Konoha's Mothers' Program

by Blackfan Diamond

In order to make women in Konoha better prepared to become mothers in the future, Shizune and the Hokage decided to create a Program that would make them take care of baby dolls that behaved exactly like real babies. Everything seemed fine, except that the person who would have to run the first test would be a certain pink-haired kunoichi.

7. Chapter 6

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CHAPTER 6

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''This is such a terrible idea'' Sakura said as she saw her and Hae Ra's clone next to Naruto and Sasuke

''Oh c'mon they look great'' Naruto said, he was the one who created the clones, so they didn't disappear once Sakura was far enough from them. And he was damn proud of those clones!

Although the plan wasn't the worst, Sakura thought perhaps they could've come up with a different idea. Their mission was simple: while Sakura and Hae Ra left Konoha and stayed out of the village, Naruto and Sasuke were supposed to find the remaining members of the Akatsuki and put an end to them. This way, they avoided fighting inside the village again - given the Akatsuki had been seen so close to the village, thinking they planned something like that was no absurd - and kept Hae Ra safe. Sakura lowered her chakra signature until it was almost imperceptible and took Hae Ra's hand.

''Say goodbye to papa, you won't see him for a little while'' Sakura said, pushing her lightly towards him

Sasuke, on his side, was as unpleased as the word unpleased went. He didn't want to leave Hae Ra and Sakura alone, he needed to be with them and protect them. Moreover, he too knew Hae Ra's time with them was coming to an end and he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. Not only that, but he knew that as soon as Hae Ra was deactivated, Sakura would most likely move out of the Uchiha's District, and he wasn't sure he was prepared to live alone there again, without the happiness and light she brought whenever she was around. Although, of course, he would never say that aloud, so he only prayed somehow she would stay with him.

''Take care, papa!'' Hae Ra said, stretching her arms so he would pick her up. He hugged her tight.

''Behave. And do everything Sakura says'' he said. He didn't know what else to say, he had never been good at saying goodbyes: during his life either the chance of doing so was taken from him or he decided to leave without saying anything. He hated this.

Hae Ra nodded, then she glanced from Sasuke to Sakura in expectation

''Uhh'' Sakura started, uncomfortable ''take care, both of you, I hope we can be reunited again soon'' she nodded a few times, but Hae Ra wasn't satisfied

''Mama! You won't see papa for some time, that's all you have to say?''

Sakura blushed

''Uhhhh… Sasuke-kun?'' she rose her head, hoping he would say - or do - something to get them out of that situation

Sasuke smirked and took a step closer to her

Sakura held her breath

Then, with two fingers, he touched her forehead

''Maybe next time, right?''

Sakura blushed even harder and gulped, not knowing what to reply

But Sasuke wasn't waiting for any response. He turned around to face Naruto and the two clones.

''Let's go''

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After watching the four leave the village in pursuit of Orochimaru and the Akatsuki, Sakura sighed and turned to Hae Ra

''I think it's time we left also. We need to go as far from Konoha as possible and- What?''

Hae Ra was staring at her with a disappointed expression

''You and papa are in a very strange relationship, mama!''

Sakura rolled her eyes

''And you should stop meddling with our relationship, little one'' she brought a finger to her face ''I almost died back there when your papa said that''

Hae Ra giggled

''Mama really loves papa, doesn't she?''

Sakura took a step back and brought a hand to her chest. Why did her heart start to beat so fast?

She cleared her throat

''Let's just go before the night falls, we have to find a small town to spend the night'' she said with determination, grabbing her daughter's hand and starting to walk.

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''But I'm tired, mama, I don't want to walk anymore''

''Dear God, Hae Ra, we've been walking for only 10 minutes and in a very slow pace'' Sakura complained ''you can't possibly be tired already, I won't carry you until you've walked at least for 30 min, you need to learn what a ninja life is like''

''My legs hurt!''

