Perception

This story deviates from the manga at Ch. 353 and is set 3 years ahead of the current plotline.

Warnings: Rated M for violence, language and sexual situations/adult themes. Naruto and its characters are owned by Kishimoto.

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Perception by Cynchick
Chapter Four: A Day with a Shark and a Night Among Wolves


The first thing Sakura noticed when she woke the next day was that her headache was gone. She no longer felt like throwing up and she had managed to sleep through the night without the pain of her various injuries waking her but she was incredibly sore. Her ribs were still broken so she had been forced to sleep flat on her back, and her neck was stiff. She was still on the floor, because there was nowhere else to go, and a night on the cold hardwood with no blanket made her aches and pains that much more intense.


The good news was that her chakra levels were up enough to heal some of her injuries. She began work on her ribs first; they were the most painful and the most potentially dangerous. Next, she healed the bruise on the back of her neck and the pinched nerves and muscles around it. The rest was superficial and would heal on its own in a few days. She didn’t want to expend chakra for minor injuries; she hated the feeling of total helplessness she had the night before. She hadn’t felt like that since she was a genin and never wanted to again.


Feeling much relieved, Sakura sighed heavily and let her eyes wander aimlessly around the empty room. Now that there was enough light to see properly, she was sure this was just some empty room in a regular, slightly older house. The wood of the floor and wall paneling was aged and beginning to crack in places and cobwebs lined the corners near the ceiling. By the light outside she guessed it was late morning, but she couldn’t be sure. She wondered how long she had been asleep and if they were still in Grass country.


After several minutes of staring at the walls and finding nothing of interest, she sat up carefully and tried to stretch out a little. She was on her third neck roll when the door clicked open and Kisame entered, carrying a tray of food.


“Good morning, sunshine.”


Sakura rolled her eyes and sneered at the shark man. Did he always talk like he was laughing at his own private joke?


“It was until you walked in.” she grumbled. Sakura was not a morning person on the best of days, and her captors were going to learn that very quickly.


“Oh? So you don’t like food? And here I was thinking about your poor, distressed state and how hungry you must be. I slaved to make this for you, princess; you wouldn’t want to hurt my feelings.” He put the tray down and shoved it with his toe, making it slide across the floor toward the kunoichi.


Sakura watched the tray slide to a stop in front of her and didn’t move. There was a small loaf of bread, a bottle of water that was sloshing from the rough movement, and an apple that fallen off the tray and was rolling along the floor. She reached out to stop the fruit from rolling away, picking it up before looking back to Kisame with an irritated expression. He chuckled at her again.


“I can’t eat with you watching, fish-boy.”


“Heh. And why is that?” He sounded a little less amused this time. Good.


“I think I might get sick.”


Something dark and wholly frightening flashed in the shark man’s small silvery eyes, and she wondered if she had just gone too far. He may not kill her, but there were plenty of other things he could do to her for her insolence. He seemed to be thinking the same thing, but after a moment the dark intent passed and he laughed at her again. Sakura was secretly relieved, and hoped it didn’t show on the outside.


“You should think before you try to bite that hand that feeds, little girl, or one of us may have to teach you a lesson. And I’m pretty sure it won’t be me.” He turned to leave the room.


The small, rational part of her said that she should just stay quiet and eat her food. She was lucky he didn’t break something for insulting him like that. But there was something inside her that could never stand feeling indignant or cowed; a small inner spark that flared to life when she was threatened or mistreated. It had saved her life more than once, but it could just as well be the end of it too. And sometimes, like now, she just couldn’t help herself.


She threw the apple as hard as she could at the back of Kisame’s head.


He whipped around and caught it inches from his face. She wouldn’t have thought someone so big could move so fast. He stared and Sakura like she was the most curious thing he’d ever seen before throwing the misused fruit right back at her.


She caught it, but the palm of her hand stung like hell, and the apple was bruised and slightly smooshed. She glared at Kisame defiantly, and with deliberately slow movements, wiped the damaged apple against her dirty bloodstained shirt before taking a bite.


Kisame watched her with a mix if indignation and amusement. The implied insult that she preferred the taste of blood and dirt to anything he had touched was not lost on him. If anyone else had done that he would have killed them on the spot. But he couldn’t kill her and she probably knew that, so she felt a bit of freedom with her attitude and the result was quite entertaining to the shark nin. He enjoyed getting a rise out of people. He would have to provoke her more from now on to see how clever she could be.


He smirked at her, showing a flash of pointed teeth. She continued to glare at him. Her petulance was almost…cute. He laughed to himself and walked out.

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Once he was gone, Sakura focused her attention on the food. The bread was slightly stale but she didn’t expect them to give her the best of their supply anyway. She was starving; she didn’t know how long it had been since she’d last eaten. As much as she wanted to cram every last morsel into her mouth at once she had to take it slow. Her stomach was completely empty and she was dehydrated; she didn’t want to make herself sick.


