Going home after hospital shifts was becoming more and more difficult.

For one thing, her house was farther away from the hospital than the Kazekage tower. Only by a few minutes, but still. For another, it was a habit of hers to climb up to the Kazekage office and check in, maybe fix dinner/breakfast because she knew he hadn't eaten yet, and generally make sure that Gaara was actually processing reality and not just absently tapping his pencil all over his spot-ridden papers with a blank look in his eyes.

Considering she did that at about one every morning, getting up the motivation to walk all the way back to her house instead of just curling up in bed or even pulling up a chair beside Gaara and working or painting until she either decided to meditate or randomly blacked out was next to impossible. Fumiko still didn't need to sleep much... but now, at fourteen, the lack of sleep was starting to catch up with her, and she didn't have Shukaku's vitality to make up for it.

And, if she was going to be completely honest- and she usually was- her house just wasn't home. She felt more comfortable sleeping in Gaara's bed or office than she did in her own bed at home. She got to wake up, say hi to the staff or Kankuro (Temari was usually gone by then) make breakfast for whoever was around to want it, say good morning to Gaara- who was always working- and then go to work.

When she got home, she would make dinner- but since it was usually like one or two in the morning the only people other than herself and Gaara were the night shift chuunin and Jonin guards that came to expect her popping in with various food dishes, she didn't make much, ate, then brought whatever was left up to Gaara, who sometimes ate and sometimes didn't.

Sometimes, a very rare sometimes, she would go home and go to sleep. When she woke up there, everyone was sleeping but her mother, who had already left for her morning shift at the hospital and whom she relieved at the hospital. She made breakfast quietly, went to the hospital, and started the process again.

Gaara was so easily her best friend. She preferred his home to hers because of that just as much as because of the pros and cons. His home was her home, as had been proven... she could always go to him, even when he was working, even when it was three in the morning during a Suna rainstorm, and all of the times in between. Her own home was plagued with enough doubts to make it, well... uncomfortable for her friend.

Fumiko of course extended the same invitation... and Gaara knew that, but both of them at her house at the end of the day or in the middle of the night- all there was then was bitterness, which was why when he came to her they went to the swings, or the walls, or even the desert outside Suna to just walk depending on how late it was.

Fumiko wasn't exactly sure when Gaara meditated. Well, she knew that once in a while when he was worn ragged, she made him sleep for real and then watched over him for as long as he could sleep before waking up or having a nightmare, but he wasn't in his office all the time.

She was pretty certain that sometime between two and six in the morning he went downstairs to his room, because it was usually between those times that she woke up to either him carrying her to bed or already in bed and him sitting upright but slouched against the bed, not awake but not sleeping. When the latter happened, she would push the blankets on the floor beside him, curl up and pass out.

She always woke up the next day back in bed and wrapped in her covers, Gaara already gone.

When she did go home, it was usually only on the weekends- that was when she didn't work- and usually on Sunday, because most Saturdays lately Gaara had days off and they hung out. Again, she was going to be bluntly honest: it felt like she was visiting, not going home.

She helped Mai with her homework, mom with whatever meal she was there for, ad her father... well, she hadn't actually spoken with her father in years. He usually avoided her, which was kind of sad. Sure, sometimes she would say Hi! And he would grunt in response; or I'm going to Gaara's. In response to which he would either storm off or launch into a bitter monologue.

Sometimes it made her sad, but usually, she would just smile and continue with what she was doing.

Fumiko enjoyed spending time with her family, and took pains to do so. She just... didn't really live there anymore, and mentioned as much to them over a pot of stew.

Which was how she had ended up contemplating the idea of really not living there anymore.

Mai stared at her. A small chunk of beef hung from the corner of her lip, chopsticks hovering uncertainly between them. She swallowed, then pointed her sticks in Fumiko's direction, mouth slack. "Fumiko, sis, I wasn't seriously suggesting that you move there. I was being facetious."

