Fire: It's me! Guess there are people interested in reading about you, Sakura...

Sakura: I told you! (mumbling under breath) Stupid Fire...worse than Naruto...

Kakashi: (sulking) Why am I ignored again…?

Fire: (not hearing a word Kakashi had said) Did you remember to review? Well...no pressure here...

Sakura: They're not here to listen to you talk!

Fire: (sweats) Okay... Well...on with the story!

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Disclaimer: Do I really have to repeat myself…? Read the disclaimer in the prologue, but nothing that I own is popping up yet. Just wait a little while longer.

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Chapter 1: Whispers of the Sakura

The only chair in the Hokage office creaked anxiously as its master leaned back against it. Then, it creaked again as she turned to the window once more. Then, back.

Tsunade was worried. She couldn't help that she was worried. Her fingers wound subconsciously around the necklace that she had received from her grandfather, and which had belonged to Naruto not too long before. She really had thought that it wouldn't return to her this time. She had thought that Naruto was different.

But her worries distracted her from that recurring thought. It was raining again, but this time, the storm blew from a different direction. Akatsuki had died down for now, but she knew that it would rise up again soon. Just because two of their members were dead didn't mean anything to them. It was only a minor setback.

But, the danger wasn't from Akatsuki. This time, she was worried about Orochimaru, and a certain mission report which she held in her hand.

Objective: To gather information relating to the current activities of one of the Legendary Sannin known as Orochimaru.

Here there was a list of updates reporting on Orochimaru's activities. He was a threat to them, and she had sent more than one reconnaissance team to Otogakure to keep an eye on him. They have had the location of that hidden village since Sasuke's return, and she had made good use of it.

Update: As of the 23rd of August, all activity in Otogakure has been at a minimum. There still seem to be no movement on Orochimaru's part.

Update: As of the 26th of August, a mysterious cloaked figure approached Orochimaru's compound in Otogakure. More information to come.

Then, no more.

The blond woman sank back in her seat. She wasn't too sure she liked the idea of such news at such a date. The twenty-sixth of August... That wasn't too long after Sakura disappeared. She didn't want to think about it, but she had to be open to the possibility...because a nukenin like Sakura didn't really have many places to go, and there wasn't a chance that the kunoichi would go to Akatsuki. If she was going to go to Orochimaru, it would take her exactly...

Tsunade shook her head, cleared it quickly of those thoughts. Sakura had more sense than that! She had to believe that the pink-haired kunoichi wouldn't do anything like that. She trusted that Sakura wouldn't do something so completely brainless...

But, deep down inside, there was a part of Tsunade that worried about it as well. That was the part that doubted her apprentice. If worse comes to worst, Orochimaru was the only one who could give her what she wanted.

Kakashi closed his eyes against the dull light that shone in through his bedroom window. It was raining again, and the sound of pelting rain against his glass windows drew a rhythmic boredom through the air. It wasn't enough to distract him.

His mind raced with a million thoughts, none of them pleasant. Naruto and Sasuke's recent deaths only served to bring about old memories, all of them bad. Rin...Obito...there was fresh pain in his chest to mix with the old. He had promised that he wouldn't allow anyone else on his team to die. The fact that he couldn't keep that promise was hurting him more than anyone could know.

And while thoughts swamped his mind and his heart bled with new pain, his inner eye focussed only on a single image. Tsunade had given him missions lately as he had requested, so that he could take his mind off everything that had happened. They weren't difficult missions, only a few high C-ranked and lower B-ranked missions, easy missions for a jounin of his skill to accomplish. But...

A cloaked figure, walking steadily toward Otogakure. There was no urgency in each step, only a slowly continuous pace. And...

Small tufts of bright pink hair could be seen from beneath the hood, although the figure's head was lowered so that he couldn't see so well. There was a roundish childlike face beneath that hood. That much he could see even with the face facing downward and the hood covering it.

And there was only one thought in his mind... Was that Sakura?

