Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Glimpses of Fire ❯ Reconnaissance ( Chapter 7 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Glimpses of Fire
Author: shattered-words

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, it'd be called `Gaara'. So, isn't it a shame that I don't own it?

Summary: There were many things that shaped the plans of a certain Nukenin, and one was a shinobi that was as destructive as fire. AU/Mentions of Shounen-ai/Yaoi/Yuri

A/N:Sorry for the late update. I would have wanted to update sooner but two (all rolled into one shocking holiday) family emergencies took up a lot of my time. Here is the update and this is dedicated toGaara1Love who saidshe wanted to know the rest of the story. Thanks for the review, it helped a lot.Anyway, on with the chapter!Enjoy!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Chapter Seven: Reconnaissance~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Amane landed on a rooftop and glanced toward the ramen shop that Eizan had entered. She turned as she heard a rapid approach of footsteps and a moment later a blonde head ran along the road just under her. It was easy to tell by the orange pants and jacket that he was one of the Konoha Genin that they had met a while ago.

A smirk crossed her features as she saw him enter the same shop as her friend and she shook her head before moving on, and hopping from roof to roof easily. Normally she would have been worried, but she was confident that there were to many Genin that could match Eizan's level of skill in this village. Besides, the blonde had appeared harmless and would sure not cause the Ashikaga any problems.

She wasn't hungry or she might have been tempted to join the other girl, but she didn't favor ramen as much as her. If there was a shop that sold her favorite food she would more than likely buy something to eat.

The orders had been rather vague and thus she could still go on her own to get something to eat. However, her lack of appetite came into play so she dismissed it, but when dumplings were involved then she'd be more than happy to force them down.

After a few minutes she stopped at the last building before she would reach the area that extended into the forest. She glanced back the way she'd come and knew that her teammates had gone in the opposite direction toward the mountain with the Hokage's faces carved into it. Amane couldn't see her but she was sure that Iwane could see her.

She'd learned from the short haired girl that every time a Hokage was named, their faces were carved in it. Taking it from the bit of information she'd learned from Eizan, they were from the left to right, Shodai followed by Nidaime, then Sandaime and finally Yondaime Hokage.

The Itagaki turned her attention toward the forest and contemplated going in, but she hesitated. She wasn't afraid of someone ambushing her since she doubted that anyone could do it. Besides, with the exam so close, any teams serious about becoming Chunin wouldn't risk getting disqualified. Even then, she was still cautious since she also knew that there were those that would look to reduce the number of enemy ninja, and use the exam as a cover.

She didn't want to go in since Eizan had warned them before they had arrived to be scarce, and remain out of sight of others, and especially out of trouble. If she had to guess, this forest was probably large and there were bound to be teams of Konoha Genin training. While the team they had met hadn't known about the exam, she was sure there were bound to be those that did know.

Amane hadn't reported one piece of information, since she was sure the others must have noticed, and that was that the three they had met had all been rookies. Most likely they were fresh out of the academy, and were probably Eizan's age since Amane and Iwane were a year older but they'd graduated at the same time.

After a moment, she decided that she would scout a bit of the forest but not enter too deeply. It was a good idea to go too much into unknown territory, and besides, she only had half an hour. The thing that made her enter was the prospect of encountering Genin that were not as green behind the ears as the Uchiha and his team obviously was.

All three of them had only graduated a year ago, but they'd gained a bit of experience and had even earned their first kill. However, at times Amane didn't wish to delve too deeply into the past. It was painful.

She stopped on a tree branch and laid a hand against the truck to feel the texture and coolness of the bark. It was stored in her memory, since there were no trees in Sunagakure. As she observed the feeling of nature around her, she thought back to their encounter with the leaf-nin.

The look on Eizan's face when she'd heard that boy's name had been obvious, and she'd seen recognition in her eyes. `Does she know the boy?' she silently wondered. If that were true, she wondered from where. The Ashikaga didn't speak of her past too much so she didn't know if the girl had ever been to Konohagakure before.

It was obvious that it couldn't have been during a mission since Iwane and her had both been with the shorter girl during almost every mission. Gaara had been with her in the few that they hadn't, and the red head hadn't acknowledged the raven-haired Genin so it was clear that they hadn't met before.

