Chapter Seven: Better Late Than Never

"Uhnn…" Her head dipped up and down as she slowly regained consciousness. The only thing she could tell for sure was that she was sitting in some wooden chair. Soaked hair fell over her face, particles of dirt and rocks were caked in among the tangles. She slumped over, some of her skin was raw and her robes were torn, she must have been dragged for quite a distance. Opening one eye, her blurred vision could only see so much, but she managed to pick out the source of light in the room, dozens of candles lined the walls. The room stank of mold and dead, decaying animals, Sakura could pick out these scents even in her current state. "…Where am I?"

Her senses somewhat returned to her and her eyes opened just enough, standing before her was—"Ugh, not you, anyone but you."

"What's that supposed to mean, Sakura Haruno?" Kabuto leaned over and patted her on the head. Sakura squirmed in the chair she was seated in, "Don't bother, you're not going anywhere."

Sakura's feet and arms had been strapped to the chair with thick leather bindings, normally she could easily break them, but not in her current state. Kabuto must have drugged her with something, her head was fuzzy and her movements slowed; hopefully she would recover from its effects soon, although it wasn't likely, he wasn't stupid, blindly loyal yes, stupid no. "What could you possibly want with me? This isn't some sick bondage—"

"Don't flatter yourself, Sakura," Kabuto's nose wrinkled in disgust, "It's not me who needs you, it's Orochimaru-sama."

"Ugh, he's the one into bondage? I thought he was only interested in little boys," If Sakura's brain could function correctly she wouldn't be saying things like that.

"Maybe I gave you a tad too much of that," Kabuto scratched his head, sliding his glasses further up his nose with his other hand. It was just his luck to be stuck babysitting her, 'Orochimaru-sama better hurry up.'

"Uhnn… What does Orochimaru want with me?" She flopped her head onto the back of the chair to get a better look at him, "And where's Sasori-san?"

"You'll see soon enough what Orochimaru-sama wants with you, if you think hard enough you can figure it out on your own. Your brain has got to be rather large with that huge forehead of your's—ouch!" Sakura had managed to hop in the chair right onto Kabuto's foot, "What the hell was that for?"

"For being an asshole, now where's Sasori-san?" The last thing she remembered was him trying to pull her out of that shadow-hole genjutsu. If she hadn't been caught off guard she could have easily dispelled it, but at the time she was in such a panic she didn't realize what it was, "If you don't tell me I'm going to step on your foot again."

"I have no idea where Sasori-sama is, obviously we weren't going to capture him as well, he would foil our plan for sure," Was he going to inform her on what the stupid plan was or was he going to do a Sasori and mention it a hundred times before he told her?

"It doesn't matter, he'll rescue me anyways," Sakura wasn't so sure about that, but if she said it a couple times maybe he would. After all, Leader wouldn't be too happy if he had to find Sasori another partner because he had already lost his new one. "And then your little plan will be foiled."

Kabuto smirked, he looked pretty confident in the fact that Sasori wasn't going to even be able to find her, let alone rescue her, "You just keep thinking that, Sakura Haruno."


"You came all the way back here just to tell us that?! What are you, some kind of stupid?!" Kisame was furious, how could he be such an idiot? "She's in danger, Sasori. She's your partner; it should be your job to rescue her."

"Don't you think I would have done that if I could have?!" Sasori snapped, just as furious at Kisame as he was at him, "I don't even know where Orochimaru could be, it would have been a wild goose chase, and if we all search together we might be able to find her."

Hidan, Itachi, and Tobi watched the two of them argue over Sasori's responsibility as Sakura's partner. If one of them didn't step in soon it was going to be an all out brawl. "Would you two shut the fuck up?!"

Kisame and Sasori's heads turned to face the three of them, they were wasting time, and it had already been four days since Sakura had been kidnapped from her kidnappers.

This time it was Itachi who spoke up, "Orochimaru isn't foolish enough to take Sakura to his main hideout, and he knows that if we did find him there he would be forced to abandon it. Most likely Sakura, Orochimaru and his henchman are at one of the old hideouts. Judging by the jutsu that Sasori explained to us, Sakura couldn't have been taken too far."

