(A/N: I'm not going to put an author's note in every chapter, that's just plain annoying, but thanks for the support so far(: and btw the italics mean it is the character's thoughts. If my story has left you confused, then I'm doing my job right)
Chapter Two
"I don't care who you are! Get off of me and let me go! What's your problem?" she yelled at Hidan, trying to look fierce despite being unable to defend herself.
"Damn, those drugs were supposed to have knocked you out...how are you still even holding your fucking eyes open?..." he got off of her and sat on the edge of the bed and mumbled to himself for a minute. "Unless you're a shinobi..." he finally said, turning towards her again. "Are you?" he asked giving her a suspicious look.
Sakura refused to answer him, giving him a defiant look.
"Oh, so now you shut the fuck up?" he asked.
She smirked at him, surprised at her own bravery in front of the violent purple-eyed man who could easily kill her at any moment. If there's one thing Sakura had picked up from Tsunade, besides superior strength and the occasional drink or two, it was a confidence, even if it was false, that she could use to fight off weakness, no matter what situation lie ahead of her.
Hidan wasn't entertained with her defiance."Bitch," he muttered, grabbing her arm and closing his eyes. She sat nervously as he muttered under his breath and she felt a foreign chakra creep into her body and touch a few of her chakra points.
After confirming that she had an active chakra network. He huffed angrily and dropped her wrist. "Great, we stole a kunoichi bitch from Jashin knows where…Kisame, Deidara, Tobi!" he suddenly yelled. "Those dumb fucks…"
A few minutes later, they heard approaching footsteps, followed by a chorus of "What do you want?" coming from behind the door.
"Come in" Hidan barked at the door, and in walked three of the strangest people Sakura had ever seen.
The first one, a man, had pale blue skin. He was tall, very tall, and built. Small, round, beady eyes bored into Hidan impatiently, but he quickly noticed the girl sprawled across the bed and stared at her. To her, it looked as if he had just woken up. But despite his fatigue, his eyes held a kind of distant look and behind the deadliness also conained within his retinas , Sakura could see a bit of something...playful? Friendliness perhaps? An odd combination found in a man this scary looking. His navy blue hair was styled similarly to Kakashi-sensei's own signature do, but was slightly disarrayed. Sharp, white, jagged teeth decorated the inside of his mouth and gill-like fixtures sat top of his cheekbones, right under his eyes. He wore dark blue sweatpants, a white tank top, a Kirigakure forehead protector with a slash through the village's symbol, and dark bluish-gray leg and arm warmers that she had seen somewhere before. Who else did she know from the Mist? There was that one mission to the Land of Water and...Oh yeah! she thought. Zabuza! He looked like a shark version of Zabuza. She thought he was The infamous Demon of the Mist for a second before she took a closer look and recalled that sad day on the bridge. This guy must have known him somehow. They have the same jagged teeth, similar clothes, and off-color skin. And they're both from the Mist. she thought as she stared quizically at the shark-man who looked as if he had just rolled out of bed.
The second one was of a medium height. He had long yellowish-blonde hair that swept across his face in bangs, while the rest remained tied up in a band. She presumed it was a guy because it looked sort of like a man, but it had girly features. Perhaps a drag queen? No, for some reason she found him...attractive. He was frowning, and the eye she could see was narrow, a pretty blue color that went well with his tan skin. The blonde wore a similar outfit to the first one in black with a black mesh shirt under a black V-neck, and he looked a lot like Ino. Sakura smiled inwardly, thinking of her friend back at Konoha, who was probably the first one arranging a search party for her missing pink-haired friend, and suddenly sadness overtook her once again, thinking of how the young Yamanaka would feel once she learned Sakura had left with Sasuke by choice. And with that thought, the smile in her head faded and she turned her attention to the third man who had entered the room.
The third one, who was grabbing the first one's arm and had pulled him through the door, was…strange. He was tall, but not as tall as the first. He was skinny, but not overly thin. He wore long black sweatpants, which seemed to be standard issue for everyone she had seen there so far, a black long-sleeved shirt, black gloves, and black socks under white leg warmer/socks. A long, thick, green scarf hung around his neck and dragged onto the floor. Short, black, spiky hair was the only thing visible under the orange mask he wore. It covered his whole face and had a spiral pattern of thin, black lines on it that lead to a small eye hole over his right eye.
Oh great, more Akatsuki…she thought, hoping they didn't have the same intent Hidan had.
The shark-like one shook out of the masked one's grip and grunted at Hidan as they all stood before him, clearly annoyed.
