The Fox Bandit Book 3

Chapter 25: The Sheriff of Suna

The cave was dark, expansive, silent. Nothing could be heard. No one was there.

Madara kicked a stone beside his foot, listening as it ricocheted off the cave walls like a bullet. Damn that Fox Bandit, he thought. Damn him for leading him in these maze like caverns. Why couldn't he make things easy on himself and Madara and just come quietly, saving both of them so much time and trouble. It wasn't like he was going to kill the boy, not right away, just use him to take over this god forsaken land and perhaps the world, making it free of war and bringing true peace to the land under his rule. He would let the boy keep his pink haired lover Deidara had told him about. How else would he be able to repopulate the world if he didn't? The boy should be happy he was going to live and be proud to be a part of the reconstruction. Sure, being a slave wasn't the most inviting employment opportunity, but it had to better than all this running.

Madara shook his head. Well, he wasn't going to accomplish anything if he just stood there. Madara mounted his horse and looked to the terrified man beside him.

"Lead the way." He gestured ahead of him. Jing nodded, fearing he would be shot if he refused, and they set off.

o0O0o

"Alright, break's over," barked Naruto. Standing up quickly and startling Sakura.

"We just sat down!" Sakura glared at him. She didn't like it when he was like this. She didn't want him to always be in fear and always be angry. Maybe they should just forget this Sasuke guy and go home. She still needed to rebuild her house. She was still homeless and Naruto had promised her he'd help her rebuild. He promised her he'd stay with her, and that wasn't going to happen if they continued this fruitless search and Madara caught up with them. She didn't want him to be captured. She wanted to go home with him, marry him, and live as full a life as she could with him.

"Damn it Naruto!" She stood up and got his face. "I want to go home!"

"…"

"Did you hear me?" she barked. "I want to go home! I'm tired. I'm hungry, and we're no closer to finding Sasuke than we were three days ago. Let's go home, regroup, live for a little while, then you can search for Sasuke till your heart's content!"

Naruto blinked.

"I didn't ask you to come with me," he muttered. "In fact, I didn't want you to come with me, remember?"

"But I came because I wanted to help you!" Sakura was becoming increasingly angry with him. Naren and Kiba watched their conversation with interest, Naren still munching on a piece of bread. "Let's get out of these damned caves, away from Madara, and go back home!"

Naruto said nothing, choosing to turn and glare at the wall instead. Finally he returned his gaze to her, his jaw clenched tight. What he said next clearly didn't come easy.

"Let's get to Suna," he growled. "Then I'll take you all home."

"Thank you…"

Naruto cut her off. "Let me finish." He looked down. "When you three are safely back in Konoha, I'm leaving. You'll never see me again."

Sakura's jaw dropped. That wasn't what she wanted. "That's not what…I didn't…"

"Clearly," hissed Naruto, his heart breaking as he glared at Sakura. "The only thing you wanted from me was a little adventure."

Sakura stared at him, her mouth gaping in silent protest. Did he really think that? Did he think she didn't love him? Didn't he know that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him? Had she really not shown him that? The only reason she was on this fool's journey was to be with him, not because she was itching at the opportunity to have an adventure. Call her selfish, but she didn't want to lose him, even if it meant making him give up his search for this bastard that hurt him so bad who he seemed to think was his friend.

"Naruto! You can't…" began Naren, glaring at him. "You can't leave us like this!"

"I'm going to take you home," he answered, turning away from them all and walking towards the walls of the cave, running his hands along the rocky surface. He continued speaking as he did this.

"Once I get you guys back in Konoha and safe, I'm going to leave. Then when I'm far enough away, I'll allow myself to be spotted by bounty hunters so I can lead them away from you and get Akatsuki off your doorstep."

Sakura stared at his back, unsure of what to say or do at his sudden decision. She watched has continued to run his hands along the cave wall.

"I don't want you to go." Her voice was low, nearly a whisper. Naruto froze, though his back remained turned to them. She walked over to him and wrapped his arms around his waist, her head rested between his shoulder blades. "I want you to stay with me. I want you to give up this lonely existence you call a life and stay with me. Stay in Konoha with us, with Naren, with Tsunade. We'll protect you, Naruto. No one will come after you. No one who means you harm will be allowed near you. Please, Naruto."

Naruto didn't answer right away. He kept his head bowed. Sakura didn't mind. She was content in holding him, keeping him still, making sure he would continue his unusual searching on the cave wall and keeping his attention on her.

Finally, Naruto turned around and gathered her up in his arms, hugging her to his chest and burying his nose in her pink hair. She held him tighter, loving the way his strong arms wrapped all the war around her like a warm blanket.

She looked up at him, searching. He looked down at her.

"Dangerous people will come after me Sakura, you know that," he whispered.

"And I'll take them all down before they get to you even if I have to kill them myself," she answered. Naruto stared her a moment, then he smiled at her that special smile he reserved only for her.

"Alright." Then he kissed her, a kiss that she deepened, begging entry to his mouth with her tongue. He complied, but after a few minutes, he reluctantly broke the kiss, remembering their situation.

