Chapter 11

Anger was the first thing that Naruto felt on his return to the Kazekage compound, a red hot anger that filled his system faster than any drug could, boiling through his veins, clouding his vision. They had spent their day chasing down leads, to find the one they were looking for, then spent a few hours interrogating him, only to return to find out what had happened in their absence. The Princess had been attacked again, a blatant, obvious attack that was head on, in Gaara's home, it was disgusting. Knowing instantly that the Princess was now safe from any further attempts on her life from the Nagai pushed away the anger, ebbing its flow to fill him with relief instead, he had always been a glass half full kind of guy and knowing Sasuke meant he had to be the level headed one.

Glancing at his partner he could see the reason why he needed to be calm, Sasuke's face had contorted with annoyance, the muscles in his jaw were strained as he clenched his teeth, his brow was pulled down into a scowl and his eyes where a bright crimson filled with rage. It was an emotion that Sasuke was so very familiar with, making Naruto recall their younger years when Sasuke would rarely show any emotion bar anger and annoyance. It made Naruto feel old and tired, a sigh left him as he shook his head, with the way this mission was going he couldn't wait to be back home in the Leaf once more.

"How is the Princess on an emotional level?", his voice betrayed his tiredness as he questioned Gaara.

"Fine it would seem", the red head nodded towards the door to their right, "She's been in there since the earlier incident, Kakashi has been keeping a close eye on her. I believe she wanted to set off once you both returned"

"Leave? Just like that?", Sasuke scowled more, "Does she really think its best to leave straight after what's happened?"

"The trial will be a rather quick one, the tea tested positive for poison and Kakashi was wearing a wire, so everything was recorded. The Princess won't need to stay for the proceedings".

"it's going to take us about a week to get to the Land of Frost Sasuke, the sooner we leave the better", Naruto paused, eyeing the door the princess was behind, "at least a week. We still need to take into account who we're travelling with and the conditions we might encounter, snow isn't the easiest thing to travel in after all"

The men all shared a knowing look, travelling with civilians was never easy, it slowed them down and in such a time sensitive mission, it made their job harder. Naruto prayed that the Princesses father would last a while longer. Hinata and her team had been sent ahead, so the old man had better survive.

"Let them know we've returned, we'll go get our stuff together and round up her men", Naruto glanced at the door once more before heading down the hallway, "or maybe we should just leave the men behind", Naruto laughed.

It would make their mission much easier if they could send them on ahead, especially when there was at least one spy in their ranks, Naruto hadn't forgotten about the bandit attack. The sooner they got to the Frost, the sooner the princess could take her title as the new leader, the sooner they dispelled the plot against her life and all of that meant he could return to Konoha.

Knowing he was forgetting something important, Naruto shook his head, the real reason he wanted to finish the mission quickly was Sakura. The quicker the mission was completed meant more time to spend in Frost looking for her, looking for any hint on her whereabouts. They all knew that it was a long shot, their search had gone on for four years without so much as a whisper of their lost team mates whereabouts. It was beginning to tire Naruto out, which was strange considering the years he had spent searching for Sasuke, perhaps it was a sign that he was getting old.

"Ne Sasuke?", Naruto looked over his shoulder, his broody teammate had been following behind him, "do you think that, if we don't find any information in Shimogakure, we should give up?"

Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks, causing Naruto to copy. "What?", Sasuke scowled at him, his reaction didn't surprise Naruto, "what's gotten into you? It's not like you to be so pessimistic"

It was very out of character, Naruto supposed, but maybe he had grown up, moved past his boyhood years of naivety. "I guess", he sighed, running a hand through his blond locks, "maybe I'm just getting tired Sasuke. Maybe Sakura-chan doesn't want to be found"

Lately, his thoughts had been following a negative road and he couldn't seem to distract himself from them. Always the positive one, everyone knew that about Naruto, but lately, he felt like he was only pretending, hiding his true feelings deep down. Sakura had vanished without a trace, Tsunade told them not to look for her and she was never classed as a missing nine like Sasuke was. There was more to her disappearance than their Hokage would tell them, it broke his heart, but what more could he do? Tsunade knew something, maybe not Sakura's location, but she knew more about the situation than what she had told them.

