Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

The sun rose beautifully onto Konoha's training ground. The air was crisp and the sky was a pristine blue. For an autumn day, it was unusually warm. Birds chirped cheerfully in a chorus of greeting and watched in interest from the shroud of red and gold leaf trees as a three people gathered in preparation for their mission.

"Where's Ino?" Choji asked awkwardly while trying to scratch discreetly at his stomach. They had been assigned a B rank mission a week ago by the Hokage. Everyone was suppose to meet in the training grounds before leaving, only Ino had never shown up.

"Troublesome girl," Shikamaru scoffed before removing his gear. After wearing his travel pack for fifty minutes, the thing had become heavy and irritating.

Watching with a frown and his arms crossed, Asuma studied his two pupils before turning back towards the direction of the civilian district. As the only female on their team, Asuma had made some allowance for Ino. She had her moods and quirks and was known to be fashionably late to some junctions from time to time, but this…

"This is late, even for her," Asuma murmured.

"I wish I didn't have to say this, but most of the people are terrified of you. They only see you as a weapon of destruction."

Kankuro's reluctant words echoed in his head as Gaara and his team traveled to the rendezvous point. The red head had set a decent paste. It was fast, but any sand shinobi should have been able to keep up. However, his teammates Yaoki and Korobi were lagging a bit behind. The distance between them kept growing and so Gaara kept having to slow down. Twice he had looked back on the two, but immediately the two would freeze up.

Worse, there were several shadows following them and Gaara had a good guess as to who they were. Anbu from Suna, his own village. They were probably sent by the council to eliminate him.

"I know the council ordered your cooperation and enlistment with the regular troops, but it's not going to be easy. The ranks are full of jounin that want nothing to do with you."

Kankuro's words were proving true. Gaara fought the urge to gnash his teeth from the hurt and frustration. The mission was more important than him. It shouldn't matter that the shinobi behind him didn't want to be his friends. It shouldn't matter a good twenty men or so from his village were waiting to kill him. All that mattered was finding Naruto and his teacher. Still…

The warm brown sand and blue skies of the desert slowly melted into the occasional brown and green shrub of healthy, growing earth. They were getting closer, but if they didn't pick up the speed they would fall a day late outside of the rendezvous time. Gaara had been respectfully maintaining his distance and allowing Karobi and Yaoki to follow at their own comfort, but time was lagging. He had debated telling them about the Anbu but thought better of it. It was unlikely that they were in danger of being assasinated. Gaara was probably the only target.

"I know they're afraid, but I have to do something. Doing nothing causes only more pain. I know what I have to do. I have to make my own path."

This time it was Gaara's own words echoing in his head as he turned around to confront his teammates. To his own frustration, the two stopped moving as soon as he did and so Gaara was forced to enhance his voice more than he was comfortable with.

"We must hurry. We are to meet with our ally before high noon. Time is of the essence," Gaara told them, doing his best to keep his voice neutral, despite how unsure and frustrated he was with the two. Gaara had never worked outside of a unit consisting of Temari and Kankuro and so he had little experience with other sand shinobi. Still, he was sure that they were both letting their personal fears get the better of them.

"You must not let your emotions dictate your actions," he continued. To Gaara's surprise, both men hurriedly closed the gap between them, both out of breath and chagrin.

"I apologize Lord Gaara. We only recently enlisted and have never worked so far outside of the village before," Yaoki apologized with a slight bow.

"We've never traveled at such a fast pace before. I'm afraid we're not very good at it yet," Korobi added with a grimace. Both men seemed entirely embarrassed. The idea that their pace was hindered by their lack of experience and stamina had never crossed Gaara's mind. He desperately wanted to ask if they were afraid of him, but he didn't want to push his luck.

"I see… Shall we continue?" he asked after clearing his throat. Nodding, the two waited for Gaara to take the lead before following. It was clear that the two enlisted men thought the matter was settled and Gaara could tell by their pace that they had doubled their efforts in speed, but the redhead's curiosity wasn't sated.

"You say that you only recently enlisted," he began and tried to ignore how Korobi startled somewhat as they ran.

"Y-yes that's right," he answered nervously.

"But you are jonin correct?" Gaara persisted.

"Um," Korobi began. Beside him, Yaoki slapped a palm over his face in embarrassment and almost stumbled over a shrub in his distractedness.

