Prologue

Sakura Haruno reflects on some moments she's had with Sasuke Uchiha:
when she unintentionally insulted him shortly after the formation of
Team 7; when she tried to stop him from defecting to Orochimaru; when
he left Konoha to wander the world, but promised to see her again.
Sakura wonders where he is now and what he is doing but has hope he
will return.
Chapter 1

After the Fourth Shinobi World War ended two years ago, Sakura
assisted with healing those injured and displaced by the conflict.
Although the adults recovered quickly and were put at peace by the end
of hostilities, children struggled to recover from the stress of the War
and the deaths of those they knew. In order to help them deal with this,
Sakura, with the assistence and support of Ino Yamanaka, opened a
clinic within the Konoha Hospital that would assess and treat children's
mental health six months after the war. Following a progress report
about their programme, Ino invites Sakura out to tea with her, but
Sakura declines because she has paperwork she wants to do. She later
encounters Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyūga on a date, and they also
invite her to join them. She again declines, but realises that her friends
are becoming worried about her heavy workload.
A week later, Sakura meets with the Hokage, Kakashi Hatake. He
informs her that Sunagakure is interested in opening its own clinic for
children and has requested that she and Ino help lay the groundwork.
After she leaves to prepare for the trip, Kakashi meets with Sai and tells
him about two separate attacks by unknown perpetrators against the Fire
daimyō and Homura Mitokado. Although nobody was badly hurt and
there's no proof the two attacks are connected, Kakashi wants Sai to
investigate both incidents by himself.
Sakura meets with Tsunade before she leaves for Suna. Tsunade tries
to encourage Sakura to take it easy, as the clinic's growing success
means that there are other people able and willing to do some of the
work. Sakura takes the opportunity to ask how to make men take notice.
When Tsunade can't offer her any specific advice, Sakura asks that
Tsunade bet against her love life, hoping for Tsunade's bad luck to play
in her favour.
Sakura and Ino start gossiping when they depart for Suna and Sakura
learns about Shikamaru Nara's relationship with Temari, Chōji
Akimichi's relationship with Karui, and Ino's feelings for Sai. While Ino
debates how to express herself to Sai, Sakura wonders about Sasuke and
herself in regards to their own relationship.
Sasuke meets with a group of Suna missing-nin, offering to help them
perform a coup d'état in Suna if they will first help him destroy Konoha.
When the group's leader refuses to be subordinate to him, Sasuke kills
him. A squad of Suna Anbu immediately begins attacking the group and
Sasuke escapes in the commotion.

Chapter 2

Sai meets with an informant just outside of Konoha and sends him to
investigate if some criminals listed in the Bingo Book are behind the two
attacks. As he returns to the village, Sai is attacked by two masked
individuals. Although each of the attackers has a cloak of tailed beast
chakra, he is able to drive one of them off and capture the other. Sai
starts questioning the captive, but when the man begins to respond a
juinjutsu activates and his body blows up.
While taking a break during their trip to Suna, Sakura dreams that
Sasuke meets her at the entrance and they share a happy reunion. She
wishes for the dream to become a reality, but she and Ino are met only
by a Suna shinobi who escorts them to their conference with the village's
doctors. Afterwards, however, they are summoned before Gaara, the
Kazekage, who informs them that Sasuke has been to Suna.
Gaara repeats to them the conversation that Sasuke had with the
terrorist group and killed a terrorist after being refused for their support
two days earlier, which he (who was surveiling the group anyway)
witnessed with his Third Eye. Although he, Ino, and Sakura want to
believe it was someone disguised as Sasuke, they can come up with no
practical explanations for the man having Sasuke's chakra signature.
Hoping to keep Sasuke's apparent plans a secret, Gaara asks Sakura to
personally inform Kakashi of the plot against Konoha.