She looked at her with a skeptical look

She was sure all she wanted was to be carried

''You can handle that, you're a strong girl''

''I'll start to cry'' Hae Ra threatened

''Oh don't you dare, Hae Ra, don't you dare!'' Sakura gave her an angry glance ''you're way too spoiled a kid''

The young one pouted and started to make a crying face

''Hae Ra, listen!'' Sakura stopped and kneeled next to her ''We're not at home anymore, we're outside of the village and it's very dangerous to be out here. If you start crying you'll only draw attention to us and you'll put us in danger'' she tried to reason

Hae Ra considered it for a second

''So you have to cooperate and behave, just like papa told you to do'' Sakura concluded, hoping that mentioning Sasuke would help

''Okay, but mama will carry me, right?''

''We already had this discussion''

''But, mama!''

''Hae Ra, no, 30 minutes''

She pouted again

''haaaaeeeeeEEEEEE''

''FINE'' Sakura shouted angrily, kneeling so she would give her a piggyback ride

''Mama is the best!''

Sakura rolled her eyes

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''I would like a room please, sir''

''Is she your daughter? What an adorable young lady!'' the inn keeper's wife said, getting closer to them. She was a chubby woman most likely in her forties, and she fell in love with Hae Ra as soon as they entered the small inn in the middle of the forest.

''She is'' Sakura smiled at her ''I mean, she is my daughter. I can't say anything about 'adorable' though''

Hae Ra made a displeased face

''Aw come with aunt Midori'' the woman said ''aren't you cute? Of course you are adorable, sweetheart''

Hae Ra glanced at Sakura from the woman's arms with a triumphant look

Sakura rolled her eyes

''I take it's your first child?'' Midori asked

''First and only!'' Sakura exclaimed ''I wouldn't be able to handle two of this stubborn little brat around''

Hae Ra pouted

''Mama is mean to me!''

Midori embraced her protectively

''Don't say that about your only child! There, darling, don't be sad, I'm sure your mom didn't mean that'' she patted Hae Ra's head and the little girl pretended to be deeply hurt

''I don't know who she took this personality after because her father is extremely calm and I'm an angel'' Sakura commented, raising her head high

Hae Ra giggled

''Mama is explosive and very stubborn too!''

''I'm not!''

''Yes, mama is!''

''How dare youuuuuu! I'm extremely calm and have great self-control'' Sakura huffed

''It feels like both of them are the daughter and none is the mother'' the innkeeper mumbled, holding his face with one hand and watching their quarrel.

''Fine, then I'm going to my room and you can stay here with miss Midori forever'' Sakura turned around and stomped to the corridor

''Mama, no! Wait for me!'' Hae Ra let go of Midori in a second and ran to Sakura's arms, jumping on her leg and hugging it tightly. Sakura smiled and kept on walking with Hae Ra still holding on to her leg like a little monkey.

''You are impossible, Hae Ra'' she said

Hae Ra smiled and hugged her leg tighter, affectionately.

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''Mama?''

''Hm?''

''Why did papa and uncle Naruto go on a mission and leave us behind? Don't they like us?''

Sakura opened her eyes. They were laying in bed, ready to sleep, and Sakura was humming for Hae Ra a lullaby when she asked her that.

''Of course they like us, sweetheart. It's just that there are some people out there who want to hurt us, and they had to go find them so they can protect you and I'' she explained ''they'll find us when the matter is solved, then we can go home again, but that might take a little while''

''Why would someone want to hurt us? Have we done something bad?''

