"Saaaakuraaa-Chaaan!" The Village Hidden in Leaves resonated with the sound of a certain hyperactive blonde, jinchuriki.
Haruno Sakura, age 19, Captain of Anbu Division 4 sighed as she looked up from reading her book on Horticulture in the bedroom as Naruto Uzumaki, age 19 as well, Anbu Captain of Division 3 jumped into her room. Over the past four years Naruto has matured a lot. His intense training with Jiraiya and Kakashi every day had led to his height increasing even more so he now stood at a proud 6'2. Lean muscles adorned his previously slim body and he now moved with the stealth befitting a Captain of an Anbu division. However today he was in his ordinary orange jumpsuit, his signature grin was missing and there was a grave look in his bright cerulean eyes.
He jumped in at the window of his best friend and regarded her gravely. Over the years Sakura too had blossomed into what her other best friend Ino liked to call 'a ravishing beauty with a deadly poison hidden beneath her petals'. The last bit was thanks to her mentor Shizune who had trained her in the aspect of poison and taught her how to use the deadly abilities to maximum effect. Of course training with Tsunade had not only improved the young girl's physique and abilities but had also added an aura of maturity which Sakura had previously lacked.
The last three years had been spent in bitter training with the two remaining Sannin. When Jiraiya had recommended Naruto to Kakashi for further training Sakura had refused to sit back and had turned to Shizune for help in more 'dangerous' aspects. Both of them had grown immeasurably stronger and had sat first for the Jounin and then the Anbu examinations both of which they had passed with flying colours.
Even the Konoha Council had been forced to admit that it would be impossible to keep Naruto from becoming the Hokage at this pace. Just five months ago Sakura and Naruto had been recommended for the posts of Anbu Captains of Divisions 4 and 3 respectively owing to the previous Captains being slaughtered brutally by the Akatsuki leader Pain while out in search for the Kyubi.
After a feeble resistance put forth by Elders Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, the Council, the Jounin and the Villagers had gladly accepted Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno as the new young leaders of the Anbu. Naruto had been so happy that day yet Sakura and their friend Sai had noted a small part of Naruto which had seemed lonely and miserable. They both new it was due to the absence of a certain Uchiha who had abandoned the village more than seven years ago to achieve power. Their last encounter with the Uchiha after the Five Kage Summit had greatly contributed to the relentless training put forth by Naruto after he reached Konoha.
Thus Naruto now stood before her, panting slightly indicating to her that he had run all the way from his house.
"What's wrong Naruto?" asked Sakura folding the edge of her book and closing it.
"It's Sasuke…." Said Naruto as Sakura's heart skipped a beat, "He's been spotted outside Kusagakure"
"…And make sure Jiraiya gets hold of this as soon as possible" ordered Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage, to her first apprentice Shizune who nodded and vanished in a poof of smoke carrying with her a detailed letter to Tsunade's fellow Sannin Jiraiya.
There was a quiet swishing sound and without turning Tsunade knew she was no longer alone in the room.
"You summoned me Hokage-Dono" came a voice as sweet and melodious as a nightingale but with a razor sharp edge to it which signified a person of ruthless persecution and a heart of ice.
"You're rather early" muttered Tsunade staring out of the window behind her seat knowing full well who hid behind the mask behind her.
"My apologies Hokage-Dono, I was merely hoping to be the early bird and catch the cardamom bun" said the melodious voice as Tsunade sighed.
"That's cinnamon bun and no you're not going to get any extra information out of me concerning the new S-Rank mission I am about to hand to you" said Tsunade wearily finding the person a very exasperating being to hold a conversation with.
"I am extremely offended that you would even think of such a …"
There was then an incessant knocking on the door and Tsunade rubbed her temples wearily, "Get your butts in!" she yelled as the door slammed open to accommodate a seething Uzumaki Naruto, a worried Haruno Sakura, Neji Hyuga, Shikamaru Nara, Yamato and Kakashi.
"Come in all of you, and where the hell are Iori and Junichi?" demanded Tsunade as Kakashi shrugged and Yamato replied, "They're probably on their way, I felt their chakra signatures while coming here"
"Baa-Chan, this is about Sasuke isn't it? Tell me, we're gonna get him back now right?" asked Naruto impatiently as the only masked member of the room silently moved into the shadows to allow Tsunade to move forward.
