Enjoy!

Chapter 12: Precious

xXx

The sun was slowly rising from the horizon as the team Yamato assembled started to meet at the main gate. Sai was the first one there, merely sketching on his notebook and waiting for everyone to come. When he had heard that Sakura was taken by the Akatsuki, he also had the urge to bring her back. To him it was like when Naruto had brought Sasuke-kun back. Maybe it was his turn to bring their teammate back.

Sai paused on his sketch when he saw the others members of the team approach. He spotted Kiba, Neji, Rock Lee and Sasuke all walking together in one line. He noticed that Kiba and Neji had the skill of tracking. Probably why they were put on this mission, he thought to himself as they stopped in front of him.

"Good morning, Sai-san! How is my youthful friend doing?" Lee greeted cheerfully as he saluted the former ANBU member. Sai gave him a fake smile and nodded in return before he returned to sketching.

"Naruto isn't here yet?" Kiba asked in a sleep deprived voice as he glanced around for the blonde haired teen.

"No, not yet, however I'm sure he'll turn up soon." Sai replied as he stopped his artwork and packed it away.

"So Sasuke, do you know how we will get Sakura-san back?" Neji asked quietly as he met eyes with the Uchiha. Sasuke looked at the Hyuuga for a moment before closing his eyes and sighing.

"No, but Kakashi mentioned something about 'putting something' so I assume that it's a tracking seed or something along those lines." He replied in the same tone, putting his hands in his pockets. His fingertips grazed the painted cherry blossom kunai, giving him a constant reminder of who they desperately wanted to bring home.

Only a few minutes later did the rest of the team show up. Even though it was about six in the morning, Naruto looked completely energized as he tried to pump the team up with his over load of excitement. Kakashi suppressed a yawn and glanced at Yamato who was still trying to wake himself up. As the team began to clamor with complaints about Naruto being too loud, Yamato cleared his throat and caught their attention.

"Alright, Tsunade-sama told me that this mission was to bring Sakura back at all costs. She says we cannot afford to have someone like her against us, especially when she has Intel about our entire village. She also added that we must return as soon as possible but I don't think it'll be an easy task." Everyone grouped around the co-captain of the cell as he went over the instructions.

"Our objective is to bring Sakura back. But we're up against the Akatsuki here so this mission will be ranked as an A Classed mission. I doubt that all the members of the Akatsuki are willing to fight against us, especially when all we're trying to do is get to Sakura, but we must be careful. There will probably be members who are willing to fight, and others who just see it as child's play. But still, we must infiltrate their location before it is too late." Yamato finished and stepped back as the team's main captain came forward.

"Okay, we'll split up into two cells and stay together that way. Kiba, Neji and Lee, you're with Yamato. Naruto, Sasuke, Sai, with me. Yamato will explain on the way so let's go." As soon as Kakashi was finished, the group dashed off into the trees and immediately separated into their cells.

"Yamato," Kakashi called out as said man turned around. Yamato nodded and placed his hands together, concentrating. Within the darkness of his mind, he could feel an evil and dark chakra slowly getting larger. Th-This is Sakura's! How could the curse mark take over so quickly? W-wait a sec…

In the depths of the maze inside his head, Yamato located where Sakura was but could not exactly pinpoint where her exact location was. This dark chakra is messing with my tracking seed! Hopefully no one decides to take the seed off before we reach her.

"Okay, I cannot place her exact location, but we'll go off on what we have. This way!" The wood user said to the team as he dashed off in a different direction. The others followed easily and soon a couple of them were engaged in conversation.

Sasuke was thinking quietly to himself as he stayed beside his best friend when the teen named Sai who looked a bit like him came in front of him. The Uchiha looked up and gave the guy an irritated glare, who in return simply smiled.

"What is it?" Sasuke coldly asked as they jumped off a branch for more speed. Sai looked over his shoulder as he kept moving, not breaking eye contact with him.

"I was wondering, what was it like before Naruto brought you back to Konoha?" The question surprised him, but it wasn't that difficult to answer.

