Hello hello! I know this took a bit longer, I've been super busy. As I spend these last chapters wrapping up, I would like to ask my wonderful viewers something:

I've been doing a lot of thinking about my writing. While I really enjoy fanfiction, I also have a lot of my own ideas. Fanfiction has inspired me and is one of the main reasons that I really got into writing, but I'd also like to start writing some originals as well, and I think that's why I haven't been focusing on this story as much. There's so much going on in my brain. I want to do so much. I think, for me, I need to write shorter stories. That way I'll ensure motivation to continue and finish and get more done. That would mean both fanfics and some originals. So here it is:

Would you read something original from me?

Where's the best place to do so?

One of my worries is that if I also want to do some of my own stories that I won't have anyone reading them. That and I've kind of researched it, but idk the best place to post original stories. I have a wattpad account, but I haven't posted anything yet for this specific reason.

Thank you all again for helping me, and enjoying TBT!

Chapter 27: Reunited

SAKURA POV:

Sakura had lost hope; no one was going to help her. There were no clocks in the room so how much time passed was a mystery to her. Any minute Hidan could walk through that door, and when he did it was game over. Like a lamb to the slaughter while Hidan and his followers enjoyed the show. She rubbed at her sore wrists, wondering how many other women had worn these cuffs. The killing wouldn't stop at her, she was just a number. More women would follow.

All she could do is sit and wait for fate to come knocking; not that Hidan would care to knock. Thrashing was useless and only made her tired. The drugs were making their way out of her system; she'd reserve her strength. Next time he came back, she wasn't going to go peacefully. She'd scratch, kick, bite, and give 'em hell. But she knew it wouldn't be enough for her to break free.

The doorknob turned. Adrenaline pumped through her, preparing her for what was to come. 'Wait until he unchains me from the wall...then attack.'

INO POV:

Ino was quickly getting nowhere. Thankfully, the group of hookers she went with were considered "high end". Not the type to hang out on corners, they were dressed better and fed a little more. They were reserved for the high rollers and expensive private parties. Jewell reassured her that these men would be "respectful", and as long as she followed the rules no one would hurt her.

Ino had no clue what rules Jewell was talking about, but she was too afraid to ask in case it would blow her cover. She didn't plan on sticking around to find out either. She just had to find an excuse to slip out. The man she was sitting on, Roland, squeezed her hip, causing her back to stiffen. She flashed him a smile. He wasn't even looking at her; her blonde companion was too busy smoking and watching his buddy play cards. And the smoke smelled too skunky for it to be a regular cigarette.

Currently it wasn't that bad besides the thick smoke clogging her throat. No one forced any drugs and booze on her, not that she wasn't disillusioned. These were bad men that kidnapped women, and they'd expect her to act like a hooker sooner or later. Time was running out for her and Sakura. Roland took greedy gulps of his drink, and Ino got an idea. She crossed her legs, squeezing them together, and rocked a bit. Roland looked at her.

"You gotta piss?"

Ino nodded. Jewel said the less talking, the better. Roland huffed, but released his grip on her.

"Bathroom's down the hall and to the right. Don't take too long." He ordered as she got up. Ino knew the threat was empty; the guy was doped up like the rest of his friends. There was so much drugs and booze that he'd forget she'd been there to begin with.

SAKURA POV:

"Hello?"

Sakura could've screamed Hallelujah to the heavens. It wasn't Hidan who had opened the door. Instead, a curly-haired woman in a short, tight dress stood in the doorway. She took one look at me and grimaced.

"Damn; that's some kinky shit." The girl stated. Sakura sat up, renewed strength and hope running through her.
"Please help me! I was kidnapped and locked up here." Sakura said with an aggrieved tone. Her hand rose to point, but she struggled against the restrictive chains. " The key is right there!" When the girl didn't move, Sakura became weary. What if Hidan sent the woman to collect her? No; With Hidan's the young woman looked genuinely confused.

