Smoke and Mirrors

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, all rights to Masashi Kishimoto, and I make no money from this story.

AN: Hey guys! Woo new chapter is up. I really enjoyed writing this chapter because I feel like it's finally starting to pick up a little bit, and I hope you guys agree. Anyways, just a quick reminder if you didn't see the update I posted in chapter one, I reposted chapters one and two and did a little tweaking to them, and added about 1000 words to each chapter. It's not necessary to reread, just made me feel better fixing it up a little. So thanks to everyone who has read so far, and thanks to XxSakuraGaaraLoverxX, Leona DragonBlood Aero, Akatsuki Sakura Uchiha (love your name btw), and Three sisters productions for their lovely reviews. They made me smile =). Anyways the annoying author will stop talking so you can all get on with the chapter! Enjoy!


Chapter Three: The Confrontation

The morning light peered into the cave, splaying over its current residents. Sakura felt the light hit her face, pulling her from her restless sleep. The first thought that registered in her sleep-altered brain was how uncomfortable she was. Sleeping on the rock hard floor of a cave was not high in the list of her favorite things to do. As she was silently complaining about the ache in her back, another realization hit her—one she knew she wasn't going to be pleased about. She opened her eyes to confirm her suspicion, and found arms snuggly wrapped around her waist, and a face pressed into her neck.

"Kakashi. . . kindly remove yourself before I rip your arms off," Sakura stated, as calmly as she could possibly manage—Sakura wasn't known for her morning patience. Kakashi groaned slightly and, if possible, pulled her even closer against himself.

"Mm Sakura-chan, but I'm so comfy and you're so warm," Kakashi groaned out, not removing himself from his source of warmth as Sakura had so kindly asked him to do. Kakashi's captive rolled her eyes, and attempted to pull herself away to no avail. She was used to Kakashi's morning antics, as this was a common occurrence; however, she still refused to put up with it.

"Kakashi let go before I hit you," Sakura tried, wondering how difficult he was going to be this morning. Kakashi groaned again, showing his dislike for, not only being so rudely awoken, but also for being forced from his source of warmth. He finally seemed to get the hint and rolled away from her, curling into a ball to retain as much warmth as he could. Sakura sighed, finally able to sit up and move. "You're never going to get over that cuddling habit you have are you Kakashi?"

"Well, if you weren't so warm and cuddly I wouldn't have a cuddling habit," Kakashi retorted from his curled up state. This made Sakura giggle a bit, shaking her head at how ridiculous Kakashi could be in the mornings. Itachi cleared his throat, attempting to get their attention—he seemed to have enough of their morning teasing.

"If you two are done, I'd like to discuss what we plan on doing today. While you were snoozing I was running the perimeter, and it seems we'll be safe here. I didn't notice anything that could be potentially harmful, so I think it's safe to train a little today," Itachi stated, remaining ever vigilant to their current situation. Regardless of Sakura's feelings about him, she could concede that he was one hell of a leader, though she'd never admit it to his face. Itachi turned his attention to Sakura and spoke once again. "Sakura, I imagine you'll be able to heal anyone who gets hurt too badly?" Sakura just rolled her eyes for what felt like the tenth time that morning.

"No need to doubt my skills oh fearless captain, I'm quite capable" Sakura said, throwing a little bit of teasing his way. Itachi nodded his head in consent—He knew Sakura was capable of anything, but hearing her say it made him feel more secure. After they were as awake as they could be after a restless night of sleep, and had a small bit of food in their stomachs, Itachi decided that no more time should be wasted sitting around like they were.

"Itachi, there's no need to be such a hard-ass," Kakashi complained, wanting nothing more than to curl up in a nice warm bed and get some well deserved rest. "It's almost like we're on a vacation here why can't you let us enjoy it."

"I don't think that question should even be dignified with a response Kakashi. Now get your ass up I'm not going to say it twice." If there was one thing Itachi was serious about, that was training. Nothing would stop Itachi from taking training seriously, least of all his lazy ass teammate. Kakashi grumbled, but made no attempt to complain about it again. Dealing with a pissy Itachi was not on his list of things to do today.

