Chapter 9

Accepted and the New Guy

How interesting life had been lately for Kari, she fought a psycho, got sent to jail, was assaulted, got a nickname, Gaara got her out of jail, Kankuro asked her to 'hang out' with him and now Gaara was at the door of her apartment.

"Um… I am guessing… you want to know what happened." Kari questioned slowly, sighing. The story of Amaya and her, she presumed as she sat on her couch.

"Yeah, I did say it wasn't your fault… but I actually don't know the story, I need to know." He responded as he followed her through the door and glanced unsure at the couch.

"Well, it's quite simple. She bugged me earlier yesterday and her mother made her stop, then after I left Trinity's, she found me again and bugged me… and attacked… We knew each other in school. And she has this goal to beat me, it's odd." She rambled on a bit.

"Well, that's interesting. It seems like every day I learn something new about you." He said, shaking his head in disbelief as she rolled her eyes, which led into an awkward silence.

"You can sit down…" Kari mumbled after a minute, trying to be nice. He accepted the offer and sat on the other side of the couch.

"How long did you fight her?" He questioned, suddenly remembering he had more to ask her.

"Maybe 15 minutes?" she contemplated as he nodded and looked at her; he noticed a good amount of bruises.

"Was she strong?" He wondered taking note of the marks; Kari knew what question he was leaning to. She had a few more bruises than normal and she was curling her left arm in to her body a little. She was pretty sure she had gotten small fracture there.

"Not exactly… I just got caught in a genjutsu…" She said reluctantly. As she said that Gaara remembered something he read awhile back, her weakness was genjutsu.

"Oh I see, you couldn't get out of the genjutsu very well…" He added to her confession as she sighed.

'I don't know why I am so disappointed… how would he not know? He is the Kazekage.' She thought to herself.

"Everyone has their weaknesses… it's no big deal…" He was trying to comfort her a little; she obviously liked to keep things about her to herself. He had to respect that, he was the same way.

"I guess…" Kari replied solemnly and then decided to change the subject.

"Do you have any missions coming up? I haven't gone on one in awhile and I could really use the cash for my rent." Gaara paused, thinking of any good missions for her. All he knew was he needed to definitely get her on a team.

"Are you sure that's a good idea… after what happened last time?" He said, knowing what her response would be.

"Of course it's fine! I can handle it." He knew she would say that.

"Well… I guess it'll be fine. But I'm sending some people with you." Gaara finally concluded. Kari looked displeased with what his rules were, but she didn't mind at the same time, she needed the money.

"Alright… I guess I can deal with that." She finally spoke as he stood.

"Right, come to my office tomorrow around 3 and I'll give you the details." She nodded and a second later he was gone, disappearing into sand.

OOO

"Oh my gosh!" Someone gasped as she glanced at her watch and began to quicken her speed.

"What?" she asked, concerned.

"I was supposed to meet someone…. I am going to be so late, oh wait! Could you cover for me?" They responded as if the idea was the most perfect thing of all, and not wanting to crush their hope she complied.

"Sure." She added her traditional smile everyone was so used to seeing, Trinity was used to this sort of thing. She was nice, and doing extra things wouldn't kill her. She did so much anyway… 'But why make anyone unhappy when you don't have to…' was more how Trinity thought. People knew she was no pushover because of ninja training but her kindness was just tattooed onto her soul.

"Thank you so much!" The nurse Trinity was talking to spoke joyfully; she hugged Trinity and ran out of the hospital room they were organizing, preparing for whoever used it next. The previous person hadn't been sent home long before that.

"You know, you are way too nice." Someone said to her, standing in the doorway. Trinity recognized the voice as Temari.

"Hello Temari-san." She replied happily, trying not to laugh at Temari's accusation; and expression for being called 'Temari-san'.

"Well anyway, that's not the reason I'm here. When's the last time you've been to the office?" Temari questioned, walking in and sitting on a visitor chair.

"Hmm, it's been over 24 hours…" Trinity answered after thinking about it for a second, it been quite a bit….

"So I assume you don't know?" Temari continued, more seeming to mumble to herself than to be talking to Trinity.

"What?" Trinity stopped, curious.

"About Kari…. She…" Temari began, pausing, deciding on how to word it.

"Kari? What happened?" All of Trinity's focus on Temari and what she was going to say.

"Yeah fine, she just got into some trouble….-no surprise these days though- and was sent to …jail." Temari finally said, and before she could continue, a stunned look had passed through Trinity's face.

"Tell me what the trouble was!" Trinity said in a slightly demanding tone. Temari nodded and began to tell her the story of Amaya and Kari.

"So basically, they fought because Amaya willed it; Amaya's mom saw them, stopped it and blamed Kari…. And Kari was put in jail because of how many things she had against her already…" Trinity summarized from what Temari said.

