Ok I'm so sorry I haven't posted a new chapter in forever. I had major brain blockage on this chapter but lately I've been hurled into a sea of inspiration and I've promised to make longer chapters as well! ^w^ I know some of you are probably wondering what Kiamari looks like. So, instead of posting your reviews I'm posting Kiamari! XD That and the reviews disappeared… ;w;

Name: Kiamari

Age: (currently) 12

Looks: pale bluish purple eyes. Currently has long wavy hair goes about to mid chest. Is a dark, chocolate color brown with bright red highlights and black lowlights blended in. Very skinny and petite. Fairly developed.

Extra: contains Jin, the two-tailed dragon demon within her and thus has dark blue streaks down her cheeks.

I'd love to tell you more but if I gave away anything more than the basics and her physical well, I might give away something later on. ^w^ ENJOY!

Chapter 4: New beginnings

I closed the door behind me and opened the curtains, letting the bright sunlight flood into the small apartment. I sighed sitting on my bed.

"Huh, I've never realized how empty this place was," I said to myself, looking around the small home.

It was an open apartment with one bathroom and a closet for storage. It contained a decent sized kitchen connected with the living room which contained a TV and a fireplace across from a couch. In the corner was my mattress with a few blankets and a pillow. Most of the little furniture I had was already here compliments of my landlady. I looked out the window at the porch just big enough to sit on which was most likely meant for growing flowers on. Despite the overall size, it was still home.

"Hm… maybe I should buy some flowers or something. Maybe a bit of color is what this place needs," I mumbled getting up and heading back out the door.

I scanned the shops as I walked through the village. There were so many unfamiliar faces, but they didn't spare more than a glance towards me. I finally found what I was looking for and the bell rang as I entered the small building. The sweet fragrance inside rushed to greet me.

"Hello," a sweet voice said.

I looked up at the girl behind the counter and smiled. She had long blonde hair pulled back in a pony-tail. Her light blue eyes were fixed upon me.

"Um, hi," I halfway mumbled.

"I'm Ino. I don't think I've seen you around before. What can I do for you?" she replied.

"Kiamari, nice to meet you, Ino," I said with a light smile. "I'm…" I thought for a moment. It would be strange to say I've been there for over three years so I went with a small lie. "I'm somewhat new to this village. I just thought some flowers might look nice in my home."

She nodded and came by my side and pointed out a few flowers to me. "Those are Irises. They would look nice in any home, especially with a couple of those white and yellow baby roses." She picked another flower and put it in my hair. "Just as I thought. The Geranium Rozanne looks very pretty in your hair. It really brings out your eyes, too!" she said with a kind smile. I laughed at that. As if one flower could make a difference in my plain appearance.

For the next hour or so, Ino and I started talking as if we had been friends forever. It was really nice. She told me of all these good places around the village for shopping and food and all the people she knew and went to the academy with, especially some guy named Sasuke and this girl named Sakura who was now her bitter rival.

In the end I ended up buying the flowers and left with a smile. Maybe making friends wasn't so hard after all.

Back home I set the small bouquet on the living room table and the Rozanne in a small vase next to my bed. I don't know what it was but that small bit of color seemed to do the trick. Seeing the flowers there really gave off this certain glow that gave off this warm comforting feeling. It reminded me of my home in Suna. I sighed looking out the window.

"I bet they've all forgotten about me by now," I said as a small frown etched its way onto my face and the memory of that small red-headed boy appeared from the outermost regions of my mind.

I remembered the coldness in his sea green eyes the last time I saw him. It almost seemed as if his heart had closed. A chill ran down my spine and I went to close the window brushing the feeling off as just the crisp autumn wind. Looking one more time at the flowers I left to go explore the village some more. As I walked through the streets, a faint grumbling emerged from my stomach. I sighed realizing I should have eaten before I left.

A bag of chips appeared in front of my face and my eyes immediately became fixated on it. Was I going crazy or was there really a chip bag floating in front of me? The chips moved left and then right, my head following obediently. A floating bag of chips was teasing me. It was official; I had lost my mind from hunger. My stomach growled loudly. Then I heard a snickering from behind and stopped to look at them.

