Unclaimed

by: emeraldoni

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I keep Sasuke in the backyard though.

The mission was supposed to be a simple one, where she, by herself, would be sent to an anonymous place as an anonymous person doing an anonymous job. She would leave before dawn, travel for a week, then reach her destination. Following that she would find her target, infiltrate their house, and quickly dispatch him of his life. After which, she would travel home, taking about four days in her desperation for a bath, and return about mid-afternoon. She'd report in to the Godaime, and then promptly shift her exhausted carcass back to her apartment and take a nice, long bath.

The mission was supposed to be a simple one.

The kunai protruding from her shoulder did not attest to that supposed fact though.

Sakura watched them warily, her back to a thick oak as she struggled to keep a flawless stance. There was about three of them, from what she could tell, and they were silent and efficient. In the fading afternoon light, she could see their dark eyes watching her from the short distance between them, calculating. She shifted slightly, ignoring the small pool of blood dripping down her arm and loosening her grip on the kunai she held defensively in front of her. These were no amateur shinobi she faced, but hardened, experienced jounin, who new what they were doing and posed a serious threat.

They circled around her, just as wary of her as she was of them. They were taking no chances in her taking one of them down. With practiced movements, Sakura let her body relax, and slowly twitched her fingers in he form of a jutsu. With eye-blinking speed, she sprung the genjutsu on them.

It caught only one, and he stilled and dropped to his knees while staring off into space as odd sounds murmured from his throat. While the other two were distracted, Sakura made her escape. Whirling about, she twisted lithely around the tree trunk and sprinting off in the other direction. Branches whipped against her as she tried to block them as much as possible.

Sensing two chakre signatures behind her, Sakura twisted about, make a wide arc to her left and into the direction of the setting sun. They pursued, but it was what she expected.

She would have to get rid of them, one way or another.

Oooo000OOO000oooO

He stared across the field of bodies, face expressionless, eyebrows in that tell-tale position that could misconstrued in so many ways.

"Pathetic," he whispered, turning away and dropping the katana he had clenched in his bloodied fingers. He had regressed. He was supposed to be getting better, but it was impossible to do so when there were no challenges presented to him. He shouldn't have had any blood on him at all.

With a leisurely stride, he made his way through the field that only a few hours ago had been bright a green. Little rivulets of blood ran between larger puddles, from the dead and wounded men.

He paid no attention though, as he exited the area, fading into the forest, intent upon finding a challenging kill.

Oooo000OOO000oooO

Kakashi lounged against the rocky face, eyes skimming the pages of his worn book as he basked lazily against the sun-soaked stone. Silently, he turned a dog-eared page and began to peruse the next paragraph of Mikomi's love adventure as she tried to hide her modesty in co-ed hot springs from Jun, who was insistent on taking her. Again.

Kakashi tore his eyes away from his book as some crows landed on the stones next to him. Interestingly enough, the top of the Hokage's monument was lathered with bird poop, hence the reason not that many people graced the area with there presence. Kakashi always managed to find a safe spot though, usually in a spike of the Third's hair.

The crows watched the silver-haired man, heads cocked to the side, as Kakashi studied them back. It was a moment of stilled silence, before a noise cracked the freeze in time and the crows burst off, cawing raucously as they disappeared into the expansive sky.

Kakashi went back to his book as a shinobi appeared beside him, a younger ninja who had yet to grow fully into his adolescent body.

"Hataki Kakashi, the Godaime needs to speak to you."

"Ah," said Kakashi as he flipped another page, "when doesn't she?"

"It's a matter of urgency."

With a soft sight, Kakashi sighed and got up, tucking the little orange book into his breast pocket. Walking by the young Chuunin, Kakshi clapped him on the shoulder, "lighten up kid." And with that, he disappeared.

Oooo000OOO000oooO

Sakura panted in her crevice, gripping her shoulder and some decomposed leaves beneath her fingers. She was sitting in the middle of a hollowed out tree, long dead with age and slowly decomposing. It wasn't the best place to hide, but at the moment it was her only choice. Two of them were still out there, somewhere, and she needed time to compose herself before they clashed again. She had disposed of one with a kunai in the gut, and it had nearly exhausted her chakre. Between the running and fighting, she was nearly depleted.

Sakura cringed as another throb of pain came form her shoulder. She didn't want to waste time healing it, for it would weaken her even further with the loss of chakre, and the wound wasn't dire enough to need it. But the damn thing still hurt. She had somehow managed to messily bind it up, but the adrenaline that had once numbed the pain had dissolved from her body, and she was now left alone with a multitude of injuries and an onset of complete and utter exhaustion.

"What the hell is going on?" Sakura muttered to herself, fingering a twig that had somehow attached itself to her outfit of a simple black outfit overlying a mesh shirt. She had hid her hair under a cloth, similar to that of Genma and Hayate, so she could remain as anonymous as possible. Yet, that hadn't seemed to help much, considering she was being avidly pursued. They wore no signature, no sign of loyalty or commitment. They only wore black, with faces covered.

