The next morning came with a fog from the rain that had poured the previous night. Sakura was awakened by the sound of knocking on her door. She sat up and groggily rubbed her eyes, standing slowly to make her way to the door. When she opened it she was greeted with Naruto's bright blue eyes.

"Morning, Sakura. How are ya feeling?" The blonde questioned, entering Sakura's apartment as she stepped aside, closing the door behind him.

"Tired, tired and even more tired." She said with a yawn, stretching her arms up above her head.

"Want something to eat?"

"Sure, why not. Got any ramen?" Naruto asked, grinning.

As Sakura waited for water to boil, the thought of Kabuto invaded her mind once again. The only way to know for sure if the man in room one-fifteen was a product of his work would be to track him down, capture him, and interrogate. But how would she do that, she wondered. And then a darker thought crossed her mind - what if she set him up, if he would even fall for that, anyway. What if she were to go to Orochimaru's hideout and tell them she had defected from Konoha, and wanted to learn more about these procedures? They could always use another medic, right? Two are always better than one.

The sound of water hissing against the open flame of the stove tore her thoughts back to reality. She shut the stove off and poured the water into two instant ramen cups, handing one to Naruto. He hadn't seemed to notice that Sakura was completely zoned out for five minutes or so as he rolled up a scroll he had been reading, tucking it away in his tool pouch.

They finished up their ramen and Naruto cut straight to the point.

"Granny Tsunade wanted me to tell you that she needs to talk to you about something important,"

"I have a feeling I know what that is." Sakura said flatly.

"I guess I'd better get going then. Sorry about the lack of conversation," She moved to fetch her medic skirt, buckling it on at the side. She pulled her boots on and went to the door with Naruto in tow.

"That's okay, I know you've been pretty burnt out." Naruto retorted, honestly a bit worried about her.

They walked through the bustling street towards the tower when Hinata Hyuga caught Naruto's eye.

"Hey, Hinata!" He nearly shouted, waving at the girl who was now blushing, she waved back to him shyly.

"Sakura, mind if we catch up later?" He asked her excitedly.

Sakura nodded and smiled as Naruto ran over to Hinata, immediately taking her hand and walking with her.

It was nice to see him finally find someone he really liked. Not like when they were younger and he had a huge, annoying crush on her. A pang of sadness struck her suddenly as she thought about how she didn't have somebody like that for herself. Sasuke was gone and assumed to never return. Her feelings for him had faded over time, after spending so long apart their lives just took different directions, and she had accepted it. Pain can really change someone and sometimes not in a productive way.

She was at the door to Tsunade's office now, and lifted her hand to knock.

"Come in," She heard from the other side. She opened the door and shut it behind her, looking at her teacher expectantly.

"You wished to see me?" She asked with slight concern.

"I need you to examine one-fifteen again, thoroughly. His condition is stabilizing so we may be able to question him if he wakes up." Tsunade said briskly.

"I understand,"

"There is something I wanted to mention to you though. He has a rare toxin built up in his heart and joints, I noticed it when I ran a short diagnostic last night. Those markings all over his arm - I believe those were where this toxin was administered." Sakura explained, shifting her weight onto one leg, her arms crossing over her chest.

"There were also these small masses under his skin. What I don't understand is why there are so many of them. And why he is still alive! Why would someone do this?" She looked at the sky from the window behind Tsunade.

"If I know Orochimaru, and I do… It's probably safe to assume that this man was a Guinea pig of some sort. We need to find out what for," The blonde woman said with an air of disgust.

Orochimaru was the one calling the shots from behind the scenes in this, Sakura knew. She knew for a fact that Kabuto was his underling and had all the skill, so it would make sense to go after him.

Sakura took a deep breath through her nose before steeling herself to ask the question that wouldn't quit nagging at the back of her mind.

"Lady Tsunade, I would like your permission to travel to Sound. I have enough means to believe I know who is responsible for this,"

Tsunade looked at her thoughtfully, considering her words before she answered.

"And who do you suppose that would be?" She disregarded the first part of Sakura's question.

"Kabuto Yakushi. I strongly feel he did this, and I think I may be able to infiltrate their operation, with some help, of course."

"Do you take me for some crackpot old fool, Sakura? You are my best medic and my pupil. I couldn't bear to lose you if things went south," Tsunade began sternly, shooting Sakura a look that told her she couldn't believe she had even suggested that.

Sakura didn't expect her teacher to agree right away, but she would wait it out. There would be more of these cases to come and she knew it, she was only hopeful Tsunade would agree before then, to possibly reduce the numbers.

"Kabuto is dangerous," She continued, shaking her head slightly.

"I'm well aware of that. But what if I were to offer my skill, I could learn what this is -"

"And just mosey on into Orochimaru's lair? Really, do you think it will be that easy?" Tsunade was beginning to lose her grip as her voice rose a few octaves.

Sakura looked at the floor, about to speak again when she was cut off by the door bursting open.

"Lady Tsunade, I apologize for the intrusion, but one-fifteen is awake," The same short nurse from the day prior said quickly, her gaze flickering to Sakura. The women all sharing a look of deep concern.

——