First off, let me say: I know. The world is going crazy, and everyone's at home waiting to catch up! I actually was super busy, working a lot and even getting promoted. So I've had this like 90% done for a while and I'm just getting around to finishing it. Good news is I also worked ahead on other chapters, so hopefully the next chapter won't take lone at all! Thank you all for being patient with me!

Plz R&R and no flames thanks

This part of the story will be switching between Ino and Sasuke POV

Ino was enjoying a drink at the bar when she saw it happen. The tall surfer-tee guy had noticed her and she was trying to coax him over with her eyes. Knowing that Sakura was hurting, she didn't give him too much attention. Most of the time those blue eyes were on the dance floor. It was her job tonight to ensure Sakura could let loose and have a good time. That didn't mean Ino couldn't enjoy herself though. She could still be on the lookout with a small buzz. That was, until she saw someone attack her friend.

He simply walked up behind her like he was going to dance with her. There was nothing fishy with that, he had to be the fourth guy to come dance with Sakura. So Ino didn't think it was a big deal. She didn't realize that the reason this sauve guy with slicked back hair looked familiar to her and she felt she knew him from somewhere was because she'd seen him on the news. His mugshot; wanted as a criminal. The dots didn't connect until he grabbed Sakura and put a cloth to her mouth. That suave face suddenly turned devious with a sneer.

Ino spit her drink out.

Ino froze. Sakura flopped like a wet noodle so quickly, and Hidan easily held her to his side and carried her off the dance floor. Nobody noticed, he played it off perfectly like she was too drunk to walk. One arm looped around her waist and her head positioned on his shoulder, they looked more like a couple than a kidnapping. He took the unconscious Sakura towards the back where two men were waiting, most likely his thugs.

Ino's mind went into hyper-drive. Hidan, and other members of the Akatsuki, were impossible to miss. If only somebody was paying attention, they'd realize what was happening. Her yell didn't make it over the music, and the dancers kept dancing. The Akatsuki gang were on the news constantly, yet they slipped right past. They were too lost in their own worlds of drugs and booze. Hidan knew how to blend in, even in his expensive slacks. The bartender was all the way across the other end of the bar. She leaned over the counter, practically crawling on top of it, trying to get someone's attention. Nothing.

She wouldn't know what to do even if she was sober, but the alcohol haze was slowing her mind and body. Damn. She'd had more to drink than she meant to. Slamming a wade of money on the counter (the bartender was gonna get a fat tip tonight), she stumbled to the closest door. The men had gone out the back door, so she'd go out the front so they didn't see her.

Ino caught sight of the men once she was exposed to the chilly air, rounding the building towards the back. She hid behind the dumpster, listening intently while plugging her nose from the stench. Heels were so hard to crouch in! Hidan, who'd looked handsome and sophisticated at first, became evil in her eyes. His smile was sinister, and his dead eyes reminded her of a shark.

"Make sure the police scanner is on; I don't want any issues tonight. Do I make myself clear? Chances are someone saw us and called the cops; the scanner will let us know what route they're on." Hidan ordered. Ino's heart thumped in her ears. 'What do I do? Oh my god, what do I do? There's no way I can win in a fight against them, and if I call the police they won't arrive until it's too late.' One of the thugs nodded, taking Sakura from Hidan. The other bald headed thug opened the door of a Rolls-Royce and set her friend in the back seat. They didn't bother to fix Sakura's skirt, which had rode up her legs. The guys snickered, slamming the door. 'Disrespectful assholes.' Hidan crawled into the back from the other side while the two thugs got in front. She didn't like the malice on any of those pervert's faces.

Ino choked back a cry when she heard the engine revved to life and dread filled her; they were leaving. Once they got down the street nobody would know where they went, and the news made it clear that the police had no clue where the gang's hideout was. There was a reason Hidan was still strutting around the city like he owned the place. Once that car rounded the corner, Sakura would be gone forever.

A moment of clarity struck her. 'I have to follow them. If I don't, then Sakura…' She shook her head; don't go there yet. There was still hope. She ran back to her car as fast as she could; it was hard in heels and alcohol in her system. The heels were kicked off in desperation and left on the side of the rode. By the time she got in and closed the door, the Rolls-Royce was already turning onto the street.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…" She mumbled, hurrying to back her car up and get out of the lot. She jerk-stopped before turning. Even though Sakura's abduction had hit her cold and sobered her a bit, her eyes were still kind of blurry. One too many shots running through her blood. Sakura and her planned on getting an uber tonight, crashing at Sakura's, then Sakura was going to drive Ino to her car in the morning. She blinked, taking deep breaths. "You can do this, you can do this…" She started chanting, then drove.

Ino knew better than to follow right behind them otherwise they'd immediately know she was tailing them. She was either great at tailing cars or really terrible, because several times she followed too far behind.

