Chapter 23: Step forward

・

'Inner thoughts'

Writing/sounds

・

Yukino's POV

After finally returning back from the mission, I had to be present to announce its completion before I could head back to the manor. After a shower I dried myself before planting myself on the bed, placing my head on the pillow I immediately fell asleep.

Knock knock

Lifting my head slowly from the pillow I noticed how cold the pillow had become as well as the part of the bed I was on. Quickly standing up I shook the sheets before walking up to the door and cracking it open. "Huh?" I asked as I rubbed my eyes to see who it was clearly.

"It's me." I heard Temari say, "Someone is at the door asking for you. He says he's from the mission."

"Okay," rubbing my eyes of the sleepiness I nodded, "Thank you…" I said as I passed her and walked downstairs. Yawning as I went down I walked down the hallway and reached the front door. Opening it, I was surprised to see the boy, "Oh. Hi!"

"Uh… hi…" He said in return he looked away rubbing his previously injured arm, "I just… came to say…" he mumbled the rest of the sentence and I couldn't hear.

"What?"

"T-thank you." He stuttered out as he looked away kind of embarrassed, "I mean you could've just left me to be healed by someone else but you actually tried to save my life…" He scratched his head and looked at me, "so… thank you." He said as we stood awkwardly standing there by the door since I didn't know what to say in return. "Oh, and here," he said suddenly as he took out a small pouch, "this is yours you should have it," he said handing over the familiar money pouch.

"I don't need the reward money that's why I gave it to you guys," I said pushing it back. He looked at it hesitantly and nodded with a sigh.

"Excuse me." I heard behind me as Temari pushed through, "going to be late."

"Sorry," I said as I moved to the side allowing her space to leave. As I turned back to the boy I saw that he was gone, 'He must've used the opportunity to leave.' Shrugging I went back inside knowing that we probably won't meet again and as such, I never bothered to learn his name.

Waiting for everyone to leave I took out the new outfit I bought in the town where my mission took place. Wearing a traditional Sunagakure outfit like everyone in the village I fixed the reddish brown shirt I had on and adjusted the beige colored poncho-like top first before I put on greyish shorts as well as my Konohagakure sandals.

Sunagakure Library

Standing in front of the library my midnight blue hair blew softly as I stood still deciding whether or not I should enter. 'Would she even remember me?' Taking in a deep breath I walked towards the door and pulled it open knowing that whatever occurred I could always adjust my plans. Walking into the still empty looking library I looked around from where I stood but I couldn't see her.

Taking a couple of steps inside I looked around once again and still couldn't see her so I went up to the stairs leading to the upper level. Passing by the bookcases the memories of when I came here came back to me as I remembered everything from a slightly lower angle. Stopping at one of the bookcases I skimmed the titles of the books and stopped at one in particular. Opening the book about the Uzumaki clan I began reading it page by page understanding some of the words I didn't understand before. Burrowing myself into the pages of the book I didn't notice a person walk up behind me. "Hey there!" Startled by the sudden sound close to me I jumped back and faced the person who gave me the loud greeting, realizing it was her, the librarian from long ago. "How may I…" She started off excitedly when her cheerful voice slowly slowed down to a stop. "Yukino-chan?" she asked uncertainly.

Smiling I looked up at her glad that she actually remembered me, "How did you guess?"

"You're back!" she clapped her hands excitedly, "You look the same aside from your hair… What happened to it? It seems uneven." She said looking at my hair curiously not noticing its new color.

Raising my hands to my hair I patted it slowly, "I cut it myself…" I admitted embarrassed. 'It's been like this for more than three weeks and no one has told me.'

"Want me to fix it while you tell me why you're here again?" She asked excitedly.

・・・

Accepting her request I let her cut my hair not worried about what she may say when it begins to melt. As her hand moved to the ends of my hair I could feel her hands near my neck. Trying to not focus on it I told her of the events that led me here, how I was associated with the Uchiha's and how after the massacre I was sent here for my safety. She stopped from time to time to wipe her eyes telling me how she had heard of the news two weeks ago when she left the library in search of new books in the land of fire. Hesitant for a while I told her of what my plan was, "I'm going to find him and ask why he did it." I told her adding my uncertainty about whether or not he was really the sole culprit. She expressed her concern telling me not to follow after someone who is so dangerous. I thought for a moment and decided to hide from her that I had a jutsu I could use to seal his chakra away for good, 'But what if I'm wrong?' I asked myself since the jutsu could not be reversed. "Uzushiogakure," I said suddenly as she was finishing up. She stopped for a moment and told me if I didn't remember what happened to them. "I remember. I remember that some nations banded together to destroy Uzushiogakure but what if somehow there are people who survived?" I asked her, she seemed to ponder for a bit before telling me to continue. "There are shrines belonging to the Uzumaki, they contain scrolls and jutsu. I just need someone to teach me the techniques properly." I told her waiting for her response.

