A.N.

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters do NOT belong to me. Naruto belongs to Misashi Kishimoto.

Sayuri and any characters that have not and will not appear in the manga/or anime are completely original.

Reviews are welcomed and encouraged! Thank you!

Nightmare

"You called?" Kakashi didn't even jump when Moriyo landed behind him. He watched village bellow the Hokage monument. With everyone working together it was thriving more than ever and he was proud. His former teammate stepped up next to him, eyes on him.

"Naruto, Sayuri, and Sai returned from the temple last night." When she didn't make a sound, he turned to her. "They found something strange."

"…Well don't keep me in suspense Scarecrow."

"They think that Kenji wants to summon a being called Marishi-Ten."

Moriyo's brow furrowed. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

"Because Kaminari had mentioned it once. Marishi-Ten brought destruction and war to our world, and her ancestors just barely managed to seal it away." He watched as the dark-haired woman's eyes slowly widened.

"Oh...oh no…"

"My thoughts exactly."

"A few months before she died…she was doing an investigation on the ROOT…"

"She found a man on the border trying to plant bombs at the southern entrance, and they had mentioned that name." Kakashi nodded pulling out folder containing Kaminari's findings. "Danzo knew about that being and she kept looking for answers even after the investigation was stopped."

"That might have been why he had her killed before the rest of the clan. She knew something."

"Or she was getting close to knowing."

"And Kenji fits in this how?"

"Because if Danzo knew then Obito knew too, and since Kenji was working with Obito the entire time…" Moriyo's fists clenched over the folder wrinkling it in the process. "How's your investigation going?"

"Not great. I thought if I got Sayuri out of the ANBU it'd go a lot smoother but everything in the organization seemed to calm down after that. And then we had that little stunt at the South Gate, someone lured her there, they wanted her to be there. That damn mole is hiding so well I'm not even sure if I can find them before they do anything else."

"You're doing what you can."

"Yes, well now you're basically a sitting duck. You've got no security detail because of this and I can't guard you while I'm investigating my own organization."

Kakashi chuckled. "Well I wouldn't really consider myself a sitting duck. Despite what you may think sitting behind that desk every day hasn't made me weak."

"So you say."

All these years and she still liked picking on him. Kakashi smirked behind his mask, it was nice to know that even after everything that happened she remained herself. "How about this, after their mission Diachi and Hajime can be assigned to me. Which reminds me any word from them?"

"They're due to arrive today. They got Naoki."

"Well at least that's some good news."

XXX

"Ah!" Sayuri landed on her back for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. Lee placed his hands on his hips, slight frown on his normally joyous face. She hissed and hit the cool grass with her hand in frustration.

"Sayuri, what's the matter? You've been very distracted these past two days." Asked Lee, handing her a bottle of water.

The auburn haired ninja, looked off to the side. Most of the children were with TenTen practicing their weapons skills, although some were doing it halfheartedly watching the two older ninja train. She cleared her throat and the few that were distracted immediately went back to work, pretending-and failing-that nothing had happened.

"I'm sorry, Lee-sensei." She bowed her head. "I'm just…" she rand a hand through her hair in frustration. "I should be paying more attention. I'm sorry."

Lee took a seat next to her, eying the ninja carefully. "If Neji were here…" he cupped his chin, looking up at the sky. "He'd say: 'Sayuri you need more concentration and you need more sleep'" he wagged his finger as he imitated their late friend's stern tone of voice.

Sayuri smiled. "No he'd say: 'Your form is terrible, blah blah blah! You haven't slept well I can tell, and you need to stop thinking of whatever it is that's bothering you and concentrate on this match!'" she finished trying to make her voice as low as possible and doing her best annoyed Neji face, which ended up looking like she was smelling something awful. Lee on the other hand laughed at her horrible attempt.

"What are you two doing?" The two froze at the sound of Tenten's voice right behind them.

"Nothing." They answered in unison.

The weapon's mistress smiled. "Riiight." She took a seat on the other side of the green clad man. "And Neji would say 'Stop making fun of me, and get to work you two!'"

"We were working." Lee replied.

"I'm just a mess." Sayuri added.

Tenten nodded. "That you are."

"Hey!" the younger konoichi turned to Tenten offended. "Aren't you supposed to reassure me?"

"What? Are we not still pretending to be Neji?" Lee laughed and Sayuri sighed. "I sent the kids home. It's getting late and they were more concentrated on you two than on the actual lesson."

"Sorry, Tenten." Lee apologized she however shook her head.

