Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, cuz if I did, Orochimaru would admit that he's straight and would leave my Sasuke-kun ALONE!

Here's chapter Five! WOOOOOOTTTT! Lol! Sorry it took so long to update guys!

Reviewers, you all seriously ROCK!

Thank you for being so patient!

Chapter 5:

Death

"This way!" The ANBU squad leader directed. He'd picked up a familiar scent, one of cherry blossoms and a faint touch of honey…

Ino halted behind the ANBU Nin in front of her. Her blue eyes wide, searching for the cause of the group's sudden break in their hurried pace. She walked around the three other ANBU to find their leader kneeling underneath a nearby tree. Her heart flew into her chest as she gripped her collar of her shirt in anticipation. Was Sakura there?

Sasuke knelt by the trunk of the tree, finding only a traveler's pack. Inside, his heart sank. A look of remorse passed over his face before he quickly wiped it away. Standing up again, he turned his usual stoic look towards his group. His eyes locked with Ino's for a brief moment before she realized that he'd found nothing.

"It's hers." He said, holding it up before tossing it to one of the ANBU on his right. "Let's move. She was here only a few hours ago!"

The squad of ANBU quickly took off with him as he disappeared into the trees, following a very well-known path. A path that would lead him straight back to the hell that he'd escaped almost a year ago…

Ino's heart raced. She'd been listening to the other ANBU the night before, talking about Akatsuki's whereabouts. She hoped that he was ok. She hadn't seen him in a while, and her heart melted at the thought of feeling his arms around her again. She smiled to herself. I hope that you're ok Ita-kun…

FLASHBACK

11-year old Uchiha Itachi walked calmly through the streets of Konoha, obediently staying by his father's side as the pair continued on their trip to Hokage Tower. About halfway there, Itachi heard, "UCHIHA!"

He turned around to see his father actually smirking at another man. Itachi's dark eyes trailed up the other man's form as he saw a pair of small legs hanging down over the man's chest. He watched his father grasp the man's hand tightly in a friendly greeting.
"Yamanaka, how are things?"

The man smiled proudly. "Going pretty well. It's been so long since I've seen you and your wife Fugaku." He said, his eyes then turning to the young man at Fugaku's side.

"This is my eldest son, Itachi." Fugaku answered Mr. Yamanaka's unspoken question. The flower shop owner smiled. He reached up, placing two hands underneath the girl's arms and pulled her quickly down from his shoulders. He turned her around so that she properly faced Fugaku. "This is my young daughter Ino." He said, proudly showing his child to his old friend. Uchiha Fugaku smiled slightly. "It is nice to meet you." He said, taking the girl's hand in his own. She smiled back and her eyes went to Itachi, who was standing casually off to the side, a bored look on his face. As her father began conversing with Itachi's father, Ino went to the outside buckets where long-stemmed cut flowers were being displayed. She hastily pulled one from the bucket, smiling secretly to herself as she hid it behind her back. She approached Itachi slowly, desperately trying to hide her blush. She was six years old, after all. She should start acting more grown up.

"Hai!" She said brightly, presenting Itachi with the purple flower. His eyes found hers and he raised an eyebrow questioningly. Ino smiled as she put the flower in his hand. "For you, silly!" she said, laughing cutely before turning back to gleefully face her father. A/N: The flower that Ino gave Itachi was a purple Iris, meaning "my compliments" the purple also meaning faith, hope, and passion; adding to it that it was and still is her favorite color..

The two men had stopped their conversation to watch their children more closely. Mr. Yamanaka smiled warmly down at his daughter, gently patting her head as she returned to his side.
"That's my little girl." He said proudly to her as he turned his eyes back to Fugaku. Mr. Uchiha only smiled tightly once again. "We should get going." He said, grasping Itachi's shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "It was nice to meet you." Itachi said politely, turning to go. He gave Ino one last look as his father led him away from the Yamanaka Flower Shop.
Ino's eyes widened as Itachi looked over his shoulder back at her as they departed. He smirked.
"Arigatou." He said, almost mouthing the words to her so his father wouldn't know. Ino smiled, her heart leaping into her throat.

He was so CUTE! She thought gleefully to herself. She felt herself being picked up again and set back up on her father's shoulders. "Tousa, who was that man?" She asked, pulling her father's platinum blonde hair into her hands in an attempt to hold on better.