"Why do you need to know?" He snapped instead, sending the former Root member an icy look.

"I feel that I should know. Since I also want to bring Sakura-san back," Sasuke's eyebrow twitched slightly at his words and wondered if there was a hidden meaning beneath them.

"It's-" Naruto suddenly butted in next to him and smacked his hand over his friend's mouth, a cheery grin on his face.

"Ah Sai, I'll gladly tell you what happened! So I had gone down to track this Uchiha with Kakashi in tow and faced off a battle with him. We both had done our signature moves, nearly both dying in the process when we both met each other in our minds. I can't really remember most of the conversation, but I'm pretty sure I said something that made Sasuke here change his mind. I bet his life before was just a wreck, but now he's here with us! So I'm sure it's gotten way better right?" Naruto glanced over at his best friend who was sending him daggers as he shoved his hand off of his mouth.

"Shut up," He growled as he looked away, refusing to meet the grinning teen's eyes.

"See? Life's been really good to him so far. Well except for this whole 'Sakura' thing-" Naruto was interrupted when Sasuke had thrust his hand out and grabbed the teen's collar, gripping it dangerously hard.

"Say another word Naruto," Sasuke met his eyes with a furious glare and surrounded himself in a cold aura. Naruto gulped and nervously smiled, pushing the Uchiha's hand away from his face.

"G-got it," He replied as he looked down at the ground a bit dejectedly. Sai didn't really understand what had just happened and had put it to the side, deciding to say something else.

"I once read in a book that if there's a 'damsel in distress', the man she lo-" Naruto instantly smacked his hand over Sai's mouth and laughed uneasily as he glanced over at his silent friend. When Sasuke made no response, Naruto whipped his head around to meet Sai's and met him eye to eye.

"Sai, let me tell you this straight out, never mention things like that to him, especially to him. Got that?" He whispered fearfully as he eyed the almost emotionless teen carefully. Sai looked a bit confused but nodded in silence, dismissing the subject.

Kakashi, who had seen all this, chuckled quietly to himself as he noticed at how his two former students had grown. Especially Naruto. Starting off as an over energetic knucklehead ninja, he's transformed into a strong and reliable shinobi. He also noticed that Sasuke had somewhat matured after he had returned, that distant part of him slowly fading away. I guess life for him really has changed. Kakashi smiled softly at this as Naruto slapped his hand across Sai's mouth again.

"I'll never give up!" That was Naruto's Ninja Way. He's never gone back on his word. Kakashi blinked and saw Sasuke looking back at him curiously, his eyebrow arched. The silver haired Jounin raised a hand and grinned.

"Ahaha, no need to worry about me, I'm perfectly fine back here Sasuke." He kindly said as Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"Che," He grumbled before he turned away and sped up his pace to catch up with the others. Hatake Kakashi smiled once more at his oh so cool former student and increased his pace as well, calling for Naruto and Sai to hurry up.

Hopefully they could reach Sakura in time.

xXx

"Sakura, once more!" Miu called out from the stance she was in, the seal she had placed, weakening. She bent down, made some hand signs and pressed her palms flat on the stone ground, increasing the size of the barrier that was around her pink kunoichi.

"Hai!" She replied from inside, no longer feeling emotion. Her red eyes had a dull light in them as she lowered her head and made the hand signs. With her hands moving quickly, the air around her stirred and slowly circled her legs. The sound of her hands coming together echoed around the large cavern the two were in as she called out the jutsu.

"Lightning Beast Transformation!" Sakura knelt down and pressed the palm of her hand against the ground as clouds of dust began to rise from the dirt. A crack formed under the spot her hand was on and grew larger, the crack exploded and out came a saber toothed tiger in the shape of a cloud, electric bolts sparking from its back.

The tiger cloud rose up and plunged itself into Sakura's body, a wave of dust coming up and bouncing off the barrier. Sakura's figure soon dissolved into the cloud vapor and her red eyes appeared inside the tiger. Sakura's beast transformation was complete. She took a step forward and roared, lifting her head up to the barrier, her red eyes filled with an unsatisfied anger.

