Disclaimer: See Chapter One

Hey guys, sorry it took me a bit to get this one out, I had to take some time to puzzle out the best way to write it. Hope you all enjoy.

Pakkun burst through the trees and landed in the clearing with a soft thud, not at all suprised when the six Konoha shinobi all surrounded him. He had been sent to scout ahead, and he did not like what he had found, and he knew that they wouldn't either. He just hoped that none of them would get killed when they went after the missing Sakura,

"Found what looks like a war zone. There's a house not far from it. I would say, Sakura-chan tried to escape, fought, and was recaptured. From all the mud, I'd guess it was someone whose skilled with water jutsu. I couldn't smell any blood though, so I would say they aren't hurting her."

Naruto felt his blood boiling at the dark rage that was eating away at his insides, someone dare to hurt his Sakura-chan. She was his teammate, his sister, and anyone who hurt her would pay, he would wrip them all to shreds and soak the ground with their blood. No one dared to hurt his precious people, most had learned long ago not to touch what was his, he would make these fools pay,

"Do you know who has her?"

Sasuke wasn't a fool, he wanted to vent his anger as much as anyone, but at the moment he needed to pay attention. He could scene Naruto's control slipping, so he did the only thing he could in this situation. He calmly rested his hand on the man's orange and black clad shoulder, squeezing firmly, trying to reasure and anchor. It wouldn't do for the blond to go into a killing rage, he would end up hurting his teammates in such a state,

"Well...there are four of them there, the only clear sent I got was Hoshigaki Kisame of Akatsuki's though."

Shikamaru closed his eyes with a curse, this wasn't good, how could there be four Akatsuki here? And how could they still be alive, none of this made any scene. Not to mention he was pretty sure that the six of them wouldn't be able to go up against them. Perhaps if they knew what condition Sakura was in, she could take one, than they could split up and take the other three. Or perhaps they could extract her and run, damn this wasn't looking good,

"Troublesome woman, had to go and get into trouble didn't she? Kakashi-san, we need to come up with a plan."

Kakashi forced himself to smile at the other's, though he knew that both Pakkun and Shikamaru could see how fake it was. He knew that they should send to Konoha for backup, but he also knew that they wouldn't get it if they did. It was up to the six of them to rescue Sakura, oh how he wished that they had found her in Earth instead of Grass. If they had found her in earth, they would atleast have the help of the Suna-nin,

"I will take Sasuke and Naruto with me, we will attack the rear of the building. With us working as a distraction you three can slip in and check for Sakura. We can buy you fifteen minutes, if you haven't located her by then get out. If we get seperated meet at rendezvous seven-fifty-Bravo."

Sai knew there where alot of holes in this plan, but they didn't have enough intel to come up with anything better. They needed to get to Sakura, before the ex-akatsuki members decided to just kill her. Hopefully Sakura would scene their chakra and slip out while the other's were fighting. So they could just grab her and go, glancing around he saw the determination on everyone's face's, it seemed there was no room for failor on this mission.

Sakura couldn't stop the small smile that crossed her face as she watched Kisame and Diedara bicker back and forth, expecially when the still quiet Hidan would throw the occasional insult at either one of them, with his half-whispered voice.

She would miss them when she left in the morning, in just a few short days she had come to like and respect all four of them. Kisame for his tough guy attitude, that always fell apart with a few well placed words from her. Diedara with his charm and smiles, he was always laughing and teasing her and the others, though it was more flirt than tease when it came to her. Hidan with his sullen glares that always turned to an embarresed stare whenever Sakura would do something, weither it was easing his pain, or helping him get from room to room.

And Itachi, the silent Uchiha who always seemed so withdrawn and aloof, yet he watched everything. He seemed to stare at her, peering into her very soul with that red-eyed stare of his. She didn't know what it was about him, but something seemed to tame that monster inside her, causing her to lower her guard and relax just alittle. His gaze was never judging, never mocking, it was always cool and unreadable, and she felt herself falling into it.