The three teammates made their way out of their home away from home, and into the adjacent forest. Sakura figured they would stop on the outskirts of the impenetrable woods, but Itachi seemed keen on leading them further in. She said nothing and continued to follow him, as the dense trees continued to wrap themselves around her to the point where anything but trees was obscured from her vision. Sakura soon realized why Itachi was dragging them so far into darkness of the forest; he planned on giving them a new medium to contend with. She had to hand it to their captain, he was quite resourceful. Once Itachi had decided they had gone far enough, he turned around to face his teammates.

"Alright, Sakura I want you to sit out of this one, since you and I have already sparred. I think today it would be more fun for you to watch Kakashi and I go at it," Itachi explained, a small smirk tracing his chiseled features. Sakura blushed slightly at Itachi's comment and thought, 'Oh how hot that would be.' She shook the explicit thought from her brain and brought herself back into the sad reality.

"Sounds good captain," she replied, making sure her voice was stable, as to not give away her previous thoughts. She jumped to a nearby tree to seat herself in a safe place, far enough away from the battle that was about to occur. She had to admit—all sexual thoughts aside—that watching Itachi and Kakashi battle was bound to be epic. She imagined few had seen such top notch shinobi such as themselves spar one another, and she was quite grateful that she would get to witness the sight.

"Alright Kakashi, obviously we're going to be battling in the trees, and for this particular session I think taijutsu will suffice. I don't want to hurt you too badly," Itachi teased, attempting to provoke Kakashi. The smirk Sakura was beginning to hate was once again plastered across his face.

"I'll make you eat your words captain," Kakashi countered, getting into his fighting stance. Itachi smirked at Kakashi's response, and prepared himself. Sakura barely had time to blink before they were at each other, throwing punches and kicks at a blinding speed. Even for Sakura's trained eyes, watching Itachi and Kakashi just move was a challenge in and of itself. She knew they were both brilliantly skilled fighters, but seeing them like this was completely overwhelming her senses. Sakura wasn't about to sell herself short, she was skilled in taijutsu; but these two were like gods, on a completely different level, and she felt privileged to see them like this while not having to worry about her own safety.

She watched them skillfully move from tree to tree, throwing punches and kicks all the while. Neither of them seemed to have an edge on the other. For a minute Itachi would have control, making Kakashi go on the defensive, and making Sakura think he had the upper hand; but a split second later Kakashi would regain control of the fight. They continued to battle it out in close combat until both of them seemed to be fatiguing slightly, though each trying their best to hide it. Kakashi jumped away for a second to regain his breath, while Itachi elegantly dropped down to the ground. Sakura could see Itachi take in a deep breath, refilling his lungs, before Kakashi leaped down, attempting to surprise Itachi to no avail. A few minutes later both of them were obviously suffering from wounds, the severity of which Sakura was unsure. Itachi was holding onto his side, while Kakashi seemed to be nursing his wrist. Sakura wanted to reprimand them both for getting too serious and possibly severely injuring the other, but she knew better than to get in the middle of this fight—she most definitely did not have a death wish.

It was then, that Itachi managed to land a severe blow on Kakashi, making him fall from the tree and collapse onto the ground. Kakashi's body was covered with a sheen of sweat, that slowly slid down his body as he took deep breaths. The bruises that scattered his features made Sakura wonder just how badly he had been injured. Itachi seemed to be in the same shape as Kakashi, though at least he was able to stand. He grabbed onto the tree he was currently residing on for support, and decided to call the match.

"That's enough Kakashi, I don't think either one of us is able to go on anymore," Itachi said, dropping down from the tree, and falling onto one knee. Sakura knew both of them had conceded a tie, and she jumped down to assess their injuries.

"You guys are idiots you know that?" She reprimanded, giving each of them a hard, stern gaze. "Look how hurt you both are right now, what if someone was to attack us. I didn't think you guys would get so serious when we're out on a mission like this. I don't even know where to start with how reckless that was." Sakura sighed, knowing her lecture was falling on deaf ears. She sauntered over to Kakashi, who had managed—with much difficulty—to pull himself into a sitting position. "You idiot sit still and stop moving around I'm going to heal you now," Sakura said, and then proceeded to turn her gaze to Itachi. "Are you going to be okay if I take care of Kakashi first?" Itachi nodded, and allowed himself to rest against the tree.

