Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

Sakura couldn't remember the last time she had truly been afraid for her life.

She felt the grimy towel push her tongue back and tied securely, digging into the flesh around her mouth. She could not see. The bag over her head cut off air supply.

Sakura couldn't even whimper.

Due to the light bouncing and the sound of hooves meeting earth, Sakura could deduce that she was in a horse drawn carriage. She was in the storage area, the clinking and clacking of fine goods soother some of her nerves, to say the very least. In fact, she was sure it was the only thing keeping her sane at the moment. However, dread filled her to the brim.

Sakura did not recall any of the events of that day. She knew that she was supposed to go to the hospital for training, but she held no recollection of going there. Little did she know, three days had already passed.

Sakura was perspiring so heavily that she did not have the slightest urge to relieve herself. It wasn't only hot; it was hot and humid, the worst combination of all. She could feel sweat sliding down her neck into the valley of her less than average breasts, sending unpleasant shivers wracking her body.

After a few hours, or maybe days, Sakura thought bitterly, the carriage abruptly stopped. It seemed as if the driver had reached his destination. Suddenly, the doorway to the storage area was rolled up and particles of light shone through her bag. Strong, rough hands grabbed her, and Sakura let out a squeak, startled by the sudden handling. A man chuckled.

"You be careful, now, Pein-sama. This one's a screamer."

"Lovely," the one Sakura supposed was Pein-sama replied. Coins fell into the driver's hands. "Thank you."

The driver gave a deep bow before mounting his carriage once more, grabbing the reins, and urging his four horses to go.

"Hya!" he cried. The horses whinnied and snorted before settling into a light canter.

Swung over a muscular shoulder, Sakura started squirming. The man tightened his grasp on her. Unless she wanted to choke, Sakura could not attempt screaming. It wasn't likely that someone could hear her anyway. She fell limp against his shoulder.

It was hopeless.

It was quite uncomfortable being carried stomach down on this man's shoulder. His bones dug into her abdomen and the rubbing of cloth against skin created an unpleasant friction on her belly. Not to mention her back was hurting.

Although the journey was tedious, Sakura still felt fear and grief pooling into her chest.

She was going to die.

Tears of regret stung at her eyes. What had she last said to Naruto? She couldn't remember now. They wouldn't be able to get Sasuke back now, at least not together. Team Seven would never be reunited.

Sakura's eyes hardened, and she smiled bitterly or tried to with the gag in place. So. This is how it's going to end, huh? Drops of acceptance flowed freely, unrestricted by the sack over her head. Well, I'm not going to make it easy for him! Sakura started to struggle, her bound arms and legs flailing out in all directions. Little grunts of annoyance were heard, but the man trudged on forward.

Sakura, exasperated, started screaming, not caring if she choked or not. At this moment, due to the irritating sounds disturbing his eardrums and his peace, the man decided to intervene. With one swift strike to the neck, the pink-haired kunoichi was out like a light.

Itachi was astounded by the actions Pein had gone through for him. Lying silently in front of him was Haruno Sakura, his little brother's former teammate. His facade not slipping a bit, he looked up with malice in his eyes.

"What is this?" he asked, referring to the unconscious girl on the floor. Pein, equally displeased, met his glare.

"This brat," he spat out, "is the apprentice of the Godaime Hokage. I have reaffirmed that her skill is great enough to heal your eyes."

Itachi narrowed his eyes at this supposed leader. "My eyes are fine."

Sakura, due to all the blurred murmuring, started to stir, and her eyes slowly fluttered open. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but due to the tense aura, she knew it was nothing good.

"Itachi, can you honestly see without your Sharingan? You have it on all the time nowadays. I even relocated you to the Kingdom of Cascana since it's rumored to be good for regaining all types of health, and your eyes have worsened. You have forced me to take drastic measures."

"So you bring me this weakling?" Itachi enunciated, looking at the girl malignantly. Sakura met his glower and returned it tenfold. Itachi blinked, a little perturbed. How could she dare to-

The medic-to-be started struggling against the floor, screeching and kicking. Pein sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes before grabbing her by the hair and forcing her to face him.

