Coalition

It took half a day's flight to cover the trip from the Land of Snow back to the Land of Fire. Sasuke could tell his summon was at its limit with just how hard they'd flown and as its director, so was he. If he was already tired just from the flight in, there was no way he'd have the energy for the flight out, unless someone in Konoha could work a miracle on his body. The primary issue was that he still wasn't able to wield chakra the way he wanted, which was going to be another nuisance in the upcoming battle. He gripped the feathers beneath him tightly as he thought of Naruto, begging his body to please just make it through this day.

It was this singular thought that kept him from noticing the hidden ninja below until a sword was thrown through the wing of the bird, instantly jerking Sasuke back to the here and now. As the hawk let out a cry of agony, the wing crumpled and it began to tumble to the ground. He instantly began to weave the signs to dismiss the bird, but a weighted net encircled his body and restricted any further movement. Just as he was to hit the ground, he was caught by someone who instantly threw a bag over his head. His summon though was left neglected and instead slammed into the ground, the sound of bones cracking and a resulting scream making Sasuke's stomach turn.

"Let me guess, are you with Takami?" he snarled, feeling his muscles begin to coil. It would be a hard fight all on his own, but he wasn't going to give up. Naruto still needed him.

The one that'd caught and bagged him gave a quiet grunt. "Don't know a Takami but we're here on the Lord of Fire's orders. Didn't expect you to just come to us all on your own though. Seriously, you must not be as bright as everyone brags if you thought you could just waltz back into the Land of Fire after the shit you pulled." The man grabbed Sasuke's hair through the cloth, pulling forcefully to get him to stand.

From somewhere to the side, a woman added, "Don't try anything either. You're wanted back alive but I don't think anyone would mind if there was to be an 'accident.' I don't care what the Leaf says, I don't trust you," she said, her voice heavy with disgust.

But Sasuke had no intention of going with them. He didn't care if this was ordered by the Lord of Fire; Naruto came first. He was considering the possibility of pulling off another time-space warp when he heard the sound of running feet. The pattering was too swift and small to be that of a human's and he was proven right when he then heard a growl and the distinctive chomp of teeth sinking into flesh. The man that'd initially tied him up shrieked and stumbled away.

Good, Sasuke thought, that meant he wouldn't need to do anything drastic. He grabbed the netting with a hand and burned the ropes, then ripped off the mask. His sight was restored just in time to see a large white form dart past and for a moment, he felt his stomach shamefully give a flip as he thought that Takami's people had pulled another surprise attack. The form solidified though into the distinctive shape of a dog that had attacked the woman, pinning her down with teeth over her throat. Akamaru stopped there, awaiting further instructions from his master.

As he looked around, he noticed the other ninja had been incapacitated mostly in a similar manner, with other dogs biting and nipping wherever they could. However, these ones were all much smaller and it was with a wry grin that Sasuke realized he knew these ninja hounds, especially a particular Pug-like dog with droopy eyes.

"Kakashi said you'd probably need some help, kid," Pakkun gave him a dry look, taking in Sasuke's rough appearance. "I'd say we arrived not a moment too soon."

"I could've handled this on my own," Sasuke instantly said, not willing to concede just yet to his weakness.

Pakkun nodded, clearly not believing him. "If you say so." Giving a shake, he trotted up to Kakashi's side, who was steadily binding the other ninja.

Kakashi looked to Sasuke, then cast a glance around half-heartedly. He didn't need to look too hard to notice that Naruto wasn't with him. His heart fell and he looked back at the teen with sympathetic eyes. "I see they took Naruto," he stated quietly.

Sasuke closed his eyes and nodded, kicking away an ANBU mask from the opposing side that was at his feet. "Takami's people captured him back in the Land of Snow. Konoha's ANBU had come there looking for us when they were wiped out in a surprise attack. I—" he choked for a moment, "I hesitated and because of that, they took Naruto."

"Hm? Who's Takami?" Kiba asked, tuning in to the conversation.

"Leader of the people that attacked the village," Kakashi said, but cast a look to Sasuke to gain confirmation as this was the first time he too had heard the name, but it wasn't much for him to piece the two together.

The Uchiha nodded. "I never got a chance to tell you everything I knew about them over the phone, or to Tsunade."

At the mention of her, a grimace crossed Kakashi's face. "She told me what she did in order to find you two," his voice betrayed a ripple of anger. "She assured me that no harm would come to you two if you went with the deployed ninja willingly, but she said it was in order to prevent…well, this, from happening," he gestured to the scene with the unconscious ninja.

Speaking of which…"Tsunade said that she promised the Lord of Fire that she would handle the situation. Why are they attacking?" Sasuke asked sharply.

