Darkness Within
Chapter One - Old Friends and a Captive
The wind ruffled the dark black cloak that the ANBU member wore. One stray lock of pink hair whipped out of the hood, only to be caught again with a black gloved hand. The white mask had nothing but black lining the underside of the eyeholes, the rest was plain, resembling nothing. The ninja was crouched on a high tree branch, and a few feet away three other ANBU members were also crouching on trees, awaiting the orders of their leader. They had been sent on a fairly easy mission. All they had to do was meet up with three of Konoha's ninjas, the reason Tsunade had sent an ANBU squad was because she feared that Sound nins would be following the three ninjas. Sakura hadn't been given their names, not that it mattered, she was told that she would recognize them.
Sakura snorted under her mask. She didn't want to be on this mission, her team had only got back after a week long mission, Sakura would much rather have been sleeping or soaking in the tub. Not that she ever got what she wanted. Sakura rose when she felt three chakras come into her range. They were a few miles away. Sakura waved her hand and her team followed her lead, moving soundlessly in the tree canopy. At seventeen Sakura had been admitted into ANBU, at eighteen she had been named the leader of squad 4. Now, at nineteen and after hundreds of assignments, Sakura found the task of escorting three people back to Konoha troublesome and a waste of her time. But an order was an order, and Sakura wasn't one to say no.
Sakura snorted again, she was starting to sound like Shikamaru. She raised a hand and everyone stopped, silent, waiting. The three chakra signatures were moving towards them, they were almost in view. Sakura leaned against the tree she was standing on. She looked back and noticed that Hinata, Kiba, and even Akamaru, Kiba's dog looked bored. Her other team member, Shino, looked like his usual stoic self, but she could tell that he too wasn't exactly thrilled to be on such a stupid mission. Sakura hoped the three people would hurry up, her bed was calling to her and she still had to write up a report for their last mission, and now this one on top of it. Finally the three figures came into view. Sakura's heart stopped. She vaguely registered that the three behind her also stiffened, if they hadn't been wearing their masks their faces probably would have looked shocked, so would Sakura's.
Her mind went blank, how? Everyone had though they had died, there hadn't been word from them in four years. But there they were, Kakashi and Naruto with Sasuke in tow. Four years ago Naruto and Kakashi had gone off in search of Sasuke, Sakura had wanted to go as well but Orochimaru had taken to attacking Konoha and her medical skills were needed too much for Tsunade to let her go. Four years. And they had managed to bring Sasuke with them.
Sakura felt like running up to them and hugging them all. But then her ANBU side took over, it was still a mission, and if she got all sentimental now she would be useless when or if anyone attacked them. Sakura wasn't about to lose any of her team due to carelessness, not again. Never again. Sakura nodded to her team and jumped down in front of her three old team mates. Sakura was going to have a talk with Tsunade about springing things on her suddenly. The woman certainly had a sadistic sense of humour. Sakura shook her head inwardly and nodded once at the three before her.
"We're here to escort you back to Konoha. Hokage's orders." Kakashi nodded his head, he looked the same, except perhaps a bit more weary. Naruto looked more mature, but still bursting with too much energy. Sasuke looked like his brother, only with shorter hair and taller. The rest of her team must have picked up on her want to save reunions until they were back in Konoha. Sakura motioned them all forward.
"Follow me." Sakura smiled as Kiba fell into the spot on her left and Hinata and Shino fell behind their three charges. She no longer had to give many orders, they had been working together for a little over half a year, and she found that they all worked well together. That might have been because her three team mates had once been a team, but Sakura was still glad that she didn't have to give them many orders for them to understand. Sakura took off again, flying into the trees, scanning the surrounding for and enemies. Suddenly Naruto gave a sharp intake.
"Now I remember! That's Akamaru! Kiba, is that really you?" Sakura winced, she just wanted to get back, her entire team was probably more than tired. She really would have to talk to Tsunade about it all. Kiba look towards Sakura, silently asking if he could respond, knowing she wanted to wait. Sakura sighed and nodded her head. Akamaru staying in Kiba's position while Kiba moved back until he was running alongside Naruto.
"Ya, it's me."
"Wow! I never thought you'd join ANBU! It's so great to see you."
"Ya, it's good to see you too Naruto. Hey Kakashi, Sasuke." Sasuke remained silent, merely nodding. Kakashi waved once.
"Yo."
"So what took you so long Naruto, I could have sword you said something like 'It'll only take me a year, you'll see.' right?" Naruto sighed.
