When Karin awoke she was surprised to see herself in an apartment and not on the grass in the training grounds.

She sat up and looked to the coffee table. She noticed a note and picked it up, she opened it and her heart skipped a beat.

"Keep the apartment…train one on one with her…just what is Sakura up to?"

XXXXXX

Sakura sighed as she sat on Tsunadae's desk. The great and powerful Hokage was out cold.

"To believe I even trained under you is hard." She muttered as she looked through the files placed in a neat stack off to the side.

Tsunadae groaned in her sleep before beginning to snore like a log and Sakura sweat-dropped. Tsunadae was known to let her guard down but c'mon, in the middle of the day and one of the best ANBU in all of the Fire Nation sitting on her desk just seeping chakra? That's way too out of it.

Sakura gazed around the room and noticed an untouched bottle of Sake and she grinned evilly.

"TSUNADAE-SHISHOU! JARIYA WAS STEALING YOUR SAKE AND IS STRIPPING YOU!!!!!"

Before Sakura could even blink, Tsunadae was up and looking around for Jariya. Sakura grinned before coughing to hide her laughter.

"Where is he?"

"Who?"

"Jariya… you yelled that he…SAKURA!"

Sakura finally couldn't hold it in anymore; she began to laugh so hard that her sides hurt. Tsunadae who at first was pissed beyond belief stopped and let a smile caress her face at the sight of Sakura laughing. It had been so long since she had laughed other than when she was with her friends that Tsunadae felt tears prick the corners of her eyes.

"G-Gomen Tsunadae-shishou, I was out of line."

And the life was gone. Tsunadae sat down and glanced at the pink haired ANBU captain, "Well. You must be here for something."

"Hai. I wish to relinquish myself from training with Team 7 to train Karin one on one."

Tsunadae glanced at Sakura with her mouth agape before seeing the emotions swimming in her eyes and she nodded, "Hai. I'll let Kakashi know and beginning tomorrow you can start."

Sakura's face lit up and she ran over and hugged Tsunadae before bowing and leaving the room in a flurry.

Tsunadae smiled, "So you want to save her…or yourself… which one is it?"

XXXXXX

Karin walked aimlessly around the village streets as thought of what happened before she fainted floated through her mind. She absentmindedly raised her fingers to her lips and began to blush, as the taste and feel of Sakura's own lips flooded her senses.

"B-Baka…she…she could never…"

"Never what Karin-chan?"

Karin turned and flushed a darker shade of red when she noticed that it was Sakura who asked the question.

"N-Nothing."

Sakura blinked before smiling, "So, did you get my note?"

"Mhmm?"

"And…?"

Karin smiled before throwing herself at Sakura and engulfing her in a hug, "YES!"

Sakura smirked and gently pushed her away and Karin squeaked an apology.

"It's fine. Everyone seems to be forgetting, even me."

Karin giggled before looking away, "I have one question though."

"Hmm?"

"Why?"

"Why take you in and give you an apartment and offer to train you?"

"Hai."

"Simple. So you can prove that you're more than just a fan girl to Sasuke, I can tell Karin, that you love him. So prove to him that you can be everything he needs in a wife."

Karin felt tears prick at her eyes before the fell slowly down her face. Sakura placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her to her. Karin finally let it all out as she cried harder onto Sakura's chest.

Karin had finally found someone to trust.

XXXXXX

Sasuke glared at the scene as he slammed his hand onto the table, "Damn you Karin. You just had to go and get Sakura involved!"

He had been looking for his red haired teammate against his better judgment when he noticed her with Sakura. He had quickly cast a jutsu then headed back home so he could watch what was going on without getting caught.

And what he had seen didn't make him happy. He was trying to get Sakura to love him again…not hate him more than she already did. After he had last seen Sakura a few years ago he had remembered the feelings that had been buried deep in his heart for her and it hurt to hear that she had moved on and with Neji no less.

He wanted nothing more than to just kill Neji and take Sakura, that had been his original plan, but seen as how she was pregnant there was going to be problems.

"Dammit…"

He bit his lip and drew blood; cursing at his carelessness before grabbing a shirt and walking out of the room… one way or another Sakura was going to be his.

XXXXXX

"Again!" Sakura yelled as she dodged the attack from Karin.

"Hai."

Sakura's eyes twinkled as she felt the chakra move through Karin's system and into her hands before she punched the ground. A medium sized crater was created – not as big as Sakura's mind you but it was impressive.

"I did it…!" Karin looked to Sakura who smiled. It had been a harsh six weeks for Karin as she trained from dawn until dusk with Sakura and worked at the Hospital on odd days.

She and Sakura had formed a deep bond and were like sisters now. As well as Sakura, Karin was now friends with all of the other girls. Her and Temari even got along better than anyone thought they would.

Of course this wasn't what Sasuke wanted at all. He wanted Karin and Sakura to be enemies but no they just had to go and get all buddy-buddy on him.

Neji had noticed that attitude change in Sasuke and had a good idea as to why but he never said anything around Sakura, which wasn't very often. But the few moments they had together were always enjoyable and that's what mattered to him and he knew that it mattered to her as well.

Today was one of the odd days where he got to watch Sakura and Karin train. At first he had been skeptical of her and Karin being friends but as time went on he noticed a change in Karin and had grown to accept her.

Sakura wiped her brow as the heat of the sun beat down on her. She signaled that a break was in order and Karin smiled before falling into step beside Sakura. The two walked over to where Neji was sitting and the three soon fell into a deep conversation.

