Found him

Sakura jumped, did a back flip and crouched on top of the tree branch. Her senses were sharp as she breathed deeply. She was now 18 years old. Her bubblegum pink hair was tied in a high ponytail as a few curls framed her slightly pink face. Her sharp emerald gaze surveyed the surrounding.

"Sakura, according to the information received by the ANBU guard that was positioned here, Sasuke was spotted going east with his new team," Kakashi said as she looked at him attentively. She nodded.

"Then what are we waiting for?" said Naruto, his voice filled with determination. Sakura gave him a determined smile as Kakashi motioned them to start moving again.

They moved faster as Sakura studied Naruto. He had grown tall with a height of 5"11. His blonde hair was still the same but a bit longer and his body had developed more muscles. He was starting to look more like a man. He was now more mature but his personality was still the same. His determination had increased ever since Sasuke left the village and Sakura knew that if there was a person in the world that can bring Sasuke back, it was Naruto. However, this time she was not going to stay on the sidelines. She was going to be behind Naruto every step of the way.

They continued on. Each of them feeling the thrill of excitement and anxiousness as they got closer to their goal.

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke looked at his team mate, Karin, whom he had travelled with for the past 2 years, expectantly.

"I sense ninja's coming our way. There are two males and a female. One of the males has the exact same chakra as before. It's Uzumaki. They are Konoha's shinobis," she said.

Sasuke nodded. He had expected them to come after him. After all, he knew Naruto was extremely determined. However, he was curious to see how much he had improved since their last meeting. He looked at his companions and saw that they were all waiting for him to make a decision. They looked fit enough for a battle.

"We will stop here and wait for them," he said monotonously. Suigetsu grinned, finally some action for his blade. Jugo and Karin nodded.

"We're getting close. I can sense them. They have stopped. About 10 minutes till we reach them," she said as she felt familiar chakra. Nearly there! I wonder why they stopped she thought.

Kakashi nodded as Naruto increased his speed. I'm coming Sasuke!! I will take you back this time, no matter what!

"They're here!" announced Karin just as three ninjas emerged out of the trees in front of them. Suigetsu stopped leaning on the tree. Sasuke was standing in front while Jugo was standing between Karin and Suigetsu.

Sakura and Naruto stopped and stood still as they looked at their former team mate. Kakashi looked at the other ninjas carefully, trying to sense what they were capable off. Sasuke smirked.

"Naruto. Are you here to try and take me back, again?" he drawled lazily. Naruto smiled with confidence.

"No. I'm not here to try. I know I will take you back this time no matter what! Either you go willingly or I will drag you back," he said.

Sakura stood back and observed silently. Sasuke has grown taller since last time they met and he looked stronger as well. His raven black hair was longer but it was in the same style. She knew that he had gained his Mangekyo Sharingan. She had learned everything about the sharingan thoroughly.

Sasuke disappeared and reappeared right in front of Naruto. Sakura inwardly gasped. His speed has increased. Like he wasn't fast enough before. This is incredible.

He took out his sword and angled it to swing at Naruto's head. Naruto avoided the swipe and jumped backwards before blocking his next attack with his kunai. Sasuke immediately send lightning into his sword but Naruto disconnected their blocked blades.

As Naruto jumped and moved back, Sakura moved in. She ran towards Sasuke at full speed and gathered chakra into her fists. As she reached him, she swung her fist at his face which he ducked easily. She then cart wheeled to make her feet connect with his head and at the same time slammed her chakra enlaced fist into the ground. The ground cracked and split under their feet and they both jumped back in the opposite direction.

Sasuke looked at her amused. Not bad, Sakura he thought. As he felt strong chakra he looked up to see Naruto with Rasengan and swerved to narrowly avoid getting hit. Suddenly he felt something slammed into the back of his head. He immediately did a substitution jutsu and moved to a branch while his clone was destroyed by Naruto's Rasengan. He looked to see Sakura standing where his clone was.

Did she hit me? he thought. He looked at Naruto who was looking at him intently and then moved his gaze to Sakura who had a smile on her face. Yup, she did something. He activated his sharingan, knowing that he was going to need it.He couldn't feel anything on his head that indicated an injury but he knew he had felt something. He looked at Karin.

