Well, its time to get in for good old updating.

Allright, to clear up any confusion, It was probably like four in the morning when I went back and edited alot of this and I probably did it really badly. Anything that seems out of place is probably a result of too much caffeine and too litle common sense. I deeply apologize for any of it.

I wanted to take this time to do something I never thought I would. I'm dedicating this chapter to Shang, who has kept reading and kept reviewing.I love you like a brotha...from anotha motha? I might just be adopted. Part of me hopes so...Anyway, this is to my main man Shang, hope you enjoy it buddy cause it doesn't do a whole lot for the storyline, except Junichi. It was a screw off chapter, like the one I just got finished writing. I laugh at the people who think I try to make sense but just come up short.

I dont own Naruto. One time, I thought I owned some music, but the IRS and several other organizations I can't pronounce thought otherwise.

Junichi sat at the small wooden table in their room with a map of the village sprawled out on it. Kankuro and Gaara had walked in and walked back out without saying a word. Ayane and Kanoe had tried to question them, but no response came from them as they walked out the door. A couple of hours later, they walked back in with Saotome and Temari. All of them stood there quietly. Junichi looked over at Saotome and Temari who were staring at the ground and and at Gaara and Kankuro who were trying to busy themselves with something or another.

Junichi burst out laughing. It wasn't hard to put two and two together from the looks on their faces. He didn't know exactly what had happened, but he could ballpark it, and it was funny all right…that is, until Temari slammed the metal side of her fan into his chest and proceeded to beat him into the floor of their crummy apartment room. After all was said and done, Junichi wasn't laughing anymore. In fact, nothing would be funny for a while, he decided.

"Look here," he said, pointing to the map after he regained his composure "We found an entrance into a tunnel network in the village. We don't know if it's the one the enemy uses, but we do know that someone is down there."

Saotome slammed his fist on the table. "DON'T YOU THINK YOU SHOULD HAVE TRIED TO FIGURE THAT OUT BEFORE YOU SENT PEOPLE OUT INTO THAT GODFORSAKEN DESERT?" he yelled angrily.

"Calm down Saotome" Kanoe said as calmly as possible "It was just a mistake is all. We'll begin infiltration tomorrow. I suggest you all spend the day doing anything you want, because tomorrow, we might not all come back."

Everyone agreed and went their separate ways. They all debated what they would do that day. It might be their last days together, and they wanted to make them mean something.

Saotome took a walk along the wall surrounding the village. He stared out at the endless dunes and contemplated his life, his abilities, and his own self. If he were to do it right, he would be able to beat Junichi. Junichi was tough, but he wasn't unbeatable. Saotome had noticed that while Junichi was possibly more powerful than Kanoe, he wasn't a strategist. He simply rushed in and beat his opponents down with raw power and skill. If he had the right skills and the right plan, Saotome could take Junichi down.

Temari walked up silently behind Saotome. She couldn't get the incident from last night out of her head. She knew that Saotome was an idiot and a genius. The problem was that lying there next to him came too easy to her. Something about his nature put her at ease. Unless he pissed her off, she could manage to keep her cool for the most part. It was intriguing to her the way she was changing around him. She looked at the possibility that she liked him. It would certainly explain everything, but she just wasn't sure. She watched him stare off at nothing and wondered what he was thinking.

"I was remembering Kohona" he said to her without turning, knowing both what she was wondering and that she was there "In this place, there is only sand and in my home, there is only forest. Yet, both are beautiful in their own respects."

Temari thought on his words for a moment. They were very different people. He was passive and calm, while she was short tempered and cocky. Their styles of fighting were from far away and from up close. They were almost complete opposites, yet they complimented each other and gave each other structure where it was needed.

"But the desert and the forest can't coexist." Temari said flatly as she stepped up beside him and stared out. "The desert is harsh and uncaring. It can't support a forest or any plants for that matter. It is a barren and ugly place."

