A/N: Hello everyone and welcome back!

Thank you for the comments thus far and for coming back!

Rated: "M" for gore / fighting / blood

So, without further delay, Chapter 3 of "The Collector"

----------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3 – The Separation

"Get up, dobe," Sasuke scowled, pulling back the orange blanket that was covering the still asleep blond. Risking a quick glance down at Naruto, who now lay clad only in his orange pants, Sasuke felt his cheeks redden as thoughts of the previous night passed through his mind.

"Five more minutes," Naruto mumbled sleepily. A freezing chill passed over his tanned chest. Azure eyes popped open and he shivered, scrunching his body into the fetal position. "What the heck? Why is it so damn cold?"

"Good question," came Sasuke's puzzled response. "It certainly wasn't like this when we went to bed last night." Naruto rubbed the sleep from his eyes, blinking them rapidly into focus. He couldn't help but stare at Sasuke, a smile curling at the edges of his mouth.

Raising an eyebrow he teased, "What's this? Is the Uchiha blushing?"

Sasuke froze and felt his face flush into an even darker shade of red. Completely flustered, he flung Naruto's anbu clothes at him sputtering, "Why don't you do something useful and get dressed." He stormed out of the tent. Naruto could only chuckle while he began to change.

"I'm glad you're awake, Sasuke. Can you believe it's snowing?" Sakura exclaimed. She held her palms face up in order to catch the falling snowflakes.

"At least someone is excited about it," Sasuke muttered under his breath and rolled his dark eyes. He frowned, surveying their surroundings. Snow was everywhere and it covered everything. Taking a few steps, both feet sunk deep into the ground. "How could all of this have happened in just one night?" he thought.

After dusting snow from a fallen log, Sakura took a seat and pulled a map from her pack. Sasuke stepped over, leaned in, and glanced over her shoulder. Feeling the heat of him being so close, Sakura blushed and hid her face under her tan cape's high collar.

"I can't believe he still makes me react like this," she chastised. Clearing her throat, she said determinedly, "Well, snow or no snow, we have to get to the village and …" SLURP Sakura turned hard green eyes towards Naruto, who was busily gulping down noodles from his ramen bowl. "I suppose we can get started after breakfast."

"I'll get the mission's folder," said Sasuke, picking up the white packet from Naruto's pack and opening it to review its contents. Scanning through the information, Sasuke furred his brow. "Why haven't I heard of this place before?"

"It's a newer country and is still rather small," Sakura explained. "There's not even a hokage there yet."

"No Hokage!" Naruto exclaimed. "Well, it's a good thing I'm here then, I can show them what one should be like!"

"Hn…I'll give him one thing, he sure is persistent about that dream of his," Sasuke snorted. Sakura merely smiled warmly at the optimistic blond. Sasuke continued to read from the file, "So, it says here that we're to investigate disappearances that are occurring within the Village of the Trees."

"Disappearances?" Naruto gulped. "You don't think it'll have anything to do with ghosts, do you?"

"Naruto, you've got to be kidding," Sakura scolded. "I'm sure we'll find a logical explanation for what's been happening there."

Naruto had just finished tying on his black bandana with the Konoha metal leaf plate sewn onto the front. Wiping away the small drops of nervousness, he heaved a sigh of relief and asked, "So what's the plan?"

"Well, there's a short cut on the far side of these woods. However, there's a huge river that we'll have to cross. But once we do, that will put us fairly close to the village's main gates," said Sakura, her fingers sliding across the map tracing along the direction of their new path.

"With the temperatures this low, chances are the river will be covered with ice, making it easy to walk over then, right?" Naruto offered.

"I suppose the dobe has a point," Sasuke grudgingly admitted. Naruto couldn't suppress the smile that formed on his lips. Recognition from the Uchiha, well, sort of. Naruto could do without the insult, but with Sasuke, he'd take whatever 'compliment' he could.
The time would come when Sasuke would truly acknowledge him, but now was not that time.

Each of the three ninjas prepared for the journey, tightening capes, pulling on gloves, and securing boots. Closing down camp and re-packing their supplies had gone quickly, but they could afford to lose little time. The gentle wind had turned cold and severe while the lightly falling snowflakes turned into a full-fledged blizzard.

----------------------------------------------------------------

The journey through the dense forest proved tedious. Heads hung low, buried deep within the high collars of their capes, while the rest of their capes flapped wildly behind them from the icy, intense wind.

