AN: Ok, I know people have asked me to continue this, so here is the next chapter. I know some of you may be thinking "What on earth?!" by the end of this chapter, and thinking that none of it makes sense, but it will all fall into place, so please don't give up on me!

Never argue with an idiot- they'll bring you down to their level then beat you with experience

3 months later

Sakura's ragged breath came out in short rasps as she clenched her fists, staring defiantly into the Snake Sannin's malicious eyes.

"Giving up, little girl?" Orochimaru hissed, a sadistic smirk adorning his features. Sasuke stood wordlessly beside him, watching the pink haired medic lazily as she narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"Like hell I will," snarled Sakura, crouching into a defensive stance. She determinedly held Orochimaru's gaze, purposefully refusing to let any of her doubts show on her hardened façade. She wasn't twelve anymore. She wasn't weak, whatever this Sannin or Sasuke might say.

"Such fire," laughed Orochimaru "Such determination... She would make a fine Sound ninja, don't you think Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke remained silent, but instead ran his eyes deliberately up and down Sakura's slender, petite form. Fury bubbling over at this shameless action, Sakura threw a kunai swiftly at Sasuke's head. He caught it deftly and pocketed it, a look of faint interest appearing on his face.

"You bastard," she hissed furiously, glaring daggers at him.

Sasuke smirked slightly at this comment and said mockingly "What happened to Sasuke-kun?"

"He's dead to me," snapped Sakura, before turning her attention back to the Snake Sannin. Gathering up the last dregs of her courage, she charged head on at the two ninja.

Sasuke disappeared in a flash, however Orochimaru stayed put, drawing his sword quickly. Sakura, realising what he was about to do, drew a kunai quickly.

The sound of metal clashing onto metal seemed to reverberate around the crater, ringing through Sakura's eardrums. She clutched the kunai with both hands, shaking with the effort to hold the large sword up. A tiny weapon like her kunai was definitely not made for something like this.

"Smart girl," Orochimaru said "but how long can you last?"

He suddenly brought the sword up and disappeared. Sakura stayed very still, trying to sense any chakra, but to no avail. She had no idea where Sasuke had gone, but she had a feeling he was still in the crater.

Suddenly the hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she whipped around to see two kunai heading straight for her forehead. She caught then both in a flash and looked ahead of her to see Orochimaru standing astride... a huge snake. She was in trouble.

Not wasting any time, Sakura punched the ground with as much force as she could muster. The ground shook with the force of an earthquake, causing momentary confusion for both the snake and Orochimaru.

Sakura took advantage of this by charging though the smoke and flying rubble at the pair, her fist drawn back and gathering chakra. Orochimaru realised what she was about to do a split second before it happened and leapt high in the air. Unfortunately for him, however, he did not have time to save his snake.

The force of Sakura's punch sent the colossal beast flying backwards into the rocky walls of the cavernous crater, causing an avalanche of rock to cascade down. Sakura leapt backwards to avoid the tumbling rock, coughing slightly as she inhaled some of the cloud of dust.

As the smoke began to clear, the sight that met Sakura's eyes shocked even her. It looked like a bomb had been let off in the area. Huge boulders lay everywhere and on the opposite side of the cavern, a huge snake lay twitching under the enormous weight of rock covering it. It wouldn't be getting out of there anytime soon.

Orochimaru let out a furious hiss as he saw what had become of his snake. He had greatly underestimated this girl.

Sakura smirked at him as he turned to face her. She saw the slight shock etched on his face. As much as Sakura hated being assumed weak, it could come in handy sometimes.

He charged at her. Sakura just had time to note Sasuke standing a little way off, watching their fight, before she was locked in fierce hand to hand combat with him.

He was unbelievably fast, so much indeed that Sakura was having trouble blocking all of his attacks. She knew she had no chance of landing an attack, and that all she could do was block his swift, fierce movements. She needed some sort of plan. She couldn't hold him off forever, and she had no idea when Kakashi, Sai and Naruto were going to come.

And then she remembered Sasuke. Sasuke standing a little way off, with his sword.

And then it clicked.

She needed that sword.

Neither of them would be expecting her to try something that bold, that stupid, but if it worked...

She flipped backwards, subtly, almost accidentally, in Sasuke's direction. She was now close enough to make a break for it...

Orochimaru followed her quickly, once again engaging her in hand to hand combat. If she could just get her hands on that sword...

"Sakura!"

