-23-

'Kohled' Eyes

Several hour after dinner, when everyone else in the house was tucked safely away in bed, I found myself laying there, deep in thought. Since becoming a genin things had been…weird. I was some sort of divine figure in the eyes of a growing cult. Machiko really was spying on me. Gaara was on my team, instead of with his siblings. I'd gone on a C-rank mission two days into my career as a ninja. I killed someone. A few someones. And it was really, really easy.

I just couldn't get over how easy it had been. I hadn't even been a genin for a week. Shouldn't there have been some sort of challenge? In the manga, genin had trouble defeating other genin…let alone full grown men- even if the bandits hadn't been ninjas…there still should have been some difficulty, right? They hadn't even gotten a chance to fight back…not really. Just…one minute they were cockily mocking me, and the next they were gone.

Eventually, I found myself crawling out of bed and silently padding downstairs. If my brain wasn't going to shut up, there was no point in me laying there. Maybe I just needed to move around a little, find something to nibble on…and then I'd be able to shut down for the night?

I didn't bother to turn on the lights as I rummaged through one of the cupboards, looking for something to eat. Once I'd found a box of slightly stale crackers, I sat down at the kitchen table and began to nibble on one.

It wasn't long before Taiki drifted into the room, an unusually calm look on his face as he settled into the seat across from me.

"So, do you wanna talk about the mission now? I assume there was some sort of conflict, and that's what's gotten you into a huff?"

I winced. Of course, my father was a jonin. The idea that I, horrible liar that I am at times, could hide anything from him was fucking hilarious.

So, I took a deep breath, "Dad…Am I really a monster?"

His reaction was immediate, and it reminded me of that day, years ago at the park. He told me that Saki had been the one to choose my name and that she loved me, even though she acted like I was a stranger-

And knowing now what I did, I couldn't blame her.

He was out of his chair in an instant. To a normal person, he would have been too fast to see, but 'Sora' had fixed that for me long ago. I could easily track my father's movement as he got out of his seat and moved around the table so he was crouched next to my seat.

"What do you mean, Ai-chan? How could you possibly be a monster? Haven't we gone over this before?"

"There were bandits on the mission," I began, and my father nodded in understanding. I didn't need to tell him that we slaughtered them. Gaara was on my team, as well as my rather unhinged-minion and Carl-sensei was…Carl-sensei, "…and it was…too easy."

His brow furrowed, "Too easy?"

"We killed them, and it was too fucking easy. I'm eleven years old- shouldn't there have been some sort of struggle? Some sort of- I'm not even bothered that I killed them. They were living people- sons and brothers and cousins and uncles- and probably fathers- and I honestly can't say I feel bad in the slightest. It's just…it's not normal. Shouldn't genin struggle with 'the weight of what they'd done' or something? Shouldn't the fight have lasted longer, so it was more like a fight and less like…blowing out a fucking candle?"

Taiki's face contorted, like it was trying to form several different expressions at once. Amused, concerned, confused, sad…all jumbled up together.

After a few moments, he finally seemed to find some sort of answer, and his face settled into an understanding (although still slightly amused) expression, "Ai-chan…you know you've been trained to kill for years now, right? Not just in the Academy, but by Sora as well."

"Well…yeah."

"And you know he isn't training you to be just any sort of shinobi, right?"

"Yeah…"

"He's training you for a single life-long mission, with a couple objectives…you protect your Kage, from physical harm, and protect their mental health…by any means necessary. You aren't meant to feel bad about it, and small fry like bandits aren't going to cause you trouble- especially with a team like yours. You have two morally-compromised heavy-hitters, an assassin, and your teacher, who is quite frankly one of the scariest men I have ever met….and quite frankly…I'd rather you find killing too easy than too hard. At least this way I know you're just a little bit safer."

He ruffled my hair and stood up, moving back to the seat across from me, "Now. How about we change the subject? I want to know more about this religion someone's based off my little girl, and where you learned about your 'Grand Entrance'."

"Morning, Sensei!" I greeted in a disgustingly cheerful tone as I wandered into the training ground. Carl-sensei and Gaara were already there, while I had yet to hear Machiko's elated scream at my appearance. Gaara stood on the far side of the training ground, arms folded over his chest as he stared at me with narrowed seafoam eyes.

Carl-sensei was acting rather out of character, reading something inside a thick manila file folder. I didn't even know he could read, seeing as he never really bothered marking our homework. Sometimes I think he just grabbed a grade outta his ass and slapped that on our report cards.

"Brat," the man greeted, "Any idea where your stalker is?"

Before I could reply, a small body came hurtling towards me, accompanied by a loud squeal. In an instant, I was on my back in the sand, with Machiko's arms wrapped around me in a near-crushing hug.

"Ah. There she is."

I sighed in exasperation before tossing the kid off me. She flew a sort distance, twisting in the air to land on her feet with a put-out expression. However, in an instant the look was gone and she was cheerfully skipping over to take her place beside me.

"Alright you three! Time we get to actual training. I've been reviewing your files from the academy, and I need to know how much of the skill you showed was actually the best of your abilities, or if you were downplaying your abilities."

I stopped for a moment, wondering if there was anything that Machiko or Gaara had managed to hide from me. I wasn't all that sure if I had been hiding anything or not. I hadn't really tried my very hardest-

-I tried so damn hard to get good grades. It wasn't like I had anything better to do with my time-

"I didn't really bother hiding any of my abilities while we were in the academy, since everyone knows I was training with Machiko and Satoru-sensei everyday after classes. On the other hand, I definitely wasn't pushing myself to my limits or anything." I told him, before I paused, "But I'm definitely garbage at chakra control. No doubt there. Any skill I do have with controlling it is making sure I'm not using it."

And that was the truth. Many an hour was spent with Satoru trying to control my chakra. It would have been easier is my chakra wasn't mixed into my blood. As it was, instead of just pushing energy through my chakra coils, I was consciously pushing blood through my body to get it to where I needed my chakra to use jutsu, but I also had to adhere to the flow of my circulatory system. If I kept my chakra in one place for too long, it was like cutting off my circulation.

