Wake Me Up

by Tussinomics

One night of drunken indiscretion can lead to a lifetime of consequence. Haruno Sakura has just discovered that the hard way and now she has to devise a plan to deal with her problem before anyone can find out the truth of that consequence. She'll quickly learn that this is easier said than done. Eventual rocky KisaSaku. M for reasons. Chapter 5 is up!

3. Effortless Abduction of Haruno Sakura

A/N: First off let me say thank you so much for the reviews and follows and favs I've gotten so far. Your feedback is always appreciated and don't be afraid to point out anything you think needs work. I'm not afraid of a little critique and, honestly, I need it. I am SO sorry that this chapter took so long for me to get up, but I've been so busy the past couple of weeks with work and school and home and I had some problems getting this one finished. As a reward for being so patient with me and waiting for this new chapter, it's almost twice as long as the first two. So this chapter leads Sakura into the lion's den Let's see how that goes. :P

Chapter Three

...

The Effortless Abduction of Haruno Sakura

...

I'm stuck in a coma; stuck in a neverending sleep
And someday I will wake up, and realize I gave up everything.

I won't be saved...

...

Sakura

...

It had been nearly a week since Sakura's first prenatal visit and the apprehension that had been corked inside of her like a shaken champagne bottle seemed to have lessened a little. Actually, she had been feeling a hell of a lot better since then.

She had decided against the abortion, knowing she didn't truly have the heart to do it at that point anymore. Tsunade had discussed the adoption route with her and she was feeling pretty good about it, especially the fact that she wouldn't have to begin the search for potential candidates until sometime after her fifth month. She said that they could keep track of her growth until then, in case someone found that important and wanted to know. Obviously, she had been restrained from going on missions until after her postnatal recovery was over but she could still work full time in the hospital until Tsunade decided it would be wise to cut back and if she would need to quit later on.

Personally, she was more than eager to hand this over to Tsunade now that she knew she wasn't going to cut her head off. It was an enormous weight off of her shoulders. Now all she had to worry about was how she was going to explain this to everyone else.

In a few months, she'd be showing and as much as she wished she could just explain it as a few pounds she had packed on she knew that wasn't going to cut it. She'd have to be as honest as she was able to be; she just had to figure out when she was going to break the news.

It wasn't going to be today, she knew that for sure. She had dealt with enough over the past week and today, she had decided, was her day to just relax. Tsunade had let her leave the hospital early after a midmorning bout with some relentless morning sickness and insisted that she should take the rest of the day off. She wanted to argue that she would be fine but she couldn't lie and say that the break wouldn't be appreciated.

She left the hospital feeling a bit better and by the time she reached the apartment, the nausea had abated. She put on the kettle for a cup of tea and sat at her breakfast bar, fingering through some mail that she had left on her counter before she left for work that day.

Pretty much nothing but junk mail and a few bills greeted her and her hand drifted towards the Bingo book that was sitting next to where the mail had been and she pulled it towards her. Lazily she flipped through a few pages, passing faces she knew and faces she didn't before she stopped to look up at the silent tea kettle.

When she gazed back down at the book, an unfortunately familiar face stared back at her and her breath caught in her throat, hand instinctively going to her stomach in response.

His face was etched in an unsettling grin, revealing perfectly white, razor-sharp teeth contrasting sharply against the bluish gray of his skin. She narrowed her eyes at the photo, noting that the hitai-ate wrapped around his head was missing its signature slash through the symbol of Kirigakure. He looked quite young, possibly late teens or so, and somehow seemed more volatile than in the picture she that was more familiar with, in the more current bingo book. A shiver ran through her spine and her eyes seemed to be firmly locked to his.

A surge of anger flooded through her, increasing the longer she stared. Finally, she tore her eyes away and read the description below:

Name: Hoshigaki Kisame

Date of Birth: March 18th

Blood Type: AB

Classification: Cypher Intel Division (former); Seven Swordsmen (former)

Village of Association: Kirigakure no Sato

Current Association: Akatsuki

Status: Excommunication from known village; current nukenin status

Rank: S-Class rogue shinobi; high priority capture;

Hoshigaki is a violent, bloodthirsty and sadistic fighter. He takes the utmost pleasure in wounding and maiming his victims before he kills, and has a knack for dismembering body parts with his chakra absorbing blade, Samehada. Extreme caution should be taken when in his presence. Hoshigaki should NEVER be approached by a single agent, and ONLY with prior permission from the Hokage, should the proper classified team approach and attempt to detain or eliminate.

For some reason, though she was already familiar with these facts, reading it now brought a sense of perverse intrigue to her. Why, exactly, was he such a violent person? What had happened to him in life that had made him that way?

She knew she shouldn't care, hell; she shouldn't even be looking at this. Wasn't she supposed to be trying to forget that he existed at all? His simple being in life was haunting her enough; she didn't need to willingly seek out information on him. It's not like she'd ever truly seek him out, he'd likely just kill her, even if he did remember who she was. And if he ever found out that she happened to be pregnant with his offspring he'd surely kill her, with no regard for his child whatsoever.

Someone like him was unlikely to care about something like that. He'd simply eliminate the problem without hesitation, namely with his sick brand of infamous slaughter.

Of course he would. Predators didn't care about the wellbeing of their prey, no matter how defenseless.

Right?

