Sakura kept stealing glances at Taryn and Sasuke. She wasn’t sure how Taryn had ended up joining their team, but it had to do with Kakashi. Though Taryn didn’t seem bothered by Sasuke’s presence, Sasuke wasn’t as amused about hers. He glared at the girl’s back and walked a large distance behind the rest of the team while Taryn walked ahead. 
Sakura frowned. What was going on here? She’d be the first to agree that Taryn was scary, but Sasuke seemed to really hate her. Did he know something more?
“Sasuke,” she nudged him and he glared at her.
“What do you want?” he asked irritated.
“I was just wondering… you seem to know Taryn…”
“Stay out of it!” Sasuke growled.
“But I just…”
“Leave me alone,” Sasuke bit at her and he walked away.

 
Naruto walked closely behind Taryn and eyed her suspiciously. He still hadn’t figured out her mystery. Every once in a while he glanced back at Sasuke. Ever since he had found out Taryn was coming on this mission he hadn’t said a word and gave her murderous looks which she ignored.
Naruto thought back on that day at the inn, where Itachi Uchiha had tried to capture him. She saved Sasuke’s life when she attacked Itachi, but now that he thought about it, there was something strange about it. She had only hit him once and he had done nothing but restrain her. He hadn’t even tried to hurt her. And Gai had said something too. Did Taryn and Itachi know eachother? Why had she shown up at the inn? Was he working with Itachi?
Kisame said Itachi had killed his entire clan, except for Sasuke.

“There’s a man I want to kill…”  

Sasuke  had said that on the day they became a team. Did he mean his brother? What did Taryn have to do with it? Was she a criminal? But if she was, why had she saved Sasuke? She had saved him too and Shikamaru. And Gaara… But she was banished from Suna. It didn’t’ make any sense.
“What is it?” Taryn’s voice made him jump. He looked at her, but she wasn’t looking at him. Her words however had been directed at him.
“Nothing,” he hurried to say.
“So there’s no reason you’ve been staring at me since we left Konoha?” She asked.
Naruto gulped. “Ehh.. I was curious..”
“About what?”
“Why Sasuke hates you so much,” he muttered.
Taryn sighed. “He has his reasons,” she said.
Naruto leaned his hands behind his head and glanced at her from the corner of his eye. “And? What are they?”
Taryn looked at him. “They have nothing to do with you,” she said. She scanned the area carefully and leaped onto a branch and disappeared. Naruto gasped and was about to go after her when Kakashi pulled him back.
“Kakashi-sensei. She…”
“Is doing her job. She’s scouting for anything suspicious up ahead. These are important documents and we have a long way to go.”
“But…”
“She’ll be back. Don’t worry.”
“You trust her, Kakashi-sensei?”
Kakashi nodded. “Yes, I do. And so should you. You shouldn’t just judge her like that.”

Not long after, Taryn returned. Kakashi looked a her. “See anything?”
“All clear,” she answered. They exchanged concerned looks.
“That’s good right?” Naruto said confused.
“I don’t like this,” Taryn said, ignoring Naruto.
The others caught up with them. “Why are we stopping?” Sakura asked.
Naruto shrugged. “Beats me.” He frowned. “They think it’s strange there’s nothing suspicious around.”
“It is,” Kakashi said, “for documents that are that important we have encountered little resistance...”
“There will be,” Taryn mused, “we’re two days away from our destination. We must stay alert.” 
     “What are you suggesting?” Kakashi asked.
Sasuke’s head snapped up and he glared at Taryn.
“You are teamleader,” Taryn told Kakashi, “whatever you decide is fine with me.”
Kakashi nodded and turned to Sakura. “Hand me the map,” he said. They spread it out on a rock. “Okay,” Kakashi pointed, “we’re currently here. We need to cross the river and then continue through the forest for a few more hours. That will take us the rest of the day and part of tomorrow morning. Then, right before we reach the border of Stone, there is a canyon.”  
     Taryn pointed on the map. “The canyon is very narrow with high walls. It’s also very long and  there is no way around it. I’ve been there last year.” Sasuke muttered something under his breath, but Taryn ignored it.
“It’s the perfect place for an ambush then,” Kakashi said.
“Actually,” Taryn said, “it’s probably the safest place on the entire route. There’s no place to hide, so any attacker will be in plain sight. All you have to worry about is what happens above.”  
“We could get locked in from both sides,” Kakashi said, “it might be good for you as a close combat fighter, but not all of us have that fighting style.”
“Ryoki can clear us a path,” Taryn said, “so can Chidori. You shouldn’t count out Sharingan either.”
“No,” Kakashi said, “I will not risk using Sharingan. Is there a way over the canyon?”
“Probably, but it’s steep. Do your students have the stamina? Or the chakra?”
“Through it then,” Kakashi nodded. He folded the map and gave it back to Sakura. “There’s a clearing up ahead, just across the river. We’ll make camp there.”
“You want to spend the night in the forest?” Taryn asked.
Kakashi nodded. “Yes, I do. Why?”
Taryn shook her head. “I don’t trust this place. It’s too quiet. A clearing is too open.”
“Yes, but it also makes it easier to see any enemies coming,” Kakashi ended the discussion, “now, let’s get going. The longer we stay here, the longer it will take to cross this forest.” He lead the way towards the river.
Taryn let all his students pass and followed them from a distance. Sasuke kept stealing glances backwards, obviously not trusting her. Taryn sighed and shook her head. She had better things to do than keep an eye on this arrogant brat. She took one last look around the forest and then jogged up to the others. She would be glad to leave this forest behind.

