"There it is," Neji said. He held up a hand. The team stopped behind him, landing lightly on tree branches.

Beyond the edge of the trees was a long stretch of sandy grass that gradually shifted into pure sand, a gradient from vegetation to never-ending desert.

"We should be close to the rendezvous point," Sai said.

Neji activated his Byakugan and looked down the treeline to the west.

"Do you see them?" Naruto shifted impatiently on his tree branch.

Neji smiled. "Aa. And I think they see us, too."

"Huh?"

Neji pointed down. A small, strange floating orb circled in the air below them. He jumped down from his tree and they all followed.

The floating orb whizzed around each of them in turn, and Naruto noticed when it paused near him that it was actually a floating eyeball.

"Hey," he said in surprise. "That's—"

They appeared in a sudden whirl of sand. On the left, Kankuro stood with one hand on his hip and a cocky smile. On the right, Temari leaned against her fan; she looked relaxed, but was still cautious enough to have her weapon out. And in the middle, Gaara stood straight-backed with his arms folded, looking no more or less excited than usual. The two older siblings were dressed in dark blue and black tones, with light-colored neck wraps that draped down their front. Gaara was in red.

Anyone who didn't know him would have seen his indifferent posture and expression and get the impression of a bland, standoffish person. But to those who knew better, he was practically beaming with joy. Naruto wouldn't have needed Sakura's assurances to tell right away that Gaara's life had changed dramatically for the better.

"Gaara!" he called happily, starting forward.

"Hold on." Neji stuck his hand out to stop Naruto. He took out the mission scroll Tsunade gave them and tossed it onto the ground. It rolled open, revealing the text written on it. Gaara also took out a scroll and tossed it down. Gaara's scroll rolled open over theirs. There was a pop and a puff of smoke, and a pigeon came out of the crossed seals and darted into the sky as if startled. Neji visibly relaxed and Temari snapped her fan into place on her back.

"I didn't know you guys were going to meet us here!" Naruto trotted up to Gaara and gave the three siblings with a wide smile. He had to fight down the urge to hug his long-lost friend, since he wasn't sure whether Gaara had changed quite enough to be okay with random hugs. "I thought it was going to be a group of stiff, diplomatic types! Baa-chan said the Kazekage was supposed to meet us here."

"Hah?" Temari put a hand on her hip. "Yeah. Gaara is the Kazekage."

Naruto's grin faded and he stared at her. He whirled around to look at his team quizzically.

"It's true!" Sakura said. "Told you you'd like the Kazekage!" She winked.

Naruto whirled back to Gaara for confirmation.

"I don't have the hat with me, if that's what you're looking for," Gaara said, quietly amused. "But it's true. Nobody mentioned it to you?"

"No," Naruto said loudly. "How did—I don't—this is awesome!"

Gaara smiled. Smiled. "I can tell you about it later. First, I have some news. There's been a slight change of plans." Gaara bent to pick the scrolls up from the ground. He straightened and rolled them up neatly.

"What?" Sakura glanced aside at the others.

"I know we planned to camp here and leave early in the morning." Gaara handed their scroll to Neji. "But something has come up, and we need to return sooner. We have to leave right away and travel through the night."

The happy-reunion atmosphere changed. Gaara's quiet voice hadn't changed much, but he suddenly seemed more serious.

"What happened?" Neji asked.

Kankuro cleared his throat. "After we left, we got a messenger hawk from the village council, saying that the Wind Daimyo had dropped by unexpectedly. He expected us to be there, even though he didn't warn us he was going to visit. Like there's nothing else we could be doing. He wants to meet with Gaara right away."

"We have little choice but to change plans and return to the village soon. It'll be faster if we fly on my sand," Gaara said. "It might be a little crowded, but I want to make the platform small as possible."

"I can carry someone with my Choujuu Giga, if you like. I can make a bird large enough to hold two or three people," Sai offered.

Gaara nodded. "Good. We'll rest here a few minutes and start out soon."

Everyone put down their packs and weapons and sat in a loose circle on the grass. A few brought out energy bars or canteens.

"I don't get it." Naruto scooted closer to Gaara while sitting cross-legged. "It's his fault for showing up when you're gone, so why should you have to change your plans? Why does he even want to see you?"

