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Sand in the Leaves	By : ahmenet Category: Naruto > General Views: 1273 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I make any money from this fanfiction.

Chapter List
- 16
- 17
- 18
I haven't read over this so I hope
their aren't too many mistakes. Lemons will come with a companion
piece I've talked about on my home page to preserve the T rating.
Also, I will be playing with cannon. Just a little. Disclaimers on
the home page.

0.0.0.0.0.0

“Fall
back!”

The lines began
to fall back as a giant toad made its way to the forefront. Women
and children hurried with brisk shinobi toward the mountain and the
safe tunnels inside. The attack hadn't been a surprise but it had
been quicker than expected.

“Everyone
fall back!!”

The shout
raised over the rumbling crowd as Sakura watched the giant toad take
its position in front of the last of the Akatsuki threat, the sixth
Hokage riding his back. She heard the sounds of cheers. Of those
old enough to remember watching history repeat itself. She was so
proud of him in that moment. Any time now he would unleash the
unlocked power of the kyuubi. He would build the rasengan and crush
the last enemies to the peace of his village.

“Sakura!
If you don't get your ass out of here I'm going to move it for you!”

The voice was
familiar behind the mask. Kakashi. She turned and followed his mane
of silver hair as the fight began, turning her back on Naruto.

“There's
an attack at the Uchiha compound and the center village. Looks like
we missed a few. At least twenty reported” Another shinobi
called.

“Sasuke
can handle his own. Is everyone out of the village?”

“Yes,
sir.”

“Let it
go. We can rebuild a house.” Kakashi ordered and disappeared
into the chaotic crowd.

Sakura
continued toward the mountain and her daughter while wild winds
whipped the dirt and grass around them.

“What is
that?”

She turned at
the sound of awe and fear in the voice coming from behind. Her feet
stopped moving as the red-orange light of the demon chakra poured
over the toads passenger. Her breath stopped when she saw there were
three of them. And her heart stopped when she saw the overlarge
shuriken in the hand at the center.

“No.”
Her feet moved toward the battle field.

“Sakura!”
She ignored the call.

“Naruto!
No!” She drew in close to the gate, prepared to leap to the
trees.

One figure
leapt forward and the rasenshuriken disappeared into the clearing
below. The clones stood still, watching the battle.

“Sakura!!
Stop!”

An explosion of
light rolled over the clearing. The bubble of wind and power growing
then collapsing. The clones looked down, smiled at her then
disappeared in clouds of smoke.

“NO!”

The toad
vanished.

“NARUTO!”

0.0.0.0.0.0

Sakura gasped as she woke, sweat running down the side of her face
and tears from her eyes. The memory had turned to a dream a few
months after his death and it always ended before she reached him.
But she remembered his face as she came to him. The smile he had
given her. And for just a moment she thought he was alright. She
thought they'd all won. In reality he was already dead. In only a
few more hours his chakra would completely stop flowing. The damage
to his internal chakra network by the needle-like wind jutsu had been
almost as total as that dealt on their enemies. But he'd lasted long
enough. Just long enough to see his little girl again. Long enough
for one last kiss. Just long enough to tell all of those that matter
most good bye.

It would have been kinder had he died on that field. Then she might
have been able to forgive Kakashi for ordering her to turn her back
and run. Or Sasuke for not being by his best friends side. As a
team they had been unstoppable. As individuals everything had fallen
apart. And now he was gone. His daughter wouldn't know her father.
And everything she'd fought so hard to protect had slipped through
her fingers.

“Damn.” She sat up, pulled her knees to her chest and
wrapped her arms around them. “Maybe I should have gone to
therapy with Neji.”

“Maybe you should have.”

The voice took her off guard and she looked up for the first time.
The walls were bare. A single table sat to the side and a small
kitchenette not far from it. The bed was a single and the sheets a
plain white. Several decorative pots and boxes sat on a small table
by a single window. This wasn't her room.

Swallowing she turned her head to the door.

“Oh hell.” She whispered.

“Oh hell is right.” Neji replied from behind a far too
calm Moegi.

Sakura was silent as she thought through the night before.
Everything from the moment they left Shikamarus house to walking
through the door and then... She groaned and dropped her head to her
knees.

