My climactic ending is on the rise! And I plan to make it as amazing, surprising and WTF-like as possible!

I can mostly guarantee that this will be longer than the other two parts; the first was 11 pages and the second was 14, almost 15. But I will make it good. I got inspiration on a nice, comfortable high and not very much to disturb or distract me except school, so it's all good. Prepare for the end…

2:58 AM (at night) January 13th

"H-Help me? You're seriously going to—"

"Yes, yes, okay?" His face turned dark, and it surely wasn't because of the lack of light. "You told me you hated this place and those guys more than anything, and I believe you. They're not the best bastards to be around. It's these that keep us from sometimes just cutting each other." Kisame tugged at the wide collar of his Akatsuki cloak.

"Figured," She smirked. "Deidara and Sasori probably would have killed each other if they weren't in your gang...and I know Kakuzu's already tried to kill Hidan." She lifted a hand to cover her smile. "And Tobi…he doesn't even care what the rest think about him! God!"

"Yeah, they're bitches almost all the time; can barely tolerate 'em…but I didn't sneak right past Itachi-san's room to chat about Akatsuki." Sakura's reminiscing smile faded. "I'm going to help you get out of her and I meant it."

"But why, though?" Kisame frowned and pulled a disgruntled face. "I just want to know, is that against the law? Just tell me."

"Ugggh!" The shark-man pulled his hands over his face and made an annoyed, growling sound. "Look…sometimes I come in here and talk with you, right? I listen and chat about what bitches my fellows are, and how they're treating you. I'm not sick like that. I don't think you're cute at all. You're just a girl who happens to be strong and happens to be stuck here."

"…And?"

"God, you're the densest, most—uggh. I think what they're doing to you is wrong. I never thought Itachi would defile some little, innocent girl just because he likes her, never mind the others. It just disgusts me! And now that I know you more, I find it more sick. So…I'm getting you out. You'll be free from them."

She stood still, staring up at Kisame. He was now the closest thing she had to a lifesaver. "If you can do that—I can't even say how much that would mean to me. This has been the worst hell of my life—you're damn awesome, man." He turned away and put a hand over his head, hiding his face. Sakura didn't even bother thinking why. She probably did know why, though right now she was too excited at the prospect of freedom to care that Kisame might have been blushing.

"Yeah well, it's this way. Hurry up and come on. And for God's sake, keep quiet!" He turned around abruptly and stiffly walked down towards the same hallway she'd just come out of. "Hey, hey, wait!" Kisame didn't stop, only flinched at the volume of her tone, and she walked swiftly to catch up to him. "I'm sure I just came out this way, from Sasori's room."

"This place is pretty fucking confusing, pinky." He whispered without looking at her. "You have to know it well before it starts to feel like a home and not a maze."

'A home?' She thought.

It may have been a slip of the tongue, right? Could it be? Sakura had never known the building she'd resided in for the last two months. It could have been a prison, a castle, a dojo, and she would have never known because of the bland, monotone design. Kisame may have let slip a secret that she would treasure in her ninja mind forever.

This place could be Akatsuki's home. Their base, their headquarters. They did sleep here, right?

"Well, it's always been a maze to me," She scowled, masking her discovery with an annoyed remark. "Everything looks exactly the same. How do you even find your room?"

"You have to count corners and doors, and now which number your room is. I've never been in half of them, though, and some are probably empty." She saw him turn his head to look through the big, glass peephole of a door they've passed. Sakura looked through the same door as she passed it. There was nothing in it. "Don't make a sound, and don't jump. We're being followed." She didn't jump at all, though Inner Sakura did shriek a certain amount. "Who is it?"

"It's Hidan, can't you tell? His chakra is the only one I know that feels like…that."

Inner Sakura punched Outer Sakura upside the head for not realizing he was there. Outer Sakura defended herself with whatever she could find on the tip of her tongue at the moment: the necklace. Hidan may not have been detectable to her because of the necklace. She'd never been able to make chakra since she'd woken up wearing it, and for that matter, she'd never been able to sense the chakra of others. 'I can't wait to get this bitch off me!' The two Sakuras cried in victorious harmony. 'I can't wait to get my chakra back all the way…I'll beat these hell-rejects to Alaska and back! Those hell-rejects will be lucky to be pulp when I'm done wid 'em!'

And one such hell-reject, Hidan, made himself known at that moment.

A fork in the hallway came into view. Blocking the left path was Hidan, dressed in long, black pants and a dark, sleeveless shirt. Scythe in hand, of course, as always, and his own style of arrogant smirk plastered onto his face. "'Bout time you guys got here. I've been waiting for half a fucking hour!"

"I see you still sleepwalk, Hidan." Kisame growled. "You'll have to tell your Jashin-sama to fix that for you. Now, move."

"I don't think so, fishstick." Hidan raised his head with a smirk. "I got a bit of business with the lady."

Sakura, who had been thankfully hidden behind Kisame thanks to his large size and her lack of such, stepped around Kisame to face Hidan. "What do you want?" Kisame made a face to her, that told her to keep her voice down.

The religious Akatsuki reached into his shirt and pulled out his rosary. "Jashin-sama's been tellin' me a lot about you." He said casually. "Ever since you touched my heart….remember that?" His devious smile forced the girl to remember one of the many occasions when Deidara had stolen her Italian book. In her search for the blonde and the book, she'd run into Hidan. He had been standing in her way, so she'd simply pushed the guy out of her path. Sakura had just happened to land her hand on the left part of his chest—the heart—as she shoved him.

