Anya was running. She didn't know how far or for how long, only why. All she knew was that she had to go to someplace called Konaha and find someone named Hatake Kakashi.

Flashback

She was picking some flowers in a small field right outside her humble village when her best and only friend, Sasha, ran up, her sleek black cat, Mika following behind her.

"Anya, come quickly! Your mother is in the hospital, and she has requested your presence!" Sasha was right to panic; the headwoman being in the hospital was an urgent matter, for if she died, the village would be without a leader. In her village, it was the headwoman who led the village while the headman took the backseat, so to speak.

"NO!" Anya started running to the hospital, pushing past people without so much as a sorry to the people she pushed. She got to her mother's room and, seeing her mom covered in blood and with bruises all over her body, began to panic. "Mom, what happened to you?" She asked, trying to figure out something to do to help her mother. "Hush, Child and let me tell you a thing." Serena, for that was her name, admonished. As Anya quieted, she said, "Good, now listen.

"Your father did this to me. He has rejoined a group called the Akatsuki. To reassure them that his motive were sincere, he was ordered to kill me. Thinking that the wound he gave me was fatal, he fled. I need you to flee from the Akatsuki by going to Konaha. While you are there, ask for someone named Hatake Kakashi." Serena took a scroll from under the pillow. It was sealed by a weird mark. She also had a pouch of kunai and senbon. She gave both to Anya. "Tell him this, 'It is time,' then hand him the scroll. Don't lose that scroll, whatever you may do. It is very mandatory that he get it… Now, I need you to promise me something. 1. That you will stay away from the Akatsuki at all costs. And 2. That if you do meet the Akatsuki, you will kill yourself directly after destroying the scroll if you have not gotten to Konaha by then. I need you to promise me, my daughter."

"I promise you these things, my mother." Anya replied, tears in her eyes.

"Then go, my child. Run and don't turn back, for he is watching. Always watching."

"Goodbye, mother." She said, before running out of the hospital and into the desert beyond, after a quick stop at her house for supplies, mainly food and water.

End flashback

The pack was considerably lighter now and the desert had not diminished a bit. If anything, it got worse. So far, she'd been skirting every village, but soon she would have to stop to restock her supplies.

A few days later she saw the walls of a village. She started running, urgent to get there before the gates closed. Alas, it was not to be. She got there just as the gates closed. She came to a complete stop in front of the gate. Her body caught up to her and as she fainted, she said to the guards there, "Help me… Kakashi… message…" and she fell into the black oblivion of sleep.

Gaara was in his office doing some paper work. In his opinion, "some" was an understatement. Some days, there was so much paperwork that he was seen in his office at all hours of the night. He was looking over a particularly long mission report when someone interrupted him. It was his annoying older brother, Kankuro. "Gaara! A chick fainted outside the village walls. She said something about Kakashi and a message. What should we do with her?"

He sighed. –Great, more work for me…- He thought to himself. Aloud, he said, "Take her to the hospital and keep me informed of her condition. "And Kankuro, I don't want you hitting on this chick like you did to the last one."

"Ughh." Anya woke up, eyes heavy with fatigue as she looked around, confirming that she was in a hospital. She remembered the mission her mom had sent her on and started getting up. She felt something on her chest. Looking down, she saw that she was clutching her bag to her chest. "So you're awake, now?" Said a voice, "It's about time. You have been in this hospital for two weeks, you know." Anya found the source of the voice. It came from a male partially obscured by the shadows of one of the corners, but stepped forward when she looked in his direction. He was about 6'2" with red hair, dark black circles around his eyes, and the kanji for love above where his left eyebrow would be, if he had any.

"Hi. Where am I?" She asked timidly.

"You are in my village, Sunagakure, and I want to know why. Who are you? What is your name?" He asked.

"My name is Anya. I can't tell you anything more, except that my destination is Konaha, to find someone called Hatake Kakashi and give him a scroll from my mother."

"How do I know that you are who you say you are?" He asked angrily, "You could be someone sent to kill the Hokage, or me for that matter."