"Be patient Naruto, this isn't about your personal feelings on the matter, when Iori and Junichi get here I shall brief you on everything you need to know" said Tsunade seeing a fire well up in Naruto's eyes. But before the blonde could begin arguing Sakura placed a hand on his shoulder and gave a small shake of her head as the Captain of the 3rd Division subsided.
Five minutes later there was a small knock at the door and at Tsunade's yell a man and a woman entered the room grinning sheepishly.
"Umm sorry we're late guys, I was just showing Iori my kitten collection" said the man called Junichi Sato rubbing the back of his head nervously as Kakashi's mask creased a little to signify his slight smirk.
The woman called Iori Haruna, Captain of Anbu Division 5, was a well proportioned woman, wearing the traditional Anbu outfit but without the mask. Her raven hair fell past her shoulders and she had mismatched eyes.
Junichi Sato, Captain of Anbu Division 6 was a tall, lean man with tanned skin and a disarming smile. His grayish blue eyes and womanizer ways often led to him being voted 'Most Eligible Bachelor' in Konoha. He too wore the traditional Anbu outfit but carried a huge scroll strapped to his backside with it.
"I'm sure you're all wondering why I've summoned six Anbu Captains and 1 Jounin to this room all of a sudden. I'm sure you're all aware of the recent sightings of Uchiha Sasuke and his organization which now aims for the destruction of Konohagakure and the assassination of the Village Council and most probably the Daimyo as well.
"And our mission is the capture Uchiha and beat the living crap out of him?" asked Junichi grinning broadly as Iori shot him a 'shut up' look.
"Don't get ahead of yourself Junichi, let me brief you on exactly what this mission is all about" said Tsunade sitting down as the other took this as a signal and aligned themselves up in a line before her table, excepting one who remained in the shadows.
"Last week five members of the Anbu first division were carrying out an A-Rank mission of escorting the Daimyo of the Land of Fire back from a political meeting in Kusagakure. They were about three miles from the borders of Kusagakure when one of the members was struck by a senbon and killed instantaneously. The other four were immediately put on their guards and before any danger could befall them they used the Secret Anbu Jikukan Ninjutsu (1) to teleport the Daimyo back to his residence. When the jutsu was finished they arrived back to find themselves surrounded by a small platoon of Otogakure Ninja of at least Chunin level, they fought bravely and managed to defeat them all without sustaining any fatal injury however when they thought they had won they were confronted by 4 people in cloaks and hoods. We do not know what took place after that but so far of the four who survived only one managed to return to Konoha this morning sustaining severe injuries and the first thing he did was to inform his Captain before collapsing. Only three hours ago did I manage to save him from a very near death." Said Tsunade intertwining her hands together.
"How do we know it was Uchiha Sasuke who attacked them? I thought the Otogakure ninja were under the control of Yakushi Kabuto?" enquired Yamato who had recently been promoted to the position of Anbu Captain of Division 2.
"The body of the only surviving member showed unmistakable signs of sustaining severe burns, burns that can only be formed by a certain type of fire jutsu" said Tsunade in a low tone.
"Amaterasu" said Kakashi as Tsunade nodded.
"His arms have been burned too badly to completely heal, I'm afraid his job as a Shinobi of Konoha is finished. A very sad fate for a very loyal man and a man of great proficiency" said Tsunade casting for the first time a glance at the Captain of the First Division who still stood in the shadows wearing her mask which resembled a wolf.
"I'm sure we're all aware that Uchiha Sasuke shows no remorse and has no intention of returning to the village" said Neji Hyuga, the Captain of Anbu Squad 8 who carried his peacock mask with his tanto.
"But I don't think we all really agree on that do we?" asked the longest serving member of Anbu Captaincy, Shikamaru Nara, Captain of Squad 7 whose owl mask hung from his belt.
Naruto clenched his fist and looked away as Sakura merely lowered her head.
"All that is immaterial right now. Now that I've explained the situation I will inform you of the decision that The Kazekage and I have taken. Sasuke Uchiha will be hunted down and captured by all the ten Anbu Squads. Squad Ten Captain Raizar is away in Sunagakure on a diplomatic mission for the time being so it's just you nine for now. To replace Raizar I have suggested Hatake Kakashi, seeing as his conduct in the Anbu was of top caliber and he himself has proved to be a splendid Shinobi. I will leave you all to plan out your strategies, the Anbu records, Interrogation records, Medical Records and such will be available with either Ibiki or with Shizune" said Tsunade in her clear voice as the eight figures in front of her gave a small salute.
