Sakura was working on the new budget of the clinic, taking into consideration the cuts that Kakashi had mentioned a few days ago. They wouldn't be able to hire more staff, but they wouldn't have to turn away any possible patients, according to Sakura's calculations. She couldn't believe the ANBU managed to snag such a significant amount of their budget.

A falcon knocked on the window of her office. Sakura sighed as she stood up and opened the window. She untied the scroll from the falcon's leg and stroked its head as she read it. She had been summoned to see Kakashi, along with Ino, regarding the Sasuke situation.

She headed to the the lower floor where Ino was supposed to be giving checkups. She found her in the third room she'd peeped into. "Hey, Ino?"

"Sakura-san!" Perked up one of the young girls. "Have you come to play with us?"

"I'm sorry, Yona," Sakura smiled apologetically as she stepped into the room. "I've been summoned by the Hokage, and so has Ino. I'll make sure to come by sometime this week, okay?"

Yona's shoulders visibly dropped. "Promise?"

"Of course," Sakura smiled. The girl smiled back, a hint of sadness still in her eyes. Sakura patted her hair and turned to Ino. "Come on, Kakashi-sama is waiting for us," she said. She never used the title in front of Kakashi because he hated it but in front of the children, she tried to maintain some sort of appearance of respect toward their leader.

"Alright," Ino nodded. "I'll be back," she pointed a finger at the children. "So be good!"

"Hai, Ino-san!" They chirped in response.

–––

"Sasuke has been seen in multiple places over the last couple of days," Kakashi started. "Apparently, he's been in contact with arms dealers and several other criminal organizations besides the Suna terrorist group. He killed them after they refused to help him in his quest to destroy Konoha."

"So, basically, the same story as with the Suna organization?" Sakura asked. "Where'd you hear all this?"

"Sai has a reliable informant."

"Sai? Why would he even have an informer?" Asked Ino.

"He's been looking into a different matter for me. The informant mentioned some interesting developments not related to the case during their last meeting."

"Is he investigating the suspicious shit happening around the village?" Ino questioned the Hokage further.

Kakashi smirked knowingly. "Maybe."

"And he's doing it on his own? He's not doing anything dangerous without any back up, is he?" Ino continued. Sakura wanted to slap a hand to her forehead. Could she be any more obnoxious?

"He's fine, he was a member of ROOT after all. He knows how to keep his cool and distance, unlike a blond we all know," Kakashi said.

Sakura decided to steer the conversation back to Sasuke. "What's going to happen to Sasuke-kun if these sightings keep happening?"

"He'll most likely be put on an international wanted list," Kakashi cleared his throat. "People from all over will be out to get him. I'd expect there to be a Five Kage Summit before that happens, though," he added at the sight of Sakura's worried face. "He is a war hero, after all."

He's also a former international S-ranked criminal, Sakura thought. Although the real Sasuke would have no trouble avoiding capture, his name would be tarnished. It could prevent him from ever returning home.

"He'll be fine, then," Ino stated. "The Five Kage are buddies now, right? They'll know he's a fake." If only things were that simple.

"Even if the Kages know that," Kakashi started. "They still need to keep their people safe and happy. If people of the villages start getting restless and demand Uchiha Sasuke to be captured, or even eliminated, a Kage will have to take action eventually."

"Please allow me to accompany you, if such a summit is to take place," Sakura asked. "I will do anything in my power before I let Sasuke-kun be put on a wanted listed."

"Alright," Kakashi acquiesced. "The best thing would be if Sasuke himself showed up and proclaimed himself innocent… But he hasn't replied to any of our messages we've left at the contact points."

He hadn't sent Sakura a letter either, since her birthday.

"If he doesn't show then we'll just have to prove it isn't him," Sakura said, determined. She didn't know how she'd do it, but she wouldn't let them tarnish Sasuke's name, nor the progress he'd made. But there was the issue of figuring out how she'd do that.

Her mind kept racing, thinking about ways she could prove Sasuke's innocence. How could she prove that that impersonator was a fake? Why hadn't Sasuke returned to Konoha? To her?

Sakura was fidgety in her apartment. She kept going from room to room. Getting up, sitting down, getting up again, walking around, sitting down in a different spot. All the while, her thoughts resembled her movements, they were restless. She couldn't come up with a single good idea that could help prove Sasuke's innocence.

