Chapter 4: A Needed Thank You

 

 

        Warmth. Comfort. Exhaustion. Pain. Your eyes tried to open, having just awoken from a dreamless sleep, but they wouldn’t budge. They felt too heavy to move. You regained some feeling in your body, and you could tell that you were on your back, but where, you didn’t know. It felt like you were laying on something soft, but you’ve never felt such comfort before, so you didn’t know what it was. Although your head was pounding from an excruciating headache, you tried to remember what had happened to you, but that only increased your headache’s intensity.

        You groaned from the pain and fuzziness in your head. You moved your head to your right, trying to see if it would ease the pounding in your head, but it only made it worse. Now that you thought about it, breathing made it worse. You decided it would be best to stop moving and to try and let the headache subside on its own, for now, at least.

        “Hey guys! I think she’s waking up!” A male voice suddenly yelled very close to you, cutting through the once silent air, which was the only thing keeping your headache only slightly unbearable. Ugghh whyyyy. The voice sounded near, and you didn’t know what to make of it. You groaned once again, louder than before, from the sudden change in volume that irritated your head, and soon heard footsteps stopping a few feet away from you. The auras around them seemed vaguely familiar, you just couldn’t put your finger on it. 

        “Are you sure Kankuro? She still looks like she’s sleeping to me.” Another voice, this time a female’s, was heard. Why do they sound so familiar?

        By now you could open your eyes a little, just enough to allow a little ray of sunshine into your vision. You quietly hissed, not being awake and strong enough to adjust to the brightness, and turned your head to the left away from the light. Apparently, they had heard you.

        “Told you she was waking up. Now shush!” It shut whoever the girl was up, and whoever else surrounded you made no noise as well. You turned your head so you were facing back up, and tried opening your eyes once more. This time you weren’t blinded by as much light, and you were able to open your eyes just a smidge. Different splotches of colors began to appear, mostly all of them were of a lighter scheme, but you swore you saw a darker red somewhere in front of you. You moved your head to the right, trying to get a better view of your surroundings.

        The first thing that became clear was a window, where you assumed that the bright sunlight that shone through was what blinded you earlier. The window was behind a wooden chair close to where you lay, and someone was currently sitting on it. You guessed it was who the male voice belonged, judging by how near he was to you. There was something familiar about him, now that you could see his outline. However, you couldn’t place a name to him. The male leaned forward and whispered close to your face.

        “Wake up, sleepy head.” His voice was taunting and full of mockery, similar to the earlier louder, more uncaring one.

        You decided to ignore the figure for now, since there were more important things you needed to do, that is, before you taught this guy a lesson for speaking to you like that. You scanned your surroundings to the best of your abilities. Even though you were never actually inside one, you could still make out the details of a Leaf Village apartment, the ones that outsiders stay at. Why am I in an outsider’s apartment? Who’s apartment is this? You sat up a little, keeping a hand on your throbbing head, and tried looking at the people who’s footsteps and voice you heard earlier were. You could make out red and sandy colored hair right next to each other, and that was all you needed for your memories to instantly come back in one burst of pain, making your headache disappear completely. You realized who’s apartment this really was. It was Gaara’s and his lackeys’. 

        You immediately sat up straight, wide eyed. When the shock left, you scowled and forced your hidden blades out, or you thought you did. When you didn’t hear the clinging of metal, you snapped your now shocked gaze to your weapons, wondering why the blades wouldn’t come out. You tried again, and again, and again, only to fail each and every time, making you panic. You heard chuckling from the male sitting in the chair, as you continued to examine your precious newly broken weapons.

        “Nice try, brat. We knew you’d try using those little special weapons of yours. So we ‘fixed’ them for you. Hehe.” Your icy cold yet fiery glare turned to him, and you bared your sharp teeth in a threatening manner. These hidden blades were given to you by the one person who treated you with pure kindness and sincerity, the Hokage, Old Man, the very leader of the Leaf Village who had given you hope all those years ago. These hidden blades were everything to you.