"We're actually only genin," Korobi continued with a cheesy, nervous smile. Gaara's eyes narrowed.

"I thought the enlisted men consisted only of jonin," he commented. The two men shared a meaningful glance.

"They were before the chunin exams. However after the fallout with the Konoha and Orochimaru's involvement…" Yaoki began.

" - we lost a lot of sand shinobi. Afterwards, the enlisted men started recruiting other ranks to fill in their numbers," Korobi finished. Gaara nodded. It was painful to acknowledge, Suna's blunder with Orochimaru, but unless they accepted it, no one from Suna would ever be able to heal. Still, there was one more thing that was bothering him…

"Then I must ask, why are you both still only the rank of Genin? You both look much older than your peers," Gaara commented. He had been keeping a detailed eye on his surroundings and noted how close it was until high noon. They would be late, but not by much. The scenery around them had once again changed from sporting bits of grass and shrubs to gangly bushes and tall trees.

Slowing his pace, he waited for the other two to catch up. Unfortunately both men seemed to be caught up on Gaara's last question and failed to notice their surroundings. Too late they realized their mistake and in order to avoid crashing into Gaara, both men flailed so wildly that they tripped over each other and landed in a large bush.

Gaara stared at them evenly trying to keep his bafflement from showing on his face. The answer to his question was obvious now. His teammates were both rookies. He had never been in such a situation. Shaking his head, Gaara turned to Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan, who standing silently on the other side of the river with his arms crossed casually and leaning against a tree.

"Sorry we're late," Gaara called out and tried to ignore the shadows that had settled around him.

Ino blinked confusedly at the sight before her.

"This - this can't be right!" she shouted. Her voice was so loud that the birds in the nearby trees all scattered in flight from the echo of her distress.

Rubbing the grim from her eyes, Ino took in the sight of the village called Tanzaku Quarters. Knowing it only through text book study, the blonde had never been to the Poem Card city as it was often called in slang by adults. Her father had mentioned that he had visited the place in his youth during a rowdy mission, but Ino hadn't paid much attention as she thought that it would be a long time before she ever visited such a place.

Taking in the bright red and gold lights and tall elegant roofs, Ino could only gape as she stumbled her way out of the forest. She was dirty, with various sticks and leafs ensnared in her hair. After wandering around lost for almost a full day in the woods, civilization looked wonderful, even if it was a place rumored to be full of gamblers and loose women.

The blonde was so distracted by her musings that she was completely oblivious when a small group of travelers nearly bumped into her.

"Hey!"

"Sorry!" Ino jumped and quickly moved out of the way.

Noticing her worn attire, the three travelers glanced confusedly at her before sharing a look between themselves.

"Are you here for the festival?" the lone woman in the group asked Ino after a moment of awkward silence. The blonde noted the woman's civilian clothes and unassuming shoulder cropped brown hair. She was probably in her mid forties. Her two male companions were younger, probably closer to Ino's age and also dressed as civilians, making it impossible to know which village they all hailed from.

Looking down at her dirty, torn, purple blouse and apron, Ino would have normally blended in quite well, sans her village headband. However with all the muk on her it was obvious that she was some sort shinobi, if not a vagabond.

"A-ah yes! I'm just checking out the view," the blonde answered nervously and scratched the back of her head. Her explanation was obviously a lie as the front gate of the village barely offered any view until after a person passed through the city's walls. The three travelers watched her curiously and when Ino couldn't bare it any longer she offered them all the prettiest, most charming smile she could muster.

The two males immediately responded with smiles of their own while the woman relaxed somewhat.

"Of course. If you happen to be in the silver roof lodging units, come find us. We'd love to have a dinner guest," she offered.

"Sounds wonderful," Ino gushed, silently urging the trio to move on. Smiling she waved as they entered the gate before turning back towards the forest. Konoha was over a day's journey in the opposite direction. Her attempt to follow Sakura had been a total blunder. The blonde knew her parents and teammates were probably worried sick. As a kunoichi of Konoha it was her duty to return as soon as possible. Worse still, her team had an upcoming mission. She was in enough trouble as it was.