Cut back on my chakra too much and things got really bad…because my heart decided that meant it didn't need to pump (that had been a fun experience…).

The blood passed through the ventricles in my heart, where chakra was added (it was suspected that there was a fifth ventricle in our hearts that functioned as the true core for our chakra systems, but no autopsies could be performed on any of the other amber users' hearts. They tended to explode upon death, like little amber frag grenades.) From there, the chakra-infused blood was pumped through the rest of the circulatory system- I could feel my blood flowing through my veins- which was merged with my chakra system in some places. Chakra coils, veins and arteries twisted, merged and separated from each other in their own barely functional system.

This unfortunately meant that wherever my blood went, my chakra went. Skin, eyes, lungs, brain… And if my chakra flared in just the wrong way? The blood would crystallize and expand.

Apparently, I could also shoot blood from my tenketsu if I trained hard enough. No thank you, but Satoru said that there was someone else in the clan- one of the few of us who lived long enough to actually start training their kekkei genkai.

When Machiko and Gaara finished telling Carl-sensei the extent of their abilities- not that either of them had really been trying or hiding either (and Gaara didn't actually answer Carl…just sorta…stared…as he tends to do), Carl-sensei set to work doling out orders.

"Right…Seeing as there are a few issues with control in this team, we won't be looking into sparring too much for the time being- you'll continue to work on your taijustu on your own time, but for now I want to work on physical training. Out of the three of you, Machiko has the best stamina and physical strength. Aisako, you've done well in increasing your speed and flexibility over the past few years…Gaara…we'll need to get you to do some exercises, so we can see where you're at- without using your sand. You can't rely on it forever. If someone finds a way to get past your sand, you need other abilities to stay alive.

"I've marked out a trail for you three to follow around the training grounds- I want you to un as many laps as you can. When I think you three have had enough, we'll move on to the next exercise."

He stopped talking, and we stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

His eyes narrowed, and like he was some stereotypical drill sergeant, he barked and order for us to 'get our asses moving'.

Despite all the training I had done with 'Sora' and Satoru, I still couldn't move by the end of the day.

I stood in front of the desk, watching as he slowly began sifting through the paperwork on his desk, like this were any other meeting between us… But I knew better. Every fibre of my being was screaming that I should run- I was in danger. Trouble.

And I was in so, so much trouble.

"So. I wanted to speak with you about your behaviour for the Loved Ones the other day- you remember, yes? We had decided you would behave a certain way around them, correct?"

My entire body cringed with me. I knew I was gonna get in shit for that. Sure, part of me had hoped 'Sora' was gonna be distracted by the whole 'your protégé was reborn from another world, possessing knowledge of your world's near future' thing for a little while, but that was the thing about 'Sora'. Bastard was near unshakable, and if you somehow managed to give him pause, it was only for a moment before he was back to his usual cucumber-cool self.

So not fair.

"Yes sir."

"And then, as I recall, you sort of…improvised your way through it all, correct? Even though it wasn't quite what had been discussed."

"Yup."

"Now…you understand why we have to talk about this, don't you, Aisako-chan?"

"Yes," I sighed and managed o make myself look suitably ashamed. Both of us knew that I was in no way ashamed of what I'd done, but 'Sora' would be happy if it looked convincing enough to fool other people, "I bent an order to suit my own desires."

"Exactly. I know that you'd prefer being yourself around the Loved Ones- they are aware of how you 'act' around the villagers…they've spent enough time watching you that it's impossible for them to miss it. Unfortunately, they've concluded that the behaviour you've displayed up until this point is just a defense mechanism. The Loved Ones are convinced that you're really a sweet little girl that should be treasured and loved…while also somehow being a divine being who should be looked up to."

We both shared an amused look at that. Religion is weird.

And then the moment was over and he was back to dead serious. Cold brown eyes stared into mine, as he switched to full lecture more.

"I know you rather dislike pretending to be something you are not, but you are an assassin. You showed me at the Temple that you aren't willing to follow orders- but that CANNOT continue. If you want to survive to see your 20s, you will have to learn to put on a proper mask. You will have to learn to lie. You can kill and torture just fine, and for the average shinobi that might be acceptable- but you are in no way average."

I nodded slowly, understanding where he was coming from. And I knew he was completely right. It wasn't like this was even a new idea. It was always going to be this way. He'd been teaching me the parts and pieces to forming masks, and why I, as his apprentice- as a 'Shadow Kage'- would need to be flawless with them. I had to be willing to do anything and NOT get caught. Even if all the evidence pointed to me, I had to be able to smooth talk my way out of it. But in case you've somehow failed to notice…there is nothing smooth about me.

"You have an important role, and if you want to be successful, you have to be willing to do anything. Aisako, you do remember what your mission is?"

"Of course I do!" I scoffed. Did he really think I'd forgotten it?

"Well? What is it?"

"My mission is to protect my Kazekage. Protect them from anything and everything- or die trying."

"Exactly…and to best accomplish…you need to learn everything I can teach you, Aisako." His tone was urgent- and something told me he was being genuine in his insistence, "When I took over after my teacher's death, I was under-prepared. I had been lax in my training with her, but suddenly she was gone, and I had no one to teach me what I needed to know. I was lucky I had a close inner circle who helped me with everything. But you don't have that. You have Machiko and a cult, but they're even less prepared than my friends and I were."

I blinked in surprise. That was… 'Sora' guarded his personal life the way Smaug guarded his hoard…he didn't just let personal information just…slip out.

"You don't have to like it, but learn what I can teach you, and follow my instructions while I'm still here to give them."

Something gripped my heart painfully, "Why do you say it like you're going somewhere?"

A carefree, fond smile played across his face, trying to reassure me, "From what you told us the other day, it sounds like the world is going to be an eventful place pretty soon…I'd rather be prepared for whatever is coming then twiddling my thumbs waiting for it. And since you can't spill your secrets without things changing too much…I'll just prepare in my own way…by preparing you."

Huh.

It sounded like he'd been doing a fair bit of thinking lately.

