Sakura had been traveling alone for a week now after she left Konoha. "To be honest, I have no clue on where to go..." She told herself. "Then maybe you should come with me, Haruno." Sakura jumped in surprise and quickly turned around at the sound of the deep voice. The first thing she noticed were the red clouds of the Akatsuki on the black cloak. She slowly looked up and met a familiar face, Itachi. Sakura couldn't help but be astonished. "I-Itachi!?" She stammered. "That's right, the Akatsuki have herd you left Leaf Village, " He stated dryly. Sakura's expression hardened. "And what of it? It doesn't concern you!" She spat out the last word as if she were disgusted. Itachi didn't seem to care though. "Sakura Haruno, We want you to join us," He said. The konoichi was taken aback. "What?" She asked, breathlessly. Itachi stared at her steadily with his beautiful red eyes. "We know that Konoha has never seen your talents and they are always focused on the jinchuriki, Naruto Uzumaki, instead," the mysterious boy explained, "But we have seen your talents, such as your exceptional medical ninjutsu skills. You would be an essential part of the Akatsuki." He finished.
"And what makes you think I would go with you? I am still a leaf ninja, and you are our enemy," the pink haired ninja questioned. "Because, you want power, correct? We can give that power Sakura. The power to bring Sasuke Uchiha back." Sakura's eyes widened; she quickly recovered. "What happens if I say no?" She asked. Itachi slipped a kunai out of his sleeve. "Then I'll have to kill you..." Sakura stood in front of Sasuke's brother, shocked and confused. I can't just wonder around aimlessly, I need to get that power as soon as possible. She thought.
"Fine... I'll go," She finally said. Itachi slipped the kunai back up his sleeve. "Good, I knew you would make the correct choice. Follow me." Itachi turned and started walking the opposite direction the konoichi had come. Sakura hurried after him. They traveled in silence, Sakura was able to get a good look at Itachi. She had seen him before, but was never able to look at him closely, since every time they met a battle broke out... You could defiantly tell he was Sasuke's brother. They had the same dark hair, but Itachi's was pure black rather than raven. When Itachi's sharingan was not active, he had the same dark, mysterious, and secretive eyes as Sasuke. Even so, Itachi's eyes held something else as well. He tried to hide it, but Sakura could see, oddly enough, love.... Sakura had always thought of Itachi as a heartless murderer, but his eyes say otherwise.
Itachi turned to her and she quickly looked away. He didn't seem to notice that she had been staring at him, to her relief. "We will camp here tonight." They had stopped in front of a small cave almost completely hidden by bushes and vines. Sakura nodded and followed him in. "I'll be back, stay here." Itachi ordered as emotionless as always. "Fine..." Sakura murmured in reply. After he walked out, Sakura looked around the cave. It was dark, it took her eyes a minute to adjust. It was a small cave, shaped in a perfect circle. Oddly, there were blankets folded against the wall and in the center looked as if a fire had been there before. There was a pot sitting beside the burnt spot on the floor. She wondered if maybe someone used to lie here. She sat down beside the burnt spot after laying a blanket down. Before she knew it, she started to drift off.
Sakura was woken by footsteps outside. She stood up and held a kunai at the ready. She sighed in relief when she saw Itachi walk in. "I thought you were someone else," she said, sitting back down. Itachi sat down the fire wood. "Well it wasn't," he stated dryly. jeez, So rude, Sakura thought. "Anyway, I was wondering, did someone live here before or something?" Itachi started building the fire. "No, Kisame and I use this cave when we travel," He explained bluntly. "Get some rest, we are going to walk quite a bit tomorrow," He ordered.
Sakura woke up the next morning and looked around; Itachi wasn't there. She got up and walked out of the cave. She saw Itachi standing a little ways from the enterace, staring up at the sky. He herd her and turned around. "Let's go." Is all he said before he started walking. The two shinobi traveled in silence all day. They finally reached the hideout at sunset.
