Shiho looked up at the sky, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand, squinting against the bright light. She sighed and looked around at her surroundings. There were trees everywhere, and it was insanely hot. She preferred the desert, where the heat was intense, but it was dry, and the open terrain allowed her to see for miles. Here, surrounded by trees with the sun beating down on her after a brief thunderstorm, the air suffocated her and visibility was all but dropped down to zero. She was a sitting duck here.

She pushed her hair back out of her face, huffing irritably when it flopped down into her eyes once more. Shiho stomped over to a nearby tree and plopped down, settling against the trunk. She pulled her map out of her pocket and rummaged around in her bag until she found an apple. Using a handful of pebbles, she smoothed out her map as best as she could and scattered the small rocks around the corners in an attempt to keep it from flying away. She took a bite of her apple and examined the map as she chewed, mostly searching for a path out of the forest that still led her in the right direction.

"This is ridiculous." Shiho muttered, tossing the apple core over her shoulder and untying her scarf from around her neck. "I almost regret taking the job."

She looked up suddenly and glanced around, mentally scolding herself. Talking to herself out loud wasn't a good habit for a bounty hunter to have, but she'd done it ever since she was little. It wasn't like she'd had many friends. Shiho definitely wasn't much of a people person. She snorted and shook her head, casting her eyes back towards the map. She couldn't make friends easily, that was true, but she had no problem getting people to do whatever she wanted them to. She could be very convincing.

"Well I should probably get going." Shiho pushed the pebbles aside, but before she could pick up the map, a sudden gust of wind ripped it off the ground. It swirled up into the air and got caught in an insanely tall tree. Shiho shrieked in outrage as she stood, glaring up at the map. There was absolutely no way she was going to be able to get that down.

"Fuck!" She shouted, stomping her foot, letting her anger consume her. She rarely let herself get emotionally riled up, but couldn't help herself. She was hot and sweaty and completely out of her element. She was going to be walking into enemy territory very soon. "Fuck!"

"What are you screaming about?"

Shiho whirled around to face a group of teenagers. There were two boys and a girl. The smallest boy stood at the front of the group. He had red hair and sea foam green eyes. There were bruise-like rings around his eyes, like he'd never slept a day in his life, and a scar above his left eyebrow. Her rage diminished as soon as she looked at him, her eyes going wide. Could it possibly be so easy? The girl standing behind the small boy shifted uneasily under Shiho's gaze, but the boy seemed mostly at ease, with only brief glances at the smaller boy in front of him.

"My map." Shiho said lamely, schooling her shocked expression into one of her many masks. She smiled sheepishly and gestured at the crumbled paper tangled in the branches above. "It got caught in the breeze and I can't get it."

"Couldn't you just jump?" The girl spoke up, raising an eyebrow.

Shiho looked genuinely confused. "Jump?"

The older boy, the one with purple paint on his face, sighed loudly and stepped around the smaller boy. He positioned himself in front of the tree and then leaped suddenly, grabbing one of the lower branches and swinging himself up. He launched himself from branch to branch until he was near the top where the branches started thinning. The boy eased himself carefully onto the branch just below the map and stretched his arm out for it, shifting his footing every now and then.

"Be careful, Kankuro. Those branches are thin and you're heavy."

"Shut up!"

The girl sniggered, her mask of concern evaporating. Shiho watched in amazement as he snagged the map from the tree and jumped from the branch, landing nimbly on the balls of his feet. He straightened and handed the map to her, smiling slightly. "Jump."

"Oh!" She folded the map and slid it back into her pocket. "You all are shinobi, aren't you?"

"I'm going to assume you aren't." The one named Kankuro responded, sizing her up. "You look like one though. What village are you from? I don't see a symbol."

Shiho frowned. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"A symbol!" Kankuro tapped the little metal plate on his hat, looking irritated. "The symbol for the village you come from. You are here for the Chuunin exams, right?"

"Uh, yes." Shiho nodded. "Yeah, I'm here for the exams. I'm from the Hidden Sound village." She really wasn't, though she might as well be. The man she took most of her jobs from lived there, and that's where she made her living. "I got robbed about a day ago and it was in my bag. I'm not used to this kind of heat so I took it off for while."

Kankuro raised an eyebrow. "Okay, sure. What's your name?"

"Shiho." She answered a little too quickly, pulling at a loose thread on her scarf. "What about you?"

"I'm Kankuro." He gestured to the two behind him. "This is my brother, Gaara, and my sister, Temari."

Shiho nodded, her eyes focusing on Gaara again. He was looking at her too, focused with an intent that actually made her shiver. It was an odd feeling that she wasn't used to. Her employer had warned her about this boy. He was supposedly freakishly strong and emotionally volatile. Entirely unpredictable. He looked fine then, if a little irritated. She had been warned not to attack impulsively. So Shiho had decided to find him and monitor him before making her move. She'd never dreamed it could be so easy.

"It's nice to meet you." Shiho bowed slightly. "Also, I would like to thank you for retrieving my map. I'll admit I wouldn't have been able to do what you did."

"A shinobi that can't even climb trees. No wonder you were robbed." Temari snorted, rolling her eyes. "Easy pickings."

Shiho turned her gaze to the girl. "You're right. I'm working on that. Everything I know I've learned on my own." She turned her attention to Kankuro. "If you don't mind, can I walk with you to the Hidden Leaf?"

Kankuro turned to glance at his sister. "Uh, sure. Just..." He frowned, turning back to look at her. "Never mind. Let's go."