"Ya, well, Orochimaru turned out to be harder to track down than I had thought. We only barely got Sasuke out. I couldn't kill the bastard though, he's still alive and kicking unfortunately. But Sasuke does have some good news for baa-chan. Right Sasuke?"
"Hn." Sakura wondered what news they had, hopefully it was something good, because the Sound attacks were getting worse. Sakura looked back and noticed Hinata staring at Naruto, no doubt a blush beneath her mask. Poor girl, she was probably nervous as hell. They were almost at Konoha now.
"So who else is here? Do I know anyone else?" Kiba looked up at Sakura, who nodded her head slightly, not answering would only make him more troublesome. Besides, they were only a few minutes away and nobody was around them as far as she could tell.
"Well, there's Shino and Hinata-"
"Hinata?" Naruto looked back at the smallest of the cloak clad ANBU members, she gave a small wave.
"H-hello Naruto-kun." Sakura smiled, Hinata's stutter was almost gone, she usually didn't even had one unless she was nervous or intimidated. Naruto grinned at Hinata and waved back then he turned to Shino and waved at him too. Shino gave a curt nod. Watching the gates of Konoha come into view.
"So who's your leader Kiba?" Sakura sighed, wishing he hadn't asked, she wasn't sure if she would face them yet. Shino sped forward and responded to Naruto's question as he past.
"No one you know." Sakura smiled and nodded to Shino in thanks as he sped ahead, probably eager to get there first. What he said was true, none of them knew her anymore. She was no longer weak, and she had changed, grown up, become hardened to the world. Naruto huffed, obviously not liking the way Shino had answered him. And then they were in Konoha. The guard at the gate nodded to them.
"The Hokage wants you to bring them up to her and report." Sakura nodded, then turned to her three team members.
"You can go now, hopefully we won't get another mission tonight, but just in case I'd get to sleep as soon as you get in." Kiba laughed as he took off his mask and Akamaru woofed and rubbed against Sakura. Sakura absently petted the dog's head before nodded curtly.
"You three, follow me." Naruto grumbled.
"Sheesh, what a hard ass, what's eating her?" Hinata gasped.
"N-Naruto-kun! Don't say that!" Naruto shrugged.
"Fine, I guess I'll catch up with everyone tomorrow right?" Hinata nodded as did Kiba, Shino shrugged, then all three nodded at Sakura before disappearing. Sakura sighed and led the three of them into Tsunade's office. Sakura bowed once Tsunade looked up. Tsunade smiled, a glint in her eye when the door closed behind all four of them.
"What's the matter captain, you didn't like my mission?" Sakura snorted again.
"Hardly Hokage-sama. I find your sadistic humour as funny as I always do." Tsunade laughed and Naruto stepped forward.
"Baa-chan, how come you let her talk to you like that but you hit me when I talk to you?" Tsunade got up and hit Naruto over the head.
"Because unlike you baka, she doesn't call me old. Isn't that right Sakura?" There was a glint in her eye and Sakura sighed. Really, it was almost better when her former sensei was drunk, at least then she wasn't so malicious. Naruto turned wide eyes to Sakura.
"Baa-chan, what are you talking about? That's not Sakura!" Tsunade hit him again, Sakura sighed. Then she pulled off her black hood and took off her ANBU mask, shooting a glare at Tsunade before frowning at Naruto.
"And why, may I ask Naruto, could it not be me?" Naruto gaped, looking like a fish, Kakashi looked surprised and Sasuke frowned.
"B-because you're Sakura! The Sakura I know would never want to be a part of ANBU, let alone make it in." Sakura narrowed her eyes at him. Then scoffed.
"That was four years ago Naruto, lots can change in that amount of time." Sasuke suddenly spoke up, the frown still on his face.
"But Shino said you were no one we knew." Sakura glanced at him, nodding slowly.
"I am." He looked slightly taken back, Kakashi frowned, Naruto just looked puzzled. Tsunade sighed.
"Really Sakura, you're no fun."
"That reminds me Hokage-sama, Naruto claims that Sasuke has information regarding Orochimaru." Tsunade snapped to attention and looked inquiringly at Sasuke.
"You do?" Sasuke nodded his head slowly.
"Good. Spit it out then." Sasuke frowned, looking at Sakura. Tsunade noticed his look.
"Speak up already Sasuke, I assure you, everyone in this room can hear what you have to say, and I'm assuming that both Naruto and Kakashi already know this information." Sasuke nodded.