Hidan finally looked them over and sighed. "You said the bitch you captured wasn't a shinobi." He glared at the shark-like one. "Any explanation, shark fuck?" he sneered.
"Calm down, Zombie freak, she's not." the blue one retorted. "We weren't exactly sure about it, though. Tobi was the one to retrieve her. But why send me on a pointless mission with these two anyway? What did you expect?"
"Tobi did a good job! Tobi woke Kisame and brought him to you!" the masked one yelled, clapping to himself.
"Yeah, thanks a lot for interrupting my nap," Said Kisame, rolling his eyes.
Sakura's eyes widened as she took in the scene before her and the conversation they were having. It was all too much for her to handle and she felt light-headed seeing a walking, talking shark-man and three other Akatsuki members arguing before her. She was still afraid, but oddly fascinated at the four Akatsuki, obnoxiously arguing over her as if she wasn't even there.
"Hey, here's a wild idea, why don't we let the girl we captured tell us what happened, un? I mean, isn't she the one we should ask, un?" the blonde said sarcastically. She noticed he had a tendency to grunt through his nose after he spoke, making a sound that sounded to her like "Un" or "Yeah."
Weird…she thought.
"You think I didn't try that shit already?" Hidan spat angrily.
"Tobi thinks her hair looks like cotton candy! Tobi is hungry!" the masked one, who she assumed was named Tobi, said in a child-like voice.
"Tobi, no eating the captive's hair, damn it. Shark bait, go back to bed. And Deidara, how the hell are we supposed to let her talk. I already tried that?" Hidan crossed his arms and scolded the three.
Kisame shrugged and walked back out to continue his nap.
"Maybe she can't talk because of the drugs. I have an antidote Sasori-danna made for her, un. I knew Leader-sama would drug her like the last one, so I had him make it." Deidara produced a small vile containing a green liquid.
"But she was just screaming at me and…Ah, fuck it. I guess we'll try the green shit then." Hidan sighed.
Deidara walked over to her and lifted her arm gently. She wanted to pull away but couldn't so she submitted to the hot blonde stranger. He inserted the needle into a vein and drained the vile into her bloodstream. A sharp pain shot up her arm when he pressed the needle in and she fought hard not to show any weakness. Her eyes widened as she looked from her arm to the blonde's hands. Located in the center of each palm was a smiling mouth with a full set of teeth that appeared to be chewing gum.
Deidara smiled coolly noticing her shock. "Trust me, un, I won't bite." he laughed at his own joke and finished giving her the medicine.
After calming down from the fright of seeing functioning mouths affixed to the girly man's hands, she concentrated on her chakra and healing herself.If this is what he said it is then I can try escaping once it kicks in…she thought as she slowly regained movement of her limbs. She used her chakra to check for any damages or injuries to her body. A few small cuts and bruises were all to be found and she calmed down slightly, thankful they hadn't hurt her.
"Don't worry if you don't feel it working right away, un" Deidara said, brushing the hair out of his face. "He said it would take a while, but you'll slowly get your senses back."
She nodded, appreciating how nice he was being to her. He was the only one she found any signs of kindness in since being there, although Tobi seemed nice enough, he was extremely immature. Kisame and Hidan seemed pretty rude as far as she was concerned.
After a few moments, she was able to sit up and her breathing started to regulate. Taking deep breaths, she flexed her limbs as best she could from a sitting position and was finally confident in her movements, enough at least to prepare for a quick attack.
"Now, for Jashin's sake, tell us who the hell you are and what happened." Hidan commanded, suddenly producing a kunai and twirling it around on his finger.
She shook her head, "No. Let me go or I'll kill you all!" she yelled, lunging forward. But, before she had a chance to get up and grab the kunai from Hidan, he was on her, pinning her down, and grabbing her throat while holding the knife up to her jugular.
"Wow, youre pretty quick, bitch. But youre gonna have to tell us now or I'll have to sacrifice you to Jashin-sama," he said, showing off that wicked grin of his again. "Now, Cotton Candy, are you ready to tell us what happened, or do I have to spill your pretty blood all over my new sheets?" he asked with a malicious glint in his amethyst eyes.
"Y-yes. To-to the first one." She managed while trying to breathe under his rough grip.
"Okay then. Wise choice." He climbed off of her once again, still holding the weapon to her neck. She slowly sat back up and glancing down at the kunai pressed to her neck, she swallowed carefully and started.
"I-I'm from Konoha. My name is Sakura. I was training under Lady Tsunade before I left the village." She said quietly, trying not to show how scared she was to the criminals that were watching her.
