Sakura stared down at the ground as the world around her moved at an astounding rate.

People were running around everywhere, trying to prepare for the war, as well as trying to understand why Sound declared it in the first place. There was lots of shouting.

But she was not paying attention to any of this. She was still attempting to wrap her head around what had happened, and what she had just been told. Gaara and the others had lied the entire time they were on the ship.

She knew that they had had good reasons for it. After all, they wanted to help their country, and didn't want to risk a princess blabbering to someone about their plan.

Still, it didn't feel good knowing that they deceived her. Even after they had gotten to know her, they never thought that maybe, their initial thoughts of her weren't correct and that she wouldn't tattle on them. They didn't have any faith in her at all. She felt betrayed.

Gaara didn't even look bothered by the fact that he had lied for so long. She didn't know why that bothered her so much. It shouldn't bother her more than any of the other's lying to her. Maybe it was how he didn't even seem to change his mind after she healed him. Or maybe it was something else. She wasn't really sure.

Come to think of it, he still hadn't thanked her for healing him. It took a really long time to save him, and he didn't even look appreciative. Well, in his defense it seemed like that was just his nature. And a nagging voice inside her head told her that she shouldn't heal people just to get their thanks.

A tug at her pant leg broke Sakura's train of thought. She looked and saw Akamaru on her left side, trying to get her attention. Her eyes shot open. If Akamaru was here, then Kiba was as well.

"Hey," Speak of the devil, Kiba walked up to her and sat down next to her. She supposed that she shouldn't be too surprised considering that he was in the same group as Temari and her siblings. Perhaps the rest of the group was here too.

"Hi fake pirate," Sakura greeted with a hint of malice in her voice.

He rose up his hands in surrender. "Sorry! I really did want to tell you, honestly. But the others had insisted that we keep it private."

"And by 'others' you mean Gaara?" she guessed.

He grinned sheepishly, "Well…yeah. But, in his defense, he does have major trust issues. A lot of crappy stuff happened in his childhood. But, and don't quote me on this, I think even he was considering telling you at one point."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Somehow she found that hard to believe. Kiba laughed at her expression, "Or maybe not," he commented before turning serious. "You did a really good thing for him."

"Thank you," she replied.

"I think that, even if he's not showing it, he is really grateful," he told her.

Somehow she doubted that as well.

"So what do you think you'll do now?" He asked, looking almost nervous as he did.

That was a good question. She hadn't really thought of that before now, she had been so focused on healing Gaara. What was she going to do now?

She could just go back to the island. After all, she technically wasn't involved in the war. She wasn't affiliated with Konoha or Suna, or even Sound. She could just go back to the island and, with the exception of Tayo being gone, live like she had lived before; a quiet, peaceful life that she never got tired of.

However, even though she had been forced into the going on the ship and being with its crew, it was a part of her now. And she doubted that she'd be able to just forget that it had happened.

But what other option did she have? Stay with them? Fight with them?

She sighed, "I really don't know."

Before he could respond, Temari strode up to them. "Kiba, Gaara's gathering us together to decide what to do next." Her eyes moved Sakura. "He wants you to come too. But you can refuse if you want."

She shook her head. If she said no then he would most likely release his anger at Temari, and she didn't want that. "I'll come." They walked together to where the rest of the group was gathered, which was in a hut a short ways away from where Sakura had been sitting.

The whole crew was there. All eyes turned to her when she entered, causing her to feel a little self-conscious. Their expressions varied. Some looked surprised to see her, other appeared grateful. The only one who didn't let their reaction show was Gaara, which really wasn't a big surprise.

She and Gaara locked eyes for a moment. He almost looked uncertain. But he quickly averted his gaze before she was sure.

"We need to decide what to do," Gaara spoke up. Like always, he was to the point, sparing no extra energy to greet people. "However, what we chose to do is heavily influenced by Sakura."

What? Her? "What do I have to do with it?" She asked.

This time it was Kankuro who spoke. "Sakura, we were hoping to continue what we were doing previously. You know, when we were all on the ship together…"

Her eyes narrowed. "You mean use me to convince my parents to get that dragon thing."

He blushed and scratched the back of his head. "Well yeah. But you obviously wouldn't be a prisoner anymore. And maybe you could just ask your parents for it instead of us trying to bargain with them."

So they wanted to do the exact same thing as before. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. If Sound was a formidable enemy, they could probably use this dragon. That's assuming that the dragon was willing to be used of course. She didn't like the idea of being used either, although this time it would be voluntary.

There was also what she had been considering before: she could just go to back to the island.

She sighed and gave the answer she told Kiba, "I don't know."

"What?" Gaara exclaimed, walking up to her. "After everything you'd really just abandon us?"

Oh he did not just go there. She stepped closer to him and glared. "You mean after you kidnapped me and left me in the dark all that time?"

His eyes narrowed. "We didn't kidnap you, you said that you would come with us."

"You were destroying my island, I didn't have a choice" she exclaimed.

"You know why we needed to go do it," he growled.

"Oh so my homeland is disposable and yours isn't?"

"You're the princess of Heilig, that island was not your homeland."

"Hey!" Temari cut in. "Cool it you two."

They separated. Sakura didn't realize how close they were until they moved apart. She breathed out in an attempt to calm herself down. "I think I need time to think about this," she explained.

