Sasuke drew another long breath and let it out silently. On the rooftop where he waited for Naruto and Sai the midday sun was starting to beat on his head. Out of the corner of his eye he could see two Iwa shinobi on another rooftop shifting uncomfortably. He didn't blame the Iwa for keeping an eye on him, but they studied him so closely he got the impression they were doing more than making sure he didn't set any destructive jutsus to go off after leaving the village.

When Sasuke had informed him that Naruto would probably make an appearance, Kakashi had gone to a secluded place to use Naruto's hiraishin. He had let the shadow clone know what happened with Sasuke and Sakura and that they all should head straight for home, but of course Naruto was stubborn about going to see them, even though it meant traveling with Sai into the Land of Earth.

Kakashi didn't hide his displeasure. The treaty was brand new and already Naruto was testing its strength. Well, no power in the shinobi world ever stopped Naruto from seeing his friends.

Hisako and Kakashi came to an agreement that the Konoha shinobi would clean the town of evidence of their jutsus (primarily Yamato's Forest and other wooden structures) while Naruto traveled the rest of the way to the town.

In the meantime, Sakura finished healing her cut and turned to Hisako. For a moment her voice almost failed her but finally she managed to offer to heal Hisako's arm. Her apology for breaking and dislocating it was curt but sincere.

Hisako was rather taken aback, completely stunned that a recent enemy in the field and the one who gave her the injury in the first place would offer to heal it. She gingerly held her arm out in quiet amazement.

Sakura then offered to help heal the wounded among the Iwa. Most refused her aid but two different teams brought unconscious shinobi comrades to her. From the near panic on their faces Sasuke could see they didn't care which hitaiate Sakura wore, they only cared that their friends would stand beside them once again in good health. She did what she could.

Sasuke watched everyone buzz around and kept an eye on Kenta Kobayashi and Touru Hidaka, not quite believing they wouldn't betray the treaty. It was while he was observing Kenta that he happened to overhear Hisako address him as "uncle."

Kakashi then appeared at Sasuke's side. He told Sasuke that Naruto was on his way, and he got Hisako to allow them on a nearby roof to wait for him.

On the rooftop Kakashi had quietly explained that a Konoha shinobi had sliced Kenta's throat, rendering him mute. Prior to that point Kenta had been Iwa's most dangerous interrogator - insightful and terrifying - and the head of a clan that had developed a hidden jutsu for studying the chakra of prisoners. Kenta alone possessed a jutsu that connected his touch with his voice in a way that compelled his victims to speak.

At the point that Kenta had taken that wound his most dangerous jutsu was active, and something about how he was wounded and the nature of the jutsu made it become like a toxin on his skin, constantly active. It turned his touch into the mental poison that Sasuke had suffered.

Imagine his purgatory, Kakashi said, he could never be close to anyone again. Anyone he touched would be driven mad, possibly permanently, and furthermore Kenta couldn't even speak.

Sasuke frowned. The avalanche of thoughts that crashed through his brain and out of his mouth was a horror he never could have imagined. He hated thinking what he'd managed to spill out, knowing he had begged Sakura to get away, pleaded with Itachi, even the deepest secret of the Uchiha nearly made it out. It certainly would have if so many other thoughts and feelings hadn't overwhelmed it. He had humiliated himself, crying in Sakura's arms. It was a little difficult to feel sorry for Kenta.

Kakashi ignored his glower and said that from what he knew, Kenta had refused anyone's help, and that he seemed to prefer keeping this dangerous touch. Perhaps that was one final way that he could help his friends and his country.

After that Kakashi had pointedly stared at the pair of Iwa shinobi on the other roof to make sure Sasuke understood the situation. He couldn't help the slightly immature "tch" that escaped him at that. As if he hadn't been aware the Iwa were constantly watching.

Then Kakashi had smiled, little wrinkles at the side of one eye the only evidence of it, and abandoned Sasuke to wait for the Hokage.

Sasuke crossed his arms and ignored the sweat beginning to roll down his neck. Hurry up, you loser, he thought at Naruto.

-傷-

Kakashi approached Sakura where she sat on a bench. She'd managed to find a shady spot after she had finished healing the last Iwa presented to her and she looked dangerously close to falling asleep with her head tipped back against the wall behind her.

