So. After a few months of crippling depression, writer's block, falling in love, having my heart broken by my own cowardice, graduating highschool, more depression, moving to a new town (having spent my entire life in the country side), family issues, even more depression…family issues again, and job hunting...I'm back? Yay? Sorry for the delay…but you know. Life was being Lifey.

Well…Lords and Ladies…I present you with the long awaited 18th chapter.

-18-

Bandit's Eyes

There was something different about watching the light fade from a man's eyes. It wasn't like watching the life fade from the eyes of an animal, although I believed they had just as much of a soul as you or I...well. Sometimes I wondered if I was missing mine. It wouldn't really be all that surprising.

Neither was the fact that I was killing a man on my first mission out of Suna. Not surprising in the least.

After all...this was what 'Sora' had been training me to do since I met him.

The first C-rank had started pretty normal. Deliver a scroll to a village on the outskirts of the desert, near River country. It was a couple days' run to get there, we'd take a break for a day or two after delivering the scroll to sleep and relax before we were off, back into the blistering hell I called home.

After receiving the message, Carl-sensei sent us all home to get our shit together, and to meet him at the village gate in two hours.

It was a quick trip home, using the rooftops to avoid foot traffic. My leg gave me no troubles, moving just as reliably as my real leg. My chakra moved easily through it, threads spreading all throughout the joints and mechanisms. It had taken a while for me to get the motions correct as I circulated my chakra through the leg, but by this point, there was little drain, and I gave nary a thought about controlling the flow. It was second nature or- phantom pains, maybe. My chakra was used to flowing into a leg, so this was no different? It didn't matter.

The way home was quick, and I dropped down from the rooftop, directly in front of our door.

I opened the door and stepped inside, barely having time to notice my entire family was present before I was bodily tackled by my father and brother. My uncle and mother both stood back, smirking at my struggles. What was with people and enjoying my suffering today? First Carl watching me deal with Machiko and Shigeru, and now my own flesh and blood?

"Aw, my poor Ai-chan!" Taiki said, nearly sobbing as he held me close, nuzzling his face on the top of my head.

"I have some sick days left!" Takeo cried, "I'll call in, and follow behind to make sure-"

"Um…what the fuck is going on?" I asked the only two sane people in the room. I was beginning to worry as the two men continued to hug me and mutter reassurances. Had I missed something?

Saki chuckled, "They found out that your team would be assigned a C-rank today…I guess your guardian angel Sora couldn't pull any strings to keep you in the village, eh?"

Oh. That's what this was about? They were worried about me?

With an exaggerated sigh, I patted their backs, "Hush, I'll be fine. It's just a little C-rank, and I'm sure sensei will keep a very close eye on us."

Lies, all lies. Obviously. But it worked, and they slowly loosened their painful grips.

Like and angel from heaven, Saki swooped in once they'd released me enough, and dragged me off to the kitchen. I could hear Satoru quietly assuring the boys that I'd be fine, and that Saki and I needed some mother-daughter time.

Yeah right.

Saki stopped yanking me along after her as we stood in the kitchen, the door firmly shut to prevent the others from interrupting.

I looked at my mother expectantly, waiting for her to make some sharp remark about the upcoming mission, maybe a back-handed compliment here and there before she gave me a harsh pat on the back and a push out the door, back into the loving arms of my father.

Instead, I got another hug.

Saki's grip was powerful and inescapable. It was funny how I'd never seen Saki go training, but she still managed to be stronger than me after all those years of blood, sweat and tears under the watchful eyes of Satoru and Sora. In fact, I'd always wondered why my mother didn't go back to being a kunoichi after I'd been born. It would have put some distance between her and I, which seemed to be what she wanted most of the time.

There had been a point in my life when I believed what Taiki told me in the park when I was young...when he told me about our family. How I was part of a clan...how we didn't have a blood limit...how Saki was sick, and that was why we lived in Suna instead of Ame.

But now that I was older, I realized Taiki had lied to me. Not to be cruel, but in his own attempt to protect me. It was true that I was part of a clan that hailed from Ame. It was why my family was pale skinned and why we were skilled in water-based attacks. It was a half truth that our clan as a whole did not have a blood limit. We had the early stages of one. Give it a few more generations and I was sure it would be a great one to have. It was something only a handful of us had the potential to use, and an even smaller group had the ability to use.

