Chapter Twelve

Weeks later

After what seems like forever my life has finally fallen into a normal routine. Ino talked with her Aunt and moved in with her, she had yet to talk to her father about any of the incidents and she refused to take him to court. Even though she moved in with her aunt we still spent an ungodly amount of time at Sasori and Gaara's house. It just seemed like we would end up there almost every day. It was better than going home to an empty house. Sasori and Gaara didn't seem to mind at all. We actually developed a ritual where we would sleep over there house on Friday night, eat mac and cheese, and fall asleep on the couch watching old movies. Gaara and Ino had grown incredibly close I must say, although Gaara had yet to admit his feelings for Ino to her face, which was making Ino slightly self-conscious about herself. But it was coming, I knew he would just need a push and then they would be on the boat to relationship falls. Deidara and Naruto were getting pretty close too, although Naruto was feeling hesitant about jumping into a relationship too soon. Deidara was starting to slow down with his flirting as well, which was making Naruto a lot more comfortable.

Then on to me, I still had yet to find my special someone, but I was alright with that. I was having a lot of fun hanging out with everyone, more surprisingly I was having a lot of fun hanging out with Sasori, which is a big shocker to me. But I suppose after waking up in someone's arms on more than one occasion you get used to them. I still insult him during school, and he throws them back when he could. The Oto had not struck since the whole bomb in the school incident. No one really seemed all too concerned about it; at least no one showed it. I was too excited about the Halloween party we were going to. I'm a big fan of the Halloween season, mostly because I could get away with wearing a costume to school with no one giving a shit about it. My friends didn't seem to share my enthusiasm at first but I soon got them into the spirit. Ino is now especially excited because she and Gaara were going to be in a couple-ish kind of outfit. Him a knight and her a princess. Sasori and I planned that of course, and even had our own sort of costumes made up. I convinced Sasori that he should be a zombie, with bloody organs and fake scars, the works. He agreed, although it took some persuading and quite a few caffeinated drinks to do so. The entire Akatsuki was going, the party was going to be at some kid named Kiba's house, and apparently he throws the best parties when his parents go away. It was the Friday before the big party and we were at the lunch table discussing the whole party.

"The Oto won't be there of course," Kisame chuckles, "All the honor students stay home and study on Halloween, oh except Itachi of course." He corrects as soon as he notices the glare his black haired friend is sending him.

"It's been forever since I've been to a good party," I gush, "is this going to be the works or what?"

"Well there will be dancing and drinking," Naruto answers, "Oh and he has a whole room dedicated to karaoke and Dance Dance Revolution!"

"Oh I am so excited!" Ino cheers, "and the best part is Suck-ura did not get an invite."

"Yeah no fish smell stinking up the fucking party," Hidan cheers, "It's a fucking miracle!"

"Oh Konan did you get your outfit?" Haku asks, "You were worried it wouldn't come in on time."

"I got it, but it's a lot shorter than I expected," Konan blushes lightly.

"Well what did you expect when you said you wanted to be a French maid for Halloween, a turtle neck and a skirt that covers your ankles?"

"No I just didn't expect that it wouldn't at least go down to my knees," she sighs, "at least it makes my ass look good." That makes Pein spit out some of his water.

"When do I get to see this outfit?" he asks.

"On Halloween," Konan chides, "Because I know if you see it on me any sooner you're going to ruin it."

"Oh my is this a proper conversation to have at the table?" I ask.

"Tobi is right here, THE IDIOT WON'T GET IT!" Zetsu argues with himself.

"That Konan and Pein are talking about having Sex Zetsu-san?" Tobi asks.

"Alright who taught him how to say that word, I'LL KILL THE FUCKER!" Zetsu growls.

"Tell us what is Sex Tobi?" Itachi asks, looking down at his cousin.

"Well Sex is when you and someone you love hold hands and write a letter to the stork asking it to send you a baby," Tobi answers, "Tobi thinks Pein's grammar must be bad because they haven't gotten a baby yet."

"Oh my god," Hidan shouts and begins to laugh hysterically, "it's too fucking funny for words!"

"My grammar is just fine Tobi," Pein sighs, putting his head in his hands.

"Oh then Tobi must think you guys are just practicing, but you need to be careful, cause if you accidently send that letter to the Stork you're going to get a baby." Tobi scolds, much to everyone's amusement.