"This is no use," she said to herself as she got up from her couch yet again. She put on her shoes and left. She walked down the streets of Konoha, some busier than the others. She wandered around aimlessly, until she found herself at the academy.

She heard voices coming from the yard and decided to check out what the kids were going. She went to the high fence and easily climbed it, perching on top of it. She observed as children were going through taijutsu kata and chuckled as Naruto scolded them.

Naruto was great with kids, maybe because he himself hadn't really grown up at heart. He was scolding them again, now for not weaving the sign of reconciliation after the spar. An image of Naruto and Sasuke sparring during one of their lessons fleeted across Sakura's eyes. That seemed like a whole lifetime ago. She sighed.

Naruto bowed with the children and as he raised his head, he noticed Sakura sitting on top of the fence. "Hey, Sakura-chan!" She waved back with a smile. "Wait a second for me, guys," Naruto said as he jogged over to Sakura. "Got the day off?"

"You could say that, yeah," Sakura shrugged. "Go back to the children, Naruto-sensei, you can't play hooky as a teacher, now, can you?" She teased.

"Guess not," Naruto grinned at her. His eyes sparked with an idea and Sakura swallowed. She knew that spark, he had just gotten the idea of a lifetime, Sakura was sure. "Why don't you join us? I'm sure they would be thrilled to see the Sakura-sama, successor of the Godaime herself in action. Show them what that monstruous strength of yours can do!" He grabbed her hand and tugged her down from the fence.

"I'll show you what my monstruous strength can do," she groaned lowly as she was dragged toward the children. Naruto paid her no mind.

"Hey, guys! Guess what! We have a special instructor today! Haruno Sakura herself!" Naruto announced excitedly. "She's like the strongest kunoichi in the whole world, her strength is, like out of this world!"

The children cheered and Sakura thought about the trouble she would be in if she pummeled Naruto into the ground and destroyed academy grounds with the future Hokage. She shifted her eyes to the children from Naruto and they were staring at her with expectant, wide, wonderous eyes.

"Well, hurry up, Sakura-chan!"

"Alright! Alright!" Sakura chuckled nervously. "Okay, so…" she started showing kata as she explained each of her movements. Some children picked it up instantly, some after a few tries, while others struggled more. Sakura did her best to instruct all of them individually, as well as as a group. She showed them the kata patiently and slowly. All of a sudden, she found that her body had relaxed and her mind was focused on something other than Sasuke and the situation at hand.

At the end of the lesson, Naruto lined up the children and Sakura awkwardly said some encouraging words and emphasized the importance of practicing one's kata. Naruto beamed at her approvingly, giving her a thumbs up.

–––

"Thanks for participating in the lesson, Sakura-chan," Naruto said as they sat in the shade of a tree in the academy yard.

"Sure thing," Sakura said. As much as she didn't want to do it at first, she couldn't deny that she thoroughly enjoyed it. "I had fun. Though, I have to say, Naruto-sensei, I'm sure I wasn't as good as you were," she bumped her shoulder against his. They were quiet for a moment there and thoughts of Sasuke infiltrated her mind again.

"Something troubling you?" Naruto asked, staring ahead.

"Sasuke…" Sakura started. "People have been seeing Sasuke all over the nations…" She wasn't sure how to explain the whole situation.

"Oh, you mean that fake Sasuke?" Naruto asked, not sounding worried at all.

"Why are you so cool about this whole ordeal?" Sakura's eyebrows creased. "There's some impostor trying to cause Sasuke-kun unnecessary trouble and he hasn't even answered any of Kakashi-sensei's messages and we don't even know where he is and I don't even know if he's okay," she burst out.

"He's fine," Naruto shrugged.

"And how do you know that? Have you been in contact with him?" Sakura asked.

"Nope," Naruto answered. "That's how I know he's okay. He clearly thinks we can handle this on our own. He's probably annoyed that we're even bothering him with the matter when he thinks it's no big deal."

Sakura sat there thinking about it for a while. No one knew Sasuke better than Naruto, they had a bond that went back thousands of years. He was probably right. Sasuke had faith that they could handle things without him.

"Thanks, Naruto," Sakura smiled at him.