"All of you, except Naruto, Sakura and you," she said pointing to the wolf mask, "Dismissed!"
As Neji, Shikamaru, Yamato, Kakashi, Junichi and Iori vanished with a poof of smoke Tsunade turned her attention to the two youngest Anbu Captains before her.
"Look you two; I'm sure this is very painful for both of you, especially since this concerns Sasuke. I sympathize with you and I offer my condolences. But that is all I can do for you" said Tsunade in a hard tone, her eyes dark as if daring either of the two before her to challenge her.
Naruto opened his mouth to say something but then seemed to think the better of it. However Sakura noticed his clenched fists and stiff way of standing which rather amused her yet made her sad, to see Naruto just burst out in defense for Sasuke. After so many years of torrid training Sakura had lost all hope, expectation and desire of Sasuke ever returning home. She now believed herself to be free from his grasp, no longer caring for him. However Naruto had not yet been able to accept this and had doggedly pursued his ambition to bring back Sasuke.
During the Anbu exams the present Head of Squad one who now stood in the shadows behind Tsunade had coldly commented on Naruto being a 'mere fool who wasted his entire childhood away on one who had the blood of a Clan of Traitors within him'. Naruto had not known what it had meant but he had understood enough to fly into a furious rage and attack the Squad 1 Captain with a powerful Oodama Rasengan, but thanks to Kakashi and Yamato's not-so-calm explanations and a bit of her own smooth talking had managed to subdue the enraged jinchuriki into mutinously glaring murderously at the masked Captain whom he now called a colleague.
"As I already told you Sasuke has been declared an S-Rank Criminal of higher order than even Orochimaru for firstly attempting the lives of all Five Kages at the Summit something that even Orochimaru would not be so foolish as to dare, added to that is the recent assassination of the Water Country Daimyo. Fortunately for us the Fifth Mizukage is a tolerant woman and is very reasonable but if it had been someone else, Konoha would probably have been at war with them right now. And that's exactly what Sasuke wants!" ended Tsunade banging her fists upon the table to emphasize her feelings on the matter.
"But Baa-Chan, Sasuke's only doing this because he thinks the Konoha Elders are to blame for what happened to Itachi. He's not thinking straight, if only I had the chance to talk to him" argued Naruto.
After the shocking revelation made about Itachi's innocence by Madara Uchiha all those years ago Naruto had been in a daze, as to whether truly the man who he blamed for Sasuke's defection was innocent. After hearing the truth from Sasuke and hearing what he intended to do Naruto had tried every lead and every chance he could get to convince Sasuke to forgive and forget but to no avail.
"Uzumaki-Kun, I think we all know the man whom you speak of so fondly is dead to us. There no longer exists Sasuke Uchiha, the genin. He died the moment he set foot out of the village to join Orochimaru. There only exists now, an S-Rank criminal, a murderer a disrupter of life and such trash deserves to know well and truly the true meaning of suffering"
Sakura felt a chill going through her spines at the words of the Squad One Captain had she felt had remained silent long enough. However from the way Naruto's face flushed with anger and an enraged fire showed in his blue eyes, Sakura bit her lip hoping he wouldn't explode too badly.
"And what the hell would you know of suffering? Don't think you can even begin to understand what Sasuke has been made to go through. He's had a messed up past and every one of his friends are trying to make him forget the past and move on, and if you don't wanna co-operate I couldn't care less but don't you go feeding me that 'true meaning of suffering' shit. You have no idea, no idea what true suffering is. It's not just about someone jabbing a kunai into your chest." yelled back Naruto lashing out at the Captain.
The temperature in the room seemed like it had dropped by ten degrees as Tsunade spoke warningly, "He's still a child Shiori, don't let him provoke you"
The person from whom the chill seemed to be emancipating gave a high pitched chuckle as if the thought of that amused her a lot and spoke, "Please Tsunade-Sama, do not think I am so easily provoked. It is not within this boy's power to provoke me into attacking him. He can wane on about the countless tragedies he and his criminal friend have suffered. A word of friendly advice to you Uzumaki-Kun, do not let yourself wallow in self-pity, that merely makes your mind more sluggish and without the mind can exist no Shinobi." she said to Naruto with a tone of geniality but with a hard edge to it.
