Hey again guys, What's up. This chapter's a little too long. And it took longer than I expected. So it was a little rushed. But enjoy and let me know what you think.

Fighting, Denial, Abduction

At the Uchiha Manor, Sakura was going through the books in the Uchiha library, reading through every book she came in touch with, she was walking around with a book in her hands when she bumped into a shelf, and the most unusual thing happened the shelf turned around 360 degrees, taking Sakura with it. Sakura let out a little squeak before tumbling into what looked like a secret chamber, she woke up with her head at the end of the stairs and half her body still on the stairs and the book on top of her head. "I…tte…." She groaned and pushed herself off in pain. Then shook her head, making the book on her head to fall off.

Sakura opened her eyes and let them adjust to the dark "Where…. Am I?" she muttered to no one in particular. She got on her feet and dusted herself, she decided to do a little exploring "Looks like a secret chamber" she giggled "I wonder what's hidden here" excitement bubbled in her. She picked up her book and continued down the dusty tunnel. Then she came to a dead end, it was an old fashioned woodened door. She gave the door a light push, but it didn't budge. A little harder, no movement. Sakura put her weight on the door and it still didn't move.

The sound of wood being snapped into a million pieces echoed through the tunnel. Sakura had just inflicted a bone crushing punch onto the poor door (- a rhyme!) Sakura stood at the foot of the door, looking proud of herself, she carefully maneuvered through the wood pieces, because she wasn't wearing any shoes, it was dusty old room that looked like….. a study room. But it was old fashioned, as there was more scrolls than books, she looked to the side and found a switch next to the entrance, Sakura could see everything clearly now, the room wasn't that dusty, it just didn't look like it had been used recently.

"I wonder who's room is this….." said Sakura, looking up at the mountain of scrolls, then she moved over to the desk, where a few scroll were laid on the table. There was a book that attracted Sakura's attention, probably because it was the only book on the table. She opened it and her eyes immediately widened. "This is…..!" she said in an alarmed voice.

Sasuke.

Sakura tilted her head in confusion "Sasuke…?" she said. She was looking at an album of Sasuke's most of it, the first picture was a picture of baby Sasuke being carried by Itachi. Then second picture showed an older Sasuke, he was probably taking his first steps as he had his hands on the wall, looking very unstable. Sakura giggled "Sooo cute" she flipped to the next page was a picture of him holding on to a kunai, he looked around the age of 3 and he was able to take on a perfect battle stance with a kunai, she could see the changes in his features.

And the 4th was a picture of "Is that…. Naruto…?" Said a very shocked Sakura. Looks like Sasuke and Naruto had already started their war since they were 4. Naruto and Sasuke both had their arms cross and a very angry (Adorable) expression. Their shoulders were brushing, but they were looking away from each other. Sakura laughed. The other one was a picture of Naruto and Sasuke fighting, they were pulling on each other's cheeks, neither of them looked like they were willing to let go.

Then the next picture was a sequel, because it showed that Itachi bashed both Naruto and Sasuke's head together. Then the next picture showed the happy ending where Naruto and Sasuke passes out with two smoking lumps of their heads. Sakura laughed then flipped to the next page. But almost immediately she felt heavy at heart, almost depressed. It was a picture of Sasuke laying his head on the table, his body was there, but his eyes showed that he was deep in thought, his eye brows furrowed and he was obviously unaware that someone had taken a picture of him.

Sasuke never really smiled in any of the other pictures anymore, Sakura closed the book and looked down "That must be when his parents left…." She muttered in a soft tone. She herself felt close at tears, but she saw something sticking out of the page, she pulled it out and revealed a picture of him that looked like it was taken recently, as he was seen with his new look, she then knew who was the master mind behind all these pictures, she smiled and walked out of the room. This time carrying two books with her, the one she brought down, and the album. She made it up the stairs and back to the wall that ate her, she decided to give the side of the wall a little kick and that did the trick, the wall turned again and pushed her back into the mansion, though she still stumbled a little after she was back in.

She put the book back to the shelf and brought the album out of the library and set out to look for Sasuke, she check his room and he wasn't there, so there was only one other place he could be, the lake. She ran through the hallways and passed a window, then she paused and took a few steps back, she saw Sasuke, standing at the edge of the wooden walkway then he stepped lightly onto the water. Sakura hurried down the stairs when she reached the back door, she hid her chakra as much as she could then stepped light outside and onto the wooden walk way, but after she made it halfway Sasuke called out "Why are you sneaking up on me, Sakura" he turned his head to look at her. To his surprise, Sakura was grinning like a slyly, as if she had some secret weapon.

"You're scaring me, Sakura" he raised an eyebrow before Sakura opened the book, revealing all his childhood pictures Itachi had taken till now. His eyes widened "W-Where did you get that?" he asked, almost panicking. "It's a secret" she said, but Sasuke was fast he had already taken the album from Sakura and quickly scanned through it, the further he flipped, the redder his face got. Itachi is so dead. "Ah Sasuke, no fair!" whined Sakura as she tried to grab it back, but he had lifted it above high above her as he made sure she can't jump high enough to get the album by putting his hand on her shoulder and pushing her down every time she jumps.

"C'mon Sasuke, you look great. Now give it here" said Sakura as she tries to get it. "No way, it's my photos, I get to do whatever I want with it" said Sasuke. "But you're going to burn it out of existence" said Sakura

"Oh, how ever did you find out" said Sasuke in a sarcastic tone. Sakura pouted and Sasuke smirked, looking very proud of himself, then the most unpredictable thing happened. One moment he was smirking his victory away, and the next moment Sakura stole a kiss from his cheek, he blushed every possible shade of red, his body went numb and he dropped the book without knowing it.

