After a little more than a week spent in the dessert sand, Sakura could finally see the city of Suna in the distance. There journey had not been easy since Temari found out she was pregnant. She had constant morning sickness and she was extremely stressed out about breaking the news to Shikamaru.

Upon seeing the city, they all picked up speed to hopefully reach the enterance gates by nightfall. Sasuke had been rather quiet the whole trip, which wasn't unusual, but he hardly ever spoke unless spoken to. He seemed to be deep in thought about something and Sakura didn't want to interrupt him.

"Home sweet home!" Temari shouted as the city came closer to their view. "I can't wait to lay down in a real bed." They all nodded in agreement, Sakura hoped they would have some time to rest before they hoped back on the trail of Desuito. The thought of the puppet master brought memories of her dream of Sasori back to her mind. She hadn't discussed her dream with anyone and hoped she would be able to talk to Kankuro privately about it.

As far as everyone else was concerned, they didn't even know the true identity of the puppet master. And weird dreams just aren't enough to use as factual evidence. Still, she had a feeling that Kankuro would be able to provide some more insight for her.

By the time they reached the city gates, the sun was setting and the sky had turned a deep purple color. They were met by some Sand nin who took them to the embassy. Sasuke and Sakura walked together silently as they absorbed the cities surroundings. Like Konoha, Suna was becoming more developed as well. A lot of new building were popping up and the streets seemed to be freshly paved.

"Wow Temari, it has changed so much," she said in awe. There were lights twinkling throughout the streets as the night life came alive.

"It has, hasn't it," Temari mused. The embassy also seemed to have been updated. The building had fresh paint on it and an extension added to the side. They were greeted by opulent lighting upon entering and they went up a large staircase that appeared to be new to the building as well. The embassy looked even nicer than the mayor from the Village of the Valleys house.

They were taken through some double doors and were greeted by Garaa sitting at his desk looking as composed as ever, with Kankuro standing beside him as his advisor. Excitement bubbled inside of Sakura at the sight of her friends. She knew they had to play formal at first but she couldn't wait to greet them.

One of the ninja's that's escorted them spoke, "Master Garaa, here is the team traveling from Konohagakure." Garaa nodded to dismiss the other ninja and stood up from his desk.

"Welcome back to Suna," he said politely. But formalities were quickly thrown out as Temari ran to her brothers and embraced them.

"I have so much to share with you guys," she said as tears filled her eyes.

Garaa hugged his sister in return and said, "Of course Tema, but first we need to tend to the matters at hand, then we will have a dinner together." She nodded at her younger brother and pulled away, trying her hardest to contain herself. Sakura realized how much Garaa had grown as he stood next to his sister. He was quite young to have been elected Hokage. But he lead his people so diligently, she was extremely proud of the man he had become.

Garaa approached Sasuke first and outstretched his hand, Sasuke returned the gesture and firmly took the other ninja's hand in his own. "Sasuke, a pleasure to be working with you." Sasuke nodded cordially and watched as Garaa went on to shake each of their hands. "So, Kakashi has contacted me regarding this mission you were on, and while he gave me the big picture I would like to know all the details I can do we can ensure you find this man."

He looked to Sasuke who had pulled out a large scroll containing all the information, and he relayed the past couple of weeks to Garaa. As Garaa and Sasuke discusses the details of the mission, Kankuro came to stand by her to give his own welcome. "Sakura, I received your letter a few days ago," he began. "Would you want to discuss things privately with me before dinner?" Sakura nodded eagerly. She was beyond thrilled that she was finally going to be able to share her dream with someone.

She tuned back into the conversation Sasuke was having with Garaa just in time for Sasuke to ask her a question, "Sakura would you share the details of Yoake's current condition with Garaa?" He asked, as formally as ever. Sakura tried not to smirk at the boy's change in demeanor around Garaa. She knew they had an intense rivalry from the chunnin exams, so to see them be so formal with one another was a real treat.

"Right!" Sakura pulled out her medical notes and began detailing the state Yoake was brought to her in. "When he arrived, he was completely unconscious and there hasn't been a change in his state since. The only other thing we know about his condition, is his teammates said it appeared he was having a seizure before he fell unconscious." Garaa looked disturbed by her revelation and rubbed his temples.