"COME ON TOBI; let's get you some more milk." Zetsu sighs, leading Tobi away from the table.

"I wonder what sex he will be attracted to, I hope he bats for boys," I say.

"I think he is," Deidara sighs, "but only because he spends so much time with Zetsu, what do you think Konan, un?"

"I think we'll find out when we find out," she sighs, and with that the bell rings and we are off to art class.

I take my normal seat next to Gaara, who is finally done with his collage of pictures for Ino. He added a whole bunch more, making the entire thing about the size of a desk. Seems all of the time he spends actually being with her inspires him immensely. He is working on another picture, but this time it's just a charcoal drawing of Ino, sleeping on the couch in the living room. The picture I'm drawing is actually of a similar scene. It's all four of us, Ino, Gaara, Sasori, and I, staring out of the picture all crowded on the couch. My hands just seemed to move on their own on this one, I just couldn't stop them. Anko would be collecting a piece of our artwork to enter into a competition, and I had decided as soon as I finished the coloring on Sasori's hair that I had to turn in this one. She collected everyone's pieces quickly, throwing out comments as she goes. With that class is left to do whatever they please, as per usual since Anko is the type of teacher who does not like to be restricted by schedules and rules.

"I am so going to win this competition, un!" Deidara cheers, leaning back in his seat as if he has already won.

"Don't get overconfident brat, everyone has a chance at winning, not just you." Sasori sighs, nudging at the blonde's chair.

"Yes but wait until they see my explosive style, un!" Deidara cheers.

"He made a time bomb, great," Itachi says lazily, "Our school is going to get kicked out of yet another art competition."

"Don't be such a stick in the mud Itachi, un." Deidara whines, "I hope your planning on having fun tomorrow, un."

"Hn," the Uchiha answers, which causes Kisame to chuckle lightly.

"What's your Halloween costume going to be Itachi?" I ask, giving him a smile.

"It's a surprise," Kisame answers, throwing his arm over Itachi's shoulder.

"Well I'm dressing up as a biker, un." Deidara chuckles, "I got the leather pants and everything, un."

"Yeah all you're missing is the bike," Sasori says, causing everyone to laugh.

"Well what are you dressing up as?" Kisame asks.

"A zombie or something, I don't know." Sasori sighs.

"Isn't Hidan dressing up like a zombie though, he might get mad if you guys are wearing the same outfit." Pein points out.

"We'll figure it out," I chime in, "So what are you dressing up as Pein, since I'm sure you're not going to let Konan go alone in such a skimpy outfit."

"Vampire lord," He answers, "They had maids so it works."

"I suppose but I don't think they're maids were French." Sasori says.

"Shut up," Pein sighs.

The bell rings and we all flood out of the room, I am bubbling with excitement, I love Halloween. I throw all of my stuff in my locker and walk over to Ino, who is putting her stuff in her locker as well. We smile at each other and I wait patiently for her to finish up so we can go meet the boys by their car. Gaara is already there, leaning against Sasori's car looking rather handsome in a pair of old denim jeans and a simple tight fitting black shirt. She rushes over to him with a small smile on her face, I hang back to give them some privacy. Sasori comes up beside me a few moments later, dressed in a pair of paint splattered jeans and a black and red striped sweatshirt. His gaze falls on Gaara and Ino who are lightly chatting and flirting and sighs.

"Think Sasori, soon we will be the two sitting awkwardly on the couch while they swap spit." I sigh, throwing my arm over his neck.

"I really did not need to envision that," he sighs, letting his arm fall to my waist, "they grow up so fast."

"Soon they'll be finding their own place," I sigh, "oh dear it's going to be so lonely without them around at home."

"We'll pull through somehow, won't we honey." Sasori answers, finally the situation Is too much and we begin to laugh.

"Oh lets go home, I wish to devour the cheese of mac!" I shout, rushing over to the car.

Sasori just laughs as he follows me to the car. Ino and Gaara climb into the back and Sasori pulls out and we begin home. I'd hate to admit how much I had grown to love spending time with these three. Ino is so sweet and I could tell her anything, Gaara is stoic and I enjoy talking to him in art class, and Sasori although I had hated him at first I was growing a lot closer with. I guess that happens when you need someone at your back changing your bandages and driving you places. We stopped by the Tea Shoppe on our way home, and buy a whole bunch of cookies and our usual drinks. We would devour the cookies as soon as we got home, watch a movie, and then move on to the Mac making and devouring. The smell of chocolate and pumpkin hangs in the air, the Tea Shoppe was taking out a tray of fresh cookies. Sasori and I already had our usual drinks and were sitting down while Ino and Gaara ordered the cookies, Gaara took cookies very seriously.

