The Way Through Stone Village (Naruto)

Gaara's peace cohort, now known as Team Zoe, are making their way to Iwakagure, or Stone Village.

After the success of their last Village visit, the team (composed now of the Sand Siblings, the DJs, Team 10, Team 7 including Sai, Hinata Hyuga, Tenten, the 4 hero students and Dabi, adding Hanabi Hyuga, and briefly, Rock Lee) is in a good mood, but, Stone Village throws them a lot of unexpected curve balls, and throws some other things at them also.

While things heat up on the political front, the team's internal relationships continue to either fray, or deepen as they spend more time together.

Sasuke is still there, but his war with himself gets only more and more intense as he continues to consider if his place is even with Team Zoe, or if he should strike out alone again.
And how is his bond with Naruto and Sakura somehow changing somehow?

Shine and Wally sprinkle all this with a healthy dose of profound teachings and funny anecdotes as they try to keep a group of 20 teenagers from tearing each other, and the shinobi villages, apart.

Things have never been this bleak for Gaara's mission, will he end up having to go home in disgrace? Or will he find a way to persevere?

[This story serves as a SOL style explanation for the events that happen between Naruto and Boruto, including the redemption arcs and relationship building. All ships are canon or unconfirmed off canon. The story follows the "Way Into Mist Village" and "New Way of Ninja" stories on my profile, and is before the "Way Above Cloud Village" one. All stories in the saga can be read separately, but will make more sense if you go in order.
I like long plots and character arcs and slow burn ships, with a dash of comedy and irony, so if that's your flavor, give it a read:)-- Natasha Queen ]