Disclaimer: Naruto is so not mine…if it was I wouldn't have to make my own cosplay costume…I'd hire a seamstress to do it for me.

Chapter 8: On the Road

When Naruto and Jiraiya met up with the Sand nin again, everyone was dressed for riding with the exception of Temari and Kina. The two women looked more like they were going to a tea party than heading out on a long journey. Temari wore a light blue kimono-like top with a long black riding skirt. Kina wore the same thing, but her top was light purple. Both girls' hair was up in complicated braids and both wore light make-up that enhanced their eyes. (1)

Temari noticed the boy staring and frowned. "What are you looking at, baka?" she asked.

"You look like girls," he stupidly said. The other three men sweatdropped and stepped away from the soon to be dead Naruto.

"We are girls, moron," Kina snarled. She took out her fans, released the blades, and snapped them open. Beside her, Temari took her fan from her behind her and slammed it into the ground.

What is it with Sand kunoichi and fans? Naruto asked himself.

Jiraiya couldn't stand it anymore and stood in front of his student. "As much as Naruto deserves this," he said. "We need to get going. It's gonna take us three days at the very least. Let's not make it longer, hm?"

The two kunoichi nodded and put their weapons away. The horses were led out of the barn and they smirked at Naruto's reaction.

"I-I have t-to ride th-that-t?" he stammered.

"That is a horse," Kina said, patting Nightshade's flank. "And no, you don't have to ride her. She's my horse."

Naruto didn't have time to relax before Kankuro came out with a large white stallion. His eyes rounded to the size of ramen bowls as the animal reared back and pawed the air. "That's not my horse is it?" he asked.

"No," Gaara said. "He's mine."

Soon, all six horses were led out and the five ninja mounted them. Gaara rode on the white stallion, whose name was Windrider. Jiraiya had a brown gelding named Blue. Kankuro rode Nightsmoke and Naruto had a passive bay mare Kina called Anna. Lastly, Temari rode a cream colored mare named Cloud.

Both women rode sidesaddle.

Kankuro grabbed the lead rope of the seventh horse, which pulled the small cart that carried their luggage.

"Let's go," Gaara said.

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Naruto was tired and sore. They had been riding for more than two days with only short stops and two hour breaks for sleep. To his surprise, Kina and Temari seemed fine with the pace Gaara and Kankuro had set. They seemed more at home in the saddle than Naruto could ever be…and they were riding sidesaddle. (2)

Kina was currently talking to Temari, as she had done for most of the journey. The blonde was explaining the terrain to the girl and pointed out the landmarks that showed the border between the Fire and Wind countries. Kina was treating Gaara the same way she had since the beginning of the trip.

Which meant that she was basically ignoring him.

Gaara rode in front of the two women. Jiraiya was in the lead while Naruto and Kankuro took the rear position behind the girls. He slowed his mount down and nodded at his sister. Temari took the hint and cantered into Gaara's previous spot in the line.

"This is getting tiresome, Kinabuhi," he said to the silent girl beside him.

"…"

"No one's going to believe that we are man and wife if you don't talk to me."

"…maybe we had a little fight and I'm not talking to you, Kazekage-sama."

Gaara sighed at the title. She hadn't called him that since September. "We could say that," he admitted. "But I'd rather not. Why are you mad at me Kina-chan? You were the one who didn't like that Jiraiya thought you were my Lady."

"Is that what you think?" Kina gasped, halting her horse. She barely noticed when Naruto and Kankuro passed by them. "I just wanted you to tell them that we weren't going out. Not that we were never friends!"

"I am your friend, Kina-chan," Gaara sighed. "I've never been anything else to you. Things are serious right now. We don't have the luxury of fighting. Akatsuki—"

"I know perfectly well what Akatsuki is capable of," Kina interrupted. "They've already gotten to me once, if you remember."

"They're not going to get you twice, Kina-chan," Gaara said. "That's the real reason why we're going to see Tsunade."

"You didn't have to make me your wife take me to see her, y'know," she commented.

"Yes I did," Gaara replied simply. "It's for your protection, Kina-chan."

"I don't need protection."

He smiled and shook his head. "Yes, you do." To prevent any further protests, Gaara held out a small box to Kina, who took it after a few moments.

Kina opened the box and found a trio of beautiful silver and amethyst rings on top of a fine silver chain. She looked at Gaara with confusion in her eyes.

"They belonged to my parents…"

Oh, shit, Kina thought. Gaara expects me to wear this?

"If you don't want to wear them on your finger, that's fine," he said emotionlessly. "But at least wear it on the necklace."

Kina looked at the rings carefully. One was bigger than the others, which probably meant that it was meant for a man. The other two were both silver, but one had a teardrop shaped amethyst on it while the other just had intricate designs carved into it. The two obviously belonged together. She picked up the man's ring and gave the box back to Gaara.

"It's the custom in my country to put the rings on the other person," she explained at his blank look.

Gaara nodded, his country held the same practice, and moved his horse closer to hers. He grabbed her left hand and placed the engagement ring and then the wedding ring onto her ring finger. Kina took his left hand and placed his father's silver wedding band onto his finger.

Somehow, the sight of their hands intertwined with the sunlight reflecting off of the rings gave Gaara a huge sense of accomplishment and peace.

"They fit," she said.

