A/N: Here is another chapter! Hope you enjoy.

Beta'd by Alice J

Chapter 21 - Nostalgia

For the hundredth time, I stood in front of the Sandaime Hokage, cladded in full Anbu gear and wearing my porcelain rabbit mask. All of my teammates were here as well and they stood beside me, listening attentively to the Hokage's assignment.

"As some of you may know, the most recent Chunin exam which commenced three days ago was held at Sunagakure. Because we have a non-violence treaty with Suna, Konoha sent four teams of genins to participate. Word have been delivered that two teams advanced to the third round: the tournament and the Kazekage have extended his invitation for the viewing." Hokage-sama continued in a mellow voice, "I have accepted the viewing invitation, and as per the condition we agreed to, each Kage is allowed to bring twelve guards for the journey, in which three can accompany their respective Kages in the viewing booth. I have chosen six shinobi from my bodyguard teams, and I decided to assign Team Ro for the remaining six spots."

Sunagakure, the hidden village in the Wind Country. This brought back memories, I had my own Chunin exam and Chunin promotion in the exact same place five years ago. It was when my genin team still consisted of my close friend and my beloved Itachi-nii; it was a time when my biggest problem was only how to defeat the puppets.

"The tournaments commence in three days, the schedule Yondaime Kazekage has given us states that Hokage-sama along with other Kages should arrive the night before. Once the tournaments end and the decision regarding the chunin promotion has been reached, the Kages will be escorted out of the village immediately and proceed to travel back to their own lands." Jonin Commander Nara informed us as he handed a file folder to Hound, our captain. He informed us "Hokage-sama's travelling group will depart in one hour, please lead your full team back to the office prepared when the time comes, and your journey to Suna starts today."

"Understood." There was a chorus of reply before we exited Hokage's office. After some high-speed travelling, we were back to locker room 15. I sat down on one of the benches alongside Otter, and the rest of my teammates propped themselves against the lockers as Hound read the file in silence. The one eye he did not cover up scanned the words on the files at a lightning speed.

"We will travel with Hokage-sama until we cross the Wind Country's border, then three of us will split off from the main team and go to Sunagakure first. It seems that Hokage-sama wants the early-arrival team to confirm the reservation as well as to scout ahead for any abnormal occurrences and potential threats." Captain gave us an overview of the mission. Everything seemed pretty standard, the invitation, the schedule, the reservation.

The only problem was, why would the Hokage take Anbu as his personal guards to a foreign country? Anbu's presence to a foreign country usually meant hostility, which was why if we were sent out to complete a mission in one of the major foreign countries, we either masked ourselves or we moved so subtly that we wouldn't get caught. Has the tension between Suna and Konoha become more strained than before that we need unauthorized protection? I wondered.

"We are not going to be Anbu, we will be the 'official' members of the Hokage guarding squad for the duration of his mission," Hound announced in his emotionless voice, yet I could swear I heard a sarcastic glint in his voice. Despite all his years in Anbu as a shadow, the moment he removed his hound mask, he would be recalled as Kakashi of the Sharingan, the dangerous shinobi who had been made a legend during the Third Shinobi War.

"So gather up your normal uniforms and stock up your supplies. Zebra, stock up on extra medical supplies, and everyone else, bring all the weapons you need. The chance of potential attacks will be low, but not impossible. Keep your alertness to the max, this is one mission we cannot mess up no matter what, are we clear?" As Hound commanded as the rest of us swung into motion.

The next ten minutes consisted of a lot of locker scavenging and tools flying. Soldier pills, jackets, sword holsters… everything Anbu specific needed to go and be replaced by Konoha issued outfits. Despite the fact that there were a lot of dangerous and sharp equipment flying in the air (including a few explosive signal flares), they sailed past each other and landed in the receivers' hands in perfect rhythm.

We returned to the Hokage's office half an hour early, so for the rest of the thirty minutes, we waited outside the office door silently. Right now, we had all changed our Anbu gear into the normal Konoha military flak jacket; from an outsider's point of view, we looked just like any other normal shinobi squad. Although, being only around 150 centimeters, my short height might have made the picture a bit abnormal.

