Woot! Fast update!

My plan for this: switch between point of views for a little bit. It's hard to switch back and forth, because it puts me out of my groove. Plus, I'll end up mixing events. So, Taij and Mego are up in the exciting next installment!

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"I hate sand."

Mea trudged her way through the sand, her feet sinking a little every time she put one down. It was harder to walk through than snow! At least she had some traction in that department. But with sand? No. And it was getting in places she would rather not have it. She eyes the three men ahead of her wearily. How did they do it so easily? Because they live here, duh. A voice inside of her head said sarcastically, making her visibly roll her eyes and sigh heavily.

"If you hate sand, then why are you in the desert?" one of the two guards said. She still had yet to learn their names, and insisted on calling the shorter one Shortie and the taller one Crankie.

Mea hesitated. Could she even come up with an answer? "Because," she finally said, her voice signifying that she wouldn't elaborate any more on the subject.

Crankie turned to look at her over his shoulder, a frown on his lips and, if she could see his eyes, she was sure they would be narrowed in annoyance. "That's not an answer."

"I think it is."

"It's not."

"Sometimes there aren't any real answers, and that's my ultimatum if there isn't anything else," she snapped, not quite annoyed but frustrated. Crankie looked a little shocked that she could even use a large word, and left the argument at that, turning back to look at the sea of sand still looming in front of them.

A few minutes passed and the day seemed to grow hotter and hotter. Mea licked her chapped lips. The need to have something to drink was begging to nag at her. It wasn't because she was thirsty, but rather because she was used to drinking so much in a day. Now that she didn't have a water bottle of some sort with her, she was beginning to feel a little anxious. She felt too awkward to ask one of the men for a drink. They didn't seem to overly fond of her and Crankie would probably downright refuse to give her one.

"How much farther?" she asked instead, running her fingers through her damp hair. Warm weather had never been her friend, let alone hot weather. Sweat had begun to form long ago, and now it was starting to ebb away.

"A few more hours," Gaara answered, not bothering to turn around. She could only understand him because of her sensitive hearing – which was a shock because of how loud she used to play her music.

Mea groaned softly, pulling her hair back from her neck and feeling a little relief as a cool breeze hit the hot skin.

"We'd be moving faster if it wasn't for you," Crankie added. "With you slowing us down, it's added nearly double the time as it would have normally taken."

"Wanna carry me then?" Mea batted her eyes mockingly. "I'm all sweaty and stinky, just for you! Here, wanna sniff?"

Shortie laughed and Crankie looked disgusted. Gaara, as she suspected, kept his thoughts and emotions to himself. "What kind of girl is so improper?"

"I'm as improper as your penis – or lack thereof." Shortie burst into laughter and Crankie stopped in his tracks. "Oops, did I insult your manly pride?" she sneered, passing the point of annoyance with Crankie a few seconds earlier.

"Bitch!" Crankie grabbed her arm, lifting her up in the air before Mea could blink. But instead of getting the reaction Crankie wanted, she just blinked at him owlishly.

"What of it?" she whispered her voice eerily dead. "You're the one whose being an impudent, narcissistic, egotistical moron. I've done nothing, and if you can't control yourself when words are thrown at you, then I'm surprised you've made it this far."

Crankie's grip on her wrist released, his hand leaving a bruise. "Bitch," he growled, before disappearing in a flash of smoke.

Mea blinked, before giggling. "Can't touch this!" This time Shortie glanced back at her, puzzled. "It's a song, don't worry about it. Could have been worse." She smiled innocently as he turned his head back around. She had to admit, she was impressed with their ability to look behind them and walk, let alone in a straight line! She would have fallen flat on her face or veered way off course at some point.

"Are you bi-polar?" Gaara's sudden question startled her bad enough to make her jumps slightly.

"No, actually. I'm usually very… unemotional? The heat just does things to me." She inhaled, suddenly feeling very oxygen deprived. Her lungs swelled with the hot air, making her head spin. "I prefer the cold," she said after the spinning stopped.

Silence reigned once more. Even their steps had seemed to grow silent because of the cushioning of the sand. The sun rose a little higher in the sky, the heat of the day reaching its peak. In the distance, it looked wavy because of the heat. Mea squinted against the suns glare. Her insides felt like they were being boiled inside of her, and it wasn't a pleasant feeling. Her skin was hot enough to cook an egg, and her lungs were burning.

People lived in the desert. Look at Africa. Crazy! Her mind buzzed with reasons why she should be able to stand the heat, instead of sub-coming to it so quickly. She had only been awake for a few hours and she already felt ready to collapse and just nap on the grainy sand moving beneath her feet.

But. Mea had an excuse. An excuse she could use and abuse and it would never fail. But did she? Never. There wasn't a point in doing it, although she was debating it. Her mouth was so dry, her head spinning, and her muscles heavy.

"You look parched," Shortie held out his water canteen, his voice breaking through her thoughts. Mea accepted it wordlessly, taking a long drink from it. It felt like liquid life flowing through her body. A few seconds later, the water sent a cooling effect through her limbs, cooling them off. Water always tasted better when you're really thirsty, anyway.

"Thanks, Shortie," she handed it back to him with a grateful smile. He frowned at her nickname.

