I may post slowly, dear readers, but good new, I've been working on 4 chapters at once. Meaning I'll post the next chapter within a month. Enjoy

4

"They're here," Captain Hyuuga said, walking in big strides towards the group. She stopped in front of the Uchiha. "They were surprisingly reasonable. They want to exchange prisoners at the bridge crossing the Monokuri river. In two hours from now."

The way she was looking at him was odd, as if she was waiting for his blessing. However, the Uchiha didn't let any of his thoughts appear, not any semblance of approval, nor disapproval.

"I want you at the meeting, "she continued, unflappable, "Your brother will take your place."

He nodded this time, "Anything else Hyuuga-Taichou?"

She seemed to ponder her words for a moment, before saying, "As a matter of fact," she turned to Sakura and Ryuu, " yes."

Sakura didn't know what made her shield her prisoner, but before she could do anything, the captain removed her out of her way in an abrupt movement. She then headed straight away for her target, grabbed Ryuu by his hair, and plunged a kunai deeply into his shoulder.

Ryuu screamed, "Fucking bitch!"

He felt on the ground, overwhelmed by the pain, which wasn't nearly enough for the captain. She swiftly throw her kunai to his right thigh and said, "Now the package's secure."

Sakura was stunned, looking back and forth between her now bleeding prisoner and the... Uchiha, in search of some sign, anything that would scream disapprobation. But she didn't find any, she didn't find anything at all. All of sudden, it occurred to her that they were Anbus. Assassins. They would kill Ryuu in a blink of an eye if they were told to do so. They wouldn't feel anything, they wouldn't care. We're not the same.

"Bandage him, but don't heal him, Haruno," she ordered, before disappearing with the prodigy.

With a colossal effort, she'd managed to prevent the disgust from showing up on her face during the whole ordeal. Now though, she felt too sick to put on a mask. She went to the ground and pulled out medical supplies out of her satchel.

"There's too much blood," he groaned, "I feel like my...soul is leaving my body!"

"Don't be dramatic."

"How can you be so calm?" he asked.

"I'm a healer, remember?"

"Except you're not healing me," he gasped, as she pressed on his wound with a clean white cloth. "You must help me Sakura-san."

"I'm not having this conversation with you again, Ryuu," she firmly said.

"More blood will be spilled. Yet again, and for what? Lies? I just want...fuck...I just want to avoid any unnecessary violence."

Ryuu wanted to save himself, that was more than comprehensible.

"It sounds like your people aren't up to... the task."

"My people know how to fight, but they're not soldiers, we've not be trained for war like your people," he explained.

Not my people, she wanted to say.

"One of your guy tried to kill me." she reminded him.

"There's always... an exception to every rule," he said. "Believe it or not, my people are rather pacific. Until a certain point, of course. What would you do if your loved ones were taken away from you? Wouldn't you want to do anything in your power to save them?"

"I would give my own life to save them," she answered, without the slightest hesitation.

"So help me."

"We're meeting your people soon, you heard the captain's order, so from my perspective, everything's coming to an end. You'll be given back to your people and the baby will be returned to his family. Everyone's happy. No bloodshed."

"Except that they're not going to return the baby."

"How do you know that?"

"I've just told you," he sighed. "They'd do anything to save him, including sacrificing their own lives. So now, think, why would they suddenly change their mind and let him go this easily? Doesn't make much sense, right?"

"But they want you back though."

"Wouldn't you want to save your friend?"

The blood had stopped flowing out from his tight. There was truly only one outcome for her, if she decided to help him, whether he was lying or not, helping an enemy wouldn't result in a well deserved promotion. Wait...she'd never been after congratulations, as a matter of fact, a revival of seven team had never been part of her plans. So why on earth should she go along with all this masquerade?

Principles, whispered a voice that she decided ignore.

He's no murderer, nor a threat to Konoha.

What was the worst that could happen? What had she to loose?

"Okay, I'll help you," she said, at last, nevertheless hoping that she wouldn't regret it later.

She moved back her hands to his wounds, and removed the bandage she had just tied to his tight – there was no need for it anymore – rejoicing at the idea of going against her captain's instructions.

Soon, there wouldn't be any injuries left.

"There's someone coming," he whispered.

"I know."

"Incredible," he murmured, touching the result of her work, it looked as if his skin had never been torn open a few minutes earlier. "We could use someone like you back home."

