Chapter Four

"What did you just say?" The girl spun around to face Temari with her eyes blazing with some unknown emotion.

"Repeat it!" She demanded as Temari hissed in pain when she jumped in shock.

"Do you know a Nara Shikamaru?" Gaara repeated for his sister as he saw the pain she was in as she held her shoulder. Tears streamed down her face as she tried to stop her shoulder from moving anymore.

"What is your name?" The girl completely ignored Gaara as she kept firing her questions at Temari.

"Nar – argh!" Temari gasped out as tears obscured her view, so she didn't see the girl walk forward until she was right in front of her. Temari gasped and tried to move back but the girl just grabbed her shoulder ignoring Temari's scream. Gaara and Kankuro made to move forward but the girl just glared at them before returning her gaze back to Temari's shoulder. Her hands glowed green as Temari felt a cold sensation on her shoulder numbing the pain. She felt her shoulder bone return to place even as she heard the click.

"I've mended your break. I will tend to your friends when you come back to my village, for you are my prisoners, but for now they are not in impending danger. Your break is not entirely fixed, that would take too much energy, I have numbed the pain and placed the break back in place but you will have to wait a week or so for it to be fully healed. Do you understand?" The girl asked calmly to Temari as she rubbed her shoulder in wonder.

"Th–thank you!" Temari smiled as she pulled her baby from Hinata's arms and cradled him tightly to her chest.

"Heh, I only did it so you could answer my question. Don't go thanking me yet. Now, answer the question: What is your name?" The girl pressed on, wanting her answer.

"Nara Temari," Temari said confidently before immediately jumping back as the girl in front of her burst into peals of laughter. A wash of calm entered the clearing as the girl laughed with the sound of tinkling chimes mixed with something unique that made her sound not quite human. The sound brought smiled to all their faces as the girl's laughter got louder as if she had just heard the funniest thing ever.

"No way! Oh my, this is… this is…" the girl broke off as she doubled over in laughter. She finally quietened down and turned around and started walking away from them, calling casually over her shoulder,

"Follow me unless you want to stay out here all night and get eaten by wild animals, or murdered by the other inhabitants of this island. Count your stars that you met me and not one of the Airans. And leave your weapons there. Don't touch them," the girl added as she saw Gaara and Sasuke reach for their weapons out of her peripheral vision. "My people will return for them. Keta gita yuw," she said the last thing while placing her hand to the closest biggest tree and putting her head to it as if bowing and showing respect.

Gaara and Kankuro exchanged glances before following their sister, who was right behind the mysterious girl, through the forest to God knows where.

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They finally burst from the thick forest after what seemed like hours when it was really only ten minutes or so and found themselves looking at a village. Naruto's jaw dropped as he took in the sight around him. Children were playing in the clearing with empty coconuts as balls, there was a marketplace with all types of trades going on. Couples walked hand in hand. It seemed… normal, except for the fact that most of the actual building were in the trees. They were all amazed looking around at the civilisation they never knew existed in this strange island in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle.

"Close your jaws boys, girls, you'll eat flies, and they ain't the nice ones neither; they're poisonous. You get bit by one it's easy enough to heal. You swallow one and you're as good as gone." The girl chuckled as her eyes twinkled with happiness, probably because she was home.

As they continued to stare in wonder, the girl just tsked and walked forward before immediately being bombarded by three young children.

"UIJA SAKURA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" They all screamed as they jumped on her. The girl, now deemed 'Sakura', fell to the ground laughing with them on top of her.

"Sammi! Haiden! Cara! Giti kie ho?" The three young children, probably around the age of 6 laughed and started to talk really fast in their strange language. The group still standing behind the girl only heard jabberish as Sakura replied now and again as she got up and pulled the smaller girl onto her back so she was on her shoulders and pulled the taller boys into her arms so they rested on each hip.

"Come," she called over her shoulder as she walked off with the children hanging off her like that.

"Is anyone else as freaked out as I am?" Naruto asked as he watched the scene in front of him with twitching eyes.

"I'm right there with ya," Ino sighed as she began walking with Temari just in front of her. Temari's face was filled with determination as she remembered the woman's response to her question about her missing husband. She obviously knew something and Temari would not stop until she found out what it was.

"Hinya lok kaj yuyo ker," they heard the strange woman coo to children as she put them down in front of a large looking tree. They all watched as she scaled the tree and swung herself up to a small thin bridge that rocked as she landed on it. They had completely forgotten about the abnormally large tiger until it let out a roar behind them making them all cry out and jump in the air. Seconds later it was answered by a large howl as a large white dog/wolf came sprinting out of the woods to the left of them and upon the animal sat a man about their age. He had brown scruffy hair, was shirtless and had an axe strapped to his back. His legs were covered with brown skin pants and he was shoeless. He had red markings on his face and watched them with curious brown eyes as his ride stopped in front of them.

They all watched with massive yes as the tiger walked up to the wolf and as they touched noses the man upon the animal looked up, spotted the woman sitting on the bridge and shouted up to her in that weird language,

"Sali kie yuws outa?" Sakura looked down at him and smirked.

"They're Japanese! And guess who they're looking for?" They watched as the man looked taken aback and looked at them searching their faces. His eyes saw the baby and he fell off the wolf in shock. He quickly got up and ran for the tree as Sakura had done and scaled up quickly. He exchanged a few words with the pink haired woman before looking back down at them and smirking. He quickly ran towards the edge and jumped off over to a hut a few metres away. Sakura watched him go before looking down at them and shouted down,

"You may wanna move to the middle, between all the tree clad homes to our 'safe' area. You've probably already caused an uproar," she rolled her eyes and leaned back against the rope behind her and watched them walk curiously forward with the wolf and tiger coming up behind them.

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As they entered the clearing Temari's baby started crying and as she tried to shush him Sakura jumped down in front of them and looked at the baby before shaking her head and sighing. She looked to the huts above them and whispered as if to herself,

'What have I done?'

She moved towards the males of the group and sized them up quickly. She caught Sasuke's eye and glared at him,

"You make any trouble boy and you will regret the day you were born. Understand?" Sasuke just smirked and said mockingly,

"Perfectly." She clenched her fists, but said nothing else as they were interrupted by a cry of,

"TEMARI!?"

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God you gotta love being evil. ;P

"Keta gita yuw" = "Watch over them"

"Giti kie ho" = "How are you?/How are you going?/How have you been?/What's new?"

"Uija" = Lady. As in Lady Sakura

"Hinya lok kaj yuyo ker" = "Run along now little ones"

"Sali kie yuws outa?" = "Who are these people?"