Neko Ahri Gaiden

by UTDFreckles

The Neko clan, a former minor clan of Konoha, was wiped out in Orochimaru's attack of the village. Two survivors exist however, on the border of the River and Wind countries: Neko Kin and his daughter Ahri. stars most of the Naruto lineup

1. Pt 1 The Shinobi Arc

NEKO AHRI GAIDEN

---

This is the first part of many 'arcs', typical of the Naruto layout.

---

PART ONE

The Shinobi Arc

---

That was then…

---

Ahri grabbed the basket of eggs she was supposed to take to Sunagakure for her parents. Every morning this week she seemed to be making a delivery to the village, even if it were to no one in particular. Today, it was eggs because the chickens seemed to be more productive than usual. It was a blessing for the family because lately there were little to no visitors passing through the River Country to the Wind Country. Her father said it was because the Sand and the Leaf were not as close as they pretended to be, despite Sandaime Hokage's and Yondaime Kazekage's alliance. Ahri believed it to be true; her father seemed to know everything. She also believed he was once a shinobi, though maybe not for Sunagakure, and if he was not a shinobi, he still could practice jutsu and pass it on to his daughter. Even her mother seemed to have a special talent, knowing by the slightest touch of Ahri's forehead what it was that bothered her.

"Ahri, the inn and tea house are suffering, what we deliver to the village is important. Don't let anything go to waste," he mother reminded her.

The ten year old smiled. Even though she could only recall making these deliveries for a year (her parents had said that while she was checking on the livestock, she fell and hit her head, making her forget the first nine years of her life), the girl knew the path well, and was regarded as fast as the wind by her father when it came to reaching the village in a third of the time it normally took. What she had not told her father was that when she ran, she had noticed that she turned into a panther. At first, she believed it was a dream, but now she believed it was her own power, because her parents had powers.

"I'll make sure everyone enjoys the eggs," she replied. She grabbed the basket with a smile, closing the top with a lock. "I'll be home tonight!" she called as she walked out the door.

"Please be home before tonight," her mother replied.

Ahri replied with a large grin and raced out the door.

The sand pushed into her face, and although she feared that it would soon release into a sandstorm, she continued. It would not be the first time she made it to Sunagakure through a sandstorm. The gate guards laughed that it was because she had made the journey so many times that she could go blindfolded. It was probably true, but it was also true that as she ran, and her body slowly sank closer to the ground, turning into the large, black panther, her senses were heightened. She was able to hear the village and move toward the noise, as well as smell the food being cooked on countless stoves. With this panther form, she could never be lost. Only, she could never make it evolve on her own. She had to be running at her fastest speed for it to occur, and she had to slow down significantly for it to fade away. Before reaching the gates, she did so, and slowly stood in her young girl form again.

"Hello Ahri!" greeted the gate guard, Yura. "What do we have today?"

She smiled. "Fresh, white eggs."

"Mmmm…" he replied. "Make sure you visit my house and tell my wife I would love some of those."

Ahri smiled. "Will do!" She trotted past him to find herself immersed in the village's winding streets. "If I can remember where you live…" She twirled around and then closed her eyes to concentrate. Finally, she remembered the way to his house and headed toward it. From 

afar, she saw a small boy sitting alone, hugging his teddy bear. If she remembered correctly, this was the boy she was always warned to stay away from. She was told that he had a monster inside of him. But how could a child so alone not have a monster in him? She gave a half-hearted smile as the boy looked up at her; his eyes lighting up at her smile. She felt like she might have a monster in her as well, the black panther. How could she resent the boy for something she herself had? She calmly walked up to him with a smile. The boy gave her a surprised look as she slowly came closer and closer. "Hello," she sweetly greeted him.

"He… hello," he stammered in return.

"Do you like eggs?" She gave a large grin to him, as if he were meant to think that was a random thing to say.

The boy gave a half smile and looked from side to side. "I… don't know."

Ahri sat down next to him, and the boy did not flinch. "You've never had any?"

He shook his head.

"Well, I'm here to sell them. My parents have chickens that make them. They like to sell them here because most people in the village don't have a lot of chickens." She opened the basket and pulled out one which she handed it to the boy.

He carefully took it.

"You have to be careful; if you drop it, it will break. But… if you boil it in water for long enough, you can drop it, and only the outer layer will crack. Then you can peel that back and eat it." She smiled again. "And if you end up liking it… I'll get you some more. For the next time I see you."

"The… next time?" he whispered.

Ahri smiled and stood up. "I have to sell the rest of these eggs before the end of the day. If I didn't have to do that, I would stay. Then I'd show you what else to do with eggs."

The boy smiled. "You would stay?"

"Of course! Hey, maybe you could come with me…"

The boy dropped his smile. "I don't think I can."

Ahri closed the basket again for fear of eggs dropping out. "Well if you can't come with me, then I'll have to make sure I come back to see you on my next visit. Is this where you live?" She looked up at the house behind him. He shook his head yes. "Well now I know where to find you! Until next time…" she giggled. "What's your name?"

"Gaara."

"Until next time, Gaara!" She waved and happily skipped away, confident in her belief that there really could be no monster inside such a small child. The young boy grinned and turned to run into his house to show his uncle his new prize.

Ahri finished selling eggs to Yuma's wife, who quickly directed her to some more potential customers. Ahri, forgetting to close the basket, sped down the small alley toward the house she was pointed to. As she rounded the corner, she ran into a wooden barrel. A handful of the eggs fell out of the basket, crashing to the ground. She cursed herself and quickly closed the basket. Her head turned to face the barrel, and she gasped once she realized the thing had a face and devil horns. "What are you?" she yelled at him.

A deep chuckle escaped from behind some crates on the side of the alley. "I don't believe he can speak; he is, after all, just a puppet."

The girl's eyes followed thin, glowing, blue strings attached to the puppet from the crates. She grabbed what she could of the fallen eggs as the puppet backed away from her. "You play with your dolls out in the open? That must take a real man."



Her adversary lifted his head to see the person who talked to him, and grinned as he saw the thin-legged, flat-breasted, pig-tailed girl in front of him. "I'm training. I'm going to be made a Genin tomorrow."

Before he could react, the girl threw the broken eggs at him, hitting him squarely on his painted face. "Looks like you need more training."

"What the… what the hell did you do that for?" he roared.

She grinned and held her basket of eggs up to her chest, cradling it. "Well, with that make-up on your face, I wasn't sure if you were a man or something deranged. I played it safe and bet on something deranged. I did everyone a favor. With the eggs, you have a better looking face." She grinned.

Without a comment, the boy flicked his wrist and soon the puppet had engulfed the girl. The boy laughed. "Ha! Well done Kuroari! Teach that brat to never mess with a puppet master." He walked confidently up to the puppet, hoping to hear the girl scream to be let out, but frowned when no sound came forth. "Oi, you, you alive in there or did I scare you to death?" He made another motion with his hand and the puppet's door opened. Before he could react, the girl had reached out and pulled him into his own puppet, and with her other hand, moved his fingers to cause the door to close. "What the - ! How did you know how to close Kuroari?"

With light coming in only from the tiny slots of the puppet, the boy could only see Ahri grin. "I'm not blind. You have a certain pattern that makes the doors open; I only assumed it was the same to close it."

"You memorized the pattern by only seeing it once… while you were being taken?" he gasped.

Ahri grinned. "I never took my eyes off your hand. I knew something was coming, but I also decided you didn't seem the sort who would kill me. Not now and here anyway."

"Are you…" before he could question anymore, he thought of the humility of his failure, and the day before I became a Genin too! "I hope no one saw this. If so… I'll have to act like, like it was planned."

She rolled her eyes. "Who would believe that?"

"Maybe, if I use Kuroari as a transport, it would look like a theory I decided to test. If you mention this to anyone, I will kill you. No matter the time or place."

Ahri closed her eyes. Maybe the villagers had it wrong; it was this kid and not Gaara who had a monster inside of him. Before her thoughts could linger, the puppet rose up and began moving quickly toward a nearby house. From there, it snuck in a low window that it only barely squeezed through while holding two people. Finally, the puppet rested and the boy moved his fingers, allowing the door to open. Ahri jumped out with her basket before he could exit and keep her trapped inside. "What is this monstrosity?" she whispered. Above her, evil looking puppets and puppet parts hung staring at her with false eyes. A workbench was nearby, covered in more puppet parts and tools. "What are you?"

He grinned as he hung the puppet up. "A monstrosity."

She huffed.

"How much are those eggs?" he asked.

She glanced up at him.

"I'm hungry. It's either you or the eggs."

She rolled her eyes and handed him the basket. He grabbed his wallet from the folds of his black clothes.



"Despite that you bought the eggs," she seethed, "it doesn't change the fact that I was imprisoned in a creepy puppet and forced around town with you… grappling me inside of it!"

"It's not like I wanted to grapple you. You're the one who pulled me in."

"You caught me."

"You threw egg in my face."

"You have an ugly face."

The boy grinned. "It's only ugly to outsiders. I reserve the beauty of me face for people who deserve it."

"I wouldn't want to see your face anyway." She took his money, and, without saying another word, she crawled back out of the window, and quickly made her way back to her home. The boy smiled and carried his eggs to the kitchen for his own enjoyment.

Ahri, now eleven, stood before her father in an empty corral where the cows usually grazed. At the moment, the beasts were sleeping soundly in their stalls before being milked. Ahri's father grinned at his daughter as she eagerly practiced the new technique he had taught her; finally, she had let it slip to her father that she was able to turn into a panther. He had laughed when she feared a monster lived in her, stating that it was just a special type of power granted to his family line. She had sighed in relief upon hearing this, and asked if she could call upon it at will. And apparently, she could. "Shikyaku Henge no Jutsu1!" she again yelled, focused intently on her hands. Where she failed in the past, she now could transform into the panther of her own free will. Her mind roared the command again, and she returned to normal.

Her father gave her a large smile as a reward. "Be able to say that in your mind instantly, while focusing your chakra, and you will soon be able to seamlessly perform the transformation wherever and whenever, even during combat. And if you continue to practice your control on it, you will learn not to automatically transform into the beast while you're running."

"Will you teach me another jutsu, otosan?" she begged.

He laughed. "Perhaps tomorrow, if you can show me how much you've progressed with this one." He ruffled her hair and entered into the inn and tea house they owned.

"Is it really safe to teach her our skills?" his wife asked.

He grinned. "She'll need to learn eventually. Someday, we might all have to protect ourselves."

"The Neko…" she began, hoping to change his mind about his clan's fighting style, hoping instead to favor her own clan's technique of empathy and mind control.

