Explanation: The moment I uploaded this crappy chapter, I had a brain flash and promptly deleted it and added quite a bit on to it. So sorry for spamming your inbox :D
"Quick," a voice urged from behind Sasuke. He whirled. It was Kabuto. "Lend me chakra! She'll… what is this?" Kabuto referred to the strangest seal spreading all across Sakura—it wasn't the curse seal; it was a deep lilac and too curved and majestic. "Where have I seen this…either way, I have to go in now." He was pulling the hole in Sakura wider, not caring about the blood splattering his hands, then his brow furrowed. "It would appear that… her vital parts, like her bladder, are… regrowing. This is…"
"Orochimaru-sama," Sasuke prodded. "How is he?"
"Conscious, but not moving yet. He will live. However, that's probably not going to be the case with Sakura-chan here, unless you place your hands on top of mine and give me chakra!"
Sasuke knelt and did so, trying to ignore the fact that he was sticking his hands in somebody's innards. The organs were indeed regrowing, and the sudden burst of chakra just aided them on their way. "I remember now!" Kabuto snapped. "This is the seal the Fifth Hokage uses to preserve her youth. She used it when Orochimaru-sama nearly managed to kill her. She must have taught it to Sakura-chan… it's sure saving her life. I can handle it from now."
"I'll go find out what happened from Orochimaru," Sasuke muttered, drawing his gore-covered hands away and wiping them on his pants in disgust. He ambled over to the trench where the hallway once was and where Orochimaru was still lying. He squatted next to the snake, whose eyes met his as he gave a weak grin.
"What quarrel do you have with Akatsuki?" Sasuke queried without a hint of emotion.
"You don't need to know," Orochimaru responded, his disgusting smile growing.
In a split second Sasuke was angrily holding his sword against Orochimaru's throat. "I want to know, and I will know, or it will cost you your life," he hissed.
Orochimaru cackled, and Sasuke had to restrain himself from tightening his muscles and cutting straight through the snake. "I was once part of Akatsuki," he hacked. "Sasori was my partner. When I deserted, I hardly left without taking anything. It doesn't matter. He has retrieved his possession. He caught me by surprise." He paused then turned his head upward, as Sasuke pulled the blade away. "My arms, it seems, do not work. The third's curse carries. Thus, I was unable to defend myself from those kunai. He is gone now, correct?"
Sasuke stood up and looked out. Kabuto was still leaning over Sakura, a cold sweat on his forehead. "Yes. He is gone now," Sasuke confirmed. He had a sudden urge to kick Orochimaru, but restrained him. It would not help kill Itachi, so what was the point?
He turned heel and strode back into the lair.
Sakura healed. In fact, she healed so much that she was perfectly prepared to immediately punch Kabuto when she woke up, out of complete reflex.
It was because when she had woken up, she saw Kabuto, and in him she saw an enemy. What was she doing in this snake's lair? For a moment, she forgot all her motives and saw only the slimy, traitor Kabuto.
Then she regained herself and promptly apologized as Kabuto healed his cut lip, then checked her over one time. "So," he said nonchalantly, "You picked up the Fifth's technique."
"Yes."
"You must have learned quite a bit from her."
"I did. But not enough. And Jiraiya refused to teach me anything, claimed it wasn't his place."
"So you came to the third legendary sannin?"
"Yes. And it has proved more resourceful, these few weeks, than two years under the Fifth."
"I'm interested in that technique. In our next session, you can explain the fundamentals to me. As of now, Orochimaru-sama has requested that he see you—"
"Orochimaru!" Sakura gasped. "Is he well? What happened there?"
"I'll explain later," Kabuto said irritably. "As of now, just go and see him."
"…Fine," Sakura grumbled, and stalked out of the medical bay, ripping off the bandage on her arm as she did so. She turned suddenly.
"By the way, Kabuto, you do have a lot of explaining to do. Why did you know that guy's poison? Why were you so familiar with him? Think about your answers carefully." Then she strode out of the room for good and disappeared from sight.
Four figures stood on a mountaintop, gazing over the fields below. There was a hole below them-- a sort of trench.
They leaped down.
"This is it. It's Orochimaru's scent. They're probably gone from here by now, but they were here."
"Yeah... her scent... it's still here. She--she was alive."
"Let's go. I'll follow my nose and we'll find them, wherever they are."
"Yeah! Let's do this!
Sasuke plodded toward the training hall. He hadn't been injured, and had been training on his own. Orochimaru had only recently recovered, and refused to do any teaching, wanting to wait until Sakura woke up for some reason. He entered the hall, and froze at the sight.
Orochimaru was on the ground, and Sakura was leaning over him, bangs fallen over her eyes, and blood in her hair.
Sasuke moved quickly. He activated a relatively weak chidori, and it crackled around his palm. It should be enough to knock out the assaulter. In a second, his hand was at her throat.
"You have one second to explain yourself," he hissed.
"Oh, get your hand away," Sakura grated. "I'm healing him. You make too many assumptions."
"I was under the impression that he was already healed."
"Moron," Sakura continued, not looking up from her work even with the chakra at her throat. "I'm healing his arms. Surely you noticed he's used no hand signs ever since the invasion on Konoha? The third sealed his arms. I'm healing them."
"You're attempting to reverse the work of a hokage?" Sasuke raised his eyebrows, ignoring the fact that he had not actually noticed Orochimaru's lack of hand signs.
"I was able to copy the technique of the most renowned medical kunoichi there is. I can try to do this, although I doubt I'll make much progress unless you remove your hand," Sakura groused.
Sasuke did so, but narrowed his eyes. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"
"You'll know when Orochimaru-sama wakes up without the use of his arms and gets angry at you," Sakura responded.
"Then you won't mind if I watch you," Sasuke asserted.
"Not at all. Just don't say anything or breathe down my neck," Sakura responded in kind. "In fact, if you wish to be helpful, you could pull his skin taut on his arm while I slice it open…"
AN: Yep. I have the gall to make you guys wait more than a week, with a cliffhanger, and then give you this crappy short filler chapter. I have a lot of ideas, but I'm having trouble getting them into the story, plus I had a bit of writer's block, plus exams and....yeah. Sorry. I'll try to be more diligent with updates.
In the next chapter, Sasuke and Sakura meet some old friends...