Disclaimer: I, again don't own Naruto or the characters that were stated in the chapter before.
Warning: Language and some stuff appear in this chapter so if you don't like don't read. Oh, and if you don't like OCs, again, don't like don't read.
Chapter 2
8years later…
Kankurou and Gaara walked at a slow steady pace as they made their way to the Earth Country. Kankurou's shoulders felt like the world was on them while he had both the Crow and the Black Ant on his back. He just watched as his little brother walked like the weight of his gourd and heat of the day had no effect on him what so ever.
The last words Yuro had whispered in his ear rang though his head in a soft, calm, reassuring tone. It only got more exciting for him the closer they got to the main village. I wonder if she is still there. I wonder if she still remembers me. I bet Kankurou has already forgotten by now. He glanced back to see Kankurou trying his hardest to press on.
"Hey Gaara, can't we take a break now? I mean it's kind of a little too hot to be walking in this weather." Kankurou complained.
Gaara turned to face forward again. "What does a little heat bother you? I thought you were better than that." Gaara teased in the weird unchanging tone of voice that he always had.
Kankurou knew that he was, too. Ever since the Chunin Exams a year back, Gaara had become more of a brother than Kankurou had ever dreamed. For once he was actually able to have a brother he could talk to and hang out with when Temari was moody. "Yeah, but-"
"You really just don't stop complaining and making excuses for yourself don't you?" Gaara wasn't to impressed with how childish his brother had become, but it proved to be extremely entertaining to him. "We've only got about an hour left before we get there. Just hold on a little while longer"
"Huff." Kankurou couldn't believe how painful some of their brotherly moments could be. Man all this walking just to sign a couple treaties. Why couldn't Gaara have gone by himself? I mean it's not like I'm going to save him from getting hurt or anything. Geez.
They finally began to see the village Kankurou was somewhat relieved. They walked into what looked like every other town they had passed on their way there. Kids played in the streets and people walked through the main street just buying and selling goods. Everyone had a smile on their face and was polite to everyone else. They walked into a larger building and the lady at the front desk didn't even bother to look up she just kept her head under the desk. Before Gaara came up to the desk to try and get her attention a man came out of the door to his right and waved his hand to tell them to come his way.
The man was tall and thin and wore a business suit. As the came into the room he said, "I'm sorry, but the master is out today so I will be getting you ready for the meetings until he returns. But for now we have one of our employees who will take you into her home while the hotels have no vacancies." The man walked over to the desk in the room, took a few papers off of it, and handed them to Gaara. "Yuro." He yelled out the door.
"What?" A short woman with really long, blonde hair walked into the room. She wore green capries, blue ninja shoes, and a red tank top. Her pretty brown eyes were fixed on Gaara with shock and excitement in them.
He looked at her and whispered to himself, "Yuro."
The man caught her attention by yelling, "Yuro take the Kazekage and his brother home I'm sure they need their rest after that journey."
"Kaze..kage?" Her eyes got wide in amazement. "Yes sir."
She turned and walked out with the other two close behind. I can't believe that is really Gaara. Is he really Kazekage? And what the heck happened to Kankurou. He looks like a freak.
"Long time no see." Gaara said looking her way. Kankurou had no idea what Gaara was getting at.
She looked back at him and said, "Yeah. Looks like we've all grown up."
"Yeah."
"Ok. I'm totally lost. How do you know her?" Kankurou raised one eyebrow in question.
"I can't believe you don't remember me." Yuro giggled a little as she said that.
Gaara answered him by saying, " Remember that girl that was like my only friend when I was about 6 years old?"
"Wait… Yuro!" Apparently something had clicked in his mind.
"He finally gets it." She laughed at him. "So, Gaara, you're Kazekage?"
"Yeah. It runs in the family I guess. Kankurou is just jealous I got the job and he didn't."
She giggled a little more, then said, "This is way to cool. You guys staying with me Launa is going to be awesome."
Kankurou began to spaz. "Wait did you say Launa?"
"Yeah. And yes we are still friends. And yes we are living together."
"Oh great." His hand met his forehead.
"Come on Kankuro. She's probably changed since we were kids."
Gaara reassured him.
Yuro put a hand behind her head. "Well she's defiantly changed, but not in the way that most people would want her to."
"What do you mean?" Kankurou asked her.
"Well, she used to be a little whimp , but now she's more of a… umm… how to put
that? Dork. Idoit. Ummm." It took Yuro a moment to figure it out, but it came to her in perfect words as a hot-dog flew through the air and landed right in front of the four of them. "She's a retard."
They looked up on top of a house and there she was with bag of crackers and a package of frozen hot-dogs in hand. Her dark blonde hair reached to mid back, she had on black ninja shoes, black pants, a black tank top, and a thick, black bracelet on her right wrist. She was still only about an inch shorter than Kankurou. She waved one arm high in the air as she sat on the roof of their two story home. "Hi Yuro!"