All Naruto's thoughts were put on hold by the sharp pain that flared through his face, without him realising, Sasuke had punched him. He staggered back from the impact, his face reflecting the shock he felt, everyone who knew Sasuke, knew he wasn't one for outbursts of emotions. Yet, there they were, standing in the middle of a hallway, with Sasuke drawing Naruto the dirtiest glare he had ever seen from the lone Uchiha. Sharigan danced with furry, freezing Naruto to the spot and at that moment he wondered just how far Sasuke would go.

"What is wrong with you?", Sasuke's voice was filled with disgust, "how the hell can you, you of all people, be giving up on her? After everything we've been through together!".

Chakra surged around them and Naruto could feel his friends rage surround him, letting disappointment set in. It wasn't like he didn't know he was wrong, of course he knew, but just how long could they continue to hope she would just show up. When Sasuke went on the run, they always had snippets of information on his whereabouts, but in the four years of her absence they had heard nothing, no sightings, no rumours, absolutely nothing. People don't just disappear, especially people as renown as Sakura Haruno, pink haired Konoha nin, apprentice to the Hokage herself, known for her strength and healing abilities.

"I know you're angry, but listen to me Sasuke", Naruto's voice was deepened with his own sadness, "four years we've searched, four years and nothing! How can someone as famous as Sakura just disappear off the face if the earth without anyone hearing anything?"

Lately Naruto had thought about convincing the rest of Team 7 to call it quits, it had been weighing heavily on his mind, knowing that this was the most likely outcome, perhaps not with Kakashi because he was the most levelheaded out of them all.

"You know as well as I do there is more to this that we've been told", Sasuke snapped, tearing his eyes away from him, "Tsunade is hiding something from us. But, hell, if you want to give up after this mission, be my guest! I won't stop though and I'm glad as hell Sakura isn't here to hear the shit that's coming out your mouth" moving swiftly Sasuke walked past him, muttering, "you're pathetic", before disappearing down the hallway.

Was he betraying Sakura by thinking this way? Sure he had chased Sasuke, leaving Sakura and his village behind for two years so he could be strong enough to finally catch him and bring him home, he had promised Sakura though. Maybe that's what was missing this time, he didn't have Sakura waiting for him to fulfil his word, didn't have her crying face flash in his mind every time he got word of Sasuke.

After the war had settled and they were all back in Konoha together, Sakura had told them how she had asked Naruto to do something so childish and had always regretted it. She admitted to them that being left behind was the worst thing they could've done to her, she had felt abandoned and lonely, throwing herself into her medic nin studies so she practically lived in the hospital.

Naruto's heart had broken when she told them her feelings, he had realised just how stupid he had been, he had dropped everything, his life, his Team, to run off and get stronger, hardly any different than Sasuke. Sakura had been alone. Sure she had the rest of the Rookie 9 and her family, but her Team had abandoned her, it must have been horrible for her.

Moving away from where he had been standing, Naruto sighed. It was strange to think how at the start of this mission he had said how he wouldn't give up on Sakura, he would find her and now here he was letting his inner thoughts loose, his darker thoughts. Was it this mission that was to blame? Seeing how the princess was being treated, she was alone just like Sakura had been, making him think that it was all a lost cause.

Reaching the door to his room, the sound of Sasuke moving about could be heard, Naruto had seriously pissed him off, I made him dread being in the same room as the Uchiha. Naruto wasn't a coward though, so he pushed through the door, moving straight to pack up his gear. He noticed how Sasuke didn't even pause at Naruto's presence, emphasising just how angry he was.

