Inspiration: Stay- Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko

"Funny you're the broken one but I'm the only one who needed saving. 'Cause when you never see the lights, it's hard to know which one of us is caving."

Pairing: Who will it be? SasuSaku, NaruSaku, or ItaSaku? : P

Notes: This chapter is up earlier than usual because I was struck with the inspiration and everything just fell in place, so this chapter is up quickly. I hope you enjoy it, it's not quite as long as it might seem, but don't worry, the next will be longer to make up for it. This chapter has a bit of Pein, as well as something new. I really appreciate the reviews and the support. Thanks for reading, and sticking with it. I know I've had some fans stay with me since chapter one, so that's really lovely of you. You guys make me smile.

Thanks to Rice who has a constant pool of fucks to give my steady stream of useless fangirling, as well as a keen eye and editting abilities. You're positively a gift. : ]

Theme: Romance/Shameless, pointless sexiness

Rating: Mmmm for Mature

[It's not much of a life you're living; It's not just something you take, it's given.]

It was a dreary morning in the Leaf. Rain fell in torrents against the window panes creating a bleak, reverberant melody that made the early morning hours seem to tick by even more slowly than usual.

In strong contrast to the sleepiness of the hour and the serious mood set on by the rain, there were restless golden eyes peering at Kakashi as he stood with his back straight in the office of the Hokage tower. Beneath the desk, the Hokage was bouncing her knee which was causing her desk to squeak. Her fingers were tapping loudly as she thrummed an apprehensive pattern against the surface.

In truth, seeing the normally stern, rather manic and harsh woman they called a leader so antsy made Kakashi uneasy himself. Regardless of the discomfort the troubling silence was causing him, he didn't speak against it. Instead he stood rather dumbly before her desk.

An entire 10 minutes passed before the knock at her door gave way to her rusty voice. He was unclear on whether it was her nerves or just plain misuse in this early morning fashion that made her sound that way. "Come in already." She snapped.

The door opened to give way to a familiar sight and Kakashi tilted his head towards it with a small grin beneath his mask. It might have been informal of him to do so, but he took the opportunity to speak so that he might lighten the mood. "Yo." He greeted the pale, rather strange boy he knew well enough from being his old favorite Team Sevens newest member.

Sai entered quickly, all but dismissing Kakashi's greeting in favor of lowering his head marginally to the blond haired Hokage who had taken on a rather impatient glower. "Hokage. My apologies." He echoed as he fell in line at Kakashi's side.

The Copy nin didn't like smothering atmospheres like this one and was feeling very uncomfortable and apprehensive at what might be making the mood so heavy. He had a feeling it wasn't just the rain that was making Tsunade so serious.

She brushed off Sai's word with a wave of her hand. Lacing her fingers together in front of her, she took a breath before speaking. "Kakashi, I'm aware that you've just returned from a previous mission and I'm sorry to distract you from catching up on your beauty sleep." Her eyes flitted to Sai for a moment, but she had no personalized address for him.

Kakashi gave her a close-eye'd smile. "Don't mention it." The feeling of discomfort was growing thicker by the moment.

He could only imagine that whatever it was she wanted to tell them was unpleasant.

"This meeting will need to remain under wraps." Her hands unlinked before her and she leaned back in her chair tiredly. "As of now, it's just speculation and a bad feeling. I know sending you out because of a bad feeling might be irresponsible, but I don't give a damn." She churned the words out.

The rain slanted against the walls of the tower loudly and for a moment it was the only sound between the three of them.

"It's about Naruto and Sakura."

Kakashi felt a grave sense of alarm drop into the pit of his stomach and he focused his silvery eye on her. At his side he could sense Sai stiffen almost unnoticeably.

"As you might remember they were sent on a long term mission nearly a month ago. Sakura even sent me word when they'd arrived and I received yet more word when they had completed the first correspondents with their contact near Sound. That was nearly a week ago. Travel time to the next correspondent shouldn't have taken more than four days."