"But it makes sense!" Fumiko said excitedly, waving her hands. Her food was already mostly gone- she'd eaten a late lunch with Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara and wasn't too hungry, so she hadn't given herself much. "I'm over there, like, all the time! I might as well make everything more convenient and bring the rest of my stuff there. I don't think Gaara'd mind."

"Fumiko, honey, are you sure about that?" her mother said uncertainly, frowning. "I know you're almost fifteen, and that soon you'll be able to make your own decisions, but isn't this kind of... sudden?"

"I visit on Sundays. That used to be what I did with Gaara, just hanging out over the weekend. Now it's the opposite."

"That's true, but I-"

"Wait!" Mai looked alarmed. "You're not really..."

"Mai, do you think I should just stay here?" Fumiko tilted her head. "Like, keep doing what I'm doing? Going back and forth and back and forth? I mean I probably can, but sometimes I wish I had my stuff over there."

"No, I mean, I..." Mai scowled. "I mean, I..." For a few seconds, Mai just blinked, scowling. Then she huffed. "You know what? You two are already almost freaking married. Kuso, I can't believe you haven't moved already."

Fumiko's mother sighed. "Your father isn't going to like it, but I..." Her fingers tightened on her chopsticks until they started to bend, making a weird creaking noise like cracking wood. "You might be right. Even if Gaara's a boy."

...

"You want to... say that again?" Gaara rubbed his eyes, leaning back in his chair and staring at her blankly. "Move?"

"Yup." Fumiko said, popping the P. "I want to move here."

"Move- here?" Gaara spluttered. The sand around his desk jumped slightly, like it always did when he was startled, scattering a few papers onto the floor. For a second he just stared at her, and she knelt and picked up the papers, patting them into a neat pile before putting them back on his desk and smiling. Another beat of silence passed. "Wait a minute!"

"What?"

"Why?"

"'Cause I practically live here anyway. I mean, having all my stuff at home just makes it harder. Getting dressed, finding my stuff, trying to keep track of which room it's in..." Fumiko grinned. "Besides. I like it better here. It's more... home-y."

Gaara opened his mouth, then closed it again. He pinched his nose, then shook his head, pushing his papers away. "I needed to take a break anyway," he said. "Er, so, how did you decide to do this all of a sudden?"

"Um, Mai said, 'you two might as well live together, you always sleep together anyway'. And I thought, hey, that's actually really true, and I asked my mom about it and she said it was okay. So..." Fumiko smiled when she couldn't think of anything else to say. "Yeah."

Gaara smiled almost ruefully. "Of course she did."

...

"So, can I have your room?"

Fumiko straightened, accidentally dropping the brush she'd pawed around under the bed for. Picking it up, she smiled. "Why do you need my room?" she asked. "Isn't yours just as big?"

"Yeah, well..." she rubbed the back of her neck, smirking faintly. "Your room is already covered in sand, I keep breaking my punching bags, and when I graduate from the Academy I'm gonna need a lot more ninja weapons and supplies than I can shove in my closet."

Fumiko let out a startled laugh. "Uh, sure."

"So have you told your dad yet?" Gaara asked quietly as they walked through the hallways. "That you want to- move here."

The words still sounded uncertain, like he couldn't believe it. Okay, so she could admit that randomly deciding to move a week before you did so was kind of odd, but still. It wasn't like she hadn't been living there for practically a year. "Um, yeah," she said. "He, uh... didn't want me to. But, you know. Almost fifteen and all that."

"And he didn't argue?"

Of course he had argued. Her dad had reacted rather badly, actually, to the point where Mai had had to intervene. Not that she'd minded. Apparently, punching her dad in the face hard enough to knock her out had been a very specific to-do on her bucket list. Something Fumiko wasn't really sure of but had appreciated greatly at that moment, even if she had gone on to healing her father's concussion.

Still. His definite answer, which Fumiko was a little sad to ignore so much, was hell no.

"A little. But Mai took care of it."

Gaara frowned. "After all this time, you would think he would have gotten over it."

"You know my dad," Fumiko said, grinning. "He doesn't give up once he has his mind set on it. I had to get it from somewhere."

