Chapter 12: Punishment

A/N: Here it is and I managed to stick to my 1-2 week update schedule (although this was last minute). I hope you enjoy this chapter and Rebirth is next on my list.

"What the hell is she doing?" resonated from the bushes as the figures the group had been observing disappeared inside the warehouse. The man who had poised the rhetorical question immediately rose from his hiding spot and attempted to retrieve his girl who was currently in the arms of another man. His ebony eyes appeared to gleam scarlet as he imagined the different ways in which he could kill the man for touching Sakura. Just as he moved to storm the warehouse, a rustling from the bushes immediately had him and the other men zeroing in on the direction which the noise had originated.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, unless of course you want Sakura to give you the cold shoulder for the next few days."

Asuma relaxed as he quickly rose to greet the woman he saw as his surrogate daughter. As Ino came into view, Asuma immediately inspected her to see if she was hurt or harmed in anyway. Once satisfied with his examination, he gruffly pulled her into his embrace as the fear he had felt earlier dissipated. A smile graced Ino's lips as she returned the hug before pulling away to see who had come to rescue her.

"Gai, Kakashi, and Sasuke. " A blonde eyebrow rose and she examined the men. "Isn't that overdoing it just a little?"

Her only response was a scoff which caused Ino to narrow her eyes in Sasuke's direction. Irritated by the man's attitude, she turned to address the other three.

"Although I was unconscious for bit, when I came to, the idiots didn't blindfold me so I got to see the entire warehouse. It's vast, empty and there are only three members. The one you saw earlier is Sugiestu, and he is a horny bastard but seems to be skilled with a blade. There was a red head female who was very loud and seemed to be the brains of the group but there was no sign of her being skilled in combat. The one that concerns me the most is a man named Jugo. His body stature alone is intimidating and it is obvious he is partial to hand to hand combat."

"You were able to figure this out how?"

The way in which Sasuke poised his question had Ino bristling with annoyance. With a quick flip of her hair she turned to address him.

"I was originally part of the Haruno group and my main task was reconnaissance. I am more than capable of defending myself, as is Sakura. I suggest to all of you, especially you Sasuke, let her do her thing."

A scowl marred Sasuke's expression as he turned to glare at the warehouse. He didn't want to see Sakura hurt in anyway nor did he want anyone else touching her but he also knew that if he didn't demonstrate that he trusted her, it would be highly likely any chance at a relationship would be jeopardized. As Sasuke continued with his inner turmoil, Kakashi lazily reached for his infamous book, before settling down against the tree, allowing the words on the page to transport him into another world.

"How can you be so calm?" Irritation was laced through Sasuke's words as he glanced at the man who was lounging against the tree. Seeing how Kakashi wasn't even fazed by his question only served to irk Sasuke further.

"Aren't you worried about her?"

Not even bothering to look up at Sasuke, Kakashi continued to read his book, however Asuma noticed the tension that raked through Kakashi's body. Sighing as he felt another argument in the works, Asuma reached for his cigarettes, using them as a means to distract himself from the tension that had suddenly fallen upon the two.

"I trust her..."

Ebony eyes narrowed in response to the silver haired man's answer. Turning away from Kakashi, Sasuke let the subject drop as he resumed glaring at the warehouse. Images of what could be happening to Sakura prevented Sasuke from relaxing, until he heard the latter part of Kakashi's statement.

"However if she isn't out in ten minutes, we will be going after her."

A small smile formed on Sasuke's lips as he found solace in those words.

"So you're Kizashi's daughter. I must say, you are a gorgeous one. It would be a waste for you to marry that damn Sasori." The leery tone that Sugietsu adopted had Sakura rolling her eyes in pure disgust. She would actually be willing to marry Kazuma rather than Sugietsu, then again a sadistic narcissistic jerk wasn't an appealing choice. Pursing her lips in response, Sakura allowed the man to guide her into the warehouse, all the while keeping her senses on high alert. The echoing of their footsteps lead Sakura to believe the unit itself was fairly large with high ceilings that allowed the sound waves to be echoed throughout the building. The lack of noise made her assume that the group's numbers were around five maybe less. It was apparent that the man who currently had his arm wrapped around her shoulders was the ringleader so to speak, however Sakura suspected he wasn't the brains of the operation. Mentally trying to envision her surroundings, she barely caught the trailing end of Sugiestu's question.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" A chuckle was her response as she felt his grip on her shoulders tighten before she was crushed against his lean frame. Biting her lip in order to prevent the chorus of curses that were threatening to spill, she settled against Sugiestu's side.

"I said, I'm shocked you were willing to come here alone. Does your friend really mean that much to you?"

