The Next Step 8

Chapter 8
Sacrifice



"Stop it, Naruto!" Hinata screamed.  She couldn't stop thrashing about as Naruto continued to torture her.  "No, please!  Stop!" Tears were starting to roll down her cheeks as he wouldn't cease.  "Please, Nah-roo-toh!  You know I'm...I'm...I'm ticklish!" She screamed again in laughter.

Naruto continued to torture her as his fingers trailed up and down her sides and across her stomach.  They were at his place because their picnic date had been rained out.  Hinata had gotten soaked from the rain so Naruto offered her one of his shirts to change into, so she was now wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of compression shorts that he borrowed from his red headed neighbor.  They ended up eating lunch in his living room and somehow they got on the topic of tickling.  Hinata told him how sensitive she was and because he was bored, he decided on seeing just how ticklish she was.  And that's how they ended up as they were now.

In all of Hinata's thrashing, she had accidentally kicked him in his groin.  He had stopped immediately and fell onto the floor in a groaning silence.  Hinata sat up and looked down to see the blonde ninja moaning on the floor, causing her to feel guilty.  She got up from the couch and knelt down beside him, placing her hand on his cheek and whispered, "I'm so sorry, Naruto...but I'll make it up to you."

She bent down and kissed him tenderly on the lips.  He had forgotten about his lower pain until a new one appeared.  Hinata smiled against the kiss as her hand trailed down and she lightly grabbed at his lower member, fully aware of his arousal.  She moved her hands to the hem of his shirt and he slowly began to sit up as she lifted his still dampened shirt off from his torso.  His seal was no longer there, but as he entwined his fingers in her hair and deepened the kiss, she couldn't help but to trace a spiral around his bellybutton.  He gave a soft chuckle against her lips, breaking the kiss, and placed his hands on either side of her face.  Without their conscious approval, their bodies had wrapped up together so that Hinata was sitting in his lap with her legs secured tightly around his hips while she was pressed up against the sofa.  Her arms hooked around his neck as they both took time to breathe.

She could feel the heat of his breath bounce off her face and the rapid thrumming of his heart against her chest.  But before anything else could happen, there was a knock at the door.  Hinata looked to the door and back to Naruto.  She placed her lips beside his ear to whisper, "Be in the bedroom in five minutes or else I'll start without you."

And with that, she untangled herself from his body and quietly made her way to his bedroom.  Naruto was stunned to silence and had to slap himself in order to compose his usual self.  He quickly got to the door and nearly flew it off its hinges.  He was going to tell whoever it was to go away, but his plan was completely forgotten when he saw who it was.

He was a bit surprised to see Sasuke there.  He was wearing sweats like usual and he was just soaking wet.  Little rivulets of water cascaded down his face and arms—the visible parts of his body—while he wore a dulled and tired expression.  It was clear that he hadn't been sleeping lately, even to Naruto, by the way his posture was slouched and the dark circles under his eyes.  Naruto knew not to ask him about the obvious insomnia so there must've been another reason for the Uchiha to show up at his door.

"Come on in." He said and left the door open for his friend.  There wasn't any concern that Sasuke would leave or do anything else because his only concern was for Hinata who was waiting for him in the other room.  "Hinata," he cracked his door, "Sasuke's here."

"I-I'll be right out." She stammered.

Naruto chuckled at the thought of Hinata blushing and frantically looking for her clothes.  He shut the door and proceeded to walk over to his couch where the Uchiha was sitting.  Though Sasuke was drenched and probably soaking the couch as well, Naruto didn't care.  He knew his moody friend quite well and knew that he wouldn't be at his house if it wasn't something important.  The question was...what happened?

Sasuke ran his fingers through his hair, slicking it back although a few strands returned to his face.  Most people would believe that this was his usual, aloof self, but Naruto knew him better than most people.  He could see concern, panic, and even fear—actual fear—in the Uchiha's eyes which was starting to put the host in a state of unease.

"Sasuke, what happened?" Naruto couldn't take the silence any longer.