His team captain gave an apprehensive look. "As far as I understood, that was the deal. It would seem then that the Lord of Fire has broken his word. We'll let Lady Tsunade handle the politics of that though. For now, our mission was to initially go to the Land of Snow to find out what happened during her phone call with you, but since you're already here, we'll move on to phase two: finding Naruto."

At hearing that, Sasuke almost collapsed in relief. He wouldn't have to go all the way back to Konoha and beg for assistance. For the first time in a very long time, he felt like he was part of the village. As he assessed the help that'd been sent though, he realized it might not be enough. "I thought ninja were usually deployed in groups of three or more," he noted, looking between Kakashi and Kiba.

"What are you, blind?" Kiba scratched at a cheek, confused. "Sakura and Hinata are here, too," he nodded in their direction.

Sasuke followed his line of sight and felt a myriad of emotions as he saw Sakura kneeling next to his hawk summon, using her chakra to heal the bird. The last time he remembered seeing her was when he announced that he and Naruto were starting their relationship. He hadn't forgotten her bitter words but Naruto had mentioned she'd been the one to help heal him after his imprisonment. Did that mean she'd forgiven him?

Sensing his gaze, she looked up and locked eyes with him. On impulse, he wanted to look away but instead, he forced himself to not only look back but to even walk up to her. Hinata was there as well, using her Byakugan to help bandage the bird's injured bones, but when she saw Sasuke approach, she bowed her head and pretended to focus harder on her work as a means of feigned privacy.

"You're looking rather well," Sakura spoke first, giving a smile that did the trick of putting Sasuke at ease. "Last time I saw you, you were knocking at death's door."

He took her grim joke in stride. "Yeah, that's what Naruto said. And…thank you for healing me," he mumbled. "Speaking of him, did you hear…?"

Sakura nodded but both noticed when Hinata flinched suddenly in her work. The girl didn't look up though, but Sakura's eyes softened. "Yeah, the call had been recorded and she replayed back what was heard. Since you're here and Naruto isn't…" She too hung her head like Hinata's, trying to concentrate back on her work.

"I'm guessing that's why she sent so many sensory ninja," Sasuke mentioned aloud, looking back at Kakashi and his dogs, who all seemed to be waiting on something, then to Kiba who sat petting Akamaru, and finally back at Hinata. "There weren't any traces left that could be followed so I have no idea where he's at."

"Where were you?" Hinata asked, a whisper that was barely audible. "Weren't you protecting him?"

He heard the accusation in her voice and had it come from anyone else, he would've replied back angrily. But Hinata never pointed fingers which made her blame nestle in his heart as a weight. She looked up at him then, the Byakugan gone and only the sad, silvery eyes imploring him for an explanation.

Sasuke didn't have one. As he explained in detail what had happened, it sounded hollow to his ears, almost as though it were a lie. After he finished, Hinata didn't say anything but her posture spoke for her and reflected what he had been struggling with as well: he could've done more. Or maybe his immense guilt made him think that's what she was thinking about him. Whether he was right or wrong, Hinata said nothing more.

Seeing the tension, Sakura spoke up and said, "The Cypher Corps finished with unraveling the memories of the ones that had been killed at that base in the Land of Iron. Ino put in some long hours doing a deep dive on them but she was able to uncover a few possible hideouts. Nothing extensively discernable stood out though so that's why Lady Tsunade sent so many tracking and sensory ninja."

Sasuke nodded, having already figured that was the case. "Are we waiting for someone else? Kakashi looks like he's expecting someone."

Sakura gave a wry smile. "We're getting help from the Sand and Lightning, since both have already had attacks on their villages too. Gaara and his siblings will be accompanied by some of their sensory ninja and Killer Bee decided to join as he was targeted in Kumogakure. He hopes to keep them from attacking the village again if he's not there." She let slip a sigh that hinted at the headache coming up, likely at the hands of said person.

As though mentioning their names was the key to making them appear, the sun was blotted briefly by Gaara's iconic sand. The cloud descended and swirled for a few moments as a miniature cyclone before clearing to reveal the Kazekage. No sooner had he landed, his brother, sister and a few extra ninja were there at his side though for perhaps the first time, none looked wary or suspicious of the other village.

"I hope we didn't keep you waiting," Gaara said politely, nodding to everyone but walking to stand closer to Kakashi.

"We're still waiting on Bee," Kakashi informed him, giving a small bow of acknowledgement. "Though honestly, he should've been here by now…"

Of course, that was all it took for him to make his grand entrance. Grand for him; a nuisance to all others. "Yeaaaaah! Killer Bee, here you see, dig it!" he yelled as he landed amongst them, throwing a hand up in a pose that resembled bull horns.

Everyone shuddered and Kiba even said, "Someone rip my ears off now!" Akamaru and the other dogs wailed with mournful howls.