"Has she developed any of your bloodline limits?" he interrupted.

"Not yet." She bowed her head and then slowly glanced at her daughter, practicing the transformation over and over. "It seems that she only received your genius."

Ahri ran into the kitchen, startling both of her parents. "Are there any deliveries for today?" Ever since she had a run-in with the puppet user, she had been dying for a rematch. But soon after that event, it spread that Gaara had become truly unstable and Sunagakure was not as safe as it once was.

She was met with frowns. "We don't want you to go to Sunagakure anymore, Ahri. I alone take the deliveries. It's not safe in the village for you."

"I understand." She walked back outside, and began taijutsu training with a post she had set up. If she still was not able to meet the masked man, she was going to train until she could move no more. "Once I do these punches, then I'll do kicks, and then I'll practice my speed. 

Maybe my jumping." She eyed the tops of the corral posts. "And then my techniques. I will be the best shinobi to be trained outside a village. No…" she grinned. "I will be the best shinobi ever trained." She gave a defiant punch to the post.

"What have you taught her?" Ahri's mother asked her husband as she handed him tea, both of them watching the determined girl.

"At least the basics, body flicker, replacement, cloak…"

"Clone?"

He grinned broadly. "Kage bunshin."

"Really? She can perform such a high technique?"

He nodded his head. "She worked two weeks on it, but she finished it. I also taught her the great fireball."

She laughed. "You've taught her much from you clan. I really should train her tomorrow."

"Mind tricks?" He hugged her. "Yamanaka Hitomi… She'll develop your clan's genius if you unlock it. It is in her blood."

Ahri scrubbed the table top of the inn's largest table until she could see her face. Satisfied with her work, she moved on to the next section of the table. Two figures walking in the door made her stop. One was a young boy, close to her age; the other was a tall man, obviously a shinobi, who wore a black outfit that covered him from toe to neck. Half of his face was hidden with bandages, and the weapon slung on his back was also covered in bandages. Ahri's father looked up to the two and smiled. "Can I get you something to eat?"

They sat down at the counter and ordered. Ahri couldn't help but stare at the larger man. Something about his stance, his cold eyes, everything, made her smile. He looked insanely powerful. The man turned to her, his eyes piercing her own. She quickly turned back to the table, scrubbing it down. When finished, she walked to a smaller table situated behind the two visitors. From her cleaning position she could watch them eat. The younger boy was the one who turned to look at her this time. She matched his gaze with a smile. He must be a young shinobi, traveling with his master, she thought.

"Ahri!" called her father.

She glanced out of the boy's gaze. "Yes?"

"Prepare room two for our guests."

She nodded her head in compliance and rushed up the stairs.

That night, Ahri still knelt down on the main floor, scrubbing. Her fingers were pruned, but she was determined to do a week's worth of chores in one day so she could train the rest of the time. "Excuse me."

She glanced up and saw the young boy staring at her. Ahri jumped to her feet.

"My master would like a glass of water."

"Oh, sure." Ahri walked behind the counter and washed her hands quickly. "I'm Ahri, by the way."

"I'm Haku."

"Are you being trained by the…" Ahri grabbed a glass, trying to find the right words, "… by the big ninja?" Those were not the right words.

Haku let out a small laugh. "He is Zabuza, and he is my master."

"Master?" Ahri handed the cold glass of water to Haku.

He nodded his head. "I live to serve him."



She stared at Haku. "You fight for him," she slowly mouthed. She understood, in a way. She would fight for her family; but mostly she wanted to fight Kankuro for her honor.

"When someone becomes important to you, you fight for them."

Ahri and Haku turned to see Zabuza walking down the stairs.

"Here is your water, Zabuza-sama," Haku said, handing him the glass of water.

"Go back upstairs Haku."

"Yes Zabuza-sama." Haku walked up the stairs, leaving Ahri alone with Zabuza.

He sat down on the counter, dipping his hand into the glass of water. Ahri stood behind the counter, watching him. His dry skin seemed to absorb the water. He must be a water shinobi, and the desert is getting to him.

After the glass had been emptied, he tossed it to her. She caught it; luckily she had fast reflexes from her training. "Refill," he growled.

She refilled the water and handed it to him. His other hand absorbed this glass. Again he tossed it to her. "Refill."

Again she refilled the glass and handed it to him. This one he dumped over the top of his head, but not a drop spilled to the floor. He tossed it to her. "Refill."

She turned to the sink, but this time she set the glass in it. "If you want to soak in water, take a bath."

Zabuza stood up and walked around the counter. Ahri turned to face him; her eyes locked with his. He grabbed the hair on the back of her head and jerked it to keep her head up at an awkward angle. His eyes glared into hers. "Do you know who I am?"

"Haku called you Zabuza."

"Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the Hidden Mist. That doesn't frighten you?"

She grinned. "No."

Their eyes remained at a deadlock. This girl has the eyes of a killer. He grinned under his mask.

Ahri eyed the mask; it was irritating to find another masked equal. She lifted her hand up and grabbed it, but her wrist was caught by Zabuza's free hand. "Why do you hide your face? Is there something wrong with it?"

His eyes narrowed.

Ahri focused on her hand, forcing chakra to it. By doing so she was able to rip the mask down.

Zabuza looked down at what happened in amazement, and back at the girl's cold eyes. "How old are you?"

"Age is irrelevant."

He pulled her head toward him and kissed her. When he pulled her back, her expression remained the same. "When I see you again, you'll come with me. And I'll train you to be an assassin." He let go of her and walked up the stairs.

That morning, Ahri was up early, working on her dumplings. It was her favorite meal, and slowly she was perfecting the recipe. With her first batch ready, she set them out on the counter, hoping to feed Haku and Zabuza. Haku's heart and Zabuza's body excited her in a way she could not explain. She also wanted to understand Haku; understand the allegiance he had for Zabuza. She also wanted to see Zabuza again, just because… he's beautiful. The two soon came down the stairs, intending on leaving. "Wait…" Ahri called out. They looked up at her; Zabuza's cold eyes piercing hers again. "I made you breakfast. It's on the house."



Haku looked up to Zabuza who nodded his head. They sat down at the counter, eating her dumplings. She eyed them for any sign that the dumplings were divine, but there were none. When they finished the meal, Haku bowed his head slightly, "Adigato, Ahri."

"Stay safe until we meet again, Haku-kun," she called after him.

He replied with a nod of his head and walked out the door.

"Zabuza…"

He turned to her with his cold eyes, and then walked out the door after Haku.

Ahri grinned at the thought that had just slipped into her mind. It had been a year since she had learned to control her powers, and since then she had developed the powers both of her parents had passed on to her. They had been so excited, stating she was the strongest of both of their clans, and had even succeeded in becoming a strong taijutsu user. Her speed was incredible, but it was the silence that came with it that was even more incredible. She could sneak upon an opponent so fast and suddenly that her father would joke that such a technique went to waste on herding cows. Even with her growing power, Ahri still seemed to be disheartened to the two, but they assumed it was boredom of being stuck on a quiet border. As Ahri lay on her bed grinning, she thought of her parents and what they believed to be the problem. She could not help but grin. She only wanted to find out who he was. What is behind that mask, and how can I wipe the smirk off of it?

As her parents soundly slept below, Ahri quietly changed into her training outfit: a one-piece black leather suit that came up around her neck and all the way down to her ankles, but without sleeves, much like the one she had seen Zabuza wear. She slipped on her tabi boots and pulled on her gloves. Wrapping the special leather kunai strap that her father had given her during training, she quickly slipped out of the house and leapt into the cold desert air. She sped quickly through the sand, not wanting to use her full speed that transferred a twelve hour run into three, but she also did not want to arrive too late and not make it back home in time. There was no choice.

Shikyaku Henge no Jutsu! screamed her mind. The black leather soon became fur, and she ran quickly toward the village.

"Kugutsu no Jutsu2!" came a deep voice in the distance.

The panther quickly stopped in its tracks and morphed back into human form. Ahri grinned; she still recognized the voice, and obviously he was here, and with his dolls. She quickly made her way up to the area, still remaining hidden in the sand with her cloaking technique. There stood the puppet user she had once met, taller and broader than before, but still wearing his ridiculous black outfit and cat-hood, and the paint. He seemed to be camping in a small cave that sat halfway between her house and the village, and while doing so, practicing his puppet technique. Beside the two puppets he controlled, no one else seemed around.

"Your face is as ugly as I remember it," Ahri called out to the boy. She confidently walked forward. He quickly looked up, his two puppets at the ready. He then spotted Ahri.

"I see; it's you again." He grinned. "Brought any more eggs?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I seem to be all out."

He looked her over. If it had not been for her voice and statement, he probably would not have recognized her. She had formed a little more, and now had the stance of a Genin, not a mere country girl. Still, she is only a girl that probably only received training from her worn out ninja father. She shoud be no match for someone with my training.



"What's your name, egg girl?"

She glared at him. "I'll only tell you if you defeat me."

He laughed. "In that case…" He pushed his hand out, and Karasu came roaring at her.

"This one is new," she breathed. Her mind quickly debated between speed and her techniques. She didn't want to give everything away, but decided to perform the perfect technique against a wooden puppet (a dangerous looking one at that) and someone who underestimated her. "Katon! Gōkaikyū no Jutsu!3" She sent a giant fireball through the air, hitting the puppet straight on before the boy could respond. The puppet dropped to the ground, in ashes, with only its metal frame lying in the sand.

"How dare you destroy my weapon!" he growled.

"Admit defeat and I won't do it to your other one."

He lifted his hand and Kuroari lifted up. "Like I will fall for it again."

"Shunshin no jutsu4," she breathed. Soon she stood behind him with a kunai to his throat. "I'll save you the trouble of fixing two of those puppets. Will you admit defeat now?"

He grinned and dropped his head as a sign of defeat. "I greatly underestimated you, egg girl. Next time, it won't be so easy for you."

She sat down by his fire in the cave and grinned. "Next time?"

He turned to her with a scowl on his face. "Did I invite you to my fi…"

"Don't make me defeat you more severely," she interrupted.

He grinned. The girl was annoying, but equally as confident as him. She had even come to gain her honor back, though it had been two years since they had last seen each other. Obviously, I made an impression on her.

"What is your name?" she asked him.

"I asked first." He sat across the fire from her.

"You didn't defeat me."

Kankuro shrugged his shoulders and crossed his arms. "I guess I'll just keep calling you Egg Girl."

"And I guess I'll keep calling you Ugly Face."

