Gaara, Sakura, Temari, Kankurou, Baki and other officials were in the Kazekage tower, all standing up in a circle round the desk.

Yuki: "In my previous expedition I gathered sensitive intel."

Kankurou: "Tell us about it."

Yuki: "I stumbled upon the Akatsuki hideout while I was trying to get back in contact with my former partners."

You didn't stumble upon it. You knew exactly where it was.

Temari: "What did you hear? Who was there? What powers to they have?"

Yuki: "Sasori was there for once."

Everyone in the room got cold shivers.

Yuki: "A man who had fish scales on his face was carrying a sword with teeth on both edges on his back; I know from his slightly blue face that he was a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen from the Mist; Hidan, Orochimaru, Uchiha Itachi, Kakuzu, the weird man with a mask that goes in circles up to his one red eye and Deidara."

Baki: "Quite a lot of them."

Yuki: "They had already extracted 5-tails, 6-tails and 2-tails. They stored the beasts in a big ugly statue in their unholy temple. The bodies have been discarded in their respective villages. Their next target is Shukaku, the one-tailed beast. I heard them talking about their plan of attack."

Gaara-kun, that's you.

Don't worry, my flower. I am invincible.

Temari: "Tell us about the plan."

Kankurou: "Yeah. Stop beating around the bush."

Yuki wasn't beating around the bush, but Kankurou's adrenaline level rose dangerously when he found out the enemy had already made plans to kill his younger brother. Everyone was on edge.

Yuki: "Akatsuki had previously sent teams of 2 to capture the tailed beasts. Nagato and Konan were sent to capture the 9-tails, Uzumaki Naruto, 5 months ago. Deidara and Sasori were assigned to take care of Suna since Sasori had lived here for 14 years. He knows Suna's defenses and weaknesses. He knows all nooks and crannies, all pathways through, under and above the village. And I say above because that's how they are planning to attack."

Gaara: "What do you mean? Sasori, my uncle, has always fought on land, never in the sky."

Baki: "Which means this Deidara must have some ways to attack that permit him to launch aerian attacks. Sasori will probably wait for Deidara to throw Suna into chaos before he enters the village on land. Suna is impenetrable on land. We are surrounded by large rocks which are almost impossible to destroy. The only entry would be through the main gate. But for that, they need to distract our army from the sky, so the gate is left unprotected. Is that right?"

Yuki: "Yes, Baki-san. You are as intelligent as always. Deidara has the power to create bombs, explosives. He travels on a big white bird made of clay. He chews small parts of the bird. Deidara's chakra turns them into explosives, that he then has 10 seconds to discard of. It will be a challenge to prepare a defense for that especially since they are going to attack within a week."

Sakura's face went pale, but nobody was looking at her.

Temari: "We should spray gas into our atmosphere."

Kankurou: "Temari, wouldn't that make our whole village explode if one of the bombs goes off?"

Gaara: "It won't work, Temari."

Temari: "Wait. I was thinking Gaara could make a thin layer of sand to cover our skies and spray the gas on top of it, so our citizens won't be affected."

Kankurou: "You mean you want us to live in a dome, in complete darkness."

Baki: "Temari-sama, Kazekage-sama and Kankurou-sama are right. Although an interesting idea, we can't control gas once released into the air. If we cover our skies, then we won't be able to see the enemy. I propose fighting back instead of hiding."

Gaara: "We can fight bombs with bombs."

Everyone turned their eyes to Gaara.

Baki: "Please explain, Kazekage-sama."

Gaara: "Kankurou, how far can you send your puppets and still be able to control them?"

Kankurou: "Around 500 meters. I can stretch my chakra threads even longer, but I can't be very effective because I need to see what happens."

Gaara: "500 meters is fine of a distance. How many puppets can you make in a week? Regular puppets, without any special features."

Kankurou: "Myself alone, I can have 4 puppets an hour; If I work 10 hours a day, that will be 40 puppets a day, so 280 a week."

Temari: "What are you trying to do?"

Gaara: "We'll have our specialists work on regular weaponized puppets that we will later fill with explosive powder and spread them across the sky. As soon as we spot the enemy, since Yuki said he travels on a white bird which is very visible, we direct the puppets to its location and attack to try to bring it down."

Gaara-kun, that is a great plan! You're awesome!

Gaara threw Sakura a quick look full of pride.

Temari: "Ok. The range of such an explosion is wide. There will be many casualties. I suggest sending all unnecessary personnel and civilians to a safe place."