"He knows everything in the world, and you're no exception." Hidan prattled. He was now stroking the sharp edge of his talisman. "He told me your hobbies, your favorite foods, your friends and family, your fears—and he even told me about that Sasuke boy you had a crush on before. But the part he wanted me to know was that…I had a part in your destiny…did you know that, girly?"

'Great, another kid-Neji.'

"…No, I didn't."

"Well, now you do. I just finished up the task. You know Tobi's always being the most annoying little fag? He's usually up running around like an idiot at this time of night. He always runs around everywhere. Odds are, he'd see you, and the sounds of the conflict that you would no doubt have with him would wake up everyone in the building, even that greedy-ass partner of mine. Then what would happen to your little escape, eh?"

'Is he trying to threaten us, shannaro?!'

'Shut up!'

"Well, guess how I just saved your life, little girl." By now Hidan had shoved Kisame out of the way. Sakura stood head-to-chest (because of always-annoying height differences) with Hidan. His stupid little smirk never left. "I put a little jutsu on Tobi. He'll be out like a dead animal all night, for once in his life. I saved you from being discovered, girl. I knew one of these days you'd try to get out. You're too free-spirited for this dump and these stupid bastards; they just want to keep you like their little pet. I would know."

Somehow, she could feel more than one hidden meaning behind his words.

"You'd both better thank me. You," he pointed to Sakura. "would probably get sexually abused for the rest of your life. And not like it's been up until now. What they're doing with you now… it's nothing. They're just trying to play on the level they think you can cope with. But if they saw you now, oh, damn! You'd be a dribbling cumbucket. And you, fishstick—" Kisame visibly twitched. "For helping her out, I can see a damn long time in Mangekyou for you. And that girly blonde idiot would probably make you eat some of his biggest bombs…Sasori…eh, you'd make it out with at least one leg still attached."

"So—" There was a note of conclusion as he leaned down to Sakura's level. His breath wasn't nearly as foul as she had expected as it floated near her face. "Be glad, for me and for Jashin-sama. Your lives were saved tonight." With that, he planted an unexpected butterfly kiss on Sakura's forehead, and walked past them both.

Neither the girl nor the shark Akatsuki turned to watch him leave. "That was…weird." Sakura finally broke the silence that had covered them for the last few moments. "But he's right." Kisame whispered. When she turned to look at him, his head was leaning downward and his eyes directed at his feet. "I always hear Tobi running around the place like an idiot half the night. He would have seen us. The first thing he'd do is go running to Deidara. Then…!"

He didn't even finish. "Should we keep going or…?"

"No, no. It's not as far as you think. We're almost there, in fact."

The excitement of freedom was enough to send energy pulsing throughout her body. And it wasn't exactly adrenaline. The familiarity of chakra was finally becoming familiar again. Kisame seemed to not have as much power over the necklace as Itachi, Sasori and Deidara did. She could still feel the oppression of the item around her neck, sure. But it wasn't nearly as powerful as before. Once she was out of this building—the Akatsuki's base, she was now sure it was—the effect would be cancelled for sure, and she would rip it off and stomp it into the dust with her own hands.

"The front door is too obvious, so I'm taking you the other way. The back door's just 50 feet off from here," He announced after several minutes. "Anything else you want to tell me? This'll probably be the last conversation I ever have with you, pinky."

A faint sliver of pale light could be seen at the far end of the hallway.

"Just this one thing…" She put a finger to her chin and scratched thoughtfully. "How's it feel to carry a five-foot sword?"

"…huh?"

"You know, most sword are like, a foot long? As big a person's arm?" She gestured with both arms. "Yours is amazing! I never saw something so big. If I weren't your enemy before, I would have admired you. I mean, I sort of did before, since you're a great fighter but—"

He scoffed and turned away with a embarrassed smile. "A'ight, a'ight, I get it."

Sakura crossed her arms and silently recalled all her amusing and comforting talks with them. Their jokes, racist, sexist, stupid and mean though they were, were all funny, and each one had made her feel a bit better about her true situation. She could truly open up to Kisame. He wasn't exactly one to judge—unless you were fighting against him, that is. The chances were, she'd never be on such easy terms with him again. That was the single and only thing she would miss about being here: Kisame.

"We're here."

He'd stopped just before a dead end. A bare, sandstone wall stood solemnly before them. She kept her impatience and curiosity down, and waited for Kisame to speak some sort of password or code. Instead, he kicked at a dark patch of stone. Dust fell away from the wall, revealing an old, wooden door with a metal knob. "You have to open it," He said slowly. "I can't leave fingerprints there."

The Haruno girl gave her friend a long and appreciative look, hoping to convey as much gratitude as she could in a single gaze. Once done, she reached for the knob—twitching slightly at the cold, stinging feeling of it—twisting the thing, and tugged on it.

Silver, godly light spilled over them.

Kisame turned his head from the brightness and closed his eyes, while the other drank it the sight with such an amazed and hungry look she felt she could burst. Outside, just inches beyond the door, stretched a vast plain of rolling hills and tall grass. On the horizon, the tops of trees could be seen, marking a forest at the edge of this place's territory. Clouds covered almost all of the sky, everything but a spared circle around the moon, which shone down and made everything glow silver.

