A/N: Alright, my fanatic readers! I've got Chapter 3 up here. (I know, they're coming out quick. I just can't wait! XD) Enjoy. This one is pretty long.

Country of Fire: Hidden Village of Konoha

YATTA! I finally made it to the Fire Country, and needless to say, I need to hurry. I wasted too much time playing with Gaara, although I do hope to meet him again, and not die. My village must be desperate, by now. It's been 4 days, and I still have to make the journey back. But, when I reached Konoha, I was absolutely devastated. It was in ruins(well maybe not that bad, but it certainly wasn't doing well.) It was a big village, but so many buildings were torn up and I could see everyone was working to repair their village back to its obvious splendour. There was even a huge gap in the wall that surrounded it. I was really hungry, so I stopped by a ramen shop. There, I met an odd fellow. He had spiky, yellow hair. He was wrapped up in bandages and he had a black hooded cloak, in which he tried to conceal his face. I asked him what happened to the Village, and he looked at me weird. "You're not from Konoha, are you?"

"No," I replied, "I'm visiting. What has happened here? The place is a mess."

"We were attacked by the Village of Sound during the Chuunin exam, from your jacket, I guess you are a Chuunin. What village are you from?"

"You guessed right, my friend. I am a Chuunin. But from what village I am from, I'd rather keep a secret."

"Huh? Whatever."

He slurped his ramen, but he was soon dragged away by a lady and some medical ninjas, "back to the hospital," the owners of the ramen shop told me. He had just gotten through with a big mission and he was injured, but had snuck out to train. I found out that his name was Uzumaki Naruto, but I didn't keep the name in my head.

Once I was through with my lunch, I headed over to the Hokage's office. I was glad that no one was around to try and stop me. Apparantly, everyone was too busy to wait around here. I knocked on the door to the Hokage's office. I was surprised when I heard a female voice answer, "Come in." I did come in, and was stopped dead in my tracks. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THE HOKAGE'S SEAT!"

And indeed, there was a middle-aged-looking woman sitting there, behind a pile of paper-work. "Isn't obvious?" she asked me suspiciously, "I'm the Hokage, and I may sit anywhere I damn well please. Who are you? I don't recognize the symbol of your fore-head protector."

I saw her gaze towards my fore-head protector, which was, in fact, tied around my arm (I thought it looked cooler that way). "I will answer that question after you answer mine," I questioned sternly. "Where is the Third? You are not the Hokage for the Hokage is an old man. Where is he?"

"He's dead. I am the Fifth."

The news struck hard. The Third was dead? How can that be? He was one of the strongest ninjas I knew. I met him only once, and that was when he visited our village when I was about 5. He was a nice and wise old man, that the children of our village greatly admired. "Who killed him?"

"A man by the name of Orochimaru."

Orochimaru, huh? I had know idea who this man was, but if our paths ever crossed, he would feel a world of hurt.

"May I know who you are, now?" she asked me impatiently.

"Yes. I am Kichino Sarafu, a Chuunin from the Hidden Village of the Sky. I have come here asking the Village of Konoha, to help us on the grounds of our treaty."

"Hun? The Village of the Sky? What treaty?"

"I see, he didn't tell you. Well, this is going to be hard then."

"Back in the Edo Period, the Village of the Grass was in war with the Mist Village. Foolishly, the Grass Village called upon the Dragon of the Moon, to help them win. Many people were needlessly sacrificed, but in the end, the Moon Dragon wanted even more sacrifices, which we could not give. So he decided to take them himself. The Kichino clan, which were the great gaurdians of the village, stood up against the dragon. The Moon Dragon was offended by their bravery, and said, 'You who so foolishly stands up against me, will destroy the very thing you love most.' And on that note, he sealed himself within my great- great- great- great- grandmother. And now, the female lineage of the Kichino clan is cursed with Moon Dragon. When one who has the curse reaches the age of 15, the Dragon's chakra awakens and slowly fuses with our own, until it completely engulfs it.

"We believe that it only starts at 15 so we have a long enough time to become attached to our village. So, my clan was exiled, less the Moon Dragon should destroy their Village once more. The Grass Village moved to Mt. Hokkaido, and changed their name. They thus became the Village of the Sky. And we made a treaty with all of the hidden villages to keep the existence of our village a secret, less the Kichino Clan finds it again, and decides to exact revenge."

"Wait, but if your clan was exiled, why do you have the fore-head protector of the Village of the Sky?"

"Well, our clan did find the Hidden Village of the Sky. And they made an agreement, that if they killed all of their women, they would be allowed back into the village. But my mother survived. She was raised up disguised as a boy, and only grandfather and I knew about her true identity. She raised me for 3 years, and taught me to act like a boy. After my third birthday, she became scared that she might be found and killed, so she left the village, and me. So I lived the rest of my life grandfather, keeping my true identity hidden."

