Chapter 12

Sakura had left Jiro with a deal that suited them both. It was settled that she would be brought safely to the village she had been taken from and assisted by Jera and the two men from earlier who would act as both guides and guards.

Then would then leave her at the drop off point without being spotted and Sakura would go home with little incident. The only people she could tell about the village would be Neji, Shikamaru, and Gaara as Sakura had personally vouched for them to Jiro who had agreed to let her tell them.

The Mito Village would remain a secret to everyone else and Sakura would work with them privately if needed in the future, setting up ways for them to help on missions without being detected and reported. She was to leave in a day when her strength returned.

A letter had already been sent by hawk to Neji explaining everything to him. Sakura now had time to regain her strength and relax in the small guest cottage they had provided her. She spent the night walking around the town with Jera, who had opened up to her after hearing her speak with Jiro, talking to her and getting to know about her life.

At the ramen stand later that evening, Jera told her about how she had first become affiliated with Mito Village.

"I used to be a shinobi working with a small village doing odd jobs. I was more of a mercenary than anything and I didn't like the work I was doing. It seemed like I was hurting more people than I was helping by collecting debts owed to the leader of the village."

"Eventually I learned he was wasting the people's money on his own personal gains and the people were poor enough. I finally decided enough was enough and killed him in his sleep. I then fled the village with my two brothers whom you met earlier. We were all mercenaries for hire for a while until we met someone who told us about Mito Village. He said it was a place where we could do good and help without having to start from the bottom and work our way up in a major village like Konoha."

She shot Sakura a sideways glance. "Don't get me wrong, my first thought was to go to Konoha and try to join into the shinobi program. I just didn't like the idea of having to obtain all those ranks I never earned being a mercenary in that village. This way, I'm working with Konoha and Suna and I don't have to worry about things like that. I'm helping people in my own way you know?" Sakura smiled and nodded to her, understanding her logic.

"It is definitely using good judgment to do what you feel is right. I wish I had a hundred more like you in Suna." Jera chuckled at this and gave her a soft smile.

"You know I might have to visit Suna soon. See you and the little one." She gestured to Sakura's stomach and smiled as Sakura gave her a halfhearted smile, the reminder of her condition once again forcing her to accept it into her mind.

"I would like that. I wouldn't mention my condition to my husband if you come anytime soon, he doesn't know." She nearly mumbled the last bit as Jera's eyebrow quirked up and her body shifted towards Sakura, indicting her surprise and attention.

"You haven't told him yet?" Sakura avoided her probing gaze.

"Well telling the Kazekage you're pregnant so early in a marriage, and right before you go on a mission, would not have gone over well. He would have had the entire village in ruins before I even got out the door." Jera's mouth quirked into a smirk.

"Overprotective husband huh?" Sakura gave her a tired look.

"You have no idea." She smiled and finished up her ramen, paying for it with money she had in her pack; leaving with Jera who walked her to the cottage before saying goodnight to her. Sakura walked in to the cottage wondering at how lucky she was to have been saved by people who were so welcoming and kind.

Two nights previous, back in Suna, Gaara had stood pacing the floor for the second night in a row. The last update from Neji was only that the disease was taking longer to cure than they had expected but other than that things were fine.

Temari had smiled at this news and turned to her brother with an I-told-you-so expression. "See Gaara? Nothing's wrong, it's all completely fine!" He acknowledged her with a turn of his head but did not stop his pacing as Temari merely shook her head and mumbled something about "Damn demon hormones making him become too worried and too possessive over her." Shikamaru had been sitting at the table in the kitchen observing this little exchange and had watched as his fiancée gave up trying to make Gaara see reason and retreated to the kitchen to wash dishes.

Though he didn't show it, he was also worried about Sakura, seeing as how everything he could discern from the mission briefing pointed towards it being some sort of a trap. He had run over a hundred different scenarios in his head since the moment he had gotten the briefing and none of them ended in anything satisfactory.