She shook her head violently, trying to clear such traitorous thoughts from her head. It wasn't as if she'd ever see him again anyway.

The sharp whistle of the tea kettle broke the strained silence of the apartment and she was glad for the distraction. Leaving the book still open on Kisame's page, she went to the kitchen to focus on making herself some tea, completely unaware that in a few hours her life would once again take an unexpected turn.

...

Kisame

...

Getting into Konoha had been simple enough; as far as he knew, he hadn't been detected.

The simple amount of back entrances and holes in the village's security was laughable. He figured that with something as precious as a tailed beast - the most important one, no doubt - in your hands, one would be more apt about keeping it safe.

Fortunately for them, he wasn't there for the Kyuubi kid, which baffled him to no end, though he was wise enough not to question Leader's decisions more than he had. He wanted to ask desperately why, instead of going after a medic kunoichi, he couldn't just snag up the kid instead, if truly that was Leader's final intention. He knew the answer, truly, but the reality was unsettling to him.

Chances were, even if he got anywhere close to him, the kid would just unleash the beast inside and probably either take him down or put up so much of a struggle that he'd alert half the village to his presence. Kisame didn't want to admit the former. The fact that a simple child, barely an adult as far as he was concerned, would be able to render him useless or even dead made him uneasy.

He kept to the forest inside of the village most of the day and as soon as the sun went down he started scouting for information on his target. Unsurprisingly it hadn't been very hard to come by. Apparently, Konoha was very proud of their Haruno Sakura, their little medical prodigal ingénue. The records office had been uninhabited; otherwise, someone would be in for a surprise when they came in the morning for work to find their co-workers dead.

He had gotten information on everything he would want to know about her - academy graduation, element type, current housing address, work schedule, certificates of achievement - with ease and now he was headed to stake out the girl's apartment until she turned in for the night. He wanted to just incapacitate her quickly and get the hell out of there as soon as possible. Just because it had been easy to get in, didn't mean that he wanted to hang around and get friendly with the locals.

He didn't need to remind himself that he hated this awful place and for now 'in-and-out' suited him just fine.

The sun had just completely set when he approached her apartment building and he scaled the building opposite of hers with ease until he came in visual contact with the window that corresponded with her location.

The curtains were drawn back, allowing him to get a good view of her living room and kitchen. Darkness enveloped him, giving him the advantage on her that provided a thrill greater than any drug or alcoholic beverage ever could. He waited a few minutes, predatory eyes fixed on the window, watching until she walked past and settled at the tiny dining table directly in front of the window.

Her hair was knotted high on her head in a messy bun that shone with dampness and she was wearing a pair of pajamas with what appeared to be cupcakes that had smiley faces on them. His eyebrow rose at such an obviously girly thing. She had a book in her hand, thick and entirely black, and was reading from a page in it.

She stayed on that particular page for a very long time, so he could only assume that she was studying its contents carefully. A few times she shut the book, placed it on the table and got up, only to return book minutes later, opening it back up to what he could see was the very same page.

He watched as the look on her face changed from worried to something mirroring disgust and back to worry, before she'd close it and abandon it on the table once more. She repeated this ritual four times before she got up, book still in hand, and began to shut the lights off in her apartment, finally disappearing down the hall and into what he figured was her bedroom.

Instinctively he moved, switching buildings until he located her bedroom window. Unfortunately this one was completely covered, mint green curtains blocking his view of anything. A faint light shone through the curtains for about half an hour before they too were extinguished. He had taken this to mean that she was finally going to sleep, and he decided to wait another half an hour before he made his move. If she was still awake and caught a glimpse of him, unintended, things would not go as smoothly as he had planned.

He took this time to decide his best method for subduing her without her knowledge, intent to keep her unconscious - or at the very least, disabled - until he was far away enough from her village for it to matter. He had to remind himself periodically that she was supposed to be unharmed when she was presented to Leader, or else his balls would be on a platter. This was disappointing; he at least wanted something of a fight, if for no other reason than to entertain him. He doubted this girl could give it to him anyway, she looked as harmless as any fly he had ever swatted.

'Probably the reason why she's a medic.'

Of course, if there was one thing that the shinobi life had taught him, it was that you should never judge a book by its cover.

The moon hung high over Konoha, drenching it in a peaceful glow, and he decided that he had given her enough time to promptly fall asleep. He made his way back towards the living room window, hopping silently on the ledge.

He was glad he had sealed Samehada in a scroll since the lack of extra weight ensured his silence and allowed him to balance perfectly on the sill. He slid the unlatched window open slowly, making sure not to make even the slightest noise, and found himself even more disappointed in this kunoichi as he went. She must have put great stock in her village to not even lock her windows at night, a foolish mistake that soon she'd be paying for.

He slid inside and took a little time to look around, familiarizing himself with the little apartment for some reason he didn't understand. For such an obviously feminine woman, she sure didn't have a lot in the way of personal effects. The majority of the clutter in the small space was comprised of books. It was a ridiculous amount that spilled over shelves and onto the floor, piling up in several stacks, most almost reaching the ceiling in height.

