Chapter Two: Rescue

As Sakura passed many people she knew in the village, it was almost hard for her to keep her mouth shut. She had a new emotion inside of her, something that she couldn't really control. She wanted to boast to everyone that she had a top secret mission and that she had been selected out of everybody to take it.

She knew that would be foolish, and chose to look down instead of ahead. As she walked, she really thought over the mission at hand.

The more she thought of it, the more she started to doubt herself. Was she really the person for the mission? Would Naruto not have been a better choice for the mission?

No, don't doubt yourself. Sakura thought as she held her head up. This is your mission, your time to shine.

She couldn't help but smile to herself, as she got closer and closer to the village gates. Yes, she knew the mission would be challenging, but it was all for the sake of a comrade, all for the sake of Sai.

She'd finally be able to make things up to Sai, she only hoped that he was alive.

As the amount of villagers became less and less and the noise began to die down, she realized that she had stepped into a familiar neighbor hood in the civilian area. It was where the Yamanaka clan lived, Ino's family.

"Sakura." She heard a soft, familiar voice call out.

Turning around, she realized that she was presently walking past Ino's flower shop. As usual, Ino stood in the shop window.

"Ino!" Sakura replied shocked. "I didn't see you there."

"Yeah..." Ino sounded depressed, and Sakura already knew why. "Where are you off to so early?"

"A mission...just a simple one." Sakura smiled.

"Oh, all by yourself?" Ino sounded curious. "That's big." She went back to tending to her flowers.

Sakura couldn't help but feel slightly guilty from concealing the truth from her friend. She knew that Ino loved Sai, and the only reason she looked so depressed was because of his absence. But she couldn't tell her, not yet at least. She had a feeling Ino would figure out sooner or later. It was just another secret she'd have to keep.

"Yeah...well, I'm going to get a move on then. Later."

"Later Sakura."

In order for Sakura to reach her destination, she had to stay in a motel overnight. She was much more tired than she wanted to be but she couldn't stop herself from collapsing in the soft bed.

As usual, her mind began to race through images of her past and that day.

Of course, Sakura thought of Sai and only hoped that he was still alive. She then thought of her small house, and wondered whether or not Lee had returned home from his mission. She hoped he was okay as well, even though he always pulled through. Still, it didn't kill her to worry.

Then her mind drifted to more negative things like her mother, father and younger cousin, Yuki. Her beautiful jewel of a cousin was the only reason that she moved out in the first place. The brat won the hearts of Sakura's parents and the immediately took her side. Sakura didn't want to have any part of that so moving was her only option. It seemed like that had been her best choice in life, and now with Lee living with her and pitching in, things were easy between the two.

Sighing, she closed her eyes and pulled the sheets over her head. She needed to sleep, not to think.

Sakura was up before sunrise the next morning. She had cleaned herself and prepared herself for the day. She made sure to eat the right amount of breakfast before she left and she also made sure had stored enough chakra for her journey.

Everything seemed perfect as she left the motel and began on her journey once again. She only hoped to herself that things would stay that way.

It took nearly all her tracking and navigating skills, but after hours of pointless searching, she finally found a building that matched the description on the piece of paper Tsunade gave her.

The building was tall, with columns stretching out from it, making it look like an abnormal spider. From far away, hiding in the bushes, Sakura didn't see any traps or shinobi lurking around. She remembered Tsunade telling her that Orochimaru was prone to switching bases every week, so it would be normal for her to come across an abandoned one.

She slowly began walking towards the perimeter, making sure that the area was clear. Everything seemed fine as she made her way to the large entrance of the building.

Placing her hand on the purple door, she took a deep breath and pushed. With ease, and a slight creak, the door opened and Sakura stepped in.

Everything was dark and quiet. The only noise she could hear were her own footsteps as she ran down the hallways, opening door after door.

Every room she entered was either empty or too dark to make out anything. Sakura would quietly call out Sai's name and wait for a response. When she didn't get one, she would slowly close the door and move on to the next room.

Minutes passed on becoming prolonging hours and Sakura nearly gave up. She was certain that she had checked every room in the base, but still, there was no sign of Sai.

No...She thought as she rested and leaned against a wall . I can't just give up now...I can't be useless!

In anger, she brought her fist up and punched the wall behind her. Much to her surprise, the whole wall began to shake uncontrollably.

Slowly, it began to rotate, like a trap door, taking Sakura on the other side with it. "What?" She exclaimed loudly, standing up and attempting to keep her balance.

When the stone wall finally finished rotating, Sakura stood in a strange stone room.

The room was complete with a small lamp, sitting on a nightstand and a bed. From where she stood, she could see blood on the white sheets, and she could make out the shape of a body.

Swallowing a dry lump, Sakura made her way towards the bed and softly gripped the soiled white sheet.

Within seconds, she had removed the fabric from the bed and suddenly, she gasped and fell back.

There, lying motionless on the bloody bed, was Sai.

Crimson liquid covered his pale skin, and the grey hospital like scrub he was wearing. His eyes were closed but it was obvious he was in pain.

"Sorry it took so long." Sakura found the strength to stand. "But I'm here, to bring you back home." She took Sai and positioned him over her shoulder. She couldn't help but feel worried about how light he was. It was obvious that he was probably malnourished, and tortured.

"I can't heal you now..." She spoke, feeling his heart beating against her. It was a soft rhythm, but at least it was there, at least he was alive. "I'll be able to heal you when we get out of here."

And with that, Sakura punched the wall again.

Like before, it rotated again and there she stood with Sai safely secured, in the dimly lit hallway.

I realized that I hadn't updated in thirty days, and I feel really bad for that. I'm going to really try and keep up to date with this story because I really like it. My sister (Lidsworth) and I talk about it all the time when we're walking the dog or at night when we're laying in our beds, about to go to sleep. SOo... I hope you like this chapter, and I'll try to update faster. I'm sorry if this chapter seems a bit..cheesy...but, I have a feeling you'll like the next one.

So that being said, I don't own Naruto!