Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 39

Once again, the Sasuke Retrieval Team were zooming through the forest, jumping from tree to tree. Kiba was at the front and Neji was at the back with Hinata.

Do you think Sasuke-kun will fight us? Sakura asked her teammate.

No way, Sakura-chan! Naruto replied. Teme wouldn't do that.

That guy from before... He said that Sasuke-kun went with them of his own free will. He wanted to leave. How do we bring him back?

We can convince him, Sakura-chan. I know it.

Sakura frowned. Naruto had an very optimistic view on the situation. Optimism was a great characteristic to have but the pinkette believed that wishful thinking sometimes took affect in very optimistic people.

How was he so sure that Sasuke would listen to them? He had been very angry lately, having gotten into many more arguements with Naruto and even some with Sakura herself. And after they made up, there was always this underlying tension within Team Seven - one which was not very obvious but still seemed to be constantly looming over them like a dark grey cloud on a gloomy day.

In a way, the cherry blossom felt a little responsible for what was going on with Sasuke. Tensions between them were high ever since that day in the Dobe's apartment, where the Uchiha boldly claimed that his teammate would bare his children.

While Sakura did reject Sasuke, she had a slight confession to make. Despite having changed since her academy days, she still seemed to have a fangirl heart. So, when Sasuke claimed that they would have children together, the Fangirl Sakura inside her put on her feather boa and high heels and began to strut through her mindscape.

She did not like Sasuke like that. Well... Maybe she did, she didn't know. But she knew that they were too young for that sort of thing.

Sakura sighed. Maybe I should've agreed, we could have avoided this.

"Chouji!" Ino exclaimed as Jirobo went into Curse Mark Stage One and sent her teammate flying across the clearing. The Akimichi had already used his green pill and was suffering the side affects, grabbing his stomache in pain.

"You next, blondey." The Sound Four member said. Ino looked on in horror as triangular arrows spread across Jirobo's body. He wore a devillish smirk on his face, picturing Ino's blood stained across the battlefield.

The Yamanaka formed two poisoned chakra blades and charged at Jirobo. However, before she could reach him, he stomped his foot on the ground and it shattered.

Ino jumped up to avoid it and quickly made a few hand signs.

"Wind Style: Fluorescent Wind!" Purple wind shot put towards Jirobo. He stood his ground and blocked the attack.

"Super Expansion Jutsu!" Chouji yelled, growing bigger. "Human Boulder!" He began to hurtle towards Jirobo who intended to dodge.

"Not so fast." Ino formed a hand sign. "Now you can't move." True enough, the Sound Four member was restricted from dodging the Human Boulder and was directly hit. Despite this, he quickly rebounded off the ground.

Maybe I can poison him if I get close enough. Ino proposed.

That's too dangerous, Ino-chan. Chouji replied. We need to finish this quickly. He took out his case of pills.

Chouji, no!

He didn't listen and swallowed the yellow pill.

God, just don't take the red pill. Ino told him as he charged at Jirobo.

"How much further are they?" Naruto asked Hinata. He was getting desperate, he thought they would catch up to them faster than this.

The female Hyuga activated her Byakugan. "One of them has stayed behind." She announced, seeing Kidomaru's form ahead of them.

"They're trying to stall us as much as possible." Shikamaru said.

"Uh!" Hinata noticed something. "Big spiders... All around us!"

"Spiders?!" Naruto exclaimed, his face turning purple. He absolutely hated spiders.

Hundreds of eight-legged bugs revealed themselves from within the trees. Kidomaru stood in front of the Sasuke Retrieval Team, smirking.

"The small ones aren't the ones you should be worried about." He laughed.

From up above the team, a large spider scaled down on a web. It shot out web fluid at the team, coating them and restricting them from moving.

However, Neji noticed the chakra laced within the webs and attacked with chakra in his own hands. Hinata followed soon after.

Sakura, noticing their methods, formed a chakra scalpal and began to cut away at the webs. Naruto-kun, use your chakra-infused kunai! The pinkette told her teammate. He listened and began to cut around the webs.