My family lived in Suna, not because Saki was sick and needed the dry air rather than the wet, humid air of Ame, but because Saki and Taiki were missing-nin, and Suna caught them while Saki was pregnant. Taiki had made a deal that he would become Suna's dog if they would let him and Saki raise their child here in peace.

There was no doubt in my mind that this was the real version of the events, especially right now as Saki hugged me. There was no way in hell that those inescapable arms belonged to a sick woman.

Not that I really wanted to escape.

She never- well, not never…but rarely. Saki rarely gave me hugs. Affection? Pah. That was for softy civilians. My mom would rather drink poison than hug me.

So I treasured each hug she gave me.

There was something warm about her arms wrapped around me, and the hand that stroked through my matted mess of hair. She whispered to me quietly, wishing me luck, telling me to be careful. It reminded me of...something I couldn't quite remember, if that made sense. A niggling in the back of my mind. In the depths of my memories, I could remember a time like this. Perhaps when I was very young?

And then she told me she loved me, and to remember that in case something horrible happened on the mission.

I think the world was ending. That had to be it. Or Taiki had actually been telling the truth all those years ago about Saki being sick and she was dying. That was the only explanation I could think of why Saki of all people would tell me she loved me.

My mind scrambled to think of some explanation, and I was well aware that it was taking me too long to respond. Saki slowly pulled her arms back, and her features arranged themselves into a carefully blank mask.

I blurted out the first thing that came to mind, and stepped forward to continue the hug, "I love you too, mom."

And then, there was something...soft about my usually prickly mother's expression.

I was in my room packing a bag when 'Sora' came in. My family had gotten so used to him showing up at random times that they didn't bother stopping him- Well, Takeo was a little huffy about letting a man into my room (never mind that Sora wasn't interested in little girls...I see him staring at his secretary a little too often for that...not that I blame him. She makes straight girls not), but 'Sora' was also high enough in the ranks that Takeo literally couldn't tell him to not go into my room without being threatened with treason.

Which was kinda hilarious.

"So, my little student is off on her first C-rank...my how the time has flown-"

"...You're the one who arranged this, right?"

He sighed and plopped down onto my bed, "Well, I wanted to wait at least a week or two before sending you out into the world, but the rest of the council wouldn't hear a word of it. They think I'm trying to 'coddle the demon spawn'. Of course, those who are on your side are quite upset-"

"When were you going to tell me I had a cult?"

He paused, before smiling, suddenly amused, "Ah yes, I'd heard about your moment of charity yesterday. I was quite proud. And the publicity was amazing. So many new people came to hear about the Loved Child."

"So I actually have a cult!? Why haven't I heard about this?"

"Ai-chan, you're a little...skittish around people who don't openly scorn you, if your reaction to poor Shigeru-kun is anything to go by. I didn't think taking you to the temple and letting the worshipers mob you was a good idea. I'd thought maybe after things had settled down from your graduation from the academy, I'd broach the subject with you...But it seems Shigeru-kun got the slightest bit excited. Not that I can blame the poor boy. He's been raised hearing stories about you nearly his entire life. His parents were two of the original members."

"WHY do I have a cult?"

"Because Ai-chan...You're the Loved Child. The way you became known to the world was bound to make a few waves-"

"This again!? Can somebody please just tell me why the hell I'm so special!? You're just dancing around the truth like a fucking ballerina."

'Sora' sighed, suddenly looking tired. I wasn't sure if it was a true reaction, or if he was trying to get a sympathy vote to make me shut up. It worked, mainly because I didn't like seeing that gorgeous face look so upset. Damn Adonis.

"Listen...Ai...this is a long story. I... Wait until after this mission. When you come back from the mission, I'll explain what I can, and then I'll take you to the Temple. You'll meet the Loved Ones, and hopefully we can get all of this sorted out for you then. just...be patient Ai. I didn't want this all to come down on you just yet."

I was...finally going to get some answers?

There must have been a strange expression on my face, because 'Sora' grinned at me, laughing as he ruffled my hair.

"I promise Ai...the truth will be yours."

I nodded slowly, still not sure I believed him.

He got up and headed for the door, "Have fun on your mission! Remember to pack the rest of your stuff and- Oh...Ai-chan?"

Something changed in his tone, and I instantly found myself sitting up straighter on my bed, "Yes, sir?"

