~Authors Note
Apologies to everyone who has been wanting me to update this story I've been having massive writers block as of late however that is coming to an end as I plan on finishing this story very soon to all who thought this would remain uncompleted fear not for in about fifteen more chapters this story will be complete and
End Authors Note~
A couple weeks later Ay barged into the village with his usual escorts Cee and Darui on his heels "Namikaze, you haven't gotten any information from your Akatsuki spy have you, I need to know if they have Bee, who's gone missing" Ay demanded.
Expression a mix between fury and worry, Minato frowned then called Sakura into the office "Can you get in touch with Hidan, Sakura, it appears Bee-san has gone missing from Kumogakure" Minato requested.
Knowing that it wouldn't be very long, Sakura paled very quickly then rushed out of the office back to the house to ensconce herself in her ritual room to everyone's confusion 'Jashin-sama' Sakura said inwardly.
Jashin didn't even have to ask he just knew 'Kakuzu and Hidan did attempt to capture the eight tails Jinchuuriki, five days ago, but they failed and he escaped on them' Jashin came back thirty minutes later with the information she wanted.
Sakura let out relieved sounding sigh at the news "Sakura what's wrong you looked worried when you ran through here half an hour ago" Mito, the first to ask as she spotted her great, great, great niece dashing through the living room again.
"Akatsuki's attacked again, this time it was Raikage-sama's brother Bee-san, though he got away from them thankfully" Sakura explained carefully, bowing towards the woman before hurrying off back to her Father's office.
Where Ay was impatiently waiting "They did attempt it Raikage-sama, however Bee-san managed to escape so he's fine" Sakura informed not daring to keep the information away from the Raikage a minute longer.
Who looked like he was about to explode in both anger and relief not a pretty combination actually "One thing I'd like to know is how you can get in contact with your spy so quickly" Darui questioned as Ay sat in the lone chair.
Rubbing his temples, Sakura pursed her lips and cast her Father an imperceptible look and he nodded subtly in agreement "I can tell you but it won't be easy to believe" Sakura stated simply, deciding that it was time to tell them as well.
Considering she'd already told the Kazekage, Ay waved his hand indicating she had the floor and fifteen minutes later the truth had been given once again and just when Sakura was sure they were going to reject everything.
Cee nodded determinedly "That changes nothing, your still the same person we know isn't that right Lord Raikage" Cee commented, believing everything that they'd been told simply because it was Sakura telling them.
Ay lifted his head "Quite your still a brat, regardless of immortality or this god of slaughter that you follow, what's important is that your making a difference" Ay scoffed, wishing he had a little more proof.
But he wasn't going to ask that of her right now "Is that why Hoshigaki was after you Kid, because of your immortality and all that" Darui asked suddenly, thinking back to that day which hadn't made much sense to him.
"Not quite Darui-san, it's both a yes and no answer, he was trying to confirm it, that I'm just like Hidan, because back at the summit meeting one of their members killed me" Sakura grimaced, watching her Father warily.
As he clenched his hand into a fist and took a deep breath to calm himself so he didn't break his desk again like last time "Killed you is that why you avoided the Tsuchikage on that last day like the plague" Cee choked.
Utterly horrified at the news they were receiving "Does this Jashin god fellow happen to be able to sense out Bee's chakra or rather the Bijuu sealed in him" Ay realized in the next moment there was only one person who could help them find Bee.
Minato chuckled lightly "This is a new mission Sakura, you are to help find Bee-san at all costs, do not allow the Akatsuki to get their hands on him and should you come across another Akatsuki member, take them out is that understood" Minato ordered.
Seeing that his daughter wouldn't rest until Bee was found "Understood Hokage-sama, I'll go pack right away and be done in fifteen minutes" Sakura saluted, disappearing in a flurry of cherry blossoms since she'd learned the body flicker technique finally.
Back at the house Sakura marched through the living room for the third time in less than an hour "What is it Sakura, is it a new mission" Sasuke noticed her expression as he joined her on her trek up the stairs to her bedroom.
"Yes…I'm going to help Raikage-sama find Bee-san again, Akatsuki attempted to take him but he escaped and ran off like before, since Jashin-sama knows the Hachibi's chakra, we can track him that way" Sakura explained.
Sasuke immediately understood "Naruto and I weren't assigned to this mission were we Sakura….guess it's better this way, also you should think about telling the Raikage, he's going to need to know just in case" Sasuke sighed.
Sakura squeezed his hand gently "Already told them Sasuke, the time is coming closer to face down Orochimaru anyway so people are going to have to start knowing about me sooner or later, anyway try not to worry okay I'll be back before you know it" Sakura informed/assured.