Sakura wanted to lecture them more for being so careless, but healing was her top priority right now. Her hands glowed a light green as she scanned them over Kakashi body, feeling for the worst of his injuries. "Kakashi I need you to lie on your back so I can get a better assessment of your injuries," Sakura explained, helping him into said position. Her hands glowed green once again as she finished her assessment of his injuries. She sighed, wanting to beat them both into oblivion for being so damn irresponsible.

"Alright Kakashi, it seems you have a broken wrist as well as a few cracked ribs. Just sit still for a while and don't you dare move," she said, and for once Kakashi had no smartass retort, and decided to listen to her advice. He knew better than to piss off the only medic in a fifty mile radius when he was in such a condition. Sakura set to work on healing his injuries, a firm scowl set into her face. She tackled his wrist first, slowly mending the bones back together—she had to be careful not to make any mistakes and worsen his condition. After she had finished her work on his wrist, she moved on to his ribs, making quick work of them. Kakashi also had various scrapes and bruises all over his body; however, Sakura knew well enough that she had to save enough chakra to heal Itachi, so she left them alone. She thought for a moment, and decided the bruises could be his punishment for being so stupid.

Once she had finished working on Kakashi, she turned her attention to Itachi. She instructed Itachi to lie down, just like Kakashi, and began her evaluation. As Itachi was laying beneath her searching hands, she couldn't help but think of their conversation the previous night, and held back the blush that she could feel coming. She was just healing him, there should be no reason for her to blush right now. Luckily, she was able to hold it back, and Itachi's eyes were closed as he waited, so he didn't see her falter for a split second. During her exploration, she found that Itachi also had suffered some broken ribs. His ribs were worse than Kakashi's, but that seemed to be his only serious injury. Once again, Sakura set to work slowly mending his ribs, sweat slowly trickling down her face as she deeply concentrated on her work—her brow set in a firm wrinkle with strained eyes; her teeth taking a hold on her lip as she continued the tedious work. Once she finished she took a deep breath and helped both Itachi and Kakashi to a sitting position, and proceeded to wipe the sweat from her face with the back of her hand.

"I'm going to lecture both of you idiots when I get back so don't expect to get out of that. But right now I'm going to run back down to that stream and get you both some water; I don't want either of you getting dehydrated," Sakura explained, grabbing her pack and preparing herself for the trip she had previously memorized. This terrain was quickly becoming second nature to her, so another trip down familiar territory would be an easy job.

"But Sakura you aren't meant to be running off on your own," Kakashi complained. Sakura rolled her eyes and held back the urge to smack him. How he could complain about her doing anything while he was laying in such a condition was beyond her comprehension.

"You should have thought of that before you decided to beat the shit out of each other to the point where you can't even move," she retorted, her displease evident. "Kakashi I'll be fine I'm just running down to the stream, and neither of you are in a condition to be moving around. I've mended the bones but it would be better for both of you to just sit still for a little while, and not put too much strain on your injuries. If you get up and run around now all my chakra would have been wasted for nothing, so just sit there like good little boys and wait until I get back." Sakura would hear no more of their complaints, and continued off in the opposite direction.

As soon as she was far enough away from them Sakura placed her hand on a nearby tree, and leaned over to catch her breath. She knew she had used up too much chakra healing those idiots, but she wanted to be certain that they wouldn't see her showing any sign of weakness. They seemed to be concerned enough about her well-being, so she did her best to hide anything that could cause them anymore worry. After she had replenished the supply of oxygen in her lungs, she continued on to her destination. She wanted to get back to them as fast as possible, to make sure they had done as she instructed, and weren't at each other's throats again. Sakura finally made it to the stream, and proceeded to fill her canteen with enough water for the both of them. Once she deemed she had an ample amount of water, she moved to stand back up; but in that second, she realized something was very, very wrong.

Sakura felt the presence behind her much too late; though, she attempted to grab the kunai hidden on her thigh before she felt a sharp, jabbing pain in her neck. 'Fuck,' Sakura thought, as she slowly slipped into the world of unconsciousness.


