Please excuse the crappy section breaks. I can't figure out what the site will allow, but I can't let it be all mushed into a huge block of story—it won't make sense. Please enjoy, and don't be afraid to let me know what you think!
Sakura shut the door quietly behind her, peeking through the glass to make sure everything was in order in the hospital lobby before walking away. It had been a long day, with many ninjas coming back injured from missions. Luckily, she didn't have to treat any of her friends that day, though it normally was a usual occurrence.
Humming quietly to herself, Sakura let her body release some tension as she walked. Though it was late at night, Sakura felt completely safe and confident. She had improved over the years as the apprentice to the Fifth Hokage and was proud of her current level of skill. She had even gone with Naruto to bring Sasuke back two months before. Boy was he surprised when she broke his jaw with her right hook! Sakura giggled, remembering the look on his face. Sakura was mid-giggle when something hit her in the head. As she fell forward and her world faded to black, she remembered one thing: those feet look familiar.
BREAK
When I brought myself back to consciousness, I didn't move. Breathing deeply, I tried to determine what situation I was in. Clanking to my left held my attention for a moment, chains. Dripping in front of me, water. Thumps coming from the right, footsteps. My body hung loosely from my wrists, held above me with the same chains that I heard next to me. I had to struggle to not flinch when a hand brushed my forehead.
"Wake up sleeping beauty; I know that you aren't out of it anymore."
I opened my eyes, staring at the ground in front of me. I saw my captor's feet. Again I thought to myself, they look familiar. But how can feet look familiar in a ninja village where mostly everyone wears the same shoes? Slowly I lifted my gaze, following the path of the body, my mind in disbelief as more of the person came into my view. "Kabuto? How the hell did you get into the village?"
The silver haired ninja just smiled and adjusted his glasses. "I would tell you my dear, but then I would have to kill you and then all my planning and hard work would be for naught." He took a step closer and I recoiled, knocking my head against the wall behind me.
Aware of my discomfort and relishing in it, he took another step and raised his hand, stroking my cheek. "You are beautiful my dear, truly stunning."
I turned to bite at his hand. "Don't touch me. And don't call me that!"
I watched as he still smiled, still gazed at me almost lovingly, a thought that made me shiver. "So feisty, I believe I like you more than your precious Hokage." He bent down to bring his face closer to mine. As I glared, he leaned forward to press a kiss to my cheek. "Don't worry my dear, now nothing can keep us apart."
I began to struggle then, pulling at my chains and attempting to bring my chakra forward. Laughing, Kabuto began to walk away. "You forget my dear, I am a medic too and it is all too easy for me to block chakra. In time you will come to accept me, and you will love me as much as I love you." Freezing, I watched him leave.
"What have I gotten myself into?"
BREAK
Naruto flew over the rooftops, racing over to the Hokage's tower. He was summoned this morning by an ANBU member, an urgent request from Tsunade for him to be there. It took him only five minutes to get ready, though he was still half asleep. It was only mid-morning, what could the Hokage want with him at this hour?
His trek ended abruptly as he reached the tower. Walking inside, chunin guards led him up to her office. He knocked and heard a loud voice yell at him to get in. Looking over to the one guard, he commented, "Lady Tsunade's not happy this morning is she?" The guard shrugged and walked away.
Naruto turned the handle and walked into the office, deciding to ignore the weird guard. "Sasuke!" He shut the door and walked over to his friend. The two jounin stood next to each other and watched Tsunade pace behind her desk. Sasuke had nodded to him in greeting, but then resumed his previous position.
"Uh, Tsunade…" Naruto quickly shut his mouth as the female ninja turned to glare at him. "Never mind."
None of his friends really thought that he was smart, but Naruto knew that when Tsunade was not in a good mood, you shut up and let her do the talking. And right now, Tsunade was so far past being in a good mood that even breathing loudly would bring her fury upon you.
