Author's note: This one starts some weeks after Gaara's rescue and goes its own way afterwards. This story was originally written and finished in my native language (Portuguese) and I think it's time to let my baby find new horizons and new readers. I am sorry for the grammar and spelling errors, since English is not my first language.

Hope you enjoy!

Jumping tree by tree, Sakura paid all the attention she could to the sayings of Kakashi.

"Listen: as said by the ANBUs who could find Orochimaru, we are just a few miles afar the hideout where Sasuke is. Sai," he called. "I want you to stay near me if we have to fight. We will attack first in case of Orochimaru or his men showing up."

That was, without a doubt, the most important mission Sakura had in all her life. Just after the incident in Suna and the hospitalization of Kakashi, Naruto and her were teamed up with that strange boy, Sai, and were under the orders of Yamato, a master of Wood Style who could haunt anyone just with a simple gaze. However, since they would probably face Orochimaru in the new mission, Tsunade decided to await Kakashi's recovery.

The main objective of the new Team Seven was to find Sasuke's whereabouts, infiltrate in his hideout and try their luck. However, because of the dangers of the mission and Naruto's seal being unstable ―fact unknown to Sakura―, Jiraiya advised for them to wait for Kakashi.

"Sakura," her sensei called. "I need you to stay with Yamato and Naruto. If Naruto loses control of his emotions, you are the one who can stop him of doing something stupid."

"Hey! Who said I will 'lose control'? I don't need anyone near me. But if you want, I can protect you, Sakura-chan," Naruto tried to flirt while protesting, but was ignored. Meanwhile, Sakura answered Kakashi with a roger.

Her mind was lost and she couldn't hear anymore what Kakashi was saying. How would she react if they saw Sasuke? How would he be like, after two years? How would he react? The boy she loved so much in the past was really close to her right now and her team could finally take him away from that snake monster who destroyed their lives.

She frowned and increased the quantity of chakra in her feet, jumping faster. Naruto wasn't left behind, with the two of them getting forward. Yamato shouted some sort of complaint and said for them to stay behind, but was ignored. The blonde one seemed so anxious than Sakura in her eyes, and her heart seemed to squish a little.

Naruto, for sure, was the closest person to Sasuke and the most important one in the life of the Uchiha. By Naruto's part, the feeling was mutual. The two of them, despite being rivals, were also best friends and had a bond so strong that it couldn't be broken even by death. So what if they failed the mission? Naruto had already lost one opportunity of saving Sasuke. Could he bear defeat for a second time?

And then hell broke of. It was too fast to be noticed immediately. The kunoichi's green eyes were surprised by Kakashi's katon, Naruto swearing and Sai flying in an ink bird. Caught by surprise, Sakura stepped wrong and started to fall, just to be held by Yamato before it was too late. The captain jumped away to help Naruto and Kakashi.

By what she could see in a fraction of seconds, the ambush was made by two individuals of Akatsuki with the famous black cloak with blood-red clouds. She recomposed herself and decided to attack the man who resembled a shark and was preparing to attack Yamato. She channelized chakra in her fist and tried to punch him in one of the kidneys, but the criminal diverted the attack with remarkable velocity and hit her in the shoulder. She heard the sound of something being dislocated.

The sudden pain wasn't enough to stop her, however. With a kunai in hands and an explosive paper attached to it, she threw it, slowing the man (… maybe a man?) just in time for Sai to hit him with an ink lion. The man dissipated in water, revealing to be a clone. Sakura scanned her surroundings searching for the real one and felt something moving inside the tree she stood; of course he planned a surprise attack. She jumped from the branch where she was and, with her leg, broke the tree in half, revealing the enemy. She tried to attack him from above, but he was faster and held her leg.

