Chapter Nine: Apart

Konoha was vastly different from Suna. Even with most of the village in ruins, Kira could tell that. The massive trees of the surrounding forest were ancient and must have provided cover for towering buildings at one point. Now, as she walked along a calm stream that bordered the outside of the construction area, Kira had an almost completely unobstructed view of the other end of the village.

It had taken nearly three days to arrive due to a sand storm that had pinned her company down in a small cave for a good portion of the second day. The small group of builders and supply wagons were gone now, left to work under the care of leaf ninja and civilians. The trip had been uneventful besides the storm, and for that Kira was grateful, though she was still finding grains of sand in places she wasn't used to.

With her ANBU mask carefully tucked away and her black pants and blue shirt in place, she searched for the infamous Copy Ninja, Kakashi. The sealed scroll almost burned in Kira's side pouch, reminding her yet again not only of her orders to give it only to the white haired former ANBU, but also of the last hours she had spent back at home.

Quickly, Kira pushed away her agitation at her thoughts before she could feel the heavy weight of disappointment and worry on her shoulders again. Stay on mission, she reminded herself, turning at bend in the path and recognizing a training field not too far off to the left. Just like everything else, it was different from Suna, placed in a wide-open field, the far edge lined with trees.

There were four Shinobi there, one much older then the others, telling Kira it was most likely a squad getting in some practice. As she walked along the path, getting closer with each step, her amber eyes picked out more and more details about the group.

Three of them, including the elder of the group were male, leaving the last to be the all too common single girl. The girl and one boy had brown hair leaving the other two with black, strangely identical haircuts. Pausing at the edge of the field in front of the group, Kira realized the last two were almost copies of one another, the separation of apparent age being the only difference.

How odd…

At the moment the team leader was shouting about something, an arm up in the air and a giant gin stretched across his face. His younger version was promptly following suit, fisting a bent arm in front of his own face. The other two looked as weary as Kira felt, the girl in particular letting out a loud sigh and pressing a hand to her forehead. As odd as it was, Kira found it oddly charming to watch the interaction and probably would have kept watching if the brown haired boy hadn't turned and looked at her a moment later.

She could tell, even from the yards in between them that he was a Hyuga. The sharp lavender-gray eyes of his family pierced through her and Kira resisted the sudden urge to take a step back. She did however, look away, wishing for her mask and rubbing the arm she habitually wrapped.

"Hey there, could you use some assistance?" The booming enthusiasm of his voice made Kira's heart jump and she glanced up at the older man who was looking at her with the same grin as before. By now, all four of them were looking at her and Kira hunched her shoulders, the tips of her ears burning suddenly. She hadn't meant to interrupt them.

"Oh… uh. Sorry," she pushed out the word, glancing up at him again before looking down. "I was just trying to find someone, and…well, I guess… " She trailed off, shifting her feet before sighing. It was so embarrassing meeting new people, even worse when she was caught off guard.

"Oh?" the girl chimed in, taking a step forward. "Do you need some help? We know everyone pretty well." She smiled, lines fanning out around the corners of her eyes that oddly put Kira at ease, calming her heart. She took a few steps into the field.

"I'm to report to Kakashi of the Sharingan to deliver a message from the Kazekage." She answered, relying on mission information to keep her words even. It always felt weird, talking about Gaara so formally, when for over a month she'd simply used his name.

The team of four looked slightly surprised, four sets of eyes flickering to her waist where her Suna ninja headband was placed. "Ah, you're sand shinobi, eh? Well now, it's good to see you. Did you come here alone?" the elder of the group asked, glancing to where she'd come from, as if expecting to see others. Kira give a quick shake of her head.

"I escorted some workers and supply wagons here, there was no need for others," Kira explained quietly, casing the Hyuga to raise an eyebrow. She smiled slightly. "I've never been here before… I would appreciate the help." She'd rather not wondered around in circles all day, and they seemed nice enough.

