I've decided to end this story at ten chapters. The next chapter will be the climax. So look forward to it!

Words: 3290

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me.

Chapter Eight – Caught Red-handed

Sakura followed Sasuke out of the Uchiha mansion and into the car. Her chest was heaving from the pace they had kept while leaving. She looked over to Sasuke as he started the car. His dark bangs forbade her to see his orbs, but the way his shoulders slackened and the way his hands were gripped loosely around the wheel, Sakura deducted that he was at ease. Feeling a little proud, she settled for a slight smile on her face. Sasuke was finally free.

"Don't start daydreaming." His stoic voice interrupted her. She scowled at him. He just had to ruin the moment.

"I am not." Sakura retorted as they sped past the Uchiha gate. "I'm merely wondering how we're going to hide ourselves once we get there."

"We'll see once we're there." Sakura nodded. They had to observe the area first. If there were trees, they were safe. If it was just land, they stuck out like two idiots wanting to get killed. This mission was a do or die. Thanks Tsunade, she thought wryly.

Then again, why did Tsunade accept Sasuke so easily? Sakura looked back at the man concentrating on the road. He was good looking, but that wouldn't shake Tsunade. She was so stubborn and could get fired up easily. So does that mean…She observed him a bit closer. Did Sasuke have potential?

"Checking someone out at this time is quite useless." Once again, his voice shattered her thoughts. Growling, she directed her gaze to the window. He absolutely had no potential at all! Her eyes inadvertently looked into the side view mirrors. There was a sleek black car behind. Sakura squinted at it, and she could have sworn she saw Shisui poke his head out from the window. Startled, Sakura watched as someone pulled the male back into the car. Whipping her head fast to turn around, Sakura stuck her head out of the window and looked back. The black car was nowhere in sight. Unsettled, she plopped back into her seat. Was that just her imagination?

"We're here." Thoughts were dashed out of Sakura's head as she stiffened immediately. Spies could never afford to linger on trivial thoughts. She scanned the area. Barren land covered most of the place but there were a few trees and bushes scattered around. They would be able to hide. Sakura was confused when Sasuke drove past the plot of land.

"What are you doing?"

"We need to hide the car somewhere. If we leave it there, then it's just telling them that someone's here." Sasuke calmly explained. Disgruntled, Sakura agreed. Something was ticking her off. Maybe it was the fact that he seemed to be better at this spy stuff than she was. Sakura was determined to show him how it was really done. The way of the spy.

After parking the car in an inconspicuous spot in front of a store, the two got out and sneakily went back to the plot of land to hide in the bushes. Both crept silently, wary of their step, as they made their way closer to the center of the land.

"What in the world are they doing?" Shisui remarked as he watched Sasuke and Sakura through the front view mirrors of the car. "If they wanted privacy then they could've just…" Itachi fixed his cousin with a glare. Shisui sighed.

"I didn't want to tail them in the first place…" he mumbled. Itachi snorted. He knew very well that the male would've came with him even if he didn't ask.

"Should we follow those two?" Itachi shook his head slightly.

"Wait. If they don't come out within thirty minutes, we go in." Shisui rolled his eyes. The weasel made it sound as if they were on some life-threatening mission. And just great, he gets to spend a half hour with the unfeeling male next to him. A perfect way to start the day…

Sakura cringed as a twig under her foot snapped in two. Sasuke's head immediately whipped around to give her a glare. She returned the hardened gesture. Everyone makes a mistake at some point.

The two were crouched down, moving on the toes of their feet to insure their speed and decrease any sounds. Sasuke was in front with Sakura behind. The guy was pretty good at sneaking, she'll give him credit for that.

Suddenly, Sasuke halted in his movements, causing Sakura to bump into him slightly from the abrupt stop.

"What is it?" She hissed out in a harsh whisper.

"There's people here." Came his soft and calm voice. Ok, he was pretty good at keeping his emotions in check. Fine, it still didn't mean that he was better than her at this.