Shiori Yumebaki was the long standing Captain of Anbu 1st Squad and was said to be unimaginably powerful. Rumors about her becoming the next Hokage had been floating about though these had all dissipated with time. Though only 25 years of age she was a legend amongst all the Anbu in the world and usually seen amongst the Top 5 in other villages Anbu Bingo Book before the Five Nation Alliance. Her abilities, though largely unknown gave her a reputation of a ruthless killer who would hunt down her target, even to the dark side of the moon if need be, and slaughter him in the most painful way possible (unless other wise instructed).Her appearance was known to very few and not to any of the other Anbu Captains except Yamato because along with the traditional Anbu uniform she wore a full body ninja suit which stretched from nose to toes and her silver hair was usually tied up in a bun.
"Self-pity? You think this is self…"
"That's enough Naruto, this conversation is over. Remember your place as a fresh member in the Anbu and give your seniors and colleagues a chance. I don't want to hear from anybody that you're causing trouble because let me tell you frankly, you're not making a very good impression upon the Council, the way you're training or leading your squad and Danzo is just looking for even the slightest opportunity to have you placed within the root, brandishing his own cursed seal and that's the last thing we need under the present situation" said Tsunade.
Naruto noticed her harassed brown eyes and her frizzled hair as his eyes softened.
"Sorry Baa-Chan, I just thought that giving a ramen party to celebrate my Captaincy was a good idea. Break the ice, ya know?"
Tsunade smirked, "Well, you certainly are Jiraiya's student; only the two of you would throw yourselves a congratulations party. Off with you two now, I want you to be careful and not take any unnecessary risks or hot-headed decisions, remember that…"
"Yeah, yeah, we're responsible for the lives of our team as well as ourselves so we should go by the regulations and yada, yada, we know that Baa-Chan" said Naruto stretching himself and sticking his nose into the air as he sniffed around excitedly.
"Hmm, hey is that ramen? Hey, Sakura-Chan, can you smell ramen?"
The two of them went out arguing about ramen and regulations as Shiori Yumebaki chuckled slightly.
At Tsunade's questioning look she straightened up, "Sorry, it's just, he's very easily distracted isn't he? Just sort of reminded me of someone I once knew" she said.
"Hm, yes, he has that effect on many people, myself included. You're dismissed now Shiori, be careful and oh, do look into the matter I talked to you about" said Tsunade adopting a grave look once more.
"Yes of course Hokage-Dono, I'll be off then" and she was gone in a puff of smoke.
"These youngsters,well,it all rests in their hands now" thought Tsunade with a wry smile when suddenly a messenger dove carrying Sunagakure's emblem landed on her window.
Frowning she held her hand out to it and it obediently dropped a small scroll attached to its leg onto her outstretched palm.
Unscrolling it she slowly began reading what the Kazekage had written to her in his large, untidy handwriting. As her eyes moved lower and lower through the scroll her eyes began to widen in shock and her heart began beating at a terrible rate.
As Sakura walked home smiling softly after her playful and friendly argument with Naruto she looked up to see a small dove flying across the sky.
" A message for Shishou ,I wonder who it is ? Hmm, oh well ,Gaara probably. After the previous Five Kage Meeting a lot of communication has increased between the Five Great Shinobi Villages" she thought walking through the streets admiring the beautiful flowers that this years Spring had brought with them.
She sat down beneath her favorite sakura tree in the park where she and Ino had played as children. As she sat back enjoying the cool evening air and the lukewarm, fading sunlight on her skin a lone dry leaf fluttered down and settled on her lap.
