Running After the Rain

Kankuro had loaded his last scroll onto his back as he headed out the front of Kiba's house. Hana had been running towards him with a paper in her hand with a worried look on her face. "Hey Hana, what's up?" he asked. Hana reached his side and shoved the paper in his hands as she hurried inside the house. Kankuro looked down at the paper and read the first paragraph before he started shaking.

The group that was sent out three days ago containing, Sakura, Kiba,Shikamaru and Tenten are missing in action or either dead. We received word from a local village in the River Country that a large amount of blood was covered all over the forest ground and tree trunks. Strands of hair was mixed in with the blood and a large white dog is being carried back to Konoha as we speak. We took samples of the blood and are coming to a conclusion by this afternoon. Please inform their loved ones of the terrible news...

Kankuro bolted into a run towards the flat Temari was staying in. He shouted her name before he reached her front door. "TEMARI OPEN THE DOOR! TEMARI!" he shouted. His fists were shaking as they pounded against her door. His mind was racing over the memories he shared with Kiba. His beloved Kiba holding his hands and kissing his lips. The sensation of Kiba's skin across his fingertips. The times they saved each other on missions that almost cost Kiba's life as well as his own. The morning's of waking up to a sleeping Kiba and his dog Akamaru. These thoughts were making him loose his balance. He fell to his knees at her front door, not being able to move as the tears drew past his painted cheeks.

She finally opened the door and looked down at Kankuro. "What's going on? What happened." He handed her the paper he received from Hana and watched Temari begin to read it. He was shaking from the idea of Kiba sprawled on the ground somewhere murdered and decaying. "No.." she whimpered. She hurried back into the house and grabbed her large fan. When she came back to Kankuro she grabbed him by his arm and dragged his shaking body into a charge towards the entrance. Shino and Hinata had arrived before them and stopped them before they left the gate of the village. "Kiba is our dear friend too. We will aide you!" Shino instructed. Temari was impatient and nodded her head in a rush, "Alright then, come on!"

Unfortunately the party was stopped again by Neji. "I came early from my mission and heard the news. I'm going with you!" he valiantly declared. By the time the group left at a charging race to where there had been word of the location of the pool of blood in the River Country, it had begun to rain. Kankuro ran faster and harder than the others, it was as if he was running after the rain itself. "Kankuro slow down..." Temari ordered. But it was dismissed and the running increased for two days straight.

Shino maintained his stamina but the poor Hinata fell to the ground in exhaustion when they made camp half way through the Fire Country. Kankuro paced by the fire as Temari looked down at her hand and began swirling a ring around her wedding finger. Neji scanned the area over and over and couldn't stop thinking about a strategy if there were any survivors. He clutched his fist's and clenched his eyes shut. He was struggling to hold back his emotions. Just thinking about Tenten's condition was heart wrenching.

--

It had taken two days max for news of Sakura's disappearance to reach Gaara's hands. He was handed the scroll from Baki himself. When he opened it, Baki remained in a bowing position listening to his Kazekage unfurl the scroll into a reading page. Gaara read the letter three times before he set it down and began to fill up with numbness. His fingers shook as his chukra sand swirled around his ankles, he wanted desperately to do something.

Then he remembered a moment he had with Sakura a few months ago. She was healing a turtle inside one of Suna's medical labs. He watched her warm the turtle's legs and shell and began to heal it's injuries. As she did this, she looked up at him and smiled from the counter. Then said, "You know this turtle sort of reminds me of you. It hides in it's shell when it's scared or hurt. And like you, I believe you hide in your shell when you're alone and sad... But when we first met before the Chunin exams, you asked me to show you what love was. You peeked out of your shell to come and talk to me. You were a walking happy turtle who saw the world completely different afterwards. So promise me, when you end up curling back into your shell again, promise me you'll peek out and find happiness again. Ok. " Gaara had sat up from the stool across the counter she had the turtle displayed on. "What do you mean by that? I'm happy now that we're together, Sakura..." he muttered.

His voice was a slow even pace that it nearly entranced her every time he spoke. "Um...ehem, well I have to return to Konoha soon, Gaara. I can't stay and live here because we've been together for soo--" Gaara slammed his fist on the counter in protest and glared up at her, "I almost lost you to Deidara, SAKURA! It cost me my life when he came back here and nearly destroyed Suna. After four days of being in Suna you want to go back? Why? So you can meet another Deidara! And I can sit here and wait for another assault on my village! Stop playing games and grow up! We're engaged Sakura and I love you. But I am not here to be your toy in the love games you play!"

From his words she looked away from him clutching the counter to keep herself standing. It was a horrible night for the both of them and she left Suna the next day completely heartbroken. And now she was dead... He clenched his fists in anger and the chukra sand reacted violently. It attacked his desk and ripped it in half. Then went to the halves of the desk and shattered it into splinters. Baki raised his head up in shock. "Sir?"

Gaara looked up at him and glared murderously. His body vibrated with anger and pain. He could feel his muscles spasm and heart race faster and faster. The image of the office was leaving his sight and he kept seeing moments of Sakura smiling on the bed beside him. Holding her as he stroked his fingers through her soft pink hair. Then the image of her body lying somewhere in the forest basked in a puddle of blood with her wide empty greenish blue eyes staring into nothingness. "Sakura..." he choked. Baki slowly walked towards him with his hand reached out in caution. He was attempting to comfort Gaara. "They said she may or may not be dead sir." he cooed. Gaara's swarm of chukra built up inside of him calmed at a slow pace. His image of her dead changed. He now saw that she was facing him and smiling...waiting for him to save her.

Author's note: OO don't be mad at me for taking a day or two to write a short paragraph! Oo I sorry! I've been stressed out and trying to write a quality story. I've even been reading other books to help inspire me...Anita Blake isn't the best choice but it's helping me sort of...Please review oO..