'Where am I supposed to turn?' The pinkette frowned in frustration as another sigh ripped through her lips. She was looking at her GPS at the dashboard and looking up at the signs that laid ahead. One stuck out the most to her with large yellow text "Suna 2 miles" and below that it showed a large white arrow pointing to her left. This made Sakura smile as she continued down the road for 2 miles and made the turn, watching as the once highway scenery turned into a desert. Sure Suna wasn't as great with scenery as Konoha was to her. But they had some trees here and there, specifically palm trees. Suna was known for having a lot of tourists this time of year for the beach and flowers. Sakura pulled over to the side of the road and grabbed her light pink phone, scrolling to find the message her blonde haired friend had sent her.

Sakura,

You should come to Suna for a few weeks, I really miss you and want you to meet your nephew.

Plus, I know they're working the hell out of you back in Konoha.

- Ino.

Going over this message made the green-eyed girl smile as she thought about reuniting with her childhood best friend. Ino was the first friend Sakura made in middle school when she first moved to Konoha. All the other girls made fun of her for her forehead, but Ino didn't. Ino stood up for her and gave her a red ribbon to tie back her bangs. She gave Sakura the confidence to be her own person. They were very close once high school came around, even crushing on the same boy, Sasuke Uchiha. That's when their friendship made a turn for the worst and they became love rivals. That all came to a bitter end for them when Sasuke left Konoha and insulted them in the process. After that the girls just laughed about how stupid they were for fighting over him and they became even closer friends than before. Ino was the sister Sakura never had. It was heartbreaking for Sakura when Ino decided to go to college in Suna. When she departed with Ino, they both were crying with smiles on their faces and they told each other that it wasn't goodbye.

"I refuse to say goodbye, Sakura. I'll just see you around later." Ino chimed in while letting some tears stain her cheeks, she smiled to reassure her friend.

"I'm going to miss you." Sakura broke down a little and cried into their hug, but she smiled regardless. "But I know you're going to become something great."

"This will be another fun competition for us. When we meet up again, let's prove that we've become something great together." Ino smiled. They both stood at the airport for moments more before the intercom interrupted their conversation, letting Ino know that it was time for her to go. Sakura cried once Ino was out of sight, waving sadly as she rounded the corner to enter the plane.

"We'll become something great." Sakura mumbled to herself before leaving the airport.

That's when the flashback ended for Sakura, she continued to her long trip as her body slacked a little behind the wheel, reminding her just how long she's been driving and it's almost over. The trip to Suna was a 2 day car trip. Entering one of the residential areas in Suna, Sakura drove a little slower and looked for the street name that Ino had given her. Sure enough, a little ways down the road was the street. Finding her house was easy considering Kankuro was outside working on their car.

"Yo, Kankuro." Sakura greeted the greasy man as he got out from under the car and flashed her a side smirk, similar to his older sister's.

"Hey, Sakura. Long time no see." Kankuro said, getting up and wiping the oil and grease off his hands with a cleaning rag.

"It sure has been." Sakura sighed out and smiled back, looking at their house. It was a simple yet beautiful 2 story house. The house was white with light purple window shudders, a porch that wrapped around half of the house, a small porch swing was by the side of the house as well as a decent sized pool in the backyard. Sakura's aweing came to a halt when she saw a long blonde haired woman throw the front door open and come running at her, before Sakura could react she was tackled into a hug and nearly fell over.

"Forehead!" the blonde hugged onto the struggling friend tightly, from Kankuro's perspective it looked like she was going to break the girl in half.

"Ino.. Can't… breathe." Sakura managed to mutter out as she tried to wiggle out of the death grip.

"Oh sorry." Ino's laugh was cut short as she looked at her friend and a million questions came to mind. Sakura felt that it was too hot outside to discuss everything, she'd melt before she would be able to do much else. Ino grabbed the friend's hand and pulled her into the beautiful house for some cookies and tea.

"Must have been a long trip if you drove here." The light voice drifted from the kitchen to the pinkette's ears, she was looking around the living room at the pictures and furniture. It's been a while since they've seen each other, Sakura couldn't believe Ino ended up with Kankuro. Kankuro was by no means a bad guy, but when Sakura first encountered him with his siblings at school they were not friendly to her and Naruto at all. Kankuro even picked on one of the middle schoolers in front of them, saying that Naruto and Sakura couldn't do anything since they thought they were weak. That's when Sasuke and Gaara stepped in. Sakura shivered a little at the thought of how cold the trio were to her and her friends. It wasn't until junior year that they made amends with the trio and became rather close friends. Sakura was fonder of the blonde haired sister of the group. Ino, Sakura, and Temari loved to hang out during breaks and after school during their senior year. What bugged Sakura is that at the time Ino had been dating Kiba and Temari was dating Shikamaru, they'd always be talking about their boyfriends while Sakura was still pining over the raven haired boy, whom never returned her feelings. She did finally work up the nerve to date someone while in college, but… it was short lived. It still hurt.

Sakura's hand glided over the marble top of a fireplace Ino had in the living room before the blonde interrupted Sakura's thoughts with refreshments and beginning the stories they both eagerly wanted to talk about. After all these years of being separated. It's not like they never talked to each other, they texted each other quite often. It's just different when you're actually there with that person, it makes the stories all the better and they can have more details now since they don't have to type it out to one another.

