Hi again, I don't own Naruto.


"I hate this place," Shogo complained, throwing a kunai at a tree and watching it hit its mark. It was the day after his first meeting with Gin and he was sitting in the training ground, alone. He missed Nikko, his friends and teachers, but most of all he missed his uncle, who had been the triplets last living relative. Shogo had been his favourite and Shiro had taken a particular interest in his training. Yoake was obedient, professional, but at time's cold and distant and Tsuya, well no-one seemed to understand what was running through her head except Yoake. Shogo had felt like the outcast among the three, but Shiro had always treated him as if he had the most worth.

The day his uncle died, Shogo had sworn he would get revenge on the person that killed him and was sure it had been the escaped criminal, Kurayami Gin. The former Hikarikage had been the one who gave the orders for her to be imprisoned, he was the reason she had been locked away for ten years, so it only fit that she would want revenge on the man that imprisoned her.

Hiruma said Shiro's death had been the fault of Taiyo, Shiro's assistant, and, of course, no-one questioned the word of the Hikarikage. On top of that Hiruma had the last surviving members of the Akengata clan sent away. Shogo believed this was because he wanted to smother Shiro's memory. He would have refused to leave Nikko,but he knew he would never be able to survive without his siblings. Even though he didn't understand them as well as they did each other, and they didn't seem to understand him at all.

He went straight home after his attack on their new sensei, waiting in the silent, unfamiliar, house for Yoake and Tsuya to return. When the other two members of his team finally walked through the door his sister didn't say a word to him, which wasn't really odd. Tsuya was only ever interested in the here and now, choosing never to dwell on what couldn't be changed. She just walked straight past, pulled out a marker, that she was never without, and started drawing complex designs on the living room wall.

Yoake, on the other hand, stopped right in front of Shogo, looked at him for a few moments, studying him with his intense gaze that saw everything, then placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I understand how you feel," he said in his calm voice that irritated Shogo. "But you have to put this behind you. There's nothing we can do about this situation for the moment, so we might as well sit back and be thankful that we're being trained by someone so skilled, even if she was a criminal."

"And if she was the cause of..." the shorter boy began, but was cut off by his brother.

"Look Shogo," Yoake said, tightening his grip on Shogo's shoulder. "I know Hiruma-sama better than you do. If there was any way that Gin-sensei was the cause of our uncles death he wouldn't have sent us to her. Hiruma-sama would never stand for letting a convicted criminal go free if he wasn't sure that she was innocent and no danger to us or Nikko."

"I wish I had your confidence Yoake," Shogo said. "I'll do as you say and accept this situation as something I can't change, but that doesn't mean I like it any better. Whatever you say about the Hikarikage, I know there was some reason he chose us and whichever way you look at it, he benefited most from sending us away. He could have picked anyone else."

"You're so narrow-minded," Yoake replied. "If you looked at the entire picture you would see that we were the ones who suffered the least by being sent away from home, and we are the ones that can gain the most out of this experience. Just think about it."

All of a sudden Shogo felt Tsuya behind him. He turned to face his sister, who smiled brightly. "Think of this as an adventure Sho," she said as she hugged him. "I for one am happy that we're here, and it's not like we'll never see Nikko again."

With that she turned sharply and made her way to her room, trailing the marker across the wall and leaving a dark blue line on the white paint.

Yoake sighed. "Dose she have to draw in permanent marker?" he said, following the girl down the hall. Shogo could hear him calmly calling for her to relinquish her hold on the marker and could almost see the mischievous smile on his sisters face. At least they were having fun.

Thinking about the night before made Shogo cringe. He couldn't believe his siblings could accept things so easily. Well, Tsuya was usually off in her own little world and Yoake would always do exactly what he was told, no questions asked, but it was as if they didn't care about Nikko at all. Sure they didn't have any family left there, but that didn't mean that they weren't still connected to the place.

He threw another kunai at the tree, where it stuck, right next to the first one he had thrown.

The sound of voices getting closer broke Shogo out of his thoughts. He looked up just in time to see three people entering the training ground. Two boys and a girl, all wearing Konoha Hitai-ate. The party stopped when they saw the red head, who stood up quickly. Shogo studied them, not really in the mood for the introductions and obligatory small talk he knew was coming.

The first boy had long black hair and white eyes, marking him as a member of the Hyuga clan. The second wore a bright green jumpsuit, had a bowl haircut and extremely large eyebrows. The girl was the most normal looking if the three, her hair was brown, as were her eyes. All up she was pretty unremarkable in Shogo's eyes.

The Hyuga stepped forward. "I haven't seen you around here before," he said, rather stiffly, reminding Shogo somewhat of Yoake. "Would I be right in assuming you are one of the new genin from Nikko?"

Shogo wanted nothing more then to walk away, but he thought it wouldn't be wise to insult a member of one of Konoha's strongest clans, so instead of turning his back on the Konoha genin, he nodded. "I'm Akengata Shogo," he said, bowing slightly.

"Hyuga Neji," Neji replied. "This is Rock Lee and Tenten and, on behalf of my team, I would like to welcome you to Konoha. It has been announced that your new sensei is Kurayami Gin," he continued politely. "That must be interesting, to say the least."