Contrary to popular belief, Kisame wasn't purely brawn. He enjoyed a battle of wits and was more than properly educated, more so than most people he had said once that his facade of animalistic characteristics wasn't always fitting, and that stupid didn't do well on him. It wasn't exactly a compliment but as far as Itachi had been concerned, it was the closest he would ever come. Kisame had taken it as a compliment though, so the point had been made. He did enjoy a good book from time to time, and this girl had a very impressive collection, something that - if circumstances weren't what they were - he might have enjoyed perusing.

Other than the absurd amount of books this girl had, nothing much else was out on display. He turned towards the little open kitchen; with the exception of a large Chinese zodiac calendar scroll next to the refrigerator and a few framed photos of some roosters over the stove, it wasn't very lived in. There was a stack of boxes in the corner next to the dining room table, all packed full and sealed, that were labeled according to room, indicating that she had just recently moved in and hadn't had time to unpack.

Despite the unusual urge to dig through their contents, he ignored them and turned his back on the kitchen, moving out of the little living room and towards the hallway. He stopped at the entrance, listening for any noises to indicate she was waking up or was still awake. Satisfied with the silence he moved and stopped before a cracked door - one of only two in the hall; he guessed the other was the bathroom - and peered through it.

She was tangled in the bed sheets, illuminated by only the soft glow of the moon through her sheer curtains, one leg slung over a pillow. Her hair was pulled down now, flooding the pillow with pink, and he hadn't realized that it was so long since her picture had revealed it to be cropped close to her neck. It had an almost metallic shimmer in the dim light and he narrowed his eyes.

A strong but incredibly calm chakra signature filled the room, wrapping itself around him in a way that made him intensely uncomfortable. Something about her chakra was off-putting, almost familiar, even more so than her picture or even seeing her in the flesh. A tingly shiver traveled down his spine at their close proximity and for the very first time in his life, he was overwhelmed with the urge to run. He remained rooted to the spot, growing angry with himself for behaving so oddly, and tossed it to the side, moving one step towards her bed.

Her scent caught in his nose and filled it with the soft, delicate smell of freesia and cherry blossom and a tincture of some kind of muscle balm. Her legs were bare now and he could see how long and lean they were. She had decent tone in her muscles, a result of intense training and despite the little scars that dotted her here and there, her skin was a pale creamy color that shimmered in the glow.

The shark inside him swam about in slow, intent circles, concentrating on her deeply, intensely circling as if it wanted to examine her further. He shook his head, frowning at himself. What the hell was his deal?

Sure, she was attractive; a pretty young girl who smelled nice and had legs that seemed to keep going on and on. Any idiot could clearly see how good-looking she was, but that wasn't enough for him to actually want to look more than once at her. He saw women every day who were clearly more endowed and more filled out - though for her age, she was pretty well filled out herself - and more mature than her.

But for all her good-looks she was just a girl, this much was obvious, and if Kisame had wanted to seek out the comfort of the opposite sex, he'd seek out a woman.

The shark was behaving strangely, more apprehensive than normal, unlike its usual aggressive self, circling with caution, as if it sensed something he could not. He shook his head once more, wanting more than ever to get out of there, but he knew she had to come with him, and that didn't help his apprehension.

'Get yourself together, idiot, it's just a little girl. Stop acting like a bitch and get on with it so you can get back dump her on someone who has better use for her than you do.'

Pearlescent eyes still trained on her form, he removed a small syringe and glass vial from his waist pouch.

Kisame couldn't rely on genjutsu to help him keep her from waking up and thus making his job a miserable hell, so he'd have to use a more old fashioned method to ensure this. He slid the needle into the tube, taking only a small amount of fluid into the syringe and pushed slightly to relieve any bubbles, before sliding the needle into her neck, depositing fast acting sedative into her bloodstream. She tensed visibly for a few seconds, her brain probably trying to rouse her to defend herself against suspicious chemicals being entered into her body, but soon she relaxed heavily, her body sinking into the bed deeply.

Her eyes opened for a fraction of a second during this time, but he doubted she had seen him, not that he cared if she did or didn't. By this point she was out, and he had about six or so hours until she'd need another dose if they hadn't made it back by then. He could make the trip from Konoha to Ame with ease, taking the shortest route he knew and the only reason it had taken him so long to get to Konoha was because he had to stop and take care of some prior business halfway through. He could make it back in about seven hours, six if he really pushed it, but since he'd have to carry the girl - an obnoxious dead weight - he probably wouldn't be able to make it in six.

He placed the vial and the recapped syringe back in his pouch and pulled out a pair of chakra restraining wrist cuffs which he fastened around her small wrists. This would ensure that, if she did somehow wake up early, she wouldn't be able to use but only the tiniest amount of chakra, just enough really to keep her alive and no more, so she couldn't use any jutsu on him. He leaned over to lift her onto his shoulders when something on her bed caught his eye and he almost jerked back from the sight.

It was altogether weird, like an omen - if he believed in those, which he didn't - and it caught him off guard. On her bed, splayed open next to her chest was a bingo book and on the page was his own face smiling viciously back at him. He didn't question it any further, honestly did not want to know why she had been reading his page if she was. The chances of her checking up on him of all the people in that book were so slim, so infinitesimally small that it could not have been what it appeared at all.

She was probably just looking at someone else in the book and the book had moved or shifted to his page while she slept. Of course, that was it, and here he was getting all crazy and superstitious for no reason. Old age was beginning to settle into him or something because his neuroses were intensifying with every second he spent with his unconscious captive.