If his calculations were not enough to occupy his mind, Neji's report filled his thoughts with new worries and problems. Something seemed off to him about the way Neji had sent the report. He had read reports from Neji before, he knew his tone, the way her crafted his words, the details he included, he could pick out Neji's reports from a pile of a hundred others. (He could do that with most people's reports but was especially good with all of the Rookie Nine and Team Gai.)

The report Neji had sent them was short, but not succinct like reports that Neji sent while in dangerous situations where words and time could not be wasted. This report contained an unsettling feeling of omission, as if his words were crafted in a way to specifically leave out details that could describe and give them a feeling of the current situation he was in. He had reasoned, after mulling over each word in the report and factoring in what he knew about the Hyuuga and the way he operated and wrote his reports, that this report seemed like a report Neji would send if something had gone wrong and he was convinced he could handle the situation. If that was the case, Sakura could potentially be in danger.

This was why, as he listened to Temari grumbling in the kitchen, he saw a reason for Gaara to be worried and had worried of his own about Neji's report and Sakura's safety. He knew the Hyuuga would do everything in his power to keep Sakura safe but his worries were there to stay.

He also knew that Gaara knew nothing of how much danger Sakura could really be in if it came to a fight, he wondered what exactly was going through the mind of the pacing Kazekage. If he knew what Sakura was keeping secret, he wouldn't have sent her on the mission at all and probably would have her on some sort of constant watch by the ANBU or one of his siblings.

"He also would have probably lost his mind."

As it was, Shikamaru was left to worry and wonder about Neji's rather cryptic report by himself, as usual, and reminded himself to keep an eye on the redheaded Kazekage as he was still a bit of a loose cannon when it came to Sakura. If anything had gone wrong, he was going to be in the middle of a potentially major political incident. With a sigh and a mental grimace at his troublesome friends – friends who were soon to be relatives – he stood from his place at the table catching the eye of Temari as well as Gaara. With a stretch he shoved his hands into his pockets as per the usual and leaned back slightly his appearance that of typical Shikamaru ease.

"I think I'll take a walk." Temari gave him a confused look but as he glanced at her she knew not to press the matter further.

"Alright lazy ass, go get some exercise." She smiled a little and turned back to her dish washing as Shikamaru shook his head.

"Troublesome woman." He walked out of the house waving over his shoulder slightly to an extremely irritated Gaara and an indifferent seeming but actually curious Temari.

As soon as he was out of the house, he took to the rooftops, heading towards the message tower of Suna to send an urgent message to Neji regarding what was really going on with his mission.

Gaara watched out of the window as he saw Shikamaru disappear over the rooftops and scowled. Something was off. He could tell by the way Shikamaru had been thinking over things that he also had issues with Neji's report. A nagging feeling had been pulling at him all day as well and it was making him increasingly paranoid and antsy. It was as if his chakra was physically agitated in some way.

Sakura promised to contact him when she arrived in the village so why was Neji the one sending the report? Was she simply too busy or had something happened he was trying to cover up? With a furrowed brow he stalked past Temari and up the stairs to his bedroom, not stopping until he stood on the balcony looking out over part of the city as a figure moved far away on the rooftops headed in the direction of the Suna message tower. Evidently Shikamaru had much more than a walk on his mind and Gaara needed to know what he thought about the report, he knew Neji better than Gaara ever would. With no more than a moment's hesitation he disappeared silently above the city riding on a cloud of whispering sand.

Neji was nearing frantic now. It had been a day since he and his team of ANBU had returned to the village with no further leads on Sakura's whereabouts. They had scoured every inch of the base they had attacked but even Neji's Byakugan provided no answers. The only comfort brought to them was the miraculous recovery of all of the patients Sakura had tried to treat.

Five days had passed since they had left Suna for what was supposed to be only a diplomatic mission of sorts. He was sending out ANBU in pairs, having them expand their search as the others rested up, he himself was running on soldier pills and the amount of worry that was invading his usually straightforward thoughts.

On top of these problems, Neji had received a message from Shikamaru dated two days previous, from the day Sakura had been taken, asking him what was really going on and knew that his last report had been dissected by the Nara heir in a way that made him positively bristle.

