A/N: Personally I think I could've done more with this chapter. I like it but I don't love it. That doesn't stop me from hoping that you love it though. If you decide you do love it then please review so I feel like I'm writing something worthwhile and not wasting everybody's time. Thank you all for being patient with me and enjoy the chapter.
Disclaimer: Do you even have to ask? NO!
Chapter 5: Pein's Pact
"This is about why you betrayed me isn't it?" Sakura demanded despite knowing the answer.
"Yes it is. Like you, my parents died when I was still very young, but I have two siblings, a sister named Konan, and a brother named Nagato. They were all that kept me from complete desolation. However Konan was 18 when she was diagnosed with cancer. Nagato passed out not long after and we found out he also had the disease… and it was spreading. Doctors say that they won't survive to see 22. I became desperate. A year after the doctors told me this I stumbled across this gang called the Akatsuki. Their boss was a brilliant doctor who was actually Tsunade's apprentice at one point. His name is Kabuto Yakushi. He used a special medicine on my brother and sister that turned them into animals, but also got rid of their illness. The problem was that Kabuto couldn't turn them back. He told me that there is a way but it involves stealing. I refused at first and told him I will go to Tsunade herself and ask her to change my siblings back. Kabuto threatened to dissect my siblings, holding his scalpel to Nagato's throat. The longer I waited to answer the harder Kabuto pressed. The moment I saw the first drop of blood I agreed. I swore to my siblings and to that extortionist that I would not fail, no matter what I had to do. It was an oath of sorts, a pact even. This pleased that mad doctor and he said he would lend me the Akatsuki's aid. All I had to do was get you to tell me where the medicine was and get you and your family out of the house. The other Akatsuki members would sneak in while you were away and get the medicine that turned animals back into humans. No harm done. That was the way it would have happened if I had been faster, but after my last visit Kabuto told me I was taking too long and he was going to send the Akatsuki to raid the house. That's what's happening now. This is happening because I was a coward and couldn't tell you the truth. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Sakura." Pein's voice was pained and his eyes were squeezed tight in guilt and regret.
"From the sounds of it your siblings are like my wolves. We love each other but we both have something more important than our relationship. I'll help you and your brother and sister. I understand that you're sorry, but because your siblings are as important to you as my wolves are to me you should understand why I can't forgive you right now. Someday if this damage is ever repaired then perhaps I can forget about how much you hurt me, but I highly doubt I'll forget about how your indecision hurt my wolves." Sakura stated matter-of-factly as she patched up Neji. She looked up to see Pein's eyes full of determination despite still holding a great deal of suffering as well.
"Then I apologize yet again because I will never stop trying to earn forgiveness. I swear I'll make it so you can trust me again, and even if it's one sided I will continue loving you. You misunderstood something Sakura. My siblings are important but you are just as important. I knew my siblings' lives hang in the balance while I believed you would be safe. Even then I still couldn't bring myself to hurt you emotionally until I had no other choice. That's how we got in this mess." At his declaration Itachi glared at Pein while Neji began to regain consciousness. Kiba was trying hard not to punch Pein, because further violence could easily upset Sakura.
As Sakura tied the makeshift bandages around a nasty head wound, Neji reached up to grab her hand and drag it down his cheek to his chest, stopping over his heart. She tried to pull her hand free but he held on just hard enough to keep her from pulling away. That's when Sakura noticed how his heart was hammering out an intense rhythm that just kept getting faster the longer her hand lingered.
"I can't even see you right now and you still manage to do this to me." Neji breathed with his eyes closed. He couldn't open his eyes without blood getting in them. He didn't mind though, as long as Sakura was near him. Unfortunately their moment ended far too soon from Neji's perspective. What was worse was the fact that it stopped because a strange scent was just beginning to invade the alphas' noses. It was the scent of sandalwood and poisons. Both Itachi and Neji recognized the scent from the preserve. It was an enemy.
Not long after the strange smell appeared, a figure became visible and drew closer. Gaara had come back with Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru in tow. The moment he saw the strange silhouette he stood protectively between him and his mate.
The stranger was much closer now. The smell of wood and poison could no longer mask his true scent. Itachi noticed it first.
"He's like us." Itachi warned everyone. The stranger smirked as all his adversaries looked at Tsunade momentarily giving him the chance to strike.
He moved with blinding speed. He dodged the burned wolf-human whose movements were impaired by his injuries, and grabbed the girl he knew to be Sakura. Everyone stilled. They may not have even been breathing when they saw he had a dagger to her throat.
"Are you really that stupid?" Sakura asked, shocking everyone in the process. The stranger was also stunned, but quickly covered it with a smirk.
"Are you really in a position to be saying that?" Said stranger murmured in her ear as he allowed the blade to press closer to her skin.
"Yes I am. You may think you have a bargaining chip but you don't. If anyone has a bargaining chip it's me. You kill me and you'll only get killed by the eight people remaining. Using me as a shield won't work either because the second I'm out of the way they will attack. I'm the only one standing between you and an untimely demise. The other option is to let me go and negotiate with us like a civilized person." Sakura stated calm as can be. They may as well have been talking about how their day has gone, instead of negotiating life and death.
Inside Sakura was a nervous wreck. The reason she could act calm was because she had forced herself to many times after her parents died. Since the dreadful day of the plane crash, she'd developed one hell of a poker face. She had to hold back the sigh of relief when he lowered his blade.
Gaara was on him in an instant grabbing the wrist that held the knife and twisting till he let go. He was about to do further damage when Sakura stopped him. He stilled when Sakura firmly grasped his shoulder.
"Don't Gaara. If I see any more violence I think I'll be sick. Let's just hear what he has to say."
