Chained 2

MissMadameMina: Well, I’m rather happy with this. Maybe I’ll finish this story before summer ends! [Not likely]

Moving on…

Acting like nothing was wrong as they made their way through Konoha was not pleasant. For one, the tension between them could stop a raging hoard of Naruto and his clones after free ramen in their tracks. Sakura had hoped to be free of the commanding and very, very intimidating Kazekage’s presence soon, but obviously, she was the universe’s bitch. After coming to terms with the fact that, yes, they were chained together, and no, the chain was pretty much indestructible, they calmed down enough to think. Or rather, Sakura stopped hyperventilating and Gaara thought. That was one thing she hadn’t been too proud of that morning. She was a damned kunoichi! How could the prospect of being chained to Gaara make her hyperventilate? The fact that he was able to freeze fire with one glance had something to do with it, perhaps.

The presence of the chain assured them of one thing. They were set up - which meant that they had not slept together…hopefully. Although now that her initial rage had simmered down to a little trickle, Gaara was making up for her lack of anger. He was pretty much radiating killing intent. If she wasn’t connected to him (and therefore protected from his rage, after all, who would want to lug a corpse around?) she would’ve passed out. However, it was rather hard to move incognito when every ninja and some civilians they passed froze and looked around for the source of murderous intent in the area. “Kazekage-sama, I suggest you calm down. You’re attracting attention to us.” Sakura said slowly. ANBU was probably crawling over the area just waiting for something to happen. Very perceptive, these ANBU.

“I am calm.” Gaara replied evenly, not breaking his stride as they jumped from rooftop to rooftop. She could see the Hokage Tower…and the Hospital. Crap. She had forgotten that she had work. There was no way she was going to skip out. Sakura edged a little towards the hospital only to be tugged back to his side. “No distractions.” Gaara intoned ominously. Sakura nodded. She was smart enough to realize that Gaara wasn’t against lugging around a corpse. She gulped.

They had previously agreed on going to Tsunade. She was their best bet, their best chance to a solution. Sakura prayed that her shishou was actually sober that morning. She chanced a glance at the glowering Kazekage not even two feet away from her. She didn’t even want to guess at what was going to happen if Tsunade didn’t find a solution and free them.

They passed by the line of petitioners, concerned civilians, and prospective clients with ease. Gaara merely glanced at them once, and all protests died down. Sakura wondered idly how he managed to do that. Did he practice in front of a mirror or something? Shizune knew better to block Gaara’s way, and merely raised an inquisitive brow at the chain that joined them, and then at her ripped shirt. Sakura shook her head, a sign to the older kunoichi and her sempai that she really didn’t want to know. The two Chuunin, Izumo and Kotetsu, also knew better than to bar Gaara from entering Tsunade’s office. They immediately pushed the grand oak doors open without a word. Sakura didn’t miss the pitying glances they shot her. She glared.

Fortunately, the people meeting with Tsunade at the moment were actually the delegates that had accompanied Gaara to Konoha. Mumbling a faint apology for intruding, Sakura let herself be dragged along by Gaara to stand at the center of the room. “Fix this.” He raised his arm brusquely, making Sakura raise her own as well. Tsunade’s eyes almost popped out of her sockets. A shocked wave of murmurs came from the delegates, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Baki frowning.

There was a silence as Tsunade composed herself. “I have nothing to do with that, Kazekage-sama.”

“Get Naruto and fix this.” Gaara repeated his demand, lowering his arm. Sakura sent Tsunade a pleading look, begging her shishou to not aggravate the already very irate Gaara. Tsunade was taking far too much pleasure from this.

“And why do you suspect Naruto, Kazekage-sama?” Tsunade asked innocently, lightly sipping a saucer of liquid that obviously wasn’t tea. Shizune would not be pleased, Sakura thought.

“Uzumaki Naruto now.” Gaara replied. Sakura nodded in agreement. He ignored the pleas from his delegates to be a little more respectful to his fellow Kage. He was not in the mood. He woke up and got played like a fool. Best friend or not, he was going to pay.

Tsunade shrugged, before raising her hand. Several blurs appeared. All the new arrivals were masked ANBU members, awaiting their orders. “Fetch me Uzumaki Naruto,” she paused and considered something before adding, “and whoever he’s with.” They disappeared just as fast, and returned several moments later with a heavily protesting and fidgeting Uzumaki Naruto. Once Naruto caught sight of Sakura and Gaara, his attempts of escaped increased in desperation. It all but proved his guilt. Another blond was also brought in a few moments later, but unlike Naruto, she was not protesting or demanding loudly to be set free. She was calmly walking beside her ANBU captors.

“Temari-san?” Sakura said incredulously. What was the jounin doing with Naruto? Forest green orbs narrowed. Did she play a part in this?

“My, my, what a wonderful little gathering we have here.” Temari chirped brightly, as if she didn’t just have ANBU manhandle her. “Good morning, Tsunade-sama, Gaara-sama. What seems to be the problem here?” She was even impervious to her brother’s glare and Sakura couldn’t help but be a little envious.

“It seems like Kazekage-sama and Sakura have been the target of a rather cruel trick, Temari-san. It seems as if both of them have reason to believe that Naruto staged this plan.” Tsunade said pleasantly after taking another appreciative sip of her alcoholic beverage. “They’re chained together.”