"Very well. You may recall that Orochimaru lost the use of his hands." Tsunade snorted.
"We know this, but it no longer matters, he switched bodies already, remember, so he has the use of his hands again." Sasuke shook his head.
"Yes, he switched bodies, but apparently whatever was done to him slowly started to happen again. As of now, Orochimaru had once again lost the use of his arms. Which means he's probably going to come after you since only you know the Genesis of Rebirth jutsu." Tsunade swore, Sakura tensed. Kakashi looked wary.
"Hokage-dono, you are the only one that knows that jutsu correct." Tsunade sighed and turned to Sakura.
"No. Sakura also knows the technique." Sakura sighed and leaned up against the wall, raising a hand to massage the back of her neck. Naruto gasped.
"Sakura-chan! What is that!?" Sakura frowned to look where he was pointing. She looked at the only amount of exposed skin and smiled at her tattoo, it wasn't her ANBU tattoo, it was a tattoo she had decided to get. It was a cherry blossom, gone in black. Sakura had other tattoos on her body as well, on three different parts of her body, for three people. Three people her carelessness had killed.
"It's a tattoo Naruto." Naruto sputtered.
"But why do you have one? You're not old enough to get one!" Sakura frowned.
"There isn't an age for getting tattoos Naruto-chan."
"B-but, you can't have a tattoo." Tsunade snorted.
"Please, if you're that upset about just that part of it then you don't want to see her other ones." Naruto gaped.
"Part!? Others!?! What are you talking about baa-chan!?" Naruto yelped as Tsunade hit him again. Sakura sighed. She needed sleep, she couldn't keep up the appearance of being cool, her nerves were shot.
"Well. I'm going now Hokage-sama, I'll get the reports to you tomorrow. Goodnight." Tsunade nodded.
"Goodnight, tell the rest of your team that you have the next day off, you deserve it." Sakura nodded tiredly.
"I trust the information we received from them was at least somewhat helpful." Tsunade sighed.
"Not as helpful as I had hoped, everything they wrote down we already know. There was one thing however." Sakura looked up. She was pissed that their week long mission had only produced one thing, it hadn't been an easy mission.
"What was it?" Tsunade made a shooing motion.
"I'll tell you in a day, I'm planning on sending your team anyways, don't worry about it." Sakura nodded and left, smiling at the three people she hadn't seen in years.
Sasuke watched her leave. She looked good. Her pink hair was longer, mid back, and strength radiated off of her. The fact that she was in ANBU and a captain no less surprised him, and made him realize that he had missed her while he was away. To see that she had grown made him happy, she would probably make a good wife. He needed to restart his clan again after he defeated Itachi, and Sakura was looking like a good choice. Kakashi sighed once Sakura had left.
"She's changed." Sasuke frowned, Kakashi didn't exactly sound happy about it. Tsunade sighed and sat down behind her desk.
"What did you expect Kakashi? She was left all alone, did you honestly expect her to just be okay?" Kakashi shuffled his feet a little.
"No, but I was expecting someone…weaker, and I especially didn't expect her to have learned that particular lesson." Tsunade sighed. Naruto frowned, as did Sasuke.
"What lesson baa-chan?" Tsunade scowled at Naruto.
"The lesson of being responsible for others and having them fie on you." Naruto frowned.
"What do you mean?" Tsunade sighed.
"Sakura led another squad of people before she led her current one. They were sent on an S class mission and everyone else on her team died. Admittedly there wasn't much she could have done to stop their deaths but she blames herself anyway." Kakashi sighed, Sasuke spoke up.
"That's why caring is a weakness." Tsunade glare at the young Uchiha.
"No, it's not. And I assure you, Sakura is anything but weak, she didn't get to where she is now without working for it. The team she leads is one of the best, don't underestimate her, it'll get you killed." Sasuke frowned but nodded. Tsunade groaned.
"Sasuke…I've decided to give you a second chance, but if you do anything suspicious or disobey any of my orders you're gone, am I clear?" Sasuke snorted.
"Yes."
"Good. You're all dismissed, get some sleep, I'm sure people will want to see you all tomorrow." They all nodded and left, happy to be back.
Sakura wiped the sleep from her eyes as she headed into the bar, being pulled my Ino. She greeted everyone there, noticing that Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi were absent. Hinata looked up from her conversation with Tenten to blush slightly.