Gaara stopped, then turned to eye her seriously. They were only a few steps away from the group of guest rooms just four doors down from Gaara's, but Fumiko stopped anyway, prosthetic scraping. "Fumiko. I'm going to say this once. You are nothing like your father."

"Aww, Gaara." Fumiko smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I know that."

Gaara puffed air before he shook his head and resumed walking. "I don't know how in the world you ended up with him as a father. He's been an absolute bastard the entire time I've known him." he muttered. He didn't look angry, but he did look frustrated somehow, like he couldn't figure out what he was saying but wanted to anyway.

Fumiko froze. "Gaara..."

"I'm sorry." he shook his head, eyes narrowed slightly. "Forget I said that. Let's just keep looking."

She smiled softly at his agitated shifting. "We haven't even started yet. But don't all these guest rooms look exactly the same?"

Gaara didn't smile exactly, but his face smoothed a little. He opened the door, sliding it into the wall. "Yes. More or less the same, perhaps a little smaller than mine, if I remember correctly."

Fumiko laughed. "Your room is like, four times bigger than mine anyway!"

When she stepped inside, Fumiko smiled. Yep, she thought. Dresser there, quilt on the bed, easel and canvases in the corner, enough space to hang almost all of her better works and still have room to paint the walls...

"Ooh, I think I like this one. Do you think my Konoha Blue Leaves will fit above the headboard?"

Gaara tilted his head slightly. "Is it the same size as my sunset painting?"

"Uh-huh."

"Mine is above by headboard... so yes. It should fit just fine."

...

"I can't believe how many boxes it takes to fill all of this stuff in," Fumiko said with a breathy laugh, having just hauled most of them into her room to be filled. "I mean, it's not like I have all that much stuff."

"It's your paintings and pencils and stuff that are the problem," Mai said moodily. "Why don't you just put a seal in the bottom of a box and fill it up with everything in your room? Wouldn't that be easier, Miss Fumiko the Medic-nin?"

"Um, well, it could possibly warp some of my works. Pockets of space-time tend to mess stuff up." Fumiko picked up her quilt, intending to start with the huge mash of blankets, sheets, and pretty blue curtains first in one of the medium sized boxes. "Also, what's wrong?"

"What do you mean what's wrong?" Fumiko didn't catch the pillowcase her sister tossed her from across the room; it fell over her head. She pulled it off, blinking and trying not to grin.

"You've been upset."

"Upset?" Mai scowled. "I'm not upset. Why would I be?"

"That's what I'm asking. Is it school, or dad, or maybe mom or something up with the shinobi boys again?"

Mai snorted slightly and lowered her voice sarcastically. "'Mai, come spar with me', 'Mai, come train with us'. 'Hey, Mai, do you wanna hang out sometime?'" Mai barked out a rough laugh. "Two seconds ago they would've been pushing me down stairs if they weren't afraid I'd bite them. Jeez. But, no, Fumiko. Nothing's wrong."

"Hey, Mai, do you know what Gaara says when he's upset about something?"

"No, what?"

"Nothing's wrong, Fumiko."

"Whatever!" Another projectile, a sock this time, just one right sock. She didn't really own any leftie socks. Fumiko caught this one, having almost expected it. Mai was sulking by her closet, folding clothes- sort of, if shoving everything into one or two boxes could be considered that- and she'd been the first to volunteer to help her pack up while Gaara was working, but still...

Fumiko turned, stepped towards her window, and carefully began the process of standing on her tiptoes and removing her curtains. "I think-" she grunted, trying to reach, "that maybe you're mad at me, but I'm not sure exactly-" Triumphant breath- "why."

"No; why would I be mad at you?" There was a ripping sound as Mai used her teeth to tear the packing tape and seal up the second box. In sloppy handwriting and permanent marker she had already marked the box Fumiko's clothes. "Nope. Not at all. I get your room anyways."

A few minutes of silence. Fumiko removed the other curtain and folded it, managing to fit all of her soft things into one box. She taped the flaps shut, the rough sound of it echoing off the walls. "You know..." she said, still smiling, as Mai hefted the two boxes, one on top of the other, to take out into the living room.. "I'll still make you maple milk."

