Day 3

Moonlight glistened against the vast silhouetted hills of sand dunes as they traveled almost nonstop to reach Suna by nightfall. Seeing a distant glow of lights, they knew they were finally getting close to the Hidden Sand Village. No one would voice the quiet worry that they would find nothing but destruction and chaos like they had already seen in the past two days, but what they had found was something entirely different.

Approaching a large crowd surrounding the front gates of the village, everyone glanced at each other in concern as they approached the outer edge of what looked like many other refugees. A lot of people were already camped for the night while others were standing near the gates and talking in what sounded like a heated debate.

Kakashi slowly stepped forward towards the thick of the crowd, peering over a few heads to find several shinobi at the front standing their ground while pushing a few people back who tried to enter inside.

"I've told you all, no one is allowed to enter the village at this time. There simply isn't enough room," one of the older looking Jounins said.

"My husband and children are inside! Why can't I go to my family?" a woman shouted in grief. "Suna is my home!"

"I'm sorry, but no one is allowed to enter," he simply replied. "No exceptions."

Other people began to shout how they didn't have the right to deny them going home or letting them find refuge.

"Why isn't the Kazekage doing anything? Why is he leaving us out here to die?" a man yelled.

Kakashi bit the inside of his cheek at the display. This was bad. There were already several hundred people if not more out here. The Hidden Sand wasn't a small village by any means. Did they really not have enough room to handle more people? What was going on inside?

Looking to Sakura, Shikamaru and Choji who had followed behind him through the crowd, he sighed as he scratched the back of his neck. "I'm not sure what this means for us," he murmured. "We might have to head back east to even have a chance to survive. We can't last long out here in a desert. We'll be out of water soon."

"And neither can they," Sakura worriedly said as the glanced over the people around them. "If we could at least talk to Lord Gaara, maybe we can figure out a way to help everyone. He's not a heartless person… he would want to help these people."

"I think so, too," Shikamaru agreed. "I'm not sure why Tamari never replied to any of my messages, but there must be a reason. They may not be letting people inside, but I don't see anyone coming out either."

Nodding, Kakashi sighed as he looked towards the front. "Let's try and speak to them."

Making their way through the restless crowd and small makeshift campfires, they edged their way towards the frontline.

"Excuse me," Kakashi called out to one of the guards.

"There is no room," the man barked.

"We need to just speak to Lord Gaara. He doesn't have to let us stay, but we just want to talk."

"You and everyone else."

"We're from Konoha," Shikamaru spoke up. "We bring news about our Lady Hokage. We're her advisors."

"No one is speaking with Lord Gaara. I don't give a damn who you are. No one is to pass."

Sighing, Kakashi motioned for them to let it go for now and led their way back to the outer edge of several camps. Picking a spot that was dimly lit by a small family's camp fire, everyone sat in a semicircle against the cool sand.

"I have a bad feeling," Sakura murmured. "What if Gaara is in trouble?"

"Someone else could be running the inside for all we know," Shikamaru added. "I'm not sure how fast this virus has spread before it hit us, but perhaps they are trying to contain it."

"I'm really hoping for the latter," Kakashi said as he leaned back, glancing up at the large moon hovering above the massive crater that held the village from within. "We should check out the outer perimeter tomorrow. Maybe we can find a weak point to slip inside."

"If the guards stationed at the wall are there as they should be, we'll be easily spotted unless we do it at night."

"Let's press the guards and see if we can somehow get a message to Gaara. If not, then I think we should try it." Sakura said.

Everyone nodded at the plan except Choji who seemed to be lost in thought. Shikamaru gently nudged his friend's arm. "Choji?"

"S-Sorry," he stammered. "I guess I'm just a bit tired."

"Let's get some sleep then," Kakashi suggested.

Once everyone prepared their bedrolls, Sakura slipped inside hers which was next to Kakashi's. Hearing Shikamaru softly speak to Choji about something a few feet behind them, she glanced to her former sensei who seemed to be staring at the stars above. When his gaze fell to hers, she offered a pressed smile before fidgeting with the comforter pulled around her.

He looked like he wanted to say something, but remained quiet before he looked back towards the towering black sky. Finding herself also at a loss of words of what to say, she snuggled more into her roll and faintly said, "Goodnight, Kakashi."

"Goodnight, Sakura," he whispered back.

TBC

[ Author Note: *cue melancholy The Last of Us music*

I've been meaning to post this, but got swept away into KakaSaku V-Day tumblr week. (which I highly suggest you check out some of the sweet fics and art people made) ]