"Stop staring at it and go!" He snapped. She twitched at the sudden sharpness, and took a step outside. The soft feeling of grass under her shoes was so foreign she had to take a moment to study it, make sure it wasn't fast. But, not wanting to look at the scenery when she should be running for her life, Sakura ignored the want to analyze the feeling, and quickly sputtered, "Thank you." Not waiting for a response, and feeling her need to run grow, the medic nin took off.

Sakura could practically hear the quick flap of Kisame's patterned cloak as she zipped away at top speed—aided by growing chakra—and blasted a shaft of wind behind her feet. To her great relief and slight surprise, there was no Akatsuki member waiting in the tall grass to rip her down into his arms and trap her again. There was nothing but hills, grass and moonlight.

One can never truly feel what a wild horse feels when freed, unless one is captured and freed themselves. Escaping could make the experience even more exhilarating. Now, she knew exactly what it was. No word could be powerful enough, but Freedom came viciously close.

The feeling of freedom pounded through the girl's body. Adrenaline, energy and every other joyous feeling she knew of burst into ever crevice of every limb she had. All of it was beat into the form of chakra, and it all made her go faster. Strength, more than she'd felt when walking with Kisame, beat like blood in a heart all through her. The power that she'd been denied by Akatsuki and their necklace had finally returned.

'The necklace, stupid! The necklace! Take it off, dammit!'

Remembering it almost made her trip in her run. She stopped suddenly at the base of a hill and gingerly touched the black charm. More than ever, the chord felt soft to the touch just like Dreamer, and more than ever she missed that old stuffed bear. The Haruno child spend a brief moment sweeping her finger over the circle and staring at it, giving one last try to see the symbol engraved on the circle. Still she couldn't make it out.

There was no more time spent looking at the pretty necklace. In the next moment, she'd gave a sharp, harsh and chakra-filled tug and ripped the chord off her neck. With a triumphant but furious growl, Sakura threw the necklace into a patch of bare dirt and stomped it into the dust with her foot.

Pride, Happiness and Freedom all rose in her chest. They died the moment after, replaced by something much more terrible. Fear.

As soon as Sakura's foot and touch had left the necklace, it began to sizzle strangely. Then smoke rose from the charm and the chord. Dirt burnt, smoked and melted around it like the necklace itself was made of acid. It's former wearer gazed at the thing with horror and choked in a gasping breath. Could it have been moments away from burning her?

Fear made her turn away at that moment and run. The forest was within sight now. Above the hills, she could see giant arms of leaves and branches reaching into the night. They seemed to open to her, welcoming the escaped prisoner to hide in their depths. The thought of being hidden, safe, away from lust-filled eyes, was such a heaven it doubled her speed.

RISSP RIISK

With the same instincts a rabbit would have when chased by a wolf, Sakura dropped deep down into the grass, hidden as best she could be, and stared out. 'Something rustled…' She thought frantically, gathering her wits. 'Something's here…something's here!' She stayed perfectly still, and with her newfound chakra, she hid her presence, chakra, scent and all.

For many moments, all was silent. Only the soft wind swaying the grass made a sound. After the agonizing but short time, something stepped out of the shadows, only a few feet away from the spot where Sakura had planned to jump into the trees. It walked out slowly, taking each step at a time as though it had nothing to be late for. The patterned red clouds on a black background was all too familiar. Worse yet, was the giant, green accessory upon the wearer's head, which automatically signaled to Sakura who this was.

Zetsu.

This was the man all the other Akatsuki members had called a schizophrenic cannibal. This was the man Sakura feared meeting nearly as much—no…more than—as the Akatsuki's Leader. She'd recalled how her daydreams and absent-minded thoughts had led her to believe rather disturbing things about cannibals and sexual hunger.

All of those past thoughts and daydreams came back to her in one moment, as Zetsu walked right past her hiding place. The white half and black halves of his body where clearly visible in the few moments it took for him to stalk past Sakura's grass hideaway. For a moment, every fearful thought of Zetsu she'd ever had was in her mind. As he passed, Sakura looked down at his hands, expecting to see a ballgag or a whip as nightmares had shown.

And thank God, there wasn't.

The gargantuan plant-like thing on his body was even more terrible-looking in close-up, real life. Photos were nothing like the real thing, though they did get the main point across. 'Maybe he eats people with it.' Inner Sakura whispered. That wasn't the most comforting thought right now.

Zetsu walked on, past Sakura's hiding spot. Surely, she had hidden herself well enough not to be spotted, but she knew better than the assume something so easily. Any moment now, he could turn around and give her no time to react while he rushed up and—well, out of all the disgusting and evil things she'd imagined, getting eaten was the most appealing one.

He stopped. The young medic tensed the muscles in her legs and feet to prepare to speed away, and tensed even more in her arms, prepared to punch his brains out if need be. But the plant-like Akatsuki did not turn and see her. Instead, he bent down to the ground. The brushing, rustling sounds suggested that he was looking in the dirt. For a moment, the girl was wondering if he was digging for worms to feed his plant-thing.

Then it hit, as Zetsu stood up. Her stomach clenched, and not with the lust she had been feeling before. It was fear now, almost as terrible as the former emotion.

