Well, it looks like the reviews are glitched, again. I sure hope they work on that, because it gets kind of annoying after the first day.

Now, for anyone getting impatient about there being a lot of canon stuff, and not enough OC stuff, keep in mind that this story is like a pie. The canon verse is the pan. It's sturdy and flexible, and necessary for putting this story together. I am still mixing the ingredients for said pie, so please be patient and let me put all the ingredients in before I shove the pie in the oven. Because if I put the pie in the oven with only half the ingredients, and then take it out before it's done, it's going to be a bad pie.

I don't know about you all, but I would rather have a good pie. And I can hardly give away all of the details already, that just makes for bad writing. This is a show, not tell sort of instance.

Warning: Big dream flashback. Also, some slight divergence from canon details (because said details don't make a lot of sense to me, like leaving a bunch of kids to hang around a tower without at least bringing them inside and giving them food and a place to sleep). And mostly, I just want Ciara to run into Gaara. Now, that's going to be a fun encounter *sarcasm*.

My chin rests on Akito's shoulder as he continues to carry me towards our destination. His grip is tight, and I know that no matter what, he's not going to let me fall. He's being very protective, and it makes me feel warm. Maybe this is what it's like to have a big brother… Because being carried like this reminds me of my two favorite Uchiha, whom I miss very much.

Hiro jumps ahead, keeping an eye out as we make our approach. "I doubt that many teams have made it this far this fast. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if we're the first, or maybe the second team to get here. They gave us five days, so I'm pretty sure that they're not expecting us to finish this fast."

I smile tiredly. "Well, then I guess it's lucky that we ran into a team with the opposite scroll so quickly. If we hadn't, we could have been out here for a while. And the longer we're out here, the more dangerous it's going to get."

"Yeah, so let's pick up the pace a little more." Akito nods to Hiro, and the two of them let their chakra spike a little, easily doubling their speed. I suppose, in this instance, it's a good thing that I was the one to fight the tigers. I'm the smallest, lightest, so I'm the easiest to carry. And this way, we're going a lot faster than if one, or both of them had tired themselves out, or gotten themselves injured in the fight.

The scenery speeds by, turning nearly everything into blurs of brown and green, once more. Normally, I would be upset about missing out on seeing the world around us, at least feeling it under my feet, if not seeing it firsthand. But right now, I just want to get to the tower and find a place to sleep. I don't care if I have to sleep on the floor, I just need to stop thinking for a while.

I wasn't expecting the cost to my body to be this bad. Then again, I don't know why I expected any differently. Suzaku warned me that it would be dangerous to my body to use his chakra, but I guess that I just assumed that I would be able to recover quickly, just like Naruto. I guess I just don't have the stamina that he does…

I know that I'm younger than everyone, but it really irks me that I don't have as much stamina or physical strength as most of them. And while my brain understands that it's because I'm still small, and haven't grown enough yet, I still find that my heart feels as though I'm being left behind. And that's definitely not a fun feeling.

While I'm not entirely sure how fast we're going, what I do know is that a few minutes later, the tower in front of us is huge, and juts up out of the ground like a bloody spire. Okay, maybe that's being a little over-dramatic, but in the light of the setting sun, that's seriously what it looks like.

"Hey, you still with us?" Akito peers over his shoulder, his pale eyes finding mine.

I feel a bit groggy, but I manage a weak nod. "Yeah, still here." I'm getting better by the minute, so I should be able to stand on my own in a bit.

"Good, because we're here." I can hear the smile in his voice, because he's right, there's a door in front of us, sealed closed.

Akito lets me down from his back, and I wobble a little as I find my feet, Akito's hands steadying me. "So, we go in here?"

"Looks like." Hiro puts his hands on the door, and gives it a push. "Oh, it's open." He pushes a little harder, and the doors fold inward, breaking the paper seal.

The three of us exchange wary looks, before heading on inside. It' dark at first, before the lights flicker on, revealing an empty room. Empty, except for the three of us.

There's some writing on the wall, and Hiro frowns as he reads it. "'If qualities of heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher. If earthly qualities are what you lack, train your body and prepare to attack. When heaven and earth are open together, the perilous path will become righteous forever. This…'" He frowns. "Okay, there's a blank space there…then it says 'is the secret way that guides us from this place today'."

