III

Sakura groggily awoke, unsure of how long it had been or where she was. The little light that was in the room burned for a couple of seconds, but she quickly adjusted to the dimness. There was a slight tug in her stomach, how long had she been in there. Apparently long enough that she was starting to get a tad lightheaded. Sakura checked her pockets for something, frantically searching for anything she could find. Reaching for her left ring finger, she let out a gasp realizing that they'd taken that too.

"Looking for this?" a voice said as its owner began to step slightly in the light. Sakura knew exactly who it was as she felt a sense of fear fill the cell.

"No, you can't be..." Sakura uttered under her breath, "You're dead!"

A laugh came from the owner has he looked into the cell. "Oh, don't worry my dear, the Uchiha boy is indeed dead. Slayed by your lover boy, I'd assume this is his, no?" The man licked his lips, and Sakura knew exactly who it was. "Heh, it's been how long now... Four years?"

"Oh my God..." Sakura said, backing away just a bit more. "O... Orochimaru..."

"I'm quite disappointed Sakura," Orochimaru said, laughing. The body and the voice may have been Sasuke's, but it was clear as day that Orochimaru had made himself at home by the clothing and purple marks under his yellow eyes. "And they said you were the smarter of the three, psh." He placed the ring into his pocket, "You're not wanting this, are you?"

Sakura frowned, her fire starting to burn, "Cut the crap Orochimaru," she said, "What do you want me for."

"Oh, well I can't tell you that, now can I?" He kept a small smirk across his face, clearly enjoying the situation far too much. "But something tells me you already know, don't you... Sakura-chan."

Sakura had enough, she channeled all her chakra into her fist, yelling as slammed the bar. Her yell turned into a yelp of pain shooting up her arm.

Orochimaru laughed, "Ah, about those bars, I made sure they could hold you in there, we all know about that strength and temper of yours. Nothing a little bit of chromium steel can't take care of. You might want to get..." he said as he examined the ring again, throwing it into the cell across from Sakura's, "comfortable."

*****

Fire/Sand Country Boarder

One Day After Abduction

"You see anything yet, Yamato?" the Hokage said as he entered Sage mode again. He had been trying it on and off to see if they could get the slightest lead on where Sakura was.

"Not even close Naruto," he replied, shaking his head. "I'm afraid that the trail is more than cold, it's been completely erased. Whoever did this knew exactly what he was doing."

Naruto shook his head, "God..." He sat down, rubbing his eyes. He'd been searching for almost 24 hours, and he knew he was out of it."It's my fault, all my fault. If I hadn't walked away, if I hadn't left her alone, then-"

"Don't blame yourself," Sai said, "It would have happened to anybody."

"You don't get it, do you Sai?" Naruto said, his tone increasing, "I'm almost positive that they're really after me. Sakura-chan just got caught in the crossfire, it's my fault!"

Sai was silent for a moment. Unfortunately, he had a point. It wasn't a secret that Naruto and Sakura had been an item for the past few years, let alone that they had been recently engaged. Regardless of who their target was for this particular situation, it was blatantly obvious that Naruto was who they were really after.

Naruto sighed, closing his eyes. "Naruto," Yamato said, "look, we're going to need to look into this, look in the backlogs to figure out what's going on here. You need to get some rest. I've sent for heavy instrumentation, it's the only way we're going to be able to see if there's a lead."

"I thought you said there was no trail?" Sai said.

Yamato snickered a tiny bit, "Sai, there's a few things that ROOT never did train you about..." He turned towards Naruto. "They never even told the Hokages either. Danzou was quite the secretive type, but if there's one thing I know, it's that there is always a trail."

"What?" Naruto said, "But I thought you said-"

"Erased, right." Yamato said, "But tell me, if something is erased, is it gone, or is it just so light, that it lingers?" He left a stake in the ground, a small blinking light on the top of it, then turned towards the small town. "It's up to you Lord Hokage... But I'd recommend as both an advisor and a friend that you get some sleep. It's not going to do you any good if you keep running on fumes."

