Inspiration: Start again- Red

"All this time, I can make it right. With one more try, can we start again?"

Pairing: You know the pairings for the most part. SasuSaku, Undertones of ItaSaku, and even some KisaSaku.

Notes: This chapter is so lovely. I can't wait for your comments on this chapter. I hope you'll like it. It's rather short but it's an important one. : ] Review if you're feeling kind. Also, my beta is perf.

Theme: Romance/Shameless, pointless sexiness

Rating: Mmmm for Mature

What if I let you in? What if I make it right?

There was a very clear, unsettling helplessness festering inside of him. It was taken beyond a single plane of feeling. It was a pain so real that it was beginning to burn his skin, hurt his heart, cause his eye sight to dim any lights, as if he was floating in darkness.

And when he was surrounded in darkness, as it always did, that voice came to him. Kurama.

The Nine-Tails.

"I thought you were better than this, brat."

Naruto peeled his eyes open and glanced around the shadows of his mind. An open eternity of melding nothingness was stretching out from all points. Behind the bars of his mind, the Nine-Tails gave him a hateful, fox like grin.

The blond pressed himself up into sitting position, and crossed his legs and arms all at once. It was a very stern and thoughtful pose. He suppressed the urge to cough up the feeling of hopelessness that had stuck itself in his throat. It was beginning to make speaking and breathing difficult.

He had never felt so helpless before.

"You're absolutely useless. Allowing all of this to happen for a stupid girl." His demon slurred and Naruto's blue eyes sprung open. The empty darkness around them rippled like water. A very short standoff came to be, before he turned his chin away from the fox demon in irritation.

"We'll get out of here in no time." A somewhat unimpressive voice by comparison to his normal, upbeat and confident tone.

"The drug that you allowed them to give you is repressing all of your pitiful human chakra. The only chakra you have left is my chakra now, boy. How do you expect to use it without letting me free?"

Naruto frowned, his eyes closing as he went into deep thought. "If I had fought him, he would have killed Sakura."

"You're weak." An animalistic sneer. "And she's going to die anyways. She's probably already dead."

A great boost of anger broke Naruto's control and he popped up from sitting position. Standing with his shoulders tense and his right hand pointing at the Nine-tails, his eyes were burning brightly.

"Shut up! Sakura is alive, I just know it." He relaxed a bit as he thought of how much she'd grown. "Sakura won't die in a place like this."

His demon frowned at him, his great tails lashing out in an almost casual way. "You are a stupid host and your sentiment for that girl has lost you any hope you might have had of getting out of here."

Naruto couldn't afford to believe it.

Another voice broke in through the darkness. One that didn't belong to him or Kurama.

They exchanged glances.

"Little leaf waste, are you hungry, hm?"

Naruto took one last chance to give his demon a confident smile. "We're going to get out of here." And then he opened his eyes and the deep ocean of black was gone.

He was sitting in what appeared to be a cell. There were bars on each side, and it was in the very center of whatever room he was in. His arms were chained above his head, and he was in the middle of his cage. The very middle of the room.

Above him, his wrists were black, purple, yellow and red from being held in the same position for so long, and they were throbbing sharply with a pain that sunk deep into his bones.

His chin had dropped entirely forward, bobbling uselessly as he dreamed. His knees brought up to press against his chest.

He peered out into the hazy, dull space of the open room, but couldn't see anyone.

"I see you're still out of it, hm." It wasn't a question but it still almost sounded that way. Naruto glanced groggily to his right to see a blond. Bright eyes, Akatsuki cloak and an interested grin. "Well, I asked you a question. Are you hungry, little leaf loser?"

In his hands, the man held a container of some kind, and Naruto could smell it. It was unquestionably food and it smelled positively amazing. He blinked twice with heavy eyelids before he swallowed harshly. "Where's Sakura?" He asked and his voice was a little scratchy.

"Oh, you mean pinky, hm. She's busy somewhere. Probably having her pretty brains fucked out." He chimed, and immediately Naruto felt a rage incomparable to anything he'd possibly ever felt before. "Sounds nice doesn't it, hm? Too bad it isn't my turn yet. Stupid Itachi." He grumbled.

The white hot anger was too much. It made him light headed, and his blue eyes glowed darkly.

"That's it little one, just let me loose." The Nine-tails whispered in his thoughts lowly. It was spoken in a horrifyingly happy tone, and the smugness of it made Naruto breath for a moment, to try and control himself.

Sakura. If she was harmed in this place, he would never forgive himself, or anyone else. He would kill them all.

And then it registered entirely what the man said.

Itachi.

"Itachi is here." He spoke out loud, but not on purpose. The blond Akatsuki at his side chuckled as if he was amused. Naruto looked back up into slightly lighter blue eyes. "Can I see him?"

Itachi Uchiha. He hadn't seen that man in many years. The man who stole Sasuke away from him.

That would mean Sasuke was there. He felt a pang to his chest as he thought of who he still considered his best friend. Those Uchiha brothers, even though they had betrayed the village, they wouldn't hurt Sakura would they?