"That was Uchiha Fugaku. He and I were good friends a long time ago. Now we just know each other by reputation." Her father answered, pouring more water into the basin where the flowers were pruned and trimmed. Ino made a silent noise of understanding. "What did you think of his son?" Her father probed, knowing that he would get a squeal from his little girl. Instead though, Ino barely nodded. "He was nice." She replied, watching her father's reaction in the window. He smirked. "Yes, I'm sure he was."

Ino turned a bright red as she blushed. "Tousa, stop!" She whimpered as her father tickled her feet. He smiled at her and pulled her down. "C'mon, let's go find your mother so we all can go out for lunch!" He said, opening the door to the shop.
"Okaasan!" Little Ino squealed the minute she saw her mother. "I met the nicest boy today!" "Oh really?" she replied, looking up at her husband as he came up behind Ino. He smiled down at her, a twinkle in his eye.

END FLASHBACK

"Yamanaka."

The voice broke her out of her reverie. Her head snapped up and she stared up into a pair of onyx eyes. But they were not his. "Hai?" She asked. Sasuke stared at her for a moment before he turned around saying, "You need to focus. You almost went off away from the group. Stick with us. It's not going to be smooth ahead."

Ino's eyes were wide, before she frowned angrily. "I'll be fine thank you very much!"

Sasuke frowned. "Hn."

Ino's temper flared, but she remained silent, her embarrassment starting to wash away as the group took off again. But she could not ignore the looks sent in her direction the rest of the trip there. Did Sasuke read my thoughts? Did he know I was thinking about his brother? Ino shook her head hard. "Impossible." She muttered to herself.

In a few short hours, the group of Konoha ANBU Nin came upon Orochimaru's hideout. Their captain shuddered slightly as his gaze rested upon the entrance. "Never thought I'd enter this place again willingly…God I was so stupid." He muttered to himself. Self-hatred washed through him for a moment before he regained his composure. He formed the group up, forming two groups. He would enter first, Ino coming along with him. The first group after him would be doing recon, while the other would follow up, covering the rear and serving as back-up.

The ANBU captain quickly gave his orders to his men, and they complied instantly. He however, had hopes of accomplishing his one personal goal…Finding Sakura.

Kunai clashed and punches and kicks were delivered and blocked. "Well well well, now this isn't the same little Kunoichi that I fought years ago!" Orochimaru's chuckle sent chills down Sakura's spine. The Snake Sannin came at her, but his teeth were showing, his mouth was open slightly in a sadistic smirk. The body that he'd inhabited had limitations on it, and Sakura calculated each of her moves, watching while being on the offensive, and then attacking the vulnerable spots while she was on the defensive. Her kunai sliced through Orochimaru's left shoulder, as he wasn't quick enough to dodge. She heard him curse with surprise, then hiss slightly in pain. She smirked to herself. She turned to face Orochimaru, completing a back handspring, dodging a high kick to her face. "Shall I mark you too kunoichi? Make your life mine as I did to Sasuke-kun?"

Sakura snarled, her green eyes filling with renewed hatred. "Don't you dare say his name!" She screamed, pulling chakra into her hands as she performed the handseals Tsunade had taught her not so long ago.

Orochimaru's jaw dropped, the sadistic smirk wiped from his face as his mouth opened all the way to gape at her. "That's…" He broke off at the sight of his young opponent grinning widely.

"Yes, this is one of your former teammate's techniques." Sakura said evilly. Where the hell did this tone come from? She thought in the back of her mind.

Teehehehe. Seems you have forgotten all about me. Inner Sakura said gleefully. Now let's kill that bastard for hurting our Sasuke-kun!

Sakura raised her hands, and Orochimaru found himself at a disadvantage. He'd used a lot of his chakra on attacking, but it didn't seem to have phased the young kunoichi that much. He could only raise his hands in front of him in defense as Sakura brought her fist up into his face. Her other hand disappeared for a split second, and then reappeared at his feet. Sakura drove her left fist into the ground, splitting it underneath Orochimaru's feet. Her right hand, which had been used as a decoy for him to block her "punch", came back around, catching the sick madman in the face as he fell to the floor.

Itachi watched the scene impassively. She has grown stronger since I last saw her. He thought.

Sakura growled as she came to stand over Orochimaru. He looked up at her for a moment and smiled wickedly. Sakura felt the hairs on her neck stand on end when he started laughing.

