Long time no update! As… you'd probably noticed… Truly sorry, but there was a week when I thought my brain would leak out of my ears, and I basically wrote three essays in about… four days? Plus a presentation, hah! Fun times… Followed by an emotionally awful weekend and grr. Ahem. So, of course, when do I start writing this? When it's Sunday and I have an essay due Friday and about 70 pages left to read for said essay. HAH. But we just got an extension, yayy. Which just means I should still pretend it's due Friday...

Also I promised a longer chapter so I added a few pages, I figured I have enough practice BSing my way through papers so this should be easy-peasy (not entirely true, but definitely easier and faster, especially without referencing every. Single. Sentence.). Anyway! Thanks for the reviews in my "absence!" They're like my caffeine boost for motivation (or theine, as I don't drink coffee…). Merci, and let's get rollin'!

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Chapter 11: Disappointments

Maemi soaked in the hot bath, relishing in the peace and quiet, not to mention her sore muscles could use a good massage. She'd been surprised, and yet not so surprised, at the amount of dirt she'd scrubbed off earlier. Honestly, the tenacity of her ragged dress surprised her more. Shame it was reduced to rags, now she truly had nothing left of her world – except for the plushie. She held back a sigh and dunked under, counting the seconds until she ran out of breath.

She surfaced to the sound of knocking. "Maemi-san, I've left clothes for you."

"Thanks..."

Maemi heard a bit of shuffling, then a brief pause. "We'll be leaving in a few hours, so- please be ready."

What else could she do but get ready? They wouldn't leave her here, would they? Not that it made much of a difference to her (sensitive non-shinobi that she was), but from what she gathered their place wasn't in a desert, and truthfully, she couldn't wait to leave this Saharan-like place. Reluctantly, she got out of the comfortable bath, feeling much more relaxed, and dried off before going to find her clothes.

Sakura was still outside when she heard what could possibly be a foreign obscenity. She knocked, waited a second then poked her head in. "What's the matter?" Maemi's furrowed brow was hint enough. "Do they… not fit?" Sakura had made sure to pick clothes that fit her a bit loosely, given Maemi's slightly taller stature.

"Tell me, what exactly are these clothes?"

"A standard shinobi outfit. Why, what's the p-"

"Right," interrupted Maemi. "And you want to dress me, the useless one, in something that others would interpret as skills I clearly don't possess. Where's the logic in that?"

Sakura stared, then blinked. "I understand, and that's a valid concern, although not completely unforeseen on our part," she gave Maemi a small smile, "but we figured it offered the best protection."

"… Yeah, until it doesn't, because it looks like I can defend myself."

Sakura's face contorted in a concerned yet slightly amused expression. "Despite the fact we'll make sure nothing happens to you, or Kakashi-sensei for that matter, you're wrong." Maemi looked at her, confused. "You're far from 'useless.'" And before Maemi could roll her eyes or scoff, Sakura continued. "I mean it. You've already processed what information we gave you and thought of possible, though uncertain, scenarios. I'm not sure anybody could adapt this quickly."

Maemi stared at the doorknob interestedly. "Not like I have a choice… I sort of don't want to die here," she finally mumbled back.

Sakura's face split in a smile. "Everyone has a choice." Maemi shot her an uncertain look before giving a sort of shruggish nod.

"I guess I did go through the denial part… Acceptance is the last step, right?"

Sakura hid a chuckle in a mild cough before recomposing herself. "You'll wear the outfit, travel safely to Konoha, get another few good meals in you, and then we'll sit down and discuss the available options."

Unable to help it, Maemi sighed. "Fine, I'll wear the stupid outfit."

"Come downstairs when you're ready." Sakura closed the door behind her.