Sakura smiled and ducked under his arm to grab the album before it hit the floor and jumped onto the water, she smiled "You let your guard down, Sasuke" she said, almost mockingly. Sasuke shook his head and got it together, but it was already too late, Sakura had stolen it back. "That's low, Sakura" he smirked. Sakura hugged the album to her chest and took a step back "Now now, Sasuke. Think about it, are you sure you want to destroy this? After all the trouble Itachi-san went through to take those pictures" said Sakura. "I'll kill Itachi next, now hand it over. Sakura" said Sasuke.

Sakura shook her head. Sasuke appeared behind her and put an arm around her waist to keep her from running then the other one tried to yank the album out of her hands (I like this scene) Sakura giggled and tried to escape from his grasp "Give it here, Sakura" Sasuke said once again. Sakura wasn't surrendering. She managed to break free and made a run for it, but not before she kicked the water, making it splash all over Sasuke.

She ran through the village with Sasuke close behind her. She looked back to check the distance between them then she sensed another chakra, coming in fast. She was about to jump to the side. Too late.

BAM

Sakura and the girl rammed into each other, they both fell back a few feet back. "Sakura…!" called out Sasuke. Sakura winced and rubbed her sore head "Ow….." she groaned, that was the second time today. She opened her eyes and looked to see who she bumped into "Ino-chan?" said Sakura, but Ino was rubbing her eyes and sniffling. Was she…. Crying?

Sasuke helped her up "Is that…. Ino?" he said. Sakura got up and hurried over to Ino, of course she didn't let go of the album, much to Sasuke's disliking. "I'm sorry, Ino-chan. Does it hurt anywhere?" said Sakura, worriedly. Ino looked up at Sakura, teary eyed like a child. Before jumping at Sakura and knocking her off her feet as Ino wrapped her arms around her "Sakura~ -hic- Shikamaru's such a jerk" she sobbed then her sobs became wails.

Sakura sweatdropped and helped her stand "A-Alright Ino-chan. Just calm down, Let's talk about this, do you want to come over to Uchiha manor?" Sakura said in a soft and comforting tone. Ino nodded then Sakura put her arm around Ino, and led her towards the way she came from, Sasuke stood there with his arms cross, he raised an eyebrow then took out his hand and motioned Sakura to give him the album. Sakura gave him an unbelieving look, one of his friends- well maybe not exactly his friend, more like. His friend's female teammate was crying for some reason-that-was-going-to-be-revealed-later and all he could do was ask for the album back.

Sakura mouthed the words "No" and "Way" which, when put together, makes the ultimate rejection to everything. Sasuke just shook his head, he'll get it back later.

After they reached the manor, Sakura let Ino in, they went up to Sakura's room. Sasuke didn't follow, it'd just be plain awkward if he did, so he decided to go back to what he was doing in the lake again. How typical of him.

Sakura had to sweep off all the books on her bed before she invited Ino in. Ino wrapped herself in Sakura's sheets and continued crying. "Having problems with Shikamaru?" said Sakura. Ino looked up to see Sakura's stunning jade eyes, they were so wise, she felt like she could talk to her about anything. Ino simply nodded. "What happened" said Sakura, sitting next to Ino.

"It started this morning" Ino wiped away her tears

Flashback

Ino was searching the village for Shikamaru, she needed to ask him for his side of the report of yesterday's mission since they were separated, so each of them needed to report in their point of view and Shikamaru was the only one in the team that hasn't submitted the report. Ino knew how big of a lazy-ass Shikamaru can be and was going to nag the shit out of him till he actually writes the report.

While she was searching for Shikamaru, she bumped into her ex-sensei, Sarutobi Asuma. "Ah, Asuma-sensei." She called out to him. "Ino, you look like you just ran around the village" said Asuma. It was true, Ino was breathing rather heavily. She gave him a smile "I was looking for Shikamaru, have you seen him around, Sensei" she said.

"Well, no. But there's only one place Shikamaru can be when he's not on missions" said Asuma, he looked up to the top of the building. Of course! Shikamaru's favorite cloud watching spot, she didn't she think of that. Ino snapped her fingers "The rooftop, of course! Thanks sensei." Said Ino, she didn't plan on using the stairs, Asuma smiled 'Kids…. So young' he thought then the turned around, what he didn't expect was when Ino stood horizontally on the wall, half way up the building and said "Say hello to Kurenai-sensei for me"

Asuma's head immediately swung to the wall that Ino was standing on, she winked at him and jumped up to the top. Asuma starred in confusion at first, 'Now how did she know that' he thought. Before shoving his hands in his pockets and walking away with a grin on his face.

When Ino landed on the rooftop, she walked over to where Shikamaru was taking a nap, which was under the aluminum roof as you all know, she sucked in a load of breath….

"SHIKAMARU! GET UP!"

Shikamaru's eyes slowly opened, he had the What-The-Hell-Do-You-Want-Woman-You're-Annoying face. "What do you want, Ino" he said roughly. "Tsunade-sama wants your report" said Ino, her hands on her hips.

"I'll do them later" Shikamaru closed back his eyes and began snoring. Ino sucked in again "DO THE REPORT NOW!"

A vein popped up on his head as he sat up, his eyes closed as his scratched the back of his head then he opened them, his eyes darkened "You're annoying"

Ino felt her heart gain five thousand pounds, this was the first time Shikamaru had ever called her annoying with such a scary face, she couldn't help the tears welling up in her eyes. She had to quickly turn away and jump off.

End of Flashback

"And that's what happened…." Sniffed Ino. Sakura grinned, Ino was having trouble getting close to Shikamaru "I see the problem" said Sakura, then a light bulb appeared above her head. "Wait here for a second, Ino-chan" she said and walked over to the window, after managing to maneuver over the forest of books and opening the window.

