Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers! I've decided to… CONTINUE GOING!

Apologies to those who voted for a sequel, but I realised that I'm simply. Not. Bothered. To start a new story. Now, once again, I KNOW there is some confusion, but honestly, just BARE WITH ME PLEASE ALL YOUR QUESTIONS ARE GOING TO BE ANSWERED! Soon.

Now, feel free to just skip to the story – I'm just going to speak to one of my awesome reviewers here, as unfortunately, she's anonymous.

The Ninja Artist: Woah. You sure have a lot of questions. And, surprisingly enough, I have the answers! However, I'm afraid that you're going to have to wait another one or two chapters for the answers to gradually reveal themselves as I'm not a fan of spoilers. Hope you don't mind, and if you do, then I plan to compensate for the disappointment with this extra-long (at least in my opinion) chappie! Hope you like it!

ENJOY!

Sasuke glanced around as he inhaled the clean air. Their weekly confinement had ended earlier today, and they both decided to go out and enjoy the few hours of relative freedom they were allowed to have.

Plus, he was sick and tired of the tasteless, sticky, white goo which the SPM (Snake's Personal Manslut, as Sasuke tended to refer to him as) called a rice ball. He scoffed. Seriously, even Naruto could make better food, and Kami only knew that the blonde lived on ramen because it was the only decent food he could make.

Naruto…

Sasuke felt a stab of something at the thought of the hyperactive blonde. Pain? Regret? Senti- NO. he scolded himself. Emotions and memories would only take him further away from his goal. He needed to kill Itachi. He didn't need Naruto.

Snapping out of his thoughts, the raven-haired teen assessed the situation. He saw the peculiar rosette half-sitting, half-lying on the large flat boulder a few meters in front of him. He shifted his leg slightly, adjusting his position against the tree.

It was surprisingly warm for early September, much warmer than he remembered it being in Konoha. The sun shone brightly overhead, basking the forest by which they were surrounded in its eternal glow.

He furrowed his brows as his stomach demanded food. Real food. Not the crappy rice balls or solider pills which the rosette had offered to him, since, apparently, his stomach wouldn't 'shut the fuck up'. It was quite amusing, really, how she'd transformed from the pissy, chaotic, yet manipulative girl he'd seen at the Chuunin exams, to this sarcastic, cynical, yet somehow colder girl he knew now.

He remembered her breakdown after the verbal beating her father gave her. Surprisingly, the second day she was acting as if nothing had happened. He was getting curious, and a curious Uchiha is a frustrated Uchiha. So, during the fourth day of their confinement, he finally lost the mental battle with his curiosity and asked her why, how could she be this relaxed. Sasuke recalled the maniac smirk which pulled at her lips. 'I lost the battle-' he remembered her say. 'Not the war.'
That was only one of the many things which made the pinkette so interesting.

Abandoning his thoughts once again, the Uchiha saw Sakura getting up from her perch on the rock.

He raised an eyebrow. "Hn?" Where the hell are you going?

Sakura turned to look at the Sharingan wielder and scowled. "Fuck this I'm going to look for some food." She muttered darkly, before she stomped off.

Sasuke watched her absently, and noticed her crouching before some bushes she walked by. Though partly obscured by trees, he could still easily spot her – her pink hair and burgundy cloak contrasted with the greens and browns of the forest.

She returned a few minutes later, her hands filled with purple and red fruit.

Berries. Sasuke realized. How the hell did she find berries in the middle of September?

He inwardly shrugged, and straightened from his position against the tree. Taking one hand out of his pockets, he strolled over to the boulder the rosette was perched on, one hand stretched out, reaching for the berries… Just a little closer-

"Nuh-uh-uh, Uchiha. Go get your own goddamn berries. These are mine." She growled, her small hand slapping away his.

He glared.

She smirked.

He glared some more.

Her smirk widened.

He glared Deadly Flames O' Doom – Uchiha Style at the insolent girl.

She burst out laughing.

"O-Oh Kami! You looked like a kid throwing a tantrum! That was bloody priceless!" she snickered.

In less than a second, he had a kunai against her throat. His crimson eyes flashed. "Berries. Now." He growled.

Her grin was replaced by a nasty scowl. "Go get your own, you lazy bastard." She hissed.

Sasuke pressed the kunai tighter against her neck; a few drops of blood began forming on the cut.

