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"I'm going with you," Sakura spoke up, her fist clenched tightly at the edge of her oversized hoodie.

"Excuse me?" Minato looked to her with a confused expression. He expected the defiance from Naruto but not Sakura. "What makes you think I'm going to let you go anywhere near Baji?"

"Because I'm the only thing that's going to keep Baji from shooting you on sight," Sakura explained and Minato opened his mouth to argue but pursed his lips together. "If you want to go in and talk to Baji without causing a disturbance or putting up a fight, you're going to need me to get you through those doors and taken straight to him."

Opposites Attract: Chapter 18 – "The lengths at which one will go…" (Part 4 of 5)

Minato let out a heavy sigh and looked to the seat beside him to see Sakura staring absentmindedly out the window and the passing scenery that might've been all too familiar to her from a past she struggled to bury and forget. The expression on her face caused an uncomfortable tugging on his chests as he recognized it from when they finally managed to shut down Phoenix and found her in Baji's apartment, huddled into the fetal position in the back of a closet and almost completely overlooked hadn't he noticed the shivering coat that'd been thrown over her.

"Don't worry," Sakura spoke up for the first time since they'd left the house almost two and a half hours ago. Minato noticed the trembling in her voice and how much she seemed to fidget and shift in her seat. "Minato –." Sakura shook her head. "No. Otou-san?"

"Yes?" Minato looked at her.

Sakura was silent for a few moments more before looking at him, a painful smile on her face. "I didn't want to say this in front of Onii-san or Sasuke-kun but," she took a deep breathe, her trembling ceasing for the first time since they'd entered the car, "the only way you're going to get Hanabi is if you offer to trade me for her."

"Are you insane?" Minato questioned, clearly taken aback by her words. "I'm not going to offer to trade you for Hanabi; there's a better way to handle this situation than to do that."

"There isn't," Sakura argued quietly as she looked down at her hands, "not if you want everyone to get out of there unharmed and keep the commotion down to the bare minimum. There's already a lot of clean up necessary with the kidnapping itself, right? I mean, you can't let anyone know that Baji escaped from prison because that alone is going to be trouble for Uncle Nawaki. And who knows, it may cause trouble for Grandpa Dan as well if the dilemma isn't handled appropriately by Uncle Nawaki. And then you run the risks of exposing yourself and Whirlwind which can't happen because Whirlwind helps this city more than anyone with ever know."

"Sakura-chan," Minato tried to calm Sakura down but there was no point.

"I was never going to be free from Baji in the first place," Sakura confessed as tears filled her eyes. "But I want to do what I can so that no other girl ends up just another toy for him. I know Hanabi is safe for now but if she stays with him pass tonight, then there's a possibility that he'll never give her back to her family. I can't let that happen so I'm willing to go back if it means saving Hanabi from a fate like that."

"But what about you?" Minato questioned.

Sakura smiled through her tears. The next words she was about to say causing her stomach to churn. "Baji loves me too much to do something like that to me so at least I know I'm safe."

Minato's own stomach churned at the words because she knew he was right. Baji valued Sakura above all else and though he was involved in shady business, there were some things he refused to subject Sakura to. He watched Sakura for a moment as she broke down before he took her into his arms, their embrace tight.

"I'll do everything I can to get you out of there as soon as possible, do you hear me?" Minato told her as he kissed her head repeatedly. "This nightmare is going to be over before you know it, I promise."

Sakura nodded as she buried her face into Minato's chests and hugged him tighter. For the remainder of their ride, Minato held her and let her cry, Minato knowing his words would be futile in trying to convince Sakura there was another way. All he could do was repeatedly tell her that he'd get her out as soon as possible.

As the approached the Phoenix Compound, Minato felt Sakura tighten her grip on his sight as soon as the condition of the road changed. He looked at her for a moment as her trembling seemed to be more violent than before and when he looked forward, he could see the pale glow of lights just a few miles away.

"This is it," Minato muttered and Yahiko grunted in agreement. "Is everyone else already in position?"

"Confirmed fifteen minutes ago," Yahiko answered. "There's a problem though."

"What is it?" Minato questioned.

Yahiko sighed as he looked in the rearview mirror back at Minato. "You were right about Naruto and Sasuke leaving the compound. They're about an hour out but at the speed they're driving, they'll be here in forty-five minutes to an hour."

Minato sighed and rubbed his face. "Why can't that son of mine just listen to me every once in a while?"

"Do you want them stopped by the van?" Yahiko questioned.

Minato nodded and felt the car slow down as they approached a brass gate. Minato rolled down his window and a Phoenix member approached with his automatic assault rifle strapped to his chests. He eyed Minato for a moment but when he saw Sakura, he stepped away from the car and muttered something into his wrists. A few seconds later, the gate opened and all the Phoenix members who'd been out by the gate and lining the path seemed to keep their distance.

Sakura let go of Minato when she felt the road smooth out and she quickly wiped her eyes and straightened herself up. She made sure to take deep breaths in and out at an even pace to calm her nerves and she constantly rubbed her hands against the seat to get rid of any sweat that had accumulated.

"You're okay," Sakura muttered to herself quietly. "You're okay. You'll be okay. You're okay. You'll be okay," she said repeatedly.

As they came into the roundabout, Minato could see Baji coming out of the center building, an ecstatic expression on his face. As Yahiko climbed out of the car, Sakura hugged Minato one more time as tightly as she could before Minato's door was opened.

Minato climbed out and helped Sakura out as well but before Sakura's other foot could touch the ground, Baji had wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck. It took everything in Minato to keep from attacking Baji and it took everything in Sakura to suppress her disgusts and maintain her strength.

