A Story

by BreakingWater21

This is a story mainly centered around my own character but contains all of the Naruto characters except Sakura...shiver... Read the Prelude for the background. Everyone's older than in the series.

6. Part VI: Three Weeks

Part VI: Three Weeks

Sora saw a sea of darkness. Swirling mists of black rose and fell around her, but there was no wind. She reached out to touch the mist but it went around her hand and she felt nothing.

"Where am I?" she wondered out loud.

She looked down and saw her feet standing on nothing but what seemed to be an everlasting darkness. Swallowing her surprise and fear, she took a step. The mist swirled upwards as if she had disturbed it from the unseen ground. The blackness stretched as far as the eye could see. It looked like she was floating but she felt like she was standing.

"This is weird," she said to herself for her own comfort. The whole area was making her feel very uncomfortable.

Then a small spark flashed in the distance. "Huh?" She ran towards it. "Hello?" she called. "Is anyone out there?" She stopped running forgetting what it was she had seen. The darkness seemed to eat up any sound she produced, and any thought she had.

Is this a dream? She looked around desperately for any sign of movement besides the endless swirling mist.

The darkness was oppressive and she began to feel claustrophobic. The mist made her very uneasy even though she couldn't feel it. A wave of nausea washed over her and she fell to her knees clutching her stomach. This HAS to be a dream! she told herself as a bead of sweat ran down her face. The pain was almost unbearable. She screamed out from the pain unable to hold it in any longer. Her scream echoed through the vast emptiness around her. She clenched her teeth together to stop herself from screaming. The echoes seemed to die away but in its place, a high pitched ringing tone pierced her head. It was unbearable. It seemed to rattle her bones and slash her ear drums. "AHHH!" she cried out from the pain. The ringing became louder and louder. I'm losing my mind…

Sora shot up in her hospital bed, eyes open in pain and fear. She was wearing an oxygen mask and had a number of needles stuck in her. It was dark, but not like the darkness from before. The moonlight filtered in the room as Sora attempted to catch her breath. She ripped the mask off. What was that? she asked herself. She soon felt the pain subside and she looked around the room. Am I in the hospital? HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN ASLEEP? She looked at the clock. It's midnight! she thought in a panic even though it didn't really matter what time it was. She swung her legs over the side of her bed and stood up but immediately fell back down. Her head felt incredibly light and she was so dizzy she couldn't see straight.

After her head cleared, she felt an especially irritating needle in her arm and traced the tube up to a packet of blood that was slowly flowing into her body. "I hate needles," she grumbled to herself as she fought the temptation to pull it out. She didn't want to go back to sleep but she didn't want to stay.

What if I've been out for so long I missed the final rounds? She decided that she had to try and stand up again. She slowly lifted herself up from the bed allowing her body to get used to the new position. Once she felt she could let go of the bed railing, she grabbed the stand that the blood packet was attached to and pulled it along as she walked over to the connecting bathroom. She turned on the lights and looked in the mirror. Her hair had been cleaned by someone earlier and her cuts and bruises were gone but she didn't look like she had been asleep for that long. She touched her face. "Hm," she said. She closed the door and carefully turned on the sink to wash her face.

Unknown to Sora, the door to her hospital room opened and Kakashi entered ever so softly. He wanted to see her as soon as possible and the Medic Nin had said the next day so he came the next day. He closed the door behind him and looked towards the bed. It was empty. WHAT? "Sora!" he managed to whisper out even though he wanted to yell. His eyes swept the room in search of any sign of where she could have gone. Window? Closed. He ran to the bed and felt the sheets. They're still warm. That means she couldn't have gone far! He started to run for the door when he heard a creak of another door behind him. Huh? He turned around into a blazing light and saw a silhouetted figure in the doorway. He shielded his eyes.

Sora opened the bathroom door to find Kakashi in her room shielding his eyes from the blinding bathroom light. She blinked in surprise. Huh? Sensei? Here?

Neither moved. Sora because she was too shocked and confused about what had happened and Kakashi because he was trying to adjust his eyes to the light by blinking rapidly. Then, "Kakashi-sensei?" "Sora!" Pause.

Kakashi was about to run over to Sora and hold her in his arms but he resisted and forced himself back into his usual character. "Uh, Sora," he said pathetically trying to recover from his earlier astonishment. "You're up already?"

Sora was still confused. "Already?"

Kakashi looked at her. "The Medic Nin didn't expect you to wake up for about a week. It's only the day after the preliminaries."

Sora gave a huge sigh of relief. "Oh good. I thought I'd slept through the final rounds." She walked out of the bathroom switching off the lights and switching on the lights in the room. Both blinked from the sudden change of lighting. "Uh, what are you doing here?" she asked as they blinked.

"Oh, I came to check on you."

"At midnight?"

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Yes," he said with way too much confidence. He looked at her as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Sora shook her head and walked slowly to her bed and sat down. "Well, I feel fine," she said. "You don't have to stay."

Kakashi rubbed his neck trying to look as calm as possible and walked up to her bed and sat down. "I'm just going to make sure you're ok before I leave," he said softly as he touched her forehead with two fingers. "Just relax."

Sora looked up at his fingers and then at his face. His visible eye was closed. Then her mind began to wander. Hm, I wonder why he wears that mask all the time, she thought as she looked at her sensei's face. What would he look like? She smiled to herself. Maybe he's ashamed of how he looks so that's why he covers his face up. She knew that wasn't true. His visible features looked too handsome for the rest of his face to look ugly. Maybe he's really handsome, she thought. She felt the sudden urge to pull down his mask. He's hiding something… Her arm lifted into the air. I know he's always late for a reason… She reached for the black cloth. I can see in his eye when he's not concentrating that something's giving him so much pain… Her fingers were millimeters away from his face. She could feel the heat radiating from his body. So mysterious… Then she stopped herself. What the hell am I doing? She quickly pulled back her hand but felt it stop against Kakashi's. "Huh?" Kakashi's eye was open and looking at her. She hadn't noticed that he had removed his fingers from her forehead and had been observing her motions quietly. She turned red with embarrassment. "Uh, sorry," she said quietly looking away. Stupid. I can't believe I just tried to…stupid!

Kakashi watched her as she beat herself up internally. I wonder what she was thinking, he thought not letting her hand go partially to make her feel uncomfortable and partially because he didn't want to let go. After a while of watching Sora shiver in the awkward silence, he brought their hands down to rest on his knee. "May I ask what you were thinking?" he said kindly.

Sora wanted to pull her hand away and hide under the covers of her bed she was so embarrassed. "Uh, nothing," she stammered. He's going to kill me…

Kakashi was thoroughly enjoying her agitation. She's so cute when she's nervous, he thought as he ran his thumb unconsciously over the back of her hand. "Sora?"

Sora blushed even deeper when she felt him stroking her hand. What the-? He's…is this some sort of joke? "I was just curious," she said in the smallest voice possible.

Kakashi smiled and stood up letting go of her hand. "Heh, everyone is," he said looking at her with a hidden smile.

Sora tried to smile back but could only wince nervously. Geez, he knows how to make a person feel uncomfortable!

"I'll be back when the sun rises to check on you, but then I'm going away for a while to train Sasuke," Kakashi said walking towards the door.

"Sasuke?" Sora asked.

"Yes. That mark on his shoulder is very dangerous especially to him. He needs special training away from here. I'm sorry that I can't stay and help you but I've found someone who will be an excellent sensei for you and Naruto," he responded.

"Oh," Sora said slightly disappointed that he wasn't going to teach her.

Kakashi knew what she was thinking. You don't know how much I want to stay but I've got my duty…I can't go against what fate has brought me. "I know you'll miss me dearly," he said trying to lighten the mood.

Sora twitched her eyebrow at Kakashi. And he thinks Sasuke's arrogant? She sighed and lowered herself in her bed. "Right."

Kakashi smiled to himself and went out of the room shutting the door softly. He planned on staying around the hospital for the night to watch over not only Sora but Sasuke who was on the top floor of the hospital being heavily guarded by an ANBU squad. He sighed. "All three of my students are so…interesting," he said to himself with a chuckle and walked down the hall.

Sora still couldn't sleep. She wasn't tired or fully awake either. She just wanted to get out of the hospital and go back to her apartment. I don't want to have that dream again, she thought. It felt so…real. She looked out the window and saw the moon in the sky. It reminded her of her seal. She shuddered. "What is this thing in me?" she asked herself. "I'm not anyone special. I don't want to be anyone special. Why?"

Right at the break of dawn, Kakashi opened Sora's door softly thinking that she was still asleep. He saw her figure lying in the bed facing away from him and walked softly to her bedside and sat down. "Morning," he said softly as he put his hand on her shoulder.

Sora, who hadn't slept at all, turned to face him. Her eyes seemed a little blood shot from all the thinking she had done. "Hi, Sensei," she said.

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow. "You didn't sleep?"

Sora shook her head. "Nah, too much to think about," she said sitting up slowly. Her body was still incredibly sore. "So who's this awesome sensei that you're leaving me and Naruto with?"

"Hm." Kakashi nodded and got up. "He's a ninja specialist who usually only trains the elite ninjas of our village. He may be a better teacher than me, though I doubt it." He smiled pretending to be vain. Sora rolled her eyes. "His name is Ebisu-sensei."

