Kabuto took off his glasses and rubbed at his tired eyes. For the past three days, he'd been sorting through name after name and file after file of people how had the credentials of becoming Orochimaru's successor. The credentials were so vague and cryptic (if it were possible) if he was allowed to say anything about it.

- Must be from Konohagakure no Sato

- Needs a mind sharper than the rest

- Able to hold the weight of a village on their shoulders

- Has absolute control of their inner workings

- Has the capability to defeat a greater enemy

- Holds the greatest reason for leaving their village

Couldn't Orochimaru be a little more specific? He sighed and looked through the files once again. Must be from Konohagakure no Sato. Kabuto had already set aside the ones who didn't match the required background and was left with a considerable stack of folders. A mind sharper than the rest? Anyone could possibly fit that description. Anyone at all!

He skipped down to the last thing on the list: Holds the greatest reason for leaving the village. That was probably the hardest requirement to meet. Konoha was that type of village who had the most loyal shinobi under a headstrong Hokage. It was rare for someone to defect from Konoha, much less without reason. Kabuto was about to shuffle all the files together and start over from scratch when his eyes landed on Haruno Sakura's.

He slipped on his glasses and pulled hers from the pile.

Needs a sharper mind than the rest. She was a medic and undoubtedly a high-ranking one, considering that she studied under one of the legendary sannin renowned for her ability to heal and her monstrous strength. It was also listed that she had a natural aptitude for genjutsu. He recalled that sometime back when he cast the jutsu over the arena in the chuunin exams, she was one of the few who was able to dispel herself.

Able to hold the weight of a village on their shoulders. Literally speaking, she couldn't do something like that, but he was pretty damn sure she could destroy one whole village with a single fist to the ground. Metaphorically speaking, she was already doing a lot of the paperwork in Tsunade's place and already had a developed political outlook, giving her that advanced education she would need to rule a village.

Has absolute control of their inner workings. Sakura had to have astounding chakra control to be able to harness the strength of a thousand men. And again, she was a medic. Only a few people could enter that field and excel in it. And has the capability to defeat a greater enemy? She had previously defeated a greater enemy not too long ago—Akasuna no Sasori. Granted, she wasn't alone, but the old woman would have never succeeded unless Sakura was there with her. And that antidote. People gave her too little credit for creating an antidote overnight for a poison created by a poisons master himself.

Lastly, holding the greatest reason for leaving the village. Kabuto thought about her team dynamics and her relationship with Konoha. He had to hand it to them—Team Seven was an absolute mistake from the start. First, you put a boy who would seek nothing for revenge with another who only wanted to be accepted and make friends. Then you throw in a girl just for the hell of it. It might look like a good team: dead last, the rookie of the class, and a girl with more book smarts than anything else. It looked balanced based on skills, but on a personal level, it was the worst three people you could possibly mix together.

Tension already ran high between Naruto and Sasuke, leaving Sakura stuck in the middle. While those two advanced quickly, trying to outdo each other, they forgot about her. In all actuality, she was an average ninja. Not great, not terrible, but average. Perhaps being put on a team with such unnatural talents made her a horrible shinobi in comparison to those two.

Haruno Sakura was underappreciated and quite possibly hoped for a chance to better herself.

Kabuto blinked disbelievingly and stood up in his seat. She was the perfect candidate. Grabbing her file, he walked down the dimly lit hallways until he reached Orochimaru's room. He knocked twice before turning the door knob and stepping through.

"Ah, Kabuto-kun. Have you finished finding a worthy successor?"

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama."

Orochimaru looked mildly surprised. It should've taken much longer, as he made that list of qualifications hard to decipher on purpose. It's not that he wanted to cause his subordinate so much trouble, but because he wanted to be sure the right person would be chosen.

"Her name is Haruno Sakura."

Tsunade's apprentice? Kabuto had just picked the same person he had in mind. So far in the long run, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Haruno Sakura have been following in their mentor's footsteps in such a ridiculously uncanny fashion. Sasuke leaves the village for the sake of growing stronger. Naruto goes after him, keeping tabs and trying to think up a plan of redemption. And Sakura is left behind.

He knew what was going to happen because history was only going to repeat itself—he could already see it. Naruto, at some point in the future, would learn Sage mode just as Jiraiya did. Sasuke could one day kill him, his teacher, just like he had done to Hiruzen. All that's left for Sakura to do is cut her losses from the place she called home, be persuaded by the right voice, and be brought back to a village to fill in position as a Kage.

"Such an interesting choice. I approve," he grinned. "But are you able to offer her your complete loyalty?"

Kabuto pushed up his glasses. "Perhaps. If she comes to deserve it."

Orochimaru gave him a odd smile, one that Kabuto wasn't sure how to take, and leaned back in his bed. "If she's anything like Tsunade, I don't think you'll have a problem."

::

Ta no Kuni was truly a beautiful, beautiful country. The path became elevated and the surrounding area were sprawling rice terraces that spanned for miles. Even though the landscape was covered with a thin layer of snow, the sight was simply amazing. Sakura looked around wide-eyed, taking in the allure of her environment.

"This place is amazing." she murmured in awe, "If I knew how nice this country was I would have visited."