"Welcome to Hokage Guard Platoon, well, at least temporarily." My eyes trailed over to the voice and landed on a man around his twenties. He had the hitai-ate wrapped around his spiky brown hair, and there was a distinct weal-like scar across the bridge of his nose and extended down his left cheek.

"Ah, Kakashi, it's been a long time, ready to jump the wagon so soon, or are you still looking for a retirement plan?" Another man whose head was wrapped in a hitai-ate bandana said casually while chewing on a senbon.

"Long time no sees, Raidou, Genma, looks like we will be going on a mission together." Kakashi waved at the two men casually as they stopped by the office door. By the looks of it, they must be the regular members of Hokage Guard Platoon; the ones who didn't have to hide their identities to get past Suna's border.

"Looks like it. So, Yugao-chan, have you and Hayate finally started the fling yet, or are you two still at the awkward stage of affection," the second man, whom Kakashi addressed as Genma, nodded his head at Otter, who looked like she wasn't sure if she should smack him or die of embarrassment.

"They've been going out for over a year, Genma, your information is too slow." Raidou commented from the side and Genma faked a surprised look and shouted "What? Hayate never told me anything, that little faker, when did he get the girl?"

"Can we not talk about my love life so blatantly in front of everyone?" Otter said annoyingly and glared at the duo.

"But we all know your love life, it's not like it's a secret or anything." Falcon teased with a visible grin on his unmasked face. I was pretty sure the only reason he was brave enough to make fun of the woman was because he was standing three people away from her.

"Hey, at least I have a love life, unlike certain people who can't keep their mouth shut, and you wonder why they don't have love lives." Otter retorted and a long chain of bickering ensued. I stood uncomfortably as the awkward conversation ensued. I had the strongest urge to rub my temple, but then it would probably be seen as rude. The last thing I needed right now was to stand out; I was perfectly fine being the small, short shadow in the group.

"If you want to do something to stop the headache, it's fine, because this will last for a while." I heard Zebra whisper from the side. True to his words, when I turned my head, I saw him placing his fingers to his temple, lightly rubbing the pressure points while shutting his eyes tightly.

Kakashi was reading his novel again, and Bear was standing by his side stoically as ever while the remaining bickered. They all knew each other, I realized. Of course, that was only natural, they were around the same age after all. Then there was me, standing awkwardly in the midst; the one who had no idea who anyone really was except for their codenames.

"Ahh, Genma-kun, Raidou-kun, I would appreciate if you could stop talking about love lives, not that it isn't a wonderful thing, but it feels really out of place for an old man like me. Besides, I believe we have a Chūnin exam to observe." The benevolent voice sounded as the office door opened, revealing Hokage-sama with four other bodyguards trailing behind him.

There was an awkward silence before the two bodyguards scratched their heads in embarrassment. All of my teammates bowed towards the Hokage, and that included Otter who looked like she wanted to crawl in a hole and stay there because of this mortifying situation.

"If we are ready, then we may begin our journey. Personally, I would like to arrive at Suna a night before the tournament, so I don't have to view the youngsters fighting and listen to Tsuchikage complaining while feeling sleep deprived." Just like that, the tension in the hallway was broken. And that's why he is the Hokage. Powerful, genuine and amiable. The council may have some power in the decision making, but he is the image that everyone looks up to.

We were out of the village soon enough. We were travelling in a formation where Hokage-sama would be protected by all of us in the middle. The three elite guards of the Hokage surrounded the Hokage in a triangle formation, while the remaining three members of the Hokage Guard Platoon formed another bigger triangle outside the first one.

As for Team Ro, we kept a hexagon formation with a larger perimeter, about fifty meters away from the Hokage. We were the first line of defense if anything were to happen, although I doubt anyone would be stupid enough to attack the Sandaime Hokage, who was renowned as the 'God of Shinobi'.

The journey into the Wind Country was quick; after only a day, we had already crossed the border. The weather in the barren desert was much cooler than what I had expected. The rough wind with the smell of scorching sand rustled past my skin, and I felt much sharper and awake from the tingling sensations it brought. If I were to compare the travelling in Konoha's forest regions to travelling in a close-knitted pack, then it would be more akin to the feeling of wandering as a lone wolf when traversing the Suna deserts. The vast and barren sand dunes made the perception of distance fuzzy. Two travellers could look like they were very close to each other, but in reality, they were far, far away.

