Hey everybody sorry that this chapter is a little short but I have to build up into the jounin exams. For this I am having a surprise twist coming in sometime after the jounin exam.

Last time:

Gaara was unresponsive for a moment but then he seemed to catch a hold of himself and his arms too wrapped around her and he held her close, cradling close the one person who he had always trusted.

"What's going on here?"

Now:

Chapter 6: Moments

Sasuke watched his sister disappear into the forest chasing after the person who had released those kunais at her. He would have followed but at that moment he was confused as to why there had been a sand wall there to protect his sister from the shurikens and kunais that had wished to harm her.

He watched the spot she had disappeared into staring hard at it until he noticed a red blur disappear into the woods along the same area. A hand on his shoulder drew him out of his reverie and he turned his head to glance at the pink headed kunoichi that was standing beside him. Those wide green eyes stared up at him in understanding before she nodded and began to walk off catching a hold on his arm to drag him along with her.

He was staring down at the hand that dragged him along dazzlingly wondering why it felt so warm against his skin, why it caused a strange feeling inside of his stomach. It was when that thought crossed through his head that he shook himself into awareness.

They found two dead sound nin laying upon the ground. Sakura made her way over to them to check and make sure that they were both dead and that there was nothing that she could do for them being the medic that she was.

She shook her head to them Shinobi surrounding her taking off farther into the woods following the ninja that had made their way before her. Sasuke soon caught up with her running at her side in the shaded canopy.

Sasuke caught sight of blur of silver, turning his head to glance in the way it had gone. He faltered for there in the shadows was a pair of golden eyes staring back at him with malicious amusement. The eyes disappeared and he noticed that Kabuto was fleeing from a direction to the northeast at about sixty three degrees.

He turned back to Sakura to noticed that she too had seen the silver haired sound nin who had betrayed them during their chunin exams. He gazed at her wondering what her reaction would be when he noticed the slight fear in her emerald eyes. It was then that he noticed it wasn't fear for herself, but fear for him, fear that he would leave her alone again to return to the clutches of the snake sannin Orochimaru.

Sasuke clasped her shoulder and shook his head telling her with the simple movement that he wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon to go and join the immortality obsessed pedophile. She smiled at him her green eyes shining as she nodded back and then turned to follow the others once again.

They finally reached the area where the fight had occured noticing that several sound nin had lost their lives in the forests of Konoha on that fateful day. But it wasn't the sight of the multiple dead sound Shinobi that drew his attention, it was the sight of his sister in the arms of the Godaime Kazekage.

"What's going on here?" He asked harshly, his voice a little choked as he watched the leader of the wind Shinobi release his sister and turn to stare them with that empty gaze of his.

"Ah, Uchiha, what a nice surprise it is to finally see you back." His voice was cold and unattached and spoke nothing of his inner thoughts to kill the traitor.

"Sakura, have you gotten a count of how many of them there are? I know there was one other, Yakushi Kabuto, current missing nin of Konoha." Shinkara told the pink headed kunoichi who nodded her head before rushing off to inform Tsunade of the new information regarding the sound nin.

"Gaara, what are you doing here?" The startled voice of one Temari spoke from the shadows. Gaara turned to his sister and stared before giving her an 'hn' and walking away.

"Come along Sasuke dearest, I must go and report to Tsunade-sama about what just happened here and you are going to accompany me." She pulled him along with her looping her arm through his own as they walked back to the training grounds where they found the Godaime talking to the other Godaime. How had Gaara gotten there before they had? Oh well who knew the man worked in mysterious ways so she really couldn't begin to understand.

"My lady, my lord." Shinkara bowed to the two kages followed by her brother though his was rather stiff. His eyes were cold and aloof as he watched the Kazekage talking to the Hokage. How the man had become Kazekage he wouldn't know.

"Aw, Uchiha-san, Uchiha-kun." Tsunade greeted them not noticing the strange look that Gaara was giving the female Uchiha at the announcement of her last name.

"My lady, I was attacked by sound nin while fighting with my brother, Sasuke, and I am sure that I would have been severely wounded had it not been for Gaara-sama. So as a token of my gratitude I would like to offer my home and time to him while he is in Konoha." She smiled at this shooting her brother a triumphant look when his features dropped and he suddenly seemed as if he was going to die just from the mere thought of Gaara staying in the same house as him.

