Naruto 1. Scroll I

**Tsukino**

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_Scroll I: Danger_

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Her hands were bloody, coated in the sticky liquid of another's life blood, but she continued on swiftly, and if the sight of blood was disturbing to her, she didn't show it. Sakura was here to save a person, and to perform surgery was just another part of her daily routine as an accomplished medi. It wasn't that she never partook missions or was particularly _useless _(Oh, how she **detested **that word) in the fields of the shinobi arts, it was just… Sakura preferred more that simple act of saving the people who had fought valiantly and fearlessly than to being the one that would witness the blood and gore herself.

And apparently, her father did not agree the least bit with her.

In his eyes, if you did not practice and master the arts of a shinobi, you were _**useless**_.

Sakura eyes narrowed in disgust while her nimble fingers worked agilely, oblivious to what it's owner's disturbing thoughts.

She was _not_ useless. She had proven that fact when Tsunade-shishou had taken her as her student, when she was taken into account as a part of the legendary Team 7 triology, when she had kicked the ass of one of the strongest shinobi in the 7 countries.

But it wasn't enough.

It was **never **enough.

Her father only had eyes for her brother. It was ridiculous, Sakura knew herself, but she wasn't the good little girl all the adults often praised her of being. She was 18 already, for the Hokage's sake! Yet…

Sakura brilliant green eyes dimmed as her fingers moved on quickly to heal the bruises and cuts marring the ANBU's face, her warm, green chakra pulsating from her hands and into the man below her. Her chakra connected the broken tissue and mended the broken bones, then swept down to tend to his abdomen, which had been shattered beyond recognition.

But that didn't faze her. She was a medic, and he was his patient.

Sakura eyes softened. She remembered her mother, smiling kindly at her, her emerald eyes sparkling with maternal love-

She wondered who in which corner of the world was waiting for the man underneath her to make it home safe and unscathed-

She smiled.

She would do **anything** to save her patient.

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Sakura wandered.

She liked to wander. It gave her a peace that she did not feel when she was in the presence of her father, and she let herself enjoy the comforting lightness while it would last. Evening was slowly creeping close, and the merchants were too busy shouting out prices and accepting offers to notice the pink-haired woman running her hands along the delicate trinklets presented along the worn fabrics.

Sakura allowed her vision to drift along frayed ends of the fabric and her mind slipped into reverie. She didn't know what she was doing anymore - she did not have a goal, and she had always been more goal oriented than anything else. They had Sasuke back, and thus she was at a loss. Though the shinobi countries were brimming on war, her own tight circle felt peaceful, if not a bit too comforting.

Shinobi stood on their toes at all times. It was either that or death.

Her feet made good pace along the dirt road, and before long she had wandered into the messier districts of Konoha, and Sakura took note to turn back before she got caught by some drunk men. She grimaced. Blood stains and sake stenches took forever to wash off. She was about to turn when a thick, gruff voice took her by surprise - the man was only a few feet away from her, and she hadn't felt a thing.

"Hello, kitten," The man wore a rough smirk that corresponded to his hideious face. And for a while Sakura contemplated what the return him.

A punch, a kick, or a broken nose?

And while she contemplated, the man - who was obviously drunk - made an awful mistake to grasp her arm, "why don't we go and have some fun?"

'_Nasty, vile men.'_ Growling, Sakura pried his hands off of her, while infusing some chakra into her fingers to make them sting upon contact. The man recoiled, but kept his smirk, his razor sharp teeth glinting maliciously in the dark. A warning triggered at the back of her mind - she had seen this man before, maybe in one of the records that she read during her stay in the hokage's records room or on a mission report.

This man was dangerous.

She disregarded the sirens resounding in her head because as much as her instincts screamed at her that the man before her was extremely dangerous, she knew she would have recognized him immediately for his tall stature or beady eyes, and his teeth would have been too hard to forget if she had actually seen him before.

His hair was a curious blue and he wore no forehead protector, but despite his non-shinobi wear and tan arms, Sakura felt herself starting to breath irregularly in the crushing aura of this strange man.

He was still smirking, and even as his fingers sizzled upon contact of the kunoichi's fingers, he seemed unfazed and amused, at the most. He seemed to enjoy their little 'banter' and Sakura was going to change that.

