Chapter Twenty Five

"Is that statement supposed to mean something to me?" Tsunade sucked in her cheeks, making herself resemble a pouting child.

"Ugh." Sakura sighed throwing her head back by the lack of knowledge the leaf village held. "Lock it up." Sakura ordered the surrounding black ops.

"But..." One masked man dared to trail off.

Sakura spun on her heel, blood on her mind ready to bite into the ignorant person who dared speak! But before Kakashi could intervein another shinobi spoke up, spilling fuel onto the fire.

"How do we know you are even the real Saku-?"

"There you are!" Sakura growled as Naruto's voice cut through the crowd. "Wait...what the-!?" Naruto gasped out as his eyes bulged out of his skull upon seeing the young woman under Tsunade who claimed to be Sakura Haruno. Kakashi wrapped his arm around Naruto's head smothering his voice. "-Kaka-!?" Naruto tried to muffle out.

"You heard your Commander-" Tsunade stood, "-take her and put her into a cell!"

"But Granny-!" Naruto tried to speak despite Kakashi tightening his grip.

"Lady Tsunade..." Kain who held the honored position of squad leader inside her team. She stepped forward; her painted mask glowed against the waking morning. "...isn't this child your student-?"

"How fucking ignorant can you be!?" Sakura snapped seeing the squat leader not doing what she was told.

"With all due respect Commander-" Kain countered, turning to face Sakura. "-if you are truly legit or not has just been put into question. I knew there was something off about you the moment you stepped foot into this village."

"How dare you speak back to your Commander!" Tsunade hissed.

"I am just speaking the truth." Kain brushed her Hokages words off as she turned looking at the different hand painted masks around her. "The truth that we are all thinking."

Naruto's eyes widened as he watched Sakura simply smile.

"You should always be wary of a person when they smile Naruto." Sakura's sweet voice echoed around Naruto's head.

"What do you mean Sakura?" Naruto recalled questioning.

"Most species will bare their teeth as a sign. Whether it be do to a threat, a display of aggression or to show leadership. You should always remember clenched jaws can and will always rip open your throat should they get the chance to."

"Wow Sakura, great way to ruin smiling for me."

Naruto rapidly tapped Kakashi on the shoulder, he had a sour feeling in the pit of his stomach as he watched Sakura take a step closer to the black op shinobi.

"Funny-" Sakura tilted her head. "-I was just thinking the same thing about you."

"Thinking what?" Kain crossed her arms over her chest.

"How legit of a leader can you be if you can tergiversate so damn smoothly."

"How dare you suggest-!" Kain gasped, taking a step back as if she had been shot in the chest.

"Look at it-" Sakura gestured towards the girl beside Tsunade. "-I was banished seven years ago. If that was truly me, then how in the hell can it look how I did back then?"

"That is true..." Someone from the sidelines trailed off.

"Yeah." Another black op member agreed. "If that was the real Commander than she would look the same age as Haruno does right now."

"Now that I had to spell out the math for you-" Sakura glared into the squad leaders eyes, "-get it in a cell, Carver I want you watching it until I get there and don't let another fucking person see it. Do I make myself clear!?"

"Yes Commander!" The black op team quickly bowed and prepared to take their leave.

"And Kain, was it?"

"Yes Commander?"

"Get yourself out of my sight for a long while." Sakura threatened.

"But-"

"Enough." Tsunade called walking towards them. "Your Commander gave you an order, now you are expected to follow it."

"Y-Yes ma'am." Kain bowed her head before turning, following her team with the captive print.

"Well-" Tsunade huffed out. Kakashi released Naruto, who fell to the ground gasping desperately for the tart air. "-Sakura, can I see you in my office?"

"I mean no-" Sakura started to say.

"Sakura!" Tsunade snipped.

"Fine!" Sakura groaned, "I have a print on my hands along with a mountain of paperwork to do but it's fine! Let's have a meeting instead." Sakura growled passing Naruto and Kakashi.

"She really doesn't like meetings." Naruto muttered as he followed the group.

"No." Kakashi sighed, "No she does not."

----

"So, Sakura-" Tsunade said as she calmly took a seat at her desk. "-would you like to inform me on-" Naruto closed the office door, "-on that the fuck just happened!?" Tsunade snapped as the door locked.

"You lasted longer than I thought you would." Sakura smirked taking a seat.

"This is no laughing matter!" Tsunade babbled on, "A person just showed up to our village looking the same as you did when you were ban...I can't even-"

"Take a breath." Sakura sighed.

