AN: This is my latest project, about Sakura and the Akatsuki (and Neji). I realize that this theme has been used a hundred times already, but well, highschool AU has too, and people weren't all that negative about the SKEP. So now I wanted to try something different, more... dark, I guess. Pairings are NejiTen and some sort of ItaSaku.

01- An interesting proposal

An evening like all others. She had gotten used to the silence eventually, but the loneliness was still painful. Though she didn't have to cry herself to sleep every night anymore.

Sakura closed the windows and slowly walked back to her bed. Her large, cold, very empty bed. She drew back the sheets, the rustle of the fabric barely breaking the silence. She curled up under the blanket and was about to drift off, when she suddenly heard a sound.

"Haruno-san."

She shot upright, quickly checking all corners of her room. In front of her, half-hidden in the shadows, stood a cloaked figure. Why hadn't she sensed any chakra? She heard the voice again.

"I have an offer for you. Please listen."

"Who are you?" she asked sharply, clutching the sheets. The voice was low, the figure tall, she didn't recognize him. What was a strange man doing in her room?

"I come in name of the organization I am part of. We are in need of a healer, and have heard you are the best medical ninja currently known. Thus I have been sent to request your assistance."

She quickly calculated. An organization in need of a healer, but not wanting to rent one? There was only one she could think of. Only one she had thought of so often lately.

"You're from Akatsuki." It wasn't a question.

"That is correct. When you've accepted our offer, we will…"

"Forget it," she snapped, and tried to reach behind her without the intruder noticing. Where was that kunai when you needed it? "I'll never accept. I'll never help you. I won't betray the village and join you, not after what you did. Please leave now."

"No. You will listen first," he said. She couldn't place it, but he seemed somehow familiar.

"You have nothing left that binds you to Konoha," he continued. "And we can pay you much more than what your salary as shinobi will ever be."

"I don't care about money," she hissed. "Even if I did, I still have my loyalty. But above all, your organization killed all the persons I care about. Why would I ever want to help you?"

"Because you have no one else to care for. You feel useless working in the hospital. You are looked at with pity, people avoid you. The leaders of Konoha don't respect your talents. When you join us, you will not feel useless. You will have company, people who respect and need your talents. Your life will have purpose."

He stepped forward and the little light that peeked through the curtains illuminated his features. For one moment, Sakura was breathless. Then she realized that no one can return from death, not even an Uchiha. This was not Sasuke, but his brother. His murderer.

"Please consider our offer. I'll come back to hear your answer," he said, and then he vanished.

Sakura did not sleep well that night.

"Good morning, Haruno-san," the woman behind the counter greeted. Sakura nodded a greeting back, and checked the mission board. She was not needed in the hospital, but there was a big ANBU thing coming up soon. Information would be given in a meeting that morning. Sakura checked the clock on the other wall and cursed when she saw she would be late. She hurried towards the meeting room and quietly opened the door. All heads turned into her direction, but as soon as the other ANBU members recognized her, they avoided her eyes.

"Good morning, sir," she greeted the captain. He was new, the current Hokage had installed him and she suspected him to have bonds with Root. He never gave her the missions she wanted and sometimes downright worked against her.

"Good morning," he said stiffly, and continued explaining the details of the mission.

"As I was saying before we were interrupted, you will go deep into the forests, and investigate the disappearance of some high officials there. The Advisor of the Daimyo and the fiancé of said Daimyo's daughter were traveling through, but they and their company seem to have vanished in thin air. We'll send you out in squads of four people: two hunters, one leader, and one medic. Lists of the squads and their members will be on the mission board at ten. Any questions?"

A young woman with brown curls (what was a fragile creature like her doing in ANBU?) raised her hand and asked:

"How long will the mission take?"

"That depends," the captain answered. "Either until the subjects return home safely or until their corpses are found. You will not be finished until you know where they are."

The woman nodded. Sakura suppressed her yawning. These meetings always took so long…

A tall man asked: "Sir, I thought searching missed people was Chuunin level. Why is this considered ANBU then?"

The captain said: "Normally, finding missing persons is indeed Chuunin level, but these are not normal persons. The Daimyo has been questioned a lot about the betrothal of his daughter, and chances are that her fiancé has been kidnapped by rebels or dissatisfied parties. That's why it's ANBU; should the situation get out of hand, then we are able to take care of it."

"I see," the man said. The captain nodded.

"Anything else? Well then, you will depart in two days. Check your squad, prepare your weapons and meet your people at the mentioned time. Work carefully."

He never wished them good luck. ANBU members didn't live by luck, only by their efficiency. One of the reasons Sakura liked working there.

There were numerous other reasons, of course. She could kill without hesitance, and no one would resent her for that. She could imagine whatever face she wanted behind the masks of the unidentified enemies she crushed. She could save her squad members from death with her medical skills, because although they didn't matter to her, she could at least prove it wasn't her fault she hadn't been able to save her friends. And she could close her eyes and pretend it was Ino she was bringing back to life, or Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-kun. All the ones that had slipped away underneath her fingers. Blood loss, exhaustion, separated limbs, poisoning, cut clean through… She had seen so many horrors, and still she was alive. Maybe ANBU could change that too.

