I have to find... the Kazekage's spirit! You thought and searched the dark world for the Kazekage's spirit. Where... where is it?! You had been searching for what felt like an eternity. If your concentration was broken once more, you would have to start from the beginning again. You finally saw it. A spirit floating around on its own. You smiled and made another hand sign. The spirit widened his eyes a little as he was pulled toward you. He tried to stop himself, but he couldn't.
"Lord Kazekage," your soft whisper echoed through the nether world, sounding as if there were three of you repeating your words. He looked at you and you smiled at him. "I need to summon you. Please, come with me."
A portal of light opened behind you and you took some steps back towards it. You held out your hand to the Kazekage. He looked at it for a moment, then took it. You pulled him through the portal and his spirit appeared beside you. You looked at it then back at the Kazekage's dead body and Chiyo. You stood up and walked over to them, the spirit of the Kazekage following you.
"Gaara!" the blonde, Naruto, exclaimed once he saw the spirit. His face lit up.
"He won't be able to hear you," you told him. He frowned and gave you a questioning look. "Once they're summoned, the spirits only obey the wishes of the one who cast the jutsu. One thing I can't command the spirits to do, is remember who people are or to tell me what they remember. Their memory is kept in the nether world, and stays there until they go back. But, I plan on returning the spirit to the Kazekage, his memory should follow him."
"You can do that?" the jinchuuriki asked.
"I believe so," you answered and knelt down at the Kazekage's feet. There's a first time for everything. You held your hands out above the Kazekage's body. The spirit behind you floated up and laid down in midair. You slowly brought your hands down onto the Kazekage's feet. Have to keep the spirit inside of him while Lady Chiyo is using her jutsu. Hopefully, if things go the way I want them to, she won't die and he'll live.
~Sakura~
"I don't get it, what are they trying to do?" Naruto asked.
Sakura thought back to when she was helping Lady Chiyo to the bird that the girl from the Akatsuki had summoned. She had said she needed to do something, is this what she was talking about? Naruto stood beside her, watching everything that was happening.
"Leave him alone will ya? What do you think you're doing?" Naruto yelled and took a step forward. Sakura put a hand on his chest and held him back.
"I told you I would try to help, didn't I?" the girl from the Akatsuki asked. Her eyes were closed and she was obviously concentrating hard on whatever it was she was doing. Sakura looked at Chiyo. Lady Chiyo... is exchanging her own life... for his. But, what is the Akatsuki girl doing? She asked herself as she looked at her.
~Aiko~
You noticed Lady Chiyo shaking slightly. Her chakra is not enough. And I used too much of my own chakra with the birds and searching for the Kazekage's spirit. Not to mention, summoning a soul new to the nether world takes up more chakra and time than summoning a soul or spirit that has been there for some time. We need more chakra.
The jinchuuriki and Sakura were talking to each other but you only heard part of what they were saying.
"It's gonna be okay, she's bringing him back," Sakura told the jinchuuriki. When the blonde questioned her, she explained about Chiyo's jutsu. You felt Chiyo's chakra go down a little.
"Lady Chiyo," you whispered. "Are you alright?"
"Not enough chakra," she mumbled. You heard footsteps and opened your eyes to see the jinchuuriki holding his hands out to Lady Chiyo. Your eyes widened.
"You can use my chakra," the blonde told Chiyo. "Take as much as you need to. That'll work, won't it granny? Please?"
This kid. You looked at Sakura. And Sakura... they're nothing like what I thought Leaf shinobi would be. They'd do anything in order to save someone close to them. You smiled and turned your attention back to the Kazekage. Much like me.
Chiyo didn't say anything, she only looked at the blonde with a distant look in her eyes. She was most likely thinking about something. You felt a small tug at your hands and looked at the Kazekage. His body was slowly accepting his soul once more.
"Place your hands on top of mine son," Chiyo finally told the blonde. He nodded and placed his hands on top of Chiyo's hands. The glow of chakra increased and you felt the soul being sucked back into the Kazekage's body a little faster now. If this keeps up, I won't need much of my chakra. With me returning his soul, Chiyo should live. After all, his soul is being accepted by his body very quickly.
