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ninja CHAPTER ONE
Ohayou
Good Morning












I sat strait up in the dead of night. Shuddering, I pulled my sheets tighter around me. Why am I freezing? I thought to myself. I live in a desert; this is unnatural! Looking around, I came to a conclusion: my Kazekage wasn’t here. “Oh,” I said softly. My ninja cat, Shi, mewed softly beside me. I scratched his ears and sighed. “Oi. He always leaves me in the early hours. . .” At that moment a loud knocking on the door filled my ears, making me jump. “Lady Kizuki-sama! Lady Kizuki-sama, you must hurry! Lord Gaara-sama has been severely injured!” someone shouted outside the door. I blinked. Gaara? My Gaara? Injured?! That’s impossible! I thought. Quickly though, I ran to the door and threw it open. Looking down, I saw Kokoro, a young chunin, crouched on the floor laughing. “She fell for it! I can’t believe it!” she giggled. I stopped short. This obnoxious little chunin was able to trick me? I felt a snarl rumbling in my throat. Bringing it down to a loud hiss, I scolded Kokoro. “Look, you! I’ve had enough! How horribly you’ve been acting!” Instead of trembling with laughter as she had been moments before, she now shook with fear at the rage in my voice. “You should be acting much more maturely than this! Now get out of my sight, little chunin, before I send you back to the academy permanently where you belong! And I’ll escort you myself!”
She stood up slowly and kept her eyes to the ground. “Yes, Lady Kizuki-sama. I’m terribly sorry, Lady Kizuki-sama.” I growled. “Liar,” I said. “If it had been Gaara-sama who’d have opened the door, then you’d be sorry, isn’t that right?” Kokoro nodded stiffly. “I cannot lie to you, Lady Kizuki-sama. You can see right through me.” She turned to leave, when I said softly, “Yes, Kokoro-kun. When you’ve lived the life that I have, you know when things are wrong.” She jumped onto the roof and disappeared. “Oi, that girl,” I said to Shi, who bristled beside me. I went back inside and shut the door behind me. I put my hand on the walls made of sand as I shuffled slowly back to the bed. Little grains rubbed off and fell to the ground as I walked by. I looked out the open window next to the bed and saw that the sun was coming up slowly on the horizon. “Darn it, Kokoro, you made me lose some valuable sleep time,” I grumbled.
I sat down on the bed and frowned as Shi wound around my ankles. I heard the door open and the sound of footsteps echoed in the hallway. I could tell it was Gaara just by sniffing the air. “Oh, you’re awake Kizi-chan.” -I blushed slightly as he called me by my pet name- “Sorry for leaving you so early again. I was called away to business.” I stood up and helped him pull off his sand gourd. “It’s oki, Gaa-chan. I don’t mind,” I smiled and said. It was Gaara’s turn to blush. “So what trouble happened to befall you while I was gone?” he asked. I shrugged. “The usual. This time she said you were injured. Of course, I fell for it.” I added the last part grudgingly. “Hmm,” Gaara muttered, “Maybe I should put her back in the academy for a little while.” I smirked. “I told her I’d personally have her delivered there, and kept there, too!” Gaara shrugged. “Nnh, let’s not worry about that right now. You just received a letter from your sister, Ame. She said she wants to visit, but. . .” I glared at the floor. “She wants to bring that stupid, pretty-boy traitor Sasuke, doesn’t she?” Gaara nodded. “You really don’t get along with him, do you?”
“Aside from Ame-chan, Shikamaru-kun, and Naruto-kun, I don’t think I get along with anyone in Konohagakure!” I said. Gaara smiled softly and I mentally melted into a puddle at his feet. Ooh, his smile is the greatest! I can’t believe that the boy who was a demon way back when is so cute when he’s like this! I squealed in my head. Gaara looked at me with a sweat drop hanging above his head as he read my expressions. “You’re hopeless, you are . . . But it’s cute when you act like that.” That threw me over the edge. Man, he’s really gonna kill me with this! I can see why Kokoro is so jealous! He shook his head and muttered “hopeless” a few more times as he walked into the kitchen. Oh, pull yourself together! Inner Kizuki growled. But. . .he’s so hot, I can’t help it! I countered back with a hint of a spice called “pitiful” in my mental voice. Oh, yes you can! She growled again and forced me to stand up. “Having an argument with yourself? Again?” Gaara added when I followed him into the kitchen. “Eh heh. . . Well, I couldn’t just leave you in here all alone, now could I? You’d set the place on fire if you tried to cook!” I said quickly. He pouted slightly. “Who said I can’t cook?” he grumbled. “Yourself,” I put simply.
“. . . Oh,” he responded, slightly dejected. He turned and sat down at the bar. About ten minutes later, I had a meal consisting of tamagoyaki, umeboshi onigiri wrapped in nori, and miso soup. “Mmm, smells good.” Gaara said as he grabbed an umeboshi onigiri. He took a bite and smiled faintly at me. It took all I had not to melt again. I made my way around the counter and sat down beside him at the bar. Picking up some chopsticks and grabbing a piece of tamagoyaki, a small “Mama?” drifted into the kitchen. My daughter, Suki, was standing in the doorway of the kitchen holding a stuffed cat in her arms. “Mama, I’m hungry. Daddy!” She ran to Gaara who held his arms open to her. “Good morning, Suki-chan. How did you sleep?” Suki smiled and curled up in Gaara’s lap. “I slept great! And my ninja kitty kept me safe from enemy ninja while I slept.” Suki turned to smile at me. I smiled back at her and handed her an onigiri and some miso soup. “Hi, Shi-kun!” Suki said cheerfully as she scratched his ears. Shi replied with a happy mew. “What are you going to do today, Daddy?” she asked. “ I’m going to go to a meeting, schedule missions, and do tons of paperwork.” he replied. “You work too much, Gaara-sama! If only you could take a break!” I murmured sympathetically. “Ah, it’s not so bad if I get visits from you two.” Gaara hugged Suki tightly. Giggling, she said, “Eek, Daddy, don’t! My onigiri will get squeezed out of my tummy!”
I inhaled the last few bites of my tamagoyaki and downed my miso soup so quickly that it burned my throat. I grabbed a glass of water as quickly as I could. “Are you okay, Mama?” Suki asked, placing a hand on my arm. “I’m fine, my Tenshi-chan.” I said and coughed twice, not wanting her to worry. When Gaara and Suki had finished their meals, I took their plates and set them in the sink. Right about then, someone had opened the front door and let themselves in. “Yo! Anyone home?” A familiar male and female voiced echoed through the halls, playing with my ears. They were just out of hearing for me not to be able to tell who they were, even with my acute sense of hearing. The female walked into the kitchen. “Oh, you’re up. Hiya, Suki-chan! How’s my favorite niece?” I rolled my eyes. “Hi to you, too, Temari-chan.” I grumbled. Gaara scowled at her. “Knock first,” he growled, though his two siblings didn’t seem to care. “Oh, that’s not fair, you cooked breakfast and you didn’t save us any?” Kankuro asked, ignoring his brother and mockingly accusing me. “No, you don’t get any for barging in. Again,” I grunted. He slumped, and we all laughed.