"The war against Madara Uchiha changed us all so much" she thought wistfully turning the leaf on her palm. The deaths of many Konoha Shinobi had been mourned but the most terrible day for her being the day when Inoichi Yamanaka's corpse was brought into the village by a near dead Shikaku Nara and Choza Akimichi. Ino had let out the most painful scream Sakura had ever heard in her life. She had not cried, after that one scream of anguish she hadn't shed a single tear even after he was buried. She just stood lifelessly, with great bags under her bloodshot eyes. She'd stopped talking to anyone; she wouldn't even come out of her room sometimes. One day when Sakura found Ino gazing longingly at a sharp kunai she had snapped, her temper and caused her to nearly beat Ino black and blue that day for subjecting herself to such torture. She had slapped, punched, shook, screamed and raged at Ino and when she had left slamming the door hard she had expected Ino to never want to see her face again. But to her surprise she had found a rather heavily bandaged Ino outside her house the next day asking if she wanted to walk to the hospital together. Sakura smiled as she remembered how awkward she had been feeling that day when suddenly Ino had grabbed her hand and collapsed onto the ground, crying and bawling, letting out all the pent up grief inside her. Sakura had not known what to do or what to say but she had just hugged Ino and the two of them had stayed there together for most of the morning. Later Ino had thanked for being there for her and had staggered home. The next day Sakura had been surprised and visibly ecstatic to see the old Ino returning with her crude remarks about Sakura's clothing and hair style.
"Though Ino managed to save herself from the darkness, I wonder if I would have been able to do the same if something like that happened to me?" thought Sakura as a breeze blew softly against her face.
Another terrible day had been when Hinata had been brought under her care with her stomach slashed viciously and her organs bleeding heavily. Tsunade and Shizune had been unavailable that day and as Tsunade's apprentice she had been in-command.
FLASHBACK
"Sakura-San" cried the young medic, the panic and worry evident in her tone as she rushed into the Medicine room where all the various medicines were stored.
Sakura had been taking down a few medicines which she had prescribed to Kakashi, who was being released that day after staying under Tsunade's care for a fortnight due to a great battle with Zetsu, a member of the Akatsuki who had been Madara's right hand man. After being hit by a Raikiri, Zetsu's body had exploded into millions of tiny spores which released a deadly acid. Kakashi had suffered many major burns and his sharingan had been affected too.
She looked up as the young medic ran in.
"Sakura-San, it's terrible. Hyuga Hinata-Sama has just been brought in, she's received a gash across the stomach and she's bleeding terribly. Please do come, Tsunade-Sama and Shizune-San are away in Sunagakure and I don't think Hinata-Sama can survive for much long without immediate medical…"
Sakura was out in the hallways running at top speed before the medic could even complete her words.
As she arrived outside the Operation Theatre she saw a frantic Kiba, a very tense Shino and before she knew it, in a blonde flash was Naruto banging against the door demanding to be let in. Only once or twice had Sakura seen Naruto in such a condition. Once had been when Sasuke had 'died' at the hands of Haku and second when he had attacked Uchiha Madara for scoffing at Naruto's will.
"Sakura-Chan, thank god you're here, please you gotta save Hinata" cried Naruto grabbing her.
"Yes Naruto that's why I'm here" said Sakura opening the Theater door, 'But you've got to stay outside, there are a 101 reasons for that which I will explain later Naruto but for now, stay out!" said Sakura slamming the door shut.
Inside she turned to find three young nurses running around bringing cotton, warm water, anesthesia and a hundred other things. At the sight of the pinkette they sighed with relief and respectfully stood by waiting for any order they might receive.
Hinata lay on the operating table, her jacket and shirt had been peeled back showing a huge gash across her stomach.
"Curved blade" thought Sakura getting into gear and grabbing a wad of cotton, "Or perhaps a club, more likely a club with spikes because the skin is torn irregularly.
"She's into Class III Hemorrhage, get me all the cotton you have" said Sakura, "I can't start healing her without cleaning the blood or else it'll sting too much and probably cause even more blood loss. She's gone pale, that means she's lost more blood than it appears. And one of you keep pumping chakra into her pulse with the basic healing Ninjutsu, nothing more advanced or the blood vessel will rupture"
As the nurses scampered to heed her orders, Sakura grabbed a swab of cotton and began jabbing gently at the gash across Hinata's pale stomach. With the help of the two other nurses the job of cleansing the wound was finished much faster but by the time they had finished the nurse supplying chakra had nearly run out and Hinata began growing paler and paler.
"Not good" thought Sakura brushing sweat off her brow as she placed her hand on the gash and began pumping chakra into it with the advanced medical technique taught to her by Tsunade.
