Sand Kissing a Moonlit Sky

by Bethie82

Tsukio was born into a civilian family and she has only one goal to make her family proud. When her family is told she will be a shinobi, she is given the tools to make that happen. However life as a shinobi isn't what she thought it would be, especially when you are a Shinobi of the Sand. Follow the life of this young girl as she learns what being a shinobi really means.

37. Chunin Exams Part 3

The next morning, we woke up early. I put on my normal uniform, not the standard uniform and tried to put my feet into my boots. It was painful, so with a sigh, I grabbed the sandals and set them next to the door.

I was able to flag down someone and asked them to deliver a message to the owner of the place we would be going to for breakfast. Just to let her know that I was bringing friends and we would need a private table. I had full confidence that everything would be handled perfectly.

A while later, my teammates and I were walking back to the Intel building. I had a few questions for Baki-sensei, mostly about uniforms. A quick hello to the desk shinobi, we moved back to our room. The files were still there, not surprising, since this room is generally chaka sealed also.

"Anything about uniforms?" I asked.

"I don't see anything," Hideo said.

Amagi sighed, "We should have asked the desk shinobi before we came up here."

"I'll go down, and also tell her about the others. That way if they show, she can inform us." The boys nodded, as they continued to look through the scrolls. Moments later I was standing in front of the desk shinobi.

"Hello Tsukio. What can I help you with?"

"The rest of the team is supposed to be meeting out there," I waved at the direction of the door, "So would it be possible to let them know that we are upstairs? Also do you know what kinds of uniforms we should wear for our latest assignment."

She grinned, "I can keep an eye out for the new members of the team. As for uniforms, standard issue should be fine. If there is a problem, then they will give you those details. Did they say anything?"

"No," I sighed, "and the boys say there isn't anything in the brief either."

"Then it's standard issue for you."

I sighed louder. The desk shinobi laughed.

"Don't worry, soon you will be off taking assignments where you won't even look at your uniform. Do you know if they have access to this building?"

"The ANBU ones might, but I don't think the trackers do."

"Don't worry, I'll have, ah right on time," the desk shinobi grinned, "I was just looking for you. Tsukio and her team are upstairs looking over mission files. You need to stand outside and wait for the rest of the team outside and let them know where they are."

A young man looked upset, "I'm not your errand boy," he sneered.

The desk shinobi's smile dropped as she glared at him, "You are what ever I need you to be while you are stuck in this office. After all, it was your screw up that landed you here. Don't make me tell your captain that you refused to do your job."

The man rolled his eyes, "Fine! What are the rest of the names?"

"Rai, Tetsuya, Isao, Hajime, Natsuo and Yori," I answered quickly.

"I know Isao. When were you meeting outside?"

"Within the hour."

"I'm not your errand boy," he glared at me.

I raised an eyebrow, "I'm not the one telling you to do this."

He glanced at the desk shinobi who continued to glare at him, "Fine! Do I bring them in here?"

"No, once they have arrived, tell them that Team Baki is currently inside reviewing the mission perimeters and then you come let me know they have arrived. I will take it from there." The desk shinobi's voice was cold and hard.

I felt a chill run down my spine, whoever this guy is, he is about to have desk duty for a long time.

He grunted, put on his head scarf and walked outside.

I gave a low whistle, "Remind me never to make you mad."

The desk shinobi grinned, "You don't have to worry about that. Unless you decide to be rude and an ass, you won't have anything to worry about."

I nod, "Still, what is your favorite beverage? Tea? Coffee?"

"I like a slightly sweetened black tea with a touch of milk," the desk shinobi answered.

I nod, adding that to what little I know about this desk shinobi. "Thank you for your help. I will go back to my team now."

"Of course. Good luck, Tsukio."

"Thank you."

"We need to get the desk shinobi a great black tea with a little sugar and milk," I announced as I walked back into the room.

"Huh?" Both boys looked very confused, understandable, but still enough to make me grin.

"The desk shinobi likes slightly sweetened black tea with a touch of milk, we need to get her some, and remember to be polite, that way she is never mad at us," I then gave them a brief summery of what happened downstairs.

"Did the shinobi with the attitude have short black hair and a face like a hawk?" Amagi asked.

I nodded, "Sort of, his nose was pointy."

"Ah, he is always in trouble because of his attitude. There were bets being placed when he is going to be thrown out of Intel, but he is very good at interrogation."

I nod, "Do you think he will be a jerk about the message?"

"Not when he knows the desk shinobi is watching him closely."

"Okay, so what did she say about the uniforms?"

"Unless it is stated otherwise, we should always assume it is standard issue. If that is a problem, they will tell us when we arrive."

