Chapter 9: A Talk with Cat Man
The next morning was as dreary and strange as the night before. Temari and I woke up in a pretty good mood, until I remembered the way that Gaara had acted last night. Was he just having a bad night because the three of us dragged him along to the party? Or was it him having one of his emo moments? By Boggy Jones, I had to know!
We made our way out of our hotel room to meet Gaara and Kankuro outside. Neither of them were talking, but that was usually the case with the two opposite brothers. Kankuro gave us both a smile and told us good morning, and I really didn't care. Cat man could tell me something a million times and I still wouldn't care.
Gaara just stared at me for a moment, his eyes drilling into me, but then he looked away into the morning sky. I just looked at him for a moment, before cat man threw an unexpected question at me.
"So, what are your plans for the day, Esther?" He asked, looking at me.
"Huh?" I said, turning to him. "Oh, sorry. I'm not really sure. What are you guys doing?"
"I'm heading over to the other side of town for some business." Temari said, giving an apologetic smile. All three of us already knew where she was really going: Shikamaru's house or a place where he was going to meet her.
"Have fun." I replied, giving her a small hug.
"You sure you'll be okay?" She asked, patting me on the head.
"Yep!" I replied, giving a fake smile. "I'm sure that Kankuro and Gaara will entertain me some how."
"I'm not here to entertain anybody." Gaara said, turning to me. "I have my own business to take care of and I don't need a little bubble like you following me around. Let Kankuro take you on that date he always wanted to take you on and let him be the source of your entertainment."
His words pushed through to me like a bunch of tiny little needles being pushed into the skin surrounding my heart. The tears started to pool up in my eyes, and I just looked back at him, meeting his icy cold gaze. He twitched for a moment, then walked away in the opposite direction of where the three of us were standing. Nobody said anything for a few moments, then Temari let out a small sigh.
"Stupid boys." She muttered, the turned to me and cat man. "Well, I should be going now. Have fun, okay?"
"Sure." Kankuro replied, giving her a shrug.
She ran off down the street her ponytails bobbing along behind her like little bells. I would have smiled, but I was in no mood for laughing or smiling. Gaara had ruined my mood for the moment. Oh merde, was this going to bug me until I got to the bottom of his case. Something was seriously up with the little emo.
"So, what do you want to do?" Kankuro said, turning to me with a big smile. "I'll entertain you all you want."
"Thanks." I replied, giving a shake of my head. "Do you think we could just go for a little walk or something? I'm not in the mood for anything too fun today."
"Sure."
We started to walk down the street, silent as ever. I turned my head around once, to see if Gaara was walking in our direction, because he was just joking about what he had said. Of course, he wasn't, and I was getting my poor little hopes up like always. Kankuro looked down at me, seeing my frown.
"Hey, cheer up. It's a really nice day." He said, pointing to the clear, ever blue sky.
"Yeah.." I said, just staring at it.
Suddenly, a curly haired girl ran out of nowhere and nearly tackled me to the ground. I fell onto the ground, because I lost my balance, and she fell along with me, her head hitting my boobs with a loud thump. To make it all weirder, she just started laughing and snuggled into me.
"Hey! What're you doing? You should watch where you're going!" Kankuro said, pulling the girl off of me. Once she finally got off, I realized who it was.
"Erin?!" I screeched, looking at the girl more closely.
She smiled, making the dimples show in her face. I screamed again, and pulled her into a hug, squishing her against my boobs again. She started giggling, and she poked me in the side, making me squeal.
"What are you doing here?!" I said letting go of her.
"Deer!" She cried happily, pointing down the street, the direction that Temari and Gaara had gone down.
"Deer?" I asked out loud, thinking about what she was trying to say. Oh for the love of Boggy Jones and Tammy Dodger.. I figured it out. She was on a man hunt for her deer man, Shikamaru.
She laughed again, getting up onto her feet. She brushed herself off and turned to Kankuro. They both stared at each other for a moment, then Erin suddenly moved her hand up to his hat and started patting him on the head, like a little animal. Oh merde..
"Good kitty man." She replied, sounding like a five year old, then turned back to me. "Bye!"
She ran off down the street, without a backwards glance. I just sat on the street for a second, trying to make sense of it all. What in the world was she doing here? How did she get here? Was there another way to get here other than my uncle's paintings? Oh well, it was too late to find out now. She was already gone and her man hunt might take a while. Plus, I did not want to be there when she confronts Temari. Oh merde.. I sensed a cat fight about to happen there..
"Who was that girl?" Cat man asked, looking down at me.