Mai flinched so badly she dropped the boxes on her foot and cursed. "Kami damn these stupid prosthetics!"

Snarling quietly, she picked them back up and left the room. But, Fumiko noticed as she watched after her sister, there was just a little less tenseness in her shoulders, and her footsteps weren't cracking parts of the floor anymore.

Fumiko giggled to herself. Mai really was a kunoichi prodigy in every sense of the words- even if she couldn't pass a written exam to save her life or anyone else's. With her pure strength alone she could spar with Kiba and Lee. Though, she usually lost to Lee...

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Fumiko dropped down onto her knees to check one more time before she brought the box out to the living room to make sure she had gotten everything and that no blanket had been left behind.

Something caught her eye, waaayy in the back and wedged into a corner.

Mai returned.

"Ehh, what are you doing on the floor?"

"Can you move the bed?" Fumiko asked, crawling back out and smiling at her hopefully. Mai blinked at her, and then shrugged.

"Why the hell not?"

With not much effort at all, really, Mai had dragged the bed away from the wall enough so that Fumiko could wiggle in behind the headboard and pick up the little suspicious-looking brown mass in the corner that seemed familiar.

"Ah-hah!"

"Ah-hah what?"

Fumiko held up the tattered little bear with it's tiny black eyes and haphazard stitching. "I can't believe I just found this."

...

"I can't believe you found this," Gaara said, mildly surprised. "My bear..."

"That's exactly what I said, almost," Fumiko said, beaming. "We got almost everything packed up, by the way, I just need to find a way to get my furniture there. Maybe I can put out a D-rank to get everything moved."

Gaara glanced at the different sized boxes scattered and piled up in the living room, labeled with things like Paints, brushes, Blank canvas, Bed, easels, and a lot of them marked with Finished paintings. It really was amazing that her and Mai had managed to pack everything in just one day- considering how messy her room could be- or, in general, that she was moving into his home.

"Ne, Gaara?"

"Yes?"

Fumiko grinned. "There's a lot- I mean a lot- of sand in my room. I think I'd blow up the vacuum if I tried to get it out. Can you please help me?"

"Sure. We can just open the window and I'll pour it out."

"Well, hurry up, guys," Mai said, crossing her arms. "Don't want to wait around until it gets dark to start out to the Tower if we're going to issue a D-rank."

Gaara narrowed his eyes slightly. Why did Mai care if it was dark or not? As ninja, she knew perfectly well that Gaara could make his way through the dark of a familiar village with ease. And why did she look so anxious? He opened his mouth to answer, but Fumiko beat him to it.

"It'll only take a few seconds, probably," she said cheerfully.

Fumiko led him to her room, talking about what she was going to do with her new room and how much easier it was going to be to get to and from work, and that now they could both rest on beds, and how much of her stuff did he think was in his room?

Inwardly Gaara smiled. She was getting so excited over moving, it was hard not to feel happy about it. And he was happy about it, but the whole thing was still kind of startling, not to mention out of the blue. Today was a Thursday- not too much work to do, so he had left it to his three assistants for the day. "I'm not sure. Most of it is just clothes and painting supplies."

Fumiko flung open the door. There was a lot of sad in it- the result of the stuff clinging to his skin around the village and just building up around him, which had taken a long time by accident, but Fumiko had been delighted. It's like a little Suna in my room! she had exclaimed, studying the little drifts in the corners.

Fumiko opened the window and Gaara raised his hand. The sand rose. Gaara flicked his fingers slightly, and it rushed out the window, building up into a little dune just below the sill outside. Just moments later the room was clean again, bare except for a dresser, her homemade coat hooks, and the bed. Even her easels had been taken apart and packed away.

"Sweet," Fumiko said, closing the window and latching it. "I kinda wish I could do that."

Gaara hummed in response before a sudden racket caught his attention.

"I told her I didn't want her moving in with Gaara!"

