighter shade than the ones the man was wearing and sporting bandages around his ankles. His shirt was similar to the one the man was wearing.

Even from this distance and not even listening to the thoughts of the man as a single name flew by, she knew exactly who it was.

Sasuke

Sasuke seemingly heard her approach as he leaned back somewhat and turned his head to meet her gaze. The smile from before broadened as he quickly stepped up and ran towards him. "Big brother, you're back!"

Just then, she caught her own reflection in the glass windows and noticed Itachi staring back at her.

But it wasn't the Itachi she had seen fight and destroy. He was younger, didn't have his Sharingan on, and the fact that surprised her the most, was the fact that he was smiling back at Sasuke in a somewhat melancholic fashion.

"Hm," Itachi said as he stepped past Sasuke after ruffling up the younger sibling's hair.

And then, she woke to reality.

--

Cool chakra tried to stop the wound from hurting too much, but to no avail. The pain kept on radiating throughout her abdomen as they healed her, gradually restoring the damage that had been done.

She groaned as she moved slightly before a man's hand stopped her and whispering commenced from above her.

"Don't move Haruno-san," a gentle voice said. "You're injured."

"I noticed," she muttered sarcastically as she mustered all her strength to stop herself from showing her pain. "How are Naruto and Sasuke?" she queried, barely staying conscious.

"Uzumaki-san is doing fine," the medic answered. "And Hokage-sama is treating Uchiha-san personally. It seems he suffered from a strong genjutsu."

As she heard the words, she relaxed a little, allowing the medics to finish their work and wrap her in bandages.

Afterwards, Tsunade visited her, quickly checking how well the medics had done their job and how Sakura was doing. She reassured Sakura that everything was fine with both boys and that Naruto would be let out the next day as all his wounds had healed already and the Kyuubi showed no more signs of appearing.

Sasuke would have to stay in the hospital longer, because of the mental damage Itachi had caused and the wounds that he had received in battle. He wasn't Naruto, thus he wouldn't heal as easily as the blond did.

"Shishou?"

Tsunade looked at Sakura, signaling that she had her attention.

"Is it possible for someone to get trapped in a genjutsu, break it and then experience the memories of the person who used the jutsu?" Sakura asked cryptically.

The Fifth remained silent for a while, pondering over the question. "It's… possible. But very unlikely to happen."

Sakura exhaled quietly. "What happens in cases like these?"

Tsunade tipped her head in consideration. "It happens mostly when genjutsu are wrongly broken, or people attempt to try and break a genjutsu that is normally too strong to be broken. In cases like these, bonds are created, which can be seen in telepathy, but some cases also showed that they got certain abilities from the shinobi who tried to use the genjutsu."

"How big is the chance of that happening?" Sakura continued calmly, watching Tsunade.

"Telepathic bonds are more likely than the power transfer," Tsunade explained. "There's probably a two percent chance of getting a telepathic bond while there's less than one percent chance that the power transfer will occur."

"I see," the pink haired kunoichi said, storing the information in the back of her mind.

Tsunade glanced at her. "Why the sudden question?"

"No particular reason," Sakura said before yawning, quickly covering her mouth with her hand.

"Sleep, you need your rest," Tsunade humored her as she turned around. "If you need me for anything, I'll be in the hospital all day long."

When no answer came, Tsunade glanced over her shoulder, wanting an answer, but Sakura had already fallen asleep.

The Hokage smiled as she looked over Sakura before leaving the room soundlessly.

As she walked away, she couldn't help but ponder over the questions Sakura asked her. Something had definitely happened on that battlefield and her student had thought it to be a good idea to hide it from her.

But the nature of her questions worried her.

Tsunade frowned as she thought of Uchiha Itachi.

--

Naruto came to visit her daily during the time that she was admitted to the hospital, telling her stories about how Sasuke was currently ignoring him and brooding like he had always done. Although he made it seem like it was just a big joke and he wasn't worried about Sasuke at all, Sakura knew better.

The look in his eyes would instantly betray all emotions that he tried to hard to keep inside. He never was talented in concealing his feelings.

Ever since Sasuke came back from Orochimaru, seemingly having killed him weeks prior to his return, they had tried their hardest to keep him as far away from missions connected to Akatsuki as possible.

Orochimaru was dead, but the ghosts that haunted Sasuke daily weren't, and wouldn't ever go away. Both Naruto and Sakura had been afraid for a relapse; they had been scared that Sasuke would wander off one of these days in search of his brother.