"You truly are Tsunade-chan's apprentice girl. I will allow you to live, if you heal me."

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "What the HELL is wrong with you? Do you honestly believe that I'll be that easy on you?" She yelled. "You're responsible for killing my parents you BASTARD! I'll remove your fucking arms before I even THINK about healing them!"

Orochimaru chuckled harder. "I think that she fails to grasp who is in charge of the situation, don't you agree?" He asked, looking beyond Sakura and over her shoulder.

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama."

Sakura's blood ran cold at the sound of the new person's voice. She turned slowly around, only to look up into the glass-framed eyes of Kabuto. "Traitor." She spat. Tsunade had taught her much about this medic-nin-turned-traitor. "How could you even think of helping this bastard and wasting all your talent?" She sneered, taking a defensive step backwards.

At this moment, her back was turned to her former opponent, giving him the advantage. He stood up immediately, pulling her slender form close to him and pressing a kunai to her throat. "You really are a foolish little girl." He spoke in a mocking tone, making Sakura's blood burn with anger. "Kabuto-kun, we have unwanted visitors. I do not want to be disturbed. See to it that you prove yourself to be a worthy distraction."

Kabuto's dark eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly.

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama." He said, before disappearing in a poof of smoke.

Ino and Sasuke walked almost back to back. Both scanning their surroundings carefully, making sure that neither would be caught off-guard.

"Nice to see you again, Sasuke-kun." A cold, drawling voice said to their right. Sasuke whirled around to face his former sensei's right-hand man. "Kabuto. What the hell do you want?" He asked.

Kabuto shook his head, chuckling slightly. He pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose before opening his eyes to stare icily at the two Konoha Nin. "I should be asking you that same question, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke felt Ino tense at his side as Kabuto's eyes locked with hers. "Who's your pretty little friend Sasuke-kun? Don't tell me that you have abandoned your pathetic pink-haired kunoichi for her? Well, there's one less thing Sakura has to live for…" Kabuto taunted. Sasuke snarled, stepping forward towards Kabuto angrily. "Where is she? What have you done to her?"

Before he could even register what had happened, Ino screamed. He twisted out of the way in time to avoid a kunai thrown in his direction. Sasuke's eyes swirled from onyx to red with the Sharingan. "Let her go Kabuto." He said coldly. Ino was pinned to the wall, kunai pressing into her throat as Kabuto held her there, staring intently in Sasuke's direction.
"What will you do Sasuke? Help your pink haired friend, or save this blond one?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Don't you even think about pulling verbatims on me Kabuto!" He snapped. He came at Kabuto, only to be kicked in the small of his back, hard. He rolled over on the ground, looking up in shock at the Kage Bunshin who'd been a decoy holding Ino in the bind. He flipped himself over, throwing his weight into his feet, spinning and kicking hard at the real Kabuto. He nailed his sharp kick in Kabuto's stomach, sending the older ninja to his knees, gasping in pain at his snapped ribs.

By this time, however, Ino had managed to free herself, using Shinraiju no Jutsu (1). Her "opponent" let go of the kunai and his arms were now tied effectively behind his back. Ino smiled to herself as the Bunshin disappeared with a pop as her fist landed a deep hard punch in his face. "That'll teach you to mess with me!" She snapped, rubbing her throat before joining with Sasuke in fighting the real Kabuto.

Kabuto's eyes narrowed as he saw that Ino had defeated his clone. Kuso, I underestimated her… He thought, pulling six shurikens from his holster. He threw them at Ino and Sasuke, hoping to catch the young shinobi off-guard, but to no avail. Ino, however, wasn't so fortunate. She managed to dodge a few of the ones from the first wave, but took one to her chest on the right side. She went down hard, landing on her side, screaming in pain. As Sasuke rushed to her side, she held up her hand, yelling, "Leave me! Get to Sakura! I'll finish him off!" Sasuke could only watch in amazement as Ino forced herself to her feet, one hand covering the deep wound on her side, the other gripping a kunai tightly.

Sasuke backed off as Kabuto closed in on Ino, hoping to finish her off before he could get to Sasuke. Ino came at him, using her strength in her legs to kick him in the jaw. Kabuto caught her foot, but thanks to the kunoichi's near-to perfect balance, she spun with the force of his push. Her other knee came around and nailed him in the groin. Kabuto leaned forward in pain, but ducked and rolled in time to avoid a kunai in his face. He came up behind Ino, thrusting his own kunai into her other side, stabbing her deep in the back. Ino screamed out in pain, right before she dropped to the floor, breathing hard.