***

She reached for the same twig as Sasuke and he jerked away as if burnt. She ignored him and picked it up to add it to the pile for the campfire. When she looked up he was glaring at her. “Just stay away from me!” he growled at her.
“What exactly is your problem?” Taryn asked.
“You are,” Sasuke said, “why are you even here?”
“I was divided into this cell,” Taryn answered.
“I don’t mean on this stupid mission! Why are you in Konoha?! Did he send you?! Isn’t he man enough to face me himself?! I know you work for him!”
“You know nothing you ignorant brat!” Taryn growled at him.
The others were watching them carefully by now. “Sasuke what are you doing?!” Naruto shouted.
“Stay out of it!” he yelled angry. He turned back to Taryn. “Don’t lie! I know who you are! What do you want from me?”
“The world doesn’t revolve around you,” Taryn said, “you’re just an arrogant brat that thinks he knows it all. But you’re weak and ignorant. Foolish boy!”
Sasuke let out and angry growl and charged at her with Chidori.
“Sasuke!” Sakura shouted shocked. She clasped a hand over her mouth . “Kakashi-sensei do something!”
Kakashi looked at Taryn concerned. He hoped she wouldn’t be too rough on the boy.
   
Taryn stood motionless and waited for Sasuke to reach her. She calmly stopped his fist before it hit her and pushed him backwards. Sasuke stumbled and glared at her. Lightning was around Taryn’s arm.
“You’re not the only one he taught Chidori,” she hissed.
Sasuke’s glare turned into a smirk. “Let’s see you use it then,” he said and charged at her again.
Taryn activated her Byakugan and landed a few blows on Sasuke. The boy slumped to his knees and coughed. Taryn lifted him by his collar and kicked him away. He rolled on the ground and crawled up again, panting heavily. Taryn brushed herself off like nothing had happened. Sasuke’s eyes turned murderous, but before he could move, Taryn had taken out a kunai dagger and threw it in his direction.
Naruto gasped. He couldn’t believe she was really trying to kill Sasuke. So she couldn’t be trusted after all.
The dagger flew over Sasuke’s shoulder and into the bushes behind the boy. A blur jumped out of hiding and ran towards Sasuke, who was closest. Before anyone could react, Taryn was already running towards the attacker.
“Kakashi!” she yelled, “six more!”
Kakashi reacted immediately and was in battle before she had reached Sasuke. She jumped in between him and his attacker, pushing Sasuke to the ground. She high-kicked his attacker midair and felt something sharp go through her side. She landed on top of Sasuke and rolled off to kick her opponent again. She gasped when she felt her side burn. No time to inspect her injury. She glared at the ninja in front of her. Grass ninja.
The ninja smirked at her. “Well well, if it isn’t Taryn Desertstorm. Fighting on the right side of the law again?”
“What do you care?” Taryn said and released a fire ball jutsu on him.
He evaded it and she charged at him. Around her, the others were fighting too. Naruto had produced several clones and Kakashi had uncovered his Sharingan.
“I wouldn’t move around like that if I were you,” the grass ninja said to her, “that blade I cut you with was poisoned.”
Taryn scoffed. “You’ll be dead long before it affects me,” she said.
He laughed at her and made a few handsigns. Thick vines broke from the earth and wrapped around her arms and waist, lifting her from the ground. “Let’s see you try then,” he smirked. The vines unabled her to make any hand signs, but her Byakugan was still activated. His chakra wasn’t that strong. She kicked against the vines. She growled when another vine wrapped around her ankle. She was hanging upside down and had a clear view of the battlefield.
Kakashi was fighting two of the grass ninja while another grass ninja was swiftly getting rid of Naruto’s clones. For each one he destroyed another took its place. Sasuke was using his fireball jutsu while Sakura was trying her best to defend herself.