        A low growl erupted from your throat, now only focused on the infuriating boy in front of you. You even forgot that Gaara and the girl were still at the doorway. Your eyes burned with pure fiery hatred towards the male, and you were just about ready to attack him with your bare hands. Before you or the boy could do anything, a raspy monotone voice cut in through the thick atmosphere, severely cold and commanding.

        “Kankuro. Enough. Don’t upset her. She’s like a wild animal who just got caught. Don’t do anything stupid.” You snorted at him calling you a wild animal, but focused on something else more important. Kankuro? So that’s your name, asshole. What’s the girl’s then? You ceased your growling and now focused your icy glare on Gaara. He glared right back at you, cold sea-green eyes piercing darkened (E/C) ones. The whole apartment grew silent, and a tense atmosphere filled the room. You refused to break eye contact, showing no signs of backing down. But eventually, you realized that you were outnumbered, your weapons didn’t work, and right now, you were at their mercy. Plus, you needed answers, like why they brought you back to their temporary apartment instead of turning you in to the ANBU, and how much of your ‘moment’ did they see. With all of that in mind, your glare lowered into a frown and you crossed your arms over your chest, giving them the signal that you would not attack.

        When no one answered, you tilted your head and looked at them expectantly, to show you were waiting for them. The girl finally realized what you wanted, and spoke. “Are you wondering why you’re here?” You tilted your head back up and gave her a sarcastic expression that said ‘really, what do you think’. Before she could answer, Kankuro bet her to it.

        “Just give us back what you stole, brat. Don’t waste anymore of our time.” You shot a short glare over to him, then you devilishly smirked, and tried to hold in your rising want to laugh at them. You had already eaten what you stole from them, there was no way to give it back, and they didn’t even have a clue. Kankuro noticed this and frowned.

        “And what the hell’s so funny, brat?” You shot him a fake guilty look. “Yeah, I see that little laugh coming up. What do you think is so funny? Huh?” You raised an eyebrow as a, ‘what do you think?’. He continued to frown at you, until the girl sighed, breaking the tension he was creating.

        “Kankuro, just let me talk to her.” Kankuro muttered something under his breath, but obeyed the girl’s words nonetheless.

        “Whatever Temari.” Temari. I know all of your names now. You turned your gaze to ‘Temari’, and waited for her to talk. All this time, Gaara had been watching you very carefully and coldly, making you uncomfortable, but since you had been used to the feeling since you were little, it didn’t affect you as much. He seemed to be the leader of the bunch, but you found it weird, since he didn’t seem as strong as you’d think a ‘leader’ would be. Maybe I’m underestimating him. You shook your head out of your thoughts, just in time for Temari to start talking.

        “Anyway, as Kankuro here just said, we do want our stuff back, so can you tell us where it is?” She sounded nice, but it was easily detectable as a façade; there was a hint of impatience and hostility in her tone. You raised your eyebrow again, only this time in confusion. I only stole food, why are they making such a big deal out of it? Why would they be asking for it back in the first place? What’s the point? Is that all they wanted?

        “Hellooo? Earth to tiny little brat? Can you give us an answer already?” You rolled your eyes. “I’m tired of waiting, so how about we beat it out of you?” You looked at him with a dangerous glint in your eyes, just daring him to try and lay a finger on you. You snarled.

        “Kankuro.” Gaara growled out. “I said, enough.” Kankuro looked taken aback and nervous.

        “S-Sorry.” He stuttered. You turned your head back to Gaara and Temari and snorted. You still refused to say a word. You didn’t trust them enough, and this game you were playing with them was kind of funny.

        “Hey kid.” Temari called out. You paid no attention to her. You didn’t like how she called you ‘kid’ even though she was only a couple years older than you. She groaned out of frustration. “Shadow Fox.” You slowly turned your eyes to Temari, acknowledging her. “What’s your real name?” You looked at her with a ‘why would I tell you anything’ face. “Nothing. Really?” She glanced at Kankuro, and then nervously to Gaara. Why do these two seem to fear him so much?