“Well, Lord Kazekage-sama, I request the kidnapping of your lovely wife and daughter here for a girl’s day out,” Temari asked rather formally. “And I request the kidnapping of you, Lord Kazekage-sama, for a guy’s day out!” Kankuro finished. I smiled at Temari. Her version of a “girl’s day out” meant that I got chocolate. Ah, the chocolate, I thought to myself as my mouth started to salivate. But I worried a little about what Kankuro was going to do. “No cookies, Kankuro,” I warned. “Huh? No cookies? What does that mean?” he asked, confused. “She means, ‘Don’t give Gaara cookies, or else you get to watch Suki-chan tonight’ . . . basically,” Gaara said. “Ooh,” Temari giggled, “Sounds fun . . . Uh, fun for you and Kizu-chan here, I mean!” Temari added nervously when Gaara started glaring at her. “I want a guy who’ll be like that if you feed him something. Dude, I had to force it! Shikamaru is so lazy, nothing happened even when I-” she stopped short, realizing she was still holding my daughter. “Uh, never mind. Just forget I said anything. . .” she muttered, slightly embarrassed. “Yeah, whatever, onee-chan,” Kankuro laughed.
“Oi,” I groaned, “Be more careful about what you say, Temari-chan!” She ducked her head and blushed. “Sorry! I forgot I was holding Suki; she’s so light! Are you feeding the poor girl enough?” Temari asked warily. “Of course we are! She’s still a child, you know. Suki isn’t going to weigh as much as the rest of us!” I scoffed. “Nnh, we should get going,” Temari said, changing the subject, “I have somewhere I wanna take you two!” I smiled again at the thought of chocolate and walked over to Gaara. I kissed him lightly and smiled. He pulled me into a hug, and Suki giggled. “Aw, Mama and Daddy are so cute!” Kankuro and Temari looked down at Suki, surprised. “Do you do that in front of her often?” Kankuro asked. “Yes,” Gaara said simply, not seeing the problem in that. “There’s nothing wrong with it, Kankuro,” Temari said, “She’s too young and innocent to know anything like that.” Kankuro shrugged. “Well, I’ll see you tonight then,” I told Gaara. “Bye, Kizuki-san,” he whispered. “C’mon, Kizu-chan, we’re gonna be late!” Temari said impatiently. “All right, I’m coming,” I grumbled as I stepped away from Gaara’s embrace. It seemed as if he’d never loved another so deeply before, which was probably true, considering he used to ignore me when we were younger. . . My inner self gave a slightly guilty nod (why is she guilty?!) as a sweat drop hung over her head.
Gaara hugged Suki and gave her hand to Temari. Just as we were walking out the door, I stopped and took Suki to her bedroom to change her out of her nightclothes. “Heh. . . Sorry, Temari-chan.” I said with a sweat drop. “Yeah, whatever, let’s go!” she sighed impatiently and dragged us out the door. We walked for a little ways, when I finally asked, “So where are you dragging us to?” Turning and smiling at me, she shook her head. “Uh-uh. It’s a secret ’till we get there!” I groaned inwardly. Oi, I hate surprises! I thought to myself. Shi mewed at me. It translated as, “Do you smell that?” I tensed and sniffed the air. A sweet, almost pear-like scent drifted on the breeze. “Oh my gosh, Ame-chan!” I exclaimed. “Huh? Aw, I wanted to keep that a secret! No fair, that nose of yours,” Temari whined. I held Suki’s hand out to her, who fidgeted with the excitement of meeting somebody new, and bolted forward following my nose.
Ame sat in front of a snacks shop eating dango. “Ame-chan!” I yelled as I barreled into her with a monster hug. “Whoa!” she exclaimed. “What the-?! Oh, Kizu-chan! You startled me!” I hugged her once more. “What are you doing here?” I asked as I stepped back to let her breathe. “I told you I wanted to visit; I sent you a letter!” My eyes widened. “If you’re here, that means. . .” I sniffed the air a few times, but the only traces of that Sasuke where on her clothes. Ame sighed. “He’s not here; he’s hanging out with Kankuro-san and Gaara-sama.” I grunted. That meant that Gaara would smell of Sasuke when I get home. Yuck! I thought. Sasuke smell! On my Gaara! I made a face, and Suki laughed as she rounded the corner with Temari. “You look funny, Mama!” she giggled. Ame stared at Suki. “You’re. . . no, you can’t be, you’re too big. . . That’s not. . . That isn’t Suki is it?!” Ame asked, flabbergasted. “Yeah. . . It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” I smiled softly. “About a year and a half, right?” she commented. “I believe so. How are things?” I asked, sitting down as Shi jumped into my lap. “It’s been raining a lot where I live now. I think of you and Gaara every time it does!” Ame smirked at me and I blushed. “It’s not my fault I get so. . . bad when it rains!” I said in a small voice.
“Hi, I’m Suki! Who are you?” Suki asked in her adorable voice. “You don’t remember me? I’m your Mama’s sister. My name is Ame!” Ame replied, slightly hurt. Suki placed a finger on her chin. “Hmm,” she said, “. . . Oh yeah! Now I remember! You gave me a toy ninja kitty for my birthday, didn’t you?” Ame smiled. “Yep, that was me! You’re just so cute! I wanna give you a big hug!” Ame picked up Suki and cuddled with her. I smiled at the sight. Two of my few favorite people were together with me! I sighed at the thought of the others: Miyazaki, Kitoku; Omikami, Shirunai; and Nairu, Mizuhana. I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve seen them! I thought to myself. “Kizu-chan? You’re spacing out on us!” Ame called. I looked up. “Hmm? Oh. Sorry, I was thinking about how long it’s been since I’ve seen everyone.” Suki was confused. “Who is ‘everyone’?” she asked me. “They’re friends of ours. I haven’t seen them in a while,” I answered as I stroked my cat’s back. Suki smiled. “I want to meet them! I wanna see who Mama’s friends are!” Ame clasped her hands together and got teary-eyed. “Y-You’re even more adorable than I remember, Suki-chan! Eeh, I love you so much!” She grabbed Suki and hugged her tight. “. . . Okay, okay, enough of the tearful reunion. I told you we had somewhere we needed to be, didn’t I?” Temari grumbled with a sweat drop. “Again, where are you taking us to?” I asked. “Well, I was gonna drag you by here to go grab some sweets and stuff and then take you to . . . I can’t believe you did that! I’m not gonna tell you!” Temari groaned when she noticed what she was saying. The rest of us laughed.
