Authour's note: Crow and Kankuro are the same person. I just got sick of seeing it highlighted red in my draft. I can change it if it bothers anyone, it's just easier for me. Anyway, thanks for everything! I'm glad you're all enjoying it. Thank you especially to all my reviewers. It's so helpful to have your feedback and I do my best and answer questions and respond to requests. I apologize in advanced for any name misspellings. In this chapter the song Onchou sings is "Closer" by Joe Inoue the English version. I own nothing except for Onchou, Ryuu, the plot and that creep Takuma unfortunately. Anyway, back to the story.
Gaara sighed as his brush glided over the scroll in front of him. Paperwork was easily the most tedious part of his job. He'd held the position since he was fifteen so it definitely came easier than it once had but it was still a bunch of busy work to him. He sensed a presence nearing his door and heard a faint knock. "Come in." he called. As he glanced up he was surprised to see a young woman with blonde hair. He vaguely remembered her as one of the woman Onchou had protected during their skirmish with Takuma's assassins. The thought of the violet haired girl made his heart race and blush come to his cheeks stilling his brush. Though he'd tried to, he couldn't forget the sensation of her soft lips against his own. Shaking his head to push the thoughts away he worked to focus his attention on the woman in front of him. "Can I help you?" he asked.
"Lord Kazikage, I just wanted to apologize for what happened on the battlefield a week ago." She said softly bowing. "I should have paid better attention to my surroundings."
He blinked and then nodded. "It's alright. I'm glad that you were unharmed." He replied.
The girl nodded. "I was wondering, do you know how that girl is doing? The one that save me and my partner?"
Gaara nodded. "Yes. She is due to be released from the hospital any day now." He replied.
"I see. When she is released will you let her know that I'd like to speak with her? I want to thank her properly for what she did." The girl said looking down.
"I'll let her know." He replied.
The girl bowed and then left the room closing the door behind her. He set his brush down and leaned back in his chair taking a deep breath. He wasn't nearly as oblivious as everyone seemed to think he was. He was well aware that many of the young women in his village found him attractive however he didn't really take any of them seriously. After all, they'd run in fear from him as a child and he just couldn't bring himself to trust them in that way. Another knock at the door surprised him and he opened his eyes. "Come in." he called out.
"Hey there Gaara." Kankuro said as he walked inside carrying a bag of food. "You haven't eaten anything today yet have you?"
The red head nodded. "I guess not. I haven't really had time to think about it." He admitted as he took the bottle of juice and pastry his brother offered him.
"Have you made any progress on finding out information on Heiwa?" Kurou asked as he came up to stand behind his brother glancing over the paperwork on his desk.
Gaara nodded and handed his brother a leather bound book with a few documents tucked inside of it. "It was a small village located near the shore line. It was a village shrouded with mystery even then." He said as his brother opened the book. "Our records indicated that just over sixteen years ago they were attacked by rouge ninja and father dispatched three four man teams to assist them. There were a total of two members of the Buki clan among the ninja sent."
"I see. So that corroborates her story." The puppet master said as he thumbed through the documents.
Gaara nodded. "In addition, it appears that five years after that incident, the village was attacked again. However our forces did not arrive in time. The ninja dispatched described the scene as horrifying and reported that there were no survivors. It seems that they were mistaken however."
Kankuro cringed as he read over the case files. "Were the orchestrators behind the attacks ever found?"
The Kazikage shook his head. "The village was a complete loss and so it was written off as a tragedy and failing on our part and never talked about again. I couldn't even get much information out of the elders about the incident."
The puppet master sighed. "Well I'm not surprised. I still don't like most of those geezers anyway."
"Still holding a grudge?" Gaara asked glancing at his brother. He'd heard that when he'd been captured by the Atkusuki years ago that the elders had been reluctant to send men to his aid leaving the leaf ninja, his friends really, to save him. He didn't hold it against them, but he knew that it still bothered both of his siblings greatly.
The hooded ninja shrugged and looked at the roster of ninja from the incident. "Let's see here." He muttered glancing at the names. "I couldn't have been Yori Buki. According to the roster he was only thirteen at the time of the first incident." He frowned. "That leaves only Tamiki Buki, he was nineteen at the time." He frowned. "If I remember right, he was a missing ninja up until just a couple years ago. Isn't he still under house arrest?"
