Welcome back, now that christmas is over I'll be getting back to my normal updating routine. Thanks for pointing out that I was spelling Sakura's surname wrong! Much appreciated! I hate putting A/N in the middle of stories, so I wanted to elaborate on Gaara's hair, just picture Train's from: Black Cat, except red. Also, I have the guys dressing in more of a Bleach/Skater type wardrobe when off duty, simply because it reflects my own --' . Glad you all are enjoying the story so far, so lets get on with it!

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-Chapter 26: Calm Before the Storm-

Gaara, Neji, Shino, and Yumi were making the final round of their patrol, "We meet in two days," stated Gaara as they sprinted through the trees, "we'll depart with Zaiaku and Naruto's team to close the southern pass."

"Isn't that a bit much?" questioned Neji, "three teams to close one pass? surely with your abilities it'll be a simple matter."

Yumi humphed, "maybe they don't think we can do it alone?"

"That doesn't seem to be it," interjected Shino, "I overheard Kurenai-sensei and Asuma-sensei talking. Seems like they aren't quite sure when the sound and mist will arrive, also there have been several scouting teams spotted near the fire country border. Am I right?"

Gaara nodded, "absolutely, but with one discretion," he added, "the scouting teams have been found inside the country, that is why the patrols are going further out than normal."

"In the country already?" exclaimed Yumi, "shouldn't we move sooner then?"

The team stopped and Neji crouched down to begin setting up an exploding trap, "If we move too soon we run the risk of forcing their hand and Konoha not being prepared." Tossing the mono wire to Gaara, the redhead wrapped it around the nearest tree and then toseed the line back, creating a trip wire. "We're better off acting like nothing is going on and proceeding as normal, that is the same reason we're placing traps on our patrols," stated the Hyuuga as he marked the trap placement on the map. Several hours later they arrived in Konoha, "I have to turn in this map to Shikamaru," he stated to Gaara, then turned to walk away, "Hinata is probably at the hospital."

After a quick nod Gaara disappeared in a whirl of sand, reappearing outside his apartment. With a quick shower and change of clothes he finally appeared on the doorstep to Konoha Hospital. The large glass doors slid back smoothly and automatically to allow him entrance, 'That's new,' he thought. Approaching the desk he caught the eye of the receptionist, "excuse me, I am looking for Hyuuga Hinata."

The brown haired girl looked up and immediately blushed. The boy infront of her was wearing faded jeans, a dark-faded brown shirt that read 'Weapon of Mass Destruction', and a sandy brown trench coat. 'Holy heart throb,' she thought, regaining her composure she grinned, "Hinata is currently caring for a patient, you can talk to me for now though."

Gaara eyed her for a moment then cast a glance down the hallway, "No need, please tell her to meet me at the dancing leaf when her shift ends." He turned and began back towards the door, ignoring the 'humph' that resounded from the flirting receptionist.

"You're overworking yourself, Sakura," stated Hinata as they made their way back to the front desk, "everyone here is quite capable, besides, you can't focus if you spread yourself so thin."

The pink haired girl sighed, "I know," she replied, "I just want everyone at their best when the battle comes, and I want to get as much experience as I can so that I'll be able handle everything that comes in. We'll only be dealing with the most extreme wounds, I HAVE to be ready."

Hinata was about to respond when a nurse with brown hair shouted and pointed an accusing finger at her, "YOU!" cried the woman, "How in the hell did you get a guy that hot?"

"What are you talking about?" questioned the Hyuuga heir, completely baffled

Sakura giggled, "I believe she's talking about Gaara, I thought I saw him through the window of the last room I was in," she replied, "he's gotten quite cute."

Hinata frowned at her friend, "I know that," then she smirked in a, frighteningly, Neji-like manner, "do not think I haven't noticed Zaiaku-san. He has become, how do you say it? Hot?"

"I don't think I like this side of you, Hinata," stated Sakura with a tinge of pinks in her cheeks

The receptionist glared in between each girl, then thrust a piece of paper into Hinata's hands, "A message from your visitor."