"Bear, Rabbit, Falcon, you three are going to be in the early-arrival team." Captain assigned quickly the moment we crossed into the desert, "You three are expected to arrive about two hours earlier than the main squad. On your way there, scout for danger and abnormal events. When you arrived at Sunagakure, check the Hokage's reservation and secure the accommodation." Which basically meant that we were to check for any traps or suspicious behaviours around Hokage's lodging. Sunagakure, despite having a treaty with Konoha, was a foreign military power, and like they said, "All's fair in love and war".

"Bear is the temporary leader of this squad, here is the identification from the Hokage," he pulled out a package in his jacket and handed it to Bear, "and I will send Pakkun with you. In a case of emergency, he will serve as the messenger." With that said, Kakashi quickly used the summoning technique and with a poof, the small pug appeared.

"What's up, Kakashi." The small pug greeted in his unique deep voice and Kakashi quickly explained to him the point of our mission.

"Ah, got it. Follow me, Kakashi's team, we don't have all day." Pakkun dashed out as he motioned us to follow. Soon, we were running on the scorching sand with full speed, leaving the main travelling group behind, until they faded into a black dot. Like I said, the perception of distance was fuzzy.

The road trip was unspectacular and full of long lasting silence. Bear was a quiet person, who rarely spoke more than what's necessary for the mission; of course, that rule didn't apply when he was with Hound, who apparently deemed teasing his poor kouhai a nice way to pass time when he wasn't reading one of his 18+ novels.

I was a quiet person by nature even if I were with people I knew personally, therefore, I didn't feel uncomfortable with Bear's silence. In fact, I was quite glad to be in the presence of such tranquility. Sometimes in the journey, Pakkun decided to climb onto my shoulder and hitch a ride instead of running in front of us. I didn't object, so I let him rest his soft paws on my shoulder without saying anything.

However, there was just one person in the group who didn't think that 'silence is gold'.

"So, nobody is going to say anything? I mean we have at least half a day's journey before we are even close to Sunagakure." Falcon asked from my right. Currently, we were travelling in a triangle formation, with Bear in the lead and the two of us following behind him like wings.

When none of us even spared a look at him, he sighed, "Come on, why are you two so quiet? The desert is already boring enough, travelling with the lot of you for another day is just painful." It was clear that no one would respond to his insults, even Pakkun, who was sludged against my shoulder like he was asleep, didn't make a sound.

"Seriously, I can understand Bear, he was like this ever since I joined the team, but what about you, Rabbit, you were so much fun that time when you were―"

"I dare you to finish that sentence," I said coldly as I glared at Falcon, who abruptly stopped his sentence and winced as if remembering all those dislocated shoulder and kneecaps. Still, I could see the hint of a smirk on his face. I shook my head, I tried, I really tried, but I guess the point of his provoking was getting me to speak.

"This is getting eerily quiet, too quiet," Falcon spoke up again when the silence settled once more. It was the middle of the night, the dark sky casting still shadows on the barren landscape, turning the golden sand of the day into dull, grey wastelands. However, unlike the forests in Konoha where the tall trees blocked the sky, the shine from the moon and the stars clearly projected itself onto the sand dunes below, giving the dull surface a smooth glow.

"The only reason why you would find this quiet is because you are always too loud." Bear's composed voice sounded once before the silence befell us again. Under the background murmurs such as "I can't believe I got him to speak" from Falcon, I suddenly remembered a scene from long ago.

They would bicker like this as well, Shun and Daichi, the time we were sorting crops, the time we were cleaning the roof, and the time we went on the C-ranked mission…

Suddenly, I felt Pakkun's soft nose rubbing into my neck. "What's wrong?" I whispered. "I thought I smelled some sadness on you," Pakkun answered casually, but when he saw my confused expression, he elaborated.

"Human bodies have all kinds of smells and chemicals released when their emotions are stirred, and it's particularly strong in hormonal adolescents. I thought I smelled some sadness on you just now, so what's wrong, little pup?" I listened quietly as Pakkun explained. Was I feeling sad? I don't know, I thought I had contained the trauma to a manageable level, but then again, it was only contained, not forgotten.

