A handsome red haired man strode down the hospital hallway quickly and with authority, his coat flapping furiously around his feet. A man in a doctor’s coat wearing spectacles went up to him. The Kazekage asked, “Is all well?”

“W-well sir,” the man stuttered nervously. “I b-believe that your wife passed away. We are all v-very sorry.”

Something flashed in the Kazekage’s indiscernible face. Grief? Regret? Whatever it was, it was gone quickly, leaving no trace behind.
“That was expected. What off the child. Healthy?”

The man looked increasingly nervous and stuttered all the more.
“Yes, sir. S-sir, there is something that w-we had not expected. There are-”

Before he could finish, the Kazekage opened the doors to the nursery and went in. He glanced at the crib, then turned on the man in a fury.

“Twins? You didn’t tell me she had twins!”

The man eeped and cowered in terror. A very nervous man indeed. For good reason. At this stressful moment, the Kazekage looked as though he would snap the man‘s neck.
Another man stepped in front of the Kazekage and said, “It was unexpected, sir. We did some tests on the children. It seems that the boy has the Shukaku in him, but it is very odd sir. The girl seems to be a part of the boy and the Shukaku. Look.”

The man motioned to the crib. Two babies were inside, both red haired, taking after their father. The boy was bigger than the girl, who was wailing continuously, while the boy watched them curiously. The boy had jade eyes, and the girl a deep emerald green.

“Watch.”

As they looked on, the small girl, turned to her brother. Seeing him, she quieted and reached out with her hand to touch him. To the surprise of the Kazekage, her hand disappeared into the boy, and she seemed to vanish into him in a few more seconds.

The Kazekage studied his children for a moment, than said, “Will this interfere with our plans for them?”

“No sir. I’ll demonstrate.”

The man removed a knife, and, lightning quick, thrust it towards the boy, who seemed to now be the only one in the crib. Sand rose and blocked the knife.
“I see.” said the Kazekage, who had not even blinked when the man tried to stab his children. “Names?”

“Your wife named the boy with her dying breath, sir( while cursing the entire village as well). His name is Gaara. We thought that you would want to name the girl.”

The Kazekage said with cold indifference, picking a random name from his mind, “Her name shall be Aiko.”

***
About 5 years later,
***

A little boy, of about the age of five and a half, looked out at a bunch of children playing, from a far off corner next to a building under a tree, where he would not be noticed.

Next to Gaara sat a little girl who looked similar to him, but more feminine, with long sharp bangs framing her soft, childish face, and short hair in the back..

She was looking up at her brother steadily, as though thinking deep and important thoughts of him. Her small frame is dressed in a pant and a too-long shirt that reached her knees and was tied around the middle with a belt. Shabby clothing, but hardly anyone has ever told her how to dress except Uncle Yashamaru, and anyway, she likes this type of loose clothing any how. When she had worn it, she had though of cutting the outside edge of the skirt with scissors, but her brother had firmly told her not to. He was already appalled at her fashion sense (or lack of it. He said she looked like something the cat dragged in.)

--Aiko--

I looked up at Gaara, my brother, and noticed his lonely look as he stared out towards the children. I’ve had that look many times on my face as well, and I know how he feels, what he‘s thinking.

Why do people treat us as monsters when we have something inside of us (mainly brother) that we never asked for? It’s their stinkin’ fault for sticking that stupid Shukaku in us in the first place! Sometimes I think they should thank us for keeping this guy inside of us if he’s so terrible.

I have the ability to make my substance (I don’t know what else to call it) go away so that I can go through things and stay inside of them,, but I can’t do it for long. I don’t know why I have this ability. Maybe it‘s like I have power over my molecules like Gaara has power over sand! Wow, I never thought of that.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I stay inside brother. Maybe because I stay inside Brother nobody knows how I look, except a very few. The outrageous rumors I’ve heard when I sneak out (I’m able to do that because nobody knows how I look) and mingle with the crowd! I’ve heard that I have three hideous heads, a crocodile’s tail, and tiger’s claws, and I’m cooped up ‘cuz if I was let loose I’d wreck havoc! Hah! Me? I’d never hurt a fly! Except for this annoying one which has been buzzing past my ear for ‘far’ too long.

I kicked my foot against the ground in anger as I tried to kill the pest, only succeeding in bringing up the sand around me, and I coughed and sighed, coming back to my original train of thought.

We’ve been isolated for all our lives. People looking at us with dreadful eyes, filled with hate and anger and fear. Those eyes that look as though they want to stab us to death..

I remember when our nurse fled from our house screaming with terror, and bleeding. Served her right! Trying to stab me, it was a good thing brother hurt her.

I’ve been ever so lonely. Maybe most would think that Gaara and i wouldn’t be lonely because we have each other, and it is true that I can’t imagine life without Gaara, but, the company of just me, myself, and Gaara is hardly fun. Being shunned and hated and run from like demons isn’t exactly great either.

Sometimes I sneak out and mingle with the children, listening to what they have to say of me and my brother. I search for someone who will play with us. There never is anyone. Everyone views us as monsters and despise us. I never stay long. It’s hard to stay inconspicuous if you’re remembered.

I give up on the fly and look out from our corner at the children wistfully. I wish to join them as well. Why do people think we are monsters?

I see a butterfly and follow it with my eyes as it flutters about. So beautiful. Maybe I can get Brother to catch it with his sand.

Suddenly, Gaara got up and went forward. I ran to him.

“What is it?” I asked.

He just pointed.
I saw the ball stuck on the top of the building.

I grinned at him. “Do you think they’ll like us if we get it down?”

He grinned back. “Yeah!”

“Then let’s go!”

I touched his shoulder, and my hand disappeared into him. Calmly, I stepped into him, disappearing entirely. Once, when I did this in front of a maid, she’d fainted. Funny. Maybe she’d thought I was a ghost or something.

I settled down, and Gaara went forward, stretching his hands out in front of him. Sand surrounded the ball, and it gently floated down to land in Brother‘s hands. The kids turned around and caught sight of Gaara.

Gaara held the ball out to them. They started muttering among themselves, and suddenly, they turned and ran , screaming. I could feel Gaara’s desperation and felt it myself. Why didn’t they like us? We got the ball for them. Why did they treat us like monsters?
Why?

Brother thrust his hands out and shouted, “Stop!”

The sand rushed forward, catching a girl on the foot and tripping her to the ground. She let out a scream, and suddenly there was a figure standing in front of her and the other children.

“No Gaara, Stop!”

The sand struck Yashamaru, and blood dripped down his hands. I and brother stopped.

Why? I answered my own question. Because to them we are monsters.

***

Yashamaru walked into the room, his hands bound with bandage. Gaara touched them gently.
“Do they hurt?”

I was sitting in a corner, studying a book about medicine. Maybe I could make one and cure Yashamaru.

“Radish leaf, Commomerant, Scieer… What the heck is all of this?” I murmured after a while, and looked up to ask Yashamaru. My heart skipped a beat as Yashamaru slit his own finger. Great! Now I had one more cut to heal. Men. I listened in on their conversation, and looked for ways to help small cuts.

“Hmm. Band aid! There’s band aid in the bathroom. Um, turmeric powder.” I looked up to see Yashamaru sucking the wound, and then Gaara taking the hand and sticking it in his own mouth. I threw my hands up in the air, book and all ( it landed on my foot a second later) and said, “Great, ’now’ you’re introducing bacteria to the wound!”

I stood up, stomped over to them, grabbed Yashamaru’s hand, and stuck it in my own mouth. At Yashamaru’s questioning look, I said sheepishly, “My mouwth doesn’t have any bacteria.”

He laughed, and Gaara grinned, and I glared.

Suddenly, Gaara smiled and said, “Can I ask you a favor?” to Uncle Yashamaru.

***

Gaara ran down the moonlit street happily, holding a bag of medicine in his hand. I was excited at his brilliant idea ( at least I didn‘t have to get Commomerant, whatever that was, and make the medicine. Brother was a genius!), and I asked Gaara from inside of him with my mind (I can‘t speak out loud in here) , ‘Gaara, do you think that girl will forgive us?’

‘Yeah, if we give her the medicine, I bet she will!’ answered Gaara, just as excited as I was. I grinned as we came up to the girl’s house and Brother rang the doorbell. Soon the door opened and the girl looked at us. When she saw us she scowled, but Gaara spoke before she could close the door. “I’m sorry. I know it must hurt. Here’s some medicine. It’ll make you feel better.”

Gaara smiled at the girl, but she slammed the door in our face, saying “Monster!” as she did so.
Me and Gaara were both in shock for a moment and we stared at the door. As Gaara turned around to go dejectedly back down the street, I slipped out of him, took form, and walked up to the door again, knocking.

I was furious. What right did that sack of bones with straw on her head have calling us monster?

I could here a scrambling sound on the other side of the door, and knew that the girl was getting a chair so she could look through the eyehole at me. Checking to make sure Gaara wasn’t still there. When she saw me, she opened the door and looked at me.

“Who are you?” she asked curiously.

I smiled sweetly at her and said, “I saw what happened this morning. I was wondering how you were, so I came here to check it out. Can I come in?”

The girl allowed me to come in, and I looked at the pictures of her and her family enviously. I wonder what it would be like to have ‘real’ parents.

She led me to a chair in her living room, and I held my hand out to her and introduced myself, like a good young lady must. That’s what Uncle Yashamaru had said. Uncle Yashamaru tells me a lot. When I asked him why, he said I wasn’t as responsible as Brother. Meanie. I am too responsible!

“Hello, my name is um- Isane. Nice to meet you.” I said, making a name up out of the blue. What had sprang to my lips at first and caused me to stammer was Aiko, and it was common knowledge that that was Gaara‘s twin‘s name. Good thing I didn’t blurt it out.

“My name is Keiko. Thank you for coming to see me. That boy was so horrid! I was scared to death. Do you know that that boy was here just know? He apologized and was giving ma bag of medicine. ‘I’ bet it was poisoned or something. He really is a monster, just like everyone says. His twin as well. I heard that it is an extremely ugly thing.”

I felt my anger flare at this, but I held myself in check. I’m not ugly! And Gaara does have a name, you know, miss I-just smelled-something-sour.

The girl went on, obviously eager to tell juicy gossip to me. I hate these kinds of people. Actually, she’s the first person I’ve met who’s like this…. Never mind. I still hate her.

Keiko leaned forward eagerly. “I overheard my parents talking. Do you know that the Kazekage is going to send assassins to kill those two? His own children! Good riddance, I say.”

My eyes widened, but I hid my shock. I felt betrayal prick me, but I pushed it away. There was no love lost between us and our father. We were just his tools of power and destruction, not his ‘kids‘.

Idiot! Idiot! I mentally kicked myself. I shouldn’t have left Gaara alone like that after this. Idiot!

Eager to leave and get to Gaara, I stood up abruptly. “I’m really sorry. I have to go know. It’s late, and my parents are waiting.” I wish. The only parent I had left was trying to kill me. Oh the irony!

She escorted me to the door, and I said, “Bye, “ before running off. I ran so fast, I couldn’t see properly, so I ran smack into somebody, and without thinking, I hugged that person, shivering uncontrollably with the news I had just learned. I needed comfort, and my senses abandoned me. After a long moment, I came to my senses (fine time to abandon me, senses!) and looked up at the person I had grabbed a hold of.

Cold eyes looked back at me, and I saw dark red hair that was an exact replica of mine shine in the moonlight.

Father.

My heart hurt, and fear filled my mouth with its bitter taste. I pushed away from him and ran, skidding to a stop as I encountered an obstacle once more. Two bloody bodies lay on the ground, and people were gathered around them. I knew at once who had done this.

Gaara.

I ran forward, forward, until I sensed him. Upon the roof of the building next to me. Jumping up, I grabbed hold of the wall and pulled myself up, bit by bit.

Halfway up, I swore. “Stupid, watermelon rinds floating in fruit punch with a side of goat feces!”
(I’m smart. Most five year olds don’t know how to read, let alone know the word ‘goat feces‘. Hah, Miss Prissy!)

“Whose idea was it that climbing up walls were better than the stairs!” I yelled, exasperated, as sand filled my nails “Oh yeah-mine.”

I heard a scream. Gaara!

I scrambled up faster, ignoring my nails. Near the top, I stopped, transfixed by what I was hearing.

“The Kazekage gave me this mission, the mission to assassinate you.” These words filled my ears.
What shocked me was the voice. Yashamaru. Oh Yashamaru. Tears pricked my eyes. I wiped them away, nearly falling 30 feet in the process.

I heard Gaara’s voice say hopefully, echoing my own thoughts, “T-the Kazekage ordered you to, you had no choice! You had to do it, he told you-”

Yashamaru interrupted, “No Gaara. I could’ve refused this mission, but I accepted it.”

My blood turned cold.

“I’ve always hated you Gaara. I’ve tried to see you and your sister as my sister’s children, but I couldn’t. Deep in my heart I hated you for taking my beloved sister from this world. She died cursing this village, Gaara, and she named you after the phrase, ‘self loving carnage.’ She never loved the two of you, she named you that because she wished for you both to take revenge upon the village that murdered her.”

Every one of Yashamaru’s words pierced my heart like deadly knifes, taking my breath away and making me gasp. Tears flooded down my face. Yashamaru. The only one whom we thought loved us actually hated us. His words hurt more than the fact that my father was trying to kill me. They hurt so much.

My hands hurt, and I hauled myself over the edge suddenly, and as I did so I saw Yashamaru’s eyes flick to me, and I saw him smile a terrible sad smile. He opened his shirt, revealing a multitude of paper bombs, and said, “Please die.”

Those two terrible words pierced my soul. I crumpled to the ground behind Gaara as the explosion blew my uncle to smithereens. I was sobbing so hard I could hardly see for tears. I slowly got to my feet and went to crouch in front of my brother. I saw a kanji on his forehead. It said love. As brother looked at me his eyes were cold.

I reached out and took hugged him suddenly, shuddering with sobs. As I dissolved into him, my tears subsided. I felt brother’s feelings as clearly as if they were my own, and so they came to be.

We were alone. We were always alone. We had no one except each other. And our reason to live was to kill .
***

When we went back to our house, I lay in my bed ( I can sleep unlike brother. His bed is always unused.) thinking of today’s events. My heart had hardened. I know knew better than to trust anyone other than Gaara. Yashamaru did that to me.

As I thought, my thoughts drifted towards my and brother’s situation. We were both trapped in never ending darkness, alone without light, without hope or love. The door to the outside was officially shut and sealed. Our souls were trapped, and they felt as though they had no purpose. We had made a purpose. Our purpose was to kill so that we could live.
As I curled up, hugging a pillow to me, I thought something.

I don’t like that purpose.
I want to be the torch in my Brother’s darkness, lighting his soul at least a little. I know I can never open the door to the outside for him. He must open it alone. But I will try to open my door, and while I try, I want to be his light in that never ending darkness.

That is my purpose.

***
3 and a half years later
***

A red haired girl ran through narrow alleyways, leaping over random things as she barreled through. Three men ran in pursuit, chasing her as she ducked into a network of alleyways behind the buildings.

She leaped over a little boy, ducked between a man’s legs, and got cornered in a dead end. Looking warily behind her at the men that followed her, she backed up to the wall.

The men walked up to her, looming over her small frame.

“Hmph! It was a good idea to pose as her new trainer a couple of weeks before the real one arrived and try to get her first. She’ll be easy to kill.”

At this, the girl’s eyes narrowed just the teeniest bit, but she opened them wide again, trying her best to look cute and innocent.

“Oh dear sir! What do you mean, this talk of killing? Horrible, horrible thing to talk about. Come, let us go back and have a tea party.”

“Oh, we’ll have a tea party alright, little girl. You can have one in Hell.” The man raised a knife in front if him and brought it down upon the girl. Ducking nimbly, she stepped forward and grabbed his shirt contemptuously, bringing him down to eyes level with surprising strength.

“How are you supposed to be my trainer if I can kill you,” she made her substance go loose and pushed her other hand through his body so that it emerged from the other side and waved at the other two men.
“as easy as 1-2-3?”

She made her molecules as hard as rock, blasting the man’s innards, and throwing blood all over her.
Throwing his lifeless body aside,, she jumped over it and flipped in the air landing in front of the next man.

As he rushed her, she jumped up, and whirled, throwing a kunai knife at him which he easily dodged. Landing in a crouch, she jumped up and flipped over him, grabbing his enormous sword from his back and slashing it across the other man’s front. Blood spurted from the wound, and she let him fall.

As he fell, she whirled around, and face the one whose sword she had filched. He was glaring at her, and ran forward, pulling three kunai from his weapons pouch.

Aoki fell to her knees, suddenly feeling weak, just as the man threw his kunai. One grazed her shoulder, but the others missed. He strode forward and picked her up by the neck, beginning to squeeze, planting a smug smirk upon his face.

Desperately, she made her arm go through his, and hardened her molecule’s quickly. The man screamed in pain as a hole appeared in his arm, and Aoki, strength refound, slipped from his grasp, and killed him.

