Yep…. Still here! Sorry it has taken me so long to update… A lot has happened personally in my life, but I PROMISE I will finish this story. My big goal for this flick is an edit, which has started, and then cross-posting it to other websites. We will see how long that takes me, but I figured you guys deserved an update, especially since I'm still getting such wonderful reviews from all of you.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 82: And Then She Was Gone

Stories I'm currently reading, in case you're interested: Private Practice by o0Alien0o, Pulling My Weight by Invincible Shadow, Old Man by the Bar by Varmint, and Are You Ready? By Killaurey. They're all stories I look forward to seeing updates from, though none are completed (not that I'm one to talk right? We're going on 82 chapters here).

Xx Kakashi xX

It hadn't been hard to find who he had been looking for, though Kakashi was surprised at the person that stood in his way.

"Thought your kids had actually managed to kill me?" Kabuto raised his eyebrows before smirking smugly. "They killed a puppet. Someone who I put a measly amount of chakra into. They'd never actually manage to kill the real me"

"I guess I'll have to finish the job then," Kakashi said, his sharingan already reading the moves Kabuto was going to make. Chakra scalpel to the right, Kakashi dodged left. Chakra scalpel to the left thigh, Kakashi flipped backward.

"Or I'll finish you," Kabuto said with a mean grin. "And then I'll kill your sweet little kiddies one by one before I demolish your village. Wouldn't it be fitting for one person to kill all four of you?"

Chakra scalpel to the left temple, Kakashi ducked his head down to the side. Before Kabuto could even come at him again, Kakashi was already making hand signs, chirping birds could be heard in the distance.

"One of your kids already tried that," Kabuto laughed at the sight of the Chidori. "That didn't work on me before."

"Yeah," Kakashi said, sharingan spinning as he tried to make eye-contact with Kabuto. A genjutsu wouldn't be much to Kabuto, but if Kakashi could catch Kabuto just for a second, it might be of some use. "I'm sure Sasuke was able to do it… You haven't seen me use it yet though."

Kakashi came at him from the side, dragging up the ground and grass as he picked up speed and ran faster. He was lucky that he and Kabuto had been given a wide birth from the rest of the ninja that were fighting around them, or else some of his allies could have gotten hurt in the battle.

As he was right in front of Kabuto, Kakashi's eyes flashed- chakra scalpel to the left bicep- and he chose not to dodge as his chidori connected with Kabuto's torso. He felt Kabuto's body go limp before -chakra scalpel to the chest- he dodged back, pulling his arm from Kabuto's chest and effectively dodging his attack.

It took a second for Kakashi to see what was going on, and why Kabuto was still able to move even after a chidori to his chest. Chakra had pooled at his chest right before Kakashi's hand had connected. It seemed whatever healing technique Kabuto could use would prevent damage or speed up healing.

Kakashi fingered a kunai and kunai tag with his good arm. He wondered how long Kabuto's technique would last before he ran out of chakra, and Kakashi could actually kill him with a chidori through the chest.

"Interesting technique," Kakashi commented as he wrapped the tag around the kunai. He sent the tag flying towards the ground a foot in front of Kabuto, spitting up dirt and debris everywhere. Kakashi quickly made a few hand signs, wincing as he did, before he poofed underground, his clone taking his place.

"I wonder how long it will last," His clone finished his sentence for him. Kakashi's clone took out a few more kunai before launching them to where he knew Kabuto was. As his clone kept Kabuto busy, Kakashi quickly pulled out a few more explosive tags and kunai's.

His kids weren't the only ones who appreciated a good explosion every now and then.

Xx Shikamaru xX

It hadn't taken him long to get to the hospital, which was where he was supposed to report with the rest of the Chuunin and Genin within the village. The hospital was already packed with civilians; his fellow nin doing their jobs.

He had tried to find Ino and Choji like his mother had suggested, but he had only tried to do it half-heartedly. The thing that constantly remained on his mind was Sakura and the shitty situation she was in.

