Summary: Getting an invitation to join one of the seven secret societies should have been highly coveted. Sakura only wonders why luck was never on her side. AU.

A/N: Written for the 100 themes challenge—a link to their group page is on my profile. This particular fanfiction is based on prompt #1, variation 2: "Introduction."

ALSO, if you are not familiar with streaking, google "streaking at educational institutions" on Wikipedia. My college/university has this tradition, and it is relevant to the story.

Disclaimer: Naruto characters do not belong to me.

Sakura sat on the bench in front of the Life Sciences building overlooking the field. If it hadn't been for Ino, she would have been back in her room, unpacking her clothes and school supplies. Sighing, Sakura resigned herself to a waste of a night spent babysitting her sometimes idiotic group of friends.

They had all recently been accepted to Konoha University, though their majors varied from Botany to Business. Today had been their first day of orientation, and Sakura was tired from all the socializing she had been forced through at her friends' insistence. Ino and Naruto seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of energy, but Sakura was dead tired.

If someone asked her why she was sitting on the bench in front of the Life Sciences building at nearly one freaking AM in the dark, well, Sakura would have to rewind a few hours…

Introduction

6:07PM, Medical Building Dining Hall

"Forehead!"

Ino's high-pitched, screeching voice could be heard halfway across the dining hall, never mind the fact that said dining hall was full of incoming freshman being just as loud. Turning around, Sakura was presented with the sight of one of her best friends running (well, more like squeezing) towards her. Once Ino caught up to her, she put her hand on Sakura's shoulder, panting and trying to catch her breath. When Sakura met her friend's eyes, she knew Ino was up to something by the way her eyes shined mischievously.

"You'll never believe what I just heard from Tenten!" At this point, Ino was jumping up and down excitedly in her three-inch heels.

Tenten was a mutual friend of theirs whom they met in high school. She was one year older than the two of them and also attended the university, pursuing a major in East Asian Studies. As a sophomore, Tenten's experience and advice were encouraged by all of her underclassmen friends. This time, however, Sakura suspected that whatever Tenten told Ino, she didn't want to have any part in.

"What?" Sakura crossed her arms, expecting to hear gossip about another party that night or hot upperclassmen guy.

Ino made a shooing motion to get Sakura closer, and then dropped her voice down to a whisper.

"I heard," Ino paused here dramatically to glance around and make sure no one was eavesdropping. Sakura rolled her eyes. "I heard that THE Akatsuki might be looking for new members tonight. Can you believe it?!"

Of course, Sakura didn't see the big deal about it because who the hell was the Akatsuki?

Seeing her friend's lack of interest, Ino sighed in frustration.

"Sakuraaa, don't tell me you don't even know who THE Akatsuki are? Why," Ino dropped her voice down an octave again, "they're one of the seven secret societies on campus! Not only do rumors say that any member is sure to be invited to the best and most popular parties, but people claim that each of the members are extremely attractive!"

Sakura only gave her friend a look.

"Ino-pig, you know I hate parties and alcohol and anything related to nightlife. Why don't you ask Naruto and the rest of the gang to join you?"

Ino only gave Sakura an incredulous look in return.

"Forehead, are you dumb? When I say extremely attractive, I obviously don't mean girls—rumors say that most of the members are guys, and they want to recruit female members. Other than Hinata, the rest of the gang are guys. You know Hinata's too smitten with Naruto to even consider joining, and I don't want to go alone. That's why you and I are going out tonight!"

With a clap that seemed to end the conversation, Ino grabbed Sakura by the elbow and dragged her towards one of the lines in the dining hall.

"Now come on, let's finish dinner fast so we can plan our course of action!"

9:27PM, Sakura and Ino's Dormitory

"… Ino?"

Ino, who was rummaging through her suitcase filled to the brim with clothes, looked up expectantly.

"Yeah?"

"Why," Sakura asked, gesturing to the rest of the gang who had gathered into their room, "is everyone else here?! I thought you wanted me to come because no one else was coming."

