Wow! Thanks so much to all the people who reviewed and favorited! It makes me happy. Anyways, I fix up some of the spelling. And here's another chapter!
So who today? Temari, go for it!
Temari: TheContheDistance doesn't own Naruto. It's a good thing too…
Me: Gotta agree with you there. But if I did own Naruto, you and Shikamaru would definitely be together!
Temari: WHAT?! We're… just friends?! Hehe….
Me: You're blushing.
Temari: Am not!
Sakura knocked persistently at her friend's door. Come on, Emiko! We got to get ready to go! Chikusho. Sakura knocked on the door harder, making a small dent in the process. Kuso!I really hope she doesn't see that. Emiko finally opened the door, rubbing her eyes.
"Nani, Sakura-chan?" the girl yawned. Sakura ran inside the room and threw all of Emiko's clothes into a bag, as she yelled.
"We need to go to Tsunade-sama and leave for the mission, that's what! I didn't pin you down as a Naruto! Go shower and change!" Emiko shrugged and sighed while trudging to the shower. Sakura muttered irritably under her breath while throwing more clothes in Emiko's bag.
The orange-haired shinobi appeared out of the bathroom after five minutes. She looked as she normally did, albeit the shadows under her eyes. Sakura cringed; Emiko's eyes reminded her of Gaara's too often. They grabbed their bags and met with Kakashi-sensei on their way to Tsunade-sama's office.
"Nice to see you guys up so early," the Hokage's eyes were bright and there was drool on her cheek. Sakura sighed dejectedly.
"So what are we going to do sleeping-wise in Suna?" Sakura asked quickly. She was praying it wouldn't be as bad as she thought it would be. Suna was a foreign country, and considering the people who hailed from there, most likely very different from Konoha.
"Well I think that you both will be staying with a family. They have a house large enough for two more people, and they kindly offered to let you live there. Please be kind and represent Konoha well." Tsunade-sama almost pleaded. Everyone nodded and turned to leave.
"Sakura? Can I speak to you alone for a second?" Godaime Hokage smiled a little. Sakura nodded and stood up straight for her teacher. Sakura would never admit it, but she loved the Sanin like a mother, she would do anything for her.
"Well there are certain things that I shouldn't be telling you, but I will anyway. First of all, I have heard news of a new Kazekage being chosen soon. Secondly, I know you have become good friends with Emiko, do your best to stay on good terms with her. I have a feeling this girl is important, and I want you to know as much about her as you can," Tsunade-sama paused.
"Who is the person trying to become Kazekage?"
"Sabaku no Gaara," Tsunade-sama paused; she tried not to let her worry for her student show, "Sakura, work hard and study. Be safe."
Sakura smiled and tried not to cry. She walked to the Hokage's desk and hugged Tsunade-sama. The pink-haired medic smiled before she left the Hokage's office. Tsunade-sama smiled. She felt a very close bond with her student, and she knew that Sakura would never go down without a fight.
GAARA?! Sabaku no Gaara?! Kazekage? Why him!? And the guy wanted to be Kazekage? Sakura couldn't grasp this concept. Gaara had a short temper, and he liked to kill people. How could someone like that become the protector of a village? Sakura frowned and walked along with her team.
They approached the gates of Konoha. Her heart thumped against her ribcage. She walked past the bench that Sasuke left her on. Everyone has been leaving. Sasuke… Naruto… Now I will leave to. I'll come back though. I'll come back for Naruto and Sasuke. I will make sure that I will, even if no one else does. I will be waiting for them. Sakura looked at her new friend. She felt strangely comforted by the steely gaze she had.
The pink-haired medic paused to look back at Konoha. She felt tears in her eyes. Goodbye Konoha. I will come back to you. I swear.
Emiko kept walking forward, but she couldn't shake the ominous feeling in her heart. She shouldn't leave. Not again. Sakura was obviously having a harder time then she was. The orange-haired girl shrugged it off; she really didn't care about anyone at the moment. She kept trudging forward, something was going to happen, something was about to begin and she knew it. Emiko would just have to welcome whatever came her way.
