After two more days of resting in the village we were finally allowed to head back. Kakashi saw us off, I waved back at him.
"Travel safe." He smiled as we left. Gaara had been very protective of me since the seal had been fixed. I had gotten a good night's rest and it was pretty early, but we were ready to head home.
"Mia, just let us know if you need to rest." Temari muttered.
"I'm fine, Temari. Lady Tsunade's healing abilities are the best. I don't feel anything at all." I touched my chest.
"You don't have to put on a brave face." Kankuro stated.
"I'm not, really." I smiled at him.
"..." Gaara's silent sigh made me stop. They all looked back at me.
"Look, I know what I said when the seal was changing...I know I worried all of you a lot. But I'm okay, I've lived with Shei practically my whole life. I know its worrying to know that it was by Orochimaru's hand, but Lady Tsunade was able to cut the connection, which means...I'm free from him." I stated, putting my hands on my hips.
"Mia..." Kankuro and Temari muttered.
"I...I've been blessed with amazing friends, who respect and care about me. That was all I ever wanted as a child. And to be honest..." I looked at Gaara, feeling a blush creeping into my cheeks. "I never thought I'd find someone as caring as you, Gaara." His cheeks turned a little red, but he just came over grabbing my hand.
"Just let us know if you need a rest, we're more than happy to stop." He muttered, pulling me along. I chuckled with Temari and Kankuro.
~
After a few hours of walking, I started feeling a little dizzy. Lady Tsunade had told us that I would experience some dizziness when it came to long trips for the next week or so." I started to slow down, causing Gaara's arm to extend out. He turned towards me.
"What's the matter?" Temari and Kankuro looked at me.
"Its nothing. Just a little dizzy that's all." I smiled at him.
"Lady Tsunade did say that that would happen with long trips. We should rest here for a little while." Temari stated, setting her fan down next to a tree.
"Please, don't stop because of me. I can keep going-" Gaara pulled me down to the ground as he sat down.
"Just shut up and rest." I sighed.
"I guess there's no arguing with you." I leaned against his body, closing my eyes to rest a little. The breeze felt nice and the sounds of nature were enough to make me want to take a long nap. But it didn't last long as my ears picked up on the sound of numerous pairs of feet heading in our direction. I opened my eyes sharply and looked at Gaara.
"People are coming. They're heading directly towards us and fast." I muttered, the three of them nodded. In seconds four men appeared, clad in black, in front of us.
"Who are you people?" Temari barked.
"None of your business, which one of you is Mia Hosaka?" One of the men growled back.
"What do you want with her?" Kankuro asked.
"Again none of your business. Hand her over and we'll let you live." Gaara let go of my hand and rose.
"I suggest you leave before I make you leave." He threatened.
"So the girl behind you must be her." Another one of the men chuckled.
"What do you want with me!?" I yelled.
"Your brother, Haku..." I froze.
"Haku...what about him?"
"He hired us." I clenched my fists.
"To kill me?" They laughed.
"No, he wants you alive. He said we could kill anyone who was with you though." I flinched at the murderous tone.
"No..."
"Mia, relax. Do you honestly think these chumps can beat us?" Kankuro laughed.
"If Haku hired them...then yes." I muttered. "He would do anything in his power to get me. He wouldn't hire amateurs to do the job." The men laughed.
"The girl is smarter than she looks. She's probably the smartest out of all of you."
"So who are you?" I asked.
"A group of trained assassins, all of us at one point were part of the Black Ops." I froze. The Black Ops were the best of the best. If they were all chosen at one point to be one, they weren't joking around.
I couldn't move from the dizziness, so I was helpless as I watch Gaara, Temari and Kankuro begin their fights. One of the assassins managed to get around them and headed straight for me, but Gaara's sand blasted him back.
"If you want her then you go through me!"
"Gaara..." I could see that they were fighting hard, but they weren't able to break through the former Black Ops defenses. "There has to be something I can do..." I whispered as I looked down at the ground in front of me.
That's it!
I bit my finger, causing a small amount of blood to come out. I quickly made the hand signs and slammed my hand on the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!" Everyone turned as a pack of wolves appeared. All of them made out of pure ice. "Pack of Frostbite Wolves." I muttered. I could feel the strain, I hadn't used this technique in a fight before.
I have to make this count...
"Attack!" I growled. They charged the assassins, if one was cut down two would reappear. One of the men cried out as one of the wolves bit down on his arm. He shoved the wolf off but the damage was already done. He collapsed to the ground within seconds.
"W-what happened?" One of the men asked as the wolves backed off.
"Frostbite wolves, as the name suggests, if they bite you frostbite spreads throughout your entire body like poison. Like your friend there, you'll be dead in a matter of seconds if you're not careful. I'll give you this one chance, leave or die."
"Haku didn't say she knew this..."
"You're right, he didn't know I knew this. I've been working on perfecting it for months. It's finally complete. You should feel honored, this is the first time I've ever used it in a fight." I smirked.
"Let's get out of here, she's not worth the trouble." They vanished without another thought, taking the body of their fallen comrade as well. The wolves vanished as I collapsed to the ground.
"Mia!" Temari came to my side, helping me sit up again.
"I'm okay, just used a lot of chakra is all."
"When were you working on that? We've never seen that before." Kankuro asked as him and Gaara walked over.
"I've been doing it in secret. I knew that Haku might come, so I've been preparing it for a while now."
"Wait, but you said you were working on this for months. We've only known about Haku just recently." Gaara stated.
"You're right...I just always had this feeling...that he wasn't dead. But I could never prove it..." I panted out.
"Gaara, we should get away from here and find a safe place for her to rest tonight. We're all running low on chakra." Temari muttered as she picked me up.
"Temari, I can walk." I muttered, but she simply shook her head and we started walking again.
"Honestly, Mia. We owe you our lives. For former Black Ops, they were way stronger than we gave them credit for." Kankuro smiled.
"I honestly didn't do much, besides..."I trailed off and looked down. "If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have been in that mess to begin with."
"You worry too much." Gaara muttered, placing a hand on my head.
"I swear, you're becoming more like my dad every day." I rolled my eyes.
"Is that a bad thing?" He smiled at me.
"No, but its kind of weird."
~
After some more time walking and the sun setting, we stopped and made camp for the night. Kankuro started up a fire and I sat by it, enjoying the warmth. I felt chilled down to the bone with everything that had happened since we left the village.
"Are you worried?" Gaara asked, standing beside me.
"Do you have to do that?" I muttered.
"Do what?"
"I'm okay, you don't need to check on me every five minutes." I puffed out annoyed.
"I check on you, because I worry. It's natural to worry about those closest to us." I sighed.
"Why do you always have to be right...?" He sat down beside me, grabbing my frozen hand.
"You're freezing, let's get you in the tent to rest." He helped me to my feet, leading me over to the tent. He helped me get situated before we went back out to Temari and Kankuro. I could hear them mumbling over something, but I was too tired to focus in on it. I simply shut my eyes and allowed myself to be taken away from reality.