A/N: Here's another chapter! Hope you enjoy!

Evelynn trained hard during the next week, still feeling embarrassed from having to be rescued. The gym was always open after school for extra training if someone needed it. The plan was to train as much as possible so that there would not be a repeat of last time. She knew she would screw up on occasions, but that was one of the worst screw ups she has ever managed. I mean, a twig snapping!? That has to be stupidest way to get caught! She punched a sparring dummy as hard as she could. It seemed as though she barely tapped it. Irritated, she started kicking and punching the dummy as hard as she could and screaming. Naruto snuck up behind her and picked her up in a big bear hug.

"Now what did that dummy ever do to you?" Naruto laughed while holding a flailing, screaming Evelynn.

Evelynn relaxed and sighed, "I'm just frustrated from what happened."

Naruto put her down and patted her head, "It's alright. It could have happened to anyone."

"Everyone keeps saying that, but it doesn't change the fact that I may never be able to keep up with my team."

"Hey, believe it or not, but I was in the same boat not long ago."

"I believe it."

Naruto's smiling face turned into a snarl, "Jerk," he sighed and continued, "Anyways, I had a lot of trouble with training. I wasn't as good as everyone else, but over time I got better and I was able to keep up with everyone."

"I guess that makes me feel a little better… I just…"

Naruto cut her off, "Why do you want to become a ninja?"

Evelynn was caught off guard by this question and stuttered, "W-what?"

Naruto poked her head, "Just remember the reason why you want to be a ninja. It's not to impress him, right?"

Evelynn looked at the ground, a serious expression on her face. She looked up with determination gleaming in her eyes, "I'm doing it for myself and no one else."

That weekend, the team had plans to meet in the gym to do more training to get ready for their next mission. Gaara decided that it was time for him to start practicing with his sand. He was banned from using it at the school when he was younger due to multiple incidents with other children. Now that finals were coming up, they allowed him to once again use it so long as he does not use it on other students. He had earphones in, blasting music, while he trained. Suddenly, something hard hit his cheek and he stumbled to the side. Turning, he glared in the direction of where the hit came from.

Right there was Evelynn. He glared at her and growled, getting ready to yell at her. His sand began to move towards Evelynn, but what happened next shocked him.

Evelynn stood there, fire in her eyes, standing with more confidence than he had ever seen and her hands on her hips, "I'm not training to be a ninja to impress anyone, especially you. I don't have to prove anything to you so don't expect it. I only have to prove to myself that I'll be great. And I know for a fact that I'm going to be great."

Gaara was taken aback, but recovered quickly and continued glaring, "Why are you telling me this? I don't care."

"And I don't care about your opinion. You can look down on me and lecture me all you want, but I don't care. I have nothing to prove to you."

With that, Evelynn turned and started walking away. Gaara's glare slowly disappeared, but he wasn't about to forgive her for that punch. His sand quickly advanced towards her and wrapped around her ankles. Evelynn fell and the sand dragged her towards Gaara. It wrapped around her throat and lifted her up on her toes so that her eyes were level with his. She scratched at the sand trying to get it off of her neck. He stared right in her eyes, seeing a glint of fear, but it quickly changed. The way she looked at him, it was as if she was challenging him.

"I couldn't care less about what you said, but you're not getting away with punching me."

Suddenly something hit Gaara's back and he fell forward and his forehead hit Evelynn's. He turned and glared, a huge red circle on his head. The sand dropped Evelynn and shot towards the person who bumped him. It quickly stopped when he realized it was a teacher. Gai stood there with his arms crossed.

"If you want to pass your exams, you're going to have to learn to get along." He lectured.

"She holds the whole team back, how can I pass exams with her on the team?" Gaara said, nearly shouting.

He's much louder and more talkative than before. Gai thought before continuing. "You two not getting along is what's holding your team back. You can learn a lot from each other. If you don't get a long, you have no chance of passing."

"And how do you expect us to do that?" Evelynn asked, with genuine interest.

"There's a dance coming up in a few weeks. That's when you will get your headbands. I strongly suggest that each team attends, but it's not required. But it will be required for you. If you don't attend, you fail." Gai stated.

