"What to do?" I pondered "go see if Naruto survived Sakura's wrath, or go home."

Although thinking about it, if I were to go back to the house, I'd have to deal with Haruo. Looks like I made-up my decision, and walked in the direction my teammates ran down. However, I was stopped in my tracks.

"Oh! H-hello Tomoko-san!"

I turned my head right to see who had called me.

"Oh hey Hinata!" I greeted stopping, and turning to face her fully.

She made her way to me with a soft smile, "I… heard you got… injured on your last mission" she mumbled slightly, "A-are you okay."

I nodded "I'm perfectly fine, no permeant damage."

"So.." she began, "how are things? I, haven't seen you for a long time."

"Oh things are fine, would you believe me and Sakura are getting along?"

Hinata blinked, "really?"

I shrugged "Well, she's still annoying, but I guess I've learnt to tolerate her."

"And… what about?" She paused, making me raise an eyebrow. "You know…" she hinted.

I blinked a couple of times, not sure what she was on about, "do you mean Naruto?"

"No!" she answered quite loudly, her cheeks instantly turning red. "I meant Sasuke" she whispered.

I made an 'o' shape with my mouth, "oh right, erm… would you believe that we're actually friends again?"

"Not really" she commented, "since you swore time, and time again that you'd never forgive him."

I laughed slightly, but then the memory of our battle with Haku, flashed in my mind. "Well…" I started, "I sorta realised that I couldn't keep living in the past. And… he's really sorry about what happened."

Hinata smiled "you don't have to explain yourself to me" she assured, "I happy you and him made up."

Once again I let out a laugh "I just wish Haruo had that same attitu-"

I breeze suddenly swirled around me, whispering as to where Naruto and Sakura was. But that's not what made me stop mid-sentence, it was that fact they weren't alone.

'Three people' I analysed, 'but not from this village.'

One particularly stood out from the rest, and it wasn't a pleasant feeling at all.

"Tomoko?" Hinata called "is everything alright?"

I didn't answer her, as another presences appeared, this one was very familiar.

"Sasuke?" I muttered. I looked back at my friend, "sorry Hinata, something's just come up!" I told her and began running away from her, "I'll see you later, okay?"

I didn't stick around for her answer, as I sped left, following the whispers of the wind. It wasn't long till I saw a familiar shade of orange, reducing my speed, I continued towards them in a walk.

"Let's go" I heard an eery voice say, "We didn't come here to fool around."

"What's going on?" I demanded, my voice raised. Naruto, Sakura and the kids turned around to face me.

"Tomoko-chan" Naruto gasped.

"What did you guys do this time?" I asked them a little annoyed. I noticed Sasuke was in the tree, but was staring at something ahead of me. Following his gaze, I now noticed two boys and a girl standing before me.

'So these are the guys I sensed.'

The tallest boy was dressed all in black, and it had a strange hood attached to his clothing. He also had every weird face paint and carrying something wrapped, behind his back. His headband was around his forehead, but kinda hidden in the hood. The girl, had sandy blonde hair in four ponytails, two on the top of her head, and two just above her neck. Her headband was tied around her neck, she also wore a lilac robe with fishnets and a red slash around her waist, and she was carrying something thin and long across her back.

Finally, my eyes landed on the last boy, who was by far the most intriguing of all. I first noticed his eyes, a jade green, rimmed with black, defining his harsh gaze. He was quite short, dare I say shorter than Naruto. His skin was very fare, and his hair was a reddish auburn. On the left side of his forehead, there was, what looked like, some form of tattoo, a kanji saying 'love', I wondered what that truly meant. His clothing was a full black body suit, with t-shirt like sleeves and quarter length trouser legs. He also wore a white cloth over his right shoulder, and the left side of his hips, with a wide leather band system over the left shoulder, and right side of his hips. And finally, on his back was the biggest gourd that I had ever seen.

