Author's Notes: I'm back from vacation and now feel like a need a vacation to recover from it. Anyway, thanks for all the views, follows and such. I really appreciate it. I hope these next few chapters make up for the time I was gone.
Sakura tossed and turned caught in the throes of a nightmare as she slept.
"Sasuke!" she cried out watching as he attacked Naruto one of his eyes blood red and the other vibrant purple each glowing with a maniac type light as he came after the blonde again and again a manic grin plastered on his face. "Stop this! This isn't you!" she screamed as she sprinted towards the battle desperate to save the two men who meant more to her than any others in the world.
A woman with bright red hair and pink eyes appeared in front of her with blood dripping from her mouth. "He isn't the Sasuke you knew." She rasped before she gasped and a hand exploded form her chest crackling with lightning. Karin fell to the ground with a thud and Sasuke stood before her his arm dripping with the red head's blood. Sakura glanced around him and saw Naruto lying dying on the ground next to the obviously dead body of Kakashi. Her face turned white and she backed away as Sasuke walked towards her.
"Sakura." He said softly. "What's the matter? Is something bothering you?"
"Sasuke! What is this?" she demanded. "Why would you do this?!"
"I just wanted to prove that I'm the strongest." He looked her over and sighed. "Sorry Sakura, you're just not worth my time."
He turned away from her and she reached for him grabbing him by the sleeve. "Sasuke! Stop it!" she cried out.
He turned back to her with lightning blazing in his hand and plunged his arm through her chest. As she fell forward he caught her and his lips went to her ear. "You're such an annoyance!" he hissed pulling his hand from her chest and letting her fall to the floor. He reached towards her his hand covered in blood and touched her cheek smearing the rust colored liquid across her cheek bone. "What makes you think that I could ever love someone as boring, weak, and useless as you?"
Her eyes closed and tears streamed from her eyes as Sasuke began to laugh hovering over her while the life drained from her body.
"Sakura! Sakura!" she heard a voice calling to her. Her eyes flew open and she found herself face to face with the last Uchiha. She shrieked and tried to leap backwards getting tangled in the blankets instead and tumbled out of the bed her head smacking painfully against the bedside table as she hit the floor.
"Ouch!" she hissed pressing her palms to the sore spot squinting her eyes at the pain and the stars swimming in her vision.
"Are you alright?" Sasuke asked kneeling in front of his brow knit with concern. She looked at him and noted that one eye was black while the other was vivid purple reminding her of the cold eyes of her nightmare. He extended a hand towards her and she flinched smacking it away as the memory of his hand covered in blood overwhelmed her. His eyes widened and he leaned back before looking away.
"Sakura!" Naruto called out stumbling out of bed. "Is everything ok?" he asked kneeling beside the Uchiha and extending his hand to her touching her lightly on the shoulder his blue eyes searching her green eyes reflecting worry.
"Yeah. I'm fine." She replied with a little smile. "I just fell out of bed and smacked my head." She replied motioning to the bedside table.
"Ouch!" Naruto muttered wincing at the thought. "I bet that hurt. Do you want some ice or something?"
"I'll go get some myself." She said getting to her feet with the Uzamaki's help. "Sorry to disturb everyone's sleep."
"You didn't disturb everyone's sleep." Naruto protested. "Onchou and Ryuu are still sleeping."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Two out of six. It's my lucky day." She walked towards the door. "I'll be back."
"Do you want me, Sai or Sasuke to go with you?" he asked.
The pink haired medic glanced around. Naruto wasn't the best option, he would be too loud, Sasuke was out of the question because of the nightmare she'd just had but she did want company.
"Would you mind coming with me Sai?" she asked looking at the painter who was sitting quietly on his bed.
"Not at all. I'll come." He said rising as she walked towards him.
"Thanks. It'll only take a few minutes." She said as he walked ahead of her and opened the door waiting a moment for her to go through and then followed himself closing the door behind him. They walked in silence for a few moments and neared the ice machine in the hall. She grabbed a bag and was about to fill it when she instead opted to lean against the wall and slid down until she was sitting.
