AN: I'm sorry for not updating in a while ;o; It was unintentional. And to those who read yaoi high, I'm working on the next chapter. I'll get to updating that soon! And please tread onward carefully. This chapter hasn't been edited!

for my pride and your promise
08. call me and i'll follow

23:17:52 hrs.

Sakura figured after they saved Naruto, she would become the bestselling authoress of 'Guidelines to Control an Enraged Keeper (Same Rules Apply for Enraged Vessels).'

No, really, she was receiving hands-on experience from dealing with a tranquilized Uchiha Sasuke.

The thought that the drugs were not as strong on the Keeper like they normally would be on an average human hadn't crossed their minds, which was why, fifteen minutes after Sakura filled Kiba, Shino and Gaara in on everything, Shino nearly drove them into the sand dunes when Sasuke abruptly sat up, looking ready to murder someone, even in his 'drunken' state. The drugs hadn't completely worn off so Sasuke was slow to register his surroundings and what had happened to him prior falling unconscious. Unfortunately for him – and fortunately for everyone else – before he could go chopping off heads, Kiba had acted quickly and shot him with the tranquilizer gone.

Sasuke plopped down unconscious a moment after.

23:35:07 hrs.

"So why are we headin' to Konoha?" Kiba asked after fiddling with the radio stations. He wasn't surprised to find he couldn't get any stations going, what-with being out in the middle of the desert and all. Go figure.

"I know someone who can help us," Sakura said, having kicked off her heels. She wiggled her toes, appreciating that they could 'breathe' more easily now. "My boss, Tsuna –"

"Eek!" Hinata squeaked when seeing Sasuke sit up again, snarling, his eyes bloodshot. The fact that they were red had nothing to do with his red irises.

"Oh hell," Kiba growled, shooting Sasuke (again).

There was a chorus of sighs when Sasuke resumed his comatose state.

23:51:44 hrs.

"I spy… with my eyes… something…" Kiba looked around. "Something… large!"

"The sand?" Sakura drawled out. She had ditched her lab coat and pulled her hair into a tighter, albeit messy bun, her hair having come undone when she was chased by Sasuke earlier.

"Yeah," Kiba sighed.

"Alright… I spy with my eyes… something… idiotic," Sakura smirked.

There was a moment of contemplative pause before Shino answered, "Kiba."

The Inuzuka spluttered indignantly while Sakura grinned viciously. "Correct! Alright, your turn, Shino."

Silence.

"…Right I didn't think you would."

Hinata giggled.

Sakura glanced over her seat to check on Sasuke, and was about to look away, satisfied with his state, when she saw his hand twitch.

"Kiba, can I borrow the gun?"

He shrugged and tossed it to her.

She didn't wait for Sasuke to fully regain consciousness before shooting him.

00:31:16 hrs.

Hinata had fallen asleep. Sakura was in the process of falling asleep. Kiba was lounging back with his foot propped against the front board of the jeep, his chair slightly reclined back. Shino and Gaara were sitting in their respective silence, although Gaara had been made the unofficial watchdog of the Keeper.

So when Sasuke sat up, groggy and delirious, Gaara twisted around and punched Sasuke directly in the face, effectively knocking out the heavily drugged raven. Just as Gaara was about to turn back around in his chair, his body facing Sakura, his arms were suddenly full of pinky softness. And warmness. He looked down at her in bemused confusion and noticed she was sleeping, her face a picture of peacefulness.

The soldier sat there stiffly and unmoving. What was he supposed to do? If he moved her, she'd wake up, probably sprout some indignation of him being a pervert, and if he didn't move her, well… he'd be stuck with an arm-full of pinky softness.

Gaara chose the lesser of two evils and leaned back against the door, allowing himself to relax with the female scientist using him for a pillow.

He ignored the curious look Shino was sending him through the rear-view mirror.


She dreamt she was falling again; falling through the skies and through the ocean; breaking through a timeless memory. She dreamt she was being pulled far, far away from the present tense and into a time long, long, long ago.

The Sky met the Earth. The Sun and Moon kissed. The Stars fell from the Heavens and Night and Day collided.

There was music and there was dancing. There was passion and there was heat.

And she was laughing and smiling for all she was worth as she danced the night away. She felt so free, so joyous and alive. The pounding of the drums shook her to the very core and the beautiful, beautiful voices reached her heart and lit her up inside. Everything felt so wild, so wonderful.

She could feel the sand beneath her feet. She could feel the other bodies brush passed her as they danced in rhythm with the music. She could feel her own body move and sway, the sand kick up whenever her foot stomped down. She felt light and amazing. And she could feel a pair of eyes watching her the whole time.

And only when she felt she was done teasing did she look up so she could stare into raging seas.

