A/N: I'd like to thank all my reviewers and everyone who put this story on alert or favourites - it brightens up my day when I read them. Thank you!

This is the longest chapter I've ever written for a story. Guess I wanted to get the plot going :) Without further ado, here's the next chapter:

Pain pulsated through my brain as consciousness seeped in. I was lying on a comfortable, soft surface, but I didn't really care; I was having the headache of my life. I groaned and curled up into a ball, tucking my knees to my chin while I kneaded at my temples with my knuckles.

What the hell had happened to me? I'm not prone to headaches, especially one's of this intensity! My hands worked faster at my head, trying unsuccessfully to lessen the pain, but doing it anyway.

I thought back to yesterday. There was school as always, then Ino phoned me while I was doing my homework, then I went back to school to fetch something, and then...and then...

My eyes snapped open and I jack-knifed into a sitting position. Not wise. Fireworks of pain shot off in my head and I swayed woozily for a few moments, but I ignored it and carefully stood up, taking in my surroundings as my intelligence finally kicked in.

It's a fine thing. My intelligence, I mean. I'm one of the top students in my grade, and I am smarter than most people, if I do say so myself.

In any case, back to the matter at hand – I presumed I was in the Uchiha manor, but being the type of people who made shady dealings, I couldn't say for sure. It was always possible that they had taken me to some remote location which everyone thinks is fictional – like Timbuktu.

The room I found myself in, however, was actually quite pleasant and not something that I expected from being held captive. It was larger than your average bedroom and it was carpeted with a plush, midnight blue carpet. The walls were covered with pretty blue-and-white wallpaper and the bed was the only piece of furniture in the area. The window on the far side of the room was covered in the same colour-themed curtains.

I snorted, then laughed (I snorghed?). Who would've thought that those stick-up-my-ass Uchihas would colour-theme their rooms? Still chuckling, I made my way to the curtains and whipped them apart. Some fresh air would hopefully help assuage this dreadful headache. I took a second to look out the window. Yep, still in Konoha. I grinned and closed my eyes, soaking up the mid-morning sunshine.

Hold on...midmorning sun? I never see midmorning sunshine on a Thursday morning. I blanched. This couldn't be good.

I spun around and made straight for the door all the way on the opposite wall, heart pounding as the unpleasant consequences of missing school filled my head. Definitely not good. Think of all the work I would miss and need to catch up on!

I thumped loudly on the door (which was white, in case you wanted to know), hoping that someone would be on the other side. When nothing happened, I gripped the door handle, turned it, and gave an almighty tug. The door tore open, and I didn't even get a chance to react before I found myself on the floor with a sore backside.

"Owww," I groused, rubbing my bottom, slightly disorientated. What kind of person would take you captive and leave the door open? Seriously...

At a soft chortle from the doorway, I glanced up, and immediately scowled. It was that guy – y'know, the one with the red hair and jade-coloured eyes. Perhaps it was the fact that he was the one responsible for my current situation or maybe it was just the fact that the door had been left unlocked, but I suddenly felt very annoyed.

And when I'm annoyed, I get violent.

I lurched to my feet, all my bodily aches temporarily forgotten, and marched the five steps it took to get to the redhead. My fingers latched onto the collar of his burnt sienna coloured trench coat and shook him. Or at least I tried to. He barely moved an inch.

Instead, he gazed down at me calmly, his amusement still evident in his eyes and pried my fingers off his clothing effortlessly despite my holding on as tight as I could. I bared my teeth at him and tried to wrench my wrists free of his grasp. He only held on tighter. When I didn't cease my struggles, he stepped up closer. Immediately, I started to back away (he was invading my personal bubble, damn it) but he foiled my plans once again by keeping my wrists trapped close to him. Seeing that I was getting nowhere, I settled for a glare instead.

He smirked at me, and took another step towards me, to my discomfort. It was only then that I noticed how tall he was. He towered at least a foot above me. And he was looking down at me with those curious black-ringed eyes. Was it natural, or was it make-up?

"Are you done yet?" he murmured softly.

I stared at him stupidly, his question flying straight over my head. This was the first good look I've had at him. The colour of his eyes was a pleasant contrast to his hair and the almost feline shape of them gave him a suave air about him. Above his left eye, on his forehead, was a tattoo of the kanji for 'love'.

A quirk of his lips as he smirked again shook me out of my staring and I quickly averted my gaze, embarrassed that I'd been caught, my previous ire completely forgotten. He released my hands and I felt his presence move away from me.

"Follow me," was all he said, and I peeked up at him. He was already halfway down the passageway. "Uchiha-sama wants to see you."

