A/N:- Gotta say I'm on a roll. I'm literally dishing out chapters like party favours these days. Don't think I've written at this pace since my early days as a fanfic author. Guess that's what muse does when she's being a generous mistress.

Murphy's Law-II

Three years ago

Sakura fiddled with her skirt as she waited for her turn. Her foot wouldn't stop tapping. This was it. The moment she had spent the last six months preparing for. She could barely believe it when the dean summoned her to give her an oppurtunity to graduate early. All she had to do was give a presentation in front of noted experts in the medical field and if she managed to impress them she would be awarded the required credits she needed to graduate.

Suffice to say it was an oppurtunity that she grabbed it with both hands. She ended up regretting it, for the first few weeks at least. It took her nearly a month just to decide what her presentation was going to be about.

The next six months were heaven and hell. The remaining time remained a caffeine fueled blur of her regular classes, researching for project, talking to her professors.

She was burning the candles on both ends, working over twenty hours a day and for a change skipping meals had nothing to do with dieting as a result of which she ended up dropping seven pounds.

But all her hard work had finally borne fruit and she had a project ready for presentation. Now all she could do, was hope that it was enough. She turned her focus back to her competitor's project. He was a man in his twenties giving a presentation on the applications of chakra in civilian medicine.

Which in Sakura's opinion was interesting enough from a theoretical point of view but lacked real life applications, which was one of the reasons she didn't choose it as her project. For chakra to be used as a healing tool the patient needed a stable and functioning chakra system. Now granted almost everyone had it, but in most civilians the pathways were too small for them to be used.

If you forced it, you would be doing nothing at best or killing your patient with chakra poisoning at worst. If she had been on the panel she would have a lot of questions.

The man finally finished his presentation and left the stage to some mild applause. Sakura waited for the emcee to invite her to the stage before getting to her shaking knees. The judges looked disinterested and bored.

Not a good sign.

"Good evening," she said, "I'm Haruno Sakura and tonight I'll be speaking on..."

The next fifteen minutes flew by. She forgot all about her nervousness as she spoke on length about her project. The expression on the judge's faces went from indifference to curiosity to genuine interest during that time.

The applause she got was a lot more spirited and enthusiastic than her predecessor. She hoped it was because she was good and not because they really wanted her off-stage.

"Impressive work um..." one of the judges spoke.

"Sakura," she said a little annoyed that her name was forgotten, "Haruno Sakura."

"Your research while fascinating," he said, "seems to have limited real-life applications."

"In the field of battle the most important life is that of a medic," Sakura explained, "those are the words of none other than the honourable Godaime. A team's survival often hinges on the success or failure of their medic while they're in the same line of fire the same as their teammates. If the medic is incapacitated it reduces the chances of survival of the entire team."

"This technique will increase the odds of a medic's survival in the field, almost akin to giving them a second life."

"Isn't the Godaime rumoured to use a similar technique?" one of the panelists asked, "now while I'll admit its very impressive if you somehow managed to reverse engineer it, its still just an imitation of something that already exists."

"I really don't know how the Godaime does it," Sakura admitted, "but despite the similarities there is one fundamental difference between the two techniques."

"And what is that?"

Sakura allowed herself a smirk as she went for the kill, "My technique kicks in when the subject loses consciousness."

XxX

Sakura woke up with a gasp and almost immediately wished she hadn't. Every inch of her body felt like it was on fire and her lungs protested as she coughed to clear them. Cracked ribs, dislocated kneecap, possible concussion, the worse injuries already taken care of.

It had worked.

The technique which had kick-started her career as a medic nin had now saved her life. Her chakra system could now officially operate involuntarily to heal her when she was unconscious. While she had been praised for it, no one believed it could be done. Even she had her doubts... until now. Her elation however, was tempered by her current circumstances.

Channeling healing chakra into her arms she went to work on herself gritting her teeth as bones and muscles mended themselves under her treatment. When she was done she turned her attention to the unconscious form of Kohaku mere yards from her.

He was still alive and breathing and even seemed to have weathered the impact better than her courtesy of his jounin vest/armour. If it wasn't for the dirt and soot covering his body he could almost be mistaken to be asleep, still she checked him for any debilitating injuries and to her relief found none, all she needed to do was treat him for concussion and he would be as good as new.