It was more than I had been doing lately. Let's be honest…planning…logic…none of that was me. I couldn't think up plans worth shit- I could hardly follow the ones other people made. I was an emotional idiot, all things considered. It's impossible for me to stick with things. My opinions and feelings change constanly- I knew that when the time came for me to take 'Sora's' place, I'd have to start planning for myself…but in the mean time, it wouldn't hurt to follow the professional's orders.

Ever so slowly, I let myself nod, "Alright...Let's give this another shot?"

The way his reassuring smile twisted into a near-sadistic grin made me instantly regret that decision.

"Back straight! Relax your shoulders- Chin up! You're trying to be dignified."

Hands pushed and pulled at my head and shoulders, forcing me into the proper posture.

We'd been at it for over a week now, but no matter what I did, he always found one flaw or another.

"Noble: Shy."

I quickly changed how I held myself, letting my chin drop but keeping my back straight and shoulders slightly drawn in-

"Don't make eye contact. Look slightly towards the ground."

I quickly flicked my eyes downwards and raised one sleeve-covered hand to partially hide my face.

"Better. Next…Commoner: Cocky."

Someone down the hall was screaming bloody murder. The thick, dark grey, stone walls did nothing to dampen the desperate cries for mercy.

I refused to let myself react to the sound, and continued to stare blankly at the man seated across the table from me and 'Sora'.

The plain-looking man's bloodshot blue eyes kept switching from me to 'Sora'.

"Good afternoon, Haru-san. I hope you've had a lovely day- have you remembered anything you wish to share with us today?" 'Sora' was channeling Sebastian Michaelis real hard today.

'Haru-san' (the name had to be fake. Too common.) foolishly ignored 'Sora's' question and asked one of his own, "S-so…what's with the kid? You- you sure this is the sorta place you should be bringing a little girl?"

To prove his point, a particularly loud scream tore through the air, making the hairs on my arms and neck stand on end.

'Sora' chuckled warmly, turned to me, and began speaking like I was a child even younger than the eleven years I was, "Such a nice man, isn't he, Ai-chan? He's worried you might be scared in here."

With wide, confused eyes, I gave a tiny frown, "Why, Sora-sensei?"

"Well, Ai-chan…it would appear that Haru-san doesn't think you're ready for this sort of work." He shot an accusatory look towards Haru, who looked terribly lost at the moment.

"B-but-" I forced my eyes to begin watering (while actively making sure I was not leaking more chakra into my body than usual- no need to cry amber tears in front of an enemy, right?) and stared sadly at Haru, "why? Why do you think I'm not good enough to be here? I've trained really hard! And- and-"

I cut myself off with a pitiful sniffle.

Haru instantly began to panic.

It's funny how the possibility of being tortured to death (or insanity) had only slightly fazed the man his first couple days in the Alley, but a crying girl? That's what gets him panicking? Seriously?

"I- I'm sorry, kid! I just- you're not even old enough to be a genin yet but he's got you down here in a place like this?! Do your parents even know you're here? I'd never let my kid get involved in this shit-"

While I am aware that I graduated the academy a year early, and I was a bit shorter than the average eleven-year-old, I was a little offended that this dumbass thought I was some innocent little girl.

Regardless of how I really felt, however, I had a role to play and lines to say. I wiped my eyes and did my best to sound like a curious kid, "What's your daughter like?"

Already caught off-guard by my tearful reaction, he didn't seem to question that I already knew the gender of his spawn. Or that he was answering my question.

"She's a little older than you. A total sweetheart- ever since her mom died she's been taking care of me when I'm home-" And then he stopped, realizing what was spilling from his mouth.

Really? What the fuck were they training guys in...wherever the hell he was from? He literally just blabbed all sorts of personal information. Even I hold up better than that in interrogation. We made sure of that.

'Sora' was chuckling again, completely amused by the entire thing. After a moment or two, the chuckling stopped, and 'Sora's' expression began to chill until his eyes were hard as ice and the smile was replaced by a smug smirk.

"I'm so sorry to hear about your wife…it must be hard to raise a daughter without having some sort of female role-model in her life." He paused here, still smirking, "Of course it will be even harder for her now, seeing as her dear father has gone missing and may never come home to her again."

Haru's expression hardened and he glared contemptuously at 'Sora', but didn't say a word.

"Of course, if you're willing to answer my questions we just might let you go home to your daughter. I'm sure Hana misses you already."

The prisoner snarled his response, "I won't tell you anything!"

'Sora' shrugged, "Oh well. I tried to sort things out peacefully- Ai-chan, what do you want to do now? You can go home if you like, or stay here and watch? Or- How about we review some of your interrogation methods? I just got a new set of pliers and they're just itching to be used."

Despite the tiny voice in the back of my mind that was telling me it was wrong to torture the man, there was a louder one that seemed to be yelling 'fuck yeah!'.

It wasn't long before screams started echoing down the hall once more…but this time they came from our direction instead.

"I don't know Sora…we really need to do something about her hair. It doesn't matter how well she can act the parts- she'll always look a bit to raggedy for some of them."

Mikasa loosely held a lock of my hair and waved it at Sora to prove her point.

"What would you suggest?"

"Sunako sees this herbalist in the Northern Upper Alley for her hair- remember how fuzzy she used to be when we were kids?"

My eyes narrowed. Hadn't she said 'Sora' just appeared one day? How did they know each other as kids then? Unless he appeared earlier than I thought…

"Alright…contact them and see what we can get done."

I regarded the quartet of Grass-nin who stood at the village gates, patiently waiting for their paperwork to be approved by the gate guards. Standing in the middle of the group was a fifth person- a heavy set woman in fine clothing; the merchant they had been escorting to our village.

From what I'd gathered when we'd gotten the mission- oddly enough 'Sora' had been the one to hand it to us, rather than a chunin. The Grass-nin had requested a head of time that they be able to stay the night in Suna after they arrived with their client. Our job was to keep an eye on them during their stay.

One of the shinobi was a middle-aged woman, clearly the jonin in charge of the other three. Looking at the remaining trio (all boys), I couldn't really tell their ranks. One was older than the other two, in his mid-to-late teens, while the other two were closer to my age. Of course, that didn't mean anything. It was like Kakashi once said…there were younger children in this world who could just as easily kill a jonin. Appearances were nothing. For all I knew, these two could be jonin themselves.

