Quake

Chapter Ten

-Rescue-

The girls were jolted awake when they made contact with the hard floor. Natsumi was shivering violently, and she couldn't figure out why. The door slammed and left the small girls in a dark room, with no light whatsoever. Satomi made her way, to the best of her ability, over to her sister to make sure she was okay. "Natsumi," she whispered.

"Satomi I'm freezing, what's happening? Why are we here? I don't understand." She babbled. The elder twin leaned against her sister, unable to hug her since she was tied up and had seals wrapped around her arms. She gasped and pulled away, speaking into the dark.

"You're soaking wet Natsumi!"

That explained it, the younger girl thought, shivering once more. And her teeth were beginning to chatter. How long had she been knocked out? And how much water had been splashed on her? She couldn't feel her sand anymore, and what was left was damp and unwilling to bend to her will. "Satomi…I'm scared." She whispered softly, beginning to cry once more.

"I know." Satomi said, looking around in the darkness for anything that could help them. "I am too."

Gaara glared out the gates of Konoha. What was taking Naruto so long?! His babies were out there in some psycho's grasp. His fists tightened and his glare shifted towards the village, now he hated the place even more.

Sakura placed her hand on his arm, trying to give him comfort. "Gaara it will be okay, we will find them."

Suddenly Naruto appeared, along with Neji, Tenten, and Sasuke. Gaara looked at the Uchiha, confused. What was he doing here?

"Okay let's go. Neji, activate your byakugan and see if you can find where the twins are located. Sasuke, activate your sharingan and keep an eye out for traps." Naruto said, completely serious.

Ah, so that was why. It made sense, but the redhead couldn't help but wonder if Sasuke had come of his own volition, or if Naruto had made him. The blonde Hokage sent them all off then, needing to stay behind in case the village was attacked.

They traveled in silence, until Sakura looked at Gaara from the corner of her eye. "Can you sense Natsumi's sand?" she asked, needing some kind of confirmation that they were going in the right direction.

His angry glare focused on her, though he did not intend it to seem so hateful. "Of course I can, it's extremely faint but I can feel the particles. What, did you think I was leading us in some random direction?" he sped ahead then, giving her no room for a reply. He was so angry right now he couldn't even comprehend the fact that he had just said that to her. It wasn't her he was upset with, it was himself. He had left his two angels alone and now they were gone. But anyone who would confront him would feel the same wrath. He needed to be focused on the only objective that mattered at the moment.

Sakura gazed ahead, trying not to be hurt by his words. She knew he was just as upset about this as she was. She had left her babies for selfish reasons, and now they were paying the price. After a few more minutes of traveling, Neji spoke up.

"We're close. There's a cave about five miles west of here that shows signs of having occupants."

Satomi was breathing harshly, it was at least the seventh time she had tried to free herself from her restraints. Natsumi was lying on the floor now, still soaking wet. They had come in every ten minutes with a bucket of water, making sure the young girl never became dry.

Once more it was that ten minute interval. The doorway slid open and a dark silhouette came in, his hands full with a familiar bucket. Hard jade eyes focused on the man. She would not allow her sister to be harmed anymore by these rogues. Natsumi was slowly getting sick from the damp cell they were in and the constant soak. Just as the man stopped next to the half-conscious girl, Satomi lurched forward. She jumped up and wrapped her tied wrists around his throat, trying to strangle him.

He dropped the pale instantly and tried to get the girl off him, falling back and slamming Satomi into the cavern wall. She screamed out in pain, tightening her grip. She would not let him hurt her sister anymore. Slowly the seals on her arms began to tear and she could feel chakra surging throughout her body.

By now a couple other ninja ran in to help, but Satomi broke through her bonds and tightened her grip on her captive. There was a sickening crack and the shinobi fell to the floor with a lifeless thump.

The others ran at her, but in her angered state there was nothing they could do against her by themselves. When one tried to grab her, she threw them against the wall, causing the earth to shake. The other two were dead in a matter of seconds with the pounding they took. But now the rest of the men were coming in, too many for the small girl. She kept them away until a sharp pain stung through her head. She fell forward from the blow, but tried to steady herself. One of the larger men grabbed her by the shirt and threw her against the wall, ripping the material in the process. Natsumi stared, only half awake on the floor, at her sister as she fell lifelessly to the floor.

She felt hard arms pick her up and throw her over his shoulder. Someone grabbed Satomi as well, but the only thing Natsumi heard before everything went black was how they would get rid of her.

They sped up, and made it to the cave in less than ten minutes. Sasuke went forward and looked around for any signs of traps. "Clear." He said. Gaara shoved past him then, and walked straight into the cave.

Sakura followed shortly after, and went down a separate tunnel. There was nobody there, and it looked as if the group had left some time ago. She continued forward though, looking for a clue. That was when she stepped on a small piece of torn, pink cloth. She picked it up and gasped. It was a piece of her daughter's clothing.

