Wow! I looked at the reviews, and it seems I have exactly 90...so close to 100! I'm amazed...once more, thanks to all of you out there who are part of that number!

And sorry if the previous chapter was a bit...uneventful. I'm just trying to get as much in about the others' points of view as well as Sakura's. It just kills me to read a fanfic that's well-written otherwise but only shows a few characters' thoughts. It's not like mine will be any better, but I'm trying...

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Puppet in Pink

13. Walk in the Park

For the pleasures that come

From the world bear in them

Sorrows to come.

They come and they go,

They are transient: not in them do the wise find joy.

-The Bhagavad Gita

"Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Kakashi, are we lost? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Y'know, I don't think you're supposed to hold the map like that but are we there yet? Are we there yet?"

Naruto was whining. Again. Sasuke growled under his breath. It was bad enough that they were lost in the landscape of sand; endless dunes shifting with the will of the wind, the merciless noonday sun beating down on their heads...and Naruto's complaints were only making matters worse.

But that...that idiot just wouldn't be quiet for a second. What was he, allergic to silence or something? If this didn't stop sometime soon, Sasuke was going to explode, he knew it, just going to explode—

"SHUT UP, NARUTO!!!" 'Going to' became 'just did' in less time than he thought.

The blonde-haired boy jumped at his teammate's sudden outburst, and uneasily picked his way through the ensuing hush. His raven-haired rival seemed unusually irritable, like a cat that had been rubbed the wrong way one time too many. Naruto made no attempt to hide a sigh of defeat.

Deep thinking just wasn't his thing. He knew he would never understand the Uchiha; what was the point in even trying?

Sakura eyed her teammates' backs as they trudged ahead of her. Sasuke and Naruto both seemed drained, judging by their irregularly edgy auras which hovered in angles instead of flowing in waves.

Serves them right for running half the way, she thought with no small amount of disgust. Naruto had been excited about the new mission, as always, and Sasuke...well, Sasuke probably just wanted to keep ahead of the others. He needed all the assurance he could get that he was still the most powerful, the ninja genius, the everything he'd always thought he was.

He was like a person hanging off a ledge by their fingernails, clawing for anything and everything as a lifeline to safety. Unfortunately for him, safety didn't exist. Not the kind he was looking for. All that he'd accepted as true was false, and that was the strongest lifeline available.

But for him...grabbing it was out of the question.

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed. "I see something! Over there to the right! It's the village!"

"That's the second damn time this hour you've seen 'the village'," Sasuke grumbled, more annoyed than ever. "It's just another one of your stupid mirages."

"It's not a mirage."

Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke all turned to look at the pink-haired girl behind them. She hadn't spoken a word since...since...nobody could remember.

"And what makes you so sure?" Sasuke asked with scornful apprehension. No answer. Silence draped the air.

"Sakura's correct. That is the village," Kakashi said hurriedly, sensing the tension-laced atmosphere. "According to the map, we are only a mile away from our destination."

"YES!!! We're almost there! Woo-HOO!" Naruto did a victory dance that earned him irritated looks from both Kakashi and Sasuke. "So that's where the kid is?" he asked, calming down slightly. Kakashi simply nodded.

"Hmm..." Naruto's voice sounded unusually thoughtful; maybe even curious. "Kakashi, you didn't tell us much about this kid, y'know." Now he sounded almost accusing.

The teacher tried to wring the disappointment out of his inevitable sigh. He'd wanted to treat the mission as just another retrieval, keep it impersonal, keep it distant.

For Sakura's sake. Just this once.

But that obviously wasn't meant to be. He took a deep breath and began a monologue that sounded as if he was reading straight out of some mission scroll.

"The child is four years old, female, name of Otsubo Motoko-"

"Huh?! The Otsubos?!!" Naruto was obviously shocked. "They own half the real estate in Konoha! That family is bloody rich!"

Kakashi acknowledged the interruption with a curt nod and continued. "Like I was saying...her hair is black, her eyes are brown, she's just over three feet tall. Normal four-year old height. Nothing about her is abnormal, except for the fact that she is sole heir to the Otsubo fortune."

"Anything else?"

Nothing. That's all the data we have on her." Kakashi shot a nervous glance at Sakura, but she was about as expressive as the sand that swirled around them. It shifted in blindingly smooth layers, constantly moving, always in motion...and yet never once did you see the bottom.

NOTE: Please don't kill me for making an OC; as you can tell from Kakashi's description there is absolutely nothing "special" about her. No dormant talents, no secret skills, no mysterious clan background. She is not a ninja, nor is her family a ninja family. She's just your average spoiled toddler, OK? Keep that in mind!

I'd also appreciate some ideas about the mission! Specifically, a fight scene. I don't know if I should separate Kakashi from the group so they are forced to fight alone, or...??? Please review!