CHAPTER 7

The Next Weekend

Kairi's POV

Gaara, Temari, and Kankurou helped me bring the rest of my things over from my mothers home. We had the job finished within an hour or two, which was good with me. The less time I spent in that house, the better.

Once everything was brought over, I spent another hour finding a place to put everything. I didn't have much stuff, but I take my time when I do stuff like that. I wanted to make it look nice and organized. I also fiddled around too. I was listening to My Chemical Romance and was dancing around the room while I was putting everything away.

The last thing I had to put away was my most prized possession, or possessions. My older cousin, Ryo, gave them to me when I turned 12. He also taught me how to use them. Ryo died a little over a year ago in a car crash, so that makes them even more special. They are pretty much the only thing I have to remember him by.

I smirked to myself and slowly unzipped the long, black case. I took out the belt, which had a set of twin katanas attached to it, and put it around my waist. I slowly unsheathed the two katanas and held them up to the light. I loved the feeling that I had when I held those swords in my hands. It felt as if Ryo was still with me.

"Are those real?" I jerked my head to where the voice came from and smiled when I saw Gaara standing in the doorway. I nodded and dropped my hands down at my sides, the katanas pointing towards the ground. Gaara took a couple of steps forward, his eyes still on the swords.

"Do you know how to use them?" he asked. I smirked, twirling the two swords in my hands. With one swift motion, I swung one of the katanas at him, as if I were going to slice off his head. I stopped about an inch from his neck and rested the flat of the blade on his shoulder.

Gaara was completely still. His eyes were wide with fear and all the color had disappeared from his face.

"I guess you could say I know a thing or two," I told him, still smirking at him. I slowly removed the sword from his shoulder and sheathed both of the blades.

Gaara still stood there, frozen in place. I gave him a concerned look.

"Are you okay Gaara?" I asked, putting my hand on his shoulder. Gaara blinked a few times and slowly nodded. "Sorry about scaring you." I apologized, giggling a little bit. He sighed and shook his head.

"Just don't do it again," he grumbled.

"Well, you did ask."

"You didn't have demonstrate by acting as if you were going to slice my head off." I smiled and apologized again.

"You should know that I would never do anything like that to you."

"Where did you get those anyway?"

"My cousin Ryo gave them to me about 3 years ago, for my 12th birthday."

"He gave a twelve-year-old a set of deadly weapons?" he asked, raising a skin eyebrow. I grinned and nodded.

"I wasn't a stupid kid, and he knew that. He knew that I would use them responsibly." Gaara nodded.

An uncomfortable silence fell around us. I kind of knew that Gaara wasn't going to end it, so I decided that I was going to have to do something.

I drew one of the katanas again, which made Gaara take a couple of steps backwards. I laughed and shook my head at him.

"You can't tell me that you're scared of me now." Gaara frowned and shook his head. "Come here," I told him waving for him to come closer.

"You're not going to try taking another slice at me, are you?" he asked cautiously. I smirked and shook my head.

"No, I'm not going to try and take off your head," I told him, still giggling. He didn't seem to trust me, since he didn't move from where he was. I sighed and shook my head at him. "I thought that I would be nice and teach you a basic move." Gaara stared at me suspiciously, but slowly approached me. I smiled and carefully handed him the katana. The mixture of awe and fear in his eyes was priceless.

I repositioned his grip on the handle and got behind him. I had to get kind of close in order for me to help him make the right hand movements. I could tell that Gaara was a bit uncomfortable about how close we were, but I figured that he could get over it.

I took his arm and had him raise it to his eye level and slightly to the left. Then I slowly brought his arm down, slanting slightly to the right. (Kind of like a diagonal movement) I repeated this motion with him a couple more times, just like Ryo had done with me.

"Now try it on your own," I told him, letting go of his arm and stepping back. Gaara easily performed the move on his own. "Now do it a bit faster. It should just be one, swift motion." Gaara nodded and tried it. It took him a couple of times to do it faster while getting the motion correct. Even then, it wasn't completely correct, but it was close enough. It takes practice, even for a simple move like that.

