Ai Saikuro

Chapter Thirteen

My eye twitched harshly (I'm getting the feeling this will become a regular occurrence). The scene below me both greatly disturbed me and angered me. Here was two sand nins holding a very scared Konohamaru by his scarf while a certain neon orange clad genin hollered threats toward them and a pinked haired girl stood uselessly to the side, behind the one in orange.

I reached my hand out and shot a series of good sized rocks at the male puppet user's hand. He dropped the boy and I appeared, catching him and allowing him to cling to me, sobbing.

My face was blank and I turned to Naruto. "I can't even leave for one mission without you nearly getting yourself or someone else killed, can I?"

He smiled sheepishly.

I tilted my head towards the sand ninja. "It isn't very polite to come into someone else's village and pick on their children. Especially when they're the grandson of the Hokage."

They stood stalk still, remaining in shock about my entrance and my words. I don't break my emotionless facade but I smirked mentally at the long awaited silence I was getting, with the idiots I was surrounded with it didn't happen that often.

The boy in the cat-suit had to disturb my peace however, when he decided he wasn't all that shocked and begun glaring at my person. It wasn't all that scary, though the blond and the pinkette flinched.

I didn't react but stared at him, bored. He put a hand on the puppet he held on his back and I glanced up, watching the clouds. Was it smart to ignore everyone? Perhaps not but I wasn't threatened at the moment.

"You're not going to use it are you?" The friend of the cat asked. They both were strange, the girl had four ponytails and the guy wore make-up but then again they were from the Hidden Village in the Sand.

"Kankuro, you're an embarrassment to our village." My lips twitched slightly as glanced at the tree where a familiar red headed boy hung with a deadly expression on his face.

Sakura and Naruto jumped, just noticing the sand boy and as a result, the silent Sasuke that took perch at opposite places in the tree. I released a soundless sigh and glanced up at the two tree dwellers.

"It seems a little over dramatic to just stay up in that tree staring at us, don't you think?" I mumbled sarcastically.

Konkuro and the blond panicked noticeably; it seemed they were frightened of the red head and rightfully so, it seemed. Sakuro swooned at Sasuke as usual and I'm positive that Naruto pouted at being out done by his supposed rival. To be honest, this whole situation was a little to anticlimactic in my opinion. I knew Gaara wasn't going to kill anyone yet; whoopee, we met someone more powerful than the rest of my squad! I don't think anyone here understood that while the hated boy was very powerful and haunting, there were much more frightening foes to come across in this world.

"I've got better things to do than stand here waiting for you morons to break your staring contest." I broke in quietly.

Naruto gave me an annoyed look, sweat-dropping, while the others simply looked at me. Gaara and Sasuke finally continued our pathetic squabble (if you could even call it that much) by phasing out and reappearing by their respective sides. I vanished to the back of our group, letting the pretty boy take over and handle the situation. I debated on just going about my business but there was still one thing that intrigued me. How is it that this was the same boy I'd met years ago?

I was nearly positive this was the same red-head I'd met in Suna when I was still young; the same boy who cried at the cruel things kids said to him. The same boy I'd protected for several months. My only guess was that something traumatic happened that made him hardened or all he'd been through simply made him tougher through the years. It didn't really matter much, I suppose, but contrary to popular belief, I did hold attachments to some people and that little boy with the teddy-bear and the big innocent eyes was one of them.

The team began walking away and Sakura called them, desperately trying to make up for her freezing at the initial sight of danger. "Wait your headbands say you're from The Hidden Village of the Sand! Even though  Suna and the Leaf are allies you still need permission to enter our village!"

I flicked my eyes toward my team; did they not know anything? The Chunin exams should be coming up! I'm pretty sure even the academy students knew about that! Besides that tiny little detail, what did that girl think she would be able to do to stop them if they weren't suppose to be here? I rolled my eyes silently, feeling much like a babysitter to my 'team' than an actual team member. It was definitely one of those times I felt terribly sorry for our Sensei.

"What? Do you live in a hole or something? We're here for the Chunin exams!" The blonde haired girl haired sand nin expressed, annoyed at being interrupted from making a dramatic exit, no doubt.

"Chunin exams?!" Naruto scratched his head and regained his normal composure. "That sounds awesome! Wait...what are the Chunin exams?"

I closed my eyes in defeat, again, and obviously not for the last time. I let out a puff of air and questioned myself yet agian why I didn't just leave. Not just this little squabble but the entire village. I yet again reminded myself that I had too much love for my home to betray it. I tuned everything out until the confrontation was nearly over and my ears picked up on something of possible importance.

"Hey you!" Sasuke said in his usual monotone that didn't seem fit for the attention grabbing yell he was going for.

"Who me?" The pony tail girl asked, batting her eyelashes annoyingly.

"No, you, with the gaurd on your back." Gaara turned his head toward him, signaling him to continue.

"What's your name?"

"Gaara of the Desert." He paused. "And I'm curious about you and that girl in the back with the black hair."

"I am Sasuke Uchiha." The boy answered darkly causing everyone to look at me, wondering how I would respond.

I felt a smirk crawl onto my face as I felt everyone's eyes. "Ai Saikuro, or I'm more commonly known as Junsuinaito or Tenshinokage ."

It was quiet.

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A/N: There, don't know if I'd call it my best work but I think it came out fairly decent. Tell me what you think? PS: This is extraordinarily late and for that I sincerely apologize. Thank you guys for being patient and awesome. :)