A/N: Jesus, it was so hard to write this chapter. Normally it takes me close to six hours - I write a little, stop, watch some TV, read a little, brainstorm. Then I sit down and write for an hour straight. Process repeats. But not today - almost ten hours to write five measly pages! I'm real sorry for the shortness, but I just had too much trouble sitting still to write something longer.

Shortness is also due to the fact that I couldn't cut off the chapter anywhere else - it just had to end where it did. Next two chapters are longer, so it makes up for it, eh?


Hatake Kakashi, ninja extraordinaire and master of one thousand jutsus, was beat. He was too tired to even read the Icha Icha book he had stashed in his back pocket. His teammates looked much the same way, all ambling along with hunched shoulders, as if the packs they carried were way too heavy.

The giant gates of Konoha loomed before his small five-man team. Genma yawned violently from somewhere to his left. Kakashi was incredibly inclined to agree. Before anyone could call up for the gate-guard's attention, the barrier swung open smoothly. He could see a familiar head of pink hair emerging.

The two groups met, and Sakura noticed her old teacher. "Ah, Kakashi-sensei!" She hugged him, and he returned the embrace happily, visible eye curving into a smile. She eventually drew back, and his eyes scanned the group of shinobi she was with. There were a few jounin he recognized, as well as a smattering of ANBU, though they were dressed like normal ninja.

"I'd love to stay and chat, but I've gotta head out immediately." She hefted a canvas pack, her voice drawing his attention from one redheaded shinobi in particular.

Kakashi caught her fingers and gave them an affectionate squeeze. "Be careful," he cautioned. "See you when you get back, yeah?"

"Sure," she smiled, and turned to leave. With a final wave, she was gone, darting through the trees with her team.

They traveled hard for several hours, strung out comfortably through the Fire Country's forests. Sakura finally called for a halt when a one of her the medics began straggling.

Panting, the entire group dropped down onto grass and logs. Gaara and a few of the ANBU appeared to be the only ones not suffering from the long trek. They stopped only long e nough to catch their breath, and didn't halt again until well after sunset.

Sakura dropped from the trees into the grass silently, signaling to the others to stop. One younger jounin rolled from his tree to the grass, laying on his back and breathing deeply. "Halt for a few hours. Eat and sleep." She moved over into a patch of moonlight and sat, rubbing at her cramping legs furiously.

She hadn't slept at all that morning, but she didn't regret it in the least. Gaara hadn't said much, but he had seemed less preoccupied when he left her to pack. She, in turn, focused on his presence, therefore managed to keep a certain Sound-nin and his apprentice from her thoughts.

She surveyed her team. Tsunade, as a reward for staying so long to help with the assembly of the mission, had given Sakura the position of team captain. It'd been a long time since she'd had that honor. It felt… odd.

She saw Shikamaru off to the side, squatting in front of a map spread out on the ground. He had a pencil tucked behind his ear, and he was scratching absently at his chin as the fingers of his free hand tracked along the paper.

The bushes behind her rustled and Akamaru came running out, jumping into her lap when he saw her. Sakura ran her fingers along his long ears and through his fur, waiting for Kiba to appear. Sure enough, he came up to her moments later. He frowned playfully at his canine partner. "You should be securing the perimeter, mutt."

Sakura smiled and gave the dog a little shove. He leapt over to Kiba and plopped down at his feet, looking up and yipping. Kiba scooped him up and set him on his shoulder, crossing his arms. He looked down at Sakura. "We're clear for now. No one around that we can smell."

"Thanks, Kiba," she replied, clapping him on the side of the leg lightly. "Now go get some sleep."

"Right." He ambled off.

She and Tsunade had assembled a top-notch team. Shikamaru was the strategizer, Kiba and Akamaru the scouts. There were several highly trained field medics ranging from chuunin to elite, and several ANBU who were specialized in infiltration. Nowhere near enough to stop an uprising, but enough to sneak into the city unnoticed and do a little damage control.

Plus, there was Gaara. He was a formidable force all on his own.

She wasn't sure when she drifted off, but someone was shaking her awake. "Sakura-san? Hey, time to get moving."

She opened her eyes to the face of the youngest medic. "I'm up, I'm up," she replied hastily, wiping her eyes and standing. Her legs screamed, tingling fire racing through them. She grit her teeth and ignored it.

She signaled with a jerk of her hand, and the team moved out.


Many shinobi develop the ability to sleep while they move, slipping into a semi-conscious state to preserve energy and make up for lost sleep. Oftentimes, they will set up a web of chakra about themselves and the immediate area to keep track of their companions or to be alerted should strangers approach.

Sakura had worked on her stamina for years, and she was proud to say that she could usually get by on a rough mission without needing to use aforementioned technique. Regardless, she found herself slipping in and out of sleep.

Furiously, she scrubbed at her face as her numb legs propelled her off the ground. She was just tiring herself out more by sleeping, for each bout of darkness only brought about chilling visions that tumbled about her mind. Had she been lying down in bed, she would have tossed and turned violently.

Every time her eyes slipped shut, a pale visage framed with dark hair and even darker markings swam into her vision. The hissing laughter of a man echoed in her brain like a tune she couldn't quite recall.