"Sakura-chan, you mean you don't know?" Sakura felt that she had heard that question too many times today. Okay, she was a little clueless about the social life here… but that was only because she wanted a proper education, not a successful nightlife! Naruto bounded over to where Sakura was sitting on her bed. "Everyone is going streaking tonight!"

"…" Sakura was tongue-tied. "WHAT?!"

Sakura glared at her friend, who only shrugged sheepishly and mouthed an insincere 'sorry.'

Rubbing her forehead, Sakura shook her head.

"Let me get this straight: Instead of this rumored secret society business, we're streaking?!" The last part came out as a screech.

"Hn. Sakura?"

"Yes, Sasuke?"

"Shut up."

Sakura only flipped him the bird.

"Look, Forehead. We ARE going to the rumored meeting place for the secret society… it just happens to be the field where everyone goes streaking. For one, we're not even sure what the qualifications are for the society, since hello"—Ino made an annoyed face—"they're a secret society for a reason! And second, it's not like we're expecting you to streak; besides, by the time we go it'll be too dark to see ten feet in front of you anyway."

"Does this mean I'm not required to attend, then?"

Naruto gave Sakura a watery, puppy-eyed look.

"Aww, come on, Sakura-chan, don't be a party pooper! See," Naruto grabbed Hinata (who was blushing profusely at the contact), "even Hinata-chan is coming! You can keep her and Sasuke-teme company!"

Taking pity on Hinata, partly because she'd be left alone with a sullen Uchiha all night, and partly because someone needed to be responsible enough to care for her when she fainted from too-much-Naruto-contact, Sakura reluctantly agreed.

"Alright… but I'm NOT streaking!"

12:42AM, Life Sciences Building's Bench

… and that brought Sakura to the present time, sitting on the bench next to Hinata, with Sasuke casually leaning against the front door of the building.

They could hear the shouts of "Ready, Set, Go!" echoing from the right.

The apparent streaking tradition had caught on, and by 12:30AM, about a hundred students had shown up. It was disorganized at first, but with the help of a few loud mouths (coughInoandNaruto), they had organized some kind of competition to see who could reach the other side of the field.

Sakura winced as she heard shrieks and hollers as her fellow half/completely naked classmates and friends made their way across the field.

Suddenly, she heard a cry of alarm.

Instantly, Sakura was out of her seat, peering to her right into the dark to see what had caused the commotion.

Soon, the single cry was followed by another.

And another.

And another.

The shrieks and hollers were those of alarm… and laughter.

Something whizzed by Sakura's head.

There was a splat! against the entrance of the Life Sciences building, followed by several more similar splat! sounds. Sakura dove behind a bush located conveniently next to the bench she had been sitting on before she could get hit. Whatever, or whoever, was aiming at them was showing no mercy to defenseless students. What the hell was going on?!

Hinata's soft cry in surprise broke through her concentration.

Cautiously moving over to where Hinata was still sitting (and had been too slow to react), Sakura saw that a glow-in-the-dark paintball had landed on her friend's t-shirt.

Looking towards the Life Sciences building entrance, Sakura saw several more similarly shaped splatters against the door and surrounding area.

It seemed that even Sasuke had failed to dodge all the paintballs, if the glowing mess in his hair was any indication.

He was currently struggling to get the paint out of his hair. The resulting mess had his hands, hair, and parts of his face and shirt glowing from the bright pink paintball.

Rather than help, Sakura doubled over laughing.

1:00AM Life Sciences Building Lobby

As it turned out, someone had special access to enter the Life Sciences Building, so after the participating streakers retrieved their clothing, everyone made it inside to clean themselves up. Under the light, the colored, glow-in-the-dark paint was pale in comparison.

"Who was the fuckin' genius who decided shooting glow-in-the-dark paintballs at streakers was a good idea?!"

Ino was in hysterics and was all-out bitching and raging at any moving object.