"Sakura?" Sai asked kneeling down next to her. "What's wrong?" he asked.
Sakura covered her face as tears began to slide down her cheeks. "I hurt him." She replied softly.
"Hurt who?" Sai asked.
"Sasuke." She replied softly. "I could see it in his eyes." She murmured.
"What happened?" Sai asked settling down next to her.
"I… I had a nightmare." She admitted. "You know that Sasuke and Naruto had that awful battle right? The one where they lost their arms?" Sai nodded. "Well, I was going to go and try to stop them but Sasuke used a genjutsu on me instead. He showed me a vision of him using the chidori on me and ripping out my heart."
Sai's eyes widened. "I hadn't heard that." He admitted.
She nodded. "It became part of my nightmare and when I woke up he reached out to me and I slapped his hand away." She pulled her knees close to her chest. "I know that he's sorry, I know that he regrets what he did to me and everyone else and… I love him. I really do love him so why…" she hiccupped as the tears flowed faster.
Sai reached out to her and pulled her into a hug. "It's alright." He said softly. "Having nightmares doesn't mean that you love him any less. The reality of the matter is that you experienced many frightening things because of him. It's only natural that you'd react that way in response while your mind was still trying to separate dream from reality. He knows that."
"I didn't mean to hurt him." She whimpered.
Sai gently ran his hand over her hair in a comforting motion. "I know, so does Sasuke." He replied.
Sasuke stared at the door his heart aching in his chest as he recalled her face in his mind over and over again, the fear reflected in her green eyes as she looked at him. He'd reached out to her with the intention of comforting her and she'd not only rejected him but fled from him. It cut him deeper than he'd ever expected.
"What's eating you Sasuke?" Naruto asked from where he sat next to him on the bed.
"Nothing." The Uchiha replied quickly.
"Don't lie to me." The blond haired boy replied narrowing his eyes. "It's written all over your face that something is wrong. Just tell me before I beat it out of you."
Sasuke glared at his friend and then sighed. "Sakura was having a nightmare. I could tell by the way she was moving in her sleep." Her murmured. He glanced over at his friend who wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and smacked him in the back of the head. "Don't be a perve about it or I won't say another word!" he threatened.
"Alright. I'm done. Keep going." Naruto replied rubbing the new aching spot on his head.
"Anyway, I could tell it was getting pretty bad because of how hard she was thrashing and she was crying out in her sleep and I wanted to save her from whatever she was seeing and I tried to wake her up." Sasuke explained.
"Let me guess. She punched you in the face?" Naruto volunteered with a grin.
"No. If she had it probably would've hurt less." Sasuke muttered.
"What do you mean?" The blond haired ninja asked.
"When she looked at me, she had nothing but fear in her eyes. She fell out of bed trying to get away from me." He replied softly looking down at his hands. "When I reached out to her trying to comfort her, she pushed me away." He clenched his hands into fists. "I never imagined it would hurt this much."
Naruto nodded. "I see. It's probably the first time she's ever rejected you huh?"
Sasuke nodded. "I know that I've hurt her in the past but…" his fist trembled. "She said that she forgives me." He looked over at his best friend. "I swore to myself that I'd never hurt her like that again but still… Maybe she hasn't forgiven me after all." He murmured. "I wouldn't blame her if that's the case."
Naruto shook his head. "You can be pretty stupid sometimes you know that?"
Sasuke glared at him. "What are you saying?" he growled. "I'm being honest here."
"So am I." The Uzamaki replied. "Sakura does forgive you but that doesn't mean she's forgotten what happened." He explained. "She probably had a nightmare that had to do with you and was still trying to get the two separated when you tried to touch her and panicked. It happens to everyone."
The dark eyed man nodded and then bowed his head raking his hands through his hair. "I can't believe she can still love me after everything I put her through." He muttered.
Naruto sighed "That's just Sakura for you. She's a one in a million kind of girl." He said with a smile. "You already know that though."