She took out a kunai and threw it at Sasuke, who was meditating on the water. One his eyes opened and rolled over to the side where Sakura's kunai was coming in fast. The kunai was about to stab his cheek but suddenly, his hand appeared in a blink, and the kunai was clipped in between his fingers. He looked over to Sakura's and gave her a Can't-You-Think-Of-A-Normal-Way-To-Get-Someone's-Attention look.

Sakura motioned him to come, he sighed and suddenly he was standing horizontally next to Sakura's window. "What is it" he said, simply. Sakura looked straight ahead and propped her head up on the window sill with elbow. "I need a favor from you" she smiled "Get Shikamaru to apologize to Ino-chan, or at least get him her" said Sakura.

"Hah? Why do that?" he said. "Ino-chan….. she really likes Shikamaru. I can see, whenever she mentions Shikamaru, her eyes…. Are different" Sakura sounded dead serious, there was a pause then she turned to Sasuke and grinned "I think we should help them" she said in a bright tone. Sasuke sighed "Alright fine, but I won't guarantee his safety, I don't have that much patience" he said. Sakura chuckled "I'll just trust you with that. You can bring Naruto too" she said "Fine" and then he disappeared.

Sakura straightened. "Now then, Ino-chan. How about we do some girl stuff" said Sakura. Ino looked at her, her tear stained face looked innocently confused.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was walking in the village, looking around for signs of Naruto and Shikamaru. 'I should probably go get Naruto first….. that guy would probably be…..' his thoughts were cut off when he spotted Naruto coming out of Ichiraku. 'I should've known….' Thought Sasuke. "Oh Sasuke! What are you doing here, where's Sakura-chan" he said, jogging over to Sasuke. "Sakura wants us to get Shikamaru to apologize to Ino" he said.

"Why, what did he do?" said Naruto. Sasuke shrugged "Who knows, but Ino's crying about it." Said Sasuke. "That's not cool, Shikamaru. Let's go, Sasuke!" Naruto commanded and jumped off. "Don't order me around, loser" said Sasuke. Naruto looked back and yelled at Sasuke.

Sakura was giving Ino a lesson about the male species.

"I've read several books about a guy's behavior towards girls, it usually says if they are rude or seem indelicate towards that girl, it usually means they have deep affections for the girl." Said Sakura. Ino nodded thoughtfully "Oh I see…. So that's how it is….." then an image of Shikamaru's pissed off face and darkened eyes, and the serious edge in his tone that she's never heard him use on her before. Ino looked down, her confidence totally vanished.

Sakura let out a soft breath and smiled softly "Let's go for a little walk, shall we?" invited Sakura. Ino looked up before Sakura grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the house. "A-Ah, Sakura wait-"

Naruto and Sasuke had driven Shikamaru to a corner. Maybe not a corner, they just surrounded him. "Oi Shikamaru! Get up!" Naruto was squatting above his head and leaning down on him. Shikamaru's eyebrow twitched but he didn't get up. "I said get up!" Naruto yelled in his ear. Shikamaru shot up "What is it? Ino!" he shouted as he got up. All he got was awkward stares from Naruto and Sasuke. They began snickering "Oi Shikamaru, did you just call me Ino?" said Naruto, holding back a laugh.

Shikamaru turned red "What do you guys want" he said calmly. "You're going to apologize to Ino" said Sasuke. "Hah? Why should I go apologize to that troublesome woman?" protested Shikamaru. "She was crying to Sakura" Sasuke said. "Yeah Shikamaru! Making a girl cry isn't manly!" said Naruto. Shikamaru looked surprised "That woman, was crying…?" he said. Sasuke gave a nod. Shikamaru looked down "I snapped, that's all. It's not like, I was really angry at her" he muttered.

"Well, you'd better go apologize to her before she decides to hate you for the rest of your life" Naruto stated bluntly. Shikamaru tensed up, Naruto took advantage of that, he sat down next to Shikamaru and grinned "Could it be….. that you have a secret crush on Ino?" mocked Naruto. A vein popped up on Shikamaru's head "Shut it, Naruto. It's none of your business" Shikamaru attempted to continue sleeping, he laid back down.

A kunai was thrown right next to his head, he opened his eyes and looked to the side then narrowed his eyes at Sasuke "Just so you should know, I have permission to bring you in by force" Sasuke said. The two boys shot challenging looks at each other for awhile, before Naruto cut in. "What is it, a staring contest? We're supposed to go back to Sakura-chan, did you forget that? Sasuke" mocked Naruto. Before Sasuke got pummel Naruto, Shikamaru cut in "All right, I'll go. It's not like I can win against the Uchiha prodigy." Said Shikamaru, he got up and dusted himself.

Naruto thrusted a fist to the air "Alright! Mission success!" he shouted. But Sasuke and Shikamaru had already left. "Oi! That's low! Leaving me here!" he shouted and jumped off.

Meanwhile, Sakura was strolling through the village with Ino, Sakura was looking around and taking in the bustling crowds rushing around, fellow shinobi(s) jumping around. Ino only looked down and walked quietly, but something seemed to have caught her eye. It was a couple, the woman was fixing the man's forehead protector then the man gave a light kiss on the forehead. Ino blushed and looked away.

Sakura lead her to the abandoned park near the entrance of the village. Ino remembered this park, it was the first time she spoke to Shikamaru. Since their fathers were friends, they were introduced to each other since they were babies along with Chouji, but Shikamaru never spoke to her, he was more close to Chouji. Honestly she found him kind of weird, he was lazy to do everything and he never does anything.

But apparently they had something in common, they liked it here, the other kids found the park boring as it only consisted of a tree swing and a slide. Ino was feeling down after being ignored by Sasuke again, but Shikamaru was lying on the slide when she came walking by, he caught her crying on the swing and comforted her.