"Haruno Sakura," he said calmly. "That is your name, correct?"

Sakura answered by attempting to head butt him, though she was thwarted by the loss of movement. Pein groaned, "I hate feisty women." Clearing his throat, he began. "Sakura, we require your assistance. You are to heal Uchiha Itachi's eyes completely and prevent him from blinding himself again. When he removed the gag to hear her answer, she bit him. Hard.

Cursing wildly, he withdrew his hand as blood spurted from it, and Sakura started screeching. Finally able to look at herself, she saw that she only had a bra and panties on. Her screeching halted at once. Then started up again.

"YOU FUCKING PERVERT! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! WHERE THE HELL ARE MY CLOTHES? DID YOU GET A NICE PEEK, YOU PEDOPHILE?" She broke the restraints on her legs and started kicking wildly at Pein, swift swishing sounds resulted from the power of her kicks. Itachi watched in mild amusement.

Pein took hold of her legs and put his lips close to her ear, immediately making him seem all the more creepy. "Stay still!" he hissed. "If you heal Itachi's eyes, we will send you home to Konoha immediately after. "

That brightened Sakura's day by a hundred. "You're screwing with me," she accused, her sharp tongue getting the better of her.

"This is no joke," Pein said seriously. "Once you are finished healing Itachi's eyes, you are free to go home. We will escort you there safely as thanks."

"I don't trust you," Sakura said, narrowing her eyes at him. "And I'm pretty sure I can get home by myself."

"You cannot," Itachi stated flatly. "You need a passport to come in and out of the Kingdom of Cascana, neither of which you have." Sakura gasped indignantly. The Kingdom of Cascana, geographically, was a sea across from the shinobi nations. No one really came to this empire.

"You have got to be kidding me."

"This is no joke," Pein repeated. "You can either heal Itachi's eyes and go safely home or die here in a little prison cell. Make your choice."

Sakura's lower lip trembled as she weighed the outcome. Uchiha Itachi, the murderer. He had killed all the Uchiha except for Sasuke. What would Sasuke think of her if she helped him? But really, what choice did she have? He wouldn't be thinking anything of her if she were dead.

"I'll do it," she said, voice cracking. She had no choice if she ever wanted to see her team, her friends, or her family again. Heck, she even missed that little yapping dog that lived next door.

"Do you have a sufficient amount of chakra?" Pein asked callously. Sakura checked, seeing if that energy of life needed any replenishing.

"No, I'm good," Sakura said truthfully. She honestly only felt a little thirsty, that was all. And dirty, but that had nothing to do with chakra. "I'll begin now." Pein nodded, untied her, and let her scoot closer to Itachi. She called her gentle, healing chakra to her hands and proceeded to touch them to Itachi's temples to examine the damage until he jerked away ever so slightly. She pulled back, confused. Was that reluctance...hesitance? Was he afraid of the healing, of what she might do?

Or was it that he did not want to be healed?

Sakura shook that thought away. No, that couldn't be it. The first option was more realistic. Going forth once more, she instructed for Itachi to close his eyes, and he did so. She touched the tips of her fingers lightly to his temples, eventually exploring to his eyelids.

All of a sudden, Itachi's blood red eyes flashed open, and he pushed her away roughly, causing her head to knock the ground, Sakura letting out a cry of surprise. What he had done that for? She was instantly grouchy.

And in the next moment very afraid.

"This bitch tried to kill me!" Itachi spat, gathering himself into a crouching position. Pein was instantly on her, hand enclosed around her throat, leaving Sakura to struggle for air.

"Is this true, kunoichi?"

"No! I told you I would heal them-"

"Silence! We both know Itachi wouldn't lie to me! He grabbed her slender wrist, nearly crushing it in his grip, and dragged her along a hallway that led to the basement. Pushing her in front of him, he interlaced her dirty, pink locks with his fingers and trudged on forward.

All Sakura could think was, But he did lie to you! What's going on here?

All right, y'all. I've decided to go ahead and post this even though I was going to wait. I promise I'll finish My Friend soon, but I need to get the ending right.

Thanks for reading! Have a nice day.