A/N: HUUUEEEII!!! Sorry for the late update! But I've got a lot of things coming up, I'm really busy lately. The flow's gonna be much slower so please bear with me ne? Thank you to the reviewers:

Wormkaizer – Thank you!!

Gopu – Thanks!

Authoress Pendragon – Ah, one of my favourite authors reviewed. Yay! As for the spacing out, I'll see what other way I can put it in. I'm kinda experimenting right now. Yup, yup! Gaara's THE most kakoi!!

Kitsune No Youkai – Thank you for your review! I'll try to lessen unnecessary use of Japanese.

Now, to the next chapter.

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-sensei.

"…" talk

[…] thoughts

:: Place's name ::

Jutsu List

Suna Shuriken – Sand Shuriken

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Shadow Clone Replication

Sabaku Kyuu – Desert Coffin

Chapter 2: Badger and fox

He had the 'Ai' kanji tattooed onto his forehead. A girl, probably two or three years older than Ino, pulled down her hood and grinned, "Konoha has some very potential ninjas. You actually made me use the Kamaitachi on you." Anzu still looked shocked. Ino dusted her pants and said, "These are the representatives from the Hidden Sand. Meet Temari and Sabakuno Gaara."

:: Konoha village ::

Kina walked about the village. Today was when the Sand shinobi will arrive. [I wonder if they'll be used to Konoha.] The blonde kunoichi jumped onto the roof of one of the many buildings. Twirling a kunai leisurely, she strolled on the rooftops, taking care not to disturb the residence. Suddenly, she felt another presence behind her. Kina smiled, "Back from your mission already?" She turned around, coming face to face with a raven-haired shinobi. "Sasuke-kun." Sasuke gave Kina a small nod.

"Aa, it was too easy for my enjoyment."

"Always with the Uchiha arrogance."

Sasuke gave a rare smile. He knew she meant it good-naturedly. "Where's Naruto?" Kina grinned cheekily, "Probably off somewhere with Hinata-chan."

"She's back too?"

"Un!" Suddenly, Sasuke turned around. Kina frowned, "What's that chakra?" They disappeared in a poof of smoke.

:: Somewhere in Konoha ::

As both Kina and Sasuke appeared, they were met with a battle scene. Naruto held a kunai in attack position. His opponent carried a large gourd and had his back turned to them. Kina prepared to interfere but was stopped by Sasuke. Naruto threw the kunai at the opposing shinobi and ran at him. Sand rushed up to block the kunai from reaching its target. After that, the blond threw punch after punch in quick succession. What surprised Kina was how a wall of sand appeared to defend the enemy. "Is that ninjutsu?" Sasuke shook his head.

"Suna Shuriken." Shurikens burst out of the sand. Naruto deflected them with shurikens of his own. He placed his hands in a familiar seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A horde of Narutos appeared and rushed towards the enemy. Said shinobi raised his arms, uttering a phrase that both Sasuke and Naruto were familiar with, "Sabaku Kyuu." Sand gripped a few Narutos but most got past the sand.

With unexpected speed, Naruto started his combo. "U-ZU-MA-KI," the clones shouted as the kicked him into the air. "Naruto Rendan!" finished Naruto as he slammed the opponent back to the ground. When the dust settled, Kina was surprised to find him slowly standing up. [His face, is cracking.] True, the shinobi's face cracked. Kina was even more stunned to find skin underneath it. Soon, his mask fell away into sand and gathered back into his gourd. Naruto landed on the ground next to him.

"Damn! It's still hard to get past your defense." Naruto exclaimed, hints of a pout twitching at the edge of his mouth. "You were just playing around." The other shinobi stated. For the first time, Kina saw the face of the 'enemy' clearly. He had a headful of crimson hair, almost the colour of blood. The kanji 'Ai' was etched onto his forehead, slightly more to the left. There were bags around his eyes, green pupils gazing at Naruto with a bored expression on his face. Kina noticed the hitai-ate tied round the gourd's strap.

"Hidden Sand…" she whispered. Naruto turned to her, a foxy grin on his face. "Kina-chan, meet Sabakuno Gaara." "He's from the Hidden Sand." Sasuke added. "Shitteru?!" Naruto smirked. "Beat his ass once. Had to save Sasuke-bastard." Gaara and Sasuke frowned. Kina held out her hand, smiling.

"Welcome to Konoha, Gaara. I hope you'll enjoy your stay." Gaara didn't take her hand. Instead, he settled for looking at her. Her blonde hair resembled Naruto's, except hers was straight, long and was a richer shade. Her hazel eyes sparkled with the same kind of warmth the Naruto radiate, only much gentler. "He's not the most social guy." Naruto offered as Kina retracted her hand. Together, they headed to the Hokage Tower to report Gaara's arrival.

:: Hokage Tower ::

"I hate paperwork." The legendary medic nin grumbled as she continued to sift through the documents. "Oy, Tsunade-baba!" A vein popped on her forehead as the all-too-familiar nickname was mentioned. She glared at the blond shinobi entering her room, thinking of bashing him into the ground. Naruto took one glance at the mountain of papers and raised an eyebrow at the Godaime. "You fell asleep again?" Another vein popped on her head as she advanced towards him.

However, she stopped as she caught sight of Gaara. "Oh, you've arrived. Hm? Where is the other?" Just at that moment, there was a knock on the door. "Come in." Ino stepped in, with Temari by her side. She seemed surprised when she saw Gaara. Seeing that both the Sand shinobis were here, Tsunade quickly went to business. "Here're your passes, and your new hitai-ate" she said as she handed them both the objects. "During your stay in Konoha, you are a villager of Konoha and I will expect you to remember that your loyalties are with Konoha. Of course, you will have to do missions and others regarding this village. Do you understand?" Gaara just nodded slightly as Temari answered with a soft, "Hai."

