I am currently in the process of re-writing this story, please be sure to read from the beginning if you are familiar with it. Updates on later chapters will be posted sporadically. I am sorry I've been so busy of late but I hope you enjoy the story regardless of this! –Saki
Chapter 36
Gaara woke up and looked around the room with a start. For a moment, he was very confused. For one thing, it was now cold instead of warm and dry and he was most certainly not sitting on the rooftop in Suna. Realizing that he had been dreaming, he sighed and sat up in the bed.
It was a strange feeling, dreaming, most times he did not dream and when he did, it was usually very simple. Sitting on a rooftop, walking along the roads in Suna, things that he had done a million times before on nights when sleep escaped him. It was strange how the habits he had done when he had not been able to sleep returned now in the form of dreams. With a sigh he stood and grabbed his clothes and towel, deciding a warm shower would help clear his mind from the dream he had had.
He walked down the hall and turned on the shower, stepping in and letting the warm water relax his muscles. He did not spend long under the water, knowing that he still needed to wake up his brother and convince him to make the breakfast so he could sneak into Sakura's room.
He walked down the hall and put on clothes for the day before opening the door to his brother's room, being sure to loom over him before he shook his arm to wake him up. Predictably, Kankuro opened one eye lazily before shooting up in his bed with a start.
"It's your turn to make breakfast." Gaara stated with a blank expression as Kankuro rubbed the back of his neck and frowned.
"You really need to work on your way of waking people up. I know you no longer have a demon in you, but looming over someone when you wake them up is a good way to end up with a kunai in the chest." Gaara stared at him before throwing him a towel.
"I save the looming for you." Kankuro shook his head as Gaara turned around and walked down to Sakura's room. He slipped in quietly and then shut the door. He turned around and looked at the bed, which was sadly empty. He didn't hear the shower running but heard the sound of her brushing her teeth.
With a smile, he sat down on her bed, picking up the medic pouch that lay there. A few minutes later she walked out of the bathroom, already wearing a pair of long black pants and her red medic top she used for working in the hospital. She turned to walk to the door and jumped a little when she noticed Gaara on her bed. He smiled at her as she raised an eyebrow and shook her head.
"Are you making a habit of sneaking into my room?" Gaara smiled as she walked closer to him and pulled her medic pouch out of his hands.
"Hmm just until we are married. Are you going somewhere?" He questioned, looking at her medic outfit.
"Shishou sent a scroll early this morning saying she needs me at the hospital today. Some people were severely injured traveling in the storm last night and one of the outer villages was hit far worse than expected and half of the town's apartments collapsed. There is a suspicion that there was sabotage involved. They are bringing the people who were hurt to the Konoha hospital. I'll be back by two this afternoon." Gaara looked concerned.
"Can I help in any way?" Sakura looked at him and then nodded.
"We could use any help right now. Shikamaru led a group of shinobi to the outer village to bring the people here and give shelter in our apartments to those who need it. You could help transport the wounded to the hospital." She looked at him and he nodded.
"Give me a minute to change and I'll meet you in the kitchen. Tell Temari and Kankuro, they will want to help." She nodded and they walked out of the room and into the hall where Gaara walked down to his room and Sakura went into the kitchen where a groggy Kankuro and Temari were sitting at the table eating toast.
"Morning Sakura. Where are you going?" Kankuro's brow furrowed as he noticed her outfit.
"One of the outer villages was hit severely by the storm. Half of the town collapsed. They are bringing the wounded to Konoha hospital along with some people from other villages and they need my help." Kankuro and Temari were more awake now looking at Sakura and nodding.
"What can we do to help?" Temari asked.
"You can join in the teams that are transporting people and go help clear off some of the snow from the rest of the town or you can come with Gaara and I to the hospital. This year's winter is the worst on record. These storms are really unusual." Kankuro nodded putting his plate in the sink.
"I'll go with the teams to the village and help with anything I can." Temari nodded.
