Disclaimer; I hope you figured out by now that Naruto isn't mine.

Enjoy!

Chapter 13; Just Run

Sakura took Sasuke's command; she tore out of there as fast as her feet could carry her. Uchiha delayed them for a second longer and then he was right on her heels.

The two fled through the forest, streaking past the trees and animals as fast as they possibly could. Far in the distance they could hear the sounds of pursuit but their hunters were far enough away that it didn't matter. Both rouges were home free.

They wondered aimlessly for a while, just striving to place as much ground as possible between them and Konoha. After a while, both ninjas slowed to a brisk jog to replace their full out sprint.

Soon Sasuke took the lead and silently led them to a small cave hidden well within the forest. Taking a quick break, both ninjas fought to catch their breaths.

When she at last had enough air to talk, Sakura turned to Sasuke. "I… I thought you abandoned me…" she stammered, still out of breath.

He shot her a glare. "I wouldn't just run off and abandon you, Sakura. I'm supposed to be protecting you, not leaving you to be captured by the Leaf." His hard eyes narrowed even farther. "Besides, I sensed the ninjas before you did. I wasn't able to warn you before they came. So I just waited them out for the right opportunity to get you back." Uchiha fell into silence after his quick explanation.

After a moment of silence, Sakura murmured, "Oh." Her green eyes shifted to the ground. "I suppose that that means it's time for us to head back to the Sound."

Sasuke nodded shortly.

With a fatigued sigh, Sakura nodded. "Alright… We should probably get going then."

Without another word, Sasuke strolled out of the cave and crept out into the forest. Pausing to look both ways, he then dashed out and started leaping across the trees, branch by branch.

Keeping her gaze down, the pinkette followed him.

With an aggravated sigh, Tsunade stormed back into her office. The hunt for Sakura had proved hopeless. The newly turned rogue was gone.

The Hokage's heart burned in anger at the thought of Sasuke Uchiha, who her shinobi had reported seeing at the scene. He broke her free. Uchiha had taken Konoha's only chance of finding out the truth. His crimes just continued to stack up, yet he hadn't achieved his goal. She knew that his heart still blazed with hatred for his brother. Of course, Itachi was nowhere to be found.

The Hokage threw herself down on her chair and growled in anger at herself. Now that she thought about it, she could've at least tried to be more understanding towards Sakura… It almost seemed like the kunoichi had something important to say, yet in the moment fiery Tsunade had shot her down. In her attempt to try not to give her student special treatment, she had ended up pushing her away.

A deep sigh rattled in the air. Sakura seemed like she was about to tell her something important… Something about why she did what she did. If only she had taken advantage of the moment… But it was too late now.

Sakura Haruno was gone.

A handful of ninjas scrutinized every inch of the forest in a general area between the Hidden Leaf Village and the Land of Sound, yet found nothing. Even the ninja hounds that were with the group couldn't find enough of a scent to follow. No matter how hard they looked, there was nothing to find. Sakura was gone.

Ruffling the bushes in a futile last attempt, the ANBU Black Ops gathered in a clearing silently. With a single shake of their heads, they verified what they had already guessed.

"We should get back to Lady Hokage," one grunted. His shaggy brown hair hung down over the edges of his mask, shaped like the head of a leopard.

Another one nodded. "There isn't even the faintest trace of them. The Inuzuka clan dogs confirmed that." He turned his head towards two ninjas standing next to large, wolf-like dogs. They returned the gaze calmly through black eyes.

"But we can't just give up… Those two couldn't have just vanished," a different ANBU argued.

"What would we have done even if we found them?" the fourth demanded. The hawk-like mask that covered his face seemed dark and ominous in the shadows of the trees.

When the other ANBU didn't respond, the first interjected, "Nothing. Not even we stand a chance against that Uchiha. It would be better for us to return before any other problems arise. We are close to the edge of our border…"

"But—"

"There is nothing more for us to do." Without another word, that ANBU turned and dashed off in the direction of Konoha. He was followed closely by the others, along with one of the tracker ninjas.

The other trotted up to the remaining ANBU, his large dog following closely.

"Do you really think there is more we can do?" the Inuzuka asked. His canine's barked in enunciate those words.

The ANBU shinobi glanced at him, her long black hair slipping across her cat-like mask. "I think I have one last place that we should look. But no one really takes me seriously out of this group… They'd never want to check it out if I mentioned it."

"Well, what is it?" Inuzuka demanded. His slit eyes gleamed, strands of his deep brown hair falling in them. "Tsume and I won't mind checking it out," he added, rubbing his pony-sized dog's muzzle.

The ANBU studied him for a second. "You really wouldn't mind?" she asked softly.

With a shrug, the tracker ninja grunted, "Sure."

"Follow me." She turned and dashed off, followed closely by Inuzuka.

