A/N: Ohayo!

Welcome to my new Naruto story- okay not new since my Beta and I have been working on it for a while now but still!

Anyways this is a story that starts of AU but... well you'll see as the story progresses

Thank you BrairBaneRose you're amazing!

A/N: I do not own Naruto or any original Naruto ideas

Enjoy!

'Riiiiing Riiiing…'

'Riiiing Riiiing…'

'Riiiing Riii-"

"Moshi moshi, Tora Dojo, this is Aya speaking."

"Moshi moshi?" a familiar voice asked in exasperation. "Aya, who in their right mind answers the phone with 'moshi moshi'? Is that even English?"

Sighing the girl holding the phone shifted it to the other side and flicked purple eyes out the glass windows before focusing back on her friends voice. "It's Japanese for 'hello' Liza. I said that because for one this is a Japanese Dojo and two I need to keep practicing Japanese so I don't get rusty."

"Yeah, yeah whatever", her friend said through the phone line. "OH! I just got to the part where Gaara shows up! WAAAHH!" Aya quickly tilted the phone away from her ear to escape the scream while leafing through some papers. "He's so cool! He stands upside down and is all like 'I'm too cold to touch'. EEEEEK!"

Obsessed, that's her friend was but with what you might ask well it's simple 'Naruto': the Japanese manga/anime about demons and ninja. Mentally Aya sighed yes, it was a fantastically made anime with an extremely good plot, but Liza was just too infatuated by it. In fact, she had complained so much about it that Aya had lent her some of the movies- that unbeknownst to the girl had been bought just for the lending -and she still hadn't gotten them back. Not that she expected to.

"That's great Liza but I kind of have to close up the Dojo now—" she was cut off.

"Stop or I'll kill you." Liza mimicked a Gaara line through the speaker that, when she said it, lacked any form of menace.

Aya rolled her eyes, focusing her hearing and managing to hear Naruto playing in the background. "You're watching the beginning of the Chunin exams while you're talking to me." She stated in annoyance. "What have I told you about calling me when you're multi-tasking and/or a Naruto Zombie?"

There was a snort delivered through the phone "Fine fine, I'm sorry about disturbing your oh-so-eventful day." Liza said and Aya twitched when she heard no actual meaning in it. "Did you kick anyone's ass on the mats today almighty Beaiko?"

"It's Byakko, Liza" Aya corrected. An infamous white tiger that was somehow important in Japanese mythology- Aya hadn't taken the time to look because she'd been too busy fighting to get the nickname removed from her. "And no, I did not. Ever since I stopped doing regular classes and stuck with the club so I could help out here, they've been making excuses not to fight me." She huffed at the thought. "Something about 'not being obligatory anymore' or something; guess they didn't like fighting me."

Liza chuckled. "Yeah, well I wouldn't want to fight you either."

At this Aya pouted. "But you don't know how to fight. They do, they should stop complaining so much!"

"Well, I think they have good reason to. I do recall an angry black belt coming back from school and taking frustrations out on everyone."

"That was a long time ago Liza." Aya ground out with a glare fingers gripping the phone tightly. "I got through that period of life. Now. Drop. It."

"And I thought you'd gotten through it seems to me like you haven't."

"Go watch your addiction."

"Fine, later."

Click.

Tiredly, Aya pressed the 'End' button on the phone and disconnected the dial-tone, Yeesh what a bother. She did kind of feel guilty about lying to Liza though, but what choice did she have really? If given half the chance Liza would've droned on about Gaara this Jutsu that; it would've driven her completely insane! Then again… she hadn't really been lying, per say… just arranging words craftily and leaving out information that she never asked for. It really was her turn to lock up the Dojo so she had to clean it. She just had forgotten to add the 'I-already-cleaned-it' into the conversation.

…

Does this make her a bad person?