“I take it this is exactly what it looks like?” Neji
asked watching a very nude Sakura bang her forehead against her sheet
covered knees.

“Please tell me you two are the only ones that know.”
Sakura mumbled into the sheet.

“Gai swung by early this morning.” Neji told her.

“No.” Sakura squeaked.

“Apparently he looked a little pale when he left so Genma came
up to make sure everything was alright.” He continued.

“No!” She cried.

“And I was at the Hokage's office when Genma came in to
report...” Moegi carried on in a very controlled voice.

Sakura whimpered and threw herself backwards in the bed while tossing
the sheet up to hide beneath.

0.0.0.0.0.0

Neji closed the door behind them and started for the stairs. Moegi
stood by the railing for a moment, gripping the bar far too tightly.

“You lied about Tsunade-sama knowing.” Neji said with
certainty.

Moegi looked at him. “I didn't lie about Genma making a report
to her.”

“You just failed to mention what the report was.” He
nodded. “Why are you here?”

“We were scheduled to meet this afternoon but I wanted to see
if he was in the mood for an early lunch.” She snorted.
“Looks like he already had dessert.”

Neji grabbed her arm and pried her away from the railing and down the
stairs. She went, reluctantly, only looking back as the door to
Gaara's apartment opened on a flustered and clumsy Sakura.

“They're two consenting adults, Moegi. You can't kill her for
poaching on territory that's not yours. Let it go.”

She turned away from pink hair running toward another street and
jerked her hand free of Neji's grip.

“I wasn't thinking that. And I don't consider him territory.
He doesn't see me that way.” She said simply and sadly.

“So he talked to you?”

“Yes.”

Neji turned down the long wooded path leading back to his home.

“What did he say?”

She stopped in the middle of the road as anger flared at the
remembered discussion and glared daggers at the back of his head.

“He said that though he found my interest flattering he
didn't think I should waste those interests on someone like him.”
She voiced venomously.

Neji turned, completely stunned. “What?”

“Yeah! Can you believe it? Then he tells me I would be better
served by pursuing someone my own age! He even mentioned
Konohamaru!”

“What?” Neji stared open mouthed at her.

“Does the man have any idea what is going on around him?
And what does he mean, my own age? What does he think I am?
Twelve! I'm old enough for my parents to marry me off, if they
didn't think I'd go missing nin to get out of it. Who does he think
he is?”

Neji's thoughts ground to a sudden halt. That was a very good
question. Who exactly did Gaara think he was?

“I mean, here I am trying to work myself up to ask him out and
he's off...”

“Wait. Ask him out?” Neji started to feel a little ill.
Hadn't she already manipulated a date out of him?

“Yeah. I wanted to get to know him a little better, you know.
So I asked the Hokage if I could give him a more personalized tour of
everything and help him adjust a little better to his part in the
chuunin exams. She thought it was a good idea since she didn't want
to spend an afternoon explaining everything to him, cause he'd only
forget it anyway. So she said yes. I thought it was cool. We could
sit and have lunch and I could help him figure everything out and
maybe he'd start to feel comfortable with me.”

Neji started to feel very ill. He swallowed several times to clear
the offending taste running up the back of his throat. Tsunade had
approved this?

“Then he started asking me things about the village and the
people and well... we started talking more about everything else and
only a little about the exams.”

She tossed her head back and groaned.

“And now I find out he was just humoring me!”

Neji debated telling her that Gaara's attitude was partly his fault.
That he'd placed the idea of her manipulation in the red heads mind
without considering it might not be true. Then he thought of the
pink haired kunoichi this girl was so reminiscent of and how her
temper could soar to unbelievable and sometimes unsurvivable heights.
He didn't want to find out just how bad Moegi's temper could get.

“I'll talk to him.” He said before he could think too
hard about it.

“What?” Moegi blinked as if coming back from a dream.

“I'll talk to Gaara. After this morning I think he might need
to rethink his current course anyway.” It wasn't illegal or
immoral but it wasn't wise to date teammates and what Gaara and
Sakura had done was even less wise. The potential for disaster was
hovering just over their heads. Gaara definitely needed to rethink
his course.