I stared at him, and he stared right back. From the look of his teammates were pulling, they were very anxious around this guy. But even though he had a scary presences, I wasn't afraid of him.

"Hello?" I greeted with a smile, making his teammates gasp suddenly, "can we help you with something?"

The taller boy looked at me as I was crazy and kept gazing at the shorter one. His green eyes never left me, as if he was studying me.

"No" the short boy answered, "We were just leaving." To anyone else, his misty voice would send an uncomfortable chill down the spine. But I seemed to be a different matter, I wasn't sure it was a good thing or not.

The strangers began to leave, till Sakura stopped them.

"Judging from your forehead protectors, you are ninjas from the Hidden Village of the Sand right?" she questioned. "The country of Fire and The Country of Wind have an alliance, but a treaty prevents ninja from entering each other's countries without permission."

"Sakura" I cut in, "if these people were intruding, they would have been stopped at the entrance" I explained. "Do you honestly think the village would just let them waltz in?"

The girl was the first to speak, "you're a keen one" she commented looking at me, and held something in her hand, showing us. "This is a traffic pass" she explained, "as you guessed, we're Genins of the Hidden Village of the Sand, from the Country of wind." She then placed the pass back in her pocket, "we came to this village to take the Chuunin selection exam."

"See?" I stated turning to my female teammate, "nothing to concern ourselves about it."

"Chuunin selection exam?" Naruto repeated slowly, "what's a Chuunin selection exam?"

"Oh come on Naruto really?" I asked rather taken back.

"Apart from the brown-haired girl, you all really must not know" the sand girl stated.

"Naruto" Konohamaru spoke, "you can advance from a Genin to a Chuunin if you pass the exam."

"Really?" Naruto exclaimed, "then I should take it, too."

"You knew about this to Tomoko?" Sakura asked.

I nodded, "of course, my brother has been helping with the arrangements, hence why he's not been on any missions."

"And you didn't think this was something that you should have told us?" she quizzed.

I shrugged, "I didn't see the importance of telling you, I assumed everyone knew about it."

The sand group began leaving again, and Sasuke finally joined us. "Hey, you there" he called, "what's your name?"

The sand girl turned back around with a flirty smile "me?" she asked pointing to herself.

I felt a wet drop in the back of my head, 'great, she's only just met him and she's already a Sasuke fangirl.'

"No" he answered sternly,"the one next to you with the gourd."

The boy stopped, and once again faced us. "Gaara, of the Desert" he replied, "I am also interested in you. What's your name?"

My teammate smirked "Uchiha Sasuke."

I watched as they both stared at each other, it was a little tense. My gaze went back towards Gaara… He was so fascinating to me. If he didn't carry such a scowl on his face, I would consider him quite hansom, if you're into that kind of guy.

Noticing my focus on him, he glanced back at me "and you?"

I blinked, "me?"

"Yes, your name."

"Yes I'd much like to know that" the taller boy mused with a grin.

I grimaces slightly.

Gaara throw him a deadly look "shut up Kankurō."

Kankurō did as he was told, and Sasuke glared at me slightly, but I ignored it.

"Mori Tomoko" I retorted "nice to meet you."

Gaara gave me a little nod, as if he approved of me.

"Hey, hey" Naruto butted in "what about me?"

"I'm not interested" Gaara simply replied, and with his team, left.

"Konohamaru" I heard Naruto say "do I look weak?"

"Weaker than Sasuke and Tomoko" the boy responded, making Naruto moan really loudly.

Suddenly, Sasuke turned to face me, with a very ticked off expression.

"Hwásédéaþsele béonþæs (what the hell was that)?!" He demanded.

I raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"Õu cunnan hwá ic acwædon (you know what I said)!" he snapped.

I gave him a baffled look, not understanding why he was so mad. Everyone else was watching us, clearly not understanding what he was saying.

"Hwà sy sè bigspffic ford (what is the big deal)?" I simply asked.

