Hello, everyone! I'm alive!

It has been a few months since I've managed to find time to dedicate to this fanfiction, and I've missed it and my online community dearly. Certain events in my personal life have gotten in the way of finding ample time for my fan works recently and, for those still following along with our little tale; I thank you and I appreciate you. The kind words of this site and its community have encouraged me a lot and my time away from the site has not been in vain.

I have spent the past few months revising a novel that I've written and, with it ready for agents and editors alike, I am proud to say that I am starting my journey to become a published author. It has been a long road, one filled with the innumerable tedious hours that often come with crafting a book, but I wouldn't trade a minute of it. It comforts me, engulfs me, and with any luck, it'll be something tangible to hold with pride. As my endeavor progresses, I will continue to update everyone during my chapters if I can manage, and I do hope that you'll all be wishing me and all of our other closet authors on this site the best of luck!

Now, on to the long-awaited chapter. Because I've felt distant from this site and this story for so long, I thought it would be nice to do the remainder of the installment in smaller, more manageable pieces. Part three of installment 3 will be up soon, I'm going to aim for the end of this month/ early February for a completed installment, and I swear I won't disappoint! Until then, enjoy some quick goodness from part two.

Follow the Sun, Excerpts in Time

Installment 3 (2)

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"Temari!" Shikamaru shouted after her, a fruitless effort indeed. She was in the trees, moving faster than he thought her fatigue would allow in her desperation to see her brother. She assumed any hope of radio contact was thwarted by the initial blast of water that had taken Gaara down and the lack of response from him only confirmed her fears. She needed to see him, now, nothing else could quell that worry pulling sharply at her features. "It's all right," he tried. "Naruto and Lee have got to be there by now, don't be so hasty."

She didn't slow pace, but she did turn with a look that suggested she expected him to keep up. "I'll believe it when I see it." Shikamaru could tell there was meant to be a rough edge to her voice, to bury that shaking under a low tone of authority. He didn't buy it but kept it to himself.

"It shouldn't be much farther, just up ahead I think," Shikamaru said, a hand reaching for the radio at his neck. It clicked to life. "Naruto? Lee? Have you intercepted Gaara?"

There was a moment of quiet as he and Temari flew through the trees, her eyes fixed ahead of her but her attention was hanging off that crackled response that came through the receiver.

It was Lee. "Affirmative," he spoke sharply, a shallow grunt to his voice and the muffled sound of metal on metal confirmed they were in the heat of battle. "He was treated shortly by Sakura before he left to pursue his student."

Naruto spoke through the radio this time, his voice unmistakable. "Don't worry, Shikamaru. Lee and I will follow after we finish-" He was cut off as he dodged a blow from the enemy and Lee could faintly be heard in the background telling him to pay attention. He came back clearly over the radio to say, "This won't take long, we'll meet up with you soon."

"Got it, be careful, Naruto."

Temari reached for her radio, intent on contacting Kankuro whom she hadn't heard from for quite some time, but a voice called to them before she could.

"Hey! Temari!"

The both of them stopped dead in their tracks to see Kiba and Kankuro waving up at them from the dirt path below, both looking tired and battle worn. They descended from the trees.

"Did you see it?" Temari demanded of her brother. "Gaara's been taken down." Her eyes were hard, impatient.

Kankuro shook his head, eyes going wide upon seeing his sister's distress. "What?" He followed quickly after her as Temari turned and continued hastily down the trail between the trees. "Temari, what happened?"

"Some sort of water attack," Shikamaru explained. "Haven't heard from him since. We should meet up with Naruto and Lee," he suggested firmly, directing his voice toward the woman gaining distance in front of the group. "We're better off as a group to go after him."

Temari didn't turn, didn't slow, and only scowled at the empty path before her. "Fine."

It didn't matter how, they just had to hurry.

…

Stupid…

There was nothing but darkness to be seen, nothing but the pitch black of an empty void to meet his eyes, and certainly nothing beyond it.

Gaara held his hand before his face, trying to make out its dim silhouette against the background, but he didn't need to see it. He could feel it. His sand and his armor, it moved on its own, fighting against his will as he felt it twist and contort around his skin. It was changing, he was changing. The demon within had been stirred, its cage poked and prodded, and try as he might to stave off the inevitable; his limit was quickly coming within reach.

Gaara, wait…please just wait.

He cursed himself in the darkness, knowing now that he should have listened.

I just got here…

She'd sounded so distraught with that edge of desperation to the tone of her voice. Why on earth had he left?

He tried to settle himself, tried to stifle the surging power threatening to break his control, what little he had managed to retain. His sand fought him desperately, struggling between obeying him and obeying something far more ancient and archaic, something Gaara could hardly fight once succumbed…to have thought he could do it on his own…

Stupid.