"I believe that that would be a wonderful idea if it is okay with the lord Kazekage." Tsunade also smiled as she too noticed the look on the male Uchiha's face. She then glanced over to see what Gaara's answer would be. He seemed to be thinking it over before he nodded slightly causing a smile to break over host of the Houkou's face.

"Yes!" She shouted sending a thought through everyone's mind that she reminded them of a certain blonde Shinobi.

Speaking of that blonde he came running at them yelling something about amazing Uchiha's and sand men. He came screeching to a halt directly in front of them grinning widely his smiling splitting the side of his face.

"Naruto, what can I do for you?" Tsunade asked the blonde teenager. He smiled at her before turning to grin at his friends.

"I just came to congratulate Shina and Gaara on kicking those sound ninjas buts. They have finally gotten a county in. Over thirty three dead bodies and two left alive." Tsunade nodded at him before bowing politely to Gaara and the others and then turning to walk away but not before calling out over her shoulder.

"I want to see the four of you in my office at eight bright and early tomorrow. Don't be late."

"Well we must be going." Shina announced after the departure of the hokage. She wrapped her arm around the arm of the silent Kazekage who only stared. Then she turned to her brother. "Tell aniki that we are going to be having a guest and that dinner had better be ready when I get home or I am going to so kick his ass." She smiled then she too walked leaving behind a blonde hyperactive yet now refined ninja and a moody Uchiha.

Sasuke felt a hand fall upon his shoulder and turned expecting it to be the annoying blonde but instead his eyes met with those of emerald. Sakura smiled up at him softly before removing her hand from his shoulder. Naruto sensing that something was going to happen smiled before saying he had to leave and ran off to go find Kakashi.

Sasuke glanced around noticing the people that were still lingering in the training grounds before letting his wondering eyes settle once more on the pink haired kunoichi.

"Umm, Sasuke do you want to go for a walk?" She asked him quietly and the Uchiha nodded before turning to walk away Sakura closely by his side.

They made their way to a quiet secluded park where they sat beneath a swaying cherry blossom tree. Things were quiet though it was a comfortable silence and not an odd one.

"Thank you." The words were blown on the breeze and if Sakura hadn't been sitting downwind of Sasuke she would have never heard them even then she still doubted that they were real.

"Nani? She asked him softly silently telling him to repeat the words he had just uttered. In a bout of courage, Sasuke sighed.

"Thank you." He said once again.

Sakura smiled at him before asking him why he was thanking her, she hadn't done anything to merit the thanks.

"You tried to fight for me, when I betrayed Konoha to go with Orochimaru." His voice was melancholy. "No don't interrupt let me finish what I have to say." He told her when she tried to voice her thoughts.

"My sister was the one who got me to finally return to Konoha, but honestly she was the final piece that led me back here. The one thing that made me yearn to return was you. You were my one true friend and I felt bad for leaving you lying there on the bench those years ago. "His voice was solemn as he spoke, the raven hair of his masking his eyes from her inquiry ones, the wind blowing it gently over his pale skin.

"Sasuke." Sakura replied her feelings filling her words with a soft power which raised his head slightly to gaze at her through the black curtain of silk. "Thank you for finally admitting that you view me as one of your friends. You don't know what that means to me."

After their little confessions they sat there in their comfortable silence enjoying the warm breeze of the spring air the birds singing their joyous tunes.

They sat there for moments and then as one they left parting their separate ways when the Uchiha compound came into view. Sasuke glanced around making sure that his sister hadn't made it home before he had and then made his way quickly inside to warn his brother of what the female Uchiha had said.

There in the kitchen stood a worn looking Itachi glancing at the food he had just made with a glare as if urging it to up and die. Sasuke smirked at the sight of the ex-Akatsuki member standing there in an apron. Suddenly a light flashed to his left and he turned in time to see his sister holding up a camera and grinning like a mad man, or woman in her case.

She then pranced past the red headed sand nin and out of sight coming back a moment later with a smile on her face and a tune on her lips. Itachi was glaring now at her and Gaara was looking as if he was about to smirk also. Sasuke had to admit he loved it when he got to watch a war brew between his brother and sister. That was until he was brought into it.

