"Are you alright Kid?" Kisame asked once they were on their way again.
"You are the one whose chakra was drained," Sakura replied.
"I just wanted to make sure that little reunion didn't shake you up," he told her.
"Why would it?" She asked as she reached into her cloak and pulled out two pills. "These will help you restore your chakra."
"I guess that it wouldn't," Kisame sighed as he accepted the soldier pills that she offered. "These are horrible."
"They are designed for effectiveness not taste," Sakura informed him.
The partners fell back into silence and within a few hours Itachi and Sakura exchanged a look and she fell back as he moved up to reclaim the lead position. They were now entering Rice to begin their hunt for the immortal partners.
"Finally," Shikamaru sighed as Team 7's campsite came into view.
"Shikamaru what are you doing here?" Naruto asked as their friend came walking into their camp.
"Looking for you guys," he told them as he took a seat by their fire.
"Did Tsunade send you?" Kakashi asked the young man.
"Sure did," Shikamaru confirmed, "she wanted me to let you guys know that I had a little run in with Sakura."
"What?" Sasuke who had been setting in a tree suddenly jumped down to join the conversation.
"My ANBU squad ran into her and her new team," he told them, "Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki."
"They are not her team," Sasuke growled.
"Could have fooled me," the lazy genius yawned, "they sure do work like one. A damn good one at that."
"What were they doing?" Kakashi questioned.
"We stumbled upon them while they were in battle," Shikamaru replied.
"Who were they battling?" Sai asked him.
"Don't know," Shikamaru shrugged, "but he was wearing an Akatsuki cloak and ring. Looked like an overgrown weed if you ask me."
"So they do know that she is with them," Naruto sighed. Sakura was in even more danger than he had thought.
"How about you guys explain everything to me," Shikamaru said, "I have a feeling that you know a hell of a lot more than I do."
So they did. Team 7 explained everything that they knew to the Nara. They left out all of the bloody details, but held back nothing that they knew.
"That explains it," Shikamaru sadly shook his head.
"Explains what?" Kakashi asked him.
"Sakura was different," Shikamaru told them, "she was cold; robotic. When they were fighting she didn't hold back or hesitate for even a split second. We all know that despite what we are taught in academy Konoha prefers for us to disable versus kill. Sakura killed that Akatsuki member without blinking an eye after he was laying on the ground choking on his own blood. He wasn't even a threat anymore."
"He would have been if he was allowed to recover and rejoin Akatsuki," Sasuke remarked.
"But it was more than that," Shikamaru directed his gaze to the stars. "She made it clear that if we got in their way we would be eliminated. There was no room for interference in their mission. She has completely emotionally shut down. It is as though all that matters to her anymore is being the perfect shinobi."
"That is because to fail the mission that they are on means certain death," Sasuke informed them.
"Explain," Kakashi ordered.
"I know Itachi," Sasuke replied in a quiet voice, "his course of action will be to eliminate the threat before it can fully manifest. Right now they are going to hunt down every Akatsuki member that they can lessening the danger."
"I figured as much," Shikamaru sighed, "not a bad strategy as long as you are strong enough to carry it through."
"They are," Kakashi confirmed, "if anyone could hope to complete such a mission it is the three of them."
"But don't you see this makes it more important than ever to bring her back," Naruto blurted out. "Sakura isn't like that she isn't some cold killing machine. She needs us to save her before all of this changes her forever."
"It is too late for that," Sasuke growled out, "she was willing to kill Shikamaru and his squad. She was perfectly happy turning on her friends as long doing so allowed her to complete her mission. If that doesn't show you what he has turned her into then I don't know what will."
"I told you she didn't want to fight us," Shikamaru argued. "You know how stubborn Neji can be; he was making threats and she just let us know that was not acceptable. Even the other two didn't want a fight they were perfectly content standing in the background and letting Sakura handle the situation."
"Because fighting you would have been a waste of chakra," Sasuke scowled. "Sakura has managed to do what I never did. She has cut all of her former bonds. If you forget that it could cost you your life."
"You are wrong," Sai insisted, "Sakura simply feels overloaded and has shut down to protect herself. She never has been and never will be anything like you. Sakura is no traitor. She left to protect her village and her precious people; not to sever any bonds."
"We will find out one way or another," Kakashi cut in trying to stop the fight before it began. "All of us will see exactly what's going on when we find her."
"So you still plan on that," Shikamaru sighed.
"Our mission was to bring her safely back to Konoha," Naruto told him, "not make sure that she found her way back to Kisame and Itachi."
"How troublesome," Shikamaru poked the fire with a stick, "alright fine we will find her, but I am not so sure that she will be willing to come back. If she refuses you have no choice but to walk away by orders of the Hokage."
"I guess that is as much as we can ask," the copy nin sighed, "at least we are still being allowed to find her."
"I need to stop in a village tomorrow," Sakura spoke up surprising her companions.
"What do ya need kid?" Kisame asked. He almost hoped that she would drag them along for some clothes shopping or something. Not that he enjoyed shopping with females, they tended to take it way to far, but at least it would be a sign that the kid was still in there somewhere.
"A katana," Sakura informed them dashing Kisame's hopes.
"What happened to mother's?" Itachi asked noticing for the first time that she no longer carried the blade.
"I returned it to Sasuke," she replied.
"I see," Itachi replied. "Did he demand its return?"
"No," she looked into his eyes, "I willingly returned it to him. It was a gift that I never should have accepted."
With that the three laid down and got what little sleep they could. First thing in the morning they would find a village and restock their supplies and then they would be back at it. Today had been a victory for them. Itachi knew that Pein relied heavily on Zetsu for recognizance. Tomorrow they would go after Akatsuki's main source of income crippling the organization one leg at a time.