AH! A second chapter! Can you people deal? ;] More of Ocean Avenue, Cascada's Every Time We Touch CD, and a bunch of songs from a really cool mix CD. It includes the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Dani California, Best Friends by Toybox, and Three Days Grace with their great song 'Gone Forever.' Review please, lovelies. I own no rights to original Naruto characters, the music, or any companies mentioned. So, no suing me!

-Miss Moon

"Hey, Gaara?" I asked hesitantly.

"Hn."

"That's not a word!"

"I know."

"Then stop using that stupid excuse for a sound!"

"That was harsh."

"Maybe you should use actual words then."

"I can choose my speech, thank you."

"Nah – it sucks."

"Rude comment."

"Yeah."

It got really quiet for a minute; then I remember how I was going to ask him a question. "Oh yeah! Are you tired?"

"I don't sleep, Aya," he replied dully.

"Yep, but you yawned."

"Only because you yawned."

"I didn't yawn."

"Oh."

Hmm… What a weird boy. I mentally shrugged, being used to it. Ignoring the oddness of the yawn, I snuggled closer to him. Gaara felt so… safe. I think this would always be my favorite place in the world. Maybe. I really liked my bed too. And the mall wasn't bad. No, this beat the mall. But laying with Gaara like this in my bed would definitely be the best.

I closed my eyes again, trying to sleep a bit more. The thought of dealing with my parents made me want to sleep much longer than three hours.

+Morning+

I woke up with my gray kitten curled up in the crook of my arm and my FallOut Boy – Folie a Deux – CD playing.

I wanna scream I love you from the top of my lungs
But I'm afraid that someone else would hear me.

You can only blame your problems on the world for so long
Before it all becomes the same old song…

Gaara must have left – I don't think other people would be too happy to see us in bed together…in a hotel… Yeah.

Standing up, I looked around to see where my alarm clock was. It still sat idly on the floor where Sasuke was last night. Wow, that was a really weird thing to happen. I'm glad we took care of it so easily. Just the thought of that creep sneaking into my room made me want to shiver violently. I think I did.

A knock came from my door, so I threw the alarm clock – which is by now very abused – at it. Mori stepped in with a worried expression.

"Why the hell did you throw something at the door?"

"Because I didn't want to say 'Come in,' Mori. Duh."

"You're weird."

"You are my friend by choice."

She paused, rubbing her forehead. "Shut up."

"We should go get some breakfast. I think they serve free waffles or something here. I hope so. Cause I could really go for some waffles and a big glass of Mountain Dew right now."

My fire-truck-red-head friend rolled her eyes at me. "Why couldn't you just finish that sentence with orange juice or coffee? Like a normal person would have, might I add?" She paused again, looking around. "You're room is boring."

"You're boring. And no, my room is not. My room is nice and amazing and has my futon. This stupid hotel is boring."

"Let's go get breakfast, Aya."

"…Can I put on some pants?"

Mori left my room, mumbling to herself.

Bast rubbed against my leg, purring in her 'feed-me' voice. If she could talk, I know exactly what'd she say – 'I'm cute as a button and hungry as a hobo, so feed me!' My cat is weird like that. Instead of talking, she tried to bite my sock, using her tiny little canines to grip the gray-and-white striped material. I looked down and cocked an eyebrow at the stone colored cat at my feet. "Must you bite my feet, Bast?"

She meowed a bit louder, running towards my luggage. I followed, taking out a pair of jeans, a tee shirt, and – from a different suitcase – a small bag of cat food and two portable bowls. With Bast twining through my legs, I poured water from one of those 'complimentary water bottles' into one and kitten kibble into the other. Bast mewed her thanks and set to eating.

While my kitten fed, I changed from a pair of pajama pants into my faded jeans. Before I could change shirts, someone else knocked on my door. "Yes?" My voice was tinted with aggravation, but that didn't stop Temari from poking her head through the door with a sheepish grin. "You need something?" I asked, my voice more controlled.

"I'm a horrible pet owner and my kitten has no food?"

My lips turned up into a grin. "How could the all-powerful Temari forget something? You're the best at remembering."

At the word 'best,' my own kitty meowed, thinking I'd called for her. I laughed a bit. My cat was very attention-hungry today. Probably from being locked in the cage for a while the night before. Poor baby.

