Naruto 1. Smile

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't own Naruto; it belongs to Kishimoto Masashi-sensei. Damn him for killing all the good characters._

**_Note_**_: Okay, so after posting this like… six years ago, MS is getting a revamp! I'm still using the same general contents as the original version, but hopefully I'll make it a better read while I'm rewriting it. This story actually had more support than I thought it did when I looked, and I'm so happy to know that all of ya'll support this story despite the OC pairing. 3 Hope you enjoy!_

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_**Misty Sunsets** _

_20FacesChizu_

**Chapter 1—Smile**

It was nearly incomprehensible.

A Konoha genin stood before him, smiling brightly and holding out the papers she had knocked from his hand. Whether she picked the fight herself or not he wasn't sure, but two of his chuunin—both at least twice her size—had apparently taken up that challenge with a childishly unbecoming zeal. One had sent her reeling right into him, and now the foolish man was turning an unhealthy shade of white.

"My apologies, Kazekage-sama. I suppose I should be more careful _where_ I pick my fights," she said lightly, laughing it off. He took the papers she offered him cautiously, observing the three of them in turn. The two chuunin were becoming ever more mortified as they reviewed their behavior, as though he would strike them dead for hitting her. He would not deny the possibility of punishment, but for the moment his attention was drawn elsewhere. Gaara hadn't seen a look like that since… Naruto, he supposed, though it was different from the smiling face his friend showed him. It was bright and sweet, and completely open to him in an innocent way. He still couldn't understand the few that never once showed fear towards him, and now she was added to that short (yet steadily growing) list. She knew he was the Kazekage, and therefore one could naturally assume she knew he was a Jinchuuriki. He was almost disappointed when her face fell; her eyes looked up at him innocently, a strange, pale red—not pink, but as though the red had faded out after a long time—and addressed him again. "Kazekage-sama? Are you angry with me?"

He shook himself back to reality. "No."

The smile she showed him was brilliant, and it was as though she genuinely meant it. He decided she was a rare beast; the kind that knows no fear, or ignores it when she sees it. The thought that her understanding of fear might be weak made him a little irritated—if she knew, understood and hadn't _cared_… that would have made him feel better, he was sure. She casually checked around for more papers before her strange eyes returned to his, her cheerful visage apparently a permanent fixture even in his presence.

"Good! I'd hate to cause trouble on my first mission to Suna. I'm supposed to be the good child, after all," she piped cheerfully, adjusting her kimono a bit to cover more of the shiraishi that showed above the loose neck. It surprised him a bit when she turned a sly, insinuating look to the men she'd been fighting with, their faces going impossibly paler as she addressed them, saying, "Now behave yourselves, gentlemen. Don't make me come back here, y'know?"

The slightly devious expression disappeared without a trace as she turned back to Gaara, shocking him as she began to push him in the direction of a little restaurant stall down the street. His protective sand didn't budge; it wriggled uneasily, which the former Jinchuuriki found extremely disconcerting, but it did not rise to remove her from his personal space. Despite his distraction, he heard her clear voice quip something about repayment for damages to his paper, person and schedule together with mention of a good bowl of hiyashi soba, and sure enough she parked him—purposefully pushing him in to a seat where only _she_ could sit next to him—at the soba stand he'd been hearing much about lately. The popularity of the stand meant little to him, as likely she had no idea about it's many good rumors, but the way she presumptuously occupied the seat next to him without so much as a by-your-leave was certainly a new experience. She chattered aimlessly about the weather, the beauty of his village, her excitement about the different climate she had never experienced before, and other mundane topics, giving him a chance to look her over.

The first thing he had laid eyes on was her forehead protector, worn frivolously around her neck like a choker and tied in a fluffy bow at her nape, the deep red fabric a shock of color against her expanse of oddly deep-colored skin. She certainly wasn't originally from Fire Country with that complexion. Her hair was a shock of corn silk blonde, long and fluffy and barely held up in a precarious-looking ponytail. Wild bangs framed her small, expressive face, which held not a scrap of makeup… he observed her slightly chapped lips with curiosity, wondering why she hadn't done anything about them.

It was while observing those lips that he noticed the white line of a scar tracking down her chin. It traveled upwards at an angle over her nose and eye to her right brow, and down her chin, skipping and picking up on her left collarbone. It was jagged and feathered along the edges, an effect clearly left over from some jutsu. Despite her rank as a genin, something drastic had apparently happened; the fact placed a niggling curiosity in the back of his mind. Little scars that netted across her skin were the marks of her profession, but that scar alone said more about her skill than any report he could dig up. The middle-aged man that owned the shop finally served up their food, and he realized that he'd been staring despite himself. The young woman smiled at him guilelessly, head quirking to the side as, for once, she _wordlessly_ asked him what he was thinking.

"May I ask your name?" he tried, not really sure what to ask when he had many questions that needed answering. She snickered as if he said something funny.

"_May_ you? Of course you can ask my name, Kazekage-sama; why ask if you can ask?" she quipped, attempting to control the fit of giggles and only being half successful. "My name is Yuruse Fuhennori. Call me Fu if you like; that's what my brother does. Says it's because I got Mama's pretty voice, but I think he's being sarcastic."

Gaara felt the need to disagree with that; her voice was quite nice. Neither high nor low, it held a certain strength to it that had nothing to do with how loudly or softly she spoke. It wasn't the particular tone that made it special—likely she would be perfect for undercover missions, since her neither her voice nor speech patterns were especially recognizable—but rather her personality that seemed to give it an unexpected solidarity. He face screwed into a childishly sour expression as she mentioned her brother's words, but she was smiling again a second later. Her ever-changing expressions were certainly a sight, he decided, and this meeting worth any headache he received later over being behind.

"I'm fourteen, and before you ask I graduated at the same time as everybody else! Our sensei, Mitarashi Anko, just decided she wanted to teach us a butt load of her special jutsu before turning us loose to wreak havoc," Fuhennori continued, sulking and smiling at the same time. "I have every intention of forcing her to let us take the Chuunin Exams this time. I'm tired of waiting."

