And another chapter, because I'm not allowed on the Internet. Haha…

- - -

"Ino."

"Sakura?!" The blond woman shot up, wincing and placing a hand on her side as she did so.

"Lay down," Sakura ordered, pushing Ino back down. "Your wound will open, and from the looks of it, they just got it to close. Dei-kun, can you get my bag?"

"Already have it, Sakura-chan, un!" Deidara beamed, proud of himself. "Do you need the cream? What color? Red? Blue? Green? Yellow? Puke-colored? Man, Sakura-chan, you sure have a lot of creams, un…"
Rolling his eyes, Sasori reached for the bag – only to find that it was gone. Sakura grinned at Tenten as she pressed the bandages into her outstretched hand.

"Thanks, Tenten-san. Dei-kun goes one and on…" She wrapped the snowy fabric around Ino's midriff as she spoke, both girls ignoring Deidara, who was crying in the background because he hadn't gotten to help Sakura-chan, un.

"Sa-Sakura, why are you here?!" Ino demanded feebly as Sakura cleaned her hands on a towel that Tenten had brought her.

"Long story, Ino," Sakura replied, jade eyes flickering across her friend's face. "Now, tell me why you're here."

"Oto attacked us; we scattered, and I don't know where anybody else is. I faintly remember dragging myself into a dark corner before passing out," Ino said, narrowing her sky-blue eyes.

"So Orochimaru is still alive," Itachi stated from the doorway. Sakura whirled around, pastel hair flying.

"You know him, Itachi-san?" she exclaimed. "When I saw him a year ago, I thought it was because of Sasuke." Itachi's eyes flashed crimson in anger. Before he could speak, Sasori cut in.

"Certainly," he said calmly. "In fact, he used to be my partner. When he deserted, Deidara took his place."

"He deserted…?" Tenten whispered in a hushed voice.

Sasori nodded. "Quite a few years ago, actually. He took his follower – that kid, Kabuto – and disappeared."

"Kabuto!" Sakura gasped, remembering the night she'd met Itachi, Orochimaru, and Kabuto.

"Does he still wear his ring?" Itachi inquired, coming to stand behind Sakura. He looked expectantly at Ino.

She furrowed her brow, thinking back. "You mean… that purple one?" she asked hesitantly after a few moments. Itachi nodded. "Yes, he was wearing it."

"Good," Itachi said, as if to himself. "Then he hasn't lost it." He looked down at Sakura. "We need that ring. Take Deidara, Sasori, and Tenten-san, and bring it back – preferably without alerting Orochimaru. Can you do that?"

"Hai, Itachi-san!" she replied instantly. "If you don't mind me asking… What is this ring's importance?" She glanced down at the ring she wore on her own finger; the one that her brother had also worn (A/N: Not the Akatsuki ring. The other one, remember?).

"Not at all, Sakura-chan," Itachi chuckled. "Each member of the core group wears a ring to identify him or her as such. Tenten-san will wear Orochimaru's ring; that is why she is on this mission. No traitor may wear our ring. I hope that cleared something up for you."

She bowed, abruptly standing and calling to Sasori and Deidara. "Hai, Itachi-san. Dei-kun, Sasori-san, Tenten-san, meet me outside in five minutes!"

Ino struggled to sit up, eyes wide in alarm. "Sakura! Don't – "

Sakura turned back to Itachi, emerald eyes searching. "Take good care of Ino for me, okay, Itachi-san?" He nodded curtly, patting her head.

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan. Your friend will come to no harm," he assured her. She visibly relaxed, bowing.

"Arigato, Itachi-san. Ino, stay here until I get back, okay?"

Ino shot her a worried glance. "But – "

"Go, Sakura-chan," Itachi commanded firmly, pushing Ino down. "Come back in one piece."

Sakura's eyes widened. "You do care… How sweet!" She gave a teasing grin. IN return, she received a warning growl. She sighed. "Hai, Itachi-san! We will come back alive!" Itachi watched as she ran out the door.

- - -

"What's our plan?" Tenten asked as they set off toward Oto. She looked at Deidara, who looked at Sasori, who looked at Sakura, who shrugged.

"Stay alive, I guess," she said, thinking.

"No, really," Tenten said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I'm serious, Sakura-san."

Sakura sighed. "Just call me Sakura, please. I guess we'll go in, get someone to tell us where Orochimaru – and thus, the ring – is, get it, and get out. Do – "

Her foot had hit something soft and warm. She stopped short, crouching down to see better and gasping in recognition at the blue-haired girl curled up on the ground.

"Hinata!" She gently pulled the girl up into a sitting position and helped her lean against a nearby wall, giving her a little bit of water from a bottle in her bag. "Hinata, what happened?"

