Naruto 1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter One

Kakashi sat amongst the roots of a rather large tree, basking in the comfortable warmth of the suns rays that peaked through the forests canopy as he watched his team from over his ever-present orange book.

"I...'_gasp'_...won!" Naruto hollered, as best he could while trying to catch his breath. He lay a few feet from Kakashi, sprawled on his back. His chest frantically rising and falling as his lungs fought for oxygen.

The other two hyperventilating lumps, Sakura and Sai, on either side of Naruto, were too exhausted to protest.

Kakashi turned his eyes from the younger shinobi laying prostrate on the ground, to an older shinobi, lounging, not unlike himself, against the trunk of a tree across the small clearing.

Kakashi caught Yamato's eye, and both men chuckled together at the antics of the three shinobi laying between them.

Kakashi and Yamato had entered the clearing, not five minutes before, at a lot more sedated pace than the younger shinobi whom they had found in their current condition. The three shinobi had decided to race the remaining five miles to their target location, a small lake located no more than twenty feet from where they sat, that had become a favorite camping spot for their team.They usually camped there after each mission - time permitting - to wind down, and just plain enjoy each others company, before traveling the last few miles to Konoha.

A comfortable silence settled over the nin, as their breathing slowed to a steadier rhythm. After a while Sakura stirred, sitting up from her spot between Kakashi and Naruto, and grinned up at Kakashi. She gave a contented sigh as she stood up and stretched her arms over her head and walked over to her pack, that she had hastily discarded earlier, while the men of her team lazily watched her.

Taking that as their cue, the remaining members of the team slowly got up and assisted Sakura in setting up camp for the night. There was no speaking between them, as they shuffled around, for this was routine for them; their amazing teamwork on the battlefield even transferred to the most mundane activities off the battlefield.

Naruto and Sakura, having joined the ranks of the Jounin no more than a year ago, had pestered the Hokage into allowing the creation of a permanent five-man team to actively pursue activity of one of Konoha's biggest threats - Sound. And not just any activity from Sound, namely anything to deal directly with Orochimaru. That of course went along with their continuing goal of bringing Sasuke home.

Not long after their confrontation with Sasuke at Orochimaru's base, Naruto and Sakura vastly increased their training. They wanted to get even stronger so that the next time they came across Sasuke they would be able to 'beat him senseless, and drag his sorry carcass home'.

Three months after training regularly, not only with their own senseis and ex-sensei, but with Yamato, Sai, Team Gai, and the remaining members of the Rookie Nine (not rookies anymore), Naruto and Sakura easily passed the Jounin exam - Naruto had already passed the Chuunin exam merely a month before.

Both of their transformations were staggering. Sakura's medical skills have even been claimed to rival that of the Hokage's, and her strength is said to have far surpassed her mentor's.

Naruto not only grew in skill, but also physically. Within a year he shot up to nearly six feet tall, threatening to out-height Kakashi. Sai also came across a growth spurt, though not quite as muscular as Naruto, he had shot up to not even an inch shorter than him.

Sakura, who barely could claim 5 feet 4 inches, looked even more fragile being constantly dwarfed by the likes of Kakashi, Yamato, Naruto, and Sai. She came closer to eye level with their pectorals than their eyes.

Now, whenever any of her boys annoyed her, Sakura would have to hop to be able to smack them on the back of the head. It tended to be a very amusing, and very common sight, to see Sakura, a seemingly fragile girl, rant and rage at the male members of her team (usually Naruto and Sai, but Kakashi and Yamato had their turns as well), who towered over her, as she pummeled them while they cowered in fear.

Though Sakura did not grow much vertically, her physical appearance did change. Womanly curves sprouted out of nowhere; a once comparatively small chest now became the subject of another rivalry between herself and Ino.

Despite Sakura's unnatural over-competitiveness, her desire to out-bosom Ino wavered after a comment made by one of the nurses at the hospital one day (which Jiraiya loves to reiterate, by sprouting his own version of the comment joyously whenever he get's a chance) that went along the lines of Sakura being well on her way to rivaling Tsunade, and not only in her shinobi skills.

After that, Sakura began wrapping her bindings with a lot more fervor. It didn't hide her curves a whole lot, but it at least kept her from getting her eyes poked out while running - which is just bit of an exaggeration.

After nearly a year of training and going on mission after mission together, the new Team Kakashi became extremely close. There almost wasn't a day that went by without them seeing each other. Even when Sakura was forced into taking shifts at the hospital between missions her boys made a point of at least stopping by separately, if not together, to pester her a bit.

They were like family now, with Yamato and Kakashi taking on the older brother rolls, Naruto and Sai taking on the quarrelling brother rolls, and Sakura, with much protest, took on the baby sister roll.

Sakura usually considered her boys protectiveness very sweet. But she found it immensely annoying when it was overly displayed, usually when there were other males around, and when battling - though they did tone it down a little after she showed them time after time that she could take of care of herself. But when push came to shove, if something went wrong while on the job, the boys would protect Sakura before anyone else.

By no means was this affection one-sided; Sakura would gladly give her own life for the lives of either of her boys. And even when it came to other girls, mainly fan-girls (who seemed to be popping out of the woodwork ever since Naruto's and Sai's increase in height, along with the added presence of Yamato and Kakashi), Sakura gladly took on the job of being a shield from unwanted attention; this job tended to be forced on her as the boy/s (or man) being pursued at that moment would thrust Sakura in front of him/them while clinging to her back in fear.

It usually would only take a quirk of an eyebrow, or the narrowing of an eye to get the stampede of hormone-crazed girls (and women) to go stampeding in the other direction. This was mainly due in part to one particular nasty incident that involved a couple of really hasty kunai-style haircuts, an unsuspecting potted plant, and a few suspiciously Kakashi-fangirl-shaped holes in a wall.

Needless to say, the males of Team Kakashi's tendency to stick close to the only kunoichi of their group was not just for her protection.

As the sun slowly crept it's way to the West, and the sky took on a pinkish hue, the five-man team chatted happily after they finished eating a dinner of fish and rice, cooked over the small campfire.

Kakashi stretched and popped his neck, grimacing at how stiff he felt. Their mission, though they did not have any confrontations with enemy nin, had been an arduous one, taking the team all the way from Suna to the borders of Earth country, on yet another false lead to the whereabouts of Orochimaru. Now after an exhausting month and a half of travel the team was finally headed home to Konoha.

Kakashi could tell that he wasn't the only one suffering, as had Sakura. She was currently straddling Naruto's hips, kneading the taut muscles of his back, shoulders, and neck, as he lay on his stomach with his hands folded under his cheek, pillowing his head. His face was drawn into a serenely contented smile. Occasionally he would give an exaggerated moan, which either caused Sakura to giggle or roll her eyes.

After a minute more of messaging, Sakura softly drummed a tune with the tips of her fingers across Naruto's back, telling him that his turn was done. The kunoichi moved aside to allow Naruto to get up, who then was almost immediately replaced by a grinning Sai. Sakura then took her position over Sai. Fifteen minutes later Sai was done and it was Yamato's turn.

Kakashi grinned to himself. This scene had been mirrored countless times over multiple missions. Sakura was like their own personal medic, message therapist, and just plain therapist of any kind. Whenever any member of the team was injured, or in need of comforting, Sakura would gladly be there. They belonged to her as mush as she belonged to them.

Kakashi inwardly sighed. He knew he'd done it again. He'd become attached to his team, something he told himself he'd never do after losing Obito and Rin. Not only that, he was beyond just mere attachment to Sakura. If he was truly honest with himself he would say that he was in love with her.

In fact, he was pretty sure that every member of their team had fallen in love with her. Some were a little more vocal about it (Naruto; though he had toned it down a considerable amount from when he was a genin) than the rest.

It wasn't something that Kakashi was completely comfortable with, and he could tell that Yamato would sympathize. Sakura was just sixteen, while he was thirty and Yamato was twenty-eight. Which is why as soon as the thought flickered across his mind he pushed it back. It was wasn't something he was willing to contemplate at that current moment.

Sakura was, of course, oblivious to how deep her teammates affections went, even for Naruto to some extent, as she was oblivious to any kind of affection from men beyond friendship. She was completely unaware of her own fan club, which usually kept their distance whenever she was around any of the members of Team Kakashi, which was most of the time.

Kakashi knew she didn't feel like she was able to attract the opposite sex in that manner. Not after how Sasuke, the boy she was truly in love with - he believe she even loved him now - , treated her. Somehow she had convinced herself that if Sasuke did not want her no one would.

Sakura grinned as she finished Yamato's massage, and patted him affectionately on the back of the head. Yamato just sighed, mouthed a 'thank you' to Sakura and laid his head back down, too relaxed to move from his spot on the ground.

Then Sakura's twinkling greens eyes turn to Kakashi. She quirked a mischievious smile. Kakashi, though not opposed to Sakura's massages, was the most sensative when it came to personal space. But over time, and after a lot of pestering from Sakura, his apprehension to touching slowly dwindled, at least when it came to Sakura.

Kakashi gave Sakura a relenting sigh, and she happily walked over to him. As she slid between him and the tree he was leaning on, he could feel her soft feminine form pressing up against him. The petite girl slid one leg over to his other side, so that Kakashi was sitting between her legs, leaning against her chest. He slouched down even further to allow her better access to his shoulders.

Sakura rested her chin on his head and began massaging. She knew all the right spots to massage, occasionally employing her perfect chakra control to loosen a particularly tight muscle.

Kakashi closed his eyes and relaxed further into the kunoichi's soft curves. As he felt her hands moved expertly across his shoulders, neck, and his hair, his mind turned to her little, able hands. They were the embodiment of her personality: soft and gentle, but a little rough and lightly scarred, and they could be immensely strong when the occasion called for it.

He was jerked out of his reverie a while later as Sakura ceased her massaging and slid her arms over his shoulders, with her palms spread lightly over his chest. She dipped her head next to his and leaned her cheek into his cloth covered one. Kakashi could tell she was lightly smiling by the curve of her cheek against his. They stayed like that for a while, as Sakura relaxed her over-worked hands on Kakashi's chest and Kakashi leaned his head against hers.

Sakura hummed softly and curved her arms around Kakashi's neck, and squeezed, giving him a quick hug. She turned her face and gave him a light peck on his covered cheek. That was Kakashi's cue to sit up and allow her room to slip out from behind him. But he didn't want to. He wanted to stay like this, basking in her soft embrace.

With a sly grin, that Sakura couldn't see but knew was there, Kakashi gave an exaggerated yawn and stretched his arms above his and Sakura's heads. Bringing his arms back down to his sides he relaxed more heavily into her, effectively pinning her further into the tree. Kakashi then promptly fell into a fake slumber, snores and all.

Sakura gave a snorted laugh and started tapping her finger tips up and down his chest. When she got no results from that she moved her fingers up to his face, running them up his chin , nose, and across his forehead, hoping to annoy him enough to let her go. But Kakashi continued to snore loudly into her ear.

Sakura gave a mischievous grin to the others scattered about the campsite, who had been watching the interaction with bemused expressions on their faces. She moved her hands to his sides and started ticking him, or at least attempted to. When she got no reaction she moved to his armpits and then his neck, and got the same result.

She gave a loud huff and gave up. _Figures he wouldn't be ticklish_, she thought bitterly. _What kind of shinobi...other than myself, is ticklish? _

As a last resort Sakura slowly trailed her hand up to Kakashi's mask. Curling her fingers under the edge of the black material she began to pull it down. Before she could fully process what happened she was sprawled across his lap, with her hands secured to her sides by Kakashi's iron grip.

Sakura fluttered her eyelids and smiled coyly up at him. Kakashi's eye was accusing as he glared back at her. But Sakura could tell he was smiling under his mask.

"Some thanks I get for giving you a massage," Sakura said, lifting her nose in the air and pouting her lips.

Kakashi's visible eye softened. He moved his gaze upward and winked at someone behind Sakura, whom she couldn't see.

Once again, before she could even register what was happening, Sakura was dragged into someone else's lap with her back leaning against a muscular chest. Kakashi had not moved from his spot in front of the tree, but was now sitting Indian-style, knee to knee with the person Sakura was sitting on. Sakura was directly facing Kakashi with her knees bent and spread, with one foot planted on the ground on either side of Kakashi's hips.

Now would have been the time for Sakura to freak out, screamed "rape", and started pummeling some perverted ass. But she trusted Kakashi, despite his hobbies, and most likely whomever she was sitting on, and figured he probably didn't see the sexual implications of their current positioning considering it was _her _, his ex-student, who he probably still thought of as a twelve-year-old girl.

Despite those reassuring thoughts, Sakura was very happy she was wearing her biker shorts under her short medic skirt.

Sakura lifted her head up and back to find Yamato grinning down at her. She gave him a questioning look and then dropped her head to do the same to Kakashi. But Kakashi wasn't looking at her. He was looking down at a bottle of lotion in his hand. To be more precise, it was a bottle of _her _non-scented lotion that had just moments ago been snatched from her pack, by Naruto, and then handed to Kakashi.

Sakura quirked and eyebrow at Kakashi when he grabbed her right hand and squirted half a Quarter-sized amount of lotion onto her open palm. Then, without a word or glance in her direction, he happily proceeded to knead the aching muscles and joints of her small hand with the fingers from both of his large hands.

She turned her questioning gaze back to Yamato, who gave her another smile and, completely ignoring her unspoken question, gently turned her head forward so she was facing Kakashi again. Sakura felt him lift her slightly, adjusting her position on his lap so they were both comfortable.

Sakura couldn't keep from giving a soft squeal and stiffening when she felt Yamato move his hands to her shoulders and started gently kneading her stiff muscles. She was very ticklish, which was unfortunately a well-known fact. But Yamato continued to ignore her squirming and muted squeaks and kept massaging.

Sakura gave a pleading look to Naruto and Sai who were lounging a few feet to her right. By the looks on their faces both boys were enjoying the show far to much for Sakura's liking.

"Ugly, just lay back and enjoy it," Sai reprimandid, and gave her, surprising enough, a genuine smile. After a year under Sakura's and Naruto's tutelage, Sai's social skills and use of facial expressions were improving, slowly, but improving none the less.

Sakura, momentarily forgetting her current situation, was about to congratulate Sai on yet another successful facial expression, when she was brought back to reality by Yamato, who had grabbed her forehead and pushed her head back onto his shoulder. He placed his chin on top of her head, pinning her to the spot.

Now she felt completely vulnerable, with her head cradled over Yamato's shoulder Sakura was completely exposing her long neck to wondering hands - which would really tickle.

"Stay still Sakura." She could feel Yamato's Adam's apple vibrate against her ear when he spoke, which also tickled. "Just relax and it won't tickle so much."

Taking his advice, Sakura exhaled deeply to calm her tickle-spasms, and tried to relax. A minute or two of struggling to keep from squirming and laughing out loud, Sakura was finally able to relax. She discovered that she really, really liked massages. She had never allowed anyone to give her a back massage, she was just too squeamish when it came to be people touching her like that.

It also helped that both men were surprisingly really good at it. _I wonder if they've had practice, and if so, with whom_, Sakura pondered to herself. She inwardly rolled her eyes at Inner Sakura's suggestions for that comment.

Though Sakura knew neither of the older males on her team thought of her in that way, Sakura found herself dodging perverted fantasies of them thrown at her by her Inner counterpart.

Successfully pushing her Inner into the dark recesses of her mind Sakura briefly wondered why Inner Sakura and Ino were so similar when it came to men, and anything that could possibly be construed as suggestive. Filing it away as something to be pondered later, Sakura closed her eyes, just as Kakashi began moving up her arm, massaging and relaxing muscles as he went. When he came too close to her armpit she couldn't help but give a couple of soft snorts through her nose.

Sakura felt Yamato's chest constrict as he gave a short bark of laughter. Opening one eye Sakura looked into Kakashi's face. Though he had raised his hands up in a placating gesture to show that he didn't mean it, his visible eye was filled with mirth. She knew he was laughing at her snorts, which probably didn't sound very lady-like.

"CHA! I'LL SHOW YOU LADY-LIKE," Inner Sakura screeched, shaking her fists at Kakashi. Sakura just ignored her and closed her eyes, allowing Kakashi to continue his work on her upper arm.

She hadn't realized how tense she was. After a minutes her limbs were tingling from the increased circulation produced by the massaging. Sakura was in heaven. She barely noticed when Kakashi started on her other arm, and Yamato ministrations moved to her lower back.

Naruto and Sai sat watching as Sakura's facial expression turned into a truly serene one. She looked more comfortable and content than they'd seen in a while.

Both boys knew she was tormented every day by Sasuke's leaving. They knew she blamed herself. That she believed she should have done more to prevent his leaving. They also knew that she worked hard to keep them from finding out how upsetting it was to her. But they knew her too well to overlook something that effected her so much.

Both shinobi believed she deserved so much better, and both hoped to be the one to make her realize that, preferably by taking Sasuke's place in her heart.

Sakura gave another happy hum - her tenth one in the past five minutes. From the looks of it, she probably didn't even realize she was doing it, she was so far gone. A moment later her lips parted, and her breathing became deep and even with the rise and fall of her chest - she had fallen asleep.

Kakashi and Yamato smirked at each other from above Sakura's slumbering form, but kept kneading away for a few minutes longer.

"Naruto, can you lay out Sakura's bedroll," Kakashi asked, keeping his voice down.

A moment later Kakashi was gently laying Sakura down onto her bedroll. As he pulled her light blanket up to her shoulders he brushed his covered lips across her forehead. He honestly didn't care if anyone was watching him.

He caught a whiff of her scent as he slowly pulled away. He could smell her shampoo. _Mmm...Minty Rainforest Mist. _It mixed well with her natural scent. Kakashi decided what best described it was the smell of the forest after a rain storm. It was a clean, crisp scent, and he craved it, almost as much as he craved her touch - almost.

* * *

Sakura awoke up to the sound of the forest around her. She could hear insects buzzing and a nest of baby birds were calling for their morning meal on a branch far above her. She could also hear Naruto lightly snoring just a few inches from her right ear. Turning to her left she found herself face to face with a slumbering Sai.

Even when she was asleep they didn't give her much space. At least Naruto hadn't thrown a leg over her hip, and Sai had resisted wrapping an arm around her waist, unlike the past few nights. She loved her boys immensely, but waking up to nearly being crushed by two bodies 50 pounds heavier than her own tended to get old real quick.

Sitting up she scanned the campsite. Yamato was hunched over the campfire cooking the remaining bit of their rice, as expected.

"You didn't wake me for my watch...again," Sakura halfheartedly scolded in a low tone, afraid to wake everyone else up, as she stretched and got up from her bedroll.

Yamato just turned his head and grinned at her as she crouched down next to him. As usual, he gave her no explanation. But she really didn't need one. She knew he didn't think she got enough sleep, which was true. Her sleep was usually filled with nightmares, most of them involving Sasuke. But there were others that involved her boys, and at least one of them would die in some horrific manner. Some of them were so gruesome, even for a ninja, that Sakura wondered how her subconscious came up with such graphic details.

Needless to say, her nights weren't easy one's. She wasn't about to mention any of this to her teammates, though. But she had a sinking suspicion that they knew a lot more then they let on.

Giving him an affection smile, Sakura patted Yamato's cheek and then softly, but firmly, pushed him away from their cooking breakfast. If she wasn't going to be allowed to take her turn at watch she was at least going to make their breakfast.

"How did you sleep," Yamato asked with a knowing grin after a moment of watching Sakura stir the rice. Of course he already knew the answer. It was like he was tuned to some frequency that monitored her sleep. He probably knew the second she woke up. _Maybe it's an ANBU thing_, She thought to herself.

"Better than I have in a long time," Sakura answered honestly, ignoring his all-knowing gaze.

She finished cooking the rice just as the others were waking up. After quickly eating and packing up camp - making sure they didn't leave a single trace of their presence - they headed for Konoha, eager to finally get home to a real shower and bed.

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Please review, I would love to know what you think.

-JustALittleTwisted


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

I've dedicated this chapter to TeenageCrisis who was my first and, sadly, only reviewer!

Chapter Two

A few hours later Team Kakashi passed through Konoha's gates where their group split up. Kakashi and Yamato headed for the Hokage's tower to give their report, which would be very brief for they had not obtained any further information of the whereabouts and activity of Orochimaru. Sai, Sakura, and Naruto leisurely made their way to Ichiraku's, where Yamato and Kakashi would meet up with them once they were done speaking with the Hokage.

It was tradition; if they got home from a mission at a reasonable hour they would all go out to eat at Ichiraku's before heading home. It was like a celebration for surviving another mission.

Ichiraku's, due to it's popularity, had been turned into an indoor restaurant with a large counter with stools, like the original store, and multiple booths and tables.

A bell above the door softly chimed as the teammates entered the restaurant. Immediately they spotted a large group of shinobi, filling up two tables that were pushed together at the back of the restaurant. The group consisted of Team Eight, Team Ten, Team Gai, and their senseis. They were all chatting merrily while scarfing down bowls of ramen.

"Hey guys," Naruto yelled, "having a party without us?" The shinobi turned, surprised, and then happily called greetings to the new arrivals.

"Forehead," Ino squealed as she launched herself at the unsuspecting kunoichi. "I'm so glad you're here! We were afraid we wouldn't get to see you guys before we left," she cried happily and released Sakura from her bone-crushing hug.

"Huh? Where are you going," Naruto asked, taking a seat next to Kiba.

"Ino, Chouji, and myself are going on an extended mission to Rock as ambassadors," Tenten supplied from her seat between Neji and Lee.

Talks between Rock and Fire had sprung up recently, and Tsunade had jumped at any opportunity to increase relations between the two countries.

"We're supposed to be gone for at least a year," Chouji added between mouth-fulls of ramen. His statement was promptly followed by a loud wail from Lee.

"A whole year without Tenten! We will not be the great Team Gai any longer!." Lee continued to voice his distress, occasionally throwing in the ever-present words "youth", "youthfulness", and the like.

Tenten was attempting to placate him by affectionately patting his head. But instead of calming him down Lee grabbed the arm that was rubbing his head and gripped it like a lifeline. Tenten was rapidly turning a shade of red that would have rivaled Hinata.

Sakura grinned at the blushing Tenten as she took a seat between Shikamaru and Neji, who greeted her with a lazy wave or nod, respectably. She knew that Tenten had started crushing on Lee years ago. For whatever reason, she had never acted on her desire. But Sakura was pretty sure Lee wouldn't be opposed to a relationship beyond friendship with her.

Lee had recently become increasingly protective of Tenten. Sakura knew for a fact that Lee walked her home every time they had training together. She also noticed that his almost constant declarations of love for her had decreased significantly - which Sakura couldn't be happier about.

Sakura rolled her eyes as her attention was turned to Ino. She was currently ushering a reluctant Sai into the seat next to her. Even though Ino and Chouji had been officially dating for two months she was still having a hard time refraining from flirting with the oblivious Sasuke look-alike.

Chouji, who was sitting on the other side of Ino, didn't seem to mind. He understand that it was just Ino's way, and there was really no true affection, beyond friendship, behind it.

After a moment or two of one-sided flirting with Sai, Ino turned her attention to her boyfriend and Sakura turned her attention to the other young couple in the group.

Sakura believed that Hinata and Kiba were just about the sweetest couple she'd ever come across. Kiba was so loud and pushy, but when it came to Hinata he turned into a gentle, soft spoken, blushing teenager.

Though Hinata had been head-over-heels for Naruto when they were younger, her affections changed after she realized that Kiba's regard for her went beyond friendship, and that Naruto would never stop pining for Sakura. She had decided to give him a chance a year ago, and found that he made her completely happy. Hinata still regarded Naruto with the utmost respect, but her quiet infatuation with him had subsided and they had become good friends.

Sakura was jerked from her thoughts when Yamato and Kakashi showed up and took seats next to Gai and Asuma (who had his arms around Kurenai).

After eating and a tearful goodbye, mainly from Ino and Lee, the group dispersed. Chouji, Ino, and Tenten had a lot more packing to do before they set out early the next morning. Team Kakashi headed to their respective homes, promising to meet up the next morning for training.

Sakura slung her pack and smaller med-pack onto the couch after walking through her front door.

"Mom? Dad?" No response.

Upon entering the kitchen she spotted a note on the kitchen counter being held by a note holder - a little wooden duck with a clothespin for a beak.

The note read:

_Hi Sweetie,_

_I'm writing this just incase you get home before we do. Your father and I have been sent on a week-long mission. We should be home around Tuesday or Wednesday. Hope your mission went well. Miss you!_

_Love,_

_Mom_

Sakura glanced at the digital clock on the counter that displayed the date, time, and temperature. At that moment it was Wednesday, 2:30 PM, and temperature was 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

_They should be home soon_, Sakura thought happily. She hadn't seen her parents for over a month, and she was excited to show her mom how much her hair had grown since she'd last saw it.

Sakura usually cut her hair before it grew passed her shoulders, but between her frequent extended missions, training, and exhausting shifts at the hospital over the passed few months, her hair had taken a back seat.

Now her hair extended passed her shoulders blades, almost to the center of her back. She had promised to let her mother be the next to cut it; Usually it was either Ino, and sometimes Tenten or Hinata, who did the honors.

Her mother had actually gone on and on about it. Sakura figured it was yet another sign of her growing up, and her mother didn't like it one bit. For some reason her mother still had a hard time grasping the fact that Sakura was no longer a little girl, even after she became one of the strongest kunoichi's in Konoha. So Sakura had promised, up pain of death, to not allow her hair to be cut by anyone but her mother.

Sakura decided, as she headed up the stairs to her room, that she'd take a nap, and then make dinner enough for three, just incase her parents made it home before too late.

Once in her room, she kicked off her shoes and pulled off her jounin vest. Without bothering to get under the covers, she laid her head onto her pillow and promptly fell asleep.

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Naruto was interrupted from stuffing his face with ramen (even though he had just eaten eight bowls at Ichiraku's a couple of hours ago) by a knock at the door.

At the door, Naruto was greeted by a monkey-masked ANBU, who informed him that the Hokage needed to see him urgently, and then promptly sped away, across the rooftops.

Naruto felt a slight twinge of unease in his gut as he returned to his kitchen to finish off the rest of his meal before heading to the Hokage's tower. He was never called to the Hokage's office unless he had a mission, and Tsunade-Baa-chan usually gave them a few days break before throwing another one at them.

_Something must have happened_, he thought, frowning to himself.

In the Hokage's office, Naruto was greeted by Jiraiya and three of his teammates, Yamato, Kakashi, and Sai, who also seemed a little confused by this unexpected meeting. Kakashi had even left his book in his pocket.

Naruto took a seat next to Yamato, preparing to relax a little as they waited for their final teammate to arrive. But as soon as Naruto sat down Tsunade spoke.

"You're probably wondering-," Tsunade started, but was cut off by Naruto.

"Why aren't we waiting for Sakura-chan?"

"I'm getting to that Naruto," Tsunade growled through her clenched teeth. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose as she continued. "Jiraiya has just returned from Rain where he was informed by a reliable source that the Akatsuki have a new target."

"My source tells me that the Akatsuki are in search of new recruits," Jiraiya cut in from his spot leaning against Tsunade's desk. "But they are having a hard time finding shinobi who are skilled in the manner that they are in need of."

"What kind of skills are they searching for," Kakashi asked, though he was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

Jiraiya stared into Kakashi's eyes as he spoke. "They're looking for someone with amazing chakra control and medical skills that are at par with Tsunade's, if not better."

"There's only one person who fits this description," Tsunade said, sitting straighter as she gazed into the eye's of the men of Team Kakashi. "Sakura has the best chakra control of anyone I have ever come across. She has surpassed me in all aspects of medical jutsu, and her strength is at least double mine. Also, I believe we have only tapped into a very small portion of the power she is capable of, and I think the Akatsuki believe that as well."

"WHAT," Naruto screamed, standing up so fast from his chair he tipped it over. "But...but Sakura would never join the Akatsuki!"

"Shut up Naruto! We know that,"Tsunade yelled, slamming her fist on her desk, and then went back to massaging the bridge of her nose. "The Akatsuki are planning on capturing her and forcing her to help them, I'm sure, by whatever means necessary.

"But it is not only the Akatsuki who are after Sakura." Tsunade paused. "Despite the lack of success with our spy networks in Sound, early today one of our attempted spies, at the loss of his life, was able to deliver information he'd come across.

"Yesterday, Uchiha Sasuke deserted Orochimaru to seek out his revenge against Uchiha Itachi.

"Before you say anything Naruto," Tsunade said suddenly, stopping said shinobi who had opened his mouth to speak. "Sasuke has not shown any intention of coming back to Konoha. It seems he is determined as ever to reap his revenge on his brother."

"Now Orochimaru is desperate," Jiraiya said, jumping in before Naruto could attempt to interrupt again. "We are not sure what he wants with Sakura, but our first assumption is that he wants her to heal his arms."

"So, what you're saying is that two of the most powerful organizations bent on conquering the shinobi world are after Sakura," Kakashi concluded calmly, but with a slight edge to his voice giving away the despair he felt inside. Sakura, _their_ Sakura, was now in more danger than even Naruto.

Yamato's eyes were creased, looking distraught. Naruto, having sat down in another chair, was now hunched over with his face in his hands. Even Sai's expression was contorted into a frown. No one said anything as the implications of what was said sunk in. Finally Tsunade broke through the silence.

"The reason I brought you all here is because I'm giving you a mission. This is an A-rank mission, and it is to be kept completely secret, even from Sakura. I am assigning Shizune to be your medic posing as Sakure while she is left safely in the village under ANBU watch until the threat has at least been minimized.

"We're going to need to keep Sakura out of the publics view as much as possible, so that Shizune's cover isn't blown. I will be assigning her a temporary positions in the Tactics Division and will also be increasing her shifts at the hospital, so she'll be preoccupied during the day. We will only be allowing her to scrub in on surgeries and work on the patients in the private wing of the hospital.

"We will do our best to keep Sakura out of the loop. But if I know my student, and I think I do, she'll figure out that something is up almost immediately. But I know that if she finds out what is really happening she will not want to sit back and do nothing, which could compromise her safety."

"What does the mission entail," Yamato asked, speaking up for the first time

"You'll be trying to lure either the Akatsuki or Sound into an ambush," Jiraiya explained. "As of right now, or at least as far as we know, neither organization is aware that we know of their intentions."

"Correct." Tsunade's voice sounded a little more determined. "We will use that against them. I want you to make your whereabouts known. Pretend you're still searching for information regarding Orochimaru. Go into villages and let yourselves be seen. Your entire purpose for this mission is to first of all determine that this intel is correct, and also to take prisoners if at all possible

Tsunade paused, giving a drawn out sigh. "We need to make sure that there isn't anything else we're missing. I have a hunch that at least Orochimaru is after more than what we're being lead to believe."

Tsunade lifted two envelopes from her desk and handed one to Yamato and one to Kakashi. Both men took them, opened them up, and read them without a word. Whatever was written must have been extensive for both men kept quiet for a few minutes. Their faces were expressionless as they read.

Both men finished at the same time, they looked up at Tsunade and gave her a brisk nod. Without saying a word they turned and gave the papers to Sai and Naruto. Both boys took their time reading, the expression on Naruto's face was distraught mixed with a little excitement. Once they were done, Yamato and Kakashi took the papers back and handed them, with the envelopes, to Tsunade.

The room was quiet as Tsunade placed the papers in a large ceramic bowl on her desk and lit a match and dropped it into the bowl. After a moment of silence, with all eyes on the burning paper, Tsunade finally spoke.

"You will leave early tomorrow morning. If you feel you need to, you can tell Sakura that you're going on another recon mission, nothing too important. You should tell her the reason why Shizune is replacing her temporarily is because I want her to gain some experience in Tactics. Which is true, I think she'd do well in the ANBU unit in a year or two.

"So," Tsunade breathed another sigh." Tell her you'll be gone for a few weeks. She knows that recon missions always have a hesitant time frame depending on your leads, so if you're delayed from returning for whatever reason Sakura will not be suspicious, at least for a while, and then we'll have to figure out something else to tell her."

Tsunade pulled a bottle of sake out of the thin air and waved them off with her free hand. "Okay now get out, I want you gone no later then 5 am." She glared at Kakashi when she said the last part.

Kakashi didn't seem to notice as he and Yamato walked out the door. Either that or he didn't care. Sai and Naruto, both in a daze from what they had read, followed at a more sluggish pace.

Once outside the four shinobi wordlessly headed towards Sakura's house. It was only 5 o'clock. They knew that Sakura was planning on taking a nap, so all four of them leaped through her open second story bedroom window.

Upon spotting the pink-haired girl sprawled across the bed, Naruto grinned. He took one looks at Sai, who nodded in return, and both boys leaped onto the bed crushing the small girl under their bodies.

"OOF!" Sakura was awaken by all the air in her lungs being forcefully pushed out. She knew instantly who the culprits were.

"NA..RU..TO!" Sakura ground out as best she could while not being able to breathe properly. "S...AI!"

She could hear Naruto's chuckles as he shifted his weight so he wasn't crushing her too much, but still remained on top of her. Sakura took a couple of deep breaths and then cracked one eye open and looked around. She then promptly closed it, grabbed her pillow and shoved it over her face with her one hand that wasn't being pinned under Naruto.

"Yamato and Kakashi sensei, if you guys are here to drag me to the bar like last time my answer is NO," Sakura moaned, her voice muffled by the pillow. "I just want to eat dinner with my parents - if they get home tonight - and sleep. I do not, and I repeat, I DO NOT want to be dragging a drunk Naruto and Sai home, BY MYSELF, while you two flirt with the slutty waitresses, like last time!" Sakura's voice was more pleading than angry. With that Sakura adjusted herself, as best she could with two shinobi laying on top of her, and attempted to go back to sleep.

Yamato and Kakashi laughed nervously in response. That incident occured a few months back, but both men would never forget the beating that an irate, and slightly hung-over, Sakura gave them the next morning at training. It was enough to make both men cringe at the memory months later.

Naruto grinned happily and snuggled closer to Sakura recalling Yamato and Kakashi' beating with great fondness.

"Aaaa, but Sakura-chan," Yamato began softly, attempting to ignore the waves of killing intent pulsing from the small kunoichi. "We're not here to drag you to the bar."

"Yeah," Naruto piped in. "We're going on a mission and we've come to say goodbye!" Naruto was trying to sound happy but his voice was devoid of it's normal enthusiasm.

At Naruto's announcement Sakura's killing intent disappeared from the air, and her body went ridged. She slowly lifted the pillow from her face and look around at the apprehensive faces looking back at her.

"You...you're going on a mission without me," Sakura asked, sounding shocked and betrayed at the same time.

"It's not like we want to," Naruto said, his voice pleading. He was now kneeling next to Sakura on the bed. Sai was still laying across Sakura's legs, with his head propped up on one arm, watching her expression flicker from confusion to sadness and then back again.

"Oi, Ugly, don't be sad," Sai said, trying to console her while patting her hand. "You're not going only because Tsunade wants you to do some special training."

Sakura's frown turned into a smile, and she looked at Kakashi as if to find confirmation in his face. Kakashi's one visible eye creased, indicating he was smiling, and he nodded. "Yes, Tsunade wants you to start work in the Tactics Division. She feels that, if you were to ever want to try for ANBU, you would do well in that department."

"Wow! Really," Sakura asked excitedly, while sitting up. Her expression turned concerned a moment later. "But what about you guys? Where are you going? Is the mission dangerous? You won't have a medic to take care of you!"

"Calm down Sakura." Yamato lifted his hands in a placating gesture. "It's just recon around Sound and Shizune is coming with us. We should be back in a few weeks."

"But why so soon after our mission? We only got back five hours ago!"

Kakashi inwardly cringed. He knew that lying to Sakura wasn't going to be easy. "Sakura stop fawning over us like a mother hen. We are shinobi you know, we can take care of ourselves."

When Sakura's bottom lip puckered up into a pout Kakashi walked up beside her bed and patted her head affectionately.

"Why don't we go out to eat," Naruto suggested. Everyone nodded their agreement.

"You'll have to let me take a shower first," Sakura said sliding her legs out from under Sai, and then hopping off her bed. Once the boys were ushered out of her room Sakura was able to jump in the shower. Fifteen minutes later they were on their way to a small barbeque restaurant a few blocks away from Sakura's house.

Throughout the entire meal Sakura kept getting the feeling that the boys were keeping something from her. They were a little more clingy than normal. A few times Sakura caught Naruto gazing not at her but through her with a frown on his face, then Sai would hit him across the back of his head and he'd snap out of it. And when it came time to go home Sakura gave each of her team members a kiss on the cheek, which she did often, but the boys responded in kind and even hugged her, which was not usual.

When Sakura got home she found the house dark, which bothered her. She suddenly felt uneasy, and extremely alone. As she got ready for bed she tried to put her finger on what was bothering her. She couldn't tell whether it was her parents absence or the odd behavior of the guys that night.

After laying on the bed for an hour worrying herself sick, Sakura convinced herself she was overreacting. Pulling her sheets up to her chin she hugged her pillows and gradually fell asleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Please review, it inspires me to write faster!

-JustALittleTwisted


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto  
Chapter Three

Tsunade yawned, and breathed in the crisp morning air, while leaning against one of the large Konoha gates. It was 4:48 AM, and if Kakashi did not arrive within the next two minutes she vowed to assign him to only D-rank missions permanently. She did not have the patients to wait around for the tardy man at such a hellish hour, she was not a morning person.

Yawning again, she watched as the other four members of his team made their way down the street towards her. Tsunade noted that Shizune had already changed into her Sakura-henge.

As the four shinobi gathered around her, Tsunade straightened up turning on her Hokage-mode. She opened her mouth, about to say something, when there was a "POOF" and Kakashi appeared a few feet to Tsunade's left.

"Yo."

Rolling her eyes at the orange book he had planted in front of his face, she turned back to the rest of the group. "Now, you all know the details of the mission, and should fully understand your rolls completely." She gave Naruto a significant look. In response Naruto gave an embarrassed grin, laughed nervously, and nodded 'yes', while rubbing the back of his head.

"Good. I want you to abort the mission if it gets too dangerous. We cannot afford to let our intentions be known, so if you have second thoughts I want you to head home before you get in too deep."

The Jounin nodded their agreement. They were all in business-mode now. Even Kakashi had put away his book and now had a no-nonsense squint to his eye.

"Keep me informed whenever you can."

Tsunade turned to Shizune and eyed her Sakura-henge. "Sh-Sakura, you're fully prepared for this, correct?"

Shizune nodded her head stiffly. "H-hai."

Tsunade took one last look at the four other Jounin. If everything went as planned, this would be the last time she saw them for a while.

"Don't get yourselves killed," she barked.

"Don't worry Tsunade-Baa-chan I can't die yet, 'cause I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm gonna be-"

"The next hokage," Sai blandly finished for him. "We know already, dickless."

"Hey!"

"Okay you two, shut up," Kakashi said making his way through the gate. As he passed Tsunade their eyes locked, and Tsunade could see solid determination in his one visible eye. This was going to be a hard mission, but Tsunade knew she could count on Kakashi to get everyone through it alive.

Tsunade stepped back and watched as the four shinobi followed Kakashi through the gate. They all turned and took one last look at the sleeping village behind them, and Naruto waved with his big goofy grin. Then they turned away toward the awakening forest and , with a rush of wind, leaped into the trees, one after the other.

