Disclaimer; I still do not own Naruto.

Chapter 2; A Sound Surprise

The wind whistled through the trees, ruffling there endless leafy branches. Sakura glanced around, although she didn't slow herself from the extremely quick pace that all the ninja were moving at. Deep in the Land of Sound now, they were all coming to an area that was thought to be the location of one of Orochimaru's hideouts, but no one really knew exactly where. Deep in the pit of her stomach, Sakura knew that this was the place. They were here.

She faltered for a moment, giving the other ninja a signal to fall back. Starting at the front of the group, everyone came to a stop and landed in a silent clearing. The trees towered around, casting long shadows from the early afternoon sun.

"Hey Sakura… What's wrong? Why'd you stop?" Naruto asked, blue eyes round and questioning.

The pinkette looked down. "This is the place. I can feel it in my gut. This is where we have to look for Orochimaru's hideout."

Neji Hyuga blinked at her with his white eyes. His long dark brown hair shifted as he nodded in agreement. "Sakura is right. This is where we should look." He looked at all the other ninja, then turned back to Naruto. "You are the leader of this mission, Naruto. Tell us what to do."

Akamaru growled low in his throat, his white fur standing on end. Kiba put a hand on his dog's shoulder. "Akamaru can smell them… They're definitely here. Come on, Naruto. We're all waiting!"

The blonde kid grinned in anticipation. "Ok, Kiba, Neji. You're right. Let's do this thing!" He looked at the ninja before him, and calmly stated, "Everyone, you know your squads. Get a good look around. Remember; our goal is to find the hidden base of Orochimaru!"

Almost instantly, Shino, Kiba and Akamaru, and Hinata turned and dashed off into the woods. Tenten and Neji stood next to each other and watched as Rock Lee approached Sakura. He looked at her with his black, bug eyes. "Be careful, Sakura. My heart would stop its own beating if yours' should cease."

She raised her eyebrow at him. "Uh…"

Tenten shook her head, her brown bangs swinging softly. "Come on, Lee. Sakura doesn't need the added stress of you drooling over her as usual. Let's go already…"

The tall ninja in his green jumpsuit turned and looked over at his teammate. His shiny black hair flew to the side as Lee spun around. "Of course, Tenten. Let us leave now."

Once their last team member joined them, the team of three turned and disappeared into a different part of the forest, leaving Naruto and Sakura alone. Before they disappeared completely, Sakura could hear Neji grunting, "Byakugan!" which activated his special Kekkei Genkai of the Hyuga clan.

"You know what we have to do," Naruto calmly stated.

This was true. Sakura did know, and it had very little to do with finding the sound ninja hideout. Before they had even left the Land of Fire, their home, the squad had stopped and gone over the real plan.

Flashback…

Naruto stood in the center of the circle of 7 ninja. All of them stared directly at him, as he started to explain the plan. "All we have to do is head into the Land of Sound. Remember, I told you all in the beginning that the goal was actually to get Sakura captured, so we have to lead a fake mission. It has to seem like a real mission, so act like it in the Land of Sound. There, we will split into squads of 3. Neji, Lee, and Tenten, you'll be the first squad. Kiba and Akamaru, Hinata, and Shino, you'll make up squad two. Sakura and I will be squad three."

"Only you two on squad 3?" Neji asked quietly.

"Yes. They'll see it as a lapse in the Leaf Village planning, and it'll only make it easier for them to capture Sakura. But be careful. In the Land of Sound we'll still be targeted. We must all make it out alive. And even more important, don't even mention our real mission. It's far too dangerous, with ears everywhere. If they even begin to get the slightest idea what the real goal is, they'll kill Sakura in an instant."

The other ninjas all turned toward Sakura and just looked at her solemn face. Tenten spoke up. "What a difficult mission… So we need to get Sakura captured, huh? You really don't need us for this, do you, Naruto?"

"Uh… Pretty much!" The tall ninja smiled weakly.

Kiba rolled his eyes. "Wow. Thanks."