The jounin moaned as Sakura worked on him and sat up and almost immediately collapsing again.

"Did the sky fall down or something?" he groaned holding his head.

"We need to get up there," Sakura helped him to his feet, gesturing to the burning hospital in front of her. Already people were running about, helping the injured or carrying the dead.

"Why?" the Kusa-nin asked, "we're too late, it doesn't matter anymore."

"They want all those people dead," Sakura said, "that's the only way they could put a lid on this."

"Yes," he agreed, "and from the looks of it they succeeded."

"I'm going in," Sakura said resolutely, "I'm sorry I involved you in this."

"Wait," Sakura turned to see the jounin look exasperated as he held her arm keeping her in place, Sakura reflexively jerked it out and the jounin held his arms up in a placating gesture.

"If there's anything that can be salvaged I'll find a way to do it," Sakura told him, "don't try to stop me."

"Why is this so important to you?"

The question broke through her haze of urgency and forced her to think. It was a valid question. It wasn't the mission that was keeping urging her forward. She had done her part satisfactorily.

And yet.

"Because," she said slowly, "I was responsible for those people. I saved their lives and I can't allow that to have been for nothing, not to mention those actions have now endangered the lives of every one in there."

"And how is rushing into a burning building going to help them?" he demanded, "or are you an undercover firefighter as well?"

"I don't expect you to understand," Sakura tried to sidestep him but her kept blocking her.

"Oh! I understand," he said, "you're off to play the hero and I think you've been a ninja long enough to know how heroes end up."

"I don't have time for this," she didn't bother sidestepping him this time and pushed him out of the way taking him by surprise but he recovered to hold her arm stopping her.

"Just stop and listen you infuriating woman," he shouted, "the people who did this are powerful enough to know that they wouldn't be facing any consequences, by going there now you risk exposing yourself."

"And why do you care?" Sakura demanded, "I've been spy..."

A pair of lips smashed on hers cutting her off. The kiss was rough, dry and very intense. To say she was caught be surprise would be an understatement and to her greater surprise she found herself returning it matching his intensity with her own. When they finally stopped gasping for breath her hands on his face while his resting on her hips.

He rested his forehead against hers one hand palming her cheek as they waited to get their breathing in control.

"I'll come with you," he said resignedly after a while, "but let me tell you, I got a feeling," he turned to the building, "there's something waiting for us in there... and it isn't friendly."

Sakura didn't voice it, but she had a feeling as well, and it was telling her that he was absolutely right.

XxX

The blast had made sure that the regular entrances were blocked, not that it could stop the two of them.

Bodies with parts missing and, the walls and floor painted with the blood of the victims. They hadn't found any survivors so far and it seemed less and less likely that they will.

It was hard to believe that less than half an hour ago this place was a busy hospital. It broke Sakura's heart to see it in its current condition. It took a special kind of monster to wreak this kind of horror at people when they were at their most helpless.

She ducked under a fallen beam as she walked around the debris. The explosion had ripped through the lower floor and yet the hospital was standing.

"Sakura!" Kohaku called out, "over here."

Sakura rushed towards him being careful to avoid the debris. The jounin was crouched near a barely conscious woman trapped under a fallen beam. Kohaku was doing his best to shift it away, but wasn't having much luck at the moment.

Sakura kneeled beside the woman and realized that she knew her after a closer look. It was Miyabi, one of her fellow interns.

The usually haughty woman was in shock due to blood loss and trauma, her breaths coming in short gasps as she fought hard to stay conscious. There wasn't a lot she could do until the beam could be moved off her.

"Hang in there," Sakura said to the rapidly fading woman and joined the jounin who was now trying to pry off the beam using a rod as a lever.

The two of them pressed on the beam with all their might and just as it seemed like they would succeed the rod snapped in two, sending the two of them crashing on the floor. Sakura was immediately back on her feet knowing time was of the essence.

"Miyabi," Sakura lightly slapped the nearly unconscious woman whose eyes snapped into attention for a second, "stay with me."

"Sa... Sakura?" she said her eyes lighting up with recognition.

"It's me," she said, "I need you to focus on my voice."

