Enjoy.

"Oh, no! Kuroku! Hiroshi!" Reiko cried pathetically. "Where are you?!"

Her companions were nowhere to be found. She was covered in mud. Twigs and leaves were tangled into her hair. Anyone could tell she was lost. Or at least anyone who passed by. She was faking. She was playing the role of bait while Kuroku and Hiroshi attacked. It was a role she didn't like but someone had to do it. She decided that she was better suited to the role because shinobi didn't often pick on a boy who was alone but a 'weak and defenseless' girl instead.

Suddenly the cloud ninja from the other gate appeared in front of her. They were perfectly clean. Reiko scowled at them. Of course they were clean. They weren't 'lost'. She knew she just had to get the scroll and get away while Hiroshi and Kuroku finished them off. Her job was simply explained but more difficult in practice.

"Hand over the scroll. We won't hurt you if you do." The man in the middle said.

"Here…"

Reiko tossed the scroll to him. They smirked. One of them shook his head sadly. He folded his arms across his chest, smirking at Reiko as if he were above her, superior to her. Reiko glared at him. She was better than he was. She had thought of a plan of action and she was going to follow through with it. He was just throwing around threats now.

"I honestly thought that Konoha Genin were better than this… Now I see them for what they really are… Cowards!"

"Take that back!" Reiko yelled.

"And if I don't?"

The men started to advance on her. She backed away, as if out of fear. Then she smiled. None of them heard the soft word she spoke. "Boom…"

The scroll in his hand exploded. Three spheres of ice appeared out of the ground and incased two of the cloud ninja. The third one was lucky enough to escape. Then he started to run. Kuroku and Hiroshi jumped out of the bushes and tried to stop him but he slipped past them. Reiko bolted after him. She wasn't going to let him get away that easily.

"Wait, Reiko!" Kuroku yelled.

Reiko ignored him. She could catch the ninja. She knew she could. Besides if he had the scroll she couldn't let him get away with it. Their chase entered the trees. Reiko jumped from branch to branch, trying to catch up. She was gaining speed and catching up fast. The man was slow and not used to climbing through the trees. Konoha nin were better suited for that. He was used to jumping from rock to rock.

She was just about to grab the back of his shirt when senbon impaled him. Reiko froze to her spot as she watched the body fall to the ground. He was dead before he even hit the ground. She felt her hard thudding painfully in her chest. She ducked down, fearful of another attack. Quickly, she moved behind a tree branch. Cautiously she peered out from behind it. Umbrellas floated in front of her face. She paled but found that she couldn't pull back. Senbon floated in front of her face.

"Come out, come out little mouse…" A voice said.

Reiko pulled back. Senbon suddenly whizzed through the leaves. Reiko grabbed a branch that was higher than she was and swung herself onto it. The senbon barely missed her. She almost exhaled her held breath but that would be doubting the enemy. She wasn't going to do that any time soon. Fools made mistakes. Fools got killed. She wasn't a fool.

Then it suddenly came from behind her. Reiko stood up. It was a stupid mistake. The branch underneath her feet snapped. She fell with it. She reached up, trying to grab something but finding nothing to hold tight to. She simply fell to the ground like a rag doll. She hit a lot of the branches on the way down. When she hit the ground the branches she broke on the way down fell on top of her. 'Really graceful… Not.'

Senbon were sent flying her way. This time they came from all sides. The chances of them impaling her were pretty high. Reiko's eyes widened. She forced herself to her knees and growled at her unseen attacker. They were so dead once she got a hold of them. Quickly she made a few hand signs. Her hands were flying fast. Her life depended on her speed.

"Kesshami! Art of the Barrier!" Reiko yelled.

A solid sphere of light surrounded her from all sides. The senbon struck as soon as it solidified. The deadly needles were stopped just inches away from her face. She swallowed hard. The force of the impact of the thousands of needles pushed her and the sphere into the base of a tree. The wood shattered around the sphere.

Reiko merely watched as the ground became littered with needles. It was all she could do. Slowlythe attack stopped. Reiko's barrier faded. A hand suddenly waved in front of her face. Reiko blinked owlishly and looked up. Temari and Kankuro stood in front of her. Neither of them seemed too pleased about her being there.

"You okay?" Temari asked.

"Huh?" Reiko asked, "Temari…? Did you- did you attack me?"

"Don't flatter yourself. He did." She said.

She pointed to one of the grass ninja from earlier. The man sneered at her. She glared at him just as coldly. But Reiko's eyes fell on a large sphere of sand. Senbon stuck out of it in every direction. Reiko's eyes widened. Gaarawas inside it. Temari and Kankuro didn't even seem worried about Gaara. They just watched the scene before them with impassive eyes.

