Upon their return to Leaf, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura wasted no time in heading for the Tower to meet with their beloved Hokage "You three are back, it's been less than a week since I sent you out on that mission" Minato frowned.
Concerned that things had been a little to much for his youngest Jonin to handle by themselves "Well we got lucky by finding him quickly after searching through the towns but it wasn't Kakuzu, here this is from the Tsuchikage, Hokage-sama" Sasuke admitted.
Placing a scroll down on the man's desk that he picked up and unraveled to read what was written within "I see, that is very concerning news and I hate to do this to you so soon after your return but can you deliver this message to the other Kage" Minato sighed.
Immediately assigning them to a new mission that was of equal importance as their last one had been "Of course, we'll do whatever you ask of us Hokage-sama….Dad" Naruto saluted, knowing they didn't have much choice really.
Minato smiled softly at him "Let's go then" Sakura declared, directing her teammates from the office and back down the streets to the gates where Izumo and Kotetsu were horrified to hear that they had another mission.
Even though they'd only just gotten back less than an hour ago "Well at least we'll sleep well tonight in whatever village we end up going to first" Sasuke commented as he climbed onto the back of Sakeme again.
"I vote Kumogakure because it's one of the two villages neither Sasuke or I have ever been to before" Naruto suggested, taking a moment to simply be an adventurous teenager instead of a shinobi for once.
Sakura rolled her eyes at him but there was a smile on her face that told him she wasn't annoyed "Hidden Cloud it is then so hang on tight you two" Sakura announced, Ivory nodded her massive head and leaped into a rift.
The three of them vanishing into thin air one by one as they traveled the invisible pathways to their newest destination, when they exited the rifts however they came face to face with the Tsuchikage again.
Who went wide-eyed at the sight of them or rather the wolves they sat upon along with his escorts "Brats what the hell are you doing in Kaminari no Kuni shouldn't you be on your way back to Leaf" Ohnoki demanded.
Not wanting to let on that he'd had his wits scared out of him at their appearance out of seemingly nowhere "Been there done that, we got a new mission and that is to deliver the information to other countries so they're up to date about the white Zetsu clones to" Sasuke snorted.
His teammate swung her fist out and cracked him over the back of the head for his cheek "Idiot that is Tsuchikage-sama your talking to" Sakura hissed, leaping from Ivory's back and she vanished in a plume of smoke back to the garden.
Sasuke hissed and raised a hand filled with medical chakra to heal his head "Shouldn't you be more careful, he is a regular human after all, unlike you being immortal and all that" Kurotsuchi chimed in.
"I'm human to Kurotsuchi-san, I bleed the same as you and everyone else, just with a few extra quirks for the time being, also I didn't use chakra and Sasuke knows better" Sakura informed, eyeing the Uchiha.
He nodded grudgingly in response just as someones stomach rumbled loudly "Oops sorry that was me" Naruto apologized sheepishly, having decided that it was in his best interests to not mouth off like Sasuke had.
"Knucklehead, in any case I am sorry for mouthing off a minute ago but we should head to the village" Sasuke bowed lightly, appeasing Sakura as the lot of them set forth together in order to reach Kumogakure.
Though to tide them over Sakura handed Naruto and Sasuke an apple for them to eat so they weren't completely starving "By the way Ohnoki I thought you were attempting to make some sort of joke about what you told me after the five Kage meeting in Iron" the man on the Tsuchikage's other side commented.
Ohnoki shook his head "It's all true Mu-sama that girl is immortal and if you want my honest opinion you should not be allowed out of your village to run about freely like you are" Ohnoki scowled at the pinkette.
And she gave him a smile that terrified him "Regardless I don't believe it, there is no such thing as immortality, it's probably a trick she devised" Mu, as Ohnoki had called him, making Sakura recognize the man as the Second Tsuchikage scoffed.
It was hard not to glare at the man "Now, now there's no need for that, we're all allies now aren't we" the other one a tall brown haired male, placated not wanting to have a fight happen between the lot of them.
"Shut up Akatsuchi, even if we are there is no way I'm ever trusting that one completely I mean whose to say she's not lying about her so called task of offing Orochimaru" Kurotsuchi pointed at Sakura who didn't respond.
