I stared Gaara in the eye, "Are you supposed to be here, Gaara-san?"

Gaara didin't answer, so I started exuding Killing Intent, "What do you want from me?"

He answered, "Mother needs your blood. I need your blood. To prove my existence. It's gonna be a sacrifice that'll soothe Mother for months!"

He laughed, and it fixed in my mind that he was unstable. I looked around, taking note of Haku right behind me. We exchanged messages from subtle twitches of eyes and hands, before Haku soundlessly left. Her dark clothes and hair helped her blend seamlessly in the night, and it seemed Gaara was too fixated on me to notice her. "Leave, Gaara-san." I commanded, voice hard.

Red, pulsating chakra hit me like a brick wall, as Gaara chuckled darkly, "Your blood! Your blood! I need your blood to prove I'm alive!"

I readied myself for a fight, bones moving towards the outside of my body in the form of knives, ready to hit. I didn't expect it to happen, and it happened so fast I couldn't avoid. Sand was encasing me, rendering me immobile. Pushing and Pushing and Pushing. It was so dry, it felt like the moisture was being sucked right out of me. It hurt so much, I couldn't bear it. I was gonna have to break. I couldn't breathe, at all. Nothing. My eyes were screwed shut to guard against it, but the grains were rubbing them raw. I immediately switched all my bone reserves to Fossil Defense. It was as thick as I could make it, centered around essential organs, like the brain and my chest. Even a few millimeters of the only material that was stronger than diamonds were enough protection for my moving limbs. Nausea was taking over me, severe exhaustion. The pressure increased, but I managed to match it, holding my own. It was pressing and pressing. Tons upon Tons of sand, piling around me with ill intent, and I had to make it through alive! I still couldn't breathe, but I managed to pull out lessons I had been given by Tayuya, Sound Five's best at chakra control on how to breathe in clean air in unsuitable environments. I controlled my chakra to form a filter over my mouth, even sand had to have room for oxygen between its grains, and slowly, my vision became clearer. I was still pushing, fighting. My will had to be stronger. I had to make noise. Something, anything to alert nearby shinobi. I was out of options, I couldn't use chakra since all my chakra was focused on letting me breathe and fluctuating it in code with mess up the concentration that I needed to keep the Fossil Defense going. Where was Haku?! I needed her! She had to go get help. I was getting tired. I needed water. All fluids were being sucked off by the sand. My muscles were worn out by the intense training that I had been doing for weeks now. I needed rest. The oppressive, painful chakra hitting against me like a staccato burnt like hell. I couldn't die now. There were things I needed to live for. My debt to Konoha had to be repaid. I couldn't leave my friends behind. Sasuke…Naruto…Kaito…Haku. They'd be crushed! Aoi would probably stoically march down into hell, find me, then drag my sorry ass back up. I couldn't focus, I was getting numb. Circulation was cutting off in areas from the tight pressure. I knew, it had been barely twenty minutes, but I couldn't be sure. Was it in an hour? A century? It was just me crouched down, fighting against a mass of sand, in my own little personal dimension. In that moment, nothing else existed. And I had time to think about things I never did otherwise. Aniki. The sacrifices he made for me. The person he helped me become. All my mistakes, my decisions. True, they were warped and twisted, and too haywire for me to actually count them as to things my brain had come up with. I wanted to give up. I couldn't breathe properly anymore. The chakra filter was failing. Sand grains were blocking my nostrils. My bone were groaning… And I was snatched out of the sand, the sudden motion giving me vertigo. I slowly steadied myself, taking in the precious air. Air I would never again take as granted, and groaned. I looked a mess. I was breathing heavily, deep bruising, and scratches all over. I looked at my savior, and caught sight of tilted silver hair, "K-Kakashi-sensei." I coughed out, some sand spitting out of my mouth.

Kakashi-sensei eye-smiled at me, but when he spoke, his voice was serious, "Haku-chan came to get me. You sit back, I'll get you to the hospital."

I shook my head to clear my thoughts, "What about Gaara?" I asked.

