The sun burned in Konoha, but the air was heavy like a night of an incoming thunderstorm.
Tsunade was devastated. Her pupil had been captured by their biggest enemy and the Hokage blamed herself for it. She had failed as Konoha's leader, as a mentor and even as a motherly figure. How did she let that happen?
She was desperately trying to find ways for finding Sakura. She made impossible plans, created tactics full of flaws and, of course, drank a lot during the process. However, nothing seemed to work towards her way.
Team Seven had returned to the village just after the incident. Naruto —who had passed out after a blow from Hoshigaki Kisame just after Itachi caught Sakura— was still in the hospital and didn't have a clue about his friend's abduction. When he asked about her to Kakashi, he was said the medic-nin was fine, but busy with Tsunade. The blond found it strange, since Sakura always visited him when he was in the hospital, but he believed his sensei nonetheless.
The single-Sharingan Jounin had been impacted as well. The loss of another student was almost overwhelming and he again blamed himself for things he could not control, but he didn't let himself be carried by the sadness. In reality, he was the one who didn't let Tsunade leave the village by her own to go beat the shit out of anyone who dared to look at her in the eyes, until she finally found Sakura.
He needed to help the Fifth any way he could. In a meeting with the council, they opted to keep Sakura's abduction as a secret to avoid more problems. The only ones who got informed were Sakura's parents, who fell in despair by their daughter's loss. Sai and Yamato swore to keep silence —even if Tsunade knew that Danzo knew— and, for the meantime, the excuse would be that Sakura would be sent immediately in a mission in a distant country. But if Sakura didn't return soon, the mask would fall along with the townsfolk's trust in Konoha.
It was obvious to them what Akatsuki wished: to lure Naruto right into their nest with an easy prey that mattered enough to him. Encounters with Akatsuki almost never happened to be accidents; everything was planned by them, and they also got everything they wanted. Until the Suna ambush, it is. At the Wind Country they saw that to capture the Kyuubi, they would need more than that Deidara's little bombs to capture him. But what bugged the Hokage's mind was the fact that they had gotten both Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame to get Sakura: they could easily capture Naruto there, even with Kakashi and Yamato protecting him. Why did they choose the hard and long method of luring Naruto? What kind of use Sakura, her relationship to Naruto and her skills had to Akatsuki? Why did she matter to them that much?
The Fifth's disciple didn't know what time it was when she was awoken by a knocking on her door, but the pain in her back told her she slept for a long time. She dressed yesterday's clothes and hurriedly opened the door, facing the inexpressive face of Konan. The older one quickly spoke.
"Good afternoon. Yesterday I said we were going to show you the place, but after eleven yours of sleep you must be hungry, yes?" She asked.
"Yes, I am," Sakura answered, a little disturbed with how Akatsuki really planned on treating her with care, as if she wasn't to be disposed as soon as her abilities served them no more. So she voiced her thoughts. "Why does it care to you so much? You put me to sleep in a nice room, you bring me good food and you ask me things as if I was a welcomed guest in your house."
Konan showed a shadow of a smirk, slightly amused at the petite kunoichi's dareness.
"Let's say you are a midterm. You are very useful to Akatsuki, so it is essential that your health is in acceptable conditions. Of course, the state of your mind is also important, so it will be no use to us to let you grow insane in a cell deprived of basic human needs," she explained, and Sakura almost huffed with sarcasm. How thoughtful of you, she scoffed in her mind. "Now, if you allow us, I will explain your way to the kitchen. Wait for me there."
Sakura listened Konan's directions with no real interest, thinking about how she didn't felt anything abnormal in her body when asking a question with evident lack of trust and respect for Akatsuki. She supposed, then, that the seal would only activate if she spoke about crucial information. She thought of it as a good thing: she never knew how to keep her mouth shut when challenged, and the habit only grew worse under Tsunade's guidance. She could deal with an angry Akatsuki that could do nothing to her while she treated Itachi if she dared to be rude do them, as she was protected by her "privileged status", but for sure she couldn't deal with a seal that harassed her freedom every second of her day.