No, he still believed in Sasuke. He believed that his best friend wouldn't hurt Sakura. He had to believe it.

A belly bursting laugh came from that Akatsuki. He wished he was better with names and memorization. He couldn't remember the bingo book for shit. That was what Sakura did. They came across someone, and she told him all these details. If he was better at remembering he might know more details about this Akatsuki.

"Where do you think you are, hm?" He spoke on a light, breathy voice. "You can't make a request to see anyone. You're a prisoner, hm."

Naruto snarled in anger. "Pein. Bring that guy here." He snapped. His patience was becoming very thin. He already didn't have much patience in his life. What little he did have was already wearing low.

The Akatsuki paused, and looked a little torn.

Pressing on, Naruto jerked his arms against his chains as if he was going to try and break them. "Bring that coward here!" He yelled, "He told me I would see Sakura if I let him give me this drug. Who the hell does he think he is? A man should keep his word, or else he's no better than scum!" He was shouting and pulling his arms weakly against his chains.

For a second it felt as if his show was going to be ignored, but just as he was getting rather discouraged, the man before him gritted his teeth and frowned deeply. "Just shut up alright." He stood, and the contents of whatever was in the container in his hand, went with him. Naruto found that he was staring at that food without meaning to, his mouth watering helplessly. "If you're sure about this, hm." He seemed to be intimidated by the thought of Pein. Naruto didn't answer that, because he really wasn't sure it was a question. This guy was too strange.

His thoughts drifted to Pein, their leader. Naruto had met him once already, and it was quite an eventful meeting which ended with a promise that he would get to see his partner, as long as he cooperated. He had done so simply because he knew Sakura would have done anything for him.

Never giving up was just what Team Seven did.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed since he has last seen Pein, but he was tired of waiting.

"Where is Sakura?" He shouted, and at this time the Akatsuki was leaving, taking the food with him. He was entirely ignored, much to his chagrin, and he sighed as the sound of a door closing in the darkness came to his ears.

"You should have told him you were hungry, you brat. The food would have helped pass this drug out of your system." As always, the Nine-Tails was speaking to him from inside of his head, and it was annoying. He immediately ignored it.

His whole body was hurting, he was struggling to suppress his demons chakra, he was starving, and he wanted to see his partner. This whole mess wasn't looking up any time soon.

"Sakura." He breathed her name, hoping she would appear.

She didn't.

"Are you feeling any stronger?" Kisame was asking her.

His voice had become soothing in a big way. It was always controlled and deep, and she'd come to appreciate it. Sadly, his words brought a considerable discomfort over her. She shook her head. "Not really." She sighed, "I pride myself on having amazing chakra control. If I could even get a little chakra I could manage something." She knew how frustrated she sounded.

There was a moment of silence that passed between them before he stood. He was speaking as he moved. "That drug is no joke." He was gathering his tray, which was now empty and walking it over to his dresser. "It'll probably be at least a full day before you can start to regenerate enough chakra to be able to move without feeling weak." His words were entirely calm and low as he turned around, and walked her way. She was relieved to find that she wasn't afraid of him coming near her anymore.

He wasn't headed towards her for a personal encounter; he was just reaching for her tray. His blue skin peeking out from beneath his Akatsuki robe was very interesting to look at. She peered up at him with bright eyes. "And I will be honest with ya girly," He turned and walked her tray over to stack it with his. She remained still, seated in the dirt on the ground. His shirt over her frame was causing the mild draft in the room to give her chills. She could feel the cold seeping through the arm holes and hitting the skin of her ribs and breasts.

She shivered as she listened to his next words.

"I don't think you'll make it that far." He was sitting back on his bed. "Pein will find you before tomorrow. There isn't much chance that you'll build up enough chakra to defend yourself before he does. I hate to say it, but you're in for a tough night."

His words instilled an intense panic inside of her chest, and chill down her spine. She could hardly breathe as she worried over it. "Pein." She breathed the name of that man. The one she remembered so clearly, yet somehow, who managed to escape proper clarity within her mind.

Thinking about his words; how he told her that he would take her to Naruto, and then immediately going back on his promise, it made her stomach unsettle.

"He's keeping my friend somewhere in this place." She said quietly. A sadness swept over her as she pictured her best friend alone and waiting for her. She wondered where he was, and if he was hurt. She knew he must have been drugged just like her, but she was hoping that Pein wouldn't count on Naruto's chakra reserves being so high.

"Best you worry about yourself." Kisame said seriously, but not unkindly. There was a flicker of something odd on his voice. Something clipped or restless about them.

She winced at his words.

Maybe he was right. Where was she? What was she accomplishing?

Once again she wasn't even a step closer to helping Naruto. She would probably be dragging him down. Would he have been able to escape without her?

"Yeah." She sighed the word absentmindedly.

"Come here." His words were strong, smooth and unexpected.

