Tsuki woke with a start only to realize Lord Orochimaru wasn't beside her. Though her wounds had been healed after she protected Sasuke from the projection of his older brother, her chakra seemed out of sorts and she found herself more tired than usual and was even able to fall asleep without being in Lord Orochimaru's presence, for the first time. She scanned the dark bedroom and jumped as she spotted the surly dark-haired teen standing at her bedside with a scowl.

"S-Sasuke-kun, w-what are you doing?" She panicked as she sat upright.

"Where's Orochimaru, we were supposed to have training?" He grumbled his gaze dropping to the revealed scar on the young woman's chest as her pale grey nightgown shifted slightly as she sat up. She should have died from the wound she'd received, it was fatal, yet somehow Orochimaru was able to heal her with a single kiss and all that remained was a faint red angry scar on her chest.

Tsuki yawned and stretched her arms up to the heaven's before slipping out of bed, "I don't know. How about breakfast?"

"Its afternoon." He pointed in annoyance.

"Lunch?"

Sasuke shrugged, "Fine." He watched her carefully as she wrapped a soft pale grey robe over herself and headed for the door. Her steps were somewhat wobbly and sluggish. "Why'd you save me?"

Tsuki paused at the door and turned to him, her pure white eyes expressing concern, the boy seemed unusually chatty and she could see guilt and remorse revealed on his face as he strained to keep a mask of indifference in place. "You can't avenge anything or anyone if you are dead..."

"You don't agree with me being an avenger-."

"I didn't say that." Tsuki smirked, "I just don't think you talking about it so much is helping you get to where you need to be in your training. Your need to be an avenger is what is holding you back. You're not ready yet." She shrugged as she turned and exited the room heading for the kitchen.

Sasuke clenched his fists and darted after her but paused as he noticed the unsteadiness of her gait. After the fight with Itachi's projection, when she'd nearly lost her life she seemed weak and everything she did seemed to require much more effort. "How are you still alive?"

Tsuki smiled softly at this, "Because my life is not mine alone."

Sasuke frowned not understanding her meaning. "What the hell is that supposed to me-." He cut off with a gasp as she turned to him quick as lightning and flicked him on the forehead.

"Perhaps one day when you realize there's more to life than being an avenger and you find people you love and want to protect, you will understand."

Deciding not to press the issue further Sasuke reluctantly trailed after her to the kitchen. He watched as she set to work preparing him a tasty and nutritious lunch. For the briefest of moments, he was transported to a time long ago as he watched the young woman cook and familiar smells of home wafted through the air. It reminded him of a time when he was still a child, when his mother was still alive and would cook for him.

"Sasuke-kun? What's wrong?" Tsuki asked him curiously as she noticed the morose look upon his face.

"Nothing. I'm not hungry anymore." He muttered under his breath before turning and storming away.

Sasuke made his way to an elaborate underground Great Hall where he and Orochimaru usually met before training. He went to sit atop a set of a few steps leading to what almost looked like a throne carved in the stone fashioned to look like a snake. It was dark, like most of the rooms in the lair with only a few low burning torches at the far corners of the room a modification Orochimaru had taken into consideration for the pale girl's light sensitivity. The surly teen lost himself in his dwindling thoughts of home from a time when all was still right in his world. Tsuki's cooking was nostalgic and made with love and tended to spark pleasant memories from a happy childhood that only caused him pain.

After a few moments the giant double doors of the Great Hall like room swung open with a groan. Sasuke's eyes narrowed into a glare as he spotted Kabuto, Orochimaru and a boy about his age that he had no recognition of.

"You're late." He growled at Orochimaru deciding the other two weren't worth his time. "Am I mistaken or weren't you supposed to be here to help me hone a new jutsu this afternoon, Orochimaru?" The teen continued in annoyance as he snuffed out his feelings of nostalgia, homesickness and grief.

Kabuto frowned at him, "There's that insolent tone again."