The food was placed on the table and since Gaara was the guest, and the Kazekage, they served him first and then the rest of them made their plates. They talked in between bites, well more like Shinkara talked, Itachi grunted, and Sasuke and Gaara stared moodily, but amusingly between the two.

"Come along Gaara I will show you to your room while my idiot brothers clean up this mess and do the dishes." And then she escorted Gaara out of the room leaving her brothers to do exactly as she had just said.

Sasuke and Itachi mumbled under their breaths as they both gathered up what was left of the dishes and placed them into the hot water filled sink to be washed and dried.

Sasuke and Itachi then headed off to their rooms each of them forgetting to tell the other goodnight. It was that morning that would bring them surprises beyond their dreams.

Sasuke woke up the next morning and pulled himself together remembering that he had a meeting with the hokage in about thirty minutes and that he had to be there on time less he set a bad example. He rolled his eyes; it wasn't as if his jounin instructor had ever been on time once in his pitiful excuse for a life. He pulled on his black pants and black shirt before running a comb through his hair and then exiting the room.

Sasuke noticed his sister was in the kitchen of the main house, the smell of bacon and eggs making its way to his nose. He followed the smell of the food and found his sister and the freak in the kitchen. Hn.

"Don't even think about touching that food Sasuke." His sister scolded him as he reached for a piece of bacon her back turned to him her eyes forward. He grunted and then sat down in his own chair at the table which was as far away from Gaara as he could get.

"Ok we have twenty minutes to make it to the Hokage's office so grab what you can, eat as fast as you can, and then let's go." She announced after handing Gaara his own plate and then glaring at her brother as she made her own plate and began to dig into it with a speed to match Naruto's.

Within five minutes they were finished and were leaving for the Hokage's office. The trip was made in silence not a word spoken between the teenaged trio. They finally made it to the Hokage's office where they were greeted with the sight of the rest of the rookie nine and Neji, Lee and Tenten.

"Ok since we are all here I have a mission for you. The lord Kazekage has noticed something strange happening in the land between here and Suna. So I am sending you with him to figure out what the problem is. But I know that the Jounin exams start tomorrow and most of you are taking this for which I have discussed this with Gaara. So as soon as the exams are over you will be leaving." Tsunade stated as soon as the trio entered the room. After she had announced this they turned to look at Gaara who was of course ignoring them in his own subtle way.

"So good luck tomorrow and I will see you all here in two weeks. Oh yes and please remember to get your team assignments before tomorrow. Dismissed." And they all departed the office ignoring each other until they were clear of the Hokage.

"So Sasuke, are you taking the Jounin exam tomorrow?" Ino asked him slyly. Everyone glanced at him expecting his answer. He stared.

"Yes. My partner is Shinkara." At this they turned to look at the raven haired female who was standing beside Gaara watching them with innocent eyes. Then she blinked and smiled.

"Oh Sasuke I knew that you loved me!" She threw herself onto her brother getting a look from those who had no idea that these two were related in anyway. But honestly how could they not tell they were twins after all, sure one was male and the other was female but so.

"Who are you?" Ino screeched. (Sorry but I really see Ino screaming something like that.) Those who did know the Uchiha just shook their heads and smiled secretly.

"Who me?" She asked innocently of the blonde giving her wide eyes at the tone, though inside she was snickering at the idiot.

"Yes you." God Ino was getting pissy; it made it sound as if she believed that Sasuke was hers or that she had to know everything about anything. She smiled.

"Oh I'm Uchiha Shinkara." She said this putting a slight emphasis on the Uchiha making it sound as if she knew that it would piss off the blonde, which it did.

"What!" Yep now there was one totally pissed off Ino.

"Oh yes, I'm Sasuke's twin sister." Well that seemed to deflate things. The blonde watched her, all of the anger that had filled her just moments before disappearing in a moment. Those who didn't know this stared at the two trying to understand how in the hell it had come upon that there was another Uchiha alive, because the last they knew they had all been killed.

"How?" Asked the shy voice of Hinata Hyuuga.

"Well, that's a story best left for another day." Shinkara replied and then walked away taking the Kazekage and her twin with her. Jounin exams were about to begin and they had to train.

Hey everyone in case you are wondering Sasuke is going to be taking the Jounin exam cause he magically snuck in to take the Chunin exam under disguise…or so I say…sorry for all of those Ino fans out there but she annoys me…so….yea…

Love,

Eternity