Naruto 1. Prologue

**She had made them think she was dead for 3 years. They had just given up hope when she returned to their lives. The glue for Team 7 had returned… but she was no longer the Sakura they had grown to love. She harboured evil feelings they never knew she had and now she was letting them all out. She had joined their hated enemy to gain strength. To no longer be the same weak Sakura. Her mission was sworn to fail the minute she found out Naruto had the Kyuubi inside him. NaruSaku**

**Living Once Dead**

**Prologue**

Deep blue eyes looked to the sky as the sun just began to peek over the horizon, bringing light to the whole of Konoha. But not even this pretty picture could lighten the feelings he felt on this fateful day. The anniversary of his first and only love's disappearance. He watched as the sun rose high in the sky. He stayed that way for hours, just watching. Thinking about _her_ and what happened. Her voice, her hair, her eyes, her everything. All of it. Gone. She left him in the world. A world without her wasn't worth living in. She was his everything even if she didn't return his love. He didn't care. Just seeing her made his whole world seem brighter, and now she was gone. And she had left him. 3 years ago precisely. 3 hard years of training to keep his mind of her had made him only one step away from becoming Hokage and the captain of his very own ANBU team.

He remembered it like it was yesterday; coming home from his two year stay away from Konoha. He had come home expecting her to there waiting for him. To greet him at least. 2 years was a long time. It was then he was greeted with a distraught Ino and upset Tsunade. At the age of 16 he had just found out that his only love had been missing for a year. 3 years had past since then and the hole in his heart had only slightly healed. At least enough for him to stop drinking away his sorrows and sleeping with any girl who sashayed their way over to him in the bar.

He was now 19 years of age and he still hadn't forgotten her smile. Her hair. Her eyes. Her everything. And he doubted he would ever, but at least now he could get through a whole day without yelling at his friends, without crying over his loss, without wishing he were dead, without blaming himself for leaving her all alone.

"It's not good to dwell on the past you know," a voice behind the man made him turn around and face reality. The shoulder length spiky black hair and onyx eyes made him realise he was staring at his best friend. The one person who still sparred with him even though he usually tried to inflict as much damage as he could on his opponent, comrade or not. The one person who stayed with him through his screaming and then crying fits. The one person who understood what he was going through, who _really_ understood. Uchiha Sasuke.

It was two and a half years ago that the traitor Uchiha had been dragged back to Konoha by a team of retrievers. He had not come quietly, but after killing his brother he had nothing else to do. The one thought of his true **home** had given him hope. Hope for a different future, one not filled with revenge, but one filled with friends, filled with love, filled with **family**. It had only taken him half a year to track him down and bring him home, the thought of his loss had made him keep his promise he had made to her those many years ago. If he could give her nothing else, he would give her this. The promise of a lifetime fulfilled. Whether she were here to see it or not he would continue fighting until he could finally be able to let himself feel like something, anything, he had done right for her.

It was on this day 3 years ago his heart had been broken, and it was on this day 3 years later that he had finally come to terms with the fact that his true love was dead. It was on this day, the anniversary of Haruno Sakura's disappearance that Uzumaki Naruto's past came back to haunt him.


	2. Chapter One: Remembrance

**Ok, ****Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain****, just so you know, STOP READING IT IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT! No one is forcing you. I don't want another PM from you telling me how much this story sucks ok? Ok. Glad we understand each other. For the rest of you who actually like this story so far, I am sorry, and I hope you continue to read it. XD**

**Chapter One: Remembrance**

"Naruto!!! Hey Naruto!" A blonde man of 19 years of age turned around to see a brown haired man of the same age and statue run towards him. He had red marks on his face and a large dog ran next to him. The blonde, now deemed 'Naruto', smiled lightly in a greeting and stopped walking so the other man could catch up.

"What's up Kiba?" He asked as the dog and man finally caught up to him.

"Wanna… go… Ichiraku?" Kiba gasped out as he doubled over in exhaustion.

"I don't think you need any more fatty food in you Inuzuka, you're unfit enough as it is. Getting tired over a quick jog to the dobe," A deep voice from behind Naruto made him aware that Sasuke was behind him.

"I just got off a mission thank you very much Uchiha," Kiba replied haughtily as he glared at that black haired ANBU captain.

"Excuses, excuses," Sasuke smirked as the Jounin shinobi started to growl.

"Guys! Cool it, would you. Sorry Kiba, I'm not hungry," Naruto smiled sadly as he looked to the sky. "I think I'm going to visit Sakura today…" he trailed off as Sasuke and Kiba shared a glance with one another. "I'm ok guys, really. Stop worrying. I am not going to drastically combust any time soon. I'll be ok." His words gave no reassurance, but Kiba and Sasuke decided they would leave him alone for now.

"Fine dobe, but I don't want to find you in some random corner crying your eyes out," Sasuke's smirk was weaker than usual as he tried to lighten the mood.

"Heh, you know me teme, I'm going to be the next Hokage. I can't waste my time crying. Believe it!" He gave another smile, this one larger but it still didn't reach his eyes. With a small wave he turned and jumped onto the nearest building and made his way to the Shinobi cemetery where he knew his sensei was already there, already paying his respects to all those he knew that had died in combat.

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Only 1000 miles away another conversation was taking place in the deep depths of a watery cave.

"Pein-sama are you sure it's not too soon? They will probably be on alert because of what happened to the Kazekage just a month ago." A husky feminine voice questioned from their stand in the circle.

"Hime, if we do not attack soon the power in this artefact will have gone to waste. Why not attack while they are still damaged by the blow we landed on them?" A soft masculine voice replied from the centre of the circle replied to her question before letting his voice boom throughout the cave.

"Kisame, Hime, Deidara, you will be the retrieval squad. I expect you back in three days or less. Use our chakra to get you to Konoha gates, but use your own to run back. Make sure you aren't followed. Fight them, kill them if you have to. Just make sure no one comes into defiance of my plan for the Kyuubi. Do you understand?"

"Hai!" Three voices in unison replied before three people cloaked in darkness jumped from their pedestal and disappeared in a swirl of water, cherry blossoms and fire.

"Heh, this is where you will meet your downfall… Hime." A deep chuckling echoed in the cave as the man called Pein threw his arms in the air and laughed with so much evil that the remaining few flinched away from him and shivered in fear.

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"Hey Sakura-chan. It's been a while. I haven't been able to visit you since you're… funeral two years ago. You know, they waited two years until they pronounced you dead. They waited two whole years. They continued to look for you Sakura-chan. _I_ continued to look for you. I wanted to believe that you were still out there somewhere, just waiting for me. Waiting for someone to come and rescue you, but I guess I was wrong to think that way." The blonde haired shinobi let out a sad sigh as he turned his cerulean eyes to the sky once more. "I was wrong to think you were still out there. I knew deep down that if you hadn't returned by now you would of course be… dead." He struggled to say the word aloud, but he still continued to speak even though his voice was getting thick with the tears that were falling down his face. "I knew deep down that nothing could keep you away from your home, but still I had hope. I had hoped you would come home. You would come back to Konoha. To me." His eyes fell to the tombstone below him, which had inscribed on it:

_Haruno Sakura,_

_Medic/Chuunin_

_1990 – 2005_

_MIA_

_Beloved Friend, Daughter and Teammate._

_RIP_

His eyes screwed shut as he let the bunch of cherry blossoms in his hand float to the ground, unaware he was being watched by anger-filled deep emerald eyes.