Slowly, Sakura stood up a little so she could see from behind Sasuke's shoulder. They had come a pretty far way into the plot of land, and it was rather dark. Flashlights held by guards roamed around the place. Thankfully, nowhere near where they were currently hiding. Boxes were strewn on the ground, and Sakura was quite puzzled at the reason. There was definitely something fishy going on here, the heavy armed men told her that much. Sakura looked at the glint of guns looped on their belts. But there seemed to be no big reason for the guarding. There were just boxes. The real question was, what was inside them?

A flash of light caught Sakura's eye, and she panicked, noticing that it was coming her way. A rough hand landed on her shoulder and dragged her down to the ground. Unable to gain balance with the added force, Sakura fell down on the ground with a small plop. Dark and stern orbs narrowed at her fallen form.

"Are you sure you're a spy?" His taunting note sparked a fire within Sakura. She glared at him with equal fever. A sculpted eyebrow arched at her in amusement.

"Just get moving." She mumbled, adverting her eyes to the ground. That was a total embarrassment, and she fought down a hot blush. Sakura felt a slight change in form in Sasuke as he looked away from her and directed his gaze back to the action happening in the center of the barren land. Sakura was surprised when his hand fumbled in the darkness to lock hold on hers and guided her through the bushes to find a better viewing area. Without much thought, she followed him. Such a warm hand…

Sasuke found a tall tree next to some overgrown bushes and the two settled behind them. Sakura poked her head through the thicket while Sasuke stood and hid behind the darkness shadowed by the tree.

"Any clue on what they're doing?" Sakura questioned the male without looking at him. Her eyes were fixed on those boxes.

"Guarding so far. I don't think any action is going on."

"I guess now we wait."

"For once, you guess right." Sakura scowled. She was getting teased on a mission. Sasuke would never quit it, would he?

And there, the two stayed, hidden by the darkness, as they waited for something to happen.

Shisui checked the clock for the umpteenth time. It's been two hours already. He looked at the bored Itachi.

"Why are we still in the car?" Shisui questioned the Uchiha. "Didn't you say that we had to wait for only thirty minutes? Why am I still sitting with you, wea…" He was met with a stern glare. Shisui scrunched up his face in distaste. "I need some fresh air." With that, he opened the car door and practically jumped out. Closing the door behind him, he began to saunter over to the plot of land where Sasuke and Sakura had disappeared to.

Itachi watched his cousin in distaste. Did Shisui not recognize the severity of the situation? The two that had vanished were probably up to no good. Itachi, being the genius that he was, deduced that something was seriously wrong. He already knew that Sakura was no ordinary girl. And the past few days, Sasuke had been spending a lot of time with her. Was he warped up in the girl's business now?

Itachi had half a mind to call the police, but then he thought against it. The police would cause a ruckus that was not necessary. It might give the Uchihas a bad reputation and jeapordize Sasuke, Sakura, and now, Shisui.

With a sigh, Itachi counted by the minutes since Shisui walked out of sight. Precisely five minutes. He opened the car door and made his way to the land. There had been plenty of time for Shisui to get into trouble.

Sakura was usually calm and collected on missions. She knew what to do and when to do it. The only time when she wasn't so sure of her actions was when she had to wait. Like the situation she was in now. Sakura absolutely detested waiting. If the bad guys were going to plot something, they might as well do it quickly so she could give them a whooping. But when they took their sweet old time doing it, let's just say Sakura was not a very patient person. Add a show off Uchiha next to her side, and she hated the situation even more.

So when she heard the sound of voices conversing, Sakura almost leapt out in joy. Finally, there was something interesting going on! Her eyes scanned the area until she came across an ugly old man with pale skin. The dark menacing orbs gleamed in the very little light there was. His tongue flickered out every once in a while as he wore that amused and sickly expression. Orochimaru, Sakura thought with disgust. She felt Sasuke stiffen beside her. He had recognized the man too.

Orochimaru had called one of the men to him. Sakura strained to hear their conversation.

"Plans…ready……tonight?" She could only hear a few snippets. Judging from Sasuke's frustrated expression, Sakura assumed it was the same for him. She continued to listen closely as the other male spoke.

