First off did anyone notice in the last chapter Itsuki called Kankuro a nut? I laughed when I was editing it cause I didn't even remember doing that! Lol (sorry, I wanted to point that out -.-;;)

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/Pre-story Notes\

First, I want to thank all 188 of you that have hit my story, to the 33 of you who've read the second chapter, and the 28 of you who've stuck through to the 3rd. WHY DON'T ANY OF YOU REVIEW? Maybe I sound a little desperate and forgive me for that but I love input! So please review even if you don't like it.

Shukaku-chan: Because your the only person that reviewed you are super special in my book and I hope you found the link to my DeviantART on my profile because there's quite a number of Gaara wallpapers I've made.

As for my story I'm happy you like it so early on, I will continue this story knowing that there are those that like it. And here is the next chapter as you puppy-dog eyed me for. nn

Genji Maeko: Thanks for adding Lullaby to your faves I'm most honored. Check out my profile as stated above. Hope you enjoy

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So who will get to disclaim today? -draws name- Oh hey look its Baki-sensei. Alright go ahead!

Baki: Tsuki-san doesn't own Naruto or any of the characters except those she created.

Right-o, nicely done Baki-sensei -thumbs up- (little formal with the -'san' part but hey...)

Baki: -curt nod- ... -walks off-

Every one is so weird...

Now on with the fiasco!

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Final Preparations "We Leave Today"

For the six shinobi of the Tsuki-Suna alliance the end of the week came sooner than both expected and would have liked. Over the remainder of the week they'd trained managing to build moderate trust and even fragile partnerships. Their sparing matches hadn't taught them everything about the teams but they learned enough. Temari found that though she appreciated Itsuki's more precise fighting style; she liked Mitsuki's quiet attitude much more. Itsuki remained fascinated by Kankuro's puppets; even more so when the Suna genin and Hitomi faced off. Though it seemed Kankuro was at a disadvantage to her speed; he gained victory when he unveiled the marionettes he used in battle. The gray-eyed kunoichi passed out for nearly 15 minutes after that refusing to ever work with 'those creepy things'. Gaara disliked all three of the Tsuki ninja; Itsuki was a smart-ass; Mitsuki was polite but partly as bad as his twin, and the kunoichi had sarcasm that flowed like a river. Hitomi already accepted that Gaara was not going to trust her. However; after sparing together she felt he held a grudging respect for her abilities. The six met their sensei at the assigned gate; prepared for the one and a half days journey north.

"If you're fast you won't have to spend the night in the desert. When you arrive at the target point it will be your decision on how to handle the mission. Good luck and be careful." Baki nodded to his students and those of the geisha. Nodding they silently ensured that their water bottles were in place and exited the north gate.

"Hey why are you coming sensei?" Itsuki raised a brow his chin length platinum blond hair ruffled by the wind; making the extensive layering more prominent.

"Itsuki-kun I hope you haven't forgotten where I live." The geisha raised her own brow; waving her fan back and forth; she'd chosen a pale pink kimono with koi fish swimming up a silk thread stream. Though she'd tried to beat the heat in light colors, it hadn't helped much. Itsuki didn't speak but clearly he'd been outsmarted; the other two ninja on his team smirked.

"Don't push yourselves too hard.' Nozomi offered; taking a slightly different path into the desert, her speed a marvel to behold.

After an hour of travel through the heat the group decided to rest; sipping from their water bottles. The twins decided it was time to have a chat with their team leader.

"We need to steal Hitomi-chan; we'll be back in a minute." Itsuki grinned waving as he lead Hitomi away. As soon as Mitsuki was certain they were out of ear shot of the Sand siblings they stopped.

"What's this about?" Hitomi shifted her weight her eyes narrowing as they set upon the Suki twins.

"I think its important that we realize this mission may be the spark that starts the war." Mitsuki took on his usual serious tone; always thinking, it was hard for the ebony haired chuunin to miss anything. Hitomi nodded taking this seriously into consideration; Itsuki also stopped all three glanced at each other.

"Granted that the Taiyo ninja have been building their forces for the last thirty years they may have enough power to retaliate after this mission. But Gaara-san and I were briefed on specifics. This particular base holds a large part of their army; if we eliminate every enemy they'll be remotely weak afterwards" Hitomi replied; she recalled the briefing. She glanced at her partners; it wasn't concern for their talents that Nozomi had. The fact remained the Akiyama twins were stubborn when to came to working with a third party. It had been nearly a year and a half ago when Hitomi returned from her father's training. In between her grieving for her father and taking the position as family head; the girl had been assigned to them. Having failed the survival exam for the fourth time with two different partners; they treated Hitomi with little hope. However the kunoichi had used their bullheadedness to her advantage and the three managed to pass.

"So you're completely willing to go through with this mission?" Mitsuki ensured one last time; the other two nodded and Itsuki put his hand in the center.

