It wasn't more then fifteen minutes before Temari came crashing through the door and threw a harsh look at us.

''What are you two doing, lying in bed? We have to go or we won't make it to Kanoha by tomorrow.''

Gaara glared at her and I sighed, letting her continue her rant.

''Are you two even packed?''

I nodded and pointed to the floor where she stood.

''Our bags are right there.''

She looked down before nodding. ''Let's go then.''

I sighed and crawled off of Gaara slowly, trying to avoid causing the sharp pains that would sometimes still hit me if I moved too fast.

Once Gaara and I were walking towards the door, Temari picked up Butterball and shoved our bags into our arms harshly, causing my left arm to twinge. I winced, and Gaara, who was watching me closely, growled.

Temari glanced at him and I laid a hand on his arm, keeping him from moving closer to her like he wanted.

He took a deep breath and clenched his fists tightly.

''Ria is still hurt Temari. Not as bad as she was, but reckless movements, like you shoving a bag into her chest and arms, causes her pain.''

Temari's eyes widened and she bit her lip.

''Oh. I...I'm sorry, Ria. You and Misa just act like nothing is wrong with you that I forget that you're still healing.''

I smiled and slung my bag onto my right shoulder.

''It's fine, Temari. Let's go.''

She nodded and we followed her downstairs, Gaara taking my hand and clutching it tightly. Kankuro, and Misa were standing by the door, bags swung over their shoulders.

Misa grinned as soon as she saw us, and Temari led us all outside, and towards the Suna gates.

Once safely closed outside of it Temari stopped us, and looked at her brothers.

''If we hope to get to Kanoha by tomorrow, you two will need to carry the girls. They aren't ninja's and can't move as quickly as us. I'll carry Butterball.''

I looked at Misa and we both sneered at the mention of our lack of ninja ability. A moment later, we were scooped up into strong arms and I frowned up at Gaara, who kissed the tip of my nose.

''It's better this way, Love.''

I sighed, knowing that he was right and situated my bag in front of me, leaning against him.

I wasn't aware of how fast ninja's actually moved, and I watched the ground and scenery pass by quickly, my eyes closing against the gritty sand that blew into my face.

We didn't stop for breaks very often and I wondered how they kept moving running without pausing. I asked Gaara about it once, succeeding of getting a mouthful of sand, Gaara laughing at me silently.

He lowered his face and spoke with his mouth close to my ear, preventing the sand from getting to him.

''We're pacing ourselves. This isn't as fast as we CAN go. But we can go at this pace for hours before we require a stop.''

I nodded and turned my head, my lips brushing his jaw and feeling something gritty. I pulled away with a confused look and he smiled halfheartedly.

''It's a sand shield that I place over my skin when I travel.''

I bit my lip and lifted a hand to touch his cheek, feeling the hard sand that kept me from touching skin.

''I...I don't think I like it.''

He nodded and tightened his arms slightly as the wind picked up, kicking up more sand.

I sighed and buried my face in Gaara's shoulder, knowing that I couldn't speak to him until the sand became still again.

A while later, the sand gave way to hard dirt and rock. Soon after that, we became surrounded by trees. I looked around curiously, unaware until that moment how much I had missed trees.

The sun was rising when we finally reached the Kanoha gates and I wiggled until Gaara placed me on my feet, Kankuro doing the same with Misa.

Two ninja's stood guard at the gate, smiling hugely when they saw Temari and bowing in respect as they noticed Gaara.

They had a hushed conversation with Temari, glancing rapidly between Misa and I before opening the gates and allowing us through.

Gaara had grabbed my hand as soon as my feet touched the ground and now led me into Kanoha, his fingers linked through mine.

I looked at Misa and found her skipping in front of Kankuro, her head moving rapidly, trying to memories every little detail. Kankuro was watching her closely, making sure that she didn't move out of reaching distance. Ever so often he would reach out and slow her pace, tugging lightly at her hair.

I smiled and began to look around myself, sighing in relief as I looked around the empty streets.

Kanoha was much different then Suna. The buildings were painted bright colors, the food stalls sporting bright signs, encouraging people to come inside and eat.

The road we walked on was well packed dir, and all of the outer walls were surrounded by trees.

My gaze drifted back to Gaara, finding his eyes on me.

I smiled and squeezed his hand, pulling a small smirk from him. He turned back to watch were he was walking and frowned suddenly.