The source of her anger was the mess that was her beautiful hair.

In all the commotion and paintball shooting, Ino's hair was now completely covered in paint. The colors had mixed so much that it was turning a very odd shade of pale brown. Of course, in the dark, it was still a separated blob of glowing and vibrant colors.

"… Deidara-san?! Oh no! Tobi was a good boy, he swears! Tobi would never be the one to shoot you, Deidara-san!"

A stranger's hand—did he say his name was Tobi?—landed on Ino's shoulder.

Turning her head, Ino came face-to-face with a swirly-designed mask with a hole cut out for a single eye.

She shrieked and jumped back, pointing an accusing finger at the newcomer.

"YOU! What are you doing touching me, you, you pervert!"

The newcomer jumped back as well.

"Oh! Tobi is so sorry! Tobi is not a bad boy! Tobi just thought you were Deidara-san!"

Poor Tobi was terrified, on his knees, hands clasped together in a begging motion to be forgiven.

Ino wasn't convinced.

"Who the hell is this Deidara person, and why the hell are you mistaking a GUY for me?!"

"I'm Deidara, yeah. Sorry about my stupid friend Tobi, yeah."

The man known as Deidara appeared from behind Tobi. Everyone, including Ino, gaped at his hair.

It was Naruto who spoke the words on everyone else's minds.

"Damn. Didn't see that one coming."

Deidara spared a passing glance at Ino, who had insisted Sakura assist her with untangling the mess in her hair. His eyes held a spark of interest.

"Nice style there girl, if I do say so myself, yeah."

He flipped his hair—which, in reality, was only his bangs as the rest of his hair had been up in a high ponytail.

"Enough of the small talk, yeah. I came to see if there was anyone here without any paint on them, but it looks to me like everyone's been covered. It's a shame really—I was really hoping to have the baby Uchiha join, too, yeah."

Everyone turned to Sasuke with questioning glances, who just shrugged.

"My brother's in the Akatsuki."

As Sasuke expected, this statement brought forth surprised looks from his four friends.

"What the fuck?! Uchiha Sasuke, you had better explain this right now! I could have actually joined THE AKATSUKI tonight if I had dodged all these stupid—" at this Ino grabbed a chunk of her hair and put it up to Sasuke's face "—paint bullets like Sakura?!"

Sasuke, not surprisingly, was unperturbed. He shrugged again.

"I only said my brother was in Akatsuki. Doesn't mean I knew their plans."

Deidara looked from his blond hair look-alike to his fellow secret society member's little brother.

Once Ino's words sunk in, he put his hands up in a placating manner.

"Woah, woah, woah! Did you just say someone managed to dodge the paint bullets, yeah?"

Looking at the small group, Deidara caught one of the girls attempting to tiptoe towards the bathroom, as if to escape. He noticed the girl had pink hair.

Didn't his look-alike just say the girl's name was Sakura? As in, cherry blossoms? As in, pink?

With a speed the five freshmen were obviously surprised he possessed, Deidara caught hold of Sakura's wrist before she could make a beeline to the bathroom. Then, circling the girl's body, Deidara began inspecting for any signs of paint.

There were none.

Clapping his hands and rubbing them together, Deidara's face cracked into a wide grin.

"Tobi! Call Pein and the rest of the gang over—we got ourselves a new member, yeah!"

Tobi, realizing what that meant, scrambled next to where the bathrooms were. A group of eight, tall, and (clearly) upperclassmen stood in the corner, hidden at first sight, looking imposing and intimidating in their black cloaks with a single red cloud in the middle. They seemed to be inspecting each person who made for the bathroom, whisper and shaking their heads in disappointment. However, once Tobi made it over and had conveyed the news, pointing at Sakura and the rest of her friends, all eight eyes directed their attention on the girl.

Together, they made their way over to where Deidara stood, still keeping a firm grasp on Sakura's wrist, lest she made an escape for the exit. It wasn't far from what Sakura wanted to do at this point, anyway.