Gaara took a breath, shaken and pained against the flashes of heat that came with waves of power, and the conflicting chill that ached his bones as he fought them back down. That monster in his thoughts was ruthless, relentless, and hadn't been this hard to fight since his chunin days in Konoha. But for all of his suffering, however, there remained something that didn't fight him or struggle against his will and he was able to grab hold and focus on that control he retained.

It was her; that last little bit of chakra she had seeped into him before he'd forced her to let him go, and this power of hers held no loyalty to that beast within him. It could not be turned against him, it seemed, and instead, it gave him the resiliency to fight back the emerging power of the Shukaku.

Focusing all he could, he held onto that vibration of life within him, that pulse of warmth, and stifled the struggling beast. Beaten back into submission, though not for long, the Shukaku relented control to its host, allowing Gaara a moment of relief from the internal battle. Sweat dripped down his brow, his skull throbbing with a deep, pulsing ache, and he pressed his hands roughly against his temples to try and relieve the pain.

It's futile…

Gaara turned his mind's eye from the voice, it felt like claws inside his brain and instead conjured thoughts to distract him from the beast. Thoughts like his comrades fighting diligently in his aid, thoughts of Matsuri; just a student at the hands of a madman, thoughts –

She can't save you…

Of Sakura.

He drowned out the voice, remembering how she had grabbed hold of him, those eyes so hard and so determined. She had been strong for him, for everyone, he could be strong for them as well. She'd given him her own power, after all, surrendering her limits to him and trusting him to use them wisely. Yet here he was, desperate for this waning extension of her to stave back the demon. It wouldn't last forever, and the Shukaku waited for the control to slip, for him to be left alone and defenseless to the creature's whims.

No one can.

"Shut up!" Gaara cursed to the empty darkness around him, frustration bubbling up within him as the beast taunted him.

It wasn't true, it just couldn't be, he'd worked too hard and fought too hard for him to believe it. There was always someone, that's what he'd learned, there was always a place to turn and she was here. Here, just miles away perhaps, and closing in if he didn't know better. If he could just wait until then, if he could only hold out until she, or Naruto, or his family could get to him, maybe he could make it.

Perhaps he could do it, perhaps what little of her remained was enough.

…

It had been too long, Naruto was sure, and he needed to get to Gaara. He'd been trapped within a metal dome and Naruto could feel the manipulation of power that churned under it. He had tried his best to make it through the shield, but his knives did no good and his new opponent only thwarted his efforts. He cursed, jumping back from the dome to dodge a quick attack. Naruto was tired, he'd already beaten one of their group with Lee, and now this man had taken that armor and amplified it. It didn't really seem fair, not in his opinion.

But Matsuri was safe, she'd been freed and found cover quickly after, leaving the fighting to Naruto. That was what mattered.

"Naruto!"

He turned, the sound of his name on the wind drawing his eyes from his opponent. It was Sakura, she was quickly advancing with the others. Naruto leaped from the battlefield, leaving the done as well as his enemy, and joined them at a safer distance away. Matsuri was quick to follow him to the safety of the group, her rope javelin clutched against her.

"Sakura," Naruto huffed in greeting. "Good to see you're all right."

Sakura nodded, her eyes moving past him to the girl standing to the side, and then past her to the metal dome glinting in the sunlight beyond. She thinned her lips and took a deep breath.

"Matsuri?" she questioned, earning a sharp nod from the girl. "I'm Sakura, I train as a medical ninja, have you been hurt?" she asked, stepping toward the younger girl and assessing her appearance.

"No," she responded, her voice a little higher than Sakura had been expecting. "I'm all right."

"Where's Gaara?" Temari demanded, her sudden advance to the front of the group took clear charge of the situation. Her eyes were hard on Matsuri, on Naruto as well.

Sakura looked again to the dome in the distance, a chilling weight settling in her gut as she touched a hand to her friend's arm. Temari turned to her only to follow her gaze to the small valley in the distance.

She sucked in a breath through her nose, her lips settled into a tight line. Temari studied the man floating above the dome, the eerie calm to his features as he simply waited.

"He's in there," Naruto confirmed. "I've tried once or twice to get at him, but I can't break through the metal."

"I can," Sakura said, the words slipping from her lips without thought or hesitation. The gathered group turned to her. She met the gaze of Naruto, of Temari and of Shikamaru. "If you cover me, I can get in there. I guarantee it."

Temari looked to Shikamaru, a certain hope in her eyes that begged for action first and thought second. "What's that dome all about?" Shikamaru asked, not at all in favor of sending anyone any further without a plan.