I stopped suddenly and sniffed the breeze. My mouth started watering and my eyes widened. “What is it?” Ame asked worriedly. “I smell. . . I smell. . . chocolate!” I breathed with excitement, and Ame laughed. “You and your chocolate addiction, Kizu-chan!” A sweat drop hung over my head as I edged closer to the wafting chocolate smell. I went to the store next to the dango shop that was full of candies, chocolates, and every other type of sweets imaginable. Looking inside, I gasped. Whole walls were covered in chocolate! I smiled widely and barely heard Temari yell that I had to pay for it myself. I filled three bags to the top with the delicious chocolate. The elderly shopkeeper stared at me in surprise. “L-Lady Kizuki-sama, I presume you like chocolate. . .?” I laughed. “I love chocolate! I couldn’t live without it!” The shopkeeper scratched his beard thoughtfully.
Ame and Temari stood in the doorway of the shop with Suki latched onto her side. Sighing, Temari repeated in monotone, “Yo. I said you’re gonna pay for all that chocolate.” Suki placed a finger to her chin. “Oba-chan, what’s ‘chocolate’?” The shopkeeper gasped. “You’ve never given this child chocolate?!” he asked disbelievingly. Temari scoffed. “Her mother eats it all before she can even get a taste!” A sweat drop formed over my head again. Suki squirmed out of Temari’s grasp and walked over to me. The shopkeeper walked out from behind the counter, pulling a few pieces of candy and chocolate from off the top shelf and giving them to Suki. “Here you go, Lady Suki-sama,” he said cheerfully. Suki smiled at him and took it gratefully. I watched as she nibbled at the corner of a chocolate square, her eyes widening with delight. “This is good, Mama!” she exclaimed. Ame and I laughed. “Yes, my Tenshi-chan. Witness the goodness of chocolate!” The shopkeeper smiled. “Your daughter is adorable, Lady Kizuki-sama,” he told me. “Oh, isn’t she?” Ame agreed. “Shopkeeper-san,” I said, “You’re going to need to restock after I leave. There won’t be any chocolate left!” He smiled and leaned on the counter. “Oh, that’s all right, Lady Kizuki-sama. It is a pleasure to have you step into this little old sweets shop!”
Suki tugged on my skirt. “Mama? Can I have more? I like it!” Smiling, I said, “Of course! You can have as much as you like.” Temari shook her head when Ame melted into a puddle about “how adorable Suki was”. When we left the sweets shop, Suki and I had eaten our fill of sweets and I was flat broke. Ame was amazed that we hadn’t gotten sick, and stole a few bags of the chocolate I was saving for tomorrow. Not that I cared, of course. My arms would still be sore from carrying so much chocolate, so two or three bags wouldn’t make much of a difference. “Jeez, are you going into hibernation with all that chocolate?” Temari asked me. Ame giggled. “That chocolate won’t last three days in the path of Kizu-chan!” she said. As we rounded a corner, Ame stopped dead. “. . .Oh, my gosh. . .” In front of us was a huge billboard with a new movie premiere on it. “Yasha no Oshiro,” I read, “The Castle of Demons. Sounds interesting.”
Ame turned to face me. “This has the actress Yukie Fujikaze, a.k.a. Koyuki Kazahana, in it! It’s the last movie in the Princess Gale series!” she exclaimed. “That’s the second part of my surprise. We’re gonna go see it! Plus, these tickets are sold out, so it’s gotta be good!” Temari announced. I eyed my bags of chocolate. “Yeah, that’s great and all, but where am I gonna put this?” I asked. Temari rolled her eyes. “We’ll find a spot for it, don’t worry,” she sighed. We were a few steps away from the entrance when I felt something coming. I stiffened and sniffed the air. “Duck!” I shouted, and twelve enemy ninja surrounded us. I huffed. Man, what bad timing! Now my chocolate’s gonna melt! “Mama!” Suki whimpered, frightened. She ran to me and hid her face in my leg. “Mama, I’m scared! What do we do?”
I frowned as Shi bristled at my feet. How would enemy ninja get so deep into our village? Unless. . . I sniffed. Hmm, no traces of that Kokoro. This is too weird! I set down my chocolate. They all jumped in unison and we had no choice but to attack. Some of the ninja were using parts of the theatre in hopes of trying to defeat us. “We can’t beat them unless we attack them all at once!” Ame called. I nodded. “Shi-kun,” I hissed, “Clawed Beast Attack!” I jumped in the air and clawed at the enemy ninja. The six Shi and I could reach fell dead. “Wind Scythe Jutsu!” Temari called. She opened her giant fan, and four more fell dead. Ame used a silent technique that forced the other two to lose their minds, killing each other. Suki blinked twice. “Wh-what just happened, Mama?” I smiled at her. “We beat them.” I said while pointing at the bodies. Temari walked over to one of them and laid a hand on one’s neck. “These are puppets?! . . .Why would Kankuro attack us like this? I’m going to kill him tonight!” Temari exclaimed.
A loud laugh echoed around us. “I found you at last, Kizu-chan! You’ve gotten stronger, I see,” called the voice. “Who is that?” Temari asked. I recognize that voice. . . I thought to myself. “Miyazaki, Kitoku, why’d you attack us? I have a child with me!” I called. The voice and its body jumped in front of us. “Yo, Kizu-chan! How’ve ya been?”
She said. “You idiot!” shouted Temari as she smacked Kitoku over the head. “Ow! That hurts, you know!” Kitoku said. Suki peered at Kitoku from behind my leg as Shi meowed at her to calm her down. “Please don’t attack us!” she said. “Hmm? Oh you’re Suki, aren’t you? You’re bigger than I remember. Let’s see, it’s been. . .one, two years since I’ve seen you!” I nodded. “She’s four-and-a-half now. It’s been so long since I’ve seen you that you probably didn’t remember.”
Kitoku nodded. “Hey, guess what?” she asked. “I just saw Mizuhana-chan crying in front of a candy shop a few streets back. It looked empty! What kinda sweets shop doesn’t have any sweets?” she laughed. Ame, Temari, and I all looked at each other sheepishly. “Kizuki-san here happened to pass by, noticed there was chocolate, and decided she was going to go broke and buy everything there,” Temari answered. I looked down, slightly embarrassed. Ame laughed. “And Suki turned out to be a chocoholic, too!” she said. “Well, Mizu-chan left,” Kitoku continued with a smile, “She was mumbling about there being nothing sweet in Sunagakure.” We all laughed. “So where’s Gaara-kun?” Kitoku asked while looking around. “Wow, you finally noticed he’s not here, Kito-chan?” asked Ame, hinting on the fact that Kitoku was a little dense. “He’s with Kankuro-san and Sasuke on a guys day out.” I informed her. “Notice how she says Sasuke-kun’s name disapprovingly,” Ame sighed sadly. “I don’t like him! At all!” I growled. Inner Kizuki took hold of my mouth to voice what we both thought of him. “He’s so annoying! He’s stuck up, and he thinks he is so much better than everyone else! I hate him!” Ame shook her head. “No, he’s not like that once you get to know him!” I huffed. “But that’s the thing: I don’t want to ‘get to know him’. I can’t stand thinking about him, what makes you think I can stand knowing about him?!”