"They didn't say," Gaara said.

"Ha!" Temari snorted. "The only thing any of the daimyo care about is what's going to happen to them in the war. Sometimes I think the Wind Daimyo believes our allegiance is supposed to be to him above everything, like in the old days. Never mind Suna or the people of the Wind Country."

Neji gave a humorless smile. "The Fire Daimyo wanted members from all the noble clans of Konoha to supplement his personal guard during the war. I happened to be there when he mentioned it, so he made sure to add that a Branch House member like me wouldn't be needed. As if I was jumping at the chance, anyway. Tsunade-sama had to turn his request down, of course. It's ridiculous to think we would try to fight a war without some of our finest shinobi."

"He also has a knack for interrupting when she's in a meeting, which doesn't help." Sakura rolled her eyes.

"If only it was just a matter of Wind Daimyo Yamaguchi being self-absorbed," Gaara said, looking meditative sitting on the ground with his legs and arms folded. "But he likes to reaffirm his power so Suna can't forget it. The war is, if anything, making that trait in him stronger."

"Why?" Naruto asked, when it was clear nobody else was particularly surprised about this. "What's the point?"

"Out of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, Wind has the shakiest relations between its Hidden Village and the daimyo," Temari explained. "The previous daimyo mistrusted Suna to the point where he encouraged Wind citizens to patronize other Hidden Villages, Konoha especially. That's why it was so easy for Orochimaru to bait our father into backing his invasion of Konoha. Thanks to the previous rampages of Shukaku, our old daimyo was also prejudiced against the jinchuuriki. Needless to say, Gaara was not able to become Kazekage until after the daimyo was succeeded by his nephew, who rules now."

"The current daimyo thinks his uncle's policy of antagonizing his own Hidden Village was a recipe for our country falling to outsiders," Gaara said. "He still wants constant deference from Suna—he just doesn't believe we should be gotten rid of. And he is generally more tolerant to jinchuuriki than his predecessors."

"Yeah, or he hides it better," Kankuro said darkly. Temari shook her head.

Naruto frowned. "Is me coming to Suna gonna cause a problem?"

"He likes the idea of Konoha being indebted to us, so he won't change his mind and make a fuss now. Besides, though we'd prefer if he goes along with it, his dissent would not be enough to overturn the decision of the Allied Shinobi Force." Gaara stood up.

"Is it time to go?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, if everyone's ready."

And so, after the too-short rest, they set out across the desert. Neji, Naruto, and Temari rode on a chunk of sand with Gaara, and Sakura and Kankuro rode with Sai on the back of his Beast Imitation.

They rode without saying much for a while. They were flying very fast, and the wind whipping through their ears made it difficult to talk. The sun was setting in their faces, so Naruto sat on the edge of the platform of sand with his back turned to it. Its rays were warm on his back, and a deep purple was creeping into the horizon opposite it. The scenery was beautiful for a while, but hours of looking at the same sand dunes eventually became mind-numbing.

Now that he knew Gaara was the Kazekage, Naruto wanted to ask why Gaara didn't want his older self to fight in the war. But the wind was too loud, and Naruto didn't want to mess with Gaara's concentration. So he filed that question away in his mind for later instead. Maybe the answer would help him figure something out.

They were all trained to handle the delirium of sleeplessness and nonstop travel, but everyone was relieved when the entrance to Suna finally came into view. Naruto raised his head from a slight doze and twisted around to look at the great terracing walls when they started slowing down.

"I think we can walk the rest of the way. We're practically there. It'll wake us all up," Temari said in a tone that invited no argument.

Gaara smiled faintly. He was the only one who didn't look tired at all, but he spread out his hands and lowered them all to the ground. Sai landed behind them and his Chojuu Giga disintegrated into ink.

It did feel good to stretch and get some blood flowing into their cold and stiff muscles. The sun had not yet risen and the night was chilly, especially while flying through it faster than most shinobi could run.

Naruto had to keep stifling his yawns. He walked in the middle of the group and everyone stood head and shoulders taller than him—even Gaara, who used to be just as short as he was. Naruto sleepily watched the swaying of the gourd on Gaara's back as he walked directly behind him. Gaara was already taking his role as a bodyguard very seriously. Naruto didn't think the sand drifting outside the perimeter of their little circle was a natural desert phenomenon.

