Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, then the Kyuubi wouldn't have had as long of ears…he looks like a rabbit almost…anyways, I don't own Naruto, so I guess I have no say in the matter.

Chapter 10: Onward

(Sakura's P.O.V)

I woke up to a gentle nudging, "Unnnh…Naruto, five more minutes…" I groaned.

I heard Naruto chuckle, "I'll give you ten okay? Anymore than that and I'll be forced to carry you downstairs and into the kitchen."

"You make that sound like it's a bad thing." I joked.

"Breakfast will be ready in a little bit," Naruto called as he headed down the steps, "Don't worry, it won't be ramen like last time."

"Good, then I'll have scrambled eggs." I replied.

"You got it, Sakura-chan."

I eventually with much effort made it downstairs and into the kitchen. Naruto and I were hungry, so we ate more than we talked. Not to mention this would be the last decent breakfast we would have for quite a few days.

"Naruto, when we get back from the mission, do you want to help me bring my stuff from my house over here?" I asked when we finished eating.

Naruto's face lit up, "You mean, you want to move in with me completely now?" I nodded in reply, "Sakura-chan, that's great!! Yeah, I'd love to help you!"

I laughed at his childish behavior, "Good. Now, we should probably shower up and get everything ready. We only have an hour before we have to meet everyone at the gates."

After we were all set we headed out to the street and towards the giant gates of Konoha. Gaara was there by himself, and had his eyes closed.

"Well, looks like you're both on time," Gaara commented, opening his eyes, "It seems that my brother decided to sleep in though, and Temari is still not here either." He sighed, "…and they say I sleep too much…"

Kankuro arrived three minutes later, apologizing and scratching head with a lopsided grin. Temari arrived shortly after, still yawning, and rubbing her eyes.

Kankuro took a look around, "So, where's Kakashi?"

Naruto took a look at his watch, "He set his alarm clock early so he'd be here on time…he should be here in seven…six…five…four…three…two…one…"

A loud poof could be heard a few feet away, "Sorry, I hope I'm not too-"

"You're late!!!" Naruto and I shouted with our trademark accusation pointing-stance.

Kakashi took a look at his watch, then shrugged.

So we were off to the little village near the borders of the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire. Actually, it was officially inside the borders of Wind, but it was sort of a trading post between the two countries. According to Gaara, the town developed not to long ago as a result of the amazingly friendly relationships between the two ninja villages of Suna and Konoha.

Another interesting thing I found out was that our client was actually a shinobi from Konoha. This made things a bit more interesting, seeing as the client never gave us a name or alias.

The day went by at a steady pace, and before long, the sun was hanging over the horizon. We had about another day's worth of travel or so, but we had made fairly good time according to Kakashi.

"We should camp here for the night; it's getting pretty dark out." Naruto suggested as the stars began to show in the orange and pink horizon. We set up our campsite, and all went about getting things ready for dinner. Kankuro and Naruto went to gather firewood, Temari and I got out the supplies for cooking, and Gaara and Kakashi brought back water from a nearby creek.

The meal was fairly quiet, and we only talked in hushed tones while eating our rice with fish and vegetables. It wasn't the greatest meal, but it would suffice.

When we finished eating, Kakashi decided to strike up a conversation, "So…Gaara, you know anything about this client we'll be meeting in Palm Dunes? Tsunade seemed pretty keen on not telling me anything aside from their relation to Konoha." Kakashi asked the Kazekage.

Gaara nodded, "Well, that's about the same with me. I know very little aside from them working as a scout for our countries."

"What do you mean by 'scout', Gaara?" I asked him.

"They've been investigating and reporting on the whereabouts and happenings of Akatsuki." Replied Gaara.

I suddenly cringed. I hated that word…it meant 'death' to me. Yes, I did kill one of their members, but I did receive help of Chiyo in doing so, who also died as a result in saving Gaara when he had the Shukaku extracted from him. What bothered me the most was that, though they were a threat to all of us, they were mainly concerned about Naruto, who held the last contained demon, the Kyuubi.

The only relief I guess I had was that the members were capable of being beaten. Even the immortal Hidan was able to be stopped by Shikamaru… the only thing was that he was never killed. Hidan was merely blown in fragments to small aside from his head from an explosion caused by tags that not only decimated the Akatsuki member, but also entombed him in a cave within the forested property of the Nara clan. Basically, Hidan would spend the rest of eternity in darkness without ever being found.

I turned to Naruto, who had a distant look on his face…he was probably thinking of Itachi and Kisame, the two members of Akatsuki who were in charge of retrieving Naruto…alive. It was a little known fact, but Naruto had sworn on Sasuke's grave that should he ever meet the last Uchiha, he would do everything in his power to kill him, without a single thought of holding back. Same went for the other members, but Itachi especially.

That's one reason why Naruto continued to train, to become strong enough to defend the village and everything and everyone that was important to him. He even managed to perfect the Rasengan by adding his own wind elemental chakra to the attack. I witnessed him do it training…it was devastating.

