Accidentally

Chapter 12: Smile

For the first time in a long time, Sakura Haruno exited her bedroom with a smile on her face.

Down the halls and to the kitchen, she greeted the present members with the same smile. With a friendly wave, she turned to the refrigerator, grabbing an apple. Something was off.

They looked weirdly at her. Some of them didn't even look at her!

"Is...is something wrong, you guys?" She thought a moment. "Did someone die?"

She worriedly counted off the men in the room. Konan and Pein were probably in their office. Kakuzu is reading the newspaper. Sasori is drinking coffee. Kisame and Hidan were in the living room. Tobi was pouring cereal down his hole (Dirty. Minded. Pervs.). Zetsu is in his garden. Itachi was reading...Deidara...is not there.

"Where's...(gasp!)Itachi! I told Deidara to let up on the pranks! You didn't have to kill him!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

"Who killed me, yeah?" There he was.

What the hell? If everyone is alive and somewhat well, then what crawled up their asses?

"Okay...what's the matter with you guys?" She asked them, looking along for an explanation.

Kakuzu was the first to stand, replacing the newspaper. He stepped up to Sakura, giving her a blank stare. She flinched slightly when he tapped the Leaf symbol on her forehead protector.

"You have lasted the full week required and granted, to make the position official," He explained slowly.

Sakura gave a face of honest confusion. When his arm moved around her waist, she began panicking. 'What the hell? Not Kakuzu, too!'

Her heart began racing, and Kakuzu noticed this. Rolling his bright green eyes, he reached for his destination. Slipping his hand into the pouch that sat just above the kunoichi's butt, he retrieved a single kunai knife. Holding the metal object in front of Sakura, she caught on and calmed the hell down.

"It's time. To go officially rogue." Kakuzu coaxed as he led her to the couch.

Hidan and Kisame moved over as the others joined them, crowding around their newest member. Sakura sat as they watched her intently.

Holding the kunai shakily, Kisame, who had been standing behind her, removed her headband. He held it out to her, grinning. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan. We'll help you through this."

As Sakura held the tip of the kunai to the cold metal, names, memories, and titles ran through her head.

'Konoha.' She reflected.

'Naruto, Tsunade-shishou, Kakashi-sensei, Captain Yamato. Sai.'

'Shikamaru-kun...' She continued morbidly.

'Sasuke-kun...' She thought regretfully.

'Sasuke...' She contemplated.

'Sasuke-teme,' She thought angrily, 'I am not WEAK!'

...and just as she snapped back into reality, there was a deep, shaky line through the sleek texture of her headband. She looked back at it with near-dead eyes.

''All the others are going to miss you,'' He paused and looked down. ''I'm going to miss you...''

Sakura blushed lightly, and looked down as well.

''I know...I'm really sorry Shika-kun, but I have to do this.''

''I could've hopped this thing myself, you know.'' She wrenched her hand from his in annoyance.

''I know.'' He said, grinning at her like a chessy cat.

She scowled. And blushed.

Deidara turned to Sakura, "Well, climb on, yeah."

Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me? Thanks, but no thanks. You guys got me to safety, and through the rain, and that's it. I'm going-"

"Going where? You don't remember abandoning your village just a day ago? We have reasons for tracking you down, Sakura. And going to such lengths to save some little Genin? Ridiculous," Deidara argued.

Sakura's chakra flared slightly.

"Little Genin? I'm eighteen, you jerk! And I'll have you know, that I am a very capable, qualified, Anbu Black-ops Captain!"

Deidara scoffed, turning back to his creation.

"My name is Pein, and this is Konan. I understand that you have finally left your village seeking power...I also understand that you don't need it."

Sakura's eyebrows creased as she watched the woman pull a folder from a drawer in the desk and hand it to the orange-haired man.

Opening the folder, he went on,

"Haruno Sakura, abusive father and bitter drunk of a mother. Trained under the Godaime Hokage and one of the three legendary Sennin, Tsunade. Perfect chakra control, even from her Genin days. Immense strength, and a formidable brain, far beyond the Jonin level. Top-notch genjutsu. Most prestigious medical ninja known to the Land of Fire. ANBU Black-ops captain. Certainly a prize to Konoha," He admonished.

"You don't need power, Sakura. You need stability. You need a family. Ones you can truly call friends. Ones who will never abandon you...You need a home." As Pein's words sank in, Sakura felt tears coming to her eyes, but choked them back.

"What...do you want from me?" She asked.

He leaned forward a bit, "No, Sakura. What do you want from us?"