"Thanks," she glanced behind her, recognizing the silhouette approaching. "Getting rid of him won't be easy."

Ryuu stared anxiously at her.

"I'll find a way." she whispered. "Your foot, quick."

It took a few seconds for him to understand,"So all this time, you could have-"

"Sorry, I had no choice, but if you want freedom, you'll need both feet."

"You think so?"

Unlike his brother, Sasuke had chosen to lead the march, not seeming to care much about having the prisoner in his line of sight. Sakura had been looking at the black crest on his back for a little while, searching for a way to make her plan work. They needed a distraction, anything that would give them an opportunity to leave without being noticed.

She felt a hand lightly grab her elbow. Ryuu. He looked quite distressed and started mouthing words with his mouth. " We must go!" She then left her arms, showing him her palms to make him stop panicking , or rather to prevent him from doing something stupid.

She needed to set the plan in motion right away, that she understood. However, she felt like she had to wait for the perfect time.

"Are you still mad at me for yesterday?" she asked, in the most genuine voice.

"This isn't the time," he hissed.

Maybe it was actually the perfect time. She made a gesture at Ryuu, pointing her finger toward a tree. He seemed to hesitate at first, before he took his courage and carefully walked backwards to the position.

Now everything rested on her. She closed her eyes, made some motions with her fingers, and prayed the gods. When she noticed a new being at her side, she stopped following her teammate, and looked at the pink hair figure behind him. It looked nothing like her, Naruto would have certainly laughed at her clone - or whatever it was - madly. But it would do.

Sakura gasped as she felt the memories of her clone enter her mind all at once.

The former captive looked at her, "What's wrong?"

"He's coming for us," she said, " 'told you I wouldn't be able to maintain the illusion for long."

"I think we're getting closer, but we must hurry."

"You should go ahead on your own," she shouted, "It may give you a better chance at escaping my teammate. You don't need me anymore."

He stopped still, going back at her side, "You know why I need you. I want you to know the truth. Besides, I can't say I'm much of a runner..."

"I used to have more endurance," she sighed. "But I'm supposed to be retired you know..."

"Retired?!" he repeated, "You look younger than your age then, how old are you?"

"Twenty-one."

Ryuu raised his eyebrows.

"It's a long story, let's keep going."

The forest was finally behind them, as they started their ascension across the meadows. The wind was blowing strongly in the opposite direction, making it seem like the rich green grass and flowers were performing an endless dance. They were now walking along a path leading to the top of the hill.

Sakura glanced at their surroundings, and asked, "Are we close yet?"

From where they stood, they could see the river down the left side of the hill, as well as what looked like a small wooden bridge.

"There should be a cliff over there," Ryuu said, after a short while. He jumped over a rock, and looked over the distance. "Yeah, I can see the entrance, let's go!"

She glanced behind her back, just to make sure they wouldn't be surprised by a certain really angry teammate – that she was sure of it – and then followed Ryuu. Leaving the main path, they quietly hurried through the grass, until they reached a cliff. At first glance, it looked like they were just rocks down there, but when Sakura looked carefully, she noticed some sort of wooden structures built against the cliff.

"Come," Ryuu said. "Let's go down."

They arrived soon in front of an abandoned mine's entrance, which turned out to not to be so abandoned after all. Two men were guarding the entrance. They were standing just slightly inside, which was why seeing them from the cliff's top had been impossible.

The guards looked utterly speechless, "Ryuuzaki-sama?!"

"Quick,"he urged on. "Lead me to Haruka, I'll explain everything later."

They followed one of the guard, who immediately went inside the mine. The corridors inside, lighten by torches, were more cramped than expected, especially with the men and women scattered along the walls. They all looked like they were ready for war, holding tightly their weapons and giving her the evil eyes, as she went past them. She started counting them, but quickly gave up when she understood there were way more than twenty people gathered inside this hideout. The more they progressed further inside, the more people there were. It wouldn't be too far fetched to say there must me at least a hundred individuals, a reality that made her question her captain's sources. She certainly didn't remember her saying anything about a whole regiment hiding in this area. So whoever had given her information about the abductors had either lied or been completely blind.

Ryuu suddenly stopped at an intersection where a tall woman was looking at a map in her hands. Like all the other, she was dressed in a dark green attire. She lifted up her face when she noticed them.

"Ryuuzaki-sama!" the woman exclaimed in astonishment.

Ryuu took the map from her."You must call back the men, right now! Cancel your plan!"