And as soon as their gazes met, it was like two seas clashing and it didn't matter that her world felt like it was crashing around her like the Stars pouring from the Heavens. It didn't matter that it felt like an Eclipse. It didn't matter that everything felt like it was falling, because it was passion. It was heat. It was lust. It was sin. It was the Stars falling. It was the Sun and Moon kissing. It was Storm meeting Storm and Sea meeting Sea. It was rage. It was feverish. It was uncontrollable. And it was so, so right.

All that mattered as she danced was him and his eyes on her.

She felt an insane urge to reach out and grab him, but everything started to fade, and Sakura found herself plunging back into reality with a harsh jolt.

"Eergh," came her incomprehensible gurgle as she peeled back lids to glare groggily at whatever woke her up.

But instead she found herself glaring into…something black. She poked it. It felt hard. And soft, if that made any sense. A shirt, she realized.

She was hit with a foreboding sense of déjà vu. Sakura cautiously lifted her gaze, only to find Gaara staring down at her blankly.

So not only did she wake up to a face full of Gaara-shirt, but she belatedly realized she was leaning on him and one hand was fisted in his top. Oh my Lord I fell asleep on him, didn't I? Please say I didn't. Please say I didn't… Oh man I really did.

With a squeak, Sakura pulled away as if she'd been burnt and sat up stiffly, her face as red as Gaara's hair.

She could feel his eyes on her and never had she felt such a strong desire to bury herself.

How humiliating.

She could hear Kiba's snicker from upfront.

Sakura groaned and buried her face in her hands.

When she realized the vehicle wasn't moving, Sakura carefully peeked through her fingers. She put her hands back down after deeming her situation less hazardous and surveyed their surroundings. They were pulled up at the edge of a sidewalk.

"We're in Tanzaku City now," Kiba explained, "but since we're all starving, we decided to stop by here." He jabbed his thumb at the diner and Sakura nodded.

"Sounds good," she said, her stomach growling in agreement.

It was decided (by Sakura) that Hinata and Kiba would order food to-go, because apparently three people needed to stay back and make sure Sasuke didn't wake up and go Mass Destruction Mode again or anything of the sorts. She smiled to herself as she watched her best friend walk alongside Kiba timidly. She only stopped watching when they disappeared into the diner out of sight. After her triumph died down, Sakura realized belatedly that she was stuck in the vehicle with two very conversationally-inept people. The woman shifted awkwardly.

"So…Er… Gaara!" Sakura turned to him brightly. "You've been with the Taifu organization for a while?"

Silence.

Nod.

She gnawed on her bottom lip. "For how long?"

"……few months."

"Huh! Well… What's it like?"

"………..okay."

"…..Aa……"

She had the mental image of Inner Sakura, her other self that she had forgotten about over the years, holding up a sign with bold writing: FAILURE.

She smacked her inner self away with a fly swatter.

Not one to back down from a challenge when one presented itself, Sakura bestowed the less than talkative redhead a charming smile. "Is this your first time in Fire Country, Gaara?"

"...No."

"Really? Have you been around the Country?"

"Hn."

"What places have you visited?"

"A lot."

"Have you ever been to Konoha?"

"Hn."

"It was my first time going to Wind Country," Sakura said with a smile, unperturbed by his monotone responses. "Did you live in Wind Country?"

The soldier stared at her for a few lingering moments before looking away with a grunt. Sakura's smile slightly widened as she observed the man. She found him interesting despite his less than talkative nature. Sakura sighed contentedly and leaned back in her seat, deciding to give the man his silence that he obviously desired from the way he broke eye contact with her. He was probably irritated by her questions but she didn't care. She had her fair share of dealing with stoic men so their 'me no show emotion' facade didn't faze her in the least. Not to mention there was something that compelled her to him; something she couldn't explain.

A memory of her dream flashed into her mind and Sakura furrowed her brows thoughtfully. It was strange because everything in that dream felt familiar, but she couldn't recall ever experiencing such a thing in her life. Thinking about that dream made her feel like something was calling her, something that was making her head race and blood rush faster through her veins. It was incomprehensible. She didn't understand these feelings in the least and they only started ever since she went to Wind. Sakura closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, willing herself to calm down and not think about the dream. It was only going to make her unnecessarily anxious.

It wasn't long before Kiba and Hinata finally showed up, both carrying their share of food and looking pale. While Kiba looked grim, Hinata looked worried.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked as she took her food from Hinata. Kiba climbed into the driver's seat and wasted no time to start it and get them up into the air.

"We saw the news," Hinata answered. "Sakura, we have a bounty on our heads."

"WHAT?"


Naruto.

Cerulean eyes opened. He could hear them talking but he knew none of them said his name. He knew none of them could say his name in such a way that it made his heart twist; made his heart call out in response.

He wished he knew who was calling him.

He knew it wasn't the monster in him -- the Kyuubi, or so it called itself.

It was someone else.

Someone... someone...