Kakashi-sensei looked grimly at the boy, and that was when I realized the number of Konoha ANBU surrounding him. I got up sharply, but the motion was too abrupt and my stiff and exhausted body fell in a dead faint…

I woke up in the hospital. Sasuke was staring at me with an unimpressed glare, "Hn. You should really stop landing yourself in here." He said.

I stared stonily back, "You make it seem like I asked myself to be attacked by a Suna-nin."

Sasuke scoffed, "You really weren't able to stand up to him?"

I nodded, "Yeah. He had this super freaky chakra." I nodded, "E had this insane chakra. Just freaky. It made it hard to focus on… anything really."

He seemed interested, "Really? So he's that tough?"

I nodded, "Worse, actually. It reminded me of…" I trailed off, was I allowed to say it out loud? Naruto had told me to keep my interests to myself and if Sasuke got interested, it would be harder to talk him down.

He nudged me, "…Of?"

I just shook him off, "Nothing. It's nothing. I forgot."

He just shrugged and moved on, "Hn, you're lucky we were doing a supply run when Haku came up looking for help."

I nodded, "What did you with Gaara?"

He fidgeted, "I'm not really sure. You should ask Kakashi-Sensei about it. He's in a meeting with the Hokage right now."

I changed the subject, "By the way, what are you doing here, anyways? You're supposed to be training for the Chunin Exams."

A nurse bent forward to set up a bed for me, and I sighed, as she slowly handed me chopsticks.

"Hn, when you're in the hospital?" Sasuke grunted.

I had learnt to just let him be, but not this time. A promotion was on the line, "Yes. I'll be fine. A few scratches and bruises-"

"And severe chakra exhaustion, dehydration, hypoxemia, stretched muscles and a concussion–" the nurse interjected, poking me harshly with a stern look on her face.

"and a concussion, but give it a week at most and I'll be fine. You need to get back to training."

Sasuke gave me a look that looked vaguely reproachful if you looked deep enough, "If you're sure…" he allowed, before stalking out.

Kakashi was blending into the walls, guarding Kiyoko from any other attacks. He supposed one would call him paranoid, but during her stay after the Evil Sealing, she had been nearly abducted, and a lot of her medical records had been nearly stolen. He had stopped the guys, but that didn't stop them from trying again. By this point, it was getting ridiculous. He had to speak to Hokage-sama about giving her an ANBU squad to keep an eye on her at least while she was in-village. He heard the conversation she had with Sasuke, and he was mildly troubled. Had Naruto told Kiyoko about him being a jinchuuriki? Now that he thought about it, she had been avoiding him, or did they just never talk outside missions? No, she was definitely more outgoing than him. She was definitely avoiding the boy. This was bad. What if she turned against Naruto for what Gaara did? He had to make sure that never happened. Naruto relied on the girl a lot. Sensei's son would be crushed! …And he was freaking out, wasn't he? Okay, calm down, nothing overly bad would happen. He blended out of the wall, and into the hallway, casually walking into the room as soon as it was empty. "Hello, Kiyoko. How are you doing?" he asked, carefully.

She bowed her head, "Fine, I suppose. A little sore, like a particularly brutal training exercise, but no outward damage."

Kakashi-sensei nodded, "Good. I heard your conversation with Sasuke, and I just want you to know, that, you shouldn't compare Gaara to Naruto. They may be similar, but trust me, Naruto would never do that to you. Jinchūriki aren't all like that boy."

She blinked, slowly, before answering, "Naruto's a jinchūriki?"

Kakashi felt his heart jump to his mouth, "Y-You didn't know?!"

She shook her head. Kakashi felt like screaming. What the hell?! He had revealed an S-Rank secret by accident! This was an actual disaster. Kiyoko cast him a searching look, "That…explains a lot." She finally said, "But now Naruto is gonna hate me, cause he wanted to tell me."

That…was fairly neutral. "This, was a S-rank secret I just accidentally told you." He managed to say.

Kiyoko looked amused when she asked, "An S-ranked secret that every fucking civilian and their mother knows?"

He just gave a weary sigh, "I thought Naruto told you."

Kiyoko just shrugged, "Maybe fact-check next time?" she suggested so innocently, he felt like grinding his teeth.

"I'll keep it in mind, next time." He ground out, before swinging around and leaving through the window.

As he left, he heard her deadpan, "Is it that common that you truly believe there will be a next time?" Yeah, he had totally walked into that last one. His little genin was taking after him! Was he supposed to be irritated or glad?

I had no visitors for some time after that, but the absence of clocks left me unaware as to how much time had actually passed. Haku came in next, bobbing up and down nervously, "I should've been able to help you sooner, Senpai."

I shook my head curtly, "It was no trouble, Haku. I was able to hold my own for long enough for you to get back up to the area."

She laughed self-deprecatingly, "But it just proves I how much I need to improve. After Zabuza, you're the only one left that's important to me. I can't lose you too. Not like this."

I rolled my eyes, "If you'll be like that, you might as well help me sneak out."

She blinked, "Why? Aren't you meant to be here?"

I narrowed my eyes, "It was your fault I ended up here to begin with, so… you might as well cover for me while I run some errands."

Haku finally sighed, "Are you planning on training, Senpai? Because I really don't feel comfortable with…"

I pulled up my –still mostly boneless –hair into a ponytail, "That's not it. I need to clear things up with Naruto."

Haku bit her lip, "Er, okay, Senpai, if you're sure… I'll just keep an Ice clone of you while you're gone."

I grinned, and I quickly got up, stretching my muscles slowly, "Thanks, Haku. Now we're even." I thanked her, before stepping out of the window and using chakra to stick to the walls. I jumped from building to building, sliding easily like a monkey in a forest, easily honing onto Naruto's chakra when I moved closer to Ichiraku's ramen.

True to form, I found Naruto digging into what might be his third large bowl of ramen, "Hey, Kiyoko!" he yelled out when he saw me, "What're you doing here? Sasuke-teme said you were in the hospital!" he then tacked on, "I tried to visit you, but they said that you weren't allowed visitors."

I frowned, "Bullshit," I observed, "Haku was allowed inside before I snuck out. But it's alright. I actually wanted to talk to you, Naruto."

Naruto looked confused, "Why?"

I cast a look around, "Not here. Let's talk somewhere else."

He bit his lip, "Uh, alright? Let me just…" he pulled out his frog wallet, and counted out the ryo he needed to pay back the ramen owner, before following me. I went slowly through the forest, looking for a good place for a conversation. "You can stop now." He said, hesitantly, "No one's around."

I looked towards him, "How do you know?"

He just shrugged, "I just sorta do? I can feel this prickly presence around people…"

I continued to stare at him, "Naruto… are you a sensor?"

He blinked, "What's that?"

I sighed, "It's when you can naturally sense other people's chakra. It's a useful skill to have but few people are born with that ability."

Naruto brightened, "Really?! I'm that awesome?!"

I looked stonily at him, "It's got more to do with your genealogy than your…awesomeness level."

He rubbed his neck, "I knew that! …Anyways, what did you want to talk about?"

Right, I needed to put this new revelation aside for now. "You know how I ended up in the hospital, right?"

Naruto nodded, "Kakashi-sensei said you were ambushed by Gaara."

I nodded, "The thing is, his chakra when he attacked me kind of reminded me when you got this boost in the Forest of Death."

He start sweating but I stubbornly continued, "Well, I thought it had something to do with your secret, so I didn't mention it to Sasuke. But Kakashi-sensei thought I was now terrified of you because of your secret, which he thought I knew and…"

Naruto was blinking rapidly, "Can you PLEASE get to the point?" he begged.

I fingered my clan brand, "Ano, I guess what I'm saying is that I know you're the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi." He froze, and I quickly tacked on, "But Kakashi-sensei was the one who accidentally told me. And I really won't judge you for it."

Naruto blinked, "Y-You won't?"

His voice was so broken, his face lacking that false exuberance, "I won't." I reassured him, "I literally am a walking skeleton. You've been protecting Konoha from the Kyuubi since you were born. If anything, that makes you really brave. And much stronger than anyone I've ever known."

I was immediately tackled by Naruto in a bear hug. I felt a moistness on my shoulder, "Thanks! Thank you so, so much! Dattebayo!" he sobbed. Why was he crying?

I slowly returned his hug cautiously, "It's alright. I mean it. I got your back."

