As soon as they got a few miles outside the village Jiraiya and Naruto split off and headed in another direction with a wave "Where to first" Hidan asks without a single cuss word causing Sakura to shake her head "What I've been practicing control" he pouts a moment later "Let's go to the Hidden Sand Village I know we are only required to stay 2 months but do you think we can stay 6" she brightens up at the thought of seeing Gaara though she already missed everyone "Sure Sakura" Hidan smiles glad to use his memory of the lands again.
With that they headed towards the Land of Wind eventually the tree's started disappearing until there was none left and their feet touched sand but they kept going stopping during the night and they hurrying through the heat 'Boy am I glad I bought those lighter clothes' Sakura thought taking a drink of water from her bottle and stowing it back in her bag "We're almost there Sakura" Hidan was barely feeling the heat because he was used to working under ridiculous conditions but he was surprised Sakura was handling it as well as she was.
A few hours later Hidan pulled Sakura to a stop right as someone jumped down in her previous place "Halt who are you" the Village guard asks the two strangers "We are here on the request of the temporary Kazekage" Hidan pulls out a scroll and hands it over to the guard "We've been expecting you" he says after a few minutes leading them down into the village once they pass through and to the Kazekage tower so that they could check in "The Kazekage is in a meeting right now" the secretary pipes up with a glare at the strangers.
"No he's not Mai" someone walking by scolds gesturing for the two to follow her up the stairs and down the hall "Baki-sama the Leaf Shinobi have arrived as you expected" she opens the door ushering them in and then closing the door behind them "I'm glad you dressed lightly it does get quite hot here" Baki gives Sakura a smile "Here is the information with your living quarters Gaara will be your escort" he hands over two room keys before calling out to Gaara who enters the room wearing something different than before.
"I'm warning you now the Hokage sent me a message and so we can establish better connections between the villages Hidan you'll be sent on missions on the village elders whim" Baki calls out before the silver-haired man could fully leave the room "I know" Hidan clenches his hands into fists to prevent himself from cussing and closes the door a second later and catches up with Sakura happily chatting with Gaara halfway down the hall smirking when several people cringe as she throws her arm around his waist in a hug.
"How have you been Gaara" Sakura finally asks after their side hug "I've been doing well" Gaara allows a small smile to form on his lips "Kankurou is still an idiot though and Temari was sent to the Hidden Rain Village" he sighed a moment later internally he was having fun freaking people out 'Gaara ask her if she's with that pineapple head yet' Shukaku snickers from within "How have you been doing Sakura" Gaara asks instead "Amazing Shikamaru asked me to be his girlfriend when I get back" Sakura squeals excitedly clapping her hands together.
Minutes later he stops in front of a homely looking motel "This is where you'll be staying you have your own separate rooms" Gaara lists mindlessly giving Sakura and Hidan a nod before heading back to report in "Come on Hidan, I want to train a bit today maybe teach me how to use my scythe" Sakura suggests heading into her room a moment later she emerges with said scythe attached to her back "Fine brat" Hidan rolls his eyes 'That is what we are out here for anyway' he sighed shucking off his cloak and throwing it in his own room.
Finding a training field wasn't very hard as a few minutes later they stumble upon one "Ok Sakura attack me and I'll tell you what you need to improve on" Hidan orders as they face each other "Alright" she yells a moment later unhooking the scythe and giving it a spin with her wrist before charging at Hidan with frightening speed 'Where the fuck did she learn that' Hidan thought side-stepping her at the last minute the blade nicking his skin as she pulls herself to a stop and swings around throwing the scythe at Hidan.
The scythe flew at Hidan who barely stops it with his bare hands "Ok where and when did you learn how to move with a weapon like that" Hidan asks a moment later "Well those few weeks I was with Lady Tsunade Mifune-san taught me a few techniques and I just applied them to my regular fighting style though I can tell I have a long ways to go" Sakura said with a pout "Well there aren't to many openings in your regular fighting style brat so your better than you give yourself credit for" Hidan praises causing Sakura to smile.
That's how the next few weeks go Hidan teaching Sakura how to use the scythe as an extension of herself and he getting more cuts than he could count because she was most definitely improving "Ok brat let's head back to our rooms now" Hidan announces with a hiss as her scythe cuts him for the millionth time that week "Alright Hidan" Sakura stowes her scythe in the sealing scroll as she stands from her crouch rubbing her aching joints as they walk towards the motel they were staying in.
