Sakura Haruno
Age: 19
Mission: To retrieve a Royal Mist Kunoichi from the clutches of the Akatsuki.
Sakura wiped her brow with the back of her hand. Boy was it hot. Her clothes stuck to her body, caked in dirt and sweat. She hadn't eaten in 24 hours, but her chakra supply was still steady, to say the least.
Jumping from tree to tree, she was headed towards a little Mist Village where the Akatsuki organisation had a royal Mist kunoichi captive. Her focus was on the mission, and only on the mission.
She didn't know which member of the Akatsuki had the princess captive, but she knew he wouldn't be an easy opponent. Maybe it would be Itachi, in which case she was doomed. But she didn't want to be negative. If worst came to worst, she would have to make a trade. After all, her skills as a medic ninja were renowned.
A slight breeze blew past from the south, and she exhaled gratefully. Her stomach grumbled, and she felt her chakra deplete a bit. She lessened the chakra flow to her feet, slowing down her progress. Surely she couldn't be far off now.
Suddenly, she sensed a stranger's chakra from behind her. She twirled around, but saw no-one.
An ambush!
She reached for her kunai pouch, pulled out three, and flung them into the shadows of the trees. HisssssThunk!
She heard a boyish chuckle, and her stomach dropped. She missed.
Sixteen shuriken were thrown at her and around her head, leaving little room to dodge. She managed, but one cut deep into her shoulder, and she barely contained a gasp.
Silence followed. Either her attacker had ran away, which seemed unlikely, or they had chosen to let her have the next move.
They're toying with me. Inner Sakura let out a squeal of rage, demanding to know why they underestimated her.
Jade eyes roamed the surroundings, unsure and anxious. She hated not having the upper hand.
Don't you ever Inner Sakura chuckled.
Ignoring her perverted inner self, Sakura let the unfamiliar chakra waves lead her to the source of the shuriken. Her breath came in unsure gasps, her knees went wobbly. Not now!
Standing stock still, she sensed waves coming from...behind her...to the left.
Maintaining her position, she waited until everything was silent, until she launched her surprise attack on her assailant, sending nine shuriken where she knew they were hiding.
She heard a grunt, followed by a whooooosh, which signified a change of position.
Great. Now I'm just wasting chakra by being on edge. I hate hide and seek.
She did not flinch when she heard a voice from the trees. Whoever it was had used a masking jutsu to cover where the sound of their voice was really coming from – it came from every angle.
"You are a Leaf kunoichi, yeah?"
Silence. She did not want to answer him.
A single shuriken went whizzing past her ear. It went so fast, she could not tell where it came from.
"Speak, kunoichi, or I will kill you."
The voice was boyish, and smooth, even monotone. She inhaled, preparing to speak.
"I am from the Leaf village."
"Aha, and you have come...to seek out the princess, yeah?"
Silence greeted this statement. Another shuriken flew by. Sakura gasped, her back tense with anticipation. She heard it thunk into a tree behind her.
"Yes." She answered stiffly. Another low chuckle was heard.
"Yeah, good luck with that."
Everything went silent. She couldn't sense the chakra traces anymore. She knew he was gone.
She almost screamed in frustration. She had to be more aware next time! Gathering her thoughts, she prepared to pursue the ninja. Which direction had he gone? She needed to sense his chakra...
⁰
Hours later, an exhausted Sakura leaned up against a tree. Her back ached, her feet ached – in fact, there wasn't a part of her that didn't ache. She gasped for breath, sweat pouring off her.
She had spent hours chasing after the ninja's trail, but had finally come to a stop, knowing she would be useless in a fight if she did not get rest. Alone, utterly exhausted, and hungry, she began to make preparations to camp out for the night.
The half of her brain that wasn't completely out of it was in a full fit of rage. How could she be so careless? She berated herself. The frustration began to show as she tried to roll out her pack. Several knots became tangled as she growled lowly in annoyance. Finally, she gave up and decided to just sleep on the ground. It was hot enough anyway.
With one final sigh, she drifted off to an uncomfortable sleep against a tree.
⁰
She was dreaming. Sasuke was there with her, in the forest, sitting beside her. She had grown out of her childhood crush for him, but occasionally she still had dreams about him. Hey, what girl wouldn't? The man was hot.
Imaginary Sasuke was smiling at her. It was such a rare smile, a true on that lit up his face. She couldn't do anything but stare at him, dumbfounded, as he began to lean in, where his lips touched her neck. The felt so warm, those lips, but she didn't want them.
Suddenly, his lips turned cold. As cold as metal. Then, just as quickly, his lips disappeared, in a poof of smoke. In its place was a kunai. A sharp, black kunai.
It was then she woke up, breathing heavily. This was no dream – someone was holding a kunai against her throat.
Sakura went to scream, only to have the kunai press harder against her. She was panting, afraid and fearful. Her sleep – filled eyes searched widely for her attacker, and came face to face with the one and only.
She had seen him before, of course, in pictures in Bingo Books. But if just seemed oh so surreal to see a real Akatsuki in the flesh. Eyes widening even more (if that were possible), she stared. It was all she could do. She could barely see him through the darkness, but when she sent chakra to her eyes, she could advance her eyesight.
Deidara.
"Deidara." She spoke, her voice raspy with fear. She inhaled raggedly.
He outright laughed. "I love being famous."
She resisted the urge to spit in his face. "More like infamous." She regretted her words, reminding herself that she was a knifepoint. She released a breath she had been holding.
He sighed, a smug smile taking place on his face. "Well, now that I've found you, I really should kill you. It's an insult that Konoha should send such a weak kunoichi after me."
