Title: A Demon's Tale
Author: swiftstar85
Genre: Drama/Friendship/Romance
Rating: T for some strong language, violence, suggestive material, and crude humor.


~Chapter Ten~


Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, though I wouldn't mind if I did.

The boy in question as Kankuro had just warned his younger brother about being missing was actually hurrying through the forest path. After the explosions close by and the sinister feeling of Chakra in the air, Kankuro told Quoi to stay put. He told him that he was to not move from within the tree trunk where the Puppet Master had put him. And Quoi had every intention to listen.

That is until a giant snake came out of no where, slithering right by.

Startled, Quoi ran away from there, not wanting to getting eaten by a snake. He was terrified of snakes as it was. He remembered how he had nearly gotten bitten by a King Cobra once in the desert while with his father and his father had immediately chopped the snake's head off before he could get bitten by it. After that, he found himself wandering a little close to where he could hear the explosions.

And remembering what Master Gaara had said, Quoi sat down to wait right where he had stopped at, knowing he might get yelled at by Kankuro when he got back to find him several feet off course where he was suppose to be. But with a sigh, he'd deal with it.

But things changed a little than Quoi had expected. He heard the nasty explosions and felt the rumbling of the ground. And then he could not help it. He had to find out what was going on. He just had to make sure that Gaara was okay. And that was when he found a large tree right on top of a very deep ravine, serving as a bridge. He knew he shouldn't have, but he did. He crossed the tree and followed the explosions. He came very close to getting hit by a tree flying through the air though, which made him drop down and cover his head with a fearful yelp.

For a long time he listened to the battles, keeping his head covered, that is until they died down. Quoi frowned as he finally pushed himself to his feet and started walking, all the while looking around. 'Crap! I better not be lost!' He thought. 'How everyone would just laugh at me if I was.'

Soon enough, he finally found a clearing and to his astonishment, it wasn't just a clearing. It was a huge crater. Something had destroyed a big portion of the forest.

But......on the other side of the crater, Quoi saw Sai. He frowned when he saw him with someone else other than Master Gaara, Naruto and the others. He could only wonder what he was doing with that creepy pale man and the four eyed dork, as he had thought of Kabuto. He didn't know who they were, since he had not been allowed to watch what happened at the bridge. But still, he wondered why Sai was with these guys instead. He watched them for a long time until the three of them turned and started hurrying out of the crater.

'Where is Sai going?' Quoi thought to himself before he glanced around, hoping to spot Master Gaara. He knew that if Sai was there, Master Gaara had to be. But still, he couldn't see his master. And Sai was getting away. 'I'm not going to follow. I'm not going to follow. I'm not going to follow. I'm not going to follow. I'm not going to follow.......' He thought continually before his face fell and he slapped his forehead. 'Oh, Master Gaara is so going to kill me.' He thought before he was quickly making his way around the crater. He had to run around the crater, knowing that if he ran across the crater, which would have been the quickest way, Sai or the other two men turned around and saw him. And he wasn't too sure if he wanted that. So he ran around. 'Besides, maybe Master Gaara is following them too.' He reassured himself.

However, he had a feeling that he would regret this later.

Quoi found himself following after Sai and the other two ninja deeper into the forest, though he was starting to hesitate. He didn't like this too much. There was something wrong, and he could feel it. His mind was racing of why Sai was with these two and not with his master and the members of Team Kakashi. A few times he glanced over his shoulder back the way he had come. He really hoped he was doing the right thing by going after Sai. He could only hope that Master Gaara was close by, doing the very same thing as he was. And he surely hoped that he wouldn't get into trouble for this. But where on earth was Master Gaara anyway and where was Sai going?

There were times like this that Quoi wished he wasn't so curious about things. It was his curiosity that was driving him to following Sai to find out where he was going. He felt his skin crawl a little as he followed Sai and the two men deeper into the forest, away from the bridge. 'Master Gaara, please be close by and following Sai too. Because I really don't want you to hate me for doing this.' He thought almost pleadingly.