A few steps away from entering their individual rooms Baki jumps down in front of Hidan and hands him a scroll "It's your first mission it will take 5 days maybe less if you hurry" Baki orders "Looks like your gonna be on your own for awhile brat" Hidan chuckles when Baki had headed back to the tower "I promise to train even harder in your absence" Sakura vows giving him a hug before he disappeared to get started with his mission and Sakura heads in feeling suddenly very lonely "Hey Sakura" Gaara greets from inside the room.
"Gaara" Sakura squeals suddenly very happy that at least Gaara was still here "I take it Hidan has left" he asks sitting on the couch next to Sakura "Yeah it kinda sucks a little bit" she sighed sadly "Want to spar" he offers a distraction "Hell yeah" Sakura jumps up completely forgetting the fact that she was sore and drags Gaara out of the motel room door with her as they run back to the training field "Weapons or just taijutsu" Sakura pants "How about just taijutsu" Gaara suggests and Sakura nods settling into a different fighting stance and then jumping forward.
Their spar drew spectators from all over the village including the elders Chiyo and Ebizo both were amazed that someone could go toe-to-toe with Gaara and come out unscathed most of the villagers were just thinking 'She's gonna die' but all of them are proved wrong when Sakura falls over in exhaustion sand cushioning her fall as Gaara stares down at her "You have improved if your able to hold your own against me for that long" he helps her up before turning and blinking at the amount of people gathered at the edge of the field.
The next day Sakura decides to rest and wander about the village looking for gifts to bring back for her friends she had just passed a little weapons shop when the window cases draw her back interest shining within her eyes at the little puppet that stared back at her "Oho" the sudden exclamation startles her and she swings around to face an old lady "Hello Ma'am" Sakura greets politely her eyes flitting to the side to stare at the puppet again "I see you hold an interest in puppets my dear" the woman laughs before pulling Sakura into the shop.
"Who are you Ma'am" Sakura asks once the two are in the shop "My name is Chiyo I'm an elder of this village" the woman responds flippantly pausing in her conversation with the shopkeeper for a moment before continuing and then she pointed right at the puppet Sakura had been staring at while Sakura knew better than to respond negatively 'I can't believe she's an elder' she thought staring at a weird weapons scroll 'It's perfect for Tenten' Sakura thought grabbing it and rushing to the counter to buy it.
When she was finished sealing it in a scroll labelled gifts Sakura turned only to have the puppet shoved in her face "Uh Lady Chiyo" she asks in confusion "It's yours now so take good care of it and here's a book on puppetry I expect you to practice a few times a day" Chiyo orders "Of course Lady Chiyo" Sakura gives the old woman a smile before skipping out of the shop to find a spot to practice several minutes later she finds a much smaller training field that would be just perfect to start off her puppetry training.
Several days later upon Hidan's return Sakura decided to show Hidan exactly how much she had been training and as soon as he had woken up to go train instead of pulling out her scythe she would save that for later she anchored the little puppet to her shoulder before pulling out two shuriken to attach invisible chakra strings and then she threw the two before thrusting to kunai into the ground confusing Hidan and then she worked the little puppet to blow out smokescreen decreasing visibility.
A few minutes later Hidan hears the air move behind him and he tries to move only to find himself stuck 'What the hell why am I stuck what is going on' while he was struggling Sakura sent a punch to his back and sent him careening forward through the smoke which dissipates a second later to reveal Sakura smirking triumphantly her fist still raised as Hidan turned around to stare at her in shock "I see you've been practicing" he finally says dusting off his pants as he stood when Sakura throws herself forward to fly into a flurry of punches and several kicks.
Feeling blood drip down his arm he looks down seeing the cut 'When the fuck did she hit me with her scythe' Hidan furrows his eyebrows in confusion looking at Sakura closely only to find the little puppet missing from her shoulder and her fingers moving he almost smashes the little puppet as it flies at him from behind but he holds himself back and ending the training session "You've gotten good in the last few days why don't you take the rest of the day off and visit your little friends" Hidan orders heading to the tower while chuckling.
The minute Hidan had given her the freedom she rushed off to find Gaara "Gaara-kun" she laughs jumping over the side of a building to land next to him "Want to play" Sakura snickers mischievously "Depends" Gaara responds pale green eyes reflecting his own amusement "Well we could practice our tracking abilities just make it a game of hide and seek and there we go" Sakura grins widely when Gaara nods "Dibs on hiding first" she calls out suddenly vanishing in a flash of light momentarily blinding him 'Girls I don't think I'll ever understand them' he thinks with a sigh as he searches for Sakura's chakra only to blink in confusion when he can't find it 'Huh usually I can always find her but even my sand is completely useless' Gaara pouted as he walked through the village on foot 'Guess I'll search this way' he decides in exasperation.