"Gaara!" she screamed, not sure which part of the cave he was in.

A presence was by her instantly and she knew it was him. He looked over her shoulder and went wide eyed, taking the cloth from her. His features darkened and finally he tore his eyes from the cloth. He looked around the empty room and noticed something dark on the floor. Hesitantly, Gaara walked over and kneeled down to the ground, running his fingers through the dark liquid. When he pulled his fingers up the tips were covered in blood.

Sakura gasped and did her best not to break down crying. "Can you tell whose it is?" she asked, taking her place by his side. He smeared the blood between his fingers and then smelt it. Slowly he stood and wiped the substance on his pants.

"It's Satomi's."

His wife let out a choked sob, "My baby is hurt." She took a deep breath and glared at the wall. They would pay.

"Come on," he said, walking out of the room then and calling out for the others. "They haven't been gone long, it was still pretty fresh."

She nodded and followed him out, seeing that Neji and Sasuke were already heading out the door. Tenten ran up and placed a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder. "Don't worry Sakura. We will find them."

Once they were back outside, Gaara searched around the area and cursed, the amount of sand Natsumi had had on her was gone now. "Neji!" he glared over at the brunette, who simply nodded. He formed a hand sign and then his byakugan activated. His shock was evident to the group.

"This isn't good." He said, taking off into the trees then with Gaara right behind him.

"What is it?" the redhead demanded.

The Hyuuga pressed his lips together tightly, not wanting to say anything. He would soon find out. They had only been traveling for a while when Neji came to a halt and jumped to the ground. He shot over towards a grouping of trees and then stopped when he saw a clump of pink and red. "Satomi!" Gaara yelled, pushing through the thick brush. Kneeling beside her, he pulled her into his arms. Dried blood was matted in her hair and her arms were terribly bruised.

Sakura was beside him in an instant, her healing hands already on her daughter's head. "Satomi! Satomi! Wake up, its mommy, can you hear me?!" the medic started yelling, wanting a response of any sort.

Slowly, Satomi opened her eyes halfway. "Mommy? Daddy?" she asked, looking from her loving mother to her terrified father.

"Oh Satomi!" she gasped and wrapped her arms tightly around her baby. "Satomi are you okay? Is there anything else wrong?"

The young girl shook her head and then winced, "Natsumi!" she screamed, looking around in horror. "Daddy! You have to get Natsumi! They keep splashing water on her! She's sick! Really sick! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she began to sob. Gaara pulled her closer, trying to comfort her.

"Satomi, you didn't do anything wrong." He said softly.

"No! I couldn't save Natsumi!" she choked out, tears were now rolling down her pale cheeks.

Sasuke stepped forward and squatted down next to Gaara, making eye contact with the girl. "Satomi, it's extremely important that you tell us which way they went."

Her blurred gaze shifted to the Uchiha, and she pointed off towards the north-west. "I'm pretty sure they went that way. That was the last thing I saw."

"Are you sure?" his gaze hardened.

She nodded and looked back up to her dad. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect Natsumi daddy."

"You don't need to worry about being strong Satomi, I will always be there for you. I will get your sister back." He promised.

Tenten took a step forward and cleared her throat. "Um Gaara, Sakura…I can take Satomi back to Tsunade to make sure she's okay…you need to go get Natsumi."

Reluctantly Gaara nodded and picked Satomi up. Tenten held her arms out and took the girl from him, cradling her lovingly. "I'll make sure she stays safe."

"We know Tenten," Sakura smiled. She was at least glad she had one of her children back. Then the brunette woman was gone and off into the trees. Neji stared after her, a bit of worry on his face.

Sasuke started forward then, "Come on." Then in a flash he was gone as well, followed by the group. They were back on the trail, both sharingan and byakugan on the alert for anything that might give off where they were headed.

Minako hit the post with a wince. Every since she had arrived at the Hyuuga Estates she had been training. Training to become stronger, so that she could protect the people important to her.

A tear rolled down her cheek as she let out another blow. Now everyone would be mad at her. Her parents would be mad that she had left the village alone while they were at war. Her Uncle and Grandfather would be disappointed in her. Toshiro would hate her because she had lost his sisters, and Akito would hate her because Natsumi had gotten hurt and she couldn't do anything about it.

Her tears were free-flowing now, as she began a new set of hits, re-opening the wounds on her palms from earlier, covering the post in her blood. She would continue to train until her gentle fist was strong enough to bring down an opponent, no matter how much it hurt.

She continued to hit the post, pushing herself so hard that she had created new wounds on her hands that were bleeding as well. But she didn't care. It was nothing compared to whatever pain her friends were going through, she was sure. So wrapped up in her thoughts was she, that she didn't even notice the other presence that had joined her in the garden.