"How do I know I can trust you with information about me? As any good shinobi knows, information can easily lead to power. Who are YOU? Answer that question and I will answer yours." She said, figuring that he was the quickest way to get to this Konaha place.

"I'm surprised you haven't heard of me. Are you sure you don't know who I am?" He asked half jokingly, pointing to his tattoo.

"Nope, never heard of ya." She said, not getting the reference to the tattoo.

"Well, for starters, I am Subaku no Gaara, Godaime Kazekage of Suna. My main attack and defense is my sand, which I am able to control because of a demon that was inserted in me while I was in the womb." He said, surprised. "Now tell me your story." He demanded.

"… Fine, I guess I did make a deal with you…" She grumbled. "lets see… Okay, my mother, Serena Arishima was wounded by my father Ottori Arishima on good faith to this group by the name of Akatsuki," He paled and stiffened visibly at the name but she went on anyway, ignoring him. "My mother, the headwoman of my village, gave me a scroll sealed by this weird mark to give to a man by the name of Hatake Kakashi along with the words, 'It is time'. After a quick stop at my house for food and water, I started off in a random direction, hoping it was correct. And here I am." She finished.

"Let me see the scroll." He demanded, holding out his hand.

"I can't. I promised my mom that I would only give it to Kakashi and no one else." She said, holding her bag tighter to her chest. Unfortunately for her, Gaara sent some of his sand to get the scroll without her noticing, she was so focused on him. She only noticed that she didn't have it when she saw his sand return to him with the scroll in tow. Gaara reached out and grasped the scroll, looking at the seal, then back up at her in surprise.

"This is your mother's handwriting, is it not?" He asked pointing to a spot on the outside of the unopened scroll. She looked at the spot and confirmed that it was. "Follow me. I need to go to the tower, immediately." He said. He'd almost disappeared in his sand teleportation jutsu but, taking one glance at her, thought better of it and strode out of the room. She followed him carefully, willing herself to not get lost in the big throng of people.

They made it to his office without any incident and he sat on his desk, picking up and reading a file. "You see, your mother was once a Suna woman. On a mission, she ended up being kidnapped by the Akatsuki. We had no word on whether she escaped or not. I need to know how you came to bee here and anything else you deem important for the sake of the realm." He said, sighing.

"Well, my mother told me a story, but not where it came from or whose story it was. I think it may help you. In the story, I will make up names so that it is easier to follow, for it was told without them. Here's how it goes,

"Once there was a young girl, about fifteen years of age. She had flowing, deep-purple hair that was waist length. She lived in a village that was so hot, that rain would never visit there, not even at night, where it was so cold, it could freeze the blood in the body. The girl, I shall call her Rose, would go outside the gates at the deepest of nights, for she was impervious to cold, and let some friends into the village. One day, Rose went on a mission to lead an important man back to his village. It was such an easy task, that she was allowed to do it alone, so off they went. Four days later, they were halfway to the village when one of her friends, I shall call him Thorn, asked her to join his new group. She told him that she had a mission and that she would give her answer to him when she finished. He left, and three days later, she was able to drop off the man at his village and get back to the spot where he'd asked her that life-changing question. He came and she told him that she'd join. Two years later, for all they'd done in those two years was recruiting new members, she found out what the group was about and she tried to leave, but they wouldn't let her. They said that if she tried to leave again, they would kill her. As it was, Rose was watched wherever she went. Finally, there came the day when she wasn't being watched so she took the chance to send a message to one of her best friends. He got her out of there and they married. Then the two moved to a very small town, where they would not be found, for it was off the maps of all but those who lived there or were born there, for she told me, only those who lived in there or was born in there could see where it was." Said Anya. "Now here's why I think it relates. 1. My mother has purple hair. I have seen it peeking out whenever she goes to re-dye it. 2. My mom told me that my father rejoined the Akatsuki. He can't rejoin unless he'd already been part of the Akatsuki before. And 3. I already knew that my mother came from Suna. I just never asked why she left. Nor did she clarify. So, unless my reasoning is faulty, my mom has to be the woman in the story."