"I'm not lookin' for trouble. I was looking for a friend...I shouldn't get involved." She responded. Her gaze darted around the room, looking anywhere but Sakura. Sakura took a sharp breath in. "Please!" She pushed. The girl hesitantly rose her round eyes, accented with heavy eyeliner. Sakura held her gaze, and gently asked "What's your name?"

"...Jewell."

"Jewell, they're gonna kill me if you don't help me." Sakura tried to say it as calmly as she could, but the last word choked out.

"What?!" Jewell gasped.

"Once the man who took me comes back, I'm dead. These people kill women as part of some occult ritual." Sakura explained as best she could.

"Shit." Jewell breathed. She looked at Sakura for a long time, an internal battle raging within her. Her face scrunched with helplessness. "I'm not a bad person." She stressed. Her fists tightened at her sides. "If I help you, me or one of my friends could take your place and they wouldn't care."

Sakura's hope crumbled; Jewell wasn't going to help her in fear that she would become the replacement. What could she say to change the girls mind?

Before Sakura could try and reason with her, Jewell squeezed her eyes shut and cursed loudly. When her eyes opened, resolve shown in her eyes. Jewell grabbed the key hanging on the wall. Sakura felt relief for the first time that night as Jewell climbed onto the bed and worked on unlocking Sakura from the chains. Both of their hands were shaky, Sakura still felt weak and they were both aware that someone could walk in and catch Jewell helping her. Sakura's hands felt light after the shackles were no longer weighing her down, and she hopped off the bed hurriedly.

She was free from the chains, now to get out of the cage.

"Do you know the way out?" Sakura asked as she followed behind Jewell. Jewell nodded. "We need to get out." Sakura stressed, but Jewell shot her down. "Like I said, I'm not leaving without the others." Frustrated, Sakura took a different approach. "Can you at least tell me the way? If I'm not out before sunrise they're going to kill me."

Jewell stopped and turned a hard gaze on Sakura. "No. As soon as you get out, your going to call the police."

"The police are the good guys." Sakura argued back. Jewell sneered. "Cops don't care about hookers. As soon as the shooting starts, it won't matter if a few 'hookers' become casualties. Our lives mean nothing to them. That's why I have to help my friends first and make sure were long gone before any pigs show up." She spit out the word hooker sarcastically. Sympathy flowed from Sakura, but she knew Jewell was too guarded to accept any reassurances.

Time was dwindling for Sakura; she didn't have time to argue. She'd try to help Jewell escape her entrapment, or "job, once they made it out alive. "Fine." Sakura grit out. Jewell started walking again. "How many girls are there?" Sakura asked quietly.

"Twelve others, but we were split up into a couple of rooms." Jewell explained. She peeked into a room but found it empty. Sakura's survival urges were wearing her patience thin. They were wasting time. Sakura had no clue how many men were around, when they'd run into someone, or when they'd come for her just to see she'd been freed and come looking. She had better chances getting out with the two of them and Jewell knew the way out, but she was making the success rate of their escape dwindle considerably. Sakura didn't want Jewell or anyone else to be harmed, and the best way to do that was get out and call for help.

"So…how do we get them all out? Do you have a plan?" Sakura asked curtly. Her frustration was coming through.

Jewell huffed. "No, but this is the only way we get out. Unless you wanna walk around blindly by yourself."

Sakura wanted to be understanding, but this wasn't the time for that. Her frustration with Jewell's hardheadedness, on top of being at her mercy, only made Sakura angrier. She moved in front of Jewell and checked another room. Empty.

"Let's start with where you were, and then work our way out." Sakura suggested. Jewell nodded.

"Good idea. I was with a big group." Jewell took her down a turn and into another hallway. When they say a couple men, they had to turn around and wait until they left.

"What are we going to do about the men with the women?"

"All you do is ask questions!" Jewel snapped. Her outburst confirmed what Sakura had been thinking; Jewell hadn't thought that far ahead.

"We need to make something up. Something simple. Get the girls out." Sakura suggested.

"Like…were getting more crack. Only way to pull a John from a girl." Jewell offered. Sakura's eyebrow's rose, but nodded.

"Okay."

