Kiss The Rain

A/N: Here is the latest chapter. After all of the personal issues, computer issues, and other little things that came up, I got it done and I think that it turned out well. So, here you go. Please read and review.

~!~

It had been nearly two days since her arrival at Akatsuki headquarters and she had not awoken. Itachi had gone to her ‘room’ several times, each time checking to see if she were still breathing. Zetsu’s plants were often known to do more damage than good, and seeing as how Sakura had not awoken, the sharingan master wondered if the grass-nin had over calculated the dose.

It was early evening when Sakura began to show signs of awakening, and he knew that Pein would be pleased. After all, it was the esteemed leader of the organization who was the most anxious to see Sakura in action. He could only hope that she would heed his words and not fight him. If she did, life as they both knew it would be over.

~!~

Sakura felt good. Never before had she felt so relaxed, nor had she felt this calm. It was as if every single muscle in her body had decided to relax, and now she felt absolutely boneless. Taking in a deep breath, she slowly opened her eyes and found herself face-to-face with a single eye staring at her through an orange mask. She reacted as she normally did.

She hit the masked freak. Hard.

The man—well, she assumed it was a man—flew backwards and hit the wall right across from her with a heavy thud. He slid down the wall and crumpled into a heap while she yanked the covers up to her chin and glared at him for all she was worth.

“What in the hell do you think you are doing?” she hissed, not caring in the least that she was being loud. “Who in the hell do you think you are?”

The man slowly stood up and pointed to himself. “Tobi thinks that he is Tobi,” he explained, and then cocked his head while he regarded her. “Tobi was making sure that the pretty lady didn’t die in her sleep. You’ve been asleep for so long and Tobi was bored.”

She raised an eyebrow at him, silently wondering why in the hell anyone would refer to themselves in the third person. Before she could reply, a soft cough interrupted her thoughts, and she turned to see a large form in the doorway.

“We are pleased to see that you have awoken,” the large male said, his voice soft but holding a tint of darkness beneath the calm exterior. “We are most anxious to see you and Itachi spar.”

The man in the orange mask didn’t say a word and only stared straight at her. When the larger male turned, he called out to the masked man, “Come, Tobi. Haruno-san would probably enjoy some privacy as she cleans up. You will be able to speak at dinner.”

The smaller male seemed to accept the other man’s words and quickly moved to the door. Before he left the room, he turned and gave her a cheery wave, then shut the door behind him and locked it.

Letting out the breath she had been holding, Sakura shook her head as Inner Sakura muttered, "So that’s where he gets it from. They’re both freaks.”

Gingerly, she climbed out of the bed, almost groaning at the pins and needles sensation that attacked her legs. Clearly she had been more exhausted than she had previously thought. Making her way to the bathroom, she found a clean towel along with a clean set of clothing waiting for her.

The larger male had said that she would be at a dinner, and she could only guess that whoever had left her the clothing had anticipated that she would be dining with them. Taking another deep breath to calm her nerves, she moved forward and started the shower. Once the water was hot enough, she shed her sleeping gown and climbed in, allowing the hot water to pour over her head, soaking her from head to foot.

She leaned against the wall of the shower and bit her lip. Who in the hell was she kidding? She was in the middle of the Akatsuki and she didn’t know if she would ever see her friends again. Yes, Tsunade-sensei had said that she did not believe that Itachi would harm her, but what about the others in his special little group? They would have no qualms about killing her and using her remains for whatever psycho things they could think of.

Like capturing Naruto, for instance.

Feeling the tendrils of sadness weave around her, she quietly whispered, “Shishou, I am so scared.”

~!~

“It would seem that you are about to get your battle, Pein,” the man said, his tone void of emotion. “What will you do if the girl is able to defeat Itachi?”

Pein thought quietly for several minutes, but then sighed. “This girl has been nothing more than a huge problem. The Akatsuki should be out gaining more money for our ultimate goal. Instead, we have to babysit some girl simply because she managed to break the sharingan,” he said, his tone tired. “I feel as if we have lost what is important in this organization.”

The man moved away from the wall and sat before Pein. “Perhaps,” he said thoughtfully. “However, the fact that she has gained the slug sannin’s strength and medical knowledge is enough for us to put our plans on hold, at least for the time being. If we can warp her into our way of thinking, she could be a valuable tool to use against the kyuubi.”

Pein’s eyes narrowed. “This isn’t about the kyuubi. Not anymore,” he snapped. “This is all about your sick fascination with that girl. She is able to do something that has never before been done, and now you are obsessed with learning how she has achieved it.”

