A.N.

To those of you that are reading this please not that there are two stories before this one. They are called Slowly Slipping Awayand Gravity both are found on my profile. The other two stories followed the manga as closely as I possibly could, but this part of the series is completely original and takes place 4 years after the war.

Thank you for reading!

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters do NOT belong to me. Naruto belongs to Misashi Kishimoto.

Sayuri and any characters that have not and will not appear in the manga/or anime are completely original.

Reviews are welcomed and encouraged! Thank you!

Jealousy

Leaves crunched beneath her feet, her breaths were becoming labored and her hand tightened around the kunai. The air was stuffy and it made it hard to breath despite her being outside. Twigs brushed her legs, and a branch smacked into her cheek. It stung but she bore through it.

"You're not going to escape." The mocking voice echoed through the forest but she kept running. "You're losing your touch." He laughed as she stumbled on a fallen branch. His laughter grew louder, his voice sounding closer but she kept running, despite her protesting legs, despite her burning lungs screaming at her to stop, despite the numerous cuts she received, and the sweat that rolled down her forehead and falling in front of her eyes, she kept running.

Trees. She thought as she ran, avoiding hitting them face first. There're trees everywhere. She couldn't see past them. Each step she took terrified her. What if he was hiding behind one of them? What if there was a trap?

"I'm going to get you!" Her breath hitched and suddenly she heard screaming.

"NO!" the broken voice cried out and she slid to a halt. Her booth met the fresh, wet, earth as she stood surrounded by trees. The scream echoing all around her, and all she could do was stand stock still, baited breath as she waited for what was coming next.

"SOMEONE PLEASE!" She bit her lip, already knowing whose voice that was. "DIACHI, DO SOMETHING!" that was her, she looked all around he, fists clenching at her sides. "DIACHI!" the corner of her eyes began to burn and her vision was clouded by tears. The dark sky was illuminated by a flash of, bright, red light that quickly faded back to the black of the night sky.

"HELP!"

Sayuri clutched her hair, pressing her palms against her ears trying to keep the distraught cries for help out. Her eyes squeezed shut as her nails dug into her scalp. At the moment she began to beg for the screams to end, until she suddenly found herself on the ground and out of breath. She opened her eyes, and was greeted by Zetsu's toothy, menacing, grin.

This time Sayuri was quick enough to bite her lip. She whined at the pain and rolled onto her side, hand cupping her mouth as her teeth let go of the reddening flesh. She inhaled slowly willing the tears to stop. When she felt composed enough she pushed herself up and wiped away the tears with the back of her hands. Still trembling, she went to restroom to wash her face and looked at her reflection. Her hair was in disarray, her eyes were puffy and rimmed red, her bottom lip now was swollen and bruised.

She gulped, hands gripping the sink until she recalled the screams. Her screams. Her eyes began to swim and soon she found herself on her knees, head bent as she sobbed.

XXX

That morning Sasuke woke up with a headache. Naruto was being loud, and energetic like always. You'd think he'd calm down over the years…He thought as he ate while seated across from the talking future Hokage. Beside him sat Sakura laughing and adding to Naruto's conversation with Diachi, who would sneak glances at him, while Hajime continued to ignore the Uchiha all the while keeping up with the conversation between Sakura and Naruto.

He sighed and begged some deity above for patience when the door opened and Team Kurenai came in. The trio greeted the other five and went to the kitchen for food.

"So have you guys been staying with the Kazekage all this time too?" Naruto asked in between mouthfuls.

"Manners." Sakura chided, with a light kick to his chin under the table.

Hinata giggled, covering her mouth and nodded. "Yes, Lord Gaara has been very hospitable to us each time we come here."

"He is kinder than before. Why? Because ever since Naruto's fight with him, he has changed for the better." Shino added, adjusting his glasses.

"Yup, the guy's a real gentleman." Kiba grumbled.

Sakura laughed. "You have to admit he's definitely not like before." At the thought of just how cruel Gaara had been back when he was only twelve, the eight ninja felt a shiver run down their spines.

