"80% of the final exam will be based on the one lecture you missed and the one book you didn't read." - Anonymous

Disclaimer: Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it.

Warning: Language.

Dear Gaara,

Those are normal kids having normal friends. Otherwise known as boring friends. No Gaara. I do not have a single normal friend.

That being said, I do have friends. Naruto, Kakashi, Hinata, Ino, Duck-Ass, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune (maybe), Lee… and you. I think you're one of my favorite friends.

Am I your friend?

… And I did not 'legally' adopt Naruto. But I assure you; he is my son.

Newly mother,

Sakura

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

It's been a couple days since I had talked to Hinata, Duck-Ass and Kakashi. A couple boring days to be completely honest. We weren't able to do any team training since Kakashi was so busy with Jōnin missions. And Jiraiya seemed to have skipped town (again) without telling me (damn it!). So team 7 has pretty much just been relaxing.

So boring.

Or so I had kept musing to myself until the three of us—Naruto, Sasuke and I—were called into Tsunade's office for a new mission.

Naruto stood in the middle, completely pumped about finally getting a mission. I stood to his right, admiring the new weights Gai had given me through Kakashi. They were comfortably tight against my wrists and ankles. I had missed the feel of them, I supposed.

"A mission, a mission, we're finally getting a mission," Naruto sung.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, smirking slightly.

"A mission without Kakashi-sensei, I take it?" I asked, shooting Tsunade a raised eyebrow.

"Correct; Kakashi and most of the Jōnin are already on different missions. We will only have the three of you complete this mission this time," Tsunade said as she held up a scroll. "This is a B-Rank mission. You three will guard an important figure."

She unrolled the scroll. "Of course, depending on the situation, it could also be classified as an A-Rank mission."

"And? Who are we guarding?" Sasuke asked.

"No clue," Tsunade said casually.

"What do you mean 'no clue'?" Naruto demanded.

"In the allied Land of Tea, there is an event called the Todoroki Taisha, a dedication ceremony held once every four years. We have accepted a mission to guard the runner who will run in the race at that ceremony. However, the messengers were defeated by an opponent's spy before they arrived here… For details, you can ask Boss Jirouchou of the Land of Tea."

"If this mission is so high ranked," I murmured, "then shouldn't it be given to at least a team with a Chūnin on it?"

Tsunade's eyes flashed and she gave a very secret smile. "Your team is very much qualified for this mission. But enough questions; depart right away. You must arrive at the Land of Tea by the end of today. Hurry up."

"Yes, Hokage-sama (Obaa-chan).

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

After we stepped outside of the office, I grabbed both of my teammate's arms. They both paused and looked at me.

I smiled. "Thanks to Duck-Ass's nickname for me… I have been inspired to do a little experiment."

"Oh?" Sasuke asked with a very amused smirk.

Naruto gave me a curious look. "What is it, Momma?"

"On this mission," I hummed, "I am going to go as… a boy!"

Sasuke snorted and shook his head, clearly amused. Naruto gaped at me. "But… but…!"

I shrugged and poked my chest. "I'm flat enough I could pass with just simple binding. Not to mention I would just have to make a few minor adjustments to my appearance. I already talk crude enough. And frankly, I think it would be very interesting."

"But…" Naruto seemed lost for a moment before he shook his head. "You're a girl, Momma. Why would you want to be a boy?"

"It'll be fun," I said happily. "So I want you two to play along with it."

Sasuke eyed me for a moment before he nodded. "I'll play along."

Naruto gaped at him. "Teme, you would…?"

I grinned. "So Naruto, will you play along?"

Naruto still appeared flabbergasted but he nodded his head.

"Excellent, I'll meet you two at the front gate!"

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

My appearance didn't really change that much.

Instead of pretty much bare legs with straps to hold my kunai pouches, I now wore long black pants that seemed a little loose on me. My head band was now in its proper place and I let my hair fall free. I also pulled up my hood. Lastly, I bound my already pretty much flat chest.

Naruto burst out laughing when he saw me. "Momma… you really don't look any different."

I shrugged, smiling. "I know. That's what makes it so interesting. But at least the only thing girlish about me now is my hair. But I don't like wigs and I don't want to dye it for a onetime thing."

Sasuke grunted. "I can't believe you're actually doing this." He paused. "No. I can believe you're doing this: it's you."

