A/N: Thanks again for the reviews! Especially those who reviewed more than once, it's really nice when I recognize a familiar name commenting. As for Naruto and Sakura, they won't meet for another two years, so it will probably be a few more chapters until we get their reunion. I try to update at least once every two weeks but exams are coming up so sorry if I'm a little late. Thanks again for all the positive feedback.

The tea shop was quaint. Situated on the outskirts of a small village it had a warm atmosphere and friendly staff. It was a shame that the tea itself wasn't that good.

How disappointing, Itachi mused, for a tea shop situated in Cha no Kuni.

He took another sip of his tea as he felt someone slide into the booth behind him. Under the table, he slowly slid a kunai into his hand.

"Where's your partner?"

"A country away settling old grudges." Itachi replied, careful not to turn around. "We have a few hours for certain."

"Report."

His tea was growing cold. It didn't make it taste any better.

"Infiltration was successful. I've met with the leader and been assigned a partner. Assimilation into the organization is going smoothly."

"What have you been doing for them?"

"Mostly missions similar to those given to other villages. The two key differences are that there doesn't seem to be a limit to how immoral the missions can be, and they're all done for very low fees, even the S-Rank ones."

"I see." The voice sounded familiar, but Itachi refused to try and guess who it was. "What of their objective?"

"Currently they seem intent on collecting funds, resources and connections while spreading their notoriety throughout the lands. Their final objective is still unknown to me, however so far they haven't displayed any interest towards Konoha so for the moment I wouldn't consider them a threat to our- to the village."

If the man behind him noticed his slip up he didn't comment on it.

"Very good. Anything else to report?"

Itachi took a gulp of his tea to mask his hesitation.

"They have a young girl who's a formidable fighter. Have you ever heard of Sakura Haruno?"

"Should I have?"

"She was a civilian child who went missing from Konoha almost five years ago. Her parents were distraught and got shinobi to investigate but the girl vanished without a trace. Now I find that she's working for the Akatsuki and has somehow become capable of fighting S-Rank shinobi in under five years. I have to admit, the situation is unprecedented."

"Why is she working for them?"

"I'm not sure. It's possible they brainwashed her. She hasn't mentioned her family or Konoha once. If she knew that her parents were out there heartbroken over her disappearance I doubt she would stay. The way they treat her is dehumanizing, like she's just a weapon."

"That is what shinobi are meant to be."

"What should I do?"

He heard a sigh from behind him, followed by the clunk of a teacup being set on the table.

"If it's been five years her parents will have moved on in some way. From what you're saying this girl is nothing like the child she used to be. You have to let her go Itachi."

"She deserves to be reunited with her parents." Itachi said, careful not to sound like he was arguing.

The man sighed again, almost as if he pitied Itachi. The thought made him want to slice the man's neck open because Itachi didn't deserve a shred of pity, but the urge was faint and passed quickly.

"She's been used by those sick bastards for five years. Would it really be responsible to hand an unstable weapon over to a pair of civilians? They wouldn't know how to handle her and she wouldn't know how to react around them. It would make the situation even more heart-breaking, and it would release a dangerous shinobi into Konoha. You need to accept that the civilian girl is dead, and whatever the Akatsuki created should not be considered the same person. No matter the circumstances if she's working for the Akatsuki she's an enemy of Konoha and must be considered a threat."

There was a lot Itachi could have said to that, but it wouldn't have been appropriate so he merely repeated his question from earlier.

"What should I do?"

"Instead of worrying how to save her, your priority should be finding out how they got her so strong. If they can turn civilian children into lethal shinobi we have a problem."

"She's the only one they have." Itachi interrupted. "Whatever they did to her they haven't been able to do it again. Perhaps there are more currently in training but I've yet to see them."

"Look into it. Remember that your main goal is to protect Konoha."

"Understood."

"Next report will be in seven months."

Itachi finished the last of his tea and stood up, exiting the shop. He was careful not to look at the man while he was leaving. Secrecy was a valuable thing to shinobi, especially those important enough to know the truth behind the Uchiha massacre.

