Guess who's back?! Yes it's just little old me, but I come back bearing gifts lol.

I kind of abandoned this one because I figured it wasn't going anywhere, but seeing how someone commented on it... Well I'm not heartless enough to not respond. So! Yes, there will be a couple more chapters but it definitely won't be super long.

Thank you for your support!:)

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Sakura quickly tried to compose herself on the tiny twin sized bed she was currently positioned awkwardly on, her bruised leg extended towards the end of the bed as she straightened her spine. The thought of being stuck with the Akatsuki for half of a week sent her brain practically fumbling and falling through various scenarios of what might happen. She had already taken the week for her yearly paid time off but she had originally planned to just mill around her house and train, her first few nights were planned to go out and enjoy getting drunk and forgetting about everything taxing her.

First and foremost her recent split from Sasuke, the year and a half long relationship having been too forced on his end of just wanting to rebuild the Uchiha clan.

She had loved him for a while but then it turned into just being around when he wanted someone to fuck, there were no real feelings there which led her to end it.

She allowed a day for the mourning of the failed relationship but truth be told, the Uchiha had taken it much harder than she had expected. He practically destroyed his apartment after she had walked out, Naruto had shown up a couple hours after, asking if Sakura was as beat up as the raven haired man. Of course she should've just pretended to be hurt compared to brushing it off like she felt more alive than before after ending it, Naruto was actually upset with her for a couple days.

She couldn't lie to herself though, her original fawning over the Uchiha had clouded her judgement of what love and real feelings were for a while, but after seeing Ino start dating Sai things started to shift in her head. The reactions between the two had actually been the catalyst of her downward spiraling feelings towards her boyfriend. Seeing how happy the blonde girl was and how unusually happy Sai was with her as well had just solidified the thoughts of her own relationship not exactly being normal.

So she had swallowed her pride of being alone again and ended it, trying to force him to believe it was mutual to lessen the blow.

This was only less than a month ago and Sakura had never felt better, letting her mind release the stupid dream of marrying the raven haired manchild. Her mind felt free and she didn't care, she was stronger and smarter than she had ever been before. The only thing clouding her mind now was how the fuck she got herself in this exact situation after spending the previous night drinking with Temari. Truthfully she had just wanted to have a release from the stress of work and the stress of the accusatory glances people had started giving her after she ended her relationship.

But honestly it was no ones business but her own, she had her reasons and she was satisfied with them.

Now the new issue would be hopefully getting out of this situation without any lasting damage. Over the past few years the Akatsuki had kind of gone off of the grid, only dealing with some under the table deals. But nothing like that had been known to the public, mainly because they had become more of a gang of dangerous misfit men than the most dangerous assassins around. Of course the scare was still there in the back of her head, but considering she was alive and her leg was halfway bandaged she figured maybe that was a sign she would live. Why bandage someone up if you were only going to kill them later?

Ino would never believe this, but her best friend would have also pestered her to try and find a new man while she was trapped with multiple grown powerful figures. Very handsome and built figures with assumingely money for more than her lifetime. Ino would kill her if she found out she was here for half of her paid time off and would demand to know every detail of every man she came in contact with. Skilled assassins meant nothing to the blonde if they were at least pretty to look at, and probably even better in bed.

She shook her head lightly and almost laughed as her eyes went back to roaming the small room, mostly black colors and a few spots of red and tan. The threat of being somewhere she didn't know still kept her on edge but considering no one was actually trying to harm her currently, and the redhead was assumingely going to get her food, she let her shoulders relax some.

There's no real reason to try and escape and there's no urge to try and fight her way out, if it came to it she would gladly show them she wasn't just some girl who stupidly fell off a cliff. Granted being intoxicated probably caused the whole mess to begin with but no one really needed to know that.

"Here." The redhead says suddenly from the doorway, setting a container of rice and fish on the bed before going back to his desk after shutting the door.

"Thank you.." She mumbles before beginning to eat, scooting herself back to the headboard to prop her back onto.