He lifted her lightly - not that it really mattered, the sedative, while mostly safe, was very potent and he could sling her around like a bag of rocks and she wouldn't stir - and settled her on one of his broad shoulders. When he turned his head, he was met with the sight of a red lace covered ass in his face and only then did he realize that he should have put some pants on her before he picked her up. He looked around for something easy to slide up her legs and located a long flowy blue skirt on the chair settled next to her closet. He disregarded any other personal effects of hers, couldn't be bothered with it anyway and slid the skirt up onto her hips.

He grabbed a thin dark throw blanket and threw it on top of her, just in case someone saw him toting a live hostage out of the village - though he doubted anyone would see him at all. She was light, like he thought she would be, despite the fact that every muscle in her body was slack.

As he left he caught sight of a black medic bag settled on the wooden desk across from the bed. He peered inside and saw that it was full of various medical supplies and different sorts of balms and ointments. He didn't know why but he grabbed it and fastened it to his waist before leaving the bedroom. He didn't waste any more time after that and left the apartment quickly.

He was out of the Konoha gates, one unconscious kunoichi gained, in no time.

...

Konan sat on the edge of the bed, fingers fiddling with a piece of paper absentmindedly, listening to the sound of the bed's other occupant's light and steady breathing. He had finally fallen asleep after almost four hours of long and intense love-making, something that usually put her to sleep and kept him up afterwards, usually allowing him to tend to business matters uninterrupted; not tonight.

For some reason, she had been deeply troubled with the situation regarding the Haruno woman and Kisame as of late.

Pein had sent Kisame to retrieve her, and she couldn't fathom why he had done that. She knew the purpose of bringing the medic-nin here, though she was very against it, but she couldn't understand why he had sent Kisame. Kisame didn't know the truth, Pein would never tell him and letting him discover it on his own came with many different outcomes that Konan knew wouldn't be good.

And what was Pein planning to do with this girl? If he simply wanted to eliminate the problem and keep the child as a potential weapon, he could just wait until she was nearing the delivery period, have her killed and take the baby from her womb. It was a rough and harsh solution but it was more like Pein to do that than to take her as a hostage and keep her here until the baby was born. Through a little additional intel from Zetsu they had discovered that the rosette kunoichi had made the decision to give the child up for adoption, so she obviously didn't want it.

Konan had offered the suggestion that they should stage an adoption meeting, possibly use hired shinobi to pose as a couple, and take the baby themselves. Pein had refused that route, claiming that anything could happen to Haruno in between now and then and that the child could be put at serious risk. He wanted to watch over the pregnancy himself, to ensure the health of both mother and child until delivery. She could understand that the child would be a very valuable asset to the organization, especially if raised by the organization itself and taught to hone its skills efficiently. With its father's massive chakra stores and it's mother's incredible chakra control, it could be raised to be one of the most efficient shinobi the organization would ever have.

The time and effort it would require to raise a child seemed to be worth it to Pein, if the result was as he predicted it would be. That was of course if the DNA was accurate. Unlike a traditional demon sealing, Kisame's had taken place in a much more medical setting, with true to life DNA bonding between him and the shark. The shark was literally as much a part of Kisame as any part could be. It truly thrummed within his veins; it was molded and bonded in his DNA, which meant that the chances of part of the demon being passed onto his offspring were more than likely.

If the child survived of course.

She had done research on this type of DNA bonding and demon sealing, and while the details were sometimes lost on her, one specific detail was not. The chances of the baby surviving outside of its mother's womb while carrying such inhuman DNA markers were iffy. It was about a fifty-fifty chance of survival and really the chance depended on the mother herself. If her body was strong enough to deliver the child safely, the chance rose significantly.

Since this was such an unusual case, the offspring itself would be unusual and the labor and delivery would be much more difficult. And if Sakura herself could not deliver the child smoothly enough, her chances of survival would dwindle as well. And there had been several cases of the child being born fine and the mother would not survive.

Konan shivered as a cold draft crept from somewhere unknown and she sighed, eyes gazing at the sleeping man to her left. She truly hoped that he knew what he was doing because if he did not then the lives of two people would be in danger. She had to trust that he did and she would but she was allowed to have her doubts.

One thing had been plaguing her relentlessly, something even more so than the actual prospect of dangerous births or chances of survival postnatal: Kisame's reaction to all of this.

What would he say, what would he do, when he found out about all of this?

It was well known how violent his tendencies were but he was, on the inside, just a man. Would he try to eliminate the mother of his own child? She wanted to believe that no, he wouldn't, but this whole thing was like a terrible game of Russian roulette, there was no way to determine the true outcome of this. Pein was playing a twisted game with three different lives, two of which were completely innocent.

What if, by the tiniest chance, Kisame accepted this for what it was, and wanted to take care of both the baby and Sakura? Konan doubted that but there was always a chance. Either way, she didn't believe that Kisame would appreciate Pein's interference in his personal life or his potential family's lives. Or perhaps, and this thought saddened her more than she cared to admit, perhaps he simply would not care one way or the other, for Sakura or for this child and would allow Pein to do as he wished with them both.

Suddenly she became very tired, lying down beside Pein, trailing her fingers down his arm.

All she could do, she decided before her eyes drifted lazily shut, was trust in Pein. That was all she could ever do.