I cackled. "Exactly. Alright. So from here on out call me Haru. Or Saku. Either one will do just fine. And Naruto—you'll either have to call me nii-chan or Papa. Your choice."

Naruto was still laughing but he nodded his head. "Sure, sure, Haru-nii."

I smiled. "Alright then. Let's get going guys."

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

About halfway through our journey we had stopped at a small tea shop for lunch.

After we had ordered our food, I decided to start some conversation.

"So Duck-Ass?" I asked, turning to him with a mischievous smile.

He raised an eyebrow but kept a blank expression otherwise. "So Pinky."

"You said your goals were to kill a certain man and to…" I paused for dramatic effect, "revive your clan. Am I correct?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "You are."

Naruto grinned, leaning forward as he noticed where I was going with this. So was Sasuke because he was clearly showing he was not amused.

"And how pray tell, were you going to achieve this?" I asked, my smile widening considerably.

"You're a pervert," Sasuke said bluntly, his cheeks warming.

I cackled. "What? Were you going to walk up to random fan girls and ask them, Will you bare my child?"

Naruto began joining me in laughter. "Or, or maybe he was going to just kidnap one of them and—"

"Dobe!" Sasuke snapped, flushing slightly.

My hands flew up to my mouth as I tried to keep my laughter down in the quiet shop.

Idate suddenly stopped in front of our table, not even glancing at us. "To be laughing so carelessly on a beautiful day like this… being a ninja must be an easy occupation."

My laughter slowly faded as Naruto's cut off completely. Naruto gave him a frown. "What did you say?"

"Konoha must be a really peaceful place. They're all stupid looking," Idate sneered.

Naruto's hand slammed down on the table as he stood up abruptly. "Care to say that again?!"

He turned towards me, his sneer replaced with a sly grin. He completely ignored Naruto. "Oh, I never knew such cute girls lived there. I take back everything I've said."

I gaped at him.

He leaned forward, smiling still. "I'm called Morino Idate. What's your name missy?"

I quickly lost my shock and glowered at him with the darkest look I could muster. His eyes widened and he appeared taken back. In a low, dangerous voice I said. "I. Am. A. Boy."

He gaped at me before he began snickering.

My hand twitched and for the first time I began to see the appeal of smacking someone senseless over the head. So I decided to go with what I was feeling for.

I swung my right fist—being sure not to put any actual power until it—where it connected with the top of Idate's head. There was a satisfying crack and he went down.

I glowered down at him. "Punk."

Naruto chortled with satisfied laughter. Sasuke sighed.

Idate clutched his head and glowered at us—mostly at me. "This is why I hate ninjas. Listen you three, if you stay here any longer in the Land of Tea I promise you, you won't return home unharmed."

Naruto's laughter faded and he returned to scowling at him. "Oh yeah? If it's a fight you want, you're on."

"Naruto calm down. We don't have time to play with… punks," Sasuke said the word with a tint of amusement in it.

Naruto whirled on him. "Shut up, Teme! If this guy—"

When we all turned back to where Idate was supposed to have been—we found he had long since left.

I shook my head and sighed, turning to my boys. "So? How was that for a guy?"

"Excellent, Momma," Naruto said, smiling at me and completely forgetting Idate.

Sasuke merely grunted.

"Here you are," The waitress said, setting down our small treats in front of us. I smiled and thanked her on our behalf. She then set down two receipts.

I stared at them. "We didn't order anything aside from our own."

"Oh, that boy said you three would pay for his," The waitress said with a smile before turning away.

I sighed, pulling out my wallet and setting money on the table. I then grabbed my stick of dango just as Naruto finished his rant about how Idate made a mockery of us.

Naruto grabbed his pack and rushed out.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed my own pack, sticking the dango in my mouth.

Sasuke followed behind me and together we chased after Naruto who chased after Idate.

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

We finally found him after he tripped over a root and fell off a small cliff into a few trees before promptly falling to the ground.

Naruto barked out a laugh. "Serves you right!"

"You certainly have guts to try and outwit us," Sasuke said from the other side of Idate.

Idate's eyes flashed dangerously before he dropped to his knees and cried out in despair. "I'm sorry! My wallet was stolen and just when I was in a bind, you three came so I took advantage."

"Bullshit," I deadpanned.

