Author's Note:

Hey everyone! I've received some very nice reviews and several requests to continue this story. I have been thinking of how to continue this story and I think I can turn it into one of decent length. It will be hard with University but I will do the best I can to be quick about writing new chapters. Your support though is what will really keep me motivated to continue with this, so reviews are very much appreciated!

I do not own Naruto or any of its characters and no copyright infringement is intended!

Rogue

CHAPTER 2

After defeating Sasori, Sakura and Chiyo moved quickly through the ravine to catch up with Naruto and Kakashi. Even with Chiyo leaning heavily upon her and being exhausted from the fight, Sakura pushed herself at a rapid pace towards their destination, concerned for the wellbeing of her teammates. The blonde, rouge ninja was obviously powerful, demonstrated by his ability to capture Gaara single-handedly and the longer it took to arrive, the more likely that one of her friends would be severely injured, if not worse.

When they finally arrived, Sakura noticed Kakashi standing in front of Naruto; both of them looked exhausted. Something caught her eye and she glanced to the side. Her breath caught in her throat as she noticed the lifeless body of the Kazekage, Gaara. Pushing aside her grief, Sakura turned towards her comrades. "What happened to the Akatsuki?"

"He used a replacement jutsu and vanished; Naruto lost control and started to change so I didn't pursue," answered Kakashi. "I can still sense him nearby but I think he's just as tired as all of us. If we spread out we can..."

All of a sudden, the sound of clashing metal was heard. Sakura realized that Team Gai had arrived! Through the trees, they could just barely make out the shape of a fleeing figure with the rest of their friends in pursuit. It looked like a tough chase and as Team Gai pressed the rouge nearer towards Team Kakashi, Sakura decided to intervene. She leaped forward and with the thought, "he won't get away!" pushed chakra into her fist and slammed it upward towards a branch just as the rogue stepped down. He realized too late what was happening and as her fist connected, Sakura could hear the sickening crunch of bone as his leg snapped. He fell to the ground and did not move.

...

Sakura quietly contemplated the rouge ninja; it was obvious to her that he was fighting to stay conscious. As a fellow ninja, she understood his reluctance to pass out in front of the enemy, however she was surprised by the small amount of admiration she felt for the man. "He killed Gaara and very well could have taken Naruto! What are you thinking Sakura!?" her inner voice yelled at her. Shaking her head, Sakura fused chakra into her hands and started to evaluate the damage.

The rouge's body looked like it had gone through hell; both arms were useless, one crushed and the other completely broken, several broken ribs, a broken leg (courtesy of her), as well as lacerations and bruises all over his body.

Sighing tiredly, Sakura started to set the bones in one arm; she wouldn't heal them completely but at least she could stabilize them to make the journey back to Konoha a bit easier on all of them. Once the bones were set, she reached into her medics pouch and wrapped his arms. Deciding to move onto his leg, Sakura looked up at his face for a moment - his eyes were closed but he was breathing easier as her healing chakra flowed through his body. However, she could tell he was still conscious by the way his body was tense.

Once she was through with the rogue's leg, Sakura sat back on her heels. She was tired and decided that the rest of his injuries could wait until they made camp later that day. Running her hand through her short hair as she again noticed his reluctance to pass out, Sakura decided to try to find out some basic information about the blonde ninja to see if he was thinking clearly. "What's your name?" she asked.

Snapping his eyes open, Deidara considered the kunoichi. "Don't you know it's impolite to ask for my name without giving your own? And besides, I'm pretty sure you already know the answer to that question, yeah," he said sarcastically.

Shifting to her knees, Sakura replied, "of course, but I still want to hear you say it. Consider it part of my examination to make sure you're coherent."

Huffing, Deidara said, "fine, fine. I'm Deidara, yeah." It couldn't hurt to give her information that was obviously in the Bingo Book.

"Where are you from originally?"

"Iwagakure."

"Age?"

"Wouldn't you care to know!" he snapped. He was fed up with everything and too tired to care about playing her little game of twenty questions. Deidara glared at Sakura and started as she quickly raised her hand. He thought, "I've done it again. Sasori-sempai was right, I really need to think about things before I say them out loud." He closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable fist to hit him but after a few moments realized that nothing had happened. Opening his eyes once more, he saw the kunoichi tiredly rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Ugh, fine, we'll continue this later, for the moment you're obviously fine." With that Sakura turned towards Kakashi, who had been quietly observing the exchange from a few feet away, and said, "okay sempai, I'm done for the moment. He can be moved whenever you're ready."

Nodding, Kakashi called out to Neji, "help me move him to where Chiyo and Gaara are, I want to keep a close eye on that one." Neji and Kakashi walked over to where Deidara lay. "Can you sit up?" Kakashi asked him.

Without a word, Deidara pulled himself to a sitting position, all the while not showing a single indication as to how much it hurt to sit up. "We'll help you stand," said Kakashi, reaching down to support his arm.

"Back off, I'm fine!" snarled Deidara; he refused to show anymore weakness in front of these Konoha ninja. It was bad enough that they had sealed his chakra and had healed some of his injuries.

