Hey everyone. Finally, here's the sequel to the Princess Wears Breeches. I think you guys might find that it's quite different from Princess. It was quite fun to write this chapter. I hope you guys enjoy.

One and a half months ago

Mikoto Uchiha walked worriedly towards the palace. While she was a bundle of nerves, her husband, Fugaku, appeared stoic as always. He could be happy, sad, or angry but he never allowed his physical appearance to show any of it. In fact, if someone other than his immediate family looked at him, it would seem as if the man did not have any emotions.

However, Mikoto was part of his immediate family, and knew him possibly better than anyone else. She knew from one glance that he was nearly as nervous as she was. Given the circumstances, who in their right mind wouldn't be?

The guards that surrounded them seemed as still and emotionless as her husband. Sometimes she thought about what it would be like if she didn't have any guards surrounding her person for nearly most of her day. Growing up in royalty, she was used to almost never being alone, always having at least one guard follow her around. She knew that it was for her benefit; after all, she was the Queen of Sound.

On the other hand, if they used guards more often, maybe they wouldn't be in this mess.

As if reading her thoughts, Fugaku squeezed her hand lightly. The Queen knew from experience that it was pointless to look over at him, for his eyes remained directed straight ahead and not at her. She was grateful for his private show of affection and assurance, especially since it was rarely given. As the King, and more importantly, as an Uchiha, Fugaku was a firm believer that public shows of affection were to be avoided. And he enforced this belief, almost a little too harshly in her opinion, not that she would ever speak that thought aloud…

She turned her attention to the palace that they were walking up to. It had been quite a long time since she had been here. At least five years if not more. She had always wanted to return. Her and Mebuki Haruno had been friends since they were children. They had been able to bond quite quickly, given that the two were quite similar. Both had grown up in royalty or, as they thought of it, political pawns. Although, Mebuki had always been more vocal about her opinions of their status than Mikoto ever was. It had gotten the pink haired princess into quite a bit of trouble. Another difference between them was the treatment of their children.

Mebuki had always wanted for her child to not be the tool that she had been. When the woman had received the note from Sakura that the girl wanted to stay on the island she was sent to, she had made sure that her daughter remained there. She had fought the protests that had come everyone from advisors, other royal families and even her own husband. All to make sure that her child was happy.

Mikoto on the other hand had been quite different. Both of her children had grown up in an environment where status and outward appearances were valued much more than having a good childhood. Everything about their lives were planned, from their future positions in Sound to what kind of training they would receive to how they spent their so called 'free time'. They were reprimanded whenever they protested or did anything that Fugaku deemed 'below an Uchiha'. Mikoto loved them both, and had let them know that she loved them. However, she did nothing to stop how they were treated. She always found herself wondering that if she had acted differently, maybe Itachi would still be with their family…

She quickly pulled herself away from those thoughts and mentally scolded herself. She was here for an important purpose and here she was daydreaming. It simply wouldn't do, especially not for an Uchiha.

Unfortunately, the reason why she and her husband were here only brought her sorrow, even though going to the Heilig palace used to bring her happiness.

They had arrived at the entrance and the doors were being opened. She couldn't help but look around at all of the soldiers that surrounded the castle and compared them to the measly amount her and her husband had brought with them. She knew that at this occasion they were more for appearances than defense. For if the Heilig King and Queen decided to attack them, not that they ever would, ten guards would not be able to do much to protect them, except for perhaps stalling for a few moments.

A tall redheaded man walked towards from inside the palace. His head was held high and he was dressed in robes made of only the finest silk. "Hello King Fugaku, and Queen Mikoto," he greeted, bowing his head.

Both she and her husband repeated the gesture. "King Kuzashi," Fugaku replied. It was always he that spoke, never her. This never angered or upset her. However, for this particular issue, she almost wished that she could speak out to get help. "Forgive us, but we came here for an important purpose and do not have time for chat or other pleasantries."

"Oh?" King Kuzashi rose a brow. "Then what might I ask, are you here for?"

Fugaku spoke again. If one listened really closely, they might have been able to pick up a hint of worry in the man's voice. "Do you know where Sasuke is?"

"Where, where am I?" Gaara asked.

"In Suna," she replied. "Apparently that's where you were going after I left."

"You left?" He asked, confusion evident on his face.

She nodded. "When you were sick, I suspected that you were bitten by a snake. No one else on the boat believed me. So I snuck off of it and went back home to get you the antidote for the bite. And then I came here to give it to you."

"So you left. Why did you come here?" He asked.

"To help you," Sakura replied. "You're welcome for that by the way."

His eyes narrowed. "Why?"