In blinding speed, she arched her arm and aimed a punch for the man's jaw, and she felt the adreline and chakra pulse within her fist.

She acutely felt the terror that pressed down on her mind and numbed her fingers when the man _single handedly caught her chakra infused fist._

And that ghastly man was still smirking, and his heightening amusement was clearly visible through the way his lips stretched into a full blown grin. The grin promised evil things that Sakura shivered to even think of.

Who _was _he?

And the man pulled - Sakura felt her feet leave the ground when the man tugged at her exposed arm, and his sharp teeth hovered dangerously over her right ear and Sakura screwed her eyes shut-

"Sakura-chan!" The relief, as acute as the terror that shot through her veins only moments ago, washed through her and she relaxed when she saw the gloved hand of Uzumaki Naruto close over the shoulder of the muscled man in front of her. She saw the way his eyes darkened at the way the man was holding her, and the lines of his cheeks darkened and turned jagged.

Naruto was pissed.

"Let _go _of her."

But the relief dancing in her brain ebbed away as she saw the man had no intent of letting her go, she felt more than saw the man stiffen when a thin katana slipped to the left side of the man's neck.

The blade was still bloody, and Sakura watched as Uchiha Sasuke, still clad in his ANBU uniform, glared coldly at the man still grasping her. His blade never wavered, and he was never unsure.

"Release her."

The Sharingan pinwheels spinned soundlessly and the man released her with an dispassionate push, like he was shaking something disgusting off of his hands. Sakura stumbled to her feet, while Naruto gently grasped her shoulder, steadying her. He glared one last time at the man, who showed no sign of remorse, if not the opposite.

"Let's go, Sakura-chan."

Naruto lifted his hand in a hand-sign and as Sakura watched the leaves twirl around her and Naruto and felt the teleport jutsu take it's toll, she saw the gleam of the man's sharp teeth and his smirk of a mouth say something too silent for her to hear.

And then it was all black.

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Giving the smirking man a deadly glare, Sasuke disappeared in his own whirlwind of leaves, leaving the man alone in the middle of the bustling streets of the more dangerous districts of Konoha. He turned around, ignoring the stares he was recieving, promptly stalked over to one of the dirty bars situated on the sides, and grabbed his enourmous sword.

Slowly people stopped looking, as it was often seen in those regions of Konoha people who took with them unordinary weapons; the man's sword was wrapped in bandages anyway, and there was not much left to see. The watching people and their complimenting silence dissipated slowly, and the night was once again filled with the noise of banter and excitement. With an agility that one of his height and build rarely possessed, the large man headed towards the heart of the city, where life was even busier with owners of stands shouting for customers and hectically taking orders. People passed by him in steady streams, though they were careful not to stand in his way; it was an unconscious act of instinctive fear.

He weaved his way silently through the crowd, and suddenly silent footsteps slowly fell in pace with his. The man smirked, and people scrambled to stand out of his way at the view of his knife-like teeth.

"Have you seen her yet, Kisame, un?"

Kisame gave the blonde man a sneer and turned to him, unhurried.

"You blind or what?" He barked out gruffly, "you were watching, you vain idiot."

The blonde glared balefully at Kisame, his eyes narrowing, "I don't like staring at your ugly face, bastard. A _vain idiot_ like me wouldn't be able to stand it for long."

"Tch," The burly man snorted, and there was a moment of silence, "What did Leader say?"

"We need the girl,"

"Obviously. Get to the point, vanity boy."

Deidara's eyes promised pain; the glaring didn't pay off, as Kisame was till not showing the the slightest bit of concern for the blonde haired Akatsuki member.

"We get her. Tonight."

Kisame grinned at the promise of bloodshed. It was not a pleasant sight.

"Now that's more like it."

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A/N: A rewritten version of chapter 1. This is the way I was hoping it would go. The original was straying away. xD Review please!


	2. Scroll II

**Tsukino**

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_Scroll II: A fish in the Sea_

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Sakura felt Naruto's protective arms steady her when they hit ground, and the dizziness she often experienced during transportation jutsus slowly receded. Silence reigned.

She had been lucky that Naruto and Sasuke happened to arrive when they did, considering that they had been on an ANBU mission and their return date was two days from today. She could still feel the red print on her arm from where the blue-haired man had grabbed her, and it throbbed dully for a few moments until the pain receded.

