Author's notes: I don't own Naruto

Here's the next chapter, I suppose the story will take shape slowly and gradually. Read and review. Thank you :)

CHAPTER 2

Sasuke looked out his window, a rare occurrence for the cold avenger. He could see a mansion equally big standing beside his own house. And surprisingly, it was as silent as his own house too. But the aura was still different, it wasn't as cold or lifeless. You could tell there was life in that house, vaguely there but still it was there. It wasn't as dark as well, there wasn't a sense of haunting screams or touch of the dead like the house he lived in represented. Yet he had caught the person living in that house breaking down and running away from that house.

Shuffling his wet hair with the towel, Sasuke walked away from the window, there was no point staring at a house. It was a stupid thing to do anyway. The sun was not up yet, but it was on its way as the blues of the sky began to merge with oranges and reds. He waited a while not wanting to go out in complete darkness. He didn't remember the last time he ever had breakfast, heck he didn't remember the last time he ever cooked. The kitchen was practically brand new and untouched.

Having nothing better to do, he sat by his window with a scroll in his hands, studying it for the fourth time. He had it on his finger tips by now. Unconsciously, the avenger had once again chosen the window to sit beside. Studying the scroll, his ears became alerted on a sound, he wasn't sure but he paid close attention. It could possibly be an enemy, his brows slightly frowned due to concentrating, Sasuke kept his eyes on the scroll, and his mind on the sound. At first it didn't make any sense at all. His house was usually silent as a grave, unless there was an enemy lurking around.

"what in the hell…?" he whispered, recognizing the sound as footsteps. Yes, it could be an enemy.

He drifted his eyes to look out the window but to his surprise it was no enemy but a girl. It was just Kiko sure no big deal in that. No big deal when you're used to living with a bunch of people always surrounding you. But what about Uchiha Sasuke? Who had lived his entire life with no one but his shadow, sometimes even his shadow seemed quite interfering. Great now he'd have to put up with a neighbor too.

He also noticed for the first time that Kiko's house had huge windows, and most of them were open. He could practically see all the rooms inside. But she was in the kitchen, he could see from the window, the kitchen was on the ground floor so she didn't notice him since he himself was in his room on the first floor.

What's she doing in the kitchen?

It caught his attention when she took a jar out of a cabinet and started slicing what looked like potatoes. Soon she had something delicious boiling on the stove. Sasuke's stomach began to make strange noises and he was attacked by a pang of hunger.

Feeling utterly embarrassed by the sound of his tummy and for staring, Sasuke snatched his eyes away from the kitchen. Satisfying himself with the thought that he didn't have time or the need for food Sasuke headed out and would be surprising everyone by arriving the first one to the training site.

"Uchiha" the bland eyed Hyuuga came forth, choosing a nearby tree to lean on as he folded his arms.

"Neji" Sasuke said in return, not bothering to look at him. None of the young men was in the mood to bother themselves with cheerful greetings.

Standing there not saying a word made things awkward. Inwardly, Sasuke cursed Naruto for always being late and always annoying him for such and Tsunade too, for having Neji around. Neji's pale eyes glanced at him now and then but he looked away quickly, all the while maintaining his impassive expression.

Both ninjas heard someone approaching the plain grounds of the training. Whoever it was was quiet as a cat, had Sasuke not paying such utter attention he wouldn't have even noticed the footstep and the footsteps were familiar, from earlier that morning.

Kiko calmly walked in, a little wide eyed to find Sasuke and Neji already there. She'd thought she'd be the first one but apparently not.

"hello" she said quietly. Both the guys nodded in reply.

Kiko stood awkwardly on the plain ground. The sun was pretty out and there was no sign of Naruto and Sakura Kiko looked here and there trying to figure out what to do until Naruto and Sakura came along. Sasuke and Neji were silent as graves and looking in opposite directions. They didn't look like very good friends.

"hiyo!" a cheerfully loud voice interrupted the dead silence. Naruto jumped to the ground causing a puff of dirt rise. He was followed by the pink haired sakura, who was staring at Sasuke. She was a pretty girl, Kiko wasn't as pretty she thought.

"Naruto kun" kiko smiled.

"you're late" Sasuke grumbled, folding his arms.

"numph" was Naruto's smart reply.

"shall we proceed?" Neji said impassive but was inwardly impatient and yet again not bothering with friendly greetings.

"yeah. I think we'll be able to reach the sand village by dusk. Tsunade has arranged for our stay there" Naruto said. Kiko noticed how Naruto always wore the color orange. Maybe it was his favorite.

