Typhoon

Chapter Twelve

-Ninja War III-

"You want to what now?" Gaara asked, trying his best to house his rising anger.

"Well we have a very important search and rescue mission that needs to be executed immediately, and seeing as Sakura-sama excels in medical jutsu, and we don't know the condition of the team, we want her to join the rescue team and bring them back." An elder grumbled out.

One of the older women leaned forward and nodded, "Since Sakura-sama is about to become a Suna shinobi, she might as well start helping. I'm sure she's tired of wedding planning. She needs some excitement."

The other women in the council nodded, agreeing. Hana looked over at her Kazekage and sighed, "Kazekage-sama, I'm sure Sakura-sama will be fine. After all you chose her as your betrothed. You don't doubt her abilities, do you?" the blonde arched a brow, seeing the redhead's tense reaction.

"It's not that…it's just…" he stopped and let out an irritated sigh. "Fine. Send her in."

As if on cue, the doors opened and Sakura was shown in. "Good morning Sakura-sama." Most of the council greeted kindly.

"Good morning everyone." She answered politely, but somewhat stiffly. She remembered what had been discussed the last time she had been called in here, and hoped it was nothing of a similar sort.

Hana stood, giving the woman a bow of respect. "Sakura-sama, the council has decided to present you with a mission, if you would like to take it that is. A team of ours was injured and are being kept prisoner. We are sending a search and rescue team, and were graciously hoping that you would accompany them, seeing as your medical prowess is beyond words."

A lot of the women and most the young men nodded, excited looks on their face to see their new political figure in action and how she would handle a mission. "The mission is yours to command of course, my lady." One of the men with a darker complexion said.

But when Sakura looked at Gaara, he was staring off, not willing to make eye contact with her. He was obviously not happy with it.

"Gaara, what do you think about this?" she asked, wanting to be sure it was okay with him. She remembered how he had behaved the last time she went on a mission, and this one would be no less dangerous.

"Obviously I agreed." He spat out, glaring at the wall. "Or else you wouldn't even be in here hearing the logistics of the situation."

She crossed her arms angrily. "Fine then, sorry I asked for your opinion." Turning back to Hana, she said, "I'd be glad to go Hana-san. It'll be good to get out of the village for a while."

His gaze flashed over and met hers. She didn't mean that…did she? He crossed his arms tightly over his chest and focused down then, not wanting to give Sakura the reaction she wanted. "Oh, well," Hana smiled slowly, yet cautiously. "That's great then, the team is leaving at noon." She informed her, looking now at Gaara. He stood, and as he did the rest of the council mimicked.

Without another word he headed for the door. Hana looked from Sakura and back to Gaara. "Gaara-sama where are you going?" she wondered, she had assumed he would spend the morning with Sakura before she had to leave.

"I have some paperwork to do." He said shortly, slamming the door behind him. The rest of the council was now leaving, some talking to one another about political things that needed handling.

Matsuri sauntered over to Sakura, an ugly smirk plastered all over her face. "I would never even dream of treating Gaara-kun like that." She laughed and walked away from the pink haired woman.

"Well, that's why he chose me instead of you, isn't it Matsuri?" she asked, causing the girl to stop in her tracks. "Gaara needs a woman who will stand up to him and argue with him. Not some simpering child who will just go along with him and do whatever he says." She walked past the brunette and left the room then, shutting the door in the girl's face.

She went home and put together a bag of supplies, wanting to be better prepared this time around. As she was about to leave she stopped. She didn't want to just leave things the way they were. So she went downstairs and pulled out a pad and a pen, writing Gaara a note of farewell. Once that was done, she left to meet her team at the gates.

When she got to the gates the whole team was there. After a quick introduction they left, wanting to return home as soon as possible.


Two days later, the whole team made their way back to Suna, along with the team that was being held hostage. It was a very successful mission to say the least.

"Wow Sakura-sama! You were amazing!" one of the men whom she rescued exclaimed. They had been singing her praises the entire way back. And no matter how flattering, it was really starting to get on her nerves.

"Thanks, but I really didn't do much really." She said, trying to sound modest.