Gaara swore he was about to have a panic attack after listening to Kankuro explain how he had left Quoi inside of a tree trunk, telling him not to move. He listened to Kankuro explain how he just went back to that tree trunk and found the kid not there. Kankuro didn't leave anything out at all. He simply told his younger brother that he began yelling for Quoi's name and giving him the usual threats of how he was going to kick his butt for hiding from him. But as he continued to look for the kid, he began to feel a dread falling over him as he searched under bushes and rocks but couldn't find Quoi. The Puppet Master had even searched the entire area for his younger brother's student. But Quoi had been no where to be found.

That was when he had his own panic attack and raced back to the bridge as fast as he could.

After that explanation, the young Kazekage quickly sent out his sand in search for his student and concentrating very hard on not to freak out. He could feel Sakura stand close by, looking up at him with worry while Yamato and Naruto stood a little ways off, watching for a minute. But then Gaara opened his eyes, looking pained. "I caught his scent. He's on this side of the ravine, somewhere. I believe we may find him over at the clearing." He told him before he was already hurrying back to the large bald spot in the forest where Naruto had been fighting Orochimaru. The others quickly followed, yet Yamato had a very troubled look on his face.

The ANBU Captain tilted his head, looking very uneasy before he turned sharply and looked at the others. "Sai is with Orochimaru." He announced, making everyone look at him with surprise. But he motioned them to keep going towards the large clearing.

"Hey, what clearing in the fore......" Naruto had been asking with confusion until he saw the huge clearing. "Whoa! What in the hell happened here?"

No one really paid too much attention to him. They were too busy looking around the large clearing, though Kankuro was wondering the very same thing as him. He looked around with astonishment and shock before glancing side wards at Naruto with a look of horror. 'That block head did all of this?!' The Puppet Master had thought to himself. But then he followed after Gaara as he began quickly looking around, hoping to spy Quoi.

Yamato, Sakura and Naruto, however, went over to the center where there Orochimaru had once been lying but it was obvious that he wasn't there anymore. There was a large black spill of ink, which clearly had been Sai's. A few of Sai's belongings were still laid out on the dirt but there was no sign of him or anyone else. Not even Quoi. Yamato, however, turned back to Naruto, giving him a frown. "You remember nothing?" He asked, thoughtfully. Even Sakura and Kankuro looked at Naruto, though they kept glancing over at Gaara as he scanned the entire area carefully and even sending out his sand to try and locate him.

The blonde looked at him but shook his head but his face lit up a little with a thought. "Oh, yeah. How come I was unconscious and all?" He asked, looking around at everyone, hoping to get some kind of answer.

No one answered for a long time as they stared him. Even Gaara had to tear his eyes away from the scenery around him and look over at his best friend. He saw Sakura's face turn away with a look of sadness but then she shook her head. "Orochimaru got to you and left you unconscious." She lied to him. Gaara's own face turned down ward with a hint of sadness. He knew very well that Sakura was trying the fact that Naruto had nearly lost complete control over Kyuubi and had nearly killed her. He knew that would hurt the blonde pretty bad. Although, Gaara did not hold a grudge against Naruto for what happened, he swore he would not let it happen again.

"So that's it?! Damn him!" Naruto bellowed in rage.

But Sakura didn't look at him again but then she blinked as something caught her eye. She frowned for a second before moving over to one of the abandoned scrolls and bent over it. She reached down and picked something up which caught Gaara's attention too. He frowned as he tilted his head to the side before moving closer. To his surprise, it was Sai's brother's book. "Sai's things are scattered on the ground." Sakura said with a frown.

"He dropped those things and left them there, that's all." Yamato explained placing a hand onto his waist and making everyone look over at him. "I guess even he couldn't keep his cool standing before Orochimaru."

Everyone frowned at the ANBU captain thought Gaara returned to looking around and trying to locate Quoi. He just had to find his student. He couldn't care less about Sai. The ninja had nearly gotten Sakura killed by not saving her when he had the chance. Sakura, however, looked directly at Yamato, frowning with concern. "You know what happened, right?" She asked, tilting her head.