As the day wears on getting hotter and hotter Gaara still couldn't find Sakura and after exhausting all possible hiding spots in the village he sulks "Alright Sakura I give" Gaara announces to the air a few minutes later sand that he recognizes very well drops a piece of paper in his hands *Use your senses you dork doesn't something seem strange* was all it said and so Gaara takes another look around his village finally realizing what that flash of light was and releases the genjutsu that Sakura had put on him a few minutes later he finds her.
"That was mean Sakura" he chuckles "Got to get genjutsu training in Gaara-kun" she quips in amusement before reaching out and plucking a strand of his hair of his clothes "Ok your turn Gaara you go hide" Sakura pushes him gently in a random direction 15 minutes later she begins her search first she searches for his chakra only to find that he was masking it perfectly and then she tries to use the sand around her wrist only to find it useless at that moment 'Fine I guess I'll search for him this way' Sakura thinks with a smirk.
Biting down on her thumb she swipes the blood on her palm before summoning "Hey you aren't Tomo-kun" Sakura blinks in confusion as a much larger moth appears "I'm sorry Sakura-sama, Tomo-sama is sick so I came in his place I'm Lilith" the female moth explains before introducing herself "Well Lilith-chan I need your help my friend is hiding and I need to find him" Sakura frowns internally at this new moth "Is it a game of hide and seek" Lilith asks "Well yes I have his scent here" Sakura answers holding out the hair she had sneaked from Gaara.
"I suppose I could give you a few hints" Lilith finally relents "That would be wonderful Lilith-chan" Sakura exclaims happily finally getting Lilith to let out a soft laugh at her mistresses excitement "Craggy rocks 200 ft to the left of the tallest building in this village" Lilith explains before poofing out of existence while Sakura thinks on the hint before she gets it and disappears laughing to appear next to the training field that was exactly 200 ft away from the Kazekage Tower and spies red hair to the left of her "I found you Gaara" she snickers out.
Found Gaara comes out with a pout on his lips "That was fun Gaara we'll have to do that again sometime" Sakura gives him a quick side hug while letting out a yawn just as Hidan appears "Thanks for keeping her company" Hidan thanks him gruffly before picking Sakura up despite her complaints and walks back towards the motel setting her down in her own room before going to his when he was gone Sakura hopped up from her bed took a quick shower then put on the lightest clothes she had curling up in the center of the bed.
They'd been in the Hidden Sand Village for 4 months Sakura had turned 14 the week before and Hidan decided to give her a couple of days off for training so hard and he had a mission with Gaara for the next couple of days, Temari had returned 2 months ago so when Hidan and Gaara had left the village Sakura located the blonde female "Hey Temari-chan" she greeted when she found the older girl exiting the Kazekage Tower "Sakura-chan want to go for a dip in the hotspring" Temari immediately offers upon seeing the pink-haired girl.
"Hell yeah Temari-chan" Sakura yells excitedly causing the other girl to laugh as they head towards the only hotspring the village had when they entered towels wrapped around their hair and bodies their cheeks heated up when they realized it was a conjoined hotspring so that meant both male and female were there "Um Temari-chan can you like never mention this to Shikamaru like EVER" Sakura hissed softly to the older girl who quickly nodded as they waded into the water and over to an empty spot for some privacy.
"So Sakura-chan why did you just mention Shikamaru unless your with him" Temari asks when she realizes what the younger girl had said "Not yet but there's a marriage contract between us and when I get back to the village we'll be an official couple" Sakura sighed out happily remembering the few kisses they had shared the day before she had left "What's with the sigh it sounded like a girl in total love" Temari squealed softly happy for her friend "Well I spent the whole day with Shikamaru before I left and we might have kissed a few times" Sakura admits.
"Oh you lucky girl" Temari fans her cheeks at the thought of getting kissed and being so in love with one person "It was amazing Temari-chan" Sakura whispers shyly the rest of the time they spend in the hotspring was spent in silence when they left the two girls went their opposite ways Temari back to the tower and Sakura to the training field she just couldn't not practice with her little puppet that had been upgraded slightly in the last couple of months and she really wanted to work out a few kinks in her chakra strings they kept appearing no matter how much she tried to keep them invisible.
A couple days later she is summoned to Baki's office "Sakura-san" the man was clearly nervous about something if his pacing was anything to go by "A few hours ago we received a message from Gaara stating that he and Hidan had been captured and there was no possible way for them to escape as their chakra has been suppressed" Baki explains sadly cringing back as killing intent fills the room and then suddenly it was gone "Please let me go after them Kazekage-sama" Sakura bows lows.