In his left hand, his white hand, Zetsu held her necklace.

'No! I left it there! I can't believe myself; I just left it there!' Her mind raced. What would he do? What should she do? Run away right now? Buy a few seconds' time by exposing herself fully? Or keep hiding and risk being found anyway? The questions needed to be answered now.

Noises came from the Akatsuki's direction. No, voices. People were converse—no, he was conversing with himself. She couldn't make out the words, only tones. There were two—perhaps one for each color of his body?—one was monotone, disturbingly like a robot, and the other was, more disturbingly, gentle and sweet, and they appeared to be arguing. The soft voice rose to a furious, hissing growl and the robot voice fought back with the same amount of spite in it's tone. Both stopped abruptly and all was silent again. Sakura's body went tense and tight again.

Zetsu's cloak fluttered gently in the night breeze, but that sound was no comfort. If Sakura made one wrong breath, she could be in Akatsuki's clutches again. And the chances of escape that time would be much smaller.

Then, he walked on. Her necklace in hand. For a few seconds, Sakura could only watch and wonder what would happen next, but then the plant Akatsuki took off running. She took in a sharp gasp and stood up slowly. She looked over the hills, and saw Zetsu running up and down the hills, towards the Akatsuki's base…

Which was… A castle.

She couldn't believe it. Sakura didn't even bother to rub her eyes to check if her eyes were deceiving her. The stone fortress sat atop one of the largest hills, surrounded by the tall, swaying grass on all sides. From her spot, she could see several windows at regular intervals—why the HELL hadn't she seen those before when she was in there?!—while four jagged spires rose threateningly up at the top. She could just barely see things hanging off the spires like decorations. Deidara's giant clay creations, perhaps, or Sasori's puppets. The thought made her want to punch Sasori in the face for some reason.

Zetsu ran closer and closer to the castle, and he appeared to be running around the side, perhaps to find a front door. 'Kisame did say he led me to the back door…' She remembered. Zetsu stopped where he was, ending her train of thought. He stopped, stood still, and then whipped around to stare at her.

Even this far away, a hundred yards at the very least, she could feel Zetsu's eyes boring into her. They glowed yellow like perfectly round fireflies, burning into her skin. She wanted to run. The woods were only a few meters away. She should have run. But his look kept her pinned there. And as Zetsu stared at her, so far away yet so goddamn frightening, a door opened. The same door Kisame had let her out of. Two men in dark cloaks stepped out. One she recognized by the hair color.

Sasori.

Before she could let his glassy, brown eyes lock onto hers—for that would pin her down for sure—Akatsuki's former prisoner dashed away into the woods with a pounding fear-filled heart. The beating of her heart was so very loud, if anyone was coming after her…she could not hear them.

5:41 AM, January 13th

'I have to be almost…there…by now…right?' Sakura questioned herself yet again. She's lost all track of the clock she'd been keeping in her head by now. As far as she knew, it was just…dawn. Pink and orange was just barely beginning to peek into the sky. But the clouds had cleared now, and she could see that there were no stars to see, not even a moon, and everything was inky black.

Sakura had run off into a thick, dark wood to escape Akatsuki. Long ago, she'd come to the end of that wood, passed through a foggy swamp, slipped her way past an old town of drunks and nightclub-dwellers, over three rivers and around two lakes, and had entered another forest. This one was much thinner than the first, with fewer trees and plants to block her way and yes, fewer to hide in, if she needed to.

But chakra had not left her. Still, it pulsed on through, and though fatigue and exhaustion had caught up with her awhile ago, strength refused to give out. Fear was still too great to be doused by something as trivially pathetic as tiredness. Now, jumping from branch to forest floor to branch, she felt comfortable to get lost in her thoughts again, in a nice quiet though violet world where she could enjoy herself. First off: what she would do when getting home.

'Hug Naruto.' Was the first thing that came to mind. 'He'll be crazy with worry. Lee, too. And Tenten and Hinata and Tsunade-shishou…oh, she'll hug me to death before I can pass the freaking gate!' Homesickness poked pitifully at her stomach, but wasn't nearly strong enough to dispel was other emotions were still there.

'So what? Come on, girl! You know where Akatsuki's base is!' Inner Sakura screeched, jumping about. That's like the best accomplishment anyone could ever make!' The sudden remembrance of that fact nearly made her fall over. Of course!

She stopped on the ground with a grunt, and pulled several branches of a bush over her to keep somewhat hidden. Using a gloved, trembling, tired finger, Sakura poked a few scrapes into the earth, pointing back the way she'd come. To the naked eye, this would look like nothing but the markings of a squirrel or raccoon. If she could get other shinobi to this spot, they could take her same trail back to the castle…Akatsuki would be conquered.

'I did go in a straight line the whole time, didn't I?' She laughed to herself. It would be easy. She had only turned curves or corners in her path to go around large lakes or people's houses. It was a simple path to follow. She'd gone swiftly—well, more like godspeedly—and silently. The task would be easy, and this experience could help vanquish the bastards for good.

She let out a long sigh, and grunted in pain as a cramp found it's way into her side. Sakura leaned down against a tree trunk, safe behind the large bush, and panted. Now that she had stopped moving, exhaustion was making itself as known as possible. 'Count to fifty…then move on. Uggh…I'll do it in Italian. Uno, due, tre, quattro—oh, SHIT!'

