Book 2: Epilogue: A Warm Welcome Part I

Book 2: Land of Sand

Epilogue: A Warm Welcome Part I

We didn’t make it to the Sand Village until nightfall, which was lucky on our part because of how cold it had become. How was it boiling hot during the day and freezing cold at night??? I didn’t know, but what I did know is that the Land of Wind was definitely on the top 10 places I’d never want to return to. Especially because every person I’ve met on the trip has tried to kill me!

“Intruders!” A ninja dressed in a beige flak jacket called out the moment we reached the front gates of the Sand Village, where he soon blew a whistle, alerting a force of thirty or so ninja.

We were surrounded but more importantly, still outside of the village! How were we intruders if we weren’t even in the—forget it. I took a deep breath and assessed the situation. Me and Tayuya were really the only ones capable of fighting, as even Hiruzen seemed drained. I’d have to thank my sister for that though I wasn’t sure how we’d fare against this many ninja. Yet I wasn’t going to fail my first real mission, so I gave a quick nod to Tayuya, who lifted up her flute while the world slowed down—

“Relax you two. I appreciate the concern, but were you really considering putting us in harm’s way with your aggression.” Hiruzen whispered, having tapped both of our heads. Then he spoke up. “My name is Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage of the Leaf Village. I’ve come to seek an audience with Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage of the Sand Village.”

“The Third Hokage?”

“Is he telling the truth?”

“What should we do?”

“I didn’t get any reports about that?”

“Wouldn’t the Hokage have more than just children protecting him?”

The group of Sand Ninja continued to question the situation amongst themselves while Hiruzen made no moves to run or do anything for that matter. I didn’t like the idea of being out in the open defenseless, but for once, the old man had a point. What could we even do? I had no info on how strong they were. The only thing I could tell was that the whistle-blowing ninja seemed to be the one in charge, and he left no openings even as he talked to those around him.

I glanced towards Sui, who seemed to be more concerned with Kasai as the pain from his arm seemed to finally be getting to him. Sweat beaded down his face, and his cool façade faded as his eyes seemed unfocused. The same could be said for Kai and Kurai, where they got into the flimsiest combat stance I had ever seen. I guessed those pills Kai took did more damage than I thought, while Kurai didn’t have a lollipop in his mouth. And he always had a lollipop unless it was a clone….

“Otokaze, what’s with all the commotion? More intruders?” A man with reddish-brown hair spoke as he stood atop a cloud of golden sand. It reminded me of Yukino’s iron sand, and she said it came from the Third Kazekage, which meant that man had to be—

“Fourth Kazekage, it’s a pleasure to see you,” Hiruzen said as he started to relax.

“Hiruzen Sarutobi.” The Fourth Kazekage replied, yet he didn’t seem to be too happy to see us. In fact, I’d say he was mad at us for some reason. “You do realize you’re a day late. I assumed you weren’t coming after making us look like fools.”

Hiruzen coughed. “There were many setbacks on the way here. I hope you understand.”

“The only thing I understand is that the Sand Village is being looked down on, again. In fact, a leader of a nation coming to another country in such a weakened state it’s like you’ve forgotten—” The Fourth Kazekage crossed his arms, and black rings formed around his sunken gaze as seven golden sand spikes spread out around us. “We’re ninja. Seizing a golden opportunity like this would be far too easy.”

“Rasa…”

“And there it is again, the disrespect. Normally I wouldn’t treat my allies in such a way, but you Leaf Ninja have taken quite a lot of jobs from us, haven’t you Hiruzen? And then your insistence on us paying you for this year’s Chūnin Exams. What else do you want from us?”

“Fourth Kazekage, all the Kage agreed that the nation hosting the Chūnin Exams received full compensation—”

“I wasn’t alive for that.” The Fourth Kazekage raised his hand, and all of his subordinates drew their weapons, assuming combat stances.

The golden spikes drew closer as the Fourth Kazekage seemed to wait for a final response from Hiruzen, which never came. I could tell in this position, there was nothing he could say that didn’t just antagonize the situation. From the sounds of it, Hiruzen was in the right, but who cared right or wrong when there was a knife aimed at your throat? Yet the pride of a shinobi also kept the old man from just succumbing to the Kazekage’s demands on the spot. Did he not want to lose face again in front of us? Or did he believe that this was a bluff? I’d never met the Fourth Kazekage, but I read how he was the intermediary during the Third Great Ninja War. The authority he commanded with his presence. He simply exuded the strength of a Kage.

