I don't own Naruto.

The next morning the members of Team 7 disassembled their campsite and went on their way, leaving their attacking group tied to the tree. Kakashi had interrogated them the night before and had revealed that they were a group of thieves masquerading as ninja's to intimidate travellers into giving up their possessions.

Sakura kept thinking about the letter she had received and everytime a blush spread across her cheeks. Whenever Kakashi noticed she got a raised eyebrow and probably a dirty smile. He seemed to have come to terms with the relationship between his ex-student and the Kazekage and was now able to use his lazy humour to cause embarrassment for his favourite kunoichi. Much to her chargrin of course.

Sasuke was also pondering the letter. It must have been quite something as even Kakashi had been shocked by its content. Of course the jealousy was coming through in waves everytime he saw the red flush in Sakura's face but he was more concerned to find out its contents so he could continue with his hope of retrieving Sakura's affections.

Naruto did his complete best not to think of the letter. He just didn't want to think about the girl who was practically his sister and one of the most dangerous men in the country in that sort of context. The letter had been quite steamy with quite an anti-Sasuke theme running through it. He hoped to almost every god there was that Sasuke never read the letter or there would be some angry fallout that would most probably end up with him - the future hokage - getting repetitive beatings to ease the temper of the remaining Uchiha.

Kakashi had his mind more on the mission at hand but everytime he caught a look at the pink face of his team-mate he couldn't help but giggle a little. He didn't think the Kazekage had such a way with words and he was silently impressed. Of course he wasn't going to tell Gaara that he ad read a private letter he had written to someone he obviously cared for. Because that would be suicide and Kakashi didn't want to die just yet, at least not before he saw red-haired and emerald-green eyed kiddies running around.

The rest of the trip was uneventful but all concerned were happy when they walked under the welcoming arch of Okinawa. True to Kakashi's mission outline it was a small fishing village on the coast with a cheery population who all greeted the four ninja's with warmth. They were escorted to the mayor's house slash office by his secretary who seemed incredily relieved that they'd arrived. Apparently there had been another attack this morning but the perpatrators had been disorganised and so had been able to be fought off by the mayor's protectors. Kakashi's face darkened when he heard the news - this probably meant the mob were aware of their presence and had tried one last attempt to get at the mayor before they arrived.

The mayor introduced himself as Doto and insisted they refer to him only as Doto-san. 'No need for much formality here' he said after the questioning look sent his way from the four. The rest of the meeting was taken up by Doto explaining his living arrangements and where he would be at certain times of day. He was clearly very nervous about the threats to his life as he jumped at every noise and his eyes were darting all over the place. Kakashi's presence seemed to calm him down, after all most people felt safe in the hands of the infamous copy-ninja.

The team's living arrangements consisted of two rooms at the local hotel as Kakasi was convinced that constant vigilance was required. It was generally accepted that although best friends, Sasuke and Naruto couldn't share a room without causing a scene so they had to be seperated. Little escaped Kakashi's notice and he wasn't very surprised when Sasuke almost instantly stated he would be sharing a room with Sakura. Despite Naruto's loud protests that Sasuke was a bastard and shouldn't be allowed to Kakashi agreed and hauled Naruto to their room on the opposite side of the hall.

Sakura sighed, hopefully there wouldn't be anymore awkward silences or any more awkwardness in general. On top of Sasuke acting strangely she had her letter from Gaara telling her, in no uncertain terms, to stay away from 'the traitor'. She put her stuff by her bed and told Sasuke she was going to have a shower.

Once in the adjoining en-suite she started thinking about why Sasuke was acting completely unlike his usual withdrawn self. The one theory that kept coming into her head was that he was jealous of the attention she was getting from Gaara. However he hadn't shown any interest in her prior - even going as far as to tell her to get away from him on many occasions - so that didn't make sense. Perhaps it was just over-protection brought on by years of having to look out for her before she became te strong, able ninja she was now. That seemed infinitely more likely; made an even stronger theory by the fact that Gaara had once been seriously unstable to the point of being a raging killing machine.

She was sure that if she wasn't in love with Gaara then she was in the process of falling in love with him. He had that same dangerous brooding air that had first attracted her to Sasuke but unlike Sasuke he had warmth and passion for other things than revenge. She also had a desperate urge to soothe away all of the hurts he'd suffered in the past and to make sure he wasn't lonely anymore. On that thought she should write a reply.

As she was getting out of the shower she heard the room door slam with enough force to shake the building. Rushing out of the bathroom she saw the door had been slammed shut so hard that it had broken off the hinges. Stepping out she met the equally confused eyes of Naruto across the hall and the annoyed eye of Kakashi. The jounin walked down the hall without a word. Naruto mouthed the word 'Sasuke?' at her and she just shrugged. Then she smiled and mouthed 'want to go out for something to eat?' to which he vigorously nodded.

Laughing she stepped back into her room to get ready to be met by the sight of her letter from Gaara resting on Sasuke's bed; not where she'd left it.

NEXT TIME

Fallout of the letter and defending the mayor.