Chapter Seven: The Blossom Goes Missing

It had been a long search, but Sasuke had finally managed along with Shino and Neji's help, finally managed to find the bastard who took Princess Kariyomi and bring her back to the Land of the Bear. Sasuke was tired and wanted to just go home to Sakura and sleep. He missed his Cherry blossom a lot and wondered how she was doing right now.

'I hope she's okay…I wouldn't want her looking depressed when I get back…' Thought Sasuke as he and Neji travelled back to the Village. Shino had remembered that his father, Gen Aburame wanted him to go visit some relatives after his mission to the Land of the Bear was over, so Shino and the others would agree as soon as they reached the Land of Fire, they would go their separate ways from there.

Sasuke spoke up, "Fuck, that was way too much of a pain in the ass, that mission, next time he wants someone to go chase after a kidnapper like that, send an ANBU or something." "That was way too easy."

"I agree; Naruto-sama's missions seem too easy for our own skill…" Said Neji. Something was worrying the Hyuuga as they travelled along the path. The Uchiha looked over to Neji and saw that he was indeed worried.

"Hey Hyuuga, what's up? You worried about Tenten?" said Sasuke as he stopped briefly on a tree branch to rest; they were probably now 3 kms or so away from Konohagakure. Neji looked towards the Uchiha and nodded slightly.

"Hai…she is very close to her due date, as your fiancée predicted, I hope that I can get back to the Village in time before something happens." Sasuke chuckled and was glad he didn't have to worry about Sakura going into labour at least not for another 3 months or so. Neji and Sasuke had talked on a few occasions during the mission, when Shino was off scouting with his Bugs about what it was like having their beloveds being pregnant.

Apparently, Tenten's pregnancy was high risk, due in fact that she was carrying two babies and not one, like Sakura was at the moment. Neji had confirmed that Sakura was carrying one when he apparently accidentally used Byakugan on a mission with Sakura recently when Sasuke had gone on a C ranked mission. That was exactly how the Hyuuga had managed to find out really that Sakura was pregnant.

"Don't worry about Tenten, she's a strong woman, trust me, even though I hardly talked to her when we were younger, she's pretty awesome if you asked me." Said Sasuke, smirking a little at the Hyuuga, who was trying to calm down.

Neji smirked right back and just gave Sasuke a brief nod. The two of them then headed towards Konohagakure. They weren't expecting to see a panic ridden faced Tenten as well as a very worried Hokage standing with two ANBU guards and Hinata also standing there at the gate, waiting for them after 2 hours passed by.

Neji and Sasuke both ran up to the group and giving a stiff bow to the Hokage, Neji walked over to Tenten, who was immediately pulled into a tight hug against him. Tenten kissed Neji's cheek and whispered that she missed him.

Sasuke turned to Hinata and Naruto and spoke, "What's going on? Where's Sakura?" He wondered why Sakura hadn't come to see him come home; usually she would have been here by now. Naruto looked upset, as did the other two. Naruto put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder as he tried to form the words on his tongue.

"Sasuke…Sakura…was…" "Sakura-Chan was kidnapped 2 weeks ago, and the kidnapper's sent this just this week." That was why Tenten looked panicky when they first arrived. Naruto then handed him a sheet of paper, which had red ink on it. Sasuke was panicking inside of himself, but he remained calm and cold on the outside. He then began to read the letter out loud, so that Neji could hear him.

"To the Leader of Konohagakure,

We want only one thing, and one thing only, and we know that he's returned to that despot village of yours, and that one thing that we really want, is Uchiha Sasuke. We have something of his that he will want back.

And that something is a pink haired girl named Sakura. If you so comply with our demands, the woman will be brought back to you unharmed, deceiving us though will make the girl wish she wasn't alive right now.

So therefore, your only option is to give us Sasuke. We will be waiting for Sasuke in the Land of Winds, in the place that the Sand Ninja call the Dunes of Despair. Sasuke must also come alone, if he wants to see his precious Sakura again. Failure again to comply with these demands…will result in the girl's death as well as your Village will be next.

Signed

K…"

Sasuke's blood was boiling inside as he finished the letter, no he wasn't upset and panicking now, now he was livid with rage. Someone, somehow had managed to kidnap his Cherry Blossom, His! Right from underneath Naruto's nose and that of what, over 10 ANBU squads, who should have been doing their jobs?

"Sasuke-San…" Spoke Hinata, as all three Hyuugas, Naruto and now even the ANBU guards with Naruto were watching his emotions conflict inside of his eyes as he stared at the ground. Naruto was about to say something else, but Sasuke spoke up.