It was then that a familiar knife fell out of the tree Naruto was in and landed on the ground. Naruto frowned and hopped down from his tree branch to pick it up. Before he could touch it Idate's hand flashed out and he grabbed it.

He then flipped up and unhooked his ankle weights, lifting them up. "Don't touch what's mine. And with that being said… On your mark… get set… go!"

He dropped the weights and they fell to the ground with a very loud thump, picking up a huge amount of dust.

Idate was off and running, shouting over his shoulder, "Come visit me the day before yesterday! You dimwits!"

Before Naruto or Sasuke could give chase, I spoke, "We won't catch him. Besides, we have an important mission to get back to. Forget the punk."

Naruto huffed but complied. Sasuke narrowed his eyes but didn't bother to argue.

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

We now stood in front of Jirouchou. He sat in front of us, the tired old man, with a gentle smile. "Everyone, thank you for coming."

Sasuke stepped forward. "I am Uchiha Sasuke. These are my teammates; Uzumaki Naruto and Haru Saku."

Naruto sniggered at my name and I elbowed him in the ribs.

Jirouchou dipped his head. "I am Jirouchou, a pleasure."

"Now that we're done with greetings, let's get down to business," Sasuke said brusquely. "We were told by the Fifth to gather the additional details from you."

Jirouchou gave a nod, his smile taking a more hardened tone to it. "Yes, to tell you the truth… Do you three know of the Todoroki Taisha dedication ceremony?"

"T-T-Todo… what?" Naruto attempted to repeat.

Jirouchou waved his hand dismissively. "Relax, please."

We all sat down and he began to explain. I decided to tune him out. I already knew it was a race between two clans to deliver the magic balls that magically kept the storms at bay. That to keep the clans from destroying the city through fighting, they would fight over land through the race…

When he finished his long winded explanation, Naruto pulled me from my mindless musings.

"Leave it to us," He said.

"And?" Sasuke asked, clearly not impressed with the story or with Naruto. "Who do we guard?"

Jriouchou smile and clapped his hands.

The door to our far left slid open, revealing… Idate. He noticed us and gave me a look of pure horror. I shot him a dark glare.

Sasuke smacked me over the head. I whirled around and glared at him. "What was that for?"

He glared right back. "Behave, Pinky. We're on a mission."

I huffed but let it slide.

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

Because I was clearly in a spiteful mood, Naruto got stuck with guarding Idate first. Sasuke and I were left to shop for supplies in the city. It was relatively uneventful with the exception of Sasuke kicking some random thugs' asses.

Overall, boring day.

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

The following day at dawn, the three of us gathered at the start line. Naruto was agape to see how pretty much the entire village had gathered to watch the race.

Sasuke and I stood calmly behind Idate while Naruto hopped from one foot to the other with excitement. Sasuke and I shared a look of exasperation, but my look had a hint of amusement on it since after all, he was my son.

Finally, the race had begun.

The doors in front of the two racers swung open, revealing the boats—as well as the horizon.

I almost chuckled when I saw Idate's face light up with realization.

Finally, the sun had risen and the announcer cried out to start.

Idate had made a sharp turn to the left, running away from the boats.

"What the hell?" Naruto cried out. I chuckled.

"Come on boys, we've got a runner to follow," I said before running off after him.

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

After we had saved Idate from a couple genjutsus, reached the south beach and finally boarded the ship, it got boring—once again.

Idate pretty much steered the boat and the rest of us idly stood on the deck.

"So… Idate," I called out. "You wouldn't happen to know Morino Ibiki?"

Idate's eyes widened as he whirled around and stared at me. "What did you say?"

"Now I know why his name sounds so familiar," Sasuke commented. "Ibiki… wasn't he the first examiner in the Chūnin Exams?"

"I think he was," Naruto said with a frown.

"Are you saying my brother is alive?" Idate asked.

"Of course he's alive," Naruto said with a roll of his eyes. "He asked a really strange question on the tenth question and—"

"Is it true? Is he really alive?" Idate asked again, bewildered.

Before any of us could reply, an arrow whirled by our heads, landing on the deck.

Our heads snapped behind us, finding the approaching ship nearing us. More arrows flew through the sky towards us and we deflected them with our kunai.

Sasuke leapt back towards us, scowling. "Naruto and I will drive them off. Pinky, guard Idate."

"What the hell?" I asked. "Why can't I go on offense and you guard Idate?"

He smacked me over my head. "Behave."