"Now that's better," Naruto threw an arm around her shoulders. "I'm gonna kick the teme's ass once he gets back. Always making you worry about him like that." Sakura chuckled. She was thankful for Naruto, more than words could ever say. She laid her head on his shoulder and they sat in silence for a while.

–––

Sakura spent the night thinking about the possibilities that would allow someone to replicate someone else's chakra, without their knowledge. Her working theory was that if chakra could be extracted from someone's hair or skin, then that would be the easiest way to acquire Sasuke's chakra without his knowledge.

She invited Tsunade out the next day for lunch to discuss the theory with her master. "Well, hypothetically speaking, I suppose that could be possible. But then it would also work with blood and sweat, I guess," Tsunade said between sips of sake.

"Blood and sweat as well, huh," Sakura mumbled to herself. "I'll go to the library to see if there's any useful research. Thanks so much, shishou," she bowed before she ran out the izakaya.

"Sakura!" She heard Sai's voice calling from behind her.

"Oh, hey, Sai. What's up? Back from that reconnaissance mission?" She asked.

Sai looked surprised. "Kakashi-sama told you about that?"

"Yeah, I was summoned to his office yesterday. I was just on my way to do some research about the other part of our discussion with him."

"The fake Sasuke?" Sai guessed.

"Yeah," Sakura bit her lip.

"I heard even the chakra signature was the same as Sasuke's," Sai said.

"Yeah, that's what Gaara said. I'm just about to look into ways possible to transfer chakra without the person knowing about it," Sakura motioned in the direction of the hospital with her hand. "I have a theory that you can do it using the hair or skin of the person."

Sai was silent for a moment, then grabbed Sakura's hand. "I need you to come with me to the Hokage's office," he said as he dragged her down the street behind him.

"Wait a second, Sai!" Sakura caught up with him and yanked her hand out of his grip. "What's this about?"

"I think we're onto something," Sai looked at her briefly. "I'll tell you in Kakashi-sama's office."

Sakura kept up Sai's hurried pace as they made their way to the Hokage Tower. Sai ran up the stairs, taking three steps at a time, to the Hokage's office. Sakura followed closely behind.

"Ino?" Sakura asked, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see if we could reach Sasuke from the communications office with my Shindenshin no Jutsu but it didn't work," Ino said defeatedly.

"I think the ANBU might be involved in the fake Sasuke situation," Sai blurted, attracting all the attention to himself.

"What?" Asked Kakashi and Sakura at the same time.

"Well, from what Sakura told me, this impersonator has Sasuke's chakra too, not just his face and body, right?" Kakashi nodded. "Sakura has a theory that chakra can be extracted from hair or skin, which would mean it could be transferred without the chakra's owner's knowledge, right?"

"It's just a theory, I have no evidence," Sakura said.

Kakashi put a hand to his chin as he seemed lost in thought. He nodded slightly, more to himself than to anyone else present.

"Yeah, but a hypothesis is still somewhere we can start," Kakashi said finally. "How does the ANBU come in?" He turned back to Sai.

"During my last meeting with my informant, they said something that's been nagging at me. He said something about the ANBU investigating and collecting samples of dirt at the Valley of the End after the war. Now, I've worked for ANBU and while we did have to clean up scenes of assassinations and such, I have never ever had to get dirt samples? At first, I thought that my informant must have been mistaken, but he's proven himself nothing but reliable… So, why else would they go there to observe dirt if not for…"

"For samples of Sasuke's DNA," Sakura finished the thought, voice low.

"It wouldn't have been hard to get their hands on samples of Sasuke's hair or skin there," Kakashi said.

Or his blood, Sakura thought. A shiver ran down her spine at the memory of the blood pooling under her knees as she tried to save both Sasuke and Naruto's lives. She imagined the ANBU going there after Team 7 had left, scurrying the whole place for any traces of Sasuke. A bitter taste filled her mouth.

"But…" Ino spoke up. "What does the ANBU gain by creating this fake Sasuke and having him incriminate the original? What's their game here?"

"No clue," Sai said. He looked troubled, deep in thought. "Kakashi-sama, if they could do this with Sasuke's chakra, then they could do it with Naruto's as well, right? I'm sure there was just as much of his DNA scattered all over the Valley of the End as Sasuke's…" Kakashi nodded slowly, following Sai's trail of thought. "It could be possible that the men who attacked me, with the Tailed Beast Chakra cloaks, were transferred Naruto's chakra."