He grimaced. In a way, her sharp remarks reminded him of his sister. What a pest. "Kankuro," he finally growled.

She met his cat-like eyes with her own. "Ahri."

"I'm impressed that you used a fire technique. Where are you from?"

"We live on the border of Wind and River. My father says when I was young, many ninja from Konoha would pass through. He picked up a few techniques from them."

"Interesting." He kept staring at her through the flames, and she returned the stare. "I can't forgive you for destroying my puppet. It'll take me a long time to fix it."

"It happens in battle." She unzipped the very top of her suit in order to retrieve a black cord that hung inside the suit and around her neck. "Take this." She tossed it over the flames and Kankuro caught it.

He examined the cord and noted a black panther pendant on it. "What's this for?"

"You made Genin," she motioned to his head band. "The last time I saw you, you didn't have a forehead protector. I'm congratulating you."

"You're a strange girl."

She smiled. "So are you."



"What?"

"I mean, I'm a girl, and I don't even play with dolls, or wear make up for that matter."

This was now…

Kankuro touched the pendant hanging around his neck as he laughed at his flashback. A year and a half had passed since he was given the gift, and the two had formed a close friendship. At least twice a week, they would meet at night by the cave and practice their techniques, with any fire techniques barred. Mostly, they would lightly train with taijutsu or stealth attacks, something they both felt the other could help them with.

The hot water of the shower passed over his brown hair and down the back of his neck. Many things had changed since that time, his father's death, and even his brother's resurrection, though in an emotional rather than physical way. His country had begun and ended a war with the Country of Fire. Now the villages of Sand and Leaf were fast allies. And Ahri had become an excellent cook. On any missions that required going east toward her house, Kankuro urged his siblings and Baki to stop at the tea house to enjoy a meal, no matter how small. Not only was he paying respect to her parents, but he never wanted to miss a chance to see Ahri or eat her dumplings. On one hand, she was making him fat, but with their training, she was helping him loose the weight.

Kankuro stepped out of the shower and wrapped himself in a towel. Today was a training day with Ahri, and he needed to be fully dressed for it. Though they were best friends, Ahri still had not seen his face, and he believed she sometimes preferred it that way so she could taunt him about his 'make up'. He also felt it necessary to wear his full gear because their meetings were training, and therefore important and official. When he saw her outside of training, he was on his way to a mission, and still had to wear the paint. It was his mark. The paint, it separated him from his popular brother Gaara and hot headed sister Temari. Kankuro was the middle child, the overlooked puppet user who was simply referred to as "Gaara's brother". He understood how Gaara suffered as a child, but also could not help but feel jealous of his little brother. Because of his Ichbi, Gaara had amazing power, and was acknowledged because of it. Kankuro worked hard, but still was just seen as member three of Team Sand.

"Kankuro!" came Temari's voice from down the hall.

He sighed. When was that voice not annoying? "What do you want?" he growled.

"Get ready, fast. We've just received a notice from Konoha. It's urgent."

"Urgent?"

Konoha was a sound he liked to hear, that led him by Ahri's house. But 'urgent' was bad; there was no stopping when there was 'urgent' He quickly slipped on his clothing and hurried into his puppet-filled room.

"What's this urgent mission?" Kankuro asked as he followed Temari and Gaara through the trees of the River Country; he could only assume that the weak Konoha shinobi were in trouble, as usual.

"The Hokage needed us to assist a five man team that went after Uchiha Sasuke," Temari stated as she jumped off the next tree branch. Traveling in trees were always much easier than in the desert. "They want him returned before he can be used by Orochimaru."



Kankuro scowled. Orochimaru had killed his father and then deceived his country into a war against Konoha. It made him feel like a puppet and this time it was Orochimaru that was pulling the strings. "Who's in the five man team?"

"Nara Shikamaru." She grinned. "Inuzuka Kiba, Akimichi Chouji, Hyuga Neji, and Uzumaki Naruto."

Kankuro looked quickly at Gaara. Ever since his brother had encountered Naruto he acted different, and in a better way. There was something special between the two that Kankuro could not place.

"Hopefully," Temari continued, "if they just set out from Konoha, we could join them before anything happens."

Kankuro closed his eyes. "Orochimaru…" he whispered. "If we have to fight him," he thought to himself, "even Gaara might not be enough." He touched the panther pendant that sat under his black shirt. "I can't die yet. Not until Ahri can see me with the paint off, until she sees me as more than a training dummy."

Kankuro knelt in front of Kiba and Akamaru with the dead bodies of Sakon and Ukon trapped inside of Kuroari. "Thanks," Kiba huffed out.

In a way, Kankuro ignored him as he pulled the pendant out from under his shirt. "Can you walk?" he finally replied back as he held the panther stone up to his lips.

Kiba stared open mouth at the pendant. "Where did you get that?" he yelled.

Kankuro looked up at him in shock. "You've seen this before?"

Kiba gave him a half-smile. "I've been choked with that before."

"You must be mistaken. The person who gave this to me has never been past the River Country, let alone to Konoha."

"Oh," Kiba said, a frown returning to him. "I had a rival back at the academy, a long time ago, and everyday it seemed I got choked with that thing." He attempted to stand up, holding the unconscious Akamaru. Kankuro helped him as the medical team showed up.

"Are you going to beg to stop at the tea house again?" Temari teased Kankuro. Her brother seemed to be in love with the dumplings served there.

"I won't beg, but I am stopping." He passed the last tree and landed in front of the house that he loved. Temari landed next to him, and Gaara landed behind the two. "After saving those Konoha brats, nothing in the world sounds better than Ahri's dumplings." He walked forward to the open door and was greeted by Ahri's smile from behind the counter.

"Hello, Kankuro," she replied.

Her father walked in from the back, carrying a basket of eggs to place on the counter. He smiled at the sight of one of his best customers. "Hello Kankuro! What brings you out this far?"

"I'm returning home form a mission." Kankuro sat the counter, ignoring the fact that his two siblings were slow to enter and seat themselves. All he could ponder was Ahri's hair; she always wore her hair up in two French braids. She even wore it like that when the two trained. He wondered what her hair would look like down.

"Oh? A mission?" The old man laughed and began making the noodles for the day. Usually, when he asked this, Kankuro would inform him of what the mission was. But today, Kankuro could not take his eyes off of the back of Ahri's head, pondering what it would look like with the hair flowing in the desert wind.



"We had to go to Konoha," Temari answered, noticing her brother's inability to respond all of the sudden. She wondered why he was staring so intently at Ahri; was he that hungry for dumplings? "And help some friends out."

"Konoha!" the old man exclaimed. "It's always good when you help out Konoha." He added a laugh, "When you help out Konoha, you pass through here."

Temari smiled as the man continued to make the noodles for her ramen.

"Gaara?" Ahri whispered. He looked up at her and slightly nodded his head. She smiled a response and turned back to the egg basket.

Soon Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara were eating dumplings, ramen, and deviled eggs, respectively. Ahri cleaned the counter as the three ate and her father went to help her mother with the livestock and garden. Temari quickly lifted her head and looked out the window to the desert. The sun was setting, and it seemed that a sandstorm would soon be stirring.

"Will you be wanting to stay the night, Temari?" Ahri asked as she followed her gaze out the window.

Temari looked at Gaara, whose expression said nothing, and then to Kankuro, who nodded his head 'yes'. "Yes," Temari finally answered.

"I will prepare your rooms for you." Ahri hurried up the stairs to the inn's rooms.

Kankuro watched her disappear up the stairs and back at his rapidly disappearing sweet dumplings. Tonight, it would be the best moment to see her with her hair down.

Gaara quietly sat on top of the sheets of his bed, silently watching his brother wipe the paint off of his face. He could not help but still be upset with himself; that last fight would have been his end if Kimimaro had not suddenly died. Without unleashing Shukaku, Gaara felt weaker. He wanted to be like Naruto, who was always able to unlock his demon's power without unlocking the demon himself. Gaara squeezed his fist. Above that, why did Ahri pay so much attention to his brother? She had instantly started on his food before remembering that Gaara was there. He put his hand up to his temple, if he continued to think like that, he would loose his self control.

"Gaara?"

He opened his eyes and saw Kankuro staring at him with a worried expression. Gaara let his hand drop back to his side and smiled. "I'm just recalling the mission," Gaara coolly stated.

Kankuro nodded his head and stood. "I'm going to get some water." He walked out the door with nothing but his black pants on. Was he trying to get Ahri to pay attention to him?

Ahri took out her last braid and smiled in her mirror. This was the first time Kankuro had to stay at the inn. Even when the three reached it at night, they would usually continue to head to the village. But with the addition of the sandstorm… her luck was changing. It was true that her relationship with Kankuro was one of training. They would occasionally discuss their families or daily routine with each other while resting from their spars, but they still approached each other professionally. He always wore that mask of paint and stupid cat hood, just like the first time she met him. It made her wonder what color hair he had, how deformed he must be under that outfit. Surely someone who went to such lengths to hide himself away and lived in the room he did would have to be deformed. If Gaara had Shukaku in him, maybe there was something equally wrong with Kankuro. Maybe Temari was the only normal child the Fourth Kazekage ever had.



A knock on her door made her jump out of her thoughts. It was probably Kankuro. Would he have his paint off? She hurried to the door and opened, then sucked in her breath quickly. It was not quite what she had expected.

"Sorry to bother you at night."

"It's alright, Gaara." She smiled. "Did you need something?"

Gaara closed his eyes slowly, making them look like a solid black hole. What did he need? He really needed to know why she never came back after he first met her. He never saw her again until he had returned from the Chuunin Exams in Konoha. His brother had insisted that they stop here at the tea house to calm themselves after all of the turmoil. Had he known she would be here? Had he known that seeing her, the only person other than Yashamaru to be kind to him, would make him realize that she had betrayed him as well? He opened his eyes again and looked at her with a smile. "I had a headache, and could not sleep."

"Oh, well, I'm a little handy with home remedies. Come in." She closed the door behind Gaara as he sat down on the edge of her bed. She grabbed a cloth and dipped it in her water basin. The cold water quickly absorbed into it, and she lifted it out, squeezing out any excess. "So I guess the mission was a success?" she asked as she sat next to Gaara, tenderly pressing the cold cloth on his temple. She could tell the spot was bothersome, the vein there was throbbing. "All of your friends were okay?"

Friends? The friend he went to save had moved on without his help. The friend of his did not even know he had helped. Did she not realize that he had only one friend? "Their mission failed, most of them were hospitalized. But no one died."

