Truth: She could see herself enjoying teaching.
Chunin exams came and went once more, and Sayuri, Kimimaro, and Miyako both advanced, proudly donning flak jackets and joining the ranks of Konoha's chunin. With Kimimaro at their side as the newest member of their team, chakra bracelets gone, they were a force to be reckoned with, and thanks to the newly-brutal training on Ayano's part, they tore through the competition, though they kept their promise and didn't use lightning.
However, despite their rise in rank, they had yet to go on a mission since Kiyomi left months before. They did little things around the village, D-rank missions that any Academy student could have accomplished, but they hadn't actually left the village to accomplish anything.
And Tsunade wasn't amused.
"I get that it hurts to have your teammate betray you," Tsunade snapped. "But this is ridiculous! It's been months, and in that time you've done nothing but weed gardens and carry groceries. You're chunin, what's wrong with you?"
"I don't know," Miyako admitted. "I suppose we're still grieving."
"Fine, but grieve productively!" Tsunade snapped. "We have Orochimaru to look out for and we need all hands on deck to make money for the village! Kimimaro, I assumed you'd have the most to say about this, considering you're used to staying active." Tsuande was almost desperate as she turned on the elder Kaguya.
"I will not force them to do something they don't want to," Kimimaro replied calmly. "I haven't the right."
Tsunade groaned. "Am I going to have to make you three to go out on missions? Because if that's what it takes, I will personally… send Shizune to hand you missions! You're a powerful team, and you need to do your part, damn it! In fact…" Tsunade smiled widely and the three chunin shifted uncomfortably. Anyone who'd dealt with the Hokage even a little knew to be wary of that smile.
"You know," Tsunade said, leaning back in her chair and tapping a stack of files. "I was looking through some of your old missions and Ayano mentioned you two teaching a few basic moves to some children. She commented that you would make good teachers at the Academy or maybe even jonin team leaders later on."
"You want us to teach?" Sayuri asked incredulously.
"That was only a small scale, not a whole classroom!" Miyako protested worriedly. "I don't know if we can-"
"You won't be teaching little Academy brats how to throw a decent punch," Tsunade grunted. "Or actually, you might, depending on how it goes."
"How it goes?" Kimimaro repeated.
"What are you planning on sending us to do, Lady Hokage?" Sayuri asked warily.
"I recently got a letter from Suna," Tsunade said, lifting said letter up to illustrate. "Seems they've started an Academy similar to ours. The problem is, the only teachers they have are the Sand Siblings, and they can't teach children with kekkei genkai. None of them have one and don't feel comfortable doing it."
"And we all have a kekkei genkai," Miyako realized. "You want to send us to Suna, Lady Hokage?"
"Why not?" Tsunade challenged. "Suna's offered to pay Konoha well for your services, and you all aren't doing anything productive here. Besides, I hear you get along well with the Sand Siblings. I don't see a down side."
Sayuri glanced sideways at Kimimaro, then at Miyako. "But all of our kekkei genkai are… somewhat distasteful. Bones and blood…"
"So? Show those little Suna kids what kind of people they'll come up against," Tsuande countered. She was wearing an expression that clearly said they weren't going to win this fight, so they surrendered.
"When do we leave?" Miyako sighed.
"Does tomorrow work for you?"
Ayano and Satoru were there to see them off, as was Akane, when Miyako, Kimimaro, and Sayuri met at the gate the next morning at dawn, heavy bags thrown over their shoulders. They didn't know quite how long they would be staying, but it definitely wasn't a short-term mission. The extra weight slowed them down as they ran, but they still arrived at Suna in decent time, and with no trouble.
"It's been a while," Kankuro greeted them at the gate into Suna, staring at the road-worn Konoha shinobi in front of him. "Nice to see you guys."
"Miyako, Sayuri," Temari greeted the girls. Her eyes drifted to Kimimaro, who simply stared at the Sand Siblings blandly. "And who's this?" she asked, a slight purr in her voice that made Sayuri raise an eyebrow and Miyako blink.