“I though you were supposed to be good,” the ninja mocked Taryn, “is dangling all you can do?” Taryn ignored him and concentrated. If she relaxed enough she would be able to move. One seal was all it would take. She focused her energy and released it. There was a blast of fire and the vines burned to a crisp. Taryn fell down but released a windjutsu to slow her fall. She landed in a crouch and made a run towards him, evading the new vines he sent towards her. He was a long range fighter, meaning she had to get close to him. She used a windblade to cut through a vine and attacked him with gentle fists. She sped up the attack.
“Eight Trigrams, sixty four palms.”
The grass ninja had barely any time to gasp and fell to his knees. ‘It’s true then,” he panted, “you possess Byakugan… you can see the Tenketsu.”
“Heh,” Taryn scoffed, “that’s right. And I locked down every one of them in your body.”
Before she could deal him the final blow, a rush of vertigo made her stumble. The grass ninja chuckled softly. “What is that ? Is my poison starting to affect you? I warned you about moving…”
Taryn steadied herself. Her vision was blurry, but came back a few seconds later. She gritted her teeth. She could still fight. She took out a kunai dagger and ended the ninja’s life. Another swirl of dizziness made her take a step back. She waited for it to pass and turned around to the rest.
Two were taken down, which left four others. Kakashi would be fine on his own, so she focused on his students. Naruto had taken some blows, but was doing surprisingly well.  Sasuke was in the middle of a battle, so she left him alone as well.
Her vision became blurry again. That was alright. She didn’t need her eyesight. She deactivated Byakugan to save her chakra and took her giant fan. She had enough of these bothersome grass ninja. She watched as Sasuke’s shuriken embedded themselves in his opponent’s throat.
Taryn took a deep breath and pushed her hitai-ate over her eyes. She could fight blindfolded. It would only distract her if her eyesight kept going blurry. She slowly gathered her chakra. Kakashi,” she called to him as she lifted her fan. He had fought beside her so many times that he knew what she was planning.
“Naruto!” he yelled, “dissolve your clones.”
“What? Why?” the boy protested.
“Just do it,” Kakashi yelled, “Sasuke! On the ground!”
Taryn didn’t wait to find out if he obeyed. She couldn’t afford to lose time. Besides, being part of a team meant trusting your captain. Your life depended on it.
She swung her fan towards the place she knew the enemy to be and released her personal jutsu. “Ryoki!”
A burning wind flew across the clearing. Three bodies lay smoking in the forest ground and a few trees were scorching.
Not far away lay Sasuke flattened in the grass. He looked at the bodies in horror. The Ryoki could rival the Amaterasu of the Sharingan in strength. He crawled up and glared at Taryn. “You could have killed me with that.”
“Why do you think Kakashi told you to get down? Besides, if I wanted to kill you, you’d be dead.” 
“Wow,” Naruto said, “can you teach me that jutsu?”
"No,” Taryn said.
“Ahw why not?”
“Because you can’t learn it,” she answered him curtly.
“The Ryoki is her personal jutsu, Naruto,” Kakashi explained, “it combines the elements fire and wind and is a very difficult jutsu which costs a lot of chakra and stamina. Even I can’t perform it.”
Taryn put her fan away and walked towards Naruto and Kakashi. “We need to find an antidote,” she said calmly. She held her hand against her right side.
“You’re inured,” Kakashi said and took her hand away. “Sit down and let me look at it.” He helped her on the ground and put his bag under her head.
“The knife was poisoned,” Taryn said.
“What kind of poison?” Kakashi asked while kneeling next to her.
“I don’t know,” she answered.
“I’m going to look at your wound,” Kakashi said and moved her shirt up to bare her ribcage. There was a gash from her third rib to down her waistline. He withdrew his breath.
“It’s not that  bad. I’ve been in worse shape. It’s only a cut.”
On Taryn’s other side, Naruto and Sakura kneeled down to look.
“It‘s a poisoned cut,” Kakashi corrected her.
From a distance Sasuke snorted. “She’s still alive so it can’t be that bad.”
Naruto flew up. “She caught a knife for you!”
“I didn’t ask her to!” Sasuke barked back.
“What’s your problem anyway?! She saved your life and not for the first time!”
“Stay out of it!”
“Naruto,” Kakashi cut in. The boy looked at him. “Go find some King’s Foil in the forest. It will stop the poison.”
“King’s…” Naruto stared at him with a sheepish expression.
“It’s a weed,” Kakashi said, “I need it. There should be plenty around here.”
“What’s it look like?” the boy asked.
Sakura sighed. “I know what it looks like. I’ll go.”
Kakashi nodded and Sakura dashed off. “Do you have any symptoms?” Kakashi asked. “Dizziness, blurry eyesight,” Taryn said, “that’s it.”
“The cut isn’t deep,” Kakashi nodded and his fingers poked it.
Taryn bit back a gasp.
Naruto leaned forward and studied the wound carefully. Then his eyes found something else. He pointed at the markings on her right waistline. “What’s that”
“It’s a tattoo,” Taryn said stiffly.
Naruto leaned even more forward. There were two kanji symbols. “Love over honor?” he asked confused. Kakashi gave a faint smile. “Why do you have that?” Naruto asked. He looked at Taryn curiously.
“Because love is more important than honor,” Taryn said. She looked at Naruto with a serious expression. “You can have love without honor, but honor is worthless without love.”
Sasuke snorted again. He had seated himself under a tree and had his eyes closed.
“What do you mean?” Naruto asked, but Taryn didn’t answer.
Sakura returned and handed Kakashi a plant. “This is all I could find,” she said.
Kakashi nodded. “That should be enough.” He plucked some of the leaves and pushed them between Taryn’s lips. “Chew.” Taryn chewed the leaves and took them out to smear them on the wound.
Kakashi was already ripping some cloth to use as bandages. He carefully bound the wound. “That should do it,” he said. He looked around. “We’ll camp here tonight, but first I’ll get rid of them.” He motioned towards the dead grass ninja. He stood up to take care of the bodies. 
       Taryn pulled her shirt down and made herself comfortable on the ground, fully aware of the curious stares from both Naruto and Sakura.
“You can really control three elements?” Sakura asked.
Naruto looked confused. “Hn? Is that special or something?”
Sakura sighed and looked at him. “Most ninja control only one element. It’s special to control two, but three…”
Taryn kept her eyes closed and shrugged. “Guess I’m just lucky,” she said a little annoyed.   
    “Did Kakashi-sensei really teach you Chidori?” Naruto asked.
Taryn glared at him. “What of it?”
“Just asking,” Naruto muttered, “no need to bite my head off.”
“Why don’t you start setting up camp and then get some rest,” Taryn said while sitting up, “I’ll take first watch.”
“Like hell you are,” Sasuke growled, “You’re not taking any watch. I don’t trust you. I don’t care what you’re telling everyone else, I know you work for my brother.”
“I told you before,” Taryn said in a dangerous tone, “You know nothing.”
“He killed my family,” Sasuke said with a voice full of hatred, “and he’s going to pay for it. I will kill him for it.”
Taryn let out a mocking laugh. “You? You can’t even stand in his shadow.” She stood up and walked into the forest.

