Otokage

November: Part 1

When Sasuke arrived at the gates, a red alert was almost raised throughout the village. Kotetsu and Izumo, who were the guards at the time, immediately jumped out from their posts and prepared to fight. They were confused when Sasuke did nothing and merely stared at them while he carried something in his arms.

Izumo was the first to notice the dried blood in mangled clumps of pink hair.

"You... What did you do?!" Izumo demanded, eyes glued to the corpse. He couldn't believe it. Sure, Haruno Sakura had done some pretty uncalled for things like leaving and being Asuma's assumed killer, but that didn't change the fact that they were friends before. He, along with nearly everyone else, had a small shred of hope that she'd return one day.

But this wasn't what he meant.

Kotetsu dragged his eyes away from the Uchiha and to the body in his arms. Shock slowly crawled into his veins and eventually gave him a sense of realization. He swallowed thickly before taking a step back. "I'll notify ANBU."

Day 1

"That should be all the Akatsuki members, right?"

"Yes. Pein-sama said that Konan would be unavailable to us and if we counted correctly, the ones we've met are all the available members," Kabuto replied. Sakura smiled and looked back down at the reports she was previously reading through.

Marisu was starting to make a name for herself in the medical community as the headstrong Chief of Medicine that had a bark as strong as her bite. She was quick-witted and strong, making her a capable kunoichi both inside and outside the hospital. As confident as she was, she still kept the burnt part of her face hidden beneath her bangs. The house staff was smart enough not to question it.

Tobi as doing immensely well at the Academy and was one of the favored sensei. He was cheerful in his lectures and always managed to keep his kids engaged in the lesson. Kisame was doing great with his ANBU status and accompanied her on all her errands out of the village (mostly for the liquor). He was one of the strongest in her ranks and helped her with her paperwork when she needed a break.

Deidara had gotten a little happier than when she first met him, which she was pleased to find out. His team was able to soften him up enough to start having some fun. Hidan seemed to be going about rather well as a pediatric surgeon. Though for now, he was a PA who was slowly working himself up to M.D. He spent much of his time studying, passed every exam with flying colors, and was starting to get Sakura to think that he was actually a secret genius. That, and he had the prettiest writing style she'd ever seen.

Zetsu came by every now and again, popping in to see how everything was going and asking if Sakura needed anything of him. Most of the time, she'd shake her head no and ask if there was anything worth reporting or was hanging precariously on the grapevine. Usually there was nothing to say. But recently, he informed her about her "death".

"Uchiha Sasuke and his team found the replica," he said. "Almost immediately, Sasuke took it and headed towards Konoha. In an interesting fashion, I must note. He almost seemed concerned."

Kabuto glanced at Sakura for a reaction, but she merely smiled. "Well, that just means it'll spread faster! That's wonderful!"

He knew it was anything but.

Kakuzu became the advisor Sakura turned to most often. Decades of experience backed him up, making him the most resourceful and the wisest out of everyone in Sakura's inner circle. Every shred of advice he'd given was helpful in some shape or form, be it a metaphorical or literal statement. Itachi actually became interested in the position of pediatric counselor, but he opted to take it as a part-time job. He didn't deem himself sociable enough to be around children full time, but he was pleased enough to help them whenever he could. The other times, he would be in the Intelligence Division, his brilliance contributing greatly to Otogakure.