Thirteen months.
Thirteen months had swept by and she hadn't realized it.
Sakura took Otogakure by storm, spending the first six months making the biggest changes within the village. She built homes, clinics, schools, businesses—making the village begin to prosper. Slowly, the people's minimum wage began to rise and the average person could afford their own home and half food on the table every night, even having spare money to spend on the little temptations in life.
Shinobi were getting stronger each passing moment, it seemed. Sakura's new curriculum was approved and slightly altered by the Nadeshiko kunoichi as they taught incoming academy students. Those students were learning more, becoming more physically able, and acting more disciplined than they were before. And when they became genin, Sakura noted with pride that they were actually a tad bit stronger than the usual Konoha genin team. They were certainly stronger than hers.
The chuunin and jounin had also improved exceptionally over time. Their stat numbers steadily increased until they were up by five or six points, some even skyrocketing to improving up to ten or eleven! She truly and vigorously thanked the Jomae shinobi that stayed in her village for four months and trained her own to their truest potential. With such an increase in chuunin and jounin, that also meant an increase in the ANBU sector as well. In those thirteen months, she went from fifteen operatives to over one hundred fifty.
Sakura also learned that Otogakure was a genjutsu-inclined village. Many of her shinobi had an affinity for it, and those who knew they did fully utilized it in many creative ways. Once she learned that she had a genjutsu affinity of her own, she asked around to see if someone could help her raise her skill in it. Others utilized genjutsu through optical illusions, hypnotism, sight, or some form of sound through singing or instruments, but Sakura found that she could induce a genjutsu through skin-on-skin contact. It proved that it could work extremely well with her close-range combat style.
"You can activate a genjutsu with your hands?" Kabuto sighed. "Oh god. Please tell me you aren't going to use that on me so you can sneak off to get sake."
Sakura feigned hurt and placed a hand over her heart. "Why, I'd never!"
He stared at her for a long while before his eyes glinted dangerously. "How long have I been in this genjutsu?"
"Uh... thirty minutes now? Now look—"
Kabuto dispelled the illusion and stalked to Sakura's favorite bar. He threw open the door and glared around for that head of pink hair. The other patrons paid him no mind—this type of thing happened every now and again and they were far too used to it by now. Sakura spun around in her seat in shock.
"Thirty minutes?!" she cried. "How did you realize it in thirty minutes?! You beat your last record by almost an hour—GAH! I knew I should've put a clone instead! It worked last time!"
He grabbed her by the back of the shirt and dragged her back to the office. "You're seventeen. You're not even legal. Now do the rest of your work or I'll tell the vendors not to sell you mochi for the rest of the month."
Sakura pouted. "Fine, kaa-san."
Something in Kabuto changed when he decided to stay as her assistant. He no longer put on a fake smile whenever someone was around or kept his opinions to himself. Now, he openly voiced what he thought and incited many banters with the Otokage: something he never dared try with Orochimaru. Sakura also found that he was actually quite sarcastic at times and liked to poke fun at those who riled easily. He was certainly different from the person she thought he was, but he was being himself. And she was glad for that.
But he was so bossy when it came to paperwork.
With Otogakure growing as much as it was, it was beginning to draw some attention from people outside the the country. Merchants and clients began flooding in through Oto's newly built wooden gates, creating more business and bustle inside the freshly cemented walls. Even with such a success, she was still at the edge of the Five Great Shinobi Nation's radar. Oto wasn't big enough to be a large threat. Yet.
So with all the time that passed, Sakura had pretty much forgotten about the letter that came with the check. It was at the back of her mind and never raised any alarm. That is, until, that anonymous donor showed up at her desk.
::
Thirteen months.
Thirteen months and they had absolutely no lead on Itachi.
At this point, Sasuke stopped being angry at what little progress he and his team were making and sort of took each of their failures with a disgruntled sort of acceptance. Though killing Itachi was the largest thought on his mind, it wasn't the only one. Every place they looked for Itachi, Sasuke had unconsciously been looking for Sakura as well.
Word about finding her had died down considerably as her rank slowly trickled up to A. It's been over a year now and she was becoming just another face in the international bingo book. Konoha shinobi had stopped actively looking for a trail and seemed to just give up all hopes of ever finding her. According to his information, she disappeared into thin air one day, not leaving a note or trail or saying a single goodbye.
