Gaara Sakura: Battle On The Summit

Chapter 8: Enemies

GaaSaku moments will happen later on in the chapters. Thank you for your patience. 

Anyways, please read & review! :)

The pink-haired kunoichi stood frozen on her spot in a few minutes as her tears had dried up upon her cheeks.

Shizune, on the other hand, decided to speak up, saying. "Naruto's not doing it just because he promised Sakura. He wants to save Sasuke himself, too."

"Of course, I think that too," Sai agreed and continued on. "But Sakura and the others, including myself relies on Naruto too much. Lately, when I look at him, I've been able to feel it. His sadness. And when he thinks of Sasuke, there's a heat coming from his gut and I know that's anger. For Naruto's sake, for the hidden leaf's sake. We need to do something ourselves instead of always relying on him. Sasuke is-"

"Sai's right..." Shikamaru slightly opened the tent's cloth with a sincere look.

"Shikamaru," Shizune was surprised to see him, whereas Sai glanced over his right shoulder.

"We're not kids anymore. We will stop Akatsuki and we will stop Sasuke," Shikamaru stated and stared at Sakura's emotional state. But he decided to go on further. "I'm here to get permission from Team 7."

"Permission... You mean...?!" Shizune exclaimed in realization.

"That's right. We can't let war break out between the leaf and cloud because of Sasuke. This may be a little indirect but bear with me. If the hidden cloud village kills Sasuke, you and the rest of the leaf squad won't stand for it. If you do something to get yourselves killed, Choji, Ino, your parents and I will want revenge too. The other side will want their revenge as well. If Choji and I get killed, this time our parents will get involved and it'll be an all-out war. According to the messengers from the cloud, Sasuke is already being treated as an international wanted-criminal. If Sasuke keeps working with the Akatsuki, the hatred towards him will only increase. I think we need to take care of Sasuke ourselves. You get what I'm saying, don't you, Sakura? That's why I've come to ask your permission."

"Shikamaru... Please... Don't say anything no more..." the pink-haired kunoichi murmured softly as she continued to stare despondently on the floor. She breathes out and slowly wipes off the tear streaks away from both sides of her face.

"I'm sorry, Sakura. But regardless of your answer, I have to do this for the future of the leaf. I'm going to tell Naruto, too. Where is he?" Shikamaru asked in a demand.

"Naruto has gone to the land of iron to meet the Raikage," Sai answered.

"He's what?!" The leaf jounin leader repeated in astonishment and sighed. "This won't be as easy as I thought."

"I will talk to Naruto... The fool's in love with me, so let me do it," Sakura said determinedly and thought despairingly in a quiet tone. "I'm the one who's caused him the most pain. I've done nothing but make mistakes. I don't want to make another one."

In the meantime at the summit, Ao had discovered that Danzo has Shisui's Sharingan power in his right eye, much to his alarm.

"That's what's going on?! The color of his chakras in his right shoulder and arm... No doubt about it. I fought him once. I'll never forget that color," he said in mind, then he burst out of the curtains and pointed out directly with urgency. "Hokage, let me see the eye beneath those bandages!"

"What's going on?" Onoki asked in puzzlement.

"Apparently, his right eye was stolen from Shisui Uchiha and implanted. He had the power to get into this opponent's mind and control them. It's one of the most powerful eye techniques! His opponents wouldn't even realize they were being controlled," Ao explained.