Ratings:

It had been nearly four years since she was old enough to train, and now she is nearly 13 of age, having trained for almost five years. It may seem a bit extreme, but it was necessary for her to become stronger. Kago taught her everything from mastering her blocking and attacks, to using her ninjutsus and taijutsus, to being able to use anything as a weapon, to learning basic survival skills, and finally to healing. Murusaki discovered she had a natural healing talent; she just needed to improve on those skills and stretch their limits. She was able to heal minor things with a special chakra, and there were two ways to create that chakra; however, she only discovered the first way and that was using it as a jutsu.

Panting heavily, she held her hands up, balled into fists. Beads of sweat streaked her face, now more mature looking, and a few strands of her violet bangs stuck to it. Her hair now parted from the middle of her forehead, the left side much more curved and shaped to her face, and the right much more straight and jagged. Only a small tuff of hair on top, sticking out to the left, was set apart from her smooth hair, now slightly wet from perspiration. Soft pants left her parted lips, her chest heaving up and down in a smooth rhythm. Her stance, legs spread at shoulder length, told that she was ready for anything.

Just as she took a deep breath, Kago attacked her, sending a fist aimed at her face at high speeds. Murusaki's eyes grew wide as she quickly ducked down, holding her arms up in a crossed shape to defend her face as his other fist came flying down on the joining point of her wrists. With a small cackle, Kago quickly used his leg to sweep her to the side, knocking her completely off her balance and sending her skidding down on the ground. As she rolled a bit before finally coming to a stop, she felt new pain in her left knee and elbow. No thanks to her new outfit; a deep blue tube top with glowing aqua designs on the sides, a sleeveless, thin that stopped at her belly button, and matching blue spandex shorts under a long cloth that covers the back and front, very familiar to Sakura's. Kago explained that it would help her move more freely, and perhaps bring out some of her outgoing nature. Ever since she was brought to the Hidden Sand, the only people she ever spoke to were Kago, Temari, Kankuro, and often Gaara. Kago made it a secret mission to break that shy streak, and make her able to speak with anyone. It would only help her in the long run.

Back to the situation, Kago watched as Murusaki struggled, pushing herself up with her arm as she layed on her side, propping up on one elbow. "Make sure you keep your feet firm to the ground," Kago smiled, walking over and helping her to her feet. "You're done for today. Go get cleaned up," he told her with that fatherly smile. Returning his soft smile, she walked back into that old shack she'd been in for almost 9 years. She quickly jumped in the shower, scrubbed off the blood and healed the scabs, and washed her body from the sweat and sand. When she was done, she got in a clean pair of her attire. Kago had a ready supply, and he made daily trips to the cleaners for her every other day. After she was ready, she waved goodbye to Kago and made her way to a ritual stop; the Sand Sibling's house.

She never needed to knock, Temari assured her to just walk in. Nearly every day Murusaki had come by to visit the siblings, and often times she would stay the night with them, especially now that Temari was getting a bit older.

"Murusaki!" Temari exclaimed, quickly pulling the surprised girl into her bedroom. "I have the cutest outfit for you to wear!" she began, pulling out a few shirts and skirts. "And yesterday I got some new makeup for us to try," she went on without paying much attention to anything.

"Um, I just took a shower, and I don't think Kago would like it if I wore makeup," she told the hyper blonde. Temari gave her a teasing look.

"That old man probably has more makeup on his face after he gets out of the bar then I'll ever put on you," she joked, tossing a frilly skirt and tight tank top onto the bed for Murusaki while she picked out her own. "Now hurry and change," she urged, turning to face away from her as they both quickly changed. It wasn't long before they were doing each other's makeup and hair. Temari used the excuse that she needed to find something to wear to their annual festival that was coming up. Last year Murusaki was ditched by Temari and Gaara, leaving her with Kankuro for most of the night.

"So, you're 13 now?" Temari asked, giving Murusaki a strange look. She nodded hesitantly. "Kankuro will be turning 14 before too long ya know," she smirked, causing Murusaki to blush a little. "That means you two can dance at the festival!" she cheered.

Murusaki gave her an odd look. "But what makes you think he'll want to dance with me?" she asked, her eyebrows knitting together softly. Something in Temari's eyes gleamed. In her mind, she remembered the moment after Murusaki left, she spoke with Kankuro about dancing with her, and Kankuro asked the exact same question.

"I think he will, after he sees you in that super cute outfit!" she smiled proudly. "You'll be irresistible," she grinned, "in fact, we might have to have Kankuro there to make sure other guys don't try anything."

"I'm only 13," Murusaki reassured her.

"Yeah, 13 and a master of martial arts," Temari joked, folding her arms over her chest while raising a single eyebrow. "I've seen you train, and you train better than our teacher," she commented with a grim smile. Temari knew of her skills, and she was no amateur; though, she had been training for almost ten years.

Murusaki shook her head, "I'll never be that good," she assured. Standing up, Murusaki stretched her arms a bit, standing to look in front of a mirror. Her head turned to look at the door as it slowly opened to reveal Kankuro, his eyes suddenly growing wide.

"Kankuro, perfect timing," Temari grinned, pulling him into the room forcibly. Kankuro was a bit surprised, looking over to Murusaki, where Temari stopped in front of her. "Tell me, what do you think?" she asked her brother.

Over the years, Kankuro had somewhat gotten over his shy state with maturity. A grin crossed his lips. "Skirt's not short enough," he commented, looking over Murusaki's features, noticing how well that small outfit she wore on a daily basis helped her skin become a little smoother color as she tanned under the sun. "And I would put some kind of jacket over that tank top, she'll probably get cold since the festival's at night this year." Temari spent the next few moments searching for a thin white jacket, and it went quite well with her top. It had an elegant look to it, and seemed to be made of a soft wool-like fabric. Kankuro gave his silent approval with a nod before smiling and leaving the room quietly.