"Brings back memories…." Muttered Ino. "Does it? Then my intuition must be correct" said Sakura. Ino looked at her "Eh?" Sakura smiled "I felt attracted to this place for some reasons, so I thought I'd bring you here"

Ino collapsed. "Ino-chan?" said Sakura, alarmed. She shook Ino then checked her pulse, she just lost conscious. Sakura checked her chakra, 'Her chakra's extremely exhausted, but why didn't I sense it before…..' thought Sakura, her eyes widened and she threw a kunai behind her. "Who's there!" she growled. A woman's voice chuckled "Interesting girl, you are" she spoke and walked out from behind the bushes.

"What did you do to Ino-chan!" Sakura demanded, she was armed and ready to dodge any attack that the woman throws at her. "If I'm not mistaken, you are that Haruno girl that Tsunade-hime's training" she said, totally ignoring Sakura's question. "Answer my question!" snapped Sakura. The woman looked around her late 30's, she scowled at Sakura "How rude, I only temporarily put her chakra in an exhausted state. There's no need to scream about it" said the woman.

"You're not from the village, what are your intentions" said Sakura. "We've come to pick up a little package, that's all. We'd be happy to leave, if you hand over the missy over there" said the woman, she licked her lips. Sakura threw her kunai, the woman easily caught it in between her fingers "You know, I hate goodie-two-shoes like you" the woman sounded dangerous, she lifted her feet and tapped it on the ground. Sakura jumped up and avoided the ground that was trying to bind her. "Good job avoiding that, but the gravity is fixed" Before Sakura knew it, the ground shot up, Sakura turned sideways, but it still grazed her waist. She landed rather roughly, she stumbled a little. There was something weird about her body. She felt, lightheaded. 'This is bad…! I've been-' a voice cut into her thoughts "I laced that last attack with poison, you won't last another 30 seconds….. I told you to hand her over, you could've at least saved yourself" said the woman, as she smirked…. Sakura fell.

"Oi oi, You didn't kill her, did you?" this time it was a male voice, the woman huffed away "Course not, I merely put her to sleep for the next 2 weeks" she said, leaving the two unconscious girls to the man. Surprisingly, he carried both of them on his shoulders and jumped away. As they passed the entrance, the shinobi(s) that was on shift at the gate, were either dead or fatally injured.

'Shikamaru….'

Just then, Shikamaru was being kidnapped by Sasuke cause he decided to turn back when they were halfway back to the Uchiha mansion. He perked up "Oi Sasuke, put me down" said Shikamaru. "What is it, need to use the bathroom? We're almost to the Uchiha Manor. Try to hold it in" said Naruto. A vein popped up "I'm going to pretend you never asked that…." He trailed off "Hold it! What I meant to say was, I think something's up" he said.

"Nice try, you're not escaping" said Sasuke. "Something might have happened to Ino" said Shikamaru, his tone was dead serious. Sasuke stopped and set him down "What do you mean" he said. "Oi Sasuke, what are you doing, he's going to escape you know" said Naruto.

"Just now, I heard Ino's voice. She sounded afraid" said Shikamaru. "Hah? What kinda excuse is that. Isn't that just proving to us that you like Ino?" said Naruto. "You be quiet" said Sasuke, Naruto huffed. "I think something's happened to both of them- no, I'm positive" said Shikamaru. "So what are we going to do" said Naruto. "For now, we split up to look for them. I'm go back to the manor and check things out" said Sasuke.

Naruto and Shikamaru nodded and they jumped off to where they're supposed to be.

As Sasuke ran back to the manor, he prayed silently for Sakura to be there. Shikamaru was searching Ino's favourite places one after another. Naruto checked the bookstores for Sakura.

Sasuke didn't bother using the door, he jumped in throught Sakura's window "Sakura…!" but she was nowhere to be found. "Tch, dammit" cursed Sasuke, he was about to leave before he spotted something stabbed into the table, it was Sakura's precious red string kunai, she usually used it to pass on chakra messages to people who touch it. Sasuke pulled it out, and immediately he felt Sakura's chakra flowing in.

'Ino-chan doesn't look very well, I'm taking her to the abandoned park near the village entrance, bring Shikamaru there. Sorry for troubling you'

Sasuke kept Sakura's kunai and left immediately.

Shikamaru was getting frustrated 'This search isn't going anywhere….. where else does Ino like going…' then it hit him. 'There's only one other place'

Shikamaru was closer, he reached there a few minutes faster that Sasuke, and was already inspecting the scene. "You're here already huh" said Sasuke. "Good timing, Sasuke. I need your help in something" said Shikamaru. "What is it"

"Use your sharingan and check the ground for any trail of chakra" said Shikamaru. Sasuke blinked and his sharingan appeared "There was definitely a battle here" he kneeled down to the path of soil that had chakra lingering in it. He brushed it with his fingertips "There's a little poison in it too" he said. Shikamaru came out from the bushes with a kunai in hand "There was footprints behind there and this" Shikamaru tossed a kunai to Sasuke. He caught it and examined it. "This must be either Sakura's or Ino's" said Sasuke.

"No, It's Sakura's. Ino was taken out without being able to fight" said Shikamaru. Sasuke looked at him in a questioning way "How do you know that" he asked. Shikamaru knelt down to the area beside the patch of soil that had chakra in it "The ground on this area has been agitated if you look properly, it's in the shape of a person" said Shikamaru then he picked up a strand of hair "This is a strand of Ino's hair" he stated.

"Nothing less from the smartest shinobi amongst rookie 9" said Sasuke. "That sure brings back memories" said Shikamaru. "We'll need to report this to the Hokage" said Sasuke. Shikamaru looked at him "What's with that calm reaction, Sakura's been taken too you know" said Shikamaru.

"No, Sakura got herself captured on purpose. That girl doesn't go down easily, what the enemies were really after was Ino-" Sasuke was cut off "They're after the InoShikaCho combination" said Shikamaru. "Yeah…. Your techniques are some of Konoha's forbidden jutsus after all" said Sasuke.