Tsunade felt her chest constrict as she watched their backs disappear into the thick mass of trees. _You better come back alive._

When Tsunade returned to her office she slumped heavily into he chair and put her feet up on her desk. She closed her eyes, deciding to take just a short nap before she had to face the load of paperwork that was already stacked in teetering piles on her desk. Besides, Shizune wasn't there to berate her for slacking off. With that happy thought she began to drift into dream land.

Barely a minute later a loud knock jerked her from her slumber, and a stray foot sent the painstakingly-stacked piles of papers flying.

Sighing heavily, and feeling like she wanted to punch someone through a wall, she barked, "Come in!"

When the door opened she was greeted by an ANBU squad. All four members of the squad were covered in blood.

"What happened," Tsunade asked briskly, bolting upright. She gave each ANBU a quick glance to determine if they were injured, but she could see no wounds or tears in their clothing.

"Hokage-sama," The ANBU Captain said, bowing quickly. "We came upon the Jounin team that failed to report in yesterday."

Tsunade visibly stiffened. She knew which team they were referring to, mainly because two of the teammates happened to be the parents of her favorite apprentice.

"What happened," she repeated, sounding slightly panicked.

"We're not quite sure, but..," the ANBU captain gulped behind his dog mask. "They're all dead. Whoever they were fighting was immensely strong, and violent. They were torn apart. We...we brought the body...parts back in bags."

Tsunade's face had turned white as a sheet, but her voice was steady. "Are the bodies identifiable?"

"Hai," The ANBU captain bowed his head slightly. "Their heads remained intact."

Tsunade gulped as she eyed the slouched figures of some of the strongest shinobi in Konoha. Each man was visibly shaken. "Go clean yourselves up. I'll get your full report later."

"Hai!" Each shinobi quickly bowed and made their way out the door.

Tsunade sighed and slid a hand down her face. "I need a drink." But instead of reaching for the half empty bottle of sake sitting on her desk, she made her way out her office door. She was headed to the morgue. She needed to positively identify the bodies herself, before she broke the heart of a girl whom she cared for like a daughter.

An hour later...

Sakura awake to the sound of knocking on her front door. She sat up and glanced at her bedside table. Her alarm clock was flashing 6:15 AM.

Yawning, Sakura stretched as she rolled out of bed and made her way down the stairs to her front door. She didn't care that she probably looked like a mess, with her bed-head and her pajamas still on. Whoever was bothering her at such an early hour, on her day off no less, deserved the hideous sight she was sure she created.

As she walked through the house she was struck with the feeling that something was off. It was quiet, yes, but she figured her parents hadn't come home yet, she would have heard them enter. But for some reason the hallways seemed _eerily _quiet.

She made her way into the living room and slowed to a stop as she eyed the front door. Sakura wasn't sure what triggered it but something in her gut told her something was wrong.

She didn't want to open the door. She was afraid to see who stood behind it, and she was afraid of what they wanted, what they came to tell her. But she knew, deep down she knew, what it was she was afraid would be confirmed the second she opened the door.

Sakura stood there, frozen in place at the entrance of her living room as she stared down the little walkway that passed behind one of her couches to the front door. The second knock resounded throughout the house like the metaphorical nail in the coffin...but maybe not so metaphorical. She had to open the door.

Sakura willed her suddenly-stiff legs to cross the last few feet to the front door. She could actually _feel_ the person behind the door without using her chakra. She knew who it was.

She held her breath, turned the nob, and pulled the door open. Looking up she took in the distraught and sympathetic expression chiseled into Tsunade's paler-than-normal face. Their eyes locked, and that was all the confirmation Sakura needed.

"...no," she breathed, shaking her head slightly. She closed her eyes to rid herself of the pity pooling in Tsunade's.

"No." Her voice was louder but came out strangled.

Sakura clutched desperately at the door frame and slid down to the floor in a heap, still shaking her head. Her tears were streaming from her eyes so heavily that when she opened them she could barely see through their liquid sheen. Tsunade crouched down in front of her and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry,"Tsunade whispered into her hair. They sat there, weeping in Sakura's front door, oblivious to the morning buzz of the village that continued around them.

The border of Sound, two weeks later...

Five shinobi sat hunched in a tree, speaking quietly until-

"All I'm saying is that Sakura needs us," Naruto said/yelled, causing a few startled birds to fly from their perch. "Why can't we postpone the mission?"

"Naruto...Shut.Up." Kakashi's voice was low, but laced with steel. Naruto clamped his mouth shut, but looked like he was going to burst.

"Dickless, if you keep yelling all of Sound is going to hear." Sai was crouched on a branch above the blond loudmouth, his voice condescending and his face contorted into his normal false smile. "And that won't be good for two reasons. One, they'll know Sakura is back in Konoha mourning the loss of her parents, giving away Shizune's disguise. Two...we'll be dead."

Naruto continued to glare at a random leaf, attempting to refrain from jumping up and pounding Sai's newly expression-making face into the ground.

This had been a common argument within the past few days. Ever since Jiraiya's messenger toad had finally caught up to them, five days ago, informing them of the deaths of their favorite kunoichi's parents, Naruto had been insistent that they abort the mission.

He wasn't the only one who wanted to go back to help console Sakura. But they knew that the mission was critical for her safety, and if they quit now all that they had worked for in the past two weeks would be for nothing.

Yamato had been staring at the back of the head of the henge-Sakura. Shizune had kept up the henge ever since they left Konoha, and it was becoming increasingly difficult not to constantly think of the torment Sakura must be going through.

He knew that the life of a shinobi was almost always punctured with deaths of friends and loved ones, but he had hoped that somehow that fate would bypass Sakura. A girl so full of love didn't deserve anything less than a happy life.

He thought of his own less-than perfect life and all he had lost, or never had in the first place. He was an experiment as a child, and grew up as an orphan once he was rescued from Orochimaru's labs. Sakura had a fairly normal life in comparison, and he wanted it to stay that way; at least she could have the chance for a normal existence.

Growing up he'd never become close to anyone. Being experimented on as a child tended to have a negative effect on one's social skills. He'd really never had any emotional attachments until over a year ago, when he temporarily took Kakashi's place, and gained four friends, who then became like family.

He especially never had much of an inclination to associate with women, save for the occasional one-night stand (he did have his fare share of women throwing themselves at him). Sakura was the first female to have ever garnered his attention. He truly cared for her - maybe a little too much for his own good.

He inwardly grimaced. That was not something he could afford to reflect on at that moment. He probably shouldn't reflect on it at all. Not only was she twelve years younger than him, she was also the sweetest, most innocent kunoichi he'd ever come across. She didn't deserve to be the subject of the fantasies that he unsuccessfully attempted to rid his mind of.

He wasn't showing it, but it was driving him crazy not being able to comfort her. He just wanted to get this damn mission over with and head home. But he knew the success of this mission needed some sacrifices, and Sakura's safety was something he was not willing to compromise.

Finally turning his attention away from Shizune, Yamato took stock of their current situation. They had taken their time getting to Sound. They were purposely trying to draw attention, but not make it obvious. So far the team had already made their way from the borders of Grass all the way to Oto, stopping in a number of towns along the way. If anyone were trailing them it wouldn't be hard for them to follow. All they would have to do is ask a villager, at any of their previous stops, whether they'd seen a uniquely beautiful pink-haired kunoichi traveling with four shinobi.

It had worked. Two days ago Pakkun had detected two groups of shinobi trailing them. The first enemy-nin to reach them had been four surprisingly tough Jounin level shinobi.

After a drawn out fight the five Konoha-nin were able to incapacitate the four Oto-nin. Using a couple of 'persuasion' techniques that Shizune, being an amazing med-nin, had come up with herself, they were able to gain as much information from the nin as possible, before they passed out.

Currently, the Sound-nin's unconscious bodies were stuck in a jutsu, piled up in a hollow log a half a mile away. Team Kakashi had not needed to think twice about the usefulness of keeping the captive Sound-nin alive.

Now, outside the border of Sound, they were waiting for the other group of nin, trailing them, to catch up, so they could ambush them. Before that though, they needed to know whether they were really trying to capture Sakura.

Naruto had made two clones, disguising one as Sakura, and had ordered them to sit in the glade below them and act casual. Team Kakashi was to stay hidden in the trees to see if the unknown nin tried to capture the fake Sakura, or if they attempted to kill both clones.

The clone disguised as Sakura was currently scolding the flustered Naruto-clone for some reason or another. Yamato thought vaguely how accurate Naruto's interpretation of Sakura was.

A loud "POOF" rent the air, and the Konoha team's eyes widened as they watched a kunai fly right into the head of clone-Naruto. No one had felt any shinobi around them, save for the nin following them who should still be miles behind.

Suddenly it made sense, when two shinobi jumped from the trees into the clearing opposite from where Kakashi's team lay hidden with their chakra cloaked. The two nin were wearing high collar cloaks, with red clouds spread out over black material.

The Konoha-nin were stunned. The two nin were unmistakably the Akatsuki Deidara and Sasori. Not only were these shinobi Akatsuki, there were supposed to be dead Akatsuki!

_Crap!_ Kakashi shouted to himself, crouched on the branch next to Yamato's. They had not expected the nin following them to be Akatsuki. The last time he had summoned Pakkun, the pug had been able to smell four nin with medium chakra levels. Their chakra was too low for Akatsuki, and the group hardly ever traveled with more than two members per team.

_They must have been cloaking the majority of their chakra for two days straight and then fully cloaked themselves as they snuck up on us._

Kakashi was craning his neck searching the forest around them. The remaining two Akatsuki had not appeared yet, and Kakashi couldn't sense them.

He never would have expected Akatsuki to send four of it's members for Sakura's retrieval. _Apparently Sound isn't the only one's taking no chances in capturing Sakura, _Kakashi thought, thinking back on a tough battle they had with the Sound-nin earlier that day.

This time they were way over their heads. The chances of them surviving this inevitable fight and completing the mission weren't looking good.

"POOF!" Now the Sakura-clone got a kunai through the head.

_They knew they were clones, _Kakashi thought. _That means they probably have an idea where we're hiding._

As if to confirm his suspicions, there was a deep chuckle from behind the tree they were hiding in.

"We know you're in there little leaf." The voice would have sounded like someone coaxing a kitten out from the tree if it weren't for to the edge to it. It was the voice of a man who would find sadist pleasure in squishing said kitten.

Kakashi turned his gaze from the glade where the first two Akatsuki still stood, now gazing up at them, down to a tall blue Akatsuki squinting up into their tree right behind them.They couldn't see them through the branches but, even though Team Kakashi had expertly cloaked their chakra, the Akatsuki knew they were there.

The Leaf nin's eyes flickered to the left of the blue S-class missing-nin to find Konoha's own S-class missing-nin, Uchiha Itachi, emerging from the trees.

Shizune's grip on her tree branch tightened._Itachi, Kisame, Deidara, and Sasori, all here for one kunoichi? What are they planning?_

Looking sideways she caught Kakashi's gaze. He gave her a meaningful look, and she nodded, understanding exactly what his plan was. _We'll have to attempt to complete the mission, even though the odds are stacked against us_.

Shizune knew that if all did not go as planned this could very likely be her last mission. She briefly glanced at the members of her team. They were studying the enemy-nin on both sides of their hiding spot. All four shinobi's jaws were squared in determination.

_They're so willing to sacrifice their lives for this mission because, if by the slightest chance it's successful, it might possibly help save Sakura from abduction._

Shizune quickly took stock of her weapons and medical supplies. They had planned on running into both Sound and Akatsuki at some point during this mission, but they hadn't planned on both groups within the same day. As if the odds weren't bad enough, the team had already used up a significant amount of chakra on the Soud-nin battle a few hours ago.

Kakashi signaled to Naruto and Sai and then pointed at Deidara, who was currently looking up at their tree with a gleeful smirk and an excited look in his one visible eye, signaling for them to team up and attack him. Before either shinobi could acknowledge that they understood, Kakashi - followed quickly by the rest of the team - leaped out of the tree half a second before a deafening blast rippled passed them and the tree exploded into countless shards of wood. The Konoha-nin, mid-air when the explosion went off, were propelled in multiple directions.

Kakashi landed agilely with a somersault, all the way across the clearing, attempting to dodged the shards of wood that had turned into deadly missiles. Yamato landed a couple of feet from Kakashi, and with a few hand seals a barrier of wood sprung up, protecting both shinobi for the oncoming projectiles. Naruto, Sai, and Shizune, thrown into the dense forest on either side of the clearing, were easily able to take cover.

The nin remained crouched in their positions as the roar of the explosion echoed across the forest and faded away, leaving them with only a high pitched ringing in their ears.

A moment later, Shizune dropped from a tree and onto the shadowy forest floor a few yards from the edge of the sunny clearing, barely avoiding two kunai that had embedded themselves into the the branch she had been standing on.

Shizune's heart rate increased, and she took a fighting stance and shook her head, trying to clear herself of the incessant ringing, as Itachi, dropping from the tree next to hers, landed softly a few feet in front of her.

Though she knew that, despite who her opponent was, she was the most likely to survive this encounter, she was still terrified. Akatsuki needed to capture Sakura alive, so Itachi would not have to kill her.

_No he won't kill me, at first he'll just beat me into submission and _then _they'll find out I'm not Sakura and kill me. _Shizune's thoughts weren't helping to calm her in the slightest.

_Unless they already know that I'm not really Sakura._

Shizune banished the thought quickly. She could not dwell on it and the extreme complications that would occur if it were true. She'd just have to play it out as Sakura and hope everything went smoothly.

"Kunoich." Itachi's deep, velvety voice startled Shizune from her frantic thoughts. "I suggest you make it easier on yourself and come willingly." He sounded like he was bored and that he didn't honestly think she'd take him up on his offer.

Shizune looked up, briefly forgetting to keep from making eye contact, and studied his face. His head was tilted to one side, as if scrutinizing her, but his face and eyes reflected nothing of what he was thinking. A shiver ran down her spine, and Shizune forced herself to look away.

Composing herself, she lifted her gaze back upward, but stopped at his chin and throat. Her voice was small but steady. "That's not going to happen."

He didn't respond, but he straightened his head, as if he were finished with his quiet observation of her. Then, too fast for Shizune to leap away, he flew at her. He kicked at her head, but Shizune was able to cross her arms in front of her, blocking it. She slid backwards a few feet from the impact, and then sprung into the air, flipping backward while shooting three poisoned needles at Itachi, and landed on the nearest branch. Itachi spun a kunai on his finger in front of him, easily deflecting the needles, and then countered with a blinding fast series of hand seals.

Shizune escaped onto the adjacent tree just as the branch she was on was consumed in fire, and then grabbed a branch above her head, using it as leverage, and propelled herself upwards, avoiding another volley of kunai and landing a few branches higher up, with Itachi closely following.

Kakashi and Yamato stood, in the center of the clearing, back to back, fending off a burst of attacks from their opponents on either side of them.

"This is unnecessary," Sasori spoke calmly, his eyes remaining emotionless as he maneuvered his puppet away from a wooden sphere that jutted from the ground. "If you would give up the kunoichi there would be no need for us to fight you."

Yamato deflected a few poison-tipped kunai flung from the puppets mouth."Yes, I'm sure that would save you a lot of trouble, but seeing as how I don't entirely despise her company I think we'll hold onto her for a while."

"As you wish, either way at the end of this battle you and your companions will be dead, and we will have what we came for." Sasori finished speaking just in time to fling himself backward as two spiraling branches burst through the ground, almost impaling him.

Yamato didn't think it was a good idea to tell him that what they came for was actually safely back in Konoha, so he kept his mouth shut, and leaped away from a cloud of poisonous smoke that was quickly seeping out of the right eye of Sasori's puppet.

Kakashi also leaped away from the small purple cloud of smoke and Kisame leaped after him, and in mid-air swung his Samehada down as he fell to the ground toward Kakashi. Kakashi rolled away and the large sward embedded into the ground where his head had been. Before Kisame could pull his weapon free Kakashi, still crouched on the ground, kicked up and into Kisame's side, sending him stumbling backwards.

Kakashi flipped himself into a standing position and sprinted after Kisame. With his right hand extended to the side he breathed the word "chidori," and the sound of chirping filled the air. As he descended upon the blue-nin, who was attempting to finish a quick set of hand seals, another loud explosion rippled across the clearing, forcing all four nin who remained in it to cease their fighting and brace themselves. Kakashi hazard a glance upward.

Deidara was standing on a large clay bird, grinning sadistically down at the tower of Naruto clones that he had moments ago blown to bits. The remaining clones were "poofing" out of exhistance as the unconscious Naruto, who had been at the top of the pile of clones, continued his rapid descent to the ground.

Acting quickly, Yamato and Kakashi began sprinting towards the trees below Deidara's bird. As he ran Yamato, still a distance away, conjured up a strip of wood that spiraled high into the air, catching Naruto's unconscious body, which gently slid down it toward the forest floor, disappearing into the trees.

The two shinobi quickly made their way toward Naruto, but caught sight of Sai slumped over a branch that was at least thirty feet from the ground. Sai, who had been in a tree beneath the explosion had also been knocked out and was now slowly slipping off his branch.

Yamato signaled to Kakashi, who nodded and continued to head toward Naruto, while Yamato turn and quickly made his way through the trees toward Sai. Sai's limp form slipped and became airborne for a fourth of a second before Yamato reached out and caught him. With Sai flung over his shoulder he dropped to the shaded forest floor and then held still, trying to sense where the others were at.

He could now sense the Akatsuki now that they were no longer cloaking their chakra. Sasori and Kisame were still where they had left them, and Shizune and Itachi were still battling in the forest on the opposite side of the clearing.

He knew Shizune would be fine, until Akatsuki figured out she wasn't Sakura. But he needed to regroup with Kakashi and decide what their next plan of action should be. They coudldn't hold out much longer with thier chakra so low from their last fight.

Yamato turned and began running deeper into the forest, toward where he knew Kakashi was with the unconscious Naruto, and was quickly able to glimpse Kakashi through the trees. He was standing rigid next to Naruto's slumped figure and looking straight up.

Yamato's pace slowed slightly when he was close enough to decifer the apprehensive expression on Kakashi's face. He quickly laid Sai down and continued to move forward toward Kakashi. Suddenly he came to a complete stop and looked up as a booming voice echoed through the forest from above him.

"Now you get to witness my ultimate expression of art!" Deidara yelled manically. Yamato could see the white wings of the Rock-nin's clay bird through the trees. He was quickly moving upward, ascending further into the air.

"SHIT!" Yamato turned and sprinted back in the direction he left Sai.

Kakashi threw Naruto over his shoulder like he weighed nothing and he too began running. He looked back to see Yamato looking over his shoulder at him and moving in the opposite direction. Their eyes locked and both men saw the same thought reflected in each others eyes. _We can't out run this explosion_.

A second later they heard their doom roared from high above their heads.

"C3 NO BAKUHATSU (explosion of C3)!"

And everything went black.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Dokugiri (Poison Mist)!" Shizune screamed. She watched as the poison mist swept over the clearing toward Itachi.

_He's too fast_, she cried to herself, as she watched him dodge yet another one of her attacks. She slumped to the ground, exhausted. She hardly had enough chakra to keep the henge up, but she somehow needed to get passed Itachi and find the others.

Moments ago she had seen, through the trees, Deidara blow Naruto's clone tower to bits, and she knew that, even if Naruto had survived the fall, his injuries would be extensive. She briefly wondered if the Kyūbi would still heal while the host was unconscious. Either way she decided she needed to perform the jutsu that Tsunade had taught her before Naruto died if she was to save him and salvage the mission.

Shizune watched Itachi's feet as he made his way calmly toward her. A few feet from her he stopped and turned toward the clearing. Shizune followed his line of vision and saw Kisame and Sasori speeding towards her and Itachi.

_Crap!_

Itachi turned back to her as Sasori and Kisame burst through the trees. They both stopped and stared at her, confused. She could feel Itachi's intense gaze on her as well. _What are they looking at?_

She looked down and, _awww crap! _She had dropped the henge without realizing it. She looked back up at Kisame and Sasori, who continued to walk toward her.

Kisame blinked, and they turned to Itachi. "That's not the right girl."

"So it would seem," was Itachi's flat response.

"Well this sucks!"

"Hn."

"I think I should point out that Deidara is in one of his...moods. I suggest we leave the area before he starts 'expressing' himself." Sasori's tone sounded as bored as if they were comparing brands of toothpaste, but Shizune felt dread well up in her gut as if he had screamed his statement.

"What should we do with her?"

"Leave her, she's too weak to outrun it," Itachi said, turning around and walking through the trees in the opposite direction from Deidara.

Suddenly a loud voice tore through the air and Shizune looked back through the trees in the direction she could feel the chakra of the rest of her team.

"Now you get to witness my ultimate expression of art!"

Shizune looked back to Sasori and Kisame, but they were gone. She stood up and briefly scanned the area. She was alone.

_I have a bad feeling about this._

Desperately she simultaneously pulled out a small scroll from her medic-pack with one hand and bit the thumb on her other hand. She quickly unfurled the scrolled in the air and ran her bloodied thumb across it. She Dropped the scroll in front of her, and with a quick succession of hand seals and yelled "Seishin No Hen'i" at the same time she heard Deidara's booming voice screamed "C3 NO BAKUHATSU!"

The sound was sucked out of the air and then came back with a deafening roar as the impact of the bomb knocked Shizune over, but the shock wave rolled over her before she could even hit the ground. She, the trees, and even the ground beneath her, were torn from gravities pull and helplessly thrown into the air, becoming a part of the wall of debris that was tearing and ripping it's way passed her.

The dust and debris in the air embedded itself into her, suffocating and blinding her. She couldn't see the ground rappidly closing in on her, but she could feel gravity take control again, and before Shizune's body could make the inevitable impact, the roar and the pain were suddenly gone and there was - nothing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Wahoo! Sorry that took a little longer to write than I had anticipated. I made a discovery, writing a fighting scene is not as easy as it looks. It was like constipation of the brain, trying to squeeze this crap out!

lol Okay that was really sick. I apologize.

Anyhooo, I hope you enjoyed!

Thanks to my reviewers:

TeenageCrisis

DORFo

nekozr

starlit.kiss7

You guys make me happy! tear

Please review, it inspires me to write faster!

-JustALittleTwisted


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Warning: This chapter includes scenes that may be considered graphic.

Chapter Four

There was nothing...

And then suddenly, a light humming sound appeared from the bleak nothingness. It started to get louder. It was a good change . But then it started getting even louder. It was no longer a hum but a high pitched ringing. It became painful.

Suddenly with the pain came a wave of consciousness, and then more pain, actual physical pain. Shizune could feel her heavy limbs. She tried to concentrate through the whirl of blackness and pain. She wanted to wake up. She felt like she was in limbo between sleep and consciousness, and she couldn't find her way out of it.

After what felt like hours, her confused and jumbled thoughts cleared, and she was able to pull herself awake with a gasp. She realized she could barely breathe, and began to hack up dust and dirt that she could suddenly feel caking her throat, mouth, and nose.

Once her coughs subsided, Shizune slowly squinted one eye open, and then promptly closed it when the sudden onslaught of light hurt her eye. She tried again, blinking this time, and when her vision adjusted she was finally able to see.

The first thing to come into focus was her hand, or what looked like her hand. It was covered in dirt and ashes, and slivers were protruding out of it in every direction. She could see, through a layer of dust, a faint hint of red, blood from the punctures.

Adjusting her eyes passed her hand, Shizune was able to make out uprooted trees, branches, and mounds of dirt scattered around her. A thick layer of ashes had settled over everything.

Once that came into focus she was able to see that there was dust particles still floating in the air, blocking much of the light from the sun.

Even with the dust in the air, the sun was too bright, the forest floor should be heavily shaded. But Shizune noticed, with some surprise, that there was no forest anymore, at least within her sight. All the trees were now charred and piled around her, some were fairly intact, but most had been torn into pieces.

She turned her head to look further around her, but the movement caused a jolt of pain to streak down her back, and she was suddenly forced to remember that her battered body was screaming at her. The pain was suddenly unbearable.

She thought for sure she must have been screaming, but she could not concentrate on anything but the pain and the high pitched ringing that seemed to be getting louder.

Shizune lay withering on the torn-up earth for what felt like hours. Her entire body was engulfed in spasms, as her limbs regained their motor skills.

Eventually the ringing subsided back into a hum, and her muscle spasms lessoned to twitches. She was able to concentrate enough to open her eyes again.

Pushing passed the pain and dizziness, Shizune pulled what small amount of chakra she had flowing through her system and began scanning her body for injuries. Amazingly she had no life-threatening wounds. She did have countless lacerations and punctures from wood shards, but most of the pain was from the pounding her muscles and bones had taken, most likely, from the impact when she hit the ground.

Once she was certain she was fine, she began to sit up, wincing at the jolts of pain the movement caused. A nagging feeling had started to grow in her stomach, and she felt she needed to get up and move, to find something...to find someone.

She was finally able to pull herself into a wobbly standing position by using the large branches and trees that were stacked around her for support. The layers of ash and dust covering her stirred and began flowing off her as she moved, causing her to cough.

Once she was standing she was able to take in more of her surroundings and Shizune realized, with a start, that it was a miracle that she had not been crushed by any of the thousands of large, charred trees scattered all around her.

She began to climb up the trees laid strewn about her like Lincoln Logs. Once she got to the top her breath caught in her throat. The destruction was massive! She felt like she could see forever as she gazed across the huge circle carved out of the forest with a layer of trees scatter like tooth picks.

She noticed that the circle sloped inwards toward the center. As Shizune followed the angle of the incline, she noticed that the debris became less dense and more scattered and then disappeared completely, and all she could see was dark charred earth that dipped down into a large crater. The smoke (from small fires that were still burning) and the dust hung more densely in the air over the crater.

Seeing the enormous dent in the earth she suddenly understood the nagging feeling in her gut. She remembered, through her muddled brain, who she needed to find. _The team!_

_Kakashi, Naruto, Sai, and Yamato_. Their names and faces flew through her head as she continued to stare at the last spot she felt their chakra - the crater.

With a gasp it suddenly occurred to her, "I didn't perform the jutsu in time!"

The jutsu she performed right as the bombs was going off could not have had enough time to take effect. _It would have saved them if I had only performed it a second earlier._

Quickly - well as quickly as her tattered body would allow - she began climbing through the destruction towards the crater. She needed to get to them. By the angle of the sun she'd been out for about three hours. If by some miracle any of them had survived the blast the chances of them surviving that long without medical attention were almost impossible.

The going was tedious and slow. Shizune, who hardly had the strength to stand, had to crawl over and through the piles of trees and mounds of overturned dirt.

Finally making it to the edge of the crater she stood, stunned, taking in how deep and wide it was. Instantly she knew that whatever may be down in the crater would not be distinguishable from the other chard debris.

She began to stumble along the edge, desperately searching for any sign of her teammates, all the while trying to ignore the hateful voice overriding her thoughts.

_They're dead, _the voice repeated over and over, betraying her fears.

It was not long before she stumbled across something that was not a charred tree. At first she thought she was looking at a mound of dirt, but a hand was clearly distinguishable from the other debris.

All her years of medical training did not prepare her for what she discovered - the charred remains of one of her teammates. Her vision became blurred by tears, and she fell to her knees as sobs wracked her body.

While attempting to calm herself she crawled forward and looked down at the charred remains. The Konoha forehead protector, still wrapped around his head, was blackened and dented.

Shizune gulped and forced her eyes downward. At first she was not able to identify who it was. The skin was blackened and brittle looking, like paper, there was no hair, and the nose and the cheeks were pushed in - probably from the blunt force of the initial blast. The eyes were opened wide, staring unseeing up into the sky. She could not determine the eye color as, like everything else around her, they were scorched into a sickening black.

She turned her eyes away from the face, tears still streaming down her cheeks, and looked down to his jounin vest. That's when she saw it sticking out of one of the pockets...a burnt paint brush.

"S...Sai," she choked out. She covered her face in her hands as the wracking sobs constricted her chest and her limbs began to shake uncontrollably. "No. No. No."

"He was so young." Her voice was barely more than a whisper, as she pushed her palms into her closed eyes, hoping, by inflicting pain, the pain in her chest would lessen.

Breathing in and out slowly, Shizune forced herself to calm down. She couldn't afford to breakdown, not yet. There was still a possibility that at least one of her teammates had survived, and if they did they would be needing medical assistance.

Clinging to that hope she willed herself to keep moving. She reached over and gently pulled the forehead protector from Sai's head and grimaced as some of the skin came with it. She folded the cloth around the chard metal and reverently placed it into one of her vest pockets. She pulled herself up on shaky knees and gave one last look at the former-ROOT members body, and forced herself to turn away.

Just a couple of yards from the edge of the crater, and only fifteen feet from Sai's remains, Shizune fell to her knees again, sobbing.

Shizune didn't need to search him to identify him because, though his face, like Sai's, was no longer identifiable, his head gear gave him away.

Yamato's body was half buried in the still-smoking earth, his torso was bent at an impossible angle. His mouth and eyes were open, and she could see the horror of his last moment reflected in his face.

Shizune averted her eyes. She gulped and took a deep breath. _You're a shinobi, you need to stay strong_, she repeated over and over in her head like a mantra.

She looked back at her fellow jounin and extended a shaky hand to retrieve his headgear. With as much respect as she'd shown Sai's, she folded it and placed it into her vest pocket.

Though Shizune felt numb, her body was reacting violently as she forced herself back to a standing position. Her limbs could barely support her, and her hands were twitching at her side. She continued to stumble across the barren landscape searching desperately.

It was the orange that caught her attention. It stuck out so much from the rest of the backdrop that Shizune was surprised she hadn't noticed it before. The color was still fairly bright, even though it was burnt and covered by a layer of ash. Naruto's signature color always made him stick out, and even in death it was no different.

Kakashi's body was laying prone, next to Naruto's. His arm was thrown over Naruto's stomach, and Shizune figured Kakashi must have been carrying Naruto over his shoulder when the bomb exploded.

A number of things suddenly occurred to Shizune, as she gazed over the remains of two of Konoha's strongest shinobi. The first was that she was in shock. She felt like she was an unbiased observer watching the scene as if it really wasn't her friends who's mutilated bodies were laid out in front of her. She knew that she should probably be screaming and crying. As soon as that thought passed a strange keening noise started to come from the back of her throat.

Before she could even begin to ponder why she was making a noise like a beaten dog her last realization pulled her thoughts away from everything else.

There were four chakra signatures quickly making their way towards her.

_Sound!_

Shizune suddenly realized that she couldn't let her companion's remains fall into enemy hands. She didn't want to begin thinking about the experiments Sound would put their bodies through to gain information. And Kakashi's sharingan, if it was still intact, would certainly be something Orochimaru would love to get his hands on. Shizune knew she needed to act quickly before her shock wore off and the Oto-nin arrived.

She crawled over to Naruto's head, and gently pulled his forehead protector off. In the back of her head she knew that her non-shocked self would be happy that Naruto's eyes were closed. She didn't think she could bare seeing his once vibrant blue eyes lifeless and dim, no longer reflecting the passion that he had lived all his life with.

Gently pocketing the forehead protector that it's, now deceased, owner was once so proud of, Shizune scooted closer to Kakashi. She had to lift his face from the dirt it was embedded in, and then pulled his forehead protector away from his now bald head. After gently laying his face back into the dirt, Shizune quickly stepped back, pocketed his forehead protector, and gave her fellow Konoha Jounin one last glance.

She closed her eyes, hating herself for what she had to do next, performed a quick set of hand seals and watched as their remains, and the wood pieces around them, lit up and quickly began to burn away in the intense flames of her jutsu.

Jerkily she turned and made her way back towards the bodies of Sai and Yamato. After repeating the fire jutsu on her other two teammates, Shizune stumbled away from the craters edge.

She stopped and turned after a distance, staring at the three plumes of smoke spiraling in the air, and Shizune thought briefly about how their mission, the _real_ mission, was suppose to end exactly like this.

The real mission was to fake their deaths, and take the place of the four Sound-nin they had captured, with the forbidden jutsu Tsuande had taught her. She was to use it at the moment just before death, and the bodies would be swapped. It was an undetectable jutsu, that not even the most advanced shinobi could detect, and they were to use it to finally infiltrate Sound with their own spies.

Tsunade needed a spy network more than ever, now that Orochimaru was after Sakura. She believed his plans for the pink-haired kunoichi went beyond her medical skills - possibly something that might impact the whole of the shinobi world.

But she had failed. She had not performed the jutsu in time, and now four shinobi she held as dear friends were dead, the mission was a failure, and they were no closer to finding out Orochimaru's plans.

With these self- deprecating thoughts, Shizune turned from the last resting place of four of Konoha's greatest shinobi to begin her long trek back to Konoha, and through her shocked-dulled mind she knew that her despair would be nothing compared to the Hokage's and especially her apprentice's.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tsunade watched, from above a pile of aging paperwork, as her pink-haired apprentice, four other strategists, and four ANBU members, quietly discussed the layout of a known Sound base that was to be infiltrated by that ANBU team.

They had congregated in her office to discuss the final details of an assassination mission of one of Sounds strongest shinobi captains, with Sakura. the trainee, observing and throwing in her own input.

Sakura had jumped wholeheartedly into her new apprenticeship as a strategist two days after the burial of what was left of her parents and their teammate. And Tsunade knew she was swamping herself with work to keep from thinking of her loss.

She wasn't sure it was a good thing to let her apprentice overwork herself at her new job and at the hospital, but Tsunade conceded that it was at least an attempt at coping, and she would need it once the men of Team Kakashi's real mission got underway.

Her gaze turned from Sakura to two other jounin slumped over some schematics. They were giving information and answering an occasional question asked by one of the members of the ANBU squad assigned to the mission, who were also gathered over the layouts of the Sound base.

Nara Shikamaru and Hyuga Neji had both been recruited by the Tactics Department a few months ago, and Tsunade was glad for it. Though Sakura had never had much contact with either shinobi, after working side by side for just over a week the three young jounin had become quite companionable.

Tsunade figured their quickly growing friendship was due in part to the fact that both male jounin knew that Sakura needed a friend. With her teammate's and best female friend's absence due to missions, both boys seemed to understand the kunoichi's desperate need for companionship after the brutal deaths of her parents.

Tsunade was sure, though they'd probably never admit it, that both Shikamaru and Neji missed the lone kunoichi from their own genin teams and were glad to have Sakura temporary fill that roll.

Turning back to her apprentice Tsunade smirked as she watched Sakura unknowingly shoot down Genma's blatant flirting. Though Genma was the captain of the ANBU squad, and said ANBU squad was there for the purpose of obtaining crucial information for the success of their mission, he never let an opportunity to flirt with a pretty girl go to waste. But it seemed, Tsunade mused, that Genma had found his match in Haruno Sakura.

Though Tsunade knew Sakura to be one of the sharpest nin in Konoha, she was truly naive when it came to attention from the opposite sex. Tsunade believed that Sakura was extremely self conscious about her looks, and had no idea the effect she had on the male of their species.

Sakura probably wouldn't believe Genma was flirting with her if he went right out and said it. She figured it was due to Sakura being truly in love with Sasuke for all those years, and then to only be dismissed and ignored by him like she was a fly on the wall.

Neji and Shikamaru were both attempting to hide their smirks at Genma's failed attempts at flirting with the oblivious kunoichi, when the door flew open with a 'bang' and a frantic chuunin rushed in.

"Hokage-sama," the chuunin said, bowing quickly. "Shizune-san was just brought in to the hospital. She was found a few miles from Konoha!"

Upon hearing Shizune's name both Tsunade and Sakura bolted upright, their brows furrowed into concerned expressions.

"Any sign of the rest of her team," Tsunade asked urgently.

"No."

Without another word, both Hokage and apprentice sped from the room, heading toward the hospital.

As they entered the hospital Tsunade turned to Sakura. "I'm going to need to talk with Shizune first."

Sakura opened her mouth to protest but Tsunade cut her off. "Sakura," Tsunade place her hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. "I'll let you see her in a minute, but I don't want you to ask her any questions about the rest of the team. Do you understand?"

Sakura's mouth was dry, and when she spoke it came out as a choked whisper. "Hai, shishou." She then turned toward the waiting room, her back straight, and hands fiddling with the collar of her shirt nervously.

After assigning two ANBU to guard the door to prevent anyone from overhearing, Tsunade entered the stark white hospital room. Shizune was sitting up, looking rather haggard, but from what she could see her wounds were minimal.

Walking up to her bed Tsunade's asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Alright." Shizune's voice was raspy.

Taking a seat on the end of the bed Tsunade sighed heavily. "Was the mission a success?"

Shizune visibly gulped, and a tear escaped from her eye and trailed down her cheek. She didn't want to say it, she didn't want to bring back the memory of their lifeless bodies, she didn't want to be reminded of the all-consuming guilt that she felt.

"W...we discovered that both Orochimaru and Akatsuki are truly determined to get Sakura. Sound sent four of their toughest shinobi, and Akatsuki sent four of their members."

"And the others," Tsunade ask hesitantly.

Shizune gave her a significant look, and her face scrunched up to keep from crying. "They're...they're dead. I-I burned the bodies."

Tsunade sucked in a breath of air, and slumped her shoulders forward. It was quiet for a moment as both women contemplated what was to come. It was going to be difficult to tell everyone of deaths of the four members of Team Kakashi - it was going to kill Sakura.

"Tsunade," Shizune rasped out through her battered throat. "I think we should tell Sakura at least, about the mission."

Tsunade sighed again, and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I contemplated telling her," Tsunade sighed again. "But that would just cause too many complications. She's better off not knowing for now."

Shizune looked like she was about to protest but refrained from doing so. She knew the Hokage had her reasons for doing things this way. She figured it would be best if she did not overly press her, considering the weary expression on her face, and her slumped form.

"When Sakura finds out that her boys are dead it's going to practically kill her."

"Aa," Tsunade sighed exhaustedly again. "But she's strong, she'll survive this."

"First her parents and now... this? I just don't like withholding this information from her."

"I know Shizune. But if the facts of the mission get out to more people, the chances that our enemies will find out what we know will increase. I have many reasons for keeping Sakura out of the loop, and one of them is I'm afraid of what her reaction will be if she knows the truth."

After a few minutes of discussing exactly what happened, Tsunade stood up and affectionately patted Shizune's blanket-covered foot. "I am glad you've made it home safe, Shizune-chan."

As she reached the door she turned and addressed Shizune once again, her face contorted into a grimace. "I'm allowing Sakura to visit your for just a minute. I've told her to not ask about her teammates. I'll break the news to her afterwards." Shizune nodded her understanding.

A moment later Sakura entered. Shizune watched as the younger kunoichi's expression changed from extreme worry to extreme worry with a hint of relief when she saw Shizune sitting up and looking fairly healthy. Sakura briskly walked over to her; her eye's searching her body for injuries.

"How are you," Sakura asked weakly, taking and lightly squeezing Shizune's hand.

Shizune diverted her eyes for a second and then focussed back on Sakura's distraught face. "I'm fine, honest," she said, squeezing Sakura's hand back.

Sakura continued to fawn over Shizune, checking her bandages and the IV drip. Shizune could tell that Sakura was struggling to keep from asking about the boys, but Tsunade opened the door a moment later, beckoning Sakura to follow.

