Chapter 10

XXXXXX

"Oh, I'm sorry, Yamato-san. I thought that you had left, forgive me for disturbing you."

Yamato dusted off his blue jounin shirt while smiling over at the woman across from him. Had it not been for her warm hazel eyes that looked like a smoldering fire, he would have had to embaressingly try to remember her name.

Those eyes and her voilet long hair were the only things distinguishable during ANBU missions or brief meetings.

"Yugao-san, it's fine. Are you here to train?" he asked as he strode up to her, his black eyes relaxed and laid back for the first time since he arrived home from his mission.

He saw her shift her weight to the opposite foot as she smirked up at him, having to tilt her head slightly back due to the few inches he had her beat in height.

"Yes, I was. Seems none of us can stay away from the grounds for long, ne? Area one, two and three are taken and are being used for some workouts. This one and area five are the only ones le - "

A loud bang resounded from the area to the immediate left, and as Yugao and Yamato glanced over at the flying debris and chunks of earth, the male had to duck out of the way of an oncoming chunck of earth. He glanced down at the kunoichi and grinned in amusement.

"....Well, make that this area is the only one left not completely run over by shinobi on stand-by." Yugao amended and chuckled.

Yamato shrugged. "Well, let's not allow it to go to waste then, right? Up to a spar, Yugao-san?"

She made a show of pondering over the suggestion, as if it would be a burden for her to train with him. Yamato's mouth lifted into a half grin as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked pointedly down at her.

"Ah, I see, don't worry Yugao-san your secret is safe with me." he sighed and gave her a mock sympathy stare. "I understand that you are to worried about getting beaten by your captain to train."

He raised his arms over his head in a stretch manuvering one of his arms to cover his grin. Yugao rolled her hazel eyes and pulled back her fist before letting it snap foreward quickly, only to be caught at the wrist as Yamato chuckled.

"Hey now, what kind of ninja attacks an opponent who isn't even prepared?" he teased as he twisted her arm behind her back, making her face away from him.

She laughed and wriggled slightly, testing his force on her. "Tenz-...I'm sorry. I meant Yamato-san." she glanced back at him apologetically. It was dangerous to use an ANBU member's real name out in the open. At least for elite ones like himself. A captain as strong as Yamato was in danger if exposed and vulnerable.

She wasn't in that much of danger. To anyone, she was just another ANBU member. If her name was mentioned in conversation, it wouldn't cost her her life. Yamato one the other hand.....

Yamato shook his head. "It's fine. You can call me Tenzou. It sounds good to hear it from someone else besides myself saying it."

It was true. Hearing someone else say his true name made it more believeable that he was alive and not a walking shell of a human. That he existed and lived, breathed, and could see. Sometimes, just repeating your name over and over in silence just to make sure you were still there had the opposite affect and caused you to wonder if you were even real.

"Well then, Tenzou," Yugao slid her feet back between Tenzou's own and bent foreward, pitching her wieght toward the ground and succeeding in throwing the male over her body and to the earth. "Let's train!"

He blinked and stared up at her grin, as if in a paralytic state, be smirking up at her. "Sounds inviting."

His form 'poofed' away in a sudden burst of smoke and Yugao back flipped away a few yards before scanning the area. Her lithe body dodged to the left just as a kunai embedded itself into the soil where she had been standing before.

"You have to do better than that." she muttered under her breath as she settled into a fighting stance.

"Oh I plan to."

Yugao turned swiftly around with a kunai in her hand and swung out behind her. Tenzou moved back just in time and laughed as he blocked the kick she aimed for his abdomen, throwing his own kick shortly after.

The sounds of their training carried around the area, blending in with the other numerous shinobi finding peace in the familer dance of dodging, attacking, and defending. Tenzou didn't even have a chance to think about his previous mission or the sreaming and blood tied in with it.

Just as he knew it would, training gave him peace of mind. And with Yugao here, it even made it better. Making everything more bearable.

XXXXXX

Jaded eyes stared blankly at they blue sky. The clouds were floating by peacefully, a definite change from the previous day. Water puddles gathered in the shadows of buildings and the ground was slightly slick from the rain. Though it should have been slightly humid, the air was particulary clear and easy to breathe in.