Hideo nods, "I think for our first shift we should wear the standard issue, but have sealed away our personal uniforms, that way we have the ability to change quickly if standard issue isn't what Lord Kazekage wants." He then grabs a blank piece of paper and begins to sketch the Kazekage's office, the surrounding spaces and then the buildings around the Tower. "I think we should assume that we will be spending most of our time here. For our first shift, I want Tsukio to be the close guard. Amagi, be the middle and I will be the far guard. Tsukio, you will probably need to use your genjutsu to avoid being seen, so don't waste your chakra before. Amagi, you will need to be able to react quickly, so keep your daggers ready. I will be constantly moving."

Hideo was interrupted by a knock at the door, then a woman stuck her head in, "The desk shinobi said to tell you that the rest of the team is outside."

Hideo smiles, "Thank you."

I stood up, "I'll go greet them. If they want to come up, we will be back, if they want to go straight to the café, I will see you in five minutes?"

Hideo and Amagi nodded, "I want to finish this, but five minutes will work."

Hideo continued to make small marks on the drawing he made. I smiled, each new mark was a location that either Amagi or I would be able to see Hideo from.

We had lessons on this, not only would we be able to tell if someone tried to impersonate the far guard, because we would all memorize the stopping points, but we would also go to different ones randomly. While not all points would be on the map, at least every other point would be.

I waved to the desk shinobi as I walked past the desk and out the door. "Hello," I bowed low to the other teams, "If you would like, we can go straight to the café, my other teammates will meet us there." I then turned to the shinobi that was in trouble and bowed, "Thank you."

I watched his face turn red as he tried to figure out if I was mocking him or not, but he didn't want to look rude, so he just gave a shallow bow in return. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing at his confusion.

"Why were you in there?" Yori asked.

"This is where we begin most of our days," I told them, this wasn't a secret after all, "My other teammates are finishing up a map we were going over for our guard locations. We still need to make a map of Kage manor, but we have only been inside once, so it will be more difficult."

Yori frowned, "You mean you can get inside, whenever you want?"

I blinked at her, "Yes," I drew the word out.

"Can we see this map?" Isao asked.

"Of course," I gave him a big smile, "If you would follow me. Since this is sensitive information, I think it is best to discuss it in a secure location." I turned and placed my hand on the chakra seal and pulsed it seven times. When I opened the door I called out, "I'm bringing guests. Do they need to sign in?"

The desk shinobi grinned, "Not today, Tsukio. Since I know you will stay with them."

I nod, "Of course. This way please," I said to the rest of the group as we made our way to the the previous room. "Hideo, Amagi? The others would like to see our map of Kage Tower."

Hideo nodded, "Of course," he quickly pulled a small scroll out and with a puff of smoke he pulled out the rough map. "It isn't to scale and very rough, but I think it works for our purposes."

"What are those small marks?"

"Places where we could visually check in, while the far guard is patrolling. If we pick a couple spots to land each time we pass, then the others will be able to assess if there is a problem, or if someone is trying to pretend to be us, because they wouldn't know about the prearranged check in points."

"And you just thought of this?" Hajime demanded.

The three of us shook our heads.

"Of course not," Amagi sounded convincingly upset, "This is standard procedure, in accordance with Shinobi rules for being a bodyguard."

"What?" Hajime asked.

My teammates and I looked at each other before the three of us walked over to the small bookshelf in the corner of the room. There we each grabbed a book and walked back to where everyone was standing.

I handed mine to Hajime.

"Basics of being a Bodyguard," he read.

Amagi gave his to Yori, "How to be a bodyguard," she read.

Hideo just held his out, "Rules for being a bodyguard."

"How do you have these?"

"It was required reading," I told them.

"But why?"

Before any of us could answer, Tetsuya who had walked over to the bookshelf began reading the titles, "Interrogation Techniques. Shinobi Lethal Takedown Techniques. How to Immobilize Anyone: Shinobi or Civilian. What is this?"

"Some of the books we had to read," Amagi told them, "There are some back at our apartment because we are still reading them."

"But why? None of this is in your specializations."

"We need to know these things to be effective spies," Hideo told them the same thing Baki-sensei had told us when we asked why we had to read these books. "The more information we have, the better we will be able to unravel a mystery or decide if something is good information or bad."

"Are you sure you are only genin? Most shinobi don't need this type of information until they are at least a chuunin but most don't until they are testing for jounin," Tetsuya explained.

"Oh," was all I could think to say, after all, we knew we were going to be learning more than normal teams, but this seemed extreme.

"It doesn't matter," Hideo said, "our sensei said to read and learn it so we did. We don't question why, we just do."

"Well that would explain why you are on this team, you may not have the rank, but you have the knowledge to rival any of us," Yori laughed. "Now back to this map of yours, have you looked at Kage manor?"

"Not yet, we just started this."

"Tsukio said you have only been inside once, how will you be able to make an accurate map?" Isamu asked.

Hideo shrugged, "It won't be, but it will give us a generalize idea of where we should set up and where people should be. After all, we know that there will be one person at the door, one person at the end of the hall or near the stairs and the final person will be moving throughout the manor. Since Lady Temari and Lord Kankuro also live there, it would be best factor them in our plans."

