"Ah, Deidara-senpai! No no! Don't! Tobi will be a good boy, he promises!" Tobi held tightly to the clay bird as Deidara kicked at his face.
"Get off, you idiot!" The blond ninja said as he tried to force his partner off his bird.
"No, senpai!" Within seconds, Tobi's grip on the bird slipped and he fell through the air, screaming. Deidara breathed out a sigh of relief and kept flying towards base. Hopefully, Tobi would get lost in those woods and never find his way back to Akatsuki.
Tobi crashed through the branches of trees for several seconds before landing in a large shrub. He let out an 'oof' and lay there for a moment in shock.
"Aw, Deidara-senpai, why?" He cried out before sitting up. He had no hope of Deidara coming back for him, so he had to get up and make the rest of the way on foot. The sun was already setting and crickets were already starting to chirp. Tobi would have to hurry if he wanted to make it to the base before dawn.
He was over halfway to the base when he felt the large chakra. He veered off to the left to meet it and jumped into a clearing. The source of chakra was from a pink-haired girl who lay against a tree. He recognized her almost immediately as the girl who had killed Deidara-senpai's first partner, Sasori. She was in the bingo book because of that fight. She was Haruno Sakura, apprentice of Tsunade. Like her master, this girl was known for her monstrous strength, knack for poisons, and her world class healing abilities. Last time they had met, she had attacked him along with her Leaf ninja friends. Now, however, she was just looking at him from her spot on the ground.
"Pretty girl!" Tobi called out, waving his arms around. She tilted her head and an expression of confusion passed over her features.
"What are you doing out here all alone?" Tobi asked, bouncing over so that he was right in front of her.
She looked around, as though she hadn't realized where she was. "I... don't know. Where am I? Who are you?"
"You're in the Land of Fire! And I'm Tobi. What's your name?"
"Uh..." The girl frowned, squeezing her eyes shut as she fought to remember her name. "I don't remember."
"That's okay, Tobi knows who you are! You're Haruno Sakura and you're supposed to come with me!" This was the perfect opportunity to impress his senpai and the rest of Akatsuki. Bringing home a medic nin, one of the best in the world, would do wonders for their organization. She obviously was having memory loss and they could easily convince her she belonged with them.
Tobi grabbed her arms and lifted her up so that she stood up.
Warning bells were going off in Sakura's head but she couldn't figure out why. This guy was trying to help her, wasn't he? Why should she not follow him?
She allowed him to drag her along as they ran quickly through the woods.
They stopped at the bottom of a mountain and Tobi approached a seemingly random assembly of stones. He kicked one at the wall and it created a resounding crack in the space around them. After a few seconds of nothing, the mountain wall slowly forced itself apart so that it could reveal a small entrance. Tobi stepped inside, beckoning Sakura to follow him. She obeyed and as soon as she stepped inside, the wall started closing. Tobi walked forward and lanterns on both sides of the hallway lit up all down the walkway. She jogged to catch up with him, not wanting to be left behind in this unfamiliar space.
They made several turns before coming upon a large room that had several occupants inside.
"Tobi's home!" The bubbly, orange-masked man called as he stepped into the room. Deidara, Hidan, and Kakuzu sat on a large couch. Kakuzu was counting money while Deidara molded little clay bugs and Hidan complained about the other two for being so boring.
The blond of the group let out a groan at the sight of his idiot partner. "I was hoping some wolves ate you in the woods."
"Aw, senpai, that's not nice but it's okay because Tobi forgives you!" As if just remembering Sakura was with him, he bounced in his spot in the doorway. "Look who I found!"
He grabbed Sakura by the shoulders and forced her to stand right beside him. She smiled sheepishly at the group of three who just stared at them.
"That's the chick who killed Sasori-danna!" Deidara howled finally, leaping off the couch and lunging for the pink-haired girl. Her eyes widened and she dodged expertly. Deidara growled at missing before attacking again. Tobi jumped in front of the girl to protect her and the three landed in a heap on the ground. Scrambling to get to his feet, Deidara shoved Tobi further into the ground to prevent him from protecting the girl any further. Sakura leapt to her feet quicker than the others and quickly ran behind the couch to put space between them.
"Senpai, stop! Sakura-chan doesn't remember who she is!" Tobi cried out desperately.