Although she had hoped that perhaps it was because of Naruto and her that he had stayed, she knew better. Naruto was Itachi's goal, so if Sasuke stuck around, he would one day see Itachi without even having to search for him.

"Naruto?" she spoke up softly during one of these days.

Electric blue eyes looked up, his mouth half-opened as he was telling a story, but she had his undivided attention.

"What happens if he leaves again?" she whispered as she stared out of the window, holding the sheets firmly in her hands.

For a moment, it became eerily quiet, and Sakura resisted the urge to look at Naruto and assess the look in his eyes as he pondered over her question.

"… He won't come back," the ninja whispered as quietly as Sakura had.

She nodded slowly, taking in his words as she tried her hardest not to cry.

Something stirred from where Naruto was sitting; the rustling of fabric and then the soft padding of sandals on the floor. When she turned around, Naruto had vanished and all that was left was the spicy scent of ramen that belonged to him.

The pink haired kunoichi leaned back against her pillow, allowing herself to relive the cold, October night in which he left. Slowly, the image of his smirking face turned into the bright laugh of the younger Sasuke she had seen in her dreams.

Sakura smiled sadly as she pulled the sheets over her body, biting on her thumb as she tried to think of things that would be able to make him smile as brightly as he once had, before realization struck her that he might never smile like that again.

Perhaps that was the thought that saddened her most as she drifted off.

--

Cold, crimson eyes inspected the reflection of a man; a genius who had been praised to heaven, and cursed to hell many times by various people.

Long, dark strands of hair fell over his forehead, gently framing his face. Lines adorned his cheeks, betraying his age. His mouth was a thin, unreadable line and his eyes were completely emotionless.

It was an image he was used to seeing. He never looked any different, even if he would force himself to smile as he once did for his little brother. Even if he'd smile, it would still be cold and meaningless.

As the inspection continued, Itachi soon realized that his eyesight had worsened.

The Uchiha sighed as he turned away from the mirror, picking up his Akatsuki robes from the bed before putting them on.

He was a fool for using Mangekyou twice in one day. Using it on his little brother had become normality; something he'd always do when they met after the Uchiha massacre, but to also knock out a useless kunoichi with such a powerful skill had been reckless and was absolutely not necessary.

But he had been impressed with the fact that she had been the first one who had freed herself from his iron grasp. Itachi would have never expected anyone without Uchiha blood to withstand the power of the Sharingan. If even Sasuke, who mastered the Sharingan's first stage, couldn't stop him from sucking him into the illusion, then what could a medic kunoichi do?

Itachi had underestimated her. He would not do so again.

--

The dream she had about Itachi didn't come back.

Positive that it was just a one time thing, she stepped out of the hospital, listening to Naruto and Sasuke bickering immaturely about the time they needed to recuperate in the hospital and why Naruto always had to be so impatient when it came to waiting for his other two teammates to get better again.

Sakura smiled lightly as she turned around, facing both of her teammates. "Let's go eat somewhere together. We haven't done that for a long time."

"No thanks," Sasuke said immediately, as if he were expecting the question. "I'm going home."

With that, the Uchiha turned around and walked away from his team, pocketing his hands. Naruto made a face at his retreating back, then turned around to face Sakura. "Let's just leave him. He's probably still upset that Itachi beat him again."

She nodded calmly, not really reassured, but Naruto smiled at her. "I know I said this years ago as well, and I turned out to be wrong, but he's not going to leave again. Sasuke is a smart guy; he'll wait for Itachi here. And when he comes, the three of us will end this."

Sakura briefly smiled back at Naruto. "I know, I trust Sasuke to stay in the village. I'm just worried he has another mental relapse, seeing as Itachi used the Mangekyou on him."

He pocketed his hands. "Sakura-chan?"

"Yes?"

Naruto now smiled brightly. "Have a little faith in him."

"I have. But I wonder if he has faith in himself."

--

A/N: Aaand, that's it for the first chapter!

About Sasuke: As said before, story is set prior to the Hidan and Kakuzu arc. In Dreamscape, the events that happen later (IE: Sasuke killing Orochimaru/absorbing him, happens before Hidan and Kakuzu make their appearance. He then decided to go back to Konoha and await Itachi's return there, rather than form Hawk and seek out Itachi)

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you soon!

-- MitsukiShiroi