As you grow, you learn that life is hard. You learn that when you want something, you have to go after it that you have to fight for it. You have to learn that when you fall down seven times, you have to get up eight. You learn that when you lose something you love, you need to go looking for it. That was where I fucked up in life. I never went back for it. Never went back for her. And now she was gone.

I chewed my bottom lip, pacing silently in the silence of this little room of mine. They'd be picking her up soon. Kabuto would be picking her up. I wasn't sure what he was going to do with her, but I was positive it was going to be horrible. My lip slowly growing raw from my menstruations, I stop and fall back onto my bed. My eyes are closed and for that instant, I feel like shit.

What kind of person was I to be doing this? This didn't make me any better than how the world liked to view me. This made me worse; thousands of times worse. I rolled over onto my side, tossing away my glasses, mind wandering to the pink haired girl in the other room.

She was the one that Sasuke adored, of that I was positive. She was the one who had stolen my life from beneath me, taken everything I had ever wanted from me. She took away the floor to my world, took away my foundation. I loved Sasuke. I love Sasuke. Nothing can ever change that.

But if I love him, why was I trying to hurt him?

I sat up in a flash, moving immediately. If I loved Sasuke, I would always want him to be happy, no matter whom that was with. I stop chewing my bottom lip and ignore the blood that's slipping into my mouth. And now I'm moving for the phone, for the gun in my drawer and I know what I have to do.

I know what I have to do.

I'm hunched over my computer when Hinata's plowing into my room, taking my chair and yanking it backwards so that I can face her.

"They've found Sakura."

"You have no idea what you're doing, Karin. You're going to get yourself killed."

I hush the pink haired girl, cheerfully ignoring her. I'm paying more attention to helping the last of the ties off her wrists and ankles. She already had them half off and I smirk; when had she planned on telling me?

I shake the thoughts easily from my mind and yank her up by her arm.

"Come on. We don't have much time before they get here."

Her green eyes are confused as she rubs her wrists, trying to lessen the sting.

"Who's getting here?"

I sigh lightly and turn to her, brows set.

"People who want you dead. So are you going to move your ass, or what?"

Her jaw sets determinedly and she nods to me. She doesn't say a single word on our way through the compound. But she knows who's after her. She knows what I've done. But she doesn't say a word.

She doesn't say a word.

"She isn't here, Orochimaru-sama."

A soft hiss and the white haired man can tell his boss is frowning, displeased.

"Then find her."

Everyone is running about the house and I'm not quite sure about what's going on. Big brother and Bigger Brother are speaking to everyone in hushed tones that I can't hear. Hinahime looks quite frazzled, but her eyes are full of a hope I haven't seen on her face in way too long. Ten-Chan's eyes are bright as she moves. They're packing bags. There are guns in the bags. I'm running nimbly towards Ino-Chan and she's talking furiously to Shikamaru-san and Temari-san. She looks down at me and her eyes soften. She crouches to my level and runs a hand through my hair.

"Are you going off to find Big Sister?"

She laughs at me and takes me in a large hug. It's warm and comforting and reminds me of Big Sis Sakura.

"Yeah, kiddo. We are."

"You shouldn't fill him with that kind of false hope. We all know the odds of us actually finding and bringing Sakura back are pretty slim." Temari says.

I have to remind myself that she's being realistic, and not pessimistic.

"I understand."

"You also realize that we can't just go in there and shoot everyone up. We still don't know what's going on."

I'm frowning now and she can see it. But Temari has never been one to be relentless when it came to the truth.

"And you do understand the fact that we can't trust a word of what Karin says, right?"

Karin. Her name buzzes about in my brain. She was a good friend; a confidante. I always believed her to be a good person, had a good soul. I could never bring myself to love her. I never could and I highly doubt I ever will. Karin, who had been my friend, who had hated the woman I truly loved and wanted nothing more than her death. Karin, who had plotted against my precious Sakura… Karin, who was going to try to redeem her lost soul.

Karin, whom I had loved like a sister.

Karin, whom I could never trust again.

Karin, who I would for the last time care for.

Karin, who would always be my friend.

"I understand."

We're heading for the warehouse. It was where I was supposed to meet Kabuto to trade away Sakura. It honestly wasn't that hard for the girl to figure it out. She wasn't nearly as stupid as I had assumed she was. She was smart. Smart and pretty. Just what Sasuke liked.

I sigh, my hand on the wheel. The gun is in my glove compartment, just in front of Sakura. She knows it's there. I'm surprised she hasn't yanked it out and shot me in the face yet.

I'm still debating on whether or not I should hand her over to Kabuto or do the right thing. I want nothing more than Sasuke's happiness, but… Don't we all deserve to be happy? Don't I deserve a happy ending? Don't I deserve someone to love me, someone to care for me? After everything I've been forced through… After everything I've done, after everything my parents have done in their endless pursuit of wealth… Don't I deserve one sliver of happiness?

"You know Karin, you really aren't that bad."