She eyed the note before frowning, "Oh no," she whispered, "I have to work tonight."

Her taller friend was looking over her shoulder, "I'll take over for you," stated Sakura. Hinata was about to protest when she held up her hand to silence her, "I won't take no for an answer, go have fun."

"Arigato, Sakura," replied the Hyuuga as she signed out and sprinted for the door, "If I see Zaiaku-san, I'll send him here!"

The pink haired kunoichi smiled as she watched her friend's retreating form, "She's changed more than anyone could imagine," she whispered. After a moment she frowned, "sending Zaiaku-kun here? What would I say to him?" her ramblings were cut off by a light down the hall, that indicated that a patient was in need of care.

Meanwhile, Temari was currently on the prowl for a certian blonde haired, newly appointed, jounin, "where in the world?" As she passed in front of a bar a chair came crashing through a window. The sand kunoichi cast a glance inside and saw a flash of blonde hair in a crowd of swinging drunks, "He wouldn't."

Inside said bar, Naruto was quickly recovering after recieving a wooden chair to the back, "son of a bitch!" he yelled and decked his attacker. The kitsune vessel smirked as the man's eyes rolled into the back of his head, signaling unconciousness, 'Now where is my team?' As he scanned the room, his body went rigid, 'What the-?'

"Gotcha!" yelled a man with black hair and several scars on his face, "Go Chomaru!"

Naruto paled, "Oh you're kidding me!" he yelled as a huge fist slammed into him, on impact he poofed into smoke. From behind the bar counter the real Naruto was devising a plan of action, 'Damn baa-chan! I'll get her for putting me with those three!'

"Damn," grunted Yamanaka Inoshi, "I just wanted a nice drink, and then this twerp comes in and starts a fight!"

Behind the counter, Naruto lost his cool and jumped up, glaring, "If you would've been at the strategy meeting you would know I'm your team leader!" He ducked again as a bottle of Sake slammed into the wall behind him.

"Our team leader?" questioned Akimichi Chomaru, "You do realize we've been jounin and a team longer than you've been alive."

Naruto glared and shoved a sheet of paper into Shikato's hands, "Hokage's orders, deal with it."

Inoshi eyed him for a moment before clapping his hands together and then throwing an arm around his shoulder, "NaruInoShikaCho," he grimaced, "Let's get a drink, it'll sound better!"

Chomaru and Shikato grinned and ordered a round of drinks, "I'm not old enough!" yelled Naruto.

The bartender slammed a sake bottle in front of him, "You're old enough to fight a war, you're old enough to drink sake in my bar."

As Naruto raised the bottle to his lips a kunai came flying, from the direction of the door, and shattered it, "Uzumaki Naruto!" came a shrill cry. All the men present recognized that tone and cringed, it was the one wives used when they found said men in the bar. "Temari-chan?" he questioned, "what are you-?"

He was cut off by her gripping his collar and jerking him from the stool, "What am I doing?" she questioned when they got outside, "what are you doing! Getting drunk a few days before a battle? HOW IRRESPONSIBLE!" She was still glaring, but it was quickly losing steam with the look of bewilderment on Naruto's face, 'he's entirely too cute for his own good,' she thought dryly. Eyeing the door to the bar and then the blonde in front of her, she let out a huff and drug him back inside, "I need a drink," she stated to the bartender. Shikato, Inoshi, and Chomaru quickly joined in, along with a still quite baffled Naruto.

An hour later, Inoshi was glancing between his two fellow blondes, "Yup."

"Absolutely," added Chomaru

Shikato took a swig and slammed his bottle down, "They're completely trashed." Reaching over, he smacked Naruto upside the head, rousing him from his stupor, "Oi! Take your girlfriend home, we'll meet up with you tomorrow."

"Hai," he grunted. Placing an arm around the sand kunoichi's waist and draping her arm over his shoulder, he hefted her up. Fumbling in his pocket he tossed a few coins on the table, much to the surprise of his team, "On me." After trudging a few yards outside the bar, Naruto had an epiphamy, 'it's got to be easier to carry her than to drag her.' A short time later he had her secured onto his back and was sprinting from rooftop to rooftop, he was forced to slow down at one point due to his passenger nearly falling off. Landing precariously on his balcony and gently sliding the glass door open, he slipped into his room and placed Temari on his bed.

