"How did you - ?"

"Get Temari!"

Kankuro blinked, peering from the floor, to you, then to his brother. "But, Gaara - ?"

"GET TEMARI!" you howled. Wide-eyed, Gaara's older brother fled the room. You'd suddenly appeared in their living room, stepping out of the coffee table's shadow. Temari arrived after you'd gotten the gourd off Gaara's back and laid him flat on the floor.

"What happened?" she demanded as she knelt opposite you, on the other side of Gaara's body.

"Plenty. Some villagers were freaking out because they could see my ears, then as we were heading home, someone attacked me. They then grabbed Gaara and tried to tell him to flee, but Gaara killed him. He went on a rampage and slaughtered the whole crowd."

You bent close to Gaara, your cheek an inch away from his nose. His breath barely brushed your cheek, but you noticed it was sweet. "He's still breathing, but it's shallow." you told Temari as she pumped Gaara's chest with her palms. You noticed that their brother was standing in a far off corner, staring at you as if you were some rabid beast.

Softly, you asked, "What, are you scared of the Ueda clan, too?"

"I don't even know what that is. Look, your ears I can handle. Maybe even your tail, but - ."

"TAIL?" you exclaimed. You looked behind you. Sure enough, you had a black furry tail with a shock of white upon the tip. This wasn't the only thing you noticed.

"Um, um…!"

"Mirror? Down the hall, on your left." pointed Kankuro. You turned frantically to Temari.

"Can you take care of him? I gotta - !"

"Go, go! I'm busy!" she growled.

"Thanks!"

Within a few bounds you were in what appeared to be Temari's room. She had a full length mirror on her wall. You squeaked and nearly jumped out of your skin when you saw the girl looking back at you. Your clothes were covered in blood and torn in various places. A dark violet aura pulsated off your body, and your yellow eyes were adorned with something you'd only seen in a real cat's eyes – slitted pupils. You stared at your reflection for a while, entranced, until Temari's voice broke through your thoughts.

"He's stopped breathing!"

You were by Gaara's side within seconds. He still had no heartbeat.

"Temari, breathe for him!" you told her as you brushed her hands away. You compressed his chest thirty times, pulsing chakra through his veins with each compression. You turned to her, but Temari simply sat there, stunned and trembling as Gaara's body began to glow.

"Temari, you go stand with your older brother. It's okay – I'll do it."

She got up and went to the corner as you began full CPR. "Please Gaara, breathe!" you pleaded after removing your lips from his for a third time.

"Maybe we should just, you know…let him die…" muttered their brother.

"Kankuro, you know we need him for this mission…"

"Yeah Temari, I know, but…he's a - ."

"I swear to God, Kankuro, if you say 'demon' I'll come over there and KILL YOUR ASS!" you screamed, tears dripping down your face. A blast of chakra surged through the room, knocking over tables and throwing open doors. Taken aback, both Temari and Kankuro fell silent.

"Gaara – WAKE – UP!" you cried, each word emphasizing the chakra pouring into his body. On the third push, his whole body jolted. He gasped, then rolled to his side and started coughing. Your energy evaporated in a split-second, and the whole room spun before you. Closing your eyes, you grasped your knees and focused on your breathing.

"Gaara…are you okay?" asked Temari. There was no answer. You heard shuffling on the tatami mats.

"I'm…so…sorry!" you whispered, choking back a sob and clenching your eyes even tighter. You took a few shuddering breaths, then felt something warm brush past your cheek. Opening your eyes you found yourself face to face with Gaara. Stifling a gasp, you noticed he was staring at a bead of moisture on his fingertip – one of your tears, you quickly realized. Before you could ask what he was doing, he'd licked his finger and returned his attention to you. His searching gaze bound you to the floor by some unknown force for what seemed like an eternity. He then turned away from you and stood.

