I winced as the sunlight hit me. Grumbling I opened my eyes. I was laying on my bed, tucked in. What happened? I don't remember coming home last night. Ah! I sat up fast. Sasuke. Sasuke!

Quickly getting out of bed I ran off. I ran all the way to his house. Please no. It was a dream. It had to be a dream! There's no way he'd leave!

With my spare key he gave me I slammed open the door. "Sasuke!" I shouted. The dark house seemed empty as my voice had gone unheard. No. I quickly darted upstairs and slammed his bedroom door open.

My eyes widened at the sight. No.

I walked into the empty room. I checked his dresser; some of his clothes were missing. So he really did leave. Ah. Atop his dresser was our team photo, faced down. I fell to my knees. He left.

He left me. He left. Sasuke. Tch. "You are not going to that psychopath." I growled. As long as I live, I won't let him use you. Not caring about chakra preservation, I Flash Stepped to Tsunade. Izumo and Kotetsu jumped in surprise at my sudden appearance.

She blinked. "What is it?" She asked, seeing the look on my face. "Sasuke left for Orochimaru late last night. When I tried to stop him he knocked me out. We need to form a retrieval squad. We could still catch up. Please Lady Hokage." I bowed.

She knew I was serious when I didn't refer to her as Grandma Tsunade. It was quiet for a bit. "I understand. Izumo, Kotetsu, there's somebody that I need to see. Go get Shikamaru Nara." The two behind me nodded and quickly left.

I bit my lip. The feeling of betrayal washed over my body. How could he? No, it's the curse mark. It has to be. But for Sasuke to take such measures . . . Orochimaru is just going to use him. He wants the Uchiha power!

And I'll be damned if I let him use it.

"Miyu, I understand you're upset. But I'm going to need you and Shikamaru. Do you think you can thi-"

"Grandma Tsunade. I have a plan. I'm going to go through with it. I'd like your permission but even if I don't get it, know I will go through with it." I looked up and stared into her light brown eyes. She seemed surprised by my sudden change of attitude. "Okay. What's this plan?"

~

Eventually Shikamaru showed up. He seemed surprised to see me already here, and the serious look on my face. It was the same face I had back on at the academy.

"Late last night Sasuke Uchiha left the HiddenLeafVillage." Tsunade got right to the point. Shikamaru was shocked and glanced at me, curious of my reaction. But I just kept up my façade. "According to Miyuna, he left to be with Orochimaru, we're quite certain he's headed for the HiddenSoundVillage." She continued.

"He just left?! How could this happen." I clenched my jaw. "Orochimaru lured him. He has Sasuke in his clutches." I answered honestly.

Shikamaru looked shocked. "What? Wait! That doesn't make any sense. What does Sasuke have to gain by talking to someone as depraved as Orochimaru?" He asked, not believing Sasuke would just leave.

I wouldn't either. But I watched. "At this point his motive doesn't matter. We need to deal with it quickly. I've decided it's time for the two of you to carry out your first mission as Chunin. And you, Shikamaru, will lead this mission."

I nodded. "So all we gotta do is bring Sasuke back?" He clarified. Tsunade stared at us, a very serious atmosphere around her. "Yes, that's your mission. But it must be accomplished without delay. And you may find it a more dangerous task then you think."

Yeah. Those sound jockeys. "He's accompanied by four Sound Ninja. And based on their chakra levels they're stronger then us. And they have the Curse Mark. My guess they're part of an elite team." I informed him, remembering them from last night.

Tsunade nodded. "Well if we're going to be facing opposition; I'm going to need to request a team composed of exclusively of Jonin and Chunin." I nodded in agreement. "I can't honor that request."

"What?!" I can't believe this. "Why not?" Shikamaru asked. Tsunade looked up at us, an unknown emotion in her eyes.

"You know the answer. As I'm sure you're aware most of the Jonin have been sent out on missions. Only a handful stayed behind to defend in case of attack. "Go round up any skilled Genin you feel is up to the job. You have thirty minutes to leave this village. Miyu has come up with a backup plan as a last resort. She'll inform you. Now go!"

