After drilling Sakura about her trip he sends them to unpack in their assigned rooms before asking Sakura to head down to the training room where she found "Kakuzu-san, Itachi-san" Sakura blinked in confusion "Hey brat" Kakuzu greets pausing in counting his money "Never mind them Sakura I want to see how much you've improved with your swordsplay these past several months" Mifune walks into the room "She's gotten pretty good so be warned" Hidan snorted in amusement leaning against the wall to watch the spar.
Smiling Sakura pulls out her black short sword adjusting to the lighter weight because she had been practicing with much heavier weapons scanning the entire room she runs multiple scenario's through her mind before settling on a simple one sneakily attaching her tiniest puppet to her arm so that it wasn't visible and then she leaps into actions sliding under Mifune's swing Sakura skids across the floor using chakra to bring herself to a stop so that she could twist her body up and swing out with her legs before twisting again cartwheeling off her hands to land on her feet again thrusting her blade at him he disappears before it touches him.
Sliding her legs apart doing the splits Sakura swings her head down hearing the sound of a sword cutting air behind her head before turning and holding up her own to block the next pushing back she knocks Mifune off balance and quickly moves in for her next attack thinly slicing his side at the close proximity he jumps back in alarm and then calls the spar "I don't think there's much I could teach you Sakura-san" Mifune gives her a small smile "Let me heal that I actually didn't think it would hit" Sakura smiles back sheepishly.
When she gets a nod from the gray-haired man she runs up to him causing the group of samurai's to tense but relax when her hand glows green and the cut on Mifune's side stitches together "I see your swordsmanship isn't the only thing you've improved on" he chuckles before turning on his heel to leave the room his assistants following him "I guess that means we get to train now Midori" Sakura grins impishly as the massive she-wolf wakes from her nap "Of course Mistress" Midori stretches before padding over to Sakura.
"She talks" Itachi was confused he'd seen summons talk even a couple of the Inuzuka dogs talk but never a wolf "Yes, Midori talks it was a little spooky the first time she spoke to us too" Hidan piped up from his spot before all three men fall silent as Sakura pulls out a scroll and unsealed it grabbing a book that held everything she needed to know "Well the first thing is the bonding ceremony it will help us in the long run not to mention it will help you connect with your chakra and it will also let us establish a life-bond" Sakura reads out in confusion.
"Mistress Sakura I would gladly create a life-bond with you" Midori gives her version of a bow before sitting in front of the pink-haired girl "Really Midori" Sakura asks excitedly before reading through several more pages on the ceremony "It says we have to mix our blood where I share my chakra with your and then you have to bite me to share your chakra through the bite the marks won't heal because it shows proof of our bond" Sakura recites from the book staring up at Midori nervously when she was finished reading about the ceremony.
"Slash your palm and the pad of my foot Mistress" Midori orders softly licking Sakura when she hesitates in hurting her before cutting the places and presses their wounds together and pouring her chakra in Midori feels her chakra spring to life when Sakura pulls away the palm of her hand healing but the wound on her foot scarring instantly "Where would you like me to bite you Mistress" Midori asks staring at her with her crystal blue eyes "My ankle so that we can match" Sakura gives a small squeak of pain when Midori clamps her jaws around her ankle.
Feeling the wolf pour her chakra into the bite Sakura sighs in relief when Midori finally pulls away lapping at the remaining blood as it scars over bonding them eternally "That's it Midori we're partners" Sakura laughs happily wrapping her small arms around Midori's head and giving her a hug "I'm glad Mistress I've been waiting for a long time for someone to come along and save me from that dreadful shop" Midori huffs out softly breathing on Sakura's face as she rubs Midori's nose "Let's train" Sakura hops up.
