It felt like I hadn't slept at all; my back ached and my head was throbbing, however I didn't much feel like lying around all day. Plus, I had to go meet Naruto at Ichiraku's… I forced myself up, rubbing my head again before peeking out from behind the tree. The eye worried me; I curiously looked around to see if it was anywhere, however it wasn't. I sighed. Maybe I had just been seeing things.

I started off down the path, turning to look at the large dojo in the distance. I wondered if Heena had made it home okay last night; I'd have to wait until next week to speak to her again. I entered the alley and saw my home, well; it used to be my home. Hopefully Naruto could help me get everything I needed; maybe I'd ask him after we were done eating.

It took me a few minutes to walk to Ichiraku's; by the time I arrived Naruto had already eaten a few bowls of ramen and was starting on another one. I smiled, seeing him being the goofball he was suddenly put me in a good mood. I'd push off the thoughts of last night and anything involving my mother until after I had enjoyed my time with Naruto. He was leaving, after all.

"Naruto-kun!" He turned to me, slurping up the rest of the noodles that were hanging out of his mouth before smiling and rubbing the back of his head.

"Kay-chan! I didn't expect you to show up…" He blushed a bit.

"Why wouldn't I?" I smiled, giggling as I did so, causing Naruto to direct his attention back to his bowl of ramen.

"What can I get you young lady?" The man behind the counter smiled at me. "It's always nice when Naruto brings in customers for us." I laughed as Naruto grinned widely.

"Ichiraku's has the best ramen around, believe it!" I ordered some beef ramen and dug in as it came to me. I hadn't had anything to eat since last afternoon.

"Hey, Naruto-kun, would you like to help me with something?" He looked at me curiously, still piling the ramen into his mouth. "I've temporarily moved my housing situation…" I didn't really want Naruto to ask too many questions, if I told him what happened and we ran into my mother, he'd say something to her, and I wanted to avoid anymore confrontation with her for now. "…and I got to sneak into the house, get my clothes and other possessions, and then get out. You want to help me?" Naruto nodded rapidly.

"We'll play ninja!" He boasted loudly. I had to look at him for a second to realize whether or not he was being serious.

"Naruto, we are ninja…" He stopped, blushing again and laughing nervously.

"O-Oh yeah, heh heh heh." I smiled; he really was an adorable guy.

"So, will you help me?"

"Of course!" Naruto pumped his fist into the air. "It's a mission to prove my sneakiness; I won't disappoint you, BELIEVE IT!" Naruto nearly knocked over the empty ramen bowls that had been previously drained by him. The owner gave him a stern look and Naruto apologized with a blush. "When should we move out, boss?"

"After I'm done eating." I winked at him as the bowl of ramen was pushed in front of my face. I needed a full stomach before being able to think of a plan, after all. Good thing Naruto was buying.

"Blackbird, repeating, blackbird, do you read me?" Naruto whispered.

"I'm right here Naru-"

"Use the code names!" Naruto shouted. So far the stealth mission wasn't going to well. Naruto had insisted on making it like a real mission, code names and ear pieces, and all.

"Alright orange flash… That name is stupid Naruto, it makes me think of a piece of fruit lifting up its shirt when the fridge opens and flashing me-"

"Shh!" Naruto shushed me. We jumped on the roof, and approached the window to my room carefully. We slid onto the balcony and Naruto checked the door; It was opened. We slipped inside my room and I gently closed the door behind me; Naruto gasped when he saw it.

"My picture…" I murmured, walking over to my bed and touching the torn pieces of what used to be a picture of me and my team. I suddenly felt glad that I'd kept the picture of my father with me; would she have torn that up in a rage, too? My clothes had been thrown about the room, most being torn and ripped to shreds, but a few mismatched pairs still existed. She had completely torn my room apart.

"Naruto, pack any clothes that aren't torn into the bag, could you? I'll be down in the kitchen; I have to get something my mother took away from me." Naruto nodded, reaching around the room and gathering clothes while I slipped into the hall. My mother's door was closed tightly, she must've been out doing something with Sayune, for her door was slightly open as well. I was tempted to search her room again; but the necklace I wanted to find came first.

My dad had bought me the necklace the day I had opened my eyes, it was a water droplet on a silver chain, it was to represent my element. My day had one of a leaf, his element being nature and all. It was a tradition to buy their child a symbol of their element, after we'd arrived in the village my mother had taken it from me and throw it into the junk drawer in the kitchen.