        “She must be mute.” Gaara stated plainly. You bit the bottom of your lip to keep from laughing. Ha! They actually bought it! They actually think I’m mute! I can’t take it! Kankuro noticed you trying not to laugh, and this made him angry.

        “Hey, what’s so funny?” You couldn’t take it anymore. You stopped biting your lip and let out a long, loud, laugh. When you finally calmed down, you looked up and smirked.

        “I’m not mute, dumbass.” You were surprised that your voice sounded as good as it did, since you hadn’t used it in such a long time. Gaara clenched his still crossed hands into fists, and deepened his scowl. “Or could you not already tell.” You taunted. Your smirk widened. It was faint, but you thought you could hear a small growl coming from Gaara. Temari tried to break his angered state before he exploded, by moving to another topic and asking you another question.

        “If you can speak, why didn’t you answer our questions before?” You snorted.

        “One, because you guys can be fun to mess with.” You could feel everyone’s anger at that comment. “And two, simply because you don’t need to know the answers to them.” Kankuro scoffed.

        “And why not?” You raised your eyebrows like it was an obvious answer.

        “Well, let’s see. My answers, my choices, and my life. That’s why. Oh and ‘Kankuro’, get your damn chakra strings away from my neck.” You grabbed the chakra strings that were in front of your neck, and pulled them, causing Kankuro to fall off his chair and land face first onto the floor. You let go of the strings, letting them return to Kankuro who was still on the floor. You had noticed them from the moment you had regained your memories, but hadn’t said anything because you were too busy messing with them. Kankuro looked up, shocked and a little nervous.

        “How did you see them so easily!?” He yelled. You looked to where he was on the ground.

        “Simple. I’m not blind.” You teased. He looked at you confusedly, but noticed the little glares Gaara and Temari were giving him, and so quickly picked himself up off the floor and sat back on his chair.

        “So, you still won’t tell us your name then? Or is ‘Shadow Fox’ what you prefer.” You could tell Temari was just trying to coax you into giving out your information. Emphasis on tried.

        “Hey, I didn’t even know that was my, quote on quote ‘name’ until a couple days ago, so don’t try that crap on me.” She seemed surprised, clearly she wasn’t expecting that kind of response from you. “And I don’t trust you enough to give you my ‘actual’ name, anyway.”

        “You won’t tell us anything?” She asked. You snorted.

        “Why would I tell the people who gave me food poisoning and dragged me away from my ‘home’, which oh lets see, I think there’s a word for that. Yeah it’s on the tip of tongue oh! KIDNAPPING! That’s what it’s called.” Kankuro started laughing.

        “First off, it wasn’t food poisoning. Second, we didn’t ‘kidnap’ you. We caught a thief. There’s a difference.” You huffed, but he did make a good point on the whole thief thing. You were a strict believer in Thief’s Honor, after all. You shrugged your shoulders in defeat.

        “Fair enough.” You grumbled. Kankuro gave you an exasperated look and rolled his eyes. Temari seemed confused about something, but you continued speaking. “So what did you put in that ramen by the way?” Temari looked annoyed that she didn’t have the chance to talk, but Kankuro didn’t notice and answered your question.

        “Why do you wanna know?” Temari again tried to speak, but again you prevented this.

        “It’s classified.” You sternly claimed while crossing your arms.

        “Well, since you won’t tell us anything, we won’t tell you anything.”

        “Touché.” You didn’t really want to answer his dumb questions, but curiosity got the best of you, and you had no other choice. “Fine. I’ll tell you why I wanna know. It’s because I’m poison resistant, so I wanna know why whatever the hell you used got to me. Got it? Or should I dumb it down for you?” Kankuro glared at you, but was more confused than annoyed.

        “That’s it?” He asked surprised.

        “Uh, yeah, that’s it.” He started chuckling.

        “So it’s your pride you want back, is it? Ha!” He burst out in laughter.

