I've finally finished this one. Please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto.

Ch. 15: The Escape

Sasori looked at her. Temari was staring at her as well, "What did you say, Kaoru?"

"I asked if he would come back to Suna with us," Kaoru said in perfect calmness.

"Why would you ask that, Kaoru? Are you insane?" Temari demanded. Sasori turned to face Kaoru fully as well. He was just as curious about the medics answer as Temari was.

"Because the shark man knows about his emotional change," Kaoru answered without looking away from Sasori's eyes. His eyes widened slightly and she felt the wave of shock followed by worry. "I know he's been worried about the leader finding out about him getting his emotions back and I figured it's for a good reason."

"Alright but why did you..." Temari trailed off as she saw the implications of what Kaoru was saying. As a strategist it didn't take long to figure out. The shark man could tell Sasori's leader about the change in his heart. If Sasori was worried about that then it meant it was because this leader wouldn't be happy about the change. Her turquoise eyes turned to the puppet master.

Kaoru nodded, "You see it now. Sasori has been protecting us from the others and he's not an evil man. I don't want him to suffer. It would be wrong to let him."

Temari didn't like it but Kaoru was right. Sasori had been watching out for them. He had just saved her life after all. She turned to Sasori, "I'm with Kaoru on this. Come back to Suna with us."

Sasori looked between the two of them, "Have you forgotten that I'm an S ranked criminal as far as Suna is concerned? They'll arrest and kill me the minute they see me."

"We haven't forgotten but we'll talk to my brother. Surely he will listen to us. He can't punish you since you've been protecting us especially Kaoru."

Kaoru's eyes darted to Temari in surprise. Sasori new from that look that she didn't think that she was that important to the Kazekage. He put that thought aside for later examination and considered what they said. If Kisame truly did know about the emotional change then he would probably tell Pain. He looked over at Kaoru, "How do you know?"

"His emotions. When we were leaving the room he was feeling first surprised and then understanding because he could tell that you actually felt something. Please, Sasori. Come with us," Kaoru pleaded.

At first he didn't answer. Someone grabbed one of his hands. His red eyes looked down into pleading turquoise eyes. Temari's voice matched the look in her eyes, "Please, Sasori. Come home."

He closed his eyes and cursed the emotions that part of him still wanted to get rid of. The problem was another part of him insisted on keeping them. That same part was what said, "Alright. We leave tonight. Be prepared."

The girls went into their room to pack the little they had with them. Kaoru looked over at Temari but before she could say anything Temari said, "I know, I know. That was way out of character but I couldn't help it. I really don't want him to be hurt."

Kaoru nodded then returned to packing. A few hours later the three of them stood in the girls room by the window. Sasori lowered the two girls out the window very carefully with chakra strings then jumped down himself. The three of them started running for Suna.

Then they heard a familiar voice, "Kaoru."

----------A few hours ago in Suna----------

Gaara felt like punching someone and when he found them it would be the Akatsuki. Suddenly Kiba rushed in with Hinata and Naruto. Neji walked in calmly behind them with Tenten. Naruto placed both hands on Gaara's desk and said excitedly, "We found them."

"How? Where?" Gaara demanded.

"Akamaru managed to follow Kaoru and Temari's scent and then Hinata and Neji confirmed that the girls were inside. Come on and we'll show you," Naruto said.

"No," Neji interrupted.

"What?! Why not, Neji?" Naruto demanded.

"Because if we all go we'll draw too much attention. Rescue missions are best done in small numbers and without being caught."

Gaara nodded in agreement, "I'll take Kankuro, Neji and Tenten with me."

"What?!" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, I want you to stay here and guard my village. There is a week left but if the Akatsuki see me leave they might attack. Sasuke and you are the strongest ninjas here and I'm leaving the rest of the Konoha team and all of my ninja's with you," Gaara explained. "I want...need to go with them."

