I have no rights to Naruto.

Enjoy.

0o0o

"Where is she?" Naruto growled his angry words laced with pain as they once more reached a dead end, a soft roll of thunder crying out its pain in the distance. Bowing his head and clenching his fists he shook with barely controlled anger as tears filled his eyes, the wind ruffling his hair and hiding his face.

"Patience Dobe," his former teammate consoled him as his teammates watched on filled with the same dread and pain.

Kakashi knew that no matter how much the Hokage loved Sakura even she could not continue sending out search parties for someone who vanished without a trace, leaving everything behind.

Sighing he looked up at the heavens; the dark clouds were echoing the sorrow that they felt, but like the clouds their tears would not fall. She had been missing for nearly eleven months now. After not showing up for a mission early one morning, they had traipsed to her apartment only to find the door unlocked and her ninja attire lying there inconspicuously on her bed. Her boots sat tidily next to the bed and near her bedside on the locker was her Hitate draped carefully over the new Team Kakashi picture. The food had been in date, the shower still wet indicating a shower in the last six hours, and the bills had all been paid.

Nothing whatsoever was out of the ordinary. Except that every single thing she owned was there. Ino had come over and rooted through her friend's wardrobe, distressed when she explained that nothing was taken, not even the new lingerie she had bought her on a shopping spree. Her precious pictures, her medical scrolls, her equipment, her medic bag—all were there. They all agreed that she would have taken those if she had left.

Then they decided that she must have been taken, but there was no sign of a struggle. The guards never reported any activity and there were no unusual chakra signatures in the area.

"Chakra signatures are coming. Send word for the next rendezvous," the youngest Uchiha said breaking Kakashi's line of thought as he gave a final encouraging squeeze to Naruto's shoulder before quickly setting off in the opposite direction to meet up with his other team. He was hoping to outrun the coming storm.

It had come as a surprise that Sasuke had actually agreed to help them find Sakura. Naruto's pleas, insults, and words seemingly struck a chord in the young man or maybe it was for old times' sake. But he had turned up a week later to help look for her when they were searching. At times his perverted, red haired teammate would come too, supposedly to help sense Sakura's chakra signature. But she was more-so-than-not a hinder to their search; at least thirteen-year-old Sakura's obsession had been innocent enough.

Nodding his head, Naruto waved goodbye as Sai and Yamato nodded with Kakashi giving his usual two fingered salute.

Suddenly straightening, Kakashi inwardly cursed as Yamato warned "Unfriendlies" with the large, aggressive chakra now getting closer.

"Sai, Naruto go. We'll follow." Kakashi ordered as he and Yamato took defensive stances. If this was an Akatsuki member after Naruto they would certainly be fighting for awhile.

Nodding Sai began to haul a protesting Naruto away as the trees snapped and a dishevelled, silver haired man in a black cloak rolled and tumbled towards them from the trees, curses falling from his lips. "Fucking priests! No good shit fuckers. Oh, yeah Hidan, we'll put you together. We'll also make sure you are loyal to Jashin by fucking bloody torturing you for days straight. Where the fuck is the fun in that?! You can't savour any of the fucking pain or blood."

The team watched perplexed as the tall man stood up, brushing himself down as he ranted away. Slowly raising his head he looked up and spotted the Konoha ninja. "Aw fuck...and I don't have my scythe." Disheartened, he sighed as he irritably rubbed his head. "I'll just have to fucking leave it. Fuck sake, I love you Jashin, but when your fucking priests say they don't have my scythe and won't give me another, how am I to show my loyalty? I'll sacrifice some nice squealing fat pampered momma's boys when I get it back." He promised as he alternated his sight between the heavens and hell.

Flapping a half-hearted hand at the team, he revealed his bare chest and feet while clad only in a pair of loose pants as he started to turn away unaffected by the cold, biting wind.