She sat on the floor with her legs spread out as she ate, and thought back over the events of the past day. Or was it two days? She didn’t like not knowing. She needed to find out how long since she had been taken so she could get an idea of when Konoha would realize she was missing and come looking for her. Eventually the need for sustenance overcame everything else and she stopped thinking to concentrate on her meal. She ate every last crumb and emptied the water bottle before pushing the tray to the side.


As soon as she finished eating, she picked up where she left off in stretching her cramped limbs. Once she was finished and her blood was circulating properly again, she stood up and examined the room more thoroughly. She was careful not to touch too much; Itachi had said there were chakra seals all over the place and she didn’t want an Akatsuki barging in and attacking her if she touched one.


She noticed her backpack was stashed in the far corner of the room. She hadn’t noticed it before in the dark, and she was a bit surprised it was there with her. She quickly made her way to the pack and crouched down to examine it. It was slightly crushed; she’d still been wearing it when Deidara knocked her into the wall. Of course, all of her weapons had been taken from it when they took her leg holster and emptied her vest and apron pockets. All of the scrolls had been opened, but once it was determined they were just medical jutsu they were left in the pack. The change of clothes and cloak she’d packed in case of cold weather were still there, as were her toiletries much to her pleasure.


She sat down fully and began to brush her tangled, chin-length hair. Not that she cared terribly what she looked like, but this small bit of normalcy and comfort made her feel a little better. Now if only she could brush her teeth. It occurred to her then that she had just drank quite a bit of water and would probably have to relieve herself soon. She chuckled at the thought of asking one of the Akatsuki to show her the way to the little kunoichi’s room.


It was then, as she was laughing aloud to herself like a crazy person, that the door opened again and Kisame walked in. They stared at each other blankly for a moment before the shark man spoke.


“It’s about time you found that, kunoichi,” he indicated her pack, “I was beginning to think you liked looking like shit.”


“Thanks.” she replied dryly.


“Let’s go.”


“Where?”


“Bath time.” He leered at her.


The way he said it sounded so dirty and perverted that Sakura inched backward instinctively, giving him a distrusting look.


Kisame noticed her wariness and gave her another toothy smirk. “What? I figured you’d want to clean up. You smell as bad as you look.” He snickered and turned to the door.


Sakura quickly recovered from her hesitance and got up, grabbing her pack and moving to stand next to the shark nin. She’d never been this close to him before and noticed how huge he was. He had to be nearly six and a half feet tall; her head didn’t even reach his shoulder. His blue-grey tinged skin was oddly fascinating to look at, and she fought the urge to reach out and touch it. Was it a bloodline limit? He had what looked like gills on his cheekbones. Surely they weren’t functional...


He noticed her inspecting him, and gave her a saucy wink. This disconcerted the kunoichi greatly, and she quickly fixed her gaze on the floor in a small frown. He snickered at her again- he was always laughing- and walked out of the room and down the hall. Sakura quickly followed after, though not too closely.


There wasn’t much to look at for Sakura to get an idea of where she was; just a long, narrow hallway covered in the same dark wood as her room. There were several closed doors and no larger side passages, so she guessed she was on an upper floor, other than that it was as nondescript as could be. Kisame stopped at a closed door three down and one across from her own and he turned to her indicating that this was their destination.


Sakura was struck by a thought suddenly, and she inclined her head to look at the shark man’s angular face. “Why is it always you coming to my room?” Her voice was a mix of curiosity and distaste.


“I got the short straw.” he answered blankly.


He couldn’t be serious…no way they actually drew straws- but then he laughed and crossed his arms before continuing.


“I was the only option. Itachi isn’t here at the moment, I don’t think Tobi will ever come near you again after what you did to him,” she smirked satisfactorily at that, “and Deidara would probably kill you if he saw you right now.” that made her flinch a little. “So you’re stuck with me for now, kunoichi.”


She nodded minutely at his explanation and opened the door to what she presumed was the bathroom. She stopped halfway in when Kisame’s lilting voice sounded behind her. “You want some company? I make quite a good bath toy.”


She turned around to look at him with open revulsion. He was laughing again, and she was relieved to see he was only joking. “No, thanks. I’m not into bestiality.” she said in mock-politeness.


The shark man snorted. “That’s not what you said last night.”


“What?” After a moment she realized that he was referring to her angry words of the night before. She rolled her eyes. “When someone says ‘fuck you’ it isn’t usually an invitation, I would think you’d have heard it enough by now to know that.” she retorted dryly.


He was laughing again. She wanted to kick him to make him stop doing that all the time, but concluded that amused was much better than angry when it came to dealing with an Akatsuki.


“Don’t worry, kunoichi, you ain’t my type either.” His eyes traveled slowly and deliberately over the front of her, and she fought the urge to squirm under his blatant leer. “Your tits are too small.” he said finally after returning his beady silver eyes to her face.


“Nice of you to notice.” She replied sarcastically, and turned back into the bathroom.


“You got half an hour.” She heard Kisame’s muffled voice as she closed the door.

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She noticed with mild interest that the bathroom was actually quite large. She set her backpack down on the small wooden bench and took out her clothes and necessary items before going to stand in front of the sink. She made an ugly face at herself as she looked into the mirror. Kisame was right; she looked like shit. She was covered in grime and dust from her fight in the town square, the cut on her lip was scabbed over and dried blood smeared her face. There were dark circles under her eyes and her hair was clumped together with dried sweat and dirt in places and it looked especially bad on her pale colored locks.