They finished their food, and again he found himself simply listening to her prattle on without a care, telling him about a mission or two she enjoyed and some of the pranks she and her teammates had pulled. Fuhennori had a quirky sense of humor, and the gags (other than those pulled by her male teammate) and all been quite imaginative. As she'd originally planned, the girl didn't let him pay a dime—which unexpectedly made him quite uncomfortable—but despite his belief that she would go her own way after the meal, Fu continued to walk by his side and talk incessantly about anything she thought of.

"Kazekage-sama is only 16, right? You're so young! I'm sure you're the youngest Kage ever; it's definitely a testament to your skills—"

"Fu! Damn it all, Fu, where have you been?"

The voice that rang through the air, calling her name, obviously set a chill crawling down the girl's spine as she stiffened and grimaced, glancing up at a lone figure that suddenly came barreling down from the top of a nearby building. Gaara glanced at the approaching figure—a young man a few years or so older than himself—and then trained his eyes on an obviously resigned Fu.

"What the hell have you been doing? We were supposed to meet up over an hour ago! This is a mission, you dunderhead; just because I'm not Mitarashi-senpai doesn't mean you don't have to listen to me!" he grouched, looming over her menacingly. "I've got a lot of people counting on me to keep an eye on you, dammit, and if you run off again I swear I'll tie you up like a bagworm and haul you home tied to my pack with the rest of the camping equipment."

She made a sour face, sticking her tongue out rebelliously. "You're overreacting, Niisan. I haven't gone anywhere or done anything that you should worry about."

"Tell me you realize that if something happens the Godaime, your sensei and both our parents will take turns tanning my hide. Just lemme know you understand that," he growled, arms crossed and fingers tapping impatiently on a muscular arm. With a deep breath and a completely unnatural about-face, he met Gaara's questioning and observant gaze with a completely fake smile, bowing apologetically while saying, "Please excuse my little sister's rudeness, Kazekage-sama. I'll be absolutely sure to keep a close eye on her from here out. Please forgive her insolence."

"…Niisan, I think the insolent one here might be _you_, just saying," she muttered begrudgingly. "I bumped in to Kazekage-sama when a couple of testosterone-driven idiots gave me a hard time and shoved me in to him; being the well-bred daughter I am, I took him out to lunch as an apology. There, aren't I awesome? For the sake of my highly-valued insanity, please calm down."

Toya proceeded to read her the riot act while giving what looked to be a very painful noogie. Fu complained loudly and childishly, attempting in vain to escape. It was the sort of domestic scene that Gaara wasn't accustomed to, at least not within his immediate range… and certainly not over his person. He felt his eyes softening on them, a small bit of affection developing for the pair as he observed them. In a split second, surprising both the men in the process, Fu escaped the headlock her brother shackled her with and took a few prancing steps away, turning on the two of them with the _look of doom_, which was only a proper woman's weapon.

Puppy eyes on full blast, she whimpered, "Oniisama, I haven't done a thing at all! If I talk to Mama and Daddy, I swear I'll make it all better!"

The _look_ came accompanied with a trembling bottom lip and her hands posed cutely before her chest as if she really _were_ just so timid as that, and her eyes looked big and glassy and were slightly down-cast… and true to the nature of the beast, her brother's outrage withered away to nothing in an instant. Gaara was mildly amused at his expense as the elder sibling now fumbled for the proper response that was needed, only to fail and slump over, begging her pathetically, "Fine. Fine! I forgive you already, so spare me the face, dammit."

He remembered similar feelings towards Temari over the last year or so since they'd become closer… and a smile quirked his lips just the tiniest bit in sympathy. Like Toya, Kankuro was also the type to fold easily; their faces of having given up were just alike. Fuhennori, satisfied that her brother had now been brought (proverbially) to his knees, turned her acting skills on the unsuspecting Kage with the sort of subtle zeal that only a little sister can manage. Her expression shy, she smiled a bit and traced the indent left by the scar on her bottom lip, one sandaled toe tentatively digging into the ground as she lifted her eyes to his, no doubt using the sweetest voice she could manage.

"Would Kazekage-sama… I mean, will you watch for me at the Chuunin Exams, Gaara-sama?"

Despite his best efforts, Gaara felt floored at the sound of his name from her mouth. Toya looked absolutely scandalized, his jaw dropping open, eyes impossibly wide, face going so white it looked blue in the harsh Wind Country sun. However, before the young man could gather himself together and head off on another tirade, the redhead found himself answering with a short, hesitant nod.

That was all it took for her to drop the act, her true character shining through like a brilliant light as she smiled at him. She started to fidget, threatening to turn away only to turn back, bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet, fingers clenching and unclenching in excitement as if she couldn't quite figure out what to do with the overflow of joy. The elder sibling was just about to pull himself together; if she were going to do or say anything else, she would have to be quick about it. Toya would likely go off on her to such an extent that she would be hearing it for hours afterwards. When she finally decided what to do with herself, neither of the boys could comprehend it; she reached out softly and embraced him in all sincerity.

Her touch was so soft; it was like she thought he would break under the smallest pressure. It was just the tiniest bit timid, as if she worried he would shove her away, but it felt overwhelmingly of delight, of pure pleasure in his answer. That small touch, so full of emotion that _he_ had given her, returned an overwhelming about of affection to him. She only held him like that, barely a few seconds, barely touching him at all, but he felt such an overwhelming affection from her small body that he became at a complete loss for what to do in return.

Any reaction time was denied him however, as she pulled away and gave another dazzling and somehow unreadable smile, her upbeat attitude back in place without a hitch.

"Then I'll see you there, Kazekage-sama!"

She was back to calling him by title instead of name. It almost disappointed him, but he allowed her to grab the back of her brother's shirt and haul him off, disappearing down the street without another word.