Yamato was quiet for a minute but then he slowly nodded as he looked off to the side. "A Wood Clone of mine was here until a several moments ago. We'd been communicating through a rapid transmitter I hid here." He explained. That got Gaara's attention. He turned around and looked at Yamato with a surprised frown. He was about to ask if his clone had seen Quoi then but Sakura beat him to it by asking what happened to Sai. Yamato merely glanced over at Gaara, as if he knew what his question would have been but he shook his head and chose to answer Sakura's first. "Sai.....After a discussion with Orochimaru, he followed them back." He answered.

"Whaddya mean?" Naruto asked the question that was going through everyone's minds.

"What exactly did Pasty discuss with Orochimaru?" Kankuro asked frowning and folding his arms across his chest.

Yamato just shook his head as he looked away into the trees. "Seems it was too far for my clone to listen in, so I can't really tell. As for your student," he turned his eyes back onto Gaara. "My clone didn't see him but it sensed him. He was here for a minute. But I believe he might have seen Sai and followed after him, thinking that he was with you. Quoi could be thinking that we forgot about him for a moment and thought we'd taken off without him. I'm surprised that Sai hasn't noticed that he's following after them yet."

"Sai might have been taken by force though." Sakura suggested though there was even a look of doubt on her face.

Yamato shook his head as he looked right at her. "No. Didn't seem like it. He approached Orochimaru all on his own and handed him something." He told them.

That made everyone freeze and look at the Wood Manipulator with alarm. Gaara felt his entire body nearly freeze over before his face darkened and he gritted his teeth. He knew what that could only mean one thing. Sai was betraying them. Naruto shook his head as he held up a hand, looking wide eyed at Yamato. "Hold on a second! Sure he's a jerk and all but he wouldn't betray......!" He was crying out.

"No." Sakura said, lowering her head, looking very stern. "He just might." She kept her eyes on the ground.

The young Kazekage, however, frowned as he tried to think about why Sai would hand anything over to Orochimaru but then his face went even darker. He knew that this must have been what Danzo was up to. Sai had been under the Elder's orders and this was probably what he ordered Sai to do. To give Orochimaru some kind of information. "Danzo." He couldn't help but growl. He was very aware that both Kankuro and Sakura glanced over at him with some surprise.

"Yamato-taichou," Sakura said thoughtfully seeming to have thought the very same thing as Gaara before she turned her eyes onto the ANBU captain. "This Danzo person......"

Yamato turned his head away but folded his arms as he let out a low sigh. "I know him.....The hawkish leader who stood in opposition of the Third Hokage." He said before meeting eyes with Gaara, whose face only darkened even more.

"Exactly who is this Danzo, anyway?" Kankuro asked narrowing his eyes as he too glanced over at Gaara.

Gaara let out a low sigh as he closed his eyes and folded his arms. He figured it was time to explain a few things now to his two best friends and his brother. He knew that it was going to come out sooner or later now that Sai had betrayed them. "He's Sai's superior. An Elder who thought of the Third Hokage as a fool." His words didn't surprise Sakura though, he noticed. "Sai follows his orders and does what Danzo tells him to do." He explained quietly.

Yamato nodded looking just as grave. "It's quite possible Danzo is relying on Sai to set plans of his own into motion." He said rubbing his chin but then he lift his head and looked directly at Gaara, as if sharing this with mostly him. "Perhaps Danzo entrusted Sai with a top secret mission that has nothing to do with our own." He said, being very careful of how to let Naruto, Sakura and Kankuro know this. He knew Gaara would catch on.

"So, you're saying Sai was on a completely different mission from ours from the beginning...." Naruto asked, sounding very confused.

Gaara let out a sigh and shook his head as he looked right at Yamato. "I think it's best to tell them now, Yamato-taichou. They have to know." He told the ANBU.

With a sigh, Yamato nodded and looked seriously at the other two. His face was so grave it was almost scary. "What I'm about to tell you is no more than a conjecture upon conjecture. But it's not out of the realm of possibility so....brace yourselves." He paused for a minute before dipping his head lower. "Danzo could well be intending to destroy Konoha as we know it." His very words stunned Sakura and Naruto, as well as Kankuro.

