Sayomi jumped through the trees, muttering curses. The silver chain around her neck glinted in the sun. "We should be nearing the border, which means we'll be going through the desert," she said. Fuyu gave a slight nod.

Sayomi stared ahead and noticed the rising heat of the area. "Damn it. I hate this place," she snarled. "When we come in sight of the village, we blend in as Suna shinobi. I hope you know the correct jutsu," she said.

Fuyu scowled. "I made one mistake on my first try. You won't let me forget it, will you?" he snarled.

Sayomi gave a slight smile. "Of course not. If you forgot, you wouldn't try so hard." She looked to the ring on her gloved hand. "Now, if only we didn't have to wear these," she hissed.

Fuyu glanced at her. "Stop complaining," he said gruffly. She shot a glare at him. The air was growing dryer. Sand was around the forest floor and the vegetation started to become scarce.

Sayomi landed on the sandy ground and stared ahead. "Now we're in the desert. Prepare for a long journey." She moved ahead, Fuyu following her.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Sayomi's eyes darted around the village. She licked her wind-chapped lips and sighed. "Fuyu, I already hate this place," she hissed.

Fuyu nodded. "I can see why. Now, shall we split up? The hospital is in the east. The traitor is in the west." He put on a smile as two girls walked by. They giggled and whispered to each other before stepping up to them. Obviously, they hadn't noticed Sayomi's burning glare.

"Hi. I'm Azusa Akari. This is my friend, Chitose Choko," Akari said. The girl named Choko smiled.

Fuyu opened his mouth to speak. Sayomi clutched his hand. "It's nice to meet you," she said sweetly.

Akari frowned. "Are you new here?" she asked.

Fuyu nodded. "We're just visiting relatives," he lied.

Sayomi pulled his hand. "Come on, they're waiting for us. We're already late," she said.

Fuyu nodded. He smiled at the girls. "Seeya around." He winked and walked beside Sayomi, leaving the blushing and smiling girls behind. Sayomi pulled him into an alley and glared.

"Don't make any friends, Fuyu. Remember what happened to your last 'friend'."

Fuyu frowned. "You didn't have to kill her. She was really a nice girl. She even wanted to come with us. She could've been a subordinate."

Sayomi frowned. "No. You can't have any more female subordinates." She poked him in the chest. "Once you break their hearts, they are no longer loyal."

"I wouldn't say that," he replied. "I'll be watching you." He turned to the streets and disappeared from the alley. Sayomi groaned and kicked at the sand. She exited the alley and turned to look at the west side of Suna. "Looks like I'm stuck with the traitor."

Her head whipped around to the alley she had walked from as she heard a scream. She looked at the now deserted streets and groaned. She turned to the alley and moved to it. A boy in the alley screamed. An older man stood over his sobbing form, a weapon in his hand. "Go away!" the boy yelled. His black eyes filled with fear. Sayomi normally would enjoy the situation. But, now she felt pain in remembering when Itachi would beat her bloody and Deidara would just watch.

The man raised the weapon and Sayomi studied it. Her lavender eyes glinted. She gently set down her backpack as a chain was held out. It flew back and Sayomi held her hand out and grabbed it. She wrapped the end around her hand and pulled. The man fell to the ground and lost his grip on the chain.

Sayomi pulled the chain to her. She looked at her bleeding hand and noticed the razor-sharp spikes that ran along the cold metal. "Nice. Mind if I have it?" She didn't wait for an answer and lashed out at the man, who had tried to stand up. The chain curled around the man and he howled in pain. Sayomi pulled back and the man fell, blood drenching his shirt. She pulled the chain back and held it, wary of the spikes.

Sayomi stepped over the fallen body and kneeled in front of the boy. "Now why would that man attack someone like you?" she asked.

The boy looked at her fearfully. "He's n-not f-from our village. He s-says m-my mother t-tried to kill h-him," he whispered. Sayomi moved over and picked up her backpack. She stuffed the chain in it and walked back over to the boy.

Sayomi picked up the boy. "Tell me where to go." She kept her backpack on her right arm, shifting most of the boy's weight to her left arm.

The boy pointed to a tall tower with the kanji for "Wind" on it. Sayomi cursed mentally. The Kazekage tower wasn't a personal favorite of hers. "Your mom lives there?" she asked.

The boy shook his head. "My uncle does," he said.

"Kid, what's your name?" she asked.

"Nara Shikahiro," he said. Sayomi furrowed her brows. The name wasn't familiar. "Ok, we better hurry." 'He's losing too much blood.'

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Etsumi sighed. "We're almost there." The teams traveled over the sand. Chikao and Takahiro had moved to the main team since they were in an open space. "What's the Kazekage like, Etsumi?" Yaso asked.

"Uncle Gaara's strict when it comes to missions. Otherwise, he's great. By the way, he may treat you differently."

"Care to explain why?" He glanced at Haruka and Takahiro. Haruka giggled and Takahiro smirked.

"No reason."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Shikahiro!"

A blonde woman ran over and wrapped her arms around the bloody boy. "What happened to you?" she asked.

"A man tried to hurt me, Mom. This woman saved me." He turned and looked at Sayomi. Her lavender eyes shone with impatience.

The woman stood up. "My name is Nara Temari. Thank you so much. May I ask who you are?"

"Sayomi," she replied.

Temari smiled. "Do you live in this village? I don't think I've seen you around."

"No. I'm just passing through."

