AN: I was trying to wait until I could get caught up in my reading, but that ain't happening, so here we go.

Chapter 4

The Team

"Amazing," came the voice of one of the doctors.

"Techno-san, would you like to tell me what is going on?" Tsunade was irritated now. Techno was not listening. He was staring intently at the boy in the bed.

"Oi. How did you do that?" asked Naruto. He was still not responding.

"TECHNO!" Tsunade was now completely pissed. She did not like being ignored. The young man looked up from the boy. Strange shapes and text were all over his glasses. Many icons were moving. Naruto jumped back as he saw the images that had not been there the last time Techno had looked up.

"What the hell is that?" the blond screamed nearly at the top of his lungs.

"It's," he paused, remembering the four hour conversation with the Hokage. "Not important right now. What matters are my findings." Without so much as blinking, the images disappeared. "The cursed seal seems to be eating away his body and soul." Techno said simply. He put his hand on Sasuke's forehead. His hand began to glow. After bringing his hand away the black markings of the cursed seal were swirled around a tear shaped marking. "Tsunade-sama, we need to talk."

!#$&()+

"I know how strapped you are for ninja right now, so I would like to take a team of genin with me to try to save the soul of Uchiha Sasuke."

"I still don't understand what is going on, or how you know this," said Tsunade from behind her desk. Only she and Techno were present in the Hokage's office this time. Techno had switched back to the shorts and blue shirt that he had originally come in with, though Tsunade still couldn't figure out how, where, or when he found the time to do it. "Tell me what you know or you will not be allowed to take anyone anywhere."

Techno sighed. "The last time we tried this it took like four hours and you still didn't understand everything."

"Try."

Techno reached a hand up, rubbing his face impatiently. "You know I'm from another dimension." She nodded. "Well there are a crap load of other dimensions out there. Uchiha-san has a cursed seal on him right now. You understand that." Tsunade nodded again. "Since Uchicha-san is out of chakra, which is what the cursed seal was originally designed to use as a power source, it now seems to be feeding off his body and soul, as well as any chakra that is coming back to him. This is making it so that he won't be able to replenish it. I have been able to stop it from feeding off his body with my healing . . ."

"But how do you know this?"

Techno sighed and rubbed his face again. "This is where we get into the confusing part. Different worlds often have different bases for their magic. Some may draw off the power of a god, goddess, guardian or other divine being, while others may draw from the land or the elements themselves.

"Your world's magic, like mine, is based on the person. However, your chakra and my magical aura are completely different. My spells have a completely different base and style than your jutsus. But, thanks to the Tournament I know a thing or two about your chakra channels." Tsunade stared blankly are the young man before her. "My glasses. They can scan for general information. Health, height, weight, magic and soul status among other things. Your genin's soul is simply not all there and is steadily decreasing, as is the state of his body. Since the cursed seal is the only foreign body, it has to be the source."

"That last few statements would have been enough." Tsunade grabbed a few file folders. "Which team would you like to take with you? And where would you be taking them?"

"I was hoping that for a mission like this I could mix and match. As for where I'm taking them . . . Well it is defiantly going to be an A-rank mission."

!#$&()+

Sakura sat in a chair next to the young Uchiha's bed. The lights were off in the room, but light was shining through the window. The room had long since been vacated. Naruto had left hours ago to get checked out by the medic-nins. The entire medical staff was so electrified with disbelief about the strange healing abilities of the stranger, that Naruto and the others was forced to undergo a slew of tests, to see just what had happened.

Sakura sat alone in the dark. One phrase kept echoing over and over in her mind. 'The cursed seal seems to be eating away his body and soul.' Tears were beginning to form in her eyes. Never had she felt so helpless. Even on team 7's missions, she still had something she could do, but this was beyond her comprehension. She felt helpless. She felt sad. She felt guilty.

'If only I had done more when he was here,' she thought. 'I could have stopped Orochimaru from giving him the seal. I could have stopped him from leaving. If I had been stronger maybe he would have seen me as more than just a teammate. Maybe then he would have stayed.'

The door cracked open. Kakashi poked his head through. "Sakura."

"H-hai, Kakashi-sensi?" she replied wiping her eyes.

"Hokage-sama has requested the presence of all genins at the academy. She has a mission that concerns Sasuke." Sakura only stared.

!#$&()+

The academy was filled with genin as Sakura walked in. It was filled to capacity as every genin in the village had been summoned, not just the ones around their age. She looked around as she walked to the only empty seat, which happened to be next to her teammate. Surprise flashed in her mind as she saw who else was there. Lee looked as healthy as ever. Kiba, who, she had been told, had sustained a major stab wound, was showing no signs of it. In fact only Shikamaru, who was no longer a genin, and Choji, who had sustained the worst injuries, were absent from the gathering.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled as she sat down. She winced at the loudness of her teammate. Normally she would have hit him for being so loud, but today even Inner Sakura didn't think it was worth it. "Sakura-chan, are you okay. You don't look so good."

"I'm fine," she mumbled.

"I can't believe we have to take another mission for this baka. I just got done dragging his ass back to Konoha." Sakura didn't even blink as he said the words, she only took her seat next to her teammate. 'Nothing. I thought for sure she would at least tell me to shut up,' Naruto thought.