Massaging her neck tenderly, she glared at the dead man.

“Pah. Wow, you got a strike in! Congrats. If I hadn‘t felt weak I could‘ve killed you easy.” Aoki said, wiping the sword with grass ripped from the ground. She leaned over him and slid the sword back into it’s sheath. “Are you really Chunin?” she asked, addressing the dead men nonchalantly.

Aoki removed a hanky from her pocket and wiped her bloody hands in it, and then looked at her wound. Seeing that it was really shallow, she bound it with the hanky.. She looked ruefully at her now blood red clothing.

“Ugh. You ruined my new shirt! Why can’t you guys just leave us alone? I can kill you easy, so why do you insist on coming and dying?”
Aoki rolled her eyes and muttered to herself. “Wow, not talking to people is making me loony. I’m talking to dead people!”

She jumped up onto a nearby roof, and raced off across the roofs to the apartment she and Gaara stayed in.

---Aoki---

As I raced across the rooftops, I wondered what to make for lunch. I sighed. I had been making lunch when those guys attacked me. They had showed up at the front door, saying they were my trainers, and that the Kazekage had ordered them to train me. Then, when I was cooking, they attacked me.

As I raced to get away, I knocked over the pot of curry I had been mixing. Boy would I have a mess to clean up when I got back.

Stinking tutors. More like Assassins/Tutors. They’d probably thought that I’d be an easy target since I was just a 9 year old girl.
Idiots.
Now they’re dead Idiots.

Hmm, well I had gleaned some info from them. I was going to get a tutor in the next week or so. I guess the Kazekage thinks that he might as well train me so that I can do his dirty work.
Plus, I don’t go to the Academy, so someone needs to teach me.
And I ‘am’ his kid. He had a responsibility, you know.
Gaara (lucky guy) obviously doesn’t need any training.

I went back in through a window, and went to the kitchen to clean up the mess. I didn‘t want to get all dirty again after bathing.

As I went to my bedroom to grab a change of clothes, I passed Gaara. His arms were crossed, and he was leaning against the wall. He looked pointedly at my wound and the blood and I grinned, saying, “The so called “tutors” tried to kill me. I killed them instead, and I barely broke a sweat! What pushovers.”

Gaara looked at me with his chilly eyes, and said, “Why were you wounded?”
He knows that I’m not easy to get a hold of, even if I’m not in battle mode.

I pawed through my clothes, removing some long loose jeans, a long-sleeved purple shirt and ignored his question.

“I’m taking a bath. Would you mind making lunch?”

At that, I’m pretty certain the smallest trace of panic crossed his face, and I almost laughed.
(Gaara’s panic is so hard to see, that a microscope can’t catch it! Only I can.)

I grabbed a towel, the first aid kit, and some underwear, and went into the bathroom.
After a refreshing shower, and after I washed my clothes and hung them out to dry, I went into the kitchen. I knew Gaara would never be caught dead wearing an apron, but it’s always good to hope isn’t it?

To my extreme disappointment, he was already done making lunch, and done eating it too! I grabbed a sandwich (talk about quick and easy lunch!) and went over to open some letters. One of them was from the Kazekage. I opened that first.

“Gaara and Aoki,” I read aloud. “What, no ‘Dear’?” I muttered.
I resumed reading.

“ This Tuesday, you both are expected to come to Building No. 3 to meet your older siblings, Kankuro and Temari. Wow, what a short letter. Tuesday is in two days. I wonder how they’ll be like?”

Gaara didn’t answer. Hmph. It’s surprising I don’t die with boredom, what with all this ‘interesting’ conversation going on.
I rolled my eyes, and plopped down in front of Gaara. I narrowed my emerald eyes and met his jade ones.
“Gaara,” I began sweetly, making my eyes wide and innocent again. “Would you mind training with me? Pretty please? I lied today, tone of them almost got me, and I need to train a bit more. Pleease? You don’t have anything else to do.”

He frowned and said , “ Alright.”

I grinned and reached out and put my fingers against the side of his mouth, trying to shape it into a smile. (most people would call this an attempted suicide.)

“You should smile more. You’d look cuter.”

He glared at me, and his sand rose up to swat my hand away. I made my hand insubstantial, and the sand went through it like it was not there. The sand rose to surround my body, before I could make that insubstantial too.
The sand covered my entire body, and some more flew from Gaara’s gourd.

I struggled uselessly against the sand, and yelled, “Uncle, Uncle! And that means I give up!” as he squeezed a little.

As the sand dropped from me and poured back into the guard, I fell to my knees, brushing the sand off me.

“Can’t you practice Sand Coffin on someone else?” I complained.

---Gaara---

Gaara looked at Aoki as she dropped to her knees, and brushed his sand off.

“Can’t you practice Sand coffin on someone else?” she complained loudly.

Gaara turned around and walked to the door, ignoring her as she ran up to him, her previous anger immediately forgotten.
“Let’s go!” she yelled, punching her arm in the air.

Gaara looked at his sister as chattered on and on about something or the other. Always chattering incessantly about this and that, not even taking a break for a breath. When she went inside of him she was much more quitter than this. Gaara suddenly thought of something.

For a veeery long amount of time Aoki had not recharged (meaning gone inside of Gaara.)
Gaara said, “Why have you not recharged in such a long while.” making the question sound more like a statement.

Aoki looked at him guiltily, and said, “Oh, you noticed? I’m just trying an experiment. I’m seeing how long I can stay away from you without any ill affects. Sometimes I have weak spells, but those only last for a second. It’s been 34 days already!”

Gaara glanced at his sister, wondering whether she had gotten hurt because of one of those weak spells, then stiffened suddenly. His sand rose up, and blocked a kunai knife that had been heading towards his throat. She glanced at it as it clattered to the floor of the living room, then suddenly grabbed Gaara’s hand, pulled the hood of her jacket over her head, and raced out of a nearby window, hauling him along. She let go of his hand during the descent, and landed in a crouch on the floor. Gaara landed upon his sand, and turned around. His sand deflected a few kunai, and reached up to grab the ninja (in midair) who had thrown them.

Gaara’s eyes alighted with bloodthirsty pleasure, and he held out a hand and crushed into a fist. “Sand coffin!”

Blood dripped from the sand, and Gaara opened his fist, letting it slide back into the guard. Aoki stood up and commented dryly, “Well that’s one way to practice. Good thing you didn’t do that inside. What a mess that would‘ve made!”

---Aoki---

I glanced at Gaara. Oh joy. That stupid assassin just ‘had’ to go and make Gaara all bloodthirsty, didn’t he? Now I have to be extra quick when training.

I looked around. On the right, the desert stretched miles on end, and on the left was the village. I pulled the hood low over my head, and raced over to our private training spot. When I arrived there, Gaara was already there. He whipped his sand towards me, and our training session officially began.

***

Whump!

I lay back in the sand, panting loudly. Gaara stood over me. I grinned up at him.
“I’ll-huff-get to the house in a -puff- minute, Gaara. You-huff- can go on -puff- ahead.”

Gaara nodded and left. I lay in the sand, as the sun sank beneath the earth, and it became dark, thinking… And getting my breath back.

I looked up at the starry sky. It was beautiful.
On that day- so long ago, when I was five and Yashamaru-….passed away,
I had had the theory that I had control over molecules. Over the years that idea had faded gently, as I tried several experiments on rocks and plants.

I came to another theory, the theory that I had control over the molecule’s of my own body.
To find out more about cells, and molecules, I’d visited the library (wearing a large jacket with a hood, of course).

Some of the stuff was actually interesting. I learned a lot about cells, and got a lot of theories. One theory I’d had was, What if I could harden my molecules to resist damage? (This had come after a long amount of studying.)

I’d tested it out and I remember the results.

First, I’d focused on my hand, trying to make my molecules harder and more stronger. I practiced this for a couple of days, until I was a pro at it. Soon, I could make any part of my body harder and stronger. I decided to call this SM, Stronger Molecules. (if it’s unimaginative, don’t blame me, I was seven.)

Then, I tried to figure out a way to use this in battle. I tried punching and kicking walls and such, but this didn’t work for me. I’m small and light, and I don’t have the strength or stamina to do such things and keep that up for long. So, I had to devise a style of fighting for myself.

I thought for a long time and soon devised the method of fighting I had used in the fight before. I’d make my substance go loose (no other way to explain it…) and put my hand through something, then quickly make my substance super hard so that my hand would make a hole in the something.

First, I tried this out on soft objects, like pillows and mattresses. ( I ruined so many pillows, Gaara locked me in a room with all of them and a needle and thread. When angry or irritated with me, Gaara sure can come up with creative solutions…)
Then I stupidly tried it out on a tree branch. It took ‘forever’ to get the splinters out. But, that incident gave me some insight on what would happen if I used this in a fight with someone and I wasn’t ready.
My hand would most certainly get mangled.

I trained hard and long, trying different things, until I finally mastered it! That was a long time ago. Now, I’m working on a new theory. What if I could speed up the process of mitosis* ( cell division: the process by which a cell divides into two daughter cells, each of which has the same number of chromosomes as the original cell), and heal myself when I got hurt?

I sat up, and removed a kunai from my pouch. I carefully slit the palm of my hand, and concentrated, closing my eyes. I felt something cool run down my palm, and I opened my eyes and gasped in horror. The wound had widened, when before it had been just a centimeter, it had doubled in size and depth.
Blood rushed from my palm, but I held a scrap of cloth to it until it stopped.

This had been a bad idea. I would never try it again.

I got to my feet, and stretched. It was really late. The moon was full. It shone so big and bright in the distance, my heart soared for some reason. It was dark, and the wind rustled across the sand dunes, and whirled around me, whispering in my ear. I closed my eyes, and listened to the strange song of the desert.

After a while, I snapped out of it, and saying a mental farewell to my most favorite place in the world, I ran lightly to the sand village, eager to get back and… EAT!

I did some acrobatic flips, and removed a kunai knife and threw it at a dead stump, a long while in front of me. When I arrived, I saw that it had hit dead center and I grinned.

I snatched it up, and resumed my way back to the village. Soon, I was jumping roof from roof. On one I stopped and caught my breath. I looked into a nearby window, and caught my breath. It was a child’s birthday. The whole room was decorated with balloon’s, and in the middle of the table sat a huge cake. The child whose birthday was being celebrated was laughing at a joke one of his friends had made and raised the knife ready to cut the cake.

I looked away, not wanting to spy (too late) and I felt sad. I had no idea why.

Shrugging it off, I was about to go ahead, but then I felt something grab me around my waist.
Caught by surprise, I turned around to look at my attacker.

He was huge, a giant of a man, obviously not one of the village’s ninja. His body was large and muscular, and fat, and his dull eyes looked me over.
“So this is the one none of the Chunin can, kill, hmm? Why not send Jonin I wonder.” A deep gruff voice emanated from his lips, and I flinched.

I had often thought that. Why not send Jonin? They could easily kill me. But I knew the answer to that question. If they killed me Gaara would kill them. Every single one of them, with ought mercy. He would probably set the Shukaku loose.

I brought my mind back to my predicament, preparing to loosen my substance, and slip through his hands.
Suddenly, he tightened his hands, and I gasped.
“Oh, no, little girl. I wouldn’t want you to escape. I wonder how much the Kazekage will give me if I break your ribs and bring you in front of him in a platter.”

He squeezed harder, and I focused on hardening my molecules around my stomach. If I tried to loosen my substance, he would kill me.

He squeezed harder, and a jolt of pain shot through me. Ah, there would be a nasty bruise there in the morning. I concentrated harder. He squeezed harder. I screamed.

---Gaara--

Gaara looked at the kitchen appliances with distaste. Aoki was late. He’d have to make dinner.
Gaara flicked his sand at the window, opening it.

Suddenly, he heard something that made him freeze. A scream. Aoki.

Without a sound, he leaped to the window, and jumped out. What had that idiot girl gotten into know? She hadn’t needed saving from him since they were little. She’d been practicing so hard, that she had become perfectly able to take care of herself.

Gaara raced across the rooftops, and his jade eyes narrowed. Whoever had hurt his sister would be fun to practice a new technique on.

---Aoki---

I gathered every ounce of strength I had in my body, and made my stomach as hard as I could.
Muscles (let’s call him that) squeezed harder and harder, but he couldn’t do anything.

My breath began to come in short gasps. Remember what I said about not having enough stamina to hold this really long? *sigh* I’m going to have to work on that.

Suddenly, I saw Gaara behind the guy holding me, and my eyes met his. His eyes were sharp and slightly bloodthirsty. Slightly might be an understatement. I smiled in relief and closed my eyes, trying not to slip into unconsciousness.

---Gaara--

Gaara landed noiselessly behind the man holding Aoki, and made eye contact with her. She smiled at him, and closed her eyes. Gaara let his sand gently surround the muscular man’s neck. He squeezed, and the man dropped Aoki, who landed on her head and let out an indignant “Ow!”

The Muscled man had simply become unconscious at Gaara’s attack, and he jumped up, and swirled.

He glared. “I’ll kill you, child.”

Suddenly, his eyes widened as sand completely trapped him, holding his hands and legs.

Aoki stepped forward and glared at the man. She slapped him, and said, “I hope you realize your folly. My brother‘s anger is something you don‘t want.”
She then turned to Gaara, and asked sweetly, “Gaara, you may do with him what you want, but could you do it away from here? I’ll go back to the house.”

Gaara nodded curtly, and leaped away, taking the terrified man with him.

-*)_(*-

The Jonin stared at the carcass of the man in shock.
The man had a terrible expression upon his face, and his neck was broken. Upon closer inspection, it was seen that the man’s ribs had been broken, and he lay upon a plate drenched with his own blood.

Kankuro sat in the living room of the house, lounging in an armchair. His messy, loong brown hair fell over his face as he yawned, and he pushed it back impatiently.

“You need a haircut.”

Temari stood in the doorway, in jeans and a shirt, her blonde hair in two pony-tails. The twelve-year old walked over and sat down on an armchair opposite Kankuro.

“Says who?” asked Kankuro grumpily.

Temari looked at him, eyebrows raised, and said, “Says me and the entire Sound Village. You can hardly see through that mop of hair, baka. You should look good for tomorrow, not like a homeless bum.”

Kankuro rolled his eyes, and twitched his finger slightly. Temari didn’t even flinch when something touched her shoulder, and told Kankuro, “Stop that. You do know what day it is tomorrow, right?”

Kankuro pretended to think, playing with the puppet. It walked over to him jerkily. “Tuesday?”

Temari glared. “Yes, Tuesday, and the day we meet our dear younger siblings.”

“Oh yeah!” Kankuro smacked his head like he had actually forgotten. “How could I forget- not! I’m not a moron, alright?”

“Says who?” Temari said teasingly.

Kankuro ignored her, and said. “We know how Gaara looks, but what about Aiko? Do you think she can actually go invisible, like people say, so that no one except a select few know how she looks like? That she looks hideous like an oni ( Rowanrose; If you don’t know, an oni is a demon..)”

Temari looked thoughtful. “No, I just think that she knows how to blend in. And, I don’t think she’s that ugly… Anyway, we’ll find out tomorrow.”

Kankuro went on imagining how she would look like (curiosity killed the cat) as Temari picked up the phone.

‘Hmm, I’ve seen Gaara before, from a distance. It was just his back. Since they’re twins, they must look at least a little bit alike right? Or maybe, she doesn’t look like him at all!’
Kankuro was jolted out of his thoughts as Temari said loudly, “Yes. Yes. He’ll be there shortly. 12:00, right? Yes. Thank you. Goodbye.”

Kankuro looked at her quizzically and asked, “Who was that?”

Temari smirked. “The barber.”

***

Aiko twitched on her bed, fidgeting. Sweat ran down her face, and she opened her mouth to scream, to yell for help, anything, and then- she fell out of the bed.

Aiko woke with a start, gasping, her eyes wide as she looked frantically around the room. Then, she seemed to realize where she was, and slowly calmed down.

She got up carefully, wincing, and wondered whether one of her ribs had cracked. She poked at her stomach gingerly, and stifled a yelp.

Aiko sighed and went gingerly step by step to the bathroom.

---Aiko---

I opened the door to my plush bathroom. It was filled with fluffy mats of different assorting colors that felt heavenly under my toes. Before going in, I glanced at my clock.
3:00 am.
Nice.

I took one step into the bathroom. Suddenly, my knees felt weak, and I thinking, “Not now!” and I fell, face down, onto my fluffy blue mat.

I struggled to move, but I felt so tired. My head felt groggy. The mat smelt like lavender.
‘I never knew that.’ I thought hazily, before closing my eyes.
I’ll just rest for a second. Just…until…this weak…spell..pass..

---Gaara---

Gaara stepped into Aiko’s bedroom. It was late. Playing with that man had taken longer than expected. Gaara’s mouth curved into a bloodthirsty smirk. Aiko had given him an interesting play toy. And mother had been asking for some blood.