Surprisingly, Sakura did a bang up job picking the clothes, they fit Maemi nearly perfectly. Despite feeling foolish and most definitely unprofessional, what with their awkward bulk and all, she dared come down and joined whoever was left. Probably one person waiting on the slowpoke, as she remembered from last time. Turns out she was right, and yet completely wrong. There was someone waiting, but not someone she'd met before. He stood so still he could easily have been a statue. A really pretty, unusual statue. His back was half to her but she couldn't quite make out what was weird about it, especially in the dim light. Was he a hunchback? She could distinctly see some curves where there shouldn't be any and-

He turned his head slightly as she came down the last steps – she might as well have been stomping those foreign shoes, she was so loud in this silence. Oh. Of course he wasn't a hunchback. Whatever was on his back was weird, though. She paused when his piercing gaze landed on her and quickly averted her gaze. Of all the things to wear… She glanced back at him, noticing the bright red hair, his strange eyes and most of all- "Is that a gourd?" She couldn't help but gape at the sheer size of it. What was he carrying in there, water? Was the desert that bad?

"Yes." So the statue did speak, although apparently not very much. He turned his body to face her, arms crossed over his chest.

Maemi looked at his tattoo briefly, in what she hoped wasn't a stare. His eyes were strange, but definitely beautiful. Figures weird unrealistic shit actually happens in this world. Alternate dimension. Whatever. Before she could stop herself, words fell out of mouth. "You have red hair."

If Gaara was expecting anything, that was not it. "Yes…?"

"I mean, it's really red, I've never seen natural hair so bright before." Oops. Mouth, control the words! Seeing as his mouth exercised better control than hers, she forged on ahead. "I'm Maemi by the way," she continued, not expecting an answer, "they probably mentioned some worthless puppy tagging along..." She paused then frowned. "No, a puppy's too generous, even their dogs can speak and be more useful than I could ever be..." she mumbled.

Gaara looked at her, unblinking, until she realized he was still there, behaving like a human tree. "Sorry..." The half-smile she attempted grind to a halt in a brief grimace. She cleared her throat and willed a small, convincing smile to blossom. "So what's the gourd for? Is it filled with water?" She approached him, curiosity radiating from her eyes and body language.

"No. It's sand."

Maemi frowned skeptically. "Seriously? There isn't enough out there you have to carry some arou-" She stopped, suddenly unable to breathe as her throat closed shut, black dots wasting no time in painting her vision. Before she knew it, she was on the ground, trembling.

Until she could breathe again. Blessed air, it had never felt so good to drink it in. She took slow, meaningful breaths, closing her eyes and concentrating on feeling her limbs again. Her head hurt a bit, maybe she'd smacked it when she fell, along with her right hip and shoulder. The trembling lessened but it took another few minutes to disappear, and even then she felt a bit woozy in her body. Wanting to avoid a black out, she tried to get up slowly.

"Sorry, could you help me up? I'm apparently very frail..." She managed a wan smile.

Gaara shook his head from afar. "No, it seems I can't approach you either."

Maemi's frowned in confusion. "Either? Wha-" She stared at him, mouth hanging open mid-sentence. "Oh. Your chakra exceeds my limit?"

"You could say that."

Maemi sighed and sat up carefully, under the watchful eyes of the nameless statue. Once seated and certain of her steady breath, she stood up. Despite her legs feeling a bit like jelly, she thankfully didn't face plant. Surprisingly, or perhaps not so, someone showed up after the awkwardness, only to bring some more. Maemi looked at him and promptly turned to the other side, wanting to avoid him as long as humanly possible.

"So you've met..."

Whatever was going on behind her back, Maemi didn't know, nor did she care to know. She stubbornly refused to engage in any kind of anything with that. Him. Whatever.

Unfortunately, it decided to speak directly to her. "I thought I felt some… pain?" The question was unequivocally meant for her, which is why she pointedly ignored it and decided to play with the many pockets on her flak jacket.

"She fell."

Tree-man, thanks for the fill in, could you not though? You make it sound like I did it on purpose.

"I believe she got too close."

Or that I'm a perv?

She heard it sigh. "That's right, since you never formally met we didn't say anything..." Soft mumbles, probably not meant for her. Great. "Maemi-san, say your thanks and follow me."

To that she did turn around, a confused yet questioning look on her face. She saw it briefly shake its head. "The Kazekage is the one who protected you from Yorikane."

Maemi's face blanked, the name bringing only terrible memories. She glanced at the living statue and saw him frowning.