They passed through a thin, ominously dark gap in the outer walls. Undoubtedly there were guards posted here, but Naruto could not see them. They didn't see anyone at all, in fact, until they reached the other side and were officially in Sunagakure. A few older men dressed in Suna's standard long tunics and scarves were waiting at the entranceway.

"Gaara-sama, welcome back."

"Report," Gaara said. Their group didn't stop walking. Instead, the men walked alongside them.

"Yamaguchi-sama requested you meet with him when he wakes up. According to his attendants, he usually rises around nine, so it will be several hours yet. He said on no account should he be disturbed from his sleep."

"Seriously?" Kankuro muttered.

"Do you know what he wants to speak about?" Gaara asked.

"No, sir. He said he would only talk about it to you directly."

"Fine. We need to get everyone settled in, anyway. Please send for me when the Wind Daimyo wakes up."

"Sir."

Naruto watched Gaara interact with the important-looking Suna officials with a mixture of pride and awe. It was strange and even disorienting to see the deference they gave him, but it was a good kind of strange.

The last time they'd seen each other, Gaara felt nothing but a mutual hate toward his fellow Sand villagers, and even his own siblings were afraid of him.

Naruto wanted to say something to him. Something about how happy he was things turned out so well, how he knew it must have been difficult—but he couldn't think of the right thing to say just then. Would it even matter? It was silly for a kid like him to tell the Kazekage he was proud of him.

The two men dismissed themselves, and the group made their way toward the center of town and Suna's main administrative building. Only a few people were out this early, but those that were watched them curiously.

"The rooms we prepared for you are underneath the administrative building, on the same level as the Puppet Corps' development workshops," Gaara said. "It's one of the most secure areas in the village, but fortunately, not scenic enough to appeal to the daimyo."

"This really stinks. He acts like he can come in here and do whatever he wants just because of some past stuff," Naruto said obstinately. "It's not your fault your dad was a bad Kage."

"Naruto," Sakura hissed.

"What? He was awful to Gaara and partly why the Third died, so as far as I'm concerned—"

"You're right and everything, but don't go saying stuff like that where some of the Daimyo's people might hear," Kankuro said. "He's probably just here to remind us we wouldn't be going to war if he hadn't agreed. Last chance before we go off to fight and all that."

"Sadly, it would be nice if that's all it is," Temari said.

They went into the administrative building and walked down a few flights of stairs to get to the floor where rooms had been made up for them. It gave Naruto a sinking feeling when he realized this place was even more confined than the hospital in Konoha. The underground space was dim and windowless, and very few people were allowed down there. As Gaara had promised, it was probably very secure, but it was still depressingly isolating.

"We're not going to stay down here all the time, are we?" Naruto asked gloomily.

"No," Gaara assured. "You can go anywhere you want in the village, as long as someone is with you. You'll have to stick with me a lot when your team leaves, but you won't be down here any more than you want to."

He sounded apologetic. Naruto could tell that Gaara was doing the best he could, so he hid his foreboding feeling with a simple nod.

Kankuro opened one of the wooden doors lining the hall. "You each have your own room, anyway. And please, please don't go into any of the workshops. Most of our development team has been relocated to Allied Shinobi Forces HQ, but we still have some projects in the works that I don't want anyone touching."

"Osu." Naruto yawned. "Don't go in the creepy puppet rooms. Got it."

"I suggest getting some rest for now," Temari said. "We won't be able to do anything as long as we're waiting for the Daimyo to tell us what he wants to tell us. I doubt it's anything to do with you guys, but you should get a little sleep while you can. God, this is such a pain."

"Don't start with that, you sound like your boyfriend," Kankuro said.

"Shut the hell up, Kankuro."

"Ha."

"Hm," Sai said. "I wonder—"

"Whatever you're about to say, don't say it." Sakura held up her palm toward Sai in a 'stop' motion. "Thanks for your hospitality. Sleep does sound nice."

Naruto, halfway tuned out of everything, agreed that sleep did indeed sound nice. They had been on the move for almost 24 hours, and while they'd all gone longer without sleep before, it was starting to seem like a really good idea.