Sakura's smirk returned, though fainter now, as she popped a few berries into her mouth and chewed. Her eyes fluttered closed in satisfaction. Sasuke lost it; he tackled her to the ground, pinning the sleeve of her cloak with the kunai. He jumped away as she aimed a chakra-laden kick to his abdomen. The rosette sat up, and ripped the kunai from her sleeve, then proceeded to fling the knife at the smirking Uchiha.

He dodged, which gave Sakura enough time to get on her feet and into a defensive stance, the berries long forgotten.

I hadn't been able to get a proper spar since that fight with Hidan… I've gotten rusty. She thought as she popped her spine.

Sakura faced Sasuke, a grin on her face, as this time she wasn't out for blood – she was out for practise.

Then, almost instantaneously, their hands began forming seals.

"Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon Technique!"

"Water Release: Great Water Dragon Technique!"

The two jutsus collided, both destroying the other, creating an enormous explosion of steam. But neither of them was quite finished yet. Sakura gathered her monstrous chakra into her fists, while Sasuke unsheathed Kusanagi. They stood silently, seizing each other out, before they both, as if at some unspoken signal, rushed forward.

Sakura's fist connected with the Earth a few inches from where Sasuke stood, causing the raven to leap into the air to avoid the miniature earthquake. He came down and brought his sword in a graceful arc at the rosette's head, making her jump to the left in order to dodge having her head sliced off.

It's not working…

Sakura sighed and called off her chakra. She in turn reached for her own katana, bringing it out in one swift move. The metal gleamed dangerously, and Sasuke only just managed to stop himself from drooling.

Her sword. It gleamed beautifully in the sunlight, the clearly polished silver blade reflecting the light like a mirror. In other words, it was lovely, it was beautiful, it was dangerous - it was a shiny metal deathtrap.

Shiny.

Metal.

And a deathtrap.

AND WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND DOESN'T LIKE SHINY METAL DEATHTRAPS?

Seriously.

Sasuke shook his head.

The sword might've been incredible, but now came the time to test the rosette's skill with handling the blade. The teen smirked.

This was about to get very interesting.

During their spar (if you could even call it that considering the destruction level) neither of the teens noticed that they had gained an audience.

The two men stood off to the side, eyes trained on the incredible pair. The silver-haired man's eyes widened behind round glasses, his jaw hanging open. The other man just surveyed the area; the destruction; the impossibly mutilated forest.

He grinned with sick satisfaction. He had definitely made the best choice – the two teens in front of him weren't shinobi. They weren't even people.

They were human weapons, and the key to the world's ultimate destruction.

After an hour of fighting, Sakura and Sasuke had stopped. There was really no point – their kunai and shuriken lay scattered around, trees and bushes mangled beyond recognition. Plus, they were both relatively low on chakra. Regardless of that, they were still glaring at each other, their conflict by no means finished. Sasuke got ready to pounce on the rosette again, but a creepy, humourless chuckle stopped them both short.

Two heads whipped to face the source of the sound, eyes widening when they realised that all this time they'd had an audience. And not the most pleasant audience.

Sasuke almost growled when he noticed the SPM and scowled when he noticed the sickly amused look behind the round glasses.

Hn. Stupid four-eyes.

Sakura's attention, on the other hand, was focused on the taller, raven-haired male. The pinkette full-out scowled.

Hey! That's copyright! The 'I-just-raped-a-little-girl-yay-me' look belongs to Hidan and Hidan only!

"Well, this isn't the typical boy-meets-girl interaction, isss it?"

That single sarcastic remark sent them both careening back into reality and away from their angsty thoughts.

"I've never seen a pair not even full-fledged ninja bring so much destruction…" a hiss and the look of sadistic glee that shone in the Sannin's yellow eyes made them finally look around.

What they saw was shocking.

"I… I suppose we got a little… carried away." Sakura choked out. Sasuke nodded mutely as a response.

What had once been a beautiful forest was now barer than a desert. Stretching further than her trained eye could see – approximately two/three miles in diameter – the trees were absolutely obliterated into practically non-existent smithereens; there were large craters which were created mostly by Sakura's punches or Sasuke's chidori and the few trees were still left standing were so mutilated they could not be called trees anymore:

Most of them had suffered the symptoms of being ultimately burned to a crisp by their Fire Release techniques. One of the others had a clean cut through the trunk, separating the top from the roots which was kindly done by Sakura's chakra scalpel. And finally, the last one looked like a wrinkled old lady… Only that it was a tree… Which Sakura had oh-so-conveniently sucked the water out of with her chakra when she realised that there weren't any lakes/rivers/ponds/water facilities anywhere nearby.

