DISCLAIMER - Despite this being a Naruto rewrite, I do not own Naruto. My cross trainer was faulty so I have to send it back and get a new one. Damn you, Argos.
Rated 'M' for sexual situations and lemons, violence and bad language.
You're a beautiful, a beautiful fucked up man.
You're setting up your razor wire shrine.
Sarah McLachlan – Building a Mystery
I guess when we arrived in the Leaf Village for the Chunin Exams, a small part of me expected to turn a corner and find Sasuke strolling down the street with his hands in his pockets and his head down. I expected he might mumble something about growing bored with Orochimaru, no apology, just a superior sort of explanation.
My heart throbbed as we walked past the dango place, right past our old table, now taken by a couple of girls who spotted Gaara and whispered inconspicuously, their eyes smoldering as they stared at my man.
That only stood to tear my mood down a little more.
"Aimi, what's up? I thought you'd be happy to be here. We've only been here five minutes, what's up?" Temari asked, spotting my glum expression.
"Nothing," I muttered back, causing Gaara to turn his head to me and shoot me a questioning look, emerald and ruby.
I gave him a watery smile and he squeezed my hand quickly, letting go just as fast. We'd agreed that our sort of relationship should be kept under wraps. Nothing good could come of the last remaining Uchiha and the Shukaku vessel's relationship becoming public knowledge.
Baki turned back to me and gave Gaara and myself a stern look, clearly saying, "Be careful." He did not want people to find out he'd allowed an Uchiha visiting the village to become involved with their Ultimate Weapon either.
We walked past Ino's family's flower shop and I looked in hopefully, hoping to see my beautiful blonde friend serving the citizens of the Leaf Village with a dazzling smile. However, it was her mother behind the counter and she greeted me with a wave and a, "Welcome home, Aimi!"
"Thanks, Mrs Yamanaka!" I replied, perking up a little. I'd met her quite a few times at the Academy and the several times she had come to find Ino in among a group of girls following Sasuke and myself around. She was a wonderful woman, charming and pretty like the very flowers she and her family sold.
Walking down the main boulevard, I was greeted with further familiar sights and sounds. Ichiraku Ramen was exuding a gorgeous smell and I couldn't help but peek in to check if a certain hyperactive knucklehead ninja was present. He wasn't.
He was gone. Just like my brother.
It was strange to see how different it all was now, how much things had changed as we sauntered down the street.
But regardless of all the change, of all the pain and suffering, I was home.
This was where I belonged.
"I'm going to go and declare our arrival. And then I've got a meeting with the other jonin so I won't be back until late. Don't get into any trouble," Baki instructed, turning on his heel and walking in the opposite direction.
He usually stayed in the apartment next to the Sand Siblings' and this time was no exception.
Once we'd arrived at the apartment the Sand Siblings had become so accustomed to, we unpacked and Kankuro and Temari settled in front of a very frothy soap opera on the television, the buzzer to the apartment sounded.
Kankuro hastily flipped over to a show exhibiting different styles of kunai and sighed heavily. I shot him a knowing smirk.
"Hey! I was watching that!" Temari protested, slapping her younger brother on the arm.
"I wasn't. I don't wanna watch some dumb soap opera," Kankuro scoffed, as if he hadn't been the one to flip onto that very soap opera, just as I went to pick up the phone to check who it was.
"Hello?" I asked.
"Hey, it's us!" A simultaneous chorus of feminine tonality rang down the phone and I knew Ino and Sakura were just as excited to see me as I was to see them.
"You guys!" I squealed. "I walked past the flower shop and looked for you! Oh my God, it's been so long! Come up!"
I hung up and squealed again, throwing the door open, hearing giggles and excited chatter coming up the stairs.
They ran to me and tackled me, the scents of violet and cherry blossom enveloping my senses.
"We missed you!" Ino yelled.
"You left me and I was the only member of Team Seven still left in the Leaf Village and I had to hang out with Ino-pig all the time," Sakura whined, earning a swift punch on the arm.
"Hey, shut it, Billboard Brow! Be careful or our teamwork'll go right out of the window!" Ino warned with a dark look at her best friend and fiercest rival.
"Teamwork?" I asked, bemused.
