A/N: I'm back with another chapter. I gave up a little on this story partway through. Sorry about that. There were some really stressful things, and I couldn't really spare any time for writing. Also, I got a couple of reviews on my other story 21 Questions that really made me question whether I was actually putting my best effort into writing these stories. I mean, there are so many good ones on this site, and I really want to improve. And there you have it, I found my motivation again! My plots may not be engaging and my characters may not be complex, but I'm giving it my best shot. =)

Gaara sighed as he looked out over the water. They were taking a ferry to Hoshigakure, to see if Sasuke's ancestral town had any answers. It was widely claimed that the Uchiha family was one of Konoha's founding families, and that was true to an extent. But they had to have come from somewhere. Thanks to Sakura's extensive research, they had traced the Uchiha family back to its origins in Hoshi.

Their ferry would reach the island nation in a few hours. The mainland was receding quickly, covered by a light morning mist. Gaara supposed the water and the sky were pretty enough, but being a desert boy, he much preferred the vastness of the sand dunes in Suna. There was too much water here.

Hoshi didn't have anymore Uchiha living there, but they figured it was a start. After all, that was the last place Itachi had been posted before going MIA. For years, everyone had believed the older Uchiha had been safely stationed in Suna, but it turned out that Itachi had been part of many, many undercover missions. His last mission, some months ago, had been in Hoshi. The purpose of the mission was classified, of course, and even Naruto couldn't pull enough strings to find out. Shikamaru was still working day and night on the case, relaying any information he found to his boss.

Sakura had just stepped out, yawning delicately. Her seeming innocence masked a brilliant mind. After listening to her story the night before, Gaara deduced that her investigative approaches and reasoning might be on par with Shikamaru's; her talents were wasted at a hospital. She approached him slowly. He nodded at her once, and resumed watching the shoreline. It was a thin blue line in the distance; growing farther and farther away.

Sakura broke the silence. "It sure is pretty out here, isn't it? Pity Naruto is still asleep; he's missing out on the sightseeing. How much longer till we get there?"

Gaara muttered a reply, wishing she had left him alone. "Three hours if the weather holds." He wanted to think alone.

Sakura sighed as she ran her hands through tangled hair. She had lain awake in bed for over an hour last night, running over possible theories and plans. She wanted someone to listen to her reasoning and help her figure this out. "Then, I'd like to talk to you over breakfast," she said, gesturing to two plates of food.

Gaara hadn't noticed her bringing up the food; he had been engrossed in his thoughts. He ate slowly, waiting for her to tell him what this was all about.

"So, I've been thinking. There must have been a reason why Sasuke left so suddenly. It must have something important, and I think I know what it might be. Obviously, the Uchiha massacre, but there has to be something more than that. It had to have been important enough to make Sasuke drop everything in the middle of the night and run, without even telling anyone."

Gaara nodded, but he didn't understand where she was going with this. From what he had read, Sasuke wasn't the most sociable person. He was cold and ruthless in the business world. His talents had earned him a lot of praise and enemies in the business world.

"So I'm thinking that family is the reason that Sasuke left. But, the timing of it all. I think that someone contacted him. Whatever it was, it was big news. Itachi is missing too. He's been missing for a while, I know…almost a year, but I'm sure there's a connection."

That made sense. After all, both brothers were missing, and they were the only family each other had. Other than Kakashi, but he didn't really count at the moment. Anyway, there was a hole in the plan. Itachi had been missing for almost a year. Sasuke had left three months ago. So, why now? This was probably an elaborate kidnapping or something; rich people were always ending up in trouble.

Voicing his concerns, Gaara watched different emotions flit across Sakura's face. She was hard to read, but it wasn't impossible. He could see from the way she bit her lip and furrowed her eyebrows that his suggestions weren't sitting well with her.

"No, his phone and laptop were gone. So were his coat and his wallet. He even stopped by the bank to withdraw a nice amount of cash. And there are the plane records. He was headed to Mist, and that's the closest country to Hoshi. Either way, it might've been a sudden decision to leave, but I don't think he was forced into anything. At least physically. We can't rule out blackmail."

