BLOOD-STAINED CHERRY BLOSSOM

Chapter Four: Captured

Sakura jolted awake in fear, staring an unfamiliar stone ceiling with wide jade eyes. Confused, she kept her body ridged and unmoving as she continued to stare at the ceiling, trying to understand where she was and what was happening.

She stayed in this motionless position for a long time, afraid that if she moved reality would collapse all around her and crush her to death, the same feeling she had after waking from a terrifying nightmare. Her body was still, but her mind was racing. Thoughts went through her head so fast that she didn't even have time to think about them.

When she was able to shake the nightmarish feeling, she gained enough courage to glance around the room she was in. It was small and was bare except for a wooden dresser on one side of the room and a small bed that she was currently laying on. The walls and floor were lined with uneven, but smooth gray stone slabs. The only light that was in the room was coming from underneath the wooden door to her right, casting a low, eerie glow around the room.

She slowly propped herself up onto her elbows, eyes fixated on the door. Wherever she was, she needed to escape. She slowly stood up, but her legs felt weak and almost gave way beneath her. Her whole body felt strangely frail, as if it was drained of energy. She tried to ignore the feeling as she shakily walked towards the door.

She padded soundlessly across the cold stone floor and cautiously approached the wooden door, turning the knob. The doorknob stuck, indicating that the door was locked, but from the outside. Sakura backed up from the door, prepared to kick it down with a swing of her powerful leg. However, when she tried to focus her chakra flow to her feet, nothing happened. Starting to panic, she quickly scanned her body to find out what was wrong with her.

She found that all of her weapons that she kept hidden on her person at all times were now gone, including the dagger she kept on her upper right thigh. Her headband that Kakashi and Naruto gave her was gone as well. She touched her bare neck gently, feeling her racing pulse under her skin. She frowned deeply, her only reminder of Naruto and Kakashi's visit was taken from her.

She also saw two thick metal bracelets clasped tightly to her wrists, both of them with the kanji 'to seal' engraved into the dark metal. She recognized them as chakra suppressors, for a similar seal was used on Naruto to subdue the Nine-Tail's power. Her gaze traveled from her bound wrists to her hands, both of which were wrapped tightly in white bandages where Itachi stabbed through them with a kunai…

In her distressed state, she completely forgot why she was at this unknown place in this terrible predicament; she had been captured by the Akatsuki! She clenched her bandaged fists until they began to sting. How could she let this happen to her? After all of this time training in taijutsu and covering her tracks, they somehow found her and managed to easily overpower her! A string of curses formed in her mind, directed both at herself and the Akatsuki. After a few seconds of fuming at her idiocy, she was able to calm down enough to think properly. She was determined not to let them have any satisfaction in her capture; she was going to escape, even if it meant giving up her life. As much as she wanted to know why she was taken, she was not going to cooperate with them. She was not a criminal.

Sakura exhaled sharply before ramming her shoulder into the door, trying to bust it open. The door hardly moved when she made contact, but did make a loud noise that was sure to be heard by anyone nearby. Sakura cussed inwardly at the door as pain shot down her right shoulder and to her fingertips, but backed up again and assaulted the door with a swift kick of her leg. The door broke in a few places and crashed loudly into the wall in the hallway, sending echoes quivering down the hall. Sakura stepped out of the room and quickly glanced around her to survey the surroundings.

There was a long hallway extending perpendicular to the doorway she was standing in. To her right, she saw more wooden doors, but the hallway ended in a stone wall a few feet down. To her left, the hallway continued and branched into a left and right. She quickly ran in that direction, knowing that someone would soon come her way to investigate the loud noises she created.

She ran as quietly as she could, which was difficult because the floors and walls were lined in the same stone that was in her room as her footsteps were loud against the hard material. It also made navigation problematic; all of the hallways looked the same. They also lacked any windows and had the same wooden doors. She did not open any, fearing that she would find a room packed with the Akatsuki killers rather than an exit. She swerved left and right when the hallways branched in the directions, praying that she would find an exit and not a dead-end.

As soon as she rounded another 90-degree turn, she collided with something tall and hard. She distractedly tried to go around it, but it forcefully clasped her forearms, preventing her from moving. Sakura looked up in horror to find Itachi Uchiha staring down at her.