"Shit. Where'd they go? Shit!" Ino had lost them. Her chest heaved, fear of failure crushing her. By chance she took a right turn, heading outside of the city, and spotted the shiny car and blacked-out license plate. She bit back a sigh of relief; they weren't out of the woods yet. Sakura was still in the hands of some insane mobster and possible cult leader. Continuing her deep breaths, she paid extra attention to the street signs and path they were taking. The black rolls-royce in front of her pulled off on Congrove Road, a street far out in the boonies. Ino only pulled up to the street sign once she could see their car was past the trees, then followed right. The headlights on the rolls-royce flashed. The area was thick with trees, but she could make out the start of a hidden driveway before the car disappeared. Hitting the brakes, she stopped dead in the street, then pulled off on the side using the trees to her advantage and camouflage her car. Her hands gripped the steering wheel now. She tailed them, but hadn't thought past it. 'What now? There's probably a militia waiting inside.'

She pulled her cell out to call the police, but recalled what Hidan had said.

'Make sure the police scanner is on; I don't want any issues tonight, do I make myself clear?'

"Fuck!" She yelled, then slapped her hand across their mouth. As if they could hear her a mile down the road in her car. They frightened her so much. What could she do? If she called the police, they would know. All she'd do is give those goons a heads up that the cavalry were coming. They'd have plenty of time to escape with Sakura. But the police wouldn't come at all if she couldn't tell them, and she doubted anyone at the club was sober enough to see what happened. 'I can't call, but I can go to the police station and tell them...if I remember my way back.'

To the station it was. Hopefully they wouldn't smell the booze on her and arrest her on sight.

The front door to the police station slammed open,and a barefoot Ino running in. Her hair was disheveled and she was wobbling, but determination burned in her eyes. Sasuke, who had come up to the front desk to grab some extra pens, gaped at her. Ino halted, her eyes widening when she noticed him.

"Ino? What the hell?-"

"You!" She yelled, pointing at him. "I don't have time for you! I need to speak to captain Hatake now!"

Sasuke was still in shock, but he didn't like the tone she used with him. He glared and folded his arms across his chest.

"He's not here. What the hell is going on?"

"Get him on the phone!" She screamed, sobbing. "Sakura's been taken by that monster!"

Sasuke's heart dropped. 'No.' "Get Kakashi on the phone!" He yelled behind him, rushing through the door he'd come through. He didn't have to ask more questions. He knew what happened once he saw that look on her face. He had a visceral reaction to it; skin prickling at her words. In a split second, he was pushing the panic down. There was no time for that.

Ino ran after him, ignoring the receptionists' protests. A group of police officers that'd been conversing at their desks stopped cold at his shout. "On it!" The brown haired one yelled. Ino followed behind Sasuke, but he turned around and held a hand up to halt her.

"Stay here!"

"No! I want to-"

"Stay. Here." He growled. " We'll handle this." Officers started scurrying around them. The officer Sasuke barked orders at earlier darted up to them. "I've updated Kakashi, he's coming in and will be here soon!"

"Good! Take care of her." Sasuke commanded, pointing at Ino. Then went into a secure room. The brown haired officer froze awkwardly, then turned to her and led her to a chair.

"Here you go ma'am. Do you want anything?" He asked.

"I want my best friend back." Ino fully broke down, crumpling into herself.

Kakashi Hatake stalked in five minutes later, and Sasuke and Kakashi walked her into his office.

"Okay, tell me what happened." He asked calmly, but urgently.

"I-it's all my fault; I dragged Sakura out to a club to make her feel better. She's been struggling; she even stopped going to work and she was in such a bad place." Ino noticed Sasuke flinch. 'Good, you should feel guilty for hurting her!' Her mind seethed, but she kept on track. Now was not the time for drama. "We were both drinking and having a good time. I'd left the dance floor to get another drink, and when I turned back around Hidan was grabbing her. Then he drugged her. Him and two other men dragged her out the back and left with her." She wailed, tears flowing again. 'I need to be strong!' "I wanted to call the police right away, but I overheard him say that they have a police scanner."

Sasuke cursed. "Bastards." Even Kakashi struggled to remain composed.

Kakashi tried to calm her down. His back was traight in his chair, his hands clasped, but his eyes were sad. "You shouldn't feel guilty Ino, I'm the one that pulled security off her. Thank you for coming to us. It might take a while, but as soon as we know where they are, we'll-"

"I know where they are!" Ino popped up.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed while Kakshi gave her a confused look. "You do?" Kakashi asked.

"I heard on the news that you didn't know where they're hideout was so I tailed them so I could report it to you."

"That was dangerous, what if they caught you?" Sasuke said, surprising her with his outburst. 'As if you'd care.' She scrunched her nose at him, but remembered the fear she'd felt just ten minutes before.

"But they didn't." She said quietly.

"Colemen!" Kakashi called. A uniform rushed in. He was shaky and nervous, but srious and ready for duty. "Call in swat, we're gonna need their help with this. Tell Captain Hawk to bring all of his men in."

"On it!" Colemen saluted and disappeared again. Kakshi turned back to her.

"Okay Ino, where are they?" He asked calmly.

Ino sat up on the edge of her seat. "In the outskirts of the city by the boonies. I remember the street it's on. It's…"

Ino paused.

Crap. What was that street again? She'd made sure to memorize it, but the haze hadn't fully faded yet and she was so tired.

