Naruto stared at his son, not knowing what to tell him.

"Sarada isn't doing too well," Naruto admitted. "Baa-chan is with her but from what we've heard, it's not looking too good for her."

Bolt stared at him in disbelief. "How are you...how are you so calm?!"

His sudden exclamation caused the Hokage to flinch.

"Your teammates daughter is fighting for her life and you're just...casual about it?!"

"Bolt-"

"And what about Sakura-ba?!"

Bolt watched Naruto tense up and for a long time, he said nothing. He stood behind the chair he had just been sitting on, leaning on it with his head bowed.

"Is she-"

"She's been taken."

Bolt simply stared at him. Inside, he was swimming with emotions causing havoc within and yet his father looked calm and indifferent.

"Why aren't you upset?" Bolt asked, hurt. "Your teammate and best friend was taken and you don't seem to care!"

"Bolt, I-"

"Why aren't you mad?! Why aren't you doing anything about it!? Who knows what they're doing to her and you're just sitting around doing nothing! Why aren't you angr-"

"Damn it, Bolt, I'm furious!" Naruto bellowed, throwing the chair he'd been leaning on into the wall opposite Bolt.

The Hokage's son watched his father pacing around the room, chakra fluctuating and spiking. Naruto was practically baring his fangs as he moved, hands clenching, itching to Rasengan the fuck out of something, preferably the ones responsible for taking Sakura and landing Sarada in the ER.

Naruto turned stormy blue eyes on Bolt who felt a sudden rise of fear at the anger and killing intent radiating off his father.

"You have no idea the anger that is boiling away inside me," he hissed out. "Sakura-chan was taken from our village, her home! Right out from under my nose and I could do nothing! I did nothing!"

He paused by the window, looking out and staring at the village that was on standby due to the attack on one of their on. Civilians carried on as normal but the shinobi were on edge.

Waiting.

"There is nothing, Bolt, nothing I wouldn't give to have Sakura-chan back here, safe in her home. Safe with us."

"Tou-san-"

"Don't you see?" Naruto snapped, turning to look back at Bolt. "I should have been there. I should have protected her somehow! At the very least, I should have left a clone with her."

Then they were no longer alone. Hinata had returned with Himawari who had been with Hiashi for the night. Silently she entered and picked up the chair that lay toppled by the now broken wall. Naruto cast her an apologetic look but otherwise didn't move.

"Can't we follow them?" Bolt asked.

"The Inuzuka's and Aburame's are on it, Bolt-kun," Hinata spoke, as she set the chair down beside the bed once again and sat on it, pulling Himawari onto her lap.

"Can you tell us what happened?"

Bolt nodded but before he could speak, Tsunade entered with Kakashi.

"Baa-chan!" Naruto exclaimed. "How's Sarada? Is she..."

He stopped when he noticed her puffy eyes and felt his stomach drop.

"No..."

Karin left the basement, unable to hear Sakura's tortured cries any longer.

Quickly, she wiped away the tear that fell from her eye.

"Damn it," she hissed as she walked away and yet even as she put distance between herself and the large metal door that held Sakura and Kuromaru, Sakura's screams echoed in her head.

The halls of the underground hideout were dank and dirty, truly an unpleasant place to be. So instead, she went above ground, to the small yet nice house. Being so far away and in a remote place, there was no reason to hide. As she stood there looking over the beach, she couldn't help but curse to herself as the memory of first seeing Sakura came to mind.

Karin had been utterly useless, lying on the ground practically bleeding to death with Sasuke approaching to finish the job. Pleading for him not to, she could see it in his eyes.

She meant nothing to him. Even though he had been lost in darkness, she could see that she was the equivalent of nothing when she was no longer useful.

She cursed him mentally and told herself that it wasn't her fault he wasn't attracted. He wasn't into or listened to anyone.

That's when Sakura had shown up, calling his name and stopping the Chidori that formed on his arm from ending her life. Through the blue lightning, she could see the pinkette, tense.

And then she couldn't believe it. Sasuke had moved away from her!

He dropped the Chidori. This girl with just a few words had stopped Sasuke when Karin herself hadn't been able to even make a step of his falter. She watched her cry as she was being healed and knew she could never compare.

She never stood a chance when Sasuke had Sakura the whole time.

And she hated that.

Karin shook the memory away. She hated her. The pinkette that was stronger in every way, that reached out to Sasuke more than she ever could.

She wiped her eyes as she watched the sun setting over the water.

But even though she hated her, she respected her.

This woman never wavered and her love ran so deep that she'd willingly kill him to stop him from sinking further into darkness.

And Sasuke had returned her feelings. Or at least, cared for her.

Enough to restore his clan -a clan that meant everything to him- with her. He found her worthy.

And as she remembered the cold, emerald eyes that defied Kuromaru, she couldn't help but understand his choice.

Sakura was worthy of the Uchiha name.

"Don't jump to conclusions, Baka," Tsunade snapped, sniffling.

"So Meinu is okay?" Bolt wondered.

Tsunade let out a breath. "It's still too soon to tell. I...lost her several times."

