Bound by Love (a SasuSaku Fanfic)

Chapter Eight: Encounters to Come

Chapter Eight: Encounters To come!

" Permanence, perseverance, and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragement, And impossibilities; it is this, that in all things distinguish's the strong soul from the weak." -Thomas Carlyle

It had been day two. The group of Konoha ninjas had only made it to one of seven different station stops, and with no luck. The recorded video hadn't shown a single sight of a pink haired kunoichi. One might consider this good news-- or extremely bad. It meant she had either still been on the train, or taken before even aborting. Although there was still hope she would be in the area, that'd leave roughly two weeks she hadn't been accounted for-- and Naruto was trying his hardest to remain optimistic.

"Don't worry N-Naruto-San.. S-Sakura chan is a s-strong girl... She is probably o-okay..." The pale eyed girl said, a hand on the fox's shoulder. "Yeah, ugly can take anyone. If she were kidnapped, they'd return her after a day or two. If she's still alive." Said Sai with his usual deceiving smile. Naruto shot the newest member of team Kakashi a dirty look, but it wasn't long lived. "Lets think rationally here; no one would take her from Suna, they are our allies. The train from there connected to our last drop off. Sakura couldn't have gotten off that train. She made it further." Said the only level headed lazy genius.

Naruto Uzumaki hadn't ever exactly been the most rational thinker. He was more of the jump-right-in kind of man; and all he could think of was his childhood crush tortured and half dead in a hole somewhere. Crying, wondering where he was, why Naruto hadn't saved the day like usual. It was true, she could take care of herself. Sakura had come far from a crying little girl, and transformed into a woman who could probably break the continent in half with one punch to the ground.

Although the blonde haired blue eyed boy once loved those jade eyes, and Yearned for her heart. Though in the present day, his love for the cherry blossom changed as did they over time. Now he loved her like a sister, the way she had always seen him like a brother. She was one of his dearest friends, even if Sakura is indeed stronger today, he would always see her as someone he had needed to protect. Shikamaru looked at the sky and sighed, missing the clouds. Of course now you couldn't see the blue of canvas, but he had always preferred sunny weather days over these gloomy, grey ones.

X X X X X X

Day 4, and it had been nothing but down pour since the mesmerizing night before the last. The rosette had reluctantly been wearing Jugo's oversized coat which had a hoodie that covered well over half the kunoichi's face. She had insisted that he wear it, but he claimed the girl would fall ill way before he would from a little rain. Why such a gentle giant had ever decided to join paths with the ruthless Uchiha would always be a mystery to her. Suigetsu on the other hand, was rather cheery and humored by the weather, walking around with his tongue out like one might when it snowed.

Sasuke hadn't said much at all, in fact he remained the quietest of the four, only answering questions with simple one word answers. It had gotten annoying faster than you could imagine. "Ohhh! Who wants to play a game??" Asked the white haired boy, rather joyfully
"No."
"Aww, c'mon Sas-gay! I'm bored, just one game!"
"No."
Then Sakura chirped up, "I'll play with you." Sasuke shot the pink haired girl a cold glance, that turned into a soft smirk playing across those perfect lips' of his. "Alright! Hmmm... I know, I spy! I'll start.. I spy something... Green!" Said the excited purple eyes. Sakura moved her mouth to one side, and bit the inside of her cheek. "Is it the trees?" Her jade eyes met purple with an amused smile. Sasuke felt this unusual bitter feeling welt in his gut, one he hadn't felt in years. Jealousy; he wondered, and of what he hadn't been sure of. "We aren't doing this." The raven claimed, leading to a bored sigh from Suigetsu. Sakura no longer kept her distance of a whole three feet, but walked less than a step behind the Uchiha. "Why ya always gotta be ruining all my fun--" an overwhelming feeling washed over the avenger, as he felt another presence. "Shut up you idiot.. Someone's following us.." The leader informed the group in a hushed low tone.