Taryn silently stood between two buildings, making sure to stay out of sight. She had sent her siblings to teach at the Academy today. Weapon lessons were on the program. It would be good for the children to learn from different shinobi. It would prepare them for real missions when they were under the supervision of a teamleader. Besides, it would be good for her siblings too. They were Chuunin now after all and would soon be made teamcaptain.

All three of them stood behind a table with weapons on it. The students were gathered in a small group and listened to the instructions. “Weapons are the most important part of a shinobi’s equipment,” Kankuro said, “and the weapons you choose to wield say a lot about you as a shinobi. Not every weapon is suitable for everyone. Standard weapons are kunai daggers and shuriken, but there are a lot more and some are specially designed to suit a certain jutsu.” 
“For example,” Temari said while unfolding her fan, “a fan is a common weapon for a winduser. It can increase the impact of your attack. Swords are also used often. But there are numerous kinds of other weapons such as explosion tags, smoke bombs or puppets.”
The children took in every word. It wasn’t often that they had the chance to learn form experienced shinobi. And not just any shinobi, but the children of the late Kazekage. But a few of the students were casting nervous looks at Gaara and whispered among themselves.
“Who is that?”
“Don’t you know? That’s Gaara of the Sand. They say he has a monster inside of him.”
“He’s scary.” 
“He’s dangerous.”
“His eyes are so cold, like he’s ready to kill at any moment.”

Taryn was close enough to hear them and was sad at their words. They didn’t know Gaara. They only repeated what their parents had told them. Gaara had changed a lot since they had returned home. He wasn’t like that anymore and even if he had been, it was her father’s fault for making him that way.

“Divide yourselves in groups,” Kankuro said, “each of us will instruct one group and teach you about weapons. You can pick a weapon for yourself and we will see if it is suitable for you.”
Taryn watched as the children divided themselves between Temari and Kankuro, all the time casting wary glances at Gaara.
“I don’t want to be left over with him,” one of the children whispered to an other, “he’s scary.”
“What if he kills us?” 
Kankuro cast a concerned glance towards Gaara when none of the children seemed willing to join his table. He was about to snap at the children and send a few over when he noticed Taryn. She lightly shook her head at him. Kankuro glanced at Gaara again. His younger brother was staring straight ahead.
One of the children was still standing there.
A girl.
She was carefully eyeing Gaara. Hesitantly she took a step forward. And then another until she was standing in front of Gaara. She flinched lightly when she met Gaara’s gaze, but didn’t move.
Gaara nodded at her. The girl nervously eyed the weapons in front of her. “Are you sure you want me to train you?” Gaara asked, “wouldn’t you rather join my brother or sister?”
The girl looked up at him and shook her head. “I’m sure,” she said softly. She looked at the weapons again.
“What is your name?” Gaara asked.
“Matsuri,” the girl answered.
“I am Gaara,” Gaara said, “why don’t you choose a weapon?”
Matsuri swallowed and picked up a heavy sword that was at least twice her size and stumbled under the weight.
“Perhaps you should pick something more manageable?” Gaara suggested. He took in her scared expression as she looked at the weapons and wondered about it.
Matsuri’s eyes wandered over the different kind of weapons.
“A good weapon should be light to carry and easy to wield,” Gaara told her, “and suited to your fighting style.”
Matsuri picked up a chain and tested the weight in her hands. She looked at Gaara questioningly. He nodded at her. “Try it.”
Matsuri stretched the chain, but wasn’t sure how to go from there.
Gaara gently took it from her. He took the grip in one hand and swung the end around with his other. “It is a good weapon,” he told her and gave it back to her. “Here. Wield it yourself.”

Taryn gave a relieved sigh and smiled as she turned around to leave. Her brother would be fine. She wondered about the girl though. Perhaps there was something in the files about her. For a shinobi in training she seemed awfully scared. Something like that could easily get you killed on a mission and it could endanger the rest of your team too.

