AN: Naruto would not be Naruto without flashbacks… so to make my fiction as true to the show as I could, here is the first flashback. When you see the >>> sign separating sections, that's a flashback :). So, if it wasn't clear already, this explains Sharino's knowledge of Fuuton jutsu and her familiarity with the Kazekage's children:
10- Long ago and far away
Fourteen years ago.
Naomi stumbled into the Sand village, screaming for help, obviously in pain. She banged on the door of the nearest house, then collapsed, unable to continue.
The owners of the house came out quickly at the cries for help, and she was lifted and taken to the hospital as fast as they could. They could tell that the woman was heavily pregnant, going through a difficult and painful labour.
The medical ninja took care of her, but there was little they could do for the mother. She died giving birth to her daughter. The medical ninja did not know what to do with the baby. They searched the village for someone that could act as a wet-nurse for the new child, but the only woman who had given birth recently enough was the Kazekage's wife, who was nursing her new son Kankurou.
Still, the Kazekage and his wife agreed to look after the child, naming her Sharino (which means 'Of the Sand village'). They sent word to all of the other countries about the child to find out where she came from, but no one came to claim her so she was raised in the Kazekage's household.
It was clear from very early on that the child was very gifted in the ninja arts, so she began to train with Temari, the Kazekage's own daughter. Sharino grew up calling the Kazekage father.
"Father! Father! Look at this new technique I just learned!" the five year old child cried, running into the room with Temari. Both girls looked red-faced and excited. The Kazekage glanced at the girls and then rolled up the scroll he had been examining, following them outside.
Outside in the street, Temari took out three kunai and prepared to throw them. The Kazekage frowned, watching carefully. Temari threw them at Sharino, who quickly formed hand seals.
"Fuuton! Kaze Tawami no jutsu!" A gust of wind blew out from the child's mouth, strong enough to stop the kunai from striking her, throwing them back towards Temari, though stopping short of her. Kazekage's eyes widened. He had seen the same technique, used by an adult, deflect hundreds of weapons thrown all at once, but this much for a five-year-old was amazing. He almost couldn't believe it.
It was not long after that that Umatatsu Isamu came to Suna, claiming Sharino for his own. The Kazekage knew that his claim was correct. Sharino had the same eyes as he did, and his description of the child's mother was completely accurate, down to a tiny, barely noticeable birthmark at the nape of her neck, that one of the medical ninja that treated her had seen by chance. But he knew he would be sorry to see her go.
"Sharino," he said to his adoptive daughter. "Your father is here to take you home." Sharino had always known that she was not the Kazekage's real daughter, though she often thought of herself as such. But the thought of leaving Suna terrified the girl. She screamed.
When she was taken to see her father for the first time, she would barely look at him. Yet even the Kazekage could not keep a man's daughter hostage, so when Isamu took her, he said nothing except farewell to the girl he had raised as a daughter.
Just before Isamu left, the Kazekage took him aside.
"Your daughter will become a strong ninja one day. I hope that we have brought her up in a way that will make you proud of her. I also hope that she will help cement the alliance between the Sand and the Smoke. Please take this as a gift for her, for when she is old enough to wield it," he said, handing Isamu a Katana.
Sharino watched as the man she had known as a father talked with the man who was her father by birth, a tear running down her cheek. She understood why she had to leave, but she was afraid of what would happen now that she belonged to the Smoke village and not to the Sand. Her sense of identity was confused as she tried to think how she would adapt to her world being completely transformed.
The Kazekage returned to her, with her real father standing just beside him. Her adoptive father put a comforting hand on her shoulder, crouching to look her in the face. "You will always be welcome here," he said. "As long as the Sand and the Smoke are allies." She smiled weakly, but her cheeks were still streaked with tears. Then, the Kazekage stood and withdrew a few paces.
"Are you ready, Sharino," Isamu said. She nodded, once more waving sadly to Temari, Kankurou and Yashamaru, who was holding the youngest of the Kazekage's sons.
It would not be the last time she visited Suna, but it was the last time that it was her home.
>>>
As the two remaining ninja attacked, Tenten sent kunai raining down upon them. Gai and Lee watched as they frantically tried to dodge the attacks. A few missed, and none were critical hits, but Tenten's accuracy was still astounding as the ninja tried to evade weapons that seemed to come from nowhere.
Gai and Lee attacked them then, in formation. They gave the attacking ninja a few blows from their deadly Taijutsu. The enemy soon realised that they were defeated and ran off before waiting for a second, worse onslaught. Gai was sorry that he had had to let them go, but he did not want to chase after them into any number of unpleasant situations. Neji appeared from nowhere, returning from his own battle and from looking around to see if any other attackers were coming.