"I wouldn't be so sure" Saotome said with a smirk, sensing that she meant something more than said, then he thought back to his previous comment and groaned mentally at what he had gotten himself into unwittingly. Just had to go with it now. "There is a place where the desert and the forest melt into each other. They don't just end abruptly and form a border for each you know. I passed it on my way here. A perfect mesh of desert and forest."

"It doesn't matter" Temari snapped back, a little angry at how calm he was talking about such a sensitive matter "Even if they do blend perfectly at one spot, desert and forest are still different. The place you speak of is neither desert or forest, but something different altogether."

"You can believe that" Saotome said, trying to get into this philosophical stuff "But I don't think you really want to. Deep down I think you want to believe that both elements can be together in harmony. It's easier to just accept it. I've seen it and I know that it's there. Even if you haven't seen it though, you can still believe in it, and if you do so, you make it real for yourself, which is all that matters in the end."

Temari looked at his face, looking out at the barren expanse. She was slightly shocked at his answer to say the least, but she knew that he was right.

"I think I would like to see this place" Temari said calmly "Because whatever I believe may not be as good as the real thing. To see the real thing might be a thousand times better than just wishing it's real."

"It might very well be" Saotome said softly as he gently took her hand in his and then looked into her eyes "One day we'll go there, and you'll see that the beauty of both can become the beauty of one."

They stared into each other's eyes for a long time. It was so peaceful standing on that wall. On this particular day there seemed to be no sentries posted there for some reason and the wind gently blew at them. They then stepped closer to each other and looked into the desert, finding the beauty that they both dreamed of now.

Junichi stood atop a lone watchtower on the opposite side of town. He believed that his power would serve him well. He was confident. The problem was the dreams he was having lately. The voices he was hearing. Dark, creepy voices that whispered evil things into his mind plagued his thoughts in waves. There were two voices in all. One was a female voice that would seductively whisper about drinking blood. The last one was usually quiet. It was a male voice, but it was humanlike in quality. It was a calm voice. A voice of reason that spoke of simple things. It spoke of opportunities that could have been had. It was this calm, regular voice that scared Junichi the most.

Gaara stood there watching him. Ever since the fight Gaara had noticed a strange part of Junichi. The way he fought, the techniques he used…and that one little outburst during their fight led Gaara to have his suspicions about Junichi.

"Does the shukaku ever talk to you?" Junichi asked quietly "Does he ever tell you to do things, or try to get you to kill people you don't want to."

"Yes" Gaara said calmly "On several occasions I have had to restrain my self from killing Temari and Kankuro. He urges me and he is very powerful. Why do you ask?"

"I think you're the only person I can trust this with…" he said slowly, running a hand through his white hair "I've been having nightmares where a single pairs of eyes stare at me. The pair is wine red and slitted, the eyes of some sort of demon. Sometimes I can hear them talking to me. They tell me to kill people, to bathe in blood, to enjoy what little time I have left…I don't know if I'm a danger to my team or not. I have no clue what to do."

"Sounds like the work of demons to me" Gaara said flatly, showing no signs of compassion or any feelings really "The only other person I know of with a demon inside him is Uzumaki Naruto. Within him is sealed the Kyuubi, a most fearsome demon. From the sounds of it though, you have no seals, and multiple demons are plaguing you. It's a most interesting matter I would really know nothing about. You should probably look into your family's history or just ask your parents."

"My mother is dead and my father is…" Junichi said, stopping and realizing what he was saying before continuing "Still alive…and was known for great and evil power that took several villages to drive him off…"

"That," Gaara said with a slight smirk "would be the best place to start. If I were to guess though, I would say your father conferred with demons and now, because of his blood, they are attracted to you. They can be either a weapon or a curse. I would try and take the time to train and learn of them if I were you…And the female member of your team is heading up here. I shall make my leave."

And with that, Gaara disappeared in sand just as Ayane climbed up. She looked like she had been training and working hard but once again, to no avail.

