BLOOD-STAINED CHERRY BLOSSOM

Chapter Fourteen: Operation Kill Akatsuki is a Go

Sakura had thought long and hard about her plans to kill the Akatsuki, but she could not formulate a strategy that didn't involve her not using chakra. She realized that if she did not find a way to remove the chakra suppressor bracelets from her form, then her plans of murder and escape were guaranteed to fail miserably. She would need all the chakra she could get if she was going to take down six elite shinobi with her jutsu. If she was going to continue with this idea, then she needed to find a way to unseal her chakra, and soon.

Although the thick metal bracelets were latched tightly to her wrists and were extremely durable, making them impossible for her to remove them herself, she knew that they could be removed when another person inserted their chakra into the bracelets until they unclasped. She witnessed this happen when Itachi detached the bracelets so she could heal Kisame with her medical ninjutsu several days ago.

Since she obviously could not insert her own chakra into the bracelets because it was sealed, she would need someone else to do it. She knew none of the Akatsuki members would be willing (or stupid enough) to do it, so she would have to resort to a more subtle approach. What better way to trick an Akatsuki criminal in unsealing her chakra by engaging in an intense taijutsu spar with them?

"Kisame! What the hell are you doing here?!"

Sakura stomped angrily into the sparring room, her heated glare aimed at the large shark-man before her. Kisame and Kakuzu stopped their movements as their fight was discontinued by the pink-haired girl. Kakuzu cast an irritated glance in her direction as he lowered his raised fists, not appreciating that she stopped their match, while Kisame seemed to sober a bit as she made her way to him, sensing trouble.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?!" Deidara yelled at Sakura, "This was a good fight, yeah!"

"Shut it, Deidara!" Sakura responded harshly, sparing a brief at the blonde who was leaning against the stone wall near the sparring mats. She hardly had time to take satisfaction in his red, angered face as she turned her attention back to Kisame.

Said man smirked as her fiery emerald eyes turned back to him, taking pleasure in her bold attitude and Deidara's livid expression. "He's right you know," he said cheekily, raising his large sword he was holding and resting it on his muscular shoulder, "It was a good fight you interrupted."

With her medical instincts and fury activated, she approached the tall man and grabbed a fistful of his shirt. Surprised, Kisame's smirk instantly faded as his head was pulled down so he was facing a pair of burning green eyes. "Listen here, Kisame!" Sakura said, her voice threatening, gaining the attention of the three Akatsuki members in the room, "I said that you should take it easy on your ankle! It's still healing, dammit! If you keep running around and sparring while it is recovering, you are going to end up fucking it up even more! If that happens, then I'm going to have to deal with healing that shit for another month! If I see your face in this room anytime this week, I promise that you will have hell to pay! Understood?!" It always infuriated her when her patients, dangerous criminals or not, refused to heed her medical advice, and Kisame was no exception.

Kisame stared at her blankly, stunned by the fact that he was being chided by a female about half his age (and size) while Deidara burst into a fit of laughter at the scene before him. Kakuzu just stared crossly at Deidara and Sakura as the situation began to annoy him.

Sakura released Kisame from her grip on his shirt and cleared her throat, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down. "Right. Sorry, Kisame, but you can't fight for at least another week until your ankle has completely healed itself."

The shark-man cleared his throat as well, casting a wary sideways glance at the pinkette. "I never thought that someone as small and girly-looking as you could contain so much wrath," he quietly commented.

Sakura found the corners of her mouth twitching upwards slightly, taking his remark as a compliment. "Things are not always what they appear to be, Kisame."

Kakuzu stepped up to the duo, his eyes narrowed in irritation. "Sorry to interrupt your conversation," he said dryly, "If you ask me, Kisame seemed well enough to participate in battle. If you dismiss him because of a mere ankle injury, then I will be without a sparring partner."

Sakura turned her attention to Kakuzu, arms crossed in front of her. "This is not about your needs, Kakuzu," she said, anger flaring once again, "And this is not a 'mere ankle injury.' Ankles take a very long time to heal, and if they are not mended correctly, then they can become permanently damaged. So I suggest that you find a new fighting partner for the time being."

Sakura bit her lip as soon as the words came out of her mouth. She knew that Kisame tolerated her defiant attitude, but she got the feeling that Kakuzu would find it less than amusing. Luckily for her, Kakuzu looked extremely pissed-off, but did not appear to want to strangle her at the moment.

"I think that the Uchiha needs to keep his pet on a shorter leash," he retorted, making Sakura flush red in anger and ball her hands tightly into fists.

