The next morning Sakura squared against Tsunade for the second time "Try to be more creative with your attacks brat, I want to see variety is that understood" Tsunade demanded once Sakura had handed her weapons scroll over to Naruto again.
She was getting pretty curious about it actually but she wouldn't ask just yet "As you wish Tsunade-sama" Sakura bowed lightly then popped back up a second later, already on the move as she whipped out an exploding tag.
And when Tsunade was within range set it off, it did little to no damage or at least that's what Tsunade thought until everything began distorting "You little brat you poisoned me" Tsunade smirked, rather impressed.
Not that it did any good as she turned her chakra inward to flush herself of the poison "Guess it didn't last to long against you though" Sakura frowned, flinging kunai with metal wire attached to the ends.
Green eyes shifting from one spot to the next "Sakura your being to obvious" Tsunade informed, getting in range of the girl and kicking her, a wire wrapped around her foot and Sakura yanked it, causing her to face plant.
While Sakura herself landed on her feet "Don't think I'm finished yet Tsunade-sama" Sakura shot back, trying to give her clone enough time to finish the spiderweb netting, that's what the explosion had been for mostly.
Tsunade grumbled under her breath about tricky brats and lunged intent on ending the fight early "Come here Sakura I only want to bash your cranium a bit" Tsunade growled, Sakura backpedaled away from her hastily.
Then smiled as she flashed through some hand signs "Suiton: Syrup Trap" Sakura called out, spewing a sticky looking liquid from her mouth that Tsunade stepped right into and promptly got herself stuck.
Sakura knew that Tsunade wouldn't remain trapped for very long but it would give her clone time to get her task done "God damn it Sakura what the hell is this crap" Tsunade snarled, struggling but only getting more stuck in whatever this liquid was.
"It's syrup Tsunade-sama, one of the Chunin I'm familiar with came up with it when he got stuck in some and taught me as a post-promotion gift and good luck on the mission kind of thing" Sakura giggled.
Pleased that her tactic had worked better than she'd planned on it working "Not bad Sakura, but unfortunately I have water nature chakra to wash this away" Tsunade announced, shooting off a mild water jutsu to free herself from the syrup.
Sakura's grin widened as she resumed throwing kunai with wire all around the area "To bad that was just to stall you Tsunade-sama for the real trap…here's my special Sakura Haruno spiderweb netting" Sakura smiled.
Cutting the wire that led to her trap once Tsunade was surrounded, the net sprung upwards and caught Tsunade completely in it's sticky webbing "Gah you stupid brat what the hell what is this" Tsunade yelled.
Struggling but only entangling herself in the netting more until she was completely stuck in it "Something I came up with, I sort of reverse-engineered the tree walking exercise, made my chakra act like an adhesive and coated the net with it so it's like a spiderweb" Sakura explained.
Quite proud of herself "Okay, okay you win now get me out of this stupid net or I'm going to put you in it next" Tsunade ordered unable to move, even when she used her chakra it only made it that much stickier to her horror.
"Here we are Tsunade-sama" Sakura said a moment later after carefully removing the netting and ducked when the woman went to smack her, upon not hitting her target Tsunade stalked off with Jiraiya on her heels.
Shisui walked over to Sakura "That was pretty well thought out Sakura, how did you manage to prepare something like that net of yours on short notice" Shisui asked, not having seen her do much except dodge, distract and finally ensnare like a spider, a very deadly one to be precise.
"Clone, underground, when I set off the exploding tag I made a shadow clone and gave it the instruction to prepare the net and stalled until she was finished, so I threw in many little traps to capture Tsunade in the big one when the time was right" Sakura admitted.
Making the man sweat drop at her underhandedness "Sakura-san care to take a walk with me, leave Uchiha-san to his cousin" Cee inquired, already headed back to Tanzaku Town since they'd trekked outside of it for the sparring session.
Sakura smiled, accepted her weapons scroll back from Naruto, then followed Cee as they left the others behind "Alright Cee-san I know as well as the next person that you didn't ask me to go on a walk with you for nothing so you have something you want to say or ask" Sakura said.
Once they were out of earshot of the others "Very perceptive, listen you need to take care while your with those two, if I'm right, Orochimaru is here somewhere but I can't pinpoint his exact location" Cee warned.