:: The Village of Hidden Sand ::

In the Kazekage's office, Hyuuga Neji and Ten Ten were currently, listening to a similar speech. Both nodded affirmative as Baki handed them their passes and headbands. "I have arranged for the two of you to stay at the Sabakuno residence." Ten Ten stepped up, "Excuse me, Kazekage-sama, but won't the owner be…uncomfortable with our presence. After all, we have yet to make their acquaintance." Baki just waved his hand, "You have met them, and two of them have gone in your place to the Konoha." The Hyuuga perked up at this, [They've gone to…that means…]

Just then, someone entered the office. Ten Ten and Neji instantly recognized the figure. The face paint and bundle on his back was an obvious give-away. "Kazekage-sama, you called for me?" asked Kankuro. "From today onwards, these two," he waved his hand at the two ninjas. "Will stay with you. You are to be their guardian. Is that clear?" "Hai, Kazekage-sama." Kankuro bowed, as did Neji and Ten Ten before the three of them left the office.

:: Konoha Village ::

Meanwhile, Tsunade had yet to decide on where the Sabakuno siblings will stay. She crinkled her forehead as she tried to think of a place, no, a person, who would accommodate a psychopath and his sister. There were, unfortunately, no empty places where she could put them currently. [A home for two, a home for two…e to…]

"How about…Naruto's apartment?"

"It's kinda crowded though, Tsunade-baba."

"Hm, true. What about Sasuke's place then?"

"May I be so bold to remind you, Hokage-sama, that I live in an apartment too?"

"Sou ne." Tsunade laughed sheepishly. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Hyuga residence? I doubt Hiashi-san appreciates the idea. The Nara residence isn't really an option either."

"Ano, Tsunade-sensei," Heads turned to Kina's direction. "May I offer a stay in my house?" Tsunade's face brightened. "Of course! Your house is large enough to house two more people." Kina smiled, glad of having relieved her sensei of a problem. "Right! It's decided then. Gaara, Temari, you two will stay with Kina now!" The Godaime smiled triumphantly. "Now, I'm going to have to finish this paperwork so off you go."

:: Kina's house ::

Kina led her two new housemates in, while Naruto and Sasuke helped Temari with the luggage (mainly hers). Kina showed them their rooms, the kitchen and the living room before a Chuunin knocked on her door. "Your presence is required at the hospital, Naoru-san." Kina nodded and turned to the others, "I have to go now. Ja!"

Gaara watched as the blonde followed the Chuunin out of sight. "Hospital?" asked the Sand kunoichi. "Kina-chan is a medic nin." Naruto answered simply. Gaara nodded slightly. That answered the question. Naruto grinned, "Saa, who's up for ramen?"

:: Ichiraku Ramen ::

Naruto led the small group to Ichiraku, and just after they had ordered, another person walked in. Naruto grinned as he recognized the boy. "Oy, Shikamaru," Said shinobi looked up, "Hey," was all he said. Naruto exchanged glances with Sasuke, but didn't say anything. Temari, however, found her mouth dry. She silently took in the details of the person she had not seen in 4 years. [He doesn't look much different.] True, Shikamaru looked like his usual self. His usual scruffy ponytail, his usual drawl, wearing his usual scowl. He was, however, wearing a Jounin vest, like Naruto and Sasuke. [Still…] thought Temari. [Something's missing in the picture.]

It was only after a while that Temari noticed what was missing. "Where's the other boy? The chubby one who was always with you?" Temari asked this purely out of curiosity, as she had never seen Shikamaru without Chouji around him. This seemingly casual question triggered different reactions from the three boys. Naruto's cheerful face suddenly darkened considerably, while Sasuke tried to look unaffected but failed to hide the sadness in his eyes. Temari looked at Shikamaru. He almost didn't look anything different, but Temari noticed the barely detectable flash of pain in his black eyes when she mentioned Chouji. "He died on a mission…a year ago." Shikamaru said in an all-too-calm voice. "I'm sorry." Shikamaru just waved it off. After that Ichiraku sunk into silence.

:: Hidden Sand, Kankuro's house ::

"You can take these two rooms. The kitchen and living room is downstairs. There are two bathrooms, one upstairs and one down." Ten Ten simply picked a room and dumped her things on the bed. Neji went to his room, which was right across Ten Ten's. Ten minutes later, Kankuro was showing them around town. "The village is rather peaceful." Ten Ten contemplated thoughtfully. Kankuro nodded, "Ever since Baki-sensei became Kazekage, things have improved." Ten Ten glanced at the puppet master. He looked weird as always with the face paint and strange outfit. It kind of reminded her of Lee, weird looks and green bodysuit. Once their tour was finished, they headed for 'home'.

Hyuuga Neji remained silent throughout the day. No one noticed that he was watching his comrade the whole time. The girl had long been the object of his attention, and affection. Of course, Hyuuga Neji will not show anyone that he had feelings for Ten Ten. Not he. Not yet. And so, he sat in the living room, across Kankuro, not saying a word. Suddenly, their attention was drawn to Ten Ten who was coming down the stairs. Both of them tried hard not to gape at the kunoichi as she appeared, dressed in what the Sand kunoichis usually wore. Kankuro's traveled to her waist and slowly, upwards. He looked away quickly before his mind roamed farther. Neji, who noticed this, growled mentally. He had just found a new rival.

Un/Hai – Yes

Shitteru?! – You know him?! (shocked)

A/N: That's the second chapter. I thought it was boring, and plain. The next chapter might spice it up though, I hope. Please review ne? Arigatou!