This story takes place after Sakura saves Kankuro's life, but Sakura and Gaara never meet

Prologue:

He sighed, and stretched his aching arms and legs. He took a few deep breaths. Then he looked out of his tower window and gazed upon Suna. Sunagakure…. Village of the Hidden Sand. The village that he had grown up in. Tortured, and lonely. The village, that he had grown to eventually love and protect. The village, of which he is the Kazekage of.

The village that was under attack.

As he contemplated the village and the attacks, he came to a conclusion. Since Konohagakure is under attack, and that his own village is under attack by the same enemy, he decided that they should start village negotiations. After all, Konoha was a powerful village with large influence on the neighboring countries, and also for the fact that they have a fellow jinchuriki that understands him. Gaara considers Naruto a friend, if not, a good friend.

Nodding quietly to himself, he settled down onto his chair, took out a scroll, and wrote a letter to the current Hokage of Konoha, which happened to be Tsunade. It was not a long and lengthy letter, but brief. He then performed the hand signs necessary for sealing the scroll. This was because he knew that once the Hokage agreed to it, they would have to start sending ninja back and forth, because the information was to valuable to be destroyed, or replicated.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. Negotiations were long and complicated, taking many weeks or even months.

A quiet knock on the door distracted him from his thoughts. "Come in" he said. His sister opened the door. "Temari. Right on time." Temari smiled slightly at her brother's unusually good mood. "Hello, little brother. What is the favor?". Gaara handed her the scroll. Temari glanced at it, then back to him. "How many days do I have?". "10 days. I trust that you will be able to get the message there and the answer back in time?"

Temari nodded. She looked more carefully at the scroll. "This is about the attacks isn't it?" Gaara nodded slightly, and said no more. Temari carefully put the scroll in her side pouch. She retreated out the door. "Temari…" she hesitated. Looked back. "Be safe." She smiled softly at her little brother, and then closed the door.

End of prologue

Story:

Village negotiations were underway. Both Suna and Konoha selected some of their most elite ninja to deliver the messages and special documents. Sakura Haruno stood proudly beside Nara Shikamaru, glad to have been picked as one of the village's ambassador. Tsunade sighed, massaging her temple. Then she handed Sakura two documents.

"Ok, here's the deal. These are two very important documents. One of them contains the terms of the negotiation. This, you will have to discuss with the Kazekage. This might take up to 4 days, possibly a week. Can I be sure that you will discuss fair ones? Ones that will benefit both for Suna and Konoha?" "Yes Tsunade-Sama!" Sakura and Shikamaru said in unison.

"Alright. This second document contains classified information about the rogue group that had attacked us. You are not allowed know too much about this information. Here is the briefing. Their name is the Akatsuki. Their symbol is a red cloud. Whenever you see a stranger wearing black robes with the red clouds on them, avoid contact with any of them. They are very powerful rogue ninja from all over the ninja world. A very important and potentially deadly information is…" Tsunade leaned forward, and whispered " Uchiha Itachi is part of the organization" Sakura gasped and covered her mouth. Shikamaru's eyes widened slightly.

Sakura said quietly under her breath "Sasuke-kun…" Shikamaru sighed, "Troublesome… if Itachi is really part of that organization, then we have to do everything not to let Sasuke find out." Tsunade shook her head grimly. "Either way, back to the negotiations. I trust you can come back with the answers in the time span of 2 weeks?" Sakura and Shikamaru nodded.

"Good. Now shoo. I have to think about how to use this information." Sakura and Shikamaru bowed, and then retreated out the door. "6:00 am tomorrow, sharp" Sakura declared in an official voice. Shikamaru groaned, "You're even worse than Asuma-sensei… This is so troublesome…" Sakura just rolled her eyes at her partner's lazy antics.

"Fine then, 7:00 am tomorrow, sharp." Shikamaru frowned, but said "That's slightly better." Sakura snapped "If you keep complaining, I'll move it to 5:00 am!" Shikamaru refrained himself from groaning and rolling his eyes. Instead, he said "Geez, you really know how to get a lazy guy moving. Threatening to take away my sleeping time."

Sakura scoffed. "Its good for you. Now, I have to go pack. You'll take one document, and I'll take the other. Tomorrow, 7:00 am sharp alright?" Shikamaru grumbled quietly but didn't say anything else. They parted ways. Sakura decided to go back to her apartment to prepare herself for the oncoming mission, while Shikamaru was invited to have yet another barbecue with his team.

Sakura shifted through her pack once more. "Hmmm… Rolls of bandages, kunai, shuriken, food rations enough to last 5 days… although I'm pretty sure we will make it to Suna in 3 days. Senbon, water canteen, exploding tags. And of course, the document. Well, I'm ready." She paced around nervously, trying to decide what negotiations would benefit best for both villages…

Meanwhile, Shikamaru was at the usual Team 10 barbecue restaurant place. Choji, as usual, was inhaling the food. Ino was scolding him not to. Asuma smoked, the foul smell reaching his nostrils. Ino sighed, then leaned against Shikamaru. "I want to eat, but then I'll get fat. What do you think I should do?" For the infinite time, Shikamaru muttered troublesome, but gently reminded his girlfriend that her body was perfect just the way it was, and she should not worry about anything. Ino snuggled against him, glad to hear that compliment.

Asuma grinned at his students' romance.

Choji continued to inhale food.