Shrugging it off, Aya grabbed the Dojo keys and her backpack before flicking off the last of the lights in the main room which was covered in tatami mats. She had changed from years before but she still had trouble feeling remorse, sympathy and empathy. To her it seemed a waste of emotion. But it wasn't like she thought all emotion were useless. Anger, happiness, serenity, sadness, excitement; those were some emotions she had use for.

Her black hair whipped back slightly as she walked past the fan to turn it off. She glanced at the smiling cat posed atop the desk with Japanese symbols on it and grinned back. "Konbanwa Kitty-chan!" Aya called to the figurine before stepping out into the street to lock the door and head home.

"Hey there, you guys aren't from around here are you, kids?" The gruff voice immediately caught Ayas' attention. Pausing in her careful strides through the networks of alleyways she let her eyes scan over her surroundings before settling on a smaller alley where the voice was coming from. There was a muffled girl's voice that she couldn't distinguish and the other voice laughed. "Yeah yeah girly keep talking I can't understand you and I wouldn't listen even if I could."

A girl.

In an alley.

How stupid could females these days get? Aya, being a girl herself didn't really apply that motto with her since she didn't actually see that she was still considered female. All of the guys at the Dojo called her 'dude' and treated her like a guy so… in effect she was a little oblivious of how vulnerable she herself looked. Glaring at the alleyway she debated continuing on or stopping. It wasn't really her problem… But it was the right thing to do… but if she left them it would teach them to stay out of the alleys… but it could end up getting them killed. Adjusting her bag on her shoulders slightly she glanced first at the alley then towards the street she could view from her current position but wouldn't be able to once she headed towards the other one. And she was going to head to the other alley. Unfortunately her morals were running too strong today.

"Damnit all", Aya grumbled under her breath but obligingly glided silently towards the slight commotion, stopping at the very edge of the wall so she couldn't be seen just yet. Now here's where Liza would've told her to jump in with a cool move and spout out a speech that would make her coolness undeniable in her façade of hero-ness. There were reasons why Liza was not good at fighting. Instead, Aya chose the smart thing to do and cautiously peeked around the corner.

Light blue-green eyes locked with hers and she froze.

The enemy?

Or

…

The victim?

Her mind whirred crazily as she tried to assess the situation but couldn't bring herself to break eye contact. Those eyes… They weren't the eyes of an innocent. It was a cold, hard, distant gaze that had fallen on her, a killer someone who knew pain… or perhaps a former victim? All she knew was that they were trying to peer through her entire being; everything she was. 'They somehow seem familiar…'

Abruptly she wrenched her eyes away and hastily scanned the alley. Three teenagers stood clumped together crowded by two thugs wearing all black. She quickly took stock of them; one knife, one gun, a random crow bar… not very experienced if the way the blonde guy was holding the gun was any indicator. Mentally she scoffed, these were amateurs at best and at worst some guys that got desperate- then again that's pretty much how they all began. It would be easy pickings for anyone with skills and a background to take them down, but that gun… her eyes alighted on the weapon… that gun was going to be a problem. New guys were always skittish and more liable to pull the trigger and with its aim directed at the people she was trying to save for some weird reason… it could turn out extremely bad.

"Hand over the money bitch!" The one with a crowbar snarled.

The girl said something in a language that didn't sound like English but Aya didn't pay attention as the second man cocked the pistol and leered. That wasn't a good sign and not a good sign at all.

"Ya, you whore," the blonde cackled, holding the barrel of his weapon inches away from the girls' forehead. "Hand over the doe or you get a piece of metal in your head." The girl didn't seem to get that she was in mortal danger. She frowned and looked at the gun making her cross eyed then looked back at the man around the barrel and proceeded to loudly speak out in that same language she'd been muttering in before.

Growling in irritation the bald thug ran a head over his shiny skull and forcefully pointed a crowbar in her direction. "Just shut her up already. We can pocket the money when they're all dead and scram. This isn't worth the time."

Crap.

Aya didn't have time to think, all she could do was move.