"Sasuke", Naruto spoke, he knew he had to try and prevent his teammate being in such a bad mood, it could effect their mission. "Look", finding the words was difficult for him, "I'm sorry...this mission has had me thinking. I've failed her". Admitting his darkest feelings was hard, even to one of his best friends. Naruto rubbed his face, "I found you, I brought you back, so why he hell can't i find her Sasuke? Because I've failed her!"

"Four years of nothing!" Naruto snapped, his eyes brazing red at Sasuke, "why is that Sasuke? Why doesn't she want to be found? Why is she doing this to us?!"

The scowl on Sasuke's face had disappeared, replaced by a softer expression that was unseen on him, "shut up dobe", he sighed. "Something happened with Sakura, something she couldn't tell us, for whatever reason", he ran a hand through his raven locks, "there will come a time when she needs our help, when she can finally tell us what's going on. We need to be there for her"

All that Sasuke said was true, Naruto knew that, he also knew that Sasuke was comparing Sakura's situation to Itachi. The older Uchiha had manipulated Sasuke's entire life to protect him and keep him safe, in his own extremely twisted way. Not telling Sasuke anything had also been key to his plans, but he had planned on taking his secrets to the grave, Naruto was sure Sakura wasn't quite in the same position.

"It's difficult Sasuke, how could she not trust us with what's going on with her? We've been through so much and yet she couldn't tell us what was happening"

Team 7 was notorious, not only in Konoha, but throughout the lands. In the war they had stood out as the new Sannin, training under the originals and out doing them in power and skill. When they appeared together again, they're imagine reflecting their masters, they had shocked the great ninja army, pushing forward and helping demolish the enemy around them. The war had shown them horrors they would never be able to forget and they had gone through that with Sakura, side by side, reunited under the title of Team 7, not the Sannin.

It had taken them time to get over everything that had happened, leaning on each other, getting to grips with the things they had saw and done. Yet, through all of that, Sakura had been their rock, connecting them and holding them together, she was literally the team mother.

Shaking his head of his thoughts, he really needed to his thoughts sorted, they were still in the middle of a mission. His team had to get the princess to the Land of Frost and help stop her crazed uncle from trying to take over.

"Damn, I'm such an idiot eh?", Naruto smiled, "I really needed some sense knocked into me, thanks Sasuke". Their conversation ended there, both of them nodding, moving swiftly to pack their stuff.

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Sakura sat meditating, waiting for the return of the two missing members of Team 7. The boys had been outside her door not long ago, discussing everything that had happened in their absence. Her blood chilled, remembering what had happened a few hours ago, her life had once again been targeted, right under their noses. Annoyance coursed through her veins and suppressed rage filled her mind, she was getting fed up with this nonsense. Years ago Sakura could have taken care of herself, defeated her uncle with a mere flick if her wrist and healed her father in a heartbeat, now however, it was completely different. With her chakra suppressed she was weak and defenceless, destroying the years she had put into becoming strong, so she could finally walk beside her team, not watching their backs.

She had roughly three weeks until her coronation, the day of her twenty first birthday, where her mother and father would present her with the ceremonial crown that would represent her rein as the new Daimyo of the Land of Frost, a queen in her own right. From there on she would have to lead an entire country, a terrifying prospect, that had her missing simpler times.

There had been a time, when she was very young, where she couldn't wait to leave Konoha and become the princess she was meant to be, but things changed. Falling in love with the ninja way of life had changed her feelings, making her want to ignore her birthright and stay in the village she loved, with the people she would die to protect. It was more foolish than her childish dreams of being a princess.

Breathing deeply, Sakura began focusing her chakra, pushing and pulling it through the chakra streams in her body, letting in build at specific chakra points, before letting it roam further. Her meditation gave her control, something she lost once she had stepped into the Land of Frost and the meditation usually soothed her, calming her mind. Chakra flared, spreading warmth from her fingertips to her ankles, moving continuously, never really stopping, but swirling around, moving in unreadable patterns.