"So, what you're suggesting is that, for some reason, ANBU are collecting jinchuuriki samples to create Tailed Beast Chakra cloaks?"

"Well, both incidents involve people cloaked in another's chakra…" Sai said.

"And Kido and that medic-nin that's always at his tail… I wouldn't put it past them to do something like this, especially after what they pulled with the daimyou and the meeting the other week. But how would they even get the resources and where would they even conduct such experiments? The ANBU has so many hideouts, where do we even start," Kakashi kept mumbling to himself.

Sakura shared a confused look with Ino and looked back at Sai, then Kakashi. Tailed Beast Chakra cloak? Like Naruto's when he couldn't control Kurama? She wondered.

"Hello? Catch us up, would you?" The blonde demanded.

"Alright," Kakashi clapped his hand. "You three are on a team now."

"That doesn't explain anything," Ino put a hand on her hip and looked thoroughly unimpressed.

"I'm fairly certain the same enemy is behind the fake Sasuke incident and the Tailed Beast Chakra cloaks," Sai said.

Sakura could see that Ino was going to lose her temper if she didn't get an actual answer soon. "Enemy? As in?" Sakura probed.

"As in Tsumiki Kido and Magire. Both former ROOT members. I've been surveilling them the past couple of weeks." Now that was an answer.

Sai explained the assassination attempt, the juinjutsu that was placed on the guy he had captured after the confrontation, the ANBU's plot to get the budget raise. The girls asked questions where necessary and commented with their own theories. Kakashi sat back in his chair and looked at them in satisfaction.

"What a nice little impromptu team I just put together, huh?" He smirked behind his mask.

"I don't see why that's a surprise," Sai spoke. "I'm on the same team as Sakura anyway. Ino is her best friend so they must work well together. And I don't mind having Ino on the team," he said in his normal, flat tone.

Ino flushed and Sakura chuckled at her friend softly.

–––

Sakura and Ino spent the next couple of days investigating around the village, near places they deemed as a possible location for the ANBU to try to collect Sasuke's DNA. Their investigation was slow, but not entirely fruitless. They got bits and pieces here and there. Slowly, they would surely close in on Kido and his gang.

She was on her way home from a meeting with Ino and Sai, when she heard the sounds of confrontation from an alleyway. She approached, slowly, carefully. She saw several ANBU pinning down a man.

"I didn't do it! How many times do I have to tell you that?" Said the man pinned to the ground.

That voice… "Sasuke-kun?" Sakura jumped closer.

"Sakura! Tell them I didn't kill all those people! I just wanted to come back to the village but they attacked me!"

Sakura took suspicious steps toward them. While Sasuke wasn't mute by any means, he wasn't known to talk quite so much. Or to beg people to let him go, if they even managed to capture him in the first place. However, seeing his face after so many moons had passed… Sakura couldn't resist inching closer.

"How do I even know it's the real you?" She raised an eyebrow. Something was off…

"Don't you recognize an old classmate?" Classmate, Sakura tried the word in her mind. Sasuke-kun would never refer to himself as an old classmate. Teammate, sure. But not classmate.

She didn't reply, instead she inspected his face carefully. Suddenly, she felt a genjutsu blurring her senses, she quickly dispelled the jutsu, but it was too late. She let her guard down long enough for someone to inject something in the back of neck.

Sakura fell to the ground, the world blackening around her.

–––

Sakura looked around the small room. The floor was cold against her back and her arms and legs ached from being bound together in some sort of metal confinement. She wanted to break it apart, and she probably could have, but she suspected that whatever they injected her with restrained her chakra. I'm such a fool. Letting my guard down like that! How could I be so stupid!

"Well, hello there, Haruno Sakura," a man with a nose that had probably been broken one-too-many times greeted her. His voice was sickeningly sweet and not at all sincere.

"Kido, I presume," Sakura noted.

"I sure am. I see my notoriety precedes me," he smirked and Sakura wanted to break his nose again. "Where is Uchiha Sasuke?" He asked Sakura.