"Mistress do you even know what your doing" Midori sits back sounding as if she was laughing "Oh well um no" Sakura admits sheepishly "Mistress use this scroll it will teach you the ways of the wolf" Midori pushes a scroll at Sakura who takes it and reads it with interest "Where did you get this scroll" she asks after a few moments "It's part of my clan I'm the last of the snow wolves Sakura" Midori lowered herself to the ground her tail sweeping back and forth on the floor as her crystal blue eyes reflecting her sadness at being the last of her kind.
"Let's go outside I want to try out these jutsu with you Midori" Sakura lead the way outside before taking her place next to Midori she goes through a set of handsigns "Snow Style: Snow Jet" Sakura calls out placing her hand on Midori's back and fusing their chakra together to allow the wolf to use the jutsu as a wave of snow bursts forth from Midori, Sakura smirks in triumph only to sigh a moment later when the snow stops a few feet away not gaining much distance for the attack "Guess we're gonna have to work on that" Sakura rubbed her head sheepishly.
"Indeed Mistress" came Midori's response so Sakura tries the jutsu again and again and again getting better and better each time until she switches to a different jutsu "Snow Style: Snow Manipulation" she calls out focusing her chakra in the snow to form a snow ball and smirking she throws it at Hidan who turns around glaring at her "What I didn't do anything" Sakura smiles innocently at him causes give her a rude gesture behind his back as he turns around to continue his conversation with Kakuzu.
Smiling Sakura uses the jutsu again this time creating a perfect replica of herself with that she forms all kinds of things with the snow before she collapses against Midori in exhaustion having used a lot of her chakra for the day "I think that's enough practice" Sakura mumbles tiredly as Hidan jogs over to her "Used to much chakra didn't you" Hidan raises an eyebrow down at her and she nods smiling sleepily at him sighing Hidan scoops her up in his arms getting no complaints as they head back in to the warm building.
The next morning Sakura wakes up her chakra reserves had grown because of the continuous use of her chakra she takes a quick shower, bundles up before heading out of the building into the cold to practice some more finding her spot taken by Mifune she moves a little further away before using her earth style jutsu to create a spot on the ground that was clear of snow before using her sand to cushion her knees as she sat drawing Mifune's attention "May I watch Sakura-san" he asks sheathing his sword and Sakura gives a smile before concentrating.
Working more chakra into the ground she creates another spot for Mifune to sit already sweating at from the use of her chakra "Water Style: Raging Waves, Lightning Style: Lightning Blast" Sakura calls out water coming forth from the jar on the ground beside her before infusing lightning into the water making it extremely dangerous dropping the jutsu Sakura thinks for a moment before "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu" she calls out causing Mifune to stare at her in surprise as she creates a decent sized fireball before releasing it.
"Ready Midori" Sakura breathes wiping the sweat from her forehead feeling the strain of chakra use again but not willing to give in just yet "Of course Mistress" Midori moves her head up and down tail swishing back and forth as Sakura places her hand on her "Snow Style: Snow Jet" Sakura calls out sharing her chakra with Midori again as the wolf shoots out a stream of snow destroying a few tree's several feet away running through another set of handsigns "Snow Style: Snow Manipulation" Sakura huffs out forming snow targets all around.
After she was sure the snow would stay put and not fall Sakura goes through another set of handsigns "Snow Style: Snow Shuriken" she calls out again forming shuriken out of the snow and flinging them at her targets destroying them as the shurikens hit dead center dropping to her knees Sakura groans but hops up not letting the exhaustion get to her before giving Mifune a wave "Come on Midori endurance training until we drop" Sakura yells taking off at her fastest speed and running through the trees Midori right behind her.
20 laps into her run Itachi joins her offering silent encouragement as he runs alongside her driving Sakura to push herself past her limits apparently her limit was the 27th lap as she dives head first into a pile of snow as her legs give out from underneath her causing Itachi to stop not even breathing hard struggling to her feet Sakura grits her teeth and jumps up and continues on until 3 more laps and she reaches her original spot and sits down again breathing heavily before pulling her arms up and practicing even more jutsu.
