"Alright, so here's the deal." Kaji began as Kyuu and her new team left the Hokage manor. "We need to get to know each other, and I need to test the skill of you two." She finished while nodding to Haku and Kyuu.

"What would you like to know?" Haku asked politely.

"First things first, we eat!" She declared and Haku stared at her confused. "We'll all get to know each other while we get some lunch. Afterwards, I test your strengths." She explained.

"Sweet, where we eating? I'm starved." Kyuu chipped in.

"All you can eat!" Tsuki declared.

"Sounds good to me!" Kaji agreed.

The new team made their way through the village and entered an all you can eat buffet. Kyuu recognized it as one of Choji's favorite hang outs and even spotted him with his team. She gave a wave to them and made her way to the table Kaji was leading them to. They picked their table and ordered some drinks and then after gathering their plates of food, they dug in and started talking.

"Right, so let's start with the basics. We got your names, but tell us a bit more about you. Age, a bit about your personality, likes, dislikes, hobbies, skills, dreams for the future, etc." Kaji ordered.

Kyuu and Haku looked at each other before Kyuu decided to go first. "Well…I'm fourteen, I like animals, but not so much people, generally speaking I'm pretty fun to be around and easy to get along with. I do have a bad temper though and a short fuse at times. Naruto's actually called me bipolar before, moods switch a lot. Uhh if you give me a lot of sugar, I get hyper as shit. Hmm, I clown around a lot, but do take things extremely seriously if need be. If you've gotten me to think of you as a friend, than I'm fiercely loyal to you. Uhh let's see what else, likes… I like to draw, play videogames, sing; I like the night and the moon. Dislikes… I dislike trivial work, repetitiveness, having nothing to do, Sasuke's hoard of fangirls, closed-mindedness, ignorance, stuff like that. Let's see, hobbies… I write a lot of poetry, song lyrics, and what not, I read a lot, training's a big hobby, pranks, making Sasuke's life a living hell is a big hobby of mine, and if you count it as a hobby, hanging out with Naruto and doing what I can for him." Kyuu paused at this point so she could shovel some food down her mouth before continuing.

"Skills are next right? Well I suck horribly at genjutsu for the most part, taijutsu is my specialty, and I use some ninjutsu from time to time, but mostly just the basic stuff, nothing fancy. I'm extremely skilled with swords, but not a weapons master or anything." She explained vaguely. It was hard for her to fully explain her skills without explaining actually what she was. Yes she was introducing herself to her new team and teams needed to trust each other but, saying "Yeah so I'm a vampire and I just brought my brother here back to from the dead by turning him too." didn't seem like a great way to start things off. She'd tell them when she knew she could trust them not to ram a stake into her the first chance they got.

"Lastly, my dream for the future… I… don't really have one." She started. "I'm just living day by day and trying to be a better person than I used to be. I guess, I don't know, my dream is to just make a difference about something I guess." She explained unsurely.

Truth be told, she didn't have a dream for her future. She had no idea what she wanted to do in her life besides just being the best that she can. She wasn't driven by revenge and hatred towards hunters anymore thanks to Naruto and she didn't feel lost and empty either anymore thanks to him as well. Yet, she still didn't feel like her life had some great purpose and she had no goal for herself other than one. That one goal was to prove that she wasn't a monster, but that wasn't something she could share.

"Well, you're still young. You've got plenty of time to figure out what you want with your life." Kaji concluded when Kyuu was unable to explain.

"That is true." Kyuu agreed and then turned to Haku. "Your turn." She grinned.

"Alright well, I'm Haku, I'm seventeen. Kyuu and I aren't really related, we knew each other when we were younger and she's like a sister to me. Uh, I'm extremely easy going and passive, I don't like killing and confrontation, but don't think I won't hesitate to do so if it's required. I tend to be very serious. I have a love for animals, especially rabbits. I'm a fiercely loyal person; I dedicate myself to someone fully. Uh, I'm very compassionate. I understand the suffering of others and also the importance to have meaning in your life. Um, I've recently lost someone very dear to me and am making a transition into a new lifestyle resulting from that death. It's different and hard, but I am coping well. Herbs are a big interest of mine, I like plants, gardening, making remedies, and so on. I love nature in general. Skills, I specialize in ice jutsu. I have a bloodline trait that gives me control over that element. I would say I'm a very formidable opponent, but by no means am I brutal. Oh, and I'm not from this country, I just moved here recently to take care of my little sister. My dream for the future and my life purpose is just to take care of the person precious to me and look out for her. For now anyway and I hope to find more precious people to care for." He explained, following Kyuu's lead and not letting on about what he was and for his own comfort not explaining his past.

