Disclaimer: Long-awaited chapter. Glad to be finally delivering it. :-) My boyfriend and I will be delivering a new beautiful baby in about 6 months... right around Christmas. The most wonderful gift of all ...is a new family. :-)

I don't own Naruto.

A WhiteWalled Christmas

-CHAPTER FIVE: ART IS A BANG-

"Thank you, Nurse," Zabuza rumbled in his deep voice as Sakura gave him his daily dose of anxiety medication in a paper cup. She nodded, smiled, and moved on to the blonde bombshell in the next cell. It was her second day doing this, and already she felt she was getting the hang of it.

She was not expecting the former terrorist to suddenly snatch his meds from her with a maniacal grin before throwing them forcefully on the floor. At Sakura's shocked expression, his grin widened. "They didn't explode, un."

Sakura fidgeted, when Neji said from behind her, "He does that everyday, Nurse Haruno. He probably didn't do it yesterday because Head Doctor Yakushi was here-" at the mention of the head doctor, Deidara scowled, "-pick them up right now Deidara and take your medication, before we force you to."

Deidara glared at Neji. "Alright, fine, mister high and mighty." He calmly picked up his medication from the floor and held out his hand expectantly for the small cup of water Sakura had provided. He didn't throw it on the floor. Instead, he gulped down his medication and handed the cups back to Sakura. "Thank you Nurse, yeah. You may go now."

Amused now at his attitude, Sakura started to do just that when suddenly Deidara stopped her: "Hey, Nurse, do you like art, hmm?"

"Yeah, sometimes," Sakura found herself replying.

He gave her a cheeky grin. "You're gonna LOVE mine!" he said.

Unsure of how to respond, she nodded anyway, said a cordial "Good night, Deidara," and moved on to Kisame who was waiting patiently for his anti-anxiety pills.

-0-

It was later in the week during one of her breaks when she found Tsunade hunched over her desk, trying frantically to find – something? "Hello, Sakura," she blustered as she tore apart her drawers looking: "I'm just trying to find the latest budget sheet for the prison. Our financial consultant should be here shortly."

"Financial consultant?" Sakura queried. "The consultant comes here?"

"Yeah …lazy bum that he is," she said with an unexpected grin.

"I heard that!" came a remark from the doorway.

"Speak of the devil," the director said as she straightened up calmly to greet a tall, lanky man who – as Sakura had already imagined – looked half-asleep standing up. The man wore his dark brown hair pulled back in a tie, so that it spiked out from the top of his head.

"Morning, what's your name?" he practically yawned.

"Haruno Sakura, and you are…?"

"Nara Shikamaru. Pleasure to meet you."

Tsunade smirked. "Really, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru smirked back. "No, I really think it's troublesome, but…"

Their conversation was interrupted as the guard with the bowl cut – Rock Lee – suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"Oh hello, sorry to interrupt, but as soon as I heard Shikamaru was here…"

"What is it, Lee?" Shikamaru asked. Sakura could have sworn he looked mildly more awake suddenly.

"I just wanted to see how things have gone …recently."

The man nodded. "We haven't been able to do much since Kurenai got pregnant, but Inoichi, Chouza, and my dad have been working on a strategy—"

"You know someone named Inoichi?" Sakura cut in. "By chance, what's his family name?"

"Yamanaka."

Sakura's eyebrows shot up. "I'll be damned! That's my housemate Ino's father!"

"You know Ino?" Shikamaru asked, equally surprised. "Her, myself, and Chouji outside have been friends since forever!"

"Really?" Sakura beamed.

Shikamaru nodded, but then Lee brought his attention back to the matter they were discussing. "And Hatake…?"

"He'll be fine. Got injured when he—" he looked casually around the room, but Sakura felt the casual sweep of his eyes include her, "—Went looking. You know. We can talk about it later. I'll be here all morning."

Lee nodded. "If I can get free time, I'll be back." He paused at the doorway. "Just in case I'm not…?"

"Hmm?"

"…Please tell Uncle Gai that I said hi."

Shikamaru nodded. "Of course." Lee disappeared quickly.

Sakura smiled. "Are you guys on a soccer team together?"

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows. "What gives you that idea?"

