Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Flower in Adversity ❯ The Distress Call ( Chapter 1 )

Author's Note: This story is set ten and a half years after the start of the series. That means all the characters are more than ten years older than they were when first introduced (well, with exception of the characters introduced after the Time-Skip---but you get the picture). Since the canon story is far from concluded, I'm basing this particular story on canon as it stands right now, which is about Chapter 360. From there, I've made my own conclusions and advanced the story forward. Therefore, there are likely to be some things I will mention here that Kishimoto-sensei's future chapters of the manga will render untrue, so this may turn out to be somewhat AU.

I'm also taking some artistic license and liberty with several of the characters' families or pasts, since they were never really touched upon in the manga.

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of "Naruto" or its characters. It all belongs to the incomparable Masashi Kishimoto-sensei. I'm just playing in the sandbox of this amazing world.

The seasons in Konohagakure, the primary ninja village in the Fire Country, were not spectacular in their changes, but were beautiful nonetheless. Because of the village's location in a very temperate climate, it never got too hot or too cold in Konoha, but it did have seasons. It got chilly in winter, but not cold enough to completely freeze. Likewise, it got very warm in summer, but not hot enough to interrupt daily life or damage structures. In contrast to its allied village, the desert village of Sunagakure in the Wind Country, Konoha's climate was steady, ideal for agriculture and textiles, which bolstered the village's prosperity, enabling it to not rely as heavily on its daimyou or patron country to keep its non-shinobi citizens fed and happy. The shops in the heart of Konoha opened daily just after sunrise, and were usually steadily busy all through the day.

One particularly beautiful winter morning, some twenty minutes past full sunrise, the day dawned clear and bright, chilly enough that everyone needed long sleeves and high necklines, and some of the more thin-skinned needed gloves and thicker boots, but with no precipitation. The sun shone through the forest leaves with a sparkling freshness, and the chilly nip in the air seemed to invigorate everyone out and about.

Haruno Tsubaki tied her shoulder-length mane of fiery red hair back into a taut bun and threw open the doors and windows of her bakery, letting the aroma of freshly baked cinnamon breads roll out onto the main street. Her niece, Ayame, one of her few employees, was placing the loaves into their selling baskets, while Tsubaki's husband Noboru raised the flag of business, signaling to all customers that Haruno Bakery was open for business for the day.

Neither of them expected their very first customer to be their daughter Sakura, a high ranking medic-nin in the village.

"Good morning!" the kunoichi said brightly as she poked her head in the door. "It smells divine in here! New recipe?"

"Sakura!" Tsubaki nearly dropped the tray in her hands in her surprise. "What are you doing up so early?"

"Grocery shopping," Sakura said, making a face. "We want to get it out of the way as early as possible."

"Well, that's understandable," Ayame quipped, grinning at her cousin. "Didn't expect you up this early though. I'd have wagered you'd be asleep by now."

Sakura turned red. "Oh, stuff it!"

Sakura and her newly-wed husband, Rock Lee, were considered to be on honeymoon, though the Hokage didn't want either jounin to leave the village. They had spent the past day and a half virtually cloistered away in their apartment; today was the first anyone had seen of them since their wedding two days ago, and frankly, it was far sooner than anyone had expected to see hide or hair of either of them.

"You didn't stock up beforehand?" Ayame teased. "Silly Sakura, never thinking far enough ahead."

"We stocked up!" Sakura retorted, sticking her tongue out at Ayame. "It's just that Lee's metabolism is so high, he eats like a horse!"

"Did you have to use that example?" Lee appeared behind his wife, poking her in the ribs in an affectionate gesture of annoyance. It was relatively well known in Sakura's family that Lee had an irrational fear of horses, which was somewhat out of character for him, since he was generally fearless, as illustrated throughout his entire ninja career, in particular the first time he'd taken the Chuunin Selection Exams, when he'd fearlessly taken on Sabaku no Gaara in hand-to-hand combat. Anyone else in the competition, with a very select few exceptions, would have forfeited out of hand before the match began, because of Gaara's unstable demeanor at the time and his peerless control over sand, as well as his complete lack of concern for utterly crushing a human. Lee had suffered greatly at Gaara's hands, however, but he had also been the first person to ever break through Gaara's defenses, setting into motion a chain of events that had led to the Sand-nin's redemption in the end. The fact that Lee had no fear around someone as utterly dangerous as Gaara, and yet couldn't stand to be around a harmless domesticated animal like the horse, was what made it so bloody absurd that it was humorous.

"Of course. I have to needle you however I can. You don't get ruffled by much, except when it comes to horses!" Sakura grinned at him and elbowed him in the ribs. She glanced over his shoulder, out the door, at the butcher shop across the street, whose business flag was now raised. "Ah, the meat store is open. Why don't you go over there and get what we need there? If we split up, we can get it done faster. Then we'll be done by the time the morning rush starts."

The black-haired jounin grunted unintelligently as he nodded. "Good idea."

Sakura shook her head as he moved off across the street. "God knows I adore him, but ugh. I need some space!"

"Welcome to the world of marriage, my dear," Tsubaki said with a wide grin. "There's much more to marriage than being wrapped up in each other at all moments. I'm rather surprised you figured this out so soon."

"Well, I have been living with him for almost a year already." Sakura began browsing the offered breads. "I'm just glad that Tsunade-sama gave Gai-sensei a tricky A-rank mission to keep him out of our hair for a while. I can only take so much of him at a time!"

"Er," Noboru huffed, rubbing the back of his neck, "I coulda sworn I saw him come in late last night. He was sent with Yumiya, I think, and I know she's pretty quick about accomplishing her A-ranks. And I thought it was just delivering a message to the Grass Country's daimyou."

"Augh!" Sakura groaned. "I swear he races through his missions these days, just to come bug us!"