We nodded and quickly left. "So what's this plan of yours?" Shikamaru asked. I glanced at him briefly before telling him.

"That's your plan?! And Lady Hokage agreed?!" He demanded. I shrugged. "She knows I'll go through it with or without her approval. But you cannot, I repeat, cannot tell anyone about it. Okay?" I asked. He shook was about to protest when I interrupted. "Okay, who are we getting?" I asked.

He sighed. "Lee, Kiba, Choji-" I nodded a bit. "Naruto. He's Tsunade's current favorite." I told him. He gave me a questioning look but let it go. "And Shino. Anyone else we run across as well."

I nodded, approving it. "I'll go get Kiba. Lee just got out of surgery, so he won't be able to. But I'll get Neji. You get the others." He stared at me a bit before nodding.

We then went our separate ways. Using scent, I tracked down Kiba quickly. He wasn't that far away. "Oh, hey Miyu, congrats on becoming Chunin." Word travels fast. But I'm wearing my jacket so it's not too surprising I guess.

I nodded a bit. "Thanks, but we got bigger problems. Sasuke left the village." His eyes went wide as saucers. "Grandma Tsunade has Shikamaru in charge of his retrieval. I'm here to pick you up. You in?" I asked.

He was surprised but grinned mischievously. "I'm in." I nodded in approval and went in search of Neji. It took me longer to find him, but I managed to. He's with Lee. I quickly told them of the situation.

Lee looked at me, some sadness and pity in his eyes. I kept my façade though. "Well?" I asked him. He glanced at Lee a bit. I saw him after surgery the other day. It went well.

Lee smiled. "You go on without me." Neji stared at him a little longer and nodded. "Alright, let's go." I led them to the village gate where the others awaited. "Miyu!" Naruto shouted once he spotted me. I stood between him and Shikamaru. "Good job." Shikamaru said.

Naruto quickly grabbed my arms and turned me to him. Worry etched onto his face. I smiled lightly at him. "I'm fine. Now, let's go get that idiot." At this Naruto grinned.

It seems Shikamaru kept his word and didn't tell anyone the last resort. Good. This is my only hope. Sasuke Uchiha, once I find you . . .

"It's time to go." Shikamaru said. Naruto shot his hand up and I quickly covered his mouth, knowing he was about to try and get them to follow him. "This is Shikamaru's mission. In case you haven't noticed, you're a Genin, and he's not." I stated.

His shouts were muffled by my hand. "Well Nara? The plan?" I asked.

"Well for starters this is a rescue operation so we'll be in the position of pursuit. Which means the enemy already has an important advantage over us. That said, I'm arranging us in a deployment formation that can respond to any assault by the enemy. If any of you don't follow my exact orders, we're all gonna to die."

"Always a ray of sunshine with you." I rolled my eyes. Well, he's not wrong. These sound ninja aren't pushovers.

I can only imagine their strength. "Okay we'll go with a single file strike formation. As we all know, the most important position is the spear head. So that's going to be Kiba. You're up front."

Hm. I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, his nose can track Sasuke and sniff out any traps that lie up ahead. Not to mention him walking with Akamaru all the time. . . he knows the terrain better then us." I said. Shikamaru smiled a bit at that and nodded.

I see. "Moreover because we'll have two sets of eyes up front. You and Akamaru will be more effective protecting our single file line from assault." He added. Got to admit, Nara always was a genius.

Gotta give the kid credit. "Second in line will be yours truly. Platoon leader. From that position I'll be able to direct everyone behind me using silent hand signals. And because I'm so close to Kiba I'll be positioned to react to any situation."

"In the middle, the number three position is Naruto. The middle of the line is the perfect location for you because you're the most capable of executing quick moves whether in front of you or behind you. You're the corner stone, and you have the Shadow Clone Jutsu."