Sasuke appeared next to her in a silent flurry of leaves, and her two over-protective teammates stared her down, Sasuke with his Sharingan and thinned lips and Naruto with his extremely wide, demanding eyes.

Naruto was just about to open his mouth when Sasuke beat him to the punch, "What were you doing there, Sakura."

Sakura sighed. Sasuke always had a way of making things sound like accusations rather than questions.

"Exactly!" Seeing that Sasuke was going to help him with their little interrogation, Naruto turned to Sakura and cast worried eyes on his 'sister', "You could have been seriously hurt, Sakura-chan! All the bad men go there at night! We could have lost you!" Naruto shivered at what his imagination was presenting to him; the image was so real he visibly grimaced.

"I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." She bit out with a slightly sigh.

"Damn well you weren't," Sasuke shot back, and his eyes darkened in anger. Sasuke knew that both he and Naruto would protect Sakura even if it meant their demise, but they would surely appreciate it if she would stop attracting weird men and trying to get herself killed in the process. They needed all the help they could get, and it angered him that Sakura would disregard her own safety in that way.

But Naruto saw Sakura's stormy expression and he knew if Sasuke didn't want a broken nose he would stop damaging her pride this moment.

Apparently Sasuke knew that as well.

"I was thinking," Sakura admitted, and it was evident to the both of them that Sakura didn't feel comfortable admitting whatever she wanted to say; her hands were twitching and she was looking away. The two shinobi exchanged a glance at that.

Naruto's arms were gentle around her shoulders and Sakura sighed. "C'mon, we'll talk about it over ramen. How about Sasuke-teme's treat?" Naruto chided softly, and he grinned when Sakura nodded in weary consent. He ignored Sasuke, who was throwing venomous looks at him over his shoulder; but he did not object, and Naruto was grateful for that.

"Let's go then!" Naruto chirped loudly, and they disappeared into the night

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Sakura slowly ate her ramen, taking no heed of the hollow pit that was her stomach. She didn't have an appetite, but she knew Naruto would only worry if she did not eat; answering questions would only tire her.

Her chopsticks swirled in the remaining noodles and miso soup, and she watched the miso twirl around like dust in an overtly elaborate dance. Her eyes glazed over and she sat, slightly mesmerized.

She had no goal. No unreachable destination that was fueled by revenge, no great dream to become the Rokudaime, no great _desire_.

She was hollow; she had nothing to fill the void that was suddenly left gaping with the return of Sasuke.

She knew she was content. She knew that when she would look at Naruto or Sasuke. Naruto would look happy and Sasuke would look calm and at ease. She knew her face reflected theirs, and she often would see the way Kakashi would look at them, not haunted by failure but _happy_. But there was a gnawing feeling that she was missing something larger, something that was essential. Sakura sighed and put her head in her hands.

Sasuke watched her with a slight crook of his brow that Sakura had learned to read throughout the years. He looked concerned in his own Uchiha-avenger way, "Are you alright?"

She raised her head to watch him, and her body suddenly felt one thousand times heavier than it should have been, "No. I'm not."

Even Naruto stopped mid-slurp and wiped his mouth to watch Sakura in silence. The satisfaction apparent in his eyes at the sight of ramen was dampened with concern for his best female friend. She was strong, so strong most of the time, that Naruto often forgot that she was so frail on the inside. She was like a leaf, easily swayed and easily broken. Sakura's eyes drifted close, and she murmured, "Naruto, what keeps you so dedicated to your goal?"

"Wha?" Naruto sputtered and searched his head for an answer to her disarming question, and he considered for a moment before his face turned serious. This was important. At Sakura's other side, Sasuke watched attentively at the duo from the corner of his eye.

Naruto gazed into his ramen, and voice was laced with confident determination.

"I want to be strong," He stated, "strong enough to protect those precious to me."

Sasuke smirked and Naruto looked at her, smiling a slow but progressive smile that lit up his cerulean eyes up like flames.

"And you guys and this village is what I strive to protect." His grin was set and his eyes were endless; they held a maturity that Sakura had seen when Sasuke had left them, and she knew that she too would to strive to protect those precious to her. Sakura's lips quivered wanly; she understood his conviction as much as she envied him for it.

