Chapter 16: A Thorn In The Sea

"May your love for me be

like

the scent of the evening sea

drifting in

through a quiet window

so I do not have to run

or chase or fall

… to feel you

all I have to do

is

breathe."

-Sanober Khan, A Thousand Flamingos

Sakura

Her bedspread clings to her like a second skin, too sticky and warm to stay bundled up in.

'It must be after midnight.' Sakura ventures, studying the moon's position out the window. Silver light pours along the curtains and wood table, highlights empty tea cups and bowls to the stack of cards they had all been shuffling over earlier.

Beside her Hinata sleeps soundly, violet locks pinned up away from her face. Her chest tightens, wishing she too could drift off with how much her body burns with exhaustion.

Kenichi buzzes to her right and Sakura nods discreetly in agreement; the cause of her alertness.

Someone's watching her.

Should she pretend to be asleep? Granted, she already has a hunch on who's been watching/tracking her since the night began...

A glint of something black catches against the moonlight piercing through the window glass and Sakura leaps back before it can strike her skin, sniffs the air.

'Ink?'

Black droplets slide down the wall behind her forming a puddle, soak into the room quickly.

"Is Sai targeting you?" Hinata questions, startled awake from the noise, shaking away sleep from her voice and body and Sakura considers for a moment if Sai possibly drugged her and the others tea earlier to target her alone as she moves to stand.

Sakura clicks her tongue, bristling.

"Good question." She mutters as she tightening her fists.

Hinata glances to her and Sakura nods, pair forming a plan in place to subdue him.

Sai slips in through the shattered glass a moment later, arching a brow seeing them both wide awake.

"Ah, I wasn't going after you Quiet; I just need Ugly." He observes, noting the way lightning crackles through Hinata's fingers.

"You could at least explain why you decided to come after me in the middle of the night without trying to let anyone know!" Sakura spits back.

Sai says nothing for a moment leading her to believe he won't give her an answer until he speaks again, points to her fingers.

"You're Sasuke Uchiha's red thread, the best connection Danzo has to tracking him and Orochimaru down for a proposition." He states simply.

'That's not an answer really.' Sakura snorts. Shouldn't Danzo know that Orochimaru would never let Sasuke hold onto any of his old ties to the village? Her thread alone wouldn't be enough to find him even if the effects of it weren't dampened by his chemicals.

"What is Danzo's main objective? Destroying Konoha with Orochimaru or Sasuke's help?" Hinata guesses.

Sai ignores her question and Sakura assumes grimly it's too close to the truth for him to admit.

Sakura blows out a breath, stepping forward.

So this is why Sai joined their team in the first place, only on Danzo's orders...

"Were you ever going to try and get along with us? Connect with Ino?" Sakura questions.

"None of that was my priority." Sai shrugs.

Sakura simply nods, stomps the ground releasing her earth flow spears, Sai moving with ease over the jagged spikes of wood and earth before they can pierce him.

"I have no idea where Sasuke is and I wouldn't tell you even if I did. I'm sure Danzo's plans are looking out for himself first. Lady Tsunade always had a story to tell me about how ambitious he is to become Hokage, how cruel and dark his plans could be even during Lord Third's tenure as Hokage that he had to settle for running the Root Organization if he couldn't be the leader of Konoha." Sakura sneers.

Sai watches her carefully for a moment before drawing forth his scroll, ink lions springing forth.

His Super Beasts.

The first lion pounces upon Sakura only for her to explode into a burst of yellow wasps, Sai pausing as they flood the room. In stepping back he's ensnared in an electric web, Hinata jabbing at his arms before he can draw another ink animal to escape.

"You're not leaving here without giving us answers." Hinata voices.

Sai purses his lips, his plans have quickly gone south.

'An insect clone? All the research I've done on Sakura Haruno showed she came from a civilian family though.' He frowns. When did she start to spend time with the Aburame clan and why would they give her their clan's secrets? Danzo wouldn't have given him false information to go off of he's sure and he's seen what happened to his fellow teammates of past who tried to double-cross him or tried to escape from Root under his nose...

He doesn't have time to think on this more, turning just slightly to see Sakura's emerald orbs cold as his own, curve of a smile as she points a finger up at him.

Her wasps flock towards him, buzz fervently from all sides awaiting her command.

'Sting him.' He reads her lips before everything goes dark.

