Chapter Four: What It Takes

Roxanne woke up the next morning with something heavy on her stomach. She opened her eyes to see Gryffin, the size of a Chow Chow grinning victoriously with a rat clenched between his teeth. He dropped the bloody carcass on her stomach and provided innocently, "I got breakfast."

Trying to keep the previous night's dinner in its place, she replied, "You can have it. I'll make myself toast."

A knock sounded on the door, and Rox looked to it nervously. She wasn't expecting anyone. She stepped up closer to the door, waving at Gryffin and mouthing, "Go hide!" He quirked his head at her in confusion, and she shot him a look. He tucked his tail between his legs, then moved towards the desk. The ninja dorms were simple one room apartments with a kitchenette, bed, desk, and tv. Rox let out a relaxing breath before calling out, "Uh, who is it?"

"It's Shikamaru," the voice on the other side of the door answered. "I figured I'd show you all to the ninja school. Your classes start today."

Rox paused. Classes? They were supposed to start training their new powers under Temari today. She totally forgot Kakashi's requirement for them living in the dorms. "Shit," she breathed. She wasn't even dressed. She looked at the clock. 7:30. It was early for her. "Uhm, what time are the classes?"

"8:15," he answered on the other side of the door.

"Ok, uhm, g-give me a couple minutes," she asked, quickly rushing to her bags to snag some clothes, hopping around her room as she struggled into her shirt, then pants, and shoes. She rushed to the bathroom, quickly brushing her teeth. She moved back to the door, looking at Gryffin quickly. She put a finger to her lips, whispering, "I'll be back soon." She swung open the door just enough for her to inch through, shutting the door quickly behind her. Just as she looked outside the door, she saw Shikamaru's bored gaze staring down at her.

He arched a thin eyebrow at her, his lips forming a bored frown. "I'm guessing you and your friends all forgot about learning at the academy?"

Rox pursed her lips, giving a vague nod before muttering, "Yeah, you might be right about that."

He rolled his eyes as he groaned, "How troublesome." He let out a sigh, then continued to the other dorms, starting to knock on each door, to wake them up.

Temari stood in the designated field for their training, her hands on her hips as she watched out for the other girls. Cordi stood behind her, her arms crossed as she also looked around awkwardly. The rest of the group was thirty minutes late. Temari let out a long sigh. "Alright," she said with a huff, turning to Cordi. "I guess we'll start without them." Cordi's gaze locked with hers in trepidation. Temari smirked. "We'll start by trying to pull it out small." She held up a finger in suggestion. "One little flame at the tip of your finger."

Cordi nodded, holding up her right index finger in front of her. She focused on the tip willing a flame to appear. But nothing happened. Several minutes passed, and all Cordi's focusing seemed to do was make her finger tremble with tension.

"Try and stay calm. Focus on breathing," Temari suggested, watching her new pupil.

"I am staying calm," Cordi breathed through gritted teeth. Why wasn't it working? Two days ago, pillars of fire erupted out of the blue. Today, nothing. She scowled at her finger. Another couple minutes passed, and Temari opened her mouth to say something, but Cordi cut her off with a growl, "I swear, if you tell me to stay calm …!"

But that was it. As soon as she snapped at the Sand Kunoichi, her hand erupted in flames. She stared at it wide-eyed as her whole fist was enveloped in the blaze. Cordi let out a relieved laugh as she said, "I did it!" But as soon as her anger was squelched with relief, the flame was gone. Her laughter died in an instant. She started growling again in frustration, and the flame came back to life.

"It's your anger," Temari said, seeing Cordi glaring at her flaming hand. "When you're angry or frustrated, your flame appears. Try focusing your flame to a point."

Cordi gave a small nod. Focusing on the flame now, on the feeling. She marveled that it didn't burn her at all, even though the flame erupted around her whole hand. She glared at her hand, willing the flame to shrink. Then it did, slowly retreating up her hand to her fingertips where it flickered like a candle's wick.

Temari smiled. "Good. Now try to hold that for a little while."

This is totally degrading, Fred thought. She'd graduated high school a year ago, and vowed never to step foot into another classroom. She'd learned everything she was interested in learning five times over, and she was ready to be an adult and start getting a paycheck. Sitting in a classroom for hours on end was her idea of a special circle of hell. And it wasn't like they were in normal school. This was ninja school. With a bunch of twelve-year-olds. Life couldn't get more disappointing. While Lynne and Ronnie listened to this Iruka's lesson with rapture, Fred was slowly going insane. Her gaze shifted to Rox sitting next to her. When Rox glanced at her, Fred made a hand pistol and stuck it in her mouth, then fired. Rox smiled, and let out a small snort.

"Yes, Ms. Buchanan. Anything you'd like to add?" Iruka called out, his gaze focusing on the women in the back row.

Fred's eyes flew wide at being caught, then mumbled, "Uh, no sir."

Iruka nodded, continuing with his lesson. Fred rolled her eyes as soon as he was turned around. One of the kids in front of her gave her an annoyed glare, and she shot one right back at her.

Fred shook her head, looking down at the desk, muttering under her breath, "This is such bullshit."

"Sh," Rox hissed quietly enough only she heard.

A bell rang out, and Iruka called back to the class, "Alright. It's time for lunch. You're dismissed until the afternoon class bell." The children began storming the door, trying to get to the cafeteria to get their food first.

The last to stand were the four girls, all way too old to be in this class. Fred looked at her friends skeptically as they got up without too much of a fuss. "Come on, you guys. I can't be the only one who sees a problem with this."

Lynne and Ronni shrugged. "It's the one stipulation made for free room and board," Lynne stated.

"But it's embarrassing," Fred huffed. "We're nineteen. Ronnie's eighteen. All of our classmates are twelve." She shot a look at Iruka, who sat down at his desk, grading everyone's homework over a small packed lunch. She added in a low voice, "We're old enough to date the teacher!"

Rox frowned. "If I remember correctly, Iruka's like ten years older than Naruto, who'll be twenty in a few months. So, he's actually twenty-nine, maybe thirty."

Fred rolled her eyes. "Well, you know the dateable equation. Divide by two, plus seven. So …" She did the math quickly in her head, ticking off the numbers with her fingers. She let out a small huff, "Alright, fine. The youngest he could go is 21. But still, that's only a couple years off. And that still doesn't negate the fact that our classmates are twelve-year old, snot-nosed brats, who are probably going to recess after this!" When no one said anything, except look away sheepishly, Fred added, "Really. None of you have a problem with pretty much being in middle school again?"

"I know this must be difficult for you four," a voice said standing right behind Fred. Her green eyes went wide, and her stomach plummeted as she turned to see Iruka standing right behind her. He was a step down from her, but he was still taller by an inch. He had his hands in his pockets as he looked at each of them. "Kakashi informed me about the special circumstances with you all," he stated with a pitying smile.

Fred shot a brow up at him. "Did he tell you that we all graduated high school, and were legal adults?"

Iruka frowned at her snippish tone. He crossed his arms as he replied, "He told me that due to your circumstances, you would have to pass the ninja written exam at the end of the semester to graduate and become genin, or your living arrangements will be revoked."

"Fred, it's not that bad," Ronnie offered. She turned to Iruka and asked, "How long is a semester here?"