When Hidan came outside he rolled his eyes and scooping Sakura up in his arms again "Sakura your pushing yourself to hard" he scolded getting a grin from the girl who starts going through the motions of her nightly ritual whispering the words until she falls asleep her breathing even and her eyelids closing in her exhaustion "That girl has a will of iron steel" Mifune chuckles seeing Hidan bring her in "Yeah a will of iron steel that's gonna get her killed" Hidan sighed out worriedly brushing her silver bangs out of her face in irritation.
The next few weeks go by in the same manner Sakura pushing herself past her limits training in everyway that should could until she finally feels strong enough to try out bigger and higher level jutsu so taking Midori out she heads to her spot the others had left it alone because she trained there every day "We are going to try something different today" Sakura ran a hand through bangs that were becoming longer her hair almost reaching her ankles in its length 'Maybe I should cut my hair' she thought briefly.
Shaking her head she mounts Midori before staring with determination "Snow Style: Snow Clone Jutsu" Sakura pours her chakra into the ground no longer needing to touch it as she uses Midori to channel her chakra creating a bunch of snow clones before going through another set of handsigns "Snow Style: Snow Shield Jutsu" Sakura calls out creating a small shield attached to her arm and then "Snow Style: Snow Armor" she creates a thin layer of snow around her body adding to her protection and then as the final jutsu "Snow Style: Snow Blade" she calls out.
A sharp blade chunin level at best forms before looking around she spies all of her hidden snow clones before ushering Midori forward twirling the snow blade with a flick of her wrist as she slices through the first then second and so on and so forth until both wolf and human were exhausted and covered in bruises "Come on Midori let's head back" Sakura smiles and pats Midori on the head feeling less exhausted feeling triumphant because it was a definite improvement as they circle back around to the front where Hidan was waiting for her.
"Hey Hidan" she greeted in confusion when he stares at her "What have you been doing battling an army" Hidan asks eyeing her bruised form "A snow clone army" Sakura snickers causing Hidan to roll his eyes "Well come on brat want to come back to the village with us for a few days and see everyone" Kakuzu asks coming to stand next to his old partner "Of fucking course" Sakura blurts out crunching a chakra restorative pill and quickly healing her bruises as they head in the direction of the Leaf Village for a quick visit.
A day later Sakura rides into the Leaf Village on Midori shocking Izumo and Kotetsu who weren't expecting her back so soon sulking when she explains her presence "It's just a quick visit until Hidan and I, move onto the next village" Sakura grins at them jumping down from Midori "This is my companion Midori" she introduces the large white wolf at her side "It's a pleasure to meet you two my Mistress often likes to talk about here so I'm happy to meet her friends" Midori speaks causing the two to stare in shock.
"See you later" Sakura gives them a wave missing their expressions as she leads Midori through the village "Wait Sakura your brother and your father are out of the village on clan business" Izumo calls out receiving a wave in response as Sakura heads further into the village walking straight for the Inuzuka compound she had a question she wanted to ask Kiba and his mother when she got in Tsume greeted her right away before staring at the massive wolf "I see you've got a friend there is she a stray" Tsume asks grinning ferally.
"Actually Tsume-sama, Midori here is my companion we're bonded for life" Sakura avoids the womans gaze "Do you have any idea what you've got yourself into Sakura-san" Tsume snarls gearing up to give the young girl the scolding of a lifetime "Of course I didn't go into this without thinking it through so thoroughly that it made my head spin Midori is the last of her kind without me she would have withered away in that shop back in the grass village" Sakura scoffed glaring heatedly at the older woman as Kiba comes down the stairs.
"What's with all the noise Ma" he appears around the corner eyes closed in a yawn scratching his belly before opening his eyes and staring at Midori in surprise but Tsume wasn't paying any attention to her boy instead the words Sakura had spoken were still ringing through her head "Last of her kind, withered away in a shop" Tsume repeats feeling sick to her stomach 'I gotta hand it to the kind that wolf really is beautiful' she thought "That's right Tsume-sama" Sakura grinds out hoping to get it through the womans extremely thick skull.