Sasuke hissed "õu hlytas cunnan hwà õu béon gestreon sac (you don't know what you are dealing with)!" he snapped, "õu rihtdóm ácdrenc sum target (you just made yourself a target)!"

I huffed "and you didn't?" I shook my head, "ic hlytas behéfþ fridosibb (I don't need protecting)!"

"What are they saying?" Konohamarau questioned.

"I have no idea" Sakura said slowly.

"I don't give a damn!" he yelled, "bæs mann sy fecnestig (that guy is dangerous)!"

"Stop it now!" I hissed, "you're just pissed because you didn't have his full attention!"

"Well maybe if you didn't flirt with him so much, he wouldn't had noticed you!"

'What. The. Hell!'

"You moron, I was being nice!" I shot back, "if you think that's flirting? then you're completely clueless!"

"Hey guys…" Sakura stuttered slightly, "come on, lets calm down!"

"Butt out Sakura!" He snapped.

"Oy! Don't speak to her like that!" I rebuked, "now you listen to me! You're not the only one wanting to get stronger. Everyone has goals, and wants to face other ninjas, this isn't all about you!"

"Oh please, a goal? all you care about is serving your goodness! You don't even know why your village was attacked! Let alone have a goal!"

Everything became deathly silent, everyone's eyes were the size of saucers.

Sasuke, realising what he just said, immediately frowned, "Tomoko… I didn't-"

"You're such an asshole!" I shrieked. I turned a heel and stormed off, my teammates called after me, but I ignored them.

I just needed to get away from them.


"Real smooth Sasuke" Naruto mocked.

"shut up dope!"

"What, just happened?" Sakura asked, completely confused.

"No!" Naruto spat "you of all people should know better, than to mention her memory lost!"

"Memory lost?" She repeated.

"I said shut up!"

"You know! Sometimes I wonder how a selfless person like her, can be friends with a guy like you!" Naruto sneered, "you treat her like complete crap! And she puts up with it, all the time."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him.

"Naruto! That's enough!" Sakura ordered.

"You don't deserve her as a friend!"

"I KNOW!"

Everyone was shocked at Sasuke's sudden outburst, nothing else was said.

Sasuke, clearly embarrassed, turn around and began leaving, hoping to find Tomoko and apologise.


"He just doesn't engage brain before mouth" I confessed. I sighed and stared at what stood before me, "I wish I could be like you, and just give him a swift kick. But I don't have hooves."

I looked up at the statue of a horse's head, just on the edge of the ranch. Just beneath it, was a burial urn. The statue was in perfect detail, it looked just like him.

"What should I do Kinnosuke?" I pleaded, "was I in the wrong? Should I say sorry?"

I chuckled "you were alway full of advice, and here I was expecting you to guide me, even though I'm talking to a statue."

I looked up to the sky and blinked. "What? It's that late already?" I questioned, taking note of the now golden skies.

"I bet get going, Haruo will begin to worry."

It didn't take me long to get back to the village, it was however, already nightfall. I gazed up to the star filled sky, admiring its beauty. I then gazed left, and noticed something, or in this case, someone, sitting on a roof of an apartment complex.

Narrowing my eyes, stopped walking to see who it was.

"Gaara?" I whispered.

I'd recognised that gourd from anywhere, he was perched on the edge of the flat roof, leaning his left forearm on his tucked in left knee. His right leg, was dangling on the edge. Like me, he was watching the sky, and had not noticed me.

I watched him for a while… wondering what was going through his head.

"We finally found you."

My gaze shot forward towards this unknown voice, Standing before me, were three hooded figures. They defiantly weren't apart of this village, because they were dressed as if they had come from somewhere with wintery conditions.

In the village, it was the summer season.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

The voice chuckled, it was a male voice, "What, you don't remember me? My little Kendra."

I inhaled a quick breath "what did you call me?"