Miu grinned as Sakura growled ferociously, extremely happy that she managed to get her to learn it in only a matter of days. This was going to be the technique to destroy Konoha. Orochimaru's apprentice let go of the seal and the barrier slowly faded away.

"Okay Sakura! You can let it go!" She called as the tiger soon began to disperse, soon leaving the figure of Sakura standing in the middle, the dull look returning into her eyes. Miu approached her and put a hand on her head, ruffling the girl's hair, even though she couldn't feel it.

"Awesome job Sakura! I had no idea you could keep all this chakra up." She cheerfully complimented, laughing.

"Thank you," Sakura replied in an emotionless tone, nodding her head once. Miu grabbed the kunoichi's hand and led her out of the cavern, glad that she had taught her what she knew. Now when they invaded Konoha, they could perform the jutsu together. She was grateful for letting Orochimaru agree to help her out on her first experiment. Sakura was kind of like a friend, except without all the emotions and stuff.

"Let's go show the others our new technique!" Miu pumped a fist into the air as she made her way over to Deidara's and Sasori's room. She banged her fist against the door and about only two seconds later did Deidara pull the door open with a fuming look on his face.

"WHAT?" He yelled into Miu's face, an exhausted look in his eyes. Miu pouted and slapped him across the face. Deidara stumbled into the door post but put his hand out to steady himself. Holding his cheek, he looked at Miu with a freaked out look on his face.

"THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT FOR?" He screeched as he grabbed her by the collar and lifting her off the ground. Sakura simply leaned against the wall behind her, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"You don't yell at a girl, especially when they knock nicely." Miu sweetly said, a deadly smile on her face. Deidara's eye twitched in annoyance as he looked at the new recruit, wishing she would just go away.

"What do you want then yeah?" He asked, bringing his tone down a bit. Miu smiled and patted the blonde's cheek.

"There that wasn't hard was it?" Deidara scowled and placed her down on the floor, clenching his fists by his sides.

"What is it girl?" He demanded, leaning against the door post with an irritated look on his face.

"I want to show you a new technique Sakura and I made! It's a work of art!" The bomb user snorted and leaned forward, poking the teen in the forehead with his finger.

"Nothing can surpass my art. So don't go around saying shit like that, about how your technique's a work of art yeah?" He growled before he stood up straight again, his long hair swishing against his form. Miu scowled and stuck her chin up in the air proudly.

"Fine, just come see it then. I'm going to get Sasori," Before she had the chance to move, Deidara grabbed her by the arm and whirled her around.

"Don't mention how your technique's a work of art or he and I will get in a massive fight yeah? Shit's gonna go down if you do and I really don't feel like having Pain messing with me again hm?" He said with an arched brow before shutting his door behind him and following her to Sasori's room.

"You and your damn art ways," She muttered under her breath as she sent the man a glare.

"What was that hm?" Deidara asked as he loomed over the girl, his shadow growing large because of the torches.

"Nothing, you bastard," Miu replied in return as she stopped in front of Sasori's door. This time she quietly knocked on the wooden door and waited for the door to open.

"Oh so you decide to do that to his door but not to mine?" The blonde behind her scoffed as he leaned against the wall next to a silent Sakura. He gave her a glance once or twice and thought she was quite pretty when he remembered who she was. The door quietly opened and the short Sasori stepped out, a curious look on his puppet face.

"What is it Miu?" He asked as he leaned against the door post, his ageless face gazing down at the teen.

"Sakura and I developed a new technique and we wanted to show it to you! C'mon!" She excitedly said as she grabbed Sasori's arm and dragged him back to the cavern where the two were before. Deidara glanced at the silent Sakura once more and wondered why Miu even wanted to test her as an experiment.