I scowled and muttered under my breath but complied.

"Damn it," Naruto cursed as more arrows—this time with ropes attached to them—grabbed onto our ship, pulling them in.

I handed Naruto a kunai and he cut the ropes free while Sasuke… ran off out of my sight.

After Naruto had cut us free, clones of the same damn Genin from the Chūnin Exam all those weeks ago slowly merged up from beneath the deck.

"Oh," I said flatly. "It's you guys. Damn that's boring."

They didn't respond and Sasuke used his Sharingan. "Naruto, Pinky, the real one is hidden among the clones."

"Idate, try not to stray too far away from me," I ordered.

He sneered. "Who'd accept help from ninja?"

"After all this you're still going on about that, punk?" I growled.

"Pinky," Sasuke snapped.

I bristled but then noticed a charging clone. I sidestepped it before jabbing it in the back and throwing it off the ship. Right after that one, another one charged. Soon it was just a dance of taijustu between me… and the water clones.

After defeating my fourth one, it began to rain… oil.

The rain stopped after a moment, but the ship was nearly covered in the slimy stuff.

A lone fire arrow launched from the hostile ship… onto ours, thus setting it on fire.

"Damn it," I cursed again, annoyance flashing through me. "At this rate, we'll have to jump into the ocean and swim to shore." I turned to Idate. "Can you swim?"

He gave a nod but his eyes were locked with the fire.

"Alright, jump in the water," I said. "I'll follow behind you."

His eyes widened. "N-No. You're just using me as a decoy for the enemies. I won't do it. I don't trust ninja."

"You've got to be kidding me," Naruto growled, slashing through another clone.

I sighed in exasperation. "Idate that's completely illogical. Our mission is to protect you. If you die, we don't get paid."

He stared at me blankly.

"Go," I hissed. "You're going to be a burden if you stay any longer. Trust us for goodness sake."

When he still didn't budge I glared. "Jump or I throw you in and drag you to shore myself."

His eyes widened and he nodded his head before jumping over the ledge and into the water.

Naruto chuckled and Sasuke shook his head. I slashed off another clone before I hollered, "Alright, let's go boys."

Naruto kicked off one final clone before nodding. Sasuke finished the last of them before running over to the edge and diving in. Naruto and I shared a roll of eyes, muttering 'Show off'. We dived in after him.

Idate was far ahead of us but nonetheless we began paddling towards shore. Not even a minute into paddling was Naruto pulled down into the water.

I sighed in annoyance.

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

Finally, we dragged ourselves onto shore—Naruto and I decided to simply water walk, Sasuke swimming behind with mild annoyance we had learned how to water walk before him.

We wandered on the shoreline for a bit, searching for any sign of Idate. We found him, lying on the ground in front of Aoi just as it began to drizzle.

We ran forward, Naruto throwing a kunai to draw Aoi's attention. Aoi turned towards us, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you the boss of those rain-nin?" Naruto growled. I leapt around Naruto and Aoi to kneel by Idate.

I placed a hand on his forehead, sending in waves of chakra.

"As I thought, it was too much for them to handle… Even though both sides were Genin it seems the Konoha Genin are indeed tough."

I began repairing the damage done to Idate from Aoi's needles. It was difficult to tune out Naruto and Sasuke's battle with Aoi, but I somehow managed to do it.

Sadly though Aoi decided to be an asshole and bring me into the fray. I was roughly pulled from my healing when Aoi's strong wind justu nearly knocked me away. I scowled up at him and he smirked, throwing needles. I quickly shoved my body over Idate to shield him from the poisoned needles.

I grimaced when the sharp pain raced through my shoulder and seeping burn began to take place. Before any of us could make another movement, Aoi left.

"Fuck this shit," I muttered, my hands moving quickly.

I summoned Gedo and Doku.

"I need an antidote for the Rain Village's poison," I said quickly before either could question. "Just their standard poison. I assume you two know it via Hanzō."

~We do.~ Gedo smiled at me. ~How much do you need?~

I motioned to everyone.

Gedo nodded her head before she waddled over to me and bit me. I winced as her fangs dug into me and I must admit it felt really weird having the antidote injected into me. Like getting a shot.

She then proceeded to give the antidote to Naruto, Sasuke and Idate.

Sasuke and Naruto finished ripping out the needles by the time Gedo finished. I smiled at her. "Thanks Gedo."