Sakura turned back to Shizune and gave her a small smile. Shizune squeezed her hand in response. She did not feel like smiling.

_The next time I see Sakura, she'll be a broken woman, _she thought despairingly.

As Sakura exited the hospital room and walked passed the ANBU guard at the door, her apprehension began to grow. She studied Tsunade's back as they made their way through the hallways of the hospital; she seemed very stiff.

They arrived at Tsunade's hospital office.Tsunade opened the door allowing Sakura to enter first. Once seated in one of the comfy chairs facing the desk, Sakura was surprised to find Tsunade taking a seat next to her, instead of at the desk.

Sakura's breath caught in her throat when she looked into Tsunade's face. Tsunade was giving her the same expression when she'd told her of her parents' deaths.

"Sakura," Tsunade said, grabbing Sakura's hand. "Your teammates...the, the boys...they didn't...,"Tsunade's eyes were searching Sakura's. "They did not survive the mission. I'm sorry sweetie, but," Tsunade sighed deeply, closing her eyes to keep the tears from spilling over. "All four of them died."

At first it was too much for Sakura's mind to take in. _All four of them...dead?_

But when it did, a moment later, it was as if all the air had deflated from Sakura like a popped tire. Her body collapsed into itself. A choked whimper escaped from her trembling lips as she pulled her knees to her chest, and began rocking back and forth with her eyes were shut tightly. Tsunade was still gripping Sakura's left hand with both of hers.

"Ww...what happened?" Her voice was raspy, clogged with unshed tears.  
Tsunade's heart was breaking inside, she hated doing this to Sakura. "Honey... I don't-"

"Just tell me!" Sakura wailed, but her tone was more pleading than demanding.

Tsunade sat back a little, contemplating what she should tell Sakura. Finally deciding, she said in a gentle voice, "I can't tell you the details of the mission, but I'll tell you how they died. They got caught in an explosion at the border of Sound."

Sakura's grip on Tsunade's hand tightened painfully. Tsunade plowed on." From what Shizune has said, they all died instantly."

Sakura's face shot up, searching Tsunade's eyes with her own questioning ones. Sakura's eyes were so filled with tears, Tsunade was surprised they weren't overflowing onto her cheeks.

Understanding Sakura's unspoken question Tsunade explained. "We do not have the bodies. Shizune was in enemy territory, and could barely carry her own weight."

Tsunade paused, not wanting to say the rest. "Sakura...she burned their bodies to keep them from falling into enemy hands. But she was able to get their forehead protectors. Once they've been cleaned, I think it's only right that I give them to you."

Sakura didn't say anything and dropped her head back to her knees. After a drawn out silence, punctured by Sakura's desperate gasps for air, she finally let the tears flow.

"Why," Sakura's voice was so strangled and quiet, Tsunade could barely hear her.

"Why," she repeated.

Tsunade didn't answer, she knew Sakura wasn't really asking her. Instead she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Sakura's trembling frame. She tucked Sakura's head under her chin and rocked her back and forth.

After a good while there was a soft knock on the door. When there was no response the door softly creaked opened and Shikamaru peaked his head around the door.

Upon seeing Sakura's limp frame wrapped in the Hokage's arms his mouth became dry. He had to keep swallowing the tears that started to build in the back of his throat. She looked utterly defeated.

When an ANBU had informed all those remaining in the Hokage's office of the deaths of the four Konoha-nin, Shikamaru knew that Sakura would never be the same. It was too much to happen to one person in such a short amount of time.

After he and Neji had informed a few of their closest friends, Shikamaru decided that the only person close to all four shinobi would need as much support as she could get. Which brought him to the hospital.

Now standing in the doorway, eyeing Sakura's defeated posture, Shikamaru knew he had guessed correctly.

When Tsunade glanced up to meet his eyes, he could see an array of emotions pooled in hers. One emotion caught him off guard, guilt. Brushing off his confusion he stepped forward hesitantly. When Sakura made no indication that she knew of his presence, he continued forward.

Tsunade smiled slightly, encouraging him. As he crossed the last feet between them, she pulled back a little from Sakura.

"Shikamaru's going to take you home, okay?" Tsunade's voice was gentle, like she was speaking to a child. She turned her eyes back to him, and Shikamaru nodded his head in agreement.

Tsunade stood up, bringing Sakura with her. When Shikamaru stepped forward she transferred Sakura's clinging grip to Shikamaru.

He had to stoop to hold onto her as he was more than half a foot taller than her. Sakura didn't even looked up to him as she clung to his side, gripping his jounin vest like it was a life line.

He waited as Tsunade whispered a few last comforting words to Sakura, and then kissed the crown of her head, and then he turned to the door practically dragging Sakura with him; she couldn't seem to hold her own weight.

As he lead Sakura out of the hospital, nurses and fellow shinobi stopped to give his companion sympathetic looks. Some even reached out to squeeze Sakura's trembling shoulder.

_Word must have spread already_, Shikamaru thought grimly.

Once they exited the hospital, Shikamaru stopped walking and looked down at the pink-haired kunoichi. She still had her face buried into his vest.

Shikamaru gave a withering sigh and halfheartedly whisper the word "troublesome". Bending down, he hooked his free arm under Sakura's knees and lifted her up bridal-style and Sakura's desperate grip moved to his neck. Then he continued to make his way through the streets to her house, completely ignoring the blatant stares they earned from passerby.

When they reached Sakura's house, Shikamaru had to search the pockets of Sakura's skirt for her key. Blood rushed to his faces as he had to practically grope Sakura's thigh to get to the key at the bottom of her pocket. Sakura didn't seem to notice, or she just didn't care, as she kept her face cradled in the crook his neck.

He was finally able to awkwardly opened the door, and then stumbled into the house. He made his way upstairs, eventually finding Sakura's room - apparent due to the hordes of pictures of her and her team, and all their friends. He laid her down, and Sakura kept her eyes closed as he pulling off her sandals and ninja gear.

Once Shikamaru had stripped Sakura down to her shorts, skirt, and the tight black shirt she wore under her jounin vest, he lifted her up to pull the covers back, and then tucked her in. As soon as Sakura was under the covers she curled up into the fetal position, hiding her tear stained face in the blanket.

Shikamaru took one last glance at the lump under the covers and headed towards the door.

"Thank you Shikamaru," Sakura whispered from under covers.

Turning back to the bed Shikamaru relaxed into his normal slouched posture. Shoving his hands in his pocket he said,"don't worry about it," and then shuffled out of the room, keeping the door opened a crack so he could hear her if she needed anything.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I know, you probably hate me right now. So if you do, please review and express it!

Thanks again to my reviewers:

yunibell

BubblyDancingDoglovers

starlit.kiss7

BellaJames

Sakura is number 1

LittleFoxDemon

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and to the anonymous reviewer jessy708: Thank you so much for you detailed comments. I am very flattered, especially for being your first review!

Please review, it inspires me to write faster!

-JustALittleTwisted


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter Five

Two weeks later...

Sakura awoke to the clang of dishes and the sound of talking coming from her kitchen. Squinting one eye open, she looked to her bedside table, where her clock sat flashing 6:32 AM.

Groaning, she covered her head with her pillow, fully preparing to go back to sleep. There was no way she was going to get up before noon. She didn't care that Tsunade was probably hoping she'd show up for work today. She hadn't left her house in two weeks, except to go to the funeral, and she wasn't planning on that changing that anytime soon.

For all she knew, the people downstairs making a racket could be ransacking her house, and she wouldn't even bat an eye. But fortunately, or in Sakura's mind unfortunately, the people shuffling around in her kitchen were most likely Shikamaru and Neji. Seeing as how they had made a habit of stopping by to make sure Sakura was alive, and forcing her to do what she believed unnecessary things like eat, change her clothes, and even take a shower (that lead to a couple of awkward situations).

Sakura peaked out from under her pillow as she heard someone walk through her open bedroom door. Neji stood in front of her bed holding a plate full of food, glaring at Sakura with a challenging squint to his pale eyes. Behind him Shikamaru stood, yawning, with a glass of orange juice is his hand.

Sakura made a 'humph' sound and smashed the pillow onto her face. "Go away," she said, her voice muffled under the pillow.

"Haruno, are we going to have to keep forcing you to eat? I'm not opposed to shoving the food down you throat...again." Sakura could tell Neji was smirking while he said the last part.

She felt the bed dip as someone sat down next to her. She heard a cup being placed on her bedside table, right before the pillow was wrenched from her grip. She hissed like a cat as the sudden onslaught of light stung her eyes.

Sakura peeked one eye open to find Shikamaru glowering down at her. "Sakura, stop being so troublesome."

Sakura attempted to creep under the covers but was halted when Shikamaru gripped her shoulders.

"Oh no you don't. We are not doing this again. You are going to sit up and eat like a normal person."

"Go away _please_," Sakura pleaded in a weak voice as she tried to squirm out of Shikamaru's grip.

Neji sat down on Sakura's other side and placed the plate of food on her lap.

"Haruno, you will eat and once you're done you're going to change into some _real_ clothing." He emphasized the word 'real' as he eyed her appearance. Currently her blankets had slid down to her thighs revealing a lot of leg as Sakura was only wearing a large shirt and underwear.

Forcing his eyes to move back to Sakura's face, he continued. "Then you are going to come train with us."

Sakura didn't say anything, but she let her head drop back, going limp in Shikamaru's grip. She didn't care if she was being ridiculous and acting like a child, she just wanted to be left alone.

Shikamaru had to pull her against his chest to keep her sitting up. He used his shoulder to support her head, and looked up to see an annoyed but worried expression cross Neji's face as he eyed the depressed kunoichi in front of him.

They both knew that without the every day visits from themselves, Tsunade, Hinata, and Yamanaka Inoichi (who had been very good friends with Sakura's parents) Sakura would lay in her bed and waste away. She seemed to have just given up on life. But that was not something any of them were going to let happen.

Neji, with a determined look in his eyes, scooted closer to Sakura and slid his hand between her head and Shikamaru's shoulder, and gently he lifted her head.

Sakura peaked one eye open, and then both eyes, and before she could protest Neji had shoved a fork full of eggs into her mouth.

Both shinobi were happy to see the kunoichi's faded jade eyes light up again, even if it was in anger. She hadn't shown much emotion outside of anguish in her depressed state.

Sakura continued to glare at both boys as Shikamaru held her arms securely at her side, and Neji continued to force-feed her an array of breakfast food.

After Neji shoved the last bit of pancake into Sakura's mouth she began to choke. Shikamaru released her arms and thrust the glass of orange juice into her hands.

After allowing Sakura a second to finish coughing and take a drink Shikamaru grabbed the cup from her hands, and Neji swiftly pulled her out of the bed and threw her over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes. He then swiftly carried her into her bathroom.

Sakura squeaked as her rump hit her tub floor, and before she could protest Neji had turned the shower on, keeping the dial on cold.

"NEJI!"

Ignoring her, he pulled up his sleeves and sat down on the tub's edge. He grabbed a bottle of shampoo, squeezed a large amount into his palm, and started working it through Sakura's long, pink locks.

Sakura didn't say anything as she glared up at him through her wet, soap-sud-covered hair. Neji's mouth quirked into a smirk; she looked like a drowned cat.

The word 'cute' flickered through his thoughts. Inwardly mortified with himself - that word was NOT a part of his vocabulary - he quickly squashed the traitorous thought, and continued to man-handle her hair.

Once finished bathing the almost fully-clothed medic-nin, Neji lifted her up onto the edge of the bathtub, and roughly wrapped her in a large fluffy towel. He then dragged her out of the bathtub and stood her on her feet.

Shikamaru, who had been leaning against the sink watching the poor kunoichi being stripped of her dignity, handed her a pile of clothes with a lazy grin. He then followed Neji out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

"You have five minutes to change," Neji said through the door. "Or we'll be assisting you...like last time."

Sakura cringed. "Last time" had occurred when Sakura had flat out refused to change out of her pajamas. Neji had literally ripped her pajamas off her, leaving Sakura opened mouthed in only her underwear and a bra. Neji then calmly stated with a very non-joking expression, that he would happily continue to rid Sakura of her clothing unless, of course, she wanted to maintain her dignity and do it her self. Of course Sakura had adamantly agreed to change clothes without much prompting from then on.

With an indignant 'humph', Sakura hurriedly changed out of her soaked clothing and into her usual skirt/shorts outfit. After she pulled her long wet hair up into a high ponytail, she stomped out of the bathroom.

"Happy now," Sakura growled, with her hands on her hips.

Both boys smirked, and then nodded.

"Now that you look somewhat presentable lets go," Shikamaru said. He grabbed Sakura's arm with one hand, the other one still stuffed in his pocket, and lead the way out of the house.

Once outside Shikamaru gazed up at the sky, while continuing to pull Sakura down the road with him. Neji fell into step beside them, on the other side of Sakura, and grabbed the wrist on her other hand, just in case she attempted to make a run for it.

As they made their way to the training grounds they had to cross the bridge; the same bridge that Team Seven used to meet at every morning before training. Sakura's annoyance evaporated instantly when she realized where they were.

Shikamaru and Neji felt Sakura slow down. Both shinobi looked over to see that Sakura's stiff and annoyed posture had now deflated. She looked like she was trying to curl up into a ball. Her shoulders were hunched and her head was bent down so far that her chin was resting on her collarbone. Her eyes were closed tight as if to keep the tears from leaking out.

The boys' eyes met for a second and then they started to pull Sakura faster, passed the bridge and down the road to one of the training grounds, as far away from Team Seven's old training spot as they could get.

As soon as both shinobi released Sakura's arm, she slumped to the ground in a heap, her arms wrapped around her chest as if to hold her heart in place.

Shikamaru decided he preferred angry Sakura.

Neji crouched down in front of Sakura. He grabbed her chin gently and tilted her head upward, forcing her to look at him. "You can do this."

Sakura closed her eyes tightly, causing the tears that were pooling in them to escape onto her cheeks. She opened them a moment later and stared into Neji's eyes. Her eyes reflected the anguish she was in, but she hesitantly nodded her head. Neji released her chin, and with his help she stood up.

Sakura slowly followed him and Shikamaru to the center of the training field while wiping the tears from her eyes and trying to calm herself. But she couldn't stop thinking about them, her boys, and an overwhelming feeling of loss washed over her. She could feel the tears build in the back of her throat again.

Inhaling a shaky breath, she sat down next to Shikamaru, and began stretching. Once finished all three stood up, and Sakura suddenly straightened her back and glared at the other two shinobi suspiciously.

Neji and Shikamaru had leaped a few feet away from Sakura, and were now crouched in a fighting dance with Sakura in between them. They both suddenly had serious expressions on their faces, and Neji had his Byakugan activated.

_They're going to gang up on me!_

The thought had just enough time to register before she had to leap out of the way of two kunai flung at her from both sides. Neji was behind her instantly.

Sakaru attempted to turn to block his attack, but he was too fast. Neji's kick hit her right in the center of the back and Sakura found herself careening forward straight into an awaiting Shikamaru.

Faster than Sakura believed possible, from Shikamaru at least, she found herself pinned face down into the ground. Shikamaru had one knee pressed into her back with her hands twisted, almost painfully, behind her.

He leaned forward so Sakura could see his face out of the corner of her eye; his face no longer held his normal lazy expression, he actually looked annoyed.

"Any decent shinobi would have been able to dodge those attacks." His voice was unusually flat.

Sakura suddenly felt overwhelmed. She understood their motivation - they were going to beat her out of her depression - but she didn't have it in her to fight back, she just did care enough. She only wanted to wallow away in her misery.

Sakura felt Shikamaru's weight lift off her back, and then she was jerked roughly to her feet. She turned wearily to find Shikamaru backing away, and once again she found herself having to dodge attacks from both shinobi.

Again and again, she found herself pinned roughly into the ground by either Jounin, who would then release her only to continue their attacks as soon as she was standing a moment later.

Sakura was breathing heavily with a trail of blood seeping from her cut lip. She continued to eye the stern faces of Shikamaru and Neji. Either she was getting clumsier or they were getting more brutal in their attacks.

She brought a shaky, glowing hand to her stomach where she was sporting a rather ugly gash from one of Shikamaru's kunai she hadn't been quick enough to dodge. Her chakra was low as Neji had shut down a few of her tenketsus, and she was finding it increasingly harder to focus her eyes; she must have hit her head.

Somehow Sakura had been herded to the center of the small lake bordering the training grounds, and with a concussed head and fluctuating chakra flow she was finding it very hard to keep above the water. Her sandal-clad feet kept sinking further into the placid surface.

Neji came at her, and Sakura was just barely able to dodge his blow, and countered with her own. Her fisted hand caught Neji in the arm but he didn't even flinch.

Sakura knew something was off, and it had been for the entire fight. She couldn't get control over her chakra like she usually was able to, even before Neji had used Gentle Fist on her. The blow she had just given Neji, even though there was only a small amount of chakra used in it, should have sent him flying backwards.

Through her dispirited brain she just wasn't able to utilize her chakra as easily as she normally did, and she knew Neji and Shikamaru had noticed. They were completely taking advantage of her state and were relentless in their assault.

Sakura couldn't understand their reasoning; she no longer believed they were trying to beat her out of depression, they were just too brutal. She briefly wondered if she'd done something to insult them.

She brushed the thought away quickly because at that moment Shikamaru had somehow caught her in his shadow, yet again, and she found herself frozen and unable to dodge a kick from Neji.

Shikamaru released Sakaru from his Shadow Possession Jutsu just as Neji's knee made contact with Sakura's stomach. She careened backwards and skidded across the lake's surface like a skipping rock.

Neji and Shikamaru quickly sped the distance across the lake to the battered kinoichi. Sakura was still laying flat across the water and was cringing while cradling her injured stomach.

Her breath was coming out in gasps as she wearily watched the two Jounin making their way toward her. She just couldn't get herself to fight back. She didn't want to deal with them anymore; this was just a stupid training session!

Sakura suddenly felt water seep into her shirt. She looked down at her body and found that she had sunken into the lake almost completely, and hadn't even noticed it. Her head and the upper part of her torso were the only parts of her not submerged.

Sakura tried concentrating her chakra, what was left of it, to keep herself afloat, but she just wasn't able to control it. Soon she was barely able to keep her head above the water. She tried kicking her legs and arms to stay afloat, but with some panic Sakura found her exhausted limbs unable to tread water.

She watched frantically as Neji and Shikamaru made their way towards her. As they came upon her, Shikamaru, with a concerned expression, made to reach out for one of Sakura's flailing arms but was halted by Neji, who had lifted his arm to block him.

Sakura looked to Neji pleadingly as her head continued to sink lower. He was looking down at her with an unreadable yet hard expression.

"Haruno." His tone was low and sounded angry, even a little disgusted. "You're pathetic. Look at yourself, you're the Hokage's renowned apprentice and you're about to drown in a lake."

"Neji-" Shikamaru began to protest as Sakura sank an inch lower, but stopped when Neji turned to glare at him.

"She is perfectly capable of getting herself out of this situation." He turned back to glower down at Sakura. "But you've given up already. You're so pathetic you're not even trying!"

Sakura was stunned, it had been a very long time sine she'd seen Neji get so worked up, and if he didn't stop whatever game he way playing here she really _was_ going to drown.

She attempted to tell him exactly that but ended up inhaling a lung-full of water as her head suddenly dipped further into the water, to just under her nose. She started to choke and flail her limbs about even more.

Shikamaru started looking frantic, but Neji, who was still holding him back, continued to glare down at her.

"No one is going to save you Haruno, you're going to have to pull yourself out of the water or you _will_ drown.

_What the hell! This _really_ isn't funny! _Sakura screamed in her head.

She took one last breath through her nose right before she completely lost control of the chakra keeping the upper half of her head above water.

"Shit!" Sakura could hear Shikamaru exclaim through her water clogged ears as her head sank completely under the surface.

She began to kick and thrash her arms desperately, but she was too fatigued to get them to move properly. She watched the rippling surface, only inches from her face, slowly get further away, and she began sinking closer to the bottom of the lake.

_'Shit' is right! I'm gonna die!_

Sakura looked up again to see that Neji and Shikamaru were now standing on the water right over her. She could see Neji kneel down and then his arm shot through the water and grabbed her neck. He pulled her head out of the water, and Sakura coughed the water out of her lungs and mouth, while desperately trying to suck in breaths of air.

Finally able to take a decent breath, Sakura looked up to stare into Neji's anger-filled eyes. He moved his face to within an inch of her own, and the hand still wrapped around her neck tightened slightly.

"Do you think they would want this? They helped you become the accomplished kunoichi that you are! They loved you and would have given their lives for your own! Do you think they would want you to give that up, to give up living your life?!"

Without waiting for a response, Neji roughly dunked her head back under the water. He kept his grip on her neck, keeping Sakura's face only a few inched below the surface.

Sakura gripped his arm and tried to pry his hand from her neck, but it did no good, and Neji continued to glare down at her.

"Wake up! Can't you see that you're disgracing their memory Haruno! If you continue to wallow in your despair it'll be just like you died along with them! Maybe it's better if you do! Maybe you should just die here, right now!"

Neji's grip around Sakura's neck tightened even more as he continued to yell angrily into the water at her.

"Crap Neji! You're killing her!" Shikamaru yelled, as he gripped Neji's arm and attempted to pull it up out of the water, along with Sakura.

"She is already dead if she doesn't fight back like I know she's capable of." Neji was no longer yelling, but his voice was hard. He never turned his eyes from the beautiful pale face surrounded by a main of pink hair (that had come loose during the battle) just below the surface.

Neji could see Sakura's eyes widen as the seconds ticked by and it became increasingly harder for her to hold her breath.

As Sakura looked up into the angered and frightened faces of the two shinobi above her, time seemed to slow. She was going to die, and by the hands of a friend no less, but her mind was directed elsewhere. She was suddenly able to think with such clarity, and her thoughts strayed to her boys.

They were gone...they were gone and with them went a part of her heart. She loved them so deeply. More than anyone, even her parents. A part of her wanted this, wanted to die. That dark and desperate part of her, where a good chunk of her heard should be, longed to be with her boys, even if it was in death. But there was another part of her, a stronger part, that knew there was something to live for, something remaining in this world to fight for, and that stronger part turned into a voice, and the voice became a loud scream echoing in her head.

_**We can't die!**_

It was Inner Sakura, whom, Sakura suddenly realized, she hadn't heard from in weeks.

_Why?_ The desperate and dark part of Sakura asked weakly. Sakura could feel herself fading, she wouldn't be able to hold her breath much longer.

_**Why?! Because that psycho, white-eyed freak is right! **_**They**_** wouldn't want this! If you had died and not them, would you have wanted them to waste away into nothing?! You need to fight back! For them! You need to get out of this and live your life! You need to fight every single depressing day because there is something left on this earth to live for! So you'll just have to live each heartbreaking minute for them until you find another reason to go on!**_

Sakura didn't reply but she suddenly was able to see clearer. The spots firing across her vision faded and Sakura's eyes narrowed as she looked passed Neji and Shikamaru and into the blue cloudless sky.

She felt her hands, still gripping Neji's arm, tighten, and then she was suddenly able to feel the subtle fluctuations in her chakra like she normally did. She looked away from the great expanse of blue above to Neji's pearl eyes.

Her own eyes narrowed in anger, but not anger toward Neji, anger toward herself. She _was_ a disgrace. If her boys were alive they _would _be disappointed in her. She was a shinobi, she could grieve her loss but she couldn't give up. She couldn't waste away for them, and she couldn't allow herself to give up because of them.

At that moment, with her lungs _screaming _for air, and the pressure in her brain building, Sakura's body lost it's battle for oxygen and she breathed in. Water pooled into her mouth and nostrils, filling her aching lungs with water again.

Sakura should have been panicking, but she wasn't. As she choked in the water and her body convulsed, her eyes remained locked with Neji's. She watched him watch her, and his anger-filled expression wavered, and he suddenly looked just as panicked as Shikamaru who was lunging toward Sakura as if to pull her from the water and away from Neji.

Sakura observed all of this as if it were in slow motion. Barely more than a second had passed since she'd inhaled the cold lake water, and it took no more than a second for Sakura to bend her tired legs up against her chest, and then extended them toward Neji just above her.

The bottoms of both her sandals connected with Neji's stomach, and with the assistance of her newly back-to-normal chakra control, she sent the surprised Jounin flying backward.

Shikamaru, taken aback by the fact that Neji was suddenly no longer crouched down next to him, but in mid-flight, didn't react fast enough when he felt a small, cold hand grip his ankle and pull him downward, plunging him into the cold lake beneath him.

Sakura desperately pulled herself above the water and began hacking out the half gallon of water restricting her from breathing. She collapsed, her cheek pressed against the water's surface, as she raggedly inhaled the blessed oxygen her body was demanding.

Shikamaru pulled himself out of the water and crawled toward her. Relieved, he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into an embrace.

After a moment Sakura was able to calm down, and with Shikamaru's help, she stood on wobbly knees and made her way toward Neji.

Neji, having landed on the other end of the lake, slowly sat up, cradling his injured torso; he was pretty sure he had a broken rip or two. He looked up as Sakura, leaning heavily against Shikamaru, made her way toward him.

When she reached him she stared down at him with an unreadable expression. Shikamaru watched, with one eyebrow quirked, as jade and pearl locked and neither of them moved.

He was waiting for Sakura to started screaming, or at least lunge toward the shinobi sitting in front of them, and attempt to strangle him for almost killing her. When Sakura shifted her weight, for a second he thought that's exactly what she was going to do, but instead she slowly slid out from under his arm, and crouched down next to Neji, without breaking eye contact.

Neji, who hadn't moved an inch, continued to stare right back, and when Sakura leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, his expression softened and he wrapped his free arm, the one not propping him up, around her small waist, and pulled her closer. He could feel her small body shaking against him, and he knew it wasn't from the cold water.

Sakura continued to quietly cry into Neji's neck as Shikamaru knelt down next to her and placed a comforting hand on her trembling shoulder.

"Thank you," Sakura whispered through her tears. There was nothing else said as the three shinobi sat upon the smooth, sparkling, seagreen lake.

Sakura hadn't felt this good in weeks. She was currently draped over Shikamaru's back as he and Neji slowly made their way to her house.

They had been brutal, and she knew she needed it. They had provided her with the only scenario to wake her from the darkness that would have consumed her. She now had a reason to get up in the morning, she needed to continue living to find the answer to why she was here and _they_ were no longer.

Plus, she needed to repay the favor, and show Neji and Shikamaru what the Hokage's apprentice really could do.

She made a vow to herself right then, with her head leaning into Shikamaru's neck and her limp arms swinging with every step he took. She would live her life for them, instead of letting it waste away like she had been doing. Every accomplishment and every day of her life from that point on would be a testament of her undying love for her parents and mostly for her boys.

She would make them proud, wherever they were.

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Sorry about the wait for this chapter. This week I felt a desperate need to reconnect with nature, because I can feel the summer slowly slipping away. How sad! So I've been doing a lot of swimming (they're closing my apartment's pool in two weeks!) and hiking before I am no longer able to, and so I have not worked much on my writing. I'll try to make it up this weekend.

Thanks again to my reviewers:

sweep14

BellaJames

les-liaisons-dangereuses

kitten652

starlit.kiss7

LittleFoxDemon

You guys make me so happy! (cue waterworks)

Please review, it inspires me to write faster!

-JustALittleTwisted


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter Six

One year later...

"Argh! Get off me you bit-"

"Do you honestly want to finish that sentence?" the obviously female ANBU asked from behind her fox mask. She lifted the battered man's face back up with his hair, only to smash it back down into the ground when he opened his mouth to retort again. "I didn't think so."

"Kitsune..." A deep male voice warned halfheartedly from behind the ANBU's crouched position over the tied up nin.

"Let's just get home," sighed another voice, while the owner of said voice, a bird-masked ANBU, crouched down on the other side of captured nin.

Looking up from the their prisoner, he asked his teammate, "Want to carry him?"

"Don't mind if I do."

The Kitsune reached out to grab the tied-up nin, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at the bird-masked ANBU.

"Kumo?"

Without replying, Kumo reached over and tugged gently on a long pink strand of hair that had escaped from Kitsune's black hair-wrap.

"Oh!"

Kumo twirled the pink lock - that must have escaped during the scuffle moments ago - around his finger and slid it back under the black material hiding Kitsune's very recognizable hair.

With a sheepish smile, hidden behind her mask, Kitsune patted her head to make sure no other strands of hair had escaped. It would not be very good if their enemies knew that the ANBU named Kistune was Haruno Sakura, the Hokage's easily recognizable apprentice.

Though all ANBU are warned to maintain their anonymity, Tsunade had been adamant when explaining this to Sakura after she and her team had passed the ANBU recruitment exams. At first Sakura had been taken back by the Hokage's desperate pleas for her to do all within her control to keep her identity secret. Then it had occurred to her that Konoha's enemies would love to get their hands on anyone as close to Tsunade as Sakura was.

Now that her identity was safely hidden again, Sakura bent down and roughly lifted their captive and flung him over her shoulder like he weighed no more than a child.

Their captive was a rogue shinobi believed to have information regarding a possible coup against the Domino of Grass Country, and they had spent three grueling days in the rain tracking him; Sakura wasn't opposed to taking out her frustration by roughing him up a bit.

She turned back to the two other members of her four-man team, just in time to see the monkey-faced ANBU divert his eyes.

Sakura barely refrained from rolling her own.

He had been staring at her butt _again_. Despite the fact that he was her captain now, and he had been making a very good effort to control himself, Genma still could not keep his eyes from straying now and then.

Sakura felt like punching him..._really _hard. But she was able to restrain herself; they had captured their target, and now could head home to a nice warm shower and a comfy bed. She was in too good of a mood to even bother scolding him about it.

Sakura turned her attention to the fourth and final member of their team. Ryudou, also known as Hyuga Neji, had been the one to keep her from beating their captive unnecessarily earlier. She could see that, through the eye holes of his tiger mask, he was rolling his eyes for her.

Sakura was glad, once again, that she had two non-perverted members on her team. Shikamaru (aka Kumo) and Neji actually had manners, despite their captains influence. After six months of being on an ANBU team together, there were many times that Sakura had to forgo her privacy in front of her team.

On one particular mission Sakura had been bathing when their camp site had been ambushed. Not bothering to dress herself before running to assist her team, Sakura ended up fighting in nothing more than a dinky towel.

Neji and Shikamaru had the decency to blush and look away, concentrating on battling their enemies. Genma, however, had stood gawking for half a second longer then he should have.

Luckily for him, his opponent, and two others from their enemies five-man team, also were not prepared to have a wet-dream come true leap into the clearing in the midst of their battle.

Sakura was able to knock all three men from their lustful stupor into an unconscious one, in one half of a second, with barely a tap from her immensely strong fist for each of their preoccupied noggins. She then did the same to their captain, and stomped back out of the clearing their campsite was in to go finish her bath, leaving Neji and Shikamaru to clean up the bodies of the unconscious enemy-nin and their captain.

Sakura didn't mind so much that her captain was a perv, he reminded her of Kakashi. Genma had been long time friends with her deceased sensei, and when he wasn't making sexual innuendos he made attempts at helping her with the grieving process. And occasionally, when she was filling up to it, they would swap stories of their mutual friend and sometimes of Yamato, as Genma had known him for a while as well.

Sakura leaped into the trees, carrying their 'package', and her teammates followed. They traveled through the rain non-stop until they reached the gates of Konoha.

After depositing their captive at the ANBU holding cell, located deep under ground, and they gave their report to the Hokage, the tired and sopping shinobi headed home.

Sakura threw off her sandals, mask, and pack as soon as she entered her house. She sprinted up the steps to her room, stripped and then hopped into a scolding hot shower. Twenty minutes later she was curled up on her couch, in a very comfy pair of sweats and a tank top, wrapped in a warm fluffy blanket, and sipping a cup of hot chocolate.

Sakura gave a deep drawn out sigh. She had been dreaming of this moment for the past few days, and was determined to stay there throughout the rest of the evening.

She turned her head and watched as Neji walked into the living room. He too had taken a shower, and now was wearing sweats and a T-shirt. He took a seat next to Sakura. Elevating his feet on the coffee table, he leaned further into the couch, looking completely relaxed.

Sakura barely kept herself from snorting out a laugh. Even after three months of being roommates, Sakura still could not get used to seeing Neji look anything but stern and demanding. But she truly felt honored, knowing that he was comfortable around her, and felt at home in her house.

Slyly grinning to herself, Sakura lifted her legs that were curled up under her, and slowly stretched them out and lowered them onto the relaxed shinobi's lap.

Neji, who had closed his eyes, only gave a slight quirk at the corner of his lips. It was common site with Sakura. She loved to be touching someone. Neji figured that quality must go along the lines of being a medical-nin.

He didn't mind in the least. He knew Sakura had a feel for who was and wasn't opposed to such affection. Sakura had waited until Neji was completely comfortable with her before she even attempted to unnecessarily touch him.

Now, whenever Sakura leaned on him or hugged him, a very warm feeling would spread throughout his chest. He felt completely at home in her embrace, and even craved it at times.

Sakura laughed openly when Neji placed his hand over one of Sakura's feet hanging off his lap. She jerked reflexively when he started to absently massage her ankle. He knew she was extremely ticklish, but he also knew that she loved massages. He was willing to occasionally give her one, if only to see her squirm and attempt to keep from laughing during his ministration.

At that moment Shikamaru sauntered in. He too looked like he had taken a quick shower, and was not wearing clothes similar to Sakura and Neji. He rolled his eyes at the shinobi laid out on the couch. Sakura was always trying to get someone to massage her feet.

The lazy shinobi made his way to one of the large comfy chairs placed on either side of the couch. He slumped into the chair and, like Neji, propped his feet up onto the coffee table. He had sunken so deeply into the soft cushions that it looked like the chair was trying swallow him whole - he probably wouldn't care if it did.

Sakura grinned broadly at him. Though Shikamaru hardly was picky about where he relaxed, she was very proud that both her roommates had come to truly feel at ease in her home.

Of course it was their idea to move into her large house in the first place. Sakura knew that they felt bad that she was left all alone in a house that brought back too many memories.

A few people had even suggested to Sakura that she sell it, and get a smaller one, or an apartment. But this was where she had grown up, and she wanted to hold onto those bittersweet memories. It was all she had left of her most important people.

Shikamaru, after having had enough of his overbearing mother - it was like living with Ino for crying out loud - had suggested moving into an apartment with Neji. Neji had been wanting a place of his own since he was a chuunin. He felt suffocated surrounded by family in the Hyuga compound. Though relations with him and his uncle had improved greatly since the chuunin exams, he still felt that he needed to live on his own for a while.

It just made sense to them to move in with Sakura. This way they could help her out with being lonely, and they could have very cheap rent - Sakura only charged them for utilities - and they wouldn't have to worry about buying furniture.

Sakura had been opposed to the idea at first; it was kinda taboo for a girl to room with a guy who was not her significant other. But she had come to decide that she honestly didn't care what other people thought of her.

It had worked out well. They all tended to need their own space, Sakura included, so she had given Neji the spacious room (that had it's own bathroom) in the basement, and Shikamaru had taken another guest room on the first floor, leaving Sakura with the second floor all to herself.

Even with their own space, Sakura was surprised that they hadn't gotten sick of each other yet. She did take a few shifts a week at the hospital, but between ANBU missions and their part time work in the ANBU Tactical Division together - which usually consisted of them being shoved into a badly lit room with two or three other Tactical ANBU for hours on end plotting out future missions - they hardly spent much time away from each other.

They also spent hours a day training with their ANBU captain - Sakura had caught on to wielding the ninjatō rather quickly and enjoyed gloating to Neji, who wasn't quite as good, over it - and whenever possible they would join Gai and Lee in their four AM training sessions.

Sakura had not been the only one against training at such a hellish hour when Neji had proposed it a few months before their ANBU exams. But Neji had insisted that Shikamaru and herself needed to improve in speed to make it into ANBU.

Both shinobi had finally relented and found that, though Gai's idea of training should be considered torture and banned from civilized society (as well as the green spandex), their taijutsu had greatly improved.

Sakura had even consented to wearing weights like Lee, only hers were a lot more inconspicuous. They were two hundred pound black ankle weights that she was able to hide behind her shin guards, and once she passed the exam her ANBU-standard black pants hid them easily. She was now at least twice as fast as she was a year ago, with the weights on. She had yet to test her speed with them off.

Even with all her other demands, Sakura was still able to fit in an occasional training session with Tsunade and continue her studies in improving her medical skills. Though Sakura was constantly being told she now had no equal when it came to her medical abilities - Tsunade had proudly declared it herself - she saw no harm in striving to improve.

And whenever the Toad Sage was in town he would force Sakura to train with him as well. To her surprise, Jiraiya was actually a decent teacher. He taught her a number of handy jutsus, and a few surprisingly brilliant escape jutsus if she was ever caught by enemy nin.

Though Sakura had her suspicions for Jiraiya's motives for training her, she kept them to herself. She knew he wanted to do his part to help her with the loss of Naruto. The two were so similar, Sakura could sometimes imagine Jiraiya as lot older and a lot more perverted version of Naruto.

She did however figure out one of his motives for training her. She had been shopping for a present to ship to Rock for Ino's birthday a few weeks ago, when she came across a popular adult book store that Kakashi use to love.

Coming to a stop she stared forlornly into the display window of the store. Suddenly her eyes, glazed over with thoughts of her genin sensei, had narrowed into slits when she had realized what was on display.

Jiraiya had published a new smutty series, and from the looks of the book's cover, the star was a strangely familiar looking kunoichi.

On the cover, as well as on a large poster for the book displayed in the background, was a young, busty kunoichi, wearing a very revealing red halter top and a short mini skirt with a med-pack wrapped around her hips. She was shown slamming her fist into the ground and fissures were jutting across the earth from the impact. But what had caught Sakura's attention was her vibrant green eyes and the long flowing pink hair.

Sakura, who, having forgone wearing her jounin uniform as it was her day off, was wearing a very similar yet more modest version of the fictional kunoichi's outfit, slowly began backing away from the window, as the occupants of the adult book store started to notice the stunned girl, who looked suspiciously like the kunoichi in the hottest selling book of the month.

Sakura had not seen Jiraiya since the incident, but when she did she was planning on repaying him with a punch to the head for every book she was forced to autograph by the hordes of fans - one of which happened to be her own ANBU captain. She was overjoyed when Tsunade had eagerly volunteered to assist in her revenge.

Sakura yawned as she took note of the time displayed on her mother's old grandfather clock (A/N are grandfather clocks common in Japan?). It was after seven o'clock and they had yet to eat dinner. Grudgingly, she pulled her feet out of Neji's grasp and hobbled her way into the kitchen, still wrapped in her blanket.

She was surprised to find that Shikamaru had followed her. Even though he was extremely lazy he did his fare share of chores around the house. He was also a very good chef - probably Choji's influence - and had taught her a number of delicious recipes.

Together they whipped up a fairly quick meal of udon and miso soup. Neji joined them in the kitchen to eat at the table, and then all three shinobi worked together to clean up the dishes.

Almost immediately afterwards they headed to bed. Gai and Lee had returned from their own mission days before, and were expecting them to be at their four o'clock AM training session the next morning.