Sakura's concentration never faltered once as she heard Kakashi, Naruto and Sai sprinting towards them. Neither did Orochimaru's. However Sasuke...

Do it now. While he's distracted.

Suddenly, Sakura leapt away from the fight and within a split second had both hands on Sasuke's sword.

What happened next occurred so quickly that no one had any time to react. The only thing the onlookers saw was Sakura standing in front of Orochimaru, gripping onto Sasuke's sword, which was thrust straight through Orochimaru's chest.

A dark, thick, black substance began to ooze out of the corner of Orochimaru's mouth. However, to Sakura's utmost confusion, he was smirking.

And then she felt it. The kunai that was shoved deep into her stomach.

Sakura gasped as the pain hit her, before looking up at Orochimaru in horror.

He was horribly pale and the disgusting black substance, which Sakura now identified as some sort of blood, was now dribbling down his chin. Orochimaru fell to his knees, causing the sword to be wrenched upwards in his gut.

Sakura stumbled backwards slightly, gripping onto Sasuke's sword for all it was worth. The throbbing pain inside her stomach seemed to double, forcing Sakura to bite down on her lip to prevent herself from crying out.

"Sakura!"

She heard the panicked voices of her team approaching ever closer. Orochimaru's ragged breath was quickly disappearing. She listened to its dying rhythm as the quick footsteps came closer.

Her eyes were going in and out of focus. As a medic, she knew her stomach wound was potentially fatal, but she didn't have time for herself now. Her priority was to finish off Orochimaru once and for all.

Shakily letting go of the sword, she dropped to her knees. The sound of his breathing had disappeared, but Sakura was no fool. He was not dead.

Her suspicions were confirmed when his body started to glow an eerie white. His soul was breaking free of its old container to attempt to take over a new container, and Sakura knew that there were some very good candidates in the immediate area. However much Sakura resented Sasuke, she would not let that fate become of him.

Pushing aside the excruciating pain, Sakura looked around quickly for some sort of object. And then her eyes landed on something. Orochimaru's Akatsuki ring. She grabbed his hand and pulled the ring off his lifeless finger. It would have to do.

She closed her eyes and pressed her hands together, the ring safely wedged between her hands.

Soul Prison

It took all of Sakura's self restraint not to cover her ears at the horrible, high pitched scream that followed her Jutsu. There was a blinding flash of light as the white aura surrounding Orochimaru's body engulfed her hands and disappeared.

Sakura opened her hands ever so slowly, staring at the glowing ring in her palm.

Put it on

Sakura blinked. She stared down at the ring in her hand in bewilderment. She felt a sudden overwhelming, uncontrollable pull to the object, as if it was magnetic.

Put it on

She shook her head, trying to ignore the voice in the back of her head. However, her fingers seemed to have a mind of their own.

She watched in horror as she picked up the ring and slowly, ever so slowly, slid the ring onto her outstretched fingers.

Suddenly, she felt a short, searing burn course throughout her entire body and then she saw blackness, nothing but blackness...

"Is it worth it, though?"

Pein stared at his blue haired partner astutely, contemplating her words carefully. He leant back in his chair slightly, a pensive frown adorning his features.

"We could change our plans, find another way," she continued.

"The Kyuubi..." Pein said.

"-is near impossible to catch now," finished Konan "its container has grown much stronger, and is too well protected anyway."

Pein nodded contemplatively, absentmindedly interlocking his fingers on the table. He looked over at the cloaked figure sitting beside him and said "What do you think?"

"The ultimate goal of this organization was overall peace," the figure stated, in a harsh, masculine voice "However, I will not pretend that our hunt for the demons was entirely selfless. My point is, I think we have forgotten our ulterior motive, and it is time we return to that."

Pein nodded and asked "So do you have a plan?"

"We-"

Suddenly the figure paused, before looking sharply at Pein and Konan, who had both frozen.

"Did you feel that," he said quickly.

"The ring," breathed Konan, gripping her own.

"It's Void," muttered Pein "That must mean-"

"Orochimaru"

AN: I know it was quite different from the last chapter and that must have been a bit of a shock, but I don't want this story to be solely about Sasori and Sakura's relationship (although don't worry- that's the main aspect!). I just don't want it to be clichéd, so please bear with me! Thanks for reading and please review!

Lovematters

XOXOXOXOXOXO

P.S I changed the title because I this one fits the story better now it isn't a one shot.