Chapter 3

During a meeting with the Fire daimyō to discuss the budget, Kakashi
and Shizune try to secure additional funding for Sakura's clinic. Kido
Tsumiki argues against them, believing the recent attacks against the
daimyō and Homura call for increased funding to Konoha's Anbu. The
daimyō defers to Homura, who decides to side with Kido.
 When Kakashi returns to his office he is met by Sai, who tells him of
the earlier attack he fought off. Both observe that the attacker's suicidal
juinjutsu is similar to what Danzō Shimura used on his agents. This,
combined with the fact that nobody but an Anbu could have even
guessed Sai's assignment and thus known to attack him, convinces
Kakashi that it is all part of a scheme concocted by Kido Tsumiki, a
former ally to Danzō. Kakashi instructs Sai to focus his investigation on
Kido.
Sakura and Ino deliver Gaara's message to Kakashi as soon as they
return to Konoha. Kakashi is also convinced that the man conspiring
against Konoha was a lookalike of Sasuke, but he has no reliable way of
contacting Sasuke in order to confirm. He shares Gaara's
recommendation to do nothing at the moment so that unsubstantiated
assumptions can't be spread against Sasuke and he wants to try to get in
touch with Sasuke so he can profess his innocence himself. Sakura
returns home, frustrated by Sasuke's years of absence.
In a secret lab outside Konoha, Kido talks with his assistant, Magire.
Magire speculates that Kakashi has figured out that they were behind the
attacks on the daimyō and Homura. Kido is unconcerned so long as
Kakashi doesn't realise the actual purpose of the attacks: to test out their
synthesised tailed beast cloaks.

Chapter 4

Sai follows Kido's movements between his different hideouts for three
days, but he has no way of getting inside any of them without revealing
his presence. His informant requests a meeting and, there, reports a
rumour about Sasuke: that he approached some arms dealers several
weeks earlier seeking weapons for an attack on Konoha, and then killed
the dealers when they failed to cooperate. He also reveals that, after the
war, he saw Anbu collecting samples from the Valley of the End and the
bridge where Sasuke fought Danzō. Sai pays him for this information
and requests another meeting in the future.
Kakashi informs Sakura and Ino of the rumours about Sasuke's
activity that have been reported by Sai. Ino is initially more concerned
with what risks Sai may be facing, but Sakura steers things back to what
the rumours mean for Sasuke because he has ignored all of Konoha's
attempts to contact him. Since Sasuke was so instrumental to the victory
during the Fourth Shinobi World War, the five Kage are still willing to
believe it is not Sasuke planning against Konoha. However, if news of
his actions gets out and public opinion turns against him, the Kage will
be forced to declare him an international criminal and hunt him down.
Kido reflects on how successful his imitation of Sasuke is being. By
having the impostor conspire with underworld elements and then kill
them, word of Sasuke's seeming activities is spreading throughout the
ninja community, despite the intentions of Gaara and Kakashi. Kido
believes it is only a matter of time before the real Sasuke returns to
Konoha in order to investigate the impostor, at which point Kido will be
able to capture him.
Sakura wanders the village trying to clear her thoughts. She passes by
the Academy and sees Naruto instructing a class of Academy students.
He invites her to help the class with their sparring lessons, and Sakura
finds it an effective stress relief. Afterwards, she tells Naruto the
rumours about Sasuke. Naruto isn't concerned, confident that it's an
impostor. He also points out that Sasuke must not be worried about it
either, otherwise he would have responded to Kakashi's messages.
Sakura realises he's right and is finally put at ease.
Sakura has drinks with Tsunade to try and figure out how the Sasuke
impostor is able to reproduce Sasuke's chakra without his knowledge.
Sakura theorises that samples of Sasuke's skin and hair that naturally fall
off from his battles with Naruto and Danzō have been gathered in
amounts large enough to extract a chakra signature from. Tsunade deems
her idea plausible. Sakura runs into Sai afterwards and she tells him her
theory, which makes enough sense to him that he asks her to accompany
him to Kakashi's office.