The two missions they'd completed had been one B-rank mission that had taken them away from Suna but nowhere near Konoha. Then there was the A-rank where they had gone after the Nukenin that had tried to assassinate the Kazekage. Amane wanted to investigate the boy more, but she had to admit that his surname did sound rather familiar.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Itagaki Amane lifted her face and the dying daylight shone on her features through the branches, and then she shot straight up and landed on the very top branch. She used chakra to stay place or she would have fallen, since the flimsy branches should have snapped under her weight.

From where she was she could see the village if she turned her head to the side slightly, and the tops of the trees stretched out in front of her. She jumped and landed on the next tree, lost her balance but flipped in the air so she dived into a space where the branches were thin. A few of them scraped her but nothing more, and she plummeted toward the ground.

Her eyes were closed as she fell and she listened to the air rushing around her surroundings. She stretched out her hands and caught the last branch before she'd have no chance of catching hold and spun around. Amane twisted her body and stopped in a crouch on top of the branch with her hands pressed against its surface to keep her balance.

`Some one is near,' she mused as her ears perked and her eyes remained closed. Her first thought was that it was a team of Genin training in a last stretch before the exam, but she couldn't be sure of that. Curiosity got the better of her and she was quickly moving across the tree branches. She made sure to conceal her chakra and refrained from making any noise.

She stopped and from where she stood her figure was obscured by the thick foliage. Her senses were stretched to the best of her abilities, but while she could find Iwane or Eizan, it wasn't the Itagaki's strong point. She relied more on her hearing, which was the most developed of their team, just as Iwane's eyesight was superior.

The individuals were several feet in front of her current location, and she had already figured out that there were three of them. She heard the `thwack' of a projectile hitting something. It was easy for her to identify that it was a kunai hitting a wooden target since she heard it whenever she was training alone and using the targets.

She distinctively heard their conversation. “I hear they're allowing rookies into this year's exam,” a male voice spoke.

“Rookies?” a female asked. “Seems like their leading the lambs early to the slaughter this year.”

“I think it has to do with rivalry among the Jonin,” the first male voice said again. “They're saying that one of the cells is trained by Kakashi.” Amane recognized that name.

“The Kakashi?” she heard another male voice speak up, and it was slightly deeper in pitch. “That's interesting.” The wind user had to agree with him on that, and knew that it was worth reporting to Eizan as soon as she returned to the Inn. “Well, either way...it all has a very sad sound to it.”

The sound of something hitting the target resounded again, and she was able to tell that it came just above the second male's voice. Judging from the position his voice came from, she was able to determine that he was sitting down. The kunoichi was standing somewhere in front of him and had most likely been the one that threw the kunai, and the other male was standing besides him.

She would have continued to listen, but she heard the voices go silent. `Someone's listening,' the second males' voice murmured. She'd been discovered.

The Itagaki quickly jumped to the next branch, pushed off and continued on. Behind her, she heard them start to give chase and while anyone else might have missed it, she didn't. During the past year she'd been training in the art of the silent killing from Enoki since he was an expert at it. Her superb hearing had aided her in learning to fight using the enemy's sounds and movement. That was another reason she had concentrated most of her time on wind jutsu. She'd learned to identify the way wind moved around objects and people.

Her ears twitched as she heard them getting closer and knew that all three of them were chasing her. They were spaced out and within her hearing range, so could hear that boy's were on her sides and the kunoichi was a few feet behind her, judging by their size and weight.

A slight chuckle left her lips as she closed her eyes, but she still dodged the branches as if she could see them. It had become dark but the wind had picked up and she was able to hear the rustling of the leaves. As she did this she concentrated her chakra as Enoki had taught her and directed it to her legs, and soon she picked up more speed. While it was below Eizan's since she'd seen the girls' true speed as well as the chakra induced speed, but it would be enough for her at the moment.

However, she was shocked as one of the male ninja picked up speed and his figure came at her from the side. She had underestimated the speed of the three, and as the figure came at her, she was able to tell that he was a leaf-nin. Amane cursed and blocked but was pushed back by the sheer power behind the shinobi's kick. `Son of a-!'

She winced as she crashed into the truck of a tree behind her. `So strong,' she mused as she flashed through hand seals. Her ears heard him move out of the way and come back at her.

Amane smirked and turned before releasing the wind jutsu. It slammed into the stunned boy and he was thrown back, but it hadn't been a high rank technique and so wouldn't sustain too much injury.

