Cabin Fever

Slowly, carefully, Sakura brought her two spoons together— but just as she was about to make the two utensils touch tips, Ranmaru's girlish voice rang out behind her.

"They're here…"

Startled, Sakura dropped her spoons and turned around, suppressing a shudder as she inadvertently lost herself in Ranmaru's ominously glowing red pupils. Tearing her eyes away from his, Sakura noted that the chakra-suppressing seal that Tenten had stuck to the boy's forehead had slid off. Ranmaru was still bound to a post like Haku, but he'd been free to use his chakra for who knew how long!

Sakura slapped the sealing tag back onto Ranmaru's forehead… and without so much as a warning, the lights in the room went out— Tenten had snuffed them out to keep the enemy from finding them in the mist, though it was probably already too late for that.

Naruto, Sasuke and Lee each ran for a window and looked outside. Night had already fallen by the time Sakura had begun her experiments, and the fog outside had only grown thicker, making it impossible to see even a metre in front of them…

"Sakura-san," came Haku's urgent voice behind her. "Please undo my bindings before Zabuza-sama strikes! I can convince him to spare your lives!"

Sakura ignored him.

If it came down to it, she knew Haku wouldn't hesitate to kill her if Zabuza demanded it— as a true shinobi, he was prepared to kill his own kind heart to execute his master's will— and Sakura couldn't afford to fight three Jōnin-level opponents simultaneously.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Every Jōnin could use Sensory Jutsu to some extent, but unless they specialised in sensing, their accuracy would usually be limited. As such, since it wasn't clear if the enemy had truly found their hiding spot yet, using Sensory Jutsu such as Area Scanning was out of the question for Sakura, as it would instantly broadcast her location. Still, when it came to reconnaissance, Sakura had the next best thing besides Sensory Jutsu: Shadow Clones!

A second Sakura appeared next to the original in a puff of white smoke.

"You're not planning on sending me out there, are you?" said the Shadow Clone, peering out of a window apprehensively. "This seriously sucks…"

Sakura had already formulated her plan when she had created her Shadow Clone, so she already knew what to do— with a sigh, the pink-haired Shadow Clone discreetly slipped into the darkness outside and disappeared into the fog. Even though she couldn't use Sensory Jutsu in this situation, Sakura couldn't afford to remain blind to the world outside.

…

…

…

The silence was deafening. Minutes passed in anguished silence, as Team 3 and Team 7 waited for something, anything to happen. And just when they were beginning to think they had escaped notice, Sakura keeled over, clutching at her heart— though with her bust in the way, it looked a lot more like she was massaging her breasts.

"Onee-sama!" Karin cried out in alarm. "What's wrong!?"

"They're above us!" Sakura gasped, as the painful memories of her Shadow Clone's final moments rushed into her mind. "The cistern on the roof…!"

The Curry of Life Shop had no running water, since it was located in the middle of nowhere in the backwaters of the Land of Rivers. Even so, Granny Sanshō still needed water to cook her famous curry, so there was a rather large rainwater collection tank on the roof of her shop…

"Water Style: Great Waterfall Jutsu!"

The water tank on the roof of the curry shop burst apart, releasing a vortex of swirling water that tore a hole through the ceiling and showered the shop's occupants with water.

"Lightning Style: Thunderclap Wave!"

A fraction of a second later, lightning surged through the released water, electrifying everything it touched… which ended up being only Karashi, Haku and Ranmaru. Thanks to Sakura's timely warning, the others had managed to jump to the rafters and remain perfectly dry!

"Karashi!" yelled Granny Sanshō in anguish, struggling to escape Rock Lee's strong arms.

"Ranmaruuuu!" yelled Raiga, as he dropped from the hole in the ceiling. "Hang tight, I'm coming to save youuuu!"

Raiga landed with a splash on the shop's inundated floor. His head swivelled from side to side, his eyes desperately searching for any signs of Ranmaru— until at last, his gaze landed on the young boy bound to a post; his eyes rolled back in their sockets and wisps of black smoke emanating from his orifices…

"Youuu!" screamed Raiga, hot tears streaming down his face. "You did this to him, you bastards!"

"Oi, you've gotta be kidding me!" Naruto angrily shouted back at him. "You did that yourself, ya know!"

Upon hearing Naruto's tsukkomi, Raiga immediately looked up at the source of the voice in the rafters, where the Konoha shinobi had taken refuge— but in doing so, he locked eyes with Sakura's swaying breasts. And this time, there was no mist to block his line of sight or any Ranmarus to snap him out of his confusion!

"Manyuu Assassination Genjutsu: Breast Illusion!"

Raiga immediately fell to his knees and clutched at his throat, his face starting to turn blue from asphyxia. In his mind, he was being choked by large pillowy breasts, and Sakura's Kurama clan Kekkei Genkai was turning that illusion into a reality!

"May you feel the pain of the people you've buried alive," said Sakura coldly. "Suffocate to death in the Breasts of Sukhavati, you bastard."

Ordinarily, Sakura contented herself with treating her victims to a stiffy-inducing and raging-boner-endowing illusory experience, but she had witnessed the Kurosuki family's barbaric vivisepulture practices first-hand. If Kurosuki Raiga could be made to suffer the pain he had inflicted onto others, Sakura rationalised, perhaps he would think twice about doing the same thing in the future…

Eventually, Raiga slumped over and passed out. Sakura dispelled her Genjutsu, though she maintained control over the chakra running in his brain's chakra pathways, just in case.

"Raiga lost, so his life is yours."

!!!

In the blink of an eye, Zabuza had flickered to Haku's side from seemingly out of nowhere— and with a swing of his blade, he had freed the unconscious pretty boy from his bindings and gently caught him in his arms before he collapsed.

"But even so, I still need him," Zabuza continued, avoiding Sakura's gaze. "His life against the Katabami villagers' gold— bring him to the cliff overlooking the mine tomorrow morning if you accept to make the exchange. If you do, I guarantee he'll never return to this place."

And having said his piece, Zabuza flickered away with Haku's body, leaving the Konoha shinobi staring in disbelief at the spot where he'd stood a moment ago— save for Tenten, who was staring at the back of Sakura's head with narrowed eyes…