Chapter 4

The pinkette was correct in her assumption of not getting anymore rest for the next few hours. She spent the time as any prisoner might, sulking about the cell and wishing to be out in the real world where it wasn't unbearably damp and it didn't look like there was mold in every corner. And when that began to bore the girl, Sakura let herself take on the challenge of trying to understand her own dreams.

Could she really feel that way about Konoha? Well, if she were to be honest with herself, she knew that in Konoha she was simply seen as another medic, another Shinobi, and just another face to add to the battle field. But she wanted more. Sakura wanted to be acknowledged, to be told that she was indeed one of the best, if not the best. And yet, something in the pinkette questioned such thoughts and desires. How could she want something so great and wonderful, when all she was seen as was just a waste of time? How could she strive when the hands of her past mentors were constantly pushing her farther and farther away from her goal?

"They only saw me as a weakling." The pinkette relented to her desires to speak her issues aloud, an old habit that she started whenever she became too stressed or vexed. "How was I expecting them to respect me when I am forever imprinted as the pathetic pink haired girl? Then again, maybe I was dreaming when I believed I could run with the legends." Sakura sighed irately, barely concentrating on the outside world enough to notice somebody watching her and another person listening.

"Honestly, every time I tried to be strong and prove my worth, somebody stopped me. They never said it directly, but it was their actions. I mean really? Kakashi? You don't realize that standing in front of me during a C Class mission because we ran into Sound ninjas speaks louder than your words?" The cherry blossom kunoichi groaned, glaring at the ceiling and deciding it was her new audience. "Maybe I am miserable there. I mean, I've never really fit in, and nobody takes me seriously anyway," the girl accepted the truth, but the loyal Konoha Shinobi that still thrived in her, or at least the tiny part that was still alive, wouldn't let this topic drop.

"But then, who says that it'll be any better in the Akatsuki. These people have all committed treason against their villages, should I really join them and tarnish my name?" Sakura wanted to explode. She found no logical reasoning to her argument. Hell, she found no logical reasoning for talking out loud to herself.

"Who am I kidding? It'll be better here. I mean, they are letting me join, so that must mean that I am strong. At least in their opinion I am worth something. Konoha wouldn't be able to admit something like that even if I brought the whole village down with my bare hands." At this comment Sakura grinned sadistically, shocking both of her spectators. One of the onlookers recovered quickly and smirked, keeping his sense and remaining unnoticed as he compared her lapse of sanity to another ninja he knew. The other, however, was not so calm.

Sasuke jumped up from his 'slumber' and raced toward the pinkette's bed. Roughly, he grabbed her shoulders and hauled her forward to look at the spinning Sharingan that he activated in his rage. "What are you thinking, Sakura?" he barked out, watching as she stared at him blankly. "Talking about destroying Konoha like it is nothing! You aren't the Sakura I knew, she would defend Konoha, even if it sent her to her grave!"

The cherry blossom in his grip simply stared at him. When the avenger finally thought that he had somehow broken her, she started to laugh. It was not friendly, nor was it familiar. It was cold and vicious. "YOU dare tell me that? Uchiha," the boy nearly flinched at the evil intent rolling in waves of the girl. He pulled his hands off of her and decided to glare at the wall to his left. "Uchiha Sasuke, you have no right to judge me. Have you forgotten that you were the first traitor? And have you forgotten the many times you have declared Konoha as weak, declared the people who loved you as weak?"

Sakura was livid to say the least. This man had the audacity to say ridicule her decisions when he had made the same choice years ago! One look at his stubborn expression and the pinkette exploded in her anger. With a boiling hate that had been building within the girl for years now. Her body heated to temperatures that seemed impossible and she let herself act before thinking.

Sakura put her hands on Sasuke's chest and shoved him toward the ground with the help of her chakra coated fingertips. Stomping toward his figure, she sneered, resulting in a growl coming from her mouth and shocking the 'last' Uchiha in front of her. She pounced on the fallen boy, wrestling on the ground for dominance.

The raven haired boy pinned her down, smirking as he whispered, "You can't beat me, Sakura. You are just as weak as ever." The boy leaned down, closing the space between the two of their faces, his warm breath hitting the pinkette's face and causing her face to heat with both anger and embarrassment. Trying to fight her way out, she began to thrash around underneath him.

"Let go of me, Uchiha!" Sakura screamed hopelessly, shutting her eyes. She cursed under her breath, the words disappearing as they hit the amused face of her current combatant. All those years that she had disciplined herself to stop acting so weak, but there was nothing she could do with Sasuke pressing his weight down on top of her. Sakura was helpless, unable to gather the same anger she felt moments ago. The kunoichi couldn't breathe as he pressed his chest further down onto her stomach, making her lungs fold in on themselves. "Sasuke!" she gasped, his hands crushing her wrists, which she hadn't realized she'd been using to grab hold of anything and try to fight back. As the pinkette began to turn blue and was on the verge of unconsciousness, something- or rather someone intervened.

"Tsk, tsk. Most prisoners would be trying to get along instead of trying to suffocate one another," Sasori's blunt teasing was not lost on the pinkette, but she was very grateful that he appeared. A watery emerald eye opened slowly to look at the puppet man, unknowingly begging for assistance in the situation.