Naruto nodded as he pushed himself up and began walking towards town. He pulled out a small chain from his pocket. It was a simple silver chain with a small pink spiral at the end. Sakura had given it to him before he left on his last solo mission as "a little piece of her to hang onto". Yamato's right... I need to clear my head... Hang in there Sakura-chan...

*****

Two hours later

Naruto opened his eyes to a open white void that he'd seen far too often. What? He thought, How'd I... But it's been three years! Why-

"Miss me?" a voice asked from behind him.

"Gah!" Naruto exclaimed as he heard a voice from behind him. "It's you!"

"Indeed it is, son." The blond figure said, with a playful smirk on his face, "I've been watching you, looks like you're in another pickle, huh?"

"Yeah..." Naruto said, looking down. "Hey... Wait a second! Last time I saw you, didn't you say that-"

"We'd not meet again?" Minato said, "Well, as far as I knew that was the case. Apparently I have a new job."

"New job?" the young Hokage asked, scratching his head.

"Yeah," replied the elder, "you probably remember my employer of sorts, he said the two of you had a good talk a few years back."

"Oh, that guy!" Naruto said, remembering the voice from three years past, "Who exactly is he, I never got a name."

Minato laughed, "He's got quite a few, to put it bluntly, you'll just have to find one for him yourself." He looked at his son in the eye, "But that's not exactly why I'm here, Naruto."

Naruto nodded as he looked to the side. "Lemmie guess, it's about Sakura-chan, huh."

Minato smirked, "Pretty much. Oh, and your mother wanted me to let you know she loves the girl you've chosen."

Naruto blushed a bit, "Uh, yeah... Tell her I said hi, and that I finally saw a few pictures of her a couple of years ago." Naruto shook his head, "Wait, what am I doing, you said you have a message, right?"

The elder kage gave a sign of approval, "That is indeed the case. Now, listen to me Naruto, the people that took Sakura aren't just after you like you assumed. The fact of the matter is that there's a lot more at stake then it seems. And I think you'll find that her captors are not as alien as you think."

"Akatsuki's finally back, huh." Naruto said.

"You catch on quick."

"Well, considering I'm 19 and the Hokage, I think I need to, Dad."

"True indeed..." he took a brief pause. "Crap, I'm running out of time... Look Naruto, you need to be prepared for this, but we're dealing with things that couldn't be more complicated. Something is brewing around you, and it's going to suck you in for one crazy ride. You may find yourself questioning everything, but you and Sakura are the only people that can stop this wreck from happening. One of their ranks has been messing with things that are best left alone, and you're going to get sucked into the me-" he started to fade away.

"DAD!" Naruto exclaimed.

Minato shook his head as he started to fade into obscurity, "Naruto!" He shouted, "Just don't be reckless with the paradoxes!"

"What?!?" he said, caught completely off-guard. "What are you-"

"I love you son, be care-!" and he ceased to be present.

"Hello brother." a voice said from behind, the owner shoving Naruto onto the now dirty ground. He turned around and only shock came to him.

"Sasuke, but-!"

"Missed me?" he said with a blade in his right hand, and someone precious to Naruto in the other, the cold steel placed on her neck. He licked his lips and let out an unearthly cackle as he slit Sakura's throat. Naruto wasn't sure which was louder, his fiancé's shriek of physical pain, or his cry of that emotional.

*****

Naruto darted up from his nightmare, shaking his head. What the heck!?! He panicked, breath . "Oh God..." He said, "Dear God, don't tell me... They're back. The nightmares are..." He laid his head back on the pillow. Dear father in heaven, this is going to suck. Why is it always me? Why is it that I'm the one that gets sucked into this crap! He sighed, looking at the chain on his nightstand. He gripped it firmly in his hands as tears rolled down. Why do you have to be gone now, Sakura-chan? Right when I need someone to talk to...

*****

A/N: Well, looks like I did it again xD. Sorry guys, hopefully that doesn't happen again, but I'm not gonna make any promises. Super special thanks to Mixora/Namixas, my beta for all the help, I was completely out of it this chapter and it's thanks to her that you're not raising eyebrows and thinking I'm off the rocker, lol. So, see you all at IV!