A Shift in Balance

Chapter Seven

Sakura halted her squirming in favor of staring into the lone blue eye of the blond haired man. She groaned in recognition, and flipped her hair back out of her eyes to better stare down the man from her awkward angle. He stood at the top of the steps with a dumbfounded look and rested his hand on his hip which was cocked to the side. She glared at him when he grunted, a soft noise just barely under his breath. He tilted his head to the side, swinging his gaze back and forth between her and her capturer. Her face flushed in embarrassment and tried not to squirm unexpectedly.

She jolted in surprise when Kisame slinked his thigh between her legs, riding his hip up against her butt. Her thighs instinctively squeezed tight, and she felt his body mold to hers. Sakura made a nasally sound and pinched her cheeks together in an angry pout.

The clay user must have noticed her sudden discomfort for he laughed at her expense and then sent a sneer in their direction. His open cloak shifted around his waist as he shifted his weight to stand evenly on both feet. His fingers tapped on his hip, and he raised a hand to wag a finger in their direction.

"Caught the stupid bitch, yeah?" He mocked with a raise in his eyebrow.

Sakura hissed like a cat, and Kisame dropped his weight further on her. She grunted in response, the stair pressing uncomfortably into her rib cage.

"I'll show you a bitch!" She shrieked.

Sakura continued to squeeze Kisame's large thigh, and she tried to rear her head back to attempt to hit him in hopes of freeing herself to attack the she-man. Kisame's arms encircling her squeezed her this time. The bulging of his biceps causing her to squeak.

There was another bit of laughter, and the blond man swung his own hair around to watch them better through his binocular eye. Sakura chanced a glance at Kisame who was radiating a massive amount of body heat, but she couldn't look at him long feeling his scrutiny.

"Drain her of her chakra. Leader wants to speak to her." His tone was no longer airy and light. "I'll take her over afterward."

In an instant, he was storming past them down the stairs and out of her line of sight. Kisame didn't respond to him, but was too focused on her. She could feel his eyes boring holes in her head, and she faced him with renewed vigor.

She bit out, "You aren't touching my chakra."

Kisame had a wide toothed smile which was all predator. "I'm touching something else though."

His leg pushed up flush to her core, and she shivered profusely. Sakura wasn't too happy with a twinkle in his eye, but she struggled not to squirm regardless. She wouldn't admit out loud, but his body was hard, warm, and all muscle. Something which typically rubbed her in delightful ways. She ignored his flash of a smile, and turned her flushing face away.

"I'd rather you not." Sakura lied.

His huff in disapproval had her flickering her eyes back to his beady set, and she squealed in response to him pulling her up and off the stairs. He tossed her over his shoulder, his shoulder digging into her stomach painfully, and he carried her down the way they had come. She gripped his black shirt in an iron grip, and she fought the urge to kick him. Sakura knew it was fruittile, and opted to memorizing every bit of the hall that she could.

"I don't even have any chakra left!" Sakura cried feeling her energy drain from the short burst of action.

Kisame chuckled, the sound vibrating in the abdomen and punching upwards into her rib cage. When she was thrown back into her cell, she whipped around to stare at his face. It was no longer smiling, and he didn't seem as welcoming as he had been prior. She initially thought he would have killed her for attempting a run, but when he didn't she should have known there was more to it. Sakura wasn't sure who this 'Leader' man was. All she did know was that he didn't seem pleasant or well liked even by his own members.

—

Sakura hated waiting more than she hated being captured. Waiting meant she had nothing to do, nothing to preoccupy her, and it definitely meant she was at the beck and call of someone else. She wasn't happy about the latter. Often times, Kakashi had made her team wait to prove a point or to show his disapproval of their work ethics as a whole. Tsunade made her wait to teach her to be meticulous in all she had to do and how to appreciate the time she had in peace. Tsunade also often employed it as a method to display power and control to people she wasn't fond of.

Sakura hated waiting because it took away the thrill of the adrenaline rush. She was meant to be explosive on the battlefield with her powerful hands and chakra laced kicks. As a medic, she was to rush to the aid of someone and save them. Waiting could mean life or death in most situations as a kunoichi. She hated waiting because it meant there was someone with more power and control than her. She distinctly didn't like being at the bottom of the totem pole.

The only thing waiting was good for was to be surprised. You wait for surprise parties and for surprise gifts. You waited for surprisingly good news. Those were things you waited for. This wasn't one of those moments.