***

It was already starting to get dark when she returned to the Compound and the streets were empty. So she was surprised when a dark figure came out of an alley. She recognized him immediately even though his back was turned to her. “Itachi.” She saw his shoulders stiffen for a moment as he stopped walking. Then he glared over his shoulder.
“Go away,” he hissed.
The cold tone in his vice confused her. He had been acting strange lately, but he didn’t’ have to be so hateful. She took a step in his direction. “Is something wrong?”
“I said, go away,” Itachi answered, “or I’ll kill you.”
Taryn narrowed her eyes. “I don’t think so.”
“I mean it Taryn. One more step and you’re dead.”
Taryn gave a mocking grin and deliberately took a step forward. A handful of shuriken flew her direction. One of them scratched her arm. Taryn glared at Itachi. “It’ll take more than that to kill me.”
“That was just a warning. Get out. Leave. Leave Konoha.”
“Why?” Taryn growled.
“Tonight,” Itachi growled back.
“Tell me why,” Taryn demanded, “what’s wrong with you? What’s your problem?”
“You are,” Itachi answered, “leave Konoha and don’t come back.”
Taryn was starting to get angry now. “Make me,” she snarled.
“As you wish.” Itachi made a handsign and blew a fire ball jutsu in her direction. Taryn evaded it and focused her chakra. She charged at Itachi with a windblade. She left a crack in the wall, but Itachi was already gone. Quickly she turned around and charged at him again. Out of nowhere, strings wrapped around her body and lifted her in the air. Taryn bit her lip to draw blood in order to break the illusion. She landed on her hands and knees. On the pavement.
“You know that doesn’t work with me,” she said in an angry tone. She took out two daggers and crossed them. When she pulled them apart, she sent sharp windblades at Itachi. He evaded the first set, but the next series met their target. With a satisfied grin, Taryn ran at him. She danced around him and hit him in the back with Gentle Fists. He turned around and grabbed her, pushing her against the wall. A dagger was against her throat.
“Leave Konoha,” he said, “tonight.”
She heard the urgency in his voice. What was going on? She felt a small pressure on her neck and then she blacked out.

