Chapter 41 Inugami.

"Ahhh! Please no more." His screams bounced off the wall and did nothing for my mood. He was so loud, couldn't he die quietly?

Crack.

Ahhhh!

"Sakura chan."

I glanced over my shoulder to the worried face of a Naruto clone.

"Do you have it all?" I asked, turning back to my work.

"Yes."

"Good," I stood up and pointed to the pile of now sleeping, junkies. "Take them and the mercenaries out of the building." Narutos eyes moved from the bodies and back to me, but he didn't move. His expression frozen in a worried frown.

I turned my back to him; such an expression wasn't good for my health, or my anger. I glared down at the rat I found hiding among the victims and debated again whether to leave him to burn or not.

He was the manager of this place; he helpfully informed me as I broke his fingers. He said something about being important, but I couldn't hear him over the blood rushing in my ear. He soon broke, begging for his life, promising to do anything.

Narutos chakra flickered, and I looked back to see his eyes glaze over. "The civilians have gathered," he said, still out of it. He was using his clone effectively.

"We did make a mess," I said, walking out of the room. "Handle this."

"Right."

There was a burst of chakra as more clones sporting the same frown appeared. They picked up the victims and dragged the rat. I walked ahead. The treasure room was bare; Naruto had cleaned out everything. Money, jewelry, precious items, and documents; Naruto took them all.

"I'm not going to read through all those documents by myself," I warned the clones as we made our way to the front room.

"I could read them, but I don't think ill understand any of it," he fired back. Mutley, I realized he had dawned his mask once more and imitated him. The front was empty as well, Hawk and Wolf standing outside with the unconscious mercenary.

I cleared my throat and fought the cringe. This act was necessary to cover our tracks. That, and I was taking a jab at the real Akatsuki.

"In order to achieve peace, sacrifices are made," I said as I walked out of the empty guild. The civilians that came to watch stared at me as Fox walked out with the victim. "Purification of filth must be carried out." As the last clone exited the building dragging the rat, I started the timer.

"Those that would exploit the innocent have no place in the world of the red moon." Naruto tossed down the rat, and the people gasped in recognition. "We will spare this filth of a village just this once, but if this act continues."

Booom! The guildhall exploded right on time. "We will purge this world of your filthy existence. Police your own!"

The civilians looked away in shame, confirming my suspicion. They knew this was happening and turned a blind eye. Should I burn down this village after all?

One of the victims, a thin girl, woke and looked around confused. There was no way to cure drug addiction in a single night. I can only remove the substance from their body and pray for their recovery.

"Hanako!" a cry came from the crowd as an old woman pushed to get through. She fell when she finally broke from the crowd and crawled desperately over to the girl. "My sweet baby!" the old woman cried as she hugged "Hanako."

"Where have you been? I've looked everywhere for you!" the woman was crying now, snots running her face.

"Mother?" Hanako whispered, confused. "Where am I? What's happening?"

"It's okay now. I'm here. I won't let go of you again!" the mother promised.

I sighed, grabbing the rat's ankle and dragging him back to the burning house. I should burn them alive after all.

"Please wait. What are you doing? No!"

Wolf grabbed my wrist, stopping me in my tracks.

"We need him," he said.

"We really don't," I argued. I already knew where Gato was and his bodyguard detail. "If we wanted the location of the other drug stores, we could always torture Gato."

Wolf didn't let go, and my pout went unseen.

"Tsk"

I clenched my fist, and bone gave way in my grip.

"Ahhhh!" I looked down to see his ankle had somehow broken in my grip. Oops? Wolf untangled my fingers from the rat. The scum tried to crawl away, which was difficult with his broken limbs.

I smiled as he crawled ly a worm away from me.

"Mushi?" Hanako looked at the worm in confusion. "You're here too?"

Her mother looked at the worm, and her face darkened.

"You," her broken voice had all the hatred of a grieving mother. "You took my daughter from me!"

And that was it. The worm realized it had enemies everywhere. The civilians pointed and whispered as the old woman stood and strode towards him.

"This might take a while," I said as the old woman began to beat the worm.

The flames of the burning guild had died down by the time the interrogation was over. At the end of it, I learned nothing new. Gato was in the land of waves trying to take over the country, and his treasure or a map to it was with him.

After a warning to get their shit together, we left. The mercenaries' lives were in the hands of the villagers now. I didn't really care what happened to them as they didn't show up in the story and wouldn't impact the plot.

"You okay, Sakura?" Sasuke asked when we made camp that night. Looking at him in an Akatsuki outfit brought back memories of his original destiny. Like hell I would let that happen. I smiled at the Uchiha. "I'm fine, Sasuke," I assumed him.