"Well nice to meet you Haku." Tsuki chipped in with a smile.

"Quick question though, and I mean no offence but, with that explanation of yourself. Are you gay?" Kaji asked bluntly.

Kyuu burst out laughing, but calmed down quickly. "Haha no he's not, he's just a big softy." She laughed.

"I am straight." He answered, only slightly insulted by her question.

"Alrighty then, doesn't matter to me either way if you are or not, you're a cool dude regardless." She laughed.

"Right!" Tsuki joined. "Now it's our turn! I'll go first so you can go last Sensei." She added. "Well, like I said, I'm Tsuki. I'm actually thirteen so I'm the youngest out of us, but just by a year! Let's see, I'm very out-going and fun loving. A bit bubbly I guess, but not annoyingly so. I'm very caring and friendly. I do like a good fight though, and am always up for a challenge. I look really sweet and innocent, but really I'm not, only sometimes can I be. Like you guys, I love animals. I'm extremely easy to get along with. Hmm, Naruto-kun is a good friend of mine too, so I'm a bit surprised we never met, Kyuu. I've got a lot of hobbies ranging from sports to arts, fighting to cooking, pranks, music and games, and lots in between. There isn't too much I dislike but, there are ways to annoy and piss me off. I use a lot of taijutsu and genjutsu. I also specialize in talismans. My dream for the future is to be one kick-ass kunoichi and make a name for myself!" Tsuki explained.

"And now me!" Kaji declared. "Welp I'm Kaji, I'm in charge of you brats. I'm twenty-six years old, I share the same birth date as your old sensei Kakashi, though he's two years older than me and the bastard never lets me forget that. I've got a fun loving and crazy side to me like the rest of you lot. I can be easy going but, I can also be a total hard ass, just depends really. I'll work ya to the bone, but you'll learn to love me. I love a good drink so don't bother me on my days off, I'll be at the bar with my own age group. If you can't tell by my weapons, taijutsu is my strong point, but I know some pretty powerful ninjutus and some really "fun" genjutus. I can be a bit sadistic, but don't worry I truly care for my team. Well, I guess that's all you really need to know about me." She finished.

"You gave us the least amount of info on yourself." Kyuu pointed out.

"Sensei's rules, I don't gotta say nothing!" She responded.

"I think we're all going to get along well." Tsuki stated as the table all laughed.

Everyone got up to get another round of food for themselves and then talk continued. They talked about random things for a bit and then finally Haku grew tired of Tsuki's staring. "Yes?" He asked, wondering what on earth she was staring at him for.

"Are you sure you're a boy?" She asked as she studied him.

"This again? Yes I am a boy. See, no boobs." He stated with a sigh and pointed to his chest.

"Well you could just be a flat chested girl." Tsuki laughed.

"Like Sakura." Kyuu joined in with a snicker.

"You're not helping Kyuu." Haku sighed.

"Sorry bro, trust me Haku's a boy." She stated, defending him. "I've seen 'it'." She whispered to Tsuki.

"What!?" Kaji and Tsuki both exclaimed and Haku actually blushed furiously.

"What she means is when we were kids. Kids bathe together ok. Especially if they're bathing in a river and don't have enough time to take turns." Haku explained hurriedly.

"Ah, well that solves that than." Kaji laughed.

"I suppose so. My second guess was that he's both." Tsuki laughed and Haku just shook his head.

"How 'bout you let me give you a makeover brother dearest? That way people will stop mistaking you for a chick." Kyuu suggested playfully but, also serious.

"I'll help!" Tsuki chipped in excitedly.

