Deep within the war torn country of Amegakure, within the bowels of the Amekage Tower, bound in chakra suppressant cuffs with a gag over her mouth was Sakura who'd been snatched by someone she'd long since thought had been dealt with.
Yes she was speaking of Zetsu the bastard who'd impersonated Shisui, so while everyone back home was frantically running for the Hokage's office she was cursing Zetsu out like a dirty dog in her thoughts.
"Are you going to silence your tongue girl" came a voice unexpectedly to her right and she looked to see that the cell door was wide open to admit someone with orange hair, Pein the Leader of Akatsuki most likely into her cell.
Pein didn't flinch when jade orbs burning with absolute loathing and fury focused on him, the minute he removed her gag "Fuck you" Sakura spat, doing the exact opposite of being quiet, purple ringed orbs glinted with amusement to her annoyance.
What infuriated her the most though was that he thought he had the right to touch her, cupping her cheek in a deceptively kind way "That's quite the vulgar mouth you have" Pein commented when she continued to curse at him with some very creative insults.
Here he'd thought Hidan was creative with his cursing but this tiny slip of a girl in front of him had just proven him wrong "You won't keep me here bastard, I'll find a way out one way or another and that's a promise" Sakura sneered.
"Careful girl your speaking to the God of Amegakure and the Leader of the organization you know as Akatsuki, I could kill you if I want but that is not my goal at this time" Pein warned thinking that it would intimidate her.
Oh no of course not to his silent frustration as she started laughing "Haha that's the funniest thing I've heard all day, your no god, your nothing but a murderer who kills innocent people for the sake of fake peace" Sakura snapped.
Moving her head to dislodge his hand from her cheek "What of you, who does the same for the insane god known as Jashin, I'm quite aware of that fact, Zetsu infiltrated that room you keep under lock and key found the evidence of your religion there" Pein shot back.
Thinking he had her for sure this time "So you found out I follow Jashin-sama good for you, did you want a cookie, I'd clap if I could but unfortunately you wouldn't deserve it because your wrong about one thing, I don't kill innocents" Sakura deadpanned with a roll of her eyes.
Not afraid in the least, Pein couldn't kill her after all she was immortal just like Hidan "Kisame, Sasori, Deidara and whoever else you've sacrificed" Pein reminded, thinking that was the reason he was losing members left and right nowadays.
Until he'd got fed up with it all "Pfftt that's even funnier, I never touched them, Hoshigaki got sent back to his village and executed, Sasori was taken out by the Third Kazekage and Deidara committed suicide on his own" Sakura scoffed.
Practically countering everything he said "But do you deny being there…I thought not so despite the way in which they were defeated it was still your fault girl and I'll have you take their place as a member of my organization" Pein informed.
Sakura eyed him like he was stupid "Do you really expect me to betray everything and join this bastard organization, are you an idiot or something" Sakura curled her lip in disgust at him, repulsed by the very idea of it.
"It won't be easy of course to change your way of thinking but with a little mind control you'll be mine to command soon enough, Madara it's time, use your sharingan on her" Pein smirked, nodding to someone else who was in the cell with them.
Verdant orbs snapped over to the masked man "Is this some sort of joke, Madara Uchiha is dead, there is no way your him, I would know" Sakura intoned disbelievingly, trusting when Jashin told her something and this was definitely not Madara according to him.
The Madara impersonator bent before her locking gazes silently though attempting to influence her mind with his glaringly red sharingan, not that it worked any what with Jashin thwarting the dojutsu's effects.
He jerked back in surprise when his meager control shattered "How did you do that, we blocked your chakra" the fake Madara growled, demanding answers like she'd known he would once he was unable to influence her with his sharingan.
But Sakura merely jutted out her chin and remained silent out of stubbornness to the two men's irritation "Fine won't talk then we'll kill you over and over until you do" Pein frowned knowing she'd cave sooner or later.
Especially if she died repeatedly in a short time frame, with that he took a kunai and shoved it deep within her chest cavity, piercing her heart and killing her, it wasn't something he'd wanted to do but she'd left him no choice.
After a moment he removed the kunai then waited patiently until she jolted back to life, eyes snapping open five minutes later as her injuries healed themselves as her chest rose with breath in her lungs once more.
Sakura however wasn't the type to give in so easily as she kept her chin raised completely unaffected by the fact that she'd just died and come back to life, Pein grit his teeth then repeated his previous actions.
Several more times in fact each with little affect on the girl "Guess we'll just have to continue this tomorrow" Pein sighed, hoping that she would change her mind over the course of the night as he and the fake Madara left her cell.
