Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

This story contains bad language, drug abuse, suicidal attempts, and sexual themes.

You have been warned.

Rated M.

Chapter Seven

Pain

Ino sighed, glaring down at that cup of coffee she had ordered only a few minutes ago. Kiba sat beside her, with his arm draped lazily over her shoulder, his eyes opened and closing as if he were to fall asleep. But he knew better, since the blond had such a nasty temper and would hurt him if he did.

Shikamaru sat across from them, Hinata by his side. In fact, most of their friends sat in the coffee shop that afternoon, as the rain continued to pour down outside. The only one missing was Sakura.

"Ino... what's going on?" Naruto asked, nuzzling his face into Hinata's shoulder, causing the Hyuga to blush furiously. "I was supposed to leave hours ago... if my boss knew I skipped out on the meeting, he would so kill me." The only problem is, that when Ino called them all together, something big was going on.

Ino rolled her eyes. "Screw your job and your boss. This is about Sakura. She didn't come home last night."

"Maybe she stayed at the hospital."

"She's been off for at least a week now and doesn't go back until next Wednesday. Plus, she would've called me, knucklehead!" Ino said to Naruto, who was now smiling sheepishly in return.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Ino.. I'm sure she is fine."

Shikamaru sighed and opened his eyes, looking at the two blonds with annoyance. "Yeah, she stayed overnight at the hospital with a patient she has grown attached to."

This caused Kiba to tense, luckily Ino didn't notice.

"Oh, so Sakura has a little crush does she?"

With a groan, Shikamaru shook his head. "No.. I don't think so. Screw it, I don't understand women anyway."

Ino giggled, while Hinata blushed, and the other two boys snorted in agreement. Suddenly, the bell to the entrance dinged, and everyone turned their attention to the woman who was strolling in. She had blue hair, amber colored eyes, with one labret piercing.

She was beautiful.

As she walked in; she smiled at Naruto and his friends, while going up to the counter to order. This made him uneasy, especially since she looked like a business woman. What gave it away? The business suit she wore.

Once she was done, she walked out of the coffee shop, smirking as she did so.

Naruto glanced at the counter, and before he knew it, the cashier screamed at the top of her lungs: "THERE'S A BOMB!" While pointing towards it.

"EVERYONE GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" Naruto yelled, as screaming women and men ran past him. That stupid bitch planted a bomb, an obvious one too, just what game was she playing?

As soon as everyone else was out, Naruto ran from the door and landed on the ground with a loud thud, as the coffee shop blew up into flames. She gave them enough time to escape... why would she do that if she was trying to...

"Why would she try to kill us, but let us escape?" Naruto yelled again, walking over to Shikamaru who was yawning. "This doesn't make any sense, we have to go find her!"

Shikamaru placed an arm in front of his friend to prevent him from walking away. "You're a witness, you moron. You can't go charging into things. She was trying to warn us, Naruto. Not kill us."

"Warn us? From what?"

With a shrug, Shikamaru glanced at the hospital, seeing a very frantic pinkette and red haired man running out. He had a feeling they had to do something with it...

"Are you guys arlight?" Sakura asked, running up to Ino and gathering the blond in her arms.

Ino pulled away from her best friend and grabbed Kiba's hand with hers, obviously shaken up. "We could have.. died! Why would that woman do this?"

"Woman?"

The blond looked at Gaara with fear in her eyes. "Yes, a woman. She had blue hair and amber eyes, with a labret piercing right here," She pointed under her bottom lip. "She seemed so business-like, and even gave us a smile when she walked in! She planted an obvious bomb and gave us time to escape."

Gaara looked away. He knew that woman. Her name was Konan, obvious business partner with his father. But she attacked Sakura's friends... he understood now. She was warning Sakura and her friends to stay out of his business.

If Sakura was there, it could've been so much worse.

The rain continued to pound on them, as they waited for the police to arrive. Sakura was talking with her friend Ino, and Gaara stood somewhere under a shelter away from the rain. This gave him time to think without anyone coming to bother him.

Except Kiba.

"What is it Sakura is trying to protect you from? She told me she was trying to stop you from making a huge mistake. Why is she trying so hard? What in the hell is going on? She's leaving me in the dark."

Gaara sighed. "I almost committed suicide, Kiba. We've became friends once we both grew accustomed to one another. She is helping me find peace, but my father... he's warning you guys to stop interfering. Konan is excellent in strategy, she planting a bomb in an obvious place, but giving you enough to escape was a good way to warn you to stay away from me."

Kiba growled. "And if we don't? That stupid bitch won't stop us from helping you."

His words shocked him. Why would Kiba, captain of football team, want to help him? Oh right.. they weren't in high school anymore. They were grown up, and away from all the drama that was known back then.

"I appreciate it, honestly. But you're in danger if you continue."

"You won't stop Sakura, or Naruto, once he finds out."

Naruto... that was a name he hadn't heard in a while. He could remember when they were fifteen, and how stupid the blond would look as he fell down the steps of his house, trying to run to get to the bus. They weren't friends... but they weren't enemies either.

"That's because he won't. Sakura obviously trusted you with this, and do not give her any reason not to trust you anymore."

Fuck, Kiba thought, he's right.

Gaara coughed into his hand. "I do believe this rain will get me sick. How about we all just go home?"

Sakura looked at him and sighed; "I need to go home, Gaara.."

Ino looked at her. "Are you sure, Sakura? I'm going home with Kiba. Maybe you should ask Gaara to come stay. We do have a guest room."

Flushing, Sakura glared at Ino, as she sneered slightly. "Why must you tease me? I know I hate thunder storms, but I could just ask-"

Gaara decided to cut in. "I could come, if you'd like." He leaned down to whisper in her ear. "It would give us a chance to look over more of Sasuke's stuff..."

"F-fine..." Sakura said, her heart fluttering inside her chest more than she wished it would. Suddenly, she wanted to dig up a hole and crawl into the earth to hide for all of eternity.

Leaving the bomb site, Gaara and Sakura went back to the hospital to gather his things. Shikamaru watched them leave and turned to look at Kiba.

"You know something that we don't. You should tell me,"

"I don't want them to hate me, Shikamaru. Please, don't try to pester me."

Thinking logically, Shikamaru knew they had something to do with this bomb. They didn't plan for this to happen, but that woman, she was after Gaara, wasn't she?

With a little sigh of frustration, Shikamaru went up to a cop and started to tell him all that he saw; including the blue haired woman in detail.


Woow,

I chose Konan because she is so calm!

Any of the other Akatsuki members could've done it I guess...

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed.

And no, there's no lemon in the next chapter. I just wanted Sakura to suffer!:3 hehe.

Please favorite and review,

and hopefully these don't seem rushed.

-gaaraluver45