"What the heck are you dong, Launa?" Yuro yelled at her.
"Well I was bored so when I came out here I decided that I shouldn't just try to cure boredom by eating. So I thought I should try this while I ate." She replied.
"Get down form there, and stop throwing the food. It's wasting it." Yuro demanded.
"Why should I?" Launa said in a brat like tone.
"If you don't I'll go up there and get you myself." Yuro threatened.
Launa threw the food in the window behind her, stood up and said, "Bring it shorty." She challenged.
"Fine I will." The four of them walked in the gate and as they were about to open the door when suddenly they heard a thud next to them.
Launa had fallen from the house onto the ground below. As she sat up and rubbed her head she said, "Ouch. Since when did gravity take sides with you?"
She laughed at her friend and helped her up. "Come on smart one."
Yuro led everyone into the house and into the kitchen. "Do you guys want something to drink?"
"Water, please."
"Me, too please." They said as the two men took a seat at the table.
"Hey, people!" Launa pointed out to herself "Oh wow, that was a smart observation for me."
"Yeah don't hurt yourself thinking to much there Launa." Yuro teased.
"Ha Ha. Real funny. Hey, it's not my fault that have no mental states, what so ever, after sitting around all day with nothing for the tiny brain in my head to think about, ok." She said while pointing to her head and trying her hardest to see her forehead by staring up and cross eyed.
Yuro brought the water to the two and sat down next to Gaara. "I'm sure you remember Kankurou and Gaara."
"Yeah of course I-" She stopped in her tracks after turning to go to the sink. She turned her head and stared blankly at Kankurou. After a couple blinks she said, "You can't be serious."
"She's dead serious." Kankurou said in a "Duh" like tone.
"Yep. That's definitely Kankurou." She said to herself and then she turned to go get a drink. Wow. This isn't exactly what I expected. He's changed a lot. And what's up with the cat hat and the make-up. Holy cow he looks like a freak. It looks kind of cute on him, though. Wait! Don't think those things. She went over and got her cup of water.
"So, when do we get the tour of the house?" Gaara asked Yuro.
"How about right now!" Yuro said in a peppy tone as she jumped up and grabbed Gaara by the hand and drug him through the living room that they entered when they first came in and up the stairs.
Launa stood there leaning against the counter, looking at Kankurou blankly. He stared back, in a more 'I wasn't expecting you to be a freak' way, though.
"That was different." Launa said flatly.
"She likes him, doesn't she?" Kankurou felt as though he were asking the stupidest, most obvious question in the world.
"Yup." She said in the same boring tone as she had before. The next few minutes they spent in silence with the exception of the clock that ticked at a slow pace. She finally broke the moment of silence by saying, "Shall we?"
"Let's." He replied. He got up from his seat and she set the glass down and they walked passed the bath room/ laundry room to their right, into the living room, and up the stairs to the left.
When they got to the 2nd story and they turned the corner next to the master bedroom (Yuro's room) they saw Gaara and Yuro down the hall in the spare bedroom talking as they leaned against the large window.
"Aww. Aren't they just so cute?" Launa whispered in a baby-like voice to Kankurou.
"Yeah. Just cute." Kankurou said in a sarcastic tone as he brushed passed her and walked into the room. "So where will we be sleeping?" He asked Yuro.
"Well one of you can sleep up here in this room, and the other can sleep down stairs on the couch if you guys want?" She said.
"I'll let you take the room Bro." Kankurou gave the room up willingly because he was certain that his brother would want to be close to his little girlfriend.
He turned to leave the room, but Launa stood in the door way with her hands clasped in front of her, she was standing as strait as she could, and with a slightly creepy look in her eye. "I sleep down there, too." She said to him in an extremely concerning voice that sent a shiver up his spine.
He began to turn around and say, "On second thought, Gaa-" When he saw that Gaara was already unloading his things into the dresser he decided to drop it and let Gaara enjoy his time with Yuro. He turned back around and saw Launa in the master bedroom bent over picking up the crackers and hotdogs she had thrown in the window.
She held up the two things, one in each hand. " Crackers or hotdogs?"
She threw the hotdogs over her shoulder, opened the bag of crackers, and with a bounce in her step, she went down stairs. Oh God. This is a living nightmare. That freak is the crybaby I met 8 years ago? Wow things around here are just all screwed up. Kankurou thought as he slowly followed her.
Later that night…
Yuro tossed and turned in her bed. The cold wind came in through the window that she hadn't bothered to close after Launa had come in from earlier that day. I can't believe it. Gaara is just right down the hall from me. She squealed in her thoughts. Oh, holy cow I want to go see him right now. But what if he isn't asleep? Oh God that would be bad. She envisioned herself walking in to find him awake. The thought of her face turning a bright cherry red made her shudder under the covers.