The said ninja still didn't respond as he folded his hands—blocking his mouth—and leaned on his elbows, losing himself in deep thought.

"Sasuke," Naruto's voice had turned gruff now that he was desperate to find out what happened, "tell me." He nearly growled.

"She's gone." He simply muttered.  If the room wasn't as dead as it was, Naruto would've never had heard him.

"What do you mean?  Who's gone?"

"Sakura...She's gone." His voice nearly cracked.

Naruto couldn't quite understand what was going on.  Hearing that Sakura was gone had surprised him, but what was more surprising was that she would leave him in the first place.  Something didn't make sense here.  "Sasuke, tell me exactly what happen."

He turned his head away from his friend and looked out the window.  It was still raining as the water streaked down the glass and the dark clouds were still visible in the sky.  He saw a flash of lightning in the distance and couldn't help but wonder where exactly she had gone to, but as much as these thoughts invaded his head, all he could really think about was nothing.  His mind was blank of options as to what to do.  Taking a deep breath, he decided to move through the motions and tell Naruto what happened upon his arrival home.  "This morning she had gone to see Tsunade with Ziom while I was still asleep.  When I woke, she still hadn't come back and so I decided to see if she'd gone to the hospital for a shift, but when I got there, she wasn't there.  I decided that she must've came home and went back.  When I came home, there was evidence of a struggle seeing several papers strewn about, furniture broken as well as glass, and some blood had gotten on the floor.  Ever since then, I've been searching the village for her."

There was an audible gasp, but it didn't come from Naruto.  Instead, both men turned to see Hinata standing in the bedroom doorway.  She was wearing her black shorts from before but instead of the black t-shirt she was wearing Naruto's orange jacket.  She must've been listening in on Sasuke's story because her eyes had grown wide and a tear was rolling down her cheek.  Naruto waved her to sit with him on the couch and she did so very sluggishly.

"Did you report her absence to Hokage-sama?" Hinata asked as she dried her eyes and clutched Naruto's hand—a sort of instinctual reflex.

"No."

"Then there's still hope.  We can notify her and then you'll be able to get a team together to save her and—"

"No, I mean, I'm not going to tell her." His eyes had started to burn passionately then as if he was angered, though his face remained stoic as always.  "This is why I'm here instead of there."

"But Sasuke," Naruto had to pause in order to get the right words, "you're on probation.  You do realize the consequences if you perform any ninjutsu, genjutsu, or even activate your sharingan, right?"

"Of course I do, baka.  That's why I came here." His anger was starting to become more evident on his face but at the same time it looked the same as embarrassment because his cheeks were starting to burn a reddish hue.

"So what you're saying is...you need my—"

"Don't say it." Sasuke snapped.

"What?"

"You know what I'm talking about." He grumbled.

Naruto smirked, "You mean, I shouldn't say hel—"

"Yes, that."

"Help."

"That's it." Sasuke got to his feet with more energy than he'd entered the apartment.  In fact, it was a good sight to see him with so much vigor.  "I don't need your...assistance."

"No, wait, Sasuke.  I'm sorry!  I was kidding!  I promise I won't say that word again." Naruto wanted to help his friend and started to spout things that would appeal to the Uchiha's ears.

"Fine." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Please, Sasuke-kun, let me assist you as well.  With my byakugan, it'll be a lot easier to find her." Hinata spoke up.

He appreciated her wanting to help him, though he'd never say it aloud, so he simply nodded in reply.  She smiled at him with happiness, especially since he was willing to extend towards friends in times of need.  Sasuke sat back down.  He didn't know what do next exactly and therefore needed to think, but the more time he took to think, the farther away the people were getting.  'Although, that might not be the case...' he thought.  And then it hit him.  He got back onto his feet and went to the window.  It was definitely still raining and the lightning had gotten even closer.  You would be a fool to be out in a storm like that.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke turned around, fighting the smirk on his face, "I think I know where they took her."

