Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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Gaara, Temari, Kankuro and Baki stood in front of Tsunade's desk. They were in Konoha to celebrate the upcoming "Peace Day"; a creation of the Hokage to lift the spirits of the bored shinobi, and a way to strengthen alliances between the five great nations.

"It is an honor to have you all here for our festival." Tsunade told her guests, "ANBU will show you where you will be staying, and I will have escorts for you once you settle in."

Before any of the sand ninja could reply, the doors to Tsunade's office crashed open.

"OUTTA MY WAY!" a girl's voice yelled out.

"Move, Woman!" came a familiar male voice.

"Whatever happened to 'Lady's first'?" the girl asked.

"I'm older." Was the boys reply.

"SO?!?!"

"So, as your senior, I go first."

"Well, you're a Chunin and I'm a Jonin, which means, I'm YOUR superior; so I go first. HA!"

"Well, I'm smarter."

"Well, I'm prettier!"

"ENOUGH!" Tsunade interrupted the squabble. "What's going on here?" she demanded.

"Oh, gomen, Hokage-sama." The girl, Soraoi, replied, bowing her head in respect.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru mumbled.

"FORGET IT!" Tsunade exclaimed, "Shikamaru, I was about to send for you."

"What now?" Shikamaru moaned.

"I need you to escort our guest's here." She motioned towards the sand-nin. "I want you to show them around the festival, and make sure they have everything they need."

"There's a festival?" Soraoi excitedly cheered, "Why didn't you say so Shiki-kun?"

"What? The decorations out on the streets weren't enough of a clue?" Shikamaru asked, "You really are slow aren't you?"

"You take that back!" Soraoi huffed, pouncing on Shikamaru as she playfully punched him in the arm.

"Make me." Shikamaru replied, pushing the girl off of him.

"Ahhhhh. Just because I'm not as smart as you doesn't mean I'm stupid!" Soraoi fumed.

"You could have fooled me." Shikamaru mumbled.

"ENOUGH!" Tsunade yelled for a second time. "Who are you?" she asked Soraoi.

"Oh. Forgive my manners, Hokage-sama" Soraoi replied, as if she had forgotten that others were present. She slowly approached Tsunade, "My name is Nara Soraoi." She replied, politely bowing before the hokage.

"Nara?!?!" a certain blond sand-nin exclaimed in confusion and anger (though she'd never admit to it).

"Shikamaru…" Tsunade began "did you go get married on your last mission without tell us?" the Hokage asked, half serious, but mostly just to bother the easily irritable shinobi.

"NO!" replied Shikamaru. (A/N: ummm… Shikamaru might appear to be acting a little OCC, but once you realize who Soraoi is, which you will in a few seconds, you'll realize exactly why he's acting so out of character).

Soraoi began laughing uncontrollably at the Hokage's remark; as a result, everyone's attention fell back on her.

"N-no" Soraoi tried to steady her voice from all the laughter. "No, No. I'm Shiki-kun's twin sister." She explained. (A/N: see, I TOLD you… now it makes sense right?... Shikamaru's just acting like any irritated brother would).

"Sister?" questioned Tsunade.

"Hai." Soraoi replied in the affirmative.

"Why- why is it that -that… we've never heard of you." Shizune, who had been standing next to Tsunade the whole time, asked/stated bluntly.

"Um… well, I've been away for many years." Soraoi explained.

"Go on." Tsunade encouraged.

"Well, when I was very young, mother and father sent me away to train under Tomoe-sensei."

"Tomoe-sama? From Kirigakure, the village hidden in the mist? One of the legendary Seven Swordsmen of the Mist? THAT Tomoe-sama?" a stunned Shizune asked. (A/N: not really, just made that up… back-story…)

"Hai." Soraoi nodded her head.

"And where is Tomoe now?" Tsunade questioned.

"She- She's dead." Soraoi replied, casting her eyes down. That familiar ache in her chest returned, but she refused to break down before anyone.

"How is that possible?" Tsunade demanded.

Everyone knew that Tomoe was among the strongest kunoichi to ever live, also being the only female of the seven swordsmen; though most would not have realized it upon first seeing her. Tomoe had been single minded in her quest for power; rejecting the norms of society, she often dressed as a man, having her hair cut short and training herself endlessly, resulting in massive amount of muscles framing her wide and tall physique. She'd never been much of a beauty herself, often being mistaken for a man; as a result, she was never very feminine.

Her beauty, as Soraoi claimed, was in her fighting. While most of the legendary seven had become missing-nin, Tomoe had stayed loyal to her village. Over time, while many of the rouge swordsmen had been slain in battle, having lost some of their edge when they split up and went missing, Tomoe had only grown in strength. Which was why Tsunade found it hard to believe that a kunoichi of such caliber could have been defeated, and no one would have heard about it.

"We were traveling through Rain country, when we were ambushed. We fought back, but there were too many of them. When I came too, Tomoe had already been killed." Soraoi explained, feeling the lump forming in her throat, as she fought back the urge to cry once more.

"Don't take this the wrong way," Tsunade began, "But why her and not you?" she asked bluntly, watching the girl before her intently.

"I was pretty." Soraoi's quiet respond came, as she lowered her head to face the floor, feeling the urge to run and hide, but unable to do so.

"What does that mean?" Tsunade asked, not quite getting it yet.

"They decided to keep me around for a while." Soraoi stated. All emotion having been drained from her face and voice at that point.

The memory of what she had endured those last few months had been unbearable. She had built walls inside herself to forget, but as strong as she pretended to be, she couldn't completely remove herself from the ache she felt inside. She had lost her mentor, her friend, her family, and yet it hadn't been the worst thing to happen to her. She hadn't even had time to mourn Tomoe.

"I think it's time to leave." Shikamaru stated, as he moved towards his sister.

Shikamaru walked over to where Soraoi stood, gently took her hand and began walking towards the doors where moment's earlier they had been bickering, as siblings tend to do.

He had understood what Soraoi had said from the beginning, and it pained him to see his sister hurting, especially now that he knew the reason why.

"Tsunade-sama, as soon as I take my sister home and I'll return to escort the sand-nin." Shikamaru said, before walking out of the office in silence, leaving the four sand-nin, hokage, and Shizune behind.

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A/N: okay, so this is different. I was planning on having this be a fun, light hearted fic, but apparently the story had a different plan in mind. It went this way and, what can I say… We'll all just have to wait and see how it turns out.

I'm not used to doing angsty type stories; so bare with me. For anyone who didn't get it (and by "it" I mean what happened to Soraoi(\), I'll tell you on my next chapter. I'm kind of hoping some people do get it, and some people don't, but I really hope that once I tell you, it'll make sense.

Next up: preparing for the festival, and some more angsty stuff… I think in the next chapter we'll finally have Gaara and Soraoi speak (oh yeah, they're going to be a couple… that was the whole point of this story to begin with, though… clearly it went in a different direction, still I'm definitely making them a couple).