Gummibearninja- Hey welcome back to the sequel of Beyond the sand!

Now, without further ado, here's two! Awesome I made a rhyme!

Miniko-Well she haven't changed at all…anyway we don't own Naruto.

Chapter 1

Unsent Letters

In Suna, a young Shinobi enters the village alone, returning after spending most of his night training on the outskirts of the village. Though the sky was still dark, a tint of the white and yellow sun stretch across the horizon in the distance; however, he only sees the night sky.

Alone, the Shinobi walks through the Suna streets back to his house in the middle of the village. The streets are practically bare, with only a handful of the other residences are outside as well. He does not care about them. He doesn't care about anyone but himself, so he ignores them and continues on alone. He's always known himself to be alone.

Or so he thought.

Far back in the corner of his mind, he can see the image of a girl with pale-blonde hair flashes in his memories. He knows who she is, but he dares not say her name.

With a huge smile on her face, she waves at him as she calls his name, "Gaara!" and chest goes tights and his blood boils as he keeps walking through the village.

XXXXXXX

The sun is shining bright as a young girl runs through the Suna streets to the park. I can't keep Gaara waiting! She thinks and she picks up speed.

The park is crowded when she arrives and she looks around impatiently for Gaara. Then from behind, she hears, "Miniko! I'm over here!"

Miniko turns and sees her best friend standing off a bit in the distance, "Gaara!" She calls, smiling from ear to ear, "Wait there, I'm coming!" She attempts to run over to Gaara but her feet are glued to the spot. "Wha-What?" She struggles as she tries to break free but can't.

"Miniko, Miniko!" Gaara continues to call her.

"I-I can't-" Miniko tries to explain. But before she gets a chance to say anything, a desert storm appears and starts engulfing everything around her in sand: the playground, the buildings and all the other villagers in her sight.

Her body shakes as she witnesses everything happen, "What's happening?!" Miniko looks back at Gaara and notices the storm approaching him. "Gaara!" She tries to run to him but her legs wouldn't move. In a desperate panic, she tries to warn him about the storm but no words escape her lips.

The sand begins to surround her friend, "Miniko!" Gaara calls once more.

"Gaara!" She screams his name as she reaches out for him. But it is too late. The engulfs Gaara and her friend is gone.

Tears stream down her face. "Useless…I'm completely useless!"

Miniko suddenly wakes up in a cold sweat. She looks around and no longer sees Suna. She was back in her bedroom in her Uncle's apartment and outside her window, the sun was just peaking over the buildings in Konoha

"Just a dream…" Miniko said, relieved. She laid down on her bed and attempted to go back to sleep and tosses for a bit before giving up. She picks up her glasses on her nightstand before getting out of bed and walks to her desk. She opens the drawer and takes out a pen and paper and begins to write.

"Dear Gaara…" Miniko mumbled aloud as she begin to write.

XXXXXXX

It's been 4 years since Miniko's older brother Yuuri took her to Konoha to live with her uncle.

Though Miniko has made a few close friends since arriving at Konoha, she knows for a fact that no one can replace her friendship with Gaara. Miniko and Gaara met when they were only little. As kids, Gaara was quiet and kept his thoughts to himself, very different then Miniko's energetic, sociable personality. But even still, the two of them were able to find an inseparable connection.

Well that is what she thought. When Miniko left Suna, she didn't even get a chance to say good-bye to Gaara and has been missing him ever since. For the first few nights here, she couldn't even think of him without crying and her chest weighed heavy with guilt that she left him.

So she decided to write a letter for him so she could still maintain their friendship. Miniko's hands were shaking with excitement as she was put the first letter she wrote him into the mailbox. Miniko left satisfied, hoping for a quick reply.

Weeks went by and there was no response. Miniko would go check the mailbox everyday but it was always either just a letter from Yuuri or bills for her uncle, but nothing from him.

Maybe he didn't get it yet or hasn't had time to write…With that in mind, Miniko decided to try again.

Another few weeks went by, but there was still no response. Miniko grew anxious.

One more try… Miniko took a deep breath and wrote a third letter, triple checking the back to make sure it was the right address.

As she waited again, she would tug at her necklace, still wrapped around her neck that was given to her from Gaara when she was younger.

Time went on and anxiety took over. What if he was furious with her and felt he could no longer trust her? One night she was sitting at her desk, looking at a photo of her and Gaara from when they were little. Why won't he respond? Does he hate me now? Her eyes filled with tears with that fault. No, no, NO! Gaara can't be mad! He's the only one I have left in Suna! Miniko sobbed. Gaara, I'm sorry! I didn't want to leave you! Please, I just want to hear from you again!

I have to keep contacting him! Miniko told herself, so she wouldn't lose hope. So once again, Miniko got herself to write another letter. She carried it all the way to the post office and stared at the mailbox, her hands were shaking, but this time with worriedness and anxiety. In the end she walked home and threw the letter in a drawer.