The voice chuckled and took a couple of steps towards me. "Such a pity" he mused, lifting his hand and grabbed his hood, as he pushed it back, he said "I was much looking forward to our emotional reunion."

This guy was probably about two years older than me? He had looks and smirk that rivalled Sasuke's, with his dark brown hair and forest green eyes.

Wait… forest green eyes?

"Who are you!?" I asked again more forcefully. Suddenly, I felt a strong grip around my throat and was pushed to the a tree on the right.

'No way!' I thought 'I didn't even sense his movements!'

This guy was now inconveniently close to my face, so much I could feel his heavy breath on my nose. "Listen to me, you little bitch!" he hissed, "I am your past, present, and future. We, are the reason you are here. We, are the reason you have remained here for so long. And we, will be your salvation in death!"

"W-what… ack… do… you mean?" I choked.

He pulled a sick smile, "Sweet, little Kendra, we are here to finish what we started, the end of your existence!"

"Tetsuya" another male voice spoke sternly, "our orders were-"

"Screw our orders!" He bellowed, "I've waited too long for this opportunity, and I won't fail again!"

'Again? That… means...'

His grasp tightened, making me gasp for air.

Bright, green flashes blinding me. I saw the golden field, my brother running with me, my mother smiling. Then I saw Fire, heard screaming… smelled blood.

Everything started to become dark, except for a woman, the woman covered with blood in my dreams.

"GET AWAY!" I screamed.

Suddenly, the grip on my neck was abruptly removed. I collapsed on the floor, coughing for breath. On my face, I could feel something small and irritable on my skin. It was swirling around me, like a protective barrier.

"Tomoko!?"

Someone was calling me, who?

I opened my heavy eyelids, everything was a blur. The people that confronted me ran away, all that remain was me, and this strange barrier. I lifted my hand, and grabbed a bit of it in a fist.

I unclenched it and gazed at the content.

"…Sand…?"

"Tomoko!" the voice called again, but I couldn't see who it was, and I passed out.


I could feel myself waking up, but I wasn't aware of my surroundings. Beneath me, was a warm mattress with cotton covers and a soft, fluffy pillow. Over my body, something warm and made of fabric, it was comforting.

My eyes, slowly fluttered open. I scanned my surroundings, it was still nightfall, but I was now in an apartment. I stared at the blanket that was over me, then took notice of a chair in the corner of the room, and the person sitting in it, asleep.

I forgot how peaceful he looked sleeping, I remember when he would sneak in my bedroom to talk, and we'd sleep side by side. He use to get in a lot of trouble for doing that.

Slowlying climbing out of the bed, with the blanket around my shoulders, I made my way towards him and knelt to his level.

"Sasuke?" I whispered, shaking him.

He began to stir, and released a very loud groan. Did I also mention he was incredibly grumpy when he woke up?

"Piss off!" he grumbled and tried to swat my hand away.

Yep! very grumpy when woken up!

"Sasuke come on!" I said a little louder.

He yawned and covered his eyes with his arm, "god sake Tomoko, couldn't you have waited till morning?"

"The last thing I remember was being in the streets, and now I'm somehow here" I stated, "details, now!"

Sasuke exhaled heavily, clearly annoyed. But eventually he stood up and left the room, "come on" he called, "might as well make some coffee."

I too, left the room not long after, which led to a sitting area and a small kitchen. In the kitchen, was a breakfast bar with one seat.

As he set the kettle to boil, I took at seat in the chair.

"How did I get here?" I finally asked.

"I saw you with some guy and two others, you then collapsed and they ran away" he replied whilst still preparing the drinks. "I'm not sure what really happened, but you passed out, so I brought you back to my flat."

Now I remember, but if I'm at Sasuke's flat… then…

"Shit!" I cursed, "Haruo is gonna kill me!"

"No he's not" Sasuke cut in, pouring the drinks out. "I've let him know where you are, I told him that you were training with me, and you pushed yourself too much."