Telling her something she already knew "Figures you'd find out…Shisui-san told me last night not to mention Naruto and Sasuke are more aware than you think as well, but it's nice you wanted to warn me so thank you" Sakura informed.
Lowering her voice to a whisper, Cee pressed his lips together "Well even if its rather useless, Sakura-san would you allow me to share some of my chakra with you, I have this uncanny feeling that something bad is going to happen at the end of this week" Cee requested.
Imagine his surprise when Sakura blushed beet red, it took him a second to figure out what she was thinking then smirked "You do know there are other ways of sharing chakra right and not just through the mouth" the blonde pointed out.
"O..Of course I know that" the rosette scowled, hating how her mind just immediately jumped to that, she had valid reasoning everyone lately had taken to sharing their chakra with her simply through that way.
Cee chuckled "Unless you'd prefer it that way" Cee teased lightly, carefully, he had promised not to touch her again after his moment of stupidity, Sakura eyed him warily "It wouldn't be like before" he assured softly.
Guilt rearing it's ugly head but suddenly finding himself with the odd curiosity to find out what her lips felt like "Nothing else just chakra sharing" Sakura prodded, knowing why he was acting this way.
Her other worldliness as Jashin had told her had an affect on men that drove them crazy, not all men of course but most "Just chakra sharing" Cee assured as he led her further down the streets and away from the hotel.
While suppressing his chakra until he found the perfect place "Why here and not in a small inn room or something" Sakura asked when she was pulled down an alley where there was a small bench and Cee sat.
Lifting her into his lap "Stop talking Sakura-san" Cee snorted, though he did understand that she was nervous as he brought his face closer to hers before gently pressing his lips against hers and found them utterly soft as he began sharing his chakra with Sakura.
This was just so he could find her if anything happened nothing more really, Sakura gasped softly at the tenderness of his kiss, and his chakra it was like a cool ocean breeze, then after a moment it ended and Cee pulled away.
"A..Are you finished" Sakura shivered lightly as his chakra didn't become part of her chakra and remained a separate entity, she supposed it was so he could locate her if something happened at the end of the week.
His lips curled upwards "Do you want me to be" Cee inquired licking his lips teasingly and simply enjoyed her reaction of turning beet red before attempting to squirm from his lap, he let her go since he'd been merely teasing.
And thankfully Sakura realized this when he didn't make a move to grab her "Right I'm going to go find those two idiots before they get into trouble" Sakura informed, heading swiftly towards the exit of the alley, Cee waited a few minutes before doing the same.
"I see you got her to agree to letting you tag her with your chakra Cee, you did tell her that it will always be part of her and that you can't remove it right" Darui noted, knowing his partner had accomplished his task.
Cee shook his head "No, I doubt she would have been agreeable then, though Sakura-san does seem to be adjusting rather quickly to having a separate chakra just sitting uselessly in her" Cee admitted and that was that, the end of their conversation.
A few days later, after a particularly rough sparring session with Tsunade, Sakura felt a familiar chakra flare at the very edge of her senses 'Kabuto, what the hell is he doing here….don't tell me' Sakura frowned deeply.
Nearly groaning outwardly as she figured out why the bastard would be around these parts 'Correct my child, he is working for Orochimaru' Jashin informed, glad that Sakura did need him to explain much to her, she just understood.
And seeing as there was only a couple days left before a confrontation was going to happen Sakura grabbed Naruto and Sasuke shooting them death glares if they complained about being glued to her hips like velcro.
"What's the big idea Sakura-chan, I have to keep training or I'll never get the rasengan down" Naruto whined when she dragged him along with her back to Tanzaku, Cee and Darui on their heels, to keep an eye on them.
Both wondering what Sakura was up to "Not without me around Naruto, none of us, even you Sasuke, so where I stay you stay got it" Sakura declared vehemently as tense as a tightly coiled spring just waiting to spring on the unsuspecting.
Sasuke paled then nodded rapidly in answer "Okay will you tell us what the hell is going on Sakura" Sasuke asked when they were in the hotel room she was sharing with Tsunade, Shizune and Shisui.
It's where he'd rather be if he was being honest with himself "Remember that bastard from the first exam, the one who approached us, yeah he's here and working with Orochimaru" Sakura announced without preamble.