"Nah, it's ok, to be honest I wasn't any better." Light brown eyes turned to Sayuri. "What's bothering you? You were all over the place today."

"Is it your chakra again?" Lee asked, round eyes on her as well.

"No…" She shook her head and pushed herself up. "I'll figure this out. I'm ready for another round." She smiled and the two ninja on the ground glanced at each other.

"How about a little change of pace." Tenten proposed watching as the auburn ninja's smile faltered.

"A what?"

XXX

"There it is!" Hajime exclaimed as Konoha's north gate came into view. "Home sweet home!"

Sasuke and Diachi fell slightly behind the silver haired ninja. It was evening and the weather was cooling down, all of them were eager to get home, but knew they'd have to do a mission report as soon as they met with their superior.

The guards at the gate greeted them, and for the first time Sasuke didn't have to worry about the wary look on their faces because behind his ANBU mask they had no idea who he was, and somehow he preferred it that way. Helping the village from the shadows. He looked around him watching the villagers go about their evening as they usually did, for the most part ignoring the three as they walked by. Not being in the forefront of every ones attention brought on a sense of calm. He found himself at ease, and he didn't know whether that was a good or bad feeling.

"One of us will need to report to the Hokage." Said Diachi.

"I'll do it." Sasuke offered as they neared the building. The two ninja shrugged, Diachi handing a scroll with the mission summary to the Uchiha before leaping off towards their headquarters and he turned his attention to the entrance. Soon enough he found himself in front of Kakashi's door and knocked. A muffled come in was all he got before he pushed the wooden door open. His former teacher glanced up from his paper work and sat back. Lacing his fingers together waiting on the Uchiha.

Sasuke placed the small scroll before the Hokage and lifted his hand to remove the mask. "Don't." the silver haired man said. "Security reasons." Frowning, Sasuke dropped his hand to his side. He watched as the man carefully read over the summary a crease forming on his brow.

"You killed the man."

"That was my mission."

"I see…" he nodded. "And what about the ANBU near the border."

"We got our lead from them, but when we arrived they were dead." Sasuke's eyes shifted around the room and once again found it devoid of the man's guards. "Their hideout had been infiltrated."

"Did any of you get a clue as to who could have done it?"

"No." he shifted his weight and watched Kakashi carefully. "Where are your guards?"

"Being reassigned."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the man. "You're not telling me everything Kakashi, and I'm beginning to suspect that something's up with the ANBU."

Kakashi smiled behind his mask. The boy had always been sharp. "Why do you say that?"

"Because I couldn't have found that hideout but someone did. So, you either have a mole or the people we're dealing with hired some good trackers. I need you to start explaining what's going on or I will find out on my own."

Sasuke looked out the window to the setting sun and sighed. He had hoped to leave early today but that didn't look to be the case. "Someone has been planning attacks on the ANBU, almost all of them occurred in their hideouts, and like you said, if you don't know where to look you can't find them. Moriyo and I are beginning to suspect a mole."

"Does Sayuri know?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No, but I'm sure she'll figure it out soon enough."

"Who's the main target."

"We believe it's Konoha."

XXX

The door to her home slammed shut as she stumbled through. Barely managing to pull of her boots off with a pained groan. "Food…" she moaned as she pulled herself up and headed to the fridge. Taking out the necessary items for her meal she moved to turn on the stove when the pounding on her door stopped her. "Aww…" she whined and made her way back to her entrance. "I'm going, I'm going!" she announced as the pounding continued. Pulling the door open she nearly slammed it close at the sight of Sasuke Uchiha on the other side.

"What happened to you?" "What are you doing here?" the two asked talking over each other.

She felt Sasuke's eyes on her probably surprised to see her covered in scrapes and bruises. She on the other hand looked him over trying to figure out where he came from.

"I thought you left the village." She said, clearing her throat.

"I did, on a mission."

"Oh…well…Sakura and Naruto were looking for you."

"You still haven't answered my question."

"I was training." Well it was technically more like getting a beating, considering she was fending off the weapon's mistress and taijutsu expert at the same time. "Did you need something?"

"Yes." He held up a piece of paper, and upon closer inspection, Sayuri fumbled. "What on earth were you thinking?" He began, eyes narrowed on the young woman. "You went to Orochimaru for help?"

"I didn't go to him." She fiddled with the sleeve of her top. "I sent him that in a message."

"You of all people should know better than to ask that man for help."

Sayuri frowned. "And how exactly did you end up with this!" she snatched the paper from his hand waving it at his face. "You went to see him too, didn't you!" when he didn't answer she scoffed. "So you're coming here to scold me about asking that man for help when you went to see him for god knows what!" she laughed. "That's really hypocritical, don't you think Uchiha?"