Soon enough Sakura was back in her beast transformation with Miu alongside her in the form of a white wolf. The two roared in unison, both glaring down at the two other Akatsuki members, their eyes blazing with fire. Deidara whistled in awe and crossed his arms over his chest. Sasori instead nodded approvingly before he turned around and began to walk back to his room.

"W-where are you going Sasori-san?" Miu asked through her beast form, her voice deeper.

"I have to work on my puppets. It was an adequate technique. I liked it. Now goodbye," The puppeteer disappeared in the hall, leaving Deidara to observe the work. He looked at the two of them with calculating eyes before sticking his chin up in the air and walking away.

"See ya kid." He waved behind his head and headed back to his room when he heard a pop. Miu was on him in seconds, pinned down on the floor with his hands behind his back. How could he have not sensed that? Maybe it was because he was so god damn tired.

"Hey, hey, do you wanna help me destroy Konoha?" She asked in a cute voice as she bent down next to his ear, a widened grin on her face.

"Konoha? As much as I love destroying things and shit…I think Pain's gonna blow it if I bail out of a mission again." He replied as Miu let him up, a sad frown on her face.

"Then who am I going to go with besides Sakura and myself?" She mumbled to herself, her eyes cast to the ground.

"I dunno, deal with it yourself," And with that, Deidara was gone in a flash. Sakura appeared next to Miu and put a hand on her shoulder, comfortingly yet expressionless.

"C'mon, let's go ask Orochimaru-sensei."

xXx

"Alright, stop here! We'll camp out here till we reach them. From the location they are at now, I have reason to believe that Sakura is with a few of the Akatsuki members underground because they aren't at the Hidden Rain Village." Yamato ordered as they reached a small clearing. Kiba plopped down next to a tree as he tried to catch his breath, Akamaru whining beside him.

Kakashi, who didn't break a sweat began to unroll his roll, flattening it down with his hands. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Naruto setting his own up next to Sasuke's. Coincidentally, Sai set his up next to Naruto's. The Jounin smiled and created the circle where they would start the fire.

"Neji, Lee, could you go out and get some wood?" He asked to the two who were currently free of any tasks. Said two teens stood up and nodded as they made their way into the forest.

Yamato set up some traps outside just in case and went out with the two guys to warn them of where they were, leaving Kakashi to watch over the three friends as well as Kiba who were quietly talking by themselves. Faintly, he could hear their conversation but chose to keep out of it. He reached inside his pouch and pulled out his Icha Icha Paradise novel and flipped to the page he had stopped at. No matter how many times he's read it, it never gets old.

Sasuke leaned against the tree and tried to gather his chakra when Naruto engaged a conversation with the look alike of him. He stared at Sai who had responded quietly, his face barely expressing anything. His thoughts had wandered back to the conversation they both held only a while ago. Sai also wanted to bring Sakura back? What kind of relationship did the two have when he was gone? The Uchiha glanced over at him and met eyes with him for a brief moment before looking away.

"Sasuke, do you agree?" He suddenly asked out of the blue. Sasuke lifted his head up to meet Sai's inquiring gaze.

"Huh? Y-yeah," He didn't hear the conversation before but had gone with it. As soon as he said that, Naruto suppressed a laugh by smacking his hand over his mouth. Sasuke glared at the teen who's face was turning pink.

"Y-you actually agree with that?" Sai asked in an astonished voice. The Uchiha looked at him and saw him completely surprised. Just what the hell was the question?

"Agree with what?" Kiba asked as he approached the three, jumping up to the branch above them.

"That Sakura-san has taken a liking to me." Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he stared at Sai, his eyes blazing for an unknown reason. Kiba blinked in confusion as he glanced over that the Uchiha, a bit surprised that he'd actually agree.

"In my opinion, I think that Sakura would more than kill you rather than take a liking to you. She punches you practically all the time." The Inuzuka countered as he gazed down at a thoughtful Sai.

"And that's because you constantly insult her." Naruto added in, his laughing fit gone. Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows at this and wondered to himself. He insults her?