Using her superior speed which she gained from years of training to her advantage she sprinted in between the two thugs. With a swift movement she inserted herself neatly between the girl and the gun, kicking the gun out of his hand with a clean movement.

"Shit!" he cursed. His eyes fell on Aya and he curled his lip. "Move it girly, this doesn't involve you."

Stubbornly Aya leveled him with a glare that seemed to personify death itself. He obviously thought that his words were going to be enough to scare her off. That she'd had a moment of insanity and in a moment she'd gain lucidity and scurry off to a mouse hole. Her eyes narrowed and she shifted into a more stable stance so she'd be able to swivel and deflect a swipe from the other guy to. He was wrong.

"Why don't you move it, girl-y?" she mimicked with an acid tone. "Can't you see that they don't want your company?" She wasn't usually this volatile or hostile unless pushed to the edge- and that took a lot- but his cursing was getting on her nerves. She wasn't angered yet but she was annoyed. And the guy with a crowbar checking her out wasn't helping her temper either.

On cue, said thug wolf-whistled to gain a fraction more of her attention that wasn't centered on the guy cradling his bruised wrist.

"Watcha doi'n back here all alone cupcake?"

Aya twitched.

Had he…just called her…Cupcake?

It took her a minute to find her voice and when she had she snapped her head in his direction with an audible 'crack'. What was wrong with this guy? He was at least thirty and she was seventeen. Se-ven-teen!

"What are you, a pedophile?" 'Registered and licensed.' She answered herself in her head.

Smirking the Pedi-creeper leered and sauntered closer. "Oooh, spunk, I like some spice to my girls."

Mentally she gagged, really? That was the best he could come up with, before she could even stop the words from tumbling out from her lips. Insulting and vicious: was her specialty "and I like some life to my guys." She said coolly, "Go back to your grave Old Man; I'm only interested in helping the people behind me."

Scowling darkly he adjusted his grip on the metal and made a vulgar gesture involving his crotch and his hand. "If you are so keen to help, why don't you help me with something? It'll only take a few minutes of your time…" his disgusting tongue swiped over his lips and he grinned maliciously. "We'll both have fun."

Smirking she replied "a few minutes huh, well that might explain a lot from your part now."

Promptly she turned away and locked gazes with the other man. "So move and allow us to leave."

Apparently still thinking he was in charge and the 'biggest thing on earth' he puffed out and curled his upper lip into a snarl that wasn't nice to look at. Some people can pull off the look some people can't, coincidently Aya was one of the fortunate people that could manage it and still not look permanently and horribly disfigured. So of course she snarled right back.

"It's our money!"

She raised an eyebrow "yours? I thought it was their money. After all, we wouldn't be having this conversation if it was yours because only an idiot would lose enough money to fight someone over..."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU DAMN BITCH?" He screeched.

She didn't have a chance to reply because he came rushing at her with a pulled back fist and his arm clumsily raised in a mockery of a punch. Aya rolled her eyes. 'Tch,' she thought, 'Amateurs.' It really was too easy. Calmly sidestepping his aim slightly, she grabbed his fist, and twisted it away, her whole body twirling as she ducked fast under his arm, braced her shoulder under his and paused. His face was holding utmost shock. She moved her grip minutely on his bent wrist and hand and he visibly winced.

"I'm not a bitch." With that she slid on a blood thirsty grin and jerked, bending down slightly. His body whipped into the air and flew a few yards before he slammed directly onto his back.

"Nggh!"

Silence.

The smile on her face stayed in place and she straightened. He wasn't going to be going anywhere anytime soon. She popped her neck. Yeah… it felt really good to fight again; though that wasn't really much of a challenge.

Now to deal with said pedophile.

She tossed her ebony hair carelessly over one shoulder and stretched so her spine cracked. Yes, even if it was mostly an empty adrenaline rush she felt a sort of freedom and light-weightiness that came with initiating even one simple act. It was absolutely exhilarating and thrilling to say the least. Something she was almost reluctant to cut short. She could always draw it out a little… do less effective moves… toy with him… it's not like he didn't deserve it, the perverted old man.