Half an hour, Kisame had told her, and she planned to use every last second of it. She wondered vaguely if the shark man was literally standing guard outside the bathroom door. She felt for his chakra signature that she’d learned to recognize and sure enough- there he was outside the door. She laughed inwardly. He was probably having a blast right about now.


She decided to brush her teeth first to get rid of the foul taste of blood and dirt that her meal had only partly covered. Afterward she removed her clothes, wincing slightly at the soreness of her muscles. She looked up at the mirror again and saw her entire abdomen was covered in ugly, purple bruises. She wasn’t sure if they were put there by Deidara or Itachi. Probably both.


There was a large claw-footed tub on the other side of the room with an attached brass showerhead. The knob gave a loud squeak as she turned it and the antiquated plumbing groaned and sputtered inside the wall, but the water that came out of the old pipes was clean and free of rust. She was too dirty for a bath as she would just wind up soaking in the grime that washed off of her body, so she opted for a steaming hot shower instead. There was shampoo and soap already in the tub, but she made sure to run the soap under the water thoroughly before using it; she didn’t want to think about where it might have been. She washed up quickly and spent the next several minutes sitting on the bottom of the tub, letting the soothing hot water relax her tired body and calm her mind.


As she sat there she tried to analyze her situation a bit more. So many things were strange about all of this. First, the Akatsuki had managed to commission a fake mission specifically requesting her. It didn’t surprise her that they had contacts in various governments; most people of power had ties to less reputable sources in one way or another. Even Tsunade had a friend in organized crime that had been known to pay off her gambling debts, though that fact was only known by a very small circle of people. Secondly, they had made a big show of taking her captive in broad daylight with a large crowd to witness rather than ambush her in the open country on her way there. That told her that they wanted her capture to be discovered, but why? Were they going to hold her for ransom of some sort? Maybe blackmail? The only reason she could be useful to someone was for her medical abilities. For the second time she wondered if they were going to try and force her to heal someone.


Then she remembered something Kakashi had said to Itachi the last time they encountered him in Wind country: ‘How fast are you losing your eyesight?’ he’d taunted. Due to continual, prolonged use of the Sharingan, both men were slowly going blind. She knew from analyzing Kakashi’s after use, that the Mangekyou form accelerated it. That was three years ago, Sakura wondered how far the older Uchiha’s sight had deteriorated by now. She had worked on Kakashi’s before, removing the chakra buildup that gave him headaches and clearing the pathways for easier use. Thanks to her careful work, he could now use it without slipping into a coma immediately after use. As long as he didn’t expose it for extended periods he was fine, and with regular treatment she was able to halt and even reverse some of the deterioration. But Kakashi’s eye problems weren’t his fault; it wasn’t his natural eye and he didn’t have the genetic markers to control it; he couldn’t turn it off. Itachi, on the other hand, chose to keep it on all the time and Sakura didn’t feel sorry for him. If that was why they brought her here then they were sadly mistaken; she would burst his eyeballs out of their sockets before she gave him a better weapon.


But that didn’t seem right either. If all he wanted was for her to heal his eyes, why did he need three other Akatsuki to take her from a very public place? Kisame was usually with him at all times, but Deidara and the other one –Tobi, she recalled- why did they help in capturing her? In fact, why were they still here? She knew they were; becoming a medic had made her very sensitive to other chakra and she could feel their signatures moving around the building. Itachi was perfectly capable of capturing her by himself, even half blind, so what did he need help for? Maybe they were just bored and tagging along, she didn’t know. She definitely needed to sort it all out some more, but right now she only had a few minutes left before Kisame would force her out of the bath and back into her room.


She stepped out of the porcelain tub and found the towels in a cabinet under the sink. She watched herself in the mirror as she towel-dried her pink hair. She looked much better now that she was clean, and felt that way too. Still, she felt very strange about her situation. Normally, if someone was taken hostage and held in close quarters with four of the worlds deadliest villains, they would be terrified. Normally, if an enormous bloodthirsty shark-man with an even bigger sword that had its own evil sentience was standing outside her door while she was stark naked and unarmed she would have felt panic. But so many things that had happened in the last day or two were un-normal, and for some reason Sakura wasn’t afraid. She was nervous, anxious and wary, but not scared. Possibly her lack of terror stemmed from the fact that after her initial beat-down, they didn’t seem to have the intention to hurt her again and she believed that whatever they wanted, they needed her alive and relatively sound to do it. She was fairly certain now that they wouldn’t kill her, and that gave her confidence that she normally wouldn’t have. Possibly too much…but oh well; she was pissed off. She didn’t want to help them, didn’t want to be here, and she was going to make sure they knew it every time she had the chance.