He disagreed with the man on how to handle Sakura, but there was no room to argue in situations like this. He had his orders, and as usual his personal feelings had to come second.

He slipped the kunai back into his pouch then took off east. Perhaps he'd find Juzo before the sun went down and they could go find a place that served better tea.

Day 105

"Should I…?"

"No, let her sleep. Last night was eventful for her."

Shizune carefully tucked the blanket around Sakura and then sat down next to Tsunade.

"Honestly as frightening as it was to see Tonton injured, I'm almost glad that it happened. Well, not glad, but it's nice to see how much Sakura cares."

"Mm." Tsunade kept a careful eye on the rise and fall of the sleeping girl's chest.

Shizune wondered why she regarded the girl with such caution. It was clear by now that Sakura respected Tsunade and Shizune honestly didn't think the girl would ever hurt her shishou.

"You don't agree?"

"Do you remember the girl we first met? The one who acted so naïve and innocent up until we'd given her what she wanted?" Tsunade gestured to the slumbering girl behind them. "That's still her. If we had told Sakura at the very beginning to make Tonton feel like the most loved pig in the land then she would have showered the pig with enough love, affection and praise to warm the heart of the bitterest orphan. Yet only a shred of it would be genuine. She's a damn good actress, and I'd wager she's been doing it all her life, so I doubt she'd change so quickly."

Shizune remembered the girl she'd encountered in the alleyway almost two months ago, standing over her dead victim with nothing but cold satisfaction in her eyes. Even though it had clearly been Sakura it had taken Shizune a minute to really process it. The girl always seemed so… not harmless but reasonable at least. Back then it was like a switch had been flicked, and it had shaken Shizune badly. Thinking about it now made Tsunade's caution far more understandable.

"So you're telling me she's just faking it, that she hasn't learnt a single thing?" Shizune sighed.

"I didn't say that." Tsunade replied. "No matter how much of her care for Tonton is just an act the fact is she's been doing it for a while now. She has to feed, clothe and look after that pig and even if she tells herself that it's all fake she still does it. I'm not saying she's magically going to become a sweet warm-hearted little girl, but it's a start."

"I just wish we could find a faster way to help her." Shizune whispered, watching as the Sakura tossed and turned in her sleep. "I'm not sure what she plans to do once the year is over but if she wants to leave I doubt we can stop her."

"We're doing the best we can." Tsunade said gently. "I know time isn't on our side but you've worked with trauma and abuse survivors, so you know this kind of healing and recovery can't be rushed."

There was a small grumble from the bed and a head of messy pink hair emerged.

"Oi brat, are you finally awake?" Shizune rolled her eyes at Tsunade's abrupt change of tone.

"Mmmh."

"Good, because you missed the first two hours of training. I think twenty laps of the town should make up for it."

"Good idea shishou" Sakura mumbled. "I'll have breakfast ready when you get back."

"Thirty laps. Get going."

The girl sighed and muttered something too low for Shizune to hear, but she got out of bed and headed towards the washroom without further complaint.

Yesterday Shizune would have found it cute, but today she wondered just how much of Sakura's sleepiness was an act. If someone were to attack Sakura the second she woke up would she be ready to fight them? To kill them?

Shizune didn't know the answer, and it unsettled her.

Day 203

"Doton: Doryuu Jouheki!"

A large wall of earth rose from the ground, with a tiny pink-haired girl carefully balanced on top of it.

"Suiton: Takitsubo no Jutsu."

Tsunade watched as the carefully created waterfall fell harmlessly to the ground. Tonton immediately trotted over and stuck her head under, while Shizune just stepped back to avoid crashing into Sakura as the girl skidded to a halt in front of Tsunade.

"Next." was all Tsunade said.

Sakura made the tiger hand-seal and focused.

"Kokuangyo no Jutsu."

Tsunade's world went dark.

"Shizune." she called, "Are you blind too?"

"Yes!" she heard back, although she still couldn't see a thing. "It's quite unnerving."