"Kimimaro Kaguya," Sayuri explained, but she was still giving Temari a strange look. One that could actually be seen, as she'd taken to wearing her hitai-ate around her forehead like normal. She'd also taken to wearing her hair like Kimimaro, held in red bands, much to his flattery. "This is Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara. They are the Kazekage's children."
Kimimaro nodded, remaining silent. He assumed it was best not to mention that he had helped assassinate their father.
"I'm glad you arrived when you did," Kankuro said as they walked through the high cliffs towards the city proper. "Classes start in two days. You'll have a day to relax and explore the city before you get started."
"You'll be teaching the kekkei genkai students," Temari explained. "We can't spare any of our shinobi to teach right now."
"How many students is that?" Miyako asked.
"About five. You'll each have only one or two students."
"So few," Sayuri noted. "Why not just ask for one person?"
"We requested a whole team, so that they could have focused training," Kankuro explained, jumping in. "We figured that was better, and we have the accommodations. Three apartments have been made available for your use while you're here."
"We only need two," Miyako pointed out. "Really, don't go giving us too much!"
"I don't mind sharing with either of them," Sayuri assured them.
"Alright," Kankuro nodded. "That makes it easier, since, honestly, one of the rooms wasn't ready yet," he admitted sheepishly.
"So Kimimaro, when did you join their team?" Temari asked, falling back to speak to the Kaguya, who looked vaguely surprised she was addressing him.
"A few months ago," he said slowly.
Miyako and Kankuro began talking about lessons and Gaara drifted towards Sayuri.
"Hello," he greeted quietly. Sayuri turned and smiled at him.
"Hello Gaara. It's nice to see you again."
Gaara shifted awkwardly. He wasn't good at small talk. "Thank you for coming to help us."
"It's not a problem," Sayuri assured him. "We weren't doing anything in Konoha anyway."
"Why not?"
"Say, now that I think about it, where's that other girl, Kiyomi?" Kankuro asked. The reaction was immediate. Team 9 stopped walking. Kimimaro closed his eyes, bracing for the explosion. Miyako slumped sadly and Sayuri straightened, eyes blazing.
"That would be why," Sayuri muttered.
"Kiyomi's gone," Miyako said quietly. Temari's eyes widened and she exchanged looks with Kankuro.
"I'm sorry," she said. "We're shinobi, it's a dangerous-"
"She's alive," Sayuri bit out.
Now Kankuro was confused. "Then what-"
"She drugged Ayano and Miyako, tried to kill me, and when she lost, she ran off," Sayuri said bluntly. "That's all."
"I… see," Kankuro said, looking at Temari worriedly.
"I'm sorry," Gaara murmured to Sayuri as they started walking again.
"Don't be. It wasn't your fault. It was mine."
The next day the Konoha team spent relaxing and recovering from their long run. Sayuri ended up sharing an apartment with Kimimaro, with Miyako right next door to them. They toured a few parts of the city and sampled the local cuisine before returning to their rooms for the night.
The next morning they were up bright and early. Sayuri made breakfast for all of them. They dressed, ate, and followed Kankuro's directions to the outdoor area where training would begin for the Suna students.
The students were startled to see the leaf of Konoha glinting on their hitai-ate when they entered the arena, and a buzz of conversation went up as they joined the Sand siblings by three tables strewn with weapons.
"We'll start out having them choose weapons," Kankuro explained quietly. It was a few minutes before the classes were supposed to start, and there were still a few stragglers making their way in. "Then they'll select one of us to be their teacher. I'll point you three out to the students with kekkei genkai. You'll be responsible for training them in weapons. That's alright, I hope?"
"Not a problem," Miyako assured him.
Sayuri winced, cheeks reddening slightly. "There are a few weapons… that I can't… With my eyes…"
"That's fine, if it's necessary, one of us can take over helping them master their weapons," Temari assured her, and she relaxed slightly.