"You gave no information on what is happening with the disease and how Sakura is faring. I know something has happened and if the Kazekage gets wind of it things will go downhill fast. Now send me a hawk and this time don't skimp on the details. If something went wrong I need to know what happened or we will be in the middle of a major political incident. Do not exclude details on how Sakura is faring and where she is at the precise moment you write the report. She is your main priority. Don't think for a moment I won't come out there and see what's going on myself.

I trust you Neji. You've been someone I could trust for a long time. Don't give me a reason to doubt you now."

Neji read the lines with a heavy weight on his mind. He could afford only to wait for another twenty-four hours and only hoped his ANBU squads could find something pointing to where the pink haired Kazehime had been taken. As he stood to leave the place in which he was sitting, he noticed a hawk landing on a nearby message stand with a letter tied to its foot.

Somehow he felt as if his day had just changed.

Sakura awoke the morning after her arrival in Mito Village rejuvenated from the feeling of sleeping in a warm bed with the sweet smell of blossoms wafting in through the open window in the bedroom of the cottage. The whole scene before her was a myriad of light pastels and sweet fragrances that almost made her feel like she was back in Konoha. With a sigh she sat up in the bed and swung her feet over the side, knowing that she would be returning to the village of her mission that same day with the help of Jera and her brothers.

As she ate a breakfast of cereal she found in the kitchen, she thought about Neji and what he must be thinking about her capture. She wondered, with a sudden fear, if he had told Gaara what had transpired in the past few days. She knew he could still be dangerous when it came to her safety and hoped for the sake of Suna and the ANBU's lives that Neji had been somewhat smart and not his usual protocol obsessed self and had withheld at least most of the information from the Kazekage.

Of course, there was still Shikamaru, who would have no doubt realized something had gone wrong if Neji had sent a report saying all was well without giving details about her location and health. She only hoped he had enough sense to deter Gaara's worry for at least as long as she was still missing from her original mission.

She also hoped the hawk carrying news of her rescue had reached Neji in time for him to stop the truth from being sent to Suna. If it hadn't, everyone's head would be on the chopping block.

With all of these thoughts swirling in her mind, Sakura's relaxed mood came crashing down to earth, her sleep-addled brain suddenly working to capacity as she finished her meal.

After a few hours of forced rest in which she had meditated to help get her still low chakra levels to continue to replenish, she had joined Jera, her brothers, and Jiro at the gates of the village; ready to depart upon a great dog-like animal that would carry her much faster than any other means of transportation save for perhaps aerial transport. There were three more creatures like it nearby, all ready to depart carrying Jera and her brothers. Jiro smiled at her as she was helped on to the back of one of the creatures.

"Thank you for agreeing to work with us Sakura-sama. We will honor your agreement well." Sakura looked at Jiro with a soft expression and shook her head.

"Thank you for saving me. I am in your debt." Jiro smiled and patted her leg as Jera and the others mounted their creatures and turned to look at her.

"Ready to depart? We should reach the village by sundown at the latest." Sakura nodded and the great beast upon which she sat took off in a run at a word from Jera, leaving the waving figure of Jiro and Mito Village in the dust behind them.

Shikamaru sat on the steps of the message center three days after he had sent his message to Neji. He was currently reading a very troubling, yet at the same time relieving, chain of messages sent by said ANBU member in regards to what had happened with Sakura.

He explained how they had been attacked and how Sakura had been captured. This had alarmed Shikamaru who furiously read the rest of the letter, only relaxing when he had read the attached message and Neji's elaboration and understood that Sakura was safe and her anonymous rescuers were returning her to the mission.

Sakura had written a note at the bottom of the letter reassuring Neji that she was safe and would be in the village in two days, tomorrow seeing as how Shikamaru had gotten the letter a day later than Neji. At the bottom of the letter a small note was scrawled after her signature.

Whatever you do, don't tell Gaara.

With a sigh of relief Shikamaru closed his eyes and leaned back on the steps. Sakura was safe.

He barely had time to assess all of the information before a sudden shadow darkened his face. The shadow wielder reluctantly opened his eyes to see a frowning Kazekage towering over him.