"So how are you going to find them?" She asked, "done." I heard her say a moment later.

"You said you travel to collect new books." I hopped off the chair and walked to her, "So I was wondering if you could gather some information on your trips. Just anything you see or hear. You don't have to talk to them or actually meet them I will do it myself once I grow more to be able to travel on my own."

She placed her hand on her chin and stayed thoughtful for a moment. "You know what… sure! Who knows what I could learn!" She clapped her hands excitedly. "Oh." She said as she walked up to her desk rummaging through it. Taking out a mirror she walked back to me and held it in front of me. "Look." Taking it slowly from her I looked at myself and noticed how it looked even from both sides unlike before. Moving my head to the side I saw how the back was shorter than the front. 'That explains the coolness.' I thought touching the back of my neck. "I'm sorry I had to cut it like that…" she walked into a small storage closet, "It's just that the hair in the back was shorter than the rest." She said as she exited with a broom and dustpan. She looked at the ground to pick up the hair when instead she saw small puddles of water. "Where's the hair?" She asked confused.

"Uh… it just does that." I told her going into the storage closet and taking out a mop instead. "I'm sorry I should've told you."

After cleaning up the water we began making plans as to which areas we should begin the search. After about an hour of discussing which locations to go to, we ended up deciding on the land of steam which was near the water edge close to where the land of whirlpools was. Michiko-san said that it would take some time for her to get permission to travel again so she told me that it would be best to do other things in the meantime.

Kazekage Manor

With all of us, just the kids, seated at the table in our usual spots we began eating in silence once more. "So…" I heard Temari break the silence after a while, surprised I looked at her and saw her staring at me, "I heard you went on a mission."

"Oh. You heard?" 'Of course, when he came he mentioned the mission,' I connected the events from earlier together.

"Yeah. Otou-san told us. How did it go?" She asked taking a bite out of her food. 'So she knew before this morning.'

"Someone got injured, but they are alive so it's good," I said unconsciously reaching for my necklace around my neck as I thought of the scar on my side. "With an injury like that, It's bound to leave a scar…" shaking my head slightly I looked at her. "This was my first mission, so I hope it went well," I said taking a bite out of my food as well.

Hearing the clinking of the plate I saw Kankurō place his spoon down already finished, "Hope that you did because any mistakes you made will be in the mission report." He stood up taking his plate.

"Mission report?" I asked feeling my heart start to race.

"Yeah, it lists what you did well and wrong. This information is used to see what kinds of missions you can take part in the future." Temari explained.

'My eyes… They will know about them. Unless… Baki-san didn't see them.' Sigh "Thank you for explaining…" I told her trying to calm down my heart slightly.

Combing my hair undoing the knots from that day. I kept thinking of how my eyes could be in that report. Shaking my head I convinced myself that they wouldn't know about my eyes unless I told them what they can do. Slipping the comb underneath the pillow I did the summoning signs and summoned Kitaro once again needing that happy cheerful energy from his presence. POOF! Jumping from the smoke the little fox waved its tail excitedly. "Ha!" It said as it jumped on the pillow pawing it.

"Kitaro," I said, drawing his attention away from the pillow.

"Yeah?" He asked sitting down facing me as a good question came to mind.

"What are your specialties?" I asked it since every fox I met so far from Inari mountain had their own specialty.

"I don't have one." He said happily and simply.

"Why not?"

"I'm still young so I can't perform transformations or genjutsu." He explained before lifting the pillow with his tiny paw. "Ohh…" I said as I believe it saw the comb I placed underneath. Burrowing its head under the pillow it pulled out the comb inspecting it, "It looks old!" He looked at the carvings carefully before handing it to me, "where did you buy it?"

"This guy I met gave this to me when I first came to this village years ago," I told him looking at the comb carefully before placing it on top of the dresser. "Hey, I'm bored do you know any games we could play?" I asked as the tiny fox eagerly began jumping up and down.