The jinchuuriki clenched his teeth. It was obvious that he wasn't willing to let Gaara die any minute now. The soul was halfway back into the Kazekage's body when you started to feel tired. Damn it! You clenched your teeth and focused more. Does it have to do with this being the first time I do this? You were angry with yourself, there was no room for breaks right now. You had to help them bring back the Kazekage.
"Farubaru! I need the chakra I gave you!" you whispered. Your small fox ran over to you and brushed against your arm. You felt a slight surge of chakra and focused once more. "Thanks."
'Don't worry about it,' Farubaru spoke in fox language since she no longer had your chakra and only could hear her. 'Just focus on what you have to do!' You nodded.
"In this world of shinobi," Chiyo spoke. You looked at her and noticed a small smile on her face. "Created by frivolous(Is that what she said?) old people, it's a great comfort to know that new souls like yourself have along." She paused a moment. You knew she was talking to the jinchuuriki so you smiled and focused on your task. However, you couldn't help but listen in on their conversation even if you didn't want to. "Up til now, everything I've done in my life has been wrong. But at least, here in my final hour, I can finally do something right for a change. The Sand, and the Leaf," she looked up at the sky. "May the future that awaits them be different from the way things were in our time. This special power of yours that Kakashi spoke of, that power will change the future dramatically. Become Hokage, the likes of which has never been seen. And as for you, Sakura."
"Yes?" Sakura asked.
"In the future, help those close to your heart. Not some old grandmother with one foot in the grave, who are a lot like me. So few people possess such strong spirit. You'll surpass your master as a kunoichi, I've little doubt," Chiyo told Sakura. "Naruto, do an old woman a favor will you?" His soul is almost in, Chiyo will survive! You thought as you listened to what she thought were her final words. "You are the only person in the world, who knows the extent of Gaara's pain, he also knows your pain. Please, look after Gaara."
"Done!" you exclaimed as Gaara's soul was returned to his body. You watched him. "Please, it has to work." You saw his chest rise and grew happy. It worked! His chest was rising and falling at a steady rhythm. Just in time too. You thought as you saw Chiyo was panting and looked about to pass out. You turned back to Gaara. Naruto was calling his name softly. "Sakura," you looked at her.
She looked at you and nodded. "Right." She got to work on healing Lady Chiyo's wounds. You asked her what she used in the antidote and she gave you the list of ingredients. You looked it over and noticed that all of these plants grew in this forest.
"Farubaru," you looked at your fox. She stood and walked over to you.
"I'm on it," she said as she took the list and ran off into the forest. You smiled after your fox when you felt many people coming. You looked around and saw several Sand shinobi all around. Gaara still needed to open his eyes and you grew uneasy. Did it really work? Maybe he just needs time. You stood up and walked over to the spirit bird, away from all the Sand shinobi.
Just as you were about to rip your hair your hair out, he finally opened his eyes.
"Naruto," was the first word that came out of his lips. He looked around, with wide eyes, at all the shinobi that had come to get him. You saw his lips move, but you were too far to hear anything so you just smiled. He was alive, and so was Chiyo, you helped them. You turned to the bird and were about to fly away when you remembered Chiyo wanted to talk to Sasori, but he was still out cold. A loud cheer erupted from the crowd of people around the Kazekage. You turned around, they were too busy worrying for their Kazekage to notice you were there. Your legs gave out beneath you and you fell to your knees. Your breath started to get uneven and your vision blurred. Used too much chakra. You thought.
You hear footsteps coming your way and looked up to see two blurry figures. One was red with pink, the other was black with white.
"Are you okay child?" That voice, I know that voice. Lady Chiyo!
You squinted your eyes at their faces and nodded.
"Hold on," Sakura's voice sounded distant as you saw her kneel down in front of you.
"I'm fine, Sakura," you mumbled and tried to get up. Someone put their hand on your shoulder and pushed you back down gently. You looked up and were able to make out Sakura's frowning face.