Sakura thought about it for a second

''Some people just want too much power and don't care if they'll need to hurt others to get it, Hae Ra. Your father is a very, very powerful man, and there are people out there who would do anything to put their hands on his powers… He needed to go out on a mission so he could solve this for good and protect us, Hae Ra''

Hae Ra lowered her head and quietly nodded

Sakura just hoped all of this would end soon

So they could go back home

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Naruto and Sasuke had been traveling for 4 days until they finally found information about the Akatsuki's whereabouts

They had stopped in a restaurant to have lunch, Naruto, Sasuke and the two clones, when they overheard a conversation that was of their interest

''I'm telling you, the man was this tall and wore a black cape with red clouds drawn on it, he was scary as death!'' a man exclaimed, trying to convey in words the fright the man he'd met had caused him

''I think you've been spending way too much time at the tavern, my old friend'' the other man laughed, shaking his head ''It's not the first time you say you've bumped into people like that''

''But it's the truth! I've met them twice!''

''And how come no one else came talking about this? It seems like only you saw them'' the man reasoned

''That's because I'm a hunter, I wander in these woods far more than all the rest!'' the first man explained ''And the place where I've seen them twice is farther from town, close to the waterfall that origins the river that crosses our village''

Sasuke glanced at Naruto, hoping he'd heard that information too

Naruto, though, was too busy devouring his meal to pay attention to anything else

The Uchiha snorted

''Dobe'' he called ''hurry up and finish your meal, I know where we're headed''

Naruto chocked in surprise, but then nodded frantically

''Finally! I'm ready for some action!''

Sasuke agreed

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''Is this the place?'' Naruto asked when they reached the waterfall

Sasuke nodded. They should be close now.

He activated his sharingan to watch closely their surroundings, trying to find something, anything, that would let them know they were on the right path

''It seems like there's something behind the waterfall'' he mentioned, and Naruto quickly ran ahead to check it

There was nothing there though, only a small cave with nothing inside.

''Sasuke, come here'' Naruto called

As soon as Sasuke stepped inside the cave he knew what was wrong

''A Genjutsu'' he said, forcing his eyes so his Sharingan dispelled the illusion and a path appeared ahead of him ''it's probable we're going to meet the Akatsuki on the other side. Are you ready?''

Naruto nodded and Sasuke glanced one last time at the two clones behind them

He couldn't lose

He would take care of his family

''Then let's end this''

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It didn't take long until they found themselves surrounded by men in the familiar robes, there were at least 5 of them

But something didn't sound right

Sasuke knew each and every one of those had been killed if not during the last Ninja War, before that

How were they there again? This time, it wasn't an illusion

''We meet again, jinchuuriki'' said Hidan, standing in front of them

''Hello, Uchiha'' Deidara smiled maliciously at him

''This will be interesting'' Sasori commented from inside a puppet

Kakuzu and Kizame were both there too, looking at them with an evil smile

Still, Sasuke thought, Orochimaru wasn't there. And none of those members of the Akatsuki had ever been head of the organization.

It was only then he realized they had fallen into a trap

The real enemy wasn't there

The real enemy was after the real Sakura and Hae Ra

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The sky was gray when they woke up, and Sakura had a bad feeling about that day

Still, Hae Ra insisted to go play with the inn keeper's kids, she said they had the best tree house and she needed to play with them. Sakura finally allowed it, deciding a couple hours of playing wouldn't kill them, and stayed in her bedroom reading a few scrolls while she waited

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''Mama? Let's go?'' she heard Hae Ra call, opening shyly the bedroom's door and peeking inside

''Are you ready to go?'' Sakura smiled at her, putting the scrolls inside the box again and putting it inside her bag

Hae Ra nodded

''Have you said goodbye to your friends and to lady Midori?

''Mhm''

''Then let's go, I heard there's an amusement park not too far from here, I'll take you there and we can spend the entire day playing on every toy'' Sakura proposed, smiling mischievously at her ''we can even have strawberry milkshake if you want!''

Hae Ra smiled at her lightly

''That would be fun''

Sakura thought her response wasn't very typical, but perhaps she was only tired after playing so much?

''Goodbye, everyone, thank you for being so kind to us!'' Sakura bade them goodbye, taking Hae Ra's hand and walking outside the inn. They walked for a few minutes in silence until finally Sakura stopped in an open field, far from any town or small village.

''Mama? Why did we stop?''