He glanced at the bed. It was mussed up, but Aiko wasn’t there. His eyes narrowed, and he saw the light in toe bathroom. He went over. The door was open.

Gaara’s sand pushed it open even further. He stepped into the bathroom, and looked around.

Gaara eyes took in the plush-over-kill blankly. There were mats all over the floor, so soft that you could fall asleep on them.

Gaara looked down. Apparently, Aiko had.

He felt angry- this had something to do with that experiment of hers. If she felt ill, he would threaten her.

‘Threaten.’ Mother said softly. Images of blood floated softly to the surface, gory images involving Aiko’s death.

Gaara’s sand swirled around him. His bloodthirsty feeling filled him, and he pushed it back down. “No mother.” He told Mother.. “Not her. She is our flesh and blood.”

He exited the bathroom, hands clenching and unclenching slowly, leaving the light on in the bathroom.

***

I woke up groggily. The first thing I saw was brown. I blinked. The brown came into focus, and I stared. What the heck was I doing on the bathroom floor?

I got up gingerly, and yawned, remembering, touching the red carpet mark on my cheek. My stomach throbbed, and I blearily opened the mirror cabinet and removed some bruise lotion. I had put it on the moment I’d come home. Obviously, it’s effects had worn off.

I twisted the cap off the little bottle and set it aside. I removed my top, and winced a I saw the large colorful bruises decorating my abdomen.

“Ouch.” I traced the path of an old scar down my stomach, and abruptly pulled my hand away, reaching for the bottle and smearing the blue, healing charka infused lotion on me.

After I was done, I carefully bound myself with bandages, making them nice and firm. They circled entirely around my abdomen and chest, and after a moment, the throbbing slowly diminished. I stretched happily, and went about, changing into proper clothes and brushing.

Then, I went back into my bedroom. The clock read 10 o’clock, and I sighed and ran a brush through my hair. I thought about last night.

I didn’t even want to speculate what had happened to that man. I felt a little guilty. Gaara hadn’t had a chance to relieve his bloodlust for a while. I’m sure the Shukaku had been egging him..

But it was only a little guilty.

I went into the kitchen, tossing my hair brush onto a table, and rummaged through the fridge, grabbing some milk. I took out a box of cereal from a cabinet, and sat down, digging in. Nothing like a bunch of Cinnamon Toast Crunch’s for breakfast!

*

I slurped up the last of my milk and began to wash the bowl. I glanced at the clock. 10 :30. Huh. I always was a slow eater.

I put everything away and went to Gaara’s room. Empty. There was a note. I frowned. Gaara ‘never’ left notes.

It read (and wow, Gaara has nice handwriting);

Stay here. Don’t go anywhere.

I groaned. How was I supposed to do that? I needed groceries! If he wanted lunch, I needed to go shopping. I searched about for pen.

“Pen, penn, pen pen penn.” I murmured to myself, searching for one. “Ah, finally.”

I grabbed the pen from his desk drawer, and wrote;

I went shopping. We don’t have anything for lunch.

I leaned back, inspecting my penmanship. I frowned. “Terrible!” I declared, and tore a page out of a notepad, beginning to make a grocery list.

*
The sun beat down upon my back. I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand.

I looked around at the stalls. Tomatoes, hmm, did I need tomatoes?
I checked the list, and though to myself, ‘Yep.’

* a while later *

I set the bags down and stepped into my favorite ice cream shop.

“One marble fudge please.” I told the lady behind the counter. She smiled at me, and scooped out some ice-cream, pouring some sprinkles (my favorite) on top.
I began to say something, but she said. “It’s on the house sweetie. You’re our number one customer, and you bring all those others too.”

I grinned at her beneath my hood, and said cheerily, “Thanks!”

I went back out and sat on a bench, licking my ice-cream cheerily, thinking about what the woman had said. “I should see them soon.’ I thought, and popped the rest of my ice-cream into my mouth.

Then, I got up, and picked up the shopping bags, sighing at the weight.
‘Think of it as training.’ I thought to myself. ‘I’m sure to build up stamina with all this. Let’s just hope I don’t get a weak spell. They’re getting more frequent.’

At that very moment (ironic, right?), my legs went out from underneath me, and the bags flew from my grasp. Food rolled all over the place, and I groaned as a person accidentally stepped on one of my tomatoes.

I regained my feet unsteadily, and a man yelled at me, “Watch where your going, brat!”

I felt like glaring at him, but he might take that as provocation, so I kept my head down and picked everything up. I saw another person , about my age, pick the other things up, and, thinking that he was helping me; I smiled at him and said, “Thanks!”

He smiled back, and soon we had everything. The boy walked towards me, and I smiled at him, and once more, he smiled although he seemed rather tense. Then, he walked straight past me, and I turned, saying, “Hey!”

He waved over his shoulder at me. “Finders, keepers kid!”

I glared at the retreating back, and went up to him so silently he didn’t here me. I slipped my hand into his pocket, and removed his wallet, dropping it to the ground. He heard the sound and turned, and I grinned cheekily at him.

“Finders, keepers!” I said, picking it up and racing off, hearing him yelling behind me.

Racing into a side street, I deliberately dropped the wallet, and raced off. From his lean appearance, he was hard-pressed for food, so I’d let him off.

I looked around, slowing to the stop, the other half of the groceries held tight in my hand. Where the heck am I? I asked myself for the second time this day, and sighed.

Why me?

I wandered around, looking for a way out. Suddenly, I heard a dog barking, and saw one running at me, snarling. My eyes widened and I said weakly, “nice doggie?”

It kept coming at me, it’s jaws wide open, it’s eyes crazed, and I took off in the opposite direction, yelling, “Aahh! Good doggie, stop doggie, STOP!”

Why the hell me?

*

My heart was pounding. I leaned over, out of breath, and glanced behind me. Good. The coast was clear. No dog and no boy. I leaned against a fence, putting the bags beside me, waiting for my heart to slow, gasping for air.

I sat down, and waited. After a minute, It began to dawn on me that this was taking too long. I felt my heartbeat. It was beating insanely fast. Then I realized. I couldn’t breath.

Aiko gasped for breath, her heart clenching. She coughed. She couldn’t breath. It hurt. Suddenly, a jolt of pain shot through Aiko. Her eyes widened and she coughed. She looked at her palm as she felt something wet and warm on it. Blood.

Aiko tried staggering to her feet, her mind working furiously. What was this? It hurt so much- was it because she’d stayed away from Gaara for too long? Her hand clanched, and she drew herself up, leaning against the fence, head back, breathing hard.

It hurt. She bit her lip, and her legs went out from underneath her. She tipped her head back against the fence. Pain jolted through her body, coming in waves, again and again.

Aiko cried out pitifully, her voice echoing a little. There was nobody there. The dog had chased her into areas where hardly anyone ventured.

Aiko gasped for air. Every breath hurt. She needed to breath. She needed it. Despite the pain, she had to breath.

She coughed again. Splatter of blood were on her palm. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, not noticing that it spread the blood all over it and her face.

Aiko leaned back again, concentrating only on breathing. It hurt.

It hurt so much.

Suddenly, she sensed a figure in front of her, silent, his shadow falling over hers.
She looked up at him the cloak shadowing her face, and her eyes widened. It was the boy who had been chasing her.

---Aiko---

I felt a shadow fall across my face, and I looked up into the brown eyes of a boy. To be more specific, the boy who’d been chasing me.

The boy was taller than me (no surprise there- I’m even shorter than Gaara) and he had yellow, and brown floppy hair that fell over his eyes.

We stared at each other for a moment, me forgetting to regulate my breathing, and then the boy said, “You mustn’t be very athletic if you’re still gasping.”

I glared at him, then my eyes widened. My heart clenched, and I gasped, falling forward, blood falling from my open mouth onto the floor. Pain shot through my body. It felt as though white hot lead was being poured into my viens, being poured throughout my body. It hurt so much that I almost screamed. I clenched my hands into fists, curling up into a small ball and crossing my hands in front of my chest as though this would protect me from the pain.

It didn’t’.

---Kei---

Kei walked along the path, grumbling quietly, bouncing his wallet up and down in one hand, the bag of groceries he’d taken from the girl earlier in the other hand.

He sighed quietly, and looked at his gloved fingers. They were his brothers gloves, ending halfway, in the middle of his fingers. They were old, but tough. He made a fist suddenly, and punched a wall quietly, stopping.

Where was that girl? He’d chased her until he found the wallet, but that teensy, cheeky little thing deserved a spanking!

Kei grinned wryly at himself. ‘If anyone deserves a spanking, it’s me.’

He shrugged suddenly, causing a passerby turn to look at him curiously, and said, “I just have a bad feeling.”

Kei walked on leisurely, fallowing the path of footsteps. Then, they seemed hurried, and over them were the tracks of a—dog? Kei sighed, lucking an apple from the grocery bag after putting his wallet back in his pocket.

That little kid better thank him if he had to save her hide from a dog.

Kei followed the tracks until he came to a person holding a dog by the scruff of it’s neck, yelling at it.

“Sir, did you see a girl pass this way, running at top speed with ‘Fluffy’ here behind her.”

The man turned to look at him, and said, “You should keep a leash on your sibling, boy! It scared Jumbo!”

Kei stared at the man, saying, “ ‘Who’ should be keeping a leash on ‘what’!?”

The man ignored him, and Kei moved on, feeling a bit worried. Suddenly, the footsteps turned a corner, and then another, and Kei heard loud gasps nearby.

He went back a ways, and then turned, fallowing the noise. He came out into a small street, and stopped looking at the huddled, small figure on the ground. It was the girl, her hands on her knees, and her head tilted back with her eyes closed, taking great gulps of air.

Kei studied her silently. He had only once before caught a glimpse of her face, when she had smiled at him (for some reason the smile hadn’t seemed – real), and he’d deducted that she was a girl. Now, he had a chance to study her features carefully.

He couldn’t see the colors of her eyes (as they were closed) but her hair was an unmistakable deep red. Her hair was short- it reached a little passed her ear, and her long bangs almost touched her neck.

‘Hmmm. She’s pretty cute for a seven year old.’ Kei thought. He himself, was ten, and rather tall for his age.

He grinned as he remembered his little sister’s face suddenly. ‘but not as cute as Kimi. They should be a couple years apart, but not much.’

He walked over to the girl, silent as wind, grinning as she felt his presence and looked up startled.

Kei jumped a little on the inside, as emerald green eyes stared back at him. They seemed mature and intelligent well beyond the girl’s supposed years.

The girl and Kei stared at each other for a while, and soon Kei came to notice that the girl was still gasping. He arched an eyebrow briefly, saying, “You mustn’t be very athletic if you still haven’t caught your breath.”

The small girl glared at me. Suddenly, her eyes widened and she became pale. Her hands clenched. Kei bent down, concerned, and suddenly, she curled up into a small ball, shuddering. Her nails dug into her own flesh, and she seemed to be fighting a scream.

Kei scooped her up into his arms, his concern deepening, and looked down at her. She looked up into his yellow eyes.

She had a wide, paniced look in her face, her eyes filled with terror.

---Aiko---

All I could feel the pain- then soft coldness and warmth. I opened my eyes, trying my best to ignore the pain (and failing).

I was looking into the cloth of a shirt-, then my eyes looked around me slowly, and I a thought hist me like a ton of bricks, making me flinch wildly.

Someone was touching me.

When I was little, I was ever so eager to hold a hand or have at least that hand brush mine. Then I could imagine that the hand that brushed mine was of someone who loved and cared for me. Even after Yashamaru’s death, I kept going with this fantasy, reveling in those small touches, those brief glimpses of another life.
I was just a child.

The first time a person approached me, and held my hand is a time I well remember.

I was probably six or seven- a woman approached me, smiled at me, and I was hooked.
Then, once she had earned my trust, she beat me to near death, and was about to kill me, when Gaara came and killed her. He’d killed slowly, despite my screams for him to stop. I was a naïve fool.

That was only the first time. Many times after, my easy trust was targeted.

So then, I stopped trusting all together. I never let anyone touch me- in physically or mentally.
To allow a person to touch me was inviting them to hurt me.

My first reaction was panic. I stared up at my ‘toucher’, into his pale yellow, and my heart beat fast.

My second reaction was self-defense, and the boy never knew what hit him (well he probably did. My fist.). I screamed, “Let go of me!” and punched him in the nose. He dropped me like a hot potatoes, his hands rushing to his face, staunching the blood that poured from his nose.

I looked at the ground, and made my face blank. I would be careful to make my poker face later.

--Kei—

‘She punched me! That girl seriously punched me!’ Kei screeched in his mind, his nose throbbing like hell. ‘Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!’

He took a napkin from his pocket and held it to the blood. He felt his nose growing numb, and felt torn between relief and worry- relief that the pain was lessening and worry that his nose going numb probably wasn’t the best thing to happen.

Kei sighed, and looked down at the girl, his eye twitching.

“What was that for?” he asked the girl.

The girl looked up at him, her face absolutely expressionless. Even her eyes were shielded- only the shaking of her shoulders betrayed her pain.

The girl spoke, a high level of vehemence in her voice. “I don’t want to be touched by the likes of ‘you’.”

Kei stared at her for a moment, completely speechless, then a change came over him. His bans shielded his eyes, and a terrible anger seemed to radiate from him as he remembered those words spoken to him a long time ago.

‘[Kei hugged his mother’s leg, staring at a large man with teary, frightened eyes.

His mother sounded desperate and sad when she asked, “W-where are you going Jiro?”

Kei could not see the man’s face, but he could hear the contempt in the man’s voice as he said, “I don’t want to be with the likes of you lot!”

The man turned and walked to the door, kicking aside a boy who was standing there.

“Move it, boy!”]’

“What did you say?” asked Kei with a terribly calm voice.

The girl looked up at him silently, and said, "Don't touch me, filth!"

Kei slapped her so hard that the sound of it echoed around the alleyway.

I felt a sudden sting on my cheek, and my head snapped back banging into the wall.

[“I don’t want to be touched by the likes of ‘you’.”]

I know I’d been asking for it, but it was true.
I didn’t want to be touched by him or anybody else.

The only one who can touch me is Gaara.

Oh lord, that sounded weird. I ‘mean’, I don’t want to be touched by a person, or be in debt to one, who would most likely try to kill me if he knew who I was.
I’d rather die.

I felt a cool liquid run down my face.
My hand reached up and touched my face, then I looked at it.

It was red with blood.

My head began to get dizzy, and everything was fuzzy.
I clenched my hand into a fist. No! I thought.

---Kei—

“Who the hell do you think you are!?” Kei screamed at the girl. She was in the same position as before, her hand in a small fist in front of her.
“You think that you can call someone filth and think they’ll take it like it’s nothing, huh?”

Kei’s nose started to throb, which only made him even more angrier.
Once again he adopted that calm, fearsome voice.

“Do you think that you’re the queen of the world, princess? Answer me! Who do you think you are?!”

The girl’s head jerked upwards quickly at his words, and Kei was astonished by what he saw on her face. Blood ran down the fight side of her face; her right eye was closed shut, but the other one was crinkled open.

She was smiling, A completely sincere smile that had not a hint of anything else but innocent happiness in it, despite the blood that poured down the side of her face.

“I am a princess!”

Kei stared, stunned at her as she lay down on the ground. “Go away.”

Her voice was now thick with pain.

“All I need is a nap and I’ll be alright.”

Then the girl covered her head with the hood, and after a moment, her body completely relaxed as she slipped into unconsciousness

Kei stared at the motionless figure for another long moment, before sitting down next to her, his anger abating. ‘What’s up with that girl?’ Kei thought, annoyed. For some reason he couldn’t just leave her and go.

Sighing, Kei stood up, and suddenly, his nose throbbed so hard that he cried out.

“Ow!” he yelled, grabbing at it. Pain pulsed from his nose throughout his entire body, making him lightheaded with pain. ‘I can’t take her to the hospital like this!’ he thought, annoyed, tears sprouting at the corner of his eyes.

He glared at the completely motionless- wait. Completely motionless? Kei checked the girl for a pulse, and found one, faint and unsteady.

If he left the girl here much longer, she’d die.

---Kankuro---

Kankuro, deciding to take a shortcut, went down an alleyway, grumbling softly to himself.

“Can’t my haircut wait? I mean really, it doesn’t matter does it?”

Suddenly, he heard someone call, “Hey you! Shaggy!”

His eye twitched, and he turned around. He faced a boy with brown hair and yellow eyes, and a bloody nose..

Kankuro grinned cruelly, saying, “Hey, kid, I’m kinda in a bad mood, so, if you want to live, BUTT OFF.”

The boy , ignoring his threat, said, “Kankuro, right? I’ve seen you at the academy- I need your help.”

Kankuro raised an eyebrow. Normally, he’d beat the little punk up for wasting his time, but this was a whole lot better than going to the barbers.

“Why do you think I’d help you?”

The boy shook his head impatiently, and grabbed Kankuro’s arm, towing him into a side street.

“It’s a matter of life and death, Shaggy.”