"So anyway," The slight edge of seriousness previously heard in his voice dispersed, replaced instead by his cheerful, slightly obnoxious tone, "what's wrong, Saku-chan?"

"It's nothing," Sakura managed to squeeze her mouth into something that resembled a smile, but she knew she wasn't fooling anyone by the way Sasuke seemed to contemplate her expression and the way Naruto frowned, his eyes mystified.

Sasuke spoke, "Is it your brother?" and Sakura shook her head. She hadn't thought about him all night and she still didn't feel anything at the mentioning of him. It was slightly disheartening. "Well, maybe a little, but it's nothing."

"Then what is it?" probed Naruto. He had never been one to beat around the bush and he wasn't about to start now.

Sakura sighed, and signaled the waiter to give her some sake, "I'm weary." she replied. The word tasted bitter in her mouth and Sakura accepted the small cup the waiter had prepared for her and took a sip.

Naruto was frowning again. He found he was doing that a lot tonight. "You mean, like you're bored? But you always know what you're going to do, Sakura-chan! You're a mednin. You have a hospital job!"

"I know. No medic is without a job at a time like this."

"Then what else can it possibly be?" Naruto asked in exasperation. Sasuke watched in silence and sipped at the sake handed to him by the waiter. It tasted sweet on his tongue and he pondered at the strange taste. Perhaps they had given him the wrong drink, but he didn't put his mind to it; his eyes focused on Sakura's irked features.

"I don't know!" The cup cracked in her too-hard grip; blood as well as sake dribbled down her cut fingers to her wrist, slowly dripping onto the dirtied counter. Naruto promptly shut his mouth and Sasuke frowned at her wounds. And with just as much ease as she had cut herself, jade green chakra enclosed her hand and the slits were gone; the skin was smooth, like it had never been interrupted at any point of its existence.

"Don't you see?" Sakura's tone was bordering onto something more; she sounded like she was about to cry, "I can heal a cut without moving me finger. I can destroy stones with my _pinkie_," as if to establish that fact, she placed her index finger onto the leg of the chair next to hers and the wood snapped in half, with large splinters protruding from the break point. The owner stood up and stalked over to their table only to have Sasuke's glare stop him in middle of his stride, "I'll pay for that," he growled, "Now go away." It was very effective, as per usual; the owner took refuge behind his counter and proceeded to anxiously polish his kitchen utensil.

"You both have something that you guys desperately _want_," Sakura murmured. The sake was making her feel funny, but she didn't dwell on it as a new emotion colored her thoughts and her voice – remorse.

"But what do I have? We have you back now, Sasuke, so _what do I do?"_ Her voice cracked at the end of her sentence. Naruto was struck dumb for a second at her confession and Sakura took the chance to stand up and head towards the flaps that separated the interior of the shop from the rest of the blustering street outside; her actions were so abrupt that she cut off Naruto before he could actually open his mouth. "Sakura-chan…" he called out quietly. Sakura paused at the door without turning to acknowledge him. Naruto's eyes flickered to the cup held carefully in his fingers then back to the figure that had halted at the door, "I don't think I have the capacity to understand what you mean, because just like you said, _I have a direction_." He cleared his throat before continuing – he could feel the pain that he would bring her with his next statement and it hurt him to see her suffer, but it was necessary. For her.

"But you can't wallow in your misery forever. _Get a grip, Sakura."_

Sasuke watched Sakura tremble at the door, like she was holding down a spasm that threatened to overthrow her. He remained silent.

"I know." And she swept out the door without another word.

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When Sakura's chakra signal faded completely into the night, Naruto groaned and put his hands to his face. He rubbed tiredly at his eyes and mumbled in a tone that was not dissimilar to that of a kicked puppy, "I ruined it, teme, the last comment was unnecessary."

"No it wasn't," Sasuke countered fluidly, and when Naruto raised his head to disagree to his statement, Sasuke didn't let him, "I would have said the same thing. It is essential that she understands that," his eyes slid till they were half-closed and he watched as his right hand tipped a bit too far to the left. The clear alcohol sloshed wetly in the cup before splaying to the table. In a way, this reminded him of his pink haired teammate – she was always so close to tipping over, like the cup in his hands.