Akito bites his lip. "That sounds like a lot of metaphors. So the first one is…qualities of heaven, wisdom, and the mind."

"That could refer to intelligence." I offer it up as an answer. "And then…" I re-read the next part. "Earthly qualities…that's pretty straightforward, it's talking about physical strength. Which means that the first probably is intelligence. Mind and body. Which means…" I continue reading again. "If your mind and body are in sync, then hard things…become easy? It could refer to ninjutsu, physical and spiritual chakra… It all sounds like the principles of being a ninja to me. So maybe the blank space is supposed to contain nindo or principle?"

"Could be…" Hiro glances at my pack. "Well, only one way to find out, right?"

I quickly understand what he's getting at. "Yeah." I reach into my pack, shuffling things around to grab the two scrolls stashed there. I hold them in my hands and glance at the two of them. "Well, we've completed the mission. We got one of each scroll, and we came here with them. That means that we've filled the parameters of this test. So I guess we should open them and see what all the fuss was about. Anko never said that we couldn't open them up once we got them here."

Carefully, I set the two scrolls on the floor, parallel to each other. And without any hesitation, I roll them both open. What I find…is not what I expect. Actually, I'm not entirely sure what I've found.

Hiro looks over my shoulder. "Uh…if that's some kind of code, then I'm pretty sure that I don't know it. How about you, Akito?"

Akito takes a look at it, just as the two scrolls start smoking. "That's a summoning jutsu! Cross the scrolls over each other so that the symbols line up, that should complete the summoning."

"Like this?" I pull them into an x shape, and they start to smoke even more. "I'll take that as a yes."

A little spooked, the three of us leave the scrolls there and back away, each of us getting into fighting stances, despite my ever-present exhaustion. If it comes down to a fight, I might have to leave it to the boys, because I don't know how much help I'll be right now. But no matter how much help I might or might not be, there's no way I'm running away from this.

The smoke turns into a column instead of a wisp, and a flash emanates from within its depths. I wouldn't say my nerves are frayed, but I'm definitely on edge. Mostly because I have no idea what or who this scroll is summoning. Probably a who, since the biggest character on both scrolls referred to a person.

A form in the smoke begins to move, and in an instant, the smoke dissipates, revealing Kotetsu's head of spiky hair. "So, you three sure made it here quickly."

I relax a little, but this guy still annoys me. "What, were you expecting us to take a whole five day camping trip out there or something?"

He smirks at us. "Well, I certainly didn't expect you to finish up this fast, that's for sure." He looks us up and down, nodding. "I guess your attitudes aren't just cockiness."

Hiro yawns and cracks his neck. "So…are we supposed to fight you or something? Because if we're just going to stand around and talk, then can we get to the point already?" He must be impatient to move on after all the running we've done today. "And if at all possible, I want to get some sleep."

Kotetsu chuckles. "Alright. Well, I suppose that I don't have to explain the writing on the wall, seeing as you figured that out all by yourselves. I'm sure that your sensei will be proud." He takes a step back and picks the scrolls up off the ground. "Well, you guessed right the whole way along, so I can only say good things about your deduction skills." He stows them in his pouch and grins. "Congratulations, your team is moving on to the next round of the Chunin Exams."

Those last few words take all of the tension out of the air, and Akito smiles. "Well, that's good to hear. But…we don't have to fight you, do we? Because if it's three on one, that's not going to end well."

Kotetsu chuckles. "No, you won't be fighting again for a while. Just hang around here until the five days are up, then we should have all the candidates settled."

"Okay…" There's still something weird about all of this. "So…do we just go back into the forest or something?" That option seems rather dangerous and impractical to me, but it's better to find out now what's expected of us.

He shakes his head. "No." He points over to the left side of the wall. "That door leads to a hallway that connects to a set of stairs. If you go up to the second floor, you'll find a bunch of rooms. Just look for three doors with the number two on them, and you'll be set."

"Two?" Hiro raises an eyebrow. "Why two?"

Kotetsu chuckles again. "Because you're the second team to make it. The first team arrived about three hours ago. Both of your teams beat the old record for passing this part of the exam. You three beat it by almost an hour. Be proud of yourselves."