"Oh," she whispered. If she didn't have the obligation to her family, she could move on to the village and become a shinobi like Gaara and Kankuro. She could have gone on the mission with them, and maybe things would not have turn out like this. Even Kankuro believed she would make a great ninja. "Is this helping at all with the pain?"

Pain. That four letter word that others pretended to understand but none of them really did. He knew what pain was. This throbbing in his head, that was nothing compared to pain. He brought his hand up to the cloth and paused as his hand accidentally covered hers. "Some," he finally stated, removing his hand quickly.

She smiled. "I'll try something else. My mother always does this for my father after he works for too long without rest." She brought the cold cloth down, and on second thought, laid it back into the water basin.

How could he be mad at her? She was not as treacherous as his uncle. She still gave him the same smiles as she had when they first met. She never changed her opinion of him, but why did she disappear during that time? "Thank you."

Ahri turned to him. She never heard Gaara say that before. A smile replaced her shocked face. "It's nothing. This is what friends do." She dried her hands off and walked back to the bed. "I'm gonna sit up here, and I want you to lean back and lay your head in my lap." She sat further up in the middle of the bed, and Gaara laid back. She took two of her fingers and began massaging his temples. Despite his confusion, Gaara realized that her methods were quickly working against any pain in his head.

He felt like asking her why she never showed again. He was stopped.

Ahri suddenly closed her eyes and stopped massaging his temples. Her mother had always said that she had special powers that the rest of the clan did not, and that perhaps Ahri would receive that power. At that moment, she received the empathic touch her mother spoke of. By touching someone's forehead, the empathic touch allowed the user to read the other's 

emotions, trigger any prominent memories that inspired these emotions, or even read the exact thoughts of the person. As she had been massaging Gaara's temples, his memory of meeting her as a child came flooding to her, the feelings of being abandoned by her, the anger of seeing her again, and the large question he wished to ask.

"Gaara," she whispered.

He set up and turned to look at her.

Kankuro held his glass of water steadily as he crept down the hall. His hope was to keep the water from making ripples as he walked. If he could do that, his stealth would be close to the level of Ahri's. At the thought of Ahri, he grinned. Tonight, he would see her with her hair down, like a girl, not a training partner. He stopped in front of her door and was about to knock when he heard her voice from the other side.

"Gaara," she whispered.

Kankuro scowled. Why is she talking about him?

"I'm sorry."

Sorry?

"I never meant to hurt you. I really intended on seeing you again."

Seeing him again? Kankuro turned around and quickly walked into the room he was sharing with his little brother. He wasn't there. "Gaara!" growled Kankuro. "What are you doing?" He thrust the glass of water that he had brought his brother onto the nightstand, most of its contents sloshing off the top of it. If he barged into Ahri's room, it would ruin any perfect moment he had planned. If he didn't, Gaara might find something out, or something… What was Gaara doing in there? Kankuro threw himself on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

Gaara looked down at the bed between him and Ahri. How did she know? Is she able to read my mind?

"I know I must have hurt you," she whispered, a small tear falling from her eye. How was he able to sustain so much pain in one body? "I never would do that to a friend. But I wasn't able to go to the village after that day. I was told assassins were everywhere and things looked really bad internally there. My father made the deliveries while I was forced to stay here." Her tear fell off her cheek to hit the bed, but it was caught by Gaara's hand.

He stared at the tear being absorbed by his dry skin. She is crying, because of… me?

"Gaara. When we were kids, I had every intention on making you my friend. I hope… will you still be my friend?"

His mind flashed back to what Naruto said. 'I will not let you hurt my important people, my friends.' Now here was someone who would be his important person. Gaara nodded his head. "Yes." He stood and walked back to his room.

Kankuro glanced at him as he walked slowly toward his bed, lay down on it, and closed his eyes to pretend to sleep. What happened?

Ahri slipped out of the house as night filled the sky. It had been a week since Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro had spent the night at the inn. She was dying to train some more, and could feel that Kankuro felt the same. When she had given him the pendant years ago, she had given him a special connection to her. There were two pendants of the panther, and when worn, they would send messages to the other wearer if the emotion was strong enough. At the time, she was hoping he would wear it and she could sense his shame of being beaten, but now it had become their close bond.



She quietly crawled up the backside of the cave where the two deposited any extra equipment, mostly food and parts of a shelter in case a sandstorm arose while they trained. Tonight, she brought no extra equipment. Tonight was about a serious spar. Kankuro knelt over the wrappings of Karasu and Kuroari in front of the cave, expecting her to not be there early. It would be over quickly. She pounced on him from behind, shooting two kunai into the puppets, and holding one over his throat as she had him pinned to the ground.

Kankuro grinned. "That was quick."

"It was cheap."

"It was smart. You threw the kunai right in the heads of the puppets, blocking my replacement technique, and now you have me." He closed his eyes. "I guess you win."

Ahri sat up, releasing her hold on his two arms, while keeping his legs pinned down with her own. It almost felt like Kankuro was not even trying. Why would he come here if he did not want to fight? Why did the pendant say he was so eager for their next spar?

"I suppose I need some more training if a little cat like you is able to beat me up." He partially set up, using his arms as support.

"Kankuro… why did you come here if you're not going to try?"

He grinned and reached out to her hair. "I might have tried, but you were cheap."

His hand barely touched her face then reached behind her head to the right French braid. Why was he doing this? And why was she letting him? "Kankuro?"

His eyes met hers.

"Why…"

He interrupted her. "I just had a thought when I was at the inn last week. I've never seen you with your hair down. You always have it up for training, but even at the inn…"

She smiled. "It's so I don't get any hair in your dumplings." Her hand went up to his and she grabbed it tightly. "Kankuro… you can't really be curious about my hair. What is wrong with you?"

Kankuro gave her an astonished looked. Why couldn't he be curious about her hair? He was a guy who was appreciative of brunettes with long hair. Maybe he just wanted to appreciate her for more than her ninjutsu. Did she still see him as nothing more than a training partner? What had all these meetings meant to her, and why did she never question him about his paint? You would think training with someone for so long would cause you to want to see their face. Most asked within a day. "Do you…" he began to ask her about his paint, but decided against it. "What happened with Gaara?"

Ahri let go of his hand and it fell back to his side. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"When we were at the inn, Gaara visited your room that night, didn't he?"

"He had a headache and I helped him."

"How?"

Ahri stood up. What is he getting at? "Why does that matter?"

Kankuro sprang to his feet. "Most guys just don't show up in a girl's room in the middle of the night because of a headache."

"Oh please! He's only a kid!" Ahri's disgusted face turned away from Kankuro. What is his problem?

"In that case, Gaara always has a purpose. What was it?" He grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. She continued to stare at the circle on his shirt, refusing to meet his eyes because of the earlier insinuation.



"He only wanted to know why I never came to play after I first met him. Everything is… we're friends now."

"You've met him…"

"When we were very young. The same day I met you." She knocked his hand off her shoulder. "If you're not here to train, then I have better things to do."

"Better things? I thought you were my friend Ahri."

She crossed her arms. "You're my training partner."

He scowled at her smoke as she quickly flickered away.

Kankuro continued to stare at his ceiling and surrounding puppets despite Temari's persistent banging on his door. "Kankuro! You've been in there for a day! Come out already!"

"Did he go out the window?" Gaara asked her.

"He's too fat to fit out that window anymore."

Kankuro rolled his eyes and brought his pillow up around his ears. Temari could be such a bitch. What did they know about how he felt? He thought Ahri felt more than that. Now he realized he had become a puppet, a tool for her training. She cared more for Gaara than him. Always Gaara.

The banging on his door finally stopped and he let the pillow drop.

"Kankuro." That was Gaara's voice. "Temari is gone."

Why is Gaara suddenly interested in my problems?

"She's going to talk with the council. We're going to start an academy to train ninja."

What does that have to do with me?

"I'm going to go visit someone."

"Who?" Kankuro growled, before realizing what he said.

Gaara smiled. "I hear Ahri is in town making a delivery. I'm going to go visit her."

His footsteps retreated from Kankuro's door. Making a delivery? She started delivering again, and never even mentioned it to Kankuro. Of course, why would she need to? He quickly dressed into his customary outfit and squeezed out the window. "Too fat?" he whispered, glad to shove it down Temari's throat even if only he knew it.

He quietly raced through the town, from roof to balcony to shadows, searching for a trace of Ahri. He found her, delivering milk to Baki's house. And she had her hair down, nothing but a ribbon keeping it from flying in front of her face. Kankuro knelt in the shadow of the balcony and stared at her. He never imagined that she would look that beautiful in the desert wind. She turned toward him, but instead of looking up to where he was, she waved to someone approaching her from below. It was Gaara.

"Of course," growled Kankuro. He followed the two from the shadows as Gaara lifted one of the two milk canisters she had to carry.

The pair stopped in front of other houses, filling empty milk bottles in exchange for money. The two laughed about something, Kankuro clinched his fist until it went white. Gaara laughed, with his Ahri. His Ahri with her hair down.

Gaara turned to look at Ahri as she filled the last bottle for Yura's wife. If she had only been there sooner, and stayed longer, his childhood might have been different. He might have felt like this for longer, not needing Naruto to bring him out of the darkness.

"Hey Ahri."

He turned, along with Ahri, to Kankuro who stood before them. Ahri thrust the money into her pocket and picked up the heavy canister, ignoring him completely.



"Gaara…" Kankuro began. "Temari's returned from the meeting." It had a chance of not being a lie. "She'll probably want to talk with you about the academy."

Gaara's vision narrowed on Kankuro. What is he up to? Only one way to find out. He handed the canister to Kankuro, and turned to Ahri with an apologetic smile. He quickly walked back to his house.

"Why did you do that?" Ahri asked Kankuro.

"Do what?"

"Tell Gaara to go away." She attempted to grab the canister from him, but he spun around, not allowing her to.

"I needed to talk to you."

"I don't want to talk to you." She continued to the next house.

"If anyone should be mad at someone, it should be me."

"You're the one trying to turn our training relationship into something else."

"Is that so wrong?" After she refused to respond, he quickly added, "Your hair is nice."

She turned to him with her cat eyes glaring. "You and stupid hair!"

He smiled. "Can you come with me, for… lunch?" He reached out to touch her hair.

Ahri watched his hand and felt that strange sensation again. Why was she letting him act like this? His fingers grabbed a strand and began wrapping it around them. "I have… work to do."

"You and I both know you can get a technique to do that for you."

She smiled. "Are you desperate?"

"I'm hungry."

She was about to protest again, but her stomach growled before she could.