"It's..," she mumbled, "getting... cold."

"Stay with me Miyabi," Sakura urged even as the woman went slack, the life fading from her eyes.

"We need to go," Kohaku's voice broke through her trance.

"Gimme a sec," Sakura snapped as she closed the woman's eyes and mumbled a small prayer for a safe passage to the afterlife.

"Let's go."

XxX

Naruto honestly didn't know what else he was expecting in hindsight. Situations had a way of turning to shit just when you think they are going your way. So why would this be any different?

He had endured weeks living in hotels, pretending to be a high-stakes gambler, flirting, drinking...

On second thought that hadn't been so bad.

But he missed his jacket, he missed Ichiraku's ramen and he was just about ready to wrap up this mission and go home.

But the universe had other plans it seemed. He was in the middle of brushing his teeth when three of his clones that he had left at the hospital to keep an eye on things dispelled simultaneously. Even as he fought through the headache triggered by the onset of memories he knew the proverbial shit had hit the fan.

The shadow clone technique was a very useful spying tool. But you weren't supposed to make more than one or two or for more than a couple of hours. The more you made and the longer you kept them the more you suffered.

Other than the drain on the chakra that its use caused it also had the added side-effect of headaches ranging from a mild migraine to pain so excruciating that you felt like giving yourself a lobotomy with a spoon to escape the agony, when they dispeled. The headache he got now was closer to the latter.

Over the years he had worked on the issues and it was during a stint in a monastery had allowed him to come up with a way to organize his memories linearly so that he didn't get a coma inducing headache everytime he used them.

The headache he got now meant that his clones had been caught off-guard and something or someone had destroyed them simultaneously.

He could taste copper in his mouth. He realized he had bitten his tongue. The pain hadn't registered yet. But he had worse problems at the moment.

Sakura had a morning shift at the hospital, he recalled to his growing horror. He sifted through the disjointed memories of his clone, trying to put together the jumble to get a clearer picture. From what he could glean through them, Sakura had left the hospital in something of a hurry.

Did she figure something was wrong?

He expected one of his clones to have tailed her. He tried to put the memories together, but it was like trying to put a shattered mirror together. So he gave up.

Time was of the essence. He had to get there.

He just allowed himself enough time to slip on a pair of fingerless gloves and change his slippers for shinobi sandals before jumping out of the sole window of his room.

Sakura was in the middle of a shitstorm and what kind of teammate he would be if he didn't join her?

XxX

Kohaku had mixed feelings about what he was doing. On the one hand he wasn't doing anything wrong here but on the other he was following the lead of a woman who was spying on his village.

A village he had sworn his loyalty to.

There were times when he had begun to question that loyalty, especially that one time when he had been told to stop his investigations into an illegal laboratory which he suspected was associated with the disappearances of several people from the border villages and maybe even more from the Land of Fire.

In short people no one cared about. No one important at least.

Perfect crime really.

And someone didn't want it investigated. His first suspect naturally was the ninja village which was allied to his. The fact that he had caught them trying to sneak into his nation under the guise of a mission was telling.

He had reason to believe otherwise now obviously. A very unnerving conversation with one of the greatest shinobi alive had took care of that. So, he had held off on turning them over. They did spare his life afterall.

And maybe just maybe a part of him was motivated by not wanting to see a certain pink haired green eyed beauty, who, at the moment was a much more mundane brown haired and brown eyed in trouble with his people.

Not that she didn't pull off that look.

"So," he said as he sidestepped a fallen table, "what's the deal with the blonde kid who showed up as you for 'our' date?"

"I'm not discussing my teammate with you Kohaku-san," she replied.

"Don't blame you," he shrugged, "if I had a teammate that crazy, I wouldn't want to discuss them either."

"This is the E-wing, if I'm right," Sakura said, "at least some of those people should be in here in the ICU," she then proceeded to wrench open a door.

"Can you discuss Oto?"

"I doubt I can tell you anything more than..." she paused just long enough to kick a cabinet out of the way, "what Kakashi has."

"Can't or won't?"

"Is there a difference?"

"Don't you find it strange?" Kohaku said as he followed her.

"What?"