Neither of them had to ask how she knew, Jashin was quite the informant when he wanted to be after all "Maybe we should do a ritual, rent a room, put up seals, to ask Lord Jashin to watch over us so nothing happens" Sasuke suggested.
"Good idea, we haven't gotten to get in any of our usual stuff what with Dad coming back and him not knowing and you've been entirely to wound up lately so a blood letting ritual is just what you need" Naruto nodded.
Agreeing with Sasuke, Sakura rolled her eyes at their antics but ended up also agreeing to the idea as they rented a room and set up to pray to the God of Slaughter "At the start of a new day, Lord Jashin, my thoughts are of you and I know you are with me" Sakura began leading the chant.
By slashing her wrists to spill her blood, Naruto and Sasuke steeling their nerves and doing the same except on a smaller scale, they made themselves bleed but that was about it "I give you this day, lead me to walk your path, without hesitation" Sasuke prayed next.
Cutting up his arm lightly, feeling light headed "To places where I will gain wisdom, to sources where I will gain knowledge and where I can make a difference for you" Naruto chanted with the next part of the prayer.
A sensation they'd never felt before welling up on them "Push me so that no minute will be lost in laziness, inactivity, or boredom, so I will be the best that I can be in all areas of my life" Sakura prayed, the words echoing in their ears.
As if hundreds were reciting the chant with them "Watch over me this day, protect me from my enemies" Sasuke recited, skin prickling as if something was about to burst out of him as he scratched his legs with the kunai.
"Where ever I am, may people see you in me and in everything I do, may you be honored" Naruto finished, making one final cut upon his person before closing his eyes as a presence settled briefly in his mind, told him he'd done a good job before disappearing from all senses.
When he and Sasuke opened their eyes, they found their cuts all healed up "Yeah, Jashin-sama's generous like that, he was proud of you for making an offering of your blood to him during the ritual" Sakura giggled.
Relaxed now unlike how she'd been earlier "I heard him, he said I done a good job" Naruto admitted, until then nothing had felt real despite seeing Sakura come back to life three times now, now it was real, experiencing it for himself.
"I did to, he's gone now though, but you've been hearing his voice all along, is that because you actually have his power or is it because his power was the one that gave you life in your mothers womb" Sasuke said.
Sakura shrugged indicating she didn't know nor had Jashin told her, with that they cleaned up their mess and lounged on the beds in the room for a bit simply basking in the after effects of their properly done ritual.
Until they were interrupted by a knock on the door and Sakura cautiously answered it to find Shisui stood out in the hall "What are you three hiding in here for" Shisui asked when he was stood inside the room.
They shrugged not really up to talking "We're relaxing Shisui-san, though I suppose I should get back out there to keep training" Naruto sighed, to disturbed to close his eyes and rest now that Shisui the chatterbox was there.
"Eh it's for the best, come on Sakura, you did say that neither of us were allowed to be by ourselves" Sasuke grumbled, having hoped to lounge a bit longer, with the appearance of his cousin it would be impossible now.
Shisui sulked some "Lets go then" Sakura popped up, just glad that they'd gotten to do the ritual without being bothered because now she was no longer tense, of course her guard was still raised but she wasn't completely on edge.
With that the three of them headed back out after grabbing takeout from one of the restaurants and Naruto resumed training "You know you three could have stayed relaxing in the room right" Shisui frowned.
A little put out that they felt the need to push themselves to the brink of exhaustion "No laziness or inactivity is allowed Shisui-san, we have to keep moving, plus I don't want Kakashi to think we were slacking while we were away either" Sasuke shook his head.
Still a little awkward around the man "That's right, he's your sensei isn't he, you know I heard he was kind of on the strange side, constantly late and all that, how have you managed" Shisui frowned remembering Sakura had said the name as well.
His little cousin nodded "We've managed just fine Shisui-san, he was only late a few days but then he started training us seriously and has been the best sensei we could ever ask for" Sakura grinned brightly.
Reading from her advanced medical ninjutsu book again "Even if he does try to kill us sometimes, metaphorically speaking" Naruto huffed from his spot, messing up on the rasengan yet again to his utter frustration.
Hours later they traipsed back to their individual inns and before they knew it, it was the final day of the bet, but when Sakura woke up that morning, she knew something was seriously wrong, considering Tsunade was missing from her bed.