"I'm… sorry to make trouble," she apologized, cursing her blindness. While she could use her sensing abilities to figure out where a person was, certain weapons made it difficult for her to maneuver and detect the movements of.
"Really, its fine," Kankuro assured her. Kimimaro's fingers trailed down her arm lightly and Sayuri's tenseness faded. She responded with a nudge of his hand with her own, giving the Sand Siblings their first glimpse of their curiously tactile relationship.
"It's time," Gaara said, glancing up at the sun.
"Alright, fall in!" Temari ordered, voice booming around the area. The students looked up and scrambled into six rows three deep. The instructors spread out behind Temari, the student's eyes flicking between each individual curiously.
"Before you begin combat training, you must first choose a weapon that suits you physically and mentally," Temari announced. A skinny girl with mousy brown hair raised her hand hesitantly. "Yes?"
"I'm sorry," the girl said quietly. "But is it absolutely necessary that we all choose a weapon?"
Temari blinked and Kankuro spoke up. "Why do you ask?"
"If all of us have weapons, there's a chance we'll end up hurting each other. Some of us could get killed," the girl pointed out.
To everyone's surprise, it was Gaara that spoke up. "Your weapon is like-" he trailed off when he noticed everyone was staring at him, most of the children's eyes showing fear and mistrust. "Forget it, it's not important."
Kankuro and Temari exchanged glances before she continued. "This isn't a game you're playing."
"If you went into battle like that, you wouldn't survive," Kankuro rebuked.
"I'm sorry," the girl murmured. The boy behind her leaned forwards and hissed something and she lifted her shoulders defensively.
"Rest assured, we six are all trained, and more than capable of preventing any accidents," Miyako added with an encouraging smile. "And on the off chance there is one, I'm a trained med-nin. I can patch up anything."
"For your combat training, you'll be working in a group with one of us," Kankuro announced. "You may choose which one of us you want to work with. However, if you have a kekkei genkai, you'll be working with one of our guests from Konoha."
Another hand hit the air, a boy with black hair flopping over one of his dark eyes. "Who are they?" he asked blandly, as if he didn't really care.
"Dear kami, its Suna Sasuke," Miyako murmured under her breath. Sayuri's lips quirked slightly.
"You guys wanna introduce yourselves?" Kankuro asked. "Maybe explain your kekkei genkai?"
"I'm Miyako Hasekura," Miyako immediately spoke up. "I lead my clan and our kekkei genkai is called Saiketsu." She bit her thumb as if she were about to use a Summon and held it up. Blood flowed from the cut into the air, spiraling into intricate whirls. A few of the students murmured, impressed. Miyako pulled the blood back into her body and popped her thumb into her mouth to wait for it to stop bleeding.
"My name is Sayuri Kaguya," Sayuri said, lifting a palm. "My kekkei genkai is called Shikotsumyaku." A few mouths moved, tripping over the word. "It allows me to freely manipulate my skeletal structure through my osteoblasts and osteoclasts. The adult human has two hundred and six bones in the body, but in my case, that number is a bit more negotiable."
Sayuri raised a hand, palm out, and let a bone protrude from her palm, the sharp point gleaming in the sun. As she retracted it, more people started muttering, this time in disgust.
"I am Kimimaro Kaguya," Kimimaro said dispassionately. "My kekkei genkai is the same."
"Alright, pick a teacher!" Temari ordered. There were a few moments of shuffling as students jostled, murmuring about each teacher's fine points, and made their way towards their choice. In the end, Temari and Kankuro each had about a half dozen students. Miyako had two, and so did Sayuri, while Gaara and Kimimaro had a single student at their sides.
"Begin," Temari nodded.
The children drifted off towards the tables, selecting their weapons. The swords, spears, and more interesting weapons were immediately snapped up by boys eager to show off and girls looking for pretty weapons. The kekkei genkai students made their decisions and returned to their masters.
"Right." Sayuri turned to face the two children in front of her, a pair of girls. "Names. Kekkei genkai and explanations. Go."