"Nothing really, I just remembered something from long ago," I said in a small voice. Can I mourn for him? That memory seemed so far away like it was a different person, and I was just an observer. It was like they are packaged into boxes that were labelled 'DO NOT TOUCH'.

They were too much, I felt like if I opened even one, all of them would flood out, like that emotional breakdown in the hospital, like the first time I had died. No, those boxes belong to Uchiha Maiko, and I am Rabbit right now. Uchiha Maiko has a purpose, she wants to find out the truth behind the massacre, a conclusion as she calls it; Rabbit will keep all her emotional baggage away so that she can find it.

"Pray, do tell, we have the whole desert to ourselves for the next twelve hours, probably, and you won't really get another chance for an emotional dump." I snapped my attention at Falcon's casual words. Doesn't he know that he is asking for some dark, dark secret? We are teammates, sure, but we are not that close.

"Unfortunately, he's right, pup. The best way to get over something is to dump it out, and those who are trained in secret keeping are the best listeners." Pakkun confirmed on my shoulder. I sighed, there was really no end to my mental evaluation, was there?

"Fine, if you really want to know, I just remembered my genin teammates, we had that conversation a lot when we were doing missions. One of them just wouldn't shut up, no matter how quiet the environment was." I said calmly, revealing no emotions. I was Rabbit now, and those emotions were not my concerns.

Suddenly, there was dead silence around me, none of them responded, no encouraging words, no subtle counseling sessions, even Falcon, who always had something to say. I eyed them one by one, and their heads were lowered slightly and none of them looked me in the eye.

"Seeing your expressions, I guess you two were on the team seven years ago with Captain, and both of you saw him dying." It wasn't really a guess, I knew so, and I knew that they remembered exactly who I was talking about. Bear and Falcon's heads dipped lower, and from Falcon's unmasked face, I could see a faint trace of pain that he was trying to hide.

"Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to invoke guilt from both of you. Captain and I already had that conversation, and I am long past the phase of needing to blaming someone to feel better. My point is, I, don't know you, not your history, hell, not even your real names. But all of you know me, you know my history, my losses, my griefs. Don't you think it's unfair, asking me to reveal everything when you don't do the same." I stated as I watched my teammates' bodies stiffen, but I wasn't finished.

"All of you keep secrets from me, treating me like a fragile doll, always tiptoeing around me like I am going to break if you even so much as mention the word "Massacre" or "Itachi". It's unfair to evaluate my present based on my past. I am not Uchiha Maiko for as long as I am in Anbu; I am Rabbit, a member of Team Ro, an Anbu agent. I am not saying that you should tell me everything, you have your secrets and I have mine, all I'm saying is that you try to treat me the same as you would with any other recruit. If Hokage-sama or Captain orders you to shut up about something around me, then that's fine. But don't speak in codes around me just because you think I can't handle it." I finished all my rant in one breath, Kami knew why I decided to straighten out this problem here, on an ongoing mission, when the private time would have worked a lot better. But I already started it, and the unofficial-subtle-psych-counseling was getting really unnecessary and annoying.

The desert was silent again, I could feel the tension building and straining as I finished my little impromptu speech. Oh dear, this is awkward, I should have thought more before starting a rant about personal rights in the middle of a mission while running in a foreign desert.

"I see." I heard two quiet words slip from Bear's mouth that temporarily broke the silence, "We had no idea this is how you have been feeling, and we will consider our actions more from now on. We have let your special status cloud our judgments and please trust me when I say that we had no intention of treating you unjustly. However, I think you should know that only me and Falcon were on that mission with Captain, the fourth member was KIA soon afterward, and Zebra and Otter only joined later." Bear continued in his stoic and calm voice, but I could still hear the faint guilt and regret that he rarely showed.

"I meant no disrespect really, I wasn't trying to pry," I said quickly, suddenly realizing how inappropriate my actions were as affecting my teammates' mood during a mission was enough to get us killed. To my surprise, Falcon gave me a light chuckle before Bear spoke up again.