"Gaara-san!"

"Is that all you can do?" Gaara asked the attacker.

"What? Not even one hit? He's unharmed…?" The grass ninja muttered. "That can't be… That's impossible!"

"A simple rain of needles? I have an idea… Let's make it rain blood instead." Gaara said.

The tone in Gaara's voice scared Reiko. She shivered slightly but she couldn't tear her eyes away as much as she wanted to. She was shaking slightly as she watched him. The ninja tried to attack again but Gaara's sand protected him from harm. Not a single needle got through his iron defense. The sand was protecting him.

"A wall of sand?" The rain ninja asked, confused.

"That's right." Kankuro said. "It's a defense and nothing can get through it. He carries all that sand in the gourd on his back and when he's attacked he uses the power of his chakra to harden the sand. It's a jutsu only Gaara can do."

"Really?" Reiko asked.

Kankuro turned to look at her. Reiko cocked her head to the side. The boy frowned but nodded. He motioned over to the sand sphere and to Gaara. Gaara looked over to Reiko. They locked eyes for a moment. Reiko could see fragments of emotions in his eyes, anger, sadness, hatred, and loneliness. Reiko frowned. Gaara was lonely.

"Somehow it happens automatically, independent of his will." Kankuro told her. "So any attack against him are doomed to fail."

"Yeah? Well… We'll see!" The grass ninja yelled.

"Just face it. You guys can't defeat Gaara." Kankuro said as if stating facts.

"Give me a break!" The ninja yelled.

He started running towards Gaara. Reiko scowled and reached for her weapons pouch but Temari grabbed her wrist. Reiko could merely watch as the ninja got closer and Gaara's sand shield faded. She didn't know they Sand Siblings well but she was there and she knew that the grass ninja were the enemies. She knew the Sand Siblings better than she knew the grass ninja so she was going to fight to protect the group she knew a little better.

"Gaara can handle this. Just you watch." Temari said calmly.

The man continued to grow closer and closer. Gaara didn't move. Neither did Temari or Kankuro. Reiko couldn't stand it any longer. She pulled away from Temari, nearly shoving the older girl to the ground. She rushed to Gaara's side, kunai in hand. She stopped in front of him, standing defensively in front of him. She didn't catch the shocked looks on the faces of the sand trio. They stared at her awestruck by her stupidity.

Reiko didn't notice the sand slithering out of Gaara's gourd. She flinched when she heard the man scream as the sand encased him. Soon he was entirely engulfed except for his face. Her eyeswidened. She hadn't expected Gaara to have that sort of control over sand. Such a thing seemed almost impossible and yet Gaara was doing it.

"I-I can't move!" The man gasped, struggling to free himself. "Let me go!"

The umbrellas fell to the ground one by one. One nearly hit Reiko but Gaara pulled her back at the last second. Then Gaara started to walk towards one of the umbrellas. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled Reiko after him. She let him drag her along. She was in a sleepwalker's daze. She was too stunned to say anything.

Gaara picked up the umbrella that nearly impaled her. He snapped it open and for a moment it hid both him and Reiko from the view of the grass ninjas. Then he moved it over their heads. He held her close to his side, under the umbrella. There was a cold look on his face. If looks could kill the man would be long gone.

"All I have to do is cover your big mouth and you'd be dead but that would be too easy and too boring." Gaara said.

Reiko looked at him horrified. 'How can he talk about death so simply? These men don't deserve death!' The sand cocoon that covered the man started to float up. Some of the sand fell off the cocoon but it stayed together for the most part. The grass ninja started screaming his protests. His comrades shook as they watched their friend. Gaaradidn't care. Reiko winced and clung to Gaara's arm.

"Sand Burial!" Gaara yelled.

Blood rained down on them. The grip Reiko had on her kunai went slightly slack. It nearly fell out of her hand. Gaara held her close to his side so the blood wouldn't drip on her. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized that the man's blood was raining down on them. Her stomach clenched tightly and she swallowed hard. The stench of blood was nearly causing her to gag.

"There wasn't any pain." Gaara told them. "I crushed him with more force than necessary so it was over quickly. The corpse's bitter crimson tears will flow and mingle with the endless sand, feeding the chaos within me, making me stronger."

The other two grass ninja started to shake. Reiko shivered involuntarily. Gaara had just killed a man without even batting an eye. Shinobi were suppose to be able to do that but the way he did it just scared her. She hoped she'd never have to kill too many people as she got older. Death was so eternal. It was forever.