"Grandfather? But what of your father?"

"I've never seen him, and if I did, I don't remember him. He left long before my mother did. He's probably still alive somewhere, but he'd have to be one weird guy to marry some half-dragon chick."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Like I said, at the age of 15, the Dragon of the Moon's chakra begins to engulf ours. While its doing this, our body physically changes. So, by the time my mom married my dad, she must have partly resembled a dragon."

"That is weird."

"Yes, so, continuing the story, my mom returned and attacked our village, but this time, she had fully become the Moon Dragon, and was no longer herself."

"I see, so, you were sent here to ask for aid? I'm sorry, but as you can see, we're not exactly doing well ourselves."

"That's alright. I only need a few."

"And that's all your getting. I believe your story, but I can only send one team. I will send for them, when do you want to leave?"

"As soon, and as fast as possible."

"Alright, then wait a second."

I waited a second. Nothing happened. I was very impatient and was going to be sarcastic and say, "hey, its been a second already" but I learned that kissing up to people gets you far in life. A young woman with dark brown (almost black) hair came in. The same woman who had dragged Naruto out of the ramen shop.

"Tsunade-sama? What is it?"

So her names Tsunade? I wonder if she's that all good of a Hokage. I thought.

"Gai's team isn't doing anything right now, correct?"

"Yes."

"Then send for them. I've got a new mission for them."

"...Yes."

The woman left and a few minutes later returned with 3 kids and an adult. I only assumed that the adult was their sensei and that the 3 kids were genins. I must say, when I saw the teacher I was quite...oh, what's the word...appalled. He had such thick eye-brows, and the UGLIEST hair-cut. And he wore this green body suit that showed way too many curves. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I do beleive I twitched a little. And their was a boy in the group who looked just like him. I was doubly grossed out, that I wanted to cry. MAN! THEY WERE WEIRD-LOOKIN'! Tsunade-sama broke my trance of disgust, "Kichino, these ninja will accompany you on your journey. Gai, you and your subordinates are to go with Miss Kichino Sarafu over here and give aid to her village who has just gone through an attack."

At this note, I bowed politely and introduced myself. "My name is Kichino Sarafu. Thank you for your service."

Gai and the mini-Gai, in unison, gave a salute, and cried, "It is our pleasure to help a woman in need!"

I gave a shudder, but tried to suppress it. These guys were so odd. But the other 2 were calm and cool. There was a girl with her hair into little buns on the side of her head, and she had a confident look on her face. She bowed, "I am TenTen. Its a pleasure to meet you." She then, turned to the boy next to her and said, "Neji, introduce yourself. You're being impolite."

This Neji guy had a stern look on his face. He had long black hair pulled into a pony-tail at the end. His eyes were this blank, haze of purple. Besides that, he didn't look all too special. "There is no need to introduce myself."

I twitched. Oh, great! Its another one of these guys. I had enough from Gaara. I can just tell I wasgonna hate this guy. TenTen turned to me, "I'm sorry. His name is Hyuuga Neji. He's not too talkative."

"Now!" The ugly Gai spoke out so loud and suddenly, that it startled me. "We shall introduce ourselves!" Unfortunatly, he did this weird pose where his butt stuck out, and declared proudly, "My name is Maito Gai, the beautiful Blue Beast of Konoha! And I am the one and only eternal rival of Kakashi!" With that, he gave a grin that sparkled with a ding!

"Wait, you mean Hatake Kakashi?"

"Yes! Am I not spectacular?"

I had to answer truthfully, "No. I don't believe you."

He grew pale, and looked on the verge of tears. The mini version decided to speak out now. "My name is Rock Lee! The beautiful Green Beast of Konoha! And the greatest Taijutsu user in the world." And he, too, gave a sparkling grin.

"That's great, can we go now?"

Now, Rock Lee was about to cry.

"Let me tell you this now. I do not tolerate silly-ness. I want to hurry up and get this over with. And I'd rather you not confirm the location of my village to anyone else if you please."

Gai recovered himself quickly. "Yes! We promise not to repeat it ever again!"

Neji gave me a look that said, "Bossy little thing, aren't you?"

"Alright!" I exclaimed, "Lets head out!" I walked out the door, and they followed me. All except Gai who was held back by Tsunade-sama. I heard her faintly whisper to him, "Watch her closely. I don't entirely beleive her story. If anything fishy happens, come back." With a nod, he left.

