A/n: Akiko here. Just letting everyone know that there is another version of this story, so if you've read it, please don't spoil it for veryone! The authoress wanted some parts of her story to go in a different direction, so we're partnering up to write this. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Oh, the story is set about 6 or 7 months after the last chapter in the manga before the time skip, so Gaara has just become the Kazekage and stuff. Ok, bye!

Chapter 1: Explosions, Dreams, and Missions

Location: near the edge of the Suna Desert
Time: approximately 1800 hours

BOOM!

A miniature mushroom cloud erupted among the golden desert sand. A short redhead kunoichi grabbed the ear of the blond pig-tailed girl walking beside her. "Jessi-chan! What have I told you about that?" the redhead cried.

The blond, Jessi-chan, yelped in pain, rubbing the ear which her partner held. "What? What did I do?" she asked in a whiney voice.

"You made another one of your little explosions; you're scaring the poor client!" the redhead said. She indicated to the man cowering behind her shoulder. He wore a business suit, once clean and smoothly black, but now dirtied by two days of traveling through the desert, and a white cloth covered his mouth and nose to protect him from flying sand.

The redhead released the ear, glaring at Jessi-chan. "That makes four times. Once more, and I swear, I'll leave you alone in this desert," she lowered her voice to a whisper, leaning closer to the blond, "and you'll never see Kazekage-sama again."

"No! I promise I'll be good!" Jessi-chan cried.

"You'd better. And I mean it."

Jessi-chan poked her lower lip out in a pout. "Yes, ma'am," she muttered.

The redhead rolled her eyes, then turned to look at the man. "I'm sorry, Kazuo-san," she said. "It won't happen again."

The man nodded his head timidly. "Thank you, Elli-dono."

"Um, please don't call me that," Elli said, sputtering at the politeness.

"I must give Elli-dono the proper respect," Kazuo replied.

Elli sighed and frowned. Maybe she should let the idiot scare him some more after all…She glanced down, and noticed that tufts of brown colored grass were starting to sprout up beneath their feet. "We should be reaching the desert edge in about half an hour," she told Kazuo. "At that point, we will leave you to head back for Sunagakure."

"Ah. Yes," Kazuo replied, nodding in understanding.

"Half an hour? But that's so far!" Jessi-chan whined.

"Hey, idiot. If you don't stop whining, I might leave you too," Elli said threateningly.

The blond let out a frightened squeak, and clamped her hands over her mouth to keep from whining about something else.

Elli gave a satisfied half-smile. That should shut her up for at least until tonight. Then Jessi-chan would probably start whining about having to sleep on the sand, just like she always did.

"Thank you very much for escorting me," Kazuo said, bowing to Elli. "Please accept this as a symbol of my gratitude." He held out a stick of orange taffy.

"Um," Elli said, taking the taffy, and trying to hide the look of disgust on her face. "Thanks…"

The man nodded, and walked away to join the caravan behind them. "Bye bye Herb Seller Man-san!" Jessi-chan screamed, jumping up and down and waving her arm in the air wildly.

Kazuo's back stiffened, and he quickened his pace in his hurry to get away. Elli snickered under her breath, knowing the tradesman was desperate to put distance in between himself and the pyromaniac kunoichi.

"Come on, baka," Elli said, turning back towards the desert that the two girls had been raised in since they were young. "Let's head back home."

Jessi-chan skipped up to join her partner and friend. The two girls had been as close as sisters—maybe closer—since Elli had first been brought to Sunagakure when she was seven years old, only a couple of years after Jessi-chan herself had stumbled upon a group of ninja from the Sand Village and been brought there.

The blond leaned over Elli's shoulder to stare at the orange candy. "What's that?" she asked.

Elli grimaced, remembering the sweet in her hand. "It's taffy," she replied.

"Really? Where'd you get it? Can I have some?" Jessi-chan poured out one question after another.

"Kazuo-san gave it to me just now," Elli replied. She glanced at her partner. "Did you just completely miss that?"