With that, he disappears in a whirl of smoke, leaving the three of us alone, and rather bewildered. I blink at the place where he once was, then shake my head. "Well…that was weird."

"No kidding." Hiro puts his hands behind his head and walks over towards the door. "Well, lets go, then. We should go find our rooms and hit the sack. We've got four more days before the next round starts, so we should spend this time relaxing and planning, right?"

"Right." Akito and I join Hiro near the door, and he pushes it open. "I wonder what other team made it here." His face darkens. "And even if we beat the record, I wonder how the hell they beat it so fast."

"Yeah…" I follow behind the two of them as we head down the hallway and over to the stairs. I know that our team is good, there's no doubt about that. But what other team has the sheer speed and power to finish the test this quickly? If they've been here for a few hours already, then they finished less than two hours after the test started. That's insane!

It seems that my curiosity will be sated, because as we ascend the stairs, there's some noise coming from down the second floor hallway. And a girl's voice rings out. "Ugh, this place is a dump. I can't believe they expect us to stay here."

"Hmph, I told you that we shouldn't expect anything decent from this place." Now that's a voice I recognize. It's Kankuro, that black-clothed genin from the Hidden Sand. Even his voice grates on my nerves.

"Well, I guess now we know who beat us here." I sigh unhappily. "It's that team from the Sand, the one with the red-head, the one in black, and the girl with the blond hair."

Akito smiles grimly. "Then should we go say hello?"

I have to admit that I do have some lingering curiosity about that squad from the sand, especially the red-head. "Alright. But stay on your guard. If that Kankuro guy tries to pull something again, I don't want either of you caught unaware."

"Right." Hiro's eyes focus in on where the sounds are coming from as we approach an open archway.

When the three of us walk through the archway, we're greeted with the sight of a large common room, and three occupants. And they're precisely the occupants that my ears told me they would be. The three Sand genin.

Of course, as soon as we step into the room, their conversation ceases, and they turn to stare at us. The red-head's eyes find mine, and there's something about them that just seems so familiar. Whatever it is, I can figure that out later. For now, I might as well make nice with this team that looks like it wants to kill me.

I take a few steps towards one of the couches, sliding myself down onto it and lying down on my back. "So, I heard that you guys finished this test in an hour and a half. Congratulations. Seems like the old record is no match for the candidates this year."

Kankuro shifts uncomfortably. "Well, we managed to run into another team pretty fast, so we just grabbed their scroll and booked it here." It sounds like he's not telling me the whole story. And judging by the scent of blood coming from the red-head, with no traces of it on his clothing, he's the one who did most of the work.

My eyes drift back to the him, to find him staring quite determinedly at me. I raise an eyebrow slightly. "Something wrong?"

His teammates recoil a little, edging away from both of us. But he's not fazed in the least. "Who are you?"

Okay, so not quite what I was expecting. But I suppose that there's worse questions he could have asked. "Ciara. As you can probably see, I'm a Leaf genin."

His eyes flick to my headband, half hidden by my bangs, then they narrow. "What are you?"

My heart almost stops at the question. What am I? There's no way that he should know that, and yet, he's still asked. So even if he doesn't know, it means that he has some inkling about me, enough to be curious enough to ask the question. Maybe it's my chakra that gives me away. Or it might be Suzaku's giving me away. In either case, this could be bad. "Well…I'm not going to tell you that. I need to be really good friends with someone before telling them that."

I watch his response, and there's something churning in those pale eyes of his. A hint of frustration, a little impatience, and a whole lot of questions. "Tell me, what are you?"

I can see that he's becoming agitated, and since I know that he's got blood on him somewhere, I'd rather not push my luck and get into a full-blown fight here. Because I've got abilities that he doesn't know about, and I'm not sure who would win here. But more than my own safety, I'm worried about my teammates.

So, I push myself into a sitting position, staring him down. "Maybe our teams should hang out for the next few days. Then, If I like you, I might tell you what you want to know. Deal?"

Without waiting for his response, since I'm fairly certain he's not going to vocalize one, I stand up and turn towards the hallway. Then, I feel a small pressure rising up my right ankle. I look down, and see a tendril of sand curling around my foot. The smell of blood is coming from there. So…this is what he used to defeat whatever team they ran into. And judging by the smell of blood, they're not around to talk about it anymore.

