A/N: Can anyone help me with the image manager? I keep trying to add images - for this and other fics - but it keeps saying error. I even made sure it met all the specifications! Is this a usual thing?

Warning: some repressed Gaara/Matsuri romantic feelings here!

Wonder/Wander

Chapter 2

He watched as Megumi adjusted her backpack for the twelfth time in as many minutes. He wasn't sure why she was fussing so much, she was just going to take it off in a few minutes when they got to the car. He simply stood silently at attention as he saw three shinobi attach a cage-like thing to the car's bumper.

Shikamaru and Shiho appeared before them. "You're all set now." Shikamaru said, "You are to rendezvous with Matsuri at this location," He said as Shiho dutifully handed them a piece of paper, "Where you will meet with your final team member."

He felt surprised at that, "Uh, sorry, but what other team member?" He didn't remember that being part of the mission briefing.

"Yeah, it's an essential piece for the mission; it'll all be explained at the rendezvous point." Again, he seemed somehow... regretful or something that Konohamaru couldn't place.

Shiho stepped forward and handed him a key on a chain. "This is the key to that cage there. Until you reach the rendezvous point you are not to interact with the individual in there."

"Wait, individual? There's a person in there?" He looked back at the cage; it was covered in a brown tarp, hiding anyone that may be within.

"It's a dangerous someone," Shiho answered, "You must not believe any of their lies. I'm giving this to you because your third partner will do anything to get this. Don't let it fall in the wrong hands."

It all depends on you. She didn't say that, but it was more or less implied. The fact that Megumi didn't grab the key as the senior shinobi meant that she understood that too and she didn't want to be held responsible should anything go wrong.

"It's fine!" Shikamaru insisted, "It should take less than an hour to get there and then it will be okay."

Shiho looked like she wanted to say something but smartly kept her lips shut at a sharp look from him.

Konohamaru didn't understand what was going on, but he knew that there was something he wasn't being told. Still, he knew that was a normal part of being a shinobi and didn't bother trying to figure it out.

"Let's go." Megumi ordered and, for once, he followed her without complaint.

Matsuri sighed and brushed a strand of dark hair behind her ear. Now that she thought about it, her hair was getting a bit long. She had always kept it short, especially after she started training under Gaara-sama. Sand just got everywhere and long hair would just be bothersome.

She looked up at the sky, her specialized shades in place even though it was still fairy early in the day, and thought about her redheaded Kazekage. She wondered what he was dreaming about. She wondered if she was in his Perfect World.

Her stomach twisted at the thought of her Gaara-sama laying somewhere like a vegetable, very much alive and yet not. How could somebody so strong have fallen? How could she escape when he couldn't? How was that fair?

She shook her head furiously and let her anger wash away her sadness, "It shouldn't be taking them this long!"

She heard her charge chuckle darkly. "Maybe they're dead. My partner, she will not let just anyone control her."

Matsuri spun on her heel and faced him, anger showing plainly through her frown. "She's in a cage, what can she do?"

He smirked, his eyes making direct contact with her own despite the dark lenses covering hers and she felt a shiver go down her spine. She was afraid of this man, despite the fact that his arms were bound behind his back. She didn't want to be the first to look away. All she could think was how disappointed Gaara-sama would be at her cowardice, but the longer the silence went on, the worse she felt.

She turned around.

Finally, he spoke, slowly and cryptically, "It wouldn't be the first time she forces her way out of an impossible cage."

They hit a bump in the road. Literally.

Megumi overestimated the cage's capabilities and drove over a pothole. When he looked back he saw the cage had broken off, the link completely shattered. There was no way the car was going to be any help.

"We'll have to push it." He stated.

"But that'll take hours," Megumi whined.

"It will, and we'll have to leave the car behind."

"But what about our stuff?"

"We'll have to carry it, like we used to." He glared at her, remembering his distaste for her. She had grown so complacent so quickly, adjusting to their pseudo-shinobi lifestyle as if it was what she wanted. He wondered how she was ever a shinobi at all.