"I'll help bring people to the hospital as they are being brought to Konoha. Sakura do you know how many?" Sakura nodded.
"They said at least eighty are reported injured and twenty missing." Temari nodded and looked at Kankuro. Gaara had just walked into the room in his usual clothing of his crimson coat and vest. He looked at Temari and Kankuro who were both still in their pajamas.
"We'll go get changed and join up with the teams. You two can go." Sakura nodded and grabbed her boots before grabbing her jacket and following Gaara out the door. She turned to him and he noticed a determined gleam in her eyes.
"Gaara can you transport us to near the hospital, it will save time." He nodded and she walked over to him as he slid his arm around her waist as they were transported by the sand to a spot on the street near the hospital. Several people jumped when they saw the two appear in the street but then started to whisper when they saw Sakura take Gaara's hand and begin to run down the street towards the hospital.
The first thing Gaara noticed was four shinobi carrying two stretchers into the hospital entrance each with a person on it. Sakura pulled on his hand as they hurried through the doors. Inside people were rushing about and many people sat on the chairs around the large waiting room with nurses running around checking on them. One nurse noticed Sakura and Gaara and called out above all of the rush.
"Sakura-san! Kazekage-sama!" She called them over and Sakura rushed over to her with Gaara following, no longer holding her hand. "We need people to talk to the people in the waiting room. These nurses are new and can't tell if someone is really hurt." Sakura nodded.
"Gaara you can help with that. Keep me on a constant alert of any serious injuries I need to attend to. Where's Tsunade?" The nurse told her to wait as she directed a nurse to a hallway and she took off running.
"She's checking the serious injury patients in the ICU." Sakura nodded.
"Great work. Keep me posted and get some of these nurses out of here and attending the patients that need it." She nodded and ran off to tell some of the nurses that seemed rather flustered and helpless. Sakura tugged on Gaara's arm and pulled him over to a spot off to the side of the crowd. "Gaara please walk around and ask the patients questions. The first is what their name is. The most important is do they have any pain or serious concerns such as difficulty breathing, chest pain, etc those need to be checked by a nurse and are priority. Also ask if they have any dizziness or vision blurring. Then any bleeding. If it is nothing serious, send them over there to the side of the room with blue carpet, the orderlies will arrange them in order of priority. If it is serious, call for a nurse. Here's a clipboard, write down each patient name and anything they tell you. Be specific but use abbreviations. Give them the sheet so the nurses can tell what is wrong with them. Call me over if anything is serious. Thank you so much." She looked at him with the same determined look in her eyes he'd seen earlier and when she had battled. She handed him a clipboard before reaching up and kissing him on the lips quickly. She then pointed to a row of chairs full of people. "You take them; I'll be on the row in front of you unless I am called away." He nodded.
"Don't worry about me, I can handle this." She nodded.
"I know you can, you're the Kazekage." She smiled before hurrying to a row of people. Gaara walked swiftly over to the first person in his row which was a young man.
"I'm going to need to ask you some questions. First of all, I need you to tell me your name." The man looked at him and nodded.
"Rorik Mitsume." Gaara nodded writing it down.
"Do you have any pain and where is it?" Rorik pointed to his chest.
"Here it feels like someone's stabbing me." Gaara nodded writing it down.
"Are you dizzy or having any trouble breathing?" He asked, his voice steady and even. Rorik nodded his head.
"It hurts when I breathe at all, it's just my chest." Gaara nodded.
"Is it something that needs to be looked at immediately?" Rorik shook his head.
"I can wait." Gaara handed him the paper with his information and sent him off to the other side of the room.
Gaara moved to the woman next to him. Ahead of him Sakura was doing the same. She was on her third patient and was asking the questions very sure, stern, and yet somehow soothing voice. She was about to move to the fourth patient when she saw a woman whose face was in serious discomfort. She looked to be pregnant and was clutching her stomach. Sakura rushed over and knelt down to her.
"Ma'am are you alright? Could you tell me exactly what is wrong?" Sakura asked putting a hand on her arm.