Her sealed chakra prevented her from sensing anyone else's chakra; therefore she was unable to sense the Uchiha moving in her direction as he followed the sound of her echoing footsteps. Sakura began thrashing her arms about, trying to pry them out of his grip. This only caused him to squeeze her arms tighter.

"Haruno, calm down," she heard the man say over her grunts as she tried to escape from him. She ignored him, acting rashly without thinking as she continued to struggle. Inwardly, she knew she could never defeat him in her weakened state, cut off from her chakra. But she was determined to escape, to distance herself as far as she could from him. From the man that brought her into this nightmare.

When the girl did not obey his order, Itachi pushed her against the hallway wall and pinned down her arms to impede her wild movements. Sakura's head collided with the hard stone wall, briefly stunning her as dark spots appeared in her vision.

"Calm down," he ordered again, this time with more aggressiveness in his voice. Although his face and demeanor showed no emotion, his demanding tone made her listen. Sakura stayed still but casted a hateful glare at him while trying to regain her strength from the earlier struggle.

Itachi continued speaking once he had the girl's attention. "It would be best if you listen to what you are told to do, as well as not fight back. It will determine your survival-"

Itachi stopped talking as soon as the girl's spit landed on his cheek.

"Fuck you," she hissed at him through clenched teeth after she purposely spat at the Uchiha.

He briefly looked away from her burning green eyes as he wiped her saliva off his cheek. Not only did she not listen to him, she disrespected him. This was not a wise attitude to have when with the Akatsuki, and she was going to learn this the hard way if she continued with her brashness. However, he couldn't help but laugh inwardly at her pointless act of defiance.

"You will find that the other members are not as forgiving as I am," he calmly warned her, abyss eyes staring down at jade. He saw the pinkette's features waver slightly at the mention of the other criminals, but she continued to look at him with a burning hatred. Itachi found this look quite amusing for some strange reason, but dismissed the thought as he pulled her away from the wall and lead her down the hallway, still tightly gripping her arm.

Both Itachi and Sakura raised their heads as the door opened and a large blue shark-man entered the room. Kisame narrowed his eyes upon seeing the pink-haired girl, smirking slightly as she turned away from him and crossed her arms in front of her. Sakura found him to be quite intimidating, which was probably why Itachi wanted him in the room with them; he wanted to make sure she would not do anything reckless.

Moments before, Itachi had led her to a room that consisted of just a table and a few chairs. Sakura assumed it to be a meeting room of some sort, but its current purpose was an interrogation room. Itachi had sat at the long table, but Sakura wanted to be as far away from him as possible, so she leaned against the wall in one of the corners of the room.

Kisame closed the door behind him and rested his back against it, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Although he didn't bring his massive sword with him, his bulging muscles were menacing enough. Sakura had no chance of leaving the room while the brute was standing in front of the only exit.

"I bet you are wondering why you are here."

Sakura turned her attention back to the Uchiha, who had both of his arms folded professionally on the table. She said nothing and waited silently for him to continue, trying not to show any emotion.

"I will tell you why, but I will start from the beginning," Itachi said, voice composed as he cast his eyes downward while he began to explain. "It was Master Sasori's death that first drew our attention to you." He was a skilled shinobi, and to be defeated by the likes of you came as a surprise to us. Our leader wanted Intel on the girl that killed him, just out of interest. We had no intentions of recruiting you at the time."

Itachi paused for a moment to briefly look at the girl in the corner. Her facial expression did not show amusement, but her green eyes glittered slightly in interest.

"We didn't have to look too hard for information about you after your medical accomplishments made you a famed toxin expert. We intercepted your files that were being sent to other ninja villages to find that you were also an apprentice of the Legendary Sannin Tsunade as well as a colleague of the Nine-Tail Jinchuriki."

Sakura's jaw hardened at Itachi's last sentence. They wanted information about Konohagakure as well as Naruto. She would rather go to Hell than tell them anything that would endanger her former village or her loyal friend.

"After that, you became a prime target of the Akatsuki. We realized that your skills as a medical student as well as your information about Konoha would benefit us greatly. Knowing that we could not break into the Leaf to encounter you, we had to devise a plan to ensure that you were out of the village and in our range. Kisame and I became the leaders for the mission of your capture because I also once served Konoha and therefore knew more about your affiliations and background."