"Ebisu-sensei, huh?" Sora said. "Sounds decent enough."

Kakashi chuckled. "Can you stand?"

Sora got up slowly and took a turn around the room pulling her little stand behind her. "Is this ok?"

Kakashi nodded. "Big improvements already." Then a knock was heard on the door.

"Come in," Sora called.

There was a pause, then the door swung open revealing a very wide-eyed nurse. "HUH? You're supposed to be completely knocked out until next week! I've got to tell Kazuna-sama!" She dropped her clipboard and ran out in a hurry.

Both Sora and Kakashi sweat-dropped. "Ok then," Kakashi said breaking the awkward silence. "I'll see you in three weeks."

"Oh, wait!" Sora said. "Who else passed the preliminaries?"

"Ah, yes. I forgot to tell you that earlier," Kakashi said. "Well, after Naruto went, Hinata and Neji fought."

"Hinata-chan?"

"But I'm afraid her cousin, Neji won," Kakashi said. "It's very interesting that the two Hyuugas were against each other."

Sora's face fell. Hinata-chan lost, she thought. I wonder how she's doing.

"Then Lee vs. Gaara," Kakashi said, his tone becoming a little darker at the mention of Gaara. "Gaara won."

Oh no. If he was against Gaara, he can't be any good condition now. I should check on him, Sora thought.

"The final match was Chouji against Dosu from the Sound village. Dosu won," Kakashi said. "They did a drawing of the first rounds after the preliminaries. You got number nine and you're up against Dosu first. Naruto got one, Neji two, Sasuke three, Gaara four, Kankuro five, Shino six, Shikamaru seven, and Temari eight. You should have a good idea of what your options are with these competitors now." Sora nodded. Kakashi looked at her determination and a slight worry rose in his mind. "I don't want you to go beyond your limits," he ordered. "You're at an even bigger disadvantage now that you've, uh, lost so much blood as well as your Chakra. Use this time to build up your bodily strength again and sleep every night."

"Yes, Sensei," Sora said automatically while eyeing his face. There's something he's not telling me.

Kakashi knew she was expecting something else. "All right then, I'll see you in three weeks at the exam."

Sora started to say something but he was gone. "Sensei!" she said in frustration. He knows I know that he's hiding something.

Then the nurse came back with the head Medic Nin. "LOOK! SHE'S AWAKE!" the nurse said pointing a shaky finger at Sora.

Kazuna looked at Sora with shock. "This is interesting," she said calmly more to herself than for the good of the group. She walked over to Sora to inspect her. "Hm." She touched Sora's heart area and sensed that her internal injuries were amazingly almost healed. This can't be right, she thought. Internal Chakra wounds are usually life-long injuries or at least long-standing ones. I need to tell Hokage-sama about this. "Well, you look fine to me," she said at last. "I wouldn't do anything too active too soon though. You did have quite a bit of blood loss but I think we can get you off of the IV." She led Sora over to the bed and made her sit down. "You can go," she told the other nurse.

She nodded still slightly in a daze and shut the door behind her.

Kazuna proceeded to take the needles out of Sora. After a few minutes, Sora was completely free from any needles, tubes, or machines.

"Thanks," Sora said moving her newly freed arm around. It was sore from inactivity.

"No problem," Kazuna said smiling. "You're well enough to walk around a bit if you want to. Ebisu-sensei is going to be here in an hour or so."

Sora nodded and Kazuna left the room. "Well," she said out loud to herself, "if she said I can leave my room…" She headed towards the lobby on her floor to ask where Sasuke, Lee, Hinata, and Kiba were staying. She knew that Shikamaru and Naruto were probably not in the hospital since they won their matches without too much hassle. She walked up to the receptionist. "Excuse me."

"Hm? Oh, yes. How can I help you?"

"I'm looking for a list of people that probably all came in yesterday from the Chuunin exam."

"I've got the list right here. Who is it that you want?" Sora listed off all the names of her friends. "Hyuuga Hinata is in room 245 but she's in intensive care so I wouldn't see her till tomorrow. Inuzuka Kiba has already gone home. Oh, but here is Rock Lee's room number, uh, 213. But I'm afraid that Uchiha Sasuke's room is confidential."

"Oh, ok," Sora said. Hinata-chan… She saw on the wall that she was on the second floor and that both rooms were in the same direction. "Thank you." The lady nodded and Sora started down the hall. I guess I can only visit Lee today then. She soon came to room 213. She knocked but there was no answer so she cracked the door open and slipped in.

She stared in disbelief at the state Lee was in. His left arm and leg were completely wrapped up in bandages as well as his chest and back. Numerous visible cuts and bruises covered his face and the other hand that was resting on top of the blanket. Sora could tell from the charts that his heartbeat was very slow and that he had been on an oxygen mask for a while. She sat in a chair next to his bed and laid a hand on his.

"Lee-san," she whispered. "What did he do to you?" She felt her eyes become slightly wet. In this condition, he probably won't be able to become a ninja. His Chakra's only limited to Taijutsu and can't heal his injuries. She sat for a while stroking Lee's hand. Gaara must be incredibly powerful if he could put Lee into this state. Lee isn't the kind to be beaten easily. Then she saw that a shadow had covered her. "Huh?" she said as she turned around. Her red eyes met pale green ones. It was Gaara. She stood up in a flash and clenched her fists automatically. "You," she said. "What did you do to him?"

Gaara's eyes cut through Sora's. "Stand aside," he said completely ignoring her question. He advanced forward.

"No," Sora said narrowing her eyes as a defense against his piercing gaze. She held her ground and didn't move.

"I don't want to hurt you," he said without showing any sign of stopping.

"So you want to hurt Lee?" Sora spat. "After what you already did to him?"

Then Gaara stopped suddenly looking almost puzzled. "What is he to you?"

What kind of question is that? Sora thought. "Why do you want to know?"

"Why are you protecting him even though you know that if we fought I could easily kill you?" he asked again.

Sora knew it to be true. Her Chakra was gone and her body was physically weak but she pretended to be confident. "Oh really?" she said without thinking but the fear stood out in her eyes. Is he really going to attack?

Gaara read her expression and stretched his hand towards her. Sand seeped out from the gourd on his back.

What's that? Sora thought as she prepared to block any attack that came at her. The sand flowed slowly towards Sora. She stepped back. This can't be an attack. It's too slow. What's he doing? She continued inching back until her legs hit Lee's bed. Her eyes widened. "Stop," she ordered but with a slight falter in her voice.

Gaara gazed at her intensely. "Why?" He controlled the sand so that it began to enwrap Sora's body.

Sora wanted to get out but couldn't leave Lee alone in the room with Gaara. She sliced her hand through the air and broke the stream of sand just long enough to get out of its grasp. "Stop it now!"

"No," Gaara said. She's just like me. I can feel it. I must have her. He thrust both of his hands forward and the sand zipped through the air and bound Sora's hands and legs. He motioned for the sand to bring Sora forward.

Sora closed her eyes and screamed but the sand covered her mouth and swallowed the sound. I've got to get out, she thought panicking. I need to get help. Then she opened her eyes but gasped when she saw Gaara's just inches away from hers.

"Why do you care for him?" he asked slowly. "What is he to you?"

Sora shook her head refusing to answer.

Gaara grabbed her arms with his own hands and allowed the sand from her mouth to drop down. He drew her even closer. "Answer me."

His eyes bore holes into hers. The sand continuously seeped around her body, over her skin. Sora felt the sand go under her shirt and gasped slightly. She didn't like his eyes. She didn't like being this close to him. "Let me go!" she said defiantly and tried to move but the sand held her still.

Then Gaara leaned in and captured her lips in his. A wave of ecstasy washed over him. I've never felt like this. This feeling…her soft lips, her jeweled eyes. He had never felt another person's skin before. All his life he'd had his sand to protect him no matter what. Even in his fight with Lee when he had actually felt pain for the first time in his life. It was only through an armor of sand covering his body. But now there was no sand armor. There was nothing between him and Sora. He had made the first move to touch her.

Sora tried to pull back but couldn't move. She felt his lips work against her as his tongue slid across her lips trying to get them to part. She refused to give in.

Gaara hungrily pushed Sora into his wall of sand. I need more. She's mine! He ran his fingers through her hair. This new sensation of someone else being so close to him drove him mad. He broke the kiss for air.

"Get away from me!" Sora gasped out when he stopped. He doesn't even know me. What kind of perv- Then she felt the sand release her as she dropped to the floor. She looked up and saw Gaara standing perfectly still. What?

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sora heard Naruto's voice.

"Naruto?" Sora said moving away from Gaara who was still gazing at her with his eyes.

"Sora?" she heard two voices say. She stood up and looked towards the door and saw Naruto and Shikamaru who was using his Shadow technique to trap Gaara.

"Shikamaru!" she said in relief moving quickly beside them.

Naruto stared in surprise. "What're you doing here?"

"I came to visit Lee-san and then-"

"Sora, are you all right?" Shikamaru asked with a worried look on his face. "What was he doing to you?"

Sora looked at Gaara who had turned around and was looking straight at her. She shuddered. She didn't want to tell them about his advancements.

"Well it's a good thing we got here in time," Naruto said angrily glaring at Gaara with clenched fists.

Sora quietly thanked Naruto for his brashness.

Shikamaru's attention turned towards Gaara as well. "You'd better explain yourself," he said.

