Hi again, you wonderful people! How are you?

I deeply apologise for the long wait, as well as the semi-filler-ness of this chapter, but it was necessary. You'll understand what I mean when you read it ; )

As always, thanks to all my reviewers. You guys keep me going Hope you like this chappie!

(Oh, and as you all probably know, this image manager-thingy has started, so if anyone would like to make any fanart and send it to me, I'll be really happy!)

ENJOY!

Sakura had left Ame the next morning. Somehow, this separation was even more painful than the one when they got back from the Chunin Exams, four years ago.

It won't have to be like this anymore, She consoled herself. Soon, Sasuke will kill Orochimaru and we'll be free. He'll go after Itachi, while I leave to pursue my own destiny.

The only problem with that plan was that she did not know how soon the soon will be.

He needs to kill Orochimaru, that's for sure. The fact that the snake had purposely sent us on a suicide mission should erase any doubts he might've had about the plan. After that… knowing Sasuke, he'll go straight after Itachi. On the other hand, knowing Itachi, he'll meet Sasuke head-on and… and let Sasuke kill him.

Unbidden, the tears that had been gathering in her eyes for a long time already, but were always held back, appeared. This time, Sakura didn't resist. She allowed them to fall, let herself show that one short moment of weakness. Never in her life had she felt so helpless. The vow she'd made to Sasuke, promising not to go after him when he finally decided to pursue Itachi… She regretted it.

She didn't understand why she agreed to it; knowing Itachi's true intentions she should've stopped Sasuke… But she didn't.

Stop it! I need to concentrate on getting back to the hideout, then killing Orochimaru. I shouldn't worry about the silly promise. After all, promises are meant to be broken, right?

A small smile appeared on her face.

Good. Now, about this attire… Let's get rid of it.

A few hours later and a quick stop at a civilian village, Sakura had erased all traces of Umi's handiwork. She felt a tad guilty at disregarding such a great amount of kindness, but she knew it would soon prove to be more troublesome than it was worth. Changing her clothes to some she could easily move in had been easy. But the beads had proved to be a stubborn little nuisance and wouldn't come off. The rosette suspected that Umi had stuck them on with her chakra.

In the end, she decided to screw appearance and just hacked the beads off – which included getting rid of a good half of her hair too. And that means, half of what Umi had made her hair into; so now the choppy bangs were just short of falling into her eyes, and the hair on the back of her head was ruffled.

Interesting. My hair is shorter than Sasuke's. Che.

As for the clothes, she settled for her trustworthy boots and black shorts, as well as a grey, long-sleeved V-neck over a mesh shirt. She'd unsealed her katana and strapped it to her back, the familiar weight acting as a comfort as she raced through the forests.

Overall, it took her three days' worth of running to get back to Oto. Nearing the location of the hideout, the rosette took a short nap, making sure she was well-rested and her chakra reserves weren't low, should an unexpected complication arise.

Upon arrival, Sakura exhaled a sigh of relief. She saw Sasuke training on the field just outside the hideout. A short talk with the raven would lift her spirits before she confronted the snake bastard.

Suddenly, she saw Sasuke stiffen half-way through his kata. Realising he must have sensed her chakra, she jumped down from the branch she was standing on, landing a few feet in front of him.

"How's it going, Sasuke-kun?" she asked teasingly.

The raven's eyes were wide with obvious surprise, but she also detected relief in his onyx eyes.

Glad to see me still in one piece, eh Saucy-kun? You should know better than anyone that I can read you like a book.

"Sakura!" the surprised gasp escaped before he could try to stop it. Sakura bit back a giggle when she noticed the light pink blush which covered Sasuke's cheeks.

"Surprised? I can't see why; I promised I would come back, didn't I?" before he could protest, she'd wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him into a hug. "I… Thank you, Sasuke." She mumbled into his shoulder.

"What for?" Sasuke asked, confusion evident in his voice.

"For running when I told you to."

"I shouldn't have run. Leaving you there, high-tailing it away from there like a coward…" he spat. "Why did you tell me to run? I could've-!"

Sakura silenced him by placing a finger on his lips. "Because you need to live, you baka." She murmured fondly.

Sasuke knew that was his cue to shut up. The rosette was very subtle about it, but he could feel the pain and regret that seemed to radiate off of her in waves.

"So, what brought this on?" he changed the topic and gestured to her hair.

"An unexpected, yet not totally unwanted meeting with an old friend." She explained vaguely. "Now, are you up for a spar?" she grinned.

Absentmindedly, the rosette realised that she was putting off her unavoidable confrontation with the snake Sannin. Was it fear of what he might do if their plan goes wrong, or perhaps something else? She didn't know.

But there were no words to describe the shocked surprise she experienced when she finally went to see him; bedridden, paler than ever, and shaking, as if the mere act of sitting up cost him more effort than the most complicated of jutsus. The sight was truly pathetic.

Which means that the Body Transfer will take place soon… We must act fast.

Unbidden, fear coursed through her veins. Even in his weakened state, Orochimaru was still strong. Not stronger than Itachi, but then again, Sakura had never seen Itachi go all-out. It was never needed. She was there when he gained his Susanoo, but she'd never seen it used by him in battle.

However, Orochimaru was different. His life-goal was to master all jutsu known to shinobi, and he had no second-thoughts about using them when he trained them. She knew his abilities, yet knew nothing of his limitations.

And there was also Kabuto. She had no doubts that the bastard would try to revive Orochimaru when they left the base. That's why she had to kill him. Orochimaru by himself was bad. Bits and pieces of Orochimaru combined with Kabuto were too much. There was nothing that would prevent him, apart from death.

Sakura hadn't told Sasuke of her plan yet. She had a feeling he planned to keep four-eyes alove, for whatever reason. She just couldn't let that happen. Both of them had to die.

After over three hours of twisting and turning on her cot, unable to catch even a wink of sleep, Sakura had given up on rest; insomnia and worry keeping her up, and had to resort to drastic methods of knocking herself out.

When she finally stirred, she immediately stiffened. Another presence was in her room, and her drowsy state prevented her from recognising the signature.

"Relax, Sakura." The lazy drawl of a certain Uchiha calmed her. "There's something we need to do."

Immediately, her attention increased and she turned to her side to face Sasuke, before sitting up.

"Go free the prisoners, then get Suigetsu and bring him here. After you're done, find me as soon as you can."

He sent her a backward glance over the shoulder, a semi-confident smirk meant to reassure her playing on his lips.

"It's time."