A/N: I'm sorry this took so long. Real life exams kind of took over and even now they're still my main focus so if this chapter seems a little off I'm sorry. Thank you for all the continued support despite my terrible update consistency, especially those who left reviews.

When she crossed over into her homeland, Sakura finally felt able to calm down. She slowly followed the familiar path towards Ame, careful to make sure she couldn't be followed.

This was bad. She hadn't had such a strong reaction to anything in years. She'd managed to take down Kakashi, and she probably could have handled the Uchiha in a way that wouldn't have angered Itachi, but that Naruto boy…

No, the boy himself wasn't the problem. It was the demon inside him that had triggered Sakura.

How was she going to explain it to Pein when she couldn't even explain it to herself? Something about that evil chakra had made Sakura lose control of her rational thought, and it had taken everything in her not to curl up into a ball and scream. She had dealt with foul chakra like Orochimaru's before, this was different. This reaction was based on memory, memory of what had happened when she encountered that chakra before.

Except she had no memories of being exposed to that chakra before, which meant that she had no good explanation for her actions.

She paused to angrily punch a tree, then took a breath to calm down.

She was going to have to lie. Maybe not full lies, but she would certainly have to exaggerate the threat those two genin had posed to her. It shouldn't be hard, considering they were a jinchuriki and an Uchiha, to make it seem like she had made the right choice by retreating. Jinchuriki could be powerful opponents if their full power was ever unleashed, and even though it was clear that Naruto had barely unleashed a fraction of the Kyuubi's power, Pein didn't need to know that.

The thought of lying to Pein was terrifying. The only time she could remember doing something like that was to protect Tsunade's jutsu, and although he had never found out about it she didn't want to try her luck a second time. If she wasn't completely loyal to Pein she was useless to him, and that meant he'd dispose of her.

After everything she'd gone through to gain his trust, she refused to lose it over a dumb freak-out. She would lie, and she would make it convincing, and then she'd complete the next mission he sent her on perfectly, and the one after that, and the one after that.

She would survive.

"And then you fled."

Her heart pounded as she knelt in front of him. It would be more convincing if she made eye contact, but she couldn't bring herself to stop staring at the floor. She couldn't afford to look ashamed right now.

"Yes, considering my weakened state after fighting Kakashi combined with the twin complications of the Uchiha boy and the jinchuriki, I decided to retreat."

"I see."

Was her heart beating too loudly? It felt like everyone in the room could hear her body panicking.

"Well done."

She froze, hesitant in case it was a trap.

"The fight may have been a draw, but you uncovered valuable information about the jinchuriki of Konoha. His name was Naruto, correct?"

"Yes sir." she said quietly.

It was just a name, but why did it feel like a betrayal? Telling Pein about Naruto sickened her the same way it had when she explained her training with Tsunade. But the difference was that she had actually spent time with Tsunade, enough time to form a bond and make the reluctance to disclose intel understandable.

But Naruto? She'd only met him less than 24 hours ago, there was no reason for her to feel… to feel guilty over telling Pein about him.

He hadn't told her not to tell. Of course he hadn't; he had been her opponent, her enemy. There was no reason for this to feel like a betrayal since there was never anything between them to betray, only a strange feeling in her gut, and her useless, amnesia-riddled scraps of memories and sensations.

"In that case, I consider your mission a success. Not only did it reveal your level of combat ability but it also helped us in our main objective. What a pleasant surprise."

She breathed out slowly when she realised that he didn't suspect anything. If Naruto wasn't a jinchuriki he probably would have questioned her more about the fight, but as it was she could see his attention was focused on this more important detail.

"However, there is one complication we need to discuss."

Dammit, she spoke too soon.

"Before this all your missions were covert, either they weren't big enough to cause a fuss or there were no survivors to warn the villages. However, by attacking one of their most esteemed jonin, Konoha knows for sure that you are a threat, and they will most likely put a description in the bingo book."

Once again, she cursed herself for not killing Kakashi and his genin when she had a clear chance to.

"I always knew this day would come." Pein went on. "While before, you were unknown, and therefore the element of surprise gave you an advantage, now you must become notorious. The enemy won't be surprised, so you will need a new advantage: Fear."

Sakura couldn't deny the thrill that went through her at that. She had always prided herself on her ability to get the job done without drawing too much attention, but the thought of becoming an intimidating figure in the shinobi world was enticing.

