Less than three days later, thanks to Sakura and Sasuke, Team Eight and it's sensei were back on their feet "Thank kami I don't think I would have been able to handle much more of Kakashi's whining" Sasuke grumbled glaring at the man.
"Unfortunately as much as I want to say otherwise, I have to agree with you Sasuke" Sakura rolled her eyes in half exasperation, half annoyance, Darui bit his cheek harshly to keep from laughing like a loon, people already thought he was weird after all.
No need to add fuel to their fire by "Well now that, that's over what do you say we head to the hospital and get to work you two" Cee cleared his throat, taking both medics for the hospital, they worked better as a duo anyway than apart.
With that the three medics walked away "Suppose we ought to get started on dealing with things around the village" Kakashi reminded his students that they did in fact have a mission and they needed to get to work on it to improve relations.
All three jumped to at his command impressing Minato, that had been one awkward meeting "You know Kakashi-kun, I'm glad your doing so well" Minato chuckle softly watching how his old student instructed his own students with ease.
"If you don't mind Kakashi-sensei, Shino and I will join you since our mission leader and medic have kind of abandoned us" Shikamaru huffed probably thinking along the lines that this whole thing was a drag, a typical Nara response.
Kakashi nodded silently "R..Right so what are w..we going to be doing an..anyway Kakashi-sensei" Hinata stuttered lightly, asking because they hadn't really been given details of what their mission would entail.
"Helping out around the village, taking on D Rank Missions and the like" the silver haired Jonin in charge of them announced, Naruto squeezed his eyes shut, silently frustrated that even at Chunin he was still having to do those bloody awful D Rank Missions.
But he understood them "Got it Kakashi-sensei, come on Kiba, Hinata-chan, Shino, Shikamaru lets get to work" Naruto pumped his arm psyching himself up and turning to his current teammates, he counted them all of course, because teamwork was what made teams work.
Minato hid a smile behind his hand "Leave strategizing to Shikamaru, why because he's our best bet to get this missions completed in a timely order" Shino chose that moment to speak and all eyes turned to him, but no one argued, because they knew he was right.
Shikamaru let out a long suffering sigh and muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like ~What a drag~ as they all headed for the Raikage Tower to get the list of D Ranks "Probably for the best right Akamaru" Kiba snorted and his ninken yipped in agreement.
~Meanwhile~
"Oh Sakura-san, Sasuke-san good morning, I see your here to help out again, good, I was just about to treat a little girl for seizures, maybe even prescribe her a medicine, can I get your help on that" another medic that had taken a distinct liking to the youngest medics ever greeted.
Earning matching greetings in return before they followed him "Strange" Sakura hummed checking the little girl over, there wasn't a thing wrong with her brain "Can you take a look with your sharingan Sasuke" she frowned.
Cee and the other medic standing back to let them work "What exactly am I looking for Sakura" Sasuke questioned activating his sharingan anyway because he certainly didn't like that look on her face, it said something was amiss but she couldn't quite figure out the problem.
"Unusual brain activity, anything that might be causing her seizures, when I checked I found absolutely nothing" the rosette explained, she knew that she was good with the structure and functions of the brain and new how to check for things, but if this girl was having seizures why couldn't she find anything.
Sasuke raised a brow but did as asked "Nothing, I see what you mean, there isn't anything abnormal going on with her brain, are you sure it's seizures" the ebony haired preteen turned to face the medic that had requested their help in the first place.
Who clearly didn't like that his diagnosis of the little girl was being questioned "Well of course I'm sure, I witnessed her having one myself" he snapped, Cee paled slightly when Sakura straightened and marched towards them.
"As a medic it's our job to question everything to figure out what's wrong, Tsunade Senju is my master, she's taught me how to catch underlining problems, you might have witnessed that girl having a seizure, but there is nothing wrong with her brain" Sakura poked the older male in the chest.
Knocking him back a couple of inches from the force of her jab, a few feet behind her Sasuke bit his cheek harshly to keep from laughing at the man's suddenly extremely pale face "Thought I recognized your voice morning Sakura-san" Amai poked his head into the room.
