The Suspect: Sakura Of The Akatsuki

Tactics II

Sakura has nothing else to fear, this whole nightmarish experience taught her to just take actions. She doesn't need to think twice anymore. She confidently knocked on Pein's door and entered, followed by Itachi, without waiting for his response.

"Sakura! Oh, so the Konoha team is here" Pein said as soon as he saw them.

"I have a favour to ask you before I get this mission done" Sakura said giving Itachi a quick look asking for support "actually I want to ask you to delay this mission for a little while".

It was obvious that Pein didn't see this coming from her and he couldn't find a reason why he should do such thing for her. He needed to get his hands on Konoha the soonest possible unless there was a valid reason.

"If we carry on with our mission of destroying the leaf, Sakura never gets to clean her name so we're asking you to give us some time to investigate" Itachi explained. He may be the smartest person ever but showing support for Sakura in front of Pein wasn't his best move. Itachi has in fact gone over the fact that he is a missing ninja ever since Sakura believed in him. Seeing how hiding the truth turned his brother, Itachi decided that he has no more secrets to conceal.

"I see you're helping Sakura, Itachi" Pein said.

"I am, isn't she our teammate?" Itachi responded "besides this will be helpful since in that case she'd be sent back to Konoha once she's cleared of all charges, the mission you gave her will be done perfectly since she won't be a suspect anymore"

"And how is she going to do that? For me clearing her name seems clearly impossible" 

"We'll work on that part don't you worry" Sakura said confidently "We just need some more time"

The conversation ran unexpectedly smooth, Sakura thought convincing Pein would really be the only thing Itachi can't do but she was wrong. Pein didn't actually mind letting them do what they had to do.

Itachi preceded Sakura out of the room while she stayed there to Thank Pein. She imagined that he would never agree to delay his dream mission after he working so hard on it.

"I can't thank you enough, I thought everything I did will go to the trash" Sakura said gratefully.

"Don't mention it but hopefully you won't let us down once you clean your name" Pein teased "and most importantly you'll remain our ally even when you're no longer a missing-nin"

"Don't worry, and thank you again" Sakura thanked him with a wide smile.

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"How can we trust him?" Sakura whispered to Itachi who was standing between her and Sasuke and facing Tobi.

"Don't worry Sakura even if we can't trust him, he won't work against us" Itachi whispered back.

"Okay Tobi here's the deal, me and Sakura are going to the leaf to investigate ... Since the halt Pein gave us isn't enough to get the job done, you and Itachi will have to stay here for the attack and when you reach the leaf we'll join you there ... By that time you can do whatever you have to do with Pein freely since every ninja from the leaf will be there to stop him." Sasuke explained the plan.

"Oh Sasuke ! You almost did the job for me I only get steal his Rinnegan without breaking a sweat" Tobi said.

"Do as you please but you could've been more helpful if only you told us to whom you gave the sword" Sasuke said.

"How many times should I tell you that it was stolen from me, that's why I had to make another one".

"Yeah, That's stretching the truth a bit" Sasuke scoffed and turned to leave.

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Sakura looked at the sky as she was jumping, along with Sasuke, above the trees. She seemed full of hope as if it only takes getting to her destination to prove her innocence. As she was moving too fast, Sakura remembered every moment she lived ever since she was accused of murder up until now, these bad memories made her more determined to find the real culprit.

"Is everything alright?" Sasuke asked as he noticed her concerned face "you look lost".

"Yes I'm fine, I'm just too excited for this" 

"Is this the last resort, I mean isn't there any other ways to take?"

"No Sasuke. I'm doing an autopsy and that's it, we have no time to waste" Sakura insisted.

"and what if the results of the autopsy isn't what you think?" 

"Do you still think I killed him?" Sakura snapped at him.

"I'm not saying you did Sakura but we're dealing with someone who made impossible things happen" now these words made Sakura stop suddenly. Sasuke was right, what if the autopsy results won't be in her favour. That idea scared her.

"Does that mean I'll be a missing-nin forever?" 

"I'm not sure, we just have to expect anything Sakura" he walked closer to her "hopefully nothing bad happens"