Only a little while later she stopped at the mouth of a cave. "This is some sort of a tunnel… Not sure how far it goes into the Land of Fire though."

One whiff of the entrance and the dog bristled, a low growl rumbling in its throat. "We got something!" its master exclaimed excitedly.

Before the ANBU had a chance to even respond, the wolf-like dog howled once towards the sky with deafening volume. Tossing its head, the hound lowered itself to the ground and glanced over at its master. With a sly grin, he leapt up on its back.

"Hop on!" he told the ANBU. She hesitated, then climbed on behind him on the large dog. Turning, he softly murmured, "Tsume alerted the other dogs that we found the scent. They should be able to find this place and follow the trail themselves." Turning back around, he cued his dog to go.

"But wait…" she called a second before the canine would have started moving. "Whose scent did you pick up exactly?"

"Who?" Inuzuka laughed. "Why, Sakura Haruno's of course!"

Sasuke slowed to a stop, gazing firmly at the shadowy entrance to yet another one of Orochimaru's lairs. He glanced over his shoulder softly at his companion.

She was just falling into a slow walk, her pink hair hanging down over her shoulders, strands falling in her emerald eyes. Putting her arms on her knees, the kunoichi started to calm her rapid breathing from the running they had done. In only a day, they had reached one of Orochimaru's hideouts hidden deep within the Land of Sound. Now, they were back.

Studying Sakura out of the corner of his eyes, Sasuke crossed his arms and waited for her to catch her breath while he secretly did that himself. The hollow look in her normally bright eyes was almost crushing. A deep sorrow at what she had just done and been through now lurked in her normally optimistic exterior. She wasn't even trying to hide the dullness she must be feeling. Sasuke didn't understand exactly why but it made him want to hold her tight.

I can't believe this… I thought I got rid of these feelings all those years ago when I left. I couldn't break her heart and take her with me, never to return to the place she loved… I had to kill the feelings in my heart. Yet they demand to return now of all times? He scowled inside. Outwardly, he stayed blank and emotionless, just leading the way inside the damp hideout.

It only took a matter of seconds for a Sound ninja to find them. He greeted them warmly and told both to follow him. Silently they did that.

This led them to a rather large laboratory full of test tubes, home to strange beings encased in weird liquids. Sasuke ignored this; he was rather use to seeing strange things like what was in the test tubes from all of his time around the missing-nin. But Sakura took everything into sight.

Orochimaru was standing in front of one of the tubes and studying whatever humanoid creature he had inside. Without even turning around, the Sannin stated smoothly, "I presume that you're mission went well and was successful?"

Neither ninja said anything.

"Well?" Orochimaru demanded, his amber eyes still glued to the test tube.

"It went fine," Sasuke stated bluntly.

"Did she do it? Did she do what she was supposed to do?" Slowly he turned and fixed them with a smug smirk.

"Yes."

"Excellent…" Orochimaru's tongue snapped over his lips. "Find Haruno a place to stay for the night," he calmly stated to the shinobi who stood nearby. Taking Sakura with him, the shinobi left. Sasuke and Orochimaru were soon alone in the room full of twisting shadows from the glow of the tubes.

"Orochimaru." Sasuke set his jaw firmly and glared at the one who was supposed to be his master.

"Yes, Sasuke?" the outlaw sneered softly.

After a slight hesitation, Sasuke demanded coldly, "Why did you force Sakura to do that?"

Those amber eyes gleamed darkly. "Why do you ask?"

Sasuke said nothing.

Pausing slightly, the Sannin purred, "To make sure that she was loyal and to shatter any chance of Konoha using her as a spy." He narrowed his eyes. "I'm no fool. I could tell that nothing was right about her. Sakura Haruno would have never accepted my deal; not for all the power in the world. This guarantees that she has no choice but to work for me, for her village could never accept her after what she did. Besides, Uzumaki was growing rather obnoxious with his 'heroism' for the village. Nothing irks me more than him digging his nose where it didn't belong and messing up my plans to destroy the Leaf. Does that answer your question?"

It did, yet it didn't. Sasuke knew that what he really wanted was a reason for Orochimaru to crush the kunoichi's spirits and leave her with nothing. He knew the strategic planning of the snake-obsessed outlaw, although something told him there was more to killing Naruto than just getting rid of a pest. Yet Sasuke didn't push the issue. He just blinked shortly and walked away.

With one last smirk, Orochimaru called, "Training again in the morning, Sasuke."

But Uchiha ignored him.

A/N; I made my goal (barely!) This isn't my favorite chapter... It isn't very good... But bear with me. I'm trying... Stupid writer's block.

This chapter is considerably shorter than the others. Sorry about that.

Hopefully the next one will be better... I'm shooting again for two weeks.

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 you enjoyed.

-Cynder7777