"It looks like they gave you your gear back."

"Mh?" Sakura was slow to open her eyes to look at him. "Oh yeah, well I needed my tools and medicines to help them out. I made a list of everything I had and it looks like they gave it all back." She patted her hip pouch for effect.

Kakashi nodded. "That's good. I don't want to have to stick around to chase down missing scrolls."

Sakura gave Kakashi a curious look. "I don't want to stay here any longer than we have to either, but you seem to be kind of nervous, sensei."

"That so?" Kakashi took a seat next to Sakura and let his legs flop out in front of him. "What if I just want to go home?"

Sakura chuckled softly. Kakashi knew she could see through him but he also knew she wouldn't expose a teammate. With all the Iwa milling about nearby it was safest to assume they were being carefully observed. "I'm just surprised that a veteran like you is anxious about getting back to his tiny apartment."

"Well you know, I think I forgot to ask Guy to water my plants this time."

Sakura snickered and rolled her eyes. As if he didn't make a habit of replacing the plants he routinely killed through neglect. Sakura gave a soft, "mmh."

Quietly as he could, Kakashi asked. "Chakra?"

Sakura was quiet for a moment. Then, "nothing dangerous."

"But less than advised in enemy territory." Kakashi finished.

"This isn't enemy territory any more." Sakura muttered. She watched the shinobi walking by discreetly.

"Uh-huh." Kakashi didn't particularly care that he might not sound convinced.

"I'm pretty sure you and Sasuke are in fine shape. Captain Yamato probably had to use a lot of chakra, but he's not injured. The most dangerous thing for us is that we haven't eaten."

Kakashi nodded. He and Yamato had split their field rations with Sakura but they had brought so little it barely made a snack. It was asking a bit much that the shinobi they had just been fighting less than an hour earlier might turn around and offer them something to eat. The shopkeepers at the market had given them dirty looks when they had walked by and Kakashi and his team had tacitly agreed to leave them alone.

At least Sasuke had eaten some kind of breakfast in the daimyo's palace, and he had gotten some sleep the night before. Sakura was right, he was the healthiest and strongest of them right now.

When Sakura next spoke Kakashi realized he had let out an uncertain grunt. "Sensei..." Her hands fiddled with each other in her lap.

"Hm?"

"You don't trust him yet do you?"

"What makes you say that?"

"I know you didn't want me to surrender to the Iwa so fast, but you let it go because the situation was getting so bad. Up to that point the plan was for me to go with Naruto, but with Sasuke showing up out of the blue everything went crazy right away." Sakura gave a self-conscious giggle. "I probably wasn't at my most rational. You always get a little bit on edge when something or someone shows up that you weren't expecting."

Sakura looked up at him with a sympathetic smile. "Nothing has gone according to plan for the last few days has it? Even getting the treaty finished this fast wasn't something you foresaw."

"Hm." Kakashi pretended to consider this. "Maybe that lack of foresight is the reason I was sent to the border instead of to the daimyo's palace."

Sakura snickered. "Yeah, that or because you somehow always manage to disappear when the elders are bothering Naruto over some diplomatic issues."

Kakashi smiled under his mask. When all was said and done, he preferred working with his team over schmoozing nobility with expensive tea and pretty lies.

He looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps. Yamato was walking toward them, cradling something in his hands.

"Hey, you two. Look what I brought!"

Sakura bounced off the bench. "Ooh, onigiri! How'd you get them, Captain Yamato?"

"Well, I do have a little bit of charm about me. One of the vendors had a cart with wheel that wobbled. I created a new joint for him that would save him the wheel and the axle. So in gratitude he gave me a little something to eat." Yamato grinned.

"Well that's great and everything," began Kakashi. "But, seriously? All your 'charm' and your Wood style and you only got one?"

Yamato hitched. "Uhh, I got three, senpai." He held them up so Kakashi could see.

"Right," Kakashi agreed. He reached out and plucked one from Yamato's hands. "One for me, one for Sakura and one for you." He paused as if only then noticing Yamato's sagging jaw. "Or...wait, you weren't going to share?"

Yamato's shoulders fell in defeat. "No, it's fine, I meant that I got three for us to share." He held the rice balls to Sakura. "Would you like one?"

