Roses In The Sand

Farewell Father...What Now?

Author's Note: Sorry I ended so awkwardly, I was seriously bored with that chapter. Idk what I'm doing with the story, so I guess we'll have to find out together.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-At The Pyre-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Temari stopped in at the Hokage's office when they arrived at the village, three days after meeting up in the dessert. Tsubaki went inside as well to make funeral announcements, and arrangements were completed so quickly she's still dizzied by the speed as she watches the flames reduce her father to ash.

In spite of the seriously short notice, her father had quite a turnout. It seemed like everyone in both the village and neighboring areas came and observed his "going-away" party, said a few kind words, shed a tear for him, laughed for him, prayed for him. Now they were all dark forms against a darker sky as night had fallen fast that day, slowly beginning to wander off. Civilians, ninja, and businessmen walked side by side through the night, slowly trickling back towards their homes, restaurants, offices, or drinking houses.

Kyoisu's ashes were carried away on the wind's breath, not waiting to hear the final words of those many friends he must have had beyond the borders of Fire Country. Perhaps that had been his desire all along, because it was clear that, however impromptu the affair was, this had clearly still been well-planned. Everything he did always was. Temari was still at Tsubaki's side, paying her own respects as though the funeral was still running even though they were alone, and Tsu kept her head down. Eventually, as the last embers died, Tsubaki felt the weight of a gentle hand on her shoulder, urging her away, and she followed with her head bowed. She was still in a daze, faced with the steady reminder that her father had passed.

She was led back to her father's house, where Temari would be staying with her until the end of the Chuunin exams. (It was better than her having to rent a room and pay a huge fee each day.) Tsubaki smiled to the blond somewhat gloomily and motioned to the kitchen. "Hungry?"

"Starved." Temari walked into the kitchen and began rummaging around in the fridge, cabinets, and pantries. "What do you have?"

"Miso ramen soup, stuffed turkey breast, sushi, sticky rice, chicken, low meine..." Tsubaki's stomach growled, and she joined Temari in the hunt, beginning to dump off some of the hurt she'd been shouldering. "Pretty much anything, help yourself."

They spent the rest of the night cheering each other up by sharing ideas, cooking up strange foods they made up off the top of their head, exchanging gossip, playing with their hair and makeup, and finally, a pillow fight.

Tsubaki woke up the following morning on the floor in a pool of her own drool, with Temari stretched across her stomach. She finally thought back to the conversation she had with Temari about her...ninja predicament. The whole, I'm-Never-Gonna-Be-A-Chuunin-Because-It-Wasn't-In-Father's-Plans-For-Me thing. Her stomach twisted into a rubbery knot. The thing was, even though she received the training and such, her father hated her practicing. While she took occasional "ninja" work, it was usually nothing more than running messages, escorting low-priority civilians, or balancing a village's "checkbook". The Chuunin exams would be great for her where wit and intelligence was tested...the problem would be the physical part. Any skills she may have possessed at one time had surely deteriorated into nothing by now. She would need practice, and a lot of it.

And then there was the three-man squad issue. Either she had to wait around and hope someone ends up dead, or see if she can't possibly get in with a graduating class that doesn't have enough students passing to form full teams with none shorted or left over. Either she'd be dealing with depression, or freshly trained kids who were much younger. Bad situation, either way. Though, if she was lucky she'd get a group that would think it cool to have an older team mate...but then they'd expect her to be experienced and have hundreds upon thousands of tricks up her sleeves.

She sighed and gently pushed Temari off of her, walking into the hall, out through the kitchen, opening a door that lead to two sets of stairs; one going up amd one going down. She closed the door behind her and began climbing up, walked out into a sitting room, passed through it into another hallway, and walked into a bedroom.

There, she stripped down, then went to one of the drawers, pulling out one-peice black body armor. Over that she put on a shift made of chain mail, with hundreds of heavy, tiny metal links making clinking noises as they swung together or pulled apart. over that she pulled on a white shift with slits up either side stopping tjree inches below the waist, put on a face mask, tied her hair back, and tied her headband on loosely around her neck. It was slightly rusted, with a crack going down the side, and had the symbol of Hidden Rock dead center.

She sighed and put training weights on her arms and legs next, then pulled on boots and fingerless gauntlets. She checked her shuriken and kunai bags, then strapped them on, followed by a tanto blade and two katanas of different size.

After that, Tsubaki pried open a window and jumped out into a nearby tree, then a rooftop to the roof of the house across the street. A loose shingle slid out from under her foot, nearly tripping her as it clattered down to the earth below. She ran along that roof to jump for the house across the next street over, but it was too far, and she fell in the middle of the street on top of a blond and caused a stir in the crowd.

"Ow, what do you think you're doing?" The blond grumbled, rubbing his head as Tsubaki rolled off of him and jumped up, allowing him to do the same. He wore a black and orange jumpsuit and a hitai-ate headband with the symbol of the Leaf on his forehead. He was squinting at her, and yawned...were those whiskers on his face?

"Sorry, I was doing a little mock training...it's been a few years and I'm rusty." She offered a light smile from behind her mask and held up her hands, palms out.

"A few years? Please tell me I heard you wrong or that was a mistake." The boy's eyes were open now, a nice clear blue. But he wasn't the one who spoke; a green-eyed girl with short pink hair stepped out from behind him and looked at Tsubaki in disbelief.

"Ah, well..." Tsu rubbed the back of her head anxiously, moving away. "I'm really sorry."

"Wait!" A hand gripped her shoulder tightly from behind, and she flinched. Turning, Tsubaki saw a slim boy with big round eyes, an overly friendly smile, comically thick eyebrows, and black hair in a bowl cut. He wore a green body suit with blue sandals and orange leg warmers, and his forearms were tightly wrapped. This boy apparently thought it better to wear his headband as a belt as well. He was giving her a thumbs-up. "I will train with you."

'I'm surprised no one has commented on my headband yet...' Tsubaki thought. 'Then again, the Chuunin exams are coming up. Maybe they don't see the need.'

"Well?" His smile slipped a notch, and she realized she'd just been awkwardly staring at him in silence. That would make them unnecessarily suspicious, and they might remember her later if anyone shows up looking for the bride they bought from a certain Tanuki salesman.

"Ah, yes, thank you! Sorry, the offer caught me off guard. I'm probably going to need the help." Tsubaki smiled with her eyes and walked over to stand beside him, looking once again to the bewildered pair apologetically before gesturing theatrically with her arm. "Lead the way, friend!"

"Right! This way!" He turned and began marching off down the road in the direction of the gate out of the village.

"Um, Lee...? The training grounds are in the opposite direction, remember?" The pink haired girl turned and pointed in the general direction of the Hokage's office, and the boy spun at once.

"As always, you are both beautiful and brilliant, Sakura-chan!" His grin was huge, and there wasn't a single hitch in his step. Clearly, being called on his mistake hadn't fazed him in the slightest.

'Oh boy...this is gonna be fun.' Tsubaki thought to herself with a small smile, following behind him and making a mental note to watch for any signs that might indicate with any certainty which way they should actually be going.