"I became head nurse at the hospital here. My schedule gets pretty bad sometimes since I'm in charge of the other nurses, but they know I have a two year old at home so I get two days off a week and I get off early sometimes. You should see Kei, he loves running around now and grabbing anything within his grasp." The blonde kept on listing off things that go on in her life, Sakura smiled the whole time, contently listening.

"Hey, Ino." Kankuro began to interrupt the overly excited blonde who frowned and turned towards him.

"What?" she snapped, she really wanted to continue telling her stories to Sakura, who finally took this break to gulp down some of the tea they poured for her.

"Gaara needs some help back at the office, so I'll be gone for a bit." Kankuro informed her before grabbing his keys off the table and leaving the blonde with a small kiss to her cheek. "Hope she doesn't talk you into a coma, she has a tendency to babble on." He aimed his statement to Sakura. Sakura giggled lightly as Ino smacked Kankuro's arm.

"Just go help your brother before I kill you." Ino looked back to Sakura and began talking again. Once Kankuro locked the door behind him, the two girls could hear the soft hum of the car's engine before it sped out of the driveway. His impatient driving skills haven't changed one bit. Ino just kept dragging on about her times here in Suna and as much as Sakura wanted to listen to the stories that she awaited to hear, she couldn't quite focus much on the blonde, but rather on the name that Kankuro mentioned before his departure.

Gaara.

The redhead younger brother of Kankuro. This is what Sakura was afraid of. She somehow knew, dreadfully, on her way here that the redhead would still be living In Suna. She wanted to believe that he made some spontaneous decision to leave Suna and move somewhere else with the one girl she knew she didn't want to see either. After all that happened, she wanted to come here to see Ino and not even hear about the infamous redhead. To no avail, Sakura's mind would not push aside the thoughts… no… the memories of the times her and Gaara had together. Ino, of course, knew that the redhead and Sakura had at one point been together, her goofy husband told her about the relationship Gaara and Sakura once had. Sakura was rather surprised that Kankuro even made an effort to be nice to her when she got here, she would've thought that Gaara's siblings would hate her. Unless of course the redhead didn't care about Sakura leaving. Did he even see how hurt she was? After what she saw? After those two years of being together? He certainly didn't stop her when she got in her car and booked it. Maybe he wanted her to leave and waited for the perfect moment.

"Sa-ku-ra, are you even listening to me right now?" Ino's annoyed tone brought Sakura out of her thoughts and to the pouting face of her best friend.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I'm just tired from the trip." Sakura lied and smiled to her friend, she knew the blonde didn't believe it was nothing, but she didn't bother to pry into her pink haired friend's business. The blonde knew if Sakura had something to share, she'd spill it.

"Alright. I told Kei he could help me make dinner tonight. It shouldn't really be done for 2 hours. How about I show you to the guest room and you can take a nap, if that'd make you feel better." Ino offered, grabbing her friend's hand and bringing her to her feet. Only to be faced with a smile. Ino had been so sweet and caring towards her, Sakura was definitely glad to know their rivalry from their earlier years was gone and they could be close friends.

"That sounds nice." Sakura confessed, thinking that the nap would help push those invading thoughts of a certain someone's piercing eyes. A nap could help get her mind off of it. Scratch that, off of him.

Back at Gaara's office.

"You know Kei's getting pretty good with running around now. He still trips every now and then, but me and Ino can't seem to get the brat to settle down." Kankuro's steady laugh filled the once quiet office as he finished filing the last of the paperwork.

"Sounds like a handful." The younger brother didn't bother to lift his gaze to the brunette, but rather turned off his laptop and packed it into the awaiting computer bag.

"He is. But, he's not being nearly as bratty today since 'auntie's' visiting." Kankuro rolled his eyes, before his mouth clamped shut. Did Gaara know who he meant by auntie? Oh if he found out it was Sakura…

"Temari's bullying your child? That's a new low for her." Gaara couldn't hide the smirk that made its way along his usual stoic composure.

"Pssh. I wouldn't let her bully my child, 'kay?" Kankuro's defensive tone soon faltered as he chuckled, staring back at his brother. Gaara merely shrugged and got up, ready to call it a night.

"Thanks for helping me with the files, Temari decided to take the day off." Gaara rolled his eyes at the memory of Temari walking in this morning and saying she was spending the day with the daydreaming boy from Konoha, Shikamaru.

"A Shikamaru day again, I take it?" Kankuro lightly poked at his brother, Gaara would usually shoot a death glare at anybody who dared touch him, but it was Kankuro. Gaara just sighed and nodded. Opening the door to his office while all the lights were being turned off. He couldn't wait to just get home and sleep. Or so he thought he'd be getting home.

"You should stop by for dinner. I know Kei would love to see you and besides, you might find the house a little different." Kankuro was conflicted as soon as those words left his mouth. He knew if Gaara saw Sakura it'd turn the innocent offer into something different. Yet, the curious brunette wondered how exactly Gaara would react to the pinkette's visit. He hoped it wouldn't turn violent by any means. Kankuro didn't plan it to be mean towards any party, he just let the curiosity get the best of him. Who knows Gaara could still turn it down.

"Alright. I could stop by for a bit." The redhead's smooth voice caused Kankuro to rub the back of his head uncomfortably as both of them turned towards their own cars in the emptying parking lot.

"Cool, Ino should already have dinner going." Kankuro laughed uncomfortably which caused the redhead to raise an eyebrow at his reaction, but they both got into their cars regardless and made their way to Kankuro's house.