"You can come in now," said Kankuro after opening up the door to his little brother's office.
"Hai, thank you," said the woman sitting in the corridor.
"What can I do for you today?" asked Gaara to the woman.
"Lord Kazekage, I am Lady Kankoshi from the healing corps. I wanted to report to you that many of my direct reports are telling me that we are nearly out of several important herbs and other ingredients we need to make antidotes and elixirs. I felt it was my responsibility to make sure you were aware."
"Gaara, this is a perfect time to lean on our ally in Konoha. Their stocks are normally the best. I've even heard they keep some in storage outside the village in case of emergencies," said Kankuro.
"I am in agreement with you, Kankuro. Lady Kankoshi, do the best you can with what you have left. Do not administer medicines needing these herbs unless it is a dire case. I will send a message to the Leaf immediately. In the case of a favorable reply, I would expect a new infusion of herbs in approximately one week."
"Thank you, Lord Kazekage," said Lady Kankoshi, bowing before she turned to exit the office.
Immediately, Gaara started to write on a small scroll while Kankuro leaned out the window to summon a messenger hawk from the bird corps housed in the building below.
OlOlOlOlOlO
The shinobi exercises would conclude with mock mission of sorts. The team, eighteen strong, would pack and prepare as if they were going on a real mission. They would, however, not be leaving the Land of Wind – merely hiking its landscape according to the plans that Temari and Shikamaru had come up with.
With packs on their backs, they set out early in the morning and headed south. Sasuke was sure to stay with other Leaf shinobi as much as possible so Kyushi would not have the opportunity to be alone with him. As he sat in his room last night, he convinced himself that surviving this next week with Kyushi would be good training for his patience and temper management.
Temari and Shikamaru walked together at the front of the long line of shinobi with Chouji and Ino taking the rear.
"Chouji, is it just me, or does Shikamaru show some slight signs of liking Temari?" asked Ino to her teammate.
"So you noticed it too?" asked Chouji.
Both of Shikamaru's teammates knew his body language so well that they could tell even from the slightest of changes that something was going on between the two team leads.
"They would make a cute couple," Ino declared.
"Too bad she is so far away though," added Chouji. "Long distance relationships are the hardest."
"I'm sure the Hokage would make some allowances should this relationship take-off," said Ino. "There are teams going to Suna all the time these days. Not to mention, it's not like shinobi who are dating from the same village have it easy either with all the missions we are sent on. Look at Sasuke and Sakura."
"Yeah, I kind of feel back for them. By the time Sasuke sees Sakura again, it will have been an entire month," said Chouji.
OlOlOlOlOlO
"Enter!" shouted the Hokage from behind her desk.
"You wanted to see me, M'Lady?" asked Sakura.
"Yes, I am in need of a single shinobi willing to make a quick delivery of medicinal supplies," explained Tsunade.
Perfect timing, thought Sakura. This kind of thing is exactly what I need to get me through the next week.
"So, just a quick in and out kind of deal?" asked Sakura. "Where do you need the supplies to go?"
"Sand has run out of the following herbs," said Tsunade, pushing a piece of paper towards Sakura so she could see it. "We have no shortages at all and it is the least we can do."
"Sand?" repeated Sakura.
"Yes," said Tsunade. "You may leave immediately. Stop by the village of Mura. It is just a short diversion from the main path to Suna. They should have all of the supplies there that Suna has asked for. I will send word by air for them to expect a messenger in just a few days time."
"Thank you, M'Lady," said Sakura, now a bit eager, obviously wanting to get going quickly.
"And Sakura?" said the Hokage.
"Hm?" said Sakura looking up from her exiting bow.
"Just so you know, I am sending you because Sasuke is there. Just don't distract him from his training, ok?" said Tsunade.
"Yes, M'Lady," said Sakura. She smiled and bolted out of the room.
Shizune saw Sakura run past her in the hallway. She turned to look at her junior wondering what on earth was going on before entering Tsunade's office.
"What's the emergency?" asked Shizune. "I just about got run over out in the hallway."
"Young love," said Tsunade, smiling. Although times were different, she couldn't help thinking back to her life with Dan before he was killed. It brought her joy to see the young people pairing up and falling in love.
"I see," said Shizune. "Well, there's nothing more important than that."
OlOlOlOlOlO
The Suna and Leaf shinobi had hiked for an entire day before they decided to set-up camp on an elevated piece of land near several trees. The fact that the land was a bit higher than the surrounding ground allowed them to see all around them so that no enemy could silently sneak into camp. A watch schedule was set-up and each shinobi would take a turn or two before the entire mission was over.
In the middle of the night, a sleepy Chisana was woken up by Kyushi.
Chisana yawned. "Is it time?"
"Yeah, it's your turn," whispered Kyushi.
Chisana was not sharing a tent, though many of the shinobi decided to, especially if they were good friends or were already teammates back in their own villages.
Chisana and Kyushi walked over to the center of the camp where Kyushi told Chisana of everything she noticed over her two-hour shift, which wasn't much with this being an exercise and all. Kyushi headed back to her tent. Just as she was going to go inside, an idea popped into her head. That's a pretty good idea…
She quietly walked by a few tents to the one she was targeting. Slowly, she peeled back the flaps so she could peek inside. Because of the full moon, she was able to see plenty – and she could see that the sole occupant was sound asleep.
So adorable!
She silently tiptoed into the tent and lay down next to the sleeping form of Sasuke Uchiha. She inched her way closer to him until she finally hugged him from behind. The deep breathing continued, so she assumed he was still sleeping. But she assumed wrong.
"If I were you, I would be more careful whose tent you enter in the middle of the night," said a deep husky voice.
Kyushi jumped a bit (as much as she could lying down on her side in a small tent). "O-oh, Sasuke! Sorry, did I wake you?"
Sasuke sat up and turned to look at the very young and naïve Suna shinobi. "Get…..out." He spoke calmly, but firmly.
"But Sasuke…."
"Before I count to three," he said.
Kyushi took the hint and scrambled out of the tent. She bee lined for her own tent and hurriedly entered, somewhat embarrassed. It was a fact that she was not expecting that adverse a reaction from the Uchiha, but she was determined not to give up yet. She would definitely keep pursuing him while he was in Suna.
OlOlOlOlOlO
Sasuke woke up, got ready for the day, and packed up all his things. He noticed that Shikamaru and Temari were off to one side of the campsite making plans for the day. Shikamaru pointed to somewhere in the distance as the two shinobi talked. Sasuke decided to approach.
"Can I talk to you two for a moment?" asked Sasuke.
"Sure, Sasuke. What's up?" asked Shikamaru.
"I know you guys have already noticed that Kyushi seems to have taken a liking to me," he started.
What now? thought Temari to herself.
"She had the audacity to come into my tent and try to sleep next to me last night. I woke up immediately after she entered, of course, so I don't know what else she may have been planning. This is getting a little out of control, don't you think?" Sasuke explained.
Temari sighed. This one was definitely on her. "I'll take care of it," she told the Uchiha.
"Thanks," he said and walked off again.
"I honestly didn't know she was going to be this much of a pain," said Temari to her co-leader.
"Better him than me," was the first thing that Shikamaru said. Temari elbowed him.
"I know the situation is kind of funny, but still, it is Sasuke Uchiha," said Temari.
Shikamaru was quick to answer. "I told you, he's fine now. He's not going to freak out on her or anything." I hope.
"Either way, I should probably keep Gaara informed when I send my report this evening," said Temari.
Shikamaru knew that Temari was keeping Gaara informed of the status and improvement of all the shinobi who were present for the exercises. However, the Hokage herself had asked him to keep her informed with respect to Sasuke's performance and demeanor. In turn, Temari had to tell Gaara everything.
"Are you going to tell him how well he is dealing with her under the circumstances?" asked Shikamaru.
"Uh, well, no, I wasn't. Actually, I was just going to tell him this is potentially a bad situation depending on how much Kyushi he can take," answered Temari.
"What a drag," said Shikamaru out loud to himself. She had the right to tell her leader anything she wanted, but Shikamaru still didn't want Sasuke's reputation and past to tarnish his performance here.
OlOlOlOlOlO
It took nearly three days to reach Suna, but Sakura had finally made it. Because she knew she carried medicinal herbs, she went right for the hospital. After all, she knew quite a few shinobi there from the war and from her time spent in Suna conducting special medical training sessions as requested by the Kazekage himself once she had demonstrated her expertise on his brother. When no one else in Suna could save him, even Lady Chiyo, Sakura saved Kankuro from a lethal poison just in the nick of time.
She entered the hospital and was greeted at the front desk with a warm welcome.
"Sakura! It is very nice to see you once again!" said the lady at the desk. "Come right this way…I know exactly where Lady Kankoshi is right now."
Sakura nodded her head as a sign that she would follow the lady. After a short walk, they arrived at a room. The lady knocked on the door. "Lady Kankoshi? Sakura Haruna is here to see you."
The head of the medical shinobi from Suna turned and saw her good friend standing there.
"Sakura! Welcome!" she said upon seeing her comrade.
"Thank you, Lady Kankoshi," Sakura replied. "Do you need help with anything?"
"Oh no," replied Kankoshi. "We had a medical emergency in here a few hours ago and I was just finishing tidying up the place."
"I see," said Sakura. "Is there any special place you want me to put this?" She put the heavy sack that she had fashioned a strap around for ease of carrying onto the floor.
"No, that's just fine," she told Sakura. Then Kankoshi turned to the lady from the front desk who still stood there with them. "Can you please inform the head of ingredient storage to come retrieve this and catalog its contents into our inventory?"
"Hai, Lady Kankoshi," replied the woman.
"I'm very glad they sent you," said Kankoshi. "I would have thought they'd send a less important shinobi on a simple delivery mission."
"Ordinarily, that would be true. However, there are more personal reasons Lady Tsunade sent me," said Sakura hinting at a story to be told.
"Do tell!" said the head of the hospital. "It's just about lunch time. Let's get a bite to eat and you can tell me all about it."
"I'd be glad to," said a smiling Sakura. It was good to see old friends again.