"Before you speak Shikamaru I know you knew something was wrong with Neji's report. That being said, you are going to tell me everything you now know in precise detail." Shikamaru looked up at the scowling red head and sighed, deciding telling him now would be a hell of a lot better than telling him later, Sakura's request be damned. With a sigh he motioned for Gaara to sit and only after he had done so did he start explaining the entire story.

About halfway through Gaara was on his feet, making his way down the stairs in a panicked fury, his chakra flaring dangerously as a predatory growl escaped his lips in hatred, anger, and worry for the fate of his wife in the hands of the defilers who dared to lay a finger on her. Behind him Shikamaru called out quickly, risking life and limb as he grabbed on to Gaara's crimson coat and explained hurriedly that Sakura was alright now. Gaara's sand, which had flared in anger, settled back against his skin as he stilled.

"What?!" Gaara growled as he looked at Shikamaru's outstretched hand, containing two letters that had obviously been opened and read by him already.

With narrowed eyes he took the letters and began to read them, his angry face softening minutely as he read the words of not only Neji, but of Sakura herself, saying she was indeed fine and would be back in the village in two days' time.

Shikamaru watched as he finished the letters and then turned towards him with a determined and rather terrifying look in his eyes. All at once Shikamaru felt an overwhelming chakra emanating from Gaara that was entirely his own chakra but dark. When he opened his mouth, his voice had a gravely tone to it that sounded ancient, terrifying, and deep.

"I want someone to watch for her return and the moment she gets here take her to the hospital to be checked on. Alert me at the first sign of her arrival." His darkened eyes glared into Shikamaru's as he swiftly whirled back down the stairs in a flurry of crimson and sand. His rational brain immediately concluded that Gaara would be volatile and unpredictable until Sakura returned.

Gaara had taken to the sky once again, using his sand to lift him and take him directly to the one place in Suna he could escape. He placed himself high above the people of Suna on the rooftop of the Kazekage building where he had spent many a sleepless night watching the moon. Though outwardly an angry and concerned expression lay on his face, inwardly he was waging a heated battle against his better judgement.

A massive part of him, the possessive part fueled partially by their bond, wanted nothing more than to go out and destroy the people who dared lay a hand on his wife, on his mate. This same part wanted to find Sakura herself and hide her away behind the walls of Suna so no one else could get to her. The pulling sensation he had felt on his chakra had been a warning of her being in danger, the pull was because of their bond, he recognized that now.

This possessive part, headed by a growling Shukaku, was quickly being squashed by reason and logic that Gaara had forced himself to use over the years to gain control over Shukaku like Naruto had with the Kyuubi.

Gaara sighed as he felt Shukaku and his overwhelming protectiveness recede until both were easier to control. As he looked out across the windblown village, he silently willed Sakura to return quickly as he knew his sanity was still not perfect regardless of the fact that only a tiny bit of Shukaku still remained inside of him.

Sakura's eyes had drooped as she had been lulled to sleep after hours of the steady motion of the creature running beneath her and the lingering effects of the chakra cuffs on her system. She had fallen into a light dreamless sleep, confident that she was being protected and trusting her companions, and had only awoken when the movement of the creature beneath her stopped.

She sat up as she heard Jera's voice.

"We're near the village. It is right beyond those trees." Sakura looked at Jera and her brothers who were already on the ground. She nodded and slid off the creature she was sitting on as it disappeared into a puff of smoke. Jera smiled at Sakura as she dusted herself off a little and adjusted her packs and the bandages she still wore around her wrists and leg, both things she decided were not worth her wasting chakra to heal.

"Well I guess this is it then." Jera nodded and Sakura looked at her with compassion in her emerald eyes. "I wish you all the best of happiness in life and please, do visit me some time." Jera grinned before putting a hand on her shoulder and looking her in the eyes once more.

"It's a promise. Now come on, let's get you back to the village."

The group walked through the remaining trees until coming upon the village where ANBU stood watching for her. As soon as one saw her he rushed over and stood in front of her as the others disappeared, presumably to fetch Neji.

