Disclaimer: My fanfic brings all the characters I don't own to the yard.
Sasuke sprinted through the humid night with Sakura to his immediate left. The forest floor was solid enough beneath their feet, roots meaning nothing to someone alert. The Uchiha considered himself lucky; the person he was searching for would stick out like a sore thumb, and orange jacket in the darkness.
As far as Sasuke was concerned, his blonde comrade was indefinitely in the training field, working hard to show off and belittle Sasuke yet again. Oddly enough, that was the best case scenario in his mind. He didn't want Naruto in danger, and he definitely did not want Naruto back at the house if they returned empty-handed. If the last situation ended up being the case, the blue-eyed preteen would learn something very important about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Something in the black-haired boy thirsted for drama; a drama he could find nowhere else among his many admirers that would spur him on. Among his peers, only Naruto had the nerve to pull that sort of stunt. Grudgingly, he had to admit that the dobe had succeeded in helping him in that way. If his rival was more intelligent, Sasuke would suspect it was an intentional habit.
The sprint to the training ground where Naruto was probably located was a quiet one. It was a refreshing change, to be honest. Their footsteps kept a rhythm only an insane dancer would attempt to match, and their movement caused a breeze to grace the forest.
Upon their arrival in the clearing, Sasuke scoured the canopy instantly, his hands shielding his face. The last thing he wanted was a henged leaf to the eye. Sakura, on the other hand, actually did her job without any fear for her dignity. If Naruto was going to pop out of nowhere and make her scream, then he was going to pop out of nowhere and make her scream even if she tried to avoid it. Naruto was gifted like that.
To the pink-haired girl's disdain, there was no Naruto on the ground or in the bushes. To Sasuke's relief, there was no Naruto in the upper branches of the trees waiting to strike him. They exchanged these conclusions after about three minutes of searching the area, and Sasuke was just as ready to go back to the house and tell Kakashi that the idiot had just upand ditched them when Sakura flung something at his face.
Whatever it was, it smelled bad. A mixture of sweat, blood, dirt, and crushed grass. Undeniably irritated, Sasuke peeled said object off his face to identify it, only to find himself queasy.
In his hands, he held Naruto Uzumaki's filthy bandage, which looked like it had been torn off.
"This is-," Sasuke trailed off, confused as hell,"-Where did you find this, Sakura?"
"Over there," she replied, pointing to a spot of grass that was still slightly pressed from Naruto having laid there for nearly twenty-four hours straight. Her face was uneasy, but when Sasuke's face held a hint of fear when he absorbed this information, it took a great deal of self-control not to appear terrified.
The amount of knowledge Sasuke and Sakura had on Naruto's personality was extensive, but they knew very little of his physical condition. Had they been informed that Naruto was, in fact, a container for a tailed-beast, there would have been a lot of angst. Still, they would have at least been able to draw a conclusion that wasn't as flawed.
"Who would take him?" Sakura asked quietly, suddenly suspicious of everything that moved.
"Gato must have patrols. If a man wants to take out a man so badly, it only makes sense that they would our the land surrounding his house. Kakashi was an idiot to leave him there!" Sasuke felt tainted with the change of internal chemicals that occurred with the thought of having losing Naruto on his conscience(and Kakashi's reports).
"Where would they take him? Do you think he's alright?" Sakura pressed, causing irritation to return to her companion's features.
"He's more valuable as a hostage than a corpse, Sakura. He'd be a nice bargaining chip against us, now, wouldn't he?" came the voice of reason from Sasuke's lips.
"We need to report this to Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke. Now." Sakura commanded, becoming determined once again. Sasuke thought little of her mood swing and shook his head.
"We're coming back with the moron or not at all," he concluded, making eye contact with his teammate.
"What? WHY?! We aren't tracker ninja! Kakashi's a JONIN! He can handle it!"
"Weren't you listening?!" Sasuke snapped, "He can't leave Tazuna unguarded! He can't search for the loudmouth right now, but we can!"
