"Isako?" Arisa called out against the rise of the wind. The cold kiss of snowflakes dotted her face as she peeked in doorways and over turned anything he could be hiding under. Worry laced her voice making it tremble further through the shivers that had begun to shake her body, "Isako, where are you?"
She absolutely had to find him; Shiro could not sleep without him. Cold, hopeless, and utterly horrified that she would not be able to she sat down on a park bench and curled up to try and get warm inside her age worn coat; the thick layers tattered on the edges with loose strings hangs about her fingers and legs. She had no idea where that kitten could have gone. 'Stupid, Hisaya and her stupid dog.'
Not far off from where Arisa sat a trio of outsiders walked through the market district. Temari and Kankuro at least seemed to be enjoying themselves though Kankuro complained continuously about the cold. They had come on business from their village but somehow Temari had convinced them to stick around for another day. She enjoyed the snow, a sight never seen in the Sunagakure. It had been her that found the tiny kitten mewling at the edge of a dark alleyway. He was dirty and from the small patch of blood on his hind leg he was also hurt. Crouching down she held her hand out to him but he hissed weakly, scrambling away with a slight limp and right into Gaara's foot. Both Temari and Kankuro held their breath as the vibrant, sea foam green, eyes looked down upon the cowering kitten. Normally emotionless, there was a slight flicker of confusion in them as he looked from the kitten to the others and back again.
"He's not afraid of Gaara," Temari pointed out as they all watched it continue to hiss and hide from her using Gaara's leg as a shield.
Crouching down the red haired youth let his hand hang curious as to the small cat's reaction once it stopped being scared and got a good whiff of the being that possessed him. Once more, he was given a slight shock as the tan toned kitten pressed its head to his touch and rubbed up against his fingers. "I wonder who he belongs to."
"Probably some freaky psychopath if it's not scared off by…" Kankuro's whisper stilled under Gaara's glare as the kitten was lifted and cradled gently in his arm. "You know what I mean, Gaara. Most animals run away at the smell of you."
"Kankuro."
"What?"
"Shut up." Elbowing him, Temari nodded towards Gaara who was carefully petting the purring kitten beneath its chin. Stepping closer she peeked over at the tiny fluff ball, "Gaara, he should be somewhere warm where we can bandage up his leg and he's probably hungry."
He seemed to be deciding what to do and when he looked up again there was soft questioning in his voice, "what do kittens eat?"
A smile slid across his siblings' lips as she pointed down the row of shops, "I'm sure we can find something he'll like."
Meanwhile, Arisa had decided to give it one last go, figuring she'd try the food vendors and hoping that Isako had gone to try to steal some dinner. She asked each vendor she met if they had seen or chased off a small sandy colored kitten, all of them shook their heads and many people gave her odd looks as she crouched down and called under stalls and tables. She almost neared the end of the strip when, in her aggravation, she turned without paying attention and walked right into a tall boy dressed in foreign clothes. Ramen broth spilled all over the both of them. In her embarrassed panic she began blotting at his chest with a tattered, patch-work, scarf.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I should have been paying more attention. This should... I-I have a shirt at home you can… I'm so sorry."
Kankuro just stared at her. His typically loud self held in check by both his surprise and the frustrated sadness in her eyes. Swallowing down his angry retort he set aside the small bowl of Ramen and eased her scarf from the trembling grasp. "It's alright, things happen."
Lowering her head, Arisa's hands clutched her coat in a death grip, "they just seem to be happening to me all day today. I'm really sorry."
He had been about to respond when Gaara and Temari joined them; the other man's voice just barely above a whisper as he asked what was going on. Arisa's eyes clenched shut. This was all she needed; his friends seeing what she'd done. She could not believe… A familiar mewl broke the silence and her head came up fast. She didn't even think as she stepped forwards with a happy grin upon her lips.
"Isako!"
Before she realized what happened her outstretched hand was bound in a vice grip by... by sand? She couldn't move her fingers as it squeezed tighter crushing a small whimper from her lips while Temari and Kankuro flanked her and Gaara. Shock and fear widened Arisa's eyes which were unable to look away from the emotionless void of those before her.
Temari's voice was calm but even the young captive could tell there was a hint of panic lying in the depths, "Gaara, it's alright. She didn't know. I think it's her kitten."
"Come on Gaara, you're hurting her."