Even though he had seen the Akatsuki member with his own eyes, he did not believe for a second that Sakura was willingly helping him.

Sakura was so many different things, but a traitor was not one; she was sweet, caring, kind, and warm. How was he going to get her out of this one?

It all boiled down to him needing evidence that she wasn't willingly helping the Akatsuki member. He wasn't sure how he was going to find it, but he would need to figure it out if he ever wanted to get her out of the TI building.

Shikamaru shook his head slightly as he continued to walk through the hallways of the hospitals; civilians were lining the halls, and he was thankful none of them seemed injured.

Maybe if he found Ino and Choji he'd be able to do something to distract his wandering mind from thoughts of Sakura and-

"Shikamaru!" Shikamaru actually flinched at the sound of the voice coming from behind him. He had known Naruto and Sasuke were on a mission when Sakura had been taken into custody. With the emergency that surrounded them, did they even know about Sakura's fate?

Shikamaru turned to see Naruto and Sasuke advancing quickly to his location; from the looks in their eyes, Shikamaru could tell that they didn't know yet.

"Have you seen Sakura-Chan?" Naruto asked, his blue eyes scanning the hallways. Sasuke stood silently beside the blond, his shoulders coiled tight.

"You haven't returned to the Hokage's office yet, have you?" Shikamaru felt the dread building up in his body. He shouldn't be the one to tell them about it, because he was the one who had ultimately caused her to be arrested, but who else was here that would be able to tell them? Who else would understand how they felt but him?

"No," Sasuke said, eyes sparking with a bit of alarm. "With what was going on, Kakashi told us to find Sakura; we assumed she'd be at the hospital."

"She was detained when she came into the Hokage's office," Shikamaru said, his heart clenching as he said it. This whole situation wasn't fair; how was his village so blinded when it was so clear? "She's in the cells under TI."

"She WHAT?!" Shikamaru wasn't surprised at the heat from Naruto's glare; Shikamaru felt it too. "We have to get her out of there! Who knows when that bastard is coming back for her!"

"What are you talking about?" Shikamaru felt more dread well up inside of him.

"Sasuke and I heard Kakashi-sensei talking to his-our summons Pakkun," Naruto tumbled over his words slightly. "He said that Akatsuki bastard had tried to take Sakura-Chan with him when she was on her way back to the village."

"This would be the time to do it too," Sasuke cursed under his breath. "We need to get to the TI building."

"Chuunin and Genin are supposed to protect the civilians and the hospital," Shikamaru explained to them, knowing it wouldn't prevent any of the three of them from going to the TI building. "We should stay here and check in with the Jounin in charge."

"We're technically still on a mission," Sasuke explained with a slight shrug. "And if you haven't checked in yet, then no one knows you're at the hospital."

"Which means you could have got caught up in the fighting on the way here," Naruto said with a slight smirk.

Shikamaru sighed before steeling himself. "Let's get out of here before anyone can see us."

Xx Sakura xX

The ground and the walls were continuing to shake, causing Sakura to be both concerned for the village and for the structural soundness of the cell she was in. In a crisis, because she was assuming this was one, she doubted anyone thought about the criminals first.

She wasn't naïve enough to believe this was an earthquake; she had never experienced one, but in what she had read, earthquakes didn't last for forty minutes.

This had to be an attack on the village. And the rumbling of the earth was either something huge fighting, or explosions going off everywhere. Sakura wasn't sure which one she hoped for more.

If this was an attack on the village, Sakura knew she would have to get ready for her mission. The one she knew she couldn't possibly be able to complete but would have to if she wanted to survive.

It was probably for the best that she was getting taken away. All her boys would be much safer if the Akatsuki member was focused on her and was far from the village.

She doubted they would give up on her or believe that she would willingly go with the Akatsuki member though, so she hoped Tsunade-sama would be able to wrangle them in a bit. This mission she was being sent on was important, and she needed to do the best she could to help protect not only her village, but her family as well.