The house was different, it looked slightly askew, as if everything had been torn apart and hastily thrown back together. All but my room, of course. I searched throw the drawers in the kitchen sifting through them until a glint caught my eyes. I smiled as I pulled out the chain and dangled it in front of my eyes; I had found it.

The front door clicked open and I dropped down so that the table hid me; I peeked out to see who it was. It was my mother, looking tired and angry as always. She was glaring around the room, before she stomped up the stairs.

"Orange flash, retreat! Leave with the clothes you have and go out my window now. Mama Roach is walking upstairs now."

"Right!" Naruto replied; I sighed, crawling towards the stairs as quietly as I could with creaking floorboards and stared up them. From the angle I was at I could see her in front of my room, she was staring at the door way and biting her lip, enough to make her bleed. I scowled at her; maybe she should've treated me better if she hadn't wanted to lose me.

I began to panic as her hand pushed the door open; she'd discover the missing clothes and items from my room. Hopefully Naruto had escaped; I heard her let out an angry yell. She must've realized I'd been there. I threw away any of the cover I had retained and bolted for the door, I exited the house with a loud slam. I had to let her know it was me, I had to let her know I had control over what I did and I wasn't afraid of her…

Naruto had escaped with some of my clothes; he met me at the front door. I glimpsed her face on the balcony; she was obviously looking for the intruders now. Naruto had hightailed, I laughed as I tried to catch up from behind him. The break-in left me feel exhilarated and like laughing, Naruto seemed to be in the same good mood.

"We did it!" Naruto cheered, high-fiving me with a goofy grin on his face. "We're master ninja's, believe it!" Naruto hadn't realized however, that he had been caught in the middle of searching a certain drawer that had, how could I put this, my unmentionables, in them. And there he was, with a light pink bra in his hands, waving it around as if it was a flag.

"Naruto-kun!" I cried out, snatching the bra from his hands and blushing profusely. I was lucky we weren't in an incredibly crowded place or it would've been more awkward. Naruto realized his mistake and blushed sheepishly.

"S-Sorry Kay-chan!" I shook it off, taking my clothes from him and stuffing the bra in the bag.

"It's okay, Naruto-kun. Now I just need a place to keep these-"

"What're you two doing?" Sakura came from behind us, her hands behind her back as she regarded us suspiciously.

"We broke into Kay-chans house and played ninja!" Sakura scowled at Naruto.

"How can you play ninja when you ARE a ninja?" Sakura scolded him, wagging a finger at him before turning to look at me. "Why would you need to break into your own house?

"Well, I'll tell you both, I suppose…" I murmured, I then told them the whole tale, including everything that had happened last night and how I'd slept outside. Sakura looked at me concerned while Naruto looked enraged.

"It's people like her that keep bringing Gaara down!" He shouted angrily. "That's why he turned out the way he has!" Sakura tried to calm Naruto down.

"But… doesn't he have Kay-chan now? I mean, she did stand up for him…" Sakura smiled at me. "You should see the way he looks at you." I turned red under Naruto's unbelieving stare.

"How does he look at me?" I asked curiously; it was always nice to see another's view point on Gaara.

"Well normally he's all scary and emotionless, right? Well whenever you're around he's generally a bit calmer, I think he likes you. Plus, can't you see the way his eyes change when you're around?" She smiled. "It may only last a few seconds but a girl should be able to see every single emotion going through them at once. And also, I don't think he generally let anyone close to him besides his siblings either."

"He has siblings?"

"Kankuro and Temari, his teammates-"

"They look nothing alike!" I gaped. Sakura laughed a bit.

"Gaara's always been the odd one out…"

"That's what we have in common." Naruto commented. "We were always left out, we didn't have any friends and we were feared. We were called demons and we got used to being called it. It… It doesn't faze him anymore. Kankuro wrote to us and said he was trying to change, to become the Kazekage!" Sakura looked shocked at this.

"B-but he's so…" Sakura seemed slightly worried.

"He's like me. He wants to know what it's like to be appreciated." Naruto grinned. "He used to be a bad guy, but now he's good. All thanks to me! Heh heh heh." Sakura smacked Naruto in the head; I laughed in response to this. Gaara had, too, implied that Naruto had changed him for the better…

"I think he'd make a good Kazekage." I commented off-handedly. "He knows pain better than anyone else, so I don't think they'd suffer…" Naruto grinned, patting me on the back.