A sigh escaped her thin lips as she started walking again. Small droplets of water splashed away from her boots as she stepped and her empty eyes followed them. Watching as they flew into the air, only to come crashing to the earth and splattering around her feet.

Sakura walked down the streets of Konoha, ignoring the pity stares directed at her from the villagers. They saw how she was withering away, and wondered how long it would be before she drifted completely into nothing. It was a scary thought, yes. Not to her though.

She had nothing more. Her training was finished. Her teammates were dead. And her first sensei couldn't even look her in the eye.

That's how it seemed to her. Kakashi avoided her because everytime he saw her he was assaulted by memories of Team 7. Maybe that wasn't the case and Kakashi was just being as aloof as always. It just appeared that way. Or perhaps it was just her imagining things.

She seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

Last night she had dreamed that Naruto was alive, and giving her that foxy grin he had always flashed at her. Earning her own smile in return. He had been sitting across from her, his blue eyes shining happily, and she couldn't stop gazing at him, afraid that if her eyes slid away from him for the merest of seconds he would disappear.

She remembered how his laugh had echoed around her mind, like sweet music. Her own giggles bubbling just under her lips. Odd sensations of happiness and excitement had been ignited in her, emotions she hadn't experienced since the blonde had fallen.

Sakura stopped in the middle of the street and gritted her teeth. Her fists clenched at her sides as her emerald eyes slid tightly shut. She didn't want to think of these things. It had been hard enough waking up from the dream and realizing that it was nothing, that it wouldn't be happening. Ever.

Her eyes slid open slowly and pointedly avoided the stares of passer-bys. Without another thought, she quickened her steps and headed for her apartment. At least there, her solitude was guaranteed.

XXXXXX

"K-Kazekage-sama!"

Gaara turned his head slightly to pin his intimidating stare at one of the people in the room. A female cryptologist. Her bright eyes immedialty widened at finding herself the center of his attention, and she bowed low, her face flushing an impressive shade of red.

Rising swiftly back to ramrod straight, the woman lowered her gaze respectfully. "I-I'm sorry, Kazekage-sama. What is it that you need?"

"A fallen messenger bird was reported. The code needs to be broken and the message read."

His voice, no matter how softly spoken, seemed to sound to rough. He watched as the female flinched from his hard voice, but he didn't react. Though he did wish most people didn't fear him, there was a few that didn't.

"Hai, Kazekage-sama."

The cryptologist moved quickly behind a table where the bird was layed out for inspection. Another person entered the room and stepped off to the side, facing Gaara and the shinobi that had reported to him.

"The code could take about an hour to be broken, sir. It seems to be an advanced sealing jutsu, one we have yet to fully cover." the young mans face tightned. It silently amused Gaara that he was attempting to be brave in front of him. "Would you like to wait here, Kazekage-sama?"

The wait would be to long, and he needed to find Kankurou to question the scouting shinobi's team for what they saw. He also needed Temari and that Leaf shinobi to report to him for updates on the chuunin selections.

"No. Send a messenger when you brake it." he said as he turned for the door with the scouter following behind.

"H-hai." the female stuttered and bowed to him. The male dipped his head respectively, and sighed with relief when the door closed.

Gaara made his way back to the Tower after sending the scouter away for his team and found Kankurou lounging against the wall next to his office door.

"....Kankurou." Gaara nodded to his brother.

Kankurou smirked at the youngest Sabaku. "What? That's the only greeting I get." he teased.

Gaara rolled his gleaming eyes and gestured for the shinobi to follow him. In the office, Gaara tossed a scroll to his brother detailing the fallen bird and message.

After reading the scroll, Kankurou's dark eyes lifted to Gaara's. "Do you think it's battle plans?"

Gaara shook his head slightly. "It didn't seem to be heading to any village inparticular. If it was details on invading a village, they wouldn't have been so careless."

"If it isn't something big, then why the advanced seals?" Kankurou frowned as he looked over the description of the sealed message.

