He was the one who couldn't be free. Even after everything that happened, he still didn't believe what he was being told, not wholly. His wings were not broken, but his heart was surrounded in darkness. His heart needed to be brought fully out of the dark, and his wings needed wind under them to help him fly. Who will be his light to shine him away from the dar? Who will be the wind to carry him high into the sky?

fumikomu ze akuseru kakehiki wa nai sa sou dayo

yoru wo nukeru

nejikomu sa saigo ni sashihiki zero sa sou dayo

hibi wo kezuru

kokoro wo sotto hiraite gyutto hiki yosetara

todoku yo kitto tsutau yo motto sa aa!

iki isoide shiboritotte

motsureru ashi dakedo mae yori zutto sou tooku he

ubaitotte tsukandatte

kimi janai nara imi wa nai no sa

dakara haruka kanata

Naruto

Beyond What You See

Chapter Seven

Missions

Yuuha immediately sat up when she heard the announcement. "Oh no! Shikamaru must be worried! And what about Sister and Choji and Takara?" Yuuha stood, swaying slightly on her legs and got dressed. Afterwards, she stepped outside of her room, slinking away from the hospital. Her body felt numb, she had scratches and bruises everywhere, but she'd been lucky that she dodged a bit.

Yuuha sighed, "Poor little cub…I wonder what happened to it…"

Yuuha broke into a run, if it could be called that. She had to reach there in time!

"Where is she?" Shikamaru voiced.

"Where's who?" Asuma asked as they walked to the room together.

"Yuuha."

"What about her?"

"We were harvesting deer antlers this morning when she just disappeared." Shikamaru said, worry heard in his voice.

"I'm sure she'll meet us in Room 23." Asuma said, clapping his student on the shoulder.

When Sasuke arrived with Neji and Naruto in the room, he found it strange. There was everyone there from the previous Presentation, all except Yuuha. But that was really the strange part, he couldn't blame Yuuha for being late, but what was strange was the others in the room.

There were four other teams previous to those he'd seen before, each consisting of one Sensei and two students.

Tsunade with Shizune stood at the front the classroom. The three took their respectful spots with their teams.

"It's nice to see all of you here again," Tsunade said, "All but one,"

At this, Neji and Sasuke, even Lee, glared at Naruto.

"Anyway, I know there hasn't been a lot of time for you to practice together as a team," Tsunade said, "But these missions can no longer wait. Today we will be introducing the four other teams included in the Switch and also give out assignments. First, we'll start with Team E: Jounin, Kimura Hikari. Genin: Narita Yasu, Matsumoto Harujiro." Hikari stood with her two students, bowing with such grace, her students following suit.

Hikari's hair was long, straight, and coal black. Her eyes were silver with a touch of lavender. She wore a yellow white dress that reached above her knees. The dress was long sleeved, only the sleeves were made of see through white lace. A dark blue belt hung loosely around her lithe waist, her shuriken pouch as well as her kunai pouch tied to it; even her headband hung from it. She appeared to be eighteen.

Yasu had long brown hair tied into two pigtails at the back of her head. Her eyes were a dark green. Her dress was the same color, maybe a little darker. It was long sleeved, the sleeves tight and almost like a second skin around her arms. Yasu seemed to be only eleven years old.

Harujiro had light blue hair and his eyes were a pinkish purple. He wore a simple white pair of shorts and a blue shirt. He, like Yasu, was eleven.

"Team F: Jounin, Watanabe Satoru. Genin: Inoue Akemi, Yoshida Hanayo."

Satoru had dark sea green hair and ice blue green eyes. He seemed serious and stern. He wore a white shirt and white pants, each lined with dark blue green. He looked to be no older than twenty-four.

Akemi was a bright child with brown ruby red eyes and short black hair. Akemi wore a black kimono with a moon yellow obi. He looked to be twelve.

Hanayo had pink hair and green eyes. She wore a black dress with designs of red phoenixes. She was twelve as well.

"Team G: Jounin, Watanabe Kaoru. Genin: Miyagi Haruka, Kobayashi Torao."