Shikamaru watched from his spot under a tree as Sakura dodged another kick aimed at her head from Lee, her loose hair flowing around her like curtain. Today Sakura was wearing her medical skirt with biker shorts underneath as she had a shift at the hospital once their training was through.

Damn it was distracting! How was he expected to concentrate on his five hundred push-ups when, whenever he looked up, he caught a flash of a long shapely leg.

_I shouldn't have read that smutty book._

He was brought out of his reverie when he heard a triumphant cheer from Sakura. Gai and Neji had looked up from their battle as well. Sakura was standing over a grinning Lee, who was currently crawling out of a Lee-shaped hole in the ground.

"I finally got you!" Sakura cheered ecstatically.

"Congratulations Sakura-san! Your youthfulness-"

Shikamaru quickly blocked out Lee's declarations of 'youth' before they killed anymore of his brain cells. Still, he was stunned - well, as stunned as he could get. Though Lee never used his full speed when training with them, neither himself nor Sakura had ever been able to actually hit him when they were only allowed to use taijutsu.

Sakura had grown so strong that he knew even Neji would have a hard time beating her in speed, even without chakra. He knew it had everything to do with her vow to become stronger as a tribute to her deceased teammates.

He didn't think it was very healthy to be always overly exerting herself in memory of her teammates. Though he would never tell her that. She was a lot better living for her former team than wasting away in her grief like she had done the first few weeks after their deaths.

She even refused to cut her hair short, even though it would be a lot easier to hide in her hair-wrap for missions if it was shorter. She had told him and Neji she promised her mother, the last day she'd seen her alive, that she would be the next person to cut her hair short. She planned on keeping it long as a kind of tribute to her mother. Now her thick pink locks now reached down to her waist.

It's not that he didn't like her hair long, or the fact that she was a hard worker, he just figured she should still take a break every now and then, and drop that heavy load she carried on her shoulders for the sake of the deceased.

There wasn't a single day that Sakura had dropped everything and relaxed. There wasn't a single day that she was in Konoha that she didn't go to the memorial; it was one of a few habits Sakura had adopted from her former sensei.

She didn't realize, but he and Neji were perfectly aware that she kept each of her deceased teammates' Konoha headbands in a black, intricately carved box in the top drawer of her bedside table. They knew that she took them out every morning before she got out of bed, and ran her fingers across the charred and bent metal of each headband, while gazing at nothing in particular, lost in her own thoughts.

He also knew that she suffered from terrible nightmares that plagued her almost every night. It was hard not to notice, when he could hear her from the first floor. He could tell that most of her nightmares revolved around her deceased team, and the traitor Uchiha Sasuke.

Sakura seemed to be even more determined to bring Sasuke back to Konoha. He figured this was because Sasuke was her last living link to Team Seven, and _no__t_because she was still in love with him...or at least that's what he told himself.

Shikamaru fell to the ground exhausted. He had finished his push-ups just in time to watch Sakura bring a knee to Lee's stomach, sending him into a near by tree.

"Oh! Sorry Lee!"

"Yosh! Sakura-san do not worry, I am uninjured," Lee declared happily, as he pulled himself from the splintered remains of the tree. He was enjoying actually having a real threat from Sakura.

"Sakura-san, your improvements have displayed great youthfulness," Gai declared proudly with tears in his eyes as he and Neji walked toward the center of the training grounds. "My eternal rival would have been _so _proud!"

Sakura's smile wavered slightly at the mention of her deceased genin sensei, but she beamed happily as Lee pulled her into a tight hug, weeping joyously into her shoulder. Moments later her face contorted into an embarrassed grimace as Gai joined them in a three-way hug.

"Come my youthful friends," Gai called to Neji and Shikamaru, who were standing a safe distance away. "You must join us in an embrace of youth!"

"Hn."

"Troublesome."

Both shinobi watched as Sakura continued to be suffocated by the green-clad men. Having pity on their female teammate they walked forward and wrenched the two exuberant shinobi away from her. Then, said exuberant shinobi promptly leaped into each others arms, with fountains of tears streaming from their eyes.

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

The three ANBU-nin did not hear the rest as they had quickly vacated the training grounds.

"Sakura-sempai you needed something?"

"Oh, Mitsune! Good, I need more bandages," Sakura said calmly without looking up at the hovering nurse.

Her current case was an easy one. She couldn't count how many broken ribs she'd helped mend on a regular basis.

This particular instance, an entire ANBU team had been ambushed going through a canyon. All four nin had similar injuries caused by blunt trauma. One of the pursuing enemy-nin had strategically placed bombs throughout the canyon. When the Konoha ANBU squad entered the canyon the bombs went off, causing a huge landslide.

Sakura was amazed that all of them had survived, let alone made it back to Konoha on their own. Now that they were in the hospital though, a full recovery was guaranteed for all of them.

None of them had head injuries, which was Sakura's first fear upon entering the emergency room. Luckily the worst injure, which Sakura was currently working on, was a broken rib that had almost punctured a lung.

After molding the rib back into place, and fixing the damage to the lung, which wasn't much, Sakura wrapped the ANBu's chest with ace bandages and move onto the next ANBU.

She grinned down at her next patient. Though they were still wearing their ANBU masks, Sakura, being ANBU herself, knew the identities of three of the four squad members. She knew by the bore mask that she was looking down at Aburame Shino. He nodded his head back at her.

"How do you feel?" Sakura asked as she lifted his shirt - his ANBU vest had already been taken off - and peered over his bruised abdomen. "Does it hurt in any particular spot?"

Sakura looked up to see Shino nod and point to his side. "Here."

She moved closer to the spot indicated and gently prodded it with her chakra.

"Nothings broken, but you've got a lot of major bruising." Sakura grinned up at him and winked. "Nothing I can't handle."

She places her palm gently over his injured side and closed her eyes. Her hand glowed green as she prodded Shino's injury with her warm chakra. Three minutes later she was done.

"Do you feel any more pain?"

Shino shook his head. "No. Thank you Sakura-san."

Sakura grinned in response and turned to the remaining two ANBU laid out across two other hospital beds. They were both sitting up in their beds looking content as they watch her move about the room.

She could tell that, even with their masks on, they were grinning broadly, and she was pretty sure she knew why.

Sakura knew - mainly because Hinata complained to her about it on a number of occasions - that the dog-masked ANBU, Inuzuka Kiba, had an bad habit of reading poorly written smut, and was a very big fan of Jiraiya's Icha Icha series.

She also knew that the squirrel-masked ANBU in the bed next to Kiba had a similar obsession. Said ANBU, Ito Tadashi, who was a few years older than Sakura, also made a habit of overly flirting with Sakura, almost as much as Genma. Sakura inwardly rolled her eyes, not understanding why he'd make a habit of flirting with _her _of all people.

"Sakura-chan, you're looking more beautiful than ever," Tadashi announced as Sakura made her way between the two ANBU's beds. Sakura rolled her eyes good-humoredly when she spotted him winking at her through the eye-holes of his mask.

"Or," chimed in Kiba - Sakura could tell his grin had widened even further. "Should we call you _Akem__i_, 'the beautiful medic-nin, who could melt the heart of any man but the one she truly loved'?"

Sakura rolled her eyes again. She had heard that story summary quoted to her more than once. Jiraiya was _really _going to get it.

She groaned aloud when both shinobi shoved a copy of Jiraiya's book in her face.

"Please?!"

She could imagine the puppy-dog faces they were pulling under their masks.

Ignoring the chuckles from the other two ANBU, and a nurse who happened to be walking by the open door, Sakura angrily snatched up both books and pulled a pen from her pocket.

She hurriedly scribbled the same sentence on the inside of both books:

_'Get a better hobby_

_-Sakura'_

When Sakura threw the books back at them, Tadashi and Kiba quickly read the inscription and grinned madly up at her.

"Thank you Sakura-chan!" they simultaneously yelled, with an exaggerated child-like cheerfulness.

Sakura just sighed loudly and started cleaning and healing their wounds. A little while later she was finished. After telling each ANBU they could go home if they took it easy, she cheerfully waved to them - her anger had deflated rather quickly - and left the room to see if Shizune had any more patients for her, completely oblivious to the appreciative gazes lingering on her retreating form.

She was so easy to spot in the crowded hallway, with her pink hair flowing to her waist, and those large, bright green eyes. She was currently talking to three young chuunin, one of which was a boy speaking animatedly and was gesturing to a rather large pink scar on his forehead.

As Neji crossed the remaining distance to the four shinobi, he caught the end of their conversation.

"Yes, I am very proud of you Konohamaru, that sounded like an adventurous mission, but are you sure you don't want me to heal the scar completely?" Sakura asked kindly.

"What?! No way Sakura-san! This is my first real battle scar! It's gonna make me look more intimidating!" Konohamaru screeched at the top of his lungs, causing a few nurses and patients to glance in their direction.

"Okay, okay Konohamaru, if you say so," Sakura said, grinning sheepishly, as she waved her hands in front of her in a placating manner. "But if you ever change your mind come and see me." She reached over and ruffled his hair. "I wouldn't want to see that handsome face get all scarred up."

Konohamaru's face suddenly resembled a tomato. "H-hai, Sakura-san," he stuttered out, as he nervously scratched the back of his head with one hand.

"The same goes for you two," Sakura said, turning her attention to the shinobi and kunoichi on either side of Konohamaru, completely unaware of the young nins strange behavior.

"Hai, Sakura-san!" Their voices range out simultaneously.

Neji was waiting for them solute Sakura like a drill sergeant - their backs and faces were so straight.

Sakura ushered them toward the hospital's exit and call to them as they were leaving. "Bye Konohamaru, Udon, Moegi! Stay out of trouble!"

Smiling she turned to Neji. "Hey! What's up Neji?"

"Haruno-" Neji stopped, seeing the annoyed look on Sakura's face, and let out a sigh. "I mean _Sakura_." She grinned happily at him. He was about to continue when Sakura put her hand up to stop him.

"I know, I know. Every time you call me _Haruno _we have a mission or some important meeting to go to. You know, you don't have to put the stick back in whenever you're in public. If you just act your self around somebody besides Hinata, Shikamaru, your old genin team, and myself, your fan club might actually rival Genma's." She winked at him.

Only someone who knew Neji well would have registered the stunned expression on his face.

_Did she just say I have a stick up my butt?!_ He Inwardly screamed. Outwardly he composed himself and quirked an eyebrow as he looked down at Sakura.

"Why would I want a bigger fan club? I only need one girl, who happens to be..." he slowly trailed off as he realized he was about to confess his attraction to her. He was once again screaming at himself inwardly, but for a different reason.

As oblivious as usual, Sakura's face lit up even more (Neji was momentarily mesmerized). "Aww, that is so sweet! You're gonna make a lucky girl very happy some day!"

Neji sighed and inwardly rolled his eyes. _How could someone so smart be so incognizant__?_He grabbed a hold of Sakura's upper arm - trying to ignore how soft it was - and began pulling her toward the exit.

"We have an meeting with the Hokage," he said through clenched teeth, annoyed at his inability to ignore his attraction to her.

Sakura's free arm was flailing as she fought to keep from falling over; she was sure Neji would continue to drag her if she did. She latched on to a passing nurse's wrist, and said nurse lurched forward as she began to be dragged along behind Sakura.

"Can you tell Shizune that I have to go to the Hokage's office? I've just finished my rounds, so it shouldn't be too inconvenient for her."

The stunned nurse nodded dumbly, and Sakura released her wrist, just as Neji pulled her through the revolving doors.

When they got to the Hokage's office, with Neji still dragging her - did I say something to upset him? - Sakura was greeted by Shino, who had changed into his jounin uniform, and Shikamaru.

"Sakura. Neji." Tsunade inclined her head in greeting to both shinobi as they walked up to stand in front of her desk. She quirk an eyebrow at Neji's hand that was still wrapped around Sakura's arm.

Seeing this Neji jerked his hand away and let it drop to his side. He was disgusted with himself, he'd absently been rubbing circles into the silky flesh of Sakura's upper arm, near the shoulder, with his thumb!

He looked down to see that, of course, Sakura had noticed. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she was biting down on her lip to keep from laughing.

How could he have forgotten; she was extremely ticklish! Luckily for him she didn't see anything behind his actions, as far as he could tell she thought he was just trying to tickle her.

Tsunade cleared her throat and Neji jerked to attention. "I have a mission for you four, tomorrow. It should be a simple one, otherwise I would be opposed to assigning it to you so soon after you each got back from missions.

"There has been a strange outbreak of some kind of virus in a small village near Fire's north-east border, a few hours from Sound's borders. Though we don't believe this has anything to with Sound, I've decided that we should send an ANBU team, just in case. This is only a B-rank mission, so you will not go in your ANBU gear.

"I have assigned Shino as your fourth member, since Genma is assisting me with the upcoming ANBU exams. Also, Shino's bugs may be of use in the medical aspects of the mission, as they have a natural ability to detect poisons and irregularities in the body." Tsunade looked to Shino, who nodded his agreement.

"Sakura, I am giving you the assignment of medic only. The other three on your team will be there to assist you or protect you if need be. Do you understand?" Tsunade asked, her voice stern. She knew Sakura hated taking on the medic roll only. She didn't like standing in the background feeling helpless while her team did all the fighting.

_She'll just have to suck it up for this one._

Tsunade could admit it to herself, she was nervous about this mission. It was the first one that Sakura was assigned to outside of Konoha, without her ANBU uniform on, since finding out the she was a target for Akatsuki and Sound, but the situation called for it. Forcing Sakura to remain safely in the background, if anything went wrong, only slightly eased her worry.

Sakura grudgingly nodded her understanding. Since the mission's only purpose was that of a medical kind, she would probably be too busy to worry about much else. So she did understand Tsunade's reasons for restricting her duties, but there was no way she'd stand back if anything went wrong - she'd done that too often as a genin, and would never do it again. Of course she wasn't going to tell her shishou that.

After briefing them on the situation in the small civilian town, Tsunade assigned Neji as the teams captain, and dismissed them. She wanted them to make it to the town before evening on the next day.

They left at nine AM the next morning, giving them plenty of time to get to their destination before five o'clock. The trip was easy and uneventful, and they arrived just after three PM.

The town was a pleasant one, but obviously poor. Sakura could tell that primary means of support was through their own agriculture. There were small gardens lined up in between the shack-like houses, and on the south end of the village there was a huge, tilled field with countless straight little green rows of rice plants. The dark forest towered over all ends of the small village, that looked like it was home to no more than two-hundred citizens.

After introducing themselves to the villages leader, Takahashi Madoka (a friendly, balding man in his fifties, who looked like he spent every day of his life working out in the fields), they were given a small room in one of the wealthier family's home - which wasn't saying much.

The room had no furniture save for a small table, that raised a foot above the ground in one corner of the room, that held a large white, ceramic wash-bowl. The entire house was built in the old Japanese style. The floor of their room was covered in tatami mats and on two sides of the room were shōji sliding doors. One lead right outside to a small raised porch, and the other (which they entered through) opened into the hallway that lead to the rest of the house.

The four Konoha-nin placed their packs down, leaning them against the wall. After Sakura sifted through her large pack, shoving everything that she might need for her patients into her medic pack, the group left their temporary living quarters to begin their research on the mysterious illness.

Madoka met them outside, and lead the way toward the make-shift hospital, which turned out to be a small building that looked like someone's residence. As they approached, Sakura could hear retching and moaning coming from within.

"This is the town's doctor's home," Madoka said, as he and Konoha-nin filed through the front door.

As soon as Sakura entered the house, she was overwhelmed by the smell. She was barely able to suppress a gag. There were eight cots spread out across the room, and eight extremely ill people filled them. A leather-skinned old woman and man were moving from cot to cot, cleaning up vomit, feces, and blood, and administering aid.

She didn't wait for an introduction. As the rest of her team lined up against the wall, nearest to the door, Sakura hurried over to the closest cot, occupied by a young boy, probably twelve or thirteen years old.

He was moaning in pain, saliva and tears were dripping off his chin, and there was a layer of sweat coating, from what she could see, his entire body. As Sakura stood next to his cot he turned to the side and vomited into a large bucket placed on the floor next to his cot.

After he was finished, Sakura crouched down near his head, and gently placed a hand on his sweat-soaked forehead. The boy peaked up at her through heavy lidded eyes, and Sakura smiled down at him.

"I'm here to help you," she said softly.

The boy nodded, and continued to stare into Sakura's face as she closed her eyes and laid her other hand over his chest, that was rising and falling along with his asthmatic breathing. She forced her warm, soothing chakra into his body, and began her analysis.

His heart rate and blood pressure were unusually low, and Sakura could tell he was suffering from severe dehydration; which made sense because he seemed to be losing all his bodily fluids. She also detected an extremely high level of C02 in his blood; he would soon be suffering from respiratory failure.

Sakura was stunned! Whatever this illness was, it deteriorate the body _fast_. From Tsunade's report, the first symptoms had only begun two days ago. This seemed more like poisoning than any virus.

Sakura opened her eyes when she felt a presence next to her. The old man was looking at her from his crouched position from the other side of the cot. He was eyeing her critically.

"So you're the medic that was sent by Konoha?" His voice was kind, but a held a hint of skepticism in it. Sakura nodded 'yes'.

"Hmm...you're very young."

Sakura, annoyed, was about to retort, when he continued. "But I trust the Hokage, so I am sure that you will be sufficient."

The old man smiled at Sakura, and she returned it, and extended her hand above the boy between them. The old man took it and briefly shook her hand.

"I'm Haruno Sakura, the Hokage's apprentice."

The old man's eyes grew wide at the recognition of the name. "Aa, I should have noticed before, not very many people have pink hair. The Hokage's apprentice huh? Well I am Yamane Nobuo, the town's doctor."

"It's nice to meet you Nobuo. Now what can you tell me about this illness?" Sakura was quick to move to more important things.

"Well, it started about two days ago. The first victims, all the one's you see here," he waved his arm indicating all eight sick people around the room. "Most of them are workers that help distribute the rice storage.

"They all started out with the same symptoms: increased salivation, sweating, and excessive tearflow. Then within a few hours comes the abdominal pain, nausea, and diarrhea. By the next day all eight of then were suffering from blurred vision - if you look around all their eyes are dilated - and then labored breathing.

"My wife and I have been treating the symptoms, but there isn't much we can do. Their bodies will not keep in fluids, and they're all showing signs of respiratory failure."

He leaned closer to Sakura, and with a resigned expression whispered, "I don't think they'll survived another day."

Sakura inhaled deeply, as she contemplated what Nobuo had told her. She had already figured out most of it on her own, but the fact that the victims worked together was news to her.

"So they were all near the storehouses for the rice the day their first symptoms began?"

"Hai. We checked the rice that they ate for lunch, but nothing seemed to be wrong with it."

"So you think it's poisoning?"

"Hai."

"I think you're right." Sakura said, as she went back to searching the young boy's body with her chakra.

"Was this boy here working with the others?" Sakura asked nodding toward the boy beneath them, who hadn't looked away from Sakura's face.

"No, Fumio here and his friend, Yuki," Nobuo pointed across the room to a boy a little older than Fumio. "They were playing in the field just to the south of the storehouses. Their symptoms started a few hours after the rest."

Sakura was quiet for a moment as she contemplated everything the doctor had told her.

"How many victims are there total?"

"Twenty-six so far. Yesterday thirteen got sick, and today five people are showing symptoms."

"Were they all near the storehouses as well?"

"No, none of them were. All the victims, except for five or six, were weeding in the rice field, which is south of the storehouses."

"What of the other victims who were not working in the rice field? Where were they before their symptoms showed up?

"A few of those yesterday, and nearly all the victims today, are women who had not left their homes."

"Did they have any contact with the other victims?"

"A few of them, yes, but we are a small village so it is hard not to go a day without most of the village coming into contact with each other. A few of the women, though, did not come into contact with any of the other victims on the day they became sick."

Sakura sighed heavily. She could not see where everything connected. Momentarily giving up on the mystery of the origins of the illness, Sakura turned her attention back to the sick boy.

"I'll treat the symptoms as best as I can, and then my team and I will research the cause further." Sakura reached into her pack and pulled out a vile of clear liquid and a syringe.

"This," she began talking while filling the syringe with the liquid, "is a liquefied form of Doxapram, which will stimulate the respiratory system and help ease breathing."

Sakura lifted Fumio's arm and smiled reassuringly at him. He nodded his head a little hesitantly, and Sakura expertly stuck the needle into his arm, injected the medicine, and then quickly pulled it out.

"See, that didn't hurt now did it?"

Fumio gave Sakura a slight smile, and shook his head 'no'.

Sakura patted his hand gently, and stood up to administer a dose to the others. Once finished, she informed Nobuo that she would be back in a few hours, and to come and get her if he needed anything.

Madoka lead them to the households of the other victims, and Sakura provided aid and questioned the victims for further information. When they were finished, the Konohah-nin were lead to the storehouse.

"This is where the first victims were working," Madoka said as they entered the large shed. It was filled with large canisters stacked one over the other. "No one has entered since two days ago."

"Did you test the rice for any contaminants?" Shikamaru asked as he eyed one of the air-tight canisters.

"Yes, we checked all the canisters and then resealed them."

"Describe to us exactly what the workers were doing here on the day they fell ill." Neji said, as he too began wandering the large room.

"Using those shovels." Madoka pointed to a pile of small shovels stacked on a large table at one end of the room. "They filled bags with the rice from the canisters and distributed them to a few households that were running low on rice."

"Did they deliver any rice to the households of the more recent victims?"

Madoka turned toward Sakura as he thought over her question. "I'm not sure, but I think at least one or two of them had been needing more rice."

"My bugs do not detect any trace of contaminant here." Shino spoke up, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with one finger.

"Where do you store the bags?" Sakura asked Madoka, turning away from Shino.

"Out back."

"Can you show us?"

"Hai."

The heavy-duty burlap bags were piled up along the side of the building. Shino walked forward and lifted his hand. Two winged insect flew off of his outstretched finger and landed on one of the piles. After a minute of scurrying around they flew back to Shino's outstretched hand.

"My insects have detected toxins on the sacks and in the air surrounding them."

Madoka gave a small gasp, and took a couple of steps back, away from the piles of burlap bags.

"Only the air immediately surrounding the piles is contaminated. A long as there is no breeze, we are fine at this distance," Shino informed the worried village leader.

Sakura sifted through her bulging pack and pulled out five white medical masks, and handed them to Madoka and her team, and kept one for herself. Once Sakura had donned her mask she stepped forward to analyze the bags.

"Shino, can you detect where the toxin is coming from, or at least where it is strongest?" Sakura asked, turning back to the men standing a few feet behind her.

Shino nodded, and extended his hand again to allow four more bugs to fly off and land onto the piles of bags. All eyes watched as the four little bugs scurried around the pile, and then disappear between the piles and the side of the building. A moment a later they scurried back into view, and flew back to Shino.

"The toxin is much more concentrated between the piles and the building."

Sakura nodded and stood up. "Stand back," she warned. When she heard the four men move further backward, Sakura bent down and effortlessly lifted one of the large piles, and chucked it behind her. As it landed with a thud, Madoka went wide eyed at the display of strength from the petite woman.

Now that the sacks were moved Sakura could see under the raised building. There was a large nest of ivory funnel shaped mushrooms sprouting out from the ground beneath the building.

"Clitocybe dealbata," Sakura whispered to herself, slightly surprised.

"What did you say," Shikamaru asked, as he and the other men stepped behind Sakura's crouched form.

"Clitocybe dealbata. It's a very poisonous mushroom."

"Is that what's causing the illness," Madoka asked, peering down at the small white mushrooms.

"I believe so," Sakura said, but she sounded distracted.

"What's wrong Sakura?" Neji asked, crouching beside her.

"Well," Sakura paused, still sounding distracted. "the victims symptoms do match the symptoms of Muscarine-Histamine poisoning, which is the poison that comes from mushrooms of this species, but..," Sakura paused again, and turned to look at Neji with a confused expression on her face, "the symptoms are much more extreme than normal cases. It's very rare for victims of Muscarine-Histamine poisoning to actually get as sick as everyone here has gotten.

"Not only that, the spores never go airborne, the only way for someone to be poisoned should be if they actually consumed the mushroom. It's almost as if they're are a hybrid of the species; I've never heard of something so potent."

There was a long pause as the men digested what Sakura had said. Shikamaru, who had crouched down on the other side of Sakura broke the silence, "Do you think they were engineered this way or are these a natural anomaly?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Sakura said honestly. "I'll have to take a sample back to Konoha, but...I have a feeling that there's more to this than meets the eye.

A heavy silence settled over the small group huddled between the piles of rice sacks. Sakura pulled out a surgical glove and a plastic bag from her pack. Pulling the glove on she bent forward and pulled up a white funneled mushroom and placed it, and the now contaminated glove, in the plastic bag and sealed it. She would study it once she got back to Konoha. Sakura stood, looking lost in thought and walked away from the building, while placing the bag in her pack, the others followed her.

"We'll need to uproot the mushrooms, and make sure there are no other batches growing around here. We'll pile them together with the contaminated bags and burn them."

Sakura stopped and turned to Madoka. "The wind has been blowing southward the past few days, hasn't it?"

Madoka nodded, confused. "Hai, I believe so. Why would that be significant?"

"The wind must have been particularly strong yesterday, am I right?" Sakura asked, ignoring his question.

"H...hai."

"That explains why the workers in the field just south of here were contaminated, the wind must have carried the spores southward. Also, I'm guessing that Fumio and his friend were playing around the storehouse when a breeze picked up, which is how they caught the toxin."

"The women who fell sick in the past twenty-four hours probably got the toxin on them from the burlap sacks when they opened them to get rice," Shikamaru added.

"We'll need to find those sacks and burn the as well," Neji put in.

"Hai. We'll need to burn them on the southern most part of the rice field, so that the wind will blow the fumes into the forest and away from the village." When everyone nodded their agreement Sakura turned and began walking toward the forest.

"Shikamaru, Neji, Shino, could you guys begin pulling up the mushrooms and started piling them and the bags at the end of the field?"

"Hai," they said simultaneously. Though Sakura was not the leader of their team, they respected her decisions, and often did as was suggested by the medic-nin.

"Put gloves on, and keep your masks on, even when you're away from contaminated objects. Your have spores all over your clothes and skin, so thoroughly clean yourself and your clothes immediately after you are finished."

"Hai."

"Madoka," Sakura stopped her progress toward the line of trees to the west of the village. "You'll need to find a few helpers to gather all the sacks that have been distributed to the villagers in the past few days and bring them to the field. Make sure you clean yourself and change your clothes before you come into contact with anyone. Also, inform those you assign to assist you to keep their nose and mouth covered, and tell them to bath afterwards as well."

"Hai, Sakura-san."

"I am going to have a quick dip in the river." Sakura pointed to trees ahead of them, where a the sounds of rushing water could be heard. "Once done I'm going to start searching for some Atropa belladonna, or deadly nightshade, it holds a significant amount of Atropine, which is the cure for the toxin Muscarine-Histamine."

Her teammates nodded, and turned back toward the storehouse, quick to follow her orders. Madoka walked up to the pink-haired kunoichi and bowed deeply.

"Arigatou, Sakura-san. My village owes you a great debt."

Sakura blushed profusely, and waved him away. "Don't worry about it! I'm just doing my job." She bowed quickly and turned back toward the forest, embarrassed; she could never get used to receiving gratitude as a medic without flushing a deep red.

After jumping into the river, fully clothed, Sakura dried herself with a handy wind jutsu, and set off in search of the life saving deadly nightshade. The shrub wasn't hard to find, she knew it grew in moist and disturbed soil, so the likely spot was the edge of the rice field, near the large trees that provided shade for the majority of the day.

Sakura sat down on the ground and began pulling the shrub out of the cool soil, and squeezing the alkaloid from the roots. She could see, from the other end of the field, her teammates and a couple of civilians stoking the fire that was just beginning to consume the rice bags and deadly mushrooms.

She turned back to her work, feeling slightly relieved that the contaminate was being taken care of, but she had a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach that just didn't seem to want to go away. She knew it had something to do with the abnormality of the mushrooms' poison. She was getting a sinking feeling that the mushrooms were engineered to be even more deadly and purposely planted in one of the most detrimental locations for the village; contaminating the food supply would be a perfect first assault for an enemy.

But what was bothering Sakura more than anything about this scenario was that she didn't know why. What would be the point of attacking a small village? As Sakura continued filling vile after vile of Atropine from the roots of the deadly nightshade, she could not come up with an answer.

_Maybe_, she thought to herself. _Their target, whoever 'they' were, isn't the village but someone who would be drawn to the village in it's time of crisis; namely a medic-nin. If that were the case, was it just any medic-nin they were seeking or were they targeting a particular person? And if they were targeting one person, how would they know that particular shinobi would come to aid the village?_

Sakure mulled over her questions, but could not come up with any answers. Sighing inwardly, she finally stood from her sitting spot next to the now uprooted deadly nightshade shrubs, and dusted herself off.

She had extracted enough of the antidote for doses for all twenty-six victims for the next two days. The first eight victims, if not more, would need the Atropine administered for a week, so she knew she'd need to find more of the shrub to stock up, but for now she had enough. Her patients were in dire need of the healing properties of the antidote. Fumio's young, grimacing face flickered across Sakura's thoughts, and she began to quicken her pace back toward the village.

Once she entered the doctor's house she knew something was wrong. She rushed over to Nobuo and his exhausted wife, who were frantically hovering over Fumio's unconscious body. Nobuo was performing CPR, and growling in between breaths, "Fumio don't you die on me!"

Sakura hurried forward and gently, but firmly, pushed the elderly woman aside, and took her spot over Fumio. Without a word to the doctor, she placed her hand over Fumio's chest and pushed her chakra into his body.

"Is Fumio dying?" a frantic, weak voice cried out from across the room.

Sakura looked up to see Fumio's friend - Yuki was it? - attempting to sit up to get a better look at his friend's unconscious body. Sakura did not reply as she turned her attention back to the boy dying in front of her.

She immediately pick up the problem, his heart had stopped. Frantically she searched for the cause. Her chakra seeped into his veins, and she quickly discovered that the high levels of C02 in his system had turned his blood acidic and now his heart, having already been damaged before she administered the Doxapram, was now failing.

"Shit!"

Nobuo stopped breathing into the young boys mouth, and looked up to stare exhaustedly at Sakura. "He's been out for almost a minute now."

Sakura nodded, a determined expressing settling across her face. "Keep breathing into him, I'm going to try something."

When Nobuo did as she asked, Sakura closed her eyes and concentrated her chakra into Fumio's heart. Using her chakra like a defibrillator, she began to shock his heart. The jolt forced his heart into action, but it stopped again after only a few beats.

"Shit!" Sakura swore again. His heart was too damaged, it wasn't going to work on it's own until the damage was fixed. Sakura could easily heal his heart with her chakra, but the real problem was his blood, with it's high C02 levels, it was poisoning his respiratory system and would continue to damage his heart even while Sakura healed it.

Sakura opened her eyes to briefly looked over at Nobuo. He and his wife looked like they were asleep on their feet. Sakura knew Nobuo wouldn't be able to keep administering CPR for much longer.

With her heart pounding Sakura closed her eyes again. She was about to do something that required two medic-nins, but she was going to have to make due with just herself. She placed her other sweaty palm over Fumio's bare chest.

_Now comes the tricky part._

With the chakra from her right hand, Sakura began pumping Fumio's heart, and at the same time used the chakra from her left hand to purge his blood canal. She began sifting the oxygen from Nobuo's breaths straight into Fumio's blood, while extracting the high levels of C02.

Within thirty seconds Sakura was able to get the C02 and oxygen levels in his blood back to normal. As she continued pumping his heart with her right hand's chakra, she started healing his heart. The actual process of healing his heart normally would take a few minutes, but Sakura only had seconds. If Fumio didn't get oxygen to his brain soon he was going to suffer brain damage.

Sakura employed all the skill she possessed in healing and reconstructing the hearts membrane at a pace she'd never known possible. Just as she felt herself slipping into unconsciousness, from overexerting herself, and she heard Madoka slump to the floor gasping for air, she felt Fumio's heart beat on it's own. A second later it did it again, and Sakura's eyes opened wide when she heard and felt Fumio take in a deep drawn out breath.

She continued to watch his face, stunned, as the young boy took in more deep breaths. Sakura could hear Yuki crying Fumio's name from his cot across the room, and Nobuo's wife worrying over her husband on the floor, but she paid no attention.

She had saved him! It wasn't like she'd never saved someone's life before, she'd done it plenty of times, but she had never heard of a medic being able to do two extremely intricate procedures, like she was doing, at the same time. She wasn't too modest to admit it, to herself at least, that she was overwhelmed by her own skill.

Sakura suddenly blanched as she remember exactly what had brought her back to the doctor's home. She quickly turned away from Fumio, and opened her large medic pack. She hurriedly pulled out a syringe that she had already filled with Atropine, and stuck it into a large vein in Fumio's arm.

As she pushed the antidote into his blood stream, Fumio slowly opened his eyes, and stared at Sakura. After a moment of staring at her he asked, "am I in heaven?"

Sakura nearly choked, as she laughed at Fumio's innocent question that could have been a bad pickup line.

"No sweetie," Sakura said, after calming herself. "You're alive, and you're going to be fine."

Fumio smiled and closed his eyes. "Thank you pretty angel," he whispered and then gradually drifted off to sleep.

Sakura smiled broadly at the now-sleeping boy. She turned her attention to Nobuo, who was just sitting up on the floor, a large grin adorning his tired face.

"You really are as talented as the rumors implied."

Sakura's smile remained plastered on her face as she nodded her head at the elderly man. Without saying another word, she wearily stood, using the cot for support, and turned to her next patient - she had to administer the antidote to twenty-five more patients, and _then _she would allow herself to pass out.

"Honestly Sakura, I know they say muscle weighs more than fat, but this is ridiculous!" Shikamaru groaned out. He was carrying (or attempting to carry) his semi-conscious female teammate piggyback style, after she nearly passed out at the last patient's home.

It was well into the night, and Sakura hadn't even taken a break up until that moment. She had refused to rest until she had tended to every patient, and given the families of the patients detailed instructions for their care.

"It's not me that weighs so much," Sakura snorted out a weak laugh into Shikamaru's neck, sounding like she was half asleep. "I'm still wearing my ankles weights."

"Oi! Well you're going to have to take them off."

Shikamaru bent down, and Neji and Shino steadied Sakura as she weakly slid off his back. Shikamaru, still in a crouched position, turned around and lifted up Sakura's jounin-standard, black pant leg and unclasped the two hundred pound weight from Sakura's ankle.

He gave an exasperated snort when the two hundred pound weight fell to the ground with a thud and Sakura happily sighed, relieved.

"I can't believe you still wear these...how troublesome." Shikamaru looked up at Sakura and gave her a lazy smile. Sakura smiled back and then closed her eyes and leaned her head against Neji's shoulder.

Shikamaru turned his back to Sakura and she climbed back on. After Shino and Neji picked up Sakura's ridiculously heavy ankle weights, the four Konoha-nin made their way quickly through the darkened town to their quarters.

When Sakura's head hit her bedroll a few minutes later, she thought sleep would come instantly, but her mind was restless and she remained awake for nearly an hour afterwards, going over all the possible reasons for someone to want to harm a poor farming village. She did not come to any conclusions, but it occurred to Sakura that the village's proximity was coincidentally close to Sound's border, moments before sleep overtook her.

XXXXXXXX

Tada! That was over 10,000 words peeps! I just couldn't stop writing. Hope you enjoyed!

Thanks to my reviewers:

Punk And Lovin It

Sakura is number 1

reakhorrorchick

LittleFoxDemon

Vesper chan

Kurisutii-chan

hikaru

You guys make the long hours, tears, and blood, that goes into this story worth it! Thanks! (If this was on paper it would be smeared by my teardrops of joy (-: )

Please review, it inspires me to write faster!

-JustALittleTwisted


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter Seven

Sakura awoke the next morning still suffering from the effects of chakra depletion. Groggily she followed her teammates into the dining room to eat a later than usual breakfast, with their hosts eagerly attending to all their needs as they sat comfortably on the zabuton cushions around the low table. Once breakfast was through, Sakura took her team aside and confessed her suspicions.

"I've had my suspicions also," Shikamaru contributed. "It was too much of a coincidence that the mushrooms appeared near the entire village's food supply. We couldn't find any other batches growing anywhere else, and none of the villagers that were assisting us could recall ever seeing that type of mushroom around before."

"Either way, I want us out of here by noon," Neji's announced, standing up from his sitting position on the porch, just outside their room. "Shino, I'll have you scout the perimeter, while Shikamaru and I assist Sakura."

Neji turned to look down at Sakura who had her legs swinging off the edge of the porch, and was going through the supplies in her medical pack. "Sakura, can you get everything done in that amount of time?"

Sakura looked up from her pack, and furrowed her brow as she thought over his question. "Well I'll want to check on how all the patients are progressing, which won't take more than a few hours, and if you guys can help locate more deadly nightshade and extract the Atropine from the roots we should be done in plenty of time."

When Shikamaru and Neji nodded their heads in agreement, Sakura handed them each a bulging plastic bag full of vials. "I want you to fill all of these with the liquid from the roots. That should be more than enough for the patients and a few others, just in case anyone else gets sick.

Shikamaru sighed heavily as he took his bag of vials from Sakura, and grimaced down at her. "This will take forever...what a drag."

Sakura stood up, rolling her eyes. She affectionately pinched Shikamaru's arm as she smirked up at him. "You know Shika-_kun_, if you refrained from cloud gazing every five minutes you'd be done in no time."

The pineapple-head shinobi shoved the hand not holding the bag into his pocket. Slouching he turned away from Sakura, stepped down from the porch, and slowly made his way down the dirt road.

"I don't cloud gaze _every_ five minutes," he mumbled to no one in particular.

Sakura laughed at him, and then waved at Neji and Shino as they took off in opposite directions; Neji to catch up with Shikamaru, and Shino to scout out the village's perimeter.

Strapping her pack around her waist, Sakura made her way toward Nobuo's house, but her progress was slow. It seemed she had suddenly become a celebrity among the citizens of the small village. She found herself dodging numerous civilians, who, upon spotting the pink-haired kunoichi, eagerly scurried up to her and bowed repeatedly while spouting words of gratitude and.

Upon entering the doctor's small house, Sakura was greeted by a lot more pleasant site than when she had first entered the Doctor's residence. All eight patients were sitting up in their cots, looking healthy, and chatting happily with each other and a few visitors, whom Sakura guessed were family members.

Fumio was talking animatedly with Yuki, who was sitting next to him on his cot. Upon spotting Sakura, he waved her over happily. Smiling, Sakura complied and walked over to him.

"How are you feeling?" Sakura asked, as she took in both boys' appearances. They both had improved so much, neither of them looked like they had ever gotten sick.

"Good...th-thanks to you," Fumio stuttered, blushing a deep shade of red. Yuki was grinning knowingly at his friend's obvious discomfort.

Sakura's smile just got bigger. She bent down and gently placed her hand on Fumio's chest, and delved her chakra into his body. A moment later she pulled her hand away, looking pleased.

"Fumio, you're healing very quickly! You should be back to normal in just a day or two." The young boy looked like he was about to leap out of his seat, he was so excited.