Turning, I let my eyes find his again, and I gaze sternly at him. "I see that you're clingy, but if it's all the same to you, I would like to go to my room and get some sleep. I had to deal with a dozen giant tigers earlier, which means that I'm tired and a little cranky. So why don't we continue this conversation another time?" The sand proves to be stubborn, so I release a little chakra from my foot and pull my foot out of the sand. "I'll see you later…Gaara? That's your name, right?"

His eyes narrow a little, and sand starts crawling towards me again. So I shake my head and stride out of the room. There's no way that I'm going to just let him do to me whatever he did to his opponents in the exam. If he and that sand of his think I'm going to be a pushover, he's dead wrong.

Hiro glances at me as the three of us start walking down the hallway. "What was that about? It's like you two were in a world all to yourselves."

Akito shifts slightly. "There was some blood-lust coming from him the whole time. Be careful around him, he's dangerous."

Looking ahead, but keeping my senses on alert, just in case Gaara decides to be persistent, I nod. "Yeah, there's definitely something dangerous about him. But I don't know why he's so interested in me. I mean, I suppose that there could be several reasons, but I don't know which one it is."

"Well, then we're just going to have to be careful around them for the next few days." Hiro sighs and puts his hands behind his head. "Anyway, if you two decide to go at it in here, please warn us ahead of time so we can book it. I don't want to get caught up in whatever constitutes an all-out fight with you."

"Fair enough." There's no reason for me to expect anything else. "If it looks like things are going to turn into a fight, at his behest, not mine, then I'll do what I can to warn you. But I'm not here to pick a fight, I just want to get to know our competitors. Call it recon, or even just curiosity. But there are things I want to know, and it seems there are things he wants to know as well."

Akito stops us suddenly, staring at a door. "Well, here we are. These doors should be the bedrooms that Kotetsu told us about."

I glance at the doors, and they're all labeled with paper notes that have the number two on them. "Good. It's been a long day, and I want to get some sleep." I smile up at my teammates. "See you two in the morning."

Hiro frowns. "Are you going to be alright in there by yourself? That Gaara tried to attack you earlier."

I nod. "Yeah, I'll be fine. If it looks like anything bad is going to happen, then I'm sure that my little friend will be able to sense it. And he'll wake me up." I'm not at all sure if that's the case, but I might as well say it to reassure my teammates. And somehow, I get the feeling that I'm right anyway.

Akito smiles and opens one of the doors. "Alright then, we'll leave it to your friend to watch you. But if there's anything you need, just knock on one of our doors. Or the wall, if you can't reach the door."

His concern is touching, but unnecessary, and I roll my eyes. "Okay, I will. Now get some sleep. I have a feeling that we're going to need all the energy we can get once these five days are up."

"Agreed." Hiro takes the door on the other side, leaving me with the one in the middle. "Night, guys. See you in the morning." And he closes himself in quickly.

I let myself into my room, closing the door securely behind me. There's a decent sized bed lying in the corner of the room, and what looks like a small bathroom off through a smaller archway. I'll have to see if there's a tub in there tomorrow. I'd like to get some of this dirt off my clothes.

But my first priority is pulling off my sandals, as well as my shirt and capri, leaving me in a small pair of green shorts and a white halter top. It's been a rather long day. So, as soon as I crawl into bed and my head hits the pillow, I begin to dream.

A familiar dark ponytail slides into my field of vision, accompanied by a head of shaggy raven locks. My eyes slowly lift and slide over their faces, barely registering them at all.

"Ciara? Can you hear me?" The one with the shaggy hair touches my cheek, his dark eyes gazing deeply into mine. Then, he turns to a third figure in the room. "Do you know what's wrong with her"

The shadowed figure sighs. "We believe that she's in shock. The specific details as to how that happened have not been disclosed to me. However, what I have been told is that the Shiryugu Clan is gone, completely destroyed. And she was found amongst the bodies. It would seem that someone saved her life, because the blood we found on her body belonged to her. In fact, I would say that it's a miracle that she survived not only whatever killed everyone, but also exposure to the elements before being found. She was hardly dressed to be outside, let alone spend the night in the cold."