"Lady Temari isn't known for letting others do for her what she is capable of doing."

We all nodded, the fights between the Sand Siblings were legendary. Especially when Lord Kankuro would tell Lady Temari what she is doing wrong and how to fix it.

"We should go and eat," I told the room, "I am not sure when the second exam will begin, but knowing some of the teams, we should expect to begin today, tonight at the latest."

"You really think a group of genin would move that fast?"

"It has been three days already. Most civilian caravans can take one week and we are talking about a race," Amagi pointed out.

"I see your point," Rai answered, "Let's go eat. Although I will say that I think I have learned a lot about you, Team Baki."

I exchanged confused glances with my teammates before we quickly put the books back and sealed the map away. "Let's go get some food." I said as we left the room.

The silence of the walk wasn't too strange, just different. I could feel the stares of the others as they continued to try and figure us out, or at least change their perspective of us. At the same time, I was trying to figure out just how far a head we were of our fellow genin. After all, we knew we would be learning fast, but to be told we are learning things that some won't learn until the jounin exam? That is eye opening.

Thankfully the café wasn't too far from the Intelligence building, so we arrived quickly. When they saw me, I could see the visible relief on their faces at the larger than normal group that came in.

We were shown our table, in the only private room available. I asked for my usual, Hideo and Amagi did the same while the others looked at the menu. I did manage to ask our server if she could make me a black tea to go with sugar and milk on the side. She smiled and told me it would be ready.

That meal was nice, we exchanged stories and basically got to know each other. This reminded me a lot of the times we would meet up with other shinobi for our patrols. It isn't a perfect system, but one that worked. After our meal we went our separate ways, each team needing to prepare for our mission.

I took the fresh tea with me and gave it to the desk shinobi, who grinned and drank it. Then followed the boys up the stairs.

"We need to finish this map then we need to do some shopping," Hideo told us.

"Shopping?" Amagi asked.

"We need to get some food to eat, I doubt we will have time to eat while on duty, so we will need to have quick snacks we can eat quietly and fast, so things like dried fruit or jerky or meal bars would work."

"We should also make sure we have a filling meal before we begin and a quick but filling meal for after," I suggested.

"Depending on our shift, one of those meals could be takeout," Amagi pointed out.

"I'm sure it could be, I think we should prepare for the worst case scenario, just in case," Hideo pointed out.

"Then we should go now, we can always do the map later, but if we want to get the shopping done before we begin, we need to go now."

I grin and glance at Hideo, "He's right."

Hideo sighed, "Fine, but I'm not going to be the only one to make this map."

Amagi nodded, "Of course. I doubt Tsukio will be much good, she didn't see much."

"Hey!" I called offended as we moved back down the stairs to leave.

The three of us waved to the desk shinobi, continuing to talk about the different foods we could get, and bickering about the other's choices. Shopping was quick, since we all knew what we wanted. We loaded up on frozen meats, frozen vegetables. Things we could easily heat and eat. We already had plenty of rice, so we concentrated on getting frozen things and a few easily eaten snacks. We loaded up on dried foods, like fruits and jerky. We also got some meal bars and we stopped by the quartermaster and got some new soldier pills. Just in case.

After we separated our food into different meals, put them back into the freezer we all sat around and made a map of the Kage Manor. The biggest problem is we didn't have a lot of information, just the basic layout. We could guess where bedrooms lay, but honestly it was all a guess. However we did know the different escape routes if we needed them.

While we were eating a light dinner, Baki-sensei walked into the apartment.

"You mission has begun, the first teams have made it to the Demon Desert. Lord Kazekage will be leaving for the Demon Desert in a little while, so you have time to get into uniform. You will be waiting for Lord Kazekage at the Tower, unless myself or Lord Kankuro tell you otherwise. You will be relieved by the ANBU team eight hours after Lord Kazekage returns. Do you have any questions?"

"Who will be with Lord Kazekage while he travels?" Hideo asked.

"Myself and Lord Kankuro. Lady Temari is already at the Demon Desert as are other jounin."

"Will the Lord Kazekage be interacting with anyone? Or will he just be observing from afar?"

Baki-sensei frowned, "Why does that matter?"

I saw Amagi take a deep breath, "If he will be interacting with the participants, then one could either begin to lay a trap or start the process of tracking the Lord Kazekage. However if he doesn't interact with anyone, the risk is lowered."

Baki-sensei nodded, "As far as I know, he will not be interacting with anyone, just standing there and welcoming the participants to the desert."

The three of us nod.

"Any other questions?"

We shared a glance and shook our heads.

"Good, you have an hour to be ready and waiting. Be prepared to have a small meal break, Lord Kazekage has said it would feel strange to have you watch him eat."

"Hai, Baki-sensei!" we said.

With a final look, Baki-sensei left the apartment, through the window.