Entering her room a moment later "You better be or I'll come after you myself Sakura, I hate that your going off and leaving us behind again" Sasuke grumbled as he sat down on the edge of her bed to watch her pack.
And she was done within fifteen minutes "Time to get going Sasuke, tell the others for me will you" Sakura announced, body flickering in a flurry of her namesakes again to Sasuke's chagrin who exited her bedroom and told the others she was off on a mission just like she asked.
Not a single one of them was very happy about the news however as Sakura arrived at the gates "Heh faster than before I see, good lets move out" Ay smirked, having already signed out and once Sakura had done the same.
The four of them quickly hurried down the path "Do you have a probable location Sakura" Cee inquired after they'd been running for about two hours at this point, while doing his best to ignore the fluttering in his heart.
Because Sakura had grown up and become a beauty on him 'Hang on a moment daughter…..ah the Hachibi seems to be moving rapidly through the Land of Iron at the moment' Jashin cut in before Sakura could ask.
"Land of Iron, at the rate we're going we'll reach Iron after Bee-san has already left it though" Sakura declared knowing that when Bee was running away he was extremely hard to catch up with given the last time the Raikage had been hunting his brother across the lands.
Darui groaned not really wanting to play the chase Bee game again "Karui and Omoi mentioned something about a wolf that uses these dark tunnels that you call rifts, could we travel quickly that way in order to reach him faster Kid" Darui snapped his fingers in remembrance.
Verdant orbs flashed his way "Sure we could but we'd have to go two at a time, Ivory won't be able to take all of us through at the same time" Sakura admitted, flashing through the hand signs already when Ay nodded.
In a poof of smoke Ivory was stood in front of them as she'd always seen the wolf, Ay tensed then relaxed as Ivory bowed towards her summoner then lowered herself onto the ground "Will you be able to carry me" the Raikage frowned.
Pink irises gleamed at him "Both you and one other" Ivory affirmed so Darui decided to head on ahead of Cee and Sakura, leaving the two alone with each other for the first time since that last day a year and a half ago.
Cee swallowed thickly as nervousness crept up on him "So….immortality huh" Cee coughed, unsure of what to talk about now that she was in front of him again, eloquent words just flew right out of his head unfortunately.
"Mhm it's only until I've dealt with Orochimaru then I'll have Jashin remove that aspect permanently Cee to be with you and grow old" Sakura said, heart threatening to burst from happiness that he still wanted to be with her.
His expression softened into one of fondness "Has anyone told you that your beautiful" Cee commented suddenly, reaching out carefully to lift a lock of her long fuschia hair, it nearly reached her waist that's how long it was.
Then ever so gently he raised it to his mouth and pressed a tender kiss to it and silently enjoyed the way her face turned beet red "No Cee, no one has, just you" Sakura informed, standing still as Cee edged closer.
Until he was literally just an inch from her, "Good because I won't have anyone stealing your heart from me understand Sakura" Cee declared, tilting his face down towards hers, his lips were just a centimeter away from hers.
When they were interrupted by the return of Ivory and he bolted away from her in a panic "Are you ready Sakura-sama, Cee-sama" Ivory inquired in an amused tone at her mistress and her chosen one.
Sakura nodded eagerly and climbed astride her back with Cee sitting behind her, hands on her hips "What are these rifts that Darui was talking about anyway" Cee asked, curious as they were bathed in total darkness.
"Their like portals to other places in the world, unusable paths to damn near everyone except for Ivory and me, I could probably find them seeing as I have Ivory's chakra in me" Sakura explained, trusting her wolf to take them where they were needed at the moment.
Just then Jashin's voice filled her mind again 'Tell Ivory to hurry, those three are in trouble from Deidara of the Akatsuki' Jashin warned, Sakura went rigid tipping Cee off that something was wrong as she urged Ivory to go faster.
Five minutes later they exited the rift to the sound of an explosion going off and the scene of Darui being sent through the air like a rag doll "Its the bitch who killed Kisame and Sasori" Deidara sneered.
As he spotted her climbing off the back of a huge wolf "Wrong, Kisame was executed, Sasori was crushed by the Third Kazekage" Sakura shot back with a snarl of her own, guarding Cee as he rushed towards Darui to heal him.
Something white streaked across the ground towards them but she had expected it from the blonde from Iwagakure mostly so she unsealed her scythe and cut the thing in half "You can try to convince me that it wasn't your fault until your blue in the face" Deidara snapped.