The Itagaki took this opportunity to flee since his teammates were right behind him, and she was at once grateful that she had followed her own advice and hadn't gone too far into the forest. As soon she'd exited the woods her eyes snapped open, and she jumped, sailed through the air and landed on a nearby rooftop. She was running across it and jumping toward the next one when she heard her pursuers emerge from the forest.

She quickly hopped over several roofs and then descended to the street below. It was several minutes of moving through the streets and the gathering shadows to make sure that she'd lost them. Amane hadn't been able to identify even the one she had briefly fought with since it had been dark, but she their voices and that was enough for her to know them later on.

Since the sun had already set she hoped they wouldn't recognize her later if they saw her. At least she hoped they wouldn't since the last thing she needed was to be accused of being a spy. She sighed and stuffed her hands into her pockets and strolled slowly toward the ryokan. It was almost time to meet up.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Iwane hoped away from the rooftop they parted from and kept a steady across the village. She made sure to keep mostly out of sight. Before she had reached the edge of it, she stopped abruptly at the edge and almost toppled off. She caught herself by crouching and grabbing hold with her hands.

The scent that had made her stop was coming from a small restaurant on the corner of the street below her. She had declined Eizan's invitation by Eizan, but that didn't mean she wasn't hungry. Iwane just didn't like ramen.

She sniffed the air and almost felt her mouth water and tried to remember when had been the last time she had eaten. It was then that she recalled that it had been a soldier pill early this morning but as was always the case, they had no damn taste. She could tolerate it on missions but this wasn't one, and besides she had to be well fed if she wanted to check out the village.

The Erizawa knew how her teammates would react to that logic, but she shrugged and hoped down onto the street. `What they don't know won't hurt me,' she thought with a slightly wicked grin.

She quickly fished into her pocket and saw that she still had money left over from their last three missions. So, she stuffed the money back into her pocket and pushed back the noren as she slipped in. She had glanced at the name on them in case she wanted to come back.

The customary welcome was sent her way but she merely lifted a hand in response and sat in a table that would seat two people. There weren't too many people in at the moment and after a quick inspection she saw that there was a group of four people sitting at the other side of the room. She saw their attire and Konoha hitai-ate, and three of them looked to be her age so she assumed they were Genin.

The older woman that sat with them was no doubt their Jonin instructor. Her eyes took in her long midnight hair that flowed past her shoulders, and even from this distance she could tell she had crimson eyes. Her clothes consisted of white wrappings that formed a dress, and her hitai-ate wrapped around her forehead. She was slender and attractive, and a smirk crossed the Erizawa's lips. It was no secret to her teammates that she liked girls instead of boys. They knew her reasons, and besides most of the males her age from Suna were repelled by her bold and sometimes, obnoxious personality.

The next one sitting to the Jonin's right was a boy that was wearing a gray coat despite it being summer. The hood of it was lined with most likely synthetic fur and since it was up, it appeared like he had long and wild hair brown hair. However, she could tell that it wasn't his normal hair since the same type of material lined the ends of the sleeves.

He had two red markings on each cheek that looked like upside down triangles, and his headband was at his forehead. There was a distinctive wildness about him, and Iwane had seen the flash of fangs as he ate. Another thing that caught her attention about him was the small beige dog that was resting on top of his head, curled up as if it was use to being there.

The waitress had come to take her order and she'd been distracted from observing them to tell her what she wanted. After the young woman, whom she had flirted with unabashedly, had brought her some green tea (she had been refused sake when she'd tried to order it) she had gone back to observing the last two Genin.

It was a girl who had short, dark purple hair and she had her eyes lowered shyly as she ate. Iwane felt the urge to pounce on the girl and smother her in a hug, but resisted the urge. When she did lift her gaze to speak to the wild boy, she was slightly surprised to see that she had light blue eyes that lacked pupils.

She'd never seen this before and it might have been unnerving to be fixed with a stare by her, but the girl looked as dangerous as a lady bug. The kunoichi also wore a coat, but hers was a different color from her companions' but it also had a slightly fuzzy collar so that it resembled an Eskimo's coat. Her Konoha head band was resting around her neck just like Temari wore hers. The thought that they might have similar tastes caused Iwane to laugh.

She ducked her head when the sound brought their stares in her direction. At times, Eizan had told her that she was rather strange, since she could laugh by herself. The Ashikaga had also told her that it gave her a bit of an unpredictable edge, so she didn't care if anyone thought she was weird.

Her order came and she left her observation of the Genin team and instead concentrated on eating. She said the traditional phrase of gratitude and quickly dug in. Miso soup had been the sole reason she had stopped on that roof, but she had also ordered chicken and rice.