"There's an important trade happening between Iwa and Kumo. Iwa shinobi will be guarding the wagons and supplies as they travel to Kumo with their merchandise. Steal the goods for the Akatsuki and kill anyone who tries to stop you, but leave enough survivors to spread the word. Don't tell them anything; let them make their own assumptions."

"Understood."

"I've marked this map with the best time and location to intercept. Freshen up and get all the gear you need, you leave tomorrow."

He tossed the map at Sakura and turned away, clearly dismissing her. She flickered out into the hall and set off towards her room, a small skip in her step.

"It was her Ino, I'm sure of it!"

She sighed and flopped back on his sofa. Normally they'd meet up in town or at the training grounds with Ino's other friends, but at Naruto's insistence she'd snuck out and gone to his house so that he could tell her this super-secret-super-scary new update on the ghost girl.

"Look, I know you're not crazy and I've trusted you this far, but are you absolutely certain it was her? You said she looked different from your visions; maybe you just saw a resemblance and convinced yourself this attacker was her. I wouldn't blame you, considering she's been haunting you for years."

"No, I swear it was her! Ever since we met, the visions have stopped completely. And she hesitated! When she tried to leave the first time I yelled at her to wait and for a second she stopped and looked at me, and then when she was fighting me and Sasuke she was so strong, I know she could have killed us, but she didn't! She ran away and she let us live!"

"You told me she was going to kill Kakashi-sensei." Ino said quietly.

Naruto deflated, slumping down on the hard, wooden floor.

"I… yeah. Yeah, she was definitely about to stab his eye out. This is so fucked up. It was her, but… it wasn't. The girl in my visions, the one that spends time laughing and staring adoringly at you and Sasuke, that wasn't her. This girl was so cold it was like she was dead inside. If I hadn't looked in her eyes long enough to see a spark of life, I would have thought she was being possessed."

"But she wasn't."

"…no. It was definitely her choice to attack us. I just wish I knew why."

He found himself growing angrier by the minute. If Ino wasn't sitting there he probably would have thrown something. As it was, he didn't want to risk scaring his one true friend. Ino had helped him a lot so he could fit in with the other kids, but he still didn't want to share too much of his pain with her. She spent her whole life surrounded by loving friends and family, he didn't think she could handle just how messed up he was.

Sasuke wouldn't be scared. A tiny annoying voice in his head whispered. And you know the girl has a connection to him, same as with Ino.

Sasuke's a jerk with a bad attitude. Naruto mentally argued back.

Maybe. But you can't deny you relate to him more than you do with Ino. If you talked to him, maybe he'd understand your pain. You have a connection with him, same as the girl.

We're rivals. It's our thing. I'm not gonna talk about my feelings with him so he can call me a sissy.

The voice in his head was silent, but Naruto could feel it judging him. First hallucinations now voices, boy he was just a bundle of psychiatric issues. To be fair, there was a demon sealed inside him, and he was pretty sure that voice was just his conscience. Objectively he could be a lot worse.

"Maybe this is a good thing." Ino spoke up, jolting Naruto out of his silent argument. "You've met the girl, the visions have stopped. Sure, it's disappointing that she turned out to be a bad guy, but maybe now we can move on, let her go."

"But then what was the point?" Naruto groaned. "What's the point of the hallucinations, the vague feeling in our guts that we know her? Why do those exist if she's just some random rogue shinobi? Why have I seen her in my visions if I've never met her before that mission?"

"I don't know." Ino admitted sadly. "But considering how strong she was, plus the fact that she was fighting against you and wouldn't talk to you or acknowledge any of this, what do you think you can do to get answers? You don't know if you'll ever see her again, and even if you do you've got no way of making her talk, or of finding out if she even knows you the way you know her."

"She does!" Naruto insisted "She might not have visions like me, but when I got her to look at me, there was something there. Maybe she's just like you, but even a vague recognition of this weird bond is enough of a start for me."

"To do what? Even if this bond exists, what are you going to do about it?"

"I…I don't know." Naruto paused again, falling back onto the floor. "I just feel like there has to be a reason for the visions. Like maybe, even though she's lost in darkness right now, one day I might save her."

Ino sighed again, getting up and moving towards the door. Her parents would get suspicious if she stayed at Naruto's for too long. Before leaving, she gave one last look at her sad and confused friend.