"Kakashi. . . Sakura has been gone for too long now. . . It's been over fifteen minutes it shouldn't have taken her that long to run down to the water and back," Itachi said, his worry showing in his brow.

"Maybe she's just expended too much chakra and sat down for a rest," Kakashi responded, hoping that was the truth, and that nothing serious had happened to their cherry blossom. Kakashi pitied the poor fool who had a mind to hurt Sakura. Itachi seemed to consider that as a possibility, but remaining stagnant was not one of his qualities.

Kakashi's reasoning didn't seem to suffice for Itachi, and he frowned as he moved to a standing position. "We're going down there now Kakashi. I'd rather know that she is safe than sit around here and speculate about it." Itachi seemed set in his resolve, and waited for Kakashi to get himself up as well. Kakashi smiled a little to himself, pleased that Itachi had responded in such a way, as he would have been disappointed with a reaction of any less fervor. As soon as they were both on their feet, no one would have been able to guess that minutes prior they had been incapable of moving. They quickly began running in Sakura's direction, hoping to catch her sitting around and resting, rather than hurt in any way.

In half the time it should have taken them to get there, Itachi and Kakashi slid to a stop right next to the bank of the river. "Dammit where is she Kakashi." You could almost hear the anger in Itachi's voice. It was rare that he let his emotions get the best of him, but right now it was blatantly obvious. Kakashi was quite unable to speak, as anxiety overtook him. Itachi remained quiet for awhile, shutting his eyes and analyzing his surroundings. "I sense three other unknown chakra signals Kakashi, she must have been taken. It's faint, but I imagine they were here about ten minutes ago." Kakashi wasted no time in summoning Pakkun.

"Ah Kakashi, what do you want I was busy sleeping. . . This better be important," Pakkun complained sleepily, using a paw to wipe at his face in an attempt to wake up.

"Pakkun, I need you to follow Sakura's chakra signal and lead us there. We believe she was taken and we have to find her immediately," Kakashi explained in a hurried voice. Pakkun looked up at Kakashi's face, and noticed the concern that danced through his eyes—this was definitely serious. Pakkun nodded and quickly caught on to Sakura's scent, and sprinted in that direction. Kakashi and Itachi wasted no time in silently following after him.

'Please Sakura, be safe,' Itachi thought, moving as quickly as his legs could carry him.


Sasuke sat down—well more collapsed to the ground—and panted heavily. Naruto and Sasuke had just finished a sparring session, while Shikamaru observed from the sidelines. Naruto was in the same shape as Sasuke, breathing deeply and nursing some insignificant wounds. Luckily they had not injured one another very seriously, as Shikamaru had been quite strict about how much strength they were allowed to use when no medic was present.

Sasuke rested himself against a nearby rock, wishing there was a glimpse of shade somewhere, as he was sweating bullets. He silently yearned for the infamous wind to pick up slightly, and allow him to cool down as he so desperately needed. He took a small sip of water, letting the excess trickle down to his chin, mixing with sweat and dirt. He brought his knee up to his chest, his rapid heart rate beginning to slow as he continued the long, deep breaths. He rested his head against his knee, as he let his thoughts overtake him. He had been wondering how Sakura had been faring with Kakashi and his brother. The more he had grown to know Sakura over the years, the more he felt that she was just like a sister to him; and like any brother would, he worried. He knew Sakura was strong enough to put Kakashi and Itachi in their places; however, he missed having her on his team. Though he would never utter it out loud, he had come to find peace in the times team seven would sit around and enjoy one another's company. Like now, it almost felt wrong to be resting after a heavy sparring session, and not have Sakura there to reprimand him and Naruto for taking it so seriously. He could almost hear her voice calling them idiots, and threatening to knock them into next week. He couldn't stop the small smile that came to his face at the thought of it, and of course, Naruto was there to pick up on it.

"Hey Sasuke-teme, what's that smile for? Smiling cause you finally realized you'll never be as good as me? Feels good to accept it doesn't it?" Naruto asked, laughing a little as he loved teasing Sasuke.

