©2007 Ekonika (S.N.R.)

Disclaimer: I…Just…Saw… the-ninja-clash-in-the-land-of-snow-movie-and-it-was-awesome-and-I-can't-wait-to-see-it-again-because-of-course-I-watched-it-both-times-and-it-was-awesome-but-the-princess-got-on-my-nerves-a-bit, and… and… Yay. Loved it. Except for the commercials. Well, this chapter will be good to begin with, and only get better. I don't own Naruto.

Me notes: (I be Irish fer a bit, with respect ter me ol' buddie, who be movin' ter elsewhere.) If ye want ter be seein' the next Chappie, ye better be reviewin'! I kin read it meself, don't ya know, I needen't upload it fer ye all. I shall be postin' new Chappies after I get three reviews per chappie. If ye be one te be reviewin, an ol' Irish blessing upon ye:

For every wound, a balm.

For every sorrow, a cheer.

For every storm, a calm.

For every thirst, a beer!

Now, I'm not drinking age or anything, nor 'ave I ever tasted a beer (…), but there ye 'ave it. Enjoy!

Chapter 14: Battle Strength

The soft rustling of covers almost echoed in the stillness as Yasu rolled over and blinked until the bright blue eyes swam into focus. She stared at them for a while, content, and sat up, rubbing her head. Naruto sat up next to her, and they didn't seem to mind that they had been in the same bed. After all, nothing had happened, and it was great to wake up and see your favorite set of eyes looking at you. Yasu quickly prepared for her day, hardly looking up when Naruto walked past her, wearing only night-shorts. She finished in the bathroom and passed Naruto on her way out of it. Well, she would have passed him, but they took the same path, and were half-asleep.

Yasu put her hands up to keep from crashing too hard into Naruto, and he caught her arms. They looked at each other for a second, and Yasu took a deep breath to steady herself from the sudden strong sadness. She wrapped her arms around Naruto's bare torso, and he hugged her back, concerned.

'What is it, Yasu?'

'Nothing… I… … I just will miss the village for a while. No, not so much the village… Akira. And you.' Naruto tightened his grip slightly and rocked back and forth in what he hoped was a comforting way. Yasu felt off-put with the rocking, so she slowly adjusted it so it was soothing. They stood, content for the moment, in each others' arms. Yasu sighed and they dropped their arms. The sky outside turned grey, and a large black silhouette stood in the window.

Akira came inside, having gone out early already. He nuzzled Yasu and she carefully pet and brushed him. When Naruto finally came out of the bathroom, they were all fully awake. Yasu had all of her travel stuff packed, and in a backpack. She lifted it onto Akira's back and sent him around to meet Naruto and herself in front of the building. His head lowered, he obliged.

Naruto walked alongside Yasu through the hall way, and found her hand. He squeezed it reassuringly, and Yasu smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. When they arrived out front, Akira stood gloomily on the side, senses knowing what was going on.

'I'm not going away forever, I know, but I still won't like leaving you two.'

'I'll miss you too.'

'Don't worry, I'll be good for the tailed one.' Akira said, and Yasu was confused. Tailed one? Naruto didn't have any tails. He also looked like he hadn't heard Akira's words. She forgot it and mounted Akira, determined to enjoy the ride. Naruto swung up behind her. He wrapped his arms around Yasu, with slight hesitation. Yasu thought he must still be expecting to be punched, but, really, it was what cheered her up the most. He put his head on her shoulder and snuggled against her. She felt a cool shiver run up her spine, and leaned back into Naruto's embrace. She hugged Naruto's arms that reached around her chest.

The briefing area came closer, but they were still a few blocks away. She suddenly felt strong confliction behind her that went deeper than shyness. Naruto leaned forward and tentatively kissed Yasu. He pulled back slowly, content, but Yasu felt something lingering on his mind. She could hardly think about it, though, because where the corner of his lips brushed hers, it tingled with fiery intensity, making her head light. Before she could reply at all, they came upon the briefing area.

They came upon the briefing area on a prancing stallion, flustered. Yasu dismounted after Naruto, and he helped her down. They didn't avoid each other's eyes, but glanced quickly away. Yasu slung her pack on her back and walked up to Tsunade, trailed by her best friends, the two she loved. (Not IN love, she just loved them. DIFFERENCE! You know, Naruto's love for his friends/teachers that confounds Gaara… speaking of him…)

"Great timing Yasu. Your client is ready to go. Any questions? Ask now, before we send him in." Yasu felt Naruto stiffen as Tsunade said 'he'. Tsunade continued before Yasu could sort out a concern.

