Of course, as soon as Kakashi made himself known every single Iwa shinobi she could see pulled out a weapon and made themselves ready for battle. Several held up two fingers together for gathering chakra.

Sakura tossed her head and took a step forward. "There is no reason for weapons. There is no reason for fighting, Touru-san. And I refuse to take seriously anyone who beats up on villagers who don't know the first thing about fighting back properly."

Touru sneered at her. "No reason for weapons? Then what is that in your hand?"

"Hm. This?" Sakura held up the hiraishin. "This is not a weapon. It's a tool."

For the first time the healer woman moved and spoke up. "A ninja tool that is not a weapon? Oh please." She snorted.

Sakura pretended to study the hiraishin. It was true that it could hurt someone if she stabbed them with it, but that was true of a lot things that weren't designed to be weapons. The hiraishin were based on kunai knives but were too oddly balanced to work in battle. "Tools like this have several uses. This particular one has only ever served peace."

It was perhaps a stretch to put it that way.

Genmei sniffed like she wasn't impressed. "If it's really a tool for peace then give it to Sasuke. He's the only shinobi worth trusting."

Touru looked at her in shock. Sakura laughed at the old woman's confidence. If she only knew... But that did open a possibility. Yes, that could actually solve a problem or two.

"Alright, I will." Sakura turned back and held out the hiraishin to Sasuke. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Kakashi place his hands in his pockets, a sly look in his eye. He knew what was going on.

Sasuke, of course, had no clue and didn't want to take it at first.

"You heard the lady, you're the only one she can trust here."

"What is it?" Sasuke demanded in a hiss.

Sakura pushed the hiraishin to Sasuke, handle first. There was text on the handle that he peered at. "A summons? No... What kind of jutsu is that?"

"Throw it at the ground and find out."

Sasuke glanced at her. "I didn't create the jutsu so I can't use it."

Sakura grinned. "You were trained in Konoha. The jutsu will recognize that particular note in your chakra. Trust me, try it out."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "You swear this won't cause any violence or bring any suffering."

"I swear," she said automatically. At least, no one would end up physically suffering... what it would do to Sasuke's nerves was another matter.

Sasuke let out a long breath and relaxed. Around them shinobi followed suit, lowering their weapons, waiting to see what came next.

Sakura was impressed with herself. Somehow she managed to keep from bouncing up and down and doing a little dance. He was so close, so close!

Sasuke coiled his arm and flung the hiraishin at the ground a few feet away.

There was a puff of smoke followed by a flutter of a flame-print coat and a very loud, "What up, people! Naruto Uzumaki is in the HOUSE!"

-傷-

Sasuke watched the Iwa shinobi recoil. He stifled a groan. He noticed Kakashi was crouching to make a move. As the Iwa moved to protest, and some of them pulled out weapons, Sasuke saw his moment to strike.

The Iwa captain, Touru used his kunai to point at Naruto, screaming, "This isn't peace, it's an ambush!"

Two shuriken precisely thrown by Kakashi knocked the kunai from his grip and Sasuke raced forward. He collected Genmei in his arms and leaped back to his position beside Sakura. From the looks on the faces of the Iwa, most of them couldn't process everything at the speed at which it happened. It was just as well.

Sasuke gently set Genmei down. "Are you alright?"

"Am I...?" She scoffed. "Are you a fool? I thought you had left two days ago. Who cares what they do to an old woman! You are young, go live!"

Sasuke smiled. "I'm glad they didn't hurt you."

Genmei's face fell. "Well, yes, but they hurt Kouki pretty well. And they only brought me to keep him from dying, they wouldn't let me fix him properly. Not that he didn't have it coming, mind."

"Hn."

"Bastard!" Naruto's tone was joyful and Sasuke couldn't help but groan. "It was you, wasn't it! I can always tell who used my hiraishin! I knew you missed me!"

Large arms wrapped around Sasuke and he could feel himself tugged back into Naruto's embrace. He kicked and struggled. "Put me down, you idiot! Can't you see this is not the time!"

"Aw, alright, bastard. But only because that means you want a real hug at a better time!" Naruto let him go and Sasuke immediately straightened his kimono.

Genmei's eyes were wide in horror...and amusement. "Is that really...?"

"Yes, this is the Hokage." Sasuke supplied. And he IS a complete idiot, he thought.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto bellowed. He came at her with arms outstretched.

Sakura stopped him by holding up a hand. "Not now Lord Hokage, we have a situation to deal with."

Around them every Iwa shinobi had a weapon trained, but most of them were looking toward their captain quite uncomfortably. They knew Sasuke could give them a lot of trouble, but they never expected to be facing at least four of the strongest shinobi Konoha had ever produced, including the Hokage himself.

The captain swallowed as Naruto's gaze fell on him. "Hey. Wasn't that old lady over there just a second ago?"

The captain had dug out another kunai and put up two fingers to concentrate his chakra, but now he looked a little lost.

