We barely beat the sandstorm to the Sand Village.

By the time we're at the front gates we're thoroughly exhausted. All I want is something sugary to eat and then to pass out for at least an hour (and the genin look as though they could use at least five hours sleep), but the completion of the mission took precedence.

Someone takes the injured ANBU with promises of a hospital. The remaining ANBU--Monkey--gazes longingly after Squirrel before disappearing. I glance around and find him on a rooftop, shadowing us. Then he dips around a corner and is out of sight.

One of the gatekeepers leads us towards the Kazekage's office. He doesn't speak, and when we enter I break the silence with only one request. "Please tell the Kazekage to drop any bureaucratic shit and just let us in without making us wait for an hour," I request as respectfully as I can manage under the circumstances. The sand ninja is still glaring at me for my impudence, so I search around for something to threaten him with.

"If we have to wait longer than twenty minutes we'll smash the teapot," Michiko speaks up tiredly.

No finesse. No subtlety. Crude.

Absolutely fucking beautiful.

I hit her upside the head for show, but glare at the ninja and I make certain not to contradict her. He pales slightly as my hands tighten around my backpack--which held the stupid teapot. He nods. "No need for that," he replies. "Our Kazekage has never been one for...bureaucracy." He hurries up the stairs at that, and a few moments later we hear him knocking on a door.

Only a minute or two later he returns. "The Kazekage is prepared to see you now, and thanks you for your patience."

A small smirk crosses my face. The messenger didn't pick up on and deliver it, but the sarcasm in the message is there. Despite the circumstances, I find that I'm incredibly amused.

We tramp up the stairs, the genin visibly exhausted while I'm able to pull on a mask of careless unruffledness with little effort. Two guards open the door for us.

I lead the way inside, scanning the room quickly. Books, windows, a desk, scrolls. The only two visible escape routes were the windows and the door. The door is guarded by two ninja. To get through the windows, you would have to get past the Kazekage. The Kazekage is as reading a scroll, hat shielding his face as we walk in.

Speaking of the Kazekage.

I bow, and the genin hurriedly follow suit. "Kazekage, we have comple—oh." As I rise out of the bow I catch my first glimpse of the Kazekage, who's hat had hidden his face—and hair—until this moment. He settles the hat onto the desk and continues to gaze at me expectantly.

"Yes?" he prompts in a familiar monotonous tone.

"Didn't I try to kill you?"

It takes a long moment—which tells me just how many people have tried to kill him—before realization and recognition sets in. "You were the girl with him," he murmurs in that even tone. "With Naruto."

I nod. "And now you're Kazekage. So, um, sorry about that?"

I don't exactly know how I expect him to react, and can only hope that it's not too badly. And he delivers. He lets out a short, scoffing, "Ha" which I suppose constitutes as his laugh. "You are the last person I ever expected to become a sensei," he commented, observing the three slightly confused genin behind me. I step to the side so I'm not blocking them off and they're included,

I wait a long moment for them to introduce themselves before giving an irritated sigh. "Michiko," I gesture, "Aisa, and Kento."

The three genin stand stock still and trembling, paralyzed by the Kazekage's gaze. Finally Michiko lets out a slight "Eep!" that breaks the spell. Then the three of them are hurriedly bowing again and mumbling niceties and I do nothing to cut them off, simply rolling my eyes at the show.

The Kazekage—I search for his name for a moment because, as much as I hated to admit, my memories of that time weren't nearly as organized as they once were (I make a mental note to organize them as soon as possible)—Gaara, returns his gaze to me. "The mission, then?" he questions, and I know that he's picked up on our exhaustion.

"The mission itself was rather simple," I reply, "And despite a slight...hiccup, the actual retrieval wasn't too hard. A C-rank mission, as you said." Gaara nods, but I can tell he can sense that there's more to the mission. "Unfortunately, we happened to run into two extremely powerful enemies—"

"—They were a part of some organization after Cashile-sensei!"

And oh my God Michiko really is an idiot. All three of these genin had showed such promise on separate occasions, only to send it all tumbling down in another situation. Stupid Michiko wanted to prove to the Kazekage how smart she is and how much she knows and how helpful she is and that she can add to the adult conversation and it's all I can do to not lower my head into my hands and groan.

Gaara turns his sharp gaze to me. "Continue," he invites softly, and I know he's asking for more than just the mission now. He wants me to expand on this topic. I glance to the genin. Gaara's eyes show slight surprise at the indicator that I don't wish to share this with my own team, but I simply shake my head slightly. He studies me for a long moment before nodding shortly.

"By my understanding," he intoned. "This mission has been a long and tedious one. Rui!" he raises his voice.

The door opens and a ninja steps in. "Yes, Kazekage?"

"Please lead these leaf genin to somewhere they can rest for at least the night," he glanced at me and I nod my consent shortly.

"Yes, Kazekage," the ninja replies again. "Come, if you would follow me."

The genin glance towards me unsurely and I nod once again, indicating that they follow him. They troop out one by one and the door shuts behind them.

As the door shuts I allow my shoulders to slump a little more in exhaustion-- not only was I quite fatigued but the show of weakness would open the Kazekage up to me more. He notices my exhaustion and gestures to the chair opposite him. I walk towards it, allowing my limp to show through as I make sure not to aggravate my injury.

"You're injured," Gaara stated.

"Sacrifices had to be made in order to win," I reply tiredly.

Gaara calls in a ninja and holds a muted conversation. A minute later and a medic nin enters. We don't talk as she does her work.