"Very troublesome," he said quietly. He looked back up at the team and smiled once more, "Our village offers you our full support in this mission, please use any resources you deem necessary. We have the same desire to apprehend the assassin as well, he is a danger to our village and the allied forces." Sakura was pleased with Garaa's words, and she felt excited that they would get to work on the inside of the village after than sneak around like they did in Kumo.

"Now," Garaa clasped his hands, "I have a few more official tasks to attend to today, so I will have someone show you to your rooms while you stay here in the village." Sakura was even more thrilled that she would get to sleep in a real bed tonight. Once she had some much needed rest, she would feel invincible.

But as they were being lead away by some other sand ninja, Sakura felt a hand on her shoulder stop her in her tracks. Kankuro stood next to her and motioned for her to follow him somewhere else so they could talk.

She followed him down a corridor until the reached another office that looked a bit smaller than the one they were just in. "Here, sit," Kankuro motioned to a chair in front of the desk and he moved to the other side. "Sakura, I owe you my life, so when you sent me that letter, I knew I would do anything in my power to help you."

Sakura nodded at him, unsure of where to begin. "Kankuro, I don't know how to explain this, so I will do my best, so just listen until the end." Sakura filled him in on every detail she could remember of the dream with Sasori, and watched as the puppet masters eyes widened with concerned when she revealed the name of the alleged assassin.

Finally Sakura finished and let out a breath she had been holding as she waited for Kankuro to say something. He leaned back in his chair and covered his face with his hands and let out a sigh before speaking, "Everything you just said, may be true." He looked back at Sakura who was relieved to have someone who could understand her. "Desuito was an older ninja that went missing during the war, but as far as we were concerned, we thought he had perished in battle," Kankuro watched as Sakura's expression turned to shock. A ninja who was presumed dead, was not only alive, but allegedly murdering people for ransom. "I will have someone get his files for us and we can look over them later," he paused and waited for her to nod in agreement, "what I'm really concerned about is Sasori revealing himself to you."

"He claims he is bound to me by 'The Chains of Life and Death,'" Sakura included.

Kankuro stood up abruptly and planted his hands firmly on the desk. "So he did discover them!" He shouted, "Sakura, do you know what this means?" He asked her, Sakura shook her head apprehensively, "This means, Sasori could find a way to return!"

"What?!" Sakura said in shock, "How could that be?"

"The Chains of Life and Death are not easily attained, you travel far west to a temple deep in the dessert, some people don't even believe it exist," Kankuro said excitedly, "But Granny Chiyo told me about how her master has journeyed there long ago. They will grant you a kind of power to control the spirit of yourself when you die," he inhaled once more and continued, "many use it to embed their own souls into puppets when they die, it's for a kind of immortality, at least until someone destroys your puppet." Sakura's felt even more confused than before. How was Sasori chained to her and not some random puppet that would grant him immortality?

"I can't be completely sure about the facts, after something went terribly wrong with Granny Chiyo's master, searching for the Chains of Life and Death was forbidden by all puppet masters." Sakura felt her mind racing with questions, she felt even more confused than before, and talking to Kankuro had only made her feel worse. "Now, there is something we can do, I have old notebooks of Granny's and maybe we could look through those to try and find some answers."

"Yes!" Sakura felt relief, Granny Chiyo was bound to have written something about this, considering she's the one who banned it. However, Sakura's relief was short lived as she remembered the attachment she had to Sasori's soul. "What about my attachment to Sasori? Could I be in danger?"

"It's a possibility," Sakura shuttered at the idea of the return of Sasori, "but I don't think he can do anything unless he some how breaks his soul binding contract. Just be very wary of whatever he says to you." Sakura nodded in agreement. Her stomach growled suddenly reminding her that it was late and she still hadn't ate. Kankuro must have noticed as well and said, "I'll take you to your room so you can get ready for dinner," he smiled at her.

As they returned to the main corridor he pat Sakuras back and reassured her, "Don't worry Sakura, we can figure this out together."

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By the time Sasuke and his teammates had been lead down the long corridor and through the double doors of a suite, he noticed Sakura had disappeared.

"Dinner will be in the first floor dining room in an hour," the man who lead the group said with a nod then disappeared once more.

Sasuke stood next to Sai and Yamato in the large, opulent living space. In the center were two large couches on a rug with intricate patterns sewn on top of it. There was a kitchenette area that looked out of the window onto the city, an on either side of the walls were two doors he supposed lead to bedrooms.