A plump boy was smiling at me with the large chip bag in his hands. His light brown hair was sticking out in two directions from under his headband. A bit of drool escaped my mouth as I looked hungrily at the chips.

"What the hell?!" I shouted at him. "You don't do that to a hungry person!"

"Sorry," he said, a smirk still on his face. "I couldn't resist. You're stomach was so loud. Do you want some?" he asked holding out another bag of chips.

My eyes got big and all I could do was nod as I stared at the other bag. We found a spot under a tree under a tree and sat down before he gave me the chips.

"They were supposed to be for Shikamaru, but you seemed like you could use the food more," he said referring to the loud grumbles my stomach made and how skinny I was.

"Who's Shikamaru?" I asked stuffing my face. The name sounded vaguely familiar. He gave me a strange look and I quickly added that I was somewhat new to Konoha.

"Actually, I'm Shikamaru," I heard a monotone voice say.

I looked up to find this stringy boy with a bored expression on his face and s[iky black hair pulled back. He sat down next to us.

"So who's this Chouji?" he asked with his voice slightly lowered. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm Kiamari," I replied before Chouji could answer his 'I don't know'. "Here, you can have the chips back. I felt sort of bad so I only ate about half of them since they were supposed to be yours," I said handing him the chips.

Shikamaru didn't look away, though, and his analytical stare was beginning to creep me out.

"Are you leaving already?" Chouji asked just as I began to get up.

I shrugged. "Why? Do you want me to stay?" I asked with a sweet smile sitting back down.

"Where are you from?" Shikamaru asked suddenly.

I looked at him surprised by the question. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"You're not from Konoha," he replied dully.

"Well, no. I guess you could say I'm from the Sand Village," I said thoughtfully.

He cocked an eyebrow in confusion and I shook my head. "It's a long story." He seemed to buy that for the time being.

I stood up and stretched. I didn't have all day and I wanted to explore some more. "Thanks for the food, Chouji. I think I'll go explore the village some more," I said trying to excuse myself politely. "Oh, and before I forget, tell Ino thanks again for the flowers," I said before turning to leave. "See you around!" I called back.

"How does she know Ino?" Chouji asked.

Shikamaru shrugged and said, "Who cares."

I sighed as I walked down the streets. 'Maybe I should get a part time job,' I thought to myself. 'But what would I do?' I looked around. I wasn't getting paid much for the small D rank missions but I didn't really know how to do much that could allow me to get a job. I shrugged in defeat. I would just have to make due for now.

As I rounded the next corner I quickly had to readjust myself so I didn't run into another girl.

"Are you ok?" I asked still surprised by the encounter.

Her blank lavender eyes stared at me as her cheeks flushed slightly. Her fingers poked out of the large coat sleeves and fiddled nervously.

"Hello?" I asked unsure if she heard me. She mumbled something about a gift then passed out.

"Oh shit!" I said frantically as I caught her and slowly began to lower her when a dog started barking and began to run towards me growling.

"Oh bloody hell!" I said grabbing the girl and began running away.

A boy with a grey and black hooded jacket began running after us as well. What the hell was going on?

"Stop! You in the black sweater! Get back here!" I heard him shouting. "Kidnapper!"

'Kidnapper? What the hell?' I thought before the dog bit my leg. I came crashing down and was able to turn on my side just enough so the girl didn't hit the ground. The hood to my long black sweater fell over my face as I looked down at my bleeding leg and cursed under my breath.

"Ha ha! We got you now! Good work Akamaru," I heard him say as the dog barked in response. "You must be real sick stealing Hinata while she was sick in bed!"

I looked at the girl. 'Hinata? She's sick? So that's why she passed out,' I thought. Then I noticed under her coat she had pajamas on. The boy was still yelling at me, though.