Gaara narrowed his eyes slowly. "I came to finish what I started," he stated.

"And what was that?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru looked at Naruto incredulously. "You dumbass. He came to finish off Lee."

Naruto looked at Lee. "Oh," he said stupidly.

"Well, we've got you outnumbered and trapped at the moment so you can either leave quietly now or we'll just have to force you out," Shikamaru said. I hope he falls for this stupid bluff, he thought.

Gaara looked at him unblinking.

He didn't fall for it, Shikamaru thought. Well of course he didn't…I don't think I'll be able to hold him much longer.

Naruto looked at Shikamaru. Dammit, he didn't go for our bluff, he thought. What do we do now?

Then the door swung open and Gai-sensei appeared. "Good morn-WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON HERE?" he shouted at the Genins in the room. "Lee needs his sleep! Can't you see?" Then he realized the situation.

The three Konoha Genins sweat-dropped.

"You!" Gai said moving so that he was in between Gaara and the rest of the group. "I don't think you should be here."

Shikamaru let his shadow fall back to normal releasing Gaara since Gai-sensei was here. He leaned against the wall for support since a lot of his energy was temporarily gone.

Gaara said nothing but exited the room with a final glance at Sora.

She shivered at his gaze but then turned her attention to Gai-sensei who was going to yell at them.

"What was he doing here?" he asked with anger still apparent in his voice.

Naruto jumped in immediately. "We were just going to come in to visit Lee and then we saw this big mass of sand and so Shikamaru caught him in his Shadow jutsu and then we saw Sora and then-"

"Enough," Gai interrupted. "I suggest that you all leave now. Lee is in a very critical condition from his fight."

The three Genins nodded and cautiously inched towards the door fearing that Gaara was in the hall waiting for them but once in the hallway, there was no one in sight. "Whew," Naruto said. "That was intense."

"Sora, what was he doing to you in there?" Shikamaru asked again taking her by the shoulders.

"It was…he was-" she stammered. "He was going to attack Lee and I tried to stop him. Then you guys came."

"It didn't look like that was all," Shikamaru said looking into Sora's eyes.

Naruto pulled Shikamaru back. "Hey back off," he said defensively. "All we could see was a whirling mass of sand anyway."

Sora silently thanked Naruto again.

Shikamaru shook Naruto off with a humph. He knew that something else happened in there but he didn't want to bother with Naruto anymore so he decided to try and get Sora when she was alone.

Naruto glared at Shikamaru but then turned his attention to Sora. "Hey did Kakashi-sensei see you today?" he asked.

"Yes," Sora said.

"He told me that he was going off somewhere to train Sasuke and left us with this Ebisu guy! I think he's playing favorites with Sasuke!" Naruto said with a huff. Everything's always about Sasuke…

"Really?" Sora said. I guess Kakashi-sensei didn't mention how dangerous that mark on Sasuke's shoulder is to Naruto, she thought. "I don't think he's playing favorites, though," she said carefully. "It's just that Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei have similar techniques with the Sharingan and who else is better to teach Sasuke how to use it?"

Naruto still frowned but felt slightly better about the whole thing. "I don't think this Ebisu guy's good enough for us though," he scoffed.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "We should probably head down to the lobby since your new sensei should be waiting for you already."

Sora looked at the clock on the wall. "Oh, yeah," she said.

"Really?" Naruto asked. "Hm…what time did Kakashi say that he was gonna-"

"He said 9, dobe," Shikamaru said rolling his eyes again. "You really do forget anything anyone tells you."

Naruto glared at Shikamaru. "Well, you-"

"Let's just head down there, ok?" Sora said smiling shakily trying to keep the two guys from arguing. She grabbed an angry Naruto's arm and dragged him down the hallway as Shikamaru followed with his hands in his pockets. Once they were in the main lobby, they saw a man dressed in all black with sunglasses and a bandanna on. He looked strange, to say the least.

"Ah, yes," the man said upon seeing Sora and Naruto. "You're finally here. You know, you are a minute and 32 seconds late." He held the air of a snob around him.

Sora and Shikamaru looked at each other with raised eyebrows while Naruto stared at the new sensei. "You!" he yelled out in shock. "You're that closet pervert!"Everyone in the lobby turned to look at Naruto. There was a very awkward silence. "Uh, I think I'll go now," Shikamaru said to Sora. Sora nodded. "Good luck." He nodded towards Naruto who was pointing at a very uneasy looking Ebisu-sensei then he slipped out the hospital door.

"Hold your tongue, you disrespectful child!" Ebisu-sensei hissed regaining his former snob air. "I am to be called Ebisu-sensei or just Sensei, understand?" The hospital lobby went back to its usual busy hum.

Naruto crossed his arms and frowned. "Not on your life!" he said defiantly. "Come on, Sora. This guy's a real loser."

Sora looked at Naruto shocked. "I'm guessing you've met before."

Naruto nodded in disdain. "Yeah, and he fell for my Sexy no Jutsu in one second flat," he said. "But he claims to be this powerful ninja guy."

Sexy no Jutsu? Sora asked herself. Then it hit her. "NARUTO YOU PERVERT!" she shouted.

Naruto then realized what he had said. "No, no! I mean he's just really-"

Ebisu clamped his hand over Naruto's mouth. "I didn't want to train you either, boy," he said quietly but angrily. "I'm only doing this as a favor to Kakashi."

Naruto pushed Ebisu's hand off of his mouth. "I'm not going to be your student and neither is Sora!"

Sora was still twitching at the fact that Naruto could even use that stupid Sexy no Jutsu technique.

"Fine," Ebisu said. "I'll make a deal with you. If you can run away from me, then I won't train you. But if you can't, you will both have to submit to my training with obedience and respect!"

"No problem!" Naruto said smirking. "Come on!" He grabbed Sora's arm and dragged her out of the hospital and disappeared.

Ebisu smiled and calmly walked out of the hospital and jumped after them.

"Naruto you perv!" Sora yelled at Naruto as they jumped from rooftop to rooftop. "I can't believe you would even use that stupid technique!"

Naruto laughed nervously. "I only did it to get him off my back!" he said. "He's the perv, not me!"

Sora sighed knowing that she wasn't going to get anywhere with Naruto. "If I ever see you doing that stupid-"

"You won't! I promise!" Naruto said quickly. They both stopped and looked around for any sign of Ebisu-sensei. "Hah! I guess he's not so good after-"

"A-hem!" The two turned around and saw Ebisu standing with his arms crossed in a triumphant smile.

"WHA!" Naruto shouted and backed away.

He's better than I thought he was, Sora said as she also backed away.

"I'm not going to lose to the likes of you!" Naruto said. "Sora! Split up!"

Sora nodded. Let's see just how good this guy is, she thought. The two jumped in opposite directions.

Ebisu smiled. "This'll be interesting," he said. "Kage Buushin no Jutsu!" An Ebisu clone appeared and they split up each following one Genin.

Sora ran towards the center of the village hoping that she could blend in with the crowd there. She landed in the midst of the shoppers in the busy market street making sure that there was always a way of escape just in case Ebisu found her. The streets were overly crowded that day since there was a special sale going on for the arrival of the many visitors for the Chuunin exam. Sora stayed as low as possible and tried to act like she was just a normal shopper. She covered her hair as much as possible with her forehead protector and always kept her guard up.

Naruto on the other hand ran blindly and found himself on the top of a high tower overlooking the village. Hehehe, he thought, He'll never find me here!

"You really aren't that bright, are you?" Ebisu asked yawning.

"KE?" Naruto yelled and almost fell off of the tower. "What the crap?"

"You'd better run," Ebisu said.

"Why you…KAGE BUUSHIN NO JUTSU!" Numerous Narutos appeared. "Catch me now, you closet pervert!" they all shouted as they sprinted off in different directions.

Ebisu sighed and shook his head. "Impressive but still stupid. Kage Buushin no Jutsu." The same number of Ebisus appeared and each took off after his own Naruto.

Sora began to get nervous. This is strange, she thought as she pretended to look at some fried squid that was being sold. If he's such a great ninja then he should have found me by now. She sensed that something wasn't right, then-

"Why, hello there!" Ebisu said cheerfully buying the stick of squid Sora had been looking at. "Want some?"

Sora stumbled backwards. "AH!" She scrambled to get away. She jumped up onto the roof of a nearby building. He's creepy! she thought. She jumped from building to building as fast as she could. Wait a minute. Kazuna-sama said that I shouldn't be doing strenuous activities. She stopped to think. Well, why am I running anyway? Oh yeah, Naruto says he's weak and a pervert. Pervert?

"What's such a pretty girl like yourself doing up here?" Ebisu said appearing out of nowhere.

Sora's eyes widened in agitation. Ok, that's crossing it. "Get away from me!" she yelled and took off again not thinking about Kazuna's warning.

After a while of chasing and running, both Genins met up at the bridge where they usually met Kakashi-sensei. They were exhausted. Sora because she was still weak from her injuries and Naruto because he had spent too much of his energy making clones. "Man, this guy doesn't give up does he?" Naruto said collapsing on the bridge next to a panting Sora.

Sora closed her eyes and tried to calm her breathing. "He's better than he looks," she finally said.

"That's still not saying much," Naruto snorted even though he knew that Ebisu was indeed a pretty powerful ninja. Then he appeared.