"Sakura..." Naruto muttered, "...what was that thing!?"

"Naruto-" Sakura sighed as his high-pitched voice stung her ears.

"Is that girl real!? Is this some big trap or-?"

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled over his voice. "If you shut up, I can answer."

"Oh." Naruto blinked, "You're going to answer?"

"No shit." Sakura replied. "I don't really have a choice now do I?"

"You called it a print?" Kakashi questioned as he took a seat beside her. "What did you mean?"

"It's how it sounds." Sakura shrugged, hating that yet another piece of her past is being dragged into the light.

"I don't get it." Naruto blinked, leaning on the arm of Sakura's chair.

"That thing you saw looking like me when I was a kid, it is what is known as a print."

"Are they dangerous?" Tsunade wondered.

"They can be." Sakura shrugged, "When they are being controlled."

"Is that why you wanted it locked up so bad?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes." Sakura nodded, "I have gone up against a few of them, those things are faster and a whole lot stronger than just the average person."

"But what are they?" Naruto questioned, still feeling confused.

"A print is exactly what it sounds like." Sakura clarified, "It is a living breathing copy of a person."

"Are they real?" Tsunade felt fascinated, "Are they like shadow clones?"

"Not really." Sakura leaned back into the chair, "Shadow clones are still a piece of you. Whatever that clone does, you can recall and then they get damaged they vanish."

"You can't do that with a print?"

"No." Sakura said, "As far as I can tell there are two different types of prints, the one we saw today is type one. It can function on its own, it needs food and water to survive but it isn't real."

"It sure looked real." Naruto muttered.

"A print isn't really the person it appears to be. You saw it, that thing looked like me from before I was banished and yet here, I am sitting next to you." Kakashi reached out rubbing her shoulder with a smile on his lips hearing those warm words from her.

"Where did it come from?" Naruto wondered.

"That is what we need to figure out." Sakura said. "Whoever sent it can't be up to any good."

"Why?"

"Print are one of the hardest things to make." Sakura said.

"How?"

"It takes a great deal of chakra, perfect skill and technique. I can't even make one." Sakura answered.

"Well, that is an unsettling thought." Tsunade breathed, reaching behind her head letting her hair fall around her shoulders.

"Can I borrow Shizue for the day?" Sakura asked out of the blue.

"Hm?" Tsunade looked up, "What for?"

"Because-" Sakura sighed, "-I need to track where each of our shinobi have been outside the village."

"Why?" Naruto mumbled feeling hungry.

"In order to make a print-" Sakura turned to him, "-you need the DNA of the person you're trying to clone."

"DNA?" Naruto turned to Tsunade for her reaction.

"So-" The blonde shook her head, "-someone had to of had your DNA from back when you were sixteen?"

"Yeah." Sakura shrugged.

"Who the hell could have something for that long?" Naruto said, "That's kind of creepy."

"Yeah." Sakura agreed, "Not as creepy as seeing your younger self being pinned down by your boss."

"These prints that are brought back-" Kakashi butted in, "-are they that person who they were cloned from?"

"Yes and no." Sakura replied, "You are copying what their essence was. A print can be made with your friends' memories, their personalities, they could have everything that made your friend who they were, but they won't have their soul."

"So, it's a cheap knock off."

"Basically." Sakura nodded.

"Does that girl have a soul?" Tsunade wondered thinking about young Sakura sitting alone in a dark cell crying, her heart clenched inside her chest. Tsunade took in a deep breath, reminding herself that Sakura was indeed alive, and was sitting right across from her.

"Yes." Sakura answered,

"Then how-!?" Naruto jumped up.

"But it's a stolen soul."

"St-Stolen?" Naruto blinked.

"Stolen." Sakura confirmed.

"What do you mean its stolen!?" Naruto and Tsunade blurted out together.

"The last ingredient if you will-" Sakura yawned, "-for a print is a soul to sacrifice."

"Wh-Wh-What!?" Naruto shouted, "That's horrible! That's disgusting who on earth would do that-!?"

"It's usually the younger the better." Sakura smirked at Naruto's ghostly face.

"What!?" Naruto yelled.

"Why younger?" Kakashi questioned.

"Less fuss I guess." Sakura shrugged, "A younger soul is easier to take over where an older person who has lived a life won't let go as easy?" Sakura tilted her head, "There isn't a lot known about prints yet. I had hoped they died with the Reapers but it's clear that isn't the case."