"N-Naruto-kun." Sakura looked up and saw all three of them. She warred within herself, she was supposed to be a Shinobi, she wasn't supposed to let emotions show, hadn't she spent the last four years training for that soul purpose? But seeing all three of them she couldn't do it, she could stop herself from running over to them and embracing each one, telling them how much she missed them. Naruto looked the most pleased, hugging her back, Kakashi looked relieved and Sasuke looked slightly startled by the hug but indifferent. When Sakura turned around she say Shikamaru nudge Ino.
"I win! You have to pay for the meal the next time we all go out and eat." Ino looked unhappy.
"Damn it all Sakura! Why couldn't you have waited until later on today to snap?" Sakura glared.
"Why are you taking bets on me?" Shikamaru shrugged.
"Cause it's fun, besides, I just won, you should be glad people know you so well." Sakura hissed then looked around the bar until she spotted the right person and call out loudly to him.
"Hey Genma, is that bet on Shikamaru and Temari still open?" Shikamaru looked up.
"What bet?" Genma laughed.
"Sure is, you wanna join in?" Sakura smiled evilly at Shikamaru.
"I want two months from now." Genma laughed and nodded.
"you got it!" Shikamaru glared at Sakura, she just smiled back. Hinata smiled a little.
"It's only f-fair Shikamaru-chan."
"Man, women are so troublesome." Everyone laughed and Sakura smiled when Naruto and Sasuke joined in on the conversation and Kakashi went to join his group of friends.
"Come in." Sakura sighed and entered the room, followed by her three team members. Kiba seemed to be sporting a hangover from drinking too much and Sakura was glad he didn't let it show, otherwise Tsunade wouldn't have been too happy. They all bowed.
"Hokage-dono."
"Hokage-sama."
"Good, you're here. The information you received was for the most part unhelpful, however there was one bit of information that seems promising. Apparently Orochimaru has been recruiting quietly, every missing nin that thinks he has a shot at taking over for good is flocking to him. However, there's an envoy that takes them to Orochimaru every month. Apparently there's going to be a good number of missing nin waiting at the meeting point to be taken to the snake. I want you to go to the designated place and kill them all. The less people Orochimaru gathers to his side the better." Sakura nodded slowly. Not like the part where there were a good number of missing nins to take care of.
"Do we know the location at least?" Tsunade shook her head.
"No, but we do know of several missing nins who are going to go there, you'll have to get the information from them one way or another." Sakura nodded.
"Could everyone but Sakura leave for a moment please." Sakura frowned along with the others, but they left quietly.
"What is it?" Tsunade sighed.
"I know that this is an important mission, which is the reason I'm giving you the option to say no." Sakura frowned, not liking where Tsunade was going.
"Say no to what?"
"I need someone who knows them to watch Naruto and especially Sasuke. I'm hoping that you can take them on your mission, they'll be of help, and I need someone who can tell to see how far they've come, and I need you to assess if Sasuke is safe or if he's going to be a hazard to Konoha. However, if you feel that it will get in the way of your mission you don't have to take them." Sakura sighed and massaged her head.
"You want me to keep an eye on them, to see how they react to being back in the line of fire?" Tsunade nodded. Sakura thought.
"The extra man power will help, but that's assuming they can take orders from me, they view me as weak, and they're both hard-headed. But, you're right, someone who knows them needs to assess them, especially Sasuke. But the only way I'm taking them is if they understand that I'm leading, and they also understand that they have to take orders from the rest of my team if I'm not there. They'd better not go off half-cocked, or it'll cause problems." Tsunade nodded.
"I'll make sure they know, if they don't you can do whatever it takes to complete your mission, that includes killing them." Sakura winced but nodded.
"Very well. When do we leave?"
"I'll have to brief the two of them, so you'll leave in one hour, tell the rest of your team." Sakura nodded.
"Right." She bowed and left, finding the rest of her team waiting for her with puzzled faces. Sakura groaned and leant against the wall.
"The Hokage wants to put Naruto and Sasuke with us for this mission." Hinata looked a little worried and Kiba frowned but it was Shino who spoke up.
"Why would she send the two of them with us on an ANBU mission?" Sakura took a deep breath and the released it.
"In truth? She wants me to assess them, plus we could probably use the extra man power on this one, even though they aren't ANBU they'll still be able to help somewhat. But…if they get in our way I have the authorization to do whatever is necessary to complete the mission. So if they're getting in your way let me know and I'll send them back. If you're uncomfortable with this tell me now and I'll inform the Hokage that I've changed my mind. The mission comes first." Everyone thought about it for a while before they all nodded they're heads.