He slowly got up, wiping his eyes, "Thanks. I mean it –ttebayo. Gah, you must think I'm a crybaby now…"

I shook my head, "Its alright. I honestly don't care. I don't judge the ones close to me."

He gave me a watery smile, "T-Thanks. I don't know why you think so much of me…"

I deadpanned, "Besides you being able to master an A-ranked kinjutsu in one night, an absolute chakra beast, one of the last living Uzumaki, a damn good sensor, and one of the only rookies to make it to the Chuunin Exams' final stage."

Naruto grinned as he scratched his cheek, "Guess I am pretty awesome, aren't I? –ttebayo?"

I looked at him testily, "Not with that overconfidence, but I suppose you can work on it later."

He pouted, "Gah, fine."

I patted his shoulder, "Keep at it, Naruto. Now, I gotta go back before the hospital staff notice I'm gone."

He smirked, "Haku's covering for you, isn't she?"

I shrugged, giving him a non-answer, before dashing away.

I reached the hospital out of breath and ridiculously sore, even though I was used to even more grueling paces. Guess the Sand Funeral took more out of me than I thought. Haku just saw me, nodded and dispelled her clone before wordlessly leaving. I just cuddled in the blankets and meditated. Ever since I had accidentally got into my mindscape, I had been trying to replicate it. I calmed myself down, keeping my breathing even, erasing my chakra signature completely like I had been taught by Kazuyuki-sama, the Kaguya clan patriarch and the only one who would dare approach Shikotsumyako users. It was a lesson I had not forgotten since it had been essential for my survival, as Tayuya and Zabuza had drummed into me. If an enemy can find you, you're fucked. Usually, I just shrank down my reserves, to make me appear like I have lower chakra, and fluctuated it a little to make me seem more emotionally vulnerable like Ibiki-Shishou suggested. I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again, I found myself once more, in the twisted prison of my mind. I moved around the mindscape, looking at old lost memories. I relived past training sessions, practiced kata, sorted out the moves. As much as I hated to admit it, Kidomaru, Sakon and Ukon were terrifyingly good teachers. I found new ideas for techniques as I revisited Kimimaro's sparring sessions. It was a productive few hours. I found out about old jailmates I had forgotten about. About old stories and training techniques I used to spend the time with. Even my first kill. That was how I found myself in front of a padlocked door, with a warning sign on it. Through the cracks of the boards, mist leaked out, and the sounds of screeching agony from the nearby recollections of torture sessions, it was clear what this was. The Battle of Silence. My most traumatic memory. It was a black spot on my record as a shinobi. How was I supposed to be a good ninja if my first experiences with war was too disturbing to even look at? I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. If what my classes in T&I were saying were true, then Konoha was set to be invaded in two weeks, and I had to get my shit together before that time. It was time to stop pushing away the training and the skills I had kept locked away after the Battle of Silence and use them to my advantage. I reopened my eyes with conviction and pressed my hand on the padlock, bypassing all the barricades and stepping into the memory.

Quiet. It was so mind-numbingly quiet. The mist was so thick, it actively muted out the sound. I couldn't see five feet ahead of me. Sometimes, I would hear the slight throbbing pulse of a hundred assassins running in formation, silent as the night. Figures dashed around me, too tall for me to get a good glimpse of them. I was silent, moving between the puddles left behind by Suiton techniques, and fallen corpses at a lightning-quick speed. I stabbed and slashed, aiming for the legs or groin of anyone who I encountered, before finishing them. Sometimes I found fighters who were screaming battle cries in the silence, and just quietly avoided them. No one except my clan members would scream in a battle where the opponents were trying to catch the others by surprise. My hair was sticking out like needles, and I was covered in blood. Literally bathed in it. I had killed so many people, heard so many quiet sobs for mercy. I had destroyed the hopes and dreams of nearly a hundred people. The feeling of blood, oozing off of my arms and legs, and not a single drop of it being mine. I felt unclean, raw. I had been playing God, then. Deciding who get's to play Kami. It was just a dance, to me, at that time. Spin, twirl, flourish your wrists, click your feet, swing your arms, slit a throat. Dodge with a bow, Deflect by twisting your shoulder and striking a pose. Jazz hands? Killed ten people with one extreme hit. So much deadly precision, a display of skills I had forgotten I had. Everything I had refused to acknowledge I could and have done. Just to try and convince myself that I was a good person. One that deserved the company of people like Sasuke, and Naruto, who had seen so little as to what the ninja world was all about. I had to protect those two, even if I knew it was futile. I had to give it my best shot. They wouldn't be tainted. Not yet. I had to protect them in the coming invasion.

