Tsuki woke with a start as she slipped beneath the water's surface of her soothing warm bath. She resurfaced coughing and sputtering as she desperately tried to refill her lungs with oxygen and expel the water from them. Her fatigue was starting to become a detriment to her health. Shakily, she climbed from the tub and dried her soaking body with a fluffy white towel. The door to the bedroom opened.

"Orochimaru-sama?" She called curiously wondering why he'd be attempting to keep silent, her senses were still off. Slipping a simple black silk kimono over her now slightly damp body she poked her head out of the bathroom door, only to jump as a large beam of wood shot toward her.

Panicked she fell back into the bathroom to avoid the beam of wood only to let out a scream as it followed her into the bathroom before winding around her waist, pinning her arms at her sides before hardening.

The bathroom door opened the rest of the way and Tsuki strained to see the man framed in the doorway. He was a leaf Shinobi, a few years her senior, wearing the traditional leaf Shinobi garb, his hair was a dark brown and stood up atop his head in an unruly fashion, and he had dark blank eyes and a stoic expression frozen on his face.

Before she could question the intruder, she heard a familiar voice, "Captain Yamato is everything alright, I thought I heard a sc-." Sakura appeared in the doorway but cut off with a gasp as she noticed the pale starlight woman now being held captive. The pink haired girl had grown up over the years, she was taller now and had the figure of a young woman instead of a child. Her pale jade eyes no longer held uncertainty and fear as they had before they were filled with strength and determination, "Tsuki! Ah! Captain Yamato, please let her go, she's not one of Orochimaru's henchmen."

"What?!" The man looked hesitant, "If you try anything-." He attempted to warn the pale young woman but Sakura cut him off.

"She's my friend."

Reluctantly the leaf shinobi released the starlight girl from her bonds. Once free Tsuki shakily got to her feet and shot a wary look in the man's direction. Sakura stepped forward and wrapped the pale woman in a hug.

"You look all grown up, Sakura-chan." Tsuki smiled as she hugged the girl back. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for Sasuke, do you know where he-?"

"This looks like it would be Orochimaru's private quarters." Yamato cut off the pink-haired teen as he looked around the enormous regal bedchamber with intricate snake like accents and statues. He threw a suspicious look to the pale young woman as she and Sakura broke from their hug.

"It is." Tsuki replied simply in a dismissive tone before turning to Sakura, "My senses are a little off at the moment so I can't detect his presence, he and Orochimaru-sama were going to train...if they're finished then he'd probably have gone back to his room. I can show you the way if you like."

Sakura hugged the pale woman once more, "Yes, please. Thank you, Tsuki!"

"May I possibly get changed first?" Tsuki inquired not liking how the silk material molded to her damp torso clinging sinfully to every delicate curve in her body.

"I'm not sure I trust you entirely and don't really want to let you out of my sight." Yamato replied his tone even.

Tsuki shrugged at this and led the way out of the room. Sakura fell in step beside her happy to see the pale young woman who'd saved her before and happy to see she seemed, for the most part, okay. There was a sickly pallor to her skin and dark circles beneath her colorless eyes, but she seemed stronger than before.

They didn't make it more than a few steps away from Tsuki and Orochimaru's private quarters before Sakura suddenly winced as if in pain and gripped her left arm. Tsuki struggled to catch the pink-haired teen as she swayed on her feet.

"Ah! Sakura-chan! What's wrong?" Tsuki yelped as she struggled to support the girl. She slipped to her knees easing Sakura to the ground partially in her arms.

"Sorry, Tsuki." Sakura cringed.

Tsuki's colorless eyes swept over the scratches adorning Sakura's left arm. Something was off about the wound, almost like the chakra that had been used to create it was currently poisoning the young girl. Biting her lip, Tsuki placed her hand over the wound, if Orochimaru knew he'd be angry. She shouldn't be using much chakra in her current state, so soon after such a severe injury, but Sakura was in more pain than she was letting on.

"What happened?" Tsuki's voice had a calming effect on the pink-haired girl as she wielded her regenerative chakra and smoothed it over Sakura's wound.

"N-Naruto lost control of the nine tails' chakra, its okay, I'll be fi-." Her eyes grew wide as the wound on her arm began to fade away. It wasn't a medical ninjutsu, she had no idea how the strange young woman had managed it. The pain ebbed away to nothing and in seconds all that remained was a faint red scar where the scratches had been.

Tsuki gaped at this, "Why does Naruto-kun have nine tails chakra?"

Sakura laughed nervously at this, "Oh, I guess you're even less involved than I thought. Naruto is a jinchuriki." She flexed her fingers and stared down at her arm in awe, there wasn't any pain. "Tsuki, that's amazing, how did you do that?"

Tsuki smiled, "It's just something my clan can do. Does it hurt anymore?"

Sakura shook her head, "Not at all, thank you." She swung to her feet feeling stronger than she had before but looked down at the pale woman in concern as she noticed a slight tremor in her fingers and a shakiness as she swayed to her feet. "Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me, let's find Sasuke-kun." Her smile was convincing, but there was still worry and doubt lingering in the back of Sakura's mind.