Kaoru was twins with Satoru. Kaoru had ice blue green hair that reached down to her knees. She always let it loose, unless they were on an extremely, extremely dangerous mission. Her eyes were much the same color, maybe a little more like ice. Her eyes held much more warmth and care than Satoru's ever did. She wore a blue green halter top that rose above her mid-rift, showing a tight fishnet under it. She wore a skirt, tight but easy to maneuver in; it was white. Her skin was pale and she looked much like a dangerous flower.

Haruka seemed peaceful enough. His blue eyes were always soft and serene, his words quiet and wise. His hair was long, reaching down to the middle of his back, and a soft, dark sandy brown. His skin, like Kaoru's, was pale. He wore short blue almost black shorts with a white shirt. Along with this, he wore a dark blue cloth jacket that fell down to his knees and was limp, though he rarely zipped it up. The twelve year old looked delicate, while at the same time someone you wouldn't want to mess with, with his quiet mysterious way.

Torao, however, was more brazen than his teammate or his Sensei, and seemed wilder. His eyes were red brown, maybe a little browner than red, and looked somewhat cat like, but only noticeable if you looked long and hard. Across his tanned cheeks, each cheek carried three slash scars seeming to be made from sharp claws. He wore a goofy grin, this boy, his hair spiky and slightly messy, it being a brilliant natural white with black streaks in them. Torao wore long black pants and a white and black shirt. He, like Haruka, was twelve.

"And finally, Team H: Jounin, Nakamura Kazuki. Genin: Shimizu Chikaze, Miyake Ichirin."

Kazuki looked quite pleasant, a small smile playing on his face. He was handsome, but not dazzlingly so, but still handsome. Kazuki's hair was black, the hue of light brown that were his eyes somewhat unnerving, it was so light. But he seemed so kind, it didn't matter. He wore a grey shirt and white pants. Kazuki looked no older than nineteen.

Chikaze simply grinned at them all, wearing her usual outfit. She was beautiful, this twelve year old.

Now there was Ichirin, never called that unless on formal terms. He preferred to be called simply Rin. Out of all the people they'd all encountered, the look in his eyes was the coldest. They seemed colder than ice, no emotion, no life, nothing. His eyes were simply…There. Rin's eyes were blue, only to be darkened by his emotionless-ness that was characteristic of him. His hair was a gold blonde, reaching downwards to the small of his back, some of his extremely long bangs falling forwards into his face, but never covering those cold eyes. Rin wore a red, short sleeved shirt and red purple shorts. He was eleven.

"And now, to begin with the missions." Tsunade was suddenly interrupted by the sliding of the door.

Leaning against the frame and panting hard was Yuuha.

"Miss Yamanaka," Tsunade commented. "I called this meeting earlier. Why are you late?"

"I'm sorry." Yuuha said, "I was…busy…"

"With what?"

"Being in the hospital." Sasuke commented dryly.

Yuuha's teammates turned to him, shocked.

"Hospital?" Shizune voiced, "Why would she be in the hospital!?"

"Ask Naruto." Sasuke answered just as dryly as before.

"Well…I…Uh…You see…" Naruto stuttered.

"Forget it," Tsunade said, glaring at Naruto, "You can explain later. Now, when I call your team, you will come up to the desk and I shall hand you your assignment. First, Team A."

Khatereh stood, walked to the desk, took the scroll, and returned. Just like her, the other jounin rose when their teams were called.

Naruto sighed exasperatedly, "We have to carry some old geezer back to his village again!?"

"I'd stop complaining." Khatereh said, "Unless you'd rather stay here and Konoha instead."

"NO!" Naruto cried.

"Then shut up!" Khatereh snapped.

"Naruto!" Tsunade rapidly walked up to them, her eyes blazing, "You want to tell me why you damage one of my new students!?"

"It wasn't my fault!" Naruto shouted.

"Yet it was." Sasuke said.

"Shut up!" Naruto retorted. "Look we were walking to the ramen shop when – ."

Sasuke suddenly felt the urge to cover up the entire incident.

The two collapsed to the floor as the vines, sharp now, bore down upon them.
"Wait, stop!" She shouted. The vines froze in place. "Don't."

"Never mind." Sasuke said, placing a hand over Naruto's mouth. "We'll work it out."

Before Tsunade could say a thing, Sasuke dragged Naruto away.

"You wanna explain to me what that was all about?" Khatereh asked.

"Later." Sasuke whispered.

"Can't we ask Granny Tsunade for a different mission!?" Naruto continued to complain.

