Walking with Itachi through the forest, Sakura can feel his eyes watching her carefully from behind her. More than likely he was just making sure that she didn't do anything suspicious, but something inside of her told Sakura that he was also looking at her finely-shaped legs.
"So where is it?" she asks finally when she can't take the silence any longer.
"Hmm?" Itachi questions coming up so as to fall in step with her.
"The Akatsuki's lair," Sakura sighs in exasperation. "Or whatever you call it."
"No need to rush," Itachi says in a slow voice as he turns his attention to the path ahead of them. Though his eyes aren't facing her, Sakura can tell that he's keeping an eye on her. "Besides, I'll need to knock you unconscious so that you don't know the way until we can trust you."
"Wha-?!" Sakura cries out but is cut off as Itachi appears behind her, his mouth merely centimeters from her ear.
"This won't hurt too bad Cherry Blossom," he says.
The next thing Sakura knows, she's falling to the ground, her eyes closing as she drifts off into sleep. But she doesn't hit. Itachi catches her and lifts her up, bridal-style, and starts to carry her through the woods.
He looks down at the pink-haired young woman in his arms and for the first time in a while, a smile plays at his lips. A true smile, not the usual smirk that he tends to show a little too often.
"Goodnight little Cherry Blossom."
When Sakura awakens, she's lying on a comfy bed with a thin red blanket covering her. In front of her (or rather above her) is a regular enough ceiling that slightly reminds her of her apartment.
Am I back home? ...
The answer to her unspoken question comes in the form of a little, cheerful-faced boy who looks about eleven years old. He's looking down at her now conscious body with his big, curious violet eyes, which are framed by a thing of spiky, dark brown hair that has a long, thin pony tail coming out the back. He's got a few freckles covering his thin cheeks but they just increase his cuteness.
"You're awake!" he exclaims in a surprised voice. Then he disappears from Sakura's vision.
She can hear his shoes hitting the floor and the opening and closing of a door. Trying to get her bearings, Sakura sits up and looks around.
The room is pretty normal looking. The walls are a deep tan color that go well with the cushiony-looking maroon carpet. There's a window next to the queen-size bed that she's laying on and through it she can see the outside world, but it looks nothing like what she expects.
It's so peaceful looking.
The grass that is inside the tall brick wall is cut neatly and is a bright, almost fake-looking green color and it goes wonderfully with the dark black sky littered with stars that signify it's night. But what really catches Sakura's attention is the bright pink cherry blossom tree in the middle of it all. From somewhere a little shines down on it, probably a search light from the house, and sends shadows of the beautiful tree ricocheting across the lawn.
Turning back to the room she sighs and crosses her legs in front of her, suddenly feeling very weak.
They took my chakra! … she thinks in realization ... Those mother fuckers took my chakra from me!
The next thing she knows, there are people in the room, all in black cloaks with red clouds printed on them. She recognizes some of them while others look unfamiliar.Diedara, his cocky smile plastered on his face, is sitting on the desk set up right across from her bed, his feet propped up on the desk chair. Next to him, leaning on the wall with his arms crossed, is Sasori, his hunched over, ugly puppet body discarded for the moment. On his other side, sitting cross-legged on the floor, is someone she doesn't recognize. His face is covered by a mask with a swirl that ends at his right eye, leaving only his short, black, spiky hair showing. Kisame is leaning forward on his sword by the wall to Sakura's left, his light blue skin and tattooed gills making her realize that she's really hungry... especially for fish!
The last person she looks at is Itachi. He's leaning against the wall to her right, his eyes staring at her like two black holes. She catches his eye and glares at him before turning back to the rest of the room.
"Uhm…" she starts but doesn't finish as the unknown guy interrupts her.
"You must be Sakura-chan right?!" he exclaims loudly as he runs up and clasps her hands in his. Still kneeling down, he's looking up at her and Sakura can't help but think of a puppy who's trying to get the attention of his master. "You're a lot prettier than Diedara-sama told me! I'm Tobi!"
A light blush comes to Sakura's cheeks but it quickly subsides as Tobi's cloak catches on fire after a small explosion. He jumps up, nearly toppling over onto Sakura but instead flies the other way. He comically starts jumping up and down and running in circles with Diedara's laughter filtering in from the background.
Once the fire is out and Tobi has settled down, the rest of the Akatsuki decide to talk.
"It's good to see you're safe Sakura," Sasori says looking at her with his puppet eyes.
"Mmhmm," she says nodding a little, still kind of lost in what's going on.
"Are you feeling okay, un?" Diedara asks taunting her. He knows that he's a lot stronger than her and it increases his cockiness.
"Yeah," Sakura says not trying to hide the edge that comes to her voice.
"Are you hungry?" Kisame asks standing up and heading for the door. "I'll go tell Shigure to make you some food."
He leaves and the room is left with just Sakura, Sasori, Diedara, Tobi, and Itachi, who still hasn't said a word.
"So…" Sakura says trying to ease off the uneasiness. "How does this happen? I'm going to become a member right? So what exactly do I need to do?"
"You have to kill Tobi!" Diedara says excitedly, clearly hoping that she'll actually do it.