"All…..order…secretly." The male motioned his hands towards the piles of boxes. Orochimaru shook his head slightly with that amused look. Sakura caught the meaning without him having to say anything. Whatever they were talking about, Orochimaru had deemed it 'not enough.'

"Weapons…..no more room…..Uchiha's blueprint." The other male spoke again, with hopes of calming Orochimaru's frazzled nerves. Sasuke straightened even more, and Sakura wished desperately to be closer to the two men.

"No mistakes……soon…..to work." Orochimaru seemingly ordered the men. Quickly, more workers came into sight to carry more boxes to the land. Sakura noticed one male in particular who seemed to have a hard time balancing the heavy material stuffed inside. He began to wobble around, but no one else had paid any attention yet. His shoe caught the side of a rock, and now completely unbalanced, the box flew out of his hands and landed with a hard thump on the ground. The jagged rocks tore a hole on the box, and Sakura gasped as she saw guns, knives, and other weapons spill out onto the floor. All of these boxes stored artillery?

Sakura saw the man talking to Orochimaru howl with frustration and watched as he began to discipline the clumsy worker. After jabbing a finger back towards where the other boxes sat, the male went back to Orochimaru with a big fake grin plastered on. He shook his hands about as if to signal the fact that he had nothing to do with slight mishap. Orochimaru smirked slightly, and Sakura shivered involuntarily. She had stated that she had hated the man before. Now she was positive. This man wasn't even human. He was some sort of demon with a wicked sense of humor that was usually let out through watching someone else's pain.

Orochimaru opened his mouth, and that disgusting tongue of his sweeped over his lips.

"Done……market…..sell for profit." The man slithered out with his tongue. Sakura furrowed up her brow. Market? Her eyes widened. As in black market?! The truth dawned on her. Orochimaru was planning to sneak counterfeit weapons to the black market. She looked over to Sasuke whom was staring at her as well. Both knew each other's thoughts, and unconsciously nodded. Sakura bit her lip. Orochimaru had to be stopped. The only question was, how.

Sakura's breath came out in shallow gasps.

She watched the men pile boxes on top of each other. Guards heavy with weapons stood at every corner, blocking intruders such as herself.

Good thing Sasuke was here with her or else she might've been caught. He had found the hiding place in the woods after all.

She directed her gaze back to the men. All of them were buff. It would be hard to take them down.

Beams of light from flashlights roamed the area. The darkness from the night covered Sasuke and Sakura well.

"What should we do?" Her voice was raspy with worry as she whispered.

"Calling for backup would be best." Sasuke answered. The two got ready to move when a shrill voice caused them to see what had caused the commotion.

There, standing in the middle of the plot of land with guards surrounding him was Shisui.

Shisui was in a foul mood. He was supposed to find Sasuke and Sakura, interrogate them, and then drag them back into Itachi's car. He was just curious. Besides, was it a crime to want to leave Itachi?

He had walked through the open plot of land and had looked around for any flash of pink. Sasuke's hair color would blend right in with the darkness.

As Shisui walked farther inside, darkness overcame him. He could see absolutely nothing. He extended his arms in front of him, with hands wide open in hopes of finding something stable to hold on to. Walking blindly in a seemingly deserted land surrounded by forest was not something he had expected to do when he woke up that morning. Yet here he was. A blind mouse bumping into trees and making a complete fool of himself.

Shisui contemplated about turning back to return to that car with the stoic Uchiha inside. But his sense of direction was already disorientated. He failed horribly at walking in a straight line, often leaning off to the side, wobbling uncontrollably.

He closed his eyes and found that it helped ease the dizzying feeling pooling in the pits of his stomach. It was dark anyways so he kept his lids shut.

He was walking straight, he thought. Finally able to keep his feet stable. That is, until his foot bumped into something hard and unmoving. The immediate halt caught Shisui unaware, and he found himself falling face forward onto the ground. His right leg was on top of the object he had tripped, and all of a sudden, Shisui found that there were lights and that he could see.