"Let's finish our food, then we can get ready. Tsukio, make sure your hair is up and out of your face, a braid or something would be best," Hideo told us, "Amagi, make sure you separate your daggers and kunai well. You will want to only use your daggers as a last resort."

One hour later, we were standing in front of Kage Tower. I was standing near the front door, Hideo was standing on the top of the Tower, while Amagi was near the rear of the tower. This would allow us to be able to greet Lord Kazekage no matter where he arrived. It was Hideo's job to tell us where to be. It was a very simple system. Hideo would whistle, and if Lord Kazekage was with you, you stayed where you were. If he wasn't, look up and move to where Hideo was pointing. Simple, but sometimes simple works the best.

It wasn't too long before I saw the familiar sight of the large white hat. I tracked it and stood to the right of the door leading into the tower. I glanced up and saw Hideo was also tracking the large white hat. In about a minute after I first saw the hat, Baki-sensei, Lord Kankuro and Lord Kazekage were standing in front of me. I heard Hideo whistle.

I bent into a low bow and I felt a small breeze as my teammates joined me and also bowed. "Lord Kazekage, Team Baki reporting for guard duty."

Lord Kazekage sighed.

"Team Baki, you are welcomed," Lord Kankuro answered. "We are going upstairs to the Kazekage's office."

The three of us straightened. I glanced at Hideo and Amagi, and they quickly disappeared from sight. I knew Amagi was going to check the Kazekage's office and wait outside, while Hideo would check from outside. This is what we had planned.

"Of course," I told them, "After you, Lord Kazekage." After the group passed me, I fell two steps behind Lord Kazekage. We moved straight up the stairs.

Amagi was waiting outside the closed door and when he saw the group, was quick to hold it open. I smiled as we passed. He returned my grin and gently closed the door behind me. A glance outside showed Hideo on the wall, looking in. When he met my eyes, he nodded and began to move. From our plan, he would be moving to the roof for a bit, then continuing to move around to the surrounding buildings. All while coming back to check in every three to five minutes.

I moved to stand in a small area near the Kazekage's desk, close enough to fulfill the arm's length requirement, but with enough distance for Lord Kazekage to not feel me breathing on him. Besides, both Baki-sensei and Lord Kankuro were in the office with us.

"Is this really necessary?" Lord Gaara asked, from the frustrated sigh, this wasn't the first time he had asked this question.

"Yes, Gaara. You are our Kazekage and I don't know if you know this, but the Kazekage doesn't have a good record of living for long. So forgive me if I'm a little overprotective of my brother at the moment," Lord Kankuro also sounded frustrated.

Lord Kazekage just let out a long sigh, before he sat down and grabbed a stack of papers, "I'm just going to sit here and do some paperwork. You two can go away."

Lord Kakuro just laughed as he sat down on the small couch in the office. From somewhere under his robes, he pulled a book out, "I'll just read over here. You won't even know I'm here," he muttered before opening the book and promptly getting lost in it.

Lord Kazekage stared at his brother, a small bit of skin between his eyebrows wrinkled as he stared, "Why? You have bodyguards here," Lord Kazekage waved his hand in my general direction, "Do you not trust them?"

"I trust them just fine. I don't trust you to do what is needed to keep yourself safe."

Baki-sensei gave a deep sigh, much like the ones he did when Amagi and Hideo were arguing. I was only slightly surprised when he didn't pinch his nose like he would also do. "Kakuro, Lord Kazekage, could you not fight like you are genin again? We are fairly confident that no one will do anything right now. So Kakuro, your being here is irrelevant to the threat to the Kazekage," Baki-sensei continued when Lord Kakuro opened his mouth to speak, "However, the threat is still there. If it makes the elders happy to have both Lord Kakuro here during the day and your body guards, what is the harm, Lord Kazekage? So long as Kakuro doesn't interfere with your work and is quiet," there was a hard emphasis on the last word, "then everyone is happy."

"Except me," Lord Kazekage muttered.

"You get to do your paperwork and you don't have to get locked into a safe room like Lady Temari and Lord Kakuro wanted in the first place."

I glanced out the window, it was time to see Hideo passing by. Hideo turned to meet my eyes and I guess something showed on my face, because he frowned. I inclined my head slightly to Lord Kakuro and Lord Kazekage. My face must have shown my frustration because Hideo's lips twitched upwards before he continued to move on his patrol path.

Slowly the office grew quiet with only the soft scratch of the pen crossing a piece of paper or the soft whisper of the paper moving. Baki-sensei left, but not before he gave me a heavy stare. I took that to mean to stay on my toes and be vigilant. Or maybe it was a reminder that I had a mission to protect the Kazekage and nothing else.

Unable to decipher the look, I just gave a tiny nod and continued to keep my eyes moving around the room. I kept track of how often Hideo had checked in with me and through the process of elimination, I was able to figure out how often he had checked in with Amagi.