"Don't worry about it, I appreciate my temporary subordinate speaking up about her opinions, especially when it involves the team. Trust me, if starting an inappropriate conversation counts as an insubordination, then Falcon would have already earned five strikes on this mission alone." My eyes widened a bit as I heard Bear's speech, did he just… tell a joke?

"However, I would like to talk to Captain about this, just so that the rest of the team understands your feelings." Bear continued despite Falcon's protest, and he turned around just in time to see me nodding my head.

"I don't mind, it's just that I wanted to be treated as a normal member of the team. I appreciated all of your concerns, but please, no special treatment." I said with sincerity injected into my voice because it was kind of hard to not yell out 'stay out of my business' in a polite way. Thankfully, maybe they were too busy trying to comfort me so they accepted my answer readily.

Pakkun's furry body rubbed my neck affectionately, and Falcon gave me a bright smile, even Bear gave me an uncharacteristic tiny smile. For a second, I felt bad for using Anbu, for using my teammates to gain the answers that I so craved. But it quickly disappeared when I thought back to my life.

It is the logical answer, I kept on telling myself, trying to let go of the guilt that shouldn't be there. I need to maintain a good relation with Konoha for the sake of my brother, which means I cannot desert the village to look for answers, nor can I act too obvious. So the best way of getting the answer would be to infiltrate the inside and collect information there. I was so close, just one more piece of information: what was the meeting of Uchiha Clan about? The reason why Shisui and Itachi snapped, the start of it all.

Just one more piece, and I could get my answer.

(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~

"Konoha Chunin, Aohara Chiyoko." I raised my hand to catch the Sunagakure guard's attention and the guard examined me critically.

"Registration number?" He asked in a harsh tone, and I immediately gave him the string of fake numbers that matched the identification documents he had in his hands right now. The guard stared at me with distrust for a painfully long moment but I kept my body semi-relaxed, not too tense as if I was hiding something.

"Your team looks clear." He finally said, "Please, wait for a moment, someone will be here shortly to take you to the Hokage's designated resident." The guard's voice was anything but friendly, but nevertheless, Bear kept his face blank as we waited for whoever was supposed to come. All of us were given fake identities for the mission, so for the time being, I was Aohara Chiyoko, a fifteen-year-old Chunin and a newly recruited member of the Hokage's personal guard platoon.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting, Suna is honoured to have the Hokage attending our Chunin exam. Please follow me to Hokage-dono's temporary residence." Soon, a tall shinobi greeted us. He was wearing a Suna military jacket for jonin, half of his face hidden by a turban wrapped in the Sunagakure style, while the other half of his face had two red marks drawn on the cheek. He looked very serious and his words were professional and emotionless, his visible eye inspecting carefully, digging behind the surface of what he observed and then layers under it.

"My name is Baki, a jonin of Sunagakure. Hokage-dono will be staying in the Eastern Quarter of the Embassy, Please rest assured, safety measures will be provided extensively by our shinobis." The jonin, Baki, explained sternly, as he led us to the Embassy. From the information Captain gave us, only the Hokage, Raikage and Tsuchikage would be attending, seeing as Kirigakure was apparently in a state of chaos with their communication cut off, so each Kage would be occupying a separate section of the Embassy.

I eyed my surroundings meticulously; the lodging was well kept, with at least ten rooms in the building. The only entrance to the compound seemed to be the front gate, which was guarded by a platoon of Suna-nin. I had no doubt that Suna already set traps and surveillance around and inside the compound. If things took a wrong turn, the Suna-nin would have the advantages here. Despite the completely emotionless voice Baki used, I could hear the undertone, warning us not to do anything stupid, or the so-called 'safety measure' could quickly become our prison.

"Baki-san, Hokage-sama would be arriving in two hours, we would like to ask permission to look around the accommodation to make sure Hokage-sama's preferences are taken care of." Bear, whose cover name was Takano Heiji, asked with the same professional tone. Baki stared at us for a while, eyeing Bear with the stone statue face I was so familiar off.

"Of course, Takano-san. Please be careful of the security measures in the room, and please stay close to the Eastern quarter," Baki answered without a smile. "If you so choose to wander out of the area, then we cannot guarantee your safety." That was the silent warning; a hidden message so straightforward that it was like a burning sign in my profession.

