A/N: Here is chapter 4 guys. Sorry for the late update I've been so busy with school work for the past two weeks that I've barely even gotten any time to update this chapter. As a tribute to my late update, I'm going to post two-three chapters this week so I hope you guys enjoy. Well, here goes nothing
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto/Naruto Shippudden. It belongs strictly to Kishi-sensei.
Decision
Sakura stood there, transfixed to the ground, shocked by what she saw. There was a trail of fresh blood on the ground that lead a fair distance to the exit of the forest. Sakura followed the trail and noticed that the amount of blood lessened more and more as she approached the exit. She assumed that whoever had been injured had the wound close up by the time they had left the forest. It was then that she suddenly came up to a horrific conclusion. What if it was Naruto's blood? She clasped her hands over her mouth and tried shaking the negative thoughts out of her head. "That idiot wouldn't be injured by anything in this forest," She tried reassuring herself. Sakura then came to another conclusion; maybe it was the blood of an animal. However, she dismissed the idea as she doubted animals were careless with their meals this much. Unable to shake the negative thoughts out of her head completely, Sakura decided to pick some of the blood-stained grass and go have it examined at Konoha hospital in order to see if they could find a match for the unknown blood sample. She realized that panicking in that situation wouldn't do any good she might as well keep a cool head and tackle the situation rationally(Konoha Hospital had the blood samples of every citizen in Konoha)
Sakura arrived at the hospital and immediately went into the laboratory, not bothering to reply to the greetings of the people she passed by. She placed the sample of grass on the table, then quickly went to where the blood samples were stored, and looked under the column N for "Naruto Uzumaki." Hesitantly, she took his blood sample, while convincing herself in her mind that there was no way the blood was his. She looked at both samples of blood via microscope, then her eyes widened in surprise. She pinched herself to ensure she was not dreaming, and then looked at the two samples of blood again. After a third check, she slumped to the floor in defeat, while clutching her head in her hands. The blood samples matched.
"He may have cut himself across a tree branch," she thought. However, a second voice in her head replied, "Tree branch cuts himself don't leave that much blood on the ground." He may have been attacked by a wild animal," she thought again. Logic answered her again, "This is the Naruto who took down the Akatsuki leader. I doubt a wild animal would as much as scratch him." "What if…..oh no, please don't let it be so…." She thought. "Yeap, the little runt may be in danger, or more certainly, he was kidnapped," the voice in her head told her again. Sakura tried shutting out the voice in her head while thinking of other possible scenarios, but all were unlikely as the next. Teary-eyed, she came to a painful conclusion, Naruto had been kidnapped.
She then realized where she had to go next: Tsunade's office. Grabbing the grass sample and Naruto's blood sample and putting them in her pocket, she dashed out of the hospital and headed for Tsunade's office.
Tsunade's office
Tsunade was at her desk on tapping the desk with her finger. Tonton was sleeping on the floor next to her. She was waiting for news on Naruto from either Sakura or Shizune. At this point she would even be glad if the blonde just strode into her office at that moment and it turned out to be a big joke. Worry gnawed at her heart with each passing second, and seeing the sun setting across the mountains did less to diminish her worries. The door to her office flew open at that very instant she was looking at the sun, and before she could register what was going on, a brush of pink hair landed in front of her desk at that instant. There were tears streaming down her face and Tsunade knew immediately that something terrible had happened. Sakura placed the grass sample and Naruto's blood sample on Tsunade's desk, then she proceeded to explain the entire situation to Tsunade. Her speech was stammered since she was talking while crying and Tsunade didn't do anything to calm down her student, herself being on the verge of tears.
After Sakura had finished explaining, Tsunade wore a shocked look on her face. She looked at Sakura a little then told her to get Shizune from the hospital. Sakura proceeded to ask why, and then Tsunade told her that they were going to go and rescue Naruto from whatever trouble he was in, but first they needed to make sure that they weren't overreacting so they would first scout the area outside the village. For this they needed the ANBU. Sakura nods curtly then proceeds to head to the hospital.
Naruto
A body was dumped on the ground then a deep voice said," Mission accomplished." A man with a spiral mask then appeared from the shadows and said, "Kisame,I told you not to handle the Jinchuuriki too roughly or else he may end up dying before we extract the Nine-Tails from him.""He never listens Tobi, you know that," a third voice appeared from an aloe-like creature that appeared from the ground."However, good work on capturing the Nine-Tails. Finally Uzumaki Naruto is in our hands. All that's left is capturing the Eight-Tails then Project Tsuki no Me will be finally starting," said the spiral-masked man again. Sasuke then spoke up for the first time since getting back to the Akatsuki's base, "So, where will we put the body in the meantime. I hardly think this is an appropriate place for putting Naruto's body if we need it for extraction later." "Take it to the cave further within. There are chakra chains there, make sure you bind him with them. We don't want him trying to escape later on with his petty jutsu," answered Tobi. Sasuke then proceeded to take Naruto's cold body and move to the designated area within the hideout, the other three Akatsuki members watching him intently.
End
A/N: Well, there's chapter 4 guys. I finally brought back our blonde hero and Sasuke-kun, along with the other Akatsuki members, since they will all play an important role later on. About the part where Sakura goes to the hospital to confirm the unidentified blood, I just thought that it would be logical to have all the blood samples of the Konoha citizens in the hospital, considering that it is a small village after all. Tsunade's reaction when she hears the news about Naruto from Sakura was really Hokage-like in my opinion, since she didn't just jump to conclusions and made the most rational decision at the moment. Enjoy guys.;)