Normally I wouldn't have been nearly as suspicious of the visiting nin, if it weren't for the fact that they came from Grass. Orochimaru had already set up Sound, which was only a hop, skip and a jump from Grass… and let's be honest, there's no way Orochimaru didn't have his people mixed in with Grass. There was no telling who was really a Grass-nin and who was one of Orochimaru's men.

It didn't help that 'Sora' had requested that we keep a close eye on them while they were in our village, just to be sure they weren't up to anything. If they did do anything suspect, 'Sora' had casually suggested we strike them down. Just to be safe.

As the chunin at the gate stamped the last of their documents, Carl-sensei motioned us forward.

"Bye Miss! Have a nice time in Suna, please come back to Kusa any time!" One of the younger shinobi said, cheerfully waving goodbye to the merchant. The merchant, didn't even look back at him as she walked into Suna, nose up like she smelt something disgusting.

When she was a suitable distance away, the boy turned to the rest of his team, "What a bitch."

I couldn't help snickering.

The jonin leader only shook her head before turning to Carl-sensei with a friendly smile, "I'm Kama, and these are my students, Komugi, Shiba and Zassō."

Oh geez…the names. The FUCKING names.

So we had Scythe-sensei, Wheat, Sod and the older 'student' was Weed.

What the Hell.

Kama was somewhere at the tail-end of her thirties, with long black hair pulled up into a messy bun, tan skin and brown eyes. She was taller than most of the women I'd seen in Suna, and her face was marred with a long, jagged scar over the right side of her face.

Komugi (the cheerful one) was the shortest of the group, and the most eye-catching. He had green hair. Not neon or lime, but it was a dark- almost black- green. His eyes were definitely lime green though. Kinda hurt to look at them. Maybe it was because I hadn't seen an awful lot of green in the last decade. But there was definitely a touch of bat-shit crazy in them, which told me he'd either die real soon…or live a long life. Kinda hard to tell with this world. He was also decked out completely in pure white, which was a bit jarring compared to the muted greens his teammates wore.

Shiba was the most unassuming of the group. Messy brown hair and grey eyes behind a pair of round glasses. There was really nothing special about him appearance-wise. Other than the fact hat he kinda looked like Aizen from Bleach…if my memory was serving me correctly. I think it was Aizen? What ever.

Something about him made me even more uncomfortable than his crazy green-eyed friend.

Zassō, like Shiba, had wild brown hair and grey eyes. Unlike the younger teen, he was starting to grow a beard, although at this point it seemed like he was only having success with a goatee. Rather than the rigid stance most shinobi had, or even a fake-relaxed posture, he slouched lazily. Coupled with the bored look on his face, and the wrinkled state of his clothing…there was something about him that just kinda screamed deadbeat. Or stoner.

Which made the name 'Weed' hilarious.

Carl-sensei did not smile back at Kama. He didn't even bother introducing himself. Just pointed at us each in turn.

"These are the brats I got stuck with. Blondie is Machiko. She's crazy." Machiko gave a blindingly sunny smile.

"The boy is Gaara. Crazy." Gaara just stared blankly at the foreign shinobi, seafoam eyes boring deeply into their very souls.

"And the other one is Aisako. Also crazy."

For a moment, I was going to give my own grin, baring my teeth in that 'twisted mockery of a smile' that I was so well known for, but the recent time I spent in the Alley made me rethink it. Maybe I could fool our 'guests' into thinking I was who the Loved Ones thought I was? Some embodiment of goodness and whatnot?

So, instead of grinning manically like I was oh-so tempted to… I gave them a warm, gentle smile, before flashing the smile towards my teacher and then back to them, "Sensei's got a weird sense of humour. He likes to scare people."

Carl-sensei snorted but didn't deny it.

The visiting shinobi didn't seem to know what to say after that…which I assume was Carl-sensei's plan, as it seemed to brutally murder any chance of pleasant conversation. Thank you, Sensei!

"We'll take you to your lodgings, and one of us will accompany you should you feel the need to leave your rooms."

"A-ah, of course!" Kama said, trying once again to appear friendly, despite Carl-sensei's less-than-hospitable attitude.

Carl-sensei led the way, while the rest of us followed behind. Kama walked beside our teacher, occasionally shooting looks over her shoulder at the rest of us. Gaara walked at the very back of the group. If any of them tried to run, he'd see it and his sand would put a stop to that. Machiko skipped along beside me in the middle of the group. Shiba was a couple steps ahead of me, refusing to interact with anyone else. Which was 100% fine with me. Zassō was a step behind us, dragging his feet (annoyingly) with every step.

And of course, Komugi was on my other side, chattering away in an overly-friendly manner.

Why did the crazies always try to talk to me? Like…what the hell. Machiko, Gaara, Shigeru-

"So, Aisako-chan…how old are you? Aren't you a little young to be outta the academy?"

Hm…overly familiar and condescending. Great.

Before I could respond, I saw Machiko 'fluff up' like an angry cat. Ready to fight in my honour, as always.

My hand shot out and covered Machiko's mouth as I smiled pleasantly at the boy, "I'm eleven. Unfortunately, I've yet to hit my growth spurt…but it's only a matter of time now!"

"Oh. I though you were eight." There was someone taunting in his expression, like he was trying to rile me up.

What a little fucking shite.

Well. If he wanted to play that game, I would. I just had to make sure anyone listening to us heard me being perfectly polite, and him being the little shite he was. Not hard. Right?

Still smiling that ridiculous, gentle smile, I stepped a little closer to him, "How long have you been a shinobi, Komugi-kun?"

"A year now," he smirked, like it was an achievement.

I let my face show just how unimpressed I was with his answer, "Oh."

A tiny sliver of rage flashed across his face, "What do you mean 'oh'?"

"Well…I just thought that maybe you had a bit more experience…isn't it dangerous for someone with only a year's experience to go running around in pure white? It must be difficult to conceal yourself properly."

Lime green eyes flickered down to my bright orange robe and red pants, "What about you? Who do you think you're gonna be able to hide from in that getup?"