Locking it shut behind them and bathing her in utter darkness as they blew out the lanterns once the two were completely gone Sakura slumped against the cell wall, body sore from the repeated deaths she'd experienced over the past couple of hours.
Just as she was contemplating trying to get some rest she heard the scraping of sandals on flooring "Psst Bitch where are you I can't see a fucking thing" Hidan whispered as he entered her cell until he quite literally tripped over her.
A couple minutes passed before he spoke again as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the cell "Damn it they really got you didn't they, I could get you out of here, back to your village but then they'd know I'm a spy and you wouldn't be able to track their movements anymore" Hidan offered.
She shook her head as he expected her to do "No Hidan your crucial here in this organization, I can get myself out of this mess" Sakura declared in a surefire tone of voice to Hidan's complete and utter amusement.
Hidan sighed a few seconds later "Okay bitch just make sure you do it within the next few days, that fuckers going to send Kakuzu and me to capture the Kyubi brat while he has you occupied here" Hidan warned.
Then left much like Pein and the fake had once she was alone again Sakura started praying "At the end of this day Lord Jashin, I thank you for each gift you bestowed upon me, for teaching me ancients ways for experiences both good and bad that have made me stronger" Sakura recited.
Unable to offer up her blood this time "For the people you have taught me through, for the pleasures in which I have partaken, as I sleep I ask that I may enter your dark realm, so that I may be by your unholy presence" the pinkette chanted softly.
"Guide me Jashin, unto yourself and may I be forever grasped within your mighty arms" the rosette finished the bloodless ritual and closed her eyes only to open them moments later as she found herself within Jashin's garden for probably the millionth time.
She was running then, searching until she found where Jashin had relocated his thorn throne to this time "Child to me" Jashin commanded in a tone that brooked no argument, Sakura threw herself at the god of slaughter and he barely caught her.
Tears flooded from her eyes "That had to be the awfullest thing I've ever been through" Sakura said once she'd calmed down and dried her eyes of any remaining tears four minutes later not crying for long fortunately.
Jashin didn't know how to handle weepy eyed children very well apparently "Do you have a plan daughter" Jashin inquired, wanting to know how she'd escape from her current situation and there were those back in her village to worry about as well.
"Yes Jashin-sama, there happens to be a rift very close by in the cells so I'll summon Ivory when the time is right, I'm going to give those bastards hell first for a couple days, speaking of, Ivory, I need you to inform everyone back home that I'm fine and not to worry" Sakura explained.
Turning from where she was perched in Jashin's lap to face Ivory as the snowy furred wolf approached "Leave it to me then Sakura-sama, is there anything else that you wish me to tell them before I go" Ivory assured.
Asking just to be sure "Oh that's right, tell them Hidan and Kakuzu are being sent to capture Naruto in the next few days if I don't make it out by then to help stop Kakuzu" Sakura announced, remembering what Hidan had told her.
Ivory bowed her massive head then was gone all the way to the Hidden Leaf Village where she appeared out of the rift in the Hokage's office "Ivory" Minato shot into a standing position seeing his daughters summons from Jashin.
He was more impatient than ever in the single second before Ivory spoke "Sakura-sama is fine and she asks you all not to worry, Akatsuki also intends on sending a pair out to capture Naruto-sama, Hidan and Kakuzu to be precise" Ivory relayed what she'd been told.
Minato slowly lowered himself into his chair again, sighing in relief "How can she ask us not to worry does she not realize what those bastards could do to her" Kushina yelled, about to go on a rampage and needlessly stress herself out probably.
Until Naruto bravely interjected "Mom we have to trust Sakura-chan now, she's got a plan we just have to believe in her until she's able to come back to be with us again" Naruto soothed, having faith in his sister.
Next to him Sasuke nodded "Yeah that's right, Sakura always has a plan I can't recall a time she hasn't had one really but we won't help her by panicking like we were a little while ago" Sasuke admitted like Naruto he had faith in Sakura.
They'd always had faith in their teammate to be honest but this time fate was testing them they were sure though at his mature response Mikoto looked at her youngest like she'd never seen him before "You really have grown up haven't you Sasuke-chan" Mikoto smiled softly.
Proud of her youngest son like she was proud of her oldest son "It's probably Sakura-chan's influence, she's always been mature beyond her years" Shisui commented, knowing the most likely reason Sasuke had matured into the person he was today was because of Sakura.
Beside him Itachi chuckle even while he held Izumi's hand "Like Naruto and Otouto I'll choose to believe in Sakura-san" Itachi announced, deciding to have faith in the girl as well, she wasn't an average kunoichi after all.