"Hey, you killed Asuma-sensei!" Naruto cried as Kakashi cursed at the kid's attention grabbing statement. Positioning himself in front of Naruto, Yamato signalled for Sai to get him away.

Turing Hidan squinted his pink eyes at the Kyuubi container and asked, "Who?""Asuma-sensei," Naruto growled at the man's lack of response.

"Huh, they all kinda blur into one, runt," he shrugged as he reached under his cloak and made the team tense until he pulled out a medallion and, with a big smile, kissed it and swore happily

."I am not a runt!"

"Look kid, I have no fucking clue where I am, so how about we just fucking say we never bloody met and fuck off on our own merry fuckadilly ways down shit brick road. Huh?" The Akatsuki member proposed to a surprised group who exchanged glances and listened in confusion as the silver haired man complained."Fucking bloody stupid organization...where the fuck am I? I am so sick and tired of this shit."

"Sempai?" Kakashi turned a 'how the fuck do I know?' eye to Yamato as they all tensed immediately at the arrival of two more Akatsuki.

"About fucking time you assholes showed up here." Hidan swore ignoring the tension in the air as he addressed the Uchiha and Hoshigaki.

"It's a bloody big forest," Kisame answered with his hand ready to fly for his sword as he watched the Konoha ninja with an experienced him, Itachi stood emotionless and seemingly without a care as he looked over the team until his eyes finally rested on Naruto.

Kakashi tensed as the Uchiha laid his eyes on Naruto. He quickly signalled his team; a fight was the last thing they needed. They had been searching for three days now and going against Akatsuki members at less-than-full Chakra capacity was a no-win situation.

"I have a message—"

"Did you bring my fucking scythe?" Hidan's question interrupted Itachi as a roll of thunder was heard over the wind. Its sound was ominous and deafening as it seemed to shake the area.

"Shut up asshole," Kisame snapped looking over the team realizing that it was the lack of the pink haired girl that had caught his attention. As the wind flew through the forest he remembered how on that night everything had stilled and how her last words had haunted him for days. "I kinda forget that we were supposed to pass it on," he admitted as Hidan's curses filled the air.

"Fucking heathens forgetting my fucking scythe..."

Narrowing his eyes at them, Kakashi waited for the penny to drop. What did they want now? Were they going to try and negotiate for Naruto or just threaten them again?

"We met the pink haired girlie that's usually with you."

"What?! You met Sakura-chan?? Where? Where is she?!" Naruto shouted jumping forward, begging for answers. Their first solid lead in......their only solid lead.

Yamato gently laid a hand on the blonde's shoulder as the wind picked up and blew strongly into their faces.

"We met her in the clearing three miles south of here.....nearly a year ago." Itachi stated his voice barely heard over the wind. But the disappointment in the young, blonde man's face and body was loud and clear.

"Why are you telling us this? Why not just attack?" Kakashi questioned as his suspicions rose and the warning signals in his head blared as loud as the thunder around them.

"Even we do not always wish to fight.....and it is a matter of honor." Itachi slowly stated remembering his unspoken promise to the young kunoichi.

"What did ugly say?" Sai asked as he walked up to them, his curiosity peaked for the woman who had helped him with his emotions.

"Tell them...I was still alive when you saw me."The quiet unassuming words had Kakashi bowing his head in pain and sadness as he felt his eyes fill with tears.

"Dattebayo, I knew Sakura-chan would be okay!" Naruto's joy-filled voice filled the swiping the tears away with the back of his hand, Kakashi saw Yamato briefly close his eyes before meeting his in silent and painful understanding. Sai had completely closed off his face, utterly blank and eyes empty. Looking at the Akatsuki, Kakashi thought he saw...pity in Kisame's eyes as he looked at Naruto with Hidan shaking his head and Itachi...with a lesser man, he would say he sighed, but Itachi was a conundrum and normal standards could not be used for comparison.

