Darkest Before Dawn

Refuge

   Sasuke watched as Sakura disappeared in the foliage, their attackers following after her. He scowled to himself then looked at Naruto. The blonde glared at him.

   "What the hell are you doing, teme? Go after her!!" he yelled. Naruto hoisted Kakashi over his shoulder and bolted towards Sunagakure. Left with no other choice, Sasuke ran off in Sakura's direction. As he ran towards the chakra signatures, sharingan ablaze, he noticed something a tad bit... disturbing. The larger signatures were dropping out of his senses quickly, but the two significantly smaller ones were off to the side, squirming slightly but unwavering.

   He arrived to where everyone had gathered, but had to hold back a gasp. 

   He was an Uchiha-- strong, proud, and indifferent to the sight of blood... but it was hard to keep your face blank when you were face to face with a massacre of at least a hundred people and someone you know standing in the midst of it, cleaning blood off her arms.

   "Oh, you're here, Sasuke." she said. He quickly regained his composure and gave her a bored stare.

   "The dobe's taking Kakashi-sensei to Suna. I came back here to help, but I see that you've already sorted it out." he replied smoothly. Sakura flashed him a sheepish grin and walked to the two hostages who were blindfolded and untied them.

   "Nee-chan!" the girl exclaimed, jumping on Sakura, "Sakura-nee-chan! You're here!"

   The boy followed suit and jumped on the kunoichi, a wide smile on his face. She hoisted the boy onto her shoulders and carried the girl in her arms. Sasuke blinked in realization.

   "They're important to you."

   "Mm. I've known them since they've been born and their dads are good friends of mine. Besides, I couldn't leave these cuties even if I tried." she explained. Uneasiness slithered through the back of Sasuke's mind as the four of them headed off to Suna. Friends? These friends sounded dangerous if their children were worth kidnapping.

   Sunagakure was in their sights within forty-five minutes. There, Sasuke received his second shock of the day, but concealed it well this time. The guards at the gates were familiar with Sakura and let her in immediately, addressing her with a polite 'Welcome back, Sakura-sensei'.

   Sasuke glanced at his teammate from the corner of his eye.

   These past five years... just what had she been up to?

~

   Naruto was panicking. A lot. He bolted as fast as he could to Suna and to the hospital where the personnel carried his sensei into the emergency room. After a quick examination and deducing that it was the cause of a poison, they called over a short red head to the room. Kakashi's blood was drawn and sent to the lab to be examined. The red head in the room then headed out and met with Naruto who was waiting anxiously in the hallway.

   "Naruto... Namikaze, correct?" the man asked. Naruto nodded. "My name is Sasori Akasuna, one of the hospital's poison experts. We're running a couple of tests on his blood right now to make sure we haven't missed anything. As far as I can tell, the poison contains mainly hemlock and aconite, highly toxic plants. I'll be able to make an antidote, but it will take a few hours. For now, you're sensei will be fine. Uncomfortable, but fine nonetheless."

   The blonde let out a sigh of relief. Sakura, Sasuke, Haku, and Kana walked down the hallway to where the two were standing.

   "Hey, old man!" Sakura greeted as she waved, "Are you the one checking up on Kakashi-sensei?"

   "Ah, so he's your sensei." Sasori mused. He earned strange looks from both Sasuke and Naruto. "The poison, as I have told Namikaze-san, contains hemlock and aconite. I'm sure you've heard of those plants before."

   "Of course I have."

   She turned to the medics waiting near the doorway.

   "Maintain his airway, obtain IV access airway, and assist with ventilation as needed. While doing that, lavage his organs with water mixed with iodine. It should clean out some of his system and give us enough time to make the antidote." she ordered. Her attention then turned to her teammates.

   "Naruto, Sasuke, I'll go with the old man down to the greenhouse. Watch Kana and Haku for me, would you?"

   Sakura walked down the hallway beside Sasori ax the rest of Team Seven watched with dumbfounded looks. Sasuke looked at the one the medics.

   "You take orders from Sakura?" he questioned incredulously. One of the medics beamed and nodded enthusiastically.

   "Haruno-sensei has helped with the hospital numerous times over the past two years and we owe a lot to her wonderful skills! She has saved many lives and has taught classes to other medics of this hospital. She's also been taught by one of the great sannin so we know that everything she's teaching us is correct and better way!" he explained.

   'There's another sannin besides Jiraiya and Orochimaru?!'

~

   "I didn't expect you to return to your village. Or that you'd be teammates with an Uchiha and the Yondaime Hokage's son. You've got some pretty powerful people on your hands and it makes me wonder why you've left your village in the first place." Sasori said. Both him and Sakura were at the metal greenhouse table creating an antidote. Sakura shrugged.

   "I may have friends in high places, but that meant nothing to me when I had a goal to grow stronger. I couldn't have them hold me back." she replied with a smile. It sent a small shiver down his spine.

   "Anyway, can I have a minute? I need to send some messages."

   "Go ahead."

   Sakura exited the greenhouse and summoned three slugs. She quickly wrote down three separate notes. One slug was transported to Kirigakure, one was sent to Yugakure, and the last was assigned the bounty station nearest to Amegakure.

~

   "The hostages were taken and all the men sent were slaughtered, sir!" a follower reported. The Master grinned toothily.

   "Then it all has gone according to plan. Set up the next phase!"