Tsubaki shrugged as she pulled another loaf from the oven; "Honey, keep in mind that Gai-sensei is Lee-kun's father-figure. He's kind of all he has for family anymore. And unless I miss my guess, Gai doesn't have any family himself. Don't be too hard on him; despite that carefree exterior, I can't help but wonder if there isn't a lonely man hiding away."

"I rather doubt it," Ayame said with a laugh. "I get the feeling that Gai doesn't know anything but exuberance."

Sakura remained quiet, reflecting. A lot of people said the same thing about Lee, that he didn't know hardship or crushing defeat, that he didn't even bother to remember anything painful in the past, but she knew that wasn't true. She had seen for herself that Lee was every bit as tormented as many shinobi. It was not an easy life, being a ninja. Lee had been through his share of agonizing times. He just hid it well from most people.

"Geez, Sakura, don't go all introspective on me! You're scaring me!" Ayame waved a hand in front of Sakura's eyes. "Did I say something dumb?"

"You're always saying something dumb," Sakura teased. "No, I was just thinking."

"With a really serious look on your face. Which means you weren't thinking about that, so don't try to tell me you were."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "As if it's any of your business anyway!"

"If you don't quit dawdling, he's going to be finished long before you, Sakura," Noboru said, tapping his daughter on the shoulder.

"Right, right," Sakura said as she selected a few loaves and paid for them, heading on her way and waving goodbye to her family. Lee was waiting outside for her, a few bags of groceries already in his arms.

"Done?" he inquired, twitching his hirsute brows at the bakery shop to indicate what he meant.

"Yes. What else is left?"

"I got the meat and the produce," he said, hitching the bags in his arms. "We still need to go to the dairy shop, and we need eggs."

"One would think," a dry voice said from behind them, "that the two of you have been married for several years, not a matter of days."

Behind them stood two of Sakura's previous sensei, one of whom had also been a sensei to Lee: Hatake Kakashi and Umino Iruka. Iruka was still a chuunin who worked at the Academy, an occupation that he dearly loved and embraced enthusiastically. Kakashi was one of the highest-ranking jounin in the village, and had been Sakura's jounin sensei when she had been a genin. Until recently, he'd even led her team occasionally, though now that her teammate Uzumaki Naruto was more experienced as a jounin, Kakashi wasn't needed as much.

"Yo," Kakashi added lazily, raising a hand in greeting when they both turned to him. He had been, for close to two years, virtually useless to the Hokage due to an intangible instability he'd suffered stemming from his transplanted Sharingan left eye; he appeared to be cured after six months in Sunagakure with the Kazekage, Gaara, who had been developing various doujutsu therapy techniques. The message sent from the Kazekage had been for the Hokage to keep a close eye on Kakashi for a while, because Gaara wasn't convinced his therapeutic techniques had completely succeeded.

"Visiting the memorial?" Lee inquired, nodding in greeting to both of them.

"Of course," Iruka said with a bright smile. He and Kakashi had developed a rather unusual friendship because both of them kept up almost religious vigils with the large memorial stone over on the third training field. The cenotaph honored ninja who died in defense or service of the village. Kakashi's teammates Rin and Uchiha Obito were memorialized in the marble foundation, as well as far too many friends to count. Iruka's parents' names were inscribed on the cenotaph, as were the names of one of his teammates and his sensei, the latter of which a recent addition.

"You two are out and about early," Kakashi observed. "Get bored already?"

The tone of voice used, and the fact that it came from Kakashi, made the bawdy meaning crystal clear; the jounin was shameless, after all. Sakura turned red.

"Nice," Lee rolled his eyes. "This from the village pervert."

"Hey, that's not me. That's Jiraiya-sama. I don't go peeping."

"One might start questioning where your interests lie, Kakashi-sensei," Lee retorted, "if one were so inclined and wished to be rather rude about it. And prying."

"Touché," Kakashi chuckled. "I suppose I'm making an ass of myself."

"You are," Iruka said without missing a beat. "And they are trying to get their shopping done; we're delaying them, which isn't nice either."

"'We' are doing no such thing," Kakashi retorted. "You're just standing there heckling me, you know."

Lee nudged Sakura and tipped his head in the direction of the dairy shop. The gesture was clear; he wanted to get going. She agreed; she wanted to get this over with and get back to their apartment. She still hadn't quite sated her wedding-induced lust, despite a day and a half of doing little else but consummating it.

"Well, we'll be seeing you," she said, raising her hand awkwardly in parting. "It's good to have you back, though, Kakashi-sensei."

"It's good to be back," the Copy-nin said lazily, waving them on. "Lee, I don't know how you tolerated being in that redhead's presence so often. He unnerves even me."

"Once you get used to him," Lee replied, "Gaara-sama is not hard to understand at all. Good day, Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei."

"Come to think of it," Sakura mused as they walked toward the dairy shop, "you never talk about your terms as an ambassador."

"There is not much to tell," Lee said with a shrug. "Nothing much happened. It was an office job, mostly. That is why they send chuunin to be ambassadors, not jounin. Because a jounin's combat experience is wasted as an ambassador."

"What was it like, living in Suna? And what kind of things did you do to put you so close to Gaara so much?"

She saw him bristle. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I'm curious, that's all! Why, was what you did over there so top secret you can't talk about it?"

"No, I never said anything like that." He looked irritated. "I wanted to be friends with Gaara-sama, is all. He did not seem to mind. He has no trouble telling someone to back off if he does not welcome their presence."

It took Sakura a moment to realize why he was so defensive; she'd forgotten about the ugly rumors that had circulated a few years ago, shortly before Lee's promotion to jounin, about Lee having an affair with the Kazekage. Several political enemies of both Gaara and Lee had deliberately misread their friendship as a homosexual relationship and had tried to exploit it. Gaara's response to the rumor had been cold indifference and refusal to even acknowledge such lies. But Lee, who was infinitely more sensitive than Suna's kage, had taken the humiliation to heart. Even now he didn't like it when people questioned him about Gaara, because it reminded him of the embarrassment of that whole fiasco.