        “Yeah sure. Pride, something you don’t have.” You proudly smirked. Kankuro just grumbled a ‘shut up’ and gave you a little glare, then continued speaking.

        “It was a poison we sprinkled in there, that’s found only in our village.” He started thinking about something. “That could explain it though.” You looked at him curiously. “If you’re so tolerant to poison as you say you are, that explains why you weren’t knocked out right away.”

        “Was I supposed to be?”

        “Yeah, right when it entered your mouth.” You huffed.

        “I would’ve preferred getting knocked unconscious. That hurt like hell!” Kankuro smirked.

        “Maybe it was pay back.”

        “‘Maybe it was pay back’.” You mocked his voice in the worst way possible. He scrunched his lips up in disgust.

        “Are you mocking me you little brat!?”

        “‘Are you mocking me little brat!!'” You mocked him again, putting emphasis on ‘little brat’. His reaction was priceless, even Temari was stifling her laughter. He seemed as if he was about to hit you, but upon looking at Gaara’s warning glare, he leaned back into his seat mumbling a ‘damn kid’ and crossing his arms.

        “Your weapons.” Gaara spoke suddenly. You eyed him with a confused expression. “What are they.” He asked, more like demanded an answer. You unfolded your crossed arms and started rubbing your gauntlet shaped weapons. You thought about what you should say, since you didn’t want to give away any vital information, until Kankuro stopped your train of thought.

        “I bet you don’t even know much about them, since you probably stole them. You’re a thief, after all.” You smirked.

        “Quite the opposite actually, Kankuro. One, I know every. Single. Inch, of these weapons.” He snorted. “Second, they were given to me, by Old Man.” Kankuro tried to hold back his laughter.

        “You mean to tell me, an old man gave those to you? Yeah right!”

        “No idiot. Not an old man, the old man.” He looked at you like you had gone completely crazy. You face palmed. “The Hokage. You know, that old man?” Kankuro made an ‘o’ shape with his mouth, finally getting it. You rolled your eyes at his stupidity.

        “Just explain the stupid weapons already that the Hokage ‘gave’ you.”

        “He did give them to me. If you want proof then go ask him yourself! And they’re NOT stupid!” 

        “Then what are they?”

        “They’re better than yours! That’s what they are!” Before you or Kankuro could continue your argument, Gaara shut you both up.

        “Both of you. Shut up. Or I’ll kill you.” You stared into Gaara’s sea-green eyes, and found that he wasn’t joking. You thought you also saw something else hidden deep down, an emotion that you knew all too well. But… that’s impossible. Both you and Kankuro crossed your arms and leaned back with a huff, both averting your eyes away from each other and to different points of the floor, exactly like children would do. After a little while, you felt Gaara’s eyes glare into your own, and you knew he was expecting an answer out of you. With a sigh, you finally faced the two across from you, still ignoring Kankuro.

        “Hmmm. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to tell you what they are, though. Let’s see what did Old Man say. Well, these babies,” you gestured to your blades, “are called hidden blades. They’re kind of like built in swords, or knives, but I guess that depends on the length of the blades and I guess the shape. Also the sharpness of the points and the rigidness of the-” 

        “Can you just tell us how they work?” Kankuro cut your rambling off, obviously getting impatient with you. You glared at him for interrupting you, and folded your arms again, but soon smirked.

        “Ah ah ah. I said what they are, not how they work. Why would I tell you the secrets of my weapons?” You said blatantly, and then smirked. “Wait, you wanted to know how they work because I almost beat you. Is that it? Maybe you have pride after all, or a big ego. Hmmm, probably the latter.” They all looked frustrated at your stubbornness, but what did they expect? You were a thief sworn to secrecy and honor. And dignity.

        Temari sighed, obviously giving up on you, or at least, that’s what you thought, until she spoke up.

        “Fine. Be that way. But I’m asking one more question.” You leaned back more into the bed with a sigh.

        “Fire away. I’ve obviously got all day to answer.” Temari muttered something under her breath, but continued with her question nonetheless.