She finished toweling off and began to put on her clothes, very happy with herself for having insight to pack an extra set. She put on her underwear first followed by a pair of snug-fitting, flexible black pants. She knew her half hour was running out and if the giant shark did burst in on her, she would prefer him seeing her topless than bottomless. She only had one bra and it needed to be washed along with the rest of her other clothes so she would have to do without one for now. It didn’t really bother her, Kisame was right about one thing: her breasts were small enough that she didn’t really need one. Next came the shirt; almost identical to the black Haruno clan shirt she was previously wearing, only with long sleeves that reached her knuckles. She didn’t bother with the elbow guards or the jounin vest and medic apron as they had both been completely emptied. She sat down on the bench to put on her boots. They were heavy; the fronts of them had light steel plates inserted into the shins behind the leather similar to the plating on a hitai-ate, and the weight of them agitated her sore muscles as she picked them up. It was too much effort at the moment to tuck her pants into the tops of the knee-high boots, and the hems covered her heel and brushed the floor slightly in the back. They would get worn out that way, but she didn’t really care right now.


Finished dressing, she stuffed the rest of her items along with the dirty clothes back into her pack. She retied her hitai-ate into her short hair and began to fluff and finger-comb it. A moment later, there was a loud bang on the door. She had been expecting it but she still jumped a little at the abrupt sound. Her time was up. She grabbed her pack and quickly moved to open the door before the ninja on the other side knocked it down.


She pulled it open to reveal Kisame’s large bulk looming over her. He looked bored, and his eyes traveled slowly over her figure again as he took in her new appearance. She narrowed her eyes and regarded him stiffly, waiting for him to move and let her out. When he eventually backed away, Sakura brushed past him and sauntered down the hall on her own in the direction of her room. Kisame simply snorted softly and raised his eyebrows at her back. He didn’t follow; he didn’t need to dog her steps just to keep an eye on her, and once she entered her room and closed the door he walked off toward the other end of the house.

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Sakura wasn’t that surprised he hadn’t followed her; he didn’t need to be right behind her to catch her instantly if she ran.


Now that she had eaten and cleaned up, there was absolutely nothing for her to do. She put her backpack down and sat down next to it with her back against the wall. From her spot on the far side of the room she had a good view of the window to see what time of day it was, though watching the hours slowly pass by wouldn’t help the boredom that was quickly setting in. Sakura was never a patient person and after several minutes passed she was already growing restless. She almost wished Kisame would come back just so she had something else to look at and interact with beside the four walls…almost.


She didn’t know when someone would come to bring her next meal or maybe tell her finally why she was being held hostage, and there was nothing to do but wait. She started to think again about the possible reasons she was taken. They obviously didn’t know much about her other than her medical skills; they hadn’t expected her to be able to put up a good fight like she had, so did that mean they didn’t know she was Tsunade’s apprentice? If so, that almost certainly ruled blackmail or ransom out. Was it because she killed Sasori? That didn’t seem right for several reasons. Sakura wasn’t the only person she knew to have killed an Akatsuki and they had never retaliated before; if this was about the puppet master then it would have to be personal. Deidara had been his partner but he hadn’t come near her since their fight, and if it was revenge he would have just told her so and killed her then so that reason fell apart as well.


The more she thought about it, the more everything seemed to point to Itachi. This was his operation; he was the one who wanted to capture her, she was sure of it. But the only thing he could possibly need her for was to heal his eyes. She knew Itachi was a genius, and surely he knew that if chakra could be used to repair the body it could be used to destroy it as well, and he couldn’t be stupid enough to let her get near his precious eyes. No amount of torture or intimidation on his part could change the fact that he would have to allow her to put her chakra into him, and once it was in it would only take a split second to blind or even kill him. He would not be able to stop her in time.


Sakura thought back to the last time she had seen the older Uchiha: three years ago during Gaara’s rescue. He probably thought she was still that girl. Back then when she was fifteen, she was a big improvement over her twelve-year old self but still nowhere near what she was now. That explained why they underestimated her. Itachi didn’t know her at all if he thought she was just going to comply with their demands, whatever they were. She wasn’t afraid of what they would do to her if she refused, and she had no other incentive to help them. The only way she would consider it was if they hurt or threatened someone she loved, leaving her with no choice, but they hadn’t taken someone precious- they had taken her. Sakura smirked. Itachi was in for a big surprise if he thought the standard ANBU team would be sent to look for her when she was Konoha’s second best medic and practically the Godaime’s surrogate daughter. The fearsome woman would come after him herself if she wasn’t required to stay and be Hokage. And her boys were gonna flip a shit when they found out she had been taken captive and by whom, especially Naruto…

Oh no…


Sakura’s heart began to pound as the realization hit her like a physical blow. That was it, wasn’t it? It had to be, it made perfect sense now. How could she not have realized it earlier? That’s why they had taken her in broad daylight and left no doubt about what had happened. She curled her knees to her chest and put her head in her hands as unwanted tears fought to leak out of her squeezed eyelids.


