Whirlwind

Chapter Two

-Konoha-

She was walking in the forest. She couldn't remember why she was there, but some unknown force was telling her to walk forwards. It was twilight, leaving just enough light for her to see where she was going. It felt like she had walked for miles until eventually, she reached a clearing. What she saw shocked her. Not five feet in front of her stood Sasuke and Gaara. Gaara had most of Sasuke covered in sand and looked as if he was about to crush him, while Sasuke had his katana at Gaara's throat, poised to strike.

She looked at them in confusion. "Sasuke? Gaara? What's going on?"

Sasuke turned his head to face her. "It's time to choose Sakura."

"Choose what?" she asked cautiously. At that point Gaara had turned his head to face her also, and when she locked eyes with him she felt as though she could drown in their jade depths. Then he spoke, breaking the spell she was under.

"You must choose which one of us to save."

She wanted to ask more questions, but knew that neither of them would answer. So, who to save?

Sasuke was too fast and quick thinking to not already have a plan on how to get out of Gaara's sand coffin, and Gaara had his sand shield to protect him from Sasuke's katana, even though it had special abilities. She should save Gaara, because he was the Kazekage of Suna, and his village would suffer if he died. But Sasuke was her former teammate and long time love. Naruto would be devastated if he died. Heck, he would be devastated if either one of them died.

But if you put all logic aside, which one did she want to save?

She didn't know Gaara very well, in fact, she hadn't really ever held a conversation with him before, but she knew that he was a great ally and friend to have on your side. Sasuke on the other hand she knew. Somewhat. True, he had changed over the years he had been away, but deep down he was still that troubled, lost 12 year old boy, looking for love. She just knew it.

If she really thought about it she cared more for Sasuke than she did Gaara, but there would be more consequences if Gaara died instead of Sasuke. Torn between what she knew was the right choice and what she wanted, she clutched her head and sank to the ground, crying.

"If you cannot choose, then we will both die." With that she heard Sasuke yell. "Lightning Blade!" as Gaara muttered, "Sand coffin!"

"NO!"

She bolted upright in her bed, the last of her screams fading into the darkness of her room. She was covered in sweat, her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest, and she was on the verge of hyperventilating. To sum it all up, she was freaking out. She shook her head frantically, trying to get rid of what she had just seen.

"It was just a dream Sakura, get a hold of yourself." She muttered, trying desperately to calm her still racing heart.

Taking a shaky breath, she got out of bed and went into her bathroom. The best thing to make her feel better right now was a nice, warm bath. Seeing as it was her day off, she could afford such a luxury. She turned on the water, and poured a healthy amount of bubble bath into the tub. Once all that was done she took off her pajamas and got in.

About an hour and a half later she left her apartment, heading out to get some groceries. After all, she wasn't scheduled to go on any missions this month, since Tsunade-shishou had told her that she would be needed at the hospital. It was one of those rare times when she could buy food and not have to worry about it expiring if she was called away on a mission.

As she reached the marketplace a shadow passed overhead. She looked up, thinking it was a fellow ninja, only to see a messenger hawk from Suna. Her brow furrowed slightly. Strange. As far as she knew they didn't have any upcoming meetings, and the treaty didn't need to be discussed or changed again. Although, the way the Konoha Elders were, as well as the Suna Council, one never knew. The only other possibility was that something bad had happened. Not wanting to be caught unprepared, she decided to forego grocery shopping and instead went to find Naruto. Because if there was something bad happening in Suna, no doubt it would be their team that would be called to lend aid.

She went to Ichiraku, knowing that he usually went there first after returning to the village. She didn't even have to scan for him along the stools, for it was difficult to not see the orange-clad ninja. A smile came to her lips as she walked up behind him. "Hey Naruto. How was your mission?"

The blonde turned around quickly on his seat, and engulfed her in a fierce hug. "Sakura-chan! I missed you so much!"