Readying more of his exploding clay "Brat watch it" Ay barked from where he was protecting Bee who'd been running from Deidara this whole time who'd found him after he'd escaped from the first pair that had been sent after him from the Akatsuki.
"I know Raikage-sama" Sakura yelled back, pressing a button on her scythe to extend it and spun swinging her weapon in a wide circle, hacking through the clone that had been advancing on her from behind and more of the exploding white things as well.
Deidara growled under his breath, pissed that this brat was managing to thwart their every try to capture Jinchuuriki lately "Man this is so drab" Darui moaned as Cee finished healing him and he got back up onto his feet with the blondes help.
Then after grabbing his cleaver blade he darted towards their enemy once more on the way he passed Sakura "Didn't Namikaze tell you to take down any Akatsuki that appeared before you brat, then get to it" Ay growled.
As he saw Sakura hesitating, she snapped out of it though and pounded after Darui who had already reached Deidara at this point but when he saw her coming he set off another one of those white things.
In the resulting explosion Darui slammed into Sakura who had to drop her scythe to catch him "Ouch that's starting to get annoying" Darui rubbed his head not one to be deterred as he rushed Deidara with his cleaver again.
Sakura right on his heels, attacking in tandem with him almost like a choreographed dance "Close your eyes" Cee shouted, preparing to use his genjutsu on Deidara "Lightning Flash Pillar" the blonde called blinding the other blonde.
Allowing Sakura to finally get a hit in on Deidara almost instantly snapping him out of the genjutsu unfortunately but he was in quite a bit of pain now "Bitch I'll kill you" Deidara sneered bombarding them with exploding clay in his enraged/pained state.
"Ugh not again" Darui groaned, attempting to dodge the exploding things, Sakura grabbed his arm and leaped back, the ground imploding beneath her foot as she used chakra to give them a boost away from the explosions.
Nearer towards Cee, Sakura didn't stay however merely rushed forward intent on keeping her promise to her Father while expertly evading the explosions "Suiton: Syrup Trap" a familiar jutsu spewed from her mouth during a brief moment when there were no more explosions.
Coating the Iwa nuke-nin in a sticky substance to Deidara's disgust, it didn't stop him from making more of those white things however to Sakura's frustration as she went right back to dodging for her life.
Hacking through as many as she could before they could explode, a plan flashed through her mind in the midst of all this and Sakura smiled grimly in response then let one of the explosions catch her on purpose.
To Ay's horror before he was charging intent on helping out now that it was apparent she couldn't handle this Akatsuki bastard on her own "Wait Raikage-sama" Cee halted him as the explosion faded to find Sakura completely unharmed.
Even Deidara paused because he was almost certain that she'd been caught up in his explosion "What do you sense Cee" Darui whispered to his partner as Sakura resumed dodging, becoming more calculative by the minute.
"She's distracting him, this is like that one time back in Tanzaku Town, when she captured Lady Tsunade in that net remember" Cee reminded, sensing Sakura's chakra underground, a clone he had to guess, which had been given orders to prepare the special net Sakura could make.
Darui smirked clearly remembering now that he'd been reminded of it and settled back to watch what was sure to be quite the show now that Sakura had everything under control as the four of them paid close attention to how she fought.
Trap after trap was sprung on Deidara who was getting extremely frustrated at being unable to catch Sakura now that she'd come up with a plan to utterly destroy him possibly, her gaze was flying from one spot to another without staying in one place to long.
Making it impossible for Deidara to guess where she'd go next or what her next course of action against him would be, during all this as the fight raged on between the two, Mifune and his left and right hand subordinates arrived on scene since they'd been alerted to the battle.
"Raikage is that really Sakura-san" Mifune asked unsure if it was the same girl from a couple years ago who was flashing around the open field in a blur of pink and white, keeping the enemy on his toes more than likely.
Ay glanced over to him "That's the brat alright, she's magnificent" the Raikage whistled when Sakura finally got in range of the Akatsuki bastard and gave him a taste of his own medicine by blasting him up into the air with an extreme exploding tag.
Sakura was right on him and met Deidara with a punch to the face, slamming him back down to the earth "SHANNARO" Sakura crowed in victory as her clone finished her task "Eat this Deidara, my specialty" Sakura smirked, throwing her sticky webbing net over the bastard.
While he lay stunned and prone on the ground in a crater from the impact of his body meeting the earth after her punch "Kid that's five down now isn't it" Darui asked, walking slowly over to her current location nearby Deidara.
