Bright lights, dancing in a haze. A rainbow of entrancing color.

Loud music -almost disdainfully loud, yet somehow...it fit.

The bright lights swirled around in a circle till they finally blurred into absolute nothingness. Even the loud music faded away, though a constant loud hammering began to echo through the dark corridors. At first it wasn't that bad. Until it got louder

And louder

And louder.

I squinted slightly, bringing myself awake. The banging didn't stop... in fact it only got worse. Headache of the century. The more conscious I became, the worse I felt. My still-closed eyes felt like they had been soaking in acid, my head throbbed angrily, and my whole body seemed to ache everywhere. It felt like I was on a freakin'-

Instantly, I mentally kicked myself.

A hangover.

With great dread, I tried to recall my memories of the previous night, though all I could remember was the bright lights and pounding music. I groaned slightly, blaming Tsunade yet again for such an event. I never was a drinker at all until I had met her. And now it was just a common thing. I liked alcohol- so what? Problem was...I just couldn't stop once I started drinking.

Just...how much did I drink last night?

Vague (meaningless) flashes of memory filtered through my head and served to tell me absolutely nothing at all of my previous night, except that I was freaking hammered.

Great. Just flippin' great.

I opened a blood-shot eye with great regrets and only minor cursing, being assaulted by washroom lighting and menacingly bright sun rays. Just perfect. Not only was I hung over, I slept in! It would be a miracle in and of itself if I wasn't late! Tsunade would kill me!

"As the hokage's personal assistant and right hand adviser- you have top priority to be on time and alert at all hours of the day. This includes arriving on a timely fashion Sakura" (I had heard that speech many countless times) Tsunade could be such a hypocrite sometimes. Always late but scolding others when they were as well...though it didn't ever bother me. It's just who she was. I respected her for it actually.

With a sigh, I decided to go with the 'better late than never' approach and began to force my throbbing mind into alertness.

I rolled over against the wall, noting that apparently in my drunken state last night, I deemed clothes as unnecessary and slept without them. (What was I thinking last night?!)

A wave of nausea hit me as my head spun, unappreciative to the movement. I brought a pillow over my face, enjoying the coolness of the satin fabri-

Wait...Satin?

Sense when did I sleep with satin?

And....since when was my bed against a wall?

I slightly shook my head in confusion. I was no longer concerned with how much I drank, but now simply whatI drank. The liquid seemed to make me do all kinds of strange things I had never done. In one night, I changed my sheets into a totally new fabric all together, rearranged my furniture, and then stripped down to nothing before climbing into bed. Psh. This is the kind of thing people go to shrinks for. Or an alcoholic support group.

I could see it now "Um..I'm Haruno Sakura...and...I'm an alocholic." "Hi Sakura..."

Too bad I didn't have the time for a shrink, or a crazy group of alcoholics to whine about their problems.

I was already late as it was.

I pressed a hand against the wall for support as I sat up, clamping my eyes shut as doomed realization hit me.

Walls were definitely not human beings.

Walls weren't built or muscled.

Walls didn't move.

My bed wasn't against a wall. I wasn't touching a wall. I was touching a man...or a freakishly buff chick (hoping for the first over the second personally)

I felt my stomach churn faster with concern as I slowly opened my eyes again, preparing to face this 'wall', and whatever else it was I had drug myself into after way too much to drink.

As if irony itself was in human form, the 'wall' shifted slightly and slowly sat up (obviously off to a much better start than I was) He glanced at me once and it didn't seem to take an effect. (I was silently thanking every god in heaven that it wasn't a woman) ...Until the second glance at least. First thought? 'Well...at least I didn't sleep with a hideous fat man.' In fact, he wasn't that bad off in the looks department, even with blood shot eyes and frizzy hair. Actually....he was pretty hott. I know, I know, not really what I should be concerned with, but you try to keep your priorities in check when your mind is mush. He had blonde hair, nice build if I dare admit it. Though that quickly became the least of my worries.

His head shot back around, eyes wide and...well I am sure our expressions were the same. Each their own rendition of "What in the world happened last night?!" and based off the look he gave me, he had zero memory from last night either. Great. Freakin' great. In the short time I had to make a scenario in my head, I was hoping both of us would realize that it was a general mistake, we would put our brains together and try to remember what happened last night. Maybe we could get out of this as two random people at peace.