"When you come home...stop by the Alley before telling your folks you're home. And bring your body guard."

"Yes sir." I nodded stiffly.

The 'Alley' as it was called, reminded me quite strongly of Diagon Alley from Harry Potter...in a twisted kind of way. If one ignored all the classified information. Every Hidden Village had a Hidden Alley. It was a part of the village that no civilian had access to, and only shinobi knew of it's existence. In Suna, the Alley was located below the village in the catacombs.

Because Suna was in the desert, when the civilians wanted to bury their dead, we couldn't just put them under the sand, because they'd be uncovered as the winds moved the sand dunes. then we'd have corpses everywhere. So, the solution was to entomb them under the sand, in the caves and tunnels Suna had been built on top of.

What the civilians didn't know was that by using Earth jutsu, the shinobi had extended the cave network far below the catacombs and made their own sort of 'village' among the dead. Barracks meant to host the most deadly of our troops and their families were built there. Labs and bases for our darkest branches of shinobi business were hidden in the Alley so no do-gooder-without-clearance would find them. There were even shops down there, where poisons and weapons of the most deadly quality could be found.

The Alley was the sort of place Suna hid the most horrid of their secrets. The sort of secrets that made ROOT look 'kind' and Orochimaru's experiments 'mild'.

I was eight the first time Sora took me to the Alley. He'd blindfolded me so I couldn't tell anyone where it was.

Sora...was the Kage down there.

Taiki held me tightly, a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth. He'd finally calmed down enough to have a normal conversation with me. It had likely been because 'Sora' had shown up. My 'guardian angel' as Saki called him, had that sort of effect on my father. Actually...he had that effect on everyone. 'Sora' commanded attention and respect.

I often wondered why he wasn't the Kazekage, but I never asked him. He always seemed a little...frustrated when it was brought up.

"My poor Aisako-chan," he cooed, "This isn't right. Genin are supposed to be protected in times of peace...you shouldn't have a C-rank for at least a month and a half..."

"Dad, it's fine," I told him, burrowing my face into his chest and absorbing as much warmth from it as I could. I could hear his heart beating in his chest, steady and strong. I could imagine his blood, free of the curse that mine carried, flowing through his body, intertwined with -but not attached to- his chakra network. I wondered why I had the Amber Blood, but he didn't. Had he been born with the potential, and just didn't awaken it...or had he been born free of the potential as well? Did that mean I got it from Saki? Or did it just...randomly choose one of us?

"No Ai...it isn't. When I agreed to this life...one of the conditions was that my girls were treated well."

There was something broken in his tone, like he was ready to just give up. Could you blame him? he'd worked so hard to keep his end of the bargain, but the village wasn't keeping its side, and there was nothing Taiki could do about it. It wasn't like we could just pack up and run, even if we wanted to. While Taiki, Saki and Satoru would be able to fight their way to freedom, Machiko, Takeo and I were too weak to fend off anyone who came after us.

"I'm sorry." I told him. I wasn't sure what I was apologizing for. Because of me he couldn't run away? Because I couldn't be normal enough for the village to leave me be? Because if I hadn't been born at all, my parents wouldn't have been caught by Suna in the first place and forced to serve them?

His arms tightened, "It's not your fault, Ai. It's never been your fault."

I hugged him back as hard as I could, wondering why those words left such a strange feeling inside me.

"Machiko is so excited! Machiko gets to travel with Aisako-sama!" The blond girl ran around me, jumping for joy. Her blue eyes were alight with their usual obsessive light, and a grin stretched widely across her face.

"Machiko...you know you pretty much live at my house, right? This isn't going to be much different, except I'm going to be grumpier than usual," I told her, frowning as I checked through her bag at the gate. She'd packed way too much stuff. I didn't even know why she brought a photo album with her on a mission. We still had half an hour left before we were supposed to meet Carl-sensei here, so there'd be more than enough time to drop her extra shit off at my house.

Actually. I'd have to see about her getting her own place. She was legally an adult now that she had that headband on, and she made enough money to pay rent-

"Aisako-sama is never grumpy!"

"Um...Machiko. What?"

"Nope. Aisako-sama is never grumpy. Sometimes Aisako-sama is overcome by righteous fury...but never grumpy."

How...does that even work?