...

Sakura

...

Something wasn't right; she could feel it before her brain even drifted back to partial consciousness.

Her dream had been hot and fevered, marked by uncontrollable shivering and shaking of her limbs and she could feel, even through her deep sleep, that something foreign had been introduced into her body. The thing that had shaken her back to a somewhat lucid state was just that, shaking. The ground appeared to be moving beneath her and she could feel the wind through her hair and smell the distinct odor of leaves and dirt. This made her believe that she was indeed outside somewhere, though how she had gotten there was a complete unknown factor, one that frightened her.

She could feel, without even moving them, that her limbs were extremely heavy and that if she were to try, she would be almost unable to move them. Her body kept trying to push her back to sleep but she stayed as alert as she could. She wanted to open her eyes but did not try for fear that whoever had taken her from her bed would see and take more drastic measures; she didn't even know if she could open them anyway.

She began to feel things out as carefully as she could, without using chakra to help her. Unfortunately, without even trying, she could sense that her chakra was being repressed, so much so that the weak feeling she was experiencing was possibly not just from whatever drug she had been given. Suddenly, without any warning, very strong nausea twisted her and before she could even hope to stop it, her stomach expelled its contents.

"Shit..."

Suddenly all was still, and she could feel exaggerated breathing from the thing or person that seemed to be carrying her before she collided butt-first with something hard, soreness rippling through every muscle. Her consciousness was wavering back and forth now and she couldn't even hope to stand and defend herself. The only details that were clear to her were these: She had been kidnapped, she had been drugged and she had just thrown up all over her captor.

She heard rustling leaves and cloth and a deep sigh before she felt something rubbing against her front. At first, the fear that she was about to be ravaged violently on some dark wood floor caught her in its hold and her breathing sped up; soon though, the offending touch stopped and she realized that whoever it was must have just been wiping her mess off of her shirt. She wanted to move so badly but did not know if she even could, or if that would even be wise. Her chakra was useless and frankly would not have been much help anyway, considering the fluctuations it had been enduring with the pregnancy-

The realization hit her like a slap in the face. She had forgotten all about the baby! Whatever drug had been given to her, combined with whatever rough treatment the bastard had administered to her could not be safe for the baby. Before she could stop herself with rational thought, her body kicked into involuntary fight or flight mode. With as much strength as she could ever have in this situation, she viciously kicked out, feeling somewhat victorious when her bare foot connected with something firm.

"Ow! What the fu-"

She didn't stick around to listen to the rest, and unbelievably pulled herself up, even without the use of her hands and took off as fast as she could run in the opposite direction, only opening her eyes after she had moved. She could feel her sluggish limbs and body dragging her down, and whatever speed she might have had seconds ago was dwindling fast. If she could just get somewhere and hide, she might be able to stay low long enough and he might let up.

Without warning something hard collided with her body and she was flung forward, through a thicket of branches or brush. A series of burning sensations engulfed almost every inch of her bare arms and legs and she cried out, immediately spotting the scratches and small puncture wounds that were hidden beneath spiny balls that had attached themselves to her skin. The pressure on her back lifted momentarily before she felt a strong hand bury itself in her hair, yanking her head back viciously.

"Do. Not. Move." Hot breath puffed against her ear and the voice was very clearly filled with irritation and anger.

She remained still, for fear that he might decide that she was too much trouble and kill her now. Normally that wouldn't have bothered her so much, she was prepared to die for the sake of her honor, she supposed.

Now she couldn't say that. Now she only thought of protecting the child she would have to bear. If she could do nothing else more for it, she would at least bring it into the world safely.

Of course, if she had been in this situation and not pregnant, she would probably be able to fight back. She could have forced the sedative out of her body with chakra and been alright to fight. It obviously was only meant to sedate, not to kill, or else she'd be dead by now. Then again, there was also the point of the chakra sedation her body was undergoing.

She had a feeling of where that was coming from, possibly the cuffs binding her arms behind her back.

Maybe she wouldn't have been able to get out of this alive, but at least she could have tried, which was more than she was doing now, lying on her stomach in a nest of nettles, helpless.

Suddenly the hold on her hair was relinquished and she let her head fall onto ground, tears prickling behind her eyelids. She wanted to turn her head, to see who had her so helpless, so useless, but she refused to let them see her cry. Her hormones were working overtime and she just couldn't find it in her to expose herself anymore to this man.

"Get up, kunoichi."

She couldn't get up; he of all people should know that since he was the one who had her hands bound and her chakra at a nearly dangerous level.

"I said get up. Now."

"I-I can't..." Her voice broke, and the resulting response was a pitiful little whimper; she wished she hadn't said anything at all.

The man from behind her sighed and she felt her body being lifted with ease, felt the little snarls tug on her clothes and skin before she was freed from the offensive bush and placed on her own two feet. She could feel his presence behind her, chakra emanating from him like a blinding heat that she hadn't thought to notice until now. He was clearly strong, a large man with a broad shoulder and little patience. She could tell that thus far. Still...

Why hadn't he killed her? Why even bother to take her at all? She was hardly important to anyone, at least outside of Konoha, and yet here she was.

Why wasn't she reacting differently to this? Why not make a scene and freak out, maybe someone would hear, maybe someone could help her.

Probably not...

"Kunoichi..."