It was, by that time, getting towards late afternoon. They were supposed to get back to the village by nightfall. It was time to leave.
---
Reiboshi looked around to see Sharino appear. She looked almost worn out, and her clothes were muddied.
"Are you all right?" he asked. She smiled.
"I'm fine, though I nearly wasn't," she said. Then her face became more serious. "Jirou is among the Missing-Nin. He's been spying on us." Reiboshi looked shocked, raising an eyebrow.
"Kemuri Shinjun? Smoke infiltration technique," he asked. Sharino nodded.
"I believe someone on your team has it," she said, in a somewhat lower voice. Reiboshi frowned.
"But that's not possible. If it were one of us we would have sensed it. That jutsu is not undetectable to those of a high enough level!" Sharino nodded.
"I know, but it can be missed in certain situations. They have been under a lot of pressure. All I know is that shortly after leaving you, I was attacked by Jirou and the Cloud ninja from before." Reiboshi nodded.
"What about the other teams. If Jirou managed to get into the village, he may have somehow got to the Konoha ninja too."
"I've considered that," she said. "I will go to them and see now." Reiboshi nodded. In a flash, Sharino was gone.
The fact that they were being spied upon made a lot of sense, but to Reiboshi it seemed strange that, if his team did have a spy, they had not been attacked, but Sharino had.
He beckoned over a member of his team and closed his eyes, testing to see if he could sense the presence of the infiltrating smoke. The first one was free of the jutsu, as was Isako and the other Jounin-level ninja that had been chosen for the team. When he looked into the eyes of the last ninja, though, he sensed something that should not be. He smiled.
Bringing his hands together, he concentrated on him.
"Kai!" he said. "Release." The ninja coughed and a tiny wisp of smoke came out with the cough and disappeared into the wind.
"What was that?" Isako asked, seeing him.
"Kemuri Shinjun," he replied. Isako looked shocked. "Jirou," was all the explanation Reiboshi offered, but Isako seemed to understand.
---
Kakashi and his team were the last to return to the village that night, arriving just after sunset, Naruto and Sasuke carrying Nekoya draped between them. The suffocating black smoke technique took a lot of chakra, and he had combined it with two other chakra-consuming jutsu. It was not surprising that he was exhausted.
Sharino met them just inside the village boundaries and went to all of the Genin in turn, asking them how the day had been. Naruto went into a rather excited explanation of his battle with Sasuke against one of the Missing-Nin. Kakashi watched her carefully, exchanging a meaningful look with Genma. Both of them knew that she was up to something more.
When Sharino looked at Naruto, she now knew what it was that had made him so uneasy the whole time.
"Kai!" she said, concentrating on him. Naruto coughed suddenly, and just as with the other Smoke ninja, he coughed out a wisp of smoke. He didn't seem to notice and carried on recounting how he had defeated the ninja, playing down Sasuke's part and over-emphasising his own.
Finally, Sharino managed to free herself from him, and she beckoned Kakashi and Genma to a meeting with Reiboshi, Gai and her father about all that had happened that day. She entrusted Nekoya to the three Genin, who took him back towards his own house, where they were also staying.
"What was that Smoke jutsu?" Kakashi asked Sharino. She hesitated before answering, as the Kemuri Shinjun was one of her village's most secret techniques. But then she nodded. Her father trusted Kakashi, so the least she could do was grant him the same trust.
"Kemuri Shinjun," she said.
"Kemuri Shinjun?" Genma repeated, unfamiliar with the technique.
"It's a special infiltration technique," she explained. "It takes the form of a wisp of smoke, infused with some of the user's essence. The victim then breathes in the smoke and the user can see through their eyes by using a medium, such as a still water surface or a sheet of ice. It's used to spy on the enemy. One of our Smoke ninja is among the Missing-Nin."
"How did it get into Naruto?" said Kakashi. Sharino thought back to the first time that she had met Naruto.
"I believe I inadvertently brought it to Konoha. Though difficult, it is possible to attach the smoke to a person without their actually breathing it in. Its effectiveness is greatly reduced that way, but it allows a limited amount of vision. If the ninja attached it to me, they would have waited until they found a low-level ninja to infiltrate. Jounin and some Chuunin can detect the jutsu, and dispel it before it is useful. Genin and most Chuunin would not know anything was wrong. If they had used the jutsu on me, or you, it would not have worked."
"What about Gai's team?" Genma asked. Sharino shook her head.
"I don't believe they could have been infected, because they have had less exposure to the enemy, but I will check them after the meeting."
By that time they were at Isamu's house, and it was time to discuss the day's events and plan for tomorrow. Sharino let Kakashi and Genma enter before her, then she took a deep breath and followed.