AN: I am SOOO incredibly sorry this took so long to get out. Last time I updated I was roommates at friends house, since then I moved out on my own and also I have been engaged this whole time. My wedding is now only 3 weeks away! I have been planning and calling and pretty much setting up my own wedding for the last two months! I am hopeful the next chapter will be out sooner once the wedding is over. There are only a few chapters left in this fic, hopefully I can get it done by the end of the year. Thanks to everyone who is still sticking with this fic regardless of my horrible updating skills. It is not lack of want but of time.

Chapter 15: Hear My Heart

'I'm sorry how could I have failed you so badly.' Even thought the young nin was usually stoic people could see through the tension in his frame as Shino stood in front of the Hokage. They had waited the allotted 20 minutes and then took off quickly to gather Sakura. What they found instead was a terrorized family who were all too quick to tell them of the plot that had caught Sakura.

The little girl was indeed kidnapped by bandits, bandits who had been hired by the Stone ninja. The head of the group then approached them and made them play along in setting the trap or they would kill their daughter. As upset as Shino was he couldn't blame them for trying to protect their daughter. The missing ninja would apparently do whatever it took to get what they wanted. After 24 hours of searching and combing the area there seemed to be no sign of Sakura. This left them as they were now reporting back to the Hokage who looked pissed enough to spit nails.

"By no trace you mean no scent," she paused looking at Kiba. "No chakra," she paused looking at Shino who grimaced, "And no visible trail," she paused looking straight at Hinata. They were already disappointed in themselves enough without the hokage adding to their guilt.

"Tsunade-sma," Hinata spoke up hesitantly. "All of the trails we had led to a dead end. But there is a chance since they are from Stone it wouldn't be impossible for them to have a transportation jutsu to meld with or travel through earth." Tsunade's mood seemed to grow darker.

"And the family caught in the middle of this?"

"They told us everything they knew. Unfortunately it wasn't much. They seemed to have been targeted because their home was on the outskirts of the village. Perfect for a trap." Tsunade sat contemplatively staring down the small group. Shino tried his best to stay calm and collected but every inch of him was tense under his coat and he wanted nothing more than to head straight back to Gifu and continue looking for her.

"Take the rest of the day off to rest," she finally responded. Instead of relaxing the team all tensed, Shino opened his mouth to protest but she held her hand up demanding silence. "You leave tomorrow at dawn with ANBU squad 3 and try to pick up their trail. Squad 3 is one of the best tracking teams we have, if anyone can find her they can." Though she may have said it to reassure them it may have been said to reassure herself as well. They all bowed and took their leave splitting up outside the door to head back to their own homes.

While he may have seemed composed on the outside Shino was a wreck. 'This is all my fault, this my family's problem and I dragged her right in the middle of it and now she's-' He shook his head to clear his thoughts. 'Don't think like that. She's strong, trained by the Hokage herself. She is waiting for backup right now and we cannot fail her!' He was so distracted by his thoughts he didn't hear his own name being called out. So when his cousin's hand landed on his shoulder he reflexively went on the attack. Thankfully Hisoka expected such a reaction and caught his wrist that tried to swipe a kunai at his throat.

"Shino," he said calmly finally breaking through to his cousin. Hisoka dropped the wrist that went limply to Shino's side. "I-I heard what happened." Shino felt a wave of emotion overcome him and held back the dampness in the corners of his eyes. "Even if we didn't get a long...I'm sorry." Shino smiled a bitter smile. His cousin was now finally acting civil after Sakura was gone.

"Thank you," he said softly clearing his throat trying to keep himself together. "But we are getting her back, and when we do, you're going to have to keep this kind of attitude up you know." Hisoka had a lost look in his eyes like he didn't know how to reply before finally nodding his head.

"Did you want to stay over in the compound tonight?"