When she came to she was alone. She was still in the alley. Slowly she crawled to her knees and rubbed her neck. Not much time had passed. When she pulled herself up against the wall her fingers fund something sharp. The shuriken Itachi had thrown at her were still stuck in the wall. Carefully Taryn pulled them out. There were three and they were leaf shaped. Taryn stared at them for a moment and then put them in her pouch. She turned her head towards the sky. If she wanted to leave the village tonight she would have to hurry. She straightened her back and left the alley behind without looking back.

***

Taryn didn’t look up when Kakashi leaned against the tree she was seated under. She knew he was glaring at her. Probably had his arms crossed as well. “If you taking me with you on this mission is some plan of yours to make me and Sasuke get long, then I’ll help you out of that dream,” she said, “it’s not gonna happen. I don’t like the kid and I never will.”
“If that is so, then why did you, five times was it, save his life?”
Taryn didn’t answer him. She played with a kunai dagger while avoiding Kakashi’s gaze.
He let out a sigh. “I’m arrogant enough to claim that I know you,” he said, “so… why would Itachi ask you to keep an eye on his brother?”
“What makes you think he asked me something like that?” Taryn asked casually.
“Did he?” Kakashi asked stiffly.
“You tell me,” Taryn answered annoyed.
“Don’t smarttalk me, Taryn” he snapped at her.
Taryn glared at him. “What? You seem to know it all.”
“Why did you come back to Konoha?”
“I told you. I was chasing Orochimaru.”
“I know that, but why now?”
“I didn’t find him sooner,” Taryn hissed.
“I know you love Itachi,” Kakashi tried to reason with her, “but he’s not the man he used to be. He’s a criminal. Why do you run errands for him? You should know better. What is he plotting?”
Taryn stood up and gave him a cold glare. “You are not my superior Kakashi. I don’t answer to you Don’t provoke me.”
“Or what?” Kakashi asked coldly, “you’ll kill me? You couldn’t even kill your brother.”
Taryn’s voice was icy when she answered him. “I love  my brother.” She brushed past him, bumping his shoulder and walked away.
Kakashi sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I deserved that,” he muttered and turned to follow her.

Naruto and Sakura both looked up when Taryn walked across the  campsite with angry steps. They stared after her confused when she headed towards the river without a word. “She scares me,” Sakura whispered, “did you see her attack those grass ninja?”
Naruto didn’t answer. He didn’t know what to think. He watched as Kakashi stomped across the campsite after Taryn. He was sighing heavily. Naruto frowned. Something was going on. And he knew someone who had the answers. He glared at Sasuke who had his back turned on them. “Hey Sasuke,” he said, “you know her, don’t you? What does she have to do with that Itachi guy?” Sasuke didn’t answer. “Hey. Uchiha! I’m talking to you.”
“Leave me alone,” Sasuke growled, “it’s none of our business.”
“We’re in this team too you know,” Naruto said.
“How can you possibly understand?” Sasuke growled, “you never had anyone. I had a family. And now I don’t. And she’s partially to blame.”

Taryn stared out over the river when Kakashi approached her. “Little brothers are sacred…” Taryn said without looking up.
“I shouldn’t have said…” Kakashi started, but Taryn cut him off.
“That’s what he said to me, that day I came to live at Konoha. ‘Of course you couldn’t’ he said,’ little brothers are sacred’.” She turned around to Kakashi who was looking at her quietly. “He didn’t kill Sasuke,” she continued, “I need to believe….”
“Taryn,” Kakashi said softly, “Itachi is still a murderer. He killed the entire Uchiha clan. And even before that… he was already charged with murder once before. They claimed he had killed his best friend. The charges were only dropped because there was no evidence.”
Taryn averted her eyes. She remembered that day at the river. She had been there when they accused him. She shook her head. “I still believe in him.”