Ari's POV

"Dammit, Vi, stop!" 

My fingers latched tightly around the collar of her shirt, I attempted to drag her to a halt, my heels digging mercilessly into the shifting sand that refused to give me any sort of traction. The stuff hated me, always getting in my mouth and chaffing in all the worst places. Maybe Shukaku didn't like me hugging Gaara, and this was my punishment...?

....Nah. That'd be too overdramatic of me, don't ya think?

People were staring. Not that that was unusual. We always caused a scene when we were let out in public. But the snide snickers were getting on my nerves. Uncurling the death grip of one hand, I raised it to the nearest dude's face and flicked up one specific finger. Now, usually I'm not that rude. But desperate times called for desperate measures, and it sure as hell got my point across: Snickering Snooty-Pants and his gang of wonder freaks lost their amused smirks and marched off, all huffin' and puffin'. 

A smile split my cheeks. Good to know I still had the important ability to piss people off.

Anywho, Vi wasn't stopping for anything, and even my strength (a total knock-off of Lee-kun's) wasn't enough to keep her put. She just dragged me around behind her while she roamed the crowded streets in search of Kankuro. I felt kinda bad for the guy. All she liked to do was tease him, and all he wanted was... well, Violet. She was just too damn blind to see it. 

All us sisters were like that though. Probably why we never had boyfriends back in reality.

When it became clear any and all attempts to stop this derailed train of fluffy pinkness were futile, I sighed. Guess I gotta do something drastic, eh? Digging one heel as far into the sand as it would go without causing me to lose my balance, I shifted my weight backwards, still stuck on Violet like Ash on Pikachu, flowed just a pinch of chakra into my arms, and pretty much sumo-slammed my sister over my head and into the ground.

Dusting off my hands, I stood proudly over my dazed sissy while onlookers gawked. Well, let 'em do what they wanted. It's not like we were influenced by all those fearful stares or anything. We all knew it was too late to return to that quiet place known as sanity (as much as Scar denied it). So we just reveled in the brainless fun of it all.

"Ready to listen now, Violet?" I asked.

She crawled into a sitting position, hand held to her forehead. She sniffed. "How mean, Ari!" she whimpered. "I just wanted to catch up to Kitty-chan!" She pointed spastically behind me even though I continued to not look.

"Violet, c'mon, you know he's not in the Village, right?" 

"Yup."

"Eh?" 

She smiled cutely, that adorable little twinkle in her reddish-brown eyes. "Of course I know he's not here, silly!" she sang, jumping to her feet. "I'm chasing Kitty-chan. I've been feeding him milk for the past week, since Sensei and I found him on the way back from training."

My frown deepened as the embarrassment set in. "Ah... you mean the night I passed out from eating a shit-load of ramen, and Scar had to drag me home cause she wouldn't let Sensei touch something so 'inexcusably disgusting'?"

Vi bobbed her head happily.

I sank further into my sudden anime-inspired depression. If you looked closely, you could see the totally epic doom lines wavering around me. "So you get a cat, Scar gets to seem all cool and mature in front of Sensei, and I get a lump on my head from when Scar accidentally pulled me over a ginormous rock. Nice. Reaaallll nice."

Of course, Vi's only reaction was to smile like her cherubic self and pat me on the head, like that would cure all my troubles. Maybe in her mind it would, but in my oh-so-devious cranium, the only thing that would cure all my nonsensical troubles was Kiba. 

Oh. Wait. Eheh... my bad. I got overenthusiastic when I wrote that. What I meant to say was the new mission. I wanted to know what we were doing so badly, it was causing me physical pain. That, or it was the miso soup Kankuro made for breakfast coming back to haunt me. The boy was so damn talented with his puppet-y things, yet he thought "broadening his horizons" was a good thing. If he thought it would get him the chicks, he was dead wrong. Violet was our chef; she freaked out when one of us tried to help her in the kitchen.

Though, in my case, helping out more equated to making a drum set outta our Aunt's pots and pans. 

I had an awesome childhood, in case you were wondering.

Back to the matter at hand, though! 

"Oi, Violet!" I snapped my fingers an inch from her nose; she'd been staring off into lala-land again for Kami knew how long and for Kami knew what reasons. From the dreamy look in her eyes, I woulda guessed she'd been daydreaming about her lost Kitty-chan. Whether it was Kankuro or the itty witty putty-tat, I wasn't sure. I wasn't really ever sure with Violet. "C'mon, let's get a move on, Sensei's waiting for us to find him! We gotta look cool or else he'll tie us to posts or something!"

