Slug Sage mode... It must come to pass. More than anything else its existence is indispensable to Sakura's ascendancy as a legend. Also it would complete the senjutsu animal trinity which was established fifty chapters previously. Who else from the current generation would be more appropriately suited to acquiring these abilities than Sakura?
Is Orochimaru even concerned with Sasuke's "desire" to assume the Hokage position? His aiding him was a facade created to gratify Sasuke's quest for the truth of what a shinobi is and prevent himself from being killed. Now that they have separated from each other Orochimaru can begin executing his own dastardly scheme which is probably related to his objective of acquiring the Rinnegan. Actually, that may be what he sought Tsunade out for is her DNA. If he can implant Tsunade's genetic material into Sasuke then a second Rinnegan may be conceived. Since Orochimaru happens to be in possession of a White Zetsu's body which is essentially a replica of Hashirama's genetic composition he should already be capable of using SM and thus he would have all of the attributes related to the "body" of the Sot6P. If he somehow managed to acquire Sasuke's doujutsu then he would be well on his way to becoming the next sage. It actually makes sense when relating this theory to Orochimaru's original intentions of learning all ninjutsu.
As for the final part, there will undoubtedly be a resolution to SS because whether you prefer it or not the "pairing" has been readdressed less than one hundred chapters ago. It would not make sense for Kishi to have Sakura reminisce about Sasuke when presented with a question involving romance if it was only going to be discarded and never referred to again. At the very least she will make a statement affirming her support for Naruto and dismissal of Sasuke's self-serving ambitions. What happens afterwards is unknown but it's obvious that she still cherishes his company so that does mean that she assigns some level of worth in his presence if only for platonic reasons like Team 7's temporary reconstitution after it was destroyed by Sasuke's defection at the end of P1.
Sorry for the late response.
IMO, I don't think Sasuke or Orochimaru care about each others desire. I think Sasuke is too arrogant to care what orochimaru doing right now, he has other things block his goal. Unless Orochimaru is acting out his goal that Sasuke already knows.
I think Naruto and the Alliance are an obstacle in Sasuke's goal. I think Naruto in his KM is stronger than Sasuke, so he needs another power that that is stronger than the Nine Tails. I believe he wants the power of the Ten Tails.
I think Orochimaru will let all the players show their hands before he shows his. IMO, he will be the final villain. I still think Orochimaru is after Sasuke's body.
I want to see Sakura to pound of Sasuke after she saves Naruto.
Edited by NS4Life, 15 June 2013 - 08:07 PM.
^
Yep it doesn't matter if Hinata took only one Jiuubi clone while Sakura took down over 20 with one single punch that destroyed the ground. 