Kakashi spoke up. "Touru Hidaka, the captain there, brought her along with that younger guy there," he pointed to Kouki. "They're from the village and I guess Sasuke knows them pretty well. Touru-san has them to make Sasuke do what he wanted."

Anger appeared on Naruto's face. "They were hostages?"

Touru was unwilling to let Kakashi tell more of the story without Iwa input. "We believe this is the territory of the Land of Earth. The rogue ninja Sasuke Uchiha has been living here for some time and the village has been harboring him! When two of our shinobi tried to apprehend him she," he pointed to Sakura, "took them on and slaughtered them! We are here for justice!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Naruto spoke in a low tone that barely contained his anger. "What kind of justice can you demand when you're beating up people who aren't even ninja?"

The Iwa captain visibly trembled. "You-you can't tell us what justice is on Earth territory, you are the trespassers! Lord Hokage, as the ranking Iwa shinobi here, I must ask you, in the name of Lord Hidesaburo, the Fourth Tsutchikage, to withdraw peacefully. You must leave us your shinobi, Sakura Haruno to face justice for the murder of two of our own. Since you have Sasuke Uchiha there at your side there is no longer any need for us to take him into custody."

By the end of his speech Touru was no longer shaking, having convinced himself this course of action was sound. Instead Sasuke was beginning to shake. With fury. Absolutely no part of this should mean that Sakura was taken prisoner! This day was just a grab bag of crappy surprises. "You can't-"

"Sasuke." Kakashi spoke quietly but urgently. "A fight here will have disastrous consequences for the diplomats. It could mean another war."

"But they-"

"They have acted in bad faith from the beginning, I know. But the talks about the borders are nearly done. Let's not make it be for nothing."

Sasuke looked to Sakura. She stood a few feet away, closest to the Iwa out of the four of them. She looked a little startled by the turn of events and kept looking at Naruto.

Naruto appeared far too serious for Sasuke's comfort, something he never thought he would feel. He spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. "The border treaty is almost finished. This is Fire territory."

There were cries of dismay and outright insult from the Iwa who didn't want to believe him. Naruto held out his hands. "The treaty is due to be signed tomorrow. One way or the other you'll get a copy and see that I'm telling the truth."

The Iwa captain was beginning to look nervous again. "We need some insurance, however. It may be signed tomorrow but it will take a few days for messengers to bring news from our Tsutchikage and daimyo. In that time all of your shinobi will be beyond our reach."

Sasuke was quickly learning to hate this Iwa captain. He was the one who couldn't be trusted!

"Are you sure." Sakura finally spoke, addressing Naruto. Her voice was soft so only they could hear it shake. "Are you sure it'll be signed soon, Naruto?"

"Yeah, definitely, Sakura-chan. This is definitely Fire territory."

Sakura nodded and raised her voice. "Very well, I know what I must do. " She walked slowly to the Iwa as she spoke. "If it will mean everyone puts their weapons away and no one gets hurt. Well, no one else..." she looked at Kouki. "Then I'll surrender to the Iwa until the messages arrive with the results of the treaty."

Sakura stopped a few feet shy of Touru. "I mean, now. Everyone put away your weapons." Her voice was iron.

Even as the Iwa did as she commanded Sasuke shouted, "No!" Off to the side he noted that Naruto stared at him in shock and Kakashi called to him to stand down, but he ignored them.

Sasuke got to Sakura's side just as Touru reached to take hold of her arm. Sasuke slapped his hand away. "No! This was not the plan! You can't go with them!"

Two Iwa shinobi appeared at either side of Touru hands beginning to fly through ninjutsu signs. He activated his Sharingan and prepared to gather his chakra to start up a chidori when Sakura turned and put both hands on his arms.

His focus went immediately to her face. She looked nervous, perhaps even scared. But as she looked into his eyes he thought her fear perhaps wasn't for herself but for him. In his periphery he saw the captain, Hidaki hold up a hand for his shinobi to stand down.

"I need to go, Sasuke. I really screwed this up two days ago. Please don't make it worse."

Sasuke stared at her, quite unsure of what he was feeling, what he wanted. "I...this isn't what I wanted."

"I know. You wanted to protect me. You wanted to protect everyone. Sasuke, you still can. Please, have some faith in Naruto and help him out."

"But... you know what they want, what they'll do to you...!" He hissed.

"If I know you and Naruto support me, then I can handle whatever the Iwa try to do." She smiled and the light in her eyes made him feel warm. "Thanks for taking care of me."

Sasuke couldn't bring himself to smile back. But he felt so good. He deactivated the Sharingan. He desperately didn't want to give her up yet. His hands landed around her waist and slipped around her back. He pulled her close and her arm slipped up over his back. Her lips were warm and soft. Her skin was sweet against his.

Someone pulled her arm off his back and someone else was pulling his hand away from her. They held on kissing until they were wrenched apart, Iwa shinobi dragging Sakura away and Kakashi and Naruto at his sides keeping him from chasing after.

And so my ode to anime romances... where after a long trial of being stuck together two people finally figure out they like each other and are immediately forced apart! Oh well, this story remains primarily a drama. Romance is a distant second.