Gaara blew out a long, exasperated breath. Dealing with Fukuda had been getting more and more tiresome throughout the years. It was always the same thing: First, being mad at Gaara, then, yelling at Fumiko, and usually ended with either Gaara scaring him with sand or both him and Fumiko just leaving. Becoming Kazekage hadn't really helped at all.

Though, ever since he had become Kazekage, Fukuda tended to call him Gaara instead of his usual old favorites, Monster or demon or demon-spawn.

"Fukuda, she's fourteen!" Gaara could hear Mrs. Mitsuwa cry back. "And she's never here anyway!"

"That wouldn't be an issue if she would just listen to anything I say!"

Fumiko had frozen where she stood, smile dropping from her face like a ten-ton weight. She bit her lip, something that Gaara knew would break through skin if she didn't stop soon. "Gaara..."

Gaara turned and headed back into the hallway to the living room. The noise got louder and louder as he got closer. Gaara could hear Fumiko's uneven footsteps behind him as they stepped back out into the living room.

Of course Mr. Mutsuwa- Fukuda- was trying to pick up one of the boxes, but Fumiko and her mother together had crafted something similar to medical seals that only responded to certain people and plastered them all over her things just in case something like this happened. He looked absolutely livid, but the only two expressions Gaara had seen on him was livid or disappointed.

"Fukuda," Gaara said quietly in his usual way. "Please calm down."

Fukuda whirled. "You!" he cried.

Gaara just closed his eyes slowly, not quite sighing. "Fumiko's moving. Pitching a fit isn't going to make her stay any more than it's going to make her suddenly hate me."

Fumiko's mother and Mai were standing across the room, Mai still balancing the three large boxes she'd initially been trying to move somewhere and now was trying to find a place to put them down and Mrs. Mitsuwa wringing her hands uncertainly.

Gaara was sure that Fukuda was working himself up to a full-blown typhoon, judging by the purplish color of his face, when Fumiko spoke up behind him.

Timidly.

Gaara scowled slightly. The only time Fumiko was ever timid was when she was trying to talk to her father, which was so ironic and stupid on so many levels that it pissed him off big time. Couldn't she do anything without this man trying his best to mess everything up?

"Dad, please stop it."

"No, Fumiko, you stop! You're acting ridiculous!"

Fumiko came out from around him, and padded toward her father. Gaara watched carefully but didn't follow, though his sand swirled anxiously in the gourd strapped to his back. "No I'm not," she tried. "It's better for me to move there."

"Better?" Fukuda scoffed. "Easier for him to kill you in your sleep, maybe."

Gaara stiffened.

"Daddy, you know Gaara's not like that." Fumiko reached up to grasp her charm necklace. "You know he's nice."

"Fumiko..." Mai said tensely, having put her things down and was watching distrustfully.

"Nice? How can anything with a demon sealed inside them be nice? It's not natural, Fumiko, and I won't have it. You can't just move in with something like... like that!" Fukuda flung his arm in Gaara's direction.

Fumiko's expression tightened. "He's not a thing."

"I told you before and I'll tell you again. You are not moving."

"I am moving!"

A flicker of movement; Gaara and Mai both flinched forward as if to react but it was too late. A sharp noise shot through the quiet, and Fumiko stumbled back, trying not to trip and fall. Fukuda loomed, opening his mouth to spew something vile.

Gaara gritted his teeth. Without warning or hesitation, when Fukuda tried to step forward again, Gaara moved, too quickly for Fukuda's civilian eyes until suddenly he found himself slamming backwards into a wall that cracked slightly under the pressure. He tightened his fingers on Mr. Mistuwa's shirt.

"What the-!"

"Because I love Fumiko and you are one of her precious people-" Gaara could feel angry heat rushing to his face at the prospect of it- "I won't kill you, Fukuda."

Fukuda lunged forward, trying to break away. Gaara loosened one of his hands from his shirt, and faster than light, Gaara slammed his forearm into his throat, knocking him back into the wall and effectively pinning him. Fukuda gasped, more from shock than actual lack of oxygen- if Gaara had really been trying or used any of the force that was common in just his spars, he would have crushed his neck.