"Don't be stubborn," she told you, a tone of authority in her voice. "Let me heal you. You used up too much chakra." You hesitated but nodded, finally giving up and let her heal you. Your vision soon returned to normal. There was commotion in the center of the circle and you looked over, only to see Naruto get elbowed on the face by some girls trying to get to the Kazekage.
"Tch," you scoffed. "What is it with girls drooling all over boys?" You mumbled.
"Don't you have someone you like?" Sakura asked. "There, all done."
You shook your head. "Nope. I don't see what girls find in men, they'll only leave you at some point."
"What makes you say that?" Sakura asked as she sat beside you.
"Well..." you trailed off, hoping she would understand it was a sore subject for you.
"Oh, I see," she said and looked at the ground. "Sorry, I didn't know."
"Don't worry about it," you told her. If memory serves, your father had left your mother and never returned. No note, no warning, nothing. He just left your mother and she had to work in order to feed you and herself. You shook off the thought and saw Naruto talking to a man with war paint.
"Hey don't look at me, it was granny over there that you should be thanking," Naruto told the man and looked over to where Lady Chiyo and Sakura were sitting next to you. "And also the-"
"She's from the Akatsuki!" the man with war paint yelled and pointed a finger at you.
"Oh dear," you mumbled as a lot of people started to turn to you, giving you death glares. Some of them started to approach you. You stood up and took a few steps back. They continued to look at you. You frowned. Shinobi. You thought bitterly. They don't know when to be thankful.
A flash of yellow flew in front of you. You made an 'X' with your hands, prepared to block any attack. Your eyes widened once you saw the blonde jinchuuriki standing in front of you with his hands outstretched at his sides. He was glaring at the Sand shinobi.
"Don't attack her!" he yelled. The Sand shinobi gasped and murmured.
"Why do you take her side? Traitor!" someone yelled from the crowd. The crowd agreed with that person and started calling the blonde a 'traitor'.
"I'm not taking her side! I just won't let you hurt someone who helped with bringing Gaara back!" the jinchuuriki yelled out at all the shinobi. The crowd went silent.
"What?" asked a girl with brown hair at the front of the crowd.
"You heard me," the blonde said. "She helped Granny Chiyo bring Gaara back! Thanks to her, Gaara is alive!"
"You don't have to protect me," you mumbled. The blonde turned to look at you, a smile on his face.
"Of course I do," he said. "You helped bring back a friend of mine, you have my thanks."
Your eyes were scanning his face, completely shocked. A smile crossed your face. "Thank you."
He gave you a cheeky smile and turned back to the shinobi. "Please don't hurt her!"
"Naruto, what are you saying?" asked the man with war paint on his face. "Lady Chiyo?"
"Naruto is telling the truth," Chiyo said. "The Akatsuki girl helped. And thanks to her, I'm still alive." She groaned and held her shoulder.
"Lady Chiyo!" Sakura exclaimed as she held onto Chiyo. "It's the poison isn't it?"
"Damn it! Farubaru where are you?" you mumbled to yourself.
"The little fox?" asked the jinchuuriki. You nodded.
"Yeah, I sent her to get the ingredients for the antidote," you answered as you looked around. "She should be here any minute."
Just then, a small furry ball came flying at you. You held up your hands and caught her in your arms.
"I got them!" she yelled as she held the ingredients in her mouth.
"Good girl," you took the ingredients from Farubaru and turned to look at the jinchuuriki. "Your name's Naruto?" You asked. He nodded. "Well Naruto, you have to get back to the Sand village as fast as you can in order to make the antidote for Lady Chiyo."
"You got it Akatsuki girl," he turned to everyone and told them what they had to do. Everyone was hesitant but agreed to head back. You turned to Sakura as Naruto walked over to the Kazekage and held out the ingredients. She looked at them then at you with a questioning look. You gave a half smile.
"I don't think they want me to come along," you told her as she stood with Chiyo.
"But," Sakura protested. "You helped us. You should at least talk to the Kazekage."
"It's fine really," you said as she took the ingredients. "I have to get back, however-"
"Brat, where are we?" your eyes widened and you looked at the bird. You smiled widely and ran over to it. Sasori was awake, and he looked a little puzzled. So much for no emotions. You thought as you entered the bird and knelt in front of Sasori. "What is it?"
