Disclaimer: Well, it seems that Hell still hasn't frozen over, so I guess I don't own Naruto yet.

I hope I did an okay job at keeping everyone in character. I don't think I did too terribly, but I might've made Itachi a tad too chatty. Also, this chapter focuses on Sakura for the most part. I'll try to mix it up and allow the focus to shift to other characters in future chapters. Perhaps next chapter will be Naruto's…?

Sakura groaned aloud as she awoke; her head felt as if it had been split in two. Her muscles felt sore, her body weakened, and her mind fuzzy. It also didn't help that the jerk carrying her over his shoulder kept bouncing her up and down as he moved.

Wait… What?

Sakura's eyes widened to the size of saucers. Who was carrying her? It couldn't be Naruto; Naruto would carry her carefully on his back, not throw her carelessly over his shoulder. Besides, as she shifted her head to the side, she noticed Naruto was also being carried by this stranger.

And then she remembered.

Akatsuki.

Sakura panicked; she struggled in her captor's grasp, trying futilely to escape his clutch. She had to save Naruto. She had to escape with him. She had to do something.

"Finally awake, little leaf nin?" Sakura shivered at the sound of the deep, raspy voice and increased her struggles. Kisame chuckled as he felt two dainty feet kicking him in the chest. "You're not so strong without your chakra."

"Put Naruto and me down, you big, blue behemoth!" Sakura shouted, pounding her fists against the Akatsuki member's back. Sadly, without her chakra to boost her strength, the attack did very little damage.

Kisame let out a grunt. "You were a lot less annoying while you were unconscious" he muttered, tightening his grip on the flailing kunoichi. "Now quit moving unless you'd like to go back to sleep."

Sakura frowned; she could hear the sneer in his voice. Well, if he thought she would calm down and allow him to kidnap her and Naruto quietly then he certainly had another thing coming. Instead, she increased her efforts tenfold, screaming insults and profanities at Kisame.

Trying to ignore as a violent ninja continuously attacked his now tender flesh, he briefly pondered to himself why he decided to take her in the first place. He should've just killed her when he had the chance. Damn his love for a challenge.

Once Kisame's muscles became sore from the beating and his ears started to ring from the constant screeching, he had decided enough was enough. "Keep it up, kunoichi, and I'll be forced to ravish you."

Sakura let out an indignant snort. "You wouldn't dare."

However, the firm hand that traveled from her waist to her backside told her otherwise.

"Pervert" she muttered to herself, but loud enough for her captor to hear. Kisame didn't mind though; after all, she had finally settled down and was no longer screaming in his ear or attempting to hit him.

With a grin, Kisame moved his hand back to the girl's waist and sped up his pace. While he had been dealing with the pink-haired girl, Itachi had managed to distance himself even further away from him.

The man continued onward, bouncing his captives up and down as he moved, much to Sakura's distaste. Her skull throbbed painfully as the Akatsuki member's movements bobbed her head back and forth. The motions were starting to make her nauseous, but she didn't say a word for fear of Kisame's reaction. Besides, it would be sort of funny if she threw up all over his cloak and well-worth the bad taste that would be left in her mouth.

She turned to her side again, letting her eyes soften as she looked at Naruto. His eyes were closed and had she not known any better, with the gentle expression on his face she could've mistaken him for asleep rather than unconscious.

Naruto.

No matter what, she couldn't allow these men to take Naruto to Akatsuki headquarters. She knew what happened when a Bijuu was separated from its human host; the same thing had happened to Gaara. The only difference was that Sakura didn't know any life-saving, self-sacrificing jutsu like Chiyo.

Sakura really wished that Naruto would wake up. She needed him. Whenever things were at their worst, Naruto always managed to make things better. Always. Even if he didn't come up with some half-brained scheme to beat the bad guys, his presence alone could be enough to inspire others to do their best. Maybe, if he was conscious, they could somehow come up with a plan to escape.

But no; for now, Sakura was on her own.