And Neji wanted to keep his manhood in tact.

But to his surprise, Moegi sighed and shook her head. “Don't.
If I can't make him see me on my own then I'll never know if he's
seeing me out of pity, desperation or his own interest. Just... make
sure he's alright. I'll try to head off any rumors that might be
started already.”

Neji gave her his friendly half smile and muttered a “thanks”
before tuning back toward the path that lead to the monuments and the
graves of Konohas fallen. And he would speak to Gaara about
the orange haired girl... no, woman. She was far more mature than
either of them had given her credit for.

0.0.0.0.0.0

Izanami walked silently with Hiro and Naruto. Tadao was at home with
the nurse who watched the twins having come down with a bit of a
cold. The boys had wanted to go out and the older woman had kindly
offered to watch the unusually sedate two and a half year old.

“Mama?” Hiro called quietly and pulled on her sleeve.

She bent down to her son as Naruto walked a little ahead of them.
The little blond menace was chatting animatedly with everyone he
passed. She smiled to see a few of the villagers and even shinobi
stopped to listen and offer a line or two of conversation in return.

“Mama, can we go see Uncle Lee and Uncle Hokey?” Hiros
eyes followed Naruto as he talked with a chuunin who had stopped to
listen to his story.

“You know it upsets Naruto when we go.” She spoke just
as softly.

“But maybe it won't be so bad this time.” He pouted.

The boys had loved the Hokage and Lee. When they both died, only
hours apart, the boys had taken it badly. Naruto still cried nearly
every time Lee was mentioned and taking him to the graves was usually
a parental nightmare.

“Hiro...”

“Please, mama?” Hiro's large black eyes pleaded.

She tried to find something stern in her to tell him no. She knew
Naruto was going to cry all the way there. So she tried and she
searched but she couldn't combat those pleading dark eyes. Mentally
tallying the number of teenage girls she could kill and get away with
it when this boy turned fifteen, she smiled and patted his head.

“Alright.” She motioned with her head toward Naruto.
“Go get your brother. We won't tell him where we're going
until we get there.”

Hiro smiled a very toothy smile and ran to catch up with his
boisterous brother.

Sighing she waited for them to come back then turned them toward the
wooded path. Naruto's eyes were already tearing up.

0.0.0.0.0.0

Sand shifted from the form of an eagle to that of a scorpion then
settled into a small pile at the edge of the headstone. Gaara held
out a hand and the sand flowed over it for a moment before sliding
off again. He sighed and called the sand back to the arm length
gourd sitting next to him.

“Well, I still can't get the sand armor to hold but I can use
most of the attacks and I've built a few sturdy walls.” He
leaned back against the headstone and ran his hands over the flowers
surrounding him. “I haven't tried to make sand yet.
Thought I'd give that a shot this week. Gai was pleased to see I'd
come as far as I have. Personally, I'm feeling a little useless.”

He looked over his shoulders at the leaf insignia on that headstone,
right above the name Naruto Uzumaki. He reached up and traced the
symbol on his forehead protector. The leaf, etched in cold metal,
was still unfamiliar to his fingers.

“I did something really stupid last night. I slept with your
girlfriend.” He frowned questioningly and stared up at the
gray-blue sky. “Was she your girlfriend or your almost wife
or... I don't know. I'll just call her Sakura.” He shrugged,
sighed and leaned his head against the headstone with his eyes
closed. “I slept with Sakura last night.”

He waited for anger or humor or something to come at him. Some sign
that he'd been heard and it mattered to someone. Nothing came. He
was alone here in this place. His friend long gone.

“I wish you were here. I feel so out of place. I woke up this
morning and saw her lying there and... all I could think was if you
were here none of this would have happened.” He clenched his
fist in the flowers under his fingers. The petals crushed and
fluttered to the ground as he flexed his hand open again. “I
know that's not true but I can't help feeling it.”

A cold wind blew through the graveyard and Gaara hunched into his
turtleneck and vest. Anticipating a long workout and a lot of
sweating, he hadn't worn his cloak.