This time, however, her emotional turmoil was far from subsiding, the meditation wasn't cutting it, allowing her anger to mix with the flow of her chakra. It felt red hot, blazing through her body and mind, searing the feeling into her soul. 'Breath Sakura, you need to breath', she mentally commanded. Her control wasn't there, it was slipping, falling away from her grasp and if she continued to loose her senses this way it would be dangerous.

Shortly after arriving at her Father's home, Sakura had thought to test the power if her chakra suppressers, being known for her precise chakra control, she wondered if she could overpower it. The end result wasn't pretty, she had lost control and ended up unconscious for three days. The suppressers had backfired, sending all the chakra she had pushed into them back into herself at triple the strength. The lecture she had received from the time still weighed in the back of her mind, reminding her not to loose control, to stop herself from gather too much chakra at any one point.

Sighing Sakura stood up, stopping her chakra meditation and began pacing. Remembering the days where she could punch out her problems or brawl with her teammates and destroy something caused a growl to fall from her lips. Was it possible for her to try anything like that now without getting caught? Of course it wasn't, if she started exercising on any kind of training grounds it might give her away to the boys. Three weeks was all she had to hide for, only three more weeks and she would be herself again.

"Are you ok?", Kakashi's voice sounded.

Sakura stopped, glancing over at the silver haired nin, casually leaning against a wall. Cursing mentally Sakura realised she had forgotten her old sensei was even there, a sure sign of just how distracted she was. "As well as can be expected", she muttered. It seemed the more time she spent around the boys, the further she reverted back to how she was before her royal training, if this kept up how could she possible run her homeland. "I would prefer it if we were already half way back to the Frost". She could allow him that truth, even with her frustrations over her own wavering feelings and behaviour, her main concern was her fathers wellbeing.

Kizashi Haruno was a strong man with a great love for his people. Sakura hadn't been sure what to think about her father on the first occasion she met him, but she hadn't expected him to be as kind and caring as he was. The man was everything you expected a father to be and then some. The day they had met, he had cried in happiness at finally having his daughter home again, it was a surreal experience for Sakura.

Knowing that her father could be dead currently sent her mind reeling. Not know how he was and how he was doing was killing Sakura and she wished so much so that she was able to heal him herself. Even with her chakra being dormant over the last couple of years, Sakura hadn't stopped her medical studies, without the ability to practice, only made her read more.

"I know that you're worried Hime", Kakashi's smith times distracted Sakura from her thoughts. "It's only natural you know, to worry about your father, but trust me when I tell you this, the team Tsunade has sent is second only to the Godaime and her apprentices themselves"

What would Kakashi's think if he knew he was talking to one of Tsunade's apprentices now? Would he scold her, hug her, be disappoint in her? At one point she could've predicted exactly how the boys would react, but all the time they spent apart, she wasn't sure.

"I don't their abilities, Tsunade is a power medic and a great teacher, it's my uncle that worries me", Sakura moved to look out the window, watching birds soar through sky. "He is sly, underhanded and evil. I know people who have done things that they regretted, followed the wrong path and made mistakes, so I know how to forgive, but this man, there is no regret there".

Once upon a time, Sasuke had tried to kill her, another time Sasuke and Natuto had almost killed themselves. Their good friend had started down the wrong path, but they saved him from that and himself and the regret he had shown them had all her to forgive him.

"What are you doing Sakura?", Sakura mentally sighed, she needed to get herself back on track, back into 'Princess' mode, how she was acting right now was ridiculous. Training had made up her life, training to be a ninja, training with Tsunade, training to be a princess and yet here she was, letting an attempted assassination throw her off her game. "Ridiculous", Sakura had worse wounds, had nearly died on missions and she was letting a little poisoning by some crapy Sand citizens, the last Sand that had tried to poison and kill her had his heart crushed. Instinctively her hand moved to her ribs, where her scar from Sasori's blade was, a constant reminder of why she couldn't be weak.

"How long until we can move out Hatake-San", Sakura spoke directing her gaze at Kakashi, activating full princess mode, it was time for her to refocus and get this mission done.