"Kakahi said you were upset."

"So Kakashi put you up to this?" he asked, surprised it wasn't Naruto. "And here I thought you were worried about me."

"It's not like you'll tell me if something is wrong."

"Only if it affects you."

He sighed and sat down, his back against mine. "So you're saying it doesn't affect me when you're upset?" his tone had a hint of annoyance.

"It doesn't if you not notice,' I told him. "As long as I don't show that something is wrong, no one will know. A shinobi mustn't show emotions, no matter what."

"Sakura!" he yelled, making me jump. "Aren't you the one that's always complaining about the rules and not following them? You tell us constantly not to be "Real" shinobis, so why are you acting like this?"

His voice cracked, and his chakra waved, struggling to remain calm.

"Are you calling me a hypocrite?" I asked.

The world tilted, and I was suddenly staring into glowing red eyes as Sasuke straddled me. I couldn't be sure, but they looked wet.

He sighed in frustration, resting his forehead on my chest. Instinctively, I brushed his hair, and he groaned in annoyance.

"Wouldn't Naruto be better at this?"' I asked, thinking how the blonde's tears would get me to do anything. Sasuke was more of a silent observer, only stepping in when I looked murderous.

…

Right, I tried to kill that worm, didn't I? I sighed as Sasuke spoke.

"Kakashi doesn't want to," he said, the vibration from his voice tickling me. "I think he's scared of you." I snorted. As if the copy ninja would fear a genin. He probably didn't want to deal with a probeset tween.

"And Naruto?" I asked. I couldn't imagine Naruto running from me.

"He's meditating," Sasuke told me, and I snorted. He really was running from me; to his parents, no less. I wrapped my arms around Sasuke, trapping him.

"I was feeling frustrated, that's all," I said. "I don't like people being used and discarded. If you know what your doing is hurting someone, why do it?" They didn't have the excuse, "it's for their own good." What they were doing was unnecessary and selfish. "I'm sorry I scared you."

"I wasn't scared," he rebuked me. I thought to the long hair Uchiha he lived with and wondered if he exposed Sasuke to things like that. Sasuke looked up at me when I was quiet for too long.

"What is it?"

"Your brother can be really terrifying, huh?" I muttered.

"Why are you talking about Itachi so suddenly?" he asked, confused by my chain of thought. Itachi's brother complex was unrivaled. He did all that to ensure his brother's future. Like the fourth Hokage's plan, it backfired, but their love was stupidly apparent.

I hugged Sasuke tighter. I felt like I did something that would make him hate me for his own sake. I pulled an Itachi, but I couldn't remember what it was.

"You're crushing me, Sakura," Sasuke said in a flat tone. My hand last their strength and fell uselessly to the ground. He groaned, pushing up to hover over me once mem, his eyes onyx once more.

"Do you feel better?" he asked.

I patted his cheek. "You're bad at this," I told him.

"I'm not," he denied. "You're the problem."

I gasped, offended. "Are you saying your inability to emote is my fault?"

A vein bulged on his forehead. He smiled coldly as his eyes glowed red again. "I can emote just fine." I looked away, chuckling nervously.

"Yeah, but your default emotions are anger and disinterest."

The air heated, and I swore he was getting ready to unleash a fireball.

"You still haven't answered my question," he growled. He noticed.

"Ino's team is there, in the wave country," I told him. "I'm worried."

"About her?" he leaned away, looking at me with skepticism.

"No, not about her," I said flatly. Haku and Zabuza, maybe, but mostly Shikamaru. I kept my summons out of his reach, but I wasn't looking forward to fighting alongside him.

"We don't have to interact with them," Sasuke informed me. I smiled at him. I didn't mention that our missions involved the same midget mafia.

We stood on the shore of the land of fire, looking at the vast sea. I hadn't thought about how we would get to the island. Team Asuma was already on their way there; we needed to hurry. I looked around at the mist that had gathered and frowned.

"Hmm, looks like will need to hire a boat to get to the island," Kakashi said, finding this moment perfect for reading. I was reminded again that I was the only one that knew what was going to happen. They were currently making their way to Tazuna's house; Zabuza would appear soon.

"Too late now," I told him, glancing at the destruction behind us. Gato placed boatmen under his control along the coast; their travel fee was ridiculous a discouraged anyone wanting to travel to the wave country.

We didn't appreciate their attempts to rob us and ended up destroying their boats, beating them half to death, and taking their money. I sighed. This mission was really testing my patience. I was going to beat Gato half to death before Zabuza killed him.