"You're stupid dobe, just go to sleep or something and stop bothering us with your incessant chatter," Sasuke countered, letting the smile fade from his face to replace it with the famous—patent pending—Uchiha smirk. Naruto jumped to his feet, about to show Sasuke just who was stupid in this group, but Shikamaru interrupted him.

"Naruto calm yourself. Just sit there and rest for awhile so this heat doesn't take all your energy away. We're going to have to make our way down to the bottom of the canyon to reach the water soon, and you'll need your strength to make the climb down. So I suggest you and Sasuke take a break and rest, because we're moving out in twenty minutes." Shikamaru said nothing more, as he expected his orders to be obeyed. He went back to closing his eyes, and taking sanctuary in his own thoughts. Sasuke could see Naruto about to say something, before he seemed to calm down and understand that Shikamaru was right. Naruto haphazardly sprawled himself across the ground, taking up as much space as he could.

As he laid there, his face resting against the hot stone, he began thinking of their encounter the previous day. Sasuke and Shikamaru had said nothing more about the rouge nin, but Naruto still couldn't shake the unpleasant feeling it gave him in the pit of his stomach. He just knew those guys were bad news, he could feel it. He couldn't explain how he knew, but he just did. He wanted to express his thoughts to his teammates, though they didn't seem so keen on listening to his rambles; especially considering he had nothing to back up his claims other than pure gut feeling. He shook his head a little to remove the thoughts he was having, before replacing it against the hard ground. 'Come on Naruto, you need to stop with these silly thoughts of yours. If high and mighty Shikamaru doesn't seem to think it was anything serious, then it probably isn't anything serious. Even Sasuke-teme is convinced it was just a coincidence. . . It must be. . . I have to be wrong. It's all going to be okay.' After Naruto's inner monologue had finished its lecture, he seemed to calm down slightly. Apparently, his inner mind could be quite convincing when need be. He let the thoughts leave his head as he shut his eyes to take some well deserved rest.

While Naruto had been busy convincing himself that the prior situation had been no real problem, Shikamaru had been thoroughly analyzing every angle of the situation. He knew he had been wrong in so quickly throwing it out as coincidence, and was attempting to make sense of it. However, no part of his highly analytical mind could wrap itself around why rouge nin had showed up, basically done nothing, and then killed themselves. It made no tactical sense. Even if they were sent as scouts, how could they report back to whoever sent them if they just laid down and died. And what did they even want? That was the main question plaguing his thoughts. His brow wrinkled in concentration and thought, as he examined the possibility that they were after Naruto. It was well known to everyone who had grown up with Naruto that he had that monster hidden deep within his body. Though, if they were after Naruto, why did they make no move to take him. 'Arg!' he thought angrily, putting his head in his hands, slowly massaging his temples. 'Why can't I make sense of this situation. . . I've never felt so utterly useless.' Shikamaru shut his eyes, took a deep relaxing breath, and continued to delve through his thoughts. He was going to make sense of this situation if it killed him.


"How close now Pakkun?" The harshness in Itachi's voice gave away the urgency of the situation; he had to know that she was safe.

"They're still running Itachi. . . it will probably be easier to catch them once they've stopped their movements," Pakkun replied, increasing his pace slightly.

"Let's just hurry. . ." Itachi's pace increased as he spoke those words. Kakashi caught on to his increase in speed and urged him to slow down a little.

"We'll be of no use to Sakura if we're too exhausted by the time we reach her." He could see the silent battle that waged on in Itachi's mind, before he relented and slowed his pace slightly. Nothing more was said between the two as they hurried on as quickly as they dared.

It was another thirty minutes of running in silence before Pakkun's ears perked up, alerting Kakashi and Itachi that they must be close.

"They seem to be slowing," Pakkun informed them quietly. Itachi and Kakashi both took in the information silently, knowing that speaking out right now may alert the other party to their presence. After another few minutes, Pakkun slowed to almost a complete stop. Kakashi and Itachi easily picked up on the foreign chakra signals, but could barely feel Sakura's, which worried them tremendously. They both took a moment to mask their chakra signals as well as they could, and edged their way closer to Sakura's captors.