Clearly not wanting to argue so she deftly ignored the older teenagers taunts that ended when they reached the gates of the Cloud Village "You again" there was a familiar guard that Sakura recognized as the one who tried to stab her in the eye.
Her lips curled upwards into an amused grin "Nice to see you to Karai" Sakura waved happily at the man who sneered at her in response to her overly enthusiastic greeting, while Naruto and Sasuke edged away from her warily.
Karai didn't give them to much trouble however as he practically threw the sign in clipboard at them and they all quickly signed in "How the heck do you know that grumpy guy Sakura-chan" Naruto whispered.
When they were heading for the Raikage Tower "Karai-san tried to stab me in the eye on our first meeting, I met him again during the trip so we have a dislike/hate relationship, he hates me, I dislike him so I try to be as annoying as possible towards him"Sakura explained.
Ignoring the looks she was getting from the Tsuchikage's escorts well two of them anyway "Sakura-san it's been about almost two years since you've been in Cloud so what are you doing here" Samui appeared next to the pinkette.
Greeting the girl kindly "Business Samui-san but it's really good to see you again" Sakura smiled up at the woman she'd met during her stay in Cloud, the day she got assigned that mission to be precise, she was Omoi and Karui's sensei and Atsui's sister.
"In that case I should warn you Raikage-sama is in a foul mood, no ones really sure what the cause of it is" Samui warned, disappearing in the opposite direction while they continued onwards until reaching their destination.
And as Samui said Ay was in a particularly foul mood, he was almost the same man they'd first met before they all got to know one another properly "The hell do you want as if my village isn't experiencing enough problems" Ay snapped.
Even the Tsuchikage seemed surprised since he'd seen how the Raikage usually was towards the Leaf brats "Raikage-sama we have information, regarding Zetsu" Sakura informed not afraid in the least as he directed his glare onto her.
His lips curled into a sneer "Correct Unruly Ay, Zetsu is able to create things called white Zetsu clones that absorb another persons chakra to impersonate them, unfortunately there is no concrete way to tell who is real and who is not because their technique is perfect" Ohnoki added.
"Unless their impersonating someone you know then its easy to tell because they don't know everything" Naruto chimed in, tempted to cower but he kept his head held high as Ay switched his gaze onto him.
Before the man seemed to deflate somewhat, looking exhausted "Brat do you think Namikaze would mind if I borrowed you, I appear to have a rat in my village and no it's not Zetsu or Kakuzu more of an embezzler" Ay questioned.
Spying the hitai-ate he had given the girl neatly tied around her waist "Can you give us a day or so, we were tasked with delivering that information to Suna and Kiri as well" Sasuke inquired, wondering if this was Naruto and his chance to receive a second hitai-ate for themselves.
"That's going to take more than a day you realize" Mu eyed them like they were stupid for saying something like that, while Ay contemplated the idea, knowing why the Uchiha had asked, he wished to be included and so did the Uzumaki brat as well.
After a moment Ay nodded "In the meantime I'll send the request to Leaf, also thanks for delivering that information to me I appreciate it…for now go rest you look exhausted" Ay waved his hand dismissing those he was familiar with from his office.
Leaving the party from Iwagakure, Ay ignored them for a moment as he scribbled a message to be sent off to Leaf "Was there anything else Tsuchikage" Ay asked, finally looking up from his mountain of paperwork.
The man didn't appear to be happy "How can you trust her knowing what she is, believe what she says, allow her to step foot in your village and ask her to help you without having her under heavy guard so she doesn't do anything" Ohnoki demanded.
Considering he'd spent the least amount of time around Sakura so therefore didn't know her like he did "Because I do Ohnoki not that its any of your business if I treat the brat as she deserves, with respect something she has more than earned here in my village" Ay snapped.
Ohnoki cringed in response still disbelieving that Sakura was trustworthy "You know after everything that's happened especially with you hiring someone to kill her, she still forgave you Father" Kitsuchi said on the girls behalf.
Deciding to trust in Sakura, with that they got their business taken care of and left, they forwent staying the night at an in and the next morning Team Seven/Kakashi headed for their next destination "Kirigakure" Sasuke informed Sakeme when the wolf was stood in front of him.
