Hi dears! Sorry for the delay in updating. It's my intention to finish this fic this summer, so hold onto your hats! It's going to be a fun ride:)

Thanks for all your reviews and kind PM's, and I hope you enjoy the next chapter.

Chapter 37: The Mission Begins

"Ino, can't you remember anything else about Yuki's jutsu?" Sakura wiped her clammy brow, cursing the small, stifling hospital room. Sakura hadn't slept well the night before, not after what she had learned at Karin's house, and by now her patience was wearing thin. Thank the gods, no one else was infected with the chakra virus, but unfortunately, Karin had no idea how to fully cure Takeo. They had administered a physical antidote, but according to Karin's theory, the injection would only last for so long.

Sakura bit her lip, trying and failing to stay calm. According to Karin, there needed to be some kind of healing on the chakra level to complete the healing; however, the only person who knew how to do this jutsu was Yuki. And Yuki was gone.

Ino exhaled sharply. "Let me go through the memory again..." she answered, closing her eyes. Sakura began to pace. Thank Kami Ino had been the one to probe Yuki's mind about the strange ninja who had healed Yuki's injuries. However, this information wouldn't do any good if they didn't know how to do it themselves. Sakura could feel her stomach clench with anxiety as she waited for Ino's answer.

Ino opened her eyes and shook her head. "It's the same thing every time, Sakura-chan. Yuki was able to see some kind of light around her body, and that's what that enemy ninja worked on to heal Yuki. But when I look at Takeo, I don't see any light around his body. I don't see anything!"

Sakura didn't pause in her pacing. Naruto was going to leave soon on the mission, and if she wanted to accompany him, she needed to figure this out now. Of course, she could always catch up with the group via one of Naruto's hiraishining clones, but Sakura was anxious to join the group from the very beginning. She was so worried about Sasuke, it knotted her stomach and made her mouth go dry.

She felt like she was going to worry herself into an early grave: between Yuki running away, Sasuke's disappearance, and Takeo's mysterious illness, she swore she was about to have a fit. Sakura gnashed her teeth. It was all too much for her to handle.

Ino strode over to the window and regarded the rising sun. "I just feel like we're missing something here," Ino muttered. "Something painfully obvious..."

Just then, Saki burst through the door, her pink hair forming a frizzy halo around her head. "Mom!" she cried, unshed tears shining in her eyes. "You have to let me go with you on the mission!"

Sakura whirled around and slammed her fist into the nearest wall, denting the plaster. Takeo, who had been sleeping soundly in the crib, woke with a start and whimpered. "Absolutely not," Sakura shouted, her eyes flashing with anger and with fear. "For the last time, I forbid you from leaving this village."

"But okaasan—"

"NO. Stop asking me, Saki! I can't handle it!" Sakura looked like she was ready to pull her hair out.

"No mom! You will listen to me. I'm a valuable asset to your expeditionary party."

"Saki—" Sakura practically growled.

But Saki ignored her mother's warning tone. "I've been practicing my medical ninjutsu like crazy this past week," she pleaded. "I've been drilled in it, like, fourteen or fifteen hours a day, and I'm really good mom!"

Sakura turned away from her daughter and covered her face with her hands. Saki took a gulping breath and, before her mother could retort, continued.

"And what's more, I'm the only Uchiha with a sharingan who hasn't gone missing! I know I'm new at it and I haven't had much practice, but pair me with Kakashi-sensei, and we'll be unstoppable!"

Ino turned around and looked at Saki, as if for the first time. "Sharingan..." she murmured. She had forgotten the young Uchiha had awakened her ocular jutsu only a few days ago.

Ino's musings were completely ignored by Sakura who still faced the wall, her shoulders trembling. She replied to Saki in a gravelly voice, "Saki-chan, I've already lost your otousan and your sister. I couldn't bear losing you too. You will stay in the village."

"Mom," Saki wailed, "why can't you see that I can help bring otousan back?"

Ino pursed her lips in thought. "Sharingan...see..."