"Of course, Baki-san, Konoha thanks Suna for your hospitality," Bear responded as if he did not understand the warning. Baki nodded once before he left with, leaving us in the foreign Embassy, with at least two dozen Suna Shinobi surrounding the building.

When we felt all the chakra signal in the vicinity left, Bear immediately started to communicate with us through the hand signs. 'I will scout the area surrounding the building, you two search the area inside. If you find any trap, mark them, dispel them and set up one with your own variation. We will meet back here in one hour.' With small nods, all of us dispersed and started our duty.

I disabled a hidden kunai trap near one of the bedroom doors, it wasn't very lethal, but nevertheless very annoying. This was my fifteenth? Sixteenth trap? The Suna-nin really put their hearts out to trap this area, but I doubt their motive was purely for Hokage-sama's safety. With a careful swing, I cut the connecting wires loose with my tantō and the dozen of kunais clattered to the ground. Then I pulled out my own thread from my pouch and stringed the kunais using my own method. I only moved the location for a little bit, but the projecting pathway was completely changed now. I had yet to see any large trap other than kunai threaded with wires or chakra sensing arrays, and they are easily dispelled if one knew what they were looking for.

I checked the area as thoroughly as possible, but trapping was not my specialty, which was probably why Kakashi was always able to get through my traps at my apartment. Either way, Bear would most likely ask Falcon to re-check the area once more, since trapping and scouting were his specialties after all.

"All done?" Falcon asked me when I returned to the meeting point, he and Bear were already there waiting.

"Yes, I dispelled and re-made all the traps I could find, but Falcon may want to look over it again," I responded and Bear nodded at my suggestion while Falcon groaned at the sign of extra work.

"Good, you are off for the next hour, go out and relax for a while, umm...go appreciate the foreign scenery." I raised my eyebrow as I heard Bear awkwardly trying to make it sound casual, but it didn't work; the Bear I knew doesn't ever talk about relaxing. But as soon as I got over the awkward phrasing, I understood the hidden meaning of his words: Scout the village, as subtly as possible.

"Why am I the one who get's the, umm, vacation?" I asked curiously. Falcon was a sensor and Bear's jutsu made him ideal for infiltrations, so why me? I could move subtly for assassination, but it wouldn't work with a village of shinobi. We couldn't risk being discovered snooping around.

"Aww, you are thinking about this the wrong way. Nobody said you have to be completely out of sight. We are here for the Chunin exam, and the average age for genin participants is 14. Tell me, how old do you look, Chiyoko-chan?" Falcon suddenly said behind me with his playful voice. I glared at him for taking a jab at my fake identity and he promptly ignored it like usual.

"Take Pakkun with you and return after 45 minutes, we will then receive the main squad at the village gate," Bear ordered and immediately Pakkun jumped onto my shoulder from nowhere.

"Yes, sir, I understand." There was nothing else I could say really, so I just silently started to disguise myself as a genin participant.

The streets of Sunagakure seemed unchanged compared to my brief memory from the visit years ago. The night market was still rowdy and lively for the Chunin exam, children playing with small puppets, tourists wandering around the stalls, there were even some foreign genins walking around the market with curious eyes.

I was wearing a dark blue jacket instead of the green Konoha military jacket I came here with. My twin swords were strapped on my waist using the sword holster, and I tucked my Konoha hitai-ate away in my pouch. I walked slowly in a relaxed manner with Pakkun in my arms, but my eyes were scanning the surroundings subtly, taking in every detail. I was quite aware of the fact that Pakkun was sniffing in concentration for any hostile air around here.

There were some Suna shinobi patrolling in the area, which was a natural occurrence; with loads of foreign shinobi in the village, anyone would get nervous. I kept my body light and looked around in a curious manner. I didn't try to hide the fact that I was a shinobi, but Falcon was right, with the Chunin exam, most Suna-nin would just assume I was a participant because of my young appearance and leave me be.

Suddenly, I stopped in front of a store because there was something familiar about this. Nostalgia, that was the feeling, maybe it was because of the interesting weapon design hanging on the wall that made the feeling especially strong. It was the same store I encountered during my Chunin Exam, I could still see the wooden crossbow design hanging on the shop wall, exactly like the one I bought for Sasuke for his fourth birthday gift (although I had no idea where it went, Sasuke probably broke it while playing).