Not allowing herself to lose one more punch, she managed to turn her back and hips enough to hit him with her good arm, making the nukenin release her and flee for the open field. She smiled with auto-satisfaction and jumped to another tree, watching Sai become the new opponent for the Akatsuki. She couldn't give herself the privilege of staying there, so she landed on the field. She passed by Sai and released chakra from her fist to the ground, breaking it in several parts and creating a sort of earthquake. Sadly it wasn't enough for Kisame to lose his balance, who wielded his strange sword full of bands. He ran to the new member of Team Seven and tried to get him repeatedly, but Sai avoided every blow with success.

Using his chakra in his feet, Sai jumped away, now staying in a safe range from the blue man. He seemed to growl under his smile full of sharp, abnormal teeth; then he ran for them in a more feral way. An explosion was heard several feet away, and Sakura feared for his teammates there.

I can't be worried about others when the risk right here is big, she thought. She saw the Akatsuki's sword hit Sai and her heart stopped beating for half a second; but then she watched the artist's form fade away in ink and sighed in relief.

The shark man looked for Sai all around him, but couldn't find his opponent. Sakura stood there, confused. What the hell?! Why wasn't he trying to attack her?

She didn't had time to find an answer because Sai emerged from the ground in a blink of an eye and surprised the Akatsuki, holding him in place with ink snakes. Seeing in this the perfect gap, she went for him faster than ever and threw a blow in his stomach, throwing him away one more time before he got rid of the snakes. Sai gave her one of his fake smiles.

"Great teamwork," he said.

"Yeah..." she answered. "But that's strange. I mean, he is an Akatsuki, Hoshigaki Kisame, the bingo book says. He is among the most feared shinobis in the world. We shouldn't have a chance with him. But then… why are we taking the advantage? He isn't even fighting for real. He is toying with us."

The nukenin left them there, running for the forest where Kakashi, Naruto and Yamato fought with someone.

"I have no idea what he is up to, but the opportunity to beat an Akatsuki won't show up everyday!" Sai answered and went after Kisame again, following him to the trees.

Without many options, Sakura also followed them. She ignored again the pain in her shoulder, gradually increasing along with the muscular tension, and tried to focus only in trying to pass these guys and continuing the mission. They were so close from Sasuke, they couldn't fail again!

Climbing one of the trees, she saw Naruto covered by a strange orange, bubbly aura with an animal shape. He used a fighting style that could be described as savage. His eyes were red and the strange marks in his cheeks were thicker. She worried a lot about that, but couldn't leave Sai alone.

She searched again for the enemy and, when she found him, moved to be near him, hiding and waiting for a gap. He seemed to change the battle's situation and was overpowering Sai, so she knew she needed to do something. She prepared chakra in her feet one more time and jumped.

Before she could get near Kisame, something grabbed her in the air and pressed hard to avoid her escape. She could only identify the red Sharingan eyes.

"Sasuke?"

That was everything she managed to say before feeling her body fall to the ground and everything become black.

. . .

When she woke up, Sakura felt a terrible headache. She opened her eyes and identified a strange black ceiling. Still laying down in something like a cot, she scanned the space around her and became sure that she never saw that space in Konoha. It was a prison cell.

The walls didn't possess any painting, the ground was made from rocks and the only light there was from a fire torch outside the cell, in a corridor with many others. There wasn't absolutely nothing there beside the thing she was laying on and the first thing she thought straight was running.

She tried to rationalize and find a way out; but how? She didn't know where she was, what happened to her, where her teammates were and how she ended up there.

Sakura dug her mind and the last thing she could remember was that she was grabbed by someone before hitting her body and collapsing. She was fight against Akatsuki with the rest of her team. But what happened after these things?

She tried to stand up from the cot using her right arm, but then felt a terrible pain and remembered her dislocated arm.

Well, I can't stay like this if I want to escape, she thought.

She thought of using the Mystical Palm technique to put everything into place, but the chakra didn't flow. It was obvious to her that the cell drained chakra. Looking with more attention, she could finally feel the unnatural air of the cell, common in the types that sucked the chakra away.

"I will have to do this in the worst way," grunted with anger.