They heard a shout coming from an open room ahead of them. Jewell rushed forward. "Stop!" Sakura commanded in a hushed voice, and tried to grab Jewell's arm to stop her. She missed. Sakura followed after the charging Jewel. Once Jewel got close, she slowed. Sakura did the same. More shouts, a woman. Then a man's voice. They peeked into the doorway. A woman was struggling with a man. His back was to them and the woman was facing them, but the man's bulky body was blocking the woman's face from their view. He yanked her by the wrists, but she tugged and tore herself away from him. He reached for her hair. She cried out, and her body came into view as they twisted.

Sakura gasped.

It was Ino in front of her.

"Why'd you flirt with me earlier if you didn't want this? I told you I'd find you." The man sneered, trying to pull Ino up against him. She thrashed harder, and the man's hand clutching her hair yanked, causing her to yelp.

Without a second thought, Sakura and Jewell rushed forward to help Ino. Sakura jumped on the guys back and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, hoping to cut off his circulation. She caught the man off guard and he stopped pulling Ino but kept a firm grip on her hair. Jewell kicked him in the balls. The man cried out and finally let go of Ino's long hair as he hunched and put his hands between his legs. Ino fell onto her butt, free, and Sakura almost tumbled off the man's back. Sakura kept her hold around the man's neck as Ino kicked at him desperately from the ground. The man stumbled back, not fully recovered but trying to evade their blows. He thrust his head back, nailing Sakura's cheek. Pain exploded, but she didn't let go. Instead, she gritted her teeth and pulled tighter, yanking the man's head up. That earned her a wheeze from the attacker. His beefy hands grabbed onto her forearms and dug in. He tried to wrench her off but he couldn't while trying to keep the two other women at bay.

"Ah!" Sakura yelped as the man scrapped her against the wall. Then he smashed her little body between his and the wall. Her grip gave and she fell to the ground. Panicked, Ino tried to go for his balls, but he wasn't going to make that mistake again. He caught her leg and twisted it. Ino screamed, and flipped her body to relieve the pain.

"Fuckin' bitches. I'll kill you all!" He yelled. He dragged Ino towards him and raised a fist. Ino cowered, and all she could do was use her arms to shield her face. Before he could strike, Jewell rushed up behind him and smashed a copper coated vase over his head.

Finally, the man went down.

Jewell dropped the vase. "Did I kill him?" She asked incredulously. Sakura checked his pulse. "No," She shook her head, "Just knocked him out."

"Fuck." Jewell breathed. The adrenaline had them all panting.

Sakura crawled over to Ino's open arms and they shared a fierce hug. She winced. Her ribs hurt from being smashed against the wall.

"You're okay!" Ino weeped. "Thank god."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sakura said through her tears.

"I snuck in to break you out; no way I was leaving you to die." Ino told her.

Jewell stood there, eyes flicking between Ino and Sakura. Her brown eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You two know each other?" She asked, but it sounded like an accusation.

"We'll hash all this out later." Sakura stated as she slowly got up. There was a slight throb on her left side, but it felt like the damage was minimal. "We need to get out of here."

"Agreed." Ino replied. She got up and tested her twisted leg. No issues. She'd gotten lucky that she turned her body with the twist and that the guy didn't displace her knee. Ino turned to check on Jewell, but Jewell stepped away with distrust in her eyes. She knew now that Ino had tricked her.

"I stuck my neck out for you, and your not even one of us." Jewell spat out. Ino pulled her arms but. Sadness clouded her eyes.

"I'm sorry Jewell. I needed to save my friend." Ino explained delicately.

Jewell glared at Ino, but her face relaxed. Years of being abused was catching up to her and she could feel it hardening her heart. She didn't want that. She didn't want to be like Derek, the man who raped her body and stole her life. Or like Amber, the oldest whore who turned on the youngest girls to keep in Derek's good graces. Sighing, she dropped the glare and shrugged.

"I get it. Let's just find the rest of the girls and leave."