Her body stiffened at the sound, but still she refused to turn and face him, refused to let him see the tears that had already begun, despite the fact that she willed them to stay put. She wouldn't let this bastard see her weakness. She just couldn't. If he wanted her, he'd have to take her by force, she would not move from this spot.

It was as if he had read her mind and she felt the tiny sting at her neck and, despite the fear of being unconscious again, she did not resist; she did not try to fight it because she knew that whatever he had in store for her she'd rather be out cold when it happened.

Before her mind gave way to total darkness again, she felt a pair of large hands slide around her middle, and something inside of her, something unusual and foreign couldn't help but think that those hands felt vaguely familiar.

...

Kisame

...

The kunoichi's shallow but easy breathing was the only thing he seemed to concentrate on the entire way back to Ame. Since her little escape attempt he had been increasingly uneasy that she'd wake up and attempt to run away again. However she remained under the effects of the sedative the entirety of the remaining trip and though he was thankful for that, he found himself unusually paranoid and wary of this girl.

Something about her just struck a bad chord in him for some reason. She didn't fight the way he figured she would have, barely even tried, and though this disappointed him for the lack of fight he would get out of her, there was something else about her that had - for lack of any better word - momentarily quelled the shark inside of him.

It was as perplexing as it was anger inducing. The bloodlust, which would normally override any real logical thought, hadn't surfaced at the sight of her, bloody and bruised from her attempt to outrun him. Something else had replaced it. Something he did not want to discover further. There was definitely something unusual about this girl, something that, he was irritated to realize, was being kept from him deliberately.

Honestly, he thought as he reached the village gates, headquarter tower looming into the dark rainy sky above him, he wasn't even sure he wanted to know.

It wasn't like it could possibly involve him.

...

"Kisame has returned."

"Hn."

"The girl is still unconscious, what do you want done with her?"

The silence throughout the meeting room was rife with unusual tension as Konan awaited further instruction. Her apprehension about this entire ordeal was only exacerbated as she watched the shark-nin towing the young medic out of the rain and inside the building with an unusual look on his face. He seemed confused and she wondered if somehow he already knew, or at least suspected that something was going on.

At first she was sure he'd be able to sense it, considering his strong inclination towards hormonal and scent disruption, but she didn't think he had yet. Perhaps it was just too early too really tell. Something was different about him; she could sense it when he walked past her in the foyer, something unnaturally calm. Even if he didn't yet know what it was, he did know something and that in itself was enough to frighten her with its possibilities.

"I suppose we should let her sleep off the rest of the medication. Have Kisame put her in the cell."

"The cell? Pein, you can't be serious-"

Before she could finish, the burning heat of his hand was wrapped around her arm in a way that was almost painful, but not quite. It was enough to shut her up though.

She had questioned him, he didn't take too kindly to that, and though she knew better she did not think that locking the poor girl in that dark and awful place was the best thing for her.

"You question my methods, Konan?"

"Forgive me, Leader-sama. I just don't think that waking up in such a place would deem well for the girl. She's been through a lot already; the added stress of being down there alone would only make it worse."

"Konan-chan, you seem to forget what her purpose is in this game, do not tell me you've gone soft already. She's been here barely ten minutes and already you're feeling sorry for her?" His hand dropped and she breathed out quickly. As loathe as she was to admit it, and as much as she loved this man with every ounce of her soul, sometimes his tendencies frightened her. He had never hurt her, he probably never would, but she couldn't put it past him if she refused him something he wanted.

"I do not forget, I am aware of her role. I just thought that it would be best to keep the stress to a limited amount, if we could help it. Otherwise, she may miscarry and your plan would be for nothing."

In a second he was behind the desk once again, his hands perched below his chin as if he were thinking very hard about it. She knew he wasn't, he never needed to think hard on anything, but she was pleased he was considering her counsel. Sometimes he did.

"Alright, Konan-chan, no cell. Do you have any ideas on where we should keep her then? Since you are so full of wisdom today, after all."

She couldn't tell if he was picking at her or if his sarcasm was a verbal blow to her intelligence. Pein hardly ever insulted her, so she doubted it. Perhaps he really was asking.

"She could stay in Itachi's old room, just until we find a better place for her."

The smallest of smirks graced his face and suddenly she realized the depth of her mistake too late. Itachi was still a sore subject for Kisame, even if he would never admit it. When someone did bring up mention of his old partner, Kisame would just avoid it entirely.

He liked to act as if he could care less that Itachi was dead but she knew the truth. Though he and everyone else knew that it was coming, had been coming for quite some time and that it was not remotely unexpected, it shook him in a way that it might if a normal person had lost a brother. And placing the girl in Itachi's old room? Well that might very well place an even more viable dislike in the kunoichi than Kisame might already have. Pein, for whatever reason, wanted Kisame to resent her or something of the sort. He definitely wasn't providing a stable foundation for any relationship that might be laid because of this.

Her head began to ache. What exactly was she doing? Of course there would be no relationship. It's not as if they would kindle some sort of romance just because she was carrying his drunken love child. This was all being done for the sake of the organization and here she was letting her heart get in the way over what? Some kind of weird vagina loyalty?

"Just when I think you couldn't possibly get any more brilliant, there you go. Very good Konan-chan. Tell Kisame to put her in Itachi's room, and when she wakes you bring her to me. She and I need to have a little chat. Dismissed."