"Huh. Curious. I was going to ask you the same thing," Sakura said. "Why did you make a fake Sasuke parade around the Five Great Nations?"

"To lure him back to the village," Kido stated simply. "It didn't work, though. That's why we had to kidnapped you."

Sakura chuckled wryly. "Sasuke-kun's not going to turn up out of the blue just because you kidnapped me," she said. Though she sounded indifferent, admitting that left her heart aching. No matter how much she wanted to see him, how much she wanted him to care about her so much that he'd return… she prayed he wouldn't. He'd be playing right into these idiots' hands.

"If he doesn't come to your rescue, we'll just kill you," Kido shrugged. "Even he can't be as heartless as to not return for a dear classmate's funeral," he smiled nauseatingly.

"Well then get it over with and kill me," Sakura could feel herself getting angry. She struggled against her restraints. "See how that little wager of yours works out," she growled.

"I wouldn't struggle so much," said another man, standing behind Kido. He was wearing a ridiculous monocle. He looked like a cartoon figure, Sakura thought. "The more you struggle, the weaker the injection we gave you will make you."

Sakura groaned in frustration.

"We'll wait until he's here to kill you," Kido said. "So don't you worry your pretty little head, you'll know when the end is coming," he gave her another one of his sickening smiles.

"Why… would you kill me in front of Sasuke?" Sakura's eyebrows creased in confusion.

"Seeing his beloved classmate die right in front of him will make his eyes more powerful. I'm sure you're aware of how deeply the Uchiha love. But that loss of love is what gives them power."

Sakura remained still and quiet on the ground.

"We'll use his enhanced eyes to make a sharingan drug," Kido went on. "It'll allow anyone who consumes it to wield the sharingan, and I will be a fucking billionaire!" He exclaimed and broke out in a fit of unsettling laughter.

He's crazy… Sakura thought, a feeling of unease settling over her.

Kido and his men left the room. Sakura racked her brain. She thought about all the times she had been an inconvenience during missions when they were genin. She thought about Sasuke leaving the village for the first time. Feeling useless, helpless. You're annoying. Thank you. She still wasn't sure why he'd thanked her. She couldn't die here and she couldn't allow Kido and his grimy men to get to Sasuke, not because she was weak again. She would see him again and on their own terms, not because a bunch of thugs forced them to. She'd ask him why he thanked her that night. Maybe next time… and thank you. She had a vague idea why he'd thanked her then.

Sakura tried to relax her muscles as much as she could. Maybe that way the injection's effects would wear off faster. Her head perked up when Kido and Magire walked into the room again.

"No sight of Sasuke, huh?" She asked cockily, as if she wasn't bound on a floor right now. "You're foolish if you think he'll just allow himself to be captured by the likes of you. If he even shows."

"Oh, that's alright. He will show, don't you worry. And we will capture him, we are ANBU, after all. We're not elite ninja for nothing," a smirk laced his thin lips. Sakura wanted to throw up. "Plus, we have a little something that's going to help us, isn't that right, Magire?"

"You mean the Tailed Beast Chakra cloaks?"

"Oh, so you know about that too?" Kido raised an eyebrow. "Even though they're not quite the real thing, it sure gives you an edge in a fight."

"Oh, yeah? That's why two of your men couldn't even dispose of Sai despite this supposed edge?" Sakura challenged.

Kido growled. "Watch your mouth, kid. That was still an experimental stage. And we don't have to kill that Uchiha brat anyway. We just need to keep him down long enough to take his eyes."

"So, you went through all the trouble of collecting Sasuke's DNA at the Valley of the End and at the bridge? To create a fake? So, what, that you could maybe have a chance of luring him in to take his eyes? Seems like a lot of trouble to go through for such an uncertain outcome to me," she shrugged her shoulders. The motion came off as rather awkward, though, because of her position on the floor.

"Quite the genius, aren't you? Figure out how we got his DNA, huh?" Kido smirked and exchanged a look with Magire. "I bet you were at least a little glad to see your precious teammate in that alley, weren't you?" He taunted.

