Sorry I took so long! My grandparents were visiting for a week and we were so busy I forgot about you all T.T We all went up to the Valley of Fire, which was a-m-a-z-i-n-g! Tons of fun up at rainbow ridge with all the hiking :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I do own Miyuki. *huggles*
"Uhg… This is so weird." I whined as I stood in Gaara's room, Miyuki sitting cross-legged on the floor beside me as I fumbled with the shinobi uniform I was wearing. It was very uncomfortable since I hadn't worn the uniform in so long, and I never once wore a shinobi jounin vest. It felt like it was constricting my chest, even though it was on loose. "God damn it!" I hissed in anger.
"Would you calm down, Saki? It's just a vest. You're acting like we're asking you to carry a boulder around on your back." Miyuki huffed and I glared at Gaara's reflection in the mirror.
"Which would be easy. At least I'm used to doing that." I grumbled unhappily, still messing with the vest in a vain attempt to make it more comfortable.
"That's true. Remember the time that boulder fell and trapped father in a cave? Or the time it was raining really badly and a mudslide sent a bunch of them into the town and broke father's leg? Or the time-" Miyuki stopped at the look on Gaara's face.
"Our father is a clumsy moron." I stated in an amused tone, and Miyuki giggled.
"He really is. Remember the time he was rebuilding the wall around that big window of yours that got smashed during the mudslide, and he ended up breaking his thumb and his arm?" Miyuki asked, bursting into laughter. I laughed softly as well, appreciating that she was trying to cheer me up. I sighed unhappily with the tightness on my chest, but decided to ignore it.
"Sakura… I need to speak with the other Kage's. The battle will be soon." Gaara said suddenly and I turned around to look him in the eye.
"All right…" I agreed hesitantly, not feeling very comfortable where we were. A month had passed since I spoke with Temari, and I was finally satisfied that I could keep Miyuki in line, even while fighting. Gaara arranged it so I would be moved to the same team as her, which meant I was in the Long-Range division now, which also meant that I was in Gaara's division. I still wasn't sure if he had planned that or not. I walked over to Gaara and hugged him tightly, pressing my forehead to his shoulder for a moment before letting go and smiling at him.
"I will see you soon." He said before leaving the room, closing the door quietly behind him. I let out a heavy and unhappy sigh before turning to face Miyuki, looking at her sternly.
"I don't care what he says. I'm wearing my goddamn hitai-ate however the hell I want to." I grumbled and Miyuki giggled. "Now then, little miss giggles… How about you help me with my hair?" I asked as I held up a pair of scissors from off the dresser.
A lot of hassle and twenty minutes later, I turned my head as I looked in the mirror, admiring our work on my hair. Instead of the lower-back length hair that I had before, I now had just above shoulder-length hair. "That is so much better." I sighed happily at the lightness.
"Saki-chan…" Miyuki said suddenly and I looked over at her, frowning at the worried expression she wore.
"What's wrong, Miyuki-chan?" I asked her affectionately, sitting down on the floor next to her.
"I'm afraid… I'm only ten years old… How am I going to be any help?" She asked, looking at me with tear filled eyes that broke my heart.
"Miyuki…" I sighed sadly, putting my arm around her shoulders and hugging her against my side. "You're too young for this fight. I'm ashamed of myself for even agreed to you being here, honestly… But that's not because you aren't strong. No, Miyuki, you're stronger than I am." I said with a small, sad smile. "But you're still so young. I feel terrible that you'll go through this because of me… War is a nasty thing, Miyuki. It's not right that you'll have to experience it at such a young age. But we need you, Miyuki."
"Because of her?" Miyuki asked, referring to Jeriko.
"Yes. And because you're a healer. With your healing and your flames, you'll save thousands, Miyuki. But you'll also have to kill the people trying to kill us… Can you do that?" I asked her gently and she looked at me seriously.
"I… I think I can, Saki-chan. I lost my mom because of evil men. I almost lost you to the bad guys we're fighting." She said sadly and I nodded. "And they hurt and killed a lot of other people's families. I think I can… kill them because of that." Miyuki said hesitantly and I nodded.
"You'll have to kill, Miyuki. Whether to protect someone else or to protect yourself. We need you to live through this and help us win. You can kill as little as you want, but you need to keep this in mind. Anyone who doesn't get killed ends up going and killing our allies and friends. We're up against blood thirsty and heartless murderers, sweetie." I said as softly as I could, knowing I was talking to a ten year old child, but also knowing that she had to understand. Otherwise she would freeze up and not act in time to save others or herself, and we needed her for the fight since Naruto and the Hachibi weren't fighting.
She was our only trump card.
"In the First, Second, and Third wars, each country and village fought for their own gain, as shinobi, and hated and hurt one another. That hatred bred a lust for power, which gave birth to me." Gaara said after he used his sand to end the second fight to break out in the ranks. "I too used to be a host, an embodiment of hatred and power. I hated everyone and wanted to destroy the world, just as Akatsuki is attempting to do now… But one Konoha shinobi stopped all of that." Gaara closed his eyes for a moment and I looked down sadly at the memories. Miyuki grabbed my hand tightly, and I smiled at her softly as Gaara began to speak again.
"He was my enemy, but he cried for me. I caused him pain, yet he called me a friend! He saved me!" Gaara shouted to everyone. "We were enemies, but he was a host too. There are no grudged when you understand another's pain!" I watched him intently, everyone else in the army doing the same. "There are no enemies here! We have all suffered because of Akatsuki! There is no Suna, or Iwa. No Konoha, Kiri, or Kumo! There is only shinobi! And if you still cannot forgive Suna, then once the war is over, you can take my head!" Gaara shouted and I stared at him.
