Chapter 2: Dangerous
Ari ran through the door of her aunt's house and smiled. "Tadaima!" then frowned, noticing the dark aura that filled the house.
"Ari-chan, you're alive!" Ryouichi exclaimed, running to her and pulling her into a hug. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to but, but when I came back you were gone!" He said it so quickly that all his words were muffled together. Yuga and Yugata nodded agreeing with their brother.
"Maybe, Ryouichi, you need to be less of and idiot!" her aunt, Haruka, scolded the boy and pushed him aside. Ari got pulled into another hug.
"Demo…Ari-chan, just how did you find your way back? Those deserts could be like mazes without walls and dead-ends," Yuga asked followed by a numerous amount of nods by Yugata.
"…lots of wandering I guess…." Ari remembered how she couldn't mention her savior, a special request from him she was willing to keep.
"And one more thing….we never met, got that?"
She smiled at the thought and giggled. The twins, Ryouichi and Haruka all looked at each other, but Ari didn't notice. Instead, her mind was filled with thoughts of her hero. Of course, he wasn't young or that handsome at that…and most likely had a gruesome way of handling things, she was grateful that he didn't kill her and took the time to actually walk her back to the village.
"…ri-chan? Ari-chan daijoubu?" Ryouichi asked, immediately snapping her out of her daydream.
"Hai, hai, daijoubu." Ari answered back. "I'm going to get ready for bed. Oyasuminasai!"
……………………..
-A week later-
Ari awoke by a loud pounding on the door. Rushing, she hopped out of bed and ran to the stairs curiously to see what was wrong.
"Are you sure?" Ari heard Ryouichi ask as she made her way down the stairs. She went down slowly to avoid creaking.
"Positive, you need to hurry straight away!" she heard a deep voice say and heard the door slam shut. Ryouichi, who was in a rush, ran toward the stairs and accidentally knocked right into Ari.
"Ari-chan, you're up."
"Yeah, what's wrong? Who was that guy?"
"Looks like Lord Kankuro got hurt. I need to go to him straight away."
"Lord…Kankuro? Who's that?" Ari asked while putting a finger to her lips and tilting her head.
"Ari-chan, are you serious? He's Kazekage-sama's brother! Ugh! I don't have time!" He gave her a quick hug.
Suddenly, Haruka came running down the stairs dressed and ready to go.
"I heard, let's go Ryouichi."
"Aunt Haruka, you're going too?"
"Of course, I am the best doctor in Suna. I'm just worried. This is the Akatsuki we're talking about."
"The Akatsuki?" Ari asked.
"Ari-chan, we don't have time to explain." Ryouichi said and started walking quickly toward the door. "Take care of yourself ok? Stay here got it?" Ari nodded.
"Yuga and Yugata are still asleep," Haruka added, "You're not allowed to leave unless you're with them," and with that, they left.
Ari quickly dressed and walked back down the stairs.
"Maybe I can walk around for just a bit. Yuga and Yugata are still sleeping and if only for a bit…it won't be a problem right?" Quietly opening and closing the door, she looked at the sandy road in front of her.
Ari wanted to walk around Suna without restriction. She was there for almost two week and haven't seen anything except the outside desert. The only adventure she had was her meeting with Sasori. Other than that, she was locked up in the house.
Though coming to Suna wasn't her choice in the first place, she wanted to find something different her. Something more exciting maybe.
Deep in thought she stared at the ground, analyzing every little grain of sand, ignoring the strange glanced form everyone. White and fluffy frills were an easy way to get a attention as she realized. She didn't want attention but these were the clothes in her wardrobe and was not planning on changing her style soon. But as she listened, she heard that their whispering wasn't about her like it usually was.
'I hear the leaf nin are here'
'Yeah they just arrived! I hope that they are able to help and especially find Kazekage-sama.'
'I can't believe he's missing.'
'Just like the third.'
Ari got more and more confused as she listened. So many questions, the people who knew the answers not bothering to tell. The only thing she knew was the fight between the Kazekage and some man. The Kazekage went missing afterward. Could it be connected to Lord Kankuro?
"Ari-chan!" What are doing out here?" she heard a familiar voice say. She turned around to see Ryouichi with an unhappy look on his face and arms crossed.
"Oh hey Ryouichi. How's Lord Kankuro?"
"The leaf nin are taking care of him. I went home to check up on you and I find Yuga and Yugata panicking. Care to explain?"
"Not really…"
"You got to stop running off. You're giving everyone a heart attack."
"But I'm bored."
"Baka! There's no controlling you! Ari, this isn't Wisteria. It's dangerous around here!"
"Then why am I here?"
"Your father wanted you to be safe--" Ari cut him off.
"If he really wanted me to be safe, he wouldn't have sent me here."
"Ari-chan, you know this is the only place he could have possibly sent you." Ari glared.
"Why did I have to come here? Mom, Kinta and Shouta are all back in Wisteria, are they not? Why me?"
"Ari, there are complications you wouldn't understand…"
"Oh really?"
"Can't we talk about this later?"
"You started this…"
"Come with me. I need to get back and you're coming with me. I need to keep an eye on you." Ari slowly followed after Ryouichi and they soon reached a large building, one towering all the rest. "Let's go," he said and she followed him unsurely through the doors.
A/N: Chapter 2 finally finished! Thank you for all the comments last chapter~~ I hope you enjoyed this one and make sure to comment!
Teaser alert!~~
Next chapter Ari learns a little more about our favorite puppeteer~