~Always a pleasure, Sakura-sama.~

I nodded at Doku. "Thanks for tagging along, Doku."

-Whatever, brat.-

And just like that, they were gone. I moved to kneel beside Idate again, sending in waves of chakra to heal away his fatigue and force him to wake up.

Slowly Idate opened his eyes. The drizzle stopped. He struggled to sit up. "What… where is he? Where is Aoi?"

"He disappeared," Sasuke said. "So that rain ninja is called Aoi?"

"Do you know him?" Naruto asked.

"… He was my teacher when I was in Konoha. Aoi betrayed the village and became a Jōnin for the Rain Village."

"Fascinating," I muttered, my hand moving forward towards his bleeding leg. My hand flickered green as it glowed from chakra. I began repairing all tissue damage and fatigue, ignoring him as he explained his past.

I pulled away from healing him, satisfied he was now as fit as he could be. Just as Naruto began his inspiring speech and used his Motivational-Therapy-Justu on him.

It wasn't so different from the anime—the only difference being that Idate was able to run on his own this time so Naruto didn't carry him.

With Idate leading us, we rushed off to the shrine.

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

Idate reached the bridge, just to see Aoi standing in front of him, looking as smug as ever.

Idate stopped before us, his hand gripping the magic ball he got from the shrine. Aoi then cut the bridge.

We then finally caught up enough for Naruto to throw a mud ball at Aoi before he could harm Idate. Aoi deflected it with his umbrella but he was clearly annoyed.

Naruto then began to form his Rasengan. He charged forward and Aoi intercepted his Rasengan with his blade. Naruto flew back from the explosion of the interception and Aoi pinned him down with needles.

I sighed but rushed forward to Naruto and Sasuke glared at Aoi.

I knelt before my son and began to pluck out the needles quickly. It wasn't long before all the needles were gone and I was working on repairing the damage. In front of us, Sasuke charged with his Chidori, only to have Aoi deflect it.

Aoi commented off handedly how pathetic the Uchiha Clan was with Sasuke in it.

I wanted to roll my eyes and reply, "You shouldn't have done that."

Naturally I didn't, I just focused on healing my son.

This severely pissed off Sasuke and he charged at Aoi, swearing very rude things at him. I finished healing Naruto, hopping up onto my feet just in time to see him charge.

The Chidori connected with the blade with a force only a pissed off Uchiha could muster up. Silly Uchiha and their egos. The blade cracked, but in the end it proved to be stronger than Sasuke's Chidori.

Yellow, crackling electricity wrapped around Sasuke as the blade lifted him off the ground. I was already rushing towards him. I swung my leg forward and Aoi's eyes widened. He was too preoccupied with Sasuke he didn't pay attention to me.

Idiot.

My foot connected with his side and he flew away from me, crashing into the trees. The sword released Sasuke and I caught up, letting out an umph at his weight and falling on my butt.

I scowled at Aoi. "Screw the plot. I'm ending this."

I pushed Sasuke out of my lap and unhooked my weights. Glancing at Naruto I said, "Prepare the Rasengan. When I give you an opening, you damn well take it and hit him with it."

Naruto nodded his head.

"And don't let him see you preparing that," I said quickly.

He nodded again before rushing to hide behind a few trees.

Setting my weights aside, I stood up, feeling unusually light. Aoi slowly stood up from his landing in the trees, scowling furiously. I scowled right back.

"You uppity little brat," He snarled.

My eyes narrowed and I took a fighting stance. He snarled again before charging forward, swinging his dangerous sword towards me. I ducked underneath it, sidestepping around him quickly and pushing chakra into my fist.

He twisted around me but I was faster, now free of my burden. I swung my fist where it connected into left rib cage, just as he twisted to face me. He was sent flying back but I wasn't done. I pushed chakra into my feet and lurched to follow him.

His eyes sharpened as I neared and he tried to spin in the air, in hopes of avoiding me. I swung out my leg and kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying up.

I kicked off from the ground, following right behind him.

Damn. This guy was easy compared to Kabuto.

He swung out his arm with the sword, barely grazing me. Sharp spikes of energy raced off from the cut on my cheek where the sword touched me and I inwardly winced. But his swing was still in motion, forcing his body to turn with it and thus giving me his back just as I reached him in the air.