You smacked his arm and watched as the blade fell off. "Idiot! Don't scare me like that!"
"What?" he asked.
"Don't pass out for so long," you ordered.
"It's not like I could handle it."
"I don't care! And you should feel sorry!"
"For what?" Sasori asked and raised an eyebrow.
"For what you did to Lady Chiyo!" you scolded him. "Have you no respect?"
He looked behind you. You turned around and saw Lady Chiyo, Sakura, Kakashi, Guy and the other three that came with Guy were standing around.
"Sasori," Chiyo whispered.
"Granny Chiyo," you said. "You wanted to talk to Sasori, now that he's awake you can." You turned to Sasori. "You will listen to what she has to say, and you will not try to kill her while you're talking okay?"
Sasori mumbled something under his breath. "Fine."
"Thank you," you said and released the jutsu. The bird disappeared and the three puppets landed softly on the grass (Sasori, other Sasori and Hiruko remember?). "We'll give you two some time." You told Sasori as you got up and walked over to where Sakura stood as Chiyo made her way over to Sasori.
"He won't try anything?" Sakura asked. You shook your head.
"No, he won't," you answered and looked up at the sky. "The blonde, what's his story?"
"Hm? Oh, you mean Naruto?" Sakura asked. You nodded.
"He had a hard time growing up," Kakashi answered from where he was being supported by Guy. "No one ever really paid much attention to him, they just ignored him and mistreated him." Kakashi gave you a brief explanation about Naruto's life. You knew he was being careful not to spill any information that his village did not allow to be spoken.
Once Kakashi finished, you looked at the ground. A sad look in your eyes. He was, much like me. Alone, no one to go to... no one to care for him. At least, he found people who believed in him. Same as me. You looked at Sasori and Chiyo in the distance. It appeared they were having a nice conversation.
~Sasori~
"I know you value your time, Sasori," Chiyo said as she sat beside Sasori. He had yet to look at her. "So I won't take up too much of your time. I just wanted to say that... I'm sorry."
Sasori's eyes widened slightly and he finally made eye contact with his grandmother. "You're sorry, for what?" He demanded.
"For everything. For lying to you, for not being there for you and now this," she looked at his damaged puppet body.
"You're barely now saying you're sorry?" Sasori asked in a flat voice. "Do you have any idea what I had to go through? What I suffered because of you? Did you ever stop to wonder what a little orphan like me felt?" Chiyo didn't say anything for a moment, only looked at the ground in shame.
"I know, that's why I want to tell you this," Chiyo finally spoke and looked into Sasori's eyes. "You don't have to forgive me, but I'm really sorry. I'm sorry for lying about your parents. I'm sorry for not being there and giving you the love a grandmother should give their grandchild, instead I distanced myself from you. It's all my fault you became what you are now. It's all because of me that you became a rogue ninja. And now, it's my fault that you feel nothing towards your own grandmother, not that I blame you. I realize now my mistake, I should have helped you when you needed me. I'm sorry that I never asked what you felt-"
"Stop it," Sasori interrupted her. His head was tilted down, his teeth clenched. "Stop saying you're sorry over and over again, it doesn't fit you." His voice wavered. He tilted his towards the ground a little more, his chin on his chest and his bangs covering his eyes. "The Chiyo I knew didn't apologize this much. She ran from the truth, why aren't you doing that now?"
"Because," Chiyo started and placed a hand on Sasori's shoulder. He looked up at her, eyes shining with tears that he would not let out. "I finally realized what a bad grandmother I am."
"You only just realized?" Sasori deadpanned. Why is she saying this? What happened to make her change so suddenly?
"Yes," Chiyo answered. Sasori's eyes widened. "I only just realized it. I'm sorry for taking up your time." Chiyo got up to leave. Sasori's hand shot out and held her wrist. She looked back at him with shock written all over her face.
"Why are you leaving so soon?" Sasori asked. "I still have some things I want to catch up on with my grandmother."
Chiyo's eyes widened. "Sasori," she whispered.