"Were running out of time." Sakura said. "I'm sorry, but there's no way we can gather everyone before Hidan figures out I'm missing and comes looking." She stepped forward and grabbed Jewell's hand. "I know you don't trust the police, but is the alternative really better?"

Jewell weighed the options. The cops would arrest them for prostitution; would they really help? Derek was terrible, but at least she was fed. And she had the other girls to think about. Where would girls like them go if she turned on Derek? Would the police even care? The truth was, she didn't know. She'd been trained to believe that cops didn't care about her, and they'd leave her back on the streets with no food and no money. 'But Derek already does that, and he barely feeds us now.'

Truth was, their small group of girls looked out for each other, and they'd become an unlikely family. All she wanted to do was help them.

Jewell frowned. "We haven't even tried yet though-"

"Jewell," Ino interjected, "The police are already on their way. I talked to them before I even came here and they'll be showing up any minute. If we get out, we can at least talk to them so they know that the girls aren't involved."

Jewel didn't like it, but what choice did she have? "Okay." She relented. "I remember where we came in at, but I don't know if anyone's watching the door."

Ino pointed to the unconscious man. "Maybe he has a gun we can defend ourselves with." Jewel shook her head.

"If he had a gun, he would have used it." Jewell replied, and turned towards the door. "We just can't get caught. I'll lead you guys out, and then you can let the police know what's going on."

"Wait." Ino gaped, stepping towards Jewell. "You're not coming with us?"

"I'm not leaving my friends behind." Jewell said quietly.

"No, come with us." Sakura pushed. Jewell started walking. Without looking back, she said "…I belong with them."

There was no arguing with Jewell. She was out the door before they could say anything more. Ino and Sakura reluctantly followed her. Before they got a couple feet down the hall, gunshots rang out.

All three women dropped to the ground. Ino and Sakura screamed and covered their heads. The shots were loud, but not close. Jewell lifted her head after a few beats and looked around. Once she made sure they weren't in immediate danger, they all wearily got to their feet.

"What the hell?" Sakura breathed. Had Hidan discovered she was gone?

They heard men yelling. Blaring lights came in through the window. Ino hooked a finger on the curtain and looked out the window. Excitement rose through her. "The police are here!" She cheered.

"Don't get so happy, we're still in danger." Jewell warned, and she was right.

"Hey! Maybe we can go out the window." Ino suggested, searching for a latch. Jewell shook her head. "In these places, the windows don't open and they're bullet proof glass. We'll have to stick with our plan to go out the front." She explained.

More shots rang out, but this time it came from the opposite direction at the back of the house. Clunky footsteps came barreling down the hallway. Sakura went for a door, maybe they could hide out in a room. However, as soon as her hand wrapped around the doorknob, a group of men in black and loaded with guns turned into their hallway.

"Freeze!"

Sakura immediately put her hands up. Ino yelped and did the same. Jewell stood there, paralyzed. The men trained their guns on them. Through her terror, Sakura read the blocky letters on a man's vest. POLICE.

"Wait!" Ino started trying to tell them that they were victims, but one of the men shouted over her voice.

"On the ground! NOW!"

Sakura's knees shivered. Jewell glared at the men. "So much for the good guys." She muttered. The man told her to be quiet again, motioning with his gun to listen to his directions. The asshole was being overaggressive. Ino and her had spent so much time trying to convince Jewell that police weren't that bad, and this guy ruined that within seconds. Sakura slowly started to get down to her knees, and he whipped his gun to her. She froze.

"I'm doing what you asked!" She cried out.

"Hold your fire!"

The demand came from the back. One of the men made his way to the front. He got to the front while shouting, "Stand down!"

Sakura gasped. "Sasuke!"

SASUKE POV:

Sasuke broke his way to the front as fast as he could. He recognized her voice instantly, and a heavy weight left his chest. They found her. He needed to see her and make sure she was okay. The men in the group put down their weapons, but Harrison, the one who had his gun pointed at the woman they were rescuing, glared at him.

"What the hell are you doing Uchiha?" Harrison seethed. "Captain told you to keep in line."

"That's Sakura, you dumbass!"