Sakura knew as she was waiting patiently for the arrival of another person that the surprise she would receive would not be good.

Sakura had been placed by the warm and delightful Deidara in a room several paces from her own cell. It was dimly lit and her chair had been placed back against the wall. There was no other furniture, and there was a cool draft. In the back of her mind, she knew that was a good sign. A draft meant she was near the surface and closer to an escape route. Otherwise, she wasn't too sure exactly what she was supposed to be here for.

It had been several minutes, almost close to an hour she thought, and yet no one had come in. The door was shut with a click behind the red headed man, and she was left to her own devices. She had paced for awhile, traced the outline of every floorboard, and even mentally ran through quantum physics. She was becoming stir crazy. She had picked at her nails and combed through her hair with her fingers several times in an anxious fit before deciding to shift back to the lone seat.

With a huff, she settled into the wooden chair and tapped her fingers on her biceps to busy herself. Sakura blinked rapidly as she felt several presences pass behind the closed door, and she was becoming anxious every time no one entered. She had thought about trying to open the door, but she figured she wouldn't press her luck just in case she were to run into another unfriendly face or one perhaps too friendly. The Akatsuki hadn't had qualms about killing other shinobi, and she doubted they would care enough to keep her around longer than needed.

This was where waiting may come in handy.

If she could wait long enough to figure out an escape route, then maybe she could find out more information on the elusive band of criminals.

Sakura rolled her eyes and tilted her head back to lean it against the wall.

"Kami, help me." She groaned with a grunt.

"How could I?"

Her head snapped up and her eyes bulged. Emerald connected with the Rinnegan of a heavily pierced man, and her breath caught in her throat. She hadn't heard him enter, but she suspected he hadn't come in through the door either. His presence was looming now that she was zeroed in on him, and she was surprised couldn't detect him sooner. He wasn't a face she recognized, so she opted to trace his face into her memory. The sharp defined features of his jaw had her flushing; however, it was the intensity of his eyes which had her swallowing her nerves in her throat.

"Excuse me?" She muttered confused by his response.

He was tall, yet not as tall the Uchiha. His cloak billowed around him and she struggled to tell if he was lean versus built. Judging by his slender fingers, she gauged he may be on the leaner side. She studied his orange hair and found herself wondering if it was real. Not that she was one to talk, pink wasn't inheritedly a common color. The deep rumble he produced from his thin lips brought her attention back to his face.

"You asked me to help you, but how can I help you if you do not tell me what it is you need help with."

Her brows contorted as she thought about his response.

"You aren't God." She breathed slowly, watching him with careful eyes.

"I am."

Sakura wasn't sure what delusion he was under, but she was positive he was not a God. He was living and breathing. God was not someone living and breathing that she knew of, and until she was proven otherwise then this man was clearly wrong.

"I want to know why I'm here."

She expected a long pause and she half expected the man not to answer her, so when he did she was thoroughly caught off guard. "You're close to the Jinchuuriki. He will come for you."

Sakura blinked tiredly. "Who are you?"

"I told you. I am God." When his piercing eyes connected with hers, she felt small and insignificant. She wished she had a wisp of her chakra to steady her churning stomach. "Some mortals, though, call me Pein."

Sakura stored this piece of information away in her mind to evaluate later. She wasn't sure if she would be given the opportunity for a later, but she gauged from his lack of killing intent that she was safe. For now. Nonetheless, his presence was heavy like a thick, stiffening blanket and she was reminded of when she was a child being reprimanded or when she first had seen an S-Class Criminal. She had felt overwhelmed and frightened. This man definitely was high on that list, and she felt a bead of sweat tremble down the column of her neck. Her palms were clammy and her stomach was twisting into knots.

"Now that I've answered your questions. Answer mine." He bid with a slow saunter towards her.

Sakura shot up straight in her chair and yet was unable to stand, her knees trembling. Her fingers gripped the edge of the chair, and she swallowed down the bile rising in her throat.

His hand snapped to grab her chin, tilting her chin up so he could stare menacingly down at her. Her eyes then flickered behind him where she saw Itachi entering the room with a silent click of the door after him. The Leader of the Akatsuki jerked her chin higher and he bent down at his waist to loom over her, her entire vision focused now solely on him.

"How did you break the Sharingan?"