Naruto relaxed and nodded reluctantly. He could understand Gaara's point of view. He really wanted to go save Kaoru but he couldn't leave his village defenseless. The Kazekage was trusting him to protect his village so that he could go save his friend. Naruto looked Gaara in the eyes with determination, "You can count on me, Gaara-sama. I'll make sure your village is in one piece when you get back."

Gaara nodded and then turned to Neji, "Let's go."

They arrived at the area a few hours later. Neji held up a hand to signal them to stop. He turned to Gaara, "Someone's climbing out of the window over their."

Gaara nodded then they headed over there to see who it was. When Gaara saw a familiar dark haired girl he couldn't help what came out of his mouth. His tone held the relief that flooded his system, "Kaoru."

She turned then and saw him. In all her life she had never been so happy to see him. She ran to him and threw her arms around his neck, "Gaara-kun, I'm so glad to see you."

Gaara wrapped his arms around her. He didn't dare move. Half of him was afraid to believe that this wasn't a dream. The kage finally put her down and examined her for injuries, "Are you alright?"

"We're both fine. Someone protected us while we were here and he didn't let anything happen to us," Kaoru stated with a slightly nervous tone.

Gaara was about to comment when a unfamiliar male voice interrupted, "I'd love to let you continue this reunion but we need to leave before we are found. Itachi Uchiha and Kisame are here. Those two are not someone you want to deal with."

"Who are you?" Tenten asked the man.

"This isn't the time. You can interrogate him later. Let's go," Temari said much to Kaoru's relief. The two of them really didn't want to go into who Sasori was until they were safely back in Suna. They knew it would be a long and probably stressful conversation.

The rest of the group agreed then rushed off. That's when Kaoru felt it. A wave of urgency coming from behind them. She said up to Gaara, "They know we're gone."

The group put on a burst of speed and Tenten left some presents behind for the enemy to either have to take time to dodge or trip on. She hoped that they tripped and died on them but that wasn't a necessity. As long as they slowed down that was what mattered. Kaoru concentrated on the emotions behind them so she would know how close they were. She noticed that Neji was also keeping an eye behind them with his Byakugan. She was sure that between the two of them no one would be able to sneak up on them. Well, she was right.

"Stop!" she and Neji said at the same time. The group stopped and then looked back at them. Kaoru let Neji answer, "There's someone in front of us. I don't know who."

"I do. It's Itachi," Kaoru added her input. She recognized Itachi's emotional signature and he was ready for a fight.

Sasori looked in front of them then behind. Even with their lives on the line he managed to sound perfectly calm, "We'll have to go around."

"Which way would be best?" Gaara asked and sounded just as calm as Sasori. Kaoru looked between the two. Except for their eyes they looked remarkably alike and even had several personality traits in common. The two could have been twins. If she hadn't already known better she would have thought that they were. She shook her head and focused back on the situation. She and Neji scanned the area with their kekkei genkais. After a few moment they pointed to the left.

Sasori closed his eyes and then nodded, "The terrain over that way isn't bad. We should be able to go around unobstructed."

Gaara nodded then the group headed in that direction. They were almost out of the forest before Neji and Kaoru once again ordered a halt. This time the Akatsuki didn't give them time to decide which way to go. Hidan came out of the forest in front of them and attacked. While everyone else was dodging his original attack he went for the weakest member of the group. Kaoru managed to dodge several of the blows that was aimed at her from the three bladed scythe but she had twisted her ankle during the process. Then Kakuzu attacked using the masks that contained the hearts of his victims. An elemental blast headed straight for the injured medic. Kaoru couldn't heal her injury in time to move but that didn't stop her from trying. She closed her eyes and braced herself not that it would do her any good. The attack never hit her. She risked opening her eyes to see a large wall of sand in front of her. She felt something else grab hold of her and yanked her back. Someone caught her and when she looked up she saw Sasori. He put her down beside Temari who stood guard over Kaoru so that she would take care of her ankle. The Kazekage and the puppet master walked forward and faced the two members of the Akatsuki. The fight went on for what seemed like hours. After Gaara and Sasori had started fighting it hadn't taken long for the others to get involved. Kaoru chose to stay out of it. At the moment she would just be in the way and she knew it.