“I've thought so many times about going back. I could slip
past the guards and head back to Suna. I'd die before I made it to
the sand but it wouldn't matter. This would all be over and I
wouldn't have to think about...” He sucked in a breath, his
eyes still closed and now leaking moister he didn't even notice.
“How did you do it? He was like a brother to you. How did you
leave him in that mans care for three years without going insane over
what had happened to him?”

The wind blew with more force, heralding rougher weather to come. He
didn't pay attention.

“I know you tried to stop him but... How? How could you let
him go? I'd have had more peace seeing Kankuro dead with Temari than
I do it this moment. I feel pain I haven't felt in years and I hate
it!”

A scrap of boots caught his attention and his eyes flew open. A
woman in medics robes stood a few meters from him. He recognized her
from the hospital and by the two boys with her. Sasuke's two young
boys, Naruto and Hiro, gave him cursory glances before walked toward
another grave. Naruto's eyes were shining with tears and his face
was splotchy and red. Gaara watched them move away then turned back
to Sasuke's wife, who'd moved closer to him while his eyes were
averted.

“Sabaku-san.” She bowed her head to him.

“Please, it's Gaara. That title is pointless now.”

She eyed the gourd at his hip and raised a brow. “Unless that
thing is filled with water, I think the title is still quite valid.”

He looked to the gourd as well and sighed. He might as well stop
arguing the point. The majority of the village knew his as Gaara
Sabaku. Gaara of the Sand. They would never see him as anything
else, no matter how long he stayed here.

“You look as if you've lost something precious.” He gave
her a dry look but she only smiled and sat in front of him, putting
enough room between them to keep him comfortable. “My
apologies. I didn't mean to cause you more pain.”

He shook his head. “You're not to blame for my problems. I
didn't realize anyone would be here this time of day. I thought I
was alone.”

She pulled a cloth from her hip pouch and tossed it to him. He
looked at it questioningly until she touched her own cheek then
pointed toward his face. He reached up and gasped softly to feel the
wet tracks on his face. Wiping at the tear tracks with the cloth he
stared at it for a long moment.

“You seems surprised, Gaara. Everyone cries from time to
time.” She took the cloth back from his extended hand. “Only
the weak choose to deny it.”

He nodded but looked toward the children farther down the row of
headstones. Naruto's sobs seemed to have stopped. Now the tears
simply ran, silent and free, down his cheeks. Hiro sat behind him
with his thin legs wrapped around his older bothers hips and his chin
on his shoulder. The younger, paler Uchiha was staring solemnly at
the name etched on the stone and rocking his brother ever so slowly
with the wind.

“They loved Lee. Almost as much as their own father.”
Gaara looked puzzled but she only smiled. “Lee and Sasuke
were... close... toward the end. When both he and Naruto died, I
thought Sasuke would break. But he is a shinobi and a Uchiha. I
guess if you can survive watching your brother murder your family you
can survive anything. The boys, however...”

Gaara finally turned away from the children to look at her. “It's
hard for children to understand why someone they love isn't coming
back again.”

She nodded. “You sound like someone who knows...”

“No.” He
cut her off. “But I have it from a reliable source.” He
thought of Temari describing what she could remember of their mother.
He hoped that woman's memory didn't die with her eldest child.

“Mama?” Both Gaara and Izanami looked up as Hiro and
Naruto made their way toward them.

“Yes, sweetheart. What do you need?” Izanami opened her
arms and both boys climbed into her lap. Naruto lay his head on her
shoulder and rubbed his running nose on her robes.

“Is it okay if we see Uncle Hokey now?” He asked quietly
with a glance at Gaara.

It took the red head a moment to realize he was sitting in front of
the headstone they wanted to see. He looked back once last time at
Naruto's grave and touched the cool stone lightly with his fingers
before moving. Naruto unlatched himself from his mother and moved on
hands and knees through the flowers.

“Thank
you.” Hiro whispered quietly as he followed his brother to the
Hokage's grave and took up his position behind the
blond Uchiha.

He felt Izanami come up behind him. “Why do they call him
Uncle Hokey?”

“Well, Sasuke will tell you they are wise beyond their year,
but the truth is they were young and Hokey was the closest Naruto
could get to Hokage.” She replied but there was little
laughter in her voice.