Iruka gave a small shrug. "Three and a half months, or fourteen weeks roughly. There are three week breaks in between semesters, except the month of December, which is four weeks. You all came in half-way through the Summer Semester, and the exam is only a month and a half away, so it shouldn't be too difficult to catch up with the class."

"See. A month and a half of class. That's not so terrible," Ronni said with an appeasing smile.

Fred rolled her eyes. "Ronnie, you just got out of school, so maybe it's not terrible for you. But I've been out of school for a year, making money as an adult." She let out a sigh, turning back to Iruka. "Kakashi told you we had to pass a written exam?"

Iruka nodded. "He said you lack the chakra necessary for the ninjutsu and genjutsu tests. But the written exam would qualify you for several secretarial or record keeping jobs in Konoha." The girls nodded along as Iruka explained. He made a slightly worried face as he added, "As a ninja, you'll be expected to fill an annual mission quota, but as genin, you won't be assigned anything major where you'll need chakra control."

Ronnie, Rox, and Lynne all let out varying levels of scoffs under the guises of coughs.

"Ok." Fred licked her lips as she thought. "What if we just go ahead and take the written exam now. That way we can bypass this whole Billy Madison fiasco." Iruka frowned, not understanding her reference.

"One, he doesn't know what Billy Madison is," Lynne stated, quirking an eyebrow at the eldest of the group. "And two, we have to pass."

Rox gave an agreeing bob of her head, to which Fred frowned. Fred pursed her lips, then asked, "What else can they teach us? I already had to take calculus to graduate high school, and trigonometry. And chemistry, and physics."

"Well, our history classes will mean nothing here," Rox stated.

"Yeah. Remember they just got trains," Ronnie added.

"And they don't have guns," Lynne added with a pointed look, "So literally any war we had to learn about with guns hasn't happened here. In case you haven't noticed, that's like all of them since the 1500s."

Fred glowered to her friends' logic. "Not to mention literature. I highly doubt our knowledge on Romeo and Juliet is going to help us. But I'm sure there are some culturally significant writings that might be on the exam."

Iruka frowned, not following them completely. "Well," he interrupted, "The written exam is mostly history, math and science, as it pertains to ninja skills."

Lynne gestured at Iruka as she gave Fred a warning look. "See?"

Fred grumbled her annoyance.

"And if you fail the first time, you are allowed to retake the semester two more times." This didn't give Fred any comfort, and their teacher could see that written on her face. Iruka gave her a pitying look. He could understand the girl's irritation. When he was nineteen, he had been out of school seven years, made Chunin, and was teaching his first class at the school. He shrugged as he added, "No one's stopping you from finding another job in the village while you go to school here. You are adults, and many ninja have secondary jobs."

Fred pursed her lips, and looked away, not liking being scolded. "Thank you, Iruka. We'll look into that."

"Ok," he sighed, giving the girls each meaningful looks before saying, "You all should go get something to eat. We do taijutsu and physical training in the afternoon. So, you'll need your strength." He turned, leaving them to go back to his work. Lynne hooked her arm with Ronnie and they walked out. Fred chewed on her inner cheek, then shot a look at Rox. Rox only shrugged in response, following the other two of their group out to the cafeteria. Fred shook her head in disappointment.

Rox leaned back when she noticed her friend hadn't moved. "You coming?" she asked.

Fred let out a sigh. "Yeah."

She followed her friends with her hands in her pockets, feeling rather dejected. As they made their way to the cafeteria, got their food, and found a secluded table to sit at, Fred remained silent, pondering exactly what she was to do about their predicament. Her friends might not think it was a big issue, but to her it was. Iruka's offer clanged around in the back of her mind. No one's stopping you from finding another job… She might just do that. That way, she wouldn't have to worry about doing well on the test. If she had some income, she'd be able to pay for her own place, and not have to go through another semester. She didn't care about becoming a ninja. The others might want that, but she was not about to put her life on the line for a country she knew little about.

"Gryffin was really big this morning," Rox stated out of the blue. They had been sitting at their table just eating for a few minutes.

Lynne gave a nod. "Yeah, Saryu was too. He grew like two feet over night."

Ronnie pursed her lips before adding, "Nessie is about half the size of the bathtub right now. If she has another growth spurt like that, I won't have a wet place big enough for her."

Fred pursed her lips as her friends turned to her, wondering the same about her dragon. She gave a small nod, replying, "Yeah, Cherokee went from Chihuahua to Labrador over-night." When Fred was awoken this morning, it took her a minute to realize what had been pinning her legs, as when she went to sleep, Cherokee was at the foot of the bed.

"So, what should we do?" Lynne asked. "If we give them another week, they could double in size again, and then we'll be really screwed."

Rox chewed on the inside of her cheek before offering, "We should probably relocate them to a forest, where they can catch bigger game."

Lynne frowned. "Game?"

"Gryff woke me up after hunting a rat," Rox said with a frown. The girls shot her wide-eyed, horrified looks, although Ronnie looked more disgusted.

"Ew," Ronnie voiced. She looked at the other girls, asking, "There aren't rats in our building, are there?"

"No," Rox sighed, a little self-reprimanding. "I left the window open last night for a breeze. I think he flew down into the alley, and snatched one."

Fred frowned. "Rox, why would you do something like that? He could have been seen!" she hissed.

"Don't you think I know that?" Rox huffed. She shook her head, not looking at her friends to avoid their judging glares. "I just opened it a jar. I didn't think he'd be big enough to open it large enough for him to escape. And he came right back"

"Still," Fred sighed. She didn't have to finish her thought for the others to know it. She pinched the bridge of her nose, adding, "I think it will be safest if no one opens their windows until we can find someplace for them to go."

"So, you do think we should find them a habitat," Lynne clarified.

"Duh," Fred replied quickly. "They are already too big for the one room apartments we're in. Personally, I think it's the biggest priority now, rather than sitting in class with a bunch of children."

Ronnie rolled her eyes. "How did I know she was going to bring that back up?"

Rox and Lynne smirked at Fred's younger sister, while Fred just scowled. "Look, if you all are cool with playing middle school, fine. But we do have some adult responsibilities that we can't address while we're here. Like where the hell we should put the …" she paused, looking around to make sure no one was around to hear her whisper, "dragons." She cleared her throat as she added, "Or like how the hell we're supposed to get back home." Rox and Ronnie looked away sheepishly under Fred's arched look.

"What if we can't go home?" Lynne asked, after a long pause. The girls looked at the spirit user worriedly, Fred more so than Rox and Ronnie. Lynne gave a thoughtful shrug as she added, "Hear me out. We show up here as if by magic, which none of us possess. Then dragons appear, attracted to our beacons of power, which are then awakened. But none of which contain this mysterious ability to move through alternate universes." She paused, taking a deep breath as she chewed on the inside of her cheek. Her blue gaze was distant as she gave her head a small shake. "I don't know. It just feels like we were brought here for something." She looked up, her gaze leveling with Fred's as she finished, "And I'm beginning to think it's not something we can just return home from."

"What," Fred scoffed. "You mean like fate?" Lynne nodded. Rox and Ronnie shot both the eldest of the group meaningful looks that said they also believed Lynne. Fred rolled her eyes. "There's no such thing."

"How can you say that?" Rox asked.