Gaara eventually got an opening and a wave of sand enveloped the two Akatsuki members. Kakuzu's earth defenses battled against Gaara's attack. Kaoru looked at Gaara and gasped. Gaara and Shukaku were actually fighting together. One eye was Gaara's sea foam color and the other was the golden eye of Shukaku. The sand trying to crush the enemy suddenly had more strength. Hidan and Kakuzu didn't stand a chance against the enraged Gaara and Shukaku. When it was finished everyone stood there for a moment. Sasori and Gaara were the first to move. Gaara went over to Kaoru and lifted her up bridal style. Sasori examined the area where his former teammates had been killed. After he was positive that they were really dead he turned back to the group and nodded in confirmation.

"Let's go," Gaara ordered.

After a few hours Kaoru and Neji both said that they were no longer being followed. The group slowed but didn't stop until they reached the village. Gaara led the way straight to his office then turned to Kaoru and Temari, "Now tell me. Who is he?"

The girls exchanged looks and then nodded in silent agreement. Kaoru moved so that she was standing too close to Sasori for anyone to attack him. She looked over as Temari who nodded again. The wind mistress faced Gaara, "His name is Sasori of the Red Sand."

At first there wasn't a single word or reaction. The girls didn't make the mistake of letting their guard down and neither did Sasori. Gaara's eyes narrowed, "Tell me, Temari. Kaoru. Why is Suna's most wanted criminal standing in my office without restraints?"

"Because he protected us and then helped us escape, Gaara-kun," Kaoru stated without looking away from his eyes.

"Why did you bring him here?"

Temari answered this time, "He helped us escape, Gaara. When they found out about that he would have been killed. Neither me or Kaoru could let that happen. Not after he protected us while we were there. He even saved my life and you saw him help Kaoru."

Kaoru nodded in agreement, "And you were there when he helped us get away, Gaara-kun. Please pardon him. Let him stay here."

Gaara closed his eyes to regain control of his temper, "He protected both of you and saved Temari."

"Yes," both girls answered together.

Gaara's eyes snapped open and he looked directly at Sasori who met his gaze calmly. The kage studied him for a moment then said, "If I agree to this you will have to agree to tell us everything you know about the Akatsuki. You will also have to be on probation for a year. You will not be allowed to have any weapons or go anywhere alone during this time. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Gaara-sama. I understand perfectly and will agree."

"Why?" Gaara asked.

Sasori thought for a moment then said, "Because someone told me that I should consider dealing with my emotions instead of being a coward and getting rid of them this time. I've had a lot of time to consider this advice and I believe she might have been right."

Temari's eyes widened and she looked back at Sasori. She had been the one to tell him that the morning after he had changed from a puppet to a human. The girl had only said that because she had been grumpy and he had growled at her. Apparently he had taken her seriously. His crimson gaze met her turquoise eyes. He smirked letting her know that he knew exactly what she was thinking. She narrowed her eyes at him then looked away. He was just trying to pick on her. Well she wasn't going to let him. Kaoru looked between the two in amusement then looked back at Gaara.

He sighed, "Alright. Akasun Sasori, you're pardoned from all of your crimes. I am placing you on one years probation. You've already heard and agreed to the terms."

Sasori nodded. Kaoru smiled at Gaara and for the second time that night she threw her arms around his neck. Gaara felt his irritation melt away at Kaoru's happiness. He was glad she was alright and home safe and sound. If he owed this to the Red Sand then he would grant the man anything to repay him. He asked, "Where will the Red Sand be staying?"

"In my guest room," Temari stated. Everyone looked at her in surprise. She just glared at them, "What? If I didn't take him no one else but Kaoru would and that would just annoy Gaara more."