Orochimaru didn't seem phased by his poor attitude, his reptilian golden green eyes revealing nothing as he spoke, "Try not to be too upset. I thought we'd do something different today, so I brought along a little present for you." Those lethal snake like eyes flicked downward to the new teen at his side, a boy of Sasuke's age with short straight black hair, pale skin, dark eyes and an emotionless mask plastered on his face. "He's a leaf shinobi like you. I thought you two might like to get together and reminisce. Swap stories of home." It was almost as if the lethal shinobi had sensed he was feeling nostalgic moments before and was trying to get a rise out of him.

"So, I presume, you're Sasuke Uchiha." The newcomer said with a fake closed eyed smile, that made the surly teen's skin crawl in annoyance and made him want to lash out, "My name is Sai-."

"Get lost." Sasuke snarled.

"Sasuke-kun!" Tsuki's voice snapped from behind him as she stepped into the Great Hall like room with the giant carved snake statue from a door at the side of the hall. Her colorless eyes swept over to the other door and grew wide as she spotted Orochimaru, Kabuto and some boy around Sasuke's age she didn't know. Her senses had been thrown off ever since the night she'd saved Sasuke. She turned back to the surly teen and shoved a plate of food into his hands before folding her arms across her chest, "Don't be wasteful."

Sasuke threw her a glare and opened his mouth to protest but cut off as her colorless eyes narrowed and she angrily placed her hands on her hips.

"You wanted lunch." She reminded him coolly.

"No, I agreed to lunch." He attempted to correct her only to jump as she flicked him in the forehead.

"Same thing."

"Fine, I'll eat it." Sasuke grumbled.

Another flick.

"OW! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Where are your manners?!" Tsuki snapped.

"Thank you for the food." Sasuke huffed as color flooded his cheeks.

"Better. You're welcome, Sasuke-kun." Tsuki smiled before disappearing from sight only to appear before Orochimaru causing the other teen to jump at her sudden appearance, she was fast, "Welcome home, Orochimaru-sama."

Orochimaru noticed the pallor to her skin, the weariness in her gaze and the dark circles beneath her eyes right away. He reached out and swept her pale silvery white hair away from her face lightly caressing her cheek, rubbing his thumb across her cheekbone hoping some of the color would come back to her pallid skin. There was a faint change, but it wasn't as immediate or as drastic of a change as it used to be with a single touch.

"Thank you, Tsuki." He said softly.

"Who's this?" Tsuki turned to the new teen, who appeared to be a fan of dark clothing, with the straight dark hair, pale skin and with a hidden leaf village forehead protector adorning his forehead.

"Sai, I brought him here as a present for Sasuke." Orochimaru said simply though she noticed something deeper within his reptilian gaze, it was more like he'd brought the boy to Sasuke to get a reaction out of him. He pulled the pale girl closer to him draping an arm across her delicate shoulders hoping more contact would help with the pallor of her skin and the tired look in her eyes. The girl had been sleeping much more than usual and she still looked tired all the time. It had been too close of a call, he'd nearly lost her and it had taken every last ounce of her chakra to seal the fatal wound. Even the great Towa Clan had their limits.

"It seems I'm the sort of person that people don't like right away, even if I wear a smile." Sai's gaze never left the surly teen as he finished the plate of food, "Naruto took an instant disliking to me as well. However, I have a funny feeling that you and I will get along better than I did with him."

Tsuki frowned at this, the newcomer's tone seemed like he too was trying to get a rise out of Sasuke and while Sasuke would hesitate to lash out at Orochimaru, he wouldn't hesitate with this boy. She looked to Sasuke and sighed as she noticed him using his sharingan on the boy. The boy trembled and took two faltering steps back before tripping and falling to the floor.

Kabuto shot the surly teen a glare, "Sasuke!" He attempted to reprimand him to no avail.

Orochimaru looked to the shaken boy sitting on the floor, "It's probably not a good idea to provoke Sasuke-kun too much. He's even more difficult than I am."

Tsuki frowned sensing Sasuke was going to do more and turned her colorless eyes to the surly teen, "Sasuke-kun, enough." Her voice took on an edge that none of them had heard before.

