Chapter 13 Missing

Sakura's head throbbed making it hard to focus her vision. There were flickers of light. She could feel the cold, hard surface of what she was laying on. That didn't make sense. The last place she remembered being was in the forest on the edge of Konoha. She should feel soft maybe wet grass. She tried to get up but her body felt heavy.

"The charming Cherry Blossom, welcome." The voice was a silky hiss that made Sakura's stomach churn. A cold hand touched her cheek. Instincts made her shy away from it. "Now, now let's not be rude."

Fingers snapped. She felt her arm get pricked with what she could tell was a needle. Her vision cleared and her body felt less heavy. She sat up slowly. Her hand on her head, it still hurt but it was easier to think, to remember.

Yellow cold eyes with slits for pupils stared at her amused. "I see Kabuto's injection of adrenaline woke you up."

She flexed her fingers, clutching them into a fist and then releasing them. "I can't feel my chakra." Her voiced showed the hint of fear.

"Yes, we couldn't have you punching the building or us into rumble. I concocted a special version of my paralyzing serum. Just for you, you should be honored. It paralyzes your chakra network while draining the chakra already in you system. You can thank the Hyuuga's clan Gentle Fist for inspiring me." Kabuto sounded extremely happy with himself.

"What do you want with me, Orochimaru?" she asked calmly. She needed to gain as much information as she could. She doubted she would get out of this alive to pass it on. It was ingrained in her as part of ninja training that she didn't know what else to do.

"Ah, what a great question!" His silky voice was like nails on a blackboard to her ears. The opposite of its intended effect. She knew what this man was capable of. His polite matter and smooth voice couldn't fool her into a false sense of security. "I want Sasuke and for him to come of his own free will. It makes the takeover of his body so much easier if I don't have fight the previous inhabitant." The bile rose in her throat at the idea.

"I still don't understand how I figure into that picture."

"Oh come now, child." He patted her head. Again the urge to flee was overpowering. "You are intelligent. I'm sure you can tell you are a vital part of him coming to me on his own."

Realization hit her like a truckload of bricks. Relief followed soon after. "He won't come."

"You sound so certain. Don't you know his feeling for you?"

"He may had feelings for me but after last night he doesn't." She smiled smugly. Satisfied that she had thrown a wrench into his plans.

Kabuto punched her hard across her face. Blood trickled down her chin. She laughed knowing she had gotten to them. "He will come. Just because you two had a lovers' spat doesn't mean anything."

"You think so? I guess you didn't notice that your brainwashing or whatever you did to him while he was here turned him into a heartless animal. He never loved me, just lusted after me. I rejected his advances so there you have it." She laughed even harder. "The great Lord Orochimaru failed once again. What is your score now? Wins 0 Losses 3."

A needle was jammed into her arm and darkness came again.

Earlier that night

Sasuke returned to the party alone. He went to straight to the bar.

"A double of the strongest thing you have back there." He demanded.

"Coming up." The bartender filled a shot glass with an amber colored liquid. "Hey where is you date? The pretty pinked hair girl."

The Uchiha's eyes narrowed. "Why don't you focus on getting me another one?" He slammed the empty glass onto the bar.

None of this went unnoticed by the Kakashi's watchful eye. Sakura's absence and Sasuke's behavior gave him a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Where is Sakura?" Kakashi appeared at Sasuke's side.

"If it isn't Konoha's one and only Copy Ninja." Sasuke downed another shot. "Tell me something. Why did you choose now to have a love life? Sick of reading about it? Why Sakura?" Every word was saturated with contempt.

"I could as you the same question, kid. After all this time, you now think Sakura worth you precious attention. If you hadn't been so blind by revenge you would have seen the wonderful girl standing right in front of you." Kakashi's anger was rising at a dangerous speed. He seized the Uchiha by his shirt, his face inches away from the younger man's. "Where is she?"

"I don't know." He pushed the silvered hair jounin off him. "She ran off after slapping me." He rubbed the still red cheek. "Yo, bartender! Another!" He lifted the empty glass. He turned back to Kakashi but he was gone.

'Good girl, Sakura.' Kakashi couldn't suppress a smile at the thought of her giving Sasuke a much overdue smack. If he ever hurt her again, Kakashi would do much worse.

He ran as fast as he could. She had to be in her apartment. He knocked hard. No answer. "Sakura, it's me. Open up, please." No answer. He stepped back and ran at the door. It flew open and he tumbled in. No one was there. "Damn where is she?"

He thought for a moment. Where had he found her the first time she fought with Sasuke? The training grounds. He speed off.

Grrr! Not here either.

He searched the forest that surrounded the training area. He was about to give up when something caught his eye. It was a satin piece of cloth shimmering in the moonlight. He picked it up and recognized it instantly. It was from the dress Sakura had been wearing. It was unmistakable. He had been staring at her in that dress all night. It fit her perfectly, swaying her with accentuating her grace in her movements.

Worry gripped him. The cloth's edges were ragged indicating it had been torn from the rest of the dress. Sakura was too graceful to allow her dress to snag. This meant she was trouble.

He burst into the Hokage's office. "Lady Tsunade…" He froze. First thing he noticed was that she wasn't sleeping. Second Sasuke was there. The look on the faces told him is suspicions were right. "What happened?"

The Fifth stepped from behind her desk, handing him a piece of parchment. He read it.

Sasuke,

If you want to see Sakura again, you will come back. You know what you must to do to keep her breathing.

Kabuto

Rage filled his eyes and they focused on the dark hair man.

"It was stuck to my door with a kunai." He looked miserable.

The flew open again. This time Naruto and Ino burst in.

"Let's go. There is no time to lose." Naruto was already half way out the door again.

"Wait, Naruto." Tsunade called out to him. "I have to organize an ANBU team for the rescue mission."

"An ANBU team?" Naruto was outraged. "What about us? I know for a fact that everyone in this room is not going to entrust Sakura's life in the hands of anyone else."

"That's right." Ino chimed in. "She is my best friend. I'm going."

"So am I." Sasuke grip tighten on the kunai he was holding. It had to be the one that had held the ransom note, Kakashi noted.

"Absolutely not!" Tsunade stomped her feet. "Orochimaru wants you. There is no way we are going to lose you again."

"It's my fault that Sakura is in this mess." He yelled. "Orochimaru kidnapped her to get to me and…" He faltered, "it's because of me and my stupid tempered that she was alone in the woods."

"Fine." She sighed. "You are some of the best shinobi. But I'm sending a reinforcement squad as soon as I get one together."

A/N: So I was going to make this a much longer chapter. But at the last minute I thought it better to cut it off sooner and put the events that is about to happen in its own chapter.

My class got cancelled for this week so I'm going to try really hard to get the next chapter before I leave on Thursday.