Blahblah… I don't own… lalala… okay.

Lights… camera… ACTION!

: x :

Look, a nice tree. A nice solid tree!

Aki put her fingers together and focused her powers. A loud buzzing noise blocked out all others. The tree she focused on in her mind suddenly split into two, and then into fourths, then eighths, then sixteenths… and then in to thirty two pieces and the finally to sixty four. The pieces clumped to the ground. Aki remained where she was sitting (under a tree root) and focused her powers again. She first thought of hell but then thought about what her brother would think of her if he was in her mind at the moment and changed her mind to a hot tropical island. She had finally figured out the trick to summon fire without giving her own self a time-out.

About a fourth of the wood she had cut up immediately burst into flames. Aki smiled at her progress. She had been immobile for about three days. All she did for the first one as sit and eat and drink. She had gotten tired halfway and had started practicing her powers. She was now able to master almost everything, except death and maybe time. At first, every time she used the powers she hadn't mastered (fire, dark, light, time, death, water, metal) she passed out and didn't wake up until the sun, which used to be on the east side of the sky, was on the west.

Her brother and the rest of the guys usually went out trying to find some information about the Biju and Jinchuuriki. Their information led them to the country of Wind; the country where the Akatsuki had taken Gaara. Apparently, there was a hidden tribe in the desert not known to anyone but an old man in the Village hidden in the Sand. They were out on a quest to find out. None of them dared enter until everyone was fully rested and healed.

Aki was now doing nothing under her tree root. She was pretty bored. So far, they haven't entered the desert and were still on the edge of the very edge of the desert. Aki had been practicing water for the desert because there was no water until they found oases in the desert she had been trying to conjure up water from thin air. Technically speaking, she was forcing the particles of air to compress together to form a liquid much like water. The liquid formed was a more tasteless form of water. It was often contaminated with molecules of carbon dioxide and monoxide but nothing Aki couldn't handle. So far she had only been able to conjure up… about a few drops. She had been killing herself over it. It was hard to use two elements at one without the help of others' chakras. (Example: when she created rides for Lee, Tenten, Neji) Aki had exhausted herself and had had those east-to-west occurrences a couple of times.

One time, Aki had blacked out and when she woke up Evangeline was in front of her face, she was wiping a wet towel on Aki's head. Aki screamed then, it was one of the first times she screamed, but she stopped her voice quickly and whispered, "Why are you here?

The little girl looked away. Her clothes had been changed. Now she was wearing something sort of a black cloak with a black gown underneath. She spoke quietly; her voice was different and now was childish, unlike when she was in her home, "I'm sorry." Her voice was still echoing though, "I did not mean to scare you, but I have to apologize for my behavior that day I almost killed you." She started fiddling with her long, straight brown hair. She looked extremely sad for some reason. When you looked deep into her eyes, phantoms of her horrible past were awakened and haunted her. "It is just… It was the full moon and…" She didn't say more.

Aki softened her gaze, "I understand. I'm alive and breathing right? Isn't that all that really matters?"

"Yes… but, it wasn't right. I must learn how to control my curse and powers… like you."

Aki smiled, "Alright! Let's work together!" The little girl flashed a sort of smile of gratitude then she sat down beside Aki and crossed her legs and hummed a monotonous tone to herself. I guess this is her form of training. Aki smiled and practiced putting up a barrier around the girl. She first tried fire, and was able to make it but it only lasted a few seconds. Then she tried water, she was also able to do so but it lasted a mere five minutes. Her wind barrier was already perfected and her earth barrier as well. She tried metal but wasn't able to and she criticized herself for it. After she was done that, she had to test how strong they were… so… she made a small sapling and put a wind barrier around it. She then used tried holding the wind barrier while she created a sword of fire from her hands. She struggled to keep the barrier in place and struck it hard with her sword. The wind immediately dispersed into nothing. Aki looked at her sword of fire, Hokatana. She laughed it off and tried again. This time, it took her two hits to dispel the wind barrier, but in a battle, that wouldn't be enough. By the end of the day, she had her east-to-west occurrence but managed to strengthen herself so she could sort of use two elementals at one time though it still took a hearty toll on her energy.

The next day Aki had managed to conjure up two whole glasses of water with her air compressing technique. It wasn't enough to drench the thirst of the three dehydrated boys who came running along but it was progressing, and she was getting more powerful. The next day, she had managed to conjure up a large puddle of clean water. She was in over herself and was happy for the rest of the day. She also regained her ability to run and move around more. By the next day, they had already gone into the desert.

"Hey…uh… before we left we filled out water canisters right?" Aki asked nervously.

"What do you think? Of COURSE!" Ryou spat back. He had been in a bad mood because it had been a week and he hadn't found his sister.

"Sorry." Aki replied quickly. She didn't want to get on anyone's nerves in case she fails to conjure up water when they need it most.

The sun's heat drove into the backs of their heads for days. By the time they had traversed about half of the desert, their water canisters were empty, they were tired, and they were sickeningly sweaty. (except for Aki who had her ways and Eva because she is a ghost) They sat in the shade of a giant cactus and poked at the little critters that crawled in the sand.