"Hibiki Sensei isn't a meanie, Ari," Vi scolded me, waggling her finger. My eye twitched but I kept my hand at my side. If I lost control, I'd probably break her finger. "He's not Kakashi! He's very nice and caring and he can Scarlette smile!"

"...Eh?" I was lost, and my cocked head was evidence of that. "What does all that have to do with Scarlette smiling?"

Violet's giggling was beginning to drive me further into the depths of insanity, I swear. I couldn't tell if she was just clueless (likely) or deceptively brilliant (....) with the way she avoided telling me things. Either way... I wrapped my fingers around her wrist and dragged her behind me as I ducked into a nearby alley. Looking around, eyes peeled for any stragglers from the markets, I grinned and hopped up onto an overturned garbage can, before bunching the muscles in my legs and leaping for the lowest rooftop, Violet squealing all the while.

"Look, this is the best way to find Sensei!" I explained. I hooked a thumb over my shoulder at the wide view of Suna we got from up here. You could see all the way to the Kazekage's mansion, from the little brats running wild in the streets (future mes, perhaps?) to the creaky old men who were barking at each other over a game of cards. "We can see everything! And it's just like Ninja, being all sneaky up on the roofs, so no one'll see us!"

"You're stupider than I thought."

I jumped about a mile high (courtesy of the chakra I'd pooled into my feet) at the sound of Kankuro's voice. Why the hell was everyone trying to scare the pudding outta me lately?! First Sensei, now this puppet freak...?! What was more humiliating, though, was having Violet be the one to catch me squarely in her deceivingly-scrawny noodle arms. And the smirk on the black-clad Ninja's face just made it worse.

I hopped to the ground (roof), patted the dust off my clothes (useless, cause all of Suna was just dust anyhow), fixed my hands on my hips and leveled a cheeky glare at Kankuro. "So, you've returned!" I snickered. "Couldn't keep away from my sissy, now could ya?"

I was rewarded when his face turned "sunburned" and he started towards me with the intent to murder me dead in his eyes. But, lucky me, he was stopped by a giant fan being dropped into his path. "Dammit, Temari! Let me kill the kid just this once!" he barked, trying to duck around the side. The fan whooshed open, the metallic glint making me shield my eyes for a minute as the sun hit it in full force. "For the love of... Stop taking their side!"

"But she speaks the truth, dearest brother," Temari cooed, stepping out from behind her fan. She placed a hand at the hilt-thingy, hip cocked, her grin as wide as mine. "Nice to see you again, Ari. I'm glad I can leave my annoying brat of a brother in your capable hands."

"Anything for my honory sister!" I mock-saluted her, puffing out my chest proudly. 

"Since when the hell are you two all buddy-buddy?" Kankuro grumbled, pouting. Well, I assumed he was pouting, seeing as how he was still trapped behind Temari's Ninja-tastic weapon. "You used to want to kill her as much as I did!"

Temari shrugged and snapped her fan closed, slinging it across her back in the usual manner. "Not so much after finding out we share a common interest."

"I'm gonna regret asking what that is, aren't I...?"

Temari and I grinned identical Chesire grins and chorused, "It's torturing you, of course, Kitty-chan!"

He groaned and slapped a hand over his face, obscuring it from view. He stood, slightly turned away from us, facing the Village. And with the wind tugging incessantly at his clothes, the white bandages binding Crow trailing behind him, with the light hitting him just so...

He still looked like a dweeby puppet-loving weirdo.

He didn't really appreciate it when I told him so (my bad...) and lunged for me again, but Temari intervened, holding him at arm's length, a kunai at his throat. Just like with me and Scar! Er, I didn't like them stealing our thing, but if it kept him in line.... "He has such a bad attitude," she sighed wearily, tsking in disapproval. "I don't know how he expects to win over a certain blonde spaz if he can't even play nice."

My ears pricked at the mention of Violet, and I swung around to where she'd been standing last, lips half-way to shouting out something that no doubt would have had Kankuro contemplating murder again, but the words stuttered into nonsense when I realized she wasn't where I'd left her. Annoyed, and just the teensiet bit concerned, I went around the roof, searching for a wisp of blonde, or the more obvious splash of overbearing pink she loved so much. 