Naruto shrugged, looking back at it in skepticism. "It's got a power of some kind, it felt strange, like something was going on underneath it all. That guy, he called himself Seimei, he said he wants Gaara's ultimate weapon. I tried to call out for him, but I didn't get a response."

It was Kankuro who spoke now, his voice clearly directed towards his sister. "Temari…" he began. She wouldn't look at him. "It might be-"

"How long has he been in there?" she demanded, her eyes settled sternly on Naruto and Matsuri once again.

"Not long," Matsuri answered, a waver to her voice when in the shadow of a mentor's warpath. "But…he was different."

"He was weak," Sakura said, knowing full well that he wouldn't be at his ideal strength. This seemed to surprise Matsuri as if the word didn't fit him, and Sakura could agree. Had people in the desert ever seen him weak before? Had they seen him drained from battle and still pressed to go on? They had seen him as a monster, but now…did they know how it looked when he's reached his limit? "He needed help."

Matsuri looked down and, confronted with her own inaction, she felt abashed and ashamed, though Sakura instantly regretted her words.

She was simply young, inexperienced, what could she do that would help him? She hadn't learned how to help him yet, he hadn't even the chance to teach her. Matsuri backed away from her a step, the rope of her javelin twisted between her nervous fingers, but there was no time for apologies.

"Then let's get to it," Temari said, her attention on Sakura and Sakura alone. The others seemed hesitant, more inclined to order and reason, but she didn't share their concerns, not now, not when her brother needed her.

Sakura seemed ready to agree, she'd even stepped out toward the dome before Shikamaru tried his hand at cooling their ambitions.

"Easy," he said. "You don't know anything about this guy."

"Well those sure look familiar," Kankuro spoke up, his eyes locked on the three snake-like swords perched behind the man in the distance.

"As does his chest plate," Lee added. Naruto nodded in agreement.

"He's using their weapons," Shikamaru concluded. "He's managed to elevate their power somehow, they've changed. Sakura," he said, turning to her as she remained fixated on the dome in the distance. "Can you sense him? What's his power like?"

Sakura didn't turn to him, only responding with a gesture to keep quiet.

Something was wrong.

There was power seeping from that dome now, a weighted pulse that thrummed in the distance, and instead of washing outward like rippled over water, it was drawn upward. With a force so great she nearly felt pulled along with it, that familiar energy that always thickened the air was pulled up from the dome and toward the man floating above. The dome was draining him, fast, and Seimei only grew stronger the longer they pondered.

"There's no time," she said, her chakra already beginning to pool within the muscles of her arms. She turned to Temari. "Knock him down a peg."

And she was off.

Sakura bolted from the group, the sound of Temari drawing her fan the only thing that dulled the calls of Naruto and Shikamaru, and she charged the dome. The following gust of wind that chased after her nearly knocked her down but she channeled the momentum to propel her forward. It surged past her, blowing with wild and untamed intensity to the enclosing valley, and there was definitely power behind it.

She could feel the others follow after her, but even with the wind to throw him – even if only a little – Seimei seemed unfazed and uninterested in her approach. Sakura gained on the dome quickly, her teammates still a few quick paces behind her, and called out to them without breaking stride.

"Cover me!" she called, gathering strength into her arm and preparing a swing for the metal.

A blue flash nearly caught her side but Kankuro's puppet, however mangled it was, remained faster and she was spared a slice from the unforgiving blade. Naruto was in the air at a moment's notice, ready to take their enemy head-on with Lee at his side, while Temari and Shikamaru played the long distance defensive, ready to push him back at any second.

Sakura ducked from another swing of the blades, her muscles twitching and vibrating with the need for release, such power and tension never held well for more than a few moments. Her hands found the dome, the metal was warmer than she imagined it would be, the power that churned within was unexpectedly hot now that she was so close. It was strange, unfamiliar, and it wasn't the energy she had come to place as his own.

It was darker, heavy in the way that it permeated the air, and she felt it deeper than she had normally felt his power before. She tried to settle the erratic beating of her heart, instinct and self-conservation told her to turn back and to run from this thing, from what lay beneath it, but she wasn't so keen to listen.

Gathering what strength she thought necessary, Sakura's right fist made potent contact with the metal shell of the dome. The solid impact gave way as the metal caved under her punch, but she didn't stop there. Once she'd broken through, she grabbed onto the crumpled metal, heaving it back and effectively peeling it out and away.

That heat raced out toward her, a rush of power that almost had her knocked back and gasping for breath. It lingered on her skin, like the heat of a sunburn, and permeated through her muscles, almost making her weak. Almost.

But she wasn't, she had the strength yet to fight, strength to give, and she was determined. Like waves of heat with an overbearing thickness in her lungs, the power rolled from the hole in the dome and Sakura fought past them. She needed to be quicker, she needed to get to him, Seimei would be on her at any moment but Gaara needed her and she couldn't fail.

