SALVATION

Chapter 3: It Begins

They both stopped a few feet inside the entrance to gain their bearings. It took a few seconds for Sakura’s eyes to get accustomed to the dark, but once they adjusted she took in her surroundings.

Right now, they were both standing inside a dirt path that obviously led deep underground. The air was fairly chilly and she felt goosebumps crawl up her arms-from the cold or the anticipation, she didn’t know.

She could make out a faint light of a candle burning, but other than that, there was nothing. The floor, walls, ceiling, everything was just dirt.

She took a kunai out of her pack, readying herself for anything that might come their way. She still kept her chakra masked, and she knew Naruto was too, since she could not sense any chakra leaking out. This was a bit unusual, seeing as how Naruto had poor chakra control and whenever he tried to mask it, some still leaked out, but not now. It registered in her mind how much Naruto wanted this and how hard he was working at making this happen. They both knew they had to put everything into this rescue mission if they wanted Sasuke back.

She felt some sweat form on her forehead and she wiped it off with her arm. She felt movement to her right and she could see Naruto making his way forward. Staying close to him, they both began the long trek deep into the tunnel.

They didn’t run, both being cautious. Sakura knew that they could not afford to meet up with anyone before they found Sasuke. Not only because they didn’t want Sasuke to know they were here and to take off before they even had a chance to see him, but also because she knew they would need every once of their power to take him down. Sasuke was one formidable opponent with a deep need to stay away from Konoha. She knew that Sasuke’s need for revenge was just as deep as her and Naruto’s need to get him back. This was going to be the hardest thing she had ever done-and that’s saying something since last week I had to take a Sake bottle away from Tsunade-sama.

As they neared the end of the hallway, they both stopped. The candle flickered with just enough light to tell that the path now split-one way to the right and one way to the left.

Sakura tried to feel for Sasuke’s presence, but she couldn’t catch his chakra sense anywhere. She was worried for a moment, what if he had left already? Maybe he had already found out they were there. All these thoughts ran through her mind and she started to get frustrated.

“It’s this way,” Naruto began before making his way to the left.

Trusting him, she followed after him quickly. They made their way down several different paths, taking several different turns, but they seemed to be leading to nowhere. Plus, they had not heard or seen any sound ninja yet, which seemed to be very odd.

“Naruto, don’t you think it’s odd that we haven’t seen anyone yet? This place seems so empty,” Sakura commented.

Naruto nodded his head. “Yes, but I can still sense Sasuke, so he’s obviously here. But, I do feel like we’ve been skirting around him this whole time.”

Suddenly, they both heard voices coming down the hall.

Quickly, they both jumped up to the ceiling, flattening themselves out as much as possible.

Sakura could hear voices, but she could not see anyone. Where are they? She looked back down the hall and the voices seemed to be getting fainter until she didn’t hear them anymore.

She dropped back to the ground, and frantically searched the hallway. “Naruto, I didn’t see anyone? Did you?” Sakura asked. She could tell he was just as perplexed.

“I don’t understand it. I could hear them, but I couldn’t see them,” Naruto commented, more to himself than answering Sakura’s question.

Sakura’s mind began analyzing their situation and what just happened. How could it be possible to hear them, but not see them? Suddenly an idea popped into her head. Looking down the hallway she noticed what looked to be a small drain in the side of the hall. It was covered by a small grate.

“They’re below us,” Sakura concluded.

“Below?” Naruto asked and Sakura shook her head. Sometimes he could be so dense.

“Underneath us. There’s obviously another level to this hideout. There has to be a way to get down,” Sakura said.

“But what’s the purpose of this level?” Naruto asked.

“To confuse people who sneak in, obviously. People who find the opening, come in, and can walk around here for hours, and never find anyone. It’s a good trick to keep people out who don’t belong,” Sakura said.

“Like us,” Naruto said under his breath, but Sakura heard him. Exactly. Just like us.

She looked around trying to figure out how they could get to the next level. She instantly thought about the fact that she could break a hole with her fist, but that would attract too much attention, and they needed to go as unseen as possible.

“Naruto, I know that you don’t want to, but the only way we can get out is if we go back the way we came and find another entrance. There is obviously one that is more hidden somewhere else that will lead us to the other level,” Sakura said, deciding there was no other option.

“If we do that, we could lose him,” Naruto said.

“I know, but we have no other choice. And we’ll be able to meet up with Kakashi-sensei and Sai,” Sakura said. She didn’t know what else to do. They didn’t have many options in this type of situation.

“Well, what about this drain here. Can’t we get through that somehow?” Naruto said and Sakura could see the hopelessness in his eyes. She knew that he really did think that they would lose him for good if they turned back.

Sakura shook her head. “No, Naruto, there’s no way that…,” she started to say but stopped. Looking at the drain again she got an idea.

“Actually, I think you have something there. I can’t punch a hole in the ground, because that would only cause a ruckus, but I won’t have to since there is already a hole there. All we have to do is open this drain a little wider. I should easily be able to do that. Only enough to make it a little bigger so we can fit through, which I should be able to do and not draw any attention,” Sakura said, working her plan out loud.

She snapped off the opening to the drain with ease. Using just the right amount of chakra, she slowly began to spread the hole, making small creases inside so it had room to give without collapsing.