"Nah, Gaara's a whole lot better now." All but Shino and Sasuke jumped at the sound of Kankuro's voice. The puppet master leaned against the door frame, fresh paint on his face and a smirk to finish it all off. "Don't worry, Gaara isn't here."

Sasuke looked to the door then back out the window of the kitchen. It's well past ten and Sayuri has still yet to show up for breakfast. What's more Gaara isn't there either. He narrowed his mismatched eyes. Where are they?

"Sasuke?" Naruto nudged the man's leg. "What's the matter?" Bright blue eyes watched Sasuke's eyes flicker to the door once more. Catching on to Sasuke's unasked question, he decided that it was better if he asked. "Hey guys, where are Sayuri and Gaara?"

"Heck if I know." Hajime grumbled stuffing his mouth.

"You're a real help." Naruto said sarcastically.

"They're both out checking the village entrances, and getting ready for the festival." They all turned to Kankuro as he sat down, plate in hand.

"Just the two of them?" Hinata wondered out loud then quickly covered her mouth, her cheeks reddening.

"Yeah." Kankuro nodded.

The scraping of a chair made them all turn to Sasuke who held his empty plate in his hand. Quietly they watched as the Uchiha walked over to the sink and placed it in the sink before leaving the room without a word.

"What's gotten into him?" Asked Kankuro after Sasuke left. He turned his dark brown eyes to the blonde as he too stood up and put away his plate.

"Sorry." He said as he ran to the door. "Thanks for the food!"

XXX

Even though it was still January, the weather in Suna was warm and dry. She looked out the windows as they walked down the hallway, catching a glimpse of the sand dunes just outside. The sun was high above their head when they landed at the East gate. Sayuri followed behind the Kazekage and the female jounin in charge of the entrance's detail that day. The two talked about how there will be double the amount of guards, how anyone entering and leaving the village will be checked thoroughly, and how much Gaara appreciated the effort on their part. It was obvious to her that the woman liked the Kazekage and he either chose to ignore it or just plain out didn't notice. Sayuri sighed and rubbed her dry eyes.

Her eyes began to flutter shut but she caught herself and shook her head. A hand to her shoulder made her jump back with a light yelp. Gaara and the jounin looked at her with concern for a moment but then the redhead turned to the pretty blue haired woman and dismissed her.

"Are you feeling well?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be." she replied, playing with the hem of her sleeve.

"You almost ran into us."

"I got distracted."

"And this morning? What were you doing up at three in the morning?"

"What were you?"

"I couldn't sleep."

She shrugged. "Neither could I."

Sea green eyes narrowed at the auburn haired girl. "You seem to have a lot of excuses."

Her eyes felt heavy, and her body was begging her for some much needed sleep, but she fought it. "There has just been a lot going on."

"Like your sleeplessness." He crossed his arms at her.

"Ah." She nodded.

"My body has gotten used to not getting sleep for long periods of time, yours, however, has not." He tilted his head to get a better look at her. "I didn't want to say it yesterday, but you looked worn out"

"Look at you, using your observational skills." She said sarcastically.

"We're going back to the tower, and you will get some rest. I can finish the last details myself."

"No." He looked slightly taken aback when she quickly added. "I'll feel better if I see to it that all the entrances are well looked after. We do that then I go back and try to sleep, how's that sound?"

Gaara frowned. He liked Sayuri, she was interesting, and, at times, refreshing. After getting to know her during the times she traveled to Suna as an ambassador he found her to be quite interesting. He had known that something about her was off since the war but he never pressed about it. Partly because they were not that close of acquaintances. But now…

"You are here on a mission to help protect my village, it is your duty at the moment and I expect it to be done well and without distractions. As long as you are here on mission I expect you to be able to take care of yourself, and I want you in top shape, if you can't do that I will be forced to relieve you of your duty."

Sayuri bit the inside of her cheek and straightened her postured. "Yes, Lord Kazekage. I understand." She bowed. She didn't feel offended, far from it. Sayuri understood where he was coming from. Gaara may be someone she could trust, she could even go so far as to call him a friend, but he still held his duty to the village above all else. He loved his people and if she could potentially put their lives in danger by not completing her mission to the best of her ability then he was going to make sure that she wouldn't get in the way of those who were. So she smiled as she returned to her original position. "I promise I will not be a burden."