"That's enough Kiba," I heard a cold voice say and I stood up to get a good look at him. He had lavender eyes as well, but they were filled with a cold hatred. "I'll take it from here," he finished.

I shook my head and bent down to pick Hinata back up despite the pain in my leg.

"Don't you dare touch her you filthy bastard!" Kiba yelled at me.

I stood back up then threw a couple kunai knives pinning him to a wall by his jacket. They both were wide-eyed at the speed of which it happened.

"What do you want with Hinata?" the cold long, dark brown haired boy asked calmly.

I sighed as Hinata began to wake up. I knelt down to help her.

"Are you ok?" I asked again. She nodded.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"Everything's going to be ok, Hinata!" Kiba yelled. "Now get away from her or I'll…"

I jerked my head up at him making the hood fly off my head leaving my hair to whip out in the air freely. My eyes hardened to ice as I glared at him.

"Or you'll do what?! I've already pinned you to that wall!" I yelled completely pissed off.

"Holy shit you're a girl!" he yelled in shock.

"Yes, very perceptive. Now if only you weren't such a dumbass and had your dog attack me, you would have clearly seen that I was trying to help this girl!"

He looked away from me defiantly. The other boy turned and let him down then started walking away.

"We don't have time for this. We need to get Hinata back home," he said unemotionally.

Kiba nodded and followed him. I helped Hinata onto my back and limped after them.

Two servants rushed out of the large home as we approached. They made such a fuss over Hinata and my injury then scolded the boys for both injuring me and making me carry Hinata. I couldn't help but chuckle. It certainly served them right.

After about an hour, Hinata was back in bed, my leg was bandaged up, and I had explained to both the two maids and Hinata's father what had happened and then we were left in Hinata's room to keep her company for a while.

The whole time she had a small angelic smile on her face with a cup of tea in her delicate hands.

Finally I asked, "Why were you roaming the streets, Hinata?"

She looked down for a second, obviously embarrassed, then looked at Kiba, then back at me. "Well, yesterday was Kiba's birthday and I realized I wasn't able to give him his present," she said in a soft voice.

I glanced at Kiba seeing him stiffen and a flash of red, barely noticeable, spread on his cheeks. Hinata handed him the torn package containing a new jacket inside and he mumbled a thank you.

"Sorry I caused so much trouble. I think I may have gotten lost on my way to Kiba's house and I guess I was so confused and dizzy when I ran into you, Kiamari-san, I thought it was Kiba," Hinata said apologetically.

"What! Come on, Hinata! How could you mistake HER for me?!" he whined in protest.

"Well obviously she must have been pretty damn sick to mistake me for some stupid mutt like you," I said mockingly. "And to think, all that effort for YOUR sorry ass!"

"Well it's not my fault she got out of bed to give me a present," he argued back and I slugged him upside the head.

"OW! What the hell was that for?!" he yelled.

"For being a dumbass!" I yelled back.

The door closed and we stopped arguing to see Hinata look sadly down at her cup of tea.

"What's wrong Hinata?" I asked.

"Oh, it's nothing. I guess Neji just doesn't like me very much is all," she stated.

I looked confusedly at her, but gave her a hug, then followed in pursuit after him.

"NEJI! Wait!" I yelled catching up to him. "Is there something wrong between you and Hinata?" I asked.

"It doesn't concern you," he replied coldly.

"I know but…"

"But what?" he said interrupting me. "You are an outsider. You've barely met Hinata and know nothing of the Hyuga clan's laws and traditions or of the lives of many here in Konoha for that matter! You have no business with us. We are not your friends from the sand," he said bitterly.

His harsh words pierced through my being but I kept walking with him my head bent. "Actually, I have no friends back home. Maybe it's not my place, but I was just trying to help. I thought that maybe I could be friends with people here. But maybe I'm more like the ugly specks of dirt traveling on the wind. Maybe I don't belong anywhere…" I said in a low voice. "I'm sorry you think I'm such a bother."

I ran off in front of him, tears falling behind me, sparkling in the sun and a few hitting him. Neji realized he actually hurt me but made no attempt to run after me or apologize.

