Violet's POV

"Sensei! You're only eighteen?!"

Hibiki Sensei didn't even pause to answer Ari's question; he expertly dodged my flung shuriken and, mid-flip, called back, "I am! What's up?"

"I dunno... it's just... you're like four years older than us!" Ari exclaimed as she spun herself at Sensei, leg a deadly pinwheel, in her amazing Sand Hurricane. "It's just weird!"

Sensei threw out a hand and closed his fingers around Ari's ankle at the last second; having lost her momentum, she twisted mid-air and ended up smashing her face into the sand. Cursing loudly, she turned her head and spit out all the grit that stained her teeth. I giggled at the sight; she looked like a worm, trying to eat the dirt!

"Well..." Hibiki Sensei dropped Ari's ankle and she collapsed fully onto the ground, prompting another fit of curses. He walked forward, twirling a kunai around his finger. "I can see why it might be a little weird but... It's nothing to worry about! I'm not a pervert or anything!"

"That's... not really my point..." Ari mumbled as she rolled over onto her back, chest heaving from the strain of our practice. It had been a while since we did anything so hard. Sensei was a really good teacher, though, and he said our skills were definitely improving! He even knew some Fire Style jutsu that he was teaching me!

Seeing the conflicted look on Ari's face, I crouched down and whispered into her ear, "Think about Kiba! Kiba!"

She blushed and threw her hands over her face. Aw! My sis was so cute when she was embarrassed!

"I didn't mean that either!" she snapped, kicking blindly for my leg. I sidestepped and all she hit was air. Oh, poor air... Ari kicks hard, too! "I meant that I thought it was weird that someone so young could be a Sensei! I thought he was Kakashi's age at least!"

I would have said something, but Sensei's shout of, "Ha! Nice trick Scar! But it didn't work!" cut me off. I jumped to my feet, shading my eyes so that I could see where Scar was stepping out from the shadow of a huuuge rock in the corner of the clearing. She smiled as Sensei stooped to pick up a tag she must have buried in the sand earlier when no one was looking.

"I've never seen someone trap a Genjutsu in a tag before," he whistled proudly. "Though the principle behind it makes sense, since there are tags with other jutsu in them. Nice work, Scarlette. I like your way of thinking!"

"Your praise is exaggerated," was all Scar said in reply. As she walked closer, I glomped her as spectularly as I could.

"So cool! So cool! So cool!" I giggled, squeezing her tighter. She flicked my forehead and shoved me off. I whimpered in protest and hid behind Hibiki Sensei, who chuckled at my display and ruffled my hair.

"I don't exaggerate when it comes to my students," Hibiki told Scar with his usual grin. "You're incredibly bright for your age, and you should hear it more often. It's just that people in this Village are a little more crabby than most, so they don't give out compliments that easily."

"So why are you like this, Sensei?" Ari asked. She'd finally picked herself up and joined our group, so I hopped from Sensei's side to hers. She smiled and threw her arm around my neck.

"Oh, me?" Sensei gave us a closed-eye smile. "I'm not from this Village either."

"Ehhhhh?!"

"Mm, it's true," he promised as he went around, collecting our fallen kunai and shuriken. "I'm actually an orphan from the Grass Village. The Sand raided them eighteen years ago and found me abandoned in one of the homes. The late Kazekage decided I could be an asset to the Sand Village and gave me a home here with a nice family of Ninja. I never found out about my birth parents, but I don't really care anyhow. I'm a loyal Sand Village Shinobi, through and through! Just like how you three are."

Sensei really just kept making us love him more and more. He understood what it was like to be an outsider in such a closed-off Village. Even Scar was impressed, at least, that's what I got from the thoughtful smile gracing her lips.

"Now!" Hibiki Sensei clapped his hands together. "We've got a mission coming up, so I want to see a real demonstration of your skills. I was thinking we could--"

"Mission?!" Ari had stopped listening after that part. Her eyes were wide and sparkly, and she looked like she might pass out from excitement at any time. "We're really going on a mission, Sensei? Where, where, where?!"

"Calm down, Ari," he chuckled. "You don't need to worry about it for a few days. Just focus on training for right now, ok? I'll treat you to ramen afterwards~"

"Oh damn," Ari breathed, fingers curled around the fabric of her shirt over her heart. "Hibiki Sensei really knows the way to a girl's fragile heart!"

"Your heart is neither fragile nor girlish, Ari," Scar said, smacking the back of her head to snap her from her daydream. "And you should feel ashamed, having such thoughts after getting so close to your precious Dog Boy."

That did it. Ari rounded on Scar, grabbed her by the collar of her hoodie, and shook her like a ragdoll. "THAT'S NOT WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT! I DON'T LIKE HIBIKI SENSEI LIKE THAT! KIBARI IS MY PERSONAL OTP, ALRIGHT?!"

"KibAri?" Scar blinked while I giggled at Ari's outburst.