Sasuke heard a dull thump next to him, and he sighed and turned towards his sulking best friend, "Get over it, dob-"



However he stopped mid-sentence, for Naruto had fallen unconscious onto the tabletop. His sake was splayed all over his closed eyes and cheeks, and he showed no signs of waking. Sasuke's eyes sharpened and widened at the sight; something was wrong, for Naruto held his alcohol almost as well as he did, courtesy of the tutelage of Jiraiya. Warnings sounded in his head just as his mind started to go fuzzy, and Sasuke tried, with failed attempts, to shake Naruto awake without keeling over himself. Then everything seemed to click into place: the strange sweetness to his sake, his failing balance. But where were the other signs? Sakura had obviously not detected any trace of poison, the way she had downed it. How did they get it into their sake when-

Sasuke growled and steadying himself with his hands gripping the tabletop, he glared malevolently at the shopkeeper. The stout man was cowering in fright, and the fear in his eyes was a sharp contrast to the calm that Sasuke had expected to see. He had expected the eyes of a shinobi, but the man in front of him was just a normal civilian.

"You," Sasuke panted, watching the pale and bulky man shiver in fear, "why did you do this?" The shivering man looked like he was about to puke or cry, or both, but he still managed a strangled 'I'm so sorry,' before taking off out of his shop with a small bag in hand. So the man had run for it. Sasuke shook as his body surrendered to the anonymous poison injected into the sake; his body tipped forward before he crashed into Naruto, sending them both sprawling onto the floor.

His breath shuddered and with one last thought, Sasuke closed his eyes and fell into fitful slumber.

'_Sakura…'_

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A/N: So I postponed Sakura's fate till the next chapter. Yeah, I know how it gets. :D Oh, the prologue was removed due to a stupid mistake of mine (I put the wrong document into the wrong chapter - no need to say more.) But still. Review please! :) Contructed criticism appreciated!


	3. Scroll III

**Tsukino**

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_Scroll III: Capture_

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The excitement and loud voices receded as Sakura made her way unsteadily home, taking unmeasured steps and watching the cracked and tiled sidewalk flash along her vision. The hurt at Naruto's comment was fading, the burning behind her eyes vanished as she blinked – she knew his words were truthful and more oft than not, straightforward, but he was caring about her in his own obnoxious way, and for that she was grateful.

The sake in her system was making the night swim in her vision; the moon looked as if it were in a pond instead of the sky. Sakura narrowed her eyes at periodic streetlamps situated at the sides of the road. Everything seemed so bright with the alcohol – it hurt her eyes and truth be told, Sakura had never enjoyed the headaches that came with the hangovers the next morning.

She concentrated chakra into her hands, and placed it on her abdomen – jade colored energy flared slightly and dimmed as it entered her system, cleansing her blood of the traces of alcohol and leaving Sakura feeling quite refreshed in the middle of the night. The drowsiness vanished and Sakura smiled a little at her restoration of control.

Things were looking better already, and it had only taken some sake and, to stop the oncoming hangover, a tiny portion of her chakra to polish off most of the alcohol.

But the dripping emptiness slowly burrowing into her heart did not let up as she continued her resolute trek home.

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The smell of fresh blood was potent in the air.

A dark figure stepped silently aside the fallen body and calmly made his way down the hall; the hallway was dark and the air was dusty from unused. A glimmer in the moonlight highlighted the golden plate drilled onto the stone wall, the embossed words scarcely glinting in the night.

_Restricted._

The man disregarded the sign and continued his trail; despite the malicious killing intent rolling off his body in thick waves, he seemed unruffled in the way he gracefully made his way towards the end of the hall. His crimson eyes slid coolly down the magnificent double doors spreading out before him, and he stopped a few feet before the huge entrance that marked the end of his trip. The kanji written across the oak in black was ancient and already starting to chip off, but the man showed no hesitance as he placed his palm onto a strange tidal-pool marking splashed across the wood. The red sign glowered eerily in the dark, and with a silent hiss the double doors slid open, leading the way into a spacious room. Dust collected from the years of neglect drifted to the floor from the sealed door and the pale moonlight silhouetted the silent man, casting his shadow into the vast room in front of him.

