Chapter Fourteen

In Another Village Far Away

A young man takes a scroll from a messenger hawk. He's mostly pleased with the report he gets from the two he sent. That is, until he reads the last entry 'Haruno Sakura seems to be smitten by Saboko no Gaara'. He clenched his fists. 'Gaara, of course he has to ruin everything… well I always get what I want… and she was my cherry blossom first.'

Next Morning At The Hospital

Neji and TenTen wake up, she is obviously feeling better. She gets her vitals checked, then they are alone again.

She smiles at him "So what was that thing you were trying to say to me before the attack."

He was shocked 'Why would she want to talk about that here, let alone remember?' "Oh, um, where was I?"

"I recall something about destiny?" she smirked.

He took a deep breath "I've learned that a man can create his own destiny." he reached into his pocket, got on one knee and pulled out a ring. Her eyes lit up. "I'm asking you TenTen, will you be part of my destiny?"

She squealed. "Of course Neji!" he hugged and kissed her while she cried. The nurses watched them and smiled.

Back At The Mansion

Everyone was waking up when Gaara and Sakura went up to see the Hokage. They went into her office, she looked up "Oh hello, how was the party?"

"Oh it was great, until the assassination attempt."

"WHAT?!" Tsunade stood up from her chair "Why wasn't I told till now?" They were quiet, they didn't have a good explanation. "Alright, so tell me what happened."

Sakura told her what happened and handed her the scroll. She watched her read it, waiting for a surprised reaction. Instead she looked like she was expecting it. She put it down and rubbed her temples. She started righting a new scroll and handed it to Sakura. "Find Kakashi, give this to him, tell him nothing. I will send for you after he reports to me. Try Anko's, they were supposed to go on a mission today." They both nodded, bowed and left her office.

They ran down the street to Anko's apartment. Sakura knocked on the door. A shirtless Kakashi answered the door. Her jaw dropped, "KAKASHI! You didn't!"

He scratched the back of his head "Well you see, Anko and I were doing our laundry last night, and…"

"SAVE IT! Here, this an urgent message from the Hokage." She gave him the scroll.

He raised an eyebrow. After he read it he yelled "Anko! Get dressed we gotta report to the Hokage's office. Thank you, I'll see you soon." he smiled and shut the door. They rolled their eyes and left.

At The Hokage's Office

Tsunade takes a sip of sake. "Ok…Kakashi and Anko, now that you know what's going on, we can start. First of all, TenTen survived, so she's going to have to play dead for awhile. Second, what do we actually want with Sasuke?" Gaara really wanted to suggest 'Dead' "Also, Gaara is now apart of this and I don't want war to break out." Gaara hadn't thought of that, he might be forced to sit this battle out. "Most importantly, what do we do with Sakura?"

"I don't want her to meet Sasuke. We know what he wants and its too dangerous" Kakashi said in a fatherly tone

Sakura stepped forward "I don't want to face him, but it is my duty as a shinobi to go through with any mission."

Gaara was both worried and proud by her comment.

Tsunade looked up at her "That doesn't mean we will tie a bow to your neck and just hand you over to him."

It was Anko's turn "And what about TenTen's body? It will be a little strange when she shows up without a body."

Kakashi thought for a moment, then took Gaara aside. They whispered amongst themselves for a little while.

Tsunade ignored them "Well, we do have a week to plan and prepare."

Kakashi and Gaara turned around. "Lady Tsunade, I think we have an idea…"

She sipped her sake "Well… Let's hear it…"

TO BE CONTINUED………..

Will Kakashi and Gaara's plan work? Or will Sasuke take Sakura away from Konoha, especially now that she is finally with Gaara? What is in store for Hotaru's future? What is going on in Shino's mind and will he ever get to study his firefly's? Is there a future for Ino and Choji, or is Kiba going to ruin it. Will Tsunade get back together with Jiraiya? So many questions to be answered……..