Konan couldn't repress the unusual anxiety that only rose when the heavy doors slammed behind her.

...

Sakura

...

Something soft and warm cradled her in its grasp and she was thankful for it. Her head was throbbing with a severity she hadn't thought possible. It felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to her skull. What had happened that had her feeling so god-awful? Every time she tried to conjure the slightest thought, the sharp pain in her head intensified.

A small tear made its way down her cheek, forcing one eye open in the process, allowing her to see.

The room she was in was dark, the only window seemed to be covered in thick curtains, but they were left open just enough for her see a tiny stream of moonlight peak through.

Where was she?

Her skin felt as if it had been set on fire, and now she could feel the pressure of the sheets rubbing against what felt like numerous scratches along her bare arms and legs. She wanted to cry out from the pain but she kept her outburst to herself, knowing that self-preservation was far more important than venting her anguish at the time. She knew she wasn't in her bed, couldn't have been, and briefly she could remember an altercation with an unknown party taking place somewhere outside. In addition to her burning flesh and screaming head, she could feel the after-effects of some drug: disorientation, drowsiness and a rather uncomfortable ache in every muscle.

So she had been drugged, but for what? And when?

She couldn't remember getting into any situation willingly where anyone would have a chance to dope her up, so that meant it had been administered while she was unaware. She must have been asleep when it had happened.

Had someone broken into her apartment and drugged her in order to abduct her?

That seemed to be the only logical explanation, considering her current unknown surroundings and her general malaise.

If only she knew where said surroundings were...

All she needed to do was try to relax and concentrate on figuring out where she was; the pounding in her head was having none of that, however. She couldn't move very much, and she could feel lingering amounts of the drug administered to her still in her body so whatever movement she could make was limited.

With a sharp inhale she leaned up slightly, attempting to bring herself up on her elbows, bristling when her fiery skin made contact with the cotton sheets beneath her.

It didn't make any sense, why the hell was she so weak? She attempted to do a small chakra probe but found her reserves ridiculously low, and what was left didn't seem to want to form to do anything of worth. Even so, low chakra would be a very reasonable explanation as to why she had absolutely no energy. Combine that with some unknown sedative and well that made all of the sense in the world.

'Wonderful...I'm trapped, I'm in pain, I've been drugged, I have no chakra and I'm pregnant. I couldn't be more useless if they had lopped off all my limbs and tossed me on a bicycle.'

Before she could further attempt to diagnose herself in the dark, a shuffling noise outside of the room made her freeze and a blinding light penetrated the darkness for a split second as a door opened and then quickly shut.

"Haruno-san? Are you awake?"

The voice was female and soft, completely throwing her expectations to the wind about what was coming through that door. Visions of monsters and terrible things had clouded her mind and made the resulting intrusion surreal.

"W-where am I?" Her voice was beyond hoarse and her throat burned with disuse and something else. Soft, gentle footsteps came closer until she felt the bed dip slightly as the woman sat somewhere near her legs. A few seconds later she heard a click and immediately shut her eyes as the room was flooded in a dim light. A lamp.

"You're safe for now, I can assure you that. How are you feeling?"

"Like absolute shit. Who the hell are you?" She hadn't meant it to come out that way but she couldn't blame herself. Waking up in an unknown place with their skin on fire and doped up from whatever would do that to even the nicest of people. Slowly she opened her eyes, letting them adjust before they came to rest on the woman perched on the bed beside her.

She was quite pretty, in a somber kind of way. Cobalt hair shone in the yellow light and she had a stud beneath her bottom lip. Sakura had never been one for piercings herself, but it was very pretty on this woman. It suited her. She was dressed simply, black mesh under armor beneath a white tank top and standard issue shinobi pants gave off the impression that she was a simple servant to the cause. However, Sakura felt as if she were much more than that.

"My name is Konan. To answer your question from before, as I said, you are safe. You are within the confines of our headquarters."

Konan shifted to allow Sakura to sit up further before continuing, "Our leader has requested a quick meeting with you, but I'd think you'd rather eat something first. You've had a long trip." As if on cue, sparing Sakura no embarrassment, her stomach growled loudly and she blushed slightly. She was hungry...

"Well," Konan clapped her hands together, "I'll see to some food, and perhaps some clean clothes. When I get back we can discuss a few things and then we'll go and see Leader-sama."

"Y-yes... Thank you." An odd sort of numbness had taken its hold on her, leaving her confused and ultimately not in the state of panic that she should have been feeling. What was wrong with her? Just because this lady was pleasant and kind to her did not mean that she should just sit back and allow herself to be kidnapped!

She had been kidnapped right?

As Konan made her swift departure, Sakura sighed and collapsed back onto the pillows, deciding to take stock of her surroundings to keep her mind from going to darker places. Her head still hurt but it had dulled to a softer thrum and she was thankful.

The room was plain and judging by the thin layer of dust on everything untouched, it hadn't been lived in some time. There weren't any personal effects, so she just supposed that it was an extra room in the building. The walls were painted a deep shade of grey and the curtains that she had thought to be black were instead a lovely, rich crimson. There was another door on the opposite side of the full-size bed, and she deduced that it was either a bathroom or a closet. The blanket she was covered in was a color similar to that of the curtains and was lush, a nice micro-suede fabric lined in soft cotton. The sheets were black.

