"Sasuke, over here!" shouted Sakura.
"But...," he hesitated. Having dropped the now-unconscious Koshosuru clean member with a nearby medical nin, his immediate instinct was to leave the Hyuga compound and go after whoever took the twins. But Sakura's call had immediately snapped him out of his current thought process. "Right!"
He ran over to Sakura who was currently treating a man who was bleeding profusely.
"Apply pressure here….I can help him, but only if he doesn't bleed out before I can seal his wound," said Sakura. She immediately went to work with her healing chakra while Sasuke took over applying pressure to the wound.
Sasuke didn't say anything during the process, but looked off towards the rubble. Sakura noticed his glance.
"Sorry," she whispered. "I know you would have wanted to go after them."
"No, its ok," he whispered back.
"You were the closest person to me that I recognized so instinctively called out," she explained.
"No, you were right to call me. I'm sure there are others who are chasing whoever did this," said Sasuke. "Keeping everyone alive is important, too."
"I realize that. I also realize that you feel something for those two now and you would want to protect them if you can," said Sakura.
"I just wish they hadn't come today," said Sasuke.
OlOlOlOlOlO
Over the next hour or two, all of the injured were transported to Konoha's hospital. Sakura, with Sasuke following, went with the injured to see what she could do once they got there. Once inside the hospital, Sakura immediately veered off and jumped in on a case she had not been working before. Sasuke was essentially just left standing there.
Before he could mentally ask himself what had just happened or why he had chosen to stand by Sakura instead of taking off on his own, he heard someone shout, "Watch out!" from right behind him. He jumped out of the way just in time. In ran two medical nins alongside Kiba and someone on a gurney. Sasuke could tell that this wasn't from the explosion earlier, so he instinctively followed to try to figure out what was going on.
"Kiba, what happened?" he asked.
"The explosion…what they are calling an explosion….wasn't an explosion at all," he explained. "It was a shinobi. I saw him. He was… It's hard to explain," said Kiba.
"A shinobi?" repeated Sasuke. "Are you sure?"
"I saw him. Actually there were two of them, but there was one who did all that damage. The other one just grabbed the twins in the confusion. And as soon as they had them, they just bolted," explained Kiba.
"One shinobi did all that damage?" Sasuke said aloud, mostly confirming to himself what had just been said. Sasuke's mind wandered. He had only ever known of one shinobi who had that kind of raw physical power. Another one like him? There's no way… But the evidence is that there is. Or perhaps...
"So what happened after they took the twins?"
"A couple of us followed, but we lost them after Fusho got hurt," explained Kiba, referring to the shinobi on the gurney. "He's still a bit young…went in without even thinking and basically got hammered by those guys when he should have been more cautious."
"Is Akamaru ok?" asked Sasuke.
"Oh he's fine," said Kiba. "He's around here somewhere."
Sasuke thought for a bit. Perhaps it wasn't too late to catch up with these two rogue shinobi if he worked fast. "What direction did they run?" he asked Kiba. He and anyone who could follow were a couple of hours behind by that point, but Sasuke felt the need to do something. Perhaps he'd get lucky and they'd stop to rest for a bit…or perhaps the twins would make an escape and they could find them. Either way, Sasuke wanted to pursue.
"South," said Kiba.
But I'd better get some back-up…better not to go alone.
Sasuke ran out of the hospital and ran towards the Hokage tower. He actually found Lady Tsunade and a few shinobi – mostly his classmates - talking outside the tower when he arrived.
"Lady Tsunade, I want to go after the Koshosuru twins," said Sasuke immediately upon arrival, not caring who he was interrupting or what they were talking about.
"Good timing! We were just talking about a rescue," noted the Hokage. "Did you want to join in?"
"Yes!" said Sasuke. "We'll need a medical shinobi…and a sensory…."
"I know!" shouted Tsunade. "Believe it or not, I am fully capable of assigning a team to the task!"
Sasuke backed off immediately. Apparently, his eagerness had gotten the better of him. He really did think he had an idea of what…or who….could be behind this. He wanted to confirm it with his own eyes.
"Sasuke Uchiha, Neji Hyuga, and Ino Yamanaka…your mission is to find the Koshosuru twins Kanja and Sumato and safely return them to the village. If you happen across the scoundrels who did this, feel free to deal with them as you wish!" said Lady Tsunade.
"Hai!" the three shinobi shouted.
"Now…go!" Tsunade shouted, causing the three shinobi to disappear seemingly into thin air as they immediately got started on their mission.
OlOlOlOlOlO
They were jumping through the trees at full speed when they finally got to the edge of the forest and needed to run on the ground for a bit. It had been nearly an hour since they left Konoha.
"Do you see anything yet?" asked Sasuke.
"No, not with my byakugan," answered Neji.
"There have been traces of someone recently coming through here though," noted Ino.
"Yeah, I saw the signs as well," said Sasuke.
There was a small pile of trash under one of the trees indicating the perpetrators had eaten something and dropped their trash onto the ground. There were also a few fresh markings on the trees. Even the most subtle of hints caught a good shinobi's attention.
"I wonder if they are ok," said Sasuke aloud.
"There's no blood," said Ino. "You would think that if they were hurt badly, there would have been a blood trail."
"Unless it's blunt-force trauma," said Neji.
"They're probably just scared…though I can't imagine Sumato would take this lying down if he is still conscious," said Sasuke.
"Consider what that one shinobi did to the Hyuga compound though," said Ino. "At their age, would you really fight back against that?"
"Good point. Perhaps not," said Sasuke.
