While Nue was having her flashbacks, Itachi and Sasuke had just finished their fight with Kabuto. When the battle was over, Itachi made Kabuto undo Edo Tensei. All the trapped souls of the cursed jutsu were released as they floated to heaven.

Unfortunately, Edo Tensei didn't affect Madara as he still remained whole. Before Deidara was released, instead of going to Heaven, he traveled to where Nue was being held to make sure she was okay. When he found her, he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Oh, kitten... What did they do to you?" He asked, sadly. Deidara stared at Nue through the tank as she slept. "If only I had stayed by your side... None of this would've happen if I had just stayed with you. I shouldn't have left you, Nue. I'm sorry, un." Deidara said.

He placed his hand on the glass as he floated towards the ceiling, going to heaven. Deidara regrets blowing himself up as he left the love of his life by herself, scared and alone. He wish he could go back in time and stop himself from taking his own life, but he knew he couldn't for it was too late for him now.

Just as Sasuke wondered what to do next, the wall burst open, causing him to leap back. "Ha! Found ya!" Suigetsu said with a grin. "Sasuke!" Karin frowned as she spotted her old teammate. "What are you doing here, anyway?" Suigetsu asked.

"Putting a stop to the Reanimation Jutsu." Sasuke answered. Jugo looked around, trying to see if Nue was anywhere in the room. "What are you guys doing here?" Sasuke asked them. "We're looking for Nue. Karin says, she felt her chakra here. She must've sensed wrong because I don't see her anywhere." Suigetsu said, looking around.

"She's got to be here. I can still feel her chakra." Karin said. "Nue's not here." Sasuke told them. "But how can that be when I can feel her chakra?" She asked. "Maybe she's hiding. Oi, Nue! You can come out now! You don't need to hide anymore!" Suigetsu called throughout the hideout.

"I already told you. She's not here. If she was, she would've kicked my ass." Sasuke said. "That's right. Nue still hates you for killing her big brother." Jugo said, referring to Itachi. He spotted Anko and walked over to her.

"She's still alive." He murmured. "Oi, Nue! Where are you? Karin says you're here, so show yourself! Come on, where are you?" Suigetsu continued to call for Nue. "Nue's got to be here. She just has to be." Karin said.

"Hmm..." Sasuke looked around, wondering if Nue was just hiding and waiting for the right moment to strike since he knows how much she hates him. "Maybe she's passed out somewhere." Jugo suggested as he brought Anko's body over to them.

"Then, let's search the place until we find her." Karin said. "Ow!" Something fell from the ceiling and landed on Suigetsu's head.

"What the hell? What's this doing here?" Suigetsu said, picking up the scroll. "That's Hotaru's scroll." Karin said, recognizing it. "Hotaru?" Sasuke repeated. "Hotaru-san is Nue's mother." Jugo explained.

"I thought Nue was the last of her clan?" He asked. "Her mother survived the attack, but... she died, trying to protect us all." Jugo informed. "How did her scroll get here?" Karin asked as she looked through Hotaru's scroll. "That means Nue must be close by." Jugo said as Karin handed him the scroll. 

"Why are you all so obsessed with Nue, anyway? She's not here!" Sasuke said. "She is here!" Karin argued. He noticed how persistent she was in finding Nue and looked over at Anko. "Maybe he knows where she is." Sasuke mentioned.

"Eh? Who?" Suigetsu asked.

"Orochimaru."

"Huh?! What are you talking about?! You already killed Ororchimaru, remember?"

Sasuke explained how he needed Orochimaru to do something for him, even though he finds him vile and repulsive. "Don't be insane, you idiot! Orochimaru doesn't-!"

"This doesn't have to be a discussion!" Jugo interrupted him. "If Orochimaru really does know where Nue is, then we might as well revive him. He's the only source we have." He explained. Sasuke sighed. "Fine. Go dig out a piece of Kabuto's flesh and bring it over here to me." Sasuke instructed.

"Fine, I'll do it." Jugo obliged as he walked over to Kabuto. Once he dug out a piece of Kabuto's flesh, he brought it over to Sasuke. He placed the skin over Anko's curse mark and it merged with her skin. Sasuke performed the hand sign and placed his hand over Anko's neck.

"Curse Unsealing!"

When he pulled his hand back, a snake came out of Anko's neck and opened its jaw, making an Orochimaru crawl out of it. Scared, Suigetsu hid behind the frozen Kabuto. "Who would have imagined it would be you of all people who would facilitate my return?" Orochimaru said, glancing at Sasuke with a smirk.

"Oh! Hi, there! Long time no see!" Suigetsu greeted, even though he was nervous from Orochimaru's appearance. "Orochimaru, there's something I want you to do for me now." Sasuke said.