Kushina finally calmed at long last "Sakura will come back no matter what she has to do in order to do it, but right now we have to focus on the fact that she also got us a message so that we can protect Naruto from them" Minato nodded assuredly.
"Allow me to mark him, something I wish I'd done for Sakura, but if there's something that I can do for my great, great granddaughter at this moment in time it's protect someone she holds dear and not allow anyone to take off with him" Tobirama chimed in.
Red eyes narrowed and glinting with determination, he wouldn't fail this time "Then I'll contribute my sealing jutsu knowledge by making a barrier that's impenetrable by anyone" Mito offered seeing her chance to help out for once.
Naruto sulked "Don't Naruto, I know you hate being cooped up but think about how Sakura would feel if you acted rashly and got captured after everything she's done to ensure you remain safe" Tsunade warned.
Seeing that the blonde brat was about to argue over being put in a barrier, his shoulders sagged in response "Relax Naruto-san it's only for a few days I'm sure" Dan assured kindly, bouncing Kasumi who was the calmest out of all of them unsurprisingly.
With that the lot of them worked throughout the night making sure Naruto was protected from everything possible, when morning dawned however in Amegakure, Sakura was woken quite rudely by Pein.
Who poured a bucket of freezing cold water on her "Breakfast if you can behave while I feed it to you" Pein scowled down at the obstinate girl, Sakura very nearly kicked him in the shin but decided it was better to eat.
Any drugs they put in it wouldn't affect her after all "Good girl" Pein smirked pleased upon seeing that she was being obedient this morning as he knelt with a tray in hand and started hand feeding her the drugged food.
"Feeling like being susceptible yet" Pein asked midway through when he noticed that her skin was flushed, indicating the drug was working quite well on the girl, Sakura clenched her jaw out of pure stubbornness.
Then shook her head "Not a chance, I won't bow down to you, no matter what you do to me, put me through or inject into me you will never have my loyalty" Sakura informed bluntly not mincing her words any.
Pein looked like he was experiencing quite the headache as he pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled deeply to keep his temper in check 'Shall I mess with him child, this person in front of you isn't even alive, he's a dead body being controlled by another person behind the scenes' Jashin offered with a cruel smile on his lips.
Sensing something Sakura did not 'Mm not yet Jashin-sama maybe after I escape then you can throw the Akatsuki into chaos' Sakura suggested, forcing the urge to grin like a maniac down so she didn't tip off Pein that she was planning something.
"You sound so sure that you won't comply to my demands in the end, not even should I offer you the chance to meet another immortal just like you" Pein offered, gripping her chin with his fingers and lifting her head up to meet her gaze.
What he saw in the depths of those eyes of hers however was unrelenting determination "I won't be broken by you because there is something more important to me than life itself that I have to do and until I do it, I'll destroy everyone that gets in my way" Sakura vowed.
Purple ringed orbs widened "Even should you lose people precious to you won't you want revenge if that's the case" Pein inquired, leaning in closer and keeping their eyes locked wanting to hear what sort of answer she'd give him.
Until she scoffed "Revenge is a petty useless thing, I'm fighting for justice, for unfair losses of life who did no wrong except live peacefully before they were slaughtered for the sake of experimentation" Sakura announced.
His forehead creased "The peace would never last should you get justice against this person you hate so much, fighting would just continue and war would break out between your two countries, your speaking of the Tsuchikage yes" Pein pointed out.
Sakura sneered at the reminder of the old Tsuchikage "Hell no I don't like him sure but he is not the one I'm speaking of, in any case of course the peace wouldn't last long, there is no such thing as true peace but peace can be attained if everyone works together" Sakura snorted.
Eyeing him like he was an idiot again, Pein said nothing else to that instead grabbed up the empty tray and left the cell to her confusion "What the hell is that bastards problem" Sakura huffed staring after Pein in confusion.
Jashin didn't have an answer for her either as she chanted on of her rituals to purge her body of the drug he'd fed her with her breakfast, then Sakura tested the suppression cuffs on her wrists and found she could still use her chakra by channeling it through a different chakra point.
That was half the plan figured out as she sat back and got comfortable until Pein returned, this time the fake Madara was with him again "Use your sharingan, test if her mind is still impenetrable" Pein ordered.
The fake ambled forward, gripping Sakura's hair tightly in his hand and jerked her head up to meet his gaze "Tch figures nothing whatever your doing brat it won't last long if we keep feeding you that drug" the Madara impersonator growled.
Irritated that he was unable to control her with his sharingan like he had the fourth Mizukage and Tsuchikage "Oh you think so huh" Sakura scoffed with the most infuriating smirk on her face that made him want to kill her.
