Chapter TWENTY
After two and a half years, Naruto returned to Konoha with Jiraiya.
Jiraiya had sent a letter before them to alert them of their return, and he was greeted by his father at the gates. Sakura, Kakashi and Itachi were there too.
"Sakura-chan!" The blond launched himself at his teammate, who brought him into a tight hug. Everyone was sure they heard a few cracks, but Naruto was ignoring it, so they would too.
Minato sighed as he was completely ignored. Kakashi placed a hand on his chest in mock hurt.
Itachi just nodded with a small smile on his face.
"Ruto! You've grown. Your'e taller than me now!"
Naruto drew back and placed his hands on his hips. "Of course!" He winced.
Minato snatched his son back and gave him a hug. "Hey, tou-chan!"
Minato smiled. "Welcome back."
"Hey, Itachi-teme. Where's Ka-chan?"
Minato tensed. "Naruto, I know you've jut returned, but I have something to tell you."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Ka-chan!"
Kushina looked up from where she had been reading a scroll. Bed confinement was boring. Still, that was Naruto's voice...
"Naruto!" Kushina tossed the scroll aside when Naruto burst through the door, flying at her. Kushina caught him and brought him into a choking hug.
"Ka-cha...you hug almost as hard as Sakura-chan. I think she broke a few bones."
Kushina sighed and pulled back. "How was your trip?"
Naruto grinned. "It was great. I'll tell you all bout it later!"
Kushina nodded. Minato entered the room, closing the door behind him.
"But before that, are you okay? Tou-chan told me about everything."
Kushina nodded. "I'm fine. Minato's just a worry wart."
Minato pouted.
"And I can't believe it! Tou-chan passed the Hokage seat to some random woman! I was supposed to be Hokage after him!"
Kushina shot Minato a dirty look. She was still angry that he had tossed his title away.
"Naruto, it wasn't just some 'random woman'. Remember Tsunade-sama?" Kushina asked.
Naruto frowned. "Uh...nope. Doesn't ring any bells."
Both his parents sighed. "The woman you, Sakura-chan and Sasuke-kun were sent to bring back."
Naruto's eyes brightened. "Oh! The drunk with the pig."
Minato shook his head is exasperation. "Well...yeah...her."
"She's Hokage now?" Naruto whined. "What else changed?"
Kushina tugged her son down so that he was sitting beside her and Minato dragged a chair over.
"Well, first, Sakura-chan has a new team."
Naruto jumped to his feet. "What?"
Minato smiled. "She's still Team Seven." He told him. "But to go out on mission, she needs a team."
"Oh." Naruto calmed down. "So, who's on her team." He scowled. "They better be good people."
Minato nodded. "Her teammates are Nara Shikamaru, Hyuuga Neji and Uchiha Itachi."
Naruto paused.
He blinked once.
Then again.
"...Whoa. That's...a pretty good team." He whirled around. "Just don't tell any of them I said that." He frowned. "I've gotta say, that's a team almost as good as Team Seven. Still, just almost, cause Team Seven's the best around."
Minato smiled. "Also, all your classmates that graduated with you are now Chunin." He chuckled at the horrified look his son shot him. "The only Genin are now you and Sasuke-kun."
Naruto let out a groan. "That...sucks..."
Kushina giggled. "You should rest for now." She said. "Don't forget, you have a make up meeting slash training session with Kakashi later in the evening."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Sakura stretched. She could hear Itachi doing something in the kitchen. She yawned and stumbled into towards the kitchen, still not fully awake from her nap.
Itachi looked up when she entered. "Good evening, Sakura."
Sakura grinned and sat down on the counter. She ignored Itachi's halfhearted look of disapproval and leaned over his shoulder. "Scrambled eggs?"
Itachi nodded.
"I believe you have a meeting with Kakashi-san and Naruto at three?" He pointedly looked at the clock, which showed ten minutes to two.
Sakura nodded. "But Kashi's always late." She said. "I'll leave at four thirty."
Itachi nodded in agreement. Having been on Kakashi's team for a while, Itachi was one of the people who knew that Kakashi's tardiness was not something to be taken lightly. It was only because of this reason that he let Sakura do as she had said.
"Sit down at the table, Sakura." Itachi said. "I'll bring the food over."
Sakura cheered and jumped off the counter, darting out of the kitchen to sit at the table as instructed.