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Ziom had left Tchakara with her other body guards for the night so that he could go home and rest.  He was about halfway there when he felt the presence of something familiar, like a group of shinobi because of their chakra, and so he quickly changed course to follow them.  They were heading away from the village and he was going to stop his pursuit—in case they were heading off to do a mission—but as he stopped to turn away, there was an awful chill that ran up his spine.  He had felt that sensation once before and though he didn't want to continue onward anymore, there was something telling him to follow them.

The rain pelted his face as he gained speed from the intense adrenaline that was running through his veins.  He knew he was getting closer to the shinobi because the same killing intent that had ran down his spine was getting worse.  Ziom remembered the first time he felt an intent as murderous as this.  It was during the Fourth Ninja War, and it was also the first time he had met Uchiha Sasuke.  At the time of their encounter, he had thought that Uchiha Sasuke was very skilled and deserved all the credit that he was getting but also, he was a very arrogant teenager and thought that he could take him on in a fight.

So, Ziom had purposely set out to find him.  He was praised his entire life on how talented and naturally gifted he was that it had finally got to his head.  At first he was frozen by fear upon their meeting, but as he was pushed on the defensive by the Uchiha, he had finally caught himself and was starting to push back.  Several times he could've gone for the killing blow but every time Sasuke would miraculously escape death.  The battle had gone on until they were both diminished of chakra and were strictly fighting with taijutsu—sure he had succumbed to the sharingan a few times, but quickly managed to escape the difficult sight, and because genjutsu uses up a lot of chakra, the fear of the sharingan had disappeared a lot quicker than he would've thought.  Sasuke was a formidable opponent when it came to taijutsu and even when they were both mentally and physically drained, both men were able to keep up with each other's speed.  Though, because they were constantly running at top speed for such a long time, Ziom wasn't used to the rapid drain of energy and that was his downfall.

He was sure, at the time, that Sasuke would've taken his life especially since he was prepared to strike, but the most unexpected thing happened, he was spared.  At the time, Ziom had thought it was because the Uchiha was also drained of energy, but as time went on, he came to realize that that wasn't it.  There was something else that made him stop and ever since then, he'd been wanting to ask what and why, though he hadn't gotten the chance to ask it yet.

Because Ziom had lost himself in his reverie, he had almost collided with a tree but his body automatically dodged the trunk.  He shook his head to clear his thoughts and concentrated on gaining more speed.  For an unknown reason, he felt the need to catch up to whoever these ninja might be and tag along, even if he was intruding on a mission.  Finally, he caught sight of a bright blonde haired ninja along with two others.  He knew the blonde shinobi and decided to take his speed up another notch to catch up.

Naruto turned around and their eyes connected.  Because he was found out, Ziom joined up with the group.  "What are you doing following us?" Naruto barked over the patter of the rain.

Ziom needed to make up a lie in order to tag along, just in case this was something off the record.  "I am following Uchiha.  He left the village." Though he could talk to Mai or Sakura about anything, that was it.  Only Sakura or Mai ever got to hear full, thought-out conversations from him.

"Fine, you can tag along, but don't report anything." He told him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what I say.  If you see something that shouldn't be happening, don't report it." There was a deep tone of anger hidden in his voice as he shouted over the rain.

"And what is this about?"

"Sakura's been kidnapped." Sasuke had entered the conversation, and though he responded with a mumble in the pouring rain, his voice carried very nicely over the sound.

"What happened?" Ziom could feel his tone change.

"Wow.  I never noticed you had purple eyes before." Naruto commented.

Ziom internally cursed himself.  He was starting to get too emotional because it was starting to show in his eyes.  His lack of control was not a good sign for what was ahead of the party.  He looked away from Naruto and over towards Sasuke.  The Uchiha must've figured it out because his own eyes had changed as well.  Though they hadn't transformed into the sharingan or in color, they had taken on a serious, stern stare.

"Sasuke-kun!" Hinata called from ahead.  She had stopped on a thick tree branch ahead and thanks to the branches above, she was shielded from the heavy down pour.  "I can see three people up ahead."

"Do you see Sakura?" Sasuke asked.  Ziom noticed the concern in his voice.

