Hinata stared blankly at shimmering silver water below her. Her long violet hair swirled around her pale face and silver eyes. The spring breeze felt good upon her heated body. She had just gotten out of training with Neji, and was exhausted. She stood on a small bridge placed above the lake in the hidden village of Konoha. The sakura trees were in blossom, and the small pink petals were drifting down into the water lazily, sending out gentle ripples.

She gently brushed a blossom out of her long hair, smiling slightly as it floated into the water. It drifted along, like a tiny boat. She could almost imagine small people sitting on it, enjoying a picnic on the lake together. Spring was the best season in Hinata's opinion. The season of love, Sakura called it.

Huh…yeah right, love. She couldn't even get Naruto to look her way. Instead, he was always goggling over Sakura. The violet haired girl didn't see what was so great about her. She was just a medic, while Hinata was an actual fighting ninja. She also had a Keki genki!

What was wrong with her? Sakura was her friend and she shouldn't be feeling jealous about that! Maybe the heat was really getting to her.

Gaara took a small step forward, his blue green eyes narrowed as he stared straight ahead, judging which movements to take. His sand hissed and curled around his legs like an angry cat ready to spring on its prey. His hands twitched every so often, making the sand flare up defiantly.

Kankuro watched every movement with his sharp eyes. Even though Gaara's moves were familiar to him, he still had to be careful. The Kazekage was the type of man who could change his fighting styles just like that. He was definitely one of the best to use a mixture of ninjutsu and tijutsu to control his sand. He'd also been training with that Lee from the hidden leaf village, meaning Kankuro couldn't know what to expect.

The Kazekage lurched slightly, making Kankuro swing his hands up in defense. He's watching every move I make…Gaara thought to himself. He raised one hand slowly, and saw Kankuro's eyes following it, like it was a time bomb ready to explode. As quick as lightning, Gaara did a turn in the sand, slamming his hands to the ground. The sand rushed forward to Kankuro, a deadly snake ready to bite.

Kankuro leapt away from the oncoming sand, landing on one of the medal poles used for training. He raised his hands, moving his fingers this way and that. Karasu sprang forward, moving accordingly to its masters commands. Its head flew back, revealing a long blade.

Gaara did a skilled dodge, something he rarely did while fighting. He slammed one hand onto the grains of sand, making them fly up towards the puppet. The sand slunk all around it, termites in its gears. The puppet jerked a few times as Kankuro pulled angrily.

"Damn Gaara! You jammed Karasu's gears again!" Cried the puppeteer. He gave a few more tugs on the chakra lines connecting to the wooden body, before giving up. The tangle of wood and cloth fell to the sand behind Gaara.

Kankuro leapt down from the pole and stomped over to his puppet. He glared at Gaara, who just stared at him. "You do that every time we train…" he growled angrily.

"It's training," Muttered Gaara in his normal monotone, "I can't go easy, even if it is just a stupid puppet." Kankuro's eye twitched at this insult to his beloved puppet. He frowned.

"He didn't mean it," He cooed to the head of the puppet.

Gaara shook his head. Temari had warned Kankuro that if he kept on talking to his puppets, he'd loose all his friends. Why did it have to be his brother that was such a moron? In fact, why was his whole family so messed up? His mother was dead, so was his father and uncle. His older brother was the village idiot, and his older sister was the scary then he was.

He gave a sigh, and shook his head again, "Let's go, Kankuro. You can play with your puppets later," he crossed his arms over his chest and turned to walk away. The sand sulked after him as he said, "We have a mission to do, remember?"

Kankuro blinked, dropping the pieces of Karasu that he had picked up, "Gaara…" he watched as his younger brother stopped in his tracks. The sand ninja turned his head slowly, to look at the Kabuki warrior.

"Is this…ok?" Kankuro asked in a concerned voice. His black eyes trailed over the pale face of his brother and leader. He stared intently at the cold blue green eyes he was so familiar with.

"It's the elder's orders," Gaara answered after a long silence. He turned his head away from Kankuro. "I don't particularly want to, but I can't argue with the elder. He had more power then I do, after all." The corner of his lip twitched slightly, and the sand whirled around him fiercer then a moment ago. A small gust of wind passed through the training field, making Gaara's long red overcoat flutter around his ankles, intertwining with the sand. It looked like rings of blood to Kankuro. The middle child of the fourth Kazekage gave a small shudder.

Gaara looked up, as if he was about to say more. After a pause, he just looked back down at the gentle flowing sand. "Just hurry," He said so faintly, Kankuro barely herd him over the rushing of the sand. Gaara continued to walk further into the village, till Kankuro lost sight of him within the shadows of the buildings that made up the Suna.

Kankuro let out a weary sigh. It had been three years since Akatsuki extracted the demon Shukaku from his brother. Ever since then, Gaara had been able to sleep soundly, but those dark rings from his fifteen years of insomnia, wouldn't go away. Temari explained to them that it was because Gaara had gone so many years without sleep and that it was only logical the rings would be there for good. Meh, thought Kankuro shrugging to himself, they make him look better.

"Let's get some dumplings!" Suggested Kiba, grinning at Hinata and Shino as they walked together through the village. He sniffed happily, smelling the sweet dumplings in the shop not to far away.

"I don't like sweets," Said Shino bluntly.

"Killjoy!" Snapped Kiba. Akamaru barked loudly, wagging his long tail.

Hinata watched the two argue, a faint smile on her face. She was glad enough to have such amazing friends as these two and Akamaru of course. She didn't really care what they had for lunch, as long as they had something. She was starving. Also, Kurenai-sensei would be coming soon to take them on their next mission.

"Sushi it is," Said Kiba, a trace of disappointment in his voice.

Hinata blinked in surprise. How did they decide on sushi, when Kiba had wanted sweets, and Shino was so picky. She had drifted of into daydreams about Naruto, that was it. A pink blush kept over her face.

"You ok, Hinata?" Asked Kiba, "Your face is all red again."

"A-ah!" gasped Hinata, clapping her hands over her mouth in shock, "S-sorry Kiba-kun! N-no, I'm perfectly fine! Just hot from training, t-that's all!" She lowered her hands from her mouth and smiled sheepishly at the two of them.

Kiba shrugged and walked on, putting his hands behind his head lazily. He laughed loudly, making people turn to look at him. Shino lowered his head, going into sulking again. Hinata walked behind them, smiling.

"Hinata."

The three turned to see their sensei, Kurenai, looking down at them. She had a serious look on her face, her crimson eyes narrowed slightly. She had been upset ever since Hidan had murdered Asuma, but she looked concerned now, not her normal sad face. "Lord Hizashi wants to see you," She said, looking at Hinata.

Hinata blinked. Her father normally never wanted her, unless it was something very important, and Hinata couldn't really think of anything coming up. She nodded anyway, "yes, Kurenai-sensei."