One of the men stepped forwards, circling and examining Sakura in the same way Deidara had just done.

Sakura felt violated from all the attention to her body—and she didn't even streak!

She guessed, however, that this man who seemed to command the rest, was the president or leader of this Akatsuki. Pein, was it?

Pein, apparently satisfied with the results of his examination, nodded towards Deidara in acknowledgement, who promptly let go of Sakura's wrist. It seemed as if the nod was also a signal for the rest of the Akatsuki to come and hover over their new member. A woman in the midst of all the testosterone extended her hand out.

"It's wonderful seeing another female join our group. My name is Konan, by the way."

Sakura found no harm shaking the woman's hand, and extended her own hand out, but not before commenting on the woman's statement.

"Hold your horses!" After shaking Konan's hand, she directed it at the supposed leader, Pein.

"What makes you think I'm willing to join this… this Akatsuki? What if I don't want to join?"

"Sakura," Pein inquired, "what major are you planning on studying?"

"Medicine," Sakura replied immediately, prideful of her chosen major.

Pein's eye's narrowed in glee.

"Well, you will be happy to know that Zetsu over there"—at this Pein pointed at a man with black and white dyed hair—"is studying in Life Sciences, specifically Biology and Botany. You may find him a helpful resource for some of your later classes. I myself am studying internal medicine, and Kakuzu"—this time Pein pointed at a giant man whose body seemed to be covered in stitches (Sakura seriously hoped they were fake)—"is studying to become a surgeon. We would be more than willing to help you with your classes," Pein continued, "but we would also be more than willing to put more than a few… unflattering remarks to our former professors about you should you choose to refuse."

Pein gave Sakura a pointed look, while Sakura couldn't believe what she just heard.

In return, she gave him a challenging look.

"Is that a threat, Pein?" She didn't even bother to use an honorific. If what he said was true and could be done, then she would show no respect for him.

It was Itachi who cut into the conversation. Long raven hair with lines of stress and naturally good looks, the elder Uchiha was in a league of his own. Even Sasuke couldn't compare (not that his hero-worship of his brother meant he wanted to anyway.)

"It is more than just a threat, Sakura-san. As Akatsuki, we have the connections—and money—to bend a... few professor's wills to our bidding." Itachi smirked. "We don't want that happening, now do we?"

Before Sakura could give out a retort along the lines of how that was an abuse of money and power, Ino barreled her way over in front of Sakura, obstructing Pein, Itachi, and the rest of the Akatsuki from a clear view of the new girl. She clapped her hands over Sakura's shoulders.

Hard.

"Sakura?" Ino had a sickly sweet tone to her voice.

Sakura didn't want to answer.

"… Yes?" Damn, her voice sounded smaller than she had wanted it to be.

Ino opened her mouth a little bit wider this time.

"YOU ARE JOINING THAT DAMN SECRET SOCIETY IF IT'S THE LAST THING YOU DO, DO YOU HEAR ME?!"

Sakura barely nodded. Ino, apparently satisfied after searching her friend's eyes, stepped back, hands falling to her sides once more.

"Good. Now I expect you to extend all party invitations that you get from the Akatsuki over to me, your best friend. Understood?"

Again, Sakura barely nodded. If she didn't accept this, her friend (and not to mention roommate) would make her year a living hell.

Pein reached into his cloak, and—Sakura didn't understand how he did this—pulled out another cloak identical to his own (where the hell did that come from?!)

"Sakura, welcome to Akatsuki."

A/N2: My inspiration came from my own experiences in college, though not the streaking part (sadly, fortunately, I have yet to see someone streak.) I plan on leaving this as a oneshot, but if people want more, I will endeavor to make a sequel (no promises, though).

Like some (most) of you, I wanted Itachi to have a bigger part in this fic too, except Deidara took the spotlight when his and Ino's hair just happened to be the same. Oh well, I personally like Deidara just as much.

Thanks for reading! :)