"Good." Tsunade said. "Sakura hurry up and continue."

Her sight came back, just in time to see Sakura swinging for her. Tsunade moved back fast enough that the slap didn't hit her fully, but it still stung like a bitch. Her cheek was probably swelling up, which meant more work for Shizune once the training was over.

Tsunade responded with a punch but instead of dodging Sakura merely stood there and blocked it. The girl had gotten strong enough to withstand the force of Tsunade's punches, which was not something Tsunade had anticipated. It was a little scary how close the kid was to surpassing her, but Sakura didn't need to know that.

"How much chakra do you have left?" Tsunade asked.

"Plenty." Sakura replied. "At least two thirds of my chakra was definitely not used."

"Then bring Katsuya here."

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

When the smoke cleared the largest form of Tsunade's prized slug summon filled the clearing. Sakura stood on top of her head, her face still completely serious.

Tsunade pointed to the wooden target nailed to a tree at the southern edge of the clearing. Sakura got the message because a second later a kunai flew over Tsunade's head and embedded itself in the target. Shizune ran over to check the accuracy but if Tsunade had any money left to gamble she would bet Sakura had hit the centre.

"Alright! Wrap it up!" Tsunade yelled upwards.

Katsuya vanished and Sakura gracefully landed on the ground, only a little bit out of breath. Tsunade walked over and helped her stand up straight.

"Shizune tells me she hardly has anything left to teach you about medical-ninjutsu. Judging by how easily you tear through those schoolbooks you have an above average intelligence in just about every subject, so I'm really wondering what's left to teach you."

Sakura looked nervous, which was not what Tsunade had wanted. She would still train the girl of course, a deal was a deal. They just needed to figure out how.

"Can you show me what you've learnt with Shizune? At least, as much as you can without drawing blood."

Sakura nodded eagerly, her hands forming seals.

"As well as medical ninjutsu she taught me poison techniques, can I show you those?"

"As long as you don't poison me go for it."

Sakura faced the opposite direction and inhaled deeply.

"Dokugiri!"

When she exhaled a cloud of controlled purple poison blew towards the north side of the clearing. Tsunade watched as an unfortunate insect flew too close to the cloud and immediately dropped dead onto the ground.

"Impressive." Tsunade said gruffly. "You've come pretty far since we first met, not that you weren't already a menace back then."

"Thank you shishou." Sakura said with a grin, the last of the purple poison leaving her mouth as she spoke.

"I'm honestly trying to think of what else I have left to teach you, but there's only one thing that comes to mind."

She could tell Sakura was curious by the way her eyes grew rounder. Tsunade tapped her forehead, her finger on her blue diamond seal.

"How would you like to be invincible kid?"

The gleam in Sakura's eyes said that that was an idea she very much liked.

Day 210

Between the constant moving around and Tsunade trying to figure out how to actually teach Sakura the technique, it took another week before they were ready to begin.

"Alright, so to do this jutsu you need to build up a massive reserve of chakra right here." Tsunade tapped her forehead. "It's a difficult place to reach if you don't know how, so let me kick-start it for you."

She placed her hand on Sakura's head and concentrated. Carefully avoiding all the veins and arteries inside Sakura's skull she focused instead on the chakra pathways. Blood and medical justu were out of the question, but chakra Tsunade could handle.

She pushed her chakra through Sakura's pathways, trying to locate the one spot that would allow the seal to connect to her entire body once it was released. What she found shocked her.

"What is this?" she hissed, removing her hand from Sakura's forehead. "I've never told anyone how to do this jutsu, how do you already have chakra stored there?"

Sakura looked as surprised as she was, but that wasn't enough to make Tsunade less suspicious.

"I could understand you having similar skills to me but this… this is too much. You need to tell me what you are and where you come from and you need to tell me now."

Sakura looked frightened, but Tsunade could see the calculations going on behind the girl's eyes. How much should she tell Tsunade? How much would let her off the hook? Tsunade wasn't going to let her go without every last bit of the truth, and after a few seconds of staring Sakura seemed to realise that, because she reluctantly sat down.

