Bonds Chapter 1: Change of Plans, a naruto fanfic

-1AN: This takes place right after Shukaku was removed from Gaara. It begins right after the gang returns to Konoha

I happen to love art so I'll be doing periodic illustrations - you can see the cover for this story here: innerflame00 . deviantart . com / art / Bonds - 93537603 (just remove the spaces)

Bonds

Chapter One: Change of Plans

At that place between darkness and dreaming It waited.

Cold eyes. Golden and calculating, they gleamed with malicious intent.

She knew there was no escape. Nowhere she could hide. It was everywhere…It was always watching her; always waiting for that one sweet moment of weakness where it could take over. Snatch her up and devour her whole.

She knew the instant she broke her gaze with It…It would attack. But just as long as she held it's gaze she knew she still had some control.

But she was so sleepy…and It never slept. It could do this forever, but her eyes were drooping. Her will to fight was waning. She couldn't hold off for long.

She could feel It at the back of her mind, creeping forward. With every blink of an eye it was closer. There was nothing she could do to stop it, and soon it was right in front of her, it's hot breathe like fire on her skin.

Now she couldn't break it's gaze. Holding it's gaze no longer gave her control but froze her in place. She felt something in her mind tear, and for just a moment she saw herself, her mouth open in a silent scream.

Then everything went black.

Sakura awoke abruptly, nearly falling to the floor. Her sweaty palms gripped the fabric of the couch as she attempted to steady herself.

She forced her breathing to slow as the nightmare faded from her mind. It had been so real…terrifying and compelling at the same time. Never before had she experienced such a intense nightmare. Why would she start now? She shook her head with a tremulous sigh. Whatever it was, she was better off not dwelling on it.

She stretched out her poor abused muscles with a sleepy yawn. She had been so tired when she arrived that she had fallen asleep the instant her sore muscles had met the soft cushions of her couch. She swore that the couch was a weapon in development; any derrière that met its surface was doomed to be sucked into it's silky depths with no hope of escape. Not that she minded most of the time.

She sat up and sighed. Her stomach made it's hunger known with a deep rumble, but she ignored it. Only now that she was sitting in the quiet of her apartment was she able to process all that had happened in the past few days.

It was overwhelming to say the least. She never thought she would have the ability to win a fight against someone like Sasori, even as a puppet to a great puppet master like Chiyo baa-sama. She had been able to help her friends…yet in the end there was nothing she could do for the old woman who had become so dear to her.

Tears stung her eyes again when she remembered Chiyo baa-sama's last moments as she poured her life into the dead Kazekage. If only there had been something else Sakura could have done for him…but no. Chiyo baa-sama had already used some of her own life force to revive Sakrua. She would have died in the end no matter what Sakura tried.

She stubbornly wiped the errant tears from her face and stood up. A shower was what she needed. Without fail it always calmed her after her missions. But even as the steaming water eased her tense body she knew it wouldn't be enough. Even though there was nothing she could have done, a life had been lost under her watch. Not only that, but she had also sensed something of a kindred spirit in the old woman. What could have been a friendship between two different generations had been cut short.

Sakura sighed and turned off the water, briskly toweling herself dry. Wallowing in grief would get her nowhere. If she didn't want something like that to happen again she needed to start training harder. And with the lead about Sasori's spy she needed to be strong; now more than ever.

With that resolved, she felt a little better. She moved to the kitchen to start some dinner, but as she reached for the pot she hesitated. Everything in her field of vision was moving ever so slightly from side to side, up and down. She squeezed her eyes shut, then slowly opened them. The kitchen was now firmly in place; whatever had happened was over now.

She shook her head slightly. Clearly what she needed was some vitamins, protein, and a good rest. She had to be at her best physical condition for her upcoming mission. They another step closer to finding Sasuke…and this time she wouldn't let him down.