Hidan turned around to look at the girl, who stood in a defensive position. He stared at her until she felt his gaze on her and tilted her head downwards to meet his eyes. He grinned and winked at her, causing her cheeks to flush and she diverted her gaze in embarrassment.
A yelp caught their attention again to find Tobi and Deidara wrestling on the ground.
Kakuzu let out a growl of annoyance. "Deidara, Hidan. Go to your rooms."
"What?" They chorused.
"Go to your rooms," he repeated with a tone of finality. Hidan opened his mouth to argue but Deidara stomped past them and down the hallway. Kakuzu shot Hidan a look that told him not to argue causing the silver-haired man to grit his teeth before obeying.
"Explain," Kakuzu said once the others were out of earshot. Tobi glanced at Sakura.
"Sakura-chan, how about you go to the kitchen and make some tea?" He said cheerfully. The pink-haired girl perked up and nodded and followed Tobi's pointed finger to an opening that led to the kitchen. Once she was busy clanging around in there, Tobi returned his gaze to Kakuzu.
"She's got amnesia," Tobi started, his voice not quite as bubbly as it usually is. "Tobi thought that she could be used as a good addition to the Akatsuki by being our medic."
"How good is she as a medic?"
"She's the Hokage's apprentice. She's close to surpassing Tsunade, if rumors are to be believed."
Kakuzu weighed their options. He was tired of patching up the rest of Akatsuki so this girl would let him have a huge break. "Leader would have to be consulted."
"Of course!" Tobi said, all bubbly and outgoing once more. "Tobi will contact Leader-sama and let him know!"
"If it doesn't work out, we could always use her as bait for the Kyuubi brat. They're on the same team so they would be very close."
Kakuzu turned his head to watch as the pink-haired girl returned to the common room with two cups of tea. She handed one to each of the men who took them.
"Thank you, Sakura-chan! You're so sweet," Tobi said while Kakuzu just nodded to show his gratitude.
"Should I give the other two some tea?" Sakura asked, looking down the dark hallway.
"No, leave them be. Tobi, prepare a room for her when you're finished with your tea." Kakuzu said before he stood up and walked down the hallway, disappearing in the darkness quickly.
"Oh, Sakura-chan, you're going to love it here! Some of the people are kind of mean and scay but some of the others are so much fun! Deidara-senpai is usually lots of fun so just ignore that he just tried to attack you. Kakuzu and Hidan are kind of mean but they're alright. Itachi-san and Kisame-san aren't home from their mission yet but they're nice. Itachi-san isn't very fun but he isn't mean and Kisame-san is very funny!" Tobi babbled on and on about the others who lived in this place and Sakura found herself listening despite wanting to tune him out. Something in her said that it was important to get as much information as possible on this place and its occupants. Something didn't feel right but at the same time it wasn't so wrong that she felt she was in danger. Besides the blond's attack earlier, she felt safe around these others. Despite Kakuzu's frightening appearance and the fact that this base was hidden quite well, Sakura was not scared.
Tobi finished his tea quickly and then grabbed her wrist to drag her down the dark hallway.
"Your room is gonna be next to Hidan's and across from Kisame-san's. That's my room," Tobi said, pointing at a door on their right as they passed. "I'll give you a proper tour later and we can even take you out to the village to get you some new clothes and weapons since you have a very minimal amount on you."
Sakura nodded in agreement with his words until they stopped in front of a door on the left. Tobi pointed at the door beside it. "That's Hidan's." Then he gestured to the one across the hall. "And that's Kisame-san's." The orange-masked man pushed open the door and let Sakura into the room in front of him. "This is your room from now on. Your bathroom and closet are through those doors. I'll leave you here until it's dinner time so that you can get situated or rest. Okay, bye, Sakura-chan!" He slammed the door shut, leaving her in the bedroom.
The bed was a full-size and there were just a set of white sheets and a brown comforter on it. Sakura opened the door to examine the bathroom and closet respectively. Both appeared normal. The closet had nothing but an empty set of hangers. The bathroom had only a stand-up shower, a sink, a mirror, and a toilet. Everything appeared normal and Sakura decided she was too exhausted to do much else but sleep for now. She locked the door as though it was an instinct and then kicked off her shoes before collapsing onto the bed and wrapping the blankets around her tightly. Soon, she drifted to sleep.