I know this chapter is kind of short. But I really didn't want to go past that point in the story.

Whew! At least it's done.

This chapter I felt was difficult to write because everything went so fast, but if I slowed it down it just would be boring and just... just broing. Next chapter I know will be short but after that the chapters will be longer!

Sorry it took so long to update! I was gone all day!

Sakura's hallucinations are italic

Chapter 4

Sakura was still wincing from the pain. Clenching Shikaku's flak jacket from the pain she was experiencing.

Orochimaru and the other man had left. Leaving Sakura and Shikaku there alone.

And now Shikaku was waiting for Genma and Raido to come back. Why was it taking them so long? He felt their chakra getting closer but they should've been here by now. Did he make a mistake when he calculated their distance away. God, he was getting old. But aren't you supposed to get wiser as you get older? Oh well, whatever.

He knew he had to get her back to the Leaf, he thought that maybe Tsunade would be able to calm her down from whatever pain she was in.

If he remembered correctly it was the same mark Uchiha Sasuke was given during the chunin exams.

But something about the mark was off. It looked the same but at the same time it didn't look the same. He knew that is was a ridiculous thought how could two things be the same but not the same. It was really bugging him that he couldn't think of what was so different. It was on the tip of his tongue but it wouldn't come off.

He couldn't put his finger on it., and it was pissing him off.

Genma and Raido arrived two minutes later and Genma hopped down from the tree wanting to know what happened to Sakura and then said she looked like she had the plague. Shikaku ignored this description. But Shikaku told him he would tell him on the way but he needed to summon something to get them back to the village pronto.

Genma bit his thumb and performed the summoning jutsu.

He summoned a very, very large pelican. "Yo." It said when the smoke revealed a giant pelican with a cigar in its mouth.

"Akiyoshi!" Genma said happily. "Can you take us back to the village?" he asked it.

"No problem!" the giant bird spoke.

The pelican opened it's large beak, and spit out the cigar, which landed to the ground with a thud, and Genma climbed in.

"You're kidding right?" Raido said jumping down from the tree.

"Listen, if we're in his beak he could fly faster, then he won't have to worry that we might fall off."

"I'm not sure how I feel about this." Raido said. He wasn't too fond about setting foot in a bird's mouth.

"Will you just get in!" Genma yelled at him from the bird's beak.

Shikaku sighed and did as Genma did climbing into the bird's mouth with Sakura in his arms. And Raido followed behind accepting the fact he was going to be inside a bird's mouth for a good hour. Even though he really didn't want to.

The bird closed it's beak and it became pitch dark and the smell from the cigar was pungent. They felt the bird rise from the ground and then after that the were flying...fast.

"Akiyoshi is the fastest of the pelicans. Since we're in his beak he could fly almost at the speed of The Flying Thunder God." Genma told them in the pitch darkness.

She opened her mouth to say something but no words came out. Nothing. Not even a whisper.

She opened her eyes, at least she could see something but everything was blurred. Was she under water? That's at least what it looked like.

Suddenly water went into her nose and she was falling deeper and deeper. She was drowning.

She mouthed the words help, but no sound came out.

She was going deeper and deeper.

She tried to swim up but couldn't she was stuck and it was like something was pulling her further and further down.

She saw something in the corner of her eye and she looked over to the side.

Naruto? She wondered.

It was in fact Naruto he was falling too. But faster than she was. His eyes were closed and he was trying so hard to hold his breath but was slowly losing it.

He started coughing pulling in water into his throat and to his lungs.

Before someone drowns, as a reflex their body forces them to breath.

But all they breath in is water.

And then they slowly fade into the darkness of death.

Naruto's fighting ceased and he fell faster and faster to the bottom.

She watched in horror as he died right before her eyes. She tried to swim to him but she couldn't move. And Naruto was getting further and further away.

Naruto! She thought. She was watching him die and it was killing her that she couldn't do anything.

To the other side there was someone else.

Sasuke…

He was falling fast, maybe even faster than Naruto.

When he coughed though, he coughed up blood and he took in the water, the final reflex, that killed him and he sank to the bottom, just like Naruto.

Tears came to her eyes and she realized she could do nothing.

Anything she did wouldn't even come close to helping them.

Kakashi-Sensei.

No. She couldn't watch she couldn't but when she closed her eyes she still watched as her Sensei dropped to the bottom of the water.

No!

But she was still alive? Why? She was falling so slowly. She should be dead!

"She keeps squirming." Shikaku stated.

"Well what happened?" Genma asked.

They were still in the dark of the bird's mouth and unfortunately the smell of the cigar did not go away.

"Orochimaru gave her the cursed seal. I think it's the same as Anko's and the Uchiha's. But somethings different about it." He told them. "It's on the tip of my tongue but I just can't…think…what it is."

"That's new." Genma joked at the fact the Shikaku couldn't remember something.

Shikaku glared at him but of Genma didn't see him glare from being consumed in darkness.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Raido asked.