They caused her head to jerk up and her eyes to widen a bit. "What?" She had gone very still, as if any sudden movements would cause him to pounce on her. Her breath caught in her throat.

As a response he produced a deep breath of his own. He was sitting close to the bottom corner of his bed, with his posture very relaxed. He didn't look particularly threatening, but she was very weary. How could she not be weary? She was far beyond enemy territory, without any way to defend herself. How could she so easily trust him?

"I said come here." He repeated the words and his tone was a little clipped. Annoyed and there was once again the mild insult present on his voice. He was growing tired of her suspicion of him.

She was entirely torn. Her legs fought against her, and her chest was constricting tightly. More than anything, she was wishing that she had Sasuke at her side. Or Itachi coming to her rescue.

He didn't appear to have any patience left, and she found that her muscles were more willing to oblige after a startling darkness colored his expression. She pushed herself up from the grounds using her hands. Her knees were very weak as she stood, her progress halted by her nerves.

Kisame was frowning now, his black eyes pressing into her skin uncomfortably. He didn't appear to have any sympathy for her nerves, or her discomfort. She wondered why that was. So far he had always seemed very considerate of her feelings. Maybe he had been insulted by her suspicion for the last time.

She stood in slight wonderment, and a creep of fear spreading across her skin, but she found that her legs were moving easier than she thought they would be capable of. Fueled by her fear of his less companionable expression.

Walking towards his small, gray bed was a robotic, thoughtless motion.

He wasn't moving, which she was thankful for. She was certain that if he made any sudden movements she would collapse entirely.

She didn't stop moving until her knees thumped against the frame. Finding it too hard to turn and face him, she instead gazed at the threads of his blanket uncomfortable. He was just to her side, and she could feel his eyes on her. Not daring to look up at him, she resorted to a tight, heavy question that hung over them in the air. "What now?" She asked quietly.

She still believed in her gut that he didn't intend to harm her, however being so close to him now was definitely freaking her out. Being close to anyone at this point would freak her out.

There wasn't an immediate answer from him, and the absence of it made the room that much more wide with stale uncertainty. Her breath was coming to her much more scarcely by the moment.

All she could think of was turning and running away. Running away from every moment she'd ever been afraid to face.

Neither of them moved for at least a full minute, and she thought that he might have been delaying his answer just to get under her skin. If that was his intention, it was definitely working.

And then he let out a tremendous sigh that fluttered the ends of her hair, making it tickle her nose.

"Well, then. Sit down." He responded roughly, at last, and she did so immediately, almost like a puppet on strings. She collapsed onto the bed with her knees facing the opposite side, away from him, and her body angled towards the head of the bed. He remained still on the end of the bed, and she didn't look over at his face.

"Well, that wasn't hard right?" He breathed and she found that it was rather efficient in breaking a minor amount of the dark tension that she was no doubt the cause of.

"You've got another thing coming later, girly." His tone of voice was almost humorous, even though his words were clearly not a joke.

Somehow she found the will to turn only her head towards him. Her chin peeked over her shoulder and she peered at him through a screen of her pink bangs.

He met her eyes and she shied away from the direct eye contact instantly. Her eyes instead held onto the sharp red color of the clouds stitched into his cloak.

She couldn't find the room to answer him, but he seemed to take her silence as a cue for him to keep talking.

"If you think I'm bad, just wait til Deidara gets a hold of you. You're going to have to loosen up, or it'll only get worse." He reasoned but his voice sounded strained.

She took a risk to look back up at him, and she received a relatively hard gaze in comparison to the other looks he'd given her this evening. He was unrelenting and unquestioning. There was a strength and intention behind them that frightened her.

And before the fear his words had instilled had settled down, another, instinctual, deep cutting fear came to life inside of her at the feeling that came to her. The feeling of his hand shooting up and clasping around her upper shoulder.

The instantaneous stock of terror, and breathlessness that came over her made her feel faint.

Fighting like a bird in a snare she immediately felt her muscles flinch as she attempted to jump out of his gasp but it worked like a sling shot.

The force of his tight hand on her arm snatched her back to him like a rubber band, and she plummeted towards him with a gasp.

As she fell against him, she spotted the steady, undeterred contact of his black eyes.

"Stop!" She heard herself say the words, but she didn't intend to say them so loudly.

His fingers were hard and felt sharp like knives, and she hissed against the feeling.

"Your friend, I know where Pein is keeping him."

And then she froze.

For one moment.

For two.

He was still controlling her with only one hand, and she realized that in the fall she had landed with her thighs pressed against his, and her hands had both come up to rest on his chest. Where previously they were pushing him furiously now they rested softly. She could feel the heat from beneath his cloak warming her skin.

"What?" She breathed, and even though she only said one word, her voice managed to crack while saying it.

"That kid they brought you in with. I found him." He said quietly.

And the tears were leaking from her eyes instantly without her permission.

"Naruto?"

His black eyes were steady, and absolutely compromising. No dishonesty in their deep depths.

Naruto.