Fred opened her mouth to retort, but Ronnie cut her off, "It doesn't matter if we believe in fate or not. The important matter is where are we going to house the dragons." She leaned back, crossing her arms annoyedly realizing she'd have to prevent another debate among the eldest three of the group. She let out a small sigh, "We need to find a place with low traffic, densely populated with good prey, and good water source, especially for Nessie. She needs a water source she can submerge in."

The older girls nodded their agreement. "We'll probably need to discuss it with Cordi. And how is she going to hide a dragon in the desert?" Rox asked.

"Temari knows. I'm sure she'll help her," Lynne offered. She closed her eyes in a pensively tired expression, then added, "But for the long run, we should pick a place that's good for them to grow now, and Cordi should move Aleera there until she leaves."

qGaara and Kankuro stepped out of Kakashi's office, finished with the semi-annual Five Kage Summit, held every two weeks before the Chunin Final. Gaara had been the earliest arrival, arriving a couple days ahead of schedule. This was due to Naruto writing them about a reunion party among their Chunin exam class. It had been exactly eight years since their exams, and it was the first time since the Fourth Great Ninja War that the rookie nine and Team Guy were going to be in Konoha off mission at the same time. And since Gaara and his siblings were to be arriving a few days later for the Kage Summit, Naruto felt it alright to ask them to come a few days early for the party. Temari asked if it was such a good idea, but both Kankuro and Gaara thought it was a wonderful idea.

They arrived the afternoon before the party. They settled in their hotel, arranging for a long stay. Gaara enjoyed watching his friends catch up at the local barbecue joint in Konoha. Kiba, Kankuro, Sai, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Choji, and Naruto drank, Kiba telling them in depth about his newest conquest, a woman named Tamaki. Naruto tried to give Lee a drink, but Tenten intervened. Sasuke didn't stay long, claiming he had a mission he was leaving for in the morning. Sakura, Temari, Tenten and Ino chatted for most of the night. Ino shot a lot of looks at Sai, and every time Sakura caught her, she shoved Ino's shoulder. Hinata sat off with Gaara and Shino, and the sand user noticed the Hyuga girl watched Naruto the whole night. There was a toast to Neji, who was the only one among them who'd fallen in the war. Temari stated they should leave, reminding Gaara they would have to meet with Kakashi in the morning to verify meeting time and location, as well as see if Kakashi would be assigning them a guide. It was that meeting Naruto barged in on with the strange, other worldly girls.

The Raikage arrived the same day, in the afternoon after the girls arrived. Gaara noted that Kakashi didn't inform the Raikage of the new arrivals. The Tsuchikage arrived two days later, exactly on the day the meeting was arranged. Of course the Mizukage was a day late, today. The Chunin Final Summit always consisted of how the chunin from each village did during the exam leading up to the final. But with the new arrivals' strange circumstances, Gaara was certain something was to be said about the girls from the other world, but again, Kakashi remained silent. Gaara was suspicious, and even Kankuro noted Kakashi's withholding.

Instead, they'd been informed about the Sand's team member that made it all the way to the finals, as well as the two Mist members, the Stone member, the Cloud member, and three Leaf members. Then they were offered guides during their stay in Konoha. Tenten and Lee were tasked with the Sand's leaders, and Gaara was thankful for the familiar faces.

"Gaara and Kankuro," Lee greeted excitedly, "you are with us today!"

Tenten elbowed him harshly in the side, then huffed, "Show some respect. They're here on official kage business."

"I am sorry, Tenten," Lee replied, turning back to the Sand brothers to correct himself, "Lord Gaara and Lord Kankuro."

Kankuro laughed, placing his hands on his hips as he said, "Come on. We're all friends here."

Gaara gave a pleasant smile too. "Yes, let's not stand on ceremony."

Lee smiled at them both, his teeth gleaming cartoonishly. "So, where would you like to go to first?"

"Should we go back to the hotel, and grab Temari?" Kankuro offered. Gaara nodded in agreement. Both brothers knew it was far better to make sure Temari didn't want to join them for lunch before going their own way. If they left her out, there was always hell to pay.

Lee lifted his fist in the air comically and began marching out of the Hokage building. "Let's go then!" The Sand brothers followed along with Tenten and Lee. Lee led the group with Gaara walking beside him. Then Tenten walked just behind Lee with Kankuro walking alongside her.

"So, why wasn't Temari with you guys?" Tenten asked as they stepped on the main road of Konoha.

Kankuro gave a shrug. "She said she felt it was best to stay and keep an eye on Cordi," he explained boredly.

Tenten frowned. "Who's Cordi?"

"She's one of those weird girls claiming to be from another world that showed up at the Konoha gates two days ago," Kankuro added. He jutted his thumb to his brother as he added, "This guy offered to let one of 'em live with us until they can figure out how to return home."

Lee beamed with a thumbs up. "That is most generous of you, Gaara!"

"Yes," Gaara breathed, thinking the decision over, "it probably was."

Kankuro eyed his brother carefully, noting his tone. "You aren't regretting it, now are you?"

"No," Gaara answered quickly. He crossed his arms in thought as he continued. "The circumstances were rather strange. In light of today's meeting, I'm rather satisfied I trusted my instincts to make that offer when I did."

Tenten and Lee frowned their confusion, but Kankuro gave a grave nod. "So you noticed it, too."

Gaara nodded affirmatively.

"Naruto mentioned these girls when I saw him last," Lee stated. "They are the ones Hinata said were without chakra, yes?" Both Sand brothers grunted affirmatively. Lee rubbed his chin pensively as he asked, "Was something discussed about them in the Summit?"

"No, that's the strange part," Kankuro answered. He added animatedly, "Five girls show up with inexplicable knowledge about all of us, claiming to know us from some comic book series from an alternate dimension, and no idea how to return to where they came from. And Kakashi doesn't mention this to the other four Kage?"

"That certainly is strange," Lee muttered. He laughed as he added, "Almost unbelievable."

Tenten shrugged. "They could be lying. The girls, I mean."

"Tenten! How could you suggest such a thing!" Lee howled, offended by the statement. "You have not even met them!"

Tenten shot her hyper teammate a sour look, adding, "A group of girls lying just seems more plausible than a group of girls coming from an alternate dimension."

Kankuro made a face, tilting his head with a slightly pensive grimace. "Plausible or not, they definitely have enough proof to back up their claims."

"Proof can be fabricated," Tenten suggested.

"I saw the contraption they arrived in," Gaara cut in. He looked up to the sky in thought as he finished, "It certainly was otherworldly. Not to mention well beyond those girls' engineering capabilities." Tenten remained quiet after that. She knew better than to refute the Kazekage's judgement.

"Hmmm," Lee went back to rubbing his chin. "If that is the case, then Kakashi should have mentioned it to the other Kage."

Kankuro held up a finger as he said, "But he didn't."

"That is odd," Lee commented.

"Right?" Kankuro asked. "That's what I'm saying."

"Well, whatever his reasoning, housing one of them will definitely keep us in the loop," Gaara stated.

They continued to walk in silence for a few moments, before Tenten asked, "How inexplicable?" Kankuro and Gaara frowned at the question, turning to the weapons specialist to clarify. "You said they had inexplicable knowledge. How inexplicable?"

