The new of Kari's kidnapping flew through the town in a matter of hours. Panic filled mother and fathers' for their children. And when the council heard, they were pissed. Not that Naruto would know. He hadn't left the Hokage tower. He had managed to keep his mind busy by doing paperwork without Shadow Clones, as he normally did. Hinata had gone back to the Hyuga compound with kids and the three ANBU guards. Kanna had done similar, not being a Shinobi Kiba had gotten worried and sent her and the kids to his mother's house for the protection from the clan.

The Forest of Death

The trio followed Akamaru. The oversized dog was following Kari's sent fairly easy but then suddenly he just stopped giving Kiba, who was on his back, whiplash. Akamaru walked around in a circle pressing his nose to the ground. "What is it boy?" Kiba asked getting a whine in response. Kiba jumped off his back. "No that's impossible." He got down on his hands and knee sniffing as well. "There is no way a sent can just break off like that. It's not possible."

"A transportation tag." Shino said pushing his sunglass up with his index finger. "Neji, what is underneath the ground there?" Neji activated his Kekkei-Genkai.

"There is some type of Tag. 4 Feet, 7cm down." Neji confirmed. Kiba started digging.

"Transportation tags are useful for hiding your sent. There are downfalls of using them though. One being if someone finds the tag they can sometimes also use the jutsu to get there. They also can only go a certain distances, depending on the tag, in each direction where you could again pick up the scent and go on from there." Shino explained to Shikamaru who was not use to being in tracking teams.

"Whoever it was had this planned for a while." Kiba stood up holding the tag. "The grass was grown back evenly over where the hole was dug. This tag is a KV-53." Kiba offered the tag for Shikamaru to inspect. Shikamaru wondered if he should send somebody back to tell Naruto what they found or just continue on. What would he want if it was Arisa?

"Alright lets find where the scent picks up."

Suna at Sunset

Sand flew as the Lee ran at a speed faster than the average Shinobi could see. Lee slowed barely in time to stop before the Kazekage Tower. "Yosh!" He yelled kicking the air and pumping his fist, "I have made it! The power of youth is unstoppable!"

"Lee?" The green jumpsuit clad man whipped around to see the red-haired Kage and his puppet wielding brother.

"Gaara-er Kazekage-sama!" Lee bowed low before seemingly appeared right in front of him. "I have an urgent message from Naruto!" He said thrusting out the scroll. Gaara took it from the bushy browed man unrolling it. As he read it Gaara's eyes widened ever so slightly before narrowing.

"When did this happen?" Gaara demanded. He might not know very much about love. It might always be a foreign concept but he knew that Naruto loved his kids.

"Last night, approximately 11:30 PM." Kankuro eyes widened and jaw dropped. Just how fast was this guy? Then again he was the same guy that had fought Gaara in the preliminaries in their first Chunin Exam and almost made it past his sand defenses.

"Any leads?"

"Not that I heard before I left. The ANBU had just been called off and Naruto had sent out Kiba, Shino, and Neji! Kagura is trying to find out if there were any other abductions of high office children in the area. But she is almost certain that this was a planned abduction of the Hokage daughter!"

"We will look for them. If they come this way, they won't get away." Gaara signaled for an ANBU, who appeared at his feet. "Kankuro take Taichi's ANBU team and see if you can find any signs of the man."

"Right, let's go!" Kankuro ordered as he led the way to the gates.

Gaara turned back to Lee, "Stay for the night," Lee's hesitance showed plainly on his face. "You must be tired. A three day journey in less than one. You have delivered you message, Naruto will understand. I will write the letter tomorrow and you can head back."

"Yosh," Lee threw one fist in the air, "Thank you Gaara."

Konoha

Sasuke sat silently at the edge of his daughter's bed. He had been sitting there for hours just watching his daughter sleep. She hadn't woken since he got there. She seemed so small. She looked so much like Sakura when she slept, like a porcelain doll. Fragile. If he touched her would she break? Shatter into a million pieces? Her pink hair shined brighter, purer in the moonlight spread like a halo around her head. She was lying on her back with her mouth slightly open breathing lightly. She was so innocent. Who could hurt someone so young?

It wasn't minutes after Sasuke returned to the Village that night that he heard about Kari's kidnapping. He had gone to check on his blonde haired best friend. Naruto was a mess and Sasuke could blame him. He hadn't stayed long. Naruto hadn't want to be bothered and Sasuke wanted to check on his family anyway.