"Now what?" Neji asked as he poked off the head of a centipede.

"We need water." Kev answered. His voice was now dry and charred like; it was because of the lack of water. They had rationed their water to about a single gulp a day and it had only gotten them halfway through the desert. Four days had passed, and looking around, there was only sand and the occasional cactus, plus the burning ball of gas that drove heat onto the top of their heads and faces.

Neji made a sickened look when the centipede started moving again and dug into the sand. Aki was now sitting on the sand and was chanting quietly to herself. Her hand was held in front of her perpendicular to the sand's surface. It floated about an inch off the sand and in ten seconds time the sand under her hand had begun to darken and soon a small spring was made.

"H-Hey! Quickly, fill the water canisters!" She yelled at her companions. They stared at her for a moment as if asking, Yeah? And where do we get the water? But then they noticed that she was the one making some and held their bottles greedily in the spring that she had made. They even cut up the cactus they lay under for extra cups. Aki finally ran out of energy and stopped the spring, falling gawkily onto the sand.

Neji asked from the opposite side of her, "Will you be okay?"

Aki didn't say anything much, afraid it'll drain her of her power, "Yay… I managed to make a spring! And it lasted a while too! Yeah, I'll be fine, just need… s-some time…" She closed her eyes to keep the sun over head from ruining them. Ryou drunk his cactus cup stingily; slurping it down as if it was the most common thing in the world. Kevin added some red powder to his and gave his to his sister, Eva. She took a small sip and then somehow made the water turn back to normal and gave the rest to his brother. Neji drank nothing but the cactus juice that was left in the small stump the cactus had used to be.

They continued walking again and before they knew it, it was night. They slept in the company of a dead kangaroo rat that they were planning on cooking for food. Each was tired and hungry and would probably drop dead if anyone were to punch them. The kangaroo rat was a taste of paradise to them. Aki watched as her companions lay down to rest and pretended that she too was about to sleep.

"What is wrong?" Eva was looking at her puzzlingly.

"Nothing." Aki whispered back, "It's just, what if we're attacked by night?" She rubbed her head lazily.

"There is nothing here but a few rats and some centipedes. Do not worry, I do not sleep." Eva smiled her odd small smile and disappeared.

Aki smiled too. She knew that Eva was going to be watching but she had a premonition that something would happen and it'd be better if she stayed awake. At times, she almost fell asleep. Her lids were heavy and she was tired from using all her energy creating water for her group. She thought she was hallucinating or it was mirages but she saw dark things moving through the desert. They created a huge dust cloud that could only be missed if you were asleep, but she wasn't. Every minute or so, the dust cloud would appear again, closer. When it was close enough to see the general characteristics of the figures she saw that they were birds.

The birds flew about two meters above the desert ground. They stood about as tall as a man, but Aki could see that some were small also. They had an odd aura that suggested that they were human, but that couldn't be… they were birds! Aki moved her head up a bit to see the birds. She could see that their talons were as sharp as any birds of prey's would be and that most of the birds had midnight black wings. They resembled a mythological bird called the Phoenix but they were pure black and their eyes weren't made of fire but of the sun. They shone like two stars in a dark black, night sky; twinkling as they flew. It was the kind of like the gleam in your eye that you get when you are happy about something or you are excited.

When the birds got even nearer Aki saw they were way bigger than a man and could probably fit a fully grown man or any human in their sharp talons. Aki could of sworn she was dreaming if one of the birds hadn't swooped down from the flock and picked up Ryou's sleeping form. Aki yelped but didn't wake anyone because they were dead tired. The next bird, smaller than the last but still fierce, picked up Neji who jerked awake but couldn't say anything because the bird's talons bruised his stomach very hardly. The next bird picked up Aki. Its constant beat of its wings could've driven anyone mad. It was very different from riding on a wind cloud; it was bumpy and uncomfortable and you weren't looking down. Aki felt like she was going to throw up but before she could even open her mouth to scream she had passed out. Her arms fell from her sides and hung loosely over the bird's talons. This bird was more of a dark blue and its long ribbon like tail flew gracefully behind it. It cawed beautifully in a sing song tune and the whole flock sped forward.

The ride was rather bumpy with a lot of twists and turns… sort of like a roller coater that was sort of demented and a lot more freestyle. Neji watched the ground getting farther and farther as the flock of birds gained altitude. After a while, it began getting hard to breath. Neji held his breath for as long as he could before losing his consciousness.

: x :

Waking up, the first thing Neji noticed was a pressure on his wrists. He tried pulling his wrists toward himself but found that they would not budge. He opened his eyes more and saw a dim light in front of him; the light came from a burning ember. Neji opened his eyes fully swiveling his head around to scan the area. He was tied to a pole along with Kevin, on a separate pole was Aki and Ryou; Eva was no where to be seen. The cords around his wrists and ankles were a sort of shiny material that glinted in the low light. Several tents and makeshift houses surrounded the ember which cast eerie shadows on the doors of many. Neji shivered.