Kankuro glanced at the boy, giving in, and said, “Stop calling me that or I’ll break your nose again.”

*

They stopped in front of a motionless body dressed in a cloak.

“Take her to the hospital. I can’t because of my nose.” The boy pointed at the nose in question, which had by now, swelled to twice it’s normal size.

Kankuro aimed a punch at him, which he nimbly ducked, saying, “Please, Oh Great One, take her to the hospital for me. She’s dying, can’t you see that!?”

Kankuro looked over at the motionless bundle, and checked it’s pulse. The pulse was weak, and Kankuro noticed a pool of blood next to her head. The cloak covered the face, so he couldn’t see her very well, but Kankuro decided that the boy was telling the truth.

Kankuro picked her up quickly, deciding this was as good an excuse as any to skip the barbers, and prepared to set off.

The boy seemed doubtful. “Are you sure you can see with all that hair, Shaggy?”

Kankuro a slicing motion across his neck, and the boy shut up, grinning.

Kankuro made a mental note to kill him later.

***

The window in Gaara’s bedroom opened with a small, “chak!”.

A figure stepped through, and Gaara stood on his bed, ignoring the marks his shoes were making on his bed cover.

Gaara went to his closets grabbing a change of clothes, and went into the bathroom.

He shrugged off his gourd and clothes, and stepped into the shower, letting the cool water wash away the sweat and desert heat.

After a while Gaara got out of the shower, feeling that something wasn’t right. What was it?

Gaara’s eyes narrowed as he realized.

Aiko wasn’t there.

*Hospital*

Kei sat on the examination table as the doctor examined his nose. The doctor winced at the sight of it, and said, “Ow, that must hurt. Well, we’ll have to put you on anesthetic and-“

“Wait a minute. An operation How much will this cost?”

“Well, it’ll cost about $$$ dollars.”

Kei’s eyes almost bugged out of his head. ‘I don’t have that much money!’ he wailed inside his head. Then, he grinned. Ah! I could but it on that girl’s bil! The way she was acting, she has to be rich. Princess, hunh!

“But it on the girl in room 520’s bill.” He told the doctor, who frowned, and nodded.
“Isn’t that the operating room?” he asked.

Kei grinned. “Yeah. But I have a feeling she’ll survive.”

Then he said thoughtfully, “The groceries… She won’t need them, will she?”

--Operating Room- third person point of view—

It was a room filled with equipment and people. In the middle of it was a bed, in which a girl lay, her eyes closed, her expression peaceful. From afar she seemed to be sleeping. Half of her face was covered by an Oxygen Cylinder, and part of her forehead was covered by a bandage.

But if you got closer, you would notice faint breathing, and the specks of red that were on the Oxygen thingamabob. You would see that her face was unnaturally pale, and that she’d jerk every few minutes or so, as though having a stroke. You would also notice the ECG machine beep irregularly, as though her heart was fighting to work, but failing.


A couple of nurses stood around the girl’s stomach, healing the cracked rib underneath the purple-blue skin. After a moment, the brusises faded a little.

On the left side of the bed there is a doctor, her ginger hair pulled back in a ponytail. A few strands had struggled loose, but their red was nothing compared to the girls’. Her eyes, blue ones, hidden behind glasses, were worried, but her face was calm and professional.

The doctor placed her hands upon the girl’s chest, right above her heart. A green pulsating glow surrounded them, and the ECG machines beeping became more regular.
The doctor was helping the heart with her charka, an extremely dangerous, and particularly futile task, which can only be attempted with someone with very good charka control.
It is futile, because after a while, the person’s charka drains away and the person who is being kept alive dies anyway.

“Doctor.” A nurse began softly as the doctor began to sweat slightly, “Maybe you should –“

The doctor snapped, “Get back to work! I won’t let her die.”

The nurse jumped, but didn’t look resentful only sorrowful.

The doctor calmed herself down, thinking, ‘It’s alright. It’s alright. I’m not losing another child. Not again. Especially not this one.’

The doctor looked at the small face sadly. ‘Such a pitiful child. Kazekage, did you name her Aiko such on purpose? Little Loved One. What a sadly ironical name.’

The doctor’s breath caught and she focused upon her task. ‘This child has never known love.”

---Gaara---

Gaara made a hand sign, closing his right eye. A small eye floated in front of him. Gaara smirked. His new jutsu.

The eye looked at the room, then floated out the open window, going on it’s quest to find Aiko.

Soon, it found Aiko. In the hospital.

Gaara frowned deeply. ‘Why am I not surprised?’

---Kankuro---

Kankuro sighed, wondering what he was doing. The girl, or at least he thought it was a girl, had been rushed to the emergency room right away. Moments later, the boy had been led away by a doctor to get his nose tended to.

Kankuro left the waiting room and wandered over to room No. 520, deciding to sneak a peak at what was going on and leave.

Temari would have his head for missing the appointment, but who cared what she thought? He’d do whatever he wanted.

Kei peeked into the room through a small window, standing on his tiptoes. He was tall, but he hadn’t hit his growth spurt yet, and the window was placed at adult eye level.

Kankuro looked inside the room. It was a small version of chaos; people crowded around a fallen instrument, a person sneaking in through the window- wait, a person sneaking in through the window?

Kankuro zoomed in on the figure who was entering the room- a boy with bright red hair. Everyone was occupied by the instrument, and nobody noticed him The boy turned a little, and Kankuro’s heart skipped several beats.

He looked a lot like the kazekage, the red hair unmistakable. There was a kanji on his forehead that read Love, and his eyes.. His eyes filled him with fear.

Kankuro stood there, frozen, unable to peel his eyes away. The boy touched the body in the bed softly, and sand swirled around the body. In a second, it was gone.

Then, he left, leaving the same way he went, expression neutral but somehow radiating bloodlust.

Kankuro was shivering, his face pale with shock. What was that?

One woman, a woman with ginger hair, looked at the bed. Kankuro half expected her to scream, but she did nothing, only made a hand sign. The sand on the bed floated up and began to make the shape of a body.

Kankuro felt something wet touch his neck, and this was too much for his already overworked heart.

He fainted.

----Gaara---

Gaara landed outside the window of Aiko’s room softly, without a single sound.
There was Aiko, lying in a bed in the middle of the room.

Gaara sat there, observing for a while, when a woman glanced up and spotted him.

The woman’s eyes widened, and then they became normal again.
She snapped, loud enough for Gaara to hear, “Mai! Open a window please!”

A nurse with short black hair bobbed nervously, and went over quickly to the window. Gaara stayed there, and her black eyes met his. The nurses’ eyes widened, and she looked as though she was about to scream, when she pulled herself together, and opened the window.

Then, she walked tensely to the other end of the room, and pushed over an instrument with a large crash.

Gaara saw the doctor glance gratefully at the nurse, before rushing over to the instrument cammanding everyone else to follow, and went into the room. He leaned over Aiko, and saw her pale face and shallow breathing. He could see blood in her mouth. Gaara, unaffected, touched his hand softly to Aiko’s forehead.

‘Pull her in..’ he thought. Gaara grimaced inwardly at what he’d have to endure until Aiko woke up (and began to imagine what ‘she’d’ have to endure when ‘she’ woke up.)

---Temari---

Temari marched down the streets of Sunagakura, fuming.
That idiot Kankuro! He was DEAD!

She went up to receptionist, and said sweetly, “Excuse me, do you know where a boy name Kankuro might be? Someone told me he was here.”

“Ah, wait a moment, I’m busy.”

“Ah-hem.” Temari put a lot of stress on the ‘hem’ part, which made the lady look up.
Her eyes widened as she realized who she was speaking to, and stammered, “Yes, yes, sorry, let me check my records.”

“No. He’s not a patient here.” said Temari. The receptionist looked up, frowning.

“Oh, but he is.”

---Kankuro—

Kankuro could hear the devil calling his name.

“Kankuro. Kankuuuro.”

The devil had a surprisingly feminine voice.

Kankuro opened his eyes, and stared into Temari’s.

“Oh no.” he groaned. “Give me the devil, lord, please!”

Temari almost snapped, her eyes flashing as she spoke surprisingly calmly.
“Kankuro. What the hell are you doing in the hospital when you should be at the barbers? Don’t you know I paid for the appointment IN ADVANCE!?!?”

Kankuro gulped. Temari always was a little crazy about money. He put his hands up, saying, “I have a perfectly good explanation. See, there was a boy, and a girl, and the girl was dying, so I got her here, and the boy left, and I was outside the girl’s room, and , and-“

Kankuro’s eyes widened. “That boy! Gaara! That boy was Gaara! The girl was eaten by Gaara, or something!”

Temari conked him over the head so hard, he saw stars.
“IDIOT! Are you delusional as well?”

“No, I’m not! Ask somebody. Nurse! Nurse!”

A woman came into the room smiling politely.

“Yes?”

“You know, there was a girl in room 520, right? She’s disappeared, right?”

The nurse frowned. “That girl? She was released an hour ago by the doctor.”

“No, no, no!” Kankuro screeched. “The doctor’s in on it! That was just a sand clone!”

Temari grabbed a fistful of Kankuro’s hair.

“You, sir are coming with me.”

She dragged Kankuro off the bed, and he went after, yelling, “Ow, ow, ow! Where are you taking me?”

“The barbers! Maybe they’ll cut your hair for the money I gave them before if I agree to letting them do any hairstyle they want to you!”

“Wah-!? NOOOO!”

“Excuse me sir, there are patients sleeping!”

“SOMEONE, HELP!”

“Aaaah, what’s that noise? Nurse, make it shut up!”

“Sorry sir. Sorry, young sir.”

“What are you doing with that needle? Oi, keep it away from me!”

‘thunk’

“Thanks nurse. I’ll take him to the barbers. Maybe there’ll be enough time to strap him down before he wakes up.”

I felt tired. Soo tired. My feet sank in sand as I plodded down a long hallway literally filled with it. I stumbled and fell flat on my face and lay there, sand raging around me.

“Tired?” I heard a voice ask.

I raised my head an inch off the floor to stare up into the ugly mug of the Shukaku; then flopped it back down again, sighing.

“You know, you shouldn’t go around lying just about anywhere.” He said in an unusually subdued voice.

I managed to raise my head up again curiously. “Hrm?”

“Last night, it was all I could do to restrain myself. Your blood would have tasted beautiful! I just managed to remember that I didn’t want to lose an ear.”

I sat up onto my knees, looking up at the beast.
“Be quiet.” I said, before falling into the sand again. I barely noticed the rough, gravely texture disappearing before I fell asleep. “Shut..”

I was six years old. I was in a circle, sitting crouched up, my feet pulled to my chest. Humans made up the circle, looking at me, screaming insults, throwing rocks. They repeated one word over and over, and every time they said it, it felt as though a blade sliced deeper and deeper into my heart, causing me to cry softly.

Beside me stood Gaara, his back facing me. He walked towards the crowds, and they stood aside, still jeering, but letting him through.

I stood up, wiping the tears from my eyes, following slowly. “Gaara?” I asked softly.

The back did not turn, but walked forward, the crowd parting slowly like a wave. One person stood his ground, and a couple others stood with him, facing the oncoming Gaara.

The sand rose up and crushed them in an instant, soaking the ground with tears.
Crimson Tears.

“Gaara!” I screamed, walking towards the part, but unable to get through. “Gaara, stop!” I sobbed.

Gaara stopped, and turned a half turn. “Gaara!” I was still crying, the tears staining my face.

He turned around completely, and I stopped crying, my eyes wide, stumbling backwards and falling onto my behind. His eyes were dangerous, murderous, eyes that could and would kill.

The sand came towards me, lightning fast, and I didn’t have time for a scream.

I opened my eyes, sitting up fast enough to make my head spin. I looked around, my face rigid, showing absolutely no emotion. It was all black. Completely black. I couldn’t see anything for black, and if I couldn’t see my body, I would’ve thought I’d gone blind.

I sighed in relief as I recognized the place, and settled back into a more relaxed sitting position..

A figure appeared in the black, and walked towards me silently. “Gaara?” I said softly, a pang going through me as I remembered my dream.

“Gaara?”

The figure cleared in the mist and I saw Gaara. But it wasn’t the Gaara I had known for five years of my life. It was the Gaara I had known for four, his eyes burning with enough murderous intent to kill.

I stood up. “Sorry.” I said, hands on knees.

I bowed slightly. Light shined around my body, illuminating a little around me. Gaara didn’t have a light.

“I disobeyed you. But we needed food.” I mumbled, looking at my feet

I felt an icy cold touch on my face and looked up slowly. Gaara’s eyes burned into mine, and I felt my mouth go dry.

Gaara’s nails scraped my cheek, taking skin and drawing blood.

I winced softly as it happened slowly, and I felt the blood run down my face.

Gaara swept the blood away with his hand, and stepped back. The sand slowly surrounded his hand, and when it disappeared, his hand was clean. The sand rose towards my cheek, and I could feel it gritty against my face. It hurt slightly, and as the sand slunk away my cheek stil throbbed.

Gaara looked at me silently, his face shadowy.

I said. “I’m sorry. I serve you and only you brother. I cannot leave you. Death can only claim me when I am serving you. I will die for you.”

Gaara’s eyes burned into me, and then faded away as he left. I sat down, surrounded in my own light, and thought, I will never leave you. I thought, the ache in my cheek becoming stronger. I wouldn’t if you tore me apart and left me for the crows to eat. I’m sorry. I felt a tear slide down my cheek. I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad. Please.

*

Aiko lay on the bed in her room. Gaara looked down at her and at the fresh scars on her cheek, going over a bruise on it.

Gaara frowned. ‘She said so.’ He thought as he left. ‘She will never leave me.’ A vicious smile graced his face. ‘She will not die. If she must die, she will die by my hand.’

‘No other can claim her.’

--------

Hmm. Guys, I know this is a short chapter, but spare me. I’ll try to write another one soon and put it up.

My little brother got a fighter fish. Somehow, it is now mine.

Yippee.

It’s actually pretty cute.

I opened my eyes blearily as my alarm clock rang, and dragged myself upward into a sitting position. I touched my hand to my heart. ‘Wow.’ I thought. ‘That hurt.’

I sighed softly. ‘Hm. If I am ever apart from Gaara for longer than a month, then I’m dead.’

‘Well, at least I’ll be able to make good my promise to stay with him forever!’ I thought brightly.

Then, an ache started upon one of my cheeks, and I slowly dragged myself out of bed and to the bathroom grabbing a spare change of clothes.

I looked at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, and looked at the scratches on my cheek.

My hand reached up to touch them gently as I stared silently into the mirror.

*

I came into the kitchen, ruefully holding an ice-pack to my bruised and scarred cheek.
How dare he hit a girl? I thought sulkily about the boy as I fried some eggs.

I toasted bred for Gaara.

I like bread soft, not hard. I wonder why toast was invented.

I slid the eggs onto two different plates and set them at the table. I took my a bite out of my breakfast, before I heard just the faintest of rustles.

“Good morning Gaara.” I said without looking up.

There was no reply, and I looked up. Gaara was standing in front of the open window, arms crossed, looking at me silently. I smiled at him.

“Gaara.” I said. “Thanks for taking over. I’ll return the favor soon.”

I chewed my bread, staring at my plate, and heard a clatter as Gaara took a sip of juice. I grinned to myself.

Gaara has insomnia. He is completely unable to sleep for fear that the Shukaku will take over and control him. Thus explaining the dark lines around his eyes.

I don’t have insomnia because I have only a small, unimportant part of the Shukaku. I may spend a couple nights sleeplessly every month (even though all I have of the Shukaku is apparently his ear, and some other part), but sleep I am able to do.

When I am inside of Gaara, I cannot sleep, since if I do, I would be relinquishing control of the Shukaku’s ear to Gaara, and Gaara would have an added burden to himself, but it is possible for Gaara to let me sleep once in a while, for example, last night.

When I am inside of Gaara, though, it is possible for me to take complete control over the Shukaku and let Gaara sleep. This I am rarely able to do, since it takes a lot out of me, but I do it every once in a while for Gaara.

After I had completely cleaned my plate, I threw it in the trash, putting my cup in the sink. I took a couple steps towards my room before making a u-turn and removing the plate from the garbage can and cursing quietly as I cleaned It thoroughly with soap and put it away.

Gaara was still eating (at times, he can be a notoriously slow eater) as I exited the kitchen and went to my bedroom.

I guess you could say that we are privileged, having a whole HOUSE to ourselves, but think about it. Who would want to stay in an apartment building with us?

I flopped onto my messy, unmade bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking silently.

‘I’m indebted to someone!’ I thought indignantly, pursing my lips. ‘Indebted!’

I glared at the ceiling, then sighed, thinking that glaring at the ceiling wouldn’t help, and got up to make my bed slowly.


I tucked the sheets and stood back to survey my handiwork. I smoothe out a couple wrinkles here and there, then plopped myself down with a book, deciding to laze out the day.