Sai went to one of the doors and opened it onto a large bedroom that was a-joined with a bathroom. Yamato took the room next to Sai's, and Sasuke moved to the other side of the room where the other two doors were. He opened one and was greeted by a room that was too gaudy for his own taste.

The carpet was red with gold trim and there were curtains on the windows to match. There was a four post bed with the same ugly curtains draped around it and too many pillows for just one person. However, Sasuke didn't mind the view of the city from the windows. The lights from the other buildings twinkled and blended in with the stars above.

He may hate the dessert, but it was really beautiful in its own way. He set his stuff down and sat on the edge of the bed and pulled out his journal and wrote down a few notes before changing into some clean clothes for dinner.

When he returned to the living space, he was disappointed to find Sakura still hadn't returned. Where could she had gone? He began to wonder if he should be worried, but decided against it considering how it would annoyed Sakura.

Yamato lay on one of the couches reading and Sasuke moved to sit across from him. He observed the older ninja for a while and watched as his facial expression would change from time to time.

"Do you read, Sasuke?," the older ninja asked, looking up from his book. Sasuke shook his head no, he had never really had the patience for reading, let alone enjoy it. "I enjoy reading a good mystery every now and then," he said and looked back to his book. "One of the things it has taught me is to never take anything for face value." Sasuke cocked his eyebrow, why was he telling him this?

"Hn," they sat in silence for a while until Sakura finally appeared in the foyer with the ninja that had paint all over his face. They seemed to have been laughing about something and had genuine smiles displayed across their faces as they said goodbye. Sasuke felt something stir deep inside of him akin to jealousy. He was trying his best to control himself from shouting at her for disappearing in unknown territory without telling him.

Sakura saw the other two ninja sitting down at the couches watching her and she went over to join them. "Sorry guys! Kankuro wanted to discuss a few things with me about their medical program here," Sakura lied. Sasuke knew she was lying to him because she was a terrible liar. Every time she lied she could never look you in the face and would clasp her fingers.

Sasuke wanted to question Sakura further, but they were interrupted by Temari appearing at the door to bring them to dinner. "Come on guys! I'm starving." She burst through the double doors and shouted.

Sakura stood up excitedly and exclaimed, "Thank god!" Happy to get away from Sasuke's questioning glare.

Yamato interjected, "We must wait for Sai," who was still showering in his room. The other three groaned in agitation. Sasuke would be lying if he said he wasn't hungry, and he knew Sakura and Temari were probably just as hungry as he was. Sakura let her agitation take over her and plowed into Sai's room to yell at him.

"Sai, hurry up so we can go eat!" She shouted into his bathroom. Sasuke held back a chuckle and reminded himself he was still angry with her.

They waited a few more minutes until Sai entered the room to face his teammates. He could tell by the looks spread across their faces, they were going to be a tough crowd to please tonight.

The group followed Temari back to the first floor and into the dining room. The dining room was large with high ceilings and a long table, which Garaa was seated at the head. The Sand's embassy was much more lavish than anything they had in Konoha. He wondered how the village had so much money considering they didn't export crops.

The ninja Sakura was with earlier greeted her once more and pulled out a chair for her next to him, to Sasuke's displeasure. Temari sat on the other side of her and bounced excitedly in her seat. For someone who was usually very composed and serious, she sure seemed giddy.

"Thank you for joining us," Garaa spoke above the commotion of the ninja taking their seats. He nodded in acknowledgment towards the Kazekage and earned a strange smile from the man. Plates of food were set on the table in front of them and Garaa motioned for them all to begin eating.

"Sakura," Kankuro turned to the pink haired girl next to him, and Sasuke watched them both intent on figuring out the nature of their relationships. "We need discuss our next steps for the medical program here," he said in between a bite of food. He could see a blush form across Sakura's face and Sasuke cocked a brow at her, seeing as she was caught in a lie.

She was about to reply to Kankuro when Temari slammed her fork down on the table and practically screamed, "I'm pregnant!" She stood up and the whole table looked at her in a silent shock at her outburst.

Sasuke was even more shocked when he looked to the Kazekage and watched him fumble for words at his sisters announcement. Finally, he looked between the table and his sister and managed to say, "Temari.. I don't even know what to say."

Temari's face turned from happiness to frustration in a matter of seconds, "Can you just be happy for me?" Garaa leaned back in his seat and shut his eyes. Sasuke could tell that he was very troubled by the revelation, but he couldn't understand why.

