Recap:

"Um, well, okay, Mina. Just meet us here at 6 o' clock tomorrow morning, for training," Tenten said uncertainly.

I nodded. "Fine," I said without the slightest hint of emotion.

"Wow," Tenten commented dryly. "You're the first person who didn't complain about the time, or who didn't tell us that we were crazy to start training so early."

I looked at her oddly. "There's nothing early about 6 o' clock. I used to wake up at 4 o' clock in the morning to train," I said. "I'll see you all tomorrow." And with that, I disappeared in a swirl of water.

I woke up at 4 in the morning, and sighed, looking out of the window. It was a really old habit, waking up at four in the morning, and apparently my body had adjusted to it so that it was like my natural alarm clock. I got out of my bed and went into the bathroom, stripping off my clothes. Stepping into the shower, I felt the hot, steaming water beat down on my back, and I took some shampoo and lathered it into my hair. When I was finished, I dried myself off with a towel and changed into my regular outfit, but strapped two katanas at my sides. I also slung a quiver of arrows on my shoulder, and took my archery bow. Grabbing an apple and taking some of last night's leftovers (sushi), I walked to the training area where Gai and the others had 'tested' me yesterday.

I was finished eating my apple, and when I arrived, nobody was there, as I had expected. I threw the apple core away, and climbed up a particularly tall tree, sitting on a wide branch, and started to sharpen one of my katanas. At around five, the sun started to rise, and I put my katana back into its sheath and watched the sunrise, the pink, orange, and yellow hues illuminating the sky. I just sat there, watching, while the sunrise brought back so many memories…

---Flashback: 4 years old---

"Mommy, can we go to watch the sunrise again?" I whined, clutching the bottom of my mother's yukata.

My mother smiled. "Of course Mina. Let's go to the roof."

While my mother and I sat on the roof, we watched the sunrise, spreading brilliant hues across the sky.

"Oohh, it's so pretty!" I squealed, grasping my mother's hand.

My mother smiled gently at me. "It is, isn't it? My favorite time of day is daybreak."

I looked up at her curiously. "Why is it your favorite time of day?"

My mother gazed at the sunrise with a faraway look in her eyes. "It reminds me that it's the start of a brand new day, and you can start out fresh again. It was also the time when I first met your father, and when you were born, Mina," she said softly. "Dawn signifies the start of a new time in your life, as if each day, you are being reborn again, fresh, new, and innocent."

I was quiet. Smiling at my mother, I hugged her and said, "Sunrise is my favorite time, too."

---End Flashback---

I felt a single tear roll down my cheek, and I bit my lip, trying to hold back the tears that were welling up in my eyes. I felt the tear roll down, and it fell off, plunging to the ground below. There was a slight breeze, and the wind blew in my face, making my hair flow behind me.

"Hey," I heard a voice below me say. I glanced down, and saw Neji, standing below the tree and looking at me. I quickly wiped my eyes with the sleeve of my jacket and jumped down, grasping my bow tightly. Landing gracefully in front of Neji, I looked at him emotionlessly, nodding. "Hyuuga-san."

He nodded back. "Mikura-san."

I turned away from him and walked over to a ledge that overlooked Kohona. Looking down at the village, I smiled gently, as the breeze swirled around in my hair. I heard Neji walk over, and I sensed him standing next to me.

"It's beautiful, ne?" I asked softly.

"Hai," he replied in an equally soft tone. We stood there, just watching the sunrise, until Lee, Tenten, and Gai arrived.

"Hello my youthful students, Neji and Mina! Are you ready for today's training?" Gai exclaimed, making his 'nice-guy pose.'

Neji just 'hn'ed' and I sweatdropped. "Er… yeah, I guess so."

"Okay!" Gai continued enthusiastically, giving us a thumbs-up. (I sweatdropped again.) "First, we shall do 20 laps around Kohona! Then we will do 200 push-ups and 200 chin-ups! Next, we will start target practice for 3 hours, and then we will spar until 6 o' clock! Is that alright with you, Mina?"

I shrugged. "I've done more," I said nonchalantly, and crossed my arms across my chest.

"Okay, then! Let's start!" Gai said, and the five of us began our training day.

So everyday, we came to the same spot to train, and we did exactly the same thing every single day, unless we had missions, which were all really easy D-ranked ones. I heard that Naruto's team was escorting a bridge builder to the Land of Waves, where my old friend Haku was. I had met Haku when I was young, and we remained friends until he killed his father and ran away with Zabuza Momochi. Soon, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura came back with their sensei, and I met them at Ichikaru.

"Hey Naruto!" I called, and ran up to where Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and a silver-haired man were sitting.

"Mina-chan!" Naruto shouted, and sprang up to hug me.

"So, how did your mission go?" I asked, taking a seat next to Naruto.

"It was great!" Naruto said, stuffing his face with ramen. "We were protecting this old man, and then we fought these guys called Zabuza and Haku—"

"Wait a minute," I interrupted him. "Did you just say Haku? As in a boy who has long black hair, brown eyes, and looks a lot like a girl?"