I pushed my chakra into my hands before I clapped his ears. He gave out a cry, I gripped his head and threw him at the ground.

I fell to the earth, landing with a thud on my feet to see him crash into the ground. He lost his grip on his sword and was clutching his bleeding ears in pain.

I ran forward and grabbed the sword before he could react. Once the sword was safely in my hands, he shakily stood up, spitting a cursing something fierce.

"I thought you were supposed to be a Jōnin," I commented lazily. "Pretty sure the Jōnin I know could kick my ass back at Konoha."

"You got lucky, bitch," He snarled. How the hell could he still hear me?

Pretty sure Jōnin can read lips.

Oh.

"I'm a boy!" I said hotly.

His eyes widened briefly. "But your hair…"

"Blame genetics!" I shouted, stomping my foot for emphasis. I shook my head. "Naruto… now!"

"Right-ee-oh!" Naruto yelled, charging forward from behind Aoi. Aoi's eyes widened and he turned around quickly, just in time for Naruto slam his Rasengan into his chest.

Aoi was sent spiraling backwards, off the cliff and towards the dangerous waters below.

I nodded my head. "Good job, son."

Naruto laughed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "It was your plan, Sakur—Saku."

"Ah… but you're the one who defeated him," I said cheerily. "And with that done… Idate, Naruto, you two go on ahead and finish the race. I'll take care of Duck-Ass."

"Right but how will we do that? The bridge is nearly gone…"

"Leave that to me," Idate said, jumping up on the last remaining rope of the bridge. "We can use this rope to climb across."

"Right!" Naruto said. "Okay, see you later, Saku!"

I gave a nod of my head before turning towards Sasuke and sitting on the ground in front of him. My hands glowed green and I set to work.

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

"So in short," I said, "the mission was a success and we were able to bring back this blade."

I set said blade on the table of the Hokage's office. Tsunade eyed it before she smiled at me and nodded. "Good work. Also, your teammates should be checking out of the hospital soon enough. Sasuke will be staying behind for more tests but… I thank you for personally reporting the mission to me."

I smiled. "Always happy to be of help."

Tsunade nodded. "You're now dismissed. Send Naruto and Sasuke when you get the chance to receive their pay for the mission."

"Sure thing Hokage-sama," I replied. "I'll tell them whenever I see them next… but for now I just really wanna go home and sleep."

"You and me both," Tsunade sighed wearily, glancing out the window to see the night sky.

Huzzah for us for returning to Konoha at such a late hour.

Not.

Oh well. At least the mission was over and I can finally get some rest.

Though. It also meant Sasuke would be leaving us, very soon.

And despite having been prepared for it since the moment I came into this world, I couldn't stop the small stab of pain in my chest.

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

To Sakura,

I do not know what to think of you.

Gaara

Bum, bum, bum... Part I is nearly complete. All that's left is Shippuden. :)

Though before I go... a question for you all... A while ago I asked if Sakura should have been made Chūnin. The results for the exam were postponed due to change in Hokage and war and such... Through PMs and reviews, a handful of you claimed it would be too Mary-Sue and others say it was a deserved promotion and encourage the promotion. The rest of you either don't care or just haven't said anything. I suppose my question is once again, should Sakura be made Chūnin?

I already have the chapter written out and have planned for whether or not she acheived the ranking and don't intend on changing it-but I'm curious for your inputs.

And before I forget, a review mentioned they were confused about something in the last chapter but left no way for me to respond as their PM is disabled... so please allow me to clarify and apologize that there was any confusion at all.

In the beginning chapters Sakura mentioned how she loathed Kabuto, and that loathing and sheer resentment wasn't anything to sneeze about. In the previous chapter(s), Sasuke has fought and battle Itachi who at this point he equally loathes. Sakura fought and battled Kabuto and both Sasuke and Sakura lost. When Sakura visited Sasuke she was mentioning how they both could relate on some note as they both lost to people they hate. I don't know about you, but losing to someone I resent is a rather bitter thing to feel and can prove to be most miserable afterwards. And you know what they say, misery loves company. Sakura suggested towards the end that because Sasuke listened to her loss, she would be willing to listen to his-it was an indirect way of giving him a chance to open up to her. Something of which Sasuke declined for the moment, but mentioned perhaps later.

I hope that clarified everything. :) If not, please let me know!

Reviews are love.

See you Tuesday/Friday.