While watching his opponents every move, Gaara released him. Itachi pulled Sakura to him. There was simply no way he would let this stranger get past him again. Kiba was holding Pein back in case he tried to help his friend or try to kill him. It had always been difficult to predict what Pein would do. Sakura turned to the red headed outsider.
"Shall we start with introductions then?" She began in an attempt to make things seem a little less awful. She failed miserably. "I'm Sakura. What do you go by?" She almost put her hand out for him to shake, but Itachi pinned her closer to his chest despite how it hurt.
"I don't know what kind of game you think this is but I'll play along for now. My name is Sasori. As the stupid wolf-man said I'm somewhat like them. My name says it all. I was a scorpion before the human called Kabuto turned me into a creature that resembles a human." Sasori stated applying his own poker face to hide how shocked he was that she was talking to him like he hadn't threatened her life only moments ago. She put up a brave front, and a convincing one, but he could see that's all it was now. A small trickle of blood went down her throat and he noticed her shudder slightly as she realized how close a call she'd been up against.
Sasori was suddenly slammed against the wall of the manmade cavern by none other than his supposed ally Pein. "If you are an animal turned human then why did Kabuto lie to me and say he doesn't have any? If you don't tell me this instant I swear I will kill you!" He roared at Sasori.
"Stop it Pein." Sakura commanded getting into her alpha role despite the fact that Pein wasn't one of her wolves. He turned to her as if to protest but the moment he looked in her eyes he was overcome with guilt all over again. He meekly released the redhead.
"Kabuto didn't lie. He foolishly squandered the medicine in the blink of an eye. If you transform more than one species of animal you'll find that different species require different amounts. For example, a scorpion requires just one drop while a shark needs a small bottle of it. Kabuto wasted what little of the medicine he had stolen on the shark." Sasori revealed. He was surprised to find himself becoming more and more interested in Sakura. At first he thought it was just a strange fascination due to the fact that he hadn't been around other human women before, but that wouldn't explain why green was suddenly his favorite color. Then there was his growing obsession with pink hair to consider.
She was just so unlike anyone he'd ever met. Kabuto was intelligent but if he had even a fraction of her bravery he wouldn't be trying to create soldiers from stolen medication to fight his battles for him. She was as beautiful as her namesake but also as unyielding as the trunk of the tree. Sasori gave himself a mental slap.
Have I lost my mind? She's the enemy! He told himself firmly. Yet he couldn't help but wonder if that was still true when she had saved him from the blood thirsty men around her twice. Would anyone else do that for him when he had held a dagger to their throat? Were all humans this strange or was it just her?
He just stood there leaning against the wall as he thought and he was getting stares from just about everyone except the man covered in blood. Just as he was realizing this he noticed the crimson covered man lean up and lick small cut on Sakura's throat. She shuddered again, but this time he was fairly certain that it wasn't due to fear. Sasori surprised himself with the aggressive feelings that flowed through him, the most prominent being jealousy. To Sasori it was completely confirmed that he had lost his mind and somehow he didn't care one bit.
Neji could have moaned at the taste of Sakura's skin. He could feel the others attempting to glare him into submission, but with his eyes closed and everything, they could have been having a staring contest with a mirror for all he cared. As for Sakura herself, she was about to protest the almost painful swipe of his tongue over the small scratch when Neji moved his head lower to lap at the blood that trailed down the column of her throat. He moved his head up slowly and she just knew if he was in wolf form his ears would be up and forward listening for the slightest sound or even just a change in breathing, any sign at all that would communicate her reaction.
When his mouth hit a sensitive spot she only just managed to keep from gasping. Yet even with all the effort in the world, she couldn't have suppressed the telling shudder. With a sudden ferocity she was ripped from Itachi's arms and collided with Neji. He was on her with a passion she had never even once detected in the mellow moon-eyed man-beast. Her eyes widened when he pressed himself against her to the point where she could feel every part of him. He put his mouth to work, using lips, tongue, and even his slightly sharp teeth to pay ardent attention to that spot. It lasted for about ten seconds total when Sakura pushed away from him and he was instantly pummeled by his three remaining pack members and Pein. They had been waiting for the opportunity from the moment they realized what he was doing but he was dangerously close to Sakura. She was the last person who needed to get involved in these scuffles.
Sakura quickly realized she'd pushed away a little too hard. She was falling backwards but was caught just in time by none other than Sasori. It surprised her because she saw him lunge at her as if she was falling off a cliff instead just the short distance to the ground. He held her so gently for just a moment so she could regain her balance and before he backed away with a barely visible blush.
Sasori made his decision. He didn't care if it made him a traitor. The fact was that wanted to stay by this woman's side. She made him feel like he belonged. For someone or something that felt they didn't have a proper place in this world it caused a dizzying euphoria. Even though the majority of them still wanted to kill him he felt like he fit in and he wanted to keep feeling this way.
"Sakura if you'll allow me to stay with you and your family then not only will I offer up all the information I have on Kabuto, I will go and stop my partner as well and we will help you rebuild the preserve. All I ask is that when Kabuto sends men to kill us, you and your family help us fight them. I think it will benefit us all since Kabuto will send the remaining men of his gang after all of us one way or another. There's strength in numbers." As Sasori said this a light bulb went off in Jiraiya's head. Sasori was right that there was always strength in numbers and the old toad-man knew just where to get those numbers.
Sakura looked to Tsunade for a sign of approval and it came in the form of a resigned nod. She turned back to Sasori and nodded as well to show that she agreed to his deal. Sasori smiled a genuine smile and Sakura had to admit it was a beautiful sight. With the same speed he had used at the very beginning of their meeting, he moved in to give her a peck on the lips before winking at her and dashing back to the wolf preserve. The wolves were still too busy squabbling to notice but her adoptive parents did and they were not amused.