Gaara looked just as grave as Yamato but shook his head as he looked around at the other three. "The true reason I am apart of this mission is because Tsunade didn't trust Danzo's little spy, which happens to be Sai. She asked me to be apart of this mission to keep an eye on Sai and make sure he doesn't do anything suspicious, which I have gravely failed at. She believes that Danzo is conspiring against her."

"What?!" Naruto yelped.

Yamato shook his head as he merely glanced from Gaara over to Naruto and Sakura. "Suppose that....in order to remove Tsunade from the position of Hokage, he intends to conspire with Orochimaru to attack the Village. It will be exactly like the death of the Third all over again. When the Sound conspired with the Sand." His eyes flickered over to Kankuro, who flinched a little at the memory of that.

Sakura, however, caught on and had a stunned look on her face. "So that he can build his 'ideal' Konoha from the former's ashes....and once again take center stage, but this time as Hokage."

"And the reason he's making his move now....may be that Danzo, having witnessed Orochimaru fail in his previous attack on Konoha, feels that the latter's now in position where he's willing to bargain." Yamato added.

Slowly Naruto shook his head, looking horrified but angry. "No....no way! Then Sai's top secret mission's......"

"To earn Orochimaru's trust and serve as a liaison between him and Danzo." Both Sakura and Gaara said at the very same time, which had been a little creepy as it was. But they knew very well that it would serve the exactly effect that they knew they were going to get. Both Naruto and Kankuro looked alarmed but angry.

Yamato just shook his head as he looked around at everyone. "Depending on the circumstances, we might have to dispose of Sai." He explained, which just made everyone look very serious. They all knew that if Sai really was betraying Tsunade, it had to be done. Truthfully, Gaara had no problem with it. His concern was mostly on his student. "My Clone is following them right now, but there's no way of knowing what will happen. We have to get on their trail at once." Yamato added.

"Yamato-taichou," Gaara said in a very serious tone as he met the Captain's eyes. "Is there anyway you can get your clone to see if he find Quoi while doing so? I can't let Quoi get hurt. He's my sole responsibility and if anything were to happen to him....."

Yamato only nodded. "I will have try and have it locate your student. But it might be a little difficult having it do so and follow Orochimaru, Kabuto and Sai at once. But I will do what I can." He tried to reassure him, gaining on a satisfied nod from the young Kazekage.

"All right! Let's go!" Naruto bellowed now taking a step forward but then he fell flat on his face.

Both Gaara and Sakura looked at him with alarm before hurrying over to him, picking him up a little and looking him over with concern. They both glanced at one another with a sigh when they only saw that he was out cold. They knew very well that he hadn't recovered just yet from his fight. Sakura turned a little and looked worriedly up at Yamato. "I know it'd be best to start the pursuit right away but....in the shape he's in right now, Naruto....."

Yamato sighed but shook his head. "In that case, we'll leave him behind. He should have enough strength to get back to the village on his own." he stated.

That just gained him a very dirty look from Sakura as she gave him a look of outrage and disgust. Even Gaara had to shoot him a look but he knew very well that Yamato was thinking about the seriousness of the situation. And when Sakura opened her mouth to start shouting at him, starting with mention Kakashi, he didn't move to interrupt. But Naruto sure did. He opened one of his eyes and smiled up at her. "Don't worry about me....I'm good to go." He told her.

"I was teamed with Kakashi in the ANBU before. I'm well aware of how he is. It's true I'm filling in for him, but we're different, he and I." Yamato began to say, though he was being very serious. "I'll pass on saying, 'I won't let you guys get hurt!' with a smile. You're no longer apprentice ninja to be protected. You're Shinobi who'll sooner or later have to surpass Kakashi and sustain Konoha on your shoulders." He shook his head but let out a sigh. "It's one thing to be compassionate and another to be indulgent. If we don't follow now, we're not going to catch Orochimaru again. We hesitate now and it's all over. With Orochimaru, there are no second chances."