"Well I only say the things that are true." Sai replied bluntly, earning a thump to the head by Naruto.

"Hey, only half of them are!" The blonde yelled as he defended his friend. Kiba chuckled from above and looked up at the sky, seeing the bright stars that sparkled down at them. He closed his eyes and remembered what Ino had asked of him before he had left.

"Hey! Inuzuka!" He had turned around to see Ino running towards him in her pajamas.

"Ah? What is it?" Ino panted breathlessly before straightening up and pointing at him with a gleam in her eye.

"If you don't bring Sakura back, I'll personally make sure that you don't see the light of day. Give that warning to the others too!" She said as she cracked her knuckles, a dangerous spark in her eyes. Kiba gave her a nervous gaze before composing himself and walking away.

"Yeah,"

Kiba looked down at the group of guys and the team captain who was sitting in a corner reading a book. Will we be able to bring her back? He thought to himself as he glanced back up at the stars.

We have to.

xXx

"Alright guys, wake up." Kakashi called out to the snoozing shinobis that were in the corner. He felt sorry for Sai who was used as a pillow, Naruto's head on his chest, a bit of drool dripping off the side of his mouth. Sai was awake when he met Kakashi's eyes and gave him a weak smile.

"Don't worry, he'll wake up." He reassured before looking down at the sleeping teen. He stared at him for a moment before taking his hands and shoving Naruto's body off of him, sending him face first into a tree. He screamed in pain as he fell on his back, his face filled with splinters.

"Hey! What's your problem Sai!" He yelled as he approached the former ANBU, grabbing him by the scruff of his shirt.

"You were drooling on me." He replied instantly as he stood up on his feet and pushed Naruto's hand away. Naruto in return stumbled back and stepped on a still snoozing Sasuke. The Uchiha's eyebrow twitched in irritation as he opened his eyes, a cold glare in them. He sat up and jabbed the teen in the back with a finger. Naruto whirled around and realized who he had just stepped on, a fearful look in his eyes. He knew how Sasuke was in the morning. Not good!

"Let's go Naruto," Yamato called out as he strapped his back and clipped the buckle over his chest. Neji and Lee were already awake, doing the same. Sasuke quickly packed his things and straightened his clothing out before pulling his pack on. Naruto and Sai followed suit, packing up their rolls.

Naruto grabbed his headband and tightened it around his forehead, looking at the others with a grin.

"Let's go!"

And with that the team set off once more, leaping into the trees. Yamato checked to see if the seed was still working and stumbled a bit in surprise when he saw that the dark chakra from before had completely wiped out the seed's location.

"Damnit, the seed's gone." Yamato said as he glanced back at Kakashi. The silver Jonin nodded and the wood user glanced over to Neji who immediately understood.

"Byakugan!" He activated his bloodline limit and searched for the certain chakra he was so familiar with. He had gone about 5 kilometers when he detected a presence approaching where they were at an alarming pace.

"Everyone, there's a figure coming about 5 kilometers from here." Neji said to the others as he continued to watch the person.

"Alright then, get into your cells and when I say scatter, do so." Kakashi ordered as Naruto, Sasuke and Sai came together and glanced at each other. Neji narrowed his eyes as the person was about 2 kilometers away.

"Ten seconds," He said to Kakashi who immediately called out "Scatter!"

Everyone disappeared and the figure landed at the spot where they were just at, bending down on their knees and panting as he looked up and searched for the Konoha nin. Barely behind him, another figure came to a stop beside him and glanced around, her red earring moving.

"Where are they?" Chihiro asked as she hopped on the branch her brother was on. Haru straightened up and closed his eyes, placed his hand on a nearby tree. Only a second later, he opened his eyes and whirled around, his kunai clashing against Yamato's.

"Who are you?" The wood user asked as he jumped back. Haru glanced up and saw the Leaf Symbol, immediately putting his kunai away.

"Is Naruto here?" He asked in a hurried voice. Naruto's head appeared from the leaves of a tree and came down when he realized who the person was.

