-Set at the beginning of Shippuden, the Elders send Sakura off as a hunter-nin, wishing for her death as a way to weaken Tsunade's political powers. Sakura agrees to prove them wrong, but what she didn't know was that Orochimaru's involved! Oh, god… Just what did she get herself into?


Yay! A new chapter! Hm… What can I say in this little note? Um . . . I've tried to make this chapter better than the last one. It took a long while, but I really did try to make this seem as good as possible. I hope that this chapter really does meet your expectations, and please don't bash it. Um . . . actually, no, why did I say that? Um . . . wow, I really have nothing to say… Oh! This chapter is more on the comedic side, I guess. Next chapter (when I get to it) will be more serious. By next chapter, I will have caught up to Mirrorcle World and so we'll be seeing Naruto and Hinata again.


Episode Thirteen

~Her Breath of Relief~

It was an understatement to say that Sakura was shocked or surprised, her eyes wider than ever before. She had never expected this meeting. No, never. Missing three meetings in a row should have been a red alert to her, but it had never once crossed her mind. How was she supposed to know that this would happen? She bit her bottom lip, trying to think of a solution. None came to mind as she could only see three possibilities to this. One, Sasuke would miraculously get better and fight Jiraiya off. (Yeah… So not happening by the looks of his wounds.) Two, she would have to fight Jiraiya off to protect Sasuke and somehow get them both back to Orochimaru's hideout. (Yeah, this one seemed a whole lot funnier than the last.) Or three, Jiraiya would drag their sorry asses back to Konoha, and Tsunade would punish them both. (Finally, a reasonable one…) And so yeah… Out of all of those possibilities, three seemed to be the most likely. (She ignored her Inner shouting at her, saying that the other two choices weren't even remotely logical or practical to begin with.) But she could not let that happen. And here were the reasons why: Orochimaru would be pissed off and attack Konoha to get the Uchiha back, and Tsunade, Naruto, and the Elders would chew her out for getting stuck in Oto. She didn't know about the next person, but she so did not want to explain her chance happening onto Oto to her shisou or to Naruto. It was just too plain embarrassing!

"Well?" the toad Sannin asked. "Care to explain yourself, Sakura?"

The rosette could imagine the beads of sweat rolling down her face as she tried to come up with an excuse. Perhaps Jiraiya didn't even know she was stuck in Oto. Maybe she could lie herself out of this. Would it be stupid of her to pretend she was someone else?

"Um . . . you see, I . . . um . . ." She wanted to slap herself. She could come up with wonderful stories in the past, all made up on spot. Why couldn't she do it now? "I heard rumors about Orochimaru stalking around in the area, and so . . . um . . . I couldn't pass up an opportunity to catch up with Sasuke, and…" She mentally cursed herself. Of all times to not sound confident… "Yeah, that's really it. I kind of . . . I found Sasuke just now, in fact! I guess I was so caught up with him that I forgot to check in with you… Eh-heh-heh, I'm sorry to have worried you."

But the man in his fifties was not batting an eye. "Cut the crap," he snapped. "I want the truth, Sakura, and I want it now. I may be old, but I know when someone's trying—and trying horribly, might I add—to pull the wool over my eyes."

Sakura gave up then. "Alright," she said, "But it's a long story…"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. I've got all the time in the world. You can tell me while you heal your ex-teammate."

And so, Sakura started on how she got lost on her way back to the Fire Country and how she stumbled upon a small village when the Oto nin attacked her. She told him that she had tried to fight before her ex-teammate showed up, and then she tried to run. She was captured and then forced to stay with Orochimaru's group, though she was stuck with Sasuke for most of it. She skipped the more embarrassing parts and the curse mark Sasuke had given her but told him of how she could only watch as Naruto fought with Sasuke when he had found the hideout. And then she told him of Sasuke becoming MIA and that Orochimaru wanted her to check out what was holding him up, and that was it. That was how she ended up where she was, all the while she began to heal the Uchiha's wounds.

Jiraiya's stern gaze seemed to have lightened throughout the tale, nodding at some of the girl's decisions. "But why didn't you tell me when you met up with me that one time? I could have just followed you and pretended to bust you out. Didn't that ever occur to you?"