Sitting on the concrete slab, Sakura sighed before resealing up the scrolls and books she had tried using to distract her from what was going on. She knew she wouldn't be able to read more than a few words before she would start worrying about what was going on around her again.

Sakura was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she did not hear or feel the shift of charka that surrounded her cell.

"You look cozy," a voice spoke, drawing her out of her internal musings. Sakura's eyes darted from the scroll she was putting away to the floor, where a familiar silhouette was emerging. "Especially for what's going on outside of your cell."

"What?" Sakura asked, blinking quickly. "What's going on out there? What are you doing here?"

"You knew we were coming for you," Zetsu explained easily, "Orochimaru's bitch ass attack on the village just makes it easier for us to take you away."

Sakura's breath caught in her throat; Orochimaru was attacking the village, again? How was she supposed to follow through with this mission instead of staying to help her village? As a Konoha shinobi wasn't it her job to-

"I need to go out and help-"

"You're acting like you have a choice in this," Zetsu said as he came up behind her. Sakura blinked for a second before something was jabbed into her arm too fast for even her to see. How could he move so quickly without her even noticing? "This'll keep you out until we get back to the base."

Sakura wasn't given much more of a chance to think about things; her consciousness faded, and the last thing she hoped for was her teammate's and her friend's safety.

Xx Tsunade xX

Tsunade stood above her summons, Jiraiya at her side, and Orochimaru across from them. The three of them had been in this position before, and Tsunade's expression remained firm; she refused to even feel a bit of nostalgia. Even if she and Jiraiya were able to fix the problem that was Orochimaru, she still had an abundance of worries and things that she would have to deal with once this attack was over.

"What do you think you'll get from attacking the village again?" Jiraiya asked from above Gamabunta. Tsunade could see that Jiraiya's emotions were getting the better of him. Tsunade knew that there was a part of Jiraiya that would always think he could save Orochimaru, that Orochimaru was still human; Tsunade knew better.

"You're really asking that Jiraiya?" Orochimaru's smirk from across them was serpentine; another point against Orochimaru's humanity. "Silly man. My hatred for the Leaf started long before you knew me… the demise of the corrupted roots of this stupid village is one of the few things I want in this life."

"We tried to be there for you," Jiraiya was still trying, but Tsunade had heard everything she needed to hear. There was no saving Orochimaru, especially from himself. She was done trying.

"Katsuyuu," Tsunade's voice only carried down to the slug below her. "It's time we ended this."

"Yes Tsunade-hime," the slug's voice carried as Tsunade felt acid build up within the large slug's body.

It didn't take long before the acid to shoot out from the large slug's mouth straight toward Orochimaru and his summons, though both dodged easily.

"Trying to burn down your own village, Hime?" Orochimaru taunted her, even if the acid only hit the trees surrounding the village. "You're doing my job for me."

"Keep thinking that, bastard," Tsunade said as acid shot out of Katsuyuu's mouth again. She would keep pushing him back, away from her village and her people until she was really ready to begin. She was done putting people in the line of fire for the day.

Xx Kakashi xX

Kakashi had never wanted so badly to squish someone. Kabuto was a cockroach that refused to die, and after all that Kabuto had done to his kids, Kakashi felt that it was his job to eradicate the man from the world.

He had been building up explosive tags while firing out different jutsu to keep Kabuto on his toes and to hide the tags and kunai from view; he needed to catch the silver haired scumbag off guard and wear him down.

His clone had been keeping Kabuto at bay too, which had helped him set out more explosive tags; his kids would be so proud of him for the shear amount of tags he was about to use.

Just as Kabuto's chakra blade made contact with his clone, Kakashi appeared above ground. Putting his hands together while wincing, Kakashi pulled down his mask and let a stream of water fly toward Kabuto.