The Hokage and the young man from earlier, walked in and to the front of the class room. She stood there and watched with mild amusement as he sat on top of the desk. The room quieted down as the Hokage stood in front of the assembly. Tsunade looked around the room.

"I assume that most, if not all of you have heard by now," she started. "That genin Uchiha Sasuke has been brought back to the village. What you may not have heard is that Uchiha-san needs our help. Techno-san."

Techno stood up from the desk. "What I'm about to tell you all may sound unbelievable. The soul of Uchiha Sasuke is in danger of being consumed." Murmurs went up from people. "Hey! Shut up! I have the power to stop it, but I don't have everything I need to pull it off. I will be taking three genin on a journey to get what I need.

"This is going to be an A rank mission, and very dangerous. We will be traveling to places that I would be very surprised if any of you have ever even heard of them before. We are going to be traveling to two other dimensions." Techno paused as the entire room, save he, Sakura, and Tsunade, erupted into laughter.

After a few seconds Tsunade stepped in front of the young man, giving a stern look at those in attendance. The room was suddenly silenced. "Thank you. As I was saying, I will need someone who is smart; a problem solver, one who can think logically and intelligently about different subjects. I will need a scout; a person who can collect information from far away without being detected. I will need someone who is strong; a brawler who can jump into a crap load of enemies and come out okay."

"You mean that wasn't a joke?" Naruto shouted from his seat.

Techno tried to stifle a smile. "Put yourself into one of these categories. You have only one choice, and will not be considered for another category other than what you have chosen, so choose wisely." A chunin entered with a stack of papers and began passing them out. You will have ten minutes to decide and complete these forms, after that we will begin short interviews, where I will decide who will be coming with me. Fill out all information asked, as it could be vital to this mission."

Naruto scanned the document that was handed to him, before his eyes rested on question twelve. "Oi, what does our favorite color have to do with this mission!"

"Of all the questions asked on that sheet, I find it odd that this is the question you have a problem with." Snickers could be heard from around the classroom.

Sakura looked down at her paper. 'Question 9. Specialty jutsu. I don't have a specialty jutsu. I can't use anything useful. I'm weak, I don't know why I am even bothering.' Wallowing in self pity, she put down the only thing that she could do really well.

!#$&()+

"Sakura-san," Techno said from behind the desk, in the room that had been set up for the interviews. "Could you elaborate more on 'Tree Climbing' as your specialty jutsu?"

Sakura sat in a single chair in the middle of the room. Her head was down making it hard for Techno to hear what she was saying. He was only able to make out a few key words. "Weak" "chakra" "control" "focus" and "weak" a few more times. 'She's really broken up about this Sasuke thing. This may be tougher for me than I thought.'

"According to this you were the top in the academy," Techno "read" from the sheet. Of course he already knew this, but none of the genin knew that he knew. Sakura nodded.

Techno began to speak in a low, solemn voice. "I know he is your teammate, and I know that you are upset about this. Wouldn't you like to be on the team that helps save him?" Sakura looked up, hurt apparent in her eyes. "If nothing else, it will be something that you can hang over his head for the rest of this life." Sakura felt a small smile tug at the edge of her mouth. "Maybe even get him to go out with you, as a way to thank you." She blushed as there was no denying the smile now.

"Arigato."

!#$&()+

"Is that the last of them Tsunade-sama?" Techno asked as the fifth Hokage poked her head in the door.

"Hai. Do you need some time to decide on your team? I could . . ."

"No. I have my team." 'I had them picked out before the interviews. I just wanted them to be picked in front of their peers.' Techno stood and walked over to the door. He and Tsunade once again entered the room full of genin, most of which were chatting about various things, including who was going to get picked.

The group quieted down as the two figures walked up to address the genin.

"After reviewing all of your skills, and your files, I have made my decisions about who will be accompanying me. I won't beat around the bush. Brawler, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto jumped up laughing, and pointing a finger at everyone else in the room. "I was picked over all of you! I am the best! Nothing less for the future Hokage!"

"We haven't left yet," Techno smirked.

"Huh?" Naruto looked toward the front of the room.

"Until we leave I can still change my mind. Don't make me." Naruto frowned. He didn't like it when anyone challenged him and won, let alone twice, but for an A class mission he decided to suck up his pride and sit down.

"As my problem solver I will be taking Haruno Sakura." Techno watched the pink haired girl as he said this. He saw her shoot a smile at a scowling blond haired girl behind her. Techno smirked again.

"Finally, as my scout, I choose Hyuuga Hinata."

Author's notes: All right. Who didn't see this team coming? Come on it's a NaruHina and SasuSaku fic. If this chapter was a little boring I'm sorry. This was more of a set up chapter than anything else. The next chapter I'm really going to have fun with. I felt that near the end of this chapter I went a little Techno heavy, but it was kind of hard to bridge the middle of this chapter to the beginning of the next. Techno will play a major role in the next chapter, so it will be Techno heavy, but it will also be somewhat Hinata heavy. Until next time.

"Death is but a door. Time is but a window. I'll be back."

Ray Stanz, Quoting Vego, the Carpathian (Ghostbusters II)