"I swear on our sensei Tonobogiri Nozomi that I will complete this mission if it costs me my life." Itsuki spoke with a different sort of pride; and Hitomi smiled and placed her hand atop, when Mitsuki joined the three nodded and swore to uphold the pride of their village. When they walked back to the Suna ninja they received odd stares but everyone agreed to continue on. After some time the relatively flat desert because hilly with dunes of all sizes.

"Kankuro-san how in the name of the gods do you survive in that black jumpsuit?" Hitomi panted as they climbed over a rather large sand dune; just looking at the puppeteer made her dizzy in exhaustion.

"You get used to it; you still have that mangled sweater on." The boy commented; staring at the garment. It looked as though it had battled against a pair of scissors and lost. There were great holes all over the arms and torso; where it revealed her violet tank-top.

"It's called cut-sew and I'm only wearing it because I don't want to burn up." Hitomi retorted molding a bit of chakra on her feet to prevent slipping down the sand hill. She watched as Gaara casually strolled up the hill; his abilities allowing him to harden the sand beneath his feet. Hitomi groaned as she looked at all the other dunes in their way; she sat down and took a sip from her water bottle.

"When are we supposed to get there?" Temari wondered replacing her own water bottle.

"We should be there by noon tomorrow." Gaara replied when Hitomi didn't; who swallowed her water and nodded.

"It will give us time to do some re-con. We're sneaking in after the sun goes down." The girl stood and slid carefully down the sand; tumbling the last few paces she stood and spent the rest of the day-light hours shaking sand out of unwanted places

The sun had finally set and the shinobi were allowed to pick up their pace; the dropping temperature required them to use more of their muscles to create heat. None of them were strangers to the cold; desert nights for Suna and long winters for Tsuki. It had become clear during training that the strong point of the Tsuki shinobi was speed; and team Baki was having a slightly hard time keeping up with the three. After traveling for three more hours in spurts of high speed they finally stopped an hour or so from the border between Tsuki no Shuu and Kaze no Kuni. Kankuro and the Suki twins unrolled their sleeping bags and almost instantly fell asleep. Hitomi and Temari; as females usually do carefully spread out their bag and laid down.

"Gaara can you wake us up at dawn?" Temari yawned; the red head nodded and the blond rested her head on the pillow.

"Have a pleasant evening Gaara-san." Hitomi lazily flicked her wrist; she sat on her back for several minutes watching the moon rising over their heads. She noticed that Gaara was watching it as well; Hitomi wanted to say something but nothing really seemed appropriate so she rolled over and tried to sleep. Finding it just a tad unnerving that he'd be awake all night. Several hours passed and Gaara snapped out of his meditation; the moon had sank and the millions of stars provided outlines of his siblings and the three ninja of Tsuki. He glared in the direction of the kunoichi; she was facing him but so protected by her cover that only her eyes peeked out. A groan from another directions caught Gaara's attention and he watched as the blond twin unconsciously unzipped his bag and threw off the covers only to clutch them back a moment later.

"Kikai…" the boy muttered and watched as the sky lightened and eventually turned into a rosy color; he stood and walked over to his sleeping sister.

"Wake up." Gaara nudged his sibling and she rolled around asking for her customary extra 5 minutes. Rolling his eyes the red head walked over to his brother; who was surprisingly much easier to wake up. The puppeteer sat up his violet face-paint smudged and almost mechanically he went to work by rolling up his sleeping bag. Mitsuki heard the noise and roused from his sleep; sitting up he stared ahead blankly while shaking his twin. Itsuki sat up their hair despite its many difference was all pushed to the same side; yawning they stood up and stretched.

"Wake up Hitomi-chan." Itsuki ordered rolling away his own sleeping bag. Mitsuki stood and leaned over his team leader she was still snuggled up; though the expression she wore hinted that either the light or the sudden movement was bothering her.

"Hitomi-chan if you don't wake up the desert heat is going to cook you inside that sleeping bag." The girl opened her light grey eyes; squinting or maybe glaring. Gaara patiently waited for the 5 ninja to finish packing. By the time they'd finished their minimal breakfast of slightly dry onigiri they were on their way. With half the water they'd left with the group knew they had to be out of the desert before noon. Steadying their pace they reached the border in under 30 minutes; escaping the first wave of intense heat.

-------------------------------Tsuki-chan's After Thoughts-----------------------------------

To most, it might be kinda ooc for Temari to be the '5 more minutes' type; but I liked the idea and after some serious contemplation went with it.

-FYI-

(Tsuki no) Shuu – Province (of Tsuki)

Kikai- 'Weird'. Gaara uses this in reference to Itsuki's unconscious sleep behavior.

I'm not 100 percent sure about these translations because I'm using a free translation dictionary but there they are. (If you happen to know the exact word I'd really like to know)

Anyway I did edit this on my own so I'm almost certain there are no spelling mistakes but if you happen to spot one inform me. Thanks much.

P.S. I actually wrote their training sessions and might feature them as an extra if I go through writers block.