The novelty of the rifts were starting wear off at that point as they traveled quickly to Kirigakure "Oh um is everything alright…I hope everything's alright anyway" Chojuro, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen stammered nervously upon their arrival.
"We need to speak with Mizukage-sama, we have very important info she needs to hear" Naruto explained, to that Chojuro helped them go through the customs of signing in, meanwhile back in Leaf, Minato got the letter from Ay who requested Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke's help with something.
So wrote a reply to Ay, agreeing to the request, even if it would be their third consecutive mission in a row and also a message to his children and Sasuke informing them of said mission when they were finished with their current one.
By that time they were crowding into Mei's office "Chojuro mentioned you have some information for me" Mei inquired, having been neutral thus far in the scheme of things, gaze flickering to the two men posted on either side of the door.
Gengetsu Hozuki and Byakuya the second and third Mizukage's respectively, they weren't the only ones to have been returned but they were the ones she trusted "It's about Zetsu, he can make these things called White Zetsu clones" Sasuke began.
"And these clones can absorb chakra to imitate someone, it's a near perfect transformation jutsu, but with one fatal flaw, these clones don't know everything about the person their imitating and that's how your able to tell if someone is not who they say they are" Sakura finished.
Giving in depth detail because she knew the Mizukage would appreciate it greatly "Based on how much you know if I had to guess you've faced these creatures, White Zetsu Clones before haven't you" a voice called out from behind her.
Sakura turned, jade met steely gray orbs "You are correct Sir, twice now, possibly three times now that I'm thinking about it, once was Shisui Uchiha, the second possibly Kisame Hoshigaki and the third Kakuzu just a couple days ago" Sakura listed.
Mei went wide eyed at the familiar name that had once brought terror into the heart of the girl in front of her, she also didn't miss the absolute loathing in Sakura's tone as she said Kisame's name for what was probably the first time in years.
But if there was anything any of them could count on it was Sakura remaining professional despite that "Why do you think Kisame was impersonated as well" Mei asked, wanting to know it was about the only thing she wanted to ask at the moment anyway.
"I could be wrong, since I didn't get to confirm it but when we went to rescue Gaara, we were met by someone baring his resemblance with his chakra before he was crushed by Tetsu-sama's iron sand" Sakura winced.
Naruto and Sasuke nodding in agreement because they'd been there as well "Hmm…well thank you for delivering that information to me, we of Hidden Mist thank you for your efforts" Mei nodded her head at the trio.
Dismissing them and so they headed for the exit of Kirigakure unaware they were being followed "Excuse me" the blonde that Sakura recognized as the second Mizukage stopped them in the process of summoning Ivory, Sakeme and Mishinme.
They all paused in response "Yes is everything alright Sir, was there something you didn't understand during our explanation" Naruto asked, deciding to be polite because he wasn't sure if the guy was important or not.
At his question the man shook his head "No I understood perfectly fine thank you, I was merely curious about you, are you not the one Mei told us was immortal and followed the God of Slaughter Jashin and where are my manners I am Gengetsu Hozuki" Gengetsu greeted.
Very interested in the young woman before him as he stroked his thin moustache "You are correct Lord Gengetsu…Sakura Haruno, Uzumaki, Uzumaki being my adopted last name" Sakura bowed her head respectfully at him.
Just waiting for him to no doubt judge her as many others had "Intriguing and have you given thought to marriage perhaps, you are approaching the marriageable age aren't you Sakura-san" Gengetsu prodded.
Sweeping in elegantly and capturing her hand in his, he lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a gentle lingering kiss to her flesh "Um well I have actually and while I'm flattered Sir, there is someone I'm in love with…deeply" Sakura blushed four shades of red.
Knowing he was flirting so she decided to be gentle in her rejection of the hinted at offer he was making "Pity, your power combined with that of a Hozuki would make for a fairly powerful child who could have very well gone on to be one of the greatest Mizukage of all time" Gengetsu sighed.
Disappointed, but there was little he could if she was already with someone "Hold up…who the hell are you in love with" Sasuke demanded before the former Mizukage had left entirely, he was still there but right now he didn't care.
"Cee" Sakura said simply, a warning look her eyes that told him not to kick up a fuss, especially during the mission they were on, Sasuke opened his mouth, ignoring the look and got elbowed for his efforts by Naruto surprisingly.
