A/N: This chapter gave me trouble. I might've written it in a day but that was because I did all the hard thinking on the days previous. I had many scenarios is my mind and some of them I had to discard... but more about them at the end of the chapter. I let you read this first.

Chapter 10.

Kairi inspected the 'Get Well'-cards sold at a little papershop near the hospital. None of them appealed to her. Either they were too 'artistry', meaning confusing and messy, or then they were too 'formal', meaning boring and dull. None of them fit Lee. While there could've been good and colorful cards at the shop too, they looked too massproducted.

"You leave me no choice then… I'll make my own." Kairi muttered and swept to the other part of the shop which had art supplies. Purchasing a set of coloring pencils and some cardboard, she set out to find something specific she'd had in her mind ever since she set her foot in Konoha.

"Konnichiwa, Lee-kun." Kairi greeted the boy, when she stepped into his hospital room. It was mid-morning and the visiting hours had just opened.

"Ah, konnichiwa, Kairi-san." The boy greeted back but his smile lacked his usual enthusiasm.

"How are you?" She asked, taking a seat on the chair by the boy's bedside. Lee looked aside, avoiding her gaze.

"They say… They say I might not be able to continue as a ninja." The boy said sadly. Kairi glanced at the array of flowers and gifts on the table before looking back at him.

"I'm not surprised by that. Just surviving alive against Gaara is a miracle." She sighed but didn't elaborate. Considering how many Suna-nin had been sacrificed in order to either assassinate or control the boy and Shukaku, the fact that Lee was alive was, indeed, a miracle. Even without Gai's interference. "But that doesn't mean you should stop."

"Huh?" Lee looked up, unshed tear brimming in his eyes and surprise on his face.

"Take a step back and recuperate. But don't stop. You are amazing person and a great shinobi. Just don't give up on getting better even if it might take time, okay?" There was Tsunade after all. And Kairi didn't see any reason why Jiraiya wouldn't go looking for her after the invasion. Sarutobi's death was basically given due his age and the fact he'd be going against Orochimaru and two resurrected Hokage's.

"O-Okay…" A wobbly smile. Tears, hastily wiped with a bandaged forearm.

"Here." Kairi took the card she'd drawn out of her pocket and unfolded it. It was a scenery of Konoha's rooftops as seen from on top of the Hokage Monument, sight she, Lee and Gai had seen during their morning runs. Kairi has stayed up on the cliffs for hours in order to immortalize the view, gone to sleep and then woken up early to add just the right amount of sunlight and shadows into the picture, to match their view.

She placed the picture on Lee's lap and got up from her chair.

"Don't stop, Lee-kun."

"Kairi-san, we haven't seen in a while. How have you been?" Gai's sudden appearance and friendly greeting came out of left field.

"Gai-san." The girl nodded back, a bit baffled about the situation but trying her best not to show it. "I've been fine, thank you for asking. And you?"

"Alright. Visiting Lee and helping my village with the security for the up-coming finals." Very straight-forward yet round-about. Just like Kairi expected really. And whatever Gai wanted from this meeting, it would serve at least two purposes. She wouldn't delude herself into thinking that her friend(?) wouldn't be keeping an eye on her.

After all, according to canon, Hayate's body had been found on the very next day from his fight with Baki and an emergency meeting had been held between Hokage and the jounin and TokuJo soon after that. Since it had been almost a week since Kairi's fight with Hayate and the man had been conscious when she had left, he could've very well summoned help and told who exactly it was that attacked him.

"Have you kept up with your training?" Gai asked then. Small-talk? That she could do.

"Ah well… I've spent this week cooling down from the second phase but I intend on picking up the pace soon." Pause. "Ah, umm… I sort of thought about asking this before but considering how worried you were about Lee-kun, I ended up pushing back… But would it be okay if we went on our morning runs again? I've sort of missed them…" Kairi asked awkwardly, tugging her braid with one hand.

