Rising from the Red Sand

Disclaimer: None of these characters belongs to me. Period.

Chapter One

The flames burned vigorously as it leaked through the village. The magnificent color of rich red and orange dances high; so beautifully…powerfully. The smell of death is strong, reaching the nose of the four Konoha ANBU as they stood far from the distance. They know there are no survivors; no evidence left behind for them to investigate.

"How the hell can this happen?" A growl could be heard behind the mask on one of the ANBU before he ripped it off from his face, crushing it in his grip from pure anger. He can feel the blazing air from the flames swaying within his blonde hair. "We came here as fast as we could, but whoever did this always finished his work just before we even came!"

"It's as if they knew we were coming," the captain of their team agreed, removing his own mask as his dark orbs observed the damage carefully. "Either that, or we're following the pattern of their rampage, always a step behind?"

The blonde glared at him. "What do you mean by that?"

"Dobe…"

Now he's downright pissed. "Why you-"

"You didn't notice, Naruto-kun?" the third member interjected, his face free while looking at him, both eyes and lips are smiling. "This is already our fifth mission; all the results we come up with are the same. Each of the villages burned with no one left alive to tell us what happened."

"So you're saying we're just going around blind, Sai? Like they're playing with us?" Receiving a nod, Naruto gave a low grunt. "That Tsunade. What is she planning for us now?"

"Let's go." The three men blinked when seeing their fourth member disappearing right into the burning flames. Sasuke's face dropped slightly, ignoring the muffled laughter from Naruto behind him as he departed right after.

"Never have I ever seen a member of the ANBU – a woman no less – reacts before her own captain can give out orders," Sai said with a sigh, his smile growing warm. "You don't seem to listen to him either, Naruto-kun."

"Who the hell can listen to the damn teme anyways?" Naruto snapped, calming himself and they both followed, stepping besides the waiting Sasuke. What they saw was expected, but still not a very pleasant sight.

Burned corpses were scattered around the entire ground, there was definitely no such mercy for their lives, whether you're a child or not. Buildings dropping heavily, feeding the hungry flames as it tried to reach its glowing fingers to the three still ANBU. Naruto stepped back, his mouth and nose covered from the smoke.

"What exactly are we doing here?" he asked, growing concern when noticing their missing member. Hastily, he looked around. "Oi! Sakura-chan! Where are you?"

Sasuke wasn't able to follow her in time while studying his surroundings. The flames were too great; the smoke much too thick to see. Naruto did ask the right question though; what is Sakura doing?

"Arg!" Naruto is, of course, getting impatient. "SAKURA-CHAN!"

Even from all his hollering, Sakura is still not found. The three men rushed in circles to find the missing woman. Sasuke silently continued to look, leaving the two alone where they decided to stand outside the danger and wait. When the fire seems to clear just a bit, there's still no sign of them. Both are obviously concern for Sakura, but they know that she is safe. Sasuke is no exception in the matter.

"I can't find her." The captain's voice is heard before he appeared before them, glancing back at the flames. Sai felt relief as Naruto slumped to the floor when seeing the woman walking out from the smoke, her ANBU mask still on her face. Sasuke watched, mentally irritated at her for suddenly disappearing on him, yet can finally let out a sigh that he was holding. His eyes widen, seeing that she's not alone.

Sai shook his head. "Sakura-san-"

"Where the HELL were you?!" Naruto butted in rudely, pumping his fist in the woman's face. But their lips were immediately seal when noticing her carrying a boy on her back. Sasuke was the first to rush forward and helped her just when she placed him down, removing her mask.

"He's alive," she said in a hurried tone, trying to heal his wounds. Naruto removed the sheet that was wrapped around his face and held back his tongue. The boy's face was unrecognizable, burned even. It's a miracle he is still breathing.

Where did he come from…? Sasuke stood aside, giving them space while staring at the burned body. I didn't sense any life earlier…

"Why didn't you call for us?" Sai asked her gently. "We could have helped."

"I did but the noise of the fire was too great." Her hands slowly trailed higher until she reached his face. She swallowed, feeling a painful lump in her throat.

"The boy…?"

"I'm can only heal the small ones; the rest will have to be done back in Konohagakure." Gently, she lifted him in her arms and blinked when Sasuke grabbed him, carrying the boy on his back. "Sasuke-kun…?"

"I can get him there the fastest," Sasuke said before he disappeared in a quick run. Sakura was immediately on his trail, leaving both Naruto and Sai behind.

"I can get him there the fastest," Naruto mimicked in a mocking tone, grumbling with a curse. "Teme, just because he's our leader, doesn't mean he can show-off whenever he can."

"Hmm? I thought the one who's usually showing off the most is you, Naruto-kun," Sai said bluntly, not disturbed of his teammate's fury. "We should go back too."

One last look at the village, Sai stared a little while longer, his mind feeling trouble. How could someone – a mere boy, no less, who doesn't look anywhere close to ten from his small size – survived? It makes no sense…

"Come on, Sai," Naruto muttered as they both turn, catching the other teammates' trail easily and followed them back home. Hopefully, they will be able to have some questions answered regarding these attacks before the next one can happen again.

"Sasuke, Naruto-kun…"

Sasuke only looked at Sai from the corner of his eyes, silently telling him that he's listening. Naruto turned from his bench and faced him, fidgeting.