The sight was unimaginable.

Scrolls stacked every available surface in an organized scatter. Huge ivory vases randomly littered the floor and inside were large scrolls with complicated script written in old languages that were faded into a dull gray. Shelves lined the walls like massive giants towering over the desks heaped with old books used, apparently, to decipher the words scribbled hastily on the various scrolls that filled up the room. Scrolls in every size imaginable filled the shelves to the brim; they smelled of some unknown power used to preserve the yellowing paper. Intricately carved oak chairs surrounded the large tables and the sight looked more like a conference room than a scroll chamber. The knowledgeable air gave the enormous room a magnificent atmosphere; it was well over eight times the size of the Hokage's office.

The man stepped steadily into the room, not bothering to silent his footfalls as he drifted towards a shelf marked by a large red dot on the ceiling above it. The shelf was covered from top to bottom with blood splattered scrolls – the bottommost were already a few decades into themselves, while the topmost scrolls were still relatively young. The paper had yellowed over the years, and many looked dangerously close to disintegrating upon touch. They had only been kept within the Uchiha compound for a little over a year before they had been found and taken to this room, preserved and constantly protected from any possible danger that they could possibly get into. There was a crimson colored scroll at the very bottom of the 

stack, and the man held out his hand as if to touch the paper – the image shriveled at his touch and the genjutsu fell. The crimson scroll was nowhere to be found. The man shifted, flickered quickly through a sequence of hand signs, and placed his index finger onto the Uchiha fan engraved into the wood. The groaning of the old drawer at the bottom-left corner took the man's attention; he knelt and leaned down to grasp the object hidden in the dark. Inside was a beautifully carved box, and within the box a delicately placed scroll. The scroll looked like it had been drenched in crimson ink before it had been stored within the onyx box, and the man took the scroll, slipping it into his black cloak. He threw the onyx box into a corner, where it collided into a pile of scrolls and sent them tumbling down into a mess of old paper and ink. He took no notice of the mess. He had accomplished his mission, and it was time to go.

Uchiha Itachi turned and walked down the blood splattered hallway, over the dead bodies littering the stone floor. Then he turned away from the Hokage Tower upon reaching the outside air and disappeared into the night.

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Sakura's hair was still wet from her shower when she dropped herself onto her bed and molded herself into her soft comforter. She sighed wearily and opened her emerald eyes to gaze at the ceiling. She still hadn't figured out what she wanted – a new direction in her life, perhaps; the feeling of unrest at the thought of life forever confounded to the hospital and occasional missions made her restless. She needed something else, or maybe it was adventure, which she was true she lacked. She laughed wryly, and glanced mockingly into the picture frame at her bedside. It was the picture taken when they were twelve, when she had believed that nothing could destroy her team-family.

She was wrong, of course, with Sasuke's defection, but that was alright now. She frowned when she considered her situation. Maybe she would suffer from a touch of boredom, here and there, but she could manage her lifestyle as it is. Sakura lifted her hand to touch the grimacing faces of the twelve year old Naruto and Sasuke, and she smiled. She would never be able to deal with losing them again.

Flopping back onto her queen sized bed and snuggling into her pink duvet, Sakura smiled and closed her eyes. A huge yawn escaped her mouth and she stretched. "I'll think about tomorrow when it comes…" she muttered, and relaxed.

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A few minutes into her sleep, she tensed and her eyes snapped open. She listened in 

silence to the quiet cries of the child downstairs and the lazy meowing of the cats outside.

Someone was out there.

Then a malicious chakra spiked – it felt like death slowly crawling over her skin or sluggishly drowning in thick water. In a flicker Sakura flipped over into a crouch onto her bed, wary eyes scanning her room for movement. Her eyes hadn't adjusted to the dark yet and she was literally stranded on her ears – she listened hard to any sound of movement but there was none.

Then there it was again, slowly rolling around her, causing her to suffocate in its heavy bloodlust.

Sakura lost her breath for a moment before she jerked off her bed just as her headboard exploded into thousands of splinters – a gigantic blue sword that looked like a shark's back rubbed the wrong way was imbedded into the mess that used to be her bed.

