Sakura gave her patient a nod, gesturing for him to stay still until she came back.
Opening the door, the medic-nin stepped into the candle lit corridor, glancing around, trying to find the culprit behind knocking.
"Sakura-san. Cherry. Leader-sama would like to speak with you Mmmm after you are done with Uchiha-san brat. That wasn't nice. I don't care."
The bi colored man said from the wall that he was nicely sticking out of, his yellow eyes gleaming in the light as he talked back to his other half.
"Ah, yes. Okay." Sakura managed to reply before her knees almost buckled at the plant man's devouring stare.
"I..is that all, Zetsu-san?" She asked, nervously playing the helm of her top.
"Yes, that should be all, Sakura-san. I say we eat her. No, she is a new member. I don't care. You should."
The pinkette slowly turned around and walked back into her room, closing the wooden door, leaving the plant man in the corridor to chat away with his other half.
'Wow, this place is mental.'
'It's okay, we're more mental than this place.'
'Yeah right.'
"I am sorry for making you wait Uch- Itachi-san. Let's get this quickly over with." The medic-nin said, returning to her spot on the chair in front of the sitting, shirtless Uchiha.
"Hn."
"As talkative as ever, aren't you." Sakura muttered under her breath as started healing the man's eyes, missing the way the corners of his mouth ever so slightly had tugged upwards.
'Damn. He is almost completely blind. Well, it's good that there's almost nothing that I can't fix.'
Two hours had passed since Sakura started her healing session with the Uchiha prodigy.
"Your eyes will heal quite fast as long as you will let me heal them for at least half an hour a day, Itachi-san."
Uchiha prodigy slowly nodded, not opening his eyes.
Once done cleaning and closing up the deep cut on the sharingan user's arm, Sakura placed her hands close to his ribcage, letting her healing chakra scan it.
"After I am done with the check up, I'd like you to trap me in a genjutsu."
Drying her tears with a handkerchief, Sakura quietly strolled down the endless corridors of the Akatsuki base, searching for the leader's office.
After silently walking up the multiple flights of stairs she had reached yet another corridor, this time with tall windows placed on the right side, revealing a generous view of an industrial city that was cloaked in the darkness of the night.
'Wow, we're pretty high up, aren't we.'
'That we are.' Agreed Sakura, wrapping arms around herself as she proceeded to walk down the corridor, towards the leader's office.
Stopping in front of the giant metal doors, pinkette raised her fist to knock three times, waiting for response.
"Enter." Said a baritone voice from inside the office.
Pushing the double doors open with her chakra, medic-nin stepped into the dark room, listening to the doors as they automatically closed themselves behind her back.
"Sakura-san." Spoke the leader from his seat that was positioned behind a black wooden desk, facing towards the doors.
"Leader-sama." Nodded Sakura, taking another step towards the desk upon which laid a few stacks of different documents and scrolls, noting that the leader wore an almost identical facial expression Konan did, although his was hardened and less friendly.
If friendly at all.
"Zetsu-san told me in his report that you have started healing Itachi-san's eyes. Is that true?" The leader slowly asked, gesturing for Sakura to take a seat in front of him.
"Yes, that is true, Leader-sama." Replied the medic-nin as she sat down on a very comfortable black leather chair, placing her hands on her lap.
"How long will it take to completely heal his eyes?"
"Six to ten hours, that of course if he won't use the sharingan in between the healing sessions."
Ringed eyes stared at Sakura as their owner nodded in response and wondered, why the pinkette looked so calm in his powerful presence.
Noticing the way the medic-nin fearlessly gazed into his ringed eyes, Akatsuki leader resisted the strong urge to grip the arms of his chair.
That look on her face made something inside of him crack, sending a crawling sensation up his spine. 'Tenshi..?'
The pinkette was looking at him just like Konan, unknown emotions flashing trough her eyes as the corners of her lips tugged upwards into a sad smile when she stood from her chair.
"Leader-sama, please let me help you." She said, now standing behind pierced man's chair, her back facing the tall glass windows that gave the best view over the industrial city of Ame.
"Come again?"
"You have a crick in your neck Leader-sama. If you'd let me..I could get rid of it for you." Sakura offered, looking into the narrowed, ringed eyes of her new leader who had turned in his seat, now facing her.
"Now Sakura-san, why would you do that? I may be your new leader but you are still very new to Akatsuki organisation. My organisation."