"Alright fine." Haku agreed in defeat. Maybe a new look would do him some good anyway; it would go along with his new life.

"Great, now I'm going to go pig out on the desserts." Kyuu declared and started to get up, but Haku stopped her.

"Don't eat too many sweets. I haven't forgotten just how crazy you get on sugar." He warned.

"Don't worry I'm not that bad anymore." Kyuu reassured.

"You did say you get hyper as shit though." Kaji commented.

"Well yeah, but I've learned to control myself. Like, awhile ago I was on a mission and pigged out on all these sweets and didn't go crazy. Annoyed the crap out of Gaara, but didn't get too hyper." She explained.

"Who's Gaara?" Haku asked; wanting to know all of who his sister associates with.

"He's a friend I made on the mission. He's really cool, although he might not consider me a friend like I do." She answered.

"Is he cute?" Tsuki asked curiously.

"Very." Kyuu grinned.

"Ahem." Haku coughed with a slight protective glare, but not a mean one.

"Uh I mean, hey look food!" Kyuu responded with a nervous laugh and darted to the buffet table with a blush.

While she picked out some dessert she mentally slapped herself for saying he was cute in front of Mr. "I must protect my precious person". If she ever got to see Gaara again she didn't want Haku to suddenly go into big brother mode, at least not without reason. "Stupid, stupid, stupid, I'm so stupid!" She muttered to herself.

"So you finally figured that one out huh?" A voice stated behind her and she turned to see who spoke.

"Shut it Cockatoo Head." She retorted and turned back to the food (after glancing to see if the rest of her old team was there too, they weren't).

"Would you stop calling me that?" Sasuke complained.

"Nope. Anyway, what do you want?" She responded with a smirk.

"I wanted to ask you something." He responded.

"No, I won't go out with you." She grinned and plopped a few brownies on her plate.

"I wasn't going to ask THAT. Please, I wouldn't date you if my life depended on it." Sasuke snapped.

"Good, then we feel the same." She laughed.

"Anywayyyy…" Sasuke muttered getting back on track. "I've been meaning to ask you about before… On the mission with Haku, we haven't really talked about what happened." He began

"Well what's there to talk about? We all nearly died, well except for useless Sakura, I brought my brother back from the dead, a bastard redeemed himself in his death, and we saved a village. Plus Naruto got a bridge named after him. What else is there?" She responded while piling on more sweets.

Sasuke sighed and shook his head. "You're really going to make me say it? Fine, why did you save my life?" He asked.

Kyuu paused for a minute before answering in her usual sarcastic manner. "Hmm that's a good question isn't it? Why did I save you? I mean it's not like we were, you know teammates or anything. Come to think of it, it was a pretty stupid thing to do huh? Saving your life and all, might have been better to let you die." She retorted sarcastically.

"I get it, I get it. It's pointless to ask you anything isn't it?" He retorted with another shake of his head.

"I don't have to explain myself to you." She responded while sticking her tongue out.

"Whatever." Sasuke scuffed, knowing he wouldn't be able to get her true reasoning out of her.

"By the way, when I did save your life… You looked like you were about to cry. Now why would you do a thing like that?" She asked and pointed at him questionably.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He quickly snapped while looking away.

"Bullshit." Kyuu coughed out before continuing. "You almost cried then and I swear I saw a single tear fall from your eye when you were talking to Naruto and almost croaked."

"Shut up. I knew it was a waste coming here." He groaned; still refusing to look at her.

Kyuu chuckled. "Why don't you just admit you care about your teammates? It's really easy you know. I care about my teammates. See? It's that easy to say." She laughed while patting him on the back.

Sasuke sighed and shook his head. "I'm out of here." He muttered. "But first…" He added and reached behind himself, removing a "kick me" sign from his back. "Do you really think I'm stupid enough to fall for one of your dump pranks like these?" He scuffed and tossed the now crumpled up piece of paper at her face before walking off.