So she didn't trust me, eh? That's fine. I had nothing to hide from them (Except maybe the curse) so I was at ease. After they gathered their things to prepare for the trip, we headed out. Luckily, I had made good time and there was still much of the day left. TenTen and Neji were quiet through-out the trip, but Rock Lee was quite talkative. He asked me questions about my village, and when I refused to answer, he started talking about himself. He talked about how he couldn't use any ninja or illusionary techniques, but he was a genius at hand-to-hand combat. I told him that I considered no one to be a genius cause you always find someone better than them.

"But a genius doesn't necessarily mean being the best," he argued. "It just means you excel at a certain area better than most people. So a genius might overcome the stronger one eventually, with hard work."

"But!" I replied. "If he uses hard work then anyone can, in your beliefs, be a genius."

"Exactly! A drop-out can over come a genius with hard work."

I don't know why, but I thought those words sounded wise. The Neji fellow gave a humph! at hearing them. So he must be the genius. And if Rock Lee was the drop-out, then what was I? I'm not a drop-out because I always excelled in everything I did, but that was only because of the Dragon. In fact, without the Dragon, I would be a weak person, who had no special capabilities. Mother had something special about her. She was pretty, but not only that, she was strong. She could suppress the Dragon with her own power. Of course, she eventually gave in to the curse. I would too.

"Sarafu-san?" Rock Lee's voice woke me.

"Uh, yes?"

"What's wrong, you were suddenly quiet and had a gloomy look on your face?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was in thought. So what do you want?"

"Uh, nothing I guess."

An awkward silence fell after that. The silence caused me to go back to my thoughts. Why couldn't I myself do anything? Why did I always rely upon the Dragon? I remembered my fight with Gaara. The only thing I could do was punch him in the face. He nearly choked me to death. And the next day, there wasn't even a little bruise on his cheek. I wish I could be like Mom, and fight with my own strength. Truthfully, I was weak.

I was so engulfed in my own thoughts that I didn't notice the Kunai knife coming my way. Rock Lee jumped in the air and knocked it away with a kick. I awoke and was starteled. "Sarafu-san, are you alright?" he asked.

"Uh...yes, I think so."

"Well," Gai said gravely, "whoever tried to attack you is gone now. I no longer sense them. Neji, scope them out with your Byakugan."

"Yes," he replied. Then he said calmly, "Byakugan." All eyes were on him. "I see him. He is only 40 meters northeast, but he's moving fast. Should we pursue him?" Gai looked at me. "Its your call. This is your mission."

I had finally come to my senses. SOMEONE HAD TRIED TO KILL ME! OH, THEY'RE GONNA PAY! I felt my anger rise. That was one of my bad traits. I was quick to anger. "HELL, YEAH! WE'RE GONNA KICK HIS ASS! HOW DARE HE!" They were all surprised at my sudden change of mood. I didn't wait for their opinion. I rushed of in the direction Neji had stated. They followed me.

Needless to say, in my fury, I catched up to my attacker quickly. I saw him and tackled him. We flew across the ground and skid to a stop. I got up, making sure to hold the arms down, and looked upon my attackers face. I gasped, and was frozen. I knew this face. My attacker kicked me in the stomach and I flew back. "Sarafu-san!" Rock Lee and the others had arrived. My attacker stood up.

"Ji-Jikuro?" I suddenly felt weak all over. Jikuro? Why was he here? And why did he attack me? "Jikuro? What's going on? Why did you attack me?"

TenTen stared at me. "You know him?"

Jikuro didn't answer.

"Jikuro! Answer me!" I was still sitting on the ground and I wasn't all too intimidating. I got up. My stomach didn't hurt that bad, but for some reason, my eyes burned.

Jikuro spoke, "Why did you lie to us? Were you planning to attack the village."

"What!" Gai's team looked at me with surprise.

"What do you mean, Jikuro!" I cried.

"Don't play dumb. You are the heir to be the next Dragon of the Moon. You are destined to destroy our village. You lied to us. Did you think I would just stand around and watch?"

"Actually, I was hoping you wouldn't find out at all."

"And not only that, but you hid the fact that you were a girl the whole time!"

"WHAT!" Rock Lee and Gai's mouths fell open. TenTen and Neji looked at them curiously. "You seriously couldn't tell?" They shook their heads.

"Now, my friend, die!" Jikuro threw a smoke bomb at the ground. He lunged through the smoke at me, with a knife in hand. Neji jumped up and karate chopped him in the neck. He fell down to the ground. His head hit the ground hard and he lost concioussness. "What hapened to that rage you had?" he said mockingly.

"Tch!"

He had a point. He may have been a friend in my eyes, but in his, I was a traitor. That proved my point. On my own, I coldn't even fight back against someone as weak as Jikuro. (Yes, he is my friend, but you got to be honest. All he did was come at me with a knife, and not with great precision either.) "So, what should we do with him?" Lee asked.

"We'll take him prisoner." I said. "He is, after all, my best friend. I will show him mercy, but tie him up."