I opened the book and stared at the first page, chewing my lip. ‘I have a nagging feeling that I should ‘be’ somewhere.’ I thought as I found myself rereading the line on the first page over and over again.

*
‘She looked around suddenly as something bl- what is it! Ugh, so annoying!’ Aiko thought, putting the book away, and looking at the wall at the post-it notes on it.

Suddenly, her eyes alighted on one. ‘Meeting with siblings- 11:30’



Aiko stared at the note for a moment, then looked at the clock on her bedside table (it read 11:50) , then back at the note again.

Aiko sat up stiffly and walked towards the door, her face completely expressionless. Then it snapped, and Aiko ran towards the kitchen yelling, “GAAARAAA!”

Aiko skidded to the stop next to the table.

There was a note.
----------------------

I left ahead of you.

Its fun to see you all flustered.
-----------------------------------

Aiko stared at the note, her body hunched. Her fist grabbed at the note, and crumpled it.

Her head lifted up slightly, and her eyes glinted red.

“That bastard!” she yelled, grabbing a cloak and dragging a brush through her hair.

“He KNOWS I hate being late, he KNOWs, he’s , he’s , (so flustered she can’t finish her sentence.)”

Aiko slammed the door behind her hard enough to rattle it on its very foundation.

“DEAD!!” she yelled.

----Suchimaru—

Suchimaru Nagashita scratched at his head inside the room. The seconds were ticking away ‘slowly’.

Sitting across the table from him were two pre-teens. ‘Temari and Kankuro.’ He thought musingly. ‘The prince and princess of the sand.’

He sighed. ‘Aiko and Gaara. The oni twins of the sand.’

He looked at the clock. It was now eleven forty.

‘That girl is never late. She’ll be here before twelve, or twelve on the dot.’ Suchimaru had known Aiko all of her life. They had spoken once or twice, the girl always being guarded both times, but Suchimaru had observed the two of them since their birth with sympathy.

Suchimaru rested his hand on his fist and glanced at the two who were sitting across from him.

The boy, Kankuro, had a hoodie bent low over his forehead, and he was glaring at the girl, Temari. She was apparently ignoring him, staring at the pages of her book, engrossed.

Suchimaru, deciding to start some conversation, bent over the table towards Kankuro.

“Kankuro!” he said cheerily. “Why the long face? That look could kill.”

Kankuro glanced up at Suchimaru, his scowl deepening, and reached up to pull back his hoodie, revealing a brightly colorful head.

There was a small snort from Temari’s direction, but all Suchimaru could do was stare.

It had been cut short and was naturally spiky, sticking up all over the place. Contrasting the spikes, were a couple long bangs that reached past his ear, slightly curly, both brown. Unfortunately, the rest of his hair did not have the privilege of staying their original color.

Part of it was blue, with a mixture of neon and dark green. There were a few yellow patches here and there, and at the end of one bang, a tiny piece of hot pink. At the end of the other bank, there was a bit of baby blue.

Temari let loose, and fell into a full hail of laughter. Kankuro glared, and she choked out, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t hear the full story until after you woke up from the anesthetic! At least you saved some of your hair!”

“Saved Some Of My hair!?!? That guy was about to dye them both NEON PINK!!! And the tips are dyed! This stuff does NOT come off! And what’s up with this ridiculous hair style!? Huh?”

Suchimaru stared at Kankuro, aghast and filled with pity, and biting his lip hard enough to make it bleed in his attempt not to laugh. So far, he was losing.

Suddenly, he heard a clatter next to him, and turned slightly. Sitting in the chair was a young boy, barely older than nine, with red hair, a kanji engraved upon his forehead, and very light green eyes. Underneath them, there were large, dark black bags and a very scary aura surrounded him, causing both Temari and Kankuro to shut up.

Suchimaru grinned nervously, saying “Ah, Gaara! Where’s Aiko?”

Temari had put away her book, and Kankuro had replaced his hood. Both of them were looking at Gaara with a mixture of fear and curiosity. He had the air of an emotionless killer, befitting him perfectly

Gaara twitched turning to glance at Suchimaru once with his eyes, and Suchimaru was immediately subdued.

They sat in an uncomfortable silence, the ticking of the clock sounding loud.

Suddenly, there was a large “BANG!” that caused the all of them, except for Gaara, to jump. They turned to the door where a figure stood, completely covered, small, and looking extremely angry.

“Gaara!” (a voice from hell) the figure shouted. It stormed over to the boy who had not twitched once during all of this. The figure raised a hand, and with incredible speed, it raced towards Gaara’s head.

Kankuro and Temari’s eyes widened as sand appeared to block her various, swift attacks. Not one blow was landed, and finally, the cloaked figure stopped suddenly, turned, and sat in her chair ridgidly.
“Begin, you mutts.” She snarled.

Suchimaru believed that at that moment the room became ten degrees colder, and Aiko stopped, lowering her hands to her side. None of them could see her face.

---Temari---

Temari observed quietly as the figure took a seat, arms crossed sulkily. It had no aura around it, and showed no signs of having more than two arms.

. There was another silence, as the man across the table from her looked at them all helplessly, Kankuro hunched down further in his seat, and Gaara sat, motionless and expressionless.

The man, who had before introduced himself as Suchimaru, had called the figure ‘Aiko’. ‘What a weird name for her And why does she have such a weird, manly, scary voice?.’ She thought, then thought, ‘At this rate nobody is going to say a thing.’
“Suchimaru, would you mind telling us why we were called her, and what we are supposed to do?” she spoke suddenly, and Suchimaru looked at her for a moment.

“Ah yes, we should begin, shouldn’t we? Well, your father, the Kazekage, thought it would be best for you to be introduced to one another.”

Temari raised her eyebrows, and opened her mouth to ask, “Why?’, but the figure beat her to it. It actually had a pretty clear voice (Temari figured it had been angry before).

“Why?” it, no, she, asked. “Why does he have a sudden interest in all of us all of a sudden?”

Suchimaru looked at Aiko for a couple of seconds, before looking away abruptly and saying, “I’ll tell you, Aiko, but first let’s introduce ourselves and tell each other a little about ourselves.”

“My name is Suchimaru. I am 30 years old. I am to be your mediator for your meetings. I have fulfilled my dream to became a good sand shinoubi, and I like ramen, and hate granola bars. Now you Temari.”

Temari sat up straighter and, unfortunately, glanced towards her red-head younger brother, and froze. He was glaring at her, and her heart stopped as she looked into death itself. She knew then and there that if she pissed him off, he would kill her.

Without a doubt, he would kill her.

Suchimaru said, “Temari?”

Temari forced her eyes away from Gaara and tried to force her mouth open, as it seemed glued shut. Her voice came out weak and papery thin as she stammered, “M-my na-a-me is Temari. I am twelve years old and will be graduating from the academy soon. I-I do not have a dream q-quite yet, and I like fans and kimonos, and dislike stupid people.”

She turned to look at Kankuro, who had been staring 9rather noticeably, at Gaara, and kicked him, hissing your turn. He snapped out of it, and turned to glare at Temari.

---Kankuro—

Kankuro studied Gaara. Yep, there was no doubt about it. Gaara was the one who had eaten that girl at the hospital.

Kankuro gulped, and glanced at his little sister, Aiko. She had a cloak on that completely covered her face and body, so that there was no way to tell if she was fat, or skinny, or monsterous, or etc. All he could figure out was that she seemed rather short..

Kankuro glanced back at Gaara, dimly noticing that Temari had begun to describe herself, when he felt something sharp poke into his shin.

He turned to glare at Temari, and said, “ My name is Kankuro. I am 11 years old, and I am taking the academy exit exams when they come. My dream is to be the best puppet master, and I hate those who annoy me. I like manga and puppets.”

It was now Aiko’s turn. Everybody turned to her, and she flipped back her cape, revealing a rather small, a rather normal, red head.

Kankuro blinked. His first thought was, ‘wow, she looks normal!’

Then, ‘She’s the girl that got eaten!!!!!!’


---Aiko—

I reached up and pulled my cape back, anticipating interesting reactions to the fact that I had one head. And actually looked pretty normal.

Temari’s look wasn’t ‘that’ bad. It was a mixture of surprise, then boredom to hide the surprise.

Kankuro’s face, though was priceless. He was staring at her, mouth open, eyes wide, as though i was a three headed Hydra with mustaches and tentacles.

I felt rather puzzled at that, when, after about ten seconds, he was still staring, and cleared my throat loudly. He snapped out of it, closing his mouth, his eyes, and letting out along breath.

I began. “My name is Aiko. I am 9. I am Gaara’s twin sister. My dream is none of your business. I like books, hate stupid, pretentious fools, and like drawing.”

At this point I paused, and looked at Kankuro and Temari each in the eyes, my voice becoming hard and serious. “I am warning you not to underestimate me. If you piss me off on a bad day, you could get hurt very badly. That goes for Gaara as well, but if you piss him off….you will die.”

Gaara looked at me emotionlessly, and so did Temari and Kankuro (although I suspect that they were keeping their true feelings in check- rather nicely, I must admit) and Suchimaru smiled awkwardly.

There really isn’t anything someone can say to that.

I looked at Gaara expectantly.

He looked bored, and said, “You know who I am.”

And that was the end of that.

There was another long silence (we seem to be having a lot of those, don’t we?) and then Suchimaru broke by clapping his hands together loudly. “Well! Now that we’ve all introduced ourselves, let me tell you why the Kazekage wanted you to meet. You are all.. Going to be on a team together!”

After the first second of surprise, I looked around the room. Gaara looked annoyed, and Kankuro and Temari both were shell-chocked.

I have noo pau-ssible idea whyy. (note the sarcasm)

I said, “But wait a second. Aren’t there only three spots on a team?”

I eyed Temari and Kankuro over coldly. “One of us will have to go.”

The two looked rather relieved at the suggestion. I even saw Kankuro begin to put his hand up before Suchimaru broke in. “No, the team will consist solely of Kankuro, Temari and Gaara.”

---
You know, I’ve rather secretly viewed myself as the hanger-on-er, the ‘accident’ in a way. Ever since someone told me that nobody would care if I died, I began to feel that way.

But of course, that’s complete nonsense. Nobody would care if Gaara died, either.

Everyone wants to have a feeling of belonging. A sense of security. A place. Gaara made a place for himself.

I have a place too.

My place is next to Gaara, inside of Gaara, I am the invisible person who will stay with him forever after.

Isn’t that funny.

I’m being forcibly torn from my place.

“No, the team will consist solely of Kankuro, Temari and Gaara.”

As Suchimaru spoke these words he remembered his conversation with the Kazekage.

“The team will consist solely of Kankuro, Temari and Gaara.” Said his voice from behind the curtain.

There was no one in the room except the Kazekage and Suchimaru. The guards had been ordered to leave the room, as Suchimaru was a trusted jonin.

“That won’t work. Aiko is the only one with a remote chance of controlling Gaara. If Gaara is left alone with his siblings, and he doesn’t like it, he will kill them.”

“There is a chance that he won’t. There can only be four man teams, Suchimaru.”

Suchimaru frowned. “On occasion, there is the chance of having a five man team, Kazekage.”

There was silence. Suchimaru knew that The Kazekage had thought all this through before hand, and had a solution, but he was running this by Suchimaru to see what he would say. Suchimaru knew the Kazekage well, having been on his team long before.

The Kazekage spoke, “There is still the chance that he won’t.”

“The only one, as I said before, who can control him in his bloodlust is Aiko. The time he went berserk- Aiko – you know what Aiko did, Kazekage.”

“….There is one choice. I will bend the rules for Aiko.”

Suchimaru waited to hear how.

------Aiko----

I looked over at Gaara. He was calm, and he turned to meet my eyes.
The death aura affect that Gaara has on most people is rather lost on me. Every time I looked into his eyes, I feel a tingle, but that’s all there is. A feeling of dread.

I know what Gaara is expecting.

Kankuro and Temari are both pale. I rather think that this was probably the first time that both of them agreed on something.

They were dead.

I say simply. “No, Suchimaru, that is not possible.”

He turns to look at me, raising an eyebrow in an absolutely infuriating way that I will hate in the years to come. “Really.”

I don’t say anything, just look at him, smiling. My eyes are cold though.

If looks could kill.
If looks could change minds.
Then everyone would be dead, and there would be chaos.

Worth wishing about it, though.

Suchimaru matches my gaze without flinching, and I have to admit that he’s good.
Very good.

After a while, that, to my eyes, seems like eternity, Suchimaru sighs, and says, “There is another option.”

I blink, and say, “Yes?”

“You must be on two teams.”

I blink again. “What?”

Suchimaru sighs once more, and says, “You will be on your original team, but be called to this team when the Kazekage wishes.”

“….There’s no alternative?”

“Besides being on an entirely different team.”

I stand up. Gaara stood up as well.

I smile at Kankuro and Temari. “Nice to meet you, teammates.”

Then to Suchimaru. “When will I meet my other team?”

Gaara has left by now.
Suchimaru sighed a third time, and said, “When they graduate.”

“My trainer?”

“Soon.”

“Good.” I smile once more and proceed to the door.
Before leaving though, I lean into the table between Kankuro and Temari, and put my hand through the table, before hardening it.

The table seems to explode, showering small splinters all over my siblings.
The expressions on their faces are priceless.

“Good bye.” I say sweetly, removing my hand.

That was to show them a portion of what would have happened had I not gotten what I wanted.

A very small portion.

Aiko lay on the sand dunes outside of the village, staring up at the stars. A cool breeze whipped through the desert, caressing her cheek like a soft, sweet hand.

‘I met my siblings today.’ She thought to the stars. ‘They’re stupid.’ She summed up both of them with two short contemptuous words. Her mind wandered to other things, and she stopped thinking to the stars.

-----Aiko----

‘I have to be on two teams. Even though I haven’t gone to the academy, I will be taught by a tutor and graduate from the academy.’ I thought. ‘I wonder how my main-team teammates are like….What does it even matter?’, and dismissed them from my mind, shivering.

It was cold. The sand, though, was warm retaining the heat it had sucked up during the day. I snuggled into it, making my substance go loose, and sinking into the sand, so that it covered everything, except my head, like a blanket.

I closed my eyes. ‘That feels nice.’ I thought sleepily.

‘Very nice.’

*
“Hey, baka. Little idiot! Wake up!”

I had felt a presence nearby, even in my sleep. It seemed like too much to wake up, but apparently, the presence thought otherwise.

I opened my eyes, wide awake but feigning grogginess, and said, “What!?”

I looked up into the yellow eyes of the boy I’d punched quite recently. His nose was in a splint, and he was looking down at me with annoyance.

I returned the look, and sat up with some effort, looking at the sky. It was light, and there was a faint, orange tint on the horizon. I yawned, stretching my arms, and glared at him. “Why’d you wake me up?”

He sighed in a way that suggested he was wondering the same thing, and said, “If the sun came up you’d be sunburned to a crisp. Get up! And go home, kiddy.”

I was about to say something, when suddenly, I felt the sting of a slap on my cheek, the, what.. third time this week?

It wasn’t that strong, so it didn’t hurt as much, but the sting brought tears to my eyes. I had seen it coming, and accepted it easily.

My attacker stood there, glaring at me with a fire in her eyes. The yellow eyed boy said, “Kimi!”

She was small, and had curly, light brown, sun bleached hair and eyes that matched her brother’s. Her face was a tanned brown, and her hands were clenched by her sides.
If I was to guess, I would suppose the girl was about five years old. The shirt she was wearing, with the number five on it, was a rather big give away.

I stood up slowly, my face carefully composed. I reached over, and the yellow eyed boy glared at me, then stopped when I patted her carefully on her head. “Very good.” I said approvingly, and she stared up at me in surprise.

“You..you hurt my brother!” Kimi said, getting a hold of herself.

“..I did?” I asked with some amusement.

“Yes! How dare you!”

I thought this over. I had punched him because he was holding me. Then I insulted him by calling him names to justify my behavior without having him notice that I was (ahem) afraid of human contact.

Then he slapped me.

And then, he committed the unthinkable and helped me (of all things!) thus rendering me in his debt.

The punching part was justified in some part, as he touched me without my permission, and I was about to say as much, when I got a good look at that adorable kiddie face and….melted.

Seriously, cuteness is a weapon.

I said, “I dared to because he put me in an uncomfortable position, but if it’ll make you feel better, I apologize.”

I looked up at the boy. “I apologize. Do you accept?”

“Accept, Kei!” said Kimi bossily, and I smiled lightly.

Kei looked at me, sighing and touching his nose, and said, “I accept.”

I nodded, then removed my purse and checked how much money I had. For those of you who have forgotten, %somebody% took off with my groceries the other day. I still need to get some more.

Kei raised any eyebrow at me, and I said, “Groceries.”

He had the decency to blush, and I chose to, with a nod to both of them, depart from their company. ‘Groceries.’ I thought distractedly. ‘Rice for onigiri. And some prawns…’

*

“Are these prawns fresh?” I asked the storekeeper, hovering over a packet of shrimp.

he seemed offended, answering loudly, “Of course!”