Though, with the look he gave me- I quickly doubted it.

"The HELL?!" he shouted in shock, scooting away from me and fastened the blanket around his waist more securely. This caused my grip to slip -not too low or anything- but as far as I was concerned, this stranger had seen enough of me as it was. I pulled the blanket back slightly and shouted right back, blowing off my 'plan for peace' entirely.

"What are you doing here?!" and almost added in a 'why did you mess with my bed' but decided that the sheets were the least of my problems. Because my being drunk would noteffect my sheets, no matter how how drunk I was, I was way too much of a habitual, OCD laden individual. The real insanity was me actually believing that I was the one that did it. CLEARLY it could all be blamed on this man here, invading in on my apartment, he most likely changed the sheets while I was too drunk to notice- a logical explanation for.

He glared, pulling the blanket again, "I should be asking you that!"

I pulled the blanket back up, which enraged him further. He continued shouting at me, "This is MY bed!!"

He tugged again, though I didn't give him an inch. The idiot. So drunk he didn't even realize that he wasn't even in his house...or where ever it was he lived. Sad really.

I rolled my eyes, holding my portion of the blanket fiercely, "Look around you imbecile! This is NOT your-" I paused my sentence, looking around the room for the first time.

Olive green walls, neatly organized hanging wall paintings and rustic furniture for a completed well together hallmark card room.

.....

....

Where was I??!!

Instantly, inner Sakura was frantic, screaming loudly in the spaces of my mind, telling outer Sakura that all was lost and panic mode should be initiated. Outer Sakura not exactly being one to admit defeat, managed to keep my inter counter part at bay and remained calm.

The atmosphere cooled slightly as I took a deep breath, all that shouting from him and I was making my head threaten to detonate. I exhaled slowly, looking back up at the man in...his bed. Great. So in the end, I was the tramp that got seduced and followed him home? Where were my morals?!

His haughty blue eyes caught mine, which angered me slightly, but in reality embarrassed the hell out of me. And here I was, shouting at him about not being in his place, when I was the idiot. Half out of spite (mostly out of embarrassment) I spat out, "So what? You live with your mom?" The room was way too put together for a man his age. Either he was gay, or he lived with his mother. And out of the two bleak scenarios, I was hoping the latter was true over the first.

He scoffed rolling his eyes, "No I don't. My place," as he rolled his eyes, he scanned the walls and generic feel of the room, and his high and mighty attitude dropped quickly, "....looks...nothing like this."

My eyes widened and I was left, gaping like an idiot. I instantly wished I was more of a moral-less, drunken tramp, than this. At least before I knew where I was, his place (where ever that is) instead of some random hallmark card room in the middle of god knows where! What if we broke into some old granny's house?! Probably caused her to have a heart attack! Did this man understand how complicated the ventricular valves and the atriums could be when under stress?! I highly doubt it.

I threw a hand up in the air (using my other one to hold onto my share of the blanket of course) "Great! Just flippin great! Do you mind telling me where the hell we are then?!" I was clearly shouting by the end, and I glared at him for an answer. This just kept getting worse and worse! What if I was miles away from Konoha? Tsunade would kill me for sure!

He covered his ears quickly, "Will you freakin' SHUT UP?!! Migraine here!"

Now was my chance! I pulled the blanket up to my liking as he scrambled just as quickly, glaring acid daggers at me "And will you cut that out!"

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever! This is totally MY blanket! Use a sheet or something!"

"YOUR blanket?!" his look was sarcastic and demeaning, "You don't even know where you are!"

"Yeah well...well NEITHER DO YOU!!" I shouted even louder.

"Who are you to decide this is your blanket?!"

"Look at this place, it's obvious I picked it out, therefore the blanket is mine!!"

"You pick- wha? What does that have to do with ANYTHING?!"

"Exactly!!" I smiled triumphantly

He shook his head, "Aw no. No no. You don't just declare you win pixie chick-"

"Pixie chick?!"

"-See you can't just assume I have no taste in rooms. For all you know, I picked this room out!"