Shaking my head and letting the little nutbar (I'm really hoping she was always going to be like this and I didn't actually accidentally drive her to insanity) believe what she wanted to believe. I'm pretty sure I'm grumpy a lot of the time.

I think I've been permanently trapped in my Spiritual Angst stage...word of advise, don't die during your angsty phase. Die when life is good and happy. It makes the next life fantastic. Die while you're a big ball of angst and hormones?

Living hell.

Eventually, I'd finished sorting Machiko's stuff, and we snuck into my room (I'd already said good bye to my family...they didn't need to see me again). I dumped all the items she didn't need, including but not limited to: two photo albums, an Aisako-like doll, a teddy bear (she'd packed two. I let her keep one), a wind up mouse (all the gears were clogged with sand), an R-rated novel...Icha Icha wasn't the only series like it out there, a paperweight, a rubber duck, and a pair of high heels, among other things.

We returned to the gate just as Carl-sensei walked over, and Gaara appeared in a swirl of sand. The Sand instantly trailed over to me, making me freeze as it wiggled into the folds of my clothing, like it belonged there.

I turned my narrowed gaze towards Gaara, silently ordering him to get the sand off of me. Se stared back with blank seafoam eyes. The hairs on my arms stood on end as I tried desperately to ignore the sand and listen to Carl. It was hard. I knew what this sand was capable of. Everyone knew.

I wasn't Gaara's only victim.

In more detail, the mission was to take the scroll to a village near the border of Wind and River, not far from Rain. The content of the scroll was a 'news letter' of sorts to the village leader from Suna, notifying them of expected visits from nobles and merchants. This way, the village would know who was entering their village from across the border. If someone comes over from River who isn't on the list, the village is to send word immediately, so that a team can come handle the intruders.

Of course, this information was extremely valuable to people such as Spies and bandits, as it tells the bandits whenever a new target will be riding into the area. It was because of this that the mission to deliver the scroll was considered an 'upper' c-rank. If it was spies, there'd be more to worry about. if it was bandits, you still wouldn't want a group of green little genin to be- oh, wait. We were a group of green little genin, expected to protect the scroll. Haha.

Well. We were...kinda...green? I mean, the three of us weren't really to be considered the most naive or even average of our peers. We were...capable enough. Our teachers had made sure.

With all our belongings gathered, our teammates assembled, the scroll safely secured in Carl's pocket, and the team completely informed of the situation, I expected us to run out of the village all awesome and ninja-like. Instead, Carl paused right before ordering us to move out. He gave all three of us a once over before groaning.

"Did any of you bring kohl?"

Aw shit. I knew I'd forgotten to put something on.

See, in the village, most people didn't bother with lining their eyes in kohl. Since the buildings and village walls provided enough shade for the most part, most people didn't worry too much about the damage the sun could do to their eyes. Staring out over the shimmering sands of the desert, there was the ever present burn of the sun. The kohl was to protect their vision. Pirates that once existed in The Test Drive did the same to protect their eyes against the sun reflecting off the water.

It was sort of a precaution most shinobi from Suna took when traveling through Wind. most people thought it was just a cultural thing Suna did...which made it really amusing when we watched well-known shinobi from other countries come to Suna, and spend their days frequently rubbing their eyes and squinting against the sun's light.

Just saying.

When only Gaara confirmed that her had kohl, Carl gave an aggravated sigh before popping into a nearby ninja supply store, where he bought enough 'medical' kohl for Machiko, me...and himself.

When the black had been applied to our eyes, we once again stood at the gates, and set off.

There was something exhilarating about finally leaving the village.

Something about leaving Suna, on my first C-rank mission, made my heart pound. I was hit by the enormity of the situation.

I was a kunoichi. I would be leaving this village time and time again in the future, and each time I left -hell, even when I was in the village- my life would be on the line. I would be attacked by bandits. Enemy shinobi. Crazed civilians. Akatsuki. Madara.

I was in so, so much danger.

And I fucking loved it.

We ran through the desert, making sure to pace ourselves. Carl-sensei made sure we followed his directions and matched his pace. Not only did we have to be careful about how much water we consumed, or how hard we pushed ourselves, we had to watch our chakra.

Running through the desert of Wind country wasn't the same as moving across Fire. In Fire, you could either travel on the ground, or leap from branch to branch on a 'ninja highway'. Running in Wind was like constant water-walking. To make sure your feet didn't sink into the sand, you had to spread chakra from your feet, holding the grains of sand together.

