A/N: I would like to take this time to thank Starforth and kaitlinofthesand for their reviews and messages. You guys really make writing these fanfics worthwhile and enjoyable. Oh, and I want to point out that most of the time Lee's name comes up before Sasuke's. That's just because I like Lee better, and he is more of a main character. I'm sorry Sasuke fangirls.

Kidnapping

Chapter 3

The soggy gray sky continued raining. Ever since Lee and Sasuke had returned to the Leaf village it had been raining. Lee didn't seem to mind the rain much. After the first few days you become used to it. He was sitting on a wet park bench staring into space. The last few days seemed like an eternity. Lee closed his eyes and felt them tear up as he remembered.

Flashback…

"It would be much easier to see if the moon would shine brighter." Lee and Sasuke were running like they had never run before. Itachi had kidnapped Sakura. Saving her was the only thing that mattered. Unfortunately the darkness slowed them down. By the time the teenagers had reached the village a pale stream of light could be seen on the horizon. Tsunade was not pleased to be woken up at the crack of dawn. But once Sasuke and Lee filled her in she was wide-awake. That morning it started raining. At first it was a light, casual rain. Then it turned into a storm. Now it was like the ocean was falling from the sky. Every ninja who wasn't on an important mission helped search for Sakura.

They traveled as far as the hidden Cloud village with no luck. Sasuke seemed upset but Lee was devastated. God only knew what Itachi could be doing to his angel. Lee looked harder then anyone. Several days past. Though she wouldn't admit it, Tsunade was loosing hope of finding Sakura alive. Still she went and looked for Sakura along with everyone else. With the weather being as bad as it was, the search had been delayed. Lee had become very depressed. When he wasn't looking for Sakura he was walking mindlessly around Konoha. Ten Ten and Neji began to worry about him. Nearly a week after Sakura's kidnapping, Lee dragged his feet through the deep puddles and sat down on a bench. It seemed oddly familiar. That's when he realized that this was the bench Sakura had sat on quite a lot. This did nothing to improve his depression.

End Flashback

Lee sneezed.

"Great, now I'm getting sick." With nothing else to do, Lee stood up and walked to the Hokage's tower. At least 3 times a day Lee visited Tsunade in search of news. He climbed the stairs and was about to knock on the door when he heard Tsunade muttering to TonTon.

"…Not much hope left. I mean, she's been gone for days now. If Itachi is as crazy as they say then there isn't a chance in heck that she is still alive." Tsunade sighed. TonTon squealed something in pig language. ((A/N: Pig Latin, lol!))

"No, I won't tell Lee yet. I doubt he can comprehend that message. Besides, he'd run after Sakura as soon as he read this and that is exactly the thing that'll get her killed if she isn't already!" Tsunade muttered a few inaudible phrases and then said aloud

"Let's go have a drink TonTon." The sound of shuffling feet could be heard. Lee crept into the darkest corner he could find and waited. Tsunade and TonTon departed the office and walked off in the opposite direction of where Lee was hiding.

"It couldn't hurt if I just looked around." He was trying to convince himself. Inside the office he went. Nothing seemed abnormal except for a few scattered papers on the desk. Lee wandered over and shuffled through them. Underneath all the other papers Lee found an official looking one. The writer had fancy adult writing. The letter read:

Dear Tsunade the 5th Hokage,

We have found evidence that Uchiha Itachi has indeed kidnapped Miss Haruno. We do not know where they are or why Miss Haruno was kidnapped. Our head military leaders were patrolling the area when a note was found pinned to a tree. It said that the Akatsuki was in dire need of Miss Haruno and as long as we all stayed away she would remain unharmed. There was no mention of if or when she would be released. Although we have searched as thoroughly as possible, there is little chance we will find more evidence. Whether to give up or keep searching is up to you but we will no longer be an assistant. Please excuse us but we want no trouble from the Akatsuki.

Wishing you the best of luck,

Mr. Hirosakita, Head officer of the Land of Fire's military force

The tears that Lee had held back before started pouring out. He couldn't help it. Lee sat down on Tsunade's big and fluffy chair and cried until he thought his heart would crack.

"What will happen to my Sakura angel now? Please come back to me Sakura!" Lee didn't care who heard him. Every little hope he still had was being crushed and shredded before his very eyes. Despair and hatred filled Lee up like a cup.

"If I ever get my hands on Itachi I will do my very best to destroy him!" Lee stood up, wiped his eyes, and headed for the door. Tsunade and TonTon entered the room carrying several large sake bottles.

"Oh, uh, hey there Lee." Tsunade looked from Lee to her desk.

"You, uh, need something?" Lee gave her a death glare. That's right, Rock Lee actually gave somebody a death glare. Tsunade was in shock and didn't say anything. Lee walked past her and said quietly

"I will never give up; this I swear." Tsunade sighed and sat down at her desk. Crumbling up half the papers she reached down and patted TonTon's head.

"Being Hokage sometimes sucks." And with that said Tsunade started doing paper work. Yes, she started paper work. As shocking as it may be Tsunade felt that until the rain stopped there wasn't anything to do anyway.

Lee ran towards his house. Carefully he took off his shoes. The last thing he needed was mud in the house. The place was rather dusty. Lee hadn't been taking care of his chores for awhile now. Grabbing his toaster Lee popped in some bread and opened a thing of butter. Lee sat at the kitchen table and blew his nose on a napkin.

"That's it, no more tears. I will find Sakura and make Itachi pay for what he has done. One day the village will hear her sweet voice again. I swear this on Master Guy's grave! Even though he isn't dead yet." Lee jumped as the toast jumped up. It wasn't until now that Lee realized how hungry he was.

"Maybe I should not have skipped so many meals…" And Lee busied himself with the yummy toast sitting before him. Mr. Hirosakita's words were still ringing in his mind. With an inward sigh Lee looked up and out a window. Thin rays of sunlight were trying to push their way through the clouds. Lee smiled slightly.

"Perhaps this is Sakura's way of wishing me good luck." He joked. Feeling a bit better Lee finished eating his toast.

A/N: I don't know how I thought of Hirosakita. It sounds Japanese though, right?