-

Sasori had actually never planned to see the pink haired girl again, their last encounter having been years ago. He would never admit that she crossed his mind more than anyone he had met before, so he pushed it off as she was a strong opponent who defeated him. He was known for being emotionless, almost to the caliber of an Uchiha with the consistent blankness in the face. He was also constantly told he was asexual, which he would never comment on because he never had felt the urge to waste time on useless women. Not one woman had ever caught his attention, not until the pink haired woman had punched her way into his mind. She was strange looking but beautiful, even when they fought she held herself differently than he was used to.

The force behind her actions left her different in his mind, she didn't seem to care if she was seen as brutish by her enemies. Which was an admirable thing amongst female fighters, but now she looked grown up. Her hair was longer and she had grown into her body, she looked like an artist had spent years working on her to perfect their masterpiece.

He had spent a while studying her before she had woken up on his bed, her delicate features seemed an odd clash to her fighting abilities. Her tiny hands somehow able to deliver so much damage without sustaining any harm to herself was another admirable thing about her. She could cause damage far worse than some men he had fought, and to have defeated himself was an even greater feat in and of itself.

He had few dreams in his life but since they had fought she had been a reoccurring thing in his sleep. Bright green eyes, choppy pink hair and pale skin littered with cuts and bruises from their fight.

The only other time he managed to see her was at some festival in Suna he had attended after the Akatsuki disbanded for a short time. She had been walking around with that blonde haired kid and he had happened to get a second look at her as they walked by, completely oblivious to an Akatsuki so close. It was almost like fate was throwing her back into his face just for fun.

Another thing he'd admit to no one, not even himself, was the growing want to see her again after that. To spar with her and see how she fights now after all those years, to see her in his dreams flying around a field with him and usually ending in a more than odd situation of himself trapping her and watching her body contort with his strings.

He scoffed as he felt his heart quicken at the thoughts of the dreams he had had, the noises she had made because of him and the look in her eyes. He quickly pushed those intrusive thoughts away as he went back to drawing out his next masterpiece he planned to do. Fate had nothing to do with her falling back into his path and he wasn't going to pretend it meant anything.

"Hey, so why is your leader okay with me being here? Isn't there dangers of having someone from Konoha staying here?" She asked suddenly, thankfully pulling his mind from the unwelcome adult pictures going through his head.

"The Akatsuki have different intentions now than they originally had. The Akatsuki are basically disbanded, we just choose to stay an organization. Useless death isn't something our leader is behind. Plus you were an admirable opponent when we fought, so you proved your usefulness to him when you defeated me. And he mentioned something about you being an alright medic." He said, talking more than he had since she woke up. Well more than he usually ever did. She scoffed loudly at him before setting her empty container down and sitting up, stretching her back.

"I am right underneath Tsunade at the hospital, I can heal anyone and anything if I put my mind to it. So I'm more than an alright medic." Sakura says with a huff, glancing at his hands as he continues drawing on the paper in front of him.

"Sure, useless titles are what make people work harder right?" He says carelessly, feeling her sudden boiling anger start to bubble up at the statement.

"It's not a useless title when you're saving thousands of lives a week. I've worked hard to get where I am and it's definitely not just for a stupid title." She says, wanting to adjust her bandage on her leg but refraining and just glaring at the red head instead.

"Hm." Was the only noise acknowledging what she said as he continued working silently.

"Where are my clothes?" The pinkette asks, suddenly having it dawn on her that she is in men's clothes with clean skin. Almost slapping herself at the obvious thing she graced passed after waking up.

"They were shredded so I lent you some of mine." He says, causing her face to heat up slightly at the thought of him undressing her.

"I.. Okay." She says, not wanting to ask if he saw her naked because honestly it didn't matter. She was probably bleeding and disgusting and needed new clothes after that fall.

"So what am I supposed to do while I'm here?" She asks as she moves to hang her right leg off of the bed again.

"Find something to occupy yourself with. I'm not babysitting you." Sasori says carelessly as he grabs a different pencil before going back to his work.

"I don't need a babysitter, and you don't look much older so I don't see the need for you to keep addressing me like a child." She says, only for him to ignore her smart remark causing her to roll her eyes.

After realizing the conversation was obviously over, she let her eyes take in the bland room she's probably going to be stuck in for a while. The walls were painted a light grey with a dark charcoal colored trim, the modern looking room seemingly out of place from what she always thought the Akatsuki lived in. Not that she was assuming it would be some cave with no windows, but honestly that seemed closer to reality than this room that could've come out of any house in Konoha.