Once the blonde has a small bag of cat food in her hands and a normal grin on her face, I sent her off.

Since I was now alone and could finally continue to change clothes, I began rummaging around in my luggage for a shirt I could wear. The white Beatles shirt I picked wouldn't do for the meeting later. A BoysLikeGirls tee was thrown to the side – along with a shirt declaring 'I Love Rock and Roll' and a graphic tee with a glass of orange juice sitting next to an orange. The orange had a word bubble reading: Mom?

After looking at three or four move shirts – I didn't know how long we were staying! – I decided on a black button-up that could pass for casual or formal. With that, I put on a pair of black flats with white skulls and a sterling silver bangle.

Time to face the music. The horrid elevator music that is. Everyone was waiting in the lobby for me. I also had to tell them what I planned to do. As long as everyone went along with this, then we would be perfectly fine. Please go along with it, family/friends.

By the time I stepped out the door, the CD had changed from The (Shipped) Gold Standard to the beginning of 27.

If home is where the heart, then we're all just fucked.
I can't remember, I can't remember.
And I want it so bad I'd shoot the sunshine into my veins.
I can't remember,
The good old days.

"Shut up, FallOut Boy," I mumbled irritably while I shut down the DVD and TV systems.

In the lobby, everyone from my silent boy to my brother to my lawyer waited. Tobi was there too, chatting with Mori again. I blinked, kind of surprised to see the carrot top so… almost-calm.

Miana was the first to notice and greet me. She looked kind of anxious, and her face wouldn't completely relax into any form of a smile. There wasn't a single wrinkle in the charcoal-colored suit she wore, and her black heels were perfect. But everything about her screamed worry. "Calm down Miana," I tell her, "it'll all work out in the end. You'll see." My lawyer's face etched a bit of calm into it, and her posture wasn't as stiff after I said that.

"I have to make a quick call before I leave. My bosses sprang an apprenticeship on me last week and they want me to take her through this case." The woman rolled her eyes and walked away, pulling out an always-handy BlackBerry.

A fire-truck-haired person drug Kankuro and herself over to me. Mori looked kind of tired, and Kankuro looked even worse.

"So, uh, how did you guys sleep?"

"I was sleeping just fine until he-" my best friend threw an accusing swat at the older boy's chest, "crawled into my room mumbling about some crazy dream he had! And he wouldn't go back to sleep." Mori rolled her eyes and leaned closer to me. "The dream wasn't even scary," she hissed.

Kankuro shook his head, ignoring Mori's complaints. "I had this freaky dream that you and Kane over there were carrying that jerk from last night down the hallway. You guys were talking about going to Muffin Top Mountain and Daisies attacking, and you called him Sugar Plum. It was weird. So I went to Mori – but she just got irritated because she couldn't go back to sleep."

"What'd you eat before bed?"

He thought for a moment, scratching the back of his neck. "Umm… I had a cola and pineapple pizza."

"There ya go! Pizza is the worst thing you can eat before bed. It's why your dreams were that odd."

The boy grinned at me, and said, "Thanks Aya-chan. Now, Mori won't be mad at me when I crawl into her bed in the middle of the night." He sent a wink her way, a very suggestive one at that. I shuddered as Mori hit and drug him away at the same time.

Before I could approach my silent boy and greet his non-morning-ness, Akio called out that the car had arrived. Tobi waved us off, a huge smile still plastered on his face. I vaguely wondered why none of us had a driver's license, but shoved the thought away as I walked to the car. It wasn't so much of a car as it was a stretch limo. I should remember to thank my mom for her subtlety. Kane tried to wave off the driver when he went to open to doors, but it didn't work. The man stayed quiet and stoic, holding the door for us even if we told him not to. We all shrugged and filed in.

I was seated 'conveniently' between Akio and Kane. Miana was next to my brother and Temari sat on the other side of Candy. Gaara sat across from me with Mori and Kankuro to his left.

My brother pushed a button and the privacy glass went up so our driver couldn't hear us.

"Oh-kay. I have a plan to get out of this marriage with Kankuro over there. In order for this to work, you guys will have to willingly go with the plan. Gaara-kun is a really big part of that. If he doesn't agree we can't pull this off. So we'd have to think up something else. I understand if you don't want to do this," I said to the red head, "but listen first okay?" He nodded, and I motioned for Miana to take control.