She arrived at the kitchen with no problem and was surprised again with the place's design, just like a regular kitchen. Even the table was too small to hold more than four people, but she supposed a bunch of S-ranked criminals wouldn't enjoy their time by sitting and having happy family mealtime.
Searching for something in the fridge, she opted for a glass of milk and an apple (which was sour, unlike Konoha's sweet apples). Enjoying her loneliness, she started to wonder how the other members would be like.
Besides Itachi and Kisame, the shark-man, she knew Orochimaru was part of the organization in the past and that the lunatic blond was dead somewhere with his arms very far away from his body. She also heard word of an immortal one in the middle of that and, of course, there was a Very Gladly Dead Sasori, who also had his great parcel of freakiness. Konan didn't seem so abnormal so far, but what could those mysterious eyes of hers keep hidden?
From the information she had acquired with Tsunade, their progress of capturing the Bijuu was very alarming in such a small time of offensive activity. They had already made the capture of the Five, Seven and One-Tail. Even with the loss of two shinobi, she was sure he was to be replaced very soon and then their plan would be resumed.
The girl wanted to do anything to slow the capturing process, however she knew it was idiotic of her to act against Akatsuki while in their own headquarters. She was in their territory, completely submissive and useless to her own village. She was mostly bidden by her new cute tattoo, but she also could be easily killed by any of them, like a crushed insect under someone's foot. So all she could do was collect intel and hope for the best.
The other door in the kitchen opened, and from it appeared the blue, colossal man she fought not long ago. His features changed as a smug grin appeared in his face, as if something very entertaining was happening. Sakura tried not to grimace, but she knew she failed.
"I see everything went well with Leader," he started a conversation while sitting in a chair. His voice tone wasn't even a bit hostile and it sounded a lot lighter than she expected. "Well, sorry for the shoulder, hope you understand. Capture needed to be easier."
"As you see, I could fix it. I am here because I can make this sort of things, am I not?" She tried to answer as neutral as possible, while showing a tiny bit of defiance to mask her fear of him.
To her surprise, the shark man's grin widened, very pleased with her answer.
"I see you don't hold back your words. Didn't expect that. I kinda like you, girlie," he laughed. "So since we will see each other a lot around here, I guess presentations are needed. My name is Hoshigaki Kisame."
"Mine is Sakura. Haruno Sakura."
"I know. Ah," He seemed to remember something. "About your fighting style, Sakura, I want to point some flaws so you can work on them. You may be young, but it isn't an excuse to make such errors."
Sakura's face showed a big fat what. She expected lots of things from everyone around there, but lectures about the way she fought wasn't one of them. But well, she didn't expect to be treated so nicely while a prisoner. Life with the most wanted criminals would be full of surprises, then (and while her mind thought such things, she tried not to scream).
"You stand still a lot in the battlefield, as if the time had stopped for you to think and watch. If my intention wasn't to capture you, you could have died in the middle of that field. I also noticed you frequently looked around from the corner of your eyes, trying to get fragments of Itachi's battle. You know, such things can cost your life.
"You are highly intelligent and could find my hiding spot, but had the error to prepare your shoot too early. Because of that, I grabbed your leg very easily. Anyway, your flexibility is impressive, even for a kunoichi.
"Your raw power is also remarkable. Now I understand how one of our hideouts was destroyed by you. When Deidara told me, I thought it was some sort of exaggeration from him, with his talk of 'a little girl smashing down the cave', but now I understand perfectly. If you had landed this fist of yours in somewhere vital I sure would be in big trouble. But I also have to point that you let your guard down after landing your punches. You need to improve your speed and reactions."
Even if it was all said by an enemy, the medic-nin heard with attention. How Tsunade never had said any of that to her? Thinking back then, the flaws were all in there, just as Kisame said. She could also remember these very same problems in the battle against Sasori. Well, nothing like a good, old advice of an S-class criminal.