***

Taryn looked up when there was a knock on the door. “Gaara,” she said surprised. He rarely came to this office.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked, “or are you busy?”
“No. Come in,” she answered, “what is it?”
“That girl,” he said, “Matsuri…” He paused and looked at Taryn. “What do you know about her?” “Why do you ask?” Taryn questioned.
“There is something about her. She seems afraid of weapons, but not of me…” Gaara frowned confused, “still, she seems to be determined to be a shinobi.”
Taryn opened a drawer and took out a file. “Matsuri Todou,” she said, “eleven years old. Her father died on a mission five years ago. Her mother died of illness not long after. She lives with her uncle now who is a Jounin. No brothers or sisters. I spoke with Kallen from the Academy. She says Matsuri seems to be afraid of weapons and everything related to the shinobi life, but she is determined to become one. You were right about that.” She looked at Gaara. “Don’t be too hard on her.”
Gaara sighed. “I know nothing of training someone.”
“You’re a Chuunin now,” Taryn said, “you have earned that title because of your skills. I’m sure you’ll find a way to transfer that to someone else.”
“I’m not good with people. I don’t know what to do.”
“You don’t have to do anything,”  Taryn said, “just talk to the girl. The rest will come.”

Matsuri sighed and lifted the chain again to swing it around. There was no one around anymore on the training grounds. She didn’t mind though. At least now none of the other children would make fun of her. Everyone knew how scared she was of weapons. She didn’t want to be scared. Not anymore. She wanted to be good at something. ‘I want to make Gaara-sensei proud.’ She thought, ‘I don’t care what the others say. He was nice to me. And no one is ever nice to him.’
She looked at the sky. It was getting dark. She should probably go home before her uncle would worry. When she turned around she jumped.
There was a stranger blocking her path.
“I’m sorry sir,” she said, “I didn’t see you.”
“You know you shouldn’t be out here alone,”  the stranger said, “all kinds of things could happen to you.” 
Matsuri nodded. “Yeah, I’ll go home right now.”
The stranger chuckled. “No you’re not.”
Matsuri tensed and took a better look at the man. The symbol on is headband was not the mark of Suna, but something she didn’t recognize. She gasped and took a step back, bumping into someone else. She looked up at the newcomer and screamed.