“And you are just as obsessed with seeing Itachi fail,” the man countered. “Pein, don’t be such a spoilsport. Itachi is about to be fighting for his reputation, and the fact that you are sitting here arguing over this girl tells me that your loyalties have changed. A few days ago you were excited by the prospect of watching him fail, and now you lecture me about this organization’s goals. Do not forget who placed you in the seat of power. I put you there and I can just as easily take you out of it.”

Pein sat back in his chair. “I did not mean to offend you,” he replied. “I am concerned that this girl is creating a problem within the Akatsuki, and I do not want to see all of our hard work fail because of her.”

The man chuckled. “Your apology is accepted,” he said. “As for our plans, it would serve you well to remember that this girl is very close to the kyuubi. Once we have her, she will give the kyuubi to us on a silver platter. I will make sure to command her loyalty. No matter what.”

~!~

The knock on her door made her spin around, and her eyes narrowed when she saw who it was that had disturbed her. Of all the Akatsuki, they had to send the great blue idiot.

“Well, you’re looking less hideous, Princess,” Kisame jeered as his eyes traveled down her body. He looked up to see her scowl at him and smirked.

“Seeing as you are the expert in hideous, thank you,” she snapped and tensed when the blue nin growled and began to move forward.

Kisame stopped a couple of feet from her and said, “Listen up Princess. You are in Akatuski territory. You are going to do as you are told, and you are not going to give me any shit. Do you understand?”

Sakura’s eyes narrowed and she straightened to her full height, not caring that she was only a couple of inches over five feet. She placed her hands on her hips, and he knew that stance because Konan had used it a couple of times when Hidan was still around and had seriously pissed her off.

Those confrontations had never ended well for Hidan, and the fact that he now had that stance directed at him made his stomach shift uncomfortably. He knew that he was in a lot of trouble.

“You listen here, you asshole,” she hissed. “First of all, I am not some weak little female that you can order around. Second, don’t you ever tell me not to give you back what you dish out. Third, you’re not the boss of me, and I don’t have to listen to a damn thing you have to say.”

Okay, so maybe that last part was childish, but there was just something about this particular male that grated on her nerves.

Kisame’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline, but before he could respond to Sakura’s bold statement he heard someone clear their throat. Looking up, he watched as Itachi moved silently into the room and came to a stop beside his partner.

His eyes moved over Sakura slowly. When he finished inspecting her, he quietly said, “It is time for dinner. The leader is waiting for us.”

Turning, he didn’t look back to see if his partner and captive were following but simply headed to the dining hall. He could hear Sakura and Kisame bickering back and forth and silently decided to never allow them to be in the same room alone. Doing so would probably result in a lot of damage and missing limbs.

As they entered the hall, Kisame said in a loud whisper, “Try not to do anything to offend anyone.”

Sakura gritted her teeth. “Then perhaps you should not be facing me when I eat. I’d hate to offend the cook by puking up the dinner simply because I had to look at you.”

“THAT DOES IT!” Kisame roared, reaching behind him to grab onto his sword’s handle.

Before he could draw the sword, Pein stood up and said, “Control yourself Kisame. This is not how we treat our guests.”

Kisame stalked away from her, and she thought that she heard him mutter ‘bitch,’ but she couldn’t be sure. Looking over to the man who had interrupted Kisame, she thought that perhaps she shouldn’t look at him either when she ate.

The man had piercings all over his face, and though he was handsome in a warped sort of way, she just could not wrap her mind around all of those piercings. They simply could not be just for appearances.

“Haruno Sakura. Please take a seat besides Deidara so that we may begin our evening meal,” he said, his tone dark and velvety.

She took a deep breath and moved toward the table, knowing full well that she would not like the results if she refused. The blonde had already pushed her chair out, and when she sat down, she found herself looking into the face—or rather, mask—of the man she had hit in her room.

However, judging from the cheerful wave that he gave to her once she looked up, she could tell that he didn’t hold a grudge for being hit. Once she was settled, he leaned forward and asked, “Do you like tempura? It’s Tobi’s favorite.”

“It’s ok,” she said, a bit unsure.

If he caught the nervous tremor in her voice, he didn’t react to it. Instead, he began to talk about all of his hobbies and that he really liked to spend time with Zetsu in the greenhouse. He made sure to tell her that he was scared of spiders and that his favorite animal was the wolf. He told her that he wanted a puppy more than anything in the world, but the leader had told him no.

She bit back a smile at the wistful tone in his voice when he told her the leader’s decision. It was the same tone Naruto used when told that he wasn’t going on the mission that he wanted. She could feel the sharp pang of longing in her heart.