Carl-sensei also knew the best route to take, which had a number of 'watering holes' so to speak. I was kinda surprised he knew where he was going. The winds usually caused the dunes to move around so much that it was impossible to keep and find landmarks.

Still, Carl seemed to know where he was going, so we were content to follow.

Although I did wish we could go a little faster. It wasn't that I was scared to be out of the village...as I said, I was more excited than anything.

My only issue was one of my teammates and his clingy-ass sand.

We stopped for the night and set up camp. Although it was lead an enemies in the area right to us, we set up a campfire anyways, using wood that sensei had packed in his bag for the very purpose of keeping us warm. like any desert, it got fucking cold at night. Not as cold as I could remember the Test Drive being, but pretty damn close to some of Halloween nights I'd been dragged out on with my mother and him.

Last Halloween I'd been to, we'd dressed up as mafia. He'd refer to me as 'boss' every other sentence, and threaten to 'ice' anyone who looked at me wrong-

Shut up.

Machiko hated the cold. She clung to me the instant we settled down for the night, eating the rations that took the place of dinner. I didn't even blink when she placed her bedroll beside mine, and ignored the way Carl-sensei raised his eyebrow at the arrangement, or how Gaara's eyes narrowed and gained that distant look that meant Shukaku was talking to him.

Ha. That's right! Be jelly that my minion gets snuggles, bitch.

We were only a few short minutes away from our destination when we were 'ambushed' by a group of bandits.

It wasn't really an ambush though. More of a massacre.

I honestly felt bad for the bastards. They had no way of knowing who we were. What we were.

We'd known they were following us. Their ragtag mishmash of steel-bamboo-leather armour clattered loudly when they moved, and they did a poor job of keeping their voices down. They'd clearly forgotten how sound could carry across the dessert.

There had been about a dozen or so of them, all hidden in the shadows of an outcropping of stone that jutted out from the sand.

As my team meandered by, pretending not to notice them, the men lunged out, giving noisy war cries as they swung at us with battered blades.

In an instant, the sand around us rose up to trap the men. Carl-sensei was barely visible as he slew three of the men in a single motion, the two kunai in his hands flashing momentarily in the desert sun. Machiko literally jumped at one man's head, her hands gripped him by the ears before she swung herself in just the right way that the man's neck 'crack'ed before he had time to register that she was on him. More sand was moving, lashing towards one man. It coiled around him and squeezed until the grains were dyed crimson and heavy with blood and guts.

I barely took a moment to notice the look of wide-eyed bloodlust on Gaara's face before I moved to join the fray.

A sword was clumsily swung at my head, and my mind blanked for the barest moment. When I 'came to' again, I was gripping the battered blade in one hand, pushing it away from myself as I stepped forwards into the man's personal space. I released the blade gripped in my left hand, and brought the wounded appendage to his chest as hard and fast as I could. My palm slapped against his un-armoured chest, and in that instant I let my chakra flare into my hand.

Suddenly, it was like the blood leaking from the wound gained a mind of its own. The blood changed colour, becoming the familiar amber shade it was feared for. Then, it shot up from my hand, forming sharp spikes that drove into the man's chest. For a moment, it appeared as though the blood had run him through. Instead, it was something much more terrifying. True, the amber blood had pierced the cloth of his shirt, and the skin of his chest, but rather than push its way through bone to reach the delicate organs enclosed in his torso, the Kohaku Dōkei dispersed throughout his blood, corrupting it as it went.

I jumped back from him then, leaving the bandit to stare at me in confusion. With a slow breath, I dragged the chakra back from the cut in my hand, up my arm to my chest and back into my heart, careful not to let any of the 'weaponized' chakra to roam my body.

Clearly, he was confused as to what I'd done. as far as he could tell, I'd somehow cut his chest...but it was shallow and rather ineffective.

"That's all ya got?" he asked, before stepping forward to swing at me again. No shinobi training.

My lips twitched as I fought the need to smirk at the man. Instead, I kept my attention on the other men. Machiko was fighting another man in hand to hand combat, taking her time as she broke his bones one by one with each swing of her tiny fists. Carl-sensei was seated atop the outcropping of rocks, watching the scene with a blank expression. Gaara was playing with another man.