"I don't see why not! One needs to keep up with their training regardless of the situation. On their own pace of course." Gai grinned, giving her a thumbs-up. Kairi smiled.

"Thank you, Gai-san!"

"No. Thank you."

And Kairi knew. Despite her being an enemy. Despite her going to be fighting against Konoha at May 20th… Gai was pulling double-duty with this. He was paying her back for cheering up Lee. And he was fulfilling his duty to his village by keeping an eye on her and gathering information on her intentions.

But it was alright.

It had been completely accidental. Kairi had been wandering around Konoha after lunch (Korean-style barbeque at one of the restaurants owned by Akimichi) during the third week of break. Actually… It was exactly a week before the Final Tournament.

Nevetheless, she had been wandering around, staying away from the civilian districts and already occupied training grounds when she'd seen it. The mane of spiky long white hair. Red and green clothes accompanied by a giant scroll on his back. Geta-sandals clacking against the cobblestones…

Jiraiya of the Sannin.

Kairi wasn't ashamed to say that she froze. It wasn't exactly crowded area but it wasn't anywhere near spacious either. One of the market streets but the tall and frankly large man was easily spotted.

And he spotted Kairi too. Or at least sensed her stare and was about to turn around (safe for him due the shops attracting attention and the fact he was one of the strongest ninjas Konoha had ever produced) when Kairi made her hasty escape. Speed was her strength along with subtlety. And Soru was much subtler than Shunshin. It relied more on natural speed with the addition of chakra and was thus less like teleporting that left after images and chakra-prints (along with leaves/sand/water).

Of course that was also her mistake. After all, Jiraiya had trained Namikaze Minato. The Yellow-Flash who was had been about the fastest shinobi in the world during his life-time even without the Flying Thunder God Technique. So of course Jiraiya had have ways to keep up with his student somehow. (No matter how miraculous or prodigious the Yondaime Hokage had been, he didn't become a kage-level shinobi overnight.)

Thus tracking her route and intercepting her in more deserted area was probably child's play for the man.

Kairi sensed the man before seeing him. But instead of stopping immediately or continuing to the direction she'd chosen (and risked the possibility of being physically caught), she took a step to the left and stopped then.

There was a ten-meter distance between them on an empty training field. Kairi was slightly crouched, still ready to flee but she was no way out of breath. Jiraiya was standing straight, his arms crossed on his chest and giving an assessing look on her.

The silence was uncomfortable but Kairi had no intention of breaking it.

"Interesting technique. I've only seen one other shinobi utilizing it." The sannin decided to say then. Kairi blinked but didn't reply. "Fuukatsu Kaito was his name."

A little surprised sound escaped Kairi's throat.

"It was years ago though. And as I never witnessed any other Sand-nin using it but sticking to Body-Flicker, I thought maybe it was something unique to him."

"Fuukatsu Kaito died four years ago. He was my father." Kairi stated. "And this is a technique that he created." In order to honor his youngest brother. But she didn't mention that.

"Oh? Is that so?" The sage grinned. But there was sharpness there. Kairi narrowed her eyes but straightened up and tried to relax. The still running adrenaline didn't help the matters though.

What Kairi didn't know though, was that Jiraiya had been the one to bring Minato Konoha. That Jiraiya had be Namikaze Shizue and could recognize her features on the girl. The blond color of hair had come from her even if Minato had inherited Namikaze Kishi's spikes. The shape of her eyes was the one found on her sons and granddaughter even when Kairi was the one with her green through Kaito, and Minato and Arashi had gotten the blue from Kishi.

So Jiraiya knew exactly who this girl was. Through the stories he heard from a dying woman and what little he'd heard from Kaito himself and now by the girl's own admission. He knew who Kairi was related to but that didn't give her any leeway in the situation. She was from Suna after all. And Jiraiya knew she would be staying in Konoha only for one purpose, otherwise she wouldn't have been sent into the exams at all given her record. While it saddened him that Minato's niece would be the enemy within a week's time, the eternal idealist and optimist in him refused to believe the worst on the girl.