Just then Naruto came stumbling in, breathing heavily. "Ah, You two are here already? Dammit, I thought for sure I'd be the first one to think about this place" said Naruto. "We're going to report to the Hokage, let's go idiot" said Sasuke, as he ran off with Shikamaru. "What? What's going on? I just got here!" he shouted after them.

Meanwhile….

'So you realized huh, Sasuke' thought Sakura, her face was turning pale and beads of sweat were rolling down her pale skin. 'I'm sorry but…. I can't lead you any further….' Those were Sakura's last thoughts as the poison finally overwhelmed her.

The woman stared intently at Sakura, her suspicion on her creeping up but she decided to drop it.

"What? Sakura and Ino has been kidnapped?" Tsunade stood up. "What? Sakura-chan and Ino-pig has been kidnapped?" Naruto shouted. "Yeah…" nodded Shikamaru. Tsunade sat down and sighed "We don't have any available search teams to dispatch right now, plus Chouji and Chouza-san went off to gather ingredients for the family pills today…." Tsunade scowled.

"Sakura left a trail of chakra when they took her, I can lead" said Sasuke. "You three want to go?" said Tsunade. "Please" Shikamaru and Sasuke bowed, Naruto quickly imitated sloppily. Tsunade sighed "You'd still go even if I said No right" she said with a smirk. The three straightened with their grinning faces. Tsunade propped her head up on the table, then stared intently at the three shinobi. After a moment pause Tsunade smiled and stood up "Right, Nara Shikamaru, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke. You three are to form a team and rescue Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura. Find out the enemies intention, and destroy their base. But remember, your top priority is to save your teammates, if you can't destroy their base, come back and we'll think of something." Said Tsunade.

The three nodded "Understand" Tsunade nodded her head in satisfaction "Now, I'm putting Shikamaru as Team leader, Now go!" commanded Tsunade and in a mere second, the three were gone and the window was left open.

The newly formed team stood at the village gate, "Right, Sasuke. You said Sakura left a trail of chakra, can you still see it?" said Shikamaru. Sasuke snorted "Don't look down on me" he said and activated his sharingan. "It's still there, but it's fading soon" said Sasuke. "Lead the way" said Shikamaru. "Try to keep up" Sasuke was gone, but so was Shikamaru and Naruto.

Sasuke managed to trace Sakura's to the far south of the village, closing in on the oceans of the fire country when he noticed that her chakra trail was getting weaker then it just suddenly cuts off, leaving the team in the middle of the forest, guideless.

"Why are you stopping Sasuke?" said Naruto, impatiently. "Her trail ends here, she must've lost consciousness here" said Sasuke. "So this is where it ends huh. " Shikamaru stepped up he knelt down to the ground before he scowled. "Something's not right" he said. Sasuke was searching the forest for anymore chakra to see if they're still nearby. Naruto jump down from the trees and landed next to Shikamaru "Look! They left footprints" he said but Shikamaru cut in "That's exactly why something's wrong"

Naruto raised an eyebrow "I don't get it" Shikamaru sighed and opened his mouth to say something but Sasuke spoke before him "These guys managed to take out 14 chuunins at the gate without drawing any attention or leaving anything trace of them, why would they suddenly leave footsteps" he said without looking down on him.

"That is a bit weird…." Said Naruto. "We were tricked, and so was Sakura" said Shikamaru. Sasuke deactivated his sharingan "I don't see any signs of chakra for the next 30 kilometer radius" said Sasuke, clearly trying to hide his frustration and concern with his poker face. "They used her to lead us the wrong way and after they were sure she was fully unconscious, they headed to the real direction " said Shikamaru.

"Great, just great. We have no idea where are we, and we lost track of Sakura-chan and Ino!" shouted Naruto. Sasuke sighed and looked over at Shikamaru who was still crouched down at the footstep he stayed there for what seemed like ages, Sasuke and Naruto had already came back from scouting the area. "You've been staying like that for hours Shikamaru, MOVE!" Naruto yelled at him.

Shikamaru punched the ground "Dammit, I can't think of anything….." he cursed. Sasuke scoffed "Some team leader…." Naruto turned to him "Sasuke!" he scolded. Shikamaru stood up, but he didn't face Sasuke "And you can find a solution to this? They can be anywhere, and we don't have the slightest clue of which direction they went, I don't need to hear your witty comments!" snapped Shikamaru, it was the first time either of them have seen Shikamaru lose his temper like that "Can't even put aside the thought of Ino being killed and think of a way to find her, you're not worthy of ordering me around" Sasuke retorted.

Shikamaru took Sasuke by the collar, fist clenched and ready to throw a punch- 'Shikamaru' an image of Ino getting killed flashed his mind and he realized. Sasuke was right, all he was thinking about was Ino had been capture, and she's going to die. Shikamaru released Sasuke and took a step back "I'm sorry. I'm just…" he trailed off and tried to look for the word, till Sasuke gave it to him "Scared"

"Yeah…"

"Well, we can understand. Our teammate was captured too, you know" said Naruto, throwing his hands over his head. "You're not the only that's worried" said Sasuke. "I know, but this is the first time Ino's been abducted." He muttered. Sasuke and Naruto chuckled "You'll get used to it, maybe" said Naruto.

"We'll split up and search for any trails, go anywhere. And if you find something, send a bomb as a signal" ordered Shikamaru. "That's more like it" chuckled Naruto then each of them jumped off.

