Chapter 10

Captured!!

Naruto woke up early at the first rays of the sun, he lifted his head wearily and uncurled his tails from around his body and stood up, to his dismay he had not managed to transform back to his human over the night. Naruto plodded over to the lake and drank deeply then went to sit up on the grass but on his way he spotted footprints in the mud. Naruto sniffed the footprints the smell belonged to neither sasuke nor sakura someone had come by the camp last night. Naruto followed the foot prints up to the bank a while before they ended abruptly, the person had obviously jumped into the tree hanging over the top. Unable to go further naruto turned around and went back to the camp. When naruto reached the camp he went over to sasuke and started licking his ear.

"Mmrr…" sasuke mumbled in his sleep and naruto kept on licking is ear. Suddenly sasuke became aware what was happening and sat bolt up right alarmed, but calmed down when he realized that is was only naruto and he had started pulling on his pant leg "what is it kitsune?"

Still naruto pulled on his pant leg till he got up, now naruto pushed him with his head in the direction of the footprints reluctantly sasuke let into being pushed.

"Naruto what is it..." sasuke trailed off when he saw the footprints alarm filled his voice "we need to go now! I'll wake sakura up and we'll go,"

'You have done well small one' the kyuubi commented

sasuke walked over where sakura slept last night, the sheets were pulled over her despite the hot weather and when sasuke shook her the cover fell of revealing twigs and leaves that filled her blanket sasuke gaped 'where was she?' seeing that sakura was not there naruto sprinted over and sniffed the area it smelled like the footprints earlier a small growled escaped Naruto's bared teeth, naruto noticed a note at the top of the pile and put a paw on it whining to try and make sasuke look at it.

"What have you got there," sasuke said picking up the note from under naruto's paw and read it aloud;

We have your friend if you want her

back alive you will leave our country

without the scroll and we shall return

her unharmed.

The note was splattered with blood and a bit crumpled; sasuke hoped it was not sakura's blood.

"what are we to do?" sasuke asked naruto coming down to his level. In response naruto growled loudly and took the note and ripped it up with his teeth and claws. "I thought so," sasuke said packing up their gear putting all sakura's gear in his pack then discarding her own pack to make it lighter. Sasuke scouted around and also found her blades and slung one over each of his shoulders. Then he and naruto left towards the village hidden in sound.

…

sakura slowly regained conscious and the first thing she realized was that her hands were above her head and they hurt like hell. Then she remembered where she was how she got there;

Sakura was sleeping when all of a sudden someone placed a hand over her mouth and pressing tight so she could not scream or alert sasuke or naruto. The assassin held a knife to her throat making her stop squirming and stay perfectly still, the assassin lifted her up keeping the knife to her throat and escorted her out of the small clearing along the lakes bank to a tall tree where he jumped onto large branch where a bag sat. Still keeping a hand over her mouth he opened the bag and got out a thick cloth and before sakura could react he tired so tightly over her mouth it hurt to try and move and was not possible to speak, then the sound ninja wrapped her hands in rope and tied it around the branch. The sound ninja after finishing his business of tying his captive up he got out a piece of paper sat at sakura's feet and started writing a note. 'So very unlucky for you' thought sakura, the ninja had not tied up her feet so sakura kicked out as far as she could and hit him straight in the nose causing him to recoil grasping his bleeding nose. Blood splattered all over the note he was writing but still he kept writing it with one hand, the other holding his bleeding nose.

"You're going to regret that," he said in a slick oily voice before he jumped off to other branched back in the direction of the camp. A little while later he came back and untied her from the tree branch and tied her hands and feet together. Sakura squirmed in the assassin's tough embrace nearly making him lose his balance on the branch. The ninja had now lost all patience with this girl and punched her in the temple knocking her unconscious.

Sakura looked at her surroundings, it was very dark, and it seemed to be a small cell made for keeping people in. sakura struggled in the shackles that held her to the wall but the more she moved the worse the pain got in her wrists. She looked up at the shackles that held her; they were rusted and looked very old 'I could break them easily' thought sakura and in one swift movement she kicked her legs up and twisted one of the shackles with her feet. It broke and fell with a clatter to the ground; sakura flinched at the sound hoping that no one would hear it. With her now free hand she crushed the remaining shackle in her fist it also fell to the ground with a clatter; this time someone heard it.

"Oi what was that!" came a voice from outside her cell. Sakura heard footsteps coming towards her and she hid next to the door out of the sight of the guard.

"Hello! Anyone alive in there?" said the rough voice from right outside the cell.