"Temari, it's just so soon and-"

"And you just can't stand the idea of me leaving the village and start g my life somewhere else? Or is it just Shikamaru himself you don't like?" Temari's nostrils flared and she crossed her arms.

If Sasuke felt uncomfortable before, it didn't compare to the amount of discomfort he was feeling right now. He looked up and caught Sakura's eye, she was clearly just as uncomfortable as he was.

Garaa stood up as well and gave Temari a pointed look, "Temari, we should discuss this later," but this only angered the blonde even more.

"I am your elder sister, so don't even think about talking down to me!" Garaa inhaled once more and sat down once more. He pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to come up with something to say to his sister. But before he could speak, Temari huffed and turned to leave the room.

"Temari, wait!" Kankuro shouted after his sister, as she fled out the dining room and slammed the door. Kankuro looked to his brother with a look of exasperation and Garaa stood up to go after his sister.

"Please, go ahead and eat, I'm sure you are all starving," he bowed to the group and went out the door after his sister.

Sasuke looked back down at his food but his appetite had left the room with Temari and Garaa. However, he decided that his sour mood was probably due to the lack of food, and decided to eat anyways.

"Why doesn't Garaa like Shikamaru?" Sasuke held back a sigh, leave it to Sai to not be able to read a room.

"It's not that he dislikes Shikamaru, he just doesn't want for Temari to leave Suna, considering her political power here and skill as a ninja," Kankuro sighed, "frankly I didn't want her to go either, but you know how head strong she is."

"But why is he upset about her being pregnant?" Sakura asked with concern.

Kankuro chuckled, "Well I guess it just makes things more permanent, ya know!" Sai and Yamato both chuckled at his insinuation and even Sasuke was happy that they could take the conversation in a more light-hearted direction.

They continued their meal and Sasuke listened to the others carry on conversation amongst themselves about what was going on in their lives. Sasuke payed special attention when Sakura talked about her medical program and how she wanted to send some of her trained medics to different lands to help develop their own children's hospital. His mind was brought back to her earlier lie and Sasuke didn't know what annoyed him more, that she lied about what she talked about with the ninja Kankuro, or that she just went to him without telling anyone.

"Sakura you've already done so much for Suna," Kankuro said with a smile, "When are you going to take a break from all of this?"

Sakura laughed, "How could I ever take time off when people need me?!" She exclaimed.

"Because that's what you need," Kankuro replied.

"Yeah Sakura," Sai chimed in, "You're going to run out of energy one day. Maybe after this mission you can take some time off."

Sakura scoffed, "And do what, join you and Ino on your honey moon?" Sakura took a bite of her food and chewed with an annoyed expression, "If Ino is gone who would take care of the hospital?" Sai gave her a half smile and a shrug.

Sasuke silently agreed with the others, Sakura seemed to spread herself very thin. But he also knew that asking Sakura to do something like 'take a break' was pretty absurd.

By the time they had wrapped up their meal, Garaa and Temari had yet to return and Sakura began to express concern for her friends.

"I'll go check on them Sakura, you should go rest okay?" Kankuro reassured the kunoichi. Sakura sighed and agreed with Kankuro. She would check on Temari tomorrow after the dust had settled.

The group of four walked back up to their suites and Sai and Yamato bid the other two a good night before disappearing into their rooms. Now that Sasuke and Sakura were alone, he wanted to address Sakura's lie to him earlier. Even though Sasuke's initial reaction was to react with cold anger, he decided to give Sakura the benefit of the doubt and ask her out right.

Sakura had turned and began to bid him a good night when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to face him.

"Why did you lie to me?" While he had hoped to sound angry when he spoke to her, he realized he sounded hurt. Like some kind of wounded dog crying to its owner. How pitiful of him.

Sakura sighed, she still wasn't sure about telling Sasuke what she and Kankuro had discussed earlier, but she figured they would have to talk about it anyways, so she sat down and began.

"Before we left for Suna, I had a dream," she sat down on one of the couches and looked down at her her hands. "It was a dream about Sasori."

Sasuke's eyes filled with confusion as he tried to understand where Sakura was coming from. Ever since they had left from Konoha, their relationship had become slightly strained, and seeing her with hold things from him effected him more than he'd like to admit.

"In the dream, he told me that he was bound to me by the Chains of Life and Death, and in order for him to be free, he had to see my life out till the end," Sasuke sat down across from her as he absorbed the information of her dream. "He told me about the assassin we are pursuing. That's why I left to talk to Kankuro privately."