"And you're hungry too."

She giggled. "You win." She put the canister down. "Kage bunshin no jutsu." Her shadow clone popped next to her and she assigned it the task of filling canisters. She rushed away with Kankuro to slip in through his window and into his room.

"So is there food in this scary room of yours?" She tried not to look at the puppets on the wall, their image still scared her.

"I always keep emergency food." He pulled out some snacks from a nightstand and spilled them onto his bed. "But…" He turned to Ahri with one finger raised up. "I would like to talk."

She reached her hand up to his face and quickly pulled the cathood off. "You want to talk? I want to see what you really look like."

He grinned. "You took long enough to ask."

"You wanted me to?"

"Most people just ask sooner." He grabbed a nearby cloth and wiped his face off.

Ahri sat down on the edge of his bed, watching the back of his head. "Brown hair," she thought to herself. "I thought it would be, stranger than that. Like pink hair. That would explain why he covered it."

Kankuro dropped the cloth onto his workbench and took in a deep breath. There was no more hiding behind a mask with her. If she didn't like it, well, all chances that he had with her would be destroyed. He slowly turned to face her, and her surprised face made him panic a little.

Ahri's eyes grew wide at the sight before her. His features were actually quite handsome; he seemed like a different person without his paint and hat. This was the guy she had been 

training with? With the paint on, she could pretend that everything was professional, but now, he made her heart race. "You disappointed me," she finally let out.

"What?" He was right; he should have stuck with wearing the make up and getting beaten every training night.

"I was expecting pink hair and some dreadful deformity, but it seems like you're a perfectly normal looking guy under all that make up. Of course, it doesn't change that you love to play with dolls." She pointed up to the puppets hanging along the wall.

He smiled at her. "Not what you were expecting huh? Sorry to disappoint you."

Even his smile was different with the make up off. Earlier, his smiles had always seemed menacing, but now it made his lips very attractive.

Kankuro sat next to her on the bed. "Now that you've seen what I look like, how about that talking thing?"

She turned to him with a smile. "Hit me with your best shot."

He pulled the pendant out from under his shirt. "When I was on a mission, someone said that this looked familiar. Have you strangled anyone with your cord?"

She laughed. "Is this a real question?"

"I take it that that's a no."

Her laughter stopped. "That was a real question?"

"The guy seemed very insistent that he was choked by this before. I didn't know if you went off to Konoha every now and then to choke guys."

"I've never even been to Konoha." She reached back to grab a bag of cookies from his stash.

"What do you think about Gaara?"

"I thought we were talking, not having an interrogation." She opened the bag and popped the mini cookie into her mouth.

"I just wanted to know, if you felt anything for him that might be more than friendship."

She shook her head 'no' and swallowed her food. "My turn to ask you a question. Why do you care about my feelings for Gaara, and how I look with my hair down?"

Kankuro paused halfway on his stretch for his snack pile. He was not expecting a blunt question like that. He reached forward and grabbed her hand which was holding another cookie and pulled it toward his mouth, acting like he was going to steal the cookie out of her hand. She pulled it away from him, causing a small tug-of-war. He smiled and tugged once more, a little too hard, and caused her whole body to be pulled toward him. "I want the cookie."

"You're a terrible host."

He grabbed the cookie with his mouth, his lips covering her fingertips slightly. Ahri blushed and turned away as the moisture from his cookie-hungry mouth on her fingers caused her heart to race a little faster. He used his other hand to grab the cookie bag from her and placed it away from them on the bed. "I'm not a terrible host. I just thought that the cookie in question looked really… irresistible."

She glanced back at him, and her eyes quickly locked with his. He leaned in slowly toward her, his lips parting only slightly, the heat hitting her own. Her eyes closed as she tilted forward with her own lips. How could she have been so blind, not realizing that her rivalry with Kankuro had developed into something wonderful? The kiss finished, the two pulled away from each other, not finding the right words to say.

Ahri was astonished with herself, her body moving on its own. Suddenly her hand reached back up to Kankuro's face, turning it back to her lips. His hands raced up her back as 

once again they shared a kiss. This time, Kankuro began leaning her back on the bed, the snacks falling to the floor. His fingers raced through her long hair, wrapping them around his nimble fingers. Her hair, it smelled like milk and honey. He never would have expected that. His lips trailed from hers to her cheek, and to her ear. The smell of milk and honey overpowered his senses as he began nibbling at her small ears.

"Kankuro!" shouted Temari.

"Oh you have to be kidding me," he whispered.

"Are you still pouting in your room? Whatever it is, get over it!"

Ahri gave a questioning glance to Kankuro. He couldn't let her know he had been sulking about her. Not when he had her where he wanted her. He covered her ears with his hands and turned to face the door. "Go away Temari!"

"I need you as a teach…"

"Damn it Temari! I said go away!"

"Why did you send Gaara?"

"Because I wanted both of you to go away!"

Ahri pulled his hands down from her ears. She smiled and kissed him one last time on the lips, then scurried out the window. Kankuro followed suit and was out of the small window as his door fell down to a powerful wind gust.

Teaching at the academy was eating away at Kankuro. He never minded teaching there, but not having any time to visit Ahri, even when she was making deliveries in the village, really was driving him mad.

"The Chunin final is almost here," Temari announced to him as he untangled his puppets from the wire his students had used on it.

He had completely lost track of time. The month was almost over.

"I'm heading out now."

Kankuro looked up, surprised. "Now? If you would wait and let me fix…"

"Are you really going to bring that one?"

The puppet he used for teaching was only a small makeshift one. He never fought with it. "No." He tossed the puppet into the corner of his room and grabbed his equipment. "Is Gaara ready?"

"He is already on his way. If we hurry, we can catch up with him." The two quickly ran out of the village, heading on the well-known path to Konoha. Gaara was already at the inn waiting on them, Ahri sitting next to him on the porch.

Kankuro grinned as he saw her. The two had kept silent about any relationship they had, whether it was their initial training one or their blossoming romantic one. "Hey there Ahri."

She smiled. "I've been invited to watch you at the Chuunin finals."

"I don't need extra baggage weighing us down," Temari declared. Both of her brothers turned to her with a glare.

"Are you able to?" Kankuro asked Ahri, attempting to ignore what Temari had said.

She walked into the house, upset by what Temari said. Kankuro followed her inside and up the stairs to her room. His siblings remained downstairs.

"She's coming with us Temari," Gaara ordered.

Temari put a defiant hand on her hip, but said nothing.

"Are you able to leave Ahri?" Kankuro asked again, as she threw some things into her pack.



"I'm coming with you. Turn around."

He turned to face the closed door. His blossoming relationship had only taken him so far. Ahri was the slow and steady type, and Kankuro still had seen little of her body. "Are you going to wear your training outfit there?"

"It's my outfit."

He heard the zipper closing and the sound of her kunai straps. "Have you told your parents?"

She raced to the window and opened it. "Otosan! I'm leaving with Kankuro, Gaara, and Temari!" she yelled.

Her father looked up from the calf he was looking at. "Where to?"

"To Konoha."

He stood up quickly and raced up the stairs. He was surprised by Kankuro standing nearby, picking up his daughter's pack. "You cannot go to Konoha."

"Why not?"

He glanced at Kankuro and sighed. "I once lived there, as did your mother. We came here to leave things behind. Her clan didn't want me to marry her. If you go…"

Ahri looked at the floor. She never knew her father and mother were from Konoha, let alone that their marriage was taboo. "They won't know who I am."

He shook his head. "You look so much like your mother at that age."

Ahri grabbed a cowl from her dresser and slipped it on over her head. It covered her entire head except for a slot for her eyes. "Now they won't recognize me."

The old man sighed. She was eventually going to return one day, better to return with the Sand siblings. "Keep her safe Kankuro."

He grinned. "Nothing will touch her."

The two hurried down the stairs as her father leaned against the door frame. When his wife returned from the river, he was never going to hear the end of it.

Temari cast a side long glance to the black figure that consisted of Ahri. She was surprised at the girl's ability to keep up with Kankuro, slightly behind herself and Gaara. To Temari, Ahri had only been an innkeeper's daughter and delivery girl. Dressing like a shinobi… Temari had to let out a small laugh. Who does this girl think she is?

Ahri's eyes absorbed everything as the four of them flew through the trees. The Country of Fire looked nothing like how she had pictured it as a child; for some reason, she had always pictured lava everywhere. Not trees. At least not until they reached Konoha, which she imagined as an oasis in the middle of a lava-filled world.

"You might have relatives there," Kankuro said.

She turned to him. "Even if I do, I really don't think I could say anything, especially if my parents really did have a taboo marriage."

Kankuro smiled. Taboo relationships must run through your family. "If you see anyone using powers like yours, you'll at least know."

She knew her clan names, Neko and Yamanaka. Perhaps she would meet a long lost cousin. And there was the person who swore he had been choked by her pendant. She had long awaited to meet him.

"Finally," Temari announced. The four of them landed in front of the gates of the Hidden Village of the Leaf.



"Ahri's here as my bodyguard," Kankuro told his sister. She turned around with a confused look. Kankuro smiled. "Gaara doesn't need a bodyguard, so that wouldn't make sense. No one wants to deal with your bitchiness, so that doesn't make sense. But I'm loveable so I need the protection."

"Whatever," was her response. She turned to the gate guards and waved. By now, Kotetsu and Izumo simply waved the sand siblings through.

"Who is he?" Kotetsu asked as Kankuro and Ahri passed.

Kankuro turned to them, with a question on his lips. Then he realized they were referring to Ahri. Ahri glared at the two, but said nothing. Kankuro knew what was wrong; the outfit she wore was figure fitting, but even now at nearly fifteen years old, the girl continued to have very flat breasts. Not that he minded, but apparently she was able to pull off being a guy.

"He's my bodyguard," Kankuro answered.

Ahri turned toward him with a glare. I can't believe he agreed with them. I'm obviously not a guy, she thought.

He only smiled in response to her glare.

The four continued up the street, Ahri following slightly behind Kankuro and absorbing the village around her. It was completely different from the sand village; no need for the long distance deliveries if one lived here. Several of the children stared at the four in wonder, many of them being from the academy where Temari, Gaara, and Kankuro had taught.

"Temari-san! Temari-san! I've improved my shuriken technique!" shouted one little red-headed girl.

Temari laughed. "You'll have to show it to me soon."

A boy around Ahri's age walked out of a building in response to the shouting of the children. His hair was up in a ponytail, both ears were pierced, and he had on an olive green vest. Seeing Temari, he folded his arms and gave her a half-grin. "So you're here. How troublesome."