"The compound?" It then hit him like a ton of bricks. He wasn't living in the compound anymore, right before the mission he and Sakura had moved into an apartment together. His new home was now empty and quiet with both of their things everywhere, it made his chest ache and he looked to his cousin and felt a pang in his heart but still shook his head.

"No I think I'll be fine, but thanks. I need to get some rest I leave at dawn."

"Shino," he said still worried but unable to find words.

"Please tell my mom and dad I'll be safe and...and I'll bring her back." His cousin nodded dumbly as he watched Shino turn and walk away. It didn't take long for him to make his way to the apartment complex he was only recently moved into. He made his way to vaguely familiar door on the fifth floor and unlocked it kicking his shoes off and setting his pack by the door. He took a deep breath as he looked around the empty room.

"Tadaima." He went in and went through the motions vaguely numb as he cooked dinner, repacked his bag with new supplies, showered, and got ready for bed. He walked into the bedroom and looked at the large bed, much too large for one person. He clicked off the light and slid under the cool sheets thinking back to how Sakura and he had thought they may need to go buy winter blankets soon, it was getting colder. It was then it all hit him, the rescue, the unease he felt about splitting up, finding her gone, the frantic search, reporting home their failure, and then the empty apartment and her lingering scent on the pillow. He made not a sound as silent tears slid from his eyes and dampened his pillow.

Sakura groggily opened her eyes feeling the crust that was holding them closed crack away and the burning in them as she opened her eyelids after crying last night. She looked around the dimly lit room and saw food and juice on a tray with a basin of water and a rag next to it. She tried to asses herself with chakra but noticed that she still didn't have enough to access. 'They must be either blocking or draining my chakra. I don't even have enough for a clone.'

She went over to the pitcher and dipped it into the water before rubbing it over her face. She sighed at the coolness on her face and took a deep breath sighing. She'd been up a good part of last night crying and overall having a pity party. She was kidnapped, pregnant, and no one knew where she was and her kidnappers were planning on stealing her baby. Overall it wasn't that surprising to her, especially with her hormones, that thinking about that had made her break down crying. That was last night, and this was today. She had been upset and had a good cry but she needed to put that aside and figure out a plan. 'It's not just me I'm trying to save anymore,' she thought and resisted the urge to rub her stomach. One thing she had come to realize slowly was that if she wasn't in her current situation, she would be extremely happy though confused about finding out she was pregnant. She was fairly certain Shino had not known about the drain on chakra messing with her jutsu or he would have warned her, so she was not going to fault him for it.

The first thing first was to figure out how far along she was. Once she knew how far along she could determine what limits her body could handle while trying to escape. Especially if she wasn't that far along there was greater chance of miscarrying. She shook her head trying not to think of that. But thinking on that if she did miscarry there was a chance they would try to impregnate her themselves if there was even a chance it would work. As much as she wanted to pity them she could not let their bad situation excuse their current actions.

The second thing would be to determine where she was. She knew she was underground but she didn't know what country she was in or if they were located in a city or in the middle of no where. That would make a difference when it came to escape.

Lastly was to determine how many there were. She had hunches and guesses but unless she knew how many she may be caught trying to escape when a person she didn't count on snuck up on her. The one good thing was her kikai seemed to react whenever one of them was near, it gave her a split second warning to prepare herself. Once she could assess these three things she could try and make a plan of escape.

She took the tray of food to her bed and began slowly eating her breakfast and sipping on the juice provided, she felt a bit nauseated but thankfully she was able to keep the contents of her stomach in her stomach. She tried going over in her head just when she might have gotten pregnant. They started dating just after Kiba's birthday and their first time wasn't long after that. She could have gotten pregnant as early as mid July. She ran her hands over her body taking stock of anything she may have recently brushed off like her other symptoms. She wasn't physically showing so she was probably still first trimester. They said a blood test came back positive so most likely after 4 weeks. She was starting to feel nauseous in the morning so morning sickness usually started up around 6-8 weeks. So somewhere between 6 – 14 weeks most likely. 'Shit that doesn't really narrow it down much.' All in all she needed more information before she could even attempt a plan of action. She finished the food and set the dishes back on the side table where she found it.