There was a very long silence as everyone stared up at him or looked down at the ground. They all knew he was right. They knew that this wasn't the time to hesitate or even stop for a breather. They had to push their selves to the limit right now. The entire Leaf Village was depending on them to save them from Orochimaru for a second time. Sakura still looked pretty upset about having to push Naruto though. And that was enough for Kankuro to grow very serious before he stepped forward and bent down next to her as he grabbed at Naruto's arm, picking him up and placing his arm around his neck. "Come on, blockhead! If I have to, I'll carry you all the way!"

Sakura and Naruto looked up at him with surprise but Gaara smirked as he folded his arms and shook his head. He could only trust Kankuro for that. But his face grew firm again as he turned and looked off into the distance. He still felt extremely worried about Quoi. 'Quoi, don't do something stupid.' He thought worriedly.


Quoi was having a very hard time keeping up. He could see Sai a little far ahead but he knew better than to move too close. He didn't want to attract attention. He still felt the hairs on the back of his neck raising up and he knew that was not a good sign at all. He remembered a lesson from Master Gaara about when the hairs raise on the back of your neck, it only meant danger was close by.

And as he kept running, he soon found out why.

For as Quoi broke through some trees and into a little clearing, he came running right into someone. Colliding with that someone, he yelped as he felt himself push that someone then went crashing to the ground. He quickly pushed himself into a crouch and looked wide eyed up at who he just ran into. He was surprised to see that it was just Sai.

"S-Sai?! Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to run into you.....Have you seen Master......Gaara......?" Quoi cut himself off for a few seconds when he realized that Sai had his back turned to him, yet he seemed to be dangling a little from a tree branch. Frowning, the boy stood up and stared up at Sai's back. "Sai?" He then reached out to touch his arm. "Hey....Sai? Are you okay....." He was saying. That is until he touched Sai's arm and felt how cold he was. Not to mention, Sai moved easily as if he was hanging on the branch. Quoi saw that he was.

Sai had been hung.

Shocked and terrified, Quoi leapt back away from Sai's body, tripping over his own feet. He couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't believe that Sai was hanging before him with a rope around his neck, looking dead. He felt his entire body grow very cold before he shook his head with fear in his eyes. He heard the noise rise from within him before he let out a shout of fear. He couldn't help but let out his terrified scream. He had just touched a dead body and it had been Sai's! He knew that it must have been those two that had been with Sai before. They must have killed him. "SAI!" He shouted with shock as tears filled his eyes.

"Well, well, well. So this is what has been following us?" came a very amused but cold voice.

Quoi froze before he whirled around to see who just spoke, only to freeze again with shock. His eyes landed right on Sai who was standing right next to the tall, pale man and the four eyed dork. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. There were two Sais. His head jerked back towards the dead Sai before he looked back up at the three standing before him. "S-Sai.....what's going on? Where's Master Gaara?! Who are these guys?!"

Both of the two men blinked once before looking at the pale ninja in black with interest. "Master Gaara......? Sai, who exactly is this boy?" The tall pale man asked with a smirk on his face.

Sai's dark eyes just gazed right into Quoi's, looking very serious. He didn't answer for a long time as he just stared at Quoi before he turned his head away from the boy. "He's Gaara's apprentice. He wasn't even suppose to be with us but the little idiot followed our team because he cared too much about his master." He stated blankly.

Highly amused, the pale man turned his yellow eyes onto Quoi, who scampered to his feet and was looking at Sai with shock. A cold smirk curled onto the serpentine ninja's mouth before he let out his long tongue and licked his pale lips as if he was hungry for Quoi's very own flesh. "Well, well. The One Tail's student. How surprising. I didn't know that that monster would have picked up a little mouse as an apprentice. And he made the mistake of following us, didn't he?" He then folded his thin arms across his chest, grinning wickedly. "I think it best if we bring this little mouse along. He'll make an excellent test subject for later experiments. And perhaps we can use him as a warning to that sand monster that if he wants him back alive, he'll stop following me." He then waved a hand to the gray haired ninja next to him.

Quoi knew for an instant that the monster that this man was talking about was his master. And he would have started yelling at him in rage for calling Master Gaara a monster if not for the fact that the later words had just left him cold. 'Test subject? Experiments?' He thought before he slowly shook his head. He added up those words pretty well especially with the threat about warning Gaara that if he wanted him back alive. He knew that Sai was no friend of his master's or Naruto's, or Sakura's. With a yelp of fear, he turned and tried to bolt away back the way he came. He was not going to stay there if that man was going to threaten him like that old man had. He knew that he needed to get back to Master Gaara as fast as he could. His master would protect him from this guy.