I dashed into the trees, but was stopped short when I ran into someone and fell. 'Oh great, now what?' I muttered looking up at a bushy browed black haired boy in green spandex.

He smiled at me. "I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" He said rather boldly and helped me up. I nodded and noticed a brunette with buns in her hair staring at me behind him. "I'm Lee and this is Tenten."

I smiled and wiped my eyes. "Um, I'm Kiamari. Nice to meet you." Then Neji walked into the clearing and I turned around and glared at him. "What the hell do you want?" I said with malice in my tone. He glared at me.

"I came here to train with my team. Now are you going to run off and cry again or are you going to apologize?" he asked obnoxiously.

This pissed me off and my eyes locked on him with an icy stare. I slowly walked forward with my fists clenched and punched him square in the face knocking him into a nearby tree. Tenten rushed to his side immediately and Lee looked on stunned. "Fuck you! I was only trying to help and you criticize ME and tell ME to leave then you have the ORDASITY to come and tell ME to apologize?! You're lucky I don't punch you harder!"

Tenten glared at me. "What's the matter with you?! I can't believe you punched him THAT hard! You knocked him out! If you punched him harder you could have killed him!" she snapped taking out a scroll.

"Don't you think you're being a little dramatic, Tenten?" Lee asked nervously.

"Shut up, Lee," she said but he got between us anyways hoping to keep us apart. As we charged at each other, two puffs of smoke appeared and both of us were being held back.

"Good work, Lee," a spitting image of him said from behind Tenten. "Go check on Neji. Me and Kakashi will take it from here," he said with a gleaming grin.

"Quite a fuss over here, Gai," a smooth voice said from behind me. "I'll take care of this one." Then we suddenly appeared in a large field. Only then was I let go. I sighed irritably.

"So much for making friends, ay Kiamari? But let's get straight to the point. While you are here in Konoha, you'll be part of team 7. I'm Kakashi. Ah, here come your new teammates now," Kakashi said.

Approaching the field was the same annoying blonde from earlier that day, a girl with long pink hair whom I could only assume to be Sakura, and a boy with black spiky hair who I guessed was Ino's beloved Sasuke. I sighed. 'Great, this should be loads of fun,' I thought sarcastically crossing my arms. Sasuke hadn't said a word but the other two, who were bickering the whole time, immediately stopped when they noticed me.

"This is Sasuke, Sakura, and… Naruto," Kakashi said pointing to each in turn. "Everyone, this is Kiamari. She'll be joining our team from now on."

I tried to give a warm smile but I doubt it made it past a corner of my mouth. Sakura was the first to try and make contact.

"Hi, Kiamari, how much longer will you be staying here in Konoha?" she asked not realizing how offensive her question sounded.

"I don't really know. I was pretty much dropped off here after I became a genin. I figure my village has forgotten about me," I replied.

Sasuke kept glaring at me and it was beginning to creep me out. 'Why was everyone staring at me today?' I thought. 'It wasn't as if I were all that pretty or anything. Was it my markings?'

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Anyways, I think I'll have you all spar today. Naruto and Sasuke you two are up. Sakura, I want you to be a referee."

I looked up at Kakashi sensei curiously. "Why aren't I sparring?" I asked.

"I need to know about some of your abilities, Kiamari," he replied getting up. "For example, your chakra control. Are you able to at least climb the tree?"

I smirked. "Well, of course I can climb a tree. Isn't that basic for any ninja?" I asked.

He nodded. "Please, demonstrate."

I shrugged and carefully walked up a nearby tree then jumped back down. "There, I climbed the tree."

He shook his head. "Kiamari, I want to work with you on something tomorrow," he said.

I shrugged. "Sure. Kakashi-sensei, what all has this team done, exactly? You know, before I got here," I asked uncertainly.

He nodded. "Well, other than the usual minor missions they had to go to the Land of Waves not too long ago and faced a pretty tough opponent. It seems that there's often a mishap in missions with this team. Anyways, it's nothing you should worry about. For now, we will just set our sights on the chunin exams," he said with a light smile.