Only to smile in amusement as he saw the scene, it was just like Sakura to stand up to one of the more senior medics of the hospital and question his diagnosis "If your so smart then figure it out yourself" the man decided that enough was enough and stormed from the room.
Cee grimaced "Ignore him, he's been getting things wrong for awhile now, it's his age you see, I'm sure your right, but how are you going to figure out what's really wrong" the onyx eyed blonde inquired curiously.
While the four of them crowded around the small girl "Well it might take a couple of days, but we can test her blood, check her over on a deeper level and the like, even ask her a few questions when she comes to" Sasuke listed with ease.
"Very interesting, are you also taking lessons from Tsunade-sama, Sasuke-san" the onyx eyed brunet inquired curiously, watching how the duo worked together like a well oiled machine, when one was doing something the other was matching it.
Sasuke shook his head though "No just me Amai-san, that doesn't mean Sasuke hasn't been watching my every move during surgeries and the like at Leafs Hospital or studying and practicing in his spare time" the pinkette giggled lightly.
Rubbing an alcoholic patch over a vein as checking the girl's brain waves on a deeper level produced no conclusive results, then Sasuke handed her a hypodermic needle attached to a syringe and she carefully drew blood, enough to test over the next couple of days.
"For now I would suggest an IV drip and a blood detoxifier to keep her flushed from any illness, food should be nourishing, immune boosting" the raven haired preteen suggested as the vial of blood was stowed away in Sakura's medical pouch.
Then they moved on and spread out to other patients in need of healing until it was time to return to the hotel "Thanks for your hard work you two" Cee bowed his head, having learned a great deal from tailing the young medic duo around the hospital nearly all day.
"Quite, hope you rest well and figure out what's going on with that little girl" Amai smiled softly, not able to leave like them because his shift wasn't over, Sasuke and Sakura bowed lightly then body flickered in a swirl of black crow feathers and cherry blossom petals.
Naruto jumped a foot in the air when his friends appeared next to him "Kami don't do that" the blonde puffed up his cheeks at them, Sakura grinned wide and rubbed his head with her knuckles gently before plopping down and pulling out a myriad of things from her medical pouch.
Even a vial of blood and he wondered how she was able to be so near it especially with her aversion to the smell of it "Work for the hospital, there's a little girl having seizures, yet her brain indicates that she's perfectly healthy" Sakura admitted.
Holding her breath, Minato honed in on that finding the action odd "So if she's healthy and nothings wrong with her, why is she having seizures" Shikamaru turned towards them strangely interested in the conversation.
"That's what we're trying to find out, we're going to run her blood through a couple of tests, got a microscope Sasuke, mine must have been out when we left Leaf" the fuscia haired teen turned to Sasuke, who quickly handed her what she needed.
Dripping some drops of blood on a little piece of square glass and looking at it through the lens of the microscope, scribbling down a couple of things on a scroll, before handing it off to Sasuke, who checked with his sharingan.
Who also wrote some things down "Did you find anything" Naruto asked curiously, he knew they were good but it seemed this was actually giving them trouble, an unknown cause was causing seizures in a child it was slightly worrisome.
"Zilch, there are a few more things we can do though to test the blood, but for now, nothing at all indicates the reason why she's having seizures" Sasuke scowled passing a hand through his hair in frustration, usually they could figure out a problem with no problem.
And the next day was even stranger "What do you mean you released her from the hospital this morning" Sakura crossed her arms, unhappy, they'd even gotten up early to ask the girl a couple of questions that were bothering them.
The medic that had snapped at her twice gave them a very condescending look "She woke up feeling just fine, the seizures have even stopped so her mother asked to take her home, now if you don't mind I have bigger problems than listening to two whiny little brats" he scowled.
Marching off around the corner and disappearing from sight "Calm down Sakura, it was probably something she ate and the seizures were temporary" the Uchiha pat her arm reassuringly as they headed in the opposite direction to find Cee and Amai.
