Author's Note: Hi guys! I was traveling on the ever popular road of life and I suddenly got ambushed by sudden inspiration towards a little idea that's been playing around in my head! Needless to say, I lost the fight and began to write until I had a whole prologue chapter completed! Yay me! ^^ Anyway, I would LOVE to hear what you guys have to say about this idea for a story. I personally wonder if there are already too many stories similar to this one out there but that fear didn't stop me from posting! Please feel free to reward my bravery with reviews!!

Disclaimer: I'm almost afraid that super awesome ninja will kill me in my sleep if I untruthfully claim Naruto as my own so I'll play it safe and honestly say that I own nothing except this plotline! I swear that I didn't steal it from another FanFiction author!

Chapter One: Vanishing in the Sand

Name: Sakura Haruno

The Kage's office was quiet as per usual. It was a simple room with a large wooden desk that was burdened with very few stacks of unfinished paperwork. The desk's accompanying chair was not exactly comfortable but sufficed its master's needs when he was required to work in the room for hours on end. The couple of potted plants in the circular room were positioned so that they were constantly under the sun's warm rays and a rack of books, texts and scrolls took up a much of a single wall space.

The Kage himself was standing by the window and letting his gaze fall out the glass and land on his village – the village he had sworn to protect no matter what. But he wasn't seeing the people stroll happily down the streets or the children playing ninja in the alleys or the shinobi lounging on the many rooftops. Instead, he was searching for a specific person; a person most often donned in black and who always carried his pride and joy on his back.

'There.' he thought as he caught his target languidly walking towards the office to answer his summons. While slightly irked at the man's choice of pace the bright-haired Kage calmed himself with a quiet sigh and an uncharacteristic gesture of running a hand through his short spiked hair. The young man closed his eyes to wait as the summoned ninja disappeared through the doors of the tower. It would only be a matter of time before the ninja stepped through the wooden door to his office.

As expected, the door to the simple office opened and let in a tall shinobi, dressed all in black. He stood with both hands lazily on his waist as his body rested its weight on the heels of his feet – the posture of someone who was interested in what you had to say but trying not to appear too eager. His eyes also attempted to look dull and bored but there was a gleam of intrigue in them that only his brother was able to see.

"Kankuro. I'm glad you're here; this is important."

The ninja nodded, "I figured as much - you are calling me in on my day off after all. So, what's up Gaara?"

"It concerns the Leaf Village; more specifically one of their top medical ninjas, Sakura Haruno." Gaara observed carefully as he took note of Kankuro's widened eyes and more serious nature. All of his brother's previous laziness was gone – the name of the medic who had saved his life more than once snapping him to taut attention.

"What about her?"

Gaara leaned over his desk and skimmed his eyes over the message scroll that Tsunade had sent a few days previous, making sure that the facts he had memorized were accurate. "Six days ago Sakura Haruno accepted a mission that I requested of the Leaf. She was to travel here, analyze our medical resources and restock any materials or remedies. She was then expected to stay here temporarily to head a training program for many of our aspiring medics. She left her village gates four days ago."

Kankuro frowned. "Four days? Shouldn't she be here by now?"

Gaara nodded. "She should. In fact, I had expected her to arrive within two days after her departure from the Leaf."

Kankuro gave a definite nod. He knew this was serious and that it was very possible that something had gone wrong during Sakura's journey. The puppet master eyed his little brother and asked, "So what do you want me to do about it?"

Gaara made sure to meet Kankuro's eyes directly. "I want you to organize a small team of three others and search for any trace of her. I want reports immediately if you find anything that would give us any intel on her whereabouts."

"You got it." Kankuro headed for the door but turned around just before he left the office. "Hey Gaara? Does Leaf know anything?"

Gaara sighed and lowered his uniquely colored eyes. "No. And I will not send any kind of message until I know exactly what has happened to her. There is no sense in having the Leaf panic and worry over something that has not occurred."

"And if we find something bad?"

"… Let us hope that it doesn't come to that."

"… Right."

The door shut and the simple office was left in silence once again.

Gaara, Kazekage of the Sand,

You will be pleased to know that I have selected the Head Medical Ninja of the Konoha's Hospital – and my personal apprentice – Sakura Haruno to carry out the B-rank mission that you requested two weeks ago. She has accepted the mission with enthusiasm and is set to depart by sunrise tomorrow. I estimate you can expect her arrival in your village within forty-eight hours from that time.

