Never Forget: Chapter One

Sakura stood at the gates of Konoha. She was waiting for Naruto, her goofy baka to come home. It had been three years since he had left to train with Jiraiya, and he was supposed to come back any day now. She missed him, as much as she hated to admit it, she missed him and couldn't wait for him to get back. But as the morning passed to night, no one came.

The next day, no one came.

The next week, no one came.

It had been 9 days since he was supposed to come back. She was about to leave for the day when she saw a person running towards the village. Come on, it HAS to be you, Naruto she thought. The figure came closer and closer until it was clear to her that it was not Naruto. It was … Jiraiya?

"Jiraiya-sama!" she called out. Then she saw how torn up he was. He was scraped, bruised, and it looked like he was now limping. "Jiraiya-sama! Are you alright? Where's Naruto?"

"Take me to Tsunade" he said wearily.

They arrived at the Hokage's office near nine o' clock. Tsunade was still working, but was shocked when she saw Jiraiya. She quickly healed him, then asked him what had happened.

"Well, Naruto and I were running back to the village, when we were attacked by Akatsuki. There were two of them, and they were S-ranked criminals. Naruto knew that we didn't stand a chance. He also knew that they were after the nine-tails inside of him. We tried to fight for a while, but they were winning. Naruto saw this, and…he…he made me come back to get back up, while he is still fighting them. We have to hurry, otherwise they will kill him." Said Jiraiya

"How long ago was this?" asked Tsunade.

"only just under a day, so we still have a chance to save him." Said Jiraya.

Sakura couldn't speak. She couldn't think. Naruto? Dead? No, not yet. Not yet? How can we save him? HE always saves ME! Im too weak! But I have to help him! "Tsunade-sama. Please send me on a team to help Naruto."

"Sakura, you do realize that it might be too late right? You have to understand that if Akatsuki has won, and extracted the nine-tails, then Naruto will be dead. I don't want this to upset you so that you lose focus and get yourself killed." Said Tsunade.

"Yes. I understand." Said Sakura.

"Right. The team will set out in two hours. It will consist of Kiba, Hinata, Neji, Shikamaru, Sakura, Ino, and Kakashi. Sakura, I will leave it to you to tell them. Good Luck." Tsunade said.

Sakura ran to everyone, telling them what happened. She then told them to meet at the gate in two hours, ready to go.

After two hours, they were all ready to go. Neji, Hinata, and Kiba tracked Jiraiya's scent to the battlegrounds in the middle of the forest.

It was torn apart. Trees were smashed, craters were formed in the ground, and there was blood everywhere. Mostly Naruto's blood. They looked around to see if he was passed out anywhere. He wasn't. But Sakura did find something else. Naruto's Konoha leaf headband. It was laying in one of the craters with blood splattered all over it. She picked it up, and felt herself starting to cry. Everyone ran over to her.

"Sakura, this doesn't mean anything. He probably just forgot it when he got away." Kakashi lied. There is no way that he got away… he thought.

"come on Sakura, stop crying. If you're gonna save Naruto, then you can't waste time crying!" said Ino.

"y-yeah, thanks. We have to go save him now." She said, wiping away her tears.

They headed along the path of blood that lead to some cliffs. However they were stopped when the Hyugas warned them of incoming shinobi. They stopped, and were surprised to see the sand ninjas.

"I heard Naruto was in trouble. We wish to assist you in his retrieval." Said Gaara, while his siblings nodded in agreement.

"Alright, but we're almost there." Said Kakashi.

They headed off in the direction of Naruto's scent. They ran until they got to a sealed cave.

"Naruto, he's inside! But, his chakra, it's being sucked out of him." Said Neji.

Shit! Are we too late? Just hang on Naruto! Kakashi thought.

tbc...