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It was early in the morning, Kakashi was gracefully jumping from roof to roof to get to the Hokage's tower. Tsunade summoned him to come with a sudden urgency. Kakashi gave an exhausted sigh; He hadn't fully recovered from his previous fight with Itachi and now, she needed him early in the morning. When he entered the office, he noticed Shikamaru was already there, who was giving a confused expression and Tsunade a frustrated and angry expression.

"Hurry up, Shikamaru," she ordered. He nodded and hurriedly ran out of the office. Kakashi gave a confused look, waiting for an explanation as for why he was called so early in the morning and why she was mad.

"Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno left the village and are on their way to Orochimaru," she announced. Kakashi gave a loud gasped. He never thought Sakura would just leave her friends and family behind for Sasuke…

"I have assigned Shikamaru to find four more Genins and go after them. We lack manpower at the moment and I can only send them. You can rest for now, you have just recovered from your fight with Itachi, " she explained further and looked out of her window.

Kakashi turned to walk out of the room, "I hope you did the right thing Tsunade-sama, but may I ask how you knew they left?"

"Sakura was acting strange these past few days. She seemed distant from her studies and I confronted her about it. She didn't tell me but I assumed after the Uchiha was let out of the hospital and when she came back from her individual mission, she started to act different. I asked one of the Aburame clan to put a tracking bug on both of them just in case. I thought nothing would happen...I was wrong and now this happened." she explained, angrily slamming her fists on her desk.

"I see..." said Kakashi, walking out and closed the door behind him. Tsunade knocked over one of her piles of files of her desks.

"Damn you two!" she cursed as she looked down at the slightly crumpled papers on the floor.

xXx

It was silent the whole time. The Sound Ninja and the two former Leaf ninjas have been traveling away from the Leaf Village for hours. Sakura was exhausted. The sun was rising and they hadn't even stopped once until with eyes wide open, she yelled for them to stop. Everyone stopped and looked at her.

"What do you want pinky?" asked Tayuya (the redhead girl), still not taking a liking to Sakura or accepting her to come along. Sakura walked up to Sasuke and asked him to turn around, but he neither responded nor moved, still looking confused at her. Sakura became impatient with him, turned him around by force and started to observe his back. "Sakura! What are you doi-"

"I knew it!" she yelled victoriously as she took something off his neck, right behind his hair. Everyone looked at her hand. It was a tiny, black bug.

"Well well Sasuke, you have yourself a good girl here" said Sakon, smirking.

"Hn. What is it, Sakura?" Sasuke ignored Sakon and got straight to the point with Sakura, looking at her and demanding an answer.

She sighed. "It's a bug," she paused, while thinking back. "It's probably from the Aburame clan." She looked at the direction they came from, where the village is. "Meaning they already know that we left".

Giving a frustrated look knowing this would turn into a pain the ass, he activated his Sharingan and observed Sakura's body. Sakura noticed and couldn't help but blush. "W-what are you looking at?" she stammered, too embarrassed to look at him.

"Sakura..." He walked closer to her, reaching out with his arm towards her short hair as if he wanted to play with her hair.

Too embarrassed to look, Sakura closed her eyes. When she felt nothing, she opened her eyes to reveal her puzzled emerald orbs. She gave a shocked gasp when she saw him holding a bug. She noticed the bug on him yet she didn't notice one on her. How? She bit her lip out of frustration, biting it too hard that it even started to bleed.

.

"Now that we have stopped anyway, you need to take one of these " Sakon drawled, taking out black pills in a small see-through jar.

Because she was training under Tsunade before she left, she had read about medications and what effect they could have on the body. Sakura knew that those pills could have a deadly effect on the body. She wanted to warn Sasuke, but before she could say anything, Sasuke spoke; "What are those for?"

Sakon a smirked when Sakura gave Sasuke the answer, "Those pills are deadly. They will kill you."

Sasuke took a step back. "What?"

Sakon's smirk grew wider. "It's true. In order for the curse seal to activate and reach its full potential, he must die once" explained Kidomaru (spider arms dude) with an evil smile on his face.

"How will I know this won't actually kill me? How can I trust you?." Sakura couldn't believe the way Sasuke is acting. He was actually calm. How can someone be so calm when he learnt he had to die?!

'I don't trust them,' she thought.

Tayuya explained further that they were skilled in barrier_jutsu, it would keep anything from interfering with the transformation and besides, if they let him die, Orochimaru would have their heads.

