Ok so chapter 11 is finally up fun fun fun

Morning arrived quietly for Sakura. She felt no confusion as she woke, and she wasn't wrapped around the man beside her in the way that was often told in love stories.

She could feel the bare skin of his back against hers, and his deep even breathing was soothing to her ears. She stretched languidly and rolled over.

She peeked over his shoulder and smiled softly. His face was completely unguarded, mouth slightly open and his jaw completely relaxed. He might have been a different person if his features weren't so distinctive. Even with the kanji hidden the face was just so completely him.

His eyes flickered under his eyelids and he sighed softly. He would be awake soon, she guessed, so she rested her chin on his shoulder and waited patiently.

He knew she was watching him before he was really awake. When he finally found his way to the surface he found her resting her chin on his shoulder, waiting.

He stretched and rolled over so he could get a better look at her. Neither of them felt the need to say anything. It felt right, like every day leading up to that one should have begun like that.

It was as normal as breathing.

Sakura grinned, suddenly struck by a funny thought.

"Naruto's going to kiiiill you."

All the stress that had built up over the week momentarily forgotten, they burst out laughing.

Eventually they had to admit that it was time to get back to reality, so they dressed (Gaara collecting Sakura's clothes from her room) and went down to the kitchen.

Everyone else was there to see them arrive. Literally, everyone. Kankuro waggled his eyebrows at Gaara; Temari rolled her eyes at his foolishness. Ino waggled her eyebrows at Sakura; Shikamaru rolled his eyes at her foolishness.

And Kakashi shot a death look at Gaara as he slowly sharpened an already razor sharp kunai.

Sakura immediately took charge of the problem. "Something wrong, Ino, Kankuro?" She asked casually, heading to the fridge, slapping the back of Kakashi's head on the way past.

Maybe a little too hard because his head rebounded off the table.

She turned back briefly. "Sorry Kakashi, I thought you knew how to duck." Kankuro immediately clammed up. He knew it didn't matter who he was to Gaara, she could snap him in two and heal him up so she could have another go. The threat of physical violence was usually enough to silence most men.

Ino persisted. "I heard you two tested the bedsprings last night Sakura." She waggled her eyebrows again.

"And?" She had to admit, it surprised her a little that she didn't feel at all embarrassed by the situation. "At least we're getting some Ino, how have your bedsprings been lately?"

Ino's mouth popped open and she flushed.

Shikamaru chuckled. "Pay up." He drawled casually. Kankuro grumbled and dropped some coins in the offered palm. "You too Ino."

Looking a little stunned Ino did the same.

"You guys need to get a life." Sakura sighed. "Kakashi put the kunai down before you hurt yourself; you've already bashed your head on the table."

Shikamaru chuckled again. "It's alright for you. It's a drag but we're leaving soon, so the only annoyance you'll have to deal with is this one." He gestured to Kankuro who scowled.

Ino was pensive now. Stung, yes, but also pensive. Sakura hadn't been like this for over a year and a half. Sasuke's death had affected her deeply. She had regained a certain vitality that she'd lacked all that time.

She would have to thank Gaara for that.

It was decided that they would see the three to the village boundary before Sakura returned to the hospital and Gaara finished that paperwork. Temari and Kankuro were to begin their investigation.

Most of Suna was still asleep as they walked to the border, despite the fact that they felt like they'd really slept in. But then again shinobi were usually awake a few hours before civilians.

Sakura was quietly scolding Kakashi about something, leaving Gaara to trail behind, watching the rest of the group. Ino glanced back at him a few times looking a little uncomfortable.

He ignored it. If she had something to say she would inevitably say it. People from Konoha were invariably like that.

Sure enough she lagged back to walk nearer to him.

"Uh, sorry I called you an idiot yesterday." He frowned. Had she called him an idiot? More importantly, was that really all she wanted to say?

She continued looking uncomfortable.

"I, uh, just wanted to say that, well Sakura seems a whole lot happier than she's been since Sasuke died and I'm grateful to you. For, you know, making her happy." She said it in a rush, blushing just a little. "It seems like whatever you have together is developing really quickly though, and I don't like that..." She squirmed uncomfortably as she walked. "But you fixed her."

He walked in silence for a moment. Watching Sakura chat with Temari and Shikamaru.

"I thought she was the one healing me." He murmured, more to himself than to Ino.

After a few more minutes they stepped onto the path that would lead them straight to the main entrance of the village.

Ordinarily it was possible to walk straight from the main entrance of the Kazekage mansion to the village entrance, but the main road was crawling with stone masons making repairs, so they had skirted around to avoid them.

Gaara approached Kakashi feeling just the tiniest bit of trepidation. He may be the Kazekage, but this was still the legendary copy-ninja who probably wanted to neuter him.

"I arranged for some supplies to be prepared for you at the main gate."

Kakashi turned to regard him with one black eye before nodding. There was a long pause as Kakashi stared Gaara down with an unreadable expression.

"If she gets hurt because of you." He didn't need to finish his sentence. The message there was clear. "She seems happy." He sighed, his one eye crinkling into a little smile. "I can't guarantee that Naruto won't come charging across the desert to Rasengan you into oblivion but I'll do what I can to stop him."

"You can tell him that his face will have a run in with my fist if he tries it." Sakura called as she approached. Evidently she'd been listening to the conversation, or at least the last part of it. "And he'll spend the rest of his life pretending he was scarred in battle."

"I'll be sure to tell him that." Kakashi said with a chuckle.

They reached the break in the wall that served as the village entrance and their progress slowed slightly; there was still some debris around and the area was crawling with shinobi checking for traps.

Matsuri was waiting for them on the far side of the wall. She bowed to Gaara as they approached.