"Why don't you stay the night? We have plenty of room," Temari stated. Sayomi paled.

"That would be nice, but I better get going," she said. She heard a chuckle and turned around. Oh shit.

"If I heard right, you saved my nephew. I insist you stay here," the man said. Sayomi shivered at his voice. Sabaku no Gaara.

FLASHBACK

Sayomi ran her smooth, pale fingers over the black stitches in Deidara's arm. "When did that happen?" she asked, cocking her head.

Deidara put a rough hand over hers. "One day I'm sure you'll go to Suna. I'll warn you to be wary of Sabaku no Gaara, the Kazekage. He's tougher than he looks, yeah."

Sayomi furrowed her eyebrows in concentration. She moved her hand and looked at her arms. "Will he rip off my arms?" she asked, eyes widening.

Deidara laughed. "If you give him a reason to, yeah."

Sayomi hugged her arms to her chest. "No! I like my arms!" she said, shaking her head. Deidara sighed and grabbed her hands. "Sayomi, if someone ever tries to do anything to your arms, I promise they'll pay, yeah."

Sayomi smiled. "Thanks."

FLASHBACK

Sayomi forced a smile. "I guess that would be ok. Thank you." The Kazekage nodded and turned to Temari.

Temari grinned and grabbed Sayomi's hand. Sayomi looked back in time to see Gaara picking up his nephew and putting him in the arms of a medic-nin.

"Here's your room!" Temari chirped, opening the door. A large bed with cream-colored satin sheets and a cream comforter was against one wall. A door leading to what Sayomi guessed was a bathroom was on the right wall. A large wooden dresser was a few feet away from the bed on the left side. The floor was covered in cream-colored carpeting. A vanity was to the right of the bed. It was painted a cream color and had several drawers. A desk was in front of a large glass wall that overlooked a vast area of Sunagakure. An alarm clock was on it. It currently read 7:39. Large white curtains were pulled to either side of the wall.

Sayomi glanced around the room, slightly surprised at how beautiful it was. She thanked Temari and watched as she walked off. She closed the door and locked it. She dropped her bag on the floor and took out the chain. She studied it quickly and focused her chakra in it.

The crackling blue lightning chakra flowed over it. Sayomi smiled. "I think this mission isn't so bad," she whispered to herself.

She lied down on the bed and yawned. She soon fell asleep.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Sayomi woke to a knock. She stood up and moved over to the door. She opened it and saw Shikahiro standing there. She turned her head to the clock. "Kid, it's midnight. What do you want?" she asked.

The boy shrugged. "I wanted to say thanks. I never got to. Mom doesn't know I'm awake, but I can't sleep. I know you kept that chain. Can I see it?" Sayomi hesitated, but nodded.

She pulled out the chain and laid it out over the bed. The boy stared at the sharp spikes. "Are you a ninja?" he asked.

Sayomi paused. "Yes," she said.

"What village are you from?" he asked, cocking his head. Sayomi muttered an inaudible curse.

"It's not important." She looked at her gloved hands. Bandages had been wrapped one of them from her earlier encounter. She had placed the gloves over them for extra precaution. "Try not to get yourself in anymore trouble."

"Where's your family?" he asked.

Sayomi looked at him. "What?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"You know. Where are your mom and dad? Siblings?" he asked, his eyes gazing at her innocently.

Sayomi closed her eyes. "I don't know where my mom is. I honestly don't care where my dad is. We don't have a great relationship." She sat down on her bed. To her displeasure, Shikahiro sat next to her.

"That's not good. Aren't fathers supposed to love you?" he asked.

Sayomi blinked. "Kid, listen up. I'm not the best person to be around. I've done things that you couldn't even imagine. Crimes that could make people suicidal. Understand?" she snapped.

The boy frowned and stood up. He moved over to the door and opened it. He turned to Sayomi, smiling. "I know you're a good person. One day you'll realize it too. You can't be bad. After all, you saved me."

Sayomi frowned as he closed the door. "Stupid kid," she muttered, sitting down on the bed.

"How touching," a voice whispered.

Sayomi sat up and turned around. "What the fuck are you doing?" she hissed, staring at Fuyu.

"Came to see that you weren't captured. Apparently, you took down the traitor already."

Sayomi blinked. "I didn't know that was him. He looked so different."

Fuyu looked at the chain. "Keeping that?" he asked

Sayomi grabbed it. "It could come in handy. It's meant for my type of chakra, anyways."

Fuyu pulled it away from her and focused his chakra in it. He let it go as blue chakra surrounded his hand and shocked him. "I can see why," he said. He shuddered at the after effects of the electricity. Sayomi grabbed the chain and stuffed it back in her backpack.

"You shouldn't be here. I'm leaving tomorrow. Where are you staying?"

Fuyu lied down on the bed, kicking his shoes off. He put his palms behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. "I guess I'll just stay here. It's not like they can open the door with the locks on it."

Sayomi shuddered. "Fine." She turned to Fuyu and moved over to him. She placed a finger on his neck and he yelped in pain.

"Stay off my bed," she hissed, throwing a pillow with a cream-colored satin covering at him. He caught it and stared at her. "You could've killed me. Lightning chakra's dangerous."

Sayomi laughed. "It takes a lot more than that to kill someone. I feel sorry for Itachi. He has such a moronic son."

Fuyu chuckled. "Are you saying you didn't feel the static between us?" He dodged the pillow thrown at him.

"Spare me," Sayomi hissed, moving over to where her head was on the pillow.