-傷-
Sakura became aware of the darkness as separate from herself. Perhaps there was nothing to see? Perhaps there was nothing... But she could feel the breath in her lungs, so there was something.
I need to...hurry... What an odd thought. But hadn't she thought it before? Sakura tried to think. Everything came slowly. She was lying on her side. Was she supposed to be lying on her side? It was dark...
Hurry... Hurry to what? She wanted to ask someone. She had forgotten something perhaps? Was she supposed to meet someone? Did Tsunade need her to... Hurry... Iwa... Sasuke... She could feel her lips as they twitched. There was something...
Pressure on the ears became noise. The noise became people talking and moving. The meaning was beyond Sakura but it occurred to her that she shouldn't just be laying down when people were standing around her talking.
Sasuke... Oh yes, she had found him, hadn't she? It wasn't just a dream. A dream? Had she been dreaming?
Was she asleep? No? Or... yes? She looked up, only it wasn't up. It was a direction away from her center, away from the pull of darkness and against the pressure of quiet. In this "above" she saw characters that formed a seal. Sakura struggled to think, her mind felt slow, like something was dragging it down. And the seal felt like it created a barrier in her mind.
She began to imagine the barrier created by the seal as keeping her from waking up. Thoughts became more concise and a fog began to lift away. She wasn't asleep, her waking mind was suppressed. The difference was perhaps negligible except...
Sakura reached out with her consciousness and could feel the chakra in her system. She couldn't command her body, not even as much as opening her eyes or moving a finger. But she could control the flow of chakra inside of her. She studied the seal very carefully and came to a conclusion.
She could overcome the seal.
Sakura Haruno was a strong, strong woman. She knew it because her teacher had told her so, and when Tsunade had retired she had made absolutely sure Sakura understood her own strength. Tsunade's deft fingers and colossal strength were always impossible to argue against and when she had punched Sakura over 400 feet and then demanded she stand, Sakura had no choice but to go along with it.
Her master had made sure she could go toe-to-toe with any shinobi alive - and destroy almost every one. Only a tremendous power like a tailed beast could hope to best Sakura. Any human would have to depend heavily on extensive ninjutsu and a cunning on a level possessed by only those at the highest levels.
The only thing that held Sakura back was any occasional sense of trying not to go overboard. Certainly fighting on a field would stop cold if the field were ripped asunder with one blow. However, the damage would be extensive and indiscriminate. Sakura knew that entirely too well.
But here, in the space inside her mind, it was just her self-awareness and the seal.
If she could concentrate her chakra and slam it into the seal it should break.
She studied the seal. By all appearances she just had to punch it dead in the center. And she knew that her concept of physicality was little more than metaphor. She had no fist, the seal was not material. It was really her mind - its strength would have to be as profound as that of her fists.
Sakura steadied herself and imagined herself holding two fingers straight up in the traditional shinobi mudra. She concentrated so her chakra gathered together within her mental space.
Even though no one was there she nodded when she was ready. Then, expelling a long breath and letting herself imagine a battlecry, she charged the seal.
The seal stretched against her like it was elastic. Then the edges of it seemed to snap forward.
Too late Sakura realized the seal was more of a net than a wall, designed to capture and ensnare an elusive mind.
Her imaginary throat constricted as she cried out a curse. A shriek of "NO!" throbbed on her ear drum as the seal swept around her the same bluish white light of before and then sank her mind into nothingness.
-傷-
Touru wiped his eyes and ignored the immense tension in his back. They were finally settled in the court at Doginai. The shinobi complement that had run through the night to bring Haruno to court was left outside to make bivouac wherever they could and get a little rest. The judges were currently being roused from bed, likely a couple of hours earlier than they were used to.
The guard on the left of the cage holding Haruno shifted in his seat and cracked his eyes open. Touru was startled and watched him carefully. The man simply glanced at the woman in the cage. She hadn't moved an inch and continued to lie unconscious, only long deep breaths proving the life in her.
After a long moment the guard settled back and closed his eyes again. He murmured, "She tried to fight the seal and failed." The guard on the right never moved.
