First, I do not claim to own Naruto or its characters. I am just a fan. Second, this story takes place after the time jump, so yes, there are spoilers.

Report 10836

Mission: Success

To prevent Orochimaru's possession of the Sharingan, six four man teams of Jounin and two four man team of ANBU were sent to Sound to capture Sasuke and thus deprive Orochimaru of his new host. The teams waited for Orochimaru to begin the transfer and then used a diversion to pull the majority of the guards away. With the help of three of Suna's Jounin teams, Konoha was able to subdue Orochimaru and capture Sasuke. However, though Sasuke is now in custody, Orochimaru managed to escape with the help of Kabuto. A jounin, one Uzumaki Naruto, managed to glimpse Orochimaru's new container. Though unable to identify who it was, a complete description can be found in report 10842. Sasuke has been detained in a special cell and will undergo study so a detoxification technique can be created. Until then, three teams of ANBU are to supervise his cell at all times.

Report 10994

Mission: Failure

Due to complications, the Konoha and Suna armies (aided by Water and Bird teams) were unable to prevent the destruction of Hidden Energy (Country of Balance). Though only formally recognized as a power in the second year of Tsunade's reign as Hokage, Balance is older than any of the five major powers. It has been two years since their leader was declared the sixth Kage. Though the motives remain unclear, it appears that Akatsuki is responsible for the massacre. About 70 of the inhabitants are dead or missing. Aid is being given, and a search for those unaccounted for is being conducted. The adopted grand-daughter of their Kage, who was given top priority in the search, has yet to be recovered. It is believed that she may know something about Giji Kouken's betrayal as he was her teacher and guard before he became a missing nin one year ago. Sound appears to have lent aid in this attack despite hostilities between them and Akatsuki. Jiraiya has volunteered to investigate this development.

Report 11282

Mission: Update

In the two years since the attack on Balance, 14 of the 27 convicted nin have been recovered. The most recently captured nin, brought in by a bounty hunter (see report 11239 for personal data) has divulged information regarding Giji Kouken's possible where-abouts. Kouken is allegedly hiding in the deserts of Suna. A report will be sent to Kazekage Gaara regarding this information. Jiraiya has also sent word that hostilities have erupted between Akatsuki and Sound after 3 years of cooperation. The dispute is believed to have been caused by Orochimaru's demand that Akastuki's newest recruit also pledge loyalty to him. The identity of said recruit remains unclear.

Living for Danger

He watched as the young ninja high tailed it from his office. Gaara hadn't had to scowl long before the boy took off after making his delivery. Tsunade may hate paper work, but her hate of sitting behind a desk paled in comparison to that of the nineteen year old Kazekage. Grumbling, Gaara took up his pen and started shuffling through the mountain of reports.

Eyes narrowing more and more with each document, Gaara finally tossed his pen aside. He felt beads of sweat roll down his brow, which only made him angrier. It was one of the hottest days of the year, and the temperature control units in the building had decided to malfunction. The next person who came bearing unwelcome news would be most unlucky...

Said victim seemed to be attracted to this thought as someone knocked at his office door. Gaara looked up, harsh words already on his lips when the door opened. He swallowed his intended verbal attack at the sight of his brother and sister.

"Bad day little brother?" Kankurou asked with a grin, though it was obvious the puppeteer was uncomfortably warm as well. His sweat was causing his usual make up to melt off his face.

Temari elbowed her teasing sibling. "Shut it Kankurou. I want to give Gaara the report before you set him off."

Gaara glared at his siblings. Though they got along now, and Gaara had stabilized by a long shot, he wasn't above scaring the daylights out of them if his nerves were stretched too far. And the word "report" wasn't exactly filling him with familial love.

"You came to give me I more /I paper work?" Gaara said in a low voice. "Perhaps you didn't notice, but I have more than enough." Gaara turned back to his stack of papers before continuing in a harsh, dismissive voice. "You can leave now."

"Relax bro. It's just a note on a bounty that was brought in," Kankurou said as he sat in a chair.

"Another bounty? Who's it this time?" Gaara inquired.

"Another one involved in the plot to destroy Hidden Energy two years ago." reported Temari.

Gaara glanced over the report. That made three people involved in that incident to be brought in over the past six months. This report was written in the same messy handwriting as the others, a brief and rather vague report as to how the criminal was found and brought in. "It's the same person as last time. I think I'm going to have the prison detain this bounty hunter if he appears again. He leaves his damn reports too vague. If he's the same as the one working with Konoha, this makes the seventh bounty from that group since the criminals were posted. Even the ANBU squads have only found a few in that amount of time. Seems odd a bounty hunter has brought in half of the wanted nin so far..."

