Scarlet Kunai

By Ginta and Hakakku Fangirl

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the characters

A/N: Original Character's name is Kyoko, female, only a few months older than Uchiha Sasuke, no Kekki Genkai, ANBU-ranked kinoichi, more info in story.

Rated M for violence, language, and lime.

*I may have to "rearrange" some events, in order for this fic to make sense.

Previous Chapter:

"Underneath the smell of explosives, there's the scent of jasmine."

Kyoko gazed softly down at him for a long moment, thoughtful, before whispering, "I think you're the only person in years who has seen more to me than just an explosives expert, as more than an ANBU. As more than just a kunoichi."

Itachi closed his eyes again, sighing as Kyoko rested her head on his chest, sticky from the sweat of their earlier "play."

"You never were any of that to me," Itachi murmured, low enough that Kyoko, despite her closeness, could barely hear him. "And the stench of bombs never did overpower the jasmine, not to me."

He glanced down at Kyoko, who was staring up at him. She blinked. And for a single moment, the Sharingan stared back at him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter Twenty-One: Ill News

"Itachi-sama?" Kyoko asked sleepily. "Taichou, what's wrong?"

"No-nothing…" Itachi muttered. Kyoko had blinked again, revealing eyes of their normal grey hue. He passed off this Sharingan as having only been reflected in his eyes. For now.

"Itachi-sama?"

"Go to sleep."

"Hai…"

Itachi's gaze softened slightly, as Kyoko lay on his chest, her breathing deep and even--he doubted that she had slept much lately; he allowed his own eyes to close, ignoring all pressing matters for the moment, sinking with a sigh into the familiar fragrance of explosions and blossoms.

Outside of Itachi's room, Deidara sighed. He couldn't hear any words or even movement inside, but he was sure that that was where Kyoko was.

XXX

Meanwhile, in Suna…

Gaara scowled as he looked over the day's traffic reports, pacing his study; occasionally, he would glance out at the night sky.

"Gaara…" Temari sighed. "Gaara."

"What?" he snapped.

"Gaara, if Kyoko hasn't been in Suna at all today, it only means she's still on the road."

"Hmm…"

"Besides, you read the Hokage's letter: 'If Kyoko arrives sooner than four days, send her straight to your best medical shinobi.'"

"Hmm."

"You know Kyoko-chan better than any of us, Little Bro," Kankuro said. "She hates anything and everything to do with medical jutsu, she's not going to risk being poked and prodded as soon as she gets here--"
"She'll have it done anyway," Gaara said; Temari sighed.

"Gaara, she's our ally, not our patient. It's not up to us to determine her medical treatment."

"Yeah. Besides, isn't it a lot more likely that she's just outside the Sand and biding her time until she can come inside the village without being attacked with ninja in white uniforms and syringes, than it is that she's hurt?" Kankuro added; Gaara's eyes flickered towards him before he sat down.

"We don't have enough time to teach the students ourselves," the redhead said, attempting to keep his voice level. "And our teaching standards are still low compared to Konoha; we need to get our ninja to the same level as our ally, so that we do not put them at a disadvantage, should we enter battle together or if one of us should call for reinforcements."

"I know, I know!" Temari said, throwing herself into a chair.

"It's a shame we couldn't ask for more help," Kankuro muttered, stretching. "But Konoha--"

"--Is still suffering from a shortage in shinobi," Temari finished. "It's too bad we can't send any of the Sand's shinobi to help."

"No…What shinobi we could spare would be of little help," Gaara muttered, pressing his forehead to the glass of a window. "We may have more ninja than Konoha, but we need to keep up our own defenses; two allied countries with weak defenses are much worse than one Country with elite but too few shinobi, and one Country with many shinobi that are only average."

Kankuro shook his head.

"This is why I never wanted to be Kazekage," he said. "Too much pressure and thinking about the whole picture; I'd rather be a part of the action."

"If what the Hokage said is true about Akatsuki is true," Temari whispered, "then we're going to need all the help we can get to make our shinobi as elite as possible."

XXX

In Konoha, Inuzuka Kiba paced; Hinata and Kurenai watched him warily, and Shino randomly threw shuriken into the trunk of a tree. Akumaru barked worriedly. Shikamaru frowned and Ino pressed a knuckle to her mouth. Sakura and Chouji sat side by side, Sakura staring at her master, Chouji staring at his hands; Shizune bit her lip.

"Two." Tsunade stood up. "Missing here are two of the original nine rookie ninja of your class."

There was a knock on the door and it flew open; Tenten, Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, and Maito Gai rushed into the room solemnly.

Tsunade pressed her lips together, gathering her thoughts, before continuing, "We are missing two from your class, and two of the jounin sensei, both on missions. One of your classmates should be back soon. The other…" Tsunade sighed and Sakura quickly stifled a sob; Ino put an arm around her. Sakura had been without anyone from Team Seven for over a year.

"Yes, well…" Tsunade continued, "I've called you all here because we cannot wait for anyone else to return." Tsunade glanced around at the occupants of the room. "Akatsuki…has returned."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Short. Deal. Review.