Kakashi was beginning to understand why their Hokage had a bad feeling. To imagine that it would somehow take Naruto and Sakura seven days to make just four days travel was unthinkable. Either they had stopped for a vacation, or something unexpected had arisen that would keep them from making contact.

"I haven't received any word since then." Tsunade looked weary as she lifted her hand and pressed it to her head. Massaging her temples, she gave a sigh. "At this point, I'm going to send you preemptively. Everyone in this room knows that Sakura would never let the mission get three days off track without good reason."

Kakashi glanced with his visible eye over at the pale boy at his side. They had never interacted much after Team Seven gained their new third member, they also gained a new Sensei. It had been close to a year since he's spent more than a few hours eating ramen with his old students. He wasn't sure how this mission might turn out if he was forced to go only with Sai.

Still, thoughts of what might have happened to Naruto and Sakura were far more troubling than he wanted to admit.

"I'll have a mission report drawn up with details and you'll be leaving first thing. I know it might seem senseless of me to send you so early, but this is abnormal behavior." She sounded far too exhausted.

"Do you have any idea what may have delayed them?" Sai asked, his tone level and very normal. It nearly sounded as if he wasn't affected by the situation at all, but there were other signs to prove that he was at least mildly worried. The strain in his posture said so at the very least.

Tsunade shook her head and at this time deemed it pertinent to rummage around in her desk. From one of the deeper drawers she produced a bottle of sake, which apparently she always kept at arm's length. Not bothering to go through the effort of finding a glass, she simply decided to gulp some down as it was.

After taking a swig, she sniffled as if she were catching a cold. Her golden eyes were betraying her act of nonchalance however and Kakashi knew she was indeed rather afraid for her two favorite ninja- though she would never admit out loud that she felt so strongly about them.

"Could be a number of things. There is a chance they were intercepted by someone who wished to harm their contacts, or it could have been rogues. They were dangerously close to sound territory." She shrugged. "Take care, and report often. Tell no one before you leave and remember, this is a proactive strike. Something smells fishy."

Kakashi caught the glint in her eye and he lowered his head in a bow. "Of course." He chimed, and he and his new partner exited the room without looking back. No more time wasted.

His thoughts were rousing up memories and images of his blond and pink haired students that were making his nerves tingle with anxiety. Tsunade was correct in one thing; something was indeed fishy if they hadn't met with their contact within the allotted time. Sakura was excellent at keeping Naruto focused and the two had long ago become a noteworthy pair. They worked well together and always finished missions on record times. If they didn't show up, it was for a good reason.

Kakashi shook his head against the thought and he glanced at the pale boy at his side now. The kid reminded him of their previous third member, someone he personally didn't like thinking about. Anyone or anything that reminded him of Sasuke was upsetting.

Walking past the Uchiha compound every day brought a discomfort over him. They all reminded him that his student had found his teaching unsatisfactory and had instead chosen to seek power and enlightenment in the form of becoming a rogue.

Kakashi frowned even at the thought and was thankful for the mask that obscured the large part of his face. Anyone who abandons their teammates was less than trash, and he believed it. Sasuke had walked away from their entire village, and more personally, their team. He didn't want a permanent reminder of such a thing.

Funny that they were assigned a replacement who happened to resemble the Uchiha renegade so strongly.

Kakashi brushed away the thoughts as they opened the doors and stepped out without hesitation into the onslaught of rain. It was going to be a long travel to the general location Naruto and Sakura were last seen at, and he wasn't looking forward to the anxiety it was going to cause him.

"Meet you at the bridge in 2 hours." Kakashi mouthed to his young partner, raising his voice to compete with the loudness of the rain.

The pale boy, already soaked to the brim nodded, spat out a "Yes sir," and vanished in a puff. At least he wasn't the only one who appeared to be impatient to get this mission underway.

Naruto was beginning to wonder if time was against him.

Even though the time between when the blue skinned Akatsuki came to see him and the door opened again couldn't have been more than ten minutes.

During that span of ten minutes he was swarmed with an assault of negativity and a spell of self-scorning. Thinking of all the ways this could go wrong and the fact that he was going to be unable to save his Sakura, was causing him to lose his very important self-security. What had he been fighting for for so long if not to be able to protect those he loved.