The Kyuubi: they wanted Naruto for the demon sealed inside him. Sakura hadn’t been afraid before but she was now. She remembered what had been done to Gaara when they had taken him; he was only alive because of Chiyo-baasama’s sacrifice and she had taken that jutsu to the next world with her. Akatsuki had been after her friend for a long time, had tried to take him several times before and failed. Jiraiya had originally told them that Akatsuki planned to have all of the Bijuu within three years, but it had been seven since then. Itachi must be tired of chasing him and had come up with a plan to bring Naruto to him instead. And Sakura knew with devastating certainty that it would work. Naruto would never let this go; even if he was forbidden to come after her and be part of the rescue he would never listen. If Tsunade tried to stop him he would leave on his own, like Sasuke had.


There was nothing she could do to stop this. She knew her team would insist on coming to rescue her, possibly others as well. That’s why Deidara and his partner were still here; to balance the fight and keep the odds in their favor. She felt completely helpless, more than she ever had. Even if she somehow managed to escape there was no guarantee she would find her rescuers before they found the Akatsuki, and then it would be too late. The best she could do was to be there when they arrived and find a way to fight alongside them and heal the injuries they were sure to receive. She had complete confidence in her team, but these were Akatsuki they were dealing with. The last time they fought the S-class criminals it had been seven Leaf shinobi against two Akatsuki and the Leaf had barely won that battle. Several of them had taken serious injury, including Kakashi and Naruto who were two of the strongest ninja she knew. There were four Akatsuki this time and the chance of winning was absurdly small. She was frustrated beyond belief at the simple genius of Itachi’s plan, and all she could do was wait for it to happen.


That didn’t mean she would sit idly by while waiting for this confrontation and the monster of a battle that would ensue. The Akatsuki had evinced that they weren’t going to kill her, and had been surprisingly lenient with her. She always knew they weren’t a group of common thugs, and their treatment of her proved it. It seemed they had no intention to do anything to her they didn’t have reason to, and were intelligent and controlled enough to refrain from pettiness and bullying. Perhaps she could use that to her advantage. If she told them she wouldn’t try to fight or escape, maybe they would let her out of this room. If she was lucky they may even let her be in their presence. She didn’t think she could gain their trust or that they would ever let their guard down around her and say or do something she wasn’t supposed to see, but any and every bit of information she could get on Akatsuki and its individual members would be helpful to their mission once this was all over. She believed she and the people she loved would survive this collision with their dangerous enemy; she couldn’t – refused - to believe otherwise.

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Sakura calculated and thought over the details of her plan for quite some time before the door opened and Kisame entered again. He carried another tray of food, but this time he didn’t put it down and slide it across the floor, simply held the tray out to her with one hand and raised his eyebrows at her. He wanted her to come and take it from him.


Seeing his shark-like face after finally figuring out their intentions only made her angry, and for a moment she just glared at him from her position on the floor. But then she remembered she was supposed to be somewhat nice for the time being so she got up and walked over to where he stood in the doorway.


He held out the tray and Sakura saw what was on it: onigiri and miso soup with hot tea. That was a surprise. It also explained why he didn’t shove it across the floor like last time. Did he make this for her himself? More likely they were leftovers from his own lunch, but he could just as well have given her another loaf of stale bread.


The thought ‘maybe he’s starting to like you’ passed through her head, immediately followed by ‘don’t be stupid’. It was just a rice ball and some soup, it probably wasn’t even hot anymore, but she still didn’t quite know what to think of it.


“…Thank you.” she murmured quietly as she took the tray.


The shark-man just looked at her strangely for a moment before grunting in response.


She moved to sit down on the floor with the tray and Kisame finally spoke. “Itachi will be back tonight, and he’ll most likely want to discuss your situation here.” he said gruffly.


Sakura didn’t know why he told her that, like he was hinting that she should mentally prepare herself for a one on one conversation with the Uchiha. She was glad he did; she needed to figure out what she was going to have to say and do to convince them to let her out of this room and at least go to the bathroom without an escort. She nodded an acknowledgement to Kisame and he walked out, closing the door as he went.


It was the least they had said to each other all day, and she wondered if he felt the oddity of that last interlude like she had and that was why he left without teasing or provoking her again. What a weird situation she was in, and it was just getting weirder by the hour.


She ate carefully and was grateful for a hot meal. Afterward she walked around the room as she worked out the little details of her plan. After several minutes of quiet pacing she found herself in front of the window, staring out of the dirty panes to the ground below. She was right about being on an upper floor; the ground was at least fifteen feet below. That was nothing for a ninja to jump, but she knew there was a chakra seal on the window. Feeling a little devious, she cautiously reached out a hand to touch the glass and after a moment -sure enough- there was another presence near her door, waiting to see what she would do. She smiled mischievously and removed her hand from the window pane, and eventually her unseen watchdog went away. From what she could see through the window, they looked to be at some sort of old, abandoned mill or farm. There was a large, walled yard below her with what was possibly a gardening shed, and she thought she recognized what used to be plowed fields beyond the wall. She wondered if this was a regular Akatsuki hideout or if they had just found it and were squatting here.


That made her laugh, and after a while she grew bored looking out of the dirty window and moved away. It was getting dark; she wondered how long she had before her ‘meeting’ with Itachi. She had nothing else to do so she lay down with her back against the wall, using her backpack as a pillow, and went over her plan again and again until she fell asleep.