Kyuu stifled her laughter as she watched him walk away. The kick me sign wasn't the only sign on his back, she had just used that one as a distraction for her real prank. Sasuke left the restaurant with big purple and pink writing on his back with the words "I love Sakura and Ino" scrawled out on it. "Yeah I really think you are, Sasuke." She laughed. "And you're no match for my super fast vampy skills." She added childishly while getting the rest of her sweets and heading back to the table.

When everyone had finished eating their meals the team left the buffet. Kaji took them to the training fields and put Haku's and Kyuu's skills to the test. It was challenging and took a lot out of all of them, but ultimately Kaji liked what she saw. She was impressed by Kyuu's strength and speed and her skill with a blade. Haku was the perfect image of an assassin when he fought, his face was blank like he wore a mask and he fought with deadly accuracy. The two made a good team as well; she could tell they had a strong bond together. Their fighting styles were polar opposites and Kyuu was brash and headstrong while Haku was clam and calculating, but they combined those to a deadly combination. She also could tell they both were a great deal stronger than what they were letting on.

"Alright, that concludes our little test." Kaji stated when they had finished.

"Finally." Kyuu panted from her spot sprawled out on the ground.

"That was tough." Haku agreed, though still standing.

"Well we had to test your worth. I think you'll be good additions to the team." Kaji answered. "Now here comes the fun part. Extra training for the next few weeks!" She declared and all three of her students groaned (Tsuki had been watching from a spot under a tree)

"Whyyyy?" Kyuu groaned.

"Well for starters, we need to learn how to function as a team. You and Haku work well together already, Tsuki and I work well as a team already too, now we need to combine our team work and become one official team. We're starting from scratch to establish our trust, bonds, and team work. Report here every morning at ten a.m. sharp!" She ordered.

The three groaned, but agreed and then were dismissed. Once they left the training fields Tsuki, Kyuu, and Haku made their way through the village and Kyuu started going into a few shops and picking out some new clothes for Haku. Naruto had already helped her get stuff to fill his room like furniture, bed sets, decorations, and so on, plus at least a dozen outfits and plenty of necessities, but he was still in need of more stuff so Kyuu was picking up stuff as they went along and when she had the money for it since he had none. Tsuki helped her pick out a few more "manly" Shinobi outfits for him to wear and Kyuu helped him pick out some more body wash, deodorant, shampoo, aftershave, etc that had a more masculine smell. She also bought a pair of scissors to cut hair with and they all headed back to her apartment.

"So I really don't do these kinds of things very often." Kyuu stated as they dumped the stuff down on the couch and forced Haku into a chair in the middle of the room.

"Please don't destroy me." He begged.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Both see and Tsuki grinned.

Kyuu reached for the scissors, but Haku panicked and stopped her. "Have you ever cut someone's hair before?" He asked nervously.

"Well… no… but how hard could it be?" She asked.

"…What about you Tsuki?" He asked hesitantly.

"Well I've groomed pets. What's the difference?" She asked with a shrug.

"Oh dear lord... Someone save me." Haku groaned in defeat, but let them have him.

While the two girls worked Haku kept his eyes shut, afraid to see what they were doing to him. He knew they were chopping off all of his hair and he mentally groaned. Kyuu and Tsuki took plenty of time being extra careful so they wouldn't mess up while they made him over. They chopped his hair short, but still left some length. It was about level with his chin and then layered it and styled it so it could be spiky if he wanted it to (which they went ahead and did for him). Then Kyuu handed him some new clothes to change into.

Haku changed into a black, skin tight under armor shirt where the sleeves stopped right above his elbows, red/brown bandages wrapped around his hands and up his forearms- stopping at his elbows, a forest green, short sleeved, loose fitting, traditional styled shirt that when wrapped shut in the front was lose and low cut enough that the under armor on his chest could be seen under it, a long black scarf was around his neck, gray pants tucked into his black ninja sandals with more red/brown bandages wrapped up his shins and to his kneecap, and multiple cloth belts wrapped around his waist. The new outfit showed off his actual toned build instead of hiding it with its layers and the shorter hair helped show that he was clearly a male even with his soft facial features.

"Done!" Tsuki declared excitedly when he stepped out of the bathroom in his new clothes and they had finally finished.