The spiders also began to attack but were relatively weak and easy kills. Kidomaru had a dissatisfied look on his face, not enjoying the slaughter of his precious pets.

"How far are the others?" Sakura asked Neji.

"Far." He replied with clenched teeth. "You all go ahead. I'll handle him."

"Are you sure?" Kiba questioned him.

"I- I'll stay and fight too." Hinata announced. "I have the Byakugan and... Neji-nii-san and I fight well together."

"Okay." Shikamaru agreed quickly, although he was worried. Four of their members were gone and they had no way of knowing how they were doing.

The Sasuke Retrieval Team continued on, with four members now running through the forest.

The fight with Ino and Chouji against Jirobo had come to an end. The Akimichi had been forced to use the red pill and was now slowly dying on the ground. The blonde was trying to get him to sit up against the tree before she noticed Jirobo moving.

"That piece of garbage should of finished the job..." He groaned, trying to stand. He felt pain all over his body. He didn't expect his opponent to use such a powerful jutsu. Due to his weakened state, his terrifying Curse Mark Stage Two form faded away.

"That's why I'm here." Jirobo heard before Ino cut him on his cheek.

"What's that going to do?" He had the nerve to smile cockily, as if he had won.

"What poison does." She spat at him, deactivating her poisoned chakra blade, before running back over to Chouji.

Jirobo tried to stand but his vision went blurry. The poison started to take affect and he would die slowly.

Ino thought about what to do. They were supposed to return to the Sasuke Retrieval Team but Chouji was dying. They were out of range for her telepathy so she couldn't inform them. She cursed before lifting Chouji, thanking God that he was light now, and ran back to Konoha.

Hinata and Neji swiftly dodged Kidomaru's barrage of arrows. He had transformed into his second stage. His skin was dark red and his hair turned grey. And, horrifyingly, he had a third eye on his forehead.

The Hyugas realised he was trying to attack them in their blind spots. As they dodged in mid air, Kidomaru appeared between them, ready to deliver a devistating blow.

"Hinata-sama!" Neji yelled. Said girl knew exactly which move to use.

"Eight Triagrams: Rotation!" They yelled, blue aura surrounding their bodies as they rapidly turned. Their enemy was caught in the middle of the attacks and was pushed upwards. After recovering, he once again retreated to the safety of the trees.

He was going to exploit their blind spot. He had heard that Hyugas were smart, they just weren't smarter than him.

"It seems as though they're going to keep leaving one person behind to stall us." Sakura said, and the other members of the group (Naruto, Shikamaru and Kiba) nodded. "But there's only two left."

"So two of us should stay behind in the next fight, and the other two should continue to pursue Sasuke and the fourth enemy." Shikamaru replied.

"There's one up ahead." Kiba announced, sniffing around. Akamaru barked.

The team stopped near a cliff with a small waterfall. Sakon stood there, looking almost bored.

"You fuckers are annoying." He said. "Now you'll die by the hand of the strongest member of the Sound Four!"

"Cocky bastard..." The Inuzuka muttered under his breath. "Akamaru and I'll take him on."

"By yourselves?" Naruto questioned.

"Yeah, we don't need any help because the two of us are a great team. And you three need to complete the mission."

The other three shared uneasy looks but decided to trust that their friend would be okay. They left the area.

"Akamaru, you ready?" He asked his companion, eating a food pill.

The white dog barked before eating the pill thrown at him.

Sakura always hated it in the stories where the main characters were so close to their goals before it was ripped away from them. She never realised the truth to it until it happened to her.

Earlier, she was standing right next to the barrel containing Sasuke. Shikamaru hatched an amazing plan to take it back from Tayuya and she was so happy that they recovered it. However, a new man attacked her, taking the barrel, berating Tayuya for taking so long and ran off.

This man was stealthy, having snuck up on her so easily when she didn't have a single clue of his presence. He was fast as well, leaving the area and already putting so much distance between them.

Shikamaru told Naruto and Sakura to run ahead and get Sasuke, leaving him to fend off the final member of the Sound Four.