"I'm scared, I'm eight months pregnant and I don't know what's wrong. I'm worried about the baby." She had begun to cry as Sakura nodded and began to immediately take her pulse with the hand resting on Momo's arm.
"It's going to be ok Momo. I need you to tell me exactly where it hurts and what happened when it first started hurting." She nodded, shaking slightly.
"My stomach… it hurts. My building collapsed but I wasn't hurt, I was stuck under a desk. I don't know what happened….I mean it was so fast…it hurts, am I going into labor early?" She gasped out, clutching her stomach in pain.
Sakura's face hardened as she told her to lean back a little and uncross her arms from her stomach. She raised her hand glowing with green chakra and began to scan her stomach. She felt the baby's chakra and could feel that something was not right with the signals being sent there. She was going to go into early labor if she didn't help. Most times labor in the late eighth month was ok, but with the signals Sakura was reading, the placenta might detach before the baby was born and a caesarean section would be needed. Sakura reached up to her forehead and Momo's eyes grew wide.
"Just relax and let the chakra enter your head. If you fight it you could get hurt." She nodded as her body let the chakra in and relaxed. Sakura then turned to her stomach and pushed chakra into it, maintaining intense concentration until she could tell that Momo and the baby were going to be all right. "Ok you're going to be fine. You and the baby are going to be all right. We'll get you to a room and we'll monitor you for the next few days." Momo nodded sighing tears streaming down her face.
"Thank you, thank you so much…Miss?" Sakura smiled.
"Sakura Haruno." Momo's eyes got wide as she recognized the name. Sakura smiled and stood up. "Nurse! I need a wheelchair and a room for this woman! Hook her up to an IV and a heart monitor. Keep me posted on her condition in two hours." A nurse nodded rushing over with the wheelchair before helping her into the chair and wheeling her away to a room.
Sakura then move on to a little girl sitting on her mother's lap crying in a chair. She talked to her mother and sent her over to the blue carpet side of the room. She then moved onto the next few, looking over her shoulder to see Gaara calling over two nurses who took a man covered in blood away on a rolling stretcher. He looked up and caught her eye before giving her a reassuring nod. She nodded back and returned to questioning patients.
Once the row was done she moved onto the next one. Gaara was finished with his row and walked over to her new row, taking the other side. Most of the injuries were minor ones. Most were simply broken ribs or cuts, bruises, broken noses, minor fractures, lacerations, or minor breaks. There were only a few serious cases and Sakura was handling them with such ease that it didn't seem to be a problem. Once the row was finished Gaara walked over to Sakura who rubbed her brow and smiled at him.
"There seem to be no more serious injuries but the nurses say this is only the first group of people being brought in." Gaara reported to her. She nodded.
"I wonder how Kankuro and Temari are handling this. You are certainly handling this well." She smiled at him and Gaara smiled back.
"I find it amazing watching you work. You are so methodical and seem to know exactly what to do with every patient. These people are certainly lucky to have you." This made Sakura shake her head slightly as Gaara gave her a stern look. "It's true." She looked up at him, her cheeks a shade darker than her hair. He couldn't help but smile just as they were jarred out of their thoughts be a nurse calling Sakura over to a man with a broken leg. Gaara followed her, helping to lift him onto a stretcher and then turning back to Sakura.
"Gaara, we're lucky to have you here as well." She stated; her expression completely serious. He smiled as they went back to work as she was called off to the ICU.
"Temari can you clear off the snow from these roofs? They are in danger of collapsing as well." Kankuro called to her as he lifted a wooden beam from a pile of rubble. She nodded before pulling out her fan, sending a huge gust of wind knocking off the snow from the roofs of the houses near her. They were working hard at clearing the snow off the roofs of the houses still standing. The area was rather old and the houses weren't made to withstand such a harsh winter.
"Kankuro, Temari, good to have you here." Shikamaru's face looked incredibly serious as he walked over to them. They turned and nodded at him. "Where's Gaara?" He questioned, looking around for him amongst the shinobi helping clear debris.