"How did you manage to escape? We had a plan set up to save you," she looked at Sakura, narrowing her eyes, "And who's this?"

"Not a foe," said Ryuu, reading her thoughts.

She scrutinized her from head to toes, until her eyes suddenly widened, "Konoha insignia! She's one of them! Why did you bring her-" she made a quick gesture to some men by her side, "Grab her. Quick!"

And the fun begins now.

"No, wait!" Ryuu yelled, "It's thanks to her help I'm free!"

"I'm not taking any chance, not after everything we went through," she said firmly. "Lock her up somewhere. Come with me Ryuu."

A bunch of men lead her to what looked like a room meant for material storage, that was separated from the main railroad by metal bars, it certainly could be used as a cell. Unfortunately for her new friends, there was no way to lock it up properly, seeing as the key seemed missing.

They started piling up rocks in front of the door, which made her wonder why they were so wary of her, almost as if they were afraid. What did they know about Konoha?

Is this how foreigners think of us? Are we dangerous?

They must have heard about our exploits during the war.

She looked at her attire and cursed it, wearing a jounin uniform – one that she shouldn't even be wearing in the first place – came with being easily recognizable, thanks to the reddish Konoha symbol on her dark blue sweater. But it was really just a way to redirect her frustration on something – or rather on Tsunade and her way of forcing her will on Sakura. If she had brought her forehead protector, they would have known anyway.

"That's enough", one of the men suddenly said, satisfied with the outstanding mountain in front of her cell.

She smiled as a vision of herself smashing and fragmenting the ground appeared in her mind. Her past self certainly wouldn't have had any trouble showing them how vain their attempt to keep her locked up was. However, it was all...in the past. She wasn't even sure she still had the ability to use that kind of trick – not that she had any reason to.

After all, Ryuu wouldn't leave her in this cell, right?

She leaned against the bars, trying to get a sight of her new friends. Unfortunately, her little chamber was too much inside the rock cavity to let her see the right and left sides of the mine's corridor. She could hear a commotion coming from there, people marching.

Are they leaving?

And just when she started thinking of Ryuu and whether or not he had fooled her, his face suddenly showed up right in front of her.

"Ryuu!"

"We don't have much time," he said, while putting down a bag at his feet. "I promised you the truth, didn't I?"

"Are they - are you leaving?"

"It's only a matter of time until they come. Thankfully, my nephew's safe, en route to my clan's village," he explained. "How crazy as it sounds, my people were going to use a real baby to get me back. They found a woman, a local, willing to lend us her baby for money. Can you believe that?"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Well, you're going to be in trouble for helping me, right? You'll need proofs."

"I don't think... anything will help my case," she answered bitterly. "I'll be fine though, you don't have to-"

"Found it!" he shouted. "Please look."

There was a picture in his hand, one that portrayed a young man holding a baby in his arms. It was unmistakably Ryuu, with his cheerful face and his spiked brown hair. The baby, on the other hand… She couldn't tell if it was the same kid they had been looking for. The baby looked way younger on this picture and she couldn't say she had really had a good look at his face during their journey.

Sasuke's photographic memory may come in handy, if he doesn't kill me before…

"See! I didn't lie. Do you think it'll be enough to make them stop looking for my nephew?"

She smiled, and as she was about to grab the picture, a bunch of men barged into the place, looking like they were running away from a disastrous fate.

"Ryuuzaki-sama!" they shouted, waiting no time to seize him unceremoniously. "It's going to blow-up!"

He protested harshly, but it was too late, in a matter of seconds, they were gone, and so was the picture. She heard more sharp footsteps, running footsteps echoing through the mine, voices screaming names and orders, until all that remained was silence.

Just like someone who had seen too much already and had experienced all the catastrophic outcomes only a chaotic crew like team seven could experience, she just sat on a wooden crate and started contemplating her shadow.

Soon everything would be plunged into darkness.

They had been waiting for five minutes now, standing still on a small wooden bridge, while remaining on alert, expecting the captors at any moment. Somehow the silent was starting to feel out of place, as if something was…missing.

Itachi heard something slither behind him and noticed a purple snake at his feet, one that was somewhat familiar.

"My massster has a messsage for you."

"Speak."

"The package and Haruno are gone. Position: North-East, Monokuri Hill."

Hyuuga's eyes flared up, "I knew it!". She walked to the snake, "Bring the same message to Naruto Uzumaki."