"Yes." The girl replied tersely, still wound-up like a spring despite her attempts to relax. Jiraiya chuckled.

"Maa, relax will ya? I'm not trying anything here."

The girl tilted her head but didn't reply. She was truly an unknown quantity. Jiraiya had no idea how much she knew about her own family, given that her father was dead and had been for years according to her. He very much doubted the girl knew about Naruto considering the secrecy around the boy's birth and later in life. And as she was an outsider and a foreign kunoichi to boot, she had no right to those secrets either, related by blood or not.

So Jiraiya wouldn't be telling her anything. But he would very much enjoy unravelling the information that she did know. Well, if only he had the time to do so. But no, he probably should return to Naruto now and oversee his training. That Shikako-girl could give hints and see that the boy didn't do anything stupid but a responsible adult was sometimes needed too.

Kairi really didn't know what to make of Jiraiya. The shinobi from Konoha were so weird. They were weird on paper and even weirder in real life.

"How did you meet my father?" She opted to ask instead.

"We met in Grass. Near Fire Country's border. Afterwards got ambushed by some shinobi from Hidden Rock which was when I saw that technique you so nicely demonstrated."

Kairi bristled at the off-hand way Jiraiya addressed her father's creation.

"It's called Soru." She retorted dryly, trying not to show the real extent of her irritation. And yes, she remembered her father mention an 'interesting acquaintance' after coming back from that mission. And then, after a month or so, he'd gone on a routine patrol to the border between Kaze no Kuni and Ame and never come back.

"A good name." Jiraiya nodded thoughtfully. "Short, compact, to the point." And considering the ways Minato named his techniques… Yeah.

"I came up with it."

This time Jiraiya was the one to blink. Kairi crossed her arms defensively.

"I've considered renaming it Shunpo, though." Bleach was an awesome manga too and frankly, the way Soru was currently, it was much closer in execution to Shunpo than to original Soru from One Piece.

"Not a bad name either. If you can own up to the name and make the technique your own instead of something you learnt from your father…"

Was Jiraiya the Sannin giving her advice/compliment? Bhuh, so weird… But he was right too. Soru hadn't been quite finished when Kaito had died. He'd never tried to push it to its limits to see how far he could go with it. Speed and maneuverability-wise. But Kairi could do that.

"Not a bad idea." Kairi agreed slowly. "Thank you very much, Jiraiya-sama." The honorific was tacked on just for respect Kairi had for the man for being Minato's teacher.

Then she escaped the situation. Just because she could. And because she really didn't want to be in the presence of the spymaster for much longer. Nevermind that information and infiltration were her specialties, Jiraiya was a master in the craft.

The day before the tournament dawned bright and early. Natsuhiko-sensei had arrived from Suna and was conferring with Baki-sensei quietly under a privacy seal. While Konoha might've been the best in fuuijutsu due their connection to fallen Uzushio, it didn't mean that other countries were completely deprived of sealing knowledge. Even if Chiyo's attempt at sealing Shukaku to Gaara was questionable at best and extremely hazardous at worst. When Kairi stepped into the bubble and greeted the two jounin, her temporary sensei looked up.

"Ah, Kairi-chan." Natsuhiko smiled. "Could you please get your fellow finalists here? We have some last minute information about the plan to them."

"Of course. I trust your trip home was fruitful." Kairi replied.

"Very. Kazekage-sama was pleased with our progress at this stage." The man said. "Have you been keeping up with your training?"

"Without a hitch."

"Good."

"Temari and Kankuro should be at the training ground already." Baki stated. "I'm not too sure about Gaara's current location."