"I'm going after her…no one's going to stop me either." Sasuke said this growling, the man started stalking off towards his apartment that he shared with Sakura. But was immediately stopped, when he heard Neji speaking, and then suddenly heard a gasp of pain coming from Tenten after Neji spoke.

"I will come with you then Sasuke; she is a close friend of mine, as she is Hinata-sama's and Tenten's…." Neji was cut off when he felt Tenten's hand clenching his all of a sudden and tightly. Neji turned towards Tenten and saw she was in a lot of pain.

"Tenten, what is it?" said Neji, trying to remain his calm aloof self in a moment like this.

"Um, Neji, I don't think you'll be going anywhere, anytime soon…it's time…that time!" said Tenten as she tried to bite back a sob of pain. Neji's eyes looked ready to pop out of their sockets as he realized what she meant by 'the time'. Hinata was also shocked and worried for her cousin-in-law.

Naruto looked ready to rip all of his hair out of his head, and he tried to keep himself from panicking, by saying, "Alright, alright, no panicking here, Neji get her to the hospital as quick as you can, Hinata go with them and tell Miyu-Chan what's going on. Sasuke you come with me, I want to talk to you."

"Hai!" spoke the two Hyuugas as Neji carefully picked up his wife, bridal style and began running towards the Ninja hospital, followed closely by Naruto's fiancée, as fast as they could. Sasuke just replied with an 'Hn' and began following Naruto quietly, his hands clenching inside of his pockets. If Sakura managed to survive this kidnapping, Sasuke would end up being like Neji probably, when it came to Sakura's time.

And he was being optimistic; he knew he would get his beautiful girl back, deep inside that darkened heart of his. Whoever this K person was, he was going to kill them for taking his woman from a supposedly heavily guarded Village like Konohagakure. Naruto didn't say much as they walked to the office.


It took about 15 minutes but they managed to make it there. Naruto was grumbling slightly as he entered his office, and waved off his ANBU guards who immediately took their positions outside the door. Sasuke looked down at the ground as he stood in front of the desk of his best friend.

"Sasuke…" grunted Naruto as he plopped down in his seat, "You can't go rushing off like that, you could get killed, and I don't care that you have a lot of skill that can get you out of a situation like this."

Sasuke wanted to grab Naruto by the scruff of his robe and kick his ass, but knew that would get him locked up in the nearest jail cell or worse, killed. He tried to remain calm, and spoke with clenched teeth,

"Naruto…I have to go after her, I can't just allow someone to take someone as precious to me as she is as you are also. If you were in my position, you'd probably go Kyuubi on whoever took Sakura, right?"

"That's not the point Sasuke, damn it, stop being stubborn…what if you go and find Sakura finally? What are you going to do? For all we know the kidnappers are even more powerful then you for fuck sakes!" Shouted Naruto, he was trying to be the smart one here apparently.

"Fine, you can call me a missing Nin, I'm going after her, she's carrying the future of my fallen Clan inside of her, and I will not let her fall into someone's hands, because they have a sick and twisted fucking mind! It took me fucking this long to finally actually start having feelings for those around me, Dobe!" Sasuke shouted back at Naruto. His eyes began to turn crimson, as his Sharingan suddenly snapped on.

Sasuke turned and began to walk towards the office door, and was about to touch the doorknob, when Naruto suddenly appeared behind him pointing a Kunai knife at his throat, and heard his deadly voice, that was half a growl and half a hiss,

"If you leave this village again Teme, I will kill you right now…I'm not fucking kidding, now listen to me…I have come up with a plan to get Sakura-Chan back, your not the only one that loves her Teme, I do as well, she's like a big sister to me! I'm hurting too! You think you're the only fucker here that actually cares about Sakura? Tenten, Hinata, Neji, everyone that knows her cares!"

Sasuke was shocked at Naruto's words, Sakura was family to him? Just as Sasuke was? Sasuke had always treated Naruto, like the little brother he should have had, instead of having Itachi as a brother. Sasuke's eyes returned to their midnight sky color as he began calm down. He would listen to Naruto's words and plan.

"Hmph…your family to me as well Naruto…I've always thought of you like a brother…" Sasuke admitingly said out loud, "So what's your plan? I can't exactly ask Neji right now to go with me, Tenten's about to have his kids, and its too dangerous to ask the girls either, this is going to be a very deadly sort of mission for them."

Naruto gave his best friend a fox like grin and then had a serious look; he was touched by Sasuke's words. He then pulled the kunai away from Sasuke's throat and hid it inside of his robes, heading towards his desk once again; the Blonde jinchuuriki began to contemplate things.