"I wouldn't say-"

Kakashi cut him off gently. "We would've died if it weren't for your protective sand."

Right, because that made sense. Protective sand. Maemi stopped short of rolling her eyes, although she'd learned by now that this fucked up world meant a lot of impossible things for her might actually be possible, if not ordinary, here. Still though, to know she – partly – owed her life to that human tree (who did speak and move more now) was enough to thank him honestly.

She approached him cautiously, staying well out of two arms' reach, before politely bowing in thanks. She straightened up to greet his blue-ish green eyes and gave him a sincere, but tiny, smile. "What's a Kazekage?"

She definitely heard it sigh before it deigned answer. "Gaara-san here is the Kazekage, the leader of Sunagakure."

Maemi blinked. "Oh." She stared at the human-tree Gaara and tilted her head to the side slightly. "Sand?" He gave the tiniest lip movement she'd seen yet and assumed it amounted to some sort of smile: he'd seen her eyes land on his gourd.

As if to answer, a thin stream of sand flowed out of the gourd and gracefully swished forward in beautiful circular movements. Maemi stared, open mouthed, and followed the sand with her eyes. It curled around her back and reappeared on the other side, giving her enough time to work up some courage and try to touch it.

She tried to hide her disappointment, but apparently not enough. "What now?" The live figurine was apparently full of sighs.

"It just feels like sand." Definitely holding back some discontent.

"It is sand."

"But it's floating-!"

"Yes, because the Kazekage's controlling it." Really now, wasn't that obvious?

"Yeah but..." Maemi's knitted brow couldn't express the depth of her disillusionment. "That's just boring? I thought normal stuff for me was grandiose in this world. So sand should be, I dunno… Softer? Brighter? Made of gold?"

Tree-man Gaara's lips cracked a bit more this time. Kakashi simply looked at her in fatigued disbelief. "Are you leaving?" Kakashi straightened up a bit and turned to face the Kazekage.

"Yes, preparations are mostly complete, we're just double checking the food inventory."

Gaara gave a nod and left the apartment lobby. Kakashi turned to Maemi, who promptly averted her gaze to her clothes, a contradicted expression on her face. "Follow me." He didn't bother waiting for an answer, knowing full well she would, unless she wanted to take the risk getting lost here – which he hoped she wouldn't, why was she so unpredictably annoying?

Maemi did follow him out though, wanting nothing else but to get to their village and get another outfit because good god, she looked beyond ridiculous in this! She realized the sun was setting as most of the village was already plunged in lengthening shadows and frowned, slightly displeased. "Are we traveling at night?"

"Yes. The temperatures are much more manageable than during the day, and there are less chances of a sandstorm."

Right, because deserts had sand and a lot of wind, so sandstorms. They're a thing. "What happens if we get caught in one?" She tried hard to keep the worry out of her voice. She was a curious person, and a curious, interested person asked a lot of questions, right?

Kakashi didn't need to decipher her tone to know the possibility made her nervous, he could feel it like a soft wavering in his stomach. Not something he usually felt. "Then we try to find some cover and wait it out, there's really nothing else we can do." Before they reached the group, he turned around to face her. "I almost forgot, here." He handed her a small backpack. She gave him a questioning look. "Look inside."

Maemi did, and she smiled in relief at the familiar sight. "We thought it'd be best for you to hold onto it." She touched the plushie, as if checking it was real, and nodded quietly. The live version turned around and kept walking, Maemi trailing behind.

They rejoined the group and Maemi made sure to keep her distance from the overcharged batteries the two hair weirdos seemed to be. They look like good friends though. She felt a pang of loneliness at the thought of her friends and family, unreachable, maybe forever so. Thankfully, the nearby voices proved distraction enough – for now.

"… sure you can handle it?"

Sai nodded. "Yes, I assure you I've done it before."

"But never for that long..." Sakura looked a bit concerned.

Sai simply smiled and produced three black pills. "They'll help." Sakura reluctantly dropped the subject and double checked their water rations. Maemi awkwardly stood in the middle of the bustling group, unsure what to do. Glancing around, she saw Sai looking at her and hesitantly gave him a timid smile. She hadn't seen him since… He might've caught her suddenly frozen expression, or simply wanted to be friendly, and approached her. "Hi."