Who shook his head "Teme it's not our place to tell Sakura-chan who she can and can't be with, she'd just pummel us into the ground with her fists if we tried to" Naruto snorted, admitting to be holy terrified of his adopted sister.
Sasuke wilted in response, grudgingly nodding, by then the Second Mizukage was gone allowing them to summon the wolves and head for Sunagakure at last "We figured you'd be coming, Rasa got a message for you three earlier today from the Hokage" Reto greeted.
Upon their arrival, he'd been standing there waiting for a few hours actually if he was being honest "That means most likely once we deliver our message to Kazekage-sama, we'll be off to Kumogakure again in the morning hopefully" Sasuke said.
Eyeing Sakura who nodded in answer to exhausted to complain "So you were aware that the Hokage would be sending you a message" Reto arched a mahogany brow on the three Leaf Jonin and got more nods from both males as well.
Though they didn't elaborate since it wasn't really his business "Back again huh, can't stay away from Sunagakure can you" Tetsu commented once they'd entered the tower and they were checking in with the receptionist to see when the Kazekage would next be available.
"We've got crucial information about Zetsu to give to Kazekage-sama" Sakura explained, ready for a break even though it had barely been a week since they'd left Leaf, both former Kazekage straightened.
And since they had clearance went on ahead to Rasa's office to inform him of his visitors, getting Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke in to see him sooner than the receptionist liked "Tell me" Rasa demanded on they were stood in front of him five minutes later.
Sakura was nudged forward "Right here's what we know, Zetsu can make creatures called white Zetsu clones, that can absorb people's chakra to impersonate them, like if you recall the impostor Shisui-san but with the fatal flaw of not knowing everything about that person" Sakura recited.
Rasa did indeed remember the time his village had been infiltrated by an impostor and the only reason it had been taken care of before things had gotten out of hand was because Sasuke had sent Sakura a letter informing her that the real Shisui was back in Leaf in the hospital.
"Other than that there is no other way to tell right" Rasa frowned, inwardly praying that this mess with the Akatsuki and Zetsu would soon be taken care of so that he could retire and leave everything in his youngest son's hands.
Since Gaara had expressed interest in leading "Our apologies but unfortunately no there's no other way to tell, if we get more information however, you and the other Kage will be the first to know I'm sure" Naruto added in an apologetic tone for not having more to give the man.
Who looked like he needed a long break from everything "Fair enough, before you leave, I recently discussed something with my children, wife, brother in law and predecessors, as such I present these to you, you are now honorary Sunagakure shinobi" Rasa announced.
Passing Suna hitai-ate's over "For your efforts here in Hidden Sand, without you we wouldn't have such an iron-clad treaty with the other villages, our lands would not be as safe to traverse without the unnecessary stress of fearing an attack by another village so thank you" Tetsu said.
Bowing his head at the children, all his pride would allow for "Not to mention all the trouble Tetsu caused you Sakura-san" Reto smirked at his successor of the Kazekage position who remained straight-faced at the teasing.
"Thank you, we'll wear them with pride Kazekage-sama" Sasuke bowed, tying the headband around his right arm, feeling very proud that he and his teammates were chosen for such an honor of bearing another nations symbol upon their person.
Which showed off their deep ties with that country that they were trusted inexplicably by the nations leader "Before you leave the message that arrived for you" Rasa handed over the letter, informing the teammates of their mission in Kumo.
Naruto accepted it and with that they were on their way "Not bad, you used the rifts didn't you" Cee greeted them at the gates upon their arrival, Karai no where to be seen, perhaps he was on break for the night.
"Of course we did Cee otherwise our promise to be back in a day wouldn't have been possible" Sakura smiled up at him sweetly, remembering the kiss they'd shared back in Iron nearly two months ago.
Cee was obviously reminiscing himself given the look in his eyes but he had a duty to perform at the moment so remained professional "Are those what I think" Cee commented, spying the foreign hitai-ate's from Hidden Sand tied around their arms.
In Sakura's case it was around her neck since she wore her Leaf headband on her head like a hairband for her unruly pink hair "Lord Kazekage just gifted these to us, for all the help we've given Sunagakure this was their way of thanking us" Naruto explained.