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Sakura woke several hours later at the sound of her door opening. The room was dark since there were no working lights, and the yellow glow from the hallway was the only illumination. A cloaked silhouette was centered in the rectangular glow of the open doorframe. There was no mistaking Kisame’s hulking figure, and Sakura sat up slowly, squinting her eyes at the invasion of light.


“You asleep again?” he asked with mild amusement.


“What else am I supposed to do in here? There isn’t even a light.” she answered dryly. He simply shrugged. “What time is it?” she asked, standing up and looking out the window to try and gauge the time.


“Late. It’s almost midnight. Let’s go.” He said it like they were going to take a stroll in the park, and not on their way to what was sure to be a tense confrontation between a dangerous killer and a very hot-tempered kunoichi.


Sakura walked from the window to stand at Kisame’s side, hands on her hips. “How do I look?” she asked, voice dripping with sarcasm. The shark man laughed aloud at her joke, and the two enemy ninja walked together down the hall.


Kisame led her in the opposite direction of where they had gone earlier for ‘bath time’. They descended an old, rickety staircase that Sakura guessed would have creaked loudly if anyone other than ninja were to walk on it, and moved through a large family sitting room full of dusty, worn out furniture. This place had been abandoned for many years, at least by regular people. She felt chakra signatures in the room around the corner and knew that was where they were going. It was a dining room, with an old-fashioned solid wood table that seated eight. There were two chandeliers over the table for lighting and heavy draperies on the windows.


It might have been downright cozy if three of the world’s most dangerous criminals weren’t sitting there watching her like hungry wolves. And there, at the head of the table, was the Alpha wolf. Itachi regarded her with an impassive stare, but his eyes glinted with hidden thoughts.


Deidara sat next to him on his right while Tobi sat on the other side toward the middle. Kisame motioned for her to sit at the end of the table in front of her, and she did so as he moved past her and sat next to Deidara, leaving Tobi by himself in the middle.


They must have just finished eating as there were several take out containers on the table, some empty, some still half full. It smelled delicious, and her stomach clenched, but she wasn’t about to ask for some.


All of them were staring at her including Kisame, who had seen plenty of her today and probably just wanted to see her reaction to her new predicament and derive some twisted form of amusement from it. She looked at Deidara, who was glaring at her. He almost looked like he was pouting and Sakura had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep her lip from twisting in a smirk. She held eye contact with the blonde man long enough to make the point that he didn’t intimidate her, which wasn’t exactly true, but she faked it well. She turned her eyes to Tobi and even though she couldn’t see anything through the mask he wore, she knew he wasn’t making eye contact with her and his chakra was wavering slightly. This time she didn’t fight the smirk or the amused glint in her eyes as she realized he was uncomfortable with her presence. That struck her as odd because he was an Akatsuki, but then again she had nearly killed him, and his skill was surprisingly below what she would have thought was a minimum for their organization. He was just the smallest bit frightened by her, even with the other three here, and that amused her greatly. She winked at him teasingly, and he shifted his gaze away from her and focused it on the table. She almost laughed out loud at that point but managed to control herself and turn her gaze to the last member of their little party.


Itachi continued to stare at her with the same blank expression, but his eyes were analyzing every slight movement she made. She wondered if the Sharingan could see the rapid pulsing of her throat indicating her elevated heart rate, and she figured it probably could. She maintained her outward calm however and did what most sane people would never willingly do: she raised her eyes and met Itachi’s deadly, crimson stare.


There was a moment of instinctive fear before she realized she was still alive and not trapped in a nightmare world of torture, and after a moment she breathed again and somehow managed to hold his penetrating gaze. The seconds ticked by as they just sat there, staring at each other. Sakura thought she was probably the only person other than his comrades and Sasuke who had looked this long into those red orbs and not died. She relaxed just a little when she realized he wasn’t going to do anything to her other than stare back, and for the first time, she felt comfortable enough to really look at him.


He was wearing his red and black cloak so all she could see was his face but holy hell…he was ridiculously good-looking. Better looking than Sasuke by far in her opinion and she hated herself for thinking it. He had deep creases below his eyes; dark circles from years of not sleeping well, but they only made him look more masculine and not as perfect and pretty as his younger brother. His lips were thinner than Sasuke’s, his jaw line more defined. His hair wasn’t as dark; it was a soft black with deep brown undertones rather than midnight blue-black. It was tied in a low ponytail in the back, but shorter sections fell out and framed his face. But it was his eyes that were his most striking feature, and not because of the Sharingan. They were beautiful; with lashes so long and dark that Sakura would have thought they belonged on a woman if they weren’t attached to his face. She wondered what they looked like without the crimson bloodline limit. Were they the same deep ebony-brown as his brother’s, or more of a dark, charcoal grey like Kakashi’s? But this was Itachi she was talking about; they were probably black as the pits of hell and as empty as his soul.


That last thought brought her out of her initial shock at truly seeing his face for the first time, and she wondered if he was going to say something soon or if he just brought her in here to stare at her all night. She was becoming uncomfortable with their staring contest, and at this point she was only maintaining eye contact through sheer willpower.


