Night, Day and Sunrise

Chapter 15 - Whispers to the Wind

The next day, no one made mention of Sakura's outburst from the night before, for which Sasuke was grateful. Hinata looked a trifle upset herself, and everyone was a little unsettled, but they were ninja; they could be depended upon to put personal feelings aside for the good of the mission.

By noon, they'd found the site of Naruto's abduction, a large crater in the middle of the forest. Sharinghan and Byakugan both surveyed the scene, sharing their findings with the rest of the squad, as well as the Sand nin who appeared soon after their arrival. Sasuke waited until he was sure he'd gleaned every scrap of information about his teammate's absence before he looked to see who Sand had sent them; the bottom dropped out of his stomach. Before him, assisting Sakura as she sat down on a half-shattered log that had been thrown along with the rest of the debris like so many pieces of paper in a strong wind, was the Kazekage. Behind him were not one but both of his siblings, their respective teams, and what seemed to be fully half the Anbu of Sunagakure.

He drifted over to them, catching what was obviously an ongoing conversation in the middle. "It's not that we don't appreciate all the help we can get, but I can hardly countenance your stripping Sunagakure like this," Sakura argued against assistance as much as ever.

"Peace," the young leader of the Sand held up his hand. "When I was taken, Konohagakure sent everything they had, and would have sent even more, had it been necessary. It wasn't. This time, it may be. And so, we are here. These shinobi," he gestured to the assembled forces, "are all volunteers, and are not even a third of the number who wished to come." Gaara smiled slightly, an even odder sight on his face than the first time she'd seen such an expression on Sasuke's, though his eyes remained sad, echoing some old pain. "It would seem our friend has gathered quite a following in my village since his heroic efforts to rescue me from Akatsuki. You sent the best you had. Now, we reciprocate."

"Sakura," the Uchiha heir intervened before harsh words on either side caused any further damage. The pink-haired kunoichi had grown even more verbally volatile since getting pregnant, and he had no desire to watch her sharpen her tongue on their most loyal ally, especially when they did need him. Turning to meet Gaara's disturbingly pupilless eyes with his equally unsettling scarlet and ebony orbs, he bowed his head ever so slightly. "Thank you for your assistance. What has been learned since we left?"

"Not much" seemed to be the general consensus. The only reason they knew Naruto had not been destroyed in the blast was a disturbing lack of animal matter or blood in the debris, which Akamaru and Kiba confirmed. They found only the barest hint of blood from the Kyuubi's jinchuriki, and just a little more of someone else's, someone they didn't recognize at all.

With that information, Sasuke was instantly able to rule out more than half of Akatsuki, though the other half consisted of shinobi he knew very little about. Damn. Other than that, there was no sign, visual or chakra-based, that anyone had left the area, or been there at all, save for the teams currently hunting for the missing Konohanin. Quickly processing the information, he started issuing orders which all, even the Kazekage, obeyed with a haste that suggested desperation.

To be completely tactically fair, he had to separate from Sakura. They needed to maximize the area covered by people Naruto trusted, and that was a remarkably short list, especially of those present. So he divided their forces, assigning one Konohanin to each of the primary search squads.

Before Temari disappeared with the rest of her team - to which Sakura had been attached - Sasuke pulled the older blonde aside. "Temari-san, I..."

She smiled fondly. "We'll find him."

Shaking his head emphatically, Sasuke tried to find the words to explain what he was trying to say. "It's Sakura. Keep an eye on her; she might do something-"

"Sakura-san is a kunoichi above all, Sasuke-san."

Her failure to understand finally drove his caution out the window. "She's pregnant, perhaps with Naruto's child, though she hasn't said."

"She's what?!" Sasuke suddenly saw an amazing resemblance to her youngest brother in her wide, unpupiled eyes; he hadn't noticed before, owing to their darker shade of teal. "Why on Earth did Tsunade-sama let her out of the village?"

Sasuke shrugged, though he knew damned well the Hokage hadn't a clue as to her apprentice's current state, else she'd have personally sat on her to keep her from coming. "It's not my concern," he stated coolly with the unspoken insinuation that it was none of her's, either. "But it is something you needed to be warned of. Now go, or you'll loose them."