"Saki, absolutely not." Sakura shook with emotion, and only with a vast, concerted effort was she able to speak again. "And that's final."

"Oh Spirits! That's it, that's it! How could I have forgotten, Saki—you have the sharingan!"

"Well, duh," Saki muttered, still glaring at her mother's back. She had only received it very recently as a traumatic parting gift from her sister, but Saki didn't think it was that easy to overlook her awesome doujutsu.

"Just because she has a sharingan doesn't mean she can go on the mission, Ino!" Sakura shouted, spinning around to finally face Ino and Saki. "Geez, are you insane?"

"No, Sakura! No! Takeo! The medical jutsu! The sharingan!"

Sakura blinked. "What are you raving about, Ino?"

Ino laughed then, the harsh, grating sound of it drawing everyone's attention. "It's what we've overlooked all along! When Yuki healed Konohamaru, she had her sharingan activated! Saki, activate your eyes and take a look at your brother."

Saki's mouth was shaped in an 'O' of surprise. Wordlessly, she activated her doujutsu. But as she gazed at her brother, she said, "I don't see anything. What am I supposed to see?"

"Okay Saki, I'm going to put my hand on your head and give you two memories: one is from Yuki, as she was being healed; the other is my own memory of when Yuki healed Konohamaru-sensei. Ready?"

Saki nodded and Ino placed her hand on the girl's head. After a long, tense silence, Saki's eyes snapped open. She regarded her brother, who had stopped crying and was looking at her quizzically. "Oh. Oooooooh! There's like, this black stuff... Huh. I wonder if..." Saki mumbled as she raised her hands. In a minute, Takeo was bathed in a glowing light that only Saki could see.

Ino and Sakura looked at each other, and then back at Saki's hands; they couldn't see a blessed thing, but it looked like Saki was busy doing something. Finally, Saki stood back from Takeo, and, breathing heavily, grinned from ear to ear. "See mom, Ino, I totally rock! The chakra virus is officially gone!" she beamed.

"Call in Karin!" Sakura roared. "Now!"

Not long afterwards, a grumpy, sleep deprived Karin, accompanied by an impatient Hokage, confirmed what Saki already knew: Takeo was one hundred percent recovered.

"Yosh! That's wonderful, Saki!" the Hokage roared, clasping her on the back.

"Does this mean I can go on the mission now?" Saki asked, hope gleaming in her eyes.

"Absolutely not, sweetie," Sakura answered as she scooped Saki up in a crushing hug.

Naruto laughed and turned to Karin. "Are you sure the virus is gone?"

Karin nodded. "I can't sense it at all now."

"One thing I still don't understand," Naruto mused, "is how you could sense the virus, but I couldn't at all, not even in Sage Mode. What's up with that?"

"It's elementary my dear Hokage," Karin replied with a chuckle. "When you sense chakra, you are used to looking for things that are alive. People, plants, animals—things that use nature energy as the source of their qi. However, by definition, a virus is not alive."

Naruto scratched his head. "Um..."

"You see, Hokage-sama, a virus is not like a bacteria; bacteria are living beings. But a virus is not a living entity. It is a complicated assembly of molecules that passively multiply inside a host's living cells. Whoever created this virus must have known your blind spot and created this poison accordingly. Myself, on the other hand, well, I'm a sensory ninja who has dedicated herself to science for the past twenty years. It's my business to understand both living and dead matter, and how they interact, so I can formulate—"

"Oh Kami, Karin!" Naruto bellowed in the midst of her lecture that he did not understand at all, "I'm so happy that you work for Konoha!" And with that, he flung his arms around the helpless scientist, who merely squeaked in surprise.

Sakura chortled and bounced her son in her arms. "Karin-chan," she began, "we are deeply indebted to you. After this whole debacle is over, maybe you could teach me a thing or two. We could really use someone like you at the hospital, if you'd be willing."

Karin blushed from the praise and replied, gruffly, "We'll see. But right now, don't you have some asshole who potentially needs rescuing?"

Sakura laughed at that, her first moment of happiness in days. It seemed like things were finally starting to look up. "Saki," Sakura called to her daughter as she handed her Takeo, "go to Hinata's and be good. We'll see you soon."