Kabuto found himself staring at her in surprise. She caught his gaze and shrunk a little to the side. "What?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all," he replied, looking back ahead. Sakura pursed her lips and continued to look around her. In the middle of her awed musings, she saw drops of red on the edge of the road that led to a thicket of tree.

"Hold on," she said. She strayed off the path and followed the trail until she saw a large heap of brown feathers covered in a sheet of white. Sakura kneeled down and turned the thing over to discover that it was an owl.

"A Great Horned Owl," Kabuto provided as he looked over her shoulder. "It's one of the many species of owls in this country."

Sakura gently stretched open one of its wings and saw the source of the red trail. A large gash ran across the underside of the wing. The owl turned its head, watching with sharp yellow eyes as she pulled off her gloves and let her hands glow green. She held it to the gaping wound and carefully stitched together the skin. Kabuto found it odd that the owl didn't lash out—this particular species tended to be rather volatile around these parts.

She pulled her hand away five minutes later and smiled. "There, all better. How does it feel?"

The owl tested its wings a couple of times, then folded them at its sides and stared at Sakura even more intently. She stood and slid her gloves back on, giving the bird a small wave before turning back to the path with Kabuto.

"So owls are abundant in Ta no Kuni?"

"Very. You'll see much more of them the deeper you travel."

"Maybe I should make a summoning contract with owls. Wouldn't that be an interesting choice?"

The owl flew up to the trees and perched on one of the branches. It watched as the two continued down the path, eyes brimming with interest.

It was another hour or two before they finally reached Otogakure. Sakura frowned at the worn down wood of the gates and the crumbling, barely standing walls. The guards let them in with a wave, eyes glued to the young woman standing beside the Kabuto. Those gazes continued throughout the village, namely from the people she could easily identify as shinobi. The civilians, though, didn't care much for their presence and continued on with their business.

Sakura wasn't pleased with the nature of the general public. Sure, they looked happy, but the buildings and such were in need of renovation. If she was going to be Otokage, she was going to do it right and make the people her top priority when she was able to start making changes and giving orders.

Just a bit in front of them, they saw a small boy walked towards them and crashed into Sakura's side. Kabuto immediately grabbed hold of his arm and took away the wallet the boy tried to steal. He tossed it to her.

"A pickpocket, Sakura-sama," he informed distastefully. "What do you want me to do to him?"

"You can start by letting him go," Sakura said immediately. She took one of the boy's hands and turned it over so that she could place the wallet back in his hands and was awarded with a confused stare from the boy.

"Are you in the Academy?" she questioned. The boy looked at the wallet incredulously before snapping his eyes up to her.

"U-Uh yeah..."

"That wasn't slick at all! What are they teaching you there?" Sakura sighed as she shook her head. "Don't get caught next time, okay?"

She gave him a kind smile before motioning Kabuto to follow her towards the Kage tower. The boy was left in the middle of the street, blinking rapidly at the stranger who showed him more kindness than any had ever done before.

"Why did you let him keep the wallet, Sakura-sama?"

She was silent for a few moments. "On my team's first escort mission, we were taken to a town in Nami no Kuni. The place was desperately poor. Homeless kids lined the streets, people were desperate for a job, the grocery stores had barely anything to sell and many had resorted to begging and stealing. Otogakure hasn't reached that point yet but..." she shook her head. "Anyways, my point is that he needed it if he was stealing it, right? More than I would, anyways."

The corners of Kabuto's lips turned downward. "Helping that one boy didn't change anything."

"It must have changed something for him. For now, isn't that enough?"

For once in his life, he didn't know what to say. He kept his mouth shut and maintained a neutral expression the rest of the way there. At the tower, they climbed up the stone steps slow enough for Kabuto to give the rundown of what type of person Hanzaki was.

"He doesn't talk much and knows to respect those who earn that respect. He also hates every aspect of Orochimaru, and really, that's all you need to know."

Sakura drew in a deep breath and approached the door that led to the Kage office. She knocked twice before entering. The room was barren with a dusty table and empty bookshelf being the only things occupying the space. Looking out the window was a large stature of a man, a zanbato slung horizontally across his back. A young orange-haired woman stood next to him, facing the door with an expectant look on her face. Her jaw slackened when she saw who walked through the door.

"Sakura-san?!"

Sakura returned the look with an equally surprised stare. "Sasame-san!"

Sasame rushed up to her. Joy flushed down to her smile as he took Sakura's hands into her own. "You're his successor? This is wonderful! Maybe you'd be able to—"

"Sasame."

Hanzaki turned away from the window and approached Sakura. He vaguely remembered her all those years ago when she came with the blonde boy and the feared sage, Jiraiya. He stared her down with unreadable to which she stared back with equal ferocity.

Then, he smirked.

"Sasame will aid you with whatever plans you have," he said. "I'll send Kotohime to you later. Good luck on your new position, Otokage-sama."

He left the room. Sakura slowly turned toward Kabuto. "Did he just...?"

"Yes."

"So I got the..."

"Yes."

'Honestly, I thought he was going to be sexist. Even just a little bit.'

::

EDITED 2.16.18