"Okay, wake me up if we're going to eat." Naruto yawned even larger than before and went in the room Kankuro had opened, which was closest at hand. He didn't care which room he got. He just wanted somewhere to lie down.

It was obvious the room had only been recently been converted into a place for someone to stay in. It had a raised bed with a small set of drawers beside it on one end, and on the other end a corral of worktables had been completely cleared off and pushed back against the wall. Naruto put his backpack on one of them. The windowless room was completely dark when he switched the overhead light off, so he left the door open slightly. He wasn't afraid of the dark, but he was slightly claustrophobic. He took off his shoes and hitai-ate and flopped backward onto the bed with a sigh.

Before drifting off, the same thought that had been nagging him the whole way resurfaced again.

Even if Gaara wasn't going to make him stay in his room the whole time, it didn't seem like things would be much better than in Konoha.

That was the problem. Everyone had outgrown him in this timeline. They were still his friends, definitely, but they surpassed him enough to automatically assume he couldn't do anything. He had just started getting some acknowledgement in his own time. Returning to the kid behind everyone else was really frustrating. The only thing that was really better was that everyone liked him now.

Either he had to get a lot stronger, or go home. And it looked like neither of those things would happen as long as he was kept hidden or supervised at all times. What were they going to do, wait until after the war? That was too long. For all they knew, Kabuto was the only one who could send him home. If Kabuto got killed in the war, Naruto could very well be stuck in this timeline. Assuming it could be undone in the first place.

But what could he do? How was he supposed to get away from his friends, when the alternative was probably capture at the hands of Akatsuki?

At least I'd be closer to taking them down if they captured me, Naruto thought before he drifted into sleep.

"Why is it so dark?" a confused voice asked.

Naruto's eyes flew open.

"Oh, the lights must be out. There's a door cracked over there," the voice mumbled, as if talking to itself. It sounded like an elderly man, but Naruto couldn't see anyone in the meager light from the hall, and he couldn't hear the sound of another body shifting around.

"Are you a ghost?" Naruto whispered squeakily.

"Ah, Naruto-chan, is that you?"

It knows my name, Naruto thought, panicked. And there was only one person he could remember that had ever called him –chan, but that was many years ago.

"Sandaime jii-chan?" Naruto croaked, tears pricking the corners of his eyes.

"What are you going on about, boy? Are you still asleep? Sorry for waking you. Didn't expect you to be sleeping in the middle of the day."

Naruto was about to answer, but then a squishy weight landed on his chest.

"Aha! There you are." The voice came from the lump on his chest.

Naruto shrieked and flailed his arms wildly, trying to brush the thing off. He started up from the bed but tripped and stumbled and fell flat onto the floor.

"Hey, calm down!" the voice said. "You'll hurt yourself. Neither of us can tell which way is up in this darkness. Let me see if I can get the lights on…"

Naruto saw a black silhouette hop into the light coming through the cracked door, and then it disappeared again. The overhead light clicked on and he blinked against the sudden brightness.

"There we go," the voice said. "That's better."

Naruto craned his head and squinted. Sitting on the floor, on his eye level, was a small green figure dressed in a cloak, with thick gray eyebrows and a goatee.

Naruto sat up quickly. "A toad?"

"That is right. Do you know who I am?"

"No… sorry about trying to knock you off, though. You kinda surprised me." Naruto rubbed the back of his head with one hand.

"Ha ha! A little tadpole like you couldn't hurt me if you tried. You can call me Fukasaku. I was the one who taught Jiraiya-chan the Sage Arts."

"You taught Ero-sennin?" Naruto rubbed his eyes. "So what are you doing here? Did I accidentally summon you in my sleep or something?"

"No," Fukasaku said gravely. "We've been trying to find you for a while. The Great Toad Sage had a very worrisome vision about you."

"Fukasaku-sama?" Sakura pushed open Naruto's door. "I knew I heard some kind of commotion. What's going on?"

"Tsunade told me you were all here," Fukasaku said, turning to Sakura. "And the details about Naruto-chan's situation. I need to speak with the young Kazekage. Will it be possible to see him right now?"