Both of whom were similarly disturbed at the occurrence, there was just no way someone could get better that quick after all as they went about their day, it was around noon that another patient showed up with the same exact symptoms as the little girl.
"Somethings just not right with this situation" the rosette worried her lip furiously as she looked the older man over, brain activity normal, body functions normal, nothing to indicate or give a reason as to why he was having seizures.
Unfortunately Sasuke, Amai and Cee agreed with her "Did you find anything conclusive from that little girl's blood that you ran through a couple of tests" Amai questioned, looking more than a little concerned now that this was the second person to come down with these symptoms.
"You know I thought we did catch a couple of things, but when we checked this morning we couldn't find them anymore" Sasuke admitted, brow creased into a deep frown of concentration, hands glowing a bright green.
Before the healing chakra faded and he glanced to Sakura, who's brow was knit into a deeper frown, something was amiss and she could feel it and he knew that brushing her gut feelings off were never a good idea, case and point as his mind flashed back to the day of the massacre.
"Let's all check together, right now, the other medics can handle things by themselves for a while" Cee suggested, just as concerned as the other three medics in the room with him, so blood was drawn, poor Sakura had to hold her breath, he felt for her, but this was serious.
And together they looked at the blood through microscopes "I see what you mean, there's something definitely strange in their blood stream" the brunet pulled away from his microscope a few minutes later, lips tugged into a frown.
"Agreed, no matter what we can't let him go home, I'll talk to the Head Medic" the onyx eyed blonde vanished in that moment and when he returned it was with confirmation from the Head Medic to keep the patient in the hospital, even if he felt better the next day.
Hours later Sasuke and Sakura left to return to the hotel "Hey why the long faces Sakura, bratty Uchiha" apparently Jiraiya had finally shown up a couple days later though and immediately noticed the frowns the duo wore.
"People are coming down with seizure like symptoms, but we can't figure out the reason because the symptoms disappear, we have another one, thankfully Cee-san talked to the Head Medic and now no one can release the second patient with these symptoms" Sakura flopped down.
Grabbing for some books, Jiraiya grimaced "Good luck I hope you find out what's going on, anyway as I was saying as odd as it is, it's good to have you back Minato" the Toad Sage turned to his old student, who'd grown into a strong shinobi under his teachings.
Only to die in action "Definitely odd, but I'm glad to be back, now I have all the time to rectify my colossal mistake" Minato nodded with a kind smile, peering discretely at his son, who he still hadn't told that he was the boys father.
Jiraiya chuckled knowing what the older blonde was thinking "It's good to see you though Sakura, how are things back home" Jiraiya turned to the young girl, having a few questions he wanted to ask her, since Tsunade had told him about her successful infiltration of Akatsuki.
"Their great Jiraiya-sama, Shisui-ni is still adjusting to being back in the village though, taking on missions to, though Shishou kind of sends him out sporadically which frustrates him" the pinkette turned smiling bright.
Minato blinked a little shocked, didn't the girl know his former sensei was a pervert, yet she was smiling so happily at him "Wonderful…now for what I really want to ask, the Akatsuki Leader, did he really have orange hair, did you see a redhead or a blue haired woman" the Sannin asked.
"Yes he did Jiraiya-sama, with purple ripple patterned eyes and no I didn't see either of them, it was just him, myself and Danzo in what looked like an office" Sakura shook her head seriously, mind flashing back to that day with ease.
The Toad Sage rubbed his chin in thought before rifling around in his pouch "Did he look like this" Jiraiya held out a book, opened to the very last page where three pictures of kids were displayed, each with a name underneath, Sakura looked.
"Kinda, but he had lots of piercings, all over his face, in his ears and even in his arms I think, couldn't tell he was wearing the black cloak with red clouds" the rosette nodded carefully, easily remembering the amount of metal the guy was sporting in his flesh.
Not that it was all that hard to remember anyway, again Jiraiya rubbed his chin and stowed the book away "Thanks for answering my questions Sakura, hope you figure out what's wrong with your patient to" the white haired male stood and then was gone.