"Is there a way you can hold on and wait for Neji to be back to duty? I will have him and Kiba join you in your search, as for who else I can spare, I will send Ino and probably her Team to back you guys up, I know you and Shikamaru don't always see eye to eye with each other, but they are the only ones I can think of right now." Said Naruto after 4 minutes of silence passed on of contemplation.

"Fine…I'll take Neji and Kiba with me, but why Ino's team? Oh…wait…that's right she's a medic ninja right?" said Sasuke as he gave his best friend a quizzical look.

"Yeah, she was one of only few that Tsunade-Baa-chan taught Medical ninjutsu to, as well as my fiancée and Tenten before Tsunade-Baa-Chan died…" said Naruto remorsefully.

Sasuke would have to tell Naruto one of these days, why the Godaime had died exactly, what had been the cause of her death. But right now, he had his precious fiancée to save, and he would not fail at this.

"Sasuke…you are hereby ordered along with your team, to head to the Dunes of Despair near Sunagakure, as soon as Neji is ready, you will do your best to bring back Sakura to Konoha, I will send a message to Gaara to inform that you guys will be travelling in his lands, perhaps he can offer back up until Ino's team arrives." Commanded Naruto.

"Hai…Hokage-sama…" said Sasuke, getting full well the mission objectives that he had to succeed at. "I will gather Kiba and Neji as soon as they are ready then…" Sasuke then bowed his head quickly and walked out of the office, pausing to hear Naruto say his Good luck to him.


Sakura groaned in slight pain as she finally came to, her eyes drifting slowly open as she tried to adjust to the darkness that she suddenly saw, then she realized something, she had been blindfolded and her hands were tied at the wrists. She tried to move but it was hard when one could not see where they were going.

Suddenly she heard a voice calling out, a familiar voice, and the voice of one of her kidnappers.

"So you're awake huh…about fucking time you did, stupid women…so fucking weak and fragile…"

"What's this about women being weak and fragile Suigetsu?" said an unfamiliar female voice to the other.

"Nothing…none of your business anyway…damning woman…" said the first voice.

Sakura called out, "Who are you guys? Please…just let me go, I have nothing of value, I'm just a simple woman." Suddenly Sakura's head rolled back and hit a rock wall behind her, as she had been slapped across the face, then felt someone's hand grip her hair tightly.

"Shut it…bitch, you're here for a very good reason, and that reason is so that I can keep you far, far away from Sasuke-Kins…you stupid whore…how dare you! How dare you try to steal my precious Sasuke-Kins away from me?!" said the female voice.

Sakura felt nausea well up in her stomach; they were after her beloved; these guys wanted Sasuke. But for what reason? This girl that had been talking and had slapped her, sounded like a fangirl, a very obsessed fangirl of her fiancée.

"By the sounds of your voice, something tells me, you knew Sasuke…and let me tell you, he's not your type. So get over it already, there's no way in hell Sasuke would ever fucking be with someone like you." Said Sakura, determinedly, trying to distract them by performing the Rope Escape jutsu by using a tiny, very tiny amount of chakra. It was hard to do this, while most of her chakra was being used up by the baby and such, and also without her kidnappers knowing, that she was trying to escape.

"You shut the hell up! You fucking whore…I'll kill you! Do you hear me! I'll fucking kill you!" shouted the woman, and Sakura would feel cold sharp metal being pressed against her throat, pressing enough that Sakura winced in pain as she had been cut slightly.

A voice then spoke up, and the cold metal of the kunai like blade's feeling disappeared, "Enough Karin…the way you are acting…this was not the bargain we made with you. You told me and Suigetsu that this woman would not come to harm, and you already cut her…"

"She's asking for it! Juugo! She's fucking asking for it!" Shouted the woman that Sakura had determined to be the one called Karin. "Let me go right now so I can kill her!"

"Juugo's right though Karin, you told us the woman wasn't to be harmed, and why the hell do you care what she says? She's messing with that head of yours, as if there's anything in your brain anyway." Said the man called Suigetsu.

Sakura then heard the splashing of water, as Karin shouted, "Baka yaro!" Sakura was splashed with a few droplets of whatever the hell the substance was that she had heard being splashed. Sakura wished she could see what was going on, the stupid blindfold was keeping her from seeing.

Sakura could hear footsteps and then silence, but she felt someone still was here in the room. Immediately she felt someone touch the cut on her throat, the fingers were gentle if not rough.