So, she and Naruto were once again running through the forest, hoping to catch up to Sasuke and the new man.

Neji stood above Kidomaru's corpse. He was stained with blood but he wasn't concerned by it. His only concern was Hinata, who was badly wounded. She had protected him from a fatal attack and was slumped on the ground - he hoped she was alive.

Neji saw it in slow motion and began to curse himself and his blind spot. In pure rage, he unleashed a fury of attacks on their enemy, killing him.

Hinata's chakra was fading completely but he'd be damned before he let her die. So, he gathered her in his arms and ran back to Konoha. He needed to save her, just as she had saved him.

When Kimimaro stopped running, he knew it was because it was nearing the time for Sasuke to emerge from the sealed barrel. Sakura and Naruto jumped into the clearing, prepared to fight for their friend.

"Give Sasuke back!" Naruto shouted, his eyes red with Kurama's chakra. The fox grinned in his cage, satisfied that his host's emotions was running wild.

Naruto-kun, you need to stay calm. Sakura warned him, and he clenched his fists but his eyes reverted back to blue.

"He's not mine to return." Kimimaro replied. "His duty is towards Orochimaru, as his next vessel."

"Vessel?" Sakura asked.

"Orochimaru's next body."

His next body? He's going to take Sasuke-kun's body? She thought fearfully. What is he going to do with his body?

Before either side could continue talking, or even attack, the barrel exploded. Once the smoke cleared, Sasuke stood with his back turned to his teammates.

"Sasuke-kun!"

"Sasuke!"

Both Naruto and Sakura yelled for their teammate, but their cries fell upon deaf ears. He ignored them and fled the scene.

The blonde ran forward, attenpting to follow their teammate but Kimimaro got in his way, attempting to pierce him with one of his bones. The pinkette formed a chakra scalpal and sliced it down.

"Go after him!" She yelled to the Dobe who nodded and ran after the Uchiha. "I'm your opponent." She said to Kekkei Genkai user.

"Then you shall die here today." He slammed his hands onto the ground and they erupted with spiky bones. They came towards Sakura, who jumped backwards to avoid them. The bones continued to follow her despite her efforts so she slammed her chakra-infused fist into the ground and it stopped the barrage of bones from coming any further.

All of a sudden, Kimimaro came at her from above with urge to kill. She quickly formed some hand signs.

Wind Style: Deep Breath Jutsu! A large gust of wind exited her lungs, hitting her enemy head on. When he flew into the air, the cherry blossom formed two shadow clones and they used three different techniques.

Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!

Water Style: Water Dolphin Bullet!

Wind Style: Deep Breath Jutsu!

The three nature elements combined with each other and exploded Kimimaro into thousands of bone shards. Upon realising he was a substitution, the Team Seven Kunoichi sensed for his chakra.

She felt his signature underground but he jumped up, screaming as he lunged for her with a spiral bone weapon on his hand and a bone plate around his chest for defense.

He was first - extremely fast. It terrified her but she had to act quickly too. She surrounded her body with lightning - hoping that his unique Kekkei Genkai was based on Earth Chakra - and infused lightning chakra into her fist and feet.

She charged at him and attempted to avoid the weapon. However, she was unsuccessful and it grazed her stomache.

Painfully, she grunted but continued her attack. Her fist connected with his protected chest but instantly shattered it. "Shannaro!" She screamed, sending him flying to the other side of the clearing. He skidded across the ground but rebounded onto his feet. Despite her attack, he was still standing as if she hadn't even attacked him.

She prepared for another attack though and his entire body convulsed with her lightning chakra, forcing him to his knees unexpectedly. The delayed attack she set up gave her an opening.

Fire Style: Scorching Flames Jutsu! Two streams of fire bursted from her hands, blue fire shot out towards Orochimaru's minion. But, from the ground, a bone shield appeared and protected him, although it cracked from the extreme heat but he left the area to avoid being hit.

I've taken up a large chunk of my chakra. Sakura said to Kokuo.

"You still have some left and, of course, you have mine." The Gobi replied.