"But she's-"

"She's in a coma at the moment since the attack mentally scarred her. That coupled with the Sharingan has-"

"Wait," Naruto interrupted. "Sarada activated the Sharingan?"

"That's another problem," Tsunade admitted. "I found the optical nerves had been strained in a way that only the Sharingan can do. But what was weird was the chakra residue left there so I checked her eyes."

"Are they alright?" Hinata asked.

Tsunade bit her lip. "I'm not entirely sure. Her eyes...they haven't reverted back to normal."

There was moment of silence as everyone comprehended her words.

"Let me get this straight," Kakashi started. "The Sharingan hasn't deactivated?"

Tsunade shook her head. "While Sarada is comatose, the Sharingan doesn't seem to be eating away at her chakra so she's fine for now. But if she wakes up, I'll need to monitor her eyes and chakra."

"When," Bolt corrected. "When she wakes up. Meinu is too stubborn to just die."

Tsunade smiled but it was strained.

"She's a fighter, that's for sure."

"Just like her mother."

Sakura's eyes snapped open as she jolted awake.

"Shh, it's just me," Karin's voice spoke from the darkness.

Her chest was still heaving as the pinkette tried to ease down the terrors Kuromaru exposed her to. Letting her mind wander, she focused on Karin's hands that worked a wet sponge over her enlarged stomach, washing her.

"You're huge," Karin noted.

Sakura said nothing, finally managing to breathe normally.

"I can see two chakras inside you," Karin continued. "Twins?"

"Y-Yes."

Karin nodded to herself, not like Sakura could see it anyway.

"Kuromaru's genjutsu is extraordinary. I think he gets it from his Uchiha blood."

"I-It was so real and I'm the one with the sharpest eyes of my age group. It's like what I've heard about the Tsukiyomi."

"Yeah."

"But he didn't get anything from me."

Karin couldn't stop the small smile that formed on her lips at the smug tone the Uchiha matriarch used.

"I know. He left in a fit."

"If you think I'll tell you anything because you're being nice to me, you're wrong. I'll never rat out my boys."

"No, I don't care about them," Karin admitted.

"Oh, yeah. You only want me to suffer, that's right."

Karin remained silent as she finished off cleaning Sakura.

"His genjutsu will only get worse."

That statement caused the other woman to stiffen in fear. As Karin picked up the bucket of now cold water, she made to leave when jingling followed the hand that clasped around her ankle.

"Please," came the same sweet voice only coated in fear. "Help me."

Karin pulled away and closed the cage door behind her with her foot. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

She bit her lip hard enough to bleed as muffled sobs followed her out of the dungeon.

"I'm so sorry.

After Bolt finished explaining what he knew, Naruto was beyond furious. He was ready to tear out Karin's throat with his teeth.

"I thought she'd change!" Naruto fumed. "Even Orochimaru changed for the better. Why the fu-" He whirled around, simply moving around the room to calm himself down.

"You said you saw a lot of dead slugs?" Tsunade asked.

Bolt nodded. Tsunade bit her finger as she knelt down and summoned a small piece of Katsuyu.

"Tsunade-hime!" The slug exclaimed.

"Are you okay? What happened at the Uchiha's?"

"I don't know but my daughter wants to speak to you."

There was poof and another slug appeared though Tsunade could tell the moment she saw her that she was very weak.

"Where is Sakura-sama? Is she okay? What about Sarada-san and the babies?"

"Sakura has been taken and Sarada only just managed to pull through surgery," Tsunade explained as she scooped up the two slugs. "We need you to tell us what happened."

"I nearly didn't make it," Kagura rushed. "Just before Sakura-sama cancelled the summoning, the man that's been stalking her squished me! If it weren't for Sakura-sama sending me back to the heart of the Shikkoku Forest where my mother happened to be, I'd have died. She saved my life with her quick thinking."

"But none of the others made it," Katsuyu spoke sadly.

"Yes, that's right. Sakura-sama wanted scouts to keep an eye on the place so we had many slugs stationed around her house. On the day of the confrontation, we were picked off one by one at an alarming rate and by the time we realised what was happening, it was too late and I was captured. But I figured it out! Remember how Sakura-sama's health was failing? She was being poisoned!"

"But how is that even possible?" Naruto asked. "Sarada said that Sakura was too weak to move so she only ate from-"

"-her vegetable garden," Kagura confirmed.

"But how?"

"They tainted the soil in which she grew her vegetables. The woman explained it to me while I was caught. They buried Spindleweed, a toxic herb when not coupled with its pair, Spindleroot."

"What does it do?" Naruto questioned.

"It grows underground, never breaking the surface," Hinata explained. "But it can get quite big, spreading throughout a large area. It's harmless to flowers, but deadly to fruit and vegetables. The Spindleweed releases toxins into the soil that flowers can break down as nutrition but vegetables absorb it."

"Why didn't Sakura pick up on her deteriorating health and investigate her vegetable garden? She would have known about Spindleweed, right?" Kakashi asked.

"That's because she thought it was part of her other illness."

"What other illness?" Naruto snapped, confused.