"Sakura what you've found might just be what the Inuzuka clan needs to get stronger pups" Tsume breathes out in awe "Would you mind marrying my extremely thickheaded son" the woman jokes already knowing about the contract between Sakura and Shikamaru but wanting to see how Kiba would react to her teasing "Ma" he covers his ears face turning red in embarrassment "Don't mind her Sakura she's just senile everyone knows that your in an arranged marriage with Shikamaru" Kiba ducks when Tsume swings at him.
"Let's make a deal Sakura-san" Tsume finally smacks Kiba over the head sending him toppling over the couch "What kind of deal" Sakura asks warily 'There isn't any way in hell I'm giving up Midori' she tensed at the thought "When you get back to the village let us breed her with Akamaru to create the next generation of pups ensuring that the snow wolf line lives on" Tsume offers and Sakura looks at Midori "I would like nothing more than to ensure my line lives on Tsume-sama I would be honored to breed with the pup" Midori bows her head.
"Thank you Sakura-san" Tsume gives a whoop of joy causing her own companion Kuromaru to howl at her joy "It's nothing to thank me for" Sakura scuffs her shoe shyly feeling honored about being thanked by Tsume Inuzuka "Oh Kiba, I've got some treats for Akamaru that Midori doesn't like" Sakura suddenly remembered and turned to see that the boy had righted himself "Yahooo" Kiba called softly not wanting to set off another howling fest as Sakura digs around in her pack for the scroll she had sealed the treats in, a moment later she smiles in triumph.
Finding the scroll she pulls it out before unsealing just the treats no need to show him what else he would be getting later on down the line before holding out the bag of treats that Midori refused to try "May I try giving one to him" Sakura asks looking Kiba in the eyes and getting a nod in response "Here Akamaru" she holds out a treat after Kiba had taken the back and Akamaru sniffs it before quickly gobbling it down and yipping excitedly at the delicious taste smirking internally when Midori's interest perks up at Akamaru's reaction.
She had bought another bag just for this reason and now maybe Midori would try them "Well I'll see you later Tsume-sama, Kiba" Sakura gave them a two fingered salute before walking out of the Inuzuka compound and to the Nara "Sakura-chan" Yoshino blink in surprise Sasuke on her shoulder as she opens the door to her house "Hello Yoshino-sama" Sakura bowed her head smiing softly when Sasuke leaps from shoulder to shoulder rubbing against her face dooking in excitement at seeing her after all these months.
"I'm sorry Shikamaru is out on a mission with his team right now and Sakura call me mom we are going to be related sometime in the near future" Yoshino pulls Sakura into the home chattering away drawing Shukaku's attention and he gives her a lazy wave "Would you like some tea Sakura-chan" Yoshino chatters glaring at her lazy ass of a husband "I actually just came by to see how Sasuke was doing" Sakura was cuddling the little ferret that had curled up in her arms before handing him back over and with a wave left the Nara Compound.
After her visit the next couple of days pass by in a blur and before she knew it Sakura was perched on Midori's back as they ran all the way to the Hidden Mist Village passing through a village along the way and gaining a new headband from the Star Village for her collection Zabuza meets them outside the village his bandage wraps conveniently missing as he leads them to Mei's office "Glad you could, what the hell is that" Mei jumps up and presses herself against the wall at seeing the wolf.
"Mei-sama this is Midori, she's my companion she won't hurt you or anyone in this village" Sakura soothes giving the wolf a look which causes her to press her belly to the ground her ears flattened against her head her tail moving side to side as she waits for the long auburn haired woman to calm down a few minutes later Mei sits down in her chair again her heart slowing accepting Sakura's reassurances that the wolf wouldn't attack "Is she a snow wolf" Mei widens her eyes at the realization.
