Sorry for the wait! Here's the update!

"I don't think I can keep my promise this time, sensei" Naruto admitted. A lone tear rolled down his cold cheek. "Why not?" Kakashi shouted, his emotions taking the best of him. Naruto's eyes were almost closed all the way down. "…so tired…" he breathed. Kakashi's blood froze in his veins and the kid was gone again.

"We know you're there Hatake! We're taking you down" a cold voice called out. Kakashi closed his eyes and turned to his opponents.

They were five. They bore the sign of a far-off land, known to hide enemies of the leaf. The sound ninjas circled the tree where Kakashi was standing with a sick Naruto on his side. Kakashi was always very calm in a battle situation because he knew losing his temper would not bring him any good. Besides, he had to care about the security of his comrades as well. This time was different. His student was already in a very bad shape and he was afraid the kid would not make it in time, even in an optimal situation. Fighting off these opponents would take some precious time away – time he would gladly spend running home and cure is injured student.

His heart beat at an extraordinarily fast rhythm, but he would not show his fear. He had to keep being strong if he wanted to get out of the fight unscathed. He did not have any time to waste fighting. He had to make up an escape plan as quickly as possible. He made up his mind. Fighting was not an option. He had to run and send attacks to avoid the danger. He took a deep breath. He wished the others were there with him. Usually, taking on five enemies would not be a problem, but he couldn't leave Naruto alone behind him and not watch over the kid.

The opponents moved closer to the tree and got into battle mode. One of them, probably the leader and the same who had spoken to him at first, came forward to talk to the jounin. His friends had taken their weapons out and seamed to wait for their cue. Kakashi stiffened. ''What do you want? Who sent you?'' he shouted to the others' attention. ''You know just who'' the leader spat.

He did not like to admit this but deep down, Kakashi had just a strong feeling of who it was. ''What do you want?'' he asked again. The other grinned naughtily, fully knowing that the silver-haired acknowledged his identity. ''The boy'' he simply replied, motioning towards the orange heap. Kakashi turned to face Naruto, whom was gone far away from conscious land. He spun back to the enemy. ''Why him?'' he inquired. The sound ninja laughed. ''I was surprised too, because we were supposed to get the Uchiha kid… but then Orochimaru-sama heard that Naruto discarded his men with a rasengan, so he ordered us to get him instead'' he explained. Kakashi listened carefully and analyzed what had been said. So the earlier attack was nothing against Tomo-san. The ninjas were ordered to get Sasuke. Kakashi then remembered everything that happened during the chuunin exam, how Orichimaru attacked his team and left a cursed mark on the Uchiha's neck, before destroying the village and killing the third hokage. Had he already changed his mind and set his sights on Naruto instead?

Kakashi clenched his fists, readying himself for a fight. He wasn't letting Naruto go so easily. ''There is no way you are taking him to Orochimaru! The kid stays with me!'' Kakashi shouted in the ninja's direction. The five of them stiffened, knowing that was the beginning of a fight. ''Well then, we will have to come and get him ourselves'' the sound ninja announced. He then motioned for the others to launch their attacks. Kakashi quickly pushed his headband up, revealing a glowing red eye. He quickly moved towards Naruto and grabbed him by the waist. He hopped on higher branches and lowered the kid, having gotten a little distance. One of the five ninjas had climbed on a neighboring tree and started shooting kunais in the jounin's direction. Kakashi dodged them and sent a few of them flying back towards their owner. He sent his own shuriken as fast as he could. He felt someone behind, and arms wrapping around his neck. A burning sensation appeared in his hands and the grip around him loosened. Electric chakra sent the enemy flying backwards.

Kakashi brushed his shoulders and his chidori went off as he concentrated on the three last ninjas standing. One was getting to Naruto and the two last were not visible. Kakashi rushed to Naruto when a strong wind brushed him back, holding his movements. The ninja responsible for this jutsu appeared in front of him. Kakashi plunged towards him when something caught his leg. He spun to see the last of the five sound ninjas, using a wood technique that held him to the branch. He could not move. He stared at the enemy, right through his eyes. The man froze as Kakashi's glare put him in a sort of haze. It was as if his brain froze. His vision went red and he saw himself tied up to a rock. With this, he saw birds diving towards him and felt them picking up at his flesh. He yelped in pain but no one could hear him.

Kakashi felt relief when the grip of the wood loosened around his leg, as the ninja who made it appear stared blankly ahead and fell to his knees, caught up in the master's genjutsu. The jounin turned back around, only to see that a ninja was running away, carrying a small orange bundle on his back. His blood froze. His breath caught in his throat. Naruto. With this, he had forgotten that the wind-user was still standing in front of him, grinning. ''You're not going anywhere, are you?'' he said to Kakashi's attention. It was not really a question. His menacing tone said it all. Kakashi put his arm down to charge his chakra but the ninja was faster to cut his arm with his kunai. ''I've seen you once, you will not get me with this!'' he spat, blocking the chidori that was meant to hit him. The jounin clutched his arm in pain. He raised his head up to glare at his opponent, but this one jumped to a higher branch. ''You won't get me with your genjutsu either''. Kakashi concentrated - so much that he formed a headache - but managed to burst the branch on which the sound shinobi was standing, only by looking at it with his sharingan power. The man jumped on the trunk of the tree and held to it with chakra in his feet.

