Sakura knocked three times on the door of Pein's office. When she heard his reply, she slowly opened the door, and entered.
She had expected to see Naruto's chakra cage in the room, but it was nowhere to be seen. The only thing in the room was a large desk in the center with the Akatsuki leader seated behind it. He didn't look up at her when she came in.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Sakura jumped at the voice; she quickly turned around to come face to face with the man that spoke.
"Like I would tell you anything…." She gave a false smile to the Jashin worshipper.
"Please, you two…. I didn't call you here to fight." Pein stood up from his seat at the desk. "I called you here to discuss your mission." Sakura and Hidan looked at each other, confusion written on their faces.
"His or mine?" asked the medic.
"Both of yours." Pein smiled at the shocked expressions.
"Are you kidding me? She's not my partner!" Hidan raised his voice, causing Sakura to flinch and cover her ears.
"I'm assigning the both of you an assassination," continued Pein, obviously used to the Jashinist's arguments, "Normally I would send just Hidan, but do to your impeccable chakra control and knowledge of the human body, Sakura, I believe that you would make an excellent assassin. I've called Hidan here to help you with that."
Sakura felt her stomach drop.
They wanted her to carry out an assassination? Why couldn't they just send the bumbling undead idiot to do it? "Pein, er… Leader," started Sakura.
"Pein is fine." He said.
"Who exactly is it that I'm… we're assigned to assassinate?" she inquired, afraid it might be someone she knew.
"Taro Nagataka. He's a missing-nin that is causing trouble for the organization. He attacked many of our shipments- stealing what he could use and burning the rest." He handed her a piece of paper with a man's profile on it. "He can be found somewhere around Takigakure. He's constantly moving."
Sakura sighed in relief. So it wasn't someone she knew after all. To make it easier for her, he was even a missing-nin.
"Sakura," she raised her eyes to lock them with the Akatsuki leader's, which seemed highly concerned, "This man is known for using his genjutsu to seduce female shinobi. I want you to be cautious." Sakura nodded, a small smile creeping over her face. Was he worried about her?
"Yeah, Leader, I'm not here at all. No, no, go on and ignore me. I don't give a damn." Sakura and Pein turned their attention to the forgotten Akatsuki member. Hidan mumbled some curses (a/n: that can't be repeated here) and walked towards the door. "What the hell? Are you just gonna' stand there? Hurry it up!" Sakura just rolled her eyes and turned back to the leader.
"When should we leave?" he told her that an hour seemed like a reasonable departure time, but no less than two. The pink-haired girl nodded, and turned towards the door.
"…and, Sakura?" She turned her head to meet with pleading eyes. "Remember what I said."
Sakura took at deep breath as they crossed the Rain border into Grass. She twirled one of the white tassels that hung from her straw hat, eyeing the area for ANBU. The thought of her face being seen sent chills down her spine. She could see it- her own page in the bingo book. What would Tsunade say?
She thought she could feel someone's chakra in the area, but every time she said something about it, Hidan would tell her to shut up.
"For Jashin's sake, keep your chakra low! All of your stupid anxiety is causing it to spike like crazy! Don't you know anything?" The medic narrowed her eyes at the silver-haired immortal walking in front of her. He had done nothing but insult her since they left the base. "…Some chakra control. Psh." Angry, Sakura gathered chakra in her right pointer and middle fingers, and then used it to press the sensitive spot on his shoulder, causing his knees to give out and for him to fall. "What the hell was that for?! Don't use jutsu on me unless you want your pretty little head separated from your neck!!"
She didn't help him up. Instead, she walked ahead of him. "It's a pressure point, idiot, not a jutsu."
Everything froze when she felt a spike of chakra to her right- one that Hidan had not sensed. She quickly grabbed a kunai from the pouch on her leg and threw it.
"Hey, watch where you throw that, yeah!" Deidara stumbled out of the tall grass, holding the kunai a few inches away from his face. "Do I look like an ANBU to you?!"
"What are you doing here?" Sakura blushed slightly, remembering their last encounter.
Hidan looked just as surprised to see the artist as she was. "What's the deal?"
Deidara turned around so neither shinobi could see his face. "Having you guys together is dangerous, yeah. I was worried."
Sakura felt her face heat up was he said those words. "That's sweet, Deidara, but I can take care of myself. Really, I can." The blonde turned around, confusion written on his face.
"I wasn't talking about you. I'm here to check on Hidan, yeah." Sakura felt her eye twitch before she punched the artist in the gut.
"Are you saying I'm dangerous? I wouldn't hurt anyone!" the kunoichi's face was an angry red, and she was clenching her hands in fists.
"This is exactly why I don't want to leave you with a friend of mine!" Deidara choked, and he grasped at his bruised stomach. "What the hell happened to being a team, yeah?!"
