Kakashi's Kid (Naruto fanfic Completed)

Seeing the Kazekage and siblings again

Waking up the next morning, I sensed that one of us were missing by the amount of chakra I sensed. Who was missing and why? Jumping up, I glanced over to Gareth's tree to see him still sleeping peacefully, then looked to Talia's to notice that she wasn't there and neither was any sign of her.
"Gareth!" I exclaimed, my voice authoritive and full of warning. He woke up immediately, eyes flying open and scanning the area before noticing the same thing I did. Talia's gone. "Let's go." With that we were off and leaping from tree to tree in our search for the baka.

We had been searching for over an hour and I was beginning to panic. Gareth was also becoming concerned as Talia was rarely ever gone for this long no matter what she was doing. Our minds were put at ease however when we heard a rather loud voice shouting at someone or something. Appearing at the scene, we looked around but saw no-one except Talia standing in the open area.
"Talia? Who were you shouting at?" Gareth asked warily, worrying for Talia's mentality.
"Oh! Hey guys! I was shouting at that tree over there. It made me bump into it." She grinned, gesturing to a tree that had a kunai buried into it.
"What in the hell were you doing? Disappearing like that?" I demanded, my voice strict. Talia's happy expression faltered before it evened back out to a smile.
"What? I wasn't gone for that long......." She defended herself.
"Whatever. We've got to go. We're almost to the Hidden Village of the Sand." I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck in annoyance. "Let's go."

It didn't take us long to reach the edge of the sand area that Temari had taken my former team before. Hopefully there would be no sand storm this time and no cramped caves...... We immediately got to running across the sand to try to reach our destination faster. I couldn't be asked to deal with any hassle after Talia's stunt this morning.

It took half a day to reach the Hidden Village of the Sand. We were halted by some guards before they realised who we were by the Konoha forehead protectors. They took us to go see their Hokage and as we walked through the area, people turned to stare at the intruders. Some seemed to recognise me from the last time I was here as I was greeted by them with smiles while others watched us warily, their gazes switching from our katanas to our eyes. Arriving at the office, the guards knocked and we were called to enter. Gaara was sat behind his desk with Temari and Kankuro standing of each side.
"Tsukiko?" Temari smiled in surprise. "You're back already?"
"Back to spend more time in our hospital?" Kankuro teased, a smirk on his lips but I could see the thankfulness for what I did in his eyes. Even Gaara was watching me softly.
"Welcome Tsukiko and team. What is it you need here?" Gaara asked, falling into Kazekage mode.
"We've heard that people who are after us have come to your village. Have you heard of any disturbances?" I asked, my voice professional.
"After you? Why?" Temari asked curiously, scanning over the two behind me.
"Men who had us captured for three years were killed by the three of us as we let everyone escape. Seems like their friends are coming after us for revenge." Gareth informed them, not seeming intimidated by the Kazekage and his siblings.
"You had been captured?" Realisation seemed to sink in to Gaara as his eyes widened. "That was why you didn't show up for the chunin exams." Nodding to his statement, all three of their eyes widened in realisation and Temari's showed some sadness. They'd softened up to me quite a bit it would seem......
"It's no big deal. We're just here to...... deal.... with the upcoming threat. Can we expect information to be given to us if it appears?" I questioned, getting to the point of everything. No need to worry about the past. The past was just that...... the past. It didn't need to be dwelled upon.
"Of course. We will give you our assistance. Feel free to stay in our village until information comes through." Gaara replied. "Temari? Would you mind showing them to where they can stay?"
"Of course Kazekage." She bowed respectfully to her brother before gesturing for us to follow her out of the office.

She led us along a couple streets until we reached a hotel. Nothing was said when we entered but immediately the hotel owner gave her three keys for some rooms. One was given to Gareth, one to Talia and one to me. We would have separate rooms which suited us just fine as it meant more privacy and more time to do what we wished. The other retreated into their rooms with an excited look on their faces while Temari followed me into mine.
"I want to thank you, again, for what you did for my brother. Well, for both of them." Temari spoke up quietly, a soft smile on her face. Turning to her, I gave her a shrug and a smile.
"It's no problem. We're friends here right?" I replied softly, letting my tough facade down now I was in the company of a friend and myself.
"Don't be offended but those two friends of yours....... Something unsettles me about them." Temari's expression hardened slightly as she glanced to the door and back to me with wariness evident in her eyes.
"Oh? How so?" I asked with a smirk.
"All three of you have a certain aura about you, almost like my brother used to have. One that knows how to kill and thrives off of it. You also have a softer side which I have seen, especially with your team. But the other two, something about them makes them feel untrustworthy. The male seems less so but the female?......... Something tells me not to trust her, I just thought I'd let you know in case anything happens." She explained, making me think about her words. It was true that I understood what she was on about. Though, Gareth and Talia being untrustworthy? That I wasn't so sure of. After all, we had experienced that hell together and gotten through it together. What could there possibly be not to trust about them?........ "I hope I haven't offended you or upset you in any way."
"Hm? Oh, no it's fine. It's true that all three of us know how to kill and in a sense thrive off of it. You see, that's how we were raised in that place. We were their assassins and loyal dogs. Until we turned on them that was....." I smirked, a dark chuckle slipping through my lips. "But I will keep your words in mind, thank you for your concern." My dark expression turned into a soft one in 0.5 seconds and it seemed to confuse Temari.
"Please excuse me, but I've got to get back. Oh, and if Kankuro teases you too much. Just let him know who's boss." She winked, letting herself out. Laughing to myself, I turned to stare out of the window at the view below. We were on the 5th floor so we were kind of high up and could see a lot from where we were. As I gazed down, I noticed all of the happy citizens wandering around. It was almost like Konoha except for all the sand and the clothing. It was nice here..... We couldn't let those assholes ruin the area just for revenge on us.....