"Other than the ground floor," he said, "the rest of the place is relatively undamaged."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying," he said slowly as his mind raced at the possibilities, "that maybe the purpose of that explosion wasn't destruction of evidence."

CLANG

The two of them rushed to the source of the noise after getting over their initial surprise. A shadow wobbled towards them as if drunk. Kohaku's arm involuntarily went towards his kunai, but Sakura stayed his hand.

"Daichi?" she exclaimed, just as the man collapsed in her arms.

The man groaned as she placed him on the floor and treated him.

"Will he make it?" Kohaku asked.

"Looks like it," she replied, "and that'll be a first today."

She tried to be cavalier about it, but he could tell the events of the day were affecting her more than she let on... or at least tried to.

She was in that awkward stage in her shinobi career where she was experienced enough to have gotten used to some of the ugliness of the job but not yet jaded enough to be numb to it.

His senses flared as he detected an unknown chakra signature.

That could only mean one thing.

"Sakura?" he said.

"Gimme a minute," she said impatiently.

They didn't have a minute. Realizing talking was a waste of time he tackled Sakura just as he felt the air right over his head being displaced followed by a thud of projectiles embedding themselves on the wall. Fortunately that tackle had moved them closer to the end of the corridor and allowed them to take cover by the wall.

He was about to get to his feet and drag Sakura with her. He had no wish to tangle with whoever just tried to take their heads off with... pink crystal shuriken?

But to his surprise Sakura was resisting his efforts.

"What?" he hissed.

"We can't leave him there," she hissed back.

"Isn't this a pleasant surprise," a woman's voice called out in a mocking tone, "just when I thought things would be boring. Fate gives me not one but two rats to play with."

"Funny you should talk about rats," Kohaku fired back, realizing they lost the window to escape and prepared himself for a fight, "because this is Kusa territory and as far as I can tell you aren't a Kusa shinobi."

"Neither is that piece of ass you were groping a second ago," she replied, "Why don't you ditch her and join me? I'll show you what a real woman can do?"

"Tempting," he said, "but I'm afraid I'll have to say no."

"It's your loss," she said, "I'll be having fun either way."

He turned to Sakura, "I'll hold her..."

"No," she said resolutely, clenching a kunai in her fist, "we do this together."

Kohaku wasn't sure about this. Teaming up could be an advantage when you knew what your partner was capable of and could shadow their moves and coordinate them with yours. If not, then an advantage of even hundreds can become a hindrance.

"Its rude to keep a girl waiting you know," the woman drawled.

"On my mark," Kohaku told his companion making up his mind.

"Mark!"

Together they charged their smirking enemy, whose arms turned into crystal lances as she met them head on.

XxX

The place was a mess. Whoever was behind this definitely wasn't being subtle that's for sure and yet there wasn't any help visible. And that could only mean one thing.

Trap.

They are usually fun to spring and even more fun to get out of. Except he doubted Sakura-chan would share the sentiment. He wasn't sure where she was right now. On the way here he had managed to put a few fragmented memories together filled in the blanks to get a somewhat coherent picture.

Something about a new batch of patients that had been admitted today had freaked her out and she went for help. But since she didn't have the means to contact her team she went to the only one she could.

Kohaku Arakida.

She was at the front porch of the hospital when all of his clones dispelled... at the same time.

And now he knew why?

A group of volunteers were working on helping the wounded at the scene when he caught hold of one of them.

"What the hell happened in here?" he asked the man.

"Can't say," came the hurried reply, "a gas leak of some sort maybe, the place just exploded."

"How many people are trapped in there?"

"Couple of hundred at least... maybe more."

"How come there aren't any firemen or any other of those emergency service guys?"

"Look man I don't know, alright," the volunteer said irritably, "and now if you don't mind I got people I need to help."

"Just one last question," Naruto said before the man could walk away.

"What!"

"Is there anyway in to the hospital?"

"No, all the entrances are caved in," he said walking away before Naruto could detain him any longer.

Big ass explosion, no authorities taking charge of the situation and no way in... not for civilians anyway. Any shinobi worth his salt won't take more than a few seconds to scale those walls.

His trap theory was becoming more plausible by the minute. That by itself didn't bother Naruto. But the fact they were being so obvious about it did.