"U-uh, okay," I agreed. What was wrong with me? Shouldn't I be trying to escape?

"And don't try anything, there are guards all over the premises."

"Right," I grumbled, and scuttled down to catch up with him. I didn't fancy getting lost in this place. It must be full of those arrogant Uchihas.

Yes, they were an arrogant bunch. Everyone in town knows about it, but no-one says anything about it (to their faces, at least) because they were a strong force in Konoha. They owned many of the shops and the Konoha Police Force was run almost exclusively by them. Heaven knows that that Sasuke in my maths and English class was just as bad. I made a face. Add to that the Sasuke Fan Club that was always around him, skulking and squealing like glorified stalkers.

That said, I really couldn't flaw their taste in home decor. The passageways in the house were paved with dark, polished wood and the walls painted in neutral colours, adorned with beautifully painted landscapes and portraits.

The redhead (what's his name again?) lead us through a series of right-angled turns before stopping abruptly in front of an ordinary-looking door. He rapped sharply on the wood three times.

"Come in," ordered a muffled voice from the other side. I vaguely recognised the voice of Uchiha Fugaku.

The redhead opened the door. "I've brought her."

"Excellent, show her in."

Mild nervousness coursed through my veins as he stood aside to let me through. The first thought that struck me was that Uchiha Fugaku did not look quite as scary in broad daylight as he did at night, even with his black hair and cold eyes. The second thought that struck me was that he had lines on his face – unusually pronounced for someone of his age, which I'm guessing to be mid-forties.

"Haruno Sakura," he proclaimed.

I started; startled that he knew my name. I opened my mouth to ask how, but he spoke again.

"Senior of Konoha High School, seventeen years old. Born March 28 1994 in Konoha Hospital to parents Haruno Sayuri and Haruno Hideki. Current address is 7 Hebi Road and friends with Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Akamichi Chouji and Hyuuga Hinata. Aims to become a doctor, am I correct?"

By the end of his little speech, I was more than a little creeped out. I peered at him distrustfully. "How do you know?" I asked suspiciously.

He smiled grimly at my question. "Why don't you sit down, Ms Haruno," he said, gesturing to cushioned chair in front of his desk, "and we'll sort our little deal out."

Deal? What deal? We never made a deal. A deal required us to shake hands on it and his hands are the last thing I want to touch right now. Thinking as much, I voiced my opinion. "We never made a deal."

Obsidian eyes narrowed at me, and the air in the room suddenly thickened with something menacing. I suppressed a shudder of fear.

"Come again?" he asked, a hint of a threat in his voice.

"U-um," I stuttered, suddenly unsure of myself. "W-we didn't make a deal?" I sounded pathetic to even my own ears.

He was standing on his feet in a flash. "Gaara, stand guard outside and shut the door," he snapped.

Oh crap, this can't be good. I glanced back at the redhead – Gaara – but all I saw was the disappearing tail of his trench coat before the door clicked shut. A small vestige of fear made itself known in my gut and I started to chew on my lip as I swivelled my attention back to the Uchiha. Surely he wouldn't resort to violence this quickly? I hoped not.

"Sit," he commanded and I hastily did as I was told. I didn't want to push him too far and end up dead...

"I trust you remember our conversation yesterday evening," he said, planting his hands squarely on the desk and leaning over me menacingly. I shrunk into the chair ever so slightly.

Okay, maybe it was more than ever so slightly, but whatever, it makes me feel better to think that it wasn't.

"Y-yes," I squeaked. He looked like just another man, but he could be real scary when he wanted to be.

"If you don't keep to your word, Ms Haruno, your family and friends will be the ones to suffer. I'm sure you wouldn't want to cause them pain, would you?"

I couldn't tell if he meant to make them suffer with my death or if he meant to hurt them and make me watch, but it was horrendous either way so I just shook my head dutifully. Looks like I won't be getting out of this situation any time soon, I thought grimly.

"Excellent," he murmured as he sat back down into his chair. As soon as he sat, the tension in the room disappeared. I breathed a silent sigh of relief for the reprieve. "Now, I will be telling you about the nature of the deal you saw yesterday, and I will be outlining the course of action you will take in order to right your mistake. In short, you will temporarily becoming one of my subordinates. However, I do remind you that you are disposable, while my subordinates are not and thus you will do everything I tell you to do, or meet your end. Do you understand?"

