My first fanfic, wish me luck. My new puppy inspired this, so cheers to Jessi! And now she's vigorously chewing on my arm. Ouch. Anyway!~ I've never indulged in the childish neccessity of a lemonade stand, but I figure the Sand sibs would have an interesting time of it...
I do not own Naruto, nor will I ever. Budgets, budgets....
Temari, in her languor, turned the page of the book she was reading. Some classic book for a report. The 7-year old despised reading. She viewed it as a waste of time and effort. Why read about something that'll never happen? She was a realistic person as a rule, so this made no sense whatsoever.
And the heat didn't help either.
It was the middle of summer, so of course in the arid landscape things got searing hot. But, even born here, Temari hated the incessant lashing of sun on her tanned back. She wished there was some way to relieve this obscene heat and do something resourceful at the same time.
She flipped the page of her book... And was blessed with a flash of divine light as a genius plan began to form in the blond's head....
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"It's BRILLIANT!" the girl cried, throwing her hands in the air. Kankuro simply blinked in confusion, placing the oversized cat-eared sheet on his head lopsidedly.
"You see, the desert is so HOT, everyone will get thirsty. And what's better than nice, cool, refreshing lemonade on a smoking day? NOTHING! We'll get rich!" she yelped, discarding the dead branch she was using as a pointer. Kankuro raised his hand timidly.
"Um, Temari... Dontcha think we should make some lemonade first?" he suggested. Temari stared at him momentarily.
"Well, duh! I knew that!" she snapped, flushing. And so the two set to work.
The first problem they faced was the fact that neither had any idea as to how to concoct a recipe for lemonade. Temari frowned in deep concentration.
"Well, lemonade must have lemons," Kankuro said unhelpfully. Temari gave him a glare, rubbing her temples. Lemons.... Sugar.... Water? She shrugged. At least she had some idea. Now to get mixing.
The second problem was the fact that everything in the kitchen towered over them. The fridge was the only thing they could open safely. Temari decided she might have to improvise her ingredients. The blond reached into the refrigerator, pulling out a sack of lemons to be used for a cocktail party her father would hold.
"Ah, he won't mind," she muttered. Now for some sugar. The sugar was in a cabinet above the sink. Not accessable. Unless....
"Kankuro! Let me get on your shoulders!" she ordered. Before he could protest (and he surely would), she clambered onto his thin frame. Kankuro gripped tightly to the edge of the sink for dear life to support himself. At the top, Temari's resolve wavered. She'd have to let go of Kankuro and stand up if she wanted to reach the door... She took a deep breath and slowly pushed herself up. Cue dramatic music. She staggered atop a suffocating Kankuro. With a gasp, she pitched forward and braced herself on the door. Hands shaking, she pulled open the cabinet. There! Sugar! She grasped it, only to feel Kankuro give out under her. The poor kid's legs couldn't take anymore. He collapsed, face-first, on the tile floor. Temari shot down with him, landing unharmed on the choking Kankuro's back. She grinned in triumph, holding the sugar like a prize.
The third challenge was figuring out what to do now. This is where Gaara came in. The wide-eyed five year old watched his siblings' antics with surprise. He toddled into the room, clutching the bear seemingly sewn onto his hand. Temari blinked at him a moment before the lightbulb went off.
"Gaara!" she cried, throwing her arms around the shocked red-head. Kankuro sat up with some difficulty, rubbing his sore abdomen.
"Can you do something for Sissy?" she asked, pulling away a little. With adoring eyes, Gaara nodded enthusiastically. Temari planted a loving kiss on the side of his head.
"This way.... You see those lemons?" she cooed.
"Uh-huh!" Gaara replied.
"Sissy needs you to squeeze those lemons with your sand," Temari pointed. Kankuro looked on, abandoned. Gaara nodded in extreme concentration. He wrapped a sand hand around the first lemon. With a quick clutch of his real hand, he squeezed the living daylights out of it. Temari covered her face as seeds splattered everywhere, many shooting like machine-gun bullets at a startled Kankuro. He whimpered as what looked like an army of seeds intent on killing him pelted into his behind. Many stuck to uncomfortable areas. He looked at the snickering, seed-free Temari. Kankuro growled, tossing a handful at her. She laughed as Gaara's sand shield rose protectively. The seeds bounced harmlessly off it.
"Gaara likes me better!!!" she teased. Said Gaara looked at the mushy skin of what used to be a lemon, on the verge of tears. Temari stopped her strange victory dance when she noticed.
"Uhm, don't cry Gaara! Maybe we need to cut the lemons first!" she suggested. Gaara looked hopefully at her, blinking away tears threatening to spill over. Kankuro sensed his chance to shine.
"I can cut them perfectly," he offered. Without further ado, the soon-to-be puppet master expertly sliced the lemons into halves. Temari watched, impressed. Like she'd ever say it, though. Gaara watched in his unique way, studying Kankuro with narrowed eyes and a wrinkled nose. Not in disgust, simply fascination. Now he slowly wrapped his sand around the halved lemons. Kankuro and Temari watched with wide eyes and held breath. Slowly, ever so slowly, he squeezed. The lemon poured its contents into... the sink. Crap! She'd forgotten a pitcher! She flew over to the dripping lemon, catching the last remains.