Sasori looked down into the green orb that had the entire room's attention. His grip on the back of Sasuke's shirt, tightened, causing the fabric to press against his neck and nearly choke him. Calmly, he tossed the boy to the floor several feet from the cherry blossom. He took deliberate steps and leaned close to the raven haired boy's ear. "If you ever harm her again, I will not hesitate to disobey orders and turn your pathetic body into a puppet punching bag," he whispered, the psychopath within him growing more and more pleased with the terrified look that Sasuke was trying to hide.

Sasuke switched between looking at the pinkette on the ground and the redhead above him. He scoffed, acting as though the redhead's words didn't faze him. "You can't touch me. I can do whatever I want to her. Watch," Sasuke said with a cocky attitude. His "last Uchiha" pride unwavering as he stood up and strolled over to the kunoichi still on the floor, he positioned his fingers near her forehead, preparing to humiliate this girl before his own pride took another beating.

Sakura watched, feigning the fear and betrayal she knew that Sasuke expected. When his fingers were just grazing her forehead, her hand shot up and grabbed his wrist. Catching the boy off-guard, she used her strength to flip him over, and pinned him to the ground, using her chakra to hold him there. Sakura smirked, pressing her lips by his ear as she whispered fiercely, "Still think you can do whatever you want to me?" Sakura sat her bottom on his lower back, refusing to get up. A triumphant smirk on her face, as if she had officially won.

"Are the two of you ready to cease this idiocy? I do have quite a few problems to attend to, and you are only the beginning," Sasori drawled out, making his voice much slower and seem much more velvet like, distracting the pinkette momentarily. Without waiting for an answer, his chakra strings attached to both unsuspecting victims and draining them of their chakra.

Sakura sat, dumbfounded as she watched her chakra flow into the blue strings. It was as if he were taking her blood slowly through an I.V. and she found it majestic. She told herself to fight back, to try to escape the chakra strings and keep her chakra, but the look Sasori was giving her put her at ease. It was almost like his eyes were soothing her, telling her that he would do no harm, that he would be gentle. A ludicrous idea that Sakura should've dismissed, but found she was falling for instead.

Sasuke, however, earned none of this sympathy. His brown eyes glared at the boy while a sadistic smirk danced on is lips the Uchiha writhed in pain because of the chakra practically ripping itself from inside the boy. He screamed, loud and hard, chest heaving as he tried to break away from the puppet master's grip. Sasori drained the last drop of Sasuke's chakra, leaving him disoriented and defenseless. As his strings retreated calmly from both his prisoners, he smirked at Sakura.

"Now, it's a fair fight, doll. Have at him." He teased her lightly, turning around to walk out the cell and leave them. He heard a quiet, but appreciative 'thank you,' before he disappeared down the hall.

Sakura sat, a bit of a smile on her face, but quickly turned around to face Sasuke. After a show like Sasori's, Sakura was rejuvenated and prepared to destroy Sasuke. She sneered at him, only taking seconds to stomp over to his crippled body. Sakura kicked his body onto its back and felt disappointment in the weak gasp she earned. Her old comrade was, once again, inert.

The pinkette found that she had no reason to stand over his prone body any longer. Instead, the girl walked over to her prison bed and looked around sluggishly. The sudden lack of chakra running through her system was affecting her nearly razor sharp senses now. At last, her bright green eyes landed on her ninja bag in a damp corner and she strolled over to it.

She wasn't surprised to see it did not have the weapons it originally had, or the medical supplies she carried. However, all other components were still there; her clothing, comb, and other small items. And, despite the circumstances, she couldn't help but shiver at the image of these coldblooded psychopaths rummaging through her bag and touching her stuff. After all, who knew if they were only cold on the outside, and perverts on the inside?

"Oh shut up, Sakura. I doubt any of them really care about what you keep in your bag. Get your crap together," the kunoichi lectured aloud. Part of her wondered why she was so mentally unstable, while another part simply dismissed it as being a unique individual whose spirit was unlike any other. It made complete sense.

The pink medic's thought train eventually stopped at one particular Akatsuki member/psychopath. The one and only redhead puppet master plagued her mind, and for a few moments her heart started thumping against her chest and her breath was lost. Then, the dreams came flooding back, hitting her with an emotional force that seemed to drain her even further. Was she really that lonely in Konoha? Was it possible for her to start anew in the Akatsuki?

Just as she started coming to her final decision, the Uchiha that she was so starting to despise woke and, in an alarming speed for a loss of chakra induced slumber, woke up. His messy black hair shot up faster than she had expected and she turned toward him, glowering viciously until he understood that she would not hesitate to finish what had been started before Sasori entered.

There was silence. A pregnant moment in which neither of them looked at the other or made a noise different than breathing and the sound of scuffing shoes against the ground.

"Sakura-"

"Hello, brother," a smooth voice cut in, managing to ease Sakura's tension and increase Sasuke's in one heartbeat.

"Go the hell away, Itachi. I already said no."

The elder brother shook his head, his own red eyes hardened with annoyance and something else that neither of them could name.