She placed down the half finished soup and started to shovel the rice into her mouth at an amazing speed. At times Eizan had told her that if she trained with the same speed that she ate then she'd be a formidable opponent. She always dismissed it as Eizan being who she was but had also taken her words into consideration. The Ashikaga had been trained by her brother from a young age and afterwards had dedicated her entire existence to training to serve Gaara.

Iwane was half way finished with the rice when she noticed something crawling across the table. She frowned as her eyes narrowed on the bug and saw that it wasn't a cockroach. When she placed the bowl down it didn't scurried away, or moved for that matter. Amane had told them once that she'd heard a rumor from the Jonin that there was a clan of bug users in Konohagakure.

The earth user wasn't sure whether that was true or not but that wasn't an ordinary bug. She leaned down and spoke rather quietly to it. “It's rude to impose on another's meal,” she said to it as she lifted a piece of chicken with her hashi and popped it into her mouth.

After a moment it lifted from the table and flew off. Her sharp eyes followed it and she saw as it headed toward the table of the Genin. It landed on the other boy that she had not had time to observe before. His slightly shaggy black hair was held back a bit by his leaf hitai-ate, and he wore sun glasses over his eyes. He had a long white coat with the collar pulled up around his face. So, he was the bug user.

Iwane went back to eating but knew that she was still being watched, and suspected that it was only by bug boy. She ignored him and concentrated on her meal. It had been a long time since she'd had a good meal, and she wasn't going to let anything ruin it. Soon, she was back in her rhythm and quickly finished the rice and then the soup.

The tea was the last thing she finished and finally stood. She waved the waitress off when she asked if there was anything else she needed, but she merely dropped a tip on the table, paid and went on her way. As she was leaving the restaurant she was aware of four pairs of eyes on her and couldn't hold back the grin that streaked across her face. She chuckled as she ducked under the noren.

She took to the rooftops when she was outside once again and headed toward the mountain that had the former Hokage's faces chiseled into the surface. Her figure stopped one the head of the Yondaime and she crouched and let her gaze sweep the area before her. She could see clear across the village and the forest on the other end. The sun had completely set while she had been inside eating and a normal person couldn't have been able to see, but she had inherited the sharp eyesight of the Morisue.

Amane was the same way and had gotten traces of the Morisue's acute hearing. She knew that Eizan had no attributes of the family. The Itagaki had once told her that she'd heard her grandfather call Eizan's mother “an adopted bastard child”. They understood then why she didn't resemble any of the Morisue or have any of the clan's abilities.

Even so, they had always considered her family, and family protected one another. They believed that and yet they had forsaken their families for her. The reason for that was because the kunoichi believed that what they were doing to Eizan was unforgivable. `No one should have to suffer such loneliness,' had always been her belief.

Her eyes narrowed as she saw a figure dash out of the woods and quickly jumped over the rooftops. A moment later, three more figures followed and they paused as the first one disappeared in between the buildings. Because of the distance and the darkness, she hadn't been able to tell who it was, but the braid had been unmistakable.

A smirk twisted the Erizawa's lips as she jumped off the mountain and disappeared only to appear on a rooftop below. She took off and headed back the way she had come. It was almost time to meet with Eizan at the ryokan.

After a quick stop at a shop she continued on. She knew her other team mate well, and that she wouldn't concern herself with food during reconnaissance. The earth user was completely faithful to their unofficial leader, but she knew that Amane was loyal to a point that she neglected her own needs. She understood the Itagaki after everything they'd been through together.

During their own childhood they hadn't had too many friends since they were related to the Ashikaga family. However, they hadn't blamed her for their seclusion. Eizan had been shunned as well, and had been called a monster by the village and many in their families. There was a time when they didn't understand why she was feared. The girls had only heard things being whispered of her, but never anything of what she had done to bring about so much hate upon herself. The other children hadn't known either but their parents told them to avoid the lone girl.

Then one day, when they were going to register for the Academy, the two of them had been there. They were accompanied by their parents to pick up their test scores and had come in time to see Eizan being denied her request to use her brother's name. It had been shocking and almost frightening when her hands had caught fire.

At first it looked like she had burst into flames by some type of jutsu, but they quickly realized that it wasn't hurting her and that it was coming from her. That day they had learned why she was feared and hated. However, for them it was hard to see the smaller girl as a monster.

