Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor will I ever.

Summary: "Haruno Sakura, you have been ordered to guard the prisoner Uzumaki Naruto." After a strict order from the Hokage, Sakura has been forced to conquer her greatest fear—the rumored beast of Konoha. The tragedy is slowly revealed, piece-by-piece.

Pairing: Naruto X Sakura

Beta Reader: Haishiro

AN: The characters arrive back to Konoha in this chapter! And a beta reader XD

Edited as of March 24, 2009

Broken Leaf

05. Ding Dong Requiem

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The first specks of snow floated to the red sand. It was like a frozen wasteland, void of any living object. She only had Uzumaki as company now, the blond who was now resting against the soft soil, eyes closed entirely. She placed her hand on his forehead, attempting to find any sign of warmth. She did. She then placed her own hand on her forehead. It was cold.

She blinked and tried the procedure again, not quite sure what to think of the results. She rubbed her forehead and found that her headache appeared to have gone away during the night. Her stomach was once again at rest and wasn't threatening to empty its contents.

She held out both of her hands, in an attempt to catch some of the falling snow. In the end, she only managed to catch a few specks. Most of had turned into water by the time it had reached the soil. Uzumaki woke up soon afterwards, looking refreshed and lively. She was glad at least one of them wasn't completely dead.

"How was your sleep?" she commented.

"Great!" he laughed. Sakura nodded, not use to his recent behavior. He was so lively now, compared to how he had acted when she met him a few days ago, in that dark cell. There were certain times that even her mind had began to doubt the fact that this Uzumaki was indeed the same Uzumaki that had been trapped in the dark. It was hard to believe.

A twig cracked. She swung her head to the direction of the sound. "Did you hear that?"

Naruto shook his head, "I don't hear anything." Once again, his tone had switched into a more serious one. She moved her eyes to the blond, and to the source of the sound. There was something terribly wrong…

"I'll go to investigate anyways," she said. With that, she got up and raced away, never allowing Naruto to respond.

"I was sure I heard somebody," muttered Sakura, jumping over another large patch of snow. She gritted her teeth irritably. There had been no doubt she heard a noise, but she had disregarded the fact that the noise didn't necessarily have to have come from a human.

The snow crunched loudly below her sandals. Drat. It was a misjudgment on her part and she only hoped that Uzumaki wouldn't berate her too much for her mistake.

'So much for stealth' She sighed. Turning around, she realized that Naruto was nowhere in sight.

"He can follow the footsteps," she nodded, quickening her pace.

Light footsteps were embedded in the snow, so he should be able to follow, right?

Sakura edged her head towards the left, peering into the vast desert. Nothing. She turned her heads towards the right, and still, only the desert greeted her. She breathed out a wisp of smoke, coughing. Was the shadow something caused by her headache? Perhaps she really had not seen in after all. She stretched her neck to stare to the sky. The snow had long cleared, along with its clouds. That meant that even the clouds weren't capable of creating any shadows.

"You're faster than you look." A voice spoke behind her. She twisted around, spinning on her sandals. She saw Naruto, leaning on his knees and slight panting.

Sakura looked down to the wet sand, "Sorry, I got ahead of myself when I thought I had seen the stalker. I guess I was incorrect."

"Oh," he said, too short a response for Sakura to properly interpret his words, "That's alright."

She frowned, still unable to decipher his true response. Did he mean it, or was he merely saying that because he was trying to act polite to catch her off guard. Just a few days ago, he had been so keen on capturing the stalker, but now, it didn't seem to matter that much to him anymore.

An explosion sounded loudly through the area, echoing through Sakura's eardrums. She resisted the urge to scream and hide. There was no place to hide for Sakura. The collision had rocked the whole area, sending piles of wet snow crashing down.

"What is this!" Sakura dropped to knees against her will, tumbling into the snow. In the corner of her eyes, she could see that Naruto suffered the same fate, also crashing into a pile.

"It's that crazy manic who's been dropping bombs all over Suna. I heard it from the Sand nin," shouted Naruto, coughing a lump of snow from his mouth. Sakura winced.