She decided that a simple bowl of instant rice would do. After she ate she set her alarm for two hours and settled in bed. It was 9:00 in the morning now…and the meeting with their new teammate was set for noon. Until then she knew she had to try her best to rest.

Sakura awoke with a pounding headache and the slivers of another nightmare at the back of her mind. She clutched at her head as she slowly sat up, squeezing her eyes shut against the sunlight streaming through the window. A light breeze ruffled her hair, and she suddenly remembered that she had not left the window open before she had fallen asleep. Her eyes shot open to see Naruto, perched in her window like some perverse bird with an impatient look on his face.

"What's taking you so long?!" He cried out, much too loudly as usual.

Naruto managed to duck just in time as Sakura's bedside lamp just barely missed his head and instead flew out the window to startle the passerby below.

"Narutooo…what exactly do you think you're doing in my room?" She demanded icily.

"I tried your door but you wouldn't answer - honest!"

At Sakura's skeptical look Naruto quickly continued.

"Sakura, it's already five to twelve. You're going to miss the meeting with our new teammate" he whined.

"..Noon? What are you talking about it's-" She grabbed her alarm clock.

She paused, then a string of curse words left her mouth. How could she have slept in on such an important day?! Naruto's eyes widened.

"I'll…ah…be waiting for you at the meet point then see ya!" Naruto said, the last few words melding together into one giant word of panic as he rushed off the window.

Sakura threw some cloths on and jumped out the window. Sleep still clung to her stubbornly, making her movements sluggish. What was wrong with her? She had never slept through her alarm before.

"I must be picking up bad habits from Kakashi-sensei…" She muttered to herself as she glanced at a clock within a house she passed by. She was already over 10 minutes late.

When she finally arrived at the meet point, she relieved to see only Naruto sitting on the roof of the building, dangling his legs over the edge. Sakura stopped beside him, nearly falling into a sitting position. She still couldn't shake the drowsiness that hung around her like a heavy chain, even after her rushed journey through the streets of Konoha.

"For a minute I thought that even Kakashi-sensei was going to get here…before…y…" Naruto trailed off as he stared at Sakura.

There was a moment of silence and then he burst into riotous laughter.

Sakura sighed. She wasn't in the mood for Naruto's antics.

"Naruto…" She started, her tone irritated.

"B-but Sakura!" He gasped between laughs, pointing a waving finger at her, "Your clothes!"

Sakura looked down with trepidation to see that she had thrown on quite the ensemble in her rush to get out of her apartment.

A black fishnet shirt had been shoved over the bright pink tank top she had slept in. She had failed to get both arms into the fishnet shirt however, and one sleeve hung pathetically at her side. She was wearing her tight black shorts but had forgotten her skirt. Instead she seemed to have added some sort of sash. She looked down to see she had lost one boot, and that the sock she had managed to get on that particular foot was pink and green polka-dotted.

A blush spread across her features as Naruto seemed to give a half hearted attempt to stop laughing and failed miserably.

She was preparing to send him all the way back to Suna via a well placed uppercut when Kakashi showed up.

To his credit, Kakashi simply raised an eyebrow at Sakura's appearance before he addressed his two students.

Naruto wiped the tears from his eyes and looked up a Kakashi curiously.

"Where's our new teammate?" he asked.

"Ah yes, that. I'm afraid there has been a change of plans."

"What do you mean?"

"The Hokage must speak with the both of you immediately." he turned to leave, then as almost as an afterthought, he added, "Oh, and Sakura, I would change first if I were you."

She grumbled as she turned and made her way back to her apartment

Sakura could not believe what was happening. Whenever she thought things were about to get better, they got worse.

She had been pulled from her mission while Naruto, Kakashi, and her would-be new teammate Sai went on without her. As if that were not bad enough, her new mission was to travel back to Suna because Gaara had fallen very ill. Whether it was because of Shukaku being so recently removed, or simply an infection caused by his weakened state the Suna doctors were uncertain. Which is why Konoha had to send it's best to rectify the situation.