"Good job," I complimented, patting him on the shoulder. "Now all that's left for you to do is to move the rest of your body and make the motion a bit wider. There isn't enough room in here to that, so we can't really do that." Just then, Kankurou just barged into the room.

"Gaara, where is the……." He stopped when he saw the katana in Gaara's hand. He frowned and sighed. "I thought the day would never come that I found Gaara with some kind of deadly weapon in his hands." He shook his head in disappointment and left the room.

Gaara and I stared at each other in confusion before I burst out laughing. Gaara just smirked, also amused at what just happened. He handed the katana back to me and I put it back into its sheath. I took the belt off and put the swords back into their case. I put the case safely under my bed, and then plopped down on top of my bed. Gaara walked over and sat down beside me.

"Your brother is weird," I giggled.

"You don't know the half of it," he sighed. I laughed again laid back, looking up at the white ceiling.

"Do….. you think I'm strange?" Gaara asked randomly. I sat back up and gave him a strange look.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, a little lost at what he meant. Gaara looked down at the ground as if he were ashamed of himself.

"Before I came to this school, all the kids called me a freak. I had….. emotional problems back then, and was known to lash out. They called me a monster." I could tell that it really bothered him.

"I kind of did that too," I told him, trying to make him feel better. Back in grade school, I really did. I had a really bad temper towards the other boys back then. They used to always try and exclude me from the games at recess, just because I was a girl. It's not like they weren't asking for it. I hated it when they teased me for being a girl, and I let them know. "Only, instead of calling me 'monster', they called me 'crazy bitch'." Gaara looked up at me and smirked.

"Just answer the question." I sighed and smiled at him.

"Yes Gaara, I think you are weird." I told him. He looked at me, a hint of shock in his eyes. "And that is exactly why I like you. It's what makes you... you. I swear, if you ever try to change because someone calls you a few names, I will kick their ass and yours." Gaara blinked a couple times before smirking at me again. I grinned and chuckled.

"You are a great person Gaara," I continued, "And don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

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Gaara's POV

I really don't know how to describe the feelings I have for Kairi. Whenever I'm around her, I feel completely different. I used to feel horrible. I kind of felt like I had a storm cloud following me everywhere. It was kind of depressing. Now that I have Kairi around, that all changes. I feel as if a huge weight has been lifted.

Kairi spent a little over 6 months with us, and I was content. I guess one could say I was happy.

It was during spring break that we received big news. Apparently, there was a family that was interested in adopting Kairi.

When I was told the news, I didn't really know what to feel. I felt kind of sad, but Kairi seemed so happy to hear about it. I didn't want to take that away from her. I would just have to deal with it.

Saturday

We are supposed to meet the family today. Kairi is so excited and happy that she has actually lifted the mood of the house. Everyone seems kind of bummed about the fact that she might be leaving us. In the back of our minds, we're all hoping that she doesn't move too far away. Kairi, however, isn't giving us a chance to show our worry. She has been so hyper and running through the house. It was like she was hopped up on sugar or something.

The family arrived with the social services woman around noon. Everyone seemed completely surprised about the family.

There were 2 people in the family. There was a woman who seemed to be in her late 20s, early 30s. She had curly brown hair that went down to her shoulders and deep brown eyes. With her was a boy about me and Kairi's age. He had wild, blonde hair and expressive, deep blue eyes. He also had weird markings on his cheeks. They almost looked like cuts.

The woman's name was Rina Sanji. The boy's name, who apparently was her adopted son, was Naruto Uzumaki.

After a brief introduction, we were told take Naruto and go do something together. We ended up going outside into the backyard.

Our backyard was small, and had a big maple tree in the middle. Kairi loved to come back here and climb up it, hanging upside down from its branches. That's basically what she did when the three of us went back there. She sat up on one of the lower branches while Naruto and I leaned against the tree, silently looking up at her.

"So where do you and Rina live Naruto?" Kairi asked, kicking her legs underneath her. Naruto grinned.

"Actually, we're moving to a neighborhood really close by," he told us. "We should be officially moved in by next week."

"That's kind of how Gaara and I met," Kairi giggled. I smirked and nodded. She was basically the first person I met when I first moved here as well.

"What's Rina like?" she asked. Naruto chuckled.

"She's great. She's really nice and loves sculpting."