Gaara supposed that was true, but any plan could be engineered well enough to suit the situation. Who's to say that someone hadn't come in and purchased the tickets in Sasuke's stead? Someone hadn't taken his coat, cellphone, wallet, and bank card? After all, Sai had been posing as Sasuke and it hadn't caused a massive uproar. Gaara frowned as he regarded Sakura. She would fight anything he said; she was sure that Sasuke had left of his own volition to do something important. Keeping quiet, Gaara sipped at his orange juice and resumed looking over the rails at the blue water.

x-x-x

When they finally got to Hoshi, Gaara was a little disappointed. Though Hoshi was a small nation, it was a teeming metropolis full of ancient history. There was no way they could find Sasuke at this rate. Gaara, Sakura, and Naruto stepped off the ferry and onto the docks. They were immediately beset by vendors, each promising the best deals on anything and everything. Luckily, with one dose of Gaara's annoyed glare, a small path was cleared through the throng of people.

Naruto yawned sleepily as he stretched. One of his arms shot out and accidentally hit a taller man and his bag of groceries. Though Naruto hadn't put any real force into the blow, the man stumbled a little and dropped in groceries, while inadvertently bumping into Gaara. Not really paying attention as Naruto and Sakura scrambled after the various fallen produce, Gaara helped the man up. He seemed to be quite young, maybe in his late twenties. He was about half a head taller than Gaara himself, and seemed to be limping. The man nodded his thanks and gathered up his bags from Naruto and Sakura.

The trio then began to move towards their first destination – a nice hotel that Sakura had booked for them. Gaara and Naruto would be sharing a room, while Sakura was across the hallway. After a nice light lunch at a local café, Gaara retreated into his room to do some strategic planning. He took of his shoes, and lay fully clothed on his bed. He needed to think.

Slowly closing his eyes, Gaara went over all the information that he had gathered so far. There were many jumbled pieces, and some were starting to connect. He couldn't help but feel a bit disgruntled. There was one man who was throwing a huge wrench into this whole affair. What was Uchiha Sasuke after? The guy had everything. A huge house, lots of money, and, if the rumours were true, many love interests. What would make a man like him throw away everything?

Gaara got tired of thinking about Sasuke. The man was a complete mystery. What were his motivations? Surely not money. Sure, the Uchiha Corp might not be number one, but it was still a huge company with many holdings. Not to mention that Sasuke had a sizeable inheritance, seeing as he was the last remaining heir.

Wait. Not quite. There was still the case of Uchiha Itachi. Though Itachi's missing person file was still at the station, it was virtually untouched. For one thing, there was no information on him, seeing as he was part of the military. Also, the case had been marked MIA, and had all sorts of military red tape on it. Itachi was on a mission, and they wouldn't have any information lying around about it. Sighing slightly, Gaara rolled over onto his side and tried to clear his mind. Maybe a nap would help.

Three hours later, Gaara was shaken awake by a frantic Naruto. Gaara resisted the urge to grab his gun from his beside as he noticed the blonde hair in his field of vision. Groaning slightly, Gaara sat up and waited for Naruto to tell him the exciting news. Whatever it was, it had better be good. He rarely got any sleep as it was, and waking him up was akin to having a death wish.

Naruto gasped excitedly, saying, "Sakura's found something. Or, someone. Anyway, we think Sasuke's here!"

Gaara leapt off the bed and began to put on his shoes and socks. He grabbed his stuff and stashed it in his various pockets, and ran a quick hand through his hair. Presentable enough. "Let's go," he said, rushing out of the room and across the hallway.

What he didn't expect to see was another woman sitting with Sakura. The two were sitting on the single bed, chatting away as if they were life-long friend. Which, as far as Gaara knew, they could be.

Sakura noticed his presence first. Gesturing to the redheaded woman, Sakura said, "Gaara, I'd like you to meet Karin. Karin, meet Gaara. He's helping me find Sasuke."

Karin grinned at him. "Not bad Sakura. With the three of you, I'm sure you'll find Sasuke…in ten years."

Gaara bristled at this, ready to take offence. Sakura just laughed. "I know," she said amiably. "That's why we need your help, Karin."

Karin's grin grew even wider. "Of course…anything for my friend and future sister-in-law. But you three will have to make it worth my while. I'm here looking for Sasuke too, but I usually work alone. It'll take a lot of convincing to make me drag you three around Hoshi."

Gaara regarded the woman with less animosity. "Who are you, Karin?"

With a wink, the cheeky woman stood and proclaimed, "Why, I'm Sasuke's girlfriend, of course!"

A/N: Haha, so there's chapter 4. I think that there's still quite a bit to go from here. I think you can make the connection why Sasuke would leave...I mean, I've hinted quite heavily about it. Hopefully the next chapter will be easier to write (I've given myself a good starting point!) and will be more interesting to read.

Please read and review.