Suki stood between us with an adorable confused expression, but Ame and I were too deep in our argument to notice. “Shut it, you two,” Temari groaned. “I don’t particularly want to hear this fighting about whether or not Kizuki-san needs to be nice to Sasuke-san. I mean, she’s hardly even nice to the people she likes; Sasuke-san’s not gonna survive a formal meeting with her.” “Eeh. . . Wishful thinking. . .” sighed Ame as she slumped a little. Backing away slowly, Kitoku said hurriedly, “Yeah, well, I’m gonna go meet up with the guys, ‘kay? See ya!” I looked up. “Can you come back and tell me what they’re doing? I’m curious,” I asked her. Kitoku rolled her eyes. “Curiosity killed the cat, Kizu-chan. All right, fine. I’ll find you later.” I sighed. “Thanks, Kito-chan.” Ame and I waved goodbye to Kitoku, and Temari gasped. “The movie theatre. . . it’s. . .gone!” I turned and my eyes widened. The theatre had been smashed to pieces and people ran in all different directions. “Urgh!” screamed Temari. Well, there goes the theatre thanks to Kitoku-chan’s stupid puppets. . . I blinked and turned to my chocolate pile. “Oh, my gosh. . . My chocolate!” I exclaimed sadly. The chocolate mountain had completely melted in the five minutes I’d had had my back to it. . .


Temari fumed as we walked back to the Kazekage’s palace. “I swear that Kitoku gets on my nerves! She gonna owe me for those movie tickets! I can’t believe she’s your friend; honestly!” Crying, I said, “Yeah, well what am I gonna do with all my chocolate? Now that it’s melted. . . Oi, and I spent all my money on it! It’s no good anymore!” Ame giggled and squeezed Suki’s hand slightly as we all walked down the street together. “Ah, it’s not so bad, Kizu-chan. I’m sure you’ll find a use for it, with your creative mind!” I slumped. “If you say so, Ame-chan. . .” We arrived at the Kazekage’s residence, and one of the guards at the door met us. “Lady Kizuki-sama, welcome back. Hello, Lady Temari-sama, Lady Suki-sama, and . . .?” he said. Ame nodded a hello. “My name is Ame.” We passed the guard, and I sighed. “I can’t believe my chocolate melted. . .” I groaned. The guard overheard me complaining, and he snickered. I looked back at him and growled. He immediately straightened up and looked away, a small sweat drop hanging over his head. Yeah, that’s right, Inner Kizuki grumbled, You make fun of me behind my back now, but I’ll catch you one day and you’ll be sorry. . . I agreed wholeheartedly with her comment but I dared not speak it aloud for fear of it reaching Gaara’s ears. Then he would scold me as you would a child for threatening the guards. That would definitely be embarrassing.
Instead of turning to Gaara’s and my living quarters, I made my way to a large, open room. “I have an idea,” I announced, snapping my fingers, “If I can find a big pot, I can put all my chocolate in it and have a fondue party!” Ame smiled and set Suki on her feet. “See, I told you you’d think of something!” she chimed. “What’s ‘fondue’?” Suki asked Ame while stroking Shi’s back as he wound around her feet. Ame paused as she was coming up with a way to give the definition so my young daughter would understand. “Fondue is dipping small pieces of food into a sauce. In our case, it’s like dipping strawberries into all of your Mama’s melted chocolate.” Ame explained finally. I opened a large closet while Ame was explaining “fondue,” and pulled out a large pot. “No clue what this is doing here,” I said to myself, “but this will have to do.” I used one of my fans to blow out the dust that had settled in the bottom. Unsatisfied that it wasn’t clean after considering Suki might get sick, I took the pot to a nearby kitchen to wash it.
I let the water fill up the pot a little ways and started scrubbing the inside with a soapy washrag. I sensed Kankuro in the doorway behind me, but I didn’t respond to him. I heard him come up behind me slowly, probably attempting to startle me. Right before he was fixing to jab me in the ribs, I whipped around and flashed one of my evilest smiles, hissing. Kankuro jumped and hit the wall in the process. “D-don’t do that!” he gasped. I giggled and pointed a finger at his startled form, smirking. “You tried to scare me, yet I scared you.” He gave me a “hmph” and left me to finish my job. After a few minutes, I rinsed out the pot and picked it up sideways, forgetting it still had water in it. Of course, water spilled all over me and all over the floor. “Oi, I don’t have time for this!” I groaned. I heard a sigh and looked up to see Gaara standing in the doorway, arms crossed. “Do you need help?” he asked me. I rolled my eyes. “Oh, no, of course not. I don’t need help at all cleaning up this mess, or carrying this oversized pot out to the party room.” Inner Kizuki growled sarcastically using my mouth. Gaara frowned. “Since when were we going to have a party?” he asked. I shrugged. “I bought a lot of chocolate and it all melted. What better way to get rid of it than a fondue party?” I answered, mentally shoving my Inner self into the deep crevices of my mind where she couldn’t overtake my mouth again. Gaara shook his head. “No, it’s just. . . It’s unnatural for you to want to have a party. I mean, you’re kind of unsociable. . .” he said a little guiltily. I scoffed. Yeah, you’re one to talk, I thought to myself. Gaara seemed to know what I thought, and blushed slightly.
“Uh, here, let me take that for you. You go change,” he said, taking the pot from me. “But what about the mess?” I asked, looking at the floor. “I’ll clean it up,” he sighed. I started to fret. “No, no, I’ll do it! I’m the one who spilled all this water, anyways. You just go put this out there, please!” Gaara gazed at me with his piercing light blue eyes. “You. Change. Now,” he said in a slightly demanding tone. I sighed. “Oh, oki, Gaara.” I stood up, wrung the water out of my skirt, walked to the door, and turned to face him. I took a breath to say something, but he interrupted. “No, I don’t need help, I’m sure. I can clean up a little water spill. Do you really think I can’t do housework? Or is it because I’m Kazekage?” I could tell he was trying to hide the annoyance in his deep voice. I bowed, apologizing. “I’m sorry, Gaara-sama. I’ll go change now,” I said to him. He grunted, and I walked quickly to our living quarters.
“What happened to you?” asked Temari when I ran into her. “I made a mess. Gaara-sama won’t let me clean it up, and he’s making me go change. Basic overview,” I told her. She smirked. “Or maybe he wants you to dress in something more revealing. I saw your wardrobe. Nice dress, the red one. The side-cut on that is really high. Gaara-kun enjoys you wearing that, doesn’t he?” she asked teasingly. I felt myself turning red. “Shut. Up,” I growled. Temari laughed. “Oops, I made Gaara’s kitty mad. I think I’ll go now. But really, you should wear the red one. I want to see my littlest brother’s reaction.” She smirked again. “He’s twenty four now, and plus he’s seen me in that dozens of times!” I argued. Temari tried to hide her laughter by clearing her throat. I had no doubt that I was all the way red. “It wasn’t like that, you pervert!” I shouted as I aimed a smack at her head. “Sure, it wasn’t. Or you could change into that black outfit you have. I didn’t think I could get any redder, but I did. That “black outfit” was my chunin outfit, and I’ll admit that was. . . revealing. It was a seriously short skirt and a shirt that didn’t cover my midriff. But at least I wore something under it! . . .Usually. . . I barely noticed Temari waving goodbye to me as I stumbled forward. She went through my clothes . . . She went through my clothes . . . I groaned repeatedly in my head. I gasped suddenly. “Wait! What else did you see?!” I yelled after her.