'But it would risk the teenagers' safety.' She thought pensively. Her gaze flicked back to where the girl hovered behind her and she breathed out a sigh. 'Guess I'll have to make it quick'

"That wasn't very nice Cupcake." The guy stated, looking over at his partner sprawled across the concrete with blood leaking from his hair. His lips turned down into a frown.

Aya clenched her fists and thought over her actions. She wanted this to end soon but she wanted to get him to attack first so if anyone asked it was definitely self-defense on her part. Therefore baiting him was her best bet. "I guess I'm not then." She retorted, voice completely smooth and composed. "Next time control your fellow dog."

"SAY WHAT?" he exclaimed.

"Control. Your. Brethren."

He swung the crowbar towards her head with enough force to knock a full grown man off his feet. Aya caught the metal. His eyes widened. "You-you, h-how?" He stammered out. Tightening her fingers on the bar Aya cocked her head to the side and shifted her feet.

"How what?" she asked politely. "How I did this?" She spun and delivered a powerful round house kick to his jaw before bringing the bar around and smashing it into his skull. "Down and out for the count." She huffed under her breath. As if there wasn't random bodies sprawled across the ground at her feet she yawned and scratched the back of her neck. 'Wonder what I should make for dinner tonight…'

"Domo arigato." A feminine voice suddenly said.

Oh right, the teenagers…

Turning to face them Aya directed her attentions to the girl, who happened to be sporting four blonde pigtails sprouting out of her head. That was peculiar- though she'd seen some people around here with much weirder hairstyles- and her attire was even weirder. She was wearing a white kimono style dress with black netting over her expose legs and arms with a red sash like object wound around her back into a bow and some sort of black sandals. The other two weren't any more normal looking. A boy with purple face makeup similar to that she'd seen in musicals like 'The wizard of Oz' was covered from head to foot in a black outfit, the headdress of it pointed slightly almost in a mimicry of a cats ears and had the same foot wear as the girl. Besides them was teen who towered over them with the richest crimson hair she'd ever seen on a person's head. He was dressed in black like the other boy but instead of a full body suit his outfit consisted of loose pants and a shirt, identical shoes to the others and a splash of white in the form of a long sash stretched down a shoulder and over his waist in a lax loop before hanging formlessly towards the ground at his front.

Even for foreigners they were eccentric.

Then the girls words suddenly came back to her 'Domo arigato'… patiently she ran through the common phrases in other languages she knew and let a smile eclipse her features. It was Japanese. She'd finally get to practice her second language and see if it was up to par with native speakers. Mentally she switched her brain from working on English to Japanese.

"Konbenwa!" she greeted amiably.

Like she hadn't expected to be answered the blonde whipped her head in Aya's direction and raised an eyebrow. "You speak Japanese?" she asked in her tongue.

"Hai." Aya nodded. "It's my second language. I'm surprised to find someone who speaks it around here."

"Thank Kami!" the girl exclaimed. "We've been wandering around for hours because everyone else speaks some weird other language. Kankuro got us lost and we ended up here with those men."

"Me?" the boy with face paint snapped. "Sorry but I remember us already being lost because someone had to go 'investigate' that dress shop!" Aya watched in amusement as the girl shoved her face in the boys and snarled.

"Well it was you in the first place with the brilliant idea of exploring! I said we should stay in that park until we could figure out how we got here but noooo little Kankuro has to whine like a damn baby because it's too hot outside to stand around without shade!" she poked him in the chest. "We live in the desert Baka! This isn't even as hot as springtime back home!"

Aya smirked. They were definitely siblings, even in other countries sibling confrontations were always the same, and if she had to take a guess she'd say the girl was the older one.

"Shut up, Temari!" the guy shouted angrily, "You're just pissed because that blonde dude back in the shop laughed at you!"