"Maybe," Sakura said. "He's been stuck visiting the Wind Daimyo, but his sister Temari-san told me they were done with their private meeting now."

"What the hell, Sakura-chan? I thought you were gonna wake me up." Naruto yawned hugely.

"It's not time to eat yet, so we decided to let you sleep. We wanted to talk to Gaara too, see if he could tell us why we had to rush here. I was about to come wake you so we could go to the council room."

"The Wind Daimyo is here?" Fukasaku muttered. "What would that have to do with anything?"

"You think it's related to the Great Toad Sage's vision?" Sakura asked.

Fukasaku shook his head. "There's no point speculating. Let's go."

Naruto wasn't excited about going to see the daimyo. He'd met nobles before, and they were all essentially the same. He'd never met anyone as important as the daimyo of one of the Five Great Countries, but he didn't expect the grander title to be an improvement.

They met Temari, Sai, and Neji at the top of the stairs. Temari led the way to the council's meeting room. Naruto was more curious about the toad's message than a vision some old toad had, but the others kept glancing at each other worriedly.

The meeting hall was an impressive structure. It seemed disproportionately tall, until he noticed the four giant statues built into the far wall, all looking very intimidating and important.

"Wow," Naruto said, craning his head up to look at their faces.

"Those are the previous Kazekage," Sai told him. "It's like our Hokage monument."

The round table in the middle of the hall currently resembled a buffet. It was piled with fresh platters of meat and rice and vegetables and local delicacies Naruto couldn't recognize, but they still looked delicious. A single look and whiff set his stomach to growling.

There was a small group at the table: Gaara, two well-dressed civilians who were probably lower nobles, and a man in long flowing robes that could only be Wind Daimyo Yamaguchi himself. One of the nobles had been talking, but everyone got quiet and turned when they came in.

"Ah, here they are," Yamaguchi said. "Our visitors from Konoha. Come, sit down. No need for formality."

Gaara nodded at them, and they all settled down awkwardly around the table. This was a strange place to have a meal, but from the looks of it, only the Wind Daimyo was eating. Being such an important guest, he could probably dine whenever and wherever he wanted to.

"I trust you all have rested well after your journey?" Yamaguchi said. "Gaara tells me you traveled rather quickly to get here. I was well aware of the arrangement between Suna and Konoha, of course… I just didn't expect the Kazekage to leave his village in a time of war to personally attend the transportation of Konoha's jinchuuriki."

It would have been difficult to say whose scowl was deeper, Temari's or Naruto's.

"Don't look so tense, Naruto-kun." Yamaguchi's eyes were usually squinted, but he opened them to look at Naruto now. "It's nothing personal. I'm just thinking practically. It's everyone's duty to protect the interests of their own country before others."

"I thought everyone was supposed to be looking out for each other in this war," Naruto retorted. "Besides, you can't tell Gaara what to—"

"Well," Sakura said brightly, pulling Naruto into a headlock. "I'm so sorry about him, Yamaguchi-sama. He often forgets his manners."

Yamaguchi laughed lightly and took a sip of his tea.

"Sakura… chan… you're choking… me…"

She leaned over his head and murmured in his ear, so quietly that he barely heard it, "Don't let him get a rise out of you." Then she let him go. Naruto dropped back into his seat feeling thoroughly disgruntled, but held his tongue.

"Gaara." Temari motioned toward Fukasaku. "This is one of the elders from Mount Myoboku, Fukasaku. He said he needs to talk to you about something."

"You're one of the Toad Sages. Does this have something to do with Naruto?" Gaara asked, brow scrunched.

Fukasaku looked uncomfortable. He glanced at Naruto and then at the Wind Daimyo.

"Is this a conversation I should not be present for?" Yamaguchi said amusedly.

"Ah… no, not at all." Fukasaku cleared his throat. "I'm here to talk to Naruto-chan, mostly. But when Tsunade told me about the situation, I knew the people responsible for his safety would have to be informed, too."

"Informed of what? Do you know something about how I got here?" Naruto asked.

"I'm afraid not. At first, we didn't know about any of this." Fukasaku folded his webbed hands together on the table. He looked around at all of them seriously. "As I said, the Great Sage had a vision."