It's daylight when Sai awakens, face and arms feeling twice as puffier than before. He's bound to something, perhaps a tree, legs locked together as well. The sky above is a hazy shade of orange-pink, mouth too dry to question where he is or how long he's been out.

The wasps. Some type of paralysis mixed into their stingers. Even if he wanted to move, nausea crawls up his throat keeping him in place.

Memories rise up, he'd gone after Sakura shortly after everyone had gone to bed, mistakenly believed he could handle her on his own.

He hears commotion to his left, turning his head just slightly to try and listen in.

"Guys, let's not be too hard on him! Perhaps, he was just looking for me and got the rooms mixed up! And did you have to rough him up so badly Forehead?! I'm feeling the effects of your wasp's poison and all your punches too!" Ino mentions with a huff, rubbing at her sore arms and shoulders.

Sai considers Ino's comments even though he can't see any injuries upon her. Being this close to his red thread means they'll both experience one and other's pain just a bit on and off the battlefield. The idea never used to bother him, but then again he'd never thought he was going to meet his soulmate match in his life. Something to think about as well if he's to carry out the rest of Danzo's plans properly...

Sakura snorts. "Pig, are you forgetting the part of the story where he attacked me with one of his Super Beast Drawings and drugged you and everyone else's tea last night?!

Ino frowns, gazing between her and Sai, eyes widening a fraction seeing he's awake. "The effects we're all experiencing will wear off in a few hours time though and we still need to hear Sai's side of the story."

Hinata steps between them. "Ino, Sakura's right. We couldn't just let him break into our room without putting up a fight."

Shikamaru sighs at how troublesome this whole morning has already started out. What was supposed to be a sleepover at a simple inn paid for courtesy of Kakashi and Asuma-sensei after getting to know each other over lunch/dinner turned into one of their teammates attacking the other for reasons they still don't fully know. "We really shouldn't have stayed out so late, that's on us. Let's just review over the facts we know before we start any type of interrogation."

Sai's vision clears up further as Naruto turns to him first, cracking his fists, cobalt eyes vicious making him lean back.

"I knew we couldn't trust you."

Naruto & Hinata

Sai he's sure doesn't care about his connection to Hinata, but he isn't going to stand for doing nothing at her having been in range of his attack!

"So, are you going to be honest with us?" Naruto starts.

Sai gazes at him absently in response.

His adamantine chains tighten around him and he acquiesces, sighing.

"I'm not allowed to speak of my true missions. Danzo has branded my tongue after all never to speak of him or the Root Organization's secrets." He points out, opening his mouth revealing square black lines in a row across his tongue that will activate as soon as he steps out of line.

Naruto arches a brow. "What exactly is going to happen?"

Sai smiles faintly. "Full body paralysis worse than this and a burning sensation to my tongue that will take away my voice and mess with my breathing functions for 5 to 10 minutes or longer!"

Naruto winces at the description, deciding not to do worse to him for now.

"You need to at least tell us why you targeted Sakura like that." He reaffirms.

Sai frowns, dark eyes drifting from him to the others watching awaiting an answer as well. Ino's teal blue eyes harden in a way akin to ice that makes his stomach tilt. He thought being near his red thread would have no effect on his assigned mission, perhaps he was wrong to so quickly assume...

"Sasuke. He's a traitor to Konoha for going to Orochimaru, right? He needs to be disposed of." He answers simply.

Naruto looks completely lost, what does Sasuke have to do with any of this?

Sakura on the other hand scowls all over again, hands tightening into fists.

'So that was Danzo's scheme.' She instantly realizes.

"Dispose of Sasuke via me, huh? I guess Danzo didn't fully take into consideration that Sasuke's dampened the effects of our red thread bond, so I doubt killing me would've had any major effects on him despite our distance. And I guess you Sai don't not really care about my death if it's for the sake of your mission?" Sakura questions, stepping forward.

Sai gives what looks to be a half-shrug, how can he care about people he just met?

"Sakura-" Ino starts, but Sakura holds up a hand, not finished yet.

"No, if we're going to be a team, I need to know my own teammates aren't going to try to kill me or leave me to fend against a swarm of the enemy! I know you're not allowed to give us the full details of whatever assignments Danzo gives you, I can accept that's just the way the Root Organization operates. So let me just tell you this, if you try to screw with me or any of my teammates again, I'll make sure your hands are so swollen/broken you won't be able to pick up an ink pen for weeks." Sakura warns darkly before twisting on her heel to go.