Hoping you and your village are well,

Tsunade, Hokage of the Leaf

Standing atop one of countless sand dunes found in his land Kankuro gazed out among the seemingly never-ending desert. Despite growing up in the Land of Wind he never could quite stand the sight of the endless sand beyond their village's walls. And now he only hated the sight that much more. Searching a bleak and empty desert – especially on one's own – for any sort clue on any person's whereabouts was next to impossible. Searching for a lost person in this land was about as frustrating and hopeless as sparring against Gaara. And the amount of paperwork involved was simply horrendous.

Kankuro had wasted no time in selecting a team to accompany him out to the barren desert. He had selected three very capable shinobi that had been assisted by Sakura at some point or other and hurriedly explained the situation to them. All three responded to the situation with distinct energy and determination to rescue the medic to whom they owed so much. Nearly a kilometer north from the village gates the team of four had split into four directions: north-west, north-east, south-east and south-west. The well known puppet master had already traveled and searched over five square kilometers in his direction but had not yet found any trace of the pink haired kunoichi.

Placing a hand to the radio on his neck and hoping that the others had had better luck Kankuro asked, "Tahiko, how are things in your direction?"

Minor static accompanied the male Jounin's response. "Nothing as far as I can tell. I've sent my scorpions ahead but none have reported back to me yet."

Kankuro had expected as much but that didn't keep him from gritting his teeth a little bit. He owed the missing kunoichi his life a few times over; he was not about to let her stay stranded in his own land – not when he could do something to help her. "That's good but keep looking. How 'bout you Matsuri?"

"The only thing I can see is an approaching sandstorm sir." Came the high voice of the young Chunin.

"Damn." he cursed, "We can't be out here when it hits; we need to wrap up this search and fast!"

"Right!!" came two responses. Kankuro waited patiently for the third from a Chunin named Kanne but after two minutes she still hadn't responded.

"Kanne? You there?"

Only static. Crap. Not now! Something could not go wrong right now!

"Kanne, if you can hear me please respond." When she still didn't respond Kankuro mentally cursed and addressed the other two. "Looks like we'll have to put the search on standby guys, Kanne isn't responding which means she's either dead or out of range of the radio and we need to find out which."

"But sir," Tahiko put in, "if we stop now the storm will wipe away any traces or clues that Miss Sakura may have left."

Kankuro growled at the dilemma. "I know but our teammate has to be our first priority! It won't do any good for us to lose another person to this desert."

"Yes sir. I'll keep my scorpions alert just in case."

"No need for that Tahiko!" All three ninjas showed surprise – and private signs of relief – as they heard their 'lost' teammate's voice over the radio. "I've found something that somewhat resembles a camp; it could've been Sakura's!"

Kankuro whirled around in surprise. It took everything he had to resist running in random directions until he found what Kanne was talking about. "What!? Where's your position?"

"About seven kilometers south-west of the rendezvous point. The camp is a little beyond that point and that's why I traveled of range of the radio."

Kankuro was running as soon as he heard his teammate's instructions and hurriedly ordered, "Kanne, you search the camp right now! Tahiko, Matsuri, follow Kanne's directions and meet up with me there!"

"Sir, yes sir!" the three voices rang out.

While he ran Kankuro thought of all the things he owed the pink haired medic. The most prominent one was the time his body had been infected with Sasori's poison and Sakura had found a curing remedy when no one else had. But she had also helped them on other occasions over the years: treating Temari when she came down with some kind of dangerous disease, saving his butt when he got in a tight spot during a minor war they were both involved in, taking on a medic training class the year before, sparing Gaara from having a leg amputated… There was so much she had done for him, his family and his village even though she was from Leaf. He had once almost thought of her as a sister since she had been around so often that year and he hadn't let down his family yet.

Kankuro concentrated his chakra and sped across the sand at twice his regular speed.

The Kazekage's office was still simple and still quiet when Kankuro reported back to his little brother. The small pile of unfinished paperwork had dwindled but was not much different from before. The sun was still shining through the windows and when you looked out you could see people hurrying inside to await the incoming storm of sand. Gaara appeared to be the only thing that changed. He was now sitting in his chair and leaning his arms on his desk – he was anxious to know what Kankuro had found.