"I think something happened to the Kazekage," he said, getting up from the snow. He glanced towards the direction of the Sand village and took off quickly, barely leaving any prints in the snow.

"We aren't supposed to be chasing after the Kazekage!" reminded Sakura. She sighed. It didn't make much of a difference. Though, from her knowledge, the Kazekage had been taken up north. Konoha was in the southeast. How far would they have to travel and what was Uzumaki's intent for helping another nation? Even basic knowledge of where the Kazekage had been kidnapped would be classified information. He could have only known if someone had secretly passed down the information to him. And for all she could have known, this someone could have harbored ill intent towards the leaf. She almost laughed out loud with her thoughts.

It could all have been a coincidence, with the type of luck she had.

Pushing herself off from the freezing pile, she trailed after the pale prints in the snow. Sakura took the opportunity to shake off the ice that had layered across her body. She didn't take her time, knowing that she would have to hurry before the snow covered her only trail leading to Uzumaki.

"So cool…" she remarked softly. Eying the snow one last, Sakura hopped quickly to the source of the explosion, hoping that it wouldn't have been too late. The scene was large, and she figured that the big crater in the hole was at least one-fifth the size of Konoha. It also seemed to extend ten feet below ground. Specks of tiny little figures could be seen standing close, hunched together. They seemed to be crowding towards one particularly spot.

Sakura shivered, rubbing her legs. A medic skirt could prove to be one of the worst things one could wear sometimes.

Deserts were unpredictable places, always randomly blowing out sand or snow storms. Life was similar to deserts too, in that aspect. Sakura wondered to herself why she had been so selfish as to have wanted to arrive back to Konoha, when she could have done something.

She stood on the last row, the further person away, but that was expected.

She had arrived late.

She wondered if Uzumaki was up front, seeing how he arrived before her, before the snow had reached a height where it had reached her knees. A burst of regret twisted in her stomach, leaving a faint scar as it disappeared. In a twisted ironic way, this vaguely reminded her of the Sandaime's funeral. Only, this time, instead of someone who had been expected to die because of old age, someone unexpectedly young had disappeared from this year.

The snow was falling again; the sky was crying with frozen tears because it couldn't with wet tears.

The medic pushed around the crowds, silently edging her way towards the front. The people shuffled around, easily allowing Sakura to pass. That didn't make her feel better. She knew that she could have helped, and then, no one would have had to suffer. She cursed inwardly, biting her lower lip. As she reached nearer and nearer to the front, she discovered that less and less people were standing. Most people had chosen to remain in the back.

It was a pity, but she knew she had no right to say anything.

At the core of the crowd gathered six people she recognized instantly. She said a brief greeting to them before falling silent. The three other strangers, she ignored.

A lone pillar of stone stood idly in the dirty snow with a name carved on it.

Fifth Kazekage Gaara

"Are you still cold?"

Sakura nodded briefly. Her voice didn't seem to be functioning correctly. Even if she had known Gaara on a personal level, she had heard of his great devotion to his village. He was not someone so easily replaced, if even such a task was possible.

"You're weak," commented Naruto, laughing. He speeded up a bit, getting ahead of her. Sakura nodded her head again, barely able to hear his words.

"I'm bored; are you?" It seemed to Sakura that he was determined in making conversation. But, still, she shook her head.

"Well, I'm bored, so why aren't you bored as well?" he asked, twitching his nose. He sniffed, wiping his nose with the edge of his sleeve. "I hate this place."

Sakura turned her gaze towards him. There was something about the way his body tensed and the way he moved. It all was so forced and rigid, so unnatural to the trained medic eye.

"Are you saddened by the Kazekage's death?" she asked. When she asked it, she found the words to be more tragic than she would have expected, or wanted.

She noticed an odd silence had occurred between the two, and for a moment, she wondered if she had overstepped her boundaries as someone he had merely met two days ago. She swallowed and took a deep breath. She realized that Uzumaki had kept quiet.

"Do you suppose that the dead are in a better place?" His voice was quiet, ever-so calm in the midst of the blowing storm. Sakura wondered if she had heard correctly.