Itachi sighed. Sometimes, he felt like a parent.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Sakura skipped into their training ground at four forty. Naruto was still not there, probably at Ichiraku, catching up on his ramen.
Sakura planted herself in the middle of the training grounds and flaunted around for a while, jabbing her fingers into the chakra points of invisible opponents. Ten minutes later, Naruto joined her wordlessly, and the two ended up circling each other, jabbing at each other with halfhearted attacks.
Surprisingly, only another ten minutes later, Kakashi arrived in his usual puff of smoke.
"Hello, my little minions."
Sakura scowled and Naruto frowned.
Kakashi chuckled, and held up two bells. "Why don't we start with this?"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Let's do this!" Naruto threw a fistful of shuriken at Kakashi, who ducked to avoid them.
Naruto jumped at him, and Kakashi threw the shuriken back at the blond. Naruto used a Shadow clone to pull himself out of the way, and Sakura was a little impressed.
Naruto landed on the ground, his clone transforming into a huge shuriken, but Kakashi was one step ahead of him, catching Naruto's wrist before he could throw it. Still, Kakashi could also feel a kunai held at his back.
"You've improved, but you're still as impatient as ever." Kakashi sighed. "I haven't said go yet."
Sakura smiled.
Itachi, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune, Minato and Kushina, who were watching from a distance, smiled at the familiar scene.
"Well, then. Ready...Start!"
And just like that, he was gone in a puff of smoke.
"Damn it!" Naruto whirled around, but Kakashi was no where to be seen.
Sakura sighed, but there was a smirk on her face. "Silly Kashi-sensei. Hiding is useless, you know?" She activated her Byakugan, and she instantly sensed Kakashi underground.
She summoned a Puppet Cursing Sphere, and channeling her chakra through it, she smashed it into the ground, sending her chakra out in waves through the earth.
Her training with Tsunade was really helpful. Thanks to the training she had gone through with Tsunade leading up to her medical chakra training, she had picked up a series of concentration training, which had helped.
Tsunade had decided that instead of teaching Sakura her chakra enhanced strength, she would build up on the impressive arsenal of skills Sakura already had. She was also now able to use her Puppet Cursing Sphere in a similar way Tsunade used her fists when she used her chakra enhanced strength.
She could channel her chakra through her Puppet Cursing Sphere, and since the Puppet Cursing Sphere was made of her raw chakra, it was much more powerful compared to her channeling chakra to her fists.
Still, she knew how to channel chakra directly to her limbs too.
There was nothing wrong with knowing more.
The earth shook, and cracks appeared on the ground. Slabs of rock popped up and dust rose into the air. Sakura could see the outline of Kakashi's figure hiding behind a chunk of rock.
Naruto stumbled backwards, eyes wide.
"Found you, Kashi!" Sakura waved cheerfully while Kakashi just stared at her in horror.
He had thought that a Anko corrupted Sakura was bad. However, a Tsunade corrupted Sakura was worse.
He had hung out with Sakura often during their free time, but with Sakura going on missions with her new team, as well as her training with Tsunade at the hospital and the occasional visits to the T&I department, it was hard to match up their free time.
He had heard about bits and pieces of her progress from others, namely Anko, but he hand't though she would become this...scary.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Pssst! Sakura-chan." Sakura turned around slowly as to not disrupt the leaves around her.
"Hey Naruto." She smiled down at her teammate, who was crouched under the tree she had been perched on.
"We need a plan 'tebbayo!"
Sakura nodded. She motioned for Naruto to join her up her tree, and they crouched there.
"I'll find out where Kashi is." Sakura activated her Byakugan.
During her training, she had been trying to rely less on her Byakugan. Sh had widened her arsenal of skills so that it included techniques that she could perform without the use of her Byakugan.
It was safe to say that Sakura's clan level chakra would be more than enough to hold out on her Byakugan during a fight.
However, it was a just in case thing.
Who knows what her Inner had in mind anyways?
"He's by the lake." She reported, and Naruto nodded.
"So, Sakura-chan, I have a plan, you see..."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
'I cannot believe that this is what led to my loss.' Kakashi ruefully looked at his book and sighed.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Sakura was reading through some scroll on Chakra theory when a bird screeched right outside the window. Sakura stood up and darted over to the sound, flinging the window open to allow the bird to fly in. She took the letter tied to it's leg and scanned through it.