"Well of course! Kakashi happens to be a good friend of mine, a rival in all things." The elder stroked his chin in thought and Kira suddenly wonder if that was a healthy relationship to have. "Well, My name is Gai, the Green Beast of the Leaf, and this is Lee." He waved a hand to the younger copy of himself and the wide-eyed boy grin.

"You must be quiet the fighter to be here alone!" Lee announced moving closer and holding out one hand is almost a fighting like stance. "We should spar some time, it would be fun." By the tone of his voice, Kira could only assume he was serious. Who in the world asked that after just meeting someone? He didn't even know her name. Not knowing what to say to him she just stared, blinking and wondering how to go about dealing with him for a long few seconds. Finally a hand shoved his shoulder and the girl of the group pushed him to the side.

"Knock it off Lee, you're going to scare her off!" she snapped, her tone almost motherly, as if she were scolding him. After a moment she turned her gaze to Kira and gave a gentle smile. "Sorry about that, he's just easily excited." She tilted her head slightly and Kira quickly glanced to her feet, eyes flickering up to her. "I'm Tenten, and that's Neji." She pointed to the Huyga who had crossed his arms and gave a small nod when Kira glanced to him.

"Kira," the shadow user said quietly, her left hand straying to tug at her hair. "It's nice to meet you." They seemed nice, she thought, and tried to look Tenten in the eyes as she smiled more confidently. Tenten smiled back, and turned to her squad leader.

"I can go help her find Kakashi Sensei," she offered, more eagerly then one would think. Gai crossed his arms giving a large nod, and Kira could have sworn tears were in his eyes.

"That's my girl, always so willing to help others. You go on and help our new friend out Tenten." Beside him, Lee mimicked the older man and Kira felt, for not the first time, a bit out of place. It was just so, weird. Oddly sweet, but weird.

"Alright, see you guys later then," Tenten said easily and turned to Kira again, "Come on, there's a few places he's normally found around." She started off then and Kira twitched before quickly bowing slightly to the rest of Tenten's team.

"It was nice to…meet you," she said quickly before turning on her heels and following after the girl with twin buns in her hair. She lead them in the direction Kira had already been heading and once they had cleared a bend in the dirt road Tenten let out a sigh and gave her a sheepish smile.

"Sorry about them, they can be a bit intense, but they do mean well," she said sincerely, rubbing her neck. Kira tilted her head slightly and smiled.

"They seem nice," she replied tugging at her hair. "Kind of reminds me of my teammate Aya." They certainly did, Lee in particular could have been her clone in some ways. The boundless energy and happy-go-lucky vibes were almost identical.

"Really?" Tenten questioned and after Kira nodded she let out a giggle. "Well, good. They're kind of embarrassing sometimes. Well, not Neji, I think he tries to ignored the silliness as much as possible," she rambled and Kira saw a light tint of pink under her eyes.

Kira could see how much the girl truly loved her team, even if she seemed frustrated with them. As Tenten led her towards a part of the villege that was all but rebuilt they made idle talk. Tenten asked where Kira was staying and seeing as it was the only Inn open right now, Kira figured it was okay to tell her. The girl had seen Kira's weapons strapped to her upper right leg and had been rather interested to find another user of Tonfas. Tenten was a weapon master she learned and though Kira had been hesitant, she had let the girl look at one of her custom weapons. The hidden blades in them had surprised her, but she'd handed it back after a quick inspection.

"We should spar sometime, it could be fun. Everyone on my team just uses hand-to-hand. Would you like to?" she asked with a smile. Kira bit her lip, focusing on keeping her feet moving as she thought about it. It might be nice to spar with others, and Tenten probably wouldn't go at her with intent behind each swing like her teammates did in practice.

She liked Tenten, Kira realized quickly. She wanted to get to know her. It was odd, Kira normally had a hard time being around new people but something about the girl walking next to her was calming.

"Sure, I'll be around for a few days," she answered her gaze flickering up to meet Tenten's. The brunet grinned again and as they turned a corner around a freshly built building she stopped.

"Oh, there he is!" she pointed forward, a small group of ninja in front of them. "Kakashi is the one with silver hair." She waved a hand at Kira and started forward again. Keeping pace with her Kira analyzed the group in front of her quickly.

Two of them wore normal Leaf gear and as he had been pointed out, Kakashi was one of them; his silver hair and lopsided headband were easy to pick out now that she saw him. The man next to him had brown hair and some kind of headgear, probably to protect his ears. The last one, who was also male, wore black that seemed to offset his pale skin. As Kira neared what ever they had been speaking about was paused and they turned their gaze on the two girls. Tenten seemed unfazed, giving them a bright smile.

"Hey, sorry to interrupted but I have a Shinobi from the Sand who was looking for you Kakashi Sensei," she informed them, her hands behind her back. The Copy Ninja blinked his one visible eye and looked to Kira who nodded her head. She could do this; it was part of the mission. She just had to focus on her mission.

"Oh? Well, thanks Tenten. You should probably get back to your team for now though. We've got it from here." Even under his mask, Kira saw the easy going smile on his face and she felt herself shift her guard down just a little.

Tenten nodded her head. "Okay. Well, " she turned to Kira. "Do you want to maybe catch dinner later? I can stop by your hotel in a few hours. I'm sure the guys would like to talk to you too," she offered. Kira shifted a bit, her gaze flickering from the men in front of her to the girl she'd so quickly befriended. She didn't have much to do once she'd finished with her mission, so maybe a night out would be fun.

"Alright," she said with a nod. "I'll see you later."

Tenten gave a short wave before she hurried off back towards her team. Despite her earlier eagerness to help Kira out, she could see Tenten wanted to get back to training. She watched her go for a moment before someone cleared their throat, and Kira turned back around. Kakashi raised his eyebrow and smiled again.

"So, you're from the Sand? Never seen you around before." He didn't sound suspicious, just unsure. He had every right to be after all. "Are you the only one that came?"

"Yes," she nearly blurted out, suddenly slightly nervous now that she was alone. The other older man tilted his head slightly and she met his gaze and nearly flinched at the stare he gave her back. "I'm Kira Araya, I escorted a few workers and supply carts here. Lord Garaa didn't see a reason to send anyone else. I was told to find you and give you this," she reaching into her side pouch and pulled out the scroll, holding it out to him, palm up.

He took it easily and nodded, quickly breaking the seal and opening it. There wasn't much paper, just enough for a short explanation. As he read she glanced over to the boy in black, realizing he was probably around her age. He was eyeing her quietly with guarded eyes. She noted after a moment that he was carrying the same kind of sword Aya used. Was he ANBU then?

"Hm…" Kakashi mused, pausing to look at her from over the top of the scroll. "Well, I guess that explains a few things. I'd say you seen kind of young, but who am I to talk?" He chuckled slightly, closing the scroll with a quick twist. "The Kazekage must trust you a lot Kira, so in turn I shall do the same. As you know I'm Kakashi Hatake," he gestured to the other two men who had been silent the entire time. "This is Yamato and Sai. They're both members of Team Seven, my squad."

Both gave simple greetings to which Kira nodded. Sai seemed interested in speaking more with her and offered to escort her back to the Inn but his team leader stopped him, reminding him they were in the middle of something. The boy had frowned and Kira had simply shook her head. She knew how to get back.

"Thanks anyway," she offered in the end and after another moment, bowed and excused herself. She shouldn't keep them from business, and, frankly, Kira wanted to take a bath and a nap before Tenten showed back up. With a tired sigh she pointed her feet back towards the Inn, trying to not think about the unpleasant way she'd left her home.

…

The wind was a gentle sigh across the ground in Suna the day before the Kazekage and his siblings would leave for the Land of Iron. The sun had dipped in the sky, its underside skimming the horizon line, turning the clear sky a range of golds and pinks.

Gaara walked quietly through the main street of the village, alone, for what would probably be the last time for quite a few days. He couldn't blame his siblings for keeping close to him in distant places; it was their job, true, but it was more than that. They only had each other after all, and the redhead knew with certainty the strides both would take to keep him safe. Not that it was any different for him.