Touru let himself relax and smirked at the crumpled woman. They always tried to challenge the seal. It was very much like a cage in that it contained the prisoner, but where a strong person could break a cage, a seal was not breakable. At least not in the same way. It was little more like a rope. Punching a rope was beyond useless, everyone knew. But even a rope could be cut; a seal could be snapped by straightforward chakra attacks.
However, this seal had to be undone, like a knot. It required both incredible intelligence and exceptional chakra control, to say nothing of considerable patience. Someone had mentioned to him that Haruno was supposed to be smart, but Touru had yet to see any evidence of that.
Behind him a door opened and an older woman who was probably more flabby than curvy made her way inside. Glasses pinched her nose but she still adjusted them as she peered at the prisoner.
Touru ventured a guess. "I suppose you are the advocate for the defense."
"Oh yes," the woman warbled as she blinked up at him. "Ruji Matsudo, at your service. The Tsuchikage called on me to speak for the prisoner." She held up a briefcase and then set it on a table to the side of the cage. "Although, it hardly seems like I can give reasonable ground for murder."
Touru wondered again why they were even bothering with a sham of a court proceeding. It was all but certain that Haruno would be found guilty and handed over to Kenta Kobayashi for "softening." Touru shrugged off his misgivings. The sooner it was over the sooner Haruno would get what she had coming. Perhaps then Kishi and Toshi's spirits could rest peacefully. He introduced himself quietly.
In the middle of his exchange with Ruji the judges entered from a side door. Behind them came a short man with thinning hair. He stepped to Touru's side and introduced himself as the prosecutor.
The man hardly spoke louder than a murmur which made him sound like he was talking in his sleep. He softly assured Touru it would be over soon and encouraged him to take a seat while he and the defense advocate spoke with the judges.
Touru gave up all semblance of caring and took a seat. He stared at Sakura Haruno's unconscious body with undisguised malice.
-傷-
Kakashi decided this wasn't one of his better ideas. Lying down inside the rowboat had seemed cozy but in fact it was cramped and cold. The lone Iwa shinobi he had hypnotized to take him to the dock on the other side of the river was straining to control the rowboat against the flow. So now Kakashi's choice was either to sit up and take an oar and possibly blow his cover if there were Iwa at the dock, or continue to lie still and give quiet commands and simply pray the boat wasn't swept downstream or overturned.
Sunrise was less than an hour away and the air was sticky and cold on the river. From the change in angle of the boat versus the current the Iwa seemed to move it more easily toward the opposite bank. With any luck they would arrive soon.
"Tie the boat to the dock as soon as we arrive, would you? And if you see any Iwa shinobi, please be sure to call to them by saying, 'Hail to the Tsuchikage!'" Kakashi muttered.
"Yes." Was the man's flat response. He was breathing hard as he paddled. He was Hisao Murase, and when Konoha shinobi had taken him and his teammates prisoner he had cursed Kakashi, his father and even his mother rather elaborately.
Less than an hour earlier Yamato's clone had approached the Konoha camp soaking wet. He had relayed how the Iwa had gotten away and the position of the Earth Country dock before apologizing and reverting to a crude wooden carving shaped vaguely like Yamato.
In short order Kakashi's squad had eliminated the genjutsu that protected the camp and overwhelmed the tiny squad that held the post.
And now Kakashi was pressed into the wet bottom of a small boat, sneaking toward Earth Country. From what he could surmise, Touru had more than six hours' head start. It was possible that Sakura was already on trial.
"Oh by the way, if you don't mind, please say 'nice night out!' if you see any of your fellow Iwa on the dock itself alright? At that point it won't be a nice night since I'll have to kill everyone, but I'd appreciate a little head's up. Will you do that for me?"
"Yes." The man heaved on his oar and it turned a bit more in the water.
A few minutes later the man called, "Hail to the Tsuchikage." His voice was loud but rather lifeless.