She stopped, forcing him to stop as well. "I'm sorry, Lee. I forgot." She left it at that, letting him interpret it however he wanted.

He breathed a gusty sigh. "I am sorry as well, Sakura. I did not mean to lose my composure." He leaned over and pressed a kiss on her forehead. "I just... "

"I understand."

They resumed their course, and Sakura stopped into the dairy shop to pick up their necessities. The shopkeeper, a friend of Sakura's parents, enthusiastically congratulated her on her marriage to such a fine young man, and complimented the beautiful wedding. Sakura graciously accepted the congratulations and compliments, and hurriedly purchased the goods she'd come for. She was eager to get home. She bid farewell to the shopkeeper, and met up with Lee outside the shop.

"Let's get these home," she said brightly, shifting the groceries in her arms as she sidled up to her husband. "I'm still hungering for you, you know," she purred.

His sinuses flushed a bit as he looked away from her, though his mouth turned up in a sheepish smile. His prudence amused her to no end. She was normally somewhat reserved about private things, but she loved to tease him. Well, the tables usually turned once they were alone anyway. Lee, so polite and deferential in public, could be an absolute animal in the bedroom. She found his bedroom dominance absolutely irresistible, almost insatiably so.

He put an arm about her shoulders, pulling her close and speaking directly into her ear; "You're not the only one."

She just grinned at him. "Good. Then I don't have to waste energy seducing you."

"It doesn't take much anyway," he murmured throatily.

Lee was normally formal to a fault, and rarely spoke in contractions; but occasionally, especially when he was alone with Sakura, he relaxed his speech patterns. Just as he became much more aggressive in the bedroom, so did his speech patterns become much more casual, to the point of being forceful. While he used the more passive masculine form of "I" in everyday speech, when he was alone with Sakura, he used the same assertive term that most of her male friends used. This second nature of his was part of what she found so intriguing about him.

They turned a corner onto a street with other people on it, and Lee's old personality, the gentle one, rose back to the surface; she could tell by the expression on his face. Oh well. I'll get him to myself soon enough.

They passed by the Nara residence, where Nara Shikamaru lived with his parents. Shikamaru was a classmate of Sakura's back in the academy, and Lee was familiar with Shikamaru as a commander. Shikamaru was not a morning person by nature, but he was standing outside his family home as Sakura and Lee walked past. He was holding a rack of deer antlers, and looking put out. When he saw the couple walking by, he raised his hand in greeting, but said nothing.

"Good morning, Shikamaru," Sakura replied.

"G'morning," the lazy jounin yawned. "Troublesome morning, at that."

That was all Shikamaru said, so Sakura and Lee decided to not press it. As they walked, she glanced at him. "So, you never answered my question. What kinds of things did you do in Suna? What was it like living there? How did you come be friends with Gaara?"

Again he bristled, but this time she saw him wrestle with that automatic reaction, slowly smoothing down his ruffled "feathers." He didn't like to be questioned about Gaara, but he understood that she was asking merely out of curiosity, not out of suspicion.

"I was one of the first ambassadors, you remember," he said by way of reply. "We did not really know what we were doing, and Gaara-sama was still pretty new at being Kazekage. I spent a lot of extra time near him and Kankurou-san, because I needed help getting things right. Gaara-sama was still adjusting to living without Shukaku, so he was a little clumsier than before. Not physically clumsy, but he tended to get confused easier. I know that Temari-san got annoyed with him a few times and said  he was behaving like a stubborn brat. Baki-sama encouraged me to interact with Gaara-sama, though. You recall him, right? He was the siblings' jounin mentor, and is considered to be Kazekage-sama's most trusted advisor. He seemed to understand that I was not afraid of Gaara-sama, and he encouraged me to be friendly toward him."

"That's what I don't get--why did you bother?"

"I wanted to be friends with him, and he seemed to not mind. He and I are a lot more alike than perhaps you realize. I was a long way from home, homesick, and craving friendship. And Gaara-sama is still human, however much he would have preferred us to think otherwise. Most of the Suna-nin were in awe of him, so he really did not have any friends, besides his siblings. He seemed receptive to my overtures. I rather think he was lonelier than he cared to admit."

"I know I've brought this up before, but it bears repeating: he very nearly killed you. Twice, if Shikamaru and Naruto are to be believed."

"He also saved my life, if you recall. It was because of him that I came back from that failed retrieval of Sasuke-kun with largely superficial injuries; a favor I never really got to return. Even when he was later kidnapped by Akatsuki, the part I played in his rescue was proportionately small. And besides, he has changed, a lot, since Naruto-kun forced him to open his eyes. He is actually a very caring person, a fact most people dismiss or disregard."

"I do rather find that hard to believe myself."

"Do you?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "Remember that he lives for Sunagakure. He does not even like coming to Konoha, because he does not like to leave Suna. He is a very caring individual; he just cares about different things than you might expect."

"Well, I suppose that makes sense, but..."

Lee snorted good-naturedly. "He has little tolerance for people. Which you cannot blame him for, given how he was treated most of his life. In any case, he seemed receptive to my offers of friendship. I am pretty sure he craved it more than he wanted to admit. And he allowed me to spar with him, which was what he did in his spare time."

"He spars in his spare time?"

"Yes."

"Who with?"

"Usually Baki-sama or Kankurou-san. Temari-san will spar with him when she is available, but she travels a lot."

"Does he do anything else?"

"He does not have that much spare time, Sakura," Lee chuckled. "He is the Kazekage, and he does not have someone like Shizune-san to help alleviate his workload. But yes, he does a lot of sparring, particular back then. He was still relearning his sand control at the time."

"Damn, he is a lot like you then."