Once Tobi exhausted everything that he wanted to talk about, Sakura noticed that everyone else seemed to be watching her for a reaction to Tobi’s insane chatter, but all she could do was give the man across from her a weak smile and said, “Nice.”

That earned her a satisfied nod from Tobi, and the man picked up his fork and scooped up some rice. She watched as he lifted it up to the mask and then raised the mask just high enough so that he could shovel the rice into his mouth.

As she watched him eat, the pang in her heart seemed to grow. This man was just as messy as Naruto.

Gods, she missed Konoha.

~!~

“Do we know the route that they took?” Tsunade asked, her eyes closed as she concentrated.

Two days ago, a team of her ANBU returned and reported what appeared to be the bodies of some bandits in a forest that bordered along Mist. Now she and Gaara were gathering intelligence and, with the aid of Shikamaru, were attempting to figure out the path that Itachi and Kisame took with Sakura.

The ANBU before her shook his head. “No, my lady,” he replied. “However, we have found small amounts of Haruno-san’s blood on some bandages that had been shoved into a small opening on the side of a rotting tree. It is our belief that Haruno-san placed them there as a marker.”

Shikamaru’s eyes opened and he said, “From everything that we have learned from his file, it would appear that Itachi would not hurt Sakura unless absolutely necessary. But I doubt that he was not aware of what she was doing.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kankuro asked. He was still really angry at the Nara for all that went down between him, Temari, and that stupid blonde on Shikamaru’s team. But it was more important to work together, and everything else could be settled later.

And matters would be settled. He’d make sure of it.

Kakashi moved away from the wall. “It means that Itachi probably allowed Sakura to place the bandages there, and then altered the route that they were taking in order to throw us off his trail. Shikamaru is right. Itachi never lets anything happen unless he wants it to happen,” he explained.

“Right,” Tsunade said as she opened her eyes. “Itachi, when he was with ANBU, was considered to be the best. He became captain at age thirteen and was controlling squads made up of men twice his age. His tactics were flawless and he never failed a mission. He was given so much freedom to do as he pleased. And all of that time, he had been planning on slaughtering his family.”

“Yeah, about that,” Shikamaru said. “In his file, it mentioned that he had been approached by Danzo-sama to work within Root, but he had turned it down. It also mentioned that Danzo-sama had tried to give him missions, but those were also turned down. It seems odd that the Uchiha would turn down such important missions, especially if they were difficult and highly dangerous.”

Turning to Sai, Shikamaru quietly regarded the man. “What was your position in Root?” he asked, hoping that Sai would not refuse to answer.

All of his worries were laid to rest when Sai cocked his head to the side and calmly said, “I was an assassin. My drawings were a perfect way of killing off a target without getting too close or being seen. I took the position that Uchiha-san had turned down years before.”

Tsunade frowned. “How old were you when you took over the position that was meant for Itachi?” she asked.

“I was only eleven when I made my first kill,” Sai said. “I believe that I was around thirteen when I was elevated to the position.”

“Thirteen!” Naruto exclaimed, his voice revealing his shock. “When we were thirteen, we were still genin. How in the hell did you get so far in your training so fast?”

Sai’s face dropped into its usual blank mask. He considered Naruto’s question for a moment, but then said, “I was very young when I began my training. Those in Root have no family, no friends, no past, and no future. We are simply tools meant for carrying out the missions we are given. My training started the day I first arrived at Root.”

Tsunade’s face grew hard. “Does this still happen?” she demanded. “Are the children taken from their families by force or do the families allow their children to be taken?”

“I cannot tell you how the children are taken. I was never a part of the group that brought the children back to Root.” Sai replied. “Children are selected by other members of Root. Once Danzo-sama decides who is to be trained, the parents are given only a few moments before the children are escorted to Root. I cannot remember my parents, and I do not remember how I arrived at Root. All I remember is my brother and my training.”

Tsunade glared down at her desk. She would have to look into this. Sai was clearly a victim of Danzo’s madness. However, Shikamaru’s earlier words made her pause. Why would Itachi refuse to work for Danzo? Could it be that Itachi had figured out what Danzo was doing and simply refused to participate? It was too much for her to handle.

Time to figure out where Shizune had hidden her bottle of sake, and to hell with everyone else.

~!~

The meal had been a quiet experience, and when she was finished, she looked up to find the man named ‘Pein’ staring at her. Once he saw that he had her attention, he said, “I am curious, Haruno-san, as to how you have managed to break the sharingan. Tell me, how did you do it?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” she replied, her tone even. “I have no clue as to how I do it.”