"You will be on the road for four days, traveling at about horseback pace, then you will spend a week at your destination, assisting there, and then guarding on the way back. Sleeping arrangements have been provided by your client; you'll have a tent that's weather resistant. For food, whatever you catch on the road, and meals will be provided mostly at the destination. You will be accompanied by three other shenobi. That is, not including your client himself. They've already been briefed. However, they won't be able to accompany you the whole way; two will take you halfway where you will meet up with the third. Well, that's food, shelter, and who you'll be traveling with. Pay is irrelevant, but you'll receive 30,000 yen (About $250.00. A LOT). Send in the Client and the others!"

Yasu turned towards a door that slid open easily, and standing there was Gai-sensei. Naruto grew angry and Yasu held him back with a soft touch to his chest, although she wasn't pleased at all. Gai, however, walked through the doorway and out of the room. Akira huffed in surprise, and Yasu looked back at the doorway. Gaara stood there for a second, then walked up to Yasu. She felt she was being inspected, although Gaara only watched her face. She was soon sure of it.

"You've gotten enough rest. That's good." On either side of Gaara in the doorway Shikamaru and Temari appeared. They approached Yasu and looked her over.

"This is the one we have to drag along?" Temari said, but Shikamaru seemed almost pleased. Naruto stood still, and Yasu had to turn to him to see he was happier than he'd been with Gai, but mostly impartial.

'Is there something wrong?' Yasu asked him.

'Nah, I just didn't think it'd be Gaara. Well, at least you'll be safe from most shenobi, especially if you stick close to him.'

'Why? What's his specialty?'

'His sand is an auto-shield. You won't have much to do.' Yasu felt Naruto relax, and cautiously viewed Gaara and the female sand ninja. She inspected Temari, seeing her as a strong individual, with a lot of intelligence; a match for Shikamaru, surely. They did seem to enjoy each other's company. Temari seemed to see something she liked; she grinned, and a laugh escaped her lips.

"Look at you, Naruto! Almost acting like a normal person! Is this your doing, Yasu?" Yasu considered it. Had Naruto changed? A little, she supposed.

"Well, you'll have plenty of time to get acquainted on the road. Don't be late; say your farewells, Yasu." Tsunade interrupted, ushering them out for the next mission.

Once at the gate, Yasu hugged Naruto, then Akira, and lingered with her horse. She hadn't been separated from him since she found him. Sure, she'd been away, but not where she wouldn't be able to reach him. She patted Akira on the neck, and he neighed after her, but Yasu kept her face bright and happy: a shenobi shouldn't show emotion. She looked back once, and Naruto sat on top of the village gates. The sun had just come up, and the light made Naruto almost glow with the warm light. He waved frantically, as if she wouldn't see him, but she waved back. Akira reared and neighed, saying bye in his own terms. She grinned and turned back to her mission.

"So, Yasu. How have you been?" Shikamaru spoke.

"Pretty good, actually. I've been training, and I've mastered a couple new techniques. Also, I'm starting to develop my own jutsu; so far, I've only learned some simple things, like transforming into an animal instead of a person."

"Sounds good… just don't get carried away with the jutsu's power; I remember someone who had. Luckily, the village was able to take him out. He did manage to do a great deal of damage, even killing the Third Hokage. He's not exactly dead, just… he can't do jutsu anymore. Gone, as they say. Maybe they've finished him off. Have you learned anything else? New techniques? I'm curious to see how you'd do in a real battle."

"Oh, in a real battle I'll be fine, as long as my opponent is a chunin. I don't know how I'd do against a jonin or higher. But, I've been considering… studying med. I've always sort of wanted… to be able to heal." She said it with difficulty, remembering her past. "I have the basics down, but I know there's got to be something I can do with chakra." Temari looked over at Yasu from the other side of Shikamaru. Gaara walked ahead a few steps, and looked back, out of the corner of his eye.

"Don't you know your Hokage is a medical specialist?" Temari asked, and Gaara faced forwards again. Yasu lowered her head.

"I… I didn't know. I wasn't planning on staying long, but I guess I should have known, huh?" Shikamaru laughed and Temari brightened.

"Well, it's good you don't pretend to know what you don't. People like that get on my nerves." We walked in silence for a while, and Yasu sensed her intelligence was inferior to the others'. It made her a little uneasy, but overall she was alright. It was noon when Temari called a lunch break, and they stopped off at the side of the road. Yasu sat, Shikamaru on her right, Temari on the other side of him, and Gaara on her right.