"Forgive the woman; she's just extremely obsessed with our former leader, ever since she met him." Said the voice, Sakura recognized it as the one who sounded kind, the one who had knocked her out and kidnapped her from Konoha.

Sakura whimpered softly and said, "Please…why did you kidnap me? I did nothing wrong, it's not my fault Sasuke chose me over her…I've known Sasuke since we were children. It's taken me so long since Orochimaru took him away from Konohagakure to get him back."

There was a pause that lasted what felt like an eternity before the man spoke again,

"I do not know exactly…but tell me something about you and Sasuke-San, were you that pink haired one that he had to fight 5 years ago? The one he said he hated the most. I sensed something always different around him whenever he was near you or that Blonde boy…"

"Yes, that was me, and my friend, Naruto. We had been trying so hard to get Sasuke back, it took us 3 years to be ready to try to bring him back, and we failed…we knew we failed when we had our final confrontation." Said Sakura softly, wishing she could see the person that she was talking to. The memories of the past also were coming back to her painfully.

"Oh!" She cried out suddenly, feeling a fluttering movement inside of her swollen stomach. It had been a similar small pain she had felt just before she had been kidnapped.

Juugo spoke up, "What is it?"

"It's nothing…really…just a small pain in my stomach…" said Sakura, for some reason she felt this one called Juugo could be trusted with her secret, "I don't know if you've figured it out, but…Karin's too late to make Sasuke hers because, well, I'm pregnant with his child…right now."

Juugo was furious at this confession. Now the truth was out, somehow Karin knew about Sakura being pregnant with Sasuke-San's child. Juugo suddenly got to his feet and spoke up.

"I will see what I can do about removing that blindfold soon, Sakura-San…I have a matter to deal with right now."

Sakura wanted to tell him to do it now, but she heard his footsteps and then silence once again. Sakura frowned; she didn't like this at all, the way he had left like that, after what she had just revealed. She was frightened more then ever now, what would they do to her now?

'Sasuke…please…please hurry and find me…' begged Sakura silently to the darkness that was the only thing she was able to see right now.


Sasuke had been patient for the next few days, pacing back and forth though in Sakura's apartment, as he tried to come up with a few ways to save his beloved Cherry blossom, with the help he was going to get from Neji and Kiba. Apparently news spread fast in the village, so fast, that it had reached even his own ears about the twins that Tenten had given birth to.

Apparently she had two boys, both healthy. Sasuke was going to congratulate the Hyuuga when he got the chance to. Sasuke's mood though was still pretty much dark right now, he was worried about the here and now; worried for the woman that was carrying his own child, the future of his fallen clan.

Suddenly his dark thoughts were interrupted by a loud knock on the door to Sakura's apartment. He wondered who it could be. Sasuke walked over to the door and opened it. Standing there was an older looking Kiba along with his dog Akamaru, a backpack on his back, and a slightly tired looking Neji Hyuuga with a backpack on his back as well.

Sasuke crossed his arms and said, "I assume you guys are here to help me in rescuing Sakura?" He already knew the answer but wanted to wait and see what they would say.

"Yeah, Naruto called me away from an important Inuzuka Clan thing, but that's fine with me, Sakura's life is more important really right now, then some dumb boring ritual." Said Kiba as he scratched his chin with a long finger nailed hand. Akamaru let out a bark saying he wanted to be helpful in the search.

Sasuke turned to Neji and raised an eyebrow at him and spoke, "Are you sure you should be going with me Neji? This mission is dangerous, and you have your children to think about right now."

"Tenten understands that this is important that we rescue Sakura, she is more forgiving person then some people are…" Said Neji simply, ending any debate that Sasuke might try to start with the Hyuuga Prodigy.

Sasuke chuckled and then said, "You guys can come in. I have to finish packing. I was waiting for you guys to come find me first before I decided to do anything." He then opened the door more and allowed the two of them, including Akamaru to come in while Sasuke went back into the apartment to gather what things he would need for the rescue.

He also changed his clothing, wearing a fishnet shirt underneath a black leather top and dark blue pants, he then grabbed his katana sword and placed it at his side, while grabbing his now stuffed backpack. Once he was done he walked out and eyed the two of them.

"Let's go…" mumbled Sasuke and started heading out the door, Kiba and Neji following him close behind. Once they were out, Sasuke locked the door and they headed off.

The only thing Sasuke was able to think about at this moment, was how the hell he was going to find Sakura and rescue her. He didn't exactly have a plan in his head at this moment.

'Sakura…hang on…alright…just hold on…I'll come for you soon…' Was his last thought, as him and his team took off out of the village.