The bandits continued to try and interfere with our separate 'fights' but my teammates and I refused to let them ruin our fun.

Actually. That made me think. We were all sadists...weren't we?

The bandit I was 'fighting', continued to try and hit me, but I just ran circles around him, getting him more and more worked up so his blood pumped faster through his veins. biding my time until-

He stopped moving. His eyes, grey like rain clouds, widened. In the back of my mind, I was aware of the Kohaku Dōkei inside his body. I could feel how it moved and spread, traveling with clear intent to his heart. And then, it burst.

The blood traveling through his veins, his own blood, betrayed him. It latched onto my chakra, solidifying as the chakra 'activated' until shards formed in his arteries. The shards grew and grew as more blood came into contact with them, until the chunks of amber sliced through his flesh and burst from his skin. It ripped apart his organs, and the blood that wasn't corrupted spilled from the gaping holes in his body.

The man dropped to his knees, unable to support himself.

Smiling pleasantly, I walked up to the man, gently patting his head as I stared into those cloud-coloured eyes. There was so much going on in the bandit's eyes. Pain, confusion, anger. And then there was the way the light in them was slowly, slowly dimming. Like the way glow sticks lose their light after a while. That was always the most interesting part.

It wasn't the first time I had killed someone. Years ago, when I was eight -almost nine- years old, I had sliced one man's neck from ear to ear with a shard of my own amber blood. The blood had sprayed everywhere. It stained my clothes, hair and face. It coated my arms in a warm layer of crimson.

The man's breath came out in a gurgling spray of blood, his jaw opening and closing in futile attempts to form words. He looked a bit like a fish on land. His eyes, dark and full of fear, had stared at me with so much hate. Accusatory, even. Like it was my fault he'd attacked me, and cut open my arm so my blood could run free and make a weapon for me to fight back with. My fault, not his.

I'd laughed at him, looking him right in the eyes as the light faded from them. The moon, full and bright, had illuminated everything. There was no way for me too miss a single second of his death.

I hadn't felt bad about it. Some distant part of my mind reminded me that normal people felt bad after killing someone. It told me there was something wrong with stealing away the life of another. I just couldn't care though. The act of taking a human's life was no different from the animals 'Sora' brought me during training. He'd taught me how to kill them swiftly at first, like he'd expected me to feel uncomfortable with it. Then we'd started learning how to make it painful. He said it would come in handy some day...being able to kill a person in both ways. Short and painless, and slow drawn-out torture.

Killing things never bothered me. After all, I was proof, wasn't I? That when you died, you didn't stay dead. You became something or someone else.

In fact, wasn't I doing them a favour? I knew that this world was going to turn for hell in a few years time. I knew, that many people were going to die painfully. Wasn't it better if I did it swift and efficient? I was taking them from their cruel world...and they'd end up somewhere else. Somewhere better.

When I was sure he was dead, or at the very least, seconds away, I moved on to the nearest bandit, this time pulling out a kunai.

The fight was nothing like the battle that Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura had on their first C-rank. There was no ebb and flow to the fight, no trading of barbed words and fancy jutsu.

It was just me dodging a clumsy civilian swinging a point sword, slipping under his guard, and then slashing his stomach with a kunai so that all his guts spilled out onto the sand.

We weren't...we weren't really genin, were we? I mean...we might have just graduated...but there was something wrong with this, wasn't there? I mean...Gaara hadn't moved an inch since the 'fight' began. Machiko was breaking a male adult's femur with her bard hands. And I was now standing ankle-deep in someone's intestines...

And it... It didn't even feel real.

It was too easy.

Was...was this how it really was supposed to work?

Where was the struggle? The challenge?

'Sora's' training exercises were harder than this. Satoru's workouts were more challenging. Hell. My mother's home cooked meals were harder to handle than this.

Was it...bad...that I found the entire experience to be...boring?

Disappointing.

The last bandit fell, a kunai sticking from his left eye socket. Sticking my tongue out in disgust, I walked over and retrieved the blade, taking a moment to wipe the grey-matter off of the shining metal and onto the now-dead-man's shirt. I turned back to look at the others, taking in the way Machiko's knuckles were split and there was blood matted in her hair, which was up in only one pigtail as the other had come undone at some point. A small splattered of crimson spotted her nose and forehead. She looked like a messy little kid. Which...I suppose she was.