	3. Chapter Two: And So It Begun

**Chapter Two: And So It Begun**

It was later that day that the alert went out for all Chuunin, Jounin and ANBU shinobi to report to the Hokage building. Trespassers had been spotted just outside of Konoha. They wore black cloaks with red clouds on them. Everyone knew who they were… Akatsuki.

Three of them had been spotted just standing there, outside the village gates. Waiting… watching. For something, or someone no one was sure. All Tsunade knew was that they were not to be taken lightly, so she called all the available Chuunin, Jounin and ANBU shinobi that weren't injured, on missions or otherwise detained. In the end she came up with 3 Chuunin, 8 Jounin and 3 ANBU shinobi. She only hoped that was enough. If only three Akatsuki operatives had come that obviously meant they were strong enough to take care of themselves.

With speed and accuracy Shizune explained the situation for Tsunade's benefit.

"WHAT!?! Akatsuki are outside?! Why aren't we out there fighting them?!?" Naruto's yell made the windows shake as Tsunade brought a hand to her temples and rubbed them, willing the migraine that was developing to go away.

"Naruto! Think about it before you start screaming!" Kakashi growled out quickly before turning to the Hokage and asked,

"What do you want us to do Tsunade-sama?"

"Go out and meet them. Be on guard. If there is only the three of them then they are not to be taken lightly." With a nod from all of them she knew they understood. Lee's question, however, of why they were here took her off guard and made her voice her suspicions,

"For the Kyuubi container, Naruto…"

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"Hime, why exactly are we out here? Why not simply attack the Kyuubi container now?" Kisame asked as he swung his large sword so it rested on his shoulder.

"Do you _know_ who the Kyuubi container is?" She asked sharply, and with the shake of a head as her answer she smirked underneath her straw hat and continued, "Then we shall wait, and Konoha will bring the container to us. Heh, I know a few shinobi who have a vendetta against Akatsuki. It won't take them long to come out here. They are too hot headed to not take up the chance of fighting Akatsuki!" As if they had heard her, not a second later, 16 shinobi landed in front of them.

"Right on schedule…" 'Hime' trailed off as she lifted her head slightly so she could look at them, but keeping the hat covering her face with the material hanging off the back of the hat obscuring the back of her head and her hair from view.

"Why are you here?!" Naruto stepped forward with a yell, Sasuke and Neji moving forward with him so they had his back if need be. They weren't on the same ANBU team for nothing you know.

"My my, always jumping straight to the point Naruto," she purred out his name, sending shivers down all the men's' back.

"H-how do you know my name?" Naruto finally got out as he shrugged off the tingles down his back.

"Let's just say… we're old friends…" she trailed off mysteriously as she walked slowly towards them, making the three at the front take a step back so they were with the mass of the group again.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked questionly as he stepped forward a little and tried to see under her hat.

"Uh uh ah," she tsked as she lowered her hat even more. "It won't be that easy Naruto. ANBU huh? Heh, one step closer to your dream right? Hokage?" She smirked even wider under her hat when she saw his reaction of shock.

"Seriously, who are you?" A new voice entered the fray as Konohamaru stepped forward and with his shorter height tried to look under her hat.

"Haha, you have to be kidding! Konohamaru? Boy, you've grown. Chuunin right? God, this just keeps getting better," 'Hime' started to laugh, her husky voice making the men behind her shudder as well this time as they still hadn't gotten used to how… sexy her laugh was, no matter that her voice was just as.

"If you won't tell us _who_ you are, then tell us _why_ you're here!" Temari shouted as the girl turned her head slowly towards her.

"Now, what would a Sand-nin like you be in Konoha so… casually?" she asked with a small laugh at the irony of a sand-nin being in Konoha while they attacked, not mentioning it was the sister of the old Shukaku container.

"None of your business Akatsuki bitch!" Temari countered. 'Hime' simply looked at her for a few minuted before turning her attention back to the mass of the group.

"No one has to die here if you just give us the Kyuubi container!" Now **that** caught their attention.

"Like we would just hand him over!" Kiba shouted as Akamaru barked with agreement next to him.

"Heh, remember your choice…" she said mysteriously as she turned her to her comrades behind her and nodded slightly at them. The next second all three were gone. The 16 Shinobi looked around themselves in suspicion, expecting them to jump out at any moment. It was Temari's cry of pain that made them aware they had begun their attack.

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	4. Chapter Three: Curiousty

**Chapter Three: Curiousty**

They spun around to see Temari on the ground holding her side as blood poured down her legs from the kunai stuck in her stomach. Shikamaru quickly ran to her side throwing his shadows out to see if he could grab anyone, but the culprit had long gone. Ino had followed Shikamaru in his rush to get to his girlfriend and was now kneeling down and pumping healing chakra into her side, closing her wound so she would stop losing blood, but not enough that it was fully healed. Which meant that Temari was out of the running.

A whisper of a cloak had them spinning around to the front again as they saw the female Akatsuki member in front of them with a hand on her hip and the other holding her hat in place.

"And that is why you don't call an Akatsuki member a bitch," she smirked under her hat at the Shinobi's reaction.

"What the hell!?!?" A scream from Naruto was his downfall as Kisame came up behind him and took a swipe at him with his sword. Naruto couldn't react in time, but thankfully Sasuke managed to get him out of the way in time without any damage to himself.

"And you call yourselves ANBU? You guys suck!" Kisame taunted as he took his place next to 'Hime' at the front.

"Argh!" With a scream, Naruto threw himself forward towards the sneering Kisame. He was quickly intercepted, though, when a small bird of clay flew in front of him and decided it wanted to explode. He was thrown backwards into Kiba and they both went down, dog and all.

"Still acting without a thought huh Uzumaki?" The girl laughed in contempt as the third member of the three man platoon jumped down and took his place at her other side.

"I remember you! You attacked Gaara! Dara or something," Naruto shouted stupidly as he pointed towards the blonde haired man who now supported a pissed off look. The girl and Kisame just chuckled at his expense as he yelled back at Naruto,

"IT'S DEIDARA YOU BAKA!"

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING A BAKA, YOU DICKHEAD!?" Naruto screamed back as he glared down Deidara.

'Hime' just shook her head at her teammates' stupidity before going sighing and opening her mouth to talk, but Kisame beat her to it. Taunting the blonde, trying to get a rise out of him, with the only thing he had,

"So Uzumaki, I saw you before in the memorial of your village. You spoke about stupid things to a tombstone… whose was it huh? Someone who killed themselves because they couldn't stand being around you?" 'Hime' moved suddenly with shock as she knew who he was talking about. She had also been there, but she did not know that Kisame had been close by as well.

