The Blood Shed To Save

Everyone ready for the first chapter? Well, enjoy!

(This is chapter was uploaded once again because my computer wouldn't allow me to see it for some strange reason.)

Chapter 1 – The Making of Plans

"You're late."

Sakura closed the door behind her silently, entering their shared hotel room for the night. She shrugged off her tan colored raincoat, casually hanging it on a silver coat hanger close to the entryway.

"I'm here, aren't I?" Sasuke didn't reply to her question, keeping his back to her as he stared out into the stormy outside. Sakura walked near him, stopping a few feet away. She didn't say anything, allowing them to enjoy the rare silence that was seemed to always be disrupted.

Her gaze lingered on him a moment longer before she turned towards the bed, sitting down to take off her sandals. Sakura sighed softly as she slowly crawled onto the bed, letting her head hit the soft, feathery pillow. She faced the wall opposite of the window, closing her eyes. Unfortunately, though she tried to drift into the comfortable darkness of sleep, it would not come.

"Sasuke?" Sakura turned towards him, her emerald eyes opening. He said nothing, but he slightly turned his head to show her she had his attention. "Who will win this battle?" Her voice softened as each word was spoken, knowing this rude question could very well decide her fate now. Sasuke's body tensed as he turned towards her with his cold gaze.

"We shall see, Sakura." The pink-haired medical nin narrowed her eyes on the young Uchiha.

"You just won't admit that there is a possibility of failure." Sakura argued, her voice cool and composed. Sasuke merely blinked at her.

"I know fully well what my chances are." He simply replied, showing no emotion whatsoever. Sakura glared at him for the answer.

Before Sakura could react quickly enough, Sasuke held a kunai to her neck. "You obviously don't know your own chances." Sakura said nothing to him. They stayed in the same position a moment longer before Sasuke slowly withdrew the kunai. Glancing at her once, he moved over to the other side of the bed where he turned away from her.

Sakura placed her hand lightly against her neck, unable to feel any blood. Narrowing her eyes on him, Sakura turned away from him as well, putting as much distance between them as possible.

"Of all people to look after, Sasuke, you." Sakura whispered in a soft, muted voice.

"It was your choice." Sasuke murmured, his eyes shifting from crimson to dark blue.

…

…

…

"…Yeah."

By early dawn, Sakura and Sasuke had already set out to their next destination, the Sound Village. Most of the journey was traveled in silence, barely speaking to one another as the rain continued to pour on them. Sakura actually felt relief when they reached the border of Sound, seeing the familiar guards patrolling the area.

The guards merely nodded to them, already knowing exactly who they were. Sasuke did nothing to acknowledge them as he walked past them. Sakura was different, nodding back to them with her impassive gaze meeting theirs. Without another glance, they continued through the clustered trees on a barely visible trail leading to the village.

Walking through the strong, high walls of the hidden village, Sakura followed behind Sasuke towards Orochimaru's lair. As they descended the stairs leading into the underground headquarters, she wrinkled her nose at the smell of decaying bodies of the Sanin's experiments. Her eyes kept focused on Sasuke's back, trying her best to ignore the crying, begging prisoners in the cages as they reached towards them through the iron bars holding them in. When Sakura reached the end of the hallway, past the prisoners, she was comforted by the fact that she was almost home as she exhaled a held-in breath.

Sasuke led her towards the Orochimaru's throne room after going through a series of long, seemingly endless hallways. As they approached, the giant doors—their handles carved into snakes—slowly creaked open. Torches on stone pillars leading farther into the room soon dimly lighted the darkness that awaited them.

Sasuke glanced towards Sakura, nodding once before he began walking. Sakura tried her best to relax as she patiently waited for her teammate to return. She had always hated waiting outside, never being able to meet with Orochimaru-sama. It was uncomfortable, knowing that Kabuto was probably watching her in the darkness just incase she did anything to disobey orders.

After waiting a few minutes, she heard soft footsteps approaching her from behind. She turned her head slightly, glancing warily in that direction. Her eyes narrowed when her fellow medical nin, Kabuto, appeared from the darkness of the hallway.

"Hello, Sakura-chan…" He smirked, casually folding his arms against his chest. Sakura said nothing to him, as he grew closer. "Are you ready for your daily training?" Sakura thought back to waiting for Sasuke, but she knew he would be fine. She simply nodded to him as she brushed past him.

"Let's go…"

Sakura leaned against a tree outside the hideout, trying her best to catch her breath. She frowned slightly, feeling Kabuto's chakra signature nearing once again. Today's training seemed to be rougher and harsher than usual. Her muscles ached and she had already used up half of her chakra supply.

Her emerald gaze swept across her surroundings, noticing nothing but silence. Sakura used a hand to push herself up until she stood, carefully taking a kunai in hand. Kabuto was close, and he was about to strike.

Without enough time to react, Sakura felt the gray-haired man encircled an arm around her waist, placing his own kunai next to her neck. Alarmed by their position, Sakura rammed her elbow into his chest, causing his grip to loosen enough for the pink-haired kunoichi to escape. Kabuto growled lowly, quickly recovering from the blow as he raced up with a kunai.

Sakura spun around, blocking the kunai with her own, gritting her teeth together when neither of them gave way. Kabuto withdrew another kunai, attempting to stab her in the stomach with the weapon but she narrowly dodged by shifting to the side.

"Give it up, Sakura-chan." Kabuto smirked at her, finding an opening in her defenses. Sakura's eyes widened when Kabuto stepped closer, kicking her in the side with a roundhouse kick. She gasped out in surprise, falling to her knees. Returning the kunais to his weapon pouch, he walked forward as he crouched down in front of her. Kabuto smacked the kunai out of her hand, smirking as Sakura glared at him.