The Kazikage nodded. "That's right. He was also on the squad that went to help with the second incident. The report claims that he scoured the entire village for days on end without rest and after three days went mad and vanished into the desert."
Crow touched his hand to his chin. "If he really was Onchou's father, it would make sense. He was looking for the body of his former lover and lost his mind after being unable to find part of her or after finding something or someone that made him think she'd died."
Gaara nodded again. "My thoughts exactly."
"So what are you going to do?" The dark clothed ninja asked.
"I do not know. I want to question him but I don't really know it it's my place." He looked at his brother. "I also need to talk to Onchou. Now that she's about to be released from the hospital I can't put it off any longer. I need to find out what she knows about Takuma and his organization and present it to at least the Hokage." He glanced out the window in the direction of the Hospital. "I don't know what will happen after that."
"What do you think should happen?" The puppeteer asked.
Gaara's brow knit together slightly. "It's clear to me and everyone around her that she is a powerful shinobi. In addition, it appears that she has no one left in this world except for Ryuu and perhaps her father." He closed his eyes. "Heiwa was under our village's protection and we failed in that regard, that and the fact that she may be the member of the distinguished Buki clan of our village leads me to believe that she should be under our care."
"I thought so." Kankuro replied.
"What do you think brother?" The Kazikage asked.
"I agree with you." He replied. "She really should be our responsibility however The Leaf Village seems to be interested in her as well."
Gaara nodded. "She'd be much safer here or in the leaf than anywhere else."
Kankuro studied his younger brother for a few moments. "You want to protect her don't you?" he said. The Kazikage looked up at him surprise in his eyes. "There's nothing wrong with that you know."
"I desire to protect all people from The Land of Wind." Gaara replied.
The painted faced shinobi shook his head. "I know that, but I'm fairly certain that even if she didn't have a connection to this village you'd still have the desire to protect her just as strongly."
"What are you saying?" Gaara replied his eyes narrowing slightly.
"I'm just saying that you seem concerned with her on a more personal level is all." The puppeteer replied. The Kazikage stood from his chair and turned to face the window. "Listen, you might be the Kazikage, but you're also Gaara. You're a man who is free to make his own choices in every aspect of your life."
There was a knock at the door and The Kazkikage sighed. "Come in." he called out.
Temari walked in and smiled. "Hey there." She said cheerfully. "How are my favorite bothers?" she said closing the door behind her.
"We're your only brothers." Kankuro replied grumbling slightly.
"So? You're still my favorites." She protested with a smile. "Anyway, I ran into Sakura and Sauske on my way over here."
"Oh really?" Kankuro replied.
"Yeah. They were holding hands!" the blonde haired shinobi sighed. "It was so cute! Sakura finally got her man! I'm so happy for her and a bit jealous." She admitted.
Kankuro snorted. "Don't kid yourself. Everyone here knows that you've got it bad for the leaf's Shikimaru."
Temari blushed and reached back for her fan. "Say what?" she demanded. "I don't know what you're talking about! Who'd like that guy? He's always going on about how much of a drag everything is and he's always got that blonde bimbo hanging out with him." She muttered.
"I heard from Naruto that Ino is with Sai." Gaara said softly.
Temari's green eyes lit up. "Really!? What a relief." She saw Kankuro's smirk and frowned. "Not that I care!" she shot back. "Ugh!" she groaned. "That wasn't what I came here to tell you. Sakura said that she's going to release Onchou from the hospital today. She wanted to ask what you planned to do with her and Ryuu since there won't be room for both of them in the room she's staying in with the other leaf ninja. She also said that she still had tests to run on Onchou so she didn't want her just tossed out into the desert or something."
Kankuro chuckled. "Does she really think our Gaara would do something like that?" he asked.
"I don't think so but it does present a unique problem. What do you think Gaara?" the fan wielder asked.
Gaara touched his hand to his chin and leaned against the wall trying to come up with a solution. Given the delicacy of the situation and the fact that she was in danger he couldn't just leave her unattended but the elders would frown upon him assigning ninja to protect her. "I'll arrange for her to stay in the guest house." He said.
Kankuro and Temari's eyes widened. "The one that's connected to our residence?" Kuro asked. Gaara nodded.
"Why there?" Temari asked. "Why not an inn or something? Not that I mind having her or Ryuu around, that kid is actually pretty funny when he's not worrying about the girl but I don't think the elders will like that."