"Well… basically, but Gaara got her out. He seemed kind of mad about it too…" Temari muttered, as she seemed to be contemplating something and Trinity nodded as she understood.

"Well I would imagine Gaara doesn't hate her anymore…" Trinity spoke in a calm tone yet having a slight smirk of enjoyment on her face. Her plan did work, and he accepted her as a friend now.

"Do you work with Kari tonight?" Temari asked as she stretched, standing up and preparing to leave.

"Hmmmm, yeah I think so." Trinity said, pulling out her black planning book.

"Damn! Do you plan your whole life?" Temari exclaimed, grabbing the book and flipping through it as she saw many things scribbled on it from, Gaara's meetings, her shifts, things to do and etc…

"Well, not everything. But I have three jobs and a normal life to keep in line so I have to make sure I don't forget anything. And yes, I do work tonight with Kari." Trinity responded, ripping the book out of Temari's hands in a playful way as Temari just shook her head.

"When do you sleep? Eat? Relax?" Temari wondered, not really expecting a response.

"Well, working as a secretary is easy, and at the bar I only work a few shifts a week that are only a few hours. Being a medic nin is the only job that can be a bit difficult at times." Trinity shrugged, continuing with her work.

"Alright… Well I will leave you to your… fun, then." Temari mused, motioning to her work in the hospital room.

"Bye." Trinity called as Temari walked out, then she snickered lowly at Temari's 'hilarious' joke. (Hilarious is sarcasm!)

OOO

Kari turned the corner and continued on her way, she was going to be late if she didn't keep a steady pace. As she walked into the bar, she sighed with relief, 5 minutes to spare. She didn't rejoice long though, for there was someone new behind the counter. Aki had hired a new guy Kari guessed, and she hadn't met him yet. He probably was here when she was in jail… She walked up to him and as she did, Aki, the boss came up.

"Well, I guess you're not late… that's always a plus." He spoke to her in a bored tone, what he said probably referring to the fact she missed a shift while in jail. Kari just smiled a little bit, he seemed like he would never fire her even if she missed a week of work.

"Anyway, this is Haku. He is a bartender here now..." Aki had continued talking; Kari nodded in response to the questions, and finally got a good look at this 'Haku' guy.

He was actually quite attractive. Jet black hair, the same color as hers, reached the back of his neck but not covering too much of his face, His eyes were a crystal blue, while he stood about 8-10 inches taller than her, and on top of that he wore one of those badass smirks, yet still looking friendly and approachable. She wasn't sure if she had seen him before, or even if he was a ninja. But, his attitude seemingly pointed in the direction that he was a ninja or just over-confident.

"Well, like he said, I'm Haku, your Kari right?" He questioned her with a definite flirting tone, but not overcrowding her and defiantly over-ruling the thought Kari had about him possibly being gay.

"Yeah, Nice to meet you." She replied, being polite but not flirting back, if she had to work with him she didn't want to go in that direction with him.

"Hmm, jail I heard?" He still seemed to want to make conversation, but noticed her not into his flirting, so his tone was more normal. Kari had jumped over and into the bar so she could make drinks and take orders.

"Don't ask, just work, and then maybe I will like you." Kari spoke with her tone slightly cold as she started working. Temari was right, she was terrible at making friends, it's just how she always with new people. She had, had many people in the past put on the fake friend act to try and get information from her.

"Feisty!" Haku commented; refocusing on his work. She noticed him shake his head and laugh lowly. She rolled her eyes, this guy seemed okay, maybe a bit funny but, in the end, he was going to annoy the shit out of her.

OOO

It had been a couple hours at the bar and Kari got a lot done, it was almost 9pm when Kari realized something. Trinity's shift started at 9pm, and Kari hadn't seen her since before the Amaya battle and she didn't know about it.

'Well, unless someone told her…' Kari thought to herself

Kari wasn't sure, but either way, she'd have to hear Trinity asking what happened or she would have to tell her… Kari may have only known Trinity for about 2 months but if she found out that Kari didn't tell her…

"Kari-chan!" Someone called, Kari knew it was Trinity. Trinity ran and jumped into the bar practically knocking down the bottles on the tray Kari had, that needed to go to their table. Kari ended up stumbling but collecting herself so that none of them fell except one which Trinity caught.

"Jail???" She exclaimed as she stared at Kari in disbelief.

"Urm… I have to take this… be right back." Kari scurried off to deliver people's drinks; Trinity stared off at her in slight annoyance but then glanced at Haku.

"Oh hi, I'm Trinity, you must be Haku." She spoke quickly but in a kind tone.

"Yeah, how did you…?" He looked confused.

"Oh, I am a secretary for the Kazekage; I know almost everyone." She shrugged, continuing to do what Kari had been doing before she left.