"Shut up!" Naruto whispered quietly as he lowered his head in pain.

"Sorry, didn't quite catch that?" Kisame taunted as he put a hand to his ear even when his teammate muttered for him to stop.

"SHUT UP!" Naruto suddenly screamed as he made to move forward, but was quickly restrained by Sasuke and Lee.

"Cut it out Naruto, it's what they want," Lee quickly muttered to him, trying to get the enraged blonde to calm down.

"Ooohhhh, I seemed to have hit a nerve. Was she your girlfriend? Did she leave poor ickle Narukins all alone?" He continued his taunt until he saw his hooded teammate shudder with an unidentifiable emotion. Her fists clenched and she shook with the emotion bubbling at the surface. Suddenly Kisame understood who it had been and used it to his advantage.

"I get it! You were talking to Haruno Sakura weren't you?" He knew he had got it right when 26 pairs of eyes focused their attention to him.

"What do you know?" Shizune asked in a shrill voice as she was bombarded with emotions she had long locked away for her friend. And now they were all being resurfaced.

"Heh, I know _exactly _what happened to her," He continued his taunt not noticing that his own teammate was in pain.

"You… you… YOU KILLED SAKURA-CHAN!?!?!?!" Naruto finally let lose a roar and managed to get both Sasuke and Lee off him, but then Kakashi, Gai, Kiba and Neji all held him down.

"Hah, nope, not me, can't take credit for that. It was –"

"It was me," 'Hime' interrupted him with her head lowered to the ground. "I killed your beloved Haruno Sakura!" With the name being yelled to them she lifted her head until it was level with them, but kept her features covered so they still didn't know who it was.

"You…" Naruto seemed at a loss of words before getting out of the grasp of all those who held him down for they were in shock themselves and ran towards the hidden female figure and screamed, "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!!!"

'That's right Naruto. Hate me, Fight me, let me hurt you!' She thought to herself as she threw multiple kunai at him taking aim for his heart and head, but he simply blocked them and continued his sprint towards her, not realising she had chakra strings attached to them so when she yanked they came whizzing back towards him and landed in his left arm and back. With a grunt of pain he fell to the ground, but almost immediately got up and started for her again only to find her gone. He looked around for her and made himself concentrate for her chakra signal even though he was enraged inside. Her felt her chakra… below him? As soon as he realised he had just enough time to move out of the way before the ground exploded under him and the woman erupted from the earth with her fists swinging at him. They glowed green as they came within inches of his face, but he managed to dodge out of the way in time so they passed by harmlessly.

Neji finally took matters into his own hands and activated his Byakugan, and within a second of staring at the woman his eyes widened and he said with shock laced into his voice,

"Naruto… th-that's S –"

"KISAME!" 'Hime' cut him off quickly and gave the order for Kisame to attack, and attack he did, without mercy, without a care, he went for Neji's life. So of course Neji had to move attention to the attacker and had to relinquish his attempt at telling Naruto the identity of the mysterious female that seemed so familiar yet so much like a stranger.

While they fought, Hinata picked up on Neji's thought and quickly accessed her blood line and saw the identity of the stranger, but before she could say anything she was 10 feet in the air with blood pouring from her mouth and nose. Deidara had cut across from his hiding spot and had stopped her from saying anything.

"I won't usually hit a girl, shinobi or not, but I will hit a girl for Hime," Deidara explained quietly as Hinata hit the ground and rolled a few feet before getting to her hands and knees weakly and looking up at him with frightened eyes before once again looking at the female that was standing in front of her first and still now love, Naruto.

"Ino-chan, pull the hat off the gir –" Before another word could escape her she found herself being moved to the side by a worried Shizune as the place where she just was went up in flames.

Even though she hadn't finished what she was saying, everyone knew what she implied. Unmask the female Akatsuki member and they would have some questions answered.

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**Sorry guys if it's a bit… rushed? Please tell me if it is. I am always open to constructive criticism, but NOT FLAMING!!**

**Anyone, I quickly updated this story for I am going on holidays for a week and won't be able to update anything. But I will be writing on my holiday so I will coming back with updates!! Nyahaha!**


	5. Chapter Four: Unexpected Reunion

**I just changed Chapter Three, as in just going through and changing grammar, so you don't need to reread it. Just letting you guys know though. Thankyou for all your reviews (except the two flamers) they made me feel like a good writer again. Thankyou once again!**

**Omg I reread my Prologue for this story and started crying. Lol, it's so good! Yes, I am up myself, but I am allowed to be. XP**

**Chapter Four: An Unexpected Reunion**

But unmasking was going to be a problem, for the female Akatsuki member just wouldn't stay still. She escaped their grasps everytime. It was like trying to catch water in your bare hands; it slipped right through your fingers. And the girl didn't even seem to break a sweat, she just dodged their attacks over and over, never actually attacking them herself. She left that up to Kisame and Deidara.

Clay bombs blew up all over the place as well as water jutsu's being accurately used against the Konoha Shinobi. Soon only the 3 Chuunin, 3 Jounin and the 3 ANBU, besides Tsunade, were left in the fight. Gai, Lee, Shizune, Kiba, Hinata and Ino were down, as well as Temari, for the time being. Gai and Lee's legs were steadily bleeding, Shizune was unconscious, Hinata was unconscious, Kiba was immobile but awake, and Ino was leaning heavily against a tree as her left arm stemmed blood from the multiple kunai stab wounds to it. All in all, they possessed no threat.

Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi were all attacking the female Akatsuki member, Gai and the 3 Chuunin were attacking Kisame, and Tsunade and Shikamaru attacked Deidara.

So far, neither side was winning, but that could all change with just one slip-up, one mistake, one stumble. And stumble they did; Moegi was busy healing Udon and didn't see Kisame behind her until the sword smashed into her stomach with the flat side and threw her through the air so fast no one could react in time. Except 'Hime'. She caught Moegi while her three opponents were distracted by her shadow clones and pinned the young girl to herself and drew out a single senbon from the line of senbon wrapped to each thigh and placed it at her neck. Her dark pink leather gloves acting like a second skin of armour to her hands as the senbon stuck into her own hand as she gripped it in her left hand, her Akatsuki ring catching the rays of the sun as her long dark purple coloured nails clicked together as she got in a comfortable position behind Moegi. Even with them being 4 years apart Moegi was only a tiny bit shorter than the woman behind her, so she had to duck her head to the side to see the Shinobi in front of her.

It was about 3 seconds after that that Kakashi, Sasuke and Naruto finished off her shadow clones and noticed that one of their own was being held captive by their opponent. They cursed themselves for being distracted and slowly dropped their arms to their side and looked forward at the still, scared Moegi and the still hidden Akatsuki member.

"Tell me, who is the Kyuubi container?" The female shouted at them as she pushed the kunai closer to the 15 year old girls' neck.