She shooed the bird away, stuffed her equipment in to her her seal, and after locking the door, she darted out onto the streets.
On the way, she met Kakashi on the roof. The two nodded at each other, but didn't stop to exchange any words.
If Kakashi was on time, it must be very serious.
They were called into the office the moment they arrived at the tower. There, they exchanged brief greetings with Itachi and Naruto. Team Gai was there as well. Even Naruto seemed to notice something was wrong, for he didn't say anything.
Tsunade cleared her throat and everyone turned to her.
"I need the four of you to head over to Suna as soon as possible." She said. "The Akatsuki are on the move. Gaara has been kidnapped."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Kakashi led his team out of Konoha at top speed.
Gai, having decided that Kakashi was turning this into a race, forced his team to go even faster. Neji shot Sakura an apologetic look before Team Gai rushed off, and in a few seconds, there wasn't a single trace of them.
Temari, who had been acting as the ambassador for the Suna participants in the Chunin exams, had been alerted as well, and she was quick to join them.
Temari stayed behind with Team Seven, for not even she would be ale to keep up with the stamina freaks.
Sakura took the back with her Byakugan. The Akatsuki was on the move, which meant they would sooner or later come after Naruto as well.
With that thought in mine, their team rushed through the woods, only coming to a stop to rest for the day well into the night. They kept a watch out the whole time, and at the crack of dawn, they were off again. This time, they paced themselves, for they would need to save their chakra in case they came across any of the Akatsuki members.
Through out their three day trip. Naruto told Temari about the Demon within him, and told her what the Akatsuki were after.
Sakura had heard this story many times, but she listened as intently as she did the first time Naruto had told her the truth.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The moment they reached Suna, Temari led them into the village. Shinobi were rushing around left and right, trying to assess the damage to the village. Medic-nin ran around, treating the injured.
There they learnt of Kankuro's poisoned state.
A shinobi directed Temari towards the hospital.
Medic-nin greeted them as Temari stormed into the vicinity.
"What are you doing?" Temari demanded, having noticed that none of the Medics were doing anything.
"There-there's nothing we can do, Temari-sama!" One of the medics whimpered.
"Why the hell not? The attack was three days ago!"
"We've never seen the type of poison used!" Another medic spoke up. "There's nothing we can do!"
Temari opened her mouth, ready to snap, when an elderly woman stepped forward. "We did what we could." She said.
Temari whirled around to face her, eyes wide. "Chiyo-baa-sama?"
Temari clenched her fists. One of her brothers had been captured by an S-class Criminal organization, and the other had been poisoned by something none of the medics hailing from the Village known for their poisons could identify.
Sakura slipped through the gap between a few medics and came to a stop beside Kankuro's bed, eyes narrowed. A few medics looked curious, but didn't stop her. After all, she seemed like a guest of the Kazekage's sister.
"Three basins. One with Ice water, one with room temperature, and one empty. Also Ice packs. As much as you can. Hand towels. Many of that. A sterile vile, and I'll need access to your herb garden later."
"White Fang!"
Sakura turned around, loosing focus for a moment, as Chiyo suddenly flew at Kakashi.
'Focus, Kura-chan.'
Sakura blinked, then turned to Temari and the Suna medics expectantly.
"Three basins, one with Ice-"
"She wants you to get that stuff for her." Naruto interrupted. "Sakura-chans's awesome! She'll save Kankuro!"
Temari blinked, before shooting into action. Sakura was the only hope she had left to save her brother.
At the Kunoichi's order, half of the medic-nin in the area rushed off to gather the things Sakura had listed.
Sakura ran her hands over Kankuro, checking the locations with the most poisons and finding that his organs had absorbed a lot. She would have to take out as much as she could, then create an antidote
Soon, the three basins were places beside her. "Wet the cloth, cover him with it. Use the Ice packs too. Try to keep his temperature down, but I need his upper body clear so I can work. Few people need to hold him down." Sakura mumbled.
The medics did as told, and soon, everything was ready. Sakura placed her hand over the lukewarm water and willed it into a sphere. She then pressed it into the wound on Kankuro's chest.