"My Little Princess," Baji breathed as he held her closer.

It took Sakura a moment but she wrapped her arms around him and muttered, "I'm home."

Baji let go of Sakura and took her face in his hands. He smiled and nodded. "You're home. You're finally home. After all these years I finally get to have you to myself again. My Precious Little Princess."

Minato cleared his throat and pulled Baji out of his euphoric state. "As much as I hate to interrupt your reunion, I believe we have business to discuss."

Baji sucked his teeth as he let go of Sakura and put his hands in his pockets. "This way," he muttered as he made his way up the steps and towards the doors. "Call them into the living room; have them bring the girl."

One of the Phoenix members nodded and hurried off into another portion of the house while Minato, Sakura, and several members of Akatsuki followed Baji in the opposite direction.

"I can trust you upheld your promise and didn't touch Hanabi?" Minato questioned.

"Of course," Baji answered. "I'm many things Namikaze and I'm always a man of my word. Oh, and I'll need you and your men to remove any and all weapons from your person before we enter. It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that I don't trust you."

"That's no problem at all," Minato complied and together, he and Akatsuki removed guns from holsters and belts and knives from pockets and straps. The dropped everything into baskets that sat outside the wood pane doors and after subjecting themselves to pat downs before they were allowed to enter the room.

"It took you long enough to get here."

Minato paused as he saw the man who sat casually on the couch just a few feet away from him. "Orochimaru?"

"My, my," Orochimaru cooed as he eyed Minato. "I have to say, you've grown into quite the man Minato. I suppose Jiraiya picking you up off the street didn't turn out to be a bad thing after all."

"Have a seat?" Baji asked as he took a seat beside Orochimaru and leaned back against the couch before propping his feet up on the coffee table. He patted the space beside him for Sakura to join him and sucked his teeth when Sakura sat beside Minato instead.

Minato sat back against the couch opposite of them and crossed his legs while Akatsuki lined the back of the couch. None of them said a word to one another until the doors opposite the ones they entered from opened and Hanabi was escorted in and the teens who'd been running around Konoha had entered along with her.

"See? Perfectly fine," Baji said.

"Well I'm certainly glad to see she's all right," Minato admitted. "Seeing as I don't have all the time in the world to be here and Hiashi-san is expecting his daughter home tonight, I'd like to make this quick and easy."

"We're offering an even trade," Sakura spoke up and Baji looked at her, his eyes shining. "You allow Hanabi to leave here with Minato and Whirlwind and I stay here with you and Phoenix."

"Seriously?" Baji asked and saw Sakura nod. "How do you consider this a fair trade, exactly?"

"Because you know there's no way in Hell you're going to get Minato to confess to being affiliated with Whirlwind in the first place," Sakura told him. "And even if Hiashi were to go on TV and make these allegations against Minato in the first place, Minato could very easily deny them, twist the media to his will, and make the whole thing be chalked up to be a misunderstanding and it'll be old news in no time at all. And let's face it, Whirlwind is too large of an organization for you to handle in the first place seeing as you've only operated a section of Phoenix since you were incarcerated almost eight years ago."

Baji sucked his teeth.

Sakura smiled just as Minato did when he knew he'd get his way. "This is the best you're going to get out of the situation. Especially because Hyuuga Hanabi isn't much of bait for us in Whirlwind. You kidnapped her to use her against us? Honestly Baji, I figured you'd be a little smarter than that. Did you kidnap her because of Naruto? You do understand that he holds little to no power in Whirlwind, yes?"

"Princess," Baji was becoming irritated, "I would appreciate it if you didn't speak as though you knew what the hell you were talking about. What exactly do you know, huh?"

"I know enough to tell you that you're lucky we're here in the first place," Sakura countered. "We could have let you keep Hanabi and let the Hyuuga handle the situation on their own. To be quite honest with you, you would've gotten a better hold on Whirlwind had you kidnapped Naruto, myself, or even Kushina. I would be so bold as to say you could've probably gotten this country had you kidnapped Tsunade seeing as Daimyo Dan is still in love with her. Face it Baji, you priced Hanabi too high."

"I certainly couldn't have said it better myself," Minato agreed. "So? Do we have a deal? Sakura for Hanabi and we walk out of here without any more issues?"

"With all that being said, I do believe that may be your best option for the moment, Baji," Orochimaru agreed. "But Minato-chan, tell me," Orochimaru reached behind his back and pulled a pistol from his belt and aimed it at Hanabi's head, "what exactly is stopping me from killing her? Like you said, Baji did price her a bit too high and asked for too much so she's virtually worthless to you."

"If you kill Hanabi then you don't get me," Sakura spoke calmly despite the sweat collecting on her palms.

"What the hell are you doing?" Baji shouted as he stood up and snatched the gun from Orochimaru.

Orochimaru shook his head in disappointment. "I knew you were simple Baji, but not this simple."

"Take her," Baji ordered as he grabbed Hanabi by the shoulder and shoved her towards Minato. He handed the gun to Kidoumaru before making his way to Sakura and taking him in her arms again. He buried his face into her neck once more and inhaled her scent. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too," Sakura lied but her voice sounded sincere.

"We'll be taking our leave then," Minato said as he stood up and placed a hand on Hanabi's back, guiding her towards the exit. "I want you out of Fire Country by the end of tomorrow."

With that, Minato and Akatsuki were out of the room. Sakura felt relief wash over her at the success of the exchange but it was short lived. She saw the expression on Baji's face, one she recognized from before, and felt her blood run cold.

"Everyone," Baji spoke into his wrist, "you may proceed."

To Be Continued…