This guy... He can withstand anything though. It looks like he doesn't even have a scratch on him.

"I will not underestimate you again." Kimimaro said to her, condemning himself for being so reckless in battle.

"Why are you working for Orochimaru?" Sakura felt compelled to ask. "Do you agree with what he is doing?"

"Orochimaru has given me purpose in life." The Bone-User told her. "It was my destiny to serve him as he was the one who found me when the Kaguya clan was slaughtered. Of course, they were slaughtered because the savages declared war on Kirigakure, while obviously being inferior - much like how you challenge me."

"He took you with him so he could use you." The pinkette replied, ignoring his ridiculous remark about her being inferior. "He wanted you to feel like you owed him, so that he could use you like a ninja tool."

Her thoughts drifted back to Haku and how Zabuza thought of him like a tool at first until his death, where Haku was already dead and couldn't hear how much Zabuza actually cared for him. There were too many people in this world that treated people like tools and it was making her sick.

"I know. But that was my purpose in life, just as my purpose was to deliver his next vessel rather than be it." He said the ending distastefully, as if he actually wanted to be Orochimaru's next vessel.

"Your purpose isn't to serve. Other people don't give you a purpose in life. You are supposed to take control of your own life."

"What would you understand?" He said as black lines spread across his body. "You're going to die here if you interfere with Orochimaru's plans."

"The curse mark..." Sakura said, remebering Sasuke's.

So, Orochimaru gave it to this guy as well. I need some chakra, Kokuo-chan. This battle's going to be tough.

Her eyelids turned red and her pupils turned blue as steam came off her body. She felt her skin was boiling but it didn't hurt her, she loved the feeling.

"It seems as though you possess other abilities also." Kimimaro said, noting down the changes. "I am never particularly excited for matches but I may find joy in killing someone like you."

"Just try it." Sakura and Kokuo replied. The pinkette formed two red chakra scalpals and the two clashed against one another, the Kaguya using two thin bone swords.

He was fast enough to dodge her swipes and to catch her off guard by cutting her on her shoulder. She flinched at the pain and needed to retreat.

"Sakura!" Kokuo yelled, encasing Sakura's body with red chakra in the Blank Space. On the outside, the cherry blossom's body erupted in red chakra and the wind picked up. She roared and Kimimaro was pushed back.

From his fingertips, he sprayed small pieces of bones at her. With lightning fast speed, she dodged them and appeared behind him - her fist connecting into his back. He flipped forwards, turned around and then a spike came out of the ground where Sakura stood but she jumped to avoid it.

Kimimaro sprayed more little bone bits at her but she formed a clone, who pulled her out of the way in mid-air. The two Sakuras formed the same hand signs, throwing many weighted boulders at their enemy. He dodged all of them as Sakura felt her body begin to hurt.

Kokuo-chan, why is the chakra starting to hurt?

"I'm trying, Sakura. Dodge!" The beast screamed as Kimimaro came at the pinkette with the same spiral bone weapon from before.

Sakura transferred chakra to her fist, hoping she was reacting in time. Fortunately, somebody else showed up to the battlefield.

"Leaf Hurricane!" Lee yelled, knocking the man who tried to kill his beautiful blossom away.

"Lee-san!" Sakura exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Your leg-"

"My leg has healed. Thank you for your concern, Sakura-san!" He gave her a thumbs up.

"Another one..." Kiminaro whispered to himself. "So many people are against Orochimaru's will."

"Lee-san, this guy is on a whole other level. I don't think you can beat him with just taijutsu." She almost winced at her own words. She didn't want to sound rude, she was grateful towards Lee. But this was a serious battle.

"Sakura-san..." Lee began. "I promised you in the Forest of Death that I would protect you to the day I die. Even if you don't love me, I will honour that promise."

"Lee-san..."

"Go! Bring Sasuke-san back. Be with your team." He smiled at her, his teeth flashing.

"...You better not die, Lee-san. You have a promose to protect me to keep." With one last fearful look towards Kimimaro and a worried glance sent to Lee, Sakura left the clearing, intending on heading towards Naruto and Sasuke.