With an odd feeling, I stuck the thumb of my uninjured hand into my water canteen as I approached her. Using the wet digit, I wiped most of the blood from her face.

"Aisako-sama?"

I blinked, pausing in my actions. Suddenly feeling embarrassed by my motherhen behaviour, I continued wiping the blood up, muttering as I did so to give myself an excuse.

"Look at you all covered in blood. Don't know where they've been. This is how people get sick. Can't be a good minion of you're dying from a blood disease."

I head Carl snicker, but ignored him. Of course he would know it was a lie. They all probably did. I was just...

I felt weird. Weirded out by how boring killing bandits turned out to be. Struck by how young Machiko looked...and suddenly aware of my own mental age. I was...nearly thirty.

Needing a distraction, my eyes moved on to Gaara and my heart froze. His sand was coiling around the corpses in the area, greedily squishing the men like pomegranate seeds in what I assumed was an attempt to get more blood from them. i didn't really care about that. What was really causing my panic was the small cut on his cheek, which leaked a tiny amount of blood.

If he realized he was bleeding-

All I could think about was Shukaku making another appearance. There was no where for me to hide if he decided to come after me and-

Waltzing up to Gaara, I ignored the way some of the sand around us fluttered in the air, like it was trying to decide to attack or not. Instead, I licked my thumb and wiped his cheek off, furrowing my brow like I was lost in thought and on autopilot.

before anything could be said, Carl hopped down from his perch, clapping his hands to get our attention. We all turned to look at him.

"Great work team! There was no team work in that whatsoever, but you all handled yourselves pretty well. Gaara...keep up the good work. Machiko, maybe end things a little more quickly. I know bones make such...funny sounds...when they break, but save that for T and I sessions, not missions. Aisako...nice maternal instincts."

"Go fuck yourself."

"Fine fine. Next time, try not to use your mutation. From what Sora and Satoru have told me, you could seriously hurt your teammates if you aren't careful with it."

Sucking the blood from my thumb, I bit back a harsh retort about how I could never get control of my limit if I never used it around other people.

With the 'discussion' done, Carl started walking again.

I was about to follow him when I realized that Gaara was staring at me.

Why was he-

Oh. Did he realize the blood was his-

Wait. Ew. I just ate Gaara's blood.

Actually.

It...didn't taste all that bad.

Still, feeling embarrassed heat crawl up my cheeks, I spun on my heel and followed after Carl and Machiko.

The village was surprisingly well to do. Or at least, it was better off than Suna had been for years now. There weren't all that many people on the streets, and their clothing looked better than a lot of people's I'd seen in the hidden village. it was likely because the villagers had the option of seeking work in other villages along the border, or even sneaking across into River for work. That and merchants came through here more often, so they could buy and sell things if they had to.

When we arrived, the villagers had all seemed to freeze, staring at us with wide eyed wonder.

It was strange though.

None of them looked at us like we were monsters. Wary, perhaps, but that was expected as they likely didn't see shinobi every day.

My eyes bounced from one person to the next, taking in how each of them looked at us with wary curiosity. My keen ears listened in to their conversations, looking for the words that would tell me what they really thought...words like 'monster' or 'demon'.

But I...couldn't hear them?

"Shinobi? Is it time for the merchant schedule already?"

"Wow! Look Dad! There are two kunoichi on that team! Can I be a kunoichi too!?"

"Yo, Kaoru, look! That one guy can control sand! Dude that's awesome!"

"They sure look young. I hope those poor dears don't get hurt."

"Think I should offer them some cookies? those poor kids are nothing but skin and bone. Need to get some sweets in them."

What the fuck was wrong with these people?

"Aw, look at the little one! She's so shy."

Wait. Little one?

Wasn't...I...the little one? Shy?! What?

Snapping back to myself, I realized that at some point...I had slipped behind Carl-sensei, and was peering around his legs to stare at the non-hostile civilian villagers in abject horror.

"Sensei...what's wrong with these people?" I asked my teacher as soon as we were in the safety of our room at the only inn in town, and settled down to enjoy our first real meal since leaving the village.

He raised a brow.

"Why are they so...so...nice?"

The tan man snickered, "Well, I assume it's because they don't know a thing about you, Gaara or Machiko, and therefore treat you like normal children."

"But it's fucking weird!"