Some time later, in the motel room where their team was staying, Fu was forced to sit properly on the floor and listen to her brother rant again. He accused her of impropriety, insanity, and even of idiocy as she listened long-sufferingly from the floor, his dark blue eyes trained on her with the utmost irritation. After having met the Academy students that were going to be escorted to Konoha for special study programs, debriefing them on rules and responsibilities and deciding departure time for the next day, Toya had taken his turn to drag the semi-resigned Fuhennori back to their room for the next round of lectures.

"I told you, Niisan, I bumped in to him and was properly apologizing." The 6' 1" Yuruse Toya glared down at his little sister from behind a curtain of brown bangs, pulling up to his full height in an unconscious attempt to further intimidate her. Noticing the look, she put her hands up in defeat, looking to end the lecture early instead of extending it far into the night. "Yes, yes. I get it. I need to be more respectful because he's the Kazekage and I'm just a lowly foreign genin."

"As long as you understand."

He really was a good big brother; despite his tendency to lecture her like a second mother or an extremely nosy aunt, Toya was always looking out for her best interests. In this case, her desires were conflicting with courtesy to foreign figures of importance, so his reprimand wasn't undeserved… but she still wished he would honestly listen to her.

"I really want him to come though. Kazekage-sama… he's really nice you know. This afternoon I didn't know what to do and just kept yakking away trying to fill the silence, but he listened to me honestly. He even asked my name, y'know!" she reasoned, pouting a little and somewhat avoiding his eyes. "I've taken a liking to him, y'know…"

Toya flopped to the floor in front of her, exasperated and exhausted, and ruffled her hair carelessly.

"I know. I'm sure it's fine; he didn't seem to mind your antics too badly, so I'll let it go this time," he muttered. "I'll take it out of your backside the next time though. Clear?"

"If you say so, oniisama~."

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**AN: Le first revamp update! OSHA! XD This story's chapter number is steadily going doooown... since I'm getting a minimum of two chapters into one. It's totally worth it. XD I hope ya'll who actually remember this story will enjoy the vast improvement~.  
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	2. Bloody Wind Blowing

**Chapter 2—Bloody Winds Blowing**

"_No-ji-ko-chaaan_…"

The little Suna Academy student looked over her shoulder with a sense of dread, fully aware that she'd been caught. The young man looming over her there was a tall, thick, angry escort that was tired of having to keep track of her every time she got separated from the rest of the group.

"Yoh-san…"

With a slap to the back of the head, he sent her back to her classmates, still walking on ahead in the sparse vegetation that came with the borderlands between Wind and Fire. Ookawa Yoh huffed, running his fingers back through the short knap of his hair as he eventually strode forward again, keeping his eyes on the sizeable group of children they were monitoring. He tugged uncomfortably at the collar of his cheongsam, feeling unbearably hot despite the lack of sleeves on his arms and the somewhat merciful cloud cover overhead. Team 3 was currently escorting the group of exchange students slowly but steadily towards Konoha… but the slow part was what killed him the most. Fu was off scouting, and Toya was following her chakra signature to lead their group at the slower pace the young ones could keep up with.

At the back of the group, their other teammate, Hakumei, walked elegantly behind the gaggle of awkward brats. Yoh observed her quietly for a minute, making sure she was okay before resuming his post somewhere near the middle of the messy two-by-two formation they were attempting to enforce. The four teachers for each of the classes helped keep things together, but 38 students from six to ten was still a pain in the ass to manage. Yoh listened to Hakumei quietly reprimand an ill-behaved boy near her, and decided he would have a talk with the kid later; the brat had been a pain her side all day long, and he was going to get an earful when they stopped for camp that night.

The boy's eyes slid over the surrounding growth; the trees were sparse and crooked, intermingled with low grasses and scrubby bushes, but they would be hitting the first vast sea of trees in just a few hours' time. In the low growth of the savannah, there were very few places for an enemy to hide unless they were quite familiar with the terrain, but he still kept himself well aware of the surroundings as they moved. He consciously drowned out the voices of the children, listening only to the wilderness, making sure there were no signs of any outside persons before turning back and observing their herd of toddlers again.

A tiny, uneasy part of him couldn't wait for Fu to get back and take a load off his mind.

000

Fuhennori was convinced she didn't want children.

The incessant chatter, squeals, giggles and bickering were eating away at her sanity after two days. Mothers were her new heroes for their sheer ability to handle it at all. She would've blown a gasket if she stayed with them much longer, so she silently thanked Toya in her head for the excuse to get away. Thankfully, Suna was planning to escort their students back personally; it was one less headache, but also one less paycheck. It made her mournfully consider the number of missions she would have to accept afterwards to help pay for her brother's up-and-coming birthday present.

She envied Toya's sheer _ability _with weaponry; despite her best efforts, Fu couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with anything she had to throw. She almost _had_ failed Academy just from the complete inability to use weaponry; it was a godsend that her ninjutsu skills were so exceptional.

Making her way through the edge of the woods, Fu scanned the area for a good camping spot that could be easily reached by a flagging group of children. It wasn't easy; once you entered the West Thicket, there were very few areas as open as they would need for such a large group. That was generally true of Fire Country, covered in vast forests as it was. With a slightly larger chakra boost, she shot up to the top of a tall pine, the tip swaying and bending to accommodate her weight as she latched on to it. As far as he eyes could see, there were only a few areas where…

She honed in on a single clearing, noting with muted alarm a small curl of smoke curling of from the trees. Fuhennori drew in a deep, concentrated breath, memorizing the smell of the air and, to the best of her ability, the coordinates of the area before she trailed her eyes away and identified another clearing a bit south. With a creeping feeling clinging to her spine, she took back down to the woods and headed off to scout the more southerly clearing, hoping for more than one reason she'd finally found their evening campsite.

It was still a few hours before the group finally caught up with Fu, Toya trailing her chakra signature and growing more and more irritated as the journey lingered longer than it should have. Rationally he knew that clearings were in short supply in these woods, but his temper easily got the better of him as he growled his greeting upon entering the clearing, an ominous, "Fu, where the _hell_ were you looking for a campsite? We were supposed to set up over an hour ago!"