Apparently, I don't.

It's dark and dank inside the warehouse. The walls are thick and concrete and the doors are falling off their hinges. It's actually an old shoe factory, the one on the outskirts of town. No one's been inside for years, save for the occasional teenagers to do a little séance. You know, Ouiji Boards and all that. There's the distinct smell of mildew and the sound of rats scuttling along is a prominent sound in the quiet warehouse.

There are five men with their faces hidden behind masks in the warehouse. One with white hair paces slowly. He's waiting for the girl with dark hair. He knows she'll follow through. He knows. He smirks silently as he stops. This is almost the last step in his plan. He only needs to destroy the Haruno girl to get to the Uchiha family. That's all he needs. Just to destroy the Haruno girl and Orochimaru will love him again, will want him again.

God only knows how he's craved the snake-man's touch, how much he's needed it. But the white haired man can't focus on such things right now. He can only focus on how he needs to destroy the Haruno girl to get back in favor with Orochimaru. The Amari girl is infertile so there is no worry of them producing an heir. The youngest Uchiha brat was far too young and could easily be plucked off. But it was Sakura he was worried about. The girl's family had been fairly large, and hard to take down. But when you waved a threat in front of the faces of two adoring parents, what other choice did they have? Especially when that threat was the death of the child that really wasn't even theirs.

Kabuto smirked; the web of lies woven in this world was immense, was powerful. He was sure to win this final battle, and he was sure to win back the favor of his beloved master. He was sure.

The world in which they lived was full of lies and deceit. Business was business, and that was all there was to it. The Haruno family ran the hospitals and health-care of Kohona, making sure everything that had to do with keeping the families of their beloved nation were safe and well cared for; they took care of homeland security and defense, they made sure the nation was safe in every conceivable way; they also covered education and things of that sort. The Uchiha family took care of the offensive. They made sure every threat to Kohona was neutralized. In the beginning, the families had worked together, hand in hand, but that was before the tragedy.

The Slither Organization, led by Orochimaru of Sound had been hell-bent on destroying Kohona. And what other way to destroy Kohona than to take it down from the inside? Orochimaru wanted inside, wanted Kohona to fall to its knees. No one had ever known of where his grudge had come from, but only that it was strong and he wanted the power that the Haruno and Uchiha families had.

Orochimaru knew that the Uchiha and Haruno families were sure to marry their children together to preserve the strength, to bring the two most powerful families together in a bond that would last ages. So Orochimaru devised a plan; he put in place a child of the Retake family, a young woman called Karin. At the time, only the son Itachi had been born, and no heir of the Haruno family had been produced. Karin was to marry Itachi on prodding from Karin's parents, who worked with Orochimaru. The snake-like man promised money if the Retake family could do so, could force the Uchiha's into marrying off their first son with Karin. The Retake's had always had a bad habit of gambling; it was an offer they couldn't refuse.

So they didn't, and it was put in place that Karin Retake would marry Itachi Uchiha. But then, young Sasuke came into the picture, as did little Sakura Haruno. This became a problem for Orochimaru, and while he had decided to kill off the two children, they were too heavily guarded. So he had to come up with a different plot. When the Haruno girl was a young girl, he threatened the Haruno family to reveal the identity of their only daughter, the daughter who was not a legitimate daughter to either of the parents. Young Sakura had been adopted, taken off the streets to protect her from a life that would chew her up and spit her out. The Haruno family, a pure blood family from the foundation of Kohona couldn't afford such a secret being released. But eventually, the pressure became too much. Forced into the murder of their only son to protect the daughter they loved, Sestuna and Isamu Haruno would have done anything for their daughter, even commit an act so heinous. They were murdered by their only daughter that night.

The news of their murders was silent, and no one had ever known who had killed Sestuna and Isamu. The young Haruno child fell off the face of the planet and for years, Orochimaru had taken his foothold with Slither. He was manipulating the Retake girl with great ease. Problems only arose when Itachi broke off their engagement. But things soon were resolved when she was engaged to Sasuke. Orochimaru had never anticipated that the Haruno girl would resurface as a maid for the Uchiha family. He never would have guessed that she'd come back with vengeance and soon after falling for the Uchiha male. He never would have anticipated that she would fight savagely for her right to lead the Haruno family, despite being an adopted child. But it was easy enough for him to fix the situation.

It was simple enough; manipulate the Retake girl into loathing the Haruno girl. Use Kabuto's desperate need for sex to force Karin into doing so. It was easy for him to figure how everything else would fall into place. The Haruno family would fall without their heir and Itachi's bride was infertile. Sasuke was such a volatile young man; surely his broken heart would keep him from doing anything important. And the Daisuke boy was too young to do anything important. Orochimaru had planned everything down to a tee. He was positive he was going to win, positive he was going to destroy Kohona and all within in it. He had anticipated every possible move the families would make to save the lives of their young.

He hadn't anticipated the strength of the bonds the children had made.

He hadn't anticipated this.

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