"Can you do that?" Evelynn asked.

"I'm a teacher. I can do just about anything I want." Gai said before laughing boisterously and walking away.

Temari and Kankuro entered the gym as Gai was walking out, having heard most of what happened.

"Well, it looks like we'll have to do some exercises then." Temari stated.

"What do you mean? We're already doing that." Kankuro said.

Temari shook her head, "No, I mean like trust exercises. If we want to pass, we need to bond and become a better team."

"Why do we have to do that? You never cared about it before." Kankuro pouted.

"Well we may not be close like most families, but we work pretty well as a team. It's Gaara and Evelynn that need to work things out." Temari explained. "Gaara, Evelynn, if you two keep clashing, we have no chance of passing. Work it out before the dance."

"Where do we start?" Evelynn asked.

Temari thought for a moment then positioned the two younger team members so that Gaara was facing Evelynn who was standing with her back to him.

"We'll start with something simple: the trust fall. Evelynn, you know what to do." Temari said.

Evelynn sighed, not really believing that Gaara would catch her, but she let herself fall backwards nonetheless. Something grainy and not really comfortable pushed against her back, catching her halfway through the fall. She rolled to the side and regained her balance. Seeing that it was Gaara's sand and not Gaara himself that caught her, she glared at him.

"That doesn't count!" she exclaimed.

Gaara made a sort of tch sound of irritation and crossed his arms, tilting his head upward as if to make himself seem bigger (or more important) than her. "You really expect me to touch you?" He said with a condescending tone.

Evelynn was prepared to argue, but Temari stopped them. "Quit it you two. He didn't let you fall, which is something. Now switch."

Gaara turned and Evelynn positioned herself behind him. Evelynn stood there with her arms out, ready to catch him, but after standing there for a while, she put her arms down.

"Why aren't you falling?" she asked.

"I don't need you to catch me." He stated.

Evelynn balled her hands into fists and huffed, "You saying you don't trust me?"

Gaara turned and glared at her, "I'm saying I don't need you. I'm fine with just my sand. You're useless."

"I'm not useless, now fall so I can catch you!" Evelynn shouted as she forcefully tried to turn him around and force him to fall, but he resisted. "You don't trust me!"

Gaara struggled from her grasp and turned ready to slap her, but his sister caught his wrist. He turned to glare at her, causing her to flinch a little, but it wasn't obvious to them. He pulled his wrist from her grasp and looked at Evelynn.

"Quit and get off my team. I don't trust you. I wouldn't trust you to catch me and I sure as hell wouldn't trust you with my life." He said coldly before leaving.

"Don't you dare take this away from me!" Evelynn screamed, her voice cracking towards the end.

Gaara glanced back at her, not really caring about whatever it was that she was talking about, though he saw just enough to see her shaking, tears streaming down her face and a look of… desperation on her face. He continued walking away, but for some reason, his chest hurt a little, which was strange because he doesn't remember getting hit on his chest any time recently. For a brief moment, he couldn't help but wonder what it was that she said he was taking away from her.

Evelynn glared at Gaara's back as he walked away. She could feel herself shaking and she pulled something out of her pocket and held it tightly, close to her chest. The image of Gaara began to blur slightly as tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Don't you dare take this away from me!" she screamed, feeling her voice cracking.

Evelynn held the object, a photo, to her face as she fell to her knees. She leaned forward, placing her forehead on the ground. Her whole body shook as she tried to hold everything back, but she couldn't. The pain was too unbearable and she sobbed, whispering 'don't take this from me', but it was hard to make out.

Temari and Kankuro approached her, not completely sure what to do. Temari knelt down and placed her hand on her back.

"I'm sure Gaara will calm down soon." Temari tried to reassure.

Evelynn shook her head thinking That's not it.

Temari looked concerned, "Is it about the photo? What is it?"

Evelynn tried her best to steady her breathing and between sobs managed to say, "My reason."

"Reason for what?" Kankuro asked, completely perplexed.

Temari turned to look at him, "For becoming a ninja."