The red haired shinobi sighed. "There aren't many things that the elders do like." He replied. "Besides, given her unique situation it only makes sense to keep her close. She cannot be allowed to leave the village until we get this troubling matter solved but she's not a criminal. I don't want to force the two of them into lockup when they haven't done anything wrong so the next best solution is to keep them close so that they can't run off but aren't treated like criminals either."
Kankuro sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "You have a good point there. Assigning guards to them would be a hassle especially since the ninja from the leaf are basically doing that already."
"Good point." Temari agreed. "I'll go see to the preparations then."
"Very well. Thank you sister." Gaara replied.
"Anytime." She replied slipping out the door.
"I'll leave things here to you." Gaara said approaching the door himself.
"Alright, but where are you going?" the hooded ninja asked.
"I have some business to attend to." The paled eyed man replied before leaving.
"Yeah, you're going to talk to that girl aren't you." He muttered. With a sigh he turned his attention to the paperwork strewn across the desk and went to work.
Gaara entered the hospital and approached the front desk. One of his eyes narrowing slightly as he listened to the girl chat with her friend.
"And then he looked at me! Naruto Uzamaki looked at me and then told me that he liked my hair!" she squealed.
He sighed, he really didn't get along with girls for this reason. He looked at the girl and sighed. Her hair was styled into what looked like a cinnamon bun on her head. Knowing his friend, he'd likely been referring to her hair looking like food and the blonde's heart only beat for Hinata. He cleared his throat and the girl immediately blushed.
"Lord Gaara!" she exclaimed blushing furiously. "What a surprise! How can I help you?" she asked.
"I'm here to visit Onchou." He replied.
"Oh alright." The girl said grabbing a visitor pass. He nodded and started to walk away when she called out to him. "Don't you need to know the room number?" she asked.
"I already know her room. Thank you." He replied quickly walking to the elevators taking it to the third floor where Onchou was. He exited the contraption and immediately became aware that the bulk of the chakra signatures was near the end of the hallway where Onchou's room was. AS he neared the room, he slowed down as a sound reached his ears. It was a person singing, they were very good from what he could hear. He slipped just inside Onchou's door his eyes widening as he saw her surrounded by a knot of people composed mostly of children singing a song he didn't recognize but was felt almost familiar.
"All that is near us we must know could disappear any day be careful. The main key to finding happiness lies nowhere else but in my soul. The closer you get to something the harder it is to see it and I'll never take it for granted let's go!"
As he watched and listened to her, she seemed genuinely happy her eyes bright and a large genuine smile of her face. As he studied her expression he noted that she had a dimple on the right side of her mouth and found it incredibly adorable. Her eyes suddenly focused on him and her singing faded.
"Lord Kazikage." She said softly. "I wasn't expecting you to visit."
The adults in the room whirled around expressions of fear and anxiety on their faces. He wasn't surprised that most of them still feared him initially even if they're opinions of him were quickly changing for the better. The children however reacted quiet differently turning slowly and studying him with curious but not fearful eyes.
"I apologize for not letting you know in advance." He replied lowering his head slightly. "I have some things I need to discuss with you Miss Onchou if that's alright."
She nodded. "Of course. I'm sorry, that'll have to be all for today." She said bowing her head apologetically to her little audience.
"Aw!" one of the children whined. "I wanted to hear the duck song again."
Onchou reached out and touched the red head child on the head. "I'm sorry little one. Maybe another time."
The group quickly cleared out and Gaara approached her bedside. "It seems you're rather popular." He remarked. "I never knew you possessed such a talent."
"Thanks." She replied blushing a little. "It was an accident really. I was singing Ryuu a lullaby one evening before he left for the night and a child in the hallway overheard and came in the room. Word spread quickly and before I knew it I had children and their parents drifting into my room from time to time asking me to sing."
"I see. I'm sorry they disturbed you while you were supposed to be resting." He replied.
"Don't be. I actually really enjoy singing and I don't mind doing it in front of people especially if it helps them feel better or forget about where they are." She said with a little smile.
He nodded and then glanced around the room. "Have you been outside since your training session?" he asked noting her blush and the little one of his own that came at the mention of the event.
"No." she replied. "Sakura has been doing a lot of blood tests on me and I've honestly been a little tired learning to adjust to this climate. Spending six or so years mostly underground has more lasting effects than I expected."