Both Ino and Sakura was chained up in a cellar at the enemies hideout. After Sakura heard the door slam, she tested out the chain. 'It's special chain designed to hold down chakra enforced muscle spans….. I won't be able to break it till I regain my energy'

Sakura turned to Ino "Ino-chan, you awake?" said asked quietly. Ino groaned little then lifted her head "a little dizzy, but I'm going to be fine" she assured. Sakura let out a breath of exhaustion "Looks like we're going to be here awhile" she muttered. "Ne, Sakura" Ino began breathlessly. "Hm?"

"Do you think Shikamaru's looking for us?" Ino asked with her head down. Sakura looked up "He's probably freaking out trying to find you" she chuckled "and I'm sure Sasuke and Naruto are with him" Sakura added. Then she noticed something shiny drip to the floor, it took her a moment before she realized it was a teardrop, from Ino.

"Ino-chan? A-are you crying…?" Sakura asked, a little nervous. Ino's chain began to clink with trembles "I don't want to die yet…." Ino's voice was filled with tremors. Sakura clutched her chains, but before she could say anything Ino cut in "I haven't had the chance to apologize to Shikamaru….." she said in a mere whisper, but Sakura could hear her just fine. "Ino-chan we-" Sakura began "I'm so pathetic aren't I….. I'm sorry"

"You are if you're giving up" said Sakura rather cheerfully. Ino looked over at Sakura, to her surprise she was smiling. "I know they're searching for us" Sakura looked at Ino "So don't give up, ne?" she smiled. Ino laughed lightly "I'm at a loss of words, Sakura…. I understand why people fall for you so easily now" she said.

"Eh?"exclaimed Sakura, confused. Ino shook her head "Nothing…" Sakura decided to let it slip "Let's get out of here, shall we?" Sakura asked casually. Ino looked at her as if she was crazy. Sakura began to pull at the chains.

At the present time…

Shikamaru scratched his head "Dammit Ino where are you…." He cursed. 'Shikamaru…..' His eyes widened and he look around "That was…. Ino.." he muttered. He hastily took out a kunai with a paper bomb tied to it and launched it into the sky. An explosion erupted in the sky, immediately claiming attention from the two boys in search, they dropped everything they were doing and arrive at the scene within minutes.

"Alright, what did you find" said Sasuke immediately after he arrived. "Ah! Teme you got here first!" shouted Naruto.

"I found out where are they" said Shikamaru. "How did you find out" asked Sasuke. Shikamaru swallowed and blushed a little "That doesn't matter, anyway just follow me" he said, jumping off.

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other for a moment and both shrugged before jumping off after Shikamaru.

Sakura's body was completely covered in green chakra, she winced an eye, but slowly her eyes turned from bright green to a piercing jade, masked shinobi barged in only to get blow awake by an explosion of chakra, when they finally got back in, Sakura was no longer chained up and powerless, the shackles were still holding on to her wrist and ankles, the small fry shinobi trembled a little. "S-She ripped the chains straight from the wall…."

"What kinda of monster is she"

Sakura had her head down, but her whole body was coated with chakra. "That took more than I expected…" panted Sakura, but she quickly regained herself. The shinobi shook of any hesitation and charged at her. "Geh! All at once…?" said Sakura, then her eyes widened 'This chakra….' She took a swing at the chain and knocked down a group of shinobi. "Then in that case" Sakura muttered, her eyes started to close sleepily, but before they were able to shut completely they sprang back up and an enormous amount of chakra blew everything loose away and made a hole in the roof. 'Come on Sasuke…. See it…'

A few miles outside the hideout in the middle of the sea, the three noticed something exploding upwards. "I-Is that…. Chakra?" exclaimed Naruto, unbelievingly. Sasuke activated his sharingan and noticed that there was a huge source of chakra manifesting in the base they were about to infiltrate. "That's not any chakra, it's Sakura's!" he said, happy that she was doing alright considering how much chakra she has left.

"Sakura-chan! I'm coming!" Naruto announced loudly and charged straight forward. "Wait a minute Naruto" Shikamaru tried to stop him but Naruto didn't even look back. "Oi Sasuke we-" Shikamaru paused as he noticed that Sasuke too was long gone. "God those two never listen…."

Whilst those two were running, their eyes fixed on the base in chaos someone seemed to have blasted through the wall and rammed right into Naruto, knocking him backwards. "Uwah!"

They fell into the water. "Naruto!" shouted Sasuke, skidding to a stop. "Itte…. Something hit me…" said Naruto. Beside him, bubbles rose to the surface, the two boys eyed the area suspiciously, ready for anything that pops up, till a pink head rose from the water, her hands thrashing everywhere.

"Sakura!" "Sakura-chan!"

Sakura's eyes widened before she sank back down, the weight of the chains were too much in the water, she couldn't keep her head up. "Naruto!" Sasuke shouted "I know!" Naruto answered before he dove down into the water with Sasuke following behind him.

The two tried to lifted her, but the weight of the chains and the piece of the wall that stuck on the end was too much. Sasuke held his wrist as Naruto held Sakura from sinking any further. He opened his closed fists and electric sparked in his hand, he had to have total control or else it would easily spread out into the water. A blue spark line connecting to the ball of electric grew from it, and from there it spread out into for parts, each one slicing off the shackles on Sakura. Immediately, they brought her back to the surface. Sakura began coughing out water. "Ha…. I thought I was gonna die…" said Sakura, she climbed up and stood on the water and shook her head. Her hair bounced round elegantly, the guys couldn't take their eyes off.

She smiled at them "I knew you guys would come" she said, snapping the guys out of flower land. "Ah!" Sakura scream. The guys freak out and armed themselves "Ino-chan…. She's still inside!"

Just then Shikamaru ran past them and headed straight for the base. "Let's go!" said Sasuke. Naruto and Sakura nodded. When they entered the base through the hole in the wall Sakura made. Ino was out of her chains and was taken hostage by the woman kidnapper, Ruriko. She merely held a kunai to Ino's neck, she didn't threaten nor try to negotiate, she just grinned sinisterly then pulled Ino away. Before she disappeared, Ino cried out "Shikamaru!"