"Naruto let up a little will you? Besides, you were only gone for three days!" she laughed, admitting if only to herself that she had missed him as well.

After one last squeeze, the blonde released her. "Sorry Sakura-chan, but you know how excited I get."

Sakura waved him off, still smiling. "Yeah, yeah I know. So? How did the mission go?"

"It was awful! Hinata and I barely had to do anything! I wish Baa-chan would give me better missions." He whined, sounding almost tortured.

She laughed. At least he and Hinata got to spend some quality time together. Maybe he would make a move soon and ask her out already, for despite the Hyuuga heiress having confessed to him, it seemed as though he was avoiding the subject entirely. "Maybe if you were nicer to her she would give you better missions."

He crossed his arms in defiance. "Well maybe if she gave me better missions I would be nicer to her."

They held a staring contest for a few seconds, and then burst into laughter. Realizing that she hadn't eaten breakfast that morning due to her disturbing dream, she sat down next to Naruto and joined him in a bowl of ramen. They talked animatedly for about an hour. Even though it hadn't been that long since she had last seen him, it was still good to catch up and just joke around. Naruto was always good to talk to when you wanted to cheer up.

"So what's bothering you Sakura-chan? You seem a little down." Naruto asked her after a few moments of silence between them.

She frowned slightly. Curse Naruto and his untimely observations. "It's nothing really, I just had a weird dream last night."

"I get those all the time! One time I had this dream about ramen, but the ramen was talking to me, and then-" Suddenly a shinobi that usually ran the Hokage's messages ran up to them. Sakura herself was glad for the interruption. She'd heard enough ramen dreams to last her a lifetime. The shinobi stopped a foot away from them and bowed.

"Sakura-san! Naruto! Hokage-sama needs you in her office right away!" Sensing that this had to do with the Suna messenger hawk she saw earlier, Sakura grabbed Naruto's arm and began running towards Hokage Tower.

"Aw man! I didn't get to finish telling you my dream!" the jinchuuriki lamented.

"We don't have time for that Naruto! I think something's happened in Suna!" The punk haired woman told him. That shut him up quickly. She knew that he was worried about Gaara, but with the Shukaku gone, what more could Akatsuki want with him?

They burst through the doors of the Hokage's office and saw that Kakashi was already there. Before anyone could say anything, Naruto ran up to Tsunade's desk, hitting the wood with the palms of his hands and yelled, "What is it Baa-chan? Did something happen to Gaara?" Tsunade leaned around Naruto and raised a brow at Sakura. She shrugged in embarrassment, being caught as the one who caused Naruto's worry.

"I saw the Suna messenger hawk this morning Shishou. Naturally I assumed that something important had happened and that was why you called us here on our day off." She explained.

Tsunade sighed. "Sometimes I forget how smart you are Sakura." She turned back to Naruto. "Calm down baka and let me explain." There was a pregnant pause as she waited for everyone's attention. "Someone tried to attack Suna earlier today."

Everyone in the room gasped.

"Who was it Shishou? What happened?" Sakura spoke up, her dream resurfacing in her mind. No, it couldn't be. Could it? There was no way that that had happened. It was impossible.

"It was Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura went deathly white. She didn't believe in coincidences, but this was just too weird. The fact that right after she had a dream with both Sasuke and Gaara in it, trying to kill each other, Gaara captures Sasuke in an attempt to kill him, had to mean something. Maybe her dream was meant to be a warning of things to come?

Naruto exploded. "What? That bastard tried to attack Suna? Where is he? Let me go get him Baa-chan! I'll bring him back this time! I-"

"Naruto! Shut up and pay attention!" Tsunade yelled. This quieted the blonde immediately. The Hokage sighed before looking back at Sakura and Kakashi. "All we know is that Sasuke tried to attack Suna earlier this morning. Apparently he thought he would try and kill the Kages in their own villages, since he couldn't do it at the summit."

At this point Kakashi spoke up. "What do you need us to do Hokage-sama?"