The hideout looked like a cave on the outside, but when you walked into the "Cave" there was a door. Itachi opened it and let Sakura through. She was in a long hallway, the walls were gray and bare. Itachi closed the door behind him and led Sakura through the hallway. It looked as if it would never end. Then Itachi stopped abruptly, causing the girl to bump into him. "What the Heck!?" Itachi ignored her and turned to face the wall. "What are you doing?" Itachi put his hand on the wall's surface without answering. That's it, He has gone insane! Sakura thought. Itachi lifted his hand and to Sakura's shock, the wall opened, leaving an opening like a doorway into another room. The Uchiha walked into the room, Sakura hesitantly followed.
Inside the room, were the other Akatsuki members. Sakura knew most of their names: The tall one with blue skin was Itachi's partner, Kisame; The one with the silver, slicked back hair was Hidan and the tall one with stitches was Kakuzu, Hidan's partner; The plant looking one was Zetsu and the one with him in the orange mask was Tobi; The guy with orange hair and piercings was Pein, the leader; Beside him was a girl Sakura hadn't seen before, She had blue hair with apaper flower in it; Finally, Sakura saw a guy with blond hair, half of it put in a ponytail, Deidara. Beside him was, sasori?
Sakura looked at Sasori with wide eyes. She pointed at him and yelled, "What are YOU doing here!? Didn't I kill you!?" Sasori looked confused and shocked at her sudden outburst for a moment, then he smirked. "Oh, I remember you. You're the girl who tried to kill me." He stated calmly. "What do you mean tried!? I did kill you!" Sakura yelled, still pointing. Sasori crossed his arms. "You know, It's rude to point... And well, You kinda right." Sakura put down her hand shamefully and looked expectantly at Sasori to here more. "You see, my good friend Deidara here found me with those annoying swords stuck trough my um.... 'Heart'. Well anyway, he brought me back here and put my spare heart in me," He finished, smiling as if he had accomplished something. Sakura looked at him doughtfully. "You have a spare heart -_-"
"yup! And it's a good thing I do, huh?"
"For you maybe..."
"Enough Chatting," Pein ordered. He walked over to Sakura. "I'm sure Itachi already explained to you, but i'm going to tell you anyway," He said bluntly. These people don't care WHAT they say do they?! Sakura thought. "The Akatsuki have seen your skill. We believe you are stronger than what you look like." The leaf ninja bit back a retort for that last part. "Afterall, you did defeat Sasori and lived to tell about it. You also have superb Medical ninjutsu skills, which is what we need."
"Yeah, Yeah. I know." Sakura rolled her eyes. "Listen, I'll agree to help you, um people out, but once I get the power I want , I'm leaving. The only reason i agreed to this was to this was because I want to become stronger so Naruto and I can bring Sasuke home." She stated. Pein studied her for a moment. She wasn't sura what he was thinking. "Fine, as long asyou do as you are ordered while you are here," He finally said. "Deidara and Sasori
escort her to her room." He ordered. The two members nodded and walked out of the room with Sakura trailing behind them back into the hall.
The wall closed after Sakura walked through. As they walked down the hall, Deidara started a conversation. "So, Your name's Sakura, right? hm." He asked, slowing down to walk beside her. Sakura looked at him uncomfortably, not sure of what to say. "Uh... Yeah.." She answered. "Well that's a pretty artistic name, like the cherry blossom, hm." He smiled down at her. What's up with this guy? She thought. "Why are you being so nice to me?" She asked. Deidara looked up thoughtfully, then looked back at her with a smile. " Well, Why shouldn't I be, hm? You haven't ever done anything to me, hm." He answered simply. "I tried to kill your partner -_- and you're an Akatsuki member...." She answered. "Just Because I'm an Akatsuki member doesn't mean I have to hate everyone like Sasori, hm." He said with a small chuckle. "Shut up! I do not hate everyone!" Sasori shouted over his shoulder. These guys are way different than I thought... she thought. "Well in any case," Deidara said, "I think you're pretty alright person, Hm." he said with a big smile. Sakura was surprised but this made her happier. She smiled back at him... This was the beginning of a great friendship.