I woke up, feeling completely refreshed. My mind was humming with ideas and decisions, and I flung myself into training as soon as I was released. I spent the next week continuously training without stopping. I didn't stop training until I was exhausted. I worked like a girl possessed. I trained and I trained and I trained, because I was given the power, the tools, to destroy my enemies, and I would do it. To repay my debt to Konoha. That was how it was, three hours of sleep and ration bars kept me going. I needed to protect Naruto and Sasuke. I needed to prove to Aniki that I was strong enough to be someone he could stand by. I needed this. There was no time for investigations. No time for personal matters. Konoha needed me. My friends would need me. I only snapped out of it a day before the Exams, when Naruto ran into one of my training sessions, looking visibly depressed. I cast him a glance before continuing to practice my Water Dragon jutsu. He groaned when I managed to form the full dragon and sending it barreling into the ground. "It's so unfair! You're getting so much better and here I am just sitting pathetically, dattebayo!" He whined.

I looked at him, "Didn't you get the Kuchiyose no Jutsu?"

He nodded, "Well, I did, but… Ero sennin said that there's nothing else he can teach me that I'll be able to use in time for the Exams!"

I narrowed my eyes. Was Jiraiya-sama not aware of the invasion? "How did it go, anyways?" I asked, "Were you able to call upon the Boss Summons?"

He nodded, "Yeah, but only after he threw me into a chasm –ttebayo!"

My eyes widened, "He what?"

Naruto nodded and continued to bitch, "Yeah, it's because when I'm in danger of dying, the Kyuubi naturally tries to keep me safe, cause when I die, he dies –ttebayo!"

My breath hitched, "You…talked to the Kyūbi no Yoko? How was it?"

He grinned bitterly, "Real asshole, that guy. Threatened to kill me himself and whatnot. Such a bastard. Screaming about jailers and tormentors and all that shit."

I nodded, "That… actually reminds me of one of my fellow Shikotsumyako users from the Kaguya clan."

He looked up, "It does?"

I hummed, setting myself down, letting myself relax as much as I could without being open to attack, "Yes, this boy named Kubo. His mother was from our sister clan, the Kaiju clan. They were known for their odd impulses and bipolar behavior. He was the eldest at the time to have the Shikotsumyako, at twelve years of age. He fought for the Kaguya in the Third World War, and they thanked him by shoving him in a cage. Because of what he was. Because of what he could do."

Naruto blinked, "That sounds…awful."

I nodded hesitantly, unsure why I was telling him this, "He used to scream all day and night, slamming at the bars and the walls beside me. Screaming about the unfairness of it all." The sealed mark on me seemed to burn when I said that, as if reminding me what it contained. "I was five years old then. I didn't understand. Sometimes, he'd calm down. When I asked him to. He liked to play little games with me. And I found out he wasn't a bad person. Not really. He was forced to become one."

Naruto bit his lip, "What-what happened to him?"

I looked up at the sky, letting all the tension seep out of me unwillingly. I couldn't keep on going like this. I would burn out before the fight began, "He was killed. They made me do it. To show me that 'the world wasn't worth living in'."

His eyes widened, but he stayed silent. And that was good. "Thank you, Naruto." I said.

He looked at me, "What for, dattebayo?"

I shrugged to show my uncertainty, "For staying with me. I know you wanted to tell me about the Kyūbi. I needed something to ground me right now, I was letting my emotions get the best of me."

He grinned at me, "No problem. But maybe you should redirect some of your emotions somewhere else? I always feel better when I blow something up or prank someone."

I nodded dumbly, thinking of the Suna-Oto invasion. This was getting ridiculous. Shit needed to be done.