"I didn't know you had a think for the broody type, Kay-chan!" I blushed.

"S-stop!" Sakura got between us before any other arguments could ensue.

"If you'd like, you could keep your stuff at my house for the time being. You could stay, if you wanted."

"N-no! I wouldn't want to impose. I just need to put my clothes somewhere while I make a few requests around the village." I already had something in my mind that I wanted to do. I wanted to request a move to another village; of course I'd have to request it from Tsunade-sama first, however, there was another group of people I wanted to speak to first. I would need to reside somewhere after all, and if what Sakura said was true, I hoped they'd accept my offer.

"I'll show you where my house is then." She smiled, taking my stuff from my arms.

"H-hey, I can carry it!" She ignored my outreaching hands and looked at Naruto.

"Tell Tsunade-sama that Kay-sama wants to speak with her later-" Naruto was about to protest but Sakura's glare convinced him it was in his best interest to do as she said. He hurried off, muttering 'Scary, so scary…' before he was lost among the throngs of people. Sakura smiled, leading me in the opposite direction.

We came upon a small house, light pink in color, and entered.

"Mom, I'm home!" Sakura called out. We were greeted by a thin, kind look woman with a slightly large forehead. Her eyes were a shade of green that slightly reminded me of my fathers and her pink hair fell over her shoulders and ended at her waist.

"Welcome home, Sakura, darling!" Her mother greeted her rather cheerfully; I envied the fact she had a mom who loved her so much. "Your dad would really like if you'd join us tonight, you know how he gets after those long missions." Sakura nods, looking exhausted. This is what I missed about being a family though, I missed eating dinner with my father, gathering together afterward to read a book, or watch TV. My mother had really been a different person when my father was around.

"I'll be here mom. This is Kaylyn Uzimo; she's going to leave her stuff here for awhile, okay?" Sakura already began heading up the stairs of her house, but I remained in my spot awkwardly.

"Alright darling!" Sakura's mother turned to me with a smile. "It's very nice to meet you, Kaylyn. Sakura doesn't bring any of her friends back to the house really; although she and Ino have been making up, thank goodness! I really liked Ino…" She turned around in the kitchen and began to wash dishes. "I was so worried when Sakura had told me her and Ino weren't friends anymore, honestly, Ino's such a good girl! And I used to such good friends with her father…"

'That's what a mother is supposed to do.' I thought with a frown. 'She's supposed to worry about her child, she's supposed to care. This woman seems so gentle; I doubt she's ever hit Sakura or demeaned her…' I sighed again. My life definitely wasn't a normal one.

Most girls still had their parents; most girls still had their fathers around to be overprotective of them. I had a dead father and an estranged mother. A mother I didn't ever want to see again, even though I was filled with guilt on how I'd left her.

'But you're not normal.' A voice in the back of my head whispered. 'That's why you saw potential in Heena, that's why Gaara has taken an interest in you, that's why you're friends with two Jinchiruki's. Because you're not like the average person. You're much more sensitive.'

I sighed. Maybe all the pain I had been through was the reason I was this way today, it was the reason why I didn't discriminate. I would believe in those who needed someone to believe in them, I would love someone who needed to be loved. Sayune had commented on that before, she had told me a long time ago that I… that I knew how to make a person feel special. This sounded perverted, even to me, but it was her words that made me realize I liked that feeling. I wanted to make people feel special.

"There we go." Sakura came downstairs, bidding her mother goodbye until later and leaving with me. I was walking beside Sakura when something came to my mind.

"Your mother…" I started softly. "She really loves you. You can tell." Sakura blushes a bit, but smiles.

"I know. It's just sometimes she can be SO annoying with her pestering about my life!" I frowned again.

"I'd rather my mom pester with my life than hit me every time I stepped a toe out of line." Sakura suddenly looked incredibly embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, Kay-sama! I wasn't thinking before I talked…" She bowed in apology, for a second Heena flashed to mind before Sakura appeared again. "Come on, you have one more stop to make before you see Tsunade-sama right?"