She finally got the nerve to get up and go into his room. The dark, cold room reminded her of all the years she had been away from Gaara. As she made her way to the bed she noticed that it was still perfectly made, and the window was wide open. She walked over and climbed out of it and onto the roof.
"Gaara?" She whispered.
"Over here." He replied from his place at the very peek of the roof. "You should be asleep." He said plainly to her.
"Well, I couldn't sleep." She said nervously.
"And why is that?" He turned his gaze to the stars.
She hesitated for a moment then said, "I couldn't stop thinking about you." She blushed as the words came out.
He turned his head back to look at with a softer look in his eyes and his mouth slightly open in surprise. "Really?"
"Yeah." She walked over and sat down next to him. "Things have gone kind of crazy ever since we left and I wished you could have been here to comfort me through it. I missed you so much."
The tone she said that last sentence made him think that she might start to cry, so he quickly made an apology. "I'm sorry I couldn't have been there for you."
"It's ok. I may have wanted you here, but if had spent my whole life behind you I wouldn't be able to have so much fun knocking sense into Launa."
They both laughed a little, then he asked, "So, what exactly happened over all those years?"
"Well, after my moms baby died, my mom left me and Launa because she knew she couldn't get enough money to keep us in the academy and still pay the bills. So, we made a living the hard way. As soon as we graduated Launa got really cocky and ended up in the hospital for doing stupid things at least once every week. Things got even harder to deal with when I had to live off the pay I'm still getting at the head office while practicing medical jutsu." She said these things as though they were nothing.
"Wow, rough."
"Yeah, but from what I've heard, your life was a lot worse than mine."
"Yeah I guess so."
They sat talking for while about each other and how much they wished they could have been together.
Mean while downstairs…
"They're going to hate us." Launa muttered as she rolled over in her blanket on the floor. Great she talks in her sleep. This couldn't be any worse. Man this couch is small.
He rolled around trying to find a comfortable place. It failed though as soon as he thought he was about to get in a good position, he fell to the ground next to Launa. He watched as she rolled back over to face him. Her eyes were closed really tightly, she was embracing herself as though she were going to die, and nails dug into her arms as she whimpered in her sleep. Man, I wonder what she's dreaming about. I feel kind of bad for her. I mean, who would panic that much in a-. Her clinging to him suddenly cut off his thoughts.
She held him tight and sounded as though she was crying. Her head was buried in his chest and it made him feel as though she were an emotional freak again and she was using him as a tissue.
It smells so good. So, warm… and soft, yet solid. Wait… what the heck? Launa sat up and started to breath heavily. She looked down at Kankurou who was shocked. "You pervert." Launa said to him.
"You're the one who clung to me." He said in his own defense.
"Oh! I did?"
"Um, yeah. Smart one." Kankurou said sarcastically.
"Aren't I just?" Launa said in a strangely proud voice.
"Oh wow. You really have turned into an idiot, haven't you?"
"Actually, I chose to act like this. I figure that life has so much to offer, so why put limits and boundaries on what we should do, or how we should act." She seemed to be acting serious for once in the whole time that they had been there.
"Touching," Kankurou said in a semi-serious tone.
"Yup. Well, I'm bored now. Wanna go pick on Yuro?"
"Really? What did you have in mind?" Kankurou asked curiously.
"Well… I have some spray cheese in the cabinet." She said deviously.
"And?"
"And she's a heavy sleeper. With my artistic abilities and your evil little mind we could make the next Bony and Clyde." They laughed a little, and then they got up and went into the kitchen.
She reached up into the cabinet and brought down the spray cheese, and when she turned around, Kankurou stood there with a glass of warm water in his hand. "Anyone up for a bathroom break?" He joked.
When they got upstairs they were disappointed to see that she wasn't there. "Darn!" She walked over to the bed. "It's almost like she knows."
He came up next to her with a smirk on his face. "She doesn't have to be here to get her."
"Huh?"
"Just watch." He bent over the bed and poured the glass of water over her pillow. Then he took the cheese out of her hand, pulled the top sheet down a little, and began to spray the cheese all around with no pattern to it.
"I like the way you think."
Back up on the roof…
Their conversation had gotten so deep that she hadn't realized that his hand was on hers. "You know, Yuro… I really missed you."
"I missed you, too." She smiled at him sweetly.
He slid his hand on her neck until it held her head at the bottom of her hairline at the back of her neck. She opened her eyes in shock as he moved his head closer to hers. "Gaara?" she whispered just before his lips met hers.
His lips were soft and made her body go numb making it easier for her to focus on how sweet it tasted. I can't believe it. I can't believe he likes me this much.
When they pulled away Gaara said, "You should get some sleep."
"Ok." She couldn't help but do what he asked. She was in a trance. Yuro got up and walked away slowly with a smile on her face.