She bent her knees, hugged her right leg and leaned back, putting pressure and pushing the knee forward to create tension. After doing this repeatedly for several minutes, the pain seemed to lessen. The shoulder wasn't exactly where it should be, but it was all she could do right now. Noticing that her bag and her tantou weren't with her anymore to get some supplies to immobilize her shoulder, she left her arm in the right position.

Sakura analyzed again the place without windows and with steel bars. If she could get out somehow… a gap in the walls, a barrier not strong enough to her grip… anything. She couldn't find what she wanted and, without chakra to destroy walls, everything she could do was sit and wait.

. . .

She didn't know how much time has passed, but she was hungry and thirst. She also needed to go to the bathroom and was cold; however the worst of all wasn't any of these things. She was alone. Without Naruto, Tsunade, Kakashi, Ino or any other person who made her feel safe. Sakura didn't know where she was, who she was dealing with, what happened after her blackout, what would happen to her and if she would see again her loved people one more time.

So she allowed herself to cry. A silent cry, but desperate and without any hope. She cried like she didn't cried for long. She promised herself, during her training with her shishou, that she wouldn't cry anymore. She would be strong, focused and wouldn't depend on her friends; however, there she was, crying again.

The petite kunoichi heard footsteps in the corridor, so she held back the tears as fastest as she could, sniffed trying to get rid of the stuffy nose, cleaned her face and watched the bars with an uneasy heartbeat, waiting.

The black and red coat came first, but then the face of her raptor was revealed. Sakura couldn't prevent her chin from falling, stunned. For the first time, she was in front of one of the most wanted nukenins in the world. The cold gaze in the crimson eyes sent a chill to Sakura's spine, and the face so alike to Sasuke's made her legs tremble.

Itachi Uchiha.

These red eyes were, for sure, the thing Sakura would fear the most from that moment. Her body stiffened and she waited for his words. Even after some minutes in silence, she didn't dare to say something nor look elsewhere.

So she was captured by Akatsuki. Several reasons for such an act passed trough her mind: a bait for Konoha, interrogation, a 'lesson as an example', being Sasori's killer… Maybe all these options together.

However, it didn't make sense if she was the only one captured. Yes, she was almost sure that one of her teammates were there too! Maybe Naruto? She knew him, and he would act led by anger, also being captured.

Assuming Itachi didn't expect to talk first, she finally took the courage to ask, with hostility. "Where is Naruto? What did you do to him?"

"The fox is not here, kunoichi," Itachi answered with the same tone. "He should be inside Leaf's walls with the rest of your team. And I advice you to make your voice more… mild."

A wave of relief passed through Sakura's body. She released the air she was holding, but didn't leave her fear behind. Gazing Itachi again, she waited for him to say something. Nothing was done by his part.

Making use of his silence, she started to think. Naruto certainly also would be easily captured with her if he acted on impulse and even Kakashi wouldn't be able to stop him. The loss of another member of Team Seven would not be allowed by the boy; but if Naruto, Yamato, Kakashi and Sai weren't there, Akatsuki really had a reason to have abducted only her and let the others leave. Even Kakashi, the most powerful of the squad, wouldn't be a match to Itachi's power, who was known around the world for his achievements before and after the treason without any plausible reason.

She cogitated again the reasons of her abduction, but her thoughts were stopped by the arrival of a second person in front of her cell.

He was a tall man, pale and with an orange hair that remembered Naruto's. He used an hitai-ate from Ame with the symbolic horizontal mark and had several piercings all over his face. The man also wore the Akatsuki cloak; however, what surprised the most in his appearance were the eyes. Indigo orbs with strange circles in it shined bright in the darkness of the corridor. Sakura had seen lots of things in her short lifetime, but she knew that he was probably one of the most dangerous men alive. He emanated power even without moving a muscle.

As Itachi did, he gazed her with cold eyes, but Sakura didn't dare to sustain eye contact with him as she did with the Konoha's nukenin.

"Leader," Itachi called him, showing that he was the one in charge of Akatsuki. "She is the apprentice and protege of Princess Tsunade, the one I said that would be useful to us."

"I see," the indigo-eyed man said. "How long has she been there?"