I giggled (and felt like retching at the sound. Ugh. It was all girly and shit), "You would be surprised, Komugi-kun. I'm rather skilled for my age."

He stared at me for a moment, looking vaguely unsettled.

Before I could unsettle him further, sand tugged harshly on my clothes, forcing me to slow down my pace. Komugi looked confused, but Machiko quickly linked her arm in his and began to chatter cheerfully while leaking the slightest bit of KI. Zassō's tired eyes trained on me when he noticed me lagging and remained trained until I had lagged behind even him. And then I was in step with Gaara.

"What's the matter with you?" I asked.

He didn't even look at me. Instead, his narrowed, kohled eyes were glaring ahead of us. Likely he was glaring at Machiko or Komugi, but I wasn't really sure why he had dragged me away from them.

Seriously. What was the point in making me walk with him if he wasn't even going to talk with me? I mean, I'd gladly go another year and a half without even seeing him, let alone talk to him…but like…dude. What the fuck do you want?

He wasn't even trying to kill me or anything.

Narrowing my own eyes, I attempted to walk ahead once again, but the sand that was forever clinging to my closed refused to let me. It yanked me back hard enough that I nearly lost my balance and was forced to pinwheel my arms to stop myself from falling. That wouldn't look good in front of our guests…

Actually… that just wouldn't look good in general.

I looked around to see if anyone walking down the street had noticed, or if any of our 'guests' had seen, but to my relief it looked like no one had been looking at the time. Last thing I needed was people trying to trip me again because they thought it was funny.

The rest of the walk to the inn passed in silence between us. I had made a couple (dozen) more attempts to put some distance between myself and Gaara, but the bastard was having none of that. I swear we ended up walking closer together each time I tried to escape, so I eventually gave up and thought up ways I could convince the outsiders I was a perfectly adjusted, mild-mannered girl instead of the monster-girl the village made me.

The inn we took them to was a moderately priced one- not the most expensive one in town, but most definitely not the cheapest. We weren't about to put foreign nin in our red-light district. Like every other building in town, it was made of stone and was a bland sand-colour, though the sign over the door simply reading 'Inn' was wooden and painted with cheerful colours.

The room prepared for them was on the third floor, facing a relatively busy street- if they tried to climb out a window or leave from the balcony, someone down below would spot them is somehow they slipped past us.

Their room had two beds and a couch, a small eating area and a bathroom. It was likely they would take shifts during the night staying awake and guarding the room. Sleeping without a guard anywhere that wasn't your home village was a stupid idea.

My team was (sort of) lucky we had Mr. 'I don't sleep', because it meant that Carl-sensei, Machiko and I could all sleep the night through, if we wanted to. Not that we ever slept deeply, considering who Mr. 'I don't sleep' was…

Unfortunately, Carl-sensei decided this would be great practice for us. We would all stay up all night, and remain on guard the whole time.

"So this is it. If you wish to leave the room- to get food, view the market or use one of the public training grounds, one of us will accompany you." Carl-sensei droned with a bored expression.

He gave them a few more rules- no weapons, no entering the civilian districts, obey the ANBU if they approach, don't leave your guide….etc. You know. A whole bunch of obvious 'be good' rules.

When he was done, my team awkwardly stood in the room, not sure what to do now. Likewise, the visiting shinobi also looked lost as to what to do next. They three students sat on the couch, staring at us with varying expressions. Komugi was flickering between the three of us with wide, interested eyes. Shiba seemed to be doing the same, but rather than interest, it was more like he was analyzing us and was bored with what he saw. Zassō looked bored as well, but it was a friendly sort of tired. Open to conversation. Not that any of us were really all that good for conversation- maybe Machiko as long as I didn't come up in the conversation. After that she could be a bit…zealous. Carl-sensei and Kama made their way to the dining area and sat at the table.

After a good five minutes of silent staring betwixt the six of us, Komugi popped to his feet. The quick motion had my hand reaching for a kunai before I was aware I had done it, and even his own team appeared started.

"Wellllllllllll I want to get some snacks! Aisako-chan, you're the least creepy out of the three of you, so let's go!"

Machiko made an outraged little growl, "Aisako-sama does not have to listen to the likes of y-"

"Machiko."

She cut herself off, turning wide blue eyes towards me and silently begging to let her continue her rant.

"We should be polite to our guests."

Her brow furrowed with confusion, "But-"

"No buts. As long as they haven't caused any trouble, I don't see why we can't get along with them… and I'm sure Komugi-kun meant no disrespect… he just doesn't know much about me yet, Machiko-chan."

Understanding began to form in her expression. If she actually understood that I was trying to fool him into thinking that the way I was acting was who I really was… that was a mystery. I…really have no idea what she's thinking a lot of the time.

I ruffled her hair, flashing her my usual grin before heading towards the door with Komugi. I made sure to wave at Carl-sensei as we left. Passing Gaara on my way out, I found that rather than staring at me like he usually was, his kohl-lined eyes were wide and locked firmly on Komugi.

A shudder ran down my spine as the door shut behind us.

I couldn't remember a time when I had seen such an expression on his face. Not even the night when I lost my leg…not even on our first c-rank when he promised to kill me, or when he was slaughtering bandits.

"You okay, Aisako-chan? You look awfully scared of something."

Komugi's voice jarred me from the thoughts of Gaara, and forced me to focus on the task at hand. Had to convince this dumbass that I was a sweet, kind little girl. It'd be even harder to do that once we got out among the civies without the rest of my tea there to scare them off. The civies got brave when it was just me and them.

Smiling innocently, I waved away his concern with a delicate hand motion, "Ah, I'm fine, Komugi-kun. I've just never seen Gaara-san look so upset."

"He was upset? I didn't notice…" His eyebrows furrowed, like he was trying to remember what Gaara's expression had been.

'Seriously? How the fuck do you not notice Gaara giving you a deathglare?'

"Really? Most people find Gaara-san quite hard to ignore."

"I was just trying to figure something out- Machiko-chan seems pretty protective of you…why is that?"

"Oh! Machiko-chan has been a good friend since we were very little. She was three and I was four, I believe. She's gotten very protective of me as the years go by."

His steps faltered, "Oh."