Even while unconscious, Kankuro started to fight it, thrashing around. The medics holding him down tightened their grips. Sakura gathered as much poisons as she could from within the Suna nin before withdrawing the sphere. She stared curiously into the now purple ball of water, then shook her head and dumped it into the empty basin.
She repeated this action a few more times, until the water sphere came out clear.
"That's the last of it." She rubbed at her brows. "His organs have absorbed the poison, and I can't get those out. I'll need an antidote for that, but for now, he'll be fine."
Sakura separated the poisons form the water, and transferred the purple liquid into a vial. "Someone needs to get rid of that." She pointed at the basin that had previously contained the poison. "Don't reuse it. Treat it like you would treat any hazardous materials."
Se turned back to the poison she had extracted, and raised it to her face. "Can someone show me to the herb garden?"
Temari instructed a medic to do so. Sakura was about ot step out of the room after him when Chiyo stopped her.
"You remind me of someone I knew a long time ago." She said. "You wouldn't happen to be acquainted to the Slug Princess Tsunade, would you?"
Sakura's eyes brightened. "She's my teacher."
She then turned to the medic who was to take her to the gardens, and began talking about all the herbs she had heard of that in Suna.
Itachi quietly offered to go with her. She had a tendency to get carried away when she was excited, and Itachi was probably the only person she actually listened to, and that was because she chose to do so.
Kakashi nodded, and the Uchiha slipped out after her. While Sakura had been healing Kankuro, everyone's attention had been on her. However, now that the excitement had died down a little, females began noticing his quiet presence.
Perhaps Kakashi felt sorry for Itachi.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
It didn't take too long for Sakura to make an antidote. She still had most of the poison left too, something that made her want to cheer.
She sealed the poison into her tattoo, vowing to recreate the poison once everything was done.
She then divided the antidote into three; one to give Kankuro, an two in case they encountered the creator of the poison.
Speaking of the creator, Sakura wondered if she would be able to ask him about the poison.
Having experience with puppets may be useful information in the future. Besides, the Otsutsuki compound on the moon was mainly run by puppets at the moment.
Sakura, having managed to loose her Suna guide and Itachi, made her way to Kankuro's hospital room, where Temari, Chiyo, Team Seven and Team Gai were present. She wagged her fingers at Naruto in greeting, then wandered over to Kankuro's bed, and after checking that his fever was down, shook him awake gently.
Kankuro's eyes cracked open, before he closed them just as quickly, groaning at the bright lights of the hospital room.
Sakura waited patiently as he blinked rapidly, before he slowly turned to her. "Sa-Sakura?"
Sakura skipped up to his side and helped him sit up. She then held up the cup and handed it to him. "Drink." She ordered.
"You made it?" Kankuro asked.
Sakura nodded. "Yup. Drink it, kay? You'll feel much better."
"The poison...the antidote?" Kankuro asked.
Sakura nodded. "Now you sleep and rest and recover, okay?"
"Wait." Kankuro murmured, sleep already threatening to take him. "Gaara...the scent...follow the scent..."
"Scent?" Kakashi asked, looking up.
"Karasu...he's holding cloth...the scent..." Kankuro's eyes closed, before he forced them open again.
"Your attacker?" Sakura asked.
Kankuro hummed. "The puppet...Red sand..."
"Chiyo-baa-sama?" Temari asked. "Do you think."
"Yes." The elder admitted. "I suspected as much, but I had hoped...This poison is his work."
"Who?" Naruto asked.
"My grandson."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Kakashi's nin-ken were able to track down the Akatsuki members by following the scent on the cloth. Team Gai and the nin-ken went ahead to scout the area. Temari stayed behind in Suna, as she was the only one of the Sand Siblings who was awake and functioning. Chiyo decided to come along.
Pakkun was the first to return, with reports that he had found the base.
He then went out again to find his pack and Team Gai, before the nin-ken were dismissed.
They split up into their teams, with Itachi and Chiyo coming with Team Seven, hoping to corner the Akatsuki members.
The moment Kakashi had said the word 'Plan', Sakura and Naruto had snickered. Team Seven plans never worked. It was like...a rule, or something.
They made their way to the allocated meeting point without much problem. Kakashi seemed to be pushing them more than usual, and they only found out the reason when they ran over the lake surface, stopping in the middle. A minute later, Team Gai burst through the trees.