"Man, why on earth does Leader want this stupid bitch anyway. She looks pretty useless to me. . . I mean we picked her off like it was nothing. I figured that top shinobi like her were harder to capture, but she didn't even put up a fight," a harsh voice spoke loudly, completely unaware of the current company. Kakashi felt Itachi stiffen at the man's words—he didn't take well to people insulting Sakura.

Another voice, deeper and calmer that the first, responded to his loud and outspoken partner. "If he told us to capture her, she must have good use somehow. It's not our place to question his decisions, we just do what we are told." The first man seemed annoyed with his partner's response.

"Aw man you always ruin it for me. I don't know how you can so blindly follow his orders and never question anything. I really don't understand what this is all about," the first man replied, his voice still holding that harsh, cold tone.

Finally, the third man, who had remained silent until this point, finally chose to speak up. "Aki, Haru, both of you shut the hell up. We will have company soon, as I believe Leader is sending two members to pick this girl up. So until then, you both will shut up, and we will wait in silence." This third unnamed man seemed to be the leader of the bunch, as his orders were obeyed with no complaints from the first two. Itachi and Kakashi knew they had to act soon, before the other two showed up to take Sakura away. Itachi observed the bunch sitting around Sakura, who seemed to be passed out in the middle of it all; she was sprawled across the dirt covered ground, her hair covering her face from sight. They didn't seem to be skilled ninja, though if they were able to get an upper hand on Sakura, they were not to be trifled with.

'If we can manage to completely surprise them, and take them out quickly, we might be able to get out of here with no injuries,' Itachi thought, though unable to express this to Kakashi, as speaking now would reveal their position. Kakashi gave a signal to Pakkun, letting him no his services were no longer needed, and he disappeared into a puff of smoke. Itachi quickly mouthed the plan to Kakashi, getting ready to ambush the three rouge nin. Kakashi nodded his head in approval, and wanted to get to it before anyone else showed up.

Before the rouge nin even had time to comprehend what was going on, Itachi had snapped the first ones neck, and Kakashi had stabbed the second one at least three times in fatal locations. The third unnamed nin had time to widen his eyes in horror before he too, was taken out for good.

"Well, that was almost too easy. I was expecting a little bit more of a fight from them. It seems they were just pawns with no real formal training," Itachi observed, though he wasn't complaining. He quickly walked over to Sakura's side and knelt down next to her, brushing the hair from her face. "I think she's okay Kakashi. . . it seems she was given a drug meant to put her to sleep; probably similar to the one Tsunade-sama gave us previously." He reached out a hand to lightly caress her face for a moment; but, just as quickly as he had touched her, he removed his hand, not approving of the look Kakashi had given him.

"No word of this Kakashi," he stated seriously, giving Kakashi the infamous Uchiha death glare. Kakashi laughed lightly and gave him a knowing look.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say captain. Let's just get her out of here before those other two come to claim their prize." Itachi consented, and reached down to pick Sakura up bridal style, holding her close to his chest. He looked down at her sleeping face for a moment, and his glance softened. She looked so peaceful as he held her in his arms, an expression he was not accustomed to seeing on her pretty little face. Normally, when Sakura spoke to him, she had a smirk or a scowl of some sort set across her features; but here. . . here was the peaceful Sakura, and Itachi instantly wished he could see more of this face. He memorized this expression, before looking back up at Kakashi, who was still giving him the knowing smirk. Itachi threw another glare his way, and proceeded to make his way back to the cave. Unbeknownst to Kakashi and Itachi, two hidden figures watched the whole scene from the shadows.

"Maaa senpaiii. . . We're going to get in so much trouble! We were supposed to bring the pink thing back to leader today. What's going to happen to us now that she's been rescued!" The first voice spoke in hurried, hushed tones. He seemed quite distressed over the whole situation, flailing his arms around and everything.

"You idiot shut the hell up, yeah? Obviously, there's nothing we can do about it now. . . We'll have to make a move ourselves, as sending incompetent fools to do our work did not go as planned," the second voice, deeper and more masculine, explained in a quick, harsh tone. The two unknown figures ran off in the opposite direction, no doubt planning their next attempt at capturing the pink haired kunoichi.