Shit, thought Kakashi. "Be a good boy and tie us to the dock, then run to the Iwa that you see and tell them the Tsuchikage demands they return to Iwagakure immediately. Tell them that's why you were sent alone. And then go back to Iwa with them. Got it?"
"Yes."
Some distance away Kakashi could hear some confused greetings of Iwa shinobi. He was relieved when the man worked quickly to tie the boat to the dock. He then hopped out onto the dock and ran, just as Kakashi had instructed.
Several Iwa were confused about the supposed order since they had just been sent to the dock to look for possible Konoha infiltration. But the man only gave the "order" once and strode toward the highway leading toward Iwa, forcing the other shinobi to scramble after him.
Soon silence descended. It was the dead hour before dawn even the earliest early birds weren't up yet. Only shinobi were foolish enough to conduct business at this time of night.
Kakashi counted to twenty and then sat up stiffly and peeked toward shore. Light from the half moon gave some visibility but also stretched many shadows.
He could see why the Iwa had come here, there was equipment for loading large and heavy objects onto boats. All sorts of people had been through here. It might not be a heavy traveling point, but Kakashi guessed someone was loading or unloading goods here more days than not. The ground was well trodden making it nearly impossible to tell which way the Iwa company he was interested in went.
Touru wasn't the brightest but he wasn't a complete fool. One road lead to the north and another to the east and the tracks and scents in the area were scattered all over making tracking nearly impossible.
"Well, Tenzo, old buddy, I sure hope you left me something." Kakashi carefully took in the river bank. Knowing his old teammate, he would have left a message. But the question was where.
Receding from the shore were several trees, ash, maples and plum trees scattered down the bank and disappearing behind each other. Yamato was always good at taking advantage of plant life, so what did he create this time?
Kakashi took note that several of the plum trees still had fruits hanging from the branches. He quirked a smile. Late season plums were delicious. Maybe he would revisit this shore when all the silly confusion with Sakura and Sasuke had died down.
And then Kakashi smacked a hand over his face. "I must be going senile."
The tree closest to the water's edge - a plum tree - had fresh round fruit, the sort of plums that were the first of the season.
Kakashi remembered an argument he and Yamato had had on which plums were better, the crisp early season plums or the juicy late season ones. Kakashi always imagined his eloquence in favor of late season plums had carried the day. But this was clearly Yamato's long-delayed riposte.
Kakashi grumbled to himself. If Yamato ever learned how long it took him to figure out the riddle he would lose all respect for his sempai. He rose softly out of the boat and quietly moved down the dock to the tree in question.
"Now then. Where are you hiding?" Kakashi pushed up his hitaiate to expose his Sharingan. Very quickly he saw a pattern in the bark that led up to a branch to a spot where the pattern went irregular. Kakashi reached up and grasped the irregular bark and found it came off in his hand.
Kakashi frowned as he read. "The Iwa captain led most of his men to the East. I did not hear what their final destination is. They are certainly going to put her on trial by morning. The general opinion is Sakura will be given no real defense during the trial and will soon after face torture and interrogation." To the East, huh? Iwagakure was to the North.
"I'll leave the usual. Yamato"
Kakashi smiled. Yamato knew Kakashi well and could anticipate his plans. It was always a relief to work with Yamato. The man was a professional.
Kakashi turned on the radio transmitter on his neck and called out to Kiba. He would have to let his company know what he was up to. After that... Kakashi winced. He would have to tell Naruto. It was going to set off the kid. But if he could keep it together Naruto could probably pull off the very solution to the whole mess.
-傷-
Sasuke's eyes snapped open in the dark. He instantly sent his awareness into his surroundings, seeking out anything that should not be there. It took another moment to note Naruto's sleepy groan and to place the slightly perfumed air in the daimyo's palace.
The darkness that seemed to press against the windows made him think it was probably another hour until sunrise. A dim light against the wall across the room let him see shadowy outlines of everything without his Sharingan. It lay in oppressive stillness. Even though the salon gathering had been only a handful of hours ago, Sasuke was ready to get the business finished.