It had only been four days since Sakura had been kidnapped from her kidnappers. That meant she was still most likely somewhere in Rice Country, Itachi's idea seemed reasonable enough. But there was something bothering Sasori, "I don't understand how Orochimaru could even have known that we were anywhere near the area, we didn't even come across anyone except for—that brat!"

Sakura had conversed with the innkeeper, Akito for hours; she had probably informed him of the mission details. Sasori made a mental note that when they got Sakura back, safe and sound, he was going to yell at her until she got it through her skull that you don't just go spilling Akatsuki's plan of attack to everyone you come across, "We should go."


Kakashi Hatake stood in front of the memorial stone, running a finger over the names of comrades he had lost in battle. It was part of his daily routine, rain or shine. Today he wasn't alone though, beside him stood Naruto Uzumaki.

The atmosphere around them seemed so solemn, as if one of their own had just passed away and they were visiting their grave. They weren't dressed in black but they might has well have been, their teammate was missing and although they were sure it wasn't the case, in the back of their head they knew that there was a chance that she wasn't going to make it back alive.

"Kakashi-sensei, will Sakura's name be inscribed on here if she doesn't return?" He barely spoke above a whisper, although she had only been gone for a couple days it seemed like ages. She was with the most dangerous organization in the world, the chance of her returning to them was very slim, and they both knew it although they wouldn't admit to it.

The copy-nin touched a blank spot on the stone, Sakura's name would be engraved in that spot if she didn't come back to them, "…I hope not Naruto, I hope not."


Sasori led them through a dense forest area, it was his mission that got her into this mess and it was his duty as her partner to bring her back, he was also the oldest of them all which made him the natural leader. They were making a lot of noise, jumping from tree to tree, breaking old, rotten branches off and rustling the leaves as they went. Tobi had already fallen to the ground several times due to weak tree limbs. But it didn't matter, even if someone spotted them. No one messed with Akatsuki.

The five of them had been traveling for about four hours at their maximum speed. Their chakra and brute strength would be diminished to about half of each of their full potential, but since they were only up against two shinobi, it wouldn't be a problem. Sasori didn't know why all of them had to come, he was only expecting Kisame to assist him in bringing Sakura back, but they had all volunteered, even Itachi. They probably figured that if Leader found out that Sasori had lost her they'd have to find another sacrifice to bring him back from the dead.

Each of them knew that there was the chance that Sakura was already dead, she could have refused to do whatever Orochimaru had intended which would result in certain death. On the other hand, if she had already done what ever he wanted then there was a chance that she had been disposed of. The possibility of her still being alive was slim to none, but Sasori didn't care, he would make Orochimaru pay either way.

It was a different way that they were going; Sasori had intentionally taken the highroad before with Sakura so they wouldn't have to waste all their strength like they were doing now. Through the trees and brush would take them a few hours longer, but that way they were more likely to avoid conflict. Any Sound shinobi in their right mind would know that five men, dressed in matching outfits, running at top speed along some dirt road would figure out that something was up and inform Orochimaru.

But Orochimaru would probably know that they were coming anyways. He probably knew that Akatsuki wouldn't just abandon their new member; they would do anything within their power to bring her back. Then again, he probably didn't expect that half the organization was coming to her rescue.


An hour later they took off running through the same rice paddy Sasori and Sakura had crossed a few days prior. They splashed muddy water all over their robes as they ran; the swamp was even higher than it had been due to the previous night's rainfall. Their already heavy robes were weighing them down now that they were soaked with water, slowing them down considerably.

"Do we even have a fucking plan about how we're going to go about infiltrating the fucking hideout?" Hidan called out to the four ninja in front of him, he was bringing up the rear since if he was attacked it wouldn't really matter seeing how he was immortal, "There are going to be fucking traps all over the place, especially now that that bastard Kabuto's going to be there. We'll be setting off fucking genjutsu left and right."

"Sasori, we're going to have to head east, that's the farthest hideout in the area that's away from Oto, it's likely that they'll be there," Itachi shouted out to the others. Orochimaru had about five hideouts in the area, all well hidden from view, so it was only a one in five chance that he'd be there.