"Not good at all, she's lost so much blood already and her lungs have been damaged, she can't breathe, and unless she fights she won't last long. No matter how much chakra I pump into her the chakra pathway is disrupted so it'll take longer, I wonder what sort of weapon caused this…No…no, stop getting ditracted Sakura…focus…focus"
She kept at it swallowing soldier pills once in a while to ensure she didn't run out of chakra. Outside Kiba and Naruto began growing more and more restless as Shino sank deeper into depression. They had been joined by Neji, Kurenai and Hanabi, the last of whom stood with her nose pressed against the window, her pale eyes flashing with worry.
"Hinata's losing the will" thought Sakura as she glanced frantically at the machine which showed heartbeat. The line only gave a very slight alteration now and then showing that life was slowly fading away.
Unable to bear it Sakura cried out, "Come on Hinata, are you just going to die like this? Aren't you going to tell Naruto your true feelings? Weren't you going to show your father and sister how strong you've become? Is this how you mean to carry out your nindo? What will they all think? Fight Hinata, fight. Fight, if not for your family, if not for Naruto, at least for yourself, fight Hinata!"
Beep. Beeep. Beeeeep. Beeeeeeeep.
As the sounds on the machine grew longer and longer Sakura knew there was no hope, for soon the sound would be a continuous screech signifying death, when she was just about to shed tears…
Beeeeeeeep. Beeeeep. Beeep. Beep. Beep.
The pulse began quickening. Larger readings could be seen on the machine as Sakura's eyes widened with joy and hope. She began pushing herself, although her chakra supply was nearly exhausted.
"I've told Hinata to fight and she's fighting. Now I've got to do everything I can to save her. Hinata has held out her hand. Now all that remains is for me to grasp it and pull her up, come on Sakura, you can do it, you can…'
"You're weak"
Sakura's heart missed a beat as she remembered the cruel words that had sprouted from the mouth of the man she had loved, right after he had jammed his katana into her shoulder.
Her hands began shaking and the green glow began fluctuating as the memories of the confrontations with Sasuke after the death of Madara haunted her.
"I…I'm weak, there…there's no way I…I'm not going to be able to save her…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry Hinata. I….I'm too weak to help you, too weak to fight. I…"
"Sakura-San?" asked one of the nurses noticing Sakura's fluctuating chakra.
"Are you short on chakra ma'am? Shall I get you some more pills" asked another nurse with a slight note of scorn in her voice.
That straightened her up.
"What the hell was I thinking? I can't let the past pull me down" thought Sakura as her hands flared green again and colour began slowly returning to Hinata's face.
"We're gonna make it. There's no way I'm going to let myself believe those words of Sasuke. The words of a man who is lost to the darkness. Sasuke might be superior to me in every sense of combat but the one thing I have that he'll never have is my heart, my will, my belief. And right now, I believe, I'm so going to save Hinata" she thought smiling as the three nurses stared in wonder.
Three more hours passed before Sakura lifted her hands from Hinata's stomach and ordered the nurses to give Hinata a mild sedative and shift her to an ordinary room later.
Taking off her medic uniform she trooped outside to be bombarded by Naruto, Kiba, Hanabi and Kurenai.
"How is she? She's not…" Naruto couldn't finish the sentence as Sakura gave him a weak smile and shook her head.
"She's stable, Tsunade-Sama will be back tonight, we'll get her opinion then but for now she's fine. I've completely healed her wound but she might still have a few problems with that injury to her lung, we'll move her…to…the…" Sakura's world become blank and she felt a sharp pain in her temple and fell forward, clutched at someone's shoulder and passed into oblivion.
END FLASHBACK
Sakura smiled remember how much Tsunade had scolded her for exerting herself too hard but she had caught the look of immense pride in her mentor's eyes and had later heard she had repeated the tale to practically everyone in the village to hear.
Naruto had hugged her warmly and had apologized for pressurizing her. Sakura had waved it aside, she didn't know when and she didn't know how but sometime during the war, Naruto and Hinata had come together and watching their love Sakura felt like laughing her heads off at herself sometimes.
As a chilly wind blew into her face she was rudely awoken to the fact that it was no longer twilight but the moon was now shining over Konoha. She got up from under the tree and slowly began walking back to her house.
