4| Catching up

Kaiya pursed her lips as she watched how the old woman think.

People have brought the kidnapped Kazekage, Gaara as others knew him, on a meadow, where he would be later confirmed dead. For a fact, death had no reverse- or so she thought.

'I had sinned many times in my life- it should be about time that I do something good.' Chiyo mumbled, as she looked at the red-haired boy. 'This world has changed a lot, anyway.'

She put her hands over the boy's chest and, in just moments, medical-nin chakra appeared from under her hands and went into Gaara's body. As she did that, Kaiya couldn't help but hear a conversation from behind her.

'He... he isn't a jinchuriki anymore, is he?' Someone asked.

'I don't think so.' Somebody else answered. 'The Akatsuki only wanted the Tailed Beast.'

'Shukaku?' The first one asked.

'Mhm. Wonder what kind of wicked plan they have.'

At this moment, Chiyo sighed as the chakra flow interrupted. She looked up to Naruto. 'Naruto, was it? Please help me with some chakra.'

Naruto obliged immediately, with a gulp. He put his hands over Chiyo's hands and, soon the chakra flow began running at a rather quick, large flow.

'I don't understand- what kind of jutsu is this?' Kaiya murmured.

'It's a reanimation jutsu. A forbidden one that'll bring him back to life.' Tenten explained, standing next to her.

'I get that, but... at what cost?'

'Her own life.'

The way that the girl stated it in such a matter-of-factly took Kaiya aback for a moment, making her look at the girl, who honestly didn't seem very unsettled.

'What?' Tenten asked, noticing her teammate's look. 'I once read about this jutsu.'

'Hm.' Kaiya hummed, returning her attention back to the old lady.

After a couple of minutes, Chiyo took her hands away and laid back, relying on someone behind her. Naruto took his hands away and watched focused on how Gaara opened his eyes, a little weakened. In realisation, everyone cheered happily- their kazekage lived.

While many people cheered and came to greet Gaara, a few still remained away- while their Kazekage returned to life, the old lady Chiyo was dead.

'She's... She's dead, isn't she?' Gaara asked, looking at Chiyo.

'Yes.' Kaiya said, a little absent. 'But... it is for the greater good, I suppose.'

'Hey Kaiya.' Neji said, catching the girl's attention. 'Can you see her spirit?'

As a few people raised questions, Kaiya shook her head lightly. 'No. She may need some time in the other world to rest before she can come back.'

'I don't think I understand.' Gaara's older sister, Temari, asked. 'Could you elaborate, please?'

'Chiyo-sama is old.' Kaiya stated. 'She had a long life and she must be tired. Many people need to rest for a while before they can return in their spirit form.'

'That seems logical, but I still-' Temari said, confused.

'She can see the dead.' Neji cut her off. 'It's something in her Kekkei Genkai.'

Temari blinked in surprise. 'Is that so? And you can see anyone who's dead?'

'As far as I know, yes.' Kaiya shrugged.

Temari looked at the girl in surprise as she muttered something in amazement, before shrugging it off and going to her brother.

For now, they were all glad that they got their leader back.

As she walked through the Sand that evening, Kaiya took her time to admire the surroundings- it was a whole different architecture, and she couldn't say that she had a particular like for the high temperature or the sand covering the nation.

On the other hand, she liked having a walk to clear her thoughts, and when would she get the chance to walk again freely around a neighbouring country without being seen as the enemy? To put it simply, probably never again.

As she walked, a familiar face walked down the street the opposite way. At her sight, the other person's eyes jolted open in surprise, before hurrying her way.

'Good evening, Temari-san.' Kaiya greeted, startled by the young woman's approach.

'Good evening.' Temari responded. 'I didn't get the chance to thank you for helping with saving my brother, so I wanted to do it now.'

Kaiya smiled, as she relaxed her muscles. 'No problem- I'm glad I could help.'

Temari let out a light sigh of relief- she was glad that there were no complications that involved extra compliments.

'So, I see you enjoy walks as well?' She asked, as she placed herself next to Kaiya, allowing them to start walking.