"We could walk," Naruto suggested.

"Idiot, do you have any idea how far the island is, or even how to get there?" Sasuke said in annoyance. Naruto huffed, crossing his arms.

"I don't see you making any suggestions."

"That's because I'm thinking," Sasuke replied. "Something you should put into practice."

"You bastard," Naruto growled.

His growling gave me an idea, and I bit my thumb.

"Summoning jutsu!"

They looked at me as a poof of smoke spread around me.

"Nya?" a voice came from the smoke. "I hope you're not summoning me in a life and death situation again, little kitten." As the smoke cleared, a magnificent, battle-scared, giant split tail cat sat before us. Nekomata was graceful as always.

His white fur is always well kept despite the scars. His yellow eyes scanned the surroundings, his claws retracting when he sensed no danger.

"Kitty!" I squealed uncontrollably before tackling the giant cat. I remembered doing the same thing when Fugaku brought me to met them for some reason. He was appalled by my behavior, much like my team was right now.

"Did she just," Kakashi asked, unable to finish.

"Am I in a genjutsu?" Sasuke muttered.

"I wanna pet him too," Naruto whined, seeming unfazed.

I rubbed my face in Nekomata's fur, pleased that non came off. I didn't have pets in either of my lives, so having Cat summons was a treat. The majestic cat lasted longer than I thought he would, but he soon started to purr as I rubbed his stomach.

"Why did you summon me?" he asked, lowing his head to give me access to his ear. I rubbed it happily.

"I wanted to display your magnificence," I said, turning back to my team. "Let's have a race. You can use summons or a jutsu; whoever reaches the land of waves first wins." We were in a hurry anyway, so this was a good excuse to rush.

Naruto frowned. "I don't have a summon, though," his shoulders fell, dejected. Sasuke bit his thumb and summoned a giant hawk. He hopped on when it lowered its head without question.

"Let's go, Naruto," he said, reaching for the blond. Naruto looked up at him in awe. I committed the scene to memory, my smile never fading.

Naruto took Sasuke's hand and got pulled onto the hawk's back. We looked at Kakashi expectantly.

He closed his book with a sigh.

"Fine, I'll play along," he said, taking out a kunai. He pricked his thumb and slammed it against the ground. "Summoning jutsu!"

A poof of smoke engulfed us. He was a dog user, I remembered. I wondered if he summoned one of his larger dogs to ride like the rest of us.

With a swing of his tail, the smoke cleared with a gust of wind.

"Why is there a final boss here?" I muttered, staring up at the beast Kakashi summoned.

It was a dog, a huge freaking dog, the size or bigger than Nekomata, sporting a beaded collar and a blue jacket, the terrifying black dog with blue eyes glared down at us.

"Kakashi, why did you call me?" its voice was deep and rough, rows of sharp teeth visible with each world. "Hmm?" The hell hound, for there was no better title, locked eyes with Nekomata, and his grin grew. "What do we have here? Nekomata? You were still alive."

Nekomata hissed.

"Inugami."

"Hehehehe." The beast chuckled. It sounded like the laugh of death.

I could feel Kakashi's smugness as he stood before the hellhound. "I felt jealous after seeing you summon an ancient beast, so I formed a contract with this guy." He scratched under Inugami's chin; he was braver than I.

Inugami's blue eyes locked on me and narrowed. Nekomata hissed more viciously, and I knew a fight would break out. I meant for this to be a fast way to save team 10, so why was I now worried for my life?

"I see," I said, my voice trembling. I mounted Nekomata and scattered Springflys around. "We're going to have a race, the first to reach the end wins. Follow the butterfly."

Kakashi shook his head as he jumped onto the beast's back. "Figures you already know the way," he said as Inugami obediently turned to the sea. I glanced over to Naruto and Sasuke and sighed.

Naruto was foaming with shock while Sasuke was keeping him from falling off. I was surprised the hawk wasn't panicking being surrounded by dangerous predators. Then again, hawks hunted snakes, so I suppose it was fine.

My springflys flow in front of us and stop some distance away. I gave them more chakra; they were going to need it to keep up with these beasts. I didn't think this through.

I counted down.

"Three…" Sasuke's hawk spread its wings.

"Two…" Inugami's muscles tensed, and Kakashi held on with chakra.

"One!"

The hawk launched into the air, and the beasts dashed across the sea; each step created a mini tsunami. I really didn't think this through.

Neither did I. My internet man, how can you be so cruel. Anyway ill see you all again. Yes, Zabuza is fucked. I'm excited for the next chapter that will be out…

Sept 28. See you then, night song~