"I see…" The boy winces, before turning back to me, sadness filling his eyes. "Ciara, are you in there?"

The doctor shakes his head. "She hasn't responded since arriving. She shows listlessness, and does not respond to visual or auditory stimulation, nor does she respond to being touched. If it were not for the fact that she can open her eyes, I wouldn't even believe she were conscious. She's been in a catatonic state since arriving. Catatonic depression, I believe."

"Which can be related to extreme trauma…" The long-haired one sits on my bed and takes my hands. "Ciara, will you please talk to us?"

As he squeezes my hands, there's a slight tingling in my fingers, where before it was numb. His hand is warm, I can feel the warmth. And it seems that he can feel the temperature difference as well.

Breathing an unnaturally warm breath onto my hands, he starts rubbing my tiny fingers in his much bigger ones. "You're so cold…" Suddenly, one particularly vigorous rub sends a shock through my fingers, and I twitch. His eyes shoot to mine, widening. "Ciara!?" He rubs my hands a little harder, and slowly, my hands begin to clench.

"Whoa, Itachi, you're getting something!"

The doctor comes a little closer. "That's strange. She's never responded like that before…" He peers at the two of them. "You two said that you were ANBU, right?"

The taller one nods. "We are, but that's just the excuse we used to get in. She's my brother in law's daughter, and Itachi is my cousin. We used to visit the estate all the time to play with her."

The doctor's eyes widen, then he glances at me. "Then perhaps the two of you will be able to get something out of her. It seems that strangers get no response from her. But…perhaps some exposure to family will." He bows out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Itachi sighs, sounding rather forlorn. "To think that we would come back from a mission to see this…" He tickles my fingers a little. "Can you hear me now?"

I tilt my head a little as a few cobwebs start to clear, giving a name to the one in front of me. Opening my mouth, I try to say something. But it just moves uselessly, not a sound emerging. I try again, but nothing comes out, not even a peep.

Itachi frowns. "Shisui, come here, I have an idea."

Shisui approaches, then sits himself down on the other side of the bed. "Alright, so what's this idea of yours?"

Itachi points to my mouth. "Her voice isn't working, but her lips are, so…"

"Oh, I get it." Shisui smiles, then closes his eyes for a moment. Then, he opens them again, and they're a beautiful bright scarlet. "Now, let's see what she's saying."

Itachi squeezes my hands again. "Ciara, do you remember us?"

My mouth starts moving again. 'Chi-Chi…Shi-Shi…'

Shisui grins. "That's a yes, then. Okay…" He strokes my hair gently. "Do you…know where you are?"

'Hospital?'

He nods. "Yes." His mouth twitches a little. "Do you know why you're here?"

I freeze, and the memory of pain in my abdomen greets me. Without my direction, my knees curl in and press to my stomach. 'Gone.'

Shisui freezes, then slides closer and wraps his arm around my waist. "I'm sorry, I wish I could have been there to stop this from happening."

"You're not the only one." Itachi's eyes darken a little. "But who would do this?"

Shisui grits his teeth. "Professionals, obviously. There's no way that they could have gotten into such a well-defended compound otherwise."

"But why them?" Anger flashes through Itachi's eyes and voice, though no other traces of it are shown on his face. "There's no one they could have provoked, they made sure to avoid that."

"That's true." Shisui muses. "There isn't much point in being the peacekeepers between the clans if they have a habit of making themselves enemies at every turn. And I'm certain that Lord Ryouta would have made sure to have the barrier up by nightfall."

I tremble a little, the memories of that night coming back little by little. 'They…killed everyone.'

Itachi snaps his eyes back to me. "I'm sorry, we shouldn't be talking like this in front of you."

I can' bring myself to open my mouth again. Everything feels so cold and empty. And the only source of warmth is coming from the two boys sitting on my bed.

Shisui turns to Itachi. "Normally, I would suggest bringing her home with us, but…"

"It might not be safe for her there. And neither of us are old enough or have enough free time to look after her." Itachi sighs. "We'll have to arrange for something with Lord Hokage."

"Exactly." Shisui pulls on my arms and wraps his around me. "Go to sleep, little once. And have good dreams."

The last thing I see is a flash of red, then darkness.