"He went with Sakura to the hospital to help out. Speaking of which, we've pretty much cleared this whole road of debris and snow. Can we bring any injured or anyone else back to Konoha?" Shikamaru nodded.
"We have wagons bringing people back. You can help us in the far end of town. We're still missing fifteen people and there are a good deal more injured that we are sending to Konoha." Temari put her fan back on her back and looked at him.
"I'll go help bring people back, Kankuro can help look for them." Shikamaru looked at her and nodded.
"Thank you for your help. This shouldn't take much longer. The village will rebuild itself later. For now we just need to get the villagers to safety." They nodded and Shikamaru walked with them to the far end of town. The first thing Temari saw was Hinata and Neji standing in the street looking around, both with their byakugan activated. Neither one of them turned to look at the group as they approached but instead pointed to a rubble heap that must have formerly been a house.
"Shikamaru, there is a woman under that rubble. She's alive but needs medical attention quickly." They nodded and followed Neji's instructions digging into the rubble and moving it carefully before seeing the woman buried quite deep behind a fallen wall.
"We'll get you out just stay perfectly still." Temari called to the woman as she helped Kankuro move a large wooden beam. They carefully pulled the woman out, trying not to jostle her as two men with a stretcher came by and carefully lifted her onto it. "I'll go with them and bring back the injured." Kankuro nodded.
"I'll do what I can here to help." Temari smiled.
"Of course you will." He waved her off as she ran quickly alongside the stretcher. Kankuro turned to Neji and Hinata, following their directions to help Shikamaru move debris off another person, pulling them out of the rubble unharmed.
"Ms. Haruno! We need you in operating room three!" A nurse called loudly above all of the chatter of the waiting room. Sakura looked up from her patient sheet and handed it to Gaara before giving him an apologetic glance and running off towards the operating room. She had just gotten back from the ICU and was now being called away again. The woman sitting in the chair that Sakura was just questioning was surprised when she looked up and saw Gaara standing there in Sakura's place.
"Are you the Kazekage?" She questioned, her face clearly one of awe as she looked up at him. He nodded slightly.
"Normally yes, but today I'm just here to help." He said and continued questioning the woman before moving onto the next patient in the same routine. A few minutes later Tsunade's voice echoed through the room, jarring Gaara out of his methodical circle through the patients.
"Gaara! Someone wants to talk to you." She called, walking over to him. He nodded and handed his clipboard to a nurse who relieved him, following Tsunade down the hall. "Sakura helped a woman named Momo earlier in the waiting room. She was very close to going into early labor that would have required a rather risky cesarean section. Sakura saved her baby and wanted us to check on her in two hours. We went to check on her and she is doing better, but she requested you." Gaara looked surprised and Tsunade shrugged. "You have done enough in that waiting room for today. We only have a few more people coming in for treatment. Only three are serious. Temari is bringing them." Gaara nodded.
"I'll see her, but I don't know why she wants to see me." Tsunade shrugged.
"You are the Kazekage. You're someone people want to see. I have to run help another person with a shattered femur." She walked swiftly out of the room and down the hall as Gaara opened the door and walked in to see Momo sitting up in her bed.
"Oh my goodness Kazekage-sama! I'm so sorry Kazekage-sama I only meant for them to give you this letter. I didn't mean to make you come here I'm sure you're busy…" Gaara cut her off with a wave of his hand.
"Please, I don't mind. My fiancée is unavailable so I wanted to personally come talk to you." Momo's eyes widened and she nodded.
"I had no idea Haruno-san was your fiancée. I just wanted to see if you could get this letter to where it needs to go. It is for my husband. He's in Suna right now. His name is Kyo Gato, he works as a negotiator for the elders of our village and Suna. I wanted to see him but I can't travel right now, not with the baby being so close to being born. He left right after Christmas and told me if anything happened that I was to contact him and I saw you in the waiting room and thought perhaps you could get this to him faster." Gaara nodded.