"Do not misunderstand me, Sakura; he brims with natural genius and ability. In that respect, he and I are nothing alike. He did not have to work hard at all originally to become as good as he is. But losing Shukaku meant that he lost some control over his sand; he had to relearn how to fight with it. I like to think that he allowed me to spar with him because he recognized that I was the first to break through his original barriers."

"Didn't it bother you, that he might lose control of his sand?"

"Lose control of the sand?" Lee hesitated momentarily in his stride, before resuming. "I have never seen him lose control of it. But even if he had, what is the nature of sand? To lay on the ground motionlessly. There would have been nothing to fear if he had lost control of the sand. He does not have Shukaku to override his intentions. No, he was learning how to expand his control over the sand, to use it for other purposes besides just a shield or a crushing weapon."

By this time, they had arrived home, but Sakura wasn't about to interrupt Lee's monologue. He didn't talk like this very often, about the past. She still couldn't get much out of him about his time living with his uncle, or what had happened to his uncle. She assumed the uncle was either deceased or had disinherited Lee, since the man had not even been contacted in regards to their wedding.

As Lee held the front door open for her, he shifted gears in his recollection. "It was boring in Suna, really. As I said, the ambassador position is a desk job, and you know that I am not much cut out for that kind of job. There was little to do. There is a much greater delineation between the shinobi and the regular people. They just do not intermingle in Suna like they do here in Konoha. And they are suspicious of outsiders. Perhaps that is why I sought Gaara-sama out; he never showed any hostility toward me."

"I guess it's just as well Tsunade-sama never really gave me the opportunity to be an ambassador," Sakura said as she started putting groceries away. "But if it was so boring, why did you volunteer to do so many terms of it? The ambassador terms are only six months, right? And you did, what, six? Seven?"

"Six. I liked being around Gaara-sama. He is honest and, once you get used to him, easy to work with. So long as you do not do anything to anger him, he is generally pliable, if you have gained his respect. If you have not gained his respect, he tends to be difficult. He is a good friend, Sakura. He and Naruto-kun are very much alike in that way. Once he deems you as a friend, he will do anything for you. And he is a very good sparring partner. I feel that my taijutsu got better sparring with him than it did with Gai-sensei by that point in my career, because I know most of Gai-sensei's tricks. Kankurou-san also sparred with me. Now he is unpredictable." Lee assisted her with the groceries. "He is like what Gai-sensei calls a berserker. You cannot tell what he will do next. Whereas Gaara-sama never moves needlessly, Kankurou-san sometimes moves erratically just to fake you out. I would much rather face Gaara-sama in a fight than Kankurou-san. Kankurou-san deliberately ignores the rules of engagement."

Sakura giggled. "Who'd've thought Gaara would be more traditional than his brother?"

"Well, from what I understand, Kankurou-san is one of the best puppeteers in the history of the village, and that is how puppeteers fight. They fight best at a distance, so when facing a close-range opponent, they must put some distance between themselves and their opponents, however possible. And Kankurou-san has excellent taijutsu skills. Between the two of them, I would say that Kankurou-san is better at that then Gaara-sama."

Now he's digressing, Sakura thought to herself. Well, I probably shouldn't interrupt, he's talking a lot more about Gaara than he usually does. Sakura was not completely convinced that there had not been something between Lee and Gaara at one point. She did believe that Lee was honest with her about his own feelings, but she wasn't sure he could speak for Gaara, though clearly if there had been any romantic tension, it had fizzled amicably. After all, if Gaara disliked leaving Suna so much, why had he made the trek to Konoha just to attend Lee's wedding? Especially with the threat of war with Kirigakure becoming increasingly dire. Of course, Gaara and his siblings had only stayed long enough for the ceremony; they had departed for home very shortly after the ceremony concluded, but their presence had been an honor in and of itself. It was one hell of a long journey for them to only stay a few hours.

Why would Gaara do that, for someone who was just a friend?

On the other hand, how many friends did the Kazekage really have?

She realized that her thoughts had taken over her attention when she realized Lee had stopped talking and was looking at her questioningly.

"Sakura, you look like something is bothering you."

"I'm sorry," she said. "I just... why did Gaara take time out of his schedules to come to our wedding? That's kind of bothered me. You say he hates to leave Suna; that's certainly one hell of a journey, and they were only here long enough to offer their congratulations after the ceremony, before they left again."

"I do not know. You would have to ask him. I was as surprised as you to see him. Especially considering they are on the verge of full war with Kirigakure, it seemed strange to me; but I for one was not about to question him. It is not wise to question Gaara-sama too much."

"What happens if you do?" Sakura felt her apprehension creep into her voice.

"He does not get violent, if that is what you were fearing," he chuckled. "No, if you piss off Gaara-sama, he ignores you completely, out of spite. Gaara-sama is not a violent person by nature."

"Could've fooled me," she muttered acridly, her hand reaching out and gripping his left arm meaningfully.

"That was Shukaku's anger, Sakura," Lee replied. "You have seen what the Kyuubi does to Naruto-kun when it gets its tails in a knot. Shukaku was no different, except for the fact that it was much more active in Gaara-sama's life."

Sakura put the last of the perishables in the refrigerator, and turned to him. "I don't believe that that was entirely Shukaku. Ask Naruto sometime what it's like having a bijuu inside. They're not that invasive."

"Shukaku was, Sakura. Why do you think he never slept?" It was at that point, apparently, that Lee realized how long he'd been talking about Gaara, because his eyes widened and he waved a hand in a frantic dismissing gesture. "Enough of that." His personality shifted slightly, as evidenced by the aggressive spin on his next words. "I would rather not talk at all." He gripped her shoulders firmly. The thrum of his voice indicated his intentions, and she melted.

"I'm all for that," she said breathlessly. "Lead the way, my green knight."