Said kunoichi had no idea where she was when she woke up, but a familiar scent helped to calm her. Looking around the room, her eyes landed on a huge weapon perched in the corner, a black jacket, and jounin vest draped over it. Then the events of the afternoon came back to her, 'this must be Naruto-kun's room.' She was broken out of her thoughts by a soft whimper from the foot of the bed. Leaning over the edge she saw that Naruto was sleeping on the floor, all be it he didn't look like he was having a good dream.

He gritted his teeth and began whispering, "don't go...stay...please." Temari's curiousity was peaked, so she continued to listen to him, "please..." he gasped, "Temari-chan...don't leave me."

The blonde woman could only stare in confusion, "leave you?" she whispered, "what are you talking about Naruto-kun?"

"please.." he whispered through clenched teeth as a tear rolled down his cheek, "...don't die..."

Temari's instincts had her on the floor in an instant, but that's as far as they took her, she was now confused as to what to do now. "Naruto-kun," she whispered in deperation upon seeing his pained look, "I'm not going to die." His breathing evened out, but the scowl on his face was still evident. The sand kunoichi was slightly terrified by the fact that his lips were curled back, revealing elongated canines, and his birthmarks were now more prominant. She hesitantly reached down and placed a hand on his cheek, running a finger along his markings, "I'm here, Naruto-kun." Before she could react a clawed hand was convering her's, holding it firmly in place.

He nuzzled her hand, "Temari-chan," he said through half lidded and teared up eyes. His claws began to retract, and his facial features were now back to normal.

She smiled softly at him, "hai," she replied. 'He won't remember this in the morning,' she thought as she hesitantly leaned down and kissed his now closed eyelids, "sleep Naruto-kun." As she looked at his red shirt that read 'Half man, Half Demon, All Fox' she giggled. Temari felt her eyelids become heavy once again and her brain told her to get back into the bed and get to sleep, staying the night on a hard floor when there was a soft bed currently vacant, was idiocy. At this point, whether it was her drunken judgement or her desire to not leave him alone, she draped an arm over his waist and rested her head on his chest. 'This feels nice,' she thought as she drifted to sleep.

In another part of Konoha Zaiaku was knocking on the door of the Haruno household, it was almost immediately answered by a woman that had to be in her VERY early thirties, "May I help you?" She was average height and her short brown hair was trimmed neatly to her shoulders, she also had an air about her that said she was not a woman to be fooled with. She was a ninja and a strong one at that.

"Hai," replied Zaiaku, "you must be Sakura-san's sister, is she in?"

The woman cocked an eyebrow, "I'm actually her mother," she replied, "and no she is not in, check the hokage tower or the hospital...she's been spending a lot of time both places, lately."

He couldn't place it, but the ice shinobi felt like he had met this woman before, "Arigato," he replied with a slight bow. As he made his way to the hokage tower, he couldn't shake the thought of Sakura's mother, 'she didn't even ask my name.'

'An odd encounter indeed,' added Shiva

Entering the tower, he noted that all the lights were off and there wasn't a soul in sight, "Well she's not here." Shoving his hands into his pockets, he began his short walk to the hospital. As the glass doors slid back and allowed him entrance, he saw the object of his current search talking with several other women. She was still clad in her chunnin uniform and holding her clipboard, listening intently to the another woman's story, that apparently involved something hilarious.

"I'm NOT joking!" crowed the black haired lady as she recovered from her own tale, "he fell flat onto his face!" This caused the group to go into another fit of laughter, then the dark haired woman caught sight of the blue eyed young man standing at the entrance, "Oh my," she gasped

"What's wrong?" questioned another nurse as she followed her friend's gaze, "So that's the Zaiaku, you and Hinata were talking about earlier." She then frowned, "life isn't fair."