A pop outside the door let Naruto and Sasuke know who she was waiting for. The door opened and the Copy Ninja stepped through. Waving, he cocked his head and said, "Yo." He came over to join his two former students in front of the Hokage's desk. Tsunade had not stopped pacing, mumbling to herself so softly that even their ninja hearing couldn't pick it up.
Finally, she stopped and turned to face the three ninja. "Sakura is missing. Presumed dead. You are to go find her body and bring it back."
The silence that filled the office was so thick Naruto felt that he couldn't breathe. Shock flooded through his body, his mind halted. "That's not possible," he said calmly. All traces of the hyperactive ninja were gone. The man who stood in front of the Hokage was a full ninja, trained to kill, and he was pissed.
Tsunade sighed, finally slumping into her chair. "She left the hospital two weeks ago. When she didn't show up for work the next night, I sent out ninja looking for her. ANBU have been searching these two weeks and have turned up empty-handed."
Kakashi interrupted her softly, "If ANBU couldn't find her, then why are we being sent out?"
Rubbing her forehead, Tsunade moved some papers around on her desk. "Because you know her, you can track her better then someone who is impersonal. And I don't trust any other ninja team to be able to find her, though you aren't ANBU your skills are beyond theirs."
The three men nodded and accepted the mission. Nodding in return, Tsunade added, "I would like you to take at least one female along. Ino would probably be your best choice. Either her or Hinata. Other than this, you can go alone or bring whoever else you would like. Unless you find concrete evidence that there is," Tsunade stumbled over her words, coughing into her hand. "Unless there is no body to bring back, I don't want to see you in this village without her."
Another round of agreement from the men and then her office was empty. Slumping forward, Tsunade lifted her face and walked over to the window. The breeze left by the quick departure dried the tears on her cheeks. "Please bring her back."
BREAK
Sasuke and Kakashi left Naruto at the flower shop to retrieve Ino, planning to meet him at the gate in two hours. No one said a word except for the agreement of time and place. Naruto pushed the door open, cringing at the happy tinkle of the bell. Ino's voice drifted over to him, "Just a minute!"
Walking over to the counter, Naruto merely stood and waited for the blonde ninja to come out from the back. To his surprise, Shikamaru and Chouji came through the door first, nodding a greeting to Naruto. They were carrying trays of flowers to be arranged in the window. Ino walked out, directing her teammates and carrying a pair of scissors and ribbons. "Naruto! How good to see you, how have you been?"
"I've been better. There's a mission for you."
Ino scratched her head. "Really? But I have vacation time for another week. And why are you here telling me this instead of a messenger ninja?"
Shikamaru and Chouji came back to stand behind the counter with Ino. "Yeah," Chouji added, "this is really strange."
Naruto took a deep breath, looking down at the floor. "It's a body retrieval mission." A lump formed in his throat and suddenly he couldn't breathe again.
A hand rested on his shoulder. His eyes rose to meet Shikamaru's and Naruto saw that he understood. "It's Sakura, isn't it?" Naruto nodded.
Ino gasped. "What? Sakura? But… but how? Why?" Ino slumped to the floor and began to cry, Chouji immediately dropped to her side, hugging her for comfort.
"Be at the gate in two hours." Looking to Shikamaru and Chouji, both of whom were now picking Ino up, he continued "You two can come if you want, it is only required that Ino be there." Turning on his heel, Naruto left the flower shop.
BREAK
I opened my eyes slowly. The left one was still swollen shut, but I could see out of a small sliver. I took shallow breaths; my punctured lung prevented anything else. My world was consumed by the pain. My body flinched as the door to my cell slammed. "My dear, you look ravishing today!"
I didn't know how long I had been in this place, the days merged together with the pain to leave me with nothing but the strength to keep breathing, and even then it was almost too much. Kabuto unchained my hands and carried me over to the bed. "Now, last time you weren't fighting as much. I don't like that. I don't want to hurt you my dear, but you force me. Are you ready to love me yet?"
Blinking, I looked up to meet his gaze. Taking a big gulp of air, I said distinctly, "Go to hell."