When she rises Baki could see the repressed rage in her eyes and he shivered lightly in fear 'At least she's being polite about it' he thought "Do you think you can handle this mission Sakura-san" Baki asks instead of answering her question "I know I can Gaara and Hidan are very special to me but I won't let my feelings interfere with the mission" she stared at him rage replaced by determination "Well then consider yourself an honorary member of the Hidden Sand Village and put on this headband your first mission is to save Gaara and Hidan" Baki orders.
Taking the headband Sakura replaces it with her own and stows hers in a scroll for safe-keeping before disappearing after it was firmly tied around her head packing for the short trip because she wouldn't be spending more time than necessary on this mission before heading out of the village once she reached a spot far enough away she sat down in the sand and concentrated all of her chakra before biting her thumb and swiping her palm "Plume Moth Summoning Jutsu" she calls out pouring her chakra into the summoning.
Meanwhile Hidan was coming to 'Bastards I can't believe they got the drop on me' he cursed at them in his thoughts before realizing it was only a matter of time until Gaara brought reinforcements "Are you awake" Gaara asks the very person he was just thinking about "I can't believe you got caught I told you to fucking run you little idiot" Hidan jumped up in an angry rant while Gaara just stared at him blankly "If Sakura gets hurt it will be your fault I told you I could fucking take care of myself" he waved his arms above his head narrowing his violet eyes.
"I couldn't let anything happen to you" Gaara admits feeling guilty now "I swear your an idiot and I have no idea what Sakura see's in you" Hidan leaned against the wall rubbing a hand down his tired face "Ok I'll tell you one more time I'm immortal I can't be killed" he announced flatly watching Gaara's eyes widen "Oh" Gaara grimaces right when their cell door squeaks open "Well the Hokage knows your captured now" their captures announce waving a letter in their faces that was from Tsunade herself.
With Kimimaro Kaguya he had been deemed dead by Kabuto when really the silver haired bespectacled man had cured him of his illness a week earlier he had started having doubts about remaining under Orochimaru's servitude and so Kabuto had given him a way out "Find Sakura Aburame and stay with her" he had ordered Kimimaro and when he had asked what this person looked like "Her most defining feature is her pink hair you can't miss her" Kabuto had told him with a small chuckle and so with a sigh Kimimaro had disappeared.
He had searched for rumors of a pink-haired female and heard that such a person was in Wind Country and that's where he was headed currently he was probably 1,329 ft from the Sand Village when he passed by a person that was sitting on the ground but with the sand being blown around he had to squint to see her, his eyes widened in surprise when he realized just who she was and like Kabuto said she had pink hair nodding to himself Kimimaro made the decision to approach her.
"Excuse me" Kimimaro cautiously walked up to her interrupting her conversation with the giant moth and causing her to spin around and look at him warily "Who are you" Sakura asks she had summoned a much larger moth named Maru when she was called out to "My name is Kimimaro Kaguya you are Sakura Aburame correct" he introduces himself putting Sakura on even more edge by saying her name "Yes how did you know my name" she hisses angrily which makes Kimimaro wary while remembering something else Kabuto had told him.
"Whatever you do don't tell Sakura about who told you her name or who you worked under" Kabuto warned him before he left "I heard people talking about you near the village" Kimimaro explains easily "Oh well um I'm kinda busy" Sakura dismisses him by turning around to talk to the moth that was still waiting "So I have one of their scents do you think you can track them Maru-sama" Kimimaro hears her ask this with a pleading sort of tone "If your willing Sakura-sama I'll help you find whoever it is your looking for" he offers and she pauses.
While the two humans had been talking Maru was analyzing Kimimaro "I agree Sakura-sama you should let him help you and who do you think your talking to I'm the great Maru I'm the best tracker I can track scents 2 months old a couple of days is nothing for me" he boasts proudly "Thank you Maru-sama and sure Kimimaro-san you might want to hop on we are going to fly" Sakura tells Kimimaro while thanking Maru all in one breath "Of course Sakura-sama" Kimimaro bows his head before climbing the gigantic moth to sit behind Sakura.
"You better hold on Kimimaro-san" Sakura yells over the sound of Maru flapping his wings as they gain height and take off in the direction that Gaara and Hidan were being help captive "Here we go Sakura-sama hold tight" Maru hollers up to them and takes off at alarming speed causing Kimimaro to wrap his arms around Sakura's waist as she grabs hold of the collar that Maru was wearing 30 minutes later they arrive at a run down building that was crawling people as they hovered high in the air.