"It sounds like you, Lee-san, and your friends have a group of some sort. You mentioned that someone's pregnant; I was just guessing it was soccer. Something else, then, I take it—"

Shikamaru's laughter interrupted her. "Do I really look like the type who would be caught dead playing soccer?"

Sakura shrugged then cracked a grin. "No, to be honest you look like you would prefer cloud-watching to me."

"I am pretty lazy," Shikamaru said with a twinkle in his eyes.

Tsunade cleared her throat. "Okay, lazy genius, enough socializing. What do you make of our next year's budget?"

-0-

Sakura left the office shortly after, leaving Shikamaru and Tsunade deeply wrapped up in budget talk. As she passed through the corridors, she caught sight of Naruto frantically rushing down the hallway. He pulled to a blustery stop when he saw Sakura.

"Sakura! Nurse Sakura!"

"What is it, Naruto?" she asked, concerned.

"It's Hinata! She got really woozy all of the sudden. I was coming in to check on her – she's in the hospital bay right now – and I guess I startled her or something because she nearly fell over! What if she's sick?"

Sakura straightened up. "I'll come with you right now."

Naruto led her back to the hospital bay. When they entered, they found Hinata by herself, sitting in one of the chairs, sipping a glass of water to calm herself down.

Sakura took her hand. "Hinata, what's wrong?" she asked as Naruto knelt in front of her, a concerned look on his face.

"O-oh, it's nothing!" Hinata stammered. "I was j-just so caught up in my work that when N-Naruto came in here t-to check on me, he g-gave me quite a fright!"

"Are you feeling okay?" the pink-haired nurse asked as Naruto stuttered out an apology.

Hinata offered them a timid smile. "I-I'm fine …I think. I just need to go give Juugo his second dose of medication."

"Want me to take it for you? Where is he right now?"

"He's in the Art Room with the other patients. They have art again this week because this morning is the monthly meeting with the guards' board. We only have half the staff with us today. Temari, Neji, Shino, Haku, and Kimimaro are at the meeting."

"Haku? But why did he go if he's not a guard?"

"He likes to keep updated on this stuff," Naruto told her. "Especially since he doubles as a guard in the case of Zabuza. He's practically the only person who can control him."

Sakura nodded. "So the other guards are with the patients right now?"

"Yes. And all the patients should be in the Art Room together."

Sakura stood. "Okay, I'll go right now and give Juugo his medicine. Naruto, do you want to stay with Hinata for a second to make sure she doesn't faint?"

Hinata protested. "But Sakura-san! You need to have a guard with you at all times! Remember what Ten Ten said? Naruto should go with you."

"Don't worry about it," she replied. "If all the patients are in the same room, and the guards are in there with them, then I should be safe getting there, shouldn't I?"

"…Okay," Hinata said reluctantly. "Head Doctor Yakushi should be in there too. Make sure you check in with him before you give Juugo his medicine."

"I'll come as soon as Hinata's feeling better!" Naruto said cheerfully.

Sakura nodded, picked up Juugo's medicine, and left. As she left, she caught a glimpse of Naruto taking Hinata's hand in his – and the radiant blush that adorned Hinata's cheeks.

Smiling to herself, Sakura walked quickly and quietly down the hallway. She knew that art was usually the most calming subject to the patients, so she planned to make as little ruckus as possible when she let herself in to the art room.

She quietly unlocked the door and slipped in. The room was silent as she walked in, but she didn't look up at the patients until she had carefully locked the door behind herself. When she did, she met the scare of her life.

Ten Ten's body was lying in the center of the chairs. Hidan was kneeling in front of her, meticulously checking her pockets for her keys. His empty straight jacket and wheelchair had been left to the wall, abandoned. Panicked, Sakura raised her head and looked for Kiba. She saw him in the back corner of the room, face red from trying to yell, she guessed. One of Zabuza's giant hands covered his mouth while Suigetsu and Zetsu twisted his arms behind his back. Suigetsu had a devilish grin on his face and a knife in his hand.

Juugo's medicine dropped from her fingers. The resulting noise of the plastic cup hitting the floor made everyone in the room – except Ten Ten – look up.

Sakura gasped. All of the patients were looking at her.

