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Some Months Later…
"Tsunade-sama, why have you summoned us to your office?" Saya asked politely.
Tsunade rubbed her temples and closed her eyes.
"I need you to track down and assist the Sand Siblings. Apparently, Gaara's student was kidnapped and they went to retrieve her…but that's not all. The assailants are connected to various crimes having to do with a case I put Kakashi on a while back. You all must deal with it as quickly as possible. Shikamaru…I am putting you in charge. Try not to fail this time. You're all dismissed."
The large group ran out and all met at the entrance. Naruto looked around.
"Shouldn't Neji, Hinata, Shino, and Sakura be here to help?" Shikamaru smirked and nodded.
"They already went ahead. They will not be participating in the fighting but helping with injuries."
Saya smiled. Shikamaru thought ahead. At a certain location and much to the dislike of Saya, Shino's bugs rose in the sky telling the location of each Sand shinobi. Temari was northeast while Kankuro was northwest and Gaara was still heading north. Shikamaru split up the team into little groups to help out the siblings and everyone took off. Saya, Naruto, and Lee headed north towards Gaara. Shikamaru and Ino headed towards Temari and Kiba and Akamaru headed towards Kankuro. Everyone reached their destination almost simultaneously. Gaara had just gotten soaked and now his sand was almost useless. Also, he had lost a lot of chakra due to the shield the guy was wearing. The guy smirked victoriously and charged Gaara with his weapon and was about to attack when a foot came crushing into his weapon. The guy jumped backwards and looked at his new assailant. Gaara's eyes widened as he realized who it was. Saya turned around and shot him a grin.
"I told you I owed you one."
Gaara tried to get up but the sand armor wore him down and he crumpled back down to his knees. Lee contacted Sakura who got there in record time. She began to heal Gaara while Lee, Naruto, and Saya turned to face the bad guy. He laughed.
"You cannot defeat me!"
Saya was tired of his smugness. She hated arrogant people. She listened as Gaara explained that his shield absorbs chakra from his opponent. She started formulating a plan when suddenly Naruto went flying past her. Her eyes widened.
"Naruto, wait his shield sucks out chakra! Don't use that jutsu!"
Too late.
"Kage Bushin no jutsu!"
Saya watched as chakra was visibly sucked from Naruto into his shield. Saya had to get him out of there. She was about to run when Lee stopped her.
"I will save Naruto-kun! He cannot suck up chakra if I have none to give!"
Saya nodded as Lee flew towards the guy landing a punch and Naruto went flying through the air. Saya gasped and jumped catching and falling to the ground with a thud. She lifted her body off the ground and grabbed Naruto by the scruff of his neck holding him up.
"Naruto wake up!" she yelled into his ear.
Naruto's eyes snapped opened to see flying chakra coming right at them.
"Ahhh!!! Saya move, move!!!"
Saya threw herself out of the way still holding Naruto and they tumbled next to Lee, who looked a little worse for wear. At this time Sakura finished tending to Gaara and he stood up. The bad guy chuckled.
"What are you going to do ninja of the Sand? You barely have enough chakra…to use your sand."
Gaara's eyes narrowed and sand started meeting together forming a spear filled with chakra. The shield absorbed it and the spear went flying right through the guy, who fell to the floor dead in shock. Saya smiled at the quick thinking of Gaara and they continued to pursue the last guy, who held Matsuri, Gaara's student, prisoner. Gaara and the others reached the destination first. It was a wide open space enclosed by cliffs. Gaara stepped into the circle like arena. The guy dropped Matsuri to the side. She was just a pawn to get to him. The guy hit a boulder which turned out to be a coffin. The skeleton of a man who looked like he was once a king popped out. The guy did a jutsu that Saya had never seen in her life. Her eyes widened as the man in the coffin moved and then transferred into the living guy's body. Now the guy was ten times more powerful. Naruto tried to attack a few times but to no avail. The guy did some hand jutsu's and a metal container fell over Gaara, trapping him inside. Then the bad guy moved over the container and started to absorb Gaara's chakra. This was bad. If he took too much chakra, the Shukaku would come out. And Gaara would become bad again! Saya shook her head. That would not happen again. She ran out to the field and heard Gaara. He sounded like a caged animal and she knew Shukaku was trying to come out if it hadn't already. Naruto was fighting the bad guy, but again, wasn't winning. Suddenly the cage exploded and it sent her tumbling back. Gaara was transforming. Naruto looked horrified as did the others. He was holding his head. Saya got to her feet and decided to try to help while Naruto tried to attack the bad guy. She took a cautious step towards Gaara and his head snapped up. She could hear the others yelling for her to not go near him but she kept taking small cautious steps.
