Naruto and the team are in Suna now. The sand sibs make an appearance in this chapter. Enjoy, folks!
Disclaimer: Lawyers, put away those things, because I don't own Naruto.
A certain Sand shinobi in a cat hood grinned. He was really going to scare Naruto.
Naruto looked around. "It's been a while since I've been here. I wonder how Gaara's doing." He and his team strode to the Kazekage's office, past a certain alleyway.
Kankuro made a few hand seals. Kugutsu no Jutsu! (Puppet Jutsu) he thought, blue chakra strings extending from his fingers. He stealthily sent them out to Naruto's back, and to his puppet Karasu.
Naruto was whistling nonchalantly and holding hands with Sakura. Suddenly, Kankuro's chakra strings pulled him up and right into the face of Karasu.
Naruto wasn't scared. Stupid Kankuro, he thought. He formed chakra into his hand, concentrating it into a blade. Rasengan no Yaiba! (Rasengan Blade) he thought, slicing Karasu in two. "Shouldn't have done that, Kankuro," he said.
The said shinobi came out of the alleyway. "Great," he complained. "Now I gotta repair Karasu," he added. He had just finished with some new traps, and the blond shinobi had probably damaged them.
"That just shows," said Naruto. "Don't mess with the future Hokage!" he grinned. "How ya doing, Kankuro?" he said, shaking the puppeteer's hand. "Is Gaara in?"
"I'm fine," replied Kankuro, "and Gaara's in his office." He gestured to a large building with the kanji "Kaze" (wind) on it.
Gaara was at his desk, taking a nap. One of the benefits of not having Shukaku around was that he could sleep now. He snored quietly, until he heard someone knocking on the door.
"Open up, Gaara!" yelled Naruto. "It's me!"
Gaara stumbled slowly to the door, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Naruto. Good to see you," said the Godaime Kazekage.
The team came in to the office. "Who's the new guy?" asked Gaara. He knew the Uchiha was gone, but the last time he saw them, Sai wasn't there.
"This is Sai," said Sakura, "He's Sasuke's replacement." Sai looked closely at Gaara. "Ohayo, Gaara-kun," he replied.
Gaara nodded in greeting. "What did you come here for?" he asked. "I know you didn't come just to say hi."
Yamato spoke next. "Kazekage-sama," he said. "We are on a very important mission to find Orochimaru and Uchiha Sasuke. We request your intelligence on Orochimaru's whereabouts. "
"No need to be so formal," replied Gaara. He took out a folder of the guard's reports. "From these report's, Orochimaru is about 25 kilometers northwest, in these mountains." He gestured to a large map in the folder. "Take a rest stop while you're here," he said. "I'll give you guys my old apartment." Naruto readily accepted the redhead's offer.
The team relaxed and enjoyed the rare breeze. "At least ero-sennin isn't here," said Naruto, as usual, eating a cup of instant ramen. "He would have gone to the hot springs right away."
"Only one problem, Naruto-kun," replied Sakura. "Suna's too hot for hot springs. It needs cold springs." She smiled at him.
"Alright, you two," said Kakashi. "We move out tomorrow. The base won't be far." Naruto agreed.
"Orochimaru-teme's finally gonna get what's coming to him," said the blond. "I've been training since our last fight." He went out again, to train some more.
By night
"Well, I'm leaving," said Kakashi. He was reading Icha Icha Paradise, as usual. Yamato left as well, not saying anything. He and Kakashi had each taken their own bedrooms, and Sakura took one. Naruto just said he'd sleep on the couch.
"Naruto-kun," said Sakura. "You wanna sleep with me?"
"Eh?" Naruto said. Did I hear her right? (A/N: They didn't do it consciously in the last chapter)
"Baka. Just cuddling at most," she said, playfully punching him. They went up to Sakura's room. They went under the covers and enjoyed each other's warmth.
"Good night, Naruto-kun," she said, smiling.
"Good night, Sakura-chan," he replied, closing his eyes.
They woke up in the morning, and the sun shined down on them. "Ohayo," said Naruto, planting a kiss on Sakura's lips. Sakura woke up as well, and smiled.
"Ohayo, Naruto-kun," she replied. "I should sleep in more often," she added, thinking about his kiss.
"We have to move on," he said. "I gotta face Orochimaru-teme and Sasuke-teme."
Sakura drew on her battle gloves. "Let's go."
Kakashi and Yamato were already waiting for them. Naruto anime fell. I was later than Kakashi-sensei!?
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