"Fourth in line is Choji. Choji, you might not have any speed, but your striking power is great. Kiba, myself, and Naruto will launch a surprise attack. Then you'll swoop in and finish the assault."

Shikamaru turned his gaze to me. "Miyu, you're fifth because you are the one I trust the most in back to defend the rest of us. What with your chains, strength, speed, and intelligence, you're capable of analyzing attacks in front and behind and still managing to be the first one to defend. It's a difficult role, but you're the only one here able to do it."

He turned his gaze to Neji. "Finally, on the end will be you Neji. Your position is most difficult. Rear look out. I want you to use your Byakugan to constantly scan ahead for weaknesses in our ranks and inform Miyu any oncoming attacks from the back."

I see, this is an excellent line up for what we have. "Got it?" He asked. When we nodded he unraveled a scroll and took out a pencil and began writing.

"Then take a look at this. This diagram shows exactly what part of the perimeter you're responsible for." He drew us in a line.

Huh. Pretty good actually for a quick doodle.

"Kiba watches the front, I'm responsible for a wider forward view, Naruto's got the left, Choji the right, Miyu you're responsible for a wider view, and Neji, using you Byakugan you cover the entire area to the rear."

We stared at the diagram a bit before he rolled it up. "Alright, I think it's time to familiarize myself with arms and weaponry. I'll need to check out all the ninja tools you plan on carrying into battle. That way I'll know what we have. Are there any questions?"

Naruto shook his head. Let's see, I only have kunai, shuriken, and paper bombs. Maybe I should take up a weapon. But I do prefer fist fighting.

Shikamaru looked at me. "Well, you're second in command, anything to add?" I nodded and glanced at them.

"I'm going to need to place a seal on all of you with exception of Naruto since I placed one on him long ago. Once I do I'll be able to come to your side before the enemy has a chance to strike. In addition to Shikamaru's plan I'd like to input that you're all Genin. You aren't invincible. If you get too cocky, you will die. I've seen you fight, and I'll give you credit. But these ninja were there at the death of the Third Hokage so I expect all of you to be on guard. Is that understood?"

They all nodded. Good.

"Alright. I saved the most important thing for last. For as long as I've known him, Sasuke and I haven't exactly been close buddies. In fact I don't really like him at all."

I rolled my eyes. Please, you used to look up to him. But Sasuke does have that way about him that pisses people off.

A special trait I guess. "All the same, Sasuke's a ninja belonging to the HiddenLeafVillage. He's a comrade, and I'll put my life on the line to help him. That's the way of our village. There's someone in this village who wishes for his return more then anyone."

I felt the guys all glance at me but kept up my face. I mustn't show my sadness. I need to carry out this mission. For Sasuke, and for them. "I know I usually seem like a lazy guy-"

You are. "But not today. Because now I'm responsible for your lives too." Stepping next to him I crossed my arms. "Because this is our mission; your lives are in our hands. And we don't plan to lose a single one of you. Your safety is our top priority. Yours should be the mission at hand."

"Wow. Never thought I'd see the day where Shikamaru acted like a Chunin or Miyu would care about others." Kiba spoke. Neither did I. Maybe things would have been simpler.

But now is not the time. As everyone showed their weapons, I began placing my seal on them. Sasuke, hang on tight. I'll be there soon. And then I'm going to punch your stupid face for leaving me!

"Alright, let's move out." As we began to go, a familiar voice stopped us. "Wait!" We turned. Lee was at the gate watching us, but turned to see Sakura standing behind him.

Sakura . . . "So you found out, huh?" I said, turning to her. She walked up to me and smiled sadly. "Miyu, come back safely okay?" Huh? Not Sasuke. "Please, promise me you'll come back." Tears pooled in her eyes.

Sakura. Smiling lightly I placed my hand on her head and stared into her eyes. "I promise I'll come back. And I'll bring Naruto and Sasuke with me. So don't cry. Take care of the village for me while I'm gone."

She bit her lip and nodded sharply. Smiling, I placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and stepped back. "We gotta go. Nara." I turned to him. He nodded and we set out.