Pacing was slow, the snow piling up all around them, causing feet to sink in, and many stumbles. Darkness was closing in fast, when Sasuke called a quick halt to the group. He had spotted a few dead tree branches, which he had then secured with rope from his pack.
Forming a quick hand sign, he sucked in a small breath and blew out a miniature fireball. Within seconds, the torch roared to life.

"Knew you were good for something," Naruto smirked, placing his hands behind his head. Sasuke answered with a cold, steely gaze. Naruto gave back one of his signature grins, which only served to further annoy Sasuke.

Sakura was exasperated. Now was not the time for this. Dashing up ahead a few paces, she waved her hands, shouting, "It's here, the river bank!" Naruto and Sasuke nodded in acknowledgement and proceeded forward to join her. Sakura placed her foot gingerly on the glassy surface. She pressed down, softly at first, and then shifted more weight onto it. "Seems solid enough."

"Okay, let's go!" Naruto darted out onto the ice, a whirl of orange and black. "I bet there's hot ramen in that village that's got my name on it," Naruto licked his chapped lips.

"Moron, wait up!" Sasuke growled after him. Grabbing Sakura's hand, they followed the blond, forming a single file line: Naruto as the leader, Sakura in the middle, and Sasuke bringing up the rear. A heavy fog began clouding around their ankles, further impairing their travels as steps needed to be made with extreme care.

Each walked in silence, thoughts of warm food and shelter filling their minds, with only the small flame Sasuke held as a source of light in the utter darkness.

Then, they heard it. CRACK!!!!!

"Everyone freeze!" Sasuke shouted. More snapping and popping sounds were heard, intensifying with each passing second. Sakura only gulped and held her breath.

"Um…guys?" Naruto's voice was edged with anxiety, his cerulean eyes growing large at the giant crack that was snaking its way towards them. "I think we have a problem." All eyes shot forward growing in apprehension as the crack kept coming, spreading its frosty fingers, dropping pieces of ice into the inky dark water below. It passed right between everyone's legs and continued into the fog behind them. The sound faded, leaving Team 7 in silence once again.

"Just tread softly," Sasuke murmured. Naruto swallowed his nervousness and placed his black ninja sandal down lightly, only to have the ice shatter beneath it, and his foot sink into the frigid waters.

"That's cold!" Naruto shouted, jerking his foot out, throwing his balance off. He ended up stumbling backwards, knocking into Sakura. She tumbled backwards, waving her arms in attempt to regain balance, but only succeeded in landing on her butt.

"Oww…" she moaned, "Sasuke, why didn't you catch me?" But Sasuke seemed distracted, his blood red Sharingan eyes narrowing back in the direction from whence they came.

"We have company," he said flatly, drawing out his giant shuriken. Without hesitation, Sasuke swung the shuriken into the ice, cutting it free from the rest of the frozen surface. Their 'ice island' began to drift across the river.

"What? What is it?" Naruto squinted into the fog. "Damn, it's so hard to see anything." He withdrew four kunai and held them ready. Sasuke's Sharingan spun wildly, focusing on whatever it was that was headed towards them.

"Naruto, Sakura, focus your chakra into your feet, and try not to fall off!" said the raven. Instantly, waves of blue highlighted everyone's feet, latching him or her onto the fragile ice. Seconds later, their ice raft was hit, and it rocked madly back and forth.

"What was that?" Sakura cried. The raft continued to rock, over and over again, until finally with a loud "CRACK!" it had split into three pieces, separating each member of Team 7 onto their own private 'ice island.'

Placing a kunai in his mouth, Naruto was about to jump from floating ice patch to ice patch in order to catch up to his teammates when his island see-sawed, sending his side high into the air. Naruto lost his footing and fell onto his butt, sliding towards the churning waters, and headed towards a large pair of jaws with vicious sharp teeth.

Sasuke had also begun to move back towards his teammates when he was attacked. Teeth and claws shot up from the water, revealing another giant crocodile, its golden eyes shining wickedly, its scales rough and jagged. "It must be the torch that they saw," Sasuke thought bitterly. "How obvious. We practically lead them right to us," he added in disgust. Sasuke prepared to fire off a body chidori when he heard Sakura cry out a warning in the distance.

"No Sasuke, don't use lightning attacks! There's too much water! It's too dangerous!"