She wouldn't.

"Gaara?" she called out. No answer.

The opening was small and jagged, but she was slender and impatient, and without word to the others, Sakura slipped within the darkness of the dome.

"Gaara?" she called again, her eyes straining in the dim light filtering into the darkness.

He was to the other side of the dome, she could hear him, hear the raggedness of his breathing. He sounded pained.

Her steps toward him were quick and purposeful, her hands reaching out for him in the darkness. "Gaara, it's me."

"Stop," he said suddenly, his voice a rough grunt that had her halting on command. He had a hand outstretched, she could see better now, as if to keep her at bay.

"Are you hurt?" she asked, her voice shaken a bit. He sounded hurt, he sounded angry as well. "Gaara what happened?" She took a step closer, feeling compelled to move.

"It's not safe," Gaara urged her, his voice strained and uncertain. He could feel the beast rear its ugly head at her sudden appearance, he'd been tempted long enough and it wanted blood to play with. Gaara felt he was mere moments from losing his fight and the fear of her being so close did nothing to help his confidence.

"Let me help," she insisted, seeing his distress. "I can help."

He cursed aloud, Sakura couldn't be bothered to listen, and when she reached for him he hadn't the strength – or the will – to push her away. His mind throbbed in pain, his thoughts churned with the harshest of words, and his body ached with a weakness that beckoned him to sweet surrender.

She stood before him, her hands brushed against his neck as her fingers found his hair once again. That same addictive warmth flooded through him and he nearly groaned at the way it quelled the ache in his head. Sakura could feel how the armor had twisted gathered strangely by his right ear and jawline, but as she gave him the strength to fight against it, it retreated back to its rightful place once again.

Gaara wavered a moment, held steady only by Sakura as he leaned against her. This relief had nearly done him in. Never before had he been pulled from the grasp of the beast so tenderly, and never had someone fought against his monster and not him.

He sighed, allowing himself just a moment to remain there, leaning against her and basking in that softness that had so easily won his battle. "You shouldn't have come," he muttered, the sounds of battle beyond the dome finally reaching his ears. "Any later and-"

"I can manage," she said simply, keeping her voice low and quiet, afraid it would waver and betray her again.

Her heart fluttered rapidly in her chest, she was sure her hands would only become clammy as well, but she couldn't help it. He'd leaned himself against her – of course, he was exhausted and weak – but the hand he'd rested at her waist nearly had her distracted from her work.

"You're shaking," he noted, his head hung so close to hers.

"It's nothing," she said, trying brush off the heat in her veins along with the fatigue of her body. The words sounded foolish in the air, however, of course he could tell that she was tired, that she was draining fast and that even her touch trembled. "Everyone else is fine," she explained, the sounds of battle confirming their fighting strength.

Gaara nodded. He'd hardly heard her words and was simply captivated by the heat and vigor she pumped through him, by her hands at his neck and her fingers through his hair, even the hand at her waist was tempted to grip her just a little tighter, to feel just a little more.

"This has to stop," she spoke suddenly.

It seemed to snap him into clarity and he quickly retracted his hand as if the feel of her suddenly burned. He was about to curse himself; stupid, distracted, and ambitious as he was, before Sakura spoke again.

"They can't keep going as they are, we need to end this."

Of course, the others were fighting to their limits just as he had done, but now he had been given new life to go on, to fight back his beast and prevail over this battle. "Right," he agreed, the sand beneath them churning on command, now more decisive of who it chose to obey, and Gaara ushered Sakura close. "Stay close for now," he said, the order in his voice earning her obedience as she moved to his side and allowed an arm around her waist. "I'll get us out of here and make us some cover."

"What's your plan?" Sakura asked, turning to him in the dimness of the dome. There was uncertainty in her eyes, worry that he could see even in the dark.

"It'll take a moment for the dust to clear, get everyone out of the valley and stay clear. I'll finish this."

"Gaara," she said, the silent words that followed spoke her skepticism clearly.

"I won't take long," he assured her. "I promise."

Sakura nodded, trusting the look in his eyes and the sternness to his features. "Just be careful," she urged. "I don't have much more in me."

Gaara nodded, knowing full well from the sweat on her brow and the weight she leaned on him that they were both – they were all – in need of an end to the exhaustion. Gaara held her close, the sand churning at the will of its master, and with a force he was sure their enemy wouldn't expect; it surged outward from around him. Blasting against the inside of the dome, it tore away at the metal, using Sakura's puncture point to rip apart the dome and thrust the metal scraps outward.

Indeed, there was an end in sight, and Gaara would see to that end

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