Harrison stopped, then glanced back at the women and annoyance flashed on his face. 'Fuck it.' Sasuke decided. He didn't care about undermining Harrison's authority. Sanders used his earpiece to report to Kakashi and inform the other tactical groups that Sakura had been found. Sasuke and a couple other men rushed forward to check on the women. Selfishly, he went to Sakura. Kneeling, he wrapped her in his arms. This allowed him only a moment of peace; a moment of humanity. She shivered underneath him but held him back just as tightly. Sasuke pulled away and started checking for injuries.

"Are you hurt?" He asked gently. She shook her head no, but he knew she had to be overwhelmed and in shock. That and he'd noticed the small cringe she'd made when his arm had swiped her side. Thankfully, she seemed to be okay and in one piece.

The outfit she was wearing made him mad with rage. Pink underwear, pink bra, and little bunny eared headband. Ino had reported earlier that Sakura had been wearing a dress, not this getup. Did he force her to strip, or had someone dressed and violated her? His thoughts of maiming, beheading, and all the nasty things he would do to whoever did it was twisted but felt good.

Sanders touched his shoulder. "Sasuke, the mission." He reminded quietly.

Right. Sasuke put his composure back in place, and helped Sakura up.

"The back is worse than the front right now." Sanders reported, listening to the other squads in his earpiece. Sasuke nodded. "So, we go to the front." He confirmed. The men got into formation, quickly enveloping the women. This was the first time he checked who the other two women with Sakura were. More sacrifices? One of the women was lanky with heavy makeup and big hair. She fit the profile of a prostitute, but Sasuke could see past the clothes and recognize a young, scared girl. He turned to the next one.

Sasuke's jaw almost hit the floor. Ino gave him a nervous wave as he glared incredulously at her. "I'll deal with you later." He threatened, then barked out orders to the group.

"Our mission is to get these women out safely. No harm comes to them!" He turned to look directly at Harrison. "And no cuffs." Harrison sneered, but didn't dare talk back. Sasuke ripped off his bulletproof chest and placed it onto Sakura. Two other men stepped forward and did the same for the other women as Sasuke secured Sakura's latches. The other men in the group quickly switched their allegiance to Sasuke, and Harrison went along to keep some power over the situation. Sakura didn't argue with him as he helped her. He didn't like that she looked like a small, frightened rabbit, and he wanted to rip her headband off. Instead, he rubbed her shoulder, trying to offer some kind of comfort. Sakura looked up at him with a small smile that didn't reach her eyes. He would make things right between them once they were out of the mess. Putting the mushy feelings aside, her safety was his priority.

The big haired girl frantically came up to him and grabbed his forearm.

"There are more women here, eleven more! Please don't hurt my friends, we had nothing to do with this!" She begged. Sasuke didn't like that she was agrressively tugging on his arm, but he understood her desperation. There were more victims here than they knew, and they needed to get that critical information to the two other squads.

"Sanders! You get that?"

Sanders nodded and stepped away to use his radio earpiece. He reported the information to the other squads, telling them that eleven more women were in the building and not to harm them.

As they started to move, Sasuke couldn't resist hugging Sakura one more time. "Don't leave my side." He whispered. She nodded.

They would get through this. He was going to make sure of it.

SAKURA POV:

She stayed on Sasuke's heels as the police squad led the way, occasionally stopping to clear areas and rooms. Ino and Jewell were squished in the middle with her. Sakura felt a hand clutch hers. Ino. She gave their conjoined hands a squeeze and noticed Ino had done the same for Jewell. Solidarity in the face of danger.

Sanders, who was out in front, rose a hand and halted the team. They'd reached the end of the hallway. Sakura peered past the group as best she could. It looked like a huge foyer with stairs tucked in the corner, leading to a loft. The front doors were right there, only a couple yards away. The room looked empty to her, but the men around her hesitated. She wanted to sprint out that front door and kiss the grass. Grass was such a small, seemingly unimportant thing until you were chained to the wall and trapped in a room filled with nothingness, waiting for death to come.

Pop! Pop!