There was no one he loved more than Sakura.

All he wanted was to be able to protect her and yet he was being asked- by an enemy, for all appearance sake- to stand by and do nothing if Sakura were harmed before him.

What the hell had he been fighting for all this time!?

The sound of not being alone anymore, of the door opening, made Naruto's muscles twitch as if he'd been electrocuted. He jerked into standing position, moving himself as close to the bars as possible.

The fact that he could only hear one pair of steps was slightly surprising and he was squinting into the darkness waiting for the sound to materialize from the darkness into what he hoped was Pein, and hopefully Sakura.

Even though he had so terribly wanted it to be Sakura, the sight of her was both inspiring and traumatizing. He had thought he was ready to see her, but he realized how wrong he was. He would have needed more time than could ever be framed before he could be properly ready to see Sakura in such a state and even worse, stuck between the arms of the Pein.

The absolute horror that overtook Naruto was tangible on his face. He grimaced, his eyebrows pulling down and shadows taking over the normal crystal clear of his blue eyes. "Sakura!"

Pein remained a cut out of immoveable aloofness, calm and Godly. A detached presence, as if he wasn't actually a part of this world. The spiral of his eyes as he stepped into the light that dangled above Naruto's cage. The sight filled him with anger.

Tucked against the black Akatsuki cloak was a rather small shape he recognized so well, somehow she looked so unlike how he'd ever seen her, and tears prickled his eyes. Naruto glared at the normally flawless ivory skin and how dull and gray she looked, washed out like she'd been bleached of the normal glow she held. She looked a little grimy and dirty, and a thrash of anger assaulted him when he saw how little clothing she was wearing. He could feel the power of Kurama's chakra forcing itself into his veins. His control stretched out before him like a cord, strained to the limit, threatening so achingly to snap.

The demon inside of him was gnawing at him in eagerness.

Then he met her eyes and he froze. His shoulders shook as he gazed into the eyes of Sakura who he loved so very much and he felt a minor relief from the feeling of spinning out of control.

"Naruto." She whispered his name, immediately sucking in a deep breath as if she could breathe him in.

Naruto watched as Pein retracted his right arm slowly, allowing Sakura's knees to drop away and her feet to hit the ground, but he kept a secure hand around her petite shoulder. Though, Sakura didn't attempt to move regardless of his grip.

She was busy gazing at Naruto with unabashed tears running down her face. It was a sight that made him want to rip away the bars and scoop her up and run away with her.

She looked positively worse for wear. A slight tremor shook over her and her pink hair had fallen down to obscure her eyes.

"Kyuubi vessel," Pein's voice was hollow like gutted pumpkin, and Naruto growled instinctually. "Have you enjoyed your stay here?"

Jerking his tightly balled fists against the chains he knew he could easily break if he gave into Kurama's pleas to release him, Naruto shouted, "Cut the crap!" His eyes shot over to Sakura and he immediately had doubts he could do this.

Could he really not save Sakura? Just sit back and let whatever was going to happen, just simply happen with no qualms.

Naruto wasn't sure it was possible.

"We did everything you wanted." He lowered his voice a bit, trying very hard to control himself.

Pein's facial features didn't alter in any way. "And I kept my word. Here is your teammate, and she is unharmed nearly entirely."

Naruto scowled, baring his teeth, "That's a fucking lie. Look at her!" He shook his head, his voice rumbling like a volcano. Vaguely, he recognized the sound of Sakura weakly, nervously whispering his name.

He glanced up to see her looking very frightened.

"She has never seen true pain." Pein's mood seemed to switch tersely into displeasure. "Are you suggesting that I show you what true pain looks like, Kyuubi vessel?"

Naruto immediately snapped his jaw shut of any responses that he wanted to shout back.

Sakura was shaking more notably as Pein's grip clenched around her shoulder. The impression of her skin bubbling up around his fingers which pressed so harshly into her, made Naruto want to scream in frustration. Other than the imperceptible whimper Sakura didn't viscerally react to the bruising grasp.