The former Nikko genin scowled, something Neji's sharp eyes didn't miss. Shogo didn't much care if these genin knew that he despised the Kurayami woman, so he wasn't about to hide the fact.

"I take it you're not happy with the arrangement," the Hyuga said in the same proper tone, though there seemed to be a slight edge in his voice that wasn't there before. "May I ask why?"

"Should I be happy that I am forced to take orders from a criminal?" Shogo replied.

Neji's face darkened slightly. "You still believe she's guilty?" he said. He had been somewhat suspicious of Gin when Kakashi had first brought her to Konoha, but after seeing her past in the way that he had, not only sharing her memories, but her emotions as well, he had come to see that she was the victim. Now he wouldn't tolerate anyone who insulted her, just like he would defend any other member of his village.

"I don't know why anyone believes otherwise," Shogo replied, he hadn't noticed Neji's growing anger, but he knew he was annoying the older boy, and he didn't care in the slightest.

"I would keep my mouth shut and my opinions to myself if I were you," Neji said darkly. His posture remained relaxed, but anyone in the vicinity would swear heat was radiating off him. It wasn't a wise person that tested Neji's patience.

"Why?" Shogo said with a twisted smirk. "I don't care who knows that I don't want to work under a murdering criminal. Especially one so low that she blames her actions on others. I find it hard to believe that a smart woman like Tsunade-sama would be so completely fooled, though I did hear she was close friends with the criminals mother, so possibly that had something to do with it."

Neji's movements were as fast as lightning. Before anyone could even blink he had Shogo pinned up against a tree, an arm across his throat. Shogo struggled but the Hyuga's grip was like iron.

"Listen to me," Neji hissed, white eyes boring into Shogo's green ones. "I will not hear a word said against Kurayami Gin or the Hokage. Kurayami-san is innocent. How do I know? I have seen her life with my own eyes, and the byakugan does not lie."

"Neji, come on, put him down," Tenten said, though she didn't sound too concerned about Shogo's safety. If anything she looked as if she wanted nothing more than to see the red head hurt. "We're meant to be looking for Hinata remember."

"And Guy-sensei will be waiting for us," Lee put in, his tone giving the impression that not keeping their sensei waiting was the most important thing in the world at the moment.

"Hey, what's going on here?" a voice called out. Neji, Tenten and Lee turned to see Yoake appear a few metres away, closely followed by Tsuya. "Put my brother down," he ordered harshly. Neji shrugged before relinquishing his grip on Shogo, letting the younger boy drop to the ground. "Now will someone please tell me what happened?"

"He attacked me," Shogo complained, scowling at Neji. His voice was a little harsh from being half strangled.

"Your brother has to learn to keep his mouth shut," the Hyuga spat ignoring the boy on the floor and addressing Yoake. "He doesn't seem to understand the dangers involved in insulting a Konoha shinobi."

Yoake sighed. "Can't you stay out of trouble for five minutes?" he said as Shogo got to his feet. "I trust it wasn't any of you he was insulting," he continued, turning back to Neji, Tenten and Lee.

"It wouldn't have made any difference if it was," Neji replied shortly. His voice was calm once again. "Insulting one of us is like insulting all of us."

"I see," Yoake said, nodding slightly. "Well please accept my apology on Shogo's behalf. He's been a bit stressed lately, and is not acting quite like himself," the tone of his voice suggested that when he was finished his brother wouldn't even look like himself.

It was then that Tsuya stepped out from behind Yoake and walked slowly towards the group of Konoha genin. All eyes focused on her as she silently pulled out her blue marker, stopped right in front of Neji, reached out and took his hand. She then removed the lid of the marker with her teeth and began to draw on Neji's palm.

Yoake, holding back a laugh at the astonished look on the Hyuga's face, felt some explanation of his sisters actions was needed. "I apologise again," he said with a small smile. "Tsuya lives in her own little world. She likes to draw and it's best just to let her have her way. The markers not dangerous or anything and should wash off in a few days."

Lee looked at Yoake as if he was crazy, but he didn't have time to respond because Tsuya had finished with Neji and had now grabbed his hand.

Neji looked down at his palm. There, in blue marker, was a bird, wings spread in flight. It was a simple line drawing, more a symbol of a bird than what a real bird looked like, but even so it projected a realness about it, almost as if it was alive.

"What is this?" Neji asked Yoake as they both watched the startled expression on Lees face. "What's she doing?"

"Well I don't really know why she does it," Yoake answered slowly. "I asked her once and she said that she draws what she sees around people. Usually she draws animals, sometimes plants or objects. She says it has something to do with the life of the person. Sometimes it's best not to try to understand her."

When the red head was finished with Lee she moved on to Tenten, who smiled nervously, wondering if the younger girl had some kind of mental illness. As if she had read her thoughts, Tsuya looked up sharply, capturing Tenten's eyes in her emerald green ones.

"I'm not crazy Tenten-chan," Tsuya said, a small smile on her face. Compared to her strange mood swings from before, she sounded quite normal. Relaxed and happy, as if there was nowhere else in the world she would rather be.

