A/N: This chapter has Keitorin, Chansu, and Ari POV's. Also, the introduction of a new character, Ano Takashi, who is part cat - yay! There is part of a song in this chapter that I did NOT write - it's by JoJo. She's my favorite singer, LOL.

oOo

(Keitorin's POV)

Crushes - everyone has them. Gaara liked Sierra and I liked Gaara. Now that controversy is over and I guess I was stupid to think we could all just live happily ever after. Another boy had a crush on me. Now, I remember back to my crush on Naruto, long ago, and how it just sort of faded away and never bothered me again. I thought the same would happen - he would get bored with me and move on to someone else. But unfortunately, as I knew when he finally got up the nerve to ask me on a date, that this wasn't going to blow over quite as easily.

I'm not saying there is anything wrong with Kankuro no Sabaku. Well, he is kind of weird, but not like Shino weird - he's more tolerable. And he's a little creepy looking, but I guess if you look at him in a certain light, he is kind of cute. But there was one little problem he overlooked, or simply, perhaps, he didn't know. I was dating his brother.

"Kankuro-san..." I began as soon as I arrived at Ichiraku Ramen. "You do know..."

"Know what?" Kankuro asked, looking at me with deep concern. "Is...something wrong?"

"About...me and Gaara." I finished, with a small sigh. He seemed really sweet, and I hated doing this to him.

He looked at me for a moment. "Of course I know you and Gaara are friends. You're actually one of the few friends he has, you know. He's really been a lot nicer since he met you." The corners of Kankuro's mouth turned up in a smile.

"Actually..." I fidgeted nervously in my seat. "Me and Gaara have been...dating. I'm sorry, Kankuro."

"Oh...I didn't know. Gaara never told me." Kankuro said, a bit of sorrow showing on his face. For a moment, I seriously considered dumping Gaara for him. "But, I'm fine with it. Look, the truth is...Temari told me to do this...to break your heart. She said...that I should dump you."

"Why?" I inquired gently.

"She can see Gaara likes you, Keitorin-san." Kankuro shrugged. "And she's scared for him."

I smiled a little. "Like...scared I'm going to dump him?"

Kankuro shook his head. "The Kazekage - our father - sometimes hires people to try to assassainate Gaara."

I shook my head. "I assure you, really, it's nothing like that, Kankuro! I like Gaara...because he's..." I paused. Why did I like Gaara? "...sweet. He's really sweet."

Kankuro stood up. "Oh, well...I hope we can forget this happened, then, Keitorin-san."

I nodded, but I was lost in thought. Temari was turning out to not only a jerk and a complete slut...but also a threat.

oOo

(Ari's POV)

"Ari...can I come in?" I lifted my head from the book I was reading at the sound of my sister's voice.

"Yes, come in Kyandii!" She pushed the door open, her normally carefree and playful attitude replaced with a solemn aura. Her hair, normally held up in pigtails, fell straight down to her shoulders and her green eyes were dull. "What's wrong? Or, more likely, what did mom and dad yell at you for now?" I tried to lighten the mood, but it had no effect on Kyandii.

"I don't want to be a ninja." Kyandii said bluntly, sitting next to me on my bed. "I'm no good at it anyway, so..."

"You are too!" I protested. "You're almost as good as Lee when it comes to taijutsu. You had one of the highest scores at the Academy, too. If you could have done some ninjutsu or genjutsu, you would have beaten Sasuke Uchiha!"

Kyandii gave a faint smile, and a jolt passed through my body. She seemed different somehow. "That's not really where my talents lie, Ari, and even you know it. You're brilliant. You're spectacular. You're...meant to be a ninja." She said softly.

"What will you do then?" I whispered.

"Kakashi helped me work that one out." Kyandii said. She opened her mouth again, this time she began to sing. "Nothin' makes me more happy than to know that I have such a close friend! Knowing that you're there for me is reassuring, it's the reason I'm always smiling..." She paused, looking at me expectantly.

"A singer?" I asked in shock. "But does that mean...that you'll be going away?"

"Yeah, I guess. But don't forget that you'll always be my best friend, Ari, and my sister too. Nothing can ever change that."

Kyandii did end up leaving the next day after saying goodbye to Keitorin and Chansu. She's left to the Village Hidden in the Clouds to pursue her career. And as for us, we got a new teammate. Her name is Ano Takashi and she is part cat. She has brown hair and kitten ears, orange eyes, and whiskers. She's pretty stupid most of the time and she tends to jump into situations without thinking. She's a lot like Kyandii - but I'll always love Kyandii best.

oOo

(Chansu's POV)

Being a Jounin has it's rewards, and one of the best is knowing about the past and understanding yours. My past is full of ups and downs that make it interesting - very hard at times, but there was never really a boring moment.

I should start with my parents. Well, I never really knew my parents, and I don't know much about them even today. I do know that my father was from the Inuzuka Clan, and that he walked out on my mother when I was very young. She couldn't support me alone - she was a Jounin with a team to look after and missions for her village. So she had to put me up for adoption and right away I was an orphan - only about 2 years old.

At the orphanage, things weren't all bad. We always had shelter and enough to eat. When we were old enough, we were aloud to go off to the Ninja Academy to begin our training. I would be at school all day and I would train when I got home. My evenings usually consisted of reading and studying whatever was available, but I also did a lot of daydreaming. Mostly, who my parents were and where they were now.

At the age of 11, just when I had graduated from Ninja Academy, I was adopted out of the Leaf Village. It was a village called the Village Hidden in the Wild and for a long time, I thought it was destroyed in an attack by Orochimaru. It turns out that there were survivors that traveled to live in other regions. Anyway, what was different about this village was the people - who were all animal people. (One of my students, Ano Takashi, is a descendant of this village.) i was adopted by a family of part raccoon people, and they treated me like one of them, even though I was so different.

The youngest daughter was around my age - 13 years old when I first arrived, so she was a little older than me. Her name was Sasha Yabi, and I always remembered her even after I fled the village. She was beautiful, with long silver hair with black pointed ears poing out, and black lines around her eyes. She was my best friend until the village was attacked and I returned to Konoha, when I was 16 years old.

I met her again back in Konoha - at first I thought I was seeing things. But there was no mistaking it: Sasha was not dead. She recognized me too, and it turns out that she, too, has a team. There was a boy with short, brown hair, brown furry ears, and a billowing tail named Kizoku (he was part squirrel) Another boy with blonde, messy hair and leopard spots named Aizaku, and a girl with short orange hair and cat ears named Kaminari.

She missed me as much as I missed her.

oOo

A/N: Eventual romance between Chansu and Sasha, but that's not a major part of the story.