If it wasn't for Konan's arrival, Kisame would probably ramble about her battle style for a while. Sensing her presence, Kisame turned around and gave her a small nod.
"Morning, Konan," he greeted, being answered with another nod from the blue-haired woman.
"Have you eaten? Good. Let's go," she called Sakura and the women left.
After walking for a good couple minutes, Sakura had been introduced to the courtyard used for training (the same where Kisame had walked in from), to the library, to Leader's office and, finally, to the infirmary.
"We don't own equipment with the same technology available in Konohagure, but I am sure everything here will be very useful to you," Konan explained to the younger one. "This room is free to your use as you please, as is the library. Oh, and I almost forgot, but Itachi will be here in a few minutes for his first appointment."
Konan excused herself, then, and left Sakura with her own thoughts. Thoughts she didn't want to have, so she occupied herself with exploring the infirmary and taking note of what she had to work with around there.
In her few hours of stay in that hideout, Tsunade's apprentice had already noted that there was no reason to not treat the members of the organization without respect. Yes, they were all strange and knew how to put fear in anybody, plus she hated them to their core for what they had done so far, but they were surprisingly polite towards her. Of course they made sure to state every single hour of her position in there, but they also treated her as a decent human being, and that she would never expect. If all of them were like that, things would be, in the scenario she was in, almost acceptable.
Looking around the infirmary, she didn't found anything out of the blue for that kind of place. As Konan said, they possessed regular medical items, useful in most situations, but they had no advanced equipment.
She found in the lockers different kinds of medicine and herbs used for several treatments, but also found drugs she only had read of, never getting the opportunity to have them before. The thought of something to already busy herself with in her free time made her smile a little for herself.
While searching for paper and pen for her appointment with Itachi, the said one arrived at the room. Even if Sakura was the intruder there, he said an "excuse me" and waited for her to say something, standing in the entrance. Even when she did say a polite 'hello', he didn't reply.
"So..." she started, "could you please sit in one of the beds?" He did so without any words, leaving Sakura very uncomfortable. Itachi Uchiha, just like his young brother, wasn't much of a social butterfly. "I would like if you informed me of the basics. Age, weight, height, allergies, significant changes in your body in the past months..."
While Sakura wrote everything the man in front of her said, she couldn't help to think how he was intriguing. She knew he was Sasuke's older (and very mentally troubled) brother and that he betrayed the village leaving a trail of dead corpses —his very family— behind. It was just after Sasuke's departure that the girl, while training under Tsunade, got two and two together: her former crush's vengeance wish was drifted to the older Uchiha.
But that was all she knew. Nobody talked about it, and nobody asked about it either. What had driven Itachi's betrayal? How come the Uchiha clan, so powerful and skilled, had been slaughtered with no fights? Why had she never heard anything of it in her entire life?
"All right. Now I need you to tell me the abnormalities you are feeling."
"I feel fatigue all the time, and sometimes I suffer dizziness. I also faint after taxing missions that deprive me of regular eating and sleep. There also is cough and fevers. My lungs frequently hurt and, sometimes, I have nosebleeds.
"And have you ever used medicines for these symptoms?"
"I use drugs to slow down these problems, but they are stopping working. My body has already adapted to them. I tried every one we got here until they worked no more."
"I see. Well," Sakura stopped, trying to find anything in her mind that could be used as a base for the sickness. "Can you use your Sharingan regularly?"
"I am slowly going blind because of the Mangekyou, but everything I told you don't have any kind of connection with my eyes."
Finishing the questionary, the medic-nin started the regular medical procedures: she analized airways, ears, heartbeats, blood pressure, eyes, reflexes and superficial body anomalies. Itachi seemed uncomfortable when asked to remove his shirt, but he also adapted very quickly to Sakura's professionalism.
The most intriguing moment was when she asked him to turn on the Sharingan. Kakashi had done so for her dozens of times, but it was still amazing for her. Itachi's Mangekyou form, even if made her wish very badly to avert her own eyes, had a beautiful pattern.