The first thing he noticed was how his face was grimy with dirt. He brushed himself off and got up. The second thing he saw was the horrid object that had caused him the fall. A big bulky box was overturned, and Shisui saw some metal peering through the open slit. He would have examined it farther, if not for the fact that in that second, his arms were pulled behind him harshly, and a big, muscular, beefy arm hooked itself around his throat, choking the air out of his windpipe. Shisui desperately gasped for breath as he clawed at the metal arm around him.

"Well, what do we have here?" The male behind him chuckled darkly. Shisui could smell the scent of sweat on the man, and he wished that he had used deodorant.

The arm around his neck loosened slightly. It was no longer in breaking neck mode, but it still posed as a threat since it sat right in front of Shisui's throat as a warning. If he tried to escape, he could say bye-bye to his neck.

"Who are you?" His captor snarled.

"S..Shisui." He couldn't help the slight stutter. Unconsciously, he wondered if Sasuke and Sakura were in a similar situation.

"Don't you have a last name, you lil twerp?"

"…" Shisui didn't reply at first. Revealing that he was a Uchiha might not be the best idea.

"Are you deaf? Answer the question!" The slight increase in volume of tone in Shisui's captor caught others' attention. Pretty soon, three flashlights were directed onto the nervous Uchiha, and a bunch of buff guards surrounded him.

Shisui gulped. This was not good.

Itachi pocketed the cell phone into his jacket. Sighing, he cautiously made his way into the forest. Carefully not losing sight of the plot of land in the middle, he snuck behind bushes and trees, and went deeper into the forest.

At one point, there was complete darkness, and Itachi found that he could not make out a thing. After thinking, he took out his cell again and used the LCD light to guide his way. Smirking at his useful resource, Itachi noticed a handful of lights in a circle up ahead.

Sneaking even more quietly along the sides, Itachi crouched below a bush. His eyes were trained on his cousin that was getting his hands tied together. Geez, Shisui really was more trouble than he was worth.

Itachi looked around the landscape. There were boxes littered on the floor, and burly men either keeping watch or moving the boxes to and fro. A flash of pink caught his eye.

Who exactly was Sakura Haruno?

The older Uchiha looked back at Shisui.

How troublesome.

Sakura couldn't believe her eyes.

"How could Shisui be here…?" She heard Sasuke growl in annoyance next to her.

"Too nosy for his own good."

"Got a plan?"

"You're the spy." Sakura nodded.

"You stay here and wait until I make my way on the other side. I'll sneak behind the bush right behind Shisui. Once you see me, avert the men's attention so I can cut those ropes bounding his wrists."

"There's a lot of faults in that plan."

"You got something better?" Sakura was met with silence.

"Ok then, see ya on the other side." Sakura got up a little, still wary of keeping herself hidden behind the shrubbery and walked past Sasuke. A warm hand shot up to catch hers again.

Unaware that her breath was caught in her throat, Sakura looked back at the male staring intensely at her.

"Be careful." Sakura saw the worry in his eyes and smiled slightly.

"Remember, I'm the spy." She noticed Sasuke bend down to his wrist. She heard something unclasp and felt his hands wrap something cool and leathery around her own wrist.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke clasped the object and made sure it didn't slip from Sakura's slim limb.

"This is a watch that my deceased mother gave me."

"And you're giving it to me….?"

"In your dreams. I want it back." His eyes flashed at her. "So you better not lose it and give it back to me, in person." Sakura blushed slightly, understanding his implication.

"You should know me by now." Her head was already whipped around in the other direction. "I don't like to owe people." And Sakura took off.

Preview of the next chapter:

Chapter Nine: When Push Comes to Shove

Sakura sawed the rope with the sharp stick harshly. There was no time to waste.

"Sakura, hurry." Shisui's voice urged her.

Beads of sweat had lined her face.

"I'm trying."

"Hurry."

"I said I'm trying!"

A strangled scream tore from a familiar voice across the plot of land.

Sakura's hands halted in shock.

"Hurry!"

r&r