She'd left her Italian book at Akatsuki's base.

'Is that good? Is that bad? Does it suck? Oww! Goddammit!' Worrisome thoughts had triggered the cramp. It stretched one way and the other until her entire body ached and muscles everywhere went tight and pulled. "Auggh…!" Her vision dulled and her head slowly began to throb with pain.

'Get up! Get up! It's…it's just…you're homesick! Come on! Konoha can't be that far! It's been like, three hours since we left!'

Inner was right. This pain was nothing. She'd endured worse than a headache and a few cramps. Sure, she'd be walking now, but she was still making progress. Not even Itachi could have tracked her by now. She'd just gone too fast, too much for anyone to keep up. She was sure. So Sakura counted to fifty in Italiano, feeling rather pissed off that she'd probably never see her Italian for Beginners book again, and prepared to stand up. With an annoyed groan, she sat up straight, uncomfortable cracking her spine in the process, and groggily stood up. Through the treetops she could barely see the pink and orange beginning to creep across the sky. Dawn was coming.

She looked down at the scratches she'd made in the ground. They were there, unharmed. And to make sure they stayed unharmed, Sakura took hold of a large bush branch and tugged on it, sweeping it over the marks to protect it from the eyes of others and the rain. The Haruno took a good look around the area, preserved the place to memory so as to find it again, and walked on. It couldn't possibly be much farther now.

'Unless we're not even on the continent anymore…' A voice in her head grumbled irritably. The medic ignored it as best she could.

"Hello!"

She stopped in her tracks…listened.

"This is Konoha's ANBU squad 9! Anyone hiding in the premises is to show themselves now! Mercy will not be given!"

'That voice!' Sakura's dull eyes brightened to their true emerald shine. 'It…it's…' The thought was too much. She raised her voice and cried out, much to the complaint of her hoarse throat, "Lee! I'm here! I'm over here! I made it back!" Nothing answered for a moment, but then Sakura heard the quickly rustles of plants being moved around, of someone coming towards her. "Sakura-san?! Sakura-san, is that you? Please answer!"

"I'm coming!" She yelled to him. "Wait for me, I'm coming to you!"

"SAKURA-CHAAAAAAAAAAN!"

At the same time, a blur of orange and a blur of green burst from within the wood and tackled Sakura against a tree. Lee and Naruto were hugging her at once, crying and fretting and shouting. "Sakura-chan, what happened?! Who took you? Are you sick?"

"I can't believe we found you, Sakura-san! You don't know how we were—!"

Tenten, Hinata, Kakashi and Sai, dressed in fighting garb and gear, dashed up behind them. Each had amazed faces, wide eyes and all were speechless, except for Sai, who only stared with a ghost of a happy smile. Lee let his grip loose enough to look Sakura in the face and cry out, "I'm so sorry! I should have saved you, Sakura-san! I was on the other side of town when you were taken and I could have helped!"

"We saw footprints from that stupid bastard who took you!" Naruto cried, hugging Sakura close. "He was Akatsuki, wasn't he? Well, just tell me who! I'll kill 'em, Sakura-chan, I swear! They'll die for getting near you!" He said nothing more, only mumbled nonsense words with his face buried into Sakura's hair. Sakura herself patted Naruto's shoulders and muttered to him, "It was Akatsuki, you're right. It was Sasori."

"What?!" Tenten burst. "But—but you and Chiyo-baa-san killed him! Sasori is dead!"

"I thought so, too!" Sakura growled irritably. "Then I saw him hanging out outside my bedroom window, and the next thing I knew, I was at one of the training grounds, tryin' to kill him again!" That convinced them, but Hinata stilled seemed to doubt it. "But how can he still be alive?" Hinata fretted, moving up behind Naruto to hug Sakura. "You said that even Chiyo-baa-san knew it. He's dead for sure!"

"Hold on, hold on." Kakashi rapped his book sharply on Naruto and Lee's heads, and softly shooed Hinata off, forcing them to release their grip on Sakura. "First off, we have to get Sakura home. If you all don't have eyes, you can't see the condition she's in. Just look."

Naruto moved reluctantly away from Sakura and took Lee sorrowfully with him. Everyone looked the girl up and down, and the girl herself did as well. She just then noticed that her legs were covered with cuts , and the palms of her gloves had been ripped open, leaving her palms bare, red and bloody. Her shoes were in worse tatters, one sandal was close to falling off her foot. She felt her face with one rough palm, but couldn't feel anything but one long scratch on her forehead, and it wasn't bleeding.

"You're not terribly 'injured'," He said slowly. "But I'm not letting you keep standing around out here. You need rest and probably bandages as well. Tsunade will see to that when we get home." She smiled at the thought of seeing her dear teacher again. "That's good…can we get going now? I kind of feel like I want to get home quickly."

"Understandable," Tenten walked over and patted her on the back gently. "You don't look like you can run, so we'll walk. Konoha's just abut five miles or so that way." Tenten pointed in the direction from which they'd come, east, where pink was moving up in the sky. Sakura's eyes narrowed and went wide. 'I came from just back there…' She thought. 'I was right. Konoha was just a really long line away from me. I was right! I would have just had to keep going in a straight line and I would have gotten straight home!'