"I wasn't speaking to you, brother. I was speaking to the kunoichi. Maybe you aren't only weak, but ridiculously stupid as well. I'm sure Orochimaru wouldn't be pleased at all."

Another voice quickly cut into the conversation, their footsteps had not been noticed. "So did she answer, yeah?"

"Obviously not you idiot." Yet another visitor. It seemed like the cell was becoming a party as they waited for her answer.

"Shut up, un. You're so mean, Sasori. This is why Chizuko bit the finger off your puppet last week."

"Be quiet," Sasori bit back viciously, the fingers that a tray was balanced on so precariously were twitching with irritation.

Sakura watched as Deidara finally accepted his silence, but grinned at the pinkette. The blossom almost laughed, recalling how irate the blond seemed in her dream only a few hours previous to this new encounter.

Sasuke, disgusted by the well, normal manner in which they spoke to each other, stepped back with a horrid countenance.

"Here's your food." Sasori stepped inside, allowing the pinkette to see what he carried on the tray. Two bowls sat on the tray, one holding broth, noodles and producing an enchanting steam that filled her small nostrils with the powerful scent of Miso ramen. In the other bowl, a grey brown liquid with the consistency of wet concrete slopped with every step the redhead took. The sight of the second bowl made the pinkette glad she had nothing in her system yet, because she suddenly felt the pangs of revolted nausea. Sasori lowered the tray and set down the bowl of ramen by the pinkette. Then he turned to the raven haired boy and chucked the boy loosely at him. Unpleasantly, Sasuke caught the bowl without allowing there to be a spill.

The pinkette paid no mind to them any longer and she merrily slurped away at her noodles. She could feel Deidara's grin on her and Sasuke's jealous glare. She sat up straighter, making a better show of her food by moaning a little at the taste.

"Tch, annoying..."

"Aren't you going to eat, brother?"

"Shut the hell up, bastard. I'm not you're brother." The younger Uchiha found it difficult to hold back the rage that followed in the comment. He launched himself at his older and prepared for an unplanned attack, Itachi maneuvered out of the way. In silence, Itachi activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and Sasuke was paralyzed.

"Troublesome Sasuke…" Sakura mumbled as she continued with her surprisingly pleasant bowl of noodles. It startled her to hear the boisterous laughter of Deidara. She glanced upward from the food and found Sasori smirking at her and Itachi's now black eyes betraying a hint of respect toward her. Sakura's green eyes widened at faces around her and she stumbled for words. She barely forced a 'thank you' out before looking over at Deidara and focusing on the salivating mouths on his hands. "Chizuko looks hungry."

"Shut up, un. You know they don't eat. And that isn't even Chizuko, so get it right, pinky."

"Shut up Deidara."

"But she started it, Danna!"

"And you're going to stop, now."

Sakura stifled the laughs coming out by biting her thumb, but she couldn't help the amused smile curling around the small digit.

"Have you decided yet?" the stoic Itachi's question was straight forward, and despite expecting as much, the pinkette was still caught off-guard. She removed the digit from her mouth, forcing the same professional countenance that she used when working in the hospital.

"I think I have. But I want to know, what would I be doing in the Akatsuki if I joined?"

"You'd be healing members, doing missions, going on assassinations, and on your free time you can do anything but go back to your village, un. Oh, and instead of having today, tomorrow and the day after, Leader said you must decide by noon tomorrow, yeah."Deidara pitched in, obviously over her mistaking the names of his precious hands.

"I think I've made my decision then…" Sakura slowly answered, more uncertain of her future than of her decision. She told herself again that it was the best choice, the only way she could improve and gain respect. It was her right decision.

"Oh really now, Sa-ku-ra?" A smirk was upon the puppet's lips and Sakura nodded confidently at him, already knowing he was aware of her answer. But it still needed to be said out loud. It needed to be verified to the other two in the room, or rather Deidara since Itachi was smart enough to know already too.

"I've chosen to-" Sakura started, interrupting by the sound of the wall being blown open. Light began streaming in from the outside and fresh air mixed with crumpling dust and debris made the pinkette begin the cough. It seemed the others were unaffected by this sudden change in air quality. Once the wall was done creating a mess of things, six new figures could be seen in the gap, all looking exhausted and angry.

"Sakura-chan!" Two particular blondes shouted at once, running in and pulling them close to her. The other two teammates, Kakashi and Sai, focused mainly on the Akatsuki in the room. Ino inspected Sakura, fretting over the simplest hair being up in the wrong direction. Naruto focused his anger on the Akatsuki members after realizing that Sakura was fine and unharmed.

Few seconds later, Orochimaru and Kabuto had made their way to Sasuke through the hole they allowed the Konoha ninjas to create for them.

A/N It's longer this time around, seeeeeeeeeee? And yes, I'm back after sooooo long again. Two or three years I think, actually. I just couldn't sit down and do it anymore. But now, here it is, darlings. Officially finished on 12/13/2015. I think this story is starting to flow better now, and hopefully I can make it better over time. Bye guys, hope you enjoyed it and I'll get chapter 5 updated soon.

Sincerely,

D.A.R.N.