I decided not to carry on with the subject. "So, what can you tell me about them?" I asked changing the subject.

"Hm, Naruto never really had much of anyone around, I suppose you could say. He was pretty much shunned by the village for most his life and chooses to act carefree trying to get others to like him and seems to be quite fond of Sakura.

"Sakura is your typical girl at her age and seems to be fond of Sasuke like many others. She's actually very intelligent when she tries to be, though.

"Sasuke, well, unlike Naruto he had a family but overnight it seems his brother wiped out the entire Uchiha clan."

I sighed. "A very love-hate triangle you've accumulated, Kakashi-sensei," I said pointing to them. "Naruto hates Sasuke but likes Sakura. Sakura finds Naruto annoying and likes Sasuke who intern finds both her and Naruto annoying. Does he know how to show emotion or is just totally bitter?" I asked with a slight sarcastic tone.

Kakashi chuckled. "I suppose you could say that. It's not entirely his fault, though."

I shrugged. "Yes, I suppose I might be just as bitter if I had my brother destroy my family and have a bunch of fan-girls after me, too."

Not long after I was allowed to spar with Sakura, although it wasn't much of a fight. Kakashi must have been as bored as I was and finally declared me the winner.

Walking home I noticed Sasuke was behind me. "A particular reason you've been behind me the whole time Sasuke?" I asked tiredly and stopped to look at him but he said nothing.

I sighed. "Really, do you ever talk or do you just complain under your breath all day?" He just walked on ahead of me. "Ok, I give up. What's wrong?" I asked.

He glared at me with his black eyes. "Nothing is wrong. I'm just walking home," he replied coldly.

I sighed. "Fine. Honestly, have you always been this moody or only since your family was killed?" I asked irritated.

I must have hit a nerve because he instantly slammed me into a wall, his hand around my neck. "Don't you dare talk about my family. You don't know a damned thing," he said glaring down at me then roughly let go. I could only shake my head.

"You know, lingering on the past isn't healthy," I replied humbly then walked past to the gate of my apartment building. "Well, goodnight, Sasuke." I mumbled before going in.

The next day I met with Kakashi in the field just as he asked.

"How much chakra control do you actually know, Kiamari?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I don't really know. I can do basics like walking on walls and water and focus it for jutsu," I stated. "When I was in Suna I didn't have much else to do other than train and chakra control gave me something to focus on."

He nodded. "I see. As your teacher, I'm supposed to help you get stronger by focusing both your strengths and weaknesses. From what I've gathered, your strength is your speed and agility that comes from your short stature and your ability to control your immense amount of chakra effectively. However, you're terribly small and fragile and I've noticed you've had to control your chakra carefully otherwise you might damage something, am I correct?" I nodded.

"Well, my guess is you can fix that by infusing chakra with your body especially your skin cells. This technique is called the Dragon's Skin," he explained.

I grinned. "Cool. I'll have it done by the end of the week!" I said cheerfully and got to work.

Each day we tested my new technique by sparring. If Kakashi could cut my skin, then I'd have to work harder. By the end of the week I had actually perfected it. Continuously he had hit me but failed to cut my skin. I couldn't help but grin.

I gave a fake yawn. "Kakashi-sensei, are you really trying to hurt me or are you toying with me?" I asked when he had stopped to catch his breath.

"Believe it or not, Kiamari, I actually am. You've held up much better than I would have expected especially after such a short period of time. You're not even as tired as you were when you first started," he replied. "I think it's safe to say you've pretty much mastered this technique."

"Kakashi-sensei, how did you come up with the idea of the Dragon's Skin?" I asked sitting down on the grass and taking a drink of water.

He smirked and said, "Hm, I believe it's a technique used by the first Raikage of the Cloud Village. However, the technique takes up large amounts of chakra and skilled chakra control to accomplish so no one else has ever been able to use the technique."He stood up and dusted himself off. "Well, I should get going. I have a few things to take care of and I doubt you want to stay here all day." With that he vanished in a puff of smoke.

