"No. No. No, no, no. This can't be happening. I can't...no...It's not real...It's a dream. He's lying. Please. Oh, Annie, please!" Naruto sobbed. As he tried to unhook her small wrists from the wall. She looked so tiny, delicate, and cold, just hanging there, like a fairy who'd heard the unbelieving words. The chains wouldn't unlock or break, and Annie looked like she was dying.
"What did you do to her?" He demanded with a low, deadly, poisonous voice he'd no doubt learned from Annie.
"I merely pricked her with a needle. Don't you worry. She's only sleeping." The old man covered in rags and a long-brimmed hat smirked, "For now. I could shoot a much more fatal needle at her, if you like."
"You could shoot yourself first, if you like." Annie muttered weakly.
Deidara raised eyebrows. "Awake, already? I thought you said it would be a full day and night. I'm disappointed, old man."
He scrutinized the needle in his hand. "I must have the sleeping draft weaker than I thought."
"Annie-Chan! Are you alright?" Naruto put his hands on her face and looked into her eyes. They were...broken. So sad and hopeless.
"No, Naruto-Kun. I—I failed. They took away...everything...and Gaara...is he really—?"
"Curious, yet time-wasting." The old man interrupted, "Anyways, you all know what the Akatsuki want. We want the Jinchuuriki, the nine-tails being no exception, Naruto-Kun."
"Over my freaking dead body." Annie muttered, but could barely yank on the chains.
"Annie, hush, they might take it literally." Naruto stood in front of her, his feet solidly planted to protect the one he loved.
"If you give us the nine-tails, we will give back Annie-Chan so that she may get hospital treatment and live. Hey, we might even throw in the body of the Kazekage so that you can give him a proper funeral."
"He's not dead! Stop sitting on him!"
"Seriously. That's weird. Sitting on dead people is...uber weird..." Annie gasped for breath.
"Annie, talking is taking up too much energy for you. Ssh!" Naruto scolded her, then turned back to face the two Akatsuki. "And you two...I...I can't..." He would do anything to save his friends, especially Annie, his girlfriend.
"No! He won't do it! You are Akatsuki, not to be trusted! You'd kill all of us sooner than keep a promise!" Sakura shouted.
"Well, fine than, I'll just kill off Annie, and—"
"No!" All three ex-Team 7 members screamed.
"Here I go, loading the poisoned needle in my shooter, and—"
"Hey, Akatsuki, go shoot yourself in the face with an AK-47, then get run over by a car, then jump off the Empire freaking State Building!" Annie screamed. Everyone stopped to take a minute to register what the heck she just said. Only Naruto sort of understood. She gasped for breath and began to speak again while everyone was silent.
"Listen, Naruto-Kun, them killing me isn't a big whopping deal, okay? I just go home if I die. Remember when I almost died when I was twelve, because of Kabuto and the Black and White ninjas? I almost went back. I saw my family for a flash of a second. It's only delaying the inevitable if I don't die right here and now. You, on the other hand, would be gone if they killed you. Kaput. By killing me, the Akatsuki gain nothing, and you lose nothing." She gasped some more. Everyone in the cave shared looks.
Naruto's eyes got a pained, unbearable look. "No. I want you by my side every moment, Annie-Chan."
"You can't be by my side if you're dead!"
He was silent for a while. "You're right. But I can't just watch you die, Annie. That won't happen."
"Then kick their butts!" Annie encouraged him.
"I like that idea." Kakashi grinned through his mask. Sakura smirked and pulled on fingerless gloves. Naruto turned and glowered at the two Akatsuki. He wanted to smile at his enemy, but then he remembered that they were sitting on Gaara's body. Anger rushed through him all over again.
"Let them go!" He shouted, then he made four clones, and Rasengan spun in two pairs of hands.
Deidara laughed. "Catch me if you can, loser." He lifted Gaara by his shirt and threw clay balls on the ground, running out the cave entrance as he did so. The clay exploded on impact.
Annie's world shook. Dirt and rocks flew up, blinding her view. Her wrists were cutting into the chains. Several minutes passed by as the dust around her settled. Only Sakura, Chiyo, and the hunched over Akatsuki remained in the cave.
"Naruto? Where's Naruto? NARUTO-KUN!" Annie screamed.
"He went after Deidara and Gaara, girl. Calm down." Chiyo tutted. Great, Annie thought. All she had by her side was Sakura—who was actually pretty strong, now, so that wasn't too bad—and an old lady. And Annie herself was tied up with thick chains she couldn't break. Maybe she could manipulate the metal...no, it was melded together with chakra. That wouldn't work. Besides, she hadn't done that for years.
"We must help Naruto get Gaara's body back." Sakura pounded her fist into her palm, "But we can't leave Annie."
"No, I'm fine! Leave me." Annie said, "I can take care of this old bucket of snot."
"That's gross, Annie. And there's no way that's going to happen, at least not until you're unchained from the wall." Sakura said, trying to match the stubbornness that Annie emanated.
"What a hero! And a waste of my time." The old man muttered, then shot several pin points at Sakura, who just barely dodged them. Chiyo's eyes grew wide as the pins kept shooting at Sakura. She jumped and dodged, but the pins kept shooting everywhere, barely missing her. The pattern was so unpredictable!
"No, it can't be...my grandson..." Chiyo muttered.
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm saying that that's my grandson, hiding under his own puppet! I helped him make these puppets myself! I understand the pattern of the needles!"
"Way to raise him to become part of the Akatsuki." Annie muttered under her breath.
Chiyo didn't seem to hear. She just raised her hands, and Sakura stiffened. Annie watched as Chiyo moved to dodge a needle, and Sakura did the same thing. At the same time. Synchronized.
"Whoa. How did you do that?" Annie asked with popping eyes.
"I'm controlling Sakura like a puppet."
"Like a boss." Annie grinned.
Frustrated, the old man\puppet dude turned to Annie and raised his hand, ready with needles.
"Turn intangible, Ann!" Sakura screamed.
"I-I can't!"
"What?"
"I can't! Orochimaru was here, and he...he took my powers away from me!" She started to sob, "I couldn't save Gaara. I watched him die and I couldn't do anything. Stupid...stupid chains..."
Sakura gasped. Nothing was stopping Chiyo's grandson from killing Annie.
Except Sakura.
She punched the earth with all of her might, and everything collapsed.
52 DAYS UNTIL ANNIE'S FIFTEENTH BIRTHDAY.