"Then we should get along great! I'm a painter!" Naruto frowned.

"I'm not much of the artistic type," he grumbled. Kairi laughed and I smirked. Naruto's face instantly brightened up.

"So what's Kairi like Gaara?" he asked me. Kairi glared at me, as if daring me to say something bad about her. I smirked at her, taunting her to try and do something.

"She's weird," I answered teasingly, "Just be careful when you wake her up for school in the mornings. She has been known to try and bite people's heads off." Just then, I felt something small hit me on the head. I looked up at Kairi and frowned.

"What did you just throw at me?" I asked, glaring at her.

"My vengeance," she replied, smiling evilly. I shook my head in disappointment, only to be hit in the head again.

"You had better tell me what you're throwing at me before I shake you out of that tree." She just grinned and stuck out her tongue.

"I think it was a peanut," Naruto snickered. "I wonder where she…. Ow!" Naruto put a hand to his head after being hit with what ever Kairi was throwing at us.

"Not just an ordinary peanut," Kairi corrected. "They are peanuts filled with my wrath." Naruto and I gave her a weird look as she laughed evilly.

"Did you have coffee this morning?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Maaaaaaybe," she replied, giggling afterwards. I sighed and smacked myself in the forehead.

"No wonder you're acting so crazy," I sighed. Naruto started laughing. Just then, Kairi started pelting us with peanuts. I had no idea where she had gotten them. Naruto and I headed inside. Kairi could be pretty dangerous when she was on a sugar rush. I would have to remember to warn Naruto about that as well. Or I could just be evil and let Naruto find out for himself.

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After Kairi had settled down and our guests left, Kairi and I hung out in her room and listened to one of her CDs. I think it was called 'My Chemical Romance' or something like that. She apparently loves that band. I guess their alright. It's a lot better than the stuff Temari and Kankurou listen to. Compared to their music, it was golden.

We listened to about two songs from that CD, then she got bored and put in her 'Breaking Benjamin' CD. It had a bit of a darker, smoother sound. I usually prefer the heavier stuff, but I actually liked it. I couldn't really tell you why though. It was just easier to take in than the stuff she played before, even though I liked it too.

The two of us laid on her floor, looking up at the ceiling.

"What did you think about Naruto?" she asked me. I rolled my head to the side so that I could look at her.

"He seemed alright," I replied. I still wasn't happy about the fact that she would be leaving. I was feeling a lot better than before though. She would still be going to the same school, and she would only be 3 blocks away. I thought it was a pretty fair deal. Kairi was going to be with people she could call family, and I still got to keep my friend.

"I hope you guys won't mind me coming over unannounced." I smirked and shook my head.

"You're welcome anytime." She grinned and laughed.

"Good, because I was going to, whether you guys wanted me here or not."

Two chapters in one day! Yay me! I did this for two reasons.

1. It's the New Year!
2. This is the main reason. I woke up this morning and checked my email. I was so happy to find a bunch of reviews. Then I said to myself, "I have 3 downloads left to post. I think I'll post one of them to be nice because I'm so happy about all the reviews I got." So there you have it.

Thanks to all my reviewers from chapter 5.

Dragon of Twilight - it would be weird, and scary. Wait until next chapter. You'll never see what's coming next. Mwaahahaha!

Kita Kudai - So it wasn't Akatsuki or Orochimaru who adopted her. I had already written this several days ago. Plus, I thought Naruto would be fun to have in the story. It would have been funny though, to have an Akatsuki member adopt her. I never really thought of it.

Vampire Lover1980 - thanks! i feel so loved.

Sarimia - i hope that today isn't all sevens. that would be really weird.

Uchiha Kinakae - I'm glad that you luv the story. i hope that this was soon enough for you.

demona013 - i left a cliff hanger in chapter four. these two aren't cliffhangers, so maybe I'll leave one again soon. i love being the evil person i am. lol.

Thank you all so very much. The last two chapters are for you. Hope you all enjoyed! Please continue to review. When you do, it makes me so happy and I can't help but post more. Who knows, maybe if I get a bunch of reviews before the day ends, I'll post up a third chapter. Now wouldn't that be something? REVIEW!