The leader replied, his baritone voice laced with authority as he eyed the medic up and down with a somewhat mocking gaze.
"Do you not have any fear, kunoichi?" He asked, the void of emotions in his voice becoming intimidating, making the female in front of him silently swallow.
Pushing himself off the leather chair, the Akatsuki leader stood up in front of the medic-nin, towering over her shorter form.
"Cat got your tongue, Sakura-san?" The pierced male once again asked, taking a hold of an unevenly cut strand of pink hair, tracing his thumb over it.
"N..no." The pinkette stuttered, closing her pale green eyes, taking a deep breath and relaxing under pierced man's intimidating presence, blushing.
The leader of Akatsuki could've sworn he felt a breath of cold wind on his back before the female he was towering over opened her cold eyes, face now emotionless, the blush fading away from her pale cheeks.
"I am here to gain your trust Leader-sama. Seeing the fact that the crick in your neck bothers you when you work, getting rid of it would only seem appropriate as I am your new medic."
Resisting the urge to cock a brow at the pinkette's sudden change in behaviour, the pierced man approvingly nodded, understanding her motive.
"In case you will try to do anything foolish, Sakura-san, I shall inform you that I am not a forgiving man." He firmly said, elegantly sliding back into his chair, unclasping the Akatsuki robe, sliding it off his shoulders.
"Understood, Leader-sama. Please do feel free to painfully punish me should I do anything wrong." Sakura replied, masterfully holding back her smirk, stepping closer to the leader and letting chakra flow into her fingertips.
"Watch your words Medic, you don't want them to be taken in the wrong way." Warned Pein, not missing the possible double meaning behind Sakura's words, inwardly smirking.
"Yes, Leader-sama."
"Starting tomorrow you are to wear your ring along with the Akatsuki cloak, wherever you go. Rest of the members already have a partner of their own, that is why you will be going on missions with different teams that will be wisely put together sinc- Sakura-san am I boring you?"
Pinkette whirled around, clasping a hand on top of her mouth, blushing.
"N-no Leader-sama! I am so sorry!" She apologized for spacing out, bowing before slightly turning away, her gaze unconsciously shifting back to the industrial landscape that was separated from her by the tall glass windows.
"I..I really like rain and the whole view from your office, Leader-sama, is just so incredible I couldn't help it." Sakura explained, regaining her emotionless facade she had learned to put on over the years.
"Tell me kunoichi, why do you like rain?" Asked the pierced male as he once again stood from his chair, stepping closer to the pinkette until his chest was almost touching her back.
Noticing that the medic-nin hesitated under his intense stare, the pierced man lifted his eyes towards the sky, waiting.
"Rain is soothing to ears while numbing one's pain. When it rains, I often go walking outside, no matter where I might be. Walking trough the rain makes me feel at ease, like a spirit with no care in the world or so it would seem." Sakura told, her voice becoming soft and peaceful like one of an angel's.
"When I feel sad or hurt while it rains, I feel understood. It would seem likes heavens are crying for me." She closed her eyes, bringing a palm of her hand up to her chest.
"When I was young, I liked to cry in the rain knowing that no one could tell the difference between my tears and the drops of water that fell from the sky." She finished, pressing her fingertips against the cold glass in front of her, blinking away the old memories that were trying to surface in a form of bitter tears.
Sakura was not the kind of kunoichi that would let others, let alone a man, see her tears.
As the medic-nin fell silent, corners of Pein's mouth tugged upwards, his mouth forming into a sad small, ghostly smile.
He completely understood what pinkette had told him, not missing the sudden moisture in her eyes.
Leader of the Akatsuki couldn't help but let his ringed eyes soften and then narrow, remembering his own past.
Pein had never allowed himself to cry, knowing that he had to be strong for his little Tenshi, Konan, just the same way she was being strong for him.
Over the years he had changed into a more calm, serious and a detached man due to understanding the traumas he had experienced in his youth leading him to-
Train of Pein's thoughts got cut off as the pink haired kunoichi in front of him visibly tensed, her eyes widening at the sudden knocking on the enormous double doors.
The pierced leader of the Akatsuki gracefully turns around, ringed eyes snapping towards the doors.
"Enter." He said, the baritone voice echoing trough the spacious office.
The doors were slowly pushed open, revealing the two smirking artists of the Akatsuki.
"Mission successfully completed, yeah."