Her mind came to a blank. She was in unknown territory being pursued by unknown enemies for unknown reasons. The only thing she could think of was recovery, and the masking of chakre. She had no way of know whether there was more, or whether she was nearby an alliance territory. The trees were unfamiliar, with thick trunks and heavy vines roping back between them. It was ideal for experienced, killer shinobi to hide. She shifted slightly, pressing her palm to the kunai wound to help relieve the building throb that seemed to just keep accumulating over the minutes. The sweat cooled her brow and body, and a shiver ran down her back.

This was a bad situation to be in, even for a battle-worn shinobi like her. She was only two days into her mission, and already it had failed. Something beyond her control had taken place, and Sakura couldn't help but wonder if Tsunade knew anything about it.

Would she have warned her? Surely. Unless this was some kind of test.

Sakura reviewed her assassinators in her head, their eyes glinting cold and hard, there to do a messy job and leave. No, this was definitely no test. They had been there to kill. She was not being captured, nor tortured. This was a hit, one the Konoha was unaware of.

A tug pulled her attention away from the issue. She had felt a chakre nearby, one that was unrecognized. She slowly started putting more energy into slowing her chakre, bundling it up and compressing it, so it remained hidden. Simultaneously she slowed her breathing, hoping the possible enemy would not have sensitive enough hearing to pick up her presence.

He moved slow, which worried her, as though he was in no rush, or perhaps he was searching. Yet his chakre was loose, relaxed, unwary. He was not expecting another person to be there, to challenge him. Either there was no worthy foe, or he was unaware of the her and the chase that took place.

She weighed her options, eyes closing as she furthered searched to foreign power that slowly drew near. She could escape and run, and hope that she had enough of a head start to get away. But that option was slowly slipping through her fingers. The best one, then, was to remain cloaked. And hope, that was a good option too.

Ooo000OOO000ooO

Naruto couldn't help but be excited. Not only had he been praised by one of the most able shinobi around (after all, Kurenai was still above him in experience), but she had even given him a kiss on the cheek. Apparently fighting to the edge of death to save Kiba--damn dog--had some perks.

He rubbed his shaven cheek once more, slightly red from the memory of her maroon eyes looking into as she muttered a husky "thank you" in his ear. Even a bent man would have to take a second look. Of course, the whole situation was overshadowed because right afterwards a messenger shinobi, a young boy who had yet to grow out of his acne, came to summon him to Hokage's office.

He continued to slump down the street, hoping that it was a mission that had some relevance and excitement. The most recent one had been carrying a scroll from one destination to another. Of course there had been some fun after Kiba attracted some bandits. They somehow managed to get his goods while he bathed in a nearby stream. (But, seriously, who bathes on a mission?)

Damn Tsunade. Damn her and her stupid missions and her stupid strength and the way she would never allow him to do what he wanted. He had his goals too. Apparently these weren't as important as hers. She just said it was good for him. Build character.

Of course, as he slouched under the shadow of the lumbering Hokage building, he understood that she meant well. If she had allowed him to do everything he wanted with no limitations, then he would certainly be dead. In more ways than one he owed her his life.

But still. Being eighteen, he was practically an adult.

His ears perked as he heard silence on the stairs up to Tsunade's office. That was odd. There was usually some kind of hustle and bustle that took place. If not, then she was at least yelling or pounding her desk, or perhaps even snoring after binging on too much sake.

But there was just the sound of him breathing, and the slight rustle of clothes as he slid through her closed door.

In front of him stood a tense Kakashi, and I slumped over Tsunade. Lines worried her face, and a vague shadow hovered over her eyes. Naruto's good mood instantly vanished. Something was wrong.

"What happened?" He asked, throat clenching, images of who could be hurt rushing through his mind.

Tsunade sat up. Shoulders straitening.

"Two things," she said, "Sasuke is on the move again. A reconnaissance group found a large mass of decomposing bodies near the border of water country. There is no question as to who caused their deaths."

Naruto turned as Kakashi shifted. That wasn't why Naruto was here. That was not way the room was filled with dread.

"The second thing," she said, voice hardened, "I sent Sakura out on a simple assassination mission. She was to return two days ago, but there has been no sign of her. I sent another group to trace her whereabouts, hoping she had just been delayed."

No, Naruto thought. This couldn't happened. Whatever Tsunade was going to say could not be true.

"The only thing we found was her pack and head-band. There were traces of blood. It looks like she tried to leave some kind of message for us, but it was erased by whatever followed her."

"There's no trace of her?" whispered Naruto.

Tsunade looked straight into his eyes, and suddenly he was hit with impact of what she was saying.

"No," she said, "She's gone."

Oooo000OOO000oooO

A/N: Oh my god! Did I just write something? Well, I found this halfway done on my USB and decided to finish and post it, completely un-beta'd. Hope you enjoyed.