"Gaara…don't let it win…don't let it beat you."
He was shaking and, hell, she was too. Gaara saw her shake and his eyes flared up as he backhanded her right across the face. She fell into the dirt and could taste the metallic taste of blood in her mouth.
"You are just like everyone else! You're afraid of me!"
Saya lifted her head off the floor, blood dripped from her lip.
"Gaara, if I was scared of you why would I continue to be your friend?! I'm not scared of you! I'm scared for you! The Shukaku is going to hurt you and make you do bad things! Things I know you don't want to do! You're letting him win and he's going to kill the people you actually might care about!"
Shukaku lunged for her and she covered her head but the blow never came. She looked up and saw that Gaara's face had returned back to normal. He was shaking slightly but he was alright. He turned to look at her but looked away quickly. He felt terrible that he had hit her like that. He looked at the bad guy who had just sent Naruto sailing across the field near his partners. He stepped up and glared at the man. Then sand swirled around him forming a spear that had the same markings as the Shukaku. Gaara sent it right into the guy's stomach causing the guy to fall. Gaara did a jutsu causing the sand to suck the guy six feet below and crush him. The bad guys were all dead. Saya made her way over to Gaara who looked extremely tired. She let her hand fall onto his shoulder and he flinched turning around to face her. She gave him a soft smile and he wiped some of the blood away from her mouth with his thumb.
"A-are you alright, Sai?"
Her smile remained as she nodded slowly.
"I didn't mean to…"
She had hushed him then.
"You…didn't do anything…and I'm fine. Better then you…I'm sorry we could not have gotten to you sooner," she said with a slight frown looking him over and seeing his wounds.
It was difficult to see him bleed when she had thought he could never be hurt. He followed her eyes seeing she was looking at his wounds.
"I'll be alright…it doesn't…hurt that much…"
She looked up at him and he flashed a small smile. It happened so quick she wasn't sure it ever really happened at all. Gaara felt the corners of his mouth tug up but quickly regained his composure. His knees buckled, his eye lids became heavy, and he dropped to the ground unconscious. Saya quickly fell down beside him and checked his pulse. It was steady. He was going to be okay. Everyone ran to them, looks of concern on all their faces. Sakura checked Gaara medically and told everyone he was going to be fine. Kakashi was up on one of the cliffs watching the whole scene with Pakkun.
"They did well working together Pakkun…don't you think?"
Pakkun barked.
"Yes…and I couldn't help but notice the chemistry between Saya and the Sand shinobi…"
Kakashi sighed heavily.
"Pakkun…you're going to be the death of me…"
Pakkun huffed.
"You better hope not."
They both ran off back towards Konoha. Back in Konoha, Gaara was resting comfortably. He was awake and listening to the conversation happening beside him. It was between Naruto and Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannins. Gaara listened quietly.
"Akatsuki will be coming for you in three years so I am going to train you for three years away from everyone. When you come back you will be stronger."
Naruto couldn't contain his excitement.
"And then we could go rescue Sasuke?!"
Jiraiya sighed loudly.
"Yes and then you can go save your friend."
Gaara closed his eyes. Three years without Naruto will be hard for Saya.
A Day Later…
The Sand Siblings and Matsuri were at the gates of Konoha. They were all ready to leave. They were leaving the same time as Naruto and Jiraiya, but at different exits in Konoha. Gaara wasn't expecting to see Saya. He expected her to be seeing Naruto off. And that's exactly what she was doing. Saya hugged Naruto quickly.