Leaving behind several confused people "What was that all about, why because it seemed like he was indicating that you met face to face with a dangerous criminal" Shino narrowed his gaze on his girlfriend, who hadn't told him a thing.
"Shino-kun understand I only did what I had to because Tsunade-shishou asked me to undergo the mission" the fuscia haired teen soothed, flaring her chakra and allowing it to seep soothingly into Shino, as his kikaichu reacted to his anger and began hissing.
It was always a creepy sound, Shino sighed "Fine only because you came back unharmed" the Aburame Heir slumped his shoulders slightly depressed, he was probably the last one to know to, which really sucked.
Her lips curled upwards "Oh Shino-kun of course I came back unharmed, I'll always come back to you" Sakura pressed herself into his side, threading her fingers through his, he got angry because he cared, he just got a little to depressed sometimes.
The moment between them was completely ruined when in the next moment Naruto gagged "Gah do you guys have to act so sickeningly sweet all the time" the blonde rolled his eyes in fake annoyance only to scream when a kikaichu hissed in his ear again.
Feeling slightly better Shino smirked and chuckled under his breath at having successfully scared Naruto for the second time "Why must you antagonize Shino all the time, you know he's gonna get you back, Sakura to" Kiba scoffed.
Busy tending to his weapons for the next mission they'd be going on "You know their right Naruto" Shikamaru laughed, it was always something when the lot of them got together, chaos usually happened and they thrived in it.
"The..There there Naruto-kun y..you know Shino-kun an..and Sakura-chan h..have to get along wit..with each other f..for the sake of their betrothal contract" Hinata soothed gently patting her crush on the back stuttering worse than before.
Minato eyed her oddly for it "He's not gonna stop no matter what you say Hinata, though he's mostly just teasing them" Sasuke piped in, pouring over medical texts with Sakura, who was now cuddled up next to Shino.
Naruto puffed up his cheeks again, inwardly thinking along the lines that he was so going to prank his friends for picking on him like this and as he thought of the perfect prank, he had to fight to keep the grin from forming on his face at it.
Later that night when everyone had gone to bed, Naruto crept out of his hotel room, carrying a certain seal on him, down a couple hallways to the one he knew Sakura was sharing with Hinata, with a deep breath he went to transform.
When a hand landed on his shoulder, "Just what do you think your doing Naruto-chan" a familiar voice whispered creepily in his ear and he let out a scream that could wake the dead, followed by a flash of bright light indicating that a picture had been taken of his humiliating moment.
Everyone flew out of their rooms in a panic only to find Naruto sitting on the floor staring at Sakura like she was some sort of ghost "Want to tell me what the hell is going on" Kakashi demanded, heart pounding in his chest.
"Yeah this little twerp was trying to prank us news flash Naruto I know exactly how you think" Sakura grinned not really angry, more amused than anything as Naruto pouted and sulked, arms crossed over his chest as he did so.
"Here I thought I'd never see the day where the great Naruto Uzumaki prankster extraordinaire was defeated, but here we are, oh and it looks like she even got evidence" Shikamaru chuckled spying the picture on the floor and picking up to look at it.
Naruto's eyes widened in horror as Shikamaru proceeded to then pass it around for everyone to look and see "Teme gimme that picture" he demanded fingers twitching and utterly mortified at the moment that he had been in fact defeated so to speak as a master prankster.
Sasuke smirked "Sorry, this juicy little thing is going in the album and you know it Dope" he body flickered when the blonde lunged at him and swiftly handed the picture over to Sakura, who hastily sealed it away.
Realizing that there was nothing he could do to get it now, Naruto slumped his shoulders "You guys are mean" he huffed storming down the hall back to his shared room with Sasuke, this statement was met with more laughter so he stuck his tongue out at them.
"Good grief these kids are a handful" Minato shook his head at their antics as they scattered and returned to their hotel rooms to get some more shut eye before they had to work in the morning until whenever Kakashi decided to give them a break.