A small crowd of teenage girls was gathering in front of the shop, they were chatting happily while staring at something in the shop. It was interesting, had weapon shops always been this popular with Suna girls, especially since they didn't even look like they were kunoichi?

"Would you like to look at something, little customer?" I instantly snapped my attention at the foreign sound, and when I looked up, I saw a waterfall of dark blue hair, cascading down the front of the yukata. There was a young man smiling at me as he propped himself on the shop front. Nostalgia. Familiarity. That was what my instinct was screaming as I inspected the stranger in front of me.

"No, I was just curious, that's all, forgive me for interrupting," I said quickly as I shook my head. It was all very clear now, from the heated gaze the girls were giving me at this moment, I was pretty sure that they were not interested in the weapon, but the man selling them. He was probably in his late teens, almost twenty maybe. I supposed that there was some effeminate beauty involved. However, I quickly equated him with 'danger' in my mind. Anyone, anything that could turn people's brain into mush, both literally and figuratively, was deemed as dangerous in my book. Those type of things required careful handling.

"Ah, don't worry, what kind of shop owner would I be if I don't even try to bring in more potential customers." I raised my eyebrows slightly at his words. The last time I came to the store, which was five years ago, a middle-aged man was running the shop. Just for the sake of the disguise, I scanned my eyes around in the shop. Designs of bows, crossbows hang on the wall, there were also a few machinery toys, such as birds and animals that were made to run or fly with a switch. Suddenly, my eyes widened when I saw one of the merchandises lying on a chair at the corner of the shop, half hidden behind the leftover wooden panels. Despite my best effort at controlling my expression, I failed. It was a gun, a wooden one, not with black metal and plastic, but nevertheless, it was the shape of a handgun, with the angled outline and the curved trigger.

I looked up towards the man, and I was thankful that his attention seemed to be drawn by the chattering girls. Quickly, I composed myself as the teenagers giggled and pointed. The shop owner smiled as he took off a merchandise - a small wooden mechanical bird - from the wall and wrapped it for the girls. "Come back next time." The man said with a gentle voice, and that only caused the group of teenage girls to giggle more as they left.

I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes because that was exactly how people got themselves killed. At least I had the decency to hide my inner disdain, while Pakkun just snorted loudly in my arms, drawing the attention of the young man.

"Now, how may I help you." He asked, completely unfazed by Pakkun's display.

"The last time I came here, which was very long ago, there was someone else running the shop, if I remember correctly," I said. Pakkun seemed to be quite interested in the conversation with his ears perked up, and the man seemed to furrow his eyebrows as if thinking in concentration.

"You must have met my father. Yes, this was his shop a few years ago, but sadly, he passed away a year ago. And from that point on, I took over the shop." The man answered with just the right amount of sadness in his voice.

"Oh, I am really sorry to hear that."

"Don't worry about it, my father would have been glad that an old customer returned." It was a plausible thought, the last shop owner did mention that he had a son, who apparently introduced the design from somewhere.

"So, did you invent these peculiar weapon designs?" I asked lightheartedly, trying to make casual conversations. Even if my question was directed towards all the merchandises, I pointed my finger at the hidden wooden object at the back of the shop.

"Yes and no. I wouldn't say that I invented them when the mechanism has been around for longer than I have lived. I simply recreated the forgotten design, trying to use some novelty to bring in sales." He answered calmly, then under my gaze, he picked up the gun and said: "Although I would hardly call them weapons, I believe the official labels I put on these are toys and tools." As if in demonstration, he raised the 'toy' behind him and pulled the trigger. There wasn't a bang from the powered gun, or rather, the gun really looked like a toy, with the spring as the main mechanism instead of the actual device one would find in a semi-auto pistol. The wooden pellet inside of the barrel bounced harmlessly off of the wall and rolled off onto the ground. It truly seemed harmless, at least, in appearance anyway.

"They don't seem very safe either," I muttered.