"Be careful Naruto, and get stronger so we can kick some ass together! I'm going to get stronger too! Don't grow to be a pervert like your teacher!" she yelled as she backed up quickly.
"See you in three years!" and with that she turned and ran down the road at top speed towards the other entrance to Konoha.
Shikamaru was seeing off the Sand Siblings and Matsuri. They were already almost out of sight…almost. Saya skidded to a halt at the entrance and Shikamaru looked at her, confusion written all over his face.
"Sai-chan, are you okay? You look a little out of breath…" he commented smirking mischievously.
"You're a little red in the face too…running to catch up to someone?" he was having way too much fun mocking her.
She tried to catch her breath and say something but then she gave up and ran after the siblings. Shikamaru sighed chuckling to himself as he watched her chase after the Sand Siblings and Matsuri. She felt like she would never reach them and she could tell they were about to run off into the forest. Then they would be gone. She sucked in a whole lot of air and screamed just as they were about to jump off into the forest.
"WAIT!!!"
Kankuro tripped over his legs getting ready to jump and Temari and Matsuri jumped in shock. Gaara's eyes widened considerably large and he spun around only to be tackled by a flying Saya who wrapped her arms around his neck. She had given up on running and just threw chakra into her legs and jumped to get there sooner. So Gaara basically saw a flying Saya coming at him. He stumbled back, but didn't fall. He caught her around the waist and froze. She was hugging him. Saya was hugging him.
"Did you really think I'd let you leave without saying goodbye?" she said into his neck.
Gaara closed his eyes feeling her warm breath on his neck. The feeling that he had been experiencing when around her started up in his stomach again. At first he couldn't speak but just stood there letting her hug him. He ignored the shocked, jaw dropping expressions of his siblings and Matsuri. Soon his hands came up to the small of her back and he returned the hug shocking everyone even himself. When they pulled away she had a small smile on her face. Her eyes sparkled in the sun. She was truly happy…to just be there…next to him.
"Well then…goodbye."
Gaara raised an eyebrow.
"Not goodbye…see you later."
Saya's eyes seemed to light up.
"You remembered…"
Gaara smirked. She looked up into his eyes. She didn't see the same pain in them that she saw during the Chuunin Exams. There was still pain but there was something else as well. She didn't know what though. She said goodbye to the others with quick hugs and then backed away, giving them room to head off back to Suna. As they were walking she prayed they would see each other again. She continued to stare as the Sand shinobi walked away.
"Come on Gaara…" she whispered to no one in particular.
"Give me a sign…let me know that I will see you again…"
She was about to turn around because they were almost out of sight when sand swirled around her. She shut her eyes as to not get any sand in them but then opened them realizing this was her sign. The sand lightly caressed her cheek and she laughed softly. Then it fell to the ground gracefully at her feet. She walked back to the gates of Konoha smiling to herself. Three years…it was a long time but she was confident that when Naruto came back...things would still be the same. How wrong she was.
Three Years Later…
Fifteen year old Saya Ryohei ran down the dusty streets of Konoha. She still had her dark brown hair but now it was longer down to her waist. She had it down and out and short bangs fell into her green eyes. It was blowing back in the wind as she ran. Her style hadn't changed much. She wore red shorts and a long black top over it with black sandals. The only main difference about her was she had a small flame colored bird flying around with her. See…in the three years that had gone by, Saya had developed some interesting techniques. She also learned about the power inside of her. It was the power that not even she knew of until two years ago when Kakashi and herself went out on an A-class mission.
Flashback:
"Kakashi-sensei it's a trap!" Saya yelled out to her now fellow jounin partner.
Kakashi turned around and his eyes widened.
"Damn it! Saya fall back!"
Saya looked at him.
"What about you, Kakashi-sensei?!"
Kakashi yelled at her.
"Saya get out of here! We cannot save this village! It's going to collapse! The fire is spreading too fast and my water jutsu isn't stopping it!" Kakashi went to follow her but one of the houses he was in collapsed, trapping him inside.