"Haru!" He was about to approach him when Yamato stopped him out of curiosity.

"You know him?" He inquired as he glanced back at the silver haired teen. Naruto excitedly nodded as he explained that they had met him back in the Country of Lightning.

"What're you doing here?" He asked as he met Haru's worried eyes. Sai and Sasuke stood next to each other as their comrade grinned. Yamato's cell stood to the side, making sure to keep their guard up.

"I came looking for you because I felt Sakura's chakra near my village. I figured that she might be in trouble and wanted to contact the Leaf as soon as possible when I ran into you guys. Not a long while ago, her chakra had turned dark and I my only guess why is the curse mark." He explained as Kakashi stepped up next to Naruto, a serious look in his eye.

"So will you be coming with us?" Haru exchanged glances with Chihiro and gave the Jonin and hesitant look.

"I don't think I'll be able to go because of my injuries that are still healing, but Chihiro might be able to go." He replied as he looked over at his sister.

"If its for Sakura then yes. Will you need any more assistance other than myself?" She asked as she eyed the other team members curiously.

"No, you are more than enough Chihiro, Haru, could you tell us where Sakura's chakra last was?" Kakashi asked as he turned his head to the Jonin. Haru nodded and pulled out a map, marking where it was with a pen. He handed the map to Kakashi who copied it down on his own.

"I hope you find her." He said before he gave Chihiro one last look.

"Be careful." He warned before he dashed off once more, heading for his Village. Chihiro then turned to the others and nodded, soon joining them as they made their way to Sakura. Kakashi quickly briefed her on what was happening and was impressed to see her take it all in so easily. However he noticed the troubled look on her face.

"We'll bring her back." Kakashi reassured with a small smile. Chihiro shook her head and sighed, a bothered look still in her eyes.

"Its not that. It's the chakra Haru and I had sensed. The dark chakra. I am afraid to say this, but I think that the curse mark has fully taken over her will. If she were fighting against it, we would have noticed it by now. If you are looking to bring her back, it will be a most difficult task for you all." She said with a hint of foreboding within her words. Kakashi narrowed his eye at this statement and looked at Naruto.

We must bring her back, for the sake of the village.

xXx

"L-let...me...go...Miu..." Sakura managed to say as she struggled under the seal's power. She was chained against the giant X once more, the seals on her hands and forehead glowing in an effort to control her once more. Miu raised her eyebrows in awe at the sheer will of this kunoichi but crossed her arms over her chest contently.

"No. You're going to help me." She said with her chin lifted into the air proudly.

"By...doing...what?" The pink haired kunoichi struggled to say, the exhaustion expressed all over her face.

"By destroying Konoha of course." Sakura's eyes widened in horror as she tried to pull the chains that held her back. Miu grinned manically as she saw this and made the seals that would bind the girl once more. She thrust her hand out and called out the jutsu.

"Crescent Mind Control Jutsu!" Instantly, Sakura's green eyes faded back to that blood red, and her face became expressionless once more. The effort to struggle ceased and the bonds around her wrists were released.

"C'mon Sakura, Orochimaru-sensei has been dying see you." She cheerfully said as she led the girl out of the small cavern. Suddenly, Deidara appeared in front of her with his Akatsuki cloak on. He looked like he was about to go somewhere.

"Hey you," He demanded as he stood up straight, towering over the girl. Miu scowled and crossed her arms, obviously irritated.

"What?"

"Those Leaf duds are coming to pick her up. Pain specifically ordered me to bring lead you far away from this underground headquarters. He doesn't want yet another one blowing up yeah? Oh, and he wants your new experiment to fight this time. Hm, a Konoha traitor against her own people. I'd love to see that hm!" Miu grinned at the sudden news and grabbed Sakura's hand, following Deidara quickly.

Damn, she couldn't wait to see their faces once they saw Sakura.

xXx

I hoped you liked this chapter! Soon the battle between the former teammate and her friends will soon commence!

Review?