And both Shisui and Shizune were knocked out on the floor "Ugh damn it Lady Tsunade" Shisui groaned when she woke him up from his unwanted nap, he slowly sat up rubbing the back of his neck from where she'd hit him.
Shizune was next "Oh no, Tsunade-sama we have to stop her" Shizune panicked rushing over to the window and throwing it open, she stuck her head out intending on leaping down into the street only to reel back as a kunai came flying at her.
"That damned Tsunade drugged me, can you flush the drug from my system Sakura" Jiraiya appeared after his kunai, looking pale and holding his stomach and the girl quickly jumped into action at his request.
When she went to follow him, Shisui and Shizune he shook his head "Go find that lot at the other inn, I'm sure the Raikage will follow but keep those two safe, I can't have them there distracting us" Jiraiya instructed.
Leaving her to do as he asked hopefully, Sakura watched them head off with a sigh but hurried to do as told and thankfully met up with the Raikage, his brother, his two men and her teammates a few streets away from the other inn "The hell is going on brat" Ay barked at her.
"I'm not sure, I woke up and Tsunade was gone, presumably to meet with Orochimaru, Shisui and Shizune were knocked out and then Jiraiya showed up saying she drugged him, I flushed his system of the drug and those three headed after her a moment ago" Sakura explained.
Ay growled "Bee stay with those three brats, Cee, Darui with me" Ay ordered, preparing to storm off down the street, when an unexpected showed up, it was Kabuto and what he did had all of them stunned.
Because from the moment he appeared he grabbed Sakura "My apologies but I can't have you intervening in the fight" Kabuto informed with a fake smile then jabbed a needle into her neck, injecting the aphrodisiac/poison into her bloodstream.
Sakura clenched her fist and swung it out at him, catching him by surprise "SHANNARO, what the hell did you just do to me you fucking bastard" Sakura hissed, as he went sailing into a building face first.
Cracking his glasses "Hehehe it's a poison and an aphrodisiac, the poison will attack your vital organs and the aphrodisiac will slowly degrade your mind, driving you mad with lust until that is all you know, something you can never come back from" Kabuto smirked.
Dispersing in a poof of smoke signaling he had been a shadow clone all along, Ay sneered at the complication "Raikage-sama I'll be alright, I have no intention of losing to that bastard" Sakura looked up at him.
Obviously she was already being affected by the poison/aphrodisiac but there was no time "You better not brat, Cee, Darui lets go" Ay snarled at her, Cee located Tsunade's chakra outside of Tanzaku and with that the three of them were gone.
Naruto reached out for Sakura who jerked away from him at the feel of his hand on her bare shoulder "Do..Don't, we have to get to the hotel, in the room we'll be safe" Sakura shook her head feeling sick at the feeling of her lower half throbbing.
Her mind was already degrading "What can we do Sakura-chan, your the medic here" Naruto asked, brow furrowed in concern as they hurried to the inn and to the room the three of them had rented a few days ago to do their rituals.
Just then Sasuke realized the only thing that might work "Can we trust you, that you won't reveal anything you might see to the Raikage, here in this room" Sasuke rounded on Bee who'd followed them on command of his brother.
"If it's going to help Pinky then you have my promise wee" Bee rapped obnoxiously, having always felt like there was something special about the pinkette, Gyuki had told him so after all and it seemed as if he was about to find out how special.
When Sasuke spread out a large body scroll with a peculiar symbol drawn on it, in blood if he wasn't wrong and Sakura laid down on it, while Naruto set up candles and they lit unexpectedly with black flames.
Then Sasuke took a deep breath as he and Naruto sat on either side of Sakura with kunai's in their hands "Black candles burning, Jashin invoked, sigils drawn, flesh is cut, an offering is made in the master's name" Sasuke and Naruto chanted together.
Bravely cutting Sakura's wrist as Naruto did the other, "I have given you Jashin, my life force, my blood spilt for your victory" Sakura prayed, doing her part in the ritual even as it became harder to concentrate with the stupid poison in her.
Another cut was made upon her flesh "My soul is my ultimate sacrifice to you my master, darkness overcomes me and I bask in it's infernal pleasures, your presence surrounds me therefor I am never alone" Sakura struggled to recite the next part of the prayer.
