AN: Hey all, this is my first story on here but definitely not my first story I've written. This story has been ongoing for about four years now and is under it's 5th revision. A few years ago I met Yume and we discovered through odd occurrences that our oc's were cousins, which lead to another revision. So, without further adieu, here is our stories and how two cousins learn to live, love and put together the missing pieces.

Also, I don't own Naruto, nor do I clam to, I only own my oc's and Yume owns hers.

Suna was in a state of panic.

That much was apparent as my sister Sophia and I walked into the village. "Whadda ya think happened?" I asked, glancing out of the corner of my eye at her. The stares we normally got as we went anywhere were also absent, another indicator of catastrophe. Then again, considering out appearances, the stares were to be expected; my sister's long black dress of a style that was foreign to the ninja world and my dark attire that had hints of the same alien fashion as my sibling. The one indicator that I belonged was my leaf headband, attached to a black bandana that held back my long blonde hair.

"Dunno." She replied, the sun glaring off her glasses as she looked around. "Hey, is that…"

"Yeah, come on." I said, hitching the strap of my bag up on my shoulder as we jogged to catch up to a group of people who were obviously in a hurry. "Temari!" I called, hoping they would slow down. Sure enough, she stopped and turned, smiling slightly when she saw us. "You mind telling me what's going on?" I asked as we hugged quickly.

"Gaara's gone, and Kankuro's in bad shape, I'll fill you in once we get there, come on." She told me, her face filled with worry and haste as she grabbed my hand and pulled me along.

We were trailing behind a trio from Konoha, a girl with pink hair, a man with silver hair and a mask, and a figure from my childhood who I could never forget in all the years I was gone. We raced into the small hospital and up to a room where a few people were surrounding a table on which Kankuro was spread out. His shirt was removed to reveal bandages covering his chest and stomach. Temari and I raced to the bed as the pink-haired girl threw her bag off and was close on our heels. An old lady suddenly jumped at the man in the mask faster than I thought she would be able to move. The boy with us, the one that lingered in my memories and dreams, sprang into action, shielding the man and blocking all of the lady's attacks.

"Why are you attacking Kakashi-sensei? You shriveled up prune!" He exclaimed as we all paused in shock. I mentally laughed 'Huh, that's something I would've said.' I thought.

"That day, how dare you!" she hissed "Despicable White Fang of Konoha! Finally, today… I shall collect vengeance for my son!"

"Oh! No, wait! I'm not…" The man started to defend himself but the lady cut him off yelling

"Silence!" She began to charge at him again but the old man that was with her stepped in front of her, stopping her with his arm.

"Look closely sis… he looks like him but that's not White Fang." He told her. A look of realization dawned on the lady's face and she said

"Oh well, never mind." As she laughed to herself.

Sophia quietly glided over to stand near Temari and I at the foot of the bed Kankuro was on as the pink-haired girl said, "Now can we all just focus on Kankuro?"

"Please!" Temari added, looking at her brother in concern. I looked at his face, covered in a sheen of sweat and screwed up in pain. Along with his shirt, someone had removed the makeup he always wore, making him look so much younger, more like the face I knew from my childhood.

"So what happened?" I murmured to Temari, glancing over my shoulder at the man who I recognized as Temari, Gaara and Kankuro's sensei; Baki if I remember right.

"Gaara's been kidnapped." She started, keeping her voice quiet as the girl leaned near Kankuro and placed her hands a few centimeters from his chest. My eyes widened and I heard Sophia gasp quietly behind me. Temari's voice was tense as she continued, "He was taken by a group called 'Akatsuki' and Kankuro went after him but he was wounded by a poisoned weapon. If what Sakura's doing doesn't work, they say he has a day left at most." She said quietly, her voice breaking.

Swallowing the lump that had formed in my throat, I went over to her and put my arms around her. She put one arm around my shoulders and we both watched as the girl whose name I now knew focused her chakra into her hands. They began to glow blue, an indicator of medical ninjutsu. Slowly Sakura began to accumulate strange colored orbs of fluid which hovered in the cloud of blue between her hand and Kankuro.

She stood, sighing in relief as she deposited the orb into a small bowl next to the bed. "Good." She murmured as she wiped some sweat from her face. "I've removed most of the poison. So there's no more immediate danger." Temari sighed in relief from where she had wandered to the head of the bed and leaned against the wall. She sank to the floor with her hand over her heart. "But we're not completely out of the woods yet. I still need to neutralize the minute toxins…"

I tuned her out and went over to Temari, with Sophia following me like a shadow. I sat next to Temari and laid my head on her shoulder. "He's ok." I murmured with a sigh.

"Yeah." Temari said as she rested her cheek against the top of my head. She looked up at Sophia and asked "Where are you two staying?"

"We don't know just yet." She replied quietly, a foreign accent laced in her tone.

"We still have to find Gaara though." I pointed out. As if echoing my thoughts we all looked up as someone exclaimed

"All right! But we can't rest too long! We have to go after the Akatsuki NOW!" I rolled my eyes at the orange-clad boy's outburst. He was still the crazy kid that I fell in love with. 'Wait, what?' I thought, then paused 'Do I really love him?' I wondered.

While Sakura went to go work on an antidote for the rest of the poison, I stayed where I was, dozing on Temari's shoulder. I could tell Sophia was nearby, standing around awkwardly being that she was still not exactly comfortable with the Shinobi in the room. I caught snippets of the conversations; names, and words that formed no coherent sentences. The voices blended into a soft murmur as images began to form in front of my eyes when I was jerked back into reality as Temari sprang up from next to me.