Several hours later, they were relaxing in their bed, taking a break in between bouts of frantic lust. One could almost make an argument that her attraction to him was purely sexual, but it wouldn't be a very good argument, despite the fact that that was about all she did with him lately. (She irritably reminded herself that newlyweds could be excused for having sex frequently.)

She traced the bizarre pattern of a scar on his chest, her head nestled against his shoulder and his arm around her shoulders. His breathing was returning to normal as they lay there, soaking up each other's presence. Sakura was just about to make a bawdy comment when she felt him tense up beneath her.

"What's the matter?"

"That bird," he said in reply, sitting bolt upright, startling her. "I recognize it." He jumped out of bed, not even the remotest bit mindful that he was stark naked. He threw open the nearby window and leaned out. She didn't even get a chance to marvel at his sculpted figure and taut muscles.

"We need to go, Sakura," he said, turning around and grabbing up his clothes from the floor. "That is the red-alert bird, calling all jounin to the administrative building. Something has happened."

"Lee, we're on honeymoon! We're on vacation, in case you weren't aware of that!" Sakura said in frustration. "Nothing short of a dire emergency should be needed of us."

"This is an emergency, Sakura," he retorted. "One of the highest order, short of an actual invasion."

"But I'm not even a full jounin, why do they want me?"

"Because you are my partner, perhaps, and because you and I work with Naruto-kun, who will likely be dispatched." He pulled on his green uniform as she grudgingly crawled out of the bed and started to put on her uniform.

"It's not like Naruto can't work with anyone else, you know. He can work with just about anyone. He has some trouble with ANBU just because of their secretive nature, but he can still work with them."

The argument was forestalled with a pounding on their front door, done so loud that they could hear it even through their closed bedroom door. "Sakura! Lee!" It was Shikamaru, bellowing at the top of his lungs. "You're needed immediately at the admin building!"

Lee didn't bother to give Sakura a "see-I-told-you-so" look, which she was rather grateful for. That was yet another thing she loved about him. He didn't boast or crow or rub it in when he was right. He wasn't above a simple "See, I was right" occasionally, but other than that, he usually just kept moving. He was mostly dressed -- at least enough to go out in public -- by the time Shikamaru had arrived, so he went out and answered the door. "What is the matter?"

"An emergency bird came in from Sunagakure. Something catastrophic has happened. Hokage-sama needs both of you as well. She said that Sakura is requested in the message. I'll wait for you both at the street, so please hurry."

"Bloody hell," Sakura cursed softly as she tied her hair up with her hitai-ate. "What on earth could be wrong?"

"I am worried as well," Lee replied as he pulled his jounin vest on and zipped it up. "Gaara-sama would not be calling for help unless something really, really terrible has happened, something he cannot deal with."

"Gaara shouldn't even be back yet," she realized with a start as she packed her utility gloves into her hip pouch and spun a pair of kunai into their holster at her thigh. "I mean, he should only be about halfway between Konoha and Suna by now, right?"

"Gaara-sama is extremely fast, Sakura," was all he said. "We need to go."

"Gaara may be fast, but he's nothing compared to you," Sakura pressed as they stepped out of the apartment and locked it up. "The only person faster than you is Gai-sensei, right?"

"In sheer physical bursts of speed, yes, but Gaara-sama can maintain his speed for an inhuman length of time. Given enough fuel, I imagine he could travel from here to Suna in a single day. That is part of his genius."

"Fuel?" she asked as they joined up with Shikamaru, who was physically showing signs of distress, an unusual thing for him. Whatever it was that had happened, it was unsettling even the most laid-back jounin in the village. That couldn't be a good sign.

"Chakra boosts," Lee replied. He had noticed Shikamaru's agitation as well, and his look of concern grew more and more grave. "You know, like soldier pills."

"Let's go," Shikamaru said gruffly.

As they arrived in the Hokage office of the administrative building, Sakura knew something serious was happening. All the jounin in the village were there, crammed in the office that normally seemed roomy. But that wasn't what spooked her the most. What got to her about the seriousness of this situation was how her longtime teammate and best friend, Uzumaki Naruto, greeted her with a huge, tearful hug, squeezing her so tightly that she was left gasping for air.

"I'm so sorry, Sakura-chan," he murmured in her ear. "I didn't want to interrupt your honeymoon, but Gaara's requesting you specifically, and it sounds like it's a horrible mess."

"It must be," Lee said gravely, "if Gaara-sama is requesting help from Konoha. Considering how proud he is of Sunagakure, things must be very much out of hand for him to be asking us for help."

"You're sure it's from Gaara?" Sakura asked. "He shouldn't be home yet."

"It's his handwriting; I recognize it." Naruto confirmed. Having been the Hokage's acknowledged successor, he had never been an ambassador in Sunagakure, but he had handled all the correspondence between the Konoha and Suna ambassadors on this side of the alliance. If anyone besides Lee -- who had worked in Suna for at least six ambassador terms and had been very close to the Kazekage during those terms -- could recognize Gaara's handwriting at a glance, it was Naruto. "I'm not sure how he did it, got home so fast, but the letter is unmistakably his handwriting. It's not even in code. The fact that such an important message didn't pass through encoding is even scarier."

"Naruto!" The Hokage said sharply. "Back over here by me."

"Sorry, Sakura-chan, Geji-mayu," he said apologetically to both of them, before body-flickering his way back to the desk where Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage, sat, looking more serious than even Sakura was used to seeing.

Once everyone was settled, though few were seated due to the heightened alarm in the atmosphere (Sakura noted with detached amusement that Shikamaru's father, Nara Shikaku, was one of the few who was seated. He'd been a jounin for twenty or thirty years now. He'd seen pretty much everything; very little actually rattled him.) Tsunade cleared her throat.