"Aww, that's not fair!" Jessi-chan whined. "Why didn't I get one?"

"Oh, I don't know," Elli said sarcastically, pretending to go deep into thought. "Oh, maybe because you kept making your little explosions and scaring the poor man to death the whole trip."

"But it was so boring! It wasn't like I did anything big! Can I pleeease have the taffy?" Jessi-chan added, giving Elli her best puppy dog eyes.

Elli sighed and rolled her eyes. She held the taffy out to Jessi-chan. "Fine, take it. I don't even like taffy anyway."

"Yay!" Jessi-chan cried happily, taking the taffy and biting into it. "Fhey, isch schewy."

"Yes, Jessi-chan. Taffy is chewy," Elli replied. She glanced at the sky. Streaks of red were beginning to tint it as the sun sank lower into the horizon. "We should probably stop and make camp soon."

"Jdo we haf tcho?" Jessi-chan asked between chews.

"Do you want to walk all night?" Elli said.

"No."

"Then yes, we have to," Elli replied.

After another twenty minutes of walking, the girls picked a spot in the seemingly endless sea of sand and set up for the night. Elli slung the pack of supplies off her back and set it on the ground beside her, taking out the food and water while Jessi-chan spread out the sleeping pallets. The blond finished her work and sat down beside Elli.

"Food!" Jessi-chan exclaimed, happily grabbing her share and stuffing it in her mouth. Beside her, Elli ate her own food in small, slow bites. Needless to say, Jessi-chan finished first, leaving her to entertain herself while her companion ate.

Jessi-chan grinned, grabbing a handful of sand. She pulled a sack off her belt, which held several smaller sacks filled with powders which she always carried around. Using her empty rice bowl, she mixed some of the powders with the sand. She placed her hand on the bottom of the bowl, allowing some of her chakra to flow into it. She had been small at the time, but she still remembered some of what her brother had taught her. There was a loud BANG as the bowl in her hand exploded, and a cloud of dust spread out from it.

Elli coughed, holding up her short sleeved, purple half jacket to her face to protect her lungs from the dust. "You moron!" she cried, her voice muffled by the cloth. "Why do you always feel the need to do that?"

"I was bored!" Jessi-chan said.

"You always say that!" Elli yelled, removing the jacket from her face as the dust subsided. "Now what are you going to eat out of?"

Jessi-chan chewed her lip. "I dunno," she mumbled.

Elli rolled her eyes and stood up, pulling the jacket back on. "Whatever, I'm going to sleep now," she said. She crawled into her sleeping pallet. "Goodnight, and don't do anything stupid."

"Aww, fine," Jessi-chan muttered, pulling her knees up to her chin and pouting.

Elli yawned, and closed her eyes. It had been a long two days. She couldn't wait to get back to Suna so she could have the chance to escape from her hyperactive partner at least for a little bit. Before she knew it, she drifted into the realms of sleep.

A roaring filled her ears. She looked around, trying to figure out where it was coming from. She saw a girl—a girl with her face, and those same vivid blue eyes staring back at her. The girl turned around, running, fading far off into the distance. She stretched out her hand to the girl. Don't go! She mouthed the words, but no sound came out. It was as though the roaring had blocked out even her own voice. And then she was falling, falling into deep darkness.

Elli woke with a start, sitting up. She looked around wildly, for a moment forgetting where she was. She saw the familiar sands of the Suna Desert surrounding her, and stars twinkled in the night sky. Beside her, Jessi-chan was curled up in her sleeping pallet. Elli shivered from the chilling cold of the desert night, and lay back down in her own pallet, designed especially to keep out the cold. She placed a hand on her forehead. Her skin was damp with sweat.

Another of those dreams. She had been having them for as long as she could remember, and really it was her first memory. She had had that dream just before she awoke in Sunagakure for the first time almost seven years ago. Before that, she could remember nothing. She knew only that this dream was her sole clue to the secret of her past, whatever that might be. Beside her, Jessi-chan snored loudly, carefree as always. Elli sighed, and rolled over onto her side. Hopefully, she could sleep through the rest of the night peacefully.