Yasu took out some sushi and onigiri from her pack, and began eating. She tensed as Gaara reached across her lap and took one of her onigiri. He started eating, and for some reason she was too surprised to be upset. Then she realized: Gaara was eating. She watched curiously for a minute before returning to her own food. Temari and Shikamaru also seemed to notice Gaara's odd behavior, and were staring at him over their lunches. He paid no attention to them and finished the onigiri. He remained seated and waited for the others.

When they were on the road again, Gaara walked ahead farther, Yasu was a little behind him, and Temari and Shikamaru were back about 20 feet, whispering to each other. Yasu and Gaara both heard, although they gave no impression of it.

"Have you ever seen Gaara eat before? I mean, he's acting like a normal person." Temari whispered.

"Yeah, do you think maybe its Yasu? He seems odd whenever he's around her."

"Hmm… I see… He does always seem to be focused on her; even now you can tell he knows exactly where she is."

"That is odd… has he ever been this focused on anything? It could be bad for her; she's just a genin, right?"

"He's only this focused when he's about to kill. Otherwise, I wouldn't know."

"Do you think maybe he's starting to get feelings? Maybe… he could have taken an interest in Yasu because… well, she's a girl... and he's a guy?" Shikamaru put it as vaguely as he could, but Gaara looked back and glared irritably. Shikamaru and Temari fell silent. The first day passed without incident, and Yasu just finished her dinner of an apple with sashimi and wasabe. Gaara had passed on dinner, and Temari was scouting the area.

"Here's your shelter." Gaara announced unceremoniously. He held out his hand and the sand formed into a tent. "It opens when you walk through it, otherwise it stays closed, but there are air-holes in it. So you won't suffocate in your sleep."

Yasu poked her hand and head into the shelter, and the sand did indeed move out of her way, closing right around her. It was certainly neat, but… inconvenient. Why was she more protected than the one she was hired to protect?

"Er… no thanks. I'll be fine in the night on my own; I rather enjoy it. I have slept outside for about half of my life, and the city has made me miss it."

She climbed up a tree after watch was decided; she had midnight to three am. After gathering a few branches and making a sort of hammock from them, Yasu curled up and had a great night's sleep, not realizing how much she'd missed the true wilderness. Her shift went by without the slightest concern, and she woke in the morning refreshed and cheerful.

Temari and Shikamaru watched as Yasu began her training for the day: she held water aloft with her chakra, and carefully placed her feet on top of it. She was not only walking on water, but air. For the first few tries, Yasu lost control of the water, but for the next hour, she had it down perfectly.

"I invented that one: after I learned to walk on water, the idea popped into my head. The only problem is it takes u pa lot of chakra." Temari nodded, looking a little impressed. After a few more minutes, everyone felt a calm silence. Even the animals that were around seemed content to be quiet and watch in awe as the shenobi passed their homes. Only Yasu was uncomfortable; she felt something in the air, but not: it was an instinct she'd gotten from growing up as she did.

A tiny noise resounded, and Yasu looked at the others, startled; she'd recognized the sound of shuriken being released from someone's hand. The others heard it as the shuriken whistled through the air and they dodged. Yasu leapt into the air and threw shuriken in the direction the others had come from; her weapons landed with soft 'thunk's in the dirt. As she descended towards her allies, she looked back and saw sand fall to the earth around Gaara, shuriken stuck in it. They converged back-to-back, facing an unseen enemy; the tall grass and bushes around them were all suddenly dangers.

Three foreign shenobi appeared on the path opposite Yasu's group.

"Who are you? Why do you attack?" Yasu called, knowing she was making a target of herself by speaking. They swayed menacingly and scoffed.

"Like we'd say." They were obviously concealing their identities, but each wore a headband with a three-pronged spike on it that reminded Yasu of barbed wire. Something about them said 'Jonin', although Yasu wasn't quite sure what. One thing, though: They were NOT going to be easy, and weren't looking to negotiate. The enemy ninja swayed back wards, then bolted, weapons drawn, at the group.

They settled into stances and prepared to defend. Yasu's ear caught a slight tremor in the air and flicked behind her; an enemy behind! She was sure of it. Yasu ducked low to the ground, dodging a kunai the enemy held. Yasu placed her foot securely on the side of the sneak-enemy's foot, then used the opening she had left to send a punch at her, causing her to trip over Yasu's foot and go flying. The enemy female tumbled a bit, but quickly regained her feet. Yasu charged with her own kunai, determined to prove herself in this mission.

