Since this is my first week of summer vacation, I feel I owe you readers a lovely chapter of New Recruit! Sorry it's been so long. School sucks. And, by the way… no one guessed the picture :) it was this one: .com/gallery/#/d3834t3. I know, I know, that was an impossible contest. Well, whatever :) let's see if I can think of anything better by the end of this story…
Sakura slammed her door with full force, almost knocking it off its hinges. "Stupid-!" she grumbled under her breath, "Stupid, prideful, conceited, infuriating, idiotic carrot-top!" in another flash of irritation, the medic aimed a fist towards her closet door, which broke upon impact. With a second glance at the broken door, she cursed out loud.
A quiet knock at her door only served to anger her further.
"Go away, Pein!" she spat, "I don't have the patience for any more of your bullshit!"
The room fell silent except for the sounds of Sakura's deep breaths.
"…Saku-Saku?" came a muffled voice, "May Tobi come in?"
Sakura made a face towards her door… she really didn't want to put up with the childish Akatsuki, either. Pein was bad enough for a welcoming party from a long mission, but Tobi was over the top.
"If Saku-Saku doesn't want to talk, Tobi understands…" the medic could hear the masked shinobi take a hesitant step back. The pitiful tone in his voice calmed her somewhat.
Sakura let out a reluctant sigh and walked over to her door and opened it. As expected, a tall, masked ninja twiddling his thumbs stood before her. "What is it, Tobi? I'm not really in the mood to talk."
"Come with Tobi," he said, ignoring her complaint, "Tobi wants to show Saku-Saku something." Sakura simply groaned in reply. "It'll be fun." He tilted his head to the side, and Sakura suspected that he was smiling. For the thousandth time that day, she sighed. She stepped out of the room and shut her door.
"So where is it exactly that you're taking me?" she said, finally. Tobi had taken her down the stairs, into the living room, and into the dark hallway she had been when she was first kidnapped.
She grimaced at that last word.
"Saku-Saku will have to wait and see!" He looked over his shoulder and placed a gloved finger over his mask in a shushing manner. Sakura simply rolled her eyes and observed the endless hallway.
"What are all these doors?" she asked.
Tobi scanned the doors as if suddenly realizing that there were, in fact, doors lining the hallway. "Leader-sama uses them for lots of things, like storage and safe rooms in case of attack. They can also be made into guest rooms."
Sakura gave out a mirthless chuckle.
They didn't treat their guests with very much hospitality, that's for sure.
"We're here!" Tobi stopped abruptly in front of one of the iron doors, almost causing Sakura to trip over him. After regaining her balance, she looked at the door marked "246."
"You never told me. What exactly is here?" the medic looked at the door, trying to find something special about it. Finding nothing, she looked back at the masked boy.
Tobi looked down both ends of the hallway before leaning in closer to the kunoichi's face. "Saku-Saku has to promise not to tell nobody that Tobi took her here."
Sakura rubbed her arm hesitantly, suddenly feeling cold. "I promise."
Tobi looked at her for a moment longer before straightening up. "Good! Come on!" Tobi made an unfamiliar hand sign, which Sakura made a metal note to remember, and opened the door. Behind it was another short hallway with another door at the end. This one, to Sakura, looked like it was made from some kind of thick steel. "Remember not to tell nobody, Saku-Saku. Especially Leader-sama because if he-"
"Tobi," she interrupted, chuckling softly at his eagerness, "I won't tell anyone. Now what is it you've been dying to show me?"
Tobi tilted his chin down almost shyly, and wrapped a gloved hand around the doorknob. With a hard twist and push, the door was wide open.
Sakura could only stare with her mouth hanging open.
Tobi quickly looked between Sakura and the open door, waiting for a reaction. "Well?" he asked, impatient, "What does Saku-Saku think?"
"Tobi…" she walked up to the door and set a hand on the doorpost, feeling light-headed. "You could get in serious trouble for this." She could still hardly believe what she was seeing.
"Tobi knows, but… Tobi likes Saku-Saku, and Saku-Saku likes Tobi, right? Saku-Saku wouldn't do anything to get Tobi in trouble, right?" they were both silent while Tobi had second thoughts about showing the young medic what was behind the door. Sakura couldn't form any more words. All she could do was shake her head, letting him know that she wouldn't purposefully get him in trouble. Tobi's shoulders relaxed a little after that, and looked back to the open doorway. "Saku-Saku has been sad ever since she got here. Tobi doesn't like it when pretty girls are sad." He set a warm hand on the girl's shoulder. "Tobi didn't have a choice in joining Akatsuki, either. Zetsu-san simply told Tobi that he would be joining. Tobi… doesn't like to hurt people…" he trailed off there, and lifted his head to look at the medic's face.
