"Yeah, we were just planning on leaving, and taking Sasuke with us, if you didn't mind," Naruto said bravely.

"Oh, no you're not," Orochimaru laughed.

"And what thinks you can stop us?" Sakura asked, standing up to stand beside Naruto. Sasuke slowly stood up beside Naruto as well, using him as support. "Three against one, kinda unfair, don't you think?"

Orochimaru laughed. "Yes, Sakura-sama, it does seem a little unfair," He licked his lips with his overly long tongue. "That's why I brought help."

Torches lit up around them, all in a circle. At least half a dozen. Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto stood, back to back. A simple, yet effective, ninja formation.

(A/N: Has anyone noticed how half a dozen sounds like it's more than 6? Ha ha…)

"I'll be supervising," Orochimaru laughed dryly. "Two for each of you. Really, I'm spoiling you. Go ahead, boys, get 'em."

Sakura shoved her hand into her leg pouch to withdraw shuriken, but found her pouch not there. Naruto made a noise, and Sakura guessed it was the same situation with him.

"Uh, Sakura," He whispered over his shoulder to her. "I kinda don't have…"

"Me either," Sakura whispered back.

"Are you looking for these?" Orochimaru laughed. In his hand were two sturdy little pouches, their ribbons torn. "Oh, whoops, must have slipped my mind. Oh well," He smiled sadistically, and stuck out his tongue, wrapping it around the two pouches, and swallowing them quickly.

"No!" Sakura screamed. "Dammit! Naruto, we're screwed."

"What are you two, wimps?" Sasuke growled. "What about TaiJutsu?"

"Sasuke," Naruto snarled. "I couldn't even beat you in my full Kyuubi form. And you were in full, whatever the hell it was, form, and there are a hole bunch of people just like that surrounding us. If Kyuubi can't beat that, I dunno what will. At least our weapons would have given us some sort of assurance, even a little, at least…"

"Well, at least try…" Sasuke insisted.

"And what are you going to do, Princess?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke's voice went low, and a smile formed in his words as he said, "I may not be in the best shape because of that monster, but I'll take him out, with everything I've got…"

Sakura reached out as one thug ran at her, arms raised. She grabbed one of his legs and his arm, and flipped him easy, but another was right after him, and she ducked as he jumped at her. He rammed into Naruto, and he kicked backwards to send the thug flying towards the wall. He hit it with a disgusting crunch.

Sasuke dodged several hands that made a grab for him as he ran towards Orochimaru.

Naruto grabbed Sakura firmly around the waist and went Matrix style as he swung her in a circle, and she ran along in the air, kicking all the heads presented to her.

"Thanks," Sakura said as she landed, kicking one stubborn thug to the ground one more.

"I should be…" Naruto grunted as he was knocked to the ground, but he jumped to his feet almost instantly, giving the illusion that he was on a trampoline. He made seals so fast that it wasn't visible to the naked eye. Blue Chakra quickly forced the man to fall to his stomach, bound by the natural ropes made by the roots that Naruto summoned from the ground. "Thanking you," He finished once he was done.

Sasuke yelled out as Orochimaru's tongue transformed into a snake, and bit him 2, 3, 4, 5, dozens, and dozens of times. Sasuke couldn't dodge, no matter what he did. Naruto, hearing the yells, reached into the struggling man's pouch, and pulled out several shuriken. He threw them with pin-point accuracy between Sasuke and Orochimaru, just barely nicking the snake, but giving Sasuke enough time to get away.

"Thanks for that," Sasuke said.

"No…" Naruto backwards-punched an oncoming guy in the head. "Problem."

All 6 of Orochimaru's thugs were lying on the floor, groaning, and some unconscious. Sakura was injecting them all with her special Jutsu Chakra, making them all paralyzed.

"Well done," Orochimaru laughed. His mouth was bleeding from Naruto's shuriken, and he smiled at the fact. He wiped up the blood on the back of his hand, and licked it, slowly, while looking at Sakura.

She looked alarmed at the gesture. She screamed when someone grabbed her from behind.

Naruto turned around to try and help her, but found he couldn't move. His hand out-stretched towards Sakura, and one leg in front of the other, he had no balance. He fell to the floor, hard, and Sakura screamed his name. His face was turned towards hers, and he was watching her. Sakura could see the flames fill his eyes as he fought to be free.

Sasuke dropped to his knees beside Naruto and checked his vital signs, thinking him dead.

"You bastard," Sasuke growled. "How could you? Don't touch my friends ever again…"

"Oh, Sasuke," Orochimaru touched the top of his head, and he became frozen like Naruto. "You're one to talk. Didn't you say that you thought you had killed Naruto just to come to me?"

Sasuke's mind filled with rage as hewatched Orochimaru walk slowly towards Sakura.

"Mmm," Orochimaru hummed, taking Sakura's chin in his palm. "How delicious…"

Sakura noticed that it wasn't someone holding her; it was roots. The rough bark was digging into her skin. They were pinning her arms to her side, and holding her legs together. They were even holding her head straight. She tried to struggle, but the more she struggled, the tighter they got.

"Nar…" Sakura gasped. The roots squeezed her torso so hard that she felt something crack. Instant, excruciating pain followed, but Sakura concentrated her Chakra to the broken ribs. They wouldn't heal, no matter how hard she tried. The roots must have been squeezing so hard that her Chakra couldn't find a place to connect the bone back together.

Orochimaru's tongue flicked out to touch Sakura's neck. It moved up, slowly, onto her face. She looked disgusted, but knew she couldn't move, lest she be broken in half. She closed her eyes, but opened them once more when the roots tightened a little more.

He moved closer to her. His tongue made contact with her lips, and tried to pry them apart. Sakura tried keeping them sealed as tight as she could, but her mouth popped open in a silent scream as a loud CRACK filled the air. He arm had broken, and the bone was now sticking from her flesh…

Orochimaru's tongue went into her mouth, and his lips made contact with hers. He forced her into a cruel kiss of pain, and she gagged as his tongue crept towards the back of her mouth. It slithered down her throat, feeling like a soft, slimy snake. Sakura started choking. Orocimaru parted their lips, leaving his tongue in her throat, and moved back for Naruto and Sasuke to watch. Sakura's eyes rolled back into her head, and they closed. Her body noticeably slumped, even in her position.

Orochimaru removed his tongue, and laughed. "Oh, now look, she's dead."

Indeed, Sakura's skin was slowly turning blue with the lack of oxygen.

Sasuke growled. Naruto grunted as he fought against the Chakra paralyzing his body.

"Aw," Orochimaru said softly. "Too bad you boys were bad. I think maybe you'll end up like her. Or worse."

The thugs stood up as soon as Orochimaru raised his hand. They laughed maliciously. One grabbed Sasuke by the hair, and dragged him backwards. Another thug (with the help of one other) picked up Naruto fully off the ground.

Sasuke could feel black seeping into his vision. He blacked out half a second before Naruto did.