The red-head looked out the window overlooking his village. "A warning, maybe."

"Warning?"

Gaara looked back at his brother. "Where is Temari and the Leaf shinobi?"

"Discussing the chuunin exams most likely." he sighed and rolled the scroll back up.

Gaara wasn't going to go into detail about what he thought of the message. That meant he must think something important was surrounding it. Kankurou only found very few things, pertaining to his younger brother, that irked him.

One was that he overworked himself. Even though the Bijuu had been extracted from Gaara years ago, he still didn't sleep well. Instead, he chose to stay boarded up in his office, working until he passed out over his desk. The man just refused to sleep.

Kankurou had tryed forcing Gaara to sleep. That only resulted in him getting sand burns on his arms and torso, and not to mention a very pissed off Gaara. It seemed to amuse Temari though and he didn't understand why.

Another was that if something was on Gaara's mind, he wouldn't tell it. Even if it was eating away at him, stressing him to the point of insanity - more so than usual of course- he wouldn't let anyone know because he didn't want it to bother anyone else. Kankurou believed he did it to protect other people. He would rather let himself suffer than another.

A soft knock resounded from the closed door and Gaara looked up from the window at Kankurou. Rolling his eyes the brunette spun lazily on his heel and crossed the room to open the door.

The scouting shinobi entered with an aggrivated expression on his face, that he skillfully removed when his eye caught the Kazekage's. His team walked in behind him, looking slightly haggard. It was evident they had pulled an all-nighter.

"Kazekage-sama, I brought the team as you requested." the shinobi bowed low.

The three shinobi behind followed suit, bowing at the waist respectfully for the village's leader. Kankurou refrained from rolling his eyes, but did allow himself to chuckle slightly at seeing a certain kunoichi mixed in with the team.

Her chestnut locks hid some, but not all, of her excited smile. Twin pools of onyx shined as they focused on the ground, trying to hide her expressions. After straightening back up, her eyes drifted around the room, as if taking in the sight for the first time.

Kankurou grinned at her when her gaze roamed to him. She smiled happily at him and her fingers twitched at her side in a surreptious wave. He nodded back, grinning, as he scratched his cheek absently.

He hadn't seen Matsuri in awhile. After graduating to chuunin, she had been busy with missions and the like. He remebered how ecstatic she had been when she passed the exam. Her excitement had even brought the ghost of a smile across Gaara's stoic person, the closest thing to an actual sign of pleasure they had ever experienced from him.

She was getting older, and somehow, Kankurou found that depressing slightly. He missed the small genin that hung on to Gaara's every word. Who showed the upmost respect for everyone, and seemed to never run out of energy. She reminded him of that Naruto when she was a genin. Always laughing and smiling.

Not that she wasn't that way now. He could tell just by looking at her as Gaara spoke to the scouter that she was wanting to talk to him and his brother, laugh and joke. He found it amusing that, even if she was growing, she still wanted to spend time with them. Gaara especially.

He turned his head slightly to eye his brother. Matsuri was deffinatly hung up on him, though she wouldn't admit. She said it was respect for him, he was the Kazekage after all. Maybe she didn't know she felt about Gaara that way, but Temari and him knew better.

"Kankurou," the brunette broke out of his thoughts and turned to Gaara who was looking at him questioningly. "...can you question the team."

"Sure, sure. Let's go kids." he said lightly, and smirked when he heard some distinct groans from the team. Only Matsuri seemed to find it amusing, considering he always called her 'Kid' it didn't affect her anymore.

As they turned to head to another room down the hall, Matsuri stopped and swiveled around to face Gaara again. Kankurou paused with his hand on the door handle as the other chuunin and scouter walked out of the room.

Matsuri's bright eyes gazed at Gaara as he looked up from leaning against his desk. She smiled happily at him, and Kankurou could've sworn for a split second a shadow of a smile crossed over his features. The brunette gaped at them before recovering and coughing into his fist.

"Come on, Kid. We have some questioning to start." he teased and tapped her on the shoulder.

She grinned over her shoulder at him. "Hai." Facing Gaara with a grin, she added brightly before exiting with the older sibling, "Goodbye, Gaara-sama."