"Come on, ugly, let's move." Sai nudged her gently in the back, and Sakura easily recognized his attempt to be affectionate towards her. Everyone began walking. "I'll call for a ride when we get real close," Naruto smiled with a big thumbs-up sign. "I'll get Gamabunta! He'll help me if I have a bunch of ladies to carry around."

"Since we'll probably be walking for about an hour until then…" Kakashi began. He closed his Icha Icha book, and the rest of the shinobi understood his note of seriousness. "Why don't you tell us all what happened, Sakura?" All eyes were on her. "Yes, yes! Were you destroying evil men with your youthful grace, Sakura-san?" Lee cheered.

"Uh, well…" She struggled to find the words. It wouldn't be quite that subtle to break out and say, "Akatsuki molested me the whole time." Instead, she opted for, "I don't…want to tell you yet."

Tenten and Hinata stared with blank faces, unsure what she could be hiding. Naruto scratched his chin, and Lee did so too, though more dramatically. Sai stared straight ahead, perhaps thinking, but Kakashi looked straight at her, and from the shocked look in his eyes, Sakura could guess that he had more than a faint idea of what had happened to her. "I dunno." Naruto shrugged. "Did he force you to help make his puppets work? Or did he test them on you?" The second suggestion was growled out in anger. "Just say the word, Sakura-chan, and point the way. I'll melt him if you want me to. Sasori's going down!"

"And I'll stick him with every pointed stick I have." Tenten boasted. "And Hinata'll sock him in places he didn't know he had anymore!" Lee and Naruto both began saying and repeating their terrible punishments to Sasori for hurting their dear Sakura-san/chan, so fast and so spiritedly that their words couldn't be made out.

She knew she was safe now. Akatsuki wouldn't dare openly attack the Copy Nin Kakashi, not with this entire team of shinobi at his side, Sakura included. She would fight hardest, should they be attacked anyway. No amount of fear would keep her from punching any Akatsuki member in the face. She turned around briefly to look up through tops of trees they'd passed, to see if dawn was breaking faster—and something caught her eye.

Sakura twisted all the way around and walked backwards. Her friends chuckled at her, but didn't seem to notice. She scanned the treetops, expecting to see a bird who had stolen some shinobi headband and was carrying it in it's beak. But she did not see that at all.

Instead, she saw Deidara.

She stopped walking and was nearly pulled off her feet by Tenten and Lee. "Sakura, c'mon. We're not taking a break. I'll carry you if you want." She made no sound or movement to acknowledge either of them. Deidara was sitting cross-legged on a high tree branch, his electric blue eye glowing cheerily as always and his grin plastered onto his face, as always…staring straight at her.

The shiny glint appeared to be the glare of the scope on his left eye. A click resounded through the wood. The scope's lens blinked, closing and opening. It had taken her picture.

"Sakura, come on! I said if you're that tired, I can carry you!"

His trademark bang covered that side of his face again, and then he was staring at her again, with the same lust-filled, playful grin that he always looked at her with. The same look that created fear and disgust in her stomach. She wasn't counting the lust that Sasori had said was there. The branch above Deidara swayed and swayed, until something dropped down beside him, and sat next to him.

'Fuck no, fuck no, fuck no, fuck no, fuck no, fuck no…'

Sasori's seductive smile was directed at her once again as he appeared next to his partner. Her eyes were forced to lock with his, and the clenching of the stomach began once more. Sakura put a hand over her belly, hoping it would stop this time, now that she had chakra to protect herself.

What was she doing? She should be angry! Furious! Absolutely raging, that they dare come to Konoha's forest after her, after she painfully hard escape from their castle. She should be cursing them for living, for having eyes and mouths to make those goddamn faces with, for just existing. They should die. She should make them die.

The two of them there, at the same time, staring at her with the gaze that she feared so much, helped to dispel those thoughts.

Even more so, when Hidan appeared.

He waltzed out from behind the tree trunk and stood under their branch, scythe strapped to his back and arms crossed smugly. "W-What the fuck is he…?" She saw Lee getting in her face, waving a hand, and asking a question, but she didn't hear. She could only see the three Akatsuki, less than 30 feet away from her, sitting in a tree.

'What is he doing here…?!' She thought wildly, her eyes going wide. 'He said he was a part of my damn destiny! He helped me! Why is he with the ones who were trapping me?'

She saw his arrogant smirk and his tongue peeking childishly out of his mouth. The look of a liar exposing himself. The medic girl's jaw tightened with realization. Hidan hadn't helped her. Tobi hadn't been running around at all last night—or was it a few hours ago?—as he and Kisame had claimed he always did. Hidan had merely gotten in her way to see her, to see the little girl that his fellow members had been so hung up about. Had Kisame not been there by her, he may have done the same things to her as Sasori, Deidara and Itachi had done.

Itachi?

At the very mention, er, thought, of his name, the Uchiha made himself known. At the tree just a few feet away from where Hidan, Sasori and Deidara were, Itachi suddenly poofed into existence on a high-hanging branch. He sat with his back against the tree trunk and one leg sprawled lazily over the branch. His eyes burned crimson-red with their Sharingan, and as expected, they stared deep into her own.