"Lighting attacks?! Is Sasuke crazy!" Naruto thought frantically. "He'd kill us all."
Getting back to his own problems, Naruto looked back at the gaping mouth he was facing. Rows and rows of teeth glimmered and a rough tongue lashed out at him. His legs were braced against the crocodile's ferocious jaws, keeping them from snapping closed.

A piercing scream echoed through the darkness, followed by a large splash! "Sakura!" Naruto thought anxiously. Bringing his fingers together to form the seal for Kage Bunshin, two clones appeared above the croc. Dropping down, they drove their fists into the creature's head, sending it squirming back into the murky depths. Naruto twisted into a back flip, landing safely back on his feet. Scanning the area, he could barely make out Sakura's pink head bobbing around in the chilly waters. "I'm coming, Sakura!" he called, diving into the frigid waters.

Sasuke saw Naruto jump into the icy river from the corner of his eye before he was slapped in the back by one of the crocodile's spiny tails. His breath escaped him with a pained gasp as he fell face-first onto the ice. He felt the trickle of a warm, sticky ooze down his face and cloud his vision. He also tasted the salty bitterness in his mouth. Blood. The crocodiles had managed to get quite a few good hits into the Uchiha, smacking him around like a rag doll. He was lucky to have dodged as much as he had, but he was loosing energy, and fast. Scrambling to get back on his feet, he felt pain sear up his right calf as one of the crocs took hold, snapping its jaws into his flesh. He gritted his teeth and felt himself hit cold water.

Sasuke found himself submerged underwater, the icy water wreaking havoc on his body and his wounds. He twisted his body to get a better look at his captor. It was huge. Much bigger than any croc he'd ever seen or read about. And then there was the large, golden eye. Sasuke couldn't stand looking at it. So damn smug. "Think again, you stupid beast." Sasuke reached back into the tan pouch on his waist and pulled out a kunai. Spinning it around, blade towards the croc, he stabbed that damn eye, hard. It squealed and thrashed, blood rushing into the water. Releasing its hold on Sasuke, he took to the surface.

The water churned behind him, and he knew that croc wasn't done with him quite yet.
He broke the surface, gasping in deep breaths and headed towards the safety of his ice island. Barely making it back on, he felt the breeze as the croc made another pass at him, missing him by mere inches. He had a plan, but he needed to make sure that Naruto and Sakura were out of the way. He just hoped he'd stay alive long enough to implement it.

Naruto kicked his feet and pumped his arms as hard as he could, hoping to catch up with the beast that had pulled Sakura beneath the waves. He could barely make out her pink hair as she was dragged further and further underwater. The beast seemed to have latched its nasty jaws onto her boots, ripping and tearing at the thick wooly fabric along with her tender flesh.

Sakura flailed her arms and tried to punch at the elusive creature. But water was its domain, and down here, it had the upper hand. Nevertheless, Naruto came up with a plan. Using his signature jutsu, he created one clone to gather chakra into his right hand. It wasn't long before the blue spiral, Rasengan, came into being, which Naruto thrust directly at the crocodile. It roared, releasing Sakura, as it was sent flying backwards. The effect created a mini cyclone underwater which kept the other crocs at bay momentarily, allowing Naruto and Sakura to head upwards. Breaking the surface, Naruto sucked in huge amounts of air, and shook his yellow mane, water droplets flying everywhere. "Sakura? Sakura?" he firmly shook the young girl.

"…"

Naruto treaded water as three giant crocodiles surfaced, surrounding him and Sakura. He pulled the girl closer to him. He was growing thoroughly irritated at these things. How dare they try to hurt his friends. He had no idea where Sasuke was and Sakura was unconscious. "That's enough of this," Naruto spat angrily, he normal blue eyes glazing over dark red, his pupils shifting into narrow black slits.

"Get down!" Sasuke's harsh voice rang out. Naruto turned and saw giant flames headed his way. He quickly ducked under water, dragging Sakura with him, and stared back up at the blaze that streaked by overhead. After the night had resumed its usual darkness, he re-surfaced, gasping and choking out water he had swallowed. He held Sakura's unconscious body in his arms. Scrunching his nose, he smelled the charred remains of their unusual enemies. "Heads up!" Sasuke called from off to his left. A rope landed with a splash next to him. Taking it firmly in his grasp, he held on as Sasuke pulled him back towards one of the only remaining ice patches large enough for all of them.