(Enemy Kunoichi: We shall call her… hmm… Kare-Wa's younger sister, and a jonin, whereas Kare-Wa was only a chunin. Her name shall be Mai –means 'dance'-, after her shenobi style.)

Mai threw her kunai and Yasu dodged; kunai and shuriken were useless this early in any ninja battle. Yasu soon saw why the kunai were thrown; Mai came at her with two short swords. Yasu dodged to the best of her ability, using speed, but she could only dodge; there was no room for an attack. Yasu leapt back and made hand signs. A small section of earth turned to water, right in front of Yasu, so when Mai charged her, her feet sank. Mai took off as Yasu attacked, throwing more shuriken that were easily blocked.

Mai appeared behind Yasu, who ducked and spun, lunging away. Mai grinned and backed into the tall grass like a shadow. Yasu looked all around, then simply listened. She heard Mai: every step, every shuffle of clothing. Once she'd pinpointed her location, Yasu pulled her own jutsu. She made ten water clones and they ran in opposite directions. Mai made clones and they took down every single Yasu, with the double swords. When the last clone vanished, it was Mai's turn to be confused: Yasu was no where in the area, it seemed.

(By the way… they'd split into one-on-one fights, Gaara, Shika, Tem… yeah, they all have one opponent. Why no shadow possession? We'll see in a minute. Shika can't go freezing everybody, where'd the action be? This is Yasu's fight, anyway. I can write the others' if you want… but only if you want.)

She took quiet steps to where Yasu had made the clones and examined the area, kneeling. She stood and called out.

"Show yourself, ninja no uma (Japanese for 'Horse Ninja')! I know you are here! You cannot hide, you are too inexperienced! Our master was very specific: Kill you before any seals took place. Now you're trapped!" Yasu stood from a crouch, to the right of Mai. Two other Yasus stood as well, and spoke.

"So you're not after Gaara?" Each Yasu disappeared as she was run through with the swords.

"Stop playing your fool games! I'm more powerful than you give me credit for! What could that sand ninja possibly hold for us? No, we're after a bigger prize: you!"

"What could I have that you're after? If it's Akira, he's not anywhere near me. In fact, he and I have been completely separated." Yasu stood on a bush, showing herself finally. Although she had watched and calculated the sword attacks, it didn't prepare her enough; Mai charged and swirled, like a dance, and Yasu was hardly able to get out of the way; Mai was using taijutsu now.

"No, we're not after the horse. Have you no idea of your bloodlines? You are quite dangerous indeed; master must have you destroyed. I can say no more, I might have spoken too much already." She said this in between swings of the blades, and was laughing. Yasu, however, was quickly wearing out. She couldn't just keep running, already the blades had nicked her a few times. She used her energy to be aware of everything around her, and it did take a lot of energy. As she flew through the air in another dodge, she made more hand signs.

"Water Jutsu! Art of the Springs!" Water burst out of the ground in dangerously strong jets, aimed for Mai. She managed to dodge them, but the offensive had turned. Yasu took out some special daggers, made for back-hand slashes. She surrounded them with chakra to make them burning hot and lunged at Mai, who was off-guard. Yasu got a few scratches in, but was quickly repelled. One her way away, Yasu managed to disarm one of Mai's swords and held it as if it were her own weapon. When she landed, she froze in alarm.

"Too slow."

Thunk.

Naruto fell to one knee, clutching his right side. It felt painful, like someone had stabbed him clear through. The feeling dissolved as quickly as it had come, and he panted. He'd been training, when all of a sudden he saw Yasu: from Yasu's own eyes. He felt an incredible sense of danger at that moment that waned with the pain.

"Yasu!" He took off running, getting a couple stares from the few others out training there. Suddenly, he was pulled up short by his collar.

"Easy, Naruto. So you felt it too?" Jiraiya looked in the direction Naruto had charged. "Yasu has been wounded, but there's nothing we can do from here. No use leaving, either. You know you're needed here. Tell me, how bad was the pain to you?" Naruto didn't bother looking at his restrainer; he grit his teeth and forced himself to answer calmly.

"It felt like I've been stabbed through." Jiraiya gave a small tug to Naruto's collar, trying to ease his pulling.

"This could be more serious than I thought; you have a stronger tie to her, so you'll know the extent of the damage if she's injured again. I just felt a twinge." Naruto growled at the horizon, then let out an exasperated sigh. He forced himself to get back to training, throwing the shuriken extra-hard, so they split the tree bark a foot in either direction. Jiraiya shook his head. Poor kid… must be concerned. I know I sure am, it must be harder for him.