Our first shift was pretty boring, there were a few visitors, but mostly it was watching Lord Kazekage doing paperwork. At one point Lord Kakuro left muttering something about food.

The ANBU team came to relieve us, we passed along the updates, which was nothing. And we said goodnight. Then my team and I walked back to our rooms and promptly fell asleep.

The next day I woke up and promptly made breakfast for the three of us and got dinner prepared for when we came back. I also grabbed some extra snacks to pack away. It wasn't long before my teammates joined me. We were all wearing our uniforms. I needed to pull my hair back, this time it was going to be a simple braid down my back.

As we were finishing up breakfast, we heard it. Sand storm approaching. The three of us throw our shoes on, grab our robes and run to Kage Tower to see what we can do. As we were running up the stair, Lord Kankuro and Lady Temari were running down the stairs.

"Follow me," he barked as he ran past us.

We went into the basement, a place I had rarely gone before. Lord Kankuro started to bark more questions. Lady Temari was the calmer of the two and began to make plans. However I couldn't tell you what they were saying, not really. Because while they were busy talking, I was staring at the large sand globe in the center of the room. The one with a huge circle moving towards Suna. It was currently over the Demon Desert. I couldn't hear much over my heart racing. A storm this big just couldn't appear, right? Was this part of their plan to kill Lord Kazekage? Or was this just a coincidence. Either way, the people in the desert would be extremely vulnerable, especially the ones that don't know about these storms.

"You three!"

I forcefully focused on Lady Temari as my teammates pulled on my braid behind my back, a signal that I was drifting.

"You guard Lord Kazekage, send the others down, we will need them. You will not let him set foot outside this building. Are we clear?" She glared at us.

"Yes ma'am," we chorused.

She glared at us for another minute before she dismissed the whole group gathered around.

Hideo turned and took the lead, taking us up the stairs.

"Are you okay?" Amagi whispered.

"I'm fine, just worried about our friends in the desert," I answered truthfully. After all my teammates would be feeling the same thing, and they needed to know I was up to our mission.

I could see Hideo nod, and Amagi whispered back, "We just need to focus on our mission and let the others focus on theirs. This is why we are going to relieve the hunter squad early."

I nodded. The three of us moved up the stairs just a bit faster.

"You are needed to help search for the genin in the exam. It is currently on hold," Hideo told the team, two were stationed on either side of the door and the third was standing at the entrance to the hallway, watching anyone who came near the hallway suspiciously. After all, this was the perfect cover to assassinate the Kazekage.

The six of us exchanged our code phrases and the hunter team nodded, "Lady Temari and Lord Kankuro were with the Lord Kazekage when the alarm was sounded we were told to leave the office, this was a private meeting. Lord Kankuro told us it was okay. When they left, they told us to keep an eye on Lord Kazekage, he then told us to stay out of his office, he needed to concentrate. So we stayed outside with one person keeping an eye on him the whole time."

Hideo nodded, "Go, they are waiting for you."

With a salute, the hunter team flickered away.

"Amagi, I want you to go to where Hajime was standing, it is the one entrance, other than the windows to Lord Kazekage. Tsukio and I will continue to guard the door with one of us keeping our eyes on the Kazekage. The one not watching the Kazekage will also have the freedom to move, if needed."

"Did we want to let the Kazekage know that the guards have changed?" Amagi asked.

"In a little bit. Let's let everything downstairs calm down and one of us can go in and let him know."

"Maybe we could bring him some tea, or a small snack," I suggested.

Hideo grunted before waving his hand, "We will see, let's get in position."

I moved to one side of the door, with Hideo standing with a perfect view of the Kazekage. His back was towards the door and he was staring out the window. Amagi walked to the end of the hallway and stood there, blocking the way.

I had just finished performing a hearing enhancing justus when the horn sounded twice.

Hideo must have noticed me flinching, because he whispered, "At least that is it until the storm is over." I shrugged and continued to listen. I heard the wind pick up and when the storm hit the building.

"Storm's here," I whispered as the building groaned against the wind.

Hideo nodded, "I hope everyone was able to find cover."

From down the hall we heard, "Me too."

"The teams are leaving," I whispered, hearing both Lord Kankuro and Lady Temari shout from below.

"I hope they are able to find everyone quickly," Amagi whispered back.

Both Hideo and I nodded.

Time past, with Hideo and I switching places occasionally to be able to rest our eyes from staring at Lord Kazekage's back.

After about an hour, maybe an hour and a half, Hideo spoke, "Tsukio, go and get some tea and warm food. It has been long enough that downstairs should be cleared and the storm should be almost complete. You will bring the tea and food to Lord Kazekage and offer it to him. Amagi and I will wait here and if he eats, we will all eat."

"And if he doesn't?" Amagi asked.

"Then we will eat snacks quickly."