-0-

Gaara's eyes widened as he looked up to see the pink-haired nurse standing in the doorway. He had refused to take part in the mutiny of the Art Room, as he had no personal interest in escaping the asylum. He saw that Uchiha Sasuke, Juugo, Kisame, and Sasori seemed equally disinterested. However, he imagined that Sasori was just lazy…

No, upon closer inspection, it seemed that Sasori was just rather into his art piece. With a few rather thin sticks and a couple scraps of cloth, he had made what appeared to be a miniature puppet, complete with individual limbs. The puppet bore a striking resemblance to Tsunade in the posture and the way it wore its clothing. It had no hair—

But focusing back on Nurse Haruno…

He saw the panicked look on her face, saw her turn back towards the door. In the same moment, he heard, "Get her!"

A blonde flash leaped over one of the desks, and Katsukawa Deidara suddenly had her arms locked behind her back. Instinctively she kicked. Deidara moaned before roughly spinning her around and slamming her chest-first onto one of the desks. Sakura yelped in pain and struggled. In the blink of an eye three more inmates were on her.

"Hold her!" Nagato – Pein – ordered. A muted cry of pain left Kiba's lips as Zabuza elbowed him hard in the gut. A pinch to the neck knocked the dog-loving guard out and he fell as Suigetsu and Zetsu dropped him unceremoniously to the floor. The water-like man dragged over Hidan's empty straight jacket and began lacing the guard into it.

Hidan, Deidara, Tobi, and Sasori – who had gotten up faster than Gaara had seen him – brought Sakura before Pein. Orochimaru had taken over Hidan's position of perusing Ten Ten's body.

"Let me go!" Sakura screamed, struggling against the patients.

"Your keys, Nurse," Pein intoned in a cold voice. At his gesture, Sasori's nimble fingers began searching her body for the keys.

"Stop it! Don't do this!" Sakura cried. "Deidara, let me go! I thought you and I were getting along!"

The blonde bomber smirked. "Sorry to hurt your feelings, Nurse... When it comes down to it, between you and getting out of here, I'd chose my exploding art anyday!" His eye gleamed crazily. "Now where's the spray paint and the nitroglycerin, hmm? I wanna make some fireworks!"

"Let me go!"

"Hey, Leader, do you think we have time to sacrifice this bitch before we blow this fucking popsicle stand?"

Pein jerked. "Don't call me that," he hissed at Hidan. "And now that you just said that, you imbecile, you'll have no choice but to sacrifice her!"

Sakura froze. Her voice utterly left her as terror constricted the screams still stuck in her throat. No …Tsunade …where's Tsunade…? Her mind reeled.

"Ooh, whoopdie doo!" Hidan exclaimed happily. Sakura whimpered and tried to elbow him. "If I'd have known that, I would have pulled this dumb shit a lot earlier. Hear that, Nursie? You're gonna die for running into me the other day!" His eyes gleamed as eagerly as a child's. "Hey, Oro, pass me Ten Ten's knife, would you?"

"Of course," Orochimaru hissed. His golden green eyes locked with Sakura's momentarily. "Why, would you look at her? She's as terrified as a newborn fawn. Her blood will taste sweet. Won't it, Zetsu?"

Tears filled Sakura's eyes. She tried to scream, but hoarse noises came out instead. She kicked behind her and heard Deidara give another muffled groan. Sasori chuckled. "So our Nurse turns you on, does she Deidara?"

"Shut up, Sasori-danna, yeah," the blonde muttered, just loudly enough for Sakura to hear. "See how you like it when she kicks you in your puny manhood." Where is Lee? Why were only Ten Ten and Kiba in here? She thought desperately. Why didn't I take Naruto in here with me? Her mouth dried suddenly. I'm gonna die…

Sasori chuckled. "It sounds like someone has low self-esteem, eh brat?"

"Aww, don't be so mean to sempai, Sasori-san!" Tobi whined. Sakura's mind reeled that he – a patient who seemed no more than a child – would just hold her down while she was brutally sacrificed by the likes of Hidan.

Speaking of whom, Hidan had caught the knife Orochimaru had tossed him and now turned to Sakura with a malevolent gleam in his eyes.

Trying desperately to escape, Sakura screamed, "Narutoooooo!" Her voice, released from its terror, also seemed to snap one of the other patients from his stupor.