"Around half a day," Itachi answered while Sakura's eyes got larger. She has been there for twelve hours! "If you allow me, I would like to explain to her why she is here."

The said leader nodded and left. So she really would be interrogated. Since this very moment she made her choice: even if she was tortured for her entire life, even if she was killed, she would never spill a word.

Removing the papel seal attached to the cell's lock the entrance opened, but Sakura didn't move. Itachi signed for her to move, so she finally did so. Passing by several cells, she noticed that most of them were occupied by people in their deathbed. Teenagers, elders, women and several types of shinobi were prisoners. A shiver passed down her spine; how far would Akatsuki go to get whatever they desired?

Leaving that horrid place, they climbed a stair and entered a door right next to it. Sakura thought she would be led to an interrogation room, full of torture devices and intel data, but she was in a very simple room, with a table and chairs at the center and a shelf with a few scrolls.

"You can sit wherever you want; however, I assume you will stay in your own limits," the command was rather a warning, and Sakura quietly obliged, warily sitting across him. He started talking.

"Obviously you know who we are. You also know all our members are rank S ninja with unique skills. Each loss is very significant and, with Sasori's murder by your hands and the damage caused to another member, we are worried with the next potential losses."

"And I am here to tend to you criminals," Sakura dared to interrupt when Itachi paused.

"Very close. You see, I am one of the oldest and… useful members here," he explained. "And I am passing through some health issues that are aggravating very quickly. Leader don't want me to lose activity, and wants to have my issue discovered and treated a soon as possible. Your medical abilities are very impressive, you are so young and already part of the elite. Beyond your healing skills, you were able to defeat one of our strongest in Akatsuki, and just the Mystical Palm wouldn't be enough to overcome Sasori's poison, am I correct?"

Sakura stayed silent. She knew she deserved the praise for beating Sasori, but she wouldn't last five minutes if Chiyo wasn't there. She didn't do the false modesty thing, but the kunoichi also knew very well that she, alone and with her current skills, would never be enough to beat an Akatsuki. However, receiving the recognition of someone like Itachi Uchiha, the living legend, would be very satisfying if not his fame.

"Well, your medical abilities did not go unnoticed for us and we need a favor from you. I would like you to help me find my disease."

Sakura knew very well her options: accept or get killed. The slight chance of survival was held by the first one, so she took a deep breath, trying to control her trembling fingers, and spoke.

"Will I be held prisoner like a while ago?"

"For sure not. We can't let you live in a cell without any survival conditions, of course. We are in what we call the headquarters, it's the closest thing we have to a home. We will provide you with a regular room and you will be able to roam freely in the places Leader allows you to." The last part was filled with warning and menace, implying things wouldn't be nice for her if she didn't cooperate.

"You shall never disrespect Leader if you do not wish for disastrous outcomes. You also shall not cause problems for any of us; the outcome will be less favorable to you."

Sakura listened to all the instructions carefully and was not surprised by any of them; on the opposite, she was rather impressed by the conditions they were proposing. No organization, not even Konoha, would be so diligent with a prisoner. Something just didn't seemed to click, there had to be more and Itachi purposely let it off.

"Well, I guess I have no choice. A lost game shall we play, then," Itachi sarcastically smirked at her choice of words. "Is there anything else I need to know?"

"Me or someone else will show you to certain places of your new routine, but before that we need to speak to Leader so we can finish our deal."

If Sakura had been more braver, she would have laughed at his face. 'Deal'?! She was being forced to condone with Akatsuki and still had to hear everything as if she was there on her own free will?!

Itachi asked her to follow him again and so she did. They left the room to roam through a cold corridor made of stone walls. The kunoichi was used to small clothing to deal with the hot weather from Fire Country in the summer, but Akatsuki's hideout for sure wasn't sunny and warm. Where could she be?

"Sakura-san," he called. "Of course you recognize Akatsuki is the most hated group in all the Shinobi Nations, so we always have to make sure out allies and subordinates are under control. Of course, we have our means, and Leader is about to show you to them. I ask you to keep calm and to not resist. Things will be easier for us and for you, I assure."