Gaara: "You are right, my sister. Let's keep the fighting area on the shinobi compound, surrounding my tower, this tower. Since it is tall enough to see the whole village from the top, we will be able to spot the enemy in advance. And it will probably be the first to be destroyed since it is my official office and I am their target."

Kankurou: "We'll send the civilians to our greenlands that border Konoha. Sakura, what will you do?"

Sakura: "I will stay here, of course."

Temari: "You can't fight. Leave it to us and go with the rest of our citizens."

Gaara-kun, I wish to stay with you.

My sister has a point. You'll distract me from the fight.

I won't. I'll stay right next to you.

Because he didn't seem convinced that it was a good idea, she continued.

What if Sasuke takes advantage of the chaos and enters the village to kill me?

Gaara's pulse sped up.

Wouldn't I be safer in your hands rather than on a field with lots of people who can't protect themselves?

Gaara: "Sakura stays with me."

He looked down at the table, where the map of the village was and started discussing plans of attack, attack formations and weapons' use without waiting for another comment regarding Sakura's safety. Sakura smiled and gently squeezed his hand when nobody was looking.

Sakura: "Tsunade-sama taught me how to make C4. It's a plastic explosive that has a texture similar to modelling clay. It can be detonated only by a shock wave from a detonator or blasting cap. Kankurou-san can activate the detonator from the sky with the hands of his puppets. It's more dangerous than powder and I can make it in bulk."

Gaara: "Perfect. You and Kankurou can start doing that after we finish the meeting."

Sakura: "Yes, sir."

Gaara furrowed his invisible brows as he was not used to being called 'sir' by his future wife.

The meeting continued for about 2 more hours. Gaara sent letters with eviction notices through his ninja to everyone in need to leave the area. A message was sent to the daimyo, informing him of the upcoming war, so he could also have time to flee. Temari left to train her subordinates, the ones who could manipulate wind with their fans. Kankurou went to the warehouse, where all wooden parts, metallic parts and screws were for the weapons he had to create. Baki and Gaara continued to talk for one more hour about the strategy of their defense. By 4 pm there was no one left in the office aside from Gaara and Sakura.

Gaara released a sigh of relief when he collapsed on the chair. Sakura was observing the man who was staring into space. He was stressed. Sakura wanted to make him relax, but she wasn't sure how. Her mouth opened and she spoke words that hadn't been prepared in advance.

Sakura: "I will give away money for you and I."

Gaara raised his head to look Sakura in the eye. He seemed tired and unable to make sense of her words.

Sakura: "If I combine prayer with money sacrifice, God will keep you and I alive."

Gaara: "How much do you need?"

Sakura: "I'll use my money. Please don't worry about it."

Gaara smiled. Sakura's eyes lit up.

Gaara: "Come here."

Sakura walked to him. Because he was sitting down on the chair, Sakura decided to kneel on the floor next to him, so she wouldn't look down on Gaara. Her face was watching his, their legs in opposite directions. Gaara's hand cupped Sakura's cheek. The girl rested her right cheek against the boy's thigh and closed her eyes.

Gaara: "Have you prayed for me before?"

Sakura: "Of course I have."

She opened her eyes. Gaara continued to caress Sakura's face.

Gaara: "How long have you been praying for me?"

Sakura: "Ever since our first separation, during the chuunin exams."

Gaara: "Really? What did you say in your prayers?"

Sakura: "I prayed to God to help me forgive you. I also prayed for help because I wanted God to place guard on my mouth. I was very upset and I wanted to say many things that would have hurt us both. I knew we were going to get back together, so I didn't want some words said in anger to hurt you. I know too well I always remember words said to me in anger. After that, I prayed for your health and happiness every day. I prayed to always know what to tell you. I pray to never make you sad or angry."

Gaara looked away, towards the window. He quickly wiped the tear that wet his eye with his thumb. He pulled the chair behind him and sat down on the floor next to Sakura.

Sakura: "What are you doing?"

Gaara: "Nothing."

He answered after he hugged her to his chest. Sakura giggled and hugged him back.

Gaara: "It's worth dying for you."

Sakura: "Gaara-kun, please don't talk like that. You have to say 'It's worth living for you.' This is what you meant, isn't it?"

Gaara: "I guess you can say that."

...

Notes: Thank you very much for your support! It's so much fun to write with you on my mind. This was the quiet before the storm. When the storm breaks, all evil will go unleashed. Gaara will need Sakura's prayer. The following chapters will be very intense, as somebody will do something stupid that will put everyone at risk. Make your guess about who that is.

Thank you very much for reading and for leaving comments. :D