"Pixie chick?" I was still stuck on the name. How rude! I did not look like a pixie! Who was this man to compare me to a pixie? Seriously! I wanted a PhD or something similar for proof.

"You have this ridiculous pink hair. It makes you look like a pixie."

"Does not!"

"Truth hurts pixie."

"Stop calling me that!"

"Pixie."

I inhaled sharply. I would not degrade myself by playing this childish name calling game. I was mature and totally beyond it. I may have made some...poor...decisions (understatement of the year) last night, BUT that did not mean that I would continue in them.

His voice picked back up, taunting me "What's wrong? Not afraid are you? Pixie."

I glared at him, "Afraid? Of what? You? Don't be stupid."

"That's only because you don't know who I am."

God his high and mighty attitude was back, and it sure was annoying. "I don't want to know who you are. For all I'm concerned, you are just a bad memory."

He smirked, "Two tops Pixie. See, I've always prided myself on having great taste in women. But obviously I messed up that record huh?"

My eyes narrowed into slits. "What." My tone was iced over, daring him to keep talking.

He shrugged, a wide, daring smirk over his face, "Just that hair. I mean...it's like you are a circus conver-"

"OH That is IT!" I glared even narrower, "You are such a freakin' douche bag! You don't even know a thing about me, and if I were you, I would be petrified! I could freakin kick your ass up and down this wall but I am bit beyond that!"

"But not beyond sleeping with random guys?"

"Douche bag!!"

"Pixie."

"Stop. Saying that!"

He leaned in, almost to where our foreheads were touching, though strangely this didn't alarm me. I was far too pissed off for any internal alarms to go off.

"What you gonna do Pixie? Didn't you say you could kick my ass, both up, and down this wall? I think I'd like to see you try that."

"Oh don't tempt me. You have no idea-"

"No, you have no idea. Don't write people off. You never know who you are in bed with."

I rolled my eyes at his cruel sick joke, "You're such a bastard. Just get out of here."

He leaned back, his smirk more of an angry smirk. "Well you can be quite the bitch can't you."

I scoffed again, giving a small 'hmph'. I wasn't going to say anything, but I couldn't keep the words from spilling from my mouth, "Well you know what, random man with FREAKISHLY long hair? I don't care! And in fact I'm sorry! I wish I would have never drank so I would never have met you!!"

"Ouch"

"Yeah well if I'm the first person to say I don't like you, I'm doing you a favor."

"You really are a bitch aren't you pixie?"

"Just like you are every other bad name I can think of."

"Hey pixie.."

"What."

"Think fast!" he stated and next thing I knew, I was surrounded by a heavy blanket.

I disorientatedly flailed my arms around, trying to free myself from the heavy comforter prison, though by the time I finally freed myself....he was gone.

No trace that he was ever even here to begin with.

....Strangely this didn't bother me at the time. Goal one? Take a QUADRUPLE dose of aspirin. Goal two? Buy a pair of sunglasses and get the hell away from...wherever I was.

---- 24 hours later----

"Oh Ino it was awful!" I sobbed into the arms of my best friend, who was more than willing to listen to my troubles. "And the worst part is... I STILL don't remember a thing about what happened the night before all that!"

"Aw Sakura that IS awful!" she sighed, "Did you recognize the guy...or anything?"

The very mention of him made my blood boil and my body tense like a coiled snake. Man...if I ever ran into him again...I would have some fancy words to tell him! "No! I had no clue who he was, never seen him in my life- And if I never see him again, I will die happy. He was such a douche bag." Dramatic I know, but I was seriously pissed here.

Ino shrugged, "Well...maybe he was just frustrated and as freaked out as you were. I mean, he didn't know who you were either, and from your story he was completely lost too. I mean Sakura, there simply had to be something good about him if you went home wi-"

I gave her a quick glare, making sure she quickly corrected herself. I had not gone home with anyone. Turns out we were at a hotel about 40 minutes away from Konoha under the name of 'John Smith'. And a nice hotel at that, thank-you-very-much. I couldn't believe the hotel clerk believed that was his name. Though shoe on the other foot, I would have given a fake name too. Being a ninja and having life didn't mix well together. But John Smith? Seriously? A little creativity, I mean honestly.