Miniko finished up writing the letter and after sealing it, she stared at it for a minute, before she stuffed it into the draw with the rest of the never sent letters. It's been four years since then and Miniko still made many attempts to write to him, but her nerves took over her whenever she tried to send it and she never could.

XXXXX

A few hours later Miniko got dressed, replaced her glasses with contacts and put her long beach-blonde hair in her favorite half-ponytail style. Somethings just never change. Miniko smiled.

Outside her room, Miniko noticed a note on the table from her from her Uncle.

Miniko,

I'm sorry but Yuuri contacted me and to tell me he might have found a lead to the agency, so I left to meet him. I left you some money on top of the fridge. Make sure you use it responsibly.

Uncle Taro

P.S. Also I made an arrangement with the Hokage that I think will please you. Kakashi will give you the details.

"What is this arrangement Uncle mentioned?" Miniko wondered.

Since coming to Konoha, Miniko has been training hard to become a shinobi. Nearly every day she would go to the training field and practice her skills and strengthen her telepathy and telekinesis while her Uncle Taro and Yuuri has been working out the village, searching for the agency to save Mayu.

Mayu. Every time Miniko thought of her little sister, guilt punched her in the guts. It's always been herself the agency wanted but when they couldn't get their way, they took Mayu instead. Though her brother and uncle would tell her otherwise, she knew it was her fault Mayu was taken. That's why Miniko had to get stronger. She had to stop what she started.

XXXXXX

After breakfast Miniko did what her uncle's note said and headed to the training field to meet Kakashi.

"Miniko!" She heard someone calling her from behind, she turned and saw it was Hinata.

Miniko waved at her, stopping so she could catch up. "Hey Hinata!"

Miniko has met Hinata shortly after coming to Konoha they quickly became good friends. It was nice to have another girl close in age to talk to. Even back in Suna, unless it was her mom, the only ones she could talk to were Gaara or her brother Yuuri and well, there is just some things you don't talk about with a boy.

The two friends chatted as they walked down the street. Miniko noticed Hinata was frequently fidgeting with her fingers, a common nervous habit of hers that Miniko noticed rather quickly after they met.

"Hey Hinata…" she eventually said

"Huh! Uh-yes?"

"Is something wrong? You look nervous about something." Miniko asked

Hinata gasped. "Were you able to read that with your telepathy?" Hinata asked.

Miniko shook her head and pointed to her fingers. "Don't need my powers to read everything." she laughed. "Seriously though what's wrong? You can tell me if it helps." Miniko smiled

Hinata blushed and brought her hands back down to her side. "Well you see…we are going to be getting put on teams today…..I guess I'm just worried who I will be with…" Hinata sighed "I wish you were in the academy. Then there could be a chance we could have been on a team together."

Miniko smiled. "Yeah that would be nice."

Miniko has told people almost nothing about her history. She has told Hinata very little about her past in Suna and has mentioned nothing to her about the agency.

All Hinata knew, was that she was that she was from Suna and that she suddenly had to move in with her uncle in Konoha, while her brother was away. That was the story she stuck with. After witnessing how far the agency was willing to go to get her, she was not going to let anyone else she cares for get hurt or killed by them.

"But Hinata, don't worry about it!" Miniko started "You're very nice and hardworking! Whatever team you end up with will be lucky to have you!" Miniko said told her with confidence.

Hinata gave her a smile "Thanks Miniko. I'll tell you about everything later!"

At that point the two girls went their separate ways.

XXXXXXX

As Miniko approached the training field, she was surprised that, for once, Kakashi was already there.

"Well this is a first, Kakashi-sensei! Am I late or something?" Miniko said when she approached her teacher.

"You talk as if I'm always late. As a shinobi, it's my role to show young shinobi, as yourself, to know the importance of arriving to destinations at the exact written time." Kakashi said, not looking up from the book in his hand.

Yeah that would be true if you actually did show up on time for once…

"Anyway Miniko…" Kakashi started as he put away his book. "We won't be doing any training today."

Miniko looked puzzled, "Really? Why not?"

"Well you see now that were 12, your Uncle and I have been talking to the Hokage on some kind of arrangement and well he just recently gave us the approval to go through with it…" Kakashi walked over to her and reached for something in his Jounin vest. "Congratulations," Said, revealing a Shinobi leaf headband. "You are now an official leaf Shinobi."

Miniko was speechless, she took the head band and gazed upon it. "You serious..?" Miniko double checked.

"No I'm not, it's for a costume party. Yes, I am serious." Kakashi teased, sarcastically.

A huge smiled appeared on Miniko's face and her body jittered in excitement, her heart beat faster and faster as she tried to hold back her enthusiasm, "Ohmygosh! So this is actually happening! That means I can start doing missions and make money." Her eyes went wide and she inhaled a gasp, "I can buy so many BOOKS!" Miniko said excitedly.