Done with the physical exam, the youngest considered Itachi's problem. Even if Itachi said the Sharingan had nothing to do with it, she couldn't take it for granted, so she would study the possibility. She asked him to write down the names of the drugs he used regularly and the function of each one, and, just after he did so, she finished their appointment, granting him she would have results at their next meeting.
In Pain's office, Konan started to tell the leader about Sakura.
"Sakura Haruno has been easy to deal with until now. She is not rebellious and answers nicely to politeness, but she asks a lot and is always wary of her surroundings."
"From all the data we have about her, her behavior was expected. She is a smart girl and will not challenge us." He put his elbows in the desk. "Also, her clothes are inappropriate to the weather here, she must be feeling cold. Please, get her new clothing as soon as possible. You're dismissed for now."
Before Konan left, he remembered something important.
"Konan," he called. "Be careful with her. As I said, she is smart and the seal is has flaws. If she finds them, she can help Leaf in someway. I will probably assign her to missions with Deidara since he injures himself the most, but she is in your care until then. Keep your eyes open."
"And what about Itachi?"
"The contact between them will be limited to medical visits. We want Sakura in her best mental condition, and she holds a big grudge against him. He is already oriented about how to behave around her. Lastly, we will hold a meeting with all the members tonight to inform them about our situation with the Fire Country. They will be hunting us with no withdraw from now on, and any mistake from our part could be fatal. We are not ready for a large scale attack."
"All right, Nagato. Everything will be handled just fine by everyone," she assured.
"Right. Now, please, go buy the girl's clothes. If necessary, ask her sizes."
With her orders received, Konan left the room. While walking the large corridor, she encountered the man who used a whirlwind mask. He gave two small jumps while going towards the woman.
"Konan-san!" Tobi cheered.
"Yes, Tobi."
"Is it true that there is a prisoner walking around freely around the HQ? Kisame just told me!"
"Yes, Sakura Haruno, apprentice of the Fifth Hokage. I ask you to not bother her while she is here." She kept the cold look in Tobi, who started walking again. When he was side to side with her, he stopped.
"I was not informed of the situation. If Pain and you want to play boss while forgetting who is the real superior here, Akatsuki may fall. Take it as an advice." His voice tone suddenly changed while he whispered to the blue-haired woman. There was the real Madara.
"We will have a meeting later to let everyone know about everything."
"Oh, yes, Konan-san! I am looking forward to talking with everyone!" He clapped, the obnoxious Tobi returning as if nothing happened. "Until tonight, then!"
Just as Tobi left jumping around, Konan allowed herself to feel the chill down her spine. That man could never win Pain in battle, she knew that, but this fact only worsened the situation: the so-called Tobi played with Akatsuki just as if they were puppets tied to strings he led; if he threatened Pain, he had his good methods to make them oblige to him. She felt as if Akatsuki's power was draining from her Pain just as water cupped in hands. Tobi wanted to act in his own again.
But she wouldn't bother Nagato with her suppositions for now, so she went to buy female clothes. She would talk to him later.
Later, with warm and fresh clothing, Sakura went to the library to start research. From what she gathered with Itachi's appointment, she had a few months to try to find a cure to his disease after it fully affected the Uchiha's body. She still doubted of his eyes, so she walked around the library until she finally found an encyclopedia with a very long section about Kekkei Genkais. Sitting in one of the few desks in the room, she started to search.
As expected, there was lots of information about the Byakugan, and after some page flipping she found pages that described the Sharingan. Most of the data there was already very known to her, but she still read it like it was the first time: the Mangekyou Sharingan, which Itachi had, was awakened only if the user experienced the pain of their closest person. If the user made extended use of the doujutsu, it would also affect their body heavily. Trying to ignore for now the disturbing thought of how many people Itachi had killed that could possibly have awakened his Mangekyou, Sakura only found register of a few jutsus obtained with this new power, and of a handful historical figures that held the cursed eyes.