There wasn't much in the way of furniture, a dark wooden desk sat in front of the window and an accompanying dresser stood next to the closet/bathroom door. The dark walls were bare, but there was a lone nightstand to her right, in the same wood as the dresser and desk. With the exception of the wood, which was a dark brown, everything else was either red, grey or black. Something about the color scheme struck an unusual chord in her, but she couldn't figure out why.

Come to think of it, there was something familiar about the woman from before like she had seen a picture of her somewhere once but she couldn't recall where offhand.

Suddenly, a burning overwhelming need made itself known in her bladder and she wanted to get up and see if maybe that door led to a bathroom after all, but she didn't trust her weak legs to support her. Honestly, just the simple act of sitting up made her tired, and she felt her eyes get heavier the longer she sat there. The urge to lie back down and rest for a few minutes was overwhelming the urge she had to attempt to break through the window and run and find help.

Somehow, she had the feeling that attempting an escape would not be her best course of action, at least not at that point.

But, it couldn't hurt to see if she could stand on her own right? With more effort than she would have thought, she slid her legs over the side of the bed, grunting to get an even footing on the cold, stone ground before she slowly lifted herself up, using the wall as support.

"At least I'm not paralyzed..." That might have been the case but standing was really taking it out of her. She really had to pee though...

No, she'd make this happen. Her first step was uneven and wobbly and caused her to almost collapse back in the bed but once she gained her footing and made a few more baby steps toward the door, a bit of energy returned and walking became much easier. It seemed like a century had passed when she finally made it to the door, and she slowly opened it, revealing it to be, to her dismay, a closet. An empty closet.

Damn, well now what was she going to do? She should have just sat back down in the bed and waited for Konan to return, surely she'd take her to the bathroom, but it was taking an abnormally long time for her to get back. She decided that she would wait for the woman, but that surely it wouldn't hurt to just peer out the door and see what was taking so long right?

Her legs were still weak but they were much stronger than before so it only took a minute to get to the door that Konan had left through. She placed her hand on the doorknob for what seemed like several moments before she slowly turned it, thankful for the lack of clicks and creaks it made. She waited a minute before cracking the door open and peered out into a dimly lit, seemingly empty hall. She looked to the left and the right, noting a few wall sconces set between a long wall of doors just like hers.

When she heard heavy footfalls coming her way, her first instinct was to immediately shut the door and run back to the bed, like a child who had been caught sneaking a peak at Christmas presents in their parents' closet, but she stayed put.

At first she could only see a pair of shinobi sandals beneath the swish of a black cloak, but as she watched quietly she saw much more than that.

Bright red clouds lined in white adorned the bottom of the cloak, and her stomach sunk as her worst fear had been affirmed. She was, she knew now certainly, currently in an Akatsuki base, whereabouts unknown. Now she could remember where she had seen the Konan woman before, in the Bingo book, and she was also listed as a member of the infamously evil organization.

She resisted the urge to shut the door and go back to the bed, knowing without a doubt that escape from these people, even if she had been able, was ultimately futile, and stayed put to see the rest of whoever was coming down the hall. Green eyes followed the swish of the cloak up, up, up until they landed on the chiseled jaw line of a face that was all too familiar to her.

As he walked past, he caught sight of her, and she froze, unable to do anything but gawk like an idiot. He didn't stop, didn't acknowledge that he had seen her, but his nacreous eyes never left hers, locking in on like some kind of laser beam, keeping her in his sights, paralyzing her to feel nothing but glued to the spot. His eyes furrowed slightly as he moved closer, and hers followed suit. Surely he wouldn't recognize her, right?

Something decidedly unusual fluttered within her stomach but she didn't move until he was gone, having turned the corner, his dark-sharply styled hair shining in a way that was altogether unsettling and intriguing before he disappeared from her view.

With the shakiest hands she had ever had in her life, she shut the door as quietly as she could manage and numbly walked back to the bed, collapsing onto it. Every ounce of energy she had been trying to get back was now lost, and she could feel her emotions colliding towards a break.

She had tried so hard to forget his existence, wanted to make a life for her child that had nothing to do with him and now she was trapped in his zone. Her bottom lip began to tremble before she could stop it and soon the tears came flowing like rain. A deep sadness filled her chest and her throat became so swollen that she could barely swallow her sorrow.

What was going to happen to her? Did they know about the baby? Is that why she had been taken? Or was she simply an unknown pawn in a game they were playing to acquire Naruto for the nine tails?

She feared the ultimate worst, that either he or his leader (or both) knew about her and the baby and she had been brought here to ensure that this child would never see the light beyond its mother's womb.

She wiped her eyes and bit her lip; they wouldn't kill her child as long as she could help it. She'd be damned if she let those bastards hurt this baby, especially him. He was the biggest bastard of them all.

As soon as she could, she'd get out of here but right now she was in no shape to fend off a whole group of the biggest criminals known to the shinobi world. For now, all she could do was sit and wait and pray that they had no intent to hurt her baby, or that Naruto wasn't stupid enough to go running off to save her and fall in their potential trap.

And, more than anything else, she would stay away from Hoshigaki Kisame at all costs, because any interaction with him could mean the end of her and her offspring.

She just hoped he planned on avoiding her as well.