“I've been told Sasuke was a very compassionate and simple
child who idolized and loved his brother. Once upon a time Sasuke
was much like Hiro.” She looked at her son with a fierce
determination.

Gaara watched her for a moment before she turned those eyes on him.
He had to look away from the simple plea that laced her look.

“Don't run.”

He stiffened. He hadn't realized she'd been listening that long.

“If you can not stay for yourself then stay for the friends you
have made here. For the people who have defended you and helped you
survive and make another life. “

He didn't say anything, simply looked out, unseeing, over the bed of
flowers and graves.

“And if you can't do it for them, do it for the two boys
sitting there mourning their second greatest hero.”

Gaara's site narrowed on Hiro's back and the Uchiha symbol on his
jacket. He only just noticed the boy dressed much like Sasuke when
he'd first met the man so many years ago.

“You are a strong and able shinobi who has fought and given his
life for his people.”

“A people who betrayed me, murdered my family and left me for
dead.” He turned and spat at her.

Her
eyes glazed with fear and anger. “Not all of them.” He
stilled. “Fear is a potent tool. You of all people
should know that. And there are people in this village
who will risk their lives for your benefit. Don't you think you owe
them more than running to your death simply to ease your own pain?”

He stared at her as his conversation with Shikamaru only the day
before came flooding back to his mind. The medical charts that
shouldn't have been there. The coded scrolls. The way any room in
the tower went completely silent when he entered.

“What do you know?” He asked in a strangled voice.

Her face was a cold mask but her eyes were full of fury and fear.
“Peace is a precious and fleeting thing. Protect it. Play
your part. Stand for this village and the people who live in it.”

“Tell me what you know.” He gritted out.

“I know that before this is over someone will die.” His
eyes widened and she stepped shoulder to shoulder with him. “And
my sons will mourn over another grave.”

He shook. The mission request Shikamaru had been unable to read...
all the boxes of sand.

He turned to look at her down the line of his shoulder. “What
do you want from me?” He asked.

She looked up at him with eyes gone cold and glittering with tears.
“I want you to make damn sure you're worth the price.”

0.0.0.0.0.0

Sakura rocked to a halt in front of Tsunade's door and wince at the
harsh explicative coming from her teachers mouth. She'd figured
Tsunade would be at least understanding... she braced herself for
battle and flung the doors open.

“I should have your ass thrown in the deepest pit the fire
country has and bury you in it!”

Sakura blinked as Tsunade rounded on an eerily calm Shikamaru.

“You could try that but I think the deepest one is already
occupied at the moment.”

The lazy shinobi smiled at the busty blond which only seemed to piss
her off more.

“Did Gaara put you up to this?” She asked far too
calmly.

Shikamaru just shook his head. “Nope. It was my own morbid
curiosity.”

Good grief! How many people know about last night? She
thought.

Tsunade made a grab for the shadow wielder and Sakura jumped in just
as Shizune walked into the room with a hand full of scrolls.

“Please, sensei!” Sakura jumped between the two and
Tsunade narrowed her eyes.

“I'll get to you in a minute!” The Hokage all but
screamed.

Sakura swallowed but didn't move.

“I'm not sure what you've been told, but please let me explain!
It was only one night and I'm going to apologies for anything I've
said that upset Gaara-san! I swear!”

Tsunade frown. Shizune frowned. Shikamaru raised a brow. Sakura
huffed and stomped her foot.

“Oh for the love of... It was just Sex!!”

“Oh hell.” Shikamaru whispered from behind her.

Too late she realized her mistake. They hadn't been talking about
she and Gaara or what had happened the night before.

But they would now.

“You... did ... WHAT?!”

Shikamaru and Shizune sneaked quietly from the office, leaving
Tsunade with her new target, dumped their paperwork and made their
haste way for the open streets.

0.0.0.0.0.0

I didn't do nearly the normal amount of cleaning on this one. I'm
sure I'll find something I wanted to clean or work up later but for
right now I thought I'd get the chapter out. I hope everyone enjoyed
the previous chapter lemon. I worked pretty hard on that.
- 16
- 17
- 18
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Sand in the Leaves