Kakashi snorted at that "Trust me Minato-sensei, you have no idea" the Copy Ninja rubbed his temples in exhaustion to his old sensei's amusement as they to, returned to bed so they could get some more sleep until morning.
And after breakfast they all set forth, Sasuke and Sakura heading off to the hospital "He's awake, willing to answer a couple questions" Cee told them the moment they were signed in and the duo had found him wandering about making rounds.
"Perfect now we can find out what the heck is going on around here" Sasuke smirked, relieved that, that one medic hadn't been able to undermine the Head Medics orders of keeping the patient in the hospital until they could talk to him.
With that they hurried down the halls to the man's room "Ah I wondered when I'd get to see you" he greeted kindly gesturing the three medics into the hospital room he'd been assigned while he'd been mostly unconscious.
"Apologies for making you wait Sir, as you know we have a couple questions do you mind if we get right to that…good what's the last thing you remember doing before you had the seizure" Sakura smiled bowing lightly for the man.
Who tilted his head to the side considering her question "I was tending my garden, there was this strange feeling wash over me right before I collapsed" he finally said thinking long and hard until he managed to remember what had happened.
Immediately the blonde started scribbling things down "Strange like how Sir, do you think an insect could have bit you" the ebony haired preteen questioned, still no closer to finding an answer to the sudden problem they were experiencing.
"Not at all, it felt like air rushed around me" he frowned deeply trying to answer the questions as best he could, but beyond that point and remembering that he was tending to his garden he couldn't really remember anything else.
All three medics shared a concerned look "You don't think.…." the onyx eyed blonde trailed off uncertainly, did they have an intruder in the village, if so why was he doing such strange things and air wasn't a very good answer to the sudden onslaught of symptoms.
But twenty minutes later they were releasing him from the hospital and then around one in the afternoon four more patients were admitted for seizures "Their not really seizures, that's why we can't find anything abnormal" the rosette commented suddenly.
"Convulsions of course we should have figured that out right away, but still, there's no way this is the doing of one person, and we still can't figure out what's causing these convulsions in multiple people, air isn't a good answer" Sasuke slapped his forehead with a frown.
Amai put his hand to his chin "Maybe it's not just air, but scentless poison, mixed in with the air" the brunet offered, but they had no way to test this because the symptoms disappeared after a day which was actually very frustrating.
They had no way of knowing of course that things were soon going to take a turn for the worst as they treated the current patients with a blood detoxifier in their IV drips before setting them up in rooms for the night.
When morning came they were released to go home and that's how the next few days went "Give me a break" Sakura groaned one morning as they arrived at the hospital, light bags under her eyes from the stress of the situation they still couldn't quite figure out.
Finding it swamped with patients "We really need to figure this out" the Uchiha at her side scowled irritated looking about as exhausted as Sakura looked, which wasn't a good sign, especially when they found a couple medics among the patients.
One of them happened to be Cee, though he was surprisingly awake "Started healing myself the moment I felt it wash over me, though I feel like I'm about to pass out" Cee explained a sleepy look in his eyes that worried them.
"However I think I figured out what's causing these symptoms, Amai was right it's a scentless poison, or rather just one poisonous herb that was made scentless, Golden Chain, if burned can cause all these symptoms, just don't know how their doing it" the blonde admitted.
Unable to stay awake after that "Amai-san, we're going to go talk to Raikage-sama" the pinkette called out to the only other reliable medic in her eyes anyway, if Golden Chain was being burned and somehow being released they needed to find the person responsible quickly.
Before things got even worse than they already were, Amai turned in their direction, saw their serious expressions and nodded "Leave everything to me" the brunet called, watching as they gripped each others hand and body flickered in a swirl of blossoms.
To the Raikage Tower, where Kakashi was just arriving with the others to get some missions to do "We have a situation, someone is burning and releasing a poison powder in the air or using a wind jutsu to affect the civilians and now some shinobi of the Cloud Village" Sasuke announced.