I turned back to the conversation, which seemed to be still on the topic of our client, "Well, regardless of what they are, they have valuable information, and we better insure that it doesn't fall into the wrong hands." I heard Temari say.

I slept uneasily that night. I kept rolling over to make sure Naruto was still there. He doesn't really like it when I worry like this about him, but I can't really help it. After settling some troubled thought, I managed to fall to sleep.

(Gaara's P.O.V)

I walked over to Naruto, and shook him lightly, waking him.

"Huh? Oh, what's the matter Gaara?" he said, blinking.

"You're next on watch duty." I informed him.

"Oh…right…thanks." He said with a yawn and stretching a bit. Naruto got up and walked over to the dying fire, poking it with a stick to keep the coals going while I set up my sleeping bag on the ground. I had about five hours until dawn, so I needed all the sleep I could get.

"Hey, Gaara?" I heard the blonde whisper.

"Yeah?"

"What did it feel like?" he replied by asking another question.

I gave him a puzzled look, "What did what feel like?"

Naruto turned away from me and looked at the fire again, "What did it feel like when…they took the Shakaku out of you…"

"Oh…that." I replied, suddenly seeing this conversation take a turn for the worse.

"Yeah, I mean, we both know what it's like to house a demon inside of us…but you're the only one who can live to tell about what it's like to have a demon extracted from you." Naruto explained, "Just…be honest…"

I rolled over in my sleeping bag, and turned to the night sky, "I hurt…well, that's a vague way of putting it…it was the worst pain I ever felt before. It felt like my insides were being ripped apart by a burning kunai. I could feel myself being…picked apart."

Naruto remained quiet, and I felt his mood drop even more, "Oh…th-that's not what I had hoped on hearing." He sighed, "Gaara….can you promise me something?"

"What would that be?" I asked. Naruto was, to be honest, my best friend. I would never want to let him down, but I had a feeling that I didn't want to give him my word on the request he was about to ask of me.

Naruto spoke, "If we run into Akatsuki…mainly Itachi and Kisame…promise me that if things get bad, well, mainly if I am defeated, that you'll get the others out of the battle." His voice never went over a whisper as he spoke, and from the orange light I could tell he was really bothered by his dilemma with the organization of S-class missing nin.

I gave him a serious look when he turned to look at me, "Naruto, you won't be fighting them alone if that's what you're getting at. We'll-"

"Damn it Gaara, promise me you will!" he said, threatening to shout. However, he managed to keep his voice low enough to not awaken anyone.

I sighed. He was serious about this, "Fine…you have my word…but I'm telling you right now that you will not be alone on this mission, got it?"

The blonde nodded, then he returned to his watch over the fire, "I'm learning how to use five tails."

I raised an eyebrow, "Isn't that a bit dangerous…I mean, it's bad enough with four…but five?"

"Kyuubi and I have managed to overcome the whole deterioration process when I use his chakra…but I can only stay in the form four about ten minutes as of right now," Naruto whispered, "It's really hard access so much power in my body, but I'm able to."

"What happens after ten minutes?"

"Well, I either pass out…or Kyuubi and I lose our sanity until we pass out…either way, I wouldn't be good to go over my time limit." He replied.

"I see…" I closed my eyes, "Listen Naruto, sometimes we shinobi have to be reminded that we are only mortals."

"What are you getting at?" Naruto asked me in a defensive tone.

"What I mean is that we can only bleed so much before we die when fighting alone…but when you you're fighting alongside other shinobi, the bloodshed lessens for you. That's why we have teams all the way from Genin to the elite ANBU…fighting with others means you have someone to share or treat your pain, or protect you when you need it." I clarified.

Naruto grunted in acknowledgement, "I guess you have a point there…but it's just…well, I couldn't stand to lose one of my friends in a fight, but I would especially hate to lose…"

"…Sakura…" I finished for him.

Naruto let out another stressful sigh, "Bingo. If she would ever…I don't know what I'd…"

"Naruto," I interrupted, "We're shinobi…we do what we must for our village…that is our way of life. I understand your concern entirely though," I said, turning to my sleeping brother and sister, "We need to live life while we can."

"Right." Naruto said, shaking his head with a smile, "Heh, it must be stressful being the Kazekage and all. I mean, worrying about the village all the time."

"Well, yes, it is stressful," I admitted, "That doesn't mean I don't enjoy my job though. I can protect my people, and put my power to good use. It's by far better than how it used to be all those years ago."

"I agree. Not many people threaten me anymore…a lot of people actually smile at me now…though some of them are forced smiles." Naruto added.

I rolled over again so I was facing away from the fire, feeling quite tired now, "Well Naruto, just remember what I said; you're not alone when you're with a team."

"Yep, I'll remember, believe it."

"Good. I'll see you in the morning then," I finished.

I drifted off to sleep, hoping that tomorrow would be just as easy of a journey as today was.

End of chap. 10- Yeah, I finally hit ten chapters! The scary thing is I have no real clue how many chapters it will take. I have the general idea in my mind and on paper. However, I seem to already be thinking about the sequel to this one…if I make a third one. Woe is me. Thanks for reading, and please tell me what you think of this story overall so far.