"I'll look for him too." Kairi merely said and left. She'd first go to the two oldest of Kazekage's children and then go look for the youngest. Though…

Finding and sending Temari and Kankuro back to the hotel went fine. Without a hitch really… Gaara though…

"Wasn't this the day…" Kairi frowned before her eyes widened and breath constricted in her throat. "Lee-kun…"

She began running. While she hadn't really seen Gaara for the past few days, she had occasionally felt his chakra fluctuate in a manner that she could only describe as 'confused' or even 'disturbed'. Kairi didn't have a great sensing range, she was nowhere near being classified as a sensor, but at closer range she could gauge strength-levels and stronger emotions. It was something that almost any shinobi could do. Probably.

Kairi neared the hospital and she could sense Gaara in there, in the same floor that Lee's room. She only slowed down in order not to disturb and scare the staff and thus get the Anbu jump on her. But while heading upstairs she could feel the jinchuuriki's chakra jump in agitation. Kairi gritted her teeth. And as she neared the room, she could feel other signatures. Gaara's loudness had almost covered them completely (at least to her).

She stopped right outside the door but didn't enter. She listened. Three voices in addition to Gaara's. Lee was asleep. His signature was faint was steady.

But three voices… Naruto and the Nara twins. The twins had used shadow jutsu on Gaara. Naruto was shouting. Why didn't any of the hospital staff notice any of this? How had Gaara even entered the hospital? When Kairi had visited Lee for the first time, she had to be subjected under scrutinizing questioning as she was from Suna. And it was only on the following times she'd gotten in straight away because Gai, as Lee's guardian and jounin of the village, had given her the okay.

The conversation turned to demons. And Kazekage's stupid decisions. Kairi didn't move. Didn't say anything. At all. At the Forest of Death she had had the higher ground, thus she'd dared to oppose Gaara directly and his bloodlust had been sated by the dead Ame-team. Now though… The situation was wholly different.

So she just listened Gaara to talk. While Kairi knew all of it through her Archive and past memories, the amount of knowledge given her directly in this life was limited. So by listening here the truths straight from the source… Well. if she later showed some unusual knowledge about this particular subject, at least she had a reason and source for it.

"Now! Let me feel alive!"

Then the tanuki-boy's chakra surged. Kairi's head snapped up. She had to move. Had to do something.

"Gaara, that's enough!" She stepped into the room. the sand was swirling in the air. Emotions wouldn't work on Gaara given his mental state. Logic, logic, logic…

"Why should I listen to you, Kairi?" Came the emotionless reply. Nearby, sand twisted in a threatening manner. Kairi swallowed, determined not to show her fear and apprehension. She didn't look at the Konoha-genin in the room, instead she looked Gaara directly in the eye.

"Baki-sensei sent me to get you. He has a message from your father." It was stretching a bit but specified orders counted as a message, right? Kairi let out a sigh. "Let these kids and Lee-kun be. You'll get your share of excitement tomorrow. Your first match will be against that Uchiha boy, maybe he'll give you an actual challenge at the arena then." Distract, distract…

If Naruto and Shikako stiffened at the mention of their teammate, Kairi ignored it.

"Your quarrel with Lee is over. There is no reason for you to be here. Besides, don't you prove your existence with the blood of people who are trying to end it? These kids have done nothing of the sort to you. You don't need their blood and lives here and now."

"She is right." A new voice said. Gai. Finally. "Save this all to final competition. You're just wasting it today, is that what you want?"

And the sand retreated. Kairi wanted to slump against the doorframe but didn't want to show weakness. Couldn't show weakness really. Not yet. Not in front of Gaara.

"All the same, I will kill you. Just you wait. I'll kill you all." The red-haired boy muttered when retreating from the room, Gai's appearance having caused a flashback to the preliminaries and unsettling him again. Kairi really didn't envy Baki and Natsuhiko for having to deal with the boy afterwards.

Gai began talking to the Konoha-genin then and Kairi decided to take the opportunity to leave as well. Natsuhiko probably would have some additional instructions for her too.

"Kairi-chan." Gai spoke up. She glanced over her shoulder and quirked an eyebrow. "Thank you."

Kairi blinked and looked away then.

