Tsuande was far from a patient person; in fact she was actually quite easily irritable but throw squad seven in to the mix and she could be downright furious.

"I can't believe you went to look for Sakura without me!" Naruto steamed at the Uchiha who stood cold and silent at the blond "after you told me NOT to go after her!" Naruto continued to fume over the recent events. I don't know what he was thinking… Naruto's thoughts rolled through his brain as he glared, his eyes fixed on Sasuke who just seemed to ignore his actions. It's not like he's got any interest in her…if he did…. He stopped his thoughts before they could finish, they were too much to bear. He had enough issues with over confident black haired nin, he didn't need to add another one to it. But still the thought brewed in his mind if he's toying with her for his own personal pleasure… His jaw became clenched and his knuckles turned white as he balled his hands into tightly woven fists, Sasuke smirking at the hostility the blond was emitting.

"You got something to say, Uzumaki?" It was rare for Sasuke to call Naruto by his last name but all the same it didn't stop the words that erupted from Naruto's lips.

"You're a bastard, Sasuke! I should beat you into the ground for what you did to Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes shifting as they focused on his opponent. There was a time when Naruto had seen Sakura as something more than a team mate and rather as a love interest. Though as time and experiences had changed them all, those feelings faded and now she had become something of a sister and cherished comrade.

"Uzumaki, your ass, my foot, outside!" Sasuke barked; the tension between to two Shinobi almost potent.

"BOTH of you SIT YOUR ASSES DOWN!" Tsuande roared through her tower as her eyes threw daggers at the two restless Shinobi while Sakura remained quiet. Her two male comrades hesitant to obey but slowly backed away from the other, their bodies still riddled with tension for the other. "Now…" Tsuande heaved in an overzealous attempt to sound pleasant "Who would like to explain to me what happened last night?"

Sakura attempted to the explain the unraveling of her mind, but Sasuke beat her to it.



"It was my fault, Lady Tsunade" his voice as smooth and confident as ever. He met her gaze that peered at him through laced fingers that rested neatly on the bridge of her top lip, a flicker of integrity flashing through her amber orbs as he locked eyes with his superior. "When Sakura ran off, I instructed Naruto not to chase her and did not inform him that I had plans to retrieve her if she had not returned by night fall." There was an awkward silence that fell over the room as Sasuke continued to look at the 5th Hokage whose expression had not changed. She wanted to challenge his intellect and reasoning with the juvenile question of Why if nothing more than to just seem him subconsciously squirm as he tried to avoid the boulder of explanation that would have come hurling toward him. Tsuande grinned, there was no way in hell that Sasuke would ever admit that he went for fear of Sakura's well being however it'd bring her great amusement to watch him wiggle under the pressure of making up a full proof lie on the spot.

"Naruto, Sasuke…" Tsuande hummed through her slender fingers "you're dismissed…I need to speak to Sakura in private." The male Shinobi did as they were instructed, bowing respectfully before exiting the room. "Kakashi…make sure they don't kill each other." Tsuande moaned as she rubbed her temples, she had defiantly not consumed enough Sake yet for this kind of day. As she lifted her eyes to take in the image of the pink haired shinobi she smiled gently. "With an expression like that Sakura, you would have thought your best friend just passed on." Tsuande said in the most comforting voice she could conjure up this early in the morning.

"I apologize, Tsuande-Sama." Sakura spoke bleakly her eyes still transfixed on anything other than her superior.

"Why the long face, Sakura?" Tsuande spoke gently trying to coax the young girl she had spent so much time with prior to the recent events. "I heard about your victory with the reptile, you should be feeling victorious, not defeated…" Her words left Sakura unmoved and her miniscule patience level was quickly dwindling. "Whatever it is, Sakura, you can tell me."

It was true that Tsuande had almost become something of a mother figure in the eyes of Sakura yet she still felt a lump in her throat as she tried to explain the events that unfolded her peculiar behavior. Sakura proceeded to explain the snake, the words she heard and the images that smoldered her brain and haunted her mind, yet made no sense at all. At the end of her conclusion, she felt relieved that she had spoken to someone but not any less lighter about the events that had happened prior to her confession. Tsuande remained quiet for a moment to long, leaving Sakura with an unsettling pit in her stomach. Finally, her blonde superior rose from her cherry wood desk that was riddled with neglected paperwork as she stood in front of her large office window that over looked the beautiful village below.

"Sakura…" Tsuande's voice gentle yet firm "I need Squad 7 to return to the place where you battled the snake…we need to retrieve data from the specimen to be analyzed. This is to be done as soon as possible…you're dismissed." Though Tsuande was not patient, she was always firm and direct when giving orders and with her new mission abroad Sakura exited the 5th Hokages office with much eagerness.

"What are you thinking, Tsuande…" Kakashi's voice swayed through the air as he appeared from the shadows uninvited and unexpected.

"I'm thinking…" Tsuande replied as she placed her polished had on the glass of her window, her eyes growing somber with grief "That if it's Orochimaru…squad seven is in for one hell of a ride…"

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

AN: oOoOoOoOo Plot points…. XD I have a life…I swear…It's just so darn easy to write at work because all I do answer phone for 8 hours. Lol. Please Review!