"She knew my blood type," Kankuro answered with a huff. "I don't even know my blood type."

Tenten frowned, opening her mouth to refute Kankuro's answer, when Gaara added as if reading her mind, "She also correctly stated my blood type. Not to mention gave intimate details about moments where only one other person was present."

"Apparently the other four pissed off Temari about her and Shikamaru's relationship," Kankuro added.

Tenten frowned. "I thought they were broken up."

"They are," Kankuro clarified. "But not many people outside of our circle knew they were even dating. It was kind of classified." Tenten made a face, somewhat satisfied with their answers.

"That seems rather thorough knowledge," Lee commented.

"Indeed," Gaara sighed, clearly thinking about how the girls could be problematic. Knowing as much as they did about any of them was problematic. Most of their Chunin exam classmates were high ranking jonin. Shikamaru was the Hokage's advisor, as well as head of the Nara clan. He'd been the only one to make Chunin in that exam. Both of his teammates had become heads of their clans. Both Kankuro and Temari were Sand Jonin with pivotal roles in the Suna Council. Temari had been the ambassador between the Wind and Fire nations for years. Gaara was Kazekage. Naruto was training to become Hokage in a few years. His succession as the planned seventh Hokage was made public when Kakashi took office as the sixth. Sakura was the lead medical ninja in Konoha's hospital, with people clamoring from other nations to learn from her. Kiba was about to step into his role as Inuzuka clan leader, and Hinata for the Hyuugas. All of them played pivotal roles in their respective villages, and anyone who knew such intimate details about them must be kept watch of.

"Anyway," Kankuro sighed, putting his hands in his pockets. "Lee," he trawled, rolling his head towards the taijutsu user, "last time we talked, you had hot date." Kankuro smirked, prodding Lee in the shoulder as he asked, "So, how'd it go?"

Gaara looked at the taijutsu user with wide-eyes. "You had a date?" It was a bizarre thought.

Lee turned away from their wards, a small blush crossing his cheeks as he said, "A gentleman does not kiss and tell."

Kankuro prodded him again, whining, "Come on. Tell us. How'd it go?"

"Well. But that is all I will say," Lee replied quickly.

Kankuro smirked. "Well done, Rock Lee! So a second date is on the books?"

Lee gave his signature sparkling gleam. "Of course!"

"I must admit," Gaara sighed, feeling a little inadequate given the subject, "I have difficulty seeing you dating."

Lee frowned. "What is that supposed to mean!?"

"No, I get it," Kankuro stated, covering for his brother. "There aren't many people with such a sunny and …" He paused, searching for the correct word. He screwed up his face, before he settled on, "… indefatigable disposition as you. It can be daunting for a girl if she's not a generally optimistic person." Lee raised his bushy brows at that. Kankuro continued, "So, what is she like? If she's agreed to a second date, she must be something."

Lee got a far off look in his eye as he grinned brighter, almost splitting his face in half. "She's beautiful. Purely bounding with the strength of youth. And her smile is brighter than the sun."

"What's her name?" Gaara found himself asking.

"Akiko," Lee sighed, still looking distant.

Kankuro pursed his lips before muttering, "She sounds perfect for you."

"She is!" Lee exclaimed excitedly. "Meeting her makes me believe that there is someone for everyone on this earth. You just have to find them."

Gaara frowned, not entirely sure he agreed with the sentiment. His only experiences in love had happened this year, and he still wasn't sure what the fuss was about, or if it was even worth the pain he'd witnessed thus far. It was February when Shikamaru and Temari made their first official push towards the altar, signing a waiver of intention for both village kages and councils. Gaara was shocked to be presented with the document. Sure, Temari pushed to be assigned on missions when she knew Shikamaru was involved. It's how she became Konoha's ambassador. But Gaara had failed to see how that meant his sister was in love with genius of the Leaf. When he asked Kankuro if he knew anything about it, his brother laughed it off, saying, "It's not like they were being discreet. She's had a thing for him since he outsmarted her at the Chunin Exams." That was when Gaara realized he didn't know what to look for between his own people when it came to matters of the heart. He also realized that was seriously problematic, because he might have difficulty determining if a ninja might be emotionally compromised in a situation, which could spell disaster on a mission.

Then the incident in March. The Suna Council had been deliberating Shikamaru and Temari's waiver of intention for a month. Gaara hadn't pressed the issue, knowing any step he made could result in the wrong answer, but Temari asked if a consensus had been reached every time she visited his office. Meanwhile, he read every Make-Out Paradise novel he could get his hands on, just to try and understand some aspects of dating and being in love. Needless to say, the novels cleared up very little, and if he was completely honest, he was a little more confused now than before. But, he also knew better than to ask anyone.

He didn't hear anything about the Council decision until they announced their intention of marrying him off first, completely taking him by surprise. He understood their reasoning. Both brothers were unlikely to marry, and if Temari married a clan leader from another village, any child would spell disaster politically. Konoha would potentially be without a major clan leader, and Suna without a Kazekage heir, depending on which village they chose to align with. So, the council stated that they would not greenlight Shikamaru and Temari's union until either Gaara or Kankuro were married.

A reasonable demand, until they added that an arrangement had been made that they expected Gaara to fulfill. To solve the issue in a timely manner, the Council had already arranged a marriage between a young medic ninja from a local clan to Gaara, and that he was to meet with her in a few days to see if the terms were acceptable. All standard procedure for these arranged marriages, he'd been assured. When Gaara questioned that surely Kankuro should be asked first, given his senior status, he'd found Kankuro had already weaseled out of it, leaving Gaara stuck in the unsavory situation. Gaara still had difficulty forgiving his brother for such a betrayal.

The meeting had been difficult. He had been trussed up in a suit, which had been rather stiff and difficult to move in, which provided its own set of challenges when the meeting was interrupted with a coup. But the meeting itself, talking with the girl, Hakuto, Gaara realized one crucial thing about himself. He was not cut out for the rigors of dating. The conversation had been painful, and all he learned about her was that she was a medic ninja from a prominent clan, which was a matriarchy clan. All of which he knew before. And she learned he had a hobby of growing cacti and was looking into getting a greenhouse just for that hobby. He remembered Temari making a face at him, mouthing, "Shut up about the cacti!"

Hakuto had been pretty. He wasn't so romantically dense that he couldn't tell she was attractive. But it was two days later, after thinking her kidnapped during the coup, did he prove she actually ran away with her lover, using the coup as an excuse to pursue love. Gaara wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and any opening he could find to escape this marriage, he planned on seizing. So, after finding her with her lover, he helped fake their deaths, and returned to Suna to deal with the person running the coup. A part of him felt bad, knowing not pursuing the marriage meant Temari and Shikamaru had to wait longer, but he was determined. If he was to be forced into this foray of romantic love, he'd do it on his terms.