I grinned, and selected a packet, smelling it and wrinkling my nose. “No thanks, I’ll take some live ones please.”

Accepting the wriggling bag and paying for it, I exited the shop, breathing in fresh, un-fish-tainted air thankfully. I glanced down at the bags in my hand, then frowned. “Maybe I shouldn’t have taken the fish first. It might spoil.” I glanced at the sun, then sighed.

‘Better drop it off at home then.’ I thought, and headed in that direction. Luckily, it was only a fifteen minute walk, so I enjoyed it, blending into the crowd with years of experience.

It’s interesting, you know, to look around from the safety of a large crowd, if you have the right mentality. First, you must blend in, and look around naturally. Go with the flow of the crowd, and make yourself inconspicuous. Then you can inspect to your hearts content.

There are many things you may notice. Pickpockets, are one, and people who act strangely, and ninja dressed as civilians can be picked from the crowd.

I looked around. It had become habit for me to fall into this position, as such my before days, but I have the feeling that I will not be meeting any assassins soon.

My father has decided that I am useful.

There really wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Young ninja- genin on a mission I suppose, were patrolling the streets out of uniform. Apparently they were learning what I had mastered long ago as a means to survive. I smirked at that.

It’s fun, really to observe them. They kept on bumping into people, trying to act normal, while being acutely conscious that they were ‘supposed’ to or risk failing their mission.
The looked about far too much, always on guard. They kept touching the places where their badges were supposed to be, in such obvious ways, I winced.

And that was when, in a fit of unnatural kindness, I decided to give them a hand.

I floated from wave to wave, edging near one of the ninja, bumping into him and dropping my load.
“Ah!” I cried, bending down to retriev my stuff and pulling him down with me forcefully.

The preteen boy seemed to be surprised- then he leaned over to help sullenly. “I didn’t even touch you!”

“Yes you did!” I answered, making my voice uncommonly childish. “You were acting so strange, then you bumped into me!”

His face fell. “I was acting strange?”

“Yep. You kept on hovering about,” my own hand hovered over a packet of fish, “looking around. Have you never been to a marketplace before?”

He opened his mouth to answer. “Yes, of course!”

“Then why were you acting so strange?”

“I..uh..”

I stood up. “I have to go. Bye!” and left.

At times it can be good to be short.

I observed him for a while. He seemed to get it, and didn’t seem to be as unnatural. I grinned. My work here is done!

Suddenly, I heard the scream of a child, and turned, so fast that those beside me stared.

There was a large man holding a small child up in the air by her shirt, shaking her. My eyes widened as I realized who it was.

‘Kimi!’

I love little kids. They are just so sweet, small and tiny. It’s a crime to hurt them or betray their trust in any way.

And you know what we do to people who have done a crime right?

We punish them.

Kimi hung in the air, the gorilla man holding her only by the front of her shirt. She was grabbing at his hand, trying to make him loosen up, her eyes wide with terror. There was a large circle around the two of them, but people just hurried by, without even glancing at them, their eyes fixed firmly on the ground.

I glanced at the genin kid, whom I’d helped out before, but it was obvious he wouldn’t make it in time.

Being short, as I have mentioned before, is an asset at times, when well used. People who are small and nimble, for example, can maneuver through a crowd easier than most. In two seconds flat, I was up in the air behind gorilla head, my foot in the beginning of a kick position.

I could smell the beer even from here, my nose wrinkling, and *WHAM!* I slammed into his head with my foot, then fell gracefully to the ground.

Not that it helped. All the giant did was turn, and glare down at me. “Whazzat.” He drawled. “Ya pickin a fih wit me, eh?”

By now, Kimi had given, up, and /was lying limp in his hold, tears streaming silently down her cheek.

I threw my (live) prawns at his head (forgetting they were rather ‘live’) and shouted, “Let her go!”

And that was when my bag of prawns exploded.

Shrimp rain!!!

During it’s flight, it had somehow twisted open, letting loose a couple dozen of very alive, very fresh, and very irritated shrimp onto the giant and passer bys (along with some dirty, salty water which wasn’t popular with everyone it fell on. That’s funny. I thought salt water was good for your skin… Uh-oh.).

There were screams, squeals, and the largest one of all came from our friend, mister giant, when one outgoing little guy tried to wiggle into his nose.

“Yaaagh!” he screamed, dropping Kimi as both hands went towards his nose. I dashed over, leaped, and –just!- caught Kimi before she slammed into the ground. I made my substance go soft, so that I felt like a very comfy pillow to Kimi, and she didn’t feel like a bony little five year old to me.

After a few seconds of Kimi bouncing up and down, I made myself normal again and stood up. Kimi was sitting on the ground, crying, tears and snot running down her face.

“Oh sweetheart,” I said as I bent down to her, ignoring the genin and his teammates as they rushed over to capture the giant. “Oh baby.”

I picked her up, snot and all, and hugged her to me. I was rather impeded by the fact that she was a tall five year old and I was a short nine year old, but I did well, considering.

She hiccupped into my shoulder, beginning to quiet down. By now, I had wandered far away from the giant and was wondering what to do with her.

“Where’s your brother, Kimi?” I asked after a moment’s silence. People were beginning to stare at what looked like a dwarf in a cloak carrying a five year old.

“H-he’s shopping.”

“He left you alone!?” Irresponsible brothers!

“N-no.” *hic!* “I w-wandered off.”

“Well… You won’t do that again, will you?”

“Y-yes.”

I twisted my neck to look at her. “Little kid say what?” I said in a funny voice, and she giggled.

“Kei onii-chan has to have a birthday present. I was going to get him one.” She said, her hiccups noticeably reducing. I began wondering whether it would be alright to put her down now.

“It’s his birthday?”

“Yup! Today. He’s turning ten.” Ahh, good, she seems ok.

“Really? So, what were you going to buy him?”

“I-I only had a little money, s-so, I asked the giant man, and,” *hic-oh no*, “he did thaaat to me!!” she began crying again.

Oh shit.

I set her down gently, and brought her an ice-cream with a napkin. “Here. Wipe yourself up.”

I’m getting a hang on this mothering thing.

She blew her nose loudly, and sniffed. Then she licked her ice-cream and smiled. “It’s been a while since I had some of this!”

“Hm?” Oh-no, Kei must be frantic.

“When father was here he took us out all the time.”

We were in the food shopping district. Kimi couldn’t have gone that far from Kei, so he must be nearby there.

“That was when he loved us. Mother still loves us, though!”

Is she saying something?

“Kimi, let’s get a present for Kei!”

“…You didn’t hear a word I said, did you?”

…She’s sharp, isn’t she?

“You had an evil father who used to love you, but doesn’t anymore.”

Wild guess.

“Oh good, you were listening! You left out the part about my nice mum though.”

Wow. I think I might have two brains, one that listens and one that wanders off.

“Well, you have an absolutely fabulous mum. Kimi, let’s buy something then go to your house. You know where it is, right?”

“Uhmmmm.”

One reason why you should stamp your address onto your younger sibling’s forehead.

* an hour later *
“Would you like something to drink?”

“Uh, I’m ok.” (RowanRose: I always say this – drives my aunt crazy. She replies in like.)

“What do you mean by ok?”

“..No, thanks.”

The person whom I’m talking to is Kimi’s mom. The place where I’m sitting and being offered tea is Kimi’s house. And the thing I’m making with the putty in my hands is… nothing recognizable.

I looked up at Kimi’s mom, whose name, by the way is Kaori, and observed her silently. She had long, smooth hair that had been tied into a ponytail, and she moved with a beautiful grace. Her hair was black, but her eyes were the same color of her children’s, a startling yellow.

Her hands move swiftly, and even though she walks with an unmistakable limp, she moves with the grace of a ninja.

Their house isn’t that desperate. It’s a two room apartment, but it’s poorly furnished, although it’s amazingly clean. Every part of it sparkles and shines.

As I watch her move in the kitchen, making things, a wave of nostalgia washes over me, and I breath it all in, closing my eyes and imagining for one blissful moment that I’m part of this family.

Then I’m brought back to reality as a small hand latches onto me, sticky with jam. “Ah- you, do you think Kei will like his present?”

“You tell me.”

“Ah.” Kaori came over, sitting a plate of biscuits down in front of me. “You saved my daughter and brought her brother a present? That’s too much!”

I smiled. “Oh, no, her brother saved my life and I broke his nose, so… I think I payed him back, don’t you?”

She laughed. “That was you?”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“No, no. Say, what’s your name?”

Kimi crawled into my lap.

“My name..” I stopped thinking. “…Is Aiko.”

Kaori freezes suddenly, staring fixatedly at me. “You.. You? How old are you?”

I lean back, cradling Kimi, and say, “I’m nine.”

“Oh.”

My coat is hanging on a hook beside the door. My red hair is completely and very clearly visible. The pieces of the puzzle click together quickly and firmly, and she stares at me , almost helplessly.

“I’m sorry.” I say defiantly, patting Kimi. “But that’s me.”

Kimi looks at me and her mother, sucking her fist silently. There is a tension in the air. I begin to get up.

“No.” Kaori says sadly. “You couldn’t- no, sit down Aiko. It’s alright.”

I sat back down slowly. Does she hate me? What was that tension?

Does she hate me?

Why do I care?

The door opens suddenly, slamming against the wall and Kei charges in, eyes wide, frantic with worry. “Mom!” He screams, racing into the other rooms. “Mom, I lost Kimi! I lost her!”

“I’m here!” Kaori says. “And so is your sister.”

“Ah!” Kei makes a u-turn, and grabs Kimi from my arms, hugging her tightly. “Can’t breath…” she gasps, and he holds her up into the air, looking straight into her eyes.

“WHERE did you disappear to, huh? Do you have any idea how worried I was? I asked around, and found out about that giant, and- Kimi, don’t you EVER do that again!”

She giggled, and said, “twirl me!”

“Kimi…” he sighed, and put her down. Then he saw me and froze. “You!”

I raise an eyebrow. “Yes, me. I’ve paid you back for the ‘you-saving-my-life’ thing, right?”

His eyebrows come together in confusion. “You saved Kimi?”

“yep.”

Kei then did something I did not expect. He smiled warmly, saying, “Thank you.”

He can smile! Wah!

“You’re so teeny, how did you save her?”

I snapped out of it at the word teeny. “I’m nine.”

“..You’re what?”

“I’m nine years old.”

It was his turn to stare at me, then he snorted. “Shrimp.” He muttered.

For lack of a rock, I threw a pillow at him.

I got up and went to the door. “Wait a second.” Kaori said. “Where are you going to?”

“I still haven’t finished my shopping, so I need to go.” I opened the door to leave, and said. “Bye.”

I walked down the stairs feeling unnaturally forlorn. As I reached a landing, I heard the tap tap of feet and looked back to see Kei approaching.

He was holding a package in one hand, and he stopped next to me. “Here.” He said, panting slightly, and handed the package to me.

I took it from him, eyeing it curiously. “What is it?”

“Cake! My mom said to give you some.”

“Oh.” I stared at the package, then looked at Kei and smiled avery sincere, genuine smile. “Thank you!”

Then I turned around and rushed off before he could see the annoying tears in my eyes. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! She doesn’t hate me!

---Kei—
*ba-dump*

What had that been? When she smiled, what had that been? Nothing, Kei decided. Nothing.

Kei opened the door to his apartement, feeling toubled. His mother came up to him, a plate of cake in one hand, and said, “Happy birthday Kei! So, how did she like it?”

“It was odd, mom. She seemed so happy! Just for cake! It was as if she’d never had any before.”

Kaori smiled sadly. “Oh, Kei, goo open your present.”

Kei smiled. “Oh yeah!”

Kaori sat down on the couch, putting her bad leg up on the table. ‘That girl.. She didn’t kill him, did she?’ Kaori remembered the defiant look in the small girl’s eyes, the fear. The way she smiled so sweetly at Kimi. ‘She couldn’t.’

Kaori looked at her son sadly, her heart shrouded with darkness. ‘if Kei found out…Let’s see. I won’t step in, for now.’

--

Aiko sat at the kitchen table, eating her slice of cake happily. There was another one and she was saving it for Gaara.

Aiko smiled happily. The cake- and Kaori- had made her feel happier than she had in a long time.

Aiko licked at her ice cream carefully. ‘NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNo!!!’ she screamed to herself as she spotted a drop about to drip off onto her shirt. ‘Yes!’ she thought catching it with her tongue.

She was sitting in the shad of the ice-cream stall, leaning against it’s side and licking tentatively, enjoying the treat. Milk was expensive, since it got spoiled easily here, and so ice cream prices were high.
“But this.” Aiko told herself as she licked the top of her ice cream into a point. “This is worth it!”

“Mind if I join you?”

Aiko practically jumped a mile high when out of the blue a male voice spoke to her. She’d been so engrossed she hadn’t noticed his approach.

----------Aiko--------

I squinted up from under my hood at the man standing before me. Dark skinned and grey eyed, he looked at me with a question in his face. I ducked my head down before he could see anything, and mumbled a “Sure.”

I could hear him settle next to me with a crunch of sand, and heard him lick at his ice cream. We both sat there in silence, keeping our respective silences and licking our ice creams softly.

I heard it- I’d been half expecting it, and was gone before it even left his hand. A shuriken dug deep where I had been sitting previously, and I crouched cattishly a few feet away, studying him silently.
“I thought they’d stopped.” I said.

He smiled at me. “Well, you thought wrong.”

I wrinkled my nose at him. “How cliché.” I said, and I was gone before he could say anything else.

I’m a master of running through streets, slipping through the crowd and all. My small size helps a lot. I wasn’t running away though. I just didn’t want to have a face off, because a face of was what we’d most certainly have. I knew I couldn’t outrun him.

“Move!” I screamed when a man got in my way. When he turned towards me, blinking slowly, I jumped, using his shoulders as a propel, and landing neatly on the otherside. He collapsed behind me, and I frowned- there were too many weak men in the world.

As I ran, I looked behind me. Tanned-man was nowhere in sight! I started to laugh, then stopped, because I’d slammed into something very solid and it hurt.

“Ow.” I said when I fell on my hiney. Looking up, I saw Tanned-man, and sighed. “Not here.” I stood up, facing him stubbornly.
“Not here.”

He raised a perfect black eyebrow at me. “Why not?”

“’Cuz.” I said, waving rond to the people looking on. A woman had stopped in the middle of hanging up clothes, and a kid in the middle of scrubbing a dog. ( the dog, y the way, ran away made like a rabbit so fast that he was a blur.) “We have an audience.”

He cocked his head at me exxageratedly. “Who cares?”

“I do.” I said fiercely. “I do, Assassin, I do.”

“Oh. Me? An assassin?” he sounded genuinely surprised. I was impressed. He was a good enough ‘actor’ to be on ‘Broadway’. “Well…you could call me that. But you can trust me. I promise.”
He smiled at me, a wonderful winning smile that made me think I could trust him. It.. it was so gentle and kind and understanding, part of me was shocked that a mere human face could convey so many feelings at once. He stepped forward, hand held out towards me. I looked at it for a moment, then at him, and hesitantly I smiled respondingly. Stepping forward, I held my hand out slowly, looking at his smile then-

I jumped straight at him, fist out. He leaned backwards in surprise, but no contact was made- I went through him to the other side, and strengthened my molecules just as my feet touched ground. “Nyah!” I said to his back- I couldn’t help it- and I was gone.

I stopped in a secluded, open area of the village. It was rather like my training grounds, I suppose, but not nearly as secluded.. It was secluded enough, though for what was about to happen.

He touched down lightly behind me. I could hear him- everything he did, for some reason, was loud. I’d noticed that back at the ice cream shop. Speaking of ice cream- “You made me drop my ice cream!” I screamed, twirlin to face him. I was seething, frothing mad, all for that tiny little ice cream. “You made me drop it!”

I was shuddering so bad, it shook loose some tears from somewhere. I wiped at them with my arm, and charged.

“Stupid.” I heard him say that when I neared. He sounded so bored, so annoyed, it furthered my fury, and I put it behind my fist heading for his face.

He caught it, and twisted me around so that I couldn’t move. If I did- it hurt. “Stupid.” He told me matter-of-factly.

I hate that word.

I let my molecules go loose, and fell forward, face first. I hadn’t thought of the onsequences, and I could do nothing. The sand was inch from my face- and his arm was around my waist. I was on my tip-toes nearly horizontal, my nose so close to the sand I could feel it’s heat.

“Wow.” The word stirred up the sand like dust, and probably the first time in my life I actually got to study it. What is sand basically? Rock. Teensy weensy rocks. I got to study them for a long time because he held me in that position for a long time.

It wasn’t as though I was going to say anything. Let his arm tire, then he’d let go.