One by one, the rest of Akatsuki appeared near those two trees. Kakuzu, whom she had seen only a few times by passing by him in a hallway, dropped onto the branch below Itachi. Tobi, noticeable by his orange mask, jumped onto a branch near Sasori and Deidara. He was goofily waving to her, but this didn't help the growing dread. Zetsu, with his evil, glowing yellow eyes, stood in between the two trees, the only space large enough to give him room for his plant accessory.

There was only one more and…Kisame walked out from behind the trunk of Itachi's tree, his giant sword strapped over his shoulder. She could see the sorrowed look in his eyes. What had happened? Was he being forced to come along with his group? Would he be killed for betrayal to them?

She wasn't even aware of her friends anymore. Only Akatsuki was before her. She spent several dreadful moments watching them, waiting for one of them to pounce as she expected so much. None of them did. They only stared back with such lustful eyes she wanted to scream. The pressure, the tension, whatever this was in the air, was thick enough to cut with a blade.

What were they here for?

That was made clear a moment later. Deidara reached into his pocket, digging for something, all the while looking at her with his tongue poking out his mouth. He pulled out the item he was looking for. He spread his fingers. The mouth on his palm held it in it's teeth. It was her necklace.

'…What? What does that mean?'

The circular charm shone in the dawn's pale light. It shone glassily and twirled around the in palm-mouth's grip. Deidara lifted it higher, and all gazes shifted to it. No one's eyes were on Sakura. All stared up at the black charm. Pale sunlight shone onto the black charm, shining onto the engraved symbol. It was lit up, and even far off, Sakura could see what it was.

It was a large, fancy letter A.

A letter 'A'? She squinted and stared as Sasori took one end of the red chord in his hand and Deidara pulled the other, straightening the chord and pulling the necklace tight. The A symbol shone brightly. 'That's it?' She thought. 'I could never see what symbol was carved on that thing? And it was just an A? I thought it would be…a black cross or a 666 thing but just—' Her thoughts were cut off as the true meaning hit. With the necklace being held securely between Sasori and Deidara, it was hard to miss.

A for Akatsuki.

Her heart went pulsing quickly, and her vision dulled with fear and confusion. What was going on? She had been wearing Akatsuki's necklace…what did that mean? Sakura's mind searched all the files on each of Akatsuki's members, searching for something that could help her find the meaning of all this.

Mental bricks seemed to fall in a storm.

She recalled words from each Akatsuki member. Words that rang so ominously in her head it throbbed with pain.

"You could walk into the enemy's arms and never see it, yeah."

"We're waist-deep in lust for you."

"You touched my heart, remember?"

"If I leave the little flower alone, she will run off."

"I'm getting you out. You'll be free from them."

A puzzle fell darkly into place in her mind. Akatsuki had been waist-deep in lust for her…Sasori. When she'd been kidnapped, she'd been drugged, and fallen into the enemy's arms and never seen it…Deidara. As time had passed in their lair, Sakura had unknowingly grown closer to each member in different ways, and in one way, touched their hearts…Hidan. They knew she hated being imprisoned there as their pet, and they'd known that if they left her alone, without a male to guard her, she would run off into freedom…Itachi. But there was no way that she could get out on her own, so she had been secretly offered help…Kisame.

Now that she thought about it, that sequence of events seemed to flow too smoothly. Everything fell into place and went right as rain. As though…it had been arranged before.

Itachi seemed to read her thoughts, and licked his lips. A game.

Sakura tightened her hands to fists as she trembled. Of course it all went as though arranged. It was arranged. Akatsuki arranged for Sasori to kidnap her, to have it's members try and sexually play around with her, to have her subconsciously get to know each member, and place her trust in a certain one until she could even confide in him. That one had been Kisame.

She snapped her head to look from Sasori, to Itachi and finally Kisame. His face still seemed to be hurt, but the truth could easily be seen in him. He had betrayed her. He hadn't "sneaked her to a back door." No, he had led her into a more complex trap. She had taken the bait, Kisame's offer to get her out. But what was the danger of it? Would she be taken back to their base? Or something she couldn't even think of?

Looking into Kisame's face, she felt anger boil up. She judged his emotional face. He had betrayed her. The look enough was obvious. But the sadness…that couldn't possibly be fake. He had betrayed her, but perhaps he hadn't wanted to. He may have been forced by fellow Akatsuki, to get her to stealthily leave them, only to be found and caught again.

'There has to be more!' She panicked. 'They're not so petty as to just screw around with me like this. They wouldn't let me go free just to bring me back.'

More mental bricks hit. "I will let you stay outside for a longer time, little one…when I think you are ready." Itachi's words rang loud as a Sunday church bell, and twice as clear.

She wasn't free.

How could she be so stupid? To think that she could sneak away while they were sleeping? Had she been thinking she was some child, sneaking outside past their bedtime while her parents were sleeping? This was Akatsuki. How in the hell could she think that she could sneak away while Akatsuki was sleeping? Did she think a plan that stupidly simple would work?!

She hadn't escaped Akatsuki. No, they were letting her have recess. She had escaped because they had wanted her to escape, to have time outside as she wished. They would be back, when her free time was up, and when they decided she should be back in their territory again.

"Sakura! Sakura, are you okay? Say something, you're pale as paper!" Hinata was shaking her. Sakura looked up at her purple-haired friend, and past her to Akatsuki, sitting casually in the trees. She pointed a trembling finger at them. All her friends turned to look. "What?" Tenten asked. "There's nothing there. What are you pointing at?"