"Yeah! Sakura's been practicing with Choji and me since we're going in for the Chunin exams as a three!"
"Why?" I asked. I was pretty slow today.
"Because you and Shikamaru are already chunin, you idiot!" Sakura said, laughing at my empty expression.
"Aww! So I don't get to participate?" I said, a little sad that I wouldn't be involved in these exams.
"Oh yeah, what a shame, Aimi. You won't have to go up against other shinobi in battles to the death, poor you," Kankuro teased from his position on the couch, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Hey, asshole! I'll just miss you, that's all," I said in a self-pitying voice, going over to hug him from behind. He resisted but allowed me to wrap my arms around him just as Gaara came into the room.
I stood up sharply, as if at attention.
"Hey," I breathed, watching his silent entry as he went to sit on one of the other couches. His gait was always so steady, his expression always calm, contrasting the drama in his mane of crimson hair and sea foam eyes, rimmed with black tanuki markings.
Perfect.
He nodded to me then and I went to sit by him, motioning for Ino and Sakura to come in too.
"So, that lazy bum is still around, is he?" Temari asked the girls, specifically Ino, as they came to sit down too, ignoring the television, now only entertaining Kankuro, Gaara's eyes drifting to me.
"Are you nervous for tomorrow?" I asked him, still feeling a little breathless at his gaze. He raised his eyebrows at me, as if the idea of him feeling anxious was laughable. And I could see what he meant.
I giggled then and said, "You know what I mean."
He nodded. "You shouldn't worry about us."
"But you guys are like my family, the only family I have left," I whispered to him, trailing off at the end and looking down, unable to hold his gaze.
To my surprise and, judging from the silence that dropped onto the room like a ton weight, the surprise of everyone else, Gaara lifted his index finger to my chin and angled my face to his, looking deep into my eyes, ignorant of Ino and Sakura staring at him. Ino and Sakura had no idea anything was going on.
"You are our family too," Gaara told me sincerely before removing his finger and looking back to the television as if nothing had happened. I felt my cheeks flush and of course I noticed Ino and Sakura's blazingly curious looks, desperate to get me in private and give me the Spanish Inquisition.
It didn't take them long.
They volunteered themselves and me to go down to the convenience store and pick up dinner since we had only just arrived and there was nothing in. Temari protested since they were guests but they insisted and dragged me along with them.
"So?" Ino began, elbowing me as we got down onto the street and began walking to the store.
"So what?" I asked, playing dumb and refusing to meet their curious eyes.
"Since when did things with you and Gaara get so... heated?" Sakura questioned, grinning.
"Heated?! He touched my chin, it wasn't like we just made out in front of the whole room with reckless abandon," I argued, my brain suddenly painting pictures of him kissing me with reckless abandon.
God, I was attracted to him.
"Have you made out?" Ino pressed, watching my face carefully.
I smirked and flushed red, such a strange combination.
"OH MY GOD!"
"Ino, you can't tell anyone," I told her very seriously. "I'm only telling you because I love you very much and because I'll die soon if I don't talk about it."
"I won't tell anyone. But, I can't believe this! You and that guy?! This is so... I'm speechless! I mean, I knew you liked him but still! I... am speechless!"
"There's a first," Sakura muttered darkly.
"Hey! Anyway, I'm so happy!" Ino squealed, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "You and Gaara... of the Desert. This is so cool. I mean, I knew things were going on but it's official now!"
"It's not official at all, so don't go telling everyone or I'll kick your ass!" I said, but I couldn't help but beam at her, too caught up in my excitement to notice the floating brown eye that had borne witness to our entire conversation.
"Now remember, the trick is that he's testing your ability as shinobi and all those other noble qualities that he wants you to have so just pretend you're good people and that you all love each other and it'll be fine." I was rambling a lot as I polished Temari's fan, now slung on her back. I could tell I was, so I guess I was trying to lighten the tension I had inadvertently created by making a joke. I was far more nervous than they were. What was it about Sand shinobi that made them so calm, so ruthless?
"Aimi, calm yourself," Temari ordered, exuding stoic determination. She was my idol, the way nothing ever worked her up. And then there was me, emotions personified.
"I'm sorry, I just really want you guys to pass," I told them, as they all stood there in a line, totally at ease, as if nothing ever fazed them. Which it didn't.
