Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters- but Masashi Kishimoto does.
Here is the next chapter- I promise it will be longer than the first.
Sakura held her breath. She knew that she was completely at their mercy. They must have realized that too…so why weren't they attacking?
Her breathing accelerated as two stepped closer to her, taking off their hats. Instantaneously, she recognized them. Akasuna no Sasori and Deidara.
The blonde eyed her with an interested expression. His mouth turned up in a lopsided smile. Sakura could sense that he had no intention of hurting her there. He looked merely…curious.
On the other hand, Sasori manifested only coldness and impatience. He glared at her with piercing russet eyes, and she found herself cringing backwards, trying to get as far away from him as possible.
"Well?" Deidara turned to his partner expectantly.
Sasori shrugged. "We could take her back…I suppose a medic would be useful…or we could just dispose of her, and save ourselves the trouble." His tone grew sharper, and he turned back to glare at the pink-haired girl. Sakura closed her green eyes.
Both options were disastrous for her. She, though technically a criminal, could not bear to join the Akatsuki, after going against them for so long.
"A medic would be useful, un." Deidara nodded.
"Then again… it might be too much of a bother to get her to be loyal." Sasori interjected, scowling.
"Might be worth a shot, though."
Sasori thought for a moment, before giving his response. "It might be…"
Sakura, despite her weak position, stood up. "No!" Her voice rang out loudly and defiantly. She shook from emotion.
Deidara sighed. "Looks like she doesn't want to come." He glanced at Sasori, expectant of his partner's response.
"Then we'll make her."
The puppeteer's silky voice was the last thing Sakura heard before she succumbed to a state of unconsciousness.
When she woke up, she found herself in an austere white room, with a blue-haired woman next to her.
"Ah, good. You are awake." The woman smiled down at Sakura. "You must be Sakura Haruno, right?"
Sakura was unsure as to whether or not to respond. She still felt dizzy, and could not risk speaking, for fear of giving away something important. Fortunately, the woman assumed that she was indeed Sakura Haruno, and dropped the question altogether.
The two sat there in silence for a while, until the door opened slowly, and a familiar figure stepped in.
"She's awake?" Deidara questioned, grinning.
"Get out." The woman commanded, glaring at the blonde.
"Just a minute." He muttered. "You spoken to leader-sama yet?"
"Yes. The girl can stay, but she must remain in the headquarters for a while. Now get out."
"Okay, okay." Deidara held his hands up, and backed out of the room, still grinning.
The woman rolled her eyes in disbelief, and shook her head. "Baka." Turning to Sakura, though, her expression changed back to one of kindness. "I'm Konan, by the way. Now that you are awake, I will show you around."
Sakura nodded dazedly, and stood up. Konan seemed nice enough. No! This is the Akatsuki. They're S-class criminals. They are your enemies! They can't be 'nice'. What about your friends in Konoha? Have you forgotten about them already? Sakura looked down, a cheerless expression on her face. She numbly followed Konan out of the room, and paid attention only halfway as the blue-haired woman showed her the different parts of the headquarters. She could not concentrate much, not while bitter memories were rushing through her mind. Not while her mind was back in Konoha, back with Naruto, and Kakashi. Back to her training with Tsunade, even back to when Team Seven was whole again, and Sasuke was still the boy she had fallen in love with.
As they stopped at every room, Sakura became aware of the mistrusting gazes of the rest of the Akatsuki. They portrayed an immediate dislike of her, and justly so. She was a newcomer, and for all they knew, still fully loyal to Konoha. They had every right to hate her.
Her gaze lingered on every one of them. She tried not to let her fear of them show, but they could probably feel it anyway.
After Konan finished showing Sakura around, she turned to the girl. "There. You should be able to find your way around easily enough. If any of these idiots starts to bother you, let me know, okay?"
Sakura nodded, and watched as Konan disappeared, leaving her to face the Akatsuki. She spun around, and was faced with a pair of dull reddish-brown eyes.
Sasori stepped back, watching her warily. Sakura held eye contact with him, surprised by their close proximity. They remained there, in silence, for a few moments, until Sasori looked away.
"Konan showed you around?" His tone did not hold the same malice as earlier. Sakura looked up at him in confusion, and then nodded.
"Yes."
"Good." Sasori nodded, and began walking away from her. He stopped short, though, when he heard an explosion coming from one of the rooms. Deidara stepped out, looking frazzled.
"What happened?" The malice was back in Sasori's voice as he looked at his partner disapprovingly. Deidara managed to grin back at him.
"Art, un."
"I would hardly call those explosions art, Deidara."
"You have your opinion and I have mine." Deidara smirked "Mine's just better."
Sakura found herself smiling, despite herself. Sasori looked like he wanted to strangle poor Deidara. The blonde caught that, and prudently stepped back, looking at Sasori worriedly.
"Uh, sorry, un." Deidara rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
Sasori glared at him. "You are testing my patience, Deidara. For your sake, I suggest that you shut up."
Deidara looked around, and nodded. "Yeah, okay."
Sakura felt a hand on her shoulder. She unconsciously drew out a kunai, and turned to face her attacker.
It was konan.
"Oh." Sakura gasped, putting away the weapon. Konan smiled down at the kunoichi.
"Leader-sama wants to speak to you."
Yay! This chapter is longer!
Please, please review. Even it is just one word, I want to hear what you guys think about it so far, and what you want to see in later chapters.
Thanks for reading, and I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors that may have occurred.