But as soon as he took a few steps, he felt a hand slap onto his shoulder and grab a fist full of his shirt. It didn't take him a mere few seconds to realize it was the Four-eyes. "Let go of me!" Quoi yelled as he whirled around and launched a kick right into the gray haired young man's shin. His foot connected with the Four-eyes' leg, which seemed to surprise the Ninja before he realized that hurt.

"Ow!" Kabuto yelled as he released the boy's shirt and grabbed his leg where he'd been kicked. He couldn't believe that kid had kicked so hard and it had actually hurt him. But that was the least of his worries. The kid had bolted.

As soon as the Four-eyes had let go of him, Quoi was running as fast as he could away from him. He was not going to stay there. Not after that threat. But it was to his shock and alarm, he didn't get too far. For something caught him around the ankles and he went flying face down into the dirt. He let out a yell of fear before turning sharply to see what had caught him. To his shock and alarm, it was a very long slimy tongue protruding from the pale man's mouth, and it was clearly long enough to catch him while its owner was standing a fair fifteen feet away, smirking at him. "AHHHHHH!" Quoi couldn't help but cry out before trying to kick the tongue off of him.

Amused, Orochimaru dragged the boy back with his tongue before lifting him into the air about five feet off the ground, which had the boy very startled. He just tilted his head as he smirked up at him. "Amusing little boy the Tanuki has picked up. I think I will like you. Maybe if we experiment on you enough we can create the perfect little monster out of you. If we're successful, we might just be able to possess the First Hokage's power after all."

"Sai! Sai! Please, help me!" Quoi begged as he squirmed in the air, flapping his arms as if he could fly, which didn't help at all. His eyes full of terrified tears looked directly Sai, who was watching him through blank eyes.

There was a long pause as Orochimaru glanced side wards at the ninja next to him, waiting to see what his reaction would be. He only smirked as Sai looked blankly at the hanging boy before looking away from him with stony look on his face. He knew very well that his new companion would not help the boy, which the kid seemed to realize.

"You shouldn't have followed me, Quoi. You'd been safer with Gaara. But you're a fool." Sai said stiffly before turning his back onto Quoi. "Do as you will with him, Orochimaru-sama. I don't care what happens to him. He is only a nuisance."

Quoi looked as if his world just shattered right before his eyes and he stared at Sai with shock and hurt. He slowly shook his head before he ended up yelping as the snake like man, Orochimaru released him from his tongue and let him drop right on his head. He hit the ground rather hard, smacking his arm on a rock and cutting the skin pretty badly but his worries was mostly on what was going to happen to him as the Four-Eyes roughly grabbed his arms and yanked them behind his back, now binding them together. "NO! Let go of me!" He begged. "Master Gaara, help!!

"Might as well gag our little mouse as well, Kabuto." Orochimaru said also turning away. "He'll attract unwanted attention by yelling like that."

Kabuto nodded with his teeth gritted. He was pretty peeved with this little brat for kicking him so hard but he knew it was no good to sulk. So he just bound the boy's wrists tightly together before yanking out a cloth and tying it around the kid's mouth to stifle his yells. Once that was finished, he yanked him up and threw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. It didn't really help when the boy kept on squirming, which really irritated him.

"Hurry it up, Kabuto. I believe we have another pursuer closing in. He'll be here soon." Orochimaru said sharply now leaping for the tree. "The corpse should hold him back for a short time while we place distance between us."

So Kabuto took to the idea of pulling the boy off his shoulder before hitting him hard on the neck, hitting a pressure point and knocking him out. When the boy fell unconscious, he grunted with some satisfaction for causing the brat a little pain before he was slinging him back over his shoulder and hurrying after Orochimaru and Sai. He hated the fact that he had to carry the brat though. It just made him dislike Sai for getting out of any labor.