"alright. Let's go then" Sakura said. The group of ninjas planned to sprint their way to the sand village. There an unspoken battle began as Sasuke and Neji tried to be faster than the other. Neji almost forgot he was ordered to keep a close eye on Kiko and interact with her to observe her abilities more closely.

That was abit of a struggle for Neji, who himself wasn't a very chatterbox himself. Making his first attempt, he leveled himself with her as she sprinted calmly beside Naruto. Sasuke was a little ahead and Sakura seemed to be struggling so Naruto slowed down for her, leaving Neji and Kiko in the center.

"can you run any faster than this? Neji inquire looking ahead.

"yes. Can you?" Kiko said in her usual mild tone deceiving the challenging nature of the reply. Neji looked at her, a little wide eyed,

The sand village, a mysterious place indeed, and not very welcoming either. The people were far more reserved towards strangers than the people of Konoha, maybe because, the sand village didn't have many visitors or maybe because Konoha had too many visitors, some were friendly others not so much.

Apart from knowing the officials that controlled the village, Naruto and the team were quite familiar of the red headed Gaara too, who had taken his chunnin exams along with them and who, now sat at the table among the leaders understanding and learning how to run a village, as he too would be the leader one day.

It was not heredity that would make Gaara the leader but his power and strength, which was, according to many, commendable but there was no doubt it was strangely bizarre. The boy was strange as well his techniques, nobody really knew what he was thinking or what he would do next. Maybe that's why his own siblings feared him.

"now where's that big old building they were talking about? Naruto pouted, looking ahead.

"I know where it is. I've been there before, follow me" Neji ordered taking the lead and ignoring the shot of glare Sasuke sent in his direction.

"the people here are so weird" Naruto stated as they walked through the streets receiving some unfriendly glances from the people of the sand village.

Though they had been in the chunnin exams together with Gaara it was not like they were all best friends. In fact, Gaara interacted with no one but his brother and sister. The guy was downright dangerous to mess with.

"there, you see" Neji pointed at a tall building, which was ,made of brick but had the texture of sand. It stood tall amongst several other buildings around it. Two guards covered in white robe stood in front of the building, they easily let the group of ninjas from the leaf village enter the building. They were obviously expecting them.

Heading upstairs where the main office was, Kiko observed each and everything thoroughly. She hadn't told the group that she was coming to the sand village for the first time.

"I wonder if Gaara's here" Sakura suddenly said. She walked closely behind Sasuke waving her beautiful pink hair in a wave like motion whereas kiko had tied her hair up, not wanting to be disturbed by it. Her hair had grown long without her realizing it, yes, she hadn't realized her hair had grown so long. Now she was beginning to feel irritated by it, she usually didn't allow it to grow that long. Though she was not a tomboy but she just didn't think she was attractive enough to care for herself like Sakura who regularly manicured her nail and went through several other treatments kiko was not aware of.

"of course he'll be here" Neji stated, rolling his eyes. Sakura shot him a glare. Gaara was the unspoken head the village. It was just a matter of time when he'd officially take over.

"speak of the devil.." Naruto pointed towards the corridor. There were three men walking towards them. Two of them were in identical uniforms, the same as the ones Kiko had seen the guards outside wearing. The third one could easily catch anyone's eyes, he had bright red hair, and scorching green eyes. You couldn't even look at his directly without twitching, but there was more, his eyes indicated danger.

The three came and halted in front of the group of ninja from leaf village. It wasn't exactly a warm lovey dovey welcome as Gaara stood there quietly folding his arms. If they were to team up, this kind of attitude is not healthy, Kiko thought.

"you must be from the leaf village. Gaara san was expecting you" one of the guards spoke.

"yeah. We're here to discuss potential attacks and of coarse help you guys" Naruto said cheekily, receiving a death stare from the mysterious Gaara.

What was that for? Somebody has ego issues.

Kiko rolled her eyes, but caught Sasuke looking at her weirdly. She stopped immediately.

The meeting lasted about an hour or so, the officials of the sand village had gathered and basically spoke about the possible indications of an enemy and the security of the village. It was the first meeting, so there wasn't much to it.

Naruto had grown anxious of sitting for a whole hour…without ramen.

"we'll call it a day, what do you say Gaara san?" one of the representatives looked over to gaara for approval who nodded in return. He had rarely spoken throughout the meeting, but Kiko saw that his sharp eyes trailed the room from one person to another.

