The new update kinda sucks but now it's grown on me. All well! Enjoy this chapter!

Sakura left the restaurant by herself, only to find a large commotion that followed her out the door. A flash of blonde and green whipped by her before she turned, confused. "A dine and dash," Sasuke explained beside her.

"When did you get here?" Sakura questioned. I did not realize he was there. He must have improved on his agility.

"Why were you with Tsunade?" Sasuke countered.

"Hn. Let us get back to the hotel," she replied, brushing off his question the same way he did to hers. Together, the two navigated through the busy streets, and made their way back.

:::

The next week went by with the same routine: Naruto and Jiraiya leaving early in the morning, Sasuke training independently, and Sakura scoping out the village.

On the fifth day, Sakura wandered by herself as always, with Sasuke parting ways from her in the beginning of her walk to train.

Around four or five, though, Sakura spotted Tsunade and Jiraiya drinking at a small booth. She watched from across the street for a while, even seeing the blonde slip something into his drink, but she did not confront either of them.
Instead, she went back to the hotel where she found Sasuke and Naruto arm wrestling to see who could take a shower first.

"You use up all the hot water, Teme, so Sakura-chan and I don't have any left, —ttebayo! Of course, if she ever said anything to you—!"

SLAP!

As Sakura watched Naruto howl in pain after Sasuke five-starred him on the face, she got her own towel and toiletries and then walked into the bathroom, shut and locked the door, then turned around and pressed her ear to the the cold wooden door to see if they had noticed that she had stolen the bathroom.

Of course, judging by the way their verbal fight was going, they wouldn't even notice when she got out of the shower. With that in mind, Sakura undressed, stepped into the shower, and then turned on the faucet to the hottest temperature possible.

While she shampooed her short hair, Sakura thought long and hard. I have not been informed of Orochimaru's plans in a long period of time. I ponder when his next move will be.

Reasoning with herself that there was nothing she could do about it, Sakura finished washing her hair and rinsed off the rest of her body before turning the tap off. She stepped out and dried herself quickly with the towel, and then stepped out. Sasuke was on one side of the room, and Naruto, the other.

When Sakura emerged, Naruto jumped up. "Sakura-chan! How could you...you betrayed me!" The blonde fell to the floor dramatically with his hand over his face. However, Sakura only stepped over him, and returned the acknowledging nod from Sasuke and settled into her futon, which she assumed he had set out for all of them.

"Eh? You're going to sleep, already, Sakura-chan? It's not that late!" Naruto had gotten up from his position to kneel next to Sakura and lean over her, poking her chin. "Hey, Sakura-chan, watcha do today, dattebayo?"

Sakura sighed silently and then rolled over to face Naruto, and away from Sasuke, who was still sitting in his original corner of the room near her. "I walked through the village. I saw Pedophile and Tsunade—"

A loud gasp came from Naruto. "You don't have a nickname for Granny, dattebayo?! You always give offensive nicknames to people!"

"Not everyone, Dobe," Sasuke added in from where he was. "I don't have one anymore."

"Yeah, for once, you're right, Teme! Why is that, Sakura-chan, dattebayo?" Both boys turned to see her reaction, but she didn't give them one.

"I am not sure," Sakura admitted. "Nor am I interested in exploring this subject; it is a waste of time and effort. I am going to sleep." She turned over again to face Sasuke, who was now sharpening his blunt kunai. Sakura noticed his hands were bandaged and that a tinge of red had seeped through the material.

With Naruto whining in the background, Sakura wasn't able to drift off the way she usually did when her teammates were around. When she was alone...Sakura turned her head slightly so Naruto could hear her voice as she said, "You should bathe, Ramen-boy."

Naruto gasped a second time as he wilted comedically and then shot up and saluted. "I trained all day to smell like this, dattebayo, but I guess girls don't like it. I guess I'll take your advice, Sakura-chan!" He gave her a thumbs up and then ran for the bathroom before yelling at Sasuke on how he was going to be last.

Sakura turned over for the nth time and then closed her eyes, the environment now suitable for her. She nodded off to sleep, slowly, completely forgetting about the other presence in the room.

"Tch." Sasuke stared at Sakura's face, now looking peaceful and carefree in her slumber. He looked back down at his hands, which were bloodied and sore from his training. How unfair it is for her to have to not train at all, yet be considered a genius, while I train all the time and gain nothing from it.

:::

The next morning was loud and hectic. Naruto shot up, and yelled right as Jiraiya stumbled out of his bed and stepped on the blonde's arm. Both Sakura and Sasuke instantly hot up from the commotion, kunai in hand and ready to be used.

"Wait." Everyone turned to see Jiraiya, who had gone from looking sleep-deprived to alert. "My chakra's all gone!" While Naruto yelled and began to freak out, the man thought of how he could have lost his chakra. Jiraiya hit an open palm with his fist. "Ah! I was with Tsunade and she must've slipped something into my drink!" He laughed and scratched the back of his head while the chaos continued behind him.

"Sakura-chan, Teme! What if we get attacked again, —ttebayo?! Pervy-Sage doesn't have his chakra, so he won't be able to fight, and then we'll all die—!"

Jiraiya hit Naruto's head harshly and then crossed his arms while chuckling. "Relax kiddies; we don't have anything going on today! It's totally fine if I can't use my chakra for a while! Ahahaha!" He laughed some more, causing both Sasuke and Naruto to sweat drop. Sakura only watched and wondered whether she could go back to sleep or not.

Naruto yawned, then scratched his stomach lazily. "Can I go back to sleep, —ttebayo? I'm tired," he complained, voicing Sakura's thoughts. His eyes were half-lidded and his head kept nodding off every so often.

"Sorry, but no," Jiraiya said. "We shouldn't go back to sleep since we're already up. And we can explore the village today since we have all day until we're supposed to see Tsunade again."

Naruto whined and began attaching himself to the futon, which caused Sasuke to hit him saying, "That's my futon, Dobe." This ended up with the two going at each other again, their squabble causing Sakura to occupy the bathroom so she could get ready for the day ahead of her.

She combed her short hair, making sure her headband hadn't caught any of her bangs, and then stepped out in her complete outfit. This seems familiar, she mused, remembering the night before. Just as Sakura was about to point out how deja vu the whole situation was, she noticed the black-haired woman named Shizune on the windowsill.

Sasuke and Naruto were already near Jiraiya, as they all tried to listen as attentively. Sakura approached, only catching the last part of her sentence before continuing: "—final agreement is due today. She knew you would try to stop her, so she..." Shizune gestured towards Jiraiya sadly. "And now, you can't really do anything, no offense. But, I know that deep down, Tsunade-sama knows this is wrong! She would never want to betray the village..."

"Where are they going to meet?" Jiraiya's face was stern, and he spoke urgently. Beside him, Sasuke and Naruto has not yet noticed Sakura.

"The outskirts of town. Come, I'll show you, but we have to hurry!" Shizune, without a word of confirmation from Jiraiya, leapt from the window to a nearby roof. The boys, now dressed, followed her quickly.

Now only Jiraiya and Sakura remained. "Are you ready? We'll see Orochimaru there." She looked up at him and into his eyes, her expression serious. Sakura only nodded before moving around Jiraiya and jumping out the window too.

SHIT'S ABOUT TO GO DOOOOWN.
ARE YOU READY?!

Who will Sakura side with?

Will we see more of her hidden powers?

How will Sasuke react when seeing Orochimaru again?