"I take it that you are ready to leave?" Sakura glared at the orange-haired Akatsuki in reply. He only smiled and lifted the hand with his ring on it. He told her to mimic his movement, and she did.

She gasped when he took her hand, and both tried to ignore the blush on her face. Before she could ask what in the world he was doing, they were transported to a forest.

She looked around, amazed at the immediate transportation. She was surprised to see that it was familiar to her, and that they were close to Konoha.

"How did you…?" but she couldn't finish. She looked down to her ring, which was glowing a faint blue.

"One of the many advantages of being Akatsuki." Sakura made a face at that. Pein chuckled and made the hand signs for a henge. Her breath hitched in her throat when the appearance of Koji took over the Akatsuki's body. "You go on ahead. After your report, go to your apartment and gather the things you want to keep." Sakura gave a hesitant nod, and sped off to Konoha.

"Tsunade-sama…?" Sakura peeked into the Hokage's office. "I'm back from my mission." Tsunade glanced at the medic before returning to her paperwork.

"Good job, Sakura. In record time if I might add." A small smile played across the Hokage's lips.

"Shishou… I was wondering if I could, well…" Tsunade set her pen down and sat up to look at her pupil.

"Yes, Sakura…?" the young medic fiddled with the hem of the black shorts she had gotten from the Akatsuki base.

"The fight with Akatsuki really got to me, and I was wondering if I could, well… take a break." Her master stared at her with a blank face.

"You mean a vacation?" she nodded. The Hokage leaned back in her chair and brought her hand to her forehead. "I don't really see why not. Everything is covered in the hospital and I won't have any missions for you in a while." Sakura gave her Shishou a smile and a thank you before turning to leave. She held the door open and stopped.

"Shishou…?"

"Yes?" Sakura gave her Hokage a sad smile.

"Goodbye."

She had passed Ino, and gave her the same story. She said that she was right, and she deserved a vacation. Sakura only laughed and gave her the same, sad goodbye.

The young medic turned the key, and pushed her apartment door open. Her father had gone missing years ago after her mother died, and now she lived by herself. The thought of her mother stung her eyes, but she ignored it. She opened the door to her room, took her hitae-ate off and set it on her bed, grabbed a bag, and began to fill it up with her favorite things.

Sakura packed the shortsword given to her by Naruto for her birthday, and the sakura hairpins given to her by Ino. She slipped the photo of team seven into her bag, and her favorite medic apron and vest. After pushing in a few more weapons and food recipes for Deidara to try, she zipped up her bag and slung it over her shoulder.

"Aren't you going to take that?" Sakura quickly spun around to see Pein (as Koji) pointing at something behind her. She turned around again to look at the Konoha hitae-ate still on her bed.

"I can't believe I forgot…" she walked over to it and tied it back on. "Thanks…" He shrugged and walked out of the room. Sakura hurried after him, dragging her bag along. "So how did you get in here?"

He gave her an "are you serious?" look, and she blushed. Duh. He's the Akatsuki leader. I think he can pick a lock.

"We should hurry. I have some business to attend to back at the base." He started walking to the door, but she stopped.

"Can't you just, you know… teleport there?"

"I can only teleport to the areas where I have put the teleportation seals. To establish one here would take a few days." the idea seemed pretty simple, so she just nodded and walked behind him, out of her apartment. When she reached the door, she looked in, sighed, and muttered, "Goodbye" before shutting and locking the door.

They were long out of the village, and the whole time there was silence. It wasn't really an awkward silence; the sounds of the animals of the forest prevented that. It made Sakura content just listening to it. Her eyes drifted down to the Akatsuki cloak she had been told to wear, and she fiddled with the straw hat on her head.

"Sakura." Her head shot up to look at the mass of orange spikes that was the back of his head.

"Yes?" He seemed to hesitate, and his steps faltered ever so slightly.

"I want you to feel like a true member of this organization." He slowed down enough for me to step beside him, and he looked me in the eyes. "I don't want to force you to do anything, but I will if I must."

Is he trying to comfort me…? Psh… yeah, right… It's a trick.

"I don't want to be a true member. All I want is for you to release Naruto and let us leave." He gave a slight glare, but she mustered up her courage to give a glare of her own.

"How could I? I'm the big, bad Akatsuki leader, remember?" his voice dripped with sarcasm, and he turned his head away, but she growled and stepped in front of him, causing them both to stop.

"I don't give a damn about your status in the shinobi world. You're just another person to me, a person who threatens others using their friends, which isn't even worthy of calling a person." She tried to restrain her upcoming eruption, but it was proving to be difficult for her.

The glare he gave her told her he was thinking murderous thoughts, but she ignored it and turned to walk. He grabbed her by the arm and twisted it behind her back, restraining her movement.

"Look here, Sa-ku-ra-chan…" he tightened his grip and Sakura flinched. "I don't want to have any problems with you, got that? You should be afraid- cowering from my very presence. The only reason you are still alive is because of my word. Your life is in my hands- remember that." He pushed her forward, releasing his grip. She held her sore arm to her chest, but didn't walk.

"I'm not afraid of you." She stood her ground and raised her chin.

"You should be." He hissed. Pein rushed by her, bumping his shoulder roughly past hers. "This is why Konan is the only female Akatsuki…"

"Well, sorry to disappoint!" He ignored her and continued his pace. She stomped after him, mumbling hateful words under her breath.

Her breath hitched in her throat when she felt a sharp pain in her side. She turned her head to see an ANBU captain holding a kunai in her side, and thrusting another one in the direction of her neck.

Instinctively, she shut her eyes, but nothing happened.

Sakura slowly opened them to see a bloody hand holding the ANBU's fist with the kunai, and he began crushing it, causing the man to groan in pain.

"It… It can't be…" another ANBU appeared, and then another.

The orange-haired man glared at every one, making each take a step back in fear. "Bastards, you'll pay for that."

"…Th-the leader… Akatsuki no Pein…"

Sorry for the late update. I've been super busy :( but don't worry; I haven't given up on this. It's way too early for that, anyway :D Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and subscriptions, guys! It really means a lot to me!

I feel like I did really, really bad on this chapter… I'm sorry if it was a disappointment. I don't mean for it to be.