"You said you didn't care, but you have my forgiveness," Sasori said. "Now then, do you want to talk about anything?"
Chiyo sat down beside Sasori. "Actually there is," she told him. He turned his head to her, waiting for her to continue. "I have a question for you. You have to answer it truthfully."
"What is it?"
"Do you plan on returning to the Hidden Sand village?"
Sasori stayed silent for a while. He had never really thought about it. Now that he did think about it, there were many reasons why he could go back to the Hidden Sand village. Yet, there were also some reasons he couldn't.
~Aiko~
You watched as Chiyo stood up. Something told you they were done talking so you walked over to them. They turned to you once they heard your footsteps.
"Ready to go?" you asked. Chiyo glanced at Sasori, then looked at you and nodded. "Very well then, I guess this is where we part." You said as Sakura and the others came up behind you.
"You won't come with us?" Sakura asked. You shook your head.
"It appears sand shinobi and I don't get along. Besides," you looked at Sasori. He was looking at you. "I have to take someone home."
"You can come with us," Chiyo spoke up. Everyone looked at her. "I mean, I'll make sure the rest of the Sand shinobi don't hurt you or my grandson."
You looked at Sasori. He nodded slightly. You smiled and turned to Lady Chiyo. "Thanks Lady Chiyo. We'll come along but if our presence causes any trouble, we'll leave right away. I don't want to cause any problems to the ones I just helped." You made some hand signs and summoned five birds. "Now then, let's take the fast way shall we? We'll catch up in no time."
Everyone nodded and climbed on a bird. Sakura and Chiyo got on one, Kakashi and Guy climbed on another. The other two boys shared a bird. You and the other girl would ride on a bird together. Sasori preferred to go with the other two puppets, saying he was tired, not that you blamed him, he had used a lot of chakra and was probably gonna try to take a nap. Farubaru decided to ride on the same bird as Sasori to take a nap. Everyone was ready and the birds took off, soaring above the landscape as it sped by beneath you. The girl held onto your waist. You glanced at her. She was looking fearfully down at the floor.
"Are you afraid of heights?" you asked curiously. She looked at you and shook her head. "It's okay if you are, I can fly closer to the ground."
"No it's fine," she said.
"Are you sure?"
She nodded. "Yeah."
"I was scared of heights once," you said out of the blue. Where did that come from? "That was until Deidara pulled me onto a clay bird and flew at a slow pace. He told me there was nothing to worry about, and there really isn't. Not when you're flying with me, I'll make sure nothing happens. And I'm very good at flying."
"Thanks," the girl whispered. "I feel a bit safer now."
"No problem."
"You don't find it weird?" she asked. You looked back at her over your shoulder and raised an eyebrow.
"Why would I find that weird?" you questioned.
"It's just... a kunoichi with no fear for the sword but a fear of heights, you don't think that's strange?"
You chuckled. "If anyone is strange here, it's me."
"Why do you say that? I don't see anything strange with you."
"That's because you don't know me yet. But if you saw me on a regular day basis, it would be most likely that you'd think I'm weird or strange," you told her.
"Why?"
You shrugged. "Dunno. Guess it has to be with me being... me. I'm a little too bold for my age and when I'm really bored I pick fights with some of the other members of the Akatsuki."
"That sounds... dangerous," the girl said.
"Nah. They wouldn't hurt me and I wouldn't hurt them. Sometimes it's just insults, board games, jutsu competitions, or a sparring match. Nothing seriously dangerous there."
"If you say so."
You caught up with the crowd of Sand shinobi and landed beside them. Some of them turned to look at you, anger and hate clear in their eyes. You simply smiled at them, their eyes would widen and they would look away. Others would glare at you but you ignored them. You released the jutsu, with the only bird left being the one that carried Farubaru, Sasori and the other two puppets. The gateway to Sunagakure came into view and you started to fall behind the crowd of people. Loud cheers came from the gateway to the Hidden Sand village.