At that moment, Kabuto felt another chakra presence behind him. He did a few quick handseals before he could recognize Akatsuki member Uchiha Itachi appearing behind him, ready to strike him dead with his katana. He rolled over, flipping himself over and landing in a crouch by the door. "Ja ne, Itachi-kun." He muttered with a smirk before disappearing with a "poof".

Ino whimpered softly on the floor. Her eyes were shut against the pain. Itachi turned his attention back to the bleeding kunoichi at his feet. He knelt beside her, pulling her hands away from her fresh wound on her back. She cried out as his fingers felt inside, determining the severity of it. A pang of sadness coursed through him as Ino's crying intensified when his fingers brushed her lacerated skin. Without waiting another minute, he pulled her to him, scooping her up bridal-style, and disappearing.

Sasuke followed the corridor deeper into the complex. He'd been there for almost six years. He knew this building like the back of his hand. He entered Orochimaru's main chamber. He saw signs of a struggle, blood on the floor and a long fissure in the ground. Sakura. He thought to himself.

He heard a scream further down in the building. His mind briefly thought of the possible places where Orochimaru could have taken her. His mind came to a conclusion at the prison chamber. He ran at full speed in the direction of the scream.

Sakura was thrown to the floor, her body slamming against the wall of the room as Orochimaru lifted his hand and placed it on the wall beside him. Bright purple chakra left his hand and surrounded the entire room, creating a chakra shield. It would prevent anyone from entering, or leaving.

"Now I have you all to myself my little kunoichi." Orochimaru said sadistically, stalking forward. Sakura tried to stand, but fear had begun to replace her anger. She really didn't know what he planned on doing to her, but she was going to make damn sure that he didn't curse her like he did Sasuke.

"You won't get away with this!" Sakura screamed, forcing her fear to disappear. Inner Sakura was yelling and cursing and kicking and screaming. HOLY FUCKING SHIT! IF HE TRIES ANYTHING, I WILL KILL HIM! CUT OFF ALL HIS FUCKING APPENDAGES, STARTING WITH HIS SHORTEST! As if letting her inner self take over, Sakura raised a kunai in defiance, racing at Orochimaru in anger. He easily blocked the blow and pulled Sakura to the ground, pinning her there. "You cannot win against me child. I have so much that you feel that you have lost." Sakura screamed as Orochimaru bent her wrist with the hand holding the kunai in it. He squeezed hard, bending her wrist back until he heard a loud pop and Sakura's blood-curdling scream as her wrist was broken. "Now that you can't perform handseals, you are no longer a threat to me."

Orochimaru said, smirking as he stood up.

"S-Sakura?" A whispered voice called from across the room. Sakura's heart froze. The pain from her wrist wasn't enough for her senses to block out that voice. "T-Tousa?" She whispered. She stood up, her eyes sweeping the room before the lights suddenly blazed on, blinding her for a moment. She nearly screamed when she saw her parents, locked up and chained to the walls of the two cells in the back of the room. That was when a foot nailed a sharp kick in her back from behind. Sakura went down hard, feeling a few ribs snap. "SAKURA!" Sakura rolled over, looking weakly up at Orochimaru. "You have a choice to make. I can keep you alive until the very brink of death, and then have Kabuto heal you so I can do this to you all over again." He said sickly. She felt her chest throbbing in pain as her weight pressed up against her broken ribs. "You will heal me, or they will die." He said, pointing to the Harunos.

Sakura forced herself to sit up, biting back a scream of pain. Her pink locks were tousled and dirty as she brought a hand up to pull them away from her eyes. Her jade orbs fell upon the two Konoha Nin, lying weakly against their restraints in their cells. "Tousa, Okaasan…" She whispered. Fresh tears filled her eyes as she looked upon her parents that for a year she'd believed had been dead.

Orochimaru chuckled. "Just think, if you do as I ask, you may see them and yourself live past this day…" He said, pulling Sakura's attention back to him.

Sakura snarled. "You…BASTARD!" She screamed, throwing herself at him, punching and kicking at every possible place she could try to inflict pain on him. She fought the pain in her wrist as she brought her hands up to start performing the handseals to finish him.