Sakura looked like she was about to decline, but then her stomach grumbled. Loudly. She blushed and bobbed a thank you to Yamato, then took one of the onigiri. She made sure to commend Yamato's good work in getting them in the first place.

"So what were you two talking about over here before I came by?" Yamato asked in between bites.

Kakashi easily took care of his rice ball without anyone noticing and slid his hands into his pockets. "Well let's see-"

"Kakashi-sensei doesn't trust Sasuke-kun." Sakura said.

Kakashi swallowed a small sigh while Yamato stared at him in surprise. "Let's not get ahead of things. I have no objection to taking advantage of every resource that gets us home sooner."

"Mmh," Yamato mulled while he chewed on a bite of rice. "Yes, I see now. Sakura is right, senpai. You don't like being surprised."

"Wait, now hold on, that's not-"

The milling crowd of shinobi caught a murmur of excitement and Kakashi allowed it to interrupt him with great relief.

Sakura stepped out into the sunlight and looked up to where the rest of the crowd was looking. She shaded her eyes for a moment and then suddenly grinned. "It's him!" She ran right at the wall and launched herself upwards, a hand or foot here and there against the wall further propelling her up.

"Funny, just a minute ago she looked so tired." Yamato remarked.

"Hm. You would think a medical ninja would know better than to waste chakra like that." Kakashi responded.

The two men looked at each other for a moment and then they set off racing toward the wall.

-傷-

Sasuke spared a glance at Sakura when she climbed onto the roof and then retrained his gaze on the ink drawing of a bird that was steadily coming closer. He told himself he was feeling mild relief that he could get off the damned rooftop and finally start on the last leg of this ridiculous episode.

But he still found his breath slightly short and his stomach squeezed faintly as Naruto got closer, Hokage coat snapping behind him. Whatever came about next, he would have to take some more or less permanent steps.

Sasuke looked again at Sakura as she neared him. She wore an uncertain smile. When Sasuke had regained more of his strength he had pulled away from Sakura, forcing himself to his feet and taking in the foreign village. He never liked anyone to stand too close to him during strange and unpredictable situations. Sakura had watched him quietly like she had anticipated this and didn't try to reach out to him.

From that point she hadn't asked him if he would continue to have anything to do with her or Naruto once everyone was back in the Land of Fire. He imagined talking to her would make him feel more settled about everything he had discussed with Naruto but something kept his tongue still. Still, the distance between them felt like a gulf. It made him uneasy.

The ink bird flapped as it got closer and extended its talons to land. Before it even found purchase Naruto had already hopped off and tore across the roof. Sasuke braced himself and was the tiniest bit surprised when a draft wafted by as Naruto blew past him.

He practically tackled Sakura, wrapping her in his arms and shouting, "Sakura-chan!" Sakura laughed uproariously and clutched Naruto as he swung her round and round.

For just the shortest instant Sasuke realize that was how he should have greeted Sakura, from the moment he could move again.

Kakashi cleared his throat behind them, finally bringing a little bit of sobriety to the pair. Sasuke looked back to the ink bird and watched as Sai held out a scroll and the bird dove into it. On the other roof the number of Iwa shinobi had grown from two to six. They were staring openly.

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi declared. "I believe it's best if we conclude the business here and be on our way home."

"Yeah, I know! I just wanted to say hi to Sakura-chan, since I barely got to talk to her last time!" Then Naruto whirled around and clapped an arm around Sasuke's shoulders. "And you, you bastard! You bailed out on me!"

Sasuke wormed out of his embrace with sharp "tch."

Naruto continued blathering with barely a pause. "I can't believe you let me just fall like that, just so you could come over here and be the hero! I wanted to rescue Sakura-chan, you know!"

"She got herself free." Sasuke growled. He rolled his shoulders to get rid of the feeling of Naruto's arm.

Sakura laughed. "Naruto, Sasuke-kun left a seal with me so I could summon him if I was in serious trouble. I would have called you too, if I could. Anyway, you and I just had dinner less than a week ago. Soon as we get home we can get some ramen, okay?"

Sasuke hid a grimace as Naruto let out a wild cheer. "YEE-awww! Alright, let's get outta here!" Naruto led the group back toward the ground.

Several astonished Iwa stared at them as they hit the ground but Naruto strode several paces down the street before coming up short.

"So...uh, how do we get back on the main road?"