She echoed his name again as if it was the only word she knew how to say anymore.

He steeled his nerves at the sound of her voice.

Pein felt confident enough to remove his hand away from Sakura's shoulder, as if he knew she wouldn't attempt to run. Of course she wouldn't, not only was she finally directly before Naruto, but where would she run to?

There was already an incessant purpling outline of five fingers on her shoulder, at the end of each dark mark a half moon incision where his nails, though they appeared to be very short, had broken skin. The little red marks made Naruto shake. Even such a small wound was too much for his beautiful Sakura.

"Pein," Naruto frowned, "You don't want her, you want me."

At this Sakura started, her eyes wide. "Naruto, you don't know wha-" She didn't have a chance to speak any further before a blur of motion that was too quick for either of their eye's to detect materialized and Sakura was rocketed across the room. The sound of bone hitting bone was piercing throughout the silence.

The scream that breached Naruto's lips wouldn't be easily contained by any kind of walls, no matter how thick.

Pein's fist was suspended in the air post action and there was an indifference hanging on his expression.

When Sakura didn't immediately stand, Naruto's heart very nearly stopped.

Kurama very nearly broke through his conscious state of mind immediately.

Her limp form remained crumpled on the floor around 5 feet away from his cage, just at the edge of the place where the light faded into shadows again.

"Sakura!" He screamed her name and moved as far in her direction as the chains would allow.

Pein's voice was unforgiving. "True pain is a lesson you should know by now. I'm surprised you're so weak." He stated the fact on a dull voice and Naruto felt even more rage settling over him like a weight. "As a Kyuubi vessel, you should be used to experiencing true pain."

Pressing against his heart, stealing away the breath in his lungs. His self restraint was shrinking away, his knuckles were popping loudly, and his fingernails seemed to be growing into a sharp point. He could feel his pupils retracting into pinpoints, and could practically see his vision bleed to red.

Such a simple thing as being directly hit shouldn't put Sakura down for so long, however Naruto suspected she was nearly incapacitated by the chakra repressing drug. He hoped more than anything that she was okay.

He could feel his skin growing tight and could practically hear Kurama panting with excitement.

Before him, Pein merely looked on with attentive corkscrew eyes.

.

.

Naruto.

.

He had thought it had been the ghosting voice of the now pungent images of Sakura's swirling around inside of his subconscious. Just a projection of his mind, an attempt not to lose control of himself again.

But when the very broken-down form that was previously unmoving on the ground began to shake, Naruto suspended any movement. Among his own heavy breathing and the sound of his chains rattling, he heard her voice.

"Naruto," it was weaker than he wanted it to be, but it was clarifying and beautiful. He called her name in return, like an unintentional ritual.

"Sakura."

Pein had turned his attention to her, but he was thus far unmoving.

"I'm okay." She breathed, and he watched as she used her hands to push herself up into sitting position. Never before had anything been so relieving as seeing her very weak smile. Not even the steady drizzle of blood that leaked from her nose, or the shadow of red puffiness over her eye which was already fading to a deep purple. "Stop." Just one word and he recognized exactly what it meant.

Any opening Kurama had to break through and take over his consciousness was quickly ticked away. He could feel the annoyance of his demon, who was once again thwarted out by thoughts of his pink haired love.

Watching Sakura stand was like watching a baby animal and her knees knocked notably as she regained her stature. Though she was slumped forward and her breathing was too heavy, she gave him a reassuring nod.

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

He worked intensely to regulate his breathing.

There was one thing he had realized in his new minor meeting with control; Pein knew who he was.

It wasn't accidental that they had bumped into the Akatsuki. It hadn't been an accident when the handful of red and black cloaked bastards apparently ran across their trail and they were captured. The seemingly casual, possibly too casual way they had been dealt with made Naruto think that they'd dodged a bullet. That somehow, some way, the Akatsuki didn't realize that he was who he was.

He was terribly mistaken.

Of course the Akatsuki knew he was a jinchūriki, and now he and Sakura were going to pay dearly for it.

This was not good in any way.