In fact they couldn't be more obvious if they had put a forty-foot banner over the place with the words 'trap' written in capitals and bold.

He scanned the building for the most convenient point of entry. A broken window on the third floor seemed like his best bet.

The corridor was dark other than the flickering lights that illuminated it every once in a while. He created two dozen clones and watched them spread out in different directions.

Their purpose... finding Sakura.

A purpose they wouldn't be fulfilling as seconds after their departure he felt four of his clones dispel.

He felt his blood freeze in his veins as the clones' memories revealed the man responsible.

It couldn't be.

This guy was dead. He had seen him die in front of his eyes and yet here he was going through his clones like a lightning jutsu through a bunch of kiri mooks.

Naruto felt his heart racing as he heard his adversary's footsteps approach him from the other side of the corridor. He didn't seem to be in a hurry and wasn't bathering to hide his presence.

And then Naruto saw him.

He looked just as he did all those years ago. Milky white complexion, cold green eyes, long white hair tied back in a ponytail and delicate features that could be mistaken for those of a woman. His weapon which was casually resting on his shoulder that he knew was made of his own bones and the two scarlet dots on his forehead screamed his vaunted pedigree in the shinobi world. He radiated no killing intent.

He didn't need it.

Naruto had never come closer to dying than when he fought this guy. Now that he thought about it. That encounter didn't qualify as a fight. It was more him just doing his best to stay alive.

The fact that he was a lot better now, didn't improve his confidence at all. Back then, his ignorance about their gap in abilities had helped him hold his nerve, at least for the first three seconds of the fight. It was nothing but sheer luck that allowed him to survive back then.

Now he wondered which god had he pissed that he was facing someone who used to haunt his nightmares for weeks after he encountered him.

"You're supposed to be...," Naruto cleared his throat, his voice coming off higher than he expected, "aren't you supposed to be dead?"

The Shikotsumyaku user came to a stop, around three yards from him which was about ninety seven yards closer than Naruto would have liked. He tilted his head to the side as if considering the question.

"My master's ambitions," he said without a trace of emotion, "pried my soul from the very hands of the shinigami himself... and so here I am."

"Or maybe the devil ran out of room in hell," Naruto quipped as he prepared for a fight he wasn't sure he would survive, "decided to throw the trash out so to speak."

"Let's see if you retain that sense of humour when I'm feeding you your entrails," Kimimaru said as he languidly pointed his index finger at him, the skin of his fingers parting to allow the bone underneath to peek out.

XxX

Kakashi liked mornings. Especially mornings where he could relax and watch the sun rise after a job done relatively well. The roof of his apartment back home allowed him an excellent view. The view in front of him rivaled the one in Konoha.

Unfortunately, it seemed like this wouldn't be one of those mornings.

"You can come and join me," he called out, "no need to be shy."

"Hahaha," his unseen companion laughed sheepishly as he walked over and stood next to him, "since when did you know?"

"I'll tell you," he said, "if you tell me how you found me."

"Touche´."

The man was dressed in a hooded robe, the right half of his face hidden by the the hood, eyes protected by a pair of spectacles giving him a very benign and harmless appearance.

Kakashi knew better

"What do you want Kabuto?" Kakashi asked, "or are you here on behalf of Orochimaru?"

"I come in peace," the former Konoha genin/traitor/Orochimaru's right hand said, "was hoping I could have a word without the need for undue violence."

"I like your optimism," Kakashi said.

"Sometimes," Kabuto said, "its all a man's got. But ask yourself this, would you really want to create a situation which can blow the cover of your team?"

"Seems like its already blown," Kakashi said coolly, "guess I really don't have an incentive to keep this civil."

"Now now,"Kabuto raised his hands placatingly, "let's not blow things out of proportion here, I have no nefarious designs."

"You'll excuse me if I don't take the word of a traitor," Kakashi retorted.

"Technically my loyalty never belonged to Konoha."

"No," Kakashi agreed, "I suppose not, that distinction belongs to your master, speaking of which there are rumours flying around that he's back from the dead."

"You mean kinda like those rumours which claimed he was dead?" Kabuto chuckled, "it is so hard to keep track these days, but we are diverging from the point."

