Sabaku no Momo

(3. Mission Time! Part II)

By Anke-chan

Pairing: Gaara x OC

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only the plot and OC

Warning: There may be lots of OOCness~ If there are [ ] after a certain word or phrase, it is the definition or translation of the word or phrase :D

A/N: Please R&R! :D

An hour later, Momoko was standing in front of the village gates that led out to Tanigakure and Konohagakure. She lightly scuffed her sandal against the sandy ground as she waited patiently for the rest of her cell to arrive. As she waited though, the memory of Gaara's cold eyes came back to her. She winced, as if the memory had burned her although that wasn't the case at all. She hugged herself, fighting back her frustration. How in the world was she supposed to approach him when he was that dangerous! She couldn't do it… Not two years ago when she was all by herself, not five years ago when she had first met him and definitely not now! Some would consider it suicide… She wanted to talk to him… But how could she…?

"Momoko~!" A hand slapping her shoulder shook her out of her thoughts and she turned to face the newcomer.

"Oh, Hiashi-kun! I didn't realize you were there. I'm sorry," Momoko said apologetically, blushing faintly as she tucked back her hair. She smiled uncertainly.

Hiashi laughed. "It's no problem! I'm not offended or anything so I don't get why you're so worried. Haha!"

Momoko's uncertain smile became a more cheerful one. Nothing could ever dampen Hiashi's spirits. She was glad to have a friend like him around. She nodded and replied, "Ah, okay. I thought I had offended you. Again-"

"Don't start! I mean, you're always so polite! Haha! You've always been polite, ever since we first met two years ago. Come on! Why can't you be casual with Haru and me? We've been good friends for the past two years, right?" Hiashi said, cutting Momoko off in the middle of her sentence.

The dark-haired girl smiled, tugging on the edge of her dark red shirt uncertainly. "Y-yeah, you're right… It's just… I don't really know how to talk with kids my own age… I talk so formally with you and Haru all the time… I'm more used to talking with adults, I guess… I mean, you and Haru were actually my first real friends."

The green-haired boy looked at Momoko with kind eyes. "I understand. The whole 'having no parents' thing, huh? I find that annoying. Why can't we all just get along no matter what our personal lives may be like?" The boy heaved a sigh.

Momoko was shocked. She had never gotten into these kinds of conversations with either Hiashi or Haru before and to hear Hiashi say that was a surprise to her. "You really think that, Hiashi-kun?"

The boy nodded. "Of course. I think it just depends on how the person you want to befriend feels. I could always sense that you wanted friends, but I couldn't find the right time to approach you… But hey, at least we're friends now, right?" He flashed Momoko a smile.

Momoko returned the smile. "Haha, yeah." She turned her eyes away, trying not to betray her feelings as she asked, "Hey, Hiashi-kun… What do you think of Sabaku no Gaara?"

"Huh? Sabaku no Gaara? Hm…" Hiashi pondered in thought for a moment, then, he murmured, "I wouldn't mind getting to know the guy… But he just emits that deathly aura that keeps people at a distance. So I doubt I'll ever get to know him… My parents always tell me to stay away from him though."

"I see…" was Momoko's only response. She kept her eyes turned away. "You know… I feel the same way that you do… I mean… Why should we have to keep our distance from people when we need one another to survive? Why isolate others? Some people only do that because they think that it gives them power over others. All I think that does is hurt people. It doesn't do anything but that…"

Hiashi looked at Momoko thoughtfully. "That's true. Well," his smile became warmer. "At least I've found someone who agrees with me." He held out his hand to her. "Right?"

Momoko turned to look at the green-haired boy, smiling. "Yeah," she said as she took his hand.

Just then, Amaya and Haru arrived. Hiashi blushed as he pulled his hand back from Momoko's and held onto his backpack strap.

"Hmm? What was that I just saw?" Amaya asked in a teasing tone.

Momoko smiled. "Our friendship just deepening after a nice conversation."