"I know how to deal with him, you don't."

"I can handle myself."

"Not at the state you are now."

"I don't need you, Sasuke."

He glared at her and stepped forward, voice quieting down and dropping an octave. "Let me ask you this, if he had come here right now, would you have been able to fend him off?" he saw her bristle under his glare, her hand tightening on the door knob. "No, of course not because someone's chakra has been sealed. He only cares about himself, you can never be sure with that man because you don't know when he'll turn around and use that against you."

She knew he was right, heck she knew it was a gamble but she had to try. She was not going to sit back and wait it out. "I had to do something!" she hissed. "And you went to him for the same reason. You went to him for help, because you didn't know what else to do and it's not really fair that you came here to scold me for doing the exact same thing!"

"I'm only here to warn you that if you keep acting recklessly you are going to get hurt." He sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Why can't you see that I'm not the bad person here?"

She felt her heart clench at the look of defeat in his eyes. "I know you're not." She whispered just barely loud enough for him to hear. "But I don't need you to protect me."

His eyes met hers for the first time in weeks since the night he saw her in the park. He figured that it was better to stay away from her but he couldn't stop. Just like the years before, he couldn't stay away. Not when they were children, not when he left the village, and not now. There was always something that drew him to her and he could never truly fight it off. And right now, being in front of her all he felt at piece. He had felt it with Naruto after their fight, but that was different, that was his brother even though he'd never admit it out loud. With her, it was something just a bit deeper.

"Sayuri, Sakura-"

"You should leave." She cut him off, gently pushing him back catching him off guard. He hadn't noticed that he had leaned closer to her. Stepping away, he watched her for moment more then turned around to walk back to town. Sayuri closed the door leaning her head against the door, hunger forgotten.

All she could hear was the pounding of her heart in her ears. Placing a hand over it she closed her eyes trying to calm herself down. Why is it always him? She bit her lip at the question. How did he manage to get under her skin, and make her feel so vulnerable all at once?

XXX

Ichiraku was full that night, with the village prospering as it was people were going out to eat more. Naruto and Sakura talked with each other animatedly as they waited for their bowls when Sasuke arrived, startling the two.

"Sasuke!" the blonde exclaimed joyously, before frowning and waving a fist at the man's face. "What the hell! You left without telling us!"

"Naruto, calm down." The medic scolded.

"I had a mission."

"Eh?" the two exclaimed.

"Wait, does that mean you're back to being a Konoha ninja?" asked Sakura, hopeful emerald eyes on him.

"It was a favor for Kakashi."

"Oh."

Naruto watched the Uchiha carefully for a moment, then patted the seat to his left. "join us you look like you need it, bastard. OW!" he yelped rubbing his rib. "Aww, Sakura what'd you do that for?"

She cast a glare at the blonde "For being rude." Then turned to Sasuke with a smile. "Sit down Sasuke!" To their surprise Sasuke sat, Teuchi turned to the young man and was taken aback for a moment before the astonishment faded into a smile.

"What can I get for you?"

XXX

Sayuri walked out of the restroom, clean clothes on and towel in hand. She sighed in content as she padded over to her window. Drying her hair, she watched the village light up for the night and smiled, but it quickly faded.

"Well don't you look lovely." She dropped her towel and turned around to see Naoki on the other side of her bed.

XXX

"Hey guys!" Hajime greeted the members of team seven happily.

"Hajime!" the blonde greeted with just as much enthusiasm. "Diachi!" The brunette nodded and took a seat next to his friend. "Did you just get back from a mission too?"

"Yes." The two replied.

"I bet Sayuri was happy to see you two then."

"Oh we haven't see her yet." Hajime replied.

Diachi finished giving his order and turned to the three ninja. "We just finished talking to Lee and Tenten, apparently, she's been training with them and today was a little rough for her."

XXX

"How did you get inside the village?" she asked, inching closer to the window.

Naoki on the other hand smirked and vanished suddenly reappearing beside her, kicking her to the other side of the room. She cried out in pain and pushed herself up, sprinting to the exit only to be yanked back and have her head slammed unto her desk.

"I'm not here to kill you if that's what you think." He leaned into her ear as he held her torso down. "We had a feeling that you survived the fall, but we weren't sure…Not until your boyfriend came to us that is."

Sayuri, pulled out the kunai taped under the desk and swung her arm back, Naoki to pulled away enough for her to push herself up and punch his face making him to stumble further back. Adrenaline kicking in, she rushed to the door, slamming it shut behind her, as she ran down the hall, turning the corner into the kitchen.