"My bad...let him take you to a hotel. Sakura, can't I just say go home with h-"

"No!" I hissed back. "I have a reputation here...well whatever is left of it I guess. Going home with him means I'm a tramp, but letting him get a nice room shows I have standard and class...somewhat."

"Yeah yeah...geez you are picky."

I half smiled at her comment, then frowned as I remembered her emphasizing with him, "Hey wait now, who's side are you on by the way! I'm the victim here!"

No words truer than that. You can only imagine the terror as I realized I was sleeping in the same bed with a man I had not even met, I had no memories of how I got there, and then he has the audacity to compare me to a pixie and carnival freak! He didn't deserve any sympathy or anyone 'trying to see it from his perspective'

Ino laughed slightly, "Sakura, don't be dramatic here! You got drunk off your ass and slept with a guy. I mean, you don't even really remember details so just move on and forget about it. Stuff like this happens all the time."

After a long moment of silence, Ino moved closer to me, a small girlish smirk on her lips

"So...was he hott?" she asked in a giggle, eyes fully expectant of my answer.

I groaned. No! I did not want to talk about him! Me! I wanted pity! Because my life sucked! I know, I know, that sounds childish and selfish, but it's what I wanted. Just being honest here. "Seriously Ino?! Come on!"

"No Sakura.." she whined in a, rather annoying, voice, "Come on tell me!"

I sighed, knowing Ino could bring out the worst side of me- inner Sakura. Inner Sakura was over dramatic and spoke the first thing that came to her mind, entertaining (and honest) as they may be, it just wasn't how a ninja should act. Though outer Sakura always kept her imbalance in my head, and all in all I was a normal, mature individual. Just not around Ino.

I let the words fall out of my mouth quickly so I could get it over with, or she would never leave me alone about it. "Alright alright! ...He had long blonde hair and...andhehadagoodbody ALRIGHT?!" I was hoping she wouldn't be able to understand what I had said at the end, but I forgot that it was Ino- Queen of talking freakishly fast and expecting everyone to know what she said.

Ino gasped, giving me a look of shock and a hint of dark mischief too, "Sakura...I thought you said you didn't remember anything about the night..."

Oh gag! The very idea! "No!! Gross Ino! I saw his chest cause I don't think either of us bothered to put on clothes before we crashed- that's ALL I saw, got it Ino? For all I know he was wearing clothes- I have no clue!"

She crossed her arms and fell back into the couch, "Well that's no fun."

I sighed, happy the subject of 'him' was dropped, and began considering dropping the drinking. I wasn't an alcoholic believe it or not. In fact I hardly ever drank...just when I did...it was always in huge quantities..

Ino's voice broke my thoughts with yet another question, "Hey Sakura...what's that on your hand?"

She quickly grabbed my hand for inspection, a look of horror on her face. I looked at my hand with her, and a deadly long silence filled the air.

.....There was...a ring.

On my ring finger.

Ino laughed loudly as I shot up off the couch, shrieking and pulling at the small trinket "Oh my god!! Who's ring IS this?! Gross get it OFF!!"

I pulled it off with hatred and threw it across the room, staring at my, now bare hand as if the object were still there.

Ino still howled with laughter, though somehow still managed to talk in between her laughing fits "Sakura...I think we KNOW who that belongs to.. YOU AND DREAMBOY GOT HITCHED! Ha! This is great!!"

I ran over and shoved my hand over her mouth frantically, "Shush!! I. Didn't. Marry. Anyone."

I sighed and sat back down, feeling more stressed out than before. This snowball just kept rolling and rolling didn't it? I wasn't worried about being married to this random guy. All places around that were 'marriage license' places were just for fun...made to scare the hell out of drunk people I'm sure (they do their job quite nicely huh?) I was just so ready for this thing to just be over with. I did not need any more surprises.

Ino got up from the couch, heading over and grabbing the small trinket. "Hm, this is interesting...for a ring I mean." I rolled my eyes, though inwardly was sparked with curiosity, inner Sakura now at bay again.

"Ino...it's a ring ok?"

She sat back beside me, and despite my words, I still turned in to get a better view. It was a simple silver ring with a green emblem on the top, etched with the kanji 'green'. Wait...it was green...and said green?

....Lame!!