"Iie." Khatereh replied bluntly.

"Aw come on!" Naruto shouted.

"I said Iie, so quite your complaining!" Khatereh shouted.

"Khatereh seems quite angry this morning." Kachuu said to Kakashi.

"Oh, she's just not feeling well, that's all." Kakashi smiled lightly, "She'll be better soon."

"Hikari!" Amaterasu hugged her tightly.

Hikari hugged back, "Hey, Amaterasu!" She said excitedly.

Pulling back, Amaterasu winced slightly. "I'm still not used to you calling me that…"

"Yes, but it is necessary for you to keep your secret."

"What secret?" Yanagi was suddenly next to them.

"Yanagi!" Takumi came up to her, putting his hands on her shoulders

"Takumi!" Hikari hugged him as well.

"Hey, Hikari."

"You still haven't answered my question." Yanagi stated. "And why do you seem so familiar?"

"Don't worry about it, Little One." Hikari gently pat the girl on the head, "Now, why don't you go play with Marise, hm?"

Yanagi was shocked as a memory briefly flickered in her mind. "Don't worry about it, Little One." There was a girl, pale skin, long black hair; she smiled kindly at Yanagi, but that was it, and nothing else.

She couldn't remember it all, so decided to do as she was told. She walked back over to where Marise was listening to the ever enthusiastic Lee and stoic Neji tell a strange story about a girl and a boy who rescued Gaara from them.

"That was close." Hikari said almost fearfully.

Amaterasu shook her head, "She won't remember, no matter how much we want her to."

A little ways away, Kazuki and Tetsuya had met up as well. The two bowed to each other out of respect.

"Kazuki," Tetsuya said.

"Tetsuya." He said serenely.

Chikaze and Rin stood with him as well.

"I see you received Chikaze," Tetsuya said, raising an eyebrow.

Kazuki smirked slightly, "I requested it. If they come after Chikaze again, I want to be there to bash their faces in."

"Kazuki Sensei…" Rin said in a monotone voice. "You know how I feel about bashing people's faces in. Torture is much more satisfying, don't you think?"

Tetsuya was a bit unnerved by the boy but asked, "So, what's your name?"

"Ichirin, idiot." He answered, not the least bit concerned he'd just called a Jounin that, "Didn't you hear that big breasted woman from earlier? But I guess I'll allow you to call me Rin."

"Rin!" Kazuki said, grabbing onto his head, "You'll have to excuse my student, Tetsuya. He can be a bit arrogant sometimes."

"I'm not arrogant." Rin commented. "Being arrogant would have to do with me claiming that I am superior. But I don't think or claim to be; I simply do not care. There is a difference between being arrogant and not caring."

"Okay, I think that's enough, Rin." Chikaze commented, pushing her friend away from their Sensei.

"That's what you always say." Rin said to his best friend, possibly the only person he considered a friend.

Kazuki smiled slightly, "He's a determined little boy; eleven, who would've thought."

"Where have you been!?" Shikamaru shouted, "I doze off for five minutes, and you just leave!? You didn't even bother telling my dad! Now look at yourself! Bruised, scratches, etc! What were you thinking!?"

"Gomen, Shikamaru…" Yuuha answered quietly, "But…I got that feeling again. I had to do something! The last time I didn't do something about my feeling, Yanagi ended in the hospital!" Tears were in her eyes; she hated it when Shikamaru or Ino yelled at her.

Shikamaru sighed, "Its okay, Yuuha. Don't cry. I'm not going to yell anymore, okay?"

Yuuha wiped her tears, "Gomen nasai…"

"I forgive you." Shikamaru said, smiling.

Yuuha nodded.

Chikaze rose up to the trees, commanding the winds again. She plucked an apple off and dropped it to Rin. She landed easily on the ground.

"There, you happy?" Chikaze said, grinning slightly.

"Very." Rin answered monotonically

Chikaze rolled her eyes, "You know, you really need to stop doing that."

"Stop what."

"You know what. You just insulted a Jounin that'll be our Sensei one day." Chikaze stated, "It would be better if you didn't insult him before that day, don't you think?"

"I couldn't care less."

"Rin!" Chikaze said, grabbing him round the shoulders, "Stop saying that, because you do care. I know you do. We wouldn't be best friends right now if you hadn't cared enough to save me."