"That's not my name."

"I know."

"Then why not just ask what my name is and call me by that? Besides, I'm taller than you are."

"I figured that it wouldn't matter too much, seeing as I'll probably never see you again. Plus, you were shorter than Crankie. So… call it a term of endearment?" She could see the edges of his lips twitch at the name she had given the other one. Otherwise, he just shrugged.

"Fine by me."

Mea glanced at Gaara, half hoping that he would ask if she knew his name. She loved playing naïve innocence, and was good at it. But he never said anything, causing a wave of foolishness to erupt in her stomach. If she wasn't so tired, a faint blush would have appeared on her cheeks, but they were already too warm already.

"Are we almost there?"

--- 3 hours later ---

Mea nearly cried with relief as she saw the first glimpses of Suna. Almost.

At first, she thought it had been an illusion conjured up by the heat and fading light, but when Shortie and Gaara both announced that that was their destination, the idea of a mirage disappeared from her mind completely. A tired smile appeared on her lips and she pushed what little left of her energy there was into reaching the village. When there, she would gladly collapse upon the ground and sleep in the cooling night.

Mea stumbled into Shortie as he suddenly stopped. He merely glanced behind him in time to see her shuffle to his side and see what was going on.

Gaara had approached the gates and began speaking with the guard there. After a few minutes, the guard disappeared into the shadows of the gate. "What's going on?"

"Outsiders aren't that welcome anymore," Shortie mumbled. "Only the Kazekage can let someone be admitted into Suna, because of the incidents that have happened in the past couple of years."

"Incidents…?" she muttered to herself. There hadn't been any in the show or manga. What could he be talking about? Stupid, you weren't in any either. Her eyes narrowed slightly, that was true. Could her appearance just be at a later time? Gaara certainly looked older than seventeen, or eighteen. Anything could have happened that wasn't… in her world.

She mentally shook the thoughts away as Gaara waved them over. She followed behind Shortie, suddenly feeling apprehensive about being let into the village. If outsiders weren't welcome anymore, then how would she be treated? Human cruelties were the worst, and there were a fair amount where she had come from, and was aware of what could happen. But would it?

Her thought process ceased as she stepped through the gates. Everything looked… different than what she had imagined, yet similar. The colors of the buildings around her were close to the color of the sand that surrounded it, but some had different colors. Soft reds, yellows, and browns. It all reminded her of sand, but in a warmer, less grainy way.

"Have you ever been to Suna before?" Gaara asked, moving her attention from the buildings to his aqua eyes. He looked every bit the same as how he looked in the older episodes. At least some things stayed the same, thankfully.

"Not once. But I've been places you haven't," she caught a hint of suspicion cross his features. "It's nothing to be concerned about, I promise. The only that needs to fear me is chocolate. And spiders."

"Gaara!" They both turned to look to the source of the shout, Gaara not reacting to the sight of his sister, but Mea smiled. Temari had always been one of her favorite characters. "You're hours late! What took you so – " she stopped mid sentence, glancing to Mea. "Whose that?"

Gaara shrugged. "Found her asleep in the desert. She's harmless."

"Harmless?"

"What's her name?" Temari asked, ignoring the amused expression on Mea's face.

Gaara shrugged again. "Does it matter?"

"Yes, yes it does!" She eyed Mea, "She could be some… illusion or something that someone conjured up as a spy."

Mea laughed, "Spy? I'm about as stealthy a…" she paused. Stealthy as what? "As a storm. You see me coming from miles away?"

Temari snorted, either amused or annoyed, she couldn't tell. "What's your name?"

"Mea."

Temari waited a few seconds, "That's it?"

"That's it."

They both eyed her suspiciously. She just smiled innocently.

Temari suddenly turned on Gaara, "Have you been walking this girl to the bone? Look, she's paler than you and her legs are shaking!" Mea blinked, before looking down on her legs. They were shaking!

"Make up your mind. Do you want me to be late, or go at a pace where she could keep up easier?"

Temari chose not to answer. Instead, she grabbed Mea's arm and began to drag her into Suna. Mea just looked confused, tired, and helpless as the stronger girl effortlessly dragged her down the street. She chanced a quick glance at where Gaara had been left, but he had already disappeared. Probably to do some Kazekage stuff.

"Where am I going?" she asked after a few minutes of being dragged, her legs ready to give out on her any second. It wasn't until she was on solid ground that she realized how wobbly and tired she was.

"You're going right here," she stopped in front of a house the color of red granite. "Since my brother wasn't kind enough to show you hospitality, I'll show it instead. You'll stay here until you can get on your own two feet," the four pig-tailed woman glanced down at the exhausted girl. "Figuratively speaking, of course."

"Haha."

Mea followed the blond woman through the door, too tired to even bother looking at the puppet master sitting on the couch, mending one of the puppets that had always crept her out. She followed Temari through the hall, until she opened a door. "The guest bedroom, keep it clean," she turned and left Mea there to stumble into the room. She stared at the bed, smiling in a weird fashion, before collapsing on the bed.

She was asleep before her head hit the mattress.

FIN.

How boring was that ending? Crankie left, and so did the fun! D:

Next chapter may not come up as quickly… -hides.-