Haruno Sakura sighed in relief as she took a small sip from her teacup. The pink haired medic, now twenty-one years old, sat in a small tea house in one of the smaller countries as she let her chakra start working itself back up again. She was there on a mission, current status completed, and there was a little time before she had to get going again. The hospital here was smaller than the one in Konohagakure, but it was sufficient for the size of the village. There were a few patients that were now recovering that had needed her specifically to extract poison from their system. So, like any caring medic, she had jumped at the chance to come here and help out.
Unbeknownst to her, this was probably one of the worst moves she could have made. There were dangers lurking in the darkest corner of the teahouse. But she was far too at ease to notice at the moment. Further misfortune would befall the pretty young medic since she hadn't the strength to properly defend herself because most of her chakra was used for healing. She would only be able to run so far before being caught and forced into submission.
A sharp-toothed grin faltered. "Hey. What is wrong with you?" A former Kiri-nin asked his comrade. He leaned forward, bothered that he wasn't being listened to. But the man across from him didn't have attention for him. Instead, he was looking at the young woman across the room. She was so familiar that it took only a minute before he realized who she was. She would be perfect. Her reputation preceded her and meant he would be able to help him until he reached his goal. Perhaps she would be a pawn as well.
"Hn." The darker man answered. His currently obsidian eyes were locked on the kunoichi that would be of great use to him and didn't intend on sharing the plan – not even with the shinobi across from him.
After another half-hour, Sakura rose, paid, and walked out of the small shop into the late evening. She would leave in the morning for home and give Naruto, now Hokage, a positive report and hopefully have a nice night out with a few of her other friends. But the wind that blew from behind her, taking her long rosette tresses to flutter in front of her, was a foreboding one. The two from the corner followed silently, one signaling the other to keep back, to not allow his bloodlust to take him over and ruin what he was about to do.
With a simple Genjutsu, and quite a bit of pain, the Uchiha followed Sakura invisibly into the inn she was staying in for the night. Not a person realized she was being shadowed into her room, not even the medic herself. After all, why would a little place like this have trouble lurking through it? She grinned to herself as she shut the door with a soft click.
A small yelp escaped her lips as she turned to see Itachi of all people lounging on her bed. His blood red Sharingan eyes were trained on her, watching every movement and waiting for her to do something. But she wouldn't; he already knew she wouldn't be able to fight or run. Though she was a good deal better off than she had been a little while ago, she still needed a good night's rest to be formidable in a fight. The smallest of smirks curled his lips upward.
"Medic. You will be coming with me." He commanded. His lilting baritone voice was like velvet, but held the edge of steel that left her no choice. He wouldn't be taking no for an answer, even if it meant a bigger headache than he had now.
Sakura's bright green eyes, surprised and slightly afraid, turned hard and defiant. "I will not. What makes you think I would ever go anywhere with you?" She spat, her adopted attitude she had gotten from Tsunade already showing through. She crossed her arms and glared at the man that had lost her a friend and a long lost love. Sasuke had been driving out of Konoha in a sense, wanting nothing but power so he could fight and kill the man in front of her. He was driven by revenge and she wouldn't forgive Itachi for that.
With grace, the longhaired Uchiha rose and moved towards the woman. He was actually able to loom over her. "You will come because I say so. You will find out your purpose soon." He assured her, confidence evident in every fiber of him. And stupidly, Sakura looked into his eyes that spoke nothing but truth at the moment. She would be leaving with him and she couldn't even defend against it.
Still, she stood to her full height, feigning bravery as if she were going to fight. But she already made her mistake and the tomoe in Itachi's eyes began to spin, locking her gaze there. He reached for her, going straight to a pressure point that would knock her unconscious. The small medic lost focus and slumped forward into the eldest(to her knowledge) Uchiha's waiting arms. He picked her up, carrying her easily to the window and left silently.
"Why are you dragging that around?" Kisame questioned with a sneer and gesturing at Sakura's limp form. He didn't like the idea of having extra weight slowing them down on the way back to the base. He glared at Itachi who, as always, gave him an impassive look. This was hardly part of any of his plans and he didn't see how Sakura of all people would be of any use.
"She's the best medic. She can keep the darkness away until he comes." Was the answer the shark-like man received. Darkness, or blindness. That was the curse of the Sharingan and the only answer was Itachi taking Sasuke's eyes. That would give him permanent sight and he wouldn't have to worry about his failing eyesight anymore. With a low growl, Kisame nodded in understanding and relented to Itachi's wish.