She looked up at her sensei and bowed at the hip, till she nearly fell over. "Thank you so much Sensei!"

Kakashi chuckled, knowing it was probably taking all her willpower to hold back her excitement. "Well, it's really your uncle you should be thanking. It was his idea after all."

Miniko stood up and nodded, "I will thank him when he gets back!" She admired the headband. Brand new, shiny and the leaf symbol glistened in the sun. Suddenly she noticed something was off about her new head band.

"Something wrong?" Kakashi asked. "Just realized this means more responsibility?"

Miniko shook her head, "No it's just that…Well, I thought when I became a Shinobi, it would be back in Suna…" Miniko quickly looked up at him, "N-Not that there's anything wrong with the leaf village! It's just-" She stuttered, embarrassed.

Kakashi shook his head, "No need to explain, I know what you meant." He looked at her, "I haven't forgotten that you are determined to return back to Suna" His eye smiled at her. "Beside you were so excited to buy books, moments ago."

Miniko smiled and nodded, "I understand and thank you. I'll make sure to train even harder now."

"Anyway Miniko, now that you are a shinobi, it would make sense that you join a team now." Kakashi said

"A team?" Miniko repeated.

Kakashi nodded, "Yes for missions." He stood up and crossed his arm, "Fortunately I am now the instructor to one of the new Genin teams starting out today and I've been making arrangements for you to join so…"

Miniko's nodded in response, only half listening to Kakashi, but her mind was preoccupied with all this new information she was taking in. I'm now a Shinobi, life is about to get more serious! Now I'm getting teammate? Who will I be with? Maybe Hinata will be there? But she might not? They went to the academy, so there are probably going to be super skilled…I'll probably suck compared to them…Stop it Miniko, you haven't even met them yet!

"Miniko, are you even listening?" Kakashi said, snapping her out of her trans.

Miniko jumped to attention, "Absolutely!"

Kakashi sighed, "Well I have to go and meet the team for myself first anyway, so you won't be seeing them till tomorrow….That is if they pass my shinobi criteria test."

Miniko noticed a devious shine in her sensei's eyes as he said that final sentence. What was this criteria he mentioned? Sure, Miniko could figure it out and read his mind, but something told her she didn't want to know.

XXXXX

After Kakashi left, Miniko went back to the village to get some shopping done. Now that she was a Shinobi, she thought it be a good idea to buy some extra supplies and when she got back to her uncle's apartment, she spent most of day organizing it, triple checking that she got everything she needed.

I'm a Shinobi now…I'm getting teammates…The idea still didn't feel real. She fiddled with her necklace wrapped around her neck, feeling both nervous and excited about possibly meeting her new teammate tomorrow. Geez here I go telling Hinata to relax and now I'm just as fidgety as she is!

Miniko then had an idea, "That's it, I'll train! I'll train so hard that I become will be the overpowering hero who everyone loves!" Miniko grabbed her new Shinobi tool kit of her bed and attached it to her belt. "And I'll start right now!"

XXXXXXX

As Miniko got closer to the training field, she noticed something off about one of the training stumps, that that she could see from a distance. What is with the orange flag?She thought then she came to a realization Wait a second! Is that….someone tied up!? And with that she hurried to inspect it.

When she got there she saw a boy in an orange jump-suit with blonde spiky hair around her age. What happened? Why is he tied up?Miniko thought. To be on the safe side she used her telepathy to read his mind to make sure he was alright.

Ramen….I could really go for some ramen….She read

"He seems alright." Miniko said as she looked around for the knot to untie him. When she couldn't find one she began to dig through her rucksack and pulled out a kunai. She began to approach the rope and got ready to cut it. Suddenly the boy opened his eyes.

"Huh….W-Wait! What are you doing?" He spoke quickly

Miniko yelped at his sudden outburst and fell back the kunai falling to the ground.

"Are you enemy ninja!?" He continued "Cause I'm warning ya! You're dealing with Naruto Uzumaki! The next Hokage of the Hidden leaf village!"

Miniko stuttered as she tried to explain. "W-Wait! I-I'm not here to fight you! I came here to train and I saw you tied up and thought you needed help! But if this is part of your training, I'm sorry I'll go somewhere else!" Miniko began packing up anything that fell out of her bag and got up.

The boy, who addressed himself as Naruto called out to stop her. "Wait! Wait! Don't go! You got it all wrong this isn't part of any training! My team left me here after a training excersis! Please help me! I'm starving!"

Miniko stopped and turned to him she gave a quick nod and pulled out her kunai and freed the orange ball of energy.

He briefed a sigh of relief "Aw man I thought I was going to be stuck there all day." He looked at Miniko and smiled from ear to ear. "Thanks a lot! For that if you're ever in trouble, I'll be there to help!"