"I presume you all know the premise of why you've been called here, so I'll cut to the chase: this morning, just after dawn, a bird came in from Sunagakure, bearing an emergency message from the Kazekage. I must admit that I was skeptical at first, as I can see many of you are as well, but this is without a doubt his handwriting and his seal. He also used his fastest bird to send this to us. The message is not pleasant. What it says is, frankly, frightening." She unrolled the scroll and proceeded to read:

"To Godaime Hokage. From Godaime Kazekage. It is with a very heavy heart that I must beg you for assistance. During my brief absence, one of the enemy villages infiltrated my village and set loose either a plague or a rampant poison. Half the village is dead -- " This garnered an audible gasp from the jounin in the room, even from the hardened warriors; everyone knew that Gaara didn't exaggerate, so if he said that half the village was dead, that meant that half his total population was presumed dead. " -- and the other half is suffering. My entire medical staff has been completely wiped out. Worse, none of us can figure out what has caused this sudden epidemic or genocide. Weakened in numbers as we are, and with very few able-bodied soldiers, we are defenseless.

"I find myself forced to call to you for help, though I must warn you that this attack reeks of the Mizukage's doing, though I have no proof and cannot say this on record. Therefore, I must warn you to arm yourself against an attack as well. But with half of my population dead, and the other half dying or suffering, I must beg of you to send as many skilled healers as you can spare, and a squad or two of fighters to help me defend my village; I fully anticipate a direct attack sooner or later. I also request that Haruno Sakura be among the healers sent,  because she has experience with our medicinal plant supply.

"I am sorry to make this request of you, but I hope you can understand my urgency. I can protect the village from attacks from without, but attacks from within are a little beyond my capabilities, and many of my advisors and seconds- and thirds-in-command are dead. I will hold off any outside attacks as long as I can, but I can only do so much. I anxiously await your response. Yours, Godaime Kazekage, Suna no Gaara."

"Suna?" Lee said into the stunned silenced. "He called himself Suna no Gaara?"

"He did. This says Suna, not Sabaku." Tsunade snapped the scroll shut.

"The only time I've ever seen Gaara do that was immediately after the whole Akatsuki incident," Naruto said. "He sent a formal message to Hokage-sama thanking her for helping. I remember thinking it was a mistake at first. I think it's Gaara's way of speaking for the entire village using his own name, rather than his title."

Sakura's blood chilled slightly. Things had to be dire for Naruto to refer to Tsunade as "Hokage-sama" like that.  He almost always, even in formal situations, called her "Obaachan."

"Hey, wait a minute," another jounin said. "What about the ambassador in Suna? What happened to him?"

"The message clearly says nothing about him," Tsunade said gravely, "so we must assume the worst."

Sakura felt like someone had dropped an ice-brick on her. No wonder Naruto was so upset! The current ambassador in Suna was one of his first friends, a young chuunin named Konohamaru, a grandson of the Sandaime Hokage. Konohamaru, like Naruto, aspired to be Hokage someday, and was widely regarded as the unofficial future Nanadaime Hokage. Naruto was like a big brother to Konohamaru, and had been, along with Iruka-sensei, one of the first people to acknowledge Naruto's talent and drive, and had been one of Naruto's closest friends for the past ten years or more now. The possibility that Konohamaru was dead had to be a bitter pill for Naruto to swallow.

Tsunade cleared her throat again. "This is clearly not something we can ignore, but I have to take into consideration that this message warns outright in more than one instance that we could very well be the next target."

"You're absolutely certain this actually came from Kazekage-sama?" Another jounin questioned. "He was here in Konoha two days ago; it is a three-day journey from here to Suna. He shouldn't be in Suna already."

"I don't know how he did it," Tsunade said, "but I do believe this message is indeed from him. He told me that he and his siblings managed to cover the distance in two days coming here, and implied that he had reasons for coming all the way here on such short notice." Tsunade laced her fingers and looked fixedly across the room at one jounin in particular. "Akimichi Chouza. I understand your clan has been developing a new kind of soldier pill that has fewer side effects and bolsters chakra longer."

"This is correct, Hokage-sama," the large jounin replied benignly, "and we have not hidden any of this information from you, if you recall."

"I don't normally pry into business matters," Tsunade replied, "but I need to know: did anyone from Sunagakure purchase any of those new soldier pills recently?"

"Yes," Chouza said, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "Kazekage-sama's brother, Kankurou, purchased a few when they were in Konoha the other day. He did not say what they plan to use them for, only that he was authorized by Kazekage-sama to pay whatever price requested."

"In your informed opinion, do you believe the Kazekage used those soldier pills to return to Suna in less than half the time it normally takes?"

"It is indeed probable, Hokage-sama," Chouza scratched his head, "but I warned Kankurou that the side-effects are quite debilitating, and that the pills should only be used in emergencies. The side-effects are not as dire as some, but they tend to leave the user drained almost completely of chakra for a day or more, depending on how much chakra was used during the pill's effects. There is also a risk of severe dehydration, because the pills convert body fluids into chakra when natural chakra runs out. If anyone tried to use the pills to cut the travel time down that much, they would likely be bedridden with fatigue by the time the pills wear off, as well as weak from dehydration, and thus would be of little use as fighters or defenders."

"On the other hand," his teammate Yamanaka Inoichi said, "given Kazekage-sama's enormous store of chakra, he might have been able to pull it off without ending up dehydrated, but he'd likely be very low on chakra by the time he got to Suna. Either way, he wouldn't be very well equipped to handle an attack."

Tsunade pondered this, her eyes sweeping the room. "Well, the mystery of how he got home to Suna is secondary in importance to the fact that our allied village is in dire need of help. I have given this some thought, and before I make any announcements, I would like to know if there are any present who will not be able, should you be assigned, to make the journey to Suna to heal or defend as needed."

Silence befell the room, and extended as the Hokage combed her gaze from one corner of the room to the other, searching for any uncertainty. Finally, one jounin responded; "I'm game to do it, if needed, but I'm exhausted from my last mission, so I don't know how effective I'd be."

