Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, and I never will.

Chapter 6:

Sakura, Hinata, and their Anbu team made it to Suna late in the afternoon three days after their departure from Konoha. After having bidden farewell to their friends that had to return home immediately, Sakura and Hinata entered the bustling city and stopped for a bit to look around………….partially because they were unsure of where to head.

"Sakura-chan, do you know where Gaara-sama's office is?" Hinata asked, as she looked rather lost.

"Sort of Hinata-chan. Naruto and I didn't spend much time there when we were here last. I'd kind of hoped Temari-chan or Kankuro-chan would be here to take us there." Sakura answered. She looked fairly lost herself. Thankfully, a rescue came in the form of Temari and Kankuro exactly as Sakura had hoped.

"Hey there stranger and strangeness!" Kankuro yelled to the two of them as he and Temari made there way to them through the crowd.

"Who are you calling strange, girly man. I see you still wear makeup." Sakura replied in a joking manner.

"Why you of course, Sissy. Of course I still wear it; you'd be disappointed otherwise because you'd have nothing to poke fun at me about while I have plenty of things to poke fun at you for." Kankuro answered back, standing in front of her, looking down because he was much taller.

"That's what you think." Sakura said with an evil look on her face.

"Alright you two, break it up. Sakura just got here and already you're at it again." Temari scolded jokingly, shaking her head.

"Of course, you would think something is wrong with us otherwise." Sakura remarked.

"True enough. Anyway, save it for later. We need to take you to see Gaara-san and then get you both settled in." Temari stated.

"Lead the way then Temari-chan!" Sakura said, mock saluting her.

"Ha ha, very funny you. Let's go." Temari said, motioning them to follow her.

"You okay Hinata-chan?" Sakura asked while they followed Temari and Kankuro to Gaara's office since the girl had been quiet throughout the whole exchange.

"Yes Sakura-chan. But do you guys always act this relaxed together?" Hinata wondered.

"You bet we do. It drives Gaara-san nuts sometimes. Good thing he doesn't kill much anymore." Sakura joked, trying to get Hinata to relax.

"That's good. At least we'll have a good time during our stay then." Hinata said with a smile.

"Just wait Hinata-chan; it gets much better, especially at dinner." Sakura said, the evil look making a return appearance. She had apparently spent too much time with Gaara already to have gained that particular look that was trademarked to him.

"She's right Hinata-san, it does get even better." Kankuro added, his expression mirroring Sakura's. He'd spent too much time with Gaara as well.

"Run while you still can Hinata-chan." Temari warned, eyeing the two worriedly.

"Too late!" Sakura and Kankuro replied in unison, which was always a bad sign.

"Don't worry Temari-san; I've spent a lot of time with Sakura-chan and Naruto-kun. I'm getting used to this kind of thing." Hinata said, though she still eyed the grinning pair worriedly as well.

"I suppose you're right Hinata-chan. I just thought it my duty to forewarn you about them." Temari said, stopping in front of a huge building that looked like an office building made of stone………which it probably was. "Here we are. Let's hurry up before Gaara-san throws a fit at us for not rescuing him from the vipers sooner."

"The vipers? What do you mean? Who could Gaara-san possibly need rescuing from?" Sakura asked disbelievingly.

"Oh you'll see Sissy. You'll see." Kankuro said with a shudder.

"Yes you will because here we are everyone." Temari said, preparing to knock on the rather large pair of doors in front of them. "Here goes nothing." She said before banging loudly on the door.

"Should we be concerned?" Hinata asked, looking pensive.

"I think so Hinata-chan. I think so." Sakura replied, wondering what was going on in the office behind the pair of doors in front of them.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another chapter bites the dust. Well, this is where I left off before my hiatus so it'll all be new from here on should I decide to continue with this, which will depend on whether I get inspired to or not. I've almost completely fallen out of love with Naruto with the new manga chapters, so I can't say whether or not it is truly likely that I will. I apologize to my readers, as I know how frustrating it is to have one of your favorite stories simply stop in the middle/beginning because the author doesn't want to continue.