Gaara was aware that Fumiko was pulling on his shoulder, but didn't let go. This had gone on for too long- the yelling, the disappointment, the discouragement from who she wanted to be. Making his best friend timid. Hitting her had just been the last straw. Gaara was ending this- now.

"Damn you," Fukuda hissed, but he quailed when Gaara spoke again, voice cold and hard like steel.

"I understand that you don't like me," Gaara said in his low growl. "And I understand that you don't want her to move in with me. But if you touch Fumiko again, I swear to Kami, I'll kill you anyway."

For a second they just glared at each other, Fukuda clawing at his arm to no effect- the sand sheathed around Gaara's skin from his gourd.

"Gaara, please, Gaara, stop," Fumiko was crying softly, still pulling on his shoulder unsuccessfully. Finally Gaara let himself be pulled away, lured by the sudden and unexpected tears. Fukuda slumped, coughing and rubbing at his neck and cursing slightly. Mrs. Mitsuwa bumbled to him.

Fumiko latched her arms around his waist, still crying, and buried her face in his shirt. Gaara touched her hair uncertainly. "I'm sorry."

Fumiko mumbled something into his shirt, something that sounded kind of like it's okay, but he wasn't sure.

Mai looked absolutely vexed. "Dad, you asshole," she seethed. "Kami, maybe I should move out too! You're terrible! Jerk!"

Fumiko pulled out of his arms, still sniffling quietly, and tried to go to her father, but Fukuda just shot her a baleful look. Fumiko reached her hands out, but her father just looked away. "Fine then!" His voice was a little ragged- perhaps Gaara had used more force than he meant to. "Move out! See if I care!"

Fumiko flinched, pulling away. Then, eyes down and hands gripping her elbows, she fled the room like a kicked puppy.

Gaara snarled at him once, then followed after her.

...

She was heading in the direction of the Tower, probably to request that D-rank, when Gaara stepped out of the house. He fell in step with her silently.

After a few minutes of walking, eyes still glued to the ground, she spoke up. Her tone was tear-stained, although she had stopped crying. "Why can't he ever be happy for me?"

"I don't know."

Quiet again.

"I think he hates me."

Gaara shook his head. "No; it's me he's angry at."

"But why?"

Gaara clenched his jaw slightly, unsure what to say. "I don't know. Shukaku I suppose."

Fumiko finally looked up at him, wiping at her eyes. "Thank you for... protecting me," she said quietly. "I knew someday that was going to happen. I just wish it hadn't been today."

...

The day passed quietly after that. Fumiko requested her D-rank, and was told that a Genin team would be by shortly to take care of that.

She wasn't sure exactly what to think. She had known that one day or another, Gaara was finally going to snap, and had guessed sooner rather than later, considering his increasingly bitter attitude towards her father. It hadn't been nearly as bad as she had thought, but still...

Her father's words hurt.

"Fine then! Move out! See if I care!"

Fumiko was lying on her stomach in the middle of her empty new room, waiting for the genin team and sketching absently into a notebook. Gaara was there, too, fiddling with his sand, making little shapes with it. Fumiko figured he could have just gone back to work, but was staying to make sure she wasn't upset.

She penciled in the little raccoon doodle she was drawing, shading it's eyes. "Hey, Gaara," she said.

"What?"

"Blue, or brown?"

"... What?"

"For my raccoon's eyes. Blue, or brown?"

"Can raccoons even have blue eyes?"

"Blue eyes it is," she said resolutely. Blue was her favorite color anyway- blue like deep summer skies framed by clouds.

Someone knocked at the door. "Hey!"

Gaara was standing already, so he opened the door. Mai was standing there, arms crossed, not quite scowling, but she still looked angry. "Oh, hi, Mai," Fumiko greeted.

"You forgot this," Mai said bluntly, holding out her hand to Gaara. Fumiko inched forward slightly to see what it was.

The bear.