Sasuke, Sakura, and the man next to Naruto looked at me curiously. "Yeah," Sakura said slowly. "How do you know? He died when Kakashi-sensei accidentally hit him with his lightning chakra jutsu."

I froze. "He-he's dead?" I asked in a whisper.

The man next to Sakura nodded. "Unfortunately, I was trying to kill Zabuza, but Haku ran in my way, and the Chidori hit him instead of Zabuza."

"Wow," I said softly. "I thought Haku was just kidding when he sent me a letter saying that he could no longer be my friend because he was with Zabuza. I guess I was wrong." I paused. "Did you bury him?"

"Yeah," Sasuke said. "He and Zabuza are buried near the bridge builder's house."

I smiled gently. "That's good to know," I said.

"Oh, by the way, my name is Kakashi," the silver-haired ninja said with a little wave.

"Oh, it's nice to meet you," I said, smiling. "My sensei always talked about you. She always called you the 'one-eyed baka who was a pervert.' "

Kakashi looked startled. "Anyways, I got to get going. Gai is giving us the Chunnin exam forms today. See you guys later!" I said cheerfully, and I disappeared in a swirl of water.

'The Chunnin exams?' Sakura and Sasuke thought confused.

'Hm…is it possible? Her sensei could be…?' Kakashi thought contemplatively.

'I love ramen!' (Three guesses to who this is, and if you don't get it right, you're a baka, and you owe me 100 dollars. J.K. .)

I was walking along a random street. I had gotten the form from Gai already, and had filled it out. I was trying to find Naruto, when I heard Sakura's insane yelling and Naruto's shouting.

"Hey, let go of him!" Naruto yelled, as I caught sight of Naruto, Sakura, three little kids, and two foreign shinobi.

"Heh, yeah right. This brat's gonna pay!" one of the unfamiliar shinobi snarled, and shook the little kid he was holding by the collar. The kid, who I recognized as the Hokage's grandson, whimpered.

I quickly looked at the two shinobi. The one holding the kid was wearing a black outfit that had a hoodie. He had a wrapped object on his back, and was wearing face paint. The other one, a girl, had her hair in four pigtails and a large fan on her back. She wore a lavender fighting-kimono with a red sash, and fishnet on her legs.

I walked up to Naruto and asked, "What's going on?"

"Oh great," the boy said as he saw me. "Another weakling brat to deal with."

I sent him a very cold glare. "Who are you calling weak?" I spat. "At least I'm not the one wearing face paint."

I saw the boy's face redden. "It's not face paint!" he yelled. " It's war paint!"

"Sure, whatever you say," I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

"Why you little—!" the boy yelled, and dropped the kid he was holding, lunging at me. My eyes turned blue and ivory, and the boy stopped abruptly. I saw a rock hit him on his wrist, and he howled in pain. He first looked down, and saw his legs encased in ice, with sharp icicles surrounding him. He then looked to the direction of where the pebble came from, and he spotted Sasuke, sitting in a tree, tossing a pebble in one hand lazily.

"That's it!" the teen roared in anger, and he slipped the wrapped object off his back.

The girl gasped. "Kankuro! You're going to use it?"

The boy smirked, but immediately stopped when he heard a voice.

"Stop it, Kankuro. You're a disgrace to our village." I turned to the direction of the voice to see a boy around my age standing upside-down on a branch. He had red hair, pale green eyes with black rings around them, and a large tan gourd on his back.

"B-but Gaara, the kid started it! He—" the paint wearing teen stuttered.

"Shut up," the red-haired boy said. "Or I'll kill you."

I saw the two shinobi on the ground shiver. "O-okay, okay, sorry Gaara! I-it won't happen again!" the boy stammered.

The boy in the tree disappeared and reappeared next to the two foreign shinobi. Sasuke did the same, appearing by my side.

"Hey, wait," Sasuke called after the three shinobi, who were about to leave. "What is your name?"

"M-me?" the girl asked, blushing and pointing to herself.

"No, the freak next to you," Sasuke said, pointing to the boy with the gourd on his back. I sweatdropped. 'Well, that was nice,' I thought sarcastically.

"Gaara of the Desert," the red-haired boy replied. "I am interested to know your name as well."

Sasuke smirked. "Sasuke Uchiha."

Gaara nodded and then turned his gaze toward me. "And your name?"

"Mina Mikura," I said coolly. "Well, since I'm not needed here, I'll be going. See you guys at the Chunnin exams." I began to walk away.

"Oh yeah," I said, stopping and looking over my shoulder. "This is for calling me weak." I turned abruptly and threw an icicle at the guy with the black hoodie on. The boy looked shocked as the icicle hit the center of his forehead protector, embedding itself in the smooth metal.

"Oh, and next time," I said. "I won't miss." And I disappeared in a swirl of water.

'Hmm…this girl seems interesting,' Gaara thought, as he watched me disappear.