Amaya smiled in return, her chocolate brown eyes lighting up. "I see. That's very good that you're deepening your bonds. It will definitely help you out later on. All righty, well, let's head out now that we're all here!" The orange-haired woman gaily strode out through the village gates, her pupils on her heels.

Haru looked at Momoko, smiling. "So what were you two talking about before Amaya-sensei and I got here?"

"We were talking about how it's wrong for people to exclude other people just because of what may have happened in their personal lives, say their parents dying or being an experiment for the village," Momoko replied.

Haru's eyes glazed over with fright for but a moment and then it was gone. "A-an experiment for… The village, h-huh?" Her voice trembled uneasily as her thoughts flashed to Sabaku no Gaara, the failed experiment of Sunagakure. "Like… Sabaku no Ga-Gaara?" Even saying her name brought fright rearing into her heart.

Momoko nodded. "Yeah… Like Gaara…" Her heart ached in pain at the thoughts of Gaara's loneliness… She understood how he felt.

"Come on, you slow pokes! Let's get a move on!" Amaya called out to her two female pupils, her male pupil standing by her side.

"Coming!" both girls called out in unison, running to catch up.

Once they were all together, they jumped off into the desert, their destination to head onto the path to Tanigakure.

It had been approximately three and half hours after they had left Sunagakure that Momoko noticed strange tracks.

"Wait! Sensei! Look at this!" Momoko shouted to her teacher, stopping them in their tracks as she stopped to bend down and examine some tracks that had been left in the sand. She noticed an imprint that looked like something had been picked up by human hands. "Could this spot be where Yamada Korin dropped her heirloom?"

Amaya came closer and crouched beside Momoko to examine the imprint that was left behind. The older woman's long fingertips touched the sand as she gave a "Hmm" in thought. Then, she murmured, "I think it might have been bandits that picked it up… This is close to their area, too… We should pick up the trail and everyone must be careful from here on out. Is that understood?"

The three youngsters nodded knowingly.

"All right, let's go on." The cell righted themselves and continued on in silence, their senses on full alert.

Half an hour later, Amaya stopped, holding her hand up to stop her pupils. She glanced at the three younger children and motioned for Hiashi and Momoko to hide in the outcropping of rocks that stood to their right as she and Haru hid in the dark, black shadow of another pile of rocks. As soon as they were hidden, three tall, buff men arrived. They were laughing loudly and throwing jokes around.

"…and then that pathetic idiot fell on top of himself!" one of the men, a dark-haired, deeply tanned, black eyed man laughed, telling the other two about his encounter with some poor unfortunate person.

The other two laughed and the man with red hair and blotchy, burned-red-from-the-sun skin said, "Hey, Toshi, ya got that thing I picked up yesterday? That necklace?"

At the word "necklace", Momoko's heart began to race. They had found their culprit so easily! She forced herself to calm down though and began to wonder to herself. This had been too easy… Something felt off about this…

The third man, a navy-haired, icy blue eyed man smirked deviously. "Looks like we got our little rabbits, boys."

Just as he said that, Amaya and Haru gave a surprised cry as they were ensnared in a net, which had been launched from a hidden mechanism in the rock face that now held the two girls trapped to the opposite rock wall.

"A-are you all right, Haru?" Amaya gasped. D-damn it! How could I have not foreseen that!

Haru struggled to hold back tears of fright as she stuttered, "I-I t-think s-s-so…" She sniffled. "W-what a-a-about y-you, Amaya-sensei…?"

Amaya gave a grimacing smile. "I'm fine as long as you are."

The red haired man whistled as he caught sight of Amaya. "A pretty kunoichi was sent after us? Man, we must be lucky. And what's this?" He saw Haru. "The beautiful kunoichi brought a little brat with her. It must be her cell. HA! A cell of little genin who can be crushed in the palm of my hand! Hahahahaha!" He laughed as his other two partners crowded around him to see Amaya and Haru.

The dark-haired man smirked. "Did you think we didn't sense you and your little squad of rascals? You can't escape now, bitch."

The navy-haired man looked around, his icy eyes scrutinizing the surrounding eye with a critical eye. "There are only two of them. Where are the other two that is supposed to make up their four-man cell…?" He took a few steps closer to the other outcropping of rocks.