Sasuke didn't reply. It was true. Only Sakura would be able to love someone that tried to take their life on multiple occasions. Karin was similar to her in that regard he supposed but in a much more simplistic way. Her affections for him had always been skin deep, or rather chakra deep. He wasn't stupid or naïve, he knew that Karin liked him for his looks, power, and chakra nothing more. It had worked out to his advantage while he was a rouge ninja that she was clingy and obsessive but that was about it.
"You're not the only one you know." Naruto said after a moment.
"Not the only one who what?" He asked.
"You're not the only one who has ever hurt Sakura." The whiskered shiniobi said softly. He laced his hands together and bowed his head. "In fact, I nearly killed her once myself, using my own hands."
Sasuke's dark eyes widened as he looked over at his friend. "What are you saying?" he demanded. "What happened?"
Naruto sighed. "I was about two and a half years after you left the village. The new team seven had just been established with Sai and Yamato was leading us because Kakashi was out after battling Deidara. Sasori had told Sakura that one of Orochimaru's henchmen was working for him as a spy and he was going to meet him. Team seven was sent to intercept the spy." He took a deep breath. "As you know, when Sai first joined us things weren't going well. I was already pretty riled up because I knew a step closer to Orochimaru was a step closer to bringing you home and Sai taking cheap shots at everyone wasn't helping my mood either." Sasuke chewed on his bottom lip as a little pang of guilt throbbed in his chest and nodded. "Well, as it turns out, it was Kabuto and Orochimaru who met us on that bridge. I saw that snake bastard and I…" he gritted his teeth. "He started talking about you like he owned you and that really pissed me off. The nine tails began to take over and I broke the bridge and sent Kabuto flying and then went after Orochimaru. What I didn't know was that Kabuto as hit Sakura and knocked her out." The blue eyed boy took a deep breath. "She nearly fell to her death when the bridge began to fall apart and Yamato had to rescue her because at that time Sai was still a heartless bastard and left her for dead. As if that wasn't bad enough, I eventually transformed into a smaller version of the ninetails with four tails and lost my mind. While I was in that state, Saukra came after me trying to bring me back to my senses and I…." he clenched his hands together. "I attacked her. If Captain Yamato hadn't been there and stopped me, I'm pretty sure I would've killed her." Sasuke's eyes widened. He'd never known Naruto had struggled that badly. "It was a pretty nasty wound. Kabuto tried to heal is and so did Sakura but it still bothered her for some time afterwards. She fell out of a tree and had to be rescued again because of it during that same mission. In fact she had it that day." He glanced over at his best friend. "When we saw you again after infiltrating Orochimaru's hideout."
Sasuke's eyes widened. He hadn't noticed it at all."I see." he said softly.
Naruto clasped him on the shoulder. "The point is, she still loved me and stayed by my side after that. She still loves me now. I know she had nightmares about it afterwards and felt awful about them. In fact, I'm pretty sure she's probably crying her eyes out right now because she feels bad for reacting that way to you."
Sasuke's sighed and lowered his head. "I see, but you weren't in your right mind when you did that." He argued.
The blonde smiled at him. "And neither were you when you did all of those things to her and she knows that."
The dark eyed Uchiha chucked and shook his head. "Naruto, you're such an idiot you know that?"
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well it takes one to know one." He said as the door clicked and Sai and Sakura walked inside carrying a bag of ice.
Sasuke looked closely at her noting the tear stains on her face and the redness and puffiness of her eyes. Naruto was right, she'd been crying.
"Sorry we took so long." She said with a smile that didn't quite meet her eyes. "The ice machine on this level was broken so we had to go find another one."
"That's ok." Naruto said with a smile. "As long as you got what you needed."
She nodded and put the bucket of ice down on the bedside table. Her eyes remained downcast as she approached him. "Sasuke, I-" she started.
He reached out a hand to her and laid it gently on top of her head. "You don't have to say it." He replied quickly. "I already know you're sorry. There's no reason for you to be."
"All the same, I really am sorry for pushing you away like that." She said lowering her head.
Sasuke nodded. "Alright. Let's just try to get some sleep."