The girl twitched "Kankuro!" Impressively fast she brought down her fist and slammed it down on the top of his head.

"Oy! Oy! What the hell was that for?" he demanded clutching at his head.

Smirking, the girl turned away and crossed her arms. "Respect your Onni-san, baka."

Covering her laughter with a cough Aya stepped forward before they could start another fight. "Ne ne," she said trying to placate the situation. "Sorry to interrupt your fun time but maybe I should know your names; after all I did just help you out with the thugs." Her words drew their attention and the boy leered at her.

"We could've handled it ourselves—Itai!" he was cut off with another bonk on the head delivered by the girl.

"Shut up baka," the girl stated coolly, "It's polite to introduce yourselves to other people." She faced Aya and smiled, sticking out a hand. "I'm-" Aya noticed her eyes flick towards the red head boy before she finished "Temari." Something inside Aya set off a little alert and she narrowed her eyes slightly. It was Japanese etiquette to introduce yourself with a family name and then your name; why was she so hesitant? It wasn't as if I would know the name if they were from Japan. She wasn't going to hold them for ransom or something if they were wealthy.

Thinking she'd let it slip but return the favor Aya smiled brightly back. "Just call me Aya." Yes, it wasn't even her proper name but her friends called her by it and since she was obviously not trusted she wouldn't trust them either.

Apparently not picking up on the girls' ploy Temari shook her hand enthusiastically before shooting a look at the boy in paint. He gazed blankly at her. "Ahem." She prompted. The boy still looked puzzled. "INTRODUCE YOURSELF, BAKA!"

Waving her off the boy closed his eyes and didn't bother to extend a hand. "I'm this violent girls brother, Kankuro."

"Nice to meet you."

Temari scowled at him for a moment then pointed at the red head who was leaning against the wall. "And that's—"

"Gaara" A cold, rough voice interrupted.

Aya's eyes quickly focused over to where the voice came from: the red haired guy. His own eyes were on her too, boring into her like hollow drills, attempting to see through her every thought. A shiver crept up her spine. She'd have to watch out for that one when she was in their presence.

Forcing the smile to stay in place Aya nodded. "It's nice to meet you too."

To her right Kankuro sputtered out a laugh only to have an icy glare sent his way by Aya herself. He froze slightly in shock before her smile returned and she carried on as if she'd never glared in the first place. "So… Kankuro-san," she said girlishly, creeping closer to him. He raised an eyebrow as she sashayed closer but didn't bother to hide a smirk curling at the corner of his lips.

"Yeah Aya- chan?"

Stopping just before him she looked up and grinned innocently. "Don't call me Aya-chan." Without any warning she aimed a sweeping kick at his legs and at the same time threw a punch. 'If my assumption is right he should be able to dodge.' Cursing, he somehow dodged the kick, grabbed her arms and flung her away from him. 'Just as I believed.' She thought smugly. Using her momentum she gracefully twisted and managed a back handspring to land softly a few yards away.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Kankuro demanded.

Straightening Aya dusted off her shirt casually and pinned them all with a deceptively calm stare. "You know how to fight." She stated.

Temari grunted and crossed her arms. "Hai."

Her flippant response made Aya twitch but she chose to ignore the rudeness. "Then why didn't you defend yourselves when you were confronted? It was two against three," she pointed out, "And those guys were amateurs."

Glaring, Temari blew out a breath through her nose, clearly not happy with her observations. "Well we didn't know what that one metal thing was." She snapped, unweaving her arms and placing one on her hip and letting the other hang down in a classic 'bite me' attitude.

Aya frowned. Apparently Temari didn't exactly like not knowing and was pissed she had to admit it. But what did she mean by not knowing what the metal thing was? A crowbar was commonly seen practically anywhere and the gun… well a gun was seen around these parts pretty frequently too; but they were foreigners. Could it be that perhaps they'd never seen one? That didn't make sense though. Even in other countries they would've had to have been exposed to guns at some point or at least the basic look and concept. The same sense of familiarity pulsed through her again. She had seen these people somewhere she just knew it. It felt as if the answer to her curiosity was right beyond her reach, but she knew it was there. That's what made it so frustrating.