Sakura recoiled from Sasuke's hostility. He was right, of course, but he didn't have to be so aggressive in how he went about telling her. She was almost frightened of her adored one's outburst. Did he think she was that useless?
"How are we going to find his trail? This forest is giant, and he could be anywhere within twelve hours of here!"
Sasuke grew thoughtful, his frown retracting marginally. "Were there any other objects left behind?"
Sakura shook her head, and Sasuke stepped past her to the area where Naruto had been less than a day prior. He skimmed his fingers off the grass and traced a line with amazing finess to areas where the grass was slightly more indented than others. Following this pattern, the Uchiha's fingers found the sod underneath and felt for footprints. The ground was covered in loose dirt, he noticed when his fingers left the defined imprint.
Sakura watched in awe as her crush strode over to a clump of soil that hardly seemed out of place and looked at it closely.
"Thick-soled sandals. It's not Naruto's, probably made in the past twelve hours…" Sasuke scratched the back of his neck and peered even closer.
"The toes are facing southeast."
"So, Naruto was taken southeast? Sasuke, you're amazing!"
"I never said that," Sasuke quipped, causing Sakura's spirit to be doused yet again. With the information he had just gathered, Sasuke Uchiha paced through the clearing again and found a matching footprin the would not have been able to find otherwise on the actual grass. In fact, if it weren't for the mud that had undoubtedly been from Haku's marsh-walking shoes, it wouldn't have been decetable at all.
"Sakura, it hasn't rained here either, has it?" he asked, drawing conclusions with typical Uchiha ingenuity. When Sakura answered that no, it had not rained, Sasuke stood up straight and faced her with his findings.
"We need to look in some sort of marshland."
"What?! There's so much of that around here, how are we-,"
"We'll start with the southeast." Sasuke nodded, causing Sakura to become a little annoyed herself.
"But you sai-"
"We'll start there, Sakura. Now let's stop talking and start searching!"
The two shinobi took off in the darkness, careful to stay together in case the phantom they were chasing had stopped to wait for them. There was the possibility of a trap.
Kakashi waited at the dinner table long after the meal was over. He replaced his mask after eating a few bites, making it considerably easier for Inari's mother to maneuver about the house without having to worry about being dazzled by his exposed visage. It had taken about seven minutes to rescucitate her after she beheld him. No matter how many times that happened, it embarrassed the elite ninja quite a bit.
Minutes passed, and predictably turned into hours. At some point that night, the teacher must have fallen asleep on the table, because that's where he woke up at dawn's early light with a blanket draped over him carefully. He didn't know who to thank for the gesture of hospitality, but he assumed that it was a female's work. No male he knew actually tucked the corners in.
"Where are those three?" he croaked out to Tazuna, who had just made to get a glass of water with breakfast.
"They didn't come back last night, ya know. I woulda' heard." the older man shrugged, looking almost as tired as Kakashi. The former ANBU didn't bother to ask the cause.
"…You don't think anything bad happened, do you?" Tazuna inquired tersely, surprising Kakashi with his concern.
There was a companionable silence between the two men before Kakashi breathed deeply and replied," I don't know."
"Should we look for them?" Inari's mother asked, surprising both of the males with her sudden entry.
Kakashi shook his head. "It could be playing right into Gato's hands…"
"But they're children!" the woman shouted at the masked houseguest, who looked at her with soft eyes.
"I am aware of their ages. They chose this path, madam, and all I can do is wait for them. The life of a ninja is expected to be dangerous. If they're strong enough, they'll survive." Kakashi droned, sounding as disheartened as any responsible adult should be.
Tazuna tensed at these words. There was only one more day before construction at the bridge resumed.
Author's note: Guys, the wii had nothing to do with the lack of updates. The delay comes in the form of a little sister with a Maple Story addiction. She roams the streets of Windia, a character named Katsimus and her faithful yeti, Winston. She usually wears a mustache. If you play, and happen to get a hold of her, remind her to let me have a bloody turn after two hours! RAWR!
…SPAM HER TO DEATH! D: