Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

A Race Against Time

Suna:

Gaara stared at the two Konoha shinobi in front of him as he tried to process the information they had given him; behind him stood Baki, who looked rather disturbed by the news the Leaf Shinobi had provided.

Sai and Lee wore somber expressions as they waited on him to speak, but Gaara wasn't sure he trusted himself not to lash out at them. Yes, he knew they weren't to blame for what happened, but they were associated with the person responsible for hurting his first real friend and therefore the closest punching bags.

The young Kage knew Naru wouldn't approve of him attacking her friends, so instead of saying anything he just stood there quietly trying to process the news. It didn't make sense and yet it made perfect sense at the same time.

It was not uncommon for a village to use jinchuriki as the last line of defense; however, this was not the case and even if it was, Gaara, just couldn't picture Tsunade throwing Naru away like that.

So when he said something, the only thing that came out was, "Are you sure?"

Sai and Lee nodded an affirmative, unable to speak, and if they were being honest, they were a little afraid of how Gaara would react.

"How strange this is. Someone sent Naru on an unauthorized mission and as a result, she was hurt. This must be a joke," he thought.

Gaara looked at the two Leaf Shinobi, "Is this a Prank," he said.

Sai and Lee glanced nervously at each other before Sai spoke up, "No Sir," he said.

Gaara gave the two shinobi a tight smile, "So you're telling me an unknown shinobi from your village sent Naru out on an S-rank mission into Akatsuki territory," he said.

Sai answered, "Yes, we're not sure at this time who is responsible, but Lady Tsunade has every available shinobi working on finding out," he said.

Gaara nodded, "I believe that, however, what I'm having trouble understanding is how this happened in the first place," he said.

Sai and Lee winced at his tone feeling uneasy finally Lee spoke up, "Lord Gaara, we assure you everyone is wondering the same thing. No one here or on their way has ever wished Naru chan harm," he said.

Gaara looked at the Leaf shinobi unsure of what to do; he wasn't angry at them just the situation at hand. It would seem he would have to pay a visit to Konoha once things calmed down. The first priority was making sure Naru survived.

Finally, he dismissed them, advising Baki to prepare hotel rooms for their arriving guest. The older man gave a bow before ushering the two Leaf shinobi out of the office; leaving Gaara alone in his thoughts.

The rescue team had only about five miles to go before they arrived at Suna, and the whole team was a bundle of nerves as they ran across the desert. Tenzo ran silently next to Kakashi and Naru, thinking about how best to explain to Lady Tsunade.

The Anbu captain had not been prepared to see his young charge in such a state, nor had he expected it to hurt him as much as it did.

Tenzo was not used to feeling such emotions; sure he cared about his teammates (Kakashi had ensured that), but he had always maintained a healthy distance so he didn't get hurt when they died.

Team Seven had made maintaining that distance difficult and damn near impossible, especially with Naru who had the natural affinity to pull you in.

Still, Tenzo had spent his whole ninja career in Anbu, and he had lost plenty of comrades in that time period, it was part of the job. So why did Naru's situation bother him so much?

"Because this shouldn't have happened, not on your watch," his inner voice whispered.

Tenzo mentally agreed with himself, this shouldn't have happened, and when he got back he was going to find out who was responsible.

"We're here!" Kakashi called out.

Tenzo blinked in surprise he had been so lost in thought he hadn't noticed they had arrived in Suna, so unlike him; never the less he was relieved they had made it to the Hidden Sand Village.

As the team approached the gates it never once occurred to the wood user that he might care for the girl nor did he notice a shadow disappear into thin air.

Author's note: Review who think the figure is.