Chapter Two
Kurenai was helping Sakura into her Kimono. The younger woman didn't have as much experience with formal clothing as the other. Kurenai was already finished and looking beautiful in her red kimono with a gold belt. It was simple, but elegant. But Kurenai admitted to herself that she couldn't measure up to Sakura.
When the red eyed woman finished tying everything Sakura tried to get away, but the sensei firmly held her in place. "We haven't done anything with your hair. Plus we have to secure your mask."
"I knew I was forgetting something! The mask!" Sakura worried. Kurenai clicked her tong through her golden mask that covered her eyes and upper nose.
"Not a problem. Ino-san knew you'd forget and gave me this before you left." She took out a black mask that had real sakura blossoms at the top right corner. Sakura smiled and thanked her. She decided it would take her mind off the older woman tossing her hair around.
When she finished Sakura looked into the mirror. A geisha stared back. She gasped and put her hand over her mouth. The geisha in the mirror followed her movements. "Kurenai-sensei. Thank you." She bowed her head and Kurenai smiled.
"It's not a problem. Let's go check on the guys." She led the pink haired Kunoichi out the door and into the hallway of the daiyou's guest rooms. Neji and Konohamaru were impatiently waiting, but stopped when the two women appeared.
Konohamaru grinned. "Hey Neji, I bet you we have the most beautiful women at the party with us."
"I don't bet stupid." Neji answered coldly and offered his arm to Kurenai who took a hold of it. It made the woman feel 20 again, although she didn't look a day over it.
"Milady." The 5th Hokage's grandson said with a deep boy. Sakura hit him over the head.
"Idiot." She grabbed his arm and he led her towards the music and quiet chatter. Neji and Kurenai entered before them. There was a small increase in the chatter most consisting of how they made a lovely couple. A couple of the girls were swooning at Neji. Once it quieted down again Konohamaru gently led Sakura in. This time all chatter ceased and heads turned to look at the newcomers. Sakura was suddenly glad for the mask that covered her eyes and cheeks otherwise the crowd would see her bright red.
Chatter started up again. "Who is she?" "I don't know. She's gorgeous!" "The guy she's with isn't half bad looking himself." Konohamaru smirked at that comment.
Sakura walked over to Kurenai and sat with her and Neji on a mound of pillows while Konohamaru was sent to fetch drinks. Men took it as the chance to try to talk to the pink haired stranger. Sakura shot them down by turning to talk to Neji. The Hyuuga smirked behind his mask while he activated his Byakugan and checked their surroundings.
"Nothing looks threatening." He whispered in Sakura's ear. Sakura giggled to make it look like they were flirting. "Although there are several young men here would be more than happy to dance with you."
"I have a job to do." She whispered back and took out a fan. It was white with pink sakura blossoms on it. Sakura knew it was her only line of defense if they we re attacked. It was actually made out of senbon and a paper that would dissolve in water to make a strong paralyzing gas.
Konohamaru reappeared with drinks which the other three accepted graciously. He sat down next to Sakura and grinned. "Isn't this great? On my way to the table three girls were fighting over who was going to ask me to dance. Although," he frowned. "several men were doing the same about you two." He said talking about Kurenai and Sakura.
"Go enjoy yourselves." Neji instructed. "I can keep a look out from here. If anything happens I'll find you." Sakura nodded and looked up to find a man nervously staring at her. She smiled and stood. He ran over and asked her to dance since she accepted.
The evening passed and Sakura became more and more comfortable. Her current partner, a tall blond man, had danced with her three times and turned out to be interesting conversation. When it was nearly midnight something about the atmosphere changed and Sakura worried. Everything seemed wrong all of a sudden. Her blond partner was interrupted by a black haired man. The blond wordlessly stepped aside while the black haired one nodded.
"Excuse me." He said bowing. He was wearing a plain dark blue kimono with a red belt. The masked stranger quietly started to dance with her. Sakura grew a little nervous since he wasn't as talkative as his friend. He leaned in so that his lips were next to her ear. "You made a big mistake Kunoichi." He whispered.
"Who are you?" Sakura demanded.
"I could ask you the same question. I could also ask you why you're wearing my mother's favorite kimono." He said coldly. Suddenly there was a large explosion and a woman screamed. A wall fell down on the west side and the blond man Sakura had been dancing with was holding a knocked out body.
"You!" Sakura gasped and tried to draw back. He held her even tighter and pressed a pressure point in her neck. The last thing Sakura remembered was a pair of red eyes glaring down at her.
Konohamaru looked around the room frantically. He couldn't find his pink haired partner. When he did catch sight of her she was in another man's arms knocked out cold. "Shit." He muttered and took a kunai out from the folds of his clothing. He ran at Itachi Uchiha and who disappeared in thin air. Konohamaru swore fluently than thought about what the Hokage's reaction would be. The situation didn't look good. Not at all.
"Konohamaru! Snap out of it!" Neji yelled. "They're got him!" He pointed at a blue man who was taking the body of the 6 tailed beast's knocked out capsule. The Hyuuga prodigy ran and activated his Byakugan. Unfortunately there was a mine set up and happened to bump into it. He was blown backwards by the force of the blow. He swore as he realized her couldn't stand. His legs were numb from the explosion and he was losing conscieceness quickly. Konohamaru and Kurenai had bee knocked out, Sakura was kidnapped, and they had failed their mission. His last thought was spent wondering how he would explain the situation to the Hokage.
Sakura hated it when she couldn't see. If she ever went blind she would probably kill herself. That's how much she hated it. The reason she couldn't see was because of the blindfold roughly tied around her face. Her beautiful mask had been thrown away at some point in time.
So, there she was bouncing along against the shoulder of some S class criminal wondering what they wanted with her. Sakura wasn't completely uncomfortable. Whoever was carrying her wasn't touching her in inappropriate places and they sometimes let her down to eat and use the bathroom. The blond man, who she discovered was called Deidara, would sometimes talk to her cheerfully while the others scouted around.
Day after day the group of three ran across the country until they got to unclaimed country. There were two reasons it was unclaimed. One was that it had formidable terrain where if somebody tripped it could result in death. The second reason was that it was unofficially run by criminals and bandits. The small towns in the area were cautious and very tough. It was a perfect place for the Akatsuki headquarters.
Halfway through the country the group decided that the blindfold could be removed. It wasn't like there was anything to see anyways. So, she ended up staring at gray rocks from Kisame's back. A day later they entered a more prosperous town where the inhabitants happily greeted the Akatsuki members.
Sakura looked at them with questioning eyes. This was the Akatsuki, a bunch of S class criminals out for power, not heroes. She just didn't understand.
What the Kunoichi worried about the most was the boy tied to Itachi's back. He was the one who carried the 6 tailed snake but it looked like he was placed in a coma. It was probably the work of Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan, so she hoped that the damage wouldn't be too terrible to the young man.
Ahead of the group loomed a large mansion. Although it was well taken care of and could even be called pretty by some, it gave Sakura chills down her spine. In the mansion she would discover her fate, perhaps even die. She didn't like the direction her situation was going in. She didn't like it at all.