"I'll have a messenger bring it there directly. I myself am not leaving Konoha for a while, but I would be happy to send this there as an urgent message." Momo's eyes grew wide as she smiled and nodded.
"Thank you so much Kazekage-sama. I didn't think it would be alright to ask you but, I didn't know what to do. I won't keep you. Thank you again, so very much." He nodded.
"Of course." She smiled as he walked out of the room with the letter in his pocket. As soon as he was in the hallway a nurse called to him.
"Kazekage-sama your sister is here!" Gaara nodded and followed her back to the hectic waiting room where Temari was helping a little boy into a chair where a nurse attended to him. She looked up and, seeing Gaara, smiled.
"Hey Gaara how's it been going here?"
"Most of the patients are in treatment and almost all of them on their way to recovery." Temari smiled.
"So where's Sakura? Off saving lives somewhere?" She smiled and Gaara nodded.
"The last time I saw her she was running down to the operating room about half an hour ago." Temari shook her head.
"I have no idea how she does it. I could never handle the things she does. But we did handle the village rather well. All of the snow is cleared off the roofs and the last few people are being pulled out of the rubble. There are no fatalities. Kankuro and the others should be back in a few hours." Gaara nodded and they both went and sat down as the craziness of the waiting room settled down and the last of the patients were brought in.
The nurses slowly dwindled until only a few were walking around giving hot tea to the patients and bandaging the minor cases. The ones with fractures and broken ribs were being led into a room where the nurses and a doctor were attaching casts and wrapping the chests of rib patients. The others with cuts and bruises were being given the standard checkups in another room. Slowly the people began to dwindle as they were sent to the designated district of Konoha where there were lots of empty apartments that would be used until their town was rebuilt. Eventually an hour passed and the number of people still in the hospital waiting room was down to about twenty. One of the nurses sighed and sat down next to them.
"Finally it is down to a usual number." She smiled at them then was a little startled upon realizing who they were. "Oh Temari-sama, Kazekage-sama! You have been here helping?" They nodded. "Oh thank you, we needed it." She smiled, a bit embarrassed, and then stood up and walked away down the hall to check on the usual patients. Gaara looked up to see an exhausted looking Sakura walking down the hall.
"Surgery was a success." She declared, sitting down next to Gaara who smiled.
"Hey there hero, how are you?" A familiar voice called and they turned to see Kankuro walking up to them.
"Hi Kankuro, how did it go in the village?" Sakura smiled, looking up at him.
"The snow's all cleared off the roofs and the builders showed up as we were leaving. They are already planning on starting to reconstruct them after the snow clears. After they start they say it should be done in about a month." Sakura nodded. Kankuro smiled and plopped down on her other side, stretching and smiling at her. "So how were things here?"
"Crazy for a while but it's completely fine. No fatalities." Kankuro smiled.
"Well I'm glad to hear that. You were the driving force I am sure." He smiled at her and she rolled her eyes.
"Yeah well you guys helped just as much." A voice broke their conversation as Sakura turned to see Tsunade walking towards them.
"There you are Sakura. Nice work on that woman and her baby. Also with the surgery. I heard that the man is stable and should be fine, that was some nice work." Tsunade nodded to her proudly, walking up to them. "I am also glad to hear you three helped as well. We heard Kankuro helped dig people out and even our dear Kazekage got his hands dirty helping out in the waiting room." She thanked them all, which was a rare thing to hear coming from Tsunade after she had been at the hospital all day. "So Sakura says you all are heading to the village as well, to thank the bartender Iori and his wife."
"We would like to invite them to the wedding." Gaara stated.
"Well I think I'll send Kaguri along with you as an escort, a real escort this time." She stared at Gaara before continuing. "It seems he wants to want to go back as well. Meet him tomorrow at nine at the gate." Sakura nodded.
"Thank you Shishou." Tsunade smiled.
"You get special treatment now because I am in a good mood, but don't get too used to it. No student of mine gets things for free." She smiled and turned, waving goodbye to them as a flustered Shizune followed quickly after her, having only just appeared in the waiting room. Sakura laughed.