Sakura's right hand closed in a fist and she turned around to punch Hae Ra strongly on the chest

The small body flew far from the other side until it hit a stone wall, then the clone was dismissed with a 'puff'

Sakura's face was full of rage, her heart beating fast

''Where's my daughter?'' she demanded

''I was hoping you would take longer to figure it out'' a voice said from all around her

''Show yourself, coward!''

She knew who was there

Orochimaru finally appeared from behind some trees, staring at her with yellow eyes

''Mind to tell me how you did it?'' he asked

Sakura snorted

''Hae Ra doesn't have chakra. As best as you tried to conceal your chakra from inside the clone, I could still sense it'' she smirked ''and Hae Ra would never have behaved so well for more than 5 minutes of walking''

Orochimaru spit on the floor

''Well, it changes nothing, Hae Ra is being taken to our hideout right now and there's nothing you can do about it. My task is to kill you so you won't be a hindrance to our plan''

Sakura smirked

''Why, I've never seen you so obedient, Orochimaru. Lost your fangs during our last fight?''

Orochimaru grunted loud and charged against Sakura, but he didn't get to get too close: Sakura punched the floor, creating a crater on it

They fell for long seconds until finally they reached the bottom of the pit. When the dust settled, Orochimaru saw that the triangle on her forehead was sparkling, then her eyes turned completely white and the mark on her forehead started to spread through her body in dark lines

''Tell me where my daughter is!'' she shouted, charging at him, her fists deadly if they touched him. Orochimaru used his snake body to escape most punches, but some hit him, breaking a few ribs

He ran towards her and attacked again, his snakes trying hard to bite her in any part of her body

All he needed was one bite to spread his venom

But Sakura wasn't about to let him have any chances

They fought for long minutes until Kabuto appeared and interrupted their fight

''The doll is ready, Orochimaru-sama, we need you at the laboratory''

Sakura's eyes gleamed in rage

''What have you done to Hae Ra, you bastard?!'' she was already possessed with anger, and without waiting for a reply, she boosted in his direction so fast he didn't even have time to think before he was suddenly thrown to the other side of the pit, his whole body hurting

''Sakura-chan!'' she heard a familiar voice call. When she looked to the side, she saw Naruto running on her direction, down the pit. Right behind him, Sasuke and the last person she expected to see, Itachi Uchiha, came running, a hundred white Zetsus following them

''What the h-?''she started, but Orochimaru soon engaged a fight with her again ''I need to know, though'' she managed to say in between attacks ''is Itachi on our side or on theirs?''

''On ours!'' Naruto screamed back, still running around as if lost, not knowing what to do with so many people inside the pit. Then he put his hands together and summoned many clones, starting to attack the Zetsus while Sasuke helped her against Kabuto

''Where's Hae Ra?'' he asked

''Uhhh'' she didn't know what to say, suddenly the anger dismissing and fear taking over her. Oh Sasuke would get so mad when he heard...

''They took her to the laboratory, but as long as they're both here no one can harm her there!''

''Who's 'they'?'' he asked, confused

It was only then Sakura realized Orochimaru was gone

''Holy sh-'' she cursed, closing her eyes and focusing on his chakra ''I'll go after him''

Without waiting for a response, she ran on the direction she supposed he had run to

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She had to fight a few Zetus on her way - who seemed to be their new army - but finally she made it to the laboratory, adrenaline running fast in her veins as she wondered if Hae Ra was still okay

When she finally opened the door that led to the laboratory, she found Orochimaru with his back to her, someone laying on a table in front of him, unconscious

''Take your hands off her!'' she commanded, jumping on him to punch his chest, but he was quicker and dodged it

They fought inside the laboratory, chemical products and experiments breaking on the floor as they hit them.

Sakura threw a table on him and was ready to attack him again when she suddenly felt a big pain on her ankle. Looking down she saw a snake biting it, the pain spreading through all her body as so did its venom.