        “You said that we ‘dragged’ you from your ‘house’, correct?” You nodded ‘yes’ like she was stupid.

        “Yeeah, why?” She rolled her eyes.

        “You were sleeping on the corner of a building with a blanket.” You nodded again.

        “Uh huuuuh.” She sighed heavily.

        “What I’m trying to say is, how does that classify as a home, exactly?” 

        “I bet you’re a runaway, or something like that!” Kankuro proudly proclaimed. Gaara and Temari sent him a few hard glares, until they heard you burst out in laughter.

        “Runaway!!? Runaway!!!? That’s hilarious! HA! At least if I was a runaway, then I’d have something to go back to!! Man I didn’t know you could be so funny Kankuro. Maybe you’re not as annoying as I thought!” The trio looked at each other.

        “Uh, how long have you exactly been living like this?” Temari questioned. You stopped your chuckle fits and thought about your answer, muttering your thinking process out loud.

        “Let’s see. I can’t remember anything before seven years old, and I’m twelve now, so… ’bout five years.” You said the last part so nonchalantly it surprised even yourself. Everyone else seemed stunned. “What? It’s not so bad, once you get used to it. The first year was probably the hardest, since I didn’t even have my babies with me until the year after.” You flashed your hidden blades at them. “And of course, other… things, but I survived.” You shrugged your shoulders, like what you said was nothing. You, calm and collective on the outside, wanted to internally just slap yourself for revealing such personal information. Kankuro was the first to break the silence.

        “Hold on. You’re telling me, that you can’t remember a single thing before you were seven years old?”

        “Not a thing.”

        “You’re not lying, are you?” He squinted his eyes in an observing glare.

        “Please. I wouldn’t waste my time. Too much work to make something up like that. No no, it’d be much more amusing to not lie, and just not tell you, then watch you get into another pissy-fit again.” You smirked.

        “Then if you don’t remember anything, in theory you could be a runaway, you just wouldn’t remember.” Kankuro suggested You shrugged.

        “I’ve thought about it. Even asked Old Man. He just said that I was a ‘survivor’ and that I was born and basically raised in this village. And I believe him. Every word. So don’t say it’s false.” Everyone stopped talking, and Gaara signaled for everyone to move out of the room. When everyone filed out, without a single glance back, they shut the door, and you heard the click of a lock. Figures. Of course they don’t trust me. You smirked. And they shouldn’t.

        You waited until their footsteps faded away, and once you heard the silence, you took that as your signal to slip out of bed. You tiptoed quietly to the window behind Kankuro’s chair, and quickly checked the door again to make sure none of them were there. Luckily, you didn’t hear anything. You looked back to the window and jumped on top of the sill.

        Little did they know, but during that whole ‘interrogation’, you had been stealthily ‘fixing’ your weapons. Turns out, ‘someone’ had stuffed the blade slots with bits of wood and more metal, and then to top if off filled them with sand, which was why you couldn’t use your blades earlier when you first awoke. Despite their best efforts though, it was an easy fix. You had indeed warned them that you knew every inch of your weapons, inside and out. They should’ve listen. Oh well.

        You forced the blades out, hearing the familiar ‘cling’ of metal scraping metal. You slid your right blade in between the wall and window, and began sliding it up and down. You had done it before, not to steal but to practice, in case you were in some situation like this and for emergencies, so you knew this would work. When you heard a ‘clonk’, the sound of the window being unlocked, you lifted it up with ease. A slight breeze blew into the apartment, and you enjoyed this taste of freedom for a few seconds.

        Before you could make your escape though, the door burst open, revealing the infamous sand trio, causing you to look away from the window. You merely flashed them a fake innocent smile and wave, before drawing back your blades and jumping outside making a dash for the other rooftops, and as you did so you could hear yelling coming from the apartment.

        “What!? How did she use her blades? We blocked them up!!” It was Kankuro.

        “And how did she get out the window so fast!?” Now it was Temari. You thought you heard Gaara growl under his breath, and then immediately after the sounds of his footsteps running towards you. You wasted no time, and picked up your speed.