Sakura was sweating. She couldn't believe that was happening. She had to watch the one she loved die right in front of her. He was trusting them! Why?! He was actually putting his life in the hands on these Sound Shinobi!

Jirobo (The fat guy) pulled out what it looked like a big barrel, explaining that he would put Sasuke's body in there. He put one of his large hands on Sakura's small shoulder to calm her down but it clearly didn't work. Sakura still didn't trust them much but maybe her trust was painstakingly and slowly rising for the big fat guy.

Jirobo came up with an idea, "If we let him...,we'll give you the chance to kill us...,...or just me."

Sakon liked his idea, but Tayuya and Kidomaru didn't agree one bit. They wanted to argue but Sakon shook his head; they couldn't waste any more time.

"Fine, let's get this over with," Sasuke finally decided. He noticed Sakura's face became deathly pale when she heard his decision. She looked so scared she would faint anytime.

Sakura became even more scared when Sakon suddenly mentioned; "That girl will join you, but she has to be unconscious too". Too startled to say anything, Sakura looked speechless at Sasuke, hoping he will go against it.

"Whatever," he responded, giving an answer she didn't want to hear.

Sakura was against that idea. She finally snapped out of her shock and said, "H-how will I know they won't kill me when I'm unconscious?!"

She's now even more scared than before; not only would Sasuke maybe die but she would also get killed by them. Her hands started to shake violently but she tried really hard to hide them. She needed to act strong in front of them or they'd surely kill her for being too weak. Right before her mind could snap and before she went insane, Jirobo put his hand on Sakura's shoulder once again, claiming he would put her body in the barrel and make sure the others wouldn't harm nor kill them.

Sakura calmed a little down but was still scared, until Sasuke called her. She looked at him, unable to herself from blushing...and finally calmed down when he said; "You don't have to trust them, just me. I won't die and neither will you. This might be easier for us. You said it yourself that, they probably already know that we left. They might be on their way to get us back. If we both are inside the barrel, it will be easier for us to escape. Do you trust me?"

She looked straight in his eyes. This wasn't the Sasuke she knew, he was actually being kind to her, but from the looks of it, his face showed he didn't like having to deal with this and was getting impatient. He wanted to hurry up and go already. When she nodded her agreement, Sasuke knocked her unconscious.

'Sasuke-kun...don't die,' she thought before blacking out

Sasuke took the pill and swallowed it with one gulp. After he swallowed it, he let out a loud yell and fell on the ground, trembling with pain and collapsed.

xXx

Meanwhile, Shikamaru picked Neji Hyuga, Naruto Uzumaki, Kiba Inuzuka & Akamaru and Choji Akimichi for this mission.

"Let's keep moving, they're bound to be up ahead!" shouted Naruto.

"Let's not be too hasty and just barge in there. Stick to the plan" said Shikamaru wisely.

"But they could get further away from us!" continued Naruto, his impatience preventing him to stick to some plan.

"Naruto is right. If we don't act fast, they'll flee and even our sense of smell won't be enough to track them" explained Kiba.

The group kept moving, jumping from tree to tree, searching for Sakura and Sasuke.

'I have a bad feeling' thought Shikamaru fearfully.

Neji helpfully used his Byakugan to search for them. When he finally found them, he shouted; "They are not alone! They're on the move and faster than before!

"Then we also have to move faster!" yelled Naruto and the five took off at high speed.

.

.

Jirobo quickly put Sasuke and Sakura in the barrel and everyone sealed it.

"Dark Sealing Method!" they shouted, black smoke appeared around the barrel. The sealing tags lit up with red letters and the smoke died down, sealing the barrel shut.

Tayuya looked frustrated at the sealed barrel, angry that she didn't have the chance to kill Sakura. "Why did you put her in the barrel?! I wanted to kill her, you fatso!"

Jirobo ignored the word 'fatso' but answered her question, "I gave her my word."

Sakon was the one who him gave the idea in the first place. Tayuya continued yelling and yelling, "Your word? You have gotten soft! And you too Sakon! You were seriously going to keep that bitch?! This is gonna be the death of both of you, assholes"

Kidomaru kept staring at the sealed barrel when he finally asked Sakon; "Was it wise to put them together? He might kill her"

Jirobo looked at his hand, thinking back to when Sasuke slapped his hand off of Sakura's shoulder and gave them an answer, "I don't think it will be a problem. He won't kill her."

Tayuya looked at the fat guy, seeing he was acting weird. "What...don't tell me, you have fallen for that bitch?"