"That was a long time ago."

"It was four years ago!"

"Four years is long." Rin said simply. "A lot has happened since then, and you are right, I do care, but only for you. You are my best friend, and my one and only true friends that I've ever had. But that's it. Why should I care about everything else? It's not my job to care. I don't care about anyone else and I don't have to."

Chikaze sighed, "I just wish…That you could…"

"I do sometimes too." Rin said, "But it's impossible. You know that."

"Oh, Rin…" Chikaze whispered.

"This looks like a nice spot." Haruka commented, sitting in the sunlight of the meadow.

Torao smiled and sat next to Haruka while Kaoru read their assignment.

"Hm…" She said. "This is a rather strange assignment, but I suppose it's a good warm up for the later assignments you'll probably be getting."

"What is our assignment, Kaoru Sensei?" Torao, as blunt and disrespectful as he could be, liked this Sensei and respected her thoroughly because of her strong techniques she'd shown them.

"We're to bring a package of flowers to Sunagakure." Kaoru answered.

"Flowers?" Haruka asked. "To Sunagakure?"

"Don't be scared, Haruka." Kaoru reassured him. "Suna is in good terms with us once again. Don't worry."

"What kind of flowers?" Torao continued.

"It doesn't say. It does say that we're not supposed to smell or touch the flowers. We have to leave them inside the package at all times. The trip might be long, so pack thoroughly."

"We're going to do what!?!" Harujiro was appalled by the idea.

"I warned you by accepting me as Jounin." Hikari said, "I warned you that we'd be getting more dangerous missions than the others, because I'm your Jounin. That's why you were allowed to choose another Jounin instead of I."

"But…An assassin mission?" Yasu whispered. "We're…We're only Genin…How could they expect us to complete this mission?"

"It's not as if we have a choice." Hikari said. "We're given assignments, we have to finish them. You were trained in everything that would be needed to complete this mission. Besides, it's not an A-rank assassination. It's B-rank. We'll do alright, I suppose. It'll be hard, but I think we can manage it."

"Why would we assassinate someone!?" Harujiro questioned.

"Lesson Number One: As shinobi, we do not ask questions on our missions. We simply carry them out." Hikari answered. "There may very well be no answer to your question, but we must still carry the mission out. That is just the way that it works. I know it seems strange that they'd send new Genin to do this mission, but do to certain circumstances…I'm sorry. It's my fault. But we're just going to have to deal with it."

"Okay, Team." Tetsuya said, standing with Kurenai. "Our first mission is to escort the Princess of the Land of Water back to Kirigakure."

"A Princess!?" Kiba said excitedly, "A real live Princess!?"

"Is she Princess of the whole region?" Shino asked.

"Yes, she is a real princess, and that of the entire region, but she has requested to be taken to Kirigakure." Kurenai answered.

"That's awesome!" Kiba exclaimed.

"What is her name?" Yukika asked.

All this time, Umika had frozen in her spot, eyes wide open.

"Her first name is Aurora Borealis, but she never specified what her last name was." Tetsuya said, "She has, however, requested we call her Aurora instead of the whole thing."

'Aurora...' Umika thought.

"Is she pretty?" Kiba continued on. Yukika rolled her eyes.

"This one's a tough one…" Takumi said, frowning. "Honestly, no offense, but what is that woman thinking? Sending a couple of Genin on a mission like this."

"What is it, Takumi Sensei?" Tenten questioned.

"We're to travel to Iwagakure." Takumi answered. "To retrieve a scroll of some sort. The location's not precise, and we have to search through three different mansions and two libraries."

"What's the scroll for?" Yanagi asked.

"It doesn't specify. Though it does say the scroll is old and written on old parchment. Also, it's held on a special scroll with a mahogany core. The parchment will have red and dark purple markings on it."

"Come on." Mei Lan said quietly as she and Gaara crept quietly through the vast forest surrounding Konoha. "It's not much further from here."

"Boo!" Kurome suddenly landed in front of them.

Mei Lan jumped back, colliding with Gaara. A blush colored her cheeks before she jumped away, "I'm sorry Gaara!" Turning back to Kurome, "That was mean!"

Kurome chuckled and put a hand on his younger sister's shoulder, "Who told you to run off this morning, huh? It was pay back."