I tilted my head, "What's wrong?"

"I thought maybe it had something to do with your leg. Like maybe she thinks you're the weakest link because you're a cripple." He flashed me an innocent smile of his own, like he hadn't called me a weak cripple.

'Does being an asshole count as suspicious behavior? I'm sure 'Sora'-sensei wouldn't mind if I killed this little fucker…'

I continued to smile, despite wanting to sneer at the little shit…maybe bite him for good measure…get some saliva and chakra in his bloodstream and turn him into an amber porcupine… It wasn't like this was the worst anyone had called me before, but the kid didn't even know the rumours and shit and he was already picking at me.

I let my prosthetic fall a little harder than normal, making the hollow 'thud' it made louder than my usual footfall, "You noticed my leg? That's surprising. You don't seem like a very observant person, Komugi-kun."

His smile twitched. A small victory.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well nothing really…it's just that…you failed to notice Gaara-san's expression, and you managed to misinterpret Machiko-chan's respect for…what? Pity? Condescension? And you clearly don't know anything about Suna's fighting styles if you think that something like a missing limb is a handicap. Honestly physical strength is all well and good but there are other ways to win a fight. You'll learn that with a little more combat experience, Komugi-kun."

"And what exactly is your fighting style, then?"

I giggled loudly, "Ah now, now Komugi-kun…that would be telling. I'd hate to spoil the surprise."

He blinked, "What surprise?"

With a skip in my step, I cheerfully spoke, "Behave for the duration of your stay in Suna and you'll never have to find out!"

He was quiet for several moments after that. Long enough for me to get him away from the inn and into the market.

Despite how tight money was, some merchants still came to Suna to sell their wares. Others stopped by Suna on their way across the desert, using it as a chance to restock if they had to and to get a bit of rest off the road. They often sold a few things while they were in Suna, because it was always nice to make a profit.

The market was always a vibrant, lively place compared to the rest of Suna. People came from all over the village just to soak in the atmosphere…to smell the fresh food and to look at the jewelry, trinkets, clothing and fabric…and wish they had the money to buy it all.

I made sure to keep Komugi close, because the last thing I needed was to lose him in the crowd.

For a short while, no one noticed my presence in the market, but as time wore on and Komugi flitted from one stand to another, I began to feel their heavy gazes on my back, and my ears picked up on the snippets of conversation. The hateful words and the hissed rumours.

From time to time, Komugi would pause in his movements, and I didn't need to guess to know that he was being distracted by what he could hear the people saying.

"She's here!"

"I wish they'd just kill that thing already."

"Who's the boy with her? Does he know?"

"No- He's a foreigner. See the headband?"

"What's she doing with a shinobi from another village?"

"Telling him secrets, most likely. Traitorous bitch, just like her parents- they were missing nin, you know. People always seem to forget about that, but I don't. You can't trust any of them."

"Damn sheep should die! Listen to them threatening her, like they have any right!"

"Hush, all in good time. They'll see the error in their ways, just as we have. Remember, we once thought as poorly about her as they do."

I cast my gaze around the market, trying to spot the pair of Loved Ones I could hear in the crowd. It seemed like now that I was aware of them, they were popping up everywhere. I wasn't sure if it was because they knew I knew about them now, or if they had always been there, and I had just never noticed.

Something glinted brightly in the sunlight, making my attention turn towards the slightly-rundown looking stand next to the one we stood at. The awning was a faded blue-grey, and the edges were tattered and frayed. In some places, tears had been hastily sown back together. The polls that held the awning up were also in poor condition. Faded and weathered, the wooden sticks were severely splintered. Part of me marveled that the stand still stood.

A thin, elderly man with tired eyes stood behind the stall's table, watching me with eagle eyes. I gave a weak, polite smile before looking down at the wares he was selling. Necklaces, bracelets and earrings, all hand made.

Semi-precious stones and seashells glimmered on polished chains. Some gold, some silver, some copper…anything the man could get his hands on, it seemed. Amber, pearls, quart… it seemed like he had everything but rubies, emeralds, diamonds and sapphires here.

And it didn't look like he was getting many customers.

My eyes trailed back up to the man. He had pale, pale skin, his hair was long and grey with a reddish-brown tint- likely all that was left of his original hair colour, and his eyes were a piercing yellow. Eyes that were still locked on me.

Once again, I found myself looking away from him and back at the jewelry on the table. In particular, a set of amber stud earrings and beaded necklace seemed to draw my attention. Like my blood recognized that it and the amber were sorta the same thing.

I wasn't one for jewelry. It was frivolous and stupid. A waste of money- never mind the fact that I'd never have a chance to wear it, given that I was a ninja-

Unless I wore it to the temple.

It seemed like they would be dressing me up for that whenever I went there…maybe I could get them and wear them to that-

But money wasn't something I should be spending on something like jewelry. Food and water were more important.

"Geez, I guess all girls are attracted to shiny things, eh Aisako-chan?"

I looked up from the shiny amber stones to give Komugi a blank stare.

Honestly, I had forgotten he was there…up until he opened his fucking trap.

I didn't bother answering him and just focused my attention on not rolling my eyes.

"Anywaaaaayyyyssss!" He said once he realized I wasn't going to react, "I got snacks!"

He held up a paper bag, and I took it from his hands, peeking inside.

Pretending I wasn't looking for poison or hidden weapons or…anything that wasn't food, I grinned at some of his choices, "Fried tongue? Have you ever had any before? And- oh! Lizard! Yesssss. Good stuff."

"Wait- what's friend tongue? I thought that was beef!"

"It is beef." I giggled, but then stopped, "Or…I hope it's beef? Maybe it's camel or goat?"

Lime green eyes stared at me intently, "…You guys don't eat other people, right?"

I stared at him blankly once more. Did he really just accuse Suna of cannibalism? It'd be a funny joke if he didn't look like he was genuinely worried about it…

"Only on special holidays."

He stared at me in horror.

Unable to stop myself, I let myself snicker freely, "Komugi, buddy…of course we don't eat other people. We aren't that hungry just yet."