Sakura couldn't help but stare wide-eyed at the fellow Akatsuki member. She couldn't help the empathy she felt, and to realize that the two were more alike than she wanted to believe.
They were alike.
With that, she reached forward and wrapped her slim arms around his neck, nuzzling the side of her face in his chest. He didn't protest, but he didn't hug her back, either.
"Thank you, Tobi, "she whispered, pulling the boy closer to her, "I appreciate what you're doing for me… but I can't… not now."
"Saku-Saku wants her friend." He stated, rather than questioned.
"Yes..." Sakura could barely hold back anymore. She wanted more than anything in the world to cry right then, but her pride told her to shove it. "I want my friend."
"Tobi understands." He gave her a gentle pat on her head as Sakura pulled away, arms still resting on his shoulders. "…and Saku-Saku…?"
She smiled at the name. "Yes, Tobi?"
"Don't tell Leader."
Sakura awoke to silence. Whether it was day or night, she couldn't tell. She kept the curtains shut, for she preferred not to look at the ever-constant rain. After a while, it was kind of a downer.
She lifted herself off of the bed slowly, stretching out tired muscles.
"Let's see…" she muttered, "today makes it…" she lifted a hand to count on her fingers, "…six days since I came back? Damn… that lazy leader of ours needs to assign me a mission or I'm gonna' start breaking some limbs."
'Or start talking to myself.' She finished in her head. With a glance at her clock, she groaned and pulled herself out of bed. Sleeping until noon was not a habit she wanted to build.
After pulling on a pair of black sweatpants and a navy blue tank, Sakura ran a brush through her hair and stepped out of her room. When she exited said room, she was surprised to hear the sound of voices coming from the kitchen. For the last few days, the only person she had seen in there was Tobi. Though, two days ago, Deidara had gone in there to grab a glass of water.
Sakura walked hesitantly down the steps and turned into the kitchen. There she saw Kisame and Deidara chatting about different types of weaponry.
"Ah! Well if it isn't Akatsuki's little cherry blossom." Kisame grinned toothily at her, and she thought she detected a hint of sarcasm in those words. "How are you this lovely afternoon?"
Sakura just stared and wondered.
She wondered why the hell everyone in Akatsuki were freaks, but not for the reasons they should be.
"Hungry." She stated. With that, she marched over to the fridge and pulled out eggs, cheese, and ham. Deidara's eyes lit up at this.
"Make me one?" he asked, walking over to the medic's side. "I haven't had any proper food since you left, un."
Sakura let out a rather girly giggle. "What? The big bad Akatsuki members can't cook?"
"Itachi is decent, but he would die before becoming Akatsuki's chef, yeah." The thought of Itachi in a frilly pink apron tickled at his mind.
Apparently Sakura and Kisame had the same image, and they both laughed along with him. "I've had his cooking before on a few missions," said Kisame, still smiling, "and I'd say he's better than decent."
"Ahh, okay," Sakura was full-out cracking up now, "so he's like a housewife chef!"
The three shinobi were on the verge of tears with the many mental images this conversation was giving them.
"Cooking is a necessity when away for long periods of time."
Everyone immediately stopped laughing and whipped their heads towards the door.
There stood the high and mighty Uchiha, himself.
Sakura didn't dare breathe.
No one said anything as he nonchalantly walked over to the fruit bowl, grabbed a pear, and walked out. Everything was silent until they heard his bedroom door shut.
With that, they were cracking up all over again.
Kisame clapped a massive hand on the medics shoulder and said in between laughs, "You know, kid, you aren't half bad." And he, too, walked out of the room.
Sakura's laughs died down, and she couldn't help but smile.
Yet, this smile had nothing to do with Itachi in a frilly pink apron.
Voila!
…Yeah, okay, it's not my best chapter, but still! It's something!
I wonder what's behind door number one? ;) Any guesses? I'd love to hear what your theories are!
This was more of a TobiXSakura bonding time, so I apologize to PeinSaku fans. He'll be back soon.
How about… if I get at least ten reviews on this chapter actually saying something about the chapter, I'll update by this Thursday or Friday? (: