A/N: Helloooo, Snowflakes. Here we go with Lucky Stars, and I'm happy to tell you that for the next little while, I'll be posting quite quickly on this story. :I I know. I say that all the time and then you get it a month later... but this time I mean it! I'm already working on the next chapter!

What's that...? I say that too..?

BAH! I'LL PROVE IT TO YOU, SNOWFLAKES! THEN YOU'LL SEE!

Training had been brutal. Day after day it felt like she was getting absolutely destroyed by her Anbu training partner and to be frank, she started to think she was making little-to-no progress physically.

Kiyowa dragged herself through the village that day, sore from training again, and headed towards the closest place to grab a bite to eat. At this rate, the nearest open food place seemed to be Ichiraku ramen. Her hand pressed against one of the red-topped stools, and she slid onto the top. She couldn't help but utter a pent up sigh of relief when she finally reached her destination. Finally her body could get a rest, and she was offered comfortable tingles through her body -namely in her legs, arms and back, "Uah..."

Uttering a soft sigh, she leaned her body against the counter and looked to Teuchi, who gave a subtle grin. Even now, she was questioning how much she should be spending here. Into the pockets of her roughed up shorts, she felt around for a pouch-like wallet before pulling it out slightly. It was a bit embarrassing to see that only the bottom half seemed to be even remotely filled. A slight heat of pink burned into her cheeks at the sight, and slowly glancing over, she looked to Teuchi, whose back -luckily- was turned to her.

"It's on the house!" He chipperly proclaimed, placing the bowl in front of her.

What a lucky stroke! She looked up, pushing her wallet away and bowing her head in deep gratitude, "Thank you so much, sir!"

As the male customer to her right opened his mouth to speak, Kiyowa's eyes immediately looked straight down into her bowl. 'Banko' She quickly thought, almost as though it came second nature to her to identify him before he even spoke.

"Could I get mine for free too?" He spoke in a jovial tone, a grin on his face despite knowing how that question would be answered.

"Not a chance! I can't just give all my bowls away for free!" The man laughed, going about his business.

"Geez! He must really like you!" Banko offered through a large smile, paying no mind to the surprised look Kiyowa wore as he spoke.

She was highly surprised. Surely she had done practice with her ability prior, and even in the Land of Waves, she was able to guess the amount of people on the bridge -even though there weren't any. But just now... she felt him there without even acknowledging her sensory was turned on. What on Earth..?

"So what gives, Kiyowa?" The large male questioned, grin still intact as he jolted the flaxen haired girl from her thoughts, "I haven't seen you around since..." The funeral. Yes. It had been about a week and a half since then, hadn't it? No one had bothered to come to her, nor speak to her since that day. Not Sakura, not Naruto, not Motsuki... Not anyone. Except for Tora, that is. To think someone had actually noticed her absence...

"You and Tashi that is," Banko clarified, drawing back a bit. It had been a bit lonely without the guy; after all, they were rather close it seemed.

"Tashi?" Kiyowa echoed back, looking up from her food, which she had been a little shy about proceeding to eat in the presence of someone thus far oblivious to her enormous appetite.

Beginning to grow slightly quiet, the male shifted his head forward to his own food whilst leaning back onto his stool, "Mhm. At least I know why... Y'see. His parents are just a little on the..." The attempt he made at signaling a 'tiny amount' immediately fell short as he gave up on the notion and dropped his hand, "Task master side."

Without looking at his expression, nor heeding his tone, she could feel the regretful feeling that had risen from the pit in his knotted stomach. She tore herself apart from her ramen to sneak a peek at his face, and surely it was just what she had imagined. Sure he would continue speaking, she held back on badgering him with repetition and question.

"They've kept him inside to train..." A smile crept on his lips for a moment, before bursting into a full grin. One could only assume he was compensating for his poor mood, "But, hey, I'm sure he'll wind up strong as always, y'know. And boy'll he be glad to see me once he's found his way out of that prison!" Prison... figuratively speaking of course. He was so hopeful that they could just rekindle their friendship after that long of an absence... Even not after speaking to each other for who knew how long.

Why did that make her feel so hopeful for her own situation?

She turned to him with a slight -even if fatigued- smile, "I... I'm sure you're right."

Who would have thought that such a small sentiment, and even smaller sentence would have sparked such the genuinely happy smile that Banko now wore on his lips. It was actually a little heart-warming.

"Gee! Thanks, Kiyowa!" He grinned in response, though not without harboring a nagging opinion, 'Is it just me... Or does she seem a little more...confident?'

It was time to stop wallowing around in her own pessimism. That was what Motsuki said, right? Even.. if her team hadn't come see her -nor Motsuki-, it didn't mean that she couldn't take the initiative to go speak to them on her own. Besides, it had gotten sort of lonesome... "Thank you, sir!" Kiyowa called to the server behind the counter, the old man's smile beginning to raise under the cover of his turned back, "Anytime, Kiyowa, anytime!"

She then turned to Banko, bowing her head in gratitude, "And thank you too!"

"Wha..? I didn't do anything, really..." Though broad, his smile grew awkward, a bead of sweat tipped to his cheek.

"You did more than you think... Thank you again!" Bowing one more time to both present men, as well as Ayame, Kiyowa turned to leave in what seemed like quite the hurry.

Surely in such a big village it would be difficult to seek out her teammates, but luckily she could identify them pretty easily with the way her sensory had seemed to magically expand in prowess. All she would have to do was give a quick search...

Bearing that in mind, she stopped walking, closing her eyes and giving that a shot. That way even though her sensory was feeling based, she could try to map out Konoha in her head. A familiar chakra signature was present a little ways away in a small building near the shopping district. A corner store , she assumed, but upon registering the other couple of nearby chakras, she was able to distinguish which after some time.

So Sakura was at the Flower Shop. How odd. She could have sworn from the many demonstrations she had seen, that neither she nor Ino had appeared to be fond of each other. Guess she was wrong.

Motsuki was up at the Hokage Tower. That building was a very difficult location to miss. She assumed that maybe it would be best to leave her friend be in the case of her mourning running into a second week.

Trying another search, she was surprised that it came up negative.

Though her eyes never opened, her brows pulled together in confusion. She would try again, and maybe give it a more thorough search this time... Still nothing. What on Earth? Of all the many different people scattered throughout the village, it seemed nearly impossible to narrow any of them down as Naruto, and the same went for Sasuke. Maybe that wasn't normal but... Knowing those two, it was more than possible for them to have gone training or competing out in Leaf Forest.

Kiyowa's eyes opened.

It was completely plausible. Those two were like natural rivals, but... She couldn't help but feel her stomach beginning to knot together. No matter how much she assured herself it was nothing to worry about, the scary-fast thumping of her heart within her chest was begging her to think otherwise.

With absolute luck of the draw, she looked ahead, squinting down a pathway to see two familiar faces passing by. Unfortunately, neither of the two happened to be who she had searched for, but they could very well point her in the right direction or offer her peace of mind.

"Excuse me!" She called, trotting towards them, waving their hands in her successful attempt at catching their attention.

Hinata and Shino. The two turned to Kiyowa simultaneously, waiting patiently as she approached.

"I... was looking for Naruto and Sasuke," She informed, assessing their expressions briefly before continuing to speak, "Is there any chance that either of you two know where they are?"

The two fellow genin looked to each other before directing their attention back to the blonde haired kunoichi that waited expectantly for their answer.

Surprisingly enough, it was Hinata that spoke up first. Her lavender-white eyes fixed to Kiyowa before shifting towards her right side instead, "N...No one... t-told you..?" Her hesitance was clear, causing Kiyowa's heart to take yet another series of fluttering beats.

"T..." The words in mind to ask were along the lines of 'tell me what?', but she just seemed incapable of forming the necessary words.

"Sasuke fled the Village ." The first sting came complements of Shino, and not stopping there to give her time, or sugar coat his next informal bit, he moved right along into the next piece of information, "Naruto and a few others were put together in a team to retrieve him."

"That's right..." Hinata urged in, more avidly twisting her fingers together while adjusting her footing and weight shifting, "Kiba... he went too..."

That big... Something that big had happened in the past week, and Kiyowa had just been finding out? Her chest ached with shooting, sharp pains. In just a split second this had occured, and from there, it seemed everything slowed into a painfully sluggish rate. What could she do? What did she possibly have that this assembled group didn't already? She'd just have to wait back home and hope for the best, wouldn't she..? Just like everyone else..?

A burst of chills froze her body, and for just a solitary moment, something seemed to grab hold of her mind. A pair of golden eyes opened, piercing through her mind to the tune of a dark yet amused tone.

"Sasuke will seek me out."