"Kankuro, are you all right?" she asked. I opened my eyes to see her next to the bed, helping him sit up.

"Yeah, I fell a little better." He replied, looking around groggily. I stood and Sophia and I walked over to the bed as well.

"Kankuro." I said with a smile, sitting on the edge of the bed. His eyes met mine and he murmured

"Star… Sophia…"

"Yeah. Hey." I replied, leaning forward and gently giving him a hug. His arm went around my waist for a second before he pulled away, indicating he had had enough affection for the time being. He looked to the foot of the bed and murmured 'Uzumaki… Naruto…' under his breath.

"Hey." Naruto replied with a grin.

"Kankuro, are you sure one of them was Sasori?" The old lady asked.

"Granny Chiyo and Grampa Ebizo?" Kankuro asked in shock

"Is it true Kankuro?" Ebizo asked.

"Yeah." Kankuro replied after a pause "He called himself 'Sasori of the Red Sand'."

"Sasori of the Red Sand?" Kakashi repeated. "You know more about the Akatsuki, tell me."

I didn't really follow their conversation, as it was filled with a bunch of names I didn't know but soon Sakura returned with a teapot. She poured some of the liquid into a cup and gave it to Kankuro to drink, telling him to drink it all. Apparently it tasted horrible because he was practically gagging the whole time he was drinking it.

"That should do it." Sakura said "Now he just needs to stay still until the numbness wears off. Lie down and take it easy."

"C'mon! Let's get out of here!" Naruto exclaimed, pulling on his bag impatiently. I could tell he was eager to find Gaara and I wondered what connection they had. He handed Sakura her bag and they all began readying themselves to leave. I went into my bag and got out a smaller messenger bag which my parents had gotten me for missions. It was stocked with everything I would need for at least a week, from weapons to survival items. I slipped the small bag over my head and handed my big bag to Sophia.

"I'm gonna go with them, you head back to Konoha, alright?"

"Alright." She replied, taking my bag as well as hers. She went over to Kankuro and Temari and gave them both hugs before murmuring quick goodbyes, aware of the fact that we were in a hurry. She called over her shoulder "Keep me updated." Before leaving.

"Who was that?" Sakura asked apparently only now taking notice of my sister and I.

"Sophia." Temari replied "And this is Star." She said, gesturing towards me. I waved and smiled slightly.

"Hey." I said in a bored voice. "I'm coming with you guys to find Gaara." I told them, not asking permission.

"What? You can't do that!" Sakura exclaimed angrily, I could tell we weren't going to see eye-to-eye.

"It's ok Sakura, she's a leaf Nin." Naruto said, glancing at me quickly before turning to Kakashi "Right Kakashi-sensei?"

"I don't have any problems with it." He said with a shrug. "She is a leaf Shinobi after all and besides, I have the feeling she has an ulterior motive that I don't think we'd be able to change her mind about." He continued, staring at me with his exposed eye. I grinned,

"All right, you've got me." I admitted. "I really do want to help though, I can be an asset to you all in many ways; and besides, I can't just sit around doing nothing while my cousin is missing."

I smiled at the many looks of shock I got from the peanut gallery and chuckled softly as Kankuro looked at his sister and asked, "You didn't tell them did you?"

"No, I was more worried about you baka!" She snapped then turned to the others. "But yeah, Star's our cousin. She lived with us for about a year when we were younger because her parents had so many missions right after each other."

"Yup." I said, popping the 'p' as I looked at them. Naruto recovered the fastest; although I'm not sure if Kakashi had been fazed at all.

"How come you never mentioned it to me?" He asked playfully, looking me straight in the eyes for the first time since I had arrived. I could almost read his emotions in his eyes; friendship, comfort, hurt, anger, and… love?

"Don't start." I snapped, reverting back to my 'I-do-what-I-want-and-if-you-don't-like-it-you-can-go-sit-on-the-end-of-a-sharpened-pencil" attitude. "I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now." I snapped, though inside I felt bad about being cross with him.

"It's not my fault you lef—" Naruto started to say but Kakashi cut him off, stepping in between us.

"That's enough." He told us with a stern look. "You two need to put your personal issues aside, now. We have to find Gaara."

"Yeah." Naruto muttered, a look of cold indifference coming across his features as I glared at him. Kankuro chose this moment to speak up.

"Naruto." He said softly, "Please, save my brother."

"Of course!" Naruto replied with a grin "I'm gonna be the Hokage someday, for now the Kazekage can just owe me one!"

We were making our way towards the gate to leave for the Land of Rivers, where Gaara was allegedly being held by the Akatsuki. There was a tense silence between Naruto and I, which was broken when a voice behind us called "Wait for us; we'll be your backup!" We turned to find Temari and Baki hurrying to catch up to us.

"You will?" Kakashi asked in surprise.

"We'll go." Temari said, a look of fierce determination on her face. I grinned at her, glad my cousin was going to be with me. Just then, a voice from above us called

"Temari! You stay to aid border security!" Temari and Baki started to protest but Granny Chiyo jumped off the rooftop and landed in front of us with a 'thump'. My grin vanished; there went my hopes of being with Temari on the mission.

"Don't treat me like a fossil!" She scolded them, and then turned to us with a grin. My smile came back slightly; maybe this old lady would be pretty cool to have with us after all.

Hope you liked the first leg of the trip! I'll update once I get more edited which should be soon because Yume's gonna kill me if I don't. Please R&R!

Love ya!

~Star