Sorry about missing the update last week guys but as I'm sure you can relate, life happens.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter and as always leave a review if you enjoyed it!

DROH

Chapter 13: Advice

The headquarters of what had once been the Scorpion Section had seen better days. It was buried deep inside a mountain of sandstone that seemed to grow out of the wall in the far eastern corner of the village. The same training area of stone and loose sand had brought back memories of blocked attacks and being left on the ground humiliated sparing session after sparing session. In the corner of her vision she had even seen a mirage of the blood splattered stains of her own exhausted body laying in a heap on the ground, the ghosts that haunted the recesses of her mind.

Not that she could very well see any stains now.

In the last hour the entire area had changed. The ground was soft, having been covered in a good few inches of mud from one of Kira's justus in an attempt to minimize the amount of useable sand. Said mud was hardly untouched. Footprints, skid marks and long gashes, along with a literal hole in the ground, littered it, carving out the tell tales signs of a battle. The only thing that was similar between the before and after really was that once again, Kira was on the ground.

She was sitting in the thick mud with little decorum, arms resting on knees that were spread wide in a rather un-lady like fashion. She was covered in mud. Her once bright blue top now resembled her black pants more then the sky outside, and her face and hair were streaked with dirt. The mud on her face was already starting to dry from the heat her body was pumping out due to a vigorous work out and Kira reached a hand out and scratched at her cheek, flaking it off.

All in all, Kira was a mess, while her opponent was almost completely unharmed. Not unexpected, but still a tad annoying.

Gaara sat on his gourd, using it like a rock in the mud to rest against as he waited for Kira to catch her breath. His arms were uncrossed, showing the rather silly amount of 'damage' Kira had been able to do during their very first sparing match. There was mud on his neck, and a small splatter of it dotting his left cheek. Kira had used trickery to get around his defense line, making him think she'd used her shadows to disappear during a sand attack when she'd really burrowed under ground in an earth style and come up behind him when he'd been watching the shadows in the room.

His sand had thrown her away before she could do much more then smash a tonfa down on his shoulder near his neck. She hadn't hit him too hard, just enough to break his sand armor, enough for him to know if she'd been using her blade it could have done real damage. The blade on one of her tonfa's had landed the only other 'hit' Kira had managed. She eyed the gourd on the ground; the strap on it was fraying in one area, towards the middle. Gaara was extremely fast, and his defenses were almost impossible to get through, but she'd snuck around one other time using her shadows and jumped out to cut him across his armored vest. He'd dodged it for the most part, of course, her blade only nicking the strap of his weapon, cutting a few threads in it.

He hadn't let her get close after that, though she'd certainly tried. It had taken her nearly 30 minutes to concede defeat and sit down where she was now. She'd only had one other idea, and Kira just didn't have the energy left to really use it.

The Stone Familiar justu was still new to Kira. She'd never used it in battle and only used it at all twice after the original summoning. She was still trying to figure out how to use the sister spirits properly. She would need to soon enough; it would be a resource she would need in the war. Maybe Kankurō had some ideas.

"Are you alright?" Gaara's voice startled her and she flinched, looking up again, and found concern written on his face. She knew from his hesitation to spar from the very beginning what he was worried about. He was afraid he'd hurt her. After all, it wasn't something Gaara was well practiced in, attacking without deadly intent. She gave him a tired smile.

"I'm okay," she assured him. "Just really tried and, well, annoyed, but I kind of figured I didn't stand a chance."

"Your fighting style is not well suited to go against mine," he admitted with a nod. "I did, how ever, find it challenging. You shouldn't be concerned Kira, you're nothing to take lightly."

Kira wasn't sure how to react to that, his praise. She flushed, her face heating up even more under the mud. It was a bit awkward in all honestly, and she looked away to eye her knees. It was embarrassing, but it also seemed to lift a weight off her chest she had forgotten was even there.

