A/N: Not too much to say here. Don't know if I'll update my stories till after July 4th, gonna have some fun. So I hope everyone has a good holiday.
Enjoy!
The week had slowly progressed. Sakura kept a constant count in her head as to how many days had passed. Kakuzu had informed that her tongue would take about a week to heal, two at the most. Today was the sixth day. Usually she couldn't make out the time of day, but Itachi had brought her three meals a day, the last meal obviously being dinner. With this she was able to count towards the days that would be the removal of her stiches, and also the continuation of the serum. She actually didn't want the stitches to come out because of this fact. Currently she was pacing the small room. Along with the three square meals a day, the Akatsuki hadn't chained her up anymore. They were becoming lax with her imprisonment. Allowing her to eat actual food that Itachi brought, not that nasty mush she got the first night. They even allowed her to take another shower at one point. This was a good opportunity for her to find ways for an escape.
The meals that Itachi brought her were always on a metal tray and she received a metal spoon to eat the meal with. For some reason they didn't trust her with a fork or knife yet and probably never will. However, she could try and steal the spoon and sharpen it against the cement ground in her cell and make some sort of weapon. She had quickly deposited of this idea mainly because Itachi always checked that the tray and spoon were in order. Damn Uchiha. Then there was the idea of taking off during the shower. The only place that had the chakra seal on it was her cell door. This meant that she still had use of her chakra out of the cell. She could easily use her hand signals in the shower stall and create some sort of diversion for Itachi and make an escape. But like her previous idea, she turned this idea down as well. Itachi never allowed her enough time in the shower to even think of the hand seals she would need to use for her escape. Also, getting past Itachi and his cursed Sharingan would be impossible, especially running out soaked to the bone. She'd surely slip and fall. Sakura finally plopped down upon the ground. All her escape plans completely useless. Just then her cell door opened and once again Itachi and Kisame came forth.
"C'mon, time to get those stitches out."
Kisame wagged his finger at her in a beckoning motion. For once he didn't have a grin and actually looked somewhat bored. Sakura stood and walked towards them, taking off down the hall. Something felt off about the two. Almost like they didn't want to be there. She pondered over this thought as they rounded the bend and came into the bright lit room once again. Kakuzu was already ready, his fingers tapping against the table.
"We better do this quick; the sealing is in a couple hours. I left Hidan to take care of the body so I could do this."
Sealing…a body? Sakura was then pushed forward by Kisame, not a word said from either of them. Kakuzu gave her a glare, wondering if she was going to be compliant this time. She opened her mouth for him, not really wanting to tangle with this off put group at the moment. He grasped her jaw rather roughly, jabbing his fingers inside her mouth and taking hold of the stitching. Again he mumbled something under his breath and Sakura shivered as she felt them snake out from her tongue. When the last bit was gone he stood up and looked towards Kisame and Itachi.
"She seems fine. Let Leader know that she'll be able to talk now."
Sakura quickly closed her mouth, feeling the rough scarring from the wound rub against the top of her mouth. It felt odd, but she knew it'd heal the rest of the way soon enough.
"I need to check in on Hidan."
With that said, Kakuzu brushed quickly past the group and was gone from sight. Kisame pushed against her back, sending her back down the hall from where they came. The whole walk Sakura wondered whose body they had and what sealing they were going to do. Her cell came into view and Itachi opened the door. She walked in and heard the door slam behind her. Now wasn't the time to think about the poor soul the Akatsuki recently caught. She needed to find her own way out of here and fast. The second they had the chance she knew they would start her back on the serum and retrieve the information they wanted. She started to pace the room once again, her mind working in overtime. Everything she thought of though was quickly brought down. It was so hard to work around the Akatsuki. They were strong and there were quite a handful of them to take on just her. Suddenly her cell door flew open and she jumped, startled at the intrusion.
"Get in!"
Hidan's voice growled and he pushed somebody into the cell with her. The person stumbled, but caught themselves. Quickly turning on their heel and running towards the door. It slammed shut and Hidan could be heard on the other side, laughing manically to himself.
"Stupid girl!"
Her new cellmate pounded on the door with their fist, growling. Sakura stared at the new person, wondering if this was the "body" Kakuzu had recently talked about. They turned around, their back pressed against the door. Then their eyes met. The new person was a female. She had long blonde hair that seemed to be pulled back. Her eyes were dark and she had a forehead protector on that signified she was from Kumogakure.
"Hmm? Who are you?"
The new girl's voice sounded a little confused as she took in the pink haired girl.
"I'm Sakura Haruno, yourself?"
"Yugito Nii of the Hidden Cloud Village. What do they have you for?"
"Well…I'm not entirely sure. But I have a hunch. I think they want information on a scroll that my team was going after."
"A scroll you say? What's so important about that scroll?"
Sakura tensed. She wondered if she could trust this girl and decided against it.
"Just…something."
"Heh, I understand. Trying to keep the mission a secret. It's alright; I won't be able to tell anybody. I'll probably be dead in a few hours anyways."
Dead? Sakura's eyes widened at this news.
"I heard some of the Akatsuki members talking about a sealing. Does that have anything to do with you?"
"You've got it. I'm the jinchuuriki for the two-tails."
"You're a jinchuuriki too?"
"Huh? I thought you said you were here just for some information?"
"Oh, I am. I mean…my best friend, he's a jinchuuriki too. He has the nine-tails sealed in him."
"Naruto Uzumaki, right? I've heard of him. Quite a strong kid."