The Fourth Kazekage sighed. “I guess this it then Hiruzen, farewell—”

“Magnet Release: Sand Control—Disperse!” I held out both of my hands, feeling the sand around, and concentrated on the seven golden sand spikes forcing them to disperse. And at that moment, the ninja surrounding us became rigid, stunned in place, as Tayuya removed the flute from her lips. There I stared at the Fourth Kazekage with red eyes.

“You talk about respect, yet where’s yours? Calling the Third Hokage by name. Maybe you should learn to respect your elders.”

“Hm, an Uchiha and an Uzumaki….” The Fourth Kazekage muttered. “Don’t get ahead yourself, Uchiha child. If it’s just you and the girl, my sand will have no trouble washing you away.”

Hundreds if not thousands of sand spikes formed around us, where soon I noticed the sand at our feet held onto our ankles. Then behind him was a wave of golden sand ready to overpower us. The Fourth Kazekage had done all of that without so much as moving. His mastery over sand was even greater than my sister’s, and seeing what she could do, I knew it was dumb to resist. Yet we got lucky as the Fourth Kazekage relaxed, releasing the sand from his control, and landed in front of us.

“Uzumaki girl, release my men from your Genjutsu. We’ve wasted enough time as it is.” The Fourth Kazekage said, still keeping his killing intent out in the open. Yet Tayuya didn’t say a word, simply looking towards me for an answer.

“Your men are the only thing keeping you from killing us. And as you’ve shown us, your word means nothing.”

“Smart kid you have here, Third Hokage. Yet if you’re going to bluff, at least make it look convincing.” The Fourth Kazekage said as he watched some of his men break free from Tayuya’s Genjutsu. It seemed that stopping that many people was a challenge without her Curse Mark. “So now that you’ve lost your only bargaining chip—”

Golden sand formed around our hands like cuffs preventing us from weaving hand signs where soon a tether of sand bound all of us together, and holding the end of the leash was the Fourth Kazekage, who didn’t even seem happy as he said:

“I’ll be taking you seven as my prisoners.”

2

The walk to, what I assumed was the Kazekage’s office, was quiet with very few people roaming the streets besides the group of ninja that watched over us. Those who did quickly went into their homes after giving us a curious glance. All of the buildings had the same rocky sand oval look to them, like they were urn containers. Where the only difference between them was either their size and elevation or the giant kanji written on the building, and what do you know we walked past the one that said: Doctor on it. Good to know we aren’t going to be getting any medical treatment—

“Uchiha child, tell me something,” The Fourth Kazekage began, not even bothering to look at me as he spoke. “How were you able to do that?”

I thought for a moment and wondered if I should even talk to the guy, but noticing Sui’s headshake was all the convincing I needed as she looked towards Team K. Reminding me that I had injured teammates who needed rest so I should at least try to stay on the Kazekage’s good side.

“Do what?” I finally said.

“I wouldn’t play that game if I were you.”

“Fine. I copied you using my Sharingan—”

We stopped moving, and soon I made eye contact with the Fourth Kazekage. No not eye contact he wasn’t looking at me rather towards me as if I could’ve put him under a Genjutsu. Little did he know I wasn’t that skilled with it, so he did all of that for nothing.

“Lying won’t help you. If an Uchiha could copy my Magnet Release, they’d have lived to tell the tale. Then again, maybe I did them a favor seeing as there’s nothing worse than being wiped out by your own clansmen.”

The world slowed down on its own, yet I held myself back as I knew what he wanted. For a Kage, he played some serious tricks, but even with my self-control that didn’t stop them from immediately blinding me with a roll of cloth? It was clearly a blindfold, but I’ll be honest, those didn’t usually work too well as they didn’t stop me from seeing a person’s chakra. However, this blindfold was different. For once I was actually well blinded. So it had to be something else—

“Lord Kazekage I’ve apprehended the Uchiha.” A female voice said.

“There was no need for that Maki. A Two Tomoe Sharingan isn’t enough to put me in a Genjutsu let alone capable of copying a Kekkei Genkai.”

“Still, we shouldn’t take any chances.”

“You’re right but I’d rather not face the God of Shinobi in the middle of the village, do you?”

