Well, since I'm going back to school tomorrow and therefore won't have much time to update, I thought now would be a good time to upload this, you know, as a kind of apology. It might not be very long, I haven't decided yet, but I hope you all enjoy it nonetheless.

LAST TIME: Orochimaru wants Sasuke to do whatever he tells him to. As persuasion he has brought in a Sakura doll. Sasuke has figured out that it's fake, but can he withstand the screaming for much longer? Sakura has secretly replaced Shikamaru. Is this a wise decision? Time to find out…

Romeo and Juliet – SasuSaku style

Chapter 25

Boys POV

Shikamaru sighed. Did this girl never give up?

"Ino, you troublesome woman, will you please stop nagging me now? It's been 9 fucking hours. I get the message, but it's too late to follow them now." He rubbed his temples.

Ever since he got back and decided he would let Sakura go with the rescue group instead, Ino has been nagging him. Not that Ino knows Sakura's alive. Shikamaru just told her that the mission was 'too troublesome' and he dropped out. It seemed she didn't approve. Now you're probably wondering how Ino knows that Sasuke has gone missing when his clone, Naruto's and Neji's are all still in Konoha, covering for them. The answer is simple. Kakashi told her. He told all the girls that the boys were gone. He told them why and he told them about the clones. He didn't tell them about Sakura being alive though. If he had, Shikamaru would probably have been dead from nagging by now.

"Look, Ino. I will tell you this one more time, so listen carefully. They don't need me. I was only going because of my high IQ, but Neji and Gaara are smart, they can take care of themselves. The smaller the group, the easier it will be for them to infiltrate Orochimaru's base. In other words I wasn't going to be much of an asset. I'd have been more troublesome than useful."

'Please let her drop it.' He thought, fully bored with the subject. To his relief, Ino sighed defeatedly.

"Fine, but wait till the other girls hear that you're still here!" She told him. Then she turned around and walked off huffily.

'Nice job Nara. Now she's angry with us. Get off your backside and run after her dammit!'

'Running is troublesome.'

'Why do you always have to be so lazy?!'

'Shut up Inner me. You're troublesome and you sound like Ino.'

'Well someone has to, cause Ino isn't here, thanks to you!'

Shikamaru stood up and went after Ino. There was no point arguing with his Inner. They both had an IQ of 200, they would be a while, and it was just too much effort to argue, even if it was in his head.

Girl's POV

Tenten ground her teeth and Hinata nervously backed away from her.

"Tenten-chan. Please…you have to admit, Shikamaru has a point. Besides, he's lazy…he wouldn't do much." The shy girl tried to calm her friend. It wasn't working.

"That's not the point! He obviously doesn't care about his cousin!"

Ino rubbed her forehead. Maybe telling Tenten hadn't been such a good idea. Hinata was also getting tired of this. She switched tactics. Hey, it's not only the boys who are geniuses, you don't get much smarter than Sakura and Hinata.

"Tenten-chan, are you saying that you think Neji, Naruto and Gaara can't handle this alone? Do you honestly think that Neji's too dumb to figure things out for himself?"

Ino gawked at Hinata.

'That was brilliant Hinata. You've got her!'

"Grr…" Tenten was fuming, but she calmed herself as best she could and smiled at Hinata. "I have every confidence in Neji, Naruto and Gaara. I just thought Shikamaru would care enough to go after his cousin."

Ino grinned. Yep, Hinata got Tenten good. The weapon's mistress never backed down from an argument in good grace like this, unless she knew she'd truly been beaten.

Shikamaru chose this moment in time to enter.

"Ino…I didn't mean to make you so angry, I thought it was for the good of the mission. I wouldn't really do anything, I thought it might make it easier for the group. I wanted to do what was best for Sasuke, and I think this is it."

Ino's grin softened to a smile. Whenever Shikamaru 'thought this was best', it usually was. She shook her head and glared playfully at him.

"It's okay Shikamaru-kun. I understand."

Sakura's POV

Okay, how did Shikamaru do this all the time? Just staring at the sky was driving her crazy! She wanted to get up and insist they go after Sasuke, not stop and rest. She took a deep breath.

'Okay THINK Sakura. You need to be well rested to help Sasuke, plus if you're too eager they'll figure you out. You aren't far away enough from Konoha, they can send you back without too much trouble.' She thought to herself rationally. Her Inner, on the other hand, was being anything but rational.