"The enemy is now after that very friend who saved me! If the enemy gets their hands on him, the world will be over. I want to protect my friend, and I want to protect the world! But I am too young to do so alone! I need all of you to help me!" Gaara declared, and the response was immediate.
"Of course we will, Gaara-sama!" A man shouted immediately, and thousands of other shinobi voiced their agreement cheerfully. I smiled as Miyuki jumped up and down, yelling 'You got it!' on the top of her lungs, feeling my morale burst immediately. I smiled brightly at Gaara, and I could have sworn that for a brief second, he smiled back. I watched as the army broke into their respective squads, the squad leaders making their way down quickly. I placed myself and Miyuki in the front line of the squad, right where I was assigned, and waited.
It didn't even take a minute for Gaara to reach us, and I watched as everyone lined up in perfect coordination. In front of their respective groups were Mifune, then Kakashi to his right, and to Kakashi's right was Gaara, to Gaara's right was Kitsuchi, and to his right was Darui. "Miyuki." I murmured to the young girl who clutched my hand desperately. "Focus." I said under my breath, immediately feeling Miyuki relax, now entirely focused. Good… But my success doesn't make me feel any better about her being here… I thought sadly, staying completely focused on Gaara's back.
I watched as Gaara suddenly ran forward, and everyone, including Miyuki and I, immediately charged after him without any hesitation.
"Kazekage-sama!" One of the sensors in the group called out suddenly, and Gaara glanced over his shoulder at me briefly before focusing ahead, never once slowing down.
"Stay here, Miyuki." I said before jumping over the various shinobi and landed just beside the sensor who shouted. "What's the problem?" I asked him seriously. He looked at me distrustfully for a moment. "Look, Gaara asked me to come back here, so if you can't trust me, trust him." I said quietly and after a moment, he nodded. No one but Gaara, Temari, Baki, Kankurou, and my sister and father knew that I never had any intention of killing Gaara. It wasn't a secret; I just didn't care enough to ask Gaara to make an announcement. People would be distrustful of me anyways, so why even bother?
"Two enemies are approaching from the north." He murmured and I frowned deeply.
"Only two?" I asked with a frown and he nodded.
"It's strange… They are so well organized. I don't understand why they are only sending two people against us. There are thousands of us in this division alone." The man said in a confused tone.
"It's bound be a trap. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious." I said and he raised an eyebrow at me. I rolled my eyes. "Fine, not an eye. Keep a whatever-you-use-to-sense-shit out for anything suspicious." I corrected myself sarcastically, but smiled lightly at the man to show I was just playing. He had no reaction to my teasing, so I jumped back to the front beside Miyuki.
"A problem?" She asked worriedly.
"Nothing we can't handle." I said before running forward to run beside Gaara.
"What is it?" He asked without looking at me.
"Two enemies from the north." I said quietly to him.
"Only two?" He asked in surprise and I nodded.
"Exactly my reaction. I told him to keep an eye out for anything suspicious, because either it's a trap, or it's two very strong people." I said softly and he nodded dismissively. I fell back to my place in the line silently, looking around discreetly for anything out of the ordinary. "Miyuki, if for some reason I get separated from you-"
"I know. Stick with Gaara-sama." Miyuki said with a smile, and I nodded at her.
"Exactly. But don't worry. If we get separated, I can find Gaara without a problem." I assured her and she frowned.
"So that's why you need me to stick with him?" She asked and I nodded again. "Oh. How do you know where to find him?" She asked curiously.
"It's a secret." I said, winking at her. Miyuki giggled, but I noticed she looked a little worn out. "Here, Mi. I'll carry you for a bit." She opened her mouth to protest, so I went on quickly. "Just until you catch your breath. You didn't have a lot of time to perfect your speed, you know." I reminded her and she sighed.
"All right." She agreed and quickly climbed onto my back while I ran. I noticed the guy beside me watching us oddly, so I frowned at him.
"What? She's a kid." I said defensively and the man looked forward again.
"Sakura…" Miyuki murmured in my ear so only I would hear, but the voice was Jeriko's.
"Jeriko?" I asked softly in alarm.
"Don't worry. Miyuki's still in control, I'm just talking through her so I can speak to you without alerting anyone by changing form…" Jeriko whispered. "I'm worried about something."
"What is it?" I asked quietly.
"There's something strange in the air. Be careful, Sakura…" She murmured, barely finishing the last word before the sensor shouted out.
"Incoming!" He cried out just before I felt my body lurch backward, knocking Miyuki from my back. I let out a cry of alarm as I was yanked backwards, hitting several shinobi that were unfortunate enough to be behind me. I watched as Gaara reached for me, sand flying from his gourd and swiftly wrapping around my waist, pulling me back and freeing me from whatever was pulling me the other way. I slammed into the ground on my side, but was completely unharmed because sand pooled underneath me, breaking my fall. I jumped to my feet and spun to face whoever had just attacked me, and my eyes immediately widened in shock.
Right... Before it goes on any further, let me just make this clear. I wrote this story 2 months ago, so all the recent development doesn't apply in this story. I could go back and re write it all, but it would be time consuming, and frankly I quite like my story as it is. Hopefully you all do as well... Please review! Reviews make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!