"Oh please. The way you demolished that building? Awesome! And then when Shauna got injured? You just swooped in and healed her right up in two seconds flat." Another chuunin chimed in.

"I'm just glad we all made it out okay. I can't wait to get home." She admitted, wondering if Gaara had gotten her note. She hoped so, because when she got back, all she wanted to do was curl up beside him in their bed and sleep.

"Me too." The girl named Shauna said. "Hey! I can see Suna on the horizon!" she exclaimed, pointing off in the distance.

"No, that's not Suna. It's just a big dome." The first chuunin said, squinting.

Sakura's brow furrowed in confusion. "I know I'm new to Suna and all, but that's exactly where the village is located.

"Sakura-sama is right. That is Suna." One of the quieter ones said.

They all broke into a run then, their carefree mood from earlier quickly forgotten. When they got closer to the village, they could see that the entire place was covered in a solid sand dome. Covering the dome and the surrounding area were Suna shinobi, who were busy fighting ninjas from Iwagakure, the Village Hidden among the Rocks.

Without instruction, they broke apart and joined the fray. Sakura ran through the crowd, dodging attacks and ninja, trying to find a familiar face in all the chaos. She saw a flash of pale blonde hair and ran towards it.

"Hana-san?! What's going on?" she asked, joining her favorite council member in her fight. Hana swung her leg up and brought it down on top of a man who had attempted to strike her.

Panting slightly, Hana glanced at Sakura. "Hokage-sama sent us a letter a bit after you arrived, warning us of an attack. They said that they had received a threatening message from Iwagakure. Apparently some countries aren't too happy of your upcoming union with Kazekage-sama. They don't want such a strong alliance with unbreakable ties between two of the biggest ninja nations." She said with a humorless smile.

"I don't understand! If that's so, then where is Gaara?" the pink haired medic asked, worried about her fiancé.

Hana looked at her like she was stupid. "He's the one holding the sand barrier. The enemy surrounded the village, and the only way to keep them all out was for Gaara-sama to put this up. Shikamaru is with him holding tactical meetings every once in a while, and your friend Ino is helping with the nurses in healing minor wounds." She informed her.

This caused Sakura's eyes to widen. Gaara was holding the whole thing up? "How long has this been going on?" she asked, bashing in someone's skull with a powerful kick.

"We're going on about forty-eight hours at this point."

Damn. This meant that Gaara would be nearing chakra exhaustion, if he wasn't already. Resolve steeling, she began to fight vigorously with her new friend. She would kill as many people as it took in order for her to get to Gaara. No matter what the cost to herself.

Sakura stopped when she heard another familiar blonde's voice. "Kirikiri Mai!" Temari screamed, running her thumb down her large fan, a trail of blood following. She swung her fan with a loud yell following, a giant tornado formed faster than the eye could comprehend.

The whirlwind surged forward, taking out a handful of the enemy shinobi. But it didn't take long for the attackers to regroup and surround the wind ninja.

"Temari!" Sakura shouted, about to make a dash for her friend. There was a flash of white, a giant canine bounding towards the woman.

"Temari!" Kiba called, leaning over and holding out his hand, "Grab on!"

Sliding her fan in place, she jumped back and stretched her hand out. Kiba latched onto her wrist as he and Akamaru flew by, pulling the blonde up onto the dog's back and got away safely. She wrapped her arms tightly around Kiba's stomach so she wouldn't fall from the bumpy ride.

"How can you stand this?!" she demanded.

"I dunno," he laughed, zigzagging between the fights, the dog ripping odd limbs from the bad guys, as Kiba called it. "I suppose I got used to it!"

He gave Akamaru an order and the dog slid to a stop, letting Temari down. Kiba followed quickly. "Come on boy, time to defend our new home! Jinju Konbi Henge: Sotoro!" the eldest of the sand siblings backed up quickly as the two combined, a giant white two headed wolf appearing from the smoke. The two roared, taking off up the cliff to focus on the most concentrated amount of the earth ninja.

Seeing that her friend was safe, Sakura focused her attention on a new group of ninjas. She cracked her knuckles, ready for anything they could throw at her.