Pretending that he didn't see the looks his sister and Cee were sending each other as the man ran them through customs to get them signed into the village, likewise on the other side of him Sasuke was doing pretty much the same thing to avoid flying into a rage about how it was inappropriate.
Neither of them would mess with Sakura however "Congratulations then" Cee complimented when he handed over the guest badges and sent the trio on their way to the Raikage Tower to let the Raikage know they were back.
"Good, your here, I'll warn you this will be no easy task, and I expect you in my office for the run down of things bright and early about 7, so I suggest you, head to bed early" Ay barked, glad that he could count on the brats to keep their promises.
With that he dismissed them and knowing Kumo better Sakura took the lead "Those are the apartments I stayed in with Dan and Shishou when we were here for three months" Sakura suddenly pointed.
To an impressive complex of apartment buildings "Hey look at that Sakura-chan it says that we can rent one for a night if we want" Naruto exclaimed, gesturing to the sign, clearly wanting to give the apartments a try since Sakura had stayed in one before.
His teammates rolled their eyes "Fine, we'll rent one each for however long we're here for" Sasuke relented, keen on attempting to live on his own for once, he couldn't keep staying in the family house forever after all.
No doubt that had been others reasoning for moving out as well besides just wanting their own space, Sakura shook her head at them but agreed it was a good idea since it could be a week or even longer as they tried to find their target in the village.
And with their own supplies, in a rented apartment, Team Seven/Kakashi cooked their own meals then went to bed early well Naruto and Sasuke did but Sakura got a visitor "Cee" Sakura greeted softly upon opening he door.
Cee stepped into the apartment, shutting the door behind him before drawing Sakura into an embrace "Nearly two months is to long to go without seeing each other" Cee sighed upon releasing her and pressing a soft kiss to her lips.
"Lets not forget that sometimes what with being a Jonin now, I don't really have much time to sit down and write letters to everyone like I use to and there's even talk of Hokage-sama nominating us for the Anbu Selection Exam sometime in the near future" Sakura admitted.
Minato wanted them to be prepared for tackling the Orochimaru problem and if they were Anbu they could conduct their own investigations on his whereabouts and be in charge of ridding the world of the Snake Sannin.
The blonde winced "I hope not to soon into the future, I would like to spend time with you and you being Anbu would cut seriously into your free time" Cee admitted, Sakura shrugged indicating she didn't really know when.
Followed by settling down on the couch that the apartments had where Cee quickly joined her "Soon Cee, after everything is finished, this business with Akatsuki, Zetsu and Orochimaru we'll finally get to be together" Sakura sighed.
Showing her impatience for once "And you'll be a normal woman that no one has any expectations of right" Cee asked, hoping what she'd said in that meeting room was true that once her task was complete she would be mortal once more.
"Exactly, normal, though I'll still have to pray, that's a condition Jashin-sama won't relent on, I won't have to do blood-letting or sacrifices ever again, it'll just be you, me and the temple I plan on building to make the religion wide-spread for a bit anyway" Sakura informed.
Hoping that Cee wouldn't be to put out about that "Then I'll help you in anyway that I can when the time comes Sakura…on that note I should go and leave you to your rest" Cee promised before standing.
She did the same, they embraced one more, kissed and afterwards she was headed to bed, a few days later, Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto marched Ay's embezzler into his office "The culprit Raikage-sama" Sasuke presented.
Not feeling guilty as Sakura handled the man roughly by keeping his arms pulled back tightly so he couldn't escape her grip and make a run for it "That so, Darui, take him our interrogator, good work brats" Ay smirked.
Calling out for his right hand man, Darui appeared in a puff of smoke, waved lazily at the kids, took the embezzler and was gone in another white cloud all without saying a single word "And because you worked so hard, I gift these to you" Ay announced.
Setting two unblemished Kumo headbands on his desk, rewarding the boys for doing as well as the girl did and claiming them honorary members of his village "Thank you for this gift Raikage-sama, we'll wear them proudly" Naruto saluted.
Acting goofy like he remembered but Naruto had undoubtedly changed over the past several years "Yes thank you Raikage-sama" Sasuke bowed towards him respectfully, a bit more even-tempered, proving both boys had changed into the young men they were now.