But…

She was tired and hungry and dirty. Her travel through the forest had been anything but smooth. After stumbling upon a bear's den and finding its cubs, the mother had charged Ino up a tree. That had been followed by a crash landing into a bush and a sprained ankle. Now peppered with mosquito bites and and smelling faintly of sweat and animal dung, all Ino wanted was a long bath and warm meal… and maybe a soft bed.

"Are you coming in or not?" one of the guards posted outside of the gate asked.

Smiling grimly, Ino turned back to look at Tanzaku Quarters.

"One day won't hurt," she murmured.

Sai stood on the rooftop of the Tanzaku Castle. The full moon was high and serenely bright in the sky above him while the festival was a live and in full swing below him in the streets. Loud happy music whistled and clanged amidst the happy chatter and singing of citizens and tourists as they paraded the streets. A long stream of well wishers were on their way to visit the local shrine for a blessing as it was the Autumnal Equinox. Street vendors aligned the streets with every kind of goods and wears. Bright orange and red flags waved in the wind coinciding with the scent of several trade dishes as they wafted in the air.

It was interesting but Sai had a far more important task to fulfill. If Sasori caught him, he was as good as dead. The Akatsuki member had been very specific when it came to communications to Fifth Hokage. It was only to happen under his explicit supervision and instruction, neither of which Sai had.

The triad alliance with the Akatsuki and Orochimaru with Root may not be as productive as we had hoped. Sasori has promised two additional shinobi on his end to counter Kakashi's movements, should he prove troublesome on his mission. However, their specific whereabouts as well as Orochimaru's, remain elusive. In addition, several Root members are expected to serve on this mission, making Root the biggest liability.

Sai finished his letter, before rereading it once. Then with the hand of a well versed artist, he released a second scroll and sketched out the image of a raven using his Super Beast Imitating Drawing Art. The chakra infused ink had barely been etched onto the page before the dark silhouette of the bird extracted itself from the white parchment and materialized in the air.

Sai had been careful to fill in the space of the bird with as much as black ink as he could, making it look less like a drawing and more like a true bird and therefore far less conspicuous.

Silently, the dark haired shinobi handed the raven his scroll. If everything worked out correctly, his message would be in Danzo's hands by tomorrow. The bird was silent as it accepted scroll before taking off into the glowing moonlight.

Not a moment later, Sai startled as several shuriken shot out from directly behind him and over his head. Alarmed by the inhuman silence of the attack, the pale shinobi watched as they swirled towards the raven only to collide in a brilliant shower of black ink as the drawing was destroyed. Simultaneously, a thin but strong, unseen force coiled itself around the artist's feet and tripped him.

Sai would have caught himself from the impending fall if another unseen coil hadn't ensnared itself tightly around his arms, preventing his freedom. To his credit, Sai was still smiling when he crashed face first onto the roof's hard tiles and bashed his chin.

"Did you really think that I would allow you to get away with such treachery?" Sasori's voice murmured from behind his veil as he watched emotionlessly as Sai tripped. Silently, the slumped form of the puppeteer stepped forward until he was side by side with Sai's prone form.

"Chakra infused threads," Sai commented with an empty smile as Sasori used the very same technique to retrieve Sai's scroll which was on its way to floating harmlessly down into an alleyway below.

"Not unlike my chakra infused ink," Sai added as Sasori used his thread to fling the parchment into his hand. Opening the scroll, he briefly read over it.

"Don't compare your fleeting attempts of art with mine," Sasori murmured before using his chakra to disintegrate the scroll.

"Root's participation is paramount. I cannot allow you to compromise it," Sasori continued. His beady eyes then looked down at Sai calculatingly who in turn laughed mirthlessly.

"But isn't it already compromised? The Fifth Hokage won't agree to move forward without my input first. Isn't that what liaisons are for?" Sai joked. His words fell flat.

"Puppets can make just as fine a liaison," Sasori murmured as he moved to loom over the artist. Recognizing the imminent attack, Sai rolled over onto his back. As soon as his palms touched the material beneath him, he used Earth Release and allowed his body to sink into the castle roof's stone tiles, not a moment before Sasori's scorpion like tail came down to pierce his back. It was a narrow escape. Knowing he had little time, Sai released several clones of himself into the castle with the intent of using his Root trained stealth ability to escape the structure's walls and disappear into the festive crowd below. He was determined to send Danzo his message.