Saki exhaled hotly. "Be careful, okaasan. And if you need me..."

"Stay in the village, apple of my eye," Sakura replied with a wide smile. She kissed the top of her daughter's head and looked up at Ino and Karin. "You ladies coming?"

"Hell yeah!" Ino exclaimed. "I think Choji-kun is already waiting for us in Naruto's office along with Shika and Temari!" Ino fisted the air; the enthusiasm from their first victory over the chakra virus, and by association, their mysterious enemy, filled everyone with optimism.

"Wait, wait! I didn't want to come on this mission!" Karin wailed.

"But we need you, Karin-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "Who else can figure out all this really complicated chakra stuff!"

"BUT—"

"As your Hokage, I insist that you come with us!" Naruto interjected, flashing Karin a good-natured grin.

The laughing adults—minus Karin, who was wailing— filed out of the room. Silence fell. Saki looked at Takeo, who cooed up at her and drooled on her shoulder. The genin sighed. "Like hell I'll stay in the village, Takeo-chan. Like hell I will."

#

But not one of the adults heard the genin's vehement promise as they left the hospital and made their way to the Hokage's office. Sakura's spirits had been lifted: her son was safe. Now, it was just a matter of locating her idiot husband and her idiot first born daughter. We can do it! Sakura thought with newfound conviction. She was the last to enter Naruto's office, and she was surprised to see Hinata standing by the window, looking about as nervous as a genin before an exam.

"Oi, Hinata-chan, I just sent Saki and Takeo to your place," Sakura called. "We really owe you. Thanks for offering to look after the kids..."

Hinata's cheeks colored. "It's nothing. After all, Neji-niisan is a much more talented byakugan user than I to have on your team. I'm happy to watch after the children and to help Tsunade-sama with managing the village from here." Hinata tilted her head to the side and looked closely at Sakura. "Something is different about you though, Sakura-chan. It's like you're glowing."

"Oh, I'm just happy that Takeo-chan is all right!" Sakura replied with a nervous grin.

"Just let me..." Hinata activated her byakugan and peered at Sakura, then gasped. "Sakura-chan, you shouldn't go on this mission!"

"What?" Sakura cried. I have to go!"

"But Sakura," Hinata continued in a hushed whisper, "you're…you're…p-p-pregnant."

"WHAT! But that's..." Sakura was about to say that it was impossible. But then she thought back to two nights ago and her cheeks flushed. Sakura had been so taken aback by Sasuke's advances that she had completely forgotten to use any contraceptives, either before or after. "That asshole!" Sakura shrieked, slamming her fist down on the wall. "I'm going to kill him when I find him!"

Everyone stared at Sakura. "Er..." Naruto began, "is everything okay?"

Sakura rounded on Naruto, her cheeks an angry beet red. "Everything is NOT okay! Oh gods," she moaned, hiding her face in her hands. "I can't believe it."

Hinata's forehead was creased with worry. She laid a hand on Naruto's arm and whispered, "Naruto-kun, Sakura is pregnant. I don't think she should go on this mission—it's dangerous for the child."

"What!" Naruto yelped. "How can you tell?"

"A woman's chakra system changes as early as the first hour of conception," she murmured, heat rushing to her face. Because Hinata and Naruto had been earnestly trying to conceive for the past two years, Hinata had made it her business to know even the slightest variations in her own chakra and hormones as they related her cycle, and thus, the times when she was fertile. She easily recognized these patterns in her friend.

Sakura took a deep, shuttering breath. "Listen," she muttered, "right now the baby is an itty bitty bunch of cells. I'm going on this mission, and when I find Sasuke, I am kicking his ass." Sakura turned towards Hinata and asked, incredulously, "How did you even think to look, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata turned a deep, deep shade of crimson. "Well you see, I, um, was thinking about it...because, um, I just conceived as well...and I could just...tell..." she finished lamely.

"Hinata-chan—you're what?" Naruto shouted. He leapt over the desk and smothered Hinata in an embrace.

