It was a peaceful morning in Konoha and Sakura lounged in her living room enjoying the warm sun and a novel. It was her day off and she decided to spend it enjoying some quiet time. She was so engaged in her reading that she didn't hear the knocking on her front door. She was only brought out of her stupor when the book was torn from her hands by a certain Yamanaka.
"Reading on your day off, huh Sakura? God you're so boring" the blonde teased.
"What do you want Ino pig?" the pinkette retorted.
"I came here to drag you out of the house. We're going out and getting you a boyfriend" Ino answered with a sly grin. Before Sakura had any hope of protesting, Ino was already dragging her to the bedroom to pick out an outfit.
An hour later, both girls were dressed and ready to go.
"Ino, where exactly are we going?" Sakura asked.
"You'll see forehead" Ino said a little too cheerily. Sakura sighed and mentally prepared herself for the worst.
Twenty minutes later Sakura found herself in front of a popular café on the outskirts of the Fire country with a look of disbelief on her face. "Speedating?!" she asked, looking at her grinning best friend. "I'm not doing this" Sakura declared as she turned to walk away. Ino grabbed her arm however and stopped her.
"Come one Sakura, just give it a chance! You might meet a great guy!" reasoned the blonde.
"Or a serial killer" Sakura mumbled.
"Please Sakura?" Ino begged. Sakura sighed and gave in. Arguing with the blonde was not the way she wanted to spend her day off.
"Okay okay, but if I meet a creep, I'm leaving."
"Deal!" cheered Ino. Sakura sighed for what felt like the hundredth time today and walked with her friend into the café.
"My hobbies include observing the life cycles of various insects. I also enjoy cataloging rare species of insects" droned Shino.
Sakura mentally cringed at the odd behaviors of the bug user. Her first few dates had gone normally, but on her fifth round, Shino sat down and it had all gone downhill from there. Finally, the timer rang and the Aburame stood up, thanked her quietly for the "date" and slunk away.
Sakura buried her head in her hands and prayed this would be over soon. She didn't look up when the next participant sat down. "Rough day Princess?" a deep, amused sounding voice asked.
Sakura looked up, ready to apologize to the man and excuse herself but the words died in her throat. There sitting across from her was Kisame Hoshigaki. Sakura's eyes went as wide as she stared slack jawed at the Akatsuki.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" she growled.
He grinned at her, revealing his sharp pointed teeth. She shivered slightly but composed herself and glared.
"This is neutral territory sweetheart" he drawled.
"So the Akatsuki spend their free time speed dating?" Sakura sneered.
"Bosses order" Kisame said, gesturing across the room. Sakura turned and much to her horror saw the rest of the Akatsuki sitting at various tables, all participating in the speed dates. Her fear doubled when they all seemed to sense her staring and turned to look back at her.
"Shit shit shit" Sakura cursed. "INO WE GOTTA GO!" Sakura yelled frantically. She looked around for her best friend, only to spot her at the same table as Itachi. Sakura mentally cursed her flirtatious blonde friend and yelled her name again. Ino looked over and glared.
"Sakura, can't you see I'm on a date?!" the blonde chided. She then turned back to the raven haired Uchiha and gave him a sultry smile. Sakura turned back to the grinning shark man and slumped down in her chair in exasperation.
"So why is the Akatsuki really here?" she resignedly asked the blue man.
"Let's just say we're here looking for a certain person" Kisame answered with a grin.
Sakura raised a delicate pink eyebrow at the Akatsuki. She was about to question him further, but a shadow fell over the pink haired girl. She looked up and found herself staring into the crimson eyes of Itachi Uchiha.
"Sakura Haruno. You're coming with us." Before she could react, she felt herself being pulled into Tsukuyomi and everything went black.