A growl was heard, and before anyone could react, Gaara lunged. With a flying kick, he caught Pein from behind, knocking him to the floor where Orochimaru sat, so the two landed together in a heap.

Quickly, in a half-instant, Gaara had grabbed Hidan from behind, by the throat. As Hidan reached up to grab Gaara's hands, the redhead elbowed him sharply in the ribs and aimed a punch right close to Hidan's armpit. Winded, the Jashin-worshipper dropped to his knees, during which Gaara kneed him in the head. Glaring furiously at the remaining patients, Gaara demanded, "Let her go."

Deidara half-laughed. "What's she to you, red? Your personal nurse?"

Gaara growled. "Let her go, blondie. Unless you want real trouble."

Deidara glared back. "So what, un? You're willing to jeopardize our chances of escape just from your sentimental attachment to this nurse? You like her, yeah? I like her too, but she's not getting in the way of my chances for escape."

"Or is it that you don't want to escape, eh Gaara?" Sasori asked.

Gaara gritted his teeth very hard. "...She makes my voices go away," he rasped, his seldom-used voice catching somewhat on the plosives.

"Yeah, so what?"

Gaara lunged, punching Deidara in the face. "Maybe all of us don't want to lose control the same way you do, you psychopath!"

Deidara roughly tried to push past his hostage to return the violence to Gaara. "You're calling me the psychopath? Oh, that's rich, yeah!" He taunted. Gaara dodged one of his well-aimed punches and grabbed him by the hair. Pein, who had gotten to his feet, was about to grab Gaara from behind when the other redhead elbowed him sharply in the gut. Swiftly, he grabbed Gaara's hair and Deidara used the chance to punch Gaara in the face. Blood dripped from the schizophrenic's nose, and he glared at Deidara with murderous eyes.

"Bring it, bitch!" Deidara screamed.

Kisame and Juugo had gotten to their feet. Kisame was watching with extreme anxiety while Juugo… a low growl sounded in Juugo's throat. Without warning, he punched the nearest person – Suigetsu – into a wall, nearly knocking him out, before tackling Kisame. The two large men began rolling around on the floor in a death struggle, crashing into the desks and in a few cases hitting them hard enough that the bolts loosened and creaked and groaned, Juugo yelling, "Kill! KILL!" over and over again. Kisame nailed Juugo in the face with one of his huge fists, and as Juugo's blood dripped over one eye, he grinned crazily and whispered, "The blood smells …so good." Suigetsu barely kept hold of his knife as he began yelling for Juugo to calm down.

"Go Deidara, show that redhead who's boss!"

The room erupted in pandemonium. The wrestling pair crashed into the wall, momentarily rising in front of Zabuza before they engaged in another arm lock. Juugo aimed a punch at Kisame's nose, just barely missing Zabuza as he swung. The former assassin threw a punch at the men as they rolled in front of him. Suigetsu rushed at him. "What are you doing that for, it was an accident…" His voice trailed off as he saw the crazed look in Zabuza's eyes. "Oh shit-!"

Zabuza grabbed the smaller ninja by the throat. "Protégé, did you call yourself, mine? Well here is your first instruction in the art of – MURDER." And so speaking, he threw Suigetsu into a wall and swung a fist - so hard that the paint cracked when he hit it. Had it been Suigetsu's head, it would have been crushed. "You're next, Uchiha brat!" he screamed before running across the room to pursue Sasuke, who still hadn't moved.

Meanwhile Zetsu was trying unsuccessfully to get to Kiba's body, but the ever-intensifying fight between Juugo and Kisame stood in his way. His golden eyes turned on to Ten Ten instead and he began to shuffle over. Hidan, who had been egging on Deidara, saw him and tackled him, which led to a scuffle, over which the other patients could barely hear Hidan's cussing, "Leave her alone, you crazy fucking cannibal. She's mine!"

Meanwhile Deidara and Gaara were fighting furiously, exchanging punches, while Pein watched them intently. Sakura was kicking and screaming as Tobi held her still and Sasori's fingers continued to run along her body – looking for keys, presumably …but anyone who was paying attention would notice that he had found the keys a long time ago…

Suigetsu had recovered from the body slamming. On the other side of the room he saw Zabuza trying to punch Sasuke, who was dodging his attacks. Still fuming from the assassin's earlier actions – trying to punch Juugo while he was already getting beaten up – he wasted no time in running across the room after Zabuza.

