IMPORTANT! : This chapter is a completly revamped/re-modeled/completly new/written from scratch rewrite. Therefore, it is fairly different from the previous chapter 1 I wrote for this story...and might have some new information. Just thought you should know ;D

AN: Awesome, I found my muse, and decided to start with this story. I realised why I had come to a dead end before, and thats because I had left no room for the plot to develope...and there wasn't much of a plot to develope in the first place xD Oh dear. I can't say my updates will be regular, because I'd be lieing. But they will be often, as opposed to my previous long waits. Sorry in advance for any gramma errors, spelling, sentances, lines that make no sense etc. Just let me know, I'll fix it.

Disclaimer: I don't own a single thing. If I did, Itachi wouldn't have killed the clan D: Enjoy ;D

Song: Simple Plan: Save you.

Strongly suggest you listen to is while reading?

It tears me up inside to see you

I wish that I could tell you something

To take it all away.

Tap tap tap tap

"Na-Naruto..."

Tap tap tap tap thunk

Desperation spread other her tired mind as the sun slowly descended into the protection of the horizon, leaving only a red seam. For some reason, the Jounin could only describe the postcard picture as the sky having cut itself, and bleeding it's shame over the thin line of the distance. Blinking hard and fast, she willed herself to focus on the task at hand.

Her body screamed and pounded for her medical attention as she pushed past her already exhausted limits. Her lungs sucked and drained any available air they could contain, dragging greedy gulps down her parched throat, desperately trying to return to there normal rhythm. Her legs burned from over exertion, the whole of her Chakra having been forced down the appendages to even attempt to keep up. Her head pounded from dehydration and her eyes ached from the lack of rest, itched from the winds constant pressure.

From the lack of the suns light, her body had automatically decided it was time to sleep, and had begun to slow down. Her knees shook with every landing, and her lungs screamed every time she exhaled. She had already miscalculated too many of her steps, missing branches and barely correcting herself. It was no use...she was already too far behind.

Slowly, the red clouds were getting further and further away.

"Naruto!" She wheezed, begging her voice to gain volume, "Naruto! Naruto!" She tried and tried again, managing to gain some sort of meek volume, till finally her vocals gave into her pleading and projected her screams out to the distance, taking all her energy with them.

Damn it! Keep moving! Tears streaked her face by this point as slowly her hope was dying, and her screams no longer reached her dearest friend. But she wouldn't give up. She couldn't give up. If she failed this mission, then she didn't deserve the right to be Jounin. And to fail the first mission after claiming the title...well, she would be too ashamed of her self.

She was going to prove herself of her recent ranking, she was going to be the best she could be on this mission and not let the unexpected deter her. She had had Sai by her side at one point, but only this morning had she and Kakashi thought it best to split into teams of two in order to cover more ground, her and Naruto being one group after Sai and Kakashi had sprung off with out discussing the teams. She had recently begun to hate that decision.

It wasn't meant to turn out this way; it had all gone horribly wrong in only a matter of seconds. As soon as herself and Naruto had fallen apart from Sai and Kakashi, and had traveled some good distance into the foliage. They were beginning to realize something was horrible wrong. No matter how far they travelled they weren't making any progress, and open that realisation Sakura had come to an abrupt halt, avoiding a nasty bump into an infamous missing-nin or two. However Naruto hadn't been so clever and crashed into the Gen-jutsu genius, and with one quick swift flick of a skilled finger, knocked out and suppressed of chakra in only a few short seconds.

As if on cue, her leg acted up again, a striking pain pushing through the muscles and sending her lower to the ground until her hand had caught a branch and she had swung herself back up to the high branches. Reminding her that Naruto wasn't the only casualty.

As Naruto had fallen with a certain s-class criminal, she had pushed her self to meet them half way, and managed a chakra loaded punch to the mans side, only for the man to 'poof' and a heavier weight push down on her back. Apparently Kisame had followed her down and now pushed into her back, "Think fast..." A thick, gruff voice chided from atop her, as she twisted in the air to land on her feet so she could catch the falling Naruto, however she hadn't calculated quite right and landed sharp on her left leg while receiving an unexpected swipe to her right from a shredding sword. Itachi beat her to the catch and he and his partner had taken off before she had time to recover.

Cursing herself, she paid careful attention to her foot so she didn't run the risk of agitating her already bruised leg, refusing to let the pain her body shook with to stop her progress. Naruto was her friend, no...he may as well have been her brother. She would prove her worth, and she would prove the strength of there bond.

"Please, please God. Don't take Naruto away from me, not him too."

Xxx

Where are you now, stinking kyuubi?

You dare insult me? Who do you think you are? Pathetic.

Help me!

You never help me when I want your help.

Ha, I wouldn't help a boy like you.

He couldn't remember for the life of him, how he had ended up over the shoulder of what he could only presume to be an enemy. Naruto couldn't see all too well, being still half asleep, the only thing his blurred eyes would pick up were the colors red, white and black.