"Hey," she said cheerfully "What are you doing up here all by yourself. I figured you would be training or talking to Gaara kun or Saotome kun."

"Here," he said flatly handing her a old looking book "It's a book about seals and various sealing arts. For some reason, it's a skill I cannot master, no matter how hard I try. I think, because you cannot master normal skills, this might suit you much better. To be able to seal would be a great asset to our team. You should look into it."

"Thank you Junichi kun…" She said almost sadly, because he had stated so plainly that she was weak "…I know I'm not strong now, but I will be! I won't be just dead weight to you or Saotome kun ever again. It might take me a little while longer than you two, but I'll work as hard as I can, I promise!"

Junichi looked over and noticed she had tears in her eyes, he groaned at having to face another one of these situations. Were all females this troublesome? Temari didn't seem to be. Temari was a nice, solid, dependable woman with good strength. Why couldn't all women in the world be more like Temari and less like the little emotion bomb that was standing next to him?

"You do your best and that's all anyone can ever ask of you" Junichi said without emotion, trying to stop the tears before he got into it deep "If you do you're best and still fail, then it isn't your fault. After giving it all you have and that isn't enough, then nobody can blame you, and you can get up again and keep giving it your all."

"Thank you Junichi kun." Ayane said as she suddenly hugged his arm "I promise I'll do my best and make all of you proud of me."

Junichi's first thought was shit. He looked back to the time in the forest and now realized that she thought there was some sort of emotional attachment between them. This would not be easy. He would rather have faced a thousand jounins and a hokage than have to deal with this crap.

"I'd start reading that book if I were you" Junichi said, trying to break her away from him "I wouldn't start practicing just yet, but reading up would be good."

"I'll do that" Ayane said with a nod and she then walked back down the way she had came.

Kankuro sat on a bench and stared at the side of a building. It was just then that his sister and that Saotome boy caught his eye. They were walking down the street silently holding hands.

Kankuro immediately jumped up and was about to run after them and kick the shit out of Saotome when sand swirled around his feet and stuck them into the ground. He was caught. He looked over and saw Gaara sitting on the same bench idly.

"What are you doing?" Kankuro exclaimed "We have to go and beat Saotome up for making moves on Temari!"

"No." Gaara said simply "Temari is a grown woman and she can handle herself. Besides, I think it's time she had more contact with males her age. After all she is a woman, and women, from what I understand, like to attach themselves emotionally to men."

"But…but…but" Kankuro was stuttering. The idea of Temari going out with someone as stupid and annoying as Saotome astounded him. It was just plain creepy.

"No butts." Gaara stated firmly "We let Temari have what she wants. Don't try to break them up either. My word is final. Why don't you find yourself a female? I'm sure it wouldn't hurt you."

"Oh yeah?" Kankuro said rather childishly "Well what about you? You need a woman worse than I do! Why don't YOU go and find one? Unless…you're too scared to ask one or something."

"Don't be a fool Kankuro." Gaara retorted, "Even if there was a woman who wasn't petrified at my sight, do you actually think that such things matter to me? And I would not be afraid of a simple female. The thought is preposterous."

"Really now?" Kankuro asked smugly "If its nothing to you, why don't you try and find one. There are plenty of women around, and you can even look for one when we get to Kohona again. I think you're nothing but a big chicken!"

At that point Kankuro started strutting around flapping his arms wildly and making chicken noises, attracting the stares of many people. Some stopped for photos and one threw a dollar at him. In the end Gaara submerged him up to the neck with sand and walked off calmly as Kankuro yelled at him. They would definitely be ready for the mission tomorrow.

Shang: Thanks for clearin it up buddy. It disturbed me a great deal. I just didn't know if you know because well...I didn't know if you knew. Just wanted to be sure. I still want some of those meds though...I totally understand altering what should and shouldn't be possible to fit into your story. I'vedone that at least four times in this story. It just gave me the gibblies and I wanted to know if you got the same vibe.