Thinking about his cottage and the past few days Sasuke suddenly felt a tremendous desire to return. It wasn't exactly to his cottage, he thought. He certainly missed the solitude - which would be shattered now that all of Konoha and Iwa knew it was there - but he didn't have a great attachment to the cottage itself. Sasuke wanted to get out, to go, and for a wonder it wasn't just to go away. That feeling he knew very well. He wanted to go to somewhere.
The image of Sakura's unconscious, ashen face came to mind, the terrible wound in her side. He frowned. Of all the people, of all the places she could have been sent to investigate, why did she have end up at that particular bend in the river?
Sasuke took in a breath and let it out slowly. A few feet away Naruto muttered in his sleep and giggled. Sasuke had to admit it was he who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Iwa and Konoha would have had their showdown independent of him. But Sakura probably wouldn't now be in a cage had it not been he who was caught and she who freed him.
"Tch." Sasuke was obligated to her, his promise reflected that. But he really owed her some gratitude. He would have the same debt to anyone who saved him, but he had sworn to help Sakura. "When an Uchiha says a thing will be so..." He grunted. Yoshitaro had hardly needed to say such a thing.
He tried to imagine what it would have been like if Naruto had gotten him free, or Kakashi, but it was impossible. Restlessness made him shift in his bed.
He keenly remembered changing her bandages while she knelt in the Iwa cage. The wound had decreased significantly in a short time, no doubt due to expert healing by Sakura and her slug summon. But it would still be a nasty scar. Another one in her mid-section. Aside from the scars her skin was creamy and slightly pink. She was lean but hardly emaciated.
Sasuke's thoughts crept up her torso to her light blue bra. He had shoved away the thought violently while he dressed her wound and wrapped his kimono around her. But now, in the dark, hundreds of miles away, he recalled imagining running his lips along...
But Sasuke had asked for her trust, and she had given it. He still wanted to be worthy of it. He stopped his useless daydreaming at once and sat up. There was no way he could rest as long as Sakura was a prisoner.
"Time to get Sakura-chan free, huh bastard?" Naruto lay on his side with his blanket tangled around his feet, but he quickly sat up. "Right! Let's do this!"
Sasuke blinked at him in slight shock. He forgot that Naruto sometimes showed a frustrating ability to see right through him. With a soft "hn" he got to his feet.
Sasuke folded his bed while Naruto stretched and yawned excessively. Naruto was quieter than Sasuke remembered him being, meaning he only chatted sporadically about the anticipated morning meeting. He noted that Sasuke would not be allowed to attend since he was not a recognized diplomat, however there was an anteroom that led to the garden where unofficial members of the diplomatic parties would wait. The anteroom was separated from the garden by sliding glass so they could watch without interfering.
"I just sit back there and scare everyone." Sasuke summarized Shikamaru's plan for him.
"Heh, yeah I guess. If anyone thinks of throwing a hissy fit and leaving they'll see you with your Sharingan and stay put!" Naruto scratched his head and grinned. "It's so stupid that we have to do it this way. So it has to work out, ya know! It'd be so much better if one of us could just fight that guy Hidesaburo and let that settle it. But Old Man Ohnoki put everything into being really smart on top of being really strong. Even though Hidesaburo became the Tsuchikage fair and square, he should have some top people that we know from the war. But he pushed out the Old Man's granddaughter, Kurotsuchi, and the awesome guy who reminded me of Choji, Akatsuchi. That's why it's been so hard to get along with them. Even though we were allies during the war it still feels like we have nothing in common."
"Hn." These were all names of people who Sasuke didn't know or care about. He dimly remembered the ancient Tsuchikage who came very close to killing him. But he couldn't recall very much from that encounter without also remembering the immense hatred and desire for destruction that burned in him in those days.
"I guess it doesn't matter at this point. But I still wish we had a couple friends on the Iwa side. Then it wouldn't feel like we have to play these stupid games to avoid going to war." Naruto sighed as he pulled on his Hokage coat. "But then again they would have never pulled this crap about putting Iwa shinobi on our side of the river."
