Authoress' Note: I am SOOO sorry for the long delay in an update! Please don't hate me. I've completed my FFVII fanfic, so now I can concentrate solely on this story. The next chapter SHOULD be out by Sunday night. I'll try to make the chapters longer and more detailed, but it's very trying on my mind sometimes. Anywho, a BIG thank you to my reviewers ( overlordofnobodies, cute0anime0addict and NibiNoNEKO ) and thanks to anyone who bothers to click on this story and read it. Huggles for all!

Disclaimer: If Naruto belonged to me, then why oh WHY would I write such things as FANfiction??

Chapter 2

Sasori was starting to understand why this ninja village could be one hidden in the dark, for there was no light making its presence known in the thick forest that the Akatsuki member was attempting to traverse through.

Sasori was not afraid - not by a long shot - but he was apprehensive about travelling into potential ally/enemy territory without any back-up or knowledge on the local ninja. To him, this lack of a plan was foolish and time-wasting. If he had been more prepared then perhaps he could've already entered the elusive village and gained the support of the ninja there. As the situation stood, he could not afford time to prepare and just had to dive headlong into the mission.

It suddenly occurred to the rogue ninja that this kind of reckless mission was the exact same thing that his current partner would thrive in. Yet, for some reason that Sasori couldn't fathom, the blonde was not chosen and instead he himself was forced to partake in a trivial affair.

The Akatsuki, as if he needed to voice his irritation, grumbled to the darkness, "This had better be worth my time."

With Sakura

Green splodges - that was the best way for Sakura to describe the foliage that she and her team mates were passing by rapidly. All three young women had packed light for the trip, because they would be moving at a swift pace for three days straight before they actually earned a rest stop. It was always better to have a light pack with small essentials than a large one stuffed with an entire wardrobe of clothing. Sakura had to convince Ino of that very fact, naturally, but the blonde eventually took the hint and left behind her three large travel cases.

Nightfall was fast approaching, with the sun already hovering close to the horizon. Still, none of the three travelling female ninja made a decision to stop and rest. It had been discussed before they had left the village that they would only stop once it became too dark to navigate properly. If they only rested for a couple of hours then they could still make it to the Sand village by the third day of travel.

Sakura was still unnerved by the news that people, both ninja and civilians alike, were vanishing without a trace. It was not uncommon, but then again the numbers of disappearing people were normally not so concerning that a full-scale investigation had to be made.

Another thing that Sakura couldn't understand was why Leaf ninja were chosen for the task rather than sending Sand ninja. Surely local ninja would be more adept at gathering information on this mission than foreigners? However, an order was an order and Sakura intended to carry out the Hokage's order to the letter.

Sakura glanced up and took note of the number of visible stars overhead, which happened to be quite a lot. That fact, coupled with the inky blackness leaking into the sky fully convinced the pink-haired ninja that stopping for rest for the moment would be an acceptable – not to mention wise – decision. She glanced briefly towards the forest floor, eyes trained on locating a secure place to spend the night, but she couldn't find anything within the range of her own eyesight. She looked to her left where Hinata was running in sync with her own movements, "Hinata, can you use your Byakugan to look for a safe spot to stop?" It was a request as much as an order and the Hyuuga heiress complied immediately.

Hinata's pale eyes roved the trees and she raised her left-hand to point to the safest nearby place, "There's a small clearing up ahead and to the left a little bit."

Sakura nodded and all three girls rushed to their new destination, eager to retire and rejuvenate their exhausted limbs.

Back with Sasori

Sasori firmly believed that this forest wanted to aggravate him. The entire area was already coated in a thick blanket of perpetual darkness, but as the sun had set the puppet master could no longer make out his own hands in front of his face. The Akatsuki very much doubted that a torch or even a fire would prove ineffective at providing some kind of light source, because he had decided that no matter what he attempted he would not be able to cut a beacon of light in this pitch-black world.

He had so far managed to stumble over at least seven tree roots – as far as he could tell anyway – and his luck was not favouring him at that moment because his toe had just snagged on a rather large and jagged stone. The red-haired ninja cursed anyone whose name he could think of, the Leader being top of his list, but he stopped suddenly when he caught a whistling sound in the trees. The sound was faint, yet it seemed to have multiplied rapidly in the space of five seconds. It was then that Sasori realised he was being followed by some unknown ninja.

He didn't believe for a second that they were allies to him, for they moved in the trees in such a way that forced the Akatsuki to admit that they had him completely surrounded. Not only did Sasori not know how many enemy ninja there were, he also had no idea exactly where each one was. He couldn't defend himself with his puppets, for the trees were so tightly compacted and he couldn't see anything in front or around him. Instead, the puppet master resigned to simply trying to listen for the enemies and evade all forms of attack.

Of course, while he was mulling all these things over in his calculating mind, the ninja had already tossed a heavy net over his body, with weights attached to each corner that forced his body down onto the forest floor. The Akatsuki had no time to react and no way to defend himself, so he was utterly bewildered and peeved when he felt someone tug on the net to pull his body away from – what he deemed in his fuming mind – 'the capture site'.

At the rest stop with Sakura, just on the borders of the Fire Country

Sakura gazed at the night sky, loving the calming effect it had on her and how serenely the stars sparkled down from above. Hinata had indeed chosen the perfect spot to spend the night, as there was just the right amount of trees for cover as well as a clearing to start a small camp fire.

The pink-haired girl turned her head slightly to one side when she heard her blonde friend mumble in her sleep about Shikamaru's laziness. A soft giggle escaped Sakura's lips and she filed away her friend's mutterings for a later date to embarrass her with them. Sakura could barely recall a time when things had been quite as peaceful as they were that very night and she dearly wished it would stay that way forever.

She sat up for a moment and thought of her old team-mate, Naruto, and his current training with Jiraiya. She missed the loud-mouthed ninja more and more each day and she couldn't stand waiting for him to return from his trip. He'd been gone for nearly two and a half years now; Sakura wondered if he'd be much different from how he used to be.

She snorted to herself quietly at the very idea of Naruto changing at all, "Probably not, knowing him."

Sakura knew that the blonde would be back soon, so they had to finish the mission soon.

"After all," she whispered to the trees around her, "I wouldn't want to miss the chance to welcome him home."

The young ninja lay back down on the soft grass and closed her eyes, promising herself that she'd complete this task before Naruto returned to the Leaf village.