Yoh patted her shoulder with a tired smile, moving off to set up a perimeter. "Fu-chan, I know _you_ got to get away from the squalling children, but take a little pity on us less fortunate souls, yeah?"

Hakumei smiled wanly, stumbling to light the fire that Fu had already set out for them. She muttered a quiet, "Glad you're okay," before setting her failing energies to the task at hand. Fuhennori was glad to see a couple of the teachers tell her to rest as they took over, setting up the pot they would use to cook dinner for the mass. The children generally collapsed in groups near the trees, drained of all energy in the humid forest air that their natural climate never experienced.

With all seriousness, Fuhennori pulled her brother aside and into the trees on the far side of the camp. Temper set aside for the moment, he took note of her mood; the tense set of her brow and firm line of her mouth were a good sign that something happened.

"I need to report to Godaime-sama immediately. Please allow me to move on ahead."

"The hell? You're on a mission, Fu! You can't just skip out!"

"You think I'd skip out on a mission when I need the money? I'm not a new graduate anymore, darling oniisama. I'm about to take the Chuunin exams and kick some butt. I'm also about to kick _your_ butt if you don't pick up my meaning of 'I have _highly sensitive and vital information that the Hokage needs to hear immediately_,' y'know," she bit, a dry smirk stretching her lips even as her eyes darkened with a warning he didn't want to confirm. "I need to go ahead."

However unwilling he was, knowing her mean that letting her go was what he had to do, regardless of his personal desires. He heaved an exasperated sigh and scratched at his nape, forcing himself to take a step back and be objective. Finally, he nodded.

"Okay. Beat it. I'll let the other two know. Hakumei's not going to be happy with you."

Fu smiled grimly, the expression still not honestly reaching her eyes as she turned to go.

"I know, and I'll let her scold me later."

000

The windows sang with the sand scraping across them, grinding them away a little at a time with faint soothing sounds. Gaara watched it whip around, following the currents with his eyes casually as his mind wandered.

A flickering image of pale blonde hair and bold eyes of misty red danced in to his mind, disappearing again a split second later as the young Kage turned his eyes to the sound of his office door opening, Temari barging in with a stack of folders a foot or so deep. In a hurry to set them down, she fumbled gracelessly to his desk and let them flop and scatter on the surface, heedless of the other paperwork there. He didn't really care; there were only a few miscellany reports left, and after many instances just like this Gaara had learned to staple everything together, even if they were just going to get shredded later. Despite the disorder, his thoughts still trailed back to his new acquaintance, and Temari noticed his distraction; naturally, being the capable big sister that she was, she called him on it.

"Gaara? Did something good happen? You look amused by something," she declared, shuffling through the files and setting them in proper stacks. It was good to see him happy, rare as the display (if one could call it that) was.

The young man thought about it for a moment, deciding to play on family ties for once. He wasn't above using other means to gather information. "Which team came to pick up the Academy students for the exchange program?"

"Team 3, I guess it was?" she responded, watching him curiously as she finally finished her half-hearted attempt at tidying. "Their sensei is Mitarashi Anko, though it looks like one member's brother filled in for their teacher on this mission. Something bothering you about them?"

"What do you know?"

"Mostly just what you find in their files; Shikamaru showed them to me last time I was over there, since he was helping arrange a team both sides could trust," she stated, walking around the desk and hopping up to sit on the edge. "Ookawa Yoh; his chakra control is decent, but his creative abilities are lacking so he generally sticks to taijutsu and weaponry. Hakumei; orphan from around Water Country that the Konoha Weapons Mistress picked up a few years ago. She's got training with weapons and good basics, but it doesn't look like she's got the taste for combat. Jounin-level genjutsu user, with high prospects as a medic. Yuruse Fuhennori," she didn't miss the way his eyes intensified in that moment, and made a mental note to observe his reactions closely, "adopted by the Yuruse family around the age of 7; history otherwise unknown. They're guessing she came out of Lightning Country by her coloring, but that's all that's mentioned. Completely inept with ninja tools, and over most peoples' heads in terms of ninjutsu; her skills are super imbalanced, but her best is so amazing that no one much bothers to fix the problem. Information on her main jutsu is classified. The team leader this time was her adoptive brother, Yuruse Toya."

Temari observed his reaction, which to an extent was somewhat dissatisfied. Obviously the only one he was interested in was the Yuruse girl; not even the older brother, just her. The incomplete, or rather _hidden_ pieces of information already had the gears turning in his head. Her darling baby brother (formerly homicidal aside) had taken an interest in a girl at long last; Temari recalled what she could of the girl's ID photo, only retaining the impression of a mass of blonde hair and oddly colored skin with a massive smile. All jokes aside, if Gaara was interested in her, there had to be something special there.

"So the younger Yuruse has your interest? Did she do something?"

The dissatisfaction on his face melted into a soft, almost affection expression; she'd never seen such a look on him before. Temari found herself identifying with Gaara's frustration over her less-than-forward documents now that she's witnessed that face, in awe of the reaction she was seeing.

"… She embraced me."

000

When Fuhennori barged in to the Hokage's office, two days ahead of schedule and completely alone, Tsunade did well to check a fine tirade she felt welling up. Fu's answer to that was not what the Sannin wanted to hear.

"I apologize, Tsunade-sama, but I needed to report immediately. About a day and a half out west-north-west there's a small clearing I would like to confirm as the site of a battle."

Her superior froze, honey-brown eyes widening slowly before sharpening frightfully on the young woman before her. "I've had no reports of an incident in that area."

"I saw smoke from the trees, and the tops were unnaturally disturbed. Also…" she hesitated, but it needed to be said, "there was a scent of poison and blood on the wind. I could not verify the scent of death at that time."

Fuhennori resisted fidgeting with the edge of her kimono, feeling her age before the war-worn years now evident in her Hokage's growing aura of anger. The grown woman had the temper of a lioness; despite her skills, the genin felt quite small in her presence, overwhelmed by the difference in the depth of their thoughts and emotions. Much as she wanted to retreat away from the desk in that moment, she didn't move.

