Hi guys. My exams are still continuing but I've got a two day holiday in the middle so I'm writing this chapter so that you all have something to read. Please read the story and let me know how you feel.
Sakura was feeling extremely uncomfortable at the moment.
Ever since her training session with Itachi had been completed he would take to visiting her an hour before his time and sitting outside the cell staring unabashedly at her.
"He's all over you hun, you should make hay while you can, and while you're at it make some babies too" said Inner Sakura.
"Why do you have to be so inconsiderate and perverted?" whispered Sakura.
"Hello? I'm your subconscious mind, anything I think comes from you my dear, so technically it's you who wants him to make babies with you not me" cried Inner Sakura triumphantly.
"Oh just shut up!" yelled Sakura.
Itachi's eyes lifted slightly in amusement.
"It appears as if the girl has lost touch of her sanity, what with being copped up in here for weeks" said Akane suddenly appearing beside Itachi.
"May I ask what you're doing here?" asked Itachi getting up and standing between the cell and Akane.
"Oh don't worry, I'm not here for the torture session…yet" said Akane with a smile radiating maliciousness.
"I have spoken top the Leader to not let you conduct the torture session, he said he would consider it" replied Itachi monotonously.
"I'm aware of that, but you know as well as I do that if he doesn't let me do it then the next option is Hidan" said Akane knowingly.
Itachi did not react but merely blinked a few times.
"It's time for Haruno to have her training session with me, also the Leader wants her moved to a new place, namely my room, she'll be under my custody from now on, the Leader wants you to go on a mission with Kisame and you're to meet him as soon as possible, better start trotting" said Akane producing a key from her cloak and unlocking the cell.
Akane took out a katana and raised it as Sakura's eyes widened in fear as she glanced towards Itachi who simply looked on.
With a slashing movement the katana came down causing the chains to snap into pieces.
"I hope you're not going to try and run my dear? I'm pretty tired as it is" said Akane pulling Sakura and throwing her out by her hair.
As Sakura got up rubbing her hair Akane wrapped one of her special chakra chains around her and dragged her towards the door of the cell.
"How long are you going to stand their Itachi-San? The Leader will be most displeased if you're late" she said quietly before moving out of the passage, banging the door shut behind her.
"Oh my god Akio, sweetie, darling are you alive?" cried Rika as two men landed in front of her, one of them carrying an unconscious and badly hurt Akio on his back.
"Lord Akio!" cried Sousuke in horror as the men placed him on a futon.
"Sousuke, you're a medical ninja, do your thing" ordered one of the men as Sousuke nodded and set to work healing Akio's wounds as his hands glowed green.
Rika stared jealously as the boy continued to heal Akio till he sat back and wiped sweat of his forehead.
"He should be gaining consciousness in a few minutes though he'll be weak" said Sousuke to the two men.
"How did he end up like that? Answer me you fool" screeched Rika.
"He was fighting two Akatsuki members from what the witnesses had to say, apparently he killed one of them but he or she came back to life and the other one released a sweet gas which made him loose consciousness" said the man who had carried Akio.
"How awful, I knew I shouldn't have left Akio alone there, this is all your fault" cried Rika pointing towards Sousuke.
"But…but…I don't see…"
"If only you weren't there I would have convinced Akio to hide and then he wouldn't have been in this condition, damn you bastard" cried Rika throwing herself on Sousuke and wrapping her hands around his throat.
"Miss Rika, stop it" cried the men pulling her away from the boy who was on the floor now, hacking and coughing dreadfully.
"Let me go, don't touch me you dirty ruffians," cried Rika disentangling herself from the two men.
She walked up to Sousuke and kicked him hard in the stomach.
"I swear to god if you ever trouble Akio and me again I'll kill you, and I'll make sure that even a scrap of skin isn't left when I'm done with you, remember I am the Mistress of Aizawa Manor, I have more connections in the crime world than you can imagine, just a warning, you'd do well to leave and never come before me again" she said dangerously as Sousuke did not reply but some tears fell to the floor.
"Sit down Sakura Haruno," ordered Akane as Sakura hesitantly looked around the room.
No being sure where to sit Sakura placed herself lightly on the edge of the bed in Akane's room.
"As you know you are now a member of the Akatsuki, the Leader has requested that I give you lessons of chakra modulation which is very similar to the fragile chakra control needed as a prime requirement for a medical ninja, however personally I fail to see how the chakra modulation will help you in any way, still, I am nobody to argue with the Leader so I will be teaching you anyways" said Akane in a voice that clearly said 'authority'.