I couldn’t see him, but I felt Hiruzen’s presence. It was reminiscent of the day we met when I could barely stand in front of him. Took him long enough. I had no idea what kind of relationship the two had as leaders of their nations, but I hoped Hiruzen still had some kind of backbone.

“Cloth Binding Technique—Release!”

In an instant, the blindfold loosened and fell to the ground revealing the tall woman called Maki who was wearing a white turban and a beige flak jacket. But what really caught my attention were the purple markings under her grey eyes. It reminded me of the Inuzuka clan’s, but she was clearly not from the Leaf. 7/10 Not the bandages I’m used to, but I guess the giant roll of sealing paper on her back counted. And I’m a sucker for short black hair.

“Lord Kazekage, I don’t like the way he’s looking at me….” Maki said with a glare that told me she was debating whether or not to blind me again, except Sui beat her to the punch.

“Yuki!”

“Wait Sui I was just assessing the situation—Ow!”

“Joke of the Uchiha….” Sui muttered as I rubbed the red lump on my head.

“You really have brought some interesting kids with you Third Hokage.” The Fourth Kazekage said with a look of disappointment, then he nodded towards a man with pointy ears. “Fugi take down the mirage.”

Soon enough, the path beside us which looked to be a dead end, became an open pathway to a building elevated on a rocky surface higher than the others. And as we approached the building, I could clearly read out the kanji: Kaze on it. Which told me we had finally reached our destination. Especially when the bindings on our hands dispersed, freeing us. We all stared at the Fourth Kazekage seemingly asking the same question: what’s the catch?

“Be grateful. There are some on the council that wouldn’t approve of me having Leaf prisoners. We’re allies, remember.”

“Sure doesn’t look like it—” I bit my tongue as I noticed Sui’s glare that said 'If you ruin this for us, so help me god!’ I had no clue where all that energy came from.

“Hm so you’re the one that keeps him in check.” The Fourth Kazekage said, turning to Sui. “What’s your name?”

“Sui Hyūga.” She said, lowering her head slightly.

“Interesting….” The Fourth Kazekage trailed off as he held a hand over his eye. “Right, looks like they’re all set. Maki, Baki, Kankurō, Temari, Gaara. Escort the kids to the hospital while the adults talk.”

It was there I noticed the four other ninja called to attention, and three of them looked to be about our age. While a tall man dressed like Maki with red markings on his face glazed his eyes over us before giving a quick bow to the Kazekage.

Yet I could barely concentrate on the new faces as one of them, a boy with red hair, stared at me. His aura wasn’t the same, but his eyes were just like the Masked Man’s. Not a shred of humanity left in them, like he was looking at a bunch of insects. Hell, I doubt he was even trying to hide his malice. What did we even do to him?

There I saw Fugi whisper something to the Fourth Kazekage, who merely shook his head and said: “Gaara your orders are to keep watch, not kill them. Got it?”

To which the red-haired boy simply nodded with crossed arms as he took the liberty of being the first to walk off. The sound of shaking sand emanated from the gourd on his back where soon the other two kids followed him, albeit keeping some distance. I wanted to ask Hiruzen if we should really trust them, but I couldn’t even form the words to. I’d met a lot of people that wanted to kill me but that kid… Gaara? He didn’t look like he just wanted to kill me. Those were the eyes of something that wanted to end it all. Maybe comparing him to the Masked Man is being generous….

“Yuki.”

I felt a hand grab my shoulder, pulling me out of my thoughts, and to my side was Tayuya who looked concerned? The softness in her brown eyes was something I wasn’t used to. “This isn’t the time to be losing your nerve.”

It was there I noticed Hiruzen and the Fourth Kazekage had already gone inside of the building, leaving the rest of the Sand Ninja to disperse and go about their business. Sui and Team K had already gone ahead with our ‘escort.’ Though it seemed that Maki had stayed behind where her stern gaze softened for a moment only to reform when I noticed her.

“Come on you two. The hospital will have a place for you to lie down and rest. I’m sure this was a long journey for Genin to make.”

“Yeah.…” I mumbled as I started to lean on Tayuya more and more.

“You ok?” Tayuya asked.

“The red-head kid…. did you feel that?”

“Yeah, they got a real monster guarding us.”

Maki chuckled. “Sensors at such a young age.”

“You don’t need to be a sensor to feel blood lust.” Tayuya spat as I felt her ever so slight tremble.

“Right, so you better get moving before he decides we’re taking too long.”

“We?” I asked.