"Wow, you can hardly tell it's you!" Kyuu exclaimed, very pleased with her work.

"Well it's different." Haku stated, appraising himself.

"People won't think you're a girl anymore like this." Tsuki stated happily.

"I don't look like myself anymore, but... It's not so bad." Haku finally admitted with a smile.

"I wanted to go with like this hot, dark, mysterious look, but Tsuki didn't think your personality would really pull it off. She's probably right, but I think you look great bro." Kyuu responded.

"Yeah, she's probably right." Haku agreed.

A short while later Tsuki went home and Kyuu and Haku spent the rest of the night relaxing, talking about their new team and life, and enjoying each other's company. Kyuu was glad to have someone in the house with her now, she didn't feel so lonely like she did when she lived alone and Haku was glad to have his little sister back and around him.

The next few weeks flew by. Kyuu trained hard with her new team every day and though it took some work for them to sync up in the beginning they were finally working as one unit. She also started to trust them, though not enough to reveal her true self just yet. The team had also been on several small missions and Haku was glad to have started making some money, he felt bad for Kyuu constantly paying for everything and now he could return the favor.

Currently the team was enjoying a day off from all their insane training and missions. Kaji said she had a meeting to go to with all the sensei so they were free to do what they wanted. At the moment, what Kyuu was doing was running for her life- Sasuke hot on her tail.

"GET BACK HERE!" Sasuke shouted after the fleeing vampire.

"YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!" She shouted back while laughing like a lunatic.

It was just another standard day for the everyday villagers. Kyuu had done something to piss Sasuke off; usually a prank of some sort, and Sasuke was ready to murder her. Today's prank however may have been a bit on the extreme side. Kyuu had the brilliant idea to set Sasuke on fire. Not to burn him, but just to burn his clothes off in front of his rabid fan-girls (naturally that went over splendidly…). Now a charred Sasuke wearing nothing but a pair of burnt boxers was chasing after her with the intent to kill.

"TAKING YOU DEAD WORKS TOO!" Sasuke called after her viciously. He didn't know what he had ever done to make Kyuu hate him so much, but damn her little stunts were getting far too annoying.

"MEANIE!" She called back at him childishly.

Kyuu sprinted as fast as she could across town. She had to admit that maybe setting him on fire was a bit much, but it was way too funny of an idea for her to pass up. The results were as fun as she hoped so now she just had to put up with their usual game of chase when she messed with him. Though this time he really did seem like he wanted to murder her. Kyuu turned down a street and ran full out, she was running so fast that when she reached the end of the street she couldn't stop as three people turned the corner and she rammed right into the middle one, knocking him to the ground.

"Ouch, sorry." She muttered as she stared up at the sky, somehow when colliding with the person she ended up on her back in the street rather than on them. Kyuu shook her head and looked to her side to see just who she had ran into. Once she saw who, she knew why she was on the ground instead, a wall of sand shielded the person and knocked her off him (though he fell in the process). She beamed as she looked at him. "We really need to stop running into each other like this Gaara." She laughed with a bright smile.

Gaara glared at her in response and she got up, grabbing his arm and pulling him up with her. "Sorry again for running into you." She muttered sheepishly once he was standing.

"Hey Kyuu!" A voice greeted and Kyuu looked to see the other two people were none other than Temari and Kankuro.

"Hey girl!" She greeted back and grinned at Temari and waved to Kankuro. "Sup dude." She greeted.

"How've yo-

The rest of Kankuro's question was cut off by Sasuke's shout from just around the far corner. "KYUU! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!? I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" He shouted as he stormed the streets.

"Shit. Save me!" Kyuu exclaimed and clung to Gaara's arm.

Gaara just looked at her annoyed. "What did you do to him this time?" He asked and tried to free his arm from her grip (which didn't work).

Sasuke suddenly rounded the corner and ran straight up to Kyuu but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who she was with. He stared in surprise and all three of the sand siblings stared at him in shock. Kankuro and Temari were having a hard time restraining their laughter. Gaara just mentally shook his head. 'She set him on fire? Really?' He thought in exasperation.

