"Nee, Kakashi-sensei, where are we?" asked Naruto with an exhausted look on his face.

"We are now entering the southern penninsula of Fire Country, Naruto," said Kakashi looking bothered. "You've never been to this area, have you?"

"No," said Naruto, sniffing the air. "It smells funny."

"It's the marshes," said Neji, walking next to Lee.

Lee looked distraught. He never had a good night's rest since Sakura was reported missing, and the fact that she was in the hands of his competition, he was all the more distraught.

"Sakura-chaaaannn..." mumbled Lee as they went.

"Too bad TenTen didn't come," said Naruto looking over at him. "She's the only one able to snap Lee out of that."

FWAP!!

"If you don't shut up I'll explode your limbs on the spot," said Deidara looking fed up. "You've been doing that ever since I met up with you guys. Sakura is Itachi's girl, get over it."

"AAAAAHH!!" yelled Lee, stuffing his face in his hands.

"You shouldn't have said that," said Neji rolling his eyes. "It cripples him."

"Now, now, let's not get violent," said Kakashi, feeling like he was escorting a group of kids rather than leading a team. "Jiraiya, where was Orochimaru last reported?"

"Mmmm, well, he was entering through the western border of Konoha when we had left, so we have about a day and a half's headstart on reaching Itachi's group before him. That doesn't mean we'll find them before Sasuke and Kabuto does, though."

The group had been travelling for some time and had slowed upon news of Akatsuki's location of Sakura. However, that sigh of relief did not last long when they heard that Orochimaru was on the prowl for Sakura as well. They knew it wouldn't take long for him to locate Sasuke, and eventually Sakura, if Sasuke had been following her so closely.

Jiraiya's presence in the group was a little unusual. He had not travelled with a team in years, and the only travelling companion he had most recently was Naruto. He was used to having Naruto with him, but the rest of the group seemed to make him a little agitated as he now had to walk following everyone else's pace.

As the group finally reached the southern coast, they breathed deep breaths as the smell of the ocean was much more refreshing than the marshes.

"I'll contact Itachi on our location," said Deidara, but as he walked away, he stopped short and reached for shuriken in his bag.

The others immediately took notice of his sudden alertness. As they stared into the trees, they saw movement of two figures approaching them. Each taking a defensive and offensive stance, they watched as Itachi and Kisame emerged from the treeline.

"Eh!?" said Deidara, looking at them surprised. "That was quick...but where's Sakura."

"Taken..." said Kisame. "...by Sasuke."

"GASP! MY LOVE!!" squealed Lee, holding his fists to his mouth, his vision starting to swirl.

"What!?" yelled Naruto. "You mean you lost her!?"

Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, he looked as if he was seeing Orochimaru.

"Here's the interesting thing," said Kisame, ignoring Naruto's attitude. "Sasuke took Sakura but is at the same time avoiding Kabuto. Apparently he's still adverse to the idea of interference. So in essence, we don't have to worry about Sakura being killed just yet. As long as she's with Sasuke and not with Kabuto, she will be kept alive. Let's hope it stays that way. We'll need to reach her before Kabuto or Orochimaru finds her first. Waiting for Sasuke to appear before Itachi again may take too long, that's why we came to find you."

"Got what I need?" asked Kakashi, immediately catching on.

Itachi tossed him Sakura's headband. The whole scene seemed strangely familiar to all of them.

"First," said Kakashi. "We'll need to pick up the scent where you last saw her. Lead the way."

Nodding, Itachi turned to lead the group back to the house.

Sakura awoke to the sound of waves and the smell of salt. Sitting up, she rubbed the back of her neck. She had almost forgotten what had happened, but immediately alerted herself to the potential danger she must be in. Looking around she found that she was sitting in a cave by the shore, Sasuke nowhere in sight.

Jumping up, she dashed out of the cave and turned left to run alongside the rocks that hung slightly over the water a few feet below. However, just as she had gotten ten feet away from the cave's entrance, she was knocked hard on her left side and was sent flying into the water below. Luckily it was just deep enough with sand covering the ocean floor, otherwise the rocks would have sliced her really good.

Getting up, Sakura looked up to see Sasuke come flying down at her, but she managed to jump out of the way just in time before his foot met her head. Landing on the surface of the water, she immediately sent a chakra-filled punch to his chest, making contact as he landed to blast him back skimming across the water. However, as he slowly stood up, Sakura could feel the killing intent had intensified.

Turning, she began running away from him because she knew that her speed was no match for his. Just as she was about to bound up the side of the rocks back to shore, Sasuke appeared before her and again slammed her back across the water.

Placing her hands upon the ocean surface to pull herself up, Sakura gave Sasuke a look that could kill, before standing up straight to face him.

"So, after all this time, you still can't beat your brother, can you?" she shouted. "Pitiful. All that hard work for nothing."

Sasuke was infuriated. She dared to go there and call him out on his insecurities.

"What's the matter, Sasuke-kun? Couldn't take on your brother yourself so you had to come after me, huh? Well, I've got news for you Sasuke, I'm not the same little girl chasing after your back. Come to think of it, you never cared enough to stay for Naruto, so what makes me think you ever gave a shit about me. Worthless, is what it was. Chasing after you was worthless!"

Sakura was enraged. She couldn't believe how far Sasuke had fallen. Charging forward with lightning speed she began delivering blows that gave Sasuke a run for his money. As she struck the air repeatedly, she could feel that Sasuke was really pushing to move out of the way. Just a graze would be sufficient to slow him down enough for her to get a real punch in. As Sasuke got tired of dodging her well-aimed sweeps and punches, he decided to end it with a full-body chitori. However, this was the moment that Sakura was waiting for, the moment she was counting on and was prepared for.

Bounding backwards, Sakura threw her shinai bag to the side so that the electrical charges chased after it, creating an opening for her to deliver a solid blow to Sasuke's soloplex, despite the fact that she was shocked in the process. Sakura could feel that she had made contact, and the harsh impact in turn made Sasuke's chitori die. As she watched her punch lift him high into the air, her eyes sharpened as he coughed blood at her.

Got him, she thought.

As Sasuke dropped back down, Sakura whipped out a seringe filled with an anesthesia that would knock him out immediately. Positioning herself below him so that the speed of her hand stabbing him would be increased by the rate of his fall, the seringe was right about to make contact, but not soon enough. Sasuke grabbed the seringe as he fell and dropped to the surface of the water before swinging down and around, coming from behind to stab her in the neck with it.

The world around Sakura began to swirl as she felt her feet slip slowly below the water's surface, but just as she felt the top of her shins submerge, she could feel herself being swept up by Sasuke. As the shape and colors of his face began to blur, she watched the image of his hair blowing in the wind before passing into a deep sleep.