The Girl They Never Saw [Completed]

Chapter 11 ~ Starry Night

      "A smile doesn't mean the person is happy. Sometimes it just means they are strong enough to face their problems." -Sakura Haruno

Author's Note ~ Beautiful Sakura fanart, but not mine. Credit goes to the artist, whoever they may be. Also, there is mildly strong language in this chapter. Hidan, you know. Sort of unavoidable, sorry.

      "Deidara, I swear to Kami, if you blow my stuff up one more time, an eternity in hell will be a mercy when I'm through with you." Sakura threatened, her face and hair dusted lightly in ash from the arsonist's latest artwork.

      "But Sakura-chan-!" The blonde protested.

      "Don't Sakura-chan me, you little twerp!"

      "Little twerp?! You're like five years younger than me, un!"

      "I'll treat you like it when you act like it." Sakura retorted.

      She didn't wait for a response and turned to see Itachi struggling to contain the smirk that was spreading across his face. "Oh shut up, you." She muttered.

      That seemed to do nothing but make the problem worse, and Itachi quickly made himself scarce in fear of the pinkette's wrath.

      Sakura rolled her eyes and stormed back to her room. Itachi was a source of constant discomfort to her recently. He was always around, always watching her. It unnerved, annoyed, and intrigued her. Did he think of her as a threat?

      Of course he does. He knows what I did to my former comrades.

      Sakura slammed her door open and was only mildly surprised to see a blue-haired lady sitting on her bed. "Konan-san," She acknowledged. "What can I do for you?"

      Konan waved a hand. "Pein-sama wants to talk to you. He's waiting in his office." Her message delivered, she made a hand sign and disappeared into tiny slips of paper.

      Sakura bit her lip. She wasn't ready for this. It was one thing to laugh and talk and train with the Akatsuki, but joining them? That only finalized her betrayal of Konoha. Not that twenty or so deaths hadn't finalized it enough already.

      She made a hand sign and transported to Pein's office, which unfortunately was the one she'd infiltrated when she first woke up. Not that she'd done anything necessarily wrong, but still...

      Pein reclined in his chair, Konan sifting through papers at his side. Occasionally she would pull one out and hand it to him, or toss it in the trash bin on her left.

      "Oh, Sakura." Pein dismissed Konan and turned to the rosette. "I believe we have a few things to discuss."

      Sakura waited until the blue haired woman had left the room, then returned Pein's even stare. "I suppose we do."

      Pein spread his hands on the table. "I'll get straight to the point. Are you in or are you out? Choose carefully. You don't want us as your enemies."

       Sakura sighed. No, she really didn't. "I'm in."

      Pein nodded, satisfied. "Then you know what you need to do." He pulled a scroll out of his robe and unrolled it.

      She read it through quickly, just a pledge of allegiance and whatnot. Without hesitation, she bit down hard on her thumb and signed her name with the blood. Then she removed her hitai-ate and placed it on his desk. She withdrew a kunai from her pouch and raised her arm in the air. With a swift downward swipe and the bone-wracking screech of metal cutting metal, a scratch cut the leaf symbol in half, and her choice was made.

      Pein smirked and handed her a folded robe. "Congratulations Sakura Haruno. Welcome to the Akatsuki."

      Sakura didn't smile. She felt like she was drowning, tied to boulders and thrown into the sea. But she took the cloak and hat. She shook Pein's hand. She left his office. And she felt dead.

      Before she could get back to her room, a much too friendly arm was thrown around her shoulders. "So bitch, you're one of us now huh?" Hidan drawled.

      Sakura shrugged his arm off. "It would seem so."

      Hidan pouted. "Why are you so fucking cold? You know you love me." He replaced the arm and clamped her way to close to his side for her comfort.

      Sakura dropped the calm demeanor. Without dropping her bundle, she used her ankle to trip Hidan and one arm to pin him against the wall. "Listen closely Jashonist." She hissed, her elbow digging into his throat. "I'm not some simpleminded city girl you can win over. I have no patience for idiots, so it would be in your best interest to back off. The only place I will ever love you is in your dreams. So I suggest you leave me the hell alone."

      Hidan watched her storm off, his eyes wide, but not with fear. "I'm afraid that's not going to happen, princess."

      Sakura pretended she hadn't heard him and shut her door behind her.

      She went to the small bathroom that was hers privately, and changed into the robe. It fit loosely, but that was better for movement. She twisted and turned, then nodded in satisfaction. The Akatsuki knew what they were doing. She retied her hitai-ate in her hair, and smiled bitterly at her reflection. Fate had brought her far, these past few days. She didn't particularly like where she had ended up, but it was better than having nine S-ranked rogues after her.

      When she emerged, a small puppet was sitting on her nightstand. She eyed it suspiciously, and it began to speak. "Sakura Haruno, you have a mission with the Puppetmaster and the Sculptor. Report to the entrance at once." It said monotonously.

      Throwing me right into things, huh Pein? Okay then. She grabbed her straw hat and a sealing scroll with extra weapons, and transported herself to the entrance of the base. Deidara and one of Sasori's puppets were waiting for her, and she waved at them cheerily while tucking her hair under the hat.

      "Hey guys! So where are we off to?" She asked, making sure all traces of her sadness were erased.

      Sasori grunted and they began to walk. "The brat will brief you on the way."

      Deidara shot him a quick glare then turned back to Sakura. "Ok, so we're headed for Suna, because the One Tail was just named Kazekage. But apparently," He glared at Sasori even more. "We're not to engage. Surveillance only."

      Sakura mentally groaned. Suna. That would be problematic. What is Pein thinking?

Author's Note ~ Sorry for the late update, I was busy yesterday. 

Thank you all for the votes, comments, adds, and follows. They make my day!

This chapter is dedicated to SandraSunnyS again, for the constant support and everything else. You are a fantastic friend!

-onceuponforeverafter