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A/N: …I'm sorry this chapter took so long! Writers block. Hopefully the story is worth the wait…? –Grins nervously-

Also, I dedicate this chapter to Romance is Me for giving me a vague idea of where to go with the story. I didn't use the whole idea, but parts of it inspired me.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; however, Sasuke wouldn't be so bad. Ha-ha, JUST KIDDING! -hides from rabid fangirls-

Redemption

Chapter Four- Trust


Sakura didn't think she'd ever seen Naruto so….well…determined. Everyone knew that he was the number one hyperactive ninja in Konoha and was undeniably reckless when his friends' lives were at stake, but he was never really known for being a deep thinker. Not to say that he was stupid, rather that he rushed into things without heed to his health or actions. Of course, his close friends knew that he did so not out of any masochistic nature, but because he valued the lives of others above his own.

The somewhat awkward team sat around a camp fire a few hours past dusk. Neji was sharpening and cleaning his weapons, which Sakura deemed perfectly deadly and pristine already. A slight breeze swept his hair out of his face briefly, and Sakura noted his calm yet concerned expression.

She looked back at Naruto, who was unnaturally quiet. His eyes were closed tightly as if he were having a waking nightmare. He clutched his weapons pouch tightly in his hands, which were twitching in anticipation. She knew this was going to be a tense mission, what with two of the members fighting over who would rescue Hinata. Neji was simply too overprotective. Naruto it seems had just realized that he had deep feelings for Hinata, meaning he would do anything and everything he could to save her.

Sasuke and Sai seemed to be the only ones who weren't, per se, suffering or antsy. Sasuke was sitting calmly, eyes closed; Sakura figured he was meditating. His bag lay casually at his side. Sai was drawing, as usual. Sakura looked at the ever-present book in his lap with Sai's brother on the cover, and wondered if he had any other hobbies.

Sakura sighed and stood up. "I'm going to sleep. We need all the strength we can get, so I suggest that you all do the same."

Sai ignored her and Sasuke opened an eye briefly. Neji nodded slowly and stood up as well, moving away from the fire and laying down. Naruto's only acknowledgement was to lie down on the ground where he sat. Sakura found a comfortable patch of leaves and lied down. Sasuke opened his eyes and put out the fire. He carefully moved away from Sai before lying down. Tomorrow would be a trying day for all of them.


For the hundredth time that day, Sakura wanted nothing better than to beat up Naruto and Neji. They just wouldn't stop arguing. Not to mention that Neji's suspicions about Naruto's feelings for Hinata were developing at an alarming rate, making him all the angrier.

"We've got to hurry, dattebayo! I'm worried about Hinata-chan!!" Naruto exclaimed.

"You're not the only one Uzumaki, so be quiet," Neji replied.

Sasuke's eye twitched. "Dobe. Hyuuga. If you don't shut up…"

"Then you'll do what, Uchiha?" Neji questioned with disturbing calmness.

Sasuke and Neji glared at each other. Sakura glanced at Sai and decided that he wasn't going to do anything. She turned back to the glaring contest.

"If the three of you don't stop arguing, then you'll have to face me. So shut up and calm down."

The group had slowed considerably by this point, and stopped all together with Sakura's sentence. Sai smirked. Sasuke looked at Sakura, seemingly nonplussed. Naruto was nervous, knowing firsthand what Sakura's newfound strength could do. He looked at his feet guiltily. Neji sighed and looked away.

"She's right; we need to calm down. Fighting amongst each other is not going to help Hinata. We need to focus."

Sakura smiled. "Exactly. Let's stop at the next town to clear our heads. We can get lunch and then head out again." She shrugged. "Maybe we'll even learn something about where Hinata is. Agreed?"

Sakura was surprised when Naruto nodded along with everyone else. She smiled softly. He'd grown so much since they first met. "Okay, let's go."

They set off again, this time no one speaking. When they arrived at the nearest town, Neji took control.

"Right, so here's the plan." He paused and glanced at Sakura for approval. She nodded and he continued. "We are going to split up into groups and discretely ask around, and then meet back here in two hours. Also, if you're going to eat then you might as well do that now too. Understood?"

"Yeah that's fine," Naruto said, "but if you don't mind, I'll go by myself. I'm gonna get some ramen first!"

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "I'm not sure that's a good---"

Naruto waved her off dismissively with a grin on his face. "Don't worry Sakura-chan! I'll be fine, dattebayo." Before she could respond, he was gone.

"I'll go with Sakura," Sasuke said, breaking the silence.

"What traitor? You don't like hanging out with me anymore?" Sai asked sarcastically with his ever-present smile.

Sasuke ignored him but Sakura bristled. "Sai…what did I tell you about calling Sasuke that?" she asked dangerously.

"Let's not forget we're a team here," Neji said warningly, glancing from Sakura to Sai and back.