Slowly gathering food onto a plate infront of her she glanced around, a secret smile on her face when she noticed that only Itachi was paying attention to her. She was leaving tomorrow, so she decided that today, just today, she would let them all in, let them glimpse the real her that came out around them. Pulling down her mask to hang around her kneck she popped a peice of fish into her mouth, chewing slowly.

Hidan, who was sitting right beside her was the first to notice, the silver haired man froze, turning to face her slowly. His purple eyes open wide and mouth hanging open slightly in shock, as he gazed at her completely uncovered face. Both her hood and mask were down, giving him a perfect view of her angelic face. He was completely suprised by the beauty of the woman, he had half expected she hid her face because she was ugly, but there was nothing ugly about the woman before him.

Diedara glanced over when he saw Hidan freeze, and when he saw the Kunoichi with her face exposed, calmly eating her dinner, with a small smile on her lips he froze as well. Her pale skin was flawless, her lips a natural rosy color, she was a figure from every man's dream. A natural beauty that left the blond man speechless. He didn't even turn to look at Kisame when he heard the man grunt in annoyance.

Kisame was the last to turn to look at Sakura, and his reaction was by far the most amusing to the pinkette. The mist-nin jumped to his feet, causing his sake bottle to topple over, yet he paid no attention to it. Too busy pointing at Sakura, his mouth opening and closing in a lack of words. He hadn't expected her to ever remove her mask, and now that she had, the blue skinned man felt as if he was seeing more than just her face. He felt almost as if the woman was sitting there naked, and in a way he thought destractedly, she probably was.

"Is there a problem...Kisame?"

Itachi strode into the dinningroom, just in time to hear Sakura practically purr his partners name. He glanced around at the other three males, calmly taking in their shocked expressions, as they all ignored him to stare at the pink haired kunoichi. Finally he looked down at the woman, to see her sitting there with her mask down, and her hood thrown back, smirking slightly, as she calmly ate another peice of fish. Without a word he sank into his own seat, amused when suddenly all eyes were on him,

"That's it, yeah? No reaction what so ever about Sakura-hime having her mask down, yeah?"

Sakura smirked slightly to herself, she knew things were about to become chaotic, yet she didn't care. She knew that no matter how crazy it got here, they wouldn't hurt her, for the first time in five years, Sakura had found people she could trust. These four men excepted her as her, they didn't expect anything from her, and she knew, that with them, you got what you saw. They had no alterior motives where she was concerned,

"I've seen her face before, Diedara."

All three men stared at Itachi with shock and even alittle jealousy. None of them knew how she had done it, but in just the few short days they had known her, they had all come to care for her. She was like a flame, warm and inviting, calling all of them to her like moths, and they could no more resist her pull than they could resist gravity. She excepted them all as who they were, never once trying to change them into something else, her presence a wave of calm and exceptance, something none of them where use too.

"Sakura, We would like for you to remain here for the time being. Your assistance against Madara would be much appriciated."

Sakura blinked at Itachi in confusion, his pattern of speech once again amusing the pinkette. How someone who insisted on not talking formally when addressing each other, always used such a formal way of speaking. Perhaps it was the way he was raised, yet she never remembered Sasuke speaking like Itachi did. Shaking those thoughts from her head, she opened her mouth to answer, than froze. Casting her sense's out she groaned, dropping her head to her hands she laughted slightly,

"It seems we have company."

Standing with an almost feral grin, Sakura quickly pulled her hood and mask up, once again hiding her face from view. She cast a glance around at the four men, who were slowly climbing to their feet, tense for battle, yet confused as they couldn't sense the concealed chakra as she could. Well, she assumed that was what Itachi was feeling, his face, like always, was carefully blank,

"Six Konoha nin are here. I would assume that they are after me."

Diedara blinked in shock, only now that she had pointed it out could he sense the approaching shinobi. How had she known they were there, they had supressed their chakra enough that they were barely noticable. Was she really that alert and guarded, or was she just that intune with what went on around her, that the slightest change was noticed,

"What do they want, yeah? To drag you back to their village for judgement or something, yeah?"