"You don't need to bother explaining it. I've been watching from inside Anko. Although... I expected to be freed from Nue's body, not Anko's." Orochimaru mentioned as he began to explain how he stored his Sage chakra inside her.

After he took back his chakra from Kabuto, he faced the others. "Very well then. I will help you out. But first thing's first. We have to find Nue." He said. "She's not here." Sasuke said. "That's where you're wrong, Sasuke. Nue is here. Over there," Orochimaru pointed at a wall behind Jugo.

"She's behind that wall." He said before walking over to it. "How can you tell?" Karin asked. "From the curse mark I've placed on her. Because she's not human, her abilities have allowed the two of us to be linked, connected." Orochimaru explained.

He placed his hand on the wall and felt around until his hand pushed against a secret button. The wall split into two, sliding open as it revealed Nue inside the water tank while the tank was hooked up to a machine.

"Whoa..."

"No way..."

"Nue..."

The five of them stared at Nue as she was in a water tank with plastic tubes attached to her body. "Nue!" Karin ran over to the tank and punched it in attempt to bust Nue out. "Don't just stand there! Help me!" Karin shouted at them.

Jugo quickly walked over to her and activated his curse mark as it covered half of his body. He punched the water tank, causing the glass to crack until it shattered as water burst out. Nue's body fell as the small tubes detached from her body.

Karin quickly caught her and took off the cloak she was wearing to cover up Nue's naked body. "Nue! Nue! Wake up!" Karin tried shaking her awake. Orochimaru walked over to them and kneeled down, checking Nue's pulse.

"She's alive, but her condition is unknown." He said. "But why won't she wake up?" Suigetsu asked. "Lord Orochimaru, you said that you and Nue are linked, right? That means you probably know what happened to her." Karin said.

"I could only hear what was going on from inside Nue. I couldn't see anything from the outside." Orochimaru replied. "What was that stuff that was going into her veins? Some type of poison?" Suigetsu asked as he picked up one of the tubes that was attached to Nue's body.

Orochimaru looked at one of the tubes, then back at Nue and Karin as she was trying to wake up Nue. "Whatever it was, it's prevented Nue from waking up. Let's go. We'll figure out a way to wake her up once we get there." Orochimaru said as he picked up Nue's unconscious body.

"And just where are we going?" Sasuke asked with a frown. Orochimaru chuckled before answering, "A place you actually know quite well."

All of them, Sasuke, Suigetsu, Jugo, Karin, Orochimaru, and an unconscious Nue left the hideout, heading to the place where Orochimaru can retrieve what he needed.

"Hey, so what's the deal? What's Nue's connection with Orochimaru? Is he, like... her godfather or something?" Suigetsu whispered. "I highly doubt it." Jugo said.

"When Nue was young, Orochimaru murdered her entire clan in order to keep her from changing who she was." Karin informed. "Eh?" Suigetsu asked as he wasn't getting it.

"When a member of the Houjuu Clan reached a certain age, everything about them starts to change. Nue was born with a cold personality and hated humans to the bone. But that side of her was gonna change some day and she hated that. Nue wanted to continue hating humans while fighting for the people she loves. Due to Orochimaru's actions of massacring the whole Houjuu Clan, Nue was able to stay the way she is today." Karin explained.

"Ah, now I get it. But shouldn't Nue have killed Orochimaru for something like that?" Suigetsu asked. "Don't you remember what Hotaru told us?" Jugo asked. "What are you talking about?" Karin asked.

"This was before you, Megumi, and Nue found the cabin. Hotaru's been watching Nue ever since the clan was massacred. Nue was able to encounter Orochimaru, but she couldn't bring herself to kill him."

'It's like what she said back then. Revenge won't bring back the people you've lost. It'll only bring more destruction. Looks like Nue took her advise' Karin thought. "We're here." Orochimaru informed.

"This is it?" Sasuke asked as they stood in front of a temple that looks like it would fall apart at any moment. "This place seems to be untouched. It's in shambles. Well, I suppose it is way outside the village." Orochimaru stated before entering the building.

"These things are so creepy. Just what are we doing here?" Karin commented as they were faced with a wall of masks. "Jugo, hold Nue for a moment." Orochimaru requested. He handed her body over to Jugo, in which he held her. 

"Which one?" Sasuke asked Orochimaru. "Hmm... Let's see. Should be..." Orochimaru created a snake from his hand and roamed the wall of masks. "Ah, there we go." He said as he picked the Death's God's Mask off the wall.

"Man, this place gives me the creeps. If you found it, can we please get out of here?" Suigetsu asked. "Yes, let's go... to the place where all the secrets sleep." Orochimaru said. (Sheesh, Orochimaru. Can you be anymore creepy when you said that? -_-')

Once he had what he needed, they left to revive the previous Hokage.