Temari snapped her sharp teal eyes to their feet, assuming that the shackle holding them together were there. Just as quickly, she noticed the chains around their wrists. “What the - ?”

“Then I presume you have nothing to do with this?” Gaara said in deceptive calm. Temari crossed her arms and gave him a condescending look. Sakura recognized that one. It was often seen on Sasuke’s face when Naruto suggested pulling a prank on Kakashi-sensei. It was the ‘who do you think I am? I’m much too high-and-mighty to resort to feeble pranks’ look. Gaara seemed to accept the answer and nodded. “She has nothing to do with this. She may leave.” Surprisingly, the ANBU followed his orders and stepped away from Temari and disappeared from view. Temari grinned and with a neat little bow, swept out of the room. Naruto looked beyond miffed for some reason.

“Impudent boy! What have you done to our Kazekage?!” A delegate demanded. Naruto had the good sense to look vaguely sheepish. “Undo this at once! How dare you undermine the –”

“That is enough.” Gaara cut the heated delegate short before he started spouting off nonsense as he was oft to do. He turned to the ANBU-constrained Naruto. “You’ve had your fun. Release Sakura-san and I…” the ‘or die’ did not need to be spoken for Naruto to understand.

This time, Naruto merely pouted. “Sorry, Gaara.” The same delegate inhaled sharply at the casual reference to their Kazekage. Everyone ignored him. He spread his hands helplessly, “It wasn’t my fault you two got caught in bed. Someone else must’ve decided to -” And that was when everything went to hell.

Tsunade groaned. “Sakura, please don’t tell me you –”

“Shame! Shame on you, miss! How –”

“Harlot! Seducing our Kazekage and manipulating –"

“No doubt she intends to use this as a bartering –”

Sakura fumed silently. Why were all these old farts thinking it was her fault? She wasn’t the one at fault! It was alcohol and Naruto! God damn it, she was a respectable kunoichi and if they had forgotten, it takes two to have sex. “Stop slinging accusations at me! Why is it my fault?! Nothing happened you bunch of dirty – wait a minute Naruto,” she rounded on the relieved shinobi. “How’d you know?” Naruto paled. He had said too much.

“Ehheheh…you two were quite vocal?” Naruto asked more than answered. Judging by the disbelieving expression on Gaara’s face and the enraged one on Sakura’s that was the wrong thing to say.

“You…” Sakura hissed, clenching her fists tightly.

“Naruto, you idiot.” Gaara intoned, but made no move to stop Sakura. Just because he wasn’t allowed to harm foreign shinobi didn’t mean Sakura couldn’t harm her own fellow shinobi. Gaara was pretty sure she’d heal the unfortunate blond later on.

“I admit it! Okay! I did it! I put the chain on you two!” Naruto whimpered, shielding his face from any blows that Sakura might deal him. Then he thought of his traitorous accomplice. He smirked. If he wasn’t getting away from their wrath, neither was she. “I didn’t put you two in bed though! You two were already there when I found you! Please, please don’t hurt me!”

“You did seduce our Kazekage!”

“It was a ploy all along to get our Kazekage-sama to lower his guard! We demand –”

“Any child will have to be –”

“War!” That last cry was the last straw for Tsunade. She had sat through their blabbering all morning, but the idea of a war was not going to ever grow into fruition. Ever.

“ENOUGH!” Tsunade shouted, slamming both fists onto the large desk in front of her as she stood up. The desk shook unsteadily but remained stable. If she hadn’t known any better Sakura would’ve thought that it was made of steel if it could withstand a beating from Tsunade. No doubt, it wasn’t the first time it was subjected to such rough treatment. They were silent as they waited for Tsunade’s orders. “Naruto,” The blond man snapped to attention. “Is there a way to release them?”

Naruto shook his head, “They’ll have to wait for twenty-four hours.” Mentally, he calculated the time that they should be released. “I think, dawn.”

“Unacceptable.” Sakura and Gaara snarled.

“Naruto will be punished accordingly, of course.” Tsunade assured them, casting a stern eye on the wilting Naruto. “NEXT!” And that was where the meeting ended. Tsunade forcefully threw them out and called for the next caller. They’ll have to wait it out. Oh joy.

---

Stepping out into the crowded mid-day streets of Konoha and trying to be unseen was harder than it seemed. Especially when there was a crowd of annoying and overdramatic Suna delegates that decided that they must supervise them. Just in case Sakura decided to seduce their poor innocent Kazekage – that definitely did not masturbate in the shower. After all, innocent Kazekages do not act in such a way. Sakura rolled her eyes as another advisor, the really dramatic one, shot her a dirty look. The only thing stopping her from snapping back would be the fact that he was quite an influential member and a foreign guest.

“Excuse me, Kazekage-sama,” Sakura asked with an appropriate amount of respect and deference to the redhead at her side. “But where are we going?”

“Meetings.”

“B-but…wait, what do you mean by meetings?” Sakura asked, taken aback and finally met his eyes. She hadn’t been able to do so since they were in the motel room.

“I have meetings to attend to, Sakura-san.”

“Even in this state?” Sakura asked incredulously. Surely, he would not like to drag her along to meetings with stuffy elders of various clans and merchants! She was a kunoichi of Konoha and would be obligated to report his actions to Tsunade.

The stern redhead merely nodded. “I will not waste a day.” Sakura sighed. It was going to be a long day.