"My name's Mayumi Ki," said the first one. "I've got an Acid Release. It's pretty much what it sounds like. I can spit acid."
"And how potent is it?"
"It can corrode metal... If you give it a second."
"And what weapon did you choose?"
"Tanto."
"Hmm," Sayuri mused, already planning training exercises. She turned to the other girl. "And you?"
"My name is Atami Taiyohono. My kekkei genkai is Seishingenzai no Toiawase. I am able to leave my body to survey the water for five miles around me. It only works when standing on water and it leaves me vulnerable. It's utterly useless in the desert."
Sayuri raised an eyebrow at the girl's tone. It was dispassionate and uncaring and she described her own uselessness and she found it oddly reminiscent of herself when she was young.
"And what weapon did you choose, Atami?"
"Choytanken."
Sayuri nodded. "Butterfly knives. And where are you from?"
"Why does it matter?"
"Your kekkei genkai is useless in this environment, just like you said. It's unlikely it developed here. It would be of most use in an ocean. You're from the Land of Water, aren't you?"
Atami nodded. "I am."
"I suspect your family fled here after the civil wars then, seeking protection from the prejudice against those who had kekkei genkai. Am I right again?"
Atami's fists clenched. "You are. But how-?"
"Did I know about the political climate of the Land of Water? I was born there as well. I didn't expect to find someone like you in Suna of all places."
Sayuri reached out and grabbed Mayumi's face between her palms. The girl blinked and flushed.
"Uh… sensei? What are you doing?"
"Getting a look at you," Sayuri replied absently as she traced her features. "Tell me about your coloring and clothing please. You too, Atami."
In the end, Sayuri had a decent enough idea of her students appearances to form a basic picture in her mind. Mayumi had slanted midnight black eyes and long, straight gray hair that reached just above her thighs. Her bangs covered her eyes. She wore a sleeveless blue v-neck shirt with mesh armor underneath and blue shorts and sandals. She also wore a hip pouch and spiked shoulder and elbow pads.
Atami had big, dark blue eyes and slightly spiky, shoulder-length black hair. She was tanned, but several scars left stripes of paler skin over her. Her clothing consisted of a sleeveless ankle-length white vest over a black tank top, and black hakamas. Her hitai-ate was worn on her left arm and she also had a pair of geta backed with metal.
Sayuri nodded approvingly. Truthfully, she could see herself enjoying teaching.
"Weird," muttered Miyako's male student, watching as Sayuri mapped her student's faces. "She always that touchy?"
"Oh no!" Miyako chuckled. "But she likes to know how people look, and they're her students, so I supposed she feels sufficiently in charge enough to go ahead and fill in the details. So, tell me about yourself. What's your kekkei genkai?" she asked interestedly.
"Gidayu Kijimuta is the name!" he grinned, and bowed deeply to her. "Yūji no futan is the game! I have bear senses, and I can summon a bear!"
"Impossible," Miyako said abruptly, face going slack. Her female student spoke up hesitantly.
"Uhm… I've actually seen him do it before, sensei. He really can…"
"I personally know who holds the Summoning scroll for bears and she's not sharing that talent any time soon," Miyako explained.
"Well," Gidayu said, fidgeting uncomfortably. "It's not that I can strictly speaking Summon them… More that they like me enough to come if I ask nicely. See, I was kind of… raised by them."
"Raised by- But it's so rare for a summon to interact with people they don't have a contract with!" Miyako exclaimed, startled. "That's… interesting," she said, reigning herself in.
"Er, thanks," Gidayu said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
"Well… moving on," Miyako said, blushing as she got back on track. "What weapon did you choose?"
"Shuko," Gidayu said, holding up the straps that would go around his hand, holding the claws in place on his knuckles.
"Not a common choice, but I suppose it makes sense," Miyako mused. "And you are?" she asked kindly, turning to her female student.