I grunted as I opened the door of my living quarters. I shuffled to my closet and threw open the door, pulling my red dress from the shelf it was folded on. Closing myself in my closet, I stood in front of the mirror on the back of the door and held it up to me. The dress unfolded gracefully and shimmered in the light. Sighing, I lowered my eyes to my covered scar, my curse mark on my collarbone . . . A diamond with four extra marks and the kanji for “cat” inside of it. “Do you still fear me?” it seemed to ask. I frowned. I had you repressed. You can never reveal yourself again, I thought. I heard its evil laugh echo around me and I shuddered. I peeled off my wet clothes and exchanged them for my Chinese-style dress. Taking one last glance at my figure, I opened the closet and exited my living quarters. I was met in the open room by Suki’s delighted squeal. “Look, Mama!” she gushed as she dipped a piece of apple in the melted chocolate. She held it out to me and I took a bite. I smiled when I felt the soft crunch of the fresh apple underneath the warm, half-solid chocolate.
Gaara looked at me, blushed slightly, and went back to conversing with Ame and Sasuke. Temari flashed a teasingly evil smile and laughed when I scowled at her. “What else can I put in the chocolate?” Suki asked as she held a pencil over the boiling chocolate vat. “Oh, no, Tenshi-chan, only food can go in there,” I told her while pulling the pencil out of her hand gently. “Oh. Okay, Mama!” She smiled and went back to throwing sliced apples, strawberries, and other fruits into the chocolate pot. Right about then, one of the guards popped up and announced that there was someone here to see me. “Let them in,” Gaara told him. A familiar face peeked out from behind the guard and waved at me. “Mizuhana-chan?” I asked, delighted. “Yep, it’s me!” She stepped around the guard and headed straight to me. She smiled at me until she got within reach of my head, and then she smacked me. “Why’d you eat all my candy, you evil demon cat?!” she screamed at me. I blinked. “Huh? Oh, sorry! I didn’t mean to, and if you’re gonna get mad, blame Suki-chan too. It’s not just my fault!” She smacked me again, and Gaara stood up. Glaring at her, Gaara growled, “Nairu, Mizuhana-san, leave my wife alone!” She turned to him, whining, “Yeah, but she ate my candy!” “That’s no reason to hit her!” Gaara argued.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. “All of you people are stupid. Shut up.” That got me mad. “Oh, um, he didn’t mean it!” Ame said, coming to his defense. “Oki, you, Sasuke, go stand outside! And Mizuhana-baka too! Out!” I pointed to the balcony, and they sulkily stepped outside. Kankuro groaned. “Ugh, I’m none too fond of that Mizuhana-san,” he sighed. Temari shrugged. “Well, she’s Kizu-chan’s friend. Deal with it!” Gaara walked over to me and patted my head where I was hit. “Are you okay?” he asked worriedly. “No brain damage, don’t worry,” I sighed. Kitoku pointed to her head. “Yeah, well, if she did have brain damage, it couldn’t be any worse than mine!” she laughed. I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, whatever,” I grumbled.
Suki frowned. “Mama, is she your friend? I don’t like her! She hit you, and that’s not very nice!” she exclaimed. Temari gazed at Suki warmly and explained what happened. “It’s okay, Suki-chan. She’s just mad ‘cuz your Mama ate something she wanted, which just happened to be candy--” She was cut off by a loud thunk that sounded like a blade at the door. Mizuhana ran from the balcony to behind me in about two seconds flat. “Hide me,” she breathed. Not quite sure what to do, I escorted her to the nearest bathroom. “I’m not here!” she whispered frantically. Her eyes had glazed over in fear. I frowned slightly, wondering if somebody was after. Even if that were true, guards would’ve caught them. . .
I quickly strode back the open room, and was met by a small group of people, apparently the ones who were after my friend. “Yes?” I asked. The one who appeared to be the leader spoke first. “You are housing Nairu, Mizuhana, correct?” he alleged. He was tall and light skinned with long, silver hair and golden eyes. I frowned slightly. “My only contact with her has been through letters, and that’s been going on for about four years. Sorry to disappoint you. . .What is your name?” I replied, glaring at him through slightly narrowed eyes. He mirrored back the same expression I had. Behind him, I saw Suki clutch Ame’s cloak in fear and Kankuro hushing her. “I am Daichi, and the woman behind me is Surushite-san. The other two are Hoshiko-kun and Kyoko-kun.” I figured the woman with short brown hair, tanned skin, and green eyes was Surushite. The other two were in their middle teens: a girl with flowing black hair, orange eyes, and light skin was probably Hoshiko; the boy with shaggy gray hair, dark blue eyes, and tanned skin was probably Kyoko. But, of course, I could’ve been wrong.
Hoshiko smiled evilly. “Do not lie,” she said, her voice high and melodic, “We saw her come in through those two doors.” She pointed behind her in the direction of the balcony where Sasuke was still sitting, his back to the glass. He acted as if he could care less about what was happening, but I could see his head turned ever so slightly so he could witness what was going on. “What’s your reason for hunting my friend Mizuhana-chan?” I growled. I’m not giving her up without a fight, no matter what the reason! I challenged them in my head. Surushite spoke this time. “She betrayed our clan; that’s all an outsider like you needs to know,” she said with a smirk, “Now, will you hand her over, or will we have to fight?” “Nice place you have; it’d be a waste to ruin it,” Daichi added, looking around. I narrowed my eyes in disgust. “Sorry to disappoint you again,” I spat, “but my friend isn’t here. Go look somewhere else besides the Sand Village!”
Gaara then stood and walked to my side. It calmed me slightly to feel him brush against me. “Leave now,” he ordered, using his “I’ll kill you if you say one more word” voice. “Never return, or you’ll have me to answer to: the Kazekage, Leader of the Sand!” I watched Kyoko struggle not to flinch. He seemed more. . .timid than the rest of his group. Daichi bowed his head, but the muscles in his arms rippled underneath his cloak. “We will leave,” he said stiffly. He turned and the rest followed him out to the balcony, where the jumped out into the night. Before Kyoko did though, he gazed at Suki with worried eyes. “I’m sorry to get all of you involved,” he whispered. I nodded to him, and he disappeared out into the night like the others. Right when they left, it seemed as if the whole room had let go of the breath they’d been holding. The tension immediately rolled out of the room and seemed to follow outside with the group. (Author's note: I remember when i was typing this, i actually DID give a sigh of relief when they left. -giggles-)
Mizuhana peeked around the corner. “A-are they gone?” she asked, frightened. I nodded to her. “It’s all right, you can come out of hiding now.” Gaara turned to Mizuhana. “Who were they? Sit down and explain to all of us why we had to cover for you. Now,” he demanded. She sighed. “Guess I couldn’t get away from that. Oh well.” She walked around one of the chairs and sat down wearily on the couch. Suki crawled out of Ame’s lap and walked over to Mizuhana. She placed a hand on her knee, and Mizuhana jumped. “Who’s kid is this?!” she asked, startled. Kankuro rolled his eyes. “Isn’t it obvious? She’s Kizu-chan’s and Gaara-kun’s, of course. Not that the fact that she looks exactly like her father gives anything away,” he added sarcastically. Mizuhana shook her head. “Uh-uh, she’s too cute! I refuse to believe that!” A huge sweat drop formed over Gaara’s and my head. “Uh, I’ll explain that story after you tell us yours,” I told her, amazed she hadn’t noticed Suki sooner, even though I’d mentioned her several times.