Naruto watched in amazement as the opening began to grow. Sakura was sweating a little from concentration. It would be nothing to spread this hole under any other circumstances, but to keep it sturdy, be as quiet as possible, and also keeping her amount of chakra she released to a minimum to keep people from sensing her, was proving to be a bit of a challenge. But it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle, not now at least. She had too much determination on her side and too much will power.

Reaching the point where she and Naruto could easily fit through, Sakura stopped all her efforts.

Standing back, she surveyed her work, and smiled. She had done a pretty good job. No one would really be able to tell that the drain had been expanded unless they really looked.

“Alright Naruto, let’s go!” Sakura said before easily slipping inside the drain.

When the end of the drain showed up, Sakura stopped. Listening carefully, she made sure she didn’t hear anyone around. Checking for chakra, and sensing none, she let herself fall to the ground. She landed gracefully and moved over so that Naruto could also come down.

She noticed that they were standing in a small room. There appeared to only be a table in the center surrounded by a few chairs. Sakura was pretty sure this was where she had heard the voices coming from. There were a few candles on the walls, and the area seemed to be made of rock and concrete rather than dirt. This was obviously the right place.

She walked over to the door and peeked outside. To the right, the hallway seemed to extend for awhile and it was too dark to see any further. To the left, the hall appeared to curve to the right and continue.

Turning back, she looked at Naruto. “Which way should we go?”

Naruto stood for a second and then said, “I don’t know. I can’t feel his presence anymore.”

“What? Do you think he figured us out and left?” Sakura said, her voice rising in slight worry.

“I don’t think so. I can’t sense him, but I can feel him. I don’t know how, but I know that he’s still here, I just don’t know where,” Naruto said.

Sakura stood for a moment thinking things through. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to pick a way and go from there. If nothing comes on that end, we’ll come back and go the other way.”

“We don’t have time, we might be caught by then,” Naruto said. Rubbing a hand through his hair he turned to her. “I don’t want to do this, but I don’t think we have a choice. I think we have to split up.”

“We can’t do that Naruto, we just can’t! Who knows what we could run into and it’s going to take both of us to get Sasuke back,” Sakura said, a few tears brimming in her eyes but she refused to let them fall.

“Listen, Sakura-chan,” Naruto began and Sakura smiled. She realized that that was the first time he added the chan all day. His mind is on more important things, she thought. “I know this is hard, but we can do it. We should stay concealed, trying to find Sasuke. If you release your chakra I will feel it, and vice versa, and we will each come to the other. Because the only way we would release it is if we had to fight or if we find Sasuke.”

Sakura stood for a moment, thinking about Naruto’s words. “Alright Naruto, but you have to promise me that you will not run into anything recklessly. I won’t be there to heal you, so you have to make sure you avoid any serious damage.”

Naruto nodded his head. Sakura wiped away the few stray tears that had flowed down her cheek and then she walked up to Naruto and embraced him.

“Sakura-chan, we’re going to get him back. We’re going to do it, I believe it with my whole heart, and you should to. Even though he won’t ever admit it, the bastard’s just waiting for us to save his sorry ass,” Naruto assured Sakura, hugging her tightly before releasing.

Pulling apart, Sakura nodded her head. Her green eyes stared into blue eyes and she knew, somehow, that things would be ok; she just had to have faith. She just had to believe, because in all honesty, who else would. Sakura knew that only she and Naruto truly cared for Sasuke and wanted him back. They were the only ones Sasuke had; now she just had to convince Sasuke of that.

Taking a deep breath, she nodded her head. “I’ll go to the left, you take the right. And remember, when you sense my chakra I come to you, and if you sense mine, you to come to me, promise?”

“I promise!” Naruto exclaimed, showing one of his cheesy grins. Sakura smiled to him. She pulled out her kunai, readying herself. As they walked out and split up, a dread filled Sakura’s heart. Even though she knew that things would eventually be ok, she also knew that they were going to get worse, a lot worse, before they got better.

She began making her way down the hall and as she was about to turn the corner, she stopped and looked back at Naruto. His back portrayed the fact that he was poised and serious, expecting anything that could be thrown his way. She watched as the yellow began to fade into darkness, and for some reason she felt like she was watching an omen. What if something happened? What if Naruto met up with Kabuto or Orochimaru? What if he met up with Sasuke and they both ended up killing each other? She tried to rid herself of these thoughts, and put her mind on something else, like what about her? What if she met up with Kabuto or Orochimaru? What if she met up with Sasuke first? Could she do what was necessary to bring him back, could she?

She didn’t know the answer to any of these questions, but as she turned the corner and continued on her trek to find Sasuke one thought did fill her mind and it made her smile.

She was damn well going to try…

PLEASE REVIEW AND TELL ME HOW YOU THINK THE STORY IS PROGRESSING SO FAR? DOES IT SEEM SLOW? I’M SORRY THERE’S NOT MUCH ACTION RIGHT NOW, BUT I FELT LIKE THIS IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS OF THE WHOLE STORY AND I DIDN’T WANT TO RUIN IT BY RUSHING IT SO MUCH. I WANTED IT TO PROGRESS AT A NICE PACE AND BUILD UP THE TENSION. BUT I WILL PROMISE SOME ACTION IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!! THANKS!