It could have easily been Saki instead.

The thought wouldn't leave his mind. Bringing forth images and thoughts, torturing him. He could have lost his daughter before he even got to know her. What is her favorite color? Pink, right? No, maybe Blue? When was the last time he had done something with her? Talked to her about what she wanted? Let her just talk his ear off because she could? Hadn't she said she wanted to show him something? Damn it all, he couldn't remember.

"Sasuke," A frightened, breathless gasp filled the otherwise silent air. Sasuke turned to see Sakura her shoulders slump. She obviously thought he was an intruder and was ready for a fight, if the hand on her kunai was any indication.

"I just wanted to make sure that the kids were ok." Sasuke murmured his eyes never straying from his daughter. Silence. "It could have been her Sakura. They could have taken her." He didn't seem to really be talking to her but more to himself.

"Sasuke," He didn't move nor acknowledge that he had even heard her. Sakura noticed that he was in his mission clothes; they were dirty but not bloodstained. If she had to guess she would say that it had been a fairly easy mission. "Sasuke, come to bed." She wasn't mad anymore. How could she be with all this going on? And from the look that Sasuke had in his eyes right now, she couldn't deny how much he obviously loved her.

"I'm just going to stay in here for a little while…" He said softly, "Just a little while…"

Sakura watched him for a moment, moving forward slightly, wanting to say something. But she could think of nothing to say. Deciding that he needed to do whatever he was doing, she left him. She felt better with him with her anyways. The next morning she would find them curled up together under Saki's pink sheets. The young girl clinging to Sasuke for comfort only a father could give.

XXX

It had been three days since Kari had been taken. Three long antagonizing days. They hadn't found much either. Kagura had asked every village close to Konoha but no other children, royalty or not, hadn't been kidnapped. The sent that Kiba was tracking was hard to follow too. The man who had taken Kari was damn good at covering his tracks. If Kiba and Shino had to guess they would say the man had probably been a tracker himself at one point. Gaara had Ninja scouting areas of the desert to see if they could find anything but so far nothing had turned up.

Uchiha House

A knock on the door sounded through the house. Sakura opened the door to see the tearstained face. "Hinata?"

XXX

Sasuke walked into Naruto's office. Naruto glared up at him, "Ever heard of knocking?" He growled. Sasuke scanned the room in was neat. So was the desk, there were no files stacked hazardously high or papers falling onto the floor. For once Sasuke could actually see Naruto's whole desk. There was only a small half pile of paperwork to do left. When Sasuke had last been her, only the night before, he had been still about eight months behind.

Naruto on the other hand looked horrible. His hair was greasy and devilish. His shirt was the one form the day before and was wrinkled. His eyes were a glassy blue with dark black circle under his eyes for not sleeping for three days. He had stubble on his chin and upper lip.

"We need to have talk, Naruto."

"I don't want to talk Sasuke." Naruto's voice was harsh and hoarse from lack of use. "I thought I made that clear yesterday."

Blue met Onyx. Sasuke tried to suppress his temper, reminding himself that he probably wouldn't be in much better shape if it had been one of his own kids. He gritted his teeth, even though his hand itched to smack him upside the head.

"Yesterday your wife didn't come to my house crying." Sasuke shot back his eyes narrowing. Naruto visibly flinched. He had hit nerve. "She really worried about you and that shouldn't be one of her concerns because her daughter's gone. Stop being such a selfish ass."

"Like you have the right to say anything, Bastard! You're the selfish ass that left the village for four years- do you have any idea what you put Sakura through?" He screamed back. Sasuke eyes turned red Sharingan spinning unconsciously. That had been a low blow. Of course he knew. He uses to see it in her eyes when she looked at him, just after he came back. Her eyes had always said it all but it had been brutal to see the pain shine through her eyes whenever she looked at him.

"So you're going to be like me?" Sasuke closed his eyes tightly, forcing his Sharingan down. "Fine, just know that with ever action there is consequence. Kakashi- Sensei tried to tell me that before a left but I didn't want to listen. I could take care of myself, I didn't need anyone or anything. But I promise you Naruto, if you stay here and pretend like this isn't happening, you will regret it for the rest of your life."

I love writing Rock Lee! =D It so fun! I love the power of Youth! So please give youthful Reviews!