"Well it seems that SHE is a bit of an enigma" Temari stated nonchalantly.

"She?" Kankurou asked scornfully, only to hold up his hands in an apologetic gesture under his sister's wrathful gaze. "Sorry, I just never pictured a woman as a bounty hunter type."

Gaara ripped up a document asking for money for some obscure group with a shady reputation before responding. "I want you to send a notice to have her brought here or to the Hokage next time she comes around. If she's so good at tracking, maybe we can hire her. It disgusts me some freelancer can find these criminals better than our top ninjas." Though it had become a more and more rare occurrence, a bit of sand swirled around Gaara, a sure sign of irritation. "Temari, go to Konoha and advise Tsunade about this," he said, stamping a visa for her to leave.

"Sure thing." She paused on the way to the door. "Ah, I forgot. Konoha sent word from the newest capture. Rumor is Giji Kouken may be flitting about our deserts."

Gaara held up a falcon's scroll. "I got a brief memo on that. Request a full report on that information while you're there."

Watching his sister leave, Kankurou then turned back to Gaara. "So you're actually gonna ask for outside help from a stranger?"

Gaara scowled. "What choice do we have? We told Konoha we'd take responsibility for finding Giji Kouken. I WON'T be made to look like a fool."

"Right," Kankurou said while trying to get a fan to work. He knew the stuffy office was probably grating on Gaara's nerves. He knew how many hours his brother spent sifting through reports and what not. Hell, occasionally when Gaara went on mission, Kankurou had found himself in charge for a while, and the paper work didn't decrease just because the Kazekage wasn't around. With a last few adjustments, the fan came to life, bringing relieving air movement. "I bet she's from Balance."

Gaara looked sharply at his brother. "I suspect that myself. What gave you the idea?"

Kankurou shrugged while sinking into a chair across from his brother. "Look at that Uchiha Sasuke. His family was killed off and he went to very extreme lengths to avenge them. This girl is just smarter about it. She's getting her revenge in a legal AND profitable manner. The way she's bringing them in shows that she's got some sort of driving force."

Gaara nodded. "If it weren't for the safety precautions Balance had put in place, I'd send you there to find out more. But the Village of Energy has the place completely shut down. No one in, no one out." Gaara sealed a message. "Here."

Kankurou looked at the scroll. "What's this?"

Gaara grinned nastily. "A list of chores to be done around the house. Your mission is to have completed that list by the time I get home."

And with a few carefully chosen curse words, Kankurou left to complete his D rank mission.

Tsunade started a bit when her apprentice came into the room. Pink haired and green eyed, Sakura had become a wonderful medic and powerful ninja. A powerful ninja who currently looked rather grumpy.

"If Naruto leaves me with his ramen bill again, he's going to lose his teeth!"

Tsunade rubbed her temples. She'd had a little too much...paperwork last night. "Is that the only reason you came?"

"Of course not." Sakura pulled out a falconer's note from her pocket. "I just got a note from Temari. She's on her way to talk to you about something for Gaara. She's mentioned in here Gaara wants to question a bounty hunter."

Tsunade gestured to one of the reports on her desk. "I just got that memo from the prison. He's requested they detain her if she comes with another. How did your session with Sasuke go?"

Sakura shrugged. "He's tired of course. We're still a ways off from finding a way to permanently remove the toxins from his body, but the antidote we have now is effective. Can you believe it's been a whole year since he last tried to return to Orochimaru?"

Tsunade nodded. It had been harder than expected to break Orochimaru's hold on Sasuke. "Well, I guess that's all I needed to know. You're dismissed."

After watching her protégé exit, Tsunade considered the recent reports from the prison. A goon number of prisoners had been brought in by Suna, and a few from her own nin. However, half had been brought in by this bounty hunter. It was too dangerous to wait for her to show up again. If she had ulterior motives, maybe it would be best to take the initiative in finding her. Even if she had no harmful intentions, she must have some source she gets information from. Gaara, insisting on finding the rampant Giji, could use the information. Jotting a note to herself to speak with Temari on this, Tsunade left to make her rounds at the hospital.

Next time: ...She stalked quietly through the oasis...It was probably too late to accomplish her original objective for going home, but at least...the hunt was coming to an end after two long years...
Reviews welcome, please keep criticism constructive