"Yes… Do you know where the sand ninja are staying?" Sakura stopped, putting a finger on her lip and appearing to be deep in thought. "Since they're visitors, I believe they'll be in the hotel." She pointed to a big building that was just off to the right. "I'll wait out here; I need to do some shopping for herbs Tsunade-sama needed…" Sakura left me before I had the time to question her on their room number. I sighed, not like she'd really know anyway, unless she was having an illicit love affair with Kankuro. I laughed as I imagined a pink haired baby with purple face paint all over its face; my laugh was enough to make people around in the streets stare at me oddly.

The hotel was huge; I'd have an absolutely ridiculous time trying to find my way to their rooms. What was I supposed to do? Would the front desk give me their room number? Or would I be forced to navigate through the many floors until I found their room? What if none of them were even in there? What if they had left already! I let out a frustrated sigh; I hadn't thought any of it through before I came here. I did tell Gaara I'd see him today though…

"Ah, Kaylyn?" A surprised voice called from behind me. I turned to meet the curious blue-green eyes of Temari.

"Temari, my savior!" I cried out happily. "You've saved my life-" She raised her eyebrow, looking at me as if I was a three headed alien. She seemed to be the kindest of the three, so I decided mentioning this plan to her first might be best. If she didn't agree than Kankuro definitely wouldn't, and I didn't want to just have Gaara's approval, you know, if he did approve or something…

"You want to live with us?" One short explanation later, Temari and I had taken to standing in the dining room instead of in front of the doors entrance, her arms were crossed and her foot tapped against the ground as she thought. "It'd be nice to have another girl living in the house, that's for sure. Kankuro's a complete pig! Gaara's normally taking care of himself…" Temari looked like she was thinking hard about it.

"I-I could help you out." I murmured, I was desperate to get away from this village. I wanted to distance myself from my mother as much as I could, before things between us got worse. She smirked a bit at me.

"I leave things up to Gaara. So you'll have to plead your case to him, but I don't think he'll turn you down…"

"Why?" I asked, my cheeks flushed. She smiled at me, putting a hand on my shoulder and pushing me forward.

"I just have a feeling." As we were exiting I heard a familiar voice ring out.

"Thanks Shika!" Sayune's voice rang through my ears. "It's nice to have a place to stay for now."

"Yeah…" Shikamaru replied. "What a drag…" I hid behind Temari, using her as my shield. Sayune was staying in this hotel now? Maybe that's why her door was ajar when we snuck into the house; my mother had kicked her out and thrown the responsibility of watching her on another.

Temari was glaring at Sayune in annoyance but said nothing, instead she shielding me from view as we headed up the stairs to the floor where their room was. She had hoped Gaara was still in there; after all he did have the tendency to leave without saying where he was going. She took out her key and opened the door, pulling me along as we entered.

It was a pretty big hotel room, a suite, I thought silently as I gazed around. Three large beds were placed around the room, including a couch where Kankuro was sitting, toying with his puppet. He didn't bother looking up when Temari walked in, instead unscrewing the jaw to his puppet and tweaking it. Temari scowled at him.

"Where's Gaara?"

"Walking around the hotel? His gourd isn't over there." He pointed to the bed farthest from the door with the screwdriver. "I don't think he'd go off, he seemed pretty annoyed when he came back last night." I frowned, was he mad because I had just left him with no explanation, or was it because of my mother's words?

"We have to find him." I stated, knowing full well Sayune would have something to say to him. Temari nodded; Kankuro looked up from what I was doing and grinned at me.

"Oh, finally find your way to Gaara's bedroom? What a girl you are." I turned red and scowled; Temari gave her brother a resounding whack on his head with her fan before escorting me from the room. I could only hope he was in the hotel so that I could speak to him.

"There sounds like there's a commotion going on downstairs…" A few people passing by were whispering to each other; Temari and I shared a glance before running down the hall towards the stairs. Once we had reached them, I could hear the commotion for myself. It was Sayune for sure.

"Who do you think you are!" She screeched loudly. As we came upon the scene, I took note it was Shikamaru who was holding her back. Gaara was standing calmly a ways from her, his eyes cold as he looked at her. Temari scowled again, running to her brother's side.

Sayune hadn't ever done this before, she would've respected the fact I liked him and connected with him, she wouldn't go around doing this. She seemed so much angrier. When she looked at me, the betrayal in her eyes had suddenly become so evident. I had been blaming myself for this all along, I had been telling myself it was my fault that she had turned on me, and I had wanted to repair our friendship. But I knew know, seeing her oppose Gaara so fervently that I'd…

I had truly lost my best friend.