Sai looked at Neji and seemed to change his mind. "Yes, of course, and I think it's time to go. Bye hag, traitor!"

And before Sakura could pummel him to an early death, Sai was gone with Neji following in his wake. She rolled her eyes and turned to Sasuke.

"Alright then. I guess we should start looking around," she muttered.

"Aa."


Three ninja hidden in the trees watched them enter the town. They glanced among each other, silently deciding to wait for them to split up into groups, which they most certainly would. The blonde was first to leave, not surprisingly. The ninja knew of his food habits after all; however, the leader was surprised to see the Jinchuuriki leave alone. This would make things simple. He waved in that direction and one of the three ninja followed the blonde swiftly from a distance. Next, the remaining team members seemed to bicker for a minute before two of them departed in yet another direction. The leader smiled. The ninja beside him followed them as well. The pink haired one that the leader knew to be the medic and the Uchiha stood alone talking. Now was the time to make his appearance. He pulled his cloak around his head tighter and descended from the trees to where the two ninja stood.

Sakura sighed. "Where should we start? Bars are usually good for information gathering."

Sasuke shifted slightly and glanced around the street. "That's as good of a place as any."

Sakura stared at him, marveling at how much his personality had changed since his return. "Ne…Sasuke?"

He stopped scanning the streets and looked back at her, waiting. Several seconds of silence ensued.

"What is it, Sakura?" he asked impatiently.

She opened her mouth, thought better of it, closed her mouth, and looked away. Sasuke narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

"Sakura?"

"…well, it's just…well I was wondering if maybe after this mission…" She trailed off, losing her nerve. A few more seconds passed and she looked up into his eyes. He was focused on her with such intensity that she wondered if maybe something else was occupying his mind and he was just looking in her direction.

"Sasuke? Is there something wrong?"

He held up a hand to silence her and it was then that she realized he wasn't looking at her, but over her shoulder at the trees. "Someone's here."

Sakura stared at him and considered informing him that people did indeed live in towns, but decided to hold the sarcasm. She slowly turned around, completely forgetting her question, and looked into the woods. There was a slight movement from the trees and in the next instant, Sakura felt something only centimeters away fly past her cheek. The ninja who appeared in front of them in the next instant dodged the kunai with relative ease. Sakura gaped at him and mentally slapped herself. She should be paying more attention to her surroundings.

The next thing she noticed was the utter lack of people on the street. Sakura glanced around uneasily, wondering when that happened. Deciding to figure out the details later, her attention returned to the mysterious ninja whom Sasuke had kept a well trained eye on since he appeared.

The ninja wore a plain black cloak which obscured most of his face, leaving only his mouth visible. His garments were dirty and mud clung to his ninja shoes. The ninja chuckled and Sakura narrowed her eyes.

"Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, I presume?" he asked in mock politeness.

Judging from his voice and height, Sasuke assumed the boy was in his early to mid twenties.

"Who the fuck are you?" Sasuke asked harshly, ignoring the question. The ninja grinned and folded his arms.

"Well that's not so important, especially compared to what I'm about to tell you. I'm sure you'll have better things to worry about," he responded.

Sakura was put off by his behavior. What kind of ninja talked to his enemy like this? Then again, she didn't yet know if they were enemies, although she didn't trust the boy. Sasuke was unshaken. He smiled sardonically.

"And what exactly do you need to tell us? We don't even know you."

"Oh Sasuke…" the ninja sighed with mock disappointment; he paused and smiled. "Can I call you that?"

Sasuke blinked in surprise. This person was almost as weird as Sai.

"You see, Sasuke-kun, just because you don't know me doesn't mean I don't know you. How naive."

Sasuke scowled. "What the hell do you want? Or better yet, you can start with who you work for."

The ninja became unsettlingly quiet all the sudden. After a few moments he smiled again, but this time the smile was obviously fake. "Who I work for is irrelevant. I think you should be worrying more about Hyūga Hinata."

Sakura bristled and Sasuke flinched slightly.

"What do you know about Hinata-chan?" Sakura hissed at the once again smiling ninja.

"Well, I know that if you don't hurry, you'll be asking what did I know about Hinata," the ninja replied.

Sakura glared at him and took a step closer. "Is that a threat on her life?" she asked dangerously.

The ninja laughed merrily. "Oh, I love you two, you know that? Yes it is a threat, but not from me! I think they say something along the lines of don't kill the messenger?"

Sakura and Sasuke glanced at each other.

"I suppose you're trying to decide between yourselves whether I'm trustworthy or not, so let me just say one thing. Can you afford to take the time to do that? Can you really afford to not trust me? Hinata will die, and it'll be on your conscience for the rest of your short, pathetic lives. So are you going to listen to me or not?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to respond, but Sakura beat him to it. "What do you have to tell us?"