A couple weeks later, sometime in early April, Matsuri came in for one of her usual discussions, but stopped when she noticed Gaara seeming weighed down. She knew he'd just gotten back from a council meeting. But she didn't know that the final topic of discussion was when to arrange another marriage. Before they could push the subject, he turned them down, stating he had a date with a woman later that evening. It was a lie, but the council seemed thrilled with the prospect that they didn't have to find someone, adding it would take them at least a month to find a new candidate. He didn't exactly tell Matsuri what the council said in the meeting. He just asked her for a favor. To pose as his girlfriend as she taught him about romance and dating, citing the arranged marriage meeting made him realize he was woefully inept. Matsuri laughed, and accepted eagerly, joking that it wasn't how she'd always imagined. She also asked that he do his best to make sure Temari didn't find out, stating that she knew Temari didn't think highly of her and his sister already stated she didn't approve of Matsuri's feelings toward Gaara.

So far, things had been going well. They'd gone on seven dates. While the first ended a bit awkwardly, as she clearly expected something and he wasn't sure what, she agreed to a second. And a third. Then on the fourth date, she told him that there wasn't going to be a fifth unless he kissed her. When he questioned if that was what he was supposed to do, she told him she was expecting it at the end of the first date, and on every date since. But if she waited until the fifth, it meant he didn't actually want to date her. And he did.

It wasn't a big kiss. Her lips were soft against his, and he realized the sensation wasn't as powerful as he'd read. In the Make Out Paradise series, the couple immediately felt the need to rub on each other and get sexual. But he didn't feel that. She was just soft and simple. And that was good. Before, he'd been terrified what would happen if he lost control of himself. If his sand would run amok as it used to when he was an emotional kid. But this was nice. Calm. Controlled. He remembered wondering how long was an appropriate amount of time for his lips to linger on hers? He figured having that thought meant it was long enough, and pulled away. And by her expression, he could tell she was surprised. He asked her how it was, and she told him it was good, although the way she said it was a little stilted. He would have tried again, but Kankuro stepped into his office, asking him to deal with Temari. That was when Temari told them she and Shikamaru broke up.

Shikamaru had come to Suna to see where the waiver of intention stood, stating they had put it forth two and a half months prior and Suna hadn't given a definitive answer. Temari had told him that the council wanted Gaara or Kankuro at least married first. They had a fight after Shikamaru joked that was never going to happen. That he heard from Hakuto that her family was pressured to accept the marital arrangement to begin with, and after the story of Hakuto's death he and Gaara came up with so she could be with the man she loved, the council would be hard-pressed to find another family willing. Especially since it had come out that the original attack on the marriage meeting had been part of a coup attempt. No one in their right mind would put their daughter in a targeted position.

Gaara went to see him before he left to return to Konoha, to try and talk some patience into him. It had been clear that the shadow user had been up crying, like Temari had been. What Shikamaru told him after Gaara told him he'd started dating someone stuck in his mind.

"Do you love her?"

Gaara floundered at the question. "It's too early for that. We've only been on a handful of dates, and only kissed the once …"

"I didn't ask that. I asked if you loved her. If you're going to marry her." Gaara frowned, his seafoam eyes connecting with Shikamaru's light brown eyes. He could see he was tired. Emotionally tired. The shadow user blinked back tears as he said tightly, "Because I love Temari. I want to marry Temari. I know that I do. But I can't. Because the council says I can't until you do."

Gaara felt uncomfortable under Shikamaru's hard stare. Gaara was able to remain stoic, but he couldn't help but feel a little pain in his heart at Shikamaru's disappointment. Like the young Kazekage could do better, but both of them knew that wasn't the case.

"It's good you're dating. I'm truly happy for you. I understand it's more difficult for you to connect with someone on that level. But even dating is not a guarantee that the situation will change. So you can understand my skepticism." He paused looking beaten, pursing his lips before he said, "I can't put my whole life on hold waiting for you to marry someone. So, if the council won't budge on that … it's a deal-breaker."

Shikamaru turned, grabbing his pack and slinging it over his shoulder. He passed Gaara as he headed for the door, then paused in its opening. His hand bracing against the doorframe. "I feel I should also advise you, given the timing of your news, you shouldn't date anyone just so your sister can get married. That's not fair to you, and definitely not fair to whoever you're dating."

Gaara couldn't help but note that even though Shikamaru had broken things off with Temari, he still gave Gaara the sound council of an older, wiser brother. They shared a regretful look as Shikamaru tapped the doorframe with his knuckles. The shadow user let out a small sigh, then left, shaking his head.

The next day, Gaara pondered if he should break things off with Matsuri, wondering if he was dating her for the right reasons. When Gaara mentioned his moral dilemma to her after an hour of pestering, she flew off the handle, yelling at him, "If this is your way of breaking up with me, you're doing a piss poor job at it!" then slammed the door. She came back the next day tearfully apologizing for her outburst, stating after she thought things over, it was understandable he'd be questioning himself. Then she asked if he felt he was getting anything out of their arrangement. To his surprise, he answered yes. He'd been gaining knowledge and insight on how men and women were meant to interact. She told him then for that reason, they would continue dating. And so they had. They went on three more dates, each with more kissing and the occasional hand holding, which was weird for Gaara, but he got used to it.

Although, the last time he saw her, he wouldn't consider it a date. It was a couple days before he was to set out for Konoha, and she stumbled into his office one evening, drunk from her friend's birthday party. Before he could ask her to sit down, she attacked his mouth with hers. He was too shocked to react as her tongue invaded his mouth, and the taste and smell of alcohol on her breath permeated his senses. It wasn't the type of kiss they'd shared before. Those were simple, soft, and most importantly closed. This was sloppy, wet, and invasive, and something in him was a little revolted. He'd barely noticed her hand caressing his buttocks until she gave his left cheek a tight squeeze, pressing his hips toward hers. He immediately pushed her away, putting his hand over his mouth quickly. For two reasons really. The first being to wipe away her saliva. The second to ward off any further attack.

"What are you doing?" Gaara asked, his hand over his mouth. His seafoam eyes trained on his old student.

Matsuri gave a playful shrug and a wispy smile. "Come on, Gaara. We've been together two months."

"And that gave you license to attack me?"

Matsuri rolled her eyes. "Ok, I wasn't attacking you, Mr. Melodrama," she slurred, waving off his question. "I simply figured if I kissed you correctly, and none of that prolonged pecking bullshit, you'd finally start treating me like a woman and not some porcelain doll." His gaze narrowed on her in confusion. Did she just say I'm a bad kisser? Before he could analyze the depth of the insult she just threw at him, she began taking her shirt off, dropping it on the floor quickly, her chest bared to him.

He felt his heart pounding in his throat as he stared at her breasts. She wasn't well-endowed by any means. Even the phrase "heaving bosom," which he had read in the Make-Out series over and over, didn't apply here. But there were breasts. Soft mounds of flesh. Her nipples were pink and rosy, and they looked a little stiff. Realizing he'd been staring, he looked away, feeling his cheeks burning with a blush.

He felt her grab his hand, lifting and placing it on one of her breasts. He felt his eyes bulge as she pushed his palm into her flesh, her hand manipulating his into kneading it as she let out a moan. "I want you to touch me." She squeezed her hand over his again. She dragged his hand down to her hips, then between her legs, nearing her crotch as she rasped in his ear, "Deep inside me." He was frozen in place as her wine laced breath puffed against his ear, his mind a complete blank. He could feel his body betraying his mind as his dick began to harden a little.

Contrary to what some people might think, he knew what sex was. He'd thoroughly read the book on human sexuality that Kankuro gave him, to make sure he didn't have any questions on the subject. The first conversation had been awkward enough.

