Sakura awoke in chains, still half groggy from whatever had happened. She opened her eyes to search the room and was met with only darkness. She groaned as she pulled a shackled hand to a tender spot on the side of her head. She felt the sticky crust of dried blood. Reflexively, she put her hand on her belly as if she could tell if anything was wrong with her unborn child. Phase find me soon, Tsunade, she silently begged.
Tsunade was panicked as her team searched the forest surrounding Konoha for her love. She couldn't understand how the woman had disappeared from right next to her. Sakura had been gone for two days when she overheard a conversation she knew she wasn't supposed to hear.
"Shizune-sama," she heard Hinata say in a hushed tone, "We have to find her. If not, the baby-"
"How do you know about that?" Shizune asked, hushing the younger woman.
Tsunade listened intently as the two whispered back and forth. She was completely lost. Why were the two of them out here in the middle of the woods talking about babies when Sakura was in danger? She was about to go and give them a piece of her mind when Shizune shattered her last remnants of stability.
"Sakura is smart, Hinata. She won't do anything to endanger hers and Tsunade's baby," Shizune said in a voice so sickeningly calming.
They didn't notice they had a listener until the ground underneath them shook and both of them jumped, clinging to the branches of a tree out of the blast range. They turned to see Tsunade at the center of the new crater, trembling violently. When she rose her head to look at them, her eyes were blazing.
"Why didn't tell me?!" She shouted at them, her voice accusing.
"Tsunade, she told me to let her tell you. She went over to tell you that day," Shizune said, willing her to understand.
"Then why didn't she tell me?!" She yelled, remembering the woman's odd behavior that day.
"Well, Tsunade-sama, it would seem she got..distracted," Hinata said, her eyes shooting downward.
None of them noticed the blonde ninja approaching to check on their situation. They didn't notice the soft yellow glow in the background. They didn't notice him until he reacted to Tsunade's final statement.
"How could Sakura not tell me she was pregnant with my child?" Tsunade asked silently, feeling defeated by the loss of Sakura and her child.
"How dare you," Naruto said, catching their attention, horrified looks on all faces but Tsunade's, who just looked lost.
Naruto stared at all of them, anger coursing through his veins. He remembered Sakura always chasing after Sasuke, his only brother. He remembered the happiness he saw in Sakura every time he came home.
"We buried my brother Tsunade. The only brother I've ever known. And not even three months later, you're sleeping with the only person he truly loved?!" He shouted at the distraught woman, "How far along is she?"
"Naru-" Hinata started.
"How far along?!" He screamed, not caring about her excuses.
"Two months," Shizune said quietly.
"Two months?! He wasn't even cold yet, Tsunade!" He shouted with tears in his eyes, "I will never forgive you."
Tsunade was in his face in a moment, her anger finally pushed to the forefront of her mind. She grabbed the front of his shirt, ignoring the burn of the nine tails Chakra. She looked him in the eyes with tears in her own.
"You think you're the only one grieving him, you idiot?! Sakura had completely shut herself down! She was hurting so bad yet still helping everyone else! I have loved that selfless woman for years! I even pardoned the man she loved, no matter how much it hurt all because you two wanted it! I sacrificed every single part of myself to this village! So how dare I? Sakura mourned to me! I was finally helping her! And after that fight she came to my house! I was so drunk I wasn't even sure it had happened. And now the woman I love and my unborn child are out there somewhere and you're wasting time arguing with me!" She retorted, furious.
Naruto pulled out of her grasp and shook himself off, realizing she was right. No matter how angry he was at the two of them Sakura was in danger. As Hokage in training, it was his job to save her. As her comrade, it was his duty. As her brother, it was his honor.
"You're right. We have to find her. But this discussion isn't over," he said, looking at Hinata, before walking away.
Sakura was trying to figure out an escape plan but kept coming up blank. She couldn't escape and keep her baby safe. She was thinking about giving up when Tsunade crossed her mind. Her resolve hardened as she thought of her lover tirelessly searching for her. She wasn't surprised when she heard a key turning in a lock.
"Well, well," an unfamiliar voice said from the other side of the now illuminated room, "If it isn't the Uzumaki brat's dearest friend. Well, the living one."
"Where am I?" Sakura asked.
"You're in my lab. If you weren't pregnant, I probably would have killed you already. I don't exactly have a steady supply of men, you see. That child will make a fine addition to my group. Think of it as a payment for my men you killed," he said, smiling.
Sakura stared at the man silently. He seemed to take the clue and left, leaving a plate of food on the floor. She knew from what he said that he had every intention of keeping her alive until her baby was born. She ate the offering to keep her strength so she could escape.
Tsunade was going crazy thinking about her lover and their unborn child. She punched a nearby tree, frustrated. Hinata was silent as she slipped up to Tsunade's side. She placed a comforting hand on the older woman's shoulder, pointing in Naruto's direction.
Naruto was in his six paths mode, trying to trace her Chakra. Tsunade watched as he cupped his head in his hands in frustration. She remembered she wasn't the only one missing the pink haired kunoichi. She looked over to Sakura's mother, bags under her eyes from exhaustion, tirelessly combing the forest floor, looking for anything. She sighed and did the one thing she could. She quickly made the necessary seals and summoned Katsuyu.
"Lady Tsunade," the overly polite slug said, happy to see the woman.
"Katsuyu, I need a favor if you would," Tsunade asked.
"Anything for you, my lady," Katsuyu answered, bowing her head.
"I need you to separate into as many pieces as possible to search for any signs of Sakura," Tsunade said, her voice pleading, "She's gone missing."
Without another word, Katsuyu broke down into countless pieces and scurried off in all directions. Tsunade prayed that she came back with something. She looked at Hinata, trying not to be angry.
"How did you know?" Tsunade asked, not needing to further specify.
"Right before she disappeared I was looking through the debris with my byakugan. She jumped in to help them lift the debris and I stopped her, seeing the separate Chakra network. She was about to say something when the building collapsing caught my attention. I only looked away for a few seconds Tsunade, I swear. By the time I looked back, she was gone," Hinata said sadly, wishing she'd done something.
"There was no more you could have done than me, you silly girl. I didn't save her either," Tsunade said, looking away.
"You saved my baby Tsunade-sama. I don't care about the specifics, I'm going to help you save yours," she responded, determined to repay the favor.
That's when Tsunade noticed that Hinata had been using her byakugan for almost three days straight. Her eyes must be killing her, she thought, watching as the young woman did everything she could without falter. People were beginning to lose faith when Katsuyu signaled that she had something.
Sakura had been waiting. She only had a small amount of Chakra stored up within her seal since the fight. She groaned as she realized she couldn't do everything. She sighed as she realized she had to try. She waited silently by the door for the guard to bring her dinner.
The second the door opened, she grabbed his head in both hands and jerked violently, breaking his neck. She pulled him into the room and stripped him of his keys and weapons. She sent a silent apology to the man and slipped out the door, mindful of her surroundings.
She crept around corners silently, looking in every possible direction. She found a guard standing in front of, what appeared to be, the door leading out of the lab. She silently crept up to him and jabbed a kunai in his throat. She lowered him to the floor and silently opened the door with the keys she'd liberated.
The stairs on the other side were well lit and it took her eyes a second to adjust. Once up the stairs, she took a deep breath as she realized there were guards everywhere. She sighed and released her seal, her little stores of Chakra filing her body. It has to be enough, she thought, thinking of Sasuke, Tsunade, Hinata, Naruto, and all her other friends, it just has to be.