After their little fashion planning, things returned to their usual goings; Temari and Murusaki would prank Kankuro, he'd try and get back at them but never return their "favor", Gaara ignoring everyone, and then it was time for bed. Temari and Murusaki stayed up a little later than usual in Temari's rather large bed, talking about guys and things they wanted to do during the festival. Murusaki explained how she didn't want to be alone with Kankuro again, even though she enjoyed it, yet Temari did not listen to her requests, for in her mind she was thinking of all the excuses to do what Murusaki did not want to.

Kankuro lay awake in his own bed, thinking of the festival coming up soon; would he be with Murusaki again? Or would he lose her in the crowd, or even more likely, have Temari whisk here away to meet some charming man? No, he couldn't think like that, he cared too much for her safety to let something like that happen to her, after being friends with her for so long. He truly wanted to get to know her better, and be more than just a friend to her. His thoughts beginning to grow slower, his eyes grew heavy before closing, finally falling into his deep sleep.

In the morning, Murusaki woke up long before Temari, and quickly got back into her normal clothes, she usually borrows Temari's extra pajamas, and fixing her hair. Afterwards, she left the blonde's room and walked towards the door; however, she was stopped dead in her tracks by a hand on her shoulder. Quickly turning around, she relaxed when she was it was only Kankuro.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked with a smug grin. Murusaki knew this grin and was becoming quite familiar with it.

"I was heading back home, Kago is probably looking for me," she explained. For some reason he had been getting more and more persistent about her training every day and being on time for it.

"Why not stay for a while? Have some breakfast before you leave," he insisted, leading her back towards the living room, sitting her down on the couch. "Here, I'll go make some," he have a genuine smile. He was always a good cook, and Murusaki decided some breakfast could only be for the better. While he cooked, she looked around the house at all the things she had seen before, only to look a little closer to the small details. She admired how the walls seemed to be engraved lightly with a beautiful design, even though it was still made of sand. Of all her years in the Hidden Sand, the only house that wasn't made of sand was the small, worn down shack Kago and her shared; it was made of wood, and a very old kind at that.

"So, are you going to the Genin Exams?" Kankuro asked from the kitchen, well, more like yelled. Not wanting to shout back and wake the others, she walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table, thinking about his question.

"Genin Exams?" she asked, never having heard of such a thing. Kago once said she was training for something big, could that be what he was talking about? Or was it something bigger?

"Yeah, Gaara, Temari, and I are all going to enter them," he explained, finishing up the cooked eggs, meat, and toast. He then set a plate for each of them, full of the aroma-filled breakfast. "All ninja do it at some point in time. And ours will be before the festival." At the sound of this, Murusaki felt a little more secure about these exams, if everyone else did them.

"I see," she began, "so they must be pretty easy," she concluded, and Kankuro gave a scrunched, half smile face.

"Well, it depends on how strong you are," he explained, his expression quickly melting into a happy one with gleaming eyes. "And I'm gonna pass it, no sweat," he emphasized by sweeping a proud hand in front of him; he always was so confident. Murusaki couldn't help but smile to him, glad that he could be so assured of his skills, it was a gift to possess.

"I hope you do well," she smiled gently to him, her eyes softening. It was true, she was starting to hold a spot for him in her small, fragile heart; though, that occupation wasn't big enough to consumer her entire being. Yet.

Then, Temari tiredly shuffled into the room, tiredly rubbing an eye, her blonde strands in a tangled, ratty mess, her bag slouched forward quite heavily for her normal posture. Kankuro saw her, his face starting to grow a little flushed as he switched his weight from one foot to the other uncomfortably; once again showing herself when he was alone with Murusaki. Temari's tired, drooping eyes shifted from Murusaki to Kankuro at a slow rate. A small grin peeled on her lips as she connected the dots.

"Well, I should probably be going," Murusaki quickly stood up, her plate cleaned. She then turned to Kankuro, bowing slightly before giving him a reassuring smile. "Thank you so much for the breakfast," she told him, turning back to the grinning blonde, "and thank you for inviting me. It was truly fun." With that, she turned on her heel and walked to the door. Behind her, she could hear Temari and Kankuro giving their goodbyes before beginning a casual conversation.

She was nearly to her home, running at a casual pace to improve her breathing; however, she noticed that the door to the small wooden shack was cracked open enough for an animal to crawl through. Quickening her pace, she abruptly stopped in front of the door, her hand on the handle. Something didn't feel right. Slowly, she opened the door, cringing at the ear-splitting shriek it released as she did. She might as well just have busted through the door and began screaming to give away her position.

When the door was completely opened, she looked inside to see nothing out of the ordinary, other than it was a bit darker than normal. Quietly, she stepped into the room, moving to the side that had the cough, where she stopped at the foot of the leather couch. Her eyes scanned, her heart raced, her breathing quickened. There was a sudden movement to her side, and she quickly turned to see Kago standing before her, leaning against the couch.

"Hey, squirt. You ready for those exams?" he chuckled, his voice as scraggy as his beard. He always had a fairly deep voice, but one that still showed fondness and gentle feelings.

"I hope I am," she returned. "And I hope I will be back in time for the festival," she added. Kago simply stood straight, rolling his eyes a bit as he turned to the door.

"You will, don't worry. Geez, women and their needs," he shook his head a bit as he stepped into the blistering sunlight, Murusaki following him.

"Now, how do we get to the exams?" Murusaki asked him. He looked down at her, running his fingers though his hair in a tired fashion.

"You'll just have to follow," he grinned. Immediately, he broke into a dead run down to the gates of the Hidden Sand. Shouting a profanity at the old trickster, Murusaki quickly followed him, not knowing what to expect.