As the room erupted into laughter and joyful cries, Shikamaru shook his head. He was glad that the mood of the mission had switched from, 'I'm so melancholic I could bludgeon myself to death', to 'I'm so happy I could cry,' but truly, now was not the time or place for a ruckus.

Shikamaru clapped his hands and hollered for everyone's attention. "People, let's brief for the mission, and when we all come back alive, then you can throw these two a baby shower." Much to his chagrin, there was much applause after he mentioned a potential baby shower, but eventually everyone got a hold of themselves.

"Here's the plan," Shikamaru said with a weary sigh. "We've received intel from the ANBU that Sasuke is most likely by the Akash mountain range. We haven't been able to narrow down the search area much more than the general area where Yuki herself disappeared. Naruto thinks that Sasuke left to find Yuki..."

Here Shikamaru paused; what he was going to say next was going to kill everyone's happy buzz. "However, I find that theory unlikely for two reasons: one, he left without permission and without telling anyone he was leaving. For an agoraphobic man like Sasuke, that kind of behavior is highly suspect. And second—"

"His hirashin and ANBU tracking seals have both been removed," Naruto finished darkly.

Shikamaru nodded. "Even if Sasuke had the ability to do so, he would have never attempted to disable seals he begged to have been put into place."

"What if he was somehow taken by those people who kidnapped Yuki?" Kiba barked from the crowd. At his side, Lee nodded his head in vehement agreement.

But Shikamaru shook his head. "Let me finish. First of all, Yuki ran away. But the fact that she disappeared in the same spot where our sources tell us Sasuke ran off to is highly suspect. But here's the thing: that area is a two to three day journey from here, unless one is using the hiraishin. When we checked the area, there were definitely suspicious signs which pointed to the fact that Sasuke is being held there—"

"What signs are you talking about, Shikamaru?" Sakura asked in a quavering voice.

Shikamaru met her gaze. "Sasuke ostensibly left Konoha yesterday morning; however, the ANBU found traces of him last night in the Akash Mountain Range. It takes at least two days to travel to that area—Sasuke made it in one..."

"He was using a transport jutsu," Neji answered. "Or—a teleport jutsu."

Ominous silence fell. Shikamaru cleared his throat. "Shino's insects checked every inch of that area: not only did he find traces of chakra that only Uchihas possess, but he also found traces of a teleport jutsu—Uchiha Madara's teleport jutsu."

Sakura's knees gave out, but Hinata, who was standing beside her, caught her before she could fall. Before anyone could interrupt, Shikamaru pressed on, "Many of you were already aware of our suspicions that Madara had returned; I regret to inform you that it is now quite obvious. It's likely he has either Sasuke, Yuki—or both."

"Both? What...? But how?" Sakura rasped, her pupils dilated in fear.

With a frown, Shikamaru began to pace in front of the Hokage's desk. The Hokage himself was silent, his lips set in a thin line. "I'm sorry that not all of you were informed sooner. Before last night, we merely had suspicions..." He looked at Sakura. "With all the upheaval of the past few weeks, there's been a serious break in communication. Let me amend that now.

"Karin has been doing extensive studies on the poison that originally killed Uzumaki Ryuu and wounded Sarutobi Konohamaru. It seems as though the virus is somehow based on the DNA of the first Hokage, Senju Hashirama; we believe Madara has accomplished this via a mutation on Zetsu's jutsu. Unlike a Zetsu clone which replicates another person's chakra, instead the Zetsu virus, if you will, infects a person's chakra system until at last, they become a reanimated corpse controlled by Madara."

"Are you saying that my daughter and husband have become zombies?" Sakura asked incredulously, her face ashen.

Shikamaru looked away. "That. Or worse."
"What the hell could be worse than having my family turned into zombies? Shikamaru?" Sakura howled.

Shikamaru exhaled sharply and looked Sakura in the eye. "I stayed up all night, compiling the data, running every single situation through my head—and I'd say there's a seventy-five percent chance that Madara is trying to use their bodies as a host."