He grinned, making me want to punch his face in. "That's what I'm talking about! Now I'm nice and ready for you. Open up!"
Clenching my legs together as hard as I could, I attempted to reach up to bite him. His palm slammed into my already swollen face, my head thrown back to crack against the table. My vision faded to black and I groaned. My strength depleted again, my chakra still wouldn't come to my aid. I felt his hands spread my legs and he entered me again. I pushed my awareness to the back of my mind, became just a doll for him to use.
In the deep recess of my mind, I plotted. I had almost figured out what he injected me with and once I finalized that, I would remove it from my system and be able to kill him. I just prayed that he wouldn't realize how good I had gotten and change the formula on me. I had plotted out the course I would take, which way to exit, which technique to use to put him through the hell that I was in now. I refused to think of my old team, there was little chance of them finding me now, after so long. Tsunade would have sent out ANBU, and once they failed she would send out the boys and probably Ino. But there would be little hope of them finding me either. I'm pretty sure that he took me back to Sound country.
Kabuto had finished with me, putting me back in my chains. Gripping my jaw, he forced my mouth open to clean off his dick. He kept his hand there, learning very quickly after I had nearly bitten it off the first time he tried. Even though I was ninja and very strong, I was still just a girl against a man. No tears ran down my cheeks, they dried up a while ago. He finished again and left me, once again plotting.
I looked up at the door. Spitting out his taste, I said quietly, "I am no longer the weak one. I am a ninja. I will get out of here."
BREAK
Kakashi was in shock. He knew because he had felt this before, when Obito had died. Sakura, his little Sakura, was gone. Presumed dead. Over the years since Sasuke had left, he and Sakura had trained together. Though he wasn't expecting it, they became friends and he loved her like he had loved Obito. He knew how strong she had become, he couldn't believe that she had let herself be captured so easily and possibly killed.
No, she wasn't dead. He could feel that she was still alive out there. He just hoped they could reach her in time to keep her that way. He reached the gate, early for once. Naruto and Sasuke were already there. Kakashi nodded, but didn't break the silence that had fallen on their trio since Tsunade's office.
They didn't have to wait long; Ino was racing over the rooftops. She landed in front of them, shifting the backpack that she carried. "What do you need all that stuff for?" Naruto asked.
"If Tsunade wanted me to go along, that means she suspects that Sakura is being used. So therefore, she may not want any male attention, even from you. She also may be injured, scarred, and without clothes." Ino sniffed, the remnants of her tears still on her cheeks.
Kakashi stepped in then, trying not to think of Sakura being used that way. "We will start from the gate and move outwards from there. Formation B. ANBU will have already tried this, but I don't want any mistakes. We will meet at sundown tomorrow at the border of fire country."
Naruto closed his hands into a seal and said, "Shadow Clone Jutsu." The village entryway was filled with hundreds of clones, all of them serious. The team nodded and then they were off.
BREAK
Sasuke was methodical in his search of the forest. His sharingan activated, no leaf was overlooked and no stone skipped over. He tried not to think of anything but searching, but eventually his worry overcame his efficiency.
He had returned because of her. When she calmly looked him in the eyes and landed a right hook strong enough to break his jaw. To say he was surprised would have been an understatement. Even Naruto's growth as a ninja hadn't thrown him off balance that much.
A pulse of chakra stopped him in his tracks. "What the hell was that?" One Naruto rushed passed him, another stopping to tell him that they were meeting up about 30 yards behind where he was now.
Shaking his head, he worked backwards, until he found the clearing where Kakashi was standing. His headband was up and his left eye was closed. "Seems like you had the same idea I did," Sasuke commented. "What was the chakra pulse?"
"I'm not sure. It felt like someone pulled all of their energy and let it out like a bomb. I think Naruto's done it once."
Ino and Naruto joined them in the clearing then, but Sasuke saw that the shadow clones were still out and searching.
