"This isn't the way to the Hokage's residence," Sakura suddenly said, stopping in her tracks. "If we're not going to see Lady Tsunade, then where are you taking me?"
From the Uchiha compound on the village's outskirts, Sakura and her two ANBU escorts had moved anticlockwise around the village to the base of Hokage Rock, in a forested area somewhere west of Granny Tsunade's house, as Naruto would call it.
"Keep moving, Haruno Sakura," said the rabbit-masked ANBU coldly, flickering to her side. "You'll see when you get there."
"I don't think so," said Sakura defiantly. "If you're not under Lady Tsunade's command, then I don't have to follow you anywh— ouch!"
Feeling a sudden stinging sensation on her neck, she swatted at it without thinking. When she drew her bloodstained hand away, she found a twitching insect lying in her palm, its oversized mandibles still clamped around a bloody chunk of flesh.
Sakura discarded the flattened insect and reflexively activated her Sharingan, only to immediately regret doing so— there was a cloud of miniature insects swarming around her head, too small to see without augmented eyesight. For Sakura, who had a phobia of all things that crept and crawled, this was a scene ripped straight out of her nightmares!
"Don't even think about doing anything stupid!" shouted the dog-masked ANBU. "You're surrounded!"
Upon seeing her eyes flare crimson red, her two ANBU escorts tensed up, their weapons half-drawn— and like termites coming out of the woodwork, an additional dozen masked men and women appeared out of nowhere, surrounding her.
If Sakura had been born and raised as an Uchiha, then her next course of action would have been clear: cut down anyone who dared to prevent her from leaving, then leverage her clan's authority to dodge the consequences of killing comrades from the Leaf Village! And if she'd been a Chinese reincarnator instead of a Japanese one? Well, she might've decided to get extra zesty and shamelessly extort the higher-ups for every ryō in their savings account, claiming 'emotional distress!'
Unfortunately, with the Kikaichū buzzing loudly around her ears, Sakura wasn't about to do anything of the sort. In fact, it was taking her pretty much everything she had not to curl up in the foetal position, rock back and forth and cry, wishing to be someplace else.
'KYAAAAAAAAAAA!' screamed Inner Sakura, her mind completely devoid of rational thought. 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!'
But just when all hope seemed to be lost…
"Oi, what do you think you're doing to my cute disciple?" came a man's voice from the depths of the forest. "Aren't you ashamed, ganging up on a young girl like that?"
"This has nothing to do with you, Hatake Kakashi," said an owl-masked ANBU coldly. "Official ANBU business."
Upon hearing Kakashi's voice, Sakura seemed to thaw out of her frozen state. Of all the people to come to her rescue, it was her shifty, lazy, unreliable sensei! Immediately, Sakura's impression of the man rose through the roof— even though for some reason, his hair was damp and his skin was flushed, as if he'd just stepped out of the hot springs.
"That's rather odd," said Kakashi pensively. "I just came from Lady Tsunade's office, and she just asked me to assemble Team 7. Now, why would she ask the ANBU under her command to drag poor Sakura to the middle of nowhere, instead of bringing her to her office, I wonder?"
A deathly silence fell over the forest, filled only with the incessant buzzing of insects.
"…This isn't over yet," said rabbit-mask coolly. "Fall back, men."
And with that, the masked men and women surrounding Sakura flickered away, leaving her alone with Kakashi-sensei. After waiting for a few seconds to make sure they were truly gone, Sakura threw herself into Kakashi's arms, sobbing and slobbering all over his flak jacket.
It reminded him a lot of the time he'd saved her from Orochimaru's clutches, during the Chūnin exams!
"It's just that I hate bugs so much!" blubbered Sakura, hugging Kakashi as tightly as her breasts would allow. "If anyone ever badmouths you ever again, I'll beat them up myself, Kakashi-sensei! I swear it!"
"There, there," said Kakashi awkwardly, patting Sakura's head. "It's rare seeing you like this, since you're usually so headstrong and confident. Is this what youngsters these days call 'gap moe?'"
The contrast between Sakura's usual calm and collected look, her ridiculously huge breasts that could be seen even from behind, and her crying face… Now this, Kakashi had no trouble awarding a thumbs up to!
"Come on," said Kakashi comfortingly. "Let's go see Tsunade-sama, I'll explain what I can during the way."
As Sakura had suspected, her would-be kidnappers weren't ANBU loyal to the Hokage, but members of ROOT— Danzō's own private black-ops corps, masquerading as the real ANBU. Apparently, Kakashi knew a lot about ROOT, having briefly worked under Danzō during his emo phase… until he got promptly kicked out of the organisation, for reasons he didn't care to explain yet.
"You're lucky to have such good friends that care about you," recounted Kakashi as they approached the Hokage residence. "Sasuke practically broke down my front door and dragged me out of my bathtub to get me to come to your rescue, and thanks to Karin's directions, I immediately guessed where you were being taken…"
Since Karin's Body Flicker wasn't fast enough to keep up with him, Kakashi had left her behind, so together with Sasuke, she had instead gone to ask Tsunade for help.
Seeing as Karin had helped her a lot this time, Sakura was ready to forgive her blatant stalking… and maybe treat her to some sweets.
…
"Mum, dad!?" Sakura hiccupped in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
To Sakura's surprise, instead of finding Karin and Sasuke in the Hokage's office, she found her parents drinking tea with her boss, with unusually serious expressions on their faces. Glancing around, she found no traces of Shizune and Tonton, which she found to be rather odd.
"To be perfectly honest, you've put me in a very difficult position, Sakura," said Tsunade, leaning forward and steepling her fingers on her desk. "I've tried keeping things under wraps, but ever since your return from the Hidden Star Village a month ago, rumours of a second Uchiha survivor have been circulating through the black market and the shinobi underworld…"