"Don't hurt her, you old hag!" Konohamaru screamed as Kisame and Deidara abandoned their own fights and appeared behind 'Hime' in an instant.

"Still calling everyone old hags, huh Konohamaru?" The girl shook her head in defeat with a small laugh before looking up at into the curious eyes of Naruto as he tried to place her. Her heart sped up a little in fright at the thought of them knowing who she was just yet, but then she calmed herself down when she realised only her lipstick purple lips and slightly lighter purple knee high, high-heeled boot tips were showing outside the cloak and hat disguise.

"I will say this once more, tell me who your Jinchuuriki is!" They could tell she wasn't messing around as Kisame and Deidara bristled next to her, ready for the name.

"I am! I am this village's nine tailed beast container! So let Moegi go and take me instead!" A scream from a certain blonde haired, blue eyed ANBU shinobi had 'Hime's blood run cold and muscles freeze.

Even though she had frozen, Deidara and Kisame were all too willing to sprint forward creating clones and grab the boy… no the man, that gave no resistance as he looked with hate at the still hidden Kunoichi.

"We have him Hime," Kisame looked back at his still frozen teammate with a questioning gaze.

"Hehe, let's give them an unforgettable departure!" Deidara giggled as he threw out his arms and everyone watched as the mouths in his hands spat out clay ready for explosions.

"No…" The still figure whispered in pain as her eyes widened as the truth hit her. Her arms fell to her sides, limp, and the senbon dropped from her hand, landed point in the ground with a thud.

She was so preoccupied with her thoughts she didn't seem to care when Moegi ran from her towards Konohamaru's arms. She was still lost in thought when Deidara began to throw his clay birds at the Shinobi still standing outside the gates of Konoha. Not even the exploding sounds could bring her back from where she was right now, it was a female scream that had her snapping back to the present, just in time to see Ino in the way of a clay bird flying towards her and no way of getting out of the way.

It was like something took over body as she practically flew over to Ino and pushed her out of the way just in time for the spot they were just in to go up in flames. Ino turned to face her with shock as she lay on the ground where she had landed when the woman had pushed her out of the way. 'Hime' seemed to just realise what she had done and looked at her hands as if they had betrayed her before she snapped her head up at Naruto's yell. He was pinned to the ground with Kisame trying to put chakra shackles on him and almost succeeding, until Sasuke came barrelling out of no where and smashed into him with his shoulder. He had blood coming from his temple and was breathing hard while holding his left side where it looked like a rib was about to puncture through his skin, but he was still able to shove Kisame, a man who was built of muscle and had a massive height advantage, out of the way. He was just pulling Naruto to his feet when Kisame's sword came out of the smoke behind him and, with his dulled senses, he didn't notice until he was flying through the air and hit a tree, slumping to the ground as he drifted in and out of consciousness. It wasn't until Ino crawled over to him that he was able to fully open his eyes and comprehend what he was looking at. And it wasn't a pretty sight. Naruto was once again on the ground, this time with a kunai wound to a non-crucial, but still somewhat vital part of the abdomen. He coughed up blood and glared with hatred at Kisame as his hands were wrenched in front of him and chakra shackles about to me attached, until a cry from 'Hime' had him looking up in shock.

"Let him go! Fall back!" She didn't seem to be thinking straight as she tried to feel hatred towards the blonde Shinobi now looking at her with guarded eyes, but only felt pain as her heart ached with once forgotten feelings.

"Hime?" Deidara asked as he stopped his attack on the Leaf Shinobi.

"We have them at our mercy!" Kisame argued as he once again tried to attach the shackles.

"Are you deaf Kisame? I said STOP IT!" She screamed as she whacked the shackles away with such force they slammed into the nearest tree and broke it.

The smoke finally cleared to show a confused Kisame and Deidara standing close to a shaking smaller figure of the female Akatsuki member, with the ground littered with fallen Leaf Shinobi. Even the Hokage, Tsunade, had been defeated. She lay leaning against the wall of Konoha with a leg slowly bleeding out. The only ones conscious were herself, Ino, Sasuke, Naruto, Shikamaru, Konohamaru and Neji.

"Hime… I don't understand… you're going against Pein's –" Kisame was cut off as the deemed 'Hime' whispered sharply over him,

"I'll deal with Pein. Just fall back. Our mission will not be completed." She looked down at Naruto before looking away and fisting her hands, not paying attention to the person coming up behind her until she went flying through the hair with her head snapping back at the force of the chakra induced punch given by the now limping, but standing, Hokage.

Her hat flew off her head as she landed crouched down on the ground, her short cropped hair covering her face so the now stunned Shinobi surrounding her didn't see her facial expression filled with despair. She had hoped she could get away without them ever finding out her true identity.

"Sa-Sakura-chan?"

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**Thankyou 'ANBU Allysa', your review was most welcoming. And you no, my middle name is Allyssa. Just a random piece of information ;)**


	6. Chapter Five: Facing The Truth

**Chapter Five: Facing The Truth**

"Sa-Sakura-chan?" A voice whispered in fright and pain as she moved her feet forward so she had enough leverage to get herself into a standing position. She raised her head to face the confused Shinobi around her.

"Hello Naruto," She said with small sad smile as her cloak swished back into place around her. Her emerald eyes slighter duller than when he last saw her all those years ago.

"H-How? I thought you were…" His eyes glazed over slightly as he tried to stand still looking at the woman not 15 feet away from him.

"I am. I'm not the same Sakura you fell in love with Naruto. And I will not be her ever again," Sakura whispered lightly as she brought healing chakra to her hands and pressed it to her face to heal the broken jaw that Tsunade had given her.

Naruto just tried to limp over to her with an arm outstretched, but Sakura stepped back and lowered her head while Kisame and Deidara stepped up to either side of her and looked at the approaching Shinobi with deadly glares as if daring him. Naruto only had eyes for Sakura though as he kept walking. At least until someone came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder to still him. Turning around he saw it was Tsunade, but she wasn't looking at him. She was looking at Sakura with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Why Sakura?" Her voice came out hoarse as she clenched her fists and looked at her once pupil.

"Heh, why?" Sakura looked up at this with her eye blazing with anger. "WHY?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?! YOU'RE ASKING ME WHY?!" She screamed as she stepped forward a little, her cloak opening for them to see something glittering at her back. "ARE YOU REALLY **THAT **STUPID?"

Kisame and Deidara just shuffled uncomfortably as their teammate stepped forward, unaware of the plans running through the brown haired genius' mind at the side.

Tsunade just looked at her in shock, as those around her that were still conscious did as well. They watched as the woman in front of them clenched her fists together and ground her teeth together as she tried to calm down.

"Sasuke knows the reason right? He left for the same reason, am I wrong?" Sakura finally claimed dominance over her anger and looked with a smirk and knowing eyes to the slumped over Uchiha as he breathed heavily from his injuries against the tree. His eyes widened in recognition as Ino gasped next to him. She covered her mouth with her hand as she trained her one baby blue eye that was not under her fringe on Sakura in disbelief.

