IT HAS BEEN 5 YEARS SINCE I'VE UPDATED THIS STORY! It is crazy insane how fast time flies when you're forced to be an adult. I am so sorry to anyone who has supported my story. I never wanted to be the writer who stops updating. However, I have made it my mission to finish what I started. I hope to start updating my story again regularly. I hope that if any one of my followers are still out there, you will forgive me and finish this ride out with me!

Don't Worry

Her hair had grown quite long over such a short period of time; he liked it though. Her long wavy tresses made the best effort to cover her back, which her shirt left bare. It was hot in the fire capital, due to this fact they all traded out their regular shinobi gear for new summer uniforms. Sakura now wore a red violet top that was cropped, and stopped a few inches above her belly button. Her chest was fully covered, but her back was fairly bare. The top's strap were thin like spaghetti and wrapped around her neck comfortably. At the bottom of her shirt there was a string which she wrapped around her mid-drift serval times before securing it with a perfect bow. She partnered the top with a sheer soft pink skirt that flowed down to her ankles, and had a long slit on both sides. Underneath the skirt were her usual green tights, after all she was still a ninja.

Sasuke examined Sakura fully taking advantage of the fact that they were alone in the west wing of the palace. The pink haired kunoichi calmly stood against the wall, while looking down at the fire capital's main market place from the balcony. The warm sky was painted with hues of pink, purple, and yellow resembling a pastel paradise.

"It's so beautiful here." Sakura spoke softly with a smile.

The Uchiha who averted his eyes from the girl, quietly nodded his agreement, "Saku-."

"Sasuke, Sakura, are you there, over?" Came a voice from there wireless radio's.

Sakura pushed the button on her earpiece, "We're here Naruto, over." She responded without hesitation.

"You guys might want to come down for this." Chimed in Hinata, "Choji thinks he has something, over."

"We're on our way, over." Sasuke replied calmly. He held out a hand for his teammate who gladly accepted it. She moved closer towards him as if to give him a hug but her arms never left her side. The soft scent of sour apple teased the Uchiha's nose begging him to pull the girl in closer, but he restrained himself. In a flicker the pair stood before their teammates who all looked eager to share the good news.

With a loud huff Sakura flung her hair from out her face, "Stupid hair never wants to stay in place." She mumbled to herself tucking her strands behind her ear.

"So what did you find?" Sasuke asked bluntly ready to spring into action.

Choji was living out his dream during this mission, his only job was to eat. The fire capital was twenty times the size of Konohagakure with a population of people that would take years to fully investigate. As such, Choji was task with going to every bar, restaurant, and pub located in Shobosha (Fire capital), to find out as much information about the syndicate that is moving against the fire Daimyo. After all, everyone has to eat evil or not, or at least this was Kakashi's belief. So he gave the task to the only ninja who could stomach the job.

"I overheard two men talking about a fire demon, which I believe is what they are referring to the leader of the syndicate as. From what they were saying, he's one scary guy, but no one is actually on board with his plan to overthrow the fire Daimyo. They're all fine with the power they've accumulated by taking over some of the larger gangs in the capital. Apparently, after they took down the largest drug gang, their leader went on a power trip declaring that they would be taking down the Fire Daimyo." Choji explained simply.

"So his following isn't really behind him." Sasuke stated to no one in particular, he began running tactics in his mind that might help with cutting down the thug's morel completely.

"Wait a minute." Sakura intervened, "How do we know the information is good? They could have been feeding you bad information."

"That's highly unlikely." Choji responded holding zero doubt in his mind, "They were speaking in an ancient language that only select individuals would understand. I was only able to understand them thanks to Asuma sensei's teachings. You see, they were speaking in the same language the monks at the fire temple used, when they spoke to one another."

"Apparently, they're throwing the Fire Demon an intervention, which they are disguising as a party so every member of the syndicate has a reason to be present." Naruto commented, beaming with joy, "I say we go knock some sense into those jerks!"

Hinata shook her head, before speaking on the topic, "If they're throwing a party, there will likely be innocent civilians around. We would have to pick through the crowd to find the members of the gang, which could give them time to escape."

"Hinata's right, we need to infiltrate the party and find their leader. It shouldn't be that hard seeing how the party is for him." The pinkette added.

The chubby ninja nodded his agreement, "I was able to get the location, dress code, and time. So we're good to go."