"Thanks…I, honestly that makes me feel a lot better, and not just about this." At his confused look at her words Kira let out a small giggle that wavered from her fried nerves. "It just...I never got tested, not like everyone else. I never had any of the exams required to go up in rank. It was just given to me along with my ANBU rank. Sometimes, it made me feel like I didn't deserve it." She remembered watching the other people she'd graduated from the academy with slowly pass those ranking test. It had always been from afar, during pauses in her job or training with Korin. It was just another way she'd been isolated, left out from the world she'd barely gotten to know.

"The training you received, while brutal and…" Gaara trailed off and Kira glanced up again. The redhead was fighting with his own words, fighting back the expression of anger that bled into his eyes. Kira wondered if he hated Korin now more that he knew her better, or if he had simply hid his feelings for her old master better the first time they'd spoken of him. "You did earn it. Never forsake your own value."

Kira gave a small nod of her head. "I'll try to remember that. Either way, I did kind of enjoy this. I think I learned a lot." Learning to deal with different enemy types was an important skill she needed to strengthen for the war to come. Who knew what kind of foes she would be dealing with? It would be far deadlier than any ANBU mission she'd had, simply because of numbers and lack of information.

"Yes," Gaara agreed, the smallest of smiles lifting his lips. "While our styles may not go against each other well, I believe that perhaps when on the same side, the effect may be different. "

Kira raised an eyebrow, taking a moment to think his words over. Truthfully, she didn't see it, not yet. Gaara seemed to have some idea though, and that interested her. Just not enough to want to go into it right now.

"…Next time?" she muttered with a smile. Gaara eyed her quietly before nodding again. After a moment Kira snorted slightly and shook her head. She didn't know when that would be; time was beginning to move faster now, and the armed shinobi forces would have to gather soon. Leaders and key players would go first, and as his bodyguard, Kira had already been informed she would be going with him. Beyond that though... "I don't wish to bring it up but," she paused, gaining his attention again before looking down at the mud once more, afraid of what her next words might do. "You haven't told me… what my role in the war is yet."

Almost everyone else seemed to know what they were doing. Gaara himself would be the commander of the largest attack force, and Temari would be going with him. Shura had been put on escort duty for the Lords of the Lands, and wouldn't be joining the front lines for a long while, if at all. Aya was assigned to the Medical core as one of the few sealing jutu users that would be there to ensure their safety against the risen dead. Kankurō hadn't mentioned what he was doing, and because Kira hadn't been sure of her role, she hadn't asked what his was.

"Your roll has been decided," Gaara spoke with an air of caution and Kira frowned slightly, looking at him. It felt like they were both trying to tiptoe around a tiger. "I just wasn't sure how to bring it up without upsetting you like before."

Oh.

Kira looked away, suddenly feeling the same embarrassment and shame that had come with her realization in the Leaf Village. Flashes of her behavior came to the front of her mind and she winced slightly. She'd meant to talk to him about it, but that had been buried by the grief of her mother's passing, and he hadn't brought it up.

Till now.

"We never really cleared the air…did we?" Tiptoeing again. Kira felt like her insides were bunching together in her chest. "I should have brought it up before, but with things how they were…" she trailed off.

"You weren't the only one who left it to smolder," Gaara pointed out, shifting slightly, catching her eye. "I look back and think I should have taken into account other factors. Thought about how my words would sound to you, and how they reminded you of things you tried to forget."

She wondered if he'd realized who she'd seen in his place that day, if it had occurred to him how much he had sounded like his father, if only for a moment. But it hadn't been him, it had been her friend and she had taken things to far. "I over reacted," she conceded, shifting her gaze up to look at the rocky ceiling. "I got scared and confused. It wasn't fair to you. I was selfish." She felt like she was rambling, throwing out half excuses for her actions. She bit her lip and looked at him again. "I'm sorry."

He held her gaze for a time, as if letting the words sink in before he nodded slightly. "As am I. It was something to learn from."

She moved her feet, mud squishing around her as she did so. He was right, and it was time to put what she'd learned from that into what was going on now. To listen and to think about the why before reacting. "So, what's my role?"