After a good ten minutes of running, Itachi and Kakashi decided they were far enough away to be able to slow to a walk for awhile. They had both really strained themselves while getting Sakura back, and the last thing they needed was to worsen their injuries, and have a livid Sakura to answer to. Itachi still cradled Sakura close to his chest, and made no move to let Kakashi carry her for awhile. Kakashi glanced over as they were walking in silence and took a short look at Sakura's peaceful face. Much like Itachi, it was on rare occasion that Kakashi was able to see Sakura so peaceful. It made him smile slightly to see her like that, as he too, wished to see that expression more often.

It was then that Sakura moved slightly in Itachi's arms, and cuddled herself closer to his chest, and murmured something unintelligible. Itachi looked down at her and gave a slight smile, knowing as soon as she woke up she would deny having ever done such a thing. It seemed Sakura was getting close to waking, as her unintelligible mumbles continued.

"Idiots. . ." she muttered out, the first intelligible thing she had spoken. Itachi and Kakashi had to stifle their laughs, as of course, Sakura would be dreaming about how much pain she would be inflicting on them for being so reckless earlier.

Slowly, Sakura managed to open her eyes, her vision slowly coming into focus. Though she could not fully see yet, she knew she was moving, and suddenly she flashed back to being kidnapped, and instantly grabbed for her kunai. Luckily, Itachi caught her movements, and stopped her just in time, right before she was about to stab him in the side.

"Woah now princess, calm yourself please. . . You're safe now," Itachi almost whispered, attempting to soothe her wrath. By this time Sakura's vision finally focused, and she looked up to see the Uchiha, smirking down at her, while he held her wrist loosely in his hand. It was also at this point that she put two and two together, and realized that Itachi Uchiha was carrying her, and on no level was she okay with this.

"Dammit Itachi put me the fuck down. Why the hell are you carrying me you stupid asshole. You're supposed to be injured. . . Put me down this instant!" Sakura demanded, kicking around in his arms.

"Jesus Sakura calm yourself down, you're still groggy from the sleeping drug they gave you. . . I'm going to continue to carry you whether you like it or not, so I suggest you shut up and rest for awhile. And damn we just saved you from rouge nin, you could at least say thank you," Itachi said, tightening his grip on Sakura to assure that she could not escape his grasp. He took the kunai from her hand and tucked it back into her pocket, and regained his hold on her. Sakura blushed again, realizing how ungrateful she just sounded.

"Thank you. . ." she muttered quietly, while directing her gaze down to the ground, as she didn't want to look Itachi in the eyes. She felt slightly embarrassed at her sudden outburst, though she'd never say so. Sakura decided to just shut her eyes again, and rest like Itachi had basically ordered her to do. Plus, ignoring him allowed her to take her mind away from the fact that he was actually carrying her. However, after some moments of silence, Sakura realized she had yet to assess how their injuries were.

"Kakashi, Itachi, how are your injuries doing?" She felt slightly guilty that she had went and gotten herself kidnapped while those two were in such a state. Sakura couldn't help but feel like she had let them down in a sense. She had gone on and on about how strong she was now and how she could handle anything, and the first time she has the chance to prove it, she failed. Granted, she was completely run down on chakra, and she knew the situation would have turned out differently had she had full use of her chakra, but making excuses was something she tried to avoid.

"We're doing well Sakura," Kakashi said, giving her a warm smile, almost reading her mind. "You did an exceptional job healing us, so it was fine that we moved so soon after. I imagine Itachi feels the same." Sakura looked up at Itachi to see him incline his head in agreement with Kakashi.

"No worries princess all is well." Sakura couldn't help but smile and cheer up slightly. The reassurance of her skill was what she needed at this moment, and she appreciated the sentiment.

"Um, Itachi. . . I really am feeling fine now. I believe I can walk on my own," she tried again, hoping this time he would consent and let her stand on her own two feet. She didn't want to be babied by them, as she was an equal on this team and would be treated as such. Itachi gave her a look, not approving of her constant need to be strong, but he relented and allowed her to walk on her own. He lightly placed her on the ground, and stood close, in case she was still too dizzy to walk. It took Sakura a moment to get her bearings again, but soon she was stable, and fine walking on her own. "See, told you I'm fine," she said, with a slight bit of cockiness back in her voice. Now that Itachi no longer had a hold on her, she felt safer in teasing him again. Itachi held back a smile, though Sakura could see it in his eyes—he was glad to see her well once again. They continued on their trek in silence, all seemingly lost in their thoughts.