Sakura increased her pace determinedly. Even though her heart was torn because she wasn't able to be with her teammates at this vital time she knew it was important that she do her best. There was no chance in hell she was going to let Chiyo Baa-sama's sacrifice be in vain.

She fought off a wave of dizziness as she cleared a particularly high tree branch. She groaned in frustration as her muscles faltered momentarily. The sleepiness that had plagued her all morning weighed heavier on her each passing moment. She clenched her teeth. This was unacceptable. She popped a soldier pill into her mouth, and continued her quick pace. This earned a worried look from her traveling companion Toyo, a dark haired genin she had only met in passing before, but she didn't care. She didn't intend on stopping for a rest until she arrived in Suna. Every second could count.

Kankuro stood over his brother, a worried expression on his normally catlike face. Gaara's eyes were scrunched shut and his mop of auburn hair was matted with perspiration. He seemed to be lost in an endless nightmare, trapped within his own mind.

Kankuro's fists clenched and unclenched. Again he was helpless. Again he couldn't do anything to help his brother when he needed it most. Why did things like this have to keep happening?

A gentle hand rest on his shoulder and Kankuro looked over to see his sister now at his side.

"Don't beat yourself up about this. Konoha is sending the same kuinochi that saved your life…Sakura, I think it was. I'm certain she'll be able to do something about this." She said in a reassuring voice.

Kankuro shook his head and moved to the window, watching the sand blow about.

"This is our fault for not having a well developed medical training program. I keep telling that to Gaara, but does he listen? No! To him, everything is about defensive measures."

"To be fair, it's his concentration on defense that saved Suna from the Akatsuki attack." Temari commented.

"It's true that defense is important…but he of all people should know that no defense is perfect! And when things like this happen…"

"Arguing about it now isn't going to change anything. When Gaara is better…and I do mean when, we can discuss it with him properly." Temari said softly.

Kankuro nodded and sighed.

"I'm sorry…I'm just frustrated. You know how it is with Gaara. He always pushes himself too far, and this is the result. He's Kazekage now…and he needs to be more careful. We didn't even know something was wrong with him until he collapsed. He probably would have never uttered a word of complaint to anyone either. If you hadn't found him passed out in his room who knows what could have happened."

"The important thing is that I did find him, and now he can get better."

With that Temari walked over to Gaara and took his clammy hand into her own. His muscled relaxed a bit, almost imperceptibly. Only someone like her would notice the change, and Temari was glad she could offer some small comfort to him. Inwardly she urged Sakura to get here as quickly as she could. Despite her confidant words to Kankuro she was worried. The sooner she arrived, the better.

"Sakura, we should rest - you should rest - if only for a moment..." insisted Toyo for the second time that hour.

She shook her head. She had refused rest for two days despite her worsening condition. She had started to make stupid mistakes; nicking her leg on a tree branch and having very close encounters with tree trunks on numerous occasions. Still, she knew if she stopped she might fall asleep and not wake up for a very long time. And time was one thing she did not have.

They had finally cleared the trees hours earlier and were now in the desert. She was so close.

Without warning Sakura felt something snap inside her. She faltered and stumbled to the ground, sand swirling around her now prone form.

Toyo stopped and placed a cool hand on her forehead.

"Sakura! Sakura are you alright? You're burning up…" His voice faded out and everything around her wavered.

"T-toyo…?" She muttered as her vision blurred further, and she could have sworn that Toyo's face had changed…or was it her eyes that changed?

"Who's Toyo?"

"He's delirious, quick get the medic!"

"What happened?"

"His condition just worsened…someone GET THE DAMN MEDIC!"

Sakura blinked and her vision cleared slightly.

"Don't worry Sakura, if there's one thing I'm good at it's speed. I'll get you to Suna in no time."

"Wh-what's happening…" She managed before everything went black.

Red. Red everywhere.