"How do you know so much about them?" Kakashi wondered.

"You forget I went undercover inside the Reapers." Sakura replied,

"Did you-" Tsunade gasped, "-did you make one of those things!?"

"No." Sakura shook her head, "I couldn't, at the time I didn't have the chakra supply to do so."

"Did you have to watch those prints be made?" Naruto dared to question Sakura's checkered past.

"Ah..." Sakura sighed, "...they never got the chance too."

"What do you mean!?" Tsunade ushered the story on, wishing to hear the rest.

"I got deployed to one of the Reapers labs where they made the prints. It was right when my cover was blown, I took off to the lab with my team hoping that word hadn't gotten out about me yet. To my luck, the people in the lab lived under a rock so they hadn't heard the news yet."

"What did you do?!" Naruto grabbed onto every one of her words.

"The Nine rushed in, a fight broke out and we ended up destroying it." Sakura cleanly summed up.

"Why did they need a lab?" Tsunade wondered,

"Tsunade you were a part of the team that raided orochimaru's lab, right?" Sakura asked.

"Ye-Yes?" Tsunade gulped.

"I saw those pictures-" Sakura sat up, "-and his lab was a spring walk in a park compared to how the Reapers ran their ship."

"What were in those labs that could have been so bad?" Naruto asked.

"Do you think there could still be labs operating?" Tsunade whispered as she felt a cold sweat form on her back.

"Yes I do." Sakura said, "Now we need to deploy a team to track them down."

"Why!?" Naruto flagged attention onto himself. "What's so bad about these so-called labs that would have you-"

"These labs were more like prisons." Sakura bluntly replied, "-They had rows and rows of cells that held captive women. Those women were tied down and raped with the goal to become pregnant."

"B-But why on earth-"

"For those newborns." Sakura said, "The reapers wanted their souls."

"This all sounds crazy!" Naruto shook his head.

"Yeah." Sakura agreed, "I thought the same thing to until I seen it with my own eyes."

"That's...That's..."

"Absolutely revolting." Sakura answered for Naruto, "This is why I despise prints."

"Did you save any of those women before blowing up that lab?!" Naruto oddly found himself needing to know.

"Five." Sakura. "But zero made it back to the Waterfall Village."

"Wh-Why!? How could you-"

"They took their own life's." Sakura.

"Why didn't you stop them!?"

"Why are you getting so worked up?" Sakura asked, "You didn't see the condition those women were emotionally and phycially in, and it isn't like I handed them the damn knife. I did what I could, the best I could."

"Then how could you let-"

"I didn't let them do anything. I was injured in that fight, on top of trying to not bleed out on the forest floor I had a team and an army to watch over and in case you forgot half of them wanted to kill me, so I had my hands just a little full-!"

"Ok-" Tsunade stood, walking to stand in between them. "-that is enough. Naruto you cannot stand there and point fingers at her when you weren't even there."

"Sakura..." Kakashi whispered as he kneeled beside her. "...I had no idea you had to see-"

"There is a lot I'd rather you not know about my years away from this place." Sakura looked into his exposed eye, feeling shame sprout inside her heart.

"If prints look like a regular person-" Naruto sighed, "-how can we tell if they are prints or not?"

"I can see them with my eyes." Sakura answered, "They usually have a cloud around them."

"A cloud?" Tsunade muttered. "Why a cloud?"

"Well-" Sakura shrugged, "-when you hijack a soul you do end up leaving an imprint on it."

"Wow..." Tsunade breathed stunned by all the new information being discovered. "...you sent Carver to stand guard by the...print...why?"

"Because I trust him." Sakura said, "And he knows what they are."

"He does!?" Naruto gasped.

"Yeah..." Sakura trailed off. "...he was on the Nine with me?"

"Oh yeah, I forget that sometimes." Naruto nodded. "Sakura, I am sorry-"

"I know." Sakura nodded.

"No..." Naruto sighed, "...I really am, I just-"

"You're tired." Sakura smirked. "I get it, I changed everything, you and the rest of the shinobi are all adjusting to the longer hours and harder trainings."

"Well yeah, but are we ok?" Naruto muttered feeling his face heat up.

"Yes." Sakura lightly laughed as she rose to her feet. "Of course, we are ok."

"Wait where are you going?" Naruto asked watching Sakura turn to leave the room, she placed her hand on the doorknob as she gazed back to the three people closest to her.

"To talk to my other half."