Sakura recognized, by the country drawl, the voice as belonging to Narita Yumiya, a genjutsu jounin and former member of ANBU. Sakura was familiar with the kunoichi because Yumiya had some basic healing training and had at one point been something of a sempai to Sakura. Not only that, but for the past eight months or so, Yumiya roomed with her occasional teammate, Maito Gai, who was Lee's sensei and father-figure. Yumiya apparently had financial issues that stemmed from an old gambling addiction she had never quite managed to kick.

She wasn't kidding, either, when she said she was exhausted. The woman looked like she'd been run over by a freight cart. She was actually leaning on Gai, as though he were the only thing holding her up. Even Gai looked really tired, which was unusual, because he was normally able to hide his fatigue very well.

Lee nudged her, focusing her attention on him. His gaze was locked firmly on the Hokage, who was staring intently at them.

"Sakura, are you comfortable with this?" She asked. "He specifically requested you; do you think you can handle a potential epidemic?"

"I can try," Sakura said honestly. "I'm not looking forward to it, but I can't exactly turn away either, not if I can help them, when they need my help."

"Good." Tsunade nodded definitively. "I will be sending three teams immediately. I also am assembling a back-up team, to be dispatched pending any additional information. The three initial teams will depart from Konoha as soon as possible, but will each travel separately. We have to assume that this is a war zone you will be venturing into, so it is best to travel in small groups, and each team will be comprised of healers and fighters both. Once you reach Suna, you will reassemble as needed, according to the Kazekage's will and needs. I'm sending teams that are familiar with each other and familiar with the territory. The rest of you jounin will be assigned to various posts within Konoha to prevent a similar attack on us."

She stood up and walked around to stand in front of the desk. After a long pause in which she again looked at each of her jounin, searching for uncertainty or any other emotion that could impair a mission, she spoke. "Two of the three teams will have chuunin, for reasons I will state as I name them. This cannot be helped, unfortunately, though I am assigning each team an experienced team leader that I believe can best utilize each member.

"Team number one will be Team Naruto. This is the primary team, consisting of the best fighters and healer I can send. Team Naruto will be headed by Uzumaki Naruto, and will contain Haruno Sakura, Rock Lee and Hyuuga Neji.

"Team number two will be the tactics team. This team should be best equipped to adapt to Suna's needs. This team is Team Shikamaru, captained by Nara Shikamaru, comprising Akimichi Chouji, Hyuuga Hanabi and Yamanaka Ino. I am aware that Ino and Hanabi are still chuunin, but both are skilled healers, and the entire team functions particularly well under Shikamaru's command. If any chuunin can succeed in an elevated S-rank like this, I believe this team will. And I believe that Hanabi's Byakugan will prove essential.

"Team number three is the support and communications team. My assistant Shizune will captain Team Shizune -- " That got everyone's attention; Tsunade almost never sent her loyal assistant on dangerous missions. " -- which will consist of Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata and Inuzuka Kiba. In particular," she paused a moment, fixing her gaze on Shino and his father Shibi, "I expect regular reports via your communications bugs, Shino. Shibi will be stationed near the administrative building for this reason. I need to know what's going on, so that I can dispatch reinforcements if necessary."

Shino nodded in acceptance of this.

Tsunade leaned against her desk. "I have specifically organized the teams so that each team has the use of the Byakugan. As I said earlier, we have to assume that the Kaze no Kuni is a war zone. Therefore, every possible advantage for scouting is necessary if the teams are to arrive in Suna in a timely manner. Due to the harmful nature of the side effects, I forbid any of you from attempting to use soldier pills to increase travel speed. You're needed as back-up and support; arriving in Suna on the brink of collapse from exhaustion is not only not advisable, it is counterproductive."

After another pause, she sighed. "The fourth team, the back-up fighter team, will not be dispatched immediately, though I imagine I will have to dispatch it sooner or later, so each member should be ready to leave at any time. This team, if dispatched, should serve mostly to support Team Naruto. This fourth team will be Team Yamato, and will comprise Hatake Kakashi, Maito Gai and Narita Yumiya.

"My reasoning for choosing those four is thus: Kakashi knows Sunagakure better than anyone in this room, with one possible exception; Yamato will likely be needed if things get really out of hand for Naruto; Gai is best utilized as back-up in this manner, and he has experience with the area surrounding Sunagakure; and Yumiya has a lot of experience with poisons, so she can serve with the healers if necessary." Here the Hokage paused. "However, Yumiya, I know that you are exhausted; I can see from here that you're in rough shape. If you think you will be unable to recover in time -- "

Yumiya waved her hand irritably. "I just need a good meal and about twelve hours' sleep. I'm not injured, just extremely low on chakra. Give me half a day and I'll be good as new."

"Good. I don't anticipate to have to dispatch you for at least three days, if not more; however, there is the possibility of further information arriving before then, so I'll expect you four to be ready to leave at a moment's notice." Tsunade rubbed her forehead wearily. "Teams Naruto, Shikamaru and Shizune should depart as soon as possible -- I expect each team to be gone from here within the hour. This is an elevated S-rank mission, so time is of the essence. As for the rest of you," she added, glancing around, "I expect you all to be in the missions room an hour from now. I need time to figure out how to assign you all. Dismissed!"

Sakura blinked rapidly in slow comprehension. An S-rank. The last thing in the world she wanted was for Lee to be put on an S-rank like this, even if she was there with him. She didn't completely trust his abilities, not with the residual injuries he carried. Several of the injuries he still had troubles with had been incurred on an S-rank dealing with Kirigakure and its crazy Mizukage. As much as she disliked being in Gai's presence very often, she acutely wished he were assigned to their team, because if anyone could restrain Lee and prevent him from hurting himself, it was Gai.

It was a small consolation that for his first S-rank in nearly two years Lee would be accompanied by Sakura and Naruto, as well as Neji, who knew Lee better than just about anyone in their age group.