He looked at the faces of his companions in front of him (Aki and Ryou). Ryou was half-awake, jerking his head around every few seconds as if afraid. Aki, on the other hand, was out cold. Her head was down so Neji couldn't see her face but he knew because of the emptiness of half of his mind that she couldn't respond to anything.

"Neji," There was a movement. Neji flinched as cold hands touched his, "Are you awake?"

"Apparently..." He replied in his matter-of-factly tone.

"Where are we?"

"And you're asking me… why?"

There was a slight movement near his shoulders that implied Kevin had shrugged.

A shrill cry erupted in the distance and it sounded much like a hawk. The cry repeated itself a few times over a period of time, getting louder and closer each time. A huge gust of wind replaced the usual cawing and a gigantic bird landed briskly between the two poles of Neji, Kevin, Ryou and Aki. This immediately woke all of them up, even Aki who lifted her head a bit and stared in awe at the huge bird.

"Ahhh…" The bird cooed calmly in its scratchy sounding voice, "You're all awake!"

Four pairs of eyes stared coldly at the big bird.

The bird started to glow a bright purple light and began to shrink. Its beak flattened out and turned out to be a nose and mouth which was smirking evilly at them. Its eyes shrunk into normal human eyes that were icy amethysts staring at through them like the genetic trait that Neji and Aki shared. Its wings shrunk into its back and its massive claws became but two feet whose toes wiggled freely. The feathers of the bird disappeared in one final blinding light.

Neji blinked the light's shadow out of his milky white eyes. A human replaced the bird. He was kneeling and had a funny grin on his face; his fingers were crossed in an odd fashion.

"Now that I look more like you… maybe you'll understand me better." He stood up and faced Neji's pole. "Ah! The Prodigy of the clan!" He laughed evilly, "You're supposed to be genius; you're supposed to be so smart that people are scared of you." He walked closer and closer with each word. Catching Neji's chin in his hands he made him look into his amethyst eyes, "You don't look that bright." He 'tch-ed' and spoke with Kevin. "You. You're a doctor. You've a sister, but my subjects failed to capture her. They'll be sorry…" He smiled again, "Ryou? That's your name right? Ah. I see they already do have the dear two tailed demon."

Ryou glared at the bird-human-thing, Kevin growled like a dog. "Now, Aki, let's fight."

"You! She's in no condition to fight!" Neji yelled out.

The bird-man appeared in front of Neji and whispered in his ear, "You should keep quiet. I am the one to decide things." He leaned away and smiled.

Clicking his fingers the ropes that bound Aki slid away like snakes and she was free. "Stand." Aki stood. "Face me." Aki faced him. "Fight." Aki stood there, apparently in a fighting stance. The bird man smiled and he also got into his fighting stance.

Aki seemed like she was in a daze, her eyes were clouded and a faint mist hung in her head. She looked at the bird man as if he were someone she knew well. He jumped at her, half flying, and half gliding in the air. She quickly blocked the attack with one movement of her arm. He swung his other arm to his left so that he could strike her head. She ducked in time and tried hitting him herself. She also missed but only narrowly.

The next round was jutsus. The bird-man assembled his hands in the Tori bird position. (What a surprise) He then proceeded into a line of continuous hand signs that abruptly ended with a loud high-pitched squawk. A large bird like-glowing-thing erupted from the bird man's body – it rose about twenty feet into the air and halted. "If I can't hit you, I can certainly hit them!" The bird split into three different parts and two went after Neji, Ryou and Kevin and the last disappeared.

Aki panicked and hurriedly conjured up a wind barrier for her friends but forgot herself. The last bird thing crashed into her stomach and she flew about a yard away from her original spot.

"HEY! That's bias!" Ryou shouted, his voice muffled because of the wind barrier. Neji and Kevin also said some things that were pretty similar.

Aki trembled as she stood up. It appeared she was quite paralyzed with the crashing of the bird and etcetera. Not being able to stand up was going to cost her. The bird man disappeared from his spot and reappeared beside Aki. He took one foot and forced her down again. He carefully put his foot right at the bend of her neck. Aki spoke nothing.

"Seems to me that you aren't that strong, just as I predicted." He seemed to increase the force on his foot but he didn't show strain and Aki barely flinched, "I can kill them you know. He performed a simple fire jutsu with seals from his hands and made them float threateningly in the air. Aki glared at him. He glared back but them something happened. A smell of burning cloth filled the air. The bird-man sniffed around him before realizing that it was himself that he had smelled. His foot that held Aki fixed to the ground was dancing with flames. Aki stifled a laugh and fought to get up again. She let down her wind guards on her friends and crawled wearily to them. The bird-man jumped up and down to try and cease the flames but nothing worked, after all they weren't normal flames – they were Aki's.

When she got over to Neji's pole he asked, "Are you alright?" She nodded slightly so it wouldn't hurt and then she sighed, "What did you do?'

Aki still didn't say anything but whether it was because she was tired or she didn't want to no one would know – because the last thing Neji or Aki or even Kevin and Ryou remembered was everything going dark around them.

…to be continued