-When Sasuke leaves, Sakura was left heartbroken. When he tried to kill her, her Daddy Dearest decides to kidnap her. And soon, she's a version of herself whom her friends don't recognize.

Oh my Kami-sama… This is my 13th fanfic… Wow… I really have to stop coming up with so many ideas and start trying to finish my old ones… But anyway, thank you all who have stayed with me for so long. This is actually my first fanfic with Sakura being a part of Akatsuki… Whoops, I gave away the biggie… Sorry. I'm also going to make this a SauSaku fanfic, but I'm debating on how I can make this a SasuSaku story. So if you guys have any ideas on that, it would be appreciated. But I hope I write a story that will meet your standards, and I hope you enjoy this story. Thank you and you can start reading now!

Calling out to the wind

Shaded by the trees

I'm lying face-down

Crying

~The First Dawn~

As Sakura lamented on her failed mission, she couldn't help but blame herself. She just stood there as her teammates fought. She should've tried harder. She should've done more. She could've done so much more. When Yamato had blocked her from Sasuke's attack, she should've counterattacked him then. But she didn't. She was too weak, too distracted. All of her training was for nothing. If anything, she only learned how to pretend to be strong. She had made no difference. In fact, she might have cost them this chance to get Sasuke back. If she hadn't been so reckless to attack like that then Yamato wouldn't have needed to cover her, and he might've been able to do something else. All she did was get in the way again… How could she even call herself a kunoichi? Why was she even on Naruto's team? She wasn't as strong as him or Sai or Yamato and certainly not as strong as Kakashi.

None of them had a family. She . . . sort of had one, but her parents . . . they neglected her as far as she knew it. She was just as alone as any of her teammates. Was it the fact that she was a girl that would cause her this weakness? It couldn't be… Tsunade was one of the legendary Sanin, and she was also a female. So the problem . . . it had to be her… Sakura had only herself to blame. She didn't train hard enough but, even if she did, she would never catch up with her teammates. She would always be the weak link. Sasuke and Kakashi had their Sharingan, Naruto had the Kyuubi, Yamato had the Shodai's cells, and Sai had received training similar to that godforsaken tradition of the Village Hidden in Bloody Mist. If she wanted to play catch-up then she needed to find something to would help make her stronger. But what? The Kyuubi had unspeakable power and was a tailed-beast, so she couldn't go and get herself a demon. The Sharingan was a family thing (despite Kakashi's eye transplant), the Shodai's cells were used as part of an experiment, and that godforsaken tradition was something she just could not handle.

She sulked. Perhaps she would always be the weak little girl from her genin days…

But . . . there were always her parents. She could go train with them and—no, it was out of the question. How could she even think that? She would never… They may have been her flesh and blood, but they were never there for her… Going to them would just hurt her pride… And if she did go, who said they would help her? The only thing that connected them was the fact that she was their daughter. They didn't give a damn about her. It would have been worse than going to Orochimaru. And she wouldn't do that.

She was so frustrated. For her to be strong… Was that only meant to be a faraway dream? Something even more than a goal, more than a reality, for her? Why couldn't she be strong? Was she meant to stay so weak? She had asked that question so many times before. She had tried so much harder than many others. How could she not reach her expectations? Was she really fated to be so weak?

She couldn't imagine other people's pains… It was hard for her to share that pain because she did not know it. Perhaps if she did, would she be any stronger? She was always being protected. She wondered . . . if those hands weren't there, would she be any stronger? She had always laughed with such ease… If she were to understand her teammates—her friends—their pains, would she be stronger?

The wind had picked up then. And the cherry blossom petals began to fall, floating in the air. The view helped calmed her. But then . . . amidst all of those flower petals, Sakura spotted a full cherry blossom falling. She held out her hand, and it floated right into her palm. A closer look at the flower showed her that it was made out of paper.

"Origami…?"

She looked around, searching for anyone there. She couldn't find or see anyone in the surrounding area. She took another look at the flower. This time, her eyes widened. She recognized the distinct pattern.