Sand is rock, with a little bit of powdered rock here and there too. The powdered rock moves at a breath, and a short blast of wind makes it ripples like dropping a rock into a lake. The rock isn’t necessarily one color, mainly yellow. It’s white and black, sometimes a red so pale it’s pink. Peachy and sunny, grayish and brown. And there are some rocks that have ripples of other color in them. Like stripes of white or blue. But most of the time they’re one color for each rock. Not all of the sand is small. There are some the size of skipping stones. Also

“Aren’t you going to say anything?”

Hah.

“Hrm? Did you say something?” I said nonchalantly. “I didn’t hear you.”
Then I added helpfully-“ I was examining the sand.”

“Fuuuuh.” He breathed out through his mouth and muttered to himself. “’All’ I did was tell the Kazekage that teaching was siisyish and what was much better was going on missions, and who does who appoint me earlier on than usual? His daughter. His daughter. A monster of-“

I twisted out of his grasp and flipped a few feet away.

”I’m not a monster.” I said with absolute stillness., my back to him “Are you supposed to be my teacher? Congrats, I don’t want to be your student any more than you want me to be.”

Turning slightly towards him so that I could see him, I said, “Go home.”

A lock of red hair fell across my eyes, but I went on looking at him. That way he wouldn’t think he’d hurt me, only that he’d angered me.

His tall figure blocked the sun but made shadows on his face. It was hard to look at him straight in the eye, but I managed withought squinting.

“Goodbye.” I turned around, and began to walk home. There were no houses in the distance, something I noticed only after walking a few feet, but I reversed my course with great dignity and made my way back to the market.

As I passed him, his hand came out to stop me. I stopped. “What?”

We didn’t look at each other at all. “Give me a chance. Your father ordered me to do something, and I’m going to do it.”

I almost laughed. His words reminded me of my uncle. “You’d do anything for my father, wouldn’t you? You’re a loyal Sunagakure ninja aren’t you? You know what, you were right. Another word for ninja is assassin.”

I slapped away his hand contemptuously, but he brought it up again. “Your father is a scary man, Loved One.”

“That’s what my name means.” My voice almost shuddered as a wave of emotions broke my wall down. He’d done it with just two words, and that was impressive, I’d give him that. “That’s not my name.”

“I forgot it.”

He was right.. My father is a scary man. I turned so that I was looking up at the sideways part of his face.

“Aiko.”

“Huh?”

“That’s my name. You are my trial teacher. If I don’t like you, you’re fired.”

“How long is the trial?”

“You have to make me like you today. You have to prove your worthiness to me.” I said. I wasn’t about to be trained by a flop of a teacher. “Deal?”

I held my hand out towards him, and he took it solemnly, shaking it up and down. “Deal, princess.”

“What do you mean, princess?! You know, youre starting off terribly!”

He just laughed. Laughed. Laughed I tell you!

I can already see the conclusion of this trial, and it’s barely started.

Aiko stood before the tanned man, arms crossed, hood thrown back, and feet tapping. Emerald green eyes blazed and her red hair seemed to blaze in the sunlight. All of her small body radiated such authority it would have seemed funny, seeing her slight delicate frame. But there was something in her eyes, a warning sort of look that just dared anyone to laugh.

Opposite her loomed the tall man, looking down at her with a smirk of amusement. Broad shouldered with muscles lurking just underneath his dark skin which had been further darkened with careful tanning, he posed a formidable, and admittedly, /good/ /looking/ figure. His grey eyes sized her up casually. He looked to be about in his twenties or so, hard to believe considering how he looked, but there was something almost boyish about him. The way he smirked ,perhaps.

The two studied one another, assessing coolly, and when Aiko thought of him as /good/ /looking/ she thought it as though the words were dirty. In like, when the tanned man, who had introduced himself Keitaro Sorayo “But you may call me Kei Sensei, since you’re going to be my student.”, thought of the warning in her eyes, he grinned. Cheeky little brat. No one could up him, and THAT was a fact.

“So, Keitaro Sorayo, I will now tell you the first test.” Aiko said, deliberately using his full name and not “Kei Sensei” (this thought in an extremely girly and hateful voice). This also reminded her too much of ‘Kei’. When she opened her mouth to continue, Keitaro Sorayo opened his fist, five fingers out, at her, meaning to tell her that her sentence just now was not grammatically correct. She stopped, confused by his gesture. “What does that mean?”

He sighed, and explained slowly. What he was trying to indicate was obvious by the way he said it, but Aiko decide to ignore that. “It’s used in many classes. It means that I am politely asking permission to say or ask something.”

“Oh.” Aiko said and continued matter-of-factedly. “It’s called ‘raising your hand’. I’ve read about that in books. You did it wrong. You have to raise your hand all the way up.” She barely refrained from saying “Duh!” and rolled her eyes. Seriously, if you were going to do something, couldn’t you do it correctly?

Keitaro Sorayo looked at her for a few moments. ‘Oh..Dear..Kazekage..’ Then he began to laugh.

Aiko sighed. What was he doing ‘now’?

“Anyways. Back to what I was saying.” Aiko began when he finally had himself under control. “You have to catch me and hold me in custody for five minutes.”

“Oh, this’ll be easy.” Keitaro Sorayo smiled his customary business smile.

“No weapons or anything potentially harmful is allowed, and neither you nor I can get seriously hurt.”

“That goes without question.” Keitaro Sorayo said, nodding.

“Good.” Aiko smiled pleased with herself. “I get a minute head start!”

“No, it’s supposed to be twenty seconds!” Keitaro Sorayo called after Aiko. But she was already too far to hear. He smiled. Oh well. It would still be easy.

*-^-----------Aiko----

I crouched behind a dumpster, my breath coming in short gasps. I spied at my forhead with my arm, and brought it away, damp. “Ew.” I said studying it ruefully.
Running in the desert had it’s down sides, unfortunately. But I was certain that he wouldn’t be able to find me.
“Toodlooo, princess!”

Smacking your head against a dumpster, was harmful, wasn’t it?
Yes. I have a headache.

Keitaro Sorayo had my hands tied behind my back in no time, and he led me back to the secluded but not so secluded area we’d been in before. He sat me down and sat next to me, smiling. “Now all we have to do is wait for five minutes.”

I smiled back at him. You all know me. It was not a genuine smile. It didn’t look genuine. It didn’t even look like a smile. It just looked like I was stretching two pieces of pale-pink rubber across my teeth.

4 m 1 sec
I let my substance go loose and slip out of my bonds.
4 m 20 sec
Keitaro Sorayo stops smiling when he notices, and lunges for me.

4 m 40 sec
I’m long gone

4 m 50 sec
He glares after me and yells, “Just you wait!”

And our game of cat and mouse continues.

This time I entered a store and shopped around. It was nice and cool and ii found several things that looked cute.
It’s always been annoying, though, that EVERYTHING I FIND IN THE 9 YEAR OLD”S SECTION THAT I LIKE IS TOO BIG!!!! Well most everything. There was this beautiful green turtleneck which I sort of stupid because who wears turtlenexcks in the desert? Well, I do. I asked a clerk how much it was. “Hmmm.” He studied the turtleneck, then smiled at me, saying professionally, “Well, madam, I cannot say for sure but if you would be so kind as to step this way I’d be happy to check for you.”

“Ok.” I said, looking around for Keitaro Sorayo. “As long as it doesn’t take too long.”

“Oh no, it won’t tae any time at all.” He said, opening a door for me, and waiting for me to go through.

“Good.” I said, walking into the closet. “Although I was wondering whether you had different sizes and colors? I think a blue would look better- green matches my eyes too much.”

He closed the door with a click, and I looked around. It wasn’t grand or magnificent or anything.

It was a broom closet.
‘That’ was when I realized that I’d been tricked.

”Keitaro Sorayoooo!” I yelled at the door.

“It’s not pronounced Sorayooooo, it’s Sorayo. Yo! As in ‘cultivating’, y’know?”

“Oh be quiet.” I snapped. “And you better go find a blue turtleneck in my size for cheap!”

“Sure, sure, princess. I’ll be back in five.”

I was out in three, and I have no doubt that when he came back to find the broom closet empty his expression was priceless. I only regret I couldn’t have seen it myself.

As I sneaked as far away from the store as I could, I couldn’t help hoping that he’d save that turtleneck.

The third time he found me, I was in a theater, watching a play. He just sidled next to me and it wasn’t until he held onto the back of my neck with two fingers that I realized. It ‘was’ a good play, that’s all I’m gonna say in my defense. I made me neck molecules really hard and escaped.

The fourth time I was in a swimming pool. He held my head underwater, and only let me up for air, like, one time in a minute. I almost got asphyxiated, but I managed to go loose, punch him with a strengthened-molecule-like-rock hand. While he was gasping, I ran for it.

The fifth was the time final time.

I raced away from the pool, dripping wet, but even as I moved I felt the sun’s heat on my back. In ten minutes I was dry, clothes and all.

I’d been running around the marketplace again, and I was panting. The dip in the pool had been refreshing, beautifully so, but now I was dry and had to work on not getting caught. As I slowed my pace to a walk, I glanced at the sky. It was afternoon- I wanted to wrap this up quickly.

I sat dwn on a bench, watching the people go by, settling into my familiar rhythm. ‘Robber.’ I thought, watching a young man dip his hand into a man’s pocket. He was good. He slipped away without the man even noticing. I smiled. Just then, a vendor with his cart trundled by and my smile got bigger. I knew my next hiding place.

*

The car trundled over rocks, causing it to bump and bounce. It was old, and it creaked. The smell of something cooking floated up into the ir and underneath the cart, where I was hanging onto the skeleton underneath. I’d watched enough movies to know that this could be done, although I hadn’t been sure how.
It was a lot harder than it looked.

I was even hotter underneath the cart than outside. I was sweating so bad, there was probably a traild of sweat behind the vendor and his cart.

The tell-tale crunch of footsteps came, notifying me that someone was gonna buy something, and I sighed. It was gonna get hotter. It was the voice that made me surprised enough to lose my grip.

“One of that please, and something extremely cold to drink.”

The sound of frying masked my thud.

“You look worn out.” The vendor said conversationally. “What have you been doing?”

“Playing hide and seek.” He muttered irritably. I hooked my hands onto the skeleton thing, and tried to bend my feet and put them up again, like I had before. I fell again.

“Huh?” the vendor said. Keitaro Sorayo didn’t explain, he just took his food with thanks. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” The vendor said and began trundling away. The only thing that was secure were my hands, and even those were stuck, so I was dragged along by the cart. My feet showed, and the first one to see me was Keitaro Sorayo. “Aiko!” he said.

The vendor looked down and practically screamed. “I, sir, I swear to you that all my food is veg! I promise it!” he babbled as Keitaro Sorayo pulled me out. I rolled my eyes. “I’m a vegetarian ! I’ve always been since my duck was made into stew and I found out about it, and you know I found out when I was eating and there was stew all over the place, and I never ate duck again! Then it happened with my goat, and my chickem, and then I stopped getting barnyard animals as pets, and then I got a %dog% and..well…that’s when I went veg. But I swear, it’s all vegetarian fare! I pinky swear!”

He even took Keitaro Sorayo’s hand and curled his pinky around his. Keitaro shook his hand free and smiled at him. “No man, it’s all right. This is just princess, she’s been playing hide and seek.”

Pulling my cloak’s hood down over my face, ai smiled and said, “Hi,” just to shut him up.

We then walked away, Keitaro’s hand on my shoulder. The other was balancing a sandwhich and a drink, which I took from him. “Thanks.” He said.

When I drank it, he glared. “I take that back.”

We came to the secluded area, and he shoved me down to the sand, and- you’re not going to believe this- he sat on me!!! Of all things!
And he ate his sandwhich, so I had bread crumbs all over my back.

“Get of!” I practically screamed, struggling underneath him. “I can’t breath you’re chokingmei’mgonnadieandmydadwon’tbehappygetoffdoyouknowhowmuchyouweigh?itmustbelikeamillionpounds!mystupidkazekagegetoffofmenow!!!”

And all the while he ate his sandwich while perching his body on my tiny innocent body.

You know how this one ends don’t you?

He won.

After five minutes were up (and after I could breath and after I checked whether any of my ribs had cracked) I struggled to my feet, face him, and said with the greatest of authority,
“I…(gasp)…want..(wheeze)..lunch.”

Then I promptly fell face first into the sand and my stomach added to that with a loud growl.

Aiko studied her soup with some trepidation. Keitaro Sorayo had gotten it for her, and now he sat in front of her, eating his own soup like nothing was wrong. Well, there was something wrong about the soup. It felt wrong, it smelled wrong, heck, it even looked wrong!
It bubbled and spewed forth a mass of gooey stuff that landed on her chin. She wiped it off with a napkin, then poked at the soup with her soup spoon. “I’m not that hungry as to eat this, Keitaro Sorayo.” She looked up at him, frowning. “If you’re trying to poison me, it’s not working.”
A nerve twitched in Keitaro Sorayo’s forehead, and he put down his spoon irritably. “Look around you. Doesn’t this place look posh? Doesn’t the stinkin’ bowl look posh? Don’t the waiters look like they’re wearing expensive clothes!? If it looks like a nice place, its food is sure to be nice!”
“Well, this tuff looks like poop.” She swung her feet under the table. The seat was high enough for her to do that (and if anyone even suggested that it was vice versa and she was short, she’s kill them then and there). “Dog poop.” She added. “Which has parasites.” She took a deep sniff. “Smells like it too.”
Keitaro Sorayo felt his hunger receding drastically and it being replaced with a feeling of nausea. “Waiter.” He called. “Something a child would like, please.” Keitaro Sorayo smiled tightly at Aiko. It was against the law to beat up your student. Unfortunately. “It will be here shortly, child.”
“Here.” Aiko pushed the soup towards him. “You can have the dog poo.”
Keitaro Sorayo’s stomach churned uncomfortably, and he excused himself.
Aiko smirked. He would learn that having her as his student was to be no picknick. And she’d teach him without any bloodshed. A great feat for both of them. Keitaro Sorayo was hardly one to give up. And Aiko had a very short temper. But they would see. Something would work out, and both of them would be blissfully separated.
***
Keitaro Sorayo sighed. Aiko had been scribbling scary things on the napkin for a long time (he knew they were scary because he’d snuck a peek) and he’d had enough. “Aiko. For this round, I get to choose the test. Agreed?”

Aiko thought for a moment. “Alright.” She shrugged.
---------------------------Aiko---------------------
I studied the man for a moment as he thought. He looked a little weary, but he wasn’t at his limit. I’ve been reborn after the meal, so no worries there.
I closed my eyes and thought of Gaara. Thinking of him made me sad.
“What’s up?” Keitaro Sorayo said, noticing.
“I just miss my bro.” I said. “Y’know, the monster? Remember?”
“Yeah. Gaara, right? And I never called him a monster.”
I smiled at him. “Everyone does.”
He looked straight at me, and said, “I’m not everyone,” before changing the subject. “How long since you seen him?”
“This morning. “ I put my head down on the table like a pouting puppy, and sighed.
Now that I think of it, that- that could’ve been some theatrics so that Keitaro Sorayo would think I’m even more cuckoo than he previously thought, but it wasn’t. I was actually like that. Surprise surprise, en’it?
*
We stood outside, facing each other. In between us, hanging from a rope was powdered donut. Dessert. The first one to get to it and eat it won.
Since this seemed too short, we had a highest out of 50 donuts. We’d bought a box. For this, I’d cast my cloak aside. We werent’ in public, and the donut was hanging from a tree so there wasn’t anything odd there.
Much.
“How will this prove whose stronger?” I asked Keitaro Sorayo. I admit, it was getting irritating thinking his name in full every time, but no this without that, you know?
“You and I, we both want a treat. There it is hanging between us. First one who gets it, gets the treat. Simple!”
“But how will it help.”
“Oh that.” He clicked his watch. GO!
I dashed for the donut, my mouth about to chomp around it when Keitaro Sorayo pushed me away, hpping for it like a bunny rabbit.
I bent my knees, then kicked off, letting myself go light at the last possible moment. I zoomed for the donut, but before I could get it, Keitaro Sorayo batted me away from it like a fly.
I landed normal and watched as he raced up the tree, twisted off, and landed, powder around his face and donut in his mouth. “Mmm.” He said, his mouth full with the goodness that was so rightfully mine.
He noticed me looking. “Want some?” he didn’t wait for me to reply (which I wouldn’t have done anyways) and said, “Come and get it.”
I do think my head went blank for a moment, then white with fury, but before it could find an outlet there was something soft and fluffy in my mouth. I blinked, and Keitaro Sorayo stood in front of me, grinning, powder all over his face. I licked my lips, and nodded with satisfaction. “Good.” I said, voice muffled. He grinned, and threw the next one up.
By the time we got to the last donut, we were both staggering, our stomachs hindering us more than the other person, but we were determined for the last bite of mini-oil-dipped-powdery-goodness. I raced forward, as much as I could, but I couldn’t jump p more than an inch. Keitaro Sorayo threw a throwing star at it, but he missed when his stomach churned loudly, throwing him off balance. We both managed to make it to right under the donut before stopping and flailing like beached whales. We managed to turn over, heads touching, and stared at it, so close, yet so far.
“Hey.” He said.
“Yeah.” I said.
“Wanna try this one together?”
“Just for the donut?”
“Just for the donut.”
“…Ok.”
Then we both stood up; I managed to climb up onto Keitaro Sorayo’s’ shoulders and snatch it out of the air, before bending down and feeding him half. He grinned as he chewed and I did too, since I couldn’t help it and I was hyped up on donuts so I wasn’t thinking straight, and we both fell onto the sand, in the shade, closing our eyes to take a nice, afternoon nap.