The rice paddy finally ended and they were now running through a corn field, with its stalks so high that they could barely see the tops of their comrades' heads. The team was moving much faster now that they didn't have to wade through the murky water; their robes were still heavy with it though.


"This is it, huh?" The five of them peered down into the cave's entrance, "We're never going to be able to find our way around in there."

Kisame was right; they would be roaming around in the dark making them much more susceptible to traps. Orochimaru was smart to have picked this particular hideout, it was pitch-black in there, they'd never find their way around not to mention it was hidden away by the lush forest surrounding them, they had a hard time even finding it. "It won't be hard; we'll light some old dead branches on fire with Itachi's help which will make it easier to navigate."

"Tobi wants to help, Tobi will gather the branches!" Sasori started to protest but Tobi took off before he could say anything. He was back within three minutes, "Tobi helped, Tobi helped!"

Each of them held a lit branch; it had taken them awhile to light them since they were wet from the rain.

"Alright, I'll go first." Sasori didn't even bother climbing down, he just jumped. Lucky for him the cave wasn't more than about twelve feet deep, "Okay, let's go."


"Well, can't say I wasn't expecting this," The team had come to a fork in the road, one tunnel led one way, one lead the other, "So we have to split up, I call not having Tobi in my group."

"Yeah I'll go with Kisame, you two bastards can be stuck with him," Hidan motioned for Kisame to follow him through the tunnel on the left. When they were out of sight, Sasori turned to the others, "Very well, let's get going."


"Hey look! It's Sakura!" Kisame pointed to the pink-haired kunoichi standing before them, she was smiling and waving at the two. The shark man started to walk towards her but the vulgar, silver haired shinobi yanked back on his robes. "It's an illusion, fucktard. Do you really think Orochimaru would just let the slut have free reign of the place?"

He scratched his head, he never thought of that. He wouldn't ever admit it but it was a good thing Hidan was with him, even though it was usually him that didn't think things through before he acted.

The illusion of Sakura before them's eyes began to glow red. Her body began twisting and mutating until it formed a large serpent. "Oh geeze, what a surprise. Who would have guessed we would run into a snake? Orochimaru's just so original."


The other group had already come across a pit of snakes, a large boulder that threw them off the path that they were taking as it rolled after them, and a Sakura illusion that attempted to lure them off track. Typical traps that were rather clichéd, if Kisame was with them the three of them would have agreed on his comment about Orochimaru's originality.

Sasori stopped, something wasn't right. "Do you smell that?"

"I don't smell anything," Itachi shrugged.

"Tobi doesn't smell anything either."

"That's just it; it doesn't smell like sulfur and death anymore, it doesn't smell like anything."

He was right, the two other shinobi sniffed the air, well at least Itachi did, Tobi's face was hidden behind his orange mask so for all they knew he could have been crossing his eyes and sticking his tongue out at the two of them. "So what does that mean? That rotten stench couldn't have just disappeared."

"It must be some sort of trick, but if it was genjutsu my Sharingan would have been able to see right through it." Itachi's blindness had progressed but he still could dispel such techniques. "Then again, maybe they want us to think it's a trick to throw us off."

Whatever it was, it didn't harm them, they just continued on until—"Okay, now they're trying to throw us off, there is no way that this dank cave could smell like cherry blossoms," Sasori said, very sarcastically. "Maybe we are going the wrong way; maybe we should have followed that Sakura imposter. Orochimaru could have assumed that we wouldn't follow her, and now he's leading us astray with this scent."

Regardless, they continued on.


"Oh wow, it smells like cherry blossoms, we must be getting close!" Hidan rolled his eyes at Kisame's remark; maybe he should have gone with Tobi. "Do you really think that the slut's scent would be that strong, or travel this far? You'd have to fucking be sniffing her to get this sorta affect."

"I suppose you're right," Kisame looked up at the ceiling as if he was thinking hard on the subject, "So what do we do?"

"You can do what ever you fucking want, I'm fucking going on, no way am I fucking turning around now," Hidan was right, by the time they were able to go on the same path the others had taken they would already be there, that is if Sakura was even in the cave.