To settle the argument, both Sakura and Kakuzu turned to Kisame, signaling him to choose which one of them was right. The shark-man's gaze bounced between the Akatsuki member and the pinkette, wondering whose side he should pick: his colleague or the girl. Although Kakuzu was known to have a bad temper, Sakura was also shown to have a rather nasty disposition. How was he supposed to make a choice when either of them would strangle him in reaction to him picking the other?

After a few moments of intense glaring, Kisame sighed and crossed his arms defensively. "Sorry Kakuzu, but I am going to have to agree with the doc on this one."

Sakura smirked in triumph while Kakuzu looked about ready to kill the both of them. Even Deidara stopped laughing when he heard that Kisame settled with her, betraying his own teammates for the female.

"Fine, I see how it is," Kakuzu muttered, turning away from the duo and began walking towards the exit, "I'll just find a better way to waste my time without with you people."

"Hey!" Deidara piped up, "Why don't you fight me, yeah?"

Kakuzu briefly turned his attention to the blonde. "You're not exactly in ideal fighting condition, Deidara," he remarked, "You would hardly be a challenge to me. The match would be over in less than a minute."

While the angered blonde was forming a string of curses directed at Kakuzu, Sakura noticed that the bomber had his right arm in a makeshift sling. It was the injury he obtained when he fought against Sakura a few days ago when she dislocated his wrist. Apparently it wasn't healing right after he attempted to repositioned it.

Sakura frowned when she realized that there was a slight problem to her plan. She still needed to find someone to spar with so she could find a way to remove the chakra suppressor bracelets. With two people injured, she couldn't fight with them; it would go against her medical policies and morals. This only left Kakuzu, and she was sure that they both had not yet gotten over their fight that occurred during their last mission.

"Hey Kisame," she asked the shark-man next to her, breaking his attention away from Deidara's and Kakuzu's argument, "Is Hidan back yet? I was looking for someone to spar with." Sakura mentally face-palmed herself for wanting to fight against the sadist, but she was desperate and was sure he would pass on wanting to kill her… at least for now…

"Nope, he's still out. He thinks he can take a religious vacation whenever he damn pleases…" Kisame responded bitterly, rolling his eyes, "But I think Itachi might be available. He's been locked up in the study room the last few days since you left. He needs to get out of that dusty old library before it affects his health."

Sakura scrunched her features in repulsion at the sound of the Uchiha's name. No way in hell was she going to spar with him; it would probably give him more information for his plans, whatever they involved. "No thanks. What about Tobi? Is he around?" Man, she was desperate…

Kisame lifted an eyebrow at her strange question. "That guy vanishes for days and just appears whenever he needs to go on a mission," he answered, "I'm sure you will have a hell of a time trying to find him."

Sakura pouted slightly. That only left Kakuzu. Even if there was still tension between them, it couldn't hurt to ask…

"-Fucking uptight, stingy bastard!" Deidara concluded, pointing a finger from his functioning arm in Kakuzu's direction, but Kakuzu hardly seemed entertained by his vulgar outburst.

"I wouldn't be cursing your superiors if I were you, Deidara," he threatened, cracking his knuckles threateningly, "You're not exactly capable of physically defending yourself at the moment."

"Hey!" Sakura exclaimed boldly, getting the attention of both the immortal and the bomber, "Why don't you spar with me, Kakuzu?"

Kakuzu stared at the pink-haired girl blankly as if she asked the stupidest question in the world. When he said nothing, Sakura continued talking. "I saw you fighting with Hidan before, and I really liked your taijutsu style. I was wondering if you could maybe teach me…?"

"No."

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows at his quick refusal. "Why not?"

Kakuzu stepped up to the girl, crossing his muscular arms in front of him to intimidate her. While Sakura was slightly daunted by the height and weight difference between them, she stared back at him defiantly, refusing to show weakness. "First off, you're a woman," he began to explain, "I tend to avoid fighting women because they usually don't match my skill level. Second, I don't teach anyone. I'm not a damn sensei. Third, even if I did want to spar against you, I don't think you would even survive. I don't want Itachi blaming me for your incompetence if you die."

The sexist jerk! How dare he undermine her because she was a girl! Sakura felt her anger rising once again. Being around these Akatsuki criminals sure did raise her blood pressure. "Trust me, I am capable of defending myself," she said through clenched teeth, "Hell, you were there when I fought and defeated Deidara!"