"Kakashi-sensei!" she screamed and ran to the house only to stumble back due to the smoke and fire blazing around the house.
Her mind raced. He was stuck in there and she could not help him. Tears that she rarely ever showed ran down her face leaving wet stains down her cheeks.
"I don't know what to do Kakashi-sensei! What do I do?!" she yelled crying out of fear that the only person who ever gave her a chance could be lost to her forever.
Then…something happened. She heard a beat. It sounded like her heart beat, but ten times louder, and its power shook her. Her eyes widened and she heard a voice. At first she thought it was Kakashi's but it wasn't. It was a deep echoing sound.
"Let me help you…" she heard it say.
Saya looked around but saw no one in sight. All the people had been evacuated.
"Let me help you...just call for me…"
Saya choked back on her tears.
"How? How do I call for you?! How can you help me?!" Saya yelled to no one in particular.
"Summon me…"
Saya's eyes widened. She knew how to summon but one could only summon if they had a beast in their possession, like the Sannins or like Naruto and Gaara.
She did not have a beast...that she knew of at least.
"Summon me…"
Saya shook her head and went for it. What else could she do? She bit her thumb and slammed her hand palm down onto the ground. Weird symbols incased the ground and Saya felt light headed.
"Let me do the rest child…"
Saya's nails grew long and black, her arms became incased with the black symbols on the ground. Her hair became a fiery flame color and her eyes turned crimson with golden flecks. Her voice became deeper and she felt different chakra flowing through her veins. The ground began to shake and a flaming bird came up from the ground. Saya felt like she was watching this outside of her body. She never blinked. She saw herself stand up and command the bird to get Kakashi out of the house. She watched as she lifted the collapsed house with her mind and the bird pulled Kakashi onto its back. Then she watched as she dropped the house and jumped onto the bird flying high up in the sky and away from the danger. Kakashi stirred and rose staring at her.
"Saya, is that you?"
Saya nodded unsurely.
"I think so…"
Her voice was so deep she jumped. Kakashi stared at the bird that after a while got tired of him staring and spoke up.
"You are annoying me with that staring thing you're doing Kakashi. Please cut it out."
Kakashi was startled and apologized. He looked at Saya who shrugged.
"What's your name?" Saya asked the bird who continued to fly.
"My name is Ren…I am the legendary Phoenix and you…are my host."
Saya's eyes widened.
"How?"
Ren chuckled softly.
"I've lived in you since you could remember my child…you were born with the right genes to hold my chakra. So I sealed myself inside of you until you were old enough to release me yourself. You did well…though now that I am out…I cannot go back in …so I will remain a smaller version of myself…and follow you around…like a pet. I will also help you get stronger using my techniques. This does not come without consequence though…I take up a lot of chakra…and times will be hard but you will be alright…I think I'll land now. You both are near Konoha. You can walk the rest of the way…"
With that she landed and transformed into a small flame colored bird. Saya changed back to herself losing all the symbols and crumpled to the ground unconscious. Kakashi carried Saya the rest of the way home. Only Tsunade, Kakashi and Jiraiya knew of the Phoenix.
End Flashback.
Finally Saya reached her destination and looked up. She saw him standing there on top of a pole.
"Naruto-kun welcome home!" she yelled up to him.
Naruto looked down upon hearing the familiar voice. He grinned running down and hugging her tightly. They met up with Sakura and began walking to Tsunade's office. While walking they met Temari and Shikamaru walking in the other direction. Temari informed Naruto that Gaara was the new Kazekage of Suna. Naruto looked sad at first but then was happy for Gaara. Saya smiled. She greeted Temari with a hug. They both had become close since Temari visits Konoha a lot to keep relations smooth. At the Hokage tower Tsunade greeted Naruto and then sent him to go fight Kakashi to see how he had improved. Turns out Naruto improved greatly as he retrieved the bells from Kakashi. They all went to celebrate and went to eat some ramen. Little did they know that tomorrow…everything would change for them because of the events that were taking place in Suna that night.
The Next Chapter Will Be Up Soon!!!