Wordlessly Kankuro fished out three cloths from his weapon's pouch and laid them on the desk in front of Gaara's piercing green eyes. Gaara picked up and inspected the red cloth in his hands, choosing to ignore the pair of gloves that his brother had placed on the table. He gently ran his hand along the metal insignia that represented the pride of the Leaf with a subtle kind of sorrow. The two brothers knew that she would be dead before she was separated from her precious headband. They recalled how she had once told them the significance it had held for her; the way it proved she was a true shinobi – that she was strong. How it told the world that she had grown into a respectable woman and how she treated it as a piece of her village when she was away from home. Her headband was more than a head accessory – it was everything she had ever dreamed and accomplished.

Taking care to fold it before placing the head gear back on his desk Gaara inquired, "Is this all that you found?"

"We think we found her campsite – or what was left of it anyway. A lot of her possessions were lost under layers of sand already; when we dug these were among the first of the items we found." He referred to the headband and gloves.

Gaara continued to question his brother even as he stood to obtain a blank scroll. "What else did you uncover?"

Kankuro gripped his fists in frustration. He couldn't help but feel that he had failed both Sakura and his little brother. "Just regular survival equipment – matches, medicines, kunai, a sleeping bag – nothing extraordinary. Things were in wacky places though, which suggests that there may have been a struggle but we won't ever know for sure."

Gaara nodded as he contemplated all of Kankuro's information. He was still unsure of what he would write in his letter to Tsunade. "Was there any trace of her body? Any trail that indicated she went somewhere?"

Kankuro shook his head in a regretful manner. "Nothing. Any footprints she would've left behind are long gone thanks to the ridiculous wind in this country. Tahiko even had his scorpions bury through the sand – there's no blood to indicate that a human traveled anywhere. Or at least not one that was injured."

A few moments of silence passed between the two siblings. They were both attempting to piece the whole situation together. The two men knew Sakura well enough to know that she would not leave her headband lying around just anywhere which means that she must have been forced to leave it behind. But Tahiko's scorpions were among the most reliable trackers in Sand. If they couldn't find a trace of Sakura's blood then she couldn't have been wounded any sort of struggle that possibly occurred. Of course there was always the possibility that she had been drugged or paralyzed somehow but the enemy would have had to be in fairly close proximity to inject her with anything and both Sand shinobi knew from experience that it was not easy to get close to Sakura without being punched into the next week. And she probably had some sort of antidote in her possession even if the enemy did manage to poison her with a type of drug. So what had happened to her and where had she gone?

Swallowing quietly in the silence, Gaara stated "So she's vanished."

Even as Kankuro nodded and voiced his bitter agreement he couldn't help but feel like he was missing something crucial. He felt as if he was looking in the wrong place for the answer to the mystery. But if the answer wasn't Sakura's capture, what was?

The Kage's office was a pleasant one. It occupied little space and the furniture inside it occupied even less. For being such a small room, the lack of furniture and large windows gave it a wider, more welcoming view. The windows were always open to the outdoors no matter the weather and the door was always open to her village's people no matter the issue. The large desk and accompanying chair sat near the windows, for she often liked to look upon her people going about their every day lives. It reminded her why she kept working a stressing job such as hers; reminded her that good things still existed in this world. Her people gave her hope when calamity struck and she felt almost indebted to repay the favor by protecting them with all she had left in her.

But, as she procured a bottle of well aged sake and a reasonably sized drinking cup from a desk drawer, Tsunade wished that it would not hurt so much whenever she failed them. She also wished for her hands to stop shaking – they were making her spill perfectly good sake on the letter from Gaara that she had only received minutes ago. She had opened it expecting to read a standard letter explaining that her beloved apprentice had reached the village safe and sound – she had desperately hoped to hear so since she had not received any kind of confirmation from either Gaara or Sakura four days after the young woman had left the gates. Tsunade admitted that she had been as worried as a mother would be for a sick daughter before she unraveled the scroll and absorbed the information it held.

Tsunade, Hokage of the Leaf,

It is with deep regret that I inform you that Sakura Haruno has, as of yet, not passed our village borders. After receiving your letter I grew concerned when she did not appear within the following ninety-six hours, and sent a search team out to look for her. They recovered ninja survival equipment from what we suspect to have been her camp – along with her shinobi head band – but they discovered no trace of Sakura herself. I have my people investigating further but the only thing that we know for certain is that Sakura Haruno is missing.

I'm sorry that I cannot offer you any solace except to keep you informed on anything and everything that my people discover.

Gaara, Kazekage of the Sand

Needless to say, she had already started to reach for her special drawer when she was half way through the letter.

Current Status: MIA