Temari walked over to him, her siblings and Ahri continuing to walk down the street. Ahri focused her hearing on what the two were saying to each other.

"You didn't think I would be here to gain my Chuunin title? I should have gotten it last time, instead of you, Crybaby."

"It's not as glamorous as you make it out to be."

"Still crying over your duties?"

"Ugh, you're such a troublesome girl."

Ahri smiled. At least her relationship with Kankuro was not covered with annoying talk like that. Gaara turned his attention slightly to Ahri, then past her to a boy in green tights and fuzzy eyebrows. Kankuro motioned for Ahri to continue with him while the boy talked with Gaara.

"Who were those guys?" she finally whispered as she walked alone with Kankuro.

"The first one was Shikamaru. Him and Temari have a, something going on. They're not really dating though. The other one was Rock Lee. Gaara has injured him, saved him, well, at least he talks with him. That Lee guy, he's probably the only one I know that moves faster than you. Even with his weights on."

Ahri glanced back to look at the strange looking boy talking to Gaara. Faster than her while wearing weights? She couldn't wait to see his speed in action.

"Where are we headed?"

"I've been promised a meal the next time I was here. I'm going to take up that promise."



"You're always hungry."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Would you like to escort me there, bodyguard?"

The title reminded her of the gate keepers. "Do I really look like a guy?" She glanced down at her body.

Kankuro turned around and looked her up and down. "Not to me, but then again I haven't seen much of you." He flashed a clever grin then turned back to the direction he was walking.

"Kankuro!" shouted a guy from the left. "Ruff!" yelled a puppy along with it. Ahri turned to see a wild haired boy and a white puppy running to them. There was something about those two… "Ready to take me up on that meal offer?"

As the boy (apparently named 'Kiba') and Kankuro walked into a nearby ramen restaurant, the dog continued to sniff at Ahri. Can he smell the cat in me? Why is he so persistent?

"Ah-ruff-ruff!" the puppy shouted to its master.

Kiba glanced down at it. "What do you mean cat?"

Kankuro glanced at Ahri.

"You know the cat?"

Ahri closed her eyes. What is this guy and his stupid dog saying?

Kiba laughed. "He thinks he knows your bodyguard, but he also thinks he's a cat."

Kankuro laughed. "My bodyguard has never been to Konoha, so I think Akamaru is mistaken."

Kiba looked past Kankuro and to Ahri. The two locked eyes. Why are those eyes so familiar? he thought

Temari slid out of her bed and walked out of the room. Ahri opened her eyes and smiled. She was probably off to see her 'Shikamaru' person. Kankuro said she would leave like that, though he never mentioned whether it was to see Shikamaru or not. Her attention turned when a soft tap sounded on her window. She quickly raced to it to allow Kankuro in.

"Hey," he greeted her with a kiss.

"I didn't think you'd actually come. What about Gaara?"

"He doesn't sleep much. He's out, somewhere. I guess he didn't want to lay in bed pretending." Kankuro pushed her hair out of the way and began kissing her neck. "I haven't been alone with you in so long…"

"You should rest before your match tomorrow."

Kankuro stopped his kisses and pulled back. "Are you trying to get rid of me for some reason?"

She blushed. "I just don't want to be a distraction for you."

"You won't be. I'll fight even harder thanks to you. Besides, the person I'm fighting is a girl. I'm actually surprised she made it so far."

"Because she's a girl?"

"Because she's only obsessed about her looks."

"So she's pretty."

Kankuro picked up Ahri and fell with her on the bed. "She's eerily thin."

Ahri ran her fingers down Kankuro's bare chest. "I'm glad you used that word."

He kissed her neck in reply, reaching his hand slowly up her shirt, resting on her stomach. When Ahri made no protest about his hand's position, he continued rising it up to her 

breasts. Kankuro grinned as Ahri moaned from the touch. Her virgin skin was sensitive to every touch. Just getting to second base was thrilling enough for the night.

Ahri ate with Kankuro the next morning with neither Gaara nor Temari returning to the hotel rooms the previous night. "What's her name?"

"Uh…" Kankuro thought as he munched on his dumplings. "Yamanaka Ino."

"Yamanaka?" She stared at Kankuro in amazement. My mother's people! Perhaps this Ino uses mind moves like I did. "The Yamanaka use mind jutsu, like I can."

Kankuro looked up at her, astonished. "Do you think you're related to the creepy thin girl?"

"In some way or another; that's my mother's clan's name."

"I was always pretty effective at getting over your mind tricks. This little bug has nothing over me." He kissed Ahri's forehead and stood up. "Don't be upset if I beat your kinsmen to a pulp."

Ahri smiled. "I hope you do."

The two walked out to the arena where Ahri went to find her seat; it happened to be the worst seat in the house. In front of her sat a larger version of Rock Lee who happened to the loudest person she ever met. Next to him sat a girl in braided buns, another girl with pink hair, and finally a white haired Jonin with his forehead protector over one eye. He seemed to be the quietest (and in Ahri's mind, the best) out of the four. Furthermore, the two gate guards sat next to her.

"Hey, it's Kankuro's bodyguard. Shouldn't you be down there with him?" asked one.

"He's going up against Ino. I don't think he'll need his bodyguard for that."

The pink headed girl turned around angrily. "Ino has improved a lot! It's that puppet guy who should be worried."

Ahri clinched her teeth. Has this girl ever seen Kankuro in battle before?

"He has two of them this year," said the bun girl. "I think he's improved some too, Sakura."

The pink headed girl looked back to the arena. "I just know Ino will do well."

The man with the white hair turned slightly to look at Sakura, but then saw Ahri. He glanced over her slightly, but remained silent.

Keeping her voice low, Ahri decided to speak. "The Yamanaka use mind altering jutsu. Unless she's lucky enough to actually hit Kankuro, her powers will do nothing against his puppets."

Sakura turned to face her, an angry expression on her face.

The white haired man also turned again.

"That's stupid… she's been practicing…"

"The bodyguard has a point Sakura."

"But Kakashi-sensei!" she tried to argue, but quieted and returned her furious glare to the arena floor. Ahri turned her eyes to Kakashi, but he only calmly returned to watch the matches.

Kankuro stood in-between Temari and Gaara as they watched the first match between Hyuga Neji and a shinobi from the Hidden Village of Rain. The winner of this match would be facing Temari, and Temari was confident that she could defeat Neji if she won. His Juken would be nothing against her long range wind attacks. "He's improved, but pointless for long range fighting," Kankuro told Temari.



"This will be too easy. Back to back fighting against the Hyuga clan. It's really not fair for them."

Kankuro rolled his eyes.

Neji won. There was no surprise. There was no surprise when Temari defeated Hinata, except for Hinata's use of Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho5. It baffled Temari for a bit, but in the end, the Sand won.

Kankuro grinned. It was time for his match. He quickly waltzed down the stairs to face-off with Ino. In the arena, they bowed to each other, Kankuro quickly slipping off his puppets onto the ground. To the surprise of everyone, Kankuro charged at Ino, which threw her off her battle plan against the puppet master. He beat Ino down with the speed he had gained from working with Ahri, but she was able to deflect a kunai into his forehead. He, of course, had used his replacement technique, and now Ino was faced with Karasu, his third eye holding the kunai. Ino shrieked as the arms wrapped around her own, slowly tightening to crush her arms.

"Match!" shouted the referee. The puppet dropped Ino to the ground and returned to its master.

Ahri grinned from her seat. He used an approach that none of the spectators expected: taijutsu. She could not help but feel a little pride; that kind of taijutsu was her own. The final match of the first round was Rock Lee versus Gaara. Both had improved since their first fight, but Gaara was still superior to Lee.

This meant that Kankuro had to fight his own brother, and there was a high likelihood that one of the brothers would be fighting Temari. Ahri slouched in her seat some. How did this happen?

Gaara stared at Kankuro as they faced each other in the arena. One of them had to fight Temari. Kankuro would be perfect for the match; they constantly fought at home. But Gaara was not going to let that happen. Despite Kankuro being his brother, he deserved some pain. What Kankuro and Ahri did not know was that while he was unable to sleep, Gaara had sat atop of the building across from the hotel last night.

He had seen everything.

Kankuro doesn't deserve Ahri; and Ahri should know better than to be with him.

Kankuro stared back at Gaara. He thought he would never see the day he would have to go one-on-one with his brother. A large part of him had hoped that Rock Lee would have won. Anything to keep me from fighting Gaara.

"Why were you with her last night?" Gaara finally asked.

Kankuro froze as his hand reached back for his puppets' wraps. How does he know? "Where were you?"

"Across the street. I saw you." He clinched his fists. "Why?" Gaara asked again.

Kankuro swiftly threw the ribbons off of his puppets, and they landed in front of him. He also grabbed an emergency scroll and unrolled it in front of him. He wiped his blood across from it and his newest puppet emerged, Sanshouo. With his three puppets ready, Kankuro stared again at his little brother. "Because… she's special to me."

Gaara's eyes widened at the response. His hands still folded in front of him, the sand slowly started pouring out. Kankuro jumped on the back of Sanshouo and caused the other two to swiftly circle Gaara. The sand hit Karasu dead on, knocking its limbs apart. Kankuro grinned as he used the several different pieces to try to penetrate the sand shield that rose. Gaara did not 

even concentrate on the puppets around him, but his anger began to boil as his sand began to climb around the bottom of Sanshouo. Kankuro quickly noticed the sand attempting to close in around his head and ducked into the hollowed body of Sanshouo.

Ahri jumped up from her seat, knowing the move that Gaara planned. "No!" she shouted as the audience remained quiet. Those around her, noting her feminine yell, stared in disbelief.

"Sabaku Soso6!" shouted Gaara, clinching his fist.

Ahri nearly screamed again, but realized no blood came from the sand. Instead, Sanshouo jumped out of its prison of sand, Kankuro springing from his back. In shock and relief, Ahri melted back into her seat. Again, Kakashi calmly eyed her then returned to watching the match.

Gaara raised his hand, "Suna Shigure7!"

Again, Kankuro jumped into Sanshouo's hollowed body, and instead of jumping out, he remained inside. Gaara continuously used desert coffin and desert funeral on the puppet, hoping to break it apart on the inside. In the mean time, Kankuro found that the sand surrounding Gaara was reacting slower to his puppets. Right as he was about to make his move with a combined attack from Karasu and Kuroari, his brother collapsed in front of him, clinching the sand he stood upon. Afraid of his anger over Ahri, Kankuro remained inside of his salamander puppet, but did not continue the attack.