He could feel her heat on his hand, and she shifted her hips under his hand. Her hand brushed his crotch over his pants, and it throbbed aching for a touch. His brain rang like a siren and his heart pounded harder than when he had to address the whole Allied Forces. His sand shifted dangerously around him, as it did every time he was aroused. I could really hurt her if I'm not careful, he realized as his sand snaked around her ankle, up her calf. She moaned again, and he pushed her away, pulling his sand back under his control. She looked at him affronted, but he just crossed his arms and averted his gaze. "You're drunk, Matsuri. I think you should go."

She glared at him, crossing her arms under her breasts so they were propped up to look plumper. "What's you're deal? Here I am throwing myself at you, and even though I can see you want to do it," she pointed at the lump in his trousers, and he blushed more violently, "you won't." She licked her lips, and gave a small tearful swallow. "It can't be that you don't find me attractive. Your dick is proof enough. So what is it?"

Gaara leveled a painful stare at her as he growled out, "Go home, Matsuri."

"Fine," Matsuri spat, snatching her shirt off the ground and throwing it back on. "You can fuck yourself. You sure as hell won't let me!" With that, she waltzed into the main hall, slamming the door on her way out of his office.

He didn't hear from her for two days after that. Just before he and his siblings headed out of Suna, he found a letter on his desk from Matsuri. It was a tear-stained apology letter, saying she made a fool out of herself, and did a lot of stuff she regretted on that night. But mostly she felt bad for pushing him to have sex, especially when she knew that he struggled with that kind of thing. And she promised something big when he returned in two weeks.

Lee's comment, "There was someone for everybody," he just wasn't sure was accurate. When Matsuri left that night, Gaara knew he wasn't as hurt as Temari and Shikamaru were when they broke things off. Sure, after not hearing from her the next day, he thought she was planning on breaking up, but the thought didn't make him sad. It was just benign. Sure, she was the most logical person to fill that role, but he was certain he could try again with someone else if need be. He knew that meant he wasn't in love with Matsuri. He knew that if he loved her romantically, she'd be irreplaceable romantically, but in all honesty, she wasn't. The thought made him feel a little guilty, but it was true.

And he certainly wasn't as sunny as Lee was talking about his date with this Akiko. Lee smiled like Temari did around Shikamaru before their breakup. Clearly, after only one date, Lee was already in love with this girl, Akiko. Is that how long it took to fall in love? Was he supposed to know he was in love with Matsuri on the first date? Is that why Shikamaru asked him if he was planning on marrying her so early in their relationship?

"Gaara? Gaaaara… Earth to Gaara!" Gaara blinked as Kankuro waved a hand in front of his face. He shook his head, realizing he'd been so deep in thought about his own experiences around love that he had completely missed the rest of the conversation. Kankuro smiled, curiously amused as he asked, "Little lost in thought there, Gaara?"

"Quit it, Kankuro," Gaara breathed.

"Well, you are planning on coming inside, right?" Kankuro asked, gesturing over his shoulder. Gaara looked and realized they were standing in front of the hotel.

Gaara buried his sheepishness, and said, "Of course," gesturing for Kankuro to lead the way.

"We will wait out here," Lee said, throwing the brothers an enthusiastic thumbs up.

Gaara followed behind Kankuro as they made their way to their room. It was on the second floor, and as they rounded the landing off the staircase, and turned down the hallway toward their room, they slowed, seeing their door open. Out walked a man in pristine clothes, a short-sleeve blue tunic tied closed with a black leather belt at his hips with black pants, banded similarly to an old pair Gaara used to wear, and standard Suna issue ninja sandals. Under his tunic peeked a three-quarter mesh top at the sleeves and chest. He was maybe the same height as Gaara, with a similar build as well. His face looked a little familiar, but Gaara couldn't place it. He had high cheekbones, a strong brow and jaw, a straight nose and full lips. His skin was peachy, but lightly tanned, and he had dark, thick but groomed eyebrows that matched his messy dark brown head of hair. He was young, but not much younger than the Kazekage himself, if Gaara had to guess. The man looked up, and his golden eyes widened as they connected with Gaara's cyan gaze.

"Oh shit," the man breathed.

Gaara acted quickly, whipping his sand around the man and securing him in place while he ordered, "Kankuro, check out the room." Kankuro gave a stiff nod, diving into the room.

The man laughed, his smile easy, but a little nervous. His teeth were perfect and white "I'm sorry. Trust me when I say this is all just a big misunderstanding," the man tried. He spoke quickly, but remained oddly tranquil. His voice was deep, and a little raspy if Gaara listened closely, but it contrasted a little with his boyish lilt.

The sand squeezed him a little tighter as Gaara growled, "We'll see about that." Gaara turned a little towards the door, his eyes not leaving their intruder as he called out, "Kankuro. Did you find anything?"

"Looks like he was going through Cordi's things," Kankuro called out, stepping into the doorway, "but I can't tell if he took anything or planted something."

Gaara's eyes narrowed. Why would someone be going through Cordi's things specifically? "So, who are you? Where are you from? And why are you interested in our guest?"

The man pursed his lips, and Gaara had to note he was staying remarkably calm, even though he was mostly engulfed in the Kazekage's sand. Usually, Gaara could feel someone's heartbeat quickening until bursting when covered in his sand. But this man, his heartbeat was calm, steady. The man smirked, looking to the ceiling with a slight wince as he said, "Well, I can't answer the first and third questions, but I'm from Suna."

Gaara and Kankuro frowned, although Kankuro more scowled, crossing his arms as he scoffed, "Cut the bullshit. We'd know who you are if you were from Suna."

"I'm not lying. Check the headband. It's tied to my belt loops," he offered, gesturing with his eyes to his hips.

Gaara and Kankuro shared a look, then with his sand, Gaara pulled the headband out. Sure enough, the Suna symbol was etched onto the metal plate, affixed to a black band. This opened up a whole new wave of questions. Like how come he didn't know his own ninja? And two, no one in Suna knew about Cordi yet, so why was a Suna ninja here snooping through her things? That meant one of two things, either the headband was a counterfeit, and Cordi was being targeted for something, and they were banking on Gaara putting the safety of his own ninja over her. Or it was real, and they were using Cordi's belongings to disguise their attack, making Gaara the likely target.

Gaara held the sand tight as he flipped the headband over in his hand, pulling the band away from the metal to expose the maker's mark. Having ordered thousands of these over the years, he knew exactly where the Sand got their headbands. As he looked at the metal, his glare narrowed on the maker's mark. The logo of Demon Desert Metals glittered back up at him, and his scowl landed on the young man. So, I'm the target.

"He's from Suna," Gaara stated, his jaw tightening. Kankuro gawked his confusion, tilting his head to the side as he tried to place the young man. But Gaara's hand twitched a little as he said, "Which means he's targeting me, not Cordi. No one from Suna knows about her yet." Gaara glared at the man, knowing his intimidating demeanor often got people talking when he needed answers. That and this was clearly the beginning of another botched coup. Twice in six months? Usually, the council members behind these things spaced it out a bit better. His sand squeezed tighter, but the man acted unaffected, just slightly uncomfortable. "Who sent you?"

The man smirked. "You're not gonna' like that answer," he half chuckled.