Frustrated at her lack of progress, she kept flipping through the pages and had to stop abruptly at a very, very small section that showed a pattern she would never forget: purple eyes with a circle pattern. It was named Rinnegan, and was held merely as a legend long forgotten. Said to be the most powerful of all the Kekkei Genkai, the old stories told of the goddess Kaguya being the first holder of such power and her son, the Sage of the Six Paths, inheriting it and learning the manipulation of chakra.
Sakura's head was spinning. The book clearly said that kind of power was only a legend, but Pain's eyes said the Rinnegan was very much real and secretly existing after generations, held by the man the Shinobi world feared the most without even knowing he had that kind of power. Where in the world did Pain get those eyes? Was he born with them, or did he steal from someone else? If so, who?
However the worst wasn't even that: if Akatsuki had such powerful Doujutsu, said to be legendary and fully overwhelming, the ninja world was in a problem much bigger than they even expected. The Leader was still hidden inside the Rain, but he would sometime emerge from the shadows. If, in a terrible hypothesis, the Akatsuki got all of the tailed beasts Pain were able to fully unleash the bijuu's and his own powers, along with the other member's aid, what would happen to all the hidden villages?
Sakura's train of thought was interrupter by someone's entrance in the library, alarming her and making her calmly close the book with the intention of not raising any questions from anyone. When she raised her head, she met the inexpressive figure of Itachi, who read the girl's disturbance very clearly in her eyes.
"Itachi-san." She diverted her eyes for the book with the intention of putting her thoughts in order. "I researched a little of Sharingan to see if the extensive usage could have any link to your problems, and as I remembered of being with Kakashi-sensei, the Mangekyou affects your body if you use it a lot. I know you said it doesn't have anything related, but are you sure your eyes are not part of your condition?"
"Yes. I have developed my sickness during the winter of four years ago, and Akatsuki was not active at the moment, so I did not use my Sharingan at that time. You must know, but the Mangekyo makes you blind over time. And I still do not suffer from that problem just yet," he answered.
Liar, thought Sakura. Itachi could have easily gone by with anyone else with his blatant lie, but he surely forgot —or underestimated— who she was or what her skills were. She saw it, so faintly, but she saw it: he could not focus his gaze perfectly, and his eyes narrowed ever so slightly that it could pass as a penetrating gaze, but he was making effort to see what was afar from him.
And of course, between his lightly narrowed eyes, he knew she had seen right through him. She never dared to get him busted, however.
"I understand. Well, for today I stopped with my research and I will resume tomorrow. When I get solid assumptions, I will call you again for another appointment." The pink-haired girl said while she lifted from the chair, hugging the encyclopedia. "And if it isn't a big problem, can we also have weekly meetings after the next one? I want to see how fast your body deteriorates and try to at least slow down the process with my medical chakra."
"Of course," Itachi agreed. With the conversation done, Sakura put the book in its bookshelf and excused herself, going to her room.
When she arrived there, she observed that besides the new clothes that she had already seen, someone had also put an extra set of sheets and towels. They also left there a broom and a duster, and Sakura thanked the good soul (oh, the sweet irony) who left these things to her.
After dusting the room and removing the spider webs that bothered her so much, she proceeded to put her new clothes in the small wardrobe, noticing they did not match her style at all, but still had their charm. Konan surely had good taste, as Sakura knew she would be the one responsible for the task of getting her new clothing.
Sakura barely kept her emotions at lock when she got her headband to put in a safe place; in the back of the red fabric, with very feminine calligraphy, the word 'FOREHEAD' was written with black marker. Ino had pranked her with this little joke after she forgot the headband in the blonde's house, following a very nice girl's pajama party with Hinata and Tenten.
Afraid of remembering too much and letting her emotions get the better of her, Sakura quickly folded the headband and put it in one of the drawers. She had to keep her emotions at lock and focus on the present; longing too much would only drive her insane. Diverting her mind, she sat in the now clean writing desk and started to write —or rather scribble possibilities about Itachi's sickness in a clear paper sheet. But she couldn't forget the intimidating yet hypnotizing pattern of his Mangekyou, the three tomoes slowly spinning and turning into blades. What did his past keep? Who Uchiha Itachi really was?
