A/n: Ok! So, yes, I'll bore you with an author's note at the end, alright? Here it is, don't hate me too much, I'm out of practice!!!
Chapter 15: The Plan
"Sasuke-teme, when are we gonna get there?!" the blond asked fiercely, running through the tree tops, he looked behind him, worry and anger was evident on the others' hard faces.
"In a few minutes if we speed up, we're getting closer so you need to shut your big mouth and watch where you're going!" Sasuke barked back, his face was the hardest.
The rest of the group picked up the pace and kept quiet. They started to dart around a little bit, they where so close now, the trees were thinning out and getting farther apart. Sasuke stopped suddenly, as Naruto darted past him, skidding to a stop and colliding with head on with a branch. The others slowed and stood around him.
"Alright Sasuke, how do we get in?" Shikamaru asked, crossing his arms. Choji nodded and reached for a kunai. Sasuke looked over his shoulder at the fortress entrance.
"Well, you read the note, and that's not really an option, now is it? I think the only way in would be through the front gate, they'd expect us to be coming around the back, or the sides, so they would naturally have more guards there, but, he obviously thought about it before hand and probably has all of the guards surrounding everything, and none inside. It's simple, we go in from above." Sasuke answered, scanning their faces.
Kiba raised his hand, "Oi, if we're going in from above, like in a group, wouldn't that be pretty suicidal?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"Uchiha, he has a point, if we were to do that, it wouldn't be very smart." Lee added. Neji shook his head. "No Lee, we're going to spilt up. It is simple; we break up going in and branch out once we're inside, then we get the girls, right?" Sasuke smirked and nodded.
"Alright, I understand, so, who's pared up with whom?" Gaara asked folding his arms. They looked over each other, trying to silently figure that part out.
"Well, I suppose we can do this. Come here real quick." Shikamaru suggested, pulling out a sheet of paper and sitting down on a branch. Lee handed him a small pencil. The whole group crowed around him as he drew a quick chart.
"X paired with Y to get…
Sasuke - / - Sakura
Naruto - Kiba - Hinata
Neji - Lee - TenTen
Shikamaru - Choji - Ino
Gaara - Shino - Temari"
"Oi, Shika, that's good and all but what about Sasuke-teme?" Naruto asked, turning his head to get a glance at him. "Dobe, you read the note, you know it'd be the only way, besides, it's fine with me." Sasuke retorted.
"Whatever, so, where do we go in from? Like with our partners?" Kiba asked, turning toward Sasuke. Sasuke bent down and flipped the paper over and drew a quick map of the fortress, explaining where more guards would be, and where trap doors where located.
"Alright, you get it now? Let's go, we meet back at camp in three hours at the most, if you're not back by then, we send word to the village." Sasuke announced. The group checked their holsters and got with their partner and split up.
With Sasuke-
Sasuke quickly went in, heading toward the far southern corner, landing quietly, waving his hand in a quick snap to let the others know it was clear. He took out a kunai and popped open the vent, clicking a small flashlight on, and going in. He crawled in, it was a tight squeeze, but it would work.
As he crawled, he heard a distant yelp. He felt his chest tighten as he heard it again. 'Sakura, I'm on my way,' he thought, crawling faster. He could only hope that wasn't her. At the far end of the vent he could see a light filtering up through the slats, he carefully looked down in the room below him, he saw that he was in one of the hallways and there was no one around, he quietly pulled up the cover and dropped down, moving to a shadow for concealment.
As he moved in the shadows, he started to become more weary, as if the air was becoming heavier, he knew he had to push on, to save her, anything for her, he wouldn't, he couldn't live with himself if something happened to her…
With Naruto & Kiba-
"Hurry up, dog breath!" The blond hissed as they moved towards a corner, popping open a small window and squeezing through, Kiba following in. They walked quietly down the corridors, freezing as they almost rounded a corner, two sound nins' running by the adjacent hall, thankfully not noticing them.
Kiba looked at him, studding his face, 'He's really worked up about this,' He thought, frowning.
The group moved down the hallways, snaking around like the beast they where after. Naruto tugged on Kiba's sleeve when he spotted a door, pointing silently at it, glancing around to see if anyone was around, before dashing forward, putting his hand on the door handle, trying out the knob.
With Neji & Lee-
"Neji, do you think we should go in through a window?" The black haired teen asked, looking him over, thinking of the best way to get in.
"That will work for now, but we just need to hurry," He said, jumping to one, quietly cutting the glass out. Neji slipped inside, unnoticed as did Lee.
A scream was heard from a ways off, the air weighing them down.
Dead silence…
Finally Lee broke it, his voice cracking, "Do you think that was,-" He was cut off by Neji raising his hand, closing his eyes, "Byakugan," he whispered, opening them again, looking forward, turning pale at the sight, one hand on his stomach as if he where to wretch.
Lee looked at him, 'I guess so,' He thought, worried. "Let's get moving then," He said, dashing forward, letting Neji take the lead, since he seemed to know which way they where going.
'Let her be alright, please let her be alright,' the silver-eyed young man pleaded silently.
With Shikamaru & Choji-
The two looked around for the biggest option they had, settling for a pipe, large enough for them both to fit through, most likely sewer. They crawled through, careful of the green things seeming to grow from the walls.
With Gaara & Shino-
Gaara frowned, looking at all the entrances their companion had taken, looking at an empty piece of wall surrounded by nothing more than thick bushes, moving towards it, holding out his palm to it, sand moving along the spot, forcing itself forward, making the wall crumble, Shino following him inside.
"This is going to be too easy," The red-head said dully, choking the guard that had come to see what the noise was with sand, leaving a corpse on the ground, sauntering down the corridors, with sand swirling at his feet. Shino on the other hand, walked quietly behind, taking note of where they where, and how to get back out.
With Sasuke-
He frowned, mentally wishing he had some sort of idea where he was, vaguely remembering, if only he saw something to remind him. 'Where would that snake have put them?! Probably towards…hmmmm, the middle! This place is like a maze, that would only make it harder for us,' He thought, picking up his pace, seeing a door farther on at the end of the hall, fifty feet, forty-five, forty, thirty-five, thirty, twenty-five, twenty---
Silver hair and dark clothing, dim light reflecting off a pair of glasses, scalpel in one hand, kunai in the other. Sasuke growled, pulling out his own.
"Kabuto,"
"Ah, Sasuke-kun, how nice of you to finally join us, we've been waiting for you," He sneered, taking stance.
A/n: Ok, hmmm, how do I put this? Oh, I know;
I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY for no updates since like, uh….I forgot… Anyways, been very hectic and stuff, I hope this chapter is decent, I know it jumped around a whole lot, but I'm WAY out of whack! I haven't been writing much, and what I have is only new stories, and I didn't really want to start something new until I did something with this, so very sorry! Anyway, uh, review? It's at 149, come on, 150? Anyone? So, please, don't kill me, I promise to update much, much, MUCH, sooner, I've currently got my schedule worked out, so I've got plenty of time in class to write, then take it home and type it up, so yeah, Love you guys bunches,
CherryBlossom2 ;)