"Oh, what have you here?" Kabuto said. He finally caught up with Guren and her group at the abandoned house they were using as their hideout on the orders of Orochimaru to help them once they had arrived to the destination which was large lake location about another day journey away from their current location.

"It seems that Guren and I must have overestimated your abilities if one of you were killed and Guren was attacked mentally like this," he said to Rinji after he noticed Gozu holding his gut. Nurai was no where to be seen, and a dazed Guren lay on the couch with Yukimaru holding her hand, hoping she would get better soon.

"Something we could not have expected happened," Rinji told him.

"So what happen to reduce Guren to this stage?" Kabuto asked Rinji.

"That's the thing none of us are sure of, but it appears that she was attacked by strong genjutsu. There is no sign of an attack on her so it must have been a mental attack done by this girl that is in the second group that has been following us," the brown hair man told him.

'Really? That's interesting. I did not think we would run into someone like that out here in the middle of nowhere. The chances of someone powerful to reduce Guren to this state could not just be idly passing through meaning they were purposely in the area. The question is just who are they? I too felt someone following me while I had Yukimaru with me earlier,' he thought before decided to take care of matter at hand first.

"Yukimaru, stand aside. I am going to heal Guren and then we are leaving. We need to get to our destination as fast as possible with news of this new development," Kabuto told the boy.

"So you can help Guren-san, right?" he asked worriedly to which Kabuto just nodded.

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Back with Team Eight, Ten, Kakashi and Yamato….

"Hey, Shikamaru, what are you thinking about?" Ino asked when she noticed her old friend seeming to be lost in thought again while looking at outside the window to the house they were staying in.

Thanks to Yamato, the nine of them did not have to camp out on the ground. He used his wood jutsu to build them a house to stay overnight.

"I was just wondering something. If Sakura was captured in one of those crystals, then how was Naruto able to get her out so easily?" Shikamaru asked. According to the information they had from Pakkun and Kakashi, once trapped in one of those crystals, the victim is made a part of the crystal, so it should not be possible to get anyone out without killing them.

"Yeah I was wondering that as well. He just freed her like there was nothing to it," Ino said with a confused look on her face.

"It seems that Sakura has gained a few new abilities since we last saw her," Kakashi told them as he appeared behind them. He showed them that among the crystal dust that gathered on the ground where his former student had once been encased were small amounts black sand.

"Why would Naruto hide from us like that by using a transformation jutsu, and why has he come back if he found Sakura or at least told informed the Hokage that he has found her?" Ino sighed.

"Naruto being Naruto left to find Sakura without thinking about the consequences or not caring, but luckily, Tsunade-sama was and made finding her and Sasuke an official mission so he does not become a missing nin. I am guessing the Sasuke is part of the mission is what is keeping him from becoming a missing nin because the council would not have cared this long if it was just Sakura even though she is Tsunade's apprentice and worked at the hospital, meaning she possibly had access to things that should not be known outside Konoha," Shikamaru said. There seemed to be no point hiding now if they were going after Naruto as while as purple haired woman.

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I would like to thank:

King Hawke, RANMACAT, and QueenThayet12990 for reviewing this story

Alex Warlorn for reviewing Chapter 9,12,15, and 16

Safirus Lunaria, EspyLacopa, and Archangel2016 for adding this story to their Story Alert list

Archangel2016, OxoXHakudoshiXoxO, itasakusasufan, Sailor Yin Yang, molhant, and shadowjettailsclub for adding this story to their Favorite story list

Cherry Blossom Sakura Community Rated T-M No Yuri or Yaoi for adding me to their C2 Archive