"I'm glad you understand. Now if you don't mind, I have a punishment to take," Sakura mock saluted as she spun on her heel and began running in the opposite direction, not noticing that Shikamaru had finally figured out a plan and was currently putting it in action.

"No, I _don't_ understand Sakura-chan! Come back! Please, Sakura-CHANNNNNN!!!!!" Naruto screamed in pain as he watched the woman he love walk out of his life again. At least until she went flying into the ground as something grabbed her leg.

She looked down to see shadows wrap themselves around her ankles and pull her back towards the Konoha Shinobi. A glance up had her suspicions confirmed, Shikamaru had his hands together in a symbol and his eyes were trained on hers as she was pulled along the ground slowly back towards the Leaf ninja. Kisame and Deidara noticed a split second later that their teammate was no longer next to them, and they spun around to see her being dragged along the ground, her arms tangled in her cloak.

She huffed in defeat and ripped off her cloak before throwing it at her teammates and saying, "Go! I will be fine! Take my cloak and I will get it when I meet up with you again. Wait at the designated spot, I don't need the cloak… or these," She added as she reached behind her and grabbed two silver claw like weapons and threw them at Kisame as she neared the awaiting Leaf Shinobi. She kept her two twin Katana's at her back as she swung her foot around and stop up before she began running now towards the Leaf Shinobi, the shadows still wrapped around her ankles as she jumped into the air and brought the twin swords down at Shikamaru in a deadly attack, but he was quick to react when he moved his hands again in a series of hand motions and Sakura felt herself freeze and drop her weapons as the shadows took control of her body. She saw out of the corner of her eye that her two teammates hadn't moved so she screamed at them to leave her while she was slowly aware that Shikamaru was now moving his arms behind his back… and so was she without knowing it.

With a bell ringing in her mind she remember Shikamaru's heritage jutsu and how he can control shadows which meant he could control other people. She sighed in defeat and kept her mouth shut as chakra shackles were put on her and she felt her chakra deplete. She closed her eyes slowly and let a smirk make its way to her face as she said huskily, "No cage can hold me Tsunade-_sama_." She said the '-sama' part as if she were ridiculing the Hokage. Tsunade just walked up to her and slapped her straight across the face. Sakura's eyes widened in shock as her head flew to the side in recoil. She stared at her used to be sensei as the blonde's eyes began to fill with angry tears.

"That's for making us think you were dead all these years you brat!" Tsunade whispered with such pain behind it that Sakura's emotionless façade almost dropped, but she managed to keep it together.

No one spoke as Sakura was taken past them with Shikamaru, Kakashi and Tsunade as her guard. They walked her straight past Naruto to get her through the Konoha gates. Sakura's and Naruto's eyes met for a brief moment and she felt something go through her before she lowered her head and continued to walk with her hands behind her back.

When walking past all the villagers, she made sure to make no eye contact with any of them as she held her head high yet again and walked with one foot in front of the other as they took her into the holding cells under the Hokage building.

Sakura just smirked as she already had a plan forming in her mind.

Like she said, no cage could contain her…

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**How was that?**


	7. Chapter Six: Escaping The Cage

**Chapter Six: Escaping The Cage**

As Sakura sat in the middle of her cell cross-legged with her hands in shackles behind her back she couldn't help but smirk at irony. When she was a Konoha shinobi it had been her job to put the _enemy_ behind bars and now there she was, right where they used to be, before they were either executed or tortured until they gave in. Well, neither was going to be her, like as she had said before, no cage could contain her.

A sound of footsteps pulled her from her thoughts as she lowered her head haughtily as she saw the one person she would never have suspected to be the first one to visit her. Ino, yeah, Naruto, definitely, she had even suspected Sasuke, but never;

"What bring you to my humble abode Kakashi-_sensei­_?" She taunted him with the word as she saw his face twist in pain.

"Why Sakura? Why would you do this?"

"What's the matter _sensei_? Am I not a good enough student?" Sakura replied as she stood from her position and stalked towards him with a smirk on her face. "How does it feel to have **failed** at such an _easy_ task? All you had to do was train me, and yet you left me to fend for myself as you focused your attention on Sasuke and Naruto." Sakura words cut him deep as he flinched away from her, not even caring that two people had made their way behind him. "No, I was never good enough for your attention. I was never good enough to train. I was too weak, is that right Kakashi? Poor little Sakura, love-sick Sakura, **weak** Sakura. Haha, no more am I the same Sakura you ignored dear Kakashi and the only one to blame is you and your pathetic attempts at 'trying to train' me." Her work being done, Sakura sauntered her way back to the middle of the room and sat down facing Kakashi, Tsunade and Shizune.

"Come to pay me a visit dear shishou? Oh you shouldn't have, you'll only be disappointed I **promise** you." Sakura's canines showed as she smiled so evilly at them that all three shuddered. Tsunade's face was filled with sadness that her prized pupil had turned out this way. She never even considered that Sakura was hurting herself as she said those words.

"Sakura… what happened to you?" A broken voice called to her as Shizune stepped forward towards to woman she had always thought of as a sister.

"Oh darling Shizune, I grew up." And with that she turned her back on her audience, giving them the message that she was done talking. Within 30 seconds all three of them turned their own backs and walked out with heavy hearts. Shikamaru and Kiba, with Akamaru, took over the security posts as Shikamaru could easily restrain the prisoner and Kiba could run for help.

Sakura just smiled as she sensed their presences and laid down to rest and gain some more Chakra. She chuckled to herself at the stupidity of her captives. They had never thought that with her Chakra control that she could easy bypass the restraints and store her Chakra where the restraints couldn't reach.

'Idiots…' she thought to herself as she drifted off to rest, not quite sleep as she could still notice everything going on around her, like for instance, she noticed how Naruto visited her 3 times she was asleep and just stood there watching her for 20 minutes at a time before he was made to leave, and that Sasuke visited twice and only stood there for a couple of moments each time. Ino visited her once before running out crying into the arms of the one she knew as Sai. He had taken over her spot in team 7 six months after she been deemed 'dead'.

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It was 8 hours later that she woke herself up and seeing the clock on the wall she realised it was 8:30am. She laughed to herself as she threw her chakra senses out quickly, and noting that only Shikamaru and Kiba were there she just sighed to herself at their stupidity at underestimating her again and slipped her Chakra restraints from behind her under her legs to the front as she stood and let out a small whisper of pain to attract their attention. And then when she saw them walk towards her with guarded expressions she closed her eyes and made herself weep pathetically, even though it caused her to feel ill at her show of patheticness. She fell to her knees and pulled her hands inwards to her stomach as she quickly created hand signals for her prized Genjutsu and when they were close enough she lifted her head, caught their gaze and smirked,

"Gotcha. Art of Genjutsu: Cherry Blossom Illusion!" She got up of the ground as soon as Kiba and Shikamaru got glazed over expressions. With a wider smirk she ripped her wrists apart, immediately breaking the restraints and bent the bars so she could easily fit through. With well aimed fingers she rendered them both unconscious.