"I understand how frustrating it would be for all of this to amount to nothing, but from the way you described the encounter; it doesn't sound like she wants to be saved."

"Well look at you." Deidara grinned. "All dressed up and ready to slaughter a bunch of shinobi, yeah?"

"You know me so well." Sakura smirked back, ignoring the scowling Sasori next to him.

It had taken some time, but for Sakura, Deidara had grown to be similar to Kisame: Not a friend, but someone who could be pleasant to Sakura most of the time. He may still think she was a creepy little kid, but after spending more time with the rest of the Akatsuki she had a feeling Deidara had grown some perspective. Compared to Pein or Kakuzu or his own partner, Sakura was positively warm and cuddly. In fact she was probably his favourite person here aside from Sasori, considering the other two 'normal' people were Konan who was always coldly professional, and Itachi who Deidara hated for some weird reason.

Idly Sakura wondered if Deidara and Sasori bonded over their irrational hate for specific individuals. Maybe they swapped tips on how to eventually kill their nemesis. She could respect Deidara's hatred a little more, since Itachi did somewhat give off a better-than-you vibe, but she always found Sasori's hatred slightly pathetic. He was an Akatsuki member and she was a tool, it was like hating a specific kunai or shuriken.

Speaking of, he was glaring at her right now, as if she had deliberately chosen this corridor to bump into them. Deciding that she'd have to catch up with Deidara another time, she bowed and moved past them.

As she passed Sasori, she was careful to keep a kunai in one hand, just in case.

"Sasori-senpai, why do you hate that girl so much?"

Even though they were becoming closer as partners, Deidara still felt nervous when Sasori turned and glared at him.

"I don't hate her. I hate the fact that Leader keeps her around."

That… sounded an awful lot like hating Sakura to Deidara, but he decided not to point that out, for fear of ending up with poisoned senbon stuck in his ass.

"But why? I haven't been here long, but she seems to do her job alright, yeah."

"She has everyone fooled into thinking she's a good little tool." Sasori growled "At this point Leader probably trusts her more than us."

"Well I mean… why wouldn't he? Unlike us he's brainwashed her into obedience. Heck, I trust her loyalty to the Akatsuki more than my own, yeah."

"You weren't there at the start, back when everyone thought she was a liability and not an asset. Now everyone but me has grown too complacent around her, if she snaps and turns on us I'll be the only one to react fast enough."

"So you're just really paranoid, yeah." Deidara smirked.

"Say what you will." Sasori's eyes narrowed down towards the end of the corridor, the way Sakura had left. "But my intuition tells me that the brat will try and kill me one day, just like she did at the beginning. When that day comes, I won't let her take me by surprise like the rest of you."

The sun was high in the sky as Sakura waited near the path from Iwa to Kumo. It hadn't taken much to set the ambush, just one boulder that she easily knocked into place in the centre of the road. She'd scouted on ahead to find out the size of the cargo. There were at least fifteen wagons, with a hundred shinobi guarding them. Some were clearly genin, but many looked much stronger.

She'd assessed how best to take them out and gain control of the wagons, set up everything she needed to, and then headed back to her ambush spot. Now she had nothing to do but wait, so she spent her time idly going over her gear. She'd come extra prepared today, with pouches full of weapons, belts and wrappings around her left arm and both her legs, some wrappings with seals inked into them so she could summon even more weapons, and flexible elbow pads just because it hurt like a bitch when she burnt them. Just in case they had a few extra strong shinobi, if her taijutsu and ninjutsu didn't work she'd take them out the old fashioned kunai and shuriken way.

Sakura took a breath, hearing the faint sound of horses clip clopping towards her. As they always did before a fight with weak opponents, faint thoughts about right or wrong, good or evil, her own morality or the Akatsuki's, flickered through her mind. They never stuck, not anymore. For the most part she'd stopped bothering about questions like that a long time ago. While fighting strong shinobi, the desire to prove her strength overpowered moral qualms. For weaker opponents like genin and civilians, she had needed another way to block off the remnants of her humanity.

Her mentality was a simple one. She didn't know if she was right or wrong, good or evil, powerful or a pawn. What she did know was that she was a survivor. The simple truth that beat steadily in her heart was that she was going to fight, and in the end she would come out alive. In a world as cruel as this she lived only to survive another day, and that was all the encouragement she needed to stand and slip closer as the wagons approached.