Yamato stepped double time to catch up with Naruto. "Uhh. Actually, Hokage-sama, you ought to formally meet with the Iwa jonin in charge here. Just a polite gesture to show that everyone is on the same side, we all accept and agree to the treaty and we'll be taking Sakura home with no more trouble."

Sasuke frowned.

"Hm. I think that person is Hisako Yamaguchi." Muttered Kakashi.

Yamato and Sakura both stiffened and looked at him.

"It seems to me that Kenta Kobayashi isn't the man in charge, so it probably falls to her." Kakashi finished.

Naruto looked between them uncertainly. "Why is that a big deal?"

Yamato groaned softly. "Hokage-sama, I do wish you would read our Bingo book carefully and memorize the people in it."

Personally, Sasuke didn't understand why Hisako might be more worrisome than Kenta. He swore to himself that he would cut off the man's hands before he ever touched him or one of his friends again.

But that thought reminded him. "Naruto, that Hisako looked familiar to me. And she called Kenta her uncle."

Kakashi spoke, "uncle, huh? That would explain a few things."

Sakura stepped in close and lowered her voice. "Hisako is a notorious interrogator. If she's related to the Kobayashi clan it would explain why she knows how to read auras. She can determine if someone is lying, and with a touch she can perceive fine details about the state of someone's chakra." Sakura frowned. "I bet her ability to interrogate is improved when her uncle Kenta touches one of her subjects and destroys their mind's ability to organize and put away information."

Sai had unobtrusively joined the group and produced a book with a black cover. "Here it says that Hisako-san is married." He looked at Naruto and held up the page in the Bingo book with Hisako's face. "She is very familiar. If I were to draw her face it would be similar to that shinobi who tried to control you at the final negotiation meeting this morning."

Sakura gasped and stared at Naruto, worry darkening her eyes.

Sasuke realized that same recognition was tickling the edge of his brain. ...The shinobi dressed like a noble back at the daimyo's palace... He activated his Sharingan and looked out toward the Iwa. They had largely pulled away, eying the Hokage and his cohort warily. But soon several of them were parting to make way for Hisako herself.

Yes, the familiarity was unmistakable, right down to the haughty angle of her chin.

"What was Hidesaburo's clan?" Sasuke muttered.

Sakura hitched. "Oh. Crap. I think it was the Kobayashi."

Sasuke nodded. "That makes sense. Naruto-"

But Naruto was already marching up to Hisako, hand outstretched.

Yamato gave a soft, dismayed "Oh no..." Kakashi rocked back, about to leap into action.

Sasuke stopped himself from jumping out to intercept Naruto. A smirk curled up one side of his mouth. "Wait, don't interfere." His Sharingan twirled as he watched.

Hisako began to bow to Naruto but stopped when he stuck out a hand. She smiled broadly, clearly seeing victory within her grasp. She reached out to take his hand.

Then Hisako froze, all the color draining from her face. She pulled her hand away with a scream like she was burned and stumbled back a few paces.

Right away Iwa shinobi made a line blocking Naruto from her. And just as immediately, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, Yamato and Sai flanked Naruto.

Naruto, of course, ignored it all. He cried out to Hisako, "That was just a tiny hair of Kurama's chakra! You were going to try and learn everything about him and me - too bad we're just too much for you! Believe it!"

Hisako cradled her hand and gave Naruto a poisonous look. Sasuke wondered just what her plan was. If she hoped the Konoha shinobi would immediately go on the offensive to protect the Hokage and restart a battle her plan failed. Team Kakashi held fast and the Iwa stared back without moving.

"Just get out of here!" She hissed. "Get out of our home and get out of our country!"

Both sides of the dividing line relaxed somewhat. Naruto took a step back. Then he scratched his cheek with a look that was slightly apologetic and slightly impertinent. "Uh sure. But which way do we go to get back to the Land of Fire?"

With an almost violent gesture Hisako pointed to her left and fairly screamed, "THAT WAY!"

It took me a little while to figure out how to organize the end of the story, but now I think I've got it...I hope. Onward!

Thanks so much to ohsoblue, Marquis de Nile, torikai, MuffinMan9223, Tminor and Uchiha Misaki for taking the time to leave reviews! It's really encouraging!

Also, don't mess with Team Kakashi. Just...don't.