'Get up you great lazy idiots! We need to go save Sasu-kun! Who knows what they're doing to him! They could be sticking mind controlling parasites in his body, or worse! They could be putting parasites in his body and making him stab himself, or worse! They could be putting parasites in his body, making him stab himself and give Orochimaru a blowjob, or WORSE! They could be forcing him to watch Orochimaru pole-dance! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!' The screaming from inside her head was getting to Sakura, so she shoved her Inner in a steel box, inside a soundproof room. After, she relaxed.

'Much better. I'm NEVER letting her watch me play Resident Evil games again.' She thought to herself. Once Sakura had relaxed, sleep came to her easily, and she welcomed the rest it gave her from all the worry and sorrow…

Sasuke's POV

He ground his teeth. 11 hours. 11. Fucking. Hours. That's how long he had endured this. They had taken the Sakura doll away after the first half an hour, when they realised he knew it was a fake. What they were doing now was worse…much…much worse. They were dripping water on his forehead, an old torture method used many years ago. It could supposedly send a person insane after just a few hours. Sasuke was beginning to believe that. He didn't just have the dripping water though, oh no. Orochimaru had set up a slideshow of himself, where he laughed maniacally over and over again in a continuous loop. It was getting on the Uchiha's nerves. He shut his eyes and tried to block out the outside world. Maybe he could get some sleep. He had been trying for the past 6 hours, ever since he realised that they weren't going to stop torturing him until he gave in. That was something Sasuke wouldn't do. He was irritated, he was seriously pissed off, but a coward he was not. A little torture was not going to make him change his mind. He wouldn't let them get to him. His friends would be coming soon, Sakura would be safe and sound with Kakashi, (A.N. Yeah right lol) they would free him, he would personally kill Orochimaru and then they could all go home and get on with their lives. He kept thinking these optimistic thoughts and FINALLY, after 6 and a half hours, he fell asleep.

Dream World

Sasuke rubbed his eyes and stood up, freezing at the sight that met his eyes.

'K…Konoha?' He thought. How could that be? Wasn't he just in Orochimaru's hideout?

"Sasuke-kun?"

He turned slowly. That voice…could it be? His eyes widened as he saw his beloved wife.

"Sakura…" He whispered. Then louder. "SAKURA!" Running as fast as he could, he reached the pink-haired girl. He was terrified that she would vanish before he could talk to her…disappear in a cloud of smoke if he touched her.

"I…is it…really you?" She asked quietly, fear just as evident in her eyes as it was in his.

"Yeah." He swallowed.

She gingerly reached out and touched his arm, as though she too was scared he would disappear. Skin touched skin. She was as solid as he was. He wasted no time in pulling her into a hug. He didn't hug her hard though, afraid he would crush her, or hurt the baby.

"How is this possible?" She whispered into his ear.

"I don't know. Maybe Kami has taken pity on us and is giving us this one opportunity to catch up with each other before we meet again."

"Sasuke…are you hurt? What are they doing to you? Did you know I was pregnant? Naruto told me because I wanted to come on the mission to rescue you!" She gabbled all her questions quickly, struggling to get out everything she wanted to say before she woke up. Sasuke chuckled into her hair and tried to answer her in order.

"I'm not hurt. They're driving me insane with this drop of water on my forehead and a continuous slide of Orochimaru laughing, but that's about it. Yes I knew you were pregnant, Kakashi told me. Naruto told you huh? Well, as long as he persuaded you to stay…"

Sakura was silent. Sasuke wanted to slap his forehead.

"Sakura." He said warningly. "You did stay in the village didn't you?"

No answer.

"Sakura." He groaned.

"They don't know it's me!" She protested hotly. "I'm disguised as Shikamaru. I'll let them know when I get far away enough from Konoha that they can't send me back! I want to help you Sasu-kun, don't be mad…I only wanted to help." Sakura snuggled into his chest and hugged him tight.

He sighed. She knew how to get to him. Hugging her back, he told her it was okay.

"Just try to stay out of trouble and stay safe okay? Let them know it's you before you enter Orochimaru's lair. They'll protect you better then." The girl nodded into his chest. "So, the rescue team's already on its way? Shouldn't be long before I'm out of here then. When you get to my room, there are bars in front of the door, a heavy-duty lock and it's fire proof. Also, there are lasers everywhere in the room. Touch one and Orochimaru will know you're there."

Sakura nodded, drinking in everything he said.

"One more thing. I'm chained up pretty tight, you're going to need a key. The chains, wristbands and ankle bands are indestructible, or so I've been told."