Kankruou and Launa heard footsteps and covered the spot up and ran out of the room.
"Dude, we are so dead." She said in the weirdest voice he had heard yet from her.
"I can't believe I just did that with you."
"I know, isn't it awesome?"
"Oh yeah."
They burst out in laughter, but their moment of joy was soon cut off when they heard Yuro coming down the hall. They made a dash to the bottom of the stairs. When there, they waited for Yuro to give some sign that she found their lovely gift to her.
"LAUNA!" Yuro yelled.
"Oh, crap. Something tells me I'm going to need a shoe surgically removed from my butt." She hunched herself over and covered her ears. Yuro stomped her way down the stairs and stopped in front of Launa. She slowly lifted her head up and gave her a fake smile. "Hi. What are you doing up so late?"
"Oh don't pull that little act with me you little jerk. I know it was you."
"Bull crap! I had help!" She protested.
"What?" She looked over at Kankurou who was trying his hardest not to laugh at the sight of cheese that covered one side of her pants and the wet spot on her shoulder. "Did you?"
"Yes." He broke out in laughter, and Launa stood up and looked down at a place on the floor where cheese had fallen.
"Um.. Yuro… I don't quite know how to ask you this, but do I need to get you a bib or something, because you missed your mouth by like a mile?" Launa went into a state of extreme laughter just as Kankurou.
"Grrr! You freakin morons. I'm going to kill you." She stomped her way into the bathroom to clean herself up.
Launa fell to the floor and her eyes began to water as she rolled to trying and stop the pain in her abs. "That was too good."
"Boy was it."
"What the heck is going on down there?" A raspy voice called from the top of the stairs.
"Nothing, Gaara." Kankurou quickly replied.
He slowly walked down the stairs and the laughing stopped all at once. "Like I'm really going to believe that."
He gave the two a questioning look. Yuro came out with a towel that was stained a weird yellow color, along with her pants. "Well, I got most of- GAARA! What are you doing down here?"
"I heard screams and laughter and had to come find out what was going on, and what are you covered in?"
"Ask them." She said as she flung the towel at Launa, and Launa sat up.
She caught it and said in a "pity me" baby tone, "Do you hate me?"
"Oh God not one of these conversations again. Yes, at the present moment I'm not to thrilled to be around you."
"But you don't hate me?"
"No, I don't hate you."
"So you love me and can't resist my cuteness?"
"I wouldn't go that far."
"But." She wined. Then gave her the lip.
"Launa, that was cute when you were a kid, now it just makes you look pathetic."
She put a serious look back on her face and said, "Who said I wasn't?"
"You retard."
She stood up and went over to hug her. "You rang?'
"Ha ha. Real funny."
As Launa started to make her way past Yuro to go into the kitchen, Yuro's hand smacked Launa right in the butt.
"Aaa! That wasn't very nice." She said as she rubbed her swore butt.
"Who said I was nice?"
"True." She turned to keep going on her way when she turned back around and said, " Oh by the way Yuro, yellow is not your color."
"What ever, smart ass. Well, I'm going to bed."
Gaara followed her upstairs and didn't bother to ask her about what just happened. Kankurou followed Launa into the kitchen. "What the heck was that?"
"She may hit hard, but on the inside she's as soft as a marsh mellow." She began to sit down when she jumped back up. "Ouch! My ass is tender. Oh, the pain"
She began to rub her butt again. "Wow, I never would have expected you to end up like this."
"Like what?"
"Like a freak who would do anything to keep people entertained. And I also noticed that you haven't cried once except when you were rolling around on the floor."
"Yeah. I'm just cool like that."
Kankurou raised one eyebrow. "You just keep telling yourself that." He said and then whispered, "Dumb ass." Under his breath."
"Ok. I will. But only under one condition."
"What?"
"That you play along like I am."
"I think I can live with that."
They went back in to the living room and lied back down, but this time Launa scooted over and Kankurou laid down next to her. "You know you didn't have to do that."
"It's ok. I haven't fit on that couch in 3years. I doubt it will hold you on it through the night." Launa said.
"Was that a fat joke?"
"Maybe."
"I'll have you know that this is all muscle."
"Yeah. Ahu. Sure. If you say so."
"You really don't believe me do you?"
"Nope. Not one bit."
"Fine I'll show you." He slid off his shirt. She watched and blushed a little. Wow, I didn't think he would be like that about the way people look at him. I mean he was wearing makeup.
"There. Are you happy now?" Kankurou asked her.
She giggled a little and was glad that it was dark enough for him not to see her cheeks that were turning bright red. Oh, you have no idea Kankurou.
"Sure. Why not?" She said it as though she still didn't believe him even though his perfectly toned body was right in front of her.
"What ever." He slid down under his own blanket and turned away from her. She's really different. This trip might not be as bad as I thought