"Everyone understand?" Naruto looked around for a second, then yelled, "All right let's go!"

End of flashback…

Naruto trotted out towards a branch of the forest the other squads hadn't head near, then turned and stared at Sakura. "You coming yet?"

"Oh, sorry." Sakura disappeared into the forest after him.

They traveled a way out into the forest, and then they halted in a small clearing. The bushes surrounding meadow seemed like the perfect place for someone to hide. Every sense in Sakura's ninja body was tingling with the thought, but she said nothing.

Naruto spun in a circle, and called, "Let's start looking here!" He ran up a random tree and circled it, then dashed to another one, circled it, and another. For a second, Sakura just stood there, staring at him, then with a shrug started scouting the ground for footprints.

Over the long hours that stretched, both of the ninjas scanned every inch of the forest. Nothing appeared to be there and soon Naruto had grown bored and was sitting next to a stream and staring out over the water. Sakura's annoyance was quickly growing, and at last she stalked up to him and snarled, "Naruto, I'm the only one working! Aren't you going to help me?"

He shot her a look with dull blue eyes. "I'm taking a break, Sakura."

The pinkette's emerald green eyes narrowed in rage. "Well, get back to work!"

"Give me a break, Sakura. I've been looking all day."

That was the last straw. "Working?" Sakura screeched in fury. She clenched her fist and with a grunt of rage, drove her fist into Naruto's stomach. "I'll show you working!"

The force of the punch sent Naruto soaring into the large trunk of a tree. He hit it with so much force that the wood cracked and bent. As Sakura straightened up smugly, Naruto fell from his point of impact on the tree and crumbled to the ground. With a groan, he forced himself to his hands and knees and groaned, "Ouch."

Sakura crossed her arms and stated calmly, "Now, let's get back to our mission."

Naruto weakly lifted a hand. "Ok… Give me a second to… Catch my breath…" He went back to his panting.

Sakura shrugged and turned back to the earth that she had been studying.

Slowly, Naruto lifted his head, and his blue eyes widened in shock. "Sakura! Behind you!

The kunoichi's eyes widened in alarm, and she slowly turned around, and stared directly into the eyes of two sound ninjas. Both were tall men; one had long black hair, the other short brown. They both were smirking down at Sakura, with an evil gleam in their eyes.

"Look what we have here. A pretty little ninja from the Leaf Village. Looks like you and your teammate are a little lost, huh?" The larger of the two ninjas laughed cruelly. His black eyes narrowed to a brutal slit.

Sakura narrowed her eyes dangerously and reached towards her kunai. Crouched beneath the two men, she stood up slowly and her arm snapped out, her weapon in hand. "We were just making ourselves at home in your little forest. After all, Orochimaru won't last very long against the full force of the Leaf Village once we find your hideout!"

The sound ninja laughed darkly. "She's a hot one. That temper of hers… Worked well for us. We'll make quick work of you while your friend here is still recovering from his wounds."

With a cry of anger, Sakura lunged forward with her kunai. The blade missed as the ninjas stepped to the side. Smirking, they charged forward at her and with their own daggers, they stabbed at her. Sakura skidded to the side and twisted away from the two. She pressed her palms together and concentrated on her chakra flow. She'd have to be careful not to use her full strength, because otherwise they would have a hard time capturing her, plus she needed to preserve her strength. But she had to give them a good fight…

The two ninja separated and surged toward her from two different sides. Sakura held her ground, eyes closed in concentration. When at last they were close enough, Sakura shoved her hands out on the two sides the enemies were coming from. They each gasped in pain at the sheer force of the blow and dropped to the ground. While they were on the ground in agony, Sakura moved a few paces away from them and stood in silence.

Naruto was still struggling to climb to his feet, and he stood there, half leaning against the tree. His face was contorted with mostly faked pain, but he had his determined look in his eyes. He met Sakura's gaze, and nodded.

