Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto. I just wanted to write about it.

Chapter 3; Serpent's Lair

"Stop."

But the ninja had already started swinging down at the trapped Sakura. His eyes widened as he heard the command, but it was too late to stop the weapon from its pummel down at the young ninja. At the last second, the ninja adjusted his grip a mere fraction, which was just enough to send the sword deep into the ground a centimeter from Sakura's neck. She lay there, gasping in fear and alarm, staring at the one who had saved her life.

He was a rather tall ninja, with long silvery gray hair. His black eyes gleamed from behind his large rimmed glasses. Crossing his arms across his chest, the ninja smirked down at her, his Sound ninja headband gleaming in the light of the setting sun. He wore a dark purple shirt with a high color, and dark purple pants. Taking a single step forward toward her, the ninja crouched down and looked at Sakura with a large sneer on his face.

"Good thing I was watching this battle the entire time. Quite entertaining… But she would be far more interesting if we were to capture this kunoichi."

The other sound ninja almost seemed to shrink down in shame. "Why?" he almost whimpered.

"Because," the ninja adjusted his glasses before continuing, "This is Sakura Haruno, one of the Leaf Village shinobi. She will be of great use to Orochimaru. Surely you've noticed how much he's been talking about her? He has quite an interest."

Sakura forced herself up to her knees, still supporting herself with her hands. She stared at the ninja in fake horror and whispered, "Kabuto…"

He blinked at her, then stood up and turned away. "Grab her and take her with us," he called over his shoulder to the other Sound ninja. They all surrounded her with their ninja speed and just glared at her.

Kabuto turned and hissed menacingly, "Well, aren't you coming? Let's go already." He turned back around and added, "Knock her out first. We don't want her to discern the location of our base."

One of the four enemy ninjas nodded sharply, and then turned back to Sakura. He laughed at the determined look in her eye as she watched him warily. "Don't worry, you pretty little thing," he purred. "We'll take good care of you." with that, he disappeared and reappeared right in behind her. Sakura felt a sharp pain in the base of her neck, and then everything went black…

Hidden well in the bushes, the other eight ninjas from the Leaf Village watched. Naruto was tense with anxiety as he watched the men roughly grab Sakura and carry her away into the forest.

Lifting up a finger, Shino sent a small beetle off towards the event before them. The little bug was soon too far away to see. Shino turned back around, his shaded glasses hiding his dark eyes. "There. If we end up losing her, my insects can still track her location, as long as that female beetle lands on one of them. That way, we can still find Sakura."

Kiba looked at Akamaru, who was growling softly and baring his fangs. "Good to have a backup plan, but that's try to avoid having to use plan B. Let's go so we don't lose her!"

Lee lifted his fist determinedly. "Yes! For the sake of our mission we must follow the enemy ninja!" With that, the ninja sprinted after the Sound Ninja. With an exasperated sigh, Tenten followed him.

"Let's go." Neji turned and followed his teammates. Shino and Kiba came too, leaving only Hinata to stand next to Naruto.

She looked at Naruto with soft kindness in her white eyes. "Come on, Naruto," she whispered softly, trying to hide a slight blush that lit her fair skin. Naruto turned and looked at her with his bright blue eyes.

"You're right, Hinata. We should go too." Naruto stood up and grinned down at her. "Come on, Hinata." He disappeared after the others, leaving a slightly flustered ninja after him, before she followed him.

With a soft groan, Sakura opened her eyes and blinked slowly. Her emerald green eyes widened as she took in her new surroundings.

Stone walls surrounded Sakura; she was in some sort of cave, which was surely a secret base of Orochimaru. Thick steel chains held Sakura to the wall, preventing her from moving even an inch. A few torches hung on the rocky walls. Hidden in the shadows of the cave, Kabuto watched her. At the sight of his prisoner's eyes, a cold smile lit his face.

"Oh, you're awake now, aren't you? Took your time. It seems that whenever Lord Orochimaru's ninja do a job, they do it through and through, all the way to the end." He nodded at her. "But you're awake now. I'm sure that this will make Lord Orochimaru more than pleased." His ash-gray hair swung around as he turned and walked into a side passage.

Sakura lowered her gaze. The chains were uncomfortably tight around her body and legs. Her wrists and ankles too were held tightly, and made it plenty difficult for Sakura to even twitch. Even worse, she could feel her chakra slowly draining away. These must be chakra draining chains. A sigh rattled in Sakura's chest. It wouldn't be too difficult to break these chains now with her chakra amplified strength. Luckily, Sakura had been able to save up a good amount of her chakra, mostly due to her excellent chakra control. But now was not the time to break free. She just needed to wait, even though her preciously saved chakra was slowly leaking away.

Another few minutes passed until Kabuto returned. His glasses reflected the light of the flaming torches as he stepped to the side to make room for another ninja to enter.

He stepped out of the shadows, his amber snake eyes gleaming in cruel amusement. His waist-length black hair hung down, hiding the edges of his narrow face. His skin was so pale it was white; the only color his purple markings around his eyes. A dark smirk entered crossed his lips. He wore a dark gray high collared shirt and black pants. His purple rope belt was tied in a large knot as usual, and when he moved his head and his hair shifted, Sakura could see his blue earrings.