        You could feel all three of them hot on your trail, trying to follow you as best as they could, but there were two things to their disadvantage. One, you were barely using your chakra, you were basically just messing with them. Two, this was your home turf, and they were outsiders not accustomed to the Leaf Village’s geography. It was perfect for you.

        As the wind blew in your face and the pressure to escape lay on your shoulders, you couldn’t help but feel excited. It was exhilarating, the rush and thrill of the chase. You haven’t had this much fun in a while. You could tell they were using a lot of chakra to keep up with you, and they couldn’t do much more. It was almost like a very funny strategic game to you.
        
        You glanced over your shoulder to see that Temari had her big fan open, Kankuro had his chakra strings at the ready, and Gaara was using his sand to fly above the roofs. You looked to where the sun was to check the time. It’s only late afternoon. Must’ve only been out for half the day. Good. I just have to keep them busy until nightfall, or lose them before then. If I can’t shake ’em loose earlier than that, then when it turns night, I can disappear, and I won’t have to worry about them after that. Heh, this should be easy, but I do enjoy a challenge. Maybe they’ll give me one. You sent them a devilish smirk, letting them know you had something in store for them.

        You decided you would make this more interesting, and you really wanted to test their abilities. So you finally released more of your chakra to your feet and began speeding up twice as fast as before. Whenever you used your chakra like this, you were a very speedy runner. Not to say though that your chakra was stronger than someone else’s like Naruto’s, running was just one of your strong points. You could feel the shock coming from them, but they soon sped up too and were trying to catch up with you. That’s when you broke off your straight path and jumped a sudden turn that would be hard to follow.

        You back flipped off the roof, twisted, and landed in the darkness of an alleyway. This was really your territory now. You raced through the different and familiar alleys, letting the lighter shadows consume you and disguise yourself among them. You looked behind you, and you didn’t see the infamous trio. Why do I still sense their chakras nearby? As if on cue, on the rooftop on your right, you saw Kankuro looking down at you, and to your left Gaara was doing the same. Right behind you, Temari was catching up, faster than you wanted. What!? How!? How did they find me so fast? How do they still see me when I’m covered in shadows!? Hmmm, I’m guessing they could’ve pulled some trick on me while I was asleep. That could be it. But I was having problems when Naruto chased me as well. I don’t know… Ugh. I’ll have to focus on that later. Right now, I need to lose them..

        They continued to chase you all throughout the darkness of the alleys. While you were running, you noticed that the closer Temari got to you, the closer the boys moved to your sides on the roofs, as if they were planning to trap you. They were planning something, but you didn’t know what. Wait. Temari has her fan out. And if… that’s it! They’re trying to close me in so they can lead me somewhere for Temari to use her fan against me! If I don’t stop, I’ll get hit and blown into a wall and maybe get knocked unconscious again, but if I do stop, it lets them surround me like when I fought them before. But this time, I’ll be wide opened. It was a simple yet effective trap they had in store for you. But still, no matter what they try, this was still your territory. They were still at a huge disadvantage, and you had just now figured out a plan to counter their trap. Let them think they can herd me like little sheep. I’d like to see them try. 

        You were coming up on your destination, a big four way cross in the alleys that was fairly bigger than the others and perfect for Temari to use her wind technique, and you knew that she would see this bait as well. As you were coming up on the cross, just like you had predicted, Temari had begun to move her fan to strike, and you forced your blades out, ready to counter. As soon as you could hear the wind coming at you from behind, you released more of your chakra to your feet and sped up. Before Temari could realize what you had done, she had already released a strong gust of wind your way. You made the turn to your left, but halted right at the entrance to it. You released chakra into your blades and into the air, and sent your own wind towards Temari’s. You guided both your’s and Temari’s wind back the other way towards the trio, and it took all of their focus to not get blown away. While they were busy keeping their footing, you guided half of the combined wind back to you, leaving the other half for the trio to deal with, and when it came close enough, you raised your arms in an x-formation and struck the ground with the wind. It propelled you into the air and out of they alleys. You were sure they wouldn’t be able to find you after you ‘disappeared’ as you did.