"Remember when I said I can't remember much of my life before I was four or five? The truth is I can't remember any of it. An Ame shinobi found me unconscious on the border of the village with no one else around. He brought me back and when I woke up I had no memories so I just lashed out and attacked."

Sakura chewed on her lip, clearly debating what to say next.

"Go on." Tsunade said, the tone of her voice leaving no room for argument.

"My memories of that aren't very clear either but apparently I almost killed one of their strongest shinobi before they subdued me. After a few weeks it became pretty clear that I had the skills of a powerful shinobi, although I had no idea how I got them. I lived in the village for years doing errands and jobs for shinobi to survive, but in all that time I never found out where I came from or how I have these abilities. When I found out about you I felt a connection that I can't explain, and honestly I was hoping that you would know something about me but obviously you don't. I genuinely have no idea why I have chakra stored in my head for a seal I didn't know about until I met you, so if you want to try and find out I'd be happy to help."

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

"I didn't want to complicate things. Once it became clear you had no idea who I was I decided that the best thing to do would just be to train and improve since our abilities are so similar."

She wasn't lying. That much Tsunade could tell. Whether she was telling the whole truth remained to be seen, but it was enough for Tsunade to relax a little.

"You know if you'd told me I could have helped you figure this out. I already have a few theories."

"Like what?"

The forced casualness in Sakura's voice added credibility to her story. She wanted to know as badly as Tsunade did.

"My main guess? A clone or hybrid of sorts. Some sicko used my DNA and fused it into you when you were a baby. Shizune can test that if you want, to see if you have Senju DNA in you."

"Please." Sakura nodded.

There was a hunger in her eyes that made Tsunade feel a little more sympathetic to the girl. If someone really had tried to clone Tsunade then Sakura was just as much a victim here as Tsunade herself.

"In the meantime, let me show you how to do this seal, since you clearly have no idea about the large amount of chakra stored in your head."

Day 214

"I finished the DNA testing." Shizune spoke during breakfast, causing both Sakura and Tsunade to perk up. "Sakura has no Senju DNA in her. In fact, I ran through all the major bloodlines I had on file and none of them matched either. It doesn't seem like you were tested on so you're probably not a clone or a hybrid, which is a good thing."

Sakura seemed disappointed, so Tsunade reached over and flicked her forehead.

"Don't look so miserable. I have more than one theory, and now you know for certain that you're a human and not a clone. Congratulations: you weren't created in a test tube. This calls for celebratory sake!"

"It's nine in the morning!" Shizune hissed.

"Everything calls for sake with you." Sakura grumbled at the same time.

Tsunade let them moan for a bit before shushing them.

"Right, so my next theory is that someone noticed your natural talent and trained you as a toddler. They probably knew about me so when they saw how similar your abilities were they made you learn my skill set. It still doesn't explain the chakra in your head since no one but Shizune knows about that, but unless you care to tell me more about yourself my best guess is that you're an amnesiac child prodigy."

"I honestly didn't know about the method for creating the forehead seal until a week ago, so your guess is as good as mine."

Sakura still sounded slightly disappointed that she wasn't any closer to figuring out her past, so Tsunade decided that they'd done enough talking for the day.

Dodging giant boulders thrown by your mentor was always a good distraction. Sakura's complaints that Tsunade was trying to kill her got tired after a while, but at least she wasn't fretting about the seal anymore.

Day 268

Sakura had never been inside hot springs before, and the experience was a luxurious one. The one thing that made her nervous was when she saw Shizune eyeing the communication seal branded on her shoulder, but thankfully she didn't say anything.

Still, Sakura had a feeling that despite her best efforts, Shizune and Tsunade understood more about her past then she was comfortable with…

Tonton chose that moment to cannonball into the water and break Sakura from her worried thoughts. She yelled and splashed the pig, but she might have been just the tiniest bit grateful for the distraction.