"We will pass, it's a piece of cake. And now we can work together, there's no problem. We'll be fine," Kankuro assured me, just as confident as his younger brother and older sister.
"Take care of yourselves, won't you?" I said, looking specifically at Gaara, his apathetic expression indifferent. He raised an eyebrow at me, as he always did at a time like this, and I grinned.
Gaara could take care of himself.
We walked down to the academy where the first exam was being held and it did not escape my notice that there was a buzz about the village in anticipation for the upcoming chunin exams.
We met up with the ten genin we knew, just outside of the academy where several other teams were greeting each other and bidding each other good luck.
Temari went straight to Shikamaru, Kankuro to Kiba and Gaara and I walked over to Lee.
"Aimi! Gaara! It is a pleasure to see you both again! How are you both? I trust you will not be taking part in these exams, Aimi." He greeted us with his usual zest for life. Neji nodded to me, smiling serenely and Tenten wrapped me up in a big hug.
"You and Shikamaru just couldn't stay away, could you?" she teased.
She was loud enough that Shikamaru could hear as he retorted in an equally teasing voice, "We just wanted to see which of you losers actually manage to pass."
"Thought you'd be too lazy to come out here, Shikamaru," Temari said, grinning at him.
"It's a drag but I wanted to wish you all good luck, I guess," he said in a monotone voice, avoiding Temari's eye.
"Me too. Kick butt, guys. And remember, it'll be a similar arrangement to last time, probably," I informed then, glancing from Shino at one end to Tenten at the other.
"Hey! We're all enemies here now, don't give away all of our secrets," Sakura scalded, leaning forward, only half serious.
"Technically, she's been living with us for a long time now, so she's practically a Sand ninja now anyway," Temari said proudly from her spot by Shikamaru, who looked as if he'd really rather not be here after all.
"She's a Leaf shinobi through and through," Sakura declared, beaming at me proudly.
"Damn right I am. Team Seven all the way," I replied, high fiving my teammate.
Just then, I noticed a ripple that had been going through the crowd, a whisper, a promise.
People were staring at me, some of them pointing at me.
"That's her..."
"One of her brother's killed her whole clan..."
"The other's with Orochimaru, isn't he?"
"Cursed..."
"What a disgusting little life..."
"I feel sorry for those kids having to hang out near her..."
"It's obvious that at any moment she could snap too."
"She's not really a part of this village."
Their words cut deep and I seemed to have been the only one who had noticed the crowd's whisperings. The rest of the genin were all too busy getting ready to go in.
How had I not noticed their whispers before?
Because you were too busy trying to enjoy some time with your friends.
At that moment, I realized now was my time to get away before my fury exploded, my anger with these people who knew nothing. Where did all of it even come from? What did they know about me?
Did my friends think the same about me? Was all of this just pity? Did they think I could just snap at any moment too?
I couldn't handle it.
I spun on my heel without warning and ran.
I ran down side streets, roads and then up the main boulevard, bumping into people, trying desperately to escape the mindless rage in my body threatening to pour out onto the people of this village.
How dare they?
What had I done? I wasn't Itachi or Sasuke.
I had done nothing to deserve this. Was this how Naruto and Gaara felt?
I wasn't really sure where I was headed until I got there, a derelict compound that looked like at one time, it might have been grand, the smell of rotting and dampness filling my nostrils. A paper fan, red and white was marked over the darkened entrance and I fell to my knees.
When people feel threatened, they go home.
But this wasn't home anymore and I could practically smell the lingering scent of spattered blood, the piercing screams of my family.
I was at the entrance to the Uchiha compound.
Suddenly, from out of the corner of my eyes, I noticed a shadow shift. I leapt backwards, skidding to a stop some ten feet back in the yard, unused for so long.
An unfamiliar hooded figure stood directly in front of me, blocking my way back into town, like something from a horror movie.
Silence fell between us and I readied myself into a defensive position automatically, still reeling from the fury, the anguish.
"Who the fuck are you? Get out of my way," I spat, growling at the cloaked figure, his face totally shadowed.
"Aimi Uchiha, I have a proposition for you."
Author's Note: Who do you think it is and what do they want with Aimi?