"My name is Harumi Kazeno," the girl spoke up. "My kekkei genkai is Kazerokugan. It can use the wind to create wings that can send out blades or be used as a shield."
"Ooh, that's intriguing," Miyako mused, mentally planning out exercises to increase the strength of said wings as a shield or to increase he accuracy. "Can you fly?"
"For a few seconds," Harumi said, flushing.
"We'll work on that too," Miyako mused. "So, what weapon did you go with?"
Harumi held up a tessen, the edge of the war fan glinting with razor-sharp metal. Miyako nodded approvingly.
"That'll be useful for helping to manipulate wind jutsu as well." She examined her two students carefully.
Gidayu had bronze skin, light brown eyes, and short, picky dark purple hair that was slightly matted. He was startlingly tall. He wore a high-collared dark purple shirt with a chain draped over his left shoulder. Black baggy pants, not unlike her own, and sandals covered his legs and feet. Overall, he was an imposing character.
Harumi was almost the exact opposite. She was as tanned as most Suna residents, and wore a sleeveless shirt in green, but she was at most five feet tall. Gidayu towered over her. She had brown eyes, shoulder length dark brown hair, and wore glasses.
Meanwhile, Kimimaro was standing across from his student, the two of them staring each other down passively.
Kimimaro's student had tan skin, lilac eyes and curly brown hair. His round eyes, small nose and pointed chin gave his face the appearance of a triangle. He was taller than Kimimaro himself, and wore what seemed to be a hoodless purple version of Kankuro's body suit.
"Name, kekkei genkai and an explanation, weapon," Kimimaro ordered.
"Atsumori Kogara, Goishisen, I can increase my eyesight by eating other people's chakra, I chose the katana."
Kimimaro nodded. "Then let us begin."
"Uh, Sayuri? Can you quit feeling up your students please?" Kankuro called awkwardly, causing everyone to turn and look at Atami, whose nose was currently being stroked by Sayuri. Atami stepped back sharply, glaring at anyone who snickered at her.
"I just wanted to know what they look like!" Sayuri called back carelessly.
Kankuro opened his mouth to reply, but was forced to deal with one of his students, whose wild swing with a naginata almost took off the head of one of Temari's students. Kankuro grabbed the shaft of the weapon before any damage would be done and started to rebuke his student. Mayumi laughed at the student's terrified expression as the puppetmaster turned on him. The boy's face went red and he snapped.
"Shut up, Ki, as if you could do better! There's a reason you're last in the class, and it's not laziness!"
Mayumi's face went red with anger and embarrassment as a couple people snickered. Kankuro opened his mouth to teach the brat this place –after all, Kankuro was well known for his hatred of arrogant brats – when he caught sight of Sayuri's expression and he grinned maliciously. He could trust her both not to cross any lines and to put the fear of kami into this kid.
"Sayuri, it's your student he insulted," Kankuro pointed out. "You want to do the honors?"
"Kankuro?" Temari asked cautiously, but Kankuro waved his hands at her, watching interestedly. The whole class was staring as Sayuri crossed to the student who had his head held high and was fighting to stop from shivering. At first she didn't say anything. She just reached towards him, as if she was going to touch his face like she had her students.
Then her hand shot around and gripped the back of his collar. With a little grunt of effort – he had quite a few pounds on her – she heaved him against the wall and pinned his collar there by stabbing a bone from her forearm into the wall. The kid dangled pathetically, kicking and fighting to get free of the bone.
"Don't insult my students," Sayuri said in a deadpan. "I don't care if she can't fight her way out of a paper bag now, I'm here to fix that. If you insult her, you insult me and my teaching ability, and I don't like to be insulted."
She reached up and tugged the bone free, sucking it back into her arm as she turned and walked off.
"Word to the wise," Kankuro added to the kid crumpled on the ground and gaping after Sayuri. "Don't screw with those three. They're serious business and you're not on their level yet."
"Was that strictly necessary?" Miyako rebuked as Sayuri returned to the little corner where the kekkei genkai students were huddled with their teachers.