Day 300

"Here."

Shizune stared at the necklace in Sakura's hand. She knew that she should take it but she was still trying to figure out why she was being given it.

"It's for Tonton." Sakura said impatiently. "I heard you mention last week that today was her birthday so I figured getting the pig a gift was the kind of thing you guys wanted me to do."

"Oh." Shizune took the pricey-looking necklace from Sakura's hand. "Thank you. That's very thoughtful of you."

Sakura shrugged, staring at Shizune's shoulder.

"I'm supposed to look after her right? I assumed getting her a birthday present was part of that."

"Right." Shizune smiled. "Well done. You're doing a great job."

Sakura nodded and left without another word. Shizune jumped when she heard laughter coming from behind her.

"Tsunade-sama! Were you eavesdropping?"

"Of course I was! Oh boy, that kid cracks me up. She's hopeless!"

"Sakura is trying." Shizune said, but there was a smile on her lips. "Remember when we were scared that she would butcher Tonton if we ran low on supplies? And now she's buying her a birthday present. That's progress."

"I'm glad, I really am." Tsunade wheezed. "But the brat's been with us so long that her awkwardness is just funny to me now. She's just so damn serious about everything!"

Shizune laughed too, until a thought struck her.

"She won't be with us for much longer though." she said quietly. "We only have around two months left."

"Ah now, none of that!" Tsunade barked. "If we're gloomy about her possibly leaving already then the next two months won't be fun for any of us."

Shizune bit her lip but made no further comment.

"Now come on, its Tonton's birthday and I have a little bit of cash left from last night, so we're going out drinking to celebrate! A nice place this time, I promise."

"That's what you said last time." Shizune muttered. "Yet Sakura still ended up slamming a creep's head through the bar."

"We both know she enjoyed that."

Day 334

"Then Jiriaya comes out of nowhere and crashes into Orochimaru. They both go down and I'm left facing six Iwa shinobi with two unconscious idiots to protect."

Sakura laughed, easily able to picture the story. She'd seen pictures of Jiriaya, and the descriptions Tsunade gave brought him to life in Sakura's mind. As for Orochimaru… well. Sakura really didn't need any help imagining the creepy lilt when he talked or the bloodthirsty way he slaughtered his enemies.

This wasn't exactly training, but at this point Sakura didn't mind. The diamond tattoo on her forehead was proof of how much she has improved. When the pink tattoo first appeared, Tsunade had laughed so hard she cried, and then she had really teared up and told Sakura that she was proud of her. Sakura may have cried a little too but it was just to stop it from being awkward. Really.

Perhaps during the beginning of her training Sakura wouldn't have wanted to sit around listening as Tsunade told her old war stories. But with so little time left until her return to the Akatsuki she just wanted to learn as much about her mentor as possible.

"So obviously I managed to get us all to safety and take out most of the enemy shinobi. I think one of them managed to scratch Jiriaya with a kunai but it served him right for pulling a stunt like that."

"That's amazing." Sakura laughed, wishing that she could join in on the storytelling.

All of Sakura's stories involved the Akatsuki; therefore she couldn't say a word about them. It was annoying, that every time she felt close enough to share a part of herself she was reminded of just how different she truly was. So she smiled and listened and pretended that nothing was wrong.

In her head, the clock ticked down.

Day 365

She wasn't supposed to care, but she did, and now Sakura needed the least painful way to leave. She was still a weapon but a weapon couldn't function right if they felt guilt. Therefore she needed to say goodbye in a way that wouldn't make her feel guilty, and with the guilt gone she would be free to shed her human persona and return to the Akatsuki.

She had never been on a mission for so long, never had to pretend she was something she wasn't for a whole year. It was only natural that she would experience some difficulty letting go of her habits, such as laughing or asking for more food when she didn't need any. It would take her a little while to gain distance from the emotions she'd picked up, but as long as she got away without too much guilt and doubt she would be able to let them go.

So she decided to sneak off in the dead of night and not tell Tsunade a thing.