"Hosts for what?" Sakura replied, horrified.

His dark eyes bored into her own. "For Madara's spirit."

Sakura's eyes rolled back in her head, but this time Naruto was there to catch her before she fell. He regarded the room gravely and said, "I have five shadow clones who have been gathering Nature Chakra. It should be enough to hiraishin everyone to the battlefield. This is a rescue mission: we are going to retrieve Sasuke and Yuki-chan. But I'm warning you, the ANBU found many reanimated corpses, each equipped with poisoned-laced weapons.

"Grandma Tsunade will be here soon with enough antidotes for everyone, but she hasn't perfected the second stage of the antidote. What will be in your hypodermic needles will only be enough for about two or three days before you'll need second stage healing, which so far only Uchiha Yuki and Uchiha Saki have managed to perform. And in Takeo's case, the virus had not advanced beyond the first stage. I'm not sure what we can do for a full blown infection…"

"So you're saying, Hokage-sama," Choji broke in, "that if we get hit severely, we are pretty much doomed."

Naruto winced. "Yeah, pretty much. And one more thing..." Naruto paused. "We're fairly certain we're walking right into a trap"

"What! Naruto—seriously?" Kiba yelped.

"He's right," Shikamaru said. "We've had ANBU stationed all the way between here and Akash ever since the failed mission to retrieve Uchiha Yuki. Tell me why this is the first time we've caught even a whiff of Madara—the first time our ANBU have run into his zombies."

Sakura shook herself out of her terrified stupor and cleared her throat. "He wants us to come after him? But why?"

Karin, who had been silent so far, spoke up. "I know from personal experience that Madara enjoys a good show. Let me explain," she added hurriedly when some shot her looks that ranged from withering to incredulous. "Madara, by virtue of his eternal mangekyo sharingan, is immortal. He. Can't. Die. Do you have any idea how boring things are when you can't die? Well, I don't either..." Karin laughed nervously before continuing, "But I remember from my brief association with the man that he liked a good fight; to put it bluntly, he liked to mess with people. In the last war, he wanted to collect the tailed beasts; well, Madara had multiple chances to collect the Nine-tails—excuse my phrasing, Hokage-sama—but instead, he opted to draw out things and let Sasuke fight him instead."

"What are you getting at, Karin?" Sakura asked in a hoarse voice.

Karin shrugged. "He's probably going to mess with us, just like I said. He's going to engage our forces in Akash, and then probably attack the village."

"How can you be so nonchalant about all this?" Kiba roared, rounding on Karin. He had little patience for someone who was not originally from Konoha talking about its impending destruction in the same banal tone one would discuss the weather.

"Kiba? Shut up," Shikamaru commanded. "Karin-san is correct. Some of us are going to go after Sasuke, while the bulk of our forces are going to remain here to protect the village. Please listen carefully: Naruto, Sakura, Neji, Kiba, Ino, Choji and Karin will be going to Akash. The rest of us will take up positions in and around the village. Those stationed farthest away will be taken via hiraishin and given kunai with hiraishin seals. Any questions? Good. Lee-san, with your speed, would you mind delivering mission scrolls to all the jonin and chunin not assembled here? Take special care to deliver Konohamaru's scroll to him as soon as possible: he's to watch over the members of Team Five to make sure that they do not leave the village, under any circumstances."

At that moment, Tsunade burst through the door, her face grim. "Everyone, take the antidote with you, regardless of your position; one per person please, except for those of you going to Akash—I'd take a few if I were you..."

#

Outside of the Hokage's office, a trembling Saki began sneaking away from the meeting. After hearing all of that classified information, her resolve was firmer than ever: she would leave the village, and she would take the rest of her team as back-up. But first things first. She had to get the scroll for Konohamaru out of Lee's grasp, modify it, and give it back to Lee—because if she didn't get their sensei out of her hair, they were doomed.

Luckily though, she had already pilfered a dozen or so hypodermic needles with the antidote inside of them. At least that part was taken care of.

Ass-kicking to commence soon:) Thanks for reading and please review!