Uh... this one's really long... I didn't realize how long it was until I ran the word count on Word...

Anyway, once again, Enjoy (if possible)

Sound Ninja Aren't All Bad… Are They?

Chapter 3

Toshi ran for at least an hour before she decided to rest and eat. She hadn't tasted food for days, and she knew that it was no good to keep moving if she was weakened by hunger. So, she sat down, crossed her legs, and ate a brief but late breakfast.

Upon passing a large puddle of water, Toshi noticed that she was very recognizable. She deliberately cut her hair so that it was very short. The next "village" she passed, she went to a hair stylist to have the cutting cleaned up and had all of her hair bleached but the bangs. Satisfied with her new reflection, Toshi left her hitae-ate at the bottom of her bag.

The changes to her appearance were apparently not enough. A few days after she had set out, a small group of tracking ninja recognized Toshi immediately; however, Toshi dispatched them quickly with the best and safest trick up her sleeve: a lullaby.

Toshi now felt more like a fugitive than anything. I wonder if there's an organization of criminals who leave their villages, Toshi thought. I'd probably feel better there than I ever would in Konoha. She shook her head to clear it of suck distracting thoughts. Before Toshi reached Konoha, though, she was attacked by three more teams of tracking ninja. The third group fought her after she buried all of her Sound-related objects. When the tracking team reached her, Toshi was nearly defenseless. By the time that the team of tracking ninja was completely unconscious, Toshi was bleeding profusely from various wounds. She heard footsteps approaching and hoped for her life that they belonged to someone with good intentions as her whole world went black.

Toshi woke before she opened her eyes. She did her best to decipher her surroundings. Her face felt strange, and the air she breathed was unusually pure. She was wearing an oxygen mask. Was I that far gone? she thought. Medical instruments that were undoubtedly hooked up to her beeped and whirred as they continued to scan and report her vital signs. Toshi opened her dark blue eyes and noticed things that her keen ears had not detected. There was an IV drip connected to her left wrist and bandages covered both arms as far as her shoulders. The machine reading Toshi's pulse beeped faster as she began to panic. How long had she been out? Would the last team of tracking ninja have returned by now, bringing news of her supposed death? What would this news do to Akira and Riko?

The increased rate of Toshi's pulse brought two medical ninja running in to the room to see what was wrong. They quickly checked all of her vitals and, finding that there was no change except in pulse, they ran out of the room to summon Tsunade to interrogate their patient.

Toshi realized how exhausted she was. The simple effort of staying awake was hard now. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She was asleep before she let the breath out.

The next time she woke, two young ninja were discussing the condition she had been in when she had been found.

"She just about bled to death," one of them said. It was a girl.

"She's lucky that you found her, dattebayo," said the other. A boy.

Toshi opened her eyes, blinking to clarify what she saw. Both ninja looked about three years younger than Toshi. The girl had short pink hair and large green eyes. The boy was blonde with blue eyes and a rather stupid expression on his face. If not for the expression and the strange black marks on his face, Toshi could have sworn that her little brother Satoshi had come back from the dead. Toshi wanted to ask them several questions, but the first one out of her mouth was, "Can I sit up?" This was followed by a startled gasp from both Toshi and the pink-haired girl. Toshi had gasped because she realized that the oxygen mask was no longer on her face.

The pink-haired girl had gasped because she had not been aware that the patient was awake. She stood up quickly and helped Toshi sit up by moving the pillows around. "I'll go get Tsunade-sama; she wants to talk with you. Naruto, make sure nothing happens to her." She rushed out of the room.

The boy called Naruto nodded at the pink haired girl. "Hai, Sakura-chan," he said. He turned to Toshi. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto," he said, extending his hand.

Toshi took it and shook it slightly. "Wantonabe Toshi," she replied. Her eyes moved from his pure blue eyes to the symbol on his forehead protector. "Am I in… Konoha?" she asked. Why did I just ask that? I could have gathered that I was in Konoha by the fact that I passed out at the village gate. Toshi scolded herself inwardly.

Naruto nodded and opened his mouth, about to ask which village Toshi had come from, but at that moment, Tsunade came into the room. "Naruto, are you disturbing the patient? She just had a life-threatening experience. I don't think she's ready for useless chatter." Tsunade began to shoo Naruto out of the room.

"You—you don't need to do that," Toshi said suddenly. "I—I mean, this isn't the first time something like this has happened to me. Before I got a grip on my training, it happened to me a lot… so I guess I'm used to it."

"How old are you, what village do you come from, and what rank were you when you left your village?" Tsunade asked, pushing Naruto all the way out the door and closing it behind him.

"I'm sixteen," Toshi began. "I…I came from the Sound…" Toshi trailed off. She had noticed Tsunade's eyes widen.

(at about this time in the series, Sasuke had already left Konoha. He left Konoha probably two or three days after Toshi left the Sound, because Tayuya and the rest of the Sound Five had to reach Konoha.)

"Go on," Tsunade urged.