Momoko gritted her teeth angrily as the three men talked, laughing. She caught her breath as the navy-haired man approached though. Her partner was just about to rush out there to the rescue, but the dark-haired girl caught his arm, shaking her head. They needed to keep themselves from being captured; it was the only way they would ever save their fellow cellmates. The two slunk away without being detected just as the navy-haired man popped into the space where they had been hiding moments before.

"Hm…" The navy-haired man looked at the other two. "Toshi! Ken! Get those two down from there and let's head back to our hide-out. The other two probably abandoned their teammates to save themselves."

"Ryoukai!" Toshi and Ken called in response. [ryoukai literally means "understood"] The two men approached Amaya and Haru.

"Now look here, beautiful, you do anything suspicious, the little brat dies. Got that straight?" Toshi, the dark-haired man, sneered at Amaya. He untangled the net and grabbed Haru's arms, pulling her down next to him and holding a kunai to her throat. Haru struggled not to emit a single sound.

Amaya's brows furrowed in frustration, but she nodded. "Fine. But you touch one hair on her head though, I swear that you'll regret it with your life."

Ken laughed as he pulled Amaya down, his hand inappropriately brushing past her butt. He licked his lips. "If we didn't these little brats, we'd show you who was boss, beautiful."

Amaya glared at Ken over her shoulder. "You'll definitely regret that later, you disgusting pervert."

The navy-haired man, who was by now the apparent leader, turned to look at his subordinates. His icy eyes quickly fell upon Amaya. "What Hidden Village are you from, woman?"

"Tch, I've no obligation to answer to a person whose name I don't even know. So I see no point in doing so," Amaya answered, her tone indifferent.

The man smacked her across the face. "You'll tell us once we catch your other two little brats. I know you wouldn't just stand by and watch them get tortured if you can answer my questions." He turned his eyes to Toshi and Ken. "Let's head back. The other two will come themselves eventually." He stalked off in the direction that they had come from, Toshi and Ken trailing behind him with their captives.

-Meanwhile…

"Momoko! Why did we just run off on Amaya-sensei and Haru! We should have helped them!" Hiashi exclaimed at Momoko as they headed back to the road they had just left.

Momoko turned her dark eyes to Hiashi. "Hiashi-kun… If we were caught, who would save us then? They would kill us. I thought you would have figured that out by now."

Hiashi was slightly stunned by the seriousness in Momoko's eyes. He had never seen her this serious before. It was a first. He found his voice with difficulty as he responded to her statement, "W-well… I guess you're right… But how are we supposed to find them now? I mean, they're gone." He gestured to the now empty road.

Momoko crouched down and inspected the ground. Nothing had disrupted the footprints that had been left in the soft sand. "Obvious. Nothing had bothered the footprints, so we can just follow those. But I doubt that we'll be able to rescue Haru and Amaya-sensei that easily… Hm…" Momoko's serious eyes turned thoughtful as she stood up, dusting off her clothes. "Come on, Hiashi-kun. Let's go. I'll tell you the plan along the way."

The boy wasn't too surprised to hear the girl say that, quickly following her down the path towards the bandits' lair as she told him her plan…

-In the bandits' lair…

Amaya and her pupil's hands had been bound behind their backs and they had been forced to kneel next to each other. Amaya glanced at her young pupil and noticed the increasing amount of water in the girl's eyes.

"Shh, it's going to be okay, Haru," Amaya whispered, trying to reassure the young girl and allay her fears.

Haru nodded fiercely although her eyes were turned towards the ground. "I-I know…! B-but Momoko-chan…! And Hiashi-kun…! W-will they…?" She turned her eyes to her teacher. "Will they be okay…?"

Amaya smiled softly at her pupil. "They will be. Momoko is a bright girl and she'll definitely help us. Hiashi-kun is also there to help aid Momoko and he's also a very promising shinobi so don't worry, Haru."

