Chapter 36: A Calm Before a Storm

We started jumping through the trees again as I felt blood begin to leak from my wound, it had been a while since I used so much blood. With Kakashi we practiced more on my lightning jutsu but going into a fight I thought was with Itachi I knew my blood was more powerful.

Shaking it off I jumped ahead beside Kakashi seeing him eye me for a moment saying, "Are you alright?"

Looking towards him I nodded answering, "Yes I will be fine, I just want to make sure we get there before it's too late."

He gave me a weary look turning towards Naruto as he said, "You did good, I couldn't see it, but I know I taught you well."

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei." I said with a light smile jumping past him to keep Naruto's pace as the sun was beginning to descend overhead.

After another few hours Kakashi stopped as we all landed beside him hearing Naruto say, "What's wrong Kakashi-sensei?"

"Nothing we are just taking a short break." he said calmly making me frown as Chiyo said, "A wise choice."

"We need to go now though, you said that we needed to hurry before it's too late." Naruto said getting angry hearing Kakashi, "Which is why we are resting, it's shown that we've slowed down since fighting Itachi but if we rest and get our strength back, we could go faster."

"He's right Naruto." Sakura said looking towards me saying, "Yuna used a lot of her blood and even with the blood pill she should rest."

"And you're clearly not used to using that giant Rasangan yet." Kakashi finished making Naruto and I both frown, but I understood why we were doing this.

"Tomorrow we may be fighting the guys who took Gaara." Kakashi began saying sternly but his features softened saying, "We need to all be at full strength."

"Fine..." Naruto said defeated as Sakura came over to me saying, "Let me heal some of your wounds."

I sat beside the fire watching the flames crackle against the wood hearing Naruto's light snoring beside me. Sakura was across from me seeing her fast asleep too while Chiyo had her eyes closed sitting beside the fire. I got a little bit of rest, but I was too anxious to really fall asleep, though since Sakura healed my wounds, I was feeling much better. Looking up I saw Kakashi in a tree as I stood up jumping up beside him sitting down.

"You should be getting some sleep." he said while I tilted my head saying, "So should you."

"Do you think we'll reach Gaara in time?" I asked solemnly while he closed his eye resting against the tree replying, "I honestly can't say..."

Frowning I looked down at the fire then at Naruto saying softly, "They are going to come after Naruto eventually too…"

He didn't say anything as I tightened my fist feeling tears in my eyes saying, "It's just not fair… to him or Gaara… any of the shinobi that were forced into taking in a tailed beast."

"I know but the best we can do is be there for them when they need us." Kakashi said as I smiled down at Naruto snoring saying, "Yea… that's a promise I can keep."

We were both quiet as his eyes remained closed hearing him say casually, "So how come you're not dating that Shino boy?"

I stiffened up turning red saying in a harsh whisper, "Don't ask such a foolish question at a time like this…"

Seeing him smile under his mask he replied, "If you say so."

Turning to look back at the fire I sighed, perhaps I was slightly interested in Shino, but it took so long for him to be on board completely as my friend and I'd hate to lose that trust. For now, I was simply happy just having him as a friend, I was still young after all.

Meanwhile elsewhere…

"Achoo!" I said sneezing again as my bugs vibrated uncomfortably inside me hearing Akamaru bark while Kiba replied, "Dude why do you keep sneezing? Are you sure you're not sick?"

Glaring towards him I began to walk past him, "No."

Yuna

After a few more hours Kakashi sat up looking towards me saying, "We should get moving."

Nodding we jumped down off the tree as he woke up the other's seeing Naruto was having difficulty waking up but as soon as Kakashi mentioned Gaara he jumped to his feet. Packing up our stuff quickly it was still late into the night knowing we should hopefully reach the hideout in the morning.

We all jumped in a comfortable silence noticing everyone else was just as determined as I was to get to Gaara in time. Looking ahead the sun was beginning to rise feeling like we were going to be too late since they had sent no one else to slow us down.

I could hear Kakashi and Chiyo both figuring that out as well allowing my fist to tighten in anger, we just had to make it. Looking ahead I saw Naruto take off much faster making me frown as Sakura yelled at him to slow down. Sakura and I went to try and catch up leaving Kakashi at the rear with Chiyo hearing her sigh looking ahead at him.

"I can't believe how much this is affecting him." Sakura said as I looked ahead saying, "Gaara is just like him, they've both grown up knowing nothing but pain."

Seeing her look at me I continued, "Before I came to this village, I was a slave to my parents, a tool to use as they saw fit for our village."

"You're from a different village?" she asked as I nodded replying, "Yes but it was never really my home, I ran away to escape it and ended up getting rescued by the Third Hokage."

"But meeting my teammates, Naruto… and Gaara they showed me that just because you were raised to be a monster doesn't mean you have to end up one." I said tightening my fist finishing, "Which is why we fight, we fight for people like us that had no one because together we form a bond that's stronger then hate will ever be."

She was quiet for a moment before smiling towards me saying, "I understand… and I will fight my all too."

Smiling towards her we kept jumping as I looked ahead of me towards Naruto, we must make it.

Seeing a clearing ahead we all jumped faster noticing Guy's team had gotten their first jumping down in the water beside them.

"You're late Kakashi." Guy said with a smile as Kakashi replied, "Well we ran into something troublesome along the way."

"Naruto, Sakura, and Yuna too." Lee said with a smile as I waved saying, "It's good to see you three."

"We were only a few steps behind you guys… who is the old lady?" Tenten asked as Sakura said, "Oh this is Lady Chiyo, she's a consultant from the Sand."

"Nice to meet you." Chiyo said giving them the peace sign as Kakashi and Guy stood beside each other hearing Guy say, "So shall we do this Kakashi?"

"Yea." he said as we all looked at the giant boulder that stood in our way to get to Gaara.