Sakura gave a tiny nod and averted her eyes.
"Chakra modulation in simple terms simply means molding your chakra to form a particular shape that may be useful in battle, for example my fluid which is nothing but the mixture of the two main chakra types, if you prove to be extremely efficient in using chakra modulation techniques like me then you can control your chakra as a living embodiment and have it perform offensive, defensive, supplementary battle moves which are highly useful in battle" said Akane.
"How can we make chakra into fluid?" asked Sakura after a short pause.
"It doesn't have to be a fluid, you can shape your chakra into any form you like, I prefer using my fluid because it's a better way for killing through internal organs, a technique which I rather prefer" said Akane enjoying Sakura's rather sick look.
"Okay enough of jabbering now, let's get down to business" said Akane.
She took out a fairly large box from a cupboard and opened it. Inside, glittering in the sunlight were many small, glass balls.
She took one out and placed it on the palm of her hand. Then the ball began floating above her hand on its own.
"I'm sure you can guess what I'm doing, this ball is made of extremely delicate glass, if your charka control is not near to perfect then the ball will shatter, if it is perfect then you'll be able to manipulate the ball in whichever direction you like, till whatever distance you can go up to" said Akane.
"So if that stands for your fluid as well if someone goes out of its range then…"
"They're safe, but you see I don't let them get out of my range, usually very few people realize the second option they have, for example Kakashi Hatake when I first met your team, he panicked at that moment and took the easy way out to just cut off his arm" said Akane.
Sakura winced at the memory but she began realizing what Akane was trying to tell her.
"But I can't mold chakra like you can so this training is useful for me" said Sakura.
"I'm not teaching you how to mold chakra you dimwit, my orders are to improvise your chakra control" said Akane.
Sakura sat back feeling very insulted, everything she prided herself on, her medical ninjutsu, her taijutsu was being insulted and improvised, was she so weak indeed?
"Now get that sulky look off your face and take this ball, if you can hover it over your hand for…"
"Hey bitch, are you in there, hm?" came a voice as Deidara kicked down Akane's door and strode into the room.
"Stop right there you barbarian, what the hell do you want?" asked Akane visibly annoyed at having her door kicked down.
"Leader's looking for ya, you and this piece of bubble gum here, hm" said Deidara as Sakura glared at him.
"Splendid, he tells me to teach her and when I try to do just that he sends this mammoth after me" she thought mutinously as she got up and looked over her shoulder.
"We'll resume our training after we hear what the Leader has to say, come with me" she said pushing Deidara out of the room and after Sakura stepped out she placed a paper tag over the threshold of her door.
"What're you doing that for, hm?" asked Deidara curiously.
"Just a safety precaution" said Akane rising and walking off with her head held high.
"Boy, that bitch would make even Lucifer turn away in shame, hm" said Deidara in a low tone as he walked off in the opposite direction as Sakura gave a small giggle and ran after Akane.
"Reports of our lesser bases being invaded have been cropping up too many times, I'm already furious and now I'm going to take strong action against it" said the Leader in his usual voice that sounded anything but furious.
"We've sent Sasori on ahead to a base in the Village of Stars which was very recently invaded, the safe was broken into and several of our documents are missing" said Konan.
"Boy, Kakuzu's going to have a heart failure" thought Akane.
"We have certain reasons to suspect the involvement of a group that goes by the name Taka, I believe both of you are familiar with them?" said the Leader as Sakura's back froze.
"Uchiha Sasuke, eh? Why would you suspect him?" asked Akane.
"The documents that have gone missing mostly involve mission reports from all the members, the only ones that went missing were the ones belonging to Itachi and Kisame, also two men fitting the description of two members of Taka were spotted outside the Village of Stars by some of our associates" said Konan watching Sakura carefully.
"I see, so what are we to do? If it's tracking him down then I'm not the best person for that job" said Akane.
"There's no need to track them down, Sasori has located them, but he's in a rather poor condition now as he was spotted by Uchiha and got into a fight with him and isn't in the best condition to fight all four of them at once" said the Leader.
"Sasori is hurt, damn that Uchiha bastard, I'll rip his guts out and stuff it up his bloated head" thought Akane as Konan continued.
