This is a one-shot but if you guys like it enough I'll turn it into a full blown story after completing one of my others.

I've had this little plot running through my head for a while and it keeps bugging me, not to mention the plot bunnies won't leave me be. So without further ado….

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'It's getting ready to storm.' Sakura concluded.

Her head was tilted slightly upward so that she could watch as the dark clouds rolled in and over powered the pale white ones that Shikamaru enjoyed gazing at when he had time to relax.

A gust of wind blew by and blew leaves off of the nearby trees. The sun was long ago hidden by the approaching storm. She could hear the roll of thunder slowly making its way toward her. She pushed her back and took off across the rooftops.

She jumped off of a terra cotta colored roof and landed on the ground below it cushioning her fall with a tad of chakra. She started to run across the road as it began to rain. It began as a light drizzle before quickly turning into a down pour.

She ran to the shelter of the overhang above her door and started to fish in her pockets for her key. With a triumphant "Ah hah!" she unlocked the door and rushed into the warmth of her small apartment. She locked the door and pulled off her now soggy water filled boots and set them down so they could dry out properly.

Sakura made her way down the hallway and to her bathroom quickly stripping her clothes and jumping into a hot shower. Not long after she came out of her bathroom in a black tank top and a pair of white boxer shorts that had different colored dots on them. Her hair was thrown into a messy ponytail.

Opening her bedroom door she walked down the hallway and turned into her kitchen and made a cup of vanilla chai tea. (A/N: yum! I have a cup of it on my desk right now.) She walked into her living room and sat down on her oversized arm chair enjoying her tea while watching the rain cascade down the window panes.

However her moment of enjoyment was ruined when she felt an unfamiliar chakra signature making its way toward her home. She narrowed her eyes as she studied it more carefully.

'It's not any of the leaf shinobi that I can recognize.' She scrunched her face in concentration. 'Male, a couple years older than me, and strong, very strong.'

Sakura racked her brain and went over where she had hid weapons discreetly in her house.

'Ok, in the kitchen besides the kitchen knives there is a kunai in the door of the cabinet under the sink, there's of course the frying pan in the cupboard next to the stove, senbon needles in every doorway of the house and by a few of the windows, and a few kunai hidden under the coffee table and in a few of the books on the book shelf. Not to mention the few I have hidden by my clothes.'

The person was defiantly an elite shinobi because he hadn't made any noise when he landed on her roofed and had only revealed his presence to her.

'Note to self: have shishou up the number of shinobi at the gates.'

'No kidding, it seems like every time some baddie comes they fall prey to the enemies genjutsu easily or don't put up much of a fight and get knocked unconscious.'

Sakura continued to sip the tea from her cup as not to let the shinobi know she already knew he was here. Her eyes stared out of the window next to her as she focused on the nin that had entered from her bedroom window. He had nimbly made it in and didn't bother to mask his presence to her at all.

'Damn, he already knew I had found out and was planning this from the get go.'

As the nin that had broke into her home rounded the corner of the hallway she leapt up with a chakra enhanced fist aimed for the intruder. He disappeared from her line of vision and not a millisecond later was behind her and let a breath of warm air against her neck.

Her eyes slightly widened before narrowing, the shinobi behind reached out and grabbed her wrists in a firm hold. It wasn't overly strong but just enough to keep her from trying to punch him again. She stiffened when he pulled her closer to him. He leaned down and spoke quietly in her ear.

"Are you going to try another stunt like that again kunoichi?"

She thought it over for a quick moment before shaking her head. If he could easily evade her punch and get behind her all within a second she knew she had an extremely slim chance against him.

He kept his mouth close to her ear and spoke to her again.

"Good, then I want you to turn around and face me so I can speak to you properly."

She slowly turned around to look at the man who had easily over powered her. Her eyes widened in recognition. He had bright orange hair and similar colored eyes with rings of silver identifying him as a rinnegan wielder. He had his Akatsuki cloak almost completely zipped up and had many piercings on the few places that Sakura could see.

He was indeed the leader of the Akatsuki and her mind searched for everything that they knew about him from Jiraiya's last message.

A light of amusement shined in his eyes. He observed the petite kunoichi and concluded that he had caught her at the right time, none of her friends or comrades were anywhere near them.

It amused him further when she regained her posture and slightly glared at him.

"Why are you here."

He looked at her and calmly replied.

"I have gained knowledge that a number of countries are planning to attack Konoha and Ame. That means that Suna will also be dragged into this war because of your alliance."

She narrowed her eyes.

"And why are you sharing this information with me."

"Because Sakura," her eyes once again slightly widened. "I am willing to temporarily make an alliance with both countries during the war. That also means that we will not hunt the Kyuubi during that time."

She nodded her head in a trance like state.

'How can we know he's telling the truth.'

'We can't unless we take him to Tsunade.'

"I plan on going to your hokage to tell her of this as well."

She looked up questioningly at him.

"Then why tell me about it."

He smirked a little, "Because Sakura," he stepped closer to her and leaned down to her ear. "You will join me after the war."

A flash of lightning lit up the dark night's sky. Sakura sat up wide eyed and slightly sweating. Her cup of neglected tea was cold and it had been a couple of hours since she had unknowingly fallen asleep. She rubbed her arms comfortingly and walked to her bedroom and crawled under the covers.

'It was only a dream.'

With a faint, small smile on her face she drifted off back into a semi-light slumber. She failed to see the orange eyes in a tree near her house. The figure leapt up atop of the house and began to run across the rooftops. In the wind a faint masculine voice was heard.

"Or was it."

--

Well, I'm glad I got that plot out of my head. This was the first time I have ever written Pein so I hope I didn't make him too OOC.

Hey guys I know that I desperately need to update my other stories but don't worry or go psycho on me. I'm working on the next chapters of both His Return and Through the Divide.

Anzu Maki