"You'll be with Kankurō." No hesitation. He knew tiptoeing wouldn't stand for mission details. "There will be a small squad of eight hand picked shinobi that will be entering the battle field long before the rest. They'll be an advanced surprise attack divion team that will eventually meet up with Kakashi's group. I've assigned Kankurō as their leader, and you'll be acting as the recon main recon personnel in the unit."

It was straight forward, but Kira could see the merit in it. She knew from what little advanced information she'd seen that Kakashi's forces and Gaara's were on almost opposite sides of the battleground. While they had just practiced fighting together, it appeared Gaara felt her skills would be needed elsewhere. She also had a feeling he wanted her to be there to watch Kankurō's back. She bit her lip, not quiet happy about being kicked from her post but…

"If that's what you want…"

"The advanced forces only holds that role until they meet up with Kakashi's forces," Gaara continued, his voice holding a lighter tone as if he'd expected her subdued answer. "Once you do, the members will be breaking up in to separate duties. Yours, Kira, will be to Shadow jump back to me."

Surprised flickered though her and she found a small smile on her face at his words. Maybe he knew she'd be there to guard his back no matter what, but that didn't mean he could afford to not utilize her talents where needed. Kira understood what was required of a ninja during war. In the end, personal goals had to be put aside.

"Alright, I understand."

Gaara didn't say anything, but she saw him relax his posture; saw the smallest hint of a smile on his face. He gave a single nod, and Kira suddenly felt the same relief.

Letting out a sigh she rather unceremoniously flopped backwards into the drying mud. With that out of the way, she quite suddenly didn't care about much but sleeping. For a moment she thought she heard the redhead chuckle lowly, but it was over as quick as it came and Kira didn't have the will to care at the moment. For all she knew, she'd imagined it. They stayed in comfortable silence for a while before footsteps were heard from the only entrance into the room. The footsteps neared and then there was a curse and a sudden thud as said person fell to the ground, having slipped on the mud.

"What the hell?" Kankurō growled, and while Kira didn't move to greet him or even sit up she did hear him get back to his feet. "I come back from inventory stocking and hear from a guard that you two disappeared down here. What in the world did you two do?"

Kira thought about answering him, she really did, but Gaara beat her to it. "I believe we did as you suggested to Kira and tested our strengths against each other." He said it so matter-of-factly that Kira found herself cracking a smile.

"You mean you two spared?" The puppet master questioned. Gaara must have nodded because he gave no verbal reply and Kankurō groaned. For a moment Kira waited for him to tell them both they were crazy, but that wasn't what he said next. "I missed it!"

That, in itself, drove Kira into a fit of laugher that bordered on to hysterics.

…

Water splashed onto the plants from the drip line in Gaara's greenhouse in a steady flow that created little rivers on the dry dirt before sinking in, as if eaten. The Kazekage stood straight, his arms crossed over his chest near the water switch, his eyes slowly moving over one plant to the next as he let them drink in enough water to sustain them over his likely long absence.

It was quiet in the room, no sounds other than the drip of water and the gentle howl of the wind outside. Calm. Perhaps the last time he'd have this type of peace around him for a long time. The last time he'd be in this room for a long while.

He was leaving today, along with his brother and Kira, to the base the Hidden Cloud had set up. Final packing was being put into order at the moment, and he knew they would be on their way soon.

In less than a week, the war would begin.

All morning there had been an almost numbing buzz to the air in the village, as if that fact had truly sunk in. As if a week was so different than two or three. As if today was so different from yesterday. It was though; the finality of that seemed heavy on everyone's mind and Gaara wasn't sure how to ease the minds of his people. How could he tell them it was all right, when he himself didn't know? Times like these really demanded rulers show their merit, yet Gaara was unsure of how.

There was a knock on the door and Gaara turned as it opened, expecting either Kankurō or Kira to appear, telling him that it was time to go. To his surprise though, it was neither, and Shura stepped into the room and bowed slightly, staying near the door.

"I was told to inform you your group is ready to depart whenever you see fit, Lord Kazekage." The aged ANBU was so different from his two teammates, his words clipped and formal, demanding a certain amount of respect. Gaara nodded his head.