"Tired out already?" he asked in a mocking tone. "I'm afraid I win then and you will now have to respect me and call me Ebisu-sensei!" He smiled at Sora.

Sora glared at him.

"Oh yeah?" Naruto yelled and he rushed at him with surprising energy and threw a punch at Ebisu's face. Ebisu easily sidestepped it and hit Naruto up over the railing on the bridge and into the water.

"Naruto!" Sora yelled as she stood up. She glared even harder at Ebisu. He's very good…

"Now," Ebisu said walking up to Sora. "We did have an agreement, didn't we?" He carelessly let his eyes sweep over Sora's body because he knew she couldn't see them behind his sunglasses. "Let's go to the hot springs then."

"What?" Sora and Naruto asked at the same time. Naruto jumped on the bridge. "What kind of training would that be?"

"You'll just have to see," Ebisu said motioning them to follow him. The two begrudgingly followed. Once at the hot springs Ebisu poked his head into the men's hot spring to make sure that they were the only ones there. Then he explained his exercise. "I know Kakashi's made you do the tree exercise with your Chakra," he said.

Oh shoot, Sora thought fearfully knowing what was coming.

"Now walking on water is an entirely different level of Chakra control. You must not only concentrate your Chakra at your feet, you must be able to keep it a constant amount the entire time so as to balance out the water tension." He motioned for the two to follow him into the hot spring area.

"I can't," Sora said. "It's the men's hot spring!"

"No one's here," Ebisu said nonchalantly.

Sora turned red. "You can't be serious."

"I am," Ebisu said.

"Don't leave me alone with him in there," Naruto whispered in Sora's ear. "Please!"

Sora sighed. "This is so wrong," she muttered but entered in after Naruto. The spring was indeed empty but there was splashing on the other side indicating that the women's hot spring was not empty.

"Observe," Ebisu said as he walked out on the water.

"Hm, hm," Naruto said nodding. "That looks easy enough." He ran out on the water.

"Naruto! It's harder than you think!" Sora shouted after him.

Naruto wobbled a bit but then stood up. "HAH! This is too easy," he said confidently then he began to sink. "Wha? Uh, AHHH!" He was completely submerged.

Sora shook her head and Ebisu laughed. "Overconfidence won't get you anywhere," he said.

Naruto shot up from the water literally steaming and as red as a lobster. "IT'S HOT!" he shouted trying frantically to cool down.

"Of course it is, baka! It's a HOT spring!" Sora said a little annoyed. "You can't just rush into these sorts of things. It takes concentration and actual thinking!"

"Ah, so the little lady has already done this training exercise?" Ebisu said a little seductively.

Sora didn't like his tone. Naruto didn't like his tone. "Hey, don't talk to her like that you closet pervert!" he said to Ebisu.

Then at that moment, a small laugh was heard from behind them. An older looking man with long, big, spiky white hair was crouched near the wall separating the men's and women's hot spring. "Oh, very nice, very nice," they heard him say.

Sora's eyes went round and she was temporarily paralyzed. A-no-ther per-vert?

Ebisu suddenly jumped in front of Naruto and Sora. "Hey you! That is very inappropriate behavior and I will not tolerate it in my presence!"

"Huh?" the white-haired man said and stood up to face the trio.

"Peeking is prohibited in this hot spring, sir!" Ebisu cried.

Since when did he become so obsessed with propriety? Sora thought sweat-dropping.

"It's not peeking! It's research!" the man said turning back to his peeking.

"That is no way to behave in front of a lady!" Ebisu shouted at the man.

"Lady?" he asked looking back around. Then he spotted Sora. "Oohoohoo!" he said happily jumping up. She is one sexy lady, he thought. Perfect model for my next character! He looked over Sora's body. Yes, yes. Curves in all the right places, bust not too big but yet so established. Mature-looking, yes, yes…

Sora turned a deep shade of red when she saw what the man was doing. Is he--checking her out? Naruto thought at the same time. "Hey you-"

"-perverted old man!" Ebisu cried out when he noticed what the guy was looking at. "I will defend my student's dignity!" He ran at the old guy.

The man straitened himself up and then in a poof of smoke Ebisu was down.

"What happened?" Naruto asked eagerly. "Where'd the perverts go?"

Sora twitched her eyebrow. "I'm leaving," she said.

"Wha-wait! Sora!" Naruto grabbed her arm.

Then the smoke cleared revealing a huge frog that was on top of Ebisu.

"WHOA! A summoning technique!" Naruto said letting go of Sora. "I've got to learn how to do that!"

Sora frowned and proceeded to leave the hot springs but she was stopped by the man. "What's your name?" he asked leaning in and staring at her chest.

Sora was shocked at his audacity and became angrier. "YOU PERVERT!" she shouted and slapped him across the face.

Feisty, yes, yes, he thought rubbing his cheek. He looked at the very beautiful but very angry red-haired girl in front of him. "Ah, you are the perfect model for the next character in my series!"

"And what series is that?" Naruto asked running up to them.

The man chuckled then whipped out a copy of his book. "ICHA ICHA PARADISE of course!"

Both of the Genins sweat-dropped. They recognized the book. That's the book that Kakashi-sensei reads, Sora and Naruto thought.

"I'M SURROUNDED BY PERVERTS!" Sora yelled grabbing her hair.

Naruto tried to calm her down while the man stood chuckling at the two. "But hey, hey, perverted guy!" Naruto said.

The man stopped chuckling and looked annoyed. "I'm not a pervert! I am the great and famous Frog Tamer Hermit, Jiraiya!" He struck a pose.

"Ok, then, Perverted Hermit! Can you teach me how to do that summoning thing with the frog?" Naruto asked excitedly.

Jiraiya fell down and twitched. This kid must have something wrong with him, he thought. "No," he said getting up.

"What?" Naruto said.

"I don't have time to train you," he said. "I've gotten an inspiration from this very fine young lady here for my next book!"

Sora snapped back to reality. "I don't want any part of your perverted novels!" she shouted. "We're going back to the village!" She tried to walk out dragging Naruto behind her.

"But Sora! This guy's really powerful! I know he can train us better than that closet pervert ever could!" Naruto pleaded.

"Naruto, do you realize that he wants to make me a character in his…his book?" Sora said with wide eyes. "There's no way-"

"But you'll be famous! Millions of people everywhere read my books!" Jiraiya said.

Sora's eyebrow twitched. "I don't want to be known as some slut in a porn book," she stated flatly.

"It's not a porn book, as you call it!" Jiraiya insisted. "It is a piece of literature!"

I can't believe I'm still here, Sora thought. "Fine Naruto," she said. "You can train from this guy, but I'm finding someone else. Ok?"

Naruto knew that he couldn't convince Sora no matter what but he didn't want to give up his chance for getting Jiraiya as his sensei. He nodded and let Sora go.

Sora walked out of the springs and ran as fast as should could back to the village. She didn't stop until she saw the outskirts of the town. She leaned up against a tree to catch her breath. "What a day," she said. "I can't believe Kakashi-sensei would read something like that!"

"Something like what?" a voice said from somewhere.

Sora started and turned to face the voice. "Neji!"

The Hyuuga walked up to her calmly and nodded.

"Oh, uh, you surprised me," she stammered.

"I'm sorry to have disturbed you," he said softly, "but you also surprised me."

Sora looked around the area and saw that Neji had been training by himself. The trees had weapons sticking into them every which way and the ground had many deep holes. "I interrupted your training? Uh, um, I'm really sorry," Sora said quickly. "I'll go now."

"You don't have to," Neji said. "I was just about to stop for the day anyway since it's almost dinner. Care to join me?"

Sora was shocked. She looked into his clear colorless eyes. "Sure," she said without thinking. What am I doing? she thought. He put Hinata-chan in the ICU and he might be my opponent! They started walking towards the village.

Neji brought Sora to a small stand where they each bought some food. Then they decided on eating in the gardens since it was a beautiful evening. "I'm surprised that you recovered so quickly from your state yesterday," Neji said once they sat down on a bench in the park.

Sora blushed slightly. "Yeah, I was too. But I thought I'd missed the matches when I woke up. It felt like I'd been asleep forever," she said. She remembered her nightmare and covered up a small wince.

Neji could sense her agitation. "I can see with my Byakugan that you hold many painful memories," he said slowly without looking at her.

Sora tensed. "Byakugan?" she asked shakily trying to turn the subject from herself to him.

Neji nodded. "I don't have the right to ask what you're going through but I will tell you that I am willing to help you in any way I can." He said this with such a calm and collected air that Sora forgot to think how straightforward he was being.

"Why would you do that?" Sora asked.

Neji turned his clear eyes to look into Sora's red. "I see many similarities between you and me. I've never met anyone who knows my pain as I feel you do."

Sora thought over what he said before she spoke. "What do you know of my pain?" She didn't want to sound skeptical or rude; she was just intrigued by his confidence.

"You know that I can read minds," he started carefully. "I don't do it all the time but I did see in your mind that you had some sort of seal keeping you from your full potential. I suspect it has something to do with your Chakra since you fought without using it and I can't see a Chakra aurora around you when I use my Byakugan."

Sora didn't speak. His eyes had her hypnotized.

"I have a seal. The seal from my fate of being of the branch family of my clan," he said with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Branch?"