Chapter 5

With Sakura's theory and his informant's earlier report about Anbu
activity at the Valley of the End, Sai believes the Anbu – specifically
Kido and Magire – are behind the Sasuke impostor. He also believes this
would explain the tailed beast cloaks he encountered, with those being
drawn from skin and hair samples taken from Naruto and other
jinchūriki. Since Sakura, Sai, and Ino are apparently all investigating the
same thing, Kakashi makes them a team; Ino dubs themselves "Ino–
Saku–Sai". The three agree to continue their investigations and keep
each other informed of their findings.
Kido is becoming frustrated by Sasuke's continued absence. Hoping to
force his return, he orders his underlings to kidnap Sakura. When one
suggests killing her to increase the chances of Sasuke's appearance, Kido
responds they may do so at a later date.
 Sakura and Ino return from an interview with Rock Lee, who saw
Anbu near the Naka Shrine two years ago. On their way to meet up with
Sai, Sakura sees two Anbu trying to take Sasuke into custody for
terrorist activity. She goes to them to lend assistance, either to free the
real Sasuke or apprehend the impostor, but discovers that it is all a
genjutsu. She dispels it, but is immediately injected with a drug that
renders her unconscious.
Sakura wakes up to find herself bound and imprisoned. She tries to
break out when she remembers what's happened, but the drug she was
injected with hinders her strength and chakra. Kido comes to visit her
soon afterwards, explaining that he wants to draw Sasuke out with news
of her kidnapping and Sasuke would come rescue her because of their
relationship. Sakura is secretly curious about whether Sasuke would
indeed come back because of her, but ignores this because she doesn't
want to be used to hurt him. She tells Kido to kill her, which he promises
to do only after Sasuke is captured so that seeing her death will make his
Sharingan stronger, in turn making his planned synthetic Sharingan
more effective.
While taking a shower, Sai is called to answer the door. He finds Ino
there, who is embarrassed by his lack of clothes. She tells him that
Sakura is missing and they assume she's been kidnapped by Kido. While
he gets dressed, Ino contacts Kakashi and informs him of what's
happened. He advises not getting anyone else involved in the rescue as
that might only provoke Kido to kill Sakura. He also informs them that
the Fourth Raikage is contemplating a Kage Summit to discuss reports
of Sasuke's activity.

Chapter 6
 Sakura keeps Kido engaged in the conversation by speculating that his
synthetic tailed beast cloaks are supposed to help capture Sasuke. Kido
confirms this, saying that the cloaks are at least effective enough to
restrain Sasuke while they take his eyes. Sakura finds the various things
Kido has synthesised unimpressive, pointing out the many minor flaws
in the Sasuke impostor she saw earlier. Kido tests her claim by having
the impostor tell Sakura he loves her. Though she's unsettled by the
words — even knowing they're not from the real Sasuke — Sakura
maintains it's a poor imitation. The conversation buys Sakura the time
she needs to gather enough chakra to break free.
Sai and Ino travel to one of Kido's hideouts and Ino uses her sensory
skills to track Sakura's chakra. Sakura isn't there, but Sai decides they
should see what intel they can get from the guard. Ino uses the Mind
Body Switch Technique on the hideout's sentry while Sai captures them,
her first time using such a tactic without Shikamaru or Chōji. When the
sentry, an acquaintance of Sai's, is unwilling to answer their questions,
Sai forces Sakura's whereabouts from him by tickling him with a
paintbrush, much to Ino's bemusement that it is Sai's torture method.
They go to the hideout where Sakura is being kept, but find that she's
already escaped and is on the offensive.
Sakura breaks out of the basement, through the floors above, and
finally the roof with a single Cherry Blossom Impact. When she sees Sai
and Ino, she tells them what she's learned about Kido and the drugs he's
making. They are surrounded by many Anbu, Magire, and Kido himself,
who tells them that he plans to leave Konoha and start his own military
company in which he will sell his drugs not only as tools of war but as
ways in which to cause those wars, thus giving him a never-ending
source of revenue. Ino doubts that such drugs would ever have a market
because the powers they grant are unearned, which Kido declares as
naive, just like their clinic for children's mental health. He instructs his
Anbu to use their synthetic tailed beast cloaks to either capture or kill
Sakura and the others, no longer having a preference for their fate.