Orochimaru inhaled deeply - his energies depleted after the fight - and then he started to laugh

''Finally'' he said

Sakura felt her whole body be paralyzed and she couldn't move anymore. Her body fell on the floor.

''Of course, I need Hae Ra's chips to get Sasuke-kun's genes. But it will be much easier to have a woman's ovules to put the genes in if I want to create a whole generation of new children with the Uchiha's genetics'' he started to laugh louder ''and since our last fight, I was sure you would be a perfect choice. So don't worry, I'll keep you alive, I need your ovules to mix with his genetics. But I don't need you to be awake for that'' he smiled maliciously ''as for your little doll, I'll have no use for her after I remove the chips, so perhaps she can go to the recycle bin''

Sakura's eyes started to close against her will

No, no

She felt her body numb, her eyes closing even more as her strength weakened

''You'll never lose me, Sasuke-kun. This I promise you''

Her eyes widened

''Good''

No, she couldn't just give up here! She couldn't fail Hae Ra. Nor Sasuke-kun, who trusted her to take care of Hae Ra and to go after Orochimaru by herself. She had to save her, to save them from this terrible fate, and she needed to go back to Sasuke-kun

Her Sasuke-kun

The man whose frozen heart started slowly to melt since she entered his life, and who needed her as much as she needed him

She would go back to him

Focusing on her body, she started to command each of her cells to fight against the venom, using her chakra to give her body enough power to fight it. She felt her chakra entering her circulation and fighting against each and every molecule of venom that was inside her body, and soon she was feeling capable of moving again

''This was the last time you tried to hurt my family, snake'' she said

Orochimaru, who had turned his back to her to focus on Hae Ra, looked back at her with surprise

The only thing he managed to think was 'Oh my' before he felt a punch hit him right on his jaw, throwing him to the other side of the room and breaking a few walls

When he managed to look at her again, her marks spread across her body were shining bright and her hair was flying behind her head again, her eyes sparkling and completely white. He could feel her chakra increasing enormously by the second, and he was starting to feel scared

She threw her arms to her sides and the roof above them was destroyed, letting the sunlight enter and touch her skin. Her feet left the floor as her body was pushed upwards, and her hair started to move wildly like tentacles, as if it was alive. Before Orochimaru had the time to think of anything, one of the locks extended itself until it was long enough to grab him by the neck and pulled him to her front

''This is where it ends'' she said, and putting one hand on his chest, she started to make each and every cell of his body grow older and older, the snake screaming in pain as his looks grew to be the one of an old man, until finally his body was too weak and he fell on her arms, dead.

Sakura threw his body aside and looked back at the table

Hae Ra wasn't there anymore

She cursed and screamed aloud, the whole building shaking with her fury. Then she jumped out of the hole she made on the ceiling and ran back to where Naruto and Sasuke were fighting.

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''Who…?'' Naruto asked, astonished, when she jumped inside the pit and landed next to him

''Sakura!'' Sasuke called, shocked

Not again!

But Sakura paid no attention to him, she brought both hands to her chest and then threw them in their direction, a shield made of sun energy encircling their body. Sakura decided to give them support in the battle instead of fighting, she was a medic-nin, after all, she was going to behave as such! She used many of the new jutsus she'd learned to pull them next to her when they were in a dangerous position in the battlefield, and used long-distance healing to make sure the three people on her side were well. Of course, the enemies soon realized their only chance of winning would be if they took the medic down, so they started to aim at her, but all three men had her back, and whenever they couldn't act, her long hair tossed her enemies aside like tentacles grabbing objects and throwing them away.

Soon, the fight was over, but Itachi didn't lower his guard

''There's someone approaching'' he said

But there was nothing they could do, suddenly everything went white and they couldn't see anything

When Sakura opened her eyes again, she was alone, Naruto, Itachi and Sasuke were gone

And in front of her was aunt Hitori

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Thank you for readingggg!

Biiiiig hugs!

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Blackfan Diamond