Once Naruto had approached the ice island, he lifted Sakura up towards Sasuke, who knelt down, wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her up. He then lent a hand to Naruto, who gladly accepted, and was pulled on board as well. "Is Sakura alright?" he gasped. Sasuke felt for a pulse on her wrist.

"Yeah, she's still alive," came the strained response.

"Good," Naruto flopped onto his back. He felt his body for any wounds. Naruto could already feel the Kyuubi's chakra rushing to heal his wounds. Sure, he was battered and bruised, but at least he was still in one piece. "Whew! I'll take Orochimaru any day rather than those bastards!" He lifted his chin and looked back at Sasuke. "You alright?"

"Fine," Sasuke muttered back. Though he didn't look it. Even in the dullness of the night sky, Naruto could make out dark splotches of blood, not only on the raven's face, but streaking down his entire body. The blood was already pooling around his torn up sandals. Sasuke's breathing was ragged, he was soaked to the bone, and he was shivering. "We have to get to the other side of this river. The village is not far off from there."

Sasuke limped over to one side of the ice island and knelt down, placing his hand back into the icy waters. He slowly began to row by bringing his arm back and forth. Naruto took the queue and did the same on the other side. Soon, their motions were synced and they were finally able to make it across the rough waters. The island hit land with a loud THUD! Rising first, Naruto carefully picked up Sakura, bringing her onto solid ground. "Solid ground never felt so good," he thought to himself. Laying her down, he took his cape and spread it across her body like a blanket. It was soaked through, but it would help shield her against the wind.

Sasuke was about to de-board the island himself when he felt a hard tug and pull. Something held the tail of his cape and was pulling him backwards. His arms grasped at his collar and he could barely choke out, "Na..ru..to.." He felt his feet slipping, inch by inch, and it wasn't long before he was yanked back into the chilly waters.

Satisfied that Sakura would be all right for now, Naruto stood and turned. "Okay Sasuke, now it's your…" Naruto had extended a hand towards the raven, which was suddenly no longer standing behind him. His eyes shifted back and forth as he raised his eyebrows. "Sasuke?" He barely saw a purple glove disappear into the black waters behind their ice raft. "Sasuke!" Naruto tossed his pack next to Sakura, planted a quick kiss on her forehead, and then dove in to save his closest and best friend.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura's eyes fluttered open, and she squinted against the bright rays of the sun. "Dawn?" she wondered, gazing up into the soft blues and reds of the early morning.
"The crocodiles!" she bolted upright, though there was nothing in sight. The blizzard from the previous day had subsided and the river they had crossed was now just lazily floating by. She turned around and saw the towers of a village's gates not too far off in the distance. Nothing but a large blanket of white separated them from their goal. "Guys! Look! We made it!" she sang out happily.

"Um..guys?" Sakura called out in confusion. She glanced down to see Naruto's pack lying next to her, yet Naruto himself was nowhere to be found. "Naruto?" she called out with apprehension. She crawled a few paces and noticed pieces of Sasuke's black cape, torn and tattered, lying near the river's edge. "Sasuke?" Concern and worry leaked into her voice, and a sense of dread filled her stomach.

Rising shakily, a sharp pain shot through her left foot and up into her body. Her leg buckled, sending her crashing back into the snow, which was now tainted with spots of red. Hot tears of frustration formed at the corners of her eyes as the realization of the situation took shape.

"Don't cry, Sakura, you're a ninja," she scolded herself. Biting down on her lower lip, she held in the heavy sob that had lodged itself in her throat. "Now think." She racked her brain, trying to get all the pieces of last night's attack into place. "I remember I was being dragged underwater by one of those crocodiles and Naruto was swimming towards me. Then after that…nothing," she whimpered.

"What happened to Naruto?" she worried. "Where was Sasuke?" Wiping away the salty tears with her pink sleeve, she shook her head and took in a deep breath. "I have to remember, Naruto and Sasuke are top ninjas in Konoha, and they'll know how to handle themselves." She hobbled back to her and Naruto's pack, picking up the stray pieces of Sasuke's cape along the way. Dragging both packs through the light white powder, she took off for the Village of the Trees. "I'm sure that the people there will help me. Hang on guys, I'm coming!" she thought determinedly to herself.

----------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Will Sakura find her teammates? What happened to Naruto and Sasuke?

Hang in there for Chap. 4 coming next week!

Please comment and let me know what you think.

Thanks!