"Miss Aya here has come up with a brilliant plan – if pulled off. This can get the two of you out of the marriage and satisfy your parents as well. Her plan consists of a few-" she paused, looking around, "controversial topics. So hear it out before you complain." Miana looked pointedly at my brother, who raised him hands in defense. I stifled a giggle.

"Kankuro and Miss Aya do not wish to wed – Kankuro is in a relationship with Aya's best friend and Aya does not have feelings for the older Sabaku brother. She does, however, have feelings for the younger one. Also, Kankuro has shown no interest in running the family business. So she has proposed this. Miss Aya is going to try to convince both families that a marriage is not right for any member involved. Instead, she proposes a promise ceremony. That way, if it does not work out, the companies will already be jointed and everyone wins."

"That doesn't let me get out of this," Kankuro mumbled.

"This is exactly why she has thought of the next part. To get out of this completely, Kankuro, you must surrender the title of the one who inherits it. It must go to Gaara in order for all of his to work. Of course, you and your brother have to fully agree to any and all complications that arise." She turned slightly, addressing only Kankuro now. "There will be twenty minutes before we enter the court room for you to confer with your brother and work this out."

The older boy stretched, as if relieving any tension left in his joints. He put his arm around Mori and looked at me seriously. "Aya-chan, if you'll do this, I have no complaints."

Both of us turned to my silent boy – who was being exactly that. His eyes, the eyes I could drown in willingly, grazed over the floorboard of the car. When he did look up, it was to do just as his brother had. If it had been any other moment, anywhere else, my breathe would have hitched and my lips would have grinned at him. Instead, my breathing stayed the same and my mouth didn't twitch.

"It sounds fine to me."

Those words were all it took and everyone in the car was just fine. Except for my brother – of course.

"Aya-love, don't do this if it isn't what you want. If you do this, you'll have to run part of the company the day you turn eighteen. So much will be expected of you. I do not want you to be unhappy like that. If I hadn't left that night there is no doubt in my mind that right now I would be suck in some city at a board-meeting with twenty men whose hobbies include going over their taxes and watching the news. It's a soul-sucking job, Aya-love."

I turned to Akio, the brother I've loved forever and my hero. How could he not get it? "Kio-sama, I can do what I want after this. Our parents want me what they think is under their control. So if I join the company, they leave me alone. In about ten years, I can name myself owner of the entire Hishiro Cooperation and no one would stop me. All I would have to do is sign away papers and keep control. Mori and Kankuro end up happy. Gaara and I have a shot – it doesn't even have to be definite. This just has to work."

My brother's hand reached to rub the back of his neck, moving his collar. I saw a very familiar silver chain glinting at my eyes. A smile crept up my lips and I reached for my own necklace. Granted, it wasn't the one he had given me. The meaning was still the same. It honestly surprised me my brother had kept up with the necklace – I was shocked he still wore it.

Finally, we pulled up to the official-looking brick building. It was a few stories high and had people in suits and formal wear shuffling in and out of it.

"So, whose ready to not get married?" Kane joked, hopping out of the limo with new vigor. Everyone's lips turned up, just a bit.

"I sure as hell am! Jebus, who'd marry Muffin Top Mountain boy over there?" I winked at Candy, silently thanking him. Kankuro was past me, giving me a loving shove on his way. Mori hit him in the back of the head, calling him a jerk.

After that display of affection, the lovable geek who can't get my name right (which isn't hard, considering it consist of three letters) held out his arm for Temari. He said something about a woman having an escort to all public events, which led to the blonde huffing. She began an argument about how women were perfectly capable to walk on their own. I tuned it out pretty quickly, turning instead to my brother and Gaara.

Before I could say something either A) sarcastic, B) witty, C) funny, or D) all of the above, I noticed the look on Kio-sama's face.

It kind of looked like someone had kicked him between the legs while he was laughing.

So turn me up when you turn me on
When we hear hearts break we'll say they're playin' our song~

Hmm, why would Akio look so odd? Will Aya's plan work? Will we EVER know what happened that night in November a few years ago? When will Temari admit she's madly in love with Kane? Orrrrrr, not. ;] Review please. The shortness just means you get more later!

-Miss Moon