With a flick of her hair she walked quietly through the corridors. Her boots making the slightest tap as she strolled down them with her hands comfortably behind her head and with a yawn she kicked open the steel door at the end. Immediately the five people's attention inside the room was on her. With wide eyes Tsunade looked at her ex-student standing in the doorway and gasped. Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke's reactions were pretty much the same, only Sai remained emotionless.

Sakura just smirked at them, gave them a salute and said,

"Thought I should say bye this time. So, bye," and she run straight past them, grabbing her weapons they had so kindly left in the Hokage's office for her, and flew through the window, shattering it on impact. She landed on a roof and quickly made her way to the gate, sending out her Chakra in bursts as she knew that her _real_ teammates had probably ignored her requests and were waiting just on the opposite side of the gate. She got her answer as soon as the gates were blown in from the other side.

She sped up as felt the Chakra's of four people following her. "Give up now Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi you'll never defeat me. And Sai, you annoy me. Go away," As she said this she turned in the air and sent senbon one after the other at them with such speed they had to jump off the roof just to dodge them. That slowed them down enough for Sakura to get through the gate and away from them.

But there was a little surprise for her on the other side that caught them all unawares and put a bit of a detour in her original plans…

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**Wow, phew, updating as much as I can today. XD Thanks for staying with me reviewers. It means a lot. XD**


	8. Chapter Seven: Turn Of Events

**Not so happy with reviews compared to hits, but meh, your choice. Well, I have had this chapter written down half done for quite a while now, just hadn't had time to finish it.**

**Actually most of my stories are about half done, I have just been working so haven't been able to finish the chapters, so hang tight and updated should be up soon. XD enjoy.**

**Chapter Seven: Turn Of Events**

Sakura stopped right in her tracks, creating a puff of dust at the sudden stop as she took in the two figures in front of her in offensive positions. Their intentions were clear. Their weapons were out and they had death written in their eyes.

Hidan and Zetsu stood there, weapons drawn and in an offensive stance as they looked at Sakura and her two companions.

"Fancy seeing you here, flytrap, vampire," Sakura said lightly as she placed her weapons back to their original positions on herself, her swords crisscrossing her back, her claws in her belt, her scrolls at her back and her cloak around her shoulders, without taking her eyes off the two in front of her.

"Heh, you know why we're here, _hime_-bitch." Hidan scoffed as he brought his scythe forward, Kisame mimicking his movements with his own sword.

"I can only guess," Sakura sighed, before casting her gaze behind her to where her old teammates now stood, looking at the scene with confused and shocked expressions, except for Sai who stood there emotionless.

'Crap…' she thought to herself before turning her attention back to the two in front of her, pulling her katana's out from behind her with a slight clink against their sheaths.

"_Ku ku ku, you really think you can beat us?_" A bone shuddering voice came from the fly trap looking guy, his voice aimed entirely at Sakura as she tightened her grip on her katana's.

"I beat you before, plant, and I can do it again," she smirked at his angry expression before setting her feet in a defensive position, her facial expression entirely mocking as Kisame and Deidara shadowed her movements with defensive positioning.

Naruto, Sai, Sasuke, Kakashi and the new onlookers; Kiba, Ino, Hinata, Neji and Lee all looked on in shock at the scene of supposedly teammates turning on one another.

With a yell, Hidan made the first move, swiping his scythe straight at Sakura, his intentions death, but with smirk Sakura bent her knees and dropped onto the floor in a cat like graceful crouch before disappearing with a flutter of a cloak and a gust of wind. Kisame and Deidara just let loose a smirk of their very own before attacking full on.

And so it began…

-

-

-

Metal on metal, cloaks flying, and bodies throw in the air; it was the ultimate war zone… except no one was winning. The Konoha ninja could hardly see what was going on as blades flew threw the air and the sounds of fists and legs connecting sounded throughout the clearing.

Blurred figures were connecting left and right, Naruto had no idea who was who, except for the slight catches of pink he got every now and then when Sakura seemed to stop in mid air to connect her fists to her opponents.

No one seemed to be winning until one single mistake foretold the loss of one of the sides… it just wasn't the side they wanted it to be.

Kisame had turned his back for a second, only a _second_, but it was a second too much as Hidan's scythe came down on him, and Kisame had not dodged in time. Kisame's blood coated the scythe as Hidan brought to his mouth and touched his tongue to the tip, a smirk of triumph ever present on his face.

"Tastes just like chicken," was all he said before he brought out a kunai and swiped his stomach with it, leaving me a deep, red gash.

"Gah!" Kisame cried out as he hit the ground hard and held his stomach, trying to stop the blood flow. It had only taken a second after for Sakura to realise her comrade was down, and they were now at the enemies' mercy.

"KISAME!!" Her yell echoed off the trees in the clearing as she stepped forward only for Hidan to shake his head and press the kunai to his own neck in warning. Sakura stopped dead in her tracks, her arms falling to her sides and the weapons dropped to the ground as she swung her gaze from side to side trying to find a way out of this mess.

"Don't even try to escape, dear Hime, you know as well as we do that Hidan's death trap is unescapable. Face the fact that we have _won_," Zetsu's dark mocking tone sent horrible shivers down Sakura's back as she met his gaze head on.

"Is it not _me_ that you want dead?" Her voice was said in a normal tone, but held such strength behind it that the Konoha ninja could not help but notice how different she was to the old Sakura. This Sakura was strong, was so sure of herself.

"En contrary, I want to **eat** you," Zetsu laughed darkly before continuing, "but I want you to suffer first. And how better to do that then for you to see your two team mates killed, tortured, in front of you." Sakura's eyes widened in horror as Hidan brought the kunai down towards his left leg, the kunai buried deep within his leg a moment later, and Kisame's pain filled shouts reverberated around the clearing, seeming to ring in Sakura's ears; mocking her. Once again, she could not protect her teammates, and now one would be tortured and killed because of her.

Sakura fought the impulse to lower her head and cry, and instead lifted it higher as her mind worked overtime to figure a way out of this. She came up blank time and time again, but continued her mind to run through all possibilities as she watched Hidan's kunai move up, right, left, down, and Kisame's yells echoed in her ears as she held Deidara back from attacking and instead let herself disappear inside herself as she tried to think of a way of escape.

Her eyes glazing over as her mind worked overtime, she could no longer know anything that was going on around her as she as still as a statue, her body a shell.

"Sakura, just RUN!" Kisame's final shout had Sakura snapping out of her dreamlike state and back into the present. He had fallen to his knees once again and blood coated his entire body as Hidan laughed madly behind him. Running was not an option, neither was staying and watching her teammate die in front of her, only to know that Deidara was next and then herself.

If only there were water, Kisame could have swum away and none of this would have ever hap – …

That's it! Sakura's eyes snapped open as she held her head down and a grin formed on her lips as a plan, a **brilliant** plan, formed in her head. Her head still lowered, her eyes swept up to see between her bangs to the scene in front of her. If only she could reach behind her without them noticing.