Why couldn't he put a name to the voice? Why? It sounded so familiar. So comforting. So warm...

"Naruto."

He looked up at the faces staring down at him. The voice that spoke to him now was as pleasant as it was fake. It held no warmth, no comfort, though it was obvious the man tried to sound kind. "You can go back to your room now, Naruto."

The blond nodded and walked away, his pants swishing as he moved. His pants were long and loose, barely hanging on his skinny waste. As he walked into his room -- a wide, spacious white room -- he passed by a mirror and he stopped to stare at it. He really was skinny and malnourished. All he wore was a plain gray shirt and pants. He was barefoot and his skin was pale. Shadows circled underneath his eyes and his blond hair looked shaggy and unkempt, reaching up to his shoulders and clinging to his cheeks, neck and shoulders in untamed layers. He looked dull. Naruto closed his eyes and turned away from his reflection, heading deeper into his room before slumping into the floating chair by the wall. The chair itself was egg-shaped and Naruto fit into the opening quite well where he could draw his legs up and sit comfortably. He pressed a button on the edge and a screen spread open on the wall.

A television show popped up -- some soap opera. He changed the channel and stopped curiously at the news when he saw a reporter talking about two fugitives.

"...Haruno Sakura and Hyuuga Hinata are said to have stolen important government intel..."

Naruto rested his cheek on his knee.

He stared at the women's pictures that showed up at the right corner of the screen. The dark-haired one, Hyuuga Hinata, had a shy smile on her face, and the pink-haired one, Haruno Sakura, had a pleasant face. Both women looked far too nice to have such a high bounty on their heads. But then again, pictures could be deceiving.

And yet, Naruto couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he felt drawn to this Sakura somehow.

"...they're accompanied by a dangerous man..."

Becoming bored of the news, Naruto was about to change the channel when the next name made him freeze:

"...Uchiha Sasuke... There's no picture of him on file... He's said to have raven hair and dark eyes... Six foot one..."

Naruto started to hyperventilate.

That name...

Uchiha Sasuke.

That name...

His eyes widened.

Oh God -- Sasuke.

"Finally, idiot."

He felt himself being pulled back, deep into the recess of his unconsciousness. He was still, physically, sitting in his chair in his room, but mentally he was somewhere else.

"I've been calling for you. Took you a while to get back to me."

Naruto stared at the raven-haired man smirking at him. Everything around them was white.

"Sasuke..."

"Hn."

The blond ran to him and Sasuke wrapped him up in his arms, burying his nose into sun kissed hair. "Naruto."

"How'd you find me?"

"You called me, so I followed."

"I did?"

Sasuke nodded and Naruto pulled back to stare up at him. "I can't believe you forgot about me, dobe. But I figure even though you couldn't remember, there was still part of your soul that did, and that part reached me and woke me up."

Naruto smiled. "I'm glad."

"Hn." The Keeper cupped scarred cheeks between his hands. Obsidian eyes stared into Cerulean blues. "Naruto, tell me where you are at. We're going to find you."

"We?"

"There's no time to explain. Hurry, Naruto."

"I--"

Next thing he knew, he was back in his room. Naruto was about to curse when he realized there was someone in front of him with a hand on his shoulder. He was probably jolted back to reality by this person, no doubt. The Vessel drew his bottom lip between his teeth. He hated that he had to be pulled away from Sasuke so quickly, but it didn't matter.

He remembered everything now.

"Anything interesting on the news, Naruto-kun?" the man asked in a silky voice. He looked at the screen where a weather forecast was showing.

Naruto shook his head. "No, Orochimaru. Did you just get back?"

"Yes," Orochimaru replied. He had a clipboard in his hands, where he was flipping through the papers. "Have you been eating well? You look skinnier since I've last seen you three weeks ago."

"Mm, I haven't been really hungry," Naruto replied, leaning back in his seat and focusing his attention on the television screen.

"Aa." Apparently he was satisfied with whatever he was looking at because he tucked the clipboard between his arm and side and smiled at the boy. His smile was just as silky as his voice. "You've been behaving yourself, I hope, Naruto-kun."

"Yes."

"Good," Orochimaru practically purred as he reached out and squeezed Naruto's shoulder. Naruto resisted the urge to squirm uncomfortably. He had gotten so used to everything that he never gave much of any reaction, but now that he had his memory back, he knew acting like himself wouldn't go unnoticed by someone as observant as Orochimaru. He needed to remain inconspicuous.

Naruto thought back to the news report and realized what Sasuke meant by 'we.'

Sakura-chan was probably with him. He hoped she hadn't been too horrified by his kidnap all those years ago. He wondered if she remembered anything... He wondered...

No, he didn't wonder. He knew if Sakura-chan was coming, then Gaara was with them as well.

Orochimaru left the room and Naruto smiled, something he hadn't done for far too long.