A key ground in the lock and the guard walked inside. Sakura kicked the guard in the back knocking him to the ground then hit him on the side of his head knocking him unconscious. Sakura poked her head outside the door making sure the coast was clear then closed the door behind her and walked outside down the hall up stairs to an open hall where many sound ninjas walked around. Quickly sakura whipped off her leaf village head band and shoved it in her pocket hoping the ninja would not recognize that she was from a rival village. She then walked up another level and another till she was at the top looking down a hallway with only on door at the end. Slowly she crept down the empty hallway to the door at the end and held an ear to the door; she heard nothing. Carefully she opened the door 'bingo! The scroll' she thought seeing the small scroll on the edge on the table with the leaf village sign seal on it. Quickly she grabbed the scroll and turned to leave but was met by two sound ninja walking though the door. When they noticed her their eyes flashed to the scroll then to her face and immediately went into attack mode but before they could make a move sakura had jumped out the open window onto the roof and kept leaping from roof to roof towards the exit. She made it to the exit and down she jumped on to the path and kept on running down the path with sound ninja right on her heals.

…

Sasuke and naruto, who was still in fox form, were walking down the path towards the village hidden in sound when suddenly from around a corner sakura came flying and ran straight into sasuke bowling him over. Quickly she got up and looked at the two she had run into and relief washed over her.

"Quickly we must get out of her, sound ninja are coming! I have the scroll now run!" she explained quickly and kept running. Sasuke looked at naruto who gave a 'yip' of pleasure at finding their friend and also started running with sakura. Sasuke shrugged and ran after them catching up quickly. He took off the swords from his back and handed them to sakura who gave a nod of thank-you and kept running at full pelt.

"We should get off the path yelled sasuke to sakura and naruto and as one they ran off to the left of the path. Sasuke and sakura leapt up to branches while naruto kept running under them all nine tails flying behind him.

…

After four days of running, hiding, fighting and not much rest all three were physically drained but they were glad when they got their bearings and found out that they were very close to their village. Tiredly the walked down the path too tired to try and stay hidden and were very sure that the sound ninjas would not follow them into the fire country.

"Were so close, I can smell ramen from here" said sakura perking the two up. Though naruto already could smell the ramen from here it was nice to here it from someone else. Naruto twitched up his ears as he thought he heard a rustle from behind but discarded it as an animal. When he again heard a snap of a twig behind them he turned around and found a sound ninja with a raised arm about to throw a kunai knife right at sasuke and he let out a low growl. Sasuke and sakura spun around just as he threw the kunai. As he did naruto leapt forward and took the kunai in the shoulder and thumped against sasuke from the shock. Luckily sasuke was thinking quickly and caught naruto in two arms. Before the ninja could throw another weapon sakura leapt forward and sliced his head off with her two blades. Then ran back to sasuke and naruto too see if they were alright.

"This is no ordinary kunai," sasuke said placing naruto on the ground and pulling out the kunai as naruto whimpered and shook uncontrollable. "This was poisoned"

"Oh my! We have to get to the academy," said sakura watching naruto shake and whimper from the poison running though his veins. Now filled with urgency sasuke picked up naruto in his arms and ran towards the village with sakura following closely behind. When they reached the village they could not wait to be submitted by the guards but ran straight though to the academy medical centre.

"Hurry we need the doctor!" sasuke urgently said to the nurse at the counter who immediately admitted them though to a doctor.

"He was hit with a poisoned kunai from the sound village," sasuke explained to the doctor looking at the dieing fox in his arms

"Maybe you should take him to the vets, I don't deal with animals," the doctor said eyeing the nine tails that protruded from the fox's tail bone.

"No he is a human but he's in a fox form, please you must have an antidote!" sakura explained to the doctor.

"Well yes but…" the doctor tried to say but being cut off

"Good then you'll fix him now before he dies," sasuke threatened looking the doctor in the eye.

"Fine bring him in here," said the doctor knowing better than to get on an uchiha's bad side and walking into a empty hospital like room and letting sasuke place the now blood soaked fox on the plastic sheet a nurse had put down. Then the doctor gave the nurse some orders and shooed sasuke and sakura out of the room while he looked over the wound.

Naruto had been in a daze of bright light and pain, but finally the luring sleep incased him and every thing went black.

'Be strong my little kitsune'

Oh my god, that took me forever to do! But that might be because I was reading another story from the fan fiction site (opps) but it's done. I figured something while I was writing these, mi stories started out just for fun about naruto and sasuke being together but now it turned in to an epic journey. Anyway I like to get a shout out to roboboy for all the great reviews!!!! Thanx

Luv ya!!

Jazzy