Keeping her eyes on the enemies in front of her she reached her hand behind her slowly, carefully; she was nearly there, her hand only inches away from the prize… there! Her hand gripped it tightly as she straightened up and made her face of that filled with sorrow. She needed them to not expect anything until the last moment. Her head held high, she reached her other hand behind her back with her hands forming seals, practically hidden to all of those except for the Konoha ninja. They followed her hand movements with keen eyes, the jutsu unknown to all of them. They watched in awe, at the fast movements of their old comrade, as she gripped the scroll tip with her left hand and threw it forward in front of her seemingly in slow motion, her right hand coming up to her mouth as she bit her thumb and spread the blood, her blood, on the scroll in symbols before throwing it forward towards Hidan and Kisame. She had moved so fast that Hidan hadn't had time to even blink before the scroll was surrounding him and a liquid filled his mouth and nose, his senses disorientated as the water surrounded him. His prisoner perfectly still in his grasp as the water spread in the area until a tight ball of the liquid surrounded them two, and them two only.

Sakura's eyes narrowed onto Kisame's gaze, trying to send a message through her eyes that help was coming.

With a yell Sakura started to run towards the sphere of water, her weapons dropping from her body until all was left was a kunai in her hand. With a pulse of Chakra to her feet, Sakura flew through the air above the sphere before dropping herself straight into the middle at the top, sinking immediately.

She had entered the lions den, but this time… it was on her own terms.

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**Yehahhh!! Late Christmas present. ;) I got it done as soon as I could. At 12:12AM at night (or should I say in the morning) as well. XD Review if ya'll liked it.**


	9. Chapter Eight: Suffocating

**As someone has pointed out to me, the reason behind the other Akatsuki members attacking Sakura and her companions will be revealed soon, so just hang tight. XD And if any of my information of anything in this is wrong, just send it through to me. ^_^ Thanks and enjoy (hopefully).**

**Chapter Eight: Suffocating**

The water surrounding her, Sakura dropped like a stone, trying to reach her destination; the very centre of the sphere. Her legs curled up under her as her emerald eyes opened, the slight sting of the water disappearing as she got used to the water. Her vision blurred but clear enough to see her target; his eyes shut, bracing himself against the sudden current of water pulling and pushing at his body.

With perfect control of her chakra, Sakura managed to manipulate the water around her so she could move freely within the sphere. Within seconds her target was reachable, her fingers stretching out as her face wrinkled in concentration.

Wrapping her hands around the head in front of her she gripped it tight. Her fingers forcing their way into their mouth and yanked their jaw open, almost painfully.

With slow movements due to the liquid around them the man below her struggled against her unmoving fingers as she finished prying open their jaw before stabbing a kunai straight into their mouth, again and again.

The kunai was stabbed deep into their tongue, the blood gushing out and spreading through the water like fire in a dry forest. Choking, gurgling sounds were ripped from the victims throat as Sakura jammed their jaw together once again, trying to get the blood down their own throat.

Red… red was all they could see from outside of the sphere. Deidara stood with his eyes wide, not knowing what to do; whether to trust his captain or to jump in their after her. His hands shook at his side as he tried to trust his captain, but all he could do was worry. Was she ok? Was Kisame?

As for the Konoha ninja; every single one of them was in shock. It took Naruto the least amount of time before he began to run towards the last place he saw his love disappear from: The sphere. 20 feet… 13 feet away, he was almost there before vines began to wrap around his legs, stopping him where he landed and swung him straight into a thick tree to the right of him. With a grunt he landed heavily on the ground, feeling his ribs crack under the pressure. Blinking away the pain, Naruto stood with a yell of anger only for sometime to jump in front of him and attack Zetsu in his place.

Long yellow hair… Deidara had stepped in front of him. With confused thoughts swirling in his mind he only caught the last of what the Akatsuki member yelled at him,

"… not your fight!" Explosion after explosion followed the yelled statement as Deidara threw bomb after bomb at the plant-like Akatsuki enemy, trying to keep him back and away from both the Konoha ninja as well as the sphere that contained his two teammates.

As the smoke cleared a figure laying motionless on the ground about 5 feet from the now churning sphere had Deidara's heart nearly stopping. His friend… his teammate… on the ground. He wasn't moving. So much blood. It couldn't be.

With a shout of pain Deidara threw bomb after bomb at Zetsu, his desperation, if only that, pushed Zetsu back far enough for Deidara to reach Kisame, dropping to the ground next to him he checked for a pulse. No pulse.

Without a second thought he yelled at the Konoha ninja, his need for help outweighing his wariness of their so called enemy. After all, they were missing-nin; S class criminals. "Whichever of you are a medic, please help him! NOW!" Before sprinting back up to meet Zetsu in battle once more. Whilst inside the sphere more problems were occurring…

The hand around her ankle tightened, her bones protesting to the strain as bubbles fled her mouth; the last of her oxygen escaping. With frenzied movements Sakura tried to escape his hold, but the grip on her ankle plus the blood mixed with the water obscuring her view made it impossible for her to escape the hold Hidan had on her. Kicking him in the face again and again only seemed to make him tighten his grip until she felt her bones shift; pain searing through her nerves as she felt her eyes droop from lack of oxygen.

At least Kisame was out, that was all she could think. Her last act of heroism was to gather her chakra in her hand and forcefully shove Kisame out of the sphere and prayed he would survive. Now that Kisame's blood had washed away from Hidan's mouth as well as Hidan swallowing about a gallon of his own blood which could easily camouflage the small amount of blood Hidan had swallowed of Kisame's and thus, the hold he had over her teammate would be broken.

Only now she was under the water with her vision quickly blurring knowing that the immortal below her could easily outlast her in the water.

Her eyes stinging and her entire body screaming in agony she thought about just giving up. Kisame was safe. Her team was safe. And there was no certain future for her if she managed to get out of the sphere. There was still Zetsu, and the Konoha ninja. Knowing that she was alive now, there was no way Naruto would let her go and she would not live a life on the run.

Snapping her eyes open she mentally slapped herself for her thoughts of giving up. That was the cowards' way out, and she was **not** the weak kunoichi she was all those years ago. She was THE Sakura Haruno, Hime of the Akatsuki. Genjutsu master, and surpassed apprentice of the slug princess Tsunade.

Doubling her efforts Sakura snapped her hands together, her chakra practically jumping at the chance to be used, and with one last effort she performed a fire jutsu, setting the sphere alight and smashing Hidan in the face once more, just enough to escape his hold now that he was disorientated with the fire licking at him.

Bursting from the sphere she hit the ground hard, what little oxygen she had left in her body escaped with a 'whoosh'. She rolled a few times before finally coming to a painful stop. Her eyes opened only once before they shut, darkness enveloped her and her breathing ceased. Cerulean eyes were the last thing she saw.