"Maybe they have faith that they will be found by the likes of us," noted Neji.
They're fine, thought Sasuke to himself. I just know it.
"Wait! I see something!" said Neji excitedly.
"What do you see, Neji?" asked Ino.
"It's just in my visual range now, but I see two forms….," said Neji.
"Only two?" asked Sasuke.
"Two distinct forms, though…it looks like one of the forms has three distinct chakra networks," clarified Neji.
"So it sounds like we have two enemies with one of them carrying the twins. At least they are alive," said Sasuke.
"Keep pushing," said Ino. "If they don't know we are here, they may not be traveling as fast as they can."
"Don't you think they would assume we would send someone after them?" asked Neji.
"Ino has a good point. We did leave relatively quickly. Perhaps they are not counting on a pursuit quite so soon," said Sasuke.
"Let's go!" said Ino.
OlOlOlOlOlO
It took another hour for the Leaf team to catch up to the enemy shinobi. Along the way, they had discussed exactly how they expected things would go down once their presence was known. The shinobi carrying the twins was probably the one who had the immense strength and was able to crumble the Hyuga's courtyard so easily. The other shinobi's skills was an unknown at this point, though they guessed he or she probably was pretty smart and stealthy. This was probably the planner of the kidnapping and the likely infiltrator of the village. After all, someone must have been able to get inside in order to know the details of the wedding as well as the lay-out of the Hyuga compound.
"I'm going to take the lead!" shouted Neji as they neared the rogues. "Ino, you take the rear. Try not to get hurt – the twins might need you."
"Got it!" she shouted back.
Neji's byakugan was activated the entire time so that he could follow the movements of those being pursued. He saw the smaller shinobi turn to look back and could tell that at that moment, the fact that they were being pursued was now known.
"They know!" said Neji.
"Screw the plan!" shouted Sasuke, knowing that the plan they had discussed and agreed to was now defunct. "Just overtake them and make them stop! Neji, you take the small guy. I've got to make sure Kanja and Sumato are ok."
Neji nodded his approval of Sasuke's quick and dirty new plan.
In less than a minute, they had forged ahead of the enemy and forced them to stop in their tracks. Neji immediately squared off against the smaller shinobi ready to fight. However, when Sasuke jumped in front of the larger shinobi who was carrying the twins, his eyes went wide.
"Sasuke, is that you?" asked the larger shinobi.
"Wait, you know this guy?" asked Neji, never taking his eyes off of his opponent.
"Sasuke?" repeated the smaller shinobi.
Neji remained focused. Ino jumped out of the trees and off to the side of the confrontation.
"Sasuke, what is going on?" she asked.
Sasuke let a wide smile grace his face. He stood up from his ready position and let out a chuckle. "I didn't think I'd ever see you guys again."
By now everyone except Neji was standing up in rather non-threatening positions. The two enemy shinobi walked towards Sasuke confident that while the confusion was still ongoing, they were not going to be attacked.
"What happened to you?" asked the larger shinobi carrying the twins. "We lost sight of you just before that big battle and never saw or heard from you again. We really thought you had been killed."
"Speak for yourself," stated the smaller shinobi. "I knew that Sasuke couldn't be taken out so easily."
"Then where did you think he went to, smart-guy?" asked the large shinobi.
"Well, I didn't know," said the smaller shinobi. "He always made it very clear that he didn't need us. I just figured we went our separate ways."
"And that's why you were so distraught when we couldn't find him?" asked the larger shinobi.
"Just…shut up!" shouted the smaller shinobi, obviously flustered at being called out.
"Sasuke!" came a shout from outside of the immediate conversation. "What the hell…?"
Sasuke turned and faced the general direction of both Neji and Ino, who now definitely looked like they wanted some answers. Sasuke sighed. "It's a long story."
"Well, seeing as they aren't planning to fight us anymore, I think we've got a little time to hear your long story," said Neji flatly and somewhat annoyed.
"I'm confused," said Ino.
Sasuke turned back towards the enemy. "Are they ok?" he asked, nodding towards the twins.
"Oh, they're fine," said the larger shinobi. "It's just a mild drug that caused them to pass out. We got it from…"
"Shhh!" said the smaller shinobi.
Sasuke gave him a stern look.
"…at least until we figure this whole thing out," the smaller shinobi clarified looking sheepish now as a result of Sasuke's grimace.
Neji finally acquiesced and walked to where Sasuke was standing. Ino followed. Now all four of the shinobi stared at Sasuke waiting for the explanation.
"Let's start with the introductions. Neji, Ino, these are two of my former comrades back before I rejoined the village. Their names are Suigetsu Hozuki from the Hidden Mist, and Jugo." He turned to face his Leaf teammates. "And these two are Neji Hyuga and Ino Yamanaka, both Hidden Leaf shinobi."
Silence enveloped the five shinobi for all of five seconds, then everyone started talking at once over each other.
"Sasuke, you knew these guys before you came back? Doesn't that mean that they are enemies?" asked Neji.
"You went back to the Leaf?" asked Suigetsu.
"I thought you wanted to destroy the Leaf," said Jugo. "I mean, I'm glad you don't want to anymore, but still..."
"But why did they take the twins? They aren't on your side anymore Sasuke," said Ino.
With all the confusion and talking over one another, Sasuke had had enough. "HOLD ON!" he shouted and drew his hands upward to stop everyone from yelling.
"I think Ino's point is a good one. Despite the past, right now we are worried about those two," said Sasuke. Suigetsu. Jugo. Why did you take these two from their village?" Sasuke asked.
"We were on a mission, of course," said Suigetsu.