"Kh…"

The team had a whole army of shinobi, holding kunais at their necks "Either one of you move, and we'll slice everyone of your heads clean off the shoulders" threatened the leader of the shinobi subordinates. "Bastards…." Shikamaru said in gritted teeth, then he smiled "You lose" the team exploded in puff of smoke "Wha..?" the shinobi looked around as the smoke covered their vision.

Naruto's clones jumped in and started war with the confused shinobi as the real ones snuck in and went after the woman that had Ino. But they were intervened by a huge man. "You're not taking another step…. Ruri-nee told me not to let you" he said. "What's with this dude" said Naruto. "Must be an underling of the woman, cause he didn't come to the village" said Shikamaru.

"The amount of his chakra is terrifying, it's nearly as much as Naruto's" said Sakura. "Dammit, I didn't calculate this" said Shikamaru. "I'll take this guy on" said Naruto. Everyone looked at him "Sakura-chan, you said his chakra is nearly as much as mine right?" he said. Sakura nodded. Naruto cracked his knuckles "Then it's time I show you how big the difference between our skills are" he said with a smug grin "Go!"

"We leave it to you then, Naruto" said Shikamaru. The remaining three ran past the big guy. "I told you I won't let you pass!" the man yelled and jumped up, aiming to land a hit on Sakura, before an uppercut hit him clean under the face. "Let's see how you do, big guy" said Naruto. "Naruto!" Sakura called out. He looked at her "Good luck" she smiled. Naruto scratched the back of his head "Ehehe"

"Sakura, do you still sense Ino's chakra?" asked Shikamaru. "Yeah, she's just up front" said Sakura, as the corridor came to an end and they entered a sacred looking room, Ino was tied up to an iron wall that stood on in the middle of the room, her hands and legs were restrained, she was looking at them with terrified eyes, she couldn't say anything as she was gagged, but her eyes told them everything they needed to know, they were going save her, then destroy that woman, at least Shikamaru will.

But before they could do anything, Sasuke exploded in flames. Shikamaru and Sasuke gasped. Sasuke didn't move, the flames however, avoided him. "Tch, amateurs"

"Hee….. an Uchiha, interesting" said the man who carried Ino and Sakura to the base, Hiyure. The voice came from above, everyone looked up and saw him, standing on the ceiling. "Katon, Kitei no Hi (Fire Style, Ground's Fire)" Sasuke merely muttered and the flames surrounding him enlarged and shot up at Hiyure. He disappeared just as the flames were about to touch him, but instead it completely scorched the ceiling.

Hiyure appeared right in front of Sasuke and looked up and whistled "You're good" he said to his face. In a split second, Sasuke clashed his sword with Hiyure's kunai. "W-What's with this guy…" Shikamaru muttered. Then he heard a scream, his head immediately turned to Ino, Ruriko had her hand on Ino's forehead, she tried to shake it off but it wasn't any good, her shoulders were tensed up one of her eyes were squeezed closed and her pain looked severe.

"Let her go!" he shouted. Sakura formed some handseals but before she could finish the last one, a kunai was thrown at her, she had no choice but to break the seal and dodge it. Sakura narrowed her eyes at the man made of water rose from the ground, he looked…. Like Hiyure. But it wasn't.

Hiyure who was currently fighting Sasuke laughed "I see you've met the other me, Suiyure" he laughed then dodged Sasuke's electrocuting blade. "What…?"

Shikamaru tried to capture the woman with his shadow manipulating technique, but it seems instead of capturing her, he captured something that was in the ground, his eyes widened as a man of earth formed before his eyes. "What is it…" he said.

Black marks formed on Hiyure's body, Sasuke grew pale. "I can split my affinities to bodies…." He threw his head back and laughed. "Interesting, isn't it" he smirked. "They have the cursed marks!" said Sakura. Sasuke's jaw tightened at the thought of having that creepy slit eyed bastard's experiments in front of him, but he bit his expressions back and smirked "Interesting…. Huh" the sharingan slowly appeared in his eyes and his body emitted a eerie dark purple chakra as black markings appeared all over his body.

Sakura didn't have much chakra left, but she was sure she could finish this guy off before her kaiho runs out. She formed a seal "Kai-ho" her eyes burned green and her body was coated with bright green chakra. Shikamaru looked over at the two 'Good, the two are going all out. Now all I have to do is take out that guy and go after that woman' he thought as he had Doyure captured in his Kagemane no Jutsu, but when he turned back, Doyure had dissolved into the ground, and his jutsu was broken.

Shikamaru's eyes widened before jumping back and avoiding an uppercut from Doyure, Shikamaru narrowed his eyes, in his head were 6 plans ready to be executed but he needed the best and most effective one, and he got it.

He landed a few feet away from Doyure, Shikamaru threw a few kunais at him. Doyure melted into the ground and the kunais missed. This time, Shikamaru found two huge hands rising from the ground on either side of him he managed to dodge it in the nick of time, the hands came after him as he landed on the opposite side of where he was standing, he threw paper bombs at the hand and it exploded, taking out the fingers. The hand crumbled down.

Shikamaru felt the ground beneath tingle, Doyure shot up faster than Shikamaru could dodge, his punch sent him flying upwards, he landed with a hard thud. His back flat on the ground and body unmoving. "How does it feel, getting hit by a full powered punch from the earth itself" Doyure's deep voice laughed.