"thank god" Naruto whispered as he eagerly got up to leave.

In a minute everyone was out of the room, separating into different directions. It was obvious Gaara wasn't about to join them for a chit chat.

"I'm sooo hungry! I hope they have ramen here" Naruto pouted patting his hungry belly.

"actually they don't" Sasuke stated, obviously meaning to tease him but his voice was dead serious. He was serious even when he was joking.

"whaaaa? That can't beeee!" Naruto whined the whole way as the team walked through the market until they found a place where they sold ramen and several other things.

"oh thank you lord" naruto said desperately as he rushed to get his ramen. The team seated themselves on a table outdoor. Kiko breathed in softly, it was a nice place and she was enjoying the fresh air. She decided this would be her hangout spot for as long as she was here.

"so what now? Sakura asked looking at everybody. They were free for a day, the next meeting was the next day. And things around town didn't look that bad either.

"I'm gonna check out the town. You wanna come along Sakura chan? Naruto said with hopeful eyes.

"no!" Sakura rejected bitterly, she was expecting someone else's company. Sasuke.

Plus the new girl was a threat, she was too pretty to be lurking around Sasuke Sakura couldn't allow that. Sakura cursed herself inwardly, she had gotten over Sasuke, then why was she acting so possessive? She needed to stop.

"aww! Why not Sakura chan? Naruto pouted for once diverting his focus from the ramen.

"fine I'll go if you shut up. Seriously" Sakura rolled her eyes. Right then Kiko's heart sank, she'd be left with two graves beside her? She wanted to hang out with Naruto and Sakura but she didn't want to impose. She waited for either Naruto and Sakura to ask her to come as well but they didn't.

I guess they want a private date..

The two went off and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Kiko behind with Sasuke and Neji Before she'd been paying attention to Sakura and Naruto with them gone, she realized Sasuke was sipping his coffee, Neji hadn't ordered any food. He was sitting across her looking in another direction while Sasuke sat one seat away from her. The seat had been occupied by Sakura before.

"how long have you been in konoha kiko? Strangely neji started the conversation, still looking in another direction. His eyes were pale, such a strange yet amusing color, Kiko thought.

"oh. Well a few months really" Kiko said, looking down at her sandwich. She wasn't very comfortable around Sasuke Uchiha and Neji Hyuuga.

"you're reason of coming here? Neji asked again surprisingly, it was more like an inquiry really. Sasuke stayed quiet but listened intently. And Neji completely ignored Sasuke's presence.

"well I move from place to place now and then" Kiko shrugged.

"really?" Neji raised an eyebrow Sasuke felt out of place, the two seem to have hit it off by now and he just sitting there like he wasn't doing anything but eavesdropping.

"my parents died very long ago. They own places so I stay there" she said it easily, it was no longer a shock for her to say her parents were dead.

"I'm sorry to hear that" Neji said awkwardly, biting his inner cheek. Starting the conversation with the girl was a full fledged mission in itself, and now the awkwardness, plus Uchiha. It wasn't the most ideal situation but background information would be helpful in determining her motivation, he thought.

"it's okay, really, it was long time ago" Kiko said. Neji looked in her direction, now a little more interested in the conversation. She was a pretty girl he noted, but then again, he could ignore pretty girls.

She had light brown hair, which were tied in a pony bun but shaped her small face perfectly. Her skin was kind of white but it looked fascinating contrasting with her bright green eyes. She looked delicate girl, her appearance was not at all that of a ninja.

"what about your relatives and such? Neji asked, realizing he was asking questions again and again.

"I didn't have many, but they're dead too" Kiko said quietly. Sasuke twitched in his seat. He felt what it was like to be all alone in the world. But he hadn't for once expected her to be all alone, she didn't look like a mess like him.

"o-oh" Neji muttered, he realized he had just made things awkward. After a while of awkward silence he spoke again, rewinding Tsunade's words in his mind over and over. "do you plan to stay in Konoha or leave again?

"I don't know as of yet. I've got a job and I'm in middle of training so.." Kiko looked up at him, her green eyes sparkling in the sun.

"What are you training? Sasuke asked, speaking for the first time. Neji didn't seem very happy about but Kiko was glad, the silence of Uchiha was becoming awkward.

"oh well basically jutsus and such, like other ninjas" Kiko said casually but Sasuke didn't want to believe that. Tsunade wouldn't send any other ninja on such a major mission."but that isn't my main focus" she said.