Naruto fell silent again, an uncharacteristically sober look on his face. Sasuke wondered if Naruto was really so concerned with the fallen fortunes of his old allies. Then he looked up. "They would never do this to Sakura-chan." Naruto's tone was solemn. "Never."
Sasuke stood fully dressed, other than his shoes, and looked down at the hitaiate in his hand. He ran his thumb over the leaf insignia. Naruto may have felt conflicted about waging war against former allies, but such a path would clarify much for Sasuke. That path went through the darkness that was very familiar to him. But he had sworn...
Movement had stopped and it caught Sasuke's attention. On the other side of the room Naruto stood silently watching him. He was still...and quiet. It was beyond strange. "What is it?"
"Mmh. Sakura-chan said you were different but she didn't really say how. I'm not sure she understood it entirely. Um." A look of confusion passed over Naruto's face like he was struggling for the right words. "It's like you fought a monster one time and won, you know? And like, you had to do it or die trying. But you did it and you didn't die. And now maybe you're looking at another monster and you kind of don't want to fight this one too. Like you're tired of fighting. Or you're tired of monsters or something."
"Hn." Sasuke grunted. Whether or not Naruto was close to the mark regarding what weighed on his mind, he didn't care to be analyzed. "Whatever, idiot, it's not like-"
"No way, man. I was just thinking about what you said, you know, the last time we saw each other."
Sasuke was locked staring into Naruto's intense blue eyes. His ears burned faintly but he didn't dare look away, although he had a strong feeling he knew where this was headed.
"You looked down and saw all those allied shinobi fighting to support me and I was fighting to save them. You knew that they wanted me to hide and you knew I would never hide from battle. And when you came to fight me you just wanted to test yourself against me. You didn't care about the war or anything, you just wanted to see if your 'dead-last' teammate ended up better than you." A smile spread over Naruto's face as his eyes focused on the past.
"I fought you because I missed you so much it hurt worse than anything. Seeing you again made me a little crazy and it made me so happy I wanted to scream." Naruto chuckled. "You tried everything. You even tried to distract me by saying I was wasting time fighting you when I could be helping my comrades. But the more stuff you threw at me the more I was determined to beat you. Just like old times."
Naruto grinned and Sasuke couldn't stop the corner of his mouth from lifting.
Naruto couldn't control his smile which worked at odds with the irritated tone he tried to take. "I can't believe that you of all people would stoop to what you did." He snapped off a laugh as he shook his head. "Right when I almost had you, just after I told you I could do anything as long as I knew my friends had my back, you said something that stopped me cold. I've thought about it every single day since then." Naruto's smile faded slightly. From a pocket he fished out his hitaiate.
"You said I was lucky. And then you, you! Sasuke Uchiha! You corrected yourself and said it wasn't luck. It was hope. I had hope because I had friends. And my friends fought for me because I gave them hope. And then you, hehe... you bastard. You said I gave you hope."
Naruto's face was completely tender. There wasn't any challenge in his eyes. Sasuke's ears were burning and he turned his attention back to the hitaiate.
"You shocked me so bad I couldn't hold onto you. And then you clobbered me. Sakura-chan said a normal person might have even died, heh. I was unconscious for the rest of the day."
"Tsk." Sasuke looked out the window, at the deep blue that was beginning to show in the sky. "I didn't say it to try to trick you." His voice shook slightly. The word back then had come out without him realizing he was even thinking it. But as soon as he said it he knew it was true.
That weakness, that foolishness, that bond... that was what had kept him running for eight long years. He had scorned that tie and refused Naruto's friendship only to come face to face with the fact that he practically depended on it. So he turned his back and tried to call it rejection rather than what it really was: fleeing.
"Tsk." And that had been Sakura's entire point. It irked Sasuke when someone figured out something about him before he did.
"Well, bastard?" Naruto was tying his hitaiate around his head. "You went out last time and faced the monster alone. You're not alone this time, got it?"
"Aa." Sasuke pulled on the hitaiate. The monster, or rather, the darkness was not something he had to face by himself once again. He allowed himself a moment to feel glad.