"Right… Nice too meet you." Haku understood, but was already intimidated by her, although all he received was good feelings from her, as he said it, Kari returned.

"Alright, now spill, Temari told me a summary but, details please." Trinity said, as they both continued working behind the bar; then Trinity also added,

"Shoo, go and deliver these." She pushed a tray to Haku and he nodded, leaving.

So Kari explained the story more detailed, once again to another person. Trinity didn't say anything until the end of the story, and it was a bit odd to Kari.

"What a pain in the ass she is." Trinity grumbled.

"What?" Kari was a bit surprised; this wasn't Trinity's normal persona.

"I don't like Amaya, I never have." Trinity stated.

"Well… why? You never seem to dislike anyone…" Kari spoke as Haku returned.

"I just never have for some reason." Trinity shrugged.

"Oh…" Kari blinked, unsure what else to say.

OOO

Finally it was the next day; Trinity would have to work at the office and hospital that day, and not the bar. Not that she minded, working with Kari was fun but without Trinity or a personal secretary in general, Gaara wouldn't survive a week. You would think working as a secretary would be hard, but it wasn't. Generally the bar could be more work, you just needed to be a bit smarter to be a secretary. Working the hospital was the most work though, and the most tiring, she worked there the second most after being Gaara's secretary. The irony for that was being medic nin was supposedly her main job.

As Trinity walked into Gaara's office, Gaara looked up at her and saw her slight smirk. He knew she was going to pester him about something. He prepared for whatever it was as she spoke,

"Gaara, I knew it…" Her smirk grew to a grin.

"Knew what?" he questioned irritably as he (unfortunate for him) continued his paperwork.

"Kari! You helped her; she and Temari told me about what happened." She spoke somewhat excited as she began to organize the office, which he had messed up since she had not been there for maybe a day or two. She didn't know how he managed to do that.

"Oh yeah… that." He shrugged and then continued.

"It was only right, just because a few people don't like her doesn't mean she needs to be mistreated to her right as a citizen to this village." He kept reading and signing things, so he couldn't see Trinity's annoyed face.

"No, that's not exactly what I meant…" She grumbled a little as he looked up, confused.

"I know you consider her a friend!" She exclaimed walking over to him to see what paperwork he was filling out. Gaara didn't respond, and his expression didn't really change but Trinity knew him too much and knew what the very subtle changes in his expression meant. He was annoyed and ignoring her comment; he was trying to lie to himself that he didn't like her.

"Meh." Was all he said as he looked back down at his enjoyable work.

"No meh!" She gave an exasperated sigh, and then added.

"What's wrong with being her friend? Is it such a crime?" She asked, curious to why he wanted to dislike this girl so much.

"It's not that, she's just obnoxious and I don't know… if I want a friend like that. She is a ninja and a part of this village and I won't be rude but I'd rather not be any closer than that." He spoke with his flat tone, expecting Trinity to believe that nonsense.

"I know you already accepted her as a friend… even though she is just soooooo annoying." She laughed; emphasizing the end of her sentence with obvious sarcasm. He sighed, defeated. Trinity was right, even he wanted to push Kari away he couldn't unless she pushed first. She was interesting and deep down he wanted to be her friend. He wasn't sure why, it could be of her past, her attitude, or that she was intriguing.

"That was quicker than I thought… I guess you both had something that really connected you two that made it faster." She shrugged as he looked a bit aggravated.

"Yeah…" was all he said and then he remembered something.

"Oh, would you do me a favor?" He questioned suddenly.

"Anything, Kazekage-sama." She bowed to hide her grin.

"You know I… oh forget it, Kari wanted to go on a mission and I think I found one for her but I want some people to go with her… I was going to ask you and Kankuro." He said.

"Sure, when would it be?" she asked, coming out of the bow still slightly snickering from it.

"About 4-5 days from now… I got to find out when the village wants us to go and help..." he ignored her snickering as he started to organize the finished paperwork.

"Alright, sounds good." She answered, taking the paperwork from him to stick it in its proper place.

Gaara then glanced out the window, hating how Trinity was right but shrugging it off. Being friend with Kari wouldn't be the end of the world… it would be more trouble, yes. Although… not terrible… she could be of some use to him eventually. Besides, maybe he just liked that extra craziness in his life… it made life… more interesting.

'She's an intriguing girl, indeed.' He thought to himself as Trinity but more work on his desk and he sighed glaring at it.

~done~

Wow, this was done the middle of October… my editor is lazy!!!

JK, she had been busy.

I've been working on Chapter 10 so I hope to have it up in the next couple weeks.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed… I had fun with writing some of the parts.

Especially the Trinity and Gaara Scene… XD

Hope to talk to you all soon! Thanks for the reviews, support and love from everyone; I really do try my best!

~Torie