Her wasps swirl about her, nearly ready to make due on her promise here and now sensing their master's ire.

Ino pouts in exasperation, sending Sai a chilling frown before going after her friend.

Shikamaru rubs his forehead, glad their team isn't assigned to come with them. Naruto chuckles seeing his expression in spite of the how sour things have ended, sensing what's running through his mind.

Akamaru barks, Kiba nodding his agreement that they'll go get some breakfast and snacks for the road. "Yeah, that's the fastest we've seen someone piss of their red thread in a good while!"

Shino retreats into the shadows to wait, sensing they won't be leaving for awhile.

"You guys should get heading out once Sakura cools down some." Choji suggests before following after Kiba to see what the stores have on sale.

Hinata nods, observing Sakura and Ino at a distance. Naruto gently grabs her arm just as she moves to go check on them, gesturing back in Sai's direction.

"Seems we're stuck guarding him for now." He grunts.

She reddens slightly as Naruto shifts her against his side, watching Sai closely for any means of trying to escape. The sealing chains bind his chest, hands, legs, and arms, but they don't know the full extent of Sai's abilities.

Sai studies them passively before seeming to nod in understanding to himself.

"You two...you're each other's red thread match." He concludes in mild surprise.

Naruto snorts. "Lucky guess."

Sai shakes his head, expression turning thoughtful. "No, I've been watching all of you since our first introductions back at the Hokage's office. The way you two interact with each other is different from how act with the rest of the group. It's more...personal; intimate like that of lovers."

Hinata feels her face burn even more at his choice of words while Naruto plants himself down studying him straight on.

"Enough about Hinata and I, you know! I'm curious, you mentioned Sasuke; does Danzo know something about where he is?"

"I'm not allowed to say, did you forget?" Sai questions right back.

Naruto rolls his eyes. "Humor me with as much as you can say."

Sai considers it for a moment, recalls the storminess in Sakura's jade orbs to Ino's disappointed blue.

"Possibly. Orochimaru has hideouts scattered across the nations, doesn't he? It isn't too farfetched to believe Danzo wants to do business with him and this Akatsuki group that are known for destroying any places they visit."

Hinata frowns, that doesn't really answer Naruto's question, though it's vague enough to not trigger Danzo's seal it seems.

She rests herself beside Naruto, considers a question of her own.

"Sakura and Naruto hope to retrieve Sasuke back to the village before Orochimaru uses him for his body. What do you think of that?"

Sai arches a brow, not used to people asking for his own personal opinion on a matter. Truth be told, the information Danzo gave him on Sasuke tells him that Sakura and Naruto's efforts are going to be in vain, especially when it seems Sasuke left the village willingly to go to Orochimaru for power.

"Why go through so much trouble? It doesn't seem Sasuke cares about either of you anymore even if you used to be a team." Sai regards.

Naruto huffs, gaze turning skyward, sun heading for it's midway point bathing then in a rich golden hue. "I admit you have a point, truly you do. However, everything Sasuke's doing right now is for the sake of revenge. Sakura and I don't know what he's going to do next if and when he kills his brother Itachi. I just know we have to be ready to put him down in a worse case scenario if he tries destroying the village. Really, I've slacked in gaining details on what he's up to. Sakura's the one who's kept track of him via her wasps and disguises, she's the one who will probably beat him black and blue to return him back to Konoha."

Sai perks up in interest. "Details like what?"

"Nice try, as if any of us would tell you what information we have! Naruto doesn't know about said details anyways! My plans are my business alone!" Sakura mentions, reappearing.

Hinata catches the tired look in her features, saying nothing when Sakura sends her a faint shake of her head.

'I'll be fine once I get everything I need to know out of Takita.' Sakura determines, even if it's slightly unethical...

All of it will be worth it in the end.

And then with that information she will track down Sasuke with whatever truth she learns about the night of the Uchiha massacre.

Ino sniffs, gazing to Naruto until he reluctantly undoes his sealing chains.

She crosses her arms looking Sai up and down. "I hope you know you're going to need to make this up to me once you all return from Suna!"

Sai blinks, tries to think of a way to appease her.

"I can...paint a self-portrait of you that shows off your beauty?"

Ino's brows furrow and Sai hurriedly mulls over what else he can say. He glances to Naruto and Hinata for help only to see the pair are distracted looking at a map of their route to the Sand nation. Sakura definitely isn't going to help him, waiting with a small bemused grin for him to screw this up.