"No, I can't really tell." She scanned the area one more time.  "Wait, there's a mass of chakra at two o'clock."

Sasuke was about to head off in the pointed direction, but Naruto put his hand on his friend's shoulder to stop him.  "Let me check it out." He made the familiar hand sign, whispered the jutsu's name—Kage Bunshin no Jutsu—and in a puff of smoke, another Naruto appeared.  He was born knowing what to do and took off towards the given direction, stealthily leaping from branch to branch.

Everyone else sat in wait for the clone's return, keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of detection.  The now softening patter of the rain was keeping the silence from becoming completely awkward.  Time, though seemed to tick by very slowly as Naruto was reduced to count the drops coming off of the leaves above in order to keep himself sane.  Ziom's eyes never left the direction in which the three chakra masses were while Sasuke did the opposite direction and carefully watched out for the clone's return.  Hinata kept her byakugan in tact, the veins bulging around her eyes as they pumped chakra to enhance her sight.  Everyone was on edge as they waited.

The soft puff of smoke was what interrupted the silence as Naruto's clone evaporated back to its original body.  All of the shinobi were tensed, waiting for the ambush to happen any minute, but Naruto held up his hand.  It was a sign saying that they haven't been detected.  His stare was directed at Sasuke, no one else, and then it pointed to two o'clock where Sakura was supposedly held.  It was another silent sign but the signal was common in directing shinobi on secretive missions.  The Uchiha took off as Naruto continued to give out more silent directions.

His eyes went on Ziom next and pointed at twelve o'clock, the nearest chakra mass.  He took the signal and went to position himself for the ambush.  Naruto's eyes went to Hinata next and pointed at ten o'clock.  She gave a slight nod and moved herself into position.  He was the next to go in formation and headed eleven o'clock.  The three of them needed to cause a distraction for Sasuke to get Sakura, though he'd have to take care of the fourth person on his own.

All three of them were in position, right above their intended targets, and it appeared that they had the advantage.  These people must've not been shinobi because Naruto had cracked a few twigs and crunched a few leaves on his way over his target and no one noticed the sounds.  This was going to be easier than they thought.

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Sakura could feel the blaring light against her eyes as her vision came flooding in.  It was blurred at first, most likely because of the rain, but quickly adjusted.  It was about twilight night now because she could see a faint redness behind the clouds.  She could feel the light mist of rain hit her face as the wind started to pick up, causing a chill to run down her spine and give her goosebumps.  When she went to  rub her arms, she realized that her hands were tied up at the wrists.  Seeing that she checked her legs and saw that her ankles were in the same fate.

Everything started to flood back from her blackened memory as she recalled the last few minutes she had before falling unconscious, though she couldn't quite remember her kidnapper's face.  She did, though, remember that he was male and bulky.  He must've known about her strength because she was hit over the head first and then her arms were restrained.  She hadn't fallen unconscious at that moment and instead decided to fight him off.  Because of her life as a shinobi, she had managed to push him back into the living room, though he'd fallen off of her and onto the dinning table.  She remembered hearing breaking as they both struggled to get the upper hand and as she was starting to put him on the ropes, one of his comrades had come to check on him.  Sneaking up behind her, the little bastard had hit her in the exact same spot as the last guy, finally causing her to black out.

"Oh, crap." She muttered as she tried to straighten herself out.

Someone must've heard her because there was a rush of footsteps.  This guy was fast because he had gotten hold of her hair before she could even see the type of shoes he was wearing.  Being jerked upward, she had nearly gotten to her feet and felt as though her hair was going to be ripped out of her head.  This guy was strong as he held her like a rag doll.  Neither what he was saying or his face was important, but what was happening behind him was.  She noticed a gray figure leaping in the trees, finally taking residence on the branch directly in front of her.  

Though the figure was far away, she could tell it was angry.  In fact, it gave off the same chilling anger as a certain moody Uchiha that she knew.  As the ruffian continued to speak to her, she paid no regard to him and kept her concentration on the figure.  She felt reassured knowing that he was there, but there was something troubling her as well.  If that really was Sasuke, then why wasn't he coming to save her?