"Are you sure you're okay Sasuke-Kun?" asked a slimy, snaky voice as Sasuke Uchiha threw aside the curtain and entered the room of an ancient Uchiha stronghold in Kusagakure.
In front of his throne like seat stood Yakushi Kabuto, having absorbed Orochimaru's cells he now looked even more like Orochimaru, his eyes had become as sharp and cold as a snakes and he gave off an aura of distrustfulness. His silvery hair had grown longer and wavier and now reached past his shoulders. His hungry eyes gazed at Sasuke longingly as he licked his lips with his tongue which had become much longer in the past few months.
Sasuke gave him a curt nod. Through the war his skin had grown paler and now gave off a dull glow in the darkness. His features had become more rugged as compared to his smooth appearance before the war, though this only made him look all the more handsome. He had grown taller and noticeably muscular, his hair was still as spiky as ever framed his cheeks and fell down to his lower nape. His cold onyx eyes had become crueler and harder. He wore now a gray, sleevelss ninja shirt much like the one Suigetsu wore with slightly baggy pants which he coupled with a cloak when he went out. He wore a headband now with a hawk carved into it.
Very soon he was joined by Karin, Jugo and Suigetsu, the three other generals of what he considered to be his 'revenge'.
Karin enwrapped herself on his bare arm as soon as she entered the room, "Did my Sasu-Kun, miss me then?" she asked in a husky voice licking the rim of Sasuke's earlobe as the man in question freed himself roughly and glared at the red-haired woman with ogling breast and a disgustingly dogged look in her eyes as she literally seemed to undress Sasuke with her eyes.
Suigetsu remained as callous as ever, making belching noises at what he liked to call Karin's 'sloriness'.
"That's slut and whoriness combined" he had explained one day to Sasuke and had received a kunai in his face as a reward from an enraged Karin.
Jugo was still as aloof and gentle as he was before the war, showing undying loyalty to Sasuke and being the one to keep him away from Kabuto.
"I'm fine, but as you know, Konoha has come to know of our base here thanks to Karin's incompetence in letting that one Anbu get away" said Sasuke as Karin flushed as red as her hair and began twiddling her fingers nervously.
"I told you let me have a go at them but noooo, you just had to leave them with Ms. Whorin" said Suigetsu mockingly as Karin looked up.
"Hey at least I don't go around getting slapped by every other woman in the world because I'm so incredibly hideous" she retorted placing her hands on her hip, all ready to have a full blown fight with Suigetsu.
"That's enough; we've no time for petty nuisances. Kabuto, instruct the Sound Ninja to launch a full attack on Kusagakure in three weeks unless they approve of our proposal. In the unlikely event they don't then Suigetsu, you have the permission to enter the fray and slaughter whomever you want" said Sasuke as Suigetsu whooped in joy.
"Karin, I want you to continue your research on Madara's corpses, find out if there is any way to make him eligible for Kabuto's jutsu. Also, keep questioning the Konoha Ninja we captured about any new Anbu regulations we might have to go up against." Said Sasuke as Karin nodded and gave him a shameless wink which he turned away from with a sneering look.
"Jugo, I have a rather special task for you" said Sasuke, his voice softening a bit as he spoke to his 'most tolerable' member, "I want you to assassinate a particular person. I think you know who I mean"
"Yumebaki Shiori, you mean? Do you really think Jugo can beat her? She's supposed to be quite strong" said Suigetsu scratching his head.
"I have faith in Jugo's abilities, I'm sure you won't let me down. That woman is a thorn in my path, unfortuneately for me she can be as sly and cunning as me when she wants and lacks the sense of honour that most Konoha shinobi have" said Sasuke as Jugo nodded, "She wouldn't think twice about stabbing a friend if it meant stabbing an enemy along with him"
"When I have gotten rid of all these pests there will be nothing lying between me…and the destruction of Konoha" thought Sasuke as a small smile played at the very edges of his lips.
She said I can't write, well I'll show her. This story is dedicated to my arch-rival at school who claims I can't stick two words together. When the stories done I'll show her, then she'll know who the boss is. If you're reading this I certainly hope you bothered to read the chapter which comes before this. If you did I hope it was up to your expectations. I'll be releasing the next chapter as soon as I can. Do forgive me if there are any irregularities in the time span.
Yours Truly
Master Hiruka.