His neck refused to co-operate with him, leaving his head to dangle loosely against the back of his ride. The hands waving about limply below him couldn't even find the strength to pound against whoever he had been slung over. At least his lifeless feet kicked somewhat at there front thanks to the constant movement of running. He was thankful for that at least.

Dammit. Dammit all.

Giving up so soon, boy?

My name...did I just here my name?

Someones screaming...for me?

A girl...who was I traveling with?

Who could possibly want to save you, boy?

I know that voice, Sakura?

A pressure hit the back of his neck again, dragging him down into that godforsaken white expanse of his empty dreamland where the Kyuubi wouldn't argue with him.

A cheerful pinkette stood in the middle, calling to him, hand outstretched.

Xxx

It felt to Sakura, like she watched herself run. Was this one of those out of body experiences that Tsunade had taught her about...hadn't she said it could relate to delirium?

She wasn't paying attention to her running, her body moved of it's own accord. She could barely register her heaving chest, the air going in and out too fast for her lungs to even realize any air in them. Her throat had given up screaming for water, now it just gave a dull scratch every time air dragged down it.

Must...must stop. Stop. Please...please stop.

She stopped short on a sturdy branch, swaying dangerously back and forth before collapsing against the trunk, her body shaking with unshed sobs. She had failed. Failed miserably. Naruto was who knew where...Kakashi and Sai would be miles away in the other direction, too far to call for them, and her body wouldn't replenish its energy or chakra unless she slept for a good amount of time...if her thirst didn't kill her off first.

Wrapping her arms around herself, she pulled her legs close to her chest, hiding her torn expression into her knees. Finally letting the exhaustion mess with her, sending her emotions on a wild rampage inside of her, her eyes streaming tears, while her hands clung to her upper arms painfully tight, her anger making her sobs erratic and horribly fierce, erupting every pain in her tired limps.

"I'm s-so sorry Naruto, I promised I wouldn't let them hurt you. I...I couldn't save you." Her voice couldn't reach any higher then a dull breath of a whisper.

Sakura...

"Useless..."

Sakura!

"Always behind you..."

Sakura!!!

"Always holding you back."

"Sakura!!!"

"For God sake! what do you want?" The lack of volume seemed to make the demand so silly sounding, she almost felt like laughing.

Furious green eyes met nothing but the trees, panting in her anger. Disorientated and flustered, she frantically searched for whoever had shouted for her, though her name wasn't repeated.

Instead, she could hear a sharp 'thunk' echo off the trees. Used to the sound, she deduced it was a fist coming into contact with something solid. A groan followed, followed by an impatient murmur of disapproval.

No way. Could she be so lucky?

Instantly on her feet, she followed the sounds, staying as silent as possible as she searched the grounds below her. Overjoyed by the hope that flooded through her, her pain numbed enough for her to ungracefully land on a favored branch and watch three figures move about below her.

A warm, inviting fire flicked in the center of a small clearing, barely big enough for more then two people. Two rolls had been set out either side of the flames, and there, only four feet away from the fire, was a limp Naruto tied to a tree. A laughing shark stood beside the limp body, dusting his hands off, while the other occupant of the clearing had moved to one of the rolls to sit down.

Of course! They were only human, they couldn't last all day. Even the Akatsuki had to rest at some point. Even if the both of them were barely panting, her medical eye could catch the signs of exhaustion. Black bags under the eyes, bodies bent in the effort of keeping themselves standing, dragging there feet. No matter how subtle, they were there.

Sakura nearly whooped in victory. Her Chakra was low enough to mask easily and completely, the trees thick leaves provided excellent cover for her, and the wind whistling through hid her labored and loud breathing.

Shannaro! Take that Akatsuki, you're not going anywhere with my Naruto.

Giddy with her thoughts, it took a great amount of effort not to laugh out loud as she beamed down on to the scene. She had the advantage here. She'd wait it out until the two member had fallen asleep, or at least till that Kisame fellow was on watch, (she doubted she could escape the eyes of Itachi if she got too close) and steal Naruto from them. Knocking Kisame out would be a challenge, but if she planned well...it wouldn't be too much of a problem.

To tired to think of the obvious flaws in her plan, or to even account for her own exhaustion, she shifted to lean against the trunk of her tree, keeping watch over the two missing-nin and watching Naruto for signs of consciousness.

All too suddenly, her good feeling evaporated completely.

A hand hit the tree behind her head just as a heavy weight leaned against her side. Another hand slapped across her mouth, automatically bring her own hands up to frantically move the obstruction. She made an indignant squeak of disapproval as the hand behind her wrenched her scratching hands down. A sudden pain in her arm broke her concentration as her attacker forced her into the tree bark to restrain her one arm, there body the other, while there hand had locked her wrists together. She was pinned.

Something warm tickled the side of her neck, breath she realized. A voice, that sounded so vaguely familiar followed the actions in a short, fierce hiss.

"Don't you dare move or say a word, Sakura."

Time stood still.

Sometimes I wish I could save you

x