Crimson cherry bloosm

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"Her speed's still nothing." Said the Leader, while looking through the notes Deidara had just given him. "But the rest is good. Very good. What do you think?"

"I think she would be a great Akatsuki member, yeah." Answered Deidara, who was standing in front of the Leader's desk. "But can we trust her?" "One hundred percent sure we can, Leader-sama, yeah." "... I want to speak with her in a hour." "Hai."

- - - - - -

Sasuke entered the Ichiraku ramen stand, where Naruto and Kakashi were waiting for him. Naruto was eating a bowl of beef ramen, while Kakashi was reading the newest volume of the Icha Icha series; Make Out Tactics.

"I thought you had died, Sasuke-teme! To bad you didn't!" Naruto said loudly, grinning. Sasuke ignored it and sat down at the other side of his sensei.

"What do you want to discuss?" He asked. "Training." Kakashi answered, not looking up from the pages from his book for even a second. "Training? I was planning to train by myself." Sasuke said annoyed, raising his voice to get over the slurping sounds Naruto made. "Well, Sasuke, if you keep running out of Konoha all the time, we start watching you." Kakashi replied simple. Sasuke sighed.

Naruto placed his bowl back on the counter and grinned again. "Are we going to learn a new Jutsu, Kakashi-sensei?" "No." "Damned..."

- - - - - -

Sakura felt better than ever. She even greeted the creepy Zetsu when she met him in the hallway with a big smile.

She had Itachi back and no one would ever again tear them apart. They'd promised that.

"Sakura-chan, Leader-sama wants to speak with you, yeah." Said Deidara when he entered her room. She was brushing her hair in front of the mirror. "Oh, alright, thank you for telling me Deidara-san." She smiled and picked up a kunai. "What are you-" He started, but she took her hair, which already came far over her shoulders, and cut it off.

"Done!" She said joyful. Then she saw Deidara's shocked face. "What?" She asked offended, and left, off to the leaders office.

After knocking, Sakura entered the dark room.

"Haruno Sakura-san." The Leader said. "Please, sit."

Sakura sat down on a chair and tried to look at the man, but all she could see were two eyes.

"Catch." Something was thrown at her. With her quick reflexes, she caught it and opened her fist. It was a ring. On it was the sign 'Hoku', which meant 'North'. "Carry it on your left middle finger." Leader said. Sakura shoved the ring around her finger. "Why is this, Leader-sama? You're proposing?" She joked. She heard the Akatsuki Leader laugh. "No. It's an Akatsuki ring. You've passed the tests. Congrats."

"...Wait. What?" Sakura started confused. "This was it? All I did was dodge some shuriken, kick a tree and hit the ground! And that made me a member!?" "You did a lot more than that." The Leader chuckled. "I told you that you wouldn't know when you got a test and what it was anyway." "But-"

"No." He interrupted her, now sounding serious. "Itachi-san'll help you with speed-training. But I shall warn you know. If you'll ever betray Akatsuki, you'll die, in a very painful way. By the eyes of an Uchiha. Understood?"

Sakura swallowed and nodded. She couldn't believe that Itachi would kill her with his Mangekyou Sharingan, even if the Leader ordered him to. "I understand, Leader-sama."

"Good." His voice was kinda cheerful again. "Dismissed for now." Sakura stood up, and after bowing, she left. Deidara was waiting outside. "And, yeah?" He asked curious. Grinning, she held up her left hand to show him her ring. He smiled. "That's great, Sakura-chan, yeah! I knew you could do it! Congratulations, yeah!!"