Both Taryn and Gaara looked up when they heard a distant scream.
“What was that?” Gaara asked.
Taryn activated her Byakugan. “It came from the training grounds,” she said and hurried out the door with Gaara on her heels.
When they arrived on the scene, they saw four unfamiliar ninja. One of them was holding Matsuri under his arm. Several other Sand ninja had gathered too and stared at the intruders.
“Release that girl,” Taryn demanded.
The man holding Matsuri snorted. “You speak out of turn, girl,” he said, “go fetch somebody with authority. Who’s in charge here?”
“I am,” Taryn said icily, “who are you and what do you want?”
“You?” the man scoffed, “aren’t you a little young to have that authority?”
“Shall I show you why I do?” Taryn asked coldly.
The man chuckled. “We challenge Shokaku of the Sand to a fight.”
Gaara took a step forward and came to stand next to his sister. “What do you want with the One Tailed monster?”
The man turned to him. “You are his host?” He seemed surprised. “We were expecting someone more…” He didn’t finish his sentence, but turned to Taryn again. “It doesn’t matter really. The request stays the same. We want to fight Shokaku.”
“And if we refuse?” Taryn asked.
The man grinned darkly. “Then we will kill Suna villagers every day, starting with this girl.”
“Let her go,” Gaara growled through his teeth. He was ready to attack them, but Taryn held him back. “Let me go,” he told her.
Taryn shook her head. She wasn’t going to let him do anything foolish until she had more details. The man holding Matsuri smirked again. “Come find us if you dare.”
The four of them teleported away.
Gaara pushed off Taryn and ran towards where they had been standing. Matsuri’s weapon lay forgotten on the ground and he picked it up. “I’m going after them,” he said.
“You’ll do no such thing,” Taryn said.
Gaara glared at her and turned to leave.
Taryn launched a wind attack in his direction. It hit the ground in front of his feet and took a few training poles down. “I said no,” she warned.
“What then?! You’ll just let them kill her?! It’s me they want. She’s my student. She’s my responsibility.”
“I have responsibilities too,” Taryn said, “to the village for example. If we give in to them not only will it make us look weak, there is no guarantee that they’ll not go through with their threat.”
“But…”
“We’ll go after them alright,” Taryn said, “but in an organized way. A team will go with you.” She looked around, knowing that no one would be willing to team up with Gaara. “Temari! Kankuro!” she called.
Her siblings nodded. “Yes.”
“Gaara, you’re teamleader,” Taryn said, “I know you want to get her back, but don’t be reckless.”
He gritted his teeth, but nodded. The three of them vanished.
“Hachi,” Taryn called. A Jounin stepped forward. “Take a team and find out how they could have entered the village without anyone noticing them. Find out who they are and where they are from. I did not recognize the symbol they wore.”
“Yes, Taryn-sama,” Hachi said and disappeared.
“Kallen,” Taryn said, “go to Matsuri’s uncle and tell him what has happened. Send him to my office.” “Yes Taryn-sama.”
Taryn sighed and turned around. She headed towards the council room. Up in the attic was where the messenger birds were being kept. She wasn’t sure if she should ask for help. Was it something they could handle themselves? But Konoha should at least be warned. The attackers had run off in that direction. Perhaps they could be intercepted.
She wrote a note and tied it to the bird. It hopped on her arm and she carried it to the window to let it fly.
“Taryn-sama,” Kallen said from the doorway, “Kazuma Todou is waiting in your office.”
Taryn nodded. “Thank you Kallen.” She walked past the woman towards her office. What was she going to do about this?

***

“Tsunade-sama,” Shizune stepped into the office, “a messenger bird came from Suna with a request for help.” She handed the scroll to Tsunade who read it.
She lowered the scroll and sighed. “Send for Shikamaru,” she said.
“We’re sending aid?” Shizune asked.
“Our alliance with Suna was re-established,” Tsunade told her, “and they came to our aid immediately to retrieve Sasuke. We will pay them back now. Besides those rogues are headed this way. I don’t want the same kind of trouble here. We may be able to cut them off before they come too close. Also, the hostage was a child. So yes Shizune, we will send aid. Now, call Shikamaru. I have a mission for him.”

***

“Why Matsuri?” Kazuma Todou asked, “she’s just a child. She never harmed anyone.”
Taryn shook her head. “It was not about Matsuri. She was just there. In the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“I know what they wanted. They wanted that monster. Why didn’t you just give them that?”
“That monster,” Taryn growled, “is my brother. And he was the only one offering to go after her. You are in no position to question me.”
“You put your brother’s life over that of the villagers.”
“My brother is one of those villagers! How dare you say such a thing?!” There was a knock on the door. Taryn looked up, still angry. “What?!” she snapped.
Hachi entered the office with a folder in his hand. “We know who they are,” he said.
Taryn took the folder from him. “Shadow ninja? I’ve never heard of them.”
“They are not well know,” Hachi said, “they were never a large nation and everyone believed they had vanished completely. They were know for their concealing technique. They could hide their chakra.”
“That would explain how they could enter the village. Do you know what they want with the One Tail?”
“No Taryn-sama.”
Taryn nodded. “Alright. Thank you. Take this information to the council.”
“What will you do?”
Taryn gritted her teeth and her eyes grew a cold look She took her fan that was standing in a corner in her office and tied it on her back. “I’m going after them,” she hissed and stalked out of her office.