Chapter 7

Sakura, Sai, and Ino work well together despite being outnumbered.
Sakura is drawn into a fight with the Sasuke impostor, who chokes her
using his synthetic tailed beast cloak. Sakura breaks free and, as she
beats him unconscious, warns him to never impersonate Sasuke again.
This has the added benefit of revealing that the synthetic cloaks
disappear when their user loses consciousness; Sai and Ino also discover
that the cloaks have time limits. Sai recommends they use this
information to end the fight quickly.
Sakura, Sai, and Ino defeat all but Kido and Magire. Because Magire
is a medic-nin, Sakura suggests they separate Kido from him so that
Magire can't heal his injuries. Sakura leads Kido away into a nearby
forest to fight him by herself. When she repeatedly dodges his lightning
jutsu, Kido activates a synthetic tailed beast cloak.
Sai and Ino exchange attacks with Magire, but neither side is able to
hit the other. Magire activates a synthetic tailed beast cloak and, with its
tails, is able to create glowing orbs that detonate on contact. While Sai
tries and fails to overpower Magire with his Super Beast Imitating
Drawings, Ino takes control of a passing eagle which she uses to stab
Magire from behind with a kunai that has been laced with anesthesia.
Magire's movements slow, allowing Sai to deliver a finishing blow.
Kakashi arrives to help as soon as Magire is defeated, with Naruto and
Hinata tagging along. Together they head into the forest to help Sakura.
Kido manifests a cloak that has nine tails and that is much denser in
composition. His strengthened attacks blast Sakura around the forest, but
she doesn't give up, repeatedly attacking the same area of Kido's
protective cloak and using Creation Rebirth to heal her injuries. She
compares her persistence to her relationship with Sasuke: if she tells
Sasuke how she feels enough times, maybe he'll reciprocate, in the same
way that, if she attacks Kido in the same spot enough times, maybe he'll
be defeated. Although her attacks appear ineffective, Kido discovers that
this is part of Sakura's ruse; whenever she punches him, she heals the
resulting damage, eventually killing the affected cells from over-
replication. Sakura attacks the dead area one finally time with Cherry
Blossom Impact.
As he's defeated, Kido remembers his childhood: his ailing father who
required several expensive medications to stay alive; his father, despite
his condition, always going out on missions in order to earn money to
send Kido to the Ninja Academy; Kido having to drop out of the
Academy because they could no longer afford it; his father no longer
taking the medication so that the money could be saved for Kido's
education; his father's death. Kido thinks about how different things
would have been if they'd only had more money.

Chapter 8

As Sakura is verifying that Kido has been defeated, she is joined by

Ino, Sai, Kakashi, Naruto, and Hinata. They congratulate her on her
victory, but are interrupted by news that several of Kido's Anbu have
fled the village. Though he can't move, Kido explains that they're going
to continue his plans while he doesn't care about going to prison. Sakura
and the others immediately give chase, but on reaching the Anbu they
find them all defeated with a combination of fire and genjutsu. They
guess that it was Sasuke's doing and that he chose not to stick around
when he confirmed Kido was defeated. Sakura is convinced further
when she barely catches a glimpse of Sasuke leaving the scene.
Although they're disappointed that Sasuke didn't at least say hello, they
are glad that the entire ordeal is over, and Sakura is happy that Sasuke
did care about her enough to return to the village to save her.
Kido and Magire are turned over to Ibiki Morino, who interrogates
them to learn how they made their tailed beast drugs: they gathered
samples of Naruto's skin and hair and used the body of a descendant of
the Sage of Six Paths in order to cultivate enough for their drug. Details
of Kido's tragic childhood also emerged in the interrogation; although
this doesn't excuse his actions, Sakura is hopeful that her children's
mental health clinic will avert future cases like Kido. After Ino–Saku–
Sai is dismissed by Kakashi, Sakura is called to a meeting with Suna-
medics. Ino offers to go with her, but Sakura tells her to instead have
lunch with Sai. Sakura departs happy for her friends and herself,
confident that Sasuke's promise of "until next time" will be soon and
there are so many things she wants to tell him. The final scene hints
Sasuke returns soon after, as Sakura happily greets him and he says he is
home.