My Goals are Beyond your Understanding, Uchiha Itachi!

Sasuke woke up from the Tsukuyomi dream realm with a start, his body drenched in cold sweat and his heart hammering in his chest. A short barking laugh of disbelief escaped his lungs— he had actually done it! He had escaped that endless nightmare by himself! He had beaten Itachi at his own game!

Having fallen on his butt when his older brother had dropped him, Sasuke was forced to crane his neck to see what had happened to Itachi— and that's when he noticed that his hateful older brother was frozen in place, immobile as a statue. Itachi was probably suffering from some sort of rebound, since he had forcefully escaped the illusion…

"Move!" Sasuke grunted to himself. "Why won't you move!"

It was the perfect opportunity to finish things, but for some reason, Sasuke's body wasn't obeying him. His mind was sending the commands, but his muscles weren't responding!

Suddenly, Itachi seemed to thaw out of his frozen state. He sank to one knee, breathing hard, his eyes fixed on something in front of him.

Why wasn't his older brother looking at him? What could possibly be so important to Itachi that he would completely ignore his fated enemy lying at his feet!?

With some difficulty, Sasuke managed to turn his neck to look at what Itachi was staring at.

"What's wrong, Itachi?" asked Kisame, his concern not immediately evident in his gruff voice. "Have you overused that eye again?"

"We're leaving, Kisame," gasped a red-faced Itachi, panting heavily. "This girl is far more dangerous than we thought...!"

Sasuke bristled, fury and humiliation coursing through his veins.

Why was it always her!? Why was Itachi looking at Sakura like that!? What was so special about Sakura that Itachi would completely disregard his little brother!? He was supposed to be looking at him, not her!

Truth be told, Sakura wasn't in any shape to be fighting Kisame, either. Competing with the Mangekyō Sharingan's ultimate Genjutsu had completely drained her mental strength and her chakra, even with Inner Sakura's help.

"That's right, run away," said Sakura with false bravado. "Unless you want to endure that all over again."

Kisame released his hold on Naruto and slung his sword over his back, swiftly moving to support Itachi before he collapsed. Judging by his teammate's unfocused eyes, he did not have much ocular power left before he went completely blind…

…and Kisame also noticed that for some reason, Itachi was completely bricked under his Akatsuki robes!

Itachi's Tsukuyomi had the power to alter its victim's perception of time, being able to stretch mere moments into hours, or even years. Manipulation of the perception of time was not something that Sakura could do, but other than boosting her Genjutsu prowess, the Kurama clan's Kekkei Genkai had other interesting powers…

For instance, it could make any injury incurred in a Genjutsu so realistic that it could convince the body that it had suffered the injury in reality. Cuts, bruises, and even death itself in the Genjutsu world would perfectly translate into reality; the target's own chakra destroying the body's structures and tissues of its own volition.

And so, taking advantage of both of these features, Sakura had subjected poor Itachi to a three-day-long gooning session within his own Tsukuyomi! And upon returning to reality, Itachi had been forced to experience seventy-two hours' worth of orgasms within the span of a second, thanks to Sakura's ability to turn illusory 'injuries' into a reality!

'It was me, Itachi!" said Inner Sakura triumphantly. 'I had my illusions jerk you off in the Tsukuyomi, so that when your mind resynchronized with your body, you would nut countless times in a single second!'

It was a testament to Itachi's will that he had not suffered a devastating heart attack right there and then, but after enduring that, he had certainly lost his ability to fight.

Furthermore, he knew very well that Sakura had chosen to spare his life. Whether it was because she was too soft-hearted to kill or because she wanted to leave the final blow to Sasuke, he had no idea, but he certainly wasn't about to stick around and find out!

"Don't… even look at her…!" Itachi groaned. "You'll… die…!"

Knowing very well that Itachi's Sharingan could normally see through all illusions, Kisame was now convinced that the pink-haired girl's Genjutsu was anything but ordinary. He flung Itachi over his shoulder, before escaping through the hole that Sasuke had made in the wall with his Chidori.

Sakura waited a few seconds to make sure the two Akatsuki members were truly gone, before allowing herself to relax. Her shoulders sagged, and she let out a deep sigh of relief. It looked like they were in the clear…

"Here," said Sakura, striding towards Sasuke and extending her hand to help him to his feet. "Are you okay, Sasuke?"

But to her shock, Sasuke batted her hand away.

"Who asked for your help?" he growled, his Sharingan spinning rapidly in frustration. "I had Itachi right where I wanted him, but you scared him away!"

"Oi, Sasuke!" Naruto shouted angrily, upon seeing Sakura's shocked and hurt face. "In case you haven't noticed, Sakura saved your sorry butt! You'd think some thanks are in order, wouldn't ya know?"

Sasuke staggered to his feet, glowering at Naruto.

What the hell was his problem? And why was Itachi after him, too? Was the last Uchiha of Konoha that worthless in his brother's eyes?

"It's none of your business, you loser," Sasuke hissed. "Stay out of this, if you know what's good for you!"

"I'm not a loser," Naruto growled, marching right up to Sasuke's face. "In case you haven't noticed, this isn't the academy any more! And what you say to Sakura is my business, because we're a team— Sakura doesn't deserve to be treated like this by anyone, least of all you!"

Naruto and Sasuke glared at each other, standing so close to each other that their noses were nearly touching.

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"

It's at this moment that Guy decided to make his entrance; he'd tracked Itachi and Kisame from Konoha to this love hotel, and he'd been hiding behind a corner farther away, watching the situation unfold more-or-less clearly in the reflection of his forehead protector. But upon hearing raised voices, he had decided to jump into action!

Might Guy turned into a green streak, soaring across the corridor to deliver a flying kick to the back of Sasuke's head, causing his forehead, and then his lips, to smash into Naruto's!

"Ah," said Guy, finally noticing that he had hit the wrong target. "My bad."

"Blergh!"

Naruto and Sasuke both retched and dry heaved, trying to get the taste of each other's mouths out of their tongues while Sakura watched on dumbfounded, blood dripping from her nose.

"Once a loser, always a loser," Sasuke managed to choke out after a while. "Whatever. None of you are worth my time— if Itachi's gone, then there's no point in staying in this dumb with you idiots..."

"Sasuke…" Sakura murmured melancholically to herself, as she watched Sasuke stagger away, holding his injured side. "Is there no longer any place left in your heart for Team 7…?"

Ironically, Sakura's desire to rapidly grow stronger to save Sasuke from the Curse of Hatred had accelerated his fall to madness, driving him further away from her and his friends. Neither she nor Naruto could not fully empathize with Sasuke's pain, and as a result, they were about to lose their friend to hatred.