Shikamaru got up and began coughing. "Huh…. You still can get up?" Doyure said, irritated. Shikamaru looked at him, then smirked "You seem to have something here" he pointed at his own stomach. "Huh?" Doyure looked and there were two kunais stuck in his stomach "When did these-" he paused and remembered. Those were the two first kunais Shikamaru threw and him and missed, but in truth Shikamaru had planned for that to happen after the kunais had landed on the ground, he needed to lure Doyure to the spot where the kunais will get stuck on his body when he materialized and to prevent him from moving after he did, Shikamaru purposely got hit and fed his arrogance as the paper bombs wrapped around the kunai sank in his body.

"You lose…." Shikamaru muttered and he activated the bomb. You could say the battle ended with a bang. Hiyure flinched, not only because Sasuke was beating the him into a pulp, but he lost a quarter of his life. Sasuke had his Kusanagi no Tsurugi jabbed through his stomach as he pinned him onto the wall.

Sakura was just finishing off Suiyure with "Sandagamae Inshi no Ookami!" Sakura shouted, aiming her clawed hand at the beaten Suiyure. And that ended for him.

Shikamaru caught Ruriko in his Kagemane no Jutsu and made her step back "Tch, unless." She licked her lips "If you want something, you have to do it yourself" she smirked but before she could shed out of her skin, Shikamaru added "Kage Kubi Shibari no Jutsu (Shadow Neck Bind Technique)" the woman was totally immobilized. Some part of Shikamaru wanted to destroy that woman, but he knows he has to turn her in to the village for interrogation.

Ruriko struggled at first, but she suddenly gave in "How pathetic….. I wasn't even able to learn the technique from the girl. Her mentality is admirable…" she smirked "I'm sorry I wasn't able to get what you want…. Orochimaru-sama" she muttered under the hearing range of others. Then glared at Shikamaru "What are you waiting for, kill me" she urged him.

"Sakura, could you bind her" he said. Sakura nodded as she could still manage one more technique, she formed the seals "Doton, Tsuchi Shibari (Earth Style, Earth Binding) the ground beneath Ruriko rose and wrapped around her whole body, creating a dirt mummy out of her. Shikamaru's shadow returned and he immediately ran to Ino. Before he could touch the chains, lightning shot at them, slicing them off carefully, Ino's body fell limply as Shikamaru managed to hold her up.

Her legs were on the ground, Shikamaru held up the rest of her sloppily and lowered her, he looked over at Sasuke, thanking him silently. Sasuke merely turned away and turned the Kusanagi out of Hiyure and let his bleeding (Not dead) body fall to the ground.

Sakura look at him with sympathy. "Don't worry, he's not gonna die" said Sasuke, slashing his sword to get rid of the blood then sheathing it. "You never change" said Sakura, shaking her head. Naruto came stumbling in "It's alright, I'm here. You're saved" he said between pants. "Oh, you won. Good job Naruto" said Sakura. "Aw, it's over…?" whined Naruto.

"Yeah, You can help carry them back to the village" said Sasuke, nodding his head at the bleeding man next to him. "Isn't he dead?" said Naruto, raising a brow. Sasuke rolled his eyes "I'm not that heartless, he's alive" he said.

"Well, in that situation. I'd rather be dead" said Naruto. Sasuke unsheathed his sword and attempted to stab him to prove to them that he has a heart, till he was stopped "Wait wait!" Naruto and Sakura shouted, waving their hands around. Sasuke sheathed his sword with a smirk.

Ino's eyes fluttered open "Shikamaru….?" She said breathlessly. Her face expressed her fatigue but even so, she smiled at him.

"I'm sorry" they said in unison. Shikamaru looked surprised "No, I snapped. You were just following orders" said Shikamaru. "But I didn't bother to think about how tired you were" said Ino, she chuckled "It's funny, I'm so tired now….." she breathed and her eye began to fall. Shikamaru panicked for a moment, but noticed she was just falling unconscious, he lifted her legs and carried her properly now.

Sasuke and Naruto destroyed what's left of the base and they headed home.

Konohagakure

Shikamaru brought Ino straight to the hospital while Team Kakashi headed to the Hokage's office.

After they handed the kidnappers to Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Force they reported their side of the mission before they headed their separate ways back home. When Sakura and Sasuke reached home, Sakura's legs gave away. Sasuke held her up "Easy there…" he helped her up. "Sorry but can you get me up to my room…? The poison hasn't been neutralized" she said. Sasuke's heart started to beat faster, he carried her up to her room, Sakura went over to her drawer and picked out a light blue antidote, and stabbed the capsule into her thigh.

She let out a breath in relief then sat down on her chair. Sasuke took out her red strapped kunai and put it on her table and attempted to leave, till he saw his life album. Sakura reached out and grabbed it. Sasuke held out his hand and looked at her in a way that say Give-It-Here . Sakura merely smiled and shook her head.

The next thing was unexpected, as Sasuke leaned over and implanted a kiss-

On her lips.

Sakura's eyes widened but she didn't resist. She felt Sasuke's hand move to grab the album, and when she pulled it out of his reach he straightened. It took him awhile before he noticed what he just did. Sakura was slowly turning red, she remembered what Ino had told her about kisses, it was a sign of affection between lovers. But they weren't lovers, she wasn't even sure if she loved him, romantically. Sasuke took a step back "I'm sorry…." He muttered then disappeared, his face turning redder and redder. Sakura held the album to her chest, then touched her lips.

Next Chapter: The Konoha Festival

"We're going shopping"

"You've never been to a festival, have you"

"How do you expect to impress the boys that way, especially with your looks, it'd be a waste if you didn't go"

"You wanna see her in a yukata, don't you. Imagine what she'd look like in one"

"Cute, Isn't she and she's all yours"

So…. I've been reading over the prequel. And honestly, I hated it and I laughed at myself for that…. 'piece of art' I was…. Unbelievably naïve and yes the mary sue was pretty bad. I've been thinking of editing it and reposting it…. But that would take up sometime and I don't know if I should, so I'm asking you guys, if I should edit and repost the prequel or not. Do me that favor will ya?