Sakura turned to Yuki, to checked him as well. "Same with you Yuki, you'll be like new in a few days."

She looked up as Nobuo walked up to her and the young boys. "Well you did a good job, Sakura-san. I don't think our little Fumio here," Nobuo rubbed the red-faced boy's head, making his already messy hair stick up even more, "would be sitting here today."

Sakura's eyes softened as she looked down at the boy. She didn't know how she'd done it, but she had, and she was suddenly eternally grateful for it as she continued to watch Fumio weakly wrestle he best friend, who had made a comment on Fumio's inability to 'keep from blushing whenever Sakura-san was around'.

"I think they're all fine to head home today, what do you think Sakura-san?" Nobuo asked looking down at the young nin.

Sakura nodded her head in agreement. "Hai, that should be fine. As long as they all take it easy and stay in bed for the majority of the day there shouldn't be any reason not to allow them to go home."

Sakura could hear a few sighs of relief and some cheers of joy (mostly coming from the young boys next to her) after her statement.

Grinning she turned back to Nobuo and handed him a plastic bag partially filled with vials full of the antidote. "Here, this is the last of the Atropine. Shikamaru and Neji are currently collecting more, so once they're done you should have enough for all the patients and about ten others, just in case some others have caught it and have yet to show symptoms."

Nobuo took the bag and thanked Sakura.

"My team and I will be leaving around noon, so as soon as I'm done here I'll need to check on the other patients."

Fumio, who had been frowning deeply after Sakura's last statement, suddenly perked up. "Sakura-san, will you walk me home? I want to introduce you to my mom!"

Sakura turn to smile down at the small boy. "Sure Fumio, once I'm done here we'll leave. Is that alright?"

"H-hai!" Fumio eagerly nodded his head.

* * *

Shino was leaning heavily on his heels, crouched on a large tree branch. His eyes were closed in concentration, and a few of his kikaichu were scurrying in and out of his clothing and around the branch. The quiet shinobi opened his eyes to find one of his insects sitting on his nose. Shino tilted his head, as if he were intently listening to something the black beetle was communicating to him.

His eyes narrowed behind his glasses a moment later. "Hn...where?" He stood abruptly a second later. "How many?" Shino's monotone voice held a hint of urgency. As soon as he received the insects unspoken answer his eyes widened in surprise, and he leaped up to the branch above him.

Before his sandals touched the bark of the branch seven kunai and two shuriken embedded themselves into the branch he had been crouched on.

"Bug Gathering Technique!" Shino had to sidestep another volley of weapons as an ever growing swarm of insects began piling around his feet.

"Bug Wall Technique!" The insects created a thick wall in front of Shino, protecting him from the continuing assault.

Shino could feel it himself now - he was slightly surprised he hadn't noticed it before. As his reliable kikaichu had detected, there were a number of chakra signatures speeding toward him and the village forty yards behind him. Thirty-one chakra signatures to be exact. Currently six of them were just meters from him, hidden behind the dense vegetation of the forest around him. The other twenty-five weren't far behind.

The wall of bugs opened like a curtain to allow him to gaze down at the forest floor beneath him. A figure stepped out behind the tree in front of the one Shino stood in. A ray of light caught his glasses as the nin lifted his head to stare back at the Konoha-nin.

Shino's eyes narrowed. "Kabuto."

Kabuto smirked and inclined his head in acknowledgment to the shinobi above him. "Aburame-san."

Five Sound-nin appeared suddenly on the branches around Shino, but the quiet shinobi did not look away from Orochimaru's right-hand man. They continued to stare each other down, while the silence dragged on. Then the two enemies simultaneously lifted a finger and pushed their glasses up the bridge of their noses.

"Get him."

* * *

"Arigatou, Sakura-san! You are such a blessing to our village!"

Sakura smiled sheepishly at Fumio's mother, as she tried to wave off the middle-aged woman's compliments. She currently had Fumio's arm wrapped around her neck, while she supported him as he slowly made his way across the front porch of his small home; Nobuo was supporting his other side.

"Don't worry about it, I was happy to help!" Sakura said, embarrassed, hoping the grateful woman would calm down. It didn't seem to work for Fumio's mother continued to repeatedly bow as she shuffled her way backwards into the house.

Sakura was guiding Fumio through the front door when she froze, her eyes widening in surprise and fear. Fumio and Nobuo stopped and turned to glance at her.

"Sakura-san...?"

Sakura lifted her hand, eyes still wide and unfocused, to silence Nobuo. Signaling to Fumio's mother, Sakura ducked out of the boy's arm and transfered his weight to the older woman. The kunoichi stepped back, seemingly coming out of her daze. Her jade eyes turned to Nobuo's worried ones, and when she spoke she sounded almost too calm.

"Nobuo, I need you to go warn the villagers. There are a number of enemy nin on their way, and everyone has to get inside and hide."

Something in her tone must have reflected the urgency of the moment, because the he did not question her. He quickly slipped out from under Fumio's arm, and took off down the street, yelling at the top of his lungs for the villagers to get in doors.

While the doctor's voice faded as he made his way further down the road, Sakura turned back to the terrified mother and son in front of her. "I want you two to quickly find a hiding spot, under a bed, in a closet, anything. Understand?"

Fumio's mother nodded wordlessly, but Fumio attempted to pull away from her and reached out toward Sakura. "No Sakura-san, let me help!"

Sakura's eyes softened, and she squeezed his shoulder. "Fumio, I'll be alright, I'm a Konoha kunoichi. Now do as I ask, okay?

Fumio looked like he was about to cry, but nodded his head, and allowed his mother to pull him into the house. Sakura shut the door firmly behind them, and sighing deeply she turned around and walked off the porch.

The kunoichi slowly made her way to the center of the unpaved street. She came to a stop, as a breeze blew her long hair around her. Sakura breathed in and out slowly as her fingers twitch, one hand hovering over the kunai pouch strapped to her thigh. She stood like a statue, waiting and listening, as she gazed down the street to the dense tree line that began when the dirt road ended, a few houses down from where she stood. Nobuo's yells was now a distant hum, and the only civilians left on the streets around her were quickly taking cover in the nearest building.

Sakura could feel them coming quickly, right at her. She stretched her senses to where she last felt Shino's chakra spike, but could only feel the chakra of the thirty or so nin speeding toward her. She didn't have to wait long before she spotted the first gray blur flicker between the trees. Barely a second later, a large Sound shinobi leaped out of the cover of the trees and onto the dirt road ten yards in front of her. As he straightened from his crouch to face her, he was joined by five more shinobi, then ten more, and then nine, who scattered across rooftops and the street in front of her.

Sakura, outwardly calm, looked over the twenty-five shinobi before her, and they stared right back. The only sound was the breeze rustling the leaves in the trees. She was having a hard time gulping down her heart, that had somehow found it's way up to her throat. It didn't matter how much she had trained and improved, nothing she had ever done had prepared her to take on twenty-five decent shinobi (if they're chakra strengths gave any indication of their skill – which it usually did).

Another nin walked out of the forest and onto the village street. Sakura's eyes narrowed as she watched the shinobi make his way through the Sound-nin and stop front and center.

"Kabuto..." Sakura hissed.

Kabuto inclined his head with a mock respectfulness, never looking away from Sakura's narrowed eyes. Smirking he drawled out, "Sakura-san."

* * *

"What a drag," Shikamaru sighed, leaning back on his heels from his squatted position over an uprooted shrub. He stared forlornly at the bag of vials; he only had half of them filled. He looked over at Neji, a few feet from him, who looked like he was finding some secret enjoyment out of squeezing the life out of a root. His eyes wandered to Neji's bag, to find that his teammate was three fourths done.

Neji looked up from his strangely satisfying task to see Shikamaru eyeing his hard work.

"You _do_ cloud gaze every five minutes," the older shinobi said, and then turned back to his work. Shikamaru reluctantly followed suit.

Suddenly both shinobi's backs stiffened simultaneously. They turned to read each others faces, their eyes reflecting surprise. Without speaking a word they flickered away, speeding toward the mass of chakra signatures.

* * *

"What do you want Kabuto?" Sakura's voice was calm, but held a hint of malice.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Sakura-san." Kabuto spoke as if he were speaking to a child. His smirk slowly grew wider into a sinister grin. "You really don't know?" His question was more of a gloating statement.

Sakura didn't reply at first, her mind was moving a mile a minute; a multitude of questions swarmed through her thoughts. She finally came to a conclusion, "You need a medic." Her voice was laced with anger and a hint of resignation.

Kabuto gave a low chuckle, and his eyes flashed with an emotion Sakura could only describe as dark, as he raked his gaze over her, from head to toe. "No, Sakura-san," the way his tongue caressed her name made an imperceptible tremble roll up her spine. "Orochimaru-sama doesn't want just _any_ medic, he wants _you_.

Sakura visibly gulped, but she continued to make a show of glaring at Kabuto, while trying to keep all his Sound-nin friends in sight. She didn't think it would help if they knew how utterly terrified she was, and, considering the circumstances, she thought she was doing a pretty damn good job of acting tough.

"And why would that be?" came a lazy drawl from right next to her. Sakura nearly let out a sigh of relief when Shikamaru and Neji appeared on either side of her.

From the corner of her eye she could see Shikamaru's slouched posture on her right. If she didn't know him as well as she did he would have looked like he was completely bored, but she could tell, just by the fact that he didn't have his hands shoved in his pocket, that he was preparing himself for a fight. She knew he had probably already gone through ten different battle strategies within the time it took her to analyze his posture.

On her left, Neji had his byakugan activated and didn't look the least bit intimidated. But Sakura knew what he was thinking, she could tell in how close he and Shikamaru were standing next to her. They were going to try to protect her, and she knew it would fail instantly. What they needed to do was attack as a three-man team, and somehow find and save Shino.

"We both know I'm not going to answer that Nara-san," Kabuto sighed out, as if he too were bored. "I will, however, let you, Hyuga-san, and Aburame-san...if he's still alive," Kabuto smirked, "walk away. Just leave Sakura-san and you and this village will be unharmed."

"We _all_ know that's not going to happen," Neji said, attempting to ignore the glares he was getting from Sakura. From the look on her face he was pretty sure she thought that was a good idea; she of course wouldn't want anyone dying for her. Neji wanted to roll his eyes at her; Sakura was crazy if she thought that they would leave her.

Neji caught Shikamaru's attention over Sakura's head. Shikamaru read the emotion in Neji's pearl eyes, and understood instantly. They needed to get Sakura out of there at all costs, even if they lost their lives in the process.

Sakura knew what they were both thinking, and she wanted to scream at them for it. She wanted them to run and save themselves, because if they died and she survived she wouldn't recover. These two men had become her anchor to sanity. They helped her find her way out of the darkness of depression that had overcome her when the combined strain of her team and parents dying threatened to destroy her. She was determined to do whatever it took to keep them alive. She was _not_ going to lose anymore of her special people.

Kabuto inwardly sighed when he read the determination in the Konoha-nins' eyes. Their pathetic attachment to each other was going to get them and every pathetic person in the village killed, and _then_ he'll have what he came for - Sakura. In the end it was just going to cause him more work.

Kabuto's thoughts were interrupted by three dwindling chakra signatures making their way toward them. All eyes flickered briefly to the new arrivals as they staggered out from the trees. There were two battered looking Sound-nin, and one of them was carrying the unconscious Shino over his shoulder.

Sakura sucked in a ragged breath at seeing her teammate's battered form. But she let out a breath of relief when she felt his depleted chakra – he was still alive.

Kabuto had left five of his subordinates to fight the Aburame clan member, and he didn't miss the fact that three of them were missing. Offhandedly he supposed that he'd underestimated the younger nin. Brushing that aside he turned his attention to the exhausted shinobi walking up to him. With a signal from Kabuto, the Sound-nin carrying Shino dropped his limp body with a thud to the ground. The second Sound shinobi gave a harsh growl and kicked Shino in the stomach, obviously bitter from their battle.

Neji placed a restraining hand on Sakura's shoulder. He could feel the anger emanating from the petite kunoichi as she clenched her fists and bit her lip in frustration, her eyes never straying from Shino's body.

"Now, if you'd but give up Sakura-san, Aburame-san here might survive if you get him to a doctor fast enough," Kabuto taunted.

Sakura felt the fury rising in her at Kabuto's words, but still could not look away from Shino. She needed to somehow get to him. From the looks of him she'd need to heal him quickly or, if the blood pooling on the ground around him was any indication, he wouldn't survive much longer.

"I need to get to Shino fast," Sakura told Neji and Shikamaru in a low voice. "Don't allow your fears of me getting captured prevent us from saving him. You need my help."

She could tell Neji and Shikamaru were warring with their thoughts, but she knew she was right, and they knew it too. After a quick glance in each others direction both shinobi turned their attention back to the group of Sound-nin in front of them. From the corner of her eyes Sakura could see them nod their heads, relenting.

They didn't wait for the Sound-nin to prepare themselves, and leaped into action. Sakura's chakra infused fists impacted with the ground, and fissures jutted out curving perfectly around Shino's body, and straight for Kabuto and the nin behind him. Kabuto escaped into the air, but three nin behind him, including the two who had fought Shino, were too slow, and were swallowed into the earth.

Neji, having anticipated Kabuto's move, had three kunai already flying toward him, but Kabuto was able to block them with his own. He flipped backward in midair landing agilely onto a rooftop, and gave Neji and arrogant smirk.

Before the enemy-nin nearest him could retaliate, Shikamaru flung two kunai with exploding tags attached. Before the Sound shinobi he was aiming for could leap away, he performed his shadow possession jutsu to freeze them and two others to the spot. The nin could only watch as the kunai come at them.

One kunai got a shinobi in the gut, and the other one - a perfect bullseye - became embedded right into it's victims forehead - where his forehead protector should have been, instead of wrapped around his neck. Before the other two shinobi, stuck in Shikamaru's jutsu, could even cringe at the death of their companion, the exploding tags went off, consuming all four nin.

Sakura sprinted along the deep craters toward Shino, dodging kunai and shuriken. She could tell they were only aiming to maim, not kill her, and she was using that to her advantage. She made it to Shino and hovered over him, using her body as a protective shield - knowing that Shikamaru and Neji were covering her - as she quickly assessed his injuries. Sakura determined the most life threatening wounds were from a shuriken that had sliced into an artery in his upper-thigh that was seeping out pints of blood, and a broken rib that had lodged itself into his left lung. Not bothering to look up from Shino, Sakura felt a number or chakras surrounding her.

Seeing the group of nin converging in on Sakura, Neji, with a spinning whirl - fast enough to make his own breeze - , flung three kunai, with overwhelming speed, at the group of them. Two made their target; one actually going straight through it's victims neck, and embedding itself in the side of the head of the shinobi behind him, as the other one sliced into it's victims heart.

Sakura was still busy worrying over Shino. She knew if she moved him she would cause more damage, and possibly kill him. She looking up, and signaled to Neji and Shikamaru. The two shinobi quickly sped to her side, taking a defensive stance around their teammates.

Sakura quickly began to work on Shino's injuries while Neji and Shikamaru covered her. Using her knew-found ability to heal two injuries at once, the medic had closed the wound on his thigh, removed the shard of the rib that had pierced his lung, and repaired the lung. She finished within a span of three minute, and quickly forced a blood replenishing pill down Shino's throat.

Three minutes may not have been long at all for healing mortal wounds, but in that time frame Neji's and Shikamaru's chakra had taken a beating. They had seventeen remaining opponents, not including Kabuto (who remained in the background directing his underlings), and though none of them had put up much of a fight, most likely because their target was in the middle of the fray, the constant bombardment of attacks was taking it's toll.

Feeling better about moving him, now that he was no longer on the verge of death, Sakura threw Shino's limp arm over her shoulder, and hefted him up, leaning him heavily against her. As one the Konoha-nin backed along the side of a nearby house, with Neji and Shikamaru continuing to block the Sound-nin's assaults.

Sakura gently laid Shino down, leaning him against the side of a crumbling home, and quickly stood and took her spot between Neji and Shikamaru. Now that she was confident Shino would be alright she was ready to concentrate all her attention on kicking the crap out of some Sound-nin.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" Sakura roared.

The Sound-nin were not expecting her to perform such a large attack surrounded by houses of civilians, and had to quickly dive out of the way, some getting singed in the process. The fire jutsu caught the roof of a nearby house on fire.

Sakura performed a quick wind jutsu, which stirred the fire and caused it to spread by jumping to another house. The enemy-nin were forced to spread out, but the slower ones were not able to move fast enough and became sandwiched in between the surprisingly fast burning houses and Sakura, who had stepped away from her teammates.

Kabuto's eyes narrowed with dawning comprehension, as he watched the scene unfold a safe distance from the blazing flames, but he had no time to warn his fellow shinobi.

Sakura had successfully snared ten of the Sound-nin into a trap. Most of them stood rooted to the spot preparing for the next attack from the kunoichi. What they would have realized, if they decided to move, was that they had missed the second attack. The moment the house caught fire, shadows created from adding an additional source of light sprouted up from where there had been none before. The Sound-nin, having learned from their teammates' mistakes, had been mindful up until that point to keep from the shade. Now Shikamaru had them all within in his shadow jutsu, and Sakura spared no time in slamming her fists into the ground. One large fissure ripped through the ground, tearing it's way toward the surprised nin. All ten Sound-nin were consumed by the large crevice. If any of them had survived, the second the sides of the two burning houses tumbled into the jagged depths of the fissure after them the job would have been finished.

Suddenly seeing what he, as a high level shinobi, should have seen before, Kabuto growled out an irritated "Kai!"

The genjutsu that he and the rest of his team had been stuck in from the beginning lifted. He was now no longer surrounded by humble homes, but large trees surrounding a small clearing. They had some how been lured away from the village, and it's citizens. He could tell they were a couple hundred feet to the north of the small village. At their current location he couldn't use the lives of the innocent to inhibit the Konoha-nin.

_Oh well_, Kabuto sighed to himself._ I suppose I'll just have to join the fight_.

Jumping from the tree he'd been crouched in (not on a roof as he had previously believed), he signaled to his remaining nin to follow suit.

"Kai," echoed across the clearing from seven separate voices.

Kabuto grinned. Now that Sakura was standing away from her team he could order his team to attack the other Konoha-nin without restraint. It wasn't a coincidence that the remaining seven members of his small army happened to be the toughed.

"Just for that little trick, once we're done capturing you we're going back to that pathetic excuse of a village and make you watch as we slaughter every single one it's equally pathetic citizens," Kabuto sneered as he slowly sauntered toward Sakura.

"I'm not going to let that happen," Sakura vowed in a low growl.

The petite kunoichi sped forward, faster than Kabuto had been expecting. She flung a chakra enhanced punch that nicked Kabuto's shoulders as he dodged to the left. He was propelled backward, and had to dig his heels into the earth to stop. Sakura gave him no chance to recover, and came at him again. Using Mystic Palms jutsu she sliced into the arm Kabuto had held up to shield his more vital body parts.

In retaliation Kabuto sliced through Sakura's shoulder with his own chakra scalpel, but she somersaulted backward before the he could deepen the wound. Then she quickly jumped a few feet back, increasing the distance between them, while making rapid hand signs.

"Mythical Fire Phoenix Technique!"

Kabuto quickly dropped to the ground, and the balls of flames passed above him. He rolled to the side and flipped himself into a standing position, just in time to jumped out of the way of a large fissure tearing through the ground toward him. Sakura was on him before he could land. The two shinobi became indistinct blurs, as they dodged and blocked each others kicks and punches.

Neji, who was using his byakugan to watch how his teammates were doing, was relieved to see that Sakura was holding her own. He turned his attention back to his own opponents. All three of them seemed to be jounin level, and he was having to employ more skill in fighting them than their now deceased teammates. They had surrounded him, but he was not at all worried. One of them was making a series of hand signs, while the only one reached for his kunai patch. They attacked at the same time, one with a wind jutsu, and the other with a barrage of kunai.

"Eight Trigram Palms Heavenly Spin!"

The attacks ricocheted off Neji's chakra barrier, and then turned back to his opponents. The first nin successfully dodged his wind jutsu, but his teammate wasn't fast enough to avoid his own kunai. As one Sound-nin fell lifeless to the ground Neji turned to his third opponent who was running at his with a sword held in front of him. After months of practicing the ninjatō with his teammates Neji easily parried the enemy-nin's attack with his kunai, and successfully disarmed him.

Before the sword could hit the ground, Neji had dipped under the nin's defenses and in the blink of an eye had performed his Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms technique. Blood spurted from the Sound-nin's mouth, and he fell to the ground. Neji flipped backward as another wind jutsu sped toward him.

He turned to his last remaining opponent and was about to retaliate, but noticed one Sound-nin standing back from the fray performing a long series of hand signs. Neji got the feeling that whatever it was he was up to was not going to be good.

Shikamaru, who had taken down two of his own opponents, was busy shielding himself and Shino (who was still slumped to the ground behind him) from a volley of shuriken thrown from his last opponent.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

The Sound-nin was forced to cease his attack and leap out of the way of the large fireball. As his opponent landed on a branch above the tree Shikamaru was standing under, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.

Neji, who had turned his back on his own opponent, was sprinting toward a Sound-nin performing a long set of hand signs. But before Neji could get to him the nin finished, and with a grin on his face he blew a black cloud of smoke from his mouth. Within an instant the black cloud consumed half of the small clearing, surrounding everyone but the nin himself, and Kabuto and Sakura, whose battle had taken them up into the trees.

They all began to choke, as the black substance poured into their mouths and noses.

_Poison!_ Shikamaru thought frantically to himself as he felt the black cloud burn his throat and nostril as he breathed it in.

Sakura turned from her own battle to see Neji and Shikamaru fall weakly to the ground, clutching at their throats in pain. Dodging a kick from Kabuto aimed at her back, Sakura flipped off the tree and in midair created three bunshin. The four Sakura's landed in crouch in the black cloud covered clearing.

With her mouth covered, Sakura signaled to her bunshin to retrieve her teammates. They quickly complied and each bunshin threw one teammate over her shoulder and jumped into the trees, a safe distance above the cloud that continued to hang in the air. With one hand still covering her mouth and nose, Sakura slammed her fist into the ground, and the tree that the shinobi, who had created the poisonous cloud, stood on crumbled into the hole in the earth.

Without bothering to make sure he was dead, Sakura turned, ignoring the two Sound-nin withering on the ground from their own teammate's poison, and leaped into the trees after her bunshin. She crouched upon a branch where her bunshin had left Shikamaru and Neji. Her third bunshin was leaning Shino gently against the trunk a few branches above her.

Sakura ordered her bunshin to watch her back, and then turned her attention to her teammates. She put her hand on both Shino's and Neji's throats and pushed her chakra into their bodies. The poison was quickly eating away at their lungs and throat. Without a seconds hesitation she began to pull the poison out of their bodies with her chakra. Once she was sure there was no more poison in their systems, Sakura jumped to the branch above, and did the same to Shino.

Though the poison was out of their bodies the damage was already done. She pulled a syringe with a blue liquid and plunged it into Shino's arm. The antibody she had developed herself would heal their damaged lungs completely, as long as she administered it immediately. Once she had finished injecting the liquid, she checked Shino's vitals again. He was unconscious from exhaustion, and though he still had many wounds he was going to be fine.

Sakura pulled out her last two syringes with the antibody and turned to leap back down to Shikamaru and Neji, when she was tackled in midair. She flew into the next branch with a thud, and with Kabuto on top of her. The petite girl brought her knee upward and connected with a very sensitive part of his anatomy, and Kabuto quickly slid off her, clutching his injury.

Sakura sat up and jammed a kunai into Kabuto's thigh, and leaped back towards her teammates' branch, with the syringes still clutched safely in her hand. She didn't have time to fight Kabuto. She needed to give Shikamaru and Neji the antibody immediately or the damage might be irreparable, even with her medical talents.

Once again, before Sakura make it to her teammates, who were still withering in pain, she found herself being propelled into another branch. She hit with another painful thud, and looked up to see a battered Sound-nin pinning her down. He was the one who had performed the poison jutsu. Sakura growled and tried to push him off, but the enemy-nin pulled out a kunai and stabbed it through her shoulder, impaling her to the tree. He stepped back as Kabuto joined him.

Orochimaru's right-hand man leered down at Sakura. "Caught you," he smirked, and then crouched down in front of her, intending to bind her with chakra strings. Suddenly both he and his fellow Sound-nin were tackled off the branch by two of Sakura's bunshin.

"You were saying?" Sakura said smugly, as she watched the Sound-nin and her bunshin fall toward the ground. She pulled the kunai from her shoulder, ignoring the searing pain, and quickly made it to her teammates and crouched down in front of them. Lifting up Neji's arm, Sakura injected the life saving antibody into his system.

She heard two loud 'POOFS' and looked down to see that Kabuto and his teammate had used her bunshin to lighten their fall. She quickly turned back to her teammates. She'd have to deal with the last remaining Sound-nin once she had Shikamaru taken care of. Pulling the stopper from the last syringe out with her teeth Sakura made to plunge the syringe into Shikamaru's shaking arm, when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. A kunai was flying at her and Shikamaru. She wasn't going to have enough time to pull her own kunai out to deflect it, so she threw herself over Shikamaru to protect him from the attack.

A second later, instead of feeling the blade slice into her exposed back, Sakura heard another loud 'POOF', and turned just in time to see her remaining bunshin, that had taken the kunai for her, get snuffed out of existence. Before Sakura could react, she felt a hand grip her upper arm from behind, and yank her away from teammates. As she was pulled backward she dropped the syringe which landed on the branch next to Shikamaru's left foot.

"No!" Sakura cried in frustration as she was pulled further away from Neji and Shikamaru. She turned growling angrily at her assailant who had her arms pinned tightly to her side as he continued to drag her from branch to branch. Sakura's anger turned to confusion when she spotted the expression on Kabuto's face. His eyes were wide and he was breathing raggedly. He looked completely terrified!

_Terrified of what?_

Before Sakura could bring herself to start fighting back, she heard a blood curdling cry of pain from below her. Her eyes went wide in fear and confusion as she looked to the forest floor, that was now cleared of the black cloud, to find an arresting sight. Kabuto's last subordinate lay lifeless face down into the ground, as a puddle of blood pooled around him. But that was not what was making her heart nearly pound itself out of her chest. It was the blue man who stood over the dead Sound-nin with an immensely large sword thrown casually over his shoulder with blood dripping from it, and who was smirking up at the two retreating shinobi. His beady eyes locked with Sakura's large jade ones, and his grin widened at the surprised look on her face.

It wasn't the fact that he was blue, or almost seven feet tall, or that he had an impossibly large, bloody sword, that had Sakura more scared then she'd been in years. No, it was his black cloak that hung like a curtain around him – his black cloak with _red clouds_.

"What the he-" Sakura's whispered exclamation was halted when she suddenly came to an abrupt stop.

Kabuto crouched down on the branch in front of the stunned kunoichi, and in a blink of an eye had her hands tied together with a chakra string. As swiftly as he could, he threw her over his shoulder and took to the air again, leaping from branch to branch as fast as his tired legs could carry him.

Coming to her senses Sakura began to struggle violently. She needed to get to Shikamaru quickly, and then somehow she needed to get herself and her team the hell out of there. She had no idea why Akatsuki were here, but she wasn't planning on sticking around to find out. A second later her plan of escaping went down the _this-sucks_ creek when she felt, with the dwindling remains of her chakra, a number of large...very large chakra signatures converge upon herself and her captor.

There was a swoosh of air, some ruffling of fabric, and suddenly Kabuto came to a stop. It was quiet for a moment. Sakura could feel the spastic pounding of Kabuto's heart, up there with her own. She didn't want to look up and see what she knew was already there, but being a shinobi for a few years had taught her that the best way to live life, and the only way to survive a battle, was to face your troubles head on.

Sakura lifted her head, and peered through the curtain of her thick hair. She counted two red cloud-cloaked figures a few feet in front of her. She couldn't see who they were from her limited view thrown over Kabuto's shoulder, but she supposed that at the moment their exact identities didn't really matter – she was screwed either way. She could easily tell that there were two other Akatsuki behind her, facing Kabuto.

Suddenly Sakura's fear and confusion doubled when she heard a silky voice intone calmly, "give us the girl."

XXXXXXXXXX

Finally got this chapter done! Wahoo!

Thanks again to the greatest reviewers in the world:

Punk And Lovin It

-Blood of the cherry blossom-

Lady Nagome of the West

Kurisutii-chan

freakhorrorchick

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LittleFoxDemon

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Please review, it inspires me to write faster!

-JustALittleTwisted


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Narutof

Chapter Eight

Kabuto felt the cold grip of doom creep up his spine. Not only was _Uchiha Itachi_ standing on a branch a mere fifteen feet in front of him, _but_ his former, supposedly _dead_, master, Sasori of the Red Sand, stood next to the clan killer in his true puppet form.

"Don't make Itachi-san repeat himself Kabuto-_kun,_" Sasori's monotone voice mocked, as his eyes bore into the traitor's. "You know how I don't like to be kept waiting."

Kabuto gulped.

"Yes, please _do_ drop the girl, so we can have our fun with you, yeah."

Kabuto couldn't see who had spoken but he could tell that he and the large blue nin, who had killed his last subordinate, were standing a few branches behind him. He gulped again and tightened his grip around the kunoichi's legs. The girl was his only ticket out of this situation.

Kabuto was as loyal to Orochimaru as he could get, but he was a true coward at heart, and now that the coward was cornered he was willing to risk Orochimaru's precious pink-haired kunoichi's life to save his own. He just needed a plan.

Sakura was terrified...and very _confused_, but at that moment she didn't care why the worlds most dangerous S-class missing-nin all suddenly decided to become extremely cheap and reverted to kidnapping as a means to obtain medical assistance - if that's what the Akatsuki even wanted with her - she was more concerned that every second that ticked by increased the likelihood that Shikamaru would die. She knew that Neji would still be too out of it to give Shikamaru the antibody that was, hopefully, still on the branch a few inches from them.

If she could even just get a bunshin over to them then he would be fine. But she knew that there was no way her bunshin could get past the four Akatsuki. There was also the fact that her wrists were tied together with chakra ropes and the combination of yesterdays healing and her battle from just moments ago had depleted her chakra to dangerously low levels. If she was going to get out of this situation she would have to rely heavily on her taijutsu and speed.

It wasn't the first time she thanked her lucky stars for the two 'Beautiful Green Beasts of Konoha' and their insane training habits. And she knew, if she survived, that it wouldn't be the last.

Sakura felt Kabuto shift under her. She could tell just by his breathing that the terror she saw reflected in his eyes moments ago was subsiding and he was now probably coming up with a plan. She got a very strong feeling that whatever he was thinking up in that cold and calculating brain of his it wouldn't bode well for her.

"I'd hurry up and put Pinkie down if I were you," rumbled the deep voice of the large blue Akatsuki. It took Sakura a moment to register the he was referring to her. She would have huffed indignantly but thought better of it; she figured it probably wouldn't help the situation much.

Kabuto complied and slowly slid Sakura off his shoulder until her feet touched the branch, and her face and chest were pressed against him.

Suddenly Sakura felt a small prick on the back of her neck where Kabuto had slid his hand under her hair. From that spot she felt a slight burning sensation that quickly spread down her spine. She let out a small gasp and her eyes went wide as her muscles instantly became numb and her entire body went limp.

Kabuto's grip tightened around Sakura's lower back as her head and neck rolled back. She could hear the branches creak and the swish of fabric as the nukenin tensed around them.

"I've just injected her with a paralyzing agent," Kabuto said calmly, turning into medic-mode as he looked around smuggly at the nin surrounding him. "It works almost instantly on the muscles, but it has another side effect; it's what I call a humane way of killing. In about a minute now it will paralyze her heart and unless you have a talented medic around she will quickly die afterwards.

"My med-pack happens to have the antidote, but I seemed to have dropped it somewhere back there." Kabuto tilted his head in the direction they had come from. He paused for a moment and then smirked. "I suggest you hurry," he added, and released his hold on Sakura's limp body.

Sakura's eyes widened even further as she felt gravity take hold of her. She could only stare at Kabuto's smirking face as he watched her begin to fall, as if in slow motion, toward the ground forty some odd feet below.

Through her terror clouded mind, Sakura barely noticed the kunai flying toward Kabuto out of the corner of her eye. It embedded itself into his forehead with a sickening thud, but a moment later there as a 'POOF' and the Sound medic was replaced by a log.

Sakura took a moment to feel peeved that he had gotten away, and then the horror of falling to her death quickly washed over her again. Time seemed to speed back up and Sakura found herself zooming past branch after branch, with her long hair whipping around above her as she watched the branch, Kabuto had been standing on a fraction of a second ago, get smaller and smaller. She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable impact that would surely kill her instantly.

"Shit!" Sakura heard a male voice bark from somewhere above her. She could hear the creak of branches and the shuffle of sandaled feet as all four Akatsuki quickly descended the tree in an attempt to catch her.

If Sakura hadn't been about to die she would have found it quite hilarious that four Akatsuki members were attempting to save her life. As it was, she _was_ about to die so she continued to squint her eyes shut and pray that she wouldn't feel the impact.

She wanted to cry out in frustration. There was really no way she'd be able to save Shikamaru if she was a flattened mass of flesh and bone splattered across the forest floor.

Suddenly Sakura's neck whipped back painfully when her fast descent came to an abrupt stop, and she was suddenly being propelled sideways.

She opened her eyes, and for a moment there she thought she was looking up into the face of her old crush – _Sasuke? _- but then his face came into full focus, and though he looked incredibly like his younger brother the lines under his eyes and the length of his thick jet black hair gave him away. Uchiha Itachi's eyes were narrowed in concentration as he looked straight ahead, aiming for the nearest branch.

Sakura gulped. She'd never seen the older Uchiha up close, and now that she had she really didn't want it to happen again. The aurora of power seeping off him made her extremely nervous. From what she'd heard of him, he wouldn't think twice about snapping her neck like a twig. She certainly felt as helpless as a twig at that moment.

She barely felt it when he landed agilely on a branch, and then began to quickly descend lower until he reached the forest floor.

As soon as his feet touched solid earth, Itachi laid Sakura down. She inwardly breathed a sigh of relief when, without bothering to glanced down at her, he stood up and watched as the three other black cloaked figures landed softly around them. She didn't want him to turn those eyes of his on her. She knew she was tougher than she used to be, but better shinobi than her had fallen victim to those eyes - Kakashi being the first face to flash through her head.

She watched out of the corner of her eye as Itachi titled his head briefly in the direction they had come, and without saying a word he sped away, Sakura assumed, to find Kabuto's medic pack. She barely heard the swoosh of cloaks as two others quickly followed him.

As the rustle of their clothing quickly faded away, Sakura turned her full attention back to what her body had been doing instinctively ever since Kabuto had injected her - sifting out the paralyzing agent from her system. She inwardly scoffed at the fact that he had forgotten that any descent medic would be able to cleanse their system of a chemical that weak.

Then it occurred to her that he probably only wanted a distraction so he could get away. He most likely knew that she'd be able to clear out her system before it caused any damage, and that the Akatsuki would catch her. But why? What was so incredibly important about her, that he would even care to keep her alive after the Akatsuki were pretty much guaranteed to capture her? Was he still planning on capturing her for Orochimaru? All that aside, what did the _Akatsuki_ want with her? Did they really need a medic that badly that they had to send four of their members out to retrieve her?

All of these questions swarmed around in her head in a matter of seconds, but she was suddenly brought out of her reverie by a swish of fabric as someone slowly walked toward her.

In her confused, and probably shocked, state Sakura had forgotten that she was not alone. She wanted desperately to turn her head to see who it was. As of that point she had only seen Itachi, and she guessed the blue nin was his partner Kisame, but she hadn't seen the other two Akatsuki.

She went through all the possibilities through her head as he continued toward her. She had a strange feeling that she had heard both their voices before when she heard them speaking with Kabuto. Now that she had a moment to think, however brief it may be, she got the nagging feeling that she really should have recognized those voices.

She turned her eyes as far as she could in the direction of the unidentified nin. But the angle Itachi had laid her down had her head titled more to her right so her view was limited. She felt the thick fabric of his cloak brush against her left arm as the Akatsuki member came to stand over her.

Her hearted started to pound heavily against her chest as she worked desperately to cleanse her system. She guessed she only had a moment or two before the other three came back from their 'errand', and she knew now would be her last chance to escape in time to save Shikamaru. One Akatsuki member was better than four.

She caught a hint of red hair from the corner of her eye, and her heart stopped. _Could it be?_

Suddenly his deceptively angelic face slid into view as he crouched over her, and Sakura's heart started beating again, with renewed vigor.

_But-but he's _dead_...,_ Sakura thought to herself, shocked. Her shock turned to confusion and frustration as she continued to stare into the face of Sasori of the Red Sand. _I-I killed him!_

Upon seeing the multitude of emotions swimming through the kunoichi's eyes, Sasori smirked. He suppose it would be quite a shock to see someone you supposedly killed hovering mere inches over you, undoubtedly alive - well, as alive as he could get.

He smirked, and decided to have pity on the kunoichi that had, with the assistance of his old bag of a grandmother, bested him at such a young age. He reached out and pushed her shoulders flat against the ground so the she could have a better range of vision. He then grabbed her chin and titled her face toward him.

"I am not dead kunoichi," Sasori said, matter-of-factly, as if that would suffice for an explanation. Sakura almost rolled her eyes, but was still too shocked to do so.

He continued to gaze at her face and then a moment later spoke again, slowly, as if he were choosing his words very carefully. "I suppose you could say...I'm more _alive_ than I was before your attempt at killing me."

Sakura's eyes narrow in confusion as she tried to make sense of his cryptic remark, but she was interrupted from her thoughts when she felt three large chakra signatures speeding back toward her.

_Damn! They found it already!_

At that moment she felt the last of the paralyzing agent seep out of her body. Her muscles rippled happily as they regained their movement. She knew she needed to move _now_!

Sakura gritted her teeth as her limbs spasmed painfully - probably a side effect from the drug - but she ignored it and quickly flung her knee upward. Sasori leaped back, surprised, when Sakura kicked out toward him.

She flipped herself up into a crouch and then straightened and jumped backward a few steps, putting more distance between herself and the puppet master. Her wrists were still tied tightly together, so she could not use her hands to defend herself, and her chakra was almost out. Sakura knew the only thing she could do was make a run for it.

Which is exactly what she did.

Not pulling her eyes away from Sasori, who was now crouched ready to spring at her, she leaped straight up, into the tree above her. Sasori quickly followed.

_Figures, they'd all be fast,_ Sakura thought grudgingly to herself as she sped through the trees, with Sasori close on her heels.

There was barely a rustle of leaves, and then Itachi appeared in front of her - mid-leap - right on the branch she was aiming for. In her exhaustion she hadn't even notice his chakra signature. She kicked off the trunk of the tree and propelled herself upward.

Suddenly the air was filled with a heavy pulse of chakra, as the reset of the Akatsuki appeared on the branches surrounding her. She had no branch to reach out to, so she did the only thing she could – she let herself fall.

The same heart clenching feeling came over her as, yet again, she zoomed past tree branches, coming ever closer to the hard ground. This time, though, she was in control.

She bent forward and slid her pant legs up, revealing her ankle weights. In a fraction of a second she had them off, and was stretching out to grab a hold of a passing branch when she felt a hard chest slam into her back. She didn't need to look to know that it was Itachi.