Sakura nodded. "That sounds good. Morning is going to be here much earlier than any of us want it to be." She glanced at the clock and groaned. "You've got to be kidding me!" she hissed.
"What is it?" Naruto asked.
"It's already morning." She grumbled pointing to the numbers proudly displaying the time as five thirty in the morning.
"Oh man!" The blonde grumbled. "It's not worth it to go back to bed for thirty minutes."
"Yeah. I know. Sorry guys." Sakura muttered.
"It's fine." Sai replied. "Journeying through the Land of Wind is a hot and dry endeavor. The earlier we get going, the less time we'll have to spend under the sun."
"That's true." Naruto replied. "I've never understood how Gaara can wear those thick long sleeved outfits of his in that heat."
Sakura chuckled as she knelt beside her bag and pulled out a change of clothes. "It's because of how pale his skin is. He'd burn terribly if he didn't wear clothes like that. Besides, it gets extremely cold after dark there too."
"That's true. I guess I never really thought of that." The blonde replied.
The pink haired medic approached the bedside of her sleeping patient and reached out touching a hand to her forehead. Her brow creased and her hand glowed green in the dim light filtering through the window.
"Sakura? What's wrong?" Sasuke asked noticing her efforts right away.
"She's burning up." She replied frowning even as the green light around her hand increased. "Damn!" she hissed. "Her network is still too banged up for me to get enough chakra into her body to bring it down." She reached over and shook the silver haired boy sleeping next to Onchou awake.
"Ryuu!" she called out quietly. "I need you to get up."
The boy groaned and rolled reaching out to touch the hand of the dark skinned girl as he did so. His eyes shot open and he sat bold upright. "What a terrible fever!" he said moving up and brushing the hair away from her neck. He laid his lips over the pulse point there and closed his eyes before moving away and frowning. "Crap! She hasn't had a fever this high in years." He grumbled.
"What happened last time?" Sakura asked as she rushed over to her bag and began pulling out medicinal herbs.
"I don't know. It was a secret mission that she went on with Akira. She had a fever this high when she came back." He explained.
"How was she treated?" Sakura asked as she began mixing medicine.
"She was out of commission for two weeks." Ryuu replied getting down from the bed. "That was with Takuma's advanced medicine and medical jutsu too."
Sakura nodded and finished her mixture and quickly mixed it with water. She handed the cup to Ryuu. "Try to get as much as this into her as you can. It should help bring down her fever." She turned to her other travel companions. "Get it together boys!" she barked. "She's in critical condition. We need to get her to The Hidden Sand Village as soon as possible."
She picked up her bundle of clothes again and dashed into the bathroom.
Naruto chuckled and touched Sasuke on the shoulder. "One in a million for sure. One minute she's crying over a nightmare and the next she's barking orders."
"I heard that Naruto!" Sakura called out from the bathroom.
The Uzamaki swallowed loudly and cringed at the girl's tone and Sasuke merely smirked. He still wanted to talk to her about her nightmare so he could figure out a way to fix it but until then, it was time to get down to business.
"Who do you think should carry her and Ryuu?" Sai asked after the ninja had changed.
"I don't need to be carried." Ryuu replied. "I'm not slow."
"I believe you but we're going to have to move very quickly to get Onchou to the hospital before she gets sicker." Sakura explained to the child. "Also, we're going to The Village Hidden in the Sand and they're a little more cautions than we are. Gaara is a good friend of Naruto and I but…" she leaned down to whisper into Ryuu's ear. "He doesn't like Sasuke much." He giggled and she smiled and returned her volume to normal. "Which means we have to be extra careful because we're bringing you outsiders in with us."
"Alright." Ryuu conceited. He looked at the four shinobi in turn and touched his hand to his chin. "I think Onchou should be carried by Naruto." He said after a moment.
"Sounds good to me." The blonde boy said with a smile. "Why me though?"
"You did a pretty good job last time." The child replied. He then turned his attention to the other shinobi after a few moments he let out a long suffering sigh. "I guess I'll ride on Scary Eyes back."