"Hmpf, hell no" he answered, picking up the barrel and swinging it on his back before they all started to run faster towards Orochimaru's hideout.

xXx

Naruto was determined to get his friends back no matter what! As the group was moving, he got lost in his thoughts; 'Why Sasuke? You too, Sakura! Wasn't everything okay? How did this happen in the first place?'

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts when Shikamaru yelled at him to pay attention. One of the four sound ninjas had stopped while the others went up ahead.

xXx

Jirobo took the barrel off his back and tossed it to Kidomaru. He decided to hold the pursuing ninja off while the others went up ahead.

As he waited for them to come, he smirked when he saw only two showing up, Choji and Kiba. He easily dodged their attacks and shouted: "You three! You can come down! I know you're there!"

Shikamaru thought this plan would work, but it turned out to be a failure. He nodded to the rest of the team and jumped down along with Naruto and Neji.

"You! Where are Sasuke and Sakura?!" shouted Naruto, audaciously pointing at Jirobo.

Jirobo chuckled looking at the ground, then raised his eyes with a murderous glint lurking in them, "They are far away from here and that pinky is probably already dead. "

Angered by his words, Naruto and Kiba recklessly attacked Jirobo. "Naruto, Kiba! Wait!" yelled Shikamaru, but it was no use.

He easily knocked both of them on the ground. Neji eyes widened when he used his Byakugan, "He is right! The others' speed picked up. If we don't finish this fast, we'll lose them."

"Shit!" cursed Naruto. They needed to find a way to defeat him fast or he'd lose his friends.

.

.

After a short series of attacks and getting stuck in a rock prison which drained an ample amount of their chakra, Choji decided to stay back and fight this guy alone while the others caught up to Sasuke and Sakura. At first Shikamaru hesitated but seeing there is no other choice he told Choji to come back fast and they all left to catch up to the others.

"Heh, a fatty decided to stay and fight me? What a joke!"

Choji got mad at the nickname and started to yell that he was not fat and attacked him head on. Seeing he had underestimated Choji, Jirobo decided to activate his curse seal.

.

.

"They are still chasing us, why don't you go take care of them?" Sakon asked, looking at Kidomaru.

"Fine by me. This thing is starting to get heavy anyway" answered Kidomaru, tossing the barrel to Sakon. "You carry it. It was your stupid idea to bring the girl along."

Sakon caught it and kept on jumping from tree to tree along with Tayuya while Kidomaru jumped down and landed heavily on the ground.

xXx

Neji noticed that another one stayed behind and warned the others. Shikamaru ordered them to run around Kidomaru. They suddenly heard a loud explosion that rumbled through the trees. Everyone except for Naruto looked back where the sound came from.

Naruto continued to muse; 'Why? Why would both of them leave?!'

Shikamaru smiled lightly. 'Good job Choji. I knew you could do it' he thought.

Neji turned back and kept focusing on the two sound ninja, telling them that they were almost there. 'Hold on you guys! I'm coming!' thought Naruto.

xXx

"Damn it!" cursed Tayuya, noticing the others were still chasing them.

"That useless Kidomaru! He probably didn't know that those brats went around him" said Sakon, fuming.

.

When they finally caught up to them, Naruto looked frustrated around; he didn't see Sakura or Sasuke. Sakon and Tayuya decided to stop and face them as Sakon put the barrel on the ground. His back was aching; he didn't expect the barrel to be this heavy.

"Where are Sakura and Sasuke?!" shouted Naruto, pointing at Sakon and Tayuya and also looking at Neji, waiting for an explanation why he didn't see them.

"Heh, that bitch is probably dead" answered Tayuya, smirking arrogantly.

"What?!" yelled Naruto, angered by her words and itching to attack her so badly. That wasn't the first time he heard someone saying that Sakura might be dead but Shikamaru yelled at him to calm down. Neji used his Byakugan to see what's inside the barrel and explained that both of them were positioned in the barrel. Naruto looked confusedly at Neji.

He explained further that Sakura was still alive, however...

"What is it?" Naruto demanded impatiently.

"Sasuke's chakra seems to be getting stronger and stronger by the minute."

"Tayuya, you go on ahead," whispered Sakon. Tayuya took the barrel and went ahead. Naruto angered by this went after her, screaming to give them back. Shikamaru yelled at him to wait but no change occurred. Neji saw it was futile to stop Naruto and told Shikamaru to go on ahead while he and Kiba took care of Sakon.