"I don't care about this guy." Sasuke retorted coolly. "Come on, Orochimaru, let's go."

Sai got to his feet after taking a moment to collect himself, "I've heard a lot about you from Naruto. It seems he's been searching for you all this time. For three years now."

"I remember someone like that." Sasuke got to his feet, "Orochimaru, let's go." He turned to walk away.

"You mean a great deal to Naruto. He thinks of you as a brother. At least, that's what Sakura told me." Sai continued causing Tsuki to turn to him, he knew Sakura-chan? Sasuke cast him a sideways glare at this, he'd struck a nerve!

"As far as brother's go, I have only one. The one that I must kill." He made a move to attack the boy, but froze as Tsuki met him head on, negating his attack with ease, despite her fatigue. "What the hell are you do-?"

"Take your plate to the kitchen, I'm not your maid." Tsuki spun him around and turned him back to the direction of the empty plate he'd left sitting next to where he'd been moments before. She flicked him on the back of the head, "And watch how you speak to Orochimaru-sama." Another flick, "Work on your manners in general." Another flick. "If I ever catch you speaking to Sakura-chan like this you're in big trouble."

"Ow! You're so infuriating, you're not my mother!" Sasuke raged as fire sparked at his fingertips causing the pale girl to cringe at the sudden blinding light, before he could try to apologize a violent wind raged past and sent him flying into the opposite wall.

Kabuto and the new dark-haired teen, Sai, stared at the pale young woman in awe. She looked sickly standing in the dim light in nothing more than a pale grey nightgown with a soft robe thrown over top, her feet were bare and her usually pale skin looked an unhealthy pale, yet she'd still thrown the terrifying teen across the room like he was nothing.

Orochimaru chuckled at this, "Tsuki, come here." He held his hand out to starlight girl as Sasuke picked up his plate and disappeared in a huff.

Her steps were somewhat shaky as she made her way toward the lethal shinobi. As she placed her hand in his she let out a squeak as he pulled her closer and swept her into his arms. She felt something tucked into his shirt, like a stack of documents as he held her against him.

"Tsuki, give those to Kabuto." Orochimaru's voice was soft as he addressed her. Tsuki scrambled to retrieve the envelope with the documents and handed them to Kabuto. "Make a bingo book out of its contents. I'll leave everything up to you." He said somewhat coolly before turning on his heel, carrying Tsuki away from the others.

Once they were far enough away from the others he noticed her body begin to relax in his grip. Her colorless eyes fluttered closed as if she were about to drift to sleep, but she stubbornly shook her head and struggled to keep herself awake.

"Are you alright, Tsuki?"

Her smile was warm and bright and instantly melted his heart, "I'm okay. Sorry if I caused you any trou-."

He cut her off with a single look, "You have nothing to apologize for..." His voice trailed off, he'd wanted to add that she'd never have to apologize for anything. "I must admit I'm impressed with how well you handle Sasuke-kun. He listens to you."

"Not very often." Tsuki admitted.

"More than anyone else." Orochimaru shrugged.

"Why did you really bring Sai here, it wasn't just to provoke Sasuke, was it?"

Orochimaru chuckled, the girl was far too perceptive for her own good at times. "I think he might be trying to spy on us."

"You're not going to kill him, are you?" Tsuki blanched.

"Would that displease you?"

"He knows Sakura-chan and Naruto-kun. It might make them sad...I don't want Sakura-chan to be sad."

Orochimaru looked down at the frail girl in his arms curiously, she was soft and sweet and had a caring heart, yet she was a fearsome fighter when she put her mind to it and he'd witnessed a sterner, harder side of her when scolding Sasuke. Everything about her drew him in and made him want to discover more, he wanted to know more of her personality, mannerisms and moods. "I won't kill him." He assured her and felt his heart flutter in his chest at the breathtaking smile that lit up her face.

"Thank you, Orochimaru-sama." She wrapped her arms around his neck.

Video- "Disgust Me" By New Years Day