Zabuza had just managed to elbow Sasuke in the face when Suigetsu jumped on him. Zabuza pushed Suigetsu off and stood regarding him coolly, as the water man wielded the knife and stood directly in front of him – between him and Juugo and Kisame, to be more precise. He didn't even seem to care that Zabuza was no longer targeting his friend. "Don't beat up on Juugo," Suigetsu warned him darkly. "He doesn't have any control over what he does."

"In case you weren't paying attention, you brat, I was beating up on that arrogant son of a bitch over there…" the assassin motioned to Sasuke, who now stood stolidly against the wall, watching the fighting going on with a dark look on his face.

A crash interrupted as Gaara picked Deidara up and body slammed him into the ground. The blonde's hair was a wild mess, and his blue eyes screamed craziness. He picked himself up, but before they could go at it again, a voice spoke up, interrupting them.

Sasori sighed. "You won't make killing her easy, will you Gaara?" Both Deidara and Gaara snapped their eyes over to regard him. "I've got the keys." He held them up, dangling them for all to see. "Pein-sama, if it's anything to you, perhaps we should leave the nurse and guards and just try to escape. We're only delaying ourselves by trying to finish them off."

Pein narrowed his eyes. "Set to unlocking the door," he spoke above Gaara's and Deidara's renewed fighting; Gaara was trying to get to Sakura, while Deidara was holding him back, smirking. Everyone else, it seemed, turned their attention to the door, ready to escape. "Orochimaru, collect Uchiha Sasuke."

A strangled gasp sounded through the room. It seems the source was Suigetsu. Before Orochimaru could even stand from the floor, Sasuke – knife in hand – was standing over him. He had snatched the knife Suigetsu was holding.

Sasuke's fingers were embedded in Orochimaru's greasy hair. His cold, dark eyes were locked on Pein's.

No one noticed when Tobi slipped to the floor unconscious, Sakura's sedative needle embedded in his veins.

Pein sighed. "So, Uchiha brat, you're not willing to part with Orochimaru's company…?"

"Ssssasuke…" Orochimaru whispered. The grip on his hair tightened, and the blade of the knife pressed more deeply to Orochimaru's throat.

Pein narrowed his eyes. "His grudge is too strong…"

The door burst open, and Sasori prematurely let go of his captive. A flash of blonde came running through the door, followed closely by shiny black hair. The opening door knocked Sasori backwards into a wall. Gaara dodged Deidara and grabbed Sakura, hauling her to the side of the room.

A volley of rounds flew through the air, just moments from where they were standing before. Hidan was suddenly down on the ground screaming and cursing. Zabuza was on the ground clutching a sudden leg wound. About half the patients were suddenly not standing – luckily, Gaara and Sakura were among the few people in the room who were relatively unharmed. Seeing a lack of blood, Sakura concluded that Naruto and Lee had been using either B.B. guns or rubber bullets.

Naruto and Lee pulled to a stop and surveyed the room.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Naruto demanded. His eyes were deadly serious, not a hint of their usual humor in them.

Lee looked around seriously, surveying the damage. Juugo looked to be unconscious. Kisame was nursing his arm – he had been hit by one of the rubber bullets. Zabuza, from his kneeling position, was glaring at them. Orochimaru and Sasuke were frozen in the center of the room, Sasuke still holding Orochimaru hostage. Pein seemed to be unconscious; a rubber bullet had grazed his temple. Zetsu lay underneath his prone body, and Ten Ten lay underneath theirs. "They knocked out Mitarashi-san and Inuzuka-san. Where is Nurse Haruno?"

Sakura breathed. "I'm here!" she cried out and both guards swiftly turned their attention to her. Lee turned his attention back to the rest of the room while Naruto fixed stern eyes on her.

"Gaara, bring her here."

Gaara obliged, much to Naruto's shock. He led the nurse over so carefully that he was sure that – in spite of the bruises she had – Gaara must have been protecting her. Otherwise, she would surely look as badly as Ten Ten or Kiba.

