A/N: Hello! I'm back from a vacation where I did not have a computer for two weeks. The good news is I'm back now! The bad news is school has started again. I'm doing my best so please don't be angry if updates slow down. Thank you dear readers!

Disclaimer: Do you even have to ask? NO!

Chapter 4

Sakura's Pack

After Sakura had gotten medicine for her headache, Orochimaru decided he'd better get on with the explanation before she got mad at him again. If that happened he wasn't sure he could handle it. He sat on the couch and motioned for Sakura and the wolves to sit when he realized Pein was still there.

"Sakura-chan, why is he still here?" Orochimaru whined as if the roles of parent and child were reversed.

"Please Oro-kun, don't make this anymore difficult. Pein should hear this too." Sakura beseeched. The use of the affectionate nickname made him give in.

"Alright, he can stay. Don't get me wrong though. It's not for him. It's only because you asked nicely." Orochimaru grumbled as all the wolf-men let out a growl. He just looked at them sympathetically and began his tale.

"As I was telling you earlier I decided to turn the alpha wolves into humans with a medicine that Tsunade developed. It was easy really. All I had to do was coat the best part of the meat with the medicine and then the alphas would eat it because they always get the best meat first." Orochimaru explained simply.

"Why did you do it, Oro-kun?" Sakura asked in a shaky voice. She sounded like she was about to cry. "Why would you take them away from their habitats and pack's? You took everything from them!"

"I did it for you." Orochimaru explained. "Believe me Sakura-chan. I didn't make this decision lightly. I worry about you because it is not enough to have contact with your parents and several packs of wolves alone. The only time you really get out is with him." He gestured to Pein. "I neither trust nor like this man, but if you choose to be with him regardless at least I know the alphas will be there to soften any emotional blow he may deal you."

Pein was used to this treatment. It was always the same with everyone except Sakura. People take one look at his piercings and label him a "punk" or a "freak." Sakura was the only person who hadn't taken him at face value. She made an effort to get to know him and he loved her for it. He hated himself for what he would have to do, but he had made a pact and he could not break it under any circumstances. His pact had to do with the medication Orochimaru had used which is why he accepted the story. Besides that, it sounded like something the old man would do.

"How can you just judge Pein like that, Oro-kun? You don't even know him! You never tried to." Sakura exclaimed in a broken tone that had Kiba pulling her into his lap before Pein could even snap out of his thoughts.

"Sakura it's alright. Pein doesn't seem to care so you shouldn't either. As for all of us, I've seen the way the others are with you and if we have any regrets, it's that there's so much competition. We are human now and we don't need a pack or a habitat in the wild anymore. All we need now is only you." Kiba murmured soothingly causing Sakura to blush. When he saw this he gave her a lopsided grin and nuzzled her a bit.

Pein narrowed his eyes at what he saw. That's the man that attacked me. Judging from his behavior he has to be Kiba. That freaking mutt never did like me. He ruminated. Though his apathetic mask was in place, fury burned in his gut at the way Kiba could so easily comfort Sakura. It was a power he retained in his human shape.

Gaara leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Though I hate agreeing with Kiba, what he says can't be denied. You are the only reason we need to stay human. Don't be upset because of us, Sakura." Gaara was not used to begging so the entreaty sounded more like a demand to everyone else but Sakura. She had always read Gaara easily when he was a wolf. It was strange now because his voice always came out harsher than he intended while his face was impassive but his body language and eyes gave him away. He was extremely protective towards and worried about her.

As Gaara whispered in her ear he couldn't resist a brief nibble on her lobe. The moment his teeth grazed her ear, Sakura's face turned the color of cherries. The next thing Gaara knew, he and Kiba were ripped away from the woman of their dreams. Apparently Pein couldn't take anymore. He immediately tossed them aside as if touching them burned and placed himself comfortably next to Sakura. He smiled tenderly when she buried her red face in his black jacket.

Itachi's blood was boiling. Now he knew why Kiba was driven crazy enough to attack this man who Sakura had called her "boyfriend." He was quite tempted to lash out himself. Sakura relied far too much on this human for his liking.