"Come on Ino, you don't remember the street?" Sasuke pushed. He watched intently as she swayed in her seat and her eyes weren't fully focused. "Are you drunk?" He asked, bewildered.

"Yes!" She admitted, fuming. "I'm so plastered I barely wobbled in here without falling on my ass, so give me a minute!"

Sasuke groaned. Kakashi have him a stern look and asked Ino if she needed a drink of water. She didn't need a drink of water; she needed that street name. Her face scrunched in concentration. Then lit up. "Congrove!" She hopped in her seat. "Congrove road."

"What are they waiting for? We don't know what's gonna happen to Sakura!" Ino told Sasuke once she caught up to him. Minutes had gone by and no one had rushed out into their cop cars and chased down the bad guys. As angry as she was with Sasuke, she felt the most comfortable bugging him. She saw how he reacted and the well concealed fear in his eyes. Sasuke still cared about Sakura, which was even more frustrating with them breaking up, but Ino would prod about feelings and relationships later. Right now they were on a mission.

"People are coming in and getting briefed, then they have to put on their vests, configure a plan-" Sasuke started. Ino threw her hands up in the air, exasperated.

"But that'll take too long! Let me help-"

"You're lucky I don't charge you with a DUI and drag you into the drunk tank!" Sasuke paused, his fingers pushing into his temples in frustration. His eyes softened. "Look, I'm worried about Sakura too. Which is why we can't fuck it up. And you already put yourself in danger once, you don't need to do it twice."

Instead of his words making her feel better, it just pissed her off. She knew she was being irrational, but emotions were running high and she was still upset with how he'd hurt her best friend.

"Since when do you care? You broke up with her."

"I thought she'd be better off without me!" Sasuke stopped, realizing what he'd revealed. He frowned and got quiet. Looking away, he confessed. "What Naruto said was right; either way I was going to fuck up and hurt her. I thought it'd be better this way."

"She's miserable. Does that sound better to you?" Ino responded. Aggression left her as she begrudgingly sympathized. So the arrogant Sasuke did have insecurities. He was just better at hiding them. But shitty for making the mistake of hurting Sakura.

"She deserves better than me…and she'll get over me."

That's what Ino had thought when Sakura first told her, but she'd never seen Sakura hurt like this after a breakup. Never.

"She deserves to be with who she loves," Ino stated, catching his eye. "and that's you."

They glared at each other stubbornly. This was the weirdest heart to heart she'd ever had with anyone.

"You selfish prick. You didn't break up with her for her. You broke up with her because you're some man baby that can't handle your own feelings, so stop lying to yourself. Lazy ass." Ino called him out. He'd never admit it himself so she might as well do it for him and get past that thick skull.

Sasuke's anger and nose flared; she'd guessed right but he'd never admit it.

"Last chance. Go home Ino, before I cuff you." Sasuke all but growled as he warned her for one last time.

She walked to the door. Once she reached the front, she yelled, "stupid dick!" And ran out before he could come for her.

Sasuke POV:

What was that ringing noise in Sasuke's ears?

He'd been trying to get a hold of Sakura for the past couple days to let her know that he'd be back in town. Konoha had requested him back for a short time while they officially closed her case since he was the arresting officer. She never responded. It hurt, but he knew he deserved the silent treatment after being a dick to her. Now, he knew he should have gone to her apartment and checked up on her, even if she didn't want to see him. Call him a coward but he didn't want to see her; she wore her emotions on her sleeve. Did she despise him? Hate him? Sure, he could accept that. Didn't mean he wanted to see it though.

Above all, he couldn't stand to watch her cry or see her in pain. It twisted him up inside just thinking about it. He was definitely a coward; if he'd been standing in front of her when he let her go there's no way he could follow through.

Sasuke set his gun down and pinched the bridge of his nose. Guilt ate away at him; this wasn't how it was supposed to be. The distance had been hard on both of them, but Sakura would never let go. He knew she wouldn't, even if she was miserable. So he did it for them. Clean break, right?

Nope. Somehow, he was even more miserable. He royally fucked up.

This was why he didn't date. Things get complicated and messy. Sakura brought out emotions that overwhelmed him. He didn't know how to be a good boyfriend, a tentative lover, or lead a domestic life. But after the breakup, he couldn't go back to what he was. He changed and there was no going back. That's why he tried to get a hold of her. He needed to see her again. Maybe he could make sense of it then.

Now he might not get to.

He respected Captain Hatake, but he'd come close to going ballistic when Kakshi tried to side-line him after Ino left. Blowing up would've only proved Kakashi's point though; he was no good to anyone if he couldn't compose himself. Hotheads got people killed. But this was Sakura they were talking about. Shrugging his vest on, he zipped up the cavalier and sighed.

It wasn't Kakashi's decision whether he was going or not; it was whether he went with a badge or not. There was no stopping him from going after her. Thankfully, he wouldn't have to go against orders.

He took his anger out on Ino, and he knew it was wrong but she was practically snarling at him and looking for a reaction. 'I made a mistake,' he wanted to say, but his pride wouldn't let him. Being stubborn didn't help either.

First, make sure she's safe. Then he'd deal with the mess he made.

Done! Let me know what you think.