Sakura took in a deep breath and sighed. This was no time to panic. She needed to keep her cool. Naruto was counting on her and she couldn't let him down. She couldn't let herself down either.

Naruto, it looks like you're going to have to watch my back one more time.

The pink-haired kunoichi put on a determined look. She could pull this off, no problem! All she needed was a little time to think up a plan and allow that nauseous feeling in the pit of her stomach to disappear.

While Sakura was plotting, Kisame had finally caught up to Itachi. A brief exchange of glances and the two Akatsuki members decided it was time to stop for the night; they would need to be well-rested if they wanted to continue onward all day tomorrow.

Kisame smirked as he dropped both ninjas on the ground, glad to have his arms free again. Naruto responded by groaning, still in his unconscious state. Instead of growling to herself or complaining like she normally would've, Sakura responded by throwing up on Kisame's sandals.

"…"

Sakura wiped off her mouth with the back of her arm, then chuckled nervously at the shark's dark expression. "…Oops?"

Serves the bastard right. That's what happens when you try and cop-a-feel with me, shark-boy! Next time you won't be so lucky; I'll kick your blue ass until it turns black and blue!

Kisame twitched, glared at the pink-haired girl, then collected himself with a sigh. There was no need to get angry now. The deed was done and he could always get back at her when she was asleep. Instead, Kisame slowly retreated to the riverbank to wash off his feet and sandals.

Sakura snickered to herself. It was a victory; a small victory but a victory nonetheless.

"You should be kinder to him."

Sakura frowned. She had almost forgotten about the Uchiha. Just looking at the man made a flame of rage well up inside of her. He was the reason that Sasuke was so bent on revenge. He was the reason why Sasuke left the village in search for power. He was the reason that her Sasuke was gone.

"He could've just killed you."

Sakura stared at Itachi curiously, waiting for the young man to continue. He didn't, so she was forced to ask him herself. "Who?" she urged Itachi on.

He stared back at her, his cool demeanor making Sakura twitch in irritation. "Kisame" he answered. He turned his attention down towards a kunai in his hand, twirling the weapon between his fingers expertly. Sakura gulped at the sight, but composed herself as best as she could. "He could've killed you, but he chose to take you instead" he added absent-mindedly, his attention still on the kunai. "You should be thankful to him."

"Thankful? Thankful?!" the girl growled, her eyes narrowed dangerously. "I should be thankful that your partner kidnapped me?!"

Sakura stopped as the kunai Itachi had been fiddling with whizzed by her head, slicing away a few strands of petal pink hair before hitting the tree behind her. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"You should be careful of what you say, Sakura-chan" Itachi stated coolly, inspecting his fingernails for dirt. "Especially of what you say around me. You might find that I'm not as kind to prisoners as my partner is."

Sakura's breath hitched as the Uchiha's crimson eyes started to spin. Was this the end for her? Dying by the hands (or eyes) of her childhood crush's older brother?

I can't die like this. I need to save Naruto.

"You shouldn't be with us; you shouldn't even be alive." Itachi's words were as cold and harsh as his eyes.

Sakura closed her eyes tight, beads of sweat dripping down her noble brow. She cursed herself for being so weak but she couldn't stare into that man's eyes. They reminded her too much of another. As Itachi glared at her with killer eyes, all she could think of was Sasuke doing the exact same thing.

Sasuke…

No, Sakura couldn't die here. Naruto wasn't the only one that needed her help. She needed to save Sasuke too. She and Naruto had made a promise to rescue their former teammate, whether he liked it or not, and she had no intentions of breaking that vow.

Her eyelids fluttered open, revealing an intense, emerald-eyed glare. Surprisingly, Itachi hadn't made a move towards her. His eyes were on her but they had returned back to their natural ebony color.

Sakura raised an eyebrow, silently questioning why she was still alive and unharmed.

His response; "You're Kisame's responsibility, not mine."

The meaning behind his words was clear; "He'll be the one to choose whether you live or die."

The two of them spent the rest of their time alone together in silence.