Jessi-chan and Elli approached the massive, russet-colored stone gates of Sunagakure early in the morning two days later. Jessi-chan ran the last several yards to the gates, screaming, "Yay! We're finally home, Gaara-kun!"

"Jessi-chan, haven't I told you to refer to the Kazekage-sama more formally?" Elli said, glaring at the blond. "Especially when we're actually in Suna. What if the Council overhears?"

Jessi-chan turned to stare at her obliviously. "But he's our friend," she said.

"I know, but he's still the Kazekage," Elli replied. She sighed as Jessi-chan once again gave her the puppy dog eyes. "At least call him Gaara-sama."

"Yay! We get to see Gaara-sama!" Jessi-chan cried happily, turning back to the gates. Elli shook her head. It really was hopeless.

"Elli-san, Jessi-san, you've returned from your mission?" called the shinobi in charge of guarding the gate.

"That's right," Elli said. "We'll need to report to Kazekage-sama now."

"Yes, of course," the shinobi replied. "Please, enter."

The girls entered the familiar streets of their hometown, heading for the building where the Kazekage took care of all of his affairs. After going through the normal procedures, they went inside the building, walking down the hallways until they reached the Kazekage's room. Elli had to keep a tight hold on the orange sleeve of Jessi-chan's outfit to keep her from barging right into the room, and probably getting herself and Elli into huge trouble with the Council…again.

"The Kazekage will see you now," said another shinobi, coming out of the room.

"Thank you," Elli said, still keeping a tight hold on her companion as they entered the room.

As the brown door closed behind them, Jessi-chan forcefully freed herself from Elli's grip, running up to the desk. "Gaara-kun!" she shouted.

"You moron," Elli muttered under her breath.

The redhead Kage looked up from the papers on his desk, and nodded at each of the two girls in turn. "Good morning, Jessi-san. Elli-san, what is your report?"

Elli straightened up. "Kazekage-sama, the client was delivered safely without incident," she said.

"Elli!" Jessi-chan suddenly cried, interrupting Elli and making her jump. "Gaara-kun is our friend! Do you have to speak to him so formally?"

Elli shot her a glare that practically shouted, 'Didn't we just talk about this, you moron?', and Jessi-chan cringed, suddenly remembering their conversation barely twenty minutes ago. She clamped her mouth shut.

Elli turned her attention back to the Kazekage. "I'm sorry, Kazekage-sama."

"It's fine. No harm done," he replied. He glanced briefly at Jessi-chan, and for a split second, the ghost of a smile crossed his face. He turned back to his papers, straightening them out. "Well done on completing your mission," he continued, looking back at Elli. "I would like to say you may have the rest of the day off, however, an urgent mission has come up, and I'll need the two of you to take care of it immediately."

"What? Another mission?" Jessi-chan practically screamed. "Gaara-kun! Whyyy?"

"Jessi-chan! Be quiet!" Elli ordered. "I'm sure Kazekage-sama has his reasons for having us do a mission so soon, otherwise he wouldn't have asked! Kazekage-sama, we will gladly accept the mission."

In her mind, Elli sighed while the Kazekage gave them the details of the mission. They were to travel to Konohagakure and meet up with a kunoichi there and bring her back. Honestly, she agreed with Jessi-chan on this one. She would much rather stay here for at least a day or two, and maybe get in some training or cooking to help her relax, but as she had said herself, Kazekage-sama surely had his reasons.

"It's not fair," Jessi-chan moaned once they had left the building with their new mission, heading once again for the gates separating Sunagakure from the desert.

"Jessi-chan, just look at it as doing a favor for Kazekage-sama," Elli said.

"Oh yeah!" Jessi-chan said.

Elli shook her head at the girl's easy change of attitudes. The gates loomed up before them, and they stepped back through them, another three days in the desert ahead of them. Elli had to wonder if she wouldn't go insane…