A little laugh erupted from Sakura's throat. She glanced down at the lowlife criminal in front of her and she spat at him in a bitter voice. "You think you can take from my supplies without getting caught? I trusted you. And now you must pay the consequences for breaking that trust." This lowlife criminal used to be one of Sakura's good friends but they had never worked together until recently. Sakura was sympathetic towards her financial situation and she offered a job at her beauty salon located in Seattle. Sakura treated her with the utmost kindness and always made sure to check on her family, see how they were doing and all that. But Sakura never expected to be betrayed by her. Not once. Sakura often hated herself for being too kind sometimes. Her kindness often clouded her judgement. Aiko, her assistant, would always tell her - 'you should be a little more strict sometimes'.

One afternoon at the salon, one of Sakura's men caught her snooping around in Sakura's office. It wasn't until the guard ordering for her to stop that he saw what she was looking for. A thick wad of cash placed in her hands. The same cash that belonged to Sakura's safe box. In an instance the guard approached her and gripped her by the elbow before cuffing both her wrists. Once Sakura received the unfortunate news, she was filled with rage but most of all regret for exposing her business and workers to the trouble. Now that's a little context. Back to the present. The lowlife criminal who shall not be named had her knees on the floor as she begged for mercy. Sakura stared at her, her teeth clenching. "I should thank you, actually. I take this as a learning experience. I shouldn't be putting my full trust in anyone so easily. I'll be more careful next time. Unfortunately for your case, there isn't a next time." 

As the criminal was being held up on either side by two of Sakura's men, she cried out. "Please! I'll do anything you want me to!" Then just before Sakura was about to leave the door she looked back at the criminal one last time in disgust. Sakura could see that her teeth were all bloody and a bruise was slowly forming on the side of her cheek from the impact of the punch delivered earlier. "Don't worry. I'm not that evil. Your daughter will be taken care of. Such a shame though that you won't be able to see her grow up." Sakura stared off at nothing in particular as a fake frown could be seen on her face. Then she walked out, never looking back, not even when she heard the sound of loud cries against the cracking of bones once she took a step out of the warehouse.

On the outside, Sakura showed no remorse. But on the inside, allowing a death of a once close friend was a huge step for her. After all she wasn't raised to be a ruthless mafia don, but maybe one day she could be in the position. It was too early to tell. Even after being in the mafia business for a good part of her life, she was still trying to adapt to how everything operates. Later that night, Sakura sought counsel from her beloved assistant Aiko. They had a long talk that night. Sakura didn't know what the future really held for her, but she knew one thing - that she wanted to rise up the ranks and hopefully one day lead a family of her own. Aiko's parents were heavily involved in the mafia business so she knew some things, but she didn't even know what they really meant herself. "Sakura, you're at a really good spot in your life right now. Before we start thinking about holding such high ranks, I think you should really focus on making connections first. I mean come on, people always say that it's not about what you know but who you know." 

Sakura had no choice but to agree. Even though they were both in the same boat of not knowing much, Aiko still knew more than her and her family was well known in the underground society. Sakura nodded as she fidgeted in her lap. Aiko put a hand over hers and gave a gentle smile. "I know you sometimes doubt yourself but I want you to know I'll always be by your side. I'm not leaving. We'll thrive together." Since coming from humble beginnings, Sakura easily realized she had a lot to learn. "Thanks Aiko. I appreciate you so much." She went to sleep with a clearer mind, feeling determined and hopeful for the next morning. Sakura wanted to go over some paperwork for the salon before paying an old friend a visit. She would be accompanied by Aiko of course.

Sakura wanted to talk details about some big jobs.

Word had spread quickly around the street that the payout for the next job was huge. A shipment coming from Mexico was due to arrive later in the week and Sakura wanted a piece of it. But it was gonna take a lot of negotiation with the mastermind behind the whole scandal. Sakura looked out at the window as she went over the job's details. Smugglers really had to be more creative these days. More and more cops were beginning to understand how things operate. Finally after an hour of driving around, Sakura and Aiko were dropped off at a rich villa. They presented themselves at the guards at the front gate before being let inside. And there he was, sitting by the pool and drinking a glass of whiskey on the rocks. He looked content with himself. Sakura scoffed. He was going to be finished soon. Just a pig that didn't fly straight. But for the sake of this job, Sakura was going to be nice and suck up to him. Sakura was going to surprise him with her presence but it seemed as though he had already sensed her. 