They all had to admit that she had a point. Temari grabbed Sasori by the cloak and began to drag him out. Sasori allowed it simply because he didn't see a reason not too. Tenten gave Neji and Kankuro a meaningful look. Neji took the hint and headed for the door. Kankuro was being a little dense. Tenten grabbed him by one ear and pulled him out of the room. Neji shut the door with a small smile at his irritated teammate.

Kaoru chuckled and turned to face Gaara to say goodnight. He didn't give her a chance. His strong arms wrapped around her waist and he held her against him. She could feel him shaking slightly. She could feel his breath against her ear, "I had never been so angry or terrified then when I found your necklace with the note from the Akatsuki. There was blood on it and I lost it. There's still a crater on the cliff where I found it."

She slid her arms around his neck, "I'm sorry, Gaara-kun. I never meant to worry you."

His arms tightened, "Don't. Don't apologize for what they did. I'm just glad that you're alright. Just don't ever scare me like that again."

She nodded in agreement, "I'll try not too."

He stepped back and the calm collected Gaara was back in control. He pulled something out of his pocket and held it out to her. It was the necklace that he had given her for her birthday. She smiled as he slid it over her head and the comfortable weight of the ruby was back around her neck. Kaoru looked up at him. The only indication that he had been worried was that he wouldn't let her walk home right then. Instead he led her up to his room and told her to sleep in there. She agreed but only if he stayed close. Gaara didn't fight her as she snuggled against him and fell into a sound sleep. He stared up at the ceiling and began to think about the things he needed to ask Sasori tomorrow. He drifted to sleep a few minutes later.

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When Gaara woke up in the morning Kaoru was gone. He panicked. Give the guy a break she had just gotten back from being kidnapped after all. So he was up and rushing down stairs faster than he had ever moved in his life. When he reached the kitchen he relaxed again. There she was humming to herself while making breakfast. Gaara walked over to the table and sat. The medic looked up at him with a smile, "Good morning, Gaara-kun."

He nodded to her. After breakfast the Kage went up stairs. When he came back down he had a waddling Kohaku behind him. Kaoru rushed over and picked him up. She looked at Gaara in surprise, "You kept him the whole time?"

"I told you I would watch him until you came to get him," he stated simply. Kaoru beamed at him which made Gaara fidget a little. It occurred to him that he never had to do much to make Kaoru happy. When she smiled at him like that he wasn't sure what he was suppose to do. She never seemed to mind that he didn't do anything most of the time. Kaoru turned back to the kid and began to feed him some breakfast too.

The young boy was happy with the attention as usual and did the one thing he could do to make Kaoru one of the happiest people in the world. He was laughing as he said, "Momma." The medic blinked at him. Kohaku was pleased with her reaction and clapped his hands together and said it again, "Momma." Then he looked over at Gaara, "Gara-sma."

Kaoru looked over at Gaara in shock, "He just called me momma didn't he?"

Sea foam eyes danced in amusement even though the rest of his face remained impassive. He nodded in response to her question. Kaoru looked back at him, "I think the other word was suppose to be your name."

"He's trying to say 'Gaara-sama'. He heard Kaede call me that."

Kaoru smiled at the boy in her arms. The two most important people in her life and they had both done something to make her so happy. Her crimson eyes were soft and filled with happiness, "It's good to be home."

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Temari wanted to strangle him. The bastard may have emotion now but he really needed to be reminded of them because he was a jerk. So she couldn't cook but did he have to be an ass hole about it. Of course he did. The wind mistress glared as Sasori as he cooked. He had walked in while she was making breakfast and then frowned. The jerk then proceeded to tell her that she was cooking all wrong. Then he had taken over the task because she wasn't listening to him. The death glares seemed to have no affect on him. If anything he looked amused by her reaction.

Sasori set her plate in front of her. She glowered at it and if she hadn't been so hungry she would have refused to eat it. When she took a bite she about melted. Temari had to give the man credit. He really knew how to cook. Who would have thought that Sasori of the Red Sand would actually know how to cook. No only know how to but he was really good at it. She certainly hadn't. She saw his mouth twitch as he watched her.

