Chapter 14

Sakura was lying on her bed casually with her eyes shut, her face held a meditative appearance. Her hands were clasped behind her head, making a decently comfortable pillow for her head. Her pink locks splayed out, hiding her pale hands from view. Her chest rose slowly before falling again, maintaining Sakura's calm and peaceful attitude, allowing her to relax slightly and think about the predicament she was currently finding herself in.

Damnit! It has been almost two days and nobody has brought me anything! I can't believe it, I am actually missing that blonde!

They shouldn't be neglecting us like this!

We shouldn't be this dependant on them. As an ANBU member, I should be able to withstand hostile environments, mental and physical torture, deprivation of food and water...yet here I am annoyed that my captors are ignoring me. It is actually really sad.

Well, we shouldn't be ignored!

Rather be ignored then tormented. Technically, I'm living a captive's dream. I have a bed, bathroom, water, food usually...and Deidara kept me company on top of that.

Should have killed that bastard for calling us weak!

This is life without Deidara...we are hungry and bored. You can't want attention and want to kill the only person giving you attention.

Fine! We can beat him to an inch of his life, and then heal him so we can kick his ass again!

Sakura rolled over on her left side. She brought both arms down, resting her left upper arm and elbow on the bed, while leaning into her left hand. Sakura's right arm stretched out slowly to touch the cold cement wall. Immediately, she felt the complicated chakra network integrated throughout the stone.

Slowly, Sakura rated her breathing down and forced all of her concentration into deciphering the intricate layers of chakra that held her within the room.

Her jade orbs disappeared as pale eye lids covered them. Her attention was only for the wall keeping her prisoner.

Focus...that was the easy part. Now for the tricky part...damn Akatsuki, had to make this so damn difficult.

Sakura drew a miniscule amount of chakra into her right hand. A while back she had found out that this room held some sort of chakra suppressant, just like her old cell. However, this room didn't drain her energy near as much as the last prison, and for that she was thankful. But that never stopped Sakura's curiosity at how the room actually worked, and she desperately wished to ask Deidara. But she always refrained, knowing that there was much more important information to learn.

Sakura felt her hand warm slightly as her chakra gathered.

If I insert too much chakra, then it will disrupt the pattern, which will alert the other members that I was tampering with their jutsu. However, if I insert too little chakra, then it will dissipate and I won't be able to trace it, which would ruin the whole point. But, if I can get this right, I should be able to learn the sequence the chakra runs at and be able to stop the jutsu and break out when the time is right.

Slowly Sakura pushed a small bit into the invisible boundary. Focusing all her energy, with her right hand still resting lightly on the wall, Sakura tried to follow her small strand of chakra.

"Damn." She cursed under her breath.

Not enough, but I need to take it slow. I definitely can't afford alerting them before I'm ready to make my move.

She took a deep breath to relax herself and tried again, adding the barest bit more chakra before fusing it with the wall.

Her eyebrows knit in concentration as she followed it's faint sense, before it once again became lost in the scattered chakras surrounding her.

This is going to take a while. She thought grudgingly as she sat up and crossed her legs to be in a more comfortable position.

Once again she closed her eyes and measured out how much chakra she wanted to use on her third attempt, and began the process all over again.

OoO

"Hey, I just remembered, have you been taking care of that kunoichi?"

Kisame stood near the counter with a small cup in his hand. His large hand grasped the nearby bottle of sake as he refilled the cup.

"No. We should bring her food tonight." Itachi answered.

Kisame was in the mist of downing the contents of the cup, but paused before the edge touched his lips once he heard his partner's comment. Slowly he brought the still full cup down near his chest while staring levelly at the Uchiha.

"What do you mean we? You promised Deidara that you would take care of that damn girl. I still say that she can fend for herself."

Itachi looked over at Kisame. His eyes narrowed a little as the striking scarlet met Kisame's small golden eyes unfazed.