You smiled and walked at the back of the crowd. The many people that were waiting at the gateway to the Hidden Sand village started running towards the Kazekage. They surrounded him and a jonin-rank looking ninja stepped forwards. He exchanged some words with the Kazekage. The crowd of people parted and made a path in the middle of them. The blonde jinchuuriki and the man with war paint started walking forward with the Kazekage but stopped. The Kazekage turned around, looking in your direction. Naruto and the other man with him nodded.
"They want you to go first, Lady Chiyo," you said and looked at her with a smile.
"No child," she started. "They want us to go in first."
"Us...?" you echoed. "But I'm not even from-"
"It doesn't matter," the Kazekage said. You turned to him and noticed he was looking at you. "You helped, that's all that matters. Please go first."
Gasps came from the crowd and murmuring filled your ears.
"Isn't she Akatsuki to?"
"She shouldn't be here."
"Why is she here?"
"She helped?"
"It must be a trap."
You looked at the Kazekage and smiled. "I don't think I should. Sand shinobi have a grudge against me for some reason. And they're right, I shouldn't be here." You turned to leave but bumped into someone. You looked up and saw the same man that had been speaking with the Kazekage. He had a mask of some sort that hid the left side of his face and two red stripes on his right cheek.
"Lord Kazekage is right, Akatsuki girl," he said. "You and Lady Chiyo should be the first to enter the Hidden Sand." He placed a hand on your shoulder and turned you around, giving you a gentle push forward. You inwardly groaned. What is it with these people? You thought as you walked towards the Hidden Sand's entrance gates with Chiyo beside you. Her arm was swung over your shoulder and she was taking small steps. You glanced up at the sky and saw the spirit brid you summoned flying high above the ground.
"Why are they doing this?" you whispered to Chiyo. She looked at you. "Inviting me in. For all they know, I could be pretending. I could attack right now."
"It's because some of us can tell that you are different, Akatsuki girl," Chiyo answered. You looked at the ground and allowed Chiyo to lead you to the Kazekage building in the middle of the Sand village. Once you got there, the man with war paint lead you and Chiyo to the infirmary to get Chiyo into bed while Sakura rushed off to make another dose of the antidote. Sakura finished the antidote and returned to the room where Granny Chiyo was staying. She noticed you were sitting there, fidgeting around in your seat.
"What's wrong?" a voice from the doorway made you jump. You quickly turned around to face the doorway and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hey Sakura," you greeted as she walked over and gave Chiyo the antidote. "It's nothing."
"It has to be something if you're this jumpy," Sakura stated as she pulled the covers over Chiyo so she could rest. "Follow me." She told you. You nodded and followed her out the door.
"What? You're leaving already?" you heard a voice from a room down the hall. Sakura walked to this very room and opened the door, you followed her in. The blonde jinchuuriki and the rest of the Hidden Leaf shinobi were standing with three Sand shinobi and the Kazekage. This must be the Kazekage's office. You thought and noticed the boy was the one with a lot of war paint and the girl had greenish blue eyes, blonde hair tied in four ponytails/pigtails, and a fan on her back. The other man was the one that had encouraged you to come into the Hidden Sand, the one with half his face covered. "You can stay a little longer, come on."
"Kankuro's right, at least a day or two," the girl said. "You need time to rest."
Sakuras walked over to Naruto and you stood a little distance away, giving them time time to talk.
"Believe me I wish we could," the jinchuuriki told them.
"Me to," Sakura added. "But we must report back to m'lady, the Hokage, right away."
"I see," the girl said.
"Besides," Kakashi spoke up. "If the Akatsuki were able to penetrate this far into the Sand, I'm worried about the Leaf Village's safety. Oh, uh, no offense Akatsuki girl." He said as he looked at you. You turned away from the pictures and looked at him.
"Hm? Did you say something?" you asked. Naruto stifled a laugh while others sighed. "Sorry, I wasn't listening."
"I understand you want to get back as soon as possible," the man with half his face covered returned to the matter at hand.
"Yes, exactly," Kakashi confirmed.
"Even so, your condition..." the man trailed off.
Kakashi looked at Guy, who was helping him stand. "Don't worry, I have comrades I can rely on to get me there." Guy nodded and placed a fist over his chest.