Mizuhana huffed, as if she expected to be able to weasel out of her story with one of mine. “Well, that was my clan, or what was left of it. You know how I belonged to a group of assassins in the Mist Village? Well, I left after a few things happened. . . They are hunting me down now. All there is to it! Now, please tell me about this child that’s supposedly yours, Kizu-chan!” she said hurriedly. I rolled my eyes. “You’re not getting out of this Mizu-chan. Tell us the whole story!” Mizuhana groaned. “This is not a story for young children, so send the little one to bed, and I’ll start.” I glowered at Mizuhana. “Temari-san, would you be so kind as to put Suki-chan to bed?” Temari got up quickly and rushed Suki gently to her room, not wanting to miss any part of a good story. It hadn’t even been a minute before she left when she rushed back and sat on the left side of Mizuhana. I curled into the hollow of Gaara’s side and brought my legs up onto the couch.
Mizuhana took a deep breath. “Do I have to?” she asked uneasily. “Yes,” we all growled in unison. Even Sasuke, who was still outside, seemed interested in this story and turned to where I could see about half of his face -- not that I wanted to, of course. Mizuhana folded herself on the couch to as small as she could possibly make herself. “Well. . . I guess I’ll start from the time I sent you my first letter, Kizu-chan. The clan was separated into five teams: Daichi-sama and Surushite-sama were the head team; Kyoko-kun and Nakago-san were the second head team; Hoshiko-kun and Sakaname-kun as the scout team; Raiyuki-san and Ringoji-san were the weapons-masters; and then Kuroharu-kun and me, who used to be the backup, or dead last in my opinion. Daichi-sama and Surushite-sama are the leaders of the clan, and Ringoji-san and Nakago-san are. . . were their sons. Ringoji-san married Raiyuki-san and gave birth to Sakaname-kun. Saka-kun was okay, I guess. She didn’t like being named “fish rain”, but she got over it. The rest of us joined at different times, and Kyoko-kun was the newest to the clan. He was always very timid about killing others, though when he did, he was probably even more excellent than the most skilled rogue assassin that any of our kind should know –– the Great Momochi, Zabuza-sama.
“One night, we were divided into two groups; I was grouped with everyone else who is dead now. We were looking for a specific rare herb that was used to cure a certain illness, because Sakaname-kun had fallen ill. My half of the group was attacked by the Mist Village’s ninja, for an unknown reason. By the time I realized what was happening, Raiyuki-san was already dead. I could feel the bloodlust building inside, but I couldn’t help that. I mean, we all know how blood makes us, right, Kizu-chan? Ame-chan?” We looked at the floor and nodded. Our bloodlust got out of hand easily, and we were often mistaken for vampires on our trips together. “Well,” continued Mizuhana, “I went a little blood crazy and attacked the Mist Village ninja . . . But by the time I killed them all, everyone in my group was. . .dead. I was covered in blood, and about that time was when Daichi-sama and his group came along. He saw the bodies and accused me of murder. . .” Kankuro frowned. “But what about the bodies if the Mist Ninja?” Mizuhana gulped and looked at the floor. “I. . . Well, I told you I went a little blood crazy, didn’t I?” Temari’s eyes widened. “Whoa. That sounds like you pulled a Kizu-chan, there.” I lowered my eyes, already knowing what had happened.
Mizuhana had stabbed, ripped, and pulled apart the bodies until they were nothing but mounds of flesh among the other mangled bodies if her teammates. “But, Mizu-chan. . .” Ame squeaked. “You see why I had you send Suki to bed? This is no story for young children.” I nodded. Blinking, I noticed Gaara was very tense. Looking up, I saw he was staring out at the balcony, where the clan had disappeared into the night. “Hnn? Gaara-sama, what’s wrong?” He jumped slightly, as if I’d just brought him back to reality. He looked down at me and it was apparent he was tired. It’s still somewhat hard to think that Gaara sleeps after he. . .was revived. . . Ugh! I hate thinking about that! Mizuhana cleared her throat to get my attention. “It seems as if we’re all tired. Kizu-chan, do you have enough bedrooms?” she asked. Temari smiled evilly and opened her mouth to say something perverted, when I interrupted her. “Shut up, Temari-baka! No more pervy insults tonight, we all need sleep!” “I have a few extra beds in my living quarters, and I’m pretty sure Kankuro has some too,” Temari offered. Ame, Mizuhana, and Kitoku looked at Kankuro, and then looked back at Temari. “I’ll stay with you,” they said in unison. “Ouch, that hurt. I’m not gonna molest you or anything!” Kankuro grumbled. We all stared wide-eyed at him when we thought otherwise. Kankuro slumped. “Okay, that really hurts!”
I stood up and stretched. “Hnn, well I’m heading to bed. Good night, peoples!” Temari smiled evilly again. “Shut up, Temari-baka!” I growled, blushing. Ame turned to Sasuke, who stood up and was leaning over the rail of the balcony. “Oh, um, where will you sleep, Sasuke-kun?” Please don’t say here, please don’t say here, please don’t say here! I groaned repeatedly in my head. He shrugged. “I’ll find somewhere,” he grunted. Yes! “Oh, um, okay then. . .” she sighed. “I do have a spare room, I wouldn’t mind if you stayed there,” Kankuro offered. Sasuke shrugged. “Okay, whatever. . .” So Temari housed the female part of the group, and Kankuro housed. . .Sasuke. Blegh! Why does he have to stay here? He’ll stink up the place with his scent! I frowned and covered my nose with the thought. They all filed through the door, but Mizuhana stopped. “Wait! You never told me about Suki!” she called. I waved the thought away as she walked out the door. “I’ll tell you tomorrow; ’night!”