''Temari, where are we going?''

Temari's shoulders tensed and she didn't look at him when she answered.

''We are supposed to stay at the Uchiha compound.''

Gaara came to an abrupt stop, a glare on his face. I paused beside him and his hand tightened uncomfortably.

''And why exactly, are we having to stay at the Uchiha compound, Temari?''

His sister took a deep breath before turning to look at him, clasping a sleeping Butterball to her tightly.

''Because the Hokage invited so many people that the hotel is filled. Sakura realized this, and decided that certain people could stay in the compound, so more could come to the wedding and not have to worry about where to sleep.''

Gaara snarled and Kankuro broke in with a nervous laugh.

''It shouldn't be that bad, Gaara. At least this way we can avoid most of the Leaf villagers.''

Gaara sighed and waved a hand at Temari.

''Lead on, then.''

Temari nodded and I frowned.

''Wasn't the entire Uchiha clan murdered in the compound?''

Gaara nodded, and I shuddered.

''Great.''

He glanced at me, a smirk on his face.

''Don't tell me that you're superstitious, Ria?''

I narrowed my eyes, and shrugged. ''I don't like to stay in places that people have died. Especially when they where killed as violently as I know these people were. Certain things linger after something like that.''

Gaara smirked evilly and I glared at him. ''Don't you DARE think about scaring me tonight.''

He gave me an innocent expression and I pouted at him, a slight whine in my voice.

''I'm serious, Gaara!''

He shrugged and I huffed, pulling my hand out of his and crossing my arms. He rolled his eyes, and wrapped one of his arms around my waist, pulling me into his side.

I tried to pull away from him, only to have him tighten his arm and smirk at me.

''The villagers will start to come out of their homes soon. Do you really not want me to hold onto you, when they surround us?''

My eyes widened and I pouted.

''You're such a jerk sometimes.''

He turned wide eyes towards me, his smirk still in place.

''Anything to keep you huddled next to me, Love.''

I stuck my tongue out at him and he grinned before Temari came to an abrupt stop. I looked at her and found another wall and an archway leading into what looked like an entirely different village.

The dirt road wasn't well walked, the houses were in disrepair, and some of the shutters even blew open and closed in the wind.

All in all it looked like a typical ghost town. A place that I really didn't want to stay the night in.

Gaara looked at me and I moved closer to his side, a shiver running up my spine. A memory of another abandoned compound came to mind and I took a deep breath shoving it back behind a door and locking it tightly, glad that Salem couldn't see this.

Gaara frowned slightly and pulled me forward to follow Temari through the archway. I went numbly, hearing the wind sweeping through the abandoned houses, sounding like pain filled moans.

I clenched my hands, forcing myself to move forward and ignore the strange feelings of paranoia.

I wasn't sure how I was going to stay in this place, but tried to shove that thought away as we stopped in front of a large house.

Temari raised a hand to knock on the door frame, setting Butterball on the ground. He instantly ambled over to me and I picked him up, comforted by the warm furball.

Temari glanced back at me, a smile on her face, before knocking again, this time louder.

We heard a movement inside and a moment later the door slid open, a tired Sakura looking at us.

''Oh, hi. I wasn't expecting you guys until this afternoon.''

Kankuro shot a glare at Temari, who shrugged.

''I was anxious to get away early. If we hadn't, Gaara might have not been able to get away.''

Sakura nodded, yawning hugely and stepped away, motioning us to follow her. Which we did slowly. Sakura stopped in what looked like a living room and turned to us with a small smile.

''I found rooms for all of you in the main house. I didn't think that you would want to stay in one of the others.''

Misa shook her head quickly and I was thankful for small favors. I didn't get the same awful feelings in this house as I did from the others.

Temari sighed and lifted her bag higher on her shoulder.

''Would you mind showing us where we can put our bags. I have somewhere that I need to be.''

Sakura frowned at the rude tone and I watched Kankuro fidget nervously, the two girls staring the other down.

A minute later I heard footsteps and got my first look at Sasuke Uchiha.

His black hair had a blue tint to it and was spiked in the back. His face was pale and his mouth seemed to be in a permanent frown.

He looked us over and I saw the usual, Uchiha eyes pass over me. They were black at the moment, though I knew from the stories that I had heard that he could use the Sharingan.