I digested this information with concealed horror. I couldn't believe he would take things so far. That could only mean that I busted a very important deal. I nodded my head slowly. "Um," I piped up hesitantly, suddenly remembering why I had opened my door of my room so enthusiastically some minutes ago. I looked to him for permission to speak. I wasn't one who normally did this, but my situation called for it, so I stuffed my pride away for the time being. At his nod, I continued. "What about school? And my parents? Surely they'd be concerned with my disappearance?"

He gazed at me coolly. "We have already taken care of that," he informed me with a slight snobbish upturn of his nose. "Your school and your parents have been told of your sudden collapse in the school grounds last night. Currently, you are in the hospital, quarantined for what the doctors think to be a dangerous virus."

I blinked. These people acted fast. "I'll be staying here then?"

"Not for long." He rested his elbows on the desk and interlaced his fingers as he spoke. "You will soon be sent to Amegakure for your mission."

Mission? Oh dear... Something akin to dread clenched my gut.

"I will start explaining from the beginning. Anything you hear in this office remains in this office on the pain of death," he pinned me with a serious stare. I nodded to show that I understood. "The Uchiha Family is a powerful force behind the Yakuza. In the recent years, it has been brought to our attention that an organisation similar to ours has sprung up in Amegakure. Just a few months ago, one of our spies returned, badly injured, to deliver most alarming news. This organisation – the Akatsuki – has been secretly gathering items called the Bijuu Crystals. These Crystals are well-known in the criminal underworld and are greatly coveted for and fiercely protected by the prominent families of every criminal syndicate in the five countries. That this organisation is successful in their gathering of these stones despite their heavy protection says that they are powerful. We do not know what their aim is in gathering these Crystals, but we do know that the powers of the stones, when united, can be catastrophic – globally catastrophic. While we have started to work with several other syndicates to keep these Crystals from the Akatsuki's grasp, we are still losing them at an alarming rate. There are nine in total, and we only have seven left. That is two stones in a little more than a month, possibly two."

He paused here and lowered his gaze to me meaningfully. My mind, still trying to come to terms with these (rather far-fetched, in my opinion) revelations, did not see the meaning behind that look. At least not until a few moments later, but by then, he was already speaking again.

"That is where you will come in. The condition in which my spy reported back leads me to conclude that it is too dangerous to send any of my subordinates to infiltrate the organisation. Thus, I will be sending you on an infiltration mission to Amegakure where they have their base."

My eyes bugged at this. "Wait, wait, wait – you're going to send me, an untrained teenage girl, in to spy on a dangerous Yakuza-like organisation who's trying to destroy the world with some crystals."

"Indeed, although we do not know that that is their final goal."

"But that's just sending me to my doom!" I wailed. Fantastic. Absolutely fuc –

He gazed at me indifferently, unmoved by my sense of self-preservation. "It is true that you are untrained, however, that is why you have a higher chance of survival than anyone else. They would hardly suspect someone of your age and gender –" my hand twitched at the mention of 'gender' but I reminded myself who this man was "– to be a spy, especially when that someone is untrained and has pink hair of all things."

My hand twitched again, but I held back the urge to slap him for insulting my unique hair colour. But what he said did make some sense. But why did they want to save the world? Perhaps they just didn't want to die, or perhaps such an event would put them out of business and money. Either way, I wasn't about to complain about them saving the world. If such a thing as the Bijuu Crystals really did exist.

"Any questions?"

I thought some more, going over everything that had happened and everything I'd learnt in my mind. "Yeah," I replied, a small, puzzled frown creasing my brow. "What does all this have to do with the deal last night?"

He leaned back into his chair and sighed. "We were trying to buy a Crystal from the Hyuugas."

My frown deepened. "Why would you do that? Aren't they part of the Yakuza?"

"They were, until one of their business ventures failed and left them near bankrupt. They were desperate enough for money to, however reluctantly, sell their Crystal."

There were a few moments of silence as I ruminated, then I shrugged and looked at him. His eyes looked over my shoulder.

"Gaara!" he called.

The redhead appeared before the call even ended.

"Take a seat," ordered Fugaku. "We'll be going over the details of this mission.

By the time we finished an hour later, I was a happy blossom, for three reasons. One, my mission seemed to be relatively easy. Two, I wouldn't be alone on this mission as Gaara was coming with me to relay my findings to the Yakuza through a secure network known only to members of the glorified gang.

Three, this was no doubt the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me in my seventeen years of life.

A/N: Thoughts? Crits? Suggestions? Mistakes? I'm not rambling on for too long am I? As I said, I'm experimenting with First Person perspective and I'm not quite sure how it's coming along.

And please review! They make me churn out chapters faster. Really. They do.

Thanks for reading
~vala-anna