"—are you listening to me?" The guy's voice had gotten through to her.

She spat on him.

"That's it, you bitch." He reeled his hand backward to hit her but he never came in contact with her face.

Instead, there was another person's hand wrapped tightly around this man's wrist.  The ruffian released Sakura from his grip, causing her to fall down on the ground.  After she caught her breath, she realized what was going on.  The other person who had grabbed the ruffian's wrist was definitely Sasuke.  His eyes rested on the man with a killing intent.  They were as cold and passable as stone.  It looked like he was going to kill this man.

"Sas—" She tried to speak but the sound of cracking bones made her stop.

Sasuke had snapped the guy's wrist and tossed him easily aside.  Her jaw dropped in horror as she saw the old Sasuke from the past return before her eyes.  She tried to shake that image as she focused on her tied limbs.  If only she could escape the grasp of the chakra rope, then maybe she could stop Sasuke from doing something he might regret.

He noticed her struggling with the rope, and though he wanted to beat the living hell out of that guy, his better judgment had gotten hold of him as he turned around to help her.  She looked relieved and happy that he decided to help her.  He also noticed cuts and bruises all over the visible parts of her body, probably caused from the squabble that was caused back at the apartment.  He disregarded the sight and focused on helping her.

"Sasuke, I'm so happy that you came for me." She said, her voice cracked from lack of hydration.  Sakura could tell that he'd been looking for her because his hair was sticking to his forehead and his clothes were soaked all the way through so that they stuck to him like a second skin.

"Why wouldn't I have come for you?" He muttered.  It sounded more like a personal question directed at himself, but...

"I thought that you wouldn't risk your probation." She said, causing him to stop and look at her with questionable eyes as if what she said was what a crazy person would say.  "I mean, I wouldn't want you to risk your probation for me.  It's been a steady three months, and with the way things were going, you could be off your sentence in another three months."

"I don't care about—"

Whack!

Neither Sasuke nor Sakura saw that coming.  The ruffian from earlier had stealthily gotten back up and hit Sasuke upside his head with a large fallen tree branch.  Sasuke fell over like a rock thrown in a lake, leaving only Sakura's legs free from the rope.  She had been so surprised that she'd given a shriek in horror.  The only thing on her mind was Sasuke's welfare...as usual.

She called out to him, but he didn't respond.  He remained motionless on the ground as the rain started to pick up again.  Because of the rain, every person's face looked the same, but it was only Sakura's that looked different as her make-up started to run down her face.  Her eyes became red and puffy as her cheeks flushed.  She could feel her throat starting to tighten up as her voice was cracking from the strain.

"What are you crying for, whore?" The guy said.  Sakura could see that he was in pain from his wrist, but also, she could tell that he was disregarding that pain in order to fight back.  He picked her back up by her hair and lifted her onto her feet.  She hit her hands against his chest but her emotions were getting the best of her as she was putting no force into her "attack".  "Oh, come on, baby.  You had a lot more spunk earlier."

"Let me go.  Let me go." She helplessly wept.

"Oh, no.  The fun's just getting started." His smile was evil.  Pure evil.  And it sent more chills down her spine.

"Please, he needs medical attention!" She screamed.

"Really?  Because I recall him breaking my wrist.  Don't I get medical treatment?" He pushed her up against a large oak tree as she was still bound by her wrists.  His strength was much greater than her own at the moment as he managed to hold her upright with one hand while his bad one started to unbutton her blouse.

"No, please, stop.  Stop!" She started to flail about, mostly in her legs seeing how she was bound by her wrists.  Her aim was terrible as she tried to hit his groin but kept missing in the end.

"There we go.  Now that's there's the spunk." He had finished unbuttoning her shirt.  Now, her bra was the only thing that stood in the way of him and her bare chest.

"Let go," she whimpered.  Sakura hadn't felt this defenseless since before she starting training with Tsunade.