"No," Sayuri admitted. "But it was amusing."
"I agree," Kimimaro said, looking mildly amused.
Their five students exchanged glances that ranged from amused to incredulous.
"I like 'em!" Gidayu finally concluded.
The white-haired woman was slumped at a bar frequented by rogue shinobi. Here and there were shinobi who had lines through their hitai-ate, signifying broken ties with their villages. Suna, Kumo, Kusa, Ame, Iwa, Konoha, Kiri… They were all here. It was the most varied and motley gathering of ninja you'd ever seen, but it was by no means peaceful. There was an air of tenseness in the room that came from life as a missing-nin, where one could never let their guard down for fear they would get a knife in the back.
Kiyomi stared blankly at the piece of paper in front of her. Sharingan eyes stared back at her from next to a weasel mask. She'd been staring at it obsessively in past month as she traveled aimlessly, disconsolate and depressed. She'd lost everything, her team, her home… all because of Sayuri. Because Sayuri couldn't let her have this one victory.
"Oi. Wass with th'Uchiha pi'tures?"
"Eh?"
Kiyomi looked up at the guy next to her. He wore a headband with the same leaf as hers, a deep mark through the middle. He was staring blearily at the paper, the empty bottle of sake in front of him showing why he seemed to have trouble focusing.
"Uchiha?" she repeated blankly.
"Yeah," the man nodded sloppily. He tapped the paper. "'tachi Uchiha. 's his sharingan. Saw it when I's in Konoha. Saw th' mask too when I's in ANBU. 's his. So why're you drawin' it?"
"My sister drew it. Aiko Arita."
"Never 'eard of 'er."
"She was a civilian."
The man blinked owlishly. "Then the hell's she doin' drawing 'tachi Uchiha?"
"That's an excellent question," Kiyomi mused, staring at the page with a new intensity. The man shrugged and turned back to the barkeeper, requesting another bottle.
"Itachi Uchiha," she said slowly, staring at the eyes. It made sense. She remembered, very vaguely, as she'd been so young at the time, seeing the boy come into their pottery shop at his mother's side. He'd been polite and kind when Aiko served them and helped his mother pick a plant potter…
Except Aiko shouldn't have been dealing with them. Aiko had always handled kitchenware, since she was the one that made them. It was their aunt that made the gigantic plant potters. A vague memory of Aiko offering to take the sale for their weary aunt crossed her mind. Why would she ask that? The Uchihas were treated with fearful awe by civilians.
There had to be a deeper reason. Aiko had known Itachi as more than just a customer. How else would she have seen his released sharingan? Seen his ANBU mask? They'd known each other very well, Kiyomi would wager. They'd have to, for her drawings to have that much detail. There were no eraser marks, no hesitation, as Aiko flawlessly sketched from memory.
Slowly, a plan began to form. Itachi, brother of Sasuke… The brother Sasuke wanted to kill… If Aiko had been this close to Itachi, then she may know some things about where he was now. And Sasuke would definitely be interested in that. Interested enough to, perhaps, teach her in payment for her information. He was studying under a sannin. Of course, she'd have to wait for that training to end. No way in hell was she walking up to Orochimaru and asking if she could learn from Sasuke.
So, she'd have to bide her time and wait until Sasuke's training was finished. Then she could go to him and make her deal. Then he'd be strong enough to take her to a whole new level, a level Sayuri couldn't possibly reach. All she'd have to do would be to help him find Aiko. She even had a vague idea how to handle that. Ah, but she wasn't even strong enough to take her on as she was now. She would be with an Uchiha at her side though.
And she'd get to see her sister again.
Two birds, one stone.
Kiyomi sat up straighter and threw her hand in the air, a new purpose about her as she tucked the piece of paper safely into her hip pouch, intent on guarding it. It was now her ticket to proving to Sasuke she could do what she said she could, her ticket to becoming strong.
"Next round's on me!" she shouted, to scattered cheers.