"Yes. Hinata-sama, my cousin, is from the head family. Our fathers were twin brothers but it was determined that my father was the younger of the two and therefore was sealed to be part of the branch family. The only reason we supposedly exist is to protect and serve the head family. We can never harm them and that is the purpose of my seal." He paused for a second to search Sora's eyes for a response. She was intrigued and waited for him to continue. "But I call it a curse." He narrowed his eyes. "My fate is to live with this curse for the rest of my life. Nothing can change it but nothing can change my deep resentment for the head family either. It's because of them my father…" He stopped and looked away. "I'm sorry I shouldn't..."

"No," Sora said quickly. She knew he needed to talk to someone and she happened to be there. "What happened to your father?"

"They killed him," Neji said shortly.

"The head family?" Sora asked in amazement.

Neji nodded. "As a replacement for my uncle. When Hinata-sama was very young, she was kidnapped by a Mist Nin. Her father stopped the ninja before he could get out of the Hyuuga estate by killing him but the Mist country refused to acknowledge that one of their ninjas would do such a thing and they demanded that the life of their Nin be repaid by the life of Hinata's father. But because my father was of the branch family and also his twin, they sent him to die instead."

"That's so cruel," Sora said more to herself than to Neji. "How could someone send a family member off to die? Didn't they try to find the truth? Didn't the Hokage do something?"

"No," Neji said bitterly clenching his fist. "They didn't want any inconveniences." He leaned forward so that his elbows were resting on his knees. "If fate cannot be changed then I refuse to let my feelings change towards the head family. They don't deserve what's called forgiveness."

"Then why become a shinobi?" Sora asked.

Neji looked at Sora from the corner of his eye. "I was blessed at birth to have been a Hyuuga genius. I know I have the potential to become greater than any head family descendent. It must tie into my destiny somehow. Perhaps if I become strong enough, my fate is to break the head and branch family bonds and reestablish my clan."

"So you really do believe in fate then," Sora said quietly. "Because you were born with your special abilities your destiny is to reorder your clan. What would you do if you didn't have your abilities?"

Neji sat back up. "I…I've never thought about it. I guess I wouldn't bother even trying to become a shinobi. There would be no point."

No point? Sora thought. If one doesn't have a clear cut vision of what their future should be then is there no point in trying to achieve a seemingly impossible goal?

Neji knew what she was thinking. "That is what I believe," he said.

Sora started at his response to her thoughts but then remembered his ability to read minds.

"What do you feel is your destiny?" Neji asked.

Sora looked at her hands and saw the wrappings covering the burn mark from Sasuke's curse. "I don't know," she said. "I honestly try not to think about it."

"Why?" he asked returning his gaze to her face.

"Because I ask myself that same question I asked you. If I had nothing to go on, what would I be doing? I don't know about my past. I don't know how I even got this far. I guess I seem to have a talent for the ninja arts but at the same time, I don't know why I'm pursuing it. It's not a dream of mine…no, it's a fulfillment of a promise to my father…well, my adopted father. Maybe if I hadn't made that promise, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't have had to go through all that I did." She closed her eyes. There was so much pain… The sound of the clock striking 6 echoed in the distance bringing Sora back to her senses. "I'm sorry, I took too much of your time for training," she stuttered as she hastily stood up.

Neji stood as well. "No, I…" Why is there so much pain in your life? What happened in your past? "I enjoyed this time with you." He took her trash from her dinner and threw both of their trash away in the can next to their bench.

Sora smiled. "Yeah, me too," she said.

Neji smiled back, something that was even rarer than Shikamaru's smile. "Sora, thank you for listening…I've never really told anyone about this before," he said averting his eyes slightly.

"Of course," she said. We are similar. I've never really told too many people about my feelings before either. She looked at Neji who was looking off into the darkening sky. She knew it was stupid of her to do this but she gently slipped her arm around his. "Let's go," she said.

Neji almost blushed at her touch and followed her obediently out of the garden. They walked in a comfortable silence to Sora's apartment building. "Thanks," Sora said softly. "You don't have to come up."

Neji looked at her and felt the sudden urge to capture her in an embrace. "Are you sure?"

Sora nodded. "You should probably get back to your home. We've both got to rest for training tomorrow." She started to leave but then felt him pull her back.

Neji pulled her closer leaning in. "Sora, I-" Their heads moved closer together. His heart was beating rapidly, but he controlled himself to just a small, quick kiss on her cheek. What am I thinking? he yelled at himself mentally. He turned quickly away and started walking rapidly down the street.

Sora stood motionless in front of her apartment building for a while. Then she looked down sadly. These guys… she thought. I have to stop being so stupid and careless. They're going to get hurt… She liked Neji. He was very deep and interesting to talk to. She didn't want to see him get hurt. But I can't control their hearts, she thought as she walked up the stairs to her apartment. She unlocked the door and went inside.

"It's good to be back!" she said trying to cheer herself up. She felt exhausted from the ridiculous run she had had from Ebisu-sensei. Kakashi-sensei said I should get as much sleep as possible. Soooo... She took a quick shower and changed into her nightwear. Then she began meditating in the middle of her room. I've been remiss in my meditations… she thought as she drifted in and out of consciousness. For once in a very long time, she didn't have any strange visions while she was meditating. It was just pure silence and relaxation and Sora was enjoying it thoroughly. Hmmm…I wish I could stay like this forever, she thought absently. Away from stress and pressures…away from pain and sorrow.

Then she heard the window slide open. Quickly but reluctantly she opened her eyes to see who had entered. There was no one there but the window was indeed open. Her eyes widened with a hint of fear. Gaara? No, it can't be. What if it's that snake man? What if it's- She gasped as someone grabbed her shoulder from behind. She immediately reacted by throwing her fist at the person's head but his hand stopped hers. "Sasuke!" He didn't reply but took her in his arms holding her tightly. Sora started. "Sasuke?"

"I had to see you one more time before I go," he whispered in her ear. He ran his fingers through her still wet hair. "I had to make sure you were ok."

Sora pushed back so that they could talk face to face. "Me? I'm fine! You should still be in the hospital!" She grabbed the top of his shirt in order to pull it down to reveal Sasuke's mark but he stopped her.

"It's fine," he said slightly narrowing his eyes. "Don't touch it." He grabbed Sora's hand that had the burn from his mark.

"This can't be right," Sora said shaking her head. "They couldn't have just let you out! You had an entire ANBU squad in your room for goodness sake!"

"Sora-"

"You're not fully healed! Kakashi-sensei must be crazy to expect you to be able to train!"

"Sora, just-" He held her head still and looked straight into her eyes. "I didn't see a squad in my room when I woke up," he said. "I didn't see anyone, but I had to get out of there. This curse can't hurt me for now since Kakashi sealed it."

Sora stared back into his eyes with a confused expression. What about the squad? Did something happen? Kakashi-sensei can seal curses? Usually only the highest level Jounins and Special class ninjas could seal curses. Sora was impressed but only for a little while. She was more concerned with the lack of the squad in Sasuke's room.

Sasuke searched the silent girl's face for a reaction but found none. He knew she was confused about something. In truth, he was confused too but he didn't show it. He leaned his forehead against hers. "I leave tomorrow for training," he said moving his hands down her neck.

"You…you can't," Sora whispered shakily. Sasuke looked at her questioningly. "There's too much obscurity here. Something's going on that's much more than this Chuunin exam and you're in the middle of it. It's not safe."

Sasuke breathed out slowly. "It doesn't matter," he said. "I can't let that stop me from training."

"But Sasuke-"

"I have to get stronger to fulfill my destiny, my fate," he interrupted.

"You-" This time Sora was cut off by Sasuke's lips on hers.

Sasuke suckled her top lip wanting to get more. He pushed forward to deepen the kiss. A wave of arousal washed over him as he let his hands wander freely down to Sora's waist and lower back.

Sora broke the kiss with some difficulty. "Sasuke," she gasped trying to catch her breath. She felt his hands beginning to pull down her pants as he left a trail of kisses on her neck and shoulder. "We can't do this!" She stopped his hands but couldn't stop his body. He pushed her back until she hit the table against the wall.

"I leave tomorrow morning," he said roughly. "How could I go for three weeks without seeing you, without touching you again?"

Sora shivered at his words. She could sense his rising desire. "We shouldn't-"

"Just one more night," he whispered coarsely. He tried to kiss her lips again but only caught half of her mouth as she turned her face away.

"Sasuke, listen to me," she said pushing him away with some force so that she could see him eye to eye. "If you do go off in training tomorrow, you need rest. You need to sleep tonight. We can't do this."

Sasuke knew she was right but didn't want to admit it. "Sor-"

"No. You're sleeping here tonight…alone," she said with a definite tone. "It's not safe for you to go out." She managed to get out from between his body and the table and she quickly shut the window.

"No, Sora-"

She shook her head and grabbed his arm and pulled him into the bedroom. She pushed him down so he was sitting on the bed. "Now go to sleep," she ordered. "I really don't think it's a good idea to start you on training so soon after your recovery but since you're not going to listen to me on that point at least listen to me now." She walked to the door and looked back to see a sort of shocked Sasuke still sitting on the edge of her bed looking at her. "What?"

Sasuke snapped out of his daze. "Uh, nothing, it's just I've never seen you so absolutely commanding before," he said with his trademark smirk.