The corner of Itachi’s mouth turned slightly, but Sakura couldn’t tell if it was a smirk or a frown. Then he blinked slowly and tilted his head slightly. “You aren’t afraid to look in my eyes, kunoichi?” he asked finally, his voice soft and velvety.


She was afraid, and yet not. Not knowing how to explain that, she answered cryptically, “Not many have had the distinction of looking into your eyes and living, I’m sure.”


The Uchiha did smirk this time. Barely, but it was there. “Do you know why you have been captured, kunoichi?” his voice was so soft she didn’t think he could raise it if he tried. And he wouldn’t need to.


“I can think of several reasons.” She didn’t want to give too much of her thoughts away, or give him an idea he didn’t already have, though that was highly unlikely.


“Why don’t you share some of your theories with us then.” He crossed his arms in front of him and leaned back in his chair, waiting for her answer.


Resolved to giving her opinion on the subject, she leaned forward and clasped her hands together on the table before answering. “At first I thought it was because you wanted me to heal your eyes, and yes, I know you are losing your vision.” she added after seeing his eyes narrow slightly at her first reason. “But then I realized that you are too intelligent to put yourself in such a compromising situation with someone who would harm you at the first opportunity. My next thought was that Akatsuki had some other design using my medical skills, or possibly even a ransom or blackmail attempt of some sort, as there are some powerful people who would be…upset…by my capture. However, none of those theories explain why these three are still around,” she glanced abstractedly at the other occupants of the table, “and then I realized that the true reason was the simplest and most obvious one of all: you intend to use me as bait for Naruto so you can get your hands on the Kyuubi.” Her voice was quiet and dark as she finished, and she no longer bothered to hide her contempt about their intentions.


Itachi gave a small smile. “You are correct, kunoichi. I thought you might figure it out on your own but I have to say I’m impressed; you are as intelligent as your reputation indicates.”


Sakura was taken aback by his words. Did Uchiha Itachi just compliment her? The other members of the table also seemed to be looking at her with a sort of grudging respect. It all felt like some strange dream. “Thank you.”


“You’re welcome. Are you hungry?” he asked politely, indicating the food cartons on the table with his hand.


“What?” she asked incredulously. Was he having a different conversation than she was? He had just confirmed his intentions on the life of her best friend before paying her a compliment, and now he was offering to share their dinner with her!


“I asked if you were hungry.” He stated simply, as if nothing was strange about any of this. “You may help yourself to some of the food here if you wish.”


Yes, this definitely had to be some sort of surreal nightmare. But dreaming or not, she was hungry, so she cautiously stood up and leaned over the tabletop to inspect the cartons. She chose one and grabbed an unused pair of chopsticks before sitting down again. It was starting to get cold, but it looked yummy, so she separated the chopsticks and began to eat.


“You’re not concerned if it’s poisoned, hmm?”


She looked up to see Deidara frowning at her. There was that pouty lip-thing again. It reminded her of Shikamaru and she managed to battle the emerging laugh down to a snort. “If you wanted to kill me you would have done it already, not bring me all the way out to this place. Besides, if you did intend to kill me you wouldn’t need poison to do so.” she remarked calmly.


“You’re awfully accepting of the situation, yeah. You act like you get kidnapped by dangerous men all the time. What happened to the all the hissing and spitting from yesterday?”


Was that his impression of her, an angry cat? She shrugged at his question. “Oh, don’t get me wrong. I am not ok with this situation, and when Naruto and my team find us I’m going to help them kill you all.” She said it calmly, like they were discussing her grocery list rather than an open threat on their lives.


Deidara and Kisame both laughed loudly at her bold statement, while Itachi remained unaffected. Sakura continued eating.


“Is that right? You seem pretty confident about that, yeah. Does that mean you’re not gonna try and run away?”


“I wouldn’t make it far if I ran with all four of you on my ass, so there’s no point in trying. Besides, whether I’m still with you or not isn’t gonna stop Naruto from showing up once he finds out you took me.” She turned her attention back to Itachi. “I have to admit, your plan is disgustingly brilliant and effective, but you are wrong in thinking you’re going to win.”


Itachi just smirked at her confident declaration. “Spoken like a true Leaf ninja. What makes you so sure of the outcome?”


She sneered at the man across the table. “You can’t possibly believe that Naruto will come alone. You knew enough about me to set up that fake medic mission, surely you know who my other teammates are and that they won’t just sit around while you work your evil little plan.” She was getting angry again.


“Of course I am aware of it.” he stated confidently.


“Doesn’t mean we won’t win, princess.” Kisame added with a grin.


“Should be quite a fight, yeah. Especially if the other guest of honor shows up.” Deidara said mischievously.


“Who would that be?” Sakura asked, an unsettling feeling beginning to creep over her.


Itachi smiled darkly at her, his eyes focused intently on her face. “My brother.”


Sakura was glad she was sitting down or she would have fallen at hearing his quiet words. She was shocked to say the least and a bit confused. “Sasuke would never come for me.” she said quietly, the hurt and anger at having to admit it aloud burning her up inside.


