Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes or any OCCness.

Character age:

Akane, Itachi: 20

Naruto, Sasuke: 15

Shisui: 24

Kakashi: 29

"Get lost Sasuke..." I mumbled in my pillow. I heard the click of a tongue above me and I was punched on the head. I curled up in my bed, my hands on my head. "It hurts."

"It's the point, wake up." I sighed and opened my eyes before sitting up. Sasuke was next to my bed, in his pajamas and his arms crossed on his chest. A frown was marring his face.

"What's wrong for you to wake me up at..." I looked at the clock on the nightstand, in the best hotel in Suna. "Three fifty-four in the morning?"

"There was an explosion." I yawned, my brain still half asleep.

"An explosion you say?" He nodded curtly and went to the window.

"Above the Kazekage building." I shot a look at my window. There was nothing except the clear night sky. "We should ask explanations."

"No, we should go back to sleep." He spun around to look at me with wide eyes. "We have no business with Suna internal issues."

"But..."

"Sasuke," I cut him off sharply, gazing coldly at him, making him understand there was no room to argue about this. "Tomorrow morning, we will talk to them and imply things, but not tonight. If you only saw one explosion and nothing else, then situation is most likely under control."

"What makes you say it's not the Akatsuki?" he replied with disdain.

"It would still be going on and the village wouldn't be so calm. Go back to sleep."

He shot one last look outside and left, clearly angry at my reaction. I sighed once I was alone once again and looked outside too.

It was none of our business the troubles Gaara might have with his people.

However, it could quickly become ours, and I better make it clear before we leave for the desert tomorrow.

At the crack of dawn the next day, I wasn't surprised to see Sasuke standing in front of my room. I kept quiet, locked the door and left, the Uchiha falling into steps behind me. It wasn't a long walk and I pretty much ignored the guards.

"Hey, where are you goi..."

"It's fine," a bossy female voice said to the shinobi behind us. I craned my neck to have a look at the blond kunoichi. "Why are you both such in a hurry to see Gaara so early in the morning?" I smiled politely at her, all the hours of Yagura and his advisers teaching me how the politic side of our world worked coming back.

"Well, Sasuke heard something akin to an explosion last night so I told him we would ask the Kazekage today. I also have something to discuss with him." She pursed her lips while staring at me in the eyes.

"There was a test last night, nothing to worry about," she said smoothly, "but if you must talk to Gaara, then please follow me."

"Thank you."

Gaara was as stoic as ever, calmly reading a paper. He greeted us and once Temari was gone, I walked up to his desk. I was very close to lean on it, but refrained myself.

"I won't be long. For having served a jinchuriki as a Kage I know people aren't usually fond of obeying a 'monster' like they call them. I have no interests in Suna internal issues right now, nor do I care about your motives for the Chuunin Exams. But I care about the bijuus not falling into the wrong hands. I do not wish to overstep my boundaries and create conflicts with Suna, but remember I won't hesitate to do it if I see it is necessary, with the Kazekage's authorization or not." From the look in his eyes, he was taking me seriously. "You're young and still inexperienced, so trade carefully. I don't want it to turn ugly." I stepped back. "Alright, that's all I wanted to say, please don't forbid us to come and watch the show."

"We're leaving at one in the afternoon," he stated flatly. I bowed quickly and left with Sasuke. Once we were out of the building, I sighed, a hand on my heart.

"I really thought he would kick us out at some point, knowing technically we're done here."

"You've talked to the Kazekage as if he were a child," Sasuke told me in a deadpan. "It could have been a lot worse."

"I know, but he may be your age, he's playing with the big boys now and knows it. He has his village best interests at heart, but we're here for something bigger than just a village and he knows it. I get he wanted to hide it from us, but now we know about it..." I looked up at the sunny sky. "It sucks." I turned my face to him. "Sorry about last night, if you thought I didn't care about what you said, but we have to trade carefully too."

"I know," he retorted flatly. He sighed and looked away. "It angered me, your lack of reaction, when it shouldn't have." I chuckled.

"Sometimes I make mistakes too, usually people love pointing at them." I smirked at him. "Actually, you do too." He closed his eyes.

"Someone has to tell you if your choice in men is terribly awful." Just wait for it… "I mean, nii-san wouldn't look at you like a piece of meat." Well...old Itachi certainly didn't hide it when he wanted to have some fun...and he would plead his causes with good arguments too. Before I knew it, Sasuke made a sound of disgust. "Shit, stop reading the same books as Kakashi, I don't need to know that." Then, he seemed to think about something. "It's not fair to know this kind of things about him but he doesn't about you."

"And he's not about to!" I cried out with a red face.