Hidan felt his stomach drop at Diedara's question, surely they wouldn't come all this way just to kill her, not after all she had done for them. Fuck, he had to be feeble and useless at a time like this, when he was needed, he couldn't do shit. He really wished he had gone and done a Jashin damn ritual now, it would heal his body and give his strength back. Right now, he couldn't even stand, let alone help defend the pink haired medic,

"Iie, Diedara, it is more than likely my absence has been noticed and the worse assumed. They are here to either rescue me, or to silence me, whichever their mission."

Kisame grinned widely at the rosette, already feeling bloodlust surge through him. If those Konoha-brats thought they were gonna lay a hand on their Hime, they had another thing coming. Though he hadn't know Sakura long, Kisame already knew she would go to great lengths to help them, as long as they never threatened Konoha, how could they not repay such friendship?

"Lets go say hello than, eh Sakura-hime?"

Sakura stared at him for several moments, her eyes softening beneath the cover of her hood. Nodding Sakura met each and everyone's eyes, before she turned and left the room, flanked by all four men. Even Hidan, who was still frail and sickly, carried himself with a dangerous air. She knew they wouldn't harm the Konoha nin, only because they knew she still cared for them. It fell to her to keep a fight from breaking out, she just hoped she could, she didn't want to have to choose a side. Because she was begining to think she may just choose the ex-akatsuki.

Kakashi froze, both his revealed eyes widening as he watched the black clad Night Angel stroll calmly out into the open, flanked by Itachi, Diedara, Kisame, and Hidan. His emotions were waring with one another, he was releaved she was alright, but angry that she stood there, calmly surrounded by Akatsuki. Had she truelly batrayed them all?

"Ne, Hatake-san, I was not expecting for you to be here."

Sakura watched as Sasuke and Naruto came barreling out of the trees, like their sensei, freezing when they noticed her. Yet she stood their calmly, surrounded by s-rank criminals. Sighing slightly, she flared her chakra, calling for the other's to join them here. She might as well face all six of them than only half of the group, she did not like to repeat herself after all,

"Sakura..."

Sasuke flinched at the way Naruto said their former teammate's name, it was a painful whisper, filled with hurt, and batrayal. He watched as the cloaked figure turned her head to look at the blond. He could hear the smile in her voice when she spoke, and it angered him, almost as much as it did to see her standing with his brother,

"Naruto-kun, it's been awhile, how are you?"

Shikamaru jumped sped into the clearing behind the building, carefully taking in everything. Kakashi, Sasuke and Naruto were all frozen, staring at what he knew was Sakura. And she...she just stood there calmly, surrounded by the Akatsuki. Had she decided to truelly become a missing nin, in more than name? Glancing over the men who flanked them, he froze as well.

"You..."

Sakura sighed sadly, as she took in Hinata's fearful expression, and Shikamaru's frozen rage. She wondered who he was angrier with, her for being here, or Hidan for being alive. She glanced between the four men at her sides, and the six nin infront of her. She knew that this wouldn't be able to be ended without a fight, without bloodshed. She was standing on the edge, she could side with her old home and try to fight and kill Itachi, Kisame, Diedara, and Hidan.

Or she could side with her new friends, and fight against these people infront of her. She knew she would be unable to kill them, she loved them all in her own way, and she wouldn't let them kill each other. She felt tears gathering in her eyes as she felt her heart clench painfully, she had to choose. How naive of her to think she wouldn't have had too.

"I'm...sorry..."

Ha and that is the end of that chapter. CLIFF HANGER FOR ALL OF YOU! Now, I'm pretty sure how its gonna go from here, but I would like to hear your thoughts. Who do you think Sakura should choose, or should she choose at all? I mean she could just go completely bat-shit and run screaming through the woods.

Anyway, please review and tell me what you think. Look for chapter 11 in the next day or two.

Thanks a million,

Kyo