"Please Kakashi-sensei, let's rest. I can't take this anymore," Sakura panted and stopped dragging her feet over the desert sand. It was a long way to Suna yet, but the desert was slowly driving Sakura insane. If I see another mirage, I swear someone is gonna pay! Emiko kept her head up and kept walking, as Kakashi walked calmly and read his book. He threw a canteen to Sakura without turning around. Sakura gratefully drank the now warm water. She almost spat the water out. Emiko looked back at her friend, who was having a hard time swallowing the warm liquid. The orange-haired girl sighed.
"I'm tired too. Let's stop," the girl said emotionlessly. Sakura grinned and ran all the way to the nearest source of shade. It turned out to be a huge boulder. The two others walked over to it and plunked down in the shade. The shinobi were too hot to talk and took long sips of water.
Emiko dug her hands in the sand, enjoying the grainy feeling through her fingers. Kakashi-sensei looked up vaguely.
"We should be close by now," he thought for a second, "I'll fill our canteens." Kakashi-sensei got up and disappeared with all their bottles. Sakura fanned herself and tried to cool down. Emiko's back stiffened.
"Well who do we have here?" Emiko smirked, and looked up at the man who addressed her. It was a shinobi with a Rain Village hitai-ate. He held a kunai to the orange-haired girl's throat. Sakura yelped and tensed when a kunai was held to her neck. Emiko smirked at both of the ninjas: she didn't have much choice in fighting now. She inwardly sighed, contemptuous of her choice.
She grabbed his arm with one hand and pushed her shoulder into the Rain ninja's armpit then pushed the hand holding the kunai off her neck. This is going to be too easy. The girl then punched his neck causing it to break. Kakashi-sensei had been teaching her where to hit on an enemy's body to have the most effect. Sakura stared wide-eyed at her friend. The man holding Sakura quickly baulked from the approaching girl. He looked terrified.
"Your death will be painful," Emiko said in a cold voice. The stupid Genins had no idea what they would have gotten into when they tried to attack her. The Rain ninja stopped walking. The Nigenasai hit the man's nose with the heel of her hand. That could have killed him, but I'm just going to make sure. The ninja had fallen to the ground. She sat on him and quickly broke his neck. Sakura stared at her friend; she had thought she was powerful, but not strong enough to kill two shinobi in three minutes. Emiko got off the body and gave the dead man one final disparaging look. Those idiots shouldn't have tried to fight me. They were Genins, and cowards no less.
Kakashi-sensei suddenly appeared again, waving cheerfully as though he had not noticed the two bodies next to his students. He tossed them their canteens and looked bemused by the lack of blood on the bodies. Emiko liked that her teacher remained jaded about everything.
"These ninja were from the Hidden Rain Village, and apparently weren't very skilled," Kakashi-sensei said as he checked the Rain ninja's pockets. There was nothing really of value, but Kakashi took the forehead protector bearing the Rain Village sign. Sakura felt somewhat mortified. Her friend had just killed two ninjas and Kakashi-sensei wasn't acting at all surprised and she was just… confused. It didn't really matter because soon enough Emiko and Kakashi-sensei started walking toward their destination again. Sakura walked glumly behind them.
It was taking longer than they had expected to get to Suna. The desert storms were a frequent hassle, but they were still on time. The three shinobi were more than relieved when they saw the opening in the cliff that was the gate to Sunagakure. Sakura kissed the ground in relief, and immediately spat out the sand. Emiko felt like a heavy weight slipped off her shoulders. They walked silently through the gates. The Sand shinobi watched them warily from their elevated position.
"We are supposed to meet the host family here," Kakashi-sensei said quietly. They were at the outdoor market place, each of them looked around for a family of people. There weren't too many citizens wandering around since it was one of the hottest points of the day. Emiko's back stiffened suddenly.
"Ah!" Emiko yelled. Two arms crushed her middle, accompanied with a high-pitched squealing. She was terrified and felt under-attack. What is going on?!