"Come on," he muttered, resting his forehead against hers and reaching behind him. "Let's stop by Suna first." With that, he jerked his hand down, pulling on a lever that looked completely like an ordinary rock. Sakura backed away from him, gaping as a large slab of rock opened to reveal blue skies over a desert surface behind him. The group shielded their eyes from the bright light, but once they had adjusted they lowered their hands. Naren and Kiba's mouths fell open. Sakura stared wide-eyed at the wide, gaping hole then looked to Naruto, who was smiling cockily.

"Welcome to Suna!"

o0O0o

Jing never felt so scared for his life before. He was an admitted coward, and was only able to defeat his opponents by cheap tricks. He was not above kicking a man in the groin to gain the upperhand. This is why he was still alive. This time, his cowardice had gotten him into one hell of a mess.

He was absolutely certain he was going to die in these caves, whether by the strange masked man's hands or by his own. He had led the man to the other end of the cave, thinking it would lead straight to Suna where Gaara was supposedly stationed. He hadn't counted on the cave being a dead end.

Madara was spitting mad. The little cowardly bastard who he had chosen to listen to rather than kill had led him to absolutely nothing. No Fox Bandit. No Suna. Nothing. A dead end.

"I…I can explain," stuttered Jing fearfully. "There u-used to b-be an opening here! It lead s-straight to Suna. I s-swear!"

Madara ignored him, staring at the wall with fury coursing through every fiber of his being. He was so close to having the Fox Bandit in his grasp, but thanks to this blubbering fool out for a vengeance, Madara was now no closer than he was when he arrived in Gyanburu.

Damn it.

"I s-swear…I didn't lead you to a d-dead end on purpose!" Jing continued to stutter out nonsense, trying his best to get himself out of the situation he had led himself into. Madara was becoming increasingly more annoyed with every stutter. He really didn't have any more use for the fool. Madara took one of his pistols and aimed at Jing, not bothering to turn around to look the man in the eyes as he shot his pistol.

"I'm sor…."Jing was cut off as the bullet tore through his temple and settled in his frontal lobe. He stood there for a moment, mouth opened in a small "o", before falling to the ground in crumpled heap.

Madara pocketed his pistol, mounting his horse, and turned it around, bearing the dead bandit no further thought.

o0O0o

Naruto led the way toward the large gates of Suna. Normally, he wouldn't attempt such a bold entrance, but he had heard that Suna was harboring the Bandit Gaara. He figured he'd be alright.

He figured wrong.

As Naruto dismounted Dahlia, he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. They were being watched. He turned.

"Be careful! We're not alon- ah!" Naruto cried out as numerous lassos were thrown around him and tightened roughly, pinning his arms painfully to his sides. He struggled against them, trying his best to loosen them and slip out, but it was no use. He was caught.

"Naruto!" Sakura dismounted her horse and ran to him, pulling at the ropes but stopped when she felt the barrel of a shot gun pressed to the back of her head.

"Back off or die!" growled a feminine voice. Sakura stared at Naruto, thinking quickly.

"Let go of my prisoner," growled Sakura, trying to convey her intentions to Naruto, who was staring at her eyes wide with shock. What the hell was she doing? "He's my bounty!"

"What are you doing in Suna then? You should be leading him in the other direction, towards Akatsuki. They're the ones who would pay the bounty." Naruto opened his mouth as if to retort by closed it when Sakura glared at him dangerously.

"Prove it!" the voice yelled. "Shoot him if he's nothing more than a bounty to you!"

Sakura froze, still looking Naruto in the eyes. She didn't want to shoot him. She'd rather die. Naruto pleaded silently with his eyes, telling her to just shut up and shoot him. Anything as long as it meant she and the others would be unharmed. Sakura shook her head ever so slightly but Naruto nodded his, telling her it was ok. So, choosing a spot that wouldn't hinder her blonde lover too much, Sakura fired.

"Son of a bitch!" came Naruto's pained cry. Sakura pointed her gun at his head, keeping up the act as long as possible. Naruto panted, wincing as blood seeped thought the thin ropes that bound him.

"Good, now he will be easier to handle." The woman removed the rifle from Sakura's head. "We'll be taking him with us now." The group began pulling Naruto away while he struggled. Sakura watched helplessly as he was practically dragged into Suna, hogtied and bleeding.

Naruto, thought Sakura. We will save you!

o0O0o

The next thing Naruto knew he was thrown to his knees, the ropes still pinning his arms to his sides. He was gonna have one hell of a rope burn when this was over, he just knew it. He winced as the ropes continued to rub the freely bleeding fresh wound in his side. Even though he knew it wouldn't kill him, it still hurt like hell. However, it hurt worse to know that Sakura had been forced to injure him. But this was the least of his worries.

"Sir, we have captured the Fox Bandit," said the woman who had been doing all the talking. Naruto studied her now that her mask was gone. She was a darker blonde than him with her parted in to four ponytails. She looked vaguely familiar to him. He turned to the chair that was turned away from, hiding the person sitting in it from view. After a moment the person stood up and turned to face Naruto, whose jaw dropped in surprise.

"Gaara!"

Gaara blinked. "Naruto?"

Both stared at each other and both spoke what ran through their minds.

"What are you doing here!"