"Tomorrow is the big day, I suggest to get some last-minute training." She said. When glancing back at the Konoha-nin she gave a wry smile. "A lot of excitement planned considering the tournament roster. Not exactly how I planned on spending my sixteenth birthday really."

And she left the room.

"Gai-sensei? You know her?" Shikako asked tentatively once the Sand kunoichi had left.

"Yes. We go together on morning runs. She is a good girl." The jounin replied. "Gave Lee a Get Well-card."

Shikako gave baffled blink.

"Man, having a birthday and tournament on the same day." Naruto mused. "I don't know if I should be jealous or not."

"Well, if she gets a promotion, she just gives herself an impressive birthday present." Shikamaru stated. "Let's go see Chouji now."

The genin left the room. Gai gazed at his student, still sleeping on the bed, and let his gaze drift to the drawing propped up on the bedside table. It was a sunrise that was coloring the buildings. Not sunset even though it would've been easier and faster for Kairi to color it as so instead of going twice to the Hokage Monument. And that told Gai just what Kairi thought about the entire invasion the Sand and Sound were planning.

She didn't think Konoha deserved to have her days ended.

A/N: Alright, my thoughts about the scenes in this chapter. First of all Lee: I thought about when exactly Kairi would meet with him. The scene with Gaara was one but as it happened a day before finals, it would be weird if Kairi only then visited him. So I made the first scene of her visit. But even the version here is a second one. The first one had Kairi talking to him after he'd escaped to train.

Next, Jiraiya. Hoo boy... I hope this scene didn't disappoint you. I had many, many ideas for scenes with him. Kairi stumbling upon Naruto's training, demonstrating summoning. Jiraiya outwardly suspicious, Jiraiya visibly hostile, Jiraiya surprisingly welcoming... In the end I decided on Jiraiya knowing about Kairi but being very roundabout in the meeting and frankly confusing her. And because Kairi is a Suna-nin, she still classifies as an enemy considering the approaching invasion. And since I removed Naruto from the potential meeting ideas, the explosivity of the situation decreased dramatically.

The Gaara scene... well, why not. It has Lee, it has Gai, it has Gaara. Kairi has formed ties to all of them. And it gave me an opportunity to have Kairi give a roundabout warning to the genin gathered.

About Soru and Shunpo... Well... If you know One Piece and Bleach, you know the techniques I'm talking about. They are both techniques of high-speed moving but the execution of the two is vastly different. Soru is done by kicking multiple times on the ground and very high speed and through that one can also move through the air. Shunpo in the other had uses reiatsu(spiritual energy) to enhance steps to give them a speed-burst and the ambient reishi(spirit particles) in the air can also be solidified underneath feet to practically run in the air too. I think Reiatsu as the equivalent of chakra (or Nen if one reads HunterxHunter) and thus, what Kairi does it closer to Shunpo(Flash-Step) than to Soru(Shave). But as I hadn't read Bleach when I started writing this fic, I originally named the technique Soru. But things change. ;) Kairi won't be running in the air anytime soon though. There isn't enough chakra in the air for that.

Replies to Reviews:

-gonewind321:
Thank you very much for the review. It really helped me to organize my thoughts for this chapter. (although considering how vague notes I had for this, it wasn't hard)
I'm planning on outside thoughts about Kairi to be written in the aftermath of the invasion when Konoha will be going through everything that led to the situation and such.
Fight scenes are hard. I also liked the Hayate-Baki fight as usually the fights in Naruto have some much posturing and monologue and ninjas explaining their techniques. Why? You are ninja! Swift and silent and secretive!

-guisniperman:
I had the idea like that too but then realized that it could deal Kairi out of the picture for a while and thus she wouldn't be able to act out her role in the invasion. But I hope you liked the scene I wrote anyways.

-Evani:
Thank you. Hayate isn't dead. He was able to flare his chakra in order to get help.

()

Next chapter... Finals and the beginning of invasion.