The pinkette's lips perked up into a smile, "Well then, who's ready to party?"

{~…~}

"If you do not start behaving I will cut you without remorse! If you think I'm kidding around you should know that I've cut you before."

"Sakura?" A confused blunette asked when she entered her friend's quarters.

The pinkette blushed profusely, "Oh, Hey Hinata. I was just giving my hair a little pep talk."

"Still falling in your face?" The Hyuga princess stated more than asked. She was carrying a golden bag in her hands.

"I should really cut it again." She paused looking at her locks in the mirror, "I swear it hates me."

A soft giggle escaped Hinata mouth, "I'm sure you just need to get used to it again. I can help you style it for the party."

"That would be great!" The emerald eyed girl sighed out in relief, "What's in the bag?

"Your dress for the party." The Heiress said with a smile.

Sakura happily slid into the simple red dress. The spaghetti straps were perfectly paired with a plunge into the neckline to show off Sakura's womanly assets. Mimicking the skirt she wore earlier, the dress held a slit to accentuate her milky smooth legs.

The Hyuga princess smile in awe, "You look beautiful Sakura."

"Hnn." The two women turned to see the stoic ninja admiring the pink hair kunoichi. Blush form on Sakura's cheeks as she push her hair behind her ears. The strands however, swiftly flew back into her face.

"Stupid hair!" She hissed out in anger.

"I have something for you." The raven haired ninja said before moving closer to her to get a better look. His hand reached out to pull back the pinkette's hair and in one quick motion her hair was out of her face.

Sakura's fingertips instinctively reached up to touch what Sasuke had put in her hair. She found herself looking into the mirror to get a better look. A smile began to paint across her face as she saw two golden hair accessories meant to hold up, or in her case hold back hair, "Sasuke, why did you -?"

The usually unreadable Uchiha's face was the same color as his sharigan eyes, "There was an old woman in the market place who forced me to buy them from her." He didn't dare look Sakura in the eye and he wasn't big on showing his affection for the girl in front of others. Although, he had a sneaking suspicion that the blunette could see through his brave façade, "So I figured since I had no actual use for them I mine as well give them to someone with long hair."

Sakura's grateful smile quickly turned wicked as she took the opportunity to tease the Uchiha in front of her friend, "Oh, is that so? Then why not give them to Hinata, whose hair is longer than mine?" The Haruno held in her laughter as she watched Sasuke's facial reaction look as though he ate the hottest curry alive. Not too many people realized, but the stoic ninja had a bit of a shy side. A side she loved to exploit.

Refusing to answer the question the raven haired ninja turned to take his leave, "Finish getting ready, we leave in 10."

Once out of the room the two kunoichi turned to one another and laughed.

{~…~}

"Sakura can you hear me?"

The green eyed kunoichi touched the dragon shaped ear piece that was meant to look like an accessory, "Yes, I can hear you."

The sharigan user's microphone cracked, "Good. Hinata's got eyes on you. When you find the fire demon try and get him on the bridge that's located to the south of your current position. When you do Hinata and I will move in."

"Got it. I'll try and be quick about it." The pinkette responded.

The Hyuga princess chimed in, "Don't worry about being quick Sakura, we have plenty of time since Naruto, and Choji stayed back to look after the fire Daimyo. You don't want to cause suspicion to yourself. Your safety takes priority."

"She's right." Sasuke added, "Whatever you do, make sure to be careful."

"I got this you two, quit your worrying. Now I'm going to stop responding so I don't look like a nut job talking to herself."

"Hnn!" The two kekkei genkai users sounded in unison.

{~…~}

"That's when I said 'you seem a bit froggy so why don't you jump first', and after I heard a splat, I knew I made a good choice."

The young man with pale skin and midnight black hair busted into a fit of laughter and everyone around him followed suit.

Sakura didn't get what was so funny, in fact she was pretty sure nothing about the horrendously cruel story was comical in any way. Some poor guy who just wanted to make it back home to his family is now laying at the bottom of the valley because a kid convinced him it was safe to ride the wind current. The pinkette stared at the young man hiding her disgust for him. He couldn't be older than her age and he was already twisted into thinking there was nothing wrong with what he was doing.

As if feeling her killer intent the young man looked directly at Sakura, his eyes widening with curiosity.

'Crap!' She thought to herself as she turned around from the man and started to move away.

