Repatriation Ch 24

Sakura eventually made her way over to the Kazekage’s office to report that she had arrived and that the herbs requested had been delivered directly to the medical nins.  

“Thank you very much for coming at your earliest convenience,” said Gaara to his visitor.  

“You’re welcome.  I was happy to make the trip – after all Suna is the Leaf’s closest ally,” replied Sakura.  

Nothing was said for a few more seconds, but Sakura didn’t turn to go.

“Is there anything else?” asked Gaara.

“Sorry, but could you tell me how the joint Leaf-Suna exercises are going?” she asked.  “I know it’s not technically my business…”

“Sakura, not only are you a close friend, but you are also the Hokage’s trusted advisor.  Of course I will tell you,” said Gaara.  “Temari has advised me that the exercises are on schedule and due to end in two days time.  The initial exercises here in Suna went off without a hitch.  They are currently on an excursion – while they are on the move, I have assigned various Suna shinobi to simulate attacks against them.  Although the Leaf shinobi have taken the lead in terms of defeating their presumed enemies, the Suna shinobi are coming up to speed and have improved immensely even over the few days they have been gone.”

“So Sasuke and all the Leaf shinobi have done well?” Sakura asked.

“Yes, definitely.  These exercises have been a great success,” said Gaara.  He then looked over to Kankuro.  Kankuro nodded.

“What?” asked Sakura noticing the silent communication between the brothers.

“Just so you are aware, Temari, Kankuro and I know of your situation with Sasuke Uchiha,” said Gaara.

“Situation?”  What an odd way of putting it.

“The fact that you two are dating,” said Gaara.

“I didn’t know that my situation was of any concern to Suna or the Kazekage,” said Sakura, a bit defensively.  After all, if two shinobi from any village decided to date, why was it anyone's business except maybe for the village they belonged to?

“In fact, it is.  If it were not for what Sasuke Uchiha had done in the past, it would not be something that we would concern ourselves with,” explained Gaara.

“Kazekage-sama, he is aware of the damage and conflict that his betrayal has caused the shinobi world.  However, I must emphasize that he is not that immature boy any longer.  Not only did he help Naruto end the war, but he has agreed to make amends…,” said Sakura.  

Gaara cut her off.  “I am aware of everything Sasuke Uchiha has said and done since the war ended thanks to both your Hokage and to the current co-leaders of the Leaf-Suna joint exercises.  He has done nothing over these two weeks to cause alarm.  However, the fact still remains that there will be trust issues when it comes to Sasuke Uchiha for a long time to come.”

“I understand,” said Sakura.  “I promise you, Gaara, he will not let you down.  He will not revert back to how he was before the war ended.”  Sakura knew she couldn’t guarantee anything like that, but she believed in him and had to “have his back” when people talked badly about him like this.  

“There is one other thing,” added Gaara.  “It would seem that one of the younger Suna shinobi has taken a shine to Sasuke.”

“What do you mean?” asked Sakura.

Gaara looked over at Kankuro.  Kankuro decided to fill Sakura in with the details.  “Her name is Kyushi and she is a relatively new chunnin.  Not only has she been following him around – much like a puppy would follow its owner – but she has gone as far as to enter his tent in the middle of the night to lay next to him.”

“Temari and Shikamaru are letting things play out for now,” added Gaara.  “Sasuke has informed them of some of the girl’s transgressions, but he has not yet asked for direct intervention.  He seems to be dealing with it for now.”

“We are a bit concerned that he may ultimately may not be able to handle the frustration she is causing, but as he is handling it well to date, there is nothing we can do,” said Kankuro.  

“You have nothing to worry about,” said Sakura, trying to reiterate her faith in Sasuke.  “You’ll see that he is now a fine shinobi.  Even with the added stress of this girl, he will be just fine.”  

OlOlOlOlOlO

The eighteen shinobi out in the field on the mock mission were walking in formation according to Temari’s instructions.  Temari had the lead, and right behind her was Kyushi.  Ever since Sasuke had told her and Shikamaru about the late-night visit, Temari made sure to keep an extra close watch on the chunnin who couldn’t seem to help herself.  This included having her by her side when the shinobi were moving.  

They had moved through sandy desert, past a few grasslands dotted with trees, and now they were just beginning to enter a nearly plantless rocky landscape.  The team stopped to rest right before they entered a path located between two high cliffs.  

“What do you guys think?” asked Temari to the members of the mission.  

“I wouldn’t go in there,” noted Mausa.  

“Why not?” asked Shikamaru.  

“Too much opportunity for ambush,” replied Mausa.

“Yes, but what if you don’t have a choice?  You could theoretically go around these cliffs, but what if time was of the essence?” asked Temari.

“For one thing, expecting an ambush automatically throws things in your favor,” said Shino.  “The best thing about an ambush is that it is completely a surprise.  If the enemy is expecting one, well, its hard to be completely successful.”

“True,” said Temari.  “Anyone else have something to add?”

“You have to look at the skills that the members of your team possess,” added Chisana.  

“What do you mean?” asked Shikamaru.

“Well, if you have a Hyuuga with you, they could use their byakugan to see far up ahead,” answered Chisana.

“Yes, and if you have someone with animals or insects, couldn’t they scout out ahead and above you?” asked Kyushi.

Akimaru barked.  

“I think it would be better for Shino to send his bugs in this case,” said Kiba to his partner.  

“Very good,” said Temari.  “Let’s start with that.  Hinata and Shino, please scout our path ahead.”