'Yeah, it helps me relax and clear my thoughts.' Kaiya responded with a nod. 'What about you?'

'Same goes for me. Ever since Gaara's become Kazekage, Kankuro and I had been doing our best to help him but it's so stressing! Who knew being an advisor is so hard?'

'It's normal to have it like that. He's your brother, so of course, you're worried. I have a younger brother- no, two younger brothers myself, so I know the struggle.'

'Really?' Temari asked, interested. 'What are they like?'

'Well, my younger brother Jun, he's the middle child. He was always a funny guy to be around, and he was really kind. I can't really remind fighting with him much.'

'I'm sorry, but can I ask a question?' Temari interrupted, a little worried.

'Sure.' Kaiya said, expectantly. 'Shoot the question.'

Temari gulped, nervously. 'Why are you referring to your brother with the past tense? Did... Did something happen to him?'

Kaiya bit her lip for a moment. 'Yeah. He got killed when he was seven while hunting.'

Temari's eyes widened, her lips moving for a few moments without making a single sound.

'I'm sorry for your loss. It must be horrible.' She eventually said.

'Thanks. It was hard, but I learned to cope with it, so it's better now.'

Temari let out a small smile out. 'I'm glad to hear. How's your other brother doing?'

'Oh, he's fine.' Kaiya assured, relaxing Temari. 'His name is Kouta, he's the youngest, and he's really energic. He always has good intentions, but he really likes pissing me off when he's bored.'

Temari snorted. 'My brother Kankuro does that too.'

'I think it's a universal thing amongst younger siblings- their main goal is to annoy the older ones.' Kaiya joked, managing to make Temari escape a laugh.

For a few moments, there was silence.

'Say, Kaiya, is it true that you're Kakashi's kid?' Temari asked, taking all her courage to do so. 'I heard some rumours about it.

'Mhm. I'm his daughter- that one's a fact.' Kaiya confirmed.

'Granny Chiyo said something on it as well, but I don't really trust rumours, y'know?' Temari told her. 'But how comes nobody knew anything about you?'

'He had me at 14, my mother and her clan live out of the land of Fire, and Kakashi told nobody about me. Nobody knew about me until my mother came along.'

'Really?' Temari asked, and Kaiya nodded. 'Interesting.'

Around this time, they reached the main building, which also provided a couple of bedrooms, two or three which welcomed Konoha's Team 7 and Team Guy. The two girls entered the building, where they were welcomed by cool air.

'Thanks again for helping with my brother.' Temari said, 'It was nice chatting with you.'

'See ya!' Kaiya responded before both of them left separate ways.

In a few minutes of walking through hallways, Kaiya finally reached the final floor, where her and her team's assigned bedroom was lying. Having no key with her, she knocked at the door, which opened very quickly by Tenten.

'Where were you?' Tenten said, rubbing her eyes. 'It's already 11 pm, we were worried...'

Kaiya laughed dryly. 'Sorry 'bout that.'

She was welcomed in the apartment and, after bidding everyone good night, she laid in one of the bunker beds and attempted to sleep. Unluckily for her, although tired, sleepiness didn't decide to pass by her just yet.

After about 30 minutes of waiting for sleep to arrive, she gave up for the moment and opted for something else she tiptoed out of her bed, opened the window, and crawled on the roof.

She rested her back against the roof, took a deep breath and looked around. The Sand village had a very beautiful view at night and, with the quiet, natural ambience running through it, it was very calming.

After what seemed to be 10 minutes, some light footsteps from inside the bedroom caught Kaiya's attention. Seconds later, a hand could be seen at the end of the roof, then 2 hands, and just moments later, someone was lying next to Kaiya.

'It's quite a view, huh?' Lee asked, looking at the village.

'It is.' Kaiya said with a sigh. 'You can't sleep either?'

'Mh-hm.' Lee shook his head. 'I really wanted to talk to you.'

'Really?' Kaiya narrowed her eyebrows. 'About what?'

'Everything. Everything that has happened to each other in the last 3 years while you were gone. We can catch up about what we both missed.'