Tugging in a shuddering breath, she looked about in the dawn's light and saw that most of her team was doing what she had been failing at. Shikamaru's chin was tucked into his chest; Akamaru came dangerously close to slipping out of Kiba's hood. Higemaru, the sandy-haired jounin medic that had woken her earlier, snored infrequently at her right. One of the ANBU, a curly-haired tan woman, saluted loosely, flashing Sakura an exhausted smile. She had an energy bar hanging from her mouth.

There was a quiet rustling at her side, and she turned to find Gaara moving even with her pace. "How long till we're at the border?"

He looked ahead, as if seeing through the thick trees. "These will thin out soon," his arm swept out, indicating the woods, "and we'll come to the desert's edge." His pale eyes flashed up to the barely visible sky, judging time by the stars. "By sunrise, I think."

"Good," Sakura nodded. "We'll stop a few hours before then, and sleep. That's when we'll talk about how we're getting into the city." He nodded once, sharply, then moved away, picked up speed and was lost in the foliage.

After several hours of heavy sleep, the team consumed small portions of their rations and gathered around Sakura, whose head was bent close to Shikamaru's over a border map. "Ok, folks. Here's the plan." Her eyes circled the group.

"We're only about two hours from the beginning of the desert, according to Gaara. The desert isn't really all that big. If you're quick about it, you can get through in under an hour. There's bound to be a handful of people stationed there at the border, forbidding any entrance or exit. It doesn't matter if they're part of the uprising or of they're loyals, we need to get past them without incident, without them knowing. We're not supposed to go out in the open, or be known as foreigners, least of all medics and shinobi.

"Higemaru, I want you and two of the normal ANBU – Kain and Ginta – to circle around the border and enter from the side. Mika, I want you and the remaining non-medic ANBU to go around the opposite side and penetrate that way. Get past the border any way you see fit. Shikamaru, you take three of the medic-ANBU and come in from the front. I'm sure you'll be creative and effective on how you get in. Kiba, you go with the remaining medic-ANBU and come in wherever you see fit. It would take to long to send you to the only remaining side, so just make the best judgment and follow the wisest course of action.

"Let me reiterate: don't let yourselves be seen! Also, please don't kill anyone you come across unless you absolutely have to. Remember – they're still citizens of Sand. We're allies with them, and I'd like to keep it that way." She paused to gather her thoughts.

"What about when we get inside?" Kiba was holding Akamaru under one arm, hand planted on his hip, fitting the dog snugly against his side.

"Do what you can to figure out what the hell is going on. We all know that Orochimaru –" A pale face and golden eyed ringed by black flashed in her mind. She forgot to breathe.

"Sakura?" Shikamaru touched her arm.

She shook her head. "I'm all right. Tired." She took a deep breath. "Okay, we all know Orochimaru is behind this. Find out why, find out how. Find out who's working with him; who's the big shots that are running this little operation. Also, help out civilians and ninja whenever you think it's safe to do so. I brought all these healers with me for a reason.

"Be sure to keep your heads down. Only flash I.D. if you're meeting up with Konoha informants already posted in the city. We're all going to keep in contact by radio." She tossed tiny receivers that went in the ear and equally small microphones that clipped to the shirt. "If you're caught, you can destroy them. They're cheap. But if you think you've got a chance of escape, then just change the frequency and lock it with your own four-digit password.

"Last thing I'll say is this: any slips will kill you. We're dealing with one of the Legendary Three and… and his apprentice. He'll be doubly strong if he's already taken the body of said apprentice." She'd almost said his name. Over the years, she'd made a mental block; it was easier if she didn't register his name as part of her vocabulary. She must have been tired, to almost slip up like that.

"What about you? How're you getting across the border?" One of the ANBU peered at her in the dark.

"Gaara and I are going off on our own. He can just use the sand to transport us in. I'm the highest-level healer here, and the team leader, so it's best that I get in the fastest. Gaara knows this place like the back of his hand, so he'll take the two of us where we need to be."

"The mission scroll didn't say anything about that."

"This is something the two of us came up with earlier this morning. I'm allowed to tweak the plans if it's for the good of the mission." Sakura scanned her group once more, surveying each of her teammates. "Are we clear on everything?" Some heads bobbed. "Good. Put your radios in, turn 'em to channel 19 and let's get this show on the road. Move out!"

In a flash, the team dissolved, leaving only Sakura and Gaara standing under the trees.

She waited a few moments, hearing the crackle of the radio as each ninja tuned in. "Cell One, reporting," came Higemaru's voice, and as each sub-team leader chimed in, Sakura confirmed, nodding to herself.

Finally, she turned to Gaara. He was waiting patiently, arms crossed. "Ready?" Was he smiling?

"Fire away," she replied, trotting up to him.

"C'mere," was all the warning she had before his arms were around her, tugging her up against his chest. He radiated comfortable warmth, and she could hear his heart thudding against her ear. "Hold onto me," he commanded softly in her ear. She slipped her arms about him, tightening them when the sand began swirling up from his feet and about them.

Had she not been overwhelmed, she would have stopped to think about how Gaara didn't like to be touched, yet it was he that was standing there, holding her quite securely. As it was, the loud thumping in her chest drowned out all thought.

She tried to ignore the fluttering feeling in her stomach when his arms pulled tighter, a hand coming up between her shoulder blades. She blamed her trembling on the fact that their feet left the ground.


Nnnrgh...Been real busy with making a Sakura/Gaara soundtrack for a LJ community. Hence my preoccupation, which resulted in the failure to load up this chapter sooner. Eheh. Sorry, guys.

Thanks for reading. (loveslovesloves)