Before he'd even truly thought his actions through he had a kunai in her heart "Madara that was not the plan and you know it" Pein frowned still thinking over her words from earlier as he removed the weapon from her flesh.
And six minutes later Sakura came back to life with a gasp "Fucker you'll regret this, everything you do to me here I'll make sure to return to you tenfold later on" Sakura glared murderously at the fake Madara.
Fourteen minutes later the two left after Pein fed Sakura lunch and she repeated the process of one of her rituals to flush her body of the drugs again 'Okay this is starting to get annoying' Sakura grumbled when dinner was pretty much the same.
Which meant it was time to break out of this place and she started with drawing Jashin's symbol beneath her with the blood she'd spilled over the past day and a half, now all she had to do was bide her time until that impersonator came back to visit her again with Pein.
It was around lunch the next day and just as he was reaching for her hair Sakura struck out like a viper and latched onto his arm, biting down viciously and drawing blood "Damn you" the fake Madara snarled.
Backhanding her with his free hand right onto the symbol he'd only just noticed as her skin darkened and her hair turned white "Go ahead I dare you, kill me, I guarantee you'll be going down with me this time only you won't get back up" Sakura taunted.
"Even should you make it out of here, you won't get back in time to stop Hidan and Kakuzu from capturing the Kyubi Jinchuuriki" Pein informed, not having thought things would turn out like this when he'd had the girl abducted.
Eerie glowing viridian orbs flashed his way "Want to bet….thought not, now here is what your going to do, your going to remove these cuffs or I'll bust out of them myself and kill him anyway myself" Sakura demanded turning the whole thing around on them.
Pein grit his teeth while Madara clenched his hands into fists before tossing over the key to the chakra suppression cuffs and a moment later her hands were free and her chakra flared back into their senses.
Then Sakura weaved one handed hand signs to summon the most horrifying looking wolf they'd ever laid their eyes on "Ivory take me home" Sakura ordered, climbing onto the wolfs back and before they could stop her she was gone.
Like she'd never been there in the first place, immediately after she'd escaped Jashin returned the soul that had once resided in the body that was known as Pein, causing pandemonium in the Akatsuki base.
An hour later Sakura was stood outside her village worse for wear sure but home "Sakura" Shino was the first one to see her standing there, clothing in tatters and soaked in blood, his heart dropped when she didn't respond.
Before quickly shrugging off his overcoat "Oh hi Shino" Sakura greeted in the most tired tone when he carefully wrapped her in his coat and helped her through the village to the Hokage Tower though he should be taking her to the hospital this was the direction she was walking.
He was merely helping her "What happened I've never seen you in this kind of state before" Shino frowned unable to hide it this time that he was worried about his fellow chunin, no one was aware of the fact that she was a Jonin yet so he still thought she was the same rank as him.
She shook her head slowly and started climbing the steps of the tower when the secretary saw them the woman gestured Sakura on ahead down the hall to the Hokage's office "I can handle things from here Shino, thanks" Sakura assured.
Handing his overcoat back to him though it was covered in her blood now "Use it until you can go home Sakura" Shino returned it almost immediately knowing that she would be embarrassed if or when she realized how bad her clothes were.
Relief filled her at the fact that she didn't have to enter her fathers office practically on display, with a deep breath once she'd zipped up the coat Sakura knocked and the office door whipped open a second later.
Green met blue and then she was wrapped in warm arms "Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan" Naruto cried hugging his sister for dear life it might have only been two and a half days since he'd seen her but to him it had felt like a lifetime really.
In response Sakura crushed Naruto to her with equal intensity "Knucklehead you can let go now" Sakura hummed in her fondest tone feeling like she was back to her old self already, Naruto released her like she was on fire.
But she gripped his hand before he got to far, keeping him close as she turned to face their Father "Can you tell me anything that you haven't already Sakura" Minato asked since it was just him and his children in the office.
"Yes, the one that calls himself Madara/Tobi is not Madara at all, he's someone else, and the leader, Pein was nothing more than a dead body that was being controlled by someone behind the scenes, also Zetsu, he's still wandering about freely" Sakura explained.
Meaning that Akatsuki was still only down by four members "Don't you worry though, I'll be taking care of Kakuzu very soon" Sakura assured suddenly, Minato knew he couldn't stop her, she was a Jonin now.
So he nodded "Go home Sakura, get rest while you can, I'll let you know when the scouts I've sent out to be on the lookout for them find the pair from Akatsuki" Minato ordered gently watching as Sakura body flickered in a flurry of her namesake.