"My Eternal-rival! You have beaten me this time, but the next round in mine!" Gai smiled. Behind him, the Team Gai members were trying to pretend that the run hadn't affected them at all. They all turned around to look at the huge boulder blocking the entrance to some cave.
"Barrier..." Sakura muttered. "We've got to get rid of that."
Kakashi nodded.
"Yes! First thing first, the barrier. Any idea of how to get past?" Gai asked.
"A five seal barrier is established by placing five paper seals in the area." Itachi said. "There's one here, and the rest should be near by." He narrowed his eyes just a little. "But all the seals must be removed at the same time."
"You think you can find them, Neji?" Gai asked.
Neji didn't reply, and instead, activated his Byakugan. He pointed out each of the locations.
"That's within the range of our headsets." Gai exclaimed. "My team and I shall get the other four."
"I'll get this one." Kakashi said. "Can you...find us a way through, Sakura-chan?"
Sakura nodded enthusiastically. She summoned her Puppet Cursing Sphere and twirled around. "Course."
"You're scary, know?" Tenten grinned. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."
Neji sighed, a small smile on his lips.
Chiyo looked at her uncertainly.
Team Gai soon headed out. Kakashi checked his communication headphones, then jumped to the seal and hovered a hand over it. "On the count of three." He spoke into the mic. "One...two...Three!" Kakashi tore the seal off and jumped off the boulder as Sakura charged at the boulder.
She held out her Puppet Cursing Sphere in front of her.
The huge boulder shattered upon contact, and Sakura quickly kaitened, deflecting all the broken slabs of rock that flew down at her.
She landed neatly, humming in satisfaction.
Kakashi was talking into his head set when Sakura skipped over to them. "Team Gai wont be back for a while. Apparently, releasing the seals activated some sort of trap."
"We can't wait for them." Naruto said, looking into the cave as the smoke started to die down. "Those Akatsuki bastards are probably in their with Gaara."
"I know." Kakashi agreed. "But be careful. We don't know their numbers."
They crept in carefully. The Akatsuki members were probably aware of their presence, but they had to watch out in case they tried to attack them head on.
Sakura could make out two bulks of whom she guessed was the Akatsuki pair that had abducted the Kazekage. The smoke soon cleared enough for Sakura to make them out.
Sasori and Deidara, and some blue dude.
And the bird.
The blond was sitting on Gaara, smirking.
"YOU!" Naruto snarled. He would explode any second. "I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!"
"Look, Danna, the Jinchuriki just came right to us!" Deidara's smirk widened.
"That's the Jinchuriki? How haven't you guys managed to catch him yet?" The blue dude, a Rogue nin from Kirigakure, laughed.
"Get up, Gaara! Why are you just lying there!" Naruto screamed. "Get up Gaara!"
"Stop, Naruto." Kakashi said, tone emotionless. "You know why he's lying there."
Tears welled out of Naruto's eyes, and anger radiated off him.
"He's dead, un!" Deidara mocked.
Sakura narrowed her eyes, her Byakugan slowly coming to life. She instantly noticed something about Sasori, something she had sensed before, but had never really paid much attention to. His chakra was...weird.
She turned to Gaara, eyes narrowing further.
Gaara was dead, and once someone was dead, their chakra stopped circulating. However, there was something about the time it was taking Gaara's chakra to come to a stop. Gaara's chakra movement was almost close to nonexistent, that no one could sense it, but hanks to her Byakugan, she could see Gaara's still decelerating chakra movements. She switched it off before anyone noticed. Perhaps there was a chance of saving Gaara, but if any of the Akatsuki noticed, they would most likely kill him, just to shove it in their faces.
"Give him back." Naruto growled. Kyuubi's chakra began to leak out around him. "GIVE HIM BACK!"
Sakura smoothly reached out and grabbed the back of his jumpsuit, pulling him back. Itachi raised an arm just in case the blond managed to escape Sakura's grip.
"He's doing that on purpose." Sakura said before Naruto could say anything.
"I'll keep the body, un." Deidara said. "Cause the Jinchuriki wants it, and I'll let him have it." He sneered.
"Don't push your luck, Deidara." Sasori's gravelly voice echoed from the huge wooden lump.
Deidara huffed. His bird rose and trotted over to them. Then, it leaned down and swallowed Gaara's body.