Deidara gritted his teeth at Sakura's mention of their previous battle, but Kakuzu looked less than impressed. "The only reason why you won that match was because Deidara is a long-distance fighter, plus he wasn't allowed to use his ninjutsu. You would have died in a heartbeat if the Uchiha didn't interfere at the end."

It was Sakura's turn to grit her teeth in rage. Why was Kakuzu always such an asshole to her? "Do you have a problem with me or something, Kakuzu?"

Said man narrowed his eyes as he responded to her question. "Yes, actually, I do. I don't think someone like you should be here in Akatsuki. From what I have seen, your shinobi skills are subpar and you have a temper that irritates me to no end. I think that Itachi should just finish you off before you become more of a nuisance than you already are."

It was then that Sakura snapped, acting on her emotions rather than reason. Before she knew what she was doing, she swung her arm out, a fist aimed at Kakuzu's head. The man easily evaded her attack by grabbing her balled hand with one of his large tan ones before it contacted his face. Deidara and Kisame gaped at the girl for her reckless action. Even Kakuzu seemed surprised.

"Don't insult me!" Sakura said, her voice low and menacing, "You know nothing about me! I didn't ask to be in Akatsuki, so get that through your head! I am not here by my own accord; I was abducted. So stop assuming that I wanted to be here!"

The tension in the room heightened as a few moments of silence passed. Everyone stayed in a frozen, apprehensive position, waiting for the discomfort to lift.

Eventually, Kakuzu released her shaking fist, still staring down at the rebellious girl before him. Sakura also stared back at the man before her, surprised at herself by her previous action, but kept her expression composed. "No one has ever addressed me in such a disrespectful manner before," the immortal commented to the pinkette, his voice low, but collected, "And for someone to do so, it would take a lot of stupidity… or, rather, in your case, courage…"

Sakura felt her muscles relax a bit at his praise… at least she was sure it was a compliment. She never heard Kakuzu accolade anyone before. She always got the feeling that he disliked her greatly, probably because she was associated with Itachi, and she knew he loathed the Uchiha. But now here he was, praising her bravery.

"Maybe you were correct," the immortal continued, "Things are not always what they appear to be."

"Right… same to you," she responded slowly, still slightly confused by his sudden change in demeanor.

Kakuzu then walked past her and back towards the sparring mats. "There was a lot of strength behind your attack," he noted, not facing the pinkette, "A lot more than I expected from you. Maybe I was wrong to assume that you were a weakling. Perhaps you would be useful as an alternative sparring partner."

Sakura raised an eyebrow and found the corners of her mouth lifting into a small smile when she realized that he was accepting her request to teach her taijutsu. She too began walking towards the mats, prepping herself for the battle that was about to occur.

Kakuzu sighed at the girl's pleased expression. "You better take this seriously," he warned, "I'm not going to go easy on you. If you don't pay attention, you are going to find yourself in the infirmary."

The pink-haired girl nodded as she took her position a few feet away from Kakuzu on the green mats, crouching low into a fighting stance. "I could say the same thing to you."

Itachi Uchiha sighed to himself as he walked around the long stone hallways. He had taken a moment away from his readings to find Sakura, yet she was nowhere to be seen. He had wandered the whole south wing if the base looking for her, but his search had been unsuccessful so far. He exhaled again in exasperation. This girl was going to make him insane if she kept disappearing like this.

A brief coughing fit overcame him and he had to lean against the wall for support as he expelled mucus from his throat. He thought he noticed a faint metallic taste on the back of his tongue, but ignored it as he heard a familiar female voice echo through the hallway.

"Dammit!"

Itachi cleared his throat before walking in the direction of the sound and soon found himself in front of a set of doors. He narrowed his eyes in displeasure when he realized that it was the sparring room. He disliked when Sakura trained here, for he feared for her safety. The other Akatsuki members could be ruthless when provoked even the slightest, and provoking people seemed like a talent of the pink-haired kunoichi, much to his displeasure.

The Uchiha opened the doors quickly to find exactly what he feared: Sakura sparring against Kakuzu. Of all of the Akatsuki members, Kakuzu had the worst temper and was most inclined to act upon his rage. And there she was, fighting one of the most dangerous men in the vicinity. This girl was definitely trying to make him insane.

He swiftly strode into the room, eyes still locked on the pinkette as he made his way over to the far wall where Kisame and Deidara where observing the match. The shark-man gave his partner a toothy grin as he stood next to him.

"Good to see you out of the study," he commented to the Uchiha, but Itachi still held his gaze at the fighting duo.