"Who!" Gaara growled.

"You did!" the man replied glibly. Gaara frowned as the man grumbled, "And you're always giving me the wrong fucking time."

Gaara's scowl deepened. "You aren't making any sense." They hadn't been in Suna for almost a week, so Gaara couldn't have given any ninja's any orders since then, except to his brother and sister. And everyone in Suna knew he was out for the Summit and Chunin Exams. So, how someone could impersonate him was troubling.

The man rolled his eyes. "Look, not that this isn't any fun, but I got other shit to do."

"Like what?" Kankuro huffed, scowling at the young man.

"Like banging your mom!" the guy snapped back both sarcastically and defensively. Both Kankuro and Gaara looked at him affronted and angered, while the man winced disgustedly to himself. "I shouldn't have said that. That one's wrong on so many levels." He shook his head as if doing that would make the comment go away. "Look, I'm gonna' tell you how this is gonna' end. You could ask your questions, but I can't tell you anymore without serious consequences. So then you'll do your Sand Burial thing, and then I bounce. OR, and this is the option I'm a fan of, you could just let me go, and we call it a day. And I DON'T tell Mom you tried to kill me." The man shot Gaara a pearly white grin at that.

Both Kankuro and Gaara frowned, clearly confused by the unhinged man's offer. "Why the fuck would we care about your mother?" Kankuro snapped.

"I see, you've chosen option one," the man sighed. He shook his head slightly dejectedly. "It doesn't matter. My lips are tighter than Fort Knox right now."

Both of the Sand brothers frowned, and Gaara found himself asking, "What the fuck is Fort Knox?" The man just answered him with a dumb expression, his lips tightened in a line as if he wasn't saying anything.

Gaara scowled at the man, tired of his antics. "I will break you piece by piece if you don't start talking," Gaara growled.

The man's bored golden gaze connected with Gaara's. "Go ahead."

Gaara shook his head, lifting his hand as he growled, "Sand Burial." The sand squeezed the young man, but stopped short of crushing his left arm, where Gaara had targeted his Sand Burial. Gaara squeezed his hand tighter. "Sand Burial," he said again, enunciating.

"What's wrong?" Kankuro asked.

"I don't know. The sand isn't obeying me," Gaara growled, some alarm creeping into his voice.

The man shrugged noncommittally. "Performance issues," he offered, shooting Kankuro a conspiring wink. "Impotence is always a terrifying thing."

Both of the Sand brothers looked at the man alarmed. "Did you really just make a sex joke? About Gaara not being able to kill you?" Kankuro asked. The man had balls, he'd give him that. Bizarre, but he had balls. Not many people could face Gaara's Sand Burial and joke. But he was also the only one who lived, for sure.

"Yeah," the man drawled. He pulled his hand out of the Sand Coffin, causing both Kankuro's and Gaara's eyes to bulge in shock. "And now," he sighed, holding up his hand with a pitying smirk, "I'm gonna' bounce." With that, he snapped his fingers, and the sand fell away, dropping the young man to the floor. He put his hand in a simple hand sign, then sand began to lift itself off his clothes, filing itself away into a jug he had on his hip. Gaara and Kankuro couldn't help but watch in confused horror as the man grumbled to himself, "It's always a mess when we mix our sands." He fixed the stopper, then patted himself, muttering, "Now I'm forgetting something …" He looked around, then focused his gaze the headband still in Gaara's hand. "Ah." The young man stepped towards Gaara, who was frozen in shock at witnessing this young man's use of sand. The man reached for his headband, saying, "I'm just going to take this back," and pulled it effortlessly from Gaara's slacking hand.

Another sand user. That was impossible. Only Shukaku's host had powers over sand, and Gaara still had his connection with the bijuu. So that couldn't be it. And he was a Suna native, according to his headband, so he wasn't one of Orochimaru's demented experiments. He wouldn't put it past the snake to have an experiment aimed at replicating jinchuuriki powers. The Sand had done similar until the third Kazekage came up with his iron sand technique. But no one had actually been able to control sand, except as the Shukaku's host. "Who are you?" Gaara asked as soon as he regained his voice.

The man smirked. "I told you, I can't say," he replied. His gold eyes leveled onto Gaara's, and his smirk grew as he added, "But I can say that I don't pity the argument you're going to have tonight." Gaara's brow furrowed at that. Argument? With who? The man rolled his eyes, pointing to himself as he added, "My tonight. Not yours." He straightened up, putting his hand in the simple hand seal again as he winked at Gaara, "See ya!"

Then in a whirl of sand, the man disappeared.

A couple miles away from the hotel, on the training grounds the girls agreed to meet at daily until Cordi was to go to the Land of Wind, Temari stood, watching Cordi run drill after drill. Cordi had begun to get the hang of summoning her fire and placing it into a fireball, but Temari wanted to see how she performed under stress. So, she set up a target course that Cordi had to run through, throwing fireballs at the targets as she ran. As Cordi rounded the last lap, Temari hit the stop on her timer, calling out, "TIME!" as Cordi reached the finish.

Cordi dropped to the ground, completely out of breath. She'd been on the varsity soccer team at school the past three years, and the cheerleading team for the past four. And yet, this drill made her feel like instead of being in shape and on highly competitive teams, she'd just been sitting on the couch eating bonbons for her high school career.

"Seven minutes, and forty-five seconds," Temari huffed, looking at the timer. "That is … abysmal."

"What?" Cordi rasped, gasping for air. "That's like three seconds shy of my mile time."

"I just had you run a mile," Temari stated blandly.

"What!?" Cordi gasped, holding her ribs, which had developed a cramp. "Eight minutes is the average for the mile run. 'Abysmal,' my foot!"

Temari frowned at the fire user. "Not here, it isn't."

Cordi just looked at the wind user skeptically. "Bullshit."

Temari smirked, handing Cordi the timer. "I'll show you."

Cordi huffed at her, still holding her side. She wanted to swipe that smug smirk right off that blondie's face. Instead, she swiped out, snatching the timer and clearing the time on it. Temari moved to the starting position, no starting lunge or anything. She just rested there, her hands on her hips and her giant fan strapped to her back. "You don't want to leave the fan?" Cordi offered. Cordi had run it unencumbered. It was only fair to offer the same.

Temari shook her head. "Just tell me when."

"Alright," Cordi shrugged, readying the timer. "Aaaand … GO!"

Temari took off like a shot, pulling out kunai and throwing them at each still burning target, nailing each in the bullseye as she sped through the course. Cordi watched in awe as Temari neared the end of the course. "Done," Temari stated once she crossed the finish line, not even out of breath.

Cordi clicked the timer, then looked. "A minute, thirty-three."

Temari shrugged. "Usually, I can handle it in a minute fourteen, but I wanted to make sure I lined up my shots. And it's almost lunchtime, so my chakra's a little low." She didn't say it to be catty. She was just saying it. Temari wasn't that much of a braggart. Cordi knew she wasn't the fastest ninja on the show. But damn.

Cordi just shook her head, her jaw hanging open unfathomably. "Fuck you," she finally said. Temari looked at her a little affronted as Cordi continued to rant, "Fuck you and your ninja chakra bullshit."

"Cordi," Temari tried, but Cordi kept ranting.