"Of course, I thought about it," Sakura explained, finishing the last of Sasuke's wounds. In truth, she hadn't realized that was an option until now, but Jiraiya needn't know that. "I've regretted it sometimes, but I've always thought it would be better if I stayed a bit longer… I don't know why I didn't tell you when I had the chance, but if I had to choose now then…" She glanced at the Uchiha's sleeping face. Why did he let his guard down now, she wondered. Was it because she was there with him? She quickly discarded the thought. "I believe it'll be easier to get him to come back to Konoha if I stay with him, you know? I don't know if it'll work, but I just have a gut feeling that he trusts me more now for some odd reason…"

Jiraiya almost chuckled at the girl's words. Really… How love struck women act sometimes… He'd never understand how they worked. They were just so . . . troublesome, for lack of a better word.

"But do you think I'll give you the option of staying with him?" he asked, his tone gravely.

Sakura's eyes widened then, whatever jutsu she was applying to Sasuke's wound deactivated. "You . . ." She had never thought Jiraiya would react this way. She had always pictured him as an easy-going old fool. Surely, he would allow her to stay with Sasuke.

"Do you think it'll be okay for me to let you stay with him?" Jiraiya asked once more. "If Tsunade even gets a whiff of this, I'm dead. If the Elders find out then you're in some deep shit. And if Naruto finds out then we'll both be in for it. How do you think this will work out?"

"I . . ." Sakura couldn't find any words. What was she to say? Jiraiya had no obligations to her. The only reason why he scheduled weekly meetings was out of respect for Tsunade and obligations to Naruto, nothing more. Why would he let her stay with Sasuke anyway? He probably saw her rationalization as a joke, something stupid and childish. Plus, did she really want to stay with him? In Orochimaru's hideouts? Wasn't it just yesterday when she was plotting to escape from her captivity?

"I really don't know," she opted to say. And nonetheless, it was the truth. She really had no idea how things would work out.

Jiraiya sighed. He wondered what he did to be put in such a situation. If his old teammate found out, he'd be dead—or even worse than that. It was a HUGE understatement to say that Tsunade would be upset or furious. Karma must have been against him.

"Hear me out," he told her.

Sakura seemed to be watching him closely, almost hovering over her ex-teammate in a shielding manner.

Jiraiya resisted the urge to roll his eyes. What did she think he would do? Kill the boy? It was this attitude that discouraged Jiraiya from breaking the couple up. "I don't think Tsunade needs to know about this. It would not do either of us any good."

It was amusing to watch Sakura's green eyes widen almost three times their narrowed size. Had she misheard? Or did that sound like Jiraiya was going to help her? She must have heard wrong. That, or she was in a genjutsu and Jiraiya was already bringing them back to Konoha.

"You mean…?"

A stiff nod. "I've been gathering information on Orochimaru for years, and never have I gotten as close to his affiliations as you are now. It will do Konoha a lot of good if you continue to stay with the Oto nin. Plus, Tsunade and your friends can rest assured that you are not in danger twenty-four-seven. Besides the fact, I have no time to waste on Orochimaru as I need to gather information on the Akatsuki. It will be beneficial for everyone this way."

Jiraiya's logic never made any more sense than it did now. Sakura would have hugged him and thanked him if she hadn't known he was a pervert.

"However, let me make this clear. I will not be the one to tell Tsunade about this if she were to find out," the old man stated, his arms crossed. "If she even gets a whiff of this, you're on your own. Same goes for Naruto and the rest of your friends. You need to be the one to explain this to them."

"You don't have to worry about that," the rosette said. She had planned it that way anyhow. She had hoped she needn't speak to anyone about her imprisonment in Oto, but if word got out then she had no choice. She had to be the one to explain things lest things get even worse.

"And with that said…" The Toad Sannin stretched out his arms. "I'll be going now. Make sure you don't miss any more of our meetings if you can, got it?"

Sakura nodded. She learned her lesson. She'll make sure meeting Jiraiya was at the top of her list. She refused to be caught off guard like this once again.

He turned to leave but, when he glanced at the Uchiha, he sighed. "Give him my apologies, will you?"

A blink. Another blink. Her spring green eyes were filled with confusion, wondering why Jiraiya would even need to apologize.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, the boy was sent on a mission, wasn't he?" Jiraiya asked, a bit reluctant to clarify things. After Sakura nodded—and nodded very slowly, may it be noted—he continued. "He wasn't sent to kill me, but we crossed paths, and I wanted to bring him back for Naruto, and…" There wasn't a need to explain anymore.