"It'll be fine, just so long as they know that they're not superior." Sakura nodded.
"They will. We leave in one hour, go get ready."
Sasuke nodded to Naruto as they both entered Tsunade's office. He wondered what she wanted.
"Good, you're both here. I'm sending you both on a mission with Sakura." Naruto literally bounced in joy.
"Stop that. Before I'm letting you go there are a few things you need to understand. This is an S class mission, if you have any fears about going back out now. Secondly, Sakura is the squad leader, you are under her command. That means you take orders from her, I don't even care if it's an order to wash the dishes, you do it, do you hear me. Because if you even toe the line of command she has the authority to do whatever it is that's necessary to complete her mission. That includes killing you for your information. And let me tell you, she will do it if you put her team in danger, and it'll be easy for her. You're going to follow her no matter what, do you understand?" Sasuke nodded and so did Naruto, who was solemn for once.
"Hai."
"Good. You're going to be impersonating ANBU members, your uniforms are on the table over there, meet everyone else at the gate in half an hour. You're dismissed." Sasuke and Naruto left after picking up their new uniforms.
Sakura watched the two ANBU clad members come walking up to her squad. It was easy to tell who was who, Naruto had already taken the time to paint red whiskers on his mask, Sasuke hadn't done anything to his. Sakura nodded tot hem, and then in a split second she drew her katana from under her cloak and held it up against both of their throats.
"If you do anything, and I do mean anything to put my team in jeopardy I'll kill you, it doesn't matter if you're my friends or not, my team and my mission comes first, am I clear?" Naruto looked scared even behind his mask, Sasuke looked neutral.
"H-hai Sakura-chan! We won't do anything I swear!" Sakura nodded and sheathed her katana.
"Good. Let's go, we don't have much time to find our information."
"Is that the missing nin?" Sakura looked over to where Shino was directing.
"Looks like it." Sakura sighed and took off her cloak and pulled out her small pack. Hinata stepped forward.
"Ne. Sakura-chan, you don't have to do it this time, I can go if you want." Sakura smiled as she pulled off her mask but shook her head.
"No thanks. Besides, the last time you went we had to pull the men off you because they were so attracted." Hinata blushed and Kiba scoffed.
"Like it's any better when you go." Sakura smirked.
"Of course it is, I dimly recall having two men less than Hinata. Therefore it is best if I go." Even Shino snorted.
"Right. At least Hinata will let us help her. Stupid feminist pride." Sakura scoffed.
"Why would I need your help when I'm more than capable of dealing with a few drunks. Now, if you're all done I can go and change, unless you'd rather have Naruto go, although I'd doubt he'd get very far." Kiba grumbled and Hinata blushed, Naruto looked confused, as did Sasuke.
"Ne, Sakura-chan, what are you talking about?" Sakura turned to look at Naruto and smiled.
"Nothing Naruto, just talking, sorry to have confused you." With that she slipped behind some trees to change.
Sasuke sighed, he knew that the only reason he and Naruto were on the mission was because Tsunade thought that the only person qualified to tell if he was a threat to Konoha was Sakura. She was probably supposed to assess them both too. It was a tiresome mission to begin with. He understood that killing off a few missing nin before they could boost Orochimaru's forces was good, but without the location it seemed pointless. A rusting sounded and Sakura walked out of the bushes she had gone into to change. Sasuke's mouth dropped for a moment before he forcefully closed it.
She was stunning. She was wearing a short black dress that revealed the curves she had obtained since he last saw her. Black knee-high boots adorned her feet. Her pink hair was swept up with a few errant strands framing her face. And her cherry blossom tattoos that started just above her right breast and lazily bade their way across her shoulder and down her arm made her look even more exquisite. There were seven cherry blossoms in total, each on probably two inches in diameter. She also had think black liner on her eyelids, making her jade green eyes stand out even more. She was no longer the little twelve year old girl who had begged him to stay, and he found himself wanting the stunning beauty in front of him. Naruto piped up suddenly.
"S-Sakura? How'd you turn pretty all of a sudden?" Sasuke was surprised when Hinata hit him lightly.
"N-Naruto-kun! Don't b-be so rude! Sakura-c-chan has always been p-pretty." Sakura smiled at the young woman.