As if understanding what he wanted, Karin shook her head. She had no idea what had happened. Sasuke nodded. He then looked back at Sakura with his sharingan and penetrated her head. He knew he needed to find out what had happened and what she had done.

Sakura gasped as she found Sasuke in her head. His red eyes bearing into her emerald gaze. Suddenly out of nowhere, another Sakura appeared. Sasuke looked at her and raised a brow. His gaze shifted from Sakura to Inner Sakura. He smirked. Split personality. Interesting..

"Get out of our head," Inner Sakura yelled.

"Hn. So there are two of you," he said warily. Sakura looked on, quietly. She knew that the only way to get Sasuke out of her head was Inner Sakura. After all, Inner Sakura had managed to kick Ino out of her head back at the Chunin exams.

Sasuke was about to find out what she did to him when he felt a sharp pain at the back of his head. He looked at Sakura sharply before being thrown out of her head. Sakura finally let out a deep breath as she felt his presence vanish from her mind.

"Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" asked Naruto, as he looked at her worriedly. Sakura gave him a reassuring smile and nodded. They both turned their attention back to Sasuke who was now slumped over in between Karin and Jugo. Karin looked worried while Suigetsu and Jugo looked amazed.

Sasuke Uchiha was unconscious at their feet. The trio looked at the pink headed kunoichi and the blonde ninja before quickly standing up and preparing for a fight. Naruto and Sakura exchanged glances.

"Hey Naruto, why don't we use formation 123 for these guys?" inquired Sakura, as she winked at him.

"Let's do it Sakura-chan," he said, grinning like crazy. Kakashi looked on in amusement. He knew how hard Naruto and Sakura had trained. Currently Naruto was the top ninja in Konoha, while Sakura was the best medic nin. Sure enough in 15 minutes all three ninjas were down.

Just to be safe that they don't experience any trouble on their way back to Konoha, Sakura made sure that they stayed knocked out for at least 5 hours. As she moved on to Sasuke, she was shocked when he disappeared from in front of her but working on her instincts she ducked down just as a lightning blade swiped over her head. She turned around quickly to come face to face with Sasuke's powerful sharingan eyes. Damn..should have known he wouldn't go down so easily.

"You've improved, Sakura, but you are still not in my league," said Sasuke simply as he looked at his former team mate.

Sakura looked at him blankly. Where the hell are Naruto and Kakashi?? she thought as she looked around to where she saw them last. Instantly her mouth went dry as she caught the red and black robes. Akatsuki...what the hell are they doing here?

She looked up to warn Sasuke but he was already looking at them. Naruto and Kakashi were standing behind Sasuke's team mate. Sakura sighed in relief and Sasuke's gaze travelled back down to hers.

"What now?" she asked him. He shrugged.

"This is your problem not mine. Deal with it."

"What? You are just going to leave? They are here for Naruto. Aren't you going to help us?"

"Like I said it's your problem not mine. I could care less what happens to Naruto," he replied as he walked away from her. Sakura's fists clenched in anger as Inner Sakura threatened to come out.

"Fine, I get it. You will not help us but how do you plan on taking your team mates away from here? Can you carry all three of them?" she asked as she stood up and dusted her ninja attire.

"I will make clones and they will carry them."

"You can't. I blocked your chakra when I hit the back of your head."

Sasuke turned around to meet her gaze and knew that she wasn't lying. Kuso...how did she do that?

As if reading his mind she took out an empty capsule. She held it up for him to see.

"I am a medic nin. I can make your chakra return if you promise to help fight with us. Do you promise?" she asked looking at his emotionless face.

Sakura knew he was prideful. She knew that if he promised and she returned his chakra, he will not run. He would fight no matter what. She also knew that the moment Akatsuki went away, he will disappear and they will not be able to catch him. However, there was no way they could face the Akatsuki alone without Sasuke's help. If Akatsuki managed to get Naruto.....they will kill him. She had no choice. This is the only way.

She looked up as Sasuke nodded.