Itachi ignored his comment, his focus still on Sakura. "What does she think she is doing, fighting Kakuzu?" he responded, a hint of animosity in his voice as he crossed his arms in disapproval at the scene before him.

Kisame's expression wavered slightly, detecting his partner's discontent. "Don't worry, the doc is holding her own against him. She's not half bad at taijutsu either. Just watch."

Itachi narrowed his eyes in displeasure as he watched Sakura narrowly avoid getting punched in the gut as she jumped backwards to avoid Kakuzu's fist. She immediately attempted to counter his attack by leaping into the air and aiming a vertical kick to his head, but it was blocked as he lifted and crossed his arms above him, her foot making contact with his arms instead.

Itachi noticed that the skin on Kakuzu's arms had darkened considerably, the visible effect of his ninjutsu, Earth Release: Earth Spear. By surging the chakra flow to his arms, he heightens his defensive power by making his skin almost as hard as diamonds. But the jutsu also increases the damage of his physical attacks, which made the Uchiha worry about Sakura's safety. One punch could instantly shatter her bones and potentially kill her if she wasn't careful.

Sakura seemed to realize the danger of the jutsu as she expertly dodged his skilled taijutsu attacks, looking for an opportunity to strike again. They each ceased their movements for a moment and pulled away from each other, taking a minute to size up their opponent. The Uchiha noticed Sakura's jade eyes gleaming slightly as she analyzed the immortal, a determined expression on her face. He had seen that look in her eyes before. She was planning something.

Surprisingly, Sakura was the one to attack first, despite her disadvantage of not being able to use chakra. She took off in a full-speed sprint at Kakuzu, who was ready to intercept her taijutsu. Itachi found that his muscles tense in fearful anticipation as the gap between the small girl and the large man decreased rapidly. At what seemed like the last second, Sakura thrust her arms out in front of her, giving Kakuzu little time to react to what she was going to do. But as she brought both of her hands forward, her fists clenched tightly, Kakuzu lifted his own arms out just in time, grabbing both of her small wrists before her attack could reach him, halting her attack.

Then something strange happened. Itachi thought he felt a small flare of foreign chakra, but the feeling was gone in an instant, too fast for him to detect whose it was or where it was coming from. He waited a few moments for the strange chakra to reappear, but it never came. As he looked around the room, no one else seemed to notice it either. He warily shrugged the incident off as part of his imagination.

Sakura untwisted herself out of Kakuzu's grip and distanced herself from him. She breathed heavily and was sweating from the vigorous activity, but smiled despite herself. She had just managed to get Kakuzu to remove the chakra suppressor bracelets! It had taken careful timing on her part, but she succeeded in getting the immortal to touch both of her wrists while his jutsu was activated. Luckily, no one seemed to notice that her chakra was stimulated for a split second before she was able to mask it. She managed to suppress her joy for now and crossed her arms, gripping the opened metal bracelets on her wrists under her long-sleeved shirt to prevent them from falling off or reattaching themselves.

"What's wrong?" asked Kakuzu, noting the girl's passive posture while he lowered his arms and slid out of his fighting stance.

"Nothing," Sakura said, trying to keep her voice even despite her excitement, "I'm just a bit tired is all. I think that is all the fighting I can handle for today."

Kakuzu nodded although he seemed a tad reluctant to end their spar so soon. "Very well. The match is over, then."

Sakura bowed her head respectfully as well. "Thank you for sparring with me, Kakuzu. I really appreciate it."

The immortal only glanced at her briefly to acknowledge her thanks before he made his way to the door along with the rest of the Akatsuki members. Sakura noticed Itachi was in the room as well, still leaning against the wall where the other men where observing the match. He looked like he was about to say something to her, but she swiftly turned her back and walked out of the room, not wanting to let him discover that she unsealed her chakra.

The Uchiha watched the girl with pink tresses leave the area. Something didn't feel quite right. She was clearly planning something. Wasn't he supposed to be the schemer, to have all of the cards, to play all of the moves? He was supposed to be in control, yet it seemed like there was another conspirator involved, and she wasn't going to let him win this game, not without a struggle. Itachi narrowed his eyes, deep in thought.

He thought he knew everything about her. Now he wasn't so sure.

A/N: Nothing much to say today…

I thank you all for your wonderful, encouraging reviews! Hope you enjoy the story, because Part One is almost complete~! But just to clarify, I am submitting Part Two on this same story.

Thanks for reading, and have a lovely day!