        You soared through the air across the Leaf Village, and it was absolutely breathtaking. This must be how birds feel all the time! This is so much fun!! Woo hoo!!! As you started to come to a landing, you made sure your footing was right so you wouldn’t break any bones, and you landed safely on some rooftop on the opposite side of the village from where the Sand Trio was. Holy shit that was some powerful wind! Despite your excitement, you yawned out of exhaustion, and were surprised that you were tired at all. Man, that was like an actual workout! And I’m actually a little tired from it! I need to work out more. You chuckled at your thoughts, and started walking off in a random direction. I’ll have to move from my ‘home’ no, or at least for a while, until those three leave the village. 

        Just as you were thinking this, your eyes widened as you sensed something, and you just barely dodged the blow of sand that came your way with a back flip. You didn’t even look to see where it came from as you took off into a sprint once again. How do they keep doing this? They shouldn’t be able to find me this easily! Ugh! I can’t even stop and see if they actually did do something to me while I was sleeping! Great. This is gonna take longer than expected. You fell into formation, and began twisting through the alleys once more.

        This pattern continued, where you would run on the rooftops or in the alleys and dodge any attacks that came your way. If they tried to trick you into a tight spot, you would somehow find a way to get out of it, and continue on. There were a few moments where you thought you were safe again, but they would find you just as easily as the last time, and it also left you just as confused.

 

        By late evening, you still couldn’t shake them off your tail, and it was beginning to grow bothersome for you as their attacks were getting fiercer and fiercer through frustration and desperation. This is pointless! This will just go on and on until one of us tires out, and at this rate, it’s gonna be me. I don’t think I’ll be able to hold out until nightfall. Maybe there’s something else I could do, besides waiting for the dark. You tried to think of another plan, but what could you possibly do? You gazed at the sun that was just about to set, that would soon turn day into night. Then you caught a glimpse of the Hokage mountain, which is when you got an idea. Maybe… this’ll work.

        As the sky turned dark blue, signifying that it was now night, you focused your last remaining energy into leading the trio astray in the opposite direction of the mountain, and managed to ‘disappear’ from them again. You ran all the way to the top of the mountain without them seeing you, and sat down at the edge, finally at your limit. This was one of the last places you thought they would check, or so you hoped.

        With your better vision, you could actually see the trio looking around for you, which was pretty hilarious to watch. You tilted your head up to the night sky, and saw the bright luminous stars littered across it. One especially caught your attention. It was the biggest, brightest, and most special of them all, directly in front of the mountain. It reminded you of a song you sang when you were younger, around when you first arrived in the village. Leaning back on your hands you began to hum and sing that same exact song.

Natsuhiboshi
Natsuhiboshi,
Why are you so red?
Because I had a sad dream last night
My eyes are red
From the tears I shed
Swollen as I cry

Natsuhiboshi,
Why’ve you lost your way?
I’m searching for a child who’s gone afar
He can’t be found
Though I search all day
My sad dreams come once more

        As you finished the song, a single tear escaped your eye, and you let it fall to the ground. You put more pressure on your hands and leaned back. You smiled in content, closed your eyes, and enjoyed the nightly serene setting for a few moments of rare, relaxing peace. You almost didn’t notice the three presences behind you.

        “I know you’re there.” You opened your eyes and stared back at the night sky, waiting for a response. When you heard nothing, you hummed. “Idiots.” You didn’t even turn your head to look at them. You could feel their baffled gazes on you, until you heard Kankuro’s all too familiar voice.

        “What kind of game are you playing here!?” You scoffed and rolled your eyes.

        “None. None at all.” You heard him take in a deep breath, about to yell at you, but you stopped him before he could speak. “Before you go on another one of your rage hissy-fits again, sit.” You patted the two spots next to you, signaling for them to sit there. You could feel their confused and suspicious glares being sent your way.