"Go on then get home and the next time you come brats, make sure its not during a damn mission" Ay sneered, and they fled from his office post haste, then after collecting their belongings they were on their way home.
Minato was glad to see them, mission reports in hand from the completion of their two missions before sending them to the house to take a break for a week and before they all knew it another month had gone by.
It had now been five months since the second Kage Summit, there had been no new information on the whereabouts of Kakuzu, Hidan or Zetsu and everyone was starting to get frustrated even Jashin and that was saying something.
'Hidan must be laying low, he hasn't performed the sacrifice ritual even once' Jashin told her, deciding to just leave searching for the man to the five great ninja nations, Sakura didn't rely on him as much as she use to in order to prove her own worth anyway.
This showed him how much she'd grown since that day of her first death "Yeah that is weird Jashin-sama or perhaps Kakuzu won't let him" Sakura shrugged, speaking aloud considering that she was all alone in her ritual room.
Because she'd literally just got done with the afternoon prayer, before Jashin could answer, pounding erupted on her bedroom door "Sakura-chan you've been summoned by Tou-san" Naruto yelled once he was sure she'd heard the knocking.
Without wasting another minute Sakura simply body flickered to her Father's office and found Hashirama there as well as Tobirama "I have a confession to make Sakura, awhile back, after the Summit meeting, Kakashi told me something interesting" Minato began.
Once she was there "That Kakuzu had a greed for money so I looked into things and found that high ranking rogues with high bounties on their heads had been killed recently" Minato continued.
Knowing Sakura would catch on "So you think Kakuzu is killing these rogues and cashing in on their bounties…that does sound like something he would do Hokage-sama" Sakura nodded, it was no wonder, information had been hard to come by lately.
"Correct, that's also why I started sending shinobi to bounty-collector hide-outs in Hi no Kuni, and yesterday a team of chunin and two Jonin, and just now I got a letter requesting immediate backup" Minato finished.
Handing the letter over to Sakura who read it before nodding grimly in response "I'll be accompanying her" Hashirama declared, intending on keeping his promise of helping Sakura take out Kakuzu.
Neither of them went back to the house, merely headed for the gates and signed out "Okay Ivory, I need you to scent this it has Izumo's scent on it and then take us to him alright" Sakura requested after summoning the wolf.
A moment later they were sat astride the gigantic hell-hound looking creature and heading through one of the various rifts, only a few minutes passed before they exited it and they emerged to chaos, Hidan had Asuma in the soul binding technique.
The others frantically trying to separate the two "OUT OF THE WAY" Sakura shouted, unhooking her scythe and pressing the button to extend it, Shikamaru, Izumo and Kotetsu barely managed to avoid getting hit.
As the scythe slammed into Hidan, shoving him from the circle of the upside down triangle "You go Sakura, I'll heal Asuma-san" Hashirama assured, using his kekkeigenkai to bring Asuma to safety in order to heal him.
While Sakura used a jutsu to wash away the circle before meeting Hidan's glower fearlessly, in Kakuzu's presence he had to keep up the pretense that they were enemies after all "Bitch I'll kill you" Hidan growled.
Brandishing his own weapon at the girl who had arrived in the nick of time thankfully "Hey Hidan….shut up would you" Sakura snapped, lunging to fast for him to counter and a second later his head had a sorrowful parting from his body.
Unfortunately it didn't kill him to the others horror for he simply let out a stream of expletives "FUCK YOU" Hidan cursed, pissed that she'd cut his damn head off again, the second time now and it still hurt like a bitch.
But Sakura was no longer paying him any attention, all of her senses had honed in on Kakuzu when he emerged from the hideout "Useless idiot" Kakuzu scoffed in disgust, ignoring the pinkette as he went to head in Hidan's direction to sew his head back on.
Before he could take another step there was a scythe blocking his way "Hidan's no longer your concern Kakuzu, Leaf's taking him into its custody for his efforts of spying on your previous affiliation" Sakura announced.
"No absolutely not I will not allow that bastard inside the village, especially after he tried to kill Asuma-sensei, even if he did spy for us and even if your Hokage-sama's child, he must be eliminated" Shikamaru rejecting the idea immediately.