Kakashi, who had been casually leaning against a wall, glanced at her, his eyebrows raised, black and red eyes staring at her curiously. "We just need to wait on boys gathering their things and informing your men and then we leave". His mismatched eyes watched her closely, examining her with those all knowing eyes.

"I want to leave as soon as they're ready" Sakura spoke, her hidden eyes meeting Kakashi's, "we'll separate into two groups to try and speed up our travel" her words were very matter-of-fact, with her mind finally back on track Sakura knew what she needed to do. "You, Uzumaki, Uchiha and I will head to Shimogakure, avoiding the main travellers path, we'll go through the mountain pass instead, slightly harder terrain, but we should manage to avoid any unwanted attention. My men will lead the other group, heading directly to Shimogakure, taking the easiest route and taking with them all the attention"

The time for fooling around was done. All the emotions that Sakura had, invading her mind, she had to crush, it was only proving to distract her. The excitement, fear, sadness, joy, all the feelings she had from seeing the boys and Konoha had been so overwhelming she had almost forgot her own control on several occasions. There was nothing she could do until the coronation, so erasing her emotions for now would be the best possible option. Sakura was a trained princess of Shimogakure, who had learned to filter feelings throughout her training, it was time she put that training to the test and finished this mission.

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It had taken them a little longer than Sasuke would've liked to get organised, the princesses men being the main issue. Kakashi had briefed them in the princesses plan on splitting up the convoy, which made sense to him, without letting her men know which route them were going to take. The plan would effectively speed up their journey time with only one civilian to worry about, the royal guard didn't agree, especially Sachi, the ever present annoyance that he was.

If Sasuke had less control over his emotions he would've growled out loud at that point, but that would hurt his image and pride, something he would never willingly do.

Kakashi had tried to be as diplomatic as he could with them men, but they were having non off it, going on about how they could protect the princess better than any ninja could. They were very good at trying his patience, thankfully, he princess had already planned for their reaction and her and Naruto had already left, Naruto piggybacking her to they're rendezvous miles away from the Hidden Sand Village.

The negotiations with the royal guard weren't going the way they wanted and eventually Kakashi informed them the princess had already left and the two of them performed a quick teleportation jutsu and they were finally on their way. They landed a few miles away from the village and took off in a sprint, they would meet up with Naruto and the Princess and Gaara would travel with the royal guard to make sure none of them got killed, another condition on the Princess.

Sprinting with chakra controlled feet was as normal to Sasuke as breathing, it wasn't something he had to think about or concentrate on, all thanks to Kakashi's training. Glancing at the man running behind him, his anbu mask in place, Sasuke couldn't see the emotions on his old sensei's face, but he could tell he wasn't happy.

"What's wrong?", Sasuke questioned before refocusing on the path before them.

Kakashi didn't so much as glance at him, replying, "there's so much we don't Sasuke, its concerning. Tsunade is hiding something, the Princess is hiding something and I can't figure out what"

"Ah", Sasuke knew exactly how he felt. Since starting this mission he had been trying to figure it out, like trying to figure out the plot of a good book you were only a few pages into. They were missing something, something between then connection between Shimogakure, the princess and Konoha, there was something there that he just couldn't figure out.

"Did you notice Tsunade's reaction to the Princess when she first entered her office?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and tried to recall the day they had met the Frost Princess, Tsunade had tensed when they had entered with the Princess, he recalled that, but he had out it down to the fact royalty was visiting and in need of their assistance.

As if Kakashi could read Sasuke's thoughts, he continued, "the Godaime visibly stuffed, her eyes watered and her eyes well full of shock, sadness and her mouth trembled, the she smiled slightly"

Sasuke's forget how much detail his team mate took in, Kakashi was a master when it came to reading people, you could probably blame it his long career as a ninja, one of the best there was. The detail that he described made Sasuke try to focus more, focussing on everything he remembered from that first meeting. Tsunade was visibly shaking when she told them to leave, her breathe was a little heavier, like that of a person who was about to cry.

"And did you notice her eyes when we returned?"