Yasu looked down; she'd been able to move, barely, but a sword was protruding from her side. Mai had sent a clone out, waiting for Yasu's guard to fall. She'd snuck up behind her with those dangerous swords. Yasu had been able to move just enough that the sword wouldn't kill her. She gasped from the shock, and grinned. Her body had already begun to paralyze the wound. Yasu leapt, but when she landed, it wasn't without staggering. Her blood hit the ground, and she tried not to think of the wound.

Someone, somewhere, shouted, but she didn't care, really. She looked up at Mai and charged, head-on, knowing this frontal attack wouldn't work. Now at least, she knew where Mai was. She threw almost all her shuriken at Mai, and brought up the fireball jutsu as she ran. The fire flew straight and Mai got singed, having been too surprised to really dodge, until the last second.

Yasu stood still, grinning. Mai scoffed.

"Do you think you can seriously win?" Yasu could hear the hesitation and almost fear in her voice. She knew this fight was won; Mai would realize any second now… "What, aren't you going to attack? Or do I have to- Wha… what?!" Yasu struggled to remain standing and held Mai in place. A second after Mai realized the crystalline spikes of water in the air, thin enough to appear invisible, Yasu dropped them to the earth and let the ice-splinters melt. Mai stood still, apparently frightened to have been caught so off guard. Yasu knew better, and lifted her head.

"Good job, Yasu, go take a break." Shikamaru held Mai's shadow, keeping her rooted to the earth. "My opponent took me longer to beat than I originally thought, sorry. It appears you've been injured." Yasu shook her head and walked forwards, ignoring the dull ache in her side, but she couldn't ignore the slow drip, although the wound had mostly closed. Shikamaru watched her as if disappointed; at least until Yasu was close enough to him that he could see the wound.

"Were you run through? Yasu!" Yasu walked up to Mai and looked her in the eye before taking a good swing at her, sending her into the dirt.

"That's for my side, stupid." Yasu panted, having stretched her injury. Shikamaru took the shadow possession away right before Yasu swung: she would have hit him too. Mai had been knocked out by the square hit. He ran up to Yasu and lifted her good side's arm over his shoulder.

"Step away from her, I've got it." Gaara walked up, and Shikamaru backed up hastily but gently. Yasu stood, irritated that they were focusing so much on her when they should be tying the enemy. At least, until she realized Temari had done the work.

"I'll be fine to travel by tomorrow, don't worry." Yasu said, mustering a strong voice. Nevertheless, Gaara walked right up to her and smoothly lifted her into his arms.

Wow… he's… pretty strong. I like his personality. Looks dark, but is really only after good intentions. But I wish I'd get a little more respect… I've been injured before, almost worse than this. The wound pulsed with Yasu's heartbeat, and she felt a twinge of sharp pain. So my body's paralysis is wearing off. Yasu sighed, too irritated to protest. The corner of Gaara's mouth twitched upwards as Yasu sighed in frustration. He formed a waist-high bed of sand and set Yasu on it.

"Hey, I'm not going to just lie here while you do the interrogating! I'll be fine! Let me up!"

"You'd better listen, Gaara, she'll hurt herself more if we try and keep her down." Temari said, irritated. Gaara bent over Yasu and leaned in close to her face, causing her to focus on him.

"Be good, Yasu." She stared at him for a while, and they fought through their stares; finally, an agreement seemed to be reached, and they both sighed. Yasu leaned back against the sand quietly, and Gaara shifted it into a chair, then moved it so Yasu could stand. He kept it behind her, though, just in case.

They all approached the enemy jonin, and none were surprised when they wouldn't speak.

"Alright… you leave me no choice." Gaara's sand swirled and Yasu felt a sense of foreboding.

"Wait… let me try something." Gaara lowered his hand. "Secret Fear Jutsu!"

Yasu's mind became dark, and she saw swirling images with faces. When she saw Mai's face, it was fiery hazes that appeared, and for the others, nothing really came up. One of the others had a fear of a dark figure upon a skeletal mount- Yasu could see the horse clearly, probably because of her attachment to the creatures, but the rider was dark, all in shadow. She felt terror of the figure, and cut off the jutsu.

"Alright, Mai. Talk, or I'll summon more fire." She glared and looked at her teammates. They nodded, and Yasu's group tensed. Yasu remembered suicide-blank-headband-group, and hoped this wouldn't be a repeat.

