Stream of past

Footprints in the Sand

Tsunade looked at the scroll on her table with a frown. Gaara had recently been captured just like in the last timeline. A combination of hers and Karin's diplomatic efforts and the ripples Sakura had created in the chunin exams by becoming friends with Temari made the Sand send the hawk a whole day early, giving her time to prepare. 

The Cypher Division had just come in with the decoded message, asking Konoha for help. Letting out a sigh, Tsunade called for Shizune. It was time to send Team 7 to Suna.

...

Naruto walked with a bounce to his step. Granny Tsunade had finally decided to send him on a mission. He was flanked by Kakashi and Sasuke. If Sakura were here it would be just like old times. Still, for now he was gonna ignore the feeling of wrong hitting him as he remembered she would never take another mission with him. He was an optimist, sue him. He was gonna focus on the bright side, namely: MISSION TIME!

Opening the door to the Hokage's office, he found Granny Tsunade waiting for them as well as Team Guy and Karin.

"Good, you're here, now I can start the debrief." said Tsunade. "This morning the Cypher Division had received a message from Suna asking for out help. The Kazekage has been captured."

"What? How? Is Gaara ok?" asked Naruto.

"Shut up and I'll tell you about it, brat. As of right now we have no idea of his location. Suna believes the perpetrators were two members of the Akatsuki and one of our spies has confirmed it."

Sasuke straightened up at the mention of the Akatsuki and Kakashi sent him a pointed look.

"Right now your mission is to head to Suna and provide back-up. For the duration of this mission, Karin you will take a temporary role as Team 7's medic and you will act as the diplomatic ambassador for Konoha. Understood?"

"Yes Tsunade-shishō." said Karin.

"Good." then she rose from her desk to stare down both teams. "You will listen to exactly what the Suna government has to tell, and you will follow orders as if the were given from me. Secondarily, as a member of the Diplomatic Corps, Karin outranks all of you while in a foreign country. If she tells you to shut up, you damn well listen to her. I don't want to hear about you creating an international incident, got it?"

"Yes Hokage-sama." said all of them.

"Good, then you are dismissed. Go pack your bags, you leave in an hour."

...

They reached the Sand Village in record, having found Temari on her way back home, she was able to lead them through the quickest route through the Kaze no Kuni desert. Two sand village ninja met them at the gate and quickly led them through the village towards the hospital. Kankurō had been poisoned by one of the members of the Akatsuki and was in critical condition.

"Don't worry Temari." said Karin. "I promise you as an Iryō-nin I will do everything in my power to save Kankurō. Your brother will not die on my watch."

The blonde's eyes widened as she glanced at the redhead, surprised by the conviction in her voice. "Thank you, Karin."

"Neji, get ready to assist me, you always had the better chakra control between the two of us."

"Right."

They burst through the hospital and slammed the door to Kankurō's room wide open. Neji and Karin threw their backpacks on the ground near the door as they ran to the puppeteer's bedside to examine him when the old woman in front of it launched herself in the air with a war cry.