Haru sniffled. "I-I'm so sorry, Amaya-sensei…! I should have been able to detect that trap… I-I-I…"

"Hey, it's fine. We learn from our mistakes so don't be upset, Haru. Got it?" Amaya chided, not wanting her pupil to beat herself up anymore than she already had.

Ken appeared, Toshi trailing along behind him with two others. "So, how are you two liking it here in our lair? Pretty cozy, eh?" He flashed a sarcastic smile at the two females.

"It's as comfortable as being at home," Amaya replied, her tone of voice dripping with sarcasm.

Toshi walked closer to Amaya and crouched down in front of her. He grabbed a clump of her hair and held her face closer to his. "I wouldn't push your luck anymore that it's already pushed, woman." He harshly let go of Amaya's hair. "It's only because of our boss's good graces that you're even still alive at all." He stood up and took a few steps back from the two prisoners.

"Ah, so this is the woman and squirt that you guys found earlier… So where they from? They from Konohagakure or something?" the unidentified blond-haired man asked, scrutinizing Amaya and Haru with curious green eyes.

The other man that had come in, a man with long, choppy dark brown hair and sharp hazel eyes, said nothing. He merely stared at Amaya and Haru in silence, his arms crossed across his muscular chest that could be seen through his gray hakama top.

Amaya herself quietly observed the three men. Along with the navy-man, they wouldn't be much of a challenge… But she couldn't risk taking any chances by underestimating her opponents.

"Nah, they're Suna shinobi. Weren't all that much of a challenge to capture, actually," Ken replied, answering the blond rogue.

He turned serious. "Sunagakure? The village that has that monster, Gaara?" His eyes were hard as he stared at Ken. "You said that there were two others, Ken? Two who escaped?"

Ken nodded. "Yeah, what of it, Ryou?"

"You know what would happen if they chose to send that monster? We'd be dead, that's what. So why didn't you guys go after the other two? Why let them escape?" Ryou stated, his voice cold with seriousness.

The red-haired rogue shrugged indifferently. "I don't know… It didn't seem worth it… Besides, I'm figuring that those other two little brats will come to save their precious teacher and little friend here."

"Who is already here," a voice stated.

"W-what!"

The four men whirled around to find themselves facing a dark-haired girl, her stance strong and her eyes determined.

"Momoko-chan!" Haru exclaimed, unable to hide her happiness at seeing her friend coming to save them. Amaya let out a sigh of relief to know that her student was doing well under the circumstances at hand.

"You think you can take us all on, a puny little girl like you?" Ken snickered, his eyes sizing up Momoko.

Momoko smiled. "Of course. I'm more than a match for you thugs." Her voice exuded confidence and that irked Toshi.

"Your chances aren't that good at all, girly. I don't even expect much of a fight from you at all. You got nothin' on us," Toshi growled in irritation. He wanted to squash the confidence that Momoko was exuding and he would.

Momoko shrugged indifferently. "If you say so."

"Got'cha!" The blond-haired man came up from behind Momoko, his arms wrapping around her form.

A sly smile played across Momoko's face before she vanished in a poof of smoke, making Ryou cough.

"D-damn it you brat! Augh!" Ryou coughed, covering his mouth with his elbow.

"I'm right here. You missed," Momoko smiled, standing near the farther left wall, her dark eyes dancing playfully.

"W-what is this! Art of the Shadow Doppelganger! No way a kid could know that move! Who are you!" Ken exclaimed.

Toshi jumped at Momoko, his kunai bared and aimed at Momoko. "TEME!" ["Teme!" is another way to say "You!", although it is a rude way to say it.]

Momoko danced out of his range as soon as he was close enough, throwing her shuriken at the dark-haired man as she ducked underneath Ryou's attack at the same time.

Toshi managed to dodge all but one of Momoko's shuriken, which lodged itself, unseen, into his bicep. "ARRRGGH!" Toshi cried as the metal buried itself in his tanned skin. He had not seen that one and he silently cursed himself as he pulled the shuriken out, throwing it aside to cover his bleeding wound. "I'm going to get you, you little brat!"