"What's so funny?" she demanded.

"You."

Her glare intensified, "How am I funny?"

"Your reaction to me and then to the food."

Temari looked away from him and would have huffed out of the kitchen but she wasn't done eating yet. She would get him after her plate was empty. Wouldn't want this perfectly good breakfast to go to waste. Plenty of time to make him pay for being a bastard later. When she did finish eating she began to clear the dishes. It was only fair she told herself. He had cooked even if she hadn't been happy about it so she should to the dishes.

Sasori watched her. This girl was really amusing. She glared at him all morning and still treated him fairly. He had to admit that irritating her was fun though. The puppet master wasn't stupid enough to tell her that though. He had a feeling that would be pushing the limit of what she wouldn't beat him for. Since he could feel pain now he would like to avoid if at all possible. That didn't mean he was going to quit annoying her however. Being turned back into a human didn't get rid of his sadistic side seeing as that was there long before he had changed himself into a puppet.

Temari sat across from him, "I'm going shopping with Kaoru today. We decided that you need different clothes. No point in advertising that you were once an Akatsuki member. I want you to stay here until we come back with some clothes."

"Alright."

"Gaara is going to want to talk to you around lunch time so we should be back before then. You better have all your weapons somewhere easy to get to. You'll have to turn them all over to him." Temari began to chew on her bottom lip for a moment. Sasori recognized it for a nervous habit and waited until she was finished thinking about whatever was on her mind. The wind mistress looked him in the eyes, "I can trust you right, Sasori?"

He didn't look away, "Yes."

She nodded, "I thought so. Give me one of your puppets."

He stood up and reached into his cloak. When his hand came out it held the scroll for Hiruko. Temari took it and carried it upstairs. Curiosity had him following her. She walked into her room and put the scroll in her closet. Temari turned back to him, "It'll be in here. I don't know if the Akatsuki will come after you but just in case I want you to have access to at least one weapon. I may get mad at you and think you're a jerk or a bastard but I know I owe you my life and Kaoru's. If I can return the favor I will."

Sasori looked at her for a moment. He nodded to her slowly. This girl really was something else. Honor was obviously a very big deal to her. Maybe staying here wasn't so bad after all. As long as she didn't kill him for annoying her. That was still a very real possibility since it seemed to annoy her when he breathed.

Temari left him in the house to go shopping with Kaoru. The two girls both arrived back at the wind mistresses house a few hours later. Kaoru smiled at Sasori and said hello. Sasori nodded his greeting to both girls. Temari's version of hello was to shove a bag of clothes in his arms and tell him to go change his clothes. She also ordered him to take a shower while he was at it. Sasori complied simply because he didn't feel like arguing. A few hours later the three of them headed to the Kazekage's office.

Gaara was sitting behind his desk and, as usual when he was working in the office, was wearing his kage robes. Kankuro, Yuri, and Baki were the only other people in the room. The two girls and Sasori sat down in chairs across from Gaara. The first thing Gaara did was ask, "Why did you take Kaoru and Temari?"

Sasori was about to give the shortest answer possible but then stopped. Heaving a big mental sigh he said, "We originally intended to take only Kaoru but the girl was never alone so we compromised."

"Why Kaoru?" Kankuro demanded.

"Because we were told that she was the Kazekage's weakness."

Everyone in the room sat a little straighter. If someone told them about Kaoru that meant that someone from Suna had endangered Kaoru's life. Someone had betrayed them. Temari was the one to ask the question on everyone's mind, "Who told you that?"

"Their names were Hiroshi and Kaito."

There it is. Can't wait to see everyone's reaction to that last bit of news. anyways I'll tell you at least one thing that happens in the next chapter. Hiroshi opens his big mouth and tells everyone how Kaoru feels about Gaara.

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