As we exited the market, I felt eyes on me once more. Turning to see who it was, I was surprised to see a friendly smile greeting me, rather than the expected scowl. It was one of the Loved Ones that I had met only a couple weeks ago, and likely one I had overheard earlier.

For the life of me, I couldn't remember her name, but I recognized her easily enough. A large scar ran from her hair line next to her left temple, down over her left eye before hooking towards her ear. Aside from the scar, she had a pleasant face and one of the friendliest smiles I had ever seen, both in this world and my previous one.

The Loved One eagerly walked up to me.

"Aisako-sama! It's an honour to see you!"

Komugi made a confused sound, and I heard him quietly repeat 'Aisako-sama'. No doubt he was recalling the way Machiko had called me the same back in the inn.

The Loved One held her hands out towards me, and it took me a second to realize she was holding something, "I noticed you were interested in these, and I wanted to get them for you."

I blinked as I took the necklace and earrings from her hands, recognizing them as the set I had been looking at in the market.

My eyes snapped back up to her beaming smile, and for some strange reason, panic bubbled up in my chest, making me flustered, "Ah you shouldn't have- You don't need to buy me things like this! These were much too expensive-"

She chuckled, "Relax Aisako-sama! I wanted to get them for you. The amber looks so nice with your eyes."

"But-"

"We're happy to finally be able to do things like this, Aisako-sama. It's a gift just being able to finally speak with you…let us spoil you like we've wanted to since you first came to this world."

I wasn't going to win this, was I? She really wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer.

I shifted awkwardly before shyly looking away, "Thank you for the gifts…would you help me put the necklace on?"

She cooed softly, but her expression showed just how happy she was with the request. She took the necklace from my hands and easily secured the copper chain around my neck. I put the earrings in as I thanked her once more.

Having done what she had set out to do, the Loved One nodded firmly before dismissing herself, "Now I'll let you get on with your outing, Aisako-sama. Thank you for accepting my gift, and I look forward to seeing you at the Temple again!"

I waved goodbye as she jogged away, feeling somewhat baffled, but happily surprised.

We began walking again, only for someone else to run over. I barely got a chance to look at the man before he placed a small box in my hands.

"Please accept my gift as well, Aisako-sama!"

A third Loved One appeared and placed several things on top of the box- a flower shaped hairclip, a delicate looking fan, a glass figurine.

"I give you my offerings as well, Aisako-sama."

And then both men were gone, leaving me even more confused than before.

It felt a bit like they were trying to compete with the first Loved One, or perhaps had simply seen her give me a gift and decided they needed to follow suit.

All in all I was sorta embarrassed, flattered and confused.

There was a long period of silence as Komugi and I made our way back to the inn. Finally, Komugi broke it by asking, "So…are you some sort of big deal or something? 'Cause like… that was weird."

I looked up from the pile of trinkets the Loved Ones had dropped into my hands, and stared blankly into his eyes for a moment, before I pulled on another Loved Child Smile™, "Well…some think I'm a demon, possessing a human child… other people in the village believe I'm a Being reborn into human flesh, meant to lead humanity by example into a life of kindness and love…but I'm really no one important."

Silence prevailed once more for the rest of the walk. Thank goodness. I liked Komugi much better when he wasn't talking, as it seemed.

Aside from price, there was another reason why this was the inn the quartet was sent to. This building was specially designed for spying. The walls and ceilings were all made to be just wide enough for a shinobi to hide, if need be. Seals and wards (shoddy as they were) were made to keep sounds out of rooms, but not in. A shinobi hiding in a ceiling could hear what was happening below…but the people inside the room wouldn't be able to hear the shinobi crawling around.

Carl-sensei decided that I would be hidden in the ceiling above the room. I couldn't fault him there. I was (unfortunately) the smallest in our group- I would be the most comfortable in that space. I had also trained for this sort of thing. It would be my job to assassinate anyone that threatened my Kazekage… and that meant spying on visiting shinobi and slitting their throats in their sleep if I had to.

So, while Gaara made himself comfortable in the hallway across from their door, Machiko found a suitable spot on the windowsill outside the bathroom (she'd easily be able to slide off it and stick, hidden, to the wall outside), and Carl-sensei hid himself on the balcony outside their room, I made my way to the broom closet at the end of the hall, were a narrow door was hidden. I walked sideways inside the wall, passing ladders with room numbers beside them until I found the one I needed. I climbed the ladder and slid into the ceiling above their room. A bit of wiggling and I positioned myself next to an outlined rectangle.

In case a shinobi needed to sneak (or bust) into a room, they could either lift the rectangle up or simply smash through it if stealth wasn't necessary. Inside the room, it was nearly impossible to detect that there was a movable panel in the ceiling.

Once I was as comfortable as I was going to get, I resigned myself to a long, long wait. If I was lucky, nothing could happen. If I was really, really lucky…something would happen.

Nothing did- well. Almost nothing.

At one point I heard Shiba get up from the table where he had been sitting guard- he had a weird breathing pattern were every fourth or fifth breath was a bit deeper than the rest, and when he walked his left foot scraped the ground (not in the way Zassō's feet dragged with every step like he was ready to drop dead-asleep any second)- and make his way to the door. I wasn't entirely sure what he was up to. At no point in the night had I hear any of them mention him leaving the room- in fact, Kama had repeatedly told the boys to 'stay in the damn room. We don't need a big player like Suna trying to kill us because you three got stir-crazy'.

I wanted to believe that she was being sincere there.

It didn't really matter what the quiet boy was up to. He opened the door leading to the hallway, yelped and slammed the door shut, jolting the other three in the room awake.

Kama then began yelling at the boy, Komugi started cussing up a storm, and Zassō quietly told Shiba "if I don't get a minimum of eight hours sleep tonight before we leave, I will not hesitate to kill you when we get home."

A few minutes later all of them had shut up and gone back to bed, this time with Kama standing guard.

Th time ticked by agonizingly slow.

I was relieved when the sun came up in the morning, and the four Grass-nin packed their shit up. Carl-sensei had promised us last night that we'd have today off after they left, and I really, really wanted to get some sleep before 'Sora' decided I needed another lesson.