However, Sasori made for a formidable opponent and the attack of his scorpion tail not only pierced directly through Sai's middle but also threw him off of his trajectory. Terribly wounded, Sai was helpless when the metal weapon withdrew and consequently flung him onto the unsuspecting blonde haired bystander below.

Shishio stared down at the helpless prone form of the pink haired kunoichi lying on the medical cot. Because of the council's interest in her, she had been placed in a small isolated medical room. All was silent and the two guards posted at the door were oblivious to his presence.

Raising his dagger, he stared down at his target. The girl who looked only a few years younger than him, would clearly be beautiful once she was fully grown. As a ninja, Shishio had gone on countless missions for Lord Tojuro and one more life should have meant nothing to him. This girl, however, had somehow survived his last assassination attempt and thus had earned Shishio's grudging interest. It was a shame that fate had dealt her such a hand.

"I take no pleasure in this," he muttered, lowering his own hand fisted with his dagger, intent to bury the weapon in the girl's chest. He was unprepared for the sudden pain in his middle as a short sword impaled him from behind.

"W-what?" Shishio asked in disbelief as his hands shakily went to the front of the blade. Turning his head blearily, he was surprised to find an masked anbu standing directly behind him.

"Lord Tojuro sends his regards," the masked man told him, his white coyote face expressionless.

"Why?" Shishio gasped as blood spurted from his mouth. He could not understand why Lord Tojuro, whom he had always faithfully obeyed, would order his destruction.

"You're shortcomings can no longer be tolerated," the anbu explained before flinging Shishio off of his weapon and straight through the medical door at the far end. Silently the anbu turned to the sleeping pinkette for a moment before disappearing entirely.

"I just don't understand why Gaara is so interested in her," Kankuro grimaced as he and Temari walked the long hall of Suna's hospital wing. The kunoichi's room was on that floor and ever since the assassination attempt in her prison cell, he and Temari had done their best to keep vigilance over her.

"Isn't it obvious? It's because of Naruto," Temari answered. The siblings had met in the stairway and were in the process of trading 'shifts.' Temari had been up all night keeping watch over the prisoner and was more than ready to trade positions with Kankuro.

"Yeah, I remember. She was on his team during the Chunin exams. I still can't remember her name though," the puppeteer admitted. It went without saying that neither sibling had volunteered any information to the council, out of respect to their brother and his goals.

"It doesn't matter. Gaara knows that she's important Naruto and that crazy boy is the first one that has ever gotten through to our little brother. Ever since that battle, Gaara has held that boy in high esteem. He is going to do everything in his power to try earn Naruto's respect in return, even if it means keeping his would be assailant safe." Temari explained, rubbing her eyes in frustration. She was glad her brother was trying to change, but she hadn't expected to what extremes.

"She tried to kill him," Kankuro grumbled as if reading her mind.

"She's a means to an end," Temari insisted, thinking that once Gaara's team located Naruto and the boy confirmed her identity, Suna's Council would lose interest in the girl and she would be traded back to Konoha. Gaara would be pleased by the outcome and his bond with Naurto would likely grow...

"Her presence and involvement will not have any bearings on Gaara's goals to become Kazekage. If anything, her presence will deter him," Kankuro muttered, thinking how little value the citizens of Suna would find in Sakura. Not many knew that she had infiltrated the village, but if it became public knowledge that Gaara was interested in and possibly harboring a foreign threat, what little respect he had earned from the villagers would disappear.

"I know. I don't like it; but we agreed to support our brother," Temari argued.

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of splintering wood and shattered glass. Several shouts had Temari and Kankuro running towards the noise and coincidentally the prisoner's medical room.

"Don't tell me..." Temari began.

"We think there was another attempt on the kunoichi's life," a grim guard informed them. The siblings looked on to the remnants of a splintered door and the corpse of a ninja who had quickly bled out onto the floor. What the siblings found more disturbing was that neither guard could take credit for attacking the assumed assassin. There was no sign of the responsible party, save for the unconscious kunoichi prisoner who was still obviously in a coma. There were no clear answers and the mystery surrounding the kunoichi was growing.

"Lord Tojuro and Lord Goza are not going to be pleased," one of the guards predicted.

Temari and Kankuro shared a grim look. It went without saying that their brother wouldn't be either.