"See ya!" Deidara jumped back to avoid the tail Sasori rammed in his direction and flew away. Naruto's enraged scream was almost inaudible under the sound of wings and the dust it conjured.
Sakura got ready to summon one of her bird summons, but Kakashi stopped her.
"Naruto and I will go after the blond. You stay with Chiyo-baa-sama and deal with the puppet." He shot Itachi a look, and the Uchiha nodded.
Sakura saw that these assignments were more to do with emotional attachment than compatibility, Still, Naruto would most likely go after Deidara anyways, so it would be better if Kakashi, who could keep him controlled, went with him. Though Sakura might be a better match against Deidara, she had a tendency to get carried along.
Kakashi followed Naruto out of the cave.
Itachi could probably deal with the blue dude literally leaking chakra. The shark with the huge sword strapped to his back was the next to leave, and Itachi flashed out of the cave after the Akatsuki member.
Itachi was being led out on purpose, and all of them knew it.
That left Chiyo and Sakura to deal with the Puppet Master.
"You seem to have a knack for disrupting out missions, little girl." The eyes of Sasori's puppet bore into Sakura's green eyes.
Sakura shrugged. "I don't know." She stretched. "You just happen to go after the people who I happen to like."
"Perhaps you just surround yourself with powerful individuals."
Sakura channeled chakra through her body, preparing herself for the fight to come.
"You should stay back." Chiyo said. "My grandson is very skilled, and that was before he defected. He-"
Sakura waved her hand dismissively. "I've fought this guy twice already, and I survived both times. The first time was when I was ten." She paused. "And I was against both him and the blond." She paused again. "But I'm only alive cause he-" Sakura pointed at Sasori. "-let me go."
Chiyo stared at her, eyes wide.
"So I think I'll be fine." Sakura said, like she had just remember what she was trying to prove.
Sasori's puppet tail flicked from side to side. The Akatsuki member had taken the time Sakura and Chiyo had spent talking to remove his cloak.
"That is Hiruko, a puppet Sasori had before he defected. I though he no longer used it." Chiyo shook her head a little. "Since it works and both an offence and a defense, it was Sasori's favorite back then."
"Sasori's inside the puppet shell." Sakura hummed. "Then we'll need to get him out of it." She grinned. "I'm kinda excited. Every time I've seen him, I've never seen his real body."
"The only way to get him out is to destroy the puppet." Chiyo turned to Sakura. "Since you seem pretty good at smashing things, I'll leave that to you." She smiled a faint smile.
"Can we start now?" Sasori asked. "I don't like to be kept waiting."
Sakura turned to him with her hands on her hips. "Patience is a virtue." She told him, trying to channel Iruka, back in the Ninja Academy, when he was telling someone off for doing something bad. She thought of Toneri, who was probably the most patient person in the world.
"No matter what, you must not let yourself get even a single cut." Chiyo said.
"Cause of the poison." Sakura nodded. "Don't worry."
The two of them flew forward. Sakura activated her Byakugan, keeping an eye on Chiyo. The sash over the puppet shell's mouth fell away and it's mouth opened mechanically. A barrage of senbon launched themselves at her.
'Kaiten!'
Sakura spun on her right heel, deflecting the first wave of most certainly poisoned senbon. Then, using the momentum of her spin, she jumped into the air to dodge the second wave that came at her.
The puppet's left air rose into the air, the bottom part disconnecting. Another barrage of senbon came her way. This time, instead of spinning horizontally, she kicked up and spun frontwards. The moment the wave stopped, Sakura raised her hand above her, a Puppet Cursing Sphere already summoned.
Sasori tried to move out of the way, but the momentum of Sakura's kaiten carried her down to the puppet shell before he could get out of range.
Sakura's sphere smashed down onto the puppet's back, and the shell exploded. Wood and metal was sent flying. The puppet collapsed and a figure covered in a black cloak streaked away, creating distance between himself as Sakura.
A hand reached out for the hood. Sakura caught a glimpse of the Akatsuki cloak underneath. "Whoa. You were like, wearing the cloak, then the puppet shell, then a black cloak, then an Akatsuki cloak. How many layers are you wearing? Aren't you like, hot?"
The black cloak fell to the ground, revealing a young red head with brown grey eyes.
Chiyo stiffened, just managing to hold back a gasp. Sakura turned to her.
"Sasori..."