That thought still plagued him, screaming out amongst the millions more thoughts that ran through his mind. If that was her, what was she doing there? What was she doing at Otogakure? Why did she leave without telling any of them? Why did she leave so abruptly? Why Orochimaru?

Kakashi stared at his bedroom ceiling for a moment before closing his eyes again. There was something that he hadn't told Tsunade. It wasn't necessary to put it in the report. It wasn't something that they, that she, that the Hokage needed to know...

Kakashi leapt down before the cloaked figure could reach the short series of steps leading down to the entrance of Orochimaru's home. If it really was Sakura, he couldn't just let her go to Orochimaru.

The two foreign figures in Oto stood facing each other. There was no one else around for now, and he could be sure that he would be safe. At the moment, he just needed to know one thing. The pink hair... It couldn't possibly be...

"Step aside," the cloaked figure said, and sure enough, it was the voice of a young girl. Her thin hand reached out to sweep Kakashi aside. "I have no business with you!"

Kakashi felt intense strength toss him aside. He fell uncontrollably against a tree before sliding to the ground, his limbs suddenly like heavy blocks of lead. A young girl with immense strength... It had to be Sakura, right? Only Sakura could do that...having learned it from Tsunade.

"S–Sakura-chan!" Kakashi felt his voice shake a little, but it was enough to make the cloaked figure stop before stepping down on the first step.

"Gomen," the figure said, her voice cold with frozen sadness. "I don't know any Sakura." And she walked down to the entrance and disappeared inside before Kakashi could make her say anything more.

"Sakura..." he said as he turned over, sat up to look solemnly at their team picture on his windowsill, the note she had written to him propped up against the picture frame.

'...was that really you?'

Orochimaru tried to see the face of the cloaked figure that stood not too far from him, but the hood that rose from the thick brown cloak hid the face perfectly. "Kabuto, who is this?" His voice was smooth and calm, like it always was. It betrayed none of the curiosity that had risen in his chest along with annoyed anger at the interruption.

"A guest, Orochimaru-sama," the silver-haired medic-nin said, pushing his round glasses back up onto the bridge of his nose. He had met her as she walked through their fake entrance. It would never really be that easy to get into Oto. "She requested an audience with you." But having seen her face, he wasn't sure if his master would want to see her or not. She was...not someone that his master was usually interested in.

"A...guest?" Orochimaru looked directly at the cloaked figure. There was something about this person that reminded him of...Tsunade. Why? "And what would be the name of our...guest?"

Slowly the cloaked figure looked up at Orochimaru, pale aqua-green eyes meeting gold before she spoke. "Haruno Sakura."

End Chapter 1

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Fire's English tidbits for those who care:

"Whose" and "Who's." I know that it's a little confusing sometimes but both are real words depending on the context. "Whose" is the possessive form of "who," like "his" is the possessive form of "he" and "her" is the possessive form of "she." The word "who's" is a compound word made out of a contraction like the English "don't" is a contraction of "do" and "not." "Who's" is a contraction of "who" and "is." For example, "Whose sensei is Kakashi?" is correct while "Who's sensei is Kakashi?" is incorrect. "Who's the new Hokage?" is correct and "Whose the new Hokage?" is incorrect. The trick is to change the contraction to its long form or switch to another possessive form. "Who is sensei is Kakashi?" doesn't make sense while "Who is the new Hokage?" makes more sense than "Her the new Hokage?" That's all. See you in the next chapter. If "Her the new Hokage" actually made sense to you, consult an English teacher/professor/expert/specialist.

Fire's babbling:

Fire: Arrgh! I hate writing cliffhangers!

Kakashi: Then why did you write it?

Fire: Arrgh! I don't know!

Kakashi: (sighs) Baka…

Fire: I know that it's a little mysterious and slow at the moment, but it picks up in the third chapter. I'm still putting down all the foundation for the story. Rising action is an important part of plot development.

Kakashi: Leave it for the English tidbits.

Fire: (sighs) Fine…

Kakashi: Good. (turns back to the audience) Now remember to review…but not too much. I still have to carry the Bag of Reviews.

Fire: I'm going to go look for Sasuke… (slinks away)

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