Sakura flinched and was ready to drop to the ground again when she heard the shots, but she quickly realized that they were coming from somewhere else. The group of men tensed and were on their toes, waiting. She wondered what, because she was ready to get the hell out of here. Distant voices, coming from outside, caught her attention. Sanders, who was leading front, nodded. A couple officers trickled into the room to clear it, and then they made a beeline for the door.
The chilly outside air made her shiver and almost cry; another thing she didn't think she'd miss until her kidnapping. She was out. She was safe, but they weren't out of the woods yet. The voices she heard earlier were right in front of her now. Police cars were parked longways to provide cover. A man's voice yelled from above her. She looked up. They were standing under a balcony, and someone up there wasn't happy.
"You think you can take from me? Your petty human laws are just getting in the way. Do you even know who I am? That my power, my god, could smite you where you stand!?"
It was Hidan's voice yelling from the balcony. When he came to Sakura earlier, he had sounded calm. Crazy, but calm. Now there was an irregular inflection in his voice. He must be realizing that he was losing, and he was cracking because of it. Hidan had caged her like an animal, and now he was getting payback, trapped like a coach roach waiting to be exterminated and no way out.
Sakura spied Kakashi behind one of the first cop cars, standing next to a man in a windbreaker and holding a megaphone. The man with the megaphone tried to say something, but Hidan kept yelling. About how he'd kill them all. About how this was god's will, and how sorry they'd be. "Jashin will cast judgement on you all!"

"Sorry girls but looks like were going to have to take a detour."

Sakura stumbled as they were pulled close to the wall, but Sasuke supported her easily. His grip was a little rough, but everyone around them was running off adrenaline and staying alive. The officers were attempting to sneak them into the woods while Hidan and his men were distracted. Kakashi's voice came over the megaphone, his monotone voice firm. Her head whipped back to look at the gray-haired captain again. Her eyes rounded as he stepped out from the police car, still speaking. "Kakashi-" She gasped.
Sasuke tugged on her arm. "He knows what he's doing. Come on."
Sakura turned her panicked eyes onto his. "He's keeping Hidan focused on him. It's risky, but it's working." Sasuke explained. Sakura pursed her lips. She didn't like it, but she had to trust that Kakashi knew what he was doing.

They were almost to the tree line when Sakura glanced back again to check on the exposed captain. She couldn't resist looking at Hidan one last time, perched on that balcony and waiting for his downfall. Fear iced her blood when instead of seeing Hidan's furious profile, she locked eyes with him. His face was so emotional compared to earlier. Disbelief marred his features, and a furious range came off in waves.

In Sakura's world, what came next happened in slow motion. Hidan turned his gaze onto the man next to her, Sasuke. A sneer slide on his face as all his fury pointed at Sasuke. She saw the realization in his eyes, along with the blame. Hidan's pistol turned.

He was going to shoot Sasuke.

Sakura couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. There was no time to warn Sasuke, who had turned his head away, and who had no clue what was about to happen. Sasuke turned, but it was too late to move out of Hidan's sights.

Pop! Pop!

INO POV:

Ino screamed as Sakura and Sasuke dropped to the ground in front of her. More shots rang out. Instead of staying in the safety of the officer with her, she ran to her fallen friends.
"oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god."
Ino slid to her knees. Sasuke was face up. His eyes were wide and in shock. The force had knocked him on his back, leaving him momentarily breathless. Quick as a whip, he sat up straight and went to Sakura laying a few feet away.

Just moments before, Ino felt relief at seeing those trees. That her best friend was in front of her, safe. Then Sakura looked back, and whatever she saw terrified her. Ino had been about to look back herself, to see what the hell Sakura was looking at, when her friend moved with lightning speed. Sakura pushed Sasuke. Hard. 'what the hell is she-' Ino started to wonder. Then she heard the register of a gunshot. Sakura's body jerked.

Sakura dropped to the ground, motionless.

End for this chapter! Crazy huh? There was a lot packed into this chapter.

As always R&R! I love hearing from my readers!

Peace.