Without much else to do she began doing stretches on the ground. If nothing else she needed to try and keep in shape and keep herself limber. With oncoming weight gain she had to make sure she could still move when she made her escape. She thought again about the conversation she had last night with her captor. 'Still can't believe he didn't know who he was kidnapping!' For some reason that annoyed her more than it should. Not only that but how desperate they were. It seemed odd though that nothing was helping their clan. They had tried potions, herbs, marrying outside the clan, justus. It seemed very strange that nothing had given any results. She wondered if it was something that they were all overlooking. She felt a buzz on her hip and looked up just as the same captor from yesterday melded through the earth. He seemed a bit surprised to see her sprawled out in the shape of a human pretzel on the floor.

"Are you sure you should be stretching like that?"

"Actually it's encouraged early in pregnancy to exercise and stretch since it will be harder to continue later." He seemed a little surprised but then directed his gaze back to the empty tray.

"We want you to come meet with our doctor."

"Doctor?" This was new there was no intel on them having a medic.

"He'll be doing a check up on you once a week. We'll also be moving you to a different room."

"Why?"

"Well I don't know if you've noticed but this room only has a bed and a table. We thought you might like a bathroom." She pursed her lips before deciding to ask her question.

"Why would you give me more freedom? Won't I be more likely to run away?"

"While even without chakra you're dangerous let's just say there's no where for you to run."

"So I am underground," she sighed. He said nothing but the silence said it all. If they had her so far underground they weren't worried about her breaking out then she was going to have to find a way to get someone else here. "Can I use the bathroom first?"

"I believe the doctor wants samples, you'll probably have to wait til after for the new room." She resisted the urge to sigh and watched as he put his hand to the wall of dirt he had merged through and saw it open into a hallway. He stepped out and she followed behind. The wall of dirt closed behind her and she tried to take note of where it was located. With them melding the earth like this she could easily get lost or rerouted. She followed him down a few more twists and turns in the hallway before they stopped in front of another wall of dirt. Once he again put his hand on the wall it opened into a new room. 'Great so there are no doors, they open walls.' She notices it was set up like a normal OBGY. There were no dirt floors or ceilings here, apparently they had this set up especially for the kidnapping beforehand. 'I guess at least it's sterile.' She noticed a man who didn't seem in the least bit shinobi walk up to her and her captor.

"This is Dr. Oshu, he will be seeing you once a week. Doctor this is Sakura." She looked him up from head to toe and noticed he seemed like the regular civilian doctors at the hospital. His hands weren't calloused like his shinobi counter parts. There were no visible scars on his form and he didn't seem overly cautious. 'I wonder if he knows I'm here against my will?'

"Hello I need some information and then some samples before we continue." Her captor stayed with her for most of this. He asked her some basic exam questions: weight, height, last menses, diet, etc. Then there was a urine and blood test before he led her to a curtain and had her disrobe. While she understood she was a captive she was a bit relieved when her captor said he was going to be on the other side of the wall while the doctor did the pelvic exam. She felt like she should be doing something but she currently had damn near no chakra and she was so far underground even if she killed all her captors she might be stuck down there trying to dig her way out for days or weeks. Hell she couldn't even find it in herself to attack the doctor. He seemed to be a normal doctor just doing his job, they would probably just find someone else to replace him anyway. Maybe with him being a bystander though she could try and find help from him.

Once he extracted his digits from the pelvic he wheeled over a ultrasound machine. As he was getting things ready she finally asked the one question that was on her mind.

"Do you know why I'm here?" He looked at her for a moment like he was studying her.

"For a check up on your pregnancy."

"I mean," she started talking softly. "Do you know I'm not here of my own will?" There was a sad look in his eyes that told her yes he did indeed known.