Naruto approached Sakura as the other jounin filed out of the room. "Like I said, Sakura-chan, I'm sorry about this. I wish that this didn't interrupt your honeymoon, but..."

"It could not be avoided," Lee said pragmatically. "We are shinobi; our first priority is our village. And I cannot help but feel somewhat guilty that this has happened; I wonder if it would have happened if Gaara-sama had not left Suna."

Naruto shrugged. "I don't think you should blame yourself, Geji-mayu. After all, you weren't expecting to see him, were you? None of us expected him to show up for your wedding. Even Kakashi-sensei said he was surprised, because Gaara had made no comments or anything indicating that he planned to attend."

Lee thumped Naruto affectionately; "I do not recall blaming myself. In any case, we should be getting ready to leave."

Naruto heaved a sigh; "I just hope that Konohamaru is okay. I'd like to think that Gaara would inform us if the ambassador was among the casualties, but we don't know the circumstances."

"We should get going," Neji said matter-of-factly. "We've got a long trip ahead of us; we'll need a lot of supplies and weapons, if we're going into a war-zone."

Lee crossed his arms and looked at his long-time teammate defiantly. "Do you really think we do not know this, Neji?"

"I'm just trying to get you three idiots to get moving! You heard Hokage-sama -- time is of the essence."

"Yeah." Naruto shook his head abruptly, as though shaking unpleasant thoughts from his mind; "We'll meet at the front gate."

Neji abruptly disappeared, using the body-flicker technique to do so. Naruto followed suit.

"Sakura, before you go, come here a moment," Tsunade called. Sakura obeyed without even thinking about it. Tsunade handed her three sturdy books from the depths of her desk drawers. "I want you to take these with you. Between the three of them, you should be able to handle any disease or poison Kirigakure can concoct. While I have complete faith in your abilities, my experience with Kirigakure is that their poisons and viruses are extremely complex and difficult to diagnose, and you will be a long distance away from any help I can give you. I don't think you'll need them, but in case you do, these books have information on all known poisons and cultured viruses. The fact that we're dealing with Kirigakure is also why I'm sending Shizune; she's as good at poison-decoction as you or me, and she has made a point of studying Kirigakure poisons over the years. If I thought I could, I would go with you as well. There is something about the way that letter is worded that makes me think Gaara is deliberately not telling me something, something important and unpleasant that he probably assumes I wouldn't be interested in. So be prepared for the worst. If you think you can't handle it, have Shino let me know, and I'll see if I can shanghai Jiraiya into standing in my place here while I come to help you."

"I don't think that'll be necessary, shishou," Sakura said. "I mean, if you're sending Shizune-san along too, between the two of us, I imagine we can handle it, if it can be handled at all."

"I'm just concerned about the scale of suffering, Sakura. Gaara said that half the village is already dead, and the other half is stricken. That is a lot of people. Just try to imagine having to treat half of Konohagakure in a short period of time; it's not pretty. No matter how good you are, and no matter how much Naruto can boost your chakra, you can only do so much. Try not to overdo it. If you need my help, just call for me."

"I understand, shishou."

"Good girl. I'm sorry about this, I know I gave you two the week off, but this is an emergency."

"It couldn't be helped. Like Lee says, we're shinobi. Our first priority is our village."

"Speaking of him," the Hokage raised an eyebrow, "I would have sent Gai with you, if it weren't for the fact that I think you'll need Neji's Byakugan more, and the fact that Gai is physically exhausted from his last mission. I'm going to have to rely on you to keep Lee in one piece, so keep your eye on that thick-browed runt; he's stubborn and he has no idea how fragile he really is. I've instructed Naruto to keep his eye on Lee as well, to not let him try opening any Gates. If necessary, he has my permission to use force; I've told him that I'd rather see that green-clothed moron knocked out by a blow to the head from a teammate than mutilated by a mistimed Gate opening."

"Well, that's easier said than done, shishou, but I have a rather vested interest in keeping him intact."

Tsunade's face molded into a wicked smile; "I suppose you would, wouldn't you?"

Sakura blinked, realizing that the Hokage had just made a bawdy comment, but not quite sure what triggered it. "Er, say what?"

The Hokage laughed. "Sorry, my dear, it was just your choice of words that amused me. Perhaps you aren't aware of the term; 'Intact' is a term used to describe an animal that has not been gelded or neutered."

Sakura felt her face grow hot with embarrassment. "Shishou!"

"Go on, Sakura, you're wasting time now. I promise you, you will be compensated for this interruption of your honeymoon, but you need to get going!"

Coming soon: "Part Two: To Suna" (tentative title) wherein the three teams travel to Sunagakure (big surprise!) (Okay, so I haven't figured out what else I'm going to do in it. Oh well.)

A word about pronouns:
Rock Lee usually uses "boku" to refer to himself. While masculine, it is considerably less aggressive and assertive than what Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi tend to use, which is "ore." What I'm referring to above when I talk about Lee's speech patterns changing is that he switches in private from using "boku" to using "ore" -- which is of course just speculation, since we never actually see him doing that. But that's what I'm talking about.

Some vocabulary, for those who are a bit rusty:
Sandaime - literally "third generation" but generally used to refer to the Third (Sandaime) Hokage, Sarutobi.
Yondaime - literally "fourth generation" but generally used to refer to the Fourth (Yondaime) Hokage.
Godaime - literally "fifth generation" but used here to refer either to the Fifth (Godaime) Hokage or Kazekage.
Rokudaime - literally "sixth generation" but used here to refer to the Sixth (Rokudaime) Hokage -- unofficially (since he hasn't been inaugurated) this is Naruto.
Nanadaime - literally "seventh generation" but used here to refer to the Seventh (Nanadaime) Hokage. Obviously, there is none yet, but there is someone who is ambitious of becoming that.