Sakura ignored him, turning to a highly amused Hidan. "We're leaving."
"Haha…! This is… what? …the second time you've gotten your ass kicked by her?! Oh, Jashin, I think I'm in love!" Hidan followed the girl, clutching his abdomen in laughter.
Sakura sent him an angry "shut the hell up" glare, so Hidan did just that.
"W-Wait…! You can't just leave me like this, yeah!" he gestured to his wounded stomach. "What if ANBU come?" the medic paused briefly just to answer him.
"If you're an Akatsuki, then you can brush that off and go back to the base. If you're a candy-ass, then, well… you're screwed." The pink-haired kunoichi turned her head just enough to where green eyes met blue. "Take your pick."
"Do you think I was too hard on him?" It was probably the seventh time she had asked him, and it was causing Hidan to become annoyed.
"In my personal opinion, you should've hit him harder." He turned to face the girl, eyebrows narrowed but a smirk on his face. "Chill- You'll talk your own damn mouth off if you keep that up."
Sakura looked up at the nighttime stars in thought as the heat from their campfire fanned over her face. She didn't reply to the Jashinist, but instead thought about more important things.
Like how she was going to free Naruto.
She calculated the odds of her being able to get the Akatsuki leader alone, sedated, tied up, and forced to release the jutsu. She groaned and put her head in her hands at the stupid thought. She peered at the grass below her through her fingers. Could she find the cage and dispel the jutsu herself? When she had seen him in his cage before, the only thing she had thought at the moment was brute force. She hadn't thought of a strategy of some sort.
When Hidan announced that he was going to bed, Sakura only nodded and stated that she would go to bed too. As she lied on her sleeping bag, she stared at the flame of the fire. She smiled as it reminded her of the fiery blonde- how he was always so hyper and active.
She could feel the weight of her eyelids pulling her eyes shut, and she didn't fight it. She fell asleep to the thought of her friend and the crackle of the fire.
Sakura woke with a start at the sound of an earsplitting scream. She was surprised when she saw the writhing of the silver-haired man in his sleeping bag, yelling out for someone to help him. She quickly threw her cover off and rushed over to Hidan's side. Shaking him awake by the shoulder, she tried to make soothing sounds to quiet him, but he wouldn't wake. She prayed he would, for the screams that ripped through his throat like jagged knives made her shiver in fear.
'What's gotten into him?' thought Sakura, still trying to rouse the sleeping Akatsuki member.
The man sat up, still writhing about. "Hidan! Hidan, wake up!" after stirring a few more moments, his eyes snapped open. Everything was quiet for a few minutes besides his heavy panting. His eyes were wide open in shock, and he was sweating head to toe. Sakura, who tried not to stare at his bare and muscled chest, was still holding him by the shoulders. She tried to look into his eyes for some sort of answer.
"I…" he spoke slowly, "I…What the hell happened…? One minute I was… then…." He stumbled forward a bit and grabbed onto Sakura's arms for balance. "Something isn't right…"
"What do you mean?" She hated the guy, really she did, but she couldn't help the worry plastered over her features.
"Look, how the hell should I know? That…dream… I just… it didn't feel right, that's all." He withdrew his arms and stood up, earning him a slight glare from the medic.
"Hidan, please tell me what's wrong. Those screams…they weren't normal. What the hell did you see that terrified you that much?" she reached out a hand to touch his shoulder, but he just brushed it off.
"I…I don't know, okay?" he grabbed his head with both hands, still shaking. "This has never happened before…"
Both shinobi stood in silence for what seemed like hours. With each passing moment, Sakura resisted the growing urge to reach out and hold the Jashin worshipper.
"Hidan," she finally spoke, causing him to jump, "just relax. Talk to me."
Still grasping his head, he slowly turned around. His usually slicked back hair was messy and clinging to his sweaty forehead. "Why the hell do you care? What reason do you have to care about a killer like me?!" his eyebrows narrowed at his own words.
Sakura didn't have to say anything. When her eyes met his piercing violet, he knew.
It was her compassion for all living things- sinners or saints.
With a sigh of resignation, he lowered his hands from his head and took a few steps toward her, sitting down a good two feet away from her by the dying fire. She copied his actions, and soon she was seated by him, ready to be his listener.
After a few moments of a staring contest, Hidan began to tell her of his abnormal nightmare.
I am SO sorry this took so long :( My only excuse is that I'm preparing for high school, and I don't have a lot of free time. I'm sorry… But I did try to make this chapter a little longer than my usual ones :) …even if it IS still a little short… Well, please R&R, that's what ya'll know I love most ;)
I'm sorry if Hidan seems a little OOC in this chapter and the next. It's kinda hard to be heart to heart when you're dropping the F-bomb every sentence. I hope you enjoyed chapter 10 of New Recruit!