"I'll go see about getting you all some tea." Sakura stated looking at no one in particular. She stood and got three steps away from the couch when suddenly Shikamaru literally threw himself at her knocking them both to the floor. Instead of yelling at Shikamaru, Neji was heading towards the door with a snarl on his face. Orochimaru now had Tsunade pinned to the ground too. Jiraiya was yelling at him asking the question everyone was thinking.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jiraiya shouted just before a blast rocked the house from outside. For an instant everyone froze too stunned to move. Pein went pale as realization hit. When the wolves noticed this, hell broke loose for the umpteenth time that day. Kiba had Pein by the throat, Shikamaru was trying to hold onto a struggling Sakura, Neji was out the door with Itachi right behind him, Kimimaro ran out the back to see what in the world was going on, and finally Gaara was blockading the front and back doors once the others left and ordering Jiraiya to secure two escape routes that the enemy would not predict.

"What is happening to my wolf preserve?" Tsunade shouted.

"What's going on Shikamaru? Where are the others going?" Sakura demanded still struggling in his nearly painful hold.

"What did you do?" Kiba roared at Pein.

"Kiba calm down!" Gaara ordered his natural alpha taking over. "We can't interrogate him if you choke him to death. Let him explain and then we decide what to do."

While this was going on Shikamaru quickly lapped up Sakura's tears. The others were too preoccupied to notice and Shikamaru was feeling tortured at seeing his woman so distraught. "The other guys have gone to find out who's messing with gunpowder. The wind changed and we caught the scent of a ton of it. It was more than a poacher would use. It was mixed with the scent of clay, but the gunpowder was overpowering. Judging from the small explosion, I'd say we have a bomber on our hands."

Orochimaru glared at Pein whose throat was released while Kiba still had him by the collar. Pein usually looked apathetic, but right now he looked like he was going to be sick. He kept looking everywhere except Sakura. Apparently he was too guilty to face her.

"Pein, please tell me they're wrong." Sakura begged ripping the pierced man's heart in half. All he could do was shake his head.

Sakura stilled as what everyone knew sank in. Pein had betrayed her. She walked straight up to him and gave him a smack that she hoped delivered at least of fraction of what she was feeling. She then squared her shoulders and took a deep breath as she turned to Shikamaru. She was the alpha. It was time she started acting like it.

"Shikamaru, I want you to go help our pack members outside. I'm going to help Kiba and Gaara with interrogation. If we have to leave the house, for whatever reason, can you and the others follow our scents through the escape routes?" Sakura questioned. Her voice was strong and demanded an answer that Shikamaru was only too happy to provide. Kiba, Gaara, and Shikamaru felt giddy at hearing her accept that she was a vital part of this pack of theirs. Seeing her take command like this when she was still feeling the pain of betrayal spoke volumes for her character.

"It won't be a problem." Shikamaru affirmed as his heart swelled with pride for this woman he would make his own. If he had ever doubted he loved Sakura since becoming human, those doubts were wiped out by her own hand. He turned to Kiba and Gaara who had just reentered the room. "You two had better take care of my mate while I'm away. I better not find out you took advantage of the situation later." He quietly snarled at the other beast-men knowing they would hear. With that he was gone leaving the two wolf-men still in the room fuming.

"The escape routes have officially been secured, and if you ask me we should go as soon as possible." Jiraiya declared.

"Thank you Jiraiya-kun. Let's move out." Sakura demanded, not even looking at Pein. He had never known an emotional blow could hurt this badly. Pein felt like he was being ripped to pieces slowly. He had thought he was prepared for this but he now knew he wasn't.

"Sakura" Pein let a broken whisper escape and it was nearly Sakura's undoing. Then she remembered what was happening to the preserve and her wolves. The pain of betrayal was still there but so was something else, unadulterated rage.

"You have a lot of nerve telling me you love me and then doing this to the place I love most!" She hissed in a lethal tone (something she picked up from Orochimaru.) "You know how precious this place is! It's my one sanctuary and your friend is BLOWING IT UP!" At this combination of fury and pain Sakura finally broke down and cried.