That little animal had been around for most of their childhood before going missing. She recalled all sorts of good things now- the taste of burnt popcorn and sand between her toes, playing board games and sleeping next to Gaara while he rested. The fact that it had fallen behind her bed seemed kind of silly, considering how hard they'd looked for it as kids, but she supposed kids didn't have the greatest common sense.

"Thank you," Gaara said, taking it from her.

"No problem." She slanted her eyes to Fumiko. "By the way, the Genin team should be here soon. I saw them before I left helping mom to take the repellant tags off." Mai smirked. "They're kinda midget, though, so it might take a few trips."

Gaara said, "You're one to talk, Mai."

And Fumiko laughed.

...

Mai was right. It had taken quite a few trips, back and forth and back and forth. She helped, though, as did Gaara. She didn't know these particular kids, but she knew their Jonin sensei, kinda, and struck up a conversation about raccoons.

"That's the last thing," a boy said as he pushed the last drawer into her dresser. "We're done."

Fumiko beamed at the three fresh Genin, two boys and one girl that had graduated before the Sand Siblings became temporary sensei at the Academy. They blinked up at her. Their Jonin sensei, Yutaka, half smiled at them. "Sweet! Do you guys want cookies before you leave?"

They blinked at her once, processing the offer.

And then all three of them broke into toothy grins. "Yes please!"

Fumiko had a lot of boxes to unload, but she could do that later. She didn't have to go back to work until Tuesday. A quick trip to the kitchen for some cookies she'd made a few days ago wouldn't hurt.

...

The rumors were true- there were a few texts in the Archive library from before Sunagakure had been founded. Fumiko was delighted.

Fumiko could pretty much go anywhere now. Not very many people didn't know who she was or who Gaara was- actually, everyone knew who Gaara was, they always had- and so had practically unrestricted access to everything that wasn't dangerous.

Including the Kage level of the library.

Gaara was somewhere else in the floor, probably reading through old records or something, numbers and statistics to compare with what they had now. Fumiko was wandering up and down the shelves, opening scrolls and books at random and reading through them. It was all super-secret classified stuff, which was cool.

Some things she couldn't reach- were all the Kazekages really tall or something?- but the ones she did look at were all old and yellow and pleasantly crinkly. Founding of Sunagakure, read the title of one book. Forbidden jutsus of the Sand, read another scroll.

Ooh, there were medical jutsu on that list.

When she was done with that aisle, she moved onto the next, and then the next, learning about the top criminals, Suna Black Ops, neat new seals she hadn't thought of, and summoning.

The summoning scrolls were really old and really tall, almost as tall as herself, but thin like there was barely anything written in it. There were three of them, and the labels read Weasel, Bat, and Spider.

Thinking it was going to teach her about the summons, Fumiko pulled out the bat one- bats were amazing- and rolled it out on the ground.

Imagine her surprise when she realized it was an actual summoning contract and not just a report on one. There weren't very many signatures- it only rolled out three spaces- two were occupied by signatures and the long dried, sort of faded bloody fingerprints of the signers. The third one was blank, and Fumiko realized the paper would extend if it was signed.

"Whoahh..." Fumiko breathed. "Hey Gaara! I found a summoning scroll!"

"Found a what?" came the muffled voice from who knows where. "A scroll?"

"A summoning scroll!" she called, grinning. "For Bats!"

"Summons?" This time his voice came from nearby. Fumiko looked up from her spot crouched on the floor to see Gaara poking his head around the shelf she had gotten the scroll from. "Huh. That must be how Temari got her Weasel summons."

"Ooh, Gaara, bats are really cute!"

"Bats are?"

"Well, yeah." Fumiko laughed. "They're fuzzy and have cute ears and little pink noses. And they're cool cause they can fly!" She stuck her arms out on both sides of her, flapping like a bird, still laughing. "I didn't know Suna had Summoning scrolls."

"I didn't either."

"... Can I sign it?" she asked hopefully.

"What?"

"Can I sign it?" she repeated.

"Er..." Gaara blinked at her. "Why not?"

...