I nod, "I'll be a few minutes." I ran down the stairs towards a small kitchen area. It was normally used as when the elder council got together to make tea, but it had a two burner stove with a couple different size pots and a tea kettle. I put fresh water into the kettle and turned it on. I then pulled as many snacks as I could find to ensure there was plenty to choose from. I grabbed a clay teapot, added some loose leaf tea to it and waited for the water to boil. I put four cups on a tray along with all the snacks I collected. When the water was boiled, I poured it into the teapot and brought the tray upstairs.

Hideo knocked before pushing the door open for me.

"Hello Lord Kazekage. Since everyone is gone and we are waiting, I thought we could all use some tea and a few snacks until we hear something." I continued moving forward, "Lord Kazekage?"

Something in my voice must have alerted my teammates, because they moved into the office. I was still closer so I moved around the desk to see what was happening.

I gasped and my fingers went numb. I heard the crash of the tray and felt the hot liquid soak my pant legs. I could hear my teammates voices, asking me what was wrong, hear them rush to the other side. I couldn't answer, my voice frozen as I stared at the shattered doll of sand that should have been the Kazekage. I could see the pile of sand on the floor from where the sand cracked and fell. All of this was hidden from us, because we were not allowed to be in the room.

"Where is he?" Amagi yelled. "He should have been right here! We didn't take our eyes off of him for a second!"

"Did someone take him?" I whispered, Amagi's questions jolted me out of my own shock.

"Doubtful," Hideo said, "Lord Kazekage is known to have perfect sand clones. This one is one of his. I would suggest that he left either when Lord Kankuro and Lady Temari left, in that small amount of time, he would have been out of sight. Either way, we need to find him."

"The storm is almost over, any trace of him would be gone."

"The exam," the three of us said at the same time.

"Lord Kazekage was worried about the exam, not about his safety. The storm would have made that worry worst," I reasoned.

"We should let Baki-sensei know and we have to go after him," Hideo answered.

Amagi and I nodded. I pulled my robe on and made sure my head scarf was fully secure as we moved through the building.

"We can let any shinobi know, if we don't see one, then we will tell the gate guards," Hideo told us as we left the Tower, moving swiftly through the streets.

Sand was still blowing, but it wasn't blinding, so we were able to get to the gates without trouble. Hideo gave the guards at the gates the urgent message and we took off at full speed.

All shinobi of the sand knew of the Demon Desert. In fact even civilians knew about it, if only to avoid accidentally crossing the boundary lines. It could be dangerous to wander into the desert unaware. There is a reason it is called the Demon Desert.

It took us a few hours to get to the boundary line. Hideo held his hand up, calling us to a stop. Taking a small breath, I tried to get a good look at the area, but the sand didn't help at all. A quick glance showed that both Hideo and Amagi were also looking around. Amagi must have seen something because he turned his whole body to stare. Both Hideo and I also turned to look.

There, it was the back edge of the storm, it would be done soon.

Hideo pointed in that direction, Amagi and I nodded and off we went. If we could follow the back edge of the storm, then we would have a better chance of finding the Lord Kazekage.

Running in a spread out location, with one of us jumping to the top of the rocks to get a better look. We stayed far enough away from the edge of the storm to see, but close enough that we wouldn't miss too much. At some point during our search, we saw the hawks fly towards the tower in the center of the desert.

"Looks like they got our message," Hideo yelled.

"About time," Amagi answered.

"We need to find Lord Kazekage soon," I reminded them.

"I'll take the center, Tsukio, Amagi, take to the rocks. Whistle twice if you see something," Hideo ordered as he pointed to either side of us.

With a single salute, Amagi and I leapt to the top of the rocks and we ran. Keeping an eye out for anything that would point us in the direction of the Kazekage, his signature red, or his sand would be great.

What we didn't expect was to find Matsuri talking to a group of Konoha shinobi.

Hideo was listening to their conversation, while Amagi and I watched from above, just out of sight. After a few moments, Matsuri pointed, Amagi was closer and he took off in that direction. Just moments later, the distinct shrill of a hawk came.

One, two, I counted and the hawk shrilled again. Amagi found something. I didn't even look to see if Hideo started moving, as I ran in the direction Amagi ran. Matsuri could take care of herself, our job was to protect the Kazekage.

I can't explain what we came across, even today, while I know what happened, it is still hard to explain. One of the participants of the exam, one of the older ones, was playing an instrument and somehow keeping both the Kazekage in place and another participant, with wings and green hair. I didn't know much about her, she kept to herself during the first part of the exam.

Then in a flash of light, Lord Kazekage and the girl with green hair were locked into something. The three of us ran as quickly as we could. Hideo pointed in the direction of the man then pointed to Amagi and me. He then angled himself to head to the thing surrounding Lord Kazekage.

"From behind?"

"Unconscious," I clarified, after all we needed to question him, not kill him.

Amagi grunted and we changed our direction so we could approach the seated man from behind. Once we were close enough where we could see the man, his string instrument and the chakra chains coming from his body, we stopped.