"Thank-you Hinata. But really it's all in the tattoos." Kiba snorted and Sakura winked at them all before meandering her way into the bar at the outskirts of the small town. She sat down gracefully beside the missing nin they were targeting and Sasuke hated the way the man eyes her. Then he felt anger at himself. This wasn't how it was supposed to be, it was supposed to be her wanting him, not the other way around. How could she have changed so much? He had been expecting some weak Shinobi that would welcome him with open arms and beg him to let her into his life. He didn't like that fact that it wasn't how he had planned.
Sakura sighed to herself as she downed another glass of sake, using chakra to eliminate the alcohol from her system. The stupid missing nin held hid liquor well however, because they were already on they third bottle of sake and he barely looked more than a little buzzed. Maybe it was time fore her to forcefully drag the information out. Sakura smiled, acting drunk as she leaned towards the man, allowing him to slightly see down her dress
"You're quite honey, but -hic- you don't have enough danger for my tastes." The man scoffed.
"Danger? What, working with Orochimaru isn't dangerous enough for you?" Sakura gasped lightly and brushed up against him.
"You work for Orochimaru? Really?" He was looking at her chest, hardly thinking when he answered her.
"I will by tomorrow night." Sakura pressed a little closer, noticing the dirty looks other men gave the missing nin.
"What do you mean?" He licked his lips before leaning in to whisper.
"We meet by the old ruins near here you see, and then we get taken to him, very dangerous you understand." Sakura purred leaning in so she could whisper in his ear.
"It does sound dangerous, especially since the ruins near here are huge, you'd get lost!" He smirked.
"Well now little girl, it isn't that hard to find the only still standing building is it?" Sakura smiled at him and let her hair down, the sign that she was done and had what they needed. On queue Kiba stormed into the bar looking livid. He pointed at her and snarled.
"You! Just what do you think you're doing here?" Sakura pouted.
"Just having fun." Kiba growled and pulled her away from the bar before glowering at the missing nin.
"Stay away from my fiancé, you hear me!" The missing nin obviously didn't want a fight so he nodded quickly, Sakura smirked inwardly, but outwardly she pouted, looking unhappy.
"Let's go." Kiba dragged her from the bar and back into the forested area where he released her and smiled.
"Took you long enough, I was beginning to doubt your abilities as a Kunoichi." Sakura glared at him and went to pick up her uniform. While she went to change she told the others of the location they were headed for. Once her mask and cloak were back on the headed out.
Sakura sighed as she waited in hiding, several missing nin had already come, but she could sense more on their way so she waited, as did her team. After another half hour of waiting she saw someone from Sound approach the amassed killers and knew it was time to attack. With a nod of her head several exploding tags went off, and then her team attacked. There were four missing nins to each person and they weren't the greatest odds but Sakura and her team had been in worse situations before. Using her super human strength Sakura punched one of the missing nins in his chest, effectively crushing his vital organs and killing him. The other three around her warily stepped back but Sakura punched the ground and smiled as the second one went down. Deflecting the weapons thrown at her with a kunai she launched herself forward.
Sweat dripped down her neck as Sakura warily circled her opponent. He was smart, probably one of the better missing nins she'd faced over the years. Sakura took a quick glance around her to see that Naruto was still facing two missing nins, Sasuke one, Shino and Kiba one and Hinata two. Sakura hissed as a kunai cut her shoulder. She already had a few painful cuts on her body and her chakra was half depleted. A faint rustling and the faintest sense of chakra drew her gaze into the forest beside the ruins. Four Akatsuki members leapt from the trees and into the ruins.
Sakura hissed, they needed to leave, they were already tired and none of them was up to facing Akatsuki at the moment. Sakura growled and doubled her efforts to kill the missing nin in front of her. She didn't have to do anything however because a kunai came from behind the man and killed him. Sakura looked up to see that one of the Akatsuki members had thrown it. Perhaps they too wanted to eliminate Orochimaru's ranks. Underneath the straw hat and the black cloak with red clouds was blue skin. So, it was Kisame the missing nin from Hidden Mist. He then moved onto kill other missing nin. Sakura then noticed that the other missing nin were all killed, the four Akatsuki members stood in front of her team. Suddenly Sasuke hissed.
"Itachi!" Sakura groaned, she couldn't deal with this, she could feel the Akatsuki members gathering chakra, they weren't in a position to fight.
"Retreat! Now!" Everyone obeyed her orders, everyone but Sasuke. He rushed forward to engage his brother. Sakura hissed in annoyance and rushed to intercept the fool. She gathered a small amount of chakra into her fist and punched him backwards.
"Damn it Uchiha, I said retreat!" Sasuke got up and narrowed his eyes.