"Okay." Fumiko said a few hours later, staring excitedly at the Bat contract and biting at her thumb. "Ow."

They were outside, in the semi-sorta-kinda backyard of the tower, which was basically the same as the front of the tower, surrounded by buildings on all sides and covered with sand dunes. Fumiko was knelt to the ground in front of the contract. Gaara was standing behind her, watching with some amusement as she prepared to sign. "Are you sure you want Bats?"

"Bats are cool."

"Okay. But make sure to use your dominant hand."

"Ambidextrous, remember?"

"Alright, then. The hand you would rather summon with."

Carefully- and having to bite her thumb two more times to keep blood flowing- Fumiko signed her name- Mitsuwa Fumiko- in kanji and stamped the freshly bleeding fingerprints of her left hand onto the space below. "Ow."

When she finished, the blood dried instantly, looking just like the other two signatures in age. Fumiko sucked at her fingers.

"That should be it. But it takes a lot of chakra to summon an animal, Fumiko. At least, that's what Temari told me."

Fumiko looked straight up, beaming, and met Gaara's eyes- he was looking straight down- and laughed. "I kinda want to try. But, I don't know the hand seals."

"Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, and Ram," Gaara said automatically, then frowned. "I don't know how I know that. I must have read it somewhere."

"Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, and Ram," Fumiko repeated, testing the seals out without using any chakra. When she could do it without her fingers fumbling over the seals, she nodded. "Okay."

Her fingers twisted together into the signs- at least her thumb was still bleeding so she didn't have to bite it again- and she hit the sand with it. Her first gate was closed, so she could control where a lot of her chakra went, funneling it into the blood seal that suddenly bloomed beneath her hand. There was a puff of purple chakra smoke, a smell like burnt toast, and then a hissing sound as it faded.

Fumiko burst out laughing at the little baby bat the size of her thumb.

It hissed at her again, a tiny, sputtering growl, and then with another puff it was gone.

Fumiko fell backwards onto her back, still laughing, but now a little drained. Gaara crouched by her head, smiling.

"That one looked dangerous," he deadpanned.

Fumiko snickered uncontrollably, and pretty soon, Gaara was laughing too.

...

Now that everything was settled in her room, Fumiko could finally start getting rid of the boxes. Her easels were reassembled, blank canvases and paints ib the corner by the window, her bed was there, and made, as was her dresser and Gaara's framed Academy graduation picture. Her clothes were in the closet and the dresser, and her trunk of board games rested at the foot of her bed.

There wasn't any sand in this room, but she would fix that soon enough.

Fumiko pushed the boxes on her bed onto the floor and crawled into it, flopping down on her back and stretching. She wore her sleeping clothes, thick blue fluffy PJ pants and a random long sleeved red top she'd bought somewhere a year ago. Gaara had finally gotten back to work after two or three days taken off to assist in the move, and so she was pretty much alone.

"I'll move the boxes tomorrow," she mumbled sleepily.

And then she closed her eyes and passed out.

..

..

Yay, early post! I'm sleeping over at Lily's house, so I can write stuff without my dad knowing ^.^

Yeah, I've know she would be a Bat summoner for a while now. First I just thought birds in general, but then I decided Fumiko was special and would summon Bats. Yes.

And her dad, blaah. He pisses me off, and I'm the one making him do it in the first place. That scene just randomly popped into my head during Chemistry.

By the way... I was pushing around through Gaara's profile page on Narutopedia, just showing Lily some things I thought were cool- like how Gaara's hair is drawn red in Masashi Kishimoto's final chapter even thought the red hair was initially a manga-to-anime accident (supposed to be brown)- and I realized something in the Trivia section.

Here it is, and I quote:

In an interview with Masashi Kishimoto, he said that Gaara's name was going to be "Kotarō Fūma" (小太郎風魔, Fūma Kotarō), but soon changed it to Gaara because of his editor.

... Doesn't that make his last name Fuma?

Fuma, with that particular kanji, means 'wind demon.'

We flipped out when we realized that.

But, anyway. Review! I love your reviews!