...My cat, Hobbers, does not own Naruto, just as I do not own Naruto…

Chapter 9: One Month Later

The weeks since Sasuke's conversation with Sakura had passed by quickly for the Uchiha. Within that time, he visited her more frequently with the hope that he could break down her resolve to remain within the lair. Even if she were just slightly more willing to leave, it would make it easier for him to forcefully remove her if necessary.

As far as Sasuke was concerned, even if he had to carry her out, he wasn't going to allow her put herself in harm's way any longer.

During his first few visits, Sakura remained cool and distant towards her former teammate. It was all Sasuke could do to get her to acknowledge his presence. But after a while, her demeanor toward him warmed. Her looks became more frequent; she even smiled on occasion.

They didn't talk about much. In fact, they hardly talked at all. Most of the conversation was one-sided. Sasuke would initiate it with a broad question and Sakura would spend the time doing her best to answer. He learned much about the changes over the last three years. The knowledge amused him, and he grudgingly admitted that he was slightly impressed by how much everyone seemed to have advanced.

Realizing that his old classmates had achieved their newfound powers through hard work alone caused Sasuke to stop taking the vitamin and drug-infused food Kabuto prepared for him. He kept this fact from both the medic and Orochimaru, and instead snuck food from the kitchen when he felt hungry. For a reason unknown to him, he also brought some of that food to Sakura.

Most disturbing to Sasuke was the fact that his memories had returned with the change in diet. They were there with such clarity that he was able to recall things he hadn't thought about in years.

His suspicion that the power-enhancing drugs were more than Kabuto admitted no longer seemed unfounded.

That Kabuto was aware of Sasuke's visits to his prisoner, the Uchiha didn't doubt. He had passed the grey-haired shinobi once or twice in the corridor.

Sasuke didn't care. There was nothing Orochimaru or Kabuto could do about it, short of moving Sakura to another area. And now that Sasuke knew she was there, they wouldn't be able to hide her from him for long. He was fairly certain the snake sannin knew the truth of that.

Now, as he opened the door for the third time that week, Sasuke realized he was no closer to getting Sakura to safety than he had been before.

He had made no real progress in convincing her to go—he hadn't even mentioned it to her again.

All his time spent with her had really been for his own peace of mind. He realized that when her eyes met his as he walked into the room.

It also put him in a terrible mood.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura acknowledged him as he walked over to the bars. "I didn't expect you to come again so soon."

"Hn. You look tired."

She did look tired. Her green eyes were lackluster, her pink locks disheveled. Dark circles rimmed her lower lids. She looked more pale than usual.

Sakura shrugged. "Oh, it's nothing. Kabuto…I just…," she smiled and attempted to pass her unhealthy state off as nothing, "…it's just been a long day."

Already irritated, Sasuke's sharingan blazed. He stared at her intently. He could tell her chakra was extremely low. This was something the Uchiha had noticed at each of his visits. Today, however, Sakura seemed unusually affected.

Aware that he was studying her, Sakura remained quiet. Kabuto had begun to try and teach her his cell regeneration technique. In order to convey his point, he had insisted the only way for her to learn was though actual experience. Thus, he had deliberately injured her in order for her to attempt to regenerate her cells.

The jutsu was much different than regular healing.

With a normal healing technique, damaged, living cells were forced into accelerated healing. With Kabuto's jutsu, dead cells were revived or new cells were created. It was extremely difficult. So difficult, that Sakura had not been able to complete the jutsu on that first day. As an incentive, Kabuto left her in her unhealed state.

And after all the exertion of learning, she did not have enough chakra left to heal herself.

She shifted slightly away from where Sasuke stood, attempting to hide her injuries.

"Sakura." Sasuke's red eyes narrowed. "You're hurt."

"I'm fine, Sasuke-kun."

"You're not fine." He picked up the key from Kabuto's desk. It was the first time he had passed through the barrier of bars.

Despite all the time they had known each other, Sakura shied away from Sasuke as he walked over to her. At her reaction, he stopped and knelt down. His sharingan vanished. "Use my chakra to heal."