“Here’s a warning.” Maki crouched down, getting to our eye level, and spoke in a hushed manner. “Don’t look at him. Don’t talk to him. Don’t do anything to set him off. Or else it won’t only be your lives in danger. Got it.”

“Fucking hell, this sounds just like home,” Tayuya muttered as Maki stood back up then pointed ahead.

“Alright, enough of the chit-chat let’s get moving.”

3

By the time we made it to the hospital, Sui and Team K were already inside where to my surprise, we had to share one room. Almost like a quarantine zone, the sand ninja had given us a spacious hospital room with ten beds, five on each side parallel to each other. According to Baki, Sui had insisted that we weren’t separated, and he agreed it was easier to watch us if we were all in one location. A win-win, but judging from the relief on Maki’s face, they had only agreed since it meant that they wouldn’t be separated from Gaara.

It made me wonder what kind of ninja you had to be for even your allies to fear you, especially as a kid. Yet somehow, as if he knew I was thinking about him, Gaara blocked our way to a bed. The air grew still. Tayuya snatched up her flute, prepared to play it while my Sharingan activated. Once again, it was his intense lust for blood that took away any sense of ease from me. And soon I started to understand why, The darkness in his orange chakra. It reminded me of Naruto’s.

“You annoy me.” It was only three words, yet they seemed to be the hardest words to ever come out of Gaara’s mouth as his voice was raspy and scratched at my ears like they were the first set of words he had said all day.

“Damn if he annoys you now, just wait until he tells you a joke,” Tayuya said, drawing his attention away from me onto her as I reached into my pockets for lightning-tagged kunai. They were the only ones I had left, and I didn’t like it. Though I doubt, I’d have the chance to use them as I noticed the surge of chakra flow… behind me!

And it was there I saw the sand looming over me. Something was off. Usually, my Sharingan allowed me to see a person molding their chakra, it was what helped me copy Jutsu. Yet his chakra didn’t change! Either because he’s always molding his chakra into Magnet Release, which was unlikely, or the sand was a part of him like Kimimaro’s Shikotsumyaku. Either way, in the seconds it would take to reach me, I doubted I had the chance to disperse it. I needed about a minute to even mold Magnet Chakra. Fuck me—

“Gaara stop.” A girl with blonde hair said as she held onto Gaara’s shoulder. “You heard what Dad said. We can’t kill them.”

Gaara turned his head, glancing at the hand on him then at the girl it was attached to with the same look he had given me before shrugging her hand off him. “I don’t care if we are siblings. Touch me again. And I’ll kill you.”

The girl stepped back, clearly shaking as a bit of sand from Gaara’s gourd trickled out towards her.

“G-Gaara relax. Temari is just trying to make sure you don’t get in trouble. She didn’t mean to—”

“Shut up, Kankurō. You’re no different.” Gaara then returned his attention to me, only to see the difference in my eyes.

“Did you just threaten to kill your sister?”

“And?”

I stopped leaning on Tayuya. Where my fear was overshadowed by the hate I felt knowing that this guy really didn’t give a shit. Seeing my sister again, knowing she’s always by my side, protecting me, watching over me, caring about me. How could someone else so clearly hate that? I had no clue what their family was like, but I’m no idiot. That girl clearly cares about him.

“Tayuya, he’s mine,” I said as Tayuya merely shrugged.

“You better not die then.”

“Baki, we’ve got to stop them—”

Gaara placed his hands together then dragged his left arm away, making the sand swarm both me and Tayuya as he said:“Sand Coffin!”

Yet in an instant, the sand dispersed the moment it got close to their surprise.

“Gaara’s sand….”

“Did he just—”

“How did you do that?” Gaara asked as more sand left his gourd.

“I have nothing to say to someone like you.”

“Then die.”

Sand shot out towards me, this time hardening into spikes but with their composition being the same, I could still disperse it. Gaara clenched his teeth, and as he moved his arms in preparation, I closed the distance between us, sending a palm strike to his chest only for it to get blocked by a wall of sand. Not only did I not disperse the sand, but a ringing in my head forced me to jump back. It was there I noticed Gaara was holding onto his head as if he had experienced the same thing.

“What... are you?”

“Took the words right out of my mouth.”

“Alright that’s enough,” Baki said, appearing between us. “Gaara, let’s go get you checked out.”

“I’m fine.” Gaara brushed past the Jōnin Sand Ninja giving me one last glare before leaving the hospital room.