"No! Get out of my way!" He rushed her, obviously not caring if he had to go through her to get to his brother who was standing amusedly behind her. One of the Akatsuki members spoke up.
"We should kill them all, yeah?"
"Hn." Apparently that meant yes because the all launched themselves at her team. Sakura quickly slammed her fist into the ground and caused a large disturbance. There was a ten foot gap between them and her, Sakura turned back to Sasuke who was getting ready to jump over and attack. Sakura grabbed him and hit him on the neck at his pressure point to cause him to collapse unconscious. Sakura threw him backwards to Kiba while grabbing her kunai to parry an attack from Itachi.
"Retreat! Now! Get out of here, don't engage!" They all took off, Naruto stopped though, looking back at her. She grunted in pain as she dodged Kisame's Samehada only to take Itachi's kunai in the stomach.
"Damn it all Naruto, go, if you don't leave I'll kill you myself!" Naruto still looked uncertain but Shino took charge and grabbed him before taking off.
"Do you two need help to deal with her yeah?" Sakura kicked the ground with her foot, causing a large hole to appear and dirt to fill the air. She leapt back, hoping to get out before she was killed. But one of them appeared in front of her and she saw the red Mangekyo spinning, drawing her into some unknown world. Sakura panicked, she needed to break the connection but her eyes wouldn't obey her. Sakura used chakra to momentarily blind herself, breaking the connection, but it was already too late.
"Run…" And then she was lost in darkness, not pain, just blackness, unconsciousness, a form of sleep.
"We should go after them yeah?" Itachi looked up from the ANBU member that had collapsed against him, to look at Deidara. He shook his head.
"Our orders were to kill the missing nins, nothing else." Deidara sighed and Kisame smirked.
"What are you going to do with the kunoichi there?" Itachi smirked.
"Bait." Kisame nodded and Deidara's partner, Tobi nodded but Deidara frowned.
"She'll just be trouble yeah? She's ANBU after all, besides, they won't trade the Kyuubi container just for her back yeah." Itachi shrugged.
"Hn." Never-the-less he threw her over his shoulder and leapt into the trees, racing ahead at an almost unmatchable pace. Kisame sighed along with the others and followed him.
Sasuke came to slowly, and when he did he leapt up.
"Where is he?" He looked around with wild eyes and only saw subdued faces. Then he remember what Sakura had done.
"Damn her." He was suddenly pinned to a tree by Kiba.
"Shut up. She saved your life, and she wouldn't have had to if you could follow orders." Sasuke hissed.
"My only goal is to kill that man, why on earth would I not when he's right in front of me?" Shino came up and pulled Kiba off of him. Sasuke glared at them.
"Well where is she, she has a lot to answer for." A kunai struck the tree he was leaning against, barely missing his head. It had come from Hinata.
"Damn you! She's either dead or captured because of you! You're the one who has a lot to answer for!" Sasuke was taken back, he had never seen Hinata angry before, she was actually quite formidable. But he just sneered.
"Well it wouldn't have happened if she hadn't stopped me. So let's go after them." Shino spoke up.
"No." Sasuke glared at him.
"Why not?!"
"Because we're following orders." Sasuke growled and rushed forward.
"Well I'm not." But he didn't move, he couldn't, his body wasn't listening to him.
"What-"
"My bugs have paralyzed you for the time being, we can't have you causing any more problems until we get to Konoha." Sasuke glared at Shino, wishing the bug master had been elsewhere at that time.
Tsunade looked away from where Shikamaru was briefing her on his teams mission to where Shino stood in her doorway with the rest of Sakura's team behind him. Tsunade felt her blood go cold.
"Where's Sakura?" Everyone piled into her office.
"Sakura was either killed or taken hostage by members of the Akatsuki while guarding our retreat."
"How?" It came out as a whisper but everyone heard her. Shino's eyes flashed dangerously.
"They attacked the same missing nins we did, there were four of them, Uchiha Itachi was one of them. Sasuke attempted to engage even though Sakura ordered for a retreat, she had to render him unconscious, but by then the Akatsuki were attacking, she blocked them and ordered us to take Sasuke and leave. Last we saw she was fighting both Itachi and Kisame." Tsunade closed her eyes.
"I want Sasuke but in a holding cell for directly disobeying a superiors orders, then I want Shino, Kiba, and Hinata to go with Shikamaru's team to see if you can find Sakura's body. If you don't find her we'll assume she's been kidnapped." Everyone nodded but Shikamaru frowned.