She huffed but agreed and went to get their bags from the car. Leaving him alone guarding the cage. The silence was deafening, there was no more life in these woods. And then...

"Heee~y," a woman's voice called out.

His head whipped around, trying to locate the source. This was impossible, there was no one here! People didn't just take leisurely strolls anymore, especially not through forests. There was nowhere it could have come from. Unless... the cage! There was a girl in the cage!

Somehow he couldn't wrap his mind around that. He remembered his boss' teammate, Sakura, and how scary strong she was, but not even she could merit a cage. What type of person would scare the Shinobi Alliance so much that they had to keep her caged and covered?

"I know you." She whispered to him. "Please open the cage, I promise to be nice."

Her voice was so soft, so sweet, he couldn't help but believe her. And there was something about her voice, something familiar. She said she knew him, could it be true? Perhaps she was a Konoha shinobi, a former classmate. This had to be some sort of mistake.

The key around his neck weighed heavily, and his fingers itched to reach for it. Still, he had orders. And they wouldn't have caged her for nothing. There must be some reason. Maybe he could just take a peek and make sure everything was in order...

"What do you think you're doing?" Megumi's voice ripped through the haze that had briefly overtaken his mind. He realized, then, that his hand was halfway to the cage, ready to rip off the tarp. He pulled his hand back as if burned. He had been thinking about it, but he hadn't been thinking about doing it. His body had started moving on its own! Suddenly, he was very afraid of whoever was in that cage.

Shaking slightly, he took his bag from Megumi and grabbed one side of the cage. "Let's go, now!"

It was night when he heard it again.

"Heee~y," He tried to ignore it, "Do you remember the Hokage Tower? There were so many rooms to hide in."

He tensed. There was no way for her to know, for anyone to know, that when he was a kid and his parents had just died, he spent his time finding new places to hide in the Hokage Tower. "Shut up!"

The tarp was still in place, so how could she know he was alone? How could she know that Megumi had gone to collect water? How come she only talked when he was alone?

"That's not nice!" She declared, and he could almost hear her pouting, "What would Naruto-kun say if he heard you talking to girls like that?"

Once again, he felt the world shift upside down. It felt like the moment Shikamaru told him he could reverse the Infinite Tsukuyomi. No one had mentioned Naruto in two years, and that was only in private company. Publicly, his name was practically taboo. The golden hero who failed in the end. He hated how people referred to his old rival and friend. To hear her say his name so freely, so fondly, was strange to say the least.

"You know the boss?"

She giggled almost manically, "Intimately."

Now that got his attention. He couldn't remember Naruto having anybody as close to him as she was implying. He knew he had a thing for Sakura, but after a while it seemed more like a game than an actual relationship.

Now he had to know, he had to. This girl, she was from Konoha, she was connected to Naruto, she was a connection to his past! There were so few of those now.

Before he could even think, he reached forward and lifted the trap. And then felt the breath leave his body. She was... beautiful. She wore a purple with white polka dot dress, as if she was going on a picnic and not living in a hellish landscape, her pale skin practically radiated in the darkness, as did her eyes, perfectly contrasted by her blue-black hair that fell in waves around her. She sat neatly in the center of the cage, her legs folded under her, hands placed gently on her lap.

She smiled at him, "Hello, Sarutobi Konohamaru-kun, my name is Hyuga Hinata."

A/N: Um, was this kind of an unreveal? The information alone should have given you a clue as to who the caged girl was. And the other prisoner should be fairly obvious as well. As to how they got to be prisoners - not to mention together - will be revealed with time.

I know this seems kind of slow going right now, but please give it a chance, I promise it will have plenty of action and adventure!

Thanks to everyone who favorited or alerted! Special thanks to Sazu, SasuHina, and Relive the Pain! Glad to know somebody's enjoying it!

As always, please review and let me know what you liked, thought could use improvement, or even just to say hello!

- Destiny's Sweet Melody