DISCLAIMER: I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING FOR SO LONG! I am very lazy and I am extremely sorry I have made everyone suffer for lack of updates. I will try to update more frequently. Anyway, if there are any italics in this story, it indicates what the character is thinking. And once again, I own none of these characters, except the one guy I made up, Jin Yamaguchi. But I guess even he belongs to Kishimoto-dono, since he is a ninja that hails from a village created by Kishimoto-dono. Just don't use him in any of your stories, since it will make me unhappy. All right, please enjoy this latest installment of the best HakuSaku fic, Melting.

Yon

Haku's eyes opened slowly. Something wasn't quite right. His vision was too blurry at the moment to tell what was wrong. "Heheheh…we found you," said a voice. Something hit Haku in the back of the head, and his world plunged into darkness.

The voice echoed over and over in her head. He's gone he's gone he's gone he's gone he's gone he's gone he's gone he's gone he's gone he's gone he's gone he's gone he's gone he's gone he's gone he's gone

he's gone he's gone he's gone he's gone. Sakura woke up, panting and drenched heavily in sweat. Her throat felt quivery like she was about to vomit. "Something bad has happened to Haku!" she gasped. In sheer panic she threw off her bed sheets, grabbed her kunai pouch, and escaped from the house via the window in her room. She didn't even notice that she was still in her nightgown.

It was raining heavily outside, but Sakura didn't care. She had to get to Haku's house…fast. As she embarked on a dirt trail, she slipped in a puddle of mud, but she quickly rose to her feet and kept on running. Her feet seemed to have a mind of her own.

"I hope nothing serious happened to him," Sakura muttered to herself, but in the back of her mind she knew it was not so. As she skidded to a halt in front of Haku's house, she noticed the front door was hanging on its hinges. When she stepped inside, she noticed Haku's bedroom. The bed sheets were on the floor, and there were several muddy footprints on them. "Haku! Haku!" she cried in vain, but the only thing that could be heard was the empty splash of rain.

Haku woke up with a dull pain in the back of his head. Things still seemed off kilter.

"So, how do you like your new home?" asked the mysterious voice Haku had heard earlier. Haku came to realize that he was chained down to a table in the middle of a jail cell. His fingers were held down by metal restraints, so that he could not form any handsigns. A bald man with just a tuft of black hair on his chin looked down at Haku.

"You're going to stay here for a very, very long time," he said, grimacing demonically.

"What is the purpose of this?" questioned Haku.

"Oh, you see, there's still a reward for your capture…and a nice one at that. The Anbu have you on a most wanted list. As soon as they arrive here they're going to kill you and pay me," he replied coldly.

"But why? Why do they want me dead?! I'm not killing anyone now!"

"They don't care. They still view you as a potential threat."

"Just who are you?!?" ordered Haku fiercely.

"Well, I guess it won't hurt to tell you, since you're going to die anyway. I am Jin Yamaguchi, ninja from the village of Amegakure. Oh dear, look at the time. I must go have my tea. Toodles." He turned his back towards Haku, opened the jail cell door, walked out, closed it, and then locked it. "Oh, and don't worry. The Anbu will make sure you have a quick, painless death," said Jin, and then he walked off.

"What to do what to do what do," Sakura repeated to herself, pacing around Haku's room, "I can't tell my group or Kakashi, because they won't do anything about it. Inari is useless, Zabuza is dead…and if I look around for Haku by myself, I won't be able to return home before everyone wakes up, and if I'm not back by the time they wake up, they'll think I was kidnapped or something! What is a girl supposed to do in a time like this?"

Back at Inari's house, Naruto had just awoke from sleeping. It was two in the morning, according to his clock, but he had to poop…badly. The darkness inside the house blinded him, so he groped his way down the hall until he found what he thought was the bathroom. He stepped into the room, and his feet touched something soft; a sheet. Lightning from the storm lit up the room. In that split second he realized he wasn't in the bathroom, instead, he was in Sakura's room. And in that split second, he realized Sakura's bed was empty.

"Ah, I bet she had to use the bathroom too," he softly mumbled. He walked out of Sakura's room and felt his way to the bathroom door.

"Hey Sakura, are you in there?" he questioned quietly. No response. So, he opened the door, unzipped his pants, and sat down on the toilet. Maybe Sakura is in the kitchen, grabbing a bite to eat. I'll check there afterwards, and if she's not there, I'll check her room.

After Naruto finished his business and washed his hands, he pulled a match out of his pocket, struck it against the wall, and walked to the kitchen. We he reached the kitchen, he grabbed a candle out of a cabinet, lit it, and blew out the match. It created a soft, peaceful light. However, he did not see Sakura, so he went back to see if she was in her room. She wasn't. Naruto began to panic. If she's not in the kitchen, bathroom, or her own room, where could she be? Could somebody of kidnapped her? In panic, he rushed to Kakashi's room and blurted out "Sakura's not in the house!" Kakashi woke up instantly.

"Say what?!"

"Sakura's missing! She's not in the house! I checked the bathroom, her room, and the kitchen! She's not anywhere to be found!"

"Naruto, wake up Sasuke and get him out of bed. I know he's still weak but we need all the help we can get. Get Tazuna awake too and have him ask the villagers if they saw her anywhere. We must act now!"

And while Naruto awoke everyone from their sleep, Sakura despaired, and Haku laid motionless in his confinement. Things were getting ugly, things were getting ugly real fast, and if something didn't happen soon, then things were going to stay ugly.

TO BE CONTINUED…