Three Years Later

"Kurami! Slow the fuck down!" I heard being yelled behind me. I laughed,"You're too slow, Jiro!"

"Yeah, Jiro, chill! You just gotta watch what you eat! That's why you can't keep up!" yelled the burnette girl running beside me. She giggled and her light brown eyes seemed to mock the guy with red piercing eyes behind us.

"Amaya, seriously, listen to Jiro. Every time you don't, you always somehow get into trouble and I'm tired of having that problem all the time,"called Kuraiko. I stopped and looked down,"I'm sorry, nii-chan. I'm sorry, Jiro-kun."

Jiro flipped his ashy auburn hair away from his eyes. He sighed,"It's alright. Just calm down next time."

"By the way, Yuuki, where's Alice?" I looked at the burnette. She shrugged,"Why do you always make me in charge of her? I don't know."

"She is your twin sister,"I sighed. -.-

"And?"

"I'm here!" we heard from the trees above. The girl with long blonde, shiny hair and water blue eyes called laughing. "Kurami! I see a village not too far from us!"

"Nice work, Alice!" called Yuuki. Alice looked annoyed at Yuuki,"Now you compliment me? You're horrible, nee-chan!"

I laughed and hugged Kuraiko. I whispered,"I'm happy we're not like them. I don't like arguing, not with nii-chan."

"I know,"he chuckled. He then spoke louder,"Hey, in honor of Amaya's almost 16th birthday, let's go celebrate?"

"Really, nii-chan?" I jumped. Jiro smiled,"Sounds like a plan. Might as well go to the village Alice found."

Alice jumped down and landed on Jiro,"Yayyyyy!"

I then nudged Kuraiko,"Hey, since we didn't get to celebrate your 19th birthday, we should celebrate together. It would make me happy."

He smiled,"Sounds good."

It has been three years since I had lost my friend that I had made after a long time of being alone. But he had become a distant thought. It had been three years since I was reunited with my brother.

"Yuuki, I'm tired,"whined Alice. Yuuki growled,"Hey, punk. You found this village. It's more your fault. Don't complain."

"But the sand tires me out. I keep sinking and it sucks,"Alice cried. Jiro sighed, annoyed at the discussion of the twins. I looked at Kuraiko who seemed very happy as we walked. His eyes caught mine and I quickly looked away. He placed his arm around me,"What's wrong?"

"Nothing,"I sighed. The thought of sand made my heart heavy. And the thought of walking through this place made me want to collapse. Kuraiko sighed,"You can't lie to me, Amaya."

"I don't want to talk about it. And don't call me Amaya. I prefer Kurami,"I looked away. He nodded,"Fine."

Yuuki continued with her motivations for her sister,"Hey, sis, I heard that the Kazekage of the Sand Village is hot. And he's about our age."

Alice's face brightened up,"Really? Should we go meet him?"

Jiro rolled his eyes,"I heard he's just plain out scary."

"Hey, hey, hey. We're here to celebrate. The last thing I want is to have a Kage make us work. I'm tired of secret missions. I want to just relax,"Kuraiko smiled. "Right, Kurami?"

"H-hai,"I nodded. "Nii-chan is right. The Chuugi Dorei of Hikari need to rest. We've been kicking, running, fighting, and getting into trouble for villages and nations for pay. Well we have enough money to spend for a celebration. We deserve it."

Alice smiled,"You're right. Loyal Servants of Light do need chillaxing time. Hey, Jiro, want to be my date for our later evening party?"

Jiro blushed,"Er..."

"Hey, Jiro's my date!"Yuuki yelled. I laughed and shook my head. Kuraiko did as well,"They can never agree on anything, can they?"

We looked back at their quarreling and laughed at Jiro's torture. I shook my head,"No, I don't believe they can."

He then hugged me and asked,"Want to be my date, imouto?"

I smiled,"Yeah, I wouldn't want to fight for Jiro right now."

He laughed,"Am I not worth fighting for?"

"I think they just assume we'll choose each other for anything as partners,"I chuckled. He smiled and rubbed his face on mine,"You're silly."

:o "I am not!"I gasped. He hugged me,"You're adorable."

Jiro then yelled,"Hey, we're almost there!"

I hanged my head lowly while everyone else rejoiced of having to be able to rest. I knew I wasn't looking forward to it. All I told myself was to avoid him. I didn't mind seeing anyone else, but I really didn't want to see that guy. I dreaded it completely. We walked to the entrance and saw a large number of jonin shinobi. Kuraiko walked in front of us to talk to one of them to be able to let us pass. As soon as they figured out who we were, they let us pass through easily.

We noticed there were a lot of people surrounding the entrance in crowds. A few people who recognized us muttered,"It's the Chuugi Dorei. They're probably here to protect Kazekage-sama."

I sighed and we continued to walk. There seemed to be a celebration in the center of the village. Children were out playing, adults talking, music playing, food everywhere. Alice smiled,"It looks like we came just in time for a party!"

Yuuki and Alice dragged Jiro towards the crowd of people to eat. As Jiro complained, Kuraiko and I laughed. He hugged me,"Let's have a good time, yes?"

I nodded,"Okay, but no business. At all. Can you promise me?"

He looked at me with a surprised expression,"Why would you think I would do business on my imouto's birthday celebration?"

"Because when someone pleads for your help you always say yes. Even if it is my birthday."

"Okay, I promise."

"Arigatou, nii-chan,"I smiled. I then heard my name called,"Kurami?"