"Sen." An ANBU male dropped from the ceiling, his sudden appearance setting Fu's blood rushing with anxiety and anticipation. Tsunade growled out her command, "I need Naruto, Kiba and Sakura to assemble here. Emergency mission. Tell them to bring what they need and be here in an hour, because I want their asses out the gates as soon as I'm done with them."

Without a word the man was gone, off to fulfill his orders. Fuhennori, having received no alternate orders, stayed just as she was, but Tsunade eventually gestured her to sit on one of the unoccupied couches. The girl did so without hesitation, sinking in to the soft cushions and worn fabric with a sizeable amount of relief.

Fu had been running since she left Toya, not stopping for more than a gulp of water from her diminished canteen along the last day and a half. It had been more than 48 hours since she last slept, her stamina flagging with the lack of nourishment and rest. The stress, though still present, was slowly leaking away from her shoulders as she relaxed, her head unconsciously rolling backwards as she let her thoughts go, slowly sleeping to sleep…

"YURUSE FUHENNORI. AT ATTENTION."

Instantly startling to her feet with an answer, Fu realized she must've already slept away her hour; as called, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura and Inuzuka Kiba were all standing at attention already, waiting to receive their orders.

"Give Kiba your directions, Yuruse," she snapped unpleasantly, glaring over the rims of her reading glasses.

"Day and a half out, just inside the Western Thicket at west-north-west 175 degrees. Accompanied with the scent of poison and blood; scent of death not confirmed," she rattled, still half-asleep and somewhat confused as the words automatically spilled off her tongue. Kiba showed her a hint of fang as he grinned at her.

"Confirmed. Thanks for the intel, cutie."

"Don't flirt with me, Kiba-san; next thing you know my brother will be at your door trying to pick some unnecessary fight."

He snickered, but turned his attention back to the Hokage. She made an unintelligible grump before finalizing their plans.

"Your team is to head out to this location _immediately_ for investigation. You are not authorized to battle. Your job is _recon only_. Confirm the battle, life or death of any present or nearby, and report first to the Kazekage your findings. Send a hawk immediately afterwards to pass the information back to Konoha and await further orders."

"Yes ma'am!"

They all dashed from the room, the boys giving a little whoop of excitement to be out of the village despite the serious reasons behind it. Fu watched them go silently, a small piece of her wishing she could go to; it would've meant seeing the Kazekage that much sooner… but it would also mean loosing the ability to take the Chuunin Exams this round. She'd already waited four exam periods… she didn't want to wait anymore. The Kazekage had promised… no, correctly said, _Gaara-sama_ had promised that he would be there and would watch her. 'Rather than go on a mission where she wouldn't have a chance to shine,' she scolded herself, 'staying to take the exam and really show what you're made of is definitely the better of the two.' She could show him how strong she was.

How _worthy of him_ she was.

The hazy feelings she had for him were working their way to the surface, unveiling a little at a time as she thought about it. She wanted to prove herself to him; wanted to have him acknowledge her. Those weren't unsurprising, were they? Being acknowledged by the youngest Kage in all the nations would have to be considered an honor. Unconsciously, she traced the indent on her bottom lip from the scar, pressing and rubbing at it with her thumb, too absorbed in her thoughts to correct the old habit. 'I became attracted to him in an instant because…'

Fu wanted to say "because he's so powerful" or "because he's so awe-inspiring," but those weren't it. If a civilian passed Gaara on the street, they wouldn't have any idea who he was or that he was anything special. With his mysterious aquamarine eyes, blood-red hair and olive-tinted skin, he was an exotically handsome figure, yes… but when she thought about it, his overall appearance had nothing to do with that immediate attraction she felt.

Not his overall appearance… only his eyes. She felt ridiculously distracted by his eyes, to the point where she had to chatter over her nervousness even though she usually wasn't such an overly talkative person. They were eyes that had found hope after loneliness and isolation—eyes that had discovered a friend after having no one at all. It tickled somewhere in the back of her mind that…

_They're eyes like mine…_

The whisper of a thought that flittered in at that moment caused he hands to tremble. She felt like she was knocking on that door she'd closed so long ago, trying to open it with one hand and keep it shut with the other. When the Yuruse family brought her to Konoha and adopted her, she'd sworn… _sworn_, that she would never, _ever_ try to remember her past again. No matter her name, no matter her origin, no matter the reason for the enormous scar that marred her face forever, she determined that she would look in the mirror every morning and tell herself exactly who she was; that she was _Yuruse Fuhennori_ and no one else, and that she would believe it come hell or high water.

Even if their eyes were the same ones that stared at her in that same mirror where she chanted her name every morning, she couldn't look for that answer.

"Yuruse, go home. Eat something, drink something, and put yourself to bed."

Fuhennori glanced over her shoulder at her Hokage, who now observed her with an unexpected and indecipherable expression. After a moment, the girl recognized how unnaturally expressionless she was, and corrected it immediately with the brightest smile she could muster.

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

**AN: Bwahahaha. Two chapters in a day; don't you feel special? XD Chapter 3 is still in progress; the original chapter 6 was quite long, so it's already six pages and counting... but I'm sure you won't complain about longer updates. I never do. XP Trucking right along! Progress will probably slow down a bit from here since I'm already starting on my finals (school's out in two weeks! YES! ) but I'll be back in no time. ;P Enjoy ya'll~!**


	3. Let the Games Begin

**Chapter 3—Let the Games Begin**

Kiba lead them to the site without issue, their feet landing in a strangely calm area. There was evidence of a campfire, but otherwise nothing to really send up a flag at first. Fuhennori said it was the smell of "blood and poison," but until they were right in the middle of the opening Kiba could only smell ash. As they entered the small open area however, he finally had a change to detect.

"Fresh earth and death. That's all I've got for you, but we've definitely got buried corpses," he said grimly, translating Akamaru's report as the enormous dog emitted a string of low barks and growls. The ninken started carefully digging in one spot. "That's where we start digging. Don't count on it only being one hole."