"Ha, you're that kid from earlier. You don't look nearly as cool or tough now." Temari laughed as she looked him over.

"Dude, what happened to your clothes?" Kankuro laughed.

Sasuke glared darkly at both of them before answering. "Kyuu thought it would be funny to burn my clothes off." He answered.

"Well it was funny. Until you got away from the mob of crazed fangirls and tried to kill me anyway." She retorted and proceeded to cling to Gaara around the middle now. Sasuke glared at him and Gaara first glared at her before glaring back at Sasuke.

"Kyuu… get away from them and let's go. I won't hurt you." He stated in all seriousness now.

Kyuu shook her head no. "No, I haven't seen these guys in awhile and want to spend time with them." She answered though a bit confused as to why Sasuke seemed anxious.

"Kyuu, listen to me for once and get away from that guy right now." Sasuke ordered as he and Gaara continued to glare at each other.

"No, Gaara's my friend." She answered and childishly and clung to him tighter. Gaara glanced at her in surprise at her defiance.

"Stop being difficult and come on!" Sasuke ordered in frustration and grabbed her arm; pulling her off Gaara.

"Noooo let goo!" She whined as Sasuke attempted to drag her away, but was failing since she was fighting him.

"Let her go Sasuke, we're not going to hurt her." Kankuro cut in.

"Yeah she's our friend." Temari added while Gaara just stared with a look Kyuu couldn't read.

"I don't care. I don't trust any of you. We're leaving Kyuu." Sasuke responded shortly and dragged Kyuu only a few feet.

"What do you care? You don't even like me! Let go!" Kyuu snapped in frustration now and dug her heels into the ground, pulling back to keep Sasuke from dragging her farther.

"Would you just cooperate with me for once! I met these guys earlier today. You'd be in danger hanging around him." Sasuke snapped and pointed at Gaara.

Kyuu then glared and grabbed onto Sasuke's arms. She squeezed his arms and then threw him off of her, no longer amused. He went tumbling backwards and bumped into a fence. "You forget what I am! Besides Gaara wouldn't hurt me. I don't know what your sudden problem is, but mind your own damn business!" She snapped at him and walked backwards to stand in front of Gaara with her arms crossed and a glare on her face.

Sasuke glared and got up. "Fine then. You're the one who said I should admit I care about my teammates and friends, but if you don't want to listen to my warning and want to get killed go ahead. I don't care." He snapped and stormed off.

"He actually considers me a friend?" Kyuu wondered out loud.

"So uh… what was that about?" Kankuro asked confused.

"I don't know…" Kyuu answered with a shrug and then turned to smile at the others. "You guys hungry?" She asked, changing the subject.

"A little." Temari answered.

"Alright, come on I know a good dumpling shop." Kyuu stated the four of them walked off.

Kyuu walked right alongside Gaara but he wasn't looking at her. She chatted with Temari and Kankuro instead. Once they were at the dumpling shop they ate and talked before Temari and Kankuro both left, leaving Kyuu and Gaara alone together. They sat in silence for a short while and Kyuu stared at him. It didn't seem like he had changed at all since she last saw him. He was certainly as silent and brooding as ever.

"So, how've you been?" She asked in an attempt to kill the silence. Gaara didn't even look at her and remained silent. "Still not the talkative type I see." She muttered and again Gaara remained silent. "Gah fine then! I hoped you might have been slightly happy to see me, but since you're not even bothering to look at me, that's clearly not the case. I'm just going to go!" She declared in frustration.

She wasn't even sure why she was suddenly upset and hurt by his blatant lack of interest. She had gotten used to how he acted the last time she saw him and didn't care then, but now, now she felt hurt that he wasn't even looking at her. She made a move to leave, but something grabbed her wrist to keep her in place. She looked back to see that Gaara had grabbed onto her to stop her from going.

"…Don't go." He muttered reluctantly, but still without looking at her.

Kyuu sighed and sat back down. She was surprised he wanted her to stay (and glad), but also confused as to why he wouldn't even look at her than. "Gaara are you alright?" She asked curiously. He didn't answer, but he did turn to look at her for a moment before turning away.