After a moment of uncertainty, she reached out and took the hand he offered her.

Sasuke was not prepared for the connection the sharing of chakra provided. While he was not granted access to Sakura's thoughts, he was able to tell just how and where she had been hurt. The awareness of it shocked him. Even though Sakura was not done healing, he pulled away from her, unable to stand the connection any longer.

They stared at each other for a long moment.

"Kabuto did that to you?" Sasuke's voice held a dangerous tone.

Sakura looked away from him. "He was trying to teach me something."

His menacing look to her she'd better explain.

This was something Sakura had debated on. Ever since she learned of the fact that she was to be Orochimaru's new body, she had warred with herself about whether or not she should tell Sasuke. Part of her reasoned that if everything went as planned, the snake sannin would die before either she or Sasuke were harmed.

But the other part of her said that if something were to go wrong, Sasuke should know of Orochimaru's treachery.

"Sasuke… I've made a deal with Kabuto."

"What?"

She looked away from him. "Kabuto told me that Orochimaru plans to use me for his next body instead of you. Then he's going to kill you and transplant your sharingan into my body."

Sasuke sat deathly still and only stared at her.

Sakura continued. "So, in order to prevent that, Kabuto offered me a deal. He said that he would stop the body transfer but in return for your and my freedom, I would have to remain with him as his assistant. He needs me to help him achieve his own kind of…immortality. A part of that bargain includes the jutsu he attempted to teach me this morning."

"What do you mean by 'remain with him'?" Sasuke's jaw clenched. Never mind the fact that his new sensei was planning on betraying him. He was too preoccupied with this strange, new development.

"What it means is that Sakura-chan is going to be my assistant—forever. And since she is going to be helping me achieve immortality…that is going to be a very literal 'forever'.

They turned to see the grey-haired medic standing in the doorway. He smirked at them. "And now you know, Sasuke-kun. I figured it was only a matter of time before you found out. Once I realized your visits were becoming more frequent."

"That's the real reason Sakura is here?" Sasuke left the cell, locking the gate behind him. "She's to take my place!?!"

Kabuto shrugged. "It is an improvement on the original plan. You're not really all that surprised are you? This is Orochimaru-sama after all."

Rage festered within the Uchiha. Rage toward Orochimaru; rage toward Kabuto; rage toward Itachi. In his anger, he glanced over at Sakura.

"He wants her instead of me. Her instead of me!?! But she's so," he shook his head, "worthless!"

As soon as he said it, he felt the instant pang of regret. That hadn't been what he wanted to say at all. He knew Sakura was far from worthless. There were things she could do that he could never hope to accomplish.

What he meant to say was that he was still a better candidate for the body jutsu. He was physically stronger and more able. He prepared himself mentally over the last three years for the upcoming moment. While Sakura's abilities were impressive, she was still the weaker vessel.

However, the look the passed across her face in that split second was enough to make Sasuke fall instantly silent. All the pain he felt previously through their connected charkas was nothing compared to the hurt he saw on her features.

Kabuto witnessed it as well.

The male medic shook his head in a very deliberate fashion. "Oh, you're very wrong, Sasuke-kun. Sakura-chan is beyond priceless." Kabuto saw the opportunity to turn the tide in his favor. "She is the most powerful medical ninja I have ever seen. That is why I have requested the honor of her assistance with my future plans."

Sasuke could have killed Kabuto at that moment. He could have died himself when he heard Sakura whisper, "Thank you, Kabuto-san."

Sasuke pushed past the grinning young man and left the chamber without another word.

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The last couple of weeks had been far from easy for team seven.

They ate, slept, and stood watch in close proximity with Akatsuki. It was particularly hard on Naruto. The blonde constantly felt as if he were being watched, and when he looked around to check, he was usually right. He was being watched. Everywhere he went, Itachi's red gaze followed.

And as he leaned against the base of an old tree, he felt the sharingan master come up behind him.

Naruto whirled around. "Hey! What are you trying to do!?!"

"Relax, Uzumaki Naruto. We have a deal. I will not try to harm you."