She shrugged. "I guess you and your little posse grew on me." She looked around the room. "It's nice here, minus the horrible weather and sand everywhere of course. That reminds me." She glanced at him. "You have some explaining to do."

He glanced at her. "Really?"

She nodded, and thought of everything that had made her confused, all the little findings she had discovered. And she came to one conclusion. "You're not really a pirate are you?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Then what are you?" She asked him.

He looked down for a moment, as if trying to decide something. Then his gaze met hers. "This," he explained. "Is a lot bigger then you think it is."

"…How much bigger?" Sakura asked Gaara, not sure what to expect. She knew that she should be serious and be ready to take in every word he said, because it was probably very important. Still, a part of her was squealing inside. She was right! All of that confusion and worry had not been for naught.

"Maybe I should I be the one to explain," a new voice suggested. Sakura looked over to see Kankuro walking towards them. She had forgotten that he was in the room. "Great to see that you're awake brother and no offense, but I think I'd be more thorough in my explanation."

Gaara's eyes narrowed a little. Sakura wasn't positive, but she thought that she saw Kankuro flinch. However, after that Gaara slowly nodded and Kankuro began. "Well, first off, we are not pirates."

"I already knew that," Sakura cut in.

"Really?" Kankuro looked surprised. "How?"

She grinned. "You guys are lousy actors."

Kankuro narrowed his eyes, "Hey, I-"

"Get on with it," Gaara cut in.

Kankuro sighed. "Fine. You see Sakura, we are people fighting for Suna and Konoha. I guess you could call us soldiers."

What? Soldiers? She was not expecting this. Her eyes widened and her mouth slung slightly opened.

Kankuro laughed at her reaction. "What? Do we not seem like the type?"

"I…umm…well," Sakura stuttered. This made Kankuro laugh harder.

Gaara cleared his throat, getting Kankuro to stop his laughter and straighten up. "You see Sakura," he continued. "Konoha and Suna received word about two months ago that Sound was going to wage war on us."

One month ago

Mikoto was filled with sorrow as she walked to their castle with Fugaku. The Harunos had no idea where Sasuke was. In fact, they didn't even know that he was missing. They promised to send out forces to look throughout their kingdom and immediately send word out if they found any leads, but that didn't make her feel any better.

Sure she was grateful that they would join in the hunt for him, but she would have liked it so much better if they said that they had saw him somewhere.

Where was her little boy?

The doors to their home were opened for them as they walked them. Their personal advisor, Orochimaru, was there waiting for them.

"I take it you never found Sasuke," he hissed, showing no sadness or distress as he did so.

Mikoto didn't like Orochimaru. She found him too untrustworthy. He always acted like he had an ulterior motive and was never one to show any mercy. Of course she never told anyone this, especially not her husband. It was simply not her place.

Fugaku shook his head. "Unfortunately no."

"Well then I have some news that you two may find interesting," Orochimaru informed them, a slight grin showing on his features. "However, it is a mixture of both good and bad information."

"Let's hear it then," Fugaku answered impatiently. Even though she kept her mouth shut, she was as eager to hear the news as Fugaku.

"It has been rumored that Sasuke has been sighted in Konoha," Orochimaru explained. Mikoto felt her heart leap, if only for a second. But then she remembered the fact that Orochimaru wasn't finished yet and tried to calm down her heart again. "However, it is also rumored that both Konoha and Suna are preparing their troops for war. It is a distinct possibility that they have captured Sasuke and are planning to use him as a reason to start a war with Sound."

Mikoto's heart sunk. Sasuke being used to start a war? Her poor boy. But wait, it was only a possibility right? That meant that there was a chance that he wasn't being used for war, that he was ok.

Fugaku had his eyes shut and appeared to be in deep concentration. She wasn't positive, but she was pretty sure that he was having the same type of thought process that she was having. After a while, he opened his eyes. "We will send spies to Konoha to make sure. If the rumors prove to be true…we will have to consider going to war."

Mikoto couldn't be sure, but she thought that Orochimaru's lips tilted upwards a little.

"So we have been preparing accordingly," Kankuro explained. "Sound is a very powerful nation and would be very difficult to defeat. Therefore, we decided that we needed to take…added precautions. This is where you come in Sakura. We knew how your parents have a gem that controls a dragon, and we were hoping to use that dragon. That part was real. Our plan was to get you, bring you to Heilig, and then convince your parents to let use the dragon. The reason we brought you was because we thought that your parents would be grateful that we brought you home, thus giving them more reason to let us use the dragon.

"The problem with that is we didn't want Sound to know that we knew of their plans. So, we decided to pretend that we were pirates so that no one suspected anything. And yeah, that's pretty much everything," Kankuro finished.