It took hours. In the hot, humid weather that came standard-issue with their country, it was arduous work; even with Akamaru digging, it took them all day and a bit of night to finish digging up all eight of the shinobi buried in the clearing. Kiba and Akamaru mournfully covered their noses as Sakura reviewed the bodies.

There were eight Suna ANBU, only dead about three days. She wanted to cry as she reviewed their bodies, identifying the cause of death.

Gross as it was, the bodies had to be delivered back to Suna; after three days of Konoha weather, the decomposition process had long since begun; the bodies were bloated and stiff, and the skin was beginning to melt and slide off the carcasses. The larvae activity was wholly unattractive and, over all, it was a damn disturbing sight… but common courtesy dictated that they bring these honored warriors home, decay or not. Even Akamaru, sensitive as his poor nose was, submitted to carrying all the corpses the three ninja could not.

All three of them thanked every god that might be listening that their arrival time was in the dead of night; the unnecessary amount of attention they might otherwise have incurred avoided, they stopped at the outer gates and waited for the guards to come to them. One was obviously as young as they were, but less experience meant being more susceptible to the grosser things their profession encountered; bodies like these weren't uncommon in Konoha, but in a desert like what surrounded Suna, there would never be so much wet and ooze and such left; between the sun, crawlers and critters there was rarely much more than bones left over to be found, even at this point. He fainted without ceremony, while his partner contacted the medical division to retrieve the bodies.

The three Konoha nin tried not to notice how, throughout the whole exchange, the guard refused to look at their faces. No doubt he didn't want to know if he knew any of them. No one would want to look at a face like those and have it as the last memory of a loved one.

It didn't take long at all before they were relieved of their decaying burdens, and bypassing all attempts at cleaning up they went straight to the Kazekage's office. The man at the gate said he had already sent a message to their leader, and that he would be waiting for them.

If it weren't Naruto, he wouldn't have been able to enter the city with two squads of elite men dead on their shoulders. If it weren't Naruto, a hero the whole city trusted, they would have all been killed in the bloodiest of manners, and set out for the crows to feed on, heads shipped back to their village as souvenirs. If it weren't Naruto, the room full of Jounin they entered would've been on them in a minute, a fracas compounded with all manner of killing techniques that not a one of them would bother to restrain.

It _was_ Naruto though, and when the three of them stepped in to that room, not a single man or woman took a step back from them. They watched him as he and his teammates marched forward, covered in the fluids that accompanied the withering and melting away of a corpse. Gaara's turquoise eyes were nearly the color of ice, sharpened on his first and closest friend in an unholy way that would've been murderously frightening to any other man but him. If it were anyone other than Naruto, the talk wouldn't have ever been given a chance.

"Four days ago a genin from the team escorting your academy students noticed a fire near the border of Fire's Western Thicket, and reported a scent of blood and poison. She reported back early, leaving her team to return two days ahead of schedule and tell us; Tsunade-baachan sent us out to investigate and report to you. Sorry we didn't have better news, Gaara," he reported, muttering the last line mutedly. The whole room started to itch with a need to do something; it strained in a way that was wholly uncomfortable with the demand to stay still and listen.

"Do you have a cause of death?" the Kage asked tightly, reigning in his emotions as tightly as possible. His eyes narrowed as he watched Sakura bite her lip and worry at it, obviously upset.

Naruto turned to her, and nodded his head. Nervous or not, Sakura answered to him. "Confirmed time of death is four and a half days ago. The genin who reported the incident smelled blood and poison, but couldn't confirm any smell of death. Without a formal, complete autopsy, I can only make a conjecture…" she hesitated, but both Naruto and Gaara's faces were telling her to continue. She couldn't stop now, even if she wanted to. "I believe that at the time she witnessed the scene, the ANBU were still alive. Evidence indicates that each of the ANBU were… buried alive."

The room temperature seemed to drop, every shinobi present holding a collective breath of horror as the realization came down on them. Gaara's livid face sent a shiver down Sakura's spine; despite knowing him as a good man in the present, there was still a corner of her mind that housed his past attempt to kill her; it recalled with unnecessary clarity the terror of his blood-thirsty aura, and despite all lessons to "remain calm in the face of a predator," her heartbeat still sped up painfully as his knit fingers clasped to the point where she could hear his bones cracking painfully beneath his own grip. Naruto leaned in over his friend's desk, hands set pleadingly on the wood, as he looked him in the eye.

"Sakura-chan says there was a paralysis drug in their system. Let her stay here and analyze it. If there are any special properties at all, she'll be able to identify them and track it back to the bastards who did this."

The edge his sanity tottered at slowly faded away, his thoughts becoming more coherent as he calmed himself. He sent an apologetic glance in Sakura's direction, though whether she read it or not he didn't know. After a moment, he managed to ask, "Who found them?"

Naruto leaned away from the desk, one hand going to his waist, and the other to scratch the back of his head uncertainly. "Kiba and Akamaru told us where the scent of decay came from, but like I said, it was a genin on her way back from a mission that discovered the actual site."

"Little strange for a genin to have that strong of a sense of smell, isn't it?" Temari asked pointedly. "_Who_ was it, Naruto?"

"She's a better tracker than me, I guess," Kiba growled, hackles rising at the woman's tone. "I couldn't smell anything aside from ash until I got into the clearing itself. She noticed the smell of blood and poison from over 300 yards away according to her trail I followed."

Temari glared at the ninken trainer, and he returned the favor. Naruto almost sighed; their ridiculous tempers and fabulously bad compatibility were actually relieving some of the tension. He met Gaara's darkened gaze, and said, "Her name's Yuruse."

The fact that both Gaara and Temari reacted wasn't missed. Kankuro noticed their immediate recognition of the name; Temari's eyes were suddenly wide with shock but keen with the intent to hear everything. Gaara, his emotionally detached little brother, actually had a steely glint of hunger tempered with curiosity. Noticeably out of the loop, he didn't hesitate to ask, "Do you two know her?"