Who glared at them through the net he was stuck in "Heh if you think you can keep me in whatever the hell this is your wrong even if I have to commit suicide" Deidara glowered, beginning to grow pale.
Upon realizing that something very bad was about to happen Sakura grabbed Darui and booked it away from Deidara as fast as she could "Sakura-san what's going on" Mifune questioned, joining the girl on her run.
"My guess he's got some kind of ace to use and the blast range is going to be enormous" Sakura informed hastily pumping more chakra into her legs and then everything went straight to hell in a handbasket on them.
As Deidara, himself exploded, the explosion was swiftly encroaching on them and that's when she spotted it, one of the rifts, Sakura weaved hand signs rapidly made seven clones then practically shoved the lot of them into the rift.
Leaving herself for last but it was to late and she was caught up in the blast 'Wrap a thin layer of my chakra around yourself daughter' Jashin instructed in the midst of it all and Sakura did as her god told her.
Until the explosion finally ended and when she was able to see all she saw was complete and utter devastation "If just one of them is capable of this amount of destruction what will the others be like" Sakura asked mostly to herself in horror.
While retrieving everyone from the rift "Are you alright Sakura, you had to have been hurt some weren't you" Cee checked her over frantically once they were no longer in the all consuming darkness only to find no injuries to speak of on Sakura at all.
"I'm okay Cee, I protected myself from the blast so you don't have to worry to much alright" Sakura assured, smiling sweetly up at him in the process, Cee exhaled in relief before forgetting exactly where he was and who he was in front of.
As he gripped her to him, hugging her and his all powerful leader felt as if his brows were about to launch off his forehead as he raised them high into his hairline in surprise "Uh Cee man did you forget Boss is still here" Darui cleared his throat obnoxiously.
Bringing his partner back to his senses, Cee released Sakura like he was on fire and bolted away from her in a panic looking the most embarrassed Ay had ever seen his subordinate "Lord Raikage please forgive me I have no excuse for my unprofessional moment just now" Cee bowed low.
Apologizing until Ay held up his hand "Cee I have no problem if you like the brat, in fact I'm actually rather proud of your choice in woman, just don't let me catch you acting like a love-struck fool again got it" Ay snorted.
"Here I thought he would never admit he liked her" Bee smirked, behaving normally for once, Sakura lost it at this, just broke down laughing like a maniac at the teasing Cee was getting from his fellow shinobi.
Cee rolled his eyes in mock annoyance before a smile broke out on his face again "Unfortunately Bee-sama I already confessed a long time ago, I just never told anyone" Cee admitted in a haughty tone of voice.
Mifune chuckled in amusement "You most likely will need some rest so come with me and there you can send messages to your respective villages to let someone know when you'll be back" Mifune suggested suddenly.
Seeing their beat up forms, even the Raikage looked worse for wear this time, though Ay glanced to Sakura and saw that she could really use the rest "Just for tonight then" Ay relented, having not gotten much sleep this past week himself.
Okisuke and Urakaku went on ahead of the group to alert the other samurai of their guests for that night, by the time the others along with their leader arrived Sakura was ready for a nice long nap "At least I didn't pass out this time" Sakura commented.
Taking a seat next to Cee on the bench to eat lunch in the cafeteria "Hold on when did you pass out Sakura" Cee frowned, concerned about her health, she didn't answer right away as she'd put her hands together to give thanks for the meal before them.
Only afterwards did she answer "Two and a half weeks ago, an elder from Sunagakure along with the Third Kazekage and I brought down Sasori Akasuna, just before that though I healed Kankuro from the extremely deadly poison that Sasori had concocted so I fainted from overexertion and excessive chakra use" Sakura explained.
Digging in to her hearty meal with perfect manners as always "Is that a regular thing, it sounds like it is from the way you talk Kid" Darui asked, hearing the frustration in her voice making him think her passing out happened a lot.
"Unfortunately Darui-san whenever I over do it I faint or pass out, it's been happening for as long as I can remember actually since even back during my academy days to be honest it just got worse when I became a shinobi" Sakura admitted.
Growing more tired by the minute, unbeknownst to herself in her exhaustion she was beginning to lean more and more on Cee, eyes drooping and finally fluttering shut as her breathing evened out signaling she was asleep.
"I can hardly believe she's the same girl from two years ago" Mifune mused in a soft tone so as not to disturb Sakura, and Ay had to agree with him, she wasn't the little cheeky brat he remembered anymore.
Sakura had grown up and become someone nearly unrecognizable to him "Go on and take her to bed Cee, I'll take care of sending a message to Namikaze for her" Ay ordered, knowing not much conversing would be done in the presence of a sleeping person.