Sakura was silent as she let this information sink in. So she was a pawn for them to get the dragon. She knew this before, but it still didn't feel good to be told that again. Gaara had been right before, this was a lot bigger than she had previously thought, and she wasn't really sure what to make out of it.

There was one part of it that really irked her though, and she decided to voice this irritation. "Why wasn't I informed of any of this before now?"

This time it was Gaara who spoke. "We didn't tell you because we couldn't risk you blabbering about our plan to someone else. It would have exposed the fact that we were aware of Sound's plans."

She turned to him and glared. She should expect as much from him. "Really? You have that little faith in me? You didn't know me when you met me, how could you think that I was automatically going to spill my guts to any passer-by that came my way? And who the heck would I tell anyway? It's not like there was anyone I could tell; we were on a boat the entire time!"

He didn't even blink at her outburst. "It was too big of a risk."

One week ago

Mikoto was alone with her husband in the throne room. Although they were alone, Fugaku showed no affection towards her. That was reserved for their bedroom alone, and even then, sometimes it was scarce.

In this case however, affection from her husband was far from her current thoughts. Her mind was focused on one thing, just like it had been for the past weeks: her son Sasuke. How she wished for him to be safe and at home, where he belonged.

The door to the room opened a man dressed in black emerged. The only part of him not covered in cloth was his head, which was likely just because he had removed his mask. "King Fugaku, Queen Mikoto," he spoke up as he gave an obligatory bow.

"Miso," Fugaku acknowledged him. "What is the situation in Konoha and Suna?"

Even though Miso rarely showed emotion, he seemed almost sad when he stated, "It is true, Konoha and Suna are preparing for war."

Fugaku's mouth formed a grim line. "Then we have no choice. We must go to war with Konoha and Suna."

Hidden away in a corner of the room, Orochimaru grinned.

Sakura's glared hardened. Why that little-

Her thoughts were cut off when Temari walked into the room. "Kankuro how is- Sakura? What are you doing here?" Her gaze drifted to the recently awoken red head. "Gaara! You're awake!"

She ran towards her brother. "I'm so glad you're ok! I was so worried about you. How were you able to recover?"

"Sakura came and gave him an antidote," Kankuro explained. "Turns out the entire reason she left was to get Gaara medicine. She just got here a little ago and helped him."

Temari froze, shock present on her face. Then, slowly she turned her head to look at the medic. "Sakura. I don't know why on earth you did it, but thank you. You have no idea how grateful I am to you for saving my little brother's life."

Sakura gave a small smile. "Hey, don't mention it." Temari grinned.

"So what did you come in here for sis?" Kankuro asked.

Temari shrugged. "I just wanted to know how Gaara's condition was."

Their happy moment was stopped abruptly when a woman dressed in armor rushed in. "Temari!"

Temari's stance went from being relaxed to uptight and cautious as she turned to look at the woman who had walked in. "Yes?"

"It's Sound. We just received word that they have declared war on Konoha and Suna."

Present day

Sasuke walked broodingly back to the castle. He was an idiot for letting Sakura get away that one time. They were so close to getting her! But he had been convinced that they would have another opportunity to retrieve so he let her go. His parents and Orochimaru would be so disappointed.

Why the heck would she want to stay with Gaara and his group anyways? Sasuke did not know Gaara very well personally, but he had heard rumors about how the man was a savage who was born with a lust for blood. Despite the fact that he had quite the female fan base, he was feared by many.

And besides that, Gaara was with Suna, Sasuke was with Sound. He knew that Heilig was technically neutral with both nations, but it was much closer to Sound than it was with Suna, especially because of the relationship between its Queen and his mother.

Perhaps Sakura wasn't aware of who he was. After all she did grow up on that small excuse for an island. Gaara probably tricked her into thinking that he was some petty pirate that wanted her as a sex slave or something. Yes, that was it.

Orochimaru was there waiting for him at the entrance of the palace. "Aww, Prince Sasuke," he hissed. "How did your private mission go?"

Sasuke shook his head, once again beating himself up over the fact that he failed to save her. "We weren't able to get the Princess."

Orochimaru did not seem surprised by this. "Alright."

This was going to be hard to break to his parents, being gone for so long and not having anything to show for it. His father was going to be disappointed with him. But then again, when wasn't he? "Where are my parents?"

Orochimaru looked at him with pity. "Sasuke, I have to tell you something."

Sasuke had a bad feeling when he asked. "What?"

"Itachi returned just a few days ago and departed quickly after. Sasuke, he killed your parents."

And there's the first chapter. Just to make it clear, what was going on in italics and what was going on in normal text were not connected (people in Suna did not know what was happening in Sound with Sasuke and his parents and vise versa). Hope you all enjoyed this.