The two attackers struggled to her feet and glared at Sakura. "You little pest," the smaller one snarled. Both of them paused for a moment in anger, then with a snap of their arms sent a four shuriken soaring towards her. With little effort Sakura dodged.

Naruto suddenly leapt to his feet and shouted, "Sakura! I got to get the others… Don't have enough energy to fight…" With that, he disappeared into the forest.

That was a complete lie, but it was the perfect move for the plan. Without having to worry about Naruto would make it easier for the other ninjas to capture Sakura, and it would be more realistic for her to get captured. If Naruto was there, he would have had to step in at some time. But with him gone, this battle relied only on Sakura's own strength.

The two men laughed coldly. "Oh, you poor little pathetic weakling… You're boyfriend abandoned you… So puny…"

Sakura snapped her head around to focus on the enemies in complete outrage. "What did you call him? My what?"

The two sound ninja chuckled and broke apart. One disappeared into the trees, while the other, larger one smacked his hands together. "Earth style; landslide!" he growled after performing a series of hand signs.

Sakura dashed toward the side instantly. Right where she had been standing, a huge amount of sand and dirt collapsed and spilled over the ground. While the enemy ninja was still recovering from his jutsu, Sakura raced up towards him and delivered a second crippling punch. The man crumbled to the ground with a moan and Sakura stood over him triumphantly. But then she turned and started scanning the trees carefully for any sigh of the second ninja.

He soon made his presence know to her by chucking a couple kunai at her. With little effort, the young ninja sidestepped and the weapons soared harmlessly past. She dashed up into the edge of the forest and scrambled up one of the many trees. Studying the surrounding area carefully, Sakura waited for the other ninja to make his move first. He appeared on a branch of a similar tree and just stared her down. Then, with a dark glare and a flurry of hand signs, the sound ninja hissed, "Water Style; Black Rain."

Instantly, black rain began to fall from the sky. The sticky oily rain fell and coating every surface of the nearby forest. Sakura hid her face from the liquid, her green eyes flickering. While the dark fluid hindered Sakura's vision, the other ninja rushed towards her. However, Sakura was only playing him.

The moment he came within her range, a sly grin crossed Sakura's lips. She simply turned a couple degrees and slammed out her fist. The clueless enemy rammed right into it, and collapsed weakly.

This was way too easy. Sakura was supposed to get captured, not beat the pulp out of every Sound ninja in the next 10 miles. Blinking slowly, the pinkette stepped away from the weakened ninja. She headed back towards the clearing, where she had left the other ninja.

But when she got there, the first ninja was gone. The entire clearing was empty, other than the large pile of debris from the jutsu that he had used. Sakura snapped her head around and studied the surrounding area. She could detect the flicker of movement that had to be from her enemy, but for the sake of the mission she did nothing with the knowledge.

From the bushes behind her, Sakura could hear a whisper from the Sound ninja. She couldn't tell what she said, however. Keeping her back towards him, she continued to pretend to study the surrounding area. But something from behind her caught her attention. "Might want to duck, sweetheart!" The ninja called out to her.

Sakura spun around and spotted a dragon-like head appearing out of the dust. The strange thing made of mud opened its jaws and hurled several orbs of mud straight towards her. With her lightning-quick reflexes, Sakura spun out of the way and dashed into the forest. She sprinted through the maze of trees and skidded to a halt in the middle of the forest. Both ninja appeared in front of her and whipped out a long sword each. They both grinned darkly at their target, before both slamming their palms together, even with their swords.

"Water style; water dragon bullet!"

"Earth style; earth dragon bullet!"

In unison, both ninja used their jutsu. A huge dragon appeared out of pure water, while next to it the same earth dragon appeared as before. As the earth dragon shot out a series of mud bombs, the water dragon rushed towards her violently. Sakura dashed to the side and barely evaded the blunt of the blow from the water, but one of the earth bombs slammed into her leg, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground. This slight falter was just enough to give one of the two ninja a chance to throw a shuriken at her. Sakura was barely able to evade a crippling blow, although the shuriken still gave her a deep cut on her right arm.