The sun beat down harshly on my head, making my scalp uncomfortably warm under the thick mess of red hair. The burning ball of hate in the sky not only targeted me, but it also reflected off the grains of sand that formed the rolling dunes around the village walls. It made the landscape nearly unbearable to look at.

I had never been more thankful for makeup in my life than the days my team was assigned gate-watch. I'd have gone blind without the layer of kohl, liberally applied around my eyes. Plus the part of me that was still an edgy teen was immensely pleased.

A heavy, aggravated sigh burst from my lips as I took in the view. Not a traveler in sight. The biggest problem with gate duty was that nothing happened. For hours, and hours.

I didn't even have a minion in entertain me, as Machiko and Carl-sensei were inside the tiny office attached to the gate, where they were working on paperwork left over from the last shift- although I don't know what paperwork there could have been, given that no one came to Suna if they could avoid it.

So here I was with nothing to keep me occupied. Just me. The sand. The gate. And Gaara.

Gaara…who was like…2-3 meters away? Much to close. And I could feel his sand wiggling around. It would dance through the layers of my scarf, dangerously close to my throat. It would wind and trail its way under my sleeves to tug at and wiggle under the bandages I wrapped around my arms. I swear I could even feel it in my hair-

"Will you pleeeaaase stop touching me!" I hissed after what was probably 3 hours of silence, sun and bothersome sand. It had to be a fucking record, right? 3 hours was impressive! You try lasting three hours with him.

Emotionless, kohl-lined eyes turned to stare at me, "I'm not touching you."

"Yes you are!" my entire body shifted so I was fully facing him, and my face contorted into a look of disbelief. Was he serious? He was going to deny that his sand was currently trying to weave its way between my fingers? Under my bandages, around my neck, across my toes, through my hair? What the fuck?

"I am not."

"Are too!"

"Am not."

"Are FUCKING too!" My hands flew up into the air in frustration.

"Am…fucking not…?" His head tilted to the side as he tested out the profanity.

In an instant, my hands came down and instead covered my own mouth as I stared at the kid.

Gaara said a bad word.

Unable to stop myself, I let out a quiet little cooing sound from behind my hands.

They grew up so damn fast-

But not on my fucking watch! "Dude, watch your fucking language."

He gave a slow blink, confusion making his brow furrow, "But you just-"

"I'm not the eleven-year-old here, am I? Kids shouldn't cuss like that."

"You are a kid."

"No…remember the whole 'rebirth' discussion we had in the Alley with Sora-sensei? I'm not a kid."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not!"

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too."

"Am FUCKING not!"

We stood before the mission desk, awaiting our next D-rank. The chuunin at the desk had a smug smile on his face, like he was so very proud to have this chance. Like he thought he could give us a D-rank that would make us weep with despair. It was just a D-rank. We'd been at this for a month now. The little shit really had no reason to look so superior. He did know he didn't really have any power here…right?

"Ah! Team 44! I have just the right mission for you."

I stared blankly at him, waiting for him to get on with it already.

"You'll be sweeping the sand from doorways and store fronts around the village!"

Carl-sensei let out a loud snort, making the chunin's face contort into confusion.

"Had to give them an easy one, eh?"

Unable to stop myself, I exchanged looks with both Machiko and Gaara as we left the mission room. They did realize that this sort of mission really wasn't worth it…right? They were literally paying us for 3 seconds of work.

We walked the short distance from the mission room to the entrance of the Kazekage building. Not even bothering to leave the threshold, Gaara lifted a single hand. A great cloud of sand rose off the streets and came swooping towards us, like a flock of sparrows over a field. The cloud condensed as it drew closer and closer to us. Around us, I could hear the startled bleating of the Sheeple. The scattered from the streets to hide indoors, not even thinking for a second that the sand had nothing to do with them, and they had no reason to be scared.

Fully condensed, the once great cloud of sand formed a tight ball of sand, which hovered innocently in front of Gaara.

Again, we exchanged looks, before Machiko broke our increasingly awkward silence.

"What now?"

It was a good question. Gaara already had a full gourd of sand on him, and it wasn't like we could just…release the sand back into the village. That would just undo all 5 seconds of work it had taken for it to be gathered.

"Um. Good Question. Gaara? What do you want to do with it?"

"Throw it over the wall?" he suggested, pointing to the towering wall that loomed over our village.

I blinked at the wall, suddenly feeling very stupid. Which really shouldn't be a new experience for me, honestly. "Huh. Good idea."

It took another five seconds for the ball of sand to go careening over the wall like a low-flying comet.

With our mission done, we turned around, walked back into the mission room and approached the chuunin at the desk. I smiled pleasantly, "We've finished removing the sand from the storefronts. Pay up."

Hello, my darling readers~! I have arisen from the dead once more to give you another chapter of my weird-ass fic. Life, as always, has been a bit troublesome- I let my feelings come out of their 'little black fortress of doom' and they got brutally highland-danced-upon a couple months later...and then seasonal depression kicked in so I'm feeling a little...'bleh'...? I tried to keep working on this, and it'd been half-finished for a few months, but it wasn't until last week or so that I regained my ability to do things...and here's the end result!

Ai had a moment with her dad, Carl-sensei's already doing a better job than Kakashi did, Ai's taking training with 'Sora' a bit more seriously than normal, the Loved Ones are finally achieving their dreams of spoiling Ai rotten, and Ai and Gaara are...bonding? Or something. The fear has kinda been replaced by 'roar' and apparently neither of them are very mature- does this make Machiko the 'adult' in their group?...Nah. They're all children.

I'm not sure if I made it clear or not, but this chapter spans about a month of time...? I figured you guys won't mind if we start to pick up the pace a little bit?

Next chapter is defintiely gonna feature some more team bonding. Poor Carl...

The poll stands at:

Carl's POV: The Cuddly Cactus - 32

Sora's POV: A Successful Successor - 31

Shigeru's POV: Raised in Love - 6

Satoru's POV: Gods Rising All Around - 6

Sally Anne's POV: Witnessing Grand Theft Sanity - 4

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You guys are all amazing, thanks for sticking around so long despite the infrequent updates. Nothing makes me happier than hearing from you guys! Hopefully the next chapter comes out a bit sooner than this one did...