Momoko was too busy dodging Ryou and Ken's attacks to hear Toshi's threat. She slipped underneath Ken's slash and twisted to the side as Ryou threw shuriken in her direction. This was nothing to the girl.

Toshi quickly jumped into the fray, intent on crushing the young girl as another shadow slipped past and headed to the two prisoners.

"I got you," Hiashi whispered as he cut Amaya's bonds, moving to cut Haru's bonds a moment later.

"Hi-Hiashi-kun!" Haru whispered happily. "You guys came to save us!"

Hiashi smiled. "Stating the obvious, Haru. Why wouldn't I come to save you two? Besides, this is Momoko's plan anyway. Working, huh?" His eyes were dancing with excitement. "Come on! Let's go and help Momoko out!" He turned to jump into the fray, but Amaya stopped him.

"No. You and Haru get out of here. I'll help Momoko get out of here, too. You three are no match for this butch. Is that understood?" Amaya stated instead.

Hiashi's eyes became furious as he retorted, "No! She's my teammate and I won't let her down!" He pulled his arm away from Amaya and tried to jump in again, but again, Amaya stopped him.

Their teacher'e eyes were hooded with anger as she looked at her pupil. "Do you want Momoko to get killed? Go. Now." Before Hiashi could argue further, Amaya jumped into the battle, deflecting a blow from Toshi that had been aimed at Momoko's back. "No body hurts my student! Particularly you!" She shoved the older man back and jumped at him, her kunai aimed at his throat.

"Ara? What's this? The other brat came and released you? Hmph, fine with me!" Toshi hissed, blocking Amaya's attack with his own kunai. ["Ara" literally means "Oh"]

Amaya and Toshi's exchange of blows was nothing but a flurry of ruby sparks and swift movements. They jumped in and back then clashed again. Amaya twisted Toshi's wrist aside and twisted her body around to connect her fist to the man's cheek, sending him sprawling to the ground for but a moment before he sprung to his feet. He spat at the ground, tasting hot iron in his mouth as he glared murderously at the woman, his hand going to wipe his lips.

"You bitch. I'll teach you!" He leapt at Amaya, throwing several shuriken as he pulled out another two kunai. Amaya deflected all the shuriken with ease, pulling out another kunai and meeting the man's direct attack head-on, digging her heels into the ground as the force behind the man's attack came pushing behind him.

"You think you can defeat me?" Amaya muttered, her voice strained as she held Toshi back with her two kunai.

Toshi smirked. "Of course. Who do you think I am, woman?"

"Well then… I got you," Amaya murmured, her smile sliding away into a pile of dirt, leaving the man stunned for a moment in wonder. He froze up, gurgling as Amaya stepped aside from behind him, one of her kunai lodged into his back. "I told you; I got you, Toshi."

Toshi continued gurgling, then, fell onto his knees before falling into a sprawl onto the ground. He was dead.

Ken and Ryou stopped attacking the girl, stunned to see their comrade fallen. "N-no way!"

Amaya turned to look at the other two men. "Back off and let us leave or you can all die along with your friend here." She gestured to the fallen man on the ground behind her.

Ken was furious. "You bitch!" He charged her. "DIE!"

"STOP."

Ken skidded to a halt, turning at the voice. "B-but! BOSS! That bitch killed Toshi! We should kill them now!"

A flash of dark red flew past Ken, cutting his arm before they landed. Momoko swung herself around to face Ken, her eyes menacing. "You hurt my teacher, I'll end you."

"Hm, so this is the little brat that is causing you so much trouble?" The navy-haired man came closer, his eyes looking Momoko over. "Hm… You will be a fine shinobi yet, girl. What is your name?"

Momoko was wary a moment, but answered, "Momoko. Who might you be? All I know is that you're the leader of his sorry bunch." She gestured to Ken and Ryou.

"What!" they snapped together in unison. "'Sorry bunch'! Who's the sorry bunch!"

"Silence, Ken. Ryou. You let the words of a young girl affect you? And you consider yourselves part of my crew?" The navy-haired man eyed his subordinates with menacing eyes. Ken and Ryou gulped, but backed off. The unnamed man turned his eyes back to Momoko. "The name is Kane."