"Well, while we're at the topic, I'd like to point out a few flaws in your little product. Something you might want to work on in the future. I'm sure customers wouldn't be happy with such low-quality products if they pay big money. Hm, so where do I even start?" She pretended to think for a second. "Well, since you want to steal his eyes, why don't I start there? The real Sasuke's eyes are cooler, like if he were stand in front of you right now," she raised her eyebrows for emphasis as she locked eyes with Kido. "You'd be afraid he was going to cut you in half with his gaze. And that's without even using his sharingan. What else? Oh, yeah, his voice is deeper and his nose is much straighter than that impostor's. I'm sure it's some sort of confidence issue on your part, I mean not all of us can be blessed with such symmetric and aesthetic features," Sakura finished her little monologue. She knew the last one was a low blow but she didn't care.

"We still fooled you, didn't we?" He asked, seething. "If even you can't notice these little things right away, then who else would?" He turned back to one of the masked ANBU and jerked his head toward Sakura. The ANBU stepped forward. "This guy right here was our Sasuke when we captured you."

Kido demanded his man to consume the contents of the little vial again, so they could show Sakura just how perfect their product was. Sakura looked on with a blank expression as the man took off the mask to reveal an unfamiliar face. As the man formed hand seals and smoke enveloped him, Sakura tried to protest, but to no use. The smoke dissipated around the man and Sakura's eyes focused on a figure that looked just like Sasuke. She could feel his strong, brooding chakra signature.

Sakura shut her eyes tightly and turned her head the other way. When Sakura didn't move despite Kido commanding her to do so, she felt steps approaching her and a hand took hold of her face, forcing her to face him and her eyes to open softly. Sasuke's face was staring back at her. He stroked her cheek and smiled down at her. The smile was so foreign to Sakura. Sasuke would never smile like that. The ANBU released the transformation and hid his face behind his mask once again as he stepped away from Sakura.

"Yeah, totally different from the real thing," Sakura finally declared. Sakura felt her strength returning. She knew if she'd stay still the effects of the injection would go away. "Well, gentlemen, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid our visit is coming to an end shortly." She broke off the restraints the next second and jumped to her feet.

"Quick! Get another dose–"

"Yeah, I don't think so!" Sakura grinned. She crouched down, assessing the height of the ceiling. She wasn't sure if she was underground or not, so she made sure to gather enough chakra into the soles of her feet to increase the momentum of her jump. She also laces her fist with chakra to break through any layers between her and freedom.

"Get her!" Kido demanded, but Sakura sprung from her feet and crashed through the ceiling. She overestimated the depth of the hideout and flew high into the sky. She closed her eyes and breathed in the fresh air deeply.

"Sakura?" Came Ino's incredulous voice.

"Guess we're not needed anymore," Sakura heard Sai say as she started dropping back toward the ground.

She landed swiftly on her feet next to the crumbling brick entrance. She jumped back a few yards. Ino jumped off the ink bird as soon as it hit the ground. "Sakura! Are you alright?"

"Yeah. How did you guys find me?"

"Sai tortured the location out of one of Kido's men," Ino said. Then she suddenly burst out laughing. "By tickling the poor bastard."

Sakura chuckled in disbelief. "No way!"

"Yes," Sai confirmed, face straight. "But from what I can see, you didn't really need us, Ugly," he smiled at her.

"Don't let your guard down, though," Sakura warned. "Both Kido and Magire are in there somewhere. As well as several ANBU guards from what I could see."

Just as the words left her mouth, Kido and his gang came scrambling from the whole she'd left. They looked disheveled and seriously pissed off.

"You're not going anywhere!" Kido pointed at Sakura. "You're going to help us get Sasuke's eyes!"

Ino glanced at Sakura. "What is he talking about?"

"These jackasses want to make a sharingan drug from Sasuke's eyes," Sakura said, keeping her eyes on Kido.

Kido and his men drew closer to Sakura and the others.

"How nice of your friends to join us," said Magire. "Now Uchiha can watch all three of you die in front of him. Imagine the power in those eyes!" He laughed menacingly.

"Power in his eyes?" Sai mumbled beside Sakura.

Sakura drew her fists in front of face, ready to beat anyone who came to close. Sakura explained to Sai and Ino what she'd learned during her short but eventful stay at Kido's little hideout.

"So… the guys with the Tailed Beast Chakra cloak…" Sai assessed. "That another one of the drugs they've been working on."

"That is correct," Kido grinned.