Gaara nodded in her direction as she left, and Kankurou chuckled. She, aside from Temari and himself, was the only one that got away with calling him that. Everyone else called him 'Kazekage-sama' or 'Kazekage-domo'. If they happened to call him 'Gaara-sama' they received a cold look wich usually resulted in them stuttering out a quick apology and the correct title.

It was evident he had a soft spot for the small brunette, ever since he became her sensei. It was like he took her under his wing that day she asked to be taught by him. He had changed even more that day, and the days following it.

Kankurou flashed a smirk over his shoulder at his brother as he followed Matsuri out and closed the door. Gaara only glared dangerously back at him.

XXXXXX

The ground was beginning to get more jagged and steep as the minutes passed. Rolling grass turned to dunes of rocks and the clear clouds turned dusty gray.

"Almost there. A few more days and I'll be back." Kiken snarled harshly under his breath.

Bakudan was dead. And as far as Kiken was concerned, good ridance. The man was nothing but a hindrance and if he hadn't made that move to escape, he would have ended up dying later on down the road. It was inescapable.

A smile of sick satisfaction broke across his scarred face as he thought of all the blood that had been shed from that man. How it had coated the grass around them and how he had felt a surge of energy from killing one of his own.

It had felt so good.

He began to chuckle softly as he jumped from tree branch to tree branch. It bubbled up from deep within his chest, growing and morphing into a full blown explosion of laughter. He laughed so hard his eyes watered and his chest burned from the effort of trying to get in air through his lungs.

It seemed so unreal and comical that he had actually killed a teammate. Murdered a fellow shinobi and found pleasure in it. It felt surreal.

And he would do it again and again if the chance presented itself.

I am very angry at myself for not getting this out YESTERDAY! I have broken my little cycle I had going for updating this story every other day! Argh, -beats head with very thick and hardback dictionary-....ouch. Oh, by the way I know that Kakashi and Anko were not in this chapter, but I did that because they are busy planning and talking to the others, getting ready to ambush the Hokage. Poor Tsunade. Besides, I thought it would be a good chapter to bring in a little more Yugao.

Alright, after getting some brain food, (AKA Ramen!) I finally had the ideas straight and was able to write this. So you know what to do. Please review and let me know what you thought, what you think will happen, etc... If you will excuse me, I have to go to bed now. Very, very sleepy at the moment and I hear my pillow calling my name. Thank you! ^_^ You guys are awsome by the way!

JunebugXD - *drooling over mental images of Gaara* Yeah, mental images are great! It might be better and better now, but it will get awsomer and awsomer later! yay!

greensapphire - I have been debating on whether to bring Yugao in or not and in the end I decided to because I have some conflict ideas with her and Baki. And that should be easy to see since Baki did kill Hayate (rest in peace). Poor guy, during the exams he seemed sick what with all the coughing. Yeah, I think Yugao was his girlfriend. But that makes it easier to add small plots with her. Haha, you thought of Harry Potter! I'm not alone! I thought of that too when I saw the episode of her past. And Gaara made his appearance in this one to! Yay! Kankurou did to and so did Matsuri! (happy dance) I love writing the sand siblings and anything for Suna. I promise Baki will be in the next chapter.

Dragonridingattorney43 - Thank you for your review! I don't care how short it is, I just love to know people are reading my story and enjoying it. I hope you liked this chapter as well!

Dark Duchess and Shadow Queen - (jumping up and down excitedly) Woohoo I'm magic! I'm so glad you think I keep them in character. I get kind of nervous about that sometimes thinking, "Would this person really do this, or would they do something completely different..." But in the end it turns out pretty good and people like it. I promise I won't stop writing for this! Thank you for being a loyal reader!

orosama - I'm happy you were patient and I hope you like this chapter! ^_^ I'm sorry if the last one was kind of short!

MidnightCurse4Eternity - Yay sandsibs! They came in again! Well, Temari will be in the next one along with Baki, but Kankurou and Gaara were in this one! Thanks for reading!

NinjaSheik - THANK YOU! ^_-!!