"Ideas?" Amagi asked.

"Well let's assume that these chains are what was keeping the Kazekage and the girl in place. We can also assume that the music is the driving force behind the chains. If we stop him from playing, then we have a chance at disrupting the jutsu."

"None of that does any good if we can't get the chains off the Kazekage."

"Not helpful! And you said you wanted ideas, not a plan."

"We need a plan."

"Let's see if we can get a closer look," I muttered. As we creep forward, we hear the trill of a hawk once. Twice. Three times.

I glanced at Amagi and we slowly slid back where we were. Amagi pulled his whistle and answered.

"What are we waiting for?"

"Tsukio?" a voice came from behind.

"Matsuri!" I whispered, "I'm glad you are alright."

"What are you doing here?"

"Our mission. Did you see Hideo?"

"No," Matsuri said.

Amagi glanced at me, "Then why did he use the whistle?"

"He must have met up with Neji," the girl with brown hair in buns answered.

"Then you have a plan?" Amagi asked.

"Neji…" I muttered, I then took a closer look at the people with Matsuri, the girl with the brown hair in buns and the boy wearing a green body suit with black hair. "Tenten, Lee and Neji, Team Guy." I said louder pointing to the two as the name crystalized in my mind. "Neji is a Huga and can see chakra."

Amagi stared at me, "How do you remember this stuff?"

I smiled at him, "That is my job. Hideo is the muscle and yours is to cover our backs."

Amagi nodded, "Focus. What is your plan?"

"To distract the enemy," Matsuri told us.

Amagi and I nodded, "Then let's do…"

The rest of the sentence was drowned out by two other people finishing their justus. Both aimed at the man playing a song.

Sparing the new arrivals a single glance, Amagi and I threw a bunch of poisoned senbon at the man. Lee and Matsuri jumped into the air. The music stopped, just moments before a box formed around the man, our jutsus and weapons bounced off the sides. Just moments later a rain of senbon fell on us. I used wind to redirect the senbon, Matsuri kept Lee safe.

I picked up one of the senbon and threw it at the box, aiming for a different side. Amagi mirrored my actions, aiming for the opposite side. The senbon bounced harmlessly off the sides.

"The front?" Amagi asked as he grabbed another senbon and took off.

A shout from below had my head moving in that direction. Lord Kazekage, the green haired girl, Hideo and Neji were free! The chakra chains wrapped themselves around the enemy and he lost his grip on his instrument and went sliding down the rocks. I quickly followed.

Hideo and Amagi quickly moved to stand in a standard triangle formation around the Kazekage, with me at the top point, standing between the Kazekage and the threat. Although honestly, I wasn't sure it would even work, considering we didn't even know what this guy did.

"Is this the one?" the Kazekage's low voice floated to me.

"Yes," Hideo answered, "he is the one we heard speaking."

Neji knelt down and did something and the black chains disappeared. Hideo and Amagi quickly came forward, slapping chakra suppression seals on his back and tying him up with some rope.

"Take him Intel," the Lord Kazekage ordered.

Amagi glanced at Hideo, after all our mission was to guard the Kazekage.

Matsuri spoke up, "I could go with one of you. We could go to Intel or the tower, I'm sure there are lots of people there."

"Shouldn't you finish the test?" I asked.

Matsuri shook her head, "I gave them my scrolls. Besides, I don't even know where the rest of my team is."

Hideo nodded, "Tsukio, you and Matsuri stay with the Kazekage. Amagi and I will take him to Intel for processing. If possible, let Lord Kankuro and Lady Temari know what happened. We will take care of letting Baki-sensei know."

"You were in the first exam," Tenten cut in.

I nodded, "We were."

"I didn't see you get to the desert," her tone accusing us of something.

"Also correct. We left Konoha early and were given a different mission," Hideo told her.

"Then why are you here?"

"As Hideo said, we were given a different mission. It brought us here. However you should probably continue with the test," I pointed to the east, "You will find the Tower about an hour's run that way. If you hurry you will surely be one of the first with what you need." I bowed low, "Thank you for your assistance with saving Lord Kazekage."

The girl with the green hair flew over to Neji and demanded that he be her friend. When he agreed she turned to me and Matsuri.

"I'm Fu! Will you be my friend too? You helped my first friend, so you must be my friend too."

I could feel my eyes open wide and I clenched my jaw to keep it from dropping as this girl with wings demanded I be her friend.

"Sure, we would love to be your friend," Matsuri told the flying.. Errr Fu.

"Really?" Fu's hair floated as she whipped her head to look at me.

I put a smile on and nodded, "It is our honor to be friends with someone who is a friend of Lord Kazekage's."

"Hideo?" I called out, reaching into my weapons pouch. I pulled out my special senbon. These were not kept in a bundle, like the rest were, these were carefully arranged in a rectangle piece of cloth and rolled up like a scroll. "Take these, if he acts up, one should keep him out for a few hours."