“Damn and I thought Sasuke was a moody brother,” I said, receiving a laugh from no one as they didn’t seem to be in a joking mood. Or maybe they just didn’t get it. Either way, I ignored the crickets in the room and checked on Sui, who was out cold, just like Team K. They all had foreign chakra layered over them.

I glanced at Baki. “Should I be worried that they’re still asleep?”

“It was the only way to get them to relax. Their injuries weren’t too severe, but their chakra was depleted, and they needed rest. Especially the girl.”

“I guess, but don’t try that on me.”

“Or me,” Tayuya said, almost as if we had the same thought that sleeping here would be a mistake. Like sure, they did give Kasai a cast for his broken arm, and when I looked over Kai and Kabura, their chakra seemed to be better than when we first entered the Sand Village. But that doesn’t change the fact their Kazekage was sketchy at best, and Baki pretty much would have watched us die to Gaara even though he started it. Man, I really want to go home.

“I’ll go look for Gaara,” Baki said as I assumed he finally realized that someone should probably look for the kid. “Kankurō, Temari, you two keep watch while I have a quick word with Maki.”

Now I kid you not, it only took two seconds of them being gone for the two Sand Genin to relax. I mean sure, I felt at ease being around people my age, but they didn’t seem nearly as threatening as before. Perfect posture gone, and they didn’t look as if they were ready to kill us at any given moment. I was so surprised that I actually found myself taking a seat on one of the beds next to Tayuya, who was busy fiddling with her flute.

“Hey kid, what’s up with your eyes?” The guy in the black cat-eared-looking onesie asked. He had some weird purple face paint and something bandaged wrapped on his back. I believe Gaara called him Kankurō? Though I hoped he wasn’t calling me a kid.

“What’s up with the cat onesie?” I said, relaxing my eyes.

“Don’t call it a cat onesie! Just because you Leaf Ninja don’t understand the style of a puppet master doesn’t mean—”

The girl chuckled. “It kind of does look like a cat onesie.”

“Ugh, this is why I hate kids,” Kankurō said with a facepalm, then glanced at the girl next to him. “Why are we even on babysitting duty?”

“Because the Fourth Kazekage is a piece of shit,” Tayuya muttered.

“Tayuya…” I brought my voice low and pointed at the two Sand Ninja. “We probably shouldn’t insult their Kage.”

“What? You were thinking it too.”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t say it to them.”

Kankurō waved my worries away as he said: “It’s alright. We think your Hokage is a sack of walking dried bones.”

We all laughed since that was a pretty accurate description of Hiruzen. It still surprises me that the old man was the strongest in the village. Where I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. I mean, you’d think a gust of wind would knock him down—

“Oh you should see him teach.” Tayuya playfully picked up her flute and put it against her lips. “The old geezer gets tossed around by my wind.”

“Wait, he’s your sensei?” Kankurō asked.

“Yeah, why else would we be on this mission? The Land of Wind sucks. All this sand getting in my flute all the time, I fucking hate it.”

“Ouch, you’re quite the vulgar one.” The girl said immediately, earning a glare from Tayuya.

“So what? Got a fucking problem with it?”

“Not at all. A girl should have some bite.”

“Oh, something tells me you and I could get along.” Tayuya gave the girl a wicked grin, and for some reason, I did not like how quickly they warmed up to each other. Especially when they started to go off on their own conversation, leaving me and Kankurō out of it, which made me question.

“So when she says some bite does that mean—”

Kankurō sighed. “Yeah, my sister is a bit of a tomboy.”

“Th-that’s not what I meant….” My voice trailed off as the girl, Temari - I believe her name was - sat on the bed next to Tayuya, forcing me to pretty much stand. It was there I finally noticed she was pretty good-looking. I mean, I had no idea why she had her hair tied into four ponytails but it surprisingly fit. Especially since her sandy blonde hair went well with her light lavender blouse that was pulled below her shoulders, showing off a bit of her chain mesh undershirt. 8/10 No bandages, but she gets points for the giant iron rod she carried around with ease. More importantly…

“Wait, if she’s your sister, doesn’t that mean you’re also Gaara’s brother?” I asked, looking back and forth from Kankurō to Temari, as I didn’t know they were related to Gaara. I mean, he clearly had red hair, not to mention they didn’t behave like siblings.