"Then what are you doing?" Tenten asked, wondering how the girl knew her name. Neji had introduced then to Shogo, but she had been certain there had been no-one else in the area at the time.

"I'm giving you your animal," was the reply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "See a bird for Neji-kun, a tiger for Lee-kun and an echidna for you Tenten-chan. Have you ever seen an echidna? Their really quite cute."

Tenten chose not to reply. Instead she threw a nervous glance at Lee and Neji and let the younger girl get on with her 'art'.

Lee returned her look before making his way over to Yoake, Shogo and Neji. By this time the hostility between team Guy and the newcomers had burned out, extinguished by Tsuya's odd behaviour.

Tenten's hand had just been released when all six shinobi felt the presence of three others approaching them. It wasn't long before Hinata, Kiba and Shino came into view.

Yoake and Tsuya were delighted to be able to meet more of Konoha's genin, though Shogo looked less than impressed. Introductions weren't long over before Tsuya pounced on Kiba, pulling his hand towards her and brandishing her marker.

"What the..." Kiba yelled, jumping backwards whilst Akamaru barked loudly. "Get off me!" Tsuya held on tight, not willing to let go of the struggling boys arm until he too had a blue mark on his palm.

"Do not worry," Lee said, a large grin spreading across his face. "It will be over soon," he held his hand up so the others could see the stylised tiger adorning his palm. "Yoake-san assures us that the marks will come off eventually, and I personally think they look quite nice." He winked at Tsuya, who grinned in reply.

"Nii-san," Hinata said quietly, standing beside Neji, who bowed slightly, acknowledging her. "I was told by Kurenai-sensei that you were looking for me. I hope nothing is wrong," she never once looked up, keeping her eyes fixed on her fingers.

"No, everything is fine," Neji replied. "Hiashi-sama just asked me to find you. He wishes to speak with both of us as soon as possible. I only came so I could tell you to go straight home after training."

Hinata was about to reply when she felt a hand close over her wrist. She turned slowly to see Tsuya ginning at her and preparing to colour her palm. A little distance away Kiba was looking confused at the wolf on his own palm and listening to an explanation from Yoake.

Once she was done with the Hyuga heiress, Tsuya moved on to Shino, who, surprisingly, offered his hand willingly and earning a bright smile in return. He didn't say a word as she etched a wasp onto his palm.

"Well we must go," Neji said, bowing to Hinata once again. "Or, as Lee has so graciously informed us, we will be late to meet our sensei. It was a pleasure meeting you Yoake-san. Tsuya-san, and I hope we will meet again."

Team Guy said their goodbyes and left the training ground, heading for their usual meeting place. It wasn't long after that that Team eight followed, Hinata still looking somewhat confused at the lion cub on her palm.

Once they were alone, Yoake sighed. "Did you have to do that Tsuya?" he asked, sounding slightly exasperated. "It was really quite embarrassing." Tsuya only smiled and winked, spinning the marker through her long fingers before stashing it safely in the pocket of her dress. "And you Shogo, is it really that hard to keep your mouth shut? You don't have to voice every thought that comes into your head."

"And you don't have to act like you're so much better than us," Shogo replied angrily. "I'm not a child and I don't need you telling me how I should act."

"Obviously I do," Yoake replied, crossing his arms. "Do you really think you would have been a match for that Hyuga? He would have beaten you to within an inch of your life without us."

"I don't always need you to protect me," Shogo huffed, crossing his arms and turning away.

"Just remember what our uncle use to tell us, 'we're stronger together than we are apart'," Yoake said as he walked away. "And you should practice with us more often. You know that we can't perfect that jutsu without you, and it's still far from finished."

Tsuya smiled sadly and grabbed Shogo's hand. "Please don't fight any more. Uncle wished for us to be the best we can be, together, but I feel that ever since we were told we were leaving Nikko, you have been drifting further and further away. Don't go too far Sho, I would miss you."

With one last look and a gentle squeeze, Tsuya let go of her brothers hand and took off after Yoake, leaving Shogo alone.

He sighed and looked up at the sky. Why did everything have to be so complicated?


Aozame asked me in a review what the names of the kids in Gin's team mean. I answered, but I thought I would tell everyone in case anyone else was interested. To start off, I have already said, I don't speak Japanese so if I get any words wrong blame the English-Japanese dictionary I've been using. Here goes:

Tsuya: shine

Yoake: dawn

Shogo: noon

Akengata: day brake

I was just wondering, out of curiosity, what peoples favourite chapter of this fic is. I would like to know because I think it would help me to find out more of what you want from the rest of the fic. So if you're going to review just tell me which chapter you liked the most.

Thanks for all the reviews and to all the people who put this fic on their favourite/alert list.

And, as always, thanks for reading,

Kwin

PS. Shameless self promoting: Some of you might remember me mentioning a vampire fic I was inspired to write, well the first chapter has been posted, if anyone's interested. Also I would appreciate it if anyone could give me a good family name for a vampire, I'm having trouble thinking of one.

Thanks again.