"Come out, come out where ever you are." The man sang following her only to have a series of kunai flying his way as she snapped the wire that held them to her ceiling. The man easily avoided laughing at the attempt. "So you've rigged your home, interesting." Sayuri turned to run but found two other ninja in the room with her. "Smart girl." Naoki grinned. "But you didn't really think that I'd come here alone. Did you?"

XXX

"Hey, Hajime I heard you had a girlfriend."

"Yes." The man's eyes lit up. "She's a work though." He finished dejected.

Sakura giggled at the silver haired ninja's pout. "You must really like her."

"I'll say, he basically stalked her for the better part of two years." Diachi mumbled loud enough for the others to hear. Sakura and Naruto laughed as Hajime jabbed an elbow at his friend.

XXX

Sayuri blocked a kick to her head and swung herself over the man's neck, angling her body so that he fell back, jabbing the kunai down onto the man's chest. Only to be kicked aside by the second ninja. Standing up she grabbed Naoki's arm just as he was about to punch her and swung him to the other ninja, picking up the pan on the counter and hitting the ninja she stabbed over the head as he struggled to get up.

Sayuri let the pan go when Naoki landed a kick to her arm. Moving quickly, she dropped down to side sweep the man, having him hit the floor hard as moved to run only to have him yank her down, pushing himself on her, knees on her shoulders on hand on her throat.

"I see you've been training." He hissed.

"Help!" she cried out and he laughed above her.

"No one is coming to save you. In a little bit, everyone will be too busy to even think about you."

"Screw you!" she spat pulling on another wire sending senbon flying from her walls, stabbing his other companions in the process. Naoki shoved himself off her while the men crumpled to the ground as Naoki managed to deflect most of the needle instruments. Sayuri rolled over, yanking off a senbon that had stuck to her arm and gripping it tightly.

"I'm starting to get tired of this little game." Naoki frowned.

XXX

A loud explosion made everyone in Ichiraku's go silent, the low tremble was what got everyone to moving. The people in the establishment quickly ran out. The ninja staring at the cloud of smoke that rose to the sky.

"We're under attack!" someone yelled.

"Move!" Naruto ordered and everyone scattered. Ninja wearing all black swarmed into the village, throwing bombs wherever they went. The mellow village turned into a battle ground in a matter of seconds, as civilians ran to the shelter as fast as they could while their ninja engaged the invaders.

XXX

Sayuri kicked the man in the abdomen pushing him back as he rushed to her. He quickly disappeared and reappeared beside her grabbing her by her head and slamming it down on the counter. Sayuri groaned but managed to push aside the pain and to grab the knife on the counter and jab it through his free hand. Naoki cried out in pain pulling back enough for her to grab hold of his wrist and flipping him over her shoulder, throwing a kick at his elbow dislocating it. Below her the rogue wailed and fell forward.

Stumbling back from the blow to the head she regained her balance and headed to the living room. She reached her couch when she was kicked unto the small table at the center of her living room by a fuming Naoki. He held a kunai in his good hand as he loomed over her.

"You little bitch!" He snarled launching himself at her but she rolled away, just barely avoiding the man as he hit the destroyed table head first. Her hand met something solid, thinking quickly she picked it up, finding it to be her katana. Naoki rushed at her again and she quickly unsheathed it blocking his kunai with it. "I said I wouldn't kill you…" he pushed against her katana. "But I'm sure they won't mind if I bang you up a bit!"

"Get the hell away from me!" she yelled pushing him back.

XXX

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled as one ninja headed for the Hokage's tower. The Uchiha quickly caught him with his Amaterasu, then turned to take down three other men with ease. All around them Konoha ninja and ANBU engaged their attackers to defend their village. Sasuke jabbed a punch into one man's gut and let him fall before him until something caught his eye.

He reached down and pulled the hood of the man, blood suddenly running cold. "Shit."

Diachi grabbed one ninja by the collar and slammed him onto the ground before he could land a blow on Sasuke. When he turned to see what had the Uchiha so distracted he froze. Light brown eyes shifted from the blonde man on the ground to Sasuke. "That's Itsuo!"

"Sasuke, what the hell are you doing?!" Naruto exclaimed when he noticed that his friend had stopped fighting.

"They're Naoki's men!" Sasuke hissed.

"WHAT?!"

"We're not a target, this a distraction they're after Sayuri!"