“Really now,” Pein purred, his voice thick with satisfaction. “Well, we will just have to figure it out. Tonight, you and Itachi will spar with each other, and we will see for ourselves if you are truly able to break free of the sharingan.”

Suddenly, Sakura’s stomach dropped to her feet as she understood exactly why she had been brought to Akatsuki headquarters. They wanted to see her perform against Itachi. Judging by his cryptic words about not fighting him, he knew it too.

Pein watched as Sakura paled and he nodded over at Deidara. It was time to watch Itachi fall from grace.

She was silent as the blonde pulled her to her feet and led her from the room. The other members of the Akatsuki didn’t speak as they made their way to a large dojo that was clearly well-kept and well-used. When Deidara finally let go of her arm, she felt his long hair brush her arm as he quietly whispered, “Whatever you did to get out of it, you’d better do it again, yeah. If you don’t, you are not going to enjoy the leader’s wrath.”

When he moved away, Sakura turned around to see that Itachi had moved into place across from her and that the other members of the Akatsuki were leaning against the walls of the dojo. Pein allowed a cruel smirk to cross his lips and he said, “You are fighting for your life, Haruno-san. Try to make it last longer than three minutes, hm?”

She only had enough time to glance over at Itachi before she felt him slam hard into her, effectively throwing her across the room. Kisame’s loud laugh hit her ears and she silently wondered what he would do if she were to go over and yank his damn tongue out of his head.

She quickly rolled to her feet and balled up her fist. Itachi’s eyes widened slightly, and when she hit the floor of the dojo, cracking the wood and sending tremors throughout the room, she used his momentary distraction to rush forward and tackle him to the ground. But before she hit him, he disappeared and reappeared behind her.

However, that was what she was expecting him to do. Before he could grab onto her, Sakura slammed her fist into the floor and then used her right leg to kick back at Itachi. When she felt her foot connect, she quickly turned to face him and froze.

Itachi had activated his sharingan, and she felt the familiar feeling of being pulled down.

Pein smirked. “It begins,” he said, watching with careful eyes as Sakura and Itachi stared at each other. “Whatever will our heroine do?”

~!~

“It’s nice here, isn’t it?”

Whirling around, Sakura found herself staring at Itachi, though this Itachi didn’t have the hardened lines on his face. She had long ago come to the conclusion that like herself, Itachi had another personality. But unlike hers, this personality had been shoved so far back into his subconscious that until she came along, it had remained silent.

“It is,” she replied. “Where are we?”

Itachi looked around and smiled. She could not help but think that he was probably one of the most handsome men she had ever seen.

“We are in a field that I discovered when I first become a captain of ANBU. I used to come here quite a bit when I needed some time for myself,” he explained, moving closer to her. “I had never known such peace until finding this place. It had been my hope to one day show Sasuke, but that never came to pass. So I wanted to show you.”

Sakura looked around the field and narrowed her eyes. In the distance, she could see the hokage monument. “We are near Konoha,” she murmured, and felt a pang in her heart.

He must have sensed her sadness because he moved even closer than before. “If I had my way, I would have returned you to Konoha. However, I will do what I can to protect you,” he promised, but she could tell that even he did not know what the outcome would be.

For several moments, neither spoke. Finally, Itachi said, “You must trust in me, Sakura. Please, for both of our sakes.”

She opened her mouth to reply, but when he embraced her, the words she wanted to say died on her lips. Never in a million years did she think that he would ever hug her, but now he was and he felt…warm.

She felt his arms tighten around her, and her brain could not form a clear reason as to why she should break away from him. It was as if all of her thoughts had been blown away and the desire to be close to him had taken their place. So she allowed her head to fall onto his shoulder and brought her own arms to wrap around his waist. Closing her eyes, Sakura could not help the sigh that escaped her lips.

~!~

Pein’s mouth twisted into a sneer as he watched the two shinobi. The girl did not appear to be struggling and Itachi looked as calm and in control as ever. Damn it, perhaps it really had been a fluke when the girl broke free the first time.

He really should not have gotten his hopes up. But perhaps now his master would be willing to let go of this insane fascination with the girl and he could put her out of his misery.

~!~

Sakura had never felt such contentment. Sure, she had been held by a man before, but she never felt this. Being held by Itachi seemed to fill a part of her heart that she felt would be lonely forever. In her wildest dreams, she never thought that she would feel such bliss.

“WAKE UP!”

Sakura heard the voice. She knew the voice. From the way Itachi had stiffened, he also knew that voice.

“WAKE UP, YOU LITTLE FOOL!”