On the roof the hideout Hashirama finished healing Asuma with Ino's help "What is she even doing here" Ino couldn't help but ask, worrying for her friend, she was practically alone down there despite Shikamaru, Izumo and Kotetsu being with her.
While Choji was on the roof with her, Asuma and their first Hokage "Minato sent us to help, she's probably the only one who can take out Kakuzu" Hashirama explained, helping Asuma carefully sit up after he'd nearly been killed.
Though and with great struggle Asuma stood and with help from his students and Hashirama, they jumped from the roof of the hideout to even ground "Shikamaru…..Sakura is right, I received that order as well from Hokage-sama, he had to make it believable" Asuma said.
Preventing Shikamaru from arguing further even if Sakura hadn't responded "I think I get it, otherwise he would have been more on his guard" Choji stated, nodding at Kakuzu who didn't speak, merely attacked.
As his detached hands came up out of the ground behind Sakura and grabbed her around the neck, attempting to strangle her, the pinkette bared her teeth at him, then twisted slicing the threads that Kakuzu used for his attacks.
Not able to control his hands any longer the limbs fell from her neck, red marks clearly visible on her flesh "Did you honestly think I'd let you continue" Sakura asked, knowing that after this there would be no more hiding her true nature from people.
Considering still only a select few in Leaf knew about her immortality "Not going to negotiate this time are you brat, I wouldn't mind more money in my pocket" Kakuzu spoke finally, mentioning that time back in Iron.
"Back then it was our only choice now…now things are different Kakuzu, I don't have to hide who I am any longer" Sakura admitted, reaching into her storage pouch for the thunder blade and lunging before they could blink.
When the others could see her again she was in front of Kakuzu, the thunder blade embedded deep within Kakuzu's heart "Alright you did" Kotetsu cheered thinking it was over, there job was done and now they could focus their efforts on searching for Zetsu.
Sakura slowly pulled back, still grim-faced "No Kotetsu it's not over, that was just the beginning, in order to truly take him out, I'll have to kill him four more times" Sakura explained, extracting the thunder blade from Kakuzu's body.
Tensely waiting for Kakuzu to revive "Did you just say four more times Sakura-san" Izumo inquired in a horrified tone as she stood back a safe distance away from the currently dead man because she would be the one he came after upon his return to life.
"That's right, Kakuzu is no mere man, he has five hearts…four now and it won't be so easy to catch him off guard for the second time" Sakura nodded, watching intently, her whole body tight like a spring, just waiting to take action.
In the meantime Hashirama had retrieved Hidan, head and body and was slowly working on reattaching Hidan's head to his torso "About fucking time" Hidan scowled, just glad that he didn't have to put up with Kakuzu any longer.
Hashirama shook his head slightly bemused at the immortal's cursing when his attention was drawn back onto Kakuzu as the man slowly stood up, alive once more "I'll take your heart for that you little brat" Kakuzu growled.
Enraged that she'd gotten a shot in on him and he'd lost one of his hearts "Everyone get back now" Sakura ordered, raising her scythe to block his attack and got thrown backwards quite a distance, but she managed to land on her feet.
To parry the follow up attack, one of his threads pierced her stomach so she kicked out with her foot, channeling chakra into it and a loud crack was heard as she broke his shin, he didn't even stumble unfortunately.
"Most would have gone down with that but your different" Kakuzu commented, having inwardly noted how the girl didn't even flinch at being stabbed with something, instead her eyes burned with genuine loathing towards him.
Meanwhile with all of his focus on Sakura, Hidan had readied his retractable spear "What are you planning" Shikamaru frowned at him, prepared to use his shadow to keep Hidan from running or at least that's what he thought the man was plotting.
Hidan rolled his eyes "Just watch you little cock-sucker" he said in the crudest way possible and all those around him cringed at his filthy mouth, then before they could react, Hidan had gripped his spear and charged.
Kakuzu side-stepped him and he slammed into Sakura sending them both crashing to the ground in a tangle of limbs "Hidan you stupid idiot" Sakura wheezed, physically picking Hidan up off her and throwing him a short distance away.
Just in the nick of time as Kakuzu attempted to skewer her with his thread "Bitch if you don't get serious, this fight will never end" Hidan shouted at her, quickly getting over the fact that a pint-sized girl had lifted him and thrown him like he was a sack of potatoes.