Cee nodded then maneuvered Sakura until he could cradle her against his chest as he stood and took her off up the stairs to where the guest rooms were "Pleasant dreams Sakura" Cee whispered, leaning down to press a gentle kiss to her lips.
Like he'd wanted to do much earlier only Ivory had interrupted "Mm Cee" Sakura hummed softly when he pulled away, awake from the sensation of being kissed, Cee frowned apologetically at her, hating that he'd somehow disturbed her sleep.
But she smiled and gestured for him to come closer before returning his kiss to Cee's surprise and after debating for a minute carefully deepened the kiss then pulled away again to press his forehead against hers "So does that mean you accept me as your lover Sakura" Cee asked.
Her face burned even as she nodded "Yes Cee, of course there are limits to what we can do but Dad…Hokage-sama knows that he can't stop me from being with you if I want" Sakura informed, blinking those soulful green eyes at him.
"Good then it will be less of a fight than I thought it would be to ask him for your hand when we're ready to take that step, for now I'll settle with just being your special someone" Cee chuckled face inches from hers still.
Exhaustion seemed to be creeping up on Sakura again though, this time when her breathing evened out, Cee tenderly tucked her in and left the guest room "Well, well looks who's back after putting the Kid to bed" Darui smirked when his partner entered their shared room.
Across the hall from their leader "Shut it Darui, Sakura's hardly a child anymore as you well know, she'll be sixteen soon in a few months" Cee grunted at his friend while kicking off his sandals then laying back on the comfortable bed in the room.
Darui grinned "You have it bad Cee man and what I can't believe is that you actually hugged her in front of the Boss" Darui intoned incredulously, taking the mickey out of his friend for his momentary lapse of professionalism.
Cee glared at him "I'd like to see you remain composed if the person your in love with gets caught up in an explosion of that massive proportion and not be relieved enough to hug them once you find their alright" Cee grumbled under his breath.
Not daring to be to loud "Okay, okay you have a point, so have you decided on what your doing when she's old enough" Darui questioned knowing that someday Cee would have to choose which village he wanted to live in permanently.
The blonde sat up just as the door to their guest room opened to admit Ay into the room who'd also heard the question Darui had asked "No we haven't had a chance to talk much about that, considering the subject has only just come up" Cee shook his head.
"Whatever you decide Cee I'll accept your decision whether you live in Konoha or Kumo, so long as you train a suitable replacement to take your place as my personal medic if you choose to go live in Leaf" Ay announced.
Being rather accommodating of the situation, eventually Ay left the room when it was clear the conversation was over for the time being and the following morning the five of them split in two different directions.
And two days later Sakura was back home "Well done on your Jonin exam Sakura" Minato declared when his daughter had entered his office, Sakura paused and looked at him in shock and confusion which was understandable.
"Wait what Jonin that was a test to see if I could handle being a Jonin" Sakura asked unsure if she'd heard correctly until Minato nodded and handed her a new vest and a new hitai-ate to signify her promotion to Jonin rank.
"Your not the only one that's going to be tested of course Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke are as well in due time but you were the first" Minato informed, proud of how far Sakura had come since he'd met her.
Sakura clutched the new vest and headband "Thank you Ho…Dad, I swear you won't regret promoting me" Sakura vowed, calling him by his familial title instead of the Hokage for once, she rarely did anymore to his chagrin.
Minato nodded and watched Sakura run off to home "No way, Lord Hokage made you a Jonin wicked" Sasuke whistled, though he was a little miffed he hadn't been considered, he supposed he would just have to wait until he could take the exam himself.
Naruto was the one to ask "If your back already that means Akatsuki is down by five members now doesn't it Sakura-chan" Naruto inquired seriously, really wanting to know because that would mean the threat was down by half.
Verdant orbs flashed his way "Deidara from Iwagakure he committed suicide technically but yes their short another member Naruto" Sakura announced to his relief, eliminating Akatsuki was just as important to her as taking care of Orochimaru was.
From her spot on the couch, cuddling with Dan who was holding Kasumi at the time Tsunade nodded at her apprentice "Nice work Sakura, now go put your pack away and join us for some relaxation" Tsunade ordered.
Knowing that Sakura deserved a break for taking care of another Akatsuki member, unfortunately things were about to go from good to bad at a split seconds notice because the moment Sakura went upstairs.
Tobirama grew instantly rigid when an unknown and unfamiliar chakra flared in his and the other sensors of the house's senses, a scream was their only warning but by the time he reached Sakura's room she was already gone, far away to where he knew not.