A firm grip stopped Sakura in her tracks, she turned to see the young man that was just telling the story. Her heart began to beat as if it was trying to escape her chest. 'How did he cross the room so fast? He shouldn't have been able so quickly.'

"Someone has approached Sakura" Hinata stated to Sasuke as she watched from a distance, "Something isn't right. I didn't even see him move over to her."

"Do you think we need to move in?" The Uchiha asked ready to teleport himself.

The Hyuga watched for a moment before responding, "Right now it appears that only he has approached her, so let's give it another moment."

Sasuke started to feel uneasy, he knew Sakura could handle herself but, he couldn't shake the feeling that he should get her out of there. For now however, he would trust in both of his female comrades.

"I….. don't think I've ever seen you around. Who are you?"

The kunoichi took a deep breath before turning around fully with a smile, "Oh, I'm nobody really, I was just invited here last minute and thought it would be fun to come."

"You were invited?" The suited man asked calmly as if not believing a word she was saying, "Well, do you have a name?"

"S-Sakura."

"I see." He sighed before flashing her a warm smile, "A beautiful name for a beautiful woman."

"Oh." The pinkette laughed nervously, "Thank you….. Well I should really get back to mingling. Nice meeting you….?"

"My name is Kiel." He responded understanding that she was fishing for a name.

'Kiel? Sounds an awful lot like kill. Figures seeing how he's a killer and all!'

"Right, well nice meeting you Kiel." Sakura waved her hand walking away only to be stopped once again by the man.

"Won't you stay with me a little bit longer? I guarantee you there's no one more interesting in this room than me."

The emerald eyed girl turned to face the man before cracking a playful smile at his over-confidence "What about the guy the party is for? I bet he has to be very interesting to get such a grand party thrown in his honor."

Kiel stiffed up before a hint of blush covered his cheeks, "Well, that's not really true. I'll admit I'm interesting, but my men throw these types of parties all the time and use me as an excuse to drink their lives away."

Sakura's could feel the hair stand up on the back of her neck. Had she really been talking to the fire demon this entire time? Sure he seemed vicious when she was listening to his story, but he didn't seem like the man she was looking for. Then again it would explain why everyone was "laughing" about something that was obviously not funny. You have to suck up to the boss in some way. She knew this all too well having served underneath the Hokage/ legendary Sanin Tsunade.

The pinkette discretely touched her ear turning on her coms so that Hinata and Sasuke could hear what was happening.

"Oh wow! So you're the man of the hour? It's an honor to meet you!"

Both Sasuke and Hinata perked up at this statement noting that they found their target.

"Are they still speaking alone?" Sasuke asked out of concern.

Taking a page from the Uchiha's book the Hyuga nodded her head while softly sounding, "Hn."

The pinkette then continued to boost Kiel's ego, "For you to be so successful, I wouldn't expect you to be so young." Pink hues painted across her face before she added, "Or so handsome."

Kiel looked shocked before flashing a toothy grin, "You sure know how to butter someone up. Do you think maybe now we could spend the rest of the night together?"

"Are you sure someone like you really wants to spend all their time with a simple girl like me?"

"You're not simple at all! I can tell just by looking at you that you're interesting. I want to explore every inch of you."

Sakura grabbed both of her cheeks and pretended to play coy, "You're so bad Kiel!"

The young man who seemed to also be chivalrous went into a mild state of panic, "Oh no Sakura I didn't mean it like that. I was referring to your mind."

The pinkette gasped pretending to be offended, her gaze dropped and she began to pout while tinkering with her gown, "So my body doesn't interest you at all?"

Hinata listening in softly giggled, "Sakura's flirting is amazing! I can tell he's even more curious now."

Sasuke was trying to contain his irritation. The pinkette's flirting was in fact extremely good and he couldn't help but think of the other men who had the privilege of hearing those type of flirtatious words escaped her soft pink lips. However, instead of expressing how he felt he stayed silent and prepared for the moment Sakura got the bastard on the bridge.

Kiel was left speechless, a soft smile fell upon his lips as he looked Sakura into the eyes, "You know it's loud and I can't really focus on you. Would you like to come back to my place? You know so we can talk and get to know one another."

With a sigh of relief that her part of the mission was over Sakura gratefully said, "Yes. I'd like that a lot."