Hideo nodded as he took the bundle. He carefully slipped them into his weapons pouch, careful to keep them away from the rest of his weapons. Then Hideo bent over and slung the man over his shoulder and took off. Amagi gave me a small wave and quickly followed.

"Wait!" Lee shouted.

"Yes Lee-san?" I asked, because I knew my teammates wouldn't.

"You were in the first exam and now you are wearing different clothes. Why?"

I frowned, "Are you asking why I changed my clothes, Lee-san?"

I watched in fascination as both Tenten and Neji smacked Lee in the back of the head. The crack echoed around us and Lee frowned. I was shocked that he didn't move with the weight of those slaps, but maybe he was used to that by now?

"I apologize for my teammate. He doesn't mean to be rude. I think he is just wondering why you are in the standard uniform if you are part of the chunin exams," Tenten responded.

"Ah, well my teammates and I are still genin, but when we are on a mission, we almost always wear our uniforms. I wasn't on a mission when we were taking part in the exams so I wore my training clothes. I am on a mission now, so I'm wearing my uniform."

"You sacrificed your promotion to go on a mission. Your dedication to being a shinobi is worthy of admiration!" Lee yelled as he stared at me. "I will strive to have your type of dedication to all of my missions. If I fail I will walk around the village on my hands one hundred times!"

I didn't know what to do with this person. I glanced at Matsuri who looked as confused as I did. Then I looked at Lee's teammates, both looked either bored or just resigned. "Umm, thank you..? You don't have to do that, just do your best.."

Lee interrupted me with a loud cry, "I will do as you asked. I will always do my best, and if I can't then I will run around the village backwards one hundred times."

I glanced at his other teammates, who were still ignoring him, so I turned to Lord Kazekage with a bow, "We need to be going. Would you like to go back to Suna or to the Tower?"

Lord Kazekage sighed, "To the Tower, I need to speak to my siblings about this."

I nodded, "Of course Lord Kazekage. We will follow your lead. Matsuri, take the left, I'll take the right. Lord Kazekage will have the lead."

"Is that wise?" Matsuri whispered.

"He is the Kazekage, he will go first regardless of what we say, so we just have to be aware of our surroundings," I whispered back.

Lord Kazekage cleared his throat, when he had or attention, he began to run. Matsuri quickly followed.

As I ran after them, I yelled over my shoulder, "Good luck!" and then fell into formation. As we ran, I kept and eye on Lord Kazekage and also continued to sweep my gaze around the area. We were running at a faster pace than normal and ended up reaching the tower in under an hour.

"Gaara! Where were you?" a worried voice called out as we slowed down to go into the tower.

The three of us stopped as Lady Temari ran over to us.

Lord Kankuro sauntered over and frowned, "I thought you were being guarded," his glare cuts over to me.

I struggle to keep my face neutral and not take a step back as the heat of his glare.

"I left a sand clone in my place right after you and Temari left to go to the basement. I am pretty sure Team Baki wasn't my guards at the time. So if you want to be mad at someone, you should be mad at me," Gaara calmly told the two older siblings. "I was worried about Matsuri, and wanted to check on her."

"But what about the threat on your life?" Lady Temari demanded.

"Taken care of," Gaara answered.

"Tsukio?" Lord Kankuro asked.

"My other teammates are currently taking the one who attacked Lord Kazekage to Intel," I told him.

"We are canceling the rest of the exam," Lady Temari told Gaara, "until they are done getting the information from the would-be assassin, we don't know how many more there are. We can't risk the genin."

Gaara nodded, "I agree."

"After all, you can't… wait. What?"

"I agree with you, it has become too dangerous for the genin."

"We will take over, Tsukio, when the shinobi start heading back to Suna, go with them," Lord Kankuro ordered. "Matsuri, go find the other exam participants, I'm sure the rest of your team will join you shortly."

"Hai," I answered. "I'm sorry about the exam, Matsuri."

"I'm not. Lord Gaara is safe, and that is all that matters. However, we will have a talk about what happened."

I nod, "Of course," the two of us continued to walk towards the small groups of shinobi gathered loosely around the base of the tower. I moved a little faster when I saw the familiar head scarf. "Baki-sensei!"

"Tsukio, what are you doing there?"

"Lord Kankuro has dismissed me to head back with the rest of the returning shinobi."

"Where is the rest of your team?"

"Taking the prisoner back to Intel."

"Then it looks like you and I will be part of the first teams leaving now," Baki-sensei said. He then turned and barked a few orders while Matsuri waved goodbye as she left to find the other exam participants.

A few moments later, Baki-sensei called out "Let's go," and I followed the group of ten other shinobi running back to Suna.

AN: Here we are, one chapter from the end of this part of Tsukio's journey through becoming a Shinobi of Suna. How did you like the exams? I needed this team to have a different test, but still have them in the same test as everyone else. Also, look some of our old friends. Until next time, enjoy.