XXXXXX

Karin bid farewell to Sakura and Neji as she headed back to her apartment and they to their home. She was happy that she had learned all of these new tricks but at the same time she was upset… she still couldn't get Sakura's kiss out of her system.

"Even though she only did it to knock me out… ah geez… Karin get a hold of yourself."

She was so lost in thought that she never noticed that menacing red eyes ahead of her and the dangerous red clouds that were just faintly noticeable.

"Hello… Karin."

She stopped and looked up, "I-Itachi…"

She fell to the ground under the power of Itachi's Sharingan and a smirk covered his face. He picked her up and grabbed her Konoha headband and ripped his cloak before tying them together and then cutting her hand and smearing the blood all over the blue material.

"You're just the key I need to get Akatsuki it's new medic."

XXXXXX

When Sakura woke up the next morning she did everything the usual way on a day that she wasn't training – get up ,shower, get dressed, eat, look at bloody headband… wait that wasn't in the schedule.

Sakura placed the bowl down and stared in utter shock at the headband; it was Karin's! She knew because of the K stitched into the side in a light sky blue material.

"No…" She muttered as she stared at the red and black fabric tied around it, "no… no…. no….NO! NEJI-KUN!"

Neji, hearing his wife's scream jumped out of bed and sprinted down the stairs. Stopping when Sakura ran into him, sobbing. He ran his fingers through her hair and whispered to her before looking to the counter and opening his mouth in shock.

"Sakura-chan…"

"T-They took Karin… Akatsuki took Karin-chan!"

Her sobs erupted into a full blown balling as she gripped onto Neji with a deathly grip.

After Neji had managed to calm Sakura down and had gotten changed himself her grabbed the headband and Sakura and the two headed to the Hokage tower.

XXXXXX

"WHAT?!"

Tsunadae's voice could be heard throughout the entire village as she shook with rage.

Neji nodded his head slowly as he held Sakura to him, who was still shaken up by the fact that Karin had been kidnapped.

"But what do they want?" Shizune asked.

"…Me…" Everyone turned their heads to Sakura who hadn't spoken a word since she and Neji had arrived about half an hour ago.

"What makes you think that?"

"Think about it, the headband was left in MY kitchen. And for another thing all of us know that Akatsuki has been looking for a new medic since I killed Sasori… it would make sense that they will exchange Karin for me. It's blackmail."

Kakashi gazed at his ex-student with sympathy in his only visible eye. Juugo was silent as was Suigetsu. The only person who was slightly shocked was Sasuke who was trying to register the fact that Sakura had killed Sasori…a member of Akatsuki and the fact that she cared that Karin had been kidnapped.

"Well, what can we do then? We can't just hand you over to them."

"I know shishou. I know."

Silence filled the office and Tsunadae sighed, "Come back here tomorrow morning, we can think of something then. Right now Sakura needs her rest. Neji, take care of her for me."

"I will, Hokage-sama."

Tsunadae smiled, "Dismissed!"

XXXXXX

Sakura was currently enjoying a nice hot bath, trying hard to let the emotions that consumed her to leave her body so she could relax much better then she was at the moment. But her stupid brain wasn't listening and so with a sigh she removed herself from the water.

Wrapping the towel around herself she stepped out into the bedroom and walked to the closet. Her hair was sticking to her skin as she changed and she let out an irritable sigh.

"Long hair sucks ass."

"Then why did you grow it back out?"

Sakura turned and dropped the brush that was in her hand, "I-Itachi…where's Neji-kun?!"

"Neji-kun is sleeping… relax he's not dead, where would the fun be in that?"

Sakura cringed as the sadistic twist of his lips bore into her eyes, "You took Karin didn't you?"

"Hai."

"Why?"

He stepped forwards and she stepped back until she was against the wall, her eyes never faltered as his hands slid to be on either side of her head, "You know why, Sakura-chan."

She growled and slammed her fist into his stomach but he disappeared and was replaced with a log, it was a substitution.

She yelped as a foot slammed into her back sending her flying to the wall. She placed a hand on her stomach and wiped the blood from her mouth. Luckily the chakra protecting her child was strong so only very strong attacks could harm him or her.

"Damn you."

Itachi chuckled and disappeared, appearing behind her. Her eyes widened as a hand rested on her shoulder, "Meet me tonight outside of the village or the poison that is inside of your husband's body will be activated and kill him."

She turned to yell at him but he was already gone, tears fell from her eyes and she stood up before dashing down the stairs to see Neji on the ground.

"Neji-kun!"

She ran over and placed her fingers on his neck, there was a pulse but it was slower than normal. She picked Neji up and did the appropriate hand signs and appeared in the hospital. She looked for blonde hair and let more tears leak from her eyes.

"INO-CHAN!"

Ino looked up and gasped, "Sakura-chan what's wrong?"

She ran over and helped Sakura hold Neji up, "It's Neji I think he's been poisoned."

"What! How?"

"I-Itachi…"

Ino looked at her friend sadly before calling for the nurses to get Shizune and Tsunadae and if they waited they wouldn't have a job. They, as in the scared nurses, obliged and quickly went to get the Hokage and her assistant.

Sakura looked down at Neji and kissed his sweating forehead, "I promise, no matter what it takes, I'll find you an antidote… no matter what happens… I love you Neji-kun."