"Ok, we're after Yasu and her horse. Those pushovers you defeated earlier, with the blank headbands? The leader was my older brother. We all work for the same- our powerful leader. Master is too wise to be fooled by a mere Genin." She glared at Yasu, scoffing. "Even Jonin have no power over master. Master has everything planned; Master knows all of us, to our souls, our deepest desires. Master's followers are all strong, stronger than I, even. Stronger than ANYONE, is Master!!!"

"Well, we don't care how powerful your leader is, we want to know your motive." Temari spun her fan and planted it in the ground before Mai.

"Well, all we know is the Ninja with white shirt, jean-shorts, and the fire village headband, normally in the company of a black stallion, needs to be murdered because of… historical concepts. We weren't told any specifics, but it seems your bloodline is a threat." Mai fell silent and tried to clean a particularly deep scratch Yasu had given her. Gaara stepped forward.

"That's all the information they'll give." He raised his hand and became upset when the spike-band ninja seemed unafraid of his sand, even as it swirled around them. Gaara's fist closed, and the sand compacted. Yasu took a step forward in disbelief as four shapes took off and disappeared through the grass. She took a few steps after them, but Temari held out her fan as a barrier.

"They escaped… but not without injury. Shikamaru and I will hunt them down, you stay here with Gaara. He needs to get to the sand village, and you need medical attention. I'll wrap you quickly." Yasu balked.

"They'll get away! Go catch them, I'll be fine. I know how to treat my wounds." Temari halted, clearly irritated, but disappeared with Shikamaru after the escapees.

Yasu turned to Gaara for a second, looking over him, then turned and walked into the grasses, taking a roll of gauze and medicine from her travel pack. Gaara followed her for a minute before realizing she'd have to remove her shirt. He stood on the other side of a bush, facing away from Yasu and waiting patiently, staring at the scenery. She sucked in her breath as the medicine stung the wound, and got a good assessment of it.

It was incredibly thin, but her organs had remarkably not been punctured. Her muscles and small intestine had been sliced through, but it was a clean stab wound, so the intestine had basically already mended itself back together, not being totally separated. The muscles were healing too, and Yasu thanked no one in particular for her fast healing abilities. She cleaned the wound and applied more medicine, then wrapped it carefully and tightly, to brace the muscles as they healed, and to take the strain off of them.

Yasu pulled her shirt back on and looked at it in disgust. She'd wanted to change her outfit forever; now was her chance. The enemy had a clothing description, so all she needed was to change her clothing. Green seemed suitable; she'd always loved green. Light blue seemed like a dazzling color these days, too, but perhaps it was only Naruto's eyes that made her think so… She shook her head and winced when it shook her side, but walked up to Gaara, feeling worn out yet capable.

"Can you travel?" He asked, and Yasu saw a flash of emotion run across his eyes; it startled her. No, I won't become like everyone else, thinking Gaara shouldn't show emotion. He's normal, human, like any of us. He is no different! Emotion running through his eyes is as normal as anything! Yasu berated herself, then nodded.

"I can travel at a slow pace, but I could go faster if I had a horse to ride." Yasu smiled, joking, knowing a horse wouldn't be accessible for her now. Gaara turned to the path and waited for Yasu to move alongside him before walking at an easy pace for her. They walked slowly for a while, and Yasu occasionally stumbled, but whenever Gaara gave her a questioning look she'd ignore it and her step would be a little stronger.

After a particularly bad stumble, Yasu's knees hit the dirt and she threw out her hands to keep from face-planting. It jarred her wound, but suddenly she was off the ground, hanging onto a warm back next to a gourd. Her cheek was pressed against the windswept red hair of the sand village ninja, and he moved along smoothly, easily double the pace he'd been going before. Yasu sighed, giving in, and rested.

Well, took me a LONG time to finish this chapter… YAWN it's late… school tomorrow… must… save… essay to jump drive so I can fix it later… Ok… so, any questions? Comments? (Especially anything about GaarYas? Want opinions! Will be recurring throughout story! Possibly…) Anything? Like… how'd Naruto feel Yasu's pain? Just review. Please. Well, I guess I'd better start the next chapter, but you all won't yell at me if I put it off a day now, will you? I need sleep too. (And I'm growing a life! Just add water!)

Best wishes,

Ekonika

(You know I'm tired when I sign it like a letter…)(It's Sunday night, and I have a Calc test Tuesday… I should stop stalling, huh?)