"Kane? You are well-named," Momoko commented.

A corner of Kane's mouth turned up in the smallest of smiles, but he composed himself. "You have spilled the blood of one of my crew. That is unacceptable." He settled into a battle stance. "It was good to meet you, Momoko, but I cannot let you leave here without someone paying for the life of Toshi. Ken, Ryou." The other two settled into battle stances. "Take care of the girl. The woman is mine." He charged at Amaya, his foot swinging down on Amaya as the other two men encroached upon Momoko. "You, woman. I know you. You're Amaya of Sunagakure, the mysterious chameleon assassin they're so proud of. Am I correct? You're name on the battlefield would be Chameleon now, right?"

Amaya smiled. "You're right. And you… I should have known. The Roaring Spear that struck fear into our foes. You were once part of Sunagakure yet you left. I wonder why?"

"Heh, I saw that I would go no where there… So what was there for me to gain there?" Kane smirked as they exchanged blows.

"There was more to gain if you had stayed… But now, I shall just kill you and seal our secrets with your death. Toriyaaa!" Amaya jumped into the air and spun her body around, swinging her foot to connect with Kane's chest.

As their teacher fought, Momoko was locked in a battle of her own with Ken and Ryou, who mercilessly bombarded her with attacks. Momoko quickly wove hand signs and created another doppelganger, meeting her look alike back to back as Ken and Ryou, who had gotten her from both the front and back, smashed their weapons against hers. She cringed at the power in their attacks. "Nngh…"

"Momoko!" Hiashi and Haru jumped in to save their friend.

They jumped at Ryou, making him back away from the dark-haired girl to face these new adversaries. The man ducked shuriken that Hiashi had thrown and moved his foot to avoid Haru's low kick. Ryou kicked Haru's feet out from under her, knocking her onto the ground. He wasn't able to deal her a fatal blow before Hiashi was on him, making him back away from the fallen girl, who was struggling to her feet.

Momoko was left to face the red-headed man on her own, her doppelganger standing beside her. She was silent as she stared at her opponent.

Ken sneered as he wove hand signs. "Suiton: Suigadan!" He expelled a water bullet from his mouth, which rushed at Momoko.

Momoko dodged in time, although her doppelganger was struck by the attack, making it disappear in a cloud of smoke. Momoko gritted her teeth. She didn't want to use the new jutsu that she had been working on; it wasn't ready yet. She wove another set of hand signs. "Kage bunshin no Jutsu!" Another two doppelgangers appeared.

"That's your best! You're a beginner compared to me, girly!" Ken sneered, shooting out another water bullet.

Momoko dodged, skidding to the side before she launched herself at Ken, her hands flinging shuriken at the man, her doppelgangers following her lead and adding their own shuriken.

Ken jumped out of the way as the many shuriken clattered against the rock wall behind him uselessly. He landed and swung his body around, kicking Momoko in her midsection, sending her crashing to the ground. Ken sauntered over to the stunned girl, watching as the girl coughed up blood. "I told you already, girly. You can't beat me." He moved to strike the fatal blow, but froze in his tracks, a silver blade protruding from his chest. "W-what…?" he gasped, turning around in slow, jerky movements to see his killer. It was the silent man who had disappeared during the battle but had now reappeared. "Izo! Y-you…! Traitor…!" Ken collapsed, his eyes glazing over as blood trickled out of his mouth.

Izo pulled his sword from the dead man's chest, swiping it aside to cast off the blood before he re-sheathed it. He grabbed Momoko's arm and pulled her to her feet. "Are you okay?" The man's voice was husky and rough, but not unkind.

Momoko nodded, wiping the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand. "Who are you…? Why did you…?" She turned to find that Ryou, too, was dead. "Why did you help us?"

Izo turned his eyes to the battle between Amaya and Kane. "My name is Kuroda Izo. I'm a jonin from Sunagakure. I was sent here by my superiors to act as a spy. Eradicating this group was supposed to be my job." He pulled a dark bundle from inside his shirt and unfurled a Sunagakure headband, binding it around his forehead to hold back his long, brown hair.

"W-what a coincidence," Momoko commented weakly. This turn of events had not been unexpected.

"Have you ever seen your teacher fight before?" Izo glanced at Momoko, who shook her head. "Then see how fearsome she is. Watch her fight."

Momoko turned her eyes to watch the fight that was ensuing before her. A fight to the death where her teacher would either win or die. She watched the movements that her teacher made, memorizing them in her brain as she watched.

Amaya feinted to the left, then struck out at Kane's right, her left leg swinging up to catch Kane briefly but harshly in the chest, making the man stumble back at the blow. The woman closed in, her kunai ready to dig into Kane's chest before he deflected the attack away and shoved the woman back. Kane lunged at Amaya, quickly weaving hand signs as he charged at her. He stopped and slapped his hand into the ground, causing it shake and shudder before a gash appeared and wrought cracked path to Amaya, who quickly jumped out of the way as a large shard of rock punctured through the earth where she had been standing moments before.

The orange-haired woman landed, her dark grey clothes billowing around her slender frame as her hair fluttered lightly in front of her eyes before falling back in place around her face. Her chocolate brown eyes were hard with determination, although her breath was ragged from her battle. "This won't end easily with you going down now, will it?"

Kane smirked. "Who do you think I am?" He touched a black tattoo on his left arm, pulling out a golden, two-bladed spear from a weapon storage somewhere. He brandished it proudly and settled into a stance. "It's been a while since I have last used this… It brings back memories." He lunged at Amaya, twirling the deadly weapon expertly around in his hands. The man swung his weapon downwards on Amaya, who barely dodged out of the way as the golden spear's blade blew through the solid rock face and left a nasty gash in the ground. Kane straightened and looked at Amaya.

"This will be interesting…" Amaya drew the pair of wakizashi that she had grabbed from the scabbard that had been taken from her earlier. "I haven't used these in a while either…" She dashed at Kane, then disappeared in the blink of an eye, appearing at Kane's left side where she slashed at his exposed waist, cutting a light gash in his flesh before she was gone again.

Kane looked around cautiously, his eyes scrutinizing his surroundings. He took a small step, turning his body slightly. "So this is why they call you the Chameleon. You blend in so well, it's hard as hell to find you at all."

There was a ghostly chuckle from somewhere in the shadows. "I learned from the best, Kane. I can only live up to my namesake…" Another gash appeared on Kane's cheek, the older man flinching at the sharp metal that sliced open his flesh. "It is my specialty… Aren't you happy that you get to see it before you die?"

"Hehehehehehe…! This is very amusing!" Kane chuckled, raising his spear slightly as he turned around and swung his spear downwards.

Amaya jumped from the shadow where Kane's spear had struck, although a gash appeared on her shoulder as she landed across from Kane. "Hm… Very good. Maybe I underestimated you a little bit." She twirled her twin blades around once.

Kane began to circle Amaya. "You haven't shown me your very best yet though."

"Neither have you," Amaya commented, circling the man in return.

Then, the two adults charged the other, running directly at the other before Amaya jumped up, slashing downwards in a diagonal arc, first with one blade, then the other. Kane blocked the first, missing the second as the sharp wakizashi left another light cut that trailed from his right shoulder down his collarbone. His own blow, which was an upward slash, left a light cut on Amaya's abdomen. They struck more blows, Amaya lashing out calmly with one last smooth cut before she landed behind Kane.

As Amaya landed in a crouch, Kane had stopped himself, their backs facing the other. Then, Kane coughed out a red liquid as he collapsed onto one knee, using his spear as a support.

"So… I guess I lose here, eh?" Kane murmured, a slash appearing across his entire chest. Blood began to coarse down his body.

Amaya stood up, turning around to face Kane. "It was a pleasure to finally meet you in battle, Kane-senpai. I have longed to fight you for years now. It is a shame that this was a fight to the death."

Kane smirked. "You've always been an annoying kouhai… Ha." Then, the man fell forward, his life ended.