"Of course." Her automatic response had Suigetsu eyeing her with a hint of surprise. Slowly he took in the woman's appearance and he would be more than willing to admit that Sasori was an idiot, until his violet eyes landed on her eyes. The murky depths verified that the girl was blind and a part of him pitied the girl, but he agreed that it would be a pain to have to settle down with a woman who was blind. In the midst of his musing, a feminine voice broke through his thoughts, which caused him to grimace in annoyance as he registered the voice belonged to Karin.

"I highly doubt she came alone you idiot. She's freaking Kizashi's daughter, head of the Haruno group. Do you really think he would let his precious princess out of his sight without some protection? You're such an idiot!"

"Shut it Karin!"

Intrigued by this new voice, Sakura quirked her head in the direction of the female's voice. Her deduction that she wouldn't have come alone led her to believe that she was the one who had an inkling of what she was doing, however..

"Don't tell me to shut it! We already are on Kazuma's hit list because you screwed up and kidnapped the wrong girl! I freaking told you she had pink hair and you grabbed a blonde."

"It doesn't matter now since we have the girl!"

A small chuckle escaped from Sakura's lips as she listened to the two bickering like a married couple. Immediately there was silence as she could feel two pairs of eyes focused on her. Not even trying to hide her amusement, she asked, "Are you two dating?"

"NO!" Their outraged response resonated throughout the building which only served to encourage Sakura's laughter. Spluttering could be heard before the voice belonging to Karin spoke once again, " I would never date that idiot. He isn't my type!"

"Well I wouldn't want to date a loud mouth bitch anyway!"

"What did you call me?!"

"You heard me!"

"Asshole!"

"Bitch!"

"Enough you two. Do you really want to be acting like that in front of our hostage?" The deep voice that spoke alerted Sakura to another presence in the room. From the tone of the voice, she assumed it was male. His statement seemed to work as the two arguing lovebirds quieted down.

"Jugo's right." Suigetsu turned to observe Sakura who had finally stopped laughing. Eyeing her for a few seconds, he motioned to Karin. "Call Kazuma and inform him we now have Sakura. Maybe then he will reconsider allowing us to join his group."

With a quick nod, Karin complied, not before muttering a few more curses directed at Suigetsu.

"You kidnapped my friend just to get Kazuma's attention?" The deadly tone in which the question was poised had both Suigetsu and Karin stopping what they were doing to stare at the girl. When neither of them answered, Sakura took a step forward in their direction.

"I asked you a question." This had the deserved effect as Suigetsu began to speak again.

"We didn't kidnap your friend, it was suppose to be you."

"And now that you have me, you are just going to hand me over to Kazuma on a silver platter? What the hell do you think I am? A freaking piece of meat?"

Suigetsu flinched at the harsh tone the woman had adopted. He subtly inched away from her as the pink haired beauty continued to glare in his direction. Sheepishly he replied, "Yes?"

A frown adorned Sakura's face as she quickly made her move. With a quick flick of her hand, a small blade flew past Suigestu's ear before embedding itself in the wall behind him.

"What the hell?!" Suigetsu quickly moved out of the way and approached Sakura, intending to disarm her but was surprised when he felt her hand grip his arm before twisting it painfully behind his back. With a quick shove, Suigetsu was pinned to the ground, all the while muttering curses until he felt the cool blade pressed against his jugular. Silence filled the room as the other two watched in a mixture of shock and awe at the display the visually impaired girl initiated. Jugo moved to assist Suigetsu but Sakura's voice halted his steps.

"If you take one more step, you can say goodbye to your partner right now." To demonstrate how serious she was, she dug the knife deeper into Suigetsu's throat, nicking a bit of his skin, causing blood to trickle down onto the blade.

"Damn."

"Now as it is, I am sorely tempted to kick your asses, but you might be useful to someone I know."

"You damn bitch I'm not going to be joining your group!"

A smirk graced Sakura's lips as leaned forward until her lips were inches away from his ear.

"Who said you were joining our group? Sorry to say, our organization has standards unlike others."

A shiver went down Suigetsu's spine, indicating his fear but also attraction to the woman pressed against him. Trying vainly to hide the blush that was forming on his face, he asked, "What group then?"

"Karasu."

At the mention of the group's name a crash could be heard as the warehouse was stampede by members of the Haruno group as well as the head of the Karasu. Two pairs of eyes focused on the scandalous position Sakura was in while a burst of laughter broke the tension that had fallen upon the other two.

"Sakura, I thought you were going to kick their ass, not rape one of them."

"Ha ha Ino. I actually recruited some new members for the Karasu group, isn't that right Suigetsu?"

