"Kazekage, we have a situation."
Gaara finished reading over the report, then lifted his head. A look of surprise flitted across his face, but was quickly suppressed. "What is it?"
If the situation had been better, Baki would have smiled. 'Taking him by surprise is an accomplishment in its own right.' "We have a problem on our northern border."
"What happened?"
Baki frowned. "Our night patrol never came back."
Gaara looked at him steadily. "Send a team of ANBU to investigate."
"A team of four was already sent on an intercept." Baki smiled sourly. "Only one returned. He said the rest of his team was taken out by a single ninja."
Gaara's eyes sharpened. He nodded for Baki to continue.
"He said the only reason he had been sent back was to deliver a message. 'Tell the Kazekage to come. I will only speak to him.' Baki looked up as Gaara stood.
"You will take me there."
Baki smiled. "Give me five minutes to assemble a team."
…
The desert wind was hot and high. The group of ninjas stood a hundred yards back from the edge of the northern forest. Among them were Gaara's siblings, Temari and Kankuro, who had insisted on coming against his command. There was also Baki and Matsuri, as well as four ANBU Black Ops. All attention was on the sight at the edge of the forest.
A single ninja sat in the midst of a group of bodies. A woman. She was clothed in dark grey, from the short, T-back shirt to the above knee pants she wore. She had black wrapping from the hem of her shirt to the top of her pants, as well as from her pants to mid shin. She also had a plain black band across her upper arms. She sat as if in meditation, an ANBU mask covering her face. It had no village markings. The ground around her was pooled with blood.
Gaara stepped forward. "What do you want?"
The woman stood. As she started toward the Kazekage, Baki barked orders to his men.
Two of the four ANBU ran forward to intercept her. Even as they approached, the woman never hesitated in her slow, slightly unsteady walk towards the Kazekage. As the first ANBU reached her, he made a grab for her, attempting to hold her where she was. The woman reacted with lightning speed, avoiding his hand and grasping his head with her own. She spun, delivered a swift kick, and the first ANBU dropped. As she turned, the second ANBU was already throwing stars. She dodged these liquidly, gracefully, always moving forward. She then pulled a single wakizashi* from a sheath on her back. She slid down onto her knees as she passed the second ANBU, slashing through the tendons in her ankles. The ANBU collapsed. The woman resheathed her blade and continued to walk towards Gaara.
"Stop." Gaara looked at Baki, a dangerous look in his eye. "I will handle this." He stepped forward.
As the woman drew near him, she staggered. While she righted herself, Temari whispered to Baki, "Look how she's bleeding. It's amazing she's able to walk at all." It was true. Since she had started her walk towards the group, she had been leaving a rather large trail of blood. Baki's eyes widened. To be able to move with such grievous wounds, much less fight off two ANBU, required amazing skill and strength of will. 'What does she want from him?'
The woman stopped five feet from Gaara. She reached her arm up, as if to draw her sword. As her hand reached behind her, a series of stars flew from the group behind Gaara. The woman spun around, ducking towards the ground. As she stood up, she held a single star in her hand.
Gaara spoke without turning around. "Matsuri."
Matsuri stepped forward next to Gaara. "She's trying to kill you, Gaara. It's our sworn job to protect.."
Gaara interrupted her. "It is your job to follow my orders. Step back, Matsuri."
Matsuri glowered for a moment, then stepped back with the others.
Gaara spoke again to the woman. "What do you want?"
The woman stood silent for a moment. Her clothes were stained and dark in places, especially her left side, where the blood visibly flowed. Then, once again, she lifted her hand upward. She put her hand to the back of her head and pulled. A long spill of white hair flowed down her back. Then she pulled the mask from her face and let it fall to the ground.
Gaara froze. He couldn't seem to catch his breath. 'It can't be her…'
Temari also seemed frozen in place. 'Yabe*, we thought she was dead.'
As she tried to walk forward, the girl collapsed. Gaara reached forward and caught her. He turned her so she could look at him. As she reached up to touch his face, she smiled. "Gaara…."
As she passed out in his arms, he pushed the long, sideways bangs out of her face.
"Maya."