And I saw nothing.

I wasn't worried, exactly. Vi could take care of herself. At least, as a Ninja she could. Mentally, I wasn't so sure anymore. Anyway, I was gonna ask Temari if she'd seen her sneak off or something ridiculous like that, when I saw her leaning against Kankuro, jabbing her finger at something below us. She laughed at the POed expression on his face, which made him turn redder than Gaara's hair, which only made her laugh more. I watched as he jokingly shoved her, and she responded by wrapping her arms around possesively and shouting, "Bad, Kitty-chan! No being mean to your bestest friend!"

Kankuro's face just kept getting redder and redder.

"I don't think they need any help. Do you?" Temari appeared at my side, indicating our respective siblings with a nod of her head. I chuckled and shook my head.

"Nope, they're just fine," I agreed. But then I clenched my fists and scowled. "But he better confess soon, or I'm gonna die! Vi's never gonna realize anything if he doesn't make the first move!"

Temari agreed with me, something that just added to my insanely gigantic ego. Then a thought popped into my head, and I tugged at her arm. "Hey, hey, what're you doing here anyway?" I asked.

"Hm?" She glanced down at me, finished with watching Kankuro and Violet bicker over how much cuter kittens were than the original Kitty-chan. Her lips formed a quick, satisfied smile. "You expected us to take a week to finish such a simple mission? What do you take us for, Ari? Just because we didn't pass those silly Chunin Exams doesn't mean we're really at your lowly Genin level!"

I gaped. I gaped and gaped and just kept gaping. My jaw was completely unhinged, almost on the ground, and I was pretty sure my eyes were gonna be rolling around in the sand any second. She didn't just go there. Snapping out of my shock, I got ready to pummel some much-needed sense into Temari's skull, when I suddenly felt Violet's arms around, spinning me away from my target. 

"O-Oh Kami... Gonna... hurl!" 

"Hehe, sorry, Ari!" Vi set me down, and while I got my bearings and tried not to puke all over my new Ninja shoes Temari had gotten me the other day, my sister explained why she'd attacked me love yet again. "But we gotta hurry! Hibiki Sensei is waiting!"

I perked up instantly, no longer feeling the nausea of my spin. I grapped Vi's hand again and took off for the next roof, calling over my shoulder, "Sorry, guys! Gotta run! Sexy Sensei is waiting for us!"

"...Sexy.... what now?!" was all I heard Kankuro say before we were gone.

Scar's POV

The wind whispered over the loose sand, setting it undulating like the waves of the ocean I used to think so much about. Since coming to Suna, I'd forgotten all about my love of the beach. Dry sand, azure skies, and scorching sunlight were all I needed to feel content, at ease. 

I was experiencing something akin to boredom at the moment, though.

Various reds, oranages and pinks bled into the faded blue of the sky above Suna as the sun settled lower and lower on the horizon. Night crept in like a watchful hunter, prepared to strike without warning and leave its prey unawares. Just then, I was certain my sisters were the prey, and they were completely unaware their time limit was reaching single digits.

I still sat, unmoved, in my position from earlier. Being calm and still at all times became an asset in situations such as this. I wasn't fidgety or restless; I could hold this spot for hours on end without the need to move to keep myself from devolving into a mindless moron. You may find that conclusion too rash, but I speak from experience, as once, Ari tried to imitate me for a mere hour, and during that time she sat with complete and utter stillness atop my bed. 

When the hour was up, on the dot, she erupted from my bed, crashed out the door, down the hall, and out the second story window into our neighbors' pool that was just over the dividing fence. Her reason for doing so?

"Trying to be Scar just made me wanna explode! I had to move, else you guys woulda been cleaning chunks of Ari-meat off the walls!"

That didn't explain why she felt the need to swan-dive into the pool from such a height, but alas, that was Ari for you.

In any case, I was waiting for my sisters' return. I should have guessed they wouldn't be able to figure out just where Hibiki Sensei had gone. It was a simple task, but only if one were to look past the obvious, the deception he so carefully laid out for us.

"A Ninja must see through deception," I quoted listlessly, staring off at the rare puff of clouds that crowded over the Village wall and drifted aimlessly into the Village. Something shifted beside me, but I made no move of surprise or fear; I was used to this type of greeting. A feather-soft touch of sand brushed over my fingertips, causing a faint smile to curl my lips. "Hello Gaara," I greeted, speaking to the redhead who came into existence without pronounced warning at my side.