“Are you sure you entrust this mission to me?” Shikamaru asked, “last time…”
“Last time you were unprepared. You are a shinobi of Konoha. I know that you are young, but you are a Chuunin. You have earned that title. Even the most experienced Jounin will sometimes fail a mission or lose comrades. It’s part of the life of a ninja.”
Shikamaru sighed. “I know that.”
“Good,” Tsunade said, “now, you can form your own team. I’ll give you free reign. Take as many as you like. Don’t go to Suna first, the enemy is headed our direction and you’ll loose precious time.” Shikamaru nodded. “I’d like to take Sakura with me,” he said, “we will need a medical ninja.” Tsunade nodded. “Very well. I’ll send her with you.” She gave him a serious look. “Can I make a suggestion?” Shikamaru nodded. “Take Naruto with you,” Tsunade said, “he might be of use to you and he could do with the distraction now that Kakashi is out on a mission.”
Shikamaru sighed, but nodded. “If you think it right then I will.”
“Good,” Tsunade said, “now leave. The sooner you get your team assembled the better.”

They were already far ahead. It would take a while before they would catch up to the others. Taryn sighed as she scanned the area. Dante and Yamaru flanked her. She had chosen them to accompany her since the council had refused to let her go alone again. So, reluctant, she had agreed to take two shinobi with her.
Dante was famous for his earthbased jutsu and Yamaru was a good tracker.
“What do you think?” she asked Yamaru.
He looked around with a look of concentration on his face. “They split up,” he said, “it’s hard to say who has the girl.”
Taryn nodded.
“Do you want to split up as well?” Dante asked.
“I see no other option,” Taryn said, “it will take too long to track them one by one… there’s four of them and three of us. Gaara’s team has three people too.” She sighed and took out three wireless. She handed them both a set. “Keep in touch with these. Report when you find anyone. These have a reach of two miles. If you think you need to go further then notify me at once.”
They nodded at her.
When they had all placed the device, Taryn tested it. “Alright,” she said, “ready?”
“Yes,” Dante said.
“Ready,” Yamaru nodded.
“Split up!” Taryn said and the three of them all vanished in another direction.

“So where are we going exactly?” Naruto asked.
“Have you been listening at all?” Shikamaru said, “we’re on a mission to assist Suna.”
“You said that,” Lee interrupted, “but isn’t Suna that way?”
“We’re not going to Suna,” Shikamaru answered, “we’re meeting their team halfway. The enemy has fled into the direction of Konoha. They have to cross the land of Iron, which is neutral. We will cut them off there.”
He looked at his team. He had picked Choji and Ino because they were his teammates and he was used to fighting next to them. Kiba and Akamaru were there because of their tracking skills and Lee had volunteered when he had come across them in town. Sakura wasn’t with them. At the last moment, Shikamaru had decided to assemble a back-up team. He wasn’t going to risk a good medical ninja getting hurt in the frontlines.
“So what is the plan?” Kiba asked.
“We have to rescue the hostage,” Shikamaru said, “if we encounter the team from Suna first, we’ll consult them. If we encounter the enemy before that then we will try to free the hostage. It is a little girl. We don’t know the enemy’s capacity. All we know is that there are four of them. We need to take them out.”
“What are we waiting for then?” Naruto asked, “let’s go.”
“We’re staying here,” Shikamaru said, “we’re waiting for the sign.”
“What sign?” Ino asked.
A beetle landed on her knee. Before she could scream however, Shikamaru clasped a hand over her mouth. “That sign,” he said, “the others are in position.”
“What others?” Naruto asked.
“I sent a second team,” Shikamaru said, “consisting of Neji, Hinata, Shino and Sakura.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because we need them. Now shut up and follow me.” He stood up and descended the hillside.