As she was flung sideways toward a wide tree trunk – Itachi was probably planning to bodily slam her into it – she lifted her knees to her chest with her legs stretched out in front of her to lessen the impact. As soon at the bottoms of her sandals touched the bark of the tree, Sakura coiled her body inward with the impact and then pushed off like a spring, straightening her body back into Itachi's.

She could hear the air get knocked out of him as her shoulder collided with his chest. Using the momentum of her push off the tree, Sakura did a back flip in midair, successfully slipping out of Itachi's grip.

Itachi easily recovered and landed agilely on a branch. Sakura landed across from him in a crouch. Avoiding his eyes, she watched as one corner of his mouth turned up briefly.

_Was that a smirk?_

Pushing that thought aside, Sakura turned her attention upward, as the three other nukenin landed in the branches above her.

"Now, now Pinkie, don't make this harder than it has to be." Kisame smirked. "I wouldn't want to ruin that pretty face of yours."

There was a gleeful chuckle, and Sakura turned and was only slightly surprised to see yet another supposedly dead shinobi. "I might have to blow one of your legs off if you keep on running away, yeah."

Sakura continued to dart her eyes from one nin to the other. They were all bigger and a lot more intimidating than herself. Despite this though, a smile slowly spread across her face. Sakura had never tested her speed without her weights since she began training with Lee and Gai - now was as good a time as any.

Within a blink of an eye, the branch Sakura had been crouched on was empty and swinging slightly; the only indication she'd even been there.

"Shit!" Kisame gasped out in surprise.

"Where'd she go, yeah?" Deidara yelled at the same time.

They looked down to see Itachi's branch empty as well, and Sasori quickly following suit. Both shinobi turned to glance at each other briefly and then disappeared, quickly following after their teammates.

Sakura never felt so exhilarated! Even though she was barely a few seconds ahead of four shinobi who were each probably happily plotting to do heinous things to her as soon as they caught her. And there was no doubt that they _would_ catch her. She may have caught them off guard back there, but she wasn't naive enough to believe that she was any faster than Itachi, and most likely the rest of them.

Sakura was moving so fast her brain was having a hard time catching up. Her only goal at that point was to get to Shikamaru first, and then she'd get the hell out of there. She would head north, leading the Akatsuki as far away from her teammates and the village as she could get, before her body shut down, or they caught up – which ever came first.

Her eyes narrowed in determination as the tree her teammates were in came in sight. She landed on the branch right in front of Shikamaru, and let out a relieved breath when she spot the syringe still sitting next to his feet.

She grabbed it up quickly, and plunged it into Shikamaru's trembling arm. Almost instantly his shaking stopped, and his features, that were contorted in a pained grimace, relaxed – he looked like he was asleep. Relief swam over Sakura. She was suddenly able to breathe steadily again.

"Sakura?" She turned her head to Neji, to see his drooping eyes open and he focused his gaze on her face.

Sakura could feel the Akatsuki coming upon her fast, so she had to make this quick. She leaned forward, surprising Neji, and kissed him on the forehead, while tears started pooling in her eyes.

"You guys are going to be okay," she whispered against his forehead. "The Akatsuki are coming after me. I don't know why, but I'll drive them north, away from the village."

She pulled away and turned back toward Shikamaru, who was trying to focus his eyes on her. She leaned forward and also gave him a kiss on the forehead. She so desperately wanted to hug them goodbye, but her hands were still tied together, preventing her from doing anything but squeeze their hands. She knew that unless a miracle occurred the Akatsuki would capture her, and chances were she'd never see them again.

"Shino is on the branch above you," Sakura explained quickly, as she pulled away for Shikamaru. "When you can move, take him and yourselves to Nobuo. You all desperately need medical attention"

"W-what'd you say about the Akatsuki?" Neji asked tiredly, while trying to process everything Sakura had told him through his clouded brain. But Sakura didn't answer him, she was already gone.

* * *

Sakura could feel her strength waning as she continued to speed northward. She could feel the Akatsuki gain on her every minute. She was sure they could probably see her by now.

With all the strength she could muster, she had alluded capture for nearly twenty minutes. Which was a lot longer than she had expected. But she knew that her exhausted body couldn't continue for much longer.

Suddenly Sakura's footing faltered and she lurched forward. She reached out for the next branch to catch herself, but her hands were still tied together, and she couldn't get a good grip. Her fingers slipped, and for the third time that day she found herself falling toward the ground.

And for the third time that day Itachi caught the pink-haired kunoichi.

Though he wasn't showing it, he was extremely annoyed. This surprisingly resilient girl had somehow bested him and his three companions for over twenty minutes. Though it was quite a feat for anyone to allude four Akatsuki for so long, this petite thing had somehow done it while being severely depleted of chakra from a previous battle, and having her hands tied together.

Despite himself, Itachi was impressed...but still annoyed.

He dropped to the shaded forest floor, and looked down at the young woman he held in his arms. Her eyes were closed, and her breath was coming out in gasps. He could see that a light sheen of sweat had accumulated on her forehead and her neck. A moment later he spotted what he was looking for – blood. It was soaking her shirt around her shoulder, at a spot that was not covered by her jounin vest, and dripping down her arm.

Itachi looked up when Kisame landed soundlessly next to him. The large nin stalked forward, looking quite peeved, until he was glaring straight down at kunoichi. Itachi hadn't seen Kisame this annoyed in a while.

"I swear Pinkie, if you _ever_ lead us on another goose chase like that again I'm gonna take a page out of Deidara's book, and tear your legs off!" Kisame barked, letting Samahada drop to the ground with a thud.

In response, Sakura peaked one eye open, looked up at the nearly seven-foot nin, and then closed her eye again; looking, for all intents and purposes, to have fallen asleep.

"Well that was fun, yeah," spat Deidara sarcastically, as he and Sasori leaped down from the trees.

Sakura heard the last two Akatsuki move to stand next to Kisame. After a moment or two of silence she peaked one eye open to find them all staring down at her with varying degrees of annoyance. She suddenly felt the urge to find a very large rock, and crawl under it.

Finally getting fed up, Sakura asked in a tired voice, "Is that why you went through all this trouble to catch me, so you could stare at me?"

They all blinked, and continued to stare down at her. Then Kisame let out a loud bark of a laugh.

"Not exactly Pinkie."

"We're forcing you to become an Akatsuki member, yeah."

Being as exhausted and confused as she was, Sakura almost started laughing at the blond-nin's strange and totally inappropriate joke, but stopped when she looked around at the serious faces of four of the most dangerous S-class criminals, who probably wouldn't know what a joke was if it up and bit them in their red-cloud-cloaked covered butts.

Sakura's eyes gradually widened, and her exhaustion seemingly seeped away as she blanched. "What the hell?!"

She attempted to wiggle and kicked her way out of Itachi's grasp, as they all continued to stare down at her with almost bore expressions on their faces.

"Stop struggling kunoichi." Itachi's calm voice had a slight edge to it, which was enough for Sakura to comply immediately.

He bent forward and plopped Sakura on the ground. Then he and Sasori crouched down on either side of her. Without saying a word, Itachi and Sasori started patting her down. Within moments they had taken all her weapons and scrolls and piled them on the ground. As soon as they were done Itachi pulled out a rather sharp knife from his cloak, and grabbed hold of Sakura's small wrists with one hand.

He ignored the weary looks the medic was giving him, and hovered the knife over the chakra ropes binding her hands together, as he infused the blade with chakra. With one deft twist of his wrist he sliced the rope in half, and it fell away, finally releasing Sakura's soar wrists.

"Don't attempt to escape," Itachi warned fatly, looking up to stare into Sakura's wide eyes. "We will not go as easy on you the next time."

Quickly looking around her, Sakura had no doubt he was telling the truth. Kisame and Deidara looked almost gleeful at the thought of inflicting her pain, and though neither Itachi and Sasori showed it, she was sure they wouldn't be at all opposed to torturing her.

Sakura gulped, and averted her eyes to the ground as she continued to massage her chafed wrists.

"Take off your vest," Sasori ordered.

Caught off guard, Sakura looked up a the puppet master in surprise, but upon seeing the no-nonsense look in his eyes Sakura did as she was told. Once her jounin vest was off, she looked down at her shirt in surprise. The black material was soaked in blood. She hadn't even realized that she was that injured.

"You're covered in blood," Sasori stated, matter-of-factly, without the slightest hint of concern. "And you are still bleeding. We were able to smell it when we were chasing you, therefore any descent nin-dog could track that." And without skipping a beat, "Take off your shirt."

Sakura blanched. "What?!"

"Do not make me repeat myself kunoichi." Sasori's voice was low and laced with steel. "You will need to wipe the blood off you, and then patch up your wounds. We will then destroy all traces of blood."

"I am not going around topless!" Sakura screeched, not caring anymore if his voice was laced with steel or not.

"We will provide you with bandages for bindings," he stated calmly.

"Bindings? I need a shirt!"

"You have no say in the matter." Sakura glanced as Itachi, who was still crouched next to her. "We have given you the option to do it yourself since you are female, but if you refuse we will simply have to do it for you."

Sakura gulped, her anger deflating instantly, and glanced up at Kisame and Deidara, who were grinning madly down at her.

"Fine," she sighed heavily, ignoring the gleeful looks Kisame and Deidara were throwing at her. "But you have to look away."

Itachi nodded his head, stood up and turned around. Keeping his back to her he signaled for Deidara and Kisame to do the same, which they did, grudgingly.

Sakura turned expectantly to Sasori, who hadn't moved an inch. "Well?"

"You do not honestly think that we will turn our backs to you unprotected, do you? I will look away when appropriate." Sakura could hear the finality in his tone.

With another annoyed sigh, she gripped the edge of her shirt and pulled it over her head, grimacing at the sudden pain the movement caused. Once her shirt was off, Sasori produced a rag and a bottle of water from his cloak.

"Wash and then I will help wrap your wounds. Once your chakra is back to normal you will heal yourself. Leader wants you uninjured when we arrive at the base."

Sakura nodded, knowing that any questions she may have about where they were going or about this 'Leader' would be ignored. So she quickly wet the rag and washed off the blood caked across her abdomen, shoulders, and arms as best she could. Once finished she held still for Sasori as he bandaged up her two shoulder wounds – one she had received from Kabuto's chakra scalpel, and the other from where the kunai had speared her. She was honestly surprised that she hadn't lost consciousness from the blood loss.

Sasori then handed her a roll of ace bandages and Sakura narrow her eyes at him, as she turned, kneeling with her back toward him. "Don't watch." she warned.

When she was sure he was looking away, she quickly unwound her blood-smeared bindings and replaced them with the clean ones Sasori had given her. Once finished, she stood up and turned around with her arms crossed protectively over her chest.

"I'm done."

They all turned back around, and Sakura's eyes narrowed dangerously as Kisame and Deidara appreciatively raked their eyes across her.

Seeing how uncomfortable she was, Deidara rolled his eyes. "You're such a prude, yeah."

He pulled out a folded piece of cloth from his cloak, and tossed it to Sakura who caught it awkwardly with her arms still wrapped around her chest. She unfolded it to find that it was a stretchy, black, fishnet shirt.

_Well this will have to do,_ Sakura sighed to herself. She looked up and nodded her grudging thanks to Deidara, who ignored her and turned away.

She turned around and slipped the thin material over her head. When she turned back, Itachi had already disposed of her bloodied clothing and weapons, and was now walking toward her.

"Turn around and put your hands behind your back," he demanded flatly.

Sighing, Sakura did as she was told. She knew there was no way in hell they'd keep her hands untied. Once Itachi was done tying her hands with his own chakra ropes, he forced her to sit and then tied her ankles together. As soon as he was finished Kisame stepped forward and lifted the kunoichi up, and threw her over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes.

Then, with barely a sound, all four Akatsuki leaped into the trees, quickly making their way back toward their base with their pink-haired captive.

* * *

Shikamaru leaned heavily against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, as he continued to watch the rise and fall of Shino's chest. They were back in Nobuo's house, and now, instead of eight cots filled with sick civilians, there were three cots with three battered shinobi.

He and Neji had vacated their cots, preferring to stand or take a turn at anxiously pacing the length of the room. They had sent word via carrier bird to the Hokage as soon as they were conscious enough to realize what had exactly happened.

They were supposed to be waiting for backup, before they started after the Akatsuki, but it would take at least a few more hours before anyone could make it from Konoha. They were both still weak from the poison, but they had decided that they would leave word with Shino, as soon as he woke up, and then head out on their own. They knew that neither of them would be much good against the Akatsuki in their current state, but they could at least begin tracking them, while the trail was still warm.

Shikamaru's thoughts lingered on his blurred memory from just over two hours ago, of Sakura's face just before she had leaned forward to kiss his forehead. She had looked so sad in that moment, it made his chest constrict.

Why her? Why had two of Konoha's worst enemies suddenly popped up out of the blue to capture Sakura? Did they really need a talented medic that bad? Why couldn't they have taken someone else, anyone else?

Suddenly, the calm and collected Nara Shikamaru felt an overwhelming urge to punch something..._really_ hard.

'BAM!'

Shikamaru looked up from the bug on Shino's stomach, that he had been unconsciously glaring at for the past five minutes, to see that Neji had beaten him to it. He had his forehead pressed into the wall, and his fist was still pushed into the small dent his punch had created in the fairly thick wood of the wall.

Sighing heavily, the distraught Hyuga lifted his head and let his fist fall limply to his side, as he continued to stare straight into the wall. From the tense curve of his shoulder, Shikamaru could tell that Neji was still seething with anger; sitting around waiting wasn't doing either of them any good.

Shikamaru turned his attention back to their still unconscious teammate. They couldn't leave without explaining to someone where they were going, or the Hokage would have their hides, but they couldn't leave the information with a civilian. Shino was just going to have to wake up soon.

His attention was pulled away from Shino again, when he heard the sound of footsteps walking up to the house. A moment later a boy hesitantly peaked his head through the open front door. It took a moment for Shikamaru to recognize him. It was the kid Sakura had healed. _Fumio was it?_

A moment later he stepped through the door, and Shikamaru could see he was being supported by another boy that Sakura had healed.

Neji turned away from the wall to watch the two boys come fully into the room.

"I-I heard that something bad happened to Sakura-san." Fumio sounded nervous and yet concerned at the same time.

Neji, who he had asked the question to, simply nodded his head once, and continued to stare down at the still visibly sick kid in front of him.

"She was taken away?"

Another nod.

"Will...will they hurt her?"

Neji chose not to answer, and suddenly decided to take his turn staring at Shino.

Nobuo walked through the front door, having just finished checking on his patients. Everyone seemed to be healing quite well, and there were no real complications. It made his old heart sad to know that the young kunoichi who had most likely saved their lives was now in the hands of the Akatsuki, a group he'd heard rumors of – bad rumors.

"Fumio? Yuki? What are you two doing here?" Nobuo asked gruffly, when he spotted the two boys. "You two should still be in bed!"

"We're here to see if we can help find Sakura-san," Fumio said in an urgent voice, while Yuki nodded his head in agreement.

Nobuo sighed heavily, and rubbed his temple with the hand not holding his worn medical bag. "You two are too weak to be out of bed, and worrying about things that you have no control over."

Fumio looked like he was about to retort, but Nobuo raised his hand to silence him. "I am sure the Godaime Hokage will send out a number of very talented nin to go after Sakura-san. I would not worry if I were you." Nobuo looked to Shikamaru, as if asking him to confirm his statement.

Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah kid, Sakura's the Hokage's apprentice. She's very important, so there will be a lot of shinobi sent out to save her."

Fumio, though he was still pouting, looked slightly relieved, and nodded his head in understanding.

"Now you boys get out of here," Nobuo said gently, as he stepped aside to let them pass. "Sakura-san wouldn't be happy if she found out that after all the trouble she went through to heal the both of you that you're not resting like you should."

"Hai," both boys sighed, and they slowly made their way out the front door, looking dejected.

Once the boys made it to the road, and began slowly making their way home, Nobuo turned his attention to the two shinobi, who had both gone back to leaning heavily against the walls.

"How are you two feeling?" Nobuo asked, as he walked up to Shino's cot, and sat wearily into a chair placed next to it. "I know that my skills are nothing compared to a medical-nin's, but your wounds should be fine." They both didn't say anything, but nodded their heads. Nobuo took that to mean that they were fine.

He turned his attention to the unconscious shinobi, and began checking him again. From what he could tell the young man was just merely exhausted. His teammates had told him Shino was severely injured, but Sakura had quickly patched him up during the battle. She had done a very good job. He didn't think the shinobi would need more than a few days to heal completely. He told this to the two brooding shinobi, who looked a fraction less distraught for a moment, and then went right back to brooding.

Suddenly both shinobi straightened, with surprised expressions on their faces, and sprinted out the front door. They had felt a number chakra signatures speeding toward them.

"What now?" Shikamaru groaned, as they stood waiting in the center of the dirt road in front of Nobuo's home.

They both crouched in a fighting stance, just as six shinobi burst from the forest just to their west of Nobuo's home. For a moment their hearts stopped, but then they inwardly breathed a sigh of relief upon recognizing the shinobi in front of them.

Lee and Gai sprinted toward them, relieved expressions on their faces, as Jiraiya, Genma, Kiba, and Hinata closely followed.

"It is good to see that you are uninjured," Gai said, walking up to Neji and slapping him hard on the back. Neji didn't respond as he stared at the nin in front of him.

"How did you guys get here so fast?," Shikamaru asked.

"Fast? What do you mean kid?" Jiraiya asked, sounding confused. "We left early this morning."

"Wait. What?" Shikamaru was getting confused himself.

"Tsunade some how got word that Sound was going to attack this village for some reason, early this morning," Genma supplied. "She sent us as soon as she found out."

"So you didn't get our messenger bird then," Shikamaru sighed, wearily.

"No...what's wrong?" Genma asked, feeling that something was off with his two ANBU teammates. "Did Sound show up?"

"Hai, Sound showed up," Neji spoke up finally, sounding angry. "And then the Akatsuki."

There was a stunned silence, and then Jiraiya walked right up to Neji, his face uncharacteristically distraught, and his voice urgent. "Where's Sakura?"

* * *

Man, I so wanted to submit this last night, but Mama Mia was calling to me, so my friends and I went to see the karaoke version (being able to sing along in a movie theater without being forcefully vacated from the building is always a plus :-D).

Moving on...

So there is yet another fairly long chapter for ya. I hope you liked it! I've dedicated it to all thirteen of my great reviewers. You guys made me so happy!

Kurisutii-chan

-Blood of the cherry blossom-

Jazzele

glowgirl4

LittleFoxDemon

freakhorrorchick

FakeCompassion

Punk And Lovin It

jesselovemeto

Vesper chan

SleepyGirl

BubblyDancingDoglovers

LaLa

Please review, it inspires me to write faster!

-JustALittleTwisted


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter Nine

Sakura awoke to the sound of chirping birds and the familiar smell of smoke and damp forest. It took her a moment to process her surroundings as she gradually awakened.

She was laying on her side, her arms and legs still tightly bound, with her cheek pressed into the cool earth. She could tell that it was early morning by the slight chill in the air and the gentle feel of the sun's rays peaking through the leaves, slowly warming her chilled skin.

Without opening her still tired eyes she could tell that someone was sitting next to her, and she could hear deep murmuring a few feet away. It occurred to her then that she must have passed out some hours ago while being carried by Kisame.

The kunoichi groaned inwardly. She felt like crap. The combination of blood loss and chakra depletion were making her nauseous and weak, and she could feel her arms and shoulders shaking slightly; a common symptom of overstressed muscles.

Wearily Sakura opened her eyes, blinking. At first her vision was blurred, but after a moment she was able to focus on two cloaked figures sitting across from her in a small clearing. Kisame and Deidara were leaning against the trunk of a large tree, and they both looked like they were just wakening up as well.

Sakura then slowly turned her head to look over her shoulder to find Sasori sitting calmly a few feet behind her. He wasn't looking at her, but she figured he most likely knew she was awake. Craning her neck she scanned the small clearing for any signs of Itachi, but could not see him anywhere.

Laying her head back down she began checking her wounds. She hadn't regained much chakra from her rest, but she did have enough to close both her wounds to stave off any infection. She'd just need to get her hands untied.

Sakura slowly sat up, her abused muscles muscles protesting with her movement, and glanced at Sasori, who was now watching her curiously out of the corner of his eye. "I need to close my wounds," she said quietly, her voice raspy from sleep. She paused for a moment, feeling slightly self conscious, "I also need to go to the bathroom, so...I'll need to be untied."

Sasori continued to stare at her for a moment, and then glanced over at Kisame, who had stopped talking to Deidara, and now the other two shinobi were watching the pink-haired kunoichi. "Kisame?"

Yawning, Kisame nodded at Sasori and then stood up, lifting his hands above his head in a large stretch. Dropping his arms he pulled Samehada from the ground next to him, and then walked toward Sakura with a menacing grin.

Sakura scooted backward nervously as the tall Kiri nin stepped up in front of her. Inwardly she gulped, and turned her head upward to stare at the nin towering over her. Kisame continued to smile sinisterly, and squadded down in front of her.

"Now, no funny business Pinkie," Kisame smirked, and his beady eyes bore into her jade ones. Sakura nodded numbly, and watched as Kisame's grin grew wider at her obvious nervousness.

She felt a hand on her wrists and turned her head to see that Sasori was now crouched behind her, cutting the chakra ropes with a knife. The battered kunoichi gave a soft sigh of relief as her bindings fell away, and hesitantly turned back to Kisame as she rubbed the raw skin on her wrists.

"Heal your wounds first," Kisame instructed. "Then Samehada here is gonna take away most of your chakra." Kisame's grin widened and he winked. "So we don't have to worry about you getting any ideas while you're at the _ladies room_."

Sakura sighed, and nodded her head in consent. She knew her nausea and headaches were only going to increase after Kisame sapped her, but she had no choice. She figured she was going to have to get use to it; it only made sense that they would keep her chakra low until they got to wherever they were taking her.

Sakura pulled the sleeves of the fishnet shirt further down her arm, stretching the material until she exposed her bandaged shoulder through the neck of the shirt. She pulled the bandages off and winced when she glimpsed the infected puncture holes. Kisame wasn't going to need to take much, she was going to have to use almost all her small supply of chakra to heal herself.

It took Sakura a few minutes to heal the infection and close the wounds. She still had some internal damage, and it hurt whenever she lifted her arm, but that would have to do until she was allowed to regain more chakra.

She looked up to Kisame, who was still grinning down at her. With a weary nod she indicated she was done, and Kisame dragged his heavy sword up to her and tapped her knee. The kunoichi abruptly slumped forward as almost all of her chakra was instantly sapped out of her.

Kisame stood up and walked away, chuckling to himself, as Sakura attempted to quell the sudden dizziness that overcame her. She had to swallow down the rising bile in her throat and her head began to throb painfully. A moment later the dizziness abated and Sakura wearily straightened and stood up, with her knees shaking.

Trying to keep some semblance of dignity, she turned to Sasori with her chin thrust in the air, and gave him a pointed look. Sasori stared at her a moment, his eyes suspiciously close to looking amused, and then titled his head to a large bush a few feet from the edge of their campsite. Sakura sighed and nodded; she should have known they wouldn't give her much privacy.

Still attempting to ignore the smirking blue nin who had settled himself down next to Deidara (who also was grinning broadly) Sakura wearily dragged her feet across the clearing and into the cover of the woods. She hurriedly finished her business - she wouldn't put it passed Deidara and Kisame to take a peak - and walked over to a small babbling stream a few yards further into the forest.

As she quickly washed up, she thought over her situation. With four Akatsuki constantly watching her escape would be impossible. Even if she only had to deal with one Akatsuki member, with her fatigued body and severe lack of chakra she was as helpless as a genin.

After finishing she stood up and turned, heading back toward camp, but came to an abrupt halt; Itachi was standing a few feet from her, staring at her. His face was expressionist but his eyes were assessing, and Sakura felt a chill roll up her spine.

After a moment of heavy silence Itachi abruptly turned toward the camp site. "We are leaving," he said without turning around, and began walking away.

Sakura stood watching his retreating form for a few moments, taken aback by his odd behavior. How long had he been watching me? she wondered to herself, feeling more than a little uneasy. _And why did he seem so curious?_

Pushing her confusion aside, she hurried after him. When she walked out of the trees and into the small clearing she found Sasori and Deidara busy removing all evidence of their short stay.

Suddenly she spotted something flying at her out of the corner of her eye, and out of instinct caught if. Startled she quickly looked down at her hand to see that she had caught a green apple. Confused she looked up to a tree just to her right, where the apple had come from. Kisame was crouched on a branch smiling down at her, with a half eaten apple in his hand.

"Eat up Pinkie," he smirked. "You won't get another chance until we stop for the night."Sakura didn't response, but turned her attention to the apple in her hands with a distracted expression on her face.

As she ate her small meal she began wondering what her friends were doing at that moment. She knew Tsunade would have been informed of her abduction by then. She was fairly confident that her teammates were healthy to make it back to the village. She knew that they would need a day or two to recover from their ordeal with the poison, but knowing Neji and Shikamaru like she did she was almost certain they were already trying to follow her trail.

Sakura finished her apple and turned her attention to the nin around her who were expertly hiding all traces of themselves. She knew that even with their excellent tracking skills her friends would not be able to pick up their trail easily, if even at all. They had constantly been covering their trail all throughout yesterdays traveling.

Sakura would have been impressed by their skill if she hadn't already known that each of these nukenin were extremely proficient at evading capture. Plus, she found it hard to be impressed with someone who was forcefully taking her away from her home and loved ones.

But deep down she was grateful that her loved ones would not be able to find her very easily. She knew that her best friends were two of the strongest shinobi in Konoha, but even they would be hard pressed to last five minutes with four Akatsuki.

Sakura knew, with a sinking feeling in her gut, that if any rescue group, short of twenty excellent shinobi, caught up to them the Akatsuki would slaughter them. And the kunoichi knew she would never forgive herself for being the cause of their deaths.

As hope for rescue continued to sink the stubborn determination that Sakura was known for began to rise. Her fists clenched and she vowed to herself in that moment that she would get herself out of this before any of her loved ones could get hurt.

Sakura finished her apple with a renewed sense of determination, and looked up as Sasori walked up to her. She didn't resist as he retied her hands and feet. She knew she'd have at least all that day to think of an escape, and she needed to regain as much chakra as she could before she attempted anything.

As soon as she was securely tied up, Kisame stepped forward, smirking, and threw her over his shoulder. Within a moment all four Akatsuki's swiftly took to the trees and Sakura prepared herself for a very long day.

* * *

"Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke inwardly cringed at the loud whiny voice coming from right behind him, but he ignored it and continued moving from branch to branch; he was not in the mood to deal with the only female of his team.

"Sasuke-kun when are we gonna take a break?" came Karin's whiny, shrill, voice again.

"Shut the hell up Karin," growled Suigetsu from Sasuke's right.

Sasuke inwardly sighed. Karin and Suigetsu had been going at it all day. But there was no way he was going to allow them to take a break - if even to shut up Karin's incessant whining for a moment. They were too deep into Fire country to even slow down.

Team Hebi had been trailing Itachi and three other Akatsuki for the past two weeks with the assistance of Karin's talent; which surprisingly enough had lead them closer to Konoha than Sasuke had been since he was twelve.

For some reason the thought of Akatsuki so near to Konoha bothered the younger Uchiha. He could not understand what they would be doing in Fire country. He had heard the rumors a year ago, about the death of the Kyubi's vessel...Naruto - Sasuke suddenly felt a foreign, almost imperceptible, twinge in his chest, but quickly pushed it aside - so he knew that Itachi wouldn't be searching for his former teammate.

_It doesn't matter,_ he told himself firmly. _I have no connection to Konoha any longer._ With that thought he pushed the unwanted memories of his pathetic former team back into the deep recesses of his mind.

Sasuke was frustrated with himself. After all these years of not thinking about his teammates, this unexpected proximity to his former home brought back unwanted memories of the moronic blond, the washed up leader, and the useless kunoichi. He told himself this it was because his life was comparatively carefree back then, not because he had cared about any of them.

"I sense a number of chakra signatures up ahead," Karin called, her voice suddenly serious.

"How many?" Sasuke asked, coming to a stop on a large tree branch; his three teammates immediately joined him.

Karin squinted her eyes shut, concentrating. "There's too many of them to be exact, but I'd say almost forty shinobi, and all are at least jounin level."

Sasuke's brow furrowed. _What were more than thirty shinobi doing so far from any large village? _Then a thought occurred to him. "Can you sense Itachi?"

"Only his lingering presence. I'd say he passed through here over a half a day ago."

"What should we do?" Suigetsu ask, sounding slightly unnerved. "Those are probably Konoha shinobi."

Sasuke frowned but didn't answer. It was obvious that Itachi and his teammates had done something to gain the attention of Konoha, and by the number of shinobi up ahead it must have been something big.

Despite himself Sasuke wanted to know what was going on, but his goal overrode his curiosity. He was now closer than ever to catching up to his brother, and he knew if they were even slightly delayed they might lose the trail.

"We'll have to go around," Sasuke finally decided. "We can't risk running into any Konoha shinobi. We'll just have to find the trail again once we're a safe distance away."

"Hai," his team echoed, and then they began moving swiftly through the trees again, altering their path to give the Konoha nin a wide berth.

It took them a few hours out of their way, but the delay was necessary. Karin was eventually able to catch small traces of chakra; four of the Akatsuki, and a few unfamiliar ones. It wasn't long before they came across an area where the trail became very concentrated.

"They must have stopped here," Karin said, squinting her eyes shut again in concentration. "I think they were chasing someone, and probably caught up them here." Karin waved her hand around, indicating a space between two trees. "I can also sense that a couple of other shinobi passed through here briefly, probably only a few hours ago. I bet they were following the Akatsuki also."

Sasuke could smell blood, but not enough to suggest that the Akatsuki had killed the unknown nin. "They took the shinobi captive," Sasuke determined allowed. "That might slow them down a little."

Abruptly Sasuke turned. "Let's go," he called over his shoulder, and leaped into the trees again.

* * *

Tsunade stood staring at the demolished clearing. Sakura's signature was everywhere; there were splintered trees and huge fissures scarring the earth. It had been over thirty Sound shinobi against four of Konoha's and the Hokage wasn't surprised that Sound had lost. But what were the chances that Akatsuki would have shown up at the same time?

The Hokage wanted to smash something - again. _I should have never given Sakura this __mission,_ she berated herself for the tenth time in as many minutes. But she knew that blaming herself wasn't helping the situation. She turned her attention to the shinobi around her. The small village had become a temporary headquarters for the search party for her apprentice, and shinobi were darting back and forth, cleaning up the Sound-nin bodies, analyzing the battleground, and questioning the villagers.

Two teams of eight were currently preparing to head out, following the trail left behind by Sakura's teammates. Tsunade nearly sighed in annoyance at the thought of Neji and Shikamaru. Of all the shinobi to run off headless of their actions Tsunade would never have guessed it would be those two.

As soon as Jiraiya and the others had arrived, Neji and Shikamaru had run off intent on rescuing the pink-haired kunoichi. Jiraiya, Genma, Kiba, and Lee had followed after the two idiots a minute later after deciding that Hinata and Gai would stay with Shino, and wait for backup. Tsunade did not get the messenger bird Shikamaru and Neji had sent until evening, and herself and thirty-five shinobi had traveled throughout the night and only arrived a half an hour ago.

Tsunade looked up at the morning sky that was slowly growing brighter with the rising sun. She figured it was probably six am, which meant that Sakura had been taken almost sixteen hours ago. With a heavy sigh she turned around to find Shino and Hinata - who was hovering worriedly next to her injured genin teammate - taking in the destruction.

"How are you feeling?" Tsunade asked Shino.

The reserved shinobi turned his attention to his Hokage and bowed slightly, " I am fine, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade nodded briskly. "Good, I'm giving you the next few days off to rest." At seeing he was about to protest to this Tsunade raised her hand to silence him. "I know that you are eager to assist in the search for Sakura, but you need to heal completely before I allow you to take anymore missions, and that's finally."

At this Shino nodded his understanding. Tsunade could tell he was not happy with the situation, but it made no sense sending out an injured shinobi when there were a number of others willing to take his place. She would have done the same to Shikamaru and Neji, had they not ran off before she arrived.

Tsunade turned just in time to see the two teams of eight leap into the trees, Maito Gai in the lead, following Jiraiya's team's trail. She gave another heavy sigh and turned back the group of Konoha-nin who were busy retrieving a few Sound shinobi from one of the large crevices in the ground. She wanted to be part of the search party just as much as Shino, probably more, but she had a village to run. She'd just have to put her hopes on the shoulders of the competent shinobi she sent to rescue Sakura.

* * *

Neji was watching the forest around him intently with his Byakugan. It was nearly noon, and they had been following the Akatsuki's trail all throughout the night and into the morning, but even with his Byakugan and Kiba's and Akamaru's sense of smell they had lost the trail over an hour ago, and could not find it again.

He turned hist attention to the shinobi around him. He could see his own frustration reflected in each of their eyes. Lee and Kiba, two of Konoha's loudest shinobi, hadn't even spoken a word in almost an hour.

Shikamaru seemed the most out of character. His stance was rigid, and he looked more distraught than Neji had ever seen him, but the Hyuga prodigy was sure the same could be said of himself. The feeling of total helplessness and anger - anger at the Akatsuki scum and anger at himself - was all consuming.

Neji turned his focus back to his surroundings again. He was desperately searching for any sign of their trail, but distressing thoughts continued to echo in his head; they were dealing with the Akatsuki, and each member had lived for years evading capture from even the best tracking nin. The chances of them finding and catching up to the Akatsuki were not good, but Neji and his fellow Konoha shinobi were determined to continue forward.

Suddenly Shikamaru broke the stifling silence that had enveloped the group for almost an hour. His brow furrowed in frustration and confusion he asked, "Why _would_ the Akatsuki _and_ Sound want Sakura so desperately? They both made a huge effort to capture her, but why? I know she's probably the best medic-nin around, but my gut is telling me there's something else going on."

No one responded for a moment, and then Jiraiya, who was in the in front of the group, dropped out of the trees and onto the ground. He waited until everyone followed suit, and then turned to regard Shikamaru.

"We've known for over a year that Sound and Akatsuki were after Sakura," Jiraiya paused as he observed the surprised reactions from the shinobi before him by his confession. "Tsunade's first guess was both groups were in need of the best medic around. And my own sources have informed me that the Akatsuki were indeed seeking Sakura out to become one of their members, and it had mad sense to us that Orochimaru would want the best to heal his arms after the Uchiha brat, his soon-to-be body, escaped."

"You don't sound so sure of those assumptions," Shikamaru observed, as he continue to stare intently at Jiraiya. He was annoyed with the fact that his team, and even Sakura, had not been informed of this threat, but he refrained from commenting.

The older shinobi stared back at Shikamaru, his expression thoughtful. "We don't have any evidence to state otherwise, but Tsunade and I both believe there is more to their desires to capture Sakura than just her medical skills. The Akatsuki for one have never openly sought out a medic before - they seem to have survived just fine on their own. And Orochimaru has lived years without the use of his arms, so he must have realized by now that there's no reversing the damage done by Sandaime Hokage."

"So if it's not for her medical skills, then what would they want with her," Genma asked.

"I don't know," Jiraiya admitted. "But if we don't hurry up and get Sakura back we're sure to find out eventually."

* * *

Hey ya all! I am soo sorry about that long wait! Well I guess I have a few things to clear up...

Vesper Chan: Let's just assume that Sasori did keep his word, and he didn't peak at Sakura while she was changing her bindings (he's kinda a gentleman like that :-D). Plus neither him nor Itachi, as of yet, have much of an interest in her (Kisame and Deidara just think she's hot). He's just curious about her since she was the one who 'killed' him (which is why he was staring so intently at her when she was paralyzed).

Actually, in Ch 2 (I think) Tsunade told Team 7 that Sasuke ran away from Orochimaru. Since it was rumored that Orochimaru was in need of the body transfer soon (this was before the one year time skip), Tsunade assume that he wanted Sakura to help keep him alive, and possible fix his arms, while he condition another nin for his body transfer, since Sasuke ran away.

-And of course, thank you very much for your flattering comments :-D (blushing profusely)

SleepyGirl: Deidara actually stated that they were forcing her to make her a member of the Akatsuki, which is why Sasori said that 'Leader' wanted her healthy. He doesn't wanted her treated like a normal prisoner (which is probably why they didn't totally beat the crap out of her once they caught up to her; plus they think she's hot ;-D).

Also in Ch 2 (I think; lol) Tsunade had known that the Akatsuki were rumored to be looking for a high level shinobi that was also a very good medic. And she knew for a fact that Sakura was the best medic around, even before the one year time skip - and she's only gotten better since.

-But: There are gonna be plenty of plot twists coming up, so some or all of that above will not actually be accurate. There will be a few people who have alterior motives, and they will be revealed through out the stories.

LittleFoxDemon: I'm glad you asked, because I wasn't sure how I'd explain this in the story. I'm pretending that the Sasuke vs. Deidara arc never happened, so he never actually died.. As you may know, in the Rescue Gaara arc, Deidara was believed to have killed himself while attempting to kill the Konoha team, and so Sakura had no idea that he had survived.

Sasori is a whole different story. I was planning on explaining this evenutally, but I might as well explain it now. Kakuzu, under directions by Pein (or 'Leader), was able to put Sasori back together by using other body parts that he had preserved. So now his is a lot more human. His eyes, brain, and a few other parts (haven't decided which), are parts of him that he had preserved perfectly from when he was a young man. Sasori was in his early twenties (I'm not sure if this is true, so I'm just making it up) when he turned himself into a puppet, and preserved his real body like he did with his human puppets.

As always I'd like to thank my reviewers:

freakhorrorchick

-Blood of the cherry blossom-

Kurisutii-chan

jesselovemeto

les-liaisons-dangereuses

jaerch

LittleFoxDemon

?? (anon)

Punk And Lovin It

Vesper Chan

FakeCompassion

Gothic Saku-chan

kitten652

SleepyGirl

jackie-chan1230

glowgirl4

Asymally

jHeyTTernallie

sendo-tenshi

-Lovely-Ice-

To everyone else:

Please review, it inspires me to write faster!

-JustALittleTwisted


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter Ten

"Oof!"

Sakura landed heavily on her rear and glowered up at the blue nin who had dropped her. Kisame just grinned cheekily back, and slid Samehada from his other shoulder, and it embedded into the earth with a thud.

With an indignant huff Sakura tried to position herself into a more dignified sitting position. Her stomach was cramping up from being bent over Kisame's muscular shoulder for over sixteen hours without a break, and the muscles in her limbs were spasming due to her awkwardly tied up position. Also, she had only been able to regain a portion of her chakra throughout the days travel and was still feeling the effects of chakra depletion. In other words, Sakura felt like crap.

She was now finally able to get a good look at her surroundings. With her face pressed into Kisame's cloak-covered back and with her hands tied behind her back Sakura hadn't been able to hold up her long thick hair to keep it from obstructing her view as they flew through the trees.