"Do you know," he said just as softly. "Neither am I." She felt a pang of sympathy thinking back to the little girl and the family who had been pulled into this to trap her.

"I'm sorry," she said feeling guilty now. All of this was to obtain her child, how many people had to get hurt? Now she really couldn't find it in herself to attack him.

"Don't be, you're not the one who put us both down here." He tried to give a brave smile and she returned one in kind. She then sat back and pulled up her gown and wrapped the sheet around her lower half as he spread gel across her stomach. He put the wand across her abdomen and she noticed she seemed a little pudgier than before. Immediately she heard the swishing noises of her gut as he moved it around a little bit before there was a rapid sound like galloping horses and she looked over to see a small blurb on the black and white screen.

"Strong heart beat, approximately 3 inches long, after pelvic exam I would place you at around 13 weeks." Even as he spoke and she heard every word he said her eyes were glued to the monitor. That little bundle of cells was her baby. The little heartbeat beating so furiously that even though she had heard it before at the hospital when helping other patients threatened to make her start crying again.

"So you think he's healthy?"

"Well I have to go over the samples but as of right now I see no problems or complications." 'Thank god for small favors,' she thought to herself. The doctor turned around to finish some notes while she went back to the curtain and changed. 'I'm only just in my 2nd trimester and I will start gaining weight. I need to come up with a plan fast before I'm not physically able to escape.' Thinking about the other intel she needed to gather she decided that it was unlikely her captor would tell her where they were located but the doctor had to be local so she might be able to get something from him.

She studied him from behind the curtain as she redressed. 'No specific accent I can place. No overly distinguishing features. What else could help figure out where a person was from?' Just as she was debating her stomach let out a loud growl and she blushed in embarrassment.

"Seems like the exam took a little longer than you would have liked."

"Ah maybe, I think it might be my cravings starting up."

"I know you probably don't need me telling you think but you need to make sure you don't just eat more food, but specifically healthy food."

"I know I am a doctor." This seemed to surprise him as his eyebrows shot up. "They didn't tell you?"

"No but they don't tell me anything unless it's important for me to know." She sighed a bit understanding what he was telling her, even if he wanted to give her info he had none to give. As bad as the situation was it was nice to know she had a sort of ally if only because they were in the same situation. "I have some extra lunch if you would like," he asked pulling out a container and pulling the lid off. The smell made her stomach growl even louder and blushing she accepted the food. It was a thick goulash type stew and the flavors were slightly on the spicy side. 'It reminds me of something...what is it?'

"Like it," he asked seeing the way she was inhaling it.

"I love it, it really hits the spot. It's a bit spicy but I think I've had it like this once before."

"Ah maybe, I know ninja seem to travel all over. This is a popular recipe from my hometown." Sakura paused for just a moment while eating and then smiled and nodded in acknowledgment before she continued eating. 'I have eaten this before, now if I can only think of where. It was after the war, it was cold out, I remember because the spiciness seemed to warm me up. It wasn't snow country but I was surprised because there was so much snow. It was that much harder to climb because we were in stone!' She hoped her face gave nothing away as she finally deduced her possible whereabouts. 'So I'm in stone somewhere probably. I guess they would know the terrain and better areas to hide here.'

She handed him back the empty container thanking him as her guard came to escort her to her new room. She once again tried to pay attention to where he was taking her but with nothing but dirt walls everywhere she could see she couldn't seem to keep track of where she was within the tunnels.

He opened a new doorway of dirt and lead her into a slightly larger room then before. There was a small dresser on the left, a bed on the right with a chest at the end, possibly with blankets. Straight ahead was a door left ajar from which she could see the bathroom.

"There are extra blankets in the chest, some basic clothes in the dresser, and soaps and towels in the bathroom. We will continue to bring you meals three times a day and snacks in between if you ask. If you would like some reading material we can try to accommodate you." 'How about escaping for dummies?' She bit back the retort knowing it wouldn't help her. At this point while a prisoner they were being lenient and she needed to keep it that way if there was any hope of escape.

