Two hours later and Naruto was getting restless. Again.

"I can't take this anymore!" Naruto exclaimed, "I know why they're after Gaara and me. It's not like it's a secret or something. They just see us and think 'monster.' It's like that's all there is to us! You know too, don't you, Sakura, Hanara."

'Actually, I think Sakura might still be a bit oblivious...'

"There's no point in hiding it," Naruto continued on angrily, "The Nine-Tailed Fox is sealed away inside me. It was why I am always treated as an outcast. Gaara and I are the same. We have monsters locked up inside us and why the Akatsuki are after us. They're not after us at all! All they care about is what's inside us, and that's the worst part! They look at us and see monsters!"

'Discrimination... it's everywhere, no matter the world. But, now's not the time to be moping about it. We need to focus on the mission. We can think about all the world's problems later,' Hanara thought firmly.

"Gaara doesn't deserve to be treated like this! He's the Kazekage, he's a person, too! Can't he be happy for once in his life? That's why we have to hurry! We don't have a second to waste!" Naruto exclaimed.

Hanara closed her eyes and clenched her fists, trying not to explode for the second time this mission.

'Easy for you to say! You slept on my birds, Pho and Fuji did not. They've been flying for a day straight you ungrateful little– calm down... calm...'

"We're going as quickly as we can," Hanara responded with forced calmness.


A few hours later, they were still flying to the Sand. Pho and Fuji managed to avoid flying into the sandstorm, making sure that they would get in at least 24 hours earlier than the Sand Village would expect them to be there.

"Naruto, Hanara," Sakura said suddenly.

"Yeah?" Hanara questioned.

"So, tell me. You've both met him before, haven't you?"

'You're going to need to be a bit more specific...'

"Who?" Naruto asked.

"Itachi Uchiha. And he's after you, right, Naruto?"

Hanara nodded.

Sakura clenched her teeth and spoke, "That's the whole reason he left. Sasuke saw Orochimaru as a way to obtain power, but all that nasty viper cares about is his body."

"And we only have six months left to save him," Naruto added.

'I don't understand. Why is Tsunade humouring them so much? I mean, I understand why she wanted Sasuke back in custody⎯ that was the best way to weaken Orochimaru and then kill him. But he's dead now, so why 'save' Sasuke? If anything, the benefits of having a rogue ninja that left the village is just one thing. Having control of the threats to the village. That's why most people can't be bothered with that and keep their rouge ninjas in the Bingo Book...'

"But," Sakura continued on angrily, "Orochimaru used to be a part of the Akatsuki himself. All I'm trying to say is, the closer we get to the Akatsuki, the closer we get to Itachi, and the closer we get to Itachi, the closer we get to Sasuke."


An hour later, the gates of the Hidden Sand Village were in sight and Fuji and Pho landed a few metres away from them. Once all five of their passengers climbed off, the exhausted phoenixes disappeared in a puff of smoke. Hanara and her squad ran up to the gate, where they were met by two men whose expressions lit up once they saw who it was.

"The Leaf's reinforcements along with Lady Temari have arrived!" The one on the left exclaimed happily.

"Please, come this way," said the one on the right, leading them to what Hanara assumed was the Sand's equivalent to the Hokage's Tower.

They stopped in front of the hospital and the man gave some bad news. The Akatsuki poisoned Kankuro.

"What? You're saying that they got Kankuro?!" Temari exclaimed.

'Sakura. If no one can do anything, we need to let Sakura heal him.'

"Yes, when the enemy took Lord Kazekage, Kankuro went after him and was poisoned. We can't find anything to counteract it. He won't last much longer."

Hanara's eyes widened.

'First Gaara and now Kankuro.'

"Don't give up, Temari," said Sakura determinedly, "Let me take a look at him."

The six people walked in and Naruto and Temari rushed towards Kankuro, who looked extremely different without his face paint.

"Kankuro!" Temari gasped.

'I can't imagine... it's just like all those years ago when I was afraid that Choji and Neji were dead...'

Hanara was about to walk up to Kankuro's hospital bed, but an old lady started charging towards Kakashi-Sensei.

"Get ready to defend yourself or die!"

Hanara immediately got into a defensive position, confused.