Sasuke frowned at the thought. Sakura couldn't have done something like that willingly. Something like this was so out of character and so unexpected that he wouldn't be surprised if she was coerced into this situation. She was, wasn't she? Taken against her will or blackmailed into something that she couldn't refuse. That had to be it.
Because this was Sakura after all.
He knew her. She'd never leave like that.
"Oi, Sasuke!" Suigetsu called. "Come on! We're heading over to the next town!"
Sasuke exhaled softly and turned to leave with the rest of Team Hebi.
::
Sakura's mouth ran dry at the mere sight of her visitor, and Kabuto's hand tightened around his clipboard so much so that the wood almost splintered. Pein's lips tilted up at their reactions.
"A pleasure to finally meet you, Yakushi-san. Haruno-san," he greeted. His sonorous voice sent uncomfortable shivers down their spines. "From what I've seen and heard from this village, it seems you've put my... benefaction to good use. Excellent."
Sakura's stomach dropped. "You were the one who donated the money?" she asked, finding her voice. "That's just... what? What benefit could we possibly provide for you?"
"Has it slipped your mind that I'm a village leader much like yourself?" Pein mused. "I've come to talk about a treaty between Oto and Ame."
"Ah... I see," she commented quietly. She opened her drawer to pull out a clean sheet of paper and felt her stomach drop even farther as Pein continued speaking.
"But of course, I'm here on Akatsuki business as well. Do you remember what I said? What I'm about to offer would be a mistake to refuse."
::
Thirteen months.
Thirteen months and the pain only got worse.
Naruto wasn't as cheerful as before. He would still smile and try to show everyone that he really was alright, but they all knew that he wasn't. No one was. Losing Sasuke was one thing, and Sakura had been there to hold him together after that whole ordeal. But at least they knew where Sasuke was. Sakura had no reason, absolutely no reason, to leave. The only logical explanation they could think up was that she had gone after Sasuke, but she emptied her apartment. Released her contract with the slugs. Was determined to cut off all ties with her village and all her friends and family.
How are you supposed to feel about someone who disappeared like they never existed?
As time passed by, Sai's understanding of emotions and normal human concepts grew to an almost normal level. Recently, he fully came to know the extent of how much Sakura's departure hurt. She was the one that first tried to befriend him. Though she had been the one that hit him more times than he could count, what mattered was that she was there. Her and Naruto. Now that that she was gone, he felt that there was a small hole in his chest that he couldn't fill no matter what. It meant that he was missing the company of his friend.
He really hoped that she had gone somewhere and wasn't dead.
Kakashi couldn't help but think that this incident was the heavens telling him that he fucked up so royally and that these were the consequences of his actions. What was this stroke of bad luck? Two of his students had left the village—one for power and the other for who knows what. He promised that he would believe in his students and that he would protect them until the very end. But the very end wasn't supposed to be now.
He found himself at the memorial stone not too much later, eye half-lidded and hands shoved deeply in his pockets.
'Obito. Rin. I... I couldn't save the team I swore to protect. But what am I apologizing to you two?' His shoulders slumped forward. 'I should be apologizing to all three of them.'
::
Ten holographic figures stood around a chest-high lantern with nine of them having absolutely no clue what was going on. It had been a long while since every single member was gathered together in an unexpected fashion, and they weren't even close to getting the next jinchuriki.
"This meeting is quite out of the blue, hm," Deidara remarked as he stared as his leader suspiciously. "Is this even about the tailed beasts?"
"No. This is something that concerns the organization as a whole." Pein regarded his members with a sweeping gaze. "The Akatsuki will be integrated into a village and will perform as regularly named and legal shinobi."
Eyes shifted to one another curiously.
"You want us to operate in Ame?" Kisame asked.
"I didn't say anything about Ame. You'll be working in Otogakure under Orochimaru's successor," he supplied. The feedback was instantaneous. The cavern filled with incredulous murmurs, the words 'Uchiha Sasuke' being mentioned many times. Pein cleared his throat.
"There is a slight twist to this agreement," he said. "I will send you to Otogakure one by one to stay in the village for an entire month. At the end of said month, you can either decide to stay as an Akatsuki member or become an Otogakure shinobi and take full orders under her."
Everyone suddenly grew silent.
"Her?" Konan questioned softly.
"Yes. Orochimaru's successor is Haruno Sakura."
The shortest of the holograms stalled at the name.
::
EDITED 2.16.18