Chapter 8 – A Change of Plans

When Miyuki and Gaara entered the small diner, Kaito and Haruka's heads immediately popped up to watch the two walk towards them. They could easily sense the chakra marker that was pulsing invisibly on Miyuki's hand.

"Did you enjoy looking at all the shops?" Haruka asked when the two sat down at the table.

"Yes," Miyuki said. "There are a lot of nice shops in town. Have you guys ordered your food yet?"

"Not yet. We were waiting for you. Anything interesting happen today?" Kaito asked as he glanced down at Miyuki's hand.

"Not much. We looked at a few shops," Miyuki said softly. "I did however have a nice conversation with a man I met outside one of the shops."

"Oh?" Kaito questioned. "Was there anything he wanted?"

"He just bumped into me and dropped his bag," Miyuki replied. "We talked for a moment while Kenta-kun was getting tea."

"Well, it's always nice to make friends on vacation," Haruka said with a sigh. "Fumiko-chan, this town has a hot spring that's supposed to really nice. We could go after we finish eating, if you'd like."

"That would be great," Kaito said. "Kenta-kun and I could rest at the inn while you guys are gone."

"That sounds wonderful," Miyuki said softly. Gaara turned to look at her. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and she was giving her menu a very dirty look. She looked extremely ticked off, but Gaara assumed he would feel the same in such a situation. Actually, Gaara thought after a moment, if someone was to put a chakra marker on him so he could be kidnapped, the unlucky person would have already been dead, but Gaara supposed that that would completely compromise the mission.

When a waiter came by, the group ordered their food. Gaara was slightly disappointed by the restaurants lack of variety. It appeared that it specialized in soups, which was not Gaara's particular favorite, but it was better than Suna standard dehydrated mission rations at any rate. Both Haruka and Kaito kept a light conversation going after their food arrived with Miyuki commenting occasionally. Gaara couldn't really keep track of the strained casual conversation. He was distracted by the mission. Originally they were only supposed to observe the situation, but it seemed as though that plan was officially out the window. They would now have to directly attack the kidnappers after Miyuki was kidnapped. Gaara still wasn't completely happy to have Miyuki kidnapped, but as an anbu she would no doubt be able to handle herself even if the enemy tried something underhanded.

Gaara quickly finished his soup as he continued thinking. The new plan would likely be to eliminate all of the kidnappers as quickly and efficiently as possible. His sand would come in handy. He would be able to get rid of them all in a matter of seconds. However, that idea might end up killing the kidnapped girls and Miyuki as well. Although, Miyuki seemed capable of handling his sand, which Gaara was still not aware of how she was able to do so. He was positive that if there was someone in his own village who was able to get past his ultimate defense, he would have been made aware of it in one lethal way or another years ago.

"Kenta-kun, are you ready to go?" Gaara looked up at Kaito's question. The older man was already standing while Haruka and Miyuki were still sitting and conversing about the hot springs.

"Yes," Gaara replied while standing up and pushing his chair in.

"We'll see you two in a few hours then," Haruka said while she stood up from her own chair. "Are you ready to go, Fumiko-chan?" Gaara watched as Miyuki gave a slight nod to Haruka and stood up from her seat.

"We'll see you later, Daichi-nii, Kenta-kun," Miyuki said as she followed Haruka towards the diner's exit. She gave a slight wave to her male teammates. For a second Gaara met Miyuki's eyes. His heart gave a thud inside his chest. He watched as Miyuki's cheeks turned a light shade of pink. She quickly turned away and followed after the other woman. Kaito followed after her after shooting Gaara a quick smirk. Gaara fell into step behind him. Really, all of his teammates were crazy. Just once Gaara hoped that he would be able to go on a mission with normal teammates whose only objective was to complete the mission. Was that too much to ask for? Even his siblings were crazy. They weren't able to complete a mission without Temari "accidentally" breaking one of Kankuro's puppets and the two getting into an all-out war or any number of other crazy and frustrating situations.

Gaara and Kaito walked in silence as they reached their rooms at the inn. Kaito ushered Gaara into his room and began to create a chakra barrier around the room. Gaara gave a grimace at the ugly pink wallpaper. He had hoped he wouldn't have to see it again.

"Go ahead and sit down on the bed," Kaito instructed as he completed the last hand seals to insure they would not be interrupted by any unwelcome guests. "You'll need to take off your shirt so I can see your seal."

Gaara did as he was told. He sat down on the end of the bed and stripped off his shirt and set it on the heart studded bedspread. Kaito kneeled down in front of him and placed his fingertips on the black markings of the seal. Closing his eyes, he pushed a thread of chakra through the seal. Gaara winced slightly. The chakra slowly working his way through his system felt like fire and ice at the same time. It felt like his insides were slowly being burned with immeasurable heat while at the same time being frozen solid. It was entirely uncomfortable. After several minutes, Kaito withdrew his chakra.

"It looks like one of the seals is going to have to be released," he said while leaning back.

"Seals aren't my specialty. We'll have to wait until we get back home and I can get someone to help. I'd have Haruka do it, but we can't have Miyuki be alone quite yet."