Watching Naruto's joyful expression falter as he saw the looks on the others faces, Kakashi felt it fitting that the dark clouds above them then decided to release their essence. Large drops of water fell to the ground, the pitter-patter surrounding them and creating a muddy footing. It soaked deeply into their clothes, the cold wet making its way to their skin and causing them to shiver. Quickly they were soaked through and the rain hid their tears.

They were tears for a sister, a friend, a medic, and a teammate. They were tears for their Sakura.

Averting his eyes from Naruto's as realization set in, Kakashi could do nothing to stop the heart-wrenching feeling that ripped through his body as Naruto fell heavily to his knees and howled in sound of his cries joined the howling wind that had picked up in force, expressing its own grief and providing cover for their pain.

"How?" So softly spoken, Kakashi looked again to see that it was truly Sai who spoke the single word as he watched Yamato try to comfort the blonde on his knees as he cried.

"She left half-naked with these weird samurai wannabes," Kisame answered the midriff-showing black haired kid as Itachi stood next to him.

Stilling, Hidan narrowed his eyes in thought. 'Samurai wannabes', shaking his head he inwardly laughed. 'They're fucking heathens...couldn't tell a warrior from a third-rank thief playing dress-up.'

"Please tell us how you met her." The heartfelt plea gained everyone's attention as they looked at Naruto's tearful blue eyes. The rain suddenly lessened to a light drizzle, the squelching of the mud easily heard as they fixed their footing.

"It was in the middle of the night, the moon was high and the wind was blowing through the clearing." As if to frame his words, the wind died down as Itachi explained to the team how they had met Sakura. They stilled as he explained how she was dressed, and Naruto gave a little sob as he offered consoling words that he believed she didn't want to leave. They hissed as he described the appearance of the horsemen and tears fell freshly from their eyes as he spoke her last words to them.

"Tell them...I was still alive when you saw me."

Finishing his tale Itachi felt unease around them as he realized the area had gotten as quiet as it had that night; no sound could be heard, not even the mice in their little holes dared to make a sound.

Seeing the tension in his body, Kakashi felt a nervousness descend upon him. Looking around he saw the others were just as affected as he was. Nodding his head in thanks, an extremely strange occurrence for a Konoha shinobi to grant an Akatsuki member, Kakashi gave the signal to move out.

Watching them pull up the distraught blonde and leave, Hidan cursed vehemently as he prayed to Jashin. He always knew Itachi and Kisame were crazy—for fuck sake one was an emotionless popsicle while the other was blue shark. Fucking heathens wouldn't have a clue and the girl was from Konoha. She wouldn't have a fucking bloody clue about Jashin. He would have to report it to the Priests at the temple that there were idiots attempting to pass themselves off as the Guard. Heehee...if he played his cards right he could get to sacrifice them to Jashin and hear their cries as he killed them. Maybe, if he got lucky enough, he could skin one of them and rip them apart piece-by-bloody-gory-beautiful-fucking-piece, all in the name of Jashin.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't realize that the forest was slowly reawakening. The wind was moving through the trees once more rustling the leaves, the sounds of birds filled the air, the mice and animals burrowed into their little dens, sets began to move, and the forest became alive.

Cursing as he noticed Itachi and Kisame walking away without him, Hidan walked as well as he could barefoot after them as he reverently took out his medallion and kissed it repeatedly as he softly prayed to Jashin.

It was a medallion that bore striking resemblance to the one the horsemen had and one Haruno Sakura had worn to keep her cloak

xxxx

The wind howled throughout the castle as the rain beat so heavily against its impenetrable walls that no animal or man had dared step outside on such a night for fear they would be washed away in the rising rivers or pinned by a falling branch.

Deep inside the bowels of the castle the women scurried in and out of the bedchamber. The flickering torches that sat high on the walls bathed the rooms in their warm color, lengthening the shadows, and letting the sound of the crackling flame echo. But the flame offered no comfort as the agonized screams vibrated through the castle walls, piercing the silence and overriding the chanting of prayers.