She growled, saying nothing more.
Still smirking, the blond flicked a single hand into a hand sign. She could feel the chakra flowing out of her system, what little was left. Her eyesight dimmed, and she knew it was a chakra draining technique. She wanted to slap him.
When he was satisfied she could no longer move, he released with kunai. She stayed still, not anticipating his next move. She didn't know what he would do.
"Kunoichi, you are here to rescue a said royal, ne? This royal must not be very important, why else would they send such a weak ninja after me?"
She said nothing, only stared at him.
He wasn't at all surprised by her silence. He continued as if this were just an everyday conversation about the weather.
"So, what did you plan on doing, after defeating me? You have exhausted your supplies, yeah, only soldier pills to survive, limited chakra, need I go on?" He goaded.
"Get to the point." Sakura snapped at him, almost hissing in frustration.
"I just can't help but think that your beloved Tsunade sent you here on purpose, Sa-ku-ra."
Her head snapped up to look at him. "How the hell do you know who I am?"
He chuckled. "How many people do you meet with pink hair, cherry blossom?"
She frowned. "And what do you mean by 'on purpose'?" She hissed at him, glaring at his silhouette.
He chuckled tauntingly. "I mean like a suicide mission, Sakura. Maybe Tsunade just wanted to sacrifice you to save the princess. After all, you are weak." She stood then, on wobbly legs, and he made no move to stop her, knowing she wouldn't get far. She leaned against the tree for support. She had literally no chakra left in her. Her hand went to point accusingly at Deidara.
"Look here, mister. You have no right to talk about the Hokage like that. She would never put a top medic in that position. Maybe I have backup following me."
His eyes flashed, and cold metal was upon her neck again. "Do you?" His harsh voice demanded.
She backed down. "N-no." She stammered, tears almost pricking her eyes. Almost.
He flipped his kunai away, all traces of seriousness vanishing. "Good." He chuckled again.
With one last grin at her, he turned around on his heel and prepared to jump. He was going to leave her there. It would give him some time to get away. He would not kill her, he thought. Not tonight. It could be fun if she followed him.
She saw him turn, and spoke up.
"Wait."
He turned back, a bored look in his visible eye. His bang hung loosely over his other eye.
"Take me instead." She whispered.
He stared at her. And stared some more. And then he began to laugh.
And laugh he did.
"Take you!" He let out a giant chuckle. "Why? You would be of no assistance to us" –
"I am a medic, trained by the Hokage. My fighting skills are weak, but they could be improved. I could stay at your base and heal you after your missions."
This trumped his laughter, as if this thought had not occurred to him. She felt a strange pride grow within her. Now she was the one to smirk.
Yes, I had heard of her before...I knew of her magnificent medical skills...but the princess...the ransom... and she has minimal fight skills... "I must confer with Leader." Deidara said after a long minute of thought.
Sighed breathed in relief, her sigh whooshing out of her lungs. They were taking her seriously. Thank Kami. It was her last resort, but she had to complete this mission at all costs.
...
Deidara, confident that Sakura was going nowhere due to her lack of chakra, used a transportation jutsu to Akatsuki's home base. As expected, Pein was not surprised to see him, anticipating Deidara's arrival.
...
Back at the forest, Sakura had tried to move. She really did. Her feet would not obey. Her legs seemed to belong to someone else. She gave up after about a metre. Maybe she could call for help?
As quickly as the thought came into her head, she dismissed it. She was in unknown territory and it was, apparently, a place where S-class criminals hung out.
Her chakra – depleted eyes sought out a weapon, or any sort, for when Deidara came back. She could try a surprise attack...
but she found no weapon. He had taken the kunai he used earlier. Dammit.
She waited, panting after her efforts to move, waiting for Deidara to come back with her fate.
...
Back at the base, Deidara wasn't having a hard time trying to convince Pein to try his new captive out.
Leader was talking to himself. "Yes...we could keep her at base, combat skills aside...and we do have alot of injuries..."
Deidara didn't even have to persuade his Leader. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes at his Leader's "wiseness", he tried a step towards the other issue.
"But what of the princess, and the ransom, yeah?" Deidara questioned the red head, tilting his head. "We couldn't just leave her out in the forest..."
Pein nodded his head, and shifted on the throne he was sitting on. "Take her to the nearest Village, take what money you can get, then scram. We don't want in to be conspicuous either. So no fights."
Deidara nodded. He could handle that. Bowing to Leader, he turned around, ready to transport back to where Sakura was.
"One more thing," Leader stopped him in his tracks. "I don't want any...fraternisation between you and said kunoichi, got it?"
Deidara chuckled. "You won't have a problem in that area, Leader." Bowing again, he turned in a whirl of smoke back to the chakra depleted kunoichi.
...
Sakura was almost asleep again...what was taking them so long? She wasn't confident that they would take her, but if they didn't, she and the princess would surely die.
Thats when she jumped when a shadowy figure emerged with a slight poof. Her heart pounding, she craned her neck upwards and saw that her Captor had returned.
She held her breath, waiting for his verdict.
"You come with us, kunoichi. The princess will be taken to the nearest Mist Village...it looks like it was your lucky day." He grinned.
She outright smiled. It was a sad smile, knowing that she would never see her friends again. But she smiled because she knew that her cause was noble and true – unlike anything the Akatsuki did.
If Deidara noticed her smile, he didn't show it, as he grabbed her arm rather roughly and dragged her to her feet. Her smiled faded. She was now a prisoner.
And with that final thought, Deidara pressed two fingers into a point on her neck, where her whole world turned dark.