Sasuke's brow twitched at the nick name and he shot Naruto a murderous glare when he snorted at the name. "Why not Sakura or Sai's back?" Sasuke replied trying to keep his voice calm. The last thing he wanted was to carry the brat across the desert.
Ryuu crossed his arms over his chest. "That's easy. I don't like you or trust you. If I'm already on your back if won't be hard to slit your throat if you try anything."
The four shinobi blinked their eyes and then shook their heads. "You had a rough childhood didn't you kid?" Naruto muttered. "Sasuke won't try anything I promise. It would be a bad idea to kill him too because he can sense the enemy faster than anyone else."
Ryuu sighed. "I guess you do have a point. Fine, I won't kill him but I still want to ride on his back."
Sasuke raked his hand through his hair and groaned. "Fine! Whatever! Let's get moving!" he snarled. "The girl seems to be getting sicker. I can sense chakra leaking from her."
Naruto nodded and lifted the sick girl onto his back adjusting her carefully so that his hold was secure but not too tight. "Sakura, lead out." He said quickly.
The pink haired medic nodded. "Right. Of course."
Sasuke knelt down so that the boy could scramble onto his back and hooked his arms around the boy's legs. "Hold on." He said simply.
In a flash the four shinobi were into the trees moving swiftly towards the desert ahead.
The child was quiet through most of the journey speaking very little but a little after lunch time Ryuu spoke to him. "So, you're Sasuke Uchiha." He said quietly. Sasuke nodded in response unsure of what the boy was getting at. "Can you really summon giant snakes and a man as big as a mountain?" he asked.
"I can." Sasuke replied.
"Wow. That's actually pretty cool." The boy admitted before continuing. "Can you tell me about your friends?" he asked.
"What do you want to know?" Sasuke replied.
"I don't know. The basic stuff I guess. Their abilities, what kind of people they are." Ryuu replied. "I've never really had the chance to get to know many people outside the laboratory."
Sasuke sighed. The kid reminded him of naïve Yukimaru but at least he wasn't speaking in riddles like that child did.
"Ok. Pick one to start." Sasuke said as he lengthened his stride the trees thinning and giving way to more desert as they moved.
Ryuu thought for a moment glancing around. "How about that guy, the one who's even paler than you in black." He said his gaze settled on Sai.
Sasuke sighed. Of course the kid picked the member of the team he knew the least about. "That's Sai. He's quiet and a little awkward but very smart." He replied. "He's a very talented Ninja. Do you see the scrolls of paper on his hip?" he asked. The boy nodded and he continued. "His special ability is that he can pain whatever he wants on those scrolls and bring them to life." He heard Ryuu's gasp and smirked.
"Really? Anything?" Ryuu asked.
"I think so. I've seen him paint lots of things. He paints birds to fly in the sky, mice to check for people spying form the shadows, lions to attack, and even snakes to tie people up with." He explained to the child.
"Wow. That's so cool!" he exclaimed. His gaze shifted. "Ok, tell me about the blonde guy next."
Sasuke sighed, he didn't even know where to start with him. "That's Naruto Uzamaki. I'm sure you've heard some things about him."
The child nodded. "Yeah. I heard that he can summon giant toads and that he has a fox inside of him."
"Both of those things are true." Sasuke replied. "He's a very powerful shinobi, maybe even the most powerful in the world, but that's not the best thing about him."
"What's the best thing about him?" Ryuu asked.
Sasuke smiled. "He never gives up." He replied. "He saved my life even when I didn't want to be saved."
Ryuu shifted a little to get a better look at him. "What didn't you want to be saved from?" he asked.
Sasuke sighed. He didn't feel like talking about it but it was a kid and this was better than listening to Suegetsu whine about needing a break every five minutes. "The curse of my clan." He replied. "They were cursed with hatred and a thirst for power. I fell victim to it and became a terrible person. Naruto never gave up on me though. He kept chasing me trying to bring me back." He chuckled. "That idiot finally caught me and dragged me kicking and screaming back to my senses and helped me defeat my curse." He smiled at the blonde leaping just a few feet ahead of him. "He can also make friends with just about anyone, even people who were once his enemies."