It was about ten seconds later that another blast rocked the house. Kiba grabbed Pein in a rough hold that would undoubtedly leave a mark or two at least and started along the escape route. Gaara was in emotional agony at seeing Sakura like this, but he knew it was nothing compared to what she was going through. He held off the anger and helplessness of the situation and scooped her up in his arms bridal style and set off down the path to safety. He silently vowed to himself to never let her go through this misery again.

Sakura buried her head in his shirt and tried to stop herself from sobbing, but as soon as Gaara noticed his extremely gentle hold got a little tight. "Don't hold back Sakura, not with me. If you want to cry, you should. All of us know how strong you are and we won't think any less of you." The redhead murmured in her ear.

Jiraiya looked back at his little girl and swore that the man who did this to her would pay. It had been so hard for Sakura to open up to anyone outside their little makeshift family. Pein was the first one she had wanted to be completely open with and that bastard decides to repay her with betrayal. He will pay! The old toad-human deliberated.

Orochimaru was also contemplating Pein's demise when he heard them. There were extremely soft footfalls in the passage behind them. He wasn't sure of it at first until he saw that Kiba had stopped as well. "Who is following us?" Orochimaru demanded.

Kiba glared but answered anyway. "It's Itachi and Neji. Neji is bleeding and Itachi smells like he's been burned."

This time it was Sakura who spoke. "Are you sure?"

"It's definitely them, but we should keep going in case there being – Sakura wait!" Kiba cried when he saw her leap out of Gaara's arms and dash back towards the entrance of their escape. He immediately shoved Pein towards Orochimaru and ran after her.

Pein saw the opportunity presented to him when Kiba released him and before Orochimaru could grab him he regained his footing and sprinted after Sakura as well. He knew he wouldn't have long before they gave chase so he thought of nothing but Sakura being in danger and soon enough adrenaline was coursing through his veins at such an alarming rate he thought that his heart might give out. He didn't care. All he cared about at that moment was catching up to the woman he loved and protecting her from the mess he'd made.

Pein was as fit as a man could be, but he found that the best he could do was just keep up the same pace as Kiba. He was beginning to see why his boss wanted this medication Tsunade invented so badly. He knew that Kiba knew that he was right behind him so he was surprised when the wolf-man just kept on running. Before long they saw Sakura and all the men could think about was protecting her.

Sakura gasped as tears fell from her eyes at what she was seeing. One of her beautiful wolves was staggering down the tunnel Jiraiya had led them through while dragging another. Just as Kiba had said Neji was bleeding and Itachi had burn marks on his shoulders. Itachi's face was twisted with pain and exhaustion while Neji had lost consciousness. Somehow Itachi managed a small smile when he saw Sakura's face just before he collapsed.

When Sakura dashed as fast as she could to Itachi and Neji she noticed that the former's burn marks extended down his back. It was incredible that he'd made it this far, especially considering he had Neji in tow. That's Itachi for you. Sakura thought managing a small smile for him in return.

By this time Kiba, Pein, and Gaara had all caught up to Sakura. Kiba stood firmly between Pein and his mate so that no further emotional damage could be inflicted. However, Pein was done moping and the new priority was setting things right with him and Sakura. He dashed past Kiba and knelt by his precious woman's side.

"What do you need?" He inquired softly.

"I need something to keep Itachi from getting cold and I've got to staunch Neji's bleeding. We need water and some kind of makeshift bandage and blanket." Sakura mumbled past her sobs. If this were an hour ago Pein wouldn't have hesitated to pull her in his arms. He knew that if he tried the action now it would only make things worse so he pulled off his shirt and started on the bandages instead.

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked on the wary side.

"I'm making us some bandages for the unconscious guy." Pein replied as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

"That's not what I meant. You hate them so why are you helping them?"

Pein sighed and continued tearing at his shirt. "Don't misunderstand. I'm not such a good guy that I can go out of my way for people who mean nothing to me. However these creatures are important to you. If I can earn even the slightest hint at forgiveness by helping them then I would fight alongside them if I could do so without getting my siblings killed."

"What do you mean?" Sakura questioned, completely vulnerable. Gaara had gone to get water from Orochimaru while Kiba was putting his shirt over Itachi to keep him warm since Sakura had said that was what needed to be done. He still kept his ears perked.

"Sakura, there's something that I should have told you a long time ago."