Journal Entry #5

I wonder what Sasuke, Naruto, and Hinata are doing? I want to write to them but ever since the hawk delivered Yashamaru-san's last letter it never returned. I wonder where it went I asked Kitaro and he said that it probably went back to its original home. There are only two places I could think of, the shrine and Uzushiogakure since that is where the shrine came from. There's no point of wondering though since with my current abilities my eyes can't take me to different far off locations yet. Since that's the case I've been practicing exiting my room using my eyes. Most of the attempts failed since I kept ending up in that space. I should probably name it… okay, I found a name it is now mystic space. It is short so it will do. Either way, I found out that I have to really think of the place I want to go to in order to create a portal there. After many successful tries, I became tired and had to rest for a while, although now that I've done it like 15 times it doesn't feel as tiring as it did the first time. I will keep expanding my range once I feel more comfortable with it.

Journal Entry #6

Two weeks have passed and Michiko-san has been given permission to leave Suna. Before she left we've agreed that she wouldn't take any unnecessary risks. While she's away I'll keep practicing on my adamantine chains while Kitaro watches to make sure if I'm progressing. I asked Kitaro if he knew of any Uzumaki aside from me. He nodded and told me he has heard of two that once came from time to time to Inari mountain, however, that was years before he was even born.

Journal Entry #7

Today Kitaro and I will be practicing on my portals. It worked! I focused on the cliff surrounding the village and it worked! The concentration needed to create the adamantine chains helped improve my portals! The portal size was big enough for me to pass so that's a great sign. Soon I may be able to go back and forth between Suna and Konoha! That is if I practice enough… So with that, I'm going to start expanding on the range tomorrow by going to the opposite side of the village. I can't wait! I may also add in my teleportation training just in case I lose my sight and need to flee.

(Scratched out) I wonder… will Shisui be proud? Of course, he will that's just who he is.

The page at the end was wet smudging some of the crossed out words, but not enough to make it unreadable.

Temari's POV

Opening the fridge to make breakfast I noticed that Kankuro didn't go for the eggs yesterday. Sighing I closed it shaking my head, feeling as if I was being watched I turned around and saw a small fox staring at me from the kitchen island. "How did you get in?" I asked it lifting it with both arms.

"–kill–" I heard that all too familiar word from the hallway leading up to the rooms. 'Gaara…' With the small fox in my arms, I quickly made my way to the hallway to prevent something from happening as I wondered if Kankurō said something again. Spotting the familiar dark blue hair I was surprised since she always kept to herself, forgetting to intervene she spoke up.

"But if you do then I won't be able to make gizzards and salted tongue tonight." She calmly said but looking into her eyes I could see her daring him to try. Almost smiling at what she did I was surprised that she knew that we liked the food better when she made it. 'Wait how did she know what food he liked,'

Both of them kept their eyes on each other, not making a move away or towards the other. "Gaara remember what otou-san said. Her village left her in our care for the time being." I explained to Gaara hoping to calm him down. The fox yipped in approval at what I said making the dark haired girl turn around.

"Kitaro!" She said taking the small fox from my arms, "we agreed that you wouldn't wander…" she whispered while glancing at me. She turned back around and faced Gaara with a softer look than before, "I'm sorry for bumping into you." She said as she turned around and quickly left in the direction of the main door.

・・・

Looking at the paper sliced in two in my hand I sighed as I looked at the wooden pole before me. 'Wind style, what can I do with it?' I asked myself. Looking up I spotted someone else coming into the training grounds, the girl looked familiar as she was wearing an odd hat while fanning herself. Squinting my eyes I saw the hat move and realized it was the small fox from earlier on top of Aiko's head.

"Hi, Temari." Aiko waved at me with the fan, she seemed to blink in surprise as she pointed at my hand, "So your chakra nature it wind."

"Yeah, the teachers gave us this in class today."

"That's nice. My chakra nature is also wind as well as water." She opened the fan once again fanning the little fox on top of her head. "Something's bothering you?" She asked staring at me carefully with her azure blue eyes.

"What do you do with wind release?" I asked her unsure why I was asking her about this.

She closed her fan once again and handed it to me. "Try this." She pointed at the wooden pole with a small visible smile. Facing the pole I glanced back and saw her place her finger on her lips while looking up to the fox as if sharing a secret she knew. Looking down at the fan for anything odd I opened it and threw it like a shuriken. GASP! Turning my head to look at her she looked at me confused, "Why did you do that?!"