Ryuu nodded. "He must have some kind of super power."
Sasuke chuckled. "You might be right about that."
The child then looked at Sakura. "What about her? Onchou called her Sakura, is that right? What can you tell me about her?"
Sasuke looked ahead at the pink haired medic who was sprinting across the sand while also checking on the girl's condition. He shook his head at her recklessness before he spoke. "Sakura… what to tell you about her." He murmured. "She's probably the best medical ninja in the world." He confessed. "She's also one of the strongest. I've seen her break a boulder the size of house into pieces with just one punch."
"Wow!" Ryuu exclaimed. "I didn't know a girl could be that strong."
The dark eyed Uchiha nodded. "She's strong alright. Inside and out. She's always pushing herself to the limit and that mark on her forehead is something that very few people have ever achieved. She worked hard for three years to earn that."
Ryuu smiled. "Wow. You and your friends are pretty amazing." The boy admitted. He lowered his head and sighed. "I'm really sorry for how rude I've been."
Sasuke glanced back at the child after landing on an outcropping of rock overlooking the desert. Naruto nodded and leapt from the cliff and then picked up the pace. The Uchiha followed it bringing up the right flank of his friend while Sai took the rear and Sakura took the left.
"For as long as I can remember, Onchou has always been fighting, always getting hurt to protect people." He chewed on his lip. "I really hope she's ok. I'm afraid that something bad is going to happen to us. We have no home, no friends, no family, all we have is each other. I just didn't want you to hurt her."
"Don't worry about it kid." Sasuke replied. "Sakura will take good care of Onchou."
Ryuu nodded and then became quiet. After a little while, Sasuke spoke. "Is something bothering you Ryuu?"
The boy sighed. "It's just something Onchou said not to long ago. We were talking about what we wanted most in the world and when I asked her she said that she just wanted me to be happy and safe. I told her that I wanted the same for her and she started crying. When I asked her why, she said that she didn't deserve to be happy and that being with me and caring for me was already more happiness than she deserved." Sasuke's brow furrowed. This girl seemed to think a lot like he did. It was probably why she irritated him so much. "I don't think that's true though. Everyone deserves to be happy as long as their happiness doesn't spoil someone else's happiness right?"
Sasuke sighed. "I'm not the person you should be asking that question." He murmured. "I'm kind of an idiot when it comes to things like that."
"What do you mean?" Ryuu asked.
Sasuke sighed. "You know about the fourth great ninja war right?" Ryuu nodded. "Well, I fought in that war. I actually started out on the wrong side too. I ended up fighting on the right side eventually but… it wasn't for the right reasons." He sighed. "The war was much bigger than you will ever know. It spiraled out of control and eventually became a battle so save the world." He glanced forward at his two friends. "I fought alongside Naruto, Sakura, and the now sixth Hokage Kakashi and we somehow managed to pull it off."
"Well isn't that a good thing? You saved the world with your friends right?" Ryuu said simply.
Sasuke sighed. "Well, after all of that I was still angry. I thought that having friends made you weak and that relying on people and then losing them was so painful that it was better to have no friends at all. Instead of celebrating with my friends, I attacked them instead. I knocked Sakura out and then fought Naruto. We nearly killed each other. Did you notice how our arms are bandaged?" the boy nodded. "Well that's from out fight. We both lost an arm." He sighed.
Ryuu shook his head and sighed as well. "Wow, Onchou was right. You Uchiha's do ruin everything don't you? I mean instead of throwing a party to celebrate saving the world, you blew your arm off instead."
Sasuke chuckled. "Yeah, like I said, I'm an idiot when it comes to stuff like that." He looked at Naruto who shifted the unconscious girl on his back and then at Sakura who reached out with her chakra and frowned clearly bothered by the girl's condition.
The silver haired boy clucked his tongue. "You know, you should just stop." He said.