Looking around Sakura realizes that they had just traveled 3 days in only 30 minutes and were back in fire country as she tries to come up with a plan "Hey Kimimaro what are you good at" Sakura yelled over the sound of Maru's wings flapping lazily in the air looking down he could see what would prompt her to ask him such a question "I use a bloodline limit don't worry I'll handle it Sakura-sama" he gave her an extremely small smile before swinging his legs over the side of the moth and jumped off to land in a tree silently.
A few seconds later the people on the ground fell over and Sakura ordered Maru to land on the ground "That was cool Kimimaro-san" she flashed him a brief smile before storming into the building and running down the halls which were strangely empty Kimimaro following her at his fastest run as they flew down stairs until they reached the bottom floor that held doors with barred windows coming to a stop they sneak down the hall until they hear voices coming from within one of the rooms.
Sakura was getting angrier and angrier at the conversation when finally she couldn't take it anymore and with a burst of purple and silver chakra slams the door open splintering it causing Kimimaro to duck but follow her into the room missing the seal she had placed on the door to prevent anyone from leaving while she punished those that dared mess with her precious people seeing the expression of pure fury on Sakura's face Hidan grabs Gaara and throws them against the wall knowing that she wouldn't waste much time in sacrificing the two heathens.
She was seething with unadulterated rage and it was suffocating the two who had captured Hidan and Gaara stalking forward she grabs two individual kunai before nicking both and ingesting their blood causing them to cringe in disgust and try to escape through the door only to find it sealed only turning back around when Sakura starts laughing as she creates the symbol on the floor in her blood "Prepare to meet Lord Jashin you heathens" Sakura hisses sitting in her circle with the upside down triangle.
"Oh Mighty Lord Jashin, by whom all things are set free, I cast myself utterly into thine arms and place myself unreservedly under thy all powerful protection" Sakura slashes her throat cutting off their screams before continuing unhindered "Visit justice and vengeance upon those who seek my destruction render them powerless and devastated" she takes a deep breath blood spilling down her throat and staining her clothes as she slices up both of her arms both of them screaming silently as she had slashed through her vocal cords but because of Jashin she could still talk.
"Fill my soul with thy invincible power, strengthen me so that I may persevere in your service Oh Mighty Lord Jashin" Sakura finishes raising the kunai pressing the kunai agonizingly slow into her heart prolonging their pain before falling over silence fills the room as the rooms remaining occupants two waiting in impatience and the other in horror at what he had just witnessed 'So that's why he warned me like he did' Kimimaro thought before his eyes focused on Sakura who sat up with a groan filled of pleasure.
Clean like usual after one of her sacrifices and all the wounds healed the group of four head out of the run down building and climb onto Maru 30 minutes later they land a hundred feet outside the sand village dismissing Maru with a wave Sakura leads the way into the village Kimimaro opting to stay outside because he didn't have clearance into the village "Just wait Kimimaro I'll get you in" Sakura told him with a smile before walking past the guard that moved back to stand at the entrance of the village to prevent anyone from following them.
Walking into Baki's office 2 and a half hours after she had left caused quite a riot people hadn't actually expected her to complete the mission in such a short amount of time when the meeting was over Sakura walked up to Baki and held out the Hidden Sand Headband but he just gave her a wave "Keep it Sakura your an honorary member now" Baki explained with a smile "Oh that's right there's an acquaintance of mine outside the village could you send a letter to the guard to let him in he can stay with Hidan" Sakura asked.
"Of course Sakura" Baki smiled at her again scribbling a note and handing it to his secretary and with that Kimimaro was added into their small group another bed being added in Hidan's motel room the next few weeks Sakura practices her taijutsu skills against Kimimaro until it reaches the 5th month that they had been in the Hidden Sand Village when Hidan tells her to pack up because they needed to head to the next village the next few days Sakura runs around the village buying gifts and stowing them in her scroll saying goodbye to everyone she knew.
One the day of their departure Baki, Gaara, Temari and Kankurou came to see the group of three off "Here Sakura I heard about your little puppet collection" Kankurou smirked holding out a scroll for Sakura yes she had added a couple more little puppets into her collection "And this is from me Sakura-chan" Temari holds out a mini version of her fan and Sakura smiles knowing exactly how Shikamaru would react when he saw it before turning to Gaara who holds out his hand and Sakura takes it feeling sand be added to her wrist as it changes forms.
Smiling as her arm adjusts to the new weight Sakura pulls Gaara into a quick hug "You can use the sand as a weapon now" Gaara adds when she releases him and she gives him a nod stepping back "This is my gift to you Sakura-san" Baki holds out a scroll "Any time your in trouble just open this scroll it leads to a safe house on the outskirts of this country" he explains when she takes it "Thank you Baki-sama" Sakura gives him a bow after a moment she stands gives them a wave with that they were gone.