Gaara sighed. “Rough night.” I nodded in agreement. “Uh-huh. Let’s get some sleep. I hope that Kokoro won’t come around again. Oh, yeah. Why are all these random people coming through our village? Why don’t guards stop them?” I asked. It had been gnawing at my brain ever since I ran into Kitoku earlier. “What do you mean?” he asked as we walked slowly to the bedroom. “Well, I ran into Kitoku, and Temari didn’t invite her. She pretty much attacked us. And the Nairu clan! They just waltzed in here like they were friends and left just as quickly!” A small sweat drop formed over Gaara’s head. “Um. . .I’m not sure. . . I’ll deal with that in the morning.” I hugged his arm. “Oh, can’t you take the day off?” We entered our bedroom. Sighing, Gaara replied, “I’m the Kazekage. I have to make sure everything’s in order. And plus, I have a very important meeting tomorrow.” I rolled my eyes and sat down on the bed. “When don’t you have an important meeting?” Gaara shrugged. “Not my fault.” He turned his back to me and pulled off his shirt. I felt myself go bright red. He saw my face when he turned back around. “Um, are you okay, Kizu. . .ki?” Obviously not! I screamed in my head. “Um . . . Y-you really. . .shouldn’t have done that. . .In front of me. . .” I managed to say. “Oh. . . Not thinking right, I’m tired,” Gaara mumbled while pointing to his head. I nodded, trying to force myself to stop blushing. I crawled into bed and waited for Gaara as Shi wove around my arm for one last bit of attention. He climbed under the covers and I laid my head on his chest as Shi curled into a ball between Gaara and me. I purred slightly as we all drifted into unconsciousness. My dream that night wasn’t a dream at all, but a flashback of my past. I was 13 and training with my sensei, Temari, when I first met her brothers, who would later on be considered my family. . .

¤ ¤ ¤

I ground my teeth as another fierce wind attack was blown in my direction. I jumped out of the way and flinched as it missed my head by a hairsbreadth. “Hey, watch it!” I hissed as Temari, my sensei, aimed an attack at my ninja cat. He hissed as the wind cut his right foreleg. “What’s the matter?” Temari smirked, “I thought you were tougher than that!” This was a normal day of training. Temari would constantly throw random attacks at me and I would either have to evade them and/or attack back to cancel them out. It might seem like we were aiming to kill each other, but that’s just the way things are in the Sand. I found that out the hard way. But my growling was interrupted by none other than my Inner self, directing me to attack with kuchiyose, weapon style, and then knock it at Temari with a wind attack. Killing two birds with one stone, she smirked, evidently proud of herself. I nodded to myself, and followed my conscience’s orders. My sensei never saw it coming, and she was knocked down by a hundred kunai and a fierce slash of wind. I leaned against the tree I was standing in and repeated in a mocking voice, “‘What’s the matter? I thought you were tougher than that!’”
She smiled faintly, before she spit up a mouthful of blood. “Nice. You’re going to make a great shinobi,” she muttered, spitting up blood again. Aw, crap, I overdid it, I groaned worriedly. Tapping down to her, I wiped a spot of blood from her brow, oblivious to the stare Temari aimed just above my left shoulder. Only when I heard the swirling sand behind me did I turn, though I had already smelled an unfamiliar scent behind me. “I came because I thought something was wrong,” came the growl of a red haired boy of about the same age as me. He had black rings around his eyes and a giant gourd on his back. Shi tensed slightly, as he was just as wary of this boy as I was. He glared at Temari, then at me. “It seems I was mistaken,” he spoke and turned to leave. “W-Wait, Gaara-san!” came Temari’s unsteady voice as she called out to him. He stopped, not looking back at us. “What?” he growled. My sensei paused for a second, then stood, pulling a kunai from her shoulder. “This is my student, Kizuki. I’ve been secretly training her, ever since she came a month ago.
I stared at this mysterious “Gaara” person, and I could almost smell the power of something big that radiated off of him. “Student, huh? She looks pretty weak to me,” he smirked, finally gazing directly at me for more than two seconds. I hissed. “Don’t you dare call me weak! I’m stronger than anyone here, because I have something that will lead to ultimate victory!” I boasted, clutching a hand over my concealed curse mark. “‘Ultimate victory?’” Gaara repeated, narrowing his eyes. “I’ll have to test your strength for myself then. No holding back. And I won’t be held responsible for your death,” he added darkly. He turned again and disappeared into sand.
I sat at the feet of my sensei, my hands clenched into fists, and I heard one word pulsing through my head that made me dizzy: love. “That was kind of awkward,” Temari mumbled as she pulled me to my feet. I could feel her grasp my shoulders and stare into my eyes, but I couldn’t see, for my vision was clouded by that boy’s face. “What’s up with you?” she asked, bringing me back to reality. I gave her a confused look, then, remembering my battle, I shouted, “Temari-sensei, make me stronger so I’ll beat that kid for sure!” She jumped and laughed. “There is no way on earth that you could beat my brother––” then she paused, placing a hand on her hip and the other on her chin, “Then again, since you both have demons, it could be possible. . .” I knew it! He does have an incredible power! I mentally shouted. Suddenly, a thought ran through my head. “Never mind, Temari-sensei, I have somewhere I need to be. Can we train later?” I asked hurriedly. I could tell she wondered what the heck was going through my brain so quickly, so she shrugged and let me go, pulling a kunai from her leg. “Oh, let me get rid of those for you,” I offered, and snapped open my fan. A ‘poof’ sound was heard, and the weapons sticking out of Temari vanished in thin air. Now she was covered in bloody gashes without a source for any of them.
Less than a minute later, I was racing through the desert, the setting sun behind me. He seems like a loner, so maybe I’ll check the cliffs, I told myself, and headed towards my favorite resting spot. Just as I’d figured, I saw his silhouette against the golden-red of the desert sun. I landed softly behind him, too light for even the best of ninja to notice. “Ah, Gaara-san? May I . . . May I sit with you?” I asked quietly. He glared in my direction for a second, then nodded once, his gaze slowly becoming less intense. I smiled to myself as I realized he wasn’t going to push me away and I made my way forward and sat on the edge, my legs dangling off the side. It was quiet as the silence begged one of us to start off a conversation, though we both knew it would be awkward. “What tail are you?” I asked finally. He flinched and stared at me with hate. “How do you know about that?” he hissed. I resisted the urge to glare at him for getting mad at me, like I would’ve in the Leaf. “I could sense an immeasurable power that radiated off of you earlier, much like my own.” I could almost hear my words echoing inside of Gaara’s head. “What tail are you?” he growled, but with curiosity instead of loathing. “Two; the cat,” I answered shortly, and stroked Shi’s back as he sat next to me. Gaara was quiet for a few moments, then gazed up at the now-dark sky. “One; the raccoon,” he responded. And it seemed like that was the end our conversation as we stared at the sky for a while. “I’m going,” Gaara said suddenly, and vanished like he had earlier. I blinked, slightly confused, but I let him go. Placing a hand over my racing heart, I nodded. “I knew it. I am in love,” I told myself.