Ahead of him, he heard the distant laughter of children, hurried feet brushing against the sand. His eyes moved, spotting the two boys that always came this way around this time. The same two boys he'd watched every day passed by the tower. The same friends that had would have been crushed by stones if not for Kira's quick actions. They were running about, obvious as they laughed, their line of movement bringing Gaara's eyes to a second familiar figure from this time of the day.

Meela, Kira's adoptive mother moved slowly in his direction, one hand clasping a wooden cane and the other wrapped around the handles of the fresh produce of the evening and next morning. The young leader remembered the first time he'd even seen this women walking along this path way and then, much later, the day he had seen his friend Kira walking with her. The very same day Gaara had first truly met her.

Just like that day the boys ran with blind joy and while one arced around the elderly women, the second bumped her shoulder. This time though, Kira wasn't there to steady the woman on her feet. Gaara saw her eyes widen, saw the ample amount of weight that shifted onto the cane in hopes of recovering, but it did little to stop the momentum. Meela tipped forward, and with no helping hands near by the correct her… Gaara's next movements were without hesitation.

His hand flicked forward and the sand in front of the woman's feet shot up and wrapped gently around Meela's shoulders. As Gaara moved closer to her the sand swiftly tilted the old artist back onto her center of balance and promptly let go, the sand dropping in dead weight at her feet. Looking around, not quite confused but still surprised, Meela's eyes met Gaara as he neared her, a yard or so in between them.

"Lord Gaara," she greeted, her dry lips spreading into a pleasant smile, the lines around her eyes and mouth growing with the action. "Thank you so much for the help."

He tilted his head, walking a few more steps forward to stand off to her side, his eyes scanning over her quickly. "Are you alright?" he asked frankly, his eyes wondering to watch the ever growing smaller backs of the two boys. They would have to learn to pay attention to their surroundings more if they hoped to ever become ninjas. Maybe he would speak with their teacher.

"Oh I'm fine, just a bit tried," Meela assured him. "What are you doing out here Lord Gaara?" she questioned, to which the redhead stared blankly at her for a moment before simply shrugging his shoulders. He hadn't really had a reason for the walk, other than to go for a walk and clear his head. "Would you mind terribly keeping an old woman company then?" Her words held no real tension to them. Clearly it was an open offer, one he could easily refuse without having to worry about her being disappointed.

This was Kira's mother though, and as far as he knew the older women had no one else other than friends. She must have been alone a lot. A change of pace wouldn't hurt, he decided, and turned around to face the direction he had come from. The older women hummed, and silently her cane and feet started forward again. After a moment, Gaara followed, matching her slower pace easily, the movement of her cane and then their feet making a calming rhythm.

As they walked in silence, Gaara took the moment to truly look at the older women that had all but raised the ANBU he was considering for his guard. She wasn't short, but her hunched posture over the cane made her look it. She had long, gray and white hair that swung behind her in a single braid ending near her waist. Her eyes were clear, keen for someone so aged, and were a warm brown. Her face was withered some, covered in lines caused from laughter and worry. She was quite old, he realized now, probably close to what Chiyo had been.

"Lord Gaara?" she addressed him suddenly, her eyes meeting him in a steady gaze that was so different from her daughter's jumpy and shaky one. He raised a pale brow and tilted his head forwards slightly in a nod of encouragement. It wasn't often that the villagers spoke openly to him. Meela smiled, continuing her thought. "The mission you sent Kira on, she isn't in any terrible danger, is she?" her voice held a worried edge to it and Gaara felt a small shock of surprise at her forwardness.

He should have guessed she would be worried about Kira. Meela was her parent after all, and from what he understood of such things, it was a normal reaction. "No. It is a simple escort mission; she will be back in a few days. The Leaf will treat her well." He tried to be soothing, but he had a feeling he'd fallen short of that. It wasn't something he was very good at…

"Oh good," she replied with a smile as they turned a corner and headed towards the shops in the outer ring of the village. Gaara knew the way, he'd long memorized where Kira's house was. "I worry about her when she is away, even more so now as she is alone," she explained her eyes ahead once more, sweeping the ground for any displaced objects. Gaara nodded his head and for a few moments the sound of their feet crunching on the ground was all there was. Then, as if she had not finished her thought from before she continued as if off hand. "I worry less for her now though, so much less than when she was younger, when she couldn't leave."

