Gaara Sakura: Leaf & Sand's Alliance

Chapter 22: Partition

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After Inoichi and Shikaku had announced that Naruto would be standing on his grounds in the battlefield, everyone had the motivation to willingly fight the Akatsuki. They were all moved by their speech and would do everything to act upon their own will as a shinobi. Once the leaf squad had landed on the sandy surface, they hopped down from the bird's wings as soon as Sai made it vanished into little pieces of paper. They saw the shinobi allies staring at them in confusion. Although, the fourth division commander Gaara and his sister Temari began to approach them in puzzlement and curiosity, wandering off in their thoughts full of questions.

"Care to explain why you all head out from each of your teams?" The red-haired Kazekage asked while gazing at them calmly. "Who started this whole quandary?"

The members were looking at each other as they gave a warning look of urging one of them to speak up to him.

"I did," a familiar voice called out deeply, much to their startlement.

They all looked behind their back, watching her taking a few steps forward with her fists holding down beside her hips, which further shocked Ino and the girls on the left side.

She had a brave expression on her face and said proudly. "I'm the one who took the initiative to go after the Akatsuki."

Temari gasped slightly and asked worriedly. "You know that they're very powerful, right?"

"I know, but I just want to take this chance and to quickly reduce the amount of enemies we have around us," Sakura reasoned out.

"That time when you and your friends suddenly broke the rules to fight them all on your own? Without my consent?" The red-haired Kazekage questioned sternly and continued on. "I'm disappointed in all of you."

The leaf squad gazed at him with a frown, whereas Neji decided to explain.

"We may have failed to succeed in our plans, however, we at least discovered something even more unusual," he pointed out calmly.

"What is it?" Temari asked blankly.

"We have witnessed someone who is none other than Katsumi. Apparently, she's one of them. It's hard to say how she ended up in their organization. But I doubt that you trust everything I'm telling you," the Hyuga closed his eyes for a moment.

"Supposedly. If she is, then show me the evidence," Gaara insisted while staring at them invariably, making them uncomfortable. But Neji and Shino didn't budge until the pink-haired kunoichi pulled out a bright pearl bracelet out of her pouch and held it in front of him.

"Here, does this prove enough to you?" Sakura asked firmly.

"No. It doesn't because that's clearly not her accessory that I gave her," Gaara shook his head in disbelief.

"What?! But she wore that yesterday!! We saw it, didn't we Sai?" Ino was bewildered and glanced at him beside her.

"Yeah... It seems that she must have switched it. We probably didn't even notice at the moment she did," he answered simply.

The red-haired Kazekage stared at them and said coldly. "I'm only going to say this once and I do not like to keep repeating myself. All of you need to face the consequences for breaking the rules of the shinobi alliance."

"That is completely absurd! We did what we could. Your fiancee is part of the Akatsuki, so why don't you just believe everything we tell you?!" The pink-haired kunoichi raised her voice in frustration.

"Because you don't have the evidence!! You failed miserably this time. To think that you would actually go this far and stoop so low and point fingers at her accusingly. I hate to break this to you, but you are all banned from your division squads," Gaara declared angrily and continued on to scold them. "I'll be sending messages to your leaders soon."

"Unfair!!! You're being unfair, Gaara! We never did anything wrong or even put the lives of others in danger when you should be thanking us right now that we found out the truth about Katsumi," Sakura retorted back defensively, narrowing her eyes grimly at him.

"And did you ever? You wouldn't know anything about her. I've known her since my childhood," the red-haired Kazekage glared at her.

"Maybe you don't. She didn't show you the other side of her," Sakura pointed out.

"Because she doesn't have any. Someone like you who has..." Gaara remarked hostilely. "Your reckless move is foolish."

Suddenly, a loud slap echoed through the desert areas and rocky hills after the pink-haired kunoichi swung her hand across his face, much to the others' appall. They stood there in silence, causing an awkward tension between the two friends. Temari, on the other hand, looked at them uneasily and felt that this wasn't going well.

Sakura's eyes were glistening nervously as she repeated slowly in a quiet, solid tone of her voice. She breathed out by saying. "Having a backup plan will lower down the chance of Akatsuki invading the villages and must eliminate them at all costs. Even though we were unsuccessful, it doesn't mean we should give up right away. That is no way to neglect us..."

Then, she started to shove her shoulder against his and walk away from the circle.

"Sakura! Where are you going?" Temari asked concernedly.

"Nowhere... My job here is done," she concluded without glancing back at them and hopped out of their sight.

Lee looked at Neji and said softly. "I'll go after her. If you guys want to follow us, then that would be great."

The Hyuga nodded in understanding, whereas Hinata became saddened, including Ino and Tenten.

"I guess we are not needed then. Come on, guys," Kiba commented and rolled his eyes at the red-haired Kazekage. He scoffed by saying to them. "Pfft. Some leader, eh?"

They hopped out together as well, leaving him and Temari alone in the spot.

His sister walked over to his side and asked him with her eyes narrowed in despondency. "Gaara... Why?"

The red-haired Kazekage said quickly. "They need to face the consequences."

"Yeah, but not like this... They were only trying to help us," Temari pointed out.

"Help?" Gaara repeated and continued on with a glare. "They almost died out there in the forest and mountain side. I'm preventing them from fighting in a battle."

"Is this going to benefit them and everyone else around? Think about it. What if they are right?" Temari asked further and gestured her hands out tiredly.

"We'll figure out a way. If what they said was true, then I need to talk to Katsumi," the red-haired Kazekage said quietly, staring at the front monotonously.

Temari was shaking her head and said exasperatingly. "Sometimes, I really want to knock some senses into you, you know that. You can be very stubborn when it comes to making decisions."

"We are at war. What else do you want me to do?" The red-haired Kazekage stated.

"That's not what Gaara would say..." Temari remarked and disappointedly started walking away from him.

The red-haired Kazekage got startled when she pointed it out, which made him feel mixed emotions. He didn't make any movements as he was left alone in his mind. Guilt? Penitence? Perhaps, he was starting to understand them now.

From that moment on, Sakura was traveling away from the desert area while she was running at a fast pace. She wiped her tears from her cheeks and sniffed downheartedly.

"I might as well continue this plan myself. I do not care if I die alone, but I care if they die..." the pink-haired kunoichi said boldly in mind.

She never wanted them to experience a lot of pressure and face more difficulties. She wanted to lessen them, so they do not have to suffer that much. It was never too late to do what must be done in order for the world to regain hope and peace once again. The question is, what is the next step for her and her teammates?