Karin the Ojou-sama!

"Is this how rich people travel, onee-sama?" a mature woman's bored voice called out from within the palanquin. "At this rate, I'll be an old maid before we make it to the Hidden Cloud…"

Sakura pretended not to have heard the question, as she led the march in front of the palanquin carried by four burly servants. She was hoping that her silence would dissuade the person riding inside from asking any more questions, but unfortunately for her, her plan was not quite working out…

"Onee-sama~," came the noblewoman's plaintive voice, as she poked her head out from behind the drapes. "Why aren't you answering~…"

"Would you kindly stay in character, Tsuchimikado-sama?" said Sakura through gritted teeth. "If you keep acting strangely, your Lord Husband might eventually notice that there's something very wrong with his beloved wife…"

…

Obviously, the woman in question was Karin in disguise, who had used the Transformation Jutsu to copy the noblewoman's appearance and take her place at the nobleman's side.

As for why nobody had noticed the swap…

Once the old shinobi bodyguard had brought Sakura to the nobleman for a 'closer' look, she had unleashed the full might of her Genjutsu abilities on him and his entourage, convincing them that she and Neji had been part of the team of bodyguards from the start and that the upstart Karin disguised as his wife was not suspicious in the slightest.

As for the nobleman's original wife, Sakura had sent her back to the hot spring village; along with the hottest of the six bodyguards and the ninja that he had hired from the Village Hidden in Hot Water.

Sakura had convinced the trio that they were off to a torrid and steamy love affair behind the husband's back (which wouldn't have been the first time, according to the information that Sakura had gleaned from the noblewoman's mind). This way, the noblewoman wouldn't raise a fuss once she inevitably snapped out of the Genjutsu and realized that she hadn't gone to the wedding reception like she had planned.

Thus, Sakura's plan was airtight, and even though it would have been safer to simply execute the extras, she didn't want to just go around murdering unrelated people.

…

"What husband— oh, him?" said Karin dismissively. "He's not going to be a problem— he was trying to run his dirty fingers all over me, so I made him take a nap."

Sakura facepalmed.

Now, she would have to add another layer to the very complex Genjutsu she had cast upon the man, to explain why his dear wife would ever punch him in the gut with the strength of a thousand exploding suns.

"Oh, kunoichi girl?" Karin coyly called out to Sakura. "I would like to eat some fruit, but that would get my hands all sticky~ would you kindly come over here and hand-feed me some persimmon slices?"

'And now she's abusing her authority,' said Inner Sakura amusedly. 'She's so high maintenance that she makes for a perfectly convincing noblewoman…'

"Don't push your luck, Tsuchimikado-sama," Sakura called back sweetly. "Unless you'd like to be hand-fed your fruit slices the same way you fed your Lord Husband a knuckle sandwich?"

The remaining four guards walking next to the palanquin tilted their heads in confusion; varying levels of bafflement appearing on their faces in response to Sakura's words.

Their mental conditioning was not perfect, but as long as Sakura, Neji and Karin didn't do or say things that were wildly out of character, they would remain perfectly content to accept the small voice whispering in the back of their heads that they had all been travelling together since the very beginning of their adventure…

"Ohoho," said Karin, laughing nervously. "You know how it is~ that man likes it rough…"

The guards' facial expressions soon returned to normal; Karin's words had somehow placated their doubts. Just how big of a pervert was this nobleman, for his bodyguards to accept such an explanation without batting an eye!?

"Deep down, I always knew he was an M," Sakura heard one guard whisper to another.

"Hey, as long as he pays our wages on time," the other guard responded, "he can do whatever he wants in his free time."

-------------------------------------------

And so, one day after the noble Tsuchimikado family's convoy had got hijacked by Team Sakura over the perilous Valley of Hell, their new combined group finally crossed the border and arrived in the Land of Frost (not to be confused with the technologically advanced Land of Snow).

Since the nobleman's papers were in order, the Land of Frost's authorities rapidly approved their entry into their territory, and they finally swapped from the extremely slow palanquin to some much faster horse-drawn carriages— much to the palanquin bearers' relief— and they were allowed to proceed to their next destination: the Land of Lightning.

But before going any farther, Sakura and Neji were forced to make a few small cosmetic changes to their appearances. Bright pink being too eye-catching, Sakura dyed her hair black, and she also put on a binder to minimize her large chest. As for Neji, his Byakugan were giving away his true identity, so he put on the coloured contact lenses that he had found in the hideout in the Land of Hot Water.

And with those small details out of the way, the group finally crossed over into the Land of Lightning…

-------------------------------------------

Sakura reclined on her seat aboard her carriage, feeling slightly anxious as she watched the Land of Lightning's mountainous countryside flying past her. So far, the plan had gone off without a hitch— unless you counted losing Tenten at the very start, but that had ended up being a good thing— the new plan was much less risky!

Instead of teleporting in, all members of Team Sakura would be entering through the village's front door, posing as wedding guests. Since Karin could hide her chakra from sensor-nin, she was able to pass as a civilian, therefore allowing her to impersonate a V.I.P. from the Land of Hot Water. And since Sakura and Neji couldn't do that, they would simply be acting as her ninja bodyguards and follow her wherever she went.

Then, it would be a simple matter of having Neji search for the distinct chakra signature of Hinata's Byakugan over the next few days, before the wedding ceremony started… Unless Hinata had been sealed away, or had been forced to part ways with her own eyes— then it would be much harder to track her down.

'And once we've found Hinata, they'll just allow us to walk out of the Hidden Cloud Village with her,' said Inner Sakura sarcastically. 'Face it, we're not coming out of this alive. Remember, these are the people who tried to kidnap Naruto's mum, the Nine-Tail's Jinchūriki. Plus, they're the first ones to ever succeed at kidnapping a Hyūga clan member from the main branch. They're completely shameless, so they're going to throw everything they have at us. Their two Jinchūriki, maybe even the Raikage himself…'

As soon as those words had crossed Sakura's mind, the System's cool mechanical voice rang out:

Beep! Computing… A new skill has been synthesized: The Tailed Breast Chakra Mode has been derived (尾乳モード)!

Requirements: Breast chakra from two female Jinchūriki: Nii Yugito and Fū. One for each breast.

"You can't be serious, System," Sakura muttered to herself. "All that for a bad pun?"

T/N: Bijuu (尾獣) means tailed beast, Binyuu (美乳) means beautiful breasts, Binyuu (尾乳) is tailed breast.