"Oh, Kami-sama… What does she want now?" She sighed as she stood from her seat, dusting off her skirt. "Hm… Should I change?" she asked herself. She shrugged. It really wouldn't matter anyway. She hadn't seen the woman in over a few years already, so she decided to just be herself. Besides, why did she need to change for some woman who cared only enough about her to just visit once every three to five years?

As Sakura made her way through the park, she kept a smile on her face. Everyone only knew her as a smiling girl, not a troubled one, and she intended to keep it that way—parents or not.

"Hey, Forehead!"

"Ino-pig, how many times have I told you not to call me that?"

"Sorry, but I can't change my habits just as you can't stop calling me a pig." the Yamanaka said as she came in pace with the rosette. "So what are you doing today?"

"Nothing much… I'm just taking a walk for the moment."

"Oh, come on. I know you're depressed about that mission, but you know you can talk to me about it, right?"

Sakura eyed her friend suspiciously. "Pig, you just want to know if Sasuke got hotter or not."

"Well, duh! Can you blame me? I mean, he's hanging out with Pedophile Sr. and Jr., and you know how creepy they are!"

"Gee, what a wonderful point you got there…"

"So spill."

"Hm… There's nothing much except that he dresses like a prostitute now."

"WHAT?"

"It's true, Pig. Oh, and I think he became gay or something."

"Pinkie say what?"

"It's really all true. He was hugging Naruto."

"Oh, Kami-sama! Tell me more!"

"You'll have to wait, Pig. I've got a meeting to attend."

Ino snorted. "Yeah, right. The last time you scored a date was a whole year ago. Do you really expect me to believe that you've actually agreed to someone's asking you out?"

"It's not a date. And yes, you're not invited." And then she left Ino there to her own thoughts.

"A meeting?" the blonde asked herself. "There's no way!"

✿｡.:**:.｡✿

As Sakura came upon the usually meeting place, she sat down on a tree stump and waited. She knew she didn't have to wait long, and she knew the conversation wouldn't take that long. The woman was always busy. Maybe she might not even show up, for all Sakura knew.

"What are you four doing here?" The question almost came out as a vicious snarl.

"Now, now, Pinkie," Kisame chuckled. "Your mother is sorry, but she was unable to come here to visit you."

"Figures…" Sakura had already expected that. However, her heart begged to differ as tears glistened in her eyes. "Then why are all four of you here? I doubt it's just to tell me that small, little message."

"Your father would like it very much if you were to go to him instead of having your mother come to you," Hidan explained.

"Well, sorry to burst your bubble, Zombie Man, but I can't be seen associating with the likes of you. It would ruin my reputation."

"You don't have a choice, un," Deidara said.

"I don't have a choice?" Sakura scoffed. Who did these people think she was? "I'm your boss's daughter! You're the ones who don't have a say in any damn thing I do!"

"Language, Pinkie."

"Shut up, Red-Eye. I have made myself clear. I don't want to associate with creatures such as you four! Especially not you, Uchiha…"

Itachi sighed. "I had hoped you would be more reasonable than your teammates…"

"Reasonable? What's so reasonable about going with four S-ranked criminals to their secret hideout?"

"Please quiet down, un," Deidara said, sighing. He never did like it whenever he had to face Sakura's tantrums. It was the whole reason why they decided that Konan would come by herself whenever she wanted to visit the cherry blossom. "Your parents—"

"THEY DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE CALLED MY PARENTS!" Sakura screamed, her tears finally pouring out of her eyes. "For years . . . I've been alone at home because they left me here… For years at a time, I wouldn't see them. And when I do, it's only for less than ten minutes! Why should I go see them? It should be them coming to see me!"

"Pinkie, now calm down…"

"No, Shark-skin, you shut up! I'm not going, and that's final!"

Itachi sighed. "I had hoped it would not come to this, but…"—he grabbed her arm—"Your father has instructed us to use force if necessary."

"Let go of me!" Sakura snapped, pulling her arm from Itachi's grasp.