If she slept, it would get on her. She would be stained crimson and lose herself in it, never to return. Whatever happened she had to stay awake.

She had to fight. She had to win. She couldn't sleep, no sleep. Sleep was death, sleep was loss.

Wake up…wake UP…WAKE UP!

Sakura blinked as the world suddenly came back to her.

"Where am I?" She murmured.

She let her face fall to the side to see another bed near her.

It was the Kazekage.

Suddenly she remembered her mission and struggled up. Her head was spinning, but she didn't let that stop her as she slowly made her way over to his bed. Mechanically she checked his vitals. His pulse was steady, his breathing rhythmic and slow. She sighed in relief. She hadn't failed. He was fine.

She tried to straighten, but found that her wrist was suddenly in a tight grip. She cried out in surprise and looked down to see Gaara now awake, his gaze intense and fearsome on her. For a moment their eyes met, then he looked away and he released her wrist.

"You startled me," He stated. It was an apology in a way…probably as close to an apology that the stoic Kazekage could manage, she mused.

Then the room filled with people, most she didn't recognize and a few that she did. Kankuro, Temari…and Tsunade?

"Sakura! What do you think you're doing out of bed?!" Tsunade demanded. Sakura's eyes widened in surprise at the sudden appearance of her shishou as she stumbled back into bed, too shocked to argue.

For her to be here in Suna…there must have been a grave emergency. She couldn't remember a single instance that her shishou had left Konoha for anything since she took up her title.

"What happened?" asked Sakura. Then, as she noted her growling stomach she asked. "How…long has it been?"

"Both of you have been unconscious for four days." Tsunade sat down in a chair between them with a tired sigh, "I'm not sure how to begin."

This wasn't good. Her shishou always just spoken her mind whether it was tactful or not. For her to hesitate meant it had to be something very bad. Was she dying? Had she contracted some sort of deadly disease to which there could be no cure?

"Is Gaara going to be ok?" Asked Temari, worry in her eyes.

"I can't be sure, these are fairly extraordinary circumstances. Never in all my years of experience have I come across a case like this. Then again, I never knew anyone who could use such a powerful resurrection technique."

"Chiyo baa-sama?" Asked Sakura, and Tsunade nodded.

"The technique that she used was no normal technique…you knew that from the beginning, Sakura. Instead of using chakra to heal she actually used her life force…the very energy that keeps us alive. Essentially, every person has a limited amount of life energy. Unlike chakra, once it's used up it's gone forever; and once it is gone you die. Sakura, when you were mortally wounded by Sasori, she used this technique on you. She replaced the life energy you lost with her own. She did it again with the Kazekage; but unlike you he needed a much larger amount in order to be revived from his state of death."

"And we were both fine after. The technique worked perfectly." Sakura said, though doubt tinged her voice.

"It's not that simple Sakura. You see, the reason the Kazekage fell ill, and the reason for your eventual collapse was because life energy was never meant to be divided between two individuals. So when you returned to Konoha, Chiyo's life energy began to weaken, divided as it was. I suspect that Sakura was able to endure longer because she still contains a greater amount of her own life energy."

Sakura paled. This wasn't looked good for either of them. But she was feeling a lot better now…surely she wasn't dying?

"What does this mean for us?" the Kazekage finally spoke up, bringing himself to a sitting position.

"I'm not sure yet; I'm going to continue to study this when I return to Konoha. What I do know is that it seems when you two are in general proximity of each other…at least 25 feet…your condition improves. You both could probably be away from each other a couple hours at a time before feeling much effect, but I suggest you stay very near each other most of the time to air on the side of caution. " Tsunade paused, reluctant to say what had to come next, "I'm afraid that for now, you need to stay here, Sakura."

Sakura clenched her teeth to keep words that she may regret from coming out of her mouth. Of all the times for something like this to happen, it had to happen now when their search for Sasuke was at a pivotal moment! She had been training for years, and now that the time had come to use her skills she was stuck in Suna, a practical invalid.