Naruto suddenly stiffened. Turning abruptly on his heel, he looked east. "My clones found something. A blur, something is killing them off."
Ino put her hand on his shoulder. "Can you tell what it is? Enemy ninja?"
"No," he paused. "Pink… I think its Sakura."
Sasuke was frozen again. This was a bad habit that he was getting into; a ninja can't afford to freeze like that. "But why would Sakura attack your clones?"
Naruto shook his head. "I don't know, I can't even tell if it is her."
"Let's go check it out then," Kakashi opened his left eye and closed his right. "Naruto, lead the way."
Naruto was in the trees before Kakashi could finish his order. Sasuke was right behind him.
BREAK
I kept my eyes closed this time. I didn't want to see his face anymore. I heard him moving around, preparing something new for us to play with. "Just a minute my dear, it's almost ready!" He giggled and I felt my hatred rise again.
No! I must focus. It was time for me to break myself free and I needed to focus. I saw where my chakra was blocked, and with my resources on this side of the wall, I figured that I could take it down brick by brick until my chakra was free. Then I would kill him.
He unchained me and carried me over to a table. "You're quiet today my dear, what's wrong? Not contemplating taking that wall down are you?"
I kept myself still, focusing everything on that wall. One brick down, I felt my chakra moving around in my body. It was slight, but it was working. Another brick down, they just started falling easier as I went. I could see my chakra, it was almost free.
"Just to let you know, my chakra block is very special. I created it myself you know. See, it's a double-edged sword. When it's up it blocks the chakra, but if I remove it, they return to normal. However, if the victim," he paused to stroke my cheek. "If the victim tries to tear it down, the blast of chakra drives them insane and eventually leads to suicide. Ingenious isn't it?"
I paused in my demolition, was that true or was he just trying to keep me from tearing it down. No, why would he tell me something like that, he must be lying! I resumed working; the wall was almost down now. Just a few more bricks…
My world exploded. I could hear screaming in the background, it may have been me. It could have been him. Chakra flooded my body, my cells, every crevice and pore that my body had. The pain… oh the pain was excruciating. If I was a spectator of that moment, it would look horrifying. My body was glowing with my green chakra, my eyes were beams of green light. My mouth was open and my lips were curled back in a snarl of agony. I reached out, grabbing Kabuto. From what I could see through my haze of green, he looked scared.
Finally, I chuckled. Sitting up and putting my face close to his, I whispered, "Welcome to hell."
BREAK
The ninjas were racing through the forest. Clones were all around them, waiting and watching. "I'm trying to find someone she recognizes, but nothing has worked so far. It's like she's an animal." Naruto was gasping slightly and some clones were beginning to disappear.
He stopped on a tree branch, surveying the clearing in front of them. There was a clone, fighting a blur. It was pink, but glowed a slight green. The blur landed a punch on the clone, a pop and smoke filled the area.
The team was waiting, tensed as the smoke began to slowly drift away with the wind. As the smoke cleared, Ino gasped. Pink hair, green eyes; it was Sakura.
Kakashi muttered, "Oh my god…" and Ino started to tear up. It was Sakura, but barely.
Her pink hair was matted and dirty. Her face was almost unrecognizable through the scratches and blood. She was naked, her body torn to shreds. The blood and dirt caked her entire body. "Why hasn't she healed herself?" Ino whispered. "I can't believe she isn't dead."
Sakura turned and looked into the trees, directly into Ino's eyes. She screamed, grasping her matted hair and pulling desperately.
"Ino, can you perform your mind controlling jutsu?" Sasuke asked quietly. Ino nodded and put her hands through the correct signs.
A minute later Ino cried out and nearly fell off the branch. Naruto leapt over and caught her before she fell, eyes wide with shock. "Ino!"
Shaking, Ino released the jutsu and opened her eyes. "There's nothing there. Her mind, it's just nothing but a living hell. I've seen this once before, when I attempted to control Orochimaru. She's gone insane."