A memory of her and Itachi in the forest one year ago came to her mind. Only a former Leaf ninja would be able to effectively disguise himself as an ANBU to get close to her.

She could have sworn that she heard the Uchiha almost chuckle before speaking again. "I knew that you would deny the request to join our organization. Leaf ninja are always so loyal to their nation. So I arranged the plan so Konoha would think that you were a criminal for trying to destroy Kumogakure with fake antidotes, effectively cutting off your means of protection from us. Although that part of the plan played out perfectly, your escape was a rather difficult aspect that we did not expect. We did not predict that Hatake would be defending you from us."

She shouldn't have been surprised that the Akatsuki already knew that Kakashi was on her side, but her heart still beat faster upon hearing his name. Kakashi had enough skirmishes with them to know that he was trying to protect something from them, like his former student. If Itachi knew about her background, he would have known that Kakashi was one of her teachers, and therefore he would connect that Kakashi was trying to guard her.

"Although he was a nuisance to deal with at first, he proved to be helpful to us later on when we lost your trail for the last few months. But we knew that Hatake would continue looking for his precious student, so instead of looking for you, we trailed him instead, knowing that he would lead us straight to you."

It made sense now. The day after Kakashi and Naruto found her, Itachi and Kisame came. The thought was unsettling, though. They were tracking Kakashi this whole time, and he didn't even know. Sakura began to fear for Kakashi's safety. If they were capable of pursuing him without being noticed, they could kill him at any moment.

Itachi saw the flash of fear that gleamed in her eyes and tensing of her arm muscles at the mention of her former sensei's name. "Do you understand your situation now, Haruno?"

Sakura's eyebrows arched angrily, but she said nothing. She knew what Itachi was trying to say, but she didn't want to admit it was true. She had already become a pawn to the Akatsuki when Itachi exposed her greatest weakness: her friends. She could be bent in any direction they wanted as long as it guaranteed their safety.

"I know that you would rather die than cooperate with us, Haruno," Itachi continued while pushing back his chair and standing up. "But I am quite certain that you would not be willing to sacrifice a fellow comrade for your own wishes."

Itachi and Sakura locked eyes. The Uchiha could practically feel the hate emanating from the girl's small form. It was right to expect that she would value her friend's lives above her own, for that was the code of the Leaf.

"If you want Hatake to remain alive, then I suggest you collaborate with us," Itachi threatened, but his voice was cool and his demeanor expressionless.

Sakura was practically shaking with fury. How dare the coward threaten her with the lives of her friends! But she knew it was a smart move for her enemy. She would not do anything to endanger Kakashi; therefore she had to cooperate with them.

"And what is my purpose here?" Sakura said through clenched teeth, purposely letting her anger seep through her words.

The corners of Itachi's mouth twitched upwards ever so slightly. So she was willing to cooperate. "You are not to become an official member of the Akatsuki. We prefer you to know as little about us as possible, and making you a formal member would grant you access to dangerous information. But we do have an increasing need for a skilled doctor, as well as information about Konoha. That is your purpose here, Haruno. Simply to service our medical and tactical requirements," Itachi concluded, standing up and walking towards the exit. Kisame stepped aside to let his partner pass.

As Itachi opened the door, he paused. "Haruno, remember what I told you earlier," he said without turning around to face her. "I cannot guarantee your safety here. So it would be best if you obey to what you are told to do as well as not fight back."

Sakura clenched her jaw as she watched the Uchiha leave. It was against her nature to comply with the enemy, and now she had become their own personal doctor. Not only would she be aiding the Akatsuki, but there was a good chance that she could be killed by any of the criminals at any time.

Sakura's head whipped towards Kisame's direction when she heard him laugh darkly, pointed teeth flashing menacingly as his lips curled into a grin.

"Welcome to Akatsuki, girlie. You're going to have a hell of a time here."

She was fairly certain she was already in Hell.

A/N: Aw, poor Sakura…oh hell, what am I talking about? Sorry Sakura, but we like that you are in Akatsuki now! Your anguish is our entertainment! Ha ha ha! Ahem, well…on a more depressing note, I did not receive any reviews for my last chapter. I really do like to hear from you readers, so please leave a review, even if it is just a short little comment. Trust me, they are highly appreciated and make me really happy. Thanks for reading, and please review!