I coughed. 'What was with all the smoke?' I thought and sighed getting up and heading back home. Just as I started off I heard a loud clang and felt a small tap on my head and turned around to see two kunai knives fall to the ground at my feet. I looked up confused to see Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto walking towards me. Naruto looked excited while pointing at me frantically, Sasuke looked annoyed, and Sakura simply looked just as confused as I was.

"See! I told you she's been secretly training with Kakashi-sensei! You can't hurt her now! He said it was called the… the…"

I crossed my arms. "It's called the Dragon's Skin, baka. What about it?" I said irritably. 'Did they seriously just throw kunai at me?' I picked up the knives and held them out. Naruto quickly grabbed them and put them away.

I shook my head. "What do you want, anyways? I seriously doubt you just happened to be around and decided to throw your kunai at me for the hell of it."

Naruto scratched the side of his head dumbly and Sakura looked down at the ground a little embarrassed by the incident. They obviously didn't think this through. Sasuke on the other hand had been staring at me since they arrived.

"I swear, Sasuke, if you keep glaring at me like that, I'm going to hurt you. Oh, don't look at me like that Sakura. It's not like I would do any real damage to him," I said to her horrified expression. "Honestly…"

"Fine, then fight me," I heard Sasuke say.

"Um, no." I replied. "I am tired and have had a long week of training and quite frankly I can only hold this technique for so long," I said heaving a small bag over my shoulder. "I'm going home and getting a good night's sleep. I'm seriously not in the mood because I have enough to deal with and fighting you right now isn't going to pay the bills," I said walking off then stopped. "Oh yes, I almost forgot. Sakura, tell Ino I said hi and I'm looking forward to her party next Friday night." I added just to get under her skin and waved behind me as I turned. "Have fun int the Sasuke Fan Club!" I said laughing which of course pissed her off. I couldn't help myself, she made it so easy. At least Ino wasn't totally obsessive and actually had a life outside of gawking over Sasuke. The whole thought of it was simply hilarious. I couldn't tell what they saw in him.

"What do you think she meant by fighting Sasuke won't pay the bills?" Naruto asked. Sakura shrugged.

I opened the door to find a pile of mail on the floor. I picked them up and sorted through them. There was a reminder from Ino about the party, an invite to lunch from Chouji and a couple bill notices from my landlady of my overdue payment. I sighed. "What the hell am I going to do? The stupid old hag won't get off my back. At this rate I'll be lucky if she doesn't kick me out tomorrow," I said to myself tossing the mail onto the counter.

Two days later…

A plump woman with frizzy hair tied messily back walks into the room and begins kicking my mattress. "Hey! Wake up, kid! Wake up!" I hear her rough voice gripe. A shiver runs down my spine. Her voice was a combination of nails on a chalkboard and metal scraps in a blender. "It's already 11! Are you gonna sleep all day?"

I groaned. "Alright, alright, what do you want?" I asked moodily from being woken up.

She laughed and I cringed from the voice. "What do I want? I want my money you lazy freeloader!" she snapped.

I groaned again. "Damn it all," I mumbled. "I don't have your stupid money."

She clicked her tongue and threw my bag at my head. "Fine, I want you out by 4 then," she said then began to gripe under her breath as she left.

I sat up lazily. "Well, shit," I mumbled and looked around the small home. "It's a good thing I don't have much stuff, I guess." I went up and grabbed a piece of paper and smiled as I called the number. "Hey, Chouji? That free lunch is still good right?" I said jokingly. "Cool, see you in a bit… What? Oh, sure, Shikamaru and Ino can come, too… Ok, bye." I yawned as I hung up the phone and began shoving my clothes and other necessities into my bag and immediately headed out the door, locking it and placing the key under the mat.

Well, I hope you liked it. See? I told you the chapters would be longer! XD And the next one is a bit longer than this one! The usual two reviews will get you the next chapter!