Realizing he was right Sakura put her scythe away, drawing her arm back, curling her fingers into a fist as she gathered chakra and when Kakuzu was within range thrust her arm forward, nailing Kakuzu with a chakra enhanced punch.
He went flying and on his way he crashed through several tree's as well giving Sakura more than ample time to prepare "You know if you hadn't used that water jutsu you could have just used mine for the ritual" Hidan taunted.
Back with the others Hashirama instantly understood what Sakura was going to do "Everyone if you don't wish to see Sakura turn into the same thing that Hidan-san did I suggest you turn away" the First Hokage warned.
Shikamaru's eyes went wide, the others were confused until Sakura pulled out a retractable spear as Kakuzu came after her again and it grazed his side, then to their horror as they'd witnessed with Hidan, Sakura ingested Kakuzu's blood that was on the tip of her weapon.
During that time Hidan had prepared another circle with upside down triangle for her "She's…she's like him" Ino gasped, covering her mouth in horror for when Sakura stepped into the circle, her skin darkened to black with white markings and her hair turned white.
Each of them understood then why Sakura had always seemed different to them "Even back when you two weren't friends it makes sense now" Choji said, remembering their first meeting after Team Seven's fateful A rank mission and how Sakura had seemed different more dangerous.
But due to her various efforts he knew he had no reason to judge Sakura, she was still a friend, only now she was showing them her true self "Yes it does huh Choji" Asuma nodded, going with his gut feeling that Sakura was of the good.
After a moment Ino and Shikamaru agreed with them as well "Doesn't change a damn thing, Sakura's still a Leaf shinobi, one of us" Kotetsu declared, Sakura visibly relaxed and Hashirama smiled at their camaraderie.
"Right then" Sakura steeled her nerves and on Jashin's insistence forwent her usual praying during the sacrifice ritual by taking her spear and stabbing herself in the heart, Ino slid to her knee's, expelling vomit from her stomach violently as her friend killed herself in front of her.
The rest of them unable to stop watching "That's what would have happened to Asuma if you two hadn't arrived in time isn't it Hashirama-sama" Izumo asked, Hashirama nodded and so he kept the thought that Sakura was like Hidan in his mind.
As he had that thought Sakura sat up gingerly, removing her weapon from her chest, the wound disappearing instantly as if it had never been there "You really are immortal aren't you" Ino stood with the help of her teammates after practically puking up her guts.
Sakura barely turned her way "Ino while I would love to talk to you about this, it's kind of a really bad time, remember what I said, yeah I have to repeat that three more times now and no it doesn't get any easier" Sakura informed gently.
Knowing that it wouldn't be long until Kakuzu was back up and attacking her again, three minutes later he was back up on his feet, charging her when he was interrupted by what sounded like a thousand birds chirping.
"CHIDORI" two voices yelled out in sync, slamming into Kakuzu with glowing blue hands filled with lightning nature chakra and while he was down Naruto slammed a rasengan down on Kakuzu's final heart.
Leaving everyone staring at them in open-mouthed shock "Sorry we're late to the party Sakura-chan" Kakashi saluted, having pleaded with his sensei to allow him and the boys to join up with Sakura to help her take down Kakuzu.
Tears instantly filled her eyes "What did you think that we were going to let you do this on your own, I'm no fan of you having to kill yourself repeatedly after all and we didn't train those two years to be constantly left behind you know, we're capable as well remember" Sasuke smirked.
Jutsu fading from the palm of his hand "That's right Sakura, we're a team always and forever, through thick and thin no matter what" Naruto grinned, bounding over to his sister and hugging her, Kakashi and Sasuke shared a look before joining the group hug.
With Kakuzu no more, his body was sealed in a scroll and they all began their trek back to Leaf, Hidan in tow since he was being taken into protective custody and after their return it was decided that until Zetsu was taken care of he was being sent to live on the island of Sakura's birth.
After a wonderful soak in a bathhouse and a delicious dinner courtesy her adoptive mother, Sakura quite happily crawled into her bed after performing her evening prayer with extra special blood-letting ritual to appease Jashin and went to sleep for the night, dreaming of that distant future, with Cee at her side.