Memories flooded his mind, trying to focus on the exact moment that he needed, they had entered the room again and Taunade had looked distraught, but had tried her best to hide it. Being firm with her words, to avoid the tears that had built in her eyes and to strengthen her resolve.

"So the question is", Kakashi went on, "why would Tsunade have that kind of reaction, unless it's someone she knows and if she knows the identity of the Princess, does that mean she's been in our village before she was introduced to Shimogakure"

Sasuke's feet almost stopped dead. What did it all mean? Was there a possibility that Princess was connected to Konoha? She did tell them that she was brought up in secret before going home to Shimogakure. Or was it someone that Taunade met before she came back to Konoha, but if that was the case, would she really have that kind of relationship with her. Before Tsunade became Hoksge, she was a mess, a recluse, with only Shizune as company and refused to heal anyone because of fear of blood, the war had warped her.

"What does this mean Kakashi?", Sasuke questioned, his mind trying to figure out what was going. Now he was far from stupid, know for his brilliant intellect and, yet, he felt that the answer to all of was staring him right in the face, but he couldn't grab it.

"It means that we're being lied to Sasuke", Kakashi words were bitter sounding, "from the Hokage and from the Princess. A huge lie, something that could destroy this mission if we knew what it was. I'm still trying to assess all the information, because I can't figure out what could be so dangerous"

There were very little things that could stop Team 7 from completing a mission, they were revered as an unstoppable force that let nothing stand in their way, proven many times throughout the war. What could Tsunade deem too dangerous that could possibly prevent them from completing their mission? If the Hokage was truly lying to them, which looked more and more liking, exactly what was she lying about and why? Was there something that could jeopardise their mission, Sasuke knew one thing and only one thing that could, but he really didn't want to get his hopes up.

They were a little way from their meeting point, no more than five minutes of running, Sasuke chose that moment to stop, Kakashi clearly noticed the change in his attitude because he stopped at the same moment. Sasuke felt the need to speak now before they were within close range to the princess, "now I don't want to jump to conclusions, but is it possible this is about Sakura?" Even as the words left his mouth Sasuke felt hope bloom in his chest, a feeling that he wanted to squash.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck and sughed, "I know how similar you and I are Sasuke and I know you don't want any false hope". He glanced in the direction of Naruto and the Princess before continuing, "but, what else could prevent us from completing a mission, except Sakura, or at any rate, some knowledge on her whereabouts"

Hitting nail on the head was a very apt statement. If they found out where she was right now, heaven nor hell would stop them from going there, it was so incredibly selfish and a disgrace to their village, but it was the truth. It made sense for the details on the mission to be limited, with very little explanation from Tsunade and for all the secrets that surrounded them.

Memories from earlier danced across his vision, his rage towards Naruto, who had almost gave up on their teammate, had he figured out what Kakashi had, they certainly wouldn't have had that argument earlier. Yet at the same time, one of they had to be level headed, what if they were just looking to justify the strangeness of the mission in a way that helped them keep their hopes alive. If they got to the end of this mission and there wS no clue or information on Sakura, Sasuke might just kill someone, there was only so much disappointment one could take.

"Kakashi", Sasuke warned, "I understand the logic in what you're saying and it does make sense. However, one of us needs to stay reasonable, things are never that easy"

Look underneath the underneath, Kakashi's wise words from long ago, Sasuke used those words as a mantra when things would look bleak after he found the truth surrounding his brother. The murder of his clan had been laced in secrets, nothing had be as it seemed and those secrets had almost gone to the grave when his brother died. Even when Madara had tried to twist and turn him against Konoha, he used those words to stay on track, knowing that his brother did what he had to do to protect him and their village. Going against Konoha would be a slap in the face to Itachi, who had to live out his life as a murderer.

If Sasuke could've seen Kakashi's face, he probably would've saw the eye crinkle that he did, because when spoke, you could hear the smile, "mark my words Sasuke, this mission is going to help us find her".