"I don't know about you, but I am going to clock out here, go home, eat some real food and then sleep. I am going to need the rest before we leave tomorrow." Temari grinned, standing up and stretching.
"That sounds like a plan to me." She smiled and slung her arm around Sakura's shoulders giving them a quick squeeze before dropping her arm and looking back at the boys. "Come on you two." They smiled and stood up walking next to the girls and out of the hospital. They turned down the street and walked slowly back towards Sakura's house.
"I'll cook dinner tonight. Do you guys like Tempura?" Temari asked as they turned onto Sakura's street.
"Sure Temari, that sounds great. What do you guys think?" Kankuro nodded.
"Any food is good tonight, even Temari's. I'm starving." He rubbed his stomach and walked into her house behind Gaara as Temari shot him an angry look. They all took off their jackets and boots, walking to the living room.
Temari went into the kitchen to start the Tempura. Gaara, being the first in the room, settled onto the smaller couch as Kankuro stretched out on the other. Sakura walked into the room after them, sitting down next to Gaara with a sigh. He smiled at her as she leaned against him. He was stiff for a moment before putting his arm around her and letting her curl up against him, not used to being affectionate in front of others.
Temari brought in the Tempura after a little while and they all ate it hungrily before putting their bowls in the sink and settling back into the same positions they were in. They talked for a while, switching the TV on and settling on a random show that they all watched with lazy expressions. As it came to an end, Temari looked over at Gaara and Sakura and smiled.
"Hey Gaara, it looks like your fiancée fell asleep. Why don't you bring her to bed, she's got to be exhausted." He nodded.
"Well that means you're stuck with Kankuro." Temari looked over at Kankuro who, of course, was sprawled out on the couch, fast asleep. His face paint was smudged and his mouth was hanging open. She rolled her eyes.
"He can sleep on the couch. I'm going to bed." She waved at him before walking out of the room. Gaara looked down at Sakura's sleeping form and stood up slowly, carefully picking her up in his arms and carrying her down the hall to her room. He set her in the bed and pulled the covers up around her before brushing her hair away from her face.
"Goodnight Sakura." He whispered softly, caressing her face once before standing up and walking quietly out of her room, shutting the door before going into his own room.
"Hey sleepy head get up." Temari's voice called into Gaara's room. He rubbed his head sitting up and glancing at the clock seeing it was about seven thirty. Wondering how he had managed to wake up later than Temari, he stood and dressed in his standard outfit. He walked into the kitchen and sat on a chair at the table, smirking as Kankuro handed him a plate of eggs.
"It makes up for me not making breakfast yesterday." Gaara nodded and ate them as Sakura walked into the room with her usual red shirt, medic skirt and black pants. She was tying her hitai-ate in her hair when she took her seat next to Gaara.
"Thanks for making breakfast." She smiled as Kankuro handed her a plate of eggs.
"No problem. Eat up and we can get to the gates a little early." She smiled and nodded, eating her eggs a little faster than normal. Temari was already done eating and was sliding into her cloak and closed toed sandals. Kankuro was already standing in his cloak as well.
She slid on the winterized Konoha travel cloak tossing her spare to Gaara who slid it on as well. "Well let's get going." Gaara nodded as they walked out the door. Sakura and the others looked at him strangely when he slid on a mask. Sakura then laughed, recognizing it as the mask he wore the last time they went to the village.
"I thought it would be good for Kaguri and the others to recognize me first as Gen." Sakura nodded. The group then set off to the gates where Kaguri was already waiting.
Upon their arrival he bowed to them."Hello Sakura-san, Temari-san, Kankuro-san. Oh, Gen, I didn't know you were coming. I thought the Kazekage was being escorted to the village, is he delayed?" Sakura shook her head.
"No he's here." She looked at Gaara as he took off the mask.
"I wasn't supposed to be on the mission." Kaguri nodded.