Temari sped up through the forest. She would have to get closer eventually. She landed on a tree branch and scanned her surroundings. There, not far in front of her, was the enemy. Well, one of them.
Temari wondered if her brothers had found the others. Carefully she crawled closer and jumped down, landing in front of her target. “Stop right there,” she said.
The female ninja in front of her smirked. “Well well. So Suna has decided to come for us after all.” “I’m here for the girl,” Temari said, “release her.”
“As you can see,” the woman said, “she’s not with me.”
“Then we’ll just kill you one by one,” Temari shrugged.
The woman chuckled. “You think you can defeat Delia of the winds? I’m far out of your league.” “Wind huh,” Temari said, “I’m not that bad at windattacks myself.”
“Is that so?” Delia smirked, “let’s see how well you do against my wind then.”

Kankuro could barely get out of the way when a whip like attack hit the ground in front of him. He landed on the ground a few feet away and glared at his attacker.
The man chuckled as he pulled back his weapon. It was a strange kind of sword, but it seemed to have a will of its own. “Admiring my sword?” the man asked amused, “it’s a very special one. But I won’t bore you with the details. I’ll just show you up close.” He swung his sword at Kankuro again, who jumped out of the way. It scratched Kankuro’s leg and he hissed. “What’s that? Did my snake sword bite you? You really have to be faster than that.”
Kankuro narrowed his eyes. “You want to play?” he asked while unwrapping his puppet, “let’s play then.”

Shino stuck out his finger so the beetle could land on it. He listened for a moment and nodded as the beetle flew off. He turned to the others. “Shikamaru’s team moved in. He’ll leave signs along the way. We should follow in a slower pace.”
Neji nodded. “Alright. What would you have us do?”
“Can you see anyone with your Byakugan?” Shino asked.
Neji activated the jutsu and looked around carefully. He shook is head. “No one in sight. We need to get closer.”
“We’ll go in then,” Shino said, “remember, we are only the back-up team. We won’t get involved in any fighting unless there is no other way. Our main goal is to protect Sakura so that she can heal the wounded if necessary.” He looked at Neji and then at Hinata. “Both of you keep your Byakugan activated. As soon as you see anything suspicious, inform me.”
They nodded and the four of them moved deeper into the land.

“Akamaru found a trail,” Kiba said.
“Good,” Shikamaru said, “we’ll follow it. All of you stay alert. We don’t know what we might expect. Kiba, you go first with Akamaru. I’ll go and cover us at the back. We need to hurry. If the enemy reaches the border, we’ll have more than one enemy to deal with.”
They followed the trail for quite some time when finally Akamaru stopped and looked around confused. He turned to Kiba and whined softly. “What is it Akamaru?” Kiba kneeled down next to his dog. He placed a hand on the ground and looked around. “They split up,” he told the others, “the trail continues in three different directions.”
Shikamaru sighed. “Then I suppose we need to split up too.”  He took out a small container and a paintbrush. He started painting a few invisible symbols on a tree nearby.
“What are you doing?” Naruto asked. “I’m leaving a message for Shino’s team,” he answered.
“An invisible message? How are they supposed to read that?”
“This is a special syrup,” Shikamaru explained, “Shino gave it to me. It attracts his beetles. He’ll be able to read it, but our enemies won’t.” He looked at his teammates. “Okay,” he said, “Choji and Kiba, you’ll go that way. Lee, take Naruto with you. Ino, you come with me. We’ll go that way.”
Ino nodded.
Shikamaru handed each of them a container with syrup. “Carry this with you. Use it to leave a message in case of emergency. Be careful everyone.”