"Well, that was a fast recovery."

"I have to have a fast recovery. I'm a ninja. Feelings must not get in the way of a mission."

I said that with such coldness, that it even surprised me. I had gone through such mood swings today, that I was mentally worn out. "I'm gonna take a nap, make sure he doesn't kill me, please." I curled up on the ground and fell asleep. Why was I so tired? I was soon deep asleep.

While I was asleep, TenTen and the others had begun to feel drowsy themselves. Then she realized, "Guys! That wasn't a smoke bomb! It was sleeping gas!" Neji took in the new information and despite the sleeping gas (and my orders) stabbed Jikuro with a kunai. BUT IT WAS A REPLACEMENT! "What!" they all exclaimed. "Oh, no!" Lee cried out, "He's after Sarafu-san." True, he was already over me and had thrust a knife down into my side. But do you really think a mere genin like him could really beat me so easily, even if he was my friend? HECK NO! That was a replacement also!

"What!"

I was behind him in an instant with my kunai to his throat. "I'm sorry, Jikuro, but I must live. If you will not leave me peacably, then I'll have to-" Too late. He swung around to attack but in my shock I moved backward which caused the kunai to cut into his neck. He succeeded in knocking me back, but I had already cut his throat. Blood was dripping down his neck. He fell to the ground. I sat there on the ground silently, stunned. Neji, Gai, Lee, and TenTen stared in silence. Jikuro lay on the ground, a pool of blood surrounding him. He was obviously dead. At first I was still. So still that I should think I had died also. Then I began to shudder violently. Tears streamed down my face although I did not sob. I had actually done it. I had killed Jikuro, one of my few and only friends. Some of his blood had splattered on my hands. I stared at them.

"I-I...did-dn't mean t-t-to..." That was all I could get out. These tears, I thought, won't wash away this blood. I killed him! I'm a murderer. I may have already become the dragon. I must get away! I must distance my self from everyone! Or I will kill them too! I'm a monster! I ordered my legs to move, but the were like stone. I must get away.TenTen came toward me sympathetically, and reached out her hand. I slapped it out of the way.

"DON'T COME NEAR ME!" I yelled. "I'M A MONSTER! I'LL KILL YOU!"

TenTen stared at me in surprise. Finally, I had control over my body, and I ran. To where? I didn't know, and I didn't care. I just wanted to get away from everyone. Why do I exist? Someone as horrible as me should leave the face of the earth. If I died, the curse of the Moon Dragon would end. Everyone would be happy.

That's it! I smiled bitterly. If I died, right here, right now, so many problems would be solved. So many lives would be spared. I see. So that was my purpose in life. My purpose was to die. So the curse would end. That's why I was born. The sound of rushing water came to my ears. A waterfall. That meant a cliff. If I jumped off, I would die. I ran in the direction of the sound, and indeed, I found a waterfall. I stood at the edge of the cliff. Suddenly, Gaara's face came to mind. Why was I thinking of him now? Oh, yeah. I won't be able to fullfill my promise if I die. But if he found out about me, he wouldn't like me anyways.

"So you're gonna commit suicide?"

I turned around. Neji was leaning against a tree, with that same uncaring face. I tried to speak but there was such a lump in my throat. I hadn't realized that I'd still been crying this whole time. They still flowed constantly, like this waterfall. I merely nodded.

"And what good will it do?" he asked me in an unchanging tone.

"If I die, the Curse of the Dragon of the Moon, will cease, and I..." I couldn't finish the sentence.

"And?"

"And a great burden would be lifted from the world. Many people will be spared."

"So you are saying, that if you live you plan to kill people?"

"Well, no...but I will eventually against my will."

"I don't know all too much about this curse of yours, but it doesn't have a hold on you yet."

"Exactly, which means I can't blame it for Jikuro's death."

Neji was silent. I guess he didn't have a comeback for that one. "But its not your fault either. In fact, if its anyone's fault, its Jikuro's."

"What?"

"If he hadn't moved, no, if he hadn't even attacked you, none of this would've happened. He probably wouldn't have stopped trying to kill you no matter what we said. One of us would have had to kill him anyway. You just happened to do it on accident."

I stared at him in silence. He looked up at me and his expression softened a little. "Its not your fault."

Those words were relief to me. The words I had been searching for all my life. The blame always seemed to go on me, because of the curse, and my own clumsiness. I always made mistakes. Even my very birth was considered a mistake. I had always blamed myself when something bad happened. I felt as though a great burden had just been lifted off my back. I even smiled, so great was my releif.

"You've never killed a person, have you?" I asked.

"Never."

I chuckled. "Lets go back, and clean up the mess."

"Ok, now you're sounding like a murderer."

...to be continued.

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A/N: EMO ALERT! R&R, please!