Temari gave him another odd look. She may not have known Uchiha Sasuke well, but everyone worth his forehead protector knew of him and his clan, and what little she had gleaned from their limited acquaintance only confirmed the general opinion. He was usually stoic, unspeaking unless lecturing or taunting, and seemed to care about no one and nothing except furthering his own goals. So why the sudden concern over a mere teammate, and one so foolish as to go on missions while pregnant?

Her question was answered by the softening of his features when Sakura dashed back to see what was holding Temari up. Shit! "Hai," was all she said, but the implications were far more.

So, the last Uchiha has fallen for the same girl as his teammate, who we're all trying to rescue. And he's in command. Damnit, I sure hope Tsunade-sama knows what she's doing.

If she harbored any doubts about Sakura's physical ability to handle the mission, however, they were quickly assuaged; in fact, she was hard-pressed to keep up with the agile Konohanin.

"Sakura-san," she called out at last, "we must slow down, or the scouts could miss something, and we'll loose far more time than we gain by running."

The look bestowed by the pink-haired young women could have frozen a waterfall, but she did comply, recognizing the difficulty she was causing. It wouldn't help anyone to rush past the one clue that might help them find Naruto. But the need to do something more was beyond frustrating.

Kami-sama, grant me patience, was the mantra in both kunoichis' thoughts.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Well, here we are, a new chapter of the book posted as I look out on a lovely spring evening. The semester from hell is over, and may my professors rot there for eternity. The move is over, and I am comfortably settled in my new apartment. My summer job is going well, and I occasionally have spare time on my hands once more. So let the writing begin!

To answer a few questions from various commentators:
No, this story is not finished, though I do have a good outline for how it's going to end; I needed some reader response to get me past a writing block that had me stuck for months.
Yes, I am working on stories other than those posted here. Some are completely original, while others are more fanfics like this one. As stated on my profile, I like to have my stories finished before I begin posting them, if at all possible. How else can I do that unless I'm cycling through, posting one or two while still writing others?
Yes, I do take requests.
No, I do not take every request. If I did, I would have no time for my own ideas to find their way into beautiful, worded bliss. But if you have an idea, feel free to send it to me. The worst that might happen is that I'll say, "no." More likely I'll take it and work with it. Even the smallest ideas can be worked in to make a lovely subplot and enrich a tale.
Yes, I do consider single parenting to be an issue, not because it's shameful - or anything else of the sort - but because it's damn hard. I have more than one girlfriend with a kid, and none of them have it easy. In fact, a dear friend who has actually contributed to the writing of this story (she wishes to remain anonymous, so for politeness sake, I refer to her as 'Nera) just found out last week that her own sister is pregnant out of wedlock. And - I hate to boast but I can't help it just this once - the reactions captured in this work were almost exactly those of her friends and family, sometimes word for word. The only disparity being that my writings were actually more mild in language and sentiment - in a desire not to offend anyone's sensibilities - and that Sasuke does want to be involved, where the father of that child does not. I am neither agreeing nor disagreeing with what they said; rather, I am simply trying to capture the intense emotions surrounding such an event. And regardless of culture or belief system, pregnancy does result in intense emotion for all involved - close friends included.
No, I don't go to cons. At least, not as Crimson Iris. I've been to one or two - actually, I met my writing-buddy 'Nera at Katsucon back in '02 or '03 - but I don't go regularly, and I tend to go mundanely.
No, I have not, as yet, drawn any art for these stories. Honestly, I suck at drawing anime style art. Realistic, fine. Highly stylized, not so much. *sigh* Ah, well. The most I will generally do is costume design. I do occasionally write songs - or just lyrics - from character points of view, though it's generally nothing worth sharing.
Yes, I live in the D.C. Metro Area, and no, I will not get any more specific than that on a public website. One can never be too careful these days.

Anyway, there are some questions answered; keep 'em coming.

My great thanks to roxnroll, XoXgaaraXoX, ArcaneDesires, KinkyK, Laurachan, Sneakyfox, Lilith, MommaG, SecretQuill, AEMcKell06, CrystalRobby, mmartini, Pixie, Let.It.Die, Dragonangelx003, Liiddo and everyone else who has e-mailed me privately for your very interesting comments. They've been a wonderful mix of insight, intrigue, irritation, and indulgance (and I mean that last in every definition of the word, but mostly in indulging my own ego). I look forward to hearing more from you, and I can't wait to hear what you think about this and other upcoming work.

As always, have a great day, and good reading!

Crimson Iris