"So, Sakura. Nice to see you again." Orochimaru hissed softly.

Tensing nervously, Sakura whispered, "Orochimaru…" She couldn't help feeling a speck of rage towards him. After all, in the beginning it was all his fault that Sasuke had left and broke her heart… She felt nothing for Sasuke any longer, but the pain he had caused since for all of the ninjas of the Leaf Village…

Orochimaru laughed cruelly at Sakura's reaction to him. He stepped forward and leaned in close to Sakura. His extremely long tongue snaked out and came extremely close to Sakura's cheek before it snapped back into his mouth. When he saw the look of disgust in her eyes, the missing-nin smirked. "My, my, Sakura Haruno. You sure have matured a lot in the last year."

It was true. Compared to the last time Orochimaru had seen Sakura, she had matured. She had grown into a beautiful young woman, with fair skin and gorgeous green eyes. She was fit and strong, in very good shape. Even chained to the wall of this underground room, they could easily see this fact.

The dark ninja narrowed his reptilian eyes and turned away. He murmured something to Kabuto, and then left the room. With a final glance at Sakura, the other ninja turned and followed his master out of the room, grabbing the torches that lit the room with him.

They left the room completely dark and silently. Sakura let out a breath, wishing that this stupid ordeal could be over already and that she could go home to the comforts of her home. But this mission was only just beginning, and she was fully aware of that. Nothing she did would change how long this mission was bound to last.

Even worse, she just knew inside her that Sasuke was nearby. She didn't know anything else, other than it would be sooner rather than later that she would have to meet him face to face. Her arms trembled with rage at the thought. When she saw him, that traitor, she would tear him to shreds.

Another long sigh rattled through the air from her. The pinkette had no idea how long she had been out, but from what Kabuto said it had to have been at least a day, more likely two. In the damp darkness of this cave, Sakura had no idea what time it could possibly be up on the surface. Down her, it was always that impending twilight, the dark hours of the night. Morning never came in the deep, dark world of tunnels; the only light came from torches or any other manmade things that Orochimaru decided to use.

The young ninja closed her eyes again. She knew that she was ready for whatever was to come. Lady Tsunade had taught her everything she knew, and Sakura knew she could handle this mission. Nothing was going to ruin this for her. She couldn't allow it to happen.

Hours in the darkness passed, although it felt far longer to Sakura. She had never been the biggest fan of the dark, let alone being chained to a stone wall in it for hours. But eventually, her captors returned.

At first only Kabuto paid her a visit. He said nothing, only came into the room, stared her in the eyes, and turned and left. It was beyond bizarre, but Sakura said nothing.

The next time, Kabuto arrived followed closely by Orochimaru. The latter just leaned up against the wall and did nothing at all, other than study Sakura with his bright, amber eyes. She tried to ignore them, but it wasn't easy to ignore someone who seems to be having an identity crisis between human and snake who is also just staring at you. So Sakura ended up just returning his sharp gaze until at last he left without a word.

Sakura sighed. She would never know exactly what Orochimaru was up to, and she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know. How she would leak information to any Leaf Village shinobi was beyond her, but it would have to be soon, for the sake of this mission. Hopefully her teammates were able to follow her and report her location to the Fifth Hokage.

It was only a matter of minutes until Orochimaru and Kabuto were back. They both entered and stood in front of their captive. She lifted her head and met the gaze of both of them, but she had nothing to say. They just stared at each other in silence.

Before too long, Orochimaru spoke. "What am I suppose to do with you, young kunoichi?" he asked softly, his eyes gleaming. "What am I to do with a young Leaf shinobi like you?"

Sakura lowered her gaze and still said nothing.

A cold laugh echoed around the small room. "What will be more useful, do you think? Should I torture you for secrets of the Leaf Village? Or maybe hold you hostage for the next raid…" His snake tongue slipped out of his mouth and returned back to it.

Still Sakura said nothing. Being tortured for information was definitely one of the last things she wanted to happen. Not only was the thought horrible, it would put the mission at stake. Being held hostage for the raid wasn't a good thought either. Orochimaru would never run out of evil ideas to ruin everything for the Leaf Village.

"Nothing to say? Nothing at all, Sakura?" The villain smirked at her and her silence. Still the young ninja refused to speak.

Suddenly, she snapped her head up and stared right past Orochimaru. She could feel it… Feel him… It had to be him…

Orochimaru pulled his head away and looked at Sakura. Confusion flashed in his eyes but was soon replaced by his normal, unreadable gaze. Slowly, he followed her gaze, and yet saw nothing.

"You really are so strange, aren't you," he hissed in slight confusion. Sakura's gaze never wavered, still glued to the empty doorway. She trembled slightly, trying desperately to control the hatred that she felt flowing through her veins.

He was nearby.

Kabuto just sighed at her. He shook his head and then turned away. "I don't understand what her deal is, Lord Orochimaru."

The dark ninja blinked slowly at her, his amber gaze gleaming. "What does it matter? She's under my control now." He leaned in close again, his tongue rolling in his mouth.