“Yeah, unfortunately,” Kankurō muttered as he leaned against the wall. It seemed that this was a touchy subject, but I couldn’t help but ask.

“Why, unfortunately?”

“You saw him. He’s a monster. Imagine growing up with that.”

“No need. My sister wasn’t the greatest. Set the house on fire countless times.”

“House try village.”

“Kankurō,” Temari called out her brother’s name, and it immediately got him to shut up before he could say anymore. It definitely seemed like she was the most stable of the three. Though I wasn’t really snooping for information. I just wanted to understand why they didn’t go after Gaara when he was obviously in pain. Were they really that afraid of their brother? What if that was how Yukino thought? That maybe I saw her as a monster. A chuckle escaped my lips as her snoring echoed within my mind.

“What’s so funny?” Kankurō snapped, pulling me back to reality.

“It’s nothing, really. Just no matter what happened between us, I never saw my sister as a monster. Though if I did, she’d probably have turned out like Gaara.”

Kankurō was quite fast for a supposed puppet master. I mean, of all my traits, I knew I was annoying, but enough for him to grab me by the collar before Tayuya could play her flute was a feat in itself. Especially because it gave me enough time to shake my head as he said: “Don’t pin that shit on me. Like you know everything.”

“Kankurō, let him go.”

“I’ve watched him kill people since he was seven. Just because he could.”

“Boo hoo, when I was seven, my sister used my mom’s corpse to shield me from watching how she blew herself up.”

“So your sister’s dead….” Temari’s voice trailed off as Kankuro let me go.

“You’ve seen my eyes. I’m an Uchiha, so of course she is.”

Kankurō clicked his tongue. “Just because you miss your family doesn’t mean you get to tell me about mine.”

“He’s right, you know.” I heard a voice call out from behind me, only to see that it was Maki along with two people I assumed were medical ninja. “I thought giving you guys some time to relax before getting a doctor to check up on you would be nice. It looks like I was wrong.”

“Blame the kid,” Kankurō muttered as he brushed past me with Temari close behind. I let it slide this time. But only because maybe prying into their family life when we first met was a little bit of a dick move. Only a little! Man, have I mentioned how much I hate the Land of Wind? Even the people got on my nerves.

“Hey, Kankurō. The kid’s got a name. It’s Yuki. Yuki Uchiha.”

“Didn't ask.”

“Wow, he really got under your skin.” Temari teased before sending a smirk my way. “Yuki, Tayuya, you two really left an impression. Much better than those four. I hope there’s more like you in the Leaf Village.”

“Don’t get your hopes up.” Tayuya stood up beside me shaking her head. “Those Leaf runts are just as the rumors say.”

“Tayuya…” Her name trailed out of my mouth as I gave her a blank stare.

“What? It’s true.”

“Did you forget you’re one of the Leaf runts?”

“Don’t you fucking dare lump me in with that trash!”

I let out a sigh ignoring the fire in her eyes. “Yeah yeah whatever say Sis.”

“That’s big sis to you, crybaby Uchiha.”

“Don’t call me that!” I snapped as a devilish grin spread across Tayuya’s face.

“Oh, then should I call you the Shi-ni-ga-mi.”

“Why do you have to make it sound so lame?”

“Because it is.”

“No, it’s not. It’s cool.”

“No,” Tayuya shook her head before tapping my chest with her fist. “Tayuya of the North Gate is cool.”

“Don’t you mean Tayuya Uzumaki of the North Gate?”

Tayuya lifted her flute, and it was there I noticed the small trickle of blood run down her thumb. Oh God!

“Wait big sis we can talk about this—”

“Die scum!”

Out of nowhere, a baby Doki tackled me to the ground, trying to claw at my face as I barely held it at bay. Luckily, I didn’t have to hold it back for long as it got wrapped in a white cloth. Unluckily that white cloth wrapped around my and Tayuya’s mouth.

“Alright! That’s enough!” Maki yelled, forcing us to all stand attention, even the mummified Doki. “I get it, you’re kids, but playing around in a hospital room is not the answer. In fact, no more kid excuse. You’re ninja act like it. I can’t believe the Third Hokage entrusted his life to you, embarrassing really. Now I’m going to remove the cloth wrapping, and you’re going to let these trained professionals give you a quick check-up. Am I clear?”