"The last one right Midori" Sakura nods her eyes reflecting the sadness she felt at this fact nodding her head in agreement Midori remains silent the last thing she wanted to do was cause even more panic with her speaking "That's really to bad" Mei watches the two wolf and human standing before her desk "Yeah thats why when we get back to the Leaf Village the Inuzuka clan is going to take her in and breed her with Akamaru the companion to the heir" Sakura perks up excitedly remembering the deal she had made to help the Inuzuka clan out.
"Well I'm afraid there isn't much we can offer you right now we've heard about you from the other villages and I'm really happy that you came all this way but you don't have to stay two months" Mei sighs out causing Hidan to blink in surprise "I see" Sakura laughs softly scratching Midori behind the ears causing her tail to pick up speed and wag back and forth in happiness as her tongue lolls out "I've heard about your collection of headbands so I've made one especially for you" Mei picks a headband from a shelf and gives it to her.
"Thank you Mei-sama" Sakura looks it over appreciatively before stowing it in her scroll swiping her hair out of the way angrily when it tickles her nose and makes her sneeze "I've got a question Mei-sama" Sakura asks wrinkling her nose to keep herself from sneezing again 'I really need to cut this' she glared at it angrily gathering it up into a hand so that she could see straight "What's that Sakura-san" Mei asks watching the girl in slight amusement as she battles with her hair "Does this village have a tattoo shop" Sakura asks glaring as a few strands of hair escape.
"Yes it's just down the street from here" Mei answers before dismissing her from her office and Zabuza leads them to the tattoo shop "Hello and Welcome" the man behind the counter turns around only to frown "Sorry I don't do kids" he calls and quickly turns back around "Please" Sakura pleaded causing the guy to sigh but turn and face them again "You sure you can handle the pain pinky" he asks pointing at her with his tattoo machine grasped firmly in his hand "I'm sure I can" Sakura calls back fearlessly.
"Ok tell me what you want done, you silver have to sign for her as her guardian" and quickly thrusts a sheet of paper at Hidan along with a pencil so that he could fill out the paperwork with Sakura explained what she wanted done "Well the first is I want this seal tattooed onto my arm to make it easier to use my summons, the second one is this symbol and I want it here she points to the scarred over skin, the 3rd I want this kanji on my shoulder, the fourth I want two cherry blossoms, lime green and blood red and lastly I want a green snowflake" she finishes.
"That's quite a lot for a little girl" the man raises an eyebrow "I'll make ya a deal kid if you manage to get all 5 of these tattoo's without making a single complaint of pain, you won't have to pay and I'll throw in one more tattoo, they'll be on the house my treat" he bets smirking internally when she takes the bait "Your on mister" Sakura pumps her arm before walking over to a wall that held designs for even more tattoo's while Hidan handed over the filled out paper and stood next to her "Your crazy" Hidan dubs causing her to snort in amusement.
"Ok if your ready uh Sakura" the guy glances down at the sheet before gesturing for Sakura to precede him into a room "Ok let's start with the summoning seal first which arm do you want it on and is there a specific color you want it in" he has her sit in a chair as he pulls out bottles of ink "Left arm solid black" Sakura doesn't hesistate to answer while he preps the machin a few minutes later the first tattoo was started, Sakura had to bite her lip from giggling because the vibrations from the machine were tickling her but she manages to make it.
5 hours later the guy places the machine down finishing up her ankle that now held a green snowflake "I can't believe you sat through 5 tattoo's and didn't even make a squeak of pain" he was utterly dumbfounded "You've got some balls girly" he finally laughs missing the offended expression Sakura gives him but quickly conceals it as he waits for her decision "I want this tattooed on my back" Sakura finally hands over a picture of Sasuke the ferret while gesturing to the spot she wanted and flipped over when he gestured for her to.
A couple more hours later Sakura emerges wrapped in slightly bleeding bandages and carrying a scroll that had supplies to take care of her new tattoo's "Come on I want to buy a few souvenirs" Sakura walked off quickly skipping happily while Hidan followed her at a slow pace when she slams into the someone "Haku" she laughs bringing the boy in for a hug "Sakura-san" Haku greets politely before noticing that she was bleeding when he enquires Sakura points to the shop a little ways down the street explaining everything.