'Think. Like a couple. Bonds.' Sai considers.

"And you can give me a personal tour of the village?" He adds.

Ino nods, small smirk edging up her lips in agreement.

"Why, I'd love to Sai! I'll even help you work on those awful communication skills!"

Temari

'Two days from now, afternoon time at the earliest.'

The duo is already here, they need their backup now.

She rereads Shikamaru's note that arrived late yesterday evening before crumpling it to pieces, sighing at what options they have left. Baki has already sent word to the other neighboring smaller villages via Takamaru of the impending destruction, though none of them have the firepower or strength to give them much additional aid.

All most of the civilian can do is bunker down and prepare for the worst.

Kankuro leans forward, purses his lips in a way that she knows means he's about to say something negative.

"I know you're not going to like what I'm about to say, but let me take at least one of them on. Gaara's been at it forming sand barrier after sand barrier to protect the village, though it's not enough; we both know it. Eventually, they're going to break through a weak spot or find a way to counter him and then he'll be captured."

Temari immediately shakes her head, she doesn't need both her brothers going up against an enemy that clearly already has them on the defensive. Outside the wind howls wildly, nightfall upon them as the moon glows white on the dance of sand.

Before she can say as much for Kankuro to not go yet another earthquake shakes the ground below, toppling chairs and books to the ground. Temari braces herself against the walls, maneuvering slowly to gaze out the window. Gaara is still entangled in that aerial battle against that man with clay white bombs; Deidara.

Sand wraps around his left arm, clings to it like glue forcing him to tear it away before soaring chaotically around the village's buildings surely readying a secondary plan.

Kankuro watches it as well, moving to stand as the tremors start to fade.

Gaara's going to protect the village first and foremost, no matter what happens to him...

"It's time! I'm going to go after them before they can escape from Suna!" He declares.

He grabs Karasu, Kuroari and Sanshōuo before heading into the darkness of the night, not waiting for Temari's response.

"Wait, Kankuro!" Temari yells after him. She gives chase into the deep black of the shadows, curses aloud into the sand and wind when she sees no site of her brother anywhere.

Behind her another bomb goes off, blankets the sky in white and she turns around to see a mix of Suna shinobi and civilian screaming and pointing, Gaara's body disappearing into a stream of sand and smoke.

'Shit, this isn't good! He's going to be captured before the night is over!' She realizes in horror.

In the mix of the chaos Baki informs her that Gaara has indeed been taken by Deidara, Kankuro giving chase with a team of shinobi through the desert.

Dawn approaches without any further updates and Temari takes it upon herself to search the desertscape on her own. Another bomb must've gone off some time in the night, remnants of fallen shinobi half buried in sand.

Though what makes her heart truly leap into her throat is finding Kankuro's solitary figure amid the dunes, leaping down off her fan.

"Kankuro, answer me! What happened?!" Temari roughly shakes him. Kankuro manages to open his eyes slightly, sheen of sweat covering his face. His pulse is slow, body stiff in her arms taking barely able to move his head up to look at her.

"Poison, from Sasori." He murmurs out before he slips unconscious again.

Sakura

"Take care of yourselves." Shikamaru sees them off at the gate. Ino gives what she hopes is a verbal beatdown to Sai that he watches his manners and actions for the duration of this mission.

Sakura watches as Shikamaru rubs at his hands, akin to the way her older arthritic patients rub and straighten out their hands to shake off the stiffness that comes from sleep.

"Got the thread-aches?" She guesses.

Shikamaru gives her a puzzled look in return.

"The what now?"

Sakura smiles faintly. "Oh, it's just a term we use often in the medical field. It's the ache one gets when their red thread is going through a high stress or high emotional period. The ache is stronger than typical ones felt from like a cut or bruise and can be felt even from a long distance."

Shikamaru sighs and she knows it's a bother for him to acknowledge his complicated feelings for the sand shinobi. "Ah, of course there's a word for that. Not a headache or a stomachache, just the pain felt knowing something is wrong with your match."

"...Is everything alright?" Sakura asks, trying not to pry at Shikamaru's far off look into the forests, shaking his head after a moment.

"Can't say for sure. My hands have been hurting like hell though since last night so it's taken an effort to focus on anything. Either Temari is cutting through a bunch of shinobi at once or something's happened with her siblings..."

Sakura frowns, sensing from his expression it's the latter.

