Salvation

Peril

Sakura gritted her teeth as Kabuto and his lackeys led her and Yuna down the hallway. They were about to turn right into the lab when a sound shinobi jogged up to them.

"Sir," the man said, motioning for Kabuto. Kabuto stepped forward and the shinobi whispered something in his ear. Kabuto's eyes widened and his a smile grew on his face. Sakura scrunched her face at Kabuto's obvious elation.

"I see," Kabuto said. He turned to his men. "Take her to the chamber."

Without another word, Kabuto turned and headed back the other way, while the men continued to drag Yuna and Sakura along.

As they neared the cells, they opened one door across from Sakura's and threw Yuna inside. Sakura turned toward the place she'd called home for the past few weeks and waited to be pushed inside, however, the men didn't open the cell door, they continued to pull Sakura farther down the hallway.

"Wait, where are we going? What's going on?" Sakura said, tugging at the harsh grip on her forearms. The two Sound shinobi said nothing and Sakura growled inside. She had no idea what was going on, but she knew something had obviously changed. She just hoped it was in her favor.

Sasuke felt his head throbbing and a loud ring in his ears. He struggled to open his heavy eyelids, but he felt dizzy, he closed them right away. He tried to remember what happened, but his memory was fuzzy.

They were following Gin and Karin, trying to locate Sakura. He remembered watching them go into an underground tunnel, and…Sasuke's eyes shot open quickly as his memories returned to him. They ran straight into a trap. They were drugged.

Sasuke went to grab a kunai from his weapons pouch, but he found his arms restrained. Looking down, he saw he was sitting on a chair, his hands bound behind him with rope. He pulled against his bindings, hoping to free himself, but they wouldn't budge.

Great. Chakra-infused rope.

Sasuke ground his teeth in anger, and turned to see Kakashi and Naruto both flanking him on either side. Neither had yet to awaken, but they were in the same position as him.

"It's funny really, to see you caught off guard," a voice said, and Sasuke turned to look in front of him.

He was in an empty room, void of any light except for the one shined on himself and his two teammates. He could make out a shape in the distance, but the person was unidentifiable.

"Oh, don't know who I am?" the voice said, and Sasuke clenched his jaw. He hated when someone else had the upper-hand. It hurt his pride, but more importantly, it was dire for their situation. The position he found himself in could help no one, least of all Sakura. Sasuke tried to push Sakura from his thoughts. He couldn't dwell on the fact that, once again, he had let her down. He had failed to protect her. He had to focus on getting out of there and staying alive so they could rescue her.

"I'm saddened, Sasuke-kun, that you have forgotten someone you spent years with," the voice said, and Sasuke's eyes widened. The figure began to approach him, and just before stepping out of the shadows, Sasuke saw the unmistakeable habit of someone he wished never to see again. Kabuto pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, the light bouncing off the lenses before he stepped from the shadows and into the light, revealing his white hair pulled into a tight ponytail at the base of his neck and arrogance wafting off of him in droves. Sasuke felt ill immediately.

Kabuto crossed his arms in front of him, smirking down and Sasuke sneered back.

"I knew it was only a matter of time before you three came charging in here searching for the lost princess," Kabuto said, and Sasuke's hands clenched tightly at the mention of Sakura. "I just never thought it'd be so easy to capture the all-mighty Uchiha."

If Sasuke wasn't tied down, there was no way Kabuto would even be standing. He would have run his sword right through Kabuto's black heart.

"What's going on," Naruto groggily said, tearing Kabuto's gaze from Sasuke's and toward the loud, blond ninja sitting to his right.

Sasuke looked over at Naruto, to see him rolling his head around, swaying slightly in his chair. He blinked his eyes several times before turning to face Sasuke.

"Teme?" Naruto asked, just as confused as Sasuke was when he first woke up. But, Sasuke could see realization coming back to him and when he got his bearings his faced turned into a snarl as he whipped around to look at the one who captured them. "Kabuto?"

"Naruto, how nice to see you again. It's been so long," Kabuto began, he started to walk closer to Naruto and Naruto hissed.

"Stay away from me, you asshole! Where's Sakura!" Naruto shouted, baring his fangs, his eyes slitting with anger. Sasuke was amazed at the haze of chakra that surrounded the jinchuuriki.

"Kabuto," Kakashi said and Sasuke turned to see that Kakashi was fully awake. Even with his face covered, Sasuke could see the anger and knew he was trying to work something out.

"Kakashi-sempai, how nice of you to join us."

"Cut the bullshit, Kabuto. Where. Is. Sakura-chan!" Naruto howled and Kabuto looked over at Naruto and began to chuckle slightly.

"You'll find out soon enough," Kabuto answered and Sasuke didn't like his tone. He just hoped to Kami that Sakura wasn't dead, because he knew that as long as she was alive she would never stop fighting.

"Let me out of these shackles you dumb pieces of…," Sakura shouted, trying with everything she could to release herself from her restraints.

The two men beside her didn't budge, they just stood watch beside her. Earlier they had dragged her into this room, tying her down to a chair, and placed themselves on either side of the doorframe, remaining quite through all of Sakura's tirades. She was screaming and shouting obscenities, but nothing. She didn't understand what was going on.

Suddenly, the door behind her opened and she heard someone come in.

"Leave, now," the voice said, and the two guard-dogs exited the room, shutting the door behind them. That just left Sakura alone with whomever had made their way inside.

A cold hand grasped her shoulder, making Sakura jump slightly. "It's nice to actually meet you in person, Sakura," the voice said, before walking around her and showing their face. Sakura looked up into the face of a blond hair man with piercings all along his face.

"Who are…?" Sakura began, and the man smirked.

"I'm sure you've heard of me. I'm Pein," the man said and Sakura gasped. She heard the stories, the rumors, of this vicious man.

"What are you going to do with me?" Sakura asked, trying to keep her voice from trembling.

"You know how everyone loves dinner and a show?" Pein asked rhetorically. "Well, how about we skip dinner and head right to the show?"

Sakura's eyebrows raised, not understanding what Pein meant, but he took a seat next to her. He did a few hand signs, too fast for Sakura to see what he was doing, when suddenly it was like the wall in front of them began to disappear and Sakura couldn't help the gasp that escaped her mouth at what she saw in front of her.

There stood Kabuto talking to Naruto, Kakashi, and Sasuke, all of them tied to chairs.

"Naruto! Kakashi! Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted, but they ignored her. Why didn't they look this way?

"You can scream all you want, but they can not hear you," Pein said. "I've casted a very powerful genjutsu that allows us to see what's going on, but they have no idea we are sitting here, watching everything."

"What's the purpose of this?" Sakura asked and Pein turned toward her.

"Let's watch and see."

So very sorry for the long-awaited update. I am back now though, check out my profile for further details. Two more chapters left before this story is wrapped up. The next update should be out within the next few weeks.