        “How do we know you’re not gonna try anything if we do.” Kankuro questioned. You laughed.

        “I won’t. Don’t feel like it.”

        “You lying to us, brat?”

        “No, but you’ll never know if you just stand there like a bunch of sticks caught in the mud.” Kankuro snorted, but didn’t say anything else. A few more moments of silence passed, until Temari finally walked forward and sat on your right side, cautiously watching you in case you pulled something. Kankuro let out a little huff and walked over to Temari, and sat next to her. It took Gaara the longest to finally sit down next to you on your left, although he was most likely very uncomfortable. You smiled softly when everyone sat down, and your crossed your arms behind your head, making them into a make-shift pillow, and layed down on your back, with the three still watching you intensely to see if you would try anything.

        “What is it that you wanted to show us, brat?” You smirked.

        “Wow, even a bat can see better than you.” He scoffed. “Well, look directly in front of you and tell me what you see.” They were all still looking at you, until you felt some of Gaara’s sand slide underneath you, and some grabbed a fistful of the end of your shirt so he would know if you would try and escape, which you were okay with. They all finally turned their heads to the scenery in front of the mountain.

        You opened your eyes to see them looking at the view before them with a bit of a sparkle in their eyes, except Gaara, for obvious reasons. You smirked. “Now, look up.” You pointed your finger to the stars above, and they turned their gazes to the sky. You could tell they thought it was amazing, even Gaara didn’t look away, and you hoped he found it at least enlightening. You saw Temari smile, and she looked back down at you.

        “What was all this about, anyway?” She asked. You hummed.

        “Hm. Well, think of it as a sort of… thank you.” They looked at you with confused expressions.

        “What do you mean?” Kankuro questioned. You smirked.

        “One, that was probably the most fun I’ve had in years!” Temari and Kankuro playfully rolled their eyes. “Two, you didn’t turn me in to the ANBU. So, I thought… maybe I should thank you for all that.” You smiled. “Did it work?” Temari and Kankuro slowly nodded their heads, while Gaara remained stoic. “Well good. I’ve never really had to thank anyone, so this is my first. Success.” The two looked at you with understanding eyes.

        “The song.” Gaara suddenly spoke. You looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. “What was that song you sang earlier.” You heavily sighed.

        “You guys were there the whole time, weren’t you.” You groaned, which made Kankuro smirk.

        “Yeah, didn’t know you could actually sing, bra-OW!” Temari punched him in the shoulder to shut him up, and then turned to you.

        “What he meant to say, was that you have a beautiful voice. Right, Kankuro?” Kankuro turned pale at her tone and energetically nodded his head.

        “Y-Yeah, I did.” You blushed. Was that, a compliment? Was she being… nice to me? No. Impossible. Besides the Hokage, no one had ever been ‘nice’ to you like that before, so you didn’t know what to think of it.

        “It’s just a song I’ve known since I came here. I don’t know why or how I know it, I just do, so don’t ask.” You said sternly. You sighed once again. “I used to sing it all the time when I was little, to calm myself down, or something like that. I-It’s no big deal.” You quickly added. You heard Temari chuckle.

        “Well, I like it. It almost reminds me of… someone. Right, Kankuro?” She nudged Kankuro and glanced at Gaara so quickly you almost didn’t see it. Kankuro saw it too, but Gaara didn’t, or at least as far as you could tell. You were a little surprised at the gesture, and you wondered what Gaara’s story was, to relate to that song. Or maybe, he was lost, and he needed saving, or at least some form of help. Just like you. Hmph. I don’t think I’m completely alone now. You smiled contentedly, and you sat up and pulled your knees close to your chest, thinking, and enjoying the moment.

        Minutes passed by in peaceful silence, no one saying a word. It was nice, and you four sat there, looking at the stars and the view before you. It was really one of the best moments of your life, and you were, for once in your life… happy.

        “(Y/N).” You quietly uttered. Everyone turned their eyes to you. “My name… is (Y/N).”