The Kazikage nodded. "In that case, would you like to go with me to the roof? I'd like to speak with you in private."
She blinked. "Sure." She replied reaching out to turn off the IV drip attached to her hand and quickly disconnecting herself from it.
"You didn't have to do that." He replied his eyes widening at how quickly she managed the action.
"I'm used to it." She replied simply. "It's just solution to help keep my hydrated anyway." She slipped to the floor and slid her feet into a pair of slippers and he noticed her clothes for the first time. She was wearing a royal blue tunic with long sleeves that were rolled up to just below her elbows. Silver buttons shimmered at the neckline and the two breast pockets. Her legs were covered in black leggings with white musical notes running down the side of each leg. She tossed her violet hair and then used an elastic to secure it into a low pony tail. "I'm ready." She said after a moment.
"Right." He replied leading the way out of the room. He led her down the hall to the elevator and pushed the button for the top floor. She leaned against the wall of the tiny room one leg slightly bent with her arms clasped behind her back her eyes trained on the floor.
"How is your recovery going?" Gaara asked to distract himself from how pretty she looked and their close proximity.
She nodded. "Pretty good. Sakura said that my chakra network is nearly fully healed so I should be back to full strength in no time." She chuckled. "Not that it matters really."
"Why do you say that?" he asked as the elevator stopped and the pair walked through the hallway of the last floor earning curious looks from both the staff and patients before taking the stairs to the roof.
"I honestly haven't really been in a situation where I've needed to use my full strength in years." She replied. "It almost feels like a waste."
"I can understand that." He replied looking at his own hands. The last time he'd come close to using his full strength was protecting his village from moon fragments a couple of years ago and even that hadn't cut it. He did take comfort in that fact however that it meant he could protect his village from just about anything.
The pair walked to a bench on the hospital roof underneath a metal awning to keep the sunlight off and Onchou sighed slipping the elastic from her hair so that the wind could ruffle her hair her eyes closed and a smile on her lips. "I love the sensation of wind in my hair." She confessed. "It makes me feel so free."
Gaara nodded. "It does." He agreed. When she opened her eyes again, he spoke. "You did a really good job beating me the other day." He said.
The violet haired girl blushed and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Thank you, I feel a little guilty about how I won though." She admitted.
He shook his head. "There's no need for you to feel guilty. A true shinobi should be prepared for anything and clearly I wasn't."
Onchou snorted. "I don't think anyone can really prepare for what happened at the end of that match." She muttered.
The Kazikage coughed as his mind replayed the accidental kiss in his mind again and made a mental note to focus on meditation in his next training session to clear his mind easier. "Onchou about Takuma and his organization." He laced his fingers together and leaned forward slightly resting his elbows on his knees. "I really need you to tell me everything you know."
The violet haired girl sighed and looked away. "Why do you need to know?" she asked. "I haven't been with him for over a year now. A lot can change in that amount of time."
"That's true, however some things remain the same and knowledge is power. We cannot defeat an enemy we know nothing about." Gaara replied.
The girl wrapped her arms around herself and he noted that her fingertips traced over the spot where the brand bearing the number 269 rested. "What are you going to do to me afterwards?" she asked. "Are you going to lock me and Ryuu up or just throw us out?"
"I won't do either of those things." He protested. "I'm not your enemy."
Onchou drew her knees up to her chest. "How can I be sure of that? How do I know you're not just saying what you think I want to hear?"
"You said that you have the power to hear what a person's soul is saying right?" he said softly. "Does mine tell you that I'm lying?"
The amethyst eyed girl glanced at him her eyes wide and then sighed. "No. I can tell you're not lying to me. You have no intention of betraying us now but that could easily change in the future."
Gaara nodded. "That's true but I assure you that I really just want to help you and Ryuu."
"Why do you care?" she asked.
"I admire your strength and courage. In addition, you're in this situation partially because of my village's inability to protect yours. It's our duty to care for you now." He replied.
"I see." She replied looking away. Her head bowed and she laced her fingers together. "Alright. I'll do it, but I'll need a few days to compile a list for you. I'm assuming you want information on all his agents in addition to his criminal exploits so it's going to take some time."
"Excellent." He replied. "I really appreciate it and I promise not to betray you."
"Thank you." The violet haired girl replied softly.