Team Seven was running through the trees as fast as they could, jumping limb to limb as they tried to hurry. They needed to find Yamato's Clone or Quoi, or even the trail that would lead them straight to Orochimaru's lair. They knew that if they didn't hurry, something bad was going to happen. Gaara was running along side with Sakura and Kankuro. He had a very worried look on his face as he thought about Quoi. He really hoped that his student was safe. But for some reason, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck tingling and even Shukaku was growling with worry. 'Shukaku?'

'This isn't good. I smell death and blood up ahead. The blood.....' The sand demon cut off sounding very worried. 'It smells like Quoi's. I think he's hurt.'

That just brought a very cold chill right through Gaara and his eyes snapped wide open. That was something he did not want to hear at all. His mind was now racing to many thoughts of a mangled up body of the boy he had taken in and started to take care of since the death of his father and the fall of the Akatsuki at the Sand Village. His breath was hitching at the very thought and it caught the attention of Sakura and Kankuro as they were the ones running beside him while Naruto and Yamato had tried to take the lead.

"Gaara.....?" Sakura asked with concern as she grabbed a hold of a branch to launch herself off towards another tree, only to wince as her arm started to throb and she ended up falling off the tree.

That caught everyone's attention and they all jerked around to see her falling towards the ground. It even yanked Gaara right out of his chaotic thoughts to look wide eyed down at her before launching after her. He heard Naruto yell out Sakura's name but he didn't hesitate for a second. He quickly reached her before she hit the ground and summoned out his sand to cushion their fall. Gaara held Sakura in his arms, looking at her with concern. "Sakura....." he said with worry and fear for her. Sakura grimaced but looked up at him weakly as she reached over and touched the markings on her arm, holding it as if it was in pain. He could only glance at it with concern before touching it with his cool hand.

"Sakura!" Naruto yelped as he jumped down from the trees and knelt beside his two friends. "Sakura, are you all right?! What happened?!"

But Kankuro moved forward and grabbed his shoulder and lightly tugged him back, giving him a sympathetic look. "Give 'em some room, Naruto." he told him. Usually, Naruto would have fought him but he did so when Gaara gave him a nod as he gently set Sakura down on the grass right next to him. He moved back just as Yamato joined them, looking just as concerned as the young men were. His eyes caught sight of the wound on her arm and he looked at it with worry.

Sakura must have seen it because she tried to put on a smile as she leaned against Gaara and cover the gashes with her other hand. "This....Orochimaru attacked me. But it only hurts a little. Don't worry about it." She tried to reassure Naruto.

But Naruto didn't look reassured at all. He just slowly shook his head as he stared at her. "Sakura, you shouldn't put yourself in danger like that." He told her firmly. He didn't even seem to realize that Sakura had just lied to him, even though she winced a little at his words. Gaara could only let his eyes flicker between his best friend and the love of his life, seeing how hurt Sakura was for having to lie to Naruto like that.

"Let's take a little break here." Yamato offered standing up straight, still looking concerned for the pink haired kuniochi. "Sakura is our only medical ninja, who is needed to successfully complete our mission."

Sakura gave him a sharp look as did Gaara but she shook her head as she tried to push her feet but Gaara held firm to her. He knew she needed a break as it was. She was pushing herself too hard and everyone knew it. "I'm fine...." She tried to tell them. "If we don't leave now.....you even said....." She tried to say firmly.

Yamato turned slightly away but looked right at her with a faint smile. "While it's true that I did say that....but there is also the saying, 'Rushing only leads to disaster.' There is a difference between hurrying and rashness." He told them, sounding very much like a teacher but trying to show that he did care what happened to them.

"Yeah! Sakura is our only medical ninja with super strength! So we gotta take extra care of you!" Naruto said looking at her still with concern.

Sakura shot the blonde a dark look and jabbed a finger in his direction. "Enough with the super strength already!" She shouted at him.

"Sakura," Gaara spoke up quietly making everyone stop doing whatever they were doing. He just looked her right in the eyes, giving her a worried look. He shook his head as he tightened his hold on her when she continued to try and stand up. "Rest. You really need it. You've been working too hard today. Please, just sit still for a little while." He told her. Sakura stared at him for a minute but then she let out a sigh of defeat and nodded as she relaxed against him.