Sakura let out a choking gasp. How could they not see? The country's most feared people were all within sight range, sitting in a couple of tree branches? What was wrong with them?

"We're taking you to a hospital!" Kakashi felt her forehead, and Sakura suddenly felt her head throbbing again. Hinata and Lee helped to set her gently down into a sitting position. Hinata sat with her while Naruto and Kakashi worked to summon Gamabunta as fast as they could. Sakura ignored Hinata's questions and stared at the necklace that the two artist nins still held between them.

What had been the point of the necklace, though? They were Akatsuki, weren't they? Did they really need a chakra-sucking necklace to keep a short little medic-girl contained? Sasori hadn't had that much trouble disposing of her when he had taken her, and she had had full power back then. Yet again, mental bricks hit.

She was being let outside as she requested from Itachi. She was being allowed time outside like a child at school, or a house pet into the backyard. A house pet… The necklace was not there to hold her chakra.

It was her collar.

Dog and cat collars had the names of their owners engraved onto them. The A engraved onto the necklace was the symbol, the name of her owner. She had never been able to take it off because of it's convenient, chakra-depleting effects. Or perhaps that had been their own stupid trick. A cat could never take off it's own collar, right?

The word "cat" brought up several occasions she remembered. When she had been so absorbed in reading her Italian book, she hadn't even noticed when Deidara lay in bed beside her. When she had been so dead tired that she hadn't put up any resistance when Sasori had put her to sleep by comfortingly stroking her neck and back, like his own life-size cat. Sasori must have been able to read her mind. He raised his free hand and blew a kiss to her. That gesture seemed to awaken her from her entire realization. She gave a violent start and jumped up, bumping Sai and trying to push through him to run towards Konoha. Sai and Tenten used teamwork to pull Sakura between them.

The brunette girl fanned her friend's face. "Are you having a seizure or something? Earth to Haruno! Say something before we deem you ill!"

She controlled her furious trembling and gathered the courage to stare Itachi in the face. It was his words that had most impacted her. His words had mattered the most when realizing what was really going on. "You are going down first!" She growled. Her friends all sent her the oddest looks they could muster. Naruto turned from his failing attempt at summoning and asked, "Who's going down first? Sasori?"

"Itachi."

The name drew a shocked gasp from half the group. But they weren't aware of what was truly going on. Akatsuki was invisible to their eyes. Itachi raised his head and met Sakura's gaze. "I'll be glad to be first," He chuckled darkly to her. "when it's time for you to come back."

"I'll fight!"

"I can't wait." The way his lips curled into a smile at that statement sent horrible, cold shivers down her spine.

"This is Hatake Kakashi, Jounin, currently assisting ANBU squad 9." Sakura could hear her old sensei speaking urgently into a radio of some sort. "Haruno Sakura has been found! Repeat, Haruno Sakura has been found! Please sent medic-nins! Haruno Sakura is in bad condition! Hallucinating, speaking to unknown peoples, in need of medical care!"

Deidara stood up on his branch and waved one hand. The mouth on it smiled and playfully stuck out it's tongue. He leapt away, followed by Tobi and Hidan. One by one, each Akatsuki disappeared. There was no trace that any of them had ever been there.

Her fingernails cut into her rough palms so deeply that they bled. "You fucking bastards…" She whispered. Lee tried to console her with sweet words, but she wasn't listening. "You just try! Come back whenever the hell you want! I'll be ready!"

"Sakura, stop it." Sai's blank voice was easily recognized by her ears, but she could barely focus on it. "Tsunade's coming to help you." Kakashi looked down at his student, amazed, confused and in awe. Whatever had happened to her during her two months' absence, it could not have been good. The look in her eyes that he'd caught had told him that.

All that they could do now was hold down their dear, struggling medic friend and hope for Tsunade to come soon and help her. She screeched and yelled into the trees. The others looked on with sympathy, pity, confusion and anger, all at once. "I know you're still there!" Sakura howled. "You'll be watching until you think I've had enough damn fun in my little home to come back to you! You'll be watching, bitches…I'll be waiting."

Her voice significantly dropped and her familiar, fiery will surfaced in the glow of her eyes. "I'll fight you forever. As long as it takes for every last one of your fucking gang to die. You hear me?!"

Akatsuki's own Sakura Haruno raised her voice once more. "You can't take me, you hear! You can't take me!" Her head dropped then, staring maliciously into a certain spot in the trees, where a pair of eyes were sharply watching her.

"I'm free."

THE END. 19 pages. 8800+ words. Fucking God. Wow. Well, this wraps everything up. Just to let you know, Kisame was Sakura's friend. He was forced to betray her by the other Akatsuki. He did not want to. I don't think he should be forgiven for that reason. Understood, but not forgiven.

I know it was a little strange that Sakura happened to figure out Akatsuki's real motive in the space of about ten seconds, but let's just go with the fact that she's smart. I know a lot of people wanted to see her kick some butt. She doesn't here. But she threatens pretty good. The last two sentences she says are from Bryan Adams' song, You Can't Take Me. Try listening to that song while reading this. As the author, of course, I did, and I think it gets a good atmosphere going.

Thanks for reading!