I turned back, "Ino, as said it's just a ring, can we just dro-"

"No Sakura...come on look. See, this ring...its so...weird.."

"Um...yeah!" I interjected, "It says green and it is green, like a child's book. Maybe he was still learning how to read for all I know."

Ino rolled her eyes, "Sakura please? Come on I'm being serious here...I have an idea."

I inhaled, finally deciding that, if only for her sake, I would at least pretend like I was listening. "Alright alright. Whats your grand idea?"

Ino spun it around slightly, looking for a signature or initials or something. She found nothing.

"Well think about it, there are two types of relationship rings overall right? An actual engagement ring, or for less serious relationships, a girl will often receive the guys class ring."

I interrupted. This was her grand idea? I should have expected as much coming from Ino. "Yes, overall the ring has to have some significance to the guy, that way when he gives it to her, it 'proves' that she is important to him as well. I get it Ino.."

Instead of letting it drop, like I wish she would have, she only built off my statement, "Exactly Sakura!"

Exactly? Exactly what? Now I was confused...

"Ino...come on just-"

"No listen ok? This ring is obviously not an engagement ring-"

"Obviously"

"SHUSH! And it's not a class ring...You get it?"

I wanted to slap myself in the face. Ino made no sense whatsoever...ever! . "No..surprisinglyIno..I'm completely lost!"

Ino smiled, suddenly doing a good job of explaining herself, "If he was trying to seduce you Sakura- which I am banking on- he would have given you something very important...almost collat for getting you in bed...if that makes sense."

"I follow so far..." I didn't like her terminology, but she was at least making sense...which was great improvement for her.

"Well from here it's not that difficult. There are only 3 classes of important rings, your club rings, sports ring, or family heirloom/gift ring..." she paused, and with a triumphant look declared with great excitement, "Sakura.....you can track this guy down!"

It finally clicked, everything that she was saying. And though it killed me to admit it, she was right. Which scared me. I did NOT want to track this guy down! I stood up quickly, backing away. "Ino no. No! You can't be serious! I can't randomly knock on this guys door 'hey remember me here's your ring' That's crazy! Not to mention we ended on a poor note. I DO NOT like this guy. He was insufferable!"

Ino stood up, adventure in her eyes, "Sakura think! Any club we can track down, for sports just find the matching team and year, and if its in the family, Konoha has one of the greatest historical generations archives in the entire ninja world!"

There was no way in hell I would track this guy down! It was all just one huge mistake!! I did not want to prolong this anymore than I had to, which (aw bummer) cut all tracking-down-the-random-guy-I-slept-with missions, out. I grabbed the ring from her quickly. If she kept it, she would track down the guy herself I'm sure of it! "Thank you Ino, but I'll take it from her!" I put the ring in my pocket for safe keeping and watched her excitement sizzle into a sad disappointment

"But...Sakura.."

I began walking out the door, "I know, I know. Thanks for listening Ino.. Now honestly, I seriously have to go and talk with Tsunade. She's already going to be pissed I didn't see her yesterday and she'll probably send the anbu out to capture me if I don't show up today." I turned as I walked out the door, "Now Ino...you swear you'll keep this to yourself?" Ino stood at the door warmly, "You have my word, no secret spilling here alright?"

I sighed in relief and hugged my best friend. "Thanks Ino, I owe you one."

I turned out into the street and headed out, waving Ino goodbye. I walked down towards Tsunade's office, elusive to the rest of the world as if the word 'slut' had been etched on my forehead. I'll admit it- I was embarrassed about the entire ordeal. I got so drunk, slept with a complete total stranger, and in the end because I was so drunk I didn't even remember any of it! ...And all I had left from my wild night of partying was a killer hangover the next day and an odd little ring (which seemed to grow even heavier in my pocket)

"Tsunade...I'm in!" I called, as I opened the door, finally reaching my destination.

"Ah Sakura, welcome!" her voice was almost pleasant, but there was an underlying sense of annoyance. She must be upset with me for not showing up to assist her yesterday. I immediately began to give my best attempt of an excuse, "Sorry about yesterday Shishou...you see, I got caught up in a bit of a situation and I couldn't even-"

I paused my sentence as I entered into the room, shocked as I saw her cluttered desk....even more cluttered than usual. Today there were STACKS....literal stacks of papers that covered her entire desk space. Had she not have said anything, I would have never even knew she was at her desk at all.