The kyuubi youth stared at him in question.

"You're concerned about your female teammate." Itachi remained standing. "I am sure she is unharmed."

"Humph." Naruto glanced sideways at the Akatsuki. "You sound pretty sure of that."

Itachi shrugged. "If I am not sure, it makes no difference, does it?"

In normal Naruto fashion, the young man was about to start yelling at the quiet man next to him. But as he stared out into the forest, he lost the urge. It didn't matter what Itachi said. He wasn't going to let the Uchiha twist his thoughts. There was no way he would ever trust anything Itachi said.

"You risk a lot for meaningless comrades. It is unwise. You should have let Tsunade deal with this. She and the leader already had it sorted out…"

"Wait, what?" Naruto looked up at him.

Itachi feigned surprise. "Oh, oops. You mean you didn't know?" He hid his smile beneath the rim of his cloak. "I thought for sure the Hokage told you about her little contract."

"Contract?"

Itachi shook his head and began to walk away. "I am sorry, Uzumaki Naruto, if your Hokage didn't trust you enough to tell you. It is not my place to do so."

The blonde watched as Itachi settled into a sitting position next to his partner across the clearing. With only two weeks left of waiting, Naruto couldn't figure out what the Uchiha hoped to accomplish by mentioning Tsunade.

Part of Naruto wanted to fight Itachi here and now and end it. But he knew that if he took Sasuke's revenge away from him, that he would never forgive Naruto.

For now, he was just going to have to wait and see what would happen next.

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"So you have no plan then?" Jiraiya yawned. "You don't think they'll find it just a bit odd that we've suddenly decided to join them?"

Tsunade shrugged. "I guess honesty is the best way to go now. I'm going have to come clean with that lousy kid." She smiled at the thought of Naruto's angry antics. "He's gonna give me hell for this one, Jiraiya."

The Toad Sage nodded. "And well he should. He's a bright kid. He's not going to see any logic in what you did."

"I know. I don't seem much logic in it myself."

"Well, there's no point in dwelling on it. We've got another few days before we reach Sound. Any thoughts on Akatsuki?" he asked.

The Hokage sighed. "No. I guess we should just assume that the agreement has been breached. The longer it takes them to realize that, the better. I don't think they'd hesitate to harm Sakura just to get back at me."

"She's a tough one, though. She's already been the cause of one Akatsuki death. She could probably handle herself well enough."

"She's an excellent shinobi. But against more than one Akatsuki…" Tsunade shook her head. "It was hard enough for teams seven and ten to fight the two they were matched against."

"I think you're missing something," Jiraiya said. "You're forgetting just what Akatsuki is."

"Oh?" She looked at him.

"Yep. Akatsuki…the best of the best. Do you think they'd throw away the chance to have their own healer?"

"Oh please, Jiraiya. You can't honestly think Sakura would ever join that despicable organization!"

"No," he shook his head, "I don't think she would. But I just don't know that they'd kill her right off the bat."

"I think you're wrong on this one." Tsunade's brown-eyed gaze studied him thoughtfully. "They have a healer. Or at least someone with surgical knowledge. That green man…what's his name…Zetsu."

"You're the boss, Tsunade-hime. What you say goes. I'm just your faithful sidekick."

She smiled at that. There was no one else she'd rather have at her side.

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Sakura stood once she was certain Kabuto had left the room. She gave him a few moments to get far enough away before she stepped up to the bars.

As much as Sasuke had hurt her, he had given her something irreplaceable—

Chakra.

With a smile, she easily bent the bars far enough apart to slip through.

Now that Sasuke was aware of Orochimaru's plan, she could put her own idea into motion. There was no reason for Sasuke to remain in the lair any longer. What he did after leaving with her was his business. But at least she could try to get the both of them out of there.

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Coming soon: Chapter 10: Reasons

Author's note: Alright, not as long as I thought it was going to be, but not too short either. Probably not too many more chapters left in this story. I can see the ending pretty clearly now. I'm not sure how quick I will be able to update. Perhaps…tomorrow?