Oh, there it was. What was missing. With genuine fear, the medic agreed with an almost inaudible sound. She forced her body to move and kept following Itachi. They passed through several closed wooden doors until Uchiha stopped in front of one that held the symbol for Zero carved carefully in the wood. The nukenin gave it a few knocks and waited for the permission to enter.

Apparently, it was a regular office. Sakura looked through the room, all the scrolls, papers and archives perfectly organized. A desk full of piles of paper was in front of her and in there sat the head of the headquarters.

What caught her attention, however, was a woman. She stood next to the leader and also wore the Akatsuki cape. She was very pretty and seemed to be in her late twenties, but her eyes held the weight of lots of years. The blue hair, decorated with a flower origami, stood the most, and made a perfect combination with the clear grey eyes. The woman watched Sakura expressionless and made her feel uncomfortable with the way she was getting studied. Finally, her eyes went back to the leader when he spoke.

"So I see Sakura Haruno accepted our offer," he started, now looking to Itachi. "Have you already explained how things will work for her?"

"Yes, sir. She agreed without problems and will collaborate perfectly," Itachi answered.

"Great. I hope we have a great relationship without major problems, since you will be living with us for now on, Sakura Haruno." He stood up and the girl didn't dare to move. Step by step he took to reach her, her heart beat faster and harder. "To assure your complete loyalty to the organization, I will do a procedure that will be, in certain ways, painful. I ask for your patience in the entire process."

So we always have to make sure out allies and subordinates are under control.

Before she could speak or even think, the Akatsuki was at her side making several hand seals with an almost unbelievable speed. She felt slender hands grab her arms to prevent her scape, but the green eyes only focused at Itachi in front of her. In a heartbeat, the man's hand entered in contact with the side of her neck.

The pain she felt at the contact wasn't the worst she had felt, compared by being impaled by Sasori's blade. However, that type of pain was completely new. It burned inside out and the acid heat seemed to spread through all her veins, making her lose balance and fall to the ground. She screamed like she never did before, but no one seemed bothered by the gruesome sound. There was no sound in the room and she wasn't looking directly at the light, but oh, she wanted so bad to rip out her own eardrums and eye globes. The temptation to make herself undone into pieces to end that was overwhelming and lasted for a dozen of seconds. She swore she would die there, in the cold floor. She wasn't strong enough to endure that pain for so long without healing herself, without resisting…

When it ended, Sakura remained in the floor, muted by the pain and having slight spasms. The woman freed her from her hold carefully so she could use her arms to lean and not fall completely. The medic-nin used her good arm as support and, between pants, looked to the orange-haired man with tired eyes. He showed her no emotion.

"Konan," he called the woman. "Could you get the girl to one of the free rooms? I have matters to discuss with Itachi."

The woman named Konan nodded and helped Sakura to stand, having patience with the fragile body. Together, they left the room that would haunt Sakura as her brand new nightmare material.

What the hell just happened to her? Why no one explained nothing to her? What would be of her from now on? Her head was filled with questions with answers she probably would never get.

She got startled with a sudden pause from Konan. They were in front of another door, this one with no kanji in the wood.

"This will be your room," she said to Sakura as she turned to face her. Her voice, like her appearance, was very beautiful. It had a strong tone that showed she was a very superior woman. "There is hot water in the bathroom and sheets in the shelves. I ask for you to not leave this room until we come here again. We will know if you try. You should be tired, so I will show up after a few hours to explain you everything around here."

"Could I make a question before?" She asked and received Konan's silence as answer, so she took it like a 'yes'. Education seemed to be effective around there, so she would try her best to be in a suitable situation. "What did just happen to me right there?"

"It is the Akatsuki seal. When a person has it, they are linked to Akatsuki. If the seal's user try to betray the group in any way, very bad things happen. So, if you excuse me, I have my appointments and can't stay here. Have a good rest."