He took the woman from the Uchiha and tossed her carelessly over his shoulder. She would most likely have a bruise from the action by the time she woke up. He continued to grumble quietly to himself, not getting why he had to carry the baggage if it was for Itachi's gain and not his.
Their trip from the small village to the Akatsuki base was a quick one, only a few hours at top speed through a dense forest. Once arriving at the well-cloaked space they could call 'home', Kisame tossed the still unconscious medic back to Itachi and walked off, taking his sword from his back to go train, relieving the tension he was feeling from the trip.
The Sharingan user shrugged it off, not truly caring about his partner and carrying Sakura to an empty room. He set her on the black sheeted bed and waited silently for her to get up.
Sakura groaned as she rolled to her side, her head feeling heavy. She slowly opened her eyes to glance around the dimly lit room. This time she wasn't surprised to see Itachi's red and black clad form standing there. Without giving herself time to adjust to anything properly, she got to her feet and stood defensively. Her chakra was back up giving her a small chance against the man. But even if she had the luck of getting past him, she still had most of the other Akatsuki members roaming the base and wouldn't be able to get past all of them, particularly Kisame and his chakra-stealing weapon.
"Why?" The word was curt, short, and demanded all the reasons for her capture. She wouldn't be a willing captive and wouldn't do things just because she was told to. She would fight against him as much as possible and he would get nowhere if he had to keep subduing her.
An eyebrow raised at how quick Sakura reacted as she woke up. It was … mildly impressive. He let out a small, bemused sound and turned to face her completely. "You will heal my eyes to the best of you ability. I need you to do this until my little brother gets near. Then, you will bring him to me." He had enough time between her capture until now to think of a perfect plan that would get him permanent light.
Sakura's brow creased. She didn't understand what Sasuke would have to do with any of this. But from that moment, she saw it as a definite way to get out of here. She might even be able to save Sasuke as well. She would either completely avoid him, or do as Itachi said and go to him. But from there, she had to convince the younger Uchiha to come back to Konoha with her, get away from this place and not let Itachi have his way in whatever plan he had.
The pink haired girl straightened slightly, jade orbs obviously wary of everything the Uchiha said. But, regardless, she was a smart girl and knew she would do better to do as told for a while until a better opportunity presented itself for her escape. But there was one thing that he probably hadn't thought of – she had Konoha waiting for her arrival in two days time.
"They'll send people for me. I'm on a mission right now and they know that." She pointed, out finding some hope. Surely, Itachi would have to let her go and give up on her if one of the Great Shinobi Villages was waiting on the best medic. He wouldn't want them to come snooping around … wherever they were looking for her, which they would.
"I know." With those two words, her hope vanished. With a simple gesture from him, her gaze was brought to a paper in his hand. "You will write them a message telling them you have to stay longer. I will have it sent out." He instructed, gesturing again, this time to a small desk in the corner. Sakura was stuck in place for a moment, surprised he would think that deeply on her. But, he was a genius. She sighed in defeat and went to the chair and slumped down into it.
"I won't be hurt, will I?" She did have some measure of self-preservation and didn't want this to end in her death. She didn't watch as he moved to tower over her and set the paper in front of her. She waited in silence for her answer as she scrawled over the paper in her elegant script.
Only when she was done did he answer her. "You will remain unharmed if you behave." This made her frown. He wasn't one to explain things well and it grated at her nerves. His curt tone wasn't something she desired either. She thrust the paper in the air, inches in front of his nose.
Itachi glared down at her for a second before taking the message from her. "What does behave mean?" The Uchiha paused at the question, stopping a few feet from the door that would allow her the one glance outside this room she might ever get for a long while. He turned slightly to answer over his shoulder. "You will remain in this room, quiet. You will only leave when summoned and supervised. If you try to escape, I will not hesitate to kill you." The rules were simple. If she remained in the room she was in now, she would remain as she was now – not a scratch on her.
He moved to leave again, but stopped once more with his hand on the doorknob. "Nor will I stop any of the others attempts on your life if you try to leave of your own accord." He added, thinking of Kisame and how much he would enjoy killing the medic. Not waiting when she called for him once again, Itachi left and locked the door behind him. Sakura's questions on meals and bathroom would have to wait or go unanswered. Well, the meals anyway. She soon noticed that there was another door, leading to another room that would prove useful. She just had to hope they would feed her somewhat well while she was stuck with the Akatsuki.