Kisame finally returned several hours later, four dead rabbits hanging limply in his hands.

Sakura flinched as he threw them down by her feet. She glared at the smarmy grin that spread across his features, but stayed silent. Instead, she returned her attention back to Naruto, stroking the unconscious boy's hair in a comforting manner as his head laid on her lap.

Of course, had Naruto been conscious she would never do such a thing with him. The idiot would make some sort of remark about her liking him as more than a teammate which was impossible because she still loved Sasuke and nothing would ever change that.

Itachi and Kisame already had a roaring bonfire going, providing light and warmth against the cold chill of the night. Kisame snatched back the lifeless bodies of the rabbits and started skinning them with a large kunai. Once he was done with the task he impaled their bodies on sharpened sticks and allowed them to cook over the fire.

It was a good thing Naruto wasn't conscious to see this, Sakura noted; he hated killing animals in the forest and eating them. He had no problem catching and cooking fish but the boy had a soft spot for furry woodland creatures.

Besides, he'd take instant ramen over cooked rabbit any day.

The group ate in complete silence. Sakura was feeling unnerved from the eyes that were watching her carefully, just waiting for her to make an attempt to run for it. Not that she ever would; she wasn't the type to abandon a friend in need. Hell; that was one of the reasons why she was in this mess in the first place.

The pink-haired girl sent a worried glance towards Naruto. She wished he would wake up and make some stupid yet inspiring comment about how the Akatsuki couldn't beat him because he was the future Hokage. At least then Sakura would know that he was okay. There was no way to tell if the boy was suffering from any brain trauma. Even if she could tell, there wasn't much she could do to help without her chakra.

Sakura hadn't felt this weak since before she was a genin.

"Stop worrying; the Kyuubi's fine. I didn't hit him hard enough to do too much damage."

Sakura turned her gaze towards Kisame, glaring at the man. "He has a name" she growled out. Just because the Kyuubi lived inside him didn't mean they were one and the same. He was his own person with his own dreams and ambitions. Naruto was more than just a demon vessel. He was Konoha's number one surprising ninja; he was her teammate, her inspiration, her strength, and her friend…

Naruto was many things, but he was not just some vessel for a demon.

Kisame chuckled at the look on Sakura's face. "Yes, of course. Naruto-kun will be fine" he mocked, stressing Naruto's name. "Of course, a hit to the head is the least of his problems…" He allowed his statement to trail off, reminding the girl of what Akatsuki had planned for Naruto.

Sakura wished that she had her chakra back, even if it were just for five seconds. She wanted to punch those sharp teeth of his out of his mouth so he couldn't give her that stupid smirk.

"We'll arrive at Akatsuki headquarters some time during the day after tomorrow." Itachi frowned at his partner for telling them this information, but Kisame either didn't notice or didn't care. "I suggest you eat your rabbit and get a good night's sleep, little leaf nin. We'll be traveling all day tomorrow."

Kisame grabbed one of the cooked rabbits and pulled it off its stake, then threw it towards the pink-haired kunoichi. Sakura barely managed to catch it in time before it collided with her forehead. The shark chuckled deeply at the disdainful glare he gained from the flower. The weasel looked on with cold impassive eyes as he took an elegant bite of his own ration of food.

The group ate in relative silence for the rest of the night with the exception of Kisame's chuckles of amusement and Sakura's growls of anger and annoyance.

Once everyone was finished eating, Itachi and Kisame exchanged knowing glances with one another. Itachi leaned against a tree and closed his eyes to rest while Kisame busied himself with poking at the fire with one of the stakes, making sure the flame didn't die out.

"You should rest" he commented lazily, his beady eyes still focused on the fire.

Sakura was in no mood to argue, so she simply leaned back against the tree behind her, pulling Naruto's head back on top of her lap, allowing his cheek to rest against her thigh. It was for her own comfort just as much as it was for his. She wanted to make sure she knew where he was at all times. With her hands entangled in soft, golden locks of hair, Sakura closed her eyes and allowed her body to relax.