"You said to try it," I told her unsure of what she wanted me to do.

"I meant swinging it using the wind it creates to attack," she explained passing me to pick up the fan. Walking up to me she placed it back in my hand. "There are jutsu that require a fan…" She said as she reached into a bag that I didn't notice before that was hanging from her other hand. Taking out a pencil and a paper she began to scribble on it before handing it to me. "Go to this library there should be more information as to how to do it." She explained placing the items back into her bag, "I need to do something see ya!" She said walking away quickly with her bag swaying beside her.

3rd POV

With a fox on her head, the girl placed her finger on her lips making a mind link with the fox so they could continue talking. Entering the living room the girl spotted the eldest boy tinkering with something.

°Go closer, I want to see what it is!° the fox wagged its tail tapping the girls head with its paws. She, of course, complied wanting to see what it was as well.

"What are you doing?" The girl asked standing close to the boy.

"Mind your own business," the boy responded focused on the puppet in his hands. At this point, she suspected that he didn't like her so she shrugged off his response and placed her bag down on the table as the little fox jumped from her head onto the couch watching as she pulled out a small star cactus that she found around the outskirts of the village. Taking out a terracotta pot she placed it on top of the coffee table along with a small bag of soil from her garden. While the fox stayed to guard it she went to the bathroom to activate her eyes. Closing the door behind her she opened a small portal to her garden and pulled out a purple avens that she unearthed. Taking the plant back with her back to the living room she placed the plant inside and put in some dirt as well. The boy that was tinkering with a puppet stared at her in confusion as to where she got the plant but didn't say anything because he suspected that she would reply with the same response he did.

With the herb in its place, the girl picked the pot up gently and headed upstairs. Sensing that the man wasn't in his room she opened the door and placed the plant on a chair she found by a desk full of papers. Realizing that she forgot her note she opened another portal and left a note she had written beforehand.

Thank you for your kindness. In return, I am giving you this herb. I hope that it could be a good addition to your greenery here, if possible. Yukino

・・・

Nightfall had fallen and everybody was asleep so the azure-eyed girl walked down quietly to the kitchen with a little fox who was wide awake. Arriving at the kitchen she began to create small portals gathering her own ingredients to create a small dish for her friend.

With the small plate of cooked chicken done she held it in one hand as well as a bowl of fruit. Turning around to place it down in front of her small friend she flinched seeing something in the shadows. Placing the plate and bowl down she noticed the auburn hair as she placed one hand on her chest calming her heart down from the little fright. As the small fox dove into the plate eating the food the girl watched him waiting for him to finish. Looking up she asked the boy something, "do you want to eat something?" She asked quietly which was loud enough in the night.

"Gizzards," he said walking up the table on the other side of the kitchen island.

"You won't like gizzards anymore if you eat it every time," she responded turning around creating small portals to get a new batch of ingredients. From his point of view, he couldn't see her eyes as she carefully angled herself so he wouldn't see them.

With a plate of six onigiris finished she brought it up to the table and placed it in front of him. "Have this instead." She said as she went back to the kitchen island and took the empty plate of her small friend. Glancing at the boy she smiled lightly as she saw the boy bite into the food.

Placing the plate back into one of her portals the girl called her small fox friend who jumped on her head. Walking up the boy she took one of the onigiris for herself before quickly creating some space. Both she and the small fox said their goodbyes in their own way and left as they headed to the roof to brush up on the ancient language they had to learn.

Journal entry #8

I noticed that after I talked to Gaara he began to watch us practice when we were at the roof. Because of that Kitaro can no longer practice audibly with me since he has to maintain its cover as a normal fox. At least I can still practice with my mind link. So that's a plus. Maybe I should attempt to talk with him more. No, maybe I shouldn't, seeing how he reacted with me accidentally bumping into him earlier.

Timeskip

From inside the room the little fox watched carefully the shape that the girl was forming with her water. "Uh… a butterfly!" The little fox jumped up guessing the shape. The girl nodded about to make another shape when the fox remembered something important, "I forgot! There is a festival for the elders today." The little fox said excitedly before poofing away.