"We'll pick up the pace and let you know." She assures him.

The end of the first day passes with little fanfare, everyone quietly in their own thoughts. Kiba smells blood and smoke the closer they get, wrinkling his nose in a mix of disgust and dismay. Shino and her bugs both report seeing buildings trapped under layers of either mud or sand.

Sleep evades her after her prior night encounter with Sai (though Kenichi reports his sleeping bag is far enough away she'll hear him if he's coming), counting the stars while trying to figure out her strategy for handling Takita.

Seeing Sasuke again.

Ino said everything will be ready once they return from this mission.

"Though I've never done like a 3-way Mind Transfer Jutsu, I'm willing to make the effort for you Sakura! I'll study and discreetly ask my Dad if such a technique has ever been done before so I'll be up to speed!" Ino promises.

Sakura beams, nodding. "Thank you Ino, I hope this time away gets Takita to feel confident in this plan. I need to find a medicine that can make him sleepy enough he won't wake up during the whole process."

Ino smirks at her despondent look. "Don't sweat the small details Forehead! Or are you forgetting that you trained under the legendary healer Tsunade?"

Ino's right. She can't keep worrying about the what-if's.

"Naruto, you should be sleeping!" A soft voice hisses through the low buzz of cicadas and fireflies making her startle.

"I can't sleep! It's easier to rest when you're here right beside me! Plus, I can protect you from Sai and anyone else out here, you know!" He quickly replies.

Sakura rolls her eyes, Naruto excuses are completely ridiculous especially when they have two jonin shinobi with them.

She half turns to see the outline of his figure doing a terrible job trying to quietly sneak into Hinata's space without alerting the rest of her team.

A bad idea, but it's Naruto. Naruto who can turn bad ideas into good ones.

Occasionally.

Her face heats uncomfortably turning away just as Hinata boldly leans up to kiss him once she triple checks Kiba, Akamaru and Shino are indeed sleeping, fingers threading into his blond locks.

Kissing. She hasn't kissed anybody since the night Sasuke told her he was leaving Konoha.

Would Sasuke push her away if she initiated a kiss the next time they met? Or would he hold her tightly against him the way he did so briefly when he gave into his emotions...

'Stupid, he isn't thinking about you right now, so stop thinking about him!' Sakura berates herself. Still, she can't help but look to her hand, feel the pulse of her fingers even if her thread isn't visible.

That memory that was once so bright in her mind turns somber, filtered over with a grayness she can't seem to shake.

"You can't take late night strolls Naruto." Yamato interrupts them, wood release ensnaring Naruto's legs.

"We're not! I'm just checking to make sure Hinata is comfortable!" Naruto retorts.

Yamato looks between him and Hinata, takes in the pink flush of her cheeks and sighs.

"She's fine, probably would be able to sleep if you stopped kissing her." He blandly answers.

"You don't know that!" Naruto grunts out as he gets pulled away.

Sakura watches them for a moment longer, considers Takita again and her own listless sleep. She tried so many combinations before she left: lavender, chamomile, valerian root, and passionflower. Perhaps one of those in combination with a benzodiazepine Takita would be at ease? The next day passes with nothing of consequence to note save for the eeriness in the air they closer they get to Suna.

It's only when Shino's kikaichū beetle reports the corpses of a series of Suna guards near the gates rotting in the afternoon sun does it sink in the disaster they're walking into.

"We need to meet with Baki, find out what happened in these last two days." Kakashi notes.

Yamato studies the dried copper mixed into the sand, bombs have gone off here...

Hinata uses her byakugan, ensures the area is clear of any further traps before they continue deeper into the sand village.

"Or Temari and Kankuro. I'm sure one of them can put us up to speed on what all happened here." Kiba mentions.

They split up again to gather information from the few civilian mingling about who speak of the Akatsuki, Gaara's protection of the village with all his strength up until the very end and Kankuro rushing after the duo after Gaara's capture. Baki arrives to them first near the center of the village. His gaze falls to Sakura, tugging her by the arm.

"I need your help! I asked the Honored Siblings, but even they don't have a way to treat Kankuro's ailment! I give you full access to our greenhouse and medicine if you can save him!" He pleas.

She's whisked away before she can question what he means, lead to a hospital room where Kankuro restlessly thrashes against Temari and Chiyo's hold.

"It's poison! He has but a day or so left before it corrodes his major organs!" Chiyo hurriedly explains.