Sakura felt a blush rise to her cheeks. All remaining eyes were on her - the eyes of the folks who were still conscious. She could see Lee and Naruto anxiously watch her stumble towards them. She could feel Gaara's eyes watching her.

The look in his eyes had been so fierce. For a moment, after he had pulled her out of harm's way, their eyes had met. She'd seen a fire in those eyes that frightened and awoke her at the same time - the fire of protectiveness. It wasn't the fire of a monster within, but of a man. And how glorious a man he was to her right then, holding her out of harm's way - burning her whole with his gaze.

"Sakura, run right now to Tsunade and tell her we need backup. This is a code orange situation." Sakura nodded and started to run down the hallway, looking backward briefly at the two guards.

Grimly, Naruto took out his Taser gun, and Lee did the same. "No one leaves this room," he said.

-0-

"I don't know, Tsunade! When I got there, they were already knocked out!"

Tsunade sat next to Sakura, instead of on the other side of a desk. It had been half an hour since Lee and Naruto had rescued her from the melee inside the Art Room. She learned, much to her relief, that Ten Ten was just knocked out - not dead, as she had originally feared. With the help of an irate Tsunade herself, whom Sakura had fetched, Choji, and the painful effects of the rubber bullets, the patients had been rounded up, handcuffed, and promptly brought back to their cells. Now, under Lee's and Naruto's guard, the patients were being brought one by one to the hospital bay, where Hinata was patching them up. Rather than send them to solitary confinement cells, which is where they would usually send one or two unruly patients, Tsunade had deemed that since all the patients had acted up then they would remain in their original cells for the next two days, not permitted to leave them for P.E. or electives. Their privileges would be suspended.

Sakura was still shaking from shaking from her ordeal. With all of the hullabaloo she was amazed one of her contact lenses hadn't fallen out.

"...I don't know how long Ten Ten had been unconscious," she shuddered. "They had Kiba when I came in, but they knocked him out right after that. I saw Zabuza punch him. Hidan was already out of his wheelchair and straight jacket-"

"That's when they grabbed you?"

"Right away. They wanted my keys."

"All the patients?"

The pink-haired nurse could not keep herself from fidgeting. Even safe as she was now, she still felt their hands on her. "Well, it was Sasori and Deidara and Tobi and Hidan who grabbed me." She sighed. "Hidan wanted to sacrifice me. But then Gaara-"

"Gaara what?" Tsunade asked sternly.

"He saved me..." Sakura breathed out. She noticed her fingers were trembling. "He fought Deidara for me. He was the one who pulled me out of the way when Naruto and Lee came in and started shooting."

Tsunade nodded. "I see. And ...is this the first time Gaara has done something like this? To acknowledge you?"

Sakura frowned. "No. He did something similar during the first day of group therapy ...at least I think he did. Hidan said something about wanting to sacrifice me." She almost laughed at the recollection ...if it hadn't been so close to really happening just now. "I think Gaara growled at him."

The blonde woman looked deeply troubled for a moment, as if remembering something. "Gaara's done that before..."

Sakura's ears perked up. "Really?"

Tsunade's gaze met hers. "With Naruto. Naruto defended him one time when some of the other inmates ganged up on him. He's been respectful of Naruto ever since..."

"But protective?"

Tsunade thought about it. "Gaara's afraid of opening up to people. He thinks he's a monster ...but when someone threatens him, he can almost turn into one. You should watch over him for the next few days, since he seems to trust you. He might have an episode after all this violence."

Sakura nodded. "Of course I'll watch him."

"Anyway ...what else happened?"

Sakura took a deep breath. "Everyone began fighting. It happened so fast ...I'm sorry... um, Hidan was punched down by Gaara pretty quickly... Pein was just watching us... that was when Deidara and Gaara got into a fight. The whole room seemed like it went chaotic..."

"Why did you go in there anyway?"

Sakura gulped. "Well, Hinata was feeling faint, but she needed to give Juugo his medicine - Juugo! That's right! He didn't get his medicine, I dropped it when I saw what they did to Ten Ten. He went ballistic. He was fighting someone." She stopped abruptly, realizing how much trouble she had just gotten herself in. She had disobeyed; she had gone outside the hospital without a guard to chaperone her. "Uhh..."

"Sakura, continue," Tsunade said kindly. "So Juugo lost it and began fighting someone...?"