Turning his head over to her, he raised his drink and stood up from his seat. His wide smile came off as pretentious. "Sakura! Ah, and your lovely assistant Aiko. Please have a seat. Let's talk business eh?" 

Gunny had spent the last week searching for the man that caused one of his bright young ladies, one destined for the silver screen to disappear. From what Gunny could gather over the last week, after beating it out of people, paying people thousands for information, and personally spying on members associated with the man he was about to meet, it appears the man offers young women in on a shipment, with promises of massive promises. Once the women agree, they are escorted to a ship, then kidnapped. What happens next is unknown, but Gunny had a filthy suspicion that the women were being sent to other countries to be used in the sex trade industry.

Gunny clenched his teeth at the thought that his lovely Rebecca was now lost, in a country far away, with no hope of ever coming back to reality. Gunny knew he would not be able to get his Rebecca back, it was too late for that, but he did known one thing. He would make the man responsible for Gunny's loss pay with his life. Gunny heard the man was hosting another meeting with yet another young woman tonight. After killing the source of that nugget of information, Gunny was prepared to meet the man.

The building was very secluded, there were two men in front of the entrance, and three cars parked. The meeting was already happening, Gunny thought to himself. He had to hurry. Gunny was dressed in a three piece black suit with a top hat. He slowly staggered up to the two men, with a heavy limp. The men mistook him for being drunk, and with a disability. They dropped their guard and laughed.  "Hey you! Drunk fuck! Go away or we'll have to put you in your place." Said one of the men as the other laughed. Gunny got within about two feet from the men and began to dry heave. The men expecting to see him vomit leaned over Gunny, they were going to try and throw Gunny to the ground. 

However, while they focused on Gunny's sounds, they lost his hands. Gunny unsheathed a large knife from his right hip and drove the knife into the nearest man's neck. The other man didn't notice right away, giving Gunny time to look at him. Once they made eye contact Gunny smiled, removed the knife from the man's neck, and he fell to the ground. In that instant, the guard reached for his pistol, but Gunny was already on top of him, with full strength, sober, and no disability, the knife planted square into the man's chest.

Gunny slowly opened the door, and could see no one. He dragged both bodies into the door and slowly shut the door. He cleaned his knife on one man's jacked and placed it back into the sheath. He heard a man's voice down the hall, and followed the sound until he could see inside the room. 'Sakura!', He shouted. Gunny's eyes went wide. Sakura was here?? She must be the next target. 

Gunny wasted no time and walked straight into the room. The man sitting with a drink in hand looked shocked and stood up shouting and demanding to know what the meaning of this was. Gunny simply grinned and hastily walked up to the man, once face to face with the man, Gunny placed his hands on the sides of his head, firmly holding his head in place. Gunny then headbutted the man with such force that the man was unconscious before he hit the floor. Once the man was knocked out, Gunny's face returned to normal. He looked at the two women who were shocked. 

"Can I get a hand Sakura? We don't have much time, we can put him in your car."

The violent events had revealed themselves to Sakura so quickly. Aiko was frozen in her spot but Sakura had adjusted to act immediately, running towards the familiar face she saw leaning over the man's unconscious body. It was Gunny. This known fact had awakened Sakura's previous adventures and memories with him. She felt a sense of relief knowing that he was here, she didn't know what for - but she suspected that it was for good reason.


Sakura stood over the man before she glanced at Gunny, tilting her head slightly as if she was asking for an explanation. But from Gunny's concerned call for help, time was running out, so Sakura gave a brief nod before helping Gunny with lifting the man up while Aiko walked past the both of them and signalled the men who were already outside the gate waiting with the vehicle.


"This guy is thick, geezus," Sakura struggled with her words as she put her head under the man's arm, holding his weight up until they reached the car. Sakura basically threw him into the back seat, feeling some slight annoyance that something like this had to happen just after she had the inside of the car cleaned. Desperate times call for desperate measures, she figured. As the car hurried along the road, Sakura found herself seated between Gunny and the man as Aiko was in the passenger seat. 
 

Just.. great. 
 