Unfazed by these run of the mill comments for him, Killer Bee looked in satisfaction at everyone else gathered…at least until he noticed Sasuke. With a wide smile, he strode up to the teen, beatboxing as he drew closer. His smile grew its widest yet as he stood in front of him, and it didn't let up when Sasuke took an uncomfortable step back.

"Ay, yo, ya tried to kill me, man! But lucky for me, I had a secret plan! The Akatsuki made your head all dark and confused; and even though you almost took my life…I still forgive you." He pulled Sasuke suddenly into a bro hug, slapping him hard on the back twice before doing some sort of complicated handshake that left Sasuke's fingers bruised. "You're still a'ight with me," Bee nodded to him.

"…Happy we're…cool…" Sasuke muttered, massaging his hand.

"Well then, if everyone is here, let's not waste any more time," Kakashi drew their attention, standing out clearly as the operation's captain. "We have a lot of ground to cover but only minimal clues to go on. We're going to split into groups with a ninja hound and a sensory ninja for each team. You'll also need to take these," he said, pulling a stack of papers from a small bag he was wearing.

As Sasuke took a few sheets, he saw that they were…pictures. Some were blurry and almost indistinguishable while others were sharp and clear. Some were of people (dressed in white robes) while many more were of natural scenes. However, while they were colored, it was clear the color had been added afterwards, a confusing contrast between both real and surreal.

"These are the memories of the ones we captured," Kakashi continued, holding up an example picture which depicted a grassy knoll. "It's hard to print memories with color so they had to be touched up afterwards. What you have in your hands are the memories that seemed most useful and yes, that's including the blurry ones. Each team will be assigned a quadrant of area to hunt and if you find anything that resembles these memories, let me know immediately. Any questions?"

"No, but pardon my intrusion," a new and silky voice said, coming from their left and hidden within the shadows of the trees.

Sasuke felt a cold chill run down his spine as someone with long, dark hair stepped out into the clearing. As the light-colored clothing was revealed, he unstuck himself from his spot and charged forward, his footsteps fast and quiet, punctured only when he ran a current of snapping lightning down his blade. His Sharingan and Rinnegan were both activated and just as he was about to throw his sword into the ground to release the lightning—a move that would've taken down everyone else within the vicinity—he pulled up short, very nearly crashing into the person.

They regarded him with amused, golden eyes before shaking their head softly. "Always so impatient! One of the many drawbacks and yet blessings about having trained you," Orochimaru said.

"And just what exactly are you doing here?" Kakashi asked but unlike everyone else, he wasn't entirely on guard. Yet. He regarded the current version of the man as neither friend nor foe though he certainly preferred avoiding him whenever possible.

Orochimaru stepped a little closer and as he did so, several other figures followed behind him. Out stepped Suigetsu, Karin and Jugo, the first looking eager and cheerful as always, the second flashing her glasses as she observed the hostile reception, and the third looking rather hesitant to be around so many people.

Answering the Leaf jonin, Orochimaru told him, "I have ears here and there…I knew of this meeting practically the day it was planned." As though to emphasize his point, he held out an arm as a small snake slithered out of his sleeve. He ignored his three charges when each flinched back and grimaced at the sight of it. "However, I wasn't expecting Sasuke to be here; this was completely coincidental." He cast Sasuke another smile though this time…there was something else there, a hint of the emotion he'd expressed during their goodbyes from last time.

Kakashi noticed it and his suspicions for the moment were set aside. Considering the daunting task ahead of them, which was the exact reason Konoha had needed to look outside the village for assistance, they were in no position to turn away willing volunteers. "Alright then. Orochimaru, Sasuke will be joining your group. Karin will be your group's sensory ninja and I'll let Pakkun go with you."

"This ought to be interesting," the dog muttered, going to sit at Jugo's feet, knowing a kindred soul intuitively. His wise choice was rewarded with a scratch behind the ears.

Once they'd been grouped off and each had received a stack of "memories", Kakashi gave a final, solemn nod to everyone. "For Naruto," he declared, his face becoming resolute. It wasn't meant to be a cheer, but a dark reminder of just what was on the line.

Each nodded back though Sasuke had to wonder if any of them truly understood what they were up against. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't be worried for Naruto, but these people honestly set his teeth on edge. Even though each group held an impressive array of shinobi, he couldn't stop himself from wondering, would this be enough?

It would have to be; now wasn't the time for doubts. He clenched his fists as they at last set off, using his own unbending determination, anger, and love to propel him forward.

For Naruto.

In talking about Naruto being captured, I had to force myself to resist writing, "Naruto was taken" as I know I'd then have to follow it up with Sasuke giving a speech about how he possesses a very specific set of skills…