Iwane had to admit that she'd been intimidated at first when she was placed on her team. After a while it became apparent that she was fairly easy to get along with. Also, that she was scarred underneath her cold and tough experience.

She sighed and lifted a hand to push away her bangs. They were all scarred by things from their past. Some were too delicate to touch.

`Shh, don't make a sound…'

A shudder passed through her before shaking off the dark memories of the past. She thanked the shop lady and headed toward the inn at a leisure pace. It wasn't too far and she wanted to walk there. At first, she had been certain that she might be followed by the ones in the restaurant but she hadn't seen anything so far.

Although when she was about to reach the street the ryokan was on she stopped and glanced to the side. Her hand shot out and she plucked something out of the air. A bug wiggled between her fingers, but made no move to hurt it. She had no intention of doing so, and she merely grinned at it.

“I really hate being bothered, you understand?” she said and knew it would be relayed to its master. She released it and saw as it flew to the right. When it was out of her sight she turned left at the corner she'd been at..

As she approached, Iwane saw Amane coming from the opposite direction with her hands stuffed into the pockets of her pants. She lifted a hand and waved enthusiastically at her, but the other girl merely greeted her with a nod.

Amane wasn't too talkative but at least they understood each other most of the time that words weren't needed. “Yo! How was it?” she asked her and Amane merely shrugged. She smirked since she knew that wasn't true but she only gave a nod. “Yeah, the same. Here.” She threw the bag at her.

Amane caught the bag easily and she lifted an eyebrow and looked at her in question. Iwane mimicked her and gave a shrug and then walked into the building. The wind user was a bit confused and opened the bag. She pulled out a canned tea that was still warm and a small covered take out plate.

When she opened it she found four chopsticks with six odango impaled along them. After staring at them for a moment she smirked and shook her head. She opened her tea and drank it as she stuffed the dumplings back inside the bag and followed after her team mate. At times, Iwane knew her too well.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Eizan coughed and more of her blood escaped her mouth to splatter the tatami mats beneath her. A figure loomed over her as she rested on her hands and knees. She wiped her mouth as the red head glared down at her with his cold, unfeeling eyes.

She tried to stand after a few moments and all she could hear was her own heart pounding loudly in her ears. He hadn't given her a chance to explain herself and he hadn't given her a reason for his anger toward her. In fact, he hadn't said a single word to her since she had arrived.

This was worse than the other night where he had busted her mouth open. She was sure he had cracked a few ribs this time, and she felt like curing since the exam was only a week away.

Gaara moved forward and planted a foot square on her back to force her down. Her arms and legs gave way under her so she kissed the floor. He ground his sandal-clad foot against her flesh as she felt her injured ribs ache with pain. She gritted her teeth to keep from crying out as the mats beneath her soaked up more of her blood as it slipped past her lips.

“What were you doing with that blonde imbecile?” he finally spoke and she heard the dangerous edge to his voice. His words caught her completely off guard. `Is he jealous?' The thought was dispelled as quickly as it came. `Why would he get jealous over a piece of property?' she thought bitterly.

She moaned in pain and dug her nails into her palms. “Gomen,” she gasped but he only pressed down harder. “I was getting something to eat and he was there! I said nothing to him but he started to follow me because he recognized me!”

She turned her face to the side as she felt the pressure slackened the slightest bit. “He is…Uchiha Sasuke's team mate and so I thought I might be able to learn some thing from the boy, but when I didn't learn anything useful, I tried to ditch him.”

This time the foot was completely removed. A moment later she hissed in pain as she felt him kick her against the side. She was sent rolling across the floor and the door opened a moment before she crashed into the wall next to it.

“Eizan-sama!” she heard two simultaneous cries. The sound of something hitting the ground followed before her two teammates rushed to her side. She felt their hands moving over her almost immediately to check for any fatal wounds, and a smile crossed her blood splattered face.

“I'm fine,” she sighed before she was dragged down into that familiar oblivion.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Iwane checked what room they were in before heading up, and Amane followed closely behind. She was drinking the tea that she had brought her even if it was most likely lukewarm by now. The Erizawa smirked and threw the key behind her, and heard the wind user catch it. She stepped aside as they arrived at the room to let her open it.

“Lazy,” Amane muttered as she unlocked it and Iwane could only smirk.