I had been napping in my hotel room when there was a knock at the door. Walking over, I pulled the door open to reveal Gareth and Kankuro.
"Do you know where Talia is? She's not in her room." Gareth sighed.
"She's missing again?" I exclaimed, becoming irritated by our friend and teammate. "Forget it. She'll turn up at some point, she always does. Troublesome girl."
"You sound like that Nara boy." Kankuro mused, smirking slightly.
"You mean Shikamaru? Hasn't your sister got a thing for him?" I smirked back, feeling amused when I saw the irritated look cross onto his face.
"Why the hell would she have a thing for that lazy guy?" He spat, clearly not keen on Shikamaru now that I'd said that to him. Laughing, I flicked him on the forehead. Seems like it was harder than I thought as he brought his hands up and started complaining. "What was that for?"
"Nothing......." I sang tauntingly. Gareth watched amused as his gaze flickered between us.
"Oh yeah..... Didn't you want to ask her something?........." Gareth chuckled.
"Um...... Gaara wanted to talk to you but he's busy at the moment so um...... do you want to get something to eat?" He asked in a sulking tone.
"Hm..... Something to eat with a guy who's not my boyfriend Kiba...... Meh. Suppose so." I shrugged, not caring. It didn't mean anything so who gives a crap?
"It's only a thank you dinner. I've already got a girl in mind." He smirked, seeming proud of himself.
"There's a girl who wants to go out with a guy who looks like a clown?" I gasped dramatically, a hand to the forehead and chest like I was about to pass out. "Oh my!" Gareth laughed quietly besides us before retreating to his room in case things got out of hand.
"Shut up!" He snapped, turning and storming off. Chuckling to myself, I locked up and followed after him. Baka Kankuro, too easily riled up.

Dinner turned out to be at a ramen shop so I was pretty happy with it. Though Kankuro wasn't too happy after I'd ordered four bowls of it while he ordered one. I'd picked up on my eating habits from Naruto..... Woops......
"What did Gaara want to talk to me about anyway?" I asked suddenly. He looked around uncertainly before turning to me.
"We've found out some stuff and I didn't want to say anything in front of your friend." He informed me, still keeping the information to himself. This made me become alert. What could be so important that it had to be kept quiet behind Talia and Gareth's back? "You'll find out later. Glancing at the clock on the wall, Kankuro sighed and stood up, paying for our dinner. "Come on. He should be free by now."

Arriving at the Kazekage's office, we entered in straight away without knocking, and saw Temari, Gaara and some other dude who seemed to be a touch ninja. What was going on exactly?
"Does anyone wanna explain why only I was called?" I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning against a wall. Gaara gestured for the ninja dude to speak up so he turned to me warily.
"We've found out that there are people in the village who have something to do with that group that's after you. One of the informants for them was seen conversing with your friend earlier and so we thought we'd tell you when you're alone." Upon his words, I froze. What? One of my friends? Conversing with those assholes informant? They had to be wrong.
"I think you were hallucinating. My team wouldn't be talking to their informants at all. We're here to kill them, not to talk to them." I bit out in defense.
"We were not hallucinating. It happened. The group coming after you is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. See for yourself then if your friends on your side or not." He snapped at me, clearly not liking being challenged or questioned. I was about to retort but Gaara gave me a stern look telling me not to. Leaving it for now, I looked down at the ground in anger.
"We will meet you tomorrow and you can see for yourself what occurs. If we were wrong then we shall apologise to you and your suspected friend. But if we weren't....... then it must be dealt with." Gaara explained, his eyes sympathetic towards me.
"Fine. Thank you for this information." I replied emotionless, turning and storming out of the room. They would be proven wrong! They just had to be! My friends were not traitors!

So what do you think? Innocent? Guilty? What will Tsukiko do? You'll find out in the next chapter ;P - Emii x