Ari looked about to defend herself for giving herself her own ship name, when she suddenly straightened, slowly turning around to see Hibiki Sensei grinning at her. Catching her sheepish gaze, he faked a pout. "Well, Ari, I thought we had something," he sighed dramatically, threading his fingers through his shoulder-length hair he had bound loosely in a ponytail. "I'm so disappointed I couldn't claim your fragile heart."

Her face turned crimson, and she buried it in Scar's hoodie. "Dammit, Hibiki Sensei!" she cried, her words muffled. "You're so mean! Don't be all sexy all the time!"

Scar patted her head comfortingly and shared a smirk with Hibiki Sensei over the top of Ari's head. "I apologize for her indecency."

"Nah, don't be," he said dismissively. "I get that a lot from the girls around here." He leaned forward conspiratorially, like he was telling us some big secret. "Hey, did you notice the lack of hot guys in this Village? It's really troublesome for me. All the girls end up falling for me!"

The corner of Scar's mouth twitched; she was fighting back a huge smile, not wanting to show Hibiki Sensei how much he made her laugh. "I assure you, it's all in your head, Sensei."

"Right through the ego, Scarlette!"

"Sensei, Sensei!" I wrapped my arms around his waist, peering up at him with wide, enthusiastic eyes. "What kinda training are we gonna do to get ready for the mission?"

He looked up in thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers, as though he'd just remembered something. "That's right!" he said. "I wanted to do something special to get a feel for each of your abilities right now. And that would be.... a game of hide-and-seek!"

Silence. And then:

Ari barked out a laugh, doubling over, arms wrapped around her stomach. "N-Nice one, Sensei!" she stammered between laughs. "You really h-had me going there for a second!"

Sensei's grin didn't change, though, and eventually, Scarlette pounded her fist onto Ari's back, knocking her flat on her stomach on the ground, and abruptly stopping her laughter. My sorta-stoic sister eyed Hibiki Sensei suspiciously. "You're serious, I presume?" she said.

"Aren't I always?" he shot back cheekily, finally untangling himself from me and setting me beside my sisters.

"Hide-and-seek?" My eyes lit up. "Awesome! We haven't played that in years! Who's it?" I demanded excitedly.

"The three of you, of course," Sensei told us, spreading his arms in a grand gesture. "You'll only have the honor being chased by me if you can find me first!" He winked at Scar, only earning a subtle scoff in return, which made him chuckle quietly to himself. 

I whispered to Ari, "Sensei's really good with rejection!"

She gave me a look that said, "What the hell did you eat for breakfast this morning? And did it include illegal drugs?" She lightly smacked my cheek. "He's eighteen, Vi, and our Sensei. He ain't gonna fall so easily for little girls. Get your head outta the gutter!"

"Gutter?" I echoed, cocking my head to the side. Ari's eye twitched, and she mumbled something under her breath about how high maintenance I was, how Kankuro had been right all along, or something like that. I giggled. "Well, I like him! Sensei's really cute!"

Scarlette, having heard the latest part of our conversation, snuck a look at me over her shoulder. "Don't go saying things so recklessless, Violet, and under no circumstances are you to repeat that phrase around Kitty-chan. I have no clue how to mend a puppetmaster's broken heart."

"Oh really?" Ari wiggled her eyebrows as she hooked arms with Scar and pulled  her along a few steps. "You better learn soon, sis, cause ya know, like Sasori-danna said, he doesn't like to be kept waiting~ You're gonna have to reject him sometime or another!"

"Stop spouting nonsense, Arianna. I told you he holds no feelings for me."

"Ah, ah, ah, denial ain't a pretty color on you, Scar! It was obvious how interesting he found you!"

"Finding one interesting and having feelings for them are two completely different things, Arianna."

"Not in that baka's case! He hasn't felt human emotions in years. How the hell is he gonna tell the difference?"

Scar paused, mouth open for a retort, but she quickly shut it, unhooked her arm from Ari's, and walked off to join Sensei where he'd ended up by the edge of our training grounds. Ari puffed her cheeks out in frustration. She turned to me, eyes sparking with her annoyance, but also pleading. "You see it too, right, Vi?" she asked me shoulders sagging. "It's not just me? She likes him, at least a little bit. She's just too stubborn to admit it! She won't even admit she likes Gaara!"

"Mmmm, you're not that crazy, Ari!" I chirped helpfully. She gave me a hopeful look. "I totally see it too! Scar definitely has a thing for Sasori! Maybe she just doesn't realize it yet....? It took her a looooonng time to realize she even had a crush on Gaara. I don't think she's in denial, she's just confused."

"Oh, like you then?"

"Eh?" I blinked uncomprehendingly. Why were my sisters always hinting at weird stuff! I didn't get it! It was no fair, either, cause they never explained anything to me! 

Ari linked her hands behind her head, grinning devilishly at me. "Ya know, I hope Sasori really does get to meet Scar again," she said, almost wistfully. "I think.... she'd be good for him. Like how she got Gaara to open up... Nobody deserves to be all emotionless and emo for the rest of their life, right? Sasori needs somebody like Scarlette, who isn't overly pushy like us, but just - I don't know - quietly encourages you?"

I nodded to show I understood.