As blood poured from her mouth, the poison viciously attacking her lungs "Come on Sakura your almost finished" Sasuke urged, wondering if she could what with practically hacking up her lungs and copious amounts of blood.
She grit her teeth against the pain in her lower half as it throbbed "With bended knee before your alter, I have made eternal oaths that can never be broken, may you always be glorified in everything I do, Lord Jashin" Sakura finished.
Convulsing at this point and then sweet relief as his power washed over her, relieving her of her injuries and symptoms "There she seems to be peaceful now" Naruto breathed, glad that Sakura's immortality had a perk.
Whenever she did rituals she was healed of any issues regarding her health keeping her in perfect condition and now as they cleaned her up and moved her to the bed, Sakura slept blissfully "Who's Jashin and how did you know such a thing would work" Bee questioned.
"Jashin is her...our god, we follow his religion called Jashinism, but only Sakura and one other has his favor, basically she's immortal, she can still die, but she comes back, but that wasn't our goal just now" Sasuke admitted.
Bee listening calmly "Our goal was to perform a ritual, right after anything wrong with Sakura is usually healed by Jashin because he has the power to do so" Naruto finished the explanation, hoping that this wasn't going to come back to bite them in the ass later on.
For several minutes the Raikage's brother said nothing "I won't tell Ay, I know you didn't really have much choice to tell me if you wanted to save her, but you have my word that what I saw and learned here today in this room won't get out to anyone not even big bro" Bee assured normally.
To their relief as they settled down for a long wait, it had to be going on three hours that the others had went after Tsunade when a knock sounded on the door "Sasuke-chan open up it's safe to come out now, Orochimaru and Kabuto are gone" Shisui's voice called out to them.
And Sasuke was the one to open the door only to jump back as Tsunade stomped in, heading straight for Sakura "How…Kabuto said that there was no way she'd figure out an antidote in time as it was a fast acting poison/aphrodisiac" Tsunade frowned.
When after checking over Sakura found her perfectly fine "Sakura-chan's tricky like that, plus that bastard only knows so much about her capabilities as a medic so probably thought the task was beyond her skills" Naruto smirked.
Lying through his teeth to protect Sakura "So what's going to happen now" Sasuke asked, glad that all three of them were safe and Danzo hadn't sent anyone after them either so that was another plus so far.
Tsunade scowled "Well I'll go back to the village of course, oh and Bee, Ay's waiting for you at the other inn" Tsunade glared at Bee who fled out the door as if the hounds of hell were nipping at his heels to Shizune's amusement.
"Really Tsunade-sama, I'm just happy you refused his request, though I do feel bad for the boy in question, he's most likely someone who's committed various sins like his master" Shizune shook her head with a small laugh, only feeling slightly guilty but there was little else they could do.
Shisui chuckled "I guess we're going back to the hotel now so we're leaving Sakura in your hands Granny Tsunade, oh here's the rasengan, I completed my bet after all" Naruto declared, using a shadow clone to wield the rasengan, his father's jutsu.
"And you already know I finished my task and Sakura as well so yeah, going now" Sasuke announced, dragging his goofy blonde teammate out of the room and back to the other inn where Jiraiya, Ay, Bee, Cee and Darui were.
Jiraiya sighed in relief at the sight of them "Is Sakura alright, I know Bee said that she was doing fine after Kabuto injected her with some kind of drug, but I have to have confirmation from the two of you as well" Jiraiya questioned.
Both Naruto and Sasuke nodded "She's just fine Jiraiya-sensei, sleeping, but okay" Naruto assured, before flopping down in the corner that he and Sasuke had been sleeping in for the past week while sorely missing Sakura's presence.
Cee let out the breath he was holding "You have a thing for her don't you Cee" Darui accused in a whisper as the two boys settled and closed their eyes to get some rest after a tense few hours, Cee froze then grimaced.
"It's not enough that I'm simply worried about her, I have to have feelings for her to" Cee groaned under his breath, feeling dirty, she was a young girl and he was a twenty some year old man with feelings for a child.
Darui shrugged, seeing no problem with it, then lay back to get some shut eye for himself after the fight they'd had, they all deserved sleep and soon the room was filled with the sound of snoring from various people.