"But they are not dangerous enough to hurt shinobi, and that's the standard of this world, isn't it? Normal people's weapon wouldn't able to compete with their use of chakra, these are just toys in their eyes, aren't they?" The man asked me the rhetorical question as he put the wooden gun down, but I had no idea how to answer that.

Surely, he knew I was a shinobi since normal civilians just don't walk around on the street with swords and a ninken. The way he phrased the sentence, it was so ambiguous, and it seemed to extend to more than just a mere discussion of what defines as a weapon. This world, as I knew it, did revolve around shinobis. I rarely interacted with civilians - despite the fact that their population outnumbered shinobi twenty to one - and I probably saw the shinobi way of life as the social norm as well.

It wasn't about who was the superior race, it was simply because the shinobi have stronger power, and that's why civilians pay us and we protect them. That was the reason I chose to advance in shinobi skills, so I could be strong enough to survive. Most civilians seemed okay with the idea of being protected by shinobi, they seemed accepting of the fact that their abilities wouldn't match that of shinobi's.

The little sarcasm I just heard in his still voice, that was something unusual. It almost felt like he was mocking the civilian's inability to do anything in a world of shinobis.

Before I could say anything, I heard a loud explosion and the ground seemed to shake. When I looked up again, one of the buildings near the Kazekage's office was on fire. Immediately, my hand went for my swords, and Pakkun jumped down from my arms, ready in the battle stance.

My eyes widened with disbelief as I saw the swirl of light brown sand and golden sand mixed together. It looked like they were dancing, but the huge amount of menacing killing intent leaking out of that area destroyed any part of the artistic aesthetics one might find. The golden sand... I narrowed my eyes, there was only one person alive that could manipulate that: the current Yondaime Kazekage.

This wasn't a fight where I could do anything, or should do anything. The Kazekage was handling whatever threat they had, although the aura from the battle reminded me of that of a beast. My job was to regroup with my team and guarantee Hokage-sama's safety before anything else.

The civilians were already ducking inside and closing the doors and the lively market was soon empty and isolated. All that's left on the street were a few foreign genins panicking, unsure of what to do. Surprisingly, the young shop owner besides me didn't close the store front and shut me out like all the other shops did. He looked at the destructive scene high up in the air, with an emotion that I couldn't quite name. Awe? Disgust? Fear? No, none of them were completely right.

"Oi! Genins, return to your quarter immediately and don't come out until your next exam! Anyone disobeying the order will be disqualified!" A Suna-nin passed by and yelled at the remaining confused children on the street. There were a few quick nods and they scrammed. For a genin, there was truly nothing scarier than being disqualified from the Chunin Exam.

Suddenly, just as I started to move towards the Kage's hotel, I heard a voice yelling at me, "The genins are all going that way, aren't you going to return to your lodging with them?" I turned around and saw the trademark smile of innocence plastered on the man's face. Right, here is one more potential source of trouble that I don't really have time to deal with.

"Now, who said I am a genin?" I whispered and stared into his eyes. As soon as the man's eyes widened, they became dazed and confused. It wasn't a dangerous genjutsu, I applied just enough disruption on his poorly developed chakra system to hinder his brain activity. He will be feeling dazed and confused about this encounter and after a while, he will just pass them off as a dream; eventually, this memory would cease to exist.

Without any more delays, I ran towards the Embassy. My instincts told me that that man, or his seemingly outlandish concept, was troublesome. The confounding sense of nostalgia wouldn't turn my brain to mush, but it sure as hell confused me. That, was dangerous, and I already had enough dangerous things in my life. For example, the raging sandstorm that was currently tearing apart the Kazekage's office, and it was getting dangerously close to the Embassy.

See, this was the main problem of having way too much absurd shit in my life. Because they hit so close together, it was hard to keep track of all the problems and the less immediate ones often got forgotten.

The first day as Aohara Chiyoko and I have already gathered more problems than I have the time to solve. But whose list is it really on this time? Uchiha Maiko's? Rabbit's? Or someone else's? Anyway, got to keep them organize; categorize by priorities, and just pray that they will wait until they are called before surfacing gleefully like the most impatient children.

A/N: That really unpleasant person who will crash the party will appear next chapter, and it's from canon, so cookies for anyone who can guess it.