"There you are! The area will be tender for a couple of days, but other than that, you're good! Hold back on training and sparring until there's little to no tenderness, kay?"

I nod and she leaves. Gaara and I stare at each other, and he's the first to break the silence. "Please explain the mission," he requests. "And any background information you are able to share."

And my respect for him skyrockets when he doesn't ask for the impossible, doesn't ask me to share everything. He asks for what I am able to share. He didn't ask for anything that could compromise Konoha. Anything that could compromise me. Just what I am able to share.

And with a weirdly relieved feeling in the pit of my stomach, I tell him my story.

"My team and I exited the gates of Konoha 3 days ago. We made our way to a small village where the group who had taken the artifact was located. Our aim was to infiltrate and take an artifact that had been stolen from the Land of Air. This was completed effortlessly. The trouble started on our travels back."

I assumed he hadn't been informed of my coming back from the dead, so I felt no need to tell him the details of all my whereabouts and history with the Rising Phoenix.

"Have you heard of the Rising Phoenix?"

Gaara nods briefly, once. "Yes, we've had quite a bit of trouble with them ourselves here and there. But they've mostly stayed out of our way, and we have extended the same courtesy."

Of course. As the Claw, I don't remember pulling more than one hit on someone belonging to the sand village. I suppose the Rising Phoenix had it's strategic reasons, but at that time I was trained to obey implicitly and immediately carry out orders without question. They focused their efforts on the Land of Fire.

"Well, the Land of Fire has been having some... Complications with this organization. We've been investigating them heavily and from what it seems, they're a major threat to us. My team was attacked by two of the Rising Phoenix's members. We had four ANBU with us, hiding in the shadows, as this attack was anticipated. As you know, two of them have died. The other two are heavily injured. I was able to keep the genin unharmed but not without cost."

"I see," Gaara says slowly, assessing the situation. He doesn't push for more information, specifically regarding my ties with the Rising Phoenix. "And then you made your way to the Village hidden in the Sand."

I nodded.

"Your team may stay here for the time being. The Sand has a long standing alliance with the Land of Fire. Once the sand storm lets out and your wounds heal completely, I will authorize a team to supervise your travels back to Konoha."

"Thank you," I say politely. I felt no need to tell him my presence may endanger his village. I'm certain he already took it into account, and I certainly didn't want him to change his mind.

"Your team has been given guest rooms. I will have someone escort you to a guest room as well. In the morning you can have your wounds assessed once more. "

I nodded. "Thank you again, Kazekage," I murmur with the amount of respect due to someone of his power. My tone remains emotionless. He regards me with something close to nostalgia, or regret, or sorrow and before I can study and understand what it meant the look is gone, the persona of the Kazekage taking over once more. He calls in a ninja who promptly escorts me down a couple floors and into a brightly lit hallway.

"Here is your room. Your team has been given rooms right next to yours."

"Okay," I say.

Those were the only words exchanged before he leaves me to be. And I reflect.

I take off my shirt and stare at the wound from the sword that went straight through my kidney. It isn't life threatening anymore. It's just a dark tender bruise. Memories flash through my mind. My immediate response to save Aisa. Of course I had given logic to that, but the possibility of Aisa's death. Oh god, and how would Aiden have reacted? He would have killed me, quite literally. He would never have forgi-- these thoughts were useless. Aisa isn't dead. I'm not dead. We were all alive and therefore able to finish the mission. 'What if's' were utterly useless questions. What I need to focus on now is resting so that my body can heal faster, and so that we could start traveling back to Konoha.

With those thoughts I lay down and closed my eyes so that I could rest.

***

My body snaps awake. I could feel the immense chakra in the air. It's Gaara. I know this chakra.

I burst from the room, hurrying into the genin's. Aisa and Kento were sharing a bed, while Michiko had one to herself. Aisa is wide awake, somehow sensing the danger while Kento is more sleepy, clearly unaware of what was happening. Michiko, on the other hand...

She's on her bed, sitting bolt upright, hands clenching at her head. "Get up," I snap at Aisa and Kento as I hurry to Michiko. "Report," I order curtly.

"Hurts," is all she says through clenched teeth.

I narrow my eyes. That wasn't exactly helpful. Then a gasp tore from her mouth, coinciding with a sudden spike of chakra in the air and I realized. I raise my eyebrows in surprise. She must be extremely sensitive to others' chakra to actually be in pain right now. The air is heavy with the screaming, roiling, sharp chakra.

"Focus on my voice," I order. "Only my voice. Everything else needs to fall away. My voice is the only thing on your mind. Close everything else off. Focus entirely on my voice."

She does as I said, eyes squeezed shut in pain. Slowly she relaxes as I continue to coach her, my voice monotonous, calm, unfeeling. Finally she squints at me, hesitantly lowering her hands. They almost immediately rise again as her focus slips, allowing the chakra to slam into her sensitive senses once more.

"Don't let your walls come down," I murmur. "You need to shield your mind. Don't ignore the warning, your senses. Just soften it."

It took almost five minutes for her to stand and nod, clearly still uncomfortable. But she was functional, and that's what mattered. "What's going on?" she asked.

The building shakes. "A fight, I would assume," I mutter. "Michiko, we'll work more on shielding your mind later. I never realized you had such fine tuned senses. It will come in handy later, I'm sure."

She nods.

"Who's fighting whom?" Kento asked.

"Let's go see," I offer. "This could be fun."

The genin look even more terrified at that.

___________________________________________________________

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