Silence filled the car for a few minutes, but it was suddenly interrupted by Sakura's troubled voice. "So, are you going to tell just what the fuck is going on? I mean, you know, I would've appreciated it if you had sent me a telegram that you'd be paying me a quick visit beforehand. Do we always have to meet like this? Anyways, you look well. But yeah seriously, speak." Sakura nodded as she listened. Oh, fuck... She couldn't believe that she was just a few moments away from being kidnapped by that man. The thought of him putting women into situations like that made Sakura's blood boil. 
 

Sakura then caught Aiko's fearful face in the rearview mirror after hearing the truth and she spoke again, this time in an apologetic tone. "Oh my bad. This is Aiko, my assistant. Aiko, this is Gunny... an old friend." 
 

As Aiko presented herself, Sakura looked over to him. It had certainly been a while since Sakura and Gunny were seen working together. Sakura had changed a lot since that time, too. She wondered if Gunny noticed the difference. A lot less... reserved and tense. Bit crazy, to be honest. It was an advantage at times. And Sakura had definitely seen the change in Gunny's tactics too. In terms of fighting, she had never really seen him fought like that before.


Especially in such... a sexy and dangerous way-... CUT IT OUT! Sakura widened her eyes, wanting nothing more than to melt into the leather seats. She crossed her arms, refusing to look in Gunny's way for the rest of the trip. Aiko sensed the conversation moving to an inevitable silence so she turned around to face Gunny with a worried face. "Where are we taking this guy?" 
 

There was really no other option but to bring him to one of Sakura's spots. She had an abandoned warehouse, specifically used for keeping thugs and dirty criminals like him in their place. But something told Sakura that they needed a more secure place to keep this man. "Hell no we're not bringing him to one of my warehouses. Times like these I wish I had a maximum security prison. You know how many guards this dude has? And he's way more respected in this life of crime than me. People are gonna be looking for him. Right now, Gunny, there's probably a price being put on your head as we speak."

Gunny sensed that Sakura- was uneasy. He wasn't sure if it was because she was so close to being kidnapped, and put through one of the worse versions of hell on Earth, or that she was simply not eager to be involved in what needed to happen next. Either way, Gunny needed her to know everything would be alright, and that she was safe. He gently placed his hand over hers, causing her to look into his eyes.

"Hey, it's alright. You're with me, and that means you're safe."

He smiled and then looked back at Aiko and grinned.

"Sakura, you and Aiko both make a good point. Why don't you just keep driving until we reach the woods just out of the city limits. I don't think we'll need to stop anywhere in particular, and it would be easier for us to just dump his remains when we're through. I'm too lazy to deal with cleaning up a mess."

Gunny grinned at both of the ladies before letting his attention shift back on the road. He sat silently until Sakura- found a dirt road far outside the city. At the end of the dirt road there were only trees. 'Perfect', Gunny thought to himself. The moment the car came to a stop Gunny exited the car, grabbed the man by the neck, and dragged him from the vehicle. The unconscious man was heavy, but Gunny had a fury within, and the man was dragged into the trees with ease.

Gunny laid the man flat on his back, and leaned over the man in order to look down upon him, into his eyes. Gunny then pulled the same knife he had used earlier from its sheath, flattened the man's hand on a rock, and proceeded to skin the hand. The man almost immediately became alert, screaming blood curdling screams as his flesh was cut from his hand. Once Gunny removed the man's palm of his hand, he let the man get hold of his bearings. 

"Do we have your attention?"

Gunny said with a menacing grin, as he sat the man's palm on his chest.

It was an unfortunate situation. Not for Sakura, but for the man whose death day had arrived a little earlier than anticipated. He had no known relatives or children. He lived a lonely life as far as Sakura knew, so if he was to die, there'd be no one else in the family to take over his possessions. There was only one way that Sakura could settle this, honestly.

A quick cover up for his death while stealing of his finances in the process. Sakura wanted all those politicians he had in his pocket.

As selfish as this was, it was the most favourable option for Sakura as she didn't like the idea too much of being hunted down by all the mob bosses in town. Aiko leaned casually against the tree watching the two handle the man. She didn't really like to get involved in these types of things, but she got out of the car with them and made sure to check that the man didn't have weapons on him of course. The sides of Sakura's mouth lifted up slowly and she looked at Gunny, grabbing the same knife he used to skin the man's hand. The man was extremely aware of what was coming next as Sakura held it tightly before looking into his eyes. This man was so used to degrading women and having them wrapped around his finger that in that moment, he was absolutely terrified of how little he felt under her stare. "This is for every woman you've kidnapped, tortured, and killed. This is for all the pain and suffering you've caused for those families of the women you've taken away. This is for all the vile and irreversible things you've done."