Kakashi looked the other way, but Naruto seemed so far away now. He was only a spot in his vision. His enemy came to attack him again. Kakashi moved in a flash of light. The ninja fell upon the empty spot in surprise and the jounin rushed behind him with a fully loaded chidori. The unlucky opponent fell to the ground, completely drained. Kakashi would usually have been proud of his shot but he did not waste any time to think. He pushed the ground with such force that he almost went flying forward. He started to go Naruto's way. He was so fast that the last sound ninja standing had to quicken up his pace considerably. He had a good advance though, but he could feel the killer intents coming from the kid's sensei.

Kakashi ran breathlessly. He didn't even have the time to look around or to think. He ran full speed through the darkness. Far from there, the sun started to rise from the horizon. Soon it would shine in the lower sky and shed its first beams of daylight upon the land. There was no time to waste. Or was it too late already …

Xxxx

Sakura shivered. She had gone back inside the tent to get a little bit of sleep. Somehow she must have managed to fall asleep. Deathly images chased her in her dreams. Her body shook and she jerked awake, covered in cold beads of sweat. A muffled scream escaped from her mouth but no one seemed to hear her. She looked around herself. Tomo-san was resting near her. His eyes were closed but he wasn't peaceful. Sakura shook herself, telling herself that these were only dreams. Or were they rather nightmares? She picked herself up and went to go outside. Sasuke was feeding what was left of the fire so he could heat up something to eat. Sakura looked around and saw that Sasuke had managed to find some fish. He started grilling it on the fire. She cleared her throat and sat beside him.

''How did you find these?'' she asked. He shrugged. After a few seconds he spoke up. ''I heard the sound of water and found there was a little river down here…'' he mumbled, emotionlessly. She nodded. ''Did you get some sleep?'' he asked. She moved her head lightly. ''I kept having nightmares…'' she confessed. Sasuke looked up at her for a second but went back to staring blankly at the roasting fish. ''I hope they made it to Konoha now'' Sakura added after a while. Sasuke nodded silently. He handed some fish to Sakura and they ate in silence. Eventually, Tomo came out and sat with them. They stayed silent and ate their fish.

Xxxx

Kakashi stumbled upon one more paper bomb. The chase after Naruto was hard because the ninja who carried him kept setting traps to slow Kakashi down. The jounin took a halt and grabbed a scroll out of his pouch. He bit his thumb and spread his own blood across the paper. The summoning technique was effective as two dogs appeared in a cloud of smoke. Kakashi ordered one to go and find Sasuke and Sakura. He sent the other one ahead of him to keep the enemy's track. The sensei then started running again. Sasuke would get his message from his summon dog and join him. Since ninjas were after them, there were no reasons to keep them apart. Besides, he was getting further and further away from the village, meaning that he was getting further from getting Naruto to safety.

Xxxx

The two students and their client had started walking again. The mission was to bring the man back home so they didn't waste a second. After cleaning their camping location, they went back on the road. A few hours passed and they stayed silent all along. The discussion of the previous night had shaken them all. Tomo had taught the kids a lesson of life when they talked about the way they treated Naruto. Maybe they wouldn't have realized it at a normal time, but with the way Naruto was when he left, they couldn't help but feel guilty and worried about their friend.

Sasuke heard a cracking noise in the branches and automatically activated his sharingan. Sakura spun around when Sasuke tensed up and Tomo-san followed both their gazes. A small dog ran to meet them. He had a leaf village headband wrapped around his neck. Sakura relaxed a bit when she recognized one of her sensei's summon dogs. Did that mean they were finally getting good news? Sasuke felt the same kind of relief when he saw Kakashi's dog. Had he send the dog to tell them Naruto was okay? Tomo didn't seem to understand but the calm that went upon the two others made him relax a little bit. The dog reached them and showed Sasuke the scroll that was wrapped around his neck. ''It's from Kakashi'' the dog added. Sasuke nodded.

The raven-haired shinobi grabbed the message and recognized his sensei's handwriting, though it seemed like it had been written quickly and unsteadily. Sasuke read and he froze on his spot, eyes wide open. Sakura started to be concerned by Sasuke's look. ''What is it?'' she asked, unsure if she wanted the answer, but in the meantime, really eager to have some news from her teammate. Sasuke swallowed a lump in his throat.

''Naruto has been kidnapped by Orichimaru's men…''

Xxxx

This is it for now, folks! I know it's been so long but I've never been so busy in my life! School starts tomorrow so I'm taking some time now because I don't know when I'll be able to write again. I had tons of ideas for this story though so I wanna keep it up! Thank you guys so much for the wonderful reviews! You guys are really amazing! I'm touched to see so many of you like it so far! Thanks for being with me! We're in this together ;)

Oh and I don't know if I mentioned it before but the story happens like after the chuunin exam but Sasuke hasn't left. It's as if they started doing missions again after the exam fuss. So yeah that's it I think!

Any questions, comments, advices, I take it all! I love to hear what you think! As long as there is no bashing of course! Thanks a bunch and stay tuned please! I'll make it up for the long wait, I promise!

TBC