"You mean . . ." And suddenly, two plus two made sense. "YOU'RE THE REASON WHY I WASTED MY CHAKRA TRYING TO HEAL HIS WOUNDS?" It was fortunate that the time of day wasn't night. If it had been then Sakura would have woken up the whole village—scratch that, she would have woken up the whole world. "DO YOU KNOW HOW BAD THAT LOOKS ON MY PART? I WAS JUST KICKING HIM OUT OF HIS ROOM A FEW DAYS AGO! AND NOW I'M HEALING HIM! HOW AM I GOING TO—HEY, WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING? GET BACK HERE!"

During Sakura's rant, Jiraiya had found it upon himself to jump out the nearest window. Hey, no one could blame him. If one was dealing with the apprentice of one's old teammate who happened to be one of the scariest kunoichi alive then one knew it was time to get out of there before things escalated to fists and kicks. Jiraiya had been on the receiving end of Tsunade's anger all those years ago, and he refused to relive the past.

Knowing when to give up, Sakura huffed, crossing her arms. She glared at the furniture. "Kiki," she addressed her pet dog who had taken upon herself to hide when Jiraiya came. "Next time, if you hide from an unknown enemy, I will personally leave you with Kabuto to be muzzled again."

"Tch, you're so childish. Taking your anger out on your dog…"

Her eyes widened, her fury forgotten. "Sasuke-kun…? You're awake? How long…? Did I wake you up?"

"I've been awake for the whole time," the Uchiha grunted, sitting into an upright position. He winced a bit.

"Oh…" Silence came upon the two afterwards. Sakura didn't know what to say. Should she have taken this chance to apologize or should she just pretend to stay angry at him? What should she do? She looked to Kiki for help, but the dog had disappeared once again. That's it! I'm keeping her on a leash!

"You're an idiot."

"Excuse me?" The pinkette wondered what had brought this on.

"You should have gone with him."

Sakura almost found this conversation funny. Had Sasuke—was Sasuke concerned about her? She found this a bit harder to believe than Jiraiya not dragging them back to Konoha. "What's it to you what I decide to do?" she asked—a bit snapped at him too. Her eyes narrowed, scrutinizing him. "Besides, you heard him. If Tsunade were to find out, I'd be better off dead. It would benefit me more if I stayed with as a guest in Oto for a while longer." Plus, this gives me more chances of persuading you to come back home with me, but you don't need to know that. "Plus, if I didn't go back with you, Orochimaru would get a bit suspicious, don't you think?"

Again, not a word was exchanged between them and, frankly, Sakura was getting tired of it. She may have let it slide when they were genin, but she was a stupid little fangirl back then, and now she wasn't so stupid and was way past her fangirling days. She was going to make him talk, dammit!

"If anyone's the idiot around here, it's you." She decided a change of subject was needed if she were to get anywhere with starting a conversation. "Just look at the state you're in!" Did that sound like she cared too much? "I almost thought you were dying!" Why were all these words flowing freely out of her mouth? "I really thought that you'd leave me!" She felt something wet run down her face. Oh god, was she crying?

"Tch, annoying…"

"Say that again, bastard, and I'll leave you for dead!" After this threat, she couldn't hold back the rush of her feelings. She sobbed, burying her face in her hands.

"Tch, if you're just going to cry then don't promise anything you won't carry out."

"Bastard!" She cried, dumping her head onto his chest.

"Sakura . . . you're heavy…" For lack of anything else to say, the Uchiha chose to say something he had said to her when they had been in a similar position during their first mission as a genin team. Sasuke couldn't tell if Sakura was shaking from laughter or from her tears, her pink locks sprawled all over her.

"I'm glad you're okay…" Her little whisper almost went unheard. Her hands grasped tightly onto his shirt. "I'm so glad…"

Sasuke almost thought he heard wrong until Sakura repeated herself. He sighed, knowing that this was better than her yelling at him for being careless. And for lack of the knowledge of what to do at moments like this, he just patted her head.


Oh, and because I'm too lazy to go through all of my chapters for the definitions, here's a new list of the ones already used in this story:

Arigato = thank you
Daijōbu = don't worry
Hai = yes
Itai = ow; ouch
Itai desu = it hurts
Sayonara = goodbye; farewell
Shimatta = shit

This chapter sucked… Next one will be better because the next chapter will have a mission for the both of them to do! But I need you guys to help me come up with the mission! What should they be doing?

Thank you! I won't ask you to review because this chapter really did suck like crap!