The girl stared at where the fox was confused for a moment before smiling. "I hope he has fun," she whispered to herself. Opening her door she saw through one of the windows how the sky had begun to darken. So she turned around and went back inside the room, laying down on her bed she waited for sleep to come at the usual time but it didn't. 'Must be a full moon.' She thought to herself before jumping out of bed. Sitting on the slipper chair she fixed her white dress so it would cover her feet before opening a portal and taking out a couple of books to read.

The loud cry of a creature shook the walls as she immediately looked up from the book she was reading. Looking up at the clock she saw that three hours had passed making it midnight. Placing her books away quickly she exited her room running to the room at the end of her hall only to find it empty. Running to the rooms of the other two siblings she opened the first door and saw it empty so she looked under the bed hoping to find the older girl but didn't. Quickly leaving the room as the walls shook again she made it to the second door, "Kankurō!" She yelled above the roar and noise outside only to receive no response. Opening the door she gave a quick scan of the room before closing it.

Running down the stairs shoeless she looked around carefully before realizing that she was alone. An hour ago around the edge of the village, the boy was losing control of the creature inside him. Shinobi nearby were the first ones to help evacuate the civilians as the Kazekage who was working late spotted from his office what was occurring and rushed in to prevent further damage. Around forty-five minutes ago the two siblings woke up forgetting their guest as they left in a rush to guide the villagers to safety.

The young azure-eyed girl deciding it to be too dangerous to stay inside ran to the door and saw the creature responsible for the constant shaking. She stopped as the roars echoed in her mind remembering that this was not the first time she heard it. About to turn away and run she stopped recognizing the creatures chakra that was similar to someones. "Gaara?" She said quietly as she realized the massive chakra that belonged to the creature was the same one she sensed inside the young boy.

Going back inside she opened a portal to her library and jumped inside going to the empty shelves by the huge tree. Pumping some of her chakra into one of the bookcases hoping to get some idea as to what the creature was. Only a single book appeared it was old and worn as she took it into her hands carefully flipping the pages in a hurry. Seeing the vague form of the creature resembling a tanuki she quickly read the passage. "One tails, Shukaku," was what she first read as she found out more about the creature coming to the conclusion that water could slow it down. Placing the book in the other bookshelf to return it to its place she exited her library leaping through the portal with the thought that if something like this happened to Naruto she would help him.

Going back outside she saw that the creature had moved a considerable amount. Thinking carefully as to what she could do she shook her head at how it would be dangerous to head into the battle by using water that she could gather from the air. Placing her hand on her mouth to think she realized she could use her eyes to open a portal to a place with a lot of water and use it. She only needed to focus enough to create an opening on top of it she thought as she looked at the huge sand creature. From where she stood she took in a deep breath remembering the ocean she saw back in the seaside town. Opening her eyes she created a small portal big enough to let her pass through as water splashed out wetting her. Quickly closing it to reserve her chakra she made a beeline in the battle ahead. She wasn't going to fight it she was going to stand on the side and soak it to make the process of stopping it easier and faster. She knew that if she engaged it in battle she will most likely die so once she did what she decided on doing she would leave the area immediately and head to safety.

The closer she got the more rubble she had to avoid as she narrowly missed some. Most of the civilians were gone as some who had lagged behind were running past her paying her no mind. Climbing the closest building without much intervention since the shinobi present were mainly focused on stopping the one tails. She found a good spot on a roof and kneeled down to prevent herself from falling the next time the ground shook, focusing her chakra on the space above the one tails.

Slowly a portal the size of a grape began to expand but as it did water began passing through wetting the creature drawing its attention up. From where it stood looking up it could only see water coming out of thin air being knocked back by a wave of golden sand it was able to see the hole in the sky leading to a different location with water. Using its sand to cover it completely like a cacoon, it disconnected it from the rest of their body as he turned its focus to the shinobi before him. Inside the sand, however, the portal only kept expanding breaking down the sand with the waves slamming against it.

From the safety of the building, the girl was beginning to sweat as her breathing became labored trying to keep her concentration on the expanding portal. She could feel its size already bigger than the top of the Hokage residence, 'Just a little more…' she told herself. Placing her hands on her knees her body began to shake as she could feel her chakra reserves dwindling. Watching carefully she noticed the sand covering the portal begin to crack. The crack began to expand until the sand covering the portal fell down along with the ocean water as it poured on the tailed beast below.