BREAK
What were these things? I killed them and more kept coming at me. The pain, my world was consumed. "Stop it! Leave me alone!" I yelled, though it sounded only like grunts and snarls. Was Kabuto right? Did I really go insane when I broke through his barrier?
I put my body in autopilot, moving my conscious into my body to search for a solution. Pathways were twisted and treacherous; nothing was where it was supposed to be. I finally reached my mind, I think. There was an empty plane, fire spurting all around. It was hell. "Where the hell did my mind go? It was right here…"
Vaguely, I saw my body kill the last of the blobs. I heard something in the trees and I looked at it. Recognition flooded me, Ino. She had come to get me. Happiness broke through the pain. They do care about me, I wonder if my boys are here too. I turned to leave my mind and regain control of my body when metal walls slammed down. "What? No!" I ran to the closest wall, slamming my fist against it. There was a slight dent, but no other damage. I screamed my anger, seeing my body mimic my movements.
Then a flash in the distance. I looked over, "Ino!" She was standing there in my mind, her jutsu! I had to reach her, to tell her that I knew she was there. But as I ran, she got farther away. "No, no, Ino!" I reached out my hand, but saw her look around sadly and leave.
"Shit!" my body raged bright green with chakra again. I needed to get out of my mind. What could I do with this hell?
Like a horror movie, I saw my body glow green with chakra and advance on the tree where Ino had stood. One by one, each of my boys came into view. Naruto was holding up Ino, Sasuke was next to him, and Kakashi was on the branch above them. They had all come to get me, and I was trapped in my mind. My body was in motion again, punches, kicks, chakra. What? I was attacking them? "No! Stop! My boys… Ino… run away! Just leave me!"
I leapt at the barrier again, pounding desperately. "Let me out!"
"Now my dear, that isn't going to work."
Horror rushed through my body as I froze. Gasping for air, I turned around, my gaze slowly falling upon the image of Kabuto, standing right in front of me.
BREAK
Sasuke jumped into the branches of another tree. "Why is she attacking us? Dammit… she should at least recognize us a little!"
Naruto landed next to him, several shadow clones were keeping Sakura busy. "I don't know. Ino said she was insane, that there was no mind for her to latch on to."
He gripped the tree, bark crumbling under his grip. "We will have to try to restrain her, bring her back to the village for Tsunade," muttered Kakashi as he jumped by their branch. "Formation X2-Tiger… Ino will be Sakura."
The boys split, falling into the routine of their well-planned formation attacks. This one was designed to incapacitate an opponent who was too powerful for the team—or someone that was needed alive back at the village. Naruto landed next to Ino and informer her of her role in the formation. She nodded and pulled a kunai out of her pouch.
Sakura had defeated all of Naruto's clones again—and was crouched in the middle of the field, waiting for the next wave of attack.
Sasuke moved first, attacking from the left and drawing Sakura's attention. She was completely ignorant of her injuries as she fought him, punching and clawing. Sasuke noted that she had reverted to school-yard brawling, not the trained fighting that should have been ingrained.
Kakashi snuck up behind her as she was focused on Sasuke and grabbed her, pinning her arms down. Sakura went limp. Sasuke stared, wary. "That was too easy…" Naruto said as he came out of the forest with a length of rope. Kakashi was silent, body tense and waiting for the slightest of movements.
Ino crept forward with the second length of rope. She came up on the right and tied the rope around Sakura's arms. That's when all hell broke loose. Sakura shrieked, squirmed, and kicked out at the team. Her chakra exploded and covered her body in a thin green mist. Kakashi leapt back, cursing and eyeing the burns on his arms. Sakura reached out and grabbed Ino, throwing her into a tree.
Naruto created some more clones, intending to use them to hold onto her limbs to prevent her from kicking and punching. Sakura had reverted into full skittish mode, however. She was jerky in her movements and never stood still. Sasuke formed seals and threw a fireball at her left side, causing her to jump to the right, into Ino's waiting ropes. Using some strong knots on the chakra-enforced rope, Ino was able to bring Sakura into submission, tossing one of the ends to Sasuke and the other to Naruto. They caught them and pulled them taut, not allowing Sakura to retaliate.