That seemed off some how to Gaara. Didn't parents prefer their children to be close by and under their watch? "Why?" he voiced quietly, not wanting any idle people passing by to hear them. The older women tilted her head and sighed.

"She was so trapped here," she explained, pressing her lips together in thought. "It isn't good for children to feel trapped in their own home, never able to venture out. I wasn't even allowed to take her with me to the next town over where I get my supplies. That meant leaving her alone here. She never truly complained of course, but I would sometimes hear her pace in her room, see the frustration of boredom in her eyes. I did what I could, taught her about the stars in the sky, told her stories about them. That way, she could at least entertain thoughts of far off places, places no one else could go to either." She paused again as if needing to catch her breath, her home now visible in the distance. "I asked about her mission because before she left, she had that look in her eyes. The look she had before she was put on her team."

Before his father had died. She didn't say it, but Gaara could see the unspoken words in her eyes. The old women couldn't have like Gaara's father much, not after what he'd put the girl she'd raised through.

Her words made him look back on the last day he'd seen Kira, the look of hollow sorrow that had laid there. She had looked at him as if she hadn't seen him at all, as if he had seen someone else behind the desk he had been sitting at. The younger ruler stopped short of Kira's home as things clicked together in his head rapidly.

She couldn't have really thought…

Had she truly come to the conclusion that he would do as his father had? Running over their conversation from before, the redhead found that might have been true. He hadn't meant it that way; he didn't see her the way his father had. Yet, he hadn't denied it when she'd asked if she was a tool for the village. He should have, he realized, though it was far too late.

"Thank you for the company Lord Kazekage." Meela broke his thoughts and he looked to her. She was standing a few feet in front of him now, another gentle smile on her face. He gave a small nod, thoughts elsewhere. The older women paused, staring him down for a moment before speaking once more. "She's been a lot better, you know. Since she started hanging around you and your family. I hope I can trust you to be there for her," she concluded with a nod.

Gaara stared at her, eyes widening slightly at the statement. Had he and his siblings really changed her that much? Truly he knew she was trying harder to get over her nearly suffocating shyness, but he hadn't really noted anything else. He hadn't known her before, but maybe Kankuro had seen something. It surprised him that the elder women would ask him of such a thing though. Had she thought maybe they were at odds with each other? He supposed they were in some way.

That was something he needed to fix.

He needed to make it clear to Kira that he had no intention of using her in such a way, nor did he even think of restricting her to the village. It hurt a bit, knowing that she could think such a thing, but perhaps his words had done much the same to her. Letting their wounds heal slowly on their own wasn't something he was willing to do, not when it could be fixed. She was his friend, and as such the idea of her no longer being around bothered him. Her presence was soothing, warm in a way. She seemed to help him and his siblings just as much as they had to her, and only in such a short while. He wanted to be part of what ever would come next.

"She is a friend of ours," Gaara said evenly, holding the women's gaze. "I value the trust she has put in me more than you could know. I can only speak for myself, but don't believe any of us would ever turn her away." It wasn't quite the wording he was looking for, but Gaara found his thoughts hard to put into words.

Meela chuckled slightly and turned back around, starting towards her home once more. "Have a good evening, Lord Kazekage." Gaara watched her go for a few moments before simply turning and retracing his steps once more.

He had a lot to think about.

Knowing he would have to wait to speak with Kira though, he tucked those thoughts away for now, once again hoping he could make things right, even more so now that he understood her agitation. For now though, Gaara shifted his thoughts to the next morning, and the summit to come. He just needed to get through the next week and hope the meeting went well. He doubted they would truly take him seriously due to his young age. He'd have to prove them wrong.

Just like he had to prove to Kira that she'd been wrong.

It would be a trying week to be sure.