I set my shoulder bag down on a nearby office chair, walking around to the edge of her desk, revealing a very disgruntled hokage.

"Wow...busy day..."

Often, she would get caught up in hokage paperwork, and she was always great about making sure it got done. (By making me or Shizune do it..) This though....this was insane! I had never seen her desk so full of papers, all stamped with 'Top Priority' classifications.

Tsunade gave a sharp nod, scribbling words down. She was incredibly stressed out, though at the same time...the air seemed...almost sorrowful. Though I couldn't blame her. I would want to jump off a cliff if I had five million papers to work through, all claiming to be of 'top priority' or whatever that was supposed to mean. She continued writing down words, scratching them into the paper mercilessly. I thought she would break the pen in half!

Usually I minded my own business...but I couldn't help but be curious here. "Um...Tsunade, what's going on here? Why do you have so much...stuff?" It must have been awfully important if she was doing it herself. In most cases she would have left and screwed me over into doing it. But she was still here.

With a light sigh, Tsunade gently set down the pen and looked up at me, attempting to look as normal, as non-frustrated as possible.

"Sakura, we have a problem." she said, in THAT voice. You see, she has her regular voice, then she has her diplomatic, authoritative hokage voice. That was the one she was using. Which was weird considering it was just me here.

"Problem?" I repeated, interesting that she said that. It was clearthat there was a problem, there were a gajillion papers to prove it. Why bother telling me what I could already see?

She sighed, clearly debating with herself how much I should know, which worried me. I had seen this pattern before, being around her so often. Somehow, I was related into this whole mess. Which would explain why she was being so professional with the introductions and using her hokage voice.

"Well Sakura, I will just have to say it flat out. There have been some rumors...going around..."

My blood froze. Ino.

I would kill her.

Did she seriously tell Tsunade- the hokage, my mentor, and surrogate mother all in one?!

I calmed myself down. No, I was simply on edge about the whole thing. This simply couldn't be what she was talking about. No one would write up all these 'top priority' papers about me, no matter what I did. As dramatic as I was, my recent activities had nothing to do with whatever Tsunade was about to tell me.

Tsunade remained grim, which only strengthened my decision that I was safe. "Tsuande...what rumors?" I was tense too I realized. I knew it wasn't literally about me, but it involved me. And Tsunade didn't look happy either.

...What was going on?

Tsuande sat back in her chair, trying to relax away the growing tension in the room, "Well, there have been rumors that..." she inhaled deeply, pausing as if the strength just wasn't there, then continued "Sakura, there have been rumors that Orochimaru has taken over Sasuke's body."

If my world were ice, it just shattered. It was instantly like an out of body experience. I could see everything outside of myself so it seemed. The was a pink headed girl, with this...simply awful look on her face who crashed to the ground quickly like a flower without water or light.

"Sakura?!" Tsuande rushed over, trying to console her...me...but it was just..

Too much. How could I....when did it all?

No it couldn't....It couldn't be true!

Sasuke was still Sasuke!

He would never allow Orochimaru to... he was still here!

He was still my comrade and he would come back to Konoha one day!!

.....

....

I'm not sure how much time passed, me on the floor shaking, with Tsunade frantically trying to tell me it would all be ok. But it just wouldn't work. Nothing would be ok. Sasuke was....was he really gone? How can someone one day be so alive...and the next day not exist? It was all just...too extreme.

Finally, I found words. And I begged they would get the response I wanted. They were the only words I could come up with, the only words that would keep me sane.

"B-but...Tsunade...they...they are just rumors.. It could all be.."

Tsunade grabbed my shoulder, "Sakura...I doubt they are just rumors."

And I wanted to collapse again.

Tsunade grabbed me again, giving me a slight shake, "Sakura- Sakura no! Come on, I can't have you respond like this!! I'm telling you for a reason, Sakura! Sakura stay with me!!"

I had almost mentally checked out, practically catatonic from the shock of the whole thing. Slowly, I turned to look at her telling her that I was trying.