"I wondered when you were finally going to join the battle," Kabuto said, looking a little worse than he had originally when Kakashi had first stumbled upon him. Kabuto dodged the water easily, taking a leap back and heading in the direction Kakashi had wanted him to go. "Those little kids of yours aren't going to kill themselves… well, I guess they could with how much trouble they seem to get into."

"That's the only thing I agree with you on," Kakashi said as he brought his hands together and created a swamp below Kabuto's feet. Kabuto seemed surprised, though Kakashi didn't know if it was from what he had said or the jutsu.

Either way, Kakashi didn't waste any time as he flew away from where Kabuto's feet were stuck in the mud. Putting his fingers together, he flicked his chakra and several beautiful BOOMs were heard behind him. Flicking a kunai backward, after wrapping another tag around it, Kakashi launched it toward where Kabuto's head would be.

"They get into way too much trouble," Kakashi said as he watched the kunai connect. If this didn't kill the bastard, he most certainly was a cockroach. "They've already turned me gray."

Xx Sasuke xX

Sasuke had only ever felt this lost once before, and that had been when he had lost his family the first time.

Sasuke refused to allow it to happen again. Sakura, his sister in everything but blood, was in trouble, and he, Naruto, and Shikamaru were going to do everything in their power to make sure she would be okay.

"TI is going to be in the Intelligence Division near the Hokage Tower," Shikamaru spoke from beside them. "I've visited Ino's dad enough to know how to get there."

"Any idea where she's being held?" Naruto asked, which honestly surprised Sasuke. He hadn't expected the Dobe to be so level-headed, but at seeing the determination in the blond's eyes, he knew why.

"There are several levels of cells below the building," Shikamaru said with a frown. "I don't know which level she's being held on, or how to get there… I assume Hokage-sama will have Leaf nin stationed there to help prevent anyone's escape."

"We'll worry about that when we get there," Sasuke found himself saying. "If nothing else, we'll just blow down the doors until we get to her."

What a Naruto-thing for him to say, but he was surprised to see both boys agree with him easily. The Nara wasn't thinking clearly, or else he would've told Sasuke how stupid it was to demolish village property, especially to help a supposed traitor. It was treasonous…

Ignoring the clenching of his gut when he thought about that, Sasuke pushed forward. He didn't know how long they had before Sakura would be taken; the invasion would be the perfect distraction for an Akatsuki member to come in and grab her…

Akatsuki.

He refused to let her be taken to that organization, to where his brother was. He had given up on wanting to kill his brother until at least an explanation was had, but that didn't mean he wanted Sakura to be subjected to the man.

"That building," Shikamaru nodded to a building ahead of them. Sasuke found himself pushing chakra through his legs as he kept going faster.

"Can anyone sense her chakra signature?" Sasuke asked as the three ran through the open doors of the building. Scanning with his chakra, he was frustrated to not feel anything; Sakura was so much better at this than he was.

"No one…" he heard Naruto's frown. "I can't even feel a guard's chakra."

"Which could either mean they're concealing it," Shikamaru spoke from beside Naruto. "Or there's no one here."

"Or they're dead…" Sasuke finished, eyes wide as he spotted a body on the ground. He walked toward the body, hand glowing a slight green, and frowned. "He's still warm."

"What happened to him?" Naruto said crouched beside him.

"It looks like a kunai wound," Sasuke said, eyes scrunched slightly when he felt something off about the ninja's blood. "… Poison…"

"You don't think…"

"Sakura-Chan?" Naruto asked, and Sasuke felt dread fill his stomach.

"Hurry up Naruto," Sasuke said, sending as much chakra to his feet as he could. They couldn't be too late. They couldn't be too late. They couldn't be-

It was the strand of pink hair on the next guard that paused them in their steps.

"Sasuke-teme…"

"We need to find Kakashi," Sasuke found himself saying after a deep breath. There was no way their teammate had done this, even if everything pointed to it being otherwise. "He'll know what to do."