'We're allies now, why would they attack Kakashi Hatake of all– ohh. Hatake. Sakumo Hatake aka the White Fang was his father and a huge enemy of the Sand Village back in the Second Shinobi War. Kakashi-Sensei probably has some sort of resemblance to his father. If this lady is as old as she looks, she probably lost someone to Kakashi's dad.'

As the old woman attempted to kick Kakashi-Sensei, Hanara performed the Eight Trigrams, Rotation, and turned on her Byakugan, making sure to move as the old lady did. Once the old lady moved back to create some distance, Hanara stopped her jutsus and spoke.

"He's not the White Fang, lady. The White Fang's been dead for a long time."

The old lady glared, "I've waited for this day for so long. It's finally time for me to destroy the White Fang for what he did to my family."

She was about to charge, but an old man appeared out of nowhere and stopped her.

"Take a closer look at the man," said the old man.

"Huh?"

The old lady stared at Kakashi-Sensei, who was giving an eye-smile and raising his hands in surrender.

"Besides, the White Fang of the Leaf died long ago," the old man continued, "Isn't that so, sis."

"Oh well, never mind," the old woman said cheerfully, laughing.

Hanara smacked her forehead.

'What was the point of all that? To waste my chakra?'


After that horrible first impression, they were introduced to each other. The old woman's name was Lady Chiyo and was apparently a big deal in the Sand Village. Her brother was Lord Ebizo. Lady Chiyo was the village's poison expert.

"I am an expert of most poisons," said Lady Chiyo sadly, "But this one is beyond even me. That Sasori... he really advanced his skills."

"So... what now?" asked Kakashi-Sensei.

"Well, the only one who is more well-versed in antidotes than I is the Queen of Slugs and Elixirs, Tsunade of the Leaf. During the Great War, she thoroughly deciphered all the poisons I had synthesized, compounded antidotes for them, and made a complete fool out of me. You're allied with the Leaf right now, aren't you? You better summon her and take a look."

Hanara shook her head.

"Sakura should suffice for the moment. I doubt that she couldn't find an antidote for whatever poison Sasori used on Kankuro."

Sakura immediately took a look at Kankuro and managed to remove the poison in a few minutes.

"Phew," Sakura sighed, "I removed most of the poison so there's no immediate danger yet, but we still have to neutralize the remaining toxins in his system. Someone has to go and fetch me some medical supplies."

"I never imagined a girl like you would come along," Lady Chiyo said, "You remind me of that slug lass."

"Well, she is my mentor, you know," Sakura blushed.

"Time sure flows by..."


"What's happening with the pursuit of the Akatsuki?" Hanara asked Baki.

"Kankuro went solo and ended up like this. That's it." Baki responded.

"So they're long gone," Hanara sighed, massaging her temples.

"Well... yeah."

'What do we know? Or, what do I know? Around 9-18 members, at least one from each village (most likely), known members are Kisame Hoshigaki, Itachi Uchiha, Deidara of the Stone Village, and Sasori of the Red Sand. All of them are notable S-rank criminals and Orochimaru is a known past member. All-in-all, we're severely underclassed. Since Sasori and Deidara attacked, Deidara might have left a trail that either I, Kakashi-Sensei, or Pakkun could see/smell. This isn't a completely hopeless situation!'

"Take me and Kakashi-Sensei to where Kankuro fought," she told Baki, "If their chakra or scent still lingers, we need to memorize it so that we can track them."

"No need for that," Kankuro rasped, sitting up, "They took Gaara. You can follow his scent. Crow ripped off a piece of Sasori's cloak, so you can memorize that as well."

"Thank you," Hanara nodded.

Seconds later Kakashi-Sensei and Naruto walked in, the latter immediately running to Kankuro's side once noticing he was up.

"Kankuro's got a piece of Sasori's cloak that you and Pakkun can use to track down the Akatsuki," Hanara informed Kakashi-Sensei.

"Kankuro... are you sure one of them was Sasori?" Lady Chiyo asked, almost hopefully from the other end of the room.

Hanara furrowed her eyebrows.

'Why would she want that? Does this Chiyo lady know something or have some sort of connection?'

"Granny Chiyo and Grandpa Ebizo?" Kankuro exclaimed, shocked.

Ignoring that, Ebizo repeated Chiyo's question.

"Kankuro? Is it true?"

"Yeah..." Kankuro responded, "He called himself Sasori of the Red Sand."

Lady Chiyo's eyes widened.

'They know something, and I just wonder what...'