"Kazehime-sama, are you injured?" Sakura shook her head as more ANBU came running with a surprisingly disheveled looking Neji in their midst. As soon as he was in front of her and the others he dropped into a low bow.

She blinked at him in surprise as the rest of the ANBU quickly followed suit.

"Forgive us. We did not do our jobs and you were allowed to be captured and put in a position where you could have been killed. Our actions are inexcusable." The ANBU continued to bow as Sakura let out a loud sigh that caused Neji to tilt his masked faced upwards to look at her.

"Stop it. I'm back now and I'm alright so stop groveling and get ready to take me home." Neji straightened upright and nodded, turning to Jera and her brothers.

"Thank you for doing what we could not and for returning the Kazehime." Jera nodded and looked over at Sakura with a smile before turning back to Neji.

"We only did the duty we were given. You can thank us by letting us to leave un-followed, we wish to remain a secret." Neji nodded as Jera gave Sakura one last glance before taking off back into the trees not followed by a single ANBU.

Sakura immediately set off to check on the village, despite Neji's vehement protest, cutting him off and instead going to speak with the officials who revealed that they had been threatened into calling for help as Sakura had expected. After forcing the officials to stop groveling and the former patients to remain in their beds, Sakura was utterly exhausted. Her chakra had only recovered to about 25% and was replenishing much slower than expected. This was making her irritated and sluggish, both of which Neji was quick to notice but did not comment on.

They spent the night in the village in order for Sakura to rest up for the long journey back to Suna as they would be traveling a little slower to accommodate her. She had insisted she was fine but Neji would hear nothing of it and had essentially tuned her out as she protested retaliating only to be lectured with what she knew was the lecture she had given him about chakra depletion a few times before. Deciding it was probably the best use of judgment to just go along with him at this point, she reluctantly agreed and turned in for the night.

In her room Sakura let herself indulge in a long shower before applying a new dressing to her wrists and leg and changing into a clean pair of shorts and an old t-shirt.

As she leaned over and turned the light off, plunging the room into darkness, she stopped and sighed as her eyes tried to adjust to the pitch blackness of the room. Nervousness crept into her mind as she thought immediately of her homecoming the next day and about facing her husband. What on Earth was she going to say to him? Her hand came to rest on her stomach as she let out a long sigh.

"How am I going to tell him?" She thought as she rolled over in the bed to face the wall. Her mind was still racing but her body was too tired to stay awake and she soon slipped into a dreamless sleep.

The morning came with a knock on her door and Neji's voice stating that they were leaving in twenty minutes.

Sakura sat up, stretching out and wincing as the bruises and cuts she still retained were stretched against her muscles. With a huff she stood and began to put on her usual attire before trudging into the bathroom and brushing out her tangled pink locks. After deeming them acceptable she tied her hetai-ate in her hair, happy to have found it in her pack, and strapped her packs on. With a final glance about the room she turned the cool metal knob on the door and stepped out into the hall.

Before she could so much as utter the phrase "Good morning" two ANBU members had flanked her.

"Certainly taking precautions huh?" She mused quietly. One ANBU member turned his head towards her and whispered:

"It's Captain's orders." Sakura nodded as they entered the tiny lobby of the motel where Neji and the other ANBU stood waiting, including the Suna ANBU Captain that was leading their expedition though Neji had obviously become the true leader when Sakura was captured. As soon as he saw her, Neji turned and began walking out the door.

Sakura rolled her eyes at his aloof mannerisms and followed as the entire group walked right out of village with the bewildered eyes of the few locals who were awake following them until they reached the very edge.

With a single glance back the group took off running with Sakura centered directly in the middle of the group protected on all sides by ANBU guards. She usually couldn't stand formations like this but in this case she knew there was absolutely no use arguing it.

Hours stretched on forever in Sakura's mind as she panted and sweat under the hot sun before finally, they came to a stop for a break. Sakura felt slightly hurried as she ate with Neji practically breathing down her back and encouraging her to eat more than usual to keep her strength up.

With a slight eye narrow and a stuck out tongue directed to his general vicinity, Sakura complied and ate more food than the rest of the group before being ushered up to start running again.