"Sakura is suffering from having used the Saisei. She pushed it further then she should have when she healed herself and Obito during the war. The Saisei was never meant to be pushed through the medics body and into another. Such a thing is incredibly painful since we have to battle with the patients' own chakra flow. The chakra control required in order to manipulate their own chakra so that it's suitable to merge with the patient is astronomical. There are such cases where we can lend our chakra to another where both chakras meet in the middle before being absorbed by one or the other, but what Sakura did was inject her chakra into Tobi and manipulate it to heal him at the same time. A small amount is risky but he said it himself, didn't he? Even with Narutos' Bunshin, he was afraid that wasn't enough."

"What damage did she do to herself?" Naruto murmured. "And why didn't she say anything?"

"Naruto, you know more that anyone how badly Sakura pushed herself to keep up with you and Sasuke," Kakashi spoke, trying to get his point across. "To her, the only way she could keep up with the two of you was with the Yin Seal."

"Sakura-sama was afraid that if Tsunade-sama found out the truth," Kagura interrupted. "She'd forbid Sakura-sama from using it again."

"I couldn't do that," Tsunade sighed, holding a hand to her forehead. "I see myself entirely too much in Sakura. To take away what she believes is the source of her power would break her spirit. She worked hard for the Yin seal and to not be able to use it? I'd never hurt her like that."

"But what damage has she done with the Saisei?" Naruto asked again.

"Her chakra has attacked her organs, which have absorbed the Backwash Chakra. When shinobi use chakra, we burn it up but what happened within Sakura was chakra she used had gone back in, tainted and unusable. It's like when you drink water and you backwash. You take the water but some escapes back into the bottle. That's why its called Backwash Chakra."

"There's no way to remove the chakra?" Hinata asked.

Tsunade shook her head. "No. Or at least if there is, I haven't found it."

"Is that why Sakura-chan had trouble when having Sarada?" Naruto wondered.

Tsunade nodded. "Like I said. Her insides have aged and elderly women don't have children because it's too dangerous. It's too much strain on an old body."

"How old are her organs exactly?"

"Her lungs, kidney and heart were that of a forty year old just before she had Sarada."

They paled.

"What would she be now?" Hinata murmured.

A knock on the door drew their attention to see Shizune.

"She's ready to be brought back to her room," she informed them.

"Can she share this room with me instead?" Bolt pleaded.

Tsunade looked at him before nodding to Shizune. They all watched as Sarada was wheeled in. Her forehead and her left eye was covered but the rest of her face was devoid of the white cloth. Everything else was hidden under blankets but everyone suspected bandages covered her body too. Along with the bed, several IV drips followed. No one spoke as the drips and a heart monitor was set up.

Once the other medics left -aside from Shizune- everyone stared at the motionless child. There was a squeaking sound and everyone turned to see Bolt shuffling around on his bed, moving as far to the left of his bed he could, the side Sarada was on.

Reaching over, he managed to grab onto the guardrail of her bed before he pulled, his bed shifting slightly before slowly rolling closer to hers. Once his bed was only a couple inches away -enough space for the IV drips- he dropped his own bed's guardrail, then hers before settling back down.

No one spoke of the way the cords moved as he held onto Sarada's hand under the covers.

Karin is struggling with her morals!

I was just gonna make her an annoying bitch but someone told me it would be better if I went into more depth of her character so I'll do that.

Who thought I was gonna kill off Sarada?

SHAME ON YOU!

I'd never do that. Not to Sarada. Salad, yes. You DONT make friends with Salad.

But never Sarada. Well...maybe. MUAHAHHAHAHAA

Jokes.

If you are confused about why Tsunade was crying- COME ON

Sarada died several times on her and she only just managed to drag her ass out from the dead.

I'd be fucking sobbing and dripping tears and snot everywhere too.

Ew btw

NARUTO

I was struggling with how to handle him. Yes, he'd be pissed. Fucking spewing hatred towards Kuromaru, but at the same time as Hokage, I think he'd try to at least put on a calm fascade, if only for Bolt and Himawari. Fuck their friends, they'd know exactly how angry he was. I also thought that since they had no leads and no idea where to start looking, he wouldn't just run off on a rampage. So he's calm for now but I reckon the moment he finds out where she is, there'd be no stopping the blonde and orange hurricane of ramen- I mean rage xD

But I do apologise if he isn't acting as he should.

Sakura already pleading for help.

I know if I read this as a guest, I'd be like 'Come on, she can take more then that!'But I'm trying to keep in mind that she's like 6 months pregnant, her insides are pretty fucked up, she's got no chakra, has no idea what's become of Sarada and Bolt, all while being mind fucked as Kuromaru tries to find out the secret to beating her love and best friend. Not to mention the only person she can find comfort in is Karin who is partially responsible for her kidnapping in the first place.

It's just one big cluster fuck.

Other then that, nothing to rave about this time, guys.

I know how much you love my rants xD

Okay, now that we're getting more emotional, I'm going to suggest suitable songs that will set the atmosphere so YOU GOTTA LISTEN TO THE SUGGESTED SONG TOO, KAY?

As always, I love you all, review and keep it real!

-Me