She had figured the Akatsuki would take her north, toward Rain, and upon seeing the significantly thinned-out forest around her she knew her guess had been correct. By her estimations they should be very close to the Waterfall Country border.

Sakura figured it would probably be another days travel before they reached Rain. She briefly wondered if the Akatsuki would cut through Waterfall or Grass instead of keeping to the outskirts of Fire Country's northern borders. It would take longer to go through the smaller countries, but she was pretty sure her captors would prefer it; throughout the day she could tell they had almost constantly been dodging and slipping passed Konoha patrols.

By this Sakura knew that Tsunade had put out a country-wide alert for her. The kunoichi also knew that there was at least one tracking team sent out. Her chakra was too low for her to detect any pursuers, but from the briefest of mutterings from her captors Sakura had guessed that earlier in the day someone had been on their trail. They must have lost whomever was tracking them, because throughout the rest of the day there was no further communication - that she could _hear_ at least - between the Akatsuki members.

Sakura glanced at the shinobi around her. It was late evening, but the sky was clear and the moon provided her enough light to see each man clearly. None of them looked the least bit fatigued, which even Sakura, who was ANBU, found quite impressive. Their pace had been staggering, and they hadn't even taken a break once.

_No wonder they're so hard to catch,_ Sakura mused to herself, grudgingly impressed. Other than a very few Konoha nin - including her old team and Lee and Gai - She'd never seen any shinobi with such stamina.

Deidara plopped down beside her as Kisame disappeared into the trees behind them - most likely taking the first watch. He rolled his neck and shoulders and then stretched out onto the ground with his hands laced together behind him, pillowing his head.

Sakura glared at his proximity - he was sitting too close for her liking - and scooted a few inches to her left to increase the space between them. The blond just grinned impishly up at her, obviously finding enjoyment out of her discomfort, and then turned his gaze up to the sky.

The moon was over three quarters full and hung like a beacon above the tree line in the deep blue, star speckled, night sky. Sakura was surprised to see the nukenin's eyes soften at the beautiful scenery.

"It doesn't matter who you are," Deidara said softly. "No one could deny that that's art."

Sakura wasn't sure if he was speaking to her or just out loud, either way she was slightly confused. _Art?_ But she couldn't deny that the night sky was beautiful, she just didn't understand why anyone - especially a dangerous S-class criminal of all people - would mention it to their captive.

A head full of thick red hair slid into her line of site at that moment, blocking her view of the moon. Sakura focused her eyes onto Sasori's impassive face as he stared down at her.

"You have regained some chakra," he said matter-of-factly. The kunoichi blinked up at him when he didn't elaborate, waiting for him to get to the point. Finally, after a moment of blank staring Sasori seemed to understand that the girl was waiting for him to continue. "I will untie you so that you can finish healing yourself."

"Oh," Sakura said, feeling slightly sheepish, and leaned forward so that he could have access to her tied up hands behind her back.

Sasori leaned over her and cut the chakra ropes, freeing her hands. When the puppet master backed away, Sakura straightened and almost sighed in relief as she rolled her shoulders and neck and stretched the strained muscles in her arms. She continued to ignore Sasori's presence as he loomed over her, and after a moment of rubbing the feeling back into her arms and hands she exposed her shoulder and proceeded to heal the internal damage she had not had enough chakra to heal earlier.

She looked up when she heard a swish of a cloak, and watched Sasori warily as he finally turned away from her, and walked toward a tree a distance from where she sat. Sakura wasn't positive, but she was pretty sure that he had continually been staring at her throughout the day; she had felt his eyes boring into her. She wasn't certain what his opinion of her was due to his ever emotionless expression, which only served to make the attention he was giving her even more unnerving.

Sakura quickly diverted her gaze to the ground in front of her when Sasori turned his head and caught her staring at him from the corner of his eye. He continued walking away, but Sakura could tell he was still staring at her. A moment later he sat down against the trunk of a tree, and looked away. The kunoichi forced down the unsettling feeling rising in her chest and turned her concentration back to healing her wounds.

Once she was done Sakura still had enough chakra in her to keep her from getting dizzy, so she used just a fraction more to relax her stressed muscles. For the first time in over twenty-four hours she was relieved of the sharp jolts of pain from her shoulder wounds, and sighed happily, momentarily forgetting she was in the company of the enemy.

Deidara couldn't help but chuckle at the relieved noises coming from the kunoichi next to him. Despite her obvious hostility toward them, which was expected, the pink-haired female didn't act like a normal captive. She wasn't meek and afraid to express her discomfort - or comfort as she was currently displaying at that moment - with very entertaining facial expressions and noises.

He couldn't deny the fact that she was a strong kunoichi. She even gave _them_ a run for their money, and he had heard rumors from all over about the Hokage's apprentice being a formidable opponent. Despite all this she seemed truly innocent in her mannerisms. Even though she had spoken no more than a few words to either of them Deidara had already glimpsed her personality through the indignant pout of her lips when she was annoyed or the happy twinkle in her eye a second ago when she had finished healing herself. He could tell that she was honest and had a fiery temper, and he couldn't help but want to see that temper flare up.

And after observing what she had done back at the small civilian village - fought off four Akatsuki members just to save a dying teammate (yes, they were all completely aware of what the kunoichi had been up to when she fled from them) he knew that she was as loyal and caring as any shinobi he'd ever come across.

He wasn't sure whether he liked this fact or not. It would certainly be easier to ruin the life of a scumbag than someone Deidara might actually find himself respecting, but this was a mission and he wasn't going to let the fact that there was something genuinely appealing about this girl make him feel the least bit bad that he was plucking her from her comparatively innocent and happy little Konoha existence and throwing her into the world of S-class criminals.

Deidara stopped chuckling as the kunoichi turned her annoyed narrowed eyes on him, and instead smirked and winked up at her. When she rolled her eyes and turned away from him he had to hold back another laugh. After dealing with the likes of Sasori no Danna and the Uchiha, Deidara found the kunoichi's expressive behavior extremely refreshing.

The explosives expert knew by that fact, coupled with her uniquely pretty features, that he was really going to enjoy having her around. _Maybe now that she's here Leader will get rid of Toby,_ Deidara thought wistfully to himself as he turned his gaze back to the expansive view of the night sky above them.

Sakura stared at the blond out of the corner of her eye. He was laying back staring up at the sky without a care in the world. She was kinda annoyed that he felt that comfortable around her. Did he not think she was enough of a threat to keep his guard up around her?

Though the rational part of her mind told her this was a good thing - if they underestimated her she'd have a better chance of escaping - her irrational hotheaded side (aka Inner Sakura) screeched with outrage. _We'll teach him to underestimate us! CHA!_

Sakura rolled her eyes at her own thoughts, and pushed her overzealous inner counterpart back into the deep recesses of her mind; she already had enough to deal with without the added stress of her other personality yelling in her head.

At that moment her empty stomach decided to make itself known by growling loudly. Sakura couldn't help the blush that spread up her neck and across her face. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and leaned forward, hoping to muffle the embarrassing noise. It didn't really occur to her how ridiculous it was that she was feeling embarrassed about a stomach growl in front of an S-class criminal who was helping steal her away from her home and loved ones.

She heard that same annoying chuckle from behind her, but decided against turning around and giving the obnoxious blond a piece of her mind. She could tell that any lashing out from her would only increase the annoying nukenin's enjoyment. Sakura was starting to realized that she was going to hear a lot more of his annoying laughter in the days to come - one more reason to escape at the soonest opportunity.

Suddenly her back straightened and she turned her head slowly when she felt a finger prod her shoulder. She raised a questioning eyebrow as Deidara held out a closed hand toward her.

He sighed in annoyance when she only continued to stare warily at his extended hand. "I'm not going to bite, yeah."

Sakura hesitantly extended her own hand as she continued to eye Deidara suspiciously. As soon as her hand was within reach Deidara grabbed her wrist with his other hand and held hers steady as he deposited what he was holding into her palm. Sakura was surprised to find that he had given her a handful of dried fruits pieces and some jerky.

"It's not much, yeah," Deidara said, making Sakura looked up from the food in her hand. "But it should last you until the morning."

Sakura continued to stare at him in surprise and uncertainty. But her eyes softened slightly, and she inclined her head in a silent 'thank you', and then turn away and began eating the small but surprisingly satisfying meal, all the while feeling slightly unsettled by his decent gesture.

Ignoring the foreign feeling rising in his chest at seeing the kunoichi's shockingly pretty eyes brighten by his good deed, Deidara rolled his eyes at her back. _Stupid kunoichi, it's not like we're going to make you starve._

Itachi continued to observe the kunoichi and his fellow Akatsuki member from his perch in a tree across from them. It was obvious that Deidara was already starting to like the pink-haired girl, which actually surprised him. Though Deidara wasn't among the more stoic members of the Akatsuki he tended to be bitter, and had a very hard time trusting people; Sasori being the only exception he was aware of. So it was quite unexpected that the usually wary Rock-nin was taking to the girl so quickly.

Itachi wasn't blind though, he could see the kunoichi's appeal. Even within the short time he had observed her he could tell there was something genuine and honest about her. It was a foreign commodity in a shinobi, and Itachi couldn't help but wonder how such a kindhearted girl became a kunoichi.

He of course had done a background check on her, and knew that she was from an insignificant family of mediocre shinobi. With the exception of herself, no one bearing the Haruno name had ever exceeded beyond the level of chuunin.

He also knew about her genin team - who didn't? - and the fact that she had been on the same team as his own little brother, the Jinchūriki, and the Copy Ninja. He wondered idly if being on a team with those three powerful shinobi had been the factor that had propelled her into becoming one of Konoha's top kunoichi's.

He continued to observed the girl. She had finished eating the dried fruit and meat Deidara had given her, and now had her arms wrapped around her legs with her chin resting on her knees. She looked deceitfully vulnerable and frail in that moment, but Itachi could tell that her mind was working out something - most likely a plan of escape.

He could tell she was bright and determined, and he wouldn't be at all surprised if she attempted something. He certainly would enjoy seeing what she could come up with. It would be quite a feat if she somehow succeeded.

Kisame suddenly appeared on the branch next to his and crouched down. He glanced briefly down at the petite kunoichi below them and then turned to address Itachi. At seeing the question in the Uchiha's eyes the blue nin replied, "No sign of any patrols, and whoever was trailing us lost us hours ago."

Itachi nodded, satisfied with the news. Whomever had been pursuing them in the early morning had been annoyingly persistent. He looked back down to the kunoichi. It was most likely the teammates she had been so determined to save yesterday.

Sakura was now laying down, curled up on one side - facing the opposite direction from Deidara, who was still sprawled out contentedly next to her, and staring into the sky - and as Itachi watched her he wondered off-handedly why he had not witnessed that kind of loyalty back in his Konoha days

* * *

"You know if you'd untie me I'd happily walk on my own," Sakura groused into Sasori's back.

Apparently that day was Sasori's day to carry her, and Sakura was not finding his shoulder poking into her stomach anymore comfortable than Kisame's.

Sasori turned his head to speak to Sakura's rear end. "That would only provide you with an opportunity to attempt escape."

Sakura gave a small annoyed huff, and attempted to adjust herself into a more comfortable position on Sasori's shoulder. "I'm not dumb enough to attempt escaping with all four of you around," she grumbled.

She heard a sharp laugh and turned her head to the side, peaking through her curtain of hair. Deidara was traveling along side Sasori, while Itachi was a few yards ahead and Kisame had taken the rear. He rolled his eyes and turn to stare incredulously at her.

"What do you call what you did back at the village then, hm?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow. "I'm not chasing after you again, yeah."

"Fine," Sakura sighed, giving up. She really wasn't planning on escaping, at least right then. In her current condition - especially after Kisame had sapped her chakra again earlier that morning - she wouldn't get more than a few feet before they caught her. She would just have to wait for a more opportune moment.

Silence fell over the three nin as they continued to travel swiftly through the trees. Sakura was getting annoyed by the silence. She was naturally a talkative person and after not speaking more than a few words over nearly two days she was getting restless.

Finally having enough she decided to start up a conversation. "So, um...what did you mean when you said you are more 'alive' now than before?" She asked hesitantly, recalling the puppet masters cryptic words when they had first captured her.

Sasori didn't respond at once as he continued moving through the trees, and Sakura thought she might have been too forward and that he wasn't going to answer her, but after a moment he finally spoke up in his usual detached tone. "Kakuzu was able to save my heart, but it was too weak to sustain enough life force to keep me alive. Since I had preserved my real body it was only a matter of putting my weakened heart back in to revive me."

Sakura thought over what he had told her for a minute. She had noticed that he looked older compared to his puppet body. He was a lot taller and broader at the shoulders than she remembered. He looked like he was in his early twenties instead of a teenager.

"So this is your real body?"

"Hn," Sasori grunted noncommittally.

Sakura wasn't surprised by his avoidance of the question. She was actually surprised he had even told her as much as he already did, considering they were enemies. If he had revealed any more he'd probably give her some insight on how that might prove useful in a fight against him.

Sakura wondered if he was still part puppet, and took note of the way his hand felt that was gripping her leg, holding her securely in place, but the material of her pants prevented her from determining whether his fingers were flesh or wood. But after a moment it suddenly donned on her that she could feel his muscles ripple against her stomach every time he leaped to another branch, so she was pretty sure that the majority of him was real at least.

Silence fell back over the small group again, and Sakura, taking advantage of the fact that she could now see since she had the foresight to tie her hair back in a knot before she was bound again, turned her head to look at Deidara, who was still running alongside Sasori. He was looking straight ahead and Sakura took in the silhouette of his face. Now that she thought of it he too looked older than when she had first seen him two years ago.

Like with Sasori, she could tell that he was taller and had broader shoulders, even with the bulky cloak on. His face was more angular giving him an elegant but very masculine look. She remembered with a smirk that he used to actually looked like a girl, but now, even with his long blond hair pulled into a topknot, there was no mistaking his gender.

Deidara looked at her out of the corner of his eye, catching her staring at him. Sakura flushed, slightly embarrassed, and tried to cover up the fact that she had been staring by starting another conversation. Like with Sasori, the only thing she could think to ask revolved around how he survived the encounter with her team.

The blond grinned broadly at Sakura's question. "I didn't really blow up, yeah. It was a clay clone."

Sakura's mouth opened wide in surprise. She recalled the manic gleam in his eyes during his fight with her teammates, and she truly believed he had blown himself up - he certainly seemed crazy enough to do it at the time.

_He's not a crazy as I thought_, she thought grudgingly. Her and her teammates had certainly underestimated him.

Deidara gave the kunoichi a reproachful look at seeing the surprise on her face. "I'm not that crazy, yeah."

Sakura smiled sheepishly. "Well you certainly fooled us."

Deidara's eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second, but his features smoothed out and he grinned broadly back at her. "Yeah, I did," he said smugly.

Feeling slightly encouraged by his willingness to answer her question, Sakura asked, "how did you get your arms back? I distinctly remember you being arm-less that last time I saw you."

Deidara's smile broadened. "Eh, that was easy, yeah. Kakuzu just sewed them back on."

Sakura gaped again. _He sewed his arms back on? How the hell can someone just 'sew' an arm back on?_ Even she would have to use a significant amount of chakra to reattach someones limbs with all the tendons and muscles, but this Kakuzu guy only had to _sew_ it back on.

At that point Sakura was truly wondering why they would need her anyway. She may be one of the worlds greatest medics, but it certainly sounded like that Akatsuki were doing just fine on their own.

"You're so expressive," Deidara snickered. The pink-haired girl's brow was furrowed and she was worrying her bottom lip looking like she was thinking deeply.

Surprised by his unexpected comment, Sakura jerked her head to look back at the blond to find him smirking at her. Her eyes slowly narrowed and her lips thinned into a scathing expression. She turned away after a moment of glaring, still looking annoyed. Even though Sakura had matured immensely as a shinobi over the years she still struggled with keeping her emotions in check, and it was a very sensitive subject for her.

Deidara was truly entertained by her volatile personality, and continued smirking at the kunoichi, who was determinedly ignoring him. He was really going to have to think up more ways to get her annoyed.

Six men and one dog stood conferring on the shaded forest floor, at the edge of the Fire/Waterfall border. All of them looked haggard but each emitted a determined energy.

"It would be likely," Jiraiya said, tapping his chin with a finger in contemplated manner.

"Yeah, it makes sense that they would want to flee from Fire at the nearest opportunity," Genma agreed, with a senbon hanging limply from his lips.

The Konoha shinobi had lost the Akatsuki's trail over twenty-four hours ago, and, upon a hunch from the ever reliable Shikamaru, had headed toward Waterfall Country; the nearest country, beside Sound, to the small civilian village.

Now outside the border, the team collected themselves. They were to split up into two groups of three, with one going straight north, just in case the Akatsuki headed that direction to throw off any pursuers, and the other group going northeast which would be the most direct path, leading through Grass to Rain.

"Genma," Jiraiya said, turning to the younger shinobi. "You take Shikamaru and Neji north. Kiba, Lee, Akamaru and I will take the northeast route."

Once Genma nodded his understanding, the Sannin bit his thumb and crouched down, slamming his hand onto the ground. There was a 'POOF' and a small toad appeared beneath Jiraiya's hand. He lifted the toad and allowed the small thing to leap onto Genma's shoulder.

Genma eyed the little creative, while twirling his senbon around in his mouth. He turned a questioning eye to the older shinobi, and quirked an eyebrow.

"If you run across any problems or if you find the Akatsuki's trail, inform the toad," Jiraiya said, pointing to said toad, who croaked out a burp in response. "And it will be summoned to me and relay your message and location. If we run into the Akatsuki I will likewise send a summons to you to relay the message."

"Hai," Genma nodded, and sighed as he turned his attention to Neji and Shikamaru. Both shinobi were already standing on a branch scanning the northern horizon, looking impatient and agitated.

Genma was concerned for his teammates. He'd never seen either of them like this. They were both so on edge, and had even snapped at their fellow shinobi when the others had attempted to console them. He was concerned that they might break down and do something they'd regret. He could tell they were itching to head off on their own, but had only resisted because they knew they would have more of a chance against the Akatsuki if they were in a large group.

Genma turned to see that Jiraiya was staring up at the two shinobi as well, with his brow furrowed in concern. The older shinobi turned to the senbon wielder, and Genma understood the warning in his expression; Jiraiya too could see that Sakura's best friends were willing to do anything to get her back, which may or may not go over well with the council back in Konoha if anything happened.

"Yosh! We must not fail in our quest to rescue Konoha's most beautiful cherry blossom!" Lee yelled, thrusting his hand in the air in a dramatic pose, gaining everyone's attention. The exuberant shinobi had started up earlier that morning with his normal cheery declarations in hopes of lightening the mood - which had not gone over well.

With a heavy sigh, Kiba grabbed the back of Lee's shirt, and began dragging him backward, toward the direction his group was to head. He knew if he didn't get the obnoxious jounin away from Neji and Shikamaru, the green-clad shinobi wouldn't be conscious for very much longer.

_Why did I have to get teamed up with the idiot?_ Kiba moaned inwardly. Without turning around, he waved to the shinobi behind him, "Good luck!"

"Arf!" Akamaru added, and quickly followed after his partner. Neji and Shikamaru took this as their cue, and disappeared into the trees without a word, heading north.

Jiraiya sighed at the retreating figures of Akamaru, Kiba, and a struggling Lee - who was still spouting out words of encouragement at them. He hated splitting up, but their chances of finding Sakura were better this way. He grimaced at Genma; one thing was for sure, he would certainly take the two brooding lumps over the exuberant idiot any day.

The older shinobi nodded in farewell, and they too disappeared into the trees, headed after their individual groups.

Genma caught caught up to his teammates a minute later, and then they began their swift trek north. They traveled at a breakneck speed for a few hours, and then abruptly came to a stop.

They could feel multiple groupings of chakra signatures to their north, west, and east, and all were moving in an eastward direction. There were a few large chakras among them, but most were chuunin level. What was truly surprising was the sheer number of them. There were probably about ten groups, with eight nin each.

"Sound," Shikamaru spoke up. When his companions looked at him questioning he explained. "It seems like they're all moving from east to west, and the Sounds eastern border shouldn't be too far from here."

Neji nodded, agreeing with Shikamaru's speculation. "Their pattern of travel is consistent with tracking nin."

"...Aw shit! They're trailing the Akatsuki also," Genma groaned. "That's just going to make this more complicated."

"We'll just have to find them first," Neji said flatly.

"Lets go," Shikamaru demanded impatiently, and disappeared through the trees, with the other two closely following.

* * *

Twenty miles north...

Itachi dropped back to allow the others to catch up to him. He knew he didn't have to tell them they were surrounded. They were very subtle indications, but he could tell they were all alert. There were about eighty shinobi in multiple groups scouring Waterfalls eastern countryside.

He could tell that no one had caught onto their trail, but with the number of separate groups scattered everywhere the Sound shinobi would most likely unwittingly stumble upon them before they could even detect them.

The Uchiha wasn't worried about running into the Sound-nin groups individually, but he knew that as soon as they were spotted the Sound-nin would alert the other groups, and that would really slow them down, allowing the real threat to catch up. He was well aware that a number of strong shinobi, most likely Konoha's, weren't far behind them, and he knew enough not to underestimate a shinobi from Konoha - he of course had been one once upon a time.

He turned to Deidara. "Take the girl up on your bird if we run into any real problems. Go straight east, and we'll catch up." The blond nin didn't looked like he liked the idea of running away from a fight, but nodded his understanding none the less.

Itachi eyed the kunoichi. She was hanging limply off Sasori's shoulder, with her head turned away from him. He knew she was awake, and could practically hear the gears in her head whirling; if she was left alone with Deidara the opportunity to escape would be greater.

From what he garnered so far from the kunoichi, she definitely was determined. He knew she'd risk the chance of getting caught by Sound to get away from them. But he also knew she was smart enough to know that her best alternative was being captive to them rather than Orochimaru; who knew what that crazy son of a bitch was capable of?

Itachi signaled to the others and they all came to a stop on the branches of a large tree. Without needing to be told Sasori walked up to Deidara and slid Sakura off his shoulder.

The kunoichi tilted backward precariously as the blood abruptly rushed from her head after hours of hanging immobile from Sasori's shoulder. Deidara easily caught her, and before her body could acclimate to being upright she was once again thrown over another shoulder.

She sputtered in indignation, but kept from saying anything. She knew there was no way in hell they would allow her to run on her own now. She would only slow them down. Though she couldn't feel the other nin, she could tell that her captors were on the alert. And for some reason she knew it wasn't Konoha shinobi, which only left Sound. She was confident that the Akatsuki would be able to handle a group of Sound nin, but she was still wary; she did _not_ want to be captured by Orochimaru.

_Well _that's_ pathetic,_ Sakura thought ruefully. _I've picked who I'd prefer to be kidnapped by_.

It wasn't more than fifteen minutes before they were forced to plow through the first group. The Sound nin didn't have time to react before the Akatsuki were upon them, killing all eight shinobi within seconds. With the second group, however, they weren't as lucky, and one of the Sound shinobi was able to send out an alert through his communication device, before Samehada lobbed off his head.

"Shit!" Deidara barked, as they sprinted through the trees. They could feel all eight remaining Sound groups quickly alter their path and start moving toward them.

The first wave hit them from all directions. Deidara had to keep reminding himself to protect the kunoichi as he dodged kunai and jutsu left and right.

Sakura was not liking being tied up and useless as her enemies fought over her. At one point she had caught a stray shuriken between two fingers and infused it with the very small amount of chakra she had in her finder tips and started painstakingly hacking away at the almost indestructible chakra ropes binding her hands.

"Oh no you don't," Deidara warned, when he felt Sakura's movements and guessed at what she was up to. His tone was rather good humored, and Sakura could tell he was totally enjoying himself.

While he slashed through a shinobi with a kunai in his right hand he reached back and wrestled the shuriken out of Sakura's grip. Sakura growled in annoyance, but a moment later she caught a kunai, and this time slipped it into her pants to use later.

Sakura hissed suddenly, and she heard Deidara swear, when a wind jutsu rushed by, catching her exposed back, and tearing into her skin. The wound wasn't deep but Sakura could tell that nearly a layer of skin on her lower back was torn off, and it stung like hell.

"Deidara," A calm voice called to the Rock nin.

Deidara turned to glance at Sasori who was giving him a pointed look. He nodded, understanding instantly what Sasori was telling him; he needed to get the kunoichi out of there.

He grabbed some clay from his pouch and a moment later opened his hand to allow a small bird fly off his palm. The bird flew into the air and expanded suddenly to size that could hold two full grown people comfortably.

The blond then sprinted up a tree and leaped into the air, landing agilely onto his creation with a gleeful smile. He steered the large bird above the hordes of Sound nin, with his companions in the center, and let out a manic cackle as two more clay birds flew from his palm and zoomed toward the enemy nin.

"Katsu!"

Sakura flinched as two immense explosions consumed the outer edge of the battle, just below them. She could feel the wind pick up as they climbed higher into the air and quickly sped away from the battle.

She lifted her head to see if any of the Sound nin were following them, but quickly shut eyes when she spotted the ground far, far below her. She'd never been on a flying contraption before, and a wave of dizziness suddenly washed over her.

Deidara felt the kunoichi stiffen suddenly. Thinking that she might somehow have gotten injured he crouched down and allowed Sakura to slide off his shoulder and sat her down in front of him.

Her eyes were tightly shut and she was shaking. His eyes roamed over her body. He could see the wound from the jutsu had torn off half the back of his mesh shirt he had given her. There was blood trailing down her back from the large messy wound, but he didn't know how deep it was.

"Are you hurt, yeah?" He called to her over the wind as his hair blew wildly around him.

With her eyes still shut Sakura shook her head 'no'. "Too high," she said between clenched teeth.

"What?" Deidara asked, leaned in closer so he could hear her over the whaling wind.

"We're too high!" She yelled.

Deidara's lips turned up into a smirk, but he resisted laughing; she looked too frightened to annoy at that moment. Instead he pulled her toward him so that she was sitting sideways in between his legs with her legs thrown over one of his thighs and her right shoulder was leaning against his chest.

Holding her shoulder with one hand so that she wouldn't slide on the slant of the birds back, he reached into his cloak and pulled out a kunai. With a deft flick of his wrist, the bindings wrapped around Sakura's ankles fell away.

Sakura peaked her eyes open hesitantly, and looked up at him questioningly. Deidara leaned closer to her ear so she could hear him.

"You'll roll off if you can't spread your legs, yeah."

Sakura's eyes widened and she gulped at the thought of rolling off the bird. Deidara just smirked at the kunoichi's reaction and placed one hand under her bents knees and lifted her legs so he could slide out from under her.

Sakura went rigid as her only anchor to the bird moved away from her. Deidara crawled over her and sat down just behind the bird's head, right in front of Sakura. He reached backward and grabbed hold of Sakura's upper arm and dragged her towards him until she was leaning sideways against his back.

"Spread your legs and dig your feet in," Deidara directed over his shoulder as soon as Sakura was leaning safely against him. This way, if the kunoichi started to slip he would only have to reach back to catch her.

Sakura didn't need to be told twice and quickly dug the heels of her sandals into the soft curved surface. She closed her eyes again, and leaned heavily into Deidara's back, not caring at the moment that he was her enemy.

They flew for what felt likes hours to Sakura, but in reality was probably only a little more than an hour. The air was moist and chilly. It was evening, and without opening her eyes Sakura could tell that the sun was setting. She peaked an eye open at one point to see that they were headed toward a large ominous black cloud, and then quickly shut it again. She didn't want to think about how much harder it would be to stay on the bird when it was slick from the rain.

It turned out that Sakura didn't have to worry about flying through the rain. A little ways before they hit the storm cloud Deidara gradually lowered the bird toward the earth, and landed in a grassy field at the base of a small mountain range.

Sakura slid off eagerly as soon as they touched down. She was relieved to be back on the solid ground and standing on her own. She looked up as Deidara hopped off and the clay creation disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Deidara signaled for Sakura to follow him and they began trekking up the small, tree-strewn mountain side. After about fifteen minutes they came upon a rocky cliff face, and tucked away behind a few large boulders sat a good sized cave that could probably fit five comfortably.

As soon as they were safely within the cover of the cave a large crackle of thunder echoed off the mountainside and rain began to pour to the ground in heavy sheets, creating a large drumming sound on the rocky cliff outside the cave.

Sakura turned her gaze away from the downpour, walked to one side of the cave and sat down, leaning her shoulder heavily against the cool rocky wall. She could feel her wound stinging but ignored it and glanced her at captor, who was busily stacking a pile of wood that he had collected on their way to the cave.

Within a minute Deidara had a fire going, He sat down and continued to stare with an unfocused gaze into the flickering flames, but after a minute or two he turned his eyes toward Sakura and smirked.

"How many times do I have to tell ya that I"m not gonna bite, yeah?"

The kunoichi was huddled against the wall of the cave with her knees pulled toward her chest, and her still tied up hands cradled under her chin. He was sure she must be cold with only his mesh shirt covering her upper body.

Sakura looked up when he spoke and eyed him warily. She'd been pondering his actions throughout the day and could not understand why he was being so nice to her. She couldn't understand what his motive would be, but she always couldn't believe that an Akatsuki member, one of the most dangerous men in the world, and the man who had disrespected the lifeless body of a very good friend of hers could be anywhere near as decent as he had been acting.

Deidara sighed and rolled his eyes at the pink-haired girls hesitation. Did she honestly think he was going to hurt her or something? He didn't know why he cared whether she was cold or not, but despite that he stood up, intending to drag her over to the fire if necessary.

Seeing what he was intending to do, Sakura stood with a sigh and dragged her feet toward the center of the cave. She sat down on the opposite side of the small fire as Deidara and gazed into the flames refusing to look at him.

Satisfied, Deidara opened his cloak and sat back down. He pulled one knee toward his chest and began busying himself by pulling out his weapons from his kunai pouch strapped around his thigh, and began taking inventory on how many he lost during the fight.

He leisurely worked in silence knowing that he'd have at least a few hours before his companions could catch up and then they would head out again. Even if the rain continued they'd move on until they at least reached Grass just in case somehow else caught up.

He looked up at the kunoichi after a few minutes. She had pulled her knees to her chest again and was still staring deeply into the fire. Her hair had fallen out of it's tie and was now draped over her like a curtain. The orange glow from the fire was reflecting off her vivid green eyes as she stared unseeing into the flames. Deidara was suddenly struck by how beautiful she was.

She wasn't a classic beauty; she was so unique with her unusually thick pink hair, and the brightest green eyes he'd ever seen. Her eyelashes were long and though he knew she wasn't wearing makeup they were almost black. She had a plump bottom lip that made it look like she was slightly puckering her lips. She would have looked extremely sexy if it wasn't for that cute button nose and large doe like eyes that made her come across more sweet and innocent. Which he figured was probably true. She seemed to be very modest, unlike most kunoichi, and even though he could tell that she had one of the best racks he'd ever seen she had done her best to cover it up by wrapping her bindings so tight it was probably painful.

While Deidara was busy analyzing every inch of her face Sakura awoke from her stupor when she felt his gaze boring into her. She stared at him questioningly, but when he didn't look away she couldn't help the blush that crawled up her face. The kunoichi nervously adjusted her sitting position and turn her face to stare out the cave entrance to hide the darkening tint of her cheeks.

The spell that had overtaken him wore off suddenly when Sakura turned away, and Deidara had to blink a few times to regain his composure. His eyes focused back on her, and he grinned broadly when he spotted the pink tint to her cheeks. He'd never seen a kunoichi get so flustered by a little ogling, especially one as powerful as her. He was positive she'd never been on a seduction mission in her life. Hell, it was hard for him to comprehend how a girl looking like her could be a virgin but he was almost certain it was true. For some strange reason this realization made her even more appealing to the Rock nin, and he gave give a little snicker and resumed his ogling.

Sakura spun her head around when she heard Deidara's chuckle. Her eyes narrowed and her lips thinned instantly. Where a minute ago she seemed bashful and innocent now she exuded annoyance and indignation. If Deidara hadn't been living around S-class criminals, and hadn't been one himself, he was sure he would have been more than a little intimidated by the palpable aura oozing off the petite kunoichi. Instead his smirk widened and he winked at her.

"What is so funny?" Sakura demanded between clenched teeth.

"You, yeah," Deidara said smirking. When the kunoichi continued to glower at him he elaborated. "You're so cute."

Sakura sputtered and then gaped open mouthed at his flattering comment and the use of the word 'cute' of all things; she didn't think words like that were included in an S-class criminals vocabulary, let alone how honest he sounded and without a hint of embarrassment.

It took Sakura a moment to recover, but when she did she gave him a confused looked as if what she was thinking was incomprehensible, and asked, "are you...are you _flirting_ with me?"

When Deidara didn't say anything but continued to smirk at the flabbergasted kunoichi, Sakura's eye began to twitch, and she shook her head as if to clear it of her jumbled thoughts. She had no idea what to think of this new development. The fact that an Akatsuki knew how to flirt was hard enough to wrap her mind around, but he was flirting with _her_, his captive!

"What are you thinking kunoichi?" Deidara asked, still smirking, genuinely curious about what was going on behind that furrow forehead. He was finding playing with the pink-haired girl extremely entertaining.

Sakura glanced back up at him looking deeply agitated. "You're...not what I expected."

Deidara raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What _did_ you expect, yeah?"

Sakura huffed, frustrated, and darted her eyes around as she thought over what to say. She looked back at him and gave him a pointed look. "Definitely not...," She pointed her finger in his direction and flailed her hand around, "that."

When Deidara continued to gaze across the fire at her with a quirked eyebrow she gave an annoyed sigh and elaborated. "You're nicer and more...human than I thought you'd be."

Deidara chuckled softly. "What did you think? I'd be a sadistic, blood thirsty monster, yeah?"

Sakura nodded her head vigorously. "Yes! You killed the Kazekage for crying out loud!"

The Akatsuki shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm a shinobi, yeah. I was just following orders. Plus the Kazekage survived in the end anyway."

Sakura sputtered for a moment, but couldn't think of a counter to his statement. She herself had killed countless Konoha enemies by order of the Hokage, and she'd only sound like a hypocrite if she argued the point. So instead she turned her attention back to the crackling fire and made a show of ignoring the blond across from her.

Deidara wasn't at all deterred. "You're such a contradiction, yeah," he said, causing Sakura to look up at him questioningly. "You look too delicate to be a kunoichi, but it's rumored that you're one of the top shinobi in your village. You also seem so sensitive, carrying your emotions on your sleeve, but I can tell that you're tough and strong-willed at the same time. I've never met anyone like you."

Sakura was stunned, and despite the fact that he was her enemy and helping steal her away from her home she couldn't help but feel extremely flattered by Deidara's remarks. No one had ever complimented her like that in her life. Sure, she knew her friends and coworkers respected her, but she never once thought of herself as a 'top shinobi' (not medic), and was extremely self conscious about her overly emotional nature.

"Thank you," Sakura said quietly, and gave him a hesitant yet genuine smile.

Deidara's nodded at her, as his grin broaden at seeing the kunoichi's face light up with her own smile. He'd never see her smile before and it caught him off guard; smiling truly suited her.

They fell into a comfortable silence for a while after that, only punctured by the crackling of the fire. After a few hours the continuing drum of the rain on the cliff above them subsided until the clouds dissipated completely, and moonlight seeped into the cave's opening.

"You know, I'm surprised you're not more hostile toward us," Deidara spoke up suddenly. At see Sakura's blank and slightly confused expression he elaborate. "I would imagine that you would be more hostile toward those who killed your old teammates, yeah."

_Teammates?_ Sakura thought to herself, confused. _What..?_ Suddenly her brained processed his statement, and her eyes widened briefly and then narrowed. Tsunade had never told her who had killed the men of Team Seven.

Sakura stood abruptly, recovering from her shock, shaking from rage, and confusion, and just by the fact that this realization about the men whom she considered closer to her than anyone in the world was suddenly dropped on her. _They killed my boys?!_

"...You didn't know." It wasn't a question.

Sakura began to back away from the blond man. She could feel the tears build at the corner of her eyes. She felt her heart break all over again. The same emotions and disbelief of _that_ day washed over her. She could barely keep her shaky knees from holding her up.

His statement was echoing in her head like the final nail in the coffin. Even though she had believed her boys were dead for over a year there was a part of her - a part that she hadn't realized existed until that moment - that still clung to the hope that they were alive, somehow. But now, facing the man, one of the men, who had actually killed her boys put such a finality to the fact that they were dead it nearly brought Sakura to her knees.

Her growing rage was the only thing keeping her from falling to the ground. But despite that she couldn't bring herself to pull the kunai from the waistband of her pants and lurch forward to kill Deidara. Her rage was directed at the world - at fate. So Sakura did the only they thing she could think of, she ran.

Deidara was taken back by the extreme reaction from the kunoichi. He could see her breaking down right in front of him, and he could also see the anger in her eyes. He suddenly felt an ache in his chest and was surprised to realized that he was actually feeling guilty - an emotion he hadn't felt in a very long time.

He was waiting for her to lunge at him. In a way he wanted her to, for he was sure that it would help rid him of this sudden annoying feeling consuming him. But she did the opposite of lunging at him by turning and sprinting away and out of the cave, and into the night air.

Deidara was so surprised by her unexpected reaction that it took him a moment to react himself. "Shit!" he swore at himself and then he quickly leaped to his feet and headed after the kunoichi.

He could see the moon reflecting off her pink hair as she fled from him. He was surprised that she was able to run, let alone almost outrun him in her current state. He could hear her erratic breathing, and a strange choking sound coming from deep in her throat, even from a few yards away.

Through Sakura's grief clouded mind she forgot to watch where she was going in her mad dash to get away from Deidara. It was only until she was forced to come to a skidding stop at the edge of a abrupt drop off that she realized she had ran herself into a dead end.

She was currently looking down a very sharp and steep, rocky cliff where, with the help of the moonlight, and the loud rushing sound of water hitting against a rocky bank- she was surprised she hadn't heard the sound before she reached the cliff - Sakura realized that she was looking down at a rather large rapid river.

Sakura's heart started pounding painfully in her chest. She frantically wheeled around, preparing to flee before Deidara could corner her, but she stumbled to a stop. Deidara had appeared suddenly, blocking her only exit.

He took a tentative step toward the visibly distraught kunoichi, his hands were raised in a placating gesture, and if Sakura had allowed herself to look she would have seen his apologetic and weary eyes. But Sakura was trembling all over, barely keeping her composure as it was, and was looking everywhere but his face - she was afraid of how her body and, currently unbalanced, mind would react to looking into the face of her boys' killer.

"Sakura." Deidara's voice had a hint of pleading in it, but it was still commanding; he may have felt bad for the kunoichi but he was an Akatsuki and he had a job to do, which was to keep their newest member from running off. "I don't want to hurt you, so I suggest you come back willingly."

He extended his hand and beckoned to her with his fingers, but Sakura kept her feet planted to the rocky outcropping. Her shoulders and hands were trembling violently and her head was dipped so that some of her hair fell forward, obstructing his view of her eyes.

Sakura continued to keep silent even as Deidara slowly inched toward her. When he came to within a few feet from her she whispered between her teeth in a strangled yet steel-laced voice, "Do _not_ come any closer."

Deidara sighed and rolled his eyes, but did not head the kunoichi's word. He knew she hardly had any chakra, and he could tell that her battered body was having a hard time staying standing. So he took another step toward her.