And now, as they looked to and fro from the trees then back to Orochimaru, Sakura couldn't supress the cold and clearly visible shiver that ran down her spine, as well as the tell-tale feeling that something bad was about to happen.

That feeling only increased when the snake Sannin stretched out his hand, the sadistic glee once again appearing in his yellow eyes. "I've decided to assign you as partners."

… I hate being right -_-

Sasuke was forced to take the scroll, since Sakura felt like her whole body was frozen in one place. She was going to be partners for god-knows-how-long with the younger brother of a person whom she cherished the most, and, if that wasn't enough, said younger brother was planning to kill the older brother – A.K.A Itachi – A.K.A Sakura's most cherished person.

Shit.

As Sasuke unrolled the scroll, Sakura dared herself to look over the raven's shoulder.

Assassination, Assassination, Bounty Hunting, Assassination, Bounty Hunting, Guard a Princess, Assassination, Retrieve a Forbidden Scroll, Assassination, Assassination, Assassination…

And the list went on.

Sakura's stomach churned.

Double shit.

A certain pineapple-haired chuunin was walking among the streets of Konohagakure, two pieces of paper clutched tightly in his hands. He was frustrated, and it was common knowledge that he practically never got frustrated. No, he always took things slowly, taking them apart then leisurely piecing them back together, making sense of a puzzle everyone else had neither the brains, nor the patience to solve.

But now, he, Shikamaru Nara, genius-extraordinaire, found himself stumped.

By a riddle.

A riddle, of all things! He received it a few days after her disappearance, and while he had no doubts about whom it was from, he had absolutely no idea what the riddle meant.

He assessed the other piece of paper, and quietly snorted. Nope, he thought, no help from that either.

He had been made Konoha's strategist, since he was too lazy to ask for missions, or even bother with appearing before the mission's deadline, the Godaime decided that it would be better to just let him stay in the village, and instead dump on his the sort of work which he would be 'comfortable' with. That statement earned a consecutive snort from the lazy genius. He wouldn't be 'comfortable' with any work. The only job he would be relatively 'comfortable' with would be cloud-watching or playing shogi.

So as he sat down, back propped against a tree, both pieces of paper in front of his as he tried to make sense of the message, he lost himself in the thoughts of her.

Why… Why did she leave? Why so suddenly? I know now that she's an Akatsuki, but something must've happened between her and Tsunade-sama that made her leave so abruptly…

A lot of questions… Even less answers…

Sakura… What happened to you?

"Nara!"

The call of his name jolted him out of his thoughts, and as he turned his head to look at the person who dared to interrupt his musings, he was surprised to see long brown hair that was pulled into a low ponytail and pearl-coloured eyes.

Hyuuga…? What on earth could he want?

Then as he took in the teens suddenly slightly-less-than-perfect appearance and lightly laboured breathing, he deduced the Hyuuga had just finished training.

But what would he want with me?

"What, Hyuuga?" obviously he was annoyed at being interrupted, so he didn't really care that he was being rude.

Shikamaru saw Neji's eye twitch at his display of snobbish ignorance, but he couldn't care less.

"You have been staring at the paper so intently I was mildly surprised it didn't burst to flames. Anything bothering you, Nara-san?"

The –san at the end made Shikamaru grind his teeth together angrily. The proud bastard knew he was frustrated, and yet he mocked him!

"Yes, as a matter of fact, Hyuuga-sama." The over-exaggerated formality made Shikamaru feel a tad better. "Since you knew Sakura, you might as well help me with this." And as Shikamaru thrust one of the papers at the prideful teen, he couldn't help but notice that Neji's eyes widened slightly at the mention of the rosette's name.

Neji assessed the paper similarly to how Shikamaru had before. A frown pulled at his brow as he turned to face the Nara. "What is this?"

"It's a riddle," Shikamaru stated, taking the paper back from him. "Apparently she likes talking in riddles – her previous message has been even less help than this."

The Hyuuga's frown deepened. "Previous message?"

"Yeah, I'm sure you got it too. You know, the one written on those scrolls? I got one, Hinata got one, the white-haired Sannin that left with Naruto as well… Giving you the last one would have been the most logical option."