"how come? Sasuke asked again, ignoring Neji's dirty looks.

"well, I have some abilities that I need to master. I'm training with Tsunade" she said, not aware of Uchiha family's sharingan.

"why kind of abilities Kiko Neji asked curiously, hoping it would something worth his attention. She blinked at his intent gaze. Him calling her by her name felt kind of awkward, Kiko blushed slightly.

"it's kind of weird, actually.." Kiko said awkwardly, fiddling with her fingers.

"go on" Neji urged her to speak. This was vital information.

"well, I can, kind of levitate objects and such.." Kiko opened up slightly, feeling like a freak in front of the pale eyed Hyuuga How ironic. Though neji took pride in his bayakugan and his pale eyes.

"levitate objects. Hm. And there's more? Sasuke said, folding his arms, by now totally forgetting about Naruto and Sakura Sasuke was surprised how she didn't seem too concerned about letting them know of her secret abilities, yes they were supposed to be TOP SECRET. She needed to stop doing that in front of strangers. But he'd forgotten he was a stranger too.

"you're eyes can see every nerve of the body right? She asked Neji, surprising him with the question. "what do you call it..bayak-"

"bayakugan" Neji stated. So she knew about the bayakugan, he was now she also knew the Hyuuga family.

"I can do something similar to that. Well, it's pretty much the same thing frankly" Kiko smiled, finding it amusing, but Neji didn't look very amused, instead, he looked kind of shocked.

"are you serious?" Neji asked, his brows bending.

"yeah. But I'm not very good at it. These abilities are kind of..locked" kiko said, sinking slightly into her seat and feeling a little embarrassed. She felt like a complete loser.

"I'm sure Tsunade knows? Neji asked rather then state.

"yeah. She's training me…but it's not helping" Kiko said, as disappointment washed her.

"..do you need help from…me? Neji asked, hiding his nervousness behind his impassive look. He really was not sure about training her, with all his duties but he was curious. She was no Hyuuga but she had the bayakugan kind of ability, and her eyes weren't even lavender.

"hm?" Kiko responded, not sure if she heard him correctly. Sasuke shifted in his seat, uncomfortable with where this conversation was heading. Not that he cared, Neji could train her or go to hell, he couldn't care less. But he was kind of curious too.

"the hyuuga family has a history of bayakugan. I can help you" Neji said, choosing his words carefully, not revealing too much in front uchiha sasuke, he was his rival after all and his sharingan wasn't good news.

"o-okay. That..thank you Hyuuga san, I really appreciate it" neji twitched at the 'Hyuuga san'. He saw Sasuke smirking slightly from the corner of his eyes. The bastard thought it was funny. Neji shot him a death glare before looking at Kiko, who just blinked at his change of behavior.

"Neji will do" he simply stated, maintaining his impassive expression.

"oh. Okay" Kiko replied, blushing visibly.

Well that was a pain, Neji thought, but he was able to take a jump from knowing nothing about the girl to actually offering to train her. Now he had to figure out how he'd give her time from his busy schedule.

Crap.

Sasuke lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling, rewinding the day's events in his head. Not much had happened in the meeting, he was beginning to doubt of there was that much threat. It'd be really annoying if it turned a small group of thieves talking big about attacking the city. The group stayed in the same hotel, and everyone was given a separate room much to Sasuke's comfort.

Sasuke wasn't sleepy, he hadn't trained today, hadn't injured himself and hadn't thought of his brother. It was surprising, not a day went by without Sasuke despising his brother. Not a single day went by without Sasuke thinking about revenge.

He sat up, pushing the blankets aside and stroked his forehead lightly. His mind had been occupied by the new girl. He was planning to go out and get drunk, it was one of those nights when he didn't know what was bothering him yet everything around him bothered him. But he soon realized he couldn't do that on a mission.

"damn.."he whispered before laying in his bed again. He couldn't understand why he was so frustrated. He knew ever since he came back, nobody trusted him, especially Tsunade and frankly he didn't care. Sometimes she sent secret anbu squad to keep an eye on him.

He had after all betrayed his team, and his village by running to Orichimaru just for the sake of becoming powerful not caring what a devil he'd become.

The next day went by without anything suspicious happening in or around the village, Gaara hadn't shown his face the entire day but something told Kiko that he was well informed of the entire situation.

To patrol the entire area around the village, the group of ninja had divided themselves into teams. Like old teammates, Naruto Sakura and Sasuke were together whereas Kiko was left with Neji, she felt left out.