"We've been watching you, Sakura. We know everything about you. You were unhappy in Konoha. Why? You felt lonely. Abandoned. Underestimated. Mistreated..."

"A FAMILY! A HOME!...I want...to be accepted..."

"That's the bitch you were talkin' about?" He exclaimed, pointing a finger at her.

But Sakura wasn't going to hold back with these guys.

A vein popped in her temple, and, fists clenched,

"You got a problem, slick? Don't underestimate me. You'll regret it," She retorted.

Tobi rubbed his side-where she had kicked him-, "It's true. Tobi knows." He claimed, afterwards shivering.

"Wait, aren't there nine members of Akatsuki?"

Deidara scowled at the ground, before replying, "Kiasme is out on a mission, along with Itachi. All the same, yeah. You wouldn't want to meet him."

Sakura stared blankly at the hole in the wall.

"Well, good. I might be tempted to kill him."

"Miss Sakurrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Sakura turned to see a Tobi running at her full speed, arms spread wide open.

Startled, she squeaked, not quite ready for another, 'Tobi Squeeze of Adoration'.

She pawed at his chest for a moment, before regaining her composure and feeling quite embarrassed. As he stared down at her, she felt her face get hot, and Hidan suddenly felt very scared for the pink-haired kunoichi.

Kakuzu hated being touched, unless physical violence was involved.

Hidan remembered when he'd tried to tickle Kakuzu and the fucker had ripped his head off.

Sure, Sakura had met Itachi a few times before, but that was in battle. This meeting was on somewhat...friendlier terms.

Into the living room, Sakura spotted her least favorite person in the world, the cause of all of Sasuke's problems, and lover of dango sticks, Uchiha Itachi, standing blankly next to his blue partner.

"Uchiha." Sakura glared slightly.

"Haruno."

As far as Sakura knew, a random rogue shinobi being asked to join a notorious S-class criminal organization was not a commonplace occurrence.

And, hopefully, neither was a drunken Hidan potentially...raping you.

But just that was about to happen as Sakura sit four feet away from a very inebriated, very handsome Hidan.

He stared unknowingly at her with greatly dilated pupils. Sakura could smell the alcohol on his breath from where she sat on her bed, and even more so when he took a step toward her. She couldn't believe it. It was nearly two in the afternoon, and he was already drunk off his ass!

"Ne, Sakura-chaaaann~ " He drawled.

Sakura heard her door open, but could not see around the pious man that she was trapped beneath.

But before she could even dwell on it, the Jashinist above her was kicked harshly across the room, hitting the wall and landing painfully on the floor.(He probably loved it! XD)

Sitting up quickly and catching her breath, Sakura recognized her savior as...

Itachi.

Wonderful.

"Hmm. Sa-ku-ra~..." He hummed, circling her like a vulture would its prey.

She sneered. "Sasori. What are you doing here?" She began thrashing, ever so slightly, pissed that he was, in fact, alive.

"Hmm...questions later. Let us review your status first," He looked her up and down. "Ahh, you've only gotten stronger, since we last met. Your chakra levels are intense,"

She glared at the man. "Go ahead and try to kill me, you creep!"

Sasori paused, facing away from her. "Even you should know...that it is against my beliefs to destroy something beautiful."

Sakura gasped, and it was most certain that she was blushing.

Sakura snapped back to reality. She really didn't want to deal with this right now. She had just started to not hate it here, and then they pull this shit on her? No way! She still hasn't gotten use to Kakuzu! Or Hidan! Most definitely not Itachi!

Deidara stopped walking. When Sakura followed suit, he turned to face her. He moved slowly, taking her hand in his and placing it on his chest. Sakura could swear she was blushing, but soon she caught on. A wave of depression washed over her.

"Nothing. The Edo Tensei was a cruel, cruel thing. Our bodies have matured enough since we were brought back," He took his hand back, but Sakura didn't move hers. "that we have obtained body heat, and some breath. Our hearts beat, but not with enough volume for any human or Ninja to detect."

Sakura wanted to cry. Really, she did. That was just...just sick! How could anyone do this to a human-freaking-being?

Deidara grinned half-heartedly, trying to lighten the mood. "It does come in handy on missions, though. We just discard our cloaks and play dead...!"

Sakura was unamused, and the look she gave him while she removed her hand told him as much.

'I definitely don't want to apologize now. He came into my room!'

"Uh. Sakura...listen, I-"

"You don't have to say it."

"...?"

Sakura closed her eyes, which, seconds later, she realized that that was not the best thing to do around Sasori of all people. When her lids shot open, Sasori was sitting beside her on her bed. Goddamn Ninjas.