Looking back on it, that wasn't her brightest moment. But she had good intentions. She knew that they would be reluctant to let her go. Despite Tsunade's gruff manner and Shizune's occasional fear Sakura knew that they both cared for her, probably more than she deserved. They would try and get her to stay, and it would end badly for all of them. Leaving without saying anything would hurt them sure, but it would be a clean break.

She had good intentions, but that didn't stop her from jumping guiltily when Tsunade flicked the light switch on and caught her sneaking out the window.

"You know you're not the only one who can count, right?" The older woman sounded tired, and not just because it was the middle of the night. "It's been exactly 365 days since I agreed to train you, but did you really think I would mind if you stayed until morning?"

"I…I don't like goodbyes." was all Sakura could come up with.

"Too bad. I happen to be a fan of them, so if you want to leave now we're waking Shizune up first so that we can all say our farewells."

"I'm already awake." Shizune's voice came from the bed next to Tsunade's.

Shizune looked about as pleased as Tsunade when she got out of bed, and the anxious twist in Sakura's stomach got worse. She hadn't felt this nervous since Shizune caught her killing that man months ago.

"Sakura." Tsunade's voice was gentle. "I know that the deal was a year, but at this point we've grown used to having you with us, so if you want to stay you're welcome to."

Sakura tried to think of a good excuse to leave, but she came up blank. She started to panic when she realised she couldn't find a single reason not to stay.

"I…I can't."

"Why not?"

"There are people in Ame who need me. I promised them I would come back."

"Sakura," There was a careful softness to Tsunade's voice that had Sakura on edge. "You know that we care about you, right?"

That was the problem, but she couldn't exactly tell them that. Tsunade was a grumpy bitter alcoholic and Shizune was constantly worn out looking after her but Sakura had never felt more secure and cared for than she had in their company. And now she had to leave it all behind. For what?

"I know you don't like talking about your past." Tsunade continued. "But Sakura I'm worried. What exactly are you going back to? When you came to us you were constantly on edge, and what little conscience I have left forbids me from letting you go back to the people that made you that way. Tell me that the people in Ame truly care for you and I'll let you go."

"You don't understand." Sakura said desperately.

She could feel a headache coming and all she wanted to do was agree to stay but she couldn't. She belonged to the Akatsuki. She was just confused right now.

"Don't I? Sakura whatever they told you, whatever they did to you, no human deserves to be abused. If you genuinely preferred training with me than your life in Ame then stay. I promise I'll protect you from them."

"I'm not a human!" Sakura blurted out. "I know we found out that I wasn't a clone, but that doesn't mean I'm human. I'm just a weapon, and I'm really sorry for tricking you but I needed to get stronger and now I have to go."

Her headache was growing worse and she could see Pein in her head, glaring at her for even daring to think about defecting. What if he could read her thoughts right now? She still had that communication seal on her.

"Wait!" Tsunade yelled just as Sakura was about to dash out the window. "Sakura please, just stay and talk to us about this. Why go back to the people who hurt you? We can keep you safe."

Her head hurt and she wanted to stay but she couldn't and they didn't understand why she couldn't and she couldn't explain it to them and this was all such a mess.

"You can't!" Sakura said frantically, tears beginning to fall down her face. "No one can save me from them! My fate has been sealed for years. If I disobey them they'll find me, and then they'll hurt you both as well. I know you're both strong shinobi but these people… they're monsters who'll kill all of you, even Tonton. I can't let that happen so you have to let me go. I'll be ok."

"Listen to yourself! They're controlling you even now, when they have no power here. Sakura I know this is difficult to believe but you have a choice. You can choose to free yourself from these bad people. You can choose to stay with us for as long as you want."

Sakura gave a hollow laugh, and watched as the two women flinched at the sound.

"It's never been a choice; I've never had a choice. I've belonged to them since the moment I woke up in their base five years ago and this whole time I've been following their orders. Now I need to return to them and you have to let me go."

She heard Tsunade say something else, but by the time she finished her sentence Sakura was gone.