Almost immediately upon arrival, then it felt like they were being suffocated "Then what the hell are you waiting for brats, go find the bastard who things he can harm the people and shinobi of my village" Ay barked harshly, reigning in his massive chakra and killing intent.
Shino turned sharply when Sakura shot him a look, "What do you need" the Aburame heir stood at the ready, knowing that she was looking at him for a reason, though he should have realized, he was a born tracker after all.
"Kikaichu dispersed throughout the village Shino as many as you can send out, if they see anything, anything at all I want to know immediately" Sakura ordered eyes burning with fire, who ever was doing this was gonna get burned when she found him, she'd make sure of it.
Naruto felt a shudder of fear crawl down his spine as Shino walked over to a window and opened it, kikaichu bursting from his sleeves to disperse around the village, things were about to get worse as the door to the office was thrown open "Lord Raikage we have a problem, nobody can find Atsui or Samui" another Cloud Shinobi announced.
Yes things were definitely getting bad as Sakura ground her teeth so loud that everyone could hear it in the office "Then let's go find them, do you have anything of theirs that would help in the search" Sasuke questioned trying to remain as calm as he could.
Thankfully the man held out a kunai that had chakra residue on it, which led to a chakra trail "We'll find them" the pinkette nodded seriously, emerald orbs dark, a glint of fury etched into her irises as she grabbed Sasuke's hand and in a swirl of petals were gone.
The chakra trail led them to outside the village so they both signed out and followed the trail deep into the forest that lay at the Hidden Cloud Village's doorstep, they traversed miles it seemed like until they found the missing Jonin.
Only they were in very poor condition "There's no way we'll get them back to the village like this Sakura" Sasuke pointed out, filled with fear that they might not be able to save the duo, as he checked them over.
Labored breathing, feverish, slight shaking or light convulsions, all indications that they'd been poisoned and it was then that Sakura began thinking "Not unless you have help Pinky-chan" a familiar voice to both of them called down to them.
Eyes flew upward to find Kisame Hoshigaki perched in a tree "Been trying to figure out a way to contact you, suppose you figured it out didn't you kid, that this is all Sasori's doing, anyway Leader-sama knows I'm a double agent so I feel no guilt helping you" Kisame grunted.
Also affected by poison, yet he was handling it better than the unconscious duo "Of course, Sasori Akasuna is a poison master" the rosette rubbed her eyes having only just figured it out literally when they'd arrived on scene.
"Regardless of that, with the poison and those injuries it's to dangerous to move them" the ebony haired preteen pointed out bluntly not trusting the man in the least when Kisame jumped from the tree he was in to the ground and rose to his full height.
Pale with sweat beaded on his brow, despite his appearance, he was human to "Cut it out Sasuke, focus on the task at hand not your petty issues with Kisame" Sakura snapped harshly and the boy flinched lightly knowing she was right.
So he bent and began drawing blood, then set to deconstructing the components of the poison that Atsui and Samui had been injected with "I've got it Sakura, we need…" Sasuke began listing a number of herbs that were necessary to create the antidote.
Groundsel, Mullein Root, Yarrow, Aloe Vera Juice and the like, all of which was boiled into hypodermic form, even Kisame got a shot when the antidote was tested to make sure it worked, then Sasuke and Sakura set to work on healing the Cloud Jonin.
Halfway through a cluster of kikaichu appeared in front of Sakura, it was a tough decision to suddenly stop and unroll a scroll for them to give her the message ~Unknown males, both wearing black cloaks with red clouds, high up in the sky~ formed before her eyes.
"In the sky huh, that means he has Deidara with him and nope I definitely don't feel guilty, I'll tell your Lady Hokage everything in exchange for protection" the shark-like rogue commented off-handedly as Sakura wrote a message back in honey.
The Kikaichu formed to the honey and took off back to their host to deliver their new message and Sakura returned to healing Atsui, leaving Samui to Sasuke, until they both let out agonized groans and slowly started waking up now that the poison was out of their system.