"Thanks. Do you think you could get something on pregnancy?" He nodded and turned to leave.

"Lunch will be brought in an hour," he said as the dirt swallowed him and the hallway leaving her in the dirt room. The first thing she did was inspect the room from top to bottom. The dresser didn't have a mirror to break so she couldn't use the glass as a weapon. The dresser, bed, and chest were all made of wood and heavy and she didn't think throwing furniture at them was going to do anything. The bathroom instead of having a mirror had some kind of reflective sheet or tape on the wall which worked but once again she couldn't use as a weapon. She could possibly take off the pipes in the bathroom to hit someone with them but once again she didn't know how many there were down here. While there were soaps and shampoos nothing that could be mixed together to make an offensive weapon. 'Damn what I wouldn't give for some ajax and some bleach.' All in all it looked like she was stuck.

She lay back on her bed and a moment later a different captor came in. He had green eyes hidden behind dark goggles like his leader and clansmen. He also had black hair tied in a high ponytail that reminded her of Inoichi. He sat the food on the chest at the end of her bed, nodded and then left just as quickly. Not that she thought he would talk. She sighed and sat up to see what looked like Chicken sandwiches, some tomato soup, and some chips. Along with her lunch there was a book. She picked it up looking over the cover and smiled slightly. It was a book on pregnancy, though she figured they had already had it in the lair as they were kidnapping a pregnant woman. 'If nothing else though I really need to brush up on the basics.' While she was a doctor she didn't specialize in OBGYN. She sat it to the side and started eating. Even though she wasn't that hungry yet but didn't know the meal schedule or when dinner would be served.

She was also trying to avoid a headache. Her options were slowly dwindling one by one as she tried to figure out how she could escape. She had little to no chakra so she couldn't rely on that to break out. Her captors all needed her down here desperately and had forsaken their clan and country so she couldn't try to play them against each other. There was damn near nothing useful in her room to help her escape. And the doctor was as much a captive as she, so he couldn't help her without putting himself in danger. He was no ninja and she didn't expect him to put his neck out for her. 'It's only day one, right now you just have to keep as many options open as possible.' She was surprised she finished her lunch completely and so without anything else to do she sat back on the bed to read and clear her head hoping it brought better ideas to light.

Many people would consider Shino very serious and also very dedicated to his career but even more so to his friends. But the comrades standing with him now at the gate, including ANBU group 3 were a bit taken aback at his intense aura. They had all appeared one by one, the last one arriving being Kiba who was immediately sorry he was last (even though he was 15 minutes early). They quickly went over the same facts from yesterday they had discussed with Tsunade before making a plan of action to scout the area once arriving at Gifu.

While professional everyone seemed tense. The travel to Gifu was done in complete silence as they pushed passed normal traveling limits arriving in record time. The normal trip which would have taken them all day had them there by mid afternoon. They split up, the ANBU team going to the last area she was seen and the rest of the team going to the town to ask questions in town. They had asked the local authorities before but now they were speaking with the regular villagers. They met up at the town Inn at nightfall. The group in town had found no solid leads and were hoping the ANBU team had gotten more info then they had. They were all secure in the room away from prying eyes and ears before discussing their findings.

"Unfortunately Hinata's assumption about the Stone ninjas using earth melding techniques seems to be true," said the team captain wearing the monkey mask.

"I am a sensory type," said the young woman in the group wearing a rat mask. "There was chakra lingering within the soil near where Sakura-san was taken. It's old but we could attempt to trace it. From my knowledge on these kinds of jutsu they are not teleportation and can take a lot of chakra so they couldn't have gone too far. Maybe 20 or 30 miles from the area she was taken."

"But that's in a diameter radius and that's not to say it was straight to the camp, they may have went above ground and took off," said the third of the ANBU group fidgeting with his rabbit mask.

"So we're no better off then where we started," Shino lamented trying not to be too annoyed with the ANBU. They couldn't help the situation more then he could.