As Sakura emulated her co-workers, her gaze fell on Zaiaku and they locked eyes for the second time that day, "Hi," she muttered while blushing. She had to admit, he did look no short of sexy in his blue & white shirt, with the words 'Don't Run, You'll Just Die Tired' embroidered on the front. He'd replaced his normal black shinobi pants with a pair of bleached out black jeans, but he still wore his long white and blue coat

He grinned like an idiot and offered a small wave, "Hi." He glanced at the other three women, then back to the pink haired kunoichi, "working hard?"

Her blush quickly faded and she frowned, "Actually," she replied curtly, "I'm about to start my rounds. Nice shirt."

"You like it? Naruto got one for Gaara, him, and myself," he stated and approached the group. He smiled at the other women, "I'm Zaiaku by the way."

"Akimi," replied the black haired woman, batting her eyelashes

A red headed girl offered a small bow, "Yoriko."

The last was a brunette, who's cheeks were stained pink, "Mayu."

Sakura rolled her eyes at their antics, then turned her attention back to Zaiaku, "Well? Let's go." She turned quickly and started down the hall, leaving Zaiaku with a puzzeled look and having to sprint to catch up with her. "He's young enough to be their little brother! I can't believe them! All giggling like school girls!"

"Um, Sakura?" questioned a nervous Zaiaku, "are you ok? You're mumbling to yourself."

"I'm fine!" she rounded on him and saw his wide-eyed expression, "Sorry." After a moment she tried to lighten the mood, "Congradulations by the way. From gennin to jounin, that's pretty amazing."

"Eh," replied Zaiaku with a shrug, "It's nothing compared to what you guys do here, anybody can snuff out a life. It takes something special to be able to save one." As they continued from door to door, he broke the silence, "Thanks for the coat, fits great."

"Yea I remembered when you gave me yours," she replied, "I was able to get the right fit from that." She paused and looked at him curiously, "Where's your sword? You never go anywhere without it."

Zaiaku reached down and exposed the left, inside, of his jacket. Embroidered in the coat was a black seal, "I can't always walk around with a sword out, especially in enemy territory." Letting go of his coat, it fell back into place, "not practical for a battle situation but it's fine for in the village."

Sakura was feeling smothered by the tension between them, "I'm sorry," she said as she checked another clipboard outside a patients room, "about, well when yo-"

"You apologized once already," interupted Zaiaku with a soft smile, "that was enough."

She beamed at him and moved on to the next room, "So how does it feel to be in charge of two ANBU teams?"

The ice nin slumped his shoulders and let out an exasperated sigh, "They don't like me too much." Then he leaned against the wall as his companion checked on another patient, "There's this woman in an eagle mask," he stated, "she's really gotten her feathers ruffled, says I'm not 'impressive.' I mean it's just a temporary position, once the fights over I'll just be Zaiaku: Konoha Jounin."

Sakura nearly dropped her clipboard, "An eagle mask huh?" she questioned with a nervous laugh, "well it might be that she's worked really hard to get where she is, then you show off a little in the meeting and you're instantly in charge of her squad."

Zaiaku cocked an eyebrow at her over explained response, "I suppose. So, how much longer are we in for?"

The pink haired girl laced her arm through his, "We have two more floors," she replied, causing Zaiaku to groan, "tell you what, after this we'll go get something to eat, my treat."

"No ramen," he replied, "living without Gaara and Naruto has been a ramen free heaven, I'd like to enjoy that a little more please."

She giggled, "of course, no ramen." She then took on a mock serious expression and pointed dramatically down the hall, "Onward!" Zaiaku only responded with a stiff salute and a snicker.

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End of Chapter

Read and Review - I decided rather than try to slam the meetings between the girls and guys AND the start of the war, I would split it up. Next chapter will have Gaara's dinner with Hinata and Zaiaku and Sakura's dinner. Also will have the ramifications of waking up next to one Kitsune Hanyou after a night of drunkeness. Sorry if this chapter was a bit disappointing.

Preview Chapter 27 - Dawn of War