"Yes," the girl quietly whispered. Seeing golden sand restrain the creature's movements she closed the portal relieved. As she was trying to catch her breath the creature began to try to rip the golden sand away with its own sand but was sluggish due to the water. The addition of the golden sand made it so much heavier as it angrily roared. Seeing it become angrier she shakily stood up and stumbled to the roof's exit since she was too tired to jump off the building and flee, walking at a turtle's pace down the stairs she gasped as she attempted to run down the stairs as quickly as she could.

Stumbling out of the building she didn't look back as she tried to leave the immediate area. Hearing the creature's final roar behind her she sighed relieved as she stumbled away not noticing she had entered in the area where the creature had passed through. Leaning on one of the broken buildings she breathlessly tried to regain some of her strength. "There you are!" She heard. Startled she looked up and saw Temari running in her direction. "You need to go to the shelter now." She pulled on the girl's arm as the girl nodded already regaining some of her stamina. "What happened to you?" The girl stopped noticing the dark-haired girl's shaking body.

From above a piece of the broken building began to separate itself as a couple of pieces fell down as a sign. The girl leaning against the building regained some of her strength to walk normally so she pushed herself off the building feeling calm enough to continue. A small piece hit her head as she brushed it off noticing a dark shadow growing from where she stood. Feeling her legs move a little, the girl saw the blonde haired girl pulling her away, moving her legs she tried running as noticed the shadow covering them becoming darker. Looking up she saw the huge piece of the building tipping in their direction if the thing fell on her she could come back but the girl in front of her couldn't so without a second thought she pushed the girl away with as much strength as she had in her arms.

The blonde haired girl fell to the ground scraping her knees. "Aiko!" She screamed seeing the chunk of the building a couple of inches away from her feet. "Aiko!" She ran to the chunk attempting to lift it. 'If only I remembered to get her out of the house.' The girl panicked hoping that she somehow survived. Feeling it shake slightly she looked down seeing it rise slightly. Getting down on her knees she looked underneath and saw the girl still alive being illuminated by a soft golden glow trying to move under such a tight space. One of her arms slowly reached out from underneath as she attempted to pull herself out biting her lip to prevent herself from screaming. Reaching down the blonde-haired girl attempted to pull her out when the girl let out a half cry as the huge piece was on one of her ankles. Breathing in hard the dark-haired girl focused on lifting the rubble on top of her slightly before the other girl was able to pull her out. As she did the girl coming out from underneath the building had golden chains dragging behind her as they emerged from her back. "Aiko, are you okay?" She asked the girl who nodded shakily while trying to stand up.

The girl wobbly stood up when the chains broke, her eyes rolled back as she fell to her knees at the same time the building piece fell as well since the only thing holding it up disappeared. As she fell the girl beside her broke her fall and held her up seeing that the azure-eyed girl was just unconscious. Relieved the blonde girl lifted her up shakily and placed the girl on her back in order to get her to the hospital.

Yukino's POV

The faint feeling of something warm touching my neck woke me up as I grabbed the thing tightly. A yelp escaped from the owner of the hand as they tried pulling away, realizing it was someone I let go touching my neck to see what they were doing, "I just came here to change your bandages," the woman said, "as you can see you're currently in the hospital." She explained calmly.

Unable to see her, I realized that I must have overexerted myself. Reaching down my neck by custom I felt something was missing. "Where's my necklace?" I asked her.

"In the drawer by your bed." I heard her say, "now may I please change your bandages?"

Shaking my head I extended my hand in her direction, "I will change them myself. I feel more comfortable that way." I told her.

A moment of silence passed before I heard her sigh, "fine."

・・・

Doing the bandages on my neck I made sure I did it correctly before reaching down into the drawer feeling around for the necklace when my hand touched the cold stone. Pulling it out I put it back on when I heard the door slide open, turning my head in that direction I sensed only three people. "Hi there," I said placing my hands on my lap 'looking' straight ahead.

The steps coming closer stopped once it reached the bed, "How are you doing?" I heard Rasa-sama ask.

"I'm good," I responded.

"Are you sure?" I heard Temari-san ask.

I nodded when I remembered something, "How long have I been here?" I asked knowing that it could've been hours or days.

"It's been a week since you were brought here."

Surprised I nodded understanding, "…How long will I have to stay here?" I asked since the information of my condition was in the patient sheet that I couldn't read in my current state.