Sora's eyebrow twitched. "Just go to sleep, ok?" she said and went out of the room closing the door behind her.

Sasuke knew better than to disobey Sora now. He swung his legs on the bed and covered himself with the blankets. The faint aroma of Sora's scent hung about the room as he tried to fall asleep. It was driving him insane. God, she's addictive, he thought as he put his hands behind his head.

Sora rubbed her temples and paced the room. No ANBU squad? Nobody even in the freakin' room! And he just left! Sasuke you idiot! You don't know how dangerous it's become! She finally stopped pacing and leaned against the wall. Something is definitely wrong…I've got to find Kakashi-sensei!

She quietly locked all the windows and then slipped out the door locking it behind her as well. The village was quiet that night as the moon shone in the sky. Where does he live? she thought looking around. She went down the stairs and out of the building. Well, he seems to be out at night a lot since he's always pretty tired in the morning…reading his stupid book… Jiraiya popped into her thoughts. She cringed. I need to get him to stop reading that. She leaped up on the roof of her apartment building to look around. This is stupid, she scolded herself. You're never gonna find him. She tried to think. Yeah, this is insane, she agreed with herself. But I'm going to the Hokage's building. Maybe he's there.

She ran off into the night jumping from roof to roof. Finally she reached her destination. She paused to look around and then started up the long stairway but she felt a hand on her shoulder. She gasped and turned around to see her sensei. "Kakashi-sensei!" she whispered in shock.

"What are you doing here, Sora? It's almost midnight," he said with a questioning tone.

"I-uh, I was looking for you!" she said.

"Why?"

"You told me that Sasuke had an ANBU squad in his room!" she said raising her voice a little from anger. "But he's not in the hospital anymore now!"

"And how do you know that?"

Sora paused. Shoot, if I tell him he's in my apartment he might get the wrong idea, she thought. "I went to see him at the hospital but when I got there, there were people running around sort of frantically and I overheard that he was gone." Whew, nice save!

"Hm," Kakashi said not really believing her. "Do you know where he is now?"

Sora sighed. He's got me… "Well, uh…" Shoot…

"He came to see you, didn't he?" Kakashi said. His feelings for her are so apparent, he thought. He hid the jealousy that threatened to rise in his voice.

Sora nodded slightly ashamed of her lie. "He's in my apartment," she whispered.

Apartment? Kakashi thought now unable to hide his jealousy. He's-wait. Think rationally. A student. Just a student. Now… "It's not safe for him to be alone tonight or to be outside for that matter," Kakashi said. He looked around and lowered his voice. "I'm going to have to ask you to allow him and me to spend the night at your place."

Sora looked at Kakashi and nodded. "Of course," she said softly. Then Kakashi grabbed her hand and transported them to her apartment. Sora unlocked the door softly and they both stepped inside. She locked the door.

Kakashi motioned for her to stay extremely quiet as he peeked into her bedroom to see if Sasuke was still there. He was. Kakashi gave a sigh of relief and shut the door again. "Sora, you need to rest," he said coming over to her. "I'll keep watch tonight."

"But, Sensei, you need rest too," she said.

Kakashi smiled. "I'm ok." He motioned for her to sleep on the couch since that was the only other place to sleep besides the floor. "Do you have any extra blankets?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah," Sora said and got two out from her hallway closet. "Are you sure you want to stay up all night. We could switch in the middle."

Kakashi shook his head. "Sleep," he said.

Sora sighed and lied down on the couch covering herself. She tried to stay awake but soon fell asleep from her exhausting day.

Kakashi stood near the window looking out at the moon. He came to Sora…he came directly here from the hospital. I should've stayed to watch him instead of going off to alert the others… He had gone in earlier that day to check on Sasuke and found the ANBU squad members dead and Kabuto holding a knife to Sasuke's throat. They fought in the room but amazingly Kabuto was just as good a fighter as Kakashi. Kabuto had used some sort of corpse curse to revive the dead ANBU members into zombies under his command. While Kakashi fought the corpses, Kabuto had escaped. Then when Kabuto was gone the corpses disintegrated and nothing was left. Kakashi had then gone to alert the hospital and the Hokage immediately but when they returned, Sasuke was gone. Stupid, he told himself. I knew he would wake up sometime that day but I didn't expect him to run.

Kakashi glanced over at Sora and sighed. She's really something, he thought. He walked over to the couch and saw that she was in a deep sleep. He let his hand stroke her cheek softly. I've never felt like this before towards anyone. I promised myself a long time ago that I would never allow myself to care so deeply about anyone...since they all died. But she broke through. My barrier, my mask…it's almost as if they've never existed. He sat down in front of the couch leaning his back against it. But I've got to train Sasuke. He's in too much danger with this curse and Orochimaru after him. He must learn the Chidori. Kakashi knew it was dangerous for such a young person to learn this class S attack but he convinced himself that Sasuke needed it.

A few hours later, the sun rose and Kakashi left the apartment to make his way to his usual morning spot. He knew that no one would try anything during the day when so many of the Konoha ninjas would be up and about.

Sasuke woke up at dawn as well and quickly slipped out of Sora's bed. He softly opened the door expecting Sora to still be asleep. She was. He walked over to the couch and knelt down beside Sora's sleeping figure. He kissed her neck gently as his hand cupped her cheek.

Sora stirred from the touch and her eyes fluttered open. "Mm? Sasuke?" she said drowsily.

Sasuke smiled and kissed her forehead. "I'm going soon," he said.

Sora's expression changed to a frown. "I still think it's a bad idea."

Sasuke smirked. "Of course you do," he said. "Because when I come back I'll be so much stronger!"

Sora's eyebrow twitched. "Don't get cocky," she grumbled and turned so that her back was facing Sasuke.

Sasuke brushed some of Sora's hair aside and placed a light kiss on the back of her neck before getting up. "See you later," he said.

Sora shivered slightly in response to the kiss but she refused to answer. Why is he so stubborn? Why is Kakashi-sensei so stu-Kakashi-sensei! She shot up surprising Sasuke.

"Sora!"

She looked around the room looking for her white-haired sensei. He's not here? she thought.

"Sora?" Sasuke stared at her strangely. Did I do something?

She turned her wide-eyed gaze to Sasuke and then shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Uh, sorry," she said. Better not tell him, she thought. "Just, uh, be careful."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

Sora looked down and turned slightly red. "It's just…" Her voice faltered.

Sasuke knew what she was thinking and felt a pang of guilt. "Whatever happened in the forest…I won't let this thing take over me again." Sora didn't look up. Sasuke opened the window. "I promise." He took off.

Sora shut her eyes tightly hoping that he didn't just leave. She didn't know why she cared so much but the look in Sasuke's eyes when the mark spread over his body was unforgettable. She opened her eyes and saw the curtains flapping in the morning breeze. He was gone. Sora sighed and got off the couch. "There's nothing to be done," she said to herself. "He's got his own life and you've got yours." She quickly washed and ate breakfast. Now I've got to either find someone to train me or just train myself, she thought. Then Ebisu and Jiraiya entered her thoughts. She shivered. "I'll stick to training myself," she said but first she decided that she would find Naruto and ask whether he got his sensei or not.

Once Sora was outside, she ran towards Naruto's apartment knowing that he was still most likely asleep. She knocked loudly on his door. "Naruto!" she called. She put her ear up against the door. She heard snoring. "Hello! Naruto!" she called more loudly. She pounded the door. Still the snores came through the door. "Hey, let's go for Ramen!" she said.

A loud crash came through the door and then the scrambling of feet. Then the door swung open revealing a very disheveled but excited Naruto. "RAMEN!" he shouted with glee. "REALLY?"

Sora laughed. "I was just saying that to wake you up," she said.

Naruto looked disappointed. "Aw, I thought you were serious," he grumbled.

"I just came to see if you got your sensei," Sora said with a smile.

Naruto's eyes shot up. "Hehehe, of course I did!" he said. "And he's gonna teach me that summoning technique today! You sure you don't want to train with us?"

Sora thought about it. He is quite strong, she thought. But he didn't look like his Taijutsu was that impressive and since that's the only thing I can use right now…

"Please?" Naruto pleaded grabbing her hand.

"I'll come and watch for a while today and see," she finally said.

Naruto brightened up a lot. "All right! Just hold on a sec." With that he disappeared and then reappeared a few seconds later completely dressed and washed. "Let's go!"

Sora stared at him with disbelief. "How did you-"

"This is going to be so much fun!" he interrupted and grabbed her hand. The two ran down the street towards the outskirts of the village to meet the new sensei. They arrived at a clearing near a stream. "The old perverted hermit said that we should meet right here," Naruto said looking around.

Sora flinched. Perverted…why am I here again?

Then Jiraiya appeared in a puff of smoke. "Fine, I'm here," he said grumpily. Then his eye caught Sora. "OHOHO!" he shouted in glee. "So you couldn't resist my offer, huh?" He leaned down towards her.

Sora had a look of disgust on her face. "No, I just came with Naruto," she said with a frown.

"Oh," Jiraiya said. Heh, at least this will go better than if just Naruto was here. Yeah, at least I've got an absolutely gorgeous girl I get to watch! He smiled to himself.

"Hey, hey Perverted Hermit!" Naruto called waving his arms around. "Let's get this training started. You promised!"