Though it wasn't perfect and had to be adjusted to the fact that Sakura seemed untrained, it worked, Sakura was captured. Now that the rescue team was able to get close to her, they were able to see the true extent of damage. Several broken bones, scratches over every surface of her skin, blood running down her leg from her genitalia, and one eye swollen shut.
Naruto growled. "Who the hell would do this to someone? It's not human… oh Sakura." He had to refrain from hugging her as she was still not in her right mind. Even now against her bonds, she was thrashing and clawing. Ino quietly cried, observing her best friend in the midst of her suffering.
Kakashi sighed. "Well, let's try to get her back. Don't get too close to her, keep the ropes taut. If you think that your line is going to break, call for help. We have enough rope to tether her to each of us, but I think for right now she's good with the two. Treat her as a S-Class missing nin."
Ino sniffed, wiping the tears from her cheeks. Naruto and Sasuke held the ropes. Ino was point, leading the way back to the village. Kakashi brought up the end of the train, just in case Sakura broke free. Because Sakura was not cooperating with the ninjas, they were forced to go along the ground, almost dragging her behind them.
It took them nearly twice as long to return to the village. Night was quickly falling as they finally came within sight of the gates. ANBU surrounded them, blocking their trek. "State your business and what cargo is being brought to the village.
Ino bowed and spoke. "We are a special team brought together by the Hokage. We were sent to retrieve the body of Haruno Sakura if she was able to be found. The cargo we are bringing is Haruno. We found her in the middle of the forest, we believe that her mind is gone. We are taking her to the Hokage to request that she can present the report on whether or not she can be returned to her former state."
The ANBU nodded and let them through. Several broke off and disappeared in the direction of the Hokage's tower. Ino started forward again, anxious to see if Tsunade could heal her best friend. Peeking back to check on the boys, she looked over the wounds covering Sakura's still naked body. She didn't try to put clothes on her, since trying to get ropes on her was so difficult.
The gates opened for the group and it was an empty street that greeted them. ANBU were on the rooftops, keeping watch. Ino saw several of the rookie nine lining the street as well. Her teammates were watching her closely. Chouji was staring at Sakura, slack jawed and completely ignorant of the fact that he held a bag of chips in his hand. Shikamaru showed no outward sign of shock, but Ino could tell that he was completely caught off-guard.
Hinata and Kiba were on the next rooftop, Akamaru lurking in the alley between the buildings. Shino was on the building across from them. The trio from the year ahead of them—initiated into the group after their first attempt at the Chunin exams—arrived at that moment. Neji and Tenten were silent, but Rock Lee shouted, "Sakura-chan!"
Sakura jerked from her position in the middle of her entourage. She had been glaring at the ground, dragging her feet and calmly clawing at her bonds. Her head rose slowly, focusing in the direction of the sound. Her eyes found Lee and grew wide. Both hands flew to her head and she grabbed fistfuls of her hair. Her mouth opened and a scream of anguish erupted. Ino stumbled and paused, turning to stare at Sakura. Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi were all tense, ready to subdue her if necessary. All of the ANBU were tense as well. Hinata placed her hand over her ears and turned into Kiba. The rest of their peers were shocked.
The scream faded away and her voice broke. Amazingly, she started to speak. "Take down the wall, brick by brick. When it falls, nothing will be left. He will be gone, brick by brick, take it down. He will be gone, don't touch me, don't touch me, don't touch me…" Sakura kept muttering, growing louder until she was screaming at Lee. "DON'T TOUCH ME! DON'T TOUCH ME!" She shrieked again, this time successful in tearing out some of her pink locks.
Ino caught the eye of Kakashi, who nodded, indicating that they should get out of the streets. Facing forward, she ignored the tears streaming down her face as she once again set off for the tower of their Hokage.