They knelt in a circle, heads bowed, as their knees soaked up the cold from the stone floor and the blood stained the legs of their pants. Their eyes closed as they prayed and ceremoniously slit their wrists as their chanting reached an crescendo; their circle was not random but followed the pattern of their sacred symbol as the young woman struggled in vain in the middle of the alter. Her hair was knotted and matted as her wild, frantic eyes pleaded for one of her captors to look at her, to release her, to help her. Small hands tugged relentlessly at the coarse ropes that bound her, her head whipping in the direction of the ornate doors as another agonizing scream was heard. Tears filled her eyes as she felt the large hands grab her throat and waist, pinning her back to the large body of her captor. Piteous cries made their way through her gag, the high cries similar to that of a squealing pig about to be butchered.

The chanting once again heightened as the priest plunged his knife into the woman's sternum; a sickening wet sound filled the chamber as he tore into the woman's chest and pulled her heart from her chest cavity with a wet, tearing sound. The flames rose and burned merrily as suddenly the screaming in the adjoining room stopped.

Like the others, he knelt in the blood of their sacrifices with his voice chanting piously to their god as he bowed his head. Suddenly he gasped in despair as the others within the circle stopped chanting and looked at him. Fear came over him, the light hurt his eyes and he was cold, no longer was he safe and warm.

As the screams had stopped, the air was then filled with the small shrill cries of a new born babe.

Gradually the fear abated and he felt safe and warm once more. Jolted out of his thoughts, the young man looked up to see the elderly priest looking down at him joyfully. Standing up he followed the direction of the elder and made his way to the ornate door. The guards respectively bowed as they opened the large doors ushering him into the bedchamber.

His eyes, now adjusted to the different light, took in the sight of the midwives tidying up the bloody sheets which would be burned at midnight to thank their god for a successful birth. Turning his eyes to the woman on the bed he marvelled at how beautiful she looked after childbirth; her hair matted and pulled back, her body exhausted, but the pride at her accomplishment shone form her very skin as she preciously and protectively cradled her babe in her arms.

He knelt in respect and awe as her husband joined her, the new family exuding strength and power.

"Rise young one."

Following the lord's words, he stood and walked forward to look at the new babe. Sharing a glance with her husband the woman gently placed her babe in the young man's arms as she said, "No better choice could our Lord and Master have made than you, his most faithful servant."

He dropped to his knees, the babe safely protected in his large arms, as the couple rose before him with each placing a hand on his shoulder and they intoned, "You shall guide her when we reside here. You shall protect her and teach her, and should she be our Lord and Master's Chosen Daughter you shall pledge your immortality to her and be by her side for eternity. You shall love her, cherish her, and if need be discipline her."

Their words striking to his very core, the young man bent his head and gave the babe a gentle kiss on the forward. Her eyes opened to catch his, binding him to her. Handing her back to her mother he stood and took a step backwards, unhooking the ceremonial dagger from his side and slashed his neck as he pledged, "My blood, my breath, my life, my mind, and my soul I pledge. I shall protect, I shall guide, I shall love, I shall cherish, and I shall discipline."

Quickly taking the dagger he plunged it into his heart falling to his knees, the pleasure from its pain causing him to gasp as he swore, "In Jashin's name."

"As it is said," the mother intoned.

"As it is heard," the father said.

"So it shall be," they swore.

And as the final words were said and as the newly born babe closed her eyes, the wind died down and the rain ceased as the moon came out from behind the clouds and bathed the land in its silvery glow. The news travelled throughout the castle as its inhabitants offered prayers of thanks to Jashin and readied a celebration to welcome their new princess and Daughter of Jashin.

O0o0o0

Dia Duit,

Please let me know what you think as this is a new idea and I am trying a new style – I think, all comments are appreciated.

Thanks to BoxingBunny for looking at this for me and Lasrber for the pming.

Lots of love,

The Rose and the Dagger x x x