Temari's lips stretched in a feral grin. "He won't tell me how they met, but our baby brother seems to have taken an interest in that one."

Gaara wasted no time in sending her a sobering glance. He took a moment to consider his options, carefully storing away this new information to savor at a later time. He looked up at the three ninja who stood before him, tired and dirty and likely hungry, and rechecked the lid on his anger before finally coming to his decision.

"For tonight, all of your should rest; tomorrow as well, if you want. I would, however," he said, focusing his eyes on Naruto, "like to request that Haruno Sakura remain in Suna to analyze the poison as you suggested. I'll have a hawk out tonight with a message to Tsunade-hime about your discovery."

Sakura bowed slightly. "It would be an honor."

Naruto's lopsided grin made an appearance. "Take good care of her in my place, then. Sakura-chan may be a hero to some, but I don't like taking chances with your resentment. The old grannies and grandpas around here can really hold a grudge, I'm tellin' ya."

The rare smile that quirked the corners of the Kazekage's mouth in no way made light of the situation. In complete seriousness, he answered, "I'll take good care of them."

It was the utterly plainest, simplest, easiest to make, store and reproduce paralysis drug there was. Even civilians used it on the occasion that they needed something of that nature. It was such a widely used variety that Sakura almost had to give them kudos for using it. Almost.

She sat and stared at her microscope, but knew that the answer wasn't going to change just because she wanted it to. The fact that it was so universally used was a brilliant move; it was absolutely untraceable, simply because it was so common. It could've been anyone, anywhere, from any walk of life. It could've been ingested in food, used as a gas, dissolved in the water, or on the tip of any given weapon. Their clothes could've gotten soaked in it and allowed it to seep in through the skin. _Anything was possible_.

"Anything yet?"

Sakura turned to see Kankuro leaning against the doorframe, and she let all her stress show on her face. It was okay to look weak in front of Kankuro; unlike other ungrateful men, he knew just how damn kick-ass she was. The fact that he was standing there alive was proof. So despite her general policy that showing weakness before men was an absolute no, she slumped over and rested her head between her knees, listening to her brain pound in her scull for a moment.

"It's a bust. I can only think that our enemy is brilliant to use a poison that is absolutely impossible to trace to any one source," she muttered, voice muffled by her position. "I feel kinda useless right now, Kankuro-san. I can't _do_ anything with this. I need Fu-chan here to tell me something."

He came to kneel in front of her, and for the first time she actually bothered to observe his features without the paint. He looked much more ordinary and (in her opinion at least) attractive this way; he was thick-chested and broad shouldered, but as the genetics of their people dictated he didn't even have a shadow of facial hair despite being nearly 20. His messy dark-brown hair fell in his eyes as he looked up at her, and she let herself be vaguely distracted by how soft and pet-able it looked.

"Fu?"

"Ah, Yuruse Fuhennori," she replied softly, reaching out to fiddle with the bangs that were coming between her and meeting his eyes. "She's the girl Naruto mentioned yesterday that Gaara-kun and Temari-san were so interested in."

"Isn't she just a tracker?" he asked, recalling what Kiba said about her in the meeting the previous day. Sakura shook her head, and fighting a headache, leaned over to rest her forehead on his ample shoulder.

"She's got a sense for blood I've never seen before," she muttered, relaxing as much as she could and closing her eyes. "If she's ever smelled your blood before, she'll know it instantly the next time she senses it. She can scent it even further away than an Inuzuka; honestly, she'll scent blood a mile off before a poison in the next room, however much sense that makes. Beats anything I've ever seen before, aside from Naruto's innate ability to make a miracle out of nothing, but I've seen it work before."

"You can't call her now?" he asked quietly. Despite herself, Sakura yawned and let her whole weight rest on him.

"I can't take away her chance at the Chuunin Exams after she was already forced to wait two years. Even if I could, all the evidence will have faded away by the time she gets there," she muttered, nearly asleep even as she said it.

Kankuro looked down at the medic as she drifted toward unconsciousness. She'd already been at it for hours trying to find even one thing that would allow her to narrow down where the poison had come from, only for it to come out with no solution. He doubted that she'd slept at all, seeing the time of morning it was; despite Gaara's orders to rest, she had worked. With a complicated look on his face, Kankuro hefted her up into his arms, balancing carefully as he turned to carry her to a room.

"Well, sleep for now. You can think about it tomorrow."

* * *

~x~x~x~

From the balcony of her room, Fuhennori gazed up at the faded sky. Despite the diminished lights in the residential district, the commercial district's lights still hid the stars in the sky every night; times like now, it made her feel somehow smothered or boxed in, and she itched to find somewhere to watch the heavenly lights and planets move. She muttered a soft, lilting tune, tasting the words as she let them roll off her tongue. The night was cold; it was already moving toward winter, the highest temperatures going lower and lower as the days passed.

Her Chuunin exam would begin in the morning, but that was the least of her worries.

Beyond the North Gate, despite being downwind from her, she could smell a familiar blood scent that made her itch with unease; it was a scent she'd caught many times before, but never so fresh.

Never so close.

Across the city there was a maze of blood-spattered walls where no one dared to enter, but even just passing by, even just living in the same city, Fuhennori was much too aware of that place. Just outside the gates, the last soul that ever wandered the place was lurking…

"FU! Hurry up already! Did you oversleep or something?"

Though she thought it had only been a moment ago that she closed her eyes to trace that scent, the call woke her up to the much-too-early morning of their first exam. Yoh fidgeted down in the street, Hakumei standing quietly by his side and smiling away at his excitement.

"… Gimme a minute."

"You already _had_ your minute!"