“Hai!” they both shouted as they ran to the front of the group to take the lead.  Shikamaru and Temari fell in right behind them and the rest followed.  

After they had walked about an hour, Ino caught up with Sasuke who silently walked with the rest of his comrades.  She ended up walking next to him, but her eyes remained on the cliffs above.  

“You know Sasuke, if this wasn’t an exercise I would feel a lot worse about walking in between two large cliffs like this,” Ino said.

“You mean because of the disadvantage one has by taking the low ground in any battle?” he asked sarcastically in return.  He knew that people could potentially be spying on them at this very moment and a few bugs were really all that were between them knowing and not knowing if they were there.  He, too, was glad this was just an exercise.  

Up in front, a small insect landed on Shino’s hand.  

“What is it, Shino?” asked Shikamaru.

“We’ve got company,” Shino replied.  “Looks like there are about five.  Based on the chakra signatures, they were on top of the cliffs about a quarter mile ahead, but they spotted my insects and now they are on the move further away from us.”

“They are probably trying to set up a new point of attack,” said Shikamaru.  

Temari announced Shino’s findings to the rest of the team and advised them to stay alert.  They kept walking the narrow path in front of them, albeit more slowly.  Things stayed status quo for about another half hour.  No one talked and the only sounds heard were the slight taps of feet hitting the ground.  

C-R-A-C-K!  

“What the hell was that?” asked Chouji aloud.  The sound had come from above them.  

“Hinata, look at the cliffs…do you see anyone up there?” asked Shikamaru.

“N-no, Shikamaru.  There’s no one up there,” Hinata replied.  

“I don’t smell anyone either,” replied Kiba.  “There is definitely a human odor around, but it is too faint for them to be up there right now.”

“This must be where they were going to ambush us before Shino's bugs saw them,” said Temari.  

Temari kept walking.  A few steps later, C-R-A-C-K!  B-O-O-M!

This time the sounds were much louder.  There wasn’t much time to look…or to think.  Before they could figure out what was going on, the rock from the cliffs on either side of the path started to fall away from the walls.

“Everyone!  Get out of the way!” Temari yelled, assuming each shinobi would jump in whichever direction was closest to safety.  

In what seemed like slow motion, but was truly in the blink of an eye, the various shinobi scattered in two different directions along the pathway.  

“Temari-sensei!” a voice yelled to catch the leader’s attention.  Temari looked back where she had just come from.  It was Kyushi.  She was flat on the ground…she must have tripped over herself trying to get out of there.

Temari rushed back to where the rockfall was about to land and she hoisted up the prone chunnin and tossed her out of the way of the rocks that were about to crush her.  

“Sensei!” Kyushi yelled, her hand extended, just as the rocks seemed to land with Temari nowhere in sight.

“Oh my,” said Hinata who was with the front group and happened to be on the southern end of the landslide.  Her hand naturally covered her open mouth.  She was in shock, barely believing what had just happened.  

Shikamaru was much more reactive and he made his way to the large rocks that stood in front of him.  He stopped, however, when he realized there was no way into the rock slide and there wasn’t much he could do.  He jumped to the top of the rocks to see if perhaps there was anything different to see from that perspective.  When he got to the top, he could see the other half of the group standing on the northern side of the pile.  

“Is everyone alright?” he yelled down.  

“Sasuke jumped into the rock slide when he saw Temari jump,” yelled Ino.

Before Shikamaru could say another word, he heard a rumbling sound coming from underneath him.  Then he felt a movement underneath his feet.  Instinctively, he jumped away as quickly as possible.  

The first thing that the shinobi on either side saw was a strange purple light from between the cracks in the rocks.  Slowly, the rocks fell away and a large purple figure emerged from the rubble.  It was...some sort of human-like figure, but it was purple and huge.  

"What is that?" asked Mausa.  

"That...is Sasuke Uchiha," answered Shikamaru.  

"Sasuke?" asked Chisana, not fully understanding.

"That is called Susanoo," answered Shikamaru.  "It is something only someone with a Mangekyo Sharingan can use.  It is an excellent defensive capability."

Shikamaru didn't waste any more time and jumped to the edge of the pit that was left from the purple figure which was now starting to dissipate.  What was left when the purple was gone was Sasuke, just about to pick up an unconscious Temari from the ground.  

"Is she alright?" Shikamaru asked.  

"Yeah, I made it in time," said Sasuke.  

Some of the shinobi from the other side of the rockfall were now jumping onto the rocks near the recently-made pit.  

"Temari-sensei!" yelled Kyushi.  She was extremely distraught at seeing her teacher and leader in this kind of state, especially when it was her fault to begin with.  

"She's fine," said Sasuke again.  He leapt from the ground up to the top of the rock pile with Temari held bridal style in front of him.  A few other shinobi took her from him so they could examine her medically.  "I think she took one small knock on the head - that's all."

"That's one hell of a jutsu you have there," noted Shikamaru.  

"I didn't think I would need to use Mangekyo for these exercises, though I'm really glad I had it under the circumstances," said Sasuke.  

"She's awake!" called the group with medical skills helping out Temari.

Shikamaru and Sasuke went over to Temari's side.  

"Sasuke, you saved me," said Temari.  "Thank you."

"I'm sure you would have done the same for me," noted Sasuke.  He smiled.  "I told you I was one of the good guys again."

Temari smiled back at her hero.  "Yes, you did."   She was now a true believer.