I can’t believe you! Inner Kizuki shrieked. I jumped at the volume of her voice and was surprised that it didn’t echo off the rocks. What are you mad at me for this time? I grumbled. How in the heck of the world can you say that you love him, when the only thing you two have talked about it what demon you are?! I shrugged, though I could see her point. “I don’t know. It just kind of happened. . .” I mumbled out loud. “What just kind of happened?” a familiar voice asked. I jumped, startled, and turned to find Temari with her hand on her hip and a confused frown on her face. “Sorry, sorry. It’s nothing,” I mumbled, waving away the question. “Well, I came to ask if you’d like to spend the night at my apartment tonight,” she spoke. I nodded enthusiastically, glad that I didn’t have to sleep out in the open again. “Alright, then follow me!” Temari announced, and we were off, racing towards the city. In a few minutes, we were met by two people––Gaara, and another I’d never seen before, wearing a black puppeteer’s outfit and a hat with ear-things on the top. “This is your apprentice?” the other boy frowned disbelievingly. “She looks like a––” he started, but Temari kicked his knee. “Shut up,” Gaara growled. The other boy grimaced in pain, and I glared at him.
“I look like a what?” I asked him, daring for him to finish his sentence. He shook his head quickly, looking away. But there was something in his pocket he was fingering, making my wary. “Cut it out, you two!” Temari snapped. I glanced at her with a hint of shame as she scolded us. We’re acting like children! Inner Kizuki mumbled. Temari led me inside the apartment and began showing me where all of the rooms were. “Oh, yeah, sorry about Kankuro-baka. He has a foul mouth and a short temper, so don’t mess with him too much,” my sensei apologized. I nodded, but hissed. “He should learn who he can and can’t talk bad about, because the next time he tries will be his last. I will kill him, and I’m not joking,” I warned. She grinned and opened the door to a barren room. There was hardly any sign of someone living here, though it smelled slightly like Gaara’s scent. “Gaara-san’s room?” I guessed. Temari nodded. “Yeah, he doesn’t sleep, so he claims he has no use for his room. You can stay in here, if you like!” she offered. I bowed thankfully and walked in. “I hope I’m not entering without permission,” I said quietly as I placed a hand on the bed frame. “Nah, it’s alright. Come down to the kitchen when you get settled in,” she announced, and left me alone.
I scoffed quietly. “I came here bringing nothing but the clothes on my back and a bad attitude. What do I have to get settled in with?” I mumbled to myself. But I followed her orders and met her and the others down in the kitchen. “Hey, look, it’s the new girl. What’s up, shorty?” Kankuro asked as he waved at me. “Shut up,” I hissed, “And who do you think you’re calling short? I’m the same height as you, baka!” Kankuro glared at me defiantly. “Don’t call me an idiot, or I’ll pummel you into next week!” I snapped out my fan, getting ready for a fight. “Oh, yeah? Try me, idiot!” The next thing I knew, something had pulled one leg out from under me, and I felt myself falling. Putting that to my advantage, I slid lower and stabbed the back of his knee cap with the end of my fan, watching him fall backwards on his butt. I stood up, towering over him with mockery dancing about my face. I felt something pull me again, and a blue strand of chakra was pulling me back out of the corner of my eye. “Don’t even try!” I hissed, and yanked the thread up. I saw the source: Kankuro’s fingers. “Play with dollies in your spare time, do you?” I laughed, and silently ordered my cat to attack. Shi pounced on his hands, his claws sinking into Kankuro’s flesh. My opponent gasped in pain, and Shi bit his nose just enough to make it bleed. I pointed and laughed hysterically as he slowly got to his feet. “Okay, I give! You’re strong, I get it!” Kankuro mumbled in defeat. “Watch what you say, kid,” I growled, and turned my attention back to Temari and Gaara. Temari was smirking as she looked at her brothers. “Don’t step on the cat’s tail. It’ll get mad, Kankuro. Do you still want to fight her?” Temari questioned, glancing at Gaara. A small, demonic smile curled on his lips. “Can’t wait,” he whispered, and I felt myself blush slightly as I stared into his eyes.
“What to eat, what to eat,” my sensei mumbled as she turned to the pantry. She pulled a rice cooker from the cabinet and a bag of rice from the pantry. “Kizu-chan, will you make us some rice? I’m going to make sushi tonight for dinner!” I smiled at the sound of food. Pouring some water from the faucet into the pot, I lowered that and about two cups’ worth of white rice into the small, white machine. Temari was already preparing the salmon as she rinsed it off and began to slice it. I noticed Kankuro had left to go nurse his wounds, but Gaara stayed, watching me out of the corner of his eye. Temari flashed him a confused glance, and he walked away suddenly, around the corner and up the stairs. I heard his footsteps above us after a while; he was in his room that I was currently using. I placed a teakettle full of water on the stove after he left. A few minutes passed, and he and Kankuro came down again just as the rice was done cooking. They both sat at the table as I rolled the sticky rice into ovular balls and handed them to Temari as she placed the salmon on top. I also made two onigiri for everyone, and we eventually sat down to eat. My sensei placed the main plate and four extra plates onto the table and I poured tea for everyone. We all grabbed ourselves a pair of chopsticks and ate silently.
I nibbled on an onigiri for a bit and fed a strip of salmon to Shi, and was amazed (and slightly hurt, to tell the truth) when Gaara stood up and left the table. “Thanks for the food,” he whispered, and disappeared again. We made all that food and he hardly even ate a piece and a half! Inner Kizuki gaped. “Don’t worry, he does that a lot,” Temari explained when she saw my expression. I took a sip of tea, nodding, and finished off the onigiri I was nibbling on before I snatched some sushi for myself. Kankuro ate as much as Temari and I did combined, and he left the table soon after his younger brother. He didn’t even say “thank you” before he disappeared as well. “And that one inhales his food and walks away,” Temari grumbled. I forced a small laugh, but inside, I felt that neither of them wanted me here and I knew I should leave. “Temari-san?” I asked, “Why does it seem like they hate me?” Temari giggled as she ate another piece of sushi. “It’s okay, Kizu-chan, my brothers are usually like that. Don’t take it into offense.”
And so I didn’t, finishing at the same time as my sensei, cleaned up the kitchen, and sneaked upstairs. I slid into Gaara’s bedroom without anyone noticing, and crawled into the bed. Shi sank into the pillow and fell dead asleep next to my head in under a minute. I closed my eyes and fell asleep. Maybe an hour later, I was woken by the feeling of someone’s presence. I blinked, and Gaara’s shadow fell across the floor. Looking up, I saw him outside the window sitting on the ledge. I sat up and watched him watch the moon, covering up with the blanket. Not even turning, he asked “Comfortable?” in a low voice. I blushed slightly and hummed a yes to him. A short breath blew out of his nose like he was laughing at me. “Why can you not sleep?” I asked, trying to strike up a conversation again. “Demon,” he answered simply as he stood up. He stepped over the windowsill and into his room, making his way towards the door. He stopped, looked at me for one fleeting second, then turned the handle and walked away, not even bothering to close the door again. I sighed and laid back down. “What a strange boy,” I whispered, rolling on my side and pressing a closed fist to my heart. I slept again with the wind blowing through the window, singing me to sleep.

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~End of Chapter One~ ninja