"You're so hard to read Gaara. I feel like I could really understand you if you'd let me in a little, but you just won't and I can't figure you out very well on my own." She commented and he continued to remain silent. "Could you at least say something so I know I'm not just talking to myself?" She demanded in frustration.

"You... you stood up for me." He finally spoke.

"Huh?" Kyuu asked confused.

"Sasuke, he tried to take you away from me, but you fought against him and stood by me. I don't understand. Aren't you his friend?"

"Well yeah I guess he and I are friends, but you're my friend too. It's simple, I trust you and I know you're not going to hurt me or you'd already have done it. Soo I was just telling him that he was wrong. He was treating you like shit and I didn't want to hear it."

Gaara remained silent, but gave a slight nod in understanding. Kyuu gazed at him for a moment and then got an idea. "Hey, I got an idea, why don't you come with me to my favorite spot? It's really pretty and relaxing. I like to go there to think and to be alone." Kyuu suggested, maybe getting him out of the village would help his mood just a little. "Do you want to see it?" She asked.

After a moment Gaara nodded. They both stood up and Kyuu grabbed onto his wrist, walking off while pulling him along. Gaara glared a bit, but didn't try to yank his hand free. They walked out of the village and deep into the forest. After awhile, they came to a clearing in the forest and to a cliff. Kyuu smiled at the sight. At the edge of the cliff was a giant cherry tree in full bloom, its roots stuck out of the cliff and the cliff itself overlooked a beautiful valley with mountains in the distance. The sun was setting now and with a slight breeze the scene was brought to life by its beauty.

"Like it?" Kyuu asked hopefully.

"….It's nice." Gaara reluctantly spoke, he wasn't sure how to respond, but the peacefulness of the place wasn't bad. Kyuu smiled, glad that he liked her secret spot. "it's the wrong season for the tree to bloom like that." He stated for lack of anything else to say.

"It always blooms, year round. To me, the tree's a sign of hope."

"What do you mean?"

"It reminds me that no matter how ugly the world is, there's still some beauty in it. It tells me to keep hoping for something beautiful and pure in the world. To hope something good will come out of my life. She answered and released Gaara's wrist. She made her way to the tree and sat down under it, watching the flowers dance in the breeze.

"Why'd you bring me here?" Gaara asked confused and sat down beside her.

"I was hoping this tree could bring you the same hope it brings me." She answered.

"…It's a tree..." Gaara spoke in response. A tree can't bring someone hope, a tree isn't anything, it doesn't do anything.

Kyuu decided not to bother trying to convince him otherwise and they both sat in silence for awhile. Gaara stared off into the valley in deep thought and Kyuu enjoyed the company. After awhile though she turned to look at him.

"Gaara, were you happy to see me at all?" She asked curiously; breaking their silence.

Gaara stared at her for a moment then stared back into the valley. "…Yes." He admitted reluctantly. He wasn't sure what to call the feeling. Happy wasn't something he felt yet, when he found out he was going to the Leaf Village he knew that meant seeing Kyuu again and at that thought, a strange feeling began to build in his stomach. It had kept building until he saw her and was just now starting to settle. He wasn't sure what it was, clearly it was more than indigestion, but whatever it was that he was feeling he didn't like it and he knew she was the cause of it.

"I knew it!" Kyuu beamed and threw her arms around him, hugging him. Gaara remained frozen in shock, not sure how to responded and not sure why his sand wasn't shooting out to shield him from all her touching.

Kyuu let go of him and the two sat in silence for a long while. Eventually though, Kyuu grew tired and leaned against him, falling asleep to the sound of his heartbeat. Gaara stared at her in shock and confusion. He had worked so hard on getting rid of all those…feelings… that erupted last time he saw her. He had actually managed to do it too, and now, in the span of hours, she brought all of them back. With them, she brought back anger, frustration, and confusion, but also that annoying calming sensation.

"Why…" He muttered.

How's that for you guys? 5 chapters to try to make up for my long absence! More chapters to follow hopefully soon and other fun updates for my other stuff. As always feedback is loved. If you're super awesome, review each chapter and tell me what you think individually :)