A/N: This is one of the shortest chapters I have ever written, and I am sorry but the next ones will definitely be better. It's actually a semi-filler chapter as soon the real shit is gonna come. Thanks for reading and you know the whole deal - I would gladly read your reviews and critique. I apologize if there are some typos and mistakes, but I did not have much time to proofread it as I have a little secret I'm gonna share with you - I write all of this always with a glass of wine. :D

"Hera, wake up." A voice startled me, making me jump out of the bed. I got in a fighting stance by default and afterwards I saw Gaara, who was standing before me. He was looking at me with sympathy with one raised eyebrow. I could see humor and amusement in his eyes and quickly realized my embarrassing situation. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." The red head spoke and I simply nodded, unable to say something else because my voice would give out my shame.

"Get ready, after breakfast we are going out." He stated and afterwards left the room.

I did my whole morning routine and after I got dressed and put on my eyeliner I went downstairs.

"Morning." I spoke as I sat on the table, a bowl of cereal before me. Gaara had a cup of coffee before him and I supposed he had woken up early and has already eaten.

"How are you feeling?" He asked me as I shoved a spoonful of milk and cereal in my mouth.

"Surprisingly better." I said after swallowing, coming to the conclusion that Tsunade must have healed most of my wounds. My ankle had to be sprained and I could step normally on it – it still hurt a bit because my whole body was still sour from the fall, but that was pretty much everything.

With that, our conversation was over and I ate in silence. It was kind of uncomfortable as I could see him keeping an eye on me from time to time. I really had no idea what he expected me to do at the moment – hit him with my spoon and run? I guessed he was just cautious, he really did not know much about me.

After I was done, we left for what I supposed was the Kage Tower of Konoha. The path was familiar. Just when we were about to walk in it, someone interrupted us.

"Hey, Gaara!" A blonde boy that was taller than both Gaara and I called his name.

"Hello, Naruto." Gaara nodded and they shook hands. They had a small talk which I did not catch because I was too busy taking in my surroundings. My attention was brought to the conversation when I could see them both looking at me.

"And who is that?" The blonde asked and I really had no idea how to answer? I was a caught thief under his house arrest?

"This is Hera, she is my new apprentice." Gaara answered instead of me and I was glad he did not say the truth.

"Where is her village band?" He asked curiously, getting closer to me and studying me like I was a predator in a cage.

"I am not from around." I decided to answer this time as he may think I'm rude with my silence.

"Oh, well, then! I have to go, I have to train Konohamaru!" The boy named Naruto yelled and quickly waved and disappeared. I was still shocked by his sudden loudness and I realized that Gaara had already walked in the tower.

The young Kazekage walked in a room and sat behind a desk as I made myself comfortable on the couch on the other side of the room. He started doing paperwork, signing documents and reading scrolls and the next couple of hours felt like a punishment for me. I was bored, so bored, that I started roaming the room, walking around and touching everything I could get my hands on. I was sitting in strange places, mostly upside down, but I found my place in the end. I sat on the edge of the window behind his desk and simply observed the outsides of the tower, watching people come and go. At some point I found myself dozing off the sleep for half an hour. I quickly woke up when I heard someone coughing.

"Tomorrow, we will train. I want to test your power." Gaara was facing me. "You should be fully recovered by then."

I looked at him and stretched my legs, feeling that the sourness was almost non-existent. "We can do this later today, I am perfectly fine now."

"If you say so. I have a little bit of work left, so I will be done soon."

"But you do know that I cannot do your ninja stuff, right?" I eyed Gaara suspiciously as he begun reading a file.

"I do, but you might be able to master them. We will have to see your chakra flow. I also want to test your combat skills." The red head explained and after two more hours we finally left the tower. It was getting dark as we headed towards what I supposed was a training ground.

We ended up in the woods, but I was not sure whether we have left Konoha or not. He put down the peanut looking this on his back, leaning it against a tree and stood before me.

"You can start whenever you are ready. I will let you play the offensive." Gaara spoke and I quickly did some stretching as a warm-up, my back and neck snapping duo to the zero activity for the last few days.

"Are you going to use the sand?" I asked, curiously. I had never seen something like that before and actually wanted him to use it at some point.

"Not for now." He was calm, contrasting to my eagerness. So I began.

All of my attacks were being blocked, no matter how sneaky I was trying to be. It was as if he could read my moves. My excitement was now mixed with slight anger – I was fairly good at hand-to-hand combat, even though weapons were my specialty. I decided to try a new strategy.

My fists were before me and I tried to land a hit on his face, but he caught my hand with his own. That is when I tried to elbow him in the stomach, but he caught my other arm as well. This was all part of the plan, I quickly ducked, with my hands still held. His confusion gave me an opening and I spun my leg, tripping him as he fell, but to my surprise he did not fall – he was leaning against the sand. He had instinctively let go of my hands, so I grabbed his arm, pulling him towards me in a try to slam my fist in his stomach, but he was quicker. He spun me around and my back was pressed against his chest, his arm around my neck as his other hand was holding mine behind me.

"You have much to learn, but you have potential." He said, letting to of me. "I think we can call it a night. We will do the chakra test I told you earlier tomorrow."

I nodded, catching my breath – I was sweating and he was as if nothing had happened. I know he is a Kazekage, but how powerful is he?! Next time I was going to show him all of my moves, however I had to do a serious stretching before that. I may have not practiced Taekwondo for a long time, but everything was still in me. I watched him grab his thing and we headed towards the house.

"You carry sand in this thing, right?" I asked him, remembering seeing how sand came out of it during our combat.

"Yes. It's my guard."

"Looks like a peanut." I could not hold back my comment and he glared at him and I supposed he has heard that comment before as well.