I am in no way affiliated with nor own Naruto, Viz Media, Shonen Jump, or anything concerning such subjects. Naruto is property of Masashi Kishimoto. Ai, Mae, Ruekia, and Machiko are original characters that are in no way related to the actual Naruto anime.

Chapter Nine! I'm back people! Hiatus is off! Well, this was probably the longest time from my computer/combination writer's block ever. But, I got it done, didn't I? XD Well, here you go. The long awaited, Ai of the Desert Chapter Nine!

Gaara was on the sand dune, blood red hair flowing in the wind, the black sky above sprinkled with dusty stars. Ai felt the wind send chills down her back, and through her black hair. She could not tell why, but she could not take her eyes off him, perhaps from wondering why he was not asleep, or from the sight of him in such an elegant state. Yet, fatigue would get the best of her. Her heavy eyelids blinked; once, twice, three times. In a graceful manner, her slender form slumped and hit the sand. She was out cold.

Ai woke up to find herself chilled, with a blanket underneath her. 'That's weird. I must have passed out on the sand! But I don't remember having a blanket…'

"Hypothermia." Ai heard an all too familiar voice say bluntly.

"Wh-what?" Ai asked Gaara in a confused voice."

"If I hadn't put that blanket there, you'd be dead. The sand would have absorbed your bodily heat."

"Oh..." Quickly, she turned her face away so he couldn't see her furious blushing. "I'm sorry Gaara-san…" That's when she realized what Gaara would have to do to move her. She felt her face burn a deeper red.

"You should be." He said before he walked away. Ai got up, the sun had barely risen. Her arms were nearly freezing, and she realized she was wearing only her nightdress. She stumbled over to where Mae still apparently was sleeping. Quietly she grasped her bag, and stepped over behind the sand dune to get changed. She grabbed a white tank top from her bag and a black slit-skirt. She pulled them on, after applying her skin-tight fishnet gloves and leggings, and tugged on a pair of black shorts. Doing her best to brush her hair in the desert winds, she tied her headband into her hair, and put her earrings in. While she was doing this, her hands met the necklace around her collar. Memories of her mother flashed by, and she held the talisman tightly. With her back against the sand, she closed her eyes for a mere second, and then wiped a tear from her eye. She repacked her bag, and walked away. As she did this, Ai nearly bumped into Gaara, but a hand of sand grabbed her arm and pushed her away.

"Were you crying?" Gaara asked, raising his eyebrow as if he had one.

"Huh?" Ai's eyes widened, "Eh, no, nope, all good here!" She waved her hands in front of her defensively.

"Right." He walked of dismissively and coldly. Ai sighed and wiped her brow. She knew that Gaara didn't believe her, but she also knew that he was so cold that he didn't care. By the time she had gotten back to the camp area, everyone was awake and pursuing morning preparations. Mae was running a brush through her shiny violet hair, Temari was tying the sash around her waist, Kankurou was adding finishing touches to his make-up, and Ruekia was tossing her things into her bag. This was the last day of their journey.

Teams Ainiuero and Sand, exhausted and fatigued, looked up at the tree surrounded Konoha gate. In the setting sun, the leaves that were blown by the wind seemed to shine pink and gold. Ai's eyes glistened as she rested her arms on her knees, slightly hunched over while standing. Mae's purple hair was held temporarily in a messy ponytail, and her three black hair barrettes were loosened, more hair than ever in her face. In fact, everyone was in a state of fatigue except for Gaara, his temper cool as his icy eyes. Two Chuunin, clad in their green vests, were asking Temari questions about there purpose.

"You are the two teams from Sand?" One of them asked, scribbling notes on a clip board.

"Yes. If you check, we'll be in the list of competing Genin."

"Do you have identification?" The other shinobi inquired.

"Yeah." Temari flashed the two a card.

"Do they have ID?" Ai, Mae, Ruekia, Kankurou and Gaara pulled identification cards from their kunai pouches. "Everything appears to be in due order. I'll just stamp these then." The Chuunin took out a red rubber stamp and imprinted them on their cards, so each one read "TESTING" in bold letters. "Welcome to the Leaf Village, lets make these tests as orderly as possible, shall we?" The two Chuunin used a pulley to wrench open the gates, and as they creaked open, Ai saw the most interesting village she'd ever seen. There were several tall buildings, some that appeared to be built on top of each other. They were brightly painted and street signs and advertisements were scattered across the town. It was nothing like Sunakagure. Despite how much Ai was enchanted by the town, Temari, Kankurou and Gaara were unimpressed, as if they had seen it all before. Mae and Ruekia were too busy death glaring each other to notice anything. You could practically see sparks flying.

"Yep. So here we are." Kankurou said.