"Well, kunoichi, quite a quickie aren't cha?" the hand attached to the sword growled, and Sakura snapped her gaze to the two men standing at the edge of her – albeit ruined – bed. The tall, burly one, who was also the one who wrecked her bed, looked like he had just bitten into a particularly sweet apple; his face was extremely smug and he looked as if he would eat her alive – if he got the chance, that is, Sakura reminded herself.

"Who are you?" Sakura growled, and the man just smirked as he brought down his sword to deliver another blow. This time Sakura jumped out of the way and her desk was victim to the grotesque man's nasty table-splintering blow. She laced chakra into her hand and twisted around when she landed on her feet behind the man to deliver a heavy punch in his gut, but the man swirled around – 'quite agilely,' Sakura noted – and gracefully blocked her bone-shattering punch with his sword. Her chakra was suddenly emptying at an alarming rate and Sakura quickly retreated to the window to reassess the situation.

So the sword took chakra, and despite the large man's swift attacks, Sakura could tell that he was not using even a fraction of his true abilities – he was grinning, for goodness sake, and Sakura clenched her teeth in his ease. She'd show him pain.

Pushing chakra into her feet she disappeared into space and reappeared before the large man; before he could react, her foot was in his gut in a round-house kick, and he crashed through the opposite wall, leaving a large gaping hold and a pile of rubble at his departure. Now she could clearly see the other lean man. Part of his long, blonde hair was tied into a ponytail high up the back of his head, and his bangs slid like a shower over his right eye. She couldn't discern his eye color in the dark, but they were light, and most of all, they were _interested_. Yet he didn't do anything as he watched her from across her bedroom. It seemed almost as if he _making_ himself stand there – his fingers twitched sporadically, itching to have some action.

"Gonna answer me now?" Sakura growled as the large man lumbered gracefully back into the room, rubbing his sore back. "Che, wild banshees. I wonder how Itachi deals with these women here." He muttered, and Sakura watched with quite a bit of morbid happiness at the way he grimaced when he held up his hand to his face and put his bleeding nose back into position. It made a satisfying 'crack' and the blood flowed freely onto his black cloak.

Then Sakura realized their choice of clothing.

Now that she was facing the two men and her eyes were finally adjusting, she saw, to her blatant horror, a very significant sign that she – _unbelievably_ – missed when she had first seen them in her room.

The red clouds on their cloaks.

Sakura's mind flashed past all her possible routes of escape. She could call help, but that was not likely, for they had to be strong to be in the Akatsuki. Perhaps there were shinobi somewhere near her apartment, but finding a ninja without jeopardizing the civilians was hard enough in itself, and now that there were _two _Akatsuki instead of _one_-

"Kisame, if you're not going to take care of her, then let me, yeah. You said you were going to pay her back for the Kyuubi and Itachi's little brother." The blonde stated. Kisame was starting to grin that demented grin of his again, showing his two rows of shiny, sharp teeth, "Yeah, I'm going to. A little patience is appreciated, Deidara."

"Che."

The sharp teeth – Sakura's eyes widened. Now that she could clearly see them under the moonlight, the features of the half-shark man seemed to stand out and draw attention to the similarities between the shark man and the large, burly man from the market. The sharp teeth, the beady eyes; the only difference was the skin color. 'Well, you can't go around flaunting that weird skin and not get caught, can you?' She thought wryly. Quickly thinking through her options, Sakura jumped backwards, right out the window. The best way would to bring the fight outside, so that their little commotion would not hurt any of the villagers that lived in the same apartment as her. Channeling chakra into her feet, she ran vertically up the side of the building until she reached the top, and she felt more than saw 'Kisame' follow her up. Sakura was instantly alert – where was the other man, the guy with the exploding birds, if Sakura recalled correctly from her memory. He was the guy that she had seen sitting on Gaara the time they had gone to rescue him. The puppeteer – Sasori's - partner.

"We've come to get you, banshee," Kisame grinned, "and you're coming whether you want to or not." His hands went quickly through the signs of a familiar water jutsu. Sakura readied herself for the attack and sure enough, it came.