Me and Tayuya looked at each other, shrugged then nodded as we probably did let things get out of hand. So with Maki appeased, she removed the bandages from our mouths, and we each took a seat on one of the beds. It was there I noticed something important, and no, it wasn’t the fact that the two sand siblings had left a long time ago but rather something shining in the medical ninja’s hand as they moved closer to us.

“I-is that a needle?”

“Oh no.” Tayuya sighed while Maki looked confused.

“Oh no? Why did you say oh no? What’s wrong with needles?”

I hopped up on the bed, pointing at the needle. “I’m warning you buddy, you better back up with that thing.”

“Don’t worry, it’ll be quick. We just need to run a simple blood test to ensure that you haven’t contracted any sort of sand sickness—”

The medical ninja slumped to the ground with his mouth hung open, where his eyes saw nothing. I relaxed my eyes then noticed Tayuya’s facepalm.

“What? You know I have a fear of needles.”

“What the hell did you do to him!” Maki ran over to the guy checking his vitals.

“Relax, he’ll be fine. He’s just seeing one of my memories for a bit. If he’s lucky, he might have gotten the bath scene.”

“The bath scene?” Tayuya raised her eyebrow while Maki had the more appropriate reaction:

“You put him in a Genjutsu!”

I held my hands out. “I can’t help it. It’s a phobia of mine. Though I’ll admit, I should have said something.”

“You think?” Tayuya said, still giving me the ‘you’re a fucking joke’ look.

“Live and learn. Usually, Sui tells them for me. Or knocks me out….”

“Right… Baki did say something about the Uchiha kid and needles.” Maki scratched her cheek while I simply smiled, as it wasn’t my fault. Though that didn’t stop her from giving a death glare. “So wait, let me get this straight. You can stand up to both the Fourth Kazekage and Gaara, but one of those little things has you panicking.”

“Pretty much.”

“My little brother is a bit of a weirdo.”

“You summon literal demons! Don’t call me weird.”

“I-is that what that thing is?” Maki asked, pointing at the pink baby Doki that sat next to Tayuya, and for some reason, the other medical ninja was approaching it.

“Hey Maki, I think you forgot some of your bandages. Don’t want it to vanish with this creature—”

“Wait don’t touch…. That.” Tayuya sighed as a growl echoed within the room, and soon after, the baby Doki tackled the other medical ninja to the ground. “Fucking idiot.”

“Help! It’s attacking me! I wasn’t trained for this!”

Tayuya shook her head. “Don’t you people know not to uncover a Doki’s face?”

“Who the hell would know that!” Maki snapped as I tried to reason with Tayuya.

“Big sis, I’m pretty sure you’re the only person who knows what a Doki is.”

“Alright little bro, since you’re so smart, answer this. If a dog growls, do you still pet it?”

“No.”

“Think of a Doki like a dog.”

Now that I thought about it, they were kind of like dogs if you ignored the fact they walked on two legs, looked like people sort of... and had a better chance of murdering you. They responded to sounds too high-pitched for normal people to hear, growled when they were mad, and were overprotective of their owner. So calling them a dog wasn’t too farfetched—

“Can someone please get this thing off me!”

I let out a long sigh. “Tayuya…”

“Fine, Pinky heel.”

The baby Doki stopped trying to maul the poor medical ninja who at most needed a couple of bandages. Maybe something to clean the cuts too, since I didn’t know if their claws were poisonous. But more importantly—

“Its name is Pinky?”

“Yeah, Sui thought I should give it a name,” Tayuya said, rubbing Pinky’s head. “I thought Mauler would be cool, but it seemed to like Pinky more.”

“Right…. So I’ve decided you two are not going to get any checkups. And I’ll be reporting this to the Third Hokage.”

“That’s fine.” We both said nonchalantly since we didn’t really want their help, and I didn’t feel like we needed it. Not to mention what could Hiruzen even do about it? We’re their prisoners, I think it’s fine to have a bit of resistance, especially after the way they treated us.

“Come on you two, let’s get you checked up,” Maki said, dragging them both by the cuff of their uniform. She was surprisingly strong. Then again, carrying a scroll on your back was no easy task.

“Th-They’re all dead….” One of the medical ninja muttered while the other held onto his face.

“My face… my beautiful face…”

“You two just stay here. And don’t cause any more trouble. Baki and I will be right outside if you need anything, ok. And please hesitate to ask.”

And like that, Maki left us alone where me and Tayuya broke out in laughter. We really were the worst people to watch over. I loved it.