"I need you three to go to Suna and bring Sasuke here. While this crime is against Suna, Gaara has graciously agreed to hand him over to us for interrogation and punishment, since he was once a Leaf shinobi." She pointed a warning finger at Naruto. "Don't make me regret allowing you to go on this mission Uzumaki."

"That means you need to control yourself Naruto." Kakashi let out a soft sigh.

Naruto nodded. "I'll do my best." He promised.

"Sakura, you seem very quiet. Is everything ok?" the masked jounin asked her.

She covered up her true feelings with a fake smile. "Yes everything is fine. I'll meet you guys at the gate in an hour." Then she fled the room, wanting to be in the confines of her home before she couldn't hold in her true feelings.

When she got home she was determined not to think about it. Her dream had nothing to do with what had just happened. Quickly, she threw all her ninja gear into her pouches, also adding in some herbs and medicines she might need, since Sasuke could use poison, thanks to Orochimaru.

As usual, she was the first one to arrive at the meeting spot, shortly followed by Naruto, and then Kakashi. Without a word they leapt into the trees, wanting to get to Suna as soon as possible. Hardly anything was said on the way there, and it reminded her of their last trip to Suna, when it was Gaara they were going to retrieve. On the third day Kakashi had the group stop at a small oasis a short distance away from Suna to refill their canteens and make a plan.

"Ok, we already know that Gaara has Sasuke in custody. The important thing is to not overreact when we see him." the silver haired man said.

"But Kakashi-sensei, I need to give the bastard a piece of my mind!" Naruto wagged a fist in the air.

"That can wait until later Naruto. When we arrive we will most likely have to go and speak to Gaara in his office, and then wait for the proper protocol to be followed." Kakashi informed his former student. "How do you expect to become Hokage when you refuse to follow simple rules?"

Sakura decided to speak up then. "We will also have to stay the night, since we will be exhausted by the time we reach Suna."

"Excellent point Sakura. It will be another four or five days before Sasuke actually enters the walls of Konoha for the first time in five years. During the time it takes for us to bring him back there anything can happen."

Naruto looked confused. "Like what?"

Sakura sighed, already knowing the answer. "Leaf is not the only village that wants to punish Sasuke. Enemy ninja could try and take him from us. On top of that, he might have unknown allies that would want his freedom. We must be prepared for anything."

"Oh. Well I'm sure Gaara will give us an escort or something. It's not like he's just gonna hand Sasuke over and say good riddance." Their teacher nodded, rubbing at his masked chin.

Sometimes Naruto's faith in people astounded her. That's exactly what she would expect Gaara to do once they got there. Sasuke was not his responsibility, and he already had enough things to worry about besides helping a neighboring village with its prisoner.

Shortly after the conversation they left to continue their travels. Later that afternoon, they could see a small dot on the horizon.

Naruto pointed, "Look! There's Suna!" Then he began to run even faster. Sakura exchanged looks with Kakashi, and they both silently agreed to pick up the pace. They reached the village just as the sun was setting. Waiting for them at the entrance was Kankuro, badly bruised, and covered in enough bandages to look like a mummy.

"Hey guys. I'm glad you're here. It's been…well you should probably just wait and see." The puppet master sounded tired and worn.

"Well we had a good reason to get here as fast as we could." The leaf jounin said, trying to sound upbeat.

Kankuro nodded in agreement. "True. Follow me. I am to take you to see Gaara as soon as you arrive. You guys have much to discuss."

Sakura looked at Naruto knowingly. She knew that he wanted to see Sasuke, but, in Suna's defense, he had been warned that they wouldn't get to see him right away. They followed Kankuro through the village. Eventually they came upon a large building, similar to that of Hokage Tower, and in no time at all they were in front of the large doors that led into Gaara's office. Their guide knocked, asking for entry. A soft 'enter' was heard. As Kankuro reached to open the large double doors, Sakura took a sharp breath. Something told her that the next few days were going to have a huge impact on the rest of her life.