"Tsuki, how long have you known Orochimaru?" Sakura asked her curiously as she offered her an arm for support. She didn't know much about the young woman that always seemed to come to her rescue.

"Fifteen years or so." Tsuki noted with a shrug as she leaned on the pink-haired girl for support.

"And what exactly is the nature of your relationship?" Yamato pondered as he watched the girl carefully taking notice of her deteriorating condition.

"It's complicated." Tsuki sighed as she steered Sakura in the right direction, toward Sasuke's room.

Sakura nearly gasped as she saw the faintest hint of emotion deep within Tsuki's colorless eyes, love. She loved Orochimaru! How could that be? She'd heard from Ino's father that Tsuki was his prisoner, she'd been worried for her over the years. Why would she love him? "You love him..."

Tsuki's pale cheeks flushed scarlet, "Eh?! W-what are you talking about? I thought we were looking for Sasuke!" She buried her face behind her pale sheets of moonbeam hair.

Sakura couldn't help but smile at her friend. It was true. The girls paused as they realized their companion had faltered.

"Captain Yamato, what's wrong?" Sakura asked the man as he placed a hand to his temple as if he were trying to concentrate on something.

"It's Naruto. Something's going on." He frowned, "Let's go, this way!"

"Naruto-kun is here?" Tsuki looked to Sakura curiously as Yamato wielded a chakra Tsuki had never seen before and created another wooden beam like the one that had attacked her earlier, it burst through the wall to their left. "I hope he's not gotten caught in another trap." She sighed causing Sakura to laugh.

They followed Captain Yamato through the newly formed tunnels his strange wood style technique had created. When they stepped out of the end Tsuki spotted Naruto facing off against Orochimaru and blanched as she felt his reptilian gaze latch onto her. Her skin burned as his eyes swept over the simple black silk kimono clinging to her still damp body before narrowing into a glare, he was pissed!

"Orochimaru, again, huh?" Yamato commented casually as he and Sakura took up defensive stances on either side of Naruto.

"Tsuki." His tone was sharp and commanding but there was worry in his lethal gaze as he took in her deteriorating appearance, "Come."

Tsuki cleared the space between them, her steps somewhat shaky without the support of the pink-haired teen. Once she was within reach, he gently caught her hand in his and frowned, it was cool to the touch. His touch didn't seem to have the same healing effect as before, he blamed himself, he'd spent a lot of chakra and energy fighting with the leaf shinobi earlier and training with Sasuke and no longer had enough to help the beautiful starlight girl.

"Naruto. For now, I'll let you live." Orochimaru addressed the blonde-haired teen in a crisp icy tone as he pulled the pale girl closer to him and swept her off her feet. "I hope you'll repay me by eliminating at least one more member of the Akatsuki."

"Say what?!" Naruto growled, still quick as ever to lose his temper.

"I'm afraid I have some important business with Tsuki that can't wait. So, if you'll excuse me." He prepared to take off but paused as the pale young woman placed a hand to his chest drawing his attention. "What is it?" He asked her curiously.

"Can you summon Yuki-san for me?" Tsuki asked feebly.

Orochimaru summoned the pristine pure white snake that usually accompanied the starlight girl.

"Yuki-san, help Sakura-chan, please." Tsuki looked to the pink haired girl with a smile, "He'll listen to you and show you the way."

Sakura held back her smile as she realized what Tsuki had done, if she asked the snake to take her to Sasuke's room, it would show her the way. "Thank you, Tsuki. I'll keep him safe."

Tsuki smiled at her young friend, "It was good seeing you again, Sakura-chan, Naruto-kun. Take care." She waved before Orochimaru spirited her away, disappearing with her in his arms in a flash.

They arrived back at their private quarters. From the looks of the room, it appeared there had been a brief struggle in the bathroom and Orochimaru deduced what had happened quickly. He sighed as he gingerly set the weakened girl on the bed.

"You healed the girl..."

Tsuki paled, "Y-yes."

Orochimaru sighed and leaned forward capturing her delicately soft lips in a sweet kiss giving her strength, "Troublesome girl."

"S-sorry." Tsuki squeaked as her cheeks flushed with color and she hurriedly buried her face behind her moonbeam hair as he pulled back, relieved that some of her fatigue and weariness seemed to have dissipated.

"It's alright. I'm glad you got to see your friend." He gently smoothed his hands through her hair, his gaze flicked downward to the deep V-neck opening of the silken kimono. It was low enough to reveal the angry red scar that still lingered after her run in with Itachi's projection. Anger wormed through him, he should never have left her alone. He'd sensed something was off that's why he warned her not to leave, he should have known if the bratty teen had left she'd go after him. She'd taken a liking to the surly teen. His fingers lightly traced over the scar, urging a soft gasp from the pale girl startled at his touch. Her skin beneath his touch turned hot and he looked to her face and held back a chuckle as he noticed it was now a deep cherry red. "We'll be leaving soon, why don't you get dressed."

Video- "It Never Ends" By Bring Me The Horizon