Jiraiya grunted. "Fine, then," he said crossing his arms. "I'll pick up where that other guy left off. Get on the water and let me see how well you can control your Chakra. Both of you!"

Sora's eyes widened. What? she thought. I didn't come here to train with him! "Uh, I-"

"Come on, Sora-chan!" Naruto said grabbing her arm. "Let's show this guy what we can do!"

"Naruto!" It was too late. Naruto ran out on the water taking her with him. Both sunk.

Jiraiya frowned. Wow, they either really suck or they're mocking me. "No! That's not the way to do it!" he yelled. The two Genins' heads popped up out of the water.

"Naruto! Baka!" Sora sputtered.

"What the crap?" Naruto coughed out. "I thought I could do this already!"

Sora glared at Naruto and swam for shore.

"I didn't even see let alone feel you concentrating at all! Conjuring Chakra takes concentration! Didn't your other sensei at least say that much?" Jiraiya said exasperated. Maybe this kid isn't as good as I thought he was. And what's with this girl? I don't sense any Chakra in her at all. That's not possible for her to have passed the first two stages of the Chuunin exam without Chakra. He walked over to Sora who was drying out her hair. "Where's your Chakra?"

Sora paused. "Uh, I," she stuttered. Crap, I didn't want to say it in front of Naruto.

"All right then, concentrate!" Naruto said to himself. He wasn't paying any attention to the other two. He ran out on the water and sunk again.

So he's not faking it, Jiraiya thought as he sweat-dropped.

Should I trust him? Sora thought nervously afraid to look away. He is a pervert, but then again so is Kakashi-sensei.

"Well?"

Sora swallowed hard. "I was born that way," she lied while trying to look him straight in the eye.

Jiraiya didn't believe her but decided against arguing. "Hm."

Sora looked towards Naruto who was getting slightly better at standing on the water. "I really should go now though," she said quickly. She called Naruto. "Hey, uh, I should really start training now so I think I'm gonna go, ok?"

Naruto sunk then sputtered up from under the water. "What? So soon?" he asked swimming to shore.

Sora nodded and looked at Naruto trying to send the message that she was still uncomfortable around the white haired pervert.

Amazingly, Naruto caught on. "Ok but wanna meet for dinner?" he asked trying to send her the message that they needed to talk.

Sora knew he wouldn't drop it. "Yeah, sure," she said with hidden reluctance. "At 7?"

Naruto nodded. "Ok, see ya then."

Sora walked towards the village.

Jiraiya watched her go. It seems I must finally go back to Konoha to see him again, he thought with a sigh. Something doesn't feel right about this girl.

"Hey, hey, Perverted Hermit!" Naruto shouted. He was standing shakily on the water but standing nonetheless. "I'm doing it!" He began getting confident and started dancing on the water. "Wha-WHOA!" Splash.

Jiraiya rolled his eyes at Naruto's overconfidence. "We've got a ways to go…" he muttered. Why did I ever agree to this? he asked himself knowing the answer.

Once she was out of sight, Sora began running towards the village. Crap, crap, crap! she thought. What if he asks Naruto about me? What if Naruto tells him that I could use Chakra before? What if Naruto gets suspicious? Wait, he's already suspicious. Stupid, stupid, stupid! She stopped running and caught her breath. "Why does this have to be so difficult?" she asked in frustration.

After a while of trying to calm down, she began thinking clearly again. Ok, ok. So this Jiraiya guy is obviously not a current official Jounin of Konoha because he didn't seem to have a forehead protector but he must have been before. Dammit, I don't have my Chakra so I can't sense his Chakra strength… She clenched her fist. "Fine then, if I can't use it then I'll just have to make up for it!" She began stretching her muscles out for her intended rigorous training. "500 laps around the village then my usual warm-ups. Target practice is essential. Strength training, body energy, and mental concentration," she said out loud checking them off. "Ok, start!" She took off at an amazing speed for the 500 laps.

After hours of running, throwing, and breaking through trees and stones, Sora was pretty spent. She stopped for the first time for a slight breather. It was already the afternoon and she hadn't eaten. She ran home and ate a small lunch then continued with her training. 3235 kunais, 2342 shurikens, and 28 trees later, Sora's hands were raw and worn with new cuts and scratches. She threw her last shuriken into a tree missing her intended spot on the tree by a millimeter. She was exhausted. "God," she panted as she leaned against a tree.

The sun was setting and it was almost 7. She sighed. "Everything's so hard now," she said to herself. Shadowed clouds floated peacefully in the sky towards the horizon. She smiled and wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. Just 19 more days of this and I'll be fighting for my Chuunin title, she thought. The sunset was rewarding after her long day of training.

Reluctantly she got up and made her way to her apartment. She washed quickly and went to the ramen stand where she knew Naruto would be waiting for her. Sure enough Naruto was there but surprisingly he wasn't snarfing down a bowl of ramen. In fact he wasn't even eating.

"Sora-chan!" he said once he saw her.

"What? You're here and you're not eating?" Sora said sarcastically shocked. "The world is going to end!"

Naruto frowned. "Sora-chan, you know why I wanted to see you," he said seriously.

Sora sighed and looked down taking a seat next to Naruto. "Yeah," she said softly.

"What's going on with you?" Naruto asked in a concerned voice. "I realized that you didn't use any Chakra while we were in the forest and then you couldn't walk on the water today. I remember you could do that tree exercise so easily! What's happened?"

"Naruto, you dragged me into the water," Sora said defiantly trying to make an excuse. "I was surprised. I couldn't focus that quickly!"

Naruto didn't buy it. "Yes you can! I've seen you do it!" he said. "What are you hiding? There's something you're not telling me!" He looked at Sora with concern in his eyes.

Sora looked down and instinctively started playing with the napkin on the table. "There's nothing wrong," she said trying to keep her voice steady.

Naruto grabbed her hand making her drop the napkin. "Sora," he said even more worried. She tried to turn her head but he stopped her head by laying his other hand on her cheek. "You've always been there for me," he said slowly. "You're probably the first girl to ever talk to me nicely. I used to think that no one cared about me but then people like you and Kakashi-sensei and even Sasuke came up and…I feel like I belong somewhere. Sora, you're important to me."

Sora couldn't say anything. She felt horrible inside. Horrible for keeping secrets from everyone when she hated the fact that secrets were always kept from her. Horrible for rejecting people who care about her. Horrible for being who she was. "Naruto-kun," she said barely above a whisper. "Can we go somewhere more private?"

Naruto nodded and the two left the ramen stand. They went to the gardens where they had had their first date. Only a few rays of light were left in the evening sky.

Sora took a deep breath. "I don't want you to pity me," she began.

Naruto cocked an eyebrow at her but said nothing.

"The night before the start of the Chuunin exam, the Hokage wanted me to meet him and he told me that I couldn't keep my Chakra."

"What?"

Sora nodded. "He said that it was dangerous and that I couldn't control more than 3 percent of it." She clenched her fist. "I bet he thinks I'm too weak to handle my own powers."

Naruto was shocked. No way, he thought. Then all I've seen of her Chakra was only 3 percent?

"Then he took me to this strange lake and sealed my Chakra," she said shuddering at the memory. "It…it felt like I was dying." She couldn't control her tears as they fell down her cheeks.

Naruto lifted his hand and gently wiped them away. "So that's what happened," he said. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Sora looked at him through bleary vision. "I guess I didn't want you to know because I thought it would make me look weak…"

"No," he said quickly. "Then you are absolutely amazing! I mean, it's definitely not good for you to have your Chakra sealed away but if you passed the first two parts of the exam without Chakra at all…" He shook his head in amazement. "You're even stronger than I thought!" He smiled childishly.

Sora laughed bitterly. "Yeah, right," she said.

"Yeah," Naruto insisted. He made her look into his eyes. "Don't cry."

Sora couldn't help but cry. She felt his arms surround her shaking body. She felt the warmth wash over her trembling frame and she could do nothing else but lean her head against his shoulder and cry. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun," she choked out. "I'm so sorry…"

Naruto stroked her hair gently and pushed her back so he could lean his forehead on hers. "Don't worry about it," he said.

Sora was shocked at his forwardness but didn't resist. They moved closer together and their lips met.

It was a very innocent kiss with nothing but love from Naruto's heart. He wanted to make it last longer but reluctantly ended it. He closed his eyes and ran his hands up and down her arms with his forehead still against hers. I'm falling more in love with her, he thought. He leaned in for another kiss but Sora suddenly moved back.

She shook her head and looked down. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"No, it's ok," Naruto said standing straight again. He kept his arms around Sora but distanced their faces to a more comfortable range. "I'm sorry if I was too-"

"It's fine," Sora interrupted. "It's just I'm…not ready…to…"

Naruto nodded. "I understand," he said. If I really love her, I can wait, he told himself. "Uh, do you want to eat somewhere?"

Sora silently thanked Naruto for his understanding and nodded forcing a smile. They walked back to the ramen place and sat down to a comfortable meal. Neither of them said anything more about what happened in the garden and soon they were able to have a decently normal conversation full of Naruto's adventures of training with the perverted hermit. Sora was back to normal and laughing.

When they were ready to leave, Naruto insisted on paying the bill no matter how much Sora tried to. "I'm the guy right?" Naruto said with a smirk. "It's not right for the lady to pay."