Kisame knew that Itachi was annoyed and irritated, but he'd be damned before he ever tended to a pathetic kunoichi.

Hell, if I had it my way, that damn girl would have died in that battle and nobody would have had to deal with her.

Kisame's eyes never left the Uchiha as he raised the cup to his lips once again and downed the drink in one gulp.

And if she had died, then I wouldn't have had to piss off Itachi again. He thought annoyed. But, I refuse to do it. I am one of the most powerful shinobi and they want me to bring food to someone else like a damn maid. That is insulting!

Itachi finally stood up and turned to face the cabinet.

"Hn."

Kisame relaxed a little, inwardly laughing at how tense he had unconsciously become. He knew that Itachi's reply was acceptance for his decision, so the discussion was over and Itachi was going to deal with her on his own accord.

The burly bluish man watched his partner retrieve half a loaf of bread and an average sized cup of tea before exiting the kitchen silently, his cloak dancing about at his ankles.

"Should have let me kill her." He mumbled to Itachi's back.

However, the Uchiha never showed any sign of hearing the comment as he continued on his way, finally disappearing from Kisame's sight around a corner.

Unbeknownst to the mist-nin though, Itachi had heard, and he too mumbled his retort under his breath so Kisame couldn't hear.

"No, killing her then would have made life much more difficult.

OoO

Sakura huffed her annoyance at the difficult pattern.

Damn thing! It's like the pattern is irregular! But, can they do that?! Is it really possible to fluctuate not only the interval at which the chakra is moving, but the amount of chakra running through the wall at any given time?!

Sakura sat there, silently contemplating her situation.

She lost count a long time ago on how many attempts she had made, and had given into frustration.

Part of her wished to continue trying until the "code" was broken. That part had embraced the situation as a sort of challenge for her intelligence. But the other part of her wanted nothing more than to constantly beat against the chakra protected walls, even though she knew her punches would never reach the concrete.

Calm down...be reasonable...calm down... Sakura chanted soothingly while taking in deep breaths.

Think about it, if I hit this wall once with chakra, they'd feel the disruption and come running with kunai in hand and jutsus ready to work. Figuring out the actual barrier is my only way out. Once I learn the pattern, my departure will be easy. With the pattern, I can easily neutralize each sensor without anybody's notice. They wouldn't even realize I have launched my attack until it was too late. It is a perfect plan, but I can't give up just yet, I have to be close to figuring out their jutsu.

No, I definitely can't give up yet. My life depends on me getting out of this room undetected. Besides, Naruto is so stupid he would fall for their bait and come running in here without thinking. So my escape determines his fate as well.

Sakura once again placed her palm against the wall and called forth her chakra. Her eyes closed as she concentrated on letting just the right amount of chakra blend with the barrier. Her hand glowed a light blue, barely visible for people to see as she prepared to merge her chakra into the concrete.

But suddenly, her hand quit glowing as her back went rigid. She brought her arm down to her side as she slowly looked around at the door. And there he was, standing silently, yet his presence gave off such a cold aura, Sakura had to suppress a small shiver that wanted to run down her spine.

Shit! He saw me! Does he know what I was trying to do!? He has to know, right?! Damnit! Careless! How could I have let myself get so absorbed in this that I didn't even notice his presence?!

Sakura watched his bored expression. She noticed his eyebrows knit slightly; however, the action was so minute, she wasn't even sure if it occurred.

She watched him begin to slowly, purposefully walk up to her. A slight bit of anticipation ran through her body, causing adrenaline to course through her veins and her shinobi senses heightened as he approached.

It looks like I might be dealing with the Uchiha after all if he really does know what I was doing...damnit, I can't believe I was so careless!

Sorry it is late and short, I know! But I'll try to make it up to you next time! But be happy! Itachi and Sakura are going to be interacting (or fighting, I haven't decided yet) in the next chappie! Take care and thanks to all of you that read this story!

Kia