Dark eyes watched the Kazekage, who had been holding the same stance for two days now. He looked more pale than usual, but that was to be expected. Shikamaru glanced up at the dome covering the village. It looked undamaged, not a crack anywhere. He had to give it to the stubborn redhead. He was impressively strong...and very determined.

"Shikamaru…" Gaara breathed out, opening one of his eyes with much strain. His two hands were still connected, forming a triangle much like the genius' pose while he was thinking.

He stepped forward, so Gaara wouldn't have to waste energy on speaking too loudly. "What is it Gaara?"

"Please…check on the villagers. Make sure they are alright…I don't want them to be scared." He finally managed out, closing his eyes once more and becoming lost in his concentration. Shikamaru looked pained, he had just checked on them fifteen minutes ago. He nodded, without a complaint, and dashed off. He wanted to make sure he hurried back. No way was he going to leave the Kazekage all by himself when he was doing such a massive jutsu.

Gaara tried not to stray too far from his thoughts on the sand dome, but images of Sakura's face kept invading his mind. His heart began to hurt. He hadn't even said goodbye, and now he was probably never going to see her again. He knew it…he was going to die, this was too much even for him. He could feel his psyche breaking from the strain of this magnitude.

It seemed like hours until Shikamaru came back, assuring him that they were all safe and trying to keep their spirits up. "Please…allow me another favor Shikamaru." He panted out, a cold sweat dripping down his face from the pressure he was receiving.

"Anything Gaara. What is it?"

He opened both his eyes and focused on the man before him. "I need you…to go…" he stopped, his eyes shutting in pain as someone attempted to break through the shield. Finally after a moment he locked back on the Konoha shinobi. "I won't be able to last much longer," he admitted, making the dark haired ninja go wide eyed. "So, please run as fast as you can and tell everyone outside to get off. I am going to take all these shinobi down…even if it means I have to take them down with me…but all my villagers need to be free from my sand."

"Gaara that's insane!" Shikamaru actually yelled. "There has to be some other way, you can't sacrifice yourself like that!"

"Go!" Gaara shouted, glaring now. "Do not try and stop me. I need to protect my village and right now that means killing all these invaders. Now go!"

Shikamaru nodded, stepping back hesitantly and then turning to run. "Wait." Gaara said softly, the man halted and looked back, seeing that the redhead was obviously in pain. "Take care of my sister…she needs someone good." He nodded, closing his eyes once more and straightened his straining back.

Shikamaru dashed off then, not giving the Kazekage another glance. He bounded off the buildings, heading for the only exit and entrance to Suna. It was a bright awakening to see sunlight. He tried shielding his eyes from the beating rays. After his eyes adjusted he jumped up, pumping chakra to his feet and landing on the solid dome. He rushed around, telling every other Suna shinobi he saw to retreat immediately and to pass it on. They began to run instantly, knowing that Shikamaru was delivering their Kazekage's messages. The Nara head slid off the dome and landed on the hot sand, telling all the ninja to back away. Temari ran to his side, followed by Sakura and Kiba. "What's going on?! Why aren't you with Gaara?" she demanded.

They all followed his gaze and once all the Suna ninja were off the dome, it turned to loose sand, shooting out and wrapping around all the falsely assuming Iwagakure nin. Their victorious shouts suddenly turned to surprised shrieks. Temari and Kiba went wide eyed, watching the entire dome suck in their opponents. It pulled away from the edges of the village, letting sunlight spill onto the village for the first time in days. It formed into a familiar cocoon, hovering above the entire place.


Gaara held his hands up, his whole body shaking from the intensity. He had only controlled this much sand once before, and it was out of desperation. His outstretched fingers quickly closed into fists as the sand coffin imploded. Muffled screams could be heard from all over the area, slowly the sand began to pour out to the sides of the desert, so the village would sustain no harm. Now there were only a handful of enemies left, but they quickly retreated, not willing anymore to continue the fighting.

Once all of the sand was poured back into the desert, Gaara's eyes closed for the last time. He fell forward, pushed past exhaustion, and hit the ground with a dead thump.