Sasuke looked between her and the ninja. "Wait, are you actually buying this? Sakura…"

"Sasuke!" she said cutting him off, "Let's just hear him out…okay?"

Sasuke stared at her for a few more seconds and looked away, sighing. "Fine. But that's all. I'm not making any promises."

Sakura nodded and looked back at the ninja. "Right," she said. "We're ready now."

The ninja was grinning widely, obviously highly amused by their conversation. He seemed to be pleased at being able to rattle them the way he did. "Sure, okay."

"Hinata is being held in a secure rendezvous point where you need to be in no more than two hours if you ever want to see her breathing again." He paused, measuring their reactions. Seemingly satisfied, he continued. "It's about an hour and fifty minutes away, so you don't have time to do anything else if you want to make it on time."

"What do you want, sorry…what does your boss want in return for her alive?" Sasuke asked sarcastically.

"Nothing."

For the next thirty seconds, no one said anything.

"Nothing?" Sakura asked uneasily.

"Nothing." The ninja smiled.

He's toying with us, Sasuke thought. His eyes narrowed. "He has to want something."

The ninja sighed. "No, do you not understand me? He doesn't want anything."

Sakura decided to ask the obvious question at this point. "If he didn't want anything, then why did he kidnap her in the first place?"

"Maybe you should ask him," the ninja said, trying to hold back laughter.

"I don't trust him," Sasuke muttered to Sakura.

"I don't either, but I don't want to take the chance that he's telling the truth. I don't think I could live with myself if we didn't go," she whispered back.

Sasuke sighed. "Where are we even going? You haven't told us…"

The ninja smiled. Now they were talking about going. He was making progress. "Have some patience Sasuke!" he exclaimed brightly.

"Have patience?" Sakura yelled. "Didn't you just say we are on a strict time limit?!"

The ninja sighed. "Right…yeah. Okay, okay, hold on."

He dug into his cloak and pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper. "Here's a map," he said, handing it to Sasuke. Sasuke reached forward to take it. As their hands drew close, Sasuke grabbed his wrist and pulled him forward, and in the process yanked his hood off of his head. Sakura got the map, shoving it into her pack.

They stared at the boy. He was younger than Sasuke thought, maybe eighteen or nineteen. He had bright blue eyes and disheveled jet black hair, reaching just below his ears. His smile was rather boyish, but his face mature.

"Ah! You got me," he laughed. "And yet somehow, you are still running out of time. How long do you plan on holding my hand Sasuke? I didn't know you went that way."

Sasuke's jaw dropped and he yanked his own hand back in shock. The boy snickered.

"You…you, stupid little fuc—"

"SASUKE!" Sakura yelled, frantically cutting him off.

He whipped around. "What?!"

"Sasuke, look at this map," she said softly. "This is really far; we should go. Now."

Sasuke looked at the map and looked back at the boy, who was already pulling his hood back on. "Tell me your name," he demanded.

The boy looked up. "Ayato."

"Sasuke," Sakura said, looking away from the boy. "What about the rest of the team?"

"Don't worry!" Ayato said happily. "I'll tell them where you're going."

"How the hell do you know who are team members are?" Sasuke growled.

"Sasuke, Sasuke, don't your remember how I told you that I knew who you were even though you didn't know me? Same concept."

"Fine, whatever. Let's go, Sakura."

Glancing at Ayato one more time, Sakura sighed and nodded. "Right, time to go."

A moment later, they were gone. Ayato smiled. That went well. He turned and waited for his ninja to return with news. A few moments later, one of them appeared.

"Ayato-san, I have a report."

"Yes?"

"Neji and Sai are completely unaware of the situation. We are keeping them on a wild goose chase. They'll have no idea until Uchiha and Haruno have made the trade."

Ayato smiled. "Excellent work. Keep it up."

The ninja nodded and disappeared. A moment later, the next ninja showed up. He was carrying something in a large black duffel bag.

"Yes?" Ayato asked, not waiting for the introduction.

The ninja smiled. "I've captured the Jinchuuriki. There's no way he'll wake up in time, and even if he does…well, this chakra induced bag will keep him at bay."

Ayato nodded in approval. "Well then, I suppose that's it. Let's go. Time to make my own report."

The ninja nodded and hitched the bag higher on his shoulder.


A/N: So here it is! The main plot is finally revealing itself after four chapters. It will become a little more apparent in the next chapter, but I think you get the gist.

Anyway, I hope it was worth the outrageous wait. And I'm really sorry about that. I can attribute it partially to writers block. The other thing is, I just moved into collage two days ago! Yay. And guess what? My internet wasn't working! Fantastic.

Also, what do you guys think of Ayato? I don't even know where his personality even came from. Haha. I really like him though. Meh.

REVIEW OR THE CLOWN FROM IT WILL COME GET YOU!