He nodded. "Of course. Also, you're being discharged today. From tonight onwards it has been decided that you'll sleep in the guest house attacked to the Kazikage's residence along with Ryuu."
"Oh. Thank you very much. You don't have to though." She replied.
"I want to." He responded. "I'd like you to stay with the leaf ninja after today during the day."
"No problem. I like those people and watching Ryuu, Sasuke, and Naruto constantly bicker is very entertaining."
"I'm glad to hear it." He replied. "I have to go back now." He said. "Do you want to sit out here a while longer?"
She nodded. "Yeah. I do. Sorry." She glanced up at him her eyes shimmering with an emotion that he didn't quite understand. "Thank you Gaara, for everything." She said.
"You're welcome Onchou." He replied. The instinct to reach out and touch her, to caress her cheek or stroke her shoulder but he ignored both of those impulses and instead reached out and touched her lightly on top of her head. "I'll see you tonight then." He said before he left leaving the amethyst eyed girl blushing behind him.
"Ugh! Why can't I figure it out!?" Sakura exclaimed tossing the lab reports across the room. "Why can't I figure out that last blasted component?!"
"Are you alright Lady Sakura?" Leo asked.
She raked her hand through her hair and groaned. "No. No I'm not alright." She muttered. "I've never had so much trouble figuring out the chemical makeup of anything. Sasori's poison was child's play compared to this garbage."
"I know you can figure it out Lady Sakura." Leo said moving up behind her. "Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked reaching out to touch her shoulder.
"No. Thanks though." She said standing up and out of his reach. "I think I'm just going to take a break."
"Can I come with you?" he asked.
"I guess." She replied as she left the laboratory. "I kind of just wanted to be alone though."
"Oh ok. I'll just come along anyway if it's all the same to you." He replied.
"Suit yourself." She replied walking out onto the street.
"Maybe we should get something to eat." Leo suggested.
Sakura shrugged to be honest, she really didn't want to be alone. She wanted to be with a certain dark haired shinobi but at the time, she didn't know where he was. The sand shinobi pulled her towards a restaurant and she was about to follow she caught a glimpse of black and a brush of electric chakra from just a few yards up the street. Her heart lifted in her chest at the same she felt the waves of frustration bubbling up inside of her. "Sasuke!" she called out.
The figure stopped at the sound of her voice and turned. Her heart beat faster as the man she loved met her gaze. He moved towards her his expression one of curiosity. "Sakura. I thought you were working in the lab today." He replied. As he came closer he noted the slight wrinkle of her brow, a dusting of moisture forming in her eyes, and tension radiating from her body and chakra. "What's wrong?" he asked his lips turning down slightly. Sakura couldn't contain it anymore and jogged to close the distance and threw her arms around the Uchiha surprising him. He lifted his hand to her back and glanced around awkwardly. "Seriously Sakura, what's wrong?"
"I'm so frustrated with the Black Water and Leo keeps flirting with me so I want to break the lab and his face but I need both so I can't. Ugh!" she exclaimed mortified by the tears threatening to spill.
Sasuke blinked in surprise and then sighed laying his hand on her head. "Calm down Sakura." He said softly. "Let's go somewhere else and talk." He suggest. "You're hungry right? Naruto, Sai, and Ryuu went to get ramen so we can do somewhere else and eat."
"But Leo…" she muttered as the tall ninja approached them.
"We're going to lunch." Sasuke said eyeing the blue eyed sand shinobi. "Thanks for looking after her in the lab Leo. I'll take over from here."
"Sure." The shinobi replied. "I'll see you later Lady Sakura."
"Come on, let's go." The Uchiha said pulling her into a small secluded restaurant. They sat down at one of the smaller tables. After ordering their food, Sakura took a deep breath as Sasuke turned to her.
"Alright, now that you've settled down a bit, why don't you tell me exactly what's going on." He said studying her from across the table.
Sakura sighed. Having Sasuke to vent to was a new experience for her. In the past she'd only really had Naruto to vent to. She loved her whiskered teammate very much but when it came to her frustrations he couldn't really relate to or help her. Sure he'd always find a way to cheer her up but she'd always walk away with just a twinge of frustration left over because the root of the issue was never really discussed enough for her liking. Sai was a little better but as soon as he said the words "I read in a book" she'd shut down and want to punch him instead. Deciding to just spit it out she sighed.