XXX

Sayuri rolled out of the way, and pushed up jutting her katana forward towards the man who side stepped her, grabbed her arms and kneed her under her chin causing her to lose her grip on the sword. She fell back but pushed herself up, turning around as Naoki swung down slashing her abdomen. She cried out in pain, guarding her abdomen and doubling over as the blood seeped through her fingers and fell onto the wooden floor.

"While I can't say this wasn't entertaining. I'll have to cut things short." He grinned using the katana to make her tilt her head back, the cold metal grazing her neck. "You've caused me a lot of trouble."

Sayuri winced in pain as she stared up at the dark-haired man. "What do you want from me?"

Naoki laughed. "It's not me that needs you, it's my boss." He pressed the blade closer to her neck. "Don't worry you'll get to see him soon."

"Go to hell!" moving as quickly as she possibly could, she grabbed his wrist and elbowed his abdomen, then sent her first down onto his head yanking the kunai out of his grip, she brought it down into his chest hard enough to exit and stick onto the floor pinning him to it. Below her he sputtered blood and she fell back in a haze. Mismatched brown eyes on the man bleeding out before her.

"I…need help…" she panted, hand slamming on a small table next to her only to have it slide off when she attempted to push herself up, from the blood on her hands. She tried again this time using the wall and stepped towards the door body swaying as she did so.

She began to see lights, her vision dimming with each step she took. It was beginning to feel hard to breathe, each step had her almost gasping for air, until all she could feel was tired. She blinked and she was suddenly on the ground. When did she get here? Her breathing became uneven and short as she struggled to stay conscious.

XXX

Sasuke barely felt the cold air that hit him as he rushed back to Sayuri's house. He shouldn't have left her, he should have tried harder to talk to her, to make her listen.

Please be ok…He chanted as he neared her home. He landed on the sidewalk just a few feet away from her home and sprinted to the door trying to open it only to realize it was locked. "Sayuri!" he yelled banging on the door and when she didn't answer he stepped back to kick the door open. It didn't take much force to make it give way, as soon as the door was off its hinges he rushed forward. He only managed a couple of steps before froze and all Sasuke could see was blood and his dead mother.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called, finally having caught up with him. "Sayuri!" he yelled in alarm. That caught the Uchiha's attention.

Moving quickly he rushed to her side, gently turning her over, "Sayuri…"

"Sasu…ke…?" Her skin was too pale, her top was soaked in blood, and her limbs were weak. She tried to look at him but she couldn't focus her gaze. "Sasuke…"

"You're going to be ok." He tried to pick her up but quickly found that he couldn't and let out an angered cry. "Naruto!" he barked at the blonde who stopped staring and moved forward. "Take her to the hospital, Sakura should be there."

"Right!" the blonde was quick to pick up the young woman, breath hitching at the amount of blood that covered your clothes. "I got ya." The blonde quickly rushed out of the destroyed home in the direction of the hospital.

Sasuke slammed his fist against the floor, feeling useless for the first time since his family was murdered. He heard a faint chuckling and turned to the living room, seeing red. Standing up he walked into the room finding Naoki pinned down to the ground. "Did…you see her?" he laughed.

"You son of a bitch!" Sasuke knelt on him, punching the man hard. "You better pray that she lives, because if she doesn't…I'm going to make your death as painful as possible."

Naoki chuckled, still trying to breathe. "You…better hope…she dies." The man's laugh getting cut short by Sasuke's fist.

"Sasuke!" Diachi pulled the Uchiha back. "We need him alive." Sasuke cried out in frustration and pulled away from the brunette man. "Go to the hospital, make sure she's ok. I'll handle him." He pushed the man back. "Go."

Casting one last glance at the despicable man on the ground, wanting nothing more than to hurt him more than Sayuri had, he walked away. Naoki wasn't important right now. Sayuri was. He took to the roofs rushing towards the hospital noticing several people heading its way. He turned to the direction of the main gate, the explosion had stopped and he couldn't see anyone fighting. Turning back to the large white building he picked up his pace. Rushing through the doors and finding Naruto pacing back and forth in the waiting area.

"Naruto-"

"Sakura's with her, she's going to make sure Sayuri's ok." The concerned blonde placed a hand on his shoulder. "She's getting the treatment she needs."

Sasuke felt his body weaken, and he fell onto an empty seat. All the emotion and adrenaline he felt seeping out of him. "Sayuri…" he squeezed his eyes trying to get the image of you bleeding out on the floor out of his head. This was his worst nightmare. He was a little boy again, who found both of his parents murdered without being able to do anything about it. He clenched his jaw, hand fisting against his pants. I'm sorry…

A.N.

And I'll leave you off here. Please review and let me know what you think! :)

Until next time.