The two ninja surged at her from both sides while she was still down. As they grew near, they both swung their swords. Her hair flowing into her face, Sakura did a handspring to get out of their path. One ninja was still able to deliver a light cut to her left shoulder, although she avoided the blunt of both blows. The other ninjas were able to skid to a stop without hitting each other, and both turned towards the pink haired ninja. She balanced with her legs spread wide, watching the other ninja carefully. Both of her opponents stood up straight and waited patiently for her to move. She took a step back and reached for another kunai. Her hand clasped on one, and she threw it at them and quickly dashed to the side, reaching for another. Soon, she had sent 4 kunai flying towards her opponents.

They were able to dodge the weapons, and countered by throwing a smoke bomb at her. Sakura twisted out of the way and dashed out of range of the bomb. The smoke erupted from it, but it did nothing against Sakura. She just crouched and waited for the next attack.

The sun was a distant ball on the horizon, yet Sakura continued to fight on. Her two opponents had been able to score a few crucial blows, but most of them Sakura had countered with a powerful moves of her own. Despite her going rather easy on them, she had ended up knocking both ninjas out. She had run around for a while and ran into four more Sound ninjas who had heard what had happened to their comrades, and now thirsted for revenge. Now, the young ninja gasped for breath, blood trickling from the many wounds on her body. These four ninjas were tough opponents, and she had only scratched a few of them.

Even worse, Sakura had a dark feeling that someone was lurking in the shadows and watching this entire encounter, and whoever it was couldn't be good.

The sound ninja all set themselves up to send another wave of attacks towards Sakura. She tensed grimly, prepared to try and evade the worst of the attack. But more than half of her chakra was gone, and the longer this took the sooner she would run out. It wouldn't be any good if she was out of chakra when she was captured. Then she'd be helpless in Orochimaru's hands.

A blast of fire came soaring through the air towards her; one of the 4 attacker's jutsu. She leaped out of the way, the heat of the flames hot on her back. Two of them raced at her, weapons in hand. Sakura took them on, delivering powerful punches and swiping with her kunai. However, no matter how talented she was, she had to lose the battle. Considering the odds, it wouldn't be a hard task. But these ninjas weren't trying to capture her. No, they were trying to kill her. Makes it a little harder…

A dangerous swing with one of their daggers caused a painful gash across Sakura's ribs. She broke away from them, and landed on a branch of one of the nearby trees. Using some of her chakra, Sakura used her mystic palm technique, and healed some of the worse of her wounds. She returned her gaze to the enemy ninjas, who were advancing once again.

This battle needed to end; now. One more move was all she needed. Then she could "go down" and get defeated. The sooner this happened, the better.

Another ninja started doing hand signs, which meant another big jutsu. Sakura tensed and prepared to avoid the worst of the attack. The ninja stopped his flurry of hand motions and pressed his hand forcefully down on the ground. A large fissure started to open up in the ground, creeping its way toward the tree where Sakura stood. She leaped down to the ground, scrambling to move before the fissure caused the tree to fall. But in her haste, Sakura landed wrong and stumbled. The one of the other ninjas tore down towards her, and gave Sakura a harsh punch right in the stomach that she normally would have been able to avoid. She let out a wheezing gasp and fell on the ground, her teeth fiercely clenched.

The enemy ninja looked down at her with a smirk. His short black hair stood ruffled from the long battle that had been raging, and his black eyes flashed darkly. "Let's end this now!" he roared, and lifted his sword high above his head.

A/N; Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it.

Got Questions?

If you're confused on anything at all in the story, feel free to ask! I don't want any confused people walking around. No matter how stupid you think the question is, ask away! After all, the only stupid question is a question not asked. (Don't forget that I have the right to not answer any questions… don't want to give away any surprises I have in the future!)

Review, if you please!

I'd really appreciate if you'd review. Tell me what you think I should change, any ideas you have, etc… I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Hope it was good! Have an excellent day!

-Cynder7777