Gaara watched her carefully for a moment and jerked his head lightly, gesturing her to follow him. "We'll head to the North gate, after that, we go back and you get some rest."

Her smile was tight but she agreed. "I will try." It was the best she could offer, and he could see it in her tired mismatched eyes, but he'd take it for now.

XXX

Diachi wondered the halls of the Kage tower earning strange looks from the staff. No matter how many times he went out on mission he could not get over how different other places were from his home village. He missed the green of the trees and the sound of the rustling leaves. Of course he also did miss the summer time, when it wasn't as cold as it is now. He stopped around the corner catching Sakura on a bench staring out a window. He thought about leaving, his fingers tapped on the wall at the idea, but he decided against it.

"Sakura." He said as he drew closer. The medic jumped and turned to the brunette, smile in place. It was obvious to him that she had been lost in tough and if he had not spoken he probably could have walked right past her.

"Diachi." Green eyes watched as he took a seat beside her. "Missing Konoha again?" she asked.

"You got me." he leaned forward, resting his arms on his legs.

"I know how you feel."

At the saddened tone of her voice the brunette tilted his head to the pinkette.

"It's always so bright over there. Cheerful, the sky is almost always bright blue, and the sun is almost always shining, making people happy, energetic…warm…"

"Like Naruto."

"Yes." Diachi turned to her. "Wait…No! T-that's not..." He watched with a half amused smile as she turned into a sputtering mess, her cheeks turning as pink as her hair.

"Relax, your secret's safe with me." He winked and that only managed to fluster her even more.

She shook her head and breathed. "There's no secret to be kept." She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, watching his fingers lace together then unlace. "How's therapy going for you?"

His fingers froze and they rested on his knees. "It's going."

"Do you think you'll be able to return to the medical squad? You were really good, especially for getting into it as late as you did."

He pursed his lips. "I…I don't know to be honest."

Sakura's brows dipped in concern. "Hey…" she said as she laid a hand on his. "I may not know what exactly happened, but…you have to know that whatever it was, it wasn't your fault."

"See! I told you they'd be there!" Kiba announced with a toothy grin.

"Hey guys…" Naruto said, blue eyes shifting to Sakura's hand on Diachi's. "Everything ok?" he said slowly.

Sakura's smile was bright and instant. She pulled away from the ANBU and nodded. "Yes, we were just talking."

"We were just about to go out for lunch, would you like to join us?" Hinata asked, her soft voice had become confident as the years went by.

"That sounds good right about now." Diachi replied as he stood in a fluid motion.

"See told you, he's always up for food!" Hajime grinned.

Diachi smiled and looked at the group. "Where's Sasuke?"

"He didn't want to come." Naruto answered, at Sakura's questioning look he turned to look down at her with a lopsided smile. "He wasn't hungry." Well technically he wasn't lying, Sasuke had told them he wasn't hungry.

"Ok." Sakura replied without so much as blink of an eye. Naruto frowned, was she really ok with this?

"We should all go now. Why? Because it is lunch hour and the restaurant will fill up quickly."

"Shino!" Naruto jumped and the bug user adjusted his glasses. "Stop sneaking around like that."

"He's been there Naruto." Sakura sighed, shaking her head.

"Oh!" Naruto chuckled nervously at the sullen aura around his friend. "Sorry, Shino."

"You're clueless." Sakura said, taking his hand and following Team Kurenai out.

XXX

When they arrived back at the tower it was past noon. Sayuri landed on the ground before Gaara did, having jumped off the mound of sand that Gaara used for quick travel. Behind her Gaara landed easily on the ground as his sand moved back into his gourd.

"Remember our deal." He said as he walked past her.

"Right, right." She replied obediently trailing behind.

"I'll be in my office if you need anything."

"Yeah, got it."