A small smirk tugged at Neji's lips. "You mean this one?" in one swift move he retracted a red-rimmed scroll from his kunai pouch. Though no fingerprints could be seen, Shikamaru was almost sure the teen had opened and closed the scroll at least a dozen times.

A similar smirk pulled at his own lips. "Yeah. That one." Then, the smirk was once again replaced by a frown. "But I still don't understand it. Why would she speak in riddles? And if the message is so important for her to speak in riddles, why send it to me?"

For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Suddenly, "You're a strategist, aren't you, Nara?"

Shikamaru nodded.

Neji smirked that tiny, irritating smirk again. "Figure it out."

:::

"Oh."

That was the only thing that alerted Neji that the Nara prodigy had figured it out. He checked his watch. Just under two minutes. Not bad.

"She wanted only me to have it."

"Hn. That's correct."

"Troublesome." Shikamaru sighed. "Now for the harder part – What did she mean?"

When all he received was silence, he sighed again. "What a drag… I know this is only going to inflate your ego even more, Hyuuga, but I could use some help here." Shikamaru said exasperatedly.

The smirk returned to Neji's face, a slight tilt to his head proving that he was amused. The lazy teen sighed for the thousandth time.

"Sorry, princess, but if you're done contemplating your ego, I'm waiting here."

Neji glared. He snatched the paper from Shikamaru and rewrote the message.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Well, that was a waste of effort."

"Shut up and listen." The Hyuuga growled. "You know who she is; you know roughly what she does, you know why she does it, but think Shikamaru, what don't you know?"

The lazy genius didn't know what was more surprising at this moment.

That Neji used his first name

That he was actually willing to help him figure it out.

Or, the fact that he was, in fact, making sense.

Probably all three.

"So what you're suggesting is that she wrote her current location in this riddle?"

"Hn."

"That seems… plausible."

"Good. Now, look here." Neji pointed to the message. "Read it out loud."

You will find me with the snakes.

-Sakura

"Now, Nara, where do you think is the location? Underline it here." Neji pointed to the second line, the one he wrote.

Shikamaru thought for a while, then came to the same shocking conclusion as Neji, the moment his pencil touched the paper.

You will find me with the snakes

-Sakura

"But there's something else. Look at the emphasis on 'snakes'. It's like she purposefully put it there…"

"Yes, I noticed it too…"

They both stared at the paper, willing it to just reveal its' secret. Nothing happened.

"Ugh!" Shikamaru exclaimed, frustration evident in his voice. "Damn this! She's almost as cunning as that bastard Orochimaru!"

Neji's eyes snapped to him, Shikamaru's own widening in realisation of what he'd just said.

"Orochimaru…" they breathed in unison. "Of course…"

:::

They've decided not to tell Tsunade until they were absolutely positive. She could grow suspicious.

Now, as Shikamaru was getting ready to leave, Neji already a few feet away, a question he'd been meaning to ask since the beginning resurfaced.

"Hey, Neji!" he called to the Hyuuga's retreating back. When the genius stopped and turned to face him, giving him a few seconds to catch up to him, Shikamaru spoke. "Why did you help me?"

A real, albeit small, smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. He once again took out the red-rimmed scroll, and opened it. Though this time Shikamaru was able to clearly see the message, and the neat, slanted cursive of the P.S note.

The familiar line echoed around his mind, a small smirk of understanding teasing at his lip. He took out his own scroll, the delicate parchment on his calloused fingers bringing back the electrifying twinge in his fingers.

He unrolled the scroll, and noticed the Hyuuga's smile widen as the same line stared back at him.

The older teen chuckled, and faced the Nara prodigy. "Because, Shikamaru," he spoke, his voice calm, with the slightest undertone of amusement.

"According to our mutual friend, whose location is currently unknown,"

Shikamaru grinned, catching on.

"Genii need to stick together".

It has been a week since the mission scroll had been assigned to them, the total of a hundred and twenty-six missions to be completed by the end of the month.

126…! He's even more sadistic than Mei-sama!

Sakura went over the events that took place a month ago.

Her eavesdropping on her father's conversation with the unknown man, the argument with Itachi… The confrontation in the forest… Then in the hall of Orochimaru's hideout… The frustrating yet hilarious fights she has had with Sasuke…

Everything jumbled up in her head, creating an incoherent mess of memories, thoughts and emotions.