"Actually even though the traces are faint and residual I can track which direction it was they went. We could fan out in a 90 degree angle from the point and go towards the direction they were sent. It will at least narrow our field down by 3/4ths," said the sensor hoping to lighten the stifling mood in the room.

"We figured we could do what we did with this town and pair up and spread out. Our ANBU group would try to find chakra traces and your team would check in towns to find any unusual information, we meet at night fall to discuss any findings and communicate with the other groups. Since they couldn't have gotten more then 30 miles from this point we would eventually find their location or their exit point and could go from there," the man in the rabbit mask, obviously the strategist. The captain of the group pulled out a local map of the area and made markings showing the area they would be investigating.

"Sounds like a plan. Rat here is a sensory type and I think would be good with Hinata, take the left most area. Rabbit here would be a good match with Kiba you check the area to the right. Shino and I could pair up and go down the center scouting. I expect if we have to go as far as 30 miles it will take us three days to comb the areas. If you find a good lead or good information use the message scrolls," he said directing the last part to his subordinates. "We rest tonight and head out at dawn." They decided sleeping arrangements for the night and most turned in early. Shino found himself unable to sleep and wandered downstairs on the porch in the cooling night air.

They had a plan of attack and a chance at finding a lead but he couldn't help the lump settling in the bottom of his stomach. Every day they drew one step closer but it was one more day they had Sakura. They still didn't know why they were targeting her, the most obvious reason could be true but it seemed odd they would kidnap her and not try for him. Something was not settling right with him and until they had a lead he probably wouldn't be sleeping well.

The beetles within him stirred restlessly. Even they had grown accustom to her presence and seem to be more irritated then usual now that she had been gone from their presence for so long. 'Sakura please stay strong, I promise I'll find you,' he prayed staring up at the waning crescent moon. He sighed and returned inside , he needed at at least attempt rest or he would be useless tomorrow.

Two days later and the day was half over and Shino was more than irritated. They had set off hopeful and the two other teams checked in with the captain at the end of the night but no leads yet. He knew Kiba and Hinata were trying as hard as him but he grew annoyed at how this group of rogue nin could slip away so easily. He kept his face blank but anyone could tell his annoyance was palatable. He had interviewed a majority of people in the village. Everyone from the police chief to the mayor, to the grocer. There were only a hand full of people left to talk to. He wandered up to the clinic and knocked a few times waiting patiently but no one arrived. He knew it was getting later in the day but he figured the doctor would still be in. He raised his hand to knock again but was interrupted.

"Can I help you?" He turned around to see a middle aged woman, black hairs with a few grey poking through, lines around her warm brown eyes, and in her hands a basket of herbs.

"Are you the healer?"

"Well I'm the temporary healer."

"Temporary?"

"Yes poor dear. His wife and daughter fell seriously ill, enough that they had to go to the shinobi village to seek out a healer to help him. He's been gone a few days now, I'm his nurse and knowledgeable enough to help with anything simple enough," she said confidence radiating from him.

"Isn't it odd though that the doctor could not heal his own wife and child?"

"Odd thing but not eveyone is invincible and I think it was better that he confessed to not knowing how to cure the problem and get treatment for them than to try and heal something he knew nothing of."

"What kind of disease was it?"

"That's the thing, the doctor thought it was poison but it was worse then any natural poisons we have around here, and there would be no reason to intentionally poison a mother and child." Shino's heart was in his throat. 'Poison and missing doctors, this could be it!' It followed the pattern of taking random civilians and using them for their plots. It was probably a man made poison which would be why the doctor couldn't cure it. He quickly thanked her and dashed off following the familiar chakra pattern he'd been near since yesterday. 'Sakura! We're coming! Hang on!'

AN: I feel bad for Shino in this chapter. Poor guy is an emotional wreck at this point but he'd probably be worse off if he knew of Sakura's condition. Thank you again for reading!