"If I remember correctly didn't this curse mark have a low survival rate?" Genma said worriedly.

"Yeah." Shikaku said.

"Anko and Sasuke are the only ones with it, meaning those two are the only ones who survived the Cursed Seal of Heaven." Raido included his thoughts.

"So there's a possibly that she'll die?" Genma asked. "Can Tsunade even help her?"

"I don't know. But there's no harm in rushing her to Tsunade. If she can help maybe Sakura will have a better chance of surviving." Shikaku said.

"Maybe she could even get rid of the mark.." Genma suggested.

"If she could she would've removed Anko's and Sasuke's long ago."

"Haha…right." he laughed nervously. And then cursed himself for not thinking and being stupid.

"How long till we reach the village?" Raido asked.

"I dunno, wait… I'll ask!" Genma said. "Oi! Akiyoshi! How far are we away from the village!"

"I can make it there in five minutes, Genma-san." A voice same from the darkness. Covering the four in a little bit of spit from the pelican when he spoke.

"I hate you." Raido sneered to Genma.

Everything was white. And everything was so completely bright. Like the sun was shining but the sun wasn't in view or she couldn't even see it because of how bright the light was.

No doors.

No windows.

Sakura looked around the room she was stuck in.

No one.

But all of a sudden a ear shattering scream pierced her ears. Whoever they were they were screaming bloody murder.

Maybe she could save whoever was screaming she thought.

She looked around but there still wasn't anyone around.

"Where are you!?" she yelled into the small white room. It was just her and the white room she didn't understand. The person kept screaming and screaming and it was starting to get to her. She wasn't going to find them. Whoever they were they she assumed weren't planning on being found. There was nothing to hide behind, underneath, no where, it was just an open white space.

What on earth was going on?

She looked around more, now frantically, for the person who owned the scream, still no one in sight.

Another scream came, filled with agony.

"SAKAUURA!" the scream changed to her name but she still couldn't find them. She was going insane. This person needed her but she couldn't find them, couldn't do anything to protect them, even save their life. When she closed her eyes she saw pictures of Sasuke and Naruto and even her other friends fighting and getting hurt terribly while she just stood there.

Her hands came up to her ears to block out the screaming.

She saw them all get slashed with kunai causing blood to splatter everywhere. She felt like the blood was covering her. She even felt the liquid on her skin. She watched them all take their last breath before they died slowly and painfully.

She was going to let this person die all because she couldn't find them, couldn't do anything! She never could do anything! She could never reach the two on her team or her Sensei. The person screaming might as well be one of them, she couldn't save them, couldn't be strong like them, she couldn't do anything.

And eventually she would watch them one by one die. As she did nothing.

That's what she now thought.

"What?"

"Her and Orochimaru fought and he bit her, giving her the cursed seal." Shikaku explained to Tsunade in the hospital.

Tsunade now had a cool cloth on Sakura's forehead trying to help her with the sweating. She laid in the bed covered in white sheets and a mask on her helping her breath in oxygen. She was evem hooked up the heart monitor and the beeping was driving Shikaku insane.

"Why would he do that?" she yelled. She was pissed, beyond pissed. She then left the room that was given to Sakura to recuperate. And now the two of them were walking down the hall.

"I think he saw something he liked in her, I have in mind that after he uses Sasuke's body he will use hers."

"Why on Earth would he need hers? What exactly did he like that she had and he needed?"

"The Flying Thunder God Technique." Shikaku said simply. "It makes sense. It was the last thing she used before he gave her it. And it wouldn't fit in his schedule to actually learn that jutsu by himself. But if he gets a hold of that jutsu by transferring bodies, since Sakura's is already equiped with being able to learn the jutsu it'll come easy to him from Sakura's muscle memory, no one will be able to stop him."

"He won't get his hands on Sakura. But what makes you think he will?"

"I'm just saying metaphorically. I know that Sakura would never think about leaving the village and doing what Sasuke did, but think about it, Orochimaru must know that Sakura is loyal to Konoha too, what if he did something to her other than the curse mark to betray us?"

"Like what? If it's a genjutsu he has her stuck in, then it won't work. Sakura is excellent at genjutsu, a natural even, it won't work on her."

"He expects it to." Shikaku said.

"Can I talk to you, privately about something, not here though." he asked out the blue.

Tsunade stared him down but then agreed to meet him in a hour in her office.

"Did you hear Sakura was back?" Shikamaru asked Naruto.

"Huh? No. Why didn't she come see me or something? Is she mad at me?"

"No idiot. Why would she be mad at you? She's bee on a mission…. Never mind, my dad got home last night and told me Sakura is in the hospital but no one is allowed to see her."

"WHAT?"

"Sh! He told me not to tell anyone but I thought you should know."

"Why won't granny let anyone in?"

"I don't know when I asked he just looked at me and mumbled something under his breath and walked away."

"Do you want to bust into her room?"