When she opened the door they were met with a rather shocking sight as Eizan rolled the last few feet to crash against the wall. She gasped as she called out to her at the same time as Amane did and was at her side almost immediately. Her teammate had dropped the canned tea as its contents spilled over the tatami mat and then the bag of odango joined it.

Amane checked the smaller girl for any injuries. Eizan's bloody lips had stretched into a faint smirk and muttered that she was fine before passing out. They didn't turn to look at the culprit since they already knew who it was.

The Itagaki clenched her hands and stood. Iwane's emerald eyes narrowed and matched Amane's glacial ebony. She turned to face the redhead who had been watching everything quietly. He didn't even bat an eye under her glare. “When she's gone, you'll hate yourself,” she growled between clenched teeth.

His eyes narrowed but she didn't flinch or say anything more. She started to help Iwane lift Eizan and carry her to one of the futons they had lain out. He said nothing and disappeared in his sand.

Both girls wanted to inflict the same pain on him that he had caused their friend, but it was common knowledge that he could easily kill them. Besides, Eizan would never forgive their betrayal if they ever tried to harm the red head. So, all they could do was move her to a comfortable place, and clean and dress her wounds.

Iwane frowned as she felt along her abdomen and she saw the wince from the unconscious girl and turned to look at her. “She might have fractured ribs...could even be broken,” she told Amane who promptly drove a fist through the wall. The earth user frowned and sat besides Eizan's prone form, and brushed the bangs out of her face since she had removed her hitai-ate. “Why does she have to love that bastard?” she asked, her voice strained.

The other girl had pulled her fist from the hole she had made, seemingly unharmed. She sighed now and ran both hands through her hair so the already loose braid came undone. The long strands of her silky hair spread and tumbled down her back before she hung her head. Her bangs fell over her Suna headband to obscure her eyes. “I don't know, Iwane,” she answered quietly. “By Kami, I don't know.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sasuke sighed and saw that he was the first one to arrive at their morning meeting place. Once again he would be wearing the same thing as the day before; white shorts with the right thigh bandaged with his kunai holster attached to it. A dark blue short-sleeved shirt topped it with the Uchiha family fan design on the back of it. The Konoha hitai-ate wrapped around his head and he was wearing the usual blue issue ninja sandals.

He was on the bridge and leaning against the rail as he waited for his teammates to show up, and wondered if they had over slept. That was quickly answered as he heard them approaching from different directions, and he observed them quietly before turning away. Ever since he had been paired with them he had predicted that day that they would only hold him back, and so far they had proved him right, except for Naruto in some instances.

In their last mission, while they had succeeded in protecting their charge, Sasuke had fallen under Haku's skill. It was infuriating but he knew that he might have another shot at fighting the older boy during the Chunin Exam that the ninja from Suna had talked about.

During the mission to Wave country Zabuza had died, but not before ending Gato's life with his last bit of strength. It was fortunate for the boy that Kakashi had reacted quickly or else he'd also be dead. He had sustained a grave injury while trying to save Momochi. Afterwards Zabuza collapsed, and the bandits had run screaming for their lives when the villagers came to fight to protect their homes. Kakashi had then carried the mist Nukenin to where Haku lay.

The Uchiha sighed and leaned against the railing and lifted his face toward the sky. He remembered that Sakura had actually proven useful at the time and had tended to Haku's wounds after she had confirmed that Sasuke was fine.

He had watched from a distance as the man had made the boy promise that he'd live a better life, asking Kakashi to look after him if it were possible. Then Zabuza had died and Haku had wept before the exhaustion had caused him to pass out. He knew that it must have been hard to lose his precious person, since Sasuke had lost all he cared about in one fell swoop.

They had returned to Konoha when Haku recovered. He was wearing one of Naruto's bowered black under shirts and Sasuke had handed him an extra pair of white shorts when he had refused to wear Naruto's oranges pants. It had been amusing to see the look on the boy's face as the blonde had presented him with the pants and black shirt, but his incredulous look had mostly been concentrated on the pants.

He had tied his hair into a ponytail and kept his sandals but left the remains of his broken Oinin mask at Zabuza's grave. Sasuke been close enough to hear promise he made over the freshly disturbed ground where Kakashi had buried the man. His Zanbato had been driven into the head of the grave, and it was the only thing that showed that the Kirigakure no Kijin was buried there.

`I'll return to die by your side.'