A few hours more and the familiar high rock formations of Suna were coming into view on the horizon and Sakura knew that she was almost home.

Gaara had only gone home to retrieve some documents before returning to his office in the Kazekage building without so much as a word to his siblings or Shikamaru. Immediately trying to keep his anxious mind off of Sakura's wellbeing, he dove in to the mound of paperwork on his desk.

Hours of reading and signing papers later, a small timid knock came on his door. With a sigh he called the person in, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands. A feminine voice broke his thoughts as Matsuri told him that there was one more paper to sign that had just been brought in.

Gaara nodded and took the paper from her as Matsuri left the depressed and angry looking Kazekage alone in his darkened office.

He read the paper languidly and thought through it analytically before signing it and setting it in the pile of things he had approved. The paper was a simple request for an expansion of a hotel in the lower part of Suna near the gates. Gaara had known about the planned expansion for a while so it was not a surprise to him and he didn't really need to think on it very much in order to sign it through. With a small stretch of his arms Gaara went back to signing papers trying his best to keep his mind bored and focused on the task at hand and not on Sakura.

As the clock in his office chimed that it was now officially two in the afternoon, Gaara sighed and leaned back in his chair looking over the mass of papers he had read and signed. The week of piled up paperwork was now complete and with a silent movement he had stood and walked to the door telling Matsuri he had finished them all and they were ready to be taken away.

She looked incredibly surprised but nodded, going into his office and taking away the papers as Gaara sat with his back to her, looking out the window that showed him the city all the way to the huge gates of Suna.

With nothing left to do but wonder about Sakura, Gaara let himself stand and leave the office. He walked past Matsuri and out the doors into the blinding sunlight and calm air that usually lightened his mood. Days without wind were extremely rare in Suna and he enjoyed them when they came around.

Today, however, there was no comfort in the sun or the still air. Gaara turned and jumped onto the roof of the Kazekage building making the guards that stood watch on a lower ledge nearby shake their heads and continue their watch with one mumbling. "He's sure been on edge lately, it's almost like before."

Taking a seat on the hot surface of the Kazekage building; Gaara looked out over the city and watched the people below as he saw children running to and fro and people glancing at them with amused faces as they talked amongst themselves. Suna was a much more peaceful village now that he was in charge and had been that way for a long time.

He was proud that the people within his city were open to him now and had come out of their toughened shells ever since they had seen him save them all from the Akatsuki members who had taken and killed him. The people of Suna were a hard nut to crack, forced to be tough by their environment, government and years of despicable practices, but slowly they were shaking off some of their inhospitable tendencies.

The people had changed once again when Sakura became their Kazehime as they all loved her easygoing ways and how she was never aloof or impolite to them. Like the people in Konoha, they all had grown to love their pink haired medic.

Small cries came from below him and immediately Gaara looked down to see a little boy fall and get laughed at by the others playing with him as they all ran away, still laughing, leaving the smaller boy behind in the sand he had fallen on. With a slight scowl Gaara jumped down from the roof and cushioned his fall using his sand until he stood right in front of the boy who was picking himself up out of the sand with a small sniff.

"Are you alright?" Gaara inquired as his turquoise eyes scanned the boy's form. He was really not good with children and never had the presence nor patience for them.

The boy stood quickly, wiping his eyes on his sleeve and looking down at his feet. Gaara crouched down in front of him looking at the boy's face as he raised his head to look at his Kazekage with a slight bit of discomfort and confusion etched on his features. "Are you hurt?" He asked calmly as the boy shook his head.

"No Kazekage-sama." Gaara gave him what he hoped was the small smile that he had seen Sakura use around small children to comfort them. It seemed to work as the boy looked fully at the redhead before him, a little more comfortable now.

"Were those other children your friends?" The boy shook his head.

"No they are my older sister's friends. They never let me play with them so when they said I could join in tag today I was really happy. But they tricked me because when it was my turn to be it they pushed me down and ran off laughing." Gaara frowned a little and looked over his shoulder towards the direction where the kids had gone.