"Maybe," she said, finding her voice to be the same as his. The two continued in silence then, with Sakura finding comfort that Naruto, somebody, was with her.

The rain continued onwards, even when they had reached Konoha. Even the dirt here remained damp; the skies were the same tint of gray as the ones in Suna. But Sakura could feel her spirits somewhat lifted at the idea of being back home.

"Most of the time we spend will be at the hospital," said Sakura, silently recalling the many tasks she had abandoned to have gone to the mission to Suna. No doubt, there would be many overnights and sleepless nights. "But first, we have to check in with Tsunade-sama, along with Danzo." She frowned. The man's name left a bitter aftertaste.

Naruto nodded, as if he was barely listening. He closed his eyes for a moment, and for that instant, Sakura almost asked him if he had died. Then he opened them once more and was off, dashing in the marketplace, splashing the puddles. He diligently dodged the many people who were roaming around with their grocery bags and other luggage.

"The ground's wet," commented Naruto. He lifted up his sandals from the dirt, "My feet are practically sinking in!"

Sakura laughed, noticing his apparent change in behavior. "That's why you don't walk in watery puddles."

"Everything's wet," pointed out Naruto, "Surely you aren't suggesting that I fly?"

Sakura chuckled softly, covering her mouth, "No."

"Hey, you're smiling again."

Sakura nodded, keeping her silence. He himself said nothing as well, and instead, leaned against a dry portion of the wall of a shop. She wondered how he managed to be so precise in the spot he chose.

"Do we have to report to the council?" His voice sounded timid, unlike the merry tone it had been moments ago.

Sakura was glad she could correct him, "No, just the Hokage and Danzo, if we're unlucky."

"Oh, I see!" He nodded knowingly, "Just make sure." His lips curved to a smile once more, and for some strange unexplainable force, Sakura couldn't help bringing hers to a stupid foolish grin as well.

Tsunade's nails tapped her desk constantly speeding up. She leaned her head on the palm of her head, trying her best to stiffen a yawn that had bothered her for the last few minutes or so.

"Tsunade-sama, will you please stop that improper tapping?"

Her fingers fell back to her lap and she shrugged. "As you wish."

"Hokage-sama," huffed the old woman, "You are the leader of this village. Please be conscious of your actions."

"Though not as old as you are, I am sure I am just as wise." Tsunade flashed a smile, though a rather sarcastic one.

The Elder looked huffily at her, narrowing her eyebrows. Tsunade didn't seem to take notice of the elder's actions, her fingers tapping again, softer.

"The two are late," commented one of the older Elders sitting in the back, "We have been waiting for two days. I must say, we have other tasks to attend, much important ones."

Tsunade's expression did not change. If the Elders truly had other tasks to attend to, it didn't explain why they didn't simply leave.

"I believe in the both of them, Sakura and Naruto," stated Tsunade calmly, directing it at all the Elders. The group had "insisted" suddenly on inspecting how the younger generation of Konoha had been doing. It had taken a lot of coaxing from Shizune for Tsunade to even consider allowing the Elders with their pointless decision.

She was the Hokage. This was her office. By Konoha law, she had complete rule over who gets what kind of mission. Of course, the Elders have some kind of influence over the Hokage's decisions.

Some. Just some.

"The most important matter is keeping the citizens of Konoha safe, Hokage-sama," croaked one particularly shriveled woman.

"Konoha is safe," stated Tsunade.

"If you say so Hokage-sama," Danzo sat in the dark corner, idly waiting, "Let's hope that the two shinobi you trust so much arrive soon."

"I have absolute trust in them; they must be doing something important to arrive late," declared Tsunade.

The room became silent. Tsunade swore the group of elders became statues at that time, before finally deciding that it was better to become human again because it was the best way to bug her. Tsunade folded her hands together in a polite manner, pressing them against her lips. She tried her best to avoid the bright rays of sunlight that bounced off the metal on her desk and straight into her eyes.

The door creaked open loudly.

Naruto and Sakura stood, wet and dirty looking as ever.

Tsunade sighed.

So much for first impressions.