DISCLAIMER: I dun own Naruto . The only character(s) I own in this story are Kounouri Oyasume , Natsume Shinzue and Narumi Katiyou. If In any way, this character or characters resembles any other living person or character; please notify me and I will change it. Please don't sue.
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The six Genin stood, stupified, ad the Wind Country ANBU team towered in front of them, their faces sullen and worn. Kakashi's eyes were closed, and his arms were crossed. He seemed to be in thought, and then the silence was broken. "Nani wa..." All ninja simulaneously thought, and Hinata asked "What's going on?"

Kiba gulped, extremely out of character. His face was pale, and He whispered over to Hinata. "Oyasume... Is suspected of being a member of a mass conspiracy... The leader even..." The ANBU leader took over. "Responsible for almost 20 deaths, all by nin-jitsu techniques. this is a very serious matter." He turned to Kakashi and paused, before asking "I expect you told them of the letter...." Kakashi shook his head, his eyes still closed. The ANBU leader sighed and turned back to the Genin. "We suspect the head of this conspiracy is a man named Narumi Katiyou. One of the main suspects involved is a ninja, like Oyasume, A respected one at that, Natsume Shinzue." Again, the ninja sighed. He gestured to the people behind him and they got to moving right away. The began to place items in front of the ninja, and when they were finished, Kakashi finally spoke. "Stakeout. Get ready."

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The Konohagakura Genin leaped to tree after tree and finally saw a faint glow of light below them. It was filtering out through the window of a small house, presumably Shinzue's. Sakura looked down and gulped, nodding to her team members. The ninja, in pairs of two and one single-man team, Kiba, lept up and surrounded the house. A mixture of voices could be heard through the static of the communication equipment, and finally a few words were understandable. "Team A, check, team B." Sasuke's voice was clearer now, and he looked over to Sakura and nodded. "Team B, check, Team C." Kiba's disgruntled voice came through and a yip of approval was sounded on Akamaru's part. Next came Shino's voice, and Hinata's. "Team C, Check, Team D." Kakashi and Naruto answered. "All teams check, Launch mission." And they were of. Teams C&B Points 1, Rather, Naruto and Hinata, Were to be on watchout, switching points from one tree to another. Points 2 stayed stationary, facing across from each other. Shino And Kakashi, (Points 2, Teams C&B) Were on direct line communication. Teams A&D, Both Points 1 & 2, Were to land and enter Natsume Shinzues house. A nod of approval passed between Kiba , Sasuke, and Sakura, and then ninjas began. One by one, The ninja entered, and the lines between the inner teams went dead.

Sakura's mouth dropped open, and she marvelled at what she saw in front of her. "It's a maze! And a big one at that!" Sasuke grinned and His eyes turned red with the Sharingan Jitsu. "A simple illusion technique." He led them through the illusion, and both Sakura and Kiba grinned as the scene played itself out before them. Underneath his breath, Kiba spoke in anticipation. "So they were expecting us." Suddenly, Kiba reached out and held the two back. He gestured for them to stay silent, and nodded for Sakura to put an invisibility jitsu over them. He signalled for them to spread out and the three ninja sped to a triangle formation, surrounding an inner destination. Sakura pulled out her kunai, and Sasuke loaded his fingers with Shuriken. Kiba grinned and poised ready, as they heard a shout and the "Maze" Disappeared in a puff of smoke. Kiba was the first to go and ran headlong at the ninja, still unidentified. They weren't going to wait. He flipped closer and pulled at the ninja's arm, spinning him round and wrapping his arm around the ninja's neck. Sasuke came under and spun his leg around, knocking the balance out. Sakura threw her Kunai at Him and Sasuke passed her the Shuriken to follow up. As soon as Sakura's weapons hit the "ninja" , Sasuke's eyes widened and he pulled back. The replacement landed on the ground with a rush of sound, and all the ninjas stood dumfounded.

There was a sound. A scream. Her own. Sakura's mind felt swarmed and racing, but it was moving slowly and unconventionally. She'd been captured. She looked up to see Not Shinzue, but a man.She reached for a Kunai and slashed at his arm, spinning out of the way. [[Training PAYS OFF!]] Inner Sakura yelled as she spun through the air, only to land back into the arms of the same ninja.

Sasuke saw all this, his Sharingan in motion, watching the movements of the ninja. 'It's hopeless'. He thought. 'He's too fast... He must have trained in Tai-jitsu, Nin-jitsu AND gen-jitsu.' But his body wouldn't let him give up. He fought his way over to the moving ninja, who was making his way out of the building. He ran, but it was like a dream. His movements were slow and his vision was blurred. 'Fuck' He thought, as he blacked out. 'Too much chakra..' His last vision was of Sakura. Their eye's met, and her expression read not pain or fear, but anger. At herself. Sasuke struggled, but all his jitsus let go. He passed out and heard the thundering of footsteps and a yell, probably Kiba attacking at the ninja. He heard a door slam.