Her eyes snapped open to find that Itachi was no longer in the field. What she did find was not what she had expected. Her eyes widened as she took in her own form standing several feet away from her.

“I’m sorry, but did you forget that we are fighting for our lives?” Inner Sakura snapped. “I know that he is cute, but if we don’t get our ass moving, we are not going to be able to see if it feels as good in reality as it does in our minds.”

“Where did he go?” Sakura asked.

Inner Sakura sighed and moved towards her. “I don’t know and I don’t care. Fight now, figure it out and fondle Itachi later,” she spat and then promptly punched Sakura in the face, effectively snapping her out of the mangekyo sharingan once more.

~!~

Pein’s eyes widened as he took in the sight of Sakura’s body shaking violently. When her head snapped back and she fell to the floor, he allowed a smirk to cross his lips.

The girl had done it. She broke free, and now he had proof that Itachi’s precious mangekyo was beatable. If he could figure out the girl’s secret, he could beat Itachi and perhaps that master of his. But now that Sakura had broken free, his master would become even more insistent that the girl be taken care of so that he could study her.

He really didn’t know who he felt sorry more for: himself, or the girl who would be subjected to his master’s cruelty.

~!~

Itachi sighed. The girl had broken free, and this time they had an audience. He glanced up to see the leader smirking. Kisame, on the other hand, had a grimace on his face. It was clear that Kisame did not think that the girl would break free either. But she did, and now he had to deal with the consequences.

He bent forward to pick Sakura up, but was stopped when Pein said, “Itachi, you will wait for me in my office. Tobi can deliver the kunoichi to her room.”

The masked nin bounced forward and quickly said, “Tobi will make sure Haruno-san gets to her room. Tobi promises.” After crossing his heart, Tobi bent down and gathered Sakura in his arms. When he straightened, he glanced over at Pein, who nodded at him.

Without another word, Tobi left the dojo and silently walked down the hall. When he got to Sakura’s room, he found Zetsu standing at the door. The larger man opened the door and allowed the smaller man to enter, Zetsu following. After he closed the door, he made several hand signs, nodding at Tobi when the justu creating a silence barrier took effect.

“We think that Itachi is in a lot of trouble,” Zetsu murmured, his eyes watching as Tobi carefully lowered Sakura onto her bed. “Pein is quickly becoming a nuisance.”

Tobi stripped Sakura of her sandals and then covered the kunoichi. He brushed her hair away from her face and then turned to look at Zetsu. “Pein believes that he is a god,” he said. “It will be Pein’s arrogance that leads to his downfall. However, I want you to keep an eye on Haruno-san. I don’t trust Pein to follow my orders.”

Zetsu’s dark side chuckled. “If he makes a move toward the girl, should we eliminate him?” he asked.

Tobi cocked his head and thought for a moment. “I want you to make sure that not even a hair on her head is touched. Pein, if he does attempt to harm her, will be brought to me for judgment,” he said, his voice low and hard.

“No one defies Uchiha Madara and lives to tell the tale.”

~!~

“What are you doing out here, Gaara?” Temari asked, her voice soft. Ever since they arrived in Konoha, her little brother had been even quieter than usual.

Gaara’s eyes turned toward his sister, but then returned to look at the stars. “I should have ordered her to return to Suna with me,” he said. “I could have made her come with me, and if I had, she would be safe. Instead, she is with Akatsuki and it is my fault. I should have listened to my instincts.”

Temari’s eyes widened. “Gaara, you don’t really believe that, do you?” She asked. “There was no way in hell that you could have forced Sakura to come with us. And, knowing Sakura the way that I do, she would not want you blaming yourself. Okay, so we were wrong about the Akatsuki not coming after her, but now that it has happened, we make plans to get her back. Come on, Tsunade-sama is going over teams that will set out to bring Sakura home. Jiraiya-sama seems to believe that Itachi and his partner have gone into Rain.”

Gaara gave a slight nod and stood up. He followed Temari and soon found himself sitting beside Naruto, who appeared to have the same feelings of guilt and regret that he did. It was an odd feeling. Never before had he felt regret; at least, not regret for a decision that he made. Back when Shukaku reigned over him, he knew that the deaths of people who stood before him were not his victims, but he did feel something for those who met their deaths through Shukaku.

However, this feeling that surrounded him whenever he thought of Sakura made him feel things that he was not used to feeling. In a way, he could look at this as another learning experience.

He already learned one important lesson: he would never allow one that he called friend to be taken from him. He would get Sakura back, and he would make those who took her from her home and placed her into danger pay with their lives. He would make the terror that Shukaku caused seem like a sweet dream by the time he was finished.