He then turned around to face me, with two hot cups of coffee in his hands. He slid on over to me, then leaned against the counter.

Slowly I griped the cup, and brought it closer to me. "You didn't have to do that" I told him.

Sasuke stared at me, before taking a sip of his drink. We fell silent.

"You gonna tell me what happened?"

My grip on the cup got harder, "I… have no idea…" I removed one hand to rub my temple, "he said that he was my salvation in death."

"Salvation in death?" Sasuke echoed, "what the hell does that mean?"

I fell silent again.

"Did they hurt you?" he asked.

Looked up at him, he had a very pissed off expression on his face.

I shook my head "my neck will probably have a bruise, but… I'll be okay."

Sasuke nodded, but he still had some anger pent up in there. "God damn it!" he cussed "if I hadn't been such a jerk, this wouldn't have happened!"

I laughed slightly, "I'll take that as an apology?"

His expression softened, "my adrenaline was running wild, I got caught up in the moment…"

"Forget about it" I cut in, "besides… you were right."

Sasuke gave me a puzzled look.

"Do you remember the day we met Kakashi? and he asked us about our goals?"

Sasuke nodded.

"I struggled so much to answer that question" I confessed, "I've been living in ignorance bliss for so long…" I sighed, "My goal was to become a Genin, I never had anything planned after that."

Sasuke listened to me intently, waiting for me to finish.

"These people, Sasuke I…" I paused, "I think they were there…"

"Where?" he pressed.

I was now clutching onto my hair in distress, "I think they where there, when my village was attacked."

I saw his eyes widened, "how can you be so sure?"

I shook my head, "its hard to explain…"

Sasuke placed his cup on the counter and leaned his elbows on the breakfast bar, throwing his upper body forward. "Try me" he challenged.

I stared at him long and hard, debating whether to tell him. Granted, I told him everything when we were kids, but this is so much more complicated. But Sasuke was never one to judge on other people's hardships, and he knew mine so well.

I inhaled a deep breath, preparing myself.

"Since we got back from the Village Hidden in the Waves, I've been having nightmares" I began, "It always starts in a field, then I begin to hear voices…"

"I'm scared…"

I gasped harshly, and froze. But it wasn't enough for Sasuke to notice, so I carried on.

"Then, the field begins to die… and… I'm surrounded my death… and blood… and…"

"I'm scared… I'm scared…"

By now I was visibly shaking in terror, causing Sasuke to throw me a very concerned look.

"It always ends…." I stuttered "with a woman… covered in blood…"

"We, are the reason you are here. We, are the reason you have remained here for so long. And we, will be your salvation in death!"

"Oy!" I jolted back to my senses, I looked up to see he had reached over and grabbed my hand. Sasuke now looked worried sick, "it's alright."

My breathing was beginning to turn back to normal, I was calming down.

"does the woman ever say anything?" He asked.

I shook my head, "but, she appeared during my encounter with these people."

Sasuke released my hand, "do you think they pulled some genjustu on you?"

"No" I answered, "whatever this is, its all coming from my head, and I need to know why."

"So you believe these people have the answers?" he queried.

I nodded my head, "and I have a feeling they are going to take the Chuunin exam."

Sasuke remained quiet for a while, I wasn't sure what he was gonna say.

Well, I was thinking more towards 'Tomoko, you're as mad as a hatter. You need help.'

"Okay" he suddenly said.

"O…kay what?" I repeated slowly.

He smirked slightly "Okay, I'll help you!"

"What? no! Sasuke this is my problem, I don't expect you concern yourself with this when you have your own goals" I told him.

Sasuke made an 'ahem' noise, "you need to get more powerful for the Chuunin exams, and I need power for my revenge. If we spend our free time training, then its beneficial for both of us."

I blinked a couple of times, "there's just one problem, there is a slight possibility, that we won't be taking the Chuunin exams."

Sasuke smirked, "oh I have a funny feeling we will, just wait and see."