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Naruto was raring to go and praised kami when his team mates finally caught up with them. The thrill he had felt when the princess briefed him on they're new travel plans was amazing, he had been wanting to leave the royal guard behind from the beginning! Even with the fact he was now carrying the princess on his back, nothing was going to faze him, hell she weighed next to nothing and with her actually allowing herself to be piggybacked, he felt kinda honoured.

When Kakashi and Sasuke finally caught up, Naruto noticed something was off with them, the tense lines in they're shoulders and the serious aura that followed them, something had clearly happened, but, if they wanted to fill him in, they would. Naruto was a patent guy, he would until his teammates filled him in, it could be something that they didn't want to discuss in front of the princess.

Humming to himself, Naruto refocused on the world ahead, wondering exactly how time they would cut from their journey, surely they could get to Shimkagure in four days tops. "Think we can make Frost in four days guys?" Never one for silence Naruto voiced his thoughts, breaking through some of the tension that was slowly building around his companions.

"If we stick to a strict travel schedule, I don't see why not", Kakashi spoke casually, betraying the tension in his body.

"The sooner we get there, the better", the princess spoke up, "I can only that we reach my home that quickly"

That wasn't in any way surprising, his team knew exactly what was at stake for the princess, Naruto would do anything in his power to help her. Not being the type of person to pity anyone, Naruto felt terribly sad for the Princess, she must have been living in fear of her life for quite a while and for her father and mothers lives.

"Do you miss your home?", Naruto asked, as soon as the question left his mouth he felt stupid. What kind of question was that? Of course she missed her home, just because her uncle was trying to overthrow her father doesn't mean she wouldn't miss her home!

"Terribly so", the princess spoke softly, sadness filling her words.

From the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Sasuke, glance over at them, with their masks in place if was impossible to read his expression, not that Sasuke was ever easy to read. They both were usually in synch when they were on missions together, have worked so closely since they were boys had paid off really. However, at this moment, Naruto was feeling lost, everything coming back to those moments when Kakashi and Sasuke had rejoined them.

"Do you miss were you grew up as well?", Sasuke suddenly asked.

Naruto could feel the princess twitch, his eye brow raised at that. "I do, although I can't go into detail about the location, it was beautiful, I miss it everyday".

Mind running into overdrive, Naruto tried to locate all the information he had store away on the princess, things he had learned and things that the other had. The Princess had been raised in secret, until she was introduced as the daughter of the Daimyo, supposedly it was tradition and it oriented people trying to take over. Naruto mentally scoffed, such a great plan that was, the woman's uncle was currently plotting to take over the country! They really needed new rules.

"Have you visited that place since you were introduced to Shimogakure?'

"Only once, I get to do very little traveling because of my position, but once everything is settled, I plan on making regular visits", the princess answered smoothly.

When was Sasuke this chatty in missions? Naruto glanced at his companion again, wondering exactly what he was up to, he was clearly fishing for something. Whatever Sasuke and Kakashi had discussed was at the root of what Sasuke was after, it made Naruto feel lost, like he had missed a really important mission scroll.

Kakashi wasn't giving away anything, his body the same tense, ready to fight, mass that was running along side them, he'll h had not even glance in their direction since they started running god their. There were so many good reasons for wearing their Anbu masks, however, it made it impossible to try and read your old sensei's face, much to Naruto's total annoyance.

"Do you know how Sakura Haruno is?"

The princess tensed instantly and Naruto almost tripped over his own feet at, not only the question that Sasuke had asked, but at the reaction from the princess.

"I know of her", her words were so soft they were almost whispers.

Naruto knew then that they were going to find Sakura, because the princess had some sort of knowledge about their missing teammate. The quick glance from Kakashi and Sasuke confirmed they hadn't missed the pincers slip up. Now at that moment, they all knew it would be too dangerous to stop, they had to make sure the princess got to Frost safely and as soon as they got there and she was safe, she would give them all the information on Sakura that she had. Naruto would make sure of it.

Apologies for the long delay, I hope you all enjoyed.