"That was quite well done Kazekage-sama. If it's alright of me to ask, why did you sneak on the mission Kazekage-sama, it was not a mission meant for someone of your caliber." Gaara glanced at Sakura then back to Kaguri.
"My fiancée was on the mission and I wouldn't let her go alone." Kaguri said nothing for a moment and then nodded.
"Congratulations to you both." Sakura nodded her thanks.
"We want you to come to the wedding on the twenty ninth. You helped us both so much, I know it is your job as an ANBU, but still." He nodded.
"I would be honored." Kankuro cleared his throat behind them, stepping forwards with a grin.
"Now that the big reveal is done, shouldn't we set out?" They nodded and set off through the gates, heading into the trees as a means to travel faster.
Kaguri traveled alongside Sakura, talking to her quietly for a while as the others trailed slightly behind them. He was a talkative ANBU and Sakura suspected she knew who he really was. She vaguely recalled treating him once and his voice occasionally slipped into a tone that she recognized. He was not in the Black Ops division and was therefore a little more open than most ANBU she had worked with.
After a few hours, they stopped for a rest, drinking some water and eating a bit of dried fruit that Sakura had packed.
They set off once again, Sakura falling into synchronization with Gaara. After another hour Kaguri signaled them to jump down into a clearing.
"We can walk from here. It's only about an hour away." Sakura nodded and Kankuro sighed.
"You know, I sure hope they have food where we're going." Temari glared at him before slapping him upside the head. "OW! What'd you do that for?" He scowled at her as Sakura shook her head.
"You are one of the biggest morons I know. I can't believe you just asked that! Were you even paying attention to where Sakura said we were going?" Temari shook her head in disbelief. "Come on let's get moving." She half growled as she stalked away, dragging Kankuro by his sleeve.
"What'd I say?" He mouthed to Sakura. She shook her head and followed them with Kaguri walking next to her.
"They are not always like this." Gaara said looking at Kaguri. He smiled.
"I don't mind, it reminds me of my family. I had a brother that was just like that. He always managed to say the stupidest things and it never failed to make me laugh." Sakura looked over at him, surprised that he was talking about his family. Most ANBU didn't become personal with anyone. Sure, she couldn't recall know his real name, but this little bit of information was personal and technically classified. She knew then that he was one of the few ANBU not completely entrenched in the system.
"Siblings are a great thing to have. I wished I had siblings when my parents died. I would have given anything to have a brother or sister or someone to lean on. That's how my friends became like my family. They had always been there for me and helped me. I see them as my siblings. No matter how annoying they are they will always be there for me." Kaguri nodded.
"Family is important but friends and comrades are your family too. Even if the bonds only last on the mission or even only during the fight, in that moment whoever your comrade or partner is are important to you." Gaara nodded, knowing exactly what he meant.
They all walked in silence for the rest of the way. All except for Kankuro and Temari who were bickering as usual. They arrived in the town and Gaara slid his mask on again and Sakura henged her hair brown before walking up the road to the Inn and checking out two rooms.
"One for the girls and one for us." He stated to the woman at the counter. She nodded and handed over two keys, one of which Gaara handed to Sakura.
"The rooms are down the hall there." Gaara thanked her as the group walked to their room and placed their things inside, meeting outside of the girls room as soon as they were settled.
"Let's go meet this bartender and his wife! I'm absolutely starving!" Kankuro whined as Temari furrowed her brow but deterred any further arguments by walking next to Kaguri instead.
It was still cold in the small town, and the snow was fresh from the last storm, but luckily for all of them, the wind had died down. The group walked in relative silence down the street to the familiar sign with "The Farmer's Rest" written on it. Sakura smiled at Gaara as she opened the door and they walked inside.
The place was almost empty save for a few people at the tables and two familiar faces sitting at the bar. Kai and Kisho were in a discussion and didn't notice Gaara and Sakura sit down at the table behind them with Kaguri, Kankuro, and Temari.
End of Chapter 36
This chapter has been re-written.