"No." Sakura replied, throwing a punch at his face. He effortlessly caught the punch, raising an eyebrow at her.

"You don't know when to stop, do you?"

"I won't ever stop."

Amusement flickered across Kabuto's dark eyes. "Very well." Sakura felt pain erupt in her stomach as Kabuto punched her. She coughed out blood onto the ground as her hand slipped out of his grip. He merely watched her, a sick grin displayed across his features.

Sakura struggled to stand up, ignoring the aching pain. Without warning, Sakura swept a foot under Kabuto's feet, catching him unguarded. Using her new advantage, she quickly gathered chakra into her fist. Kabuto noticed the intensity of the chakra, his eyes widening a little less than a fraction. Throwing the punch into his face, she heard the cracking of bone as Kabuto's body flew into a tree several yards away.

Kabuto slid down the tree as Sakura grew closer, examining his state from a safe distance. Blood dripped down the corner of his mouth as he glanced up at Sakura with impassive eyes. The magnitude of the pain from his injuries could possibly result in punishment and the pink-haired medical kunoichi wouldn't regret her actions. Yet, something unexpected happened.

Kabuto displayed a genuine smile as he leaned his back against the tree. Sakura stared at him, shock flashing across her emerald eyes. "Good training session." He murmured, spitting out blood onto the ground. "I expect more from you throughout the week." Sakura blinked before smirking as she slowly walked up to him, extending a hand.

Kabuto glanced at the hand, unsure of whether to take it. Within a short moment, Kabuto had grasped Sakura's hand as she pulled him up to his feet. She stepped back a few paces, nodding as the smirk began to fade away.

"Of course."

Sakura fell onto her bed, not bothering to change into clothes that were comfortable. It be truthful, she was exhausted from Kabuto's intense training. Sakura stared at the ceiling through half-lidded eyes, silently wondering if she was improving with the one-on-one spars with Kabuto. As she began to drift to sleep, she barely heard her bedroom door open.

Sakura didn't bother to open her eyes again, already knowing who it was. "What is it, Sasuke?" The door shut behind him as he walked towards the bed. He continued to watch Sakura, and she knew it.

"We leave in a week." Sakura's eyes fluttered open as she sat up, staring at Sasuke in surprise. Sasuke merely nodded slightly.

"…What for?" Sakura asked, her eyes searching his face for any emotion. She found none.

"I will be training with you and Orochimaru alone." Sakura felt her mouth open a bit in shock. Sasuke sat down on the edge of the bed, his gaze downcast on the floor. "The only reason I am bringing you, Sakura, is because you have the greatest medical skills known to the shinobi world."

"Is that a compliment?" Sakura accidentally murmured aloud her question.

"It is a fact." Sasuke turned towards her, his gaze locking onto hers. Sakura's eyes lingered on him for a moment before she glanced down at the ground. She exhaled a soft breath.

"…Understood." Sakura could feel Sasuke's crimson eyes watching her, but she said nothing more. She leaned back onto the bed, letting her head rest on the pillow as she closed her eyes once again. Soon enough, Sasuke left the room, leaving Sakura in the darkness, comforted by the sound of silence.

Orochimaru calmly sat across from Kabuto, raising an eyebrow. "What exactly are you suggesting, Kabuto?" Kabuto merely smirked at his master.

"If Itachi and Sasuke are fighting, who do you honestly think will win, Orochimaru-sama?" Orochimaru intertwined his hands together, bending his down slightly.

"Through my experiences, definitely Uchiha Itachi. Why do you ask?" Kabuto looked up from his kneeled position. His round-wired glasses flashed briefly from the torches' shining light.

"If you think about it, Orochimaru-sama, even with your training, Sasuke will lose, yet give Itachi a good enough fight to be weakened momentarily." Orochimaru nodded slowly, understanding beginning to creep into the surface of his mind. "You will need to transfer into a new vessel soon and if we act during the battle, Itachi or Sasuke would be too weakened to resist."

Orochimaru's golden eyes flickered with wicked amusement. "I will be training Sasuke before the fight, so Itachi should be more weakened than we should come to expect." Orochimaru leaned back against his chair, scratching the side of his cheek slightly. "It won't matter who will become the new vessel, as long as I have the Sharingan." Kabuto merely nodded, beginning to stand from his position.

"We leave in a week." Orochimaru bent his head in inquiry towards Kabuto's random statement. Kabuto pushed up his glasses farther up the bridge of his nose. "What will we do with Haruno Sakura as we prepare for the journey?"

"Kabuto, you will train her until we leave." Kabuto raised an eyebrow. "You will be following our trail, thus allowing Sasuke to believe nothing suspicious will occur."

"Sakura-chan will be the medic?"

"Unless you are absolutely needed." Orochimaru chuckled softly, his deep voice echoing around the room. "Sasuke-kun requested her for this mission, instead of you. I can only wonder why…" Kabuto bowed to his master for a moment, awaiting dismissal.

"Haruno Sakura will be trained for the mission. I will make sure she is ready by the time we leave." Kabuto assured him quietly, as Orochimaru waved him off. "Oh, and let's not forget, I will be ready as well to help with the new vessel."

This chapter was very, very short as you can all see. However, the upcoming updates will be much, much longer, I can assure you. I just hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. :) Everything is falling into place as the plot starts to rev up! Yay, I haven't had a writing block on this story yet!

This story is not AU. Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke were in Team 7, and the original story played out until Sasuke left. There will be more details on that part later in the story though. (If anyone is interested, Sakura is only at Chuunin rank, but that, as well, will be detailed later in the story.)

Although this story has not been updated in a long time, more chapters are on the way! Oh, and let's not forget, a few surprises are in store for everyone soon.

Until the next chapter,

SharinganAnbuSakura