She pulled me up slowly, helping me balance my off centered footing. "Sakura, Orochimaru is going around, killing people at will trying to master all jutsu...and he is gaining so much power. But...it's just not enough for him."

Her hard eyes narrowed, catching whatever attention I could give her, "Sakura he is after Naruto."

That froze my world again, and jump started it like electricity.

"What?!" I shrieked, now more worried for my alive friend than over the loss of my dead one. "Why Naruto?!"

She sighed, though appeared more relieved that my mind was still functioning. "Same reason the Akatsuki is, he has the nine tails."

I couldn't help but bite my lower lip to keep myself from just screaming in rage. Orochimaru- I hated him. Just as much as I hated that Itachi too.

Both men were horrid excuses of a human being, and both deserved to be hated.

Hate was a strong word...but, perhaps not strong enough when it came to how I felt about them.

I detested..no...I abhored...no..

I continued to test out words, inner Sakura trying out all coo responding words, and when she ran out, began brainstorming words from other languages, using every word I could think of to describe how much I hated them- then spent her time putting the words in a list- alphabetically.

Though out of the two- I think I hated Orochimaru the most.

That was something both outer, and inner Sakura could agree upon.

Sasuke was gone, and now he was trying to hurt Naruto too.

Tsuande smiled, "I know it sounds awful, but I'm happy to see you angry about all of this. Because you'll need that passion later on. You see Sakura, if Orochimaru does get the nine tails, then it's game over for the world...as dramatic as that sounds. We all know that he will destroy Konoha, and if Konoha is destroyed all ninja countries will go to war with each other trying to establish the next world power. Ultimately, we would just destroy ourselves."

"And as if Orochimaru would just disappear after we were out of the picture.."

She nodded, "Exactly. He would just cause havoc until every living thing ceased to exist. But here is the problem Sakura. Orochimaru now has his power, PLUS all the power and strength of Sasuke-"

"And the sharingan"

"Plus what he has gained since he took his new host."

I sighed, seeing what she was talking about. Orochimaru was simply too strong. Even with the power he had right now, if he played his cards right, he could destroy Konoha. Though he wanted the nine tails first so it seemed. Though this bought them some time, the problem still remained. Who would take him down?

"So I get Sasuke and all-" It almost burned to say his name...but now just wasn't the time to talk about it, "but where do I come in at?"

Tsunade smiled, "Well, as you can guess, Konoha needs to take him down before he takes us down, so I am sending our best of the best out. I was thinking Kakashi, sharingan for sharingan, Neji of course, Shikamaru, a few others...and I would like you to go as our best medical ninja."

I was slightly taken back "Tsunade this is...I mean, not to be rude, but even with that team I'm just..."

"Well if you'd rather, I can go...but 2nd best just won't cut it here, so I would prefer if you did.."

"...Second best? Tsunade you have got to be joking I am not eve-"

Tsunade smiled, "Sakura your methods of chakra use and healing passed mine long ago. ....I need you on that team. If you don't then the team will be wiped out. Simple as that."

I sighed. Not that I didn't want to help, but I just didn't see the point. Those people, myself...we were all so strong...but it wouldn't be enough. At least not that combination. Maybe if we got other papers together though...tried a different team, we could pull it off.

"Alright, as your adviser though, I would really recommend that we try to find the right team that can defeat him. I mean I can keep them healed up and all, but we need to have a good percentage of success in order to make this work." I was certain in my words, and Tsunade gave me a nodd of agreement. It would be a hard task and just the right team had to be selected or there would be no Konoha- and no world.

"I won't send out a team until I am sure you have over a 50% chance of defeating him."

"That's a low number Tsunade..." I wasn't necessarily disagreeing with her, just more of a statement. In most cases, a fifty percent chance of survival was looked at as certain death practically. It did surprise me she was allowing the number to be so low.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures."

I sighed again, still not liking how it all sounded. But it was my job.

And Tsunade was right. It was the end of the world. New things would have to be done to get a good outcome. Even if it meant people dying...even if it meant me dying.. I was ok with it.

I was a personal adviser to the hokage, and my skill was respected and honored throughout the village. I myself could assign missions and asses reports...time had changed my status in the village.

I had to protect Konoha from Orochimaru no matter what.

"Sakura...as a friend I'm asking you to do this...can I count on you?"

