A/N: Yay! I'm glad so many of you like my story!
Disclaimer: I will rule the world! Oh wait, wrong show…
"So… Takira is the Jinchuriki of some demon or another." Naruto said gravely. He tightened his hold on Sakura's hand.
Gaara did not answer. He was sitting at his desk, but looking out one of the rounded window. He felt so betrayed.
You know, she really never did anything to you.
Don't make excuses.
Come on! She was perfectly civil. Just because she didn't tell you…
Silence.
Maybe she thought you would do to her what the Akatusuki did to you. Shukkaku said before disappearing.
She… she really thought that we would do that? Gaara looked down and felt a slight twinge of remorse. Maybe nothing she said was really her… it could have been an act…
"Gaara? How about it, buddy?" Gaara looked up at Naruto and gave him a blank look. Naruto rolled his eyes and restated what he had said before. "I'm going home with everyone today. We'll draw up posters of Takira and hand them out exclusively. We'll contact you if we find anything out."
Gaara nodded. "Thank-you, Naruto." He wasn't sure what else to say. He had been taught to say thank you when he was grateful or to be polite, but right now those words didn't seem to fit with his gratitude.
Luckily, Naruto had learned long ago to read his friend's eyes.
"Listen up!"
Twelve heads turned towards him. Ino and Chougi had returned from their honeymoon. Ino was standing with Sakura, TenTen and Hinata (Naruto grinned at the slight bulge in her stomach that wasn't there before), telling them all about it. Chougi was standing with Shikamaru, Akamaru, Lee and Kiba laughing about something or the other (though Shikamaru was still slightly bummed at the fact that he had to leave Temari behind). Shino and Neji stood a little apart from them, talking quietly. Sauske stood alone, much to Naruto's displeasure.
"You all received papers this morning with a portrait of a young woman on it. Don't go out of your way, but keep an eye out for her. She'll most likely be traveling alone. If you see her, approach carefully. Be friendly, and I'm sure she won't attack. Use caution, though. She's extremely strong."
"We can always tell her by her bitchy attitude." Sauske spoke up, getting small laughs and smirks from those who hadn't met her and disapproving frowns (though not necessarily glares) from those who had. At Naruto's frown everyone's smirk disappeared.
"Just do as I say and for the love of the gods above, don't let anyone, especially her or even your friends know about this. Dismissed."
Some of his friends left, others stayed behind, but in more relaxed poses. He signaled to Sauske. The man walked over with the same I-don't-care attitude that he had had when they were kids. When he was close enough that no one would hear, Naruto began.
"Man, that was uncalled for. You've got to imagine how it feels to be her…"
"I don't have to, I've been through hell, mental and physical. What can she be going through that was worse than what I did at eight?" Sauske said, looking away stubbornly.
"Maybe you should ask her. We Jinchuriki don't have easy lives. She might have gone through the same thing you did… or worse." Naruto said seriously. He decided he wasn't going to get anymore of a reaction out of him. "Now come on! Let's go out for ramen!"
While Naruto and Sauske were eating, everyone was preparing. Eventually, the fruits of their labor were produced.
Shino sent out half his insects to look for her in the forest and beyond. Some carried back strange charka signatures, but when he showed them to Naruto, the fox man shook his head, disappointed. Takira's charka signature was too unique to even get their hopes up about a few unusual bits of information.
Sakura was spending more and more time at the hospital, and when she wasn't there, Ino was. Sakra was extremely worried that someday they would find her bloodied corpse from some attack or another. The Akatusuki had been unnaturally quiet lately, and Sakura had convinced herself that Takira was being hurt every second of every day. Tenten, who owned a chain of weapons stores in both Suna and Konoha on the side, told all of her employees that Takira was an old friend and she was to be contacted immediately should any of them see her.
Neji had years ago some to terms with Hinata and both decided that the side branch of the family should have more pull. Hinata, being the heir to the Hyugga line, changed so many rules that the line between the Side and Main branch families was virtually nonexistent. Naruto knew for a fact that Hinata was planning on keeping the mark on the side branch secret until her child was old enough to know when to use it without abusing their power. Now Neji was second in command with the Hyuggas. Hinata, being under stict orders not to strain herself by both her brother and husband, left the job to him. He sent many of his younger siblings and cousins to search. He himself used his byakkugan at the very edges of the village's borders. He reported not seeing one woman with long hair traveling alone.
Kiba had taken the pillow that she had slept on in Suna home and allowed the entire kennel to smell it. His sister, Hana, took the dogs and a section of the pillow out on every mission in case they smelt her. Nothing.
Chougi and Shikamaru accepted more lessons, though they were curiously alone when it came to Ino. (I wonder why.) When asked, Chougi would mutter something about being worried about her health.
Lee began running through the village as a part of his training as well. When asked by Gai, who he still called sensei, he would say he liked to see the people of the village. Not exactly a lie, and had he had it his way, he would have told his idol in a second, but he was under oath from the Hokage and he had a huge sense of honor.
Sauske, went missing for periods of time, though Naruto knew exactly where he went. He went into the forest of death and trained, mumbling about beating the 'bitch' or he went searching on his own, though the sharigan didn't help out in the wilderness like the byakkugan. It was here that he became worried about his friend. It seemed that as the days went by, Sauske's obessesion with beating Takira, the only woman to have ever challenged him, grow into infatuation. If there was anything to be said from the Kyubbi, it would be that Gaara (or at least his Shukkaku) had his eyes on Takira as well. This did not bode well.
Unfortunately, all of their preparation was for naught, and a few weeks later, some had become lax in their strict sense of searching. Neji's cousins and siblings were pulled back; the Inzukas stopped sniffing the sections of pillow, even Sakura seemed to relax a bit when the emergency bell was wrung, and Naruto had the distinct feeling that Takira had been given up for the dead. Or the gone, by any accounts.
A/N: Aww, so sad. Anyway, how does everybody like how our heroes' lives are turning out? I thought that giving Tenten a chain of weapon stores fit in a way. Review!