Sasuke rubbed his head with his hands, he felt slightly betrayed by her for reaching out to someone other than him first. "Sakura, I'm the team captain, why didn't you tell me first?" Sakura frowned down at her hands, guilt was rising inside of her and she knew it was wrong of her to withhold information about the mission from her captain.

"It was only a dream," she said, and it was true, how could they trust the judgement of a dream over facts. "But Kankuro verified everything Sasori told me," she included, "I just wanted to do some more research first."

Sasuke couldn't help but feel angry with the girl sitting across from him, not only as her team captain, but as her..

He still didn't know what he would call their relationship, but It wasn't a relationship where they didn't confide in one another. In fact, Sasuke began to realize that while Sakura may be his closest confidant, he may not have been hers. He suddenly began to feel like he knew nothing about her at all.

Sasuke stood up and looked down at the kunoichi once more, "From now on, you come to me with any information before discussing it with someone from another village," he said taking on an icy tone. Sakura looked slightly taken aback by the reprimand she had just received and furrowed her eyebrows at the man standing over her. "Do you understand me Sakura?"

Sakura wanted to retort to him for being so icy to her, but she just nodded her head in defeat. This was typical Sasuke to suddenly misdirect his anger and frustration. She stood up as well and turned in her heels not bothering to say goodnight to her teammate. Sasuke watched her disappear into her room and winced slightly when she slammed the door.

Sasuke stood unmoving in the living space and stared at the door that had just shut in his face. He let out a low sigh and sat back on the couch. Anger would get him nowhere in this mission, and that he was certain of. But why did he feel so angry right now?

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As Sakura lie in her bed, she fumed with frustration at Sasuke. She didn't understand why he was so upset with her. Yes, she did lie, but it wasn't as if she was trying to hurt him. Besides, wasn't he the one who usually told people to mind their own business?

She flipped around her bed in frustration. It was one step forward and two steps back with him. Sakura tried to put her mind at ease by focusing on the mission at hand, but that wasn't helping her sleep either. Unfortunately, sleep would not come peacefully for her tonight.

"The Uchiha boy has quite a temper," Sasori stood at the end of her bed and Sakura let out a cry of shock at his sudden appearance. He chuckled at her surprise and said, "Now, don't be frightened, it's only me." Sakura pulled the sheets around her body and sat up to look at the man. She did her best to regain her composure and look at him with a defiant look as she began to question him.

"What are you doing here?" Sasori let out a low chuckle and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Sakura, I'm always here," he gave her a small smirk and a knowing glance. Realization dawned on Sakura and she felt anger rise in the back of her throat. She grabbed her pillow and hurled it at him, only for it to go straight though him. "Now Sakura, believe me when I say, I respect your privacy. I took no more joy in the situation than you do."

Sakura hated the idea of the slimy puppet master always watching her. "It was wise of you to confide in Master Kankuro first, in fact it saves me from having to explain everything to you myself," he chuckled.

"Why wouldn't you just tell me what I need to know then?" Sakura said exasperated. But the puppet master just laughed and turned away.

"Sakura, where is the fun in that? Besides, everyone's journey to the Chains of Life and Death is unique. Desuito may have a different kind of arrangement." Sakura didn't know why she even wasted time talking to Sasori, he was being extremely unhelpful and his taunts were beginning to grind her nerves. "Don't get so frustrated, this is only the beginning of the journey after all," he said meeting her eyes.

Sakura leveled her gaze and stared back unwavering at the man, "Where do I find 'The Chains of Life and Death?"

Sasori looked at her with a gleam in his eye, "Valuable information doesn't come cheap Sakura. What will I get in return?" Sakura leaned back against the bed's head board and closed her eyes. She didn't have anything to offer this man, let alone amuse him for long enough to get some good information. Though she knew he wasn't helping himself either. He was the one chained to her after all.

That was it. She held the key to getting what she needed from Sasori.

"I will get you your freedom."

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Hey guys! I read and reread this chapter a million times before posting and I still felt like it was missing something. I know it has been a while since I last posted a chapter, and I've had this one written for over two weeks now (I know I'm sorry!) but I just had one bad thing after the other happen in my life and then I had an intense eye infection so it was difficult to write. I'm trying to get back in it this week though.

Full spread ahead and onwards! I hope you enjoy the rest of my story because we've only just begun.