"He's right about that!" Guy exclaimed. You blocked them out and looked around. It was nothing like you thought it'd be. A small cactus was sitting on the desk, there was a small table off to the side with a picture but you didn't know who the people in the photo were. A larger plant sat on the other side of the room along with a blue sofa. There were several small, circle shaped windows on the wall behind the Kazekage. You looked outside and lost yourself in the endless blue skies.
A while later, you were standing outside the village gates with everyone else; the Kazekage, two of the sand shinobi, Sakura, the jinchuuriki, Kakashi, Guy and the others that came with him. Chiyo was still recovering in the infirmary.
"Well, so long," said the man with war paint whom you guessed was Kankuro since that's what the girl called him.
"Uh, yeah," Naruto looked at Gaara. You saw the bird was still flying around. You sighed and had it come down. It landed in front of you and you stroked its ghost-like feathers. Despite being from a summoned bird, the feathers were actually very soft and silky. Everything fell silent behind you and you turned around to see Gaara holding his hand out for Naruto to shake. Naruto was only staring at it. You guessed he hadn't really done anything like this before. A bit of sand surrounded Naruto's hand and pulled it towards Gaara's hand. As they shook hands you turned back to your bird and were about to climb on when you heard footsteps behind you.
"Hey, Akatsuki girl," you looked back and saw the girl with blonde hair tied back in four ponytails.
"Yes?" you asked.
"Naruto says you helped my little brother," she said. You nodded. "I wasn't there, but everyone who was there; Kakashi, Sakura, Lady Chiyo and the others also said the same thing. So I want to thank you. Thank you for helping Lady Chiyo bring back my little brother. Thanks to you, both of them are alive."
You waved your hands in front of you, a nervous smile on your face. "There's no need to thank me so much miss! I only paid back."
"Even if you only paid back, you saved the Sand Village from a time of confusion," the woman told you. "Do you have any idea what would have happened without the Kazekage?"
You thought a moment. "You wouldn't have a leader until you found someone to occupy his place. But you said he was your little brother, so you would miss him terribly. The Sand Village would be full of confusion and they wouldn't know what to do."
"Exactly," the girl said. "You saved the Sand village from that confusion and from having to look for a new Kazekage. You saved my little brother. Thank you."
"Uh... no problem," you told her and faced everyone. "I hope we're leaving on good terms."
The blonde nodded. "Of course."
You smiled and bowed to the Kazekage.
"On behalf of the Sand village, and myself, you have my thanks," Gaara bowed to you as well. You stood up straight and nodded.
"I would like to apologize for what happened, Lord Kazekage," you said.
"It's fine," he told you. "Don't worry about it." You nodded.
"I have to be on my way now," you informed them. "Otherwise, I'll be in way bigger trouble if I don't get there by sunset." You jumped on your bird. It was about to take off when-
"WAIT!" Naruto's voice called out. You turned around and raised an eyebrow. He smiled. "We never really got your name. We've been calling you 'Akatsuki girl' since you showed up."
You smiled. "You're right, Naruto," you told him. "Aiko."
"Huh?" Naruto gave you a confused look.
"I'm Aiko of the Akatsuki," you clarified. "And a friend of yours."
"Naruto Uzumaki."
"Sakura Haruno."
"Kakashi Hatake."
"Might Guy."
"Rock Lee."
"Tenten."
"Neji Hyuga."
"Gaara of the Desert." (or just Gaara, you choose.)
"Temari."
"Kankuro."
You smiled at everyone and waved as your bird took off. "Goodbye!" you called out. Everyone waved at you as you soared through the skies. Soon, they were nothing but a small speck in the distance. You finally turned to face forward, Farubaru was curled into a ball on your lap. You stroked her soft pelt/fur. Finally, we're going home. You smiled at the thought and laughed lightly as you imagined Pein screaming at you right now. I wonder how long I'm gonna be grounded? You started to think of the many possibilities as you flew through the air, your hair flying behind you.
You were looking forward to the Hideout in the Hidden Rain village. That's where Konan and Pein spent most of their time lately, so maybe it wasn't so bad.