**Bow chicka wow wow!! How was that MM? And everyone else of course? It was kinda full on, with long paragraphs and jumping everywhere so if anyone has any issues (not flames) they are welcome to run it by me so I can see what I can do to make it more enjoyable to read. I liked it though. So exciting!!! Haha ^_^**


	10. Chapter Nine: One Down, One To Go

**Alright so it took me forever to update. It happens to the best of us. I just hope you enjoy reading this update and know that the next chapter has already been started.**

**Chapter Nine: One Down, One To Go **

Watching her limp body burst from the sphere of now alight flames, Naruto could practically hear his heart trying to beat out of his chest. He was breathing so hard it hurt each time he inhaled and exhaled the air. He couldn't even feel his footsteps as he sprinted towards her fallen body. His hands reaching out to cradle her cold body, slapping her face, trying to get a response, all of it was like he was in neutral. In autopilot.

The fact she wasn't breathing was the only thing running through his mind as he pressed his lips against her cold ones, trying to breathe life back into her body. He thumped her chest, pressing small bursts of chakra into her heart just like baa-chan had shown him, just in case there was no medic, she had said. His other hand was busy slapping her lightly, trying to get a reaction.

He didn't know how long he sat there, trying to resuscitate her before a strong pull ripped him away and large hands took his place in pumping oxygen back into her chest laced with blue chakra.

He looked up and saw blue before his vision was blurred by tears.

The large body of Kisame was towering over Sakura's own, pumping large bursts of chakra into her heart, just like she had shown him. Deidara's lips were pressed against hers, breathing life back into her body. Together they watched as Sakura's body convulsed in front of their eyes before a large stream of water erupted from her mouth, splashing onto the ground next to her as Kisame tilted her. Coughing, Sakura's emerald eyes once again opened, her breathing hard and erratic. Without looking she knew it had been Kisame and Deidara who had awoken her. What she didn't expect was Naruto orange clothed body to be lying next to hers, his eyes filled with worry and pain.

Groaning she got to her feet, her legs shaking from weakness. Kisame's own body looked worse for wear, his wounds only slightly scabbed over, but he had come to her; to save her. She realised with a start that it would have had to be one of the Konoha ninja that had healed him. She glanced around for the culprit only to see a set of vines flying towards her and her team-mates.

With a shout she shoved them to the ground, pushing the small amount of chakra she had left into her feet as she jumped through the air landed on a tree branch above her. Her eyes caught Zetsu's. "_You don't think we are going to let you go do you?"_ He murmured, his deep voice making her heart sink. There was no way in her condition that she could get away alive, along with her teammates.

A spluttering sound from her right had her gaze following the movements of Hidan exiting the sphere. Now there was two of them against her and her teammates who were almost out of chakra. She was just thinking up an escape plan when a streak of blonde caught her attention. A clash of metal as kunai connected made her eyes widen. Naruto was attacking Hidan over and over, heedless of that fact that the Akatsuki member wasn't there for him. Soon, Sasuke and Neji had joined him, backing up their teammate.

Wincing, Sakura straightened up on her branch, crunching on a soldier pill. She welcomed the sweet flood of chakra throughout her body as she disappeared in a flurry of cherry blossoms, reappearing next to her weapons. All was not lost. While Naruto and the other two were distracting Hidan and Zetsu was just standing there watching her she had come up with a plan. It involved the cooperation of the Konoha ninja. Swallowing the disgust she experienced when looking at the ninja she had once called friends she stepped towards them, aware of Kisame and Deidara's chakras at her back.

"Hokage, after they have finished me and my team off they will not just leave, you know that. They were attack the villagers, and many innocent lives will be lost." Sakura continued, aware of the suspicion and pain present in her ex-mentor's eyes. "Help us defeat them and be done with two Akatsuki members."

"How do I know you won't just kill us afterwards?" As much as it pained Tsunade to even ask that question, she knew she had to, as Hokage.

"In my condition I would be lucky to survive this fight," Sakura spoke truthfully, aware of the shadows wrapping around her ankles. Instead she ignored them, trying to get her teacher to understand that even though she was now an S-class criminal and she hated the Konoha ninja for what they put her through, she could never kill the people she had once loved.

Tsunade looked at her for a few more seconds, aware of the two enemy shinobi watching and waiting for them to move. Sasuke, Naruto and Neji were back behind the wall of Konoha ninja, their wounds getting quickly patched up.

"It doesn't matter who helps you bitch, they'll just die alongside you. I'll have fun sacrificing you all to my Jashin God." Hidan cackled, his scythe slicing the air as he sprinted towards her, his eyes full of the promise of pain. Casting one last look at Tsunade, Sakura grit her teeth and swept her cloak from around her, her hands gripping her twin katana's tightly. As if a sign as soon as her cloak hit the ground she sprinted forwards, towards Hidan's oncoming attack. With a clash of metal they connected. Hidan's smirk slipped off his face as he felt a presence behind him in warning before a barrage of kicks had him flying through the air, his scythe flying from his grip. A green jumpsuit was all Sakura had to see before she knew the attacker was friend.

With a shout Sakura threw her swords in the air, her hands completely a complex jutsu too fast for the eye to follow. Gripping the swords she jumped in the air until she was parallel with Hidan and sliced her swords down in an arch. "Wind style jutsu; Crisscrossing Blades!"

Screaming and splashed of blood was all the shinobi could see as blades of wind fiercely attacked the now unmoving body of Hidan. With a thump his body fell to the ground. Legs and arms separated from the body.

Sakura landed on the ground without a sound, wincing slightly at the pressure on her weak muscles. Not missing a beat she reached behind her for another scroll, this one of a forbidden fire jutsu. Pressing a bloody thumb across the paper she threw the scroll towards Hidan's body pieces, accompanied by a string of crude language from his rolling head. As the paper spun around his body, the limbs and torso began to rise.

With a burst of chakra Sakura performed a series of one handed hand signals before pointed her hand at the scroll and shouting,

"Forbidden Arts Jutsu; Twin Spinning Dragons of Death!" From the scroll erupted two huge dragons made of fire. They seemed to be dancing as they circled Hidan's floating body parts. Meshing her fingers together to finish the jutsu the dragon rose in the air before plummeting to the ground, exploding the ground and Hidan's body with it.

Panting from exhaustion, Sakura spun around to see the other Akatsuki member Zetsu currently in a battle with a bunch of Konoha ninja. The rest of the shinobi she had seen surrounding the Hokage were balancing on the remains of the Konoha village wall, making sure to stop any jutsu's that may harm the villagers. Ino and Hinata's teams were amongst them. Sakura felt a stab of pain when she saw Ino's blonde hair, remembering all the good times she had had with her friend.

Wiping all emotion from her face, she quickly transported herself into the battle with Zetsu, swinging her Katana towards him only for them to get buried into a tree trunk when he slipped through the solid material. It was time this _plant_ was wiped from the face of the earth, just like his partner in crime. There was no way she was going to die by Akatsuki's hand after spending all those years trying to bring them down.


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