When their entourage had arrived back at Konoha the chronic late Jonin had dismissed them and had taken the boy with him to see the Hokage. He didn't know the exact details of what had happened except that Haku had freely given them any information they asked of him. It seemed that there had been a lot of hatred toward people with the Kekkei Genkai in Kirigakure, after ninja were largely blamed for the civil war that ravaged the village.

After Haku had assured that they thought him dead, most likely frozen during a blizzard, the Sandaime had allowed the boy to stay against the protest of the council. He was put in the Academy under one of the Chunin's surveillance and had almost immediately been allowed to graduate. He was officially made a Konoha Genin, but it had been forbidden for his origins to be known by anyone besides the few that already knew.

Sasuke didn't really care enough to reveal it, but he couldn't say the same thing about Naruto, since most of the time he was a clueless moron. Sandaime had placed the boy with a family that was willing to take him in and they gave him their family name. He had even another first name and he had become Hideaki Takejiro. It would be impossible to trace him back to Kiri even if a ninja from there ever saw his abilities.

It had been almost three months now since they had returned from the country of waves, and the last Sasuke had heard is that he'd been placed in a team. The Hideaki family that had taken him in had two children already, twins. The oldest was a boy called Anzai and the younger twin was a girl called Sanako.

The former mist-nin was placed on the same team as them. Their Jonin instructor, Namiashi Raido specialized mostly as a bodyguard and for this very reason had been assigned to the team, since Haku might be targeted if his true identity was ever found out.

Because they had the name last name many that didn't know them thought they were siblings and they came to be known as the `Hideaki Three'.

Sasuke didn't know how the two Genin felt about having the boy on their team but he had caught a glimpse of them once. Anzai had been walking ahead with his hands stuffed into his pockets and his face twisted into anger. Sanako on the other hand was walking besides the newly named Takejiro and chatting to him as if she had known him for ages.

The Uchiha glanced at his own teammates he sighed and returned his gaze to the ever lightening sky above him. From the very beginning he had thought that these two would only hold him back and he had been proven right on several occasions. Sakura had been more interested in trying to date him and Naruto had been too much of a failure to give him a good rivalry.

That had changed since Haku had come to live in Konoha. The blonde had been hanging out with the feminine looking ninja after their missions and it was apparent that they were training since he had gotten better.

Even Sakura had been friendly toward him and had seemed to have forgotten that he had tried to kill them. She had also improved her skills and had started to use the mind that she had always been praised for during her Academy days. Her sharp eyes had started to analyze situations and she'd learned to strategize better. Although there was still something that seemed to be holding her back and that could affect their teamwork.

Sasuke chuckled and wondered since when “teamwork” had interested him so much. All that had filled his mind for so long was revenge and nothing more. He only cared about getting stronger so he could accomplish his goal in life. That's all that mattered.

His eyes shifted to his two comrades as they spoke. Sakura had stopped wearing the red dress when she knew they had a mission, and now had one black pants and a long sleeved dark green shirt with a black sleeveless jacket over that where she carried scrolls, bandages and other useful first-aid supplies. She even had her long hair pulled back into a ponytail to keep it out of her face.

Naruto of course hadn't changed his clothing any and still wore the loud orange. That wasn't the same for his skills since they had improved a lot since the mission to the waves. If what the sand-nin had said was true about the Chunin Exam, then maybe it would be more interesting than he would have first expected.

Kakashi arrived late as usual. His long sleeved dark blue shirt was worn underneath his green flak Chunin vest and that was accompanied with matching dark blue pants and sandals. His shock of silver hair flowed from around his hitai-ate at his forehead that was slanted to cover his left Sharingan eye. He hopped off the archway of the bridge where he had appeared at and smiled, but it was only seen as his right eye curved up since most of his face was covered by his cloth mask.

“Sorry I'm late, I lost myself on the road of life,” he commented in a slight bored fashion that might have resembled Shikamaru.

“It's unbecoming for a Jonin to lie,” Sakura commented with a roll of her teal eyes. She placed her hands on her hips and glared at him all the same. “Now tell us why you had us get here so early only to be late yourself?”

The Copy-nin chuckled and waved his hand but didn't answer her question. “This is a bit sudden but I've recommended all three of you for the Chunin Exam.” He handed them the forms. “I might have not done so before the mission to the land of waves, but all three of you have improved greatly.”

Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura looked over the applications for a moment before looking at him for some kind of explanation. “Fill them out and turn them in to room 301 of the school by 4:00 pm six days from now. If you don't wish to compete, the exam is entirely voluntary.” He shrugged and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “That is all!” he said before he vanished.