"Are you serious right now?" Hidan and Kisame stood facing Sasori, Itachi, and Tobi. "We split up just to end up back together?"

"No sign of her?" Sasori asked, already knowing the answer, "Guess we just keep going from here."

"Did you guys run into any of Orochimaru's pathetic traps?" It was true, so far they hadn't run into anything a genin couldn't dispel, either Orochimaru was losing his touch or he just hadn't had enough time to set anything more sinister up. "Yeah, a couple of them, some of them very clichéd."

They continued on together, it was very foolish of Orochimaru to have the two tunnels rejoin, now instead of half the team he would have to face all of them. He was probably too confident in his abilities at the time he designed the layout of the cave.

"Oh, oh pick Tobi! Pick Tobi!" The orange masked ninja hopped up and down, his arm raised. None of them really made a reaction, except Hidan who rolled his eyes; they were all pretty used to him acting like that. "What is it Tobi?"

"Tobi can tell Sakura is getting close! Tobi can!"

"That's a good boy Tobi, sniff her out." Tobi continued to jump up and down repeating 'Tobi is a good boy' before he bent over and started sniffing the ground like a dog; at least they assumed he was sniffing. "I didn't mean actually sniff her out Tobi, but whatever floats your boat."


If Sakura wasn't strapped to a chair and Kabuto wasn't under strict orders one of them would have killed the other by now. They had argued over everything from Orochimaru to the scent of the room/Kabuto's housekeeping to how uncomfortable the chair was that Sakura was sitting on. "Ugh, would you shut up, little girl?!"

"Hey man, only Sasori-san can call me that, you can refer to me as 'your honorable self'," Sakura didn't know why she kept defending her captor, but continued to do so anyways. "Just wait, he'll tear you limb from limb, you must have seen the massacre he left in your village's streets."

Kabuto's patience was growing very thin, luckily for him, his master had just arrived.

"Sakura-chan…long time no see," The snake Sannin hissed, stepping into the candlelight. "How honored we are to have you present with us…"

His henchman opened his mouth to retort on how Orochimaru hadn't had to listen to her whine but decided that probably wasn't a good idea, "Orochimaru-sama, I haven't informed her of her purpose yet."

Sakura's jade eyes were wide with fear, she was terrified. She had been badmouthing the man in front of her for hours but now that he was here it was just like how it had been in the Forest of Death. She was so scared she wanted to cry, she was shaking so much that the chair was shuttering along with her. Never had she been so afraid for her life, in the Forest his objective had been Sasuke, but now that his attention was on her it made things a thousand times worse. She couldn't even ask what her 'purpose' was, as much as she wanted to. Even if she moved her mouth to try and form words no sound would come out. All that Sakura could think about was how horrified she was of this man.

"You look as though you've seen a ghost, Sakura-chan," Orochimaru ran a white finger along her cheek, adding to her fear level that was already well past its limits. The smirk on his face told her that he was getting a kick out of torturing her like that. "Now Sakura-chan, you can't be afraid, you won't be able to accomplish the task at hand."

Again with the task, couldn't they just hurry up and tell her what it was? She just wanted to get it over with, whatever it was. Managing to raise her courage gauge a few notches higher she stuttered, just like Hinata would have done if she was talking to Naruto, "W-what what do you w-want with m-me, O-Orochimaru?"

"It's not what I want Sakura-chan, it's what you're going to do." His smirk turned into a maniacal grin, "You don't have a choice in the matter, refuse and you lose your life, as well as your precious Sasori's."

Sakura wanted to protest that the ex-Suna-nin was definitely not her 'precious Sasori', but she was so scared she couldn't form the words. 'I'm going to die here, even if I do what he wants or needs or whatever, I'll never be able to see Naruto or Ino or any of them again. I'll never be able to see Kisame, Hidan, Tobi, or even Itachi ever again. I'll never be able to see Sasori again…'

Her attention averted itself from Orochimaru to why exactly she had separated Sasori's name from the rest of the Akatsuki members that she was friends with. It didn't last long though, because Orochimaru was starting to laugh, or rather cackle like some witch stirring the contents of her cauldron, "Are you ready for me to release you, Sakura-chan?"