Eyeing the girl and her posture Aya decided to risk a question. "You mean a crowbar?" She ventured.

Fury sparked in the blondes eyes and she curled her lip. "Do I look like a complete baka?" she growled, pausing to hit Kankuro when he muttered a 'yes' before leaning closer to Aya. "Of course I know what a crow bar is! I'm talking about the weird small thing with the hollow tip that that teme was pointing at my forehead!" she pointed forcefully at said part of her face.

So she really had meant the gun… Great. If she didn't even know the basic mechanics of the device it would take forever for her to understand. Aya scratched her head and mentally went through her options. She could always just tell her the dangers of a gun and to stay away from them… She smiled. Yes that would work.

"Look," Aya began. "that device you're talking about is called a gun and is extremely dangerous. I'm not going to take the time to explain the entire workings of it and what not but what you need to know is two things." She held up the corresponding fingers and wiggled them. "Firstly," she put down one finger. "you never should stand in front of where it's pointing unless you want a few metal capsules lodged somewhere on your person- and don't think you can dodge it because even though it's possible the speed it's hurled at makes it near impossible." She put up the second finger. "And second: Carrying one of these weapons is illegal here if you don't have a proper license and if you're seen with one and don't have the license you'll be fined and sent to jail."

She was met with confused faces all around, though the Gaara guy only showed it in his eyes slightly. She rolled her eyes. It was to be expected she supposed. Aya still didn't know how in the world they had lived their lives not knowing that- After all, everywhere now days had been involved in war at least once, in some way-but it wasn't really her problem.

Looking up into the darkening sky she adjusted her bag and turned back to Temari.

"Hey, nice meeting you and all but I have to get home…"

The girl perked up. "Oh yeah, I guess it is getting pretty late."

Aya nodded in agreement and took a pen out of a side pocket of her pack. "Here give me your hand." Temari placed her hand in Aya's and the black haired girl turned it over so the palm faced upwards. "This is my number," she used her teeth to take the cap of the pen and proceeded to scribble numbers on Temari's hand. "Call me if you need anything. I usually don't do things like this but you guys look like you could get into all sorts of trouble around here and from what I've seen you're pretty descent. Find a pay phone and enter the number. If you don't have money just tells them I'll take a collect call."

"Domo arigato Aya-san." Temari said bowing her head slightly.

"No problem." She turned away and started to walking towards the alley entrance. "Good luck you guys." Aya called looking over one shoulder to see Kankuro and Temari waving after her. "Hope you find your way home!" Their faces suddenly dropped their smiles and their eyes widened.

"Aya—"

"OMPH!" Aya stumbled back from what she'd run into and dizzily put a hand to her forehead. She must be dehydrated or something because she was hearing a weird hissing sound, and she didn't think that was normal. Looking up she suppressed a gasp to find a glowering Gaara standing before her, arms crossed and mouth set in a thin line. He was giving off an aura of evil large enough to turn the air black around him.

"Gomen, Gaara-san." Aya said, "I wasn't watching-" she stopped talking as she felt something rough and moving slither up her arms. She looked down and gaped to find sand firmly wrapped around her limbs.

'Not…' She swallowed hard. 'N-not possible.'

Above her, Gaara peered at her with mirrors of menace reflecting from his cold eyes; the demon inside him almost visible to Aya as she sat looking at him in disbelief. This wasn't possible. This wasn't relevant. She was being held down by moving sand for godssakes! Not only that, but They. Were. Supposed. To. Be. In. A. Manga.

"You're staying." The teenager stated as Aya finally realized his identity.

Host to the Shakaku and murderer of hundreds; and unfortunately for her it seemed that somehow he wasn't reformed yet.

Sabaku no Gaara.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! and hope you keep reading

Sayonara!