Gaara looked like he was going to retort something, but clenched his jaw.

Temari nodded at Sakura. "Then I think for now we should just go over what we know about Sound. Anyone want to speak up about what they know?"

Kankuro spoke up. "Well, apparently the King Uchiha and his wife have been killed."

Uchiha? As in Sasuke's last name? Kiba had explained to her a little bit about the attack they had back on the ship. He hadn't explained very much, but he said what the names of everyone who attacked them.

Neji must have noticed her confusion, because he explained. "Sasuke was their son."

He was royalty? Wow, she was not expecting that. She didn't think he looked very 'prince like'. But then again, he thought the same thing about her. His parents died? Ouch. Even if he seemed kind of a like a jackass when she saw him (albeit a cute jackass), she still felt bad for him. That would be a horrible thing to go through, for anyone.

"Yeah," Kankuro put in. "So now that they're gone, until Sasuke is of age, the advisor Orochimaru has taken control over the country's' defenses."

Somehow that name seemed very familiar. Where had she heard it before? Think girl think. She didn't remember any talk of him on the ship. Itachi and the others never mentioned him. And she doubted that people on the island would speak of him, they were all kind of isolated there.

Maybe she had read it somewhere then? Maybe a scroll or a book or a letter? Wait, a letter! Sakura's eyes went wide. One of Tayo's letters was sent by him! Where did she put those? They were in her bag. If memory served, she had left them in the bag she had brought with her. She had left the bag in the room where Gaara had been previously resting.

Why did she just leave it there? She hoped that it would still be there now. "Hey guys, I actually need to go and do something," she explained quickly as she started to walk away. "Be back in a bit."

She raced towards the castle. How could she be stupid enough to just leave her bag there? Yes she had preoccupied with healing Gaara, but there was no excuse for why she left it after that.

The pinkette entered the castle and quickly moved through hallways, ignoring the eyes of people that she passed, along with the 'what are you doing here' questions?

Finally, she came to the correct room and, thank the gods, her bag was still there. She walked over to it, her breathing now heavier because of her run.

She walked over to the bed that Gaara had been sleeping in and sat on it. Then she reached over and picked up her bag. But before she could take out on of the letters, she hesitated.

The pinkette hadn't thought about it until now, but why exactly would Orochimaru mail a letter to Tayo. How would the two even know each other? Maybe Tayo had been raised in Sound? It was a possibility; she didn't know very much about Tayo's childhood. Maybe they had been friends? She wasn't sure how she felt about that. Sure, since she wasn't from Konoha or Suna Sound technically wasn't her enemy. But after spending so much time with the crew, she couldn't help but feel a little more biased to their side.

She hoped for the best and took out a letter. Here goes nothing. She opened the letter and started reading it.

Dear Orochimaru,

To answer your question, no one suspects anything about Haru's 'accident'. One good thing about the tiny island is that people don't seem to be overly curious and leave well enough alone. The pink haired brat seems to have accepted the idea that he had died in a bush fire and seems to be adapting fine, even if she still seems to cry a lot. I still question why you ordered me to watch the brat, but they are your orders and I will obey them.

Until I send you another update,

Tayo.

Sakura's hands shook as she finished reading the piece of paper. Tears were streaming down her face and she made no move to wipe them away.

How? Why? So everything she thought she knew about Tayo was a lie? Tayo had really hated her that much? And apparently Haru had been murdered somehow! How was this possible? Tayo had never shown signs of not liking her much less hating her. This just didn't seem possible and yet, apparently it was. Her step father had been murdered and Tayo had only been with her because the woman had been instructed to do so.

"What did you come here for?" A sharp voice caused Sakura to look up and see Gaara at the door. He had probably followed her when she took off.

His stern expression changed slightly to one of surprise when he saw her tears and the letter. "What is that?" He asked his tone now more soft than before.

He walked up to her and gently tugged the letter away from her hands. She didn't have the will power or the energy to stop him, so she let him look at the letter.

His eyes narrowed when he read it. But he paused when he finished, almost as if he wasn't sure how to interpret it. Then he put the letter down and studied her face. Most likely to judge if he thought she was some spy from Sound or not.

She didn't expect his next question, "Are you alright?"

If other people had asked, she would have tempted to snap back 'do I look alright'. But he had seemed really awkward when asking it, as if he really didn't know how to comfort people. Considering his personality, that wasn't very surprising. Maybe if she wasn't in her current state, she would have gawked at him for asking that. But now all she did was shake her head.

"Do you…want to be alone?" He asked quietly.

Sakura bit her lip. She wasn't sure. She knew that she wouldn't get much comfort from the redhead, even if he was trying. But she didn't exactly want to be alone either. Slowly, she shook her head.

He froze for a little while and she looked down at the ground, waiting for him to leave so she could continue to cry. However, instead of hearing footsteps that led away from the room, his footsteps went towards the bed. Her head whipped to the side to see Gaara slowly sitting down on the bed beside her.

He made no move to touch her and didn't usher out any consoling words. The two just sat side by side, one silent and as the other wept. And yet, his presence was enough to help her. To let her know that there was someone out there who cared enough to stay, that she wasn't alone in the world. And that was what she really needed.

Hey people. I hope you liked the chapter.