"I-" she couldn't make the words continue. "Naruto had to stay behind with Hinata. He couldn't come with me."

"Yes, that's understandable. Go on?"

"I..." she stammered. Where to go from here? "Was unchaperoned..."

"Yes, that's to be expected," Tsunade said briskly. "We can't expect our guards to be everywhere all at once. So what else happened in the fight?"

Sakura was at a loss. So Tsunade ...didn't... care that she hadn't been with a guard? Maybe Ten Ten had been precautious when she said that. She continued. "So the whole room erupted in chaos and- wait a minute. Head Doctor Yakushi was supposed to be waiting in there when I went in. Hinata told me to check in with him when I went to give Juugo his medicine. Where is he?"

Tsunade looked somewhat surprised. "He wasn't in there when you got there?"

Sakura shook her head. "No."

She paused. "That's funny. He said he'd been in there and had just stepped out for a moment. Are you sure-?"

"Yes I'm sure, Tsunade. He wasn't in there. Not for the entire time that I was."

"Hmm. Seems I'll need to ask him about that." She shrugged. "Oh well, maybe he got tied up with whatever he was doing. It's a real shame more guards weren't there." She rubbed her hand over her eyes. "This is bad. We're short staffed whenever trainings like these come up. Realistically, we need more guards." She sighed. "Well, anyway... so the patients were trying to break out, eh? How ever could they manage that when they caused such bedlam in the process?"

"Well, it wasn't originally so chaotic. In fact, I'd say the ones who were taking action seemed pretty organized," Sakura opined.

"How so?"

"Well, they knew to take me out immediately. They had already freed Hidan from his restraints. One small group was holding Kiba, and when Pein said to get me- they did it without hesitation. Pein acted like he was kind of leading them..."

"Pein? Nagato?"

"Yes... wait a minute! Hidan called him that..."

"What?"

"Leader!"

Tsunade's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"...And Pein threw a fit. Said they had to kill me now..."

"Hidan called Pein that?" Tsunade was incredulous. "That little shit doesn't take orders from anyone."

Sakura almost blushed to hear Tsunade speak so crudely of one of her patients. "Yeah, Deidara, Tobi, Sasori, and Hidan ...and Orochimaru seemed like they were listening to him somewhat. Maybe he organized them to fight."

Tsunade looked somewhat disturbed. "They don't listen to each other usually... I wonder if they'd been planning this for a while, or if it was on the spot..." She still looked troubled, but nevertheless she waved her hand at Sakura. "Thank you for your story, Sakura. If you want you can stay here for a moment-" she swept her hand, motioning to the empty lunchroom "-before you go back on shift. How are your bruises doing, by the way?"

"They're good." Tsunade herself had patched up Sakura just prior to their conversation. She was still sore, but more shaken than hurt fortunately.

Tsunade stood up, just as Shikamaru opened the door. "Ah, Tsunade!"

"Great, Shikamaru, just the lazy genius I wanted to speak to..."

"The other guards are back from training."

"Perfect. I'll meet with them shortly. Be sure to stick around, however. I need to discuss a change in the budget."

Shikamaru groaned. "What about it, Lady Tsunade?"

The woman grinned. "We need to talk about squeezing in enough for another guard."

Shikamaru groaned again as the door slammed shut behind them. Sakura had a few moments of rest before the other guards began piling in. They were so caught up with discussing their training that it took a moment to notice Sakura - and when they did, they immediately saw that she looked worse for wear.

"Whoa!"

"What happened to you, Sakura?"

She waved quietly. "Hey guys. Hey, Kimimaro - if you could, Naruto called for you to please replace him as soon as possible. He says that Kisame roughed him up a little when they took him back to his cell. He's in the main hallway supervising patients."

Kimimaro nodded and immediately left without a word.

"What's going on? Why was Kisame acting violently?"

Sakura sighed. "Long story short. The patients got into a riot - against us and each other. In the Art Room."

Temari was the first to react, and when she spoke her eyes were wide. "Did anyone get hurt?"

"Ten Ten did."

Neji jerked visibly and was suddenly standing over Sakura. "What happened?"

"She's unconscious. She's already been taken to the hospital. They think she'll be okay, but she was banged up pretty bad. They knocked her out." She breathed in deeply. "They knocked out Kiba too, but he's already come around. They roughed up each other just as bad..."