"So why the hell would you leave your village?" Hidan asked, lowering the kunai slightly.
"Hmph," Deidara grunted. "Why would anyone want to leave a glorious place like Konoha, un?" He said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"My-my friend left to go to Orochimaru and I went with him." She answered truthfully.
"Nobody goes to Orochimaru-the-fag willingly, especially someone from the Leaf, so he must have been forced to go. And you, un. The way you talk about your friend, did you love him?" Deidara asked.
"Um-I-…" she looked down to the floor. "Yeah…I had feelings for him…" she admitted, willing herself not to cry.
"Well, we were sent on a mission to fetch a new sex slave for Pein-sama, un. He got tired of hiring prostitutes and Konan resisting him, so he sent us to fetch the first helpless girl we found…and here you are. We had no idea you were a kunoichi…your chakra must have been so low we couldn't sense it at all, un." Deidara explained.
"What did Snake-fag do to you?" asked Hidan. "He tried to touch you, didn't he?"
She paused, disgusted at the thought of when the pale man had tried to force her to give him sex in order to gain freedom. She finally shook her aching head up and down slowly, silently venting to them what she had been through. Without any words, they somehow knew what he had done.
They sat in silence for a moment until Deidara broke the awkwardness.
"That's quite a story, un," he said, shaking his head. "That damn Orochimaru, we had to kick him out for trying to steal the body of another member and being a creep."
"Tobi loves Orochimaru! He gave Tobi candy and let Tobi sit on his lap!" Tobi clapped childishly.
"Shut the fuck up, Tobi." Hidan, who had been quiet for a while, said. "Stop being so dumb."
"Don't be mean to Tobi! Tobi is a good boy! And besides, Deidara-sempai says you are gay and read yaoi magazines! Tobi doesn't know what that is!" Tobi cried and clung to Deidara's arm.
"What! It's called Playboy, and it's not gay!" Hidan yelled at the two of them angrily.
"For you, it's called Play-With-Boys, un." Deidara laughed and Tobi snickered through his tears.
"I'll kill you, you fucking tranny!" Hidan screamed at Deidara and chased him out of the room.
Tobi sat down at the edge of the bed and cried, "Nooo! Deidara- senpai can't die!"
Sakura crawled over to the child-like man and patted his back soothingly, not knowing what else to do. "Um, I'm sure he'll be fine…" she said softly.
A moment later, they heard a door slam and Hidan yelling, "You can't hide forever, He-She!"
"Tobi wants a brownie! Tobi is a good boy!" Tobi exclaimed and suddenly ran from the room. He stopped before he left. "Thanks Sakura-chan." He said to her before running down the dark hall to the kitchen.
She sighed and stood up, adjusting to being able to stand again. She wanted to find out more about that Sasori guy Deidara had mentioned, and she had heard there was an Akatsuki girl. She was almost out the door when she stopped.
Sasuke's face flashed in her head and she stopped dead in her tracks. What was happening to him at Orochimaru's hide-out? Surely Orochi wouldn't hurt him…but would he ever forgive her for running away like that? She sank down to the floor as the tears started flowing. "Sasuke…" she cried bringing her knees to her chest and weeping openly. She still loved him so much. She wondered how she could love him so much when all he ever did was hurt her. She tried to convince herself he wasn't worth her tears, but how could she think that about the man she thought she was in love with?
The tears kept flowing and she cried so hard her chest started to hurt. With no one there to judge her or label her as weak for crying, it felt good to let it all out and be able to take in the situation at hand. But her loud cries echoed off the dense walls of Hidan's cluttered room and came back at her each time like a slap in the face, reminding her that crying wouldn't help the situation she was in.
She thought of Tsunade and her strong willpower that had helped Sakura through her tough training. Calming herself down by thinking of her strong mentor, her tears subsided, and she lay on the cold, stone floor thinking of a way to escape. An ambush seemed fitting, but before she could get up and gather her head to plan one, she heard footsteps approaching, and a dark figure came towards the room. She sat up and wiped her face, hoping it wasn't someone else looking for easy sex.
He walked in the room without asking. "Hidan," he called. "I need my kunai back for…" he stopped when he saw Sakura and she gasped as he turned to face her. His face was pale, and he had dark, obsidian eyes and jet black hair.
"Sasuke?" she whispered. It looked just like him…or did it? There were a few subtle differences, but she harly noticed in her shocked state. All she could think of was, how could Sasuke be here? Has he come to save me?
Shadowy eyes met her own translucent emerald ones and she instantly recognized the man before her.
Itachi Uchiha.