The three sat outside the surgery room, waiting for the results of the child where both Tsunade and Sakura are trying their best to heal the boy. For the first time, Naruto is going to stay patient, waiting for any new updates. No use pissing off both women with his rowdy and eagerness self, especially if they're capable of beating him to the point of breaking every piece of his bones and organs to dust. Death will not be very enjoyable if that happens.

Sai's eyes are closed, his lips smiling. Though he had grown used to the expression, Naruto knew Sai is trying to stay positive, even in this situation. He did have years to understand the relationship of friends he had for Naruto and Sakura, not to mention accepting the 'emotions' he thought he'd lost long ago. "Don't you think it's a bit strange about this kid?"

Sasuke's eyes darken. "Before we even stepped into the village, I didn't sense any survivors," he paused, his forehead furrowed. "No…I know there weren't any survivors."

"How did Sakura-chan find him then?" Naruto couldn't help but asked, even if he knew they have no answer for it. Only Sakura can tell them this, at the moment, they can only guess. "He couldn't have been thrown in there."

"He suffered heavy burns when I carried him here. No one would ever volunteer for that. Something about him tells me that he going to be a suspicious one."

Sai sat forward, both arms resting on his legs as he gazed at the door where the surgery is taken. "That, I can agree on. What do you think will happen now?"

Neither one can give out an answer. All three quickly stood straight on their feet when the Godaime stepped out of the room, cracking her stiff shoulders. Sakura was behind her, giving them a tired smile.

The men waited.

"He's fully recovering," Sakura answered their silent question, looking back at the room. "Tsunade-sama actually did it, it was a success."

"I'm not going to take all the credit, Sakura," Tsunade said proudly, an eye closed for a wink. Then her face harden. "You four had done very well…more than I expected."

Naruto growled. "You got lots of explaining to do, Tsunade-baachan."

"I was waiting until I can get a full story of the situation," Tsunade admitted, raising a hand to silent the blonde before he can even start. "It was actually requested from the Kazekage."

Surprise washed over their faces. "Gaara?"

"You already knew from the missions of those burnt villages; all five are from the Land of the Wind. The Damiyo was clearly worried that another of the villages would be wasted on his land, lots of money he'd put the effort in just goes down the drain, one by one, when each of these villages are destroyed."

"Tsunade," Sasuke stopped her briefly, a question burning to leave his tongue. "What exactly does each of these villages have? Unless the killing is for fun?"

"The Kazekage mentioned they're only normal civilized villages. That will be undetermined for now until we have more proof, more answers. But this boy," the Godaime lowered her gaze, looking disturbed. "His burns had been difficult to heal, some of them are much too extreme so there's going to be a few scars on his body. It's the best we can do for him."

Sai tilted his head to the side. "Is he awake?"

"Not right now," Tsunade trailed off, lifting her eyes to them. "Sakura told me the whole story, plus I'll be comparing notes later once you finish writing your report Sasuke. This kid is going to be a very suspicious victim, indeed."

Sasuke mutely gave a glance at Naruto and Sai, their thoughts confirmed.

"Sakura," she faced the younger woman. "I'm stripping you away from their team temporarily and putting you in charge of caring for this kid."

The tension in the air was pretty loud and clear. It was the sound of Naruto's jaw hitting the floor that snapped them back into attention.

"No, she's not!" Naruto rejected angrily, growling closely to the Godaime's irritated face. Even Sasuke didn't expect this. "We don't even know the history of this kid yet! How can you just give him to Sakura-chan like that?"

Sakura threw him a sardonic look. "Are you saying I'm not capable in handling this?"

"But…Sakura-chan!"

"You," Tsunade flicked the blonde in the forehead as he set his foot firmly on the floor, sliding barely a few inches, rubbing his swollen bruise with a curse. She couldn't help but mentally gave a smirk. The man has grown very strong. "You, Sasuke, and Sai are still in charge for the next mission. Sasuke, I'm holding you in charge of these two again for the time being."

She meant babysitting. Sasuke turned away, clearly annoyed. As if keeping an eye on them wasn't enough. Sai is very cooperative during missions, but their relationship is nowhere near friends; they are only a team, after all. Naruto cares shit about him, though at least the dobe listens when they're in tough situations. Sakura though is a complete different story, she's the one who changed the most. Not one of the fan girls he used to know her as when they were Genins, she had proven herself very useful for their group. She acts upon herself sometimes when she deemed necessary. Sometimes Sasuke had a tough time keeping track of her.

But Sasuke should never complain. What he used to be to them in the past was merely crushed when he left Konohagakure years ago…thirst for power. Though they accepted him when he stood forth as their teammate again, given the captain status from Tsunade herself, that doesn't mean he would expect a warm welcome. They were still sore when he'd left and it got worse when he returned.

"Heh!" Naruto turned his nose in the air. "I prefer it if you tell us first about the mission instead of just assigning us some random shit that we don't know of, Tsunade-baachan."

"It will be the same as your previous missions; you don't need to worry about that." Tsunade held back the urge to smash the blonde into a bloody plump. "The Kazekage had asked for our assistance. We must do the best we can to solve this case. I would prefer it if you all keep your mouth shut about this, I don't want a word to be spreading. Is that understood? I don't want to hear any arguments from you, Naruto."

Naruto's mouth shut in a thin line as the other three nodded. This still sound fishy though.

"Sakura," Tsunade continued. "I want you to get some answer from that boy as much as possible. Ask him what he knows and the background of the village he's from. Don't try to push him too much, if he's truly a victim and nothing else, I want you to be extra careful; he'd been through the worst time possible."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama…"

"Remember…keep an eye on him closely…"