"Which is?"

"You need to stop wasting your time with us," Kabuto said, "it'll do you no good."

"You need to learn how to make threats boy," Kakashi snorted, "but I can assure you we will stop," he said more seriously, "once that den of rats you call Otogakure has been exterminated."

"Making threats?" Kabuto said his tone apalled, "you misunderstand Hatake-san. I don't believe little ol' me is qualified to intimidate someone like you. What I meant was that in your obsession to right a perceived wrong..."

"By perceived wrong," Kakashi interrupted, "you mean the massacre of Konoha citizens and murdering our Kage right?"

"Be that as may," Kabuto said, "there are greater threats in the world Hatake-san. Threats that you and your current Hokage have become blinded to in your single-minded and misguided attempts to gain retribution."

"Creating imaginary threats now are we?" Kakashi mocked, "could you get more pathetic?"

"The threat is real Hatake-san," he said seriously, "ignore them at your own peril."

"Let's say I believe you," Kakashi said, "and you're helping us why exactly? Out of the goodness of your heart?"

"Of course not," he said ignoring the sarcasm, "But you know what they say... enemy of my enemy."

"If your intention is to make sure that Konoha allies itself with this threat," Kakashi stated, "then I must say you're doing a very good job."

Kabuto smirked at him with the air of someone who knew to the question that hadn't yet been asked, "Oh I'm certain that you won't do that Hatake-san."

"Won't I?"

"You think I'm a despicable man don't you Hatake-san."

"That's putting it mildly."

"Then let me assure you," he said his tone graver and lacking the ironic humour Kakashi had come to associate with his way of speaking, "some of these people... give me the creeps."

Kakashi decided he'd had enough, "Why don't you come over to Konoha with me? We can have a nice little chat about these threats at the T&I, put you up in our state of the art detention cells services include waterboarding, and even some electroshock therapy... You'll hate it."

Kabuto chuckled, "As tempting as that sounds, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to take a pass on that. Work is murder these days, can't afford to take any time off..." he was interrupted mid-sentence courtesy of being stabbed by a chokuto wielded by his most mercurial student. Kabuto's face melted to reveal another face gaping and twisted in horror and agony.

"Is that anyway to treat old friends Sasuke-kun?" The medic said in a mock pained tone appearing a few yards behind the Uchiha.

"Kabuto," Sasuke acknowledged, "sadistic and psychopathic as usual."

"Pot and kettle Sasuke-kun," Kabuto conuntered, "pot and kettle. But it seems I've overstayed my welcome, until next time and I suspect you've figured out how my technique works Hatake-san and I realize it'd be an exercise in futility to ask you to desist from tracking me," he raised his hand in a single hand-seal, "so, I hope this goes some way to help you fight that impulse."

Kakashi tensed, waiting for the smirking Kabuto to make his move and... nothing happened. That was until Sasuke went down on his knees clutching his neck. Kakashi charged Kabuto knowing that was the only way to stop him from doing whatever he had or was doing to Sasuke, but the man's body disintegrated right in front of his eye, before he could even touch him.

His smile mocking him all the way through.

Fuck! if that wasn't annoying.

A massive killing intent permeated the air the likes of which he hadn't felt in a long time. He turned to the source to see his protege on one knee, his shoulders shaking, clenched fists resting on the ground.

"Sasuke?" he called out uncertainly as he saw black chakra flowing out of Sasuke like smoke out of a put out candle. Flame like markings spreading all over his body.

Then suddenly Sasuke threw his head back and screamed out to the heavens and Kakashi knew his day got a lot more complicated and proceeded to summarize his situation with a single word

"Shit!"

Another cliffhanger? I know I'm an evil bastard. I intended to wrap up this arc in this chapter but this thing has a life of its own, so that if you think about it, its the story's fault. I promised some revelations in the last chapter and some have definitely been hinted at here a couple more blatantly than others. See if you can figure it out and PM me with your theories or better yet, leave them in the review.

As you've probably realized by now I like to put my characters are in tortur... err challenging, I mean challenging situations and see how they come out of them.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this and I think I'll be able to sustain this pace and bring out the next chapter soon enough. You guys can always incentivize me.

Until next time.