Mei Lan pouted slightly before saying, "Hmph. Let's go, Gaara."

Mei Lan turned away from Kurome, took Gaara's hand, and walked away. Kurome smiled at his sister's back before following the two.

During this entire time, Gaara was still completely bewildered. He hadn't a clue Who these two were, but all he could think about was Shu Yu. Was she really real? Was it possible his memories were made with his own mind, but had really actually occurred? Gaara felt a rush within him. He wanted to know so badly. No matter if she was real or fake, he was excited at the thought he might actually meet her.

"Hello, you two." Lacaena said. "Itachi is waiting for you back at the house."

"Really?" Kurome straightened his back slightly, standing straighter.

"Yes. He was watching your battles from afar. He said you did very well." Lacaena answered.

"This is Mistress Lacaena, Gaara." Mei Lan explained. "Soon, you'll get to meet Master Itachi as well!"

"G-Gaara…" A voice whispered from the shadows of the trees. Shu Yu stepped out from behind a tree, tears nearly filling her eyes.

Gaara froze. All the memories began to flood back to him. Like so many other times, Gaara's world shattered, crumbling to pieces. Gaara cried out in pain. What were these emotions he felt? Why did he feel this way just on the sight of Shu Yu? Was all this really real? Or perhaps just a dream? But…How? Why did he forget? How could he forget!? How could he forget something as precious to him as Shu Yu!?!

"Gaara!" Mei Lan called to him, worry overtaking her.

Gaara cried out again, tears streaming from his eyes. The world was breaking; he was falling into darkness again. It hurt, it hurt too much! And, suddenly, he was held with warmth. Gaara found himself leaning into the familiar hold, tears still streaming down his face, but ones out of joy and not fear or panic or confusion or hurt.

"Its okay, Gaara." Shu Yu whispered, a gentle hand stroking his hair. "You're safe. I'm here…" Shu Yu bent slightly, but found she couldn't completely because of Gaara's arms around her. Shu Yu brought her hand to wipe away his tears. "See? All better."

Gaara stared at her with confusion, joy, and a small bit of fear; what if she disappeared suddenly? He stared at her as a child would someone who was adopting him at the orphanage. He stared at her with caution, wishing and hoping she would really take him, but still having that fear that she would just leave him there.

But Shu Yu wasn't disappearing. She was smiling at him. She was happy to see him. She was happy to see him, Gaara. She was happy to see Gaara.

Gaara wrapped his arms around her neck, pulling her close. Shu Yu smiled, wrapping her arms around him. They pulled apart soon, but Gaara refused to let go of her hand.

She turned back to the others, nodding. They in turn nodded, disappearing into the forest while Shu Yu walked silently along the forest floor with Gaara.

Gaara vaguely remembered doing this with her back in Suna too. They had been going to the store to buy groceries. He remembered all the stares of disgust and horror the townspeople threw them. Gaara remembered withdrawing, only to be reassured by Shu Yu's look of pride, holding his hand in hers like he were her treasure. The entire time she had smiled.

Shu Yu reminded Gaara of a mother. She reminded him of that thing he had always wanted, a mother. A mother's love, a mother's touch, a mother's warmth, a mother's comfort: just, simply, a mother. Having Shu Yu with him was like having a mother with him. Shu Yu was like a mother.

Gaara noticed Shu Yu staring down at him. She was still smiling, but was smaller, the loss of the smile replaced with a look of concern.

"Are you alright?" Shu Yu asked. Gaara nodded vigorously, for once in a long, long time, smiling. It was a joyful one, full of warmth, like how a smile should be. Shu Yu nodded to him, "Okay then."

"Excellent work, both of you." Itachi told Kurome and Mei Lan.

"Thank you, Master." The two voiced, smiles on their faces.

"Now, go rest." Itachi said.

The two bowed to him before leaving.

Lacaena wrapped her lithe arms around Itachi, smiling. She leaned her head against his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"You two make me sick sometimes." Kisame commented from the couch he was sitting on. "If you have to do that, you could at least go back to your rooms!"

Lacaena blushed slightly, giggling.

Kiba yawned, "Why do we have to be up so early…?"

"It's important we get a head start on our mission." Tetsuya answered. "The Land of Water is far away from here. The more we delay the Princess from returning home, the more suspicious her father will be of us trying to capture the Princess."