Sakura nodded again and then rested her head on his shoulder. It felt good to hold him again, even if it was just a dream. She thanked Kami for this opportunity to speak with him before they went into battle. Sasuke lifted her chin and looked into her eyes for a few moments, before he gently kissed her on the lips. The world faded around them and gradually Sasuke disappeared too. Sakura was waking up, and so was her lover.

Sakura's POV

She stretched in the morning light, feeling much better after her dream with Sasuke. He had given her enough information to make a plan out of, seemingly, thin air, much like Shikamaru would do. She ate her breakfast silently, pretending to be thinking as she stared at the clouds. Seriously, how did he do it? It was hurting her neck! Once they started off again though, she proposed her ideas to the group.

"Right, this is troublesome, but I've been thinking about what we're going to do when we get there."

The guys nodded, signalling for 'Shikamaru' to continue.

"When we get there, security will be pretty tight. We'll knock out a few guards, take their clothes and ID and transform into them. That takes care of getting in. Then, Neji will use Byakuugan to locate Sasuke. If I'm correct, Orochimaru will most likely have him chained up and locked up as tightly as possible. If that's the case, Gaara will use his sand to find out what type of key is needed to unlock the door and the chains. Neji will use Byakuugan to find the keys, and Gaara will use his sand to bring them to us. Make sense so far?"

Everyone nodded. Sakura continued.

"Good. Now, Sasuke is fairly strong so Orochimaru probably has lasers everywhere in case he breaks free of the chains. Naruto, you will accompany me to the control room. I'll go in and turn off the alarms and the lasers. Your job is to play look out and take care of anyone who tries to interrupt me. If anyone tries to get in the room, you are to deal with them. I don't care how. Afterwards, we'll make a hole in the ceiling and hide them in there. Once everything is switched off and we have the keys, we go after Sasuke. We free him and then we all go after Orochimaru. Naruto, you will take care of Kabuto with the help of Gaara. Your rasengan is strong, so he shouldn't be able to regenerate. Just in case he does, Gaara will use his sand to squeeze the life out of him, while you perform another rasengan. Meanwhile, Neji will help Sasuke take on Orochimaru. I will switch between the battles where I see fit. Is everyone clear on the plan?"

The guys all nodded again. Sakura sighed. Hopefully, everything would work out.

"We'll need to dispatch as many Sound Nin as possible, using as little energy as possible. That way, we'll be fairly fresh when fighting Orochimaru and Kabuto and they can't call for as much back up. Should you see any Sound Nin, knock them out by gently hitting their pressure points, don't use chakra. Slit their throats with a kunai, making sure they're dead. Then hide them in the ceiling where no one will think to look, but make sure they're secure, we don't want dead ninja's falling on people and raising suspicions."

Once the plan had been fully established and Sakura had gone through it one more time to make sure everyone (-cough-Naruto-cough-) understood and knew what they were doing, they stopped for a break. They were about 5 miles away from Orochimaru's lair. Once they were refreshed, the group continued towards their destination, Gaara leading the way. They stopped at the edge of the forest, watching the patrols. Whenever a Sound Nin patrolled nearby, our heroes knocked them out, took their clothes and ID and killed them, before burying the bodies and giving the meat to animals. They repeated this process until everyone was dressed up and appropriately transformed. Then, one by one, they entered the building, as though they had finished their patrol. Once inside, they grouped together in a secluded room and Sakura gained their attention. She had just remembered Sasuke's instructions. Gazing at the other ninja's she grinned.

"I have a confession." She said. "There's a reason I took a girl Sound Nin's body rather than a boy's. I'm not Shikamaru. I'm Sakura. You can't tell me to go home, it's too late now. Told you I would come one way or another. Now." She held up a hand to stop the protests. "Let's get on with the plan. Neji?"

Neji scowled at her, but nodded and activated his Byakuugan. And so mission 'Infiltrate and rescue' had begun.

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Me: Ok, just a filler chapter. Mostly Sakura coming up with a plan and meeting with Sasuke. I guess you could say the fact they reached the lair and Sakura told them it was her and not Shikamaru is a bit of a plot development…

Sakura: Um, so I get to be me again?

Inner Me: Yeah, except you look like a Sound Nin.

Sakura: Hey! Watch it buddy!

Inner Me: You wanna make something of this?

Sakura: Yeah I…

Me: NO! No fighting! Save it for the Sound Nin, Orochimaru and Kabuto.

Inner Me: Humph. Wuss.

Sakura: -Glares at Inner Me, then smiles at readers- Review please!