All the way back to home where she was bombarded by multiple concerned/relieved people "Isn't that Shino's overcoat" Sasuke quirked a brow at his teammate now that everyone was calming down inwardly glad she was back.
Sakura nodded "Yes Sasuke this is Shino's coat, my clothes are in a terrible state, completely ruined in fact, Shino lent it to me when he saw me standing at the gates of the village" Sakura informed flatly.
Sasuke flushed in embarrassment "Best you go get changed then Sakura" the Uchiha cleared his throat awkwardly having always hated it when Sakura wore slightly revealing clothing and he was kind of glad Shino had done the gentlemanly thing.
With that she passed by him on the way towards the door that led upstairs only to pause "Don't worry Sakura, I made a barrier that's impenetrable against space time ninjutsu techniques and should anyone attempt to pass through it they'll get stuck in a seal as well" Mito assured.
Knowing why Sakura would freeze "In fact this whole house is covered in the barrier, Naruto-kun was technically supposed to be on house arrest but he managed to give us the slip to meet you in Minato-kun's office Sakura-chan" Kushina chimed in.
Glaring exasperatedly at her son "Guess I still have a lot to learn about fuinjutsu" Sakura sighed softly in relief as she continued on her way up the stairs and into her room where she'd been taken just two and a half days ago.
Once the door was shut she unzipped Shino's overcoat then stripped out of her ruined clothing and vanished into her bathroom for a nice hot bath in her bathtub, washing away the horrors of the past couple of days.
Until she was squeaky clean before dressing in one of her long cheongsam dresses because she felt like it for once, next after scrubbing her tub she soaked Shino's overcoat in bleach to get the bloodstains out of it and left it that way as she headed back down the stairs.
Where Minato had returned briefly to the house "Are you out of your mind Sakura" Kushina frowned at her, obviously having heard what she intended to do once the Akatsuki pair was spotted in Fire Country.
Kushina frowned further when Sakura smiled grimly in response "It's Hidan and Kakuzu, Hidan won't be able to take it easy against whoever faces them and Kakuzu has five hearts, I know you don't like it Mom, but I have to" Sakura admitted quietly.
Hashirama stood "I'll be going with her, I'm sure it will help to have someone with wood release on your side right Sakura-chan" Hashirama asked, glancing down at his great, great niece who nodded then seemed to think of something.
As she turned to Sasuke who edged away from her warily "Do you still have that sword Sasuke, you know which one I'm talking about right" Sakura grinned, barely remembering that her teammate was in possession of it or had been.
Sasuke furrowed his brow in confusion then seemed to jolt in remembrance before leaping from the couch like it was on fire and high-tailing it up to his bedroom, Sakura's grin widened into a smirk when he returned.
Carrying the sword carefully as he handed it over to her, Tobirama frowned "How did you have that sword in your possession" Tobirama asked, not daring to accuse the Uchiha of stealing but it was a little concerning that his sword was not where he'd left it obviously.
Not that he'd thought about it until just now "Lord Hokage gave it to me a long time ago when we captured a rogue by the name of Aoi Rokusho who had stolen that and other important artifacts from the village" Sasuke explained.
Teammates nodding along "But if you'd like it back Lord Second it's yours again" Sasuke shrugged, he hadn't really used it all that much anyway and Sakura was just as likely to return it to her great, great grandfather anyway as well so it didn't matter.
"You clearly went through great lengths to retrieve it so keep it, I was merely surprised" Tobirama waved the offer off, settling now that he knew how Sasuke had come to possess his old sword that Sakura now had in her possession.
She was likely to be a more deadly opponent with it "Eh I wouldn't say it was that hard to get back really, the guy who had it was an idiot" Naruto snorted suddenly drawing Tobirama's gaze onto himself.
Sakura and Sasuke rolled their eyes "More like Idate was the idiot who got tricked in the first place if he hadn't listened to Rokusho he would have never been deceived" Sakura rolled her eyes stowing the thunder blade away in her pouch.
Dan frowned "Who is this Idate fellow, I've never heard you speak of him before, is he a friend of yours from somewhere Sakura" Dan asked passing Kasumi over to Tsunade when the toddler started fussing.
This time Sakura shook her head "Hardly Dan-san…..Idate is Ibiki Morino's little brother and when we met him, he hated shinobi due to being tricked by Aoi Rokusho, I wouldn't really say we're friends or anything though, acquaintances probably" Sakura informed.
With that Sakura decided to return to her room after spending the past two hours chatting with everyone in her family and those who weren't, needing to rest because of her ordeal of the past two days.