"Don't you think that's a bit too…pessimistic?" Shino questioned.

"No." Tetsuya stated, "I've seen peace treaties fall apart, and last year so did all of you. Although Konoha has mostly recovered, it's still damaged and in repairs. Think about it; if we were to go to war with Kirigakure right now, who do you think would win? We wouldn't stand a chance."

"Hey, where are Hinata, Umika, Yukika, and Kurenai Sensei?" Kiba asked.

"Kurenai went to get the girls." Tetsuya commented. "They'll meet us right before we get Princess Aurora. I would like to take time now to warn you: Do NOT insult the Princess. We don't know her, and if she's one of the ones who like being superior to everyone else, then I wouldn't insult her. And even so, we don't want her telling her father or mother about stupid pigheaded shinobi from Konoha, now do we?"

"Ohayou," Tetsuya said calmly when seeing the girls. "Shall we get Princess Aurora?"

They nodded, walking into the building. She was sitting in a chair, waiting for them. On the floor was her dark blue pack with splashes of light blue, like the foam on the ocean waves.

Aurora, as they called her, was twelve, maybe eleven. She had green eyes; they were dark and glowed with neon, like the Northern Lights. Her hair was dark blue, with waves of neon light blue; it wasn't short, but it wasn't long either, and she kept them in two pigtails at the back of her head. Aurora Borealis was a suitable name for her. Upon her slightly tanned skin were bluish green patterns of waves.

"Hello, are you Princess Aurora?" Tetsuya said politely.

Aurora smiled, "Please, just call me Aurora. I understand you are to escort me home?"

"Yes," Kurenai answered.

"Wow!" Kiba said to his other teammates while his Sensei talked with Aurora "A real life Princess! And not bad looking either!"

Umika slapped him over the head, "That's not how you talk to a Princess, or talk about for that matter. Learn some manners!"

Umika gulped while she approached Aurora. It was like going back in time, to her past.

"A-aurora…" Umika whispered.

Aurora's eyes widened. She jumped up in disbelief. "Umika? Suzuki Umika!?" Aurora fell backwards, sitting down again. Suddenly she felt very weak. She looked to the floor, contemplating everything. "It's not possible…How is it possible?" Aurora shook her head. "But…the ship…I saw it myself from the shores! It exploded…into pieces…How? I thought you were dead!"

"What is this all about?" Tetsuya questioned.

Umika shook here head, "I thought I would be dead too. But I somehow managed to get back to Konoha. I guess I was lucky."

"Wait, so you two actually know each other?" Kurenai asked.

Aurora nodded, "We grew up together in Kirigakure!"

"That reminds me…" Tetsuya stated, thinking hard, "Suzuki…The family who was sent on the peace treaty between Kiri and Konoha?"

Aurora nodded again, this time smiling, "Yup! We even went to Kiri's Academy together!"

"Except for the last three years." Umika stated, "Three years ago, I came back to Konoha. I went to the Academy here for three years, and then was Genin this year."

As the others continued to chat about Umika and Aurora in Kirigakure, even Shino and Hinata joined in now, Tetsuya remained quiet. He would be frowning, but he hid it well; something was troubling him. 'Suzuki Umika…Yes, I remember you now. The soul survivor of the peace treaty from Konoha. How did you make it out alive? The ship…Everyone else…A mere child? The rumors…I wonder if she knows about them?

'Suzuki…A revered name here in Konoha…They had volunteered to complete the peace treaty. It would take years, they were warned, but they still accepted, despite still having children. A four year old daughter, a two year old son, and Umika, one year old. They thought it would only be a couple years. A couple years turned into eight years. The three grew up away from their home village, and instead in Kiri…"

"Are you okay?" Aurora repeated.

Tetsuya snapped out of his thoughts, "Oh, of course, I'm alright. Shall we get going, then?"

"Okay." Aurora smiled again.

Khatereh sat up in a tree. She stared off into the sky between the green leaves of the tree. Below was a spring where everyone else was resting. She sighed. Remembering was horrible. Remembering the past, that is. But…She always went back to it. She kept asking herself, how could it have turned out differently? Were there no other alterative routes? Could their lives not have gone any worse? And Sasuke…She hated herself for leaving him alone in the village. But what choice had she had at the time!? That was like six years ago! What could she have done to keep him safe from a group of ANBU Squad Trackers!?