Finally, her wish was granted as the pain in her head stopped and she slumped down on the ground.  She picked her head up and saw the most horrifying sight.  Sasuke was standing in front of her with his back to her.  She had scanned the area and saw that the ruffian was a few feet away lying on his back and blood was streaming down his face.  Her eyes went back to Sasuke's still figure as he clenched his fist, most likely in anger.

"Are you okay?" His voice was strained as he tried to keep his anger under control.

"Uh-huh." She couldn't form words but made a noise to reassure him.

"Good.  Now I can finish what I started." He paused.  "I don't care about this stupid probation anymore."

"What?"

"I don't like being defenseless, and because I can't use any jutsu, I feel exactly that.  I am a strong and powerful shinobi, and do you know what strong and powerful shinobi do?" He waited for an answer but since he got silence, he continued.  "They either protect or destroy...I've only destroyed things in my life and now I want to try the other option, but I can't do that."

"I don't understand."

"How can I protect someone that I love if I don't have the power to do so?"

Sakura's heart skipped a beat.  "What...What did you say?" She struggled to get to her feet because her hands were still bound, but once she did, she made her way over to stand in front of him.

He didn't even flinch as she placed her hands on his chest.  She looked up at his face and gasped because he had done the one thing she'd hoped for the past three months that he wouldn't do.  He had activated his sharingan.

"Sasuke, what did you do?" She felt tears starting to creep back.

"I was protecting you." He muttered.

Sakura realized that his voice wasn't strained just because of his anger.  It was strained because his curse mark that was set in place for his probation had activated which meant that ANBU agents would be showing up very soon.

"Oh, Sasuke." She flung her arms over his head in order to hug him.  Her lips were magnetically pulled to his.  Because he was paralyzed, she was the one doing most of the work.

"Sakura," he said between gasps, "I love you."

She stopped and looked at him.  His eyes had reverted back and were soft and warm, though their usual sangfroid didn't escape from the stare.  It was in this stare that she could tell he meant what he said.

"Sakura!" It was Naruto's voice in the distance that snapped her back to their situation.

She remembered what her appearance looked like and pulled her arms up from around his neck and tried to button her blouse back up the best she could.  Sakura looked back at Sasuke and as she turned back around to see Naruto, Hinata, and Ziom, she was surrounded by ANBU Black ops. agents.  They each had a different animal mask to identify themselves to their teammates but she was left in the dark as to who was who.

"We've come for the Uchiha." The one with the bird mask said.  Two other agents approached Sasuke, one on either side, and hooked their arms under his own.  "Make sure you get back to the village."

And with that, the ANBU team was gone as well as Sasuke.

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The rain had finally stopped now that it was night, even the clouds had dispersed.  She looked up to the night sky and saw the thousands of twinkling stars before her.   Back at the temple, she would have nights like this all of the time, but now it was only bringing up bad memories.  She cursed herself for being stuck in this village, though there was one good thing about ending up here in Konoha.  Tchakara was finally reunited with Ziom.

The young priestess had found the body of a man in the woods.  His eyes were bulged out of his head as he was trapped in a genjutsu.  She bent down beside the man and placed her hand on his forehead, transferring some of her chakra to him to break him out of the illusion.  As his eyes fluttered, he let out a ruff and strained scream, causing her to immediately shut him up by kicking him in the head.

He stopped screaming and finally noticed the priestess.  Immediately, he got on his hands and knees and started to bow in her presence, practically kissing her feet as she now stood before him.  "I'm so sorry, Kara-sama." He said.

"Shut up, you fool." She slapped him across his cheek which only caused him to cower in fear.  "I told you specifically to capture the one with the white hair, not the pink.  Now explain to me how you failed in my demands." Her authoritative tone caused him to tremble and stutter.

"W-Well, w-we g-got the wrong a-apartment a-and as I was s-searching a-around the p-place I-I realized th-that Uchiha S-Sasuke lived th-there.  I f-figured h-he would b-b-be a better c-candidate."

"And what made you figure that?" She nearly yelled in exasperation.  "You know what, don't answer that.  There is only one person I want to get and that's Ziom-kun." Her eyes sparkled with malicious delight.