The redhead obviously kept the place cleaned with everything in a certain place, even his shoes were stacked on a rack near the door that sat on top of a small mat. His scrolls were all sorted in cubbies hung on the wall above his desk with a light bar stuck to the bottom, illuminating his desk.

There's a soft knock at the door causing Sasori to send a single blue string out without looking to open it, revealing Konan standing there with crutches in her hands.

"Hey! Sorry to intrude but I thought these might be of some use to you." The violet haired woman says as she steps into the bedroom, her eyes shinning as she meets the green ones staring at her curiously.

"I'm Konan by the way, which I'm sure you already knew that but I'm a sucker for formalities." She says with a laugh as she leans the crutches up against the wall closest to her.

"Thank you, that's very kind." Sakura finally says after the initial shock of having anyone from the Akatsuki helping her, let alone two now.

"Of course! I just assumed you wouldn't want to be trapped in here for your stay with us. Pein has agreed to let you be as long as you agree to the simple anonymity rules. You can't take any information on us back to your village, and you can't try to send word to them while you're here. As long as you agree to those two, you're free to stay until you feel well enough to go home. Sorry for zapping your chakra, but we can't be too careful." Konan goes on as Sakura listens obediently, knowing that if that's all she has to agree to then she's fine with it.

The Akatsuki was never anything crazy to her, they just seemed like another band of strong criminals with shaky morals. And considering the lack of interaction with them previously, well she didn't exactly have too many pros of telling Tsunade about any of this. The only true negative was when they were going after the tailed beasts but that fight had gone out years ago too, leaving the Akatsuki shrouded in mystery about what happened to cause that change.

"Also your presence has been spread through the base, so you shouldn't have any trouble with anyone here. If you need me I'll be in the room at the far end of the hallway, and if you can't find me Pein is almost always in his office." She finally finishes as Sakura nods politely with a small smile at how hospitable they were being.

"Alright, well I hope to see you around, Sakura." Konan finishes with a nod before walking out and shutting the door behind her.

What a weird fucking day. From fighting those drunk men and falling off a cliff to now being welcomed into the Akatsuki like it was some getaway hotel… Well she just couldn't seem to wrap her mind around it.

"What a thrilling conversation that was." Sasori grumbles causing the pink haired woman to scoff.

"Yeah well at least she was being nice, you don't seem to have even a shred of humility when it comes to guests in your home." She remarks with her eyes caught on the crutches.

"I think saving you from being a pile of blood at the bottom of a cliff is more than enough humility. You're the one with silly notions of spa treatment at the Akatsuki base." The redhead says with a small smirk on his lips as he hears her huff out frustratedly.

"Please continue, your conversational skills are just remarkable." She says sarcastically before scooting to the edge of the bed, trying to use what chakra she had left to heal the most painful parts of her leg injury. Once she took most of the sharpness off, she managed to hobble towards the crutches without realizing he was watching her closely.

His amber eyes took her in curiously, his interest piqued at the determination she had to do everything on her own. She could've easily just sat there and begged him to grab the crutches for her but instead she just sunk her teeth into her bottom lip and limped over to the closest wall to steady herself. Her movements were slow but calculated as she made her way to the crutches, showing him yet again that she was something entirely different than he had expected.

"Where is the bathroom?" She asks, pulling him from staring at her any longer as he points to the only other door in the room besides the one leading to the hallway.

"Thanks." She says as she uses the crutches to make her way into the small bathroom. There was barely anything on the walls or counters, excluding the most basic of men's products. But beggars can't be choosers when it comes to this situation.

Once she finished up, she made her way back into the room with her restlessness at an all time high. It's only been one night but she's already sick of being in this room.

"I'm going to go look around." She says causing him to look back at her again, most people wouldn't want to risk the chance of running into anyone from the Akatsuki.. Let alone stumble around their base alone and already injured.

"And here I thought you were at least smarter than the average toddler." He finally says, feeling his lips quirk up at the shocked expression she has on her face after understanding what he means.

"Two days and we're going to spar, just so I can experience that sorry look on your face when I beat you… Again. And with a beat leg." She says with a wink before wobbling off into the hallway.