"Naruto, you're such a kid," she said laughing. "Fine, but next time I treat you."

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto said paying. "Do you want me to walk you home?"

Sora shook her head. "No, it's ok," she said. "You live in the opposite direction and plus it's pretty bright tonight. I'll be fine."

"It's still dangerous for a girl to be walking alone at night," he said.

"Really, Naruto-kun, don't worry," she said with a smile. "Good luck with your training tomorrow." With that she waved goodbye and started down the street.

"Yeah, you too!" he called after her then turned the other way towards his apartment. He sighed to himself. I kissed her, he thought. I kissed her!

Sora decided to take a small detour to her apartment to enjoy the night sky. It was not a big moon but it was still amazingly bright. She walked through the empty streets towards the main office building in the village. Naruto-kun, she thought. He's different…Maybe more mature? She smiled at her own thinking. Nah.

The next day after washing and eating, Sora went to the open field where her team usually trained when they were together. She started her training right away with stretches and balancing poses. "All right," she said to herself. "Today will be a normal day." She rubbed her hands together with determination. "Just concentrate and train." She ran her laps, did her warm-ups, and finished a course she had made for herself. It was noon and nothing out of the ordinary had happened so far. In fact, she hadn't seen another person the entire day. A smile crept across her face as she wiped some sweat from her forehead. "Heh, this calls for a nice meal!" she said happily. She ran home and rinsed off to make herself look more presentable then she walked through the streets of Konoha looking for a nice restaurant to eat at. She saw a Hot-Pot restaurant and decided to go in. Once she ordered, she looked around waiting for the food to come. The bell on the door rung and in walked Chouji, Asuma, and Shikamaru.

Shikamaru spotted Sora's red hair and immediately recognized her. "Sora!" he called in surprise and walked over to her table.

"Shika-kun!" Sora said smiling signaling for him and his group to have a seat.

"Fancy seeing you here," he said taking a seat next to her as Asuma and Chouji sat on the other side.

"Hello there, Sora," Asuma said still smoking his cigarette. "How's the training going?"

"Great!" she said truthfully. Her day had been too good for anything to turn it bad. "And how's this lazybum coming along?" She grinned at a scowling Shikamaru.

Asuma laughed. "Well, Chouji and I have been shaping him up, hopefully." He grinned. "All he wants to do though is play his little chess game and stare at the sky."

"Chess?" Sora asked. "I didn't know you played chess."

Shikamaru grunted. "It's just a hobby."

The waitress came back over to Sora's table seeing that there were more people there. "Hello! Are you three gentlemen ready to order?"

Chouji immediately perked up. "I'll have two of everything you've got!" he said confidently.

Sora's eyes widened. "Are you sure-"

"Don't worry about Chouji," Shikamaru said lazily. "He usually eats more than that but Asuma-sensei's got him on some sort of diet."

"Diet?"

Asuma chuckled. "Well, this is a great improvement from the last time we were here."

Chouji smiled in triumph. "See Sensei? I can control myself!" Asuma patted his head. Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

Once the food came, Chouji dropped out of the conversation and began chomping down the food more quickly than Naruto snarfs down his Ramen. Sora soon got used to it and was able to converse somewhat normally with the other two. An hour later, Chouji was finally full.

"AHH!" he said with satisfaction. "That was a good meal!"

Shikamaru smirked. "Let's just hope we don't have to take you to the hospital again for eating too much."

Chouji frowned. "Are you saying I'm fat?"

"No!" Shikamaru said with a sheepish grin. "Of course not!"

"Being big boned is a blessing, you know?" Chouji said crossing his arms and nodding his head. "Being too skinny isn't healthy."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. He knew he was on the skinny side for a guy but he shrugged it off. After a few more minutes of light chatter, the group decided to split up. Asuma said that he needed to see the Hokage about some mission he was going to go on in a few days and Chouji had indeed eaten too fast for his own good and wanted to go home and sleep. Finally, Shikamaru thought as he and Sora waved goodbye to his sensei and teammate.

Sora leaned back in the cushioned booth seat. "Ah, this was really nice," she said more to herself than to Shikamaru. No one bothered me during training and now this lunch turned out to be a real treat.

Shikamaru smiled at the girl next to him. "Yeah, we were lucky to bump into you here for lunch."

Sora nodded in agreement and gave a satisfied sigh. Closing her eyes, she leaned her head back against the seat.

How should I start this? Shikamaru thought glancing sideways at Sora. He sighed. I guess there's no better way to do it than to just bring it up. "Hey, Sora?" he said in his most casual voice.

"Hm?"

"Uh, I just wanted to check up on how you're holding up and all. From your injuries I mean," he stammered.

Sora opened her eyes to give him a questioning glance. "I guess I'm all right. It does seem a bit strange that I could recover so quickly though. The nurse told me that I wasn't supposed to wake up until the end of this week."

"Really?" Shikamaru asked in surprise. She seems to have some incredible healing powers or something, he thought. "That's interesting."

"Yeah," Sora said sitting up. "But I'm glad that I'm well enough to get back to training so soon." She looked out the window then sighed.

Shikamaru tried to think of a better way to ease into what he really wanted to check up on but then Sora spoke again.

"Um, how's Ino doing?" she asked quietly looking down.

"Huh? Ino?" Shikamaru said in surprise. He didn't think that Sora would care to ask since Ino had been such a jerk to her. "She's, well...she's holding up I suppose."

Sora looked up at him. "Have you seen her lately?"

"Yeah. As a matter of fact, I saw her yesterday. Both Asuma-sensei and I thought it would be best to visit her since we haven't seen her for a few days. Her mom let us in. She was a lot quieter than usual and more jumpy, but other than that she was pretty normal," Shikamaru said. Then he smirked. "Actually, her quietness made her better than usual."

Sora smiled weakly. "I should go and apologize to her or something."

"Apologize for what?"

"I..." Sora trailed off. "It's just that, the look in her eyes at the end of our battle. She must have seen something that made her fear so, so tangible. I could feel it just by looking at her."

"It's not your fault though," Shikamaru said matter-of-factly. "You didn't consciously do anything to her. You couldn't have. Ino's technique is a complete mind transfer." He gingerly put a hand on Sora's shoulder. Sora looked into his eyes. He smiled. "Hey, let's go for a walk. You know, digest a little?"

Sora gave a small smile and nodded. They each paid for their own meal and then the two Genins left the restaurant. It was pretty busy in the streets that day with people bustling to get to where they needed go and venders selling their merchandise to tourists. The sun was out and the weather was warm since spring was in full bloom. They walked in a comfortable silence for a while listening to the busy streets and people talking. Then finally Shikamaru mustered up the courage to speak his mind. "Look, Sora," he said carefully. "I don't want you to feel like I'm pestering you or anything, but I have to know."

Sora looked at him and signaled for him to continue.

"What did Gaara really do to you in that room?" he said stopping to look at her.

Sora stopped. Her eyes widened a little but she kept her gaze forward and didn't respond.

Shikamaru gently grabbed her wrist. "I'm just worried, that's all. When I saw you come out from behind that guy, your eyes told me that something went wrong. He made a move on you, didn't he?"

Sora kept her gaze forward avoiding Shikamaru's searching eyes. She swallowed.

Shikamaru turned her towards him and placed his hands on her arms. "I'm sorry," he said sighing. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No," Sora said quickly surprising Shikamaru. I've got to stop hiding things from people. I need to stop pushing those who care about me away. "Thank you, for caring about me." She blinked slowly and shook her head. "The truth is, I was so scared that day. If you and Naruto hadn't come, I don't know what he might've done..." She shivered remembering his cold stare.

Shikamaru didn't know what else to do but to pull her into a small embrace. "It's ok," he said softly stroking her back. If he ever bothers you again, I'll protect you, he thought. Whoa, where'd that come from?I'm being brave? He held Sora closer. Well, if it's for her, then I can go through with it. He smiled. She seems to bring out the good side of me.

Sora pulled back slightly. "Thanks," she said softly.

Shikamaru nodded. "Hey, the day's still young," he said. "Don't be sad." He touched her cheek.

"Yeah, we should get back to training then," she said smiling.

"Oh yeah, come to think of it, Asuma-sensei expects me back at the tower soon," Shikamaru said glancing up at the sky. "This training thing is so troublesome."

Well, there's the old Shikamaru again, Sora thought with an inward smile.

"Sometimes I just wish I could lie back and stare at the clouds all day," he said with a small sigh. "But instead I've got this Chuunin exam hanging over my head. We all do."

Sora laughed. "Hey, maybe sometime I could join you in your cloud gazing. It sounds relaxing."

Shikamaru smiled in surprise. "Sure thing."

The two parted ways and Shikamaru made his way over to the tower while Sora went back to her solitary field for more training. Maybe being laid back isn't a such a bad thing after all, Sora thought with a smile. I'm too uptight about everything it seems. Her smile faded. I envy you, Shika-kun. If my life weren't such a big mess, I would've liked to see the world the way you see it. She paused and looked up at the clouds in the sky and her expression hardened. But the fact is, I am a mess. That's why I can't do the things I enjoy. That's why I can't stop being so overly cautious about everything. That's why I have to push myself to the limit, to make up for my weaknesses. She clenched her fists and looked around at the empty field more determined than ever to get stronger for the Chuunin exam.