"Yeah…" Ai murmured. Even though she truly wanted to explore the city, something made her extremely sleepy. Probably the fact that the night before she had gotten practically no sleep and that they had been on the move for two days.

"Uh, Kankurou-kun, where are we going to stay?" Ruekia asked, in the flirtatious tone that she always used with him.

"That's an easy one, Atama-san. We had Baki-sensei and Team Ainiuero's sensei rent us some hotel rooms." Kankurou was as oblivious as ever to Atamagarui's advances.

"Oh, thank God." Mae sighed in relief. If you looked closely, you'd notice that she had bags under her eyes, and it seemed that the traveling had taken quite a toll on her. Quite a weighted toll. The second after they said this, they started their way to the hotel.

Upon arriving at the hotel, and half and hour of heated debating who sleeps where and in what room, everyone had finally settled their things in. The rooms were organized like this: Ai, Mae, Temari and Ruekia were to share the larger room, which had two twinsized beds and a couch pull-out bed, and Kankurou and Gaara were to reside in the opposing room. Kankurou had not originally desired to be left alone in a small room with Gaara, but in order to keep the peace between Ruekia and Mae, he had no choice. As Ai was settling in her things on her designated twin bed, she couldn't help but feel a tug of anxiety inside her. She was participating in one of the largest exams in the whole continent, maybe even beyond that. No matter how she put it, she couldn't help but think of how much she'd keep her team behind. "Gaara-kun and Mae-chan… are so strong… I'm a huge burden to them I bet." She dragged her belongings out of her bag and set them on the night stand next to her. She left her clothes folded in her bag and left that under the bed. "I really don't believe how I can be on a team with such powerful companions. It makes me feel so…. Weak." Ai's heart felt heavy, and a terrible feeling of dread and fear lay in her chest. "These exams will be way harder than I expected." Ai murmured in self-loathe as she collapsed on the hotel bed.

End of Ai of the Desert Chapter Nine.

light flickers on

AI'S MAILBAG

AI: Konnichiwa! This is the third installment of Ai's Mailbag. Whats up people!

MAE: Hey guys, whats up with not being on air in a while.

GAARA: Apparently the "author" was on Hiatus… hn.

AI: Wow.

MAE: Right.

AI: Okay, so lets read what reviews the readers have sent us!

how do you guys FEEL about being asked stupid questions, and Sasgay's gay

-from FearTheFan

AI: Well, it kinda cuts into my time contemplating the meaning of life. And, who?

MAE: It's a drag 'cause I lose precious sleep. What? Gay?

GAARA: It's demeaning. Sasuke IS gay.

RUEKIA: Uh, it doesn't, like, concern me or Kankurou-kun, so uhh… yeah.

MAE: Get outta here Ruekia-baka!

MACHIKO: It's great 'cause I got five bucks!

Mae: i will give u 500 yento beat up Ruekia
Ai: do u dream of Gaara
Gaara: if u could beat up only 1 of ur sibs who would it be?
Ruekia: do u have Karin sindrom or somthing?
Michi:can u add questions 2 art is a bang?
byes

-from Ayumi Uchiha

MAE: 500 yen huh? Well…. runs out of room and drags Ruekia by the arm Take that biyatch! screams

AI: Uh.. Er… Why do my dreams concern you? whispers Yes!

GAARA: Oh. Tough choice. rolls eyes Kankurou.

RUEKIA: Woah, question for me. Uh, Karin syndrome? My doctor says so, but I don't quite think I match the criteria.

MICHI: Uhm… Sure? curtain falls and everyone stares Pay no attention to the writer behind the curtain!

lawl. I likes this story alot. its interesting. plz update soon!

-from Hibiki-chan

AI: Thanks.

MAE: Wooh, we're interesting.

GAARA: …

AI:Here's another from Ayumi Uchiha!

LOL sents over 500 yen there u go!!3

MACHIKO: Sweet! I'm gonna go buy a pack of gum!!

MICHI-CHI! I READ YOUR CHAPTER! HAPPY NESS! I HAVE A QUESTION FOR. . . EVERYONE! 100 YEN IF YOU CAN GUESS MY HALLOWEEN COSTUME!
YOU WROTE A GOOD CHAPTER MICHI-CHI! NOW TO GET HYPER BEFORE WE HAVE P.E. TOMORROW!

-from teal-flowers

MICHIYO, AI, MAE, AND GAARA: Thank you!

AI: Well, that's all our reviews! See you in… Chapter Ten!

MAE: Thank you for supporting our story from the beginning… FearTheFan and Ayumi Uchiha! And to teal-flowers as well!

Remember, Chapter 10 is going to be Ai of the Desert's Anniversary! Celebrating a whole ten chapters and a year and a half of writing and dedicated reading! Thank you all! Keep your eyes out for Chapter 10! Michi… Out!