"Ugh, no that's too troublesome, we should just wait till Tsunade lets us in." Shikamaru said. "Besides, maybe she's actually really hurt, and needs rest."

"Tch. Fine!" Naruto pouted. "Can we at least try and get an answer out of Tsunade about how hurt she is?"

"I suppose that won't be a bad idea."

"What won't be a bad idea?" Ino voiced in. she just walked into the small restaurant it was the same one where Sakura was asked to leave with the ANBU for the mission.

"Going to ask granny about Sakura."

"Why would you need to ask about Sakura?" Ino asked confused.

"She was apparently hurt on the mission she went on with my dad, my dad didn't answer me when I asked so we were going to go to Tsunade."

"Oh! I'll come too!" Ino said excitedly. "But why don't you just go visit her?"

"Geez, you're so troublesome, we already thought of that but they won't let anyone in to see her."

"Oh."

The three left the restaurant and headed for Tsunade's office they took a slow walk since they really didn't have to rush.

When they finally got there Naruto ran up to her office and kicked down the door.

"Why won't you let anyone to see Sakura!?" Naruto yelled barging into the office.

"Naruto! You can't just barge in there!" Ino scolded him, after she caught up with him.

"Because she is hurt and needs to rest." Tsunade answered him. In truth she heard about what happened when Sasuke woke from the unconscious state during the chunin exams and figured it would be much better having no one in there until she woke and they made sure she wasn't going to kill anyone.

"Can't we at least hover over her? To see that she's okay?" Naruto asked.

He was really pushing her buttons today.

"No. she needs to be alone to rest." She really didn't want anyone seeing the curse mark until Sakura was awake. It would be better to have her aware of the mark than to explain it to everyone else before she even knew herself.

"Please Granny!"

"Naruto!" Tsunade yelled rising from her seat. "I told you twice no, now get out. I have work to do." Not to mention Shikaku would be arriving soon.

Naruto looked in shock by the reaction he got out of Tsunade and the three walked out of her office in defeat.

A few minutes later Naruto, Ino and Shikamaru sat in the hospital waiting room. It was Naruto's idea to protest and not leave until he saw Sakura.

Shikamaru was dragged there by Ino, he really didn't have a problem with just waiting until Tsunade cleared them to go in and see her.

"If Tsunade finds out we're here I'm blaming it all on you and saying you dragged us here against our will." Shikamaru stated towards Naruto.

"Hmph."

"Maybe we should go home Naruto. Tsunade's right she needs her rest, sitting at home would be same thing we're doing now." Ino told him.

"She's right. No sense sitting the hospital waiting room, they won't let us in."

"Finnnneee." Naruto pouted and then the three left the hospital. They planned on going to Ichiraku and enjoy some ramen to pass the time.

"You say you've changed Sakura-chan but really, nothing at all has changed." Orochimaru said. "Take a look, you still can't do anything, even now, really all you've managed to do it kick and land a punch. Nothing more." He paused and sighed sarcastically, it sounded like he pitied her. "And unfortunate for you, you seem to be almost out of chakra." He grinned.

"You haven't changed... at all."

The words kept going around and around and around in her head. Like this memory was set on repeat.

"You cowered in fear behind Sasuke-kun in the forest, and most recently you sustained and injury not from me, but from a teammate."

Everything he said. All of it true and she knew that now. She was completely useless. She deserved to just die right now.

"Tsunade taught you well, but unfortunately it's not enough for you."

Hit hurt to know the truth, but maybe that's what she needed.

Huh?

Now she was in a dark black room, facing Orochimaru.

"I can give you power, make you better, so you'd be able to finally prove yourself to everyone."

I didn't answer him I just stared at him, not even sure what to say.

"Sakura...I can make you powerful." he said with a laugh. "But right now all you are is useless. You can't do anything." he laughed harder now.
"I can change you for real this time. You have so much potential. All you have to do is come to me."

My chest started to hurt. And I winced from the sudden pain that went through me.

"You will soon feel the power that I can give you!"

Energy started flowing through her veins she suddenly felt so alive, so awake. What was this? Was this how Sasuke felt?

"Just imagine what you can do!"

The curse mark started to sting.

"You know where to find me... Sakura." he said and then disappeared in the black.

And then everything felt so great, like she was on the top of the world. Like everything will come so easy to her now.

And she liked it.

Shikaku arrived at Tsunade's office a couple minutes late and knocked on the door. He took a deep breath before entering. When he entered Tsunade waved Shizune to leave the room.

"You wanted to talk?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Well? What is it?"

Shikaku took a moment for the past hour he ran through every part of the plan he made, every single possibility. Every little thing he thought of. It made him nervous though. But he knew the plan would work. He just didn't like the amount of people he was about hurt by going through with this plan. But it was perfect. A great plan actually. And he knew it. He now had the chance to take action he couldn't pass it up.

"I have an idea." he said. "But you're not going to like it."

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Chapter 5 will be posted Friday the 12th!