"Until your injuries have healed," Rasa-sama explained. Sighing I noticed for the first time the tight feeling around my arms, legs, and torso. Remembering what happened I sighed silently knowing I got lucky. "I want you to answer honestly." I heard him say.

"Sure." I said feeling the bandages on my arms to guess the extent of the injuries, 'there's so many…'

"Were you the one that intervened during Shukaku's rampage?"

"What makes you say it was me?" I asked him.

"Apart from water suddenly appearing in the desert there was someone who saw someone in your description."

"Is there going to be any punishment for the one who did?" Hearing silence in response I closed my eyes and sighed, 'I've never been severely punished… so this could be a first.' "Fine, I did it. I used a type of space-time technique to transport that sea water here." I admitted since there was someone who saw me. "So what's my punishment?" I asked.

"There is no punishment," I could hear him sigh as I heard him and his two oldest children leave the room.

Later that day the two older siblings returned to my room as I was inspecting one of my ankles who have been injured when that piece of rubble fell on me. Curious as to why they returned I turned my head in their direction ready to hear what they had to say. "We're sorry for leaving you behind," Temari said first before I heard silence followed by Kankurō's apology.

"Don't worry, it's fine," I waved my hand.

"It's not fine. Because of us, you're sitting on that hospital bed." Temari added as I could hear her guilt.

She obviously felt responsible for my state so I just shrugged, "I would've intervened either way once I found out who it was."

"Wait what do you mean by that? You don't mean–"

"Yawn~ I feel so tired… I'm sleeping," I interrupted pretending to be tired. Quickly turning away from them I moved to lay on my side accidentally jabbing my rib.

Time Skip brought to you by attempts to use chakra followed by pain.

With a week passing by I heard the door open once again, "It's been a week," I heard Rasa-sama say, "The doctors said that you will be leaving tomorrow." I heard as I heard him stop in front of the bed.

"That's good to hear." Turning to face the other chakra signatures next to him I nodded in their direction. "Hello Temari, Kankuro and Gaara. I assume you're all here for something else." POOF! Jumping at the sudden sound in front of me I felt something heavy land on my lap. Extending my hand a bit I felt something furry rub against it, "Kitaro?" I asked receiving a small yip in response.

"A cake?" I heard Kankurō say.

Raising my eyebrows I connected to Kitaro's mind. °What's the cake for?°

°Your birthday of course!° I heard him say as could imagine him wag his tail happily.

"So today is my birthday." I said out loud, "Do you any of you have a knife?" I asked since most of the things I used could be retrieved through my portals but since my eyes haven't healed I couldn't retrieve one.

"Wait so today is your birthday?!" I heard Temari exclaim.

"Yes, I'm nine years old today," I said feeling something cold bump my hand. Hearing a gasp from Kankurō I felt the cold blade placed there by what I would assume to have been Kitaro. "Kitaro, please move away from the cake. At the moment I can't see." I felt his small weight move from my lap onto the dresser next to the bed as I heard his little claws make a sound when he touched the drawer.

"You can't see?" Rasa-sama asked.

"Yes," I responded feeling the shape of the cake by the plate it was on. 'A small circular plate,' Lifting the knife shoulder height I was about to stab into it to cut it up when someone pulled my hand back. "Ack!" I exclaimed feeling my arm being pulled back as I tightened my hold on the knife to prevent it from falling and injuring someone.

"Nurse!" I heard Rasa-sama yell where he was. Confused I reached for my other hand and felt sand-like substance grabbing my arm.

"Gaara, please let go of her," I heard Temari say as if attempting to calm down a wild cat.

"I'm not doing it." He responded as he looked at the sand surprised.

"Kitaro, take the cake away I still want to eat it," I said while the two siblings were talking to each other. Feeling Kitaro jump on my lap I heard a 'POOF!' as the weight disappeared from my lap at the same time, the knife disappeared along with him. Focusing my chakra in my arm I closed my eyes before dispersing it causing the sand to spray everywhere.

At that moment I heard the door slide open as a nurse came in. Of course, the scene before her was a mess as a girl sitting on the bed was wiping away sand 'accidentally' throwing it to the brown-haired boy beside her. A girl with sandy-blonde hair was rubbing her eyes while an auburn-haired boy had a sand shield covering him. A man lowered his arm wiping away the sand on him as he looked at the nurse sharply ready to question her as to why the hospital staff hadn't noticed the girl's sight loss.

・