"You and your minute and a half mile run! USAIN FUCKING BOLT COULDN'T PULL THAT SHIT OFF! And he's the fastest motherfucking person on the PLANET. Gold medals out the wa-fucking-zoo at the last Olympics for running! For an extra credit question on my physics exam, I had to math out his mile run, and got four minutes, twenty seconds, which was CORRECT!" She was now half screeching, half yelling, and gesticulating wildly as she paced. "SO TELL ME! Tell me how THE FUCK am I supposed to beat the fastest man alive's time!?"

Temari looked at her bored, her green eyes boring back into Cordi's dark brown eyes. "You done?"

Cordi was shaking as she looked at her, chewing on the inside of her cheek. "Depends on how you answer."

Temari sighed. "The shunshin, or body flicker technique, allows a ninja to run at incredible speeds. To do it, concentrate your chakra in your legs, which allows you to move faster."

Cordi glared at her, pursing her lips as she nodded along with Temari's instructions. She gave the jonin a sardonic smile as she laughed, "Yeah. Chakra in my legs." Cordi raised her eyebrows as she nodded. "Sounds like it'll work." Temari smiled, happy her student understood the concept at least. Cordi made a thinking face, putting her finger to her lips as she added, "One problem though."

Temari frowned. "What?"

"I don't have any chakra!" Cordi snapped, glowering at Temari. Temari made a face that told Cordi her statement didn't compute, so Cordi continued. "Where I'm from, Chakra does not exist. It's not a thing. There is no such thing as a 'Chakra Network' in one's body." She used hand quotes around "Chakra Network" to emphasize her frustration. "There are ancient Asian philosophies that aligning your chakras or chi will grant you full mastery of your body, as well as enlightenment. BUT NOT magical powers like superhuman speed!"

Temari rolled her eyes. "You're being ridiculous. Every living thing has chakra."

"You wanna' go get Hinata again?" Cordi argued, pointing back into Konoha. "Kakashi already had her take a look at our 'chakra' and said there was none. No network. Zip. Zilch. Nada!"

Temari crossed her arms and gave Cordi a skeptical look as she huffed, "Then explain how you do your fire ninjutsu."

Cordi shot her a look, and asked, "I'm sorry, do you see any hand signs when I do this?" She summoned a fireball, then extinguished it with her fist. Temari pursed her lips as Cordi shook her head. "It's magic to me. That's all I got. I don't feel energy, or chi, or chakra. I just hold out my hand and will it there." She did it again as she explained how she did it, and then extinguished it again, putting her hands on her hips.

Temari gave a small pout, muttering, "You're gonna' be a pretty slow ninja if you can't figure out how to shunshin."

Cordi rolled her eyes, but as her gaze drifted upward, she saw just over the tree line something red flying towards them. She frowned as she stepped past Temari, seeing Aleera, who had grown the size of a dog, flying towards them with something tied to her neck. "Aleera! What the heck are you doing!? You're supposed to be hiding in the hotel room!"

"A man came by to give you something," Aleera huffed back as she floated down to Cordi's arms.

Cordi scowled at her dragon as she held her up awkwardly. "You are supposed to stay quiet in the bathroom if you hear people."

The dragon clutched onto her shirt, snuggling her snout into the crook of Cordi's neck as she replied, "I know. But he kinda' smelled like you. And he knew my name. AND he said I could trust him because he was your son."

Cordi and Temari shared a nervous look as the fire user nervously replied, "Aleera. I don't have a son."

Temari stepped over, fingering the note tied to Aleera's neck. She frowned as she read it.

"What does it say?" Cordi asked.

Temari's green gaze flicked to Cordi's, then back to the sheet of paper. "'Hide me better, Mom. Gaara almost found me. PS: Try Konoha's Forest of Death.'" Temari pursed her lips, dropping it as she added, "It looks like someone tried to mimic Gaara's handwriting, but didn't get it quite right."

Cordi's heart pounded at this. Someone had found her dragon, and had written her a cryptic message. It felt like a threat. And why was some guy claiming to be her son. She was only seventeen. If it wasn't for her chastity promise, any child she could logically have could only be a toddler, not a fully-grown man. "Where is this man?" Cordi asked her dragon. "Could you lead me to him?"

Aleera nodded, flapping her wings as she pulled away from Cordi. She flew back into the forest, and Cordi and Temari chased after her. After a distance, Aleera spiraled around a random tree in the forest, looking confused. "He was right here." She stated as she landed at the tree's trunk.

Cordi looked around nervously, up in the trees, further into the forest. She didn't see anything, and exhaled nervously out her nose. Temari walked to the trunk and knelt, looking at something on the ground. Cordi watched the experienced ninja carefully. "Do you see something?"

Temari picked up something that looked like a large grain of sand. "Weird," she breathed. The blonde kunoichi turned back to Cordi and stated, "This is chakra laced sand. Very similar to Gaara's."

Cordi's eyes went wide as her heart plummeted. Did Gaara know? Was he going to interrogate her? Take Aleera away? "Is it his?" she asked, praying it wasn't.

Temari shook her head. "It doesn't feel like his chakra. It's similar, but it's not his." Temari straightened, squeezing the grain of sand as she inspected it further. "Strange." She shot Cordi a look as she added, "Sand manipulation only occurs in the Shukaku's jinchuriki."

Cordi shared a worried look with Temari. "Do you think the Akatsuki's making jinchuriki's."

Temari pursed her lips with a queer smile. "No," she scoffed. "First, the Akatsuki have been disbanded for several years."

Cordi frowned. "Then what happened with the tailed beasts and Madara? No one's ever told us."

The blonde straightened up. "Well," she sighed, pulling out a container from her pouch, and putting the grain of sand in it, "to start with, Madara wasn't actually Madara. But that's a really long story. As for the tailed beasts, they were released from the ten tails, and the five kage agreed to let the beasts roam free instead of enslaving them in jinchuuriki. Naruto and Killer Bee were allowed to remain jinchuriki, but most of the tailed beasts can be found stalking their old biomes. Shukaku can be found roaming the Demon Desert to the southwest of Suna."

Cordi pursed her lips in a pensive look before asking, "And he's good out there?"

Temari made a weird face. "Are you actually worried for the sand demon?" Temari asked, pocketing the container.

Cordi mirrored her expression as she huffed back, "I mean, when you release an animal to the wild that's been in captivity for a while, you want to make sure it can thrive. That it won't be captured, or hunted. Usually where I'm from, a tracker is put in the animal, and checked on annually."

"Well," Temari grumbled, "we aren't in your world. And the Shukaku isn't an animal." She let out a sigh, placing her hands on her hips, watching the red dragon land and trot up to Cordi. "The better question is what are we going to do about Aleera? It's possible that the note was telling the truth, and Gaara almost found her."

Cordi looked down at Aleera closely. "It's true," Aleera stated. "The man had to help me sneak out. I heard them coming down the hall."

"If that's the case," Temari started, "then Aleera can't stay at the hotel anymore. That much is clear."

"Yeah," Cordi sighed, putting her hands on her hips as well. "She's getting too big, anyway." She licked her lips in thought for a second, then finished, "I probably need to talk with the other girls about finding a new place for them." Temari nodded in agreement. Whatever the answer was, it would be decided by the other girls, not Cordi and Temari.