A knock at the door interrupted their private thoughts. Naruto called the visitor to enter. Choji and Shikamaru entered, followed by Tenten and Sai. Finally another shinobi entered, a man in a large coat, with spiky black hair and wrap-around sunglasses hiding his eyes.
Sasuke hid his surprise when a beetle flew in and landed on the man's hand and disappeared up his sleeve. Ah yes. "Shino."
"Sasuke." The man responded. He said nothing more.
Every one of the visitors looked tired, even Shikamaru. Choji gave his report on protecting the daimyo along with Sai. Then Tenten reported on guarding the diplomats with Shino. They largely ignored Sasuke. Shikamaru explained that Ino was already having breakfast with the diplomats.
"Aw man, I wanna go have breakfast!" Said Choji.
"I bet you do, that's why I had the servants in this wing bring in a three course breakfast for you to our room. You won't have to fight anyone for the last biscuit and you won't have to talk while you eat." Shikamaru grinned.
"Awesome!" The large man's face lit up as he left. The world may grow complicated and weary, but Choji would always be a simple man at heart.
"Tenten," Shikamaru declared, "you're good. Go get some rest. We'll probably need you again in a couple hours. Shino, I hate to do this, but we need you still. Get some coffee or whatever you need and meet us in 15 minutes."
The two excused themselves and left. Sai looked at Shikamaru, Sasuke and then Naruto. "I presume you need me to send messages to Konoha and to Kakashi's team?"
"Yes, I-" Shikamaru was interrupted by Naruto who suddenly snapped forward with grunt and a growl.
"GGrrrrr... I'll kill them!" Naruto crouched, hands curved as if he had claws and reddish eyes staring without seeing.
Sai's usually blank face became wary and Shikamaru looked faintly alarmed. "What is it, Naruto?"
"Those bastards! They took Sakura-chan!"
"Sakura?" Now Sasuke was on alert, his restlessness returning full force.
"In the middle of the night, they took her across the river!" A low, rumbling growl issued from deep inside Naruto's belly. He strode toward the door and Sasuke fell in beside him, Sharingan active. He was more than ready to give the Iwa an objective lesson in just why the Uchiha were so feared.
They were half way to the door when Shikamaru appeared with hands raised in the hand sign for Shadow Possession. "Okay, stop."
"Shikamaru-" Naruto began.
"Let go!" Sasuke ordered.
Shikamaru was meticulous about only looking at Naruto. "No. You guys have to cool it. If you go storming the morning meeting we'll lose everything we've worked on, even the whole reason Sakura surrendered to those assholes!"
"I don't care!" Sasuke shouted.
"Fuck you!" Naruto snarled.
"Lord Hokage," Sai spoke in cool tones, as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. "I wonder if you can imagine how this might be part of the Tsuchikage's plans. If you learned what happened to your teammate you may become so angry you would give the Tsuchikage good reason to end the treaty negotiations and invade the Land of Fire."
"He won't get to! I'll kill him first and then we'll go get Sakura-chan!"
Naruto said everything Sasuke was thinking so he remained silent and concentrated on breaking out of Shikamaru's jutsu.
"I don't think that's it, actually." Shikamaru said with difficulty. Sweat was already beading his brow. The scar running down his face pushed at his cheek oddly as he frowned. "Sasuke, can you think of a reason why Kakashi would tell Naruto's clone about the Iwa's movements this morning?"
Shikamaru's question caught Sasuke off guard as he had been concentrating his chakra. The shadow user was looking at him somewhere in the center of his chest. If they made eye contact, Sasuke decided, he would place a genjutsu on Shikamaru made entirely of his deepest fears, sure to send him into catatonia for at least a week. "I have no idea."
Shikamaru grunted. "I know you're waiting me out. I only have a minute left and it'll take me longer than that to explain what I'm thinking." He drew in a deep breath and held it for a moment before expelling it. Then he looked up into Sasuke's eyes. "Please let me explain."