"Stop? What do you mean stop?" Sasuke replied.
"Stop being an idiot when it comes to stuff like that." Ryuu elaborated.
"That's one of the vaguest things I've ever heard." Sasuke replied his tone bitter.
"Not really. If you do something and don't like the way it felt than don't do it again." He said simply. "Onchou said that people have the ability to change things in the present and effect the future because we can move and have the ability to manipulate matter. If I don't like my water warm, I can put ice in it to make it cold. Does that makes sense?"
"Sort of. You're pretty smart for a brat. So tell me, what if you've already done something terrible in the past like me and I guess Onchou?" Sasuke replied
Ryuu laughed. "Oh that one's easy! Just don't make the same mistake again and keep moving forward instead. Make something beautiful in the future to make up for the ugly." He said with a smile. "Thinking that way, maybe even the stupid Uchiha's who ruin everything can become the awesome Uchiha's who fix everything."
The dark eyed former avenger nearly lost his footing at that remark. Just like Sakura's comment about him becoming the kind of man Itachi would be proud of, this kid had said something that had lifted a small ounce of weight from his broken heart. "You know what? You talk too much." He replied.
"Hey! You're the one that asked the question!" the boy shot back.
"Are you two behaving back there?" Sakura demanded.
"Yes of course." Sasuke replied quickly.
"Good because we're nearly there." Naruto replied as the walls of The Village Hidden in the Sand appeared before them.
"I really hope that Gaara got our message about us showing up early or this is really going to suck." Naruto muttered as his eyes caught movement on the cliffs. "Their guards make ours look like pansies."
Sasuke activated his sharringan and scanned the tired walls of the village noting the number of guards and their movements. His eyes came to the opening leading into the village and he noted four people standing there.
"Naruto. It looks like Gaara was excited to see you. He's waiting just inside the main gate with his siblings and some other person." He called out. It was a lie, at least the last part. He knew exactly who that last person was. It was Leo the sand shinobi who was interested in Sakura but he wasn't quite ready to fess up to confronting the tall man just yet.
"Good news!" Naruto exclaimed. "I'm pretty psyched myself! It's been too long since I've seen old no brows." the four shinobi and their passengers slowed as they neared the gates and the Kazikage stepped forward.
"Naruto Uzamaki." He said in his low, deliberate drawl. "It's been a while."
Naruto grinned. "It sure has! It's good to see you Gaara!"
Leo stepped forward and beamed at Sakura. "It seems you ended up coming here after all Lady Sakura."
"Yes. It might be for official business but I'm glad I was able to come none the less." She replied with a smile.
"Hey! That tall guy, do you know him?" Ryuu hissed in Sasuke's ear.
"Not really." Sasuke replied. "I've seen him before."
"Well, he totally has a thing for your girlfriend." The silver haired child whispered. "It's written all over his face."
The dark haired man sighed. "She's not my girlfriend. She can do what she wants, I don't care."
Ryuu snorted. "Who do you think you're kidding? I'm only a kid and I can tell that's a lie."
The dark haired man took a deep breath and then focused as Gaara turned towards him. "Sasuke Uchiha. I'm surprised to see you here."
The Uchiha could hear the slight hardness in the Kazikage's tone evidence that the man didn't truly trust him. He didn't blame him however, he'd probably feel the same way given the circumstances.
"Thank you for coming all this way to greet us." Sasuke replied removing Ryuu from his back and bowing.
"Why are you bowing to that ginger with raccoon eyes?" Ryuu asked.
Naruto snorted and Sakura groaned touching her forehead with her hand. Sasuke and Sai merely shook their heads.
"Ryuu, this is Gaara of the Sand. He's the leader of the Village Hidden in the Sand and reigns over all of the shinobi in the Land of Wind." Sakura explained.
"What exactly does all that mean to me?" Ryuu asked. "I was literally born under a rock remember?"
Naruto laughed. "Wow! Does Onchou know you talk like that?"
Ryuu blushed and looked down. "Yes, but she says it's rude."