Sasuke stopped dead at the doorway to the prison chambers. He felt Orochimaru's chakra shield around the room, and he would have a hard time trying to break it before he could come to Sakura's aid. He could only watch, for now, as his former teammate performed an almost impossible jutsu for her.

Sakura completed the final seal, and thrust her left hand towards the ground. In a split second, her chakra became visible and the sound of a thousand birds was overwhelmingly loud in the enclosed chamber. Orochimaru's eyes had widened in horror as Sakura performed a jutsu he'd only seen a select few capable of mastering— the Chidori.

Sakura's green eyes were filled with hatred and blood-lust as she looked back up at Orochimaru. The energy crackling in the room shorted out the lights; sending them all into almost complete darkness, save for the lightning swirling in the young kunoichi's hand. The light from the ball of chakra gave her green eyes an unusual unnerving look, and Orochimaru felt an uncharacteristic shiver shoot up his spine. "Impossible." He breathed.

"Hn." Sakura muttered.

"You don't honestly expect me to back down with this, do you?" Orochimaru asked, tauntingly. He knew that agitating her was a bad idea; she was Tsunade's apprentice after all. But there was one major thing that he knew would keep him alive.

Sakura was too kind-hearted to kill someone outright. Ninja or not, she'd never killed anyone before. She'd always fought in defense, and allowed her teammates to do the killing.

He smirked. He was safe.

Or so he thought.

"You won't be able to kill me." He said, crossing his arms casually over his chest. In an instant, he'd appeared next to her father, sinking his teeth deep into her father's neck, much in the same fashion as he did with Sasuke. Her father screamed out loud as Orochimaru ripped his teeth free from Mr. Haruno's skin. Orochimaru licked the blood from his lips sadistically. "I just poisoned your father. He has little less than an hour to live. If you don't back down, your precious mother is next." Sakura's eyes widened at first before they narrowed in anger.

"You will pay for that!" She screamed. She ran at Orochimaru, her left hand trailing behind her. She didn't stop at the last minute like he'd planned, but thrust her Chidori deep into his chest.

"DIE you fucking bastard!" Sakura screamed as she ripped her hand free, splashing his blood all over herself and the floor. Orochimaru coughed up blood as he dropped to his knees.

Sasuke could only watch in horror as the Snake Sannin fell to his knees, blood gushing from the wound an impossible jutsu had caused. An impossible jutsu performed by a surprisingly strong kunoichi.

Sakura stepped back, getting out of the way before Orochimaru's body fell on top of her. He lay, gasping for air at her feet. "Y-you w-weren't sup-posed to d-do th-that." He stuttered, his words getting softer with each breath. Sakura glared at him. "Seems you underestimated me. Too bad you won't be around to learn not to do that again." She said, pulling out a kunai and stabbing him in the throat, silencing him forever.

Sakura stood, and for a fleeting moment she looked down upon the man who'd made her life hell. He was dead. He was finally dead.

"You shouldn't have done that." A cold voice said from behind. Sakura turned around and looked up, screaming as a fist was planted into her stomach. She was thrown against the wall, blood spouting out of her mouth with the impact. She sat there for a minute, trying to grasp what had just happened.

"Orochimaru was too soft on you. I will not make that same mistake." Sakura finally registered that it was Kabuto.

A searing pain suddenly shot into her stomach, and she looked up to see Kabuto standing over her, his left hand glowing with a medic's chakra scalpel. Her eyes widened in horror, and she fought the impulse to scream. She felt her body being lifted by her throat. She was stabbed again by the scalpel, sending another sharp pain through her before he threw her against the wall.

This time, however, she did not get up. Sakura's eyes closed before she heard a shriek of pain come from her parent's direction. She forced herself to sit up, and what she saw next made her want to throw up.

Her father's head was off his shoulders completely, and a katana stuck out of her mother's chest. They were both more than obviously dead, when just minutes before they had been alive…

Kabuto stood, leaning up against the doorway, a kunai twirling casually in his fingers. "You won't make it out of here alive." He said icily.

(1) Ino's Shinraiju no Jutsu Mind Manipulation Technique

A/N: Oooo kuso! Another cliff-hanger! Don't worry guys! I'm on a slight break from school, so I will be updating again within the week! xD

You all just gotta find out what happens to Ino-chan, ne? xD

Ja ne for now! Please review!

Arigatou!

Uchiha Sakura