Yugito smiled softly towards Sakura which sent a pang through her heart. She missed Naruto and wondered where he was right now.
"Hey Sakura, you tried to get out of here yet?"
"I've thought about it, but getting past all of them is kind of a hard deal."
"I can help you with that."
Sakura's eyes widened in disbelief. How could this woman possibly help her out? There was a chakra seal on that door so she couldn't even use the immense chakra that was built up in her body from the jinchuuriki. Yugito quickly moved from the door and walked towards Sakura. She reached for her hand and placed something rough and sharp there. Then her voice was just a whisper as she spoke quickly.
"The Akatsuki are going to take me to seal the jinchuuriki. All of Akatsuki will be there so nobody will be around to watch you. You understand where I'm going with this?"
Sakura tried to process all of this information, her heart quickening with each word.
"I'm giving you a chance to escape, don't waste it."
This girl…she was willing to give up her own chance of escape to help out Sakura. But why? She wanted to ask her, but the door once again flew open and Hidan walked in. His eyes narrowed as he stared down both of the women. He made a "tch" sound before reaching out and grasping hold of Yugito.
"Let's get this over with."
He pulled on Yugito's arm, dragging her out of the cell. But just before she disappeared she gave Sakura a wink. Silently she thanked this girl. What a heroic thing for her to do.
Sakura fiddled with the object that Yugito had given her. It was a file. She wondered how she had gotten it past Akatsuki. When she was brought here they had searched her entire being up and down. Well however she did it, she was a genius. This was her ticket out of here and she definitely wasn't going to waste it. Her heart pounded as seconds flew by. She needed to allow enough time for Akatsuki to set up the sealing. After about what she guessed was half an hour she went into action, her heart pounding against her chest. She approached the door and kneeled down about halfway where she guessed the doorknob would be. A bead of sweat trailed down her temple as she shakily brought the file up to the small crack in the door. Shoving the small metal piece through she felt it connect with something hard, the latch for the door. Her hand jiggled it back and forth, up and down, trying to pry it open. It almost felt useless, like the latch wasn't going to budge. She worked harder, feeling of anxiety taking over. Then she heard the soft click and the door budge slightly towards her. She did it! She actually did it! Sakura felt her heart start back up. But she didn't have time to revel in the moment, she needed to move!
Pulling the door open more she looked out. The halls were completely clear.
"Thank you, Yugito."
She whispered the words, giving the woman a silent prayer for her help. As she emerged from the cell she looked down both halls. Which way should she take? If she went—
"Dammit, I'm going to be late."
Sakura's heart suddenly stopped again. The sound of Kisame's voice coming down the hall from her right reached her ears just as he came into view. As he took notice of her he came to a stop. He was stunned into place as he looked her up and down. Then his facial expression changed to confusion. His eyes narrowed and his lip quirked slightly upwards, a "hmm" escaping. He couldn't seem to understand how she had gotten out, he was so very confused. Sakura wondered if she had time to form hand seals, but attacking him would be her imminent death. Time for plan B. She forced chakra into her legs as she bolted in the other direction of Kisame, a loud growl erupting from the man as he took off after her.
She was starting to panic. Her heart was pounding so hard against her ribs it hurt. Which way was the exit? Was there an exit? Her eyes scanned each door as she passed, wondering if it was her way out. The sound of Kisame catching up to her could be heard. She needed to pick a door, and quick. This one would have to do. She came up to a large door and pressed against it, falling into a dark room. Oh how very wrong she was! As she stumbled to a stop she felt all eyes turn towards her. She was in the sealing room. In the middle of the room was a large hand, fingers pointing up towards the sky and on each finger stood a member of the Akatsuki. In the middle of the hand a large blue bubble held a body floating in midair. It was Yugito and she was passed out.
"What the hell? How did she get out?"
Hidan exclaimed, confusion evident in his voice.
"Retrieve her."
All the Akatsuki members flew into action, jumping down from their designated finger and coming towards her. The sound of Kisame coming into the room could be heard from behind and she quickly scanned the room for an alternative escape. In the corner to her left was another door and her heart gave a leap of excitement. Again she forced chakra into her feet as she took off, pressing against the door and back into the dimly lit hall. She took off to her right, hoping that she would find her way out. As she ran she took a look back. Deidara emerged from the door just after her, his blue hue narrowing as he shoved his hand into a bag near his hip. Shit! He was going to use jutsu against her. Pain shot through her calves as she pressed on harder, trying to evade the blonde behind her.
Just as Sakura rounded a bend, she felt a force hit her in the side, hard. Her back slammed against the wall, the air being knocked from her lungs. Hands grabbed roughly at hers and pinned them above her head. Her head started to spin and she tried to make out who was in front of her. She could see the glowing red of the Sharingan, staring at her. Itachi's face held no emotion as he glared at his captive. He took hold of both of her wrists in one hand and Sakura could feel thin fingers trail across her neck and the roughness of his thumb, brushing across her lips. He then leaned in, his cheek caressing hers so softly. His own lips ran along the outer ridge of her ear and a chill ran down her spine. She gasped out so softly as she could feel his lips curve into a smile against her ear.
"This will only hurt for a bit."
He whispered, so softly, almost seductively. Sakura felt like she was already in a trance just from his words, her body felt numb, but she took notice as he slowly turned her head towards him. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as he forced her to look at him. She stared into those emotionless eyes. Those pools of blood.
"Mangekyou Sharingan."
She heard the words escape his lips at the last minute. Her pupils dilated and a shriek erupted from her throat as she was thrown into total darkness.