"Hi..." She looked him over slowly.

"I've been seen to." His smile was slightly amused.

Maemi answered the only way she knew how: "Hmph. Can't really tell, you're pale by nature."

He chuckled quietly but didn't otherwise object. "You look good in that, it's very flattering." Book speak, which Maemi didn't know he did.

She briefly shifted uncomfortably. "Hah! Yeah right, it's probably what pictures of dogs in Halloween costumes look like." Sai gave her a blank stare. "Ugh, freakin'- Never mind, it's... just comically ugly."

Before long, the team had thanked the Kazekage and said their goodbyes. Maemi sighed when Sai's drawings materialized into thin air. "Really? This again?" Her mumbles were meant to vent her frustrations, not for anyone to hear. But someone did.

"It won't happen again." Maemi startled and shot Sai an apprehensive look. His smile seemed to soften briefly. "We won't be flying as high this time, we have a pretty good escort, and I'll catch you again on the off chance you fall."

Maemi swallowed nervously but gave a brief nod. He had caught her when she fell, she had no doubt he'd do it again – or anyone on the team, for that matter.

"Alright, everyone hop on, we have a lot of ground to cover." At Yamato's command, the group split into pairs and jumped on the back of the giant birds. Maemi watched as Sakura sat behind Naruto, Yamato behind Kakashi, and a blond girl behind Shikamaru. She turned around and saw Sai's hand waiting. Figures... Not that she was complaining, at least this was familiar, to some extent…

With everyone ready, the birds took off, circling once to wave final goodbyes before flapping higher while heading for the village's entrance. The sun was nearly set by now and by the time the birds had left Sunagakure behind, it was nothing but a dark shadow. Maemi did her best not to look back and stare forward, not that there was much to see in that darkness either. She definitely didn't loosen her hold on Sai's shoulder though.

After a silent while, curiosity got the better of her. "Who's that girl?"

"Temari. She's a Sand shinobi, Gaara's older sister. She has some business in Konoha so it made sense for her to accompany us."

Reading in between the lines, something Maemi was getting incredibly used to in this world, she understood there were still safety concerns and an added escort couldn't hurt. "Hmm… Gaara's sister..." She digested that for a bit and stared at her back some more. Surprisingly, the night wasn't as dark as she thought, probably because the clear skies let the moon and stars shine brightly, unhindered. "What's that thing on her back?"

"A fan."

"A… fan?" Not the time for bad puns, though she was ever so tempted. "It's huge." Sai chuckled.

After another hour or so, Maemi's arm protested by nearly cramping and she reluctantly let go of Sai – with the promise to haunt him for generations if he did anything remotely scary. She spent a good five minutes rubbing feelings back into her arm and just as she grabbed Sai's shoulder with her other hand, she noticed the birds descending.

"Are we stopping?"

"Yes, every two hours. I have very strict instructions." She noticed a slight strain to his voice and didn't push the matter.

Once regrouped, the birds disappeared. Maemi glanced around, standing awkwardly just on the outside of their loose circle. She saw Sai wrap a blanket around himself and lay down under Sakura's supervision, of course. Somehow, someone made a fire, and despite the thickness of her clothes Maemi found herself inching closer to warmth.

"How was the ride?"

She startled a bit and quickly glanced at Sakura, soft smile on her face, now standing beside Maemi. "Fine..."

"That's good." Sakura nodded pensively. "This might be a bit slow going, but we have to let Sai rest every two hours. Despite the ration pills, having him fly four birds for long periods is pretty tiring..."

Maemi nodded. Not that she particularly minded getting off the bird every so often, despite nothing happening, the bad memories seemed etched in her subconscious and her natural response from seeing the ink birds was definitely more flight than fight.

They rested an hour before departing again. Conversations were few and far between, even during breaks. Maemi did her best to stay quiet, nibbling on light snacks by the fire, checking on the plushie she'd been tasked to carry, and keeping an eye on Sai in the air. He wasn't much of a talker to start with, but he'd definitely been less and less keen to initiate anything the more he flew them through the desert.