Her hands immediately shot up to her ears, trying to block out the terrifying voice that spoke out in her mind. Why did just remembering him tend to give her such terror? Her knees buckled for a moment, causing her to abruptly bend.

"K-Kiyowa?!" The young Hyuga's eyes widened as she released such outburst out of concern. The moment she had taken a step forward, however, the blonde kunoichi had risen back to her feet and turned to sprint away.

Although disoriented, she never slowed, not even for a moment, still frantically clenching her ears as tears brimmed in her half open eyes. She couldn't let that happened. She couldn't let Sasuke go seeking that man out! She couldn't only imagine what someone as sinister as he could possibly have in store for her beloved teammate. However she could, even if she proved to be useless aside from locating him, she had to lend her assistance. Even as that background teammate that very few cared of... She still cared very deeply for them.

It wasn't long at all before speedy kunoichi had passed by the Village Gates, and with no obstacles in her path, she intended fully to locate and catch up with them as quickly as she could. As flawless a plan as it seemed in theory, an unexpected roadblock appeared.

"Hey!" Tora had abruptly wound his arms around her from behind, crossing his arms around her midsection in an accurate attempt to hold her still.

It wasn't until this sudden restriction that the true frustration reared its head in plain view. An agonizing shout erupted from her lips, legs growing weak as the swelling beginnings of tears erupted into full streams. Why did she know something like this would happen? That she would be held back again. Her body struggled aimlessly for a sense of escape, but nothing seemed to be working. His grip was too tight.

"Calm down, calm down," He pulled her to him tighter, ridding her of her chances to struggle free, and reducing her to nothing more than a limp doll. It was hard to miss that sense of pain that radiated from her, but even then, it would do no good to let her recklessly revive her mood with whatever idea she had in mind.

She eventually relieved her struggles, but only for a brief moment before they surged up at the start yet again, "Let go! I have to help bring Sasuke back!" Unfortunately for Kiyowa, her poor strength hadn't been changed at all, especially compared to someone as strong ast the ANBU that held her still "I have to help..!" The sound of her shouts were quickly evaporating from the strong demands she had dished out at first to a little short of a desperate plea.

"Be calm," The tiger ANBU spoke in a soothed tone, regaining his usual level-headed speech, "You'll get your chance to help... But you're not ready yet.. For now, try to have a little faith in your fri-"

"I AM ready! I have to help now or it'll be too late! Orochimaru will..."

Abruptly, the male's grip grew notably tight, "You..." He stopped there, shifting his head to the side, but leaving his expression undetermined, thanks to it being shielded by his mask. "I'm telling you, Kiyowa. You have to calm down. You're not on par with Orochimaru. Neither am I, nor a whole slew of the ANBU. You'll get your chance. You just need to have patience.. and to keep training."

Patience. Time. Neither of those would help in the present. They were future terms, and that just wasn't good enough. It wouldn't stop Orochimaru from hooking his claws into Sasuke.

As she was released, Kiyowa remained seated on the ground for a moment with her head facing the earth. It was torturous... But she had no choice but to listen. Making a run for it would only lead to the same result... and though a foreign word for the kunoichi in most cases, she could honestly say she hated that each trial would end with the same result.

Her green eyes rose up. Though she couldn't see his eyes, she looked to where they would be had the mask not been present, expression more a sorrowful intensity that had never been seen on that face before. Everything she had said was nothing short of the truth.

"..." Tora once again shifted his gaze away, trying to find a way to soothe her rage and ambition, but finding none. Be it surprising, or predictable, he knew exactly how she felt. He, himself, had felt it before. Then, there was also the thought of their similarities and differences. Would the road he chose be suitable for her..? Was she cut out for it? And when she realized what it would take... Would she turn away from it.

"Kiyowa. Come with me. We have something to discuss."

That came as a surprise. The young girl furrowed a brow in confusion, taken aback by the stern tone that the ANBU had never quite used with her... But regardless, she rose obediently, despite her inner fire still blazing and ordering her to take action. Perhaps he was agreeing to help even...

She followed.

A/N: Well... Here we go. The End Is Near. I really have nothing to say. ;w;

EXCEPT...

That I'll be posting ANOTHER chapter of Lucky Stars today! Tonight at 8PM EST! That's right! 8PM EST!

Told you I'd be posting quickly. :3

UNTIL THEN, MY SNOWFLAKES!