Neji tensed in preparation for conflict but Kakashi simply stood back up and waited in his quiet way for the man to stand on his own. Deidara pulled his uninjured leg forward and with a grunt of effort, pushed off from the ground into a standing position. He almost lost his balance without the use of his left leg but managed to stay up right and looked at Kakashi. The two regarded each other for a moment, sizing each other up. Sighing, Deidara looked away towards Neji, who was still posed to fight. "Relax, I'm not stupid. I know when I'm at a disadvantage. I'm not going anywhere." At least not for the moment, better watch out later though, yeah!

Kakashi grabbed Deidara's arm and started steering him towards where the Kazekage lay. As they slowly limped over, Naruto and Lee reappeared. Naruto was still visibly upset but calmer than before; his eyes shot daggers at Deidara but otherwise he ignored the rogue. Reaching a tree several yards from Gaara, Kakashi nodded towards the ground in front of the tree. Deidara slowly sat again at the base of the tree and leaned back into it, his hands bound in front of him. "Neji, watch him," said Kakashi. Neji nodded his assent and Kakashi turned towards where Chiyo and the rest of his comrades where gathered.

"What do you think," he asked. Chiyo looked up with sad eyes and replied, "he's gone."

Naruto tensed and glared once again at Deidara, who was looking at the ground for the moment. As Naruto took a step forward, Sakura arrived at his side and laid a comforting hand upon his shoulder. "There's nothing to be done now, Naruto. What's done is done, we can't change that, as much as we'd like too."

"I know that! But it's not fair! He finally got the respect of his village, he finally got everything he wanted..." Naruto wiped his eyes angrily as he realized that he was crying.

Lee spoke up, "Gaara and I fought once; he was an amazing shinobi and I had always hoped that we could have a rematch."

It was at that moment that a gust of wind blew by the group. They all looked behind them and saw that Kankuro and Temari had arrived. With a cry, the two raced over to where Gaara lay and knelt beside their baby brother. Stroking Gaara's head, Temari whispered, "we were too late, we couldn't save him! I'm so sorry Gaara!" Kankuro put his hand on her back and asked, "did you get the bastard?"

"Chiyo and I killed Sasori and we caught Deidara; he's over there with Neji," said Sakura as she pointed in Neji's direction. As Kankuro and Temari both stood slowly, Sakura continued, "I know this whole situation has been messed up but we want to bring him in for interrogation. Please let us do that, Chiyo already agreed that we could take him back to Konoha with us."

Temari turned to Chiyo, "is that true?"

Chiyo replied, "it is. I thought it best since Naruto is the one most at risk; Konoha will best handle the situation." She glanced down at Gaara once more. "Besides, the rogue is no longer a threat to us."

Deidara looked at the two sand ninja warily; he could see the bloodlust in their eyes as they struggled to stop from attacking him, but he also saw grief. He didn't regret what he had done against the jinjuriki, but strangely, he felt a hint of jealousy over how much the jinjuriki's friends cared for him.

Suddenly, Deidara flashed back to a memory: a small girl standing next to him laughing followed by an image of her bleeding in his arms, a dark room and the sounds of chains clinking. And finally, a quiet voice whispering in his ear that he was...

Shaking his head harshly, Deidara banished the images from his mind. "Now's not the time! Think! How are you going to get out of this?"

While he was busy contemplating his escape, Deidara failed to notice that the group had all become silent. It was deathly quiet in the forest as everyone stared in shock at what Chiyo had just said. Finally noticing the quiet, Deidara looked up.

"Grandma Chiyo, what... what did you just say?" Naruto stuttered.

"I can bring Gaara back. I developed a life-giving technique many years ago; I never thought that I would use it in this situation, but I can see how much Gaara is loved. Thank you for helping us get back our Kazekage everyone." With that, Chiyo knelt beside Gaara's body and began using the jutsu. A bright light formed at her hands and a warm glow was felt around the area. Everyone stood quietly, waiting for something to happen. Suddenly, Chiyo fell to her side.

Sakura rushed forward, "Chiyo! What happened? Are you okay?" Coming to her knees next to Chiyo, Sakura used her healing chakra to find the source of the problem. She became rigid as she realized what had happened. Slowly, Sakura removed her hands, "Chiyo is dead..."

Temari and Kankuro reeled in shock, "what!?"

WIth a quick jerk of her head, Sakura looked at Gaara. She stood and ran to his side, and using the same technique she had just used on Chiyo, she checked Gaara's vitals. After a moment, her eyes widened and she said, "he's alive! His heart is beating and he's breathing again. How is this possible? Unless that life -giving technique..." All at once, everyone understood what had happened; Chiyo had given her life for Gaara's.

Deidara was just as shocked as everyone else. "He's alive? That old woman really just died and brought him back to life?"

And then, Gaara opened his eyes.

...

I know it ended sort of abruptly but I wanted to get a second chapter out as soon as possible while finishing this part of the story as quickly as possible. So yay! Gaara's back and we can start moving on with the plot. I will post the next chapter as soon as I finish it. Reviews are very much appreciated! Cheers!