"Kazekage-sama, the supplies have been prepared as requested." She gestured to the bundles that seemed to consist mainly of water bags, which were heavy but invaluable in the desert.

Ino chuckled to Sakura as she examined the bundles. "I see Lady Tsunade still likes her sake imported from Suna." Gaara made that little hmph noise that constituted as his own chuckle and Matsuri nodded with a smile.

"We always include a bottle whenever people are headed for the leaf."

Sakura shook her head with a laugh. "Oh heaven forbid that she might spend even a second of her retirement sober."

Ino picked up the pack with a shrug."She earned it. And she'll probably kill us if she knew that we were standing around when there's sake to be delivered, so we should get moving." The others had already picked up their packs and were looking a little awkward. Like they weren't sure if they wanted to hurry or not.

Temari pulled Shikamaru to the side for a quick embrace, and some nagging about him being too lazy and to visit more often. Ino pulled Sakura into a big hug and then Kakashi, who had never really grasped the whole Sakura-is-a-grown-woman-who-doesn't-appreciate-being-patted-on-the head-like-a-small-child thing, patted Sakura's pink locks awkwardly. They each bowed to Gaara and then they were off, rapidly melting into the distance.

They watched for a moment before Gaara spoke.

"Temari, Kankuro, time to get to work." He stated, still looking out over the desert. They nodded and started running back into the village. "Matsuri," the girl practically leapt into Gaara's arms as he addressed her, or at least that was Sakura's interpretation of her reaction, "I want a check in point set up here immediately, all reports to go through my office every night."

She nodded and ran off to carry out his orders.

Gaara turned away from the desert to look back over Suna. "We'd better get some work done Sakura." He gestured for her to follow.

They took the long route to the hospital, walking down quiet alleys. Neither of them were particularly eager to get back to work, with all that was going on it would be difficult to concentrate and the hours were bound to drag as they waited for Temari and Kankuro to come up with some information.

Their hands brushed together as they walked.

"Gaara..." Sakura ventured, disliking the sudden feeling of unease coming over her. He turned his eyes to her to indicate he was listening. "Would you send a message ahead to Konoha? I just..."

He nodded. "I'll send one as soon as I get back to my office." He'd had that feeling also.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw her shake her head ever so slightly.

"Do you think whoever is behind this will make their move soon?" Her question was tinged with an amused kind of impatience. "Because this whole, not getting a moment of peace thing is getting really old."

His lips twitched. It was true that their generation had been constantly plagued by one thing after another. Be it rogue ninja trying to destroy villages for their various means or rampaging Uchiha trying to take over the world.

"This is the life of a shinobi." He reminded her gently.

"Shinobi or not, I think it's high time these nut jobs gave it a rest." She grinned broadly. "I've seen Konoha brought to its knees more times than I can count," for a moment, Gaara had to wonder why that was something to grin about, "but it's still standing stronger than ever. Even after Pein flattened it." Her grin faded into something softer and she took his hand, squeezing it gently. "That's how I know everything will be ok."

He squeezed her hand, drawing strength from her.

"Careful, you'll start shouting believe it at the end of every sentence." He muttered.

She shot a playful fist at his arm.

The next few days passed in relative peace in Suna but they all knew that they were in the eye of the storm.

The storm that was finally reaching Konoha.

Naruto was standing at the end of his old sensei's bed, again.

Just that morning Shizune had burst into his office announcing that Kakashi's team had returned and that all three of them were being treated for serious injuries.

He stared at Kakashi's prone form for a long time. Shikamaru had already told him how the fight had gone down; 20 ninja with facial markings that identified them as the ones that had attacked Suna had ambushed them a few miles short of the border. Much fighting had ensued, Kakashi used the Mangekyou and they had retreated.

But not before they had all received serious injuries.

He sensed one of the nurses approaching the room, probably to make sure that no one had overstayed visiting hours. When she entered there was no sign he had been standing there.

A minute or so later Naruto was sitting down behind his desk, considering the reasoning behind the attack. Ino had already told him that the Suna council seemed to be involved with the attack on Suna, and it had been orchestrated to make Gaara look like an incompetent leader.

Now these rogue ninja were attacking Konoha shinobi. It seemed unwise, why bring another hidden village into it.

Then there was the message he'd received from the village elders, demanding to know why he had only sent a three man squad through a danger zone. It was interesting that they even knew the full details of the attack. Considering that he hadn't even spoken to the council about recent events.

It was especially interesting to see that they'd known about Sakura's behaviour in the Suna council meeting before he had.

Fortunately for him the elders had no power in Konoha apart from their ability to spread gossip. And apparently their ability to know what was happening in other villages before he did.

They even had the gossip from the Land of Lightning.

"Hinata." He called suddenly.

Hinata had spent as much time working in the Hokage tower as he had over the past week. He knew she was mainly doing it because she wanted him to see how much he could depend on her, and she'd proven herself to be invaluable.

She'd just been passing his office, so she entered the room immediately wearing an expectant expression.

"Send these letters to the Raikage, Tsuchikage and Mizukage." He instructed, indicating the scrolls in front of him. "Do it personally, don't let anyone else even see them."

She nodded, frowning delicately. "Of course, do you need any seals placed on them?" Naruto smiled at her.

"It can't hurt to have another set of seals on them." She nodded and collected the scrolls from the desk, tucking them into her jacket.

"Is there anything else?"

"Yes, fetch grandma Tsunade for me, I'm going to take a trip."

Don't you just love a bit of grown up Naruto =]

I'd just like to say that i'm chuffed that this fic has had over 10,000 hits since i posted the first chapter, which i find absolutely staggering, so thank you all for that!

Reviews are lovely, I hope you'll keep guessing and sending me nice words, they really keep me going =]