Beside me, Machiko nodded eagerly as she dabbed ointment an old lady had given her onto her split knuckles, "Machiko isn't sure she trusts these people. Clearly they are plotting to kill Machiko and Aisako-sama."

"Then why are you using that ointment?" Carl asked her.

It was her turn to snicker, "Because it isn't poison. And if it is, Machiko has had stronger stuff in her mashed potatoes."

The teacher's face blanked, "I keep forgetting that Saki feeds her children poison on a daily basis."

"And her husband." I chimed with a sweet smile, "But don't worry, it's usually tasteless, so the food is still quite enjoyable."

Carl had the sense to lower his chopsticks and look down at his food, poking around like he thought we might have dosed it. Machiko and I shared amused looks as we continued our dinner.

After a moment, Gaara broke the silence.

"Do people still try to kill you with poison?"

I shifted awkwardly. Did he really have to bring up the fact that folks back home wanted me dead? It just made me more suspicious of the people in this village. They were just too fucking nice.

"Sometimes? I guess? I mean, nothing as strong as what Saki uses, so it's hard to notice sometimes...I think for the most part 'Sora's' men keep most of the attacks away."

"Hm." Gaara hummed to himself, eyes briefly looking to the side as he tilted his head, listening to something his 'tenant' said. Then, he put down his bowl and chopsticks and stood up. Without telling us where he was going, he headed for the door, but stopped right at the threshold. There was something more tense than usual in his posture, and when he spoke again, his voice was colder than ice.

"I've decided."

"Decided what?"

Slowly turning his head, he looked at me from over his shoulders. for a split second, I thought his eyes were gold, but the second ended and they were their usual seafoam green, "I've decided that I'll be the one to kill you."

And then he was gone in a swirl of sand. in the wake of his announcement, there was a long pause of silence before Machiko lost her shit.

While she stomped around the room screaming profanities as Gaara and his ancestors, my mind turned with panic.

I was so, so fucked.

And there we have it, my darling readers. The long awaited chapter 18. This didn't turn out at all like I originally planned, but it's been so long since I first thought it up that I've forgotten a lot of what was intended. I've decided that while the chapter is a bit rushed, I need to get back into writing and get this chapter out of the way so that I can keep going. Sorry its not as great as it should be considering the wait you all had to go through, but this is the best I can do right now.

Again, I apologize for the wait. A lot has changed in my life, and writing suddenly wasn't a priority. I'd also like to apologize for not responding to reviews as frequently.

Next chapter, we'll be returning to the village and finding out more about Ai's cult.

Also, at the end of next chapter, I'll be announcing the winner of the poll for the contents of chapter 20! This is the last chance you'll get to vote in the poll on my profile!

As it stands the vote is currently:

Machiko's POV - Not an Eyeball, or Ai-sama: 68

Saki's POV - Raising a Monster: 63

Carl-sensei's POV - Watching the Class Shrink: 54

Takeo's POV - Gaining a Sister Complex: 31

Taiki's POV - Sanity's Lifeline: 6

Flashback of the Test Drive - Shiny Red Cars: 3

Big thanks to: wyteeth, rachel. weck. 5, Sazaleli, Yuki Suou, Inti Lua, xbox432, Kragh50, bored411, JustADustOldQrow, Ankaa Sage, DannyPhantom619, Dark Rose Charm, calcu22, Rimk10, Sada Pazaki, the shadow of nature, Guest, Kiki's Stories of Awesomeness, Raikaguken, Luna Latanya, Heaven-water-sister, Bloody-Asphode11, Classically Goddess, Pinkbubble13, MangaFox1233, lillyWolt, DreamerNightingale, Gone Girl 2017, GoldenRat, twinbuster2, BubbleHearts, Yue (Guest), dancibayo, ddentler21, Guest, Noragamiwarrior, Mayacompany, Siera-Nightwalker, luckydog10heart, Sutsuko, CryingBurningLiar, SirensSingg, Draco Oblivion, Panther Hardraad, lovemeNOT (Guest), The romantic insanity, AkumaVixen, DeliciousCookie, Blackligt007, May525, LightnigJack, Juu (Guest), Ro (Guest), Jackie (Guest), Bookmeister999, justacatthatprocrastinatesalot, Guest, loves the story (Guest), and libraryrockerr for their reviews!

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