Sakura's jumbled emotions quickly melted into an all consuming fury. She suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to attack the shinobi in front of her. So, with her distraught mind clouding her judgment she did the only thing she knew would catch the Akatsuki off guard - with the last bit of her chakra she slammed her foot into the rocky ledge she and Deidara were standing on, and lurched backward as the ground crumbled and fell right out from underneath them.

Both shinobi's arms flailed around them as they and the earth and rocks beneath them plummeted straight down into the cold river below.

* * *

Well there's another long chapter for ya! Hope you enjoyed it! I know I didn't have Sasuke in this chapter, but don't worry he'll be in the next one.

Sorry about the delay in the updates recently. I've just been a little busier than usual lately, but hopefully I'll be able to get them in faster in the future.

Thanks again to my reviewers:

The Storm Queen  
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kitten652  
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And to everyone else...

Please review, it inspires me to write faster!

-JustALittleTwisted


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter Eleven

Sasuke stared down at the bodies strewn about him. Despite his impassive expression, he wfas unsettled. If the Uchiha had to wagerf a guess he would say he was looking at almost fifty Sound shinobi, and it was clear who had taken them out. But what was actually bothering him was why the hell was Sound in Waterfall, and what were the chances that this large of a group of Sound-nin – a small army really – happened upon the Akatsuki?

It was obvious that this was no coincidence. Sound was going after the Akatsuki....for what reason? Sasuke had no idea, and was becoming increasingly troubled. He did not like being left in the dark. He liked to be in control of every situation, and he usually was, which made the recent series of inexplicable events all the more unnerving for the powerful shinobi.

He turned to his team, who were scanning the remains of the battle looking just as lost as he felt. It hadn't taken Karin's extraordinary chakra sensing abilities for them to detect the numerous chakra signatures only about a half an hour ago, all making a beeline toward where they were standing now.

Sasuke had followed on a hunch that proved correct. Wherever his brother went he seemed to leave a wake of destruction behind him. It was easy to see the signature of Itachi and his companions everywhere; shredded limbs severed by the jagged blade of Samehada, flesh oozing off bone like melted plastic likely caused by one of Sasori's poisons, and a scattering of charred body parts that was no doubt caused by the blond explosives expert.

_Why the hell were they fighting?_

"Karin."

Karin turn and hurried over instantly.

"Yes, Sasuke-kun?" She cooed.

Sasuke continued to stare straight ahead, not bothering to turn to address the redhead. "Can you tell which way Itachi went?"

Karin squinted her eyes shut in concentration, but opened them a moment later looking disgruntled. "I can't, there's too many chakra signatures scattered around here, it's interfering with my senses."

"Hmm...Well _that_ explains why we were able to sneak up on you so easily," came a lazy drawl from behind them.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he turned casually, while the rest of Team Hebi whipped around, to find three dark figures standing in the trees gazing down at them.

Sasuke had only detected the three nin a split second before they had made themselves known. The events of the past few days had been nagging at him so much that he had not been paying as much attention to his surroundings as he should have been. He was _never_ caught off guard.

Inwardly he shook himself, and turned his full attention from his self-deprecating thoughts to the men above him, his face expressionless, reflecting none of his surprise.

Jugo and Suigetsu were instantly flanking him and Karin. Suigetsu sneered up at the strangers with an excited gleam in his eyes, while Jugo looked almost wary; now that they were aware of the new arrivals they could feel the power of their chakra even though most of it was cloaked. The Large man could tell that all three of them were a force to be reckoned with.

A moment later the three figures leaped from the trees and onto the ground. Sasuke's eyes flashed in recognition as soon as they stepped into the moonlight. It only took him but a second to workout why these three were there. _They're trailing the Akatsuki to rescue the Konoha shinobi._

"I should have known that following the trail of one Uchiha traitor would have lead us to the other," came the derisive remark from the pearl-eyed man.

Sasuke's indifferent facade almost slipped when his former rival stepped forward, eying him disdainfully. Willing himself to ignore the Hyuga he focused on the figure standing to his right. Sasuke had never paid much attention to Nara Shikamaru when he was a genin, but he was aware of how intelligent he had been.

Both the younger Konoha shinobi had changed immensely since he had last seen them, over five years ago. Though neither of their hair styles had changed much they looked older, more muscular, and their features were sharper. They were tall; Sasuke could tell if he were to walk right up to either of them he'd probably be exactly eye level with both of them.

The third shinobi stepped forward, in front of his companions. Like the Nara, his hands were shoved casually into his pockets, and he was chewing absently on a senbon, with, oddly enough, a small frog casually propped on his shoulder. Despite his almost bored posture Sasuke could tell that the older shinobi was in no way relaxed. The younger nin could tell that his keen eyes were taking in the slightest of movements from Sasuke and his companions. It took a moment for Sasuke to recognized this man as the proctor from his chuunin exams, but he could not put a name to the face.

Genma gazed idly across the body-strewn field. He had been more than a little surprised to find that he and his teammates had been able to sneak up on the younger Uchiha and his companions. Konoha was well aware that he and his team – Hebi was it? - had been constantly searching for Itachi since a year ago, ever since Sasuke had defected from Orochimaru.

There were standing orders to bring in the young Uchiha, preferably alive. But as Genma observed the traitor and his companions in front of him, and watched his own teammates out of the corner of his eyes, he knew that today was not the day to drag him home; Neji and Shikamaru were not making any indication that they wanted to fight beyond the contemptuous looks they were throwing at the sharingan wielder. He could tell they were already itching to leave and continue their search for their kidnapped teammate.

But it was obvious that Sasuke and his teammates were readying themselves for a confrontation. Before the situation could escalate into and unnecessary fight, Genma decided to break the heavy silence that had descended upon the two groups.

"Now, now kids,"Genma chided, raising his hands in a placating manner. "Don't get your undies all in a twist. We're not going to waste our time attempting to drag your traitorous butt back to Konoha...," he paused and smirked, to give emphasis on the disparaging remark. "We've got more important things to do."

Sasuke's eyes flickered in annoyance briefly, but that was the only indication he had heard the older shinobi. Karin on the other hand stomped her foot and emitted a high pitched shriek.

"Don't call Sasuke-kun a traitor! He can kick your ass!"

The Konoha shinobi raised their eyebrows at the ranting female, but otherwise ignored her, and turned their eyes back to Hebi's leader. Shikamaru stepped forward gaining everyone's attention, except the fuming red-head.

"Maybe you can be helpful and tell us if you know which way the Akatsuki went."

Sasuke continued to stare blandly at them, without speaking a word.

"Figures," Neji said, eyes narrowing. He abruptly turned his back to Sasuke and headed back toward the trees. "We're wasting time. Let's go."

Shikamaru sighed heavily and slouched after the Hyuga. Genma took a moment to give Sasuke one last assessing look, and then followed after his companions.

"Wait."

The Konoha-nin ceased their exit upon hearing the almost hesitant command. They each slowly turned and eyed Sasuke questioningly.

"You did not look at all surprised to see Sound shinobi bodies laying here," Sasuke said, his usual monotone almost accusing. "You know why Sound if after Akatsuki."

There was a pause and then Shikamaru spoke up, his usually lazy drawl now laced with resentment. "They're after the same thing we are."

The three shinobi then turned their backs on Sasuke again, impatient to be on their way.

"And what, or should I say who, _are_ you after?" Sasuke's low voice traveled across bloodied forest floor.

They stopped again, but neither of them turned around. Sasuke could see all three men go rigid. Neji turned his head to his right so that the moonlight illuminated half his face.

Then Neji said a name Sasuke had not heard in years.

"Haruno Sakura." It was spoken almost tenderly.

Without another word Neji, Shikamaru, and Genma, flickered out of sight and into the inky blackness of the forest.

Sasuke blinked.

"Sasuke-kun?"

...

Blink.

"Hey Sasuke? You okay man?"

Suigetsu suddenly felt a slight breeze and then Sasuke was gone.

* * *

_Haruno Sakura._

In a fraction of a second that name had brought back a rush of memories and emotions, all of which Sasuke had forcefully repressed ever since he was twelve. Sakura the weakest. The one who always needed saving. Annoying. It all came flooding back to him.

After his brain took a moment to process the information, it was not annoyance that washed over him, but fear. Something he had not felt in many years. It had been his responsibility all those times to protect Team Sevens only kunoichi. It had not been a roll that he cared for as a genin, but he had been dedicated to it none the less, and for some inexplicable reason he suddenly felt like he had failed.

He hadn't realized he was moving until he felt the wind in his face. He had no plan of action. He just knew he needed to catch up to the Konoha-nin. He had to understand. He needed an explanation.

_Why? What would the Akatsuki want with a weak kunoichi? What would Orochimaru want with her?_ Sasuke had just assumed Sakura had gone into teaching or taken some desk job. He hadn't seen any improvements in her fighting two years ago when they fought at Orochimaru's base - he hadn't seen her fight at all. Why would she have gained so much attention?

Sasuke could feel the Konoha shinobi just up ahead, and he was positive they could feel him also, but they were not slowing down. Inwardly growling with irritation Sasuke picked up his speed, and was able to spot them a few minutes later.

When he came within a few meters they finally slowed to stop and turned on their individual branches to stare at him expectantly.

"What is it kid?" Genma asked, sounding impatient after Sasuke only continued to stare back at them, with an unreadable expression.

Sasuke turned his eyes to the senbon wielder and finally asked, "what does Sound and the Akatsuki want with Haruno Sakura?"

Genma's eyes widened briefly, slightly surprised by the Uchiha's question. _Why would he even care?_ But he decided to humor the younger shinobi and answered his question. "We think they want her for her medical abilities."

Sasuke's brow furrowed in confusion. "She's a medic?"

He turned his eyes to the other shinobi and caught the incredulous expressions on Neji's and Shikamaru's faces.

"Are you serious?" Neji asked skeptically. "You didn't know that Sakura was a medic?"

It was Sasuke's turn to look incredulous. "How would I know of her being a medic? I haven't been in Konoha in years."

"Because," Shikamaru sighed, exasperated. "On top of her being one of the more powerful shinobi in Konoha, she is also renowned as the worlds best medic."

Sasuke was floored, again. Sakura? Haruno Sakura? But as he thought it over he _had_ heard of a very strong and young kunoichi surpassing even the Sannin Hokage's abilities. He had just figured it was some other girl – maybe the Hyuga or the blond loudmouth.

It didn't take Sasuke long to process the information, however. Sakura _did_ have the best chakra control when they were genin; a fact, he recalled, that had irritated him when she'd repeatedly beat him at the basics. But he had never imagined she would make anything of herself.

Sasuke felt the three chakra signatures of his companions moving toward him, but ignored them. His thoughts were filled with images of a helpless Sakura in the hands of his brother and the other Akatsuki.

He didn't know what came over him. He hadn't even really thought of his genin teammate in years, but the same feeling of responsibility for her became overwhelming. In his mind he could not see her as a strong kunoichi who was be able to fend for herself, but the twelve year old helpless genin who spent more time trying to catch his attention than honing her shinobi skills.

"It would be mutually beneficial if I assist you." Sasuke was as surprised by his own words as the shinobi in front of him.

"No," Neji said firmly, after recovering from Sasuke's unexpected statement. "I will not work with a traitor. We will get Sakura back on our own."

"You three will fight against four Akatsuki alone?" Sasuke deadpanned, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

There was a slight pause while Neji glared threatening at Sasuke, and then Shikamaru spoke up. "Why do _you_ care whether we get Sakura back or not?" His tone was suspicious and accusing at the same time.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, but he did not respond. To be honest he didn't know himself.

"Your revenge will take precedence over saving Sakura," Neji continued. "We cannot risk her getting injured by being in your way.

"I will make sure that Sakura is safe before I engage Itachi." Sasuke allowed an angry edge leak out into his voice, while his eyes bore into Neji's gaze. In the back of his head he questioned why he was getting so defensive, let alone why he even cared.

Genma sighed loudly and stepped in between the two prodigies. "Calm down you three," he said, raising his hands, palms out. "We're wasting time."

He turned around to regard his teammates. "Sasuke makes a valid point. We cannot defeat the Akatsuki on our own. We could use additional help. If Sasuke and his team assist we won't have to wait for Jiraiya to catch up."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru sighed, but nodded his head in agreement, while Neji, still looking annoyed, nodded curtly as well.

"Good," Genma said, satisfied, and crouched down and pulled Jiraiya's frog from his shoulder and placed him on the branch in front of him. " Tell Jiraiya everything you've seen. We'll head east to search for any sign of the Akatsuki. We'll leave enough of a trail for Akamaru and Kiba to follow us."

After he was finished the amphibian stared blinking up at him for a moment or two, and then emitted a reverberating croak and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Almost immediately after the rest of Team Hebi came barreling through the trees.

"Sasuke-kun! Are you okay?" Karin asked breathlessly, as she eyed the Konoha shinobi warily.

Sasuke ignored her question, and turned to his teammates. "Change of plans. We'll be traveling together until we find Itachi."

Karin and Suigetsu gaped openly at Sasuke's abrupt and unexpected statement, while Jugo glanced nervously over at the three Konoha-nin.

"But, Sasuke-kun...why-"

"There will be a pink-haired kunoichi with the Akatsuki," Sasuke interrupted the red-head's question. "She is to be removed from harms way at all cost."

Sasuke's steely tone made the hairs on the back of his companions necks stand up, encouraging them, despite their many questions, to keep their mouths shut.

Once the three Hebi members nodded their understanding to their team leader, the Konoha shinobi turned, without a word, and continued their sprint through the darkened forest, and Sasuke and his companions immediately followed.

* * *

Sakura gasped when her body smacked painfully into the surface of the churning water as earth and rock fell around her. A split second later her breath caught in her throat and her muscles spasmed as her body was propelled deep into the darkened depths of the freezing river by the momentum of her fall. She was momentarily consumed by pain as the feeling of millions of little knives assailed her skin, turning it raw.

Her body became numb a moment later, and she was able to think again. Sakura began to desperately kick her legs, trying to force her fatigued and cramping legs to work with her. After a few desperate seconds she broke the surface, gasping for breath, but ended up inhaling a lung-full of water as the rapid moving river washed over her, forcefully dragged her down river.

Just as Sakura was able to get her head above the water a second time, she was rammed painfully into a large jagged rock. With her hands still tied together she was only barely able to hold on by clamping her knees around the curved edge of the slick rock.

With her shaky and numb fingers, she reached into the waistband of her pants and inwardly sighed in relief when her fingers touched the edge of her hidden kunai. After a moment of fumbling with the weapon she was able to infuse the kunai with a small amount of chakra from her fingertips and hacked away the bindings.

Once finished Sakura wrapped her arms around the rock and collapsed exhausted against it. After taking a moment to catch her breath she lifted a shaky hand to pull back the thick, drenched curtain of her hair that was obstructing her vision, and began to search for her assailant.

The moon's light reflected off the dark flowing waters, which provided barely enough light to see, but it didn't take Sakura long to spot the distinctively blond hair of her Akatsuki captor.

Deidara was completely submerged, and only the tips of his hair and the ends of his cloak were visible. He wasn't providing any resistance to the pull of the river. In fact, Sakura could see no movement from him at all as he was carried passed her and the rock she clung to.

The kunoichi bit her lower lip to keep her teeth from chattering as she turned her head to gage the distance of the shore from where her weakening body clung to the rock. But her eyes unwillingly turned back to Deidara, who continued to be pulled further and further from her.

The initial shock of the freezing water had snapped Sakura out of her rampaging emotions, and she was now able to think calmly. Despite her status as ANBU, she was not a willing killer when it wasn't necessary. The site of seeing the unconscious nukenin defenseless against the raging waters – despite the fact that she should probably despise him more than anyone alive for killing her boys – pulled at her medic heart.

Taking one more longing look at the shore, Sakura sighed heavily, inwardly chiding herself for her overly compassionate ways, and released her hold on the slick rock. The river swept her up again, but this time, instead of fighting it, she swam with it.

She made her way toward him, gasping for air as wave after wave rushed over her head. It took only a moment before she was able to reach out and grab a hold of his cloak. With her dwindling strength she pulled him toward her and leaned his head over her shoulder to keep his face above the water.

Even in the dim moonlight she was able to see the gushing wound on his forehead, most likely from the debris that had fallen from the cliff with them. She hoisted him further up against her, with one arm wrapped across his chest, and then began swimming toward the shore, desperately fighting the rivers pull.

The battle to reach the dry land was exhausting, and when Sakura was finally able to pull them onto the rocky shore she could only collapse next to the Akatsuki, gasping. A moment later she heard gurgling, and still trying to catch her breath she turned to the man next to her.

She had laid Deidara on his side facing her, and when she turned back to him he was coughing up a lung-full of water. Sakura continued to watch him warily as she pulled herself into a sitting position.

After hacking up the last of the water through his raw throat, Deidara opened his eyes and focused on the girl next to him. As he took in her battered appearance, it didn't take him long to realize what had probably happened. To say that he was surprised that the girl had saved him would have been an understatement. His eyes narrowed as he continued to watch the kunoichi suspiciously.

His fingers touched the sharpened edge of one of the many kunai he had hidden within his cloak. Even though for some unknown reason the kunoichi had pulled him from the river, he was still wary of her. This would be the best chance she'd ever get to take her revenge, and she may have only saved him so she could killed him herself.

He caught the kunoichi eye, and they stared at each other for a long moment. Deidara could see Sakura's warring thoughts reflected in her ever express eyes. He could tell she was debating on whether to finish him off or not.

Suddenly she moved, and Deidara reflexively gripped his kunai, but instead of lunging for him she surprised him yet again by slowly standing on shaky knees and turning away from him. She took one staggering step forward and had to steady herself on her bent knees.

Once gaining her bearings, she look back at him one last time. Deidara blink and then she was gone.

The blond collapsed back onto the rocky shore, trying to wrap his mind around exactly what just happened, as he gingerly prodded his head wound. It only took him a second longer to realize he'd just lost his captive.

"Oh crap!"

* * *

After making quick work of the Sound-nin, the remaining Akatsuki were following the signal from Deidara's ring. Though they had plowed through the majority of the Sound's small army, there was still a few groups scattered around, which they were easily able to avoid.

They had been traveling for a few hours when Itachi came to a stop. It only took a moment for the other two to sense the weak and erratic chakra signature moving passed them a few miles to the north, headed in the direction they had come.

Though the signature was almost impossible to track, as it was so weak, the Akatsuki were easily able to locate it, as well as identify it as their petite captive. Suspiciously enough, Deidara's ring's signal indicated that he was nowhere near the fleeing kunoichi.

The kunoichi's chakra was obviously too low for her to be able to detect any other shinobi. That was like being blind to a ninja, and currently the Leaf nin was running blindly into a group of Sound-nin.

"Crap," Kisame growled, and the three Akatsuki took off after their fleeing captive.

* * *

After Team Hebi and the Konoha-nin had gotten a good distance from the the battleground, Kerin had been able to catch the Akatsuki's chakra. They were now speeding through the trees at a breakneck speed.

The strange group had been traveling quietly for about an hour. The conversation was limited to only necessary observations of their surroundings and any possible obstacles in their path. Neither member of the two teams felt the need or the inclination to lighten the almost suffocatingly heavy atmosphere.

Despite this, Sasuke's three teammates were brimming with questions.

In the year Suigetsu had known and traveled with Sasuke, the Uchiha had never once diverged from his path to kill his brother. But now, when they were so close, he was putting this "pink-haired" girl's safety before his revenge. It didn't make sense to the Mist-nin. Especially considering that fact that Sasuke had never mentioned or led any of them to believe he harbored any attachment to anyone (still alive) from his home village.

In all honesty, Suigetsu really could have cared less about saving someone he had no connection to. He wasn't a hero, and didn't go out of his way to help others when it didn't benefit him. And even those he did have a connection to – being friendless and having no living family, any connections he could claim would be limited to the three teammates traveling beside him – he could honestly say he only respected two of them enough to risk his life for them (he had long ago concluded that his life would be quieter and just plain better off without the loan female of his team). Due to this respect he held for his team leader, he would do as was asked of him.

If nothing else, he was curious to find out what kinda of girl could hold such sway over the stoic Uchiha and, from what he could see, the three Konoha shinobi.

Jugo's thoughts had taken a similar direction, but his were decidedly more compassionate than those of his teammate's. The large man's kindhearted demeanor, combined with his loyalty toward Sasuke, made it impossible for him not to be genuinely concerned for the unknown kunoichi.

Karin, on the other hand, had no desire to save the Konoha nin, and was barely holding back the temper tantrum that was threatening to boil over. It was obvious to the kunoichi that Sasuke had some sort of connection with this "pink-haired" girl, and it was not at all settling well with her.

Sasuke never showed concern for others. True, he did what was necessary to keep his team alive and well, but he'd never go beyond that. Though his face did no reflect it, Karin could tell that Sasuke was worried, if only slightly, over this twit. But it was more of a reaction than she had ever received.

Karin had already decided that this _Sakura_ was going on the top of her _people to rid from the face of the earth_ list. There was no way she was going to allow some little girl from Sasuke's past get in the way of her pursuit of the handsome Uchiha.

Karin's train of thought was suddenly interrupted by an almost imperceptible tinkle of chakra a distance north from their current location. But the kunoichi's skills easily allowed her to identify the signature.

"I can sense the girl's chakra," Karin called to Sasuke suddenly, not even attempting to hide her disappointment."She's alone."

As soon as Karin had spoken, the three Konoha shinobi and Sasuke came to an abrupt stop, and turned urgently to the tracker as soon as she landed on a branch next to Sasuke.

"Which direction?" Neji demanded.

Karin's hackles raised by the Hyuga's pushy tone. She was about to make a scathing remark but she felt Sasuke shift impatiently next to her. Hesitantly eyeing Sasuke out of the corner of her eye, the kunoichi caught Sasuke's eyes narrow in annoyance.

Gulping, Karin quickly stuttered out, "t-to the northeast, about five miles."

The four men were gone before Karin had finished her sentence, and in a blink of an eye, Suigetsu and Jugo followed suit.

Growling, Karin stomped her foot petulantly and took off after the men.

Her thoughts reverted back to her quickly increasing hatred for the Konoha kunoichi. But only a moment later her scowl slowly curled up into a malicious grin. She had conveniently forgotten to mention that the girl's weakened chakra signature was heading straight for a group of strong jounin level chakra signatures. Karin knew there was no way her companions would reach the girl before she reached this other unknown group of shinobi.

The redhead could barely suppress a squeal of vengeful glee. She was positive this would not bode well for the girl.

* * *

Sakura was dead on her feat. The fear of being caught, again, was the only thing keeping her moving.

The moisture from the last rain shower still clung to the air, stinging the kunoichi's raw lungs every time she breathed in a ragged breath of cold air.

The bark of the trees were slick, making travel even more tedious on her weak and shaky legs. Yet Sakura could not risk taking to the ground. It would give any pursuing nin the advantage of higher ground, for they would surely be traveling through the trees themselves, and she would be easier to spot.

So Sakura continued forward, having to occasionally brace herself against the trunk of a tree whenever one of her sandaled feet slipped on the dew and moss covered branches.

Though Sakura's mind was predominantly swirly with panic-filled thoughts of escape, a part of her couldn't keep from thinking about the information Deidara had provided her.

The exact circumstances of her boys' deaths had never been divulged to her. When Sakura was around Shizune, whether be it a the hospital, in Tsunade's office, or at the bar having drinks together, the older kunoichi would sometimes stare at her when she thought Sakura wasn't looking. The expression on her face in those occasions was filled with guild and pity. Sakura could tell, in those moments, that Shizune was barely holding herself back from spilling all that she knew.

Sakura had entertained the thought of taking advantage Shizune's weaker moments, and ask for the details that she so longed for. But her respect for her long time friend, and the guilt she saw pooling in her brown eyes kept her from pushing the subject.

Tsunade had told Sakura that the facts of boys' mission were classified. And though it tore her up not to know, Sakura respected her shishou's request and stopped asking for further detail.

But now...

She had hoped that knowing would have lightened her hearts load, and in a way it did, but with the knowledge came more questions. Questions that Sakura was sure she wouldn't like the answers to. This didn't keep her wondering and hoping that...that it had been quick, and painless.

The thought of Naruto, Kakashi, Sai, and Yamato weak, helpless, and in pain, without her there to comfort them, and help them, made the tears that Sakura had learned to hold back break through and began to stream down her cheeks. She wanted so desperately to hold them all in that moment. Like they were children in need of the comfort of their mother.

She would do anything just to have been there for them. To hold their hands in their last moments. To tell them all the things she had felt she had not expressed enough in their time together.

To tell them that she loved them each more deeply than she could ever express in a lifetime. And to tell them that she would have devoted her life doing just that.

It was at that moment – where Sakura was just a second from breaking – when she heard the familiar whoosh of a kunai cutting through the air.

She dodged to the left, and the kunai grazed across her right outer thigh.

Ignoring the pain, Sakura pulled out her one and only kunai, and twirled it around her index finger, as she backed up against the trunk of a tree.

She inwardly scolded herself for getting too caught up with morose thoughts of her boys. Forcing herself to concentrate, Sakura began searching for her attacker.

Even with her dwindling chakra, it only took her a moment to find what she was looking for. There were eight of them, all around jounin level strength, and...

She was surrounded.

Sakura took another moment to berate herself for her stupidity. She was ANBU, and she had just made a genin mistake! Inner Sakura popped up briefly to add her two cents (aka belittling remarks).

Sakura quickly went over her odds. She was almost completely out of chakra – she'd probably kill herself if she went much lower. She was exhausted physically, and mentally. She only had one weapon. And finally, she was more than a little outnumbered.

_Well at least they're not Akatsuki, _the kunoichi thought optimistically, and then sighed deeply because she knew she was screwed either way.

"We were told to take you in alive kunoichi," a male voice call through the trees, causing Sakura to coil further into her crouch. "So if you come willingly we won't hurt you."

_Too badly,_ Sakura thought knowingly, finishing the last of the hidden man's sentence that hung in the air.

Konoha ANBU never went "willingly". And since Sakura was no longer wearing her ankle weights, even in her exhausted state, she was still faster than most.

There was a shift in the air, and the Sound-nin that had spoken, crouched on a branch two trees behind Sakura, suddenly felt his face painfully meet the black pants-covered knee of the pink-haired kunoichi.

Sakura growled in annoyance when the Sound shinobi, barely visible in the moonlight streaking through the trees, caught himself on a branch, and stood up while shaking his head to regain his bearings. If Sakura wasn't afraid to use even a fraction of her chakra, that hit would have killed him instantly.

Before the nin could recover fully from the blow, Sakura let loose her kunai, and it caught the man right in the forehead. As soon as it made contact Sakura jerked her wrist and the kunai came flying back to her, aided by thinnest of chakra strings – the only chakra she could afford to use.

As the blood spurted from the large wound, the man's body, still standing, swayed for the briefest of seconds and then slumped forward, lifeless, and fell head first, as if in slow motion, toward the ground below.

There was an enraged screech from somewhere above her...

Then all hell broke loose.

Sakura was suddenly dodging kicks, punches, projectiles, and jutsus coming from all directions.

_I think you made them angry,_ Inner Sakura added knowingly, casually ignoring the fact that if Sakura slipped up once she'd most likely meet a very gruesome ending.

_Ya think!_

* * *

Sakura put up a good fight...for about thirty-seven seconds.

Though the rage from the easy defeat of their captain by the petite kunoichi helped fuel the seven Sound-nins attacks, it also made them sloppy, and Sakura was able to knock off two of them before the remaining five could take her down.

Sakura bit back a moan of pain when a knee pushed painfully into the small of her back, while two of the Sound shinobi fought to hold her down while they tied her up.

The forest was quiet for a moment, except for the scuffling shinobi on the forest floor, and the occasional un-lady-like swear word from the kunoichi (compliments of Genma's teaching).

"Finally!" barked one of the shinobi holding Sakura down, when he finally got the hands of the squirming female securely tied together.

"Yo! The others will be here soon!" called another shinobi, supposedly now the leader, who had been relaying their position to the other Sound teams.

When he didn't receive a response, he and the two shinobi sitting on top of the girl looked up questioning at their two companions who were supposed to be keeping watch. They had their gray-clad backs facing their teammates, and were both staring, unmoving, up into the trees.

Still fuming, Sakura turned her head to see what was going on.

Her heart began to pound heavily and her eyes widened ever so slightly when she processed the scene in front of her.

After a year of living, working, and fighting, with Shikamaru, Sakura was easily able to spot the Nara shadow jutsu from the rest of the shadows scattered across the ground. But even though she knew what she was seeing she was still having a hard time believing it.

One of the Sound-nin walked up to his companions, who were, unbeknownst to him, still caught under the shadow jutsu, and poked one of them in the shoulder.

"Hey? You alright man?"

No response.

"Shit!" barked the leader, knowing instantly something was wrong. Turning around he made to lunge for his captive, but found that he was too late.

Sakura suddenly felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist, and lift her off the ground. She didn't call out in alarm because she knew instantly whom they belonged to.

Sakura looked up into the relieved pearl eyes of her rescuer, and suddenly felt like crying. She'd honestly never been so happy to see anyone in her whole life.

"Neji!" she choked out, burying her face into her friend's shoulder, as relief and a million other emotions washed over her.

Neji protectively pulled her closer to his chest as he sped away from the clashing sound of kunai as he companions fought off the Sound-nin. He took a shuttering breath as the fear that had consumed him for the past day and a half suddenly lifted from his chest.

He only lightened his hold on Sakura when he landed on a high branch looking out over the moon-lit clearing, where Genma and Team Hebi were easily finishing off the last two members of the Sound team. He crouched down, and Sakura lifted her tear streaked face from his shoulder to find Shikamaru's face staring down at her.

To her surprise, the relief and joy on his face was just as intense as Neji's. The kunoichi would have never of thought that the normally lazy genius was even capable of looking intense.

Sakura began to weep openly when he leaned forward, kissed her forehead, and then pulled her toward him in a tight embrace, burying his face into her hair.

For a second time, Sakura desperately wished that her hands weren't tied so she could wrapped her arms around the two men. But she was too busy crying her eyes out and basking in the embrace of her two best friends to bring it up.

But their happy reunion was suddenly cut short when Sakura heard an unfamiliar female voice from behind them shriek, "there's more coming!"

Neji and Shikamaru leaped to their feet, with Sakura still in Shikamaru's arms.

It only took them a moment longer to feel the shinobi heading toward them. There was eighteen of them, and they were moving quickly.

"Here," Karin said, walking up toward the three friends, with her arms extended toward Sakura. "I'll take the girl".

When Neji and Shikamaru only glared at her distrustfully, Karin sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Listen," she said with exasperation. "I don't want to die, and I'm no good in a fight, so our odds would be better if I hold the girl" - she refused to address Sakura by name or even look at her - "while you get rid of all the...bad guys." Karin smirked at the last part.

Neji and Shikamaru still looked hesitant, while Sakura continued to stare at the redhead, confused.

_Who's she?_

Sakura didn't have time to ask before her battered body was being dropped gently into the strange girls arms.

Shikamaru's instincts were screaming at him not to let Sakura go, but he knew the girl was right. They needed to get rid of Sound shinobi and get the hell out of there before the Akatsuki showed up, and the best way to do that was if he and Neji were able to move freely.

"Stay behind us," Neji ordered stepping forward. He looked down at Sakura and his eyes softened as he cupped her cheek in his hand. He allowed his eyes to linger for a moment, and then he looked back up at the redhead, and his eyes narrowed distrustfully as she adjusted the smaller kunoichi's weight in her arms.

"I'll be keeping an eye on you," he promised, and Karin understood the warning. He then activated his byakugan, and stepped aside to allow Shikamaru to squeeze Sakura's shoulder reassuringly. Then both shinobi spread out into the trees to make a barrier between the two kunoichi and the Sound nin.

Once the Konoha shinobi backs were turned, Karin turned her eyes to glower down at the petite kunoichi in her arms. She was more than a little irritated that they had caught up in time, and now that she was getting a good look at the girl they were all here to save, she became even more annoyed.

It didn't take a genius to see the girl's appeal. The older kunoichi could tell, even with her body littered with bloody cuts, bruises, and dirt, that she was beautiful. Her pale skin was flawless, her long dark eyelashes framed her large bright eyes, and her lips were pink and full. She even had a button nose for crying out loud! With her arms wrapped around the girl, Karin could easily tell that, like most kunoichi, her body was lean, but unlike most kunoichi she had curves in all the right spots.

She was perfect, and Karin hated her all the more for it. She was barely restraining herself from releasing her hold on the girl, and letting her drop to the ground below. Only the thought of Sasuke's disapointment kept her from doing it.

_Besides, with my luck, someone would probably catch her before she hit the ground,_ Karin thought bitterly.

Feeling eyes boring into the side of her head, Sakura slowly turned her head to look up at the woman holding her. As her gazed up at the stranger, she caught the dark scowl on the kunoichi's face just before the redhead looked away with a huff.

_What's her problem?_ Sakura wondered. _More importantly, who is she?_

Sakura took in the womans appearance. She was positive she had never seen her before, so she was sure she wasn't a Konoha shinobi. Plus, Sakura couldn't see a Konoha headband anywhere on her.

Her observations only proved to increase her confusion, and from the expression on the redhead's face as she pointedly looked away from Sakura, the younger kunoichi could tell that right out and asking probably wouldn't go over too well. So instead, she turned her attention back to her two teammates, simultaneously praying that nothing happens to her two precious people and wishing she wasn't so pathetic and weak so she could be of some use.

Shikamaru looked down to see that Genma and the male members of Team Hebi were preparing themselves on the ground below. But his eyes lingered on the Uchiha, who was staring up at Karin and Sakura with narrowed eyes.

But Shikamaru didn't have time to read into the Uchiha's expression, because he was suddenly forced to repel a barrage of shuriken when a number of Sound shinobi appeared in the trees in front of him.

Sasuke eyed Karin suspiciously for a moment. He hadn't gotten a very good look at Sakura before Neji had grabbed her, but what he could see had surprised him. Even through the dark night air he could tell that the awkward twelve year old girl he had once known had developed into a woman. He was also painfully aware of Karin's overly jealous personality, and wouldn't put it past her to attempt something with his former teammate.

Sasuke sighed to himself as he watched the Sound-nin appear in the trees above him. He didn't have time to babysit his moronic teammate. He just hoped Karin would be too wary of him to go against his command.

Karin watched as the two men in front of her, and the four men on the ground below, fought off the waves of Sound-nin.

She adjusted the girl's weight in her arms impatiently. Karin wasn't very strong, and even though the petite girl was light she was having an increasingly hard time holding onto her.

It had been nearly five minutes since the Sound group first attacked before Karin's patience was finally rewarded.

A large wind jutsu had come tearing through the trees toward Shikamaru. The shinobi only had time to dodged the powerful shredding wind as it blew passed him. He turned apprehensively to watch as it flew toward the two kunoichi.

Karin should have had plenty of time to dodge the jutsu, but she happened to conveniently be watching Jugo's battle below to notice until it was almost too late.

She looked up abruptly when Shikamaru called out a warning, and feigned surprise at seeing the powerful jutsu headed toward her. Karin leaped out of the way, but her shoulder caught the edge of the jutsu, and she cried out in pain as she reached for the nearest branch.

Karin released the bottom half of Sakura's body so she could grab a hold of the branch. As she dangled with one hand, her grip around Sakura's shoulders slipped. Suppressing a smile, Karin made a show of desperately drabbing for the pink-haired girl, and yelled out in surprise.

The rest of the group turned to watch as Sakura began falling toward the ground. Neji and Shikamaru made to leap for her, but both were beaten to the punch by a fast Sound shinobi, who had been waiting in the shadows for an opportunity to get at the kunoichi.

"No!" Neji, Shikamaru, and Genma yelled simultaneously.

The agile shinobi landed soundlessly on the ground, with three other Sound-nin flanking him. Sakura struggled violently in his grip, but it did not phase the gray-clad man.

He quickly crouched down, and laid Sakura onto the damp ground. Once his hands were free he began a quick series of hand signs.

Sakura's eyes widened. She recognized the series of hand signs instantly. And apparently she wasn't the only one.

"Shit!"

Sakura looked up to see who had spoken, and then froze. A man was sprinting across the forest floor toward her, with his Kusanagi held straight out, and his intense eyes trained on the man crouched over her.

"Sasuke?" she whispered, as if in slow motion, a split second before she felt the pull in her gut as the teleportation jutsu took effect.

Sasuke came to a skidding stop, just a foot from the patch of earth Sakura and the three Sound shinobi had occupied only a moment before. He continued to stare down at the ground where Sakura had been just a second ago.

"Sakura," he whispered through clenched teeth. He grip tightened around his Kusanagi, turning his knuckles white.

The Sound shinobi fell back immediately, and the rest of the temporary team turned toward the Uchiha, all with varying degrees of anguish and frustration written across their faces.

Sasuke turned abruptly, ingoring their gazes, and began to retreive his shuriken from the fallen Sound shinobi, as if he was not at all affected by what had just happened. But his thoughts were filled with the memory of Sakura's surprised wide eyes. If he had been more aware of his surroundings, he would have heard the soft swish of thick fabric in the trees above him.

Itachi gazed down at his younger brother. His head was cocked to the side as he mulled over the scene he had happened upon a moment ago. He wasn't positive, but he had a hunch that Sasuke cared about his former genin teammate, if only a little. And by the younger Uchiha's dismissive reaction, he was trying to suppress any feelings he had for the kunoichi.

_Silly little brother._

* * *

I was dying to finish that sentence with "tricks are for kids!" but I figured it would be really out of character for Itachi. ;-D

My excuse for the delay in submitting this chapter:

You see, I got lost on the road of life...

Okay, I have no excuse other than my other hobbies (NOT reading porn), and my favorite holiday getting in the way. I am a Halloween freak! I seriously dragged my friends to the cemetery every night of October do to a seance after killing a black cat with a cross.

...Okay, that was really sadistic and not at all true (it doesn't mean I didn't try).

Well anyway, I hope you can forgive little ol' me and I hope you review!

In answer to a few questions...

-No, Sakura wasn't trying to kill herself when she knocked herself and Deidara off the cliff, She was just upset and not thinking straight.

-I haven't decided what other Akatsuki members will make an appearance later in the story. I am, however, leaning toward have Hidan, because I can't help but love the guy. ;-D

-And the question of pairings, mm...I still have yet to decide who Sakura will end up with (if any). Heck, maybe she'll end up with a harem. Honestly, who wouldn't like that? lol

If your name is listed below, I love you! :-D

jackie-chan1230

The Storm Queen

Punk And Lovin It

Kurisutii-chan

Nikuyoku Taida

Scotty Switch

snowygirl55

LittleFoxDemon

Vesper chan

Gothic Saku-chan

kitten652

Rosalind du Coudray

LarkasBlessing122291

freakhorrorchick

AakuraXMagika

crazykiller88

sakurayumi12

FluffyKeira

MewmewInuSailorHeart

Miss Loquacious

Sara 'Devilchu'

Taimatsu-chan

In The Arms Of A Stranger

Fonrin

LaLa

TheCupcakeMonster

Please review, I would love to know what you think.

-JustALittleTwisted


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