Orochimaru formed a seal and the leather bindings fell limp, allowing Sakura to move freely, except she couldn't. She tried, but she couldn't even move a muscle, it wasn't from the drugs but from terror, "Stand up, girl."

Sakura obeyed, it was surprising that she was even able to, her legs felt weak and she was shaking rather violently. "And now," Orochimaru's grin widened. "You're going to heal my arms."

Sakura reached out timidly, pulling back a couple times before placing her own hands on his. Her hands were shaking so much that she had to actually grab a hold of his, making her quiver even more. She started to release blue, cooling, healing chakra into his arms, but then she was interrupted.

"Sorry we're late," Kisame's booming voice echoed off the cave walls, all five Akatsuki members stood before Sakura, the Sannin, and his henchman. Sakura had never noticed how mismatched they all looked until she saw them there standing in a line; they really were a peculiar bunch. "Hold it right there, Orochimaru,"

"I'm not moving, Kisame Hoshigake." Orochimaru hissed, technically he was already 'holding it', "So you've all come, like moths to the flame."

If the tension in the room hadn't been so high one of the men would have made a comment on how cliché Orochimaru was, "Of course we came, you fuck with the slut, you fuck with us."

Sakura was touched by Hidan's comment, even though he had just called her a 'slut', but then again she was pretty used to it. She probably would have said something but she was too frightened, even though the five of them had come to her rescue.

Orochimaru let out a hissing noise; it wasn't because he was moved by the comment, but because he was signaling the man who had been concealing his chakra.

"I've missed you, Sakura-san," the innkeeper stepped out from the shadows, his clothing was much different than before. His hair was different, instead of just being loose around his neck it was in long spikes that formed a frill around the back of his head. Two strands were left hanging down in front; the one on the left was braided. He had been wearing rather plain clothing when she saw him last, now he was dressed in clothing made for battle, which meant he wasn't just there as a welcoming committee. "Did you miss me, my dear little cherry blossom?"

He walked over behind her and stroked her hair gently, "There there, you can relax now, Akito is here."

"Akito? Akito Kurosuki, brother of Raiga Kurosuki?" Kisame asked, shocked.

"You two know each other?" Itachi asked, unmoved.

"Yeah, Raiga Kurosuki was a member of The Seven Swordsmen just like me, Akito Kurosuki was his younger brother but he mysteriously vanished right before I left Kirigakura."

Akito Kurosuki gently kissed Sakura's bare shoulder where her robe had been torn away, exposing her skin, before turning to face Kisame, "That's right, and here I am, alive and well. I left Kiri when I was only ten years old to join the village that I had heard about that was just coming into power, Otogakura."

"Even if you are with Orochimaru, that's three against five, Sasori's red eyes narrowed, his hatred was already at a high level for this man but it was continuing to grow even higher, "You would have to be fools to challenge us."

"He is right, Akito," The Sound-nin's grin turned to a frown, he looked over to Orochimaru for orders, but he had already vanished, leaving a cloud of smoke behind. Akito turned back to Sakura, "Don't worry, my love. I'll be back for you soon." He turned Sakura around so that she faced him. Lifting her chin up with his finger he could see the fear in her jade eyes. He let out a soft chuckle and pressed his lips against hers.

"Get away from her!" Sasori bolted from where he stood, pushing Sakura aside, slashing a kunai through the air where Akito had been moments before. He had vanished along with Kabuto, who had just been standing behind everyone, staying out of all the commotion. The Scorpion's red eyes were filled with rage; he was breathing heavily clutching the kunai in his hand so tightly his knuckles were white, "Bastard…"

A/N: Huzzah! Another chapter finished. I'm pretty proud of myself, at the rate that I'm going I'll be able to finish a chapter a day. I know the whole chapter was pretty clichéd, just like Orochimaru, with the whole Sakura healing Orochimaru's arms and all. Sasori finally showed a minor bit of…well I don't think I could call it 'love' yet. Akito on the other hand… Oh, and I love Raiga Kurosuki, not as much as Zabuza though, that's why I used him as Akito's brother. He won't be obsessed with funerals but I'll try to make him into a psychopath.

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