Sakon tried to stop Naruto and Shikamaru but got distracted by Kiba, making an opening for them to go after Tayuya. Sakon was now really irritated by these brats and decided to finish them quickly. He activated his curse seal to level two.

.

.

Meanwhile, the duo were chasing after Tayuya when they saw her talking to someone.

"Why are you here, Kimimaro?" she asked shocked, she didn't expect to see him.

"Orochimaru-sama said you were taking too long and gave me an order to bring Sasuke to him," he explained monotonously.

"D-did you kill Kidomaru?" she asked, scared to hear the answer.

He nodded a confirmation claiming someone who fell for such a lame trick didn't deserve to work for Orochimaru. He took the barrel and went ahead, commanding Tayuya to take care of the rest of those brats.

Naruto ran past her and went after Kimimaro before she even noticed it. She wanted to go after him, but got paralyzed by Shikamaru with his Shadow_Possession_Jutsu, telling her that he'll be her opponent.

However the battle went out of his hands when she activated her curse seal level two and summoned giants. Shikamaru managed to dodge all their attacks but didn't pay attention to one and almost got hit. Thankfully, he was saved by Neji.

Neji explained they were able to defeat the other ninja. Kiba was exhausted from his battle and told Neji to go on and help Shikamaru.

The monsters kept attacking, swinging their giant weapons at them. One hit Neji in the head and the side of his head started to bleed.

Shikamaru noticed that she was using her flute to control the monsters. As one of them started to suck Neji's chakra and energy, Shikamaru quickly used his Shadow_Possession_Jutsu to stop her from playing her flute. The jutsu was a success and the monsters disappeared, dropping Neji who lost consciousness after all the blood loss.

Tayuya broke his jutsu easily since he was running out of chakra. Currently, she had the advantage again and no one was now able to back him. Then out of nowhere someone yelled;

"Wind style: Wind Scythe Jutsu!"

(Let's go to Sasuke and Sakura)

Sakura finally woke up to the sound of Sasuke's faint breathing in her ear. She couldn't see anything; it was pitch black inside the barrel. Her body ached all over, she couldn't stretch since it was too cramped.

'Where am I?', thought Sakura.

Then she realized she was in a barrel with Sasuke. All the memories came, flashing back to her. Jirobo really did it; he gave her his word and he kept it.

'I hope he's okay. He was the nicest one among the four of them', she thought.

She noticed Sasuke was sitting in front of her. She crawled to get in a good position and put her head onto his chest, she waited for a few seconds and trying to listen to his heartbeat...,...,...it was very faint.

'Don't die Sasuke-kun!. He can't be dead! It's all my fault! I should have stopped him from taking that stupid pill! Please don't leave me! Don't die!'

She suddenly felt some movements. She sat up and peered through this darkness. Sasuke's breathing increased and his heart started to race the way it should be.

"S-Sasuke-kun?! You're alive! Are you okay?!" asked Sakura as she was getting closer to him, hoping she could see his face. Sasuke didn't respond, but only gave a smirk as the curse mark completely covered his body.

Sakura tried to call his name once again, but let out a sharp yell. Something was digging into her back. She realized that it was Sasuke's hands on her back, grabbing her tightly. Her struggling and yelling caused his hands to dig deeper into Sakura's skin.

"S-Sasuke-kun! You're hurting me!" she yelled as Sasuke's nails dug deeper into her back.

He suddenly pulled Sakura closer to him and said right by her ear, "Sakura, I need power. I need to destroy him!"

"S-Sasuke-kun" she whispered softly, his nails dug deeper and deeper until her back started to bleed but she didn't mind that for the moment. She hugged him tightly, not letting him go, while his nails dug deeper and deeper.

xXx

Kimimaro kept on running and leaped into a large clear area where he stopped, putting down the barrel and stepped away. 'This should be far enough' he thought.

Then a yell came from across the clearing area; it was Naruto. "Give them back, now!"

Kimimaro sighed and started to move towards Naruto. "It was their decision to go to Orochimaru-sama. There's nothing you can do to bring them back"

You're lying! They would never!", defended Naruto.

Kimimaro smirked, when a sudden rattling sound followed by a big bang came somewhere behind him. Naruto looked at the barrel, he saw smoke coming from the barrel.

He looked relieved when the smoke cleared. He saw Sasuke standing next to Kimimaro. Happy to see he is okay, but his happiness was instantly deflated when he saw Sakura. She was unconscious in Sasuke's arms.

~To be continued~

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