"He wants to sell these drugs and expects to become a billionaire," Sakura added.

"That's right. I don't just expect it. I'm going to make a military company and will become a billionaire," Kido declared.

"Who would ever buy your shitty drugs?" Ino challenged.

"They are not shitty!" Kido growled. He looked back at the ten men surrounding him and Magire. "You! Take the Tailed Beast drug and capture these fools! If you have to be rough and kill them in the process… well, shit happens," he bared his teeth.

Sakura, Ino and Sai jumped back as they watched cloaks of chakra enveloping the men. One or two tails appeared on each of them. The men charged toward them. All of them seemed to be close-range fighters. Sakura cracked her knuckles and chuckled to herself. She didn't have to hold back, then.

A full-blown battle ensued within seconds, with multiple chakra tails charging at the three-men team. They soon realized, however, that knocking the opponent out made the cloak disappear. And the effects of the drug didn't last very long either.

"Let's knock them all out," suggested Sai.

"Yeah!" Sakura agreed and charged toward a man coming at her. She hit him straight across the jaw and he flew back several yards. The cloak around him started vanishing mid-air.

"Ah!" Sakura heard Ino's scream. She whipped her head around to see her best friend on the ground as two enemy ninjas rushed toward her with kunais in hand. Sai kicked one of them in the stomach, sending him flying into the rubbles of the hideout, while Sakura punched the other one so hard, he embedded into the ground.

When Sakura looked up from the enemy, she saw Ino silently healing a wound across Sai's arm. She smiled softly, then turned around and charged toward the enemy with full force.

–––

"I'm sure you're beat after all that," Kido said, motioning toward the men scattered around them. "But now you have no choice but to face us. Unless you decide to surrender?" He raised a taunting eyebrow.

"You guys go after Magire," Sakura murmured. "I'll lure Kido away." Sakura took off deep into the forest and stopped in a little clearing and turned around to face her opponent. However, after hitting him square in the chest, Kido disappeared into a cloud of crackling lightning.

He came at Sakura from behind then. She turned around to see a massive bear head, made of lightning, hurdling toward her. Sakura knew she would never be able to dodge the attack, so she gathered her chakra in the palms of her hands and grabbed the bears lips, forcefully pushing it back until disappeared into thin air.

"Not bad," Kido commented. "Guess I'll have to use this after all," he popped a purple capsule into his mouth. Shit, Sakura thought. That's the Tailed Beast drug.

Sakura watched in shock as one tail grew after the other until… Until there were nine tails. Fuck. The cloak over his body was vastly different from his subordinates. It looked more like when Naruto had gone into a rampage and grown four tails and hit Sakura in the side. She winced at the memory.

She felt a force of wind behind her and heard tree branches cracking, she jumped to a different branch, but it broke beneath her. As she fell, a tail swung at her and sent her hurling toward a tree. She quickly recovered and countered the attack, running head-on toward Kido and hitting him straight in the chest.

Sakura watched as pieces of his firm chakra cloak crumbled away and fell to the floor. However, she was shocked to note as the almost skin-like chakra regenerated in front of her eyes. This gave Sakura an idea.

Kido jumped back and launched another of that lightning bear attack on her. Sakura calculated her options carefully, and decided to launch itself straight into the mouth of the beast. She emerged on the other side of the jutsu and hit Kido in the chest again, with as much force as before. This time, Sakura followed up her punch with a pulse of healing chakra. She hit him again and again but still, no cracks. Kido looked down at her smugly.

Sakura kept pounding on Kido's chest while also dodging his hits with his tails. He did have nine tails, however, and she only had two hands. A tail pierced her through her stomach. Sakura didn't stop. She released her seal and kept going.

Kido watched in shock as the seal on her forehead released and drew designed all over her skin, the haughty look from before slipping from his face. Tail still in her stomach, Sakura ran forward and kept hitting him.

"Don't you see? It's no use! You can't defeat me with those fists of yours!"

"Maybe, but I won't ever stop, not until I've run out of chakra. Not even after that!" Sakura declared as she kept pummeling him. He withdrew the tail from her stomach and the gaping hole closed up within seconds.

Kido opened his mouth and Sakura watched with wide eyes as he gathered what seemed to be a Bijou Bomb. She immediately retreated, but the bomb still got her in the side. She rose on shaky legs.