"Who is this strange looking child?" Tamari asked moving forward. "He's not very polite."
"Wow! That fan is huge!" Ryuu exclaimed his eyes wide.
"He's this girl's companion." Sasuke explained gesturing to the girl draped over Naruto's back.
"Speaking of which, I hate to be a bother but this girl needs urgent medical treatment." Sakura said moving to Onchou's side touching her forehead as she rested on Naruto's back. "Damn! The medication I gave her is wearing off." The pink haired medic turned toward the Kazikage and his entourage. "Please, can I talk with you a little later? Her fever is so high I'm starting to worry about potential brain damage and all of this exposure to the heat of the sun didn't help at all."
Gaara turned and looked at the young woman his eyes narrowing slightly. "So this is the woman you wrote of? I suppose she won't be able to give us any decent answers in her current condition and this present turn of events is unsettling. The faster she is able to recover and provide us with information the better."
"Hey raccoon eyes!" Ryuu hissed. "Don't talk about Onchou like she's some sort of information capsule or something!"
"Calm down." Sasuke said softly putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Onchou is cautions of strangers because she wants to protect you right?" the boy nodded. "This man is the same. He has to protect everyone in this village and he doesn't know you or Onchou. He has every right to be cautions. Try to be patient so that we can get her the helps she needs faster alright? She can't go to the hospital unless he says so."
Ryuu balled his hands into fists and moved forward touching Onchou's clammy, limp hand. Tears formed in his eyes and he fell to his knees on the ground in front of Gaara's feet his forehead touching the sandy ground. "Please let us in! Onchou can't die! She's the only person I have in this whole world!"
The Kazikage's pale blue eyes widened slightly and he glanced at Naruto. "What do you think of this woman?" he asked.
"She's very sick and apparently she and this kid are on the run from a guy who's cut from the same cloth as Orochimaru. She has incredible power and saved our skins shortly after meeting us. I wouldn't have brought her if I thought she was a danger to your village." Naruto said calmly.
Gaara nodded. "Very well then. Please come inside. Deliver that girl to the hospital and then we'll discuss what you know so far in my office."
"Thank you." Naruto said bowing slightly. He turned to his team. "Sakura, let's get her taken care of. The rest of you head over to the Kazikage's office."
"Wait! Take me with you!" Ryuu cried out running after Sakura. "I need to stay with Onchou!"
Sakura shook her head and knelt in front of the boy. "Not right now. You need to stay with Sasuke and Sai for now. Onchou is very sick so you won't be able to stay in the room with her for a little while. You need to tell Lord Gaara your story too so that you and Onchou will be able to stay here for a little while ok?" she touched his head. "I promise you that I will not let her die, ok?"
The dark eyed Uchiha smiled as he watched the interaction. Sakura dispite her temper was actually very good with children. As he watched a vision entered his mind of her touching the head of another child with dark hair like his own. He shook his head to will the vision away and then focused on Ryuu again.
The ruby eyed child sniffed as tears began to brim in his eyes. "Ok." He finally conceited. He moved to Onchou and stretched up on his toes kissing her temple. "Get better soon ok?"
Sasuke moved forward and tugged the child back as Naruto and Sakura vanished. "She's be fine. Onchou is tough and Sakura is the best medical ninja around. Just have faith in them." Sai said smiling at the child. "Let's go to the Kazikage's office."
Ryuu nodded. "I still say he looks like a raccoon." He muttered glaring at the path the Kazikage had taken with his arms crossed over his chest.
Sai chuckled. "I agree with you but I probably wouldn't say that to his face anymore. People can be sensitive about things like that."
Sasuke snickered. "Like you're one to talk. How many times have you been sucker punched for calling Sakura Ugly?"
Sai smirked. "That's why I'm warning the boy now."
P.S. Sorry for the lack of sugary sweet Sakura Saskue moments. I promise the next chapter will have a lot more, I just needed to get them to the sand village so they'd have a chance to be alone together. It took me a little longer than I expected is all. Anyway, I'm hoping to have the next chapter done by the end of the week so stay tuned!