The older Uchiha gave a small, indifferent shrug at her pained admission. “Perhaps he would, perhaps not. But he will come for me regardless.”


Sakura frowned. “He’s been looking for you for six years. What makes you think he’ll find you this time?”


“Because I will finally allow him to find me.”


Sakura understood; Itachi wasn’t one to be found if he didn’t want to be. The last three years of her life proved that beyond doubt. This situation was very, very bad. If Sasuke did come, she didn’t know if he would help her and her teammates or simply follow his own agenda. He may even fight against them if he thought they were in his way.


Itachi seemed to read her thoughts. “It will be quite a reunion, don’t you think? Are you sure you don’t want to run, kunoichi?” his last words were almost whispered.


Sakura was staring at nothing, a dark scowl marring her features. “No.” she said, her voice shaking with anger. “No…” she repeated, “I’m not going to run. Especially not now.”


“Hmm. Why is that, kunoichi? Are you so anxious to be scorned and abused by my foolish brother again?” There was amusement in his voice now.


He was taunting her, and she locked her eyes onto his in a venomous glare. “I’m not going to run because I want to be here when he kills you.” she said in a low hiss. “I want to watch as he slowly chokes the life out of you, Itachi.” Her voice dripped with hate. “I want to hear your death-rattle.”


He was on her before she finished the last word. He had moved so fast that she couldn’t even register it before he was behind her chair and his hand held her throat in a deadly grip. He could snap her neck before she even tried to fight back.


His eyes were burning into her and his handsome face was contorted with anger. Itachi never showed emotion and to have his open hostility directed solely at her scared the shit out of her. Her heart raced wildly and she was sure he could feel it against his fingers. The other three Akatsuki at the table were all staring in wide-eyed alarm at their comrade and that terrified her more than anything. She had provoked him to act in a way that was unheard of for him. In all her years as a ninja she had never been this close to death before, she was certain of it.


He leaned over the back of her chair, his mouth mere inches from her ear. His breaths were heavy and hot against the side of her face as he struggled to suppress his rage. After several terrifyingly slow seconds he appeared to regain composure and his face slipped back into a blank mask, though his blood-colored eyes still glinted malevolently. He loosened his death-grip on her throat slightly but didn’t let go. Sakura took several shaking breaths and fought the instinct to panic. The room was dead-silent except for her oxygen-deprived gasps.


Itachi used his grip on her throat to turn her head a fraction toward his, his mouth nearly brushing against her cheekbone. His voice was only a whisper, but it was heard clearly be everyone. “Perhaps you will get your wish, kunoichi, though I doubt my brother will be able to live up to your expectations. Perhaps you will get to watch me do the same to him instead, after I take the Kyuubi of course.” He watched her; every flinch, every tremble of her lips, the tears she tried to keep from welling in her fear-brightened eyes. His Sharingan saw it all and he was satisfied by her fear. For some reason she fascinated him, and his uncontrolled reaction to her would have to be examined, but she needed to learn her place. “Once I have accomplished those things your usefulness to me will have ceased. Perhaps, little kunoichi, the death-rattle you hear will be your own.”


He moved away from her then, and she couldn’t prevent the small pant of relief that escaped her lips. Her heart was pounding so hard against her ribs she was sure everyone could hear it. Her cheek was cold from where his hot breath had moistened it. Now that she was free of the killer’s grasp her instincts were telling her too flee but she managed to stay seated. She didn’t think she could stand right now if she wanted to. Her fingers had been clenched on her thighs and she could feel the pain now as the adrenaline started to wear off. She would have bruises there to match the ones on her neck later.


Itachi was still standing in the doorway, his back to them. He turned his head just far enough to show his profile, and though Sakura couldn’t bring herself to look in his direction, she knew he was addressing her.


“Since you have made it quite clear that you have no intention to escape, there is no need for you to remain confined to your room. The chakra seals will be removed tomorrow. You are free to move around the house and immediate grounds, and you may make use of anything you find here.” He said calmly, and a moment later the soft rustle of his cloak indicated he was gone.


He had said it like nothing had just happened between them, like he hadn’t just lost all control and nearly killed her with his bare hands. That kind of compartmentalization was frightening. Sakura couldn’t imagine how a mind could work like that.


No one else moved from their seats. Sakura stared unseeing at her shaking hands, and the three remaining Akatsuki watched her with a mixture of shock, curiosity, and awe. Their amazement was likely due to the fact that she was still breathing when they had all expected to see her mangled, bloody corpse on the table not five minutes ago.


She didn’t look at them; she had forgotten they were there. Her heart wouldn’t stop pounding in her ears. She poured all of her effort and strength into standing and made her way blindly out of the room and up the stairs to her door, the three Akatsuki staring after her.


Sakura closed the door to her room and ran her hand along the paneling until she stumbled into her backpack and slid down the wall in a heap. She could still feel Itachi’s dark chakra curling around her, could still feel his fingers on her throat, his breath on her cheek.


Alone, in the pitch darkness of her room, she could no longer hold back the tears.