I nodded firmly, "Of course Shishou. What can I do to help?"

She nodded back, face determined as mine, "I need you to run back and grab all the files you have stored at your apartment- we will need them to set up a team- the 'right' team, as you referred to it."

"Hai." I walked towards the door, pausing in step and turning around slightly, curiousity brimming slightly, "Does...does Naruto know yet?"

Tsunade shook her head, "No..no he doesn't. I don't think it wise to tell him just yet. I will, but only when the time is right. I can't have him trying to force matters into his own hands- that would end in disaster."

I secretly agreed with her. Naruto would demand to go on the mission and perhaps try to go one on one with Orochimaru, then get himself and the rest of the world killed. In a situation like this, zero mistakes could be made, and risky steps had to be taken, and executed perfectly. I'm sure things would happen that had never happened before and never would again.

After dismissing myself, I began my walk back to my apartment, wondering how it would all play out.

Tsunade said a fifty percent chance of success was the minimum...and I was wondering how she would even get that, now that I began to lightly play out scenarios in my head. A part of me was slightly skeptical, wondering what the number would be based off from. It would be easy to not think of something and leave out an important detail by mistake. Orochimaru himself was a hard enough reality, but lets not forget his freakishly strong followers and experiments and who knows what else. If the entire team made it to the ending fight it would be a miracle. And even putting together a strong enough chance for a half and half outcome seemed impossible.

Though I didn't allow that to get me down. I began shifting my mind, putting use to both inner Sakura as well, trying to find a good idea I could present to the hokage by the time I got back.

When Sasuke left, the news was huge. At first it seemed catastrophic, but soon, everyone saw it as a blessing. An Uchiha? Orochimaru began to become a rising threat, and everyone just assumed that Sasuke would take him down in his own time, not the other way around. I could only imagine how other countries were handling it. Because of their belief that Sasuke would destroy him, no one- not even Konoha- had considered what would happen if Sasuke failed.

Perhaps just to take my mind of the dark new situation, I grabbed the ring out of my pocket and actually...smiled at it. It was amazing to think that just a few hours ago I was so distraught over the tiny thing when there were much bigger issues going on. I looked at it again, audibly laughing at the ring that was, and both read 'green'. At least I was laughing until something clicked...well something clicked..but I didn't know what.

I couldn't describe it...but I knew this ring some how. Like not this exact ring...but I had encountered these rings before...somewhere. I just didn't know where. Somehow I knew there was a connection I had with the ring, and it was more than a wild one night stand.

I shoved the ring back in my pocket, deciding that perhaps I might do a background check on it and see who the ring belonged to. Ino would flip out if she knew I was possibly going to use her idea, but what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her. Though in the mean time, my pace hurried up slightly as the temperatures dropped and the wind picked up.

Instead of taking time to stay up late and try to sort my thoughts from all the craziness, I instantly tumbled into bed, casting a jutsu on myself to force myself to fall asleep before my mind could begin wondering. I would face Sasuke's death....face the possible end of Konoha...just not now.

I simply couldn't handle it yet.

A/N: Wow. Gunshot beginning. Who the crap is that guy- and Sasuke is dead?! Orochimaru is causing havic and it's up to Konoha to take care of the situation! How will Konoha respond? What happens if Naruto finds out?

I am starting this story and I will be doing this a bit differently, that way (unlike my last stories) I will be having consistent updates, (roughly at the same time every other Monday night/ Tuesday morning) and overall, I hope the quality of my stories begin improving. For this story, I edit each chapter about 5-6 times, to assure that it is what I want, that the plot stays straight, that sort of thing. At this point, I am already on the 6th chapter, that way if I do hit a writers block (practically inevitable), I have time to work though it, without forcing some nasty words on a page, while still giving you timely reliable updates.

So ultimately this means, that you the reader, will still getting a consistent update every 2 weeks! If you have been a follower of any of my other two stories, especially broken mirror, this will come as a shock to you. Don't be alarmed, just something I thought would make my writing better for both me, and you :) As usual of course, I love feedback and it is always exciting to see people's responses to my work. Predictions, questions...no flames please. There is a difference between feedback and ranting, so please be respectful. Thank you and wish me luck as I keep writing!