"It is appreciated." He paused for a moment, debating on sending him off or not, before he let the words fall out, his curiosity getting the better of him. "This is not your first war, correct?"

Whether or not Shura was surprised didn't show on his half covered face. His eyes remained as stoic and focused as before, his mouth hidden under the veil. Gaara knew because of medical records that it hid the remains of a different war. "You are correct. I was much younger, but I fought on the front lines during the Second Great Shinobi War." He seemed to read through Gaara then, something that was unnerving for him, but he expected as much, given Shura's talent in sensory ninjutsu - the name 'The Third Eye' given to him because of the fact that he could detect a person's emotions and even thoughts through visual awareness. "It is not easy, any of it. You aren't the only leader commanding an army for the first time. Circumstances are different; better than last time."

It was startling, to hear him speak so freely, still not like Kira or his siblings, but less robotic, more sincere. "Because of our enemy?" The alliance was the only difference Gaara could really see from what he knew of the last war. Not fighting against another nation, but rather a single enemy with a large influence.

Shura's dark eyes held his gaze, unflinching, so different from Gaara's new bodyguard. "Because of the leaders." He paused as if he meant to say no more, as if his answer were so simple, but he must have seen the confusion that flickered across his leaders face. Or maybe it was something else he saw, something only he could see. "The Fourth Kazekage, your father, along with many of the former leaders were faced with decisions that hardened their souls. There are things they had their people do… "

Shura paused and after a moment pulled the left side of his veil down to reveal the damage left from the last war. The skin was dark and marbled, where flesh had burned and then tried to heal. It started near the underside of his cheekbone in a hard red line and then drew down, becoming thicker, wider and, angrier. A chunk of his cheek was even missing, causing that side of his mouth to look wider, showing teeth and gums through a black jagged hole.

Gaara forced himself not to flinch at the sight. Even if he had seen worse, had done worse to others, it seemed more horrible now to see the sorts of injuries his forces might endure on his orders. Shura let the fabric fall back over his face before he spoke again.

"I got that from an Acid Style User in the war, one of the strongest of the enemy forces, that your father didn't feel we needed to know would be at the site we were sent to." His eyes seemed to fade in sharpness at the memory, a hard one, even after all these years. "Arrogance at our own strength led to the deaths of many shinobi that day, including my daughter."

Gaara had known, he had read it all in the files, but it still felt like a blow to the gut. Because he hadn't known his father had withheld information.

"She was barely thirteen, just out of basic training, but back then, every ninja was put on the battle field, regardless of training or age. That is something I truly am glad to see has changed." As he spoke, Gaara wondered off hand if perhaps such an event, the loss of his daughter, had been why Shura had taken to sheepherding Kira and Aya.

"It is something we all agreed on for the most part. The Hidden Cloud will be using a small team of younger troops, but they won't be on the battle field, rather they will be relaying information and supplies." Even if the other Kage hadn't agreed, Gaara wouldn't have put any of his younger Shinobi into the war, no matter their eagerness. He's heard and read too many accounts where that never ended well, and where the loss of life was devastating.

"Remember that fact, that you're different and things will simply fall into place when the time comes." Shura held his gaze again, giving him one last slip of advice, that normally would have been overstepping his rank, but Gaara ignored it. "Just remember to look confident and the rest will follow suite. To win a war, one must believe they will." Bowing at the waist again Shura turned and headed for the door. "Safe travels, Lord Kazekage."

Once he was gone Gaara turned and retrieved his gourd from where it had been sitting on the ground and then turned off the water. Shura hadn't even waited for a thank you from him, but he didn't seemed like one to care for that. He was an interesting man, Gaara mused, and a good mentor and leader for the two girls on his team. Even if Kira was on different duties for the most part, Gaara knew down the line he would send them out together for missions again. Breaking up a team like that seemed a waste.

Gaara paused in as he was leaving the room, realizing he was thinking of events that would be happening after the war. How could he be so sure that they would all still be here to return? He had no way of knowing and yet…

Perhaps Shura's advice worked in more ways than one.