"Oh…no problem… uh how did you even get tied up anyway?" Miniko asked, smiling tenaciousness.

Naruto sighed "I kinda tried to sneak lunch during the time we were training and uh….I kinda ended up getting caught…"

Miniko couldn't help but giggle at his unfortunate incident, making Naruto chuckle as well.

"I still haven't had a chance to eat yet." Naruto said finally with a groan. "Hey you want to go get some lunch with me? Ya know it's thanks to you I don't have to starve!"

Miniko smiled "Sure! My name is Miniko by the way. Miniko Utama."

"Nice to meet ya! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, but you already knew that!" Naruto then quickly began walking toward the village. "Come on I'll show you my favorite place to eat!"

Miniko nodded as she followed. "Does this place have anything to do with ramen?" she asked

"Yeah how did you know?"

Miniko smiled "Uh-lucky guess."

XXXXXXX

Naruto talked the entire time on the way to Ichiraku's Ramen. Miniko listened, kind of amazed of how many topics Naruto could talk about of just simple soup and noodles.

He finally stopped talking when they reached Ichiraku's. They placed their orders and when their food was delivered, they dug into their food. Miniko has walked by this place many times, but this was the first time she has actually eating here. The ramen tasted a lot better than she thought.

"This is so good!" Miniko heard Naruto say

Miniko smiled "Yes your right this taste a lot better than I thought!"

Naruto looked at her confused "Huh I didn't say anything? I was thinking that though."

Miniko's smiled disappeared and she blushed. "Huh?! Oh-well you see…" Naruto continued to stare at her, clearly wanting an explanation. Miniko sighed "You see…I was born with this chakra condition. It gave me both telepathy and telekinesis and sometimes I can't really control it too well and I end up reading thoughts, thinking it was aloud. Sorry I really am trying to control it."

Naruto nodded. "Oh, Okay. Hey are you going to finish your bowl?" Naruto asked suddenly.

Miniko looked at him surprised before she smiled and slide over ti. "Sure."

"Alright!" Naruto beamed as he slurped down the rest of hers.

"Oh…" The two heard a sudden voice they turned to see Kakashi. "Miniko you're here and Naruto I was just about to go back and untie you."

Then what are you doing here?Miniko thought to herself

"What was taking you so long!? And if you were coming, why did you come here?!" Naruto demanded.

"What a man's got to eat, when a man's got to eat." Kakashi shrugged.

"Yeah yeah….Whatever." Naruto said in disbelief.

"Any way Miniko I came by to also tell you that the arrangements have been set and you will now be joining team 7 on doing missions and continuing your training. This knucklehead is on team 7 as well."

Naruto looked at Miniko surprised. "Really you'll be joining us on missions now?"

Miniko chuckled "I guess so."

Naruto smiled "That's great! Now we can finally have someone who can acknowledge my true strength!" Naruto said with excitement.

"Naruto you might want to stop sneaking food and actually train yourself before you go tooting your own horn." Kakashi said coldly

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Naruto argued

Miniko laughed and getting a good feeling about joining this new team.

XXXXXXX

It was evening when Miniko finally got home. She sighed happily, now excited for tomorrow. She went to the mirror, to begin getting herself ready for bed then she saw her necklace dangling in the reflection. She sighed as she squeezed it in her hand.

Gaara…..I'm happy for myself but I can't help but keep worrying about you….I really wish things could have stayed as how they were or the very least you be here with me. Naruto can be kind of loud but I think you would have gotten along in the end….Gaara….I hope everything is going alright for you…

Meanwhile in Suna

Mayu, now 8 years old, rushed down the streets of Suna

"Where is he?" Mayu said to herself as she looked around. She finally saw him about a hundred yards away Mayu took a deep breath as she approached him.

"Hey-uh-Gaara!" Mayu called to him her heart beating fast as she kept a slight distance from him. He turned and looked at her with a glare in his eyes. Mayu took another deep breath as she continued "You see- I heard that you and your siblings were entering the Chunin exams and their taking place in the leaf village and I was wondering if I could just tag along with guys."

"Why are you asking me?" Gaara responded

Mayu shuddered. "Well-uh- Is just that I feel if I asked your siblings or Baki, they would have said no for sure, so I thought I could ask you and also because you were good friends with my sister-" Gaara's glare intensified as Mayu mentioned her sister. She jumped back.

Gaara crossed his arms and turned from her, "I don't care what you do, but you better not get in the way."

With that said, Gaara walked off. He could hear Shukaku chuckling.

"You seem calm no-brows, knowing that blondie is going to be there. Ya sure this isn't some façade to look tough?

"Don't be stupid." Gaara responded "That girl means nothing to me after all."

The Shukaku laughed diabolically. "Well you better not disappoint me!"

"Of course not…."