Kaiya looked at the boy and couldn't help but smile. Something about the boy felt quite reassuring and trustable. It was a nice feeling, she thought.

'Well, then,' she said, 'where do I start?'

'Why don't you start with the way home?' Lee suggested. 'After you left Konoha.'

Kaiya smiled. 'Alright. Well, it was a bit of a walk, but nothing I can't do. My mother was really happy to have me with her.'

'And the rest of your family?' Lee asked.

'Hm? Oh yeah. Well, they were surprised and showed signs of happiness, but nothing too elaborate. I mean, my aunt Ichika- the Alpha or the leader of the family gave me a welcome but that would be it. You should've seen my brother and father, though. They were ecstatic. My brother wouldn't let go of me and my dad took a week or two off from hunting just to stay home to spend time with me and catch up with me.'

'They must really love you, then.' Lee said. 'But how could they not? You're family.'

Kaiya looked at the boy and remembered how he had no living relatives, as far as he knew.

'Well, true, but not always.' Kaiya told him, softly. 'My cousin Taka, Ichika's son, he acted like I was never gone, y'know? I mean, we spend a lot of time training as kids and even now we'd do so much out of obligation, but y'know. A simple 'How you've been?' would've been nice, I guess.'

Lee thought. 'Yeah, it would've been nice. What do you mean that you two trained out of obligation?'

'My aunt wants her son to be the next Alpha, and a damn strong one. My mum wants me to stand a chance against Taka for the post as Alpha, and my aunt and my mom both thought it's a good idea for us to fight against each other and everything.' Kaiya explained. 'Honestly, I don't really care much for that post as Alpha. Heck, I can't take care of myself properly, how am I supposed to take care of an entire clan?'

'I see.' Lee pursed his lips. 'It's a reasonable point to not become a leader.'

'But enough of me. What happened to you in the past years?' Kaiya asked, changing the subject.

'Training, missions... A few unsuccessful exams.' Lee said. 'It was kinda boring after you left.'

Kaiya's heart missed a beat or two making her cheeks warm-up, for reasons she couldn't really understand. 'Boring? Please elaborate.'

'I don't know.' Lee shrugged. 'I guess the whole mystery around who you really were brought a lot of interesting attempts to find out more. But your persona also helped much, I guess. You know how to keep things interesting.'

'Hm.' Kaiya hummed, thoughtfully- she sure didn't hear that one before.

'Why are you red?' Lee asked, looking at the girl.

Oh, um, the heat.' Kaiya lied quickly, in realisation. 'I'm not really used to such high temperatures.'

Lee blinked a few times, in thought. He could tell that the girl was lying, but he didn't want to push it- he knew for a fact that the girl didn't like when people do so.

'Then we should go inside.' Lee suggested.

Kaiya nodded. 'Fine.'

Neither of them had anything better to say, and this was the best way to finish the conversation. They got up and entered the room, careful not to wake anyone up.

Kaiya took her place in her bed and, after a few moments of finding a comfortable position, she fell asleep near instantly. As for Lee on the other hand, although tired, he wanted to process everything that the girl said. Unlike the old Kaiya he knew, he saw her vibe more relaxed and open.

Honestly, it was just then that it occurred to Lee about how he thought of Kaiya- whenever he talked to her, he couldn't help but smile at her and pay all the attention he had to what she said, and get this warm, fuzzy feeling when he thought of her.

Weird, he thought. Maybe he could as Guy-sensei about this- he would surely know how to help him.

A/N

Hello, everyone! How's it going?

Ok, wow, a 2.2K worth chapter in what? 2 and a half days? I'll be honest with y'all- I didn't plan this chapter to be out so early, but here we are. I have plenty of free time in my hands and I have nothing better to do, so I wrote, and wrote, and wrote. Am I happy with this chapter? Yes. Yes I am.

This chapter may seem like filler, but I really wanted to write this chapter and tbh I really had fun writing it. I managed to bring to light some secondary characters and I managed to help you readers know somewhat more about what happened to Kaiya, because I think that her backstory and all that is still a little vague to y'all. What do y'all think?

-Avery