"Eh hem."

Khatereh gasped, looking to the side where she'd heard the voice come from. Her hand immediately flew to her pouch of kunai that is until she was faced with Kakashi.

"What? Kakashi!" Khatereh said angrily.

"Something troubling you?" He said, smiling cheerfully.

"Other than you?" Khatereh answered with a question.

Kakashi's smile shrank considerably, and he looked her straight in the eye. "Sasuke is my student. I've known him for a long time. You two seem to spend a long time together and are very close. Sasuke is the type to socialize much with new comers. So…It's either you and Sasuke are interested in each other intimately – "

"It's not like that!" Khatereh interrupted, slightly flustered. "We're just close because I'm not a new comer! We were friends when we were a lot younger."

"It's not wise to dwell on the past."

Khatereh blinked, and Kakashi was gone. She blinked again, this time out of confusion. "What was that all about?" Khatereh asked herself.

"What was what about, Kitti?" Sasuke, using the pet name he'd given her long ago, swung up on the branch, sitting in front of her on the branch.

"Nothing…" Khatereh said, looking away.

"Well something's wrong." Sasuke said.

Khatereh smiled, "It's nothing for you to worry about."

"Oh yes it is." Sasuke said.

Khatereh was quiet for a long time. She didn't know how to tell him what was bothering her. She didn't know how to explain it. How? How could she have just left him there? Why hadn't she gone with him? Why didn't she go with him when he nearly begged her to? She'd just shoved him through the gates and left. Why? Why had she done that?

Khatereh couldn't remember.

Khatereh sighed, closing her eyes. She leaned forward, and Sasuke brought her head to his shoulder. He patted her head lightly and comfortingly. Khatereh smiled again.

"You promise you won't be mad?" Khatereh asked.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "Why would I be mad?"

Khatereh sighed again. "Gomen…Do…Do you hate me?"

Sasuke looked shocked at the question, "Wakarimasen, why would I hate you?"

Khatereh forced the tears that were pricking her eyes back, "Because I left you alone in Konoha. Just tell me the truth. Do you hate me?"

"No, of course not." Sasuke said firmly. He put a hand to her forehead as if he thought she had a fever, "Why would you think that?"

"Just…thinking of old times, that's all."

"Well don't think that way." Sasuke pulled Khatereh away from his shoulder so he could see her face. "Remember, we both made promises? We'd be friends for as long as both of us are alive."

Khatereh nodded, smiling.

"Alright, we'll be at the town soon." Asuma said.

"Now remember," Amaterasu reminded them. "Chizuko is Takigakure's village Leader's daughter. She must be treated with reverence and respect. She's being chased, remember, so she'll probably be hiding. It may take us a few days to find her."

"But above all," Asuma continued, "You will protect her with your life, even if it means being killed by the assassins that are trying to kill her."

"It must be horrifying to have assassins chasing after you all the time." Yuuha commented.

A low, rumbling growl sounded, startling all of them except Yuuha.

"What is it, Takara?" Yuuha questioned.

Takara let another growl loose, her hair seeming to actually puff up.

"Somebody's coming, I think." Yuuha said, "Right Takara?"

Takara nodded.

"Hey, you guys!" A man and a woman ran up to them.

"Who are you." Amaterasu more like demanded than asked. Each of her hands already contained a kunai.

The two eyed her weapons with fear. Finally, the woman spoke up, "Who we are isn't important. Are you the ones from Konohagakure? The ones who are here for Lady Chizuko?"

Asuma nodded, "Yes, why?"

"You're just in time!" The man said.

"In time for what?" The students asked together.

"No time to explain!" The woman called to them, already leaving. The man beckoned for them to follow him. "We have to go now! Come on!" She urged them to move faster.

They ran swiftly to the entrance of the village. They ran to the center of the city. Their eyes opened wide in shock at the sight.

To Be Continued…
Iie (ee-eh): No

Gomen (goh-men): Sorry

Gomen Nasai (goh-men nah-sigh): I'm Sorry

Ohayou (oh-hah-yoh): Good Morning

Wakarimasen (wah-kah-ree-mah-sen): I Don't Understand