✿｡.:**:.｡✿

As Ino struggled to walk through the forest, she tripped over something and fell over. "Ugh! I swear! When I find her, Forehead's so dead when I get through with her!" She had her own suspicions. This "meeting" Sakura had told her about, it wasn't work-related. If it was then Ino would've known about it because she, too, worked at the hospital.

Just exactly what was going on? Why was Sakura trying to hide something from her? And what was that something?

"THEY DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE CALLED MY PARENTS!"

"That was Sakura!" Ino bolted from her spot on the ground, running now. She had never heard her friend so angry before…

When she came upon the clearing, she quickly hid behind a large tree. That's the Akatsuki! What's Sakura doing with them?

She saw as one of them forcibly grab Sakura's hand. She saw how Sakura freed herself. They were talking again. But about what? Ino tried to listen, but she couldn't. She was too far away. She saw as the one with the sword, the one with blue skin, smiled. And she saw how the blonde one that surprisingly looked almost exactly like her seemed to have relaxed a bit. But then her eyes caught onto someone, the one who had grabbed Sakura's arm. Was that Sasuke? No, this person was too old to be the Uchiha, but he looked so much like her friend's ex-teammate. Could he have been Sasuke's brother?

Ino had no time to figure things out because, in the next second, they were gone with Sakura.

Oh, wow… I never thought that this chapter would be so short… Oh, well, I'll just take this time to promote my other fanfics.

恋はスリル、ショック、サスペンス: Okay, so what happens when you put all of the Naruto characters plus 5 OCs into a Kdrama-based fanfic? Nothing good, that's for sure… But hey, when you've got Sasuke and Sakura together, love is always a thrill, shock, and suspense! In this, you'll see SasuSaku, NaruHina, and many more couples. However, the story's extended to see how family matters get into our favorite couples' ways! And just exactly why are Sakura and Naruto fighting with each other? I'm telling you there's nothing gay in this story!

Narutard Theater Extras: Okay, so as the Truth-or-Dare game goes crazy, our favorite shinobi are forced to act out scenes from our favorite movies and fairytales. Oh, god, shinobi as actors? That's something worth paying to see! What could possibly go wrong? -CHAPTER 9- Warning: this is a COMEDY/ROMANCE story. You'll see how Naruto reacts to a flu shot, an Election Day for Hokage, and being thrown in jail!

Beyond the Realm of Conscience: Team Yamato gets a mission which involves the Royal Family of the Land of Fire. However, they soon find out Team Hebi's there. And just what is Sakura's relationship to Lady Cornelia and Lady Euphemia? DARK SAKURA FANFIC AND INCLUDES CODE GEASS CHARACTERS In this, you'll see how cool Sakura can be and how her plan, though making her the bad guy, turns out for the better good!

Shinobi series: Under the series name Shinobi, my Mirrorcle World and Heart Under Blade fanfics are my takes on how Shippuden should have gone. The twists don't come as unexpectedly, and the romance we want to see is there. We see the kunoichi not just as backup but at their strongest, and we see how everything changes if Sakura becomes Konoha's first hunter-nin!

Fated: With Hinata's pregnancy behind them, Team 7 is finally reunited, but things are definitely not the same anymore. Naruto's a dad, Sasuke falls for Sakura, and Sakura... Well, her real mom's come to take her back! What's going to happen? -sequel to Passion- For those who love crossover fanfics and some comedy here and there, this is the fanfic for you! You'll see C.C. and Lelouch from Code Geass, characters from Inuyasha and Chobits, and so much more!

死に時, 日向: All is going well in the Naruto world. The war has ended, and Naruto is being named Hokage. But when a group of assassins kills off every villager, Naruto gets put into a coma for 4 years. And when he wakes up, he's set out for revenge. -BASED ON KILL BILL- In this, we'll see some badass Hyuga and some better fighting scenes than from my other fanfics.

And . . . that's it. I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter so far. I'll update as soon as I decide how I want to make this a SasuSaku fanfic, kay? Oh, and if you guys have any ideas of how that can be, I'll gladly take them!