In no time at all it seemed, they had arrived back at their home sweet home. They all seemed to know that a serious talk was in order about how they should handle the situation. Sakura was still unaware as to why she had been kidnapped and by whom, and she wanted to know what Kakashi and Itachi had found out.

"So. . ." Sakura started, unsure of how to continue this conversation. She didn't want them to think she was terrified or anything, but she was incredibly curious, and slightly unnerved about the whole situation.

"We really don't know much more than you do princess. There were three men who kidnapped you, and we disposed of them. However, they did speak of a 'Leader' and two more 'members' who were meant to take you to their so called leader. I'm not entirely sure if they were just being careful not to let out sensitive information, or if they were just not well informed. I assume, because of how easily we took them out, that they were probably pawns, meant to deliver you to the higher ups," Itachi explained, the stress of the situation once again showing on his face, and he scratched his head slightly in thought. He couldn't hide how worried he had been when they had been unable to find her. She meant a lot to him—err. . . the team—and Kakashi had been just as worried.

"What on earth would they want with me though? I mean, I don't think I'm special enough to be sought out by a crazy group who wants to kidnap me," Sakura said, openly expressing her feelings on the matter. She thought about it, and it just seemed utterly ridiculous to her. Sure, she was well known for being a medic-nin in Konoha, but why anyone else would know who she was, was beyond her. She couldn't help but think maybe it was just a coincidence, and it held no real significance.

"I'm not sure Sakura, but I do believe we need to report this to the Hokage," Kakashi said, with a slight urgency in his tone—he didn't want to take any chances. "I know we shouldn't abandon a mission, but I feel in this case it might be necessary to inform the Tsunade as soon as possible. They seemed quite insistent that Sakura had to be taken to the Leader, and that makes me nervous. We don't know how big this organization could be, and I think attempting to tackle it on our own could be a suicide mission when we are so unprepared." Kakashi finished his speech and took a deep, calming breath. He spoken so quickly that he had forgotten to breathe, and now his lungs were protesting their lack of oxygen. He shook his head a little, trying to clear the bad thoughts from his head, and analyze the situation with a clear mind. Itachi had placed himself more in the corner of the cave, and seemed to be deeply contemplating how they should proceed.

"I believe I agree with you Kakashi, we don't know what these people are capable of and we are very low on supplies of any kind because of the nature of this mission. We also don't know if these people will attempt to capture Sakura again. Just because they failed one time does not mean they will give up." The more Itachi spoke about the situation, the more anxious he became, though he did not allow that to show on his face. Regardless of Itachi's inner turmoil over the situation, he had a job as the captain of this team to make the best decision. "Yes," he said, finally seeming set in his resolve to get them back to Konoha as soon as possible. "Grab your packs, and put your headsets on. . . just in case. I believe we won't make it very far tonight, but I believe it will be safer for us to move from this location, in case they have been secretly watching us." Itachi's reasoning seemed spot on to Kakashi, and he moved quickly to grab his pack, and prepare himself for the trip ahead of them.

"We need to go southwest from here to make our way back to Konoha, so prepare yourselves to run for at least a few hours. I believe we are on the southern end of Lightning Country, as I imagine Tsunade would not have time to get us very far into the country before we woke up. We will head mainly west for probably a day's worth of traveling, and then we will head south, right back into Fire Country." Itachi continued on with his detailed explanation of their plans, while Sakura was busy clearing away any evidence that would confirm their presence here. They all put their packs on, and mentally prepared themselves for hours of running, when they were already exhausted.

"Alright, let's move out." As Itachi spoke the commanding words, Sakura and Kakashi wordlessly followed him out of the cave, and they ran to the west; the setting sun their only light and means of direction in this harsh environment.


AN: And there you have it! The end of the third chapter. I really like this chapter much better than the previous two, as I kinda feel I'm getting back into the swing of writing. But do please let me know your thoughts. . .Don't be shy =). As always reviews are appreciated and loved. Until next time. . . Ja ne!