With that, Konan opened the room's door and left Sakura alone in the corridor, going back to where they came from. With no other choice and dying for the hot water the taller woman mentioned, she entered the room, locking the door. The wooden floor needed some cleaning and the walls had some spider webs. For sure she would find a way to solve that, if she was forced to be there.

The furniture was dusty as well and it consisted of a small bed, a large shelf, a bedside table with a lamp and a working table with a single chair. She could see a bit of light coming through a window with red curtains, so she walked over there. When separating the two pieces of fabric, she surprised herself with large concrete buildings. The rain fell hard and the place and not a single bit of the sky could be seen. Only the grey, the city lights and the ever-lasting rain. Of course, that was Amegakure, one of the most secretive hidden villages. She had already read books about the war they fought against Konoha and had seen some figures from the past, but her knowledge was limited to these small bits.

Now she remembered the Akatsuki leader using Ame's headband with the horizontal line representing defection, so how did Akatsuki's headquarters were inside a hidden village? The place seemed perfect for a hideout: its borders were very guarded, there had almost no information about the Rain Country in the last generations and it was in a strategic location. The only plausible explanation was that Akatsuki had some kind of Alliance with Rain.

A sudden twinge of pain hit Sakura's head, so she stopped thinking so much and focused in taking a bath. She identified the door leading to the bathroom and used the small shower to clean the dust from the bath before filling it with water. While she waited for it to be filled, she took a look in the mirror, identifying the said seal in her neck. It had a simple shape of three circles, one inside another, resembling a lot Leader's eyes. Touching it as if it would burn her hand if she did so, she took a deep breath trying not to cry.

Her arms had Konan's hands marked in them and when she removed her shirt she could truly see her shoulder's damage. She could already feel her chakra flowing back to her whole body, so she would fix that when more relaxed. She didn't take long watching her face and quickly undressed. When she removed her hitaiate, ther heart ached.

Naruto, without a doubt, was going crazy, she could know even far away from him. He was certainly meticulously planning his 'Sakura retrieval plan' that she already knew too well: running directionless until finding someone with Akatsuki's cape and screaming 'where the hell Sakura-chan is?'

She allowed herself to let out a small laugh and, right after relieving herself, she used the shower to wash her body before entering the hot tub. And what about Tsunade? What could her mentor possibly do in a situation like that? It wasn't a secret the Hokage loved Sakura as her own daughter and she was probably losing her head at the moment. Sakura curled herself up while the hot sensation passed through her limbs. How could she face her Shishou if she got out of there? Even after two years of rough training, she was captured and was submissive to whatever they wanted to do with her. She felt ashamed to not be able to even free herself from Itachi's grip in the battle.

And her parents? Oh, her parents. Ino? Shizune? Her other friends?

She entered the tub while thinking of every single important person in her life. While her muscles relaxed, she could feel more relaxed to heal her shoulder. Her hand was covered in chakra and the bone returned to its place very easily. The pain slowly faded until only a tingly sensation remained.

Sakura stopped to thing again of the seal: if she could freely think bad things of Akatsuki, of returning to Konoha and deceiving her captors, the seal wasn't effective as Konan wanted her to believe. She suspected since the start: seals aren't perfect, it was almost impossible to make a stable seal. Only the Uzumaki clan could make good seals at the start, and every sealing jutsu took the extinct clan's one as their base. However, not even the Uzumaki's technique, performed by a clan's member, was perfect.

So all she had to do was discover how far she could go with this one.

All she could find to wear after her bath was a bathrobe in the shelf, so she took it. Back to the room, she noticed a food tray in the bedside table: rice, soup and meat; Konan must had left it for her. Filled with the recently-found hunger, she attacked the food and found it to be incredibly delicious. The seasoning was strange to her mouth, but somehow it remembered her of home.

Exhausted, Sakura barely finished eating her food before falling in a deep sleep. The girl dreamed of Konoha, Sasuke and Naruto, but it wasn't a good dream. Black coats with red clouds destroyed any possibility of good dreams that night.