A hundred weaker shinobi were about to try and kill her, but Sakura would beat them. She would win. She would survive.

Bauru was not having a good day. First off he was assigned to guard a wagon with Agari, who was literally the most annoying genin in Iwa. She just never stopped talking and he really didn't care if Fugai and Kajika were fighting over some chunin girl or if the Tsuchikage was rumoured to have been caught spying on women at the bath house. He just wanted to guard the damn fish.

Which brought him to the second thing that was wrong: The sun was scorching down on them as they trudged along the large dirt path to Kumo, and despite the merchants' best efforts to keep the goods fresh, the stench of dead fish hung heavy in the air.

He understood why they put genin guarding the fish instead of the gold or the rarer food, but right now he wished he could swap with anyone. Even guarding the spare horses and cleaning up after them wouldn't smell as bad as this.

He was pulled from his grumpy thoughts as a yell sounded from up ahead, and all the wagons came to a halt. The horses whinnied nervously, and Bauru drew a kunai out, scanning the area tensely. Agari had finally stopped talking, but she seemed far too panicked. True, they were only genin, but this was an important mission and it would reflect badly on the whole graduated class if one of them couldn't keep it together.

They both jumped a little as a shinobi flickered on top of their wagon. Bauru was relieved to see the Iwa hitai-ate on the man's arm.

"It's nothing to worry about kids. There's just a large boulder up ahead. We're clearing it now, but we're not sure where it came from, so keep an eye out just in-"

Agari screamed as another Iwa shinobi came crashing into first one, and both went flying. They smacked into a tree with such force that some of their legs and arms split off. Looking at the mess of blood and bones, there was no doubt that both men were completely dead.

Bauru felt sick. His knees wouldn't stop shaking, but he held his kunai out in front of him and frantically scanned the surrounding trees.

"Protect the-"

Agari screamed again, and he whirled around to see someone backhand her into a tree. The assailant was a short girl dressed all in black with a shock of pink hair. She was facing Agari, so all he could see was her back, with a crest of a red cloud in the centre. She turned around to stare at him with cool green eyes, and the trembling in his legs got worse.

Desperately, Bauru slammed his hand on the ground, going straight for his strongest technique.

"Kuchiyose no-"

Her fist hit him like a slab of rock. The last thing Bauru felt was his cheekbone break and the side of his head start to cave in as he flew off the path.

Then the rest of his head shattered against a tree and he didn't think anymore.

She managed to defeat three wagons before the remaining shinobi got their act together. What sloppy reaction time.

"I'll kill you!"

One woman screamed dramatically as she charged at Sakura on the back of a horse. What kind of shinobi rode into battle on a horse? Sakura simply dodged the woman's swipe and grabbed the horse, sending him and his rider flying up in the air. She was careful to throw them away from the wagons, as she didn't want the merchandise damaged.

The next few shinobi sent various summons after her, which she took care of with a genjutsu Itachi had taught her that specifically targeted summons. Once the animals were all confused and docile, she charged at the shinobi who summoned them. A few quick hand-seals created two clones, and they ran towards the Iwa shinobi with deadly intent.

The shinobi attacked, and predictably missed her as she dodged backwards. They hit her clones instead, and while her copies vanished she ran forward, sinking her fists into two different stomachs and punching them off into the trees. The next nearest shinobi threw a punch at her, which she ducked.

This shinobi was clearly a jonin, since he was able to dodge her counterattack and block her follow-up kick. She pushed more chakra into her hand, and aimed her fist at his face. He dodged to the side, but he was close enough that the force of her chakra still clipped him, and he went rolling off to the side with a broken jaw.

The shinobi were closing in now, so she drew out her kunai and began to slash. She cut through every man, woman and child she saw, and those who were able to dodge her strikes soon found themselves dying by her fist instead of her blade. She weaved through the wagons, spinning and ducking while her eyes remained focused, hitting vital spots every time her weapons cut them.

She created two more clones to add to the chaos, and sent a kunai through the eye of the nearest shinobi and out the back of his skull. Nine wagons had been cleared, and seeing as the majority of the shinobi had ran to help their comrades she doubted there were that many left. A quick count gave her an estimate of twenty.