She hadn't noticed the tears of frustration that had beaded at the corners of her eyes until they wetted her cheek, and she wiped them away, frustrated. She wouldn't cry in front of any of them, especially not her shishou. She had to be strong. If anyone could find a solution, it would be Tsunade, the greatest healer history had known. She wouldn't be stuck here forever.

She caught a flash of jade at the corner of her eye and she looked to see the Kazekage regarding her impassively. If one were to judge by the his calm they would have thought the Hokage had given them both a clean bill of health. Did this affect him at all? Did he even care?

"I won't give up until I find a solution Sakura. Until then, I expect you to be a good representative of Konoha during your stay in Suna." Tsunade stood, "I'd like to stay longer but obviously I have a lot of work to get done."

Sakura nodded in ascent as her shishou strode out the door, the rest of the Konoha nin right behind her. Tsunade's attitude may have seemed cold to anyone else, but Sakura was glad that she hadn't wasted any time on empty platitudes. Nothing she could say would change the situation.

The Kazekage stood and left the room without another word, Kankuro right behind him.

Sakura looked pleadingly at Temari.

"Could you please direct me to a bath? I feel like…well, like I haven't bathed in a week."

Temari nodded in understanding, and indicated for Sakura to follow her.

Sakura sighed as she let the hot water on her skin soothe away her cares. Never mind that she was on a very strict timetable. Never mind that if she wasn't in the presence of the Kazekage within an hour and 20 minutes she could possibly exacerbate her condition or even pass out.

She sunk deeper into the water, the bubbles tickling her face.

No, she was in complete denial. And the warm water and bubbles were more than happy to oblige her blissful self imposed ignorance.

For the first time she looked around the bathroom. Black marble coated the floors and the tub, which was nearly big enough to seat at least two people comfortably. Plush towels hung on one wall, and the rest of the walls were bare save for a simple spiraling pattern carved into the rock.

It was large room, but then again the complex Temari had escorted her into was large as well, so it was to be expected.

She had explained that this was their residence, and that she would take care of the sleeping arrangements. Until then Sakura had a week's worth of grime and stress to soak off of her.

She was so relaxed that she didn't even notice the soft pad of feet as someone else walked into the bathroom until said person dropped the bar of soap he had been holding.

Sakura started, and looked up to see the Kazekage himself, in nothing but a sleek black robe clinging haphazardly to his slender form.

For a moment she froze. How long had he been standing there, not saying anything? His gaze did not waver from her immersed form as she grabbed the towel next to her and wrapped it around her as well as she could without rising from the bubbles and thus exposing herself.

Then she did the unthinkable.

Acting on complete instinct she raised her fist and lunged at him.

A loud smack echoed through the cavernous room as he caught her fist just inches from his face. Not to be deterred, she growled at him.

"What the hell are you doing in here?!"

Something shone in his eyes for a moment. Something dangerous and intense. Suddenly Sakura realized what she was doing, and just exactly who she had attacked. His hand tightened over hers, causing a slight twinge of pain.

"This is my bathroom. I should be the one asking you that question."

As he held her gaze with his cool green eyes she felt her face go hot. He was right, of course. This was his house. But that didn't change the fact that he was still staring straight at her, treating her as if they were both completely clothed and in decent conditions.

Still, he wasn't completely calm. He was trembling slightly and his hand around her fist was still painfully tight.

She winced and he let go, as if he only just realized he was causing her pain.

"I did not know you were in here. Rest assured if I had, I would never have entered."

And with that, he stalked out of the bathroom leaving Sakura wide eyed and shaking from fear, anger and embarrassment.

This was going to be worse than she thought.

That's the end of chapter one! Tell me what you guys think! Suggestions, comments, praise and criticisms are all welcome…it is my fuel to continue. Without reviews…I will take that as a sign that no on has enjoyed this and trash it…so do let me know!