"Minako, I've been looking all over for you." Toshiro said, running up to the girl. He stopped when he saw her hands and then froze. Had he done that to her out of his rage? "Minako I'm so sorry." He was in front of her in an instant, holding her hands in his lightly. Suddenly she could feel the pain slowly easing. It took a bit longer than it would have taken his mother, but eventually the girl's hands were completely healed. "I'm really sorry…I didn't mean to, I promise." He said, looking down then.

"It doesn't matter. I deserve it anyways." She said, still crying. "You shouldn't be nice to me."

"What? Why?" he blinked. He apparently hadn't heard what had happened.

She looked into his confused eyes with her watery ones. "B-because I lost your sisters!" she wailed. Then she told him the whole story, the words running together a bit. She told him about her dad getting his parents back together, and about how she had taken the twins outside the village to see the butterflies. When she finished she sniffed.

"And now everyone is mad at me, because it's all my fault. All I wanted to do was make them feel better, and I got them stolen!" she cried, covering her face with her hands in shame.

His reaction came very slowly, and it was obvious he was trying to hold in all of his rage. "YOU WHAT?!" he glared, backing away room her. "Minako! I just told you what happened when I was outside the village, you know, where my brother was killed!" he was hyperventilating now, holding the area over his heart tightly. "Why would you take my sisters out there?!" he demanded, stepping close to her once more. He was trying so hard not to act out physically.

She began to bawl now, knowing that he would never be her friend again. "It wasn't even five minutes away! My daddy takes me there all the time! I-I thought we would be okay. B-but I didn't sense the bad men in time, and when I tried to stop them they threw me away!" she wailed, subconsciously touching the large bruise on her cheek.

"And it's all my fault they got stolen, because I wasn't strong enough to protect them!" she said, sinking to the ground in order to better wallow in her misery.

His glare fell away instantly when he saw the mark on her cheek. How had he missed it when he had come? Hesitantly he placed his hand on her cheek and began healing the bruise. "It's not your fault Minako," he said half-heartedly. As angry as he was with her, he knew that there was really nothing she could have done. They were grown men and she was just a little girl. "Please don't blame yourself. I know that my mom and dad will get them back."

Despite his unease with the idea, he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. He had remembered she said these made her feel better when she was trying to help him. She turned into his embrace and buried her head in his neck, continuing to cry. Tentatively, she wrapped her arms around him, returning the hug. She knew there wasn't anything she could do, but vowed never to be in a position where she was completely helpless ever again.

Eventually her sobs died down and she sighed. "I really am sorry Shiro-kun. I just can't seem to do anything right, ever since you guys got here." She said softly.

"It's okay," he told her, regardless of the situation he wanted to see her smile. He never liked when girls were sad, except his sisters, since they were always so happy, but that rarely happened. "My dad said something awful would happen when we came here. He says 'Suna shinobi just can't survive in Konoha. It's hazardous to our health.'" Toshiro smiled then, it was still pained but he was trying at least. "Besides…if you are going to feel sorry for anyone, you should feel sorry for the ninja who took my sisters. My dad is going to kill them all…in the most painful way he can think of I'm sure."

She looked up to him, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "My daddy says that Suna shinobi just don't know how to have fun. But I can see what your dad means…" she trailed off, looking away from him then. Turning back to him, blue eyes wide, she said, "But I don't think it's true. I have fun with you…and your sisters."

He shrugged, "It's okay. I understand, my mom says that we're sometimes way to serious for her. I guess we take after my dad that way."

She giggled then, stopping suddenly when she felt a familiar chakra enter the garden. She turned her head to the left and yelled, "Akito-kun! What are you doing here?"

Said Uchiha walked into the garden, a glare on his face as he saw his friends embracing on the ground. He was supposed to be the one Minako cried on. He was supposed to be the one she told all her problems to.

"My father told me to come here and keep you company while he went with your dad. What's going on anyways?" he asked, walking over to them. Minako and Toshiro exchanged a look, not sure if they should tell him or not. Toshiro decided to save Minako the stress of re-telling her story, not wanting her to cry again.

"Natsumi and Satomi got kidnapped." He said solemnly.

Akito's face contorted into one of shock. "What?! Natsumi's gone?!"

"Yeah." Minako said, looking at the ground, unable to meet her friend's gaze. Toshiro rubbed her back reassuringly.

"They were outside the village and some ninja came and attacked them." The redhead said, leaving the part about Minako having been at fault. "They sealed Satomi and I'm assuming that they're keeping Natsumi wet so she can't do anything."

Akito's fist clenched in anger. If Natsumi was hurt he didn't know how he would handle it. There really wasn't anything he could do, but he knew that if his dad had gone with them, the twins would definitely be found. So he sat down next to his friends and waited.