"Just take the scroll…" One of them said. He held it out and set it on the ground. "Go on… Here."

"Yes, take it! Please, spare us!" The other begged.

Gaara tossed the bloody umbrella aside. Then he raised his hands. Sand engulfed the other two ninja. Reiko cringed and closed her eyes when she heard them scream. She didn't want to see them get crushed. She had already watched once and a double dose was not what she wanted to do. Blood was everywhere. She could hear the liquid being squeezed out of the men.

When she opened her eyes again Kankuro was over by the dead bodies. In his hand was a slightly bloody heaven scroll. The corpses were twisted beyond recognition. Sand clung to the wet blood while the rest of it slowly floated over to Gaara and went back to his gourd. He glared at her coldly. She swallowed and forced a smile, hoping she didn't look as pathetic as she felt.

"We got lucky. It's a heaven scroll. Alright… now let's head to the tower." Kankuro said.

"Just shut up." Gaara ordered. "It's not… It's still not enough…"

"Not enough? Not enough of what? Fighting? Ki-killing?" Reiko asked.

"Come on Gaara… Let's go…"

"What? Are you scared? Coward."

Kankuro started to walk towards Gaara. He looked like he was trying not to loose his temper and beat Gaara into a bloody pulp. Reiko didn't want to get in between a family dispute. Family members always pitted friends and other family members against one another. It was simply Reiko could feel the tension. It was thick enough to cut it with a kunai.

"Look, Gaara, I know this test is easy for you but it's dangerous for Temari and me. One set of scrolls is good enough. It's all we need to pass."

"Losers can't tell me what to do." Gaara said.

Kankuro shoved Reiko out of his way. She hadn't even noticed the fact she was standing in front of him, almost defensively. She fell to the ground and looked up at the two brothers confused. She frowned and slowly pulled herself to her knees. She winced but glared at the older boy. There was no need to shove her to the floor.

"Alright! That's enough! Some times you have to listen to what your niisan's saying!" Kankuro yelled.

"It's too bad I don't consider you as my niisan at all. If you get in my way again I'll kill you." Gaara said coldly.

He knocked Kankuro's hand aside. Reiko felt the tension rise higher. Then she flinched slightly when Gaara looked at her. She felt that he would kill her at any second. She glared and prepared to draw a new kunai. If he was going to kill her she was going to give her all. She wasn't going down without a fight. She frowned. It took all of her strength not to shake like a leaf under his glare. He was a killing machine but there had to be a reason why. 'Right?'

"Same goes to you."

"Then why didn't you do it? You could've let them kill me! Why haven't you done it yet? You said in the first exams if I got in your way again you'd kill me! Tell me! Why am I alive?" Reiko demanded.

Gaara glared at her. She refused to wince or cringe like she wanted to. Instead Reiko got to her feet and stared him down. She looked him straight in the eye. Then she noticed it. His eyes were full of confusion… and was that… fear? Sebaku no Gaara was afraid of her. That was an idea that was so impossible. She wasn't afraid anymore. She wanted to pummel him into the floor. He was just being a bully, used to getting what he wanted because he wanted it. No one would tell him no.

"Wait, just hold on, Gaara. You don't have to treat us like we're the enemy." Temari said. She held up her hands as if she were surrendering. "Look… do this as a favor to your neesan… please…?"

Gaara held out his hand. Sand slithered down his arm and began to gathered in his outstretched palm. Reiko scrambled back and prepared to defend herself. She wasn't going to give him the chance to hurt her. Hiroshi would worry about her if she wasn't back soon. She didn't want Hiroshi and Kuroku to fight the Sand Siblings. It would be a deadly fight.

"Gaara!" Temari yelled.

Resting in the palm of his hand was a cork., made out of his sand. It was just big enough to plug the hole in his gourd. Reiko sighed in relief. The situation had gotten ugly and much faster than Reiko could've expected it to. She was just glad it wasn't going to lead to a fight. Relief nearly made her weak at the knees. Some how she managed to keep to her feet.

"Alright…" Gaara said.

He corked the gourd and stared to walk away. Temari and Kankuro breathed a sigh of relief and followed after him. Reiko watched as they sent her sympathetic looks over their shoulders. Once they were out of sight Reiko fell to her knees. She was shaking uncontrollably. The stench of blood hung in the air. It was making Reiko sick to her stomach but she still couldn't move.

"So Gaara's that powerful…" She murmured.

One of my favorite parts for the Forest of Death…