"This is hopeless," Kido said. "This way you'll die before you could even see your precious Sasuke-kun for the last time."

Sakura felt anger brewing within her. How dare he speak about Sasuke! He didn't know anything about him. About them. Because there was a them. They may not be together physically right now, but they were connected. Through their bonds, through their feelings. And they would be reunited soon. Sakura could feel her rage giving her new-found energy.

She launched forward and hit Kido in the chest again. "You don't know what you're talking about!" She yelled.

"Don't know what I'm talking about?" Kido laughed wryly. "Look at yourself! You're barely standing! Yet, here I am, not a scratch on me," he grinned down at her, but upon seeing the smirk on her face, he drew his eyebrows together. "What's so funny?"

"Not a scratch, huh?" Kido looked down to see a huge crack running down his armor of chakra.

"But– How?!" He growled.

"Easy," Sakura smiled as she backed away slightly, putting distance between them so she'd have space to draw momentum for her next attack. "Each time I hit you, it did do you a great deal of damage. I just healed it right away so you wouldn't be aware of it. You see, cells can only regenerate a certain, limited number of times. If you keep forcibly dividing them, they will stop after a while. That means the wound won't close anymore," she smiled. "And if it can't heal, it makes the spot vulnerable."

"As if this little crack would make me vulnerable! You're barely standing, girl!"

"Maybe so," Sakura shrugged. The next second she was launching forward. Kido threw his head back, mouth opening wide. Sakura new she wouldn't be able to avoid another Bijou Bomb. She redirected her fist toward the ground. The earth wobbled and shook and cracked at the impact of Sakura's fist. It threw Kido off balance, and Sakura was quick to attack, one last time. She gathered all the chakra she could muster into her right fist, drew it back and…

And she hit Kido right in the middle of the crack she had created earlier. Kido flew back into the tree line, taking down massive trees on his way before eventually embedding into a boulder. Sakura took off after him, stopping before his unconscious form. Blood ran down from the corners of his mouth and the chakra cloak has vanished.

"Sakura!" Ino yelled from above.

Sakura fell to her knees as her friends landed beside her.

"You okay, Sakura-chan?" Naruto crouched down next to her. The others all looked in wonderment at Kido's beaten and bruised form. A proud smile danced in Kakashi's eyes as he looked at Sakura.

Ino received word that a group of ANBU had fled the village. Kakashi decided to let shadow clones guard Kido's unconscious form and go after the fugitives.

"Hinata, can you see anything?"

"I…" Hinata trailed off and leaned forward a bit more. "I can see… fire? And there are several men on the ground."

Fire? Sakura thought.

Surely enough, they landed in a field beside a pile of unconscious bodies in ANBU uniforms. They weren't dead, but their chakra was severely disrupted.

"A genjutsu?" Sakura mumbled, she snapped up her head to surveil the perimeter. She thought she saw a dark shadow by a tree before it disappeared into the tree line. Sasuke-kun, you came back after all. She smiled to herself.

"What?" Ino asked. "You think Sasuke did this? The real Sasuke?"

"Sure seems like his style, doesn't it?" Kakashi looked at the members of Team 7. They just smiled back knowingly.

–––

Once they were back at the village, Sakura couldn't wait to go home and take a shower and get some sleep. She looked at Ino and Sai, who were walking side by side, but awkwardly avoiding talking or even looking at each other.

Sakura grabbed Ino's hand. "Go on," she whispered. "Ask him out to eat or something."

Ino inhaled deeply, held it for a second, then exhaled. She nodded. "Alright," she turned toward Sai. "Hey, Sai?"

"Yes, Beautiful?" Sai asked, using that stupid nickname that Ino still didn't know the true meaning of. Sakura sighed at the sight of Ino's blush. Maybe I shouldn't have meddled…

"I was wondering if you'd like to get something to eat?" Ino laced her hands behind her back nervously. "Like… as in a date?"

"A date?" Sai tasted the word on his tongue. Then, he smiled one of his more genuine smiles. "Sure."

–––

Sakura went to her kitchen out of habit, not really expecting to see anything there but her eyes widened at the sight of a note.

I knew you could handle it without me.

I'll see you soon.

Sasuke