In the middle of the night, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path received in its hands each Akatsuki member in their projected forms. When all of the nukenin made themselves present, Pain started speaking.
"Good evening. Hidan and Kakuzu, how is your assignment going?" he asked to the duo.
"Great. We are returning and should be arriving on tomorrow's afternoon with the money. I counted it, the Daimyo paid what he promised," the treasurer related.
"Very well. Moving to the main subjects, many of you don't know we have a new prisoner with benefits in our headquarters. Her name is Haruno Sakura and she is the Fifth Hokage's apprentice. We received the information that her team parted in mission two days ago and we took the opportunity to capture her," the Leader informed.
"And for which reasons she holds privileges?" Kakuzu asked.
"She is a high caliber medic ninja, already rivaling Senju Tsunade's skills. She is in the hideout to treat Itachi's health problems and will stay here until we find a cure or a treatment. If it is necessary, she will also treat everyone else when needed, but don't be reckless just because we now have a medic with us. I also advice you to treat her with politeness: no jokes, no provocations, no offenses nor touching her. This goes specially to you both, Hidan and Deidara," Pain warned. He ignored his subordinate's scoffs. "If you find necessary to restrain her for any reason, you are free to do so, but we need to preserve her mental health so she can treat Itachi adequately. Remember she has my seal in her body, so it is likely you will not need to take any measures with her."
"Leader, there also is her teammate", Zetsu remembered.
"I did not forget, Zetsu. Her teammate is Uzumaki Naruto, the nine-tails Jinchuuriki," he informed. "This is the second reason of Sakura's capture. It is clear for us that she would rather die than saying anything about Uzumaki, so do not press her on that matter for now. Itachi's treatment is our priority."
"Konoha's dogs never say a shit. Little fuckers," the cursing came from the purple-eyed shadow.
"Hidan, do not interrupt me. As I said, she will not say anything about Uzumaki Naruto nor Konoha, but we still have the possibility of using her as a bait or as a bribe to the jinchuuriki. Naruto is easily swayed by his emotions and seeing his teammate would make him easily lose control of himself," Pain continued.
"The problem is to get him away from his damn bodyguard Copy Ninja," Deidara stated. "This one is tough work. He keeps the blondie at bay."
"We will still elaborate a plan to use Haruno Sakura, but I will reinforce the need of keeping her mentally sane for now. She will have her own activities, and you can keep your lifes without changing anything too. She is here to aid us in what we need, but do not be inappropriate in any sense. I should not explain what I mean with this." This time, no one said anything to Pain. "Good. The meeting is finished now. Any questions before cutting contact?"
Not receiving any answer, the Leader dissolved the jutsu and his consciousness returned to his room. At his side, Konan also woke up. He watched her expressionless while she readjusted herself to reality. However, she never looked at him.
"Nagato, today Madara stopped me at the hallways. He asked me to say you something," she started.
"What is it?"
"He did not like you taking such a decision without his approval beforehand, and said that if we keep doing this kind of thing, Akatsuki may fall by his hands," she repeated the masked man's words.
"It was not such a drastic decision. He is trying to impose fear into us. We should not fear him however, Konan. We are stronger. In every aspect," he reassured the woman.
She hesitated in answering because she disagreed. Nagato may have never lost a battle, but his ego could cost a lot to him. Uchiha Madara wasn't one to defy, when his very name made any elite shinobi grimace in fear: he was a legend. Pain still would be one too, of course, he was the bearer of the legendary Rinnegan. But there still was a long way before that became true.
A 'trust me' was heard by her then. Nagato always said that when she got too worried and even if those words gave her strength to believe some more, it slowly lost its effect. The path they trailed was more dangerous each day.
But as she had done several times before, she decided to trust Nagato once more. She got closer and touched his lips with hers, hoping that what would come after with their touches made her truly believe that everything they were doing was worth it.