Kiba panted, his energy still high, though he was exhausted. He'd seen the ninja, he'd been so close. So close. He almost had him, and the damn door... He looked over to the door, which was pelted with projectiles. Kunais, Shurikens, the works. "So damn close!" He went and picked up Sasuke, Dragging him outside. He looked up, and the connection between him and the other ninja opened.
"They got her!" He yelled, anger welting through him.
"I saw. Naruto! Kakashi! Hinata! Go after her! Kiba, you follow behind. Your energy is low. I will stay here with Sasuke just in case one of them comes back." Shino's unfamiliar courage took over and he was the head of the show. Kakashi didn't object and the four active ninja lept towards the direction that Sakura and her capturer had been going.

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Sakura felt pain surge through her as the door slammed behind them. She saw the widening eyes of her team-mates, even Kakashi. But she didn't take heed of them. Few images ran through her mind. Sasuke's look. Her capture. She door closing. Over and over. Finally her mind began to work again and She became aware of her situation. Her anger rised at herself and she kicked at the balance of the ninja, flipping out of his arms. She landed and spun at him, knocking him over. She stabbed at his hand with her kunai and took a good look over him. He grinned and puffed away before she could see any features. She now knew who he was, because a familiar sound overtook her. Sand. Sand, falling from the replacement. A Kunai was held up to her throat and she pulled at it, spinning round and flipping the figure over, cutting her hand. It was worthless though, he only landed on his feet. "Gaara!" Sakura called out and slashed at the figure. He flipped back and dragged his feet across the bark of the tree as a brake. His face stayed unreadable and He cast a familiar jitsu on her, Desert Coffin. The sand was closing in on her. "This is the end. I know it is. The end." She wasted her breath on talking, no longer fighting to survive. there was pressure on her skin now, and she was having trouble getting air in and out of her.

*~* FLASHBACK *~*
Shino watched as Sasuke woke up. He instantly stood up, his strength regained easily. "Where is she? Did Kiba get her?" His eyes shone with anger and anticipation, eagerness to fight. Shino shook his head and explained about the other ninja. Sasuke wanted to go after her, but Shino refused. he turned around to grap the headset that had fallen from Sakura. When he turned back, Sasuke was gone. he sighed an watched leaves around him move back into place. He leapt up behind the Uchiha and followed him.
"So this is the family determination..."
There was a yell from the trees ahead of them, and the blur of their scenery slowed.
"Gaara!"
*~* END FLASHBACK *~*

Sasuke instinctively threw shurikens at the figure. He watched as a familiar scene played itself out before him. Desert coffin. He pulled out his Kunai and ripped though the seal, playing no success as the sand replaced itself. He kept trying. "SAKURA!" he yelled, flipping around instinctively every time the presence around him came to close. He breathed heavily and coughed, blood dripping out of his mouth. Shino was right. He was weak.

Shino saw all of this and played over his thoughts. He realized his only way out of the situation was to run, but his only way to run was to get Sasuke to stop killing himself. The only way to do that was to get Sakura out of the seal. He looked around for something to help him figure it out and Saw that Gaara's hands were still in a seal. 'So.. He has to hold the seal the whole time?' Shino called apon his main allies. The leaves above Gaara moved. Tiny bugs fell from the branches and the red-haired ninja stayed unfazed. They were now crawling all over him, biting and stinging. 'It's not working...' Shino thought and came apon a last resort. He spun up and landed twisting out his hand and knocking the seal slightly out of position. The sand around Sakura faltered and Sasuke realized what his ally was doing.

'I don't have much time...' he thought and turned back to Sakura, only to find her gone. He saw a familiar figure leaping away and grabbed Shino, dragging him after Naruto. "HURRY!" He yelled forward. Gaara was not far behind them, and gaining fast. Shino was close ahead of him, and faltered, slowing them both down. To his surprise, Gaara lept straight after them and kept after Naruto. 'Oh shit..' Sasuke thought. 'Naruto can't win against him!'

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A/N- Oh yeah, Another wonderful break in my writer's block... I had more planned for this chapter, but it just doesn't fit in to the way this one's working out... so yeah. A bit of a dramatic scene next chapter.
In answer to some of your reviews (Thanks a bunch, by the way!),
Kyyubi- Yea, i know, Naruto never does get the girl. I'm trying to work out something... I thought about that too. I don't like the Idea of Naru/Hina though... not right now anyways... I might just have something up my sleeve, though, if you don't mind Shonen-Ai.... O.o;; You know what that means... well, no you don't. Here's a hint: The Sasu/Saku, is staying BOTH SIDED!! yeah, that's right, maybe some One-sided SasuNaru but no further than that, and then yes, I am hoping Naruto will get someone... whether it be a girl or not.

PREVIEW FOR NEXT CHAPTER:

"I Don't need your help, Sasuke!"

Naruto fights for his life and Sakura's, and fights mentally against Sasuke for his pride and his recognition.

Thanks To:
Naruto Soundtrack, for the break in my writer's block!
Onii-san (Veggie)- For my inspiration to write
Tom - For waking me up an keeping this story going
Kyuubi - For a great story Idea
Kishimoto Masashi - For NARUTO!