Queen of Air and Darkness

viii. lands robbed, men slain, nations humiliated

By some gift of fate, the attack had occurred only a few days ride from the capital of Sunagakure. Spurred by urgency, the group picked up their pace, eager to close the gap and ward off further threats. Entering the heart of the desert helped: without the cover of trees, the night watch could see further and threats had nowhere to hide.

Still, on her night watch shifts, Sakura could not shake the feeling that they were being watched. Every animal noise in the distance was enough to make her jump; even the rush of the wind blowing through the sand made her freeze with anticipation. It did not help that her watches were usually with strangers, someone she did not recognize or trust.

Whether purposefully or not, her shifts never coincided with Kakashi's. Instead, he had gone back to distancing himself from her, which she noted with a secret disappointment. Their pattern as mentor and student, commanding officer and the dutiful squire had returned, and Sakura played her role with a resigned silence.

When the finally did reach Sunagakure, it was with considerable relief. After days of sleeping in tents and rare baths in streams, the sight of Sunagakure rising out of the horizon took the breath from Sakura's lungs.

A small group waited for them at the city gates, headed up by the king's sister Temari. It was an honor guard, meant to welcome them to the foreign city and a sign of the tentative friendship between the two nations. Sakura did not know how to approach the older girl, who had joined in the fight against Orochimaru. Despite their alliance, Temari was also cold and distant. Judging by the way that the sun glinted off her armor and the position she took at the head of the guard, she had also been promoted to knighthood.

But she smiled at the sight of Sakura, and greeted her as she greeted Kakashi, elevating the squire to his level in the eyes of Sunagakure. "I heard you came in second in the tournament," she said with a grin.

"How did you know?" Sakura gasped in surprise.

"Shikamaru told me in his latest letter," was Temari's response. Sakura suppressed a smile to hear that Shikamaru was sending the severe lady knight regular letters. She would have to tease him when she got back to Konoha— he was notorious for mocking concepts like chivalrous love and romance, but judging by the way Temari had said "latest" letter, Sakura suspected he was not immune.

Sakura's wonder did not cease when they passed through the city gates, if anything it only increased. Sunagakure was the example of what Konoha could be if only it would welcome sorcery as part of its makeup. She knew from Tsunade's lessons that Sunagakure had also forbidden sorcery in the years following the third Great War, but Gaara had changed all of that. At the start of his reign, the young sorcerer-king had not been welcomed with open arms but slowly he had transformed Sunagakure from a dusty desert outpost to a bustling center of trade.

Where outside the desert was as dry as stone, the city flowed with water and greenery. Hawkers called out offers for magical treatments to common ailments next to street stalls selling the usual variety of pottery and food. Here was a piece of lumber, levitating into place, manipulated by the supervisor of the construction project. There was a street musician, animating bits of paper to dance to his tune, bringing delight to passing children.

This is what Konoha could be like if only the laws would change. Richer, healthier. Freer.

She tucked this vision of the future away, to hold onto when the injustice of their laws got to be too much. Surely Naruto would listen to reason if she told him of what Sunagakure was like. He admired Gaara greatly- their duel had been the cement that glued their friendship together. He would see reason and follow in his friend's kingdom's footsteps. And if he wasn't easily swayed, Sakura would find a way to make him.