She was in squad 2, with two unknown hunters, but a leader she remembered.

Hyuuga Neji.

He had been lucky to survive the slaughter, he was one of the few. Though, lucky? She imagined he was as lonely as her, with all his teammates dead. No, wait, Tenten was still alive too. She had never talked much with the girl. Or Neji, for that matter. Perhaps she would get to know him better during this mission. Little chance, though, there was hardly any talking in ANBU besides orders. Another benefit, no one would ask her anything unrelated to the mission.

She spent one afternoon preparing for the mission. She polished and sharpened her knifes, throwing stars and other weapons, found a map of the area they were going to, and put them all in the pouch she carried on her back. She laid out her black pants, black top and white vest. The porcelain mask came on top with her gloves and arm-plates. She prepared bread that would stay good for a long time, and filled her water bottle. There was no one to say goodbye to.

The one-and-a-halve day she had left she spent brooding on Akatsuki's offer.

Was there anything tying her to Konoha anymore? The memory of her loved ones, perhaps, but they wouldn't get back to life whether she joined Akatsuki or not. The hospital had many qualified doctors, they wouldn't really miss her. Not that she had that much to do, anyway, despite her being undoubtedly the best. ANBU didn't really need her, too. First aid was a skill all members had to know, and Sakura's talents were hardly ever needed. No one ever talked to her. No one held her, hugged or kissed her, no one even dared to look her straight in the eyes. It was painful.

Now that she thought about it, having to work with Hyuuga Neji might prove difficult if he held her responsible for Lee's death, like some other people did. True, she wasn't there when he and Gai died, but she should have been. She was a medical ninja, she was supposed to save the warriors. And really, she had wanted to go to the battlefield too, but Kakashi-sensei had told her to stay in the village and not come out. He had smiled at her with one eye, and that was the last she had ever seen from him. Naruto, about to be chosen as Hokage (if only this battle was over first), had kissed her before joining the fight as well. Later he was brought back on a stretcher, still breathing. Kakashi's body was recovered too, but he had been already dead by then.

She had tried so hard, but Naruto was hurt so badly. She could almost feel his spirit pulling at her grip on his life, begging her to let him go. She refused, egoistic, not wanting to be left alone, but she had to give in eventually. She didn't know any life-transferring jutsu, or she would've tried it. The demon died with him, she imagined she heard the fox howl in agony, in those last, heart-breaking moments. Or maybe it was only her own crying. Then the monitor had given a long monotonous beep, and Sakura fell down on her knees, shaking, hiding her face in her hands.

Naruto was the last one she lost. And now she was all alone, with no one wanting to involve themselves with her. They were right. There really was nothing binding her to this village anymore.

Neji checked the list again. He was in command of two hunters he knew by name and face, but not personally, and one medic. Haruno Sakura. Well, he wouldn't have to worry about anyone dying on their mission. Almost everyone she treated survived. Almost everyone.

He took the time to prepare. He carefully sharpened his weapons, and let Tenten check their balance.

The girl nodded in approval, and he put them in his bag. She had made him provisions too. His black clothes followed, black so no one would see the blood. He had always wondered why the vest was white then. His porcelain mask was next, the leader mask. Tenten looked at him with such pride and admiration when he wore his uniform. It made her eyes sparkle and triggered something fluttering in his stomach. He removed his mask and took her in his arms.

"Will you come back safely?" she whispered later, her head resting on his bare chest. She traced the scars on his skin. He absently played with her dark locks, not knowing what to say.

"It's ANBU. I can't promise anything, but I'll do my best."

Tenten closed her eyes. He hated to make her worry.

"Haruno Sakura-san is the medical in my squad," he said, convinced it would give her hope. It did.

"Then I won't be afraid so much. Sakura… Lee was crazy about her. Poor girl, she has no one left now. Perhaps I should visit her once. She needs company."

"What would she need company for?" he asked. She laughed.

"Logical. Why do you enjoy my company?"

He wanted to answer something about his bed being so cold otherwise, but it probably wouldn't be the answer she wanted to hear. So he kept silent.

She continued: "People don't like being alone, and in a harsh world like ours it's even worse. If you hadn't been there, when Lee and Gai-sensei got killed… I don't know if I would've been able to go on, if I didn't have you."

He nodded, understanding. "I'll try not to be too hard to her, then," he said. Tenten smiled, then started tying her hair back up. He grumbled, disappointed, and pulled her down again.

"Just a bit longer…"

"No, we both have missions. There are more important things than love. Loyalty to your village, for example, and that one will be questioned when you don't show up!"

"Hn. More important than love, yeah right! If you decided to walk away and become a missing-nin, I'd follow you definitely, and not as a hunter."

She shook her head. "Tsk, tsk. I feel honored, but as ANBU squad leader you have to give a good example."

He sighed and gave in. There was just no arguing possible with her.