She created ten clones to match. None of them would be able to do much considering they were barely substantive, but they would give her a little time. While they were busy fighting her clones, she closed her eyes and concentrated her chakra, before sending it out in one giant pulse. The horses reared up, and five shinobi, likely genin or chunin, collapsed.

She could see one of the remaining opponents preparing a jutsu, and she jumped into the trees in an attempt to protect the wagons. Three fireballs roared towards her, so she focused her chakra into her fist and punched outwards. The shockwave was enough to make the fireballs dissipate, but thankfully she'd controlled her chakra punch so that the horses were only spooked instead of injured.

Her remaining clones had been burnt to death in the blaze, so now she had fifteen angry shinobi focused on her. Better than the hundred she'd started with.

Sakura swiped a smear of blood over her bandaged wrist, activating the two large shuriken she'd stored in a seal. She threw them with careful precision, and when the shinobi dodged she used her Shunshin to appear behind the youngest one and hold a kunai to his neck. His comrades hesitated for a split second, and that was all the time Sakura needed to tug on the wires connected to her shuriken and send them into the backs of three unsuspecting shinobi. She slit the boy's throat and threw his body off into the grass.

Eleven left.

Three were foolish enough to jump into the trees to hide. Idiots, this was clearly an ambush, so what made them think she hadn't prepared for that?

She threw an exploding tag in after them, and watched in satisfaction as it sunk into a tree. A second later, that entire section of the forest went up in flames. She thought she heard the faint sound of screaming as the exploding tags she'd set up earlier did their job, but perhaps that was just her imagination.

Either way, eight left.

The remaining eight seemed to have gotten the hint from their ninety two fallen comrades that they wouldn't be able to kill her if they split up. Not that they could kill her together either, but a united attack was their best option.

With desperate cries they threw themselves at her. One of them thrust their sword at her, while the others threw kunai. She deflected the kunai with her own and dodged the sword thrust, wrapping her hand around the wielders wrist and crushing it. He collapsed to the ground in pain and she used his sword to slice two other shinobi in the neck, killing them instantly.

She'd managed to move the fight into the trees, far enough from the wagons that she felt safe punching the ground. She still didn't want to risk elemental jutsu, since her control over them wasn't as tight as it was with her chakra punches.

The ground split open, and one shinobi was caught completely off balance. She threw two shuriken that hit him in the eyes, leaving four shinobi standing.

These final four were clearly the most experienced. As she fought them they countered her every strike obtaining only mild cuts and bruises. She slid between them, attempting attacks from every angle, and even when she switched to poison only one wasn't quick enough to dodge her senbon. He convulsed on the ground seconds after her poison grazed him, and in less than a minute he was dead.

The other three were still too fast, and they seemed to have good stamina. She needed to slow them down, even if it was risky.

"Suiton Dan: Oruka!"

It took a good chunk of her reserves to create enough water to drench them, but it was worth it. The three shinobi quickly created a barrier of earth, and while they were busy defending themselves from the downpour she leapt over, shattering the wall with her foot and crushing the shinobi standing behind it.

The two left wasted no time in lunging for her, but even their experienced reflexes couldn't match ones that had been brutally honed through borderline torture. As they thrust their blades at her she ducked, stabbing two kunai directly into their hearts.

It was over, and she had survived.

She made her way back to the wagons and inspected them. Most of the merchants had fled, but she found one man and his family cowering in the front wagon. His wife screamed when she saw Sakura, which was understandable considering the blood coating her head and dripping from her hair. They didn't resist Sakura picking them up and tossing them out, but when she shattered the boulder blocking the road that seemed to snap them out of it, and they took off running.

Satisfied that she was alone, she gently began steering the horse in front along the path, with the others obediently following suit. She assumed shinobi horses had been trained to deal with being attacked, as although a few seemed ready to bolt they all kept the formation and continued pulling the wagons. It wouldn't be hard to get them to Ame, and she had enough chakra to get them across a few rivers, which should successfully cover their tracks.

A hundred Iwa shinobi were dead and a large chunk of their main exports stolen, all by a girl with no hitai-ate. She wondered what conclusion the villages would come to, since even rogue shinobi kept their scratched hitai-ate. She fantasised for a minute about the stories they'd make up before focusing on changing their course from Kumo.

It really didn't matter where they thought she came from. The main outcome of this massacre was that she would become infamous. As soon as word of this battle got out, the shinobi villages would all want her dead.

Sakura smiled.