Yamato then turned away, waving to Naruto to follow him. "Naruto, for the remainder of the battle, I'll be taking Sai's place as your partner. While we have time, let's decide upon our attack pattern. Can you come over here for a bit?" He asked. Naruto nodded and hurried off with him, leaving Gaara to tend to Sakura and Kankuro to stand watch. However, as they had moved a fair distance away from them, Gaara heard Yamato turn to Naruto and tell him the truth of what happened at the bridge. He heard the captain tell Naruto that it had been him who hurt Sakura. The young Kazekage could only tilt his head to the side to see what Naruto's reaction was and he saw the shock and alarm on his face.

"Gaara," Kankuro spoke up now interrupting him. He waited till his younger brother looked up at him before he folded his arms and looked at him with a frown. "Just earlier, before Sakura collapsed, you went really pale....." He pulled a face. "Well, paler than usual and you looked like you just saw a ghost. What happened? Did Shukaku say something serious to you?" He asked, tilting his head to the side.

Even Sakura was looking at Gaara with a concerned frown. She had remembered seeing that look on his face too.

Gaara stared right into Kankuro's eyes before he had to tear them away and look off into the trees with a stoic look, yet there was no doubt pain in his eyes. His brow furrowed a little as if he was in pain as he stared hard but that is until he felt Sakura's soft hand touch his shoulder, trying to get his attention. "Shukaku said he smells Quoi's blood." He finally said, and that hand withdrew very quickly. He didn't have to look at his brother and girlfriend to see the shock and alarm on their faces. He just narrowed his eyes as he continued to stare off into the trees. "Quoi is hurt somehow. But Shukaku doesn't think it's too serious. It's just a little blood. He may have cut himself while following Sai."

"That is going to be a problem, Gaara. If Quoi is bleeding then Orochimaru might smell it too." Sakura said with worry. "He'll know that Quoi is following them."

Kankuro's face darkened at the thought of how serious the situation was becoming and even deep inside, he was feeling guilt. He knew he should have watched a closer eye on the kid. He felt as if this was his fault if Quoi was in serious danger. If he had watched him better than this wouldn't have happened. "I'm going ahead." He announced, making Sakura and Gaara look sharply at him. He didn't look at them as he turned away. "I have to find Quoi immediately and stop him before he gets caught by Orochimaru. If anything happens to him......" His voice started to break and that made Gaara realize that he was feeling the blame.

Gaara with drew his arm from around Sakura and he stood up to reach out and grab Kankuro's arm. He made his older brother turn to face him. "Kankuro, don't blame yourself......."

"Gaara, you know very well that it is my fault if he gets hurt. I should have watched him better at the Village, other wise we wouldn't be in this mess." Kankuro said sternly, looking Gaara right in the eyes. "I failed you by taking my eyes off of him to check out the Leaf girls and now I failed you again by leaving him alone when I shouldn't have." He lightly pulled his arm free from Gaara's grip. "And now I'm going to fix that problem. I'm going to go ahead and see if I can find him. And maybe I can find the trail. We're losing valuable time by just sitting here. One of us should go ahead. And I'm going. You just take care of Sakura and rest yourself." He told him.

There was a long pause as the brothers looked into each others but then with a deep sigh, Gaara dropped his hand to his side and he nodded. "Find him, Kankuro. Just find him." He said, quietly yet there was some pleading within his voice. "And be very careful. If I lose you like I almost did two months ago......" He couldn't really finish what he was saying. Kankuro smiled softly at him before he was suddenly gone in a black blur.

"Hey! Where's Kankuro going?" Naruto called as he and Yamato were slowly rejoining them. There was still a look of shock and guilt in his eyes as he glanced over at the wound on Sakura's arm but he shook himself out of those thoughts.

Gaara stared after Kankuro, watching him go. He knew that Kankuro was moving as quickly as he could to try and find Quoi and he knew that once he found him, his young apprentice would be safe once again. He could just hope that he wouldn't be too late. 'Please, Quoi. Be safe.' He begged within his own thoughts.