"You don't have to apologize, or anything."

Sasori pouted slightly, turning away. "Apologize? Why would I apologize to you? You killed me!"

Sakura blinked. He sure was a lot better at showing emotions now. Then again, she guessed that came with the whole, You're-A-Zombie-Human-Now package.

She smiled. "I know you hate me."

It was Sasori's turn to blink.

"Haruno Sakura, I do not-"

(I'm just wasting time and space here, so I'll just sum it up for you. Sakura is flashing back to all the times that the Akatsuki had made her smile, hence the name of the chap.)

Kisame gave a sympathetic look. "See, Sakura-chan? That wasn't so-oh."

He never got to finish though, because Sakura had already fallen asleep on Itachi's shoulder.

Holy crap, it was only noon.

OoOoOo

'Oh you're not fooling me, Uchiha.' Shikamaru thought as he leant his back against a tree.

Their team had decided to take a break, and Shikamaru was glad they had stopped where they did. Not that he didn't think his team could handle it, but he knew what Sasuke would plan for them.

He would stay hidden and let the four of them pass, eventually ambushing them. The Nara also knew that Sasuke was looking for the same thing they were.

...he probably just has a better idea of where she is.

"Ano, Hatake-san, may I have a word with you?" The genius called.

"Yes, Nara-san?"

The Jounin strolled over to Shikamaru, giving a condescending glance. He never liked how he was around Sakura much. All...crushy and shit.

"Well, I'd like to assume that you can sense Sasuke's almost completely masked chakra up ahead, but you haven't made any signs of acknowledgement as of yet." He whispered.

Kakashi tried to cover his shock. What was Sasuke doing here?

...stupid question.

Better question:

Why had he not attacked them yet?

He kept his eyes on Shikamaru, as to not raise suspicion. "What do you suppose we do, lazy genius?"

Shikamaru sighed. Technically, the mission scroll did say that he was the leader of this mission-Kami knows why.

"Well, for starters, we are not going to tell Naruto. Or Sai. I say we go around him."

The Jonin raised an eyebrow. "That's all you've got? Really? Where's that Shogi champion strategy?"

Shikamaru glared at him. "Well, sorry. I haven't slept right in days, and damn it, I'm not ready to deal with the Uchiha brat!"

Sai and Naruto paused a moment, looking up from their food. They all waved at each other, before Shikamaru sighed.

He turned away and looked in his pack. He rummaged, before pulling out a small frame. Kakashi peeked over the Nara's shoulder.

"...and you wonder why I don't like you." He sighed.

It was a picture of he and had one arm slung over Shikamaru's shoulders, while the other was making a peace sign. She was grinning wildly, while Shikamaru's was lazy and sheepish. Smiling softly, he replaced it inside of his luggage.

With a sudden face of enlightenment, he raised his head.

"Okay, I have a plan."

Kakashi rolled his eyes half-heartedly. "Amazing."

OoOoOo

Kisame leaned on the door frame of his and Itachi's room, where said Uchiha sat on his bed, looking at his hand, as the other rubbed his almost-bare shoulder.

"Her skin was...so soft..." He whispered.

Kisame fought against the urge to laugh at him.

He smiled. "Sakura, what are you doing to us?"

OoOoOo

He set her down on her bed gently. Stepping back, his eyes narrowed.

'This girl...she's...' He shook his head.

The man didn't quite understand what unlikely force brought him to cup her face in his hand, but he pushed the conflict aside. His fingers slid up to his own face, hooking the fabric that covered his mouth. Then, bending down smoothly, his lips brushed her formidable forehead.

Realizing what he had just done, he quickly pulled back, sauntering back to the door.

He chanced one more glance at the kunoichi. 'Be free of nightmares, Sakura-san.'

And with that, Kakuzu closed the door.

OoOoOo

Okay, let me see...how to say this...

I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY!

Trying not to fail the eighth grade, you know? Science is stupid. But I passed and it's over! Cried my eyes out today because of it. So many people not going to Hylton...:(

Everyone was all, "Holy crap it's the apocalypse! I've never seen her cry before!"

But yeah, the festival was fun. Karaoke, popcorn, dunk tank, and gangbangs in the hallway. What a day! Semi-short chapter. Again, SORRY.

Too tired to talk to any Akatsuki...and it's only 6:30!

Gotta go make dinner, so...

Toodle-oo!

~Raven100

P.S. Itachi-san's birthday was on the 9th, and Kurenai-sensei's on the 11th.