Gaara looked up, and through the peep holes, Kankuro could see small tears in his eyes. The younger brother stood up and faced the match judge. "I forfeit." He calmly walked away.

Kankuro breathed in deeply. What had caused that sudden change?

Temari laughed as she sat next to Kankuro at Ichiraku's. "I can't belief how weak your attacks are against wind."

Kankuro grinned. "You don't have to act so cocky, just because you won a tournament, which was only against close range fights and your younger brother." He leaned over to Ahri's half-empty bowl of ramen and stole one of her eggs.

Shikamaru, sitting on the other side of Temari, yawned. "You are pretty troublesome, just because you won."

Ahri sat quietly. After the tournament, Kankuro had whispered to her that Gaara had seen them the night before. Not only was it embarrassing, but Ahri was afraid that her relationship with Kankuro was going to drive Gaara away. "I'm going to take a walk," she finally said.

"Do you want me…" Kankuro offered.

She shook her head 'no' and walked away, looking to the rooftops for Gaara. As she searched, she bumped into another person. "Sorry…" she started, but then realized it was the Kiba-fellow from the day before.

"So you're not really his bodyguard?" was all the guy had to say.

Ahri's eyes squinted at the boy. What is it about that face? "He's with Temari. I'm sure she's capable of watching him."

"I didn't know they were hiring girl bodyguards in the Sand."

Damn it! she thought to herself. She had forgotten to hide her voice. "The Sand cares about ability, not petty things like gender, or smell, in your case."

Kiba scowled. "At least my face isn't so pathetic that I have to cover it."



Ahri grabbed the top of her hood and flung it off. Her parents didn't want her noticed, but someone this young wouldn't know what her mother looked like. "I think you need this hood more than I do." She offered it to him with a cruel smile.

"I was hoping to get some quiet time with Naruto gone, but if you're hanging around… I guess I won't."

Ahri calmly unzipped the very top of her outfit to allow her skin to breathe, and to make it easier to put her hood back on when she needed to. "Why would I want to hang around you?"

Kiba shrugged his shoulders. "You said you were skilled. That sounded like dueling words to me."

She laughed. "You sound desperate to me." She began walking to the hotel, but Akamaru jumped out in front of her. By trying to act cocky, she had lost part of her control on senses and easily fell backwards from the surprise.

Kiba laughed this time. "Skilled? I'm very impressed then." He looked down at the girl, but stopped laughing when he saw the panther pendant sticking out from the partially unzipped outfit. "Ahri?"

Her eyes widened in fear as she looked up at Kiba.

"Ahri!" he said again, kneeling down next to her.

"You know me?" she asked, wondering if perhaps he had stopped at the inn when she was younger and could not remember.

"You… you don't remember me?" he asked, confused and somewhat hurt.

"Should I?"

"You tortured me all the time back at the Academy…"

"You must have me confused with another Ahri; I've never been to the academy. And this is my first trip to Konoha at that."

"No. Neko Ahri. Did something happen to your memory? I mean, we hung out all the time and then my third year at the academy, you just, disappeared."

She closed her eyes. Why don't I know what he is talking about? Her parents were from Konoha, not her. "I… I really don't know what you are talking about."

"Come with me, please?" He reached a hand out to her. "I can try to help your memory. I'll take you to your old house."

She took his hand, but quickly replaced her hood.

"Why? Why the hood?"

If what he was saying was true, then Kiba was a friend, and could be trusted. "I'm not supposed to be recognized while here. So… we have to pretend, that you never recognized me."

"Why?"

"It's so important, that I don't even know the reason why."

Kiba took her hand again. "I won't say a word. But come with me." He hurried off at a quick run, but it was easy for her to keep up.

They soon turned down a dark street that had long been deserted from the looks of it. After passing a few of the empty buildings, Kiba led her to the broken door of one. "Was this, my house?"

"This whole area belonged to your clan. They all died when Konoha was attacked last year."

Ahri remained silent as Kiba led her through the dusty house and into the main room. He and Akamaru sat down, and she joined them.

"Is anything coming back?" he asked.



Ahri closed her eyes. Nothing was coming to mind. "No."

"Man, I really thought this would do it."

"Kiba, close your eyes and concentrate on a memory of us together."

He gave her a quick questioning glance, but then went along with it. When he did so, Ahri gently touched his forehead. The memories came rushing in. There were so many, that Ahri quickly had to release him, causing her to fall back into the dust. Kiba leaned over her. "Ahri? Are you okay?"

A stir from the front door caused him to grab her limp body protectively and crouch down into his beast mode. Akamaru stood before him, at the ready.

Kankuro burst into the room, trapping Akamaru into Kuroari after being lunged at by the dog. "What did you do to her Kiba?" he growled.

Kiba hugged Ahri closer. "She, read my mind, and then collapsed."

"Why?"

"I don't know; she read too much."

Akamaru began whimpering and howling to be let out of the puppet.

"Not why did she pass out; why was she reading your mind?"

"She was trying to remember her past. Let Akamaru go."

Kuroari opened and the dog jumped out. Kiba then explained to Kankuro about his friendship and rivalry with Ahri when they were young, and how she could not remember any of it. The rivalry had arisen from the Inuzuka clan's use of dogs and the Neko clan's use of cats. Despite that their clans despised each other, Kiba and Ahri had a secret friendship when they were away from everyone, including the childhood romance of a first kiss.

"I thought I was never going to see her again after she disappeared. And now she's here."

Kankuro reached out territorially for Ahri. If he knew about Kiba and Ahri's past he would have never saved him from Sakon and Ukon. "And she's leaving tomorrow," Kankuro responded.

Kiba clutched on to the limp body, his beast-like appearance growing. "Like hell she is! I'm not letting you take her away from me!"

Kankuro pulled out a kunai and growled. "I fought Gaara for her; don't think I'm afraid to fight you."

As Kiba and Kankuro growled at each other, Ahri stirred. The two guys stopped their fight to turn to her. She scooted her head closer to Kiba's chest. "Kiba," she whispered.

Kankuro's mouth dropped; Kiba smiled and brought his hand up to her face. She went still again, but had said enough. Kankuro turned away and walked out of the dusty house.

"Nee-chan!" yelled Kiba as he ran through his sister's door carrying Ahri. Akamaru came trotting behind.

"Kiba?" his sister asked as she appeared from the backroom. Her eyes lit up in fright at the sight of the unconscious girl in Kiba's hands.

"She's," started Kiba, "I want to make sure she's okay."

"Who is she?"

"Neko Ahri."

Hana cleared off her table quickly. "How did you find her?"



"She came with the Sand Team to watch the Chunnin exams. She didn't remember anything about living here, but she had the power to read my memories. I think – so much flooded to her that it overwhelmed her." He laid her unconscious body on the table.

"She had her memory erased?" Hana asked.

"She told me that she had amnesia from a fall. A part of me can't believe that, but a part of me wants to because she seemed so sincere about it."

Hana grabbed a wet cloth and placed it on Ahri's head. "I'm only a veterinarian Kiba. We should probably take her to the hospital – "

"No!" Kiba shouted.

Hana stood aback.

Kiba's eyes lowered to Ahri's face. "She said no one was to know she was here. Until she wakes up and tells us otherwise, we can't let anyone know."

"Especially mom," Hana smiled. "I covered for you two when you were children. I guess I'll just have to start again. After I check her, take her up to your room and cover her with your clothes and blankets."

He nodded his head in compliance.

Kiba sat up in his bed, scratching Akamaru behind his ears. Next to him on the bed slept Ahri, covered in his blankets and a jacket, hoping to cover her scent from other members of his family, especially his mother who had always disapproved of his friendship with someone of the Neko clan. "I wonder what happened to her Akamaru."

The growing puppy looked up at him. "Rrr-ruff," he responded.

"Yeah, we should make her comfortable before trying to answer questions. She had to be living in the Country of the Wind all this time to be that close to Kankuro and Gaara, especially since Kankuro said he fought with his brother over her."

Kiba turned to the body that moved next to him. "Kiba?" she whispered.

Akamaru jumped off his lap as he bent down next to her. "Yes?" he whispered.

She turned to face him. "I want to know…" she paused. "I want to know why we left. I want to know why I don't know anything."

Kiba smiled. "I know you do. And I want to know too. I've missed you."

She smiled back. "I could tell. Your emotions screamed it when I read your memories."

He blushed; he never knew she could read emotions too. She seemed so calm about it, maybe deep inside she misses me too. Maybe she knows something was missing in her life. Kiba traced his finger over her face. "I always wonder, where would we be if you had stayed?"

Ahri turned her face away from his. She knew how he felt about her. For him, their childhood romance turned into a great longing when she left. She had been able to completely forget about the relationship and had devoted herself to Kankuro. Where is Kankuro? "Kiba… I need to go back to Kankuro. I need to talk to him."

Kiba's hand pulled back sharply. He had not expected that, not after she had called out his name in front of Kankuro.

"I need to tell him… I need to tell him that I have to stay here. I have to search for answers. I need him to tell my father that."

Kiba let out his breath. There was still a chance for him. His finger dropped to her face again, tracing the curves of her cheek. "I'll take you to the hotel in the morning. You should probably rest some more."

Ahri closed her eyes. He was right; her legs felt like they had been electrocuted.

"I'll go from here alone," Ahri whispered to Kiba. He and Akamaru stood outside the downstairs door of the hotel. "It would be… awkward."

"I understand."

Ahri nodded her hooded head and dashed up the stairs to Kankuro's and Gaara's room. After a few knocks, Kankuro opened the door. His hair was still messed up from sleeping; Gaara was nowhere to be seen. "What do you want?" he groggily asked.

Ahri looked down at her feet. "This morning… Kiba told me what happened last night. You came to protect me, and I…"

"Asked for Kiba."

"I didn't ask!" Before anyone in their rooms could hear their argument, she pushed Kankuro into the room and slipped in, closing the door behind her. "I was overwhelmed from all his memories of me. Apparently we knew each other for a really long time, or spent a lot of time together."

Kankuro crawled onto the edge of his bed. "What else happened last night?"

Ahri set on the bed next to him. "I slept, a lot." She smiled. "It happens when you're unconscious."

Kankuro miserably put his head in his hands.

"What's wrong?" She reached her hand to his bare back then noticed several scratches on it.

"I trailed you and Kiba and some of their damned dogs found me. They scratched me up pretty badly before I could escape."

Ahri grinned. "You were that worried?"

"I didn't trust him. Just because he's an ally doesn't mean – You're very beautiful and I don't want someone to take you away from me."