"I keep hitting a brick wall with the Black Water." She replied stirring her drink. "I'm so close but I can't break down the last chemical element." She leaned forward raking her hands through her hair. "I can't even isolate it from the others very well. It's almost like it's alive or something. It's pissing me off!" she exclaimed clenching her hand into a fist. "I know that Onchou's been working hard to moderate the levels on her own and everything but even so if things continue the way they are this stuff is still going to kill her. There's a possibility that it's already shortened her life span." She sighed. "I can't allow that to happen after all she's been through. She's counting on me!"
Sasuke nodded as she spoke. "I see." He remarked. "Sakura, you're one of the best medics in the world. Try not to let it get you down. You'll figure it out."
She snorted. "Easy for you to say Mr. Savior of the World." She muttered.
He sighed. "Don't be like that Sakura." He said taking a deep breath.
"I'm sorry." She muttered. "My inferiority complex gets really bad when I get stuck like this. You can ask Naruto about it I'm sure he has lots of stories about me crying and tearing up the training grounds in my frustration."
"So you finally admit you have one. An inferiority complex that is." He remarked.
"Only when it comes to you two." She muttered the waitress brought over their food and Sakura gasped.
"What is it?" Saskue asked.
"Our waitress reminds me of that red head you used to run around with." She replied noting the girl's vivid red hair and glasses.
"Karin?" Sasuke replied glancing at the girl. "I guess there's sort of a resemblance." He admitted.
"Yeah. I was actually kind of jealous of her." Sakura admitted.
` The Uchiha's dark brow rose at that. "Really? Why?"
"She was able to be by your side when I couldn't." she admitted. "To be honest I almost did want to take her place when you asked me on that bridge but I also knew that you weren't yourself anymore." He nodded a faraway look in his eye and a random thought occurred to her. "Wait a second, how did you know I was a medical ninja?" she asked.
"What do you mean?" he replied.
"You told me that you knew I was a medical ninja that day. How did you know that? There was no way to tell from my gear and it's not like it was ever mentioned in those ridiculous conversations you and Naruto had when we met up. You didn't even speak to me most of the time." She said.
He cringed a little at her comment. When he was in that dark state hearing her talk annoyed him because her voice and words made him ache in a way that Naruto's didn't. However the spec of light and warmth in his heart was just relieved to see her alive and well. He sighed. "To be honest, I found out by coincidence." He replied. "As the years progressed, news of your medical prowess just naturally made its way through the ninja world. I might have been rough but I was still a ninja. I couldn't help but overhear." His mind went back to when he was traveling with his team Taka.
"I need to take a break." Suiegetsu whined as he walked with his back hunched over as the four man team neared the outskirts of a village.
"Just evaporate!" Karin snapped. "You're seriously so useless! Why do you put up with him Sasuke!?" the fiery redhead demanded.
"Shut up you hag!" Suigetsu shot back his lips curling over his pointed teeth.
Sasuke sighed. No matter how many times he explained, she wouldn't understand so there was no point. 'At least Sakura would've taken the hint and dropped it' he thought to himself. "Leave it alone Karin." He responded. She pouted in response and he once again had to remind himself of her usefulness. "We can rest at the village just ahead. You can make it that far right?" he said to his white haired companion.
"I guess." Suigetsu replied.
As they came closer it became obvious that there was something going on as the villagers milled around the village square talking excitedly to one another.
"My son too! He was completely cured!" a woman exclaimed. "The doctor's had told me it was incurable!"
"What are they going on about?" Suiegetsu asked as more villagers gathered.
"I don't know." Jugo replied. He turned to the bird sitting on his massive shoulder and then nodded. "It seems that this village was plagued by a deadly illness. It caused terrible bouts of madness and bleeding from the eyes and ears."
"That sounds pretty nasty." Suigetsu muttered. "Is it still here?"
"Let's find out." Karin said. "It'll be bad if we contract the illness by being here." She said jogging up to the woman who had talked about her son.
"Excuse me, could you tell us what happened here?" she asked the woman. "What's the illness everyone is talking about?"
"It was awful." The woman replied. "Many of our people came down with it and lost their minds. We were worried it would be our undoing but it has been eradicated from our village thanks to a team of ninja. There was a medical ninja among them that was simply extraordinary. She figured out that the source of the illness was coming from our drinking water and created a treatment for the water and treated all of the patients."