Sasori punches Diedara in the head to make him stop before he goes into a rant. The two start bickering like an old married couple and soon Tobi joins in, trying to fight for Diedara's sake while at the same time getting yelled at by him. Sakura just watches the ordeal with a lessening interest.
"Get out," Itachi's smooth voice causes everyone to stop what they're doing and turn to him. Sasori, Diedara, and Tobi look a little resilient but they finally give in and nod their heads. They step out, Sasori in the lead followed by Diedara and finally Tobi, and shut the door behind them.
"Why'd you do that?" Sakura asks feeling a little unnerved being alone with Itachi again. Who knows what he could do. "They were entertaining."
"Because you need you rest," Itachi says, his eyes closed as he leans against the wall. "If you're going to pass the initiation to becoming a member of the Akatsuki then you will need all of your strength."
"Initiation?" she asks, forgetting that she's supposed to hate him.
"Yes," Itachi says opening his eyes and looking at her. "Did you think that we would just let you join without having you prove yourself?"
"But you asked me to join," she replies ferociously, her anger slightly coming back. "If I had known that I would have to do some stupid initiation then I wouldn't have come!"
"Are you sure?" he says, his eyes piercing into hers making her feel as though he's looking right into her soul through her eyes.
She can't find an answer to his question and so instead looks around the room once more.
"Why do you have an extra room?" she asks confused. They couldn't have it because of visitors could they?
"It's not an extra room," Itachi explains. "It's mine."
Sakura freezes as the words leave his mouth. Slowly, she turns her head back and looks him in the eye again. His room? Why would he give her his room?
"Your room?" she asks bewildered. "But why?"
"Because," Itachi says smirking. In an instant he is sitting next to her, his face merely a few inches from hers. "Until you pass the initiation you are a prisoner here."
Her voice caught in her throat, all Sakura can do is stare into Itachi's black eyes and register all that he had just said. But she can't even focus on that as she feels Itachi's breath blow lightly across the bottom of her lip. Her heart starts to beat faster as her eyes go wide. What was she thinking?!
He's a monster! …
The last thought bursts through her mind and she's able to pull away from Itachi's mesmerizing stare. Still cross-legged, she simply deals with crossing her arms and turning away from him with a loud huff. Though he doesn't talk, Sakura can feel Itachi's eyes on her, looking her over, possibly even checking her out.
Stop thinking these things! …
"Don't be like that Cherry Blossom," Itachi says in a steady voice. He hasn't moved closer or farther away and yet just his presence makes Sakura blush a little.
"Why should I listen to you?" she asks defiantly. "What have you ever done for me?"
"I gave you an escape route," Itachi says. "From a life you no longer were living."
With that said, Sakura feels Itachi's weight on the bed lessen as he stands up and walks towards the door. But she keeps her eyes locked away from his face and, when he opens the door, she hardens her gaze, trying desperately not to look at him.
"I'll have Shigure bring in some food for you," Itachi says right before the door closes behind him.
As the lock turns on the door, Sakura let's out a sigh of relief. She may have a strong will power, but Itachi Uchiha's influence on her could be her demise.
Wait! He doesn't have an influence on me! Why would he?! …
A soft knock on her door a few minutes later causes Sakura to jump out of her thoughts. She had been thinking about her time during the chunin exams. The knock on the door is followed by Shigure's voice saying softly, "Sakura? Are you awake?"
"Yes Shigure," Sakura says, only half really paying attention to him.
"Would you like some food?" the little boy asks.
"Yes please."
As the door opens, Sakura watches Shigure walk in, place the tray of steaming hot food onto the desk, bow to her, and walk out. Once she hears the door lock again, she tentatively stands up on her weak legs and stumbles over to the food. Looking up at her from the tray is a steaming hot salmon with sushi rolls and lettuce surrounding it.
Sakura's mouth waters at the sight of it and she quickly sits down and starts to eat the delicious food. In about seven minutes the entire salmon and sushi rolls are gone and Sakura is back on her… well… Itachi's … bed, her legs crossed again and her eyes roaming the dark sky outside of the window.
After a while, her eyelids start to feel very heavy and, eventually, her eyes close and she lays back down onto Itachi's comfy bed, already asleep before her head hits the pillow.
After a while, Itachi opens the door to his bedroom and walks in, his footsteps silent in the darkness so as not to wake the sleeping Sakura. Coming up to the bed, Itachi looks down at Sakura's slightly heaving body and a small smile flickers at his lips.
What's the hell is wrong with me? …
His eyes roam her curves in the black nightgown that one of Sasori's puppets put on her.
Out of no where, his hand reaches out uncontrollably and smoothly rubs against Sakura's upper thigh, making her jump in her sleep but ultimately let out a little moan as his hand goes higher and higher, searching her body.
The sound is like music to Itachi's ears and he wishes he could do more to her; make her moan even more like that and make her whimper with pleaser, but he controls himself and pulls his hand away.
He settles with covering her body with the maroon blanket, letting a sigh of annoyance escape his lips.
You've gone crazy Itachi ... he tells himself and rolls his eyes.