A/N: AHHHH...innocence...DO NOT OWN NARUTO!
Chapter 6: Coffee Anyone?
By the time they made it back to the conference room, it was clean and they were waiting on Inami and Matsuri. Sakura, Tsunade and the boys made themselves comfortable on one of the sofas in the corner, out of sight from the door. They heard several people whispering and then there was the clatter of a cart. "C-coffee anyone?" came that all too familiar voice. Sakura knew that Inami was nervous, and she knew why. If anyone caught wind of what Inami had told her, there'd be hell to pay. Too bad Sei'd already told everyone in the room about her nasty little secret.
Sei was sitting on the couch, fiddling with his new laptop. He wouldn't let anyone see what he was doing, but she had a feeling it was something that would later incite chaos. She shook her head and let him be. She noticed, after several minutes, that Sei had closed his laptop and was now talking to Rori, who had wide eyes as he listened to his brother. When things got a little settled Sakura prepared to make her move, but Rori getting up and walking around the corner shocked her. She watched as her baby walked up to Inami and pulled on her pants leg.
Inami looked down and gasped, dropping the sugar packets she was holding. He looked up at her, his large, tear filled emerald eyes catching her, freezing her in place. He looked like he was about to cry. "Are…are you the lady that told mommy that daddy was dead?" he asked, sniffling. A tear fell and Inami blanched. Her lower lip trembled and she backed away from him, but he followed, asking her the question again. She burst into tears and ran out, throwing her I.D. into Kakashi's office as she went. Sakura was shocked and her son was standing there, crying. Sakura looked over at Sei, but he seemed just as startled as Sakura. He looked at his mom and they said the same thing at the same time.
"I thought he was sleeping!" Tsunade shook her head and walked over to the eight year old, picking him up and walking to the couch again. She cradled him and rocked him until he was asleep. She then laid him down on the couch and rubbed his back to keep him asleep. Sakura walked over to a dark corner of the room and watched as a projector screen slowly descended from the ceiling. Sei watched the projector and noticed it was like the one at his school. This gave him an idea. He walked up to Kakashi and whispered to him. Kakashi had arched a brow and then gave him the laser pointer he'd asked for.
Sakura had just shook her head and watched as things proceeded. The lights had gone off and the projector screen was now white. They were waiting for their 'intelligence officer' to get there. When the door opened, Sakura could have burst a vein from laughing so hard. Their so called intelligence officer was none other than Matsuri. She opened the door and walked in, trying to be sexy and failing. It was all Sakura could do not to laugh.
She waited for the presentation to start and watched it closely. Through the entire thing, she was scoffing at the laziness this briefing displayed. It proved that when you have half assed intelligence gathering, you have disastrous missions. At the end, Matsuri made the mistake of asking if there were any questions. Sakura raised her hand, though she was sure Matsuri would never recognize her. When Matsuri pointed to her, Sakura tried to sound more professional than amused, though it was hard not to laugh.
"What makes you think that any of this is correct?" she asked Matsuri, who blushed violently and gave her a glare.
"My team and I put a lot of work into gathering this intelligence." she said in a voice that suggested she was trying to know what she was talking about. Sakura smirked, and made sure it was visible.
"My eight year old could gather better intelligence than this." she scoffed and continued to pick apart the entire plan, just like she had in Kakashi's office. It was hard for Kakashi not to laugh as he watched Matsuri turn redder and redder with each passing second. Finally, Sakura was done and put her hands up with a shrug.
"No wonder the rescue missions keep failing if this is the kind of 'intelligence' that's provided. Poor Gaara." Matsuri turned even redder, if it were possible, and finally exploded.
"What would a snot nosed brat new recruit like you know about anything that goes on in this agency!?" everyone went still as Sakura stood to her full height, still not letting Matsuri see her face.
"I was standing here, thinking the same thing about you." she was about to say more, but suddenly the presentation wavered and something else started playing on the projector screen. It was the back of Sakura's head, her long pink hair making her unmistakable. Before her was Matsuri, who told her she wasn't allowed to enter. Matsuri gasped and tried to end the feed, but it didn't flicker. What happened next, floored everyone. They heard, very clearly, what Matsuri was saying to Sakura.