"We'll go talk to them then perhaps you can see the village from the Kazekage building." The little boy's face lit up in a bewildered smile as he nodded. Gaara himself was a little surprised at his impulsive actions, charting it up to having been influenced by Sakura.

"I'd love to Kazekage-sama! My mother is at the store nearby I'll take you to her." Gaara stood up and shook his head.

"I want to go have a talk with those kids." The little boy nodded as Gaara looked down at him."Do you know where they were going?" He nodded again and pointed down the road.

"They always go to the sweet shop after school I think they were going there when we were playing tag." With a nod Gaara followed the boy through the streets as they rounded the corner to the sweet shop where the group of kids sat eating lollipops. Gaara approached them with the smaller boy behind him as the children all stopped laughing as one of the girls pointed him out.

"Kazekage-sama." They said in unison as they stood and bowed to him in respect. Gaara crossed his arms and stared down at them making them all cower immediately.

"Did you trick this boy?" He asked as the little boy peaked out from behind him.

One of the girls in the group scowled angrily at the little boy and grabbed his arm as the little boy protested.

"Hika why did you bother Kazekage-sama when you fell in the sand?! He's too busy with important things to worry about a little wimp who fell and scraped his knee." Gaara watched as she looked up at him with a straight face. "I'm sorry my little pest of a brother annoyed you Kazekage-sama." Gaara scowled down at her as the girls face suddenly seemed to grow very pale.

"Sit." He commanded and the girl complied, quietly sitting back down with her friends. Gaara looked at them all with disapproval. "You tricked him into playing with you and then you left him in the sand after you pushed him down. I do not condone such behavior from the people who live in Suna. This is not how you should treat your younger brother or anyone for that matter. Apologize to Hika, all of you."

The children all looked terrified as they nodded and apologized to Hika who was looking at Gaara in pure admiration.

"You, Hika's sister. You will come with me to go find your mother and I will explain how poorly you treated your brother." The girl hung her head and nodded, obviously embarrassed as passersby were watching the scene in awe at their Kazekage's unusual involvement in the matter. Some immediately thought of the irony of his words as he was the bane of his siblings' existence when they were younger and the people of Suna knew that the older Sand siblings had been terrified of their younger brother. The girl led Gaara and Hika to the store where her mother was shopping.

As they walked inside, Hika's mother spotted the Kazekage with her children and stood with a positively mortified expression on her face.

"You are their mother?" He asked as the woman squeaked out a yes. He continued with a suitably serious expression."Your daughter and her friends had been bullying Hika. I have already spoken with them but felt that I should tell you as well." Hika's mother looked shocked and then angry as she turned to her daughter and pulled her over to her side.

"Thank you Kazekage-sama. I had no idea she and her friends were bullying Hika. I will have a talk with her later." Gaara nodded and then looked down at Hika who was smiling up at him.

"I promised your son I would show him Suna from the Kazekage building." Hika's mother once again looked confused but gave a small smile and nodded.

"Oh yes of course Kazekage-sama that is very generous." Gaara nodded before leaving the store with Hika who was grinning from ear to ear as they traveled up the road to the Kazekage building.

"Stand still, we're going up to the roof." Hika nodded and let out a small squeak of excitement as Gaara's sand lifted them up to the roof of the building.

The boy was ecstatic to have the chance to look out across Suna and spent the whole time pointing out objects and gleefully describing his favorites.

A few minutes passed before Gaara decided to take Hika back down to the ground so he could return to his mother. Once there Hika surprised Gaara with a toothy grin.

"Thank you so much Kazekage-sama! I can't wait to tell my friends all about this!" Gaara didn't know how to react but nodded as Hika ran off grinning from ear to ear.

As he watched the child disappear, Gaara thought about Sakura and knew that he had only intervened because it was what she would have done. Children still unnerved him but the young boy hadn't been bad to deal with. As he turned to walk down to his house, he heard a voice calling after him and footsteps running towards him.

"Kazekage-sama! The Kazehime's group has just been spotted outside of Suna!" Gaara had disappeared in a swirl of red coat as he took off towards the gates of Suna.

Sakura was almost home.

End of Chapter 12