I turned around to find Kutsu, looking as healthy as ever. I ran to him and embraced him. I smiled,"It's so good to see you!"

"After three years and you leaving without a proper goodbye? Yes, it's great to see you!" he chuckled. I felt ashamed and looked at my feet,"I meant to say goodbye, but... I didn't find the right time."

He hugged me,"It's okay. I always knew you would come back. You're a good little munchkin."

"Hey! I'm not a munchkin anymore! I just had my birthday! I am now offically sixteen!"

He laughed,"If you say so, but by the way you sounded, you're still a protesting munchkin."

Kuraiko came up to us,"Kurami, you want to eat?"

Kutsu asked,"Introduce me, Kurami, or have you no manners?"

I stuck my tongue out,"Nii-chan, this is my friend Ryuu Kutsu. He took care of me for a few weeks before you and me found each other again. Kutsu, this is my onii-chan, Saeki Kuraiko."

"Nice to meet you,"Kutsu stuck out his hand. Kuraiko shook it,"Thank you taking care of my little sister. I appreciate it very much."

They began to talk and I looked around. Yuuki and Alice were talking to random girls in the crowd eating food and laughing. I looked around for Jiro and he was sitting watching people pass by. I skipped over to him and sat on his lap. He smiled,"What are you? Five?"

"Pshh, six. Please and thank you,"I laughed. He chuckled,"This was a good idea. I had a lot of tension on my back, so it's good to get it off."

"Haha, you're old!" I laughed. He frowned,"I'm only a year older than you, you can't tell me I'm old."

"You are all old! I'm the baby of the group,"I smiled. He shook his head,"You're a baby by one year younger than everyone except Kuraiko. It doesn't make you a baby."

"It does too. I get special treatment,"I stuck my tongue out. He laughed evilly,"Is that so?"

I stood up,"Er..yeah!"

He picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. I yelled,"No, I take it back! I'm sorry! You get special treatment! Let me live! Let go! Kutsu! Kuraiko! I'm too young to die!"

Jiro laughed,"No, you asked for it!"

"I'm sorry!"

He then put me down,"Fine, but because you're adorable. And it is your birthday."

I ran away and hugged whoever was near from their back, thinking it was Kuraiko, almost in tears,"Nii-chan, tell Jiro to not do that! He knows how I'm afraid of heights! And being spun! And being thrown! And his evil laugh!"

The person spun around I looked up. Teal eyes with dark circles met mine. I felt my heart stop. His red hair had grown longer than before and made him look just as good as before. He was much taller than me, by a lot. He seemed not that different from before I left. Just older. But he still had that same serious face as always. But his eyes were much livelier. He held me by my arms with the same expression of shock I had and muttered,"Kurami..."

I pushed him away and moved through the crowd. I looked for Kuraiko, but couldn't find him. I made my way through while feeling him behind me. He grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him. He hugged me tightly and buried his face in my hair. I closed my eyes,"Gaara.."

"Am I dreaming again? Or are you really here? If you are, don't leave right now. Stay awhile longer with me,"he said softly. I found myself hugging back until I heard my name called,"Kurami?"

We let go and looked behind me. Kankuro Kitty! I ran to him and jumped onto him,"I missed you, Kitty!"

He laughed,"I'ma predict the future: you're still annoying."

I pouted, climbing off,"Just a little!"

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, I came with my brother and friends to celebrate my brother's and my birthday. It was just a few days ago. His was before mine though. And we're on our 'vacation',"I smiled. He asked,"Brother?"

"Yeah! Kuraiko!"I called. Kuraiko jumped from a small distance away,"Yes? Imouto!"

Kuraiko made his way to me and hugged me,"You called?"

"Nii-chan, this is my friend Kankuro Kitty! He dropped my ice cream and he still owes me,"I smiled. He chuckled,"I'm guessing you got to know the annoying part of her."

Kankuro laughed,"Yes, I don't mind though. I missed her running around and talking about the sky or about bees or ramen."

"And, this is my fri-...this is the Kazekage,"I said softly. Kuraiko noticed the brightness from my face leave, but ignored it. He shook Gaara's hand,"Nice to meet. My sister, friends, and I are the Chuugi Dorei of Hikari. If you need us, please feel free to let us know anytime. We will provide any service."

I kicked Kuraiko without Gaara or Kankuro noticing. Kuraiko made a face and looked at me, forgetting his promise. Kankuro sighed,"Thank you. You are just the people we've been looking for."

I looked away from Kuraiko, but payed attention. Kuraiko felt what I felt, but asked anyways,"Why?"

"Although you are all outsiders, I trust Kurami, so I have no problem telling you this. Gaara, our Kazekage, had been kidnapped by the Akatsuki, but was returned just now by the aid of Konoha. We're lucky he was able to be brought back to life."

I looked up and asked,"What do you mean 'brought back to life'?"

Gaara sighed and began to walk away. Kankuro sighed,"He died at their hands. They managed to get his One Tail since he was the Jinchuuriki of Shukaku."

I looked over to him and ran to him. I wrapped my arms around him and felt his body tremble at my touch. He turned around and fell to his knees. I continued to embrace him and kissed his head,"I'm glad you're still safe. I wish I was there to protect you. I still love you because you are my friend. I don't think I'd want to have come back knowing you were gone. I wouldn't stand it. I'm happy you're okay."

He wrapped his arm around me and buried his face in my chest,"I missed you. I'm so relieved you're safe too. I was afraid that man would have hurt you. Stay with me. No matter what, I won't let anyone tell you to leave. Stay here, with me."