Waving goodbye to the boy Sakura and Hidan leave the village sending the next few months wandering around the country side visiting Jashin's temples that were littered here and there Sakura and Midori growing stronger each day as they practice their jutsu's and fight off bandits learning how to work as a team leaving Sakura with a feeling she had never felt before but there was one thing that was a constant point of irritation to her "My hair" she sulked as Hidan helped her remove the leaves from it from their last fight.
"Why don't you just cut it then" Hidan glared yanking a brush through the locks causing her to hiss "Hidan you didn't just ask me that" Sakura stood up hands on her hips "Every day you ask me to help you clean them it's getting insane and it's not like it won't grow back in a few years time" Hidan stood waving the brush as Sakura flipped her hair over her shoulder it almost touching the ground now with it's length "Do you have any idea how long my hair has been like this" Sakura snaps twirling a long lock around her finger.
"No but like I said it's not like it won't grow back" Hidan stressed out wanting to groan in irritation "My hair has been this long since I was 5 Hidan" Sakura stomped her foot causing the ground to crack in her anger for the past two weeks Hidan had been telling her in a not so subtle way to cut her hair and she was getting sick and tired of it "I don't care just cut it already and both of us will be happier" Hidan growls back wanting to get his point through her thick skull "Why don't you understand" Sakura throws her arms up walking away when Hidan grabs her.
Spinning Sakura around he hoped that she wouldn't knee him in the groin "Sakura I do understand how important your hair is but it's just gonna get longer and take to much time to take care of it, cut it now and you'll be much happier and in a few years time I bet it will be at least back down to your back" Hidan tries to smile reassuringly at her but steps back when her chakra swirls dangerously around her body and her anger leaks out as she faces him fully her eyes welling up with her angry tears.
"Fine" Sakura snaps missing the popping sound of the teleportation jutsu "You want me to cut my hair Hidan" she snarls and Hidan nods slowly "Well then you got your wish" Sakura glares a few tears spilling down her cheeks in her anger as she reaches up gathers all of her hair in her hand slides a kunai out of her pouch and yanks it harshly through the pink locks "There are you happy now" Sakura cries dropping the kunai as a few locks escape her hold and drift away in the breeze 'Uh oh' Hidan gulped nervously in realization.
Neither had noticed the people that were watching as Sakura waves her long hair at Hidan who stares guiltily at it "Are you HAPPY" she screeches more angry tears rolling down her face "No I'm not happy" Hidan sighs walking forward to comfort the upset teen "Your a jerk Hidan first you want me to cut my hair and when I finally do YOUR NOT HAPPY" Sakura's voice rises in volume as she says the last three words angrily rubbing her eyes as they sting and burn from her tears "This isn't how I thought it would go" Hidan frowns.
He starts walking forward again only to pause feeling the chakra of several people nearby "Sakura you need to calm down" Hidan raises his arms when a shuriken comes flying at him and he dodges it narrowly "Absolutely not" Sakura growls dangerously her chakra exploding outwards even more as her anger reaches a new height she wasn't just upset she was pissed and she was going to make Hidan understand that painfully "Stop it Sakura and pay attention to your surroundings" he orders her again and Sakura gives a shriek of fury so done with being coddled like a child.
Throwing more shuriken and kunai at Hidan she fights the urge to smirk when a few make contact "Why should I listen to you Hidan" Sakura cries angrily shaking her cut hair at him making the look in his eyes turn even guiltier "I'm sorry Sakura" Hidan apologizes "Sorry isn't going to bring back my hair Hidan" she scowls pulling her arm back to throw her hair when a chuckle enters her ears "I see we came at a bad time" Kabuto smirks pushing his glasses up his nose only to receive a punch to the face knocking him out.