A Tale of Broken Hearts

Thoughts For Gaara

     It was a long walk to Suna. Especially once the trees cleared and they were walking across the scorching desert sands. They all walked mostly in silence, with Sakura and Naruto occasionally talking about something they did while the other was gone. It was peaceful for the moment. Soon Suna came into view, but what they saw was not the Suna they remembered. The gates had been blown to pieces, along with a few buildings. Doors were tightly shut, windows barred, and no one was guarding the gates. They walked into the city only to be met by cold eyes, and people scrambling into their houses. 

     "Hey Kakashi" Sakuras voice was very quiet, but he could hear her, so he nodded. "Who is the Kazekage now anyways?" She had been wondering for a while. She never did keep up with things like this.

     "Gaara is" Kakashi stated bluntly. He could practically feel the eyes on him. They all stared in disbelief at what he said.

     "NEH! You mean he beat me to it!!" Naruto yelled down the empty streets. Earning himself a rough slap from Sakura. 

     "Is he...Still the same as he was back then?" Her mind took her back to the Chunnin exams. When he had her pinned to the tree, he wasnt human back then. Some kind of beast. Even still, there was pain in his eyes, a loneliness that rivaled Naruto himself. 

     "Sakura-Chan, you mean you havent seen Gaara at all since then?" Naruto asked suspiciously. "He has calmed down a lot, even though people dont really trust him still." Naruto looked proud of his friend. The only other person he had met who also had a demon sealed inside. Sakura just shivered, unable to shake the blood thirsty look he had back then. 

     By the time they got to the Kazekage tower they realized why no one would even come out onto the streets. The tower stood in ruins in front of them. The building had toppled over, and the walls were riddled with holes from the size of your finger, to big enough to walk through. Sakura and Naruto gasped at the sight. Kakashi decided to summon his dogs and try to locate Gaaras scent. He sent in five dogs ahead of the team, and slowly they all made their way into the desecrated building. 

     "H-Hey.." Sakura said quietly "This is really creepy" she shivered as she looked through the sandstone walls. However, she could see something white sticking out of the stone near a hole. "Kakashi, what is this?" She questioned eyeing it closely. Kakashi walked up to where she was standing only to find what looked like a tiny remnant of clay. 

     "Hm.. It looks like clay? Could have been part of the building material here." Kakashi thought out loud.

     "Then why is all the other clay red?" Sai asked, speaking for what was really the first time this whole mission. He also had a look of being deep in thought. 

     "Thats a good question." Kakashi called the dogs back to their location, trying to see if they could get a scent from the area. Pakkun, his most familiar dog stepped forward, demanding to be picked up.

     "Hey boss, remember a while back Tsunade sent us on that tracking mission for the Akatsuki? This smells like one of the ones we were tracking." He spoke quietly to Kakashi, not wanting to alert or alarm the others. "Specifically that guy who used clay bombs....we better leave fast, i dont know if its rigged or not to go off" With that pakkun jumped down and looked expectantly up towards Kakashi. 

     "Alright you guys, we have all we need from here. Exit this building carefully and quickly." was all he said before turning to find an exit. 

     However, they were soon greeted as they left by a small group of Suna ninja at the exit. "Are you all from Konoha?" The first one asked. They were both covered in wounds, blood, and tattered clothing.