"You are to go to him, we are sending Haruno with you because she might be of assistance to you being the one who knows Sasuke very well, also she is in charge of healing Sasori back to health, Akane, you're job is simple, if you find Uchiha Sasuke, capture him or knock him unconscious and bring him back to the main base at Amegakure, if you find any of his comrades, kill them" said Konan.
"Understood" said Akane impatiently as Sakura gave a tiny nod.
"You are not yet an official member of Akatsuki Sakura Haruno, this mission will be a perfect test as to whether you should join us or not, if you show any sign of betrayal then you will be killed, if you are unable to stop Uchiha then it clearly shows you're incompetent, if you can successfully complete this mission you are worthy of becoming a member of Akatsuki" said Pain with his ringed eyes glaring at Sakura who tried to stare back at him but lowered her gaze after a few moments.
"Akane, you are not to kill Sasuke under any circumstances, if he proves too much you have permission to retreat but Sasuke Uchiha must not die at your hands is that clear?" asked Konan.
"Yeah fine, can we leave now?" asked Akane.
"Go, and do not fail, Sakura Haruno, you will receive your ring when you return, if you return that is" said Pain as the door closed with a slam.
The door opened again after a few minutes and Akane stepped in.
"Now what's the real mission?" she asked quietly.
Konan gaped at her, "I didn't think you'd pick it up so quickly"
"Please as if somebody as pathetic as Sasuke Uchiha or his flunkies could ever put Sasori in the condition you said he was in, there's obviously something you're hiding from me" said Akane.
"Takigawa-San, we have forced Sakura Haruno into the Akatsuki for reasons more than just obtaining a skilled medical ninja, I have already informed Itachi, Zetsu, Kakuzu and Sasori about this and I think you should be knowing about it too, this involves the kyuubi of course…"
Naruto glared at Tsunade and Shizune who stood towering above him while he lay in a crumpled form at their feet.
"Naruto, over the years I have always protected you from the Elders, if it were left up to them then you wouldn't have been allowed to step out of the Village, yet I have argued and argued with them to the point of them wanting to remove me as Hokage, and after all that you repay me by sneaking out of the village?" asked Tsunade angrily.
"So what do you want me to do? Sit here while Akatsuki has Sakura and Orochimaru has Sasuke?" asked Naruto bitterly.
"Damn it you fool, what do you think you can do? Fight Orochimaru and Sasuke? Have you forgotten that Sasuke has already killed Orochimaru? There is nothing keeping him from returning to the Village except his hatred for Itachi which will not diminish by even the greatest act of kindness or friendship" cried Tsunade, "And about Sakura? What do you think you can do? Go waltzing into ach and every Akatsuki base, find her like very easily and then return with her from under the noses of the greatest and strongest criminals of the Shinobi world?"
"I have to do something! They're my friends I can't leave them in the clutches of the likes of Akatsuki, Sakura-Chan is like your daughter Granny, don't you feel like rescuing her? Don't you feel terrified of what those bastards might do to her?" cried Naruto.
"Oh so you think I'm having a gala time sitting up here and drinking tea and sake do you? Well you're wrong, I feel like a part of me is screaming to just drop everything and rush off to Sakura's rescue but that's not how things are done, there is a certain rule that we have to follow as ninjas, if we do whatever we wanted whenever we wanted then the whole system of having villages, having a Hokage, having Elders and Anbu everything is pointless" said Tsunade.
Naruto didn't say anything but his body began quivering with repressed emotions.
"Naruto-Kun, please listen to us for now, I promise when we launch a rescue mission for Sakura then you'll be informed, trust us please?" asked Shizune feeling sorry for the fallen jinchuriki.
Tsunade turned away with a swish of her coat, "Send him to the hospital, Naruto you have broken my trust in you, Shizune keep three tracker Anbu posted near him at all times, he isn't allowed to leave the Hospital until I permit it do you get that?" asked Tsunade and walked off as Shizune nodded.
As she walked into her office and collapsed on her chair Jiraiya jumped in through the window and stared sympathetically at her.
"That's one big bag of trouble you trained there" muttered Tsunade.
"Don't I know it, but don't worry Tsunade, I'll keep a watch on Naruto for you, trust me he won't be stepping out of the Hospital till you let him" said Jiraiya patting her on the back.
"Thanks, with all that's going on I don't think I could manage Naruto and the Elders breathing fire at me" said Tsunade still not raising her head as the sun set over the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
My exams are still going on but I had two days study leave so I decided to take a break and write this chapter. I won't update very soon so please don't ask me to. I'm trying my best here.