"Kankuro, you've got poison jars or something, right?" she called.
"Yeah..."
"Go get one!" Temari snapped. The timid young boy scurried into his room. Many crashing sounds and yelps were heard before he skittered into the kitchen, holding a large glass jar. Temari emptied her hands.
"Squish the next one, Gaara!" she encouraged. The red-head squeezed the next lemon into the jar.
It soon became an assembly line: Gaara squeezed the lemon into the jar, Kankuro picked out the vile seeds, and Temari retrieved neccessary utensils such as cups and ladles. And ice. Which was a problem, because she couldn't reach the icebox. It was on top of the fridge. Her method? Simple. Grab chubby brother (i.e, Kankuro) and hop upon back. Kankuro was used to it, but he was far from liking it. Once all lemons had been squeezed to fill the jar, Temari and Kankuro lifted it (teetering) and carried it outside.
The next challenge: making a stand. Kankuro stared hopelessly at the blank front yard. It was void of building materials. And he was pretty sure what Temari was gonna suggest....
"Hey, Kankuro, go get one of those freaky puppets," she growled, panting from the exertion of carrying the heavy lemonade-bearing jar. Kankuro miserably trudged into his room, unable to disobey his sister. He hugged his puppet before brining it to the evil carnivore called Temari. She immediately commenced to tearing apart his prized possession. He winced as she tore the head from the body. He was gonna have nightmares about this... Gaara wandered outside as well. His cute, pudgy little cheeks flushed with surprise as he saw a scene much like this: Temari, mercilessly using her small hands to rip apart a helpless puppet; Kankuro, in tears and watching Temari in horror; and himself, Gaara, an innocent bystander. He toddled to Temari's side as she demolished the last of the puppet. Kankuro rubbed his eyes suspiciously, sniffling. Now to building the stand.
Gaara was definitely the main factor in building the stand. Kankuro refused to touch the precious remains of his beloved puppet. Temari herself had the master plan; she designed and helped set up the thing. First was the legs. They were constructed out of the puppets arms. Next, the surface. Temari pounded the ribcage flat with her fan, sending splinters everywhere. Including Kankuro's face. The young puppetmaster was in hysterics. Who wouldn't be, with a two inch splinter in your eye? Gaara snugly glued the two items together with his super-sand. And business was almost ready. Temari grabbed a stray board and, in messy fingerpainting, wrote: LIMONAIDE 1.$$ EECH
She stood back, proud of her handiwork. She pasted the sign to the front of the table, sitting on Kankuro. Now to wait for customers.
Temari decided the safest bet was to use Gaara for advertising. She patted the adorable child's head, tying a wooden sign to his chest. It read (in Kankuro's more gramatically correct handwriting): IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HELP ME FEED MY FAMILY, BUT LEMONADE
Temari agreed it was perfect and ordered Gaara to sit at the side of the road. She hoped he wouldn't get abducted. Kankuro was used as a willing chair. Anything to help big sister...
The first customer was a young woman. She looked at the pitiful Gaara whimpering, and her heart was captured.
"Play wimpy," she hissed to Kankuro. No need to tell him, she thought drily.
"W-will you buy some lemonade please?" The bossy, irritated, smug, intelligent, prideful, boasting Temari was gone, replaced by some cute creature ,Kankuro was sure, just waiting to lure in its prey. A faint blush played across the bridge of her nose and cheeks as she twiddled her fingers. Kankuro looked up hopefully as well. He might as well help. The woman saw two innocent young children. One was a beautiful young blonde, no more that seven, wearing a splattered white shirt and dark grey oversized pants. The young, brownhaired boy wore a simple black tee and shorts with holes. Such poor children, with dirty clothes and hoping faces!
"I'll take twenty!" she announced, slamming a bill onto the table. Temari had some trouble puring that many, but she managed. Kankuro greedily took the bill with sparkling eyes... Until Temari slapped his hand away.
"ACT GRATEFUL!" she snipped. He nodded in what he hoped was a nice way to the lady, who waved at him gently.
The rest of the afternoon proceeded much like that, with customers being drawn in by pitiful young children. They'd collected a total of $561! Temari leaped for joy, elbowing Kankuro's nose in the process. That much money? Where would they put it? Temari had an idea....
The Kazekage stared, dumbfounded, at the stack of bills that had fallen out of the fridge when he reached in to retrieve a lemon.....
Pretty terrible, I know. I can write better and longer, but I'm LAZY. And I have a new puppy to care for. I WILL write something with more imagery and on a more serious note. Later. For now, I'm done! Those three should be ashamed of themselves!!! My first fic, as you can tell. Not so awesome. Really. It could be better. Probably. Reviews, should you deem me so blessed as to recieve one, would be LURV.