A/N: Hey all, here we go again! AnnaRobsZombies, this one's for you! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters. AnnaRobsZombies owns Kye, PurpleMonkeyCAY owns Akito, and I own Darcy.

Chapter Eight:

Something New?

Darcy's POV

"Akito, seriously, you've been in there for, like, three days! Come out already!" I cried, knocking on her door again. "How are you even eating?"

The door swung open, and Akito appeared. "I have a friend bring me food."

I looked past her and saw… was that Shino in there?

"Is that Shino?" I asked.

"Um… and what if it is?" She asked me.

"The better question is why is he in your room? A boy! In your room!" I cried, throwing my hands up.

"Oh, please, you're so not my mother," she said, hands on her hips. "Besides, someone had to help me get over Naruto."

"If you would have let us in, we would have!" I said in exasperation.

"Who is this 'we' you speak of?" Akito asked. "I don't see Kye anywhere!"

"She's probably with Neji," I said with a shrug. "But I would have helped you! We're friends, and teammates, remember!"

"Yeah, you're right," she said with a resigned sigh. "I guess you need to go, Shino."

He nodded, and jumped out the window.

"Come on, Akito, let's go out and do something," I said.

She smiled and nodded.

We walked around and talked for a while, and eventually found ourselves in the field where Gaara and I had gotten into a fight.

"So Naruto stood you up?" I asked.

"Yeah, it didn't sound like it was on purpose, but I don't regret what I did," she said. "I love him, but I'm not gonna be with someone who can't pay for dates, and then says he'll cancel plans and ends up forgetting. I mean, I didn't ask him to do that."

"So then where does Shino fit into all of this?" I asked

"Well, he was the first person to find me after the whole Naruto incident," she said with a shrug.

"And how long as he been in your room?" I asked her, eyeing her carefully, watching her body language to make sure she didn't lie.

"Oh, he was in there the whole three days," she said with a wink.

I gaped at her, at a loss for words.

She stared at me for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Oh my God, your face! It's hilarious! Don't worry, I'm kidding. He came by a couple times with food, that's it."

I sighed with relief, then hit my friend. "Don't do that again! But I'm glad he's helping you. How do you feel about him?"

She opened her mouth to speak, and then stopped. "I… I'm not sure, honestly," she replied. "But I know I'm very thankful for his company."

I smiled at her, and was about to speak, when I sensed someone approaching. Akito and I turned at the same time to see Kye running at us, with Neji in toe behind her. I was getting ready to make a snaky comment until she got closer and I saw the concern on not just her face, but Neji's as well.

"Darcy, Akito, there's an emergency, we need to report to Lady Tsunade's office immediately," Kye gasped out. "Come on, hurry, there's no time to lose!"

We all ran after her as we darted through the village to the Hokage's building.

We hurried in, and I surprised to see the rest of Neji's team was here, as well as Shino's team, and Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi. Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro stood behind Lady Tsunade, with Shizune next to them. Tsunade, Shizune, and Gaara and his team all looked worried, while everyone else looked confused and worried. Clearly no one had been filled in yet, but it was obvious something was wrong with this many people in the Hokage's office.

"Good, you're all here," Tsunade said, just as I closed the door behind me. "Kye, Darcy, Akito, remember that map you found in one of Orochimaru's old bases?" We nodded. "We think we've figured it out, and we don't like what we've found. Remember how Konoha was attacked during the Chunin Exams." She looked at the other ninja teams now. "Well, two Chunin exams ago, there was no action from Orochimaru, probably because he had Sasuke, and he needed to train him. Not to mention The Third Hokage took his soul hands. Well, now that his hands are better, and Sasuke is stronger, we fear the Sand Village is in danger. Our spies have noticed movement within his organization, and we fear he's heading towards the Sand Village. We can't send Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari back. Gaara needs to be here for the Chunin Exams, and he needs his guards, which is why we want to send you.

"I picked you three," Tsunade nodded at me, Kye, and Akito, "Because not only did you find this map, but Darcy already has connections in the Sand, and you three have shown amazing skill. I chose three," she nodded at Lee, Neji, and TenTen, "Because of your speed and taijutsu skills, as well as Neji's byakugon. I chose you three," she nodded at Kiba, Shino, and Hinata, "Because of your tracking skills, as well as Hinata's byakugon. Finally, I chose you, Sakura, because I can't afford to send Shizune, and I need you to represent me. Kakashi, you will be the Jonin in charge of this mission. Naruto, well, you would have gone regardless."

Everyone nodded.

"I need you all to get to the Sand Village as soon as possible. Darcy," she looked at me as she handed me a tube with a strap on it. "This is the map, our decoders have put notes on there, so show this to Baki, and he'll know what to do." She looked at the entire group. "I know this is a large group, larger than I would usually send out, but you will have to be the Sand Village's defense until Gaara can return. Even after he returns, you will stay there until you are no longer needed." Finally, Lady Tsunade turned to Gaara. "I'm appointing Sakura to help advise Baki, as my personal advisor. Do you wish to assign anyone to help them?"

Gaara scanned the group, his eyes resting on me. He didn't smile, which just showed how serious a situation this was. "Can I trust you?"

"With your life," I replied.

"I appoint Darcy, then," Gaara said.

Lady Tsunade nodded. "Take no more than an hour to gather what you need. You must leave immediately, you must hurry."

There was a chorus of "yes, ma'am", and we all bolted from the room. Kye, Akito, and I all hurried to our house, and I knew Gaara was following. I slowed, only slightly, so Gaara and I could run together.

"This is a big responsibility," Gaara said. "I trust you will take care of my people. Of course, Baki will be there to help you, but he will take your word into consideration."

I nodded. "I'm glad you trust me, Gaara."

He looked at me, and finally smiled. A small smile, full of love. "You've grown so much. I hope you don't need to face Orochimaru, but if you do, I have complete faith you can survive that fight."

"I think you're putting a little too much faith in me, Gaara," I said bitterly. "There's no way I could defeat a legendary Sanin."

"I said you'd survive, I never said you could defeat him," Gaara replied. We had just reached my house, and Kye and Akito were already in there gathering their supplies. Gaara grabbed my arms before I could do anything, and made me face him. "Don't die. Please. I don't know what I'd do without you."

I moved my hands up to his face and kissed him. "Gaara, if I were to die, just know that I would die fighting. But I could never leave you. You don't need to worry about me. I know you will, but just know that I'll be fine."

"I know," Gaara said. He kissed me one last time. "Go get ready, good luck. I love you!"

"I love you, too!" I smiled and waved, and hurried inside.

I rushed up the stairs to my room, restocked my kunai and shuriken, and gathered some basic medical supplies, and was downstairs to see Kye and Akito waiting.

Akito had her sword on her back, and Kye had her two giant shuriken on her back, and her katana on her hips.

"Let's go." They nodded, and we hurried off to meet at the front gate.

When we got there, we were just waiting on Naruto. Shockingly enough, Kakashi was already there.

Once Naruto was there, we all assembled, ready to go.

Kakashi stood in front, facing us all, I stood with Naruto and Sakura in front of the group, Kye stood by Neji, with TenTen and Lee behind them, and Akito stood with Shino, with Kiba and Hinata behind them.

"Everyone ready?" Kakashi asked.

We all answered with strong yeses, and Kakashi spun around and started running, with the rest of the group close behind.

A/N: Okay, so I hope that was a super dramatic ending. Hope you liked it! Let me know what you think!