For an instant everything was frozen. Sasuke was stopped in the middle of slamming his genjutsu into place by the unadorned honesty in Shikamaru's eyes. The other man was placing his trust in Sasuke when he had absolutely no reason to do so. "Talk."
Shikmaru grunted and pulled his hands apart. As soon as the jutsu left Sasuke he lifted a hand and placed it on Naruto's shoulder. He could feel his old teammate shaking with rage, but Naruto stayed in place. To the side, Sai quickly rolled up a scroll and slipped a paint brush back into a pocket.
Shikamaru wiped sweat off his brow with a shaky hand. "Right. Kakashi definitely knew that you two would be pissed as hell when you heard the news. There's no way he would be reckless enough to tell you just for the sake of telling you. Your sensei never did things without a good reason. My guess is this is his way of making damned sure we hurry up with that treaty. It's not just Sakura who is at stake now, it's all of Konoha."
He stepped forward, hands on his hips. "Think about it, attacking the Tsuchikage and invading the Land of Earth might be satisfying but it could waste a lot of time. One tracker could follow them and report back on Sakura's location. But if an army went to get her back, they would have to fight for every inch, and it would take a while. The enemy would pull secrets out of Sakura long before we could get to her again. Naruto, didn't Kakashi say if he had a tracker following them?"
Sasuke saw that Naruto was red-faced and, oddly, on the verge of crying. His growl sounded like a wounded animal, backed into a corner, "Kakashi-sensei says Captain Yamato is following them. He's out of radio range now but he's leaving marks as they go so Kakashi and Pakkun can follow."
"Great, so we haven't lost them. Right now we absolutely have to get that treaty finished. No more stalling. We get it signed then we go to where they took Sakura so they'll have to give her back right away. Come on, Naruto. I need you to get a grip so we can do this." He stared intently at Naruto.
Sasuke glanced at Naruto and realized he recognized the look on his face. Naruto would walk to the meeting quietly but he would probably pounce on the Tsuchikage the moment he saw him. Sasuke mulled letting him have his way. He thought to himself how stupid it was to let Sakura go to the Iwa. If she had only known... and he recalled the words she said. "She can handle anything they try to do."
Naruto snapped his gaze to him. "What?"
"That's what Sakura said. As long as she knows we support her, she can handle anything." Sasuke frowned. "She went with them believing we'd get the treaty finished right away."
With a grunt Sasuke let his gaze fall away. As complicated and stupid as it all was, this was still going according to Sakura's plan to get him to take a stand. She had put everything on the line for this. For a second he was gripped by twin desires to kiss Sakura deeply and to scream at her at length for her recklessness.
"Well then," muttered Naruto, with some difficulty. "We better make sure Sakura-chan gets her way, believe it."
"Aa."
They calmly walked around Sai and Shikamaru and headed into the hallway.
Behind them Sai spoke as he and Shikamaru trailed after, "I do not understand, do you believe Naruto's rage has subsided?"
Shikamaru sighed. "I kinda doubt it. But I think he and Sasuke are focused now."
Sai lowered his voice. "Were Sasuke's words enough for the effect we need?"
Shikamaru was quiet for a time. Then, "those two know what to say to each other," was all he said.
I truly appreciate the feedback that is actually relevant to the story. ohsoblue, Maria Winchester, Torikai, Micena, eliimg, and so many others of you, thanks for being thoughtful and supportive - it keeps me going!
I don't mind criticism that actually has to do with what I wrote. But some of the recent comments were completely irrelevant. I have no idea why there was a flurry of comments on Sakura's sexual past for a chapter that doesn't even have her in it. This story doesn't even have sex in it (for that see TRANSITIONS - adults only!). I've said it before and I'll say it again, the romance takes a backseat to the drama. If 65,000+ words about friendship, honor, pride, loyalty, war, politics and violence leave people are hung up on whether or not Sakura is a virgin, then I guess I must be a terrible writer. *facepalm*
For those of you who are quietly enjoying, thank you. And thanks to followers of the story for waiting so patiently. I hope the holidays were awesome.