"Pardon me Hokage-dono, but what use would they have for taking her?" Shino spoke up.
"Naruto was with us and he didn't want to leave her, they've probably correctly assumed that they are close and they'll try to use her as bait." Shikamaru nodded slowly.
"It makes sense, but surely they'll realise we can't trade for her." Tsunade sighed and rubbed her eyes wearily. Hinata spoke up.
"Sakura has pink hair." Everyone turned to stare at her like she was crazy. Hinata looked a little worried.
"I just meant that she's easily distinguishable by her hair for who she is, and everyone knows that her healing skills rival even yours Hokage-dono, which means that they'll probably find her useful, especially if Itachi's eyesight is fading." Tsunade nodded.
"You're right, still, I want you to hurry, go to the hospital to get any necessary healing after you bring Sasuke to a holding cell. Bring Naruto with you, he'll be safer surrounded by ANBU than running off by himself." They all bowed, once her office was empty Tsunade whispered into the silence.
"Be strong Sakura, please live."
Sakura woke with a start, gasping for air. It was bright out and the sunlight streaming in through a window hurt her eyes. She had to close them, wincing in pain. Slowly she opened her eyes, allowing them to adjust to the light, then she looked around. She was in a small room, she was lying on her side on a bed and the only other furniture in the room was a bare side table and a wooden chair. Sakura's hands were tied behind her back, palms facing outward so she couldn't perform any jutsu. Not that it would matter, they had obviously drained her of her chakra, she could barely feel any at all. The door opened and Deidara stepped into the room with a bowl of rice and a glass of water.
"Itachi-san says you need to eat yeah." Sakura glared at the man, hoping to burn a hole through his head with her eyes. She would have used her foot to kick a hole through his heart but she didn't even have enough chakra to make an indent, not even a bruise. Deidara put the food down on the side table.
"Well eat up yeah?" Sakura hissed.
"What are you stupid? Even if I wanted to eat it I can't, seeing as how I'm tied up." Sakura didn't care about pissing him off, she wasn't going to do anything for them, she was a Shinobi, and every Shinobi would die for his or her village at one point. Sakura wasn't afraid of death. Deidara sighed.
"I guess you're right yeah? Fine, but don't try anything funny yeah." Sakura merely nodded, it wasn't like there was much she could do. She noticed that she was still in her ANBU uniform but the white vest was gone, and all her weapons had been taken away. Deidara walked towards her and pulled her up into a sitting position and then went to untie her hands. Just then Itachi walked in and his eyes narrowed.
"What are you doing?" Deidara jumped a little.
"Untying her so that she can eat yeah?" Itachi glared at Deidara.
"I didn't say that you could untie her, get out."
"If you say so yeah." It seemed even the other Akatsuki members feared Itachi, Sakura snorted and glared at her captor.
"If you wanted me to starve to death then why make him bring food in the first place?"
Itachi glared at the pink haired woman. She was in no position to be talking like that, yet there she was, either she had no fear of death or she was just stupid. Itachi could see a tattoo of a cherry blossom on her shoulder, it suited her, even if it was just done in black. Still, she bothered him. She should have been cowering in fear, perhaps he would use his Sharingan on her. Itachi smirked and leaned in so his face was close to hers.
"I suggest you keep your comments to yourself unless you want to feel more pain then your little brain can think of." The girl hissed at him.
"I'm not afraid of you." He smirked.
"Poor little kunoichi, you don't even realize that there are worse things than death." He activated his Mangekyo and smirked. Then he frowned when there wasn't a connection, her eyes went white for a moment and then went back to their normal jade green and she slumped over.
"What did you do?" She smirked but it looked pained.
"You need to make a connection through the eyes, if I'm blind you can't make the connection." Itachi frowned.
"You are not blind." She shook her head.
"No, but luckily it only takes the barest amount of chakra to cause a short blindness, therefore rendering your Mangekyo useless." Itachi frowned, and then smirked.
"Maybe it worked once, but now you have absolutely no chakra left, it won't work a second time. Too bad for you kunoichi." She glared at him.
"Sakura." He frowned, what was she on about now?
"What?"
"My name is Sakura, not kunoichi. I realize that it takes a great amount of brain power to remember my name, but please try." Itachi hissed and threw her up against the wall.
"I'll teach you to talk back." He used his Mangekyo and smiled when Sakura slumped against the wall and let out a crying sound while being tortured in the dimension Itachi had created just for the purpose of pain.
Okay, well tell me what you think please! hope you liked it!