Toshi gulped. "I—I was a jounin when I left."

"A jounin? At sixteen? You must have been talented, to reach that rank at such a young age." Tsunade sounded doubtful.

Toshi felt even more uncomfortable. "I—I—I—I don't really know how to say this, but I wasn't really considered that great. I mean—well, I don't exactly fit the bill of what you've probably heard about Sound Ninja… I'm just… different."

"Please elaborate," Tsunade said, wanting to get as much voluntary information as possible.

"I don't kill for pleasure," Toshi said quietly, trying to suppress her rising anger. Why was Tsunade asking so many questions?

"I see," Tsunade said. "Why did you leave the Sound, if you were so talented? Was it because of the reason you just supplied?"

Toshi couldn't hold her anger back any longer. She jumped out of the hospital bed. "Why are you asking so many questions? Here's the reason I left the Sound: I killed my family. You happy now? Oh wait; you want me to elaborate, don't you?" Toshi didn't wait for a reply as she went on: "I have this thing wrong with my head, and for some reason, at random moments; I will completely lose control of myself and most likely kill anyone around me. That's how I killed my family, and that's probably what's going to happen soon if you don't stop asking me—"

Tsunade withdrew the needle out of the back of Toshi's neck and walked silently out of the room.

When Toshi woke, the voices of Naruto and Sakura stirred her from slumber.

"She really said that?" Naruto was saying. "She's really mentally sick?"

"The medical ninja don't know yet, but they're going to examine her the next time she wakes up," Sakura replied.

"Which would be now," Toshi said, standing up. "I don't see why you guys have me hooked up to all these machines. I've survived genjutsu torture and recovered on my best friend's bed, so you don't need all this stuff." She began to disconnect herself from the machines as Naruto and Sakura looked on, unwilling to do anything to stop her. "Please, if you want to know anything about my mental condition, feel free to ask. I'll be sure to elaborate. If you're lucky and get me angry enough, you might get a free demonstration, but it all depends." Toshi laughed at herself miserably. "I need to get out of here," she said. "Konoha wasn't the right place to come after all."

"You're really from the Sound?" Naruto asked, his blue eyes shining determinedly.

Toshi nodded, wondering why Naruto wanted to know this.

"Did someone about my age come there while you were there?"

Toshi blinked. "No," she said, "should I have met this person, whoever he was? He probably left a couple of days after I did. I didn't exactly travel quickly. Setting off on a journey the day after you're put through genjutsu torture isn't a good idea. Make sure you take note of that. It may come in handy later on." Toshi sat down on the bed and looked at Sakura. "So, these test that the medical ninja want to run on me, what are they exactly?"

Sakura shrugged. "I don't know," she said. I could go get them…"

"No, don't waste your time. The moment you left, I'd have Naruto here unconscious and tied up and I wouldn't be hare anymore." Toshi lay back down on the bed. "Just let me sleep, okay?" She fell asleep almost as soon as she shut her eyes.

Toshi's eyes snapped open. She had stayed in the hospital for too long. Having already disconnected herself from the machines, she picked up her pack, which she found lying on the floor in a corner, and jumped out the window, landing lightly on her feet.

After finding out that Tsunade was not only an excellent medical ninja, but the Hokage as well, Toshi made her way to the mission office. On her way there, she ran into Naruto and Sakura, who were heading in the same direction.

"Toshi-neechan, did they let you out?" Naruto asked, obviously confused.

"Nah, I got tired of being there and jumped out the window. Don't call me that." Toshi couldn't meet Naruto's eyes.

"Call you what, Toshi-neechan?" Naruto asked.

"That. Don't ever call me Toshi-neechan again. My brother used to call me that, and you've got me depressed enough about him with the way you look and all, so don't call me that." Toshi turned to Sakura, who was still looking at Toshi with a weirded-out expression on her face.

"You jumped out the window?" Sakura asked, amazed.

"Uh… yeah. What's the big deal? I warned you that I was messed up in the head, didn't I?" Without waiting for a reply, Toshi turned back to Naruto. "Could you please tell Tsunade-sama that I want to talk with her? There are a few things I wanted to ask her."

"Sure, on one condition, dattebayo."

"Name your price."

"After I finish this mission, you have to take me out for ramen, and it's your treat!"

Sakura rolled her eyes at her teammate and smiled. This stopped Toshi in her tracks. Why was it that these ninja were so close at genin level? She and Akira became friends when they went through the chuunin exams, friends bonded by trauma. These two were almost as close as Toshi and Akira were just before Toshi left, and they hadn't known each other for as long. There was something that the Konoha ninja had that she wanted, something she didn't have. Maybe, just maybe, she wanted to ask Tsunade if she could be a part of it. Toshi's head was in a spin as she paid a man who ran an apartment complex for rent and even as she lay down on the bed within. She soon fell asleep, her mind exhausted by confusion.

End Chapter 3

Chapter 3 is overwith... now I need to finish typing up chapter 4...