This is really frustrating…! She thought. Sakura had felt something strike her as wrong. Something didn't quite add up. It didn't make any sense in her over-stressed and under-rested mind.

There's something… Like a link, a connection between these conversations… The one I eavesdropped on, the one with Itachi and the one in the forest… But goddamit! What is it?

She thought back to the three events.

"So, the girl had returned." A deep voice said.

"Yes, I sensed her chakra when she entered the village." Father replied.

"She is still oblivious as to what you're really aiming for. But remember, Pein," the unknown man paused, "If she becomes even the slightest, tiniest obstacle in my plan, I will dispose of her. And you'll let me."

I stood in silence, my heart hammering so hard I was afraid it would burst out of my chest.

"Yes. I'll let you… Madara-sama…"

"What were you thinking? Do you know how absolutely stupid you acted? I told you that Pein was planning to send you away if he became even vaguely aware of your strength, and what do you do? You set half of the forest on fire using an S-rank technique which was bound to get Pein suspicious! But nooo, you also had to use the technique that Madara-fucking-Uchiha used! DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH?"

Sakura flinched as she remembered Itachi's harsh tone as he reprimanded her. Then, she thought of the last one.

"Well, I knew Madara was right. She really is a nuisance." He murmured

There's something… a name… a location… no, it has to be a name… Madara…Madara? Madara! That's it!

But then Sakura blanched as the real meaning behind her discovery sunk in. She shook her head.

No.. That's impossible. Madara Uchiha is dead. He lost the battle with Hashirama Senju, the first Hokage. So whoever my father was talking with…

Was an impostor.

"Oi, Sakura! I could use a bit of help here!" the irritated shout snapped her out of her musings.

That's when she noticed her surroundings.

She was on a battle-field.

Daydreaming.

Off-guard.

Alone.

With Sasuke facing off against two high-level Mist Ninja.

Also alone.

Shit.

"Sakura, dammit! Get your ass over here or I'll chidori it all the way to Suna!" Sasuke's pissed off yell finally made her go back to action.

Chakra gathering almost automatically in her fist, she ran over to the sword-wielding ninja and smashed his skull in, watching in sick fascination as Sasuke kicked the one pinning him down hard in the stomach, then piercing his throat with a well-aimed kunai.

Sakura stuck out her hand for Sasuke to take, but didn't expect him to grab it then yank it down so she fell ungracefully on her butt next to him, splattering mud on both of them.

That's when she noticed the blood that was trickling down Sasuke's arm in a fairly large and insistent stream.

"Oh! Sasuke! You're bleeding, you dipshit!" she yelled hysterically. Because, honestly, Sasuke never got hurt. Nuh-uh.

"No shit, Sherlock!"

Sakura froze.

Then, a shit-eating grin spread across her face. "I'm impressed, Sauce-cake. You're starting to behave like a normal teenage boy! Who knows, maybe in a few years we'll be able to completely remove that pole from your ass!"

"Tch. Don't get your hopes up." Sasuke scoffed. "And don't smile like that. It makes you look constipated."

The grin immediately disappeared.

"DAMMIT UCHIHA!"

AAAAAAAAAND… *drum roll* DONE!

I'm quite pleased with this chapter, though it could've been a tad better.

Hope you liked it, and REVIEW!

I'm still taking pairings, so vote up!

Also, as a side-note, 'Genii' is the plural term for 'Genius'. I could have also used 'Geniuses' but 'Genii' is the formal plural. And since Neji and Shikamaru are both genius boys, and they were in the scene together, the correct term for them is 'Genii'.

Grammar lesson over.

*To clear some confusion*

If you all remember (and if you don't, check chapter 25) Saku-chan sent a message to our favourite lazy-ass genius the day before she was taken to Orochimaru's base. I didn't reveal the message then as I wanted to include a bit of Neji-Shikamaru bonding time since I have a plan in mind for those two and our dear rosette that's going to come a bit later.

Also, YES, Sakura is looking for allies, but she is also protective, which basically means that when someone threatens those close to her, she's not above kicking their ass 6 feet under. As you're about to see in the next few chapters

And finally, YES, SHE DOES HAVE MOOD-SWINGS AND PMS's LIKE EVERY OTHER TEENAGE GIRL. GET OVER IT.

…

AHEM.

Now, my fuzzy-friends, REVIEW PLEASE!

*nudge nudge*

*whispers*

REVIEW! *wink* You know you want to! ;)

Buh-Bye!