Despite his best efforts and her horrible aim, Fu still managed to nail him in the forehead with her alarm clock after several tries with various handy objects. She shed her pajamas and forewent the shower, wrapping her shirashi as quickly as she could before loosely pulling on her haori; she didn't really pay too much attention to how much it covered as she arbitrarily tied the obi and pulled on her shorts, strapping on her thigh-length equipment holsters. Long, corn-silk-blonde locks went up in a massive ponytail, regardless of the tangles. She only bothered to brush her teeth and wash her face afterwards, skipping breakfast on her way downstairs. Toya was a proctor for the Exam, so he'd already left; their parents, Genichi and Fumi, were already gone on separate missions with other teams and likely wouldn't be back until after the third exam, if she remembered their timeline correctly. The house was quiet and uninviting without their presence to fill it.

Yoh was still bouncing on his toes when she came out of the building, slightly pouting but generally filled to the brim with such excitement that even something like an alarm clock to the head couldn't calm him down.

'As expected of Yoh,' she thought, feeling a bit of the tension and uncertainty leave in light of his positive presence. He had a good effect on her. His copper-colored eyes were burning with anticipation, and as usual, his attitude was contagious.

"You are _so slow_!" he enunciated. Hakumei chuckled under her breath as Fu huffed and threatened him with a noogie. "But you're taking too long! Exam. Hello. We've been waiting two years already."

"And we'd still have to wait 'til the Exam's actual start time, an _hour and a half from now_, before we could start," she countered, falling in to step with the other two as they moved in the Academy's general direction. Aside from today, she supposed the kids would still be having classes; the exchange program was a great idea, but personally she thought their timing sucked. "Did you even study? You _do _realize that the first exam is a paper test, right?"

He cringed, "Yeah, I know that much. My grades aren't that shitty."

"But out of the three of us, _you_ are the worst," the blonde commented, allowing her barbed tongue to do as it pleased. He would forgive her anyway, ruthless teasing or not.

She hoped her attitude was the same as always; today it was hard to wear, knowing who was wandering so close to the gate. She debated going to the Hokage and telling her, but the scent was already fading. She couldn't be sure he was still in the area now. If blood wasn't spilled, she couldn't tell. If she didn't have proof, she couldn't very well go around reporting evidence of _that man_ near the village. Hakumei dropped back to walk beside her, allowing Yoh to walk on ahead a little ways as he ranted.

"You don't look well this morning, Fu-chan," she said quietly, peering up at her best friend. "Did something happen?"

She grimaced. "Of course you would notice. Don't worry about it; it's fine."

Hakumei wanted to argue with her, but decided not to as they entered the noisy, bustling Academy hallways.

The exam was to be held in class 3-A, and there was certainly a doorplate labeled 3-A in their hallway. It already had a gathering of people attempting to enter. Yoh stopped and looked, but Fu and Hakumei didn't even hesitate to disregard it completely; knowing them, he didn't bother asking why and simply followed as they moved further down toward the stairs. He didn't glance back, but decided that the door must've been cloaked with a genjutsu or trap of some sort; no one could top Hakumei in her element, so regardless of his less-than-stellar skills he knew they would be fine trusting her. Like Fu's tracking skills, they all had "their thing."

Despite the hint for the intelligent observer, the crowd didn't even notice them passing. A riot was about to start by the sound of it, several students already shouting at someone to let them in. Yoh found himself stopping anyway, trying to get a look at the people supposedly blocking the door. Hakumei stopped also, but didn't take her eyes off the stairwell door at the far end of the corridor. It didn't even register that Fu was already mingling with the crowd. A boy and girl, one tall and lanky and one short and sturdy, leaned against opposite sides of the entrance, refusing to move.

"Consider us as doing you a favor kiddies; you'd get eaten alive!" the female said scathingly, a sneer spreading across her pretty face. "People lose everything in the Chuunin Exams, you know! I knew a guy who lost his marbles completely. Couldn't even be a shinobi anymore after that~."

It sounded like a scary bedtime story that you would tell a child, but anyone who knew any better could tell you it was true. People lost limbs, lives, minds, and anything else that could be taken. Teams had broken up, friends had killed each other, and in the end whether they did it on purpose or accidentally, it didn't matter. The result was often the same as it would have been otherwise. Yoh glanced at Hakumei, and then searched the crowd for the mess of blonde hair and white kimono he associated with Fu. Likely they stopped to fix the situation and already had something planned out. If they needed him, he'd know pretty soon.

Fu would make sure he knew.

One foolish boy—obviously a rookie on his age alone—got mad enough to charge the door, fist drawn back for a punch. The boy and girl in the way didn't seem bothered by the idea; likely they could stop it by themselves, if they were so confident. They didn't have to though.

Speed and power meant nothing as his whole body came to a forced stop, frozen in mid-motion.

"Now, now. We're supposed to use the test to sort this out, y'know?"

Fu sashayed forward with a cat-like grin on her face, stopping to poke teasingly at the child's fluffy cheeks. "Now be a cutie and go back to your team before these two dropkick you like the noob you are, mmkay? This is obviously the wrong room, if you would remember your lessons on detecting and dispelling genjutsu."

Whatever hold there was on the kid's body seemed to snap in an instant, allowing him to crumble awkwardly to the floor. Fu skipped over him to bow politely to the two 'bullies' blocking the doorway.

"It's been a while, senpai. Since your mission to Tea country? It was fun, so let's do it again sometime," she chirped, skillfully avoiding mentioning their names. She knew exactly who they were, and they knew she knew. That was enough. She cast a glance at Hakumei over the crowd and shouted, "Right? It was fun, so let's play again."

Hakumei's sapphire eyes wavered on the end of the hall for a moment longer before they shifted, meeting orbs of hazy red. She nodded slowly. _It was fun, so let's play again_, was it?

In other words, _let the games begin._

* * *

**AN: Well, it took a little bit... but here's the next revamped chapter of MS! I originally intended to include all of the original chapter 6 in this one, but the chapter was already six pages long at this point... and it felt like a good time to change the pace, so I went ahead and divided it. The new chapter 4 is already underway, and it should include the rest of the old chapter 6 and all of the old chapter 7.  
**

**For those of you who read the old version, what do you think of the changes so far? This version sticks pretty closely to the old one, but I feel like I've made a much clearer picture of my characters here. I'd really love to hear anything you have to say, so please review~!  
**


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