"Don't think you can disappear for so long and then come back and pick up right where you left off! Things have changed since you walked out on us! We've changed. Because of you, Gaara is dead." they heard Sakura gasp and look at Inami, who just nodded, her eyes closed. They heard a sob escape Sakura's image. "That's right…cry when it's too late to help him! Because of you, he ended up in a mass grave like some common animal. His body reflecting the evidence of his torture…his beautiful crimson hair in patches where rats had eaten away at it. And you know who's to blame? YOU! Because you left!" Sakura's image turned and ran, tears evident in her eyes.
When Sakura's image was gone, Inami spoke up. "Matsuri, you just lied to the Lt. Aren't you afraid someone will tell?" Matsuri smirked and put her hand on her hip.
"I have a friend in security that's going to get rid of the evidence. No one will ever find out that I lied to her. She'll disappear again and we will never have to worry about Gaara paying attention to her again." she seemed so smug that the real Sakura snapped her teeth angrily. When she did, the feed was cut off and Matsuri's failed plan was on the screen again. The room was quiet until the light was suddenly flicked on. When Matsuri recovered, she looked around. The person that had torn apart her plan was standing against the back wall, their features hidden. All Matsuri could really see was the sadistic smile.
"Before that little show, you made a comment. I've stood through the entire briefing of your plan and through that and wondered the same thing about you Matsuri. What do you really know about what this agency is and does? You've never been a field officer…you were a military secretary on a base in southern Georgia before you got transferred here as, big surprise here, a secretary. So, answer me this…what makes a military secretary with no field experience and no combat experience think she is more capable of coming up with safe, plausible strategies than a frontline veteran with over sixteen hundred hours of combat training and over eight years of field experience?" it was then that Sakura lifted her head, her emerald eyes glowing menacingly.
Matsuri gasped and stumbled backwards, almost falling. She stared at Sakura, terrified. "Didn't think you'd ever see me again, huh Matsuri? Didn't think I'd find out you'd lied to me? Kakashi kept me briefed to Gaara's status, but when I came in to check myself, you intervened. I was vulnerable then, but you made a mistake Matsuri. You underestimated my love for Gaara." Sakura stalked the brunette, who whimpered and tried to scoot away from her. Sakura reached out her hand and suddenly, two little boys appeared. Both looked like Gaara. Matsuri protested.
"Children are not permitted here…you know that Sakura!" Sakura growled low in her throat at the other woman and pulled out her dog tags.
"That's Lt. Commander to you, Matsuri. I may not have been an active agent, but I never withdrew from the military. I've been on lockdown ever since Gaara disappeared. I'm not allowed to leave the country unless I have signed orders. Do you know why, Matsuri?" she asked, her eyes wild. The brunette shook her head.
"Because everyone knows I'd take apart the middle east looking for the father of my children." she said dangerously. Matsuri's eyes widened as she looked at the two boys before here. They were Gaara's sons? Matsuri's eyes widened and she looked at Sakura, who had her teeth clenched.
"You want to know why I reacted to your little lie the way I did? Because I had to drive home and tell my six and twelve year old sons that their dad had died at the hands of monsters. And you know what? I couldn't do it. I could not look into their faces and tell them the horrible things you told me. I didn't want to see the sadness and pain you caused me in the eyes of my babies. I'm not sick and twisted like you, Matsuri. I don't hurt people randomly…especially not allies." she turned away and looked at Naruto, who nodded and grabbed Matsuri by the arm. The girl winced at his tight hold, but didn't fight as she was led away, awaiting her court-martial. With that, Sakura sighed and looked at her sons, both of which looked up at her with trusting eyes.
She knelt beside them and smiled. "Okay boys…mommy is going to show these guys how best to save daddy. Why don't you and grandma let Miss Temari take you somewhere you can get real food and so Rori can take a bath?" she smiled at them and they smiled back hugging her. She let their love soak into her and vowed to bring Gaara back, no matter what.