When Hinata lifted her head, lamplight glinted off of her eerie white eyes, and Tenten gasped in recognition. "I've seen those eyes somewhere before!" she exclaimed.

Sakura looked uncertainly at her, then at Hinata. "Have you seen her before, Hinata?" Hinata shook her head feebly.
"No, no," Tenten muttered, concentrating intently on Hinata's eyes. "It was a guy, with long brown hair and bandages around him right arm and leg."

Hinata spoke up unexpectedly. "N-Neji-niisan," she whispered. "It m-must have b-been N-Neji-niisan." She coughed.

Quickly, Sakura placed the water aside and rummaged in her bag, coming up with a small jar of black pills. "Take one," she urged Hinata, placing it in her hand. The blue-haired girl obeyed and straightened up as energy coursed through her veins. "What happened?" Hinata's head dropped a little.

"Oto attacked us y-yesterday, Izumo-san and K-Kotetsu-san are dead, b-but everybody e-else is f-fine," she whimpered. "Th-they thought I w-was d-dead – N-Naruto-kun d-did – and I'm all alone n-now…" She was going into shock.

Sakura frowned, feeling Hinata's forehead. "I don't have the materials to take care of this right now… Dei-kun, can you take her back to Itachi-san for me and ask him to take care of her? Ino will know her."

"Of course, Sakura-chan, un!" he beamed, picking Hinata up like a baby. "I will protect her! Goodbye!" To Hinata, he murmured, "I'm bringing you somewhere safe, okay, Hinata-chan? Stay with me here, un…"

Sakura watched worriedly as he disappeared with Hinata in his arms, but turned abruptly, saying, "Let's go, then. Should we cut Orochimaru's hands off? Or should we just kinda slip the ring off of his finger? Should we take the finger off?"

Tenten blanched in mock horror. "Oh, Sakura-chan, where do you get your ideas from? We'd be safer just chopping his whole head off!"

Sasori chuckled quietly. "That's actually not a bad idea, Tenten-san," he said softly. "Not a bad idea at all…"

"If that's what you want to do, Sasori-san," Sakura cut in, "we can try – but Itachi-san said not to alert him. So what if we wait until he's asleep or something, then kill him or something?"

He nodded. "Sounds good to me, Sakura-san," he concluded. Sakura grinned.

"Then it's settled. Look, we're here. I've been to Oto a few times, so I know where Orochimaru's room is. I just never knew it was Orochimaru who headed Oto."

They snuck past a few sentries and down a long hallway, slipping into the shadows whenever someone came by. Soon, Sakura spotted fancier-looking doors, until they came to one marked "Uchiha Sasuke".

"That's all the proof I need that he was planning to join Oto," she said coldly, her jaw firmly set. "Orochimaru's room should be the next one down…"

And it was. Somehow, Orochimaru had his back turned to the door when they entered, and a well-aimed swarm of senbon dispatched him neatly. Sakura slid the ring off of his long finger and pocketed it.

"All right, mission completed. Let's go back."
"I don't think so," a new voice remarked from the door. Kabuto stood, blocking the door with a smug smile on his face.

"Move, Kabuto," Sakura snarled.

He shook his head. "I cannot allow you to leave here alive," he said politely. "It would dampen the morale here horribly to think that people can just waltz in and take out Orochimaru-sama."

"Well, it's true, isn't it?" Tenten snarled quietly form behind Sakura. Sasori shot her a warning glance, shaking his head slightly. She ducked her head in apology.

Kabuto frowned, looking at Orochimaru's limp body. "Yes, about that. Orochimaru-sama was weakening already ever since Sasuke-kun died (here Sakura gave a tiny triumphant smirk), and I was planning to take over anyways. Now that you've taken care of him for me, all I have to do is defeat you, and I can claim his place as leader of Oto with no problem."

Sakura wrinkled her nose. "Why does the subordinate always try to take over his leader's position? It only ends in both their downfalls."

"That is what Itachi-san did, though," Sasori said dryly. She colored, glaring at him.

"Well, maybe not always," she decided. Without warning, she leapt at Kabuto, knives in hand. Kabuto deflected her attack, but left himself open to other attacks – which Tenten and Sasori took full advantage of.

A quick slash of a kunai later, the three slipped out of Oto, leaving behind two dead bodies and no clue as to who had done it.

- - -

Another chapter done! Two thirds there!! So, two of my friends and I went to Toronto to see the Naruto movie in English (which, I assure myself, I am never doing again…) so that we could watch the behind the scenes thing afterwards. It was fun, and we got to see some of the Japanese voice actors too! I still think that my friend should have dressed up… We should have gone into the future, or something to get the costume… I'm going to be Tenten for Halloween, so I've started thinking waaaay ahead. I've gotta make the sandals and the hitai-ate, though… Bleh.