The last words she muttered before slashing his throat and digging the knife into his chest. Aiko looked away shutting her eyes tightly. His screams echoed in the silence of the woods. Luckily, there was just a bunch of trees around and no one lived around here. The screams stopped suddenly and all he left behind was the blood on his suit. 

"Anyone hungry?" Sakura casually threw the knife back to Gunny and sighed. "I could go for a juicy burger right now."

Gunny's eyes went wide as he watched Sakura slit the throat of the man. Gunny had a gut reaction to step forward and try and stop her, but it was far to late. Sakura then drove the blade into his chest, and there was no going back now. Gunny stopped where he was. He stared at the man while all life left his face. Thoughts raced through his head, he wanted to torture him, he wanted to gain as much information as he could, and pursue this to the end. Gunny let out a sigh.

"You had to kill him...?"

He flashed Sakura a glare.

"There was so much potential, so much information to gain..."

Gunny caught his knife as she tossed it to him. 'What was it that made her end this affair so suddenly?' He wondered to himself. He looked at the corpse once more and let out a laugh.

"Oh well, I'm not the one that was about to be kidnapped and used in some twisted sex trafficking ordeal though. So I suppose it's as you wish. It was over for him either way the moment we arrived."

Gunny smiled at Sakura and winked as he climbed back into the back seat of the car. "Not sure what's good around here, but I'm not picky." 

As Sakura hopped into the drivers seat of the car, she mindlessly wandered around the streets for a bit before finally deciding on a late night dinner that served sandwiches and milkshakes. "Don't worry Gunny, next time we get into a situation like that again I'll let you do the dirty work," she threw a wink at him before holding the diner door open for him and Aiko. But no matter what Sakura did to finally get some peace, she'd always find some trouble coming her way. A prime example is right now. As she walked into the diner with them, a fist fight was happening in the corner of the store. Two men throwing punches and verbal insults at each other. 

What was this? Wrestle mania? 

Sakura rolled her eyes and looked at Gunny and Aiko with a look of annoyance. "I just wanted my burger and here we are gathered today to witness this pathetic shouting match at what," - checked her watch - "fucking 2 in the morning."

But as much as she wanted to deny it, helping out and stopping the fight between them would provide some comfort for not just her but for the innocent civilians in the diner. Feeling all high and mighty, Sakura walked over to the two men and shouted in fury, "SHUT THE FUCK UP PLEASE WE ARE HERE TO EAT NOT FIGHT NOW PLEASE GET YOUR HANDS OFF HIM OR I WILL CUT YOUR BALLS RIGHT HERE AND NOW."

As they entered the diner and spotted the scuffle ensuing Gunny rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. Sakura on the other hand seemed much more irritated at the events. He anticipated that drunk fools would be at such a diner at this hour. The bars must have just closed down and now it was time for the drunks to find food, and someplace open to continue their night of debauchery. Gunny was simply going to ignore it and find a seat, but as he stepped towards a booth he heard Sakura scream at the men.

"Oh no.." Gunny thought to himself.

As he turned he noticed the two drunkards cease their fighting, they saw Sakura standing before them, they both looked to one another and grinned. Gunny knew well what that look meant. With her looking the way she does, those drunk fools could only be thinking one thing. They began to walk towards her. As they closed the distance, Gunny calmly walked up from behind Sakura and un-holstered his two Colt .45 1911 pistols. He pointed one at each of the men's heads. They both were in shock, their eyes widened. Gunny squinted his eyes focusing his front sights in the center of each of their heads as he spoke.

"I do believe you were making your way home correct? Certainly, you two can't be so foolish to think you might lay a hand on a woman. Right?"

The two men took the hint and quickly sprinted out of the front door, one slipped and fell hard in the parking lot in the rush. He was quickly on his feet though and gone in seconds. Gunny holstered his two pistols, walked over to the counter, and placed a stack of cash down. 

"Apologizes, I can be a tab brash when hungry." He then looked over to Sakura. "Are you as hungry as I am?"