Desert Flower

A Reason to Exist

Three weeks have gone by since the Preliminaries. The last of the Chunin finals was going to start soon. Yuri had mastered walking on water but was still struggling with manipulating water to move. She panted, letting it drop into the river.

"I think it's time for a break." She spoke and walked back to land.

Yuri wondered how the others were doing with their training. The must be getting stronger as well. From overhearing a conversation with her father with another Leaf ninja, she heard that Naruto was in the hospital.

"He probably over trained himself." Yuri murmured before thinking. "Hmm, maybe I should go see him and visit Yukina at the hospital and see if Lee's improving."

Yuri headed to the hospital and walked in. She was surprised to find it completely empty and quiet and walked to the front desk. There was no one there as well.

"Maybe on lunch or something?" Yuri wondered and she signed in and looked at the rooms to find out where Lee and Yukina, Naruto was in. She headed down the hall and stopped by Naruto's room, opening the door. But he was in there. The bed was messy as if Naruto had been in a rush to get out.

"He better not training. He should be resting." Yuri frowned, wondering where he was. Then she started to head towards Yukina's room and opened the door. She saw Yukina sitting in her bed, silently staring out the window. She turned and her eyes widen a little when she saw Yuri when she walked in. Yuri smiled at her.

"Hello."

Yukina grabbed a notepad and a pen and wrote on it. Yuri walked over to see what she wrote.

"Why did you come to see me?"

"I wanted to see how you were. You did lose a lot of blood, if I had known that you were anemic, I wouldn't have done it." Yuri spoke and grinned. "But that was some good acting."

Yukina bit her lip, blushing a little.

"So, what are you going to do when you get back home once the Chunin exams are over?" Yuri asked her. Yukina's eye widen a little before they dropped a little. Yuri noticed.

"Is there something wrong?"

Yukina wrote again in her notepad and showed it to Yuri.

"My parents abandoned me when was little when I found out that I was disabled. I have no one. It was Orochimaru who found me and helped me with my gift."

"Your whistling?" Yuri questioned. Yukina nodded.

"He helped me make it stronger and not just me the others as well."

"The other sound ninjas that attacked us?" Yuri frowned, asking her.

"I'm sorry." Yukina wrote. Yuri's eyes widen and she shook her head.

"You have nothing to apologize for. I'm mad at them, not you! You didn't want to have a part in the exams!" Yuri quickly told her. "But what are you going to do now? Won't they be angry at you if you returned?"

What Yukina wrote next made Yuri's blood run cold.

"I would be killed."

"Y-You could defect and move to the Leaf. You can stay with me for a bit until we can figure out your living conditions." Yuri spoke, rubbing the back of her head. Yukina's eyes widen a little and she quickly wrote something.

"Why are you being nice to me? I'm a shinobi from another village. I'm your enemy."

"I-I don't know. I guess I get what you're coming from. I'm from two different villages and I'm still trying to figure out where I belong. But you're not my enemy. You're my friend." Yuri told her. Yukina's eyes widen and she made a small smile.