"What about you?" Temari held her shoulder gently. Sakura was extremely surprised to see this display of concern from the normally stoic guard.

"They- they almost ...sacrificed me."

Gasps. "That bastard Hidan!" Temari exclaimed.

"No, it- it was more than one of them. They organized it."

"Oh God, Sakura..."

Right then, Tsunade stuck her head in the room. "Okay, if you're ready, we need to start our debriefing - since, as you can guess, this is a pretty serious situation. Sakura, you can stay if you want, or you can get some fresh air."

The nurse stood up gratefully and left the room, not wanting to hear anymore about the event. As she got to the hallway, she ran into Naruto, who was trudging - trudging, rather than walking energetically - back from the main hallway.

"Sakura!" he straightened up ever so slightly when he saw her. "Are you okay?"

"I- I'm fine, Naruto." She gave a shaky smile. "And you... C'mon, let's go outside, we can sit down for a minute, rest, and talk."

Naruto nodded and followed her.

-0-

They sat and talked for a long time. Sakura checked Naruto over again - Hinata had already done so - until she was satisfied that he was unharmed, except for the slight bruise raised on his cheek from when Kisame punched him... apparently his bloodlust wasn't yet sated or controlled. Sakura, between shudders, told him everything she'd seen and felt, until the only thing left for her to talk about were her feelings about the redhead's intervention. Every time she remembered the way he held her, the way he looked at her, she shivered ...and, because Sakura was very honest with herself, she knew where her feelings might be going... Towards a crush... (though she wouldn't tell anyone about that). He was strong-hearted, hot, pleasant, and he had just saved her life.

"...And now I'm really worried about him, Naruto. Tsunade said he might have an episode after the violence that just happened. I mean- I know I shouldn't feel this way, I know this violence and these episodes are common ...but the guy who just saved my life, suffering intensely for it for the next few days, and I have to watch him go though it... I feel so powerless, Naruto."

The blonde nodded in agreement. "Gaara's a good guy - at least, that's the way I feel. He's never shown to do violence - or anything really - without reason and, in my not-so-humble opinion, good reason at that. I wish I could look more closely at his file sometimes..."

"But can't we? Aren't they open for all staff to see?"

"Not that file, the one with background information. I mean the detailed notes about what kinds of treatments have been tried on him and what they expect to see. No one but Lady Tsunade and Head Doctor Yakushi are allowed to read that."

"Yeah, but- I soooo wish I could read it! I don't know why... I used to read patient files all the time..."

Naruto managed a smile. "Maybe that's why you work so well with patients, Sakura. You really try to understand everyone, don't you?"

Sakura blushed slightly but didn't know how to answer.

"Look," Naruto's blue eyes met her jade ones. "Apparently there is one guard who has an emergency key to the cabinet where the files are stored. Temari. Maybe you can convince her to let you see them."

Sakura looked worried but excited. "But how will I do it, Naruto? What if she just reports me to Tsunade?"

Naruto thought for a moment. "Let me talk to her. I think I know what to say."

-0-

Half an hour later Sakura, who had been eating lunch, was approached by the stoic guard herself. "Naruto said there's something you want to see," she said briskly. "Come with me."

Sakura nodded and, unwilling to blow her chances, stood up and followed her immediately.

Temari led her down a corridor leading back by the hospital bay, but more tucked away. "He says you will not disclose what you read to anyone, not even me, nor will you use the information improperly. Is that right?"

"Of course!" Sakura said quickly, then asked, "Haven't you read the files youself?"

"No, I haven't. I don't make it my business to know my inmates' business," she replied. "I'd rather take them at face value, seeing them as how they are each day with a fresh face."

Sakura shrugged. That's another way of doing your job, I guess ...and it seems to work for her.

They stepped into a room and Temari went swiftly to a rusty looking red cabinet. She opened it and started fumbling through the files, turning briefly to Sakura.

"Morishige Gaara, right…?" she asked as she found the file and opened it.

"Yes…" Sakura waited with baited breath. Temari had only turned two pages before she stopped, with an intense frown on her face. Sakura wondered, Was it something bad…?

"…He's my brother," Temari said.