He looked up at Kina and saw that she was staring at their hands. He gently brushed a strand of hair off of her cheek and tilted her face up. "It's the custom in my country to seal the exchange of rings with a kiss," he softly said.

Kina held her breath as her best friend gently brushed his lips across hers. They were surprisingly soft for someone who lived in the desert for most of his life. Gaara was about to deepen the kiss when they heard loud clapping and cheering from their companions.

"It's about time!" Naruto yelled at them. Temari laughed and winked at the couple, while Jiraiya just smiled like a proud papa.

"Seriously, Gaara, you've got to be the most clueless guy on the planet!" Kankuro shouted. "You two should've been going out months ago!"

Gaara smirked and called out to the others. "Get back into formation, you guys. Temari, take my place." He held on to Kina's hand and gave it a squeeze. "I'll keep Kina-chan company."

Naruto snorted as they passed and Kankuro's grin just widened. Kina saw the older boy give her a small thumbs up and she smiled.

Things were going to be alright.

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Things were not going alright with Akatsuki member Uchiha Itachi.

First of all, he had learned that the fox demon he wanted to hunt was missing—along with a certain legendary Sannin pervert.

Then hunter nins from the Hidden Village of Mist stumbled on him and Kisame. They wasted a whole month dodging those losers. Why Kisame refused to kill them, Itachi didn't know, so he killed them himself.

Only to face the wrath of the shark-like missing nin.

Apparently, one of the hunter nins was Kisame's little sister. Now the man was pissed off at Itachi.

Not that he cared either way, but it was easier to deal with a content Kisame than an angry one. But the episode caused the other Akatsuki member to run off to bury his sister and "grieve."

Now, he had to take care of yet another nuisance.

"You might as well give up," he said in a bored voice.

His opponent shouted something along the lines of never giving up and being stronger, but the missing nin wasn't really listening. If he'd heard it once, he'd heard it a thousand times.

Itachi stared at the figure and inwardly sighed. Some people never learn, he thought disgustedly. He disappeared from his opponent's view and reappeared in behind him. He stabbed his kunai into the other's side and sighed out loud.

"Game over," he whispered and withdrew his kunai. Itachi turned and continued to walk along the path, ignoring the sound of a body landing heavily on the forest floor.

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"We're gonna take a break here," Jiraiya said. The group stopped by the side of the river that would eventually lead them to Konoha. Naruto dismounted, complaining all the way, and hobbled for the forest. Kina shared a smile at the sight with Temari and allowed Gaara to help her dismount.

"You look like you have a headache," the sand user noted.

Kina nodded and rubbed her temples. "It's the braids," she replied. "They tug at my scalp and I haven't had a chance to brush them out since we started three days ago."

Gaara nodded in sympathy and took her hand. He led her away from the others and to a small clearing a few yards away. After sitting on a convenient rock, he urged Kina to sit in front of him. When she did, he gently undid her braids and ran his hands through her hair, massaging her scalp.

"Your hair's gotten longer," he murmured.

Kina let her head fall back and enjoyed the massage. "Uh-huh," she agreed. "We never had a chance to cut it, remember? We left Suna and totally forgot about it."

"Hn."

Kina felt Gaara re-braid her hair into a single braid and heard him take out his kunai. Before she could say anything, he cut her braid and tossed the part he cut into her lap. About a foot and a half of braided hair lay in her lap, held together with two bits of twine.

"There," Gaara said, putting his kunai away. "Your hair is now only knee-length."

Kina grinned and picked up her old hair. She turned to the redhead and tucked it into the sash that held his gourd to his back. "Here you go, Gaara-kun. Just like I promised."

He smiled and pulled her towards him. "Now I will have your scent with me no matter where I am," he said, content. He looked into her dark purple eyes and kissed her.

She tastes like chocolate, he thought.

Their kiss was cut short again by a strange sound. Kina turned around and saw a man dragging himself towards them. Gaara stiffened and quickly pushed Kina behind him. The injured man didn't even look up. The Sand nin figured that he was headed for the sound of the river when the man looked up and noticed the couple staring at him.

Kina gasped as she recognized the man's features. She had seen him before of course, but not like this.

"YOU!" he coughed, blood spilling from his mouth.

Kina brushed past Gaara and ran to the bleeding youth. She turned him over and quickly began assessing his wound. "Gaara-kun, go get Temari and the others," she said. "Ask her to get my sewing kit, this is gonna need stitching."

When Gaara finally went to do as she asked, Kina turned to the semi-conscious figure. "You can't die," she whispered as she fought to stop the bleeding. "They've gone through too much for you to just die!"

Closing her eyes, she tried to remember everything she knew about healing jutsus. Green chakra started to glow on her hands as she held them over the wound.

Focus your chakra as if you're passing it through a needle. (3)

She heard the others come into the clearing behind her and felt Jiraiya and Gaara's shock at seeing her use her chakra to heal. But that was nothing compared to Naruto's shock at seeing who she was healing.

"SASUKE!"

A/N:

C'mon…who didn't see that coming? Well another chapter done…tell me what you guys think.

(1) Think of Inuyasha's clothes only instead of loose pants, it's a loose skirt.

(2) Riding sidesaddle is really hard…and after a while, your leg can get numb too.

(3) This is what Shizune says when she and the other medic nins are healing Neji after he fights that spider dude.