He didn't even seem to hear them as she stood trembling in his grip completely unable to defend herself. Gaara's skill unyielding even as he spoke, "why did she leave him alone in the cold when he was hurt? How do we even know it's hers, she could be lying."
"I'm sure she didn't mean to. Kitten's run off all the time, right?" Temari looked to the other woman, her eyes pleading with her to agree.
"I-I… He's not mine." Pain shot through her hand as the sands crushed in until bone rubbed bone. The sensation turning her already pale skin white as she found herself needing the supporting arm of the taller boy when it wrapped about her waist. Tears drenched her face. "No, please, that hurts. He's Isako, he's my brother's cat. He… he ran off when a d-dog jumped on me. Please, stop."
Others had paused to watch if they had not hurried on past the little scene. The passing onlookers only making Kankuro and Temari more insistent to end this.
"Gaara, stop. Let her prove it. She can take us to her brother," Kankuro's arm tightened around her waist and when the sands finally slid away, leaving Arisa clutching her injured hand, he carefully lifted her off her feet, bridal style. "Where do you live?"
Curling meekly against him she told them how to get there afraid of showing the red haired boy where she lived but not wanting to know what would happen if she didn't.
Her house was not so much a house as it was a drafty shed just on the outskirts of the thriving town. Kankuro let her down carefully so she could walk in on her own not wanting to scare her brother into thinking she'd been hurt worse then she was. The tiny cook fire inside just barely offset the chill that permeated from the cracks in the walls. Shiro sat across from the door on the single small cot waiting for her return. Fear immediately swamping his eyes at the sight of the visitors but she forced a reassuring smile to her lips as she moved to wrap an arm around him.
"W-who are they?"
"Friends. They found your kitten and helped carry him back."
"Why couldn't you?"
"Oh, you know me. I'm such a klutz," lifting her hand away from her chest she showed him the bruised appendage which earned a frown from his tired face that she tried to kiss away with a gentle touch of her lips to his forehead. "Say thank you to Gaara, Shiro."
Looking up at him, she smiled and found something in his eyes. He couldn't understand why she lied. Why she had spared any dislike from her brother for what he had done to her. Why she had called them friends.
Shiro moved then, holding out his arms for his kitten. His eyes lowered as he thanked Gaara who surprised everyone when he gently handed the small kitten back to him.
"Why did you name him, Isako?"
Peeking up, Shiro felt an embarrassed flush cross his cheeks as his sister rose to fully shutter the single, glassless, window and offer the others what little tea was left while the two spoke together. "I-I saved him from some guys that were burying him in the sand at a construction site. We tried to clean him up but we just kept finding sand everywhere so Arisa said to name him Isako."
"Arisa?" Gaara turned to capture the young woman in his gaze again, "You're, Arisa?"
Nodding, she stepped back handing her brother a cup of warm tea while holding another out to Gaara. "It's all I have to say thank you for bringing Isako back to us."
He looked at the chipped cup, a frown sliding over his lips before he looked to her and her brother. "This cold weather isn't good for your brother, is it?"
Shock widened her eyes and Shiro's blush deepened as he curled deeper into the blankets that hid his thin frame from view. Behind Gaara, the others looked to each other before staring at the back of his head with silent questions raging unspoken.
"N-no, it's not but…"
Gaara just nodded and turned to leave but not before politely finishing the cup of tea, she had given him. The gesture leaving Kankuro dumbfounded enough that his mouth hung open and Temari about to say something but the younger man turned at the door, "We'll be back tomorrow. Be ready to leave."
Arisa was left speechless, shocked and confused. She did pack what little belongings they had just because she couldn't think of anything else to do. Neither of them slept very long. Shiro was excited that they would be going somewhere other then the cold village that they were born in while she was more than ready to be disappointed. She wasn't. The band of foreigners returned the next morning as promised. Kankuro even offered to take her brother from her back and carry him; Gaara saying that he was used to it when she tried to protest.
That had been over a year ago. They now live in the Hidden Sand Village with an older couple that Temari had arranged to care for them. Her brother was far better then he'd ever been; he was even well enough to attend the academy. Much to everyone's surprise, Gaara, who had been named Kazekage shortly after their arrival, visited several times using Isako as an excuse since he was the only animal that did not run for high ground when he came by.
Arisa couldn't tell him yet but, to her at least, this awkward friendship was something more. She would give her life for him because he had given her brother a chance and despite what had happened when they first met she could never be scared of him. She was too grateful. Perhaps someday she might even show him just how much.