"H..Hai." His response had Sakura beaming at the other members.

"There aren't any objections are there?"

"No." The immediate reply from Karin and the other man satisfied Sakura as she turned to glance at her men with an I told you so expression. Asuma had an exasperated smile as he ran his fingers through his hair while Gai was going on about how Sakura still demonstrated her springtime of youth. Shaking her head, Sakura rose from Suigetsu and reached out to him to help him up. Unbeknownst to her, but to Asuma's amusement, both Kakashi and Sasuke relaxed the moment Sakura had removed herself from her scandalous position. As Suigetsu grabbed Sakura's hand and pulled himself up, he turned to glance at the group of men that had apparently came with Sakura.

"I guess you were right Karin." This was muttered in defeat but Suigetsu was surprised when he didn't hear an 'I told you so' from the red head. Turning to glance at her, he was shocked to see her attention solely focused on the male with black hair. A smile was on her face as was a glint of determination as she strolled over to said male.

"My name is Karin and you are?" The seductive tone wasn't lost on Suigetsu or Sakura although the former seemed to be more upset by it than the latter. Hiding another chuckle, Sakura responded, "Well that is the head of the Karasu, Uchiha Sasuke."

"Really?" Karin continued to observe the handsome male before her, already formulating a plan as to how she would be able to lure him into her bed.

"I take it you have no problem joining the Karasu? I hear he is very...handsome."

A giggle was accompanied by the compliment which had Sasuke narrowing his eyes at the woman who had wrought him with worry just moments ago. Arching an eyebrow in response he glanced at the other two members, ignoring the woman before him who was currently trying to plaster herself against him.

"Who is to say I want them to join my group?

"I'm sure they will be useful to your plans, Sasuke-kun."

The honorific wasn't lost on Sasuke. "Hn" was his only response as he once again looked over the three members before him. They might be able to help with the take down of the Kazuma group, but it would first be necessary to test them to ensure they would not betray the Karasu or hinder his plans. As the gears began to turn, Sakura slowly made her way over to Kakashi, who was by her side in an instant. A relieved expression graced Sakura's features as she leaned against him.

"We need to return soon, before father catches wind as to what happened. He will not be lenient nor will Inoichi for that matter. Besides, I'm sure Sai is my apartment right now worried sick about you, Ino."

"Oh my god, Sai! Let's go!"

Sakura chuckled at her friend's rush but she could understand her need to be with her loved one. Muffling a sigh, she ran a finger through her ponytail before gesturing to Kakashi that it was time to leave.

"Sasuke, you should introduce yourself to your new members and we can discuss your plans tomorrow afternoon."

"Hn." Was her only response. Taking that as a yes Sakura began to walk away along with her men. Just as she was about to pass Suigetsu, she stopped right beside him before reaching out and tugging his shirt towards her. Not even blinking, she pulled back, punching him in the face. The resulting impact had him skidding back a few inches as he cradled his injured cheek, glancing at the girl in shock as she once again surprised.

"That was for Ino. Don't underestimate me, Suigetsu-kun."

With that, Sakura began to walk away as Asuma and Kakashi followed behind her, each one had an amused expression on their face.

As Sakura made her way up the stairs, she slowly allowed herself to relax as the tension she had felt the moment she had learned about Ino's kidnapping melted away. The moment the group had returned to her apartment, Sai was outside waiting for Ino. Their happy reunion brought a smile on her face as she bide Kakashi, Asuma and Gai farewell. Of course the trio were more than willing to help her up to her apartment but she declined, knowing it was late and they had an early day tomorrow. It still didn't deter Kakashi from saying he would be at her place tomorrow morning. Rolling her eyes at the overprotective tendencies that were sometimes endearing but also annoying, Sakura unlocked her apartment before feeling the wall for the familiar shape of the light switch. With a small click, light flooded the apartment although it honestly did nothing for her. A small smile colored her expression as she mused over her habit. Shaking her head, she made her way over to the bathroom, ready to wash away the stress and curl into her bed for the night. Just as her hand wrapped around the doorknob, a loud thump could be heard. Tensing at the unexpected noise, Sakura quickly reached for one of her tanto as she turned towards the direction of the sound. Another thump could be heard and she was surprised to find the sound originating from her room. With quiet steps, she slowly approached her room door, tanto poised as she reached to open the door.

*Thump*

Steeling herself, Sakura barged into the room, ready to attack but she halted her assault as she heard a muffled groan. Tension still raked through her body as she slowly approached the source of the noise. Just as she was within distance, a hand reached out and wrapped itself around her wrist. Surprised, she quickly went into defensive mode but stopped at the sound of her name.

"Sakura..."