The snake went pale, "Uzuma-," he gulped," I'm afraid I only answer to my massster, Lady."

"And your master answers to me," Itachi informed. "You'll go to Uzumaki."

"I...delivering your messssage will be my pleassssure, Uchiha-sama."

Once he was gone, the kunoichi turned to him, "Am I really going to be judged on this? This can't be normal, I'm not supposed to babysit my team."

"A captain's job is to be able to manage any situation."

"They're not Anbu, not yet and..."she sighed, "I have to deal with a traitor now? This shouldn't be part of my evaluation."

Team seven – or whatever it was now – was certainly not a responsibility anyone would love to have, that he could conceive.

"Is this an official complaint?" he asked.

"You're the one assessing me, Uchiha. I just want to know, yes or no, will I be assessed on everything regarding this mission and your brother's team?"

"You might be."

A sudden noise caught their guard, as a flock of bird flew above them, high in the sky. A cloud of grey smoke going eastward could be seen coming from up the hill.

An explosion.

"Let's go,"said Hyuuga, whose hands were slightly tight into a fist. "We've wasted enough time already."

They left the bridge swiftly, running through the forest border without looking back until they finally entered the verdant meadow covering Monokuri hill. It didn't take long for them to reach higher grounds, letting them spot the most unexpected sight.

Down the hill to the east, more than hundreds of men were traveling hastily, disappearing inside the forest.

They were all wearing dark green attires leaving no doubt about who they were.

Why so many mercenaries would hunt a kid?

What was even more concerning, was the fact nobody had noticed this large group of foreigners traveling within the fire country.

Hyuuga's eyes were focused on their prey like a hawk, until she finally said, "Two-hundred and thirty-four."

After that, they went back on tracks and ended up finding a place down a cliff, covered in a mass of rubble.

It seemed his brother had found the place sooner than them judging by the huge snake whose head was stuck inside what looked like a mine. Sasuke was waiting impatiently to the side.

He gave them a stare when he noticed them approach. But before they could exchange any words, the snake abruptly dislodged himself from the mine, and delivered, in front of them, a not-so-shaken and unscathed Sakura Haruno.

So she did it on purpose, after all.

The captain went forward and immediately asked her: "Explain yourself Haruno."

Her eyes widened out, as she realized who was speaking to her.

She cleared her throat and said, "The Lady and her uncle,"she was wiping some dust from her dark blue pant, "they're both liars. The baby-" she coughed, "The baby doesn't belong to them, it belongs to the clan that had been chasing them for days."

A clan.

That would surely be more fitting to the situation, considering the kidnappers didn't seem incline to leave anyone behind – unlike real mercenaries – and that would also explain their number.

"Haruno," she sighed. "I'm asking you to explain yourself," she repeated again. "We already know our clients aren't trustworthy."

"They've been lying to us about everything, isn't it enough for—"

"Again, you're not answering," she interrupted. "Tell me. Right now. What made you think dismissing orders would be a good idea? We had a plan and we would have retrieved the kid without any issue, if you hadn't decided to go against my orders!"

Itachi took a step back from the two kunoichi and walked to his brother, who seemed more concern with whatever was wrong with his vile giant pet – he didn't understand how Sasuke could trust anything that had been bonded to the despicable sannin. The mere sight of it should have awaken unpleasant memories, and yet, here he was, taking care of it in a way that could only allude to something deeper.

"What were you thinking, brother?"

He didn't say anything, although with the very annoyed look on his face, one that was half-way between a snarl and a pout – something only Sasuke could do – he could tell, he hadn't been thinking at all, which wasn't surprising in the least. Everything regarding team seven had been utterly disappointing and underwhelming.

A swirl of smells, a mixture between snake's gut and something else familiar, appeared in front of him to contradict his point, and yet, at the same time, to make them even more true. Even tough his body was towering over her, the green of her eyes seemed to attack him from every angle, like a brazing sun. It felt so intense, so overwhelming, he had to make a conscious effort not to back away, however much he wanted to get away from this situation, from her.

She should have gone back to Konoha.

"This wasn't his fault!"she screamed at him. "Sasuke trusted me, and he was right to do so. You want to blame someone? Blame me and stop antagonizing him every time something goes wrong!"

It was odd to find himself in such situation, portrayed as a threat to his own blood, and being screamed at, like a kid that needed discipline. He couldn't remember the last time it'd happened, if it had ever happen at all.

There was a time actually.