"I should be fine until the end of the mission even without readjusting the seal," Gaara said. He was more tired than he'd ever been in his entire life, but he knew he'd be able to make it through. He wasn't about to let his team down.

"I can still help you sleep though," Kaito said. Gaara looked up at him shocked.

"I thought you said that I wouldn't be able to sleep?" Gaara asked hesitantly. He didn't expect he would ever be given the chance to sleep.

"I can perform a temporary paralysis jutsu. It will allow your body to rest, and I can monitor your mind with my chakra so the ichibi doesn't get out of hand. Sound good?" Kaito asked. Gaara gave a slight nod. "Go ahead and lay down, and I'll begin."

Gaara did as he was told and moved himself so he could rest his head on one of the many pillows. He closed his eyes and felt Kaito put his fingers on his temples. Soon he felt a slow trickle of chakra enter his system, and then everything was dark.

"Kenta-kun? Kenta-kun, wake up."

Gaara's eyes shot open and he tried to sit up but all the muscles in his body protested the sudden movement.

"Don't try to move too quickly. Your body will take a little while to adjust from not moving for so long," a voice said. Gaara looked up to see Kaito standing next to the bed.

"How long was I asleep for?" he asked. He managed to push himself into a sitting position and looked up at his captain.

"About two hours," Kaito said. "The girls are already back from the hot spring." Gaara looked towards the other side of the room where Haruka was rummaging through a bag.

"Fumiko-chan is already in your room," she said when she looked up and met Gaara's gaze. Gaara nodded and stretched his arms out in front of himself. He still felt incredibly stiff. He got off the bed and faced Kaito.

"Thank you for the help," Gaara said as he slightly inclined his head towards his captain.

"It's no problem, Kaito said. "I'll see you tomorrow." Gaara nodded and murmured a good night as he left the room.

Gaara walked to the door of his and Miyuki's room. He pulled the room key Kaito had given him earlier in the day out of his pocket and unlocked and opened the door. He looked and saw Miyuki sitting on the bed furthest from the door. She gave a slight jump and quickly turned her face towards Gaara when he closed the door with an audible click. Gaara figured he must have surprised her. She really must be nervous about the rest of the mission.

"Are you feeling any better?" Miyuki asked now turning completely to face Gaara.

"Yes, I am," Gaara replied. Miyuki nodded and began combing out her slightly damp hair. Gaara's eyes tracked the movement of the comb as it moved through the white strands and slowly parted any tangles. Gaara caught himself as he was watching the light move down each section of hair Miyuki brushed. He had done it again. He really needed to stop letting himself get so distracted by a girl.

"I'm finished with the bathroom if you'd like to get ready for bed," Miyuki said her back now facing Gaara again. "I'm going to go to sleep as soon as I lay some traps." Gaara nodded and picked up his bag from off the vacant bed. He quickly grabbed the things needed to wash up and headed to the bathroom.

Closing and locking the door, Gaara locked up at the mirror above the small sink. He still had his baseball cap on. Grimacing slightly Gaara decided that it really didn't suit him after all. After taking the hat off and setting it by the side of the sink, Gaara began brushing his teeth. He always put off taking a shower every night for as long as he could. Showering was miserable. He was glad he lived somewhere where it hardly ever rained. The water always made the sand shield covering his body turn muddy and sticky. While invisible to everyone else, it always made him feel a little more miserable than usual. It was so uncomfortable and felt like it took an eternity to dry. His uncle had made sure he had learned basic hygienic habits regardless of the discomfort he felt while doing them and had pounded the importance of staying clean into his head. Gaara understood why hygiene was and made sure to take the shortest shower possible every day, but he still loathed when nighttime came around and it was became time to bathe.

Rinsing the toothpaste from his mouth Gaara shot a glare at the bathtub. He sighed and walked over to it, turning the knob to the hot water. Resigning himself to feeling like mud for the next hour, Gaara got into the shower.

After finishing his shower, Gaara stepped out of the tub grimacing. He felt like mud as usual. Toweling himself off the best he could, Gaara changed into his sleeping clothes and exited the bathroom. He looked towards the bed Miyuki had been sitting on and found her sleeping peacefully. Gaara felt a brief pang of jealousy at how easily she was able to do the one thing he could not, but he pushed it away. Now was not the time to be feeling petty, especially when Kaito had just helped him get the rest his body so desperately needed.

Pushing his chakra into the room, Gaara checked to make sure Miyuki had laid out the necessary traps. At the very edge of his perception, Gaara felt thin lines of chakra in front of the door and windows. It was enough that if anyone felt the need to break into the room they would be awakened by the pulse of chakra the barrier would release when broken, but not enough to alert the intruder to the trap. It was perfect for the situation. There was no telling when Miyuki might be kidnapped after all.

Satisfied with the trap Miyuki had erected, Gaara sat himself on the vacant bed and began to meditate.

Author's note:

Well that took forever. I don't really have an excuse as to why it took so long except school. This chapter is sort of kind of almost filler. There will probably be one more chapter like this one until they get to beat up rouge ninja butt. Also, you can't make me write a scene where Gaara showers in detail. You just can't do it! Another thing, I really want Miyuki's personality to be on the tsundere side. I hope that I have been able to get her personality to come across in the way I want.