From above narrowed mismatched eyes watched the two enter the tower. Sasuke frowned, fingers in his pocket playing with the round bell. He turned to his right when he heard light footsteps ascending the stairs. Sayuri rounded the corner and stopped, curious eyes on the Uchiha.

"Sasuke." she looked around him. "Where's everyone?"

"They went out to eat."

"Alright." She shifted her feet, feeling awkward and cleared her throat. "I'm going to my room."

"Have you eaten?" she stopped again, this time directly in front of him.

"No."

"Do you want to get something to eat?"

Sayuri placed a hand on her hip and tilted her head at him. "If you were hungry why didn't you go with them?"

"I wasn't hungry then."

"Well I'm not hungry now." She replied with a frown, then recalled Sakura and the now yellowing mark on her neck. "Besides, Sakura's your girlfriend. You should have gone with her."

"Sayuri?" The familiar voice made both of them freeze. Sayuri turned around and smiled at the three ninja approaching them, ignoring the curious look she got from the nearing rosette.

"Hey. Sasuke was just telling me that you went out for food."

"We brought you two some!" Naruto smiled, gesturing to Hinata. The short, young woman moved to hand a plastic bag to Sayuri and Sasuke.

"Sakura said, that you both would be fine with onigiri so that's what we brought." Said Hinata.

"Thank you." The two replied as the Hyūga stepped back.

Blue and red eyes flickered to the extra bag in Hinata's hands and she smiled. "Is that one for Gaara?"

At that, the young woman blushed a pretty pink. "Uh…Yes."

"He told me he was going to be in his office."

Hinata nodded. "Thank you for letting me know. I'll go drop this off, excuse me." She bowed and left the former Team Seven alone.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, watching Hinata go, while Sakura kept her bright green orbs on Sasuke, occasionally sliding to Sayuri. Uncomfortable, Sayuri began to play with the sleeve of her outfit.

Sakura turned to Sasuke taking hold of his arm with a sweet smile. "Sasuke, do you want us to keep you company?" Sasuke looked down at the rosette and nodded although a bit hesitant, and allowed her to inch closer to him.

Sayuri felt her stomach knot at the affection and averted her gaze, finding the brown floor more interesting than the two twenty-one year olds. "Uh, I'm going to go to my room." She said. "Thanks again for the food."

"But, don't you want to eat with us?" Naruto asked, stepping closer to the younger girl. Sayuri was about to turn the offer down when she saw his bright blue eyes shift to the couple behind him. "It'll be fun! We haven't hung out as a team since last year."

"Sure…" She forced a smile and sweat dropped at the blonde's sigh of relief.

At the Marihasha's affirmative, Sakura perked up. "Really?" she asked.

"Yeah…" she nodded. "…Why not." What could go wrong?

XXX

Hajime and Diachi wondered into a weapons shop after splitting up from the group. Kiba, Shino, and Akamaru left in search of some one of a kind dog food for the later. Hinata, Naruto, and Sakura said they'd go drop off food to Gaara, Sasuke, and Sayuri, and now here they were. Looking at swords and kunai in a strange shop in Suna.

Hajime lifted a katana up, testing its weight and scowling when he found that it too heavy. He turned his silver head to Diachi, watching the brunette look from one styled kunai to the next. His arms crossed over his chest, keeping his hands as close as possible. Feeling someone's eyes on him, Diachi turned to Hajime and raised a brow, adopting a more relaxed posture.

"Find anything?" He asked and his brunette friend shook his head. "Let's go then."

When the two walked out of the shop and back into the road, Hajime examined his teammate from the corner of his eye.

"What is it?"

Diachi laced his fingers behind his head and tilted back a bit to see the clear sky. "I don't like working with other teams."

Hajime pouted and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Well, if Sayuri had finished the damn mission you wouldn't be here."

Diachi shook his head. "I talked to Kakashi to exempt me but..." At that Hijime turned to him. "He's worried, he wanted an extra medic."

"But you quit!"

"I did, but the Hokage asked me and it wasn't like I could say no to the Hokage."