As his eyes turned back to Sakura I saw that his eyes lighted slightly, but retained their aloofness. Besides that small light for Sakura there was no other emotion that I could find. Unlike his brother that had an almost constant look of amusement, Sasuke Uchiha's eyes were cold and distant.

Temari sighed in irritation, but before she could say anything, Misa squealed loudly and I turned to see her running towards two people who had just entered the room from another door.

I smiled as Mona was tackled in a hug. Misa pulling her away from an irritated looking Sai.

Mona patted Misa's back awkwardly and I grinned as she looked over at me.

She frowned at me for a moment before pushing Misa away from her.

Mona's frown deepened and she dragged Misa over to where I stood, her eyes raking over my face.

''Alright. What exactly happened to you two?''

She sent a glare toward Kankuro and crossed her arms.

''Both of you are COVERED in bruises.''

I nodded and Misa giggled as Mona glared at Kankuro.

''It's not his fault, Mona. Some ninja's attacked us.''

Mona frowned and looked at me. ''Some ninja's?''

I nodded. ''We didn't know who they were. Still don't for the most part.''

I grinned. ''But, Misa and I kicked the ones that hurt us butt's.''

Mona grinned and nodded. ''Good.''

Sakura cleared her throat harshly and I winced at the noise, turning my attention to her. Sasuke was glaring at us and Sakura had her hands on her hips.

''If you don't mind, it is still extremely early and I would like some more sleep before I have to go check on the wedding preparations.''

I saw Temari's eyes narrow and her hand tightened on the straps of her bag. I could tell that she was getting angry and it was Kankuro's voice that answered Sakura.

''Thank you. It was a long journey and we would all like to rest I think.''

Sakura nodded and led us out the door Mona had come from, waving a hand towards the hallway lined with doors.

''You can pick whatever room you like. Sasuke's, and my room is on the other side of the house.''

Kankuro nodded and thanked her. She nodded and quickly left, leaving us to find our rooms.

Temari sighed and looked at Mona. ''Where is your room?''

Mona pointed to an open door halfway down the hall on the left.

''There. Though I haven't been there much, since Sai lives in Kanoha.''

Temari nodded and went to the door closest to her.

''I think that I'll take this room. I won't be here often either. ''

Misa looked into one of the rooms and cooed gently.

''I like this room.''

Kankuro nodded and followed her to the door before turning towards Gaara and I.

''Which room do you want Gaara?''

He shrugged and went to the room furthest away from everyone else, pushing open the door, before turning back to Kankuro.

''This one.''

Kankuro nodded and closed the door to his own room. Gaara looked at me and smiled. ''Are you coming to see our room, Love? I really don't want to leave you in the hallway with all of those ghosts.''

My eyes widened and I hurried to him.

He grinned and took Butterball, setting him on the floor and tugging me into the room, closing the door quickly.

As soon as the door clicked shut, he pulled me to him and sighed.

''I wish we didn't have to stay here.''

I frowned. ''Does Temari not like Sakura? ''

Gaara shook his head. '' Or Sasuke. She thinks that Sakura is an obsessed fangirl and that Sasuke is a self centered, idiot. When we joined Naruto to search for him, I not only had to order Temari to go with us, but THREATEN her as well. Even then, she still hesitated.''

His eyes narrowed. ''Truthfully, I'm not to fond of Sasuke myself.''

I laughed and snuggled against him, feeling the sand that covered his shirt. I pulled back and wrinkled my nose.

''I need a shower. So do you by the way.''

He nodded. ''You can take one first. As long as you're sure you won't fall asleep standing up.''

I rolled my eyes. ''I think I'll be alright. You did all the work getting us here.''

He nodded and began to pull off his gourd and coat. He pulled off his black shirt and I watched as sand fell from it and his skin.

I frowned and touched his shoulder gently, feeling the sand armor that still covered his skin.

''Are you going to get rid of this?''

He paused before doing a hand sign and the sand left his skin, returning to the gourd. I smiled as I was able to now touch his skin and laid a kiss to his chest before retrieving a pair of clean clothes and shower things from my bag.

''I'm going to take my shower now. Will you be alright in here by yourself?''

He smirked and nodded.

''Yes, Love. I'm not terrified of these type of places like you are.''

I nodded and moved towards the sliding door that led to the bedrooms adjoined bathroom. Leaving Gaara and Butterball alone in the room.

I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters. I hope that you enjoyed the story, review if you want, it makes me smile. Please ignore any mistakes. Thanks! :)