"What the hell is going on, last I remember this puppet guy was coming at us" Atsui squinted his eyes hardly able to see, when he felt hands he jumped and reached for a weapon, blood splattered across his face, followed by a soft whimper before a thud reached his ears.
When he was finally able to open his eyes properly he found a young girl passed out cold in front of him "Is that any way to treat the person who came to rescue you" Sasuke snapped, finished healing Samui, who was much more subdued than the other blonde.
And turned to Sakura, "Hold up why did Pinky pass out" Kisame frowned in concern, those three days he spent carrying her, he'd thought he'd really got to know the kid, but here she was passing out at the sight of blood.
"It's the smell of blood Hoshigaki, if she knows she's gonna be around blood she holds her breath, but when she's injured or someone gets injured unexpectedly and she's not prepared for it, she passes out, usually she pukes as well" the bratty Uchiha grumbled.
The person responsible flinched at the harsh tone "Couldn't see okay I'm sorry" Atsui scowled unhappy that he was the one getting snapped at, he felt like an ass to, when these kids had gone through the trouble to come looking for them.
Not that it wasn't worrisome that an S Class Rogue was hanging around "Anyway you two can walk now right, we really need to get back to the Village before anything else happens" Sasuke cleared his throat.
Lifting Sakura gently onto his back to carry her, she'd be out for a little bit anyway and the four of them made their trek back to Hidden Cloud "Err I think I'll stay out here until Pinky can explain things on my behalf" the blue skinned man said when they reached the gates.
Just as Sakura started coming round, hearing the statement "Ugh that was a doozy" the pinkette grimaced deeply feeling sick to her stomach at the thought of it though, she scrambled from Sasuke's back and bolted for a bush.
Puking just like Sasuke said she usually did, when she was done Sakura trudged wearily back towards them, skin as pale as a ghosts, probably feeling like she was going to puke again "Are you alright" Samui inquired tentatively.
Wondering if the girl blamed her brother for what she was going through "I'm okay Samui-san, just don't like the smell of…ugh blood" Sakura clapped a hand over her nose remembering belatedly that she was bleeding.
Sasuke was kind enough to heal it for her, Atsui grimaced "Let's get to Raikage-sama's office alright" the young girl sighed, exhaustion shining through plain as day as they walked through the Cloud Village warily until they reached the tower.
And finally the Raikage's office where everyone else was still waiting "Sasori Akasuna is our culprit, I'm gonna blast that bastard right out of the sky to" Sakura marched right up to Ay's desk and declared that in a furious voice.
That had everyone on edge including the Raikage himself "How are you going to get up there, when you don't have the necessary technique to somehow fly like he is" Kakashi piped in worriedly, this was three times now that Akatsuki was interfering with things.
He couldn't help the shudder when Sakura let her lips curl into a guileless smile "If he thinks he's the only one who can use chakra strings, he better think again, all I need is trajectory range and one of your special exploding clones Naruto" the rosette admitted.
In that state not even Naruto would argue with her "Can you get them outside the village and catch them in a barrier" Ay requested not wanting anything to happen to his village, Sakura was a heavy hitter, he knew that much.
Sakura nodded seriously "Where did your Kikaichu see them Shino" then she turned to Shino, who started hastily explaining where the Akatsuki duo were located, near the entrance now, and she jolted because that's where Kisame was.
"Kakashi-sensei, code-name Shark is out there by the gates, they found him out as a double agent, if we don't go now all the information he possesses could be lost and we'll be at a disadvantage again" Sakura faced the silver haired Jonin.
The man startled at that "Then we're bringing him into protective custody just like what we did with Weasel" Kakashi nodded as the lot of them hurried just as a large explosion went off where the gates were they ran even faster at that.
Even body flickering in the nick of time to pull Kisame out of the way, a barrier went up in a split second protecting them from the second blast "Yikes your scary" Kiba grimaced, he was seeing more of his old classmate than ever before.
"We'll have more time to talk about how scary I am later Kiba, right now what I want is to know their exact position in the sky" the pinkette deadpanned glancing to Shino, who communicated with his Kikaichu to her what she wanted.