"Wow. She must have been a pretty talented medical ninja to do all that." Suigetsu replied. "Definitely more skilled than this hag." He said pointing with his thumb at the redhead who stopped her foot and crossed her arms over her chest indignantly. "Can you tell me the name of this medical ninja? Maybe we can trade Karin in for her."
The woman nodded. "Of course! Her name was Sakura! She was a pretty girl with short pink hair." The woman sighed and smiled. "I'll always be thankful to her. She'll probably become one of the greatest medical ninja in the world if she isn't already."
"Thanks for the info." Suigetsu replied with a toothy grin. "What do you say Sasuke? Should we track down this Sakura chick? She sounds useful."
Sasuke smiled in spite of himself. It seemed that his former teammate was making quite a name for herself. Saving an entire village from being wiped out from a waterborne illness and treating her patients and their family in such a way that they held a deep respect for her. His once annoying teammate wasn't so useless after all.
"Wait, is Sasuke smiling?" Karin asked elbowing Suigetsu in the side.
"Ouch! So what if he is? Every guy has a right to smile you know. Did you think he couldn't or something?" he asked.
"What are you smiling about?" Jugo asked.
"Nothing important." He replied turning away. "Let's take a short breather and then continue on." He said sitting down on a stone bench. As he did so he glanced up and watched as the wind blew past shaking petals from the nearby cherry tree. A full bloom blew through the air and landed on his lap. He lifted it up and place it in his palm and studied the pink petals as his mind conjured up the face of a girl he hadn't seen in a while with bright green eyes and hair the color of her namesake. "Sakura." He murmured softly.
"Yeah, that was the girl's name." Suigetsu replied. "Have you ever heard of her?" he asked.
"I have." He replied.
"So will you ask her to join?" the sharp toothed boy replied.
"No." he replied shortly.
"Bummer!" the white haired man replied. "I was looking forward to getting rid of this freak." He muttered motioning to the red head.
"What did you say?!" Karin snapped her hands reaching for the water man's throat.
Sasuke sighed and then his eyes widened as the wind picked up again and blew the flower out of his hands. A wry smirk crossed his lips as he closed his hand around where the flower had just been. 'That's right.' He said to himself. 'I made my decision. There's no way I could ask her to be with me now.'
"Sasuke?" Sakura said pulling him out of his flashback.
"Yes." He replied embarrassed that she'd caught him off in his own little world.
"Did anything happen between you and Karin?" she asked.
He blinked in surprise and then chuckled. "No." he replied simply. "There's no way I could ever have feelings for that woman."
"Oh really?" Sakura replied. "Why is that?" she asked.
He thought for a moment. "She was obsessive, clingy, and way too forward." He replied simply.
Sakura cringed. "I was like that once too." She muttered.
"Yeah, when you were twelve, not now." He replied with a grin. "Besides, she only liked me for my looks and my chakra."
"Your chakra?" the pink haired medic replied a brow rising.
He sighed. "Don't ask. Anyway, I've never held any special feelings for her. Why do you ask? Are you jealous?" he asked smirking at her.
"Well yeah. Of course I'm jealous." Sakura replied. "She was able to be by your side when I couldn't. I wish that I'd been able to be there for you more than I have been." Sasuke smiled and reached over tapping her in the middle of her forehead over the top of the indigo diamond she'd earned. "What was that for?" she asked blushing.
"I was just thinking about how cute you are sometimes." He replied. "Getting jealous of a girl that could never hold a candle to you."
She blushed deeper and he was surprised when she moved closer to him. "Sasuke." She said softly.
"What is it?" he asked glancing over at her.
"Can I kiss you?" she asked her cheeks burning even brighter.
He blushed himself and then coughed. Her blush, the nervous shifting of her body and the way that she looked up at him with those big green eyes had his heart throbbing in his chest and his mind melting away. He was certain that she had no idea how beautiful she looked at the moment.
"Of course." He replied leaning towards her his eyes closing. She closed the distance and pressed her satin lip against his. After a moment she changed the angle nipping at his lower lip and the flame in his belly flared in response as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder to pull her closer. After a moment she pulled away and then laid her head against his chest.
"Thank you Sasuke." She said soflty. "I feel much better now."
He smiled and squeezed her tighter. "So do I." He replied tucking her head under his chin.