"Scarlette."

"I see you've finished your mission early. Congratulations."

"...It was nothing worth our time," he replied. In the coming dark, it was difficult to make out his facial features, but I managed to spot the awkwardness in his eyes, in the way they subtly shifted away from me. Out of respect, I avoided eye contact by watching the edge of the training field expectantly. Ari and Violet would come back in time, when they finally gave up their futile attempts and trudged back here in weary defeat. 

I shifted my eyes to the corners to catch a glimpse of Gaara; his words did not match up with his thoughts. Whatever that mission had been, he'd been happy to fulfill it. Good. Gaara was beginning to take an interest in helping others, interacting with them for reasons other than his crazed bloodlust. It wouldn't be long until his desire to become the next Kazekage was known. And when the time came, I would the first to offer my support.

"Why is it that you're here?" Gaara asked haltingly; his words were a little clumsy, and I raised a brow curiously. What could make Gaara so nervous....? A memory bubbled up in my consciousness, followed by a queer tingling at my lips. I probed them with a careful finger, trying to ignore the brief touch of heat that licked at my cheeks. 

He'd kissed me.

And then I'd disappeared.

This was the first time we were alone together since Ari's and my rescue from the Akatsuki. No wonder the air between us was so stifling, the wall of silence so thick. I hadn't thought the current Gaara capable of embarrassment, and yet... 

I took in a slow, deep breath, let it pass through my lips in an exhale. There was no point to this awkwardness, not if something could be done about it. I slipped my hand, cold from exposure to Suna's merciless wind, over Gaara's, forever frozen from his isolation. I felt his eyes burn into me, but I didn't meet his gaze. "I'm sorry, Gaara," I murmured, dipping my head in shame. "I troubled you and your siblings, back in Konoha, when Ari and I disappeared. I assure you, I hadn't meant to cause any undue worry. Things were... complicated, out of our hands. If I could have, somehow, foiled the Mist Ninja before they were given the opportunity to escape with us, I..." 

The words died long before they reached my lips. Despite the pain and worry it caused the Sand Siblings, despite the anxiety it instill within us sisters, despite how agonizing I found the whole experience, I wouldn't have changed it. From our time with the Akatsuki, we gained clarity, insight into our reason for being here in the first place. And while I didn't love the complicated choices that brought us here, I preferred being able to recognize them as the truth rather than suffocating in the ignorance of it all. And there were other, less honorable reasons for my wishing to keep our meeting the same...

However, it appeared that Gaara mistook my broken sentence as my own inelegance at dealing with the situation. He gently squeezed my hand, as though to reassure I had no need to continue on with my vague ramblings. "Before meeting you, I had never once cared for anyone other than myself and my selfish desires," he began quietly. "But when Violet informed us that you and Arianna couldn't be found, there was a hollow feeling in my chest, different from anything I'd felt before. Temari... told me it was worry... and fear for your safety." Warmth slowly seeped into my frigid fingers as Gaara held them steadily. "No matter how it happened that you disappeared... I am only... happy that you returned safely."

I met his eyes for the first time that night, and nearly drowned in the pure sincerity of his teal orbs. My face softened in relief and a gracious acceptance. Looking at him now, I could see why Gaara had become my first Naruto crush, the very thing I had vehemently denied my sisters for years. But now, offering him a small smile as thanks for his heartfelt words, I realized just what this boy was to me, just why our respective shells seemed to crack around one another.

So alike, so different. 

From the moment I was dropped unwillingly into his room all those months ago, he truly was my greatest friend. 

And I am sorry to all those who are saddened by this news, but that was all Gaara and I were to each other. Friends.

"I believe I forgot to answer your question," I said, at last breaking up the soft silence that had replaced the deafening roar of earlier. "I'm here, alone, in the desert, because my sisters failed to notice where Sensei went this afternoon."

Gaara looked about to question me, but was kept from doing so when his sand suddenly burst forth and formed a protective wall in front of us. 

"Awwww, damn!" a familiar voice whined from the other side. "That stuff is too damn fast! We haven't been able to hug Gaara since we came back! How come Scar gets to be all close to him but we can't?!"