Amaya turned to her pupils and the jonin. "Izo, nice to finally see you again after so long." She flashed a weak smile.

Izo nodded his head once in acknowledgement. "It has been quite some time." He held up a necklace. "This was what you were looking for now, right?" He tossed it to Amaya, who caught it.

"That's right. How did you know?" Amaya inquired, looking at the necklace to make sure it was the right one. She put it away when she was satisfied that it was.

Izo shrugged. "I just happened to overhear them talking about it and they just gave it to me, telling me to toss with everything else that we had."

"I see," Amaya commented as she bent down to grab her scabbard, shaking Kane's blood off her blades before it congealed on the steel. She then re-sheathed her twin blades and hooked the scabbard around her small waist. The woman finally turned her eyes to her pupils. "Mission accomplished. Let's go home, kids."

"Y-yes, Amaya-sensei," Haru whispered weakly.

Amaya noticed her blond-haired student's discomfort. "Hiashi-kun, help take Haru outside. I almost forgot that she gets nauseated around the scent of blood."

"Yes, ma'am!" Hiashi replied. He helped escort Haru out of the cave.

Amaya turned her chocolate eyes to Momoko. "You may go on ahead, Momoko. Izo and I will be right out."

Momoko nodded, turning on her heel and leaving as requested.

Amaya watched the dark-haired girl leave, waiting until she was out before she turned to Izo. "What do you think of her?"

"Hm… She has a lot of potential… I can see it in her. What do you plan to do now, Amaya? That Momoko girl has a lot of undiscovered talent. How do you plan to help her access those talents?" Izo responded quietly.

"I plan to train with her as soon as we return," Amaya replied.

"I see… Does she know what element she has yet?" Izo inquired.

The woman shook her head. "That's what I'll find out soon."

Izo nodded. "Then so be it."

Amaya looked around them. "What are you going to do about all this treasure and the bodies of those four?"

"I'll call for help. So don't worry about it. Let's go."

The two left the blood covered cave.

Once they had returned to Sunagakure, Momoko had immediately returned to training. She was disappointed with her weak appearance back in the cave.

As she was practicing though, a voice interrupted her.

"Momoko?"

The dark-haired girl turned at the voice. "Oh, Amaya-sensei. What is it?"

"You seem upset…and more determined to become stronger. Was it because of our last mission?" Amaya commented.

Momoko looked away. "I almost died… If it hadn't been for Izo-sensei, I would be dead right now…" She looked into Amaya's eyes. "I want to grow stronger, Amaya-sensei! I want to be able to protect Haru-san and Hiashi-kun and all the future comrades that I will have!"

"I see…" The teacher smiled as she held out a piece of paper to her pupil. "Then I want to know what chakra nature you have, Momoko. You know how this works, don't you?"

Momoko took the piece of paper from her teacher's hand. "Yes, of course. Atsushi-sensei taught us back at the ninja academy about this stuff." She turned her eyes to her teacher. "Why do you want to know my chakra nature though?"

"I want to know so that I know where I can go in teaching you more advanced techniques. To help you become stronger to protect your friends and comrades. Hiashi and Haru will be joining us shortly to do this as well. Let's find out what yours is now though," Amaya replied.

Momoko smiled as she concentrated her chakra on the paper as thoughts ran through her mind… Thoughts of how she wanted to become stronger to protect her friends and comrades… Thoughts of becoming a stronger shinobi… Thoughts of Gaara. She wouldn't find herself unable to protect either herself or her friends again. She would become stronger.

The paper split neatly in two.

A/N: I hope that you enjoyed this chapter of a whopping 18 pages! I had too much of a writing frenzy. I'm starting the next chapter soon, too! Here is a list I found on Wiki about chakra nature if you don't know:

The chakra paper reactions are as follows:

Fire: the paper will ignite and turn to ash.

Wind: the paper will split in two.

Lightning: the paper will wrinkle.

Earth: the paper will turn to dirt and crumble away.

Water: the paper will become wet/damp

With that said, I hope to see you in the next chapter! Again, R&R please and thank you! :D