"OROCHIMARU!"

His eyes dilated into the thinnest slits, and Orochimaru twisted around and stared at the still empty entrance.

Still empty until…

A tall ninja stormed in, his onyx eyes flashing in rage. His raven bangs framed the sides of his face in long spikes. The rest of his hair hung in the back, sticking out in more spikes. He stood in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest. He wore a blank black shirt and pants, his only color from his blue open toed shoes. He glared at the one who should be his master, eyes flashing.

It was him. The traitor of the Leaf Village.

Sasuke Uchiha.

"Where the heck were you? Our training session was an hour ago! You better have a good reason for being late, Orochi-" Sasuke trailed off, his eyes frozen on Sakura. His mouth hung open in shock, but his eyes still were unreadable.

The dark rage overflew through Sakura at the sight of him. She clenched her teeth and narrowed her eyes in fury. "You…" she hissed in at him coldly.

Sasuke's eye simply twitched at her, but he said nothing. She strained against the chains that held her, burrowing into her chakra store to add to her strength. With a growl of anger, she wrenched herself away from the wall.

Everyone watched Sakura as she snarled in rage. Orochimaru and Kabuto blinked slowly at her, hardly taking her seriously. Sasuke was far to shocked to even notice her wrath.

Crreak…

Everyone started in shock. Sakura's anger was so strong, she could hardly control herself. The chains were slowly being torn out of the wall. She would never let him walk away alive.

With a snap, the chains were torn out of the wall. Sakura flew forward with the momentum she had been creating. Every muscle still amplified by her chakra, Sakura lunged for Sasuke with her ninja quick speed.

Sasuke jerked away at the last moment, his eyes widened in alarm. At the last moment, he moved just enough to avoid the blow. Instead, Sakura slammed her fist into the wall. The wall crumbled under her blow. She twisted to the side, and surged right back towards Sasuke again.

Sharigan. Sasuke's eyes turned red, and he twisted away from Sakura's attack. She skidded to a halt and lurched towards him again. He slipped just slightly to the side and the other ninja's attack passed him. He grabbed he arm and twisted it behind her back, still in shock. But she refused to be beaten by him. She slammed her head back into his in a harsh head butt. A gasp of pain escaped from Sasuke and he lost his grip at the surprise of the attack. Sakura twisted around and her fist flew towards Sasuke's handsome face. Sasuke's red eyes flashed, and he barely dodged the next attack. Sakura just kept attacking, while Sasuke just only avoided the blows, only because of the sharigan, his special eye jutsu. But her diminished supply chakra was burning out quickly, and Sakura's reflexes slowed.

Kabuto wrapped his arms around Sakura in an attempt to stop her. She strained against him, too blinded by rage to use her mind to get out of this situation. She just strained with pure might against Kabuto's grip. At last she broke out of his grip and with a roar of triumphant plowed her fist towards Sasuke's face. The other ninja shoved his hands down to meet her incoming fist in an attempt to avert the majority of the blow.

SLAM!

Both of the young ninjas went skittering back towards the edges of the room. Sakura just collapsed to the ground, almost completely spent. Sasuke had managed to avoid the blunt of the blow, but he still felt the drain of his strength. This power that Sakura processed… It was impossibly strong.

Several more ninja raced into the room and all of them pinned Sakura down. She just lay on the ground and gasped for breath, her rage slowly dying.

Sasuke slipped out of the room, still in shock from what just happened. Orochimaru watched him go, and then studied Sakura for a moment. He stepped forward and kneeled down close to her so he could gaze into her fiery eyes. He simply stared at her for a while, before turning and leaving the room.

Sakura sat in a cold cell, chained again to another wall. She felt exhausted from her recent rampage; she must have used up far too much of her chakra. So much of her energy was drained…

They had knocked her out again and she had woken up her. Now, she waited. It had only been a matter of minutes since she woke up, and she had a feeling that very soon she would have more visitors.

The kunoichi's prediction wasn't far off. Only a few minutes later Kabuto entered the room, followed extremely closely by Orochimaru. He stalked up to her and looked her straight in the eye, then purred, "You have quite a bit of strength, now don't you?" A smirk lit his face. "Very impressive. That mind of yours is plenty sharp, now isn't it?"

The pinkette looked away. She didn't want to have this conversation, especially not with Orochimaru after her little outburst around Sasuke.

"I always thought you were nothing more than a pushover, but you really have grown to be strong. Your intelligence has always been one of your strong points… You must have been waiting, storing your chakra. Your capture couldn't have been an accident, Sakura. You were planning this out from the beginning. Just looking for the right moment."

Sakura sucked in a breath. How could he know? If he knew that this was all part of his mission… Then she was in big trouble.

Orochimaru grabbed her chin and forced her to look deep into his snake eyes. "I could use a clever mind that yours. Such an intellect paired with that chakra amplified strength… What do you think, sweetheart? Are you willing to join me?"

A/N; Here's the next chaper! Hope you liked 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 this chapter was a good one and that you enjoyed it!

-Cynder7777