She pulled off her hood. "Thank you."

Kankuro looked up with a smile. "Are you coming back with us?"

"No."

He sat up quickly. "Why not?"

She leaned toward him where she would only be whispering into his ear. "I need you to tell my father that I'm searching for answers. And I need you to wait for me to find those answers."

Kankuro smiled. "Don't make me wait too long. I'll have to come find you." He kissed her.

Ahri placed her hand on the panther pendant that rested on his bare chest. "As long as you have this, we won't be far." She unzipped the top of her outfit to pull out her own pendant.

Kankuro reached his hand out to touch the pendant, but bypassed it to graze the soft skin of her upper chest. He pushed back on her, and she complied by leaning back against the bed. "Hold on," he whispered. He motioned to the two puppets that leaned against the wall, and soon had Karasu blocking the door and Kuorari blocking the window. "Think that will work?"

"If you could make them turn around…" she joked.

He smiled and motioned with two of his fingers. Both puppets turned their heads away. Kankuro then leaned in for another kiss while propping up his one hand with his elbow on the pillow next to her head. It was true skill to be able to use one hand for his puppets and the other on Ahri. His free left hand slid down her upper chest, over her bra, and down her stomach to the 

zipper. His stomach squeezed tight as his fingers happened over the top of her black thong; he had to grin. The thong matched her bra.

Ahri smiled. She knew he was grinning about her matching set. As his fingers traced the outline of her thong, she closed her eyes and lifted her hands up to his neck. His face turned back to hers and leaned in to kiss as his fingers slipped under the black satin material.

Kiba sat down on the sidewalk outside of the hotel door, tossing a small stone into the street. Akamaru lifted his head and looked up to the window of Kankuro's room. From his angle, he could see nothing. "He must really be mad, or something," Kiba whispered.

"Rrrr-ruff!" Akamaru replied.

"Maybe she's in trouble, and I should go up." He stood to walk up but was interrupted by Gaara walking slowly to the door.

"You shouldn't go up," Gaara replied like he was the one Kiba had addressed it to.

"Wha… why?"

Gaara closed his eyes. "They're saying goodbye." He opened them again and slowly walked up the stairs and into the hotel. He knocked once on the door and announced, "Kankuro, Temari wants to leave soon." Then he walked back down the hall and out the door past Kiba.

Kankuro rested his head on Ahri's stomach. She let out her breath, if Gaara had not have come when he did, Kankuro and her probably would have gone too far. He let his puppet hand drop and the two figures fell to the floor. Ahri sat up some, causing Kankuro to slide up with his lips against her neck. "I don't want to leave you," he finally admitted.

Ahri bent her head down to kiss the top of his head. "I'll be back soon."

Kankuro kissed her once more on the lips. "You owe me one for having to talk to your father."

"I'll repay ten-fold." She caressed his cheek with her thumb. "Thank you."

Ahri shook hands with Temari. "Keep an eye on Shikamaru for me so he doesn't get too lazy," Temari whispered so that only Ahri could hear. Temari blushed. "Girl-to-girl, I like the guy. He's just too lazy to notice; no telling."

"I promise."

Ahri walked over to Gaara who stood quietly to the side. "Gaara…"

"Do you love Kankuro?" he interrupted. His sour eyes turned away from hers.

Ahri smiled. "I love all three of you."

His eyes opened wide as he met hers. She reached her closed hand out to him; he opened his own for whatever she had. As they pulled their hands away from each other, Gaara noted the deviled egg that she had given him. He grinned. "Thank you."

Ahri turned to Kankuro and quickly hugged him. "I'll be back soon," she whispered in his ears. She pulled away from him and touched her hidden pendant; he did the same to his.

"Let's head out!" Temari ordered. The three walked out of the gates slowly, the three new Chuunin of Sunagakure.

As their images disappeared into the distant trees, Ahri turned back to Kiba and Akamaru. "Now… where to start our search?"

Kiba had been staring at the ground. He had smelled Kankuro's scent all over Ahri when she returned down the stairs of the hotel; his heart was burning from the confusion.

"I find it a little strange that Kankuro has left but his bodyguard remains."

Ahri, Kiba, and Akamaru turned to the source of the voice. Kakashi sat on the roof of the gatekeepers' hut, casually reading Icha Icha Violence. Ahri closed her eyes; from Kiba's 

memories of her, she recalled seeing this man constantly at her father's house while she and Kiba hid in the secret passageway. It seemed that even when they successfully hid from her parents, this – Kakashi – always seemed to spot them, though he would never tell anyone where they were. Kiba's memories did not tell her why he was always at her father's house.

"Kiba," Ahri whispered. "Let's start with him." She quickly jumped on top of the gate house roof next to Kakashi.

"Oh?" Kakashi asked, with a somewhat bemused face. "Did you have something to ask me?"

"What is your relationship with Neko Kin?" she asked bluntly.

Kakashi narrowed his one eye. Before Ahri could react, he had grabbed her hood and pulled it off her head.

Kiba and Akamaru gasped as they watched the scene.

Holding Ahri's hood in his hand, Kakashi froze. "Ahri?" he asked.

She grabbed her hood from him. "Who are you?" she asked.

"You look just like your mother," he stated, closing his book and stuffing it into his back pouch. "Come with me." He took off over the rooftops toward the abandoned area that once belonged to the Neko Clan. Ahri took off after him, and Akamaru and Kiba followed her.

Kakashi landed in front of her old house, calmly walking inside; Ahri quickly followed. Why does everyone have to bring me back here?

"Kiba." Kakashi said as he took one step up toward the main room.

Kiba and Akamaru walked forward from the open doorway, surprised at how he noticed them.

"I need to talk to Ahri alone. Get her stuff from the hotel and take it to my room."

"But…" Kiba and Ahri both said.

Kakashi raised his hand. "Right now, she has become my responsibility."

Kiba nodded his head and hurried off to the hotel. Kakashi slowly walked into the main room and sat down; much like Kiba had done the night before. He motioned for Ahri to sit in front of him. She complied.

"What do you remember?" Kakashi asked her.

"I don't really and truly remember anything," she answered. "I read Kiba's memories of us last night. Many of them had us hiding in this house's secret passage." She quickly eyed the house. "Over there." She pointed to a part of the wall that had a passage running through the inside of it. "There are peep holes in it, and we could see when you came to visit my father. I don't know why you visited. I can't remember who you are; I just know that you have a tie to my father."

"So the mind seal did work…" he whispered.

"Mind seal?"

"Have you ever seen your bald head?"

"No."

"If you had, you would see a seal mark around the very top of your head. It sealed your early memories away. Even though you have Kiba's memories, they're still from his point of view. You're not getting your own memories back."

"Why?"

Kakashi smiled. "One question at a time! You asked me about my ties to your father. I have a few. One is your father's sensei when he was a Genin and Chuunin was my father, Hatake Sakumo, and was part of the mission that ended my father's career." He looked at Ahri's 

questioning glance. "The mission was vitally important to Konoha, but instead of completing it, my father chose to save your father and two other Chuunins. The mission was a failure, and in the end… it cost my father his life."

Ahri looked down at her hands. Her father was the cause of Kakashi's father's death.

"Also, I was on a team with your aunt."

Her head lifted back up. I had an aunt? Well of course I did, but I can't remember her. Not even Kiba's memories showed her an aunt.

"Your aunt, your father's little sister, was Neko Rin. She was very close to me until she died. Because I couldn't keep my word that I would protect her, I made a vow to your father. I would protect you if there was a need."

"Protect me from what?"

"Ah. This ties in with why your memories are sealed." Kakashi placed a finger to his chin. "I really shouldn't tell you, it defeats the purpose of the seal, but since you're already here…" He grinned beneath his mask. "I'll do the best I can. I don't know if anyone can break the seal; the Third Hokage put it on you, and for all I know he's the only one that knew how to break it. But the union of your father and mother, it was a taboo because of the power that the union would create. Yamanaka Hitomi was the most gifted of her clan, her mind control jutsu that she developed went above and beyond the clan's, such as her ability to read memories and emotions. Neko Kin had a power above his clan's ability; he had the Cat's Eye. Like the Sharingan, his Cat's Eye could see moves slightly before they happen, but it also can be used to create illusions in another's mind. Both of these powerful abilities placed into one person – you – makes a very powerful opponent, and very powerful, body."

Ahri stopped staring intently on Kakashi. The idea of the Cat's Eye sounded amazing to her. Apparently she had not developed all of her bloodline limits like she thought she had. But what is important about my powerful body? "Body?"

"There is someone, Orochimaru…"

"Orochimaru," she growled. He had been the one that killed Kankuro's father. Kankuro spent weeks of training after that, punishing her for what Orochimaru had done.

"I see you have heard of him. He has developed a technique to give him eternal life. In doing so, he needs hosts."

"Bodies."

Kakashi nodded his head. "He prefers bodies that already have powerful abilities. We heard that he was 'excited' about your parents' marriage, and could only assume that he would return to Konoha to retrieve you."

"So he could develop my abilities and then, take over my body?"

"Yes."

Ahri swallowed. Her throat felt dry; and felt like it was closing in on her. "Where is he now?"

Kakashi sighed. "Hopefully he's forgotten about you. He just recently took over a new host. It'll be two and a half years until he can do that again. And he already has the next one lined up."

"Who?"

He closed his eyes. "My former student, Uchiha Sasuke. He wants Sasuke's Sharingan. We've been trying to retrieve Sasuke back, but… we're having to wait on information."

Ahri hugged her knees to her chest.



"In the mean time," Kakashi blurted. She looked up to see a smile on his face. "I can train you. My other two students have taken on apprenticeships with others. For these two years, I have time to train you. If you want."

"What about my family?"

"They'll be safe if you're not there. He wants you, not them. And I will protect you with my life."

Ahri stood up. "Okay."

"Uh… Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi and Ahri turned to face Kiba and Akamaru.

"I moved Ahri's things to your apartment." Kiba glanced at Ahri's ambivalent face. "Is that okay, Ahri?"

She smiled. "Thank you, Kiba." She left the dusty house, squeezing his shoulder on the way out.

---

1 Shikyaku Henge no Jutsu: Four-Legged Beast Transformation Technique

2 Kugutsu no Jutsu: Puppet Technnique

3 Katon: Gōkaikyū no Jutsu: Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique

4 Shunshin no Jutsu: Body Flicker Techinque

5 Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho: Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms

6 Sabaku Soso: Desert Funeral

7 Suna Shigure: Sand Drizzle (Rain of Sand)