"It's getting late…you should leave." he murmured. You staggered upright and stumbled out the door, returning to your apartment shaken and filthy, but uninjured. Feeling numb and exhausted, you bathed and went to bed early.

i'I wonder if Gaara's all right? What's he thinking about right now? How's he feeling? Can he remember everything that happened yesterday?' /i

A million and a half questions swam through your head all morning long as you went about doing chores. Your ninja attire had been fixed, so retrieving that was at the top of your list. After cleaning around your apartment you received a message from Kurenai. She was having Shino train against you today.

i'I'm so glad I got my clothes repaired on time!'/i you thought as you headed for the training grounds. You'd thought about wearing one of your hats, but the damage had already been done.

i'There's no use hiding it anymore…' /i you thought as you landed behind Kurenai.

"Good, you're all here now. Before we start this training session, I have something I need to tell you all."

i'I didn't know Kiba and Akamaru were gonna be here…' /iyou thought as you stood between the smiling Kiba and the quiet Shino.

"There was a public attack on Konoha yesterday."

Gasps escaped from both yours and Kiba's mouths, but for very different reasons.

"Do they know who did it?" asked Shino. Kurenai shook her head. "That's the problem. It was a massacre of villagers, right in the middle of the streets, yet there were no eye witnesses or any proof of the killer's existence except for the mass of bodies…"

You froze, ice flashing through your veins.

i'What if they find out it was Gaara?'/i

"Ai, you're quite pale…"

"Shino's right. Are you okay?" asked Kiba as he felt your forehead. Shino stoked your cheek.

"U-um, I'm fine, thank you…" you mumbled, a fiery blush spreading across your face.

"Kurenai – sensei, I think Ai should sit this one out."

"Yeah! I think she's got a fever or something!"

"Please stop fawning over her like mother hens, you two. She says she's fine. Anyways, I just wanted to tell you to be on your guard at all times. You never know when they could strike again. Now…for today's training…"

By the time Shino's training was over, Kiba had been sucked dry by the parasitic insects. Shino still hadn't quite managed to catch you yet, but he almost caught Kurenai – sensei. Almost.

"You're opponent uses a puppet, so he'll be fighting mostly by distance. It'll also be like having multiple enemies, so fighting all of us is great training, yet none of us fight using much distance…except for myself, but I use Genjutsu, so that's a whole different story…anyways, I'd like you to stay home tomorrow, Kiba, so Ai and Shino have a chance to fight one-on-one, since she can manage distance, okay?"

You and the boys sat panting in the grass. Akamaru managed to crawl into your lap before he plopped over. Kiba guzzled down a bottle of water before mumbling, "That's cool, Kurenai – sensei…Akamaru and I need a rest anyways…"

"Haha, darn…I forgot to get some water, too…" you mumbled. You clenched your eyes shut, and tangled your fingers in your hair as you pressed your palms upon your eyes. You were feeling dizzy again, and the ground underneath you seemed to be moving.

"Ai…"

You dropped your hands and looked up. A blurry, spinning bottle of water sparkled in the sun about ten centimeters from your face. Shino lowered it into your hands.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" you squealed. Somehow managing to get it open despite the spinning world, you drank deeply from the bottle.

"Ahh…wow, that was good! Wait, Shino, you do have one for yourself too, right?" you asked as the world came into focus. He turned away. You took his silence as a "no."

"I took your water? Aw, I'm so sorry! Here, please accept this as my apology!" You held out the half-full bottle of water with both hands. Shino took it and looked at it for a moment, then took a sip. His cheeks grew redder and redder as he finished it off.

"Thank you." he murmured quietly. Giggling, you punched his shoulder and growled, "Hey, that's my line!"

"Okay guys, you're dismissed, but be careful!" said Kurenai as she disappeared. You gave Akamaru to Kiba, stood up, and dusted yourself off.

"Well, looks like I'll be seeing you tomorrow, Shino. By guys!"

They waved at you reluctantly as you turned and took off.