Gaara sat in the tall chair alone in the room, in front of a fireplace. Absolutely useless during the day, it was roaring now, providing some warmth to abate the desert’s nighttime chill. There had been a change from the regular desert heat as the days crept into the colder desert months, and the heated nights became colder.

Gaara’s red hair gleamed dully in the flickering light, and his jade eyes seemed to strain against the contrasting blackness that surrounded them. His face was a shade paler than normal, and his arms clenched the arms of the chair.

The demon was stirring.

‘Come Gaara. Just a little nap, it won’t hurt, not at all.’ The Shukaku whispered sweetly, softly. ‘I’ll take over for you, no? I won’t let anything happen. Just close your eyes for one night. Just one.’

The chair’s back was to the window, but that made no difference. The moon was full and magnificent in its whiteness and the Shukaku was restless.

The boy’s eyes fluttered, drooping. His jaw clenched. ‘No mother!’

‘I want blood. I need blood.’

The boy smiled eerily, shadows thrown on his adolescent face from the fire light. “Mother needs blood.”

‘Yesss. Blood. Close your eyes. Let go. Your wretched sister won’t bother us this time.’

Gaar’s eyes turned up in worried earnestness, as if he was a child explaining his worries to his mother. “But what if. Happened last time.” He closed his eyes. “Horrible.”

‘That’s no matter. It won’t happen this time. Besides, what use do you have for her? What use when she refuses to appear for the whole day? She has abandoned you.’

“No.”

‘Yes! She has abandoned you!’

“NO! AIKO!”

_*_*_*_

I opened my eyes suddenly, sitting up. The first thing I noticed was that it was night, the second thing that registered was the moon. ‘Shit.’ My eyes widened. ‘Shit, shit, shitshitshitshitshit!’
I’m not in the habit of repeating a word that means poo to myself, but I think I had good reason.
It was a full moon.

“SHIT!”

_*_*_*_

“Aiko.” Gaara said. He didn’t have to turn, she was there in the windowsill, crouching.

The small cloaked figure made it to Gaara’s side swiftly and quietly.

“Mother wants blood.” He looked at her, clutching at her hand. Aiko’s heart clenched, and she smiled reassuringly at him. It was only at times like these that he was so… Like a child.

“It’s all right.” She leaned forward to place her hand on his head. “I’ll take care of that.”

She began to vanish. “Just sleep for a while. Sleep for the night. I’ll take care of mother.”

_*_*_*_
Ever since Yashamaru Gaara has believed the Shukaku to be our mother. I probably know the tuth only because I’ve seen the Shukaku, and maybe I don’t believe him not to be our mother despite that.

Maybe in her hatred, maybe in her hate, she’d manifested inside our bodies, become a part of us. And what can we hope but that, but to have some part of our mother, some semblance of a mother with us, for we have none, never known one, and never would if one hugged us compassionately?

_*_*_*_

Gaara seemed to shiver slightly, then he went limp in the chair, eyes sliding shut. For several moments the fire crackled in the fireplace, and shadows loomed in the silent room.

Eyes snapped open, mechanically, and at that precise moment a wind blew through the room, silencing the fire in one strong movement. Silence permeated the room as the boy stood, marched over the the window. His silhouette was framed in the window as he crouched there for a few seconds. Then he was gone.

_*_*_*_

Kaidan Fujushima was crouched down on the roof of the house across the way. He was looking into the house that was, supposedly, Aiko’s.

A couple minutes had passed since Aiko had disappeared into the house. Kaidan felt slightly chilled- he really should be in bed right now, and his night uniform was back home. He sighed longingly. Why did his first student have to be so annoyingly ‘hard’!?

Kaidan Fujushim tapped his finger against the tiles of the roof. ‘Anytime now!’

Suddenly, the room became dark. Kaidan Fujushima squinted at the window. There was someone there….

The figure turned to look straight at him. Kaidan Fujushima suddenly felt much colder than he had moments before.

The kid looked possessed. Everything about him, his face, his body, was eerily calm and still as though. The only thing that looked alive were his eyes, , glowing their light green in the moonlight.

The two stared at one another for several seconds, then the boy’s lips moved, as if he was trying to say something. Kaidan Fujushima was no bat, but it was obvious the kid hadn’t said anything. His lips moved again, and the message was clear though unspoken.

“Go away.”

The boy stood there for a few moments, staring at Kaidan Fujushima. ‘Aiko.’ He realized suddenly. ‘That’s Aiko in there! She’s controlling him?!’

The boy jumped off the roof, landing lightly on the ground and slipping into the shadows to disappear from sight.

Kaidan Fujushima followed.

_*_*_*_

What an annoying man. Someone explicitly tells him to bug off, and what does he do? He follows you. Inside Gaara, I sighed. Whatever. He should watch and add another reason to his no doubt growing list of why he shouldn’t be my tutor. Then he can bug off for real and ‘Daddy’ can assign someone else to teach me.

I’ve been doing this for a long time… Letting Gaara sleep and taking control of his body every full moon. I must, because brother does not care about loss of life. I care a margin more than him, and have a bit more self control, which Is why I’ve been doing this every month on the day of the full moon.

I made Gaara plod onward, feeling as though I was controlling a big mechanical robot. ‘Maybe… If I attatch myself to Gaara, just a little bit.’ I contemplated the space around me. ‘Just reach out and make contact.. I’ll have more control.’ I almost did it. Hands out, reaching contemplatively, fingers reaching-
But then I stopped, pulling back.

No.

‘I’m not as strong as Gaara. I don’t want to test myself.’ I glanced to my side, looking to where he was lying, spread out in his big, thick turtleneck shirt.

He had that same expression on his face again, as though sleeping got rid of all his worries, insomnia and hatred, as though sleeping made him a child again.

I wish he wasn’t like this. Like he is now. I wish he could go back to being the Gaara that was him.

The body stumbled suddenly, jerking me forward in mid air . I steadied it, feeling disoriented, and stood still. There is no going back, no matter hard I wish. There is no turning time back to become ourselves again, because what we were then and what we are now are totally different.


*SLAM!* the Shukaku slammed his tail into the side of his cage, sending a dull thud of pain through me. I stepped out of the moonlight quickly, sticking to the shadows. It didn’t help, he stirred more, furiously. Everything went hazy, and a vampire like feeling for blood filled my being.

“No.” is aid, closing my eyes and balling my hands up into fists. I was so weak!

Whimpers of fear attracted my sensitive ears, and the body, as if it had a mind of it’s own, turned and plodded off in the direction of the noise. ‘Justice is ok. No killing, but justice is ok.’ I thought, trying to control Gaara and the Shukaku at the same time.

“Here. Here! All, all my money, my money. My purse too, if you want it!” a desperate female voice said.

Someone chuckled. “Hmmm. What about that necklace you’re having around your neck? Hand it over! And all the other jewelry you have on your person!”

I growled deep in my throat, stepping into the alley. There they were, off to the side, a man and a woman. The man held a dirty blade to her throat and the woman was hastily slipping a pair of bangles off of her wrists. They both noticed me at the same time.

“You, you, what are you doing here? Get away kid!” the woman screamed, her voice raising hysterically. The man grabbed her by the hair roughly. “Quit your yapping, lady!” His other hand, the one with the knife, hovered dangerously near her neck. “You heard her!”

I maneuvered Gaara into the light, touching an arm to the side. Something snaked around, holding tightly, and control surged through me. I smiled, and felt it on Gaara’s face.

“What did I tell you!” the man pressed the blade to her neck and a drop of red liquid appeared.

‘BLOOD!’ the cry raced through my body, the Shukakur taking up the chant. ‘Blood,blood, blood, blood!”

I plunged my other arm out, attaching myself more firmly to Gaara. Now I was him. The sand rose in the air, and screamed forward towards them.

He dropped the knife. She screamed. And it was all over.

_*_*_*_


“The full moon acts as a catalyst, making the Shukaku’s blood boil and his desire for blood almost uncontrollable. On such nights, loss of life is not unheard of, which is why it has been repeated throughout Suna for many years that the night of a full moon is one never to venture out upon. Take for example, the night of the ‘Awakening’, wherence the demon managed to take possession of the young Jinchuriki, Gaara. It was only by-“

Kaidan Fujushima snapped the file shut, placing it on the desk. He stared into nothing for several seconds. What kind of a pupil had he gotten?

He smiled ruefully, and a glimmer of mischief seemed to dance about on his features. A very interesting one indeed.

_^*^_

Two men walked briskly down the hall, one talking to the other in a very loud and confused manner. “I don’t know how he got there sir, one moment he was there, one moment he wasn’t! It appeared as though he came in through the wall! He regained consciousness a couple hours into the day and kept babbling about a woman and how he’d never ‘ do it again, never ever’, sir.”

The two came to a stop in front of a cell where a man sat curled up on his cot, uttering to himself.

“I doubt, sir.” The man said after a moment. “That he will ever do ‘anything’ again sir.”

__
Several years later, once the man served his sentence for his several misdeeds which he confessed to all at once, going all the way back to preschool ,where he stole Sammy’s lollipop, the man was released. He moved to a different country, and was always thought of as odd.

He never accomplished anything in life besides long hours of community service. He stayed as far away from ninjas as possible.

There are three nights of possession during which the Shukaku's power is at its fullest. After the third day, as the moon dwindles, so does the length of his leash, and he retreats to recover. During this time, the host either sleeps and lets the Shukaku do as it pleases, stays in control and gives the Shukaku blood to sate its appetite, or, in a very rare case, lets another host, at his or her own great risk, take over. The Demon Files, Chapter Four, "The three tailed badger".

~

In the dark room, the body slumped upon the bed looked like a murder victim. The moonlight fell upon only certain parts of the body- a hand, with chewed up, bloody nails. A leg, hanging inches above the ground. A head, leaning against the wall, covered with dark red hair. And wide, staring eyes that barely blinked.

In the space of a second, a change appeared in the room. A second body lying on its side.

The wide staring eyes blinked. They squeezed shut and the hand reached up to rub at them. For a second a kanji was apparent upon the body's forehead. The kanji for Love.

Gaara blinked around the dark room, waiting for his eyes to stop stinging. He noticed he was sitting on his bed- Aiko's was across the small room, just a couple of feet away from his. Gaara's head creaked to the side when he remembered his sister.

Utter exhaustion was displayed upon that face. She moved restlessly - the pure tiredness that dragged at her body also kept her from resting peacefully. She'd been awake for three days straight while fighting with a powerfull Shukaku - that was like hanging from a swaying rope over rapids for an equal amount of time.

"Bakayaro." Gaara's hollow voice sounded even more empty in the quiet room. It echoed eerily. He got to his feet slowly, twitching his fingers and his bare toes as if to make sure the worked. Every movement hurt and he had this immense need to stretch the cricks out of his body.

The boy crouched bisde the bed so that he could look straight into his sisters face. She looked very... ugly. She had bags under her eyes that couldn't compete with his own but came close and her skin sagged. She smelled and her hair looked ragged. But, despite all that, for several moments she looked peaceful. Dark red hair fell across her moon lit face and she breathed softly.

The very fact that his sister was in the room with him seemed to drive the shadows away. A less surreal light poured in the window; bathing the room with a comfortable underwater quality. Putting his head to the side, cold eyes observed her face. The eyes that brought terror to Sunagakure seemed to soften, seemed to lighten as if some barier had been breached. Gaara studied his twin's hair, studied his twin's nose, studied his twin's cheek.

Then, for some incomprehensible reason, the smallest of smiles appeared upon his lips, and in that quiet room, the smallest of clicks was heard.

--Aiko--

I have always hated doorbells. The way they go "ding-dong" in that overtly cheerful fashion and the way they just stretch out in the end. They can wake you up from the deepest of sleeps in a more annoying manner than alarm clocks. But the thing I hat the most about doorbells is their capacity to go on ding-donging for as long as whoever is at the door has patience.

Ding-dong.... Ding-dong.... ding-dong,ding-dong.... ding-dongding-dongding-dongding-dongdin-

"WHAT IS IT!?!?!!?" I slammed open the door and screamed at my visitor.

-ng-donnnng

For several seconds he stood there staring down at me, and I, up at him. His back was to the sun and I had to squint to study him. He was tanned and with grey- no wait a minute. That face, those eyes- was it? The nose was bumpy right next to the eyes and the eyebrows were thick. The body was lightly muscular in an obvious but not overpowering manner and he had this cocky smile on his face. It was the smile that clicked it for me.

"Keitaro... Sorayo?" I said, sticking on the Sorayo really quickly 'cuz I'd almost forgotten.

"Actually, It's 'Kei - Sensei." He smiled. "It's not very polite to call your teacher by his full name, is it?"

----

"Firstly, I am NOT calling you "Kei - Sensei"." I stood in front of Keitaro Sorayo with my hands crossed across my chest. "Secondly, since when are you my teacher?"

We were in my and Gaara's living room. He was sitting on MY couch and eating some of MY chips which he'd filched from MY countertop in MY kitchen.

"Since your dad, the Kazekage, signed this form statng that I AM." Keitaro Sorayo waved a piece of paper in front of my face. He kept on smiling that stupid smile of his and munching away.

I stood there, glowring at him. There was somw windex in the kitchen; was it possible to wipe away smiles like you would a dirty stain?

As a rule, I'm never rude or crude or violent to people who've never done anything to me, which is why most of these people tend to underestimate me and believe me to be someone easy to handle. I generally am - easy to handle, that is - until they either piss me off or try to kill me. In this case, Keitaro Sorayo was seriously pi- making me mad. Therefore, violence was acceptable.

I leaned in towards Keitaro Sorayo. "Hm?" He looked up and I was an inch away from his face, my arm going right through his heart.

"You're not my 'sensei' until you've earned my respect, which you haven't Keitaro Sorayo." I told his grey eyes. I've never personally seen a storm cloud but they were the same color as the ones I'd seen in books. "I don't understand. How can you be my teacher when I can kill you-"

Something cold pressed against my windpipe and I stopped talking abruptly. Keitaro Sorayo finished my sentence for me. "As easy as 1-2-3?"

The Keitaro Sorayo before me smirked and chomped on one last chip before poofing into a pile of sand.

I stared at it and could hear the smile in his voice as he pet my hair fondly with his other hand. "Tsk, tsk. You're such a naive' little subordinate." He sighed. "How am I ever going to teach you?"

~

The Kazekage's room was spacious and lit by strategically placed windows. These windows had been made by Suna artichets; placed so that at specific times of the day only the right amount of sunlight made it through into the room, ensuring the proper temputure for the Kazegake at all times.

In this room there were three doors that led to the outside world. One, a concealed emergency exit. Two, a private passageway for silent comings and goings. And three, a door that led to another room, a smaller room, which was now occupied only by the Kazekage and a guest.

This smaller room was the room that the public and most other people saw when visiting the Kazekage. Not small, not large, it managed to be overpowering. Visitors sat before a partition that seperated them from the Kazekage, adding to their sense of inferiority. Usually, two guards would sit on either side of their lord, weopons sheathed; you might think they'd make guests feel more at ease, make them realize that ,yes, their Kazekage was human! He also feared for his life and needed protection from his enemies. Yet this assumption would be wrong for they only reassured his visitors of the fact that the Kazekage didn't want to sully even his blade with blood of small fries. He'd let his ninja do that work for him.

The Kazekage sat alone behind the partition; straight and foreboding. His veil had been set to his side and the red hair that he shared with his youngest two children was revealed. Before him sat a woman with hair that matched his. A lighter ginger, it complimented the cool green and blue hues on her formal robe beautifully.

"Keitaro has accepted the job offer." the woman said.

"You're the one that recommended him..." The Kazekage let his voice trail off.

The woman replied to his unspoken question. "He matches her personality and he wouldn't have accepted if he didn't think it worth his time."

"What of-"

"Baki hasn't made contact with Gaara yet, but he's met with Temari and Kankuro." The woman interrupted.

The Kazekage studied her, an almost smile playing on his stone face. "You're always so curt with me Momochi, yet you still manage to finish my sentences. How is that so?"

Momochi got to her feet and dipped her head towards the Kazekage politely. "If that is all, Kazekage, I will take my leave."

The clack of the door closing echoed in the now empty room. The Kazekage's sharp face hid the thoughts he had as the door opened once more and his guards came to stand beside him.

'I wonder.' He watched a stray dustmite in a nearby sunbeam drift to the floor. 'Is the price of being the protector of a nation this high for the other kage as well?'