"Your adoration appears hostile to those not accustomed to it," I suggested as the sand receded, gradually revealing Ari's frazzled form. She and Vi stood panting, cheeks flushed from exhaustion, brows dripping with sweat one could only obtain from Suna heat. Ari stood with hands on her knees, face twisted into an annoyed frown, while Vi, recovering slightly from her run, smiled adorably at us. 

"Hiiiiii Gaara! I'm glad you're back!" she sang.

He only nodded in reply; his grip on my hand loosened but never disappeared.

"Anyway!" Ari straightened, pushing her hands into the small of her back until a satisfying crack was heard. A groan of ecstasy escaped her, which she quickly covered up by clearing her throat. "We couldn't find Sensei! We looked everywhere, too! And what the hell, Scar?! All you did was sit here and flirt with Gaara?!"

"Say what you will," I cut in dryly, "but I'm willing to claim that I was the one closest to Sensei's whereabouts this entire game."

"Prove it!" Ari mumbled irately. Tiredness did tend to make her cranky.

I smiled with the triumphant air of an Olympica gold medalist. "Hibiki Sensei, I suggest you come out now. Sunset's come and gone."

"I knew you were a bright one, Scarlette!"

Ari's head snapped around, frantic to find the source of Sensei's disembodied voice. Confused as she was, it was no wonder she was sent reeling when a bulge appeared in the sand beneath her feet, followed by Hibiki's white-haired head emerging from below. He grinned at her even as she looked ready to throw up or faint. Possibly both.

"You were down there the whole damn time?!"

"Of course!" Hibiki Sensei expertly climbed out of the hole he'd made hours ago, not a spec of grit on his entire person. He observed my dumbfounded sisters with quiet laughter. Taking pity on them, I decided to explain.

"Hibiki Sensei is famous among other Villages," I said slowly. "Even though he was an ANBU for only one year, his skills were so great that he gained the respect of Ninja twice his age. Always hidden, lurking, waiting for the perfect time to strike, and with abilities ferocious enough to fell even the most senior Shinobi if caught off guard, Hibiki earned the infamous title of Hidden Devil of the Sand."

"....Eh?"

I chuckled and gestured to Sensei's hole. "Earlier, when he pretended to disappear from the training ground, he simply hid underground. I only realized it from the subtle vibrations of the sand and his almost nonexistent chakra signature. And I'm sure, if this had been a real battle situation, even that would have vanished when Sensei went into hiding. Sensei wanted to see who was able to detect him, no?"

"Perfect score, Scar! You could be a Sensory Ninja, you know, with skills like that!" he praised, reaching down to pat my head tenderly. I smiled despite myself. "Though the other part of this excercise was to test your teamwork so... you do kind of fail there."

I shrugged. "As expected."

Sensei turned back to Ari and Violet, who were leaning against one another for support. "You two get points for enthusiasm!" he exclaimed cheerfully. 

"Yay..." Ari muttered dryly.

Sensei shook his head and tried to raise their morale. "Now, now, it's nothing to worry about. Scar just did a little research about me is all. You just didn't think to ask Baki like she did. But you have to understand that gathering information is also a part of being a Shinobi. So now we know what the work on the next few days before the mission: Teamwork and Observation!"

"Lovely," Ari sighed, slipping further into her exhaustion. "We just wasted an entire day... a day I coulda spent making my Ninja skills more badass! Couldn't you have just told us all this, Sensei?"

Hibiki Sensei struck out across the sand, heading back for the Village. "Now where would be the fun in that?" he called over his shoulder cheekily. "Now come on! I promised you ramen, didn't I? Oh, and Gaara-sama is welcome as well!"

"Ramen!" Ari, and Violet (who was practically asleep on her feet at this point) suddenly surged with renewed energy, and were exploding across the sand in no time. I sighed softly; they would never change.

I stood and offered my hand to Gaara. "Shall we?" I asked. "One should never pass up on an offer of free ramen."

A very tiny, very genuine smile touched his lips as he took my hand and allowed me to pull him to his feet. We followed the others slowly, enjoying the scattered light of the twinkling stars above and the lullaby of the win ruffling the sand at our feet.

The excercise had been so simple, and had really accomplished nothing, but I knew Hibiki Sensei had had a purpose in using such a blatant trick in his teachings. Ari and Violet did as well, whether they chose to admit it or not. We trusted Sensei wholeheartedly and knew he was more than capable of turning us into the splendid Sand Shinobi we wished to be.