Sakura nods, pinning up her hair quickly to aid in holding him down. Distantly in the back of her mind she knows she can find an antidote for Kankuro's poison here and now once she studies it.

And a way to get Takita back home the full night of sleep he so desperately needs.

Naruto & Hinata

"Who's the White Fang?" Naruto whispers to Hinata.

From Kakashi-sensei's stoic look, he isn't going to tell him.

Hinata hums thoughtfully. "I think that's the name Kakashi-sensei's Father was known for. We didn't get much lessons on Suna's history, but during one of the past wars I believe he became connected to some of the deaths in Lady Chiyo's family."

Naruto nods absently understanding her reaction now, restlessly taps his foot to the wood flooring as they wait further news on Kankuro.

On Gaara.

Hinata loosely grabs at his hand and squeezes it return, wills himself to relax.

"Hmm, well I can see you two are each other's match." Chiyo observes from beside them, keeping her distance from Kakashi despite knowing his identity now.

Hinata nods. "Did you and your husband work in the medical field?"

Chiyo shakes her head, sighing forlornly. "No, he was a puppeteer. He taught me much of the ways I utilize in using poison with puppetry against any enemy shinobi of Suna; he left this world far too soon. Since retiring, I haven't seen much of the world really, I haven't even checked in on how my grandson is."

Kiba snorts non too softly under his breath her very grandson is the cause of Kankuro's current predicament.

"What will you do knowing your grandson is behind this Lady Chiyo?" Sai questions to get her thoughts on the situation.

Chiyo says nothing for a moment, gaze casted towards the long shadows of buildings crumpled or tilted on their sides.

"I will take him out, he can't just get away with what he did to the village." She remarks.

Before anyone can respond the door clicks open, Sakura reappearing with a smile. Whatever sweat and blood that marred her medical apron have been tossed away, nodding to the team of nurses and doctors who helped.

"Thank you all; Kankuro will recover. The poison has been safely removed though it will take awhile for him to be back in action on the field." She explains.

Her eyes roam over them all before falling on Sai, gestures for him to follow her.

"Sai, I could use your help with making drawings of all of the herbs and medicines I'll be using from the greenhouse." Sakura mentions.

He wisely goes along silently without an argument, perhaps curious to see her at work.

Naruto races in to check on Kankuro, Hinata helping Temari off the wall.

"I have to hand it to you all, Sakura truly knows her stuff." Temari breathes out.

"She learned from the best!" Naruto mentions over to them before he's hit with the scent of antiseptic and blood that surrounds Kankuro, remnants of soap and alcohol used to clean his wounds stick to his skin as he attempts to sit up.

Naruto motions for him not to move, whatever medicines Sakura and the other medical nin gave him still lingering in his system as he falls back.

"Gaara...I couldn't save him after all he did to protect the village." Kankuro grunts, curses softly under his breath at his puppets being no match for Sasori's.

Naruto clicks his tongue, desperately wants to ask him what he remembers of his encounter besides his fight with Sasori, though all Kankuro can say is he knows Gaara was already unconscious by the time he was taken.

Temari pushes herself between the two before Naruto can ask anything else.

"Let him get some rest before you flood him with a thousand questions!" She states more as an order than a suggestion.

Hinata gently, but firmly pulls Naruto aside to give the siblings space, takes in the mist that blends with his cobalt orbs before he quickly wipes at his eyes.

"I'm...I'm lucky to have you Hinata. Most jinchuriki don't even get a red thread, are seen from their birth until their death as something to be feared; hated. A weapon. Gaara and I grew up the same way except he still had nobody even upon his 13th birthday that he felt really understood him." Naruto emphasizes.

Hinata nods, thinks of what lies ahead of them for tomorrow as the day slowly melts into another night.

The Akatsuki's presence lingers everywhere, follows them like a shadow.

And soon enough, Naruto will become their next target.

-x-

So my plan is to alternate updating Red Thread and To Repeat and Return my newest NaruHina story! I love both stories and honestly enjoy writing both in my spare time and will try not to make you all wait too long for updates of either.

On that note, I'm going to skip over some Akatsuki events ahead (like Sakura and Chiyo vs Sasori) because I'm trying to avoid carbon copying canon which is always a struggle for me to make unique without being boring doing exactly what happened in canon.

The next chapters ahead will stray and focus again on a mix of the canon couples on scenes that have been in my head for months!

Enjoy. Review. Favorite. Follow!