Once More by ItsHardToFindAPenName

Chapter 35: Move Out!

Sasuke stared at her. "You do realize that you are talking to the Kazekage, don't you?"

The female medic blinked. "Err... oops?" she chuckled nervously. "Sorry, Kazekage-sama..."

This time it was Gaara's turn to wave her off. "Don't worry about that. I don't like being called by honorifics except when being in official meetings anyway."

"All right! Then let's go back to Konoha!" Naruto declared. But before he could turn his back...

"Boss!"

Two of his remaining shadow clones landed in front of him with two loud "thud"s. Each of them was carrying something on their shoulders.

"We managed to capture these two when the monster army was retreating," they threw what they were carrying to the ground: two tied-up White Zetsu, with seals all over their bodies which completely blocked the movement of their chakra. "They are actually the only ones we could capture alive. We already sealed their chakra up so that they can't run away; what should we do with them?"

After a few seconds of thinking, Kakashi suddenly said. "Kazekage-sama, can you allow us to take these two back to Konohagakure?"

His students blinked at him. "Why?"

"With the condition of Sunagakure like it is right now, bringing them to Konoha might be a better choice, as you won't have to waste food and drink to keep them alive, and prison rooms to keep them in," Kakashi explained. "Besides, I think every person in Suna will have to focus on restoring the village right now, so no one would have the time to interrogate them for information about the Akatsuki. And Konoha has a whole division of Torturing and Interrogation ready for that job."

"Feel free to do so, Kakashi-san," Gaara nodded. "Now, if you excuse us, I have to go find a way to bring down this dome without it collapsing on Sunagakure and crushing everything. Good luck on your trip back."

Team Gai and Team Anko were leaping from branch to branch in the forest at the east side of the Land of Fire. They had moved at their highest speed, and already crossed a fourth of the distance between Konoha and Kiri. But even with the speed they were moving right now, it seemed it was impossible for them to reach the coast, from which they would take a boat ride to cross the sea before they could reach Kirigakure, before midnight.

"All right, let's take a break here tonight. It's dangerous to cross the forest at night when we cannot see anything."

Stopping under a particular large tree, Anko said. The other members of the squad blinked.

"Isn't it a little bit early to stop, Anko?" asked Gai. "I can still go a little bit more."

Anko nodded. "I know, but the other members of the squad cannot. Besides, if we are going to assist Kirigakure in their search for the jinchuriki, we cannot afford to exhaust ourselves by running like crazy to the village. And..."

The other shinobi blinked and waited for her to continue, but no other sound came from her.

"And?" Finally, Karin asked.

"And I'm hungry!" Anko finished cheerfully, earning a face fault from the other squad members. "Now you all, go make a bonfire and find some water! We'll be here, setting up camp!"

"Anko-sensei is still weird even after three years, huh," Fuu whispered Karin when they walked away from their sensei.

"You don't know anything, Fuu," Karin whispered back. "Seriously, I always shudder when imagining if instead of Iruka-san, she went and married Gai-sensei..."

"That's a terrifying image, indeed," Fuu nodded, shuddering.

Then the two young kunoichi jumped when they heard Anko's voice whispering right next to their ears.