“Yamaru, Dante, report,” Taryn said. She sat crouched on a tree branch and observed her surroundings.
“I have the enemy in sight,“ Dante answered her, “about half a mile from here. Female, around thirty. She’s fighting Temari. I’ll go in and assist her.”
“You’ll be out of range,” Taryn said, “be careful and report back afterwards. Yamaru?”
“Still looking,” he answered, “I’m getting closer. There are traces of a fight.”
“Kankuro or Gaara?” Taryn asked.
“Hard to say,” Yamaru said, “but my guess is Kankuro. I don’t see any sand.”
“Proceed and report back,”  Taryn said and activated her Byakugan. There it was… a chakra she would recognize anywhere. “Gaara,” she said and hurried towards the scene.
Her brother was on his knees and panted heavily. The ninja he was fighting chuckled. “Having some trouble?” he taunted.
Gaara glanced at Taryn who took a fighting stance. “Be careful,” he said, “with that device he’s carrying, he can suck chakra.”
“No problem,” Taryn said. She took out her fan and lifted it for an attack. “I’ll just rip it to shreds.”
The man chuckled. “What’s that girl? You think you can defeat me? Go ahead then, take a swing.” “No,” Gaara said to Taryn, “I can handle it. You go ahead and get Matsuri back.”
Taryn glanced at him, but nodded. She jumped to a tree branch, but before she could jump to the next, it was destroyed from under her feet and she fell to the ground. A pile of sand broke her fall, but she still gasped for breath.
“You’re not going anywhere,” the ninja chuckled.
Immediately after, he was hit by Gaara’s sand attack. Blood was dripping from his body. “Thanks for distracting him, nee-san,” Gaara grinned.
“Yeah… no problem,” Taryn groaned while sitting up.
Their enemy glared at them. “Clever move, but I won’t fall for that again. You two aren’t leaving this place.”
Taryn crawled to her feet and narrowed her eyes. Something wasn’t right. Why hadn’t he launched a serious attack at them yet? All he had done so far was prevent them from going any further. ‘He’s stalling,’ she suddenly realized. “Gaara,” she said.
“I know,” he nodded, “this won’t take long.” He lifted his hand and sand started rising.
Taryn took her fan and lifted it. From behind, she heard approaching footsteps, but didn’t pay it any attention. They could deal with the newcomers later.
Both of them launched their attacks at the same time. The ninja had no time to defend himself and was severely hit.
There were two gasps behind her and when she looked up, she recognized Naruto and Lee. So Konoha had sent help. Gaara seemed unfazed by their sudden appearance. “Wow,” Lee said, “we were sent to aid you, but you seem fine on your own.”
“How many of you are here?” Taryn asked.
“Six,” Lee answered, “and a back-up team of four.”
"Where are the others?”
“We split up. I don’t know where they are now.”
“We need to go,” Gaara said.
“Heh. You are not going anywhere,” a voice said, “did you think you could defeat me that easily?” The man that had just gone down, rose again. This time all four of them gasped. The man chuckled. “I have some more tricks up my sleeve. Valon of the Hojo clan won’t be beaten by children.” He lifted his hand and started to form a series of signs.

Matsuri stirred. When a soft breeze hit her face, she opened her eyes. The ground moved swiftly underneath her. She was being carried by someone. Slowly the events from that night came back to her. Someone had taken her from Suna. She struggled against her captor. He chuckled darkly when he noticed. “So you finally woke up, huh?”
Matsuri tensed. “Don’t worry,” the man said, “if you behave, nothing will happen to you. It’s not you we want. You’re merely the bait.” He smirked. “I must admit, Suna ninja are persistent. They sent two teams after us and I do believe some allies have meddled in as well.” He smiled. “They’re coming to free you. Too bad none of them will survive…”
He gave a dark laugh when Matsuri tensed.

“I know your pattern of attacks now,” Valon smirked at Gaara, who had raised his sand and kept it ready to strike. He lifted himself high up to attack from above. Valon chuckled. “Let’s see how well you fight without your sand to protect you.”
He released his jutsu and a large wave of water flushed over Gaara, soaking him. His sand grew heavy and he was no longer able to control it. With wide eyes, he fell down with amazing speed. Taryn gasped and released a wind attack at the ground to break his fall. The wind lifted him and he fell to the ground with a soft thud.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Valon said.
He directed his attack to Taryn now, who was unprepared. It flushed over her and slammed her against a rock, almost drowning her. She hit her head and everything turned black.
In the distance there was a voice, trying to contact her.
“Taryn-sama? What’s happening?” Yamaru’s voice asked through her wireless. “Taryn? Where are you? Taryn…?”