Naruto looked excited and Sasuke couldn't blame him since from what he had seen so far, there were sure to be strong ninja joining the exam this year. He already had his eye on the two from sand, and from what he had seen of the blonde's improvement, Haku wasn't the only one from Konoha he was looking forward to fighting.

They walked off in silence as Sakura studied the paper and Naruto seemed to be lost on his own thoughts. Sasuke turned to look at the orange clad ninja since he was being quieter than usual. He chose to ignore him for the moment.

His thoughts were on the black-haired sand-nin that had recognized his name. It was possible that she had merely heard of the Uchiha Clan as a lot of people had, but there had been something there that made him believe there was more to it. His eyes were another reason that made him think of his past.

`Will you come back?'

`My nii-san will bring me back.'

`Promise?'

`I promise!'

He shook his head and sighed. That had been many years ago and before the Uchiha Massacre, and besides that had been a little girl. She had resembled an Uchiha and her eyes had been rimmed with a blood red, Sharingan-like color.

During those times he had believed that his brother really was a good person since he had been the one that had played `referee' between their squabbles, and there had been plenty of them. He knew that most of them ended in fights which he had usually won.

“Hey, Sasuke-teme?” Naruto's voice cut through his musings of the past and he turned to look at the pensive blonde. He was biting his lower lip and looking at him seriously.

The Uchiha knew not to disregard the Uzumaki when he was actually being serious. “What is it?” he asked, leaving out the insulting nickname.

He listened as he related what had happened yesterday after they had gone their separate ways. It was interesting but not that surprising. He had already gathered that the red head was a dangerous one that should not be taken lightly.

“He must be weak if he lets himself be treated like that,” he commented about the dark haired shinobi. He turned away and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

Naruto frowned and glared at the other's back. “No,” he told him. “There was something strange about both of them, and he's not weak. He was fast, very fast.”

Sasuke thought that he might be telling the truth but he knew that he'd find out during the exam. He'd get a chance to see first hand the kind of speed and strength both sand ninja had.

Naruto folded his arms behind his head and also turned away then and seemed to lose interest. “I'm going to go train,” he said and started to walk toward their regular training grounds. The Uchiha hesitated only a moment before following after him.

The pink haired kunoichi stared after her two teammates and then gazed in the direction of the Hokage Tower. Over the next six days many Genin teams from various villages would start to come to Konoha. When that time came her improved skills would be tested. All their skills would be put to the test.

She hurried after the two boys as the sun rose higher into the sky.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

`Earlier that day, an hour before dawn'

Gaara's lone figure stood on the rooftop of the ryokan they were staying at. Last nights events played out in his mind and he winced. He formed a seal before he moved his pointer and index fingers of the right hand over his left eye, and opened his left palm before him as he concentrated his Chakra.

`Daisan no Me.' An eye formed within his palm, and when he was able to see himself from it he closed his hand and it turned into sand. The eye reformed on the ceiling of the room just under his feet as he maintained his fingers against his eye.

The room was dark but he was use to the darkness and his third eye was able to see the three futons on the floor. It disintegrated and reformed over the one in the middle and saw that his instincts were right about Amane and Iwane putting her in between them.

Her wounds had been treated but she saw the ugly bruises that had formed over her pale features. He felt the same pain in his chest that he had so long ago described to Yashamaru before his uncle had betrayed and tried to kill him. It was a dangerous feeling.

`Your purpose is to kill, but won't she ultimately stand in the wayof that?'

Gaara banished the memory vehemently and let his sand seep into the room. It started to slip into her futon and cover her completely. When it started to move over her face it paused and quickly retreated.

She had been with him for so long, and he started to wonder how it would be without her afterwards. He started to wonder if he really had the courage to kill her now that she had become something for him. `But what is she to me?' he wondered.

He could find no answer as he turned his face to the sky as it lightened. The third eye was dispelled as he crossed his arms over his chest. As he waited for the rest of the village to wake up the wind picked up and lifted the ends of his now almost shoulder length scarlet locks. The leaves picked up off the street below him and danced with the wind before they lifted too high for him to see anymore.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Translations:
1. Kami: god; divine wind.
2.Kirigakure no Kijin: lit. “Demon of the Hidden Mist”
3. dobe: this is the name that Sasuke left off. Means dead last since Naruto was dead last in the scores at the Academy.
4. Daisan no Me: Third Eye
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
End Chapter Seven