There was no need for anyone to know Itachi in every day life and Itachi in bed were two, very, utterly and completely different men.

We were included in the Kazekage's security. It was silent, although I was focused on my manuscript. I took Jiraya-san's advice and started a book, or at least a draft of what would be a story. It was a story about two boys in a village. One was bright and alone. The other was gloomy but had his family. But one day, they disappeared. So, the gloomy boy went to look for them, in a dark, dark forest. The bright boy, his best friend, kept telling him it was not the right path, but the gloomy boy would not listen to him and kept going further in the dark forest. Hopefully, the bright boy caught him before he fall to a certain death at a cliff he had not seen because of the darkness of the forest.

It was just the rough plot of the story, I still had not found the names yet, but I liked it. I was writing the different stages of the story for now. Honestly, with how I was formulating things, it would end up as a children story, but I didn't mind.

The trip to the place of the Second Stage of the Exams was a few hours long and we arrived when the sun was down. We were led to a building, apparently just for the jounins and people supervising the Exams.

"How does it feel to be with the adults?" Sasuke didn't even look at me, just at the building in front of ours from where lights were coming.

"Next time I'll probably be back in the genin section, I really don't care right now." I raised my brows when I caught a glimpse of pink through the window.

"Do you want to say 'hi'? You can if you want to." He kept staring in front of him and slowly gazed at me.

"She needs to focus on the Exams, I would just distract her." He blushed slightly when I smirked. "And anyway, I have something to do and I can't let them distract me either."

"Right… 'them'." He glared.

"Just shut up already." I laughed, patted him on the shoulder. I was about to walk away to go to my room when there were screams outside. Shooting a glance through the window, I saw a giant scorpion holding three people, Sakura included. "Crap, Sa..." I grabbed him by the shoulder. "I need to..."

"Sasuke shut up and watch," I snapped back at him. There was...something, another chakra. "Watch." I dug my nails in his shoulder when he started fidgeting. He started to bare his teeth at me, ready to bark something at me but the scorpion was killed. "See." I squinted to have a good look at the person on top of the giant insect. Kunoichi, green hair.

It was all I needed to know.

"That's the girl," I stated sternly.

"You could have said you felt someone coming," he hissed at me under his breath.

"Maybe you should analyze a situation calmly before trying to dive into the danger like that. I'm not saying you would have lost," I added when I saw his mouth opened to reply, "but that you tend to be like me when I was younger." He snorted in disdain.

"Like what?"

"Good at making decision that saves your life at the moment without thinking of the long-time effect. Sasuke, just...I don't want to fight with you right now. You said you didn't want to distract them, then you need to keep your word and keep your distances."

I left him alone. These Chuunin Exams might be harder that expected. I thought he would be fine with having people he knew so close and that he would stay calm but…

I sighed.

It wasn't as if I wouldn't act the same but…

Before I went to bed, someone knocked on my door. I opened and blinked in surprise at Temari.

"I'm sorry, I know it's late but can we talk for a moment?" I stepped aside to let her in. She seemed nervous, and she turned toward me immediately after the door was closed and I was leaning on it. "I'm worried about Gaara."

"I am not planning on sticking my nose in your political problems." She clicked her tongue.

"I know that, I know what you told Gaara this morning Akane." No honorific? "He...Kankurō and I are worried, there is already the problem of the Akatsuki, but Gaara wants to be the bait to lure the rebels out. There was an assassination attempts last night already!" She was frustrated, but not at me.

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"You said the only reason you would intervene, with or without Gaara's consent, was if Shukaku was at risk of being taken away, right?" I nodded quietly and she looked at me with determination. "Gaara has not always controlled Shukaku, you're already aware of this. Now he's the Kazekage, trying to extract it from him could be a possible way to get rid of him." I frowned.

"Do you guy have such a technique, for you to be so sure of your words?"

"You, more than anyone, should know we are pretty good at fuinjutsu." I sighed.

"Yep I know." I raised my eyes to the ceiling. "Is there any team from Ame?"

"Wh...what does this have to do with anything I've just said!?"

"Temari, answer me." She scowled at me.

"One."

"Got it. How easily can we sneak in the exam then?" She blinked in surprise at me.

"You..."

"But you do know Sasuke and I are both from different villages. We could create a huge diplomatic incident if we're discovered, and you could be accused of treason for seeking our help." She pursed her lips.

"I know all of this, but Gaara is my little brother and is taking too many risks." I chuckled.

"Well, I couldn't agree more on the risks he's taking."

"I will signal you when you can go in the desert." Then, she raised a brow at me. "However, is it true you don't handle the heat very well?"

