Chapter 9 - Back to Business (Or: Money makes the world go 'round…Or blow up. It could go either way really.)

(A/N: It gets a little lighter themed from here on, not sure when it'll go back to dark and depressing but I'd cause myself to cry if I kept that up any longer. There are some(LOTS. THERE ARE LOADS OF THEM. OOPS.) thoughts from future Sakura as Skull in the mix, you'll know them when you see them. Also I'm not the best drawer in the world so you'll just have to put up with the cover photo until someone else draws something. Or I miraculously get really good at art. Eh…)

Honestly, she wasn't really expecting much of a break from the Akatsuki. However, did one of them have to show up the very day she started taking missions again?

She knew this one was definitely Hidan's partner, she also knew he wasn't here for personal business.

Hmmmm... Maybe, the bounty on her head? (She wondered what it had reached now. It had been decades since she had last checked after all.) It had gone up with the recent deaths of 'five' Akatsuki. Technically only three of them were actually dead, but details! Her bounty was now 500,000 Ryo (A/N: ?idk is this the right currency for Naruto?)

It didn't matter right now though, Neji was due back from a nearby village soon, after getting some supplies, and Itachi was lurking (No matter what he says, don't listen. He Lurks, he's just too embarrassed to admit it. It hilarious.) in the area, around a 70 mile radius really, from what she could tell. She needed to finish this.

Eyes cold and empty (As they always were back then and even now, they still are. Not that many noticed. Especially not them. Her fellow Ninja Guardians on the other hand… She adored her attentive Sky, no matter what anyone said, she was simply a cloud and that's how she was.) she took up a stance and revealed nothing of what she thought. From what she could recall, this man had failed to assassinate the Shodaime Hokage, Hashirama-Sama, and had left his village when it turned on him as a result. So, to piss him off what was she going to do? Use her Mokuton ability, of course! (She hasn't used any of her abilities properly in years, being undercover was really annoying, she practice later.)

She knew the moment Itachi had realised she wasn't alone was when his faint signature, only noticeable to her it appeared, froze and spiked in alarm, before rushing in her direction. (The damn bastard was fast even back then, and chakra sensitive. She thinks it made up for his lack of a sensitive personality, he was very blunt. Hmmmm…) He was still quite far away though, which is why he had not sensed Kakuzu immediately.

Quickly forming a hand sign to help her concentrate chakra, it wasn't necessary but it made the attacks quicker, and began her fight.

(A/N: Omg prepare for one of the worst fights in history, I'm so sorry)

She concentrated and watched the trees around them bend to her will, growing sharp thorns and shooting towards Kakuzu, who seemed to be trying to dismiss a Genjutsu. (She continued to get that reaction for decades, still did sometimes, it was hilarious when she stopped feeling insulted.) Rude. Tree branches wrapped around him, before he could correct his mistake, thorns digging in and tearing skin to shreds as he struggled. To get out he substituted, leaving a senbon in his place. She moved her hand towards him, palm facing outwards, as his moth opened and string poured out the opening, stitches ripping open.

She manipulated the water around him to aim at him, as sharp as senbon. They pierced him and she used this time to pull out a gift from her mother, (This one being another of her favourites, it was used as often as the scythe. She loved her mother. Still did.) a long katana as tall as she was. The handle a deep red and the blade a shining black, decorated in small red flowers and the Senju crest before it met the hilt. She unsheathed it holding the blade with her right and the long matte black wooden sheath in her left, and readied herself to charge. The blade crackled with lightning as she channelled chakra into it, having perfect chakra control really did have it's perks, she could use all elements without hassle. She leaped forward, leaving dust and cracks in her wake, and began to slice through the wires.

Itachi would be here in five minutes, Neji would make it in two. (Both of them were ridiculously protective of their loved ones. No. I am not a hypocrite. Just cautious.) She grit her teeth and stepped up her speed, branches lashing out again, roots breaking through the ground to catch his ankles as he dodged. The mask on his back arched over his shoulder to blow fire at the branches, the other dealing with the roots. Sakura however had used this time to get closer, and cut off both his arms.

She had 30 seconds until Neji arrived, nothing like a good old explosive tag to get the job done then. (This later became something of a motto for at least half of their group. Oops?) She attached 10 of her custom made tags to him and leapt behind a tree as they activated. She watched him unable to do anything as the tags activated and incinerated everything in a 10 meter radius. She had designed them to be powerful but contained, 10 was probably overkill, but she couldn't be too careful.

Neji arrived to see the clearing incinerated, (This would become a regular occurrence later, for their group. It wasn't just Sakura with a thing for blowing stuff up, or setting things on fire after all. Thank Kami for the 'first' storm and his water Jutsus.) the tattered remains of an Akatsuki cloak and Sakura rummaging around. "Aha!" she muttered, pulling free a surprisingly cool Akatsuki ring from the charred, smoking earth. She slid it onto her chain and turned to Neji, guilty expression on her face. (It wasn't really obvious, rather Uchiha level obvious really. She was still struggling with Kakashi's death, still is now if she spoke truthfully. She was also struggling with a lot more now as well, Checkerface that bastard.) She had known the two men would likely meet each other at some point but Itachi was going to arrive in a minute anyway, he probably wasn't going to be discrete about it either. (He was never discrete, unless he had to be. The jerk. He liked watching people's reactions to him. He still did it even now.)

"So, we'll have a friend popping over in about a minute and I want you to NOT attack him please." She said icily, wincing at her tone internally, she stilled needed to work on that. However Neji seemed to understand this (As he always did, Neji really was the perfect Rain for them.) and simply nodded and narrowed his eyes, Byakugan activating in search of this new person. He raised an eyebrow at spotting the speeding signature; he couldn't understand why it felt so familiar…

Never mind, now he knew.

There in the charred clearing, now stood Itachi Uchiha. (In all his Lightning like glory, the Sun often teases him about his dramatics. Only the Mist was teased more than he was, she got along surprisingly well with Mist, considering she was a Cloud. He was fun to tease as well. Especially about Mist being high a lot, they still denied it though. It was just teasing of course… defiantly… eh…)

Neji could see why Sakura had asked him not to attack on sight; the older Uchiha's only concern seemed to be whether she was alright. He simply looked to her and raised an eyebrow when the older man had finished ten minutes later, thus releasing her and poking her forehead.

Itachi turned to face Sakura's Hyuuga companion, and engaged in a staring competition, Sakura standing stoically at the side.

Well Fuck. She wondered how to bribe Neji for his silence. Money? Maybe threaten to blow him up? Well whatever, that was for later. Now she had to stop the Apocalypse.

And so the world continued to spin. (Sakura was still largely responsible for the continued existence of the world today. She was a Cloud, she was not supposed to be a mediator, Rain was supposed to be the peaceful one. Apparently he can't mediate his own fights. Who knew? Oh well…)