"That was Erin.. She's also from where I came from. We're really good friends back there." I said, shaking my head.
He just looked down at me, with a confused look in his eyes. He was probably thinking the same things that I was. Finally, he held out his hand. "Let me help you up."
We got up, and he finally just sighed and slumped his shoulders. I stared at him for a second, then he finally spoke up.
"I give up." He said with a distressed look on his painted cat face. "I tried cheering you up but it seems that nothing I do will cheer you up, huh?"
I was about to say no, when I realized something with my little pea sized brain. Cat man was Gaara's brother. (No duh..) Maybe he knows the reason that Gaara is acting so strange.
"Actually, I think that there is something that might cheer me up. Do you mind taking a walk through a forest path?" I asked plainly, staring at him.
He looked up for a second, then back at me with a small smile playing his face. "Sure. Let's go."
We headed off to the far side of Konoha where the forest led to the outskirts of the territory of the Leaf. We walked for a little while until we got to a small clearing that looked pretty deserted. I sat down against one of the trees that formed a barrier around the clearing. Cat man decided not to sat down, so he just leaned against a tree right beside mine.
"So what did you what to talk to me about? I'm sure it's really important since it has you so messed up." He said, rolling his eyes.
I stared at my feet for a moment, trying not to cry. Finally I just sighed and let it out. "Do you what's up with Gaara? He's been ignoring me since we got here, and I have no idea what I did wrong. I hate that."
The forest was all too silent for a minute, then cat man finally spoke up. "Truthfully, I have no clue what's up with Gaara, but that's usual, right? I know something is up though. I woke up last night to hear Gaara whimpering. I was to get up and ask him what was wrong, because truthfully, I never hear him whimper. For Pete's sake he's an adult pretty much, and the future Kazekage at that." He smiled for a moment, then continued. "Anyway, I just sat there in bed for a second and I heard him say 'Esther..Stop it.' Then I heard him take in a big gulp of air like he was going to cry, but then he just went back to sleep."
I was right. Something must be up with Gaara. There was no way that what cat man had just told me and the way Gaara was treating me were just coincidences.
" 'Esther, stop it?'" I thought aloud, trying to wrap my brain around it like it was some kind of code. Me, being a stupid as I am, couldn't get it. Luckily, I wasn't alone.
"Truthfully, I don't get it either. Gaara is still a barrel full of mysteries to me, and I've known him my entire life." Kankuro said, scratching his head.
We just stayed in an awkward silence for a moment, cat man spoke up again. "Hey Esther, now I have a question for you."
"Shoot." I said, waving my hand nonchalantly. He could bring on all the questions he wanted. I could care less.
"Is it true.. that you like me the same way that I like you? You know.." Her said, a blush showing even under his face paint. "Like love."
"Love?" I choked. Oh merde to the highest exponent.. I was in no mood in turning cat man down today. Was it just my unlucky day or what? -smacks head against invisible wall of air- "Kankuro.. I.. I don't."
"What?" He whispered, awestruck as if he had just saw a squirrel get hit by a bolt of lightning. "Come on, then who do you love? Gaara?" He gave a small laugh, but he had no idea what realm he had just entered into.
"Actually, yes." I muttered some what defensively, and now I felt like I had just stepped on his tail. He just stared at me with his eyes all wide and his mouth twitching.
"No way.." He muttered, looking up at the sky. "No flippin way!! How could a girl like you fall for such a isolated little twerp like my brother?! I never thought that you could be so brainless! Seriously, Gaara? He doesn't even return your feelings for you, does he?"
"He did." I said, and finally I crumpled down into a ball of stupid girl fluff and started to cry like a little baby. I covered my face and just kept crying, not caring that cat man was standing less than a foot away from me. I heard him sigh and finally he stepped over and gave me a big hug. Cat man was such a sap when it came to emotions.
`Finally, the sob fest for me was over, and cat man let go of me and wiped away the hair that stuck to the tears on my cheek. He gave a small frown, then he got up from the ground beside me.
"Well, this sure has been a really interesting date.. if you could call this a date." He mumbled, scratching his head. "I'm going to head over to Kiba's now, since I guess that I'm the last person that you want to see right now. Want me to drop you off at Tenten's or something?"
"No." I replied sadly. "Go on by yourself. I think I'm going to stay here for a little longer."
AN: Yay, but grr at the same time. Haha to you Selene98. You got your dream come true, even if you were a little OOC. Happy early Christmas to you all since I don't think that I will be updating again until after the holidays. Please review!!