Nearly right above their heads, it was perfect as Naruto made one of his special clones, then he, Shino and Sasuke spread out to ready themselves to raise a barrier, while Kakashi and Minato stood off to the side tensed but watching for the moment.
"Okay so how exactly is this going to work Sakura-chan" the Naruto clone gulped slightly fearful of what he was about to go through, he wasn't a fan of heights after all, that rubbed off from his creator strangely enough.
She gave him a reassuring look "Don't worry you'll do fine, all you have to do is explode on those bastards" Sakura gave him a closed eye smile, Kiba felt goosebumps rise on his flesh again, while Hinata clutched his hand tightly.
With that she attached invisible chakra strings to the Naruto clone, then with brute strength swung him like one would a lasso and tossed the clone straight up into the sky, a redhead and blonde straightened when he appeared on the weird bird they were on.
"How the hell did you get up here little punk hmm" the blonde glowered, though slightly worried, because he didn't know how this kid had gotten up here in the first place, there was a reason they were positioned in the sky after all.
Sasori however smirked "Look what we have here the Jinchuuriki of the Hidden Leaf Village, to bad Itachi and Kisame were traitorous bastards, now we get their quarry" the redhead laughed missing the hand signs that the Jinchuuriki boy started going through.
"Just one little thing, I'm a clone…..explode" the clone saluted then exploded into all manners of weapons, the chakra strings that had been attached to him, were now attached to them and when Sakura felt that change.
She took a deep breath and then yanked with all her might, they were sent careening to the earth, "You" Sasori hissed seeing who it was when the cloud of dust settled, revealing that pink haired brat and he went to lunge seething with unbridled rage.
Viridian orbs met his with a furious glint in their depths right before she disappeared in a swirl of cherry blossoms "Don't Mess With My Precious People Shannaro bastards" followed by a powerful kick to the back and he slammed into a pale blue barrier.
And she appeared on the other side of it before it was fully raised "Idiot, don't just lay there Deidara blow up this fucking barrier now" the redhead turned to his partner only to find him unconscious from the impact with the earth.
"Looks like your out of luck Sasori Akasuna this little game of yours comes to an end right now" Ay arrived on scene and Sasori realized that the Raikage was right, it really did seem like he was completely out of luck right now.
His facial expression didn't change at all though "Hoshigaki, you well enough to drown these bastards with one of your water jutsu" the Raikage barked at the S Class rogue that had changed his ways for some reason.
Kisame smirked at that, showing off all his razor sharp teeth as he met Sasori's hazel gaze through the barrier "Unfortunately as much as I'd like to, it would only work on one of them, Sasori's a human puppet, he'd survive any water jutsu" he said.
Feeling absolutely no guilt whatsoever in revealing the man's trump card, fury glinted in those hazel eyes but Sasori said nothing instead he walked over to his partner "This is getting us nowhere then, if you would please allow me in" Minato spoke up.
Very angry that these men from an organization called Akatsuki were trying to kidnap his son, when all eyes were on him Sasori made his move, commanding a puppet that he'd had hidden in the forest to shoot forward aimed at that pink haired brat.
"LOOK OUT KID" Darui yelled as he appeared on scene with Cee, warning her in time so Sakura spun on her heel and aimed a punch right at that hunk of wood, sending it flying in the opposite direction with a powerful chakra enhanced punch.
It splintered into itty bitty pieces as it crashed into a tree several meters away, when they all turned to look Sasori and his partner were gone, having escaped from the barrier "Oops sorry" Naruto apologized sheepishly as he realized it was his fault they got away.
Sakura trudged over to him "No don't worry about it okay Naruto, anyone in that situation would panic and forget themselves" she patted his head gently utterly exhausted at this point and as they all started forward to return to the village, she collapsed.
Cee barely caught her in time since he was closest to Sakura "Poor Sakura-san, today's been rough on her" the onyx eyed blonde shook his head watching as Kakashi lifted her into his arms then they all trudged back to the village and split up to get some much needed rest.