Dawn crept up on them, and despite her aversion to their mode of transportation, Maemi was glad they were soaring through the sky as it offered a magnificent view of the sunrise. Probably the most beautiful she'd ever seen. Soon enough, she began missing the night's cool air. The long sleeves and pants protected her from the sun, but she felt like a chicken in an oven, roasting slowly.

The wind felt good, although it wasn't exactly cool and seemed to be getting stronger. She soon noticed the birds had some difficulty gaining ground. Temari signaled a landing and Sai obliged, probably relieved he was getting another break. Maemi frowned slightly. "Has it been two hours already?"

Sai shook his head as the birds landed carefully on the burning sand. Maemi had to shield her eyes from the wind, wincing as some sand lodged under her eyelids and hurried to gently push them out. Temari hopped off before the bird disappeared, slight tension on her face. "Storm's coming, we need to find shelter."

Luckily, she'd waved them down near a rocky area so the group spread out briefly to find the best place. Maemi resumed her awkward standing, one hand gripping the plushie tightly, the other holding onto the backpack's straps slung over her shoulder. A sandstorm was pretty natural, at least her world had those. Not that she'd ever experienced one before – not living in the desert and all – but this seemed less freaky than flying on man-made "animals."

The winds grew stronger and dustier, leaving everyone squinting. "Over here!" Yamato waved at the entrance of what looked like a tiny cave. The supplies were quickly assembled and covered, especially the water before the group huddled close, barely fitting in the cave's mouth. "Maemi, come on."

She walked over, wobbled might be more accurate given the wind was toying with her, opening her bag to hide her treasure when the wind tore it out of her hands. "Ah-!" Nononono, the plushie might be her way home! She ran after it, barely hearing the shouts and curses behind her.

Squinting through brown wind, Maemi launched herself faster before her way home disappeared, to be lost and buried in a sea of sand. She could see its dark shape twirling and with one last big step and half leap, grabbed it midair before it could be blown away forever. She shoved it hurriedly in her half open bag, closed it and turned around only to be met with sand.

She retraced her steps, not that she could see them, before pausing, forearm shielding her eyes. She'd been told not to move. But surely she couldn't have gone very far, it was only a few steps.

Before she could decide, she felt a hand grab her arm, and then she slammed into someone's side, as if they'd both been magnets. Confused, Maemi tried to push said someone away, except she couldn't. "Hold still!" And she knew that voice. "Of all the-" Good god, why him.

Kakashi held in whatever else he meant to reprimand her with and instead gave her a cloth. "Cover your face!" He wasn't exactly yelling, but the howling wind demanded a louder than usual voice. Maemi tied the cloth over her face without question, she didn't want to hack on sand and be unable to breathe, having a parched throat in the morning was unpleasant enough. He made her sit before the wind could knock them over, their backs against the wind, and most surprisingly, her back to his chest.

Is he- shielding me? He most definitely was, if the arm wrapping around her shoulders was any indication. The wind justified his actions though, as it ripped through the desert, throwing rocks at incredible speeds. She felt pain in her back once and felt him jerk forward at the same time. She was pretty sure she'd be tumbling on the desert floor right now if it weren't for his grip on her, but together they were heavier and had less chance of being blown around.

The wind only grew stronger with each passing minute. Even with her protective clothing on, the sand had insinuated its way in and was grating her skin, but she could still breathe okay. She'd read once sandstorms could last up for a full day, but she wasn't sure either of them could hold for that long. The only reassurance she had was the strong grip on her shoulder, and the regular heartbeat of a living plushie against her back.

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Originally I wasn't going to have the ridonkeyuculous thing happen now, but then ideas happened and, like a whirlwind, here we are. The funny will probably start next chapter! I also can't help but have Maemi be pissed off at everything for some reason – which, let's be honest, is quite fun to write. Do let me know what your predictions/expectations are! (Before anyone asks, still no romance planned, but then again, the plot does tend to run away on its own… But it won't be Kakashi! If anyone at all.)