Kisame flew towards her at a speed that a person his size should definitely not have, and he drew the large shark-sword at his side, swinging it in a great arc towards Sakura. Sakura jumped back and watched the grinning man with narrowed eyes. She could easily tell that if he ever grazed her with that sword, skin would be broken upon contact; a few strands of pink hair drifted to the cement. Sakura didn't wait for him to recover from the momentum, and she threw her fist towards his skull. He ducked and jumped backwards, hands flowing through an advanced water jutsu this time. Twin dragons, both made of water, flew towards her and aimed for her head and feet. Sakura countered his jutsu with her hands flashing through an earth jutsu, and huge chunks of cement grew from the ground to assemble a shield in front of her. The dragons crashed into the wall and Sakura sprinted towards the side, throwing two kunai towards Kisame.

Kisame seemed to find this funny, and easily sidestepped the two flying projectiles. They stuck to the cement behind him and he belatedly saw the twin glinting wires attached to the kunai. His eyes traced the wire back to the petite kunoichi and his eyes widened when her hands flashed through the Uchiha's infamous fire jutsu, "Katon no jutsu!" Fire flew down the wires and imbedded Kisame in flames; a satisfied grin appeared on Sakura's face before it fell just as quickly at the mist that suddenly formed where the shark-man was standing. When the fire was gone, Sakura saw that he had used a water-clone – the jutsu that he had first used, Sakura suddenly realized – to take most of the damage. But she was still smug to see him quite disoriented and very, very charred.

He bore his teeth at her disdainfully and raced towards her once again, this time on the offensive. His blows were hard, and Sakura searched quickly for an opening between his quick attacks. The opportunity presented herself during one of Kisame's wild swings. She brought up her knee and it hit his shin while Kisame was still riding with the momentum brought by his heavy sword. He winced and Sakura took his sudden halt of attack to her advantage – she drew more chakra into her hands and touched the bones of Kisame's wrist. With a sickening crack, the bones were broken, and Samehada dropped heavily to the floor. Before Kisame could react, Sakura aimed deliberately for his face. She could feel the smug victory fill her senses. This was going to break his skull-

Suddenly Sakura couldn't feel her feet, and the numbness spread up her body until it reached her clenched fist. She gasped and fought against it, trying to stop the poison from spreading further into her system by slowing her heartbeat with her chakra. The numbness made her dizzy; then she saw the floor quickly approaching her eyes and everything was black.

-

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"Kisame, you seriously, seriously suck." Deidara 'tsked' at the charred and grumpy Kisame, who was nursing his hurt wrist with a dangerous pout, "That damn women broke my wrist!"

Deidara scoffed, "And I'm grateful of her for that, or I woulda have done it myself," he stared triumphantly at the irritated shark-man, "and you told me not to help. You brought it on yourself, yeah!" But it did take a lot to hurt Kisame, he would admit; it was true that Kisame had underestimated her and that was extremely stupid of him, but such a petite girl getting so close to defeating him… He bent down to inspect the fallen kunoichi with curious eyes. She looked like she was sleeping, with only a minimum amount of scratches present on her body. She looked perfectly fine to Deidara, actually. He smirked. So Kisame was getting the worst end out of the fight, huh?

"She was going to beat your face him if I hadn't saved you, yeah," Deidara smirked delightedly, "We're going to have to thank Sasori-danna later for this poison." He threw the needle onto the cement and threw a tiny clay bird from the mouth on his hand. The bird reached a good 5 meters into the air before falling and flapping to life in midair. It landed on the building with a large crash, and Deidara loaded Sakura onto the back of the bird, binding her hands behind her back. Then he nudged Kisame, who was still sulking over his broken wrist, "Let's go, Kisame. Itachi's gonna be pissed."

Kisame was still grumbling but he managed to twitch slightly at the image of an angered Itachi; grudgingly he picked up his Samehada with his left hand and put it on his back. Cradling his damaged hand carefully, he leapt from the roof and towards the gates, and Deidara followed, beckoning the giant bird with a small flick of his wrist.

They had done their job, and Deidara hoped that perhaps when they got back to the base he would at least get to have some fun with the unconscious kunoichi.

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A/N: Not _that_ kind of fun, people. And yeah, there goes Itachi! :D He finally has a show in the plot. Please review! Constructed criticism appreciated! Quick note: **I'M LOOKING FOR A BETA **that will hopefully enjoy reading my story. :D It would be quite unfair to force this troublesome job on an unwilling victim, wouldn't it?


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