"Well yeah...but I can figure something out to counter it...although it might be chakra consuming, but I shouldn't stay too long in it, right?" She just stared. "Right?"

"Right," she whispered quietly with a smirk. I gaped at her.

"Temari!" She laughed and left, the door pushing me against the wall when she opened it.

At least, Sasuke would be glad to have some action.

"He didn't."

"Wait, what? Kakashi's an awesome tracker and he didn't even teach his students to hide?" Sasuke shrugged.

"You can make it sound as ridiculous as you wish, I don't remember doing more than what we were taught at the Academy. Sakura was good at making things to cover up our smell, and with Naruto discretion has never really been...there." I sighed. "I have my seals though, and I remember our classes on survival in extreme climatic conditions in the Academy, and yours and Dai's lessons on infiltration."

"Yeah but...come on Kakashi..." I mumbled in despair.

"We're here," Temari announced us at a gate. It was smaller and hidden from sight. "Once you're inside, just...don't die and don't be seen."

"Got it, thanks for the help."

"Don't thank me, it could very well be the last time we see each other," she replied sternly. I shrugged.

"Sure. Sasuke." He turned his eyes to me.

"You take care of Gaara, I keep an eye on Ame. No intervention unless if we're attacked." I smiled at him.

"Let's go."

Why keeping an eye on Ame? Although the girl was probably a jinchuriki, Ame was the HQ of the Akatsuki. This team...it was too fishy to leave them alone. It was better to keep an eye on the possible kidnappers than the kidnapped one.

As we ran, Sasuke and I shared a look, nodded at each other and both went on our side.

Honestly? I wasn't worried about Sasuke one bit.

I was running and sensing at the same time. However, it wasn't long until I spotted a huge brown cloud in the distance. From the look of it, it was a sandstorm. It seemed extremely violent too. I stopped running and expended my sensing as much as I could as the storm was not coming toward me, even though I could feel grains of sand flying in my face.

I couldn't sense anyone. The one thing I was feeling for sure was the dose of chakra in the storm. I couldn't sense in a huge range, only within a radius of two kilometers, but almost nothing escaped me because of Naoto's fussy nature. Right now though, it was the opposite. The storm was farther than two kilometers from me, yet it was the only thing I could sense.

I didn't like that at all. The thing was, it was still the Chuunin Exams and I was not going to make a move without any certainty.

The storm lasted for a little while. Not very long, about ten minutes, but for a jutsu this impressive to hold on for ten minutes was quite a feat in itself. I started running again the opposite direction of the storm but stopped when I saw a beam of red light.

Red chakra.

I changed direction and ran to it, hopping I wouldn't be too late. What a surprise it was to see everything seemed to be under control thanks to Team Gai. They all talked and went separate ways, leaving Gaara on his own.

"Akane-san," he called me without sparing me a look. I left the comfort of my hiding spot behind a rock and joined him.

"Can I have ten seconds to come up with a good story or…?"

"There is no need, I knew you would infiltrate the exam anyway."

"Heh, really? Wait, does it have anything to do with Naruto?" I sighed when he nodded. "But we're really not..."

"The methods may be drastically different," the Kazekage told me, making a seal with his fingers, "but the intentions do not differ that much. If you excuse me, I have something to discuss with the responsible of this situation." I nodded and looked up at the sky.

Sasuke was fine, I was sure of it, but a little part of me still worried.

After a couple of minutes, Gaara sighed and looked at me.

"There shouldn't be any problems anymore. Follow me, we'll go back to the Tower." I walked up to him and yelped when I was in the air on a platform of sand. I sat down immediately when it started moving. "What about Sasuke Uchiha?"

"I sent him to keep an eye on the team from Ame." Gaara kept staring in front of him. "So, the Exams now?"

"I'm going to cancel them. You will go to the point you entered the desert to wait for Sasuke."

"Yes Kazekage-sama," I said quietly. "What about the girl?"

"She is a jinchuriki, I will arrange a meeting before their departure." I blinked in surprise.

"Oh...oh okay, thanks."

Hum...something told me he had planned this long ago.

When we arrived, I was showed the direction I had to take to go to the entrance we used. I left without further ado. The surprise was, Sasuke was actually waiting for me.

"How come I keep arriving late?" I muttered under my breath as Sasuke jumped from his rock to the ground. "So?"

"Nothing weird, they're at the Central Tower. You?" I waved him off and he raised a brow.

"Let's just say Gaara succeeded in his risky plan and I didn't do anything. He said he'll arrange a meeting with Fū." He shot me a look of disbelief. "I'll tell you later, just keep in mind Team Gai is pretty good. I bet Neji will be more than just a chuunin, he handled the whole thing with an impressive cool head.