"Good." The suave man turned towards four individuals who were standing at a respectable distance, "Chiro, Lee, Hon, Yu, Let's take our leave."

"Wait Boss, you're leaving already!?" A drunken voice yelled through the crowd as the person responsible pushed his way closer, "You can't go this party is important! We all have something we want to say to you. This plot of yours to over throw the Fire Daimyo, is ridiculous! We all feel this way. Come on guys tell him!"

Everyone in the room grew silent as they observed the conversation. Sakura could feel the blood lust and hatred beaming off of Kiel. He reached his hand out towards the man who flinched at the sight. The man however dare not to move, "I said I'm leaving. Stay out my way or I'll kill you and feed you to your family."

The kunoichi held her breath in. It was amazing that the man before her could seem like a completely different person in a matter of seconds. She was happy she didn't actually have to go home with him.

The man whose life was just threatened quickly moved out of his leader's way before running back into the crowd of people. Kiel turned to the silent room, "Alright then everybody, I'm taking my leave now! Unless someone else had something to say to me?"

If a single pin had dropped in that very moment, the kunoichi was sure she would hear it. The leader of the pack of killers smiled before taking Sakura's hand into his own and walking towards the bridge her teammates were waiting at, "I'm sorry you had to see that."

'Yeah me too!' Sakura thought to herself, "Please don't apologize." She chose to say instead, "He had no right to question you."

"Hinata, are you ready?" Sasuke asked calmly

"Yes. I'll take out the guards first, then if needed, while he's distracted you'll secure the fire demon."

The Uchiha waited for the moment, "Go now!"

"Right!" Hinata swiftly made her way through clearing and onto the bridge. Taking her gentle fist stance she quickly knocked out two body guards. She now had a clear shot of the fire demon. With a forceful thrust Hinata moved forward to attack the man who had hurt so many.

"Don't hurt my big brother!" Tiny pitter patter could be heard as a young child ran in front of the heiresses' target.

'She's not going to be able to stop it in time!' Sakura began to panic.

Sure the gentle fist wasn't necessary deadly, but it was extremely dangerous, and the force alone could break the young boy's bones.

Sakura used her reaction skills to run in front of and protect the child. In a quick instant Hinata had disappeared from view.

"Hon! Get my baby brother and get out of here!" Kiel turned towards Sakura and the girl visible flinched. Did he know she was a part of the ninja team? In a frighten state, Kiel rushed up to the pinkette and scooped her up over his shoulder. With the same speed he used to get across the room, the man dashed off.

"Let me go!" Sakura yelled preparing to use her jutsu to attack him.

Kiel ignored her request, "I'm sorry Sakura but if I'm in danger, you're in danger. Whoever is after me saw us together. I have to get you somewhere safe."

The seaweed green eyed girl paused mentally. He was protecting her?

The pinkette groaned inwardly, she did not want to be stuck on this mission any longer than she had to. She focused her mind and began to gather her chakra. Sakura's eyes snapped open, 'what's going on why can't I gather my chakra?!'

The kunoichi then looked down to examine her body, taking in the image she mentally gasped when she noticed small red dots on her arms. 'Did Hinata nip me before disappearing?'

The pinkette cursed herself for not trusting that Sasuke would stop the attack on the child. After all, children were his soft spot. She could break loose and fight him the old fashion way but, she wasn't really sure where she was since it's so dark and Kiel is covering ground as fast as Idate Morino. If she had to guess based off of the static coming from her communication device, she'd say they were several miles away already. It's fine! She'll just wait until her chakra points heal then bust her way out, and knowing where the fire demon's hideout is will be a plus!

'You got this Sakura! You're not some damsel in distress chaaaa!'

Another 25 minutes went by before Kiel finally stopped in his tracks and put Sakura down, "We're here."

Sakura stood frozen at what she saw. There in front of her was no hideout, but in fact a fortress.

"Don't worry." She heard Kiel's voice ring through her body, pulling her out of her thoughts, "Now one will be able to find you in here."

A nervous Sakura forced a smile, "G-Good."

{~…~}

Well that is it for this chapter! I really hope you've enjoyed it. I enjoyed writing it! I already have thoughts on the next chapter and I hope you'll stick around to find out what happens next with Sakura. How will Sasuke feel about Sakura being stuck with Kiel? Will she come out unscathed? You will just have to join me to find out. Until next time my loves!