Mixing of Snow and Sand

Chapter 35: Surprise Attack

Within several days I was cleared by Lady Tsunade to travel. Temari and Kankuro were very protective of Gaara seeing as he was the new Kazekage. Though no one other than Lady Tsunade knew. 

"So you guys are heading out?" Sakura smiled at us. She was standing there with Naruto, Lee, Kakashi, and Shikamaru. 

"Yeah, we have a long trip ahead of us." I stated. 

"Have a safe trip, don't over work yourself." Kakashi smiled underneath his mask. 

"Yeah, yeah. Trust me I have three people who wouldn't dream of it." I joked as Gaara and the others chuckled behind me. 

"Well, I would love to stay and chat but Lady Hokage has requested my presence." He started. 

"Give her my thanks once again." I smiled as he vanished. 

"Kakashi-sensai..." Naruto groaned. 

"Leave him be." I chuckled. "He may not seem like it but he really is a good father. He told me plenty about my mother these past couple of days. It was refreshing, learning about her for the first time." 

"For the first time? I thought your mother passed away when you were five?" Sakura asked. 

"She did, but I hardly knew anything about her. She wasn't the most open of individuals." I gave a half-chuckle. 

"Oh...I'm sorry..." She bowed when she realized what she said. 

"No, no please don't apologize. Sure if this was a year ago, I probably would have been upset. But I know now that my mother would want me to move on and be happy with the life I have before me. Learning about her from my father really does give me a breath of fresh air." I smiled. 

"Well I really should be thanking you guys for teaching more at the academy, I swear things feel like they'll never get back to normal." Shikamaru muttered, his hands in his pockets. 

"Don't worry about it. I love kids, I may not have been the most popular when I was a kid, but the kids in the academy in the sand village love having me come by to teach them." I smirked. 

"We all are more than happy to see the progress of the future of the Leaf Village." Temari stated. 

"Temari, Mia we should probably get going sooner rather than later." Kankuro placed a hand on both of our shoulders. 

"Okay dad." We both stated and walked past him towards Gaara, who was trying not to laugh.

"Take care of yourselves!" Naruto waved with the rest of them. I waved back.

"You too!" 

~

Several hours had passed and we were all quietly walking. Gaara was beside Kankuro and I was a little farther back, honing my senses around us to make sure no one was following us. Temari was up in the trees scouting ahead. 

Mia...

What's up Shei?

Below us.

"Kankuro, Gaara! Up!" I jumped up with them into the trees, Temari immediately back at our sides. The ground underneath where we had been standing exploded revealing two ninja. Though their headbands were different and had a line scratched across the emblem of their villages.

"You guys are with Itachi and Kisame." I stated when I noticed the familiar garbs. 

"So you know Itachi and Kisame...right you're Haku's sister." Hearing Haku's name still filled me with a sense of sadness.