"Hyuuga huh..." he snorted in disdain. I rolled my eyes at the rivalry between Uchihas and Hyuugas Sasuke was showing right now. "What do we do now?"

"Don't know...someone will come to get us? Or I know the way to the Tower, so we can just go..." I sighed when he was already walking away in the desert. I ran to him. "At least, wait for me."

Her face went from cheerful to grave in the split of a second. Chōmei was pretty cool and had a good relationship with Fū as the conversation was more between the three of us unlike the other jinchurikis so far. Even with Yagura, he spoke first and then I spoke with Isobu. Her cheerfulness reminded me of Naruto.

Sasuke was wandering around somewhere as I was alone in a room with Gaara and Fū. The two jounins with her were not happy to leave her alone with us, especially me because it seemed I had a great reputation now.

Who knew, I was fine confined in my country.

"I see, so you're traveling to tell all of us?" I nodded.

"I still have Matatabi and Gyūki to talk to, I'm keeping Kurama for last." I had to find a way to explain Naruto why I could talk to the bijuus like I could. "Do you think I could have a word with your Kage? Or Chief, I don't know."

"Sure! Shibuki won't turn you down if it's about my safety!" I smiled at her enthusiasm. "You'll travel with us, it's going to be so cool! We can tell scary stories around a fire at night!" I blinked, taken back by her cheerfulness.

"Sure." She beamed at me and took my hands in hers.

"You must have gone on a lot of adventures too Akane-san, you have to tell me!" I smiled at her, slightly uncomfortable with so much attention.

"Ye...yeah, if you want to."

"I will talk to the jounins," Gaara told us as he left the room. I was grateful for him convincing the two others, but...he was totally leaving me alone with Fū on purpose. Was it his way to tell me I shouldn't have infiltrated the exams and trusted him instead?

Once this matter was settled, the jounins looking at me with distrust, I went to find the others, the girl tagging along and telling me how her aim had been to make a hundred friends.

Not gonna lie, I was relieved when I spotted Sasuke in the distance. However, as I got closer and closer, I tilted my head when I noticed the pink-haired girl with him.

"Ah, Akane-sensei, hi!" she greeted me with a smile. I smiled back and shook my head.

"You don't even need an honorific Sakura," I told her, quickly looking at her up and down. Her outfit had not changed that much from what I knew of old Sakura. She just had long baby pink gloves, reaching her elbows. It was thicker around her wrist and I quickly noticed what looked like syringes under it. "How's Tsunade-san been treating you?"

"Good, Shizune-san has been teaching me a lot about poisons too." Right, she used something like that against Haku, didn't she? "Sasuke-kun told me you have been traveling a lot?"

"Yeah," I confirmed, pulling on Sasuke's cheek. "In a year maximum I'm giving it back to you guys."

"'It'?" Sasuke repeated as he removed my hand. I sighed.

"What can I say, you were cuter as a child." Sakura chuckled.

"I hope you'll bring back something for Mikoto-san, Sasuke-kun." He sighed.

"I'll try to think about it. Don't tell her you told me this, she won't forget and if I do I won't hear the end of it." I laughed at that and brought the now silent Fū in front of me.

"We're going to Taki next, with Fū's team. This is Sasuke, my apprentice and little brother." I didn't miss the satisfaction in his eyes at 'little brother'.

"Nice to meet you!" He looked at her weirdly and shot me a look.

"Too cheerful."

"You're the one not cheerful enough!" The Taki kunoichi replied. I took a step back and Sakura did the same.

"Akane-san."

"Yes?"

"Thank you," she whispered, a gentle gaze on Sasuke. "He's...he seems in better spirits, like he found a path he wants to follow." I smiled softly.

"Well...he grew up. He hasn't found that path yet, but I have a feeling he should have found it once he's back in Konoha." As he started to bicker with Fū, much like how he would do with Naruto, I couldn't help but feel my heart warming up at the sight. "He's always been a good kid, just too easily-influenced."

"I know," she confessed quietly, "there's always been something about Sasuke-kun that made me think he could make a bad choice one day, and it was even clearer once he got that mark. Kiri...seemed to have helped him." I hummed.

"I guess."

After quick goodbyes, we left too. Although the jounins wouldn't say a word to us, Fū was good at making the conversation.

We left with an easy mind, and for me a promise to spar with Temari the next time we would see each other.

Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to mikan26 for the review! I'm currently dealing with applying to different master degrees, I wanna kill myself. But, I've seen Avengers Endgame. Beautiful, just...beautiful. Thor's as hot as ever.

Bye!