"Sayuri could have taken your place." Hajime found himself hissing. It was her fault. He forgave her for the last time she failed her mission. The one resulting in Diachi's problem. He expected her to learn. He expected her to do better, instead he comes to find that she let another criminal get away. She may be his teammate, and he may be her assigned guard, but Diachi was there first. Diachi was his best friend, and they've gotten themselves into enough trouble because of her.

Almost as if reading his mind, Diachi placed a hand on Hajime's shoulder. "Stop being so hard on her."

Hajime scoffed. "I'll stop being hard on her when she begins to act like the ANBU she is."

Diachi sighed and continued their walk. There was no getting through the silver haired ninja at the moment. He was too stubborn, too much of a hot head, and too attached. Diachi almost chuckled at the last thought.

XXX

What could go wrong? She thought to herself sarcastically as she drank water to keep herself occupied. Naruto sat beside her on the table, bouncing his leg up and down all the while Sakura and Sasuke sat pretty close together. Sometimes I wonder if they're doing this on purpose. She thought as she took a bite of her food. Sakura laid her head on Sasuke's shoulder and Sayuri choked on the rice.

"Sayuri!" Naruto blurted out patting her back as she struggled to keep the food down, grabbing the glass and drinking it. When she could finally breath she sat back up, stopping Naruto mid pat.

"I'm fine." She winced, her throat hurt and her voice came out raspy.

"You sure?"

"Ah." She said with a single nod. She peeked up at the couple across from them and saw that they were staring at her with wide eyes. She bit her lip and bit into her onigiri with a little too much force.

"Sayuri, maybe you should slow down." Sakura suggested. Sayuri sat up and chewed her food slowly making a point of it causing the blonde to burst into a fit of snickers. The medic sighed and drew a hand to her forehead, shaking her head as she did so. "You two are impossible." Taking that as an oppotuniy for a distraction, Sayuri turned to Naruto.

"Hear that, you're impossible."

"I'm pretty sure she said both of us."

"I don't know…" Sayuri shrugged. "You can be pretty annoying."

"HEY!" the blonde shouted in her ear.

"And loud."

Naruto growled. "And what about you?"

"What about me?"

"You're sarcastic!"

Sayuri gasped, feigning hurt. "I'm sarcastic?"

The blonde gave her a lopsided grin. "And a spoiled brat. Ow!" he whined when Sayuri's fingers went to pull at his cheeks.

"Take that back!"

Sakura giggled when Naruto moved to pull at Sayuri's cheeks as well. The two cried out in pain but neither relented.

"Children, stop fighting." The two youngest members of Team 7 turned to Sasuke in surprise. The later smirking at their bewildered faces.

"We're not children, bastard!" Naruto yelled waving a fist in the air.

"No." he tilted his head to the side as he regarded the two. "But you act like ones."

"Look who's talking, Mr. Inferiority Complex." Sayuri crossed her arms with a smirk of her own.

"I don't have an inferiority complex." He said through clenched teeth.

Nest to Sasuke, Sakura started laughing. The group turned to the happy pinkette waiting for her to settle down.

"I'm…" she started, trying to catch her breath. "I'm…Sorry…It's just that…" she took a deep breath as she began to calm down. "It's just that, it's been a while since we all acted like…well like us again." The three ninja turned to each other and smiled.

"It feels good." Sasuke nodded in agreement.

"Are you kidding?! feels great!" Naruto exclaimed, bright smile on his face.

A small smile played on Sasuke's lips, mismatched eyes shifting to the laughing medic at his side to the grinning blonde and finally to the smiling auburn haired young woman. He watched her closely as she talked to the blonde next to her, nodding and responding. Beside him, Sakura shifted her own green orbs to the laughing blonde, feeling a slight pang of jealousy at how easier it was, lately, for Naruto to talk to Sayuri than it was for her. On the other hand, both Naruto and Sayuri tried to ignore the couple sitting across from them, trying to make things a little less awkward, and trying to ignore the feelings of jealousy they harbored to themselves.

A.N.

I want to thank you all for all your reviews and your PM's I really appreciate it. I know this chapter wasn't all that eventful, but the next chapter will be. Once again thank you all for your support and I look forward to reading your opinions! Please review! Until next time :)