"Hey what are we going to do about my costume?" Sasori asks, taking a sip at his coffee.

"Well you know how we have an afternoon shift at work tomorrow?" he nods, "And that afterwards we're going to the party?"

"Yeah, please elaborate."

"Well before work we are going to IParty and I have the best idea to take the costume you already have and change it into something even better." I gush, spinning my cocoa cup around in my hand.

"Care to tell me what that is?" he asks with a smirk on his lips.

"Nope, it's going to be a surprise." I wink.

"What exactly are you doing for your costume?" he asks.

"Another surprise my dear," I say, standing up as Gaara and Ino come over, "Time to go."

Later in the night we were sitting around on the couch, an old cowboy movie playing across the screen and empty bowls from dinner still lying dirty on the coffee table. Ino and Gaara had already curled up around each other and fallen asleep. I had my legs thrown over Sasori's lap, my head resting on his shoulder, he has falling asleep. I could tell by the way his chest was slowly rising and falling, my head moving with his breathing. Ok so now you're all probably thinking stuff because I'm cuddling with Sasori, but it isn't like that. He is just really comfortable, and he does smell rather good, and my only source of comfort. He's the only one who knows that my parents are never home, I haven't even told Ino and the others. I curl closer to him, and he sighs lightly and places his hand more firmly on my hip bone and his other placed just above my knee. His head falls gently on top of mine and he lets out one last sigh before he seems to fall asleep. I always feel more comfortable when he was asleep; when he's awake he will try not to touch me as much. Which I appreciate I suppose, he's a gentlemen when he tries to be. But when he is asleep it's easier to get closer to him, to get comfort from his cold skin and be lulled by his easy breathing. I don't have a crush on him if that's the idea you're getting, I just like being near him, he's got good energy. My eyes begin to droop, I'm getting tired myself. I push myself closer to him, keeping aware of his slow steady breathing. I take a peek at the other two inhabitants of the couch and see that Ino is cradled in Gaara's arms as pure usual. Gaara is asleep, he usually sleeps when he has Ino in his arms, another thing he loves about her, his insomnia isn't as bad when she is near. With a final content sigh I let my body fully sink into Sasori's, my eyes closing.

"So you're telling me I have to drive you to IParty to buy a costume I have no say in?" Sasori asks, slipping a few slices of toast onto my plate.

"Pretty much," I say, taking a bite of dry toast, "you'll like it."

"Somehow I'm not sold on this at all," Sasori grumbles and takes a seat next to me.

We were the only two up, Ino and Gaara were sleeping in, they didn't have to work, lucky ducks. Sasori and I didn't start our shift until eleven, which gave us time to hang around the IParty. Although I mostly want to go to get his costume, I have some things for my costume I still need. I finish my toast quickly and call the bathroom before Sasori, who growls and calls me a midget bitch. The bathroom is painted white with sandstone tiling on the floor. The shower is made of an orange mosaic tile; Sasori's grandmother designed it herself apparently. I turn on the shower and step in, smiling as the Luke warm water hits my face. It reminds me of home, I'd always get stuck taking a shower after Nori, and she loved to take long showers. So I would always get stuck with the hot water falling into cold, I'd grown to enjoy it though. Sasori's water was always like this, they couldn't really figure out why but I was ok with it. I threw some of Sasori's shampoo in my hair, because it annoyed him and finished up quickly. The scent of Sasori dancing in my nose, spicy and cinnamon, I pick up my towel off the floor.

I had forgotten to take my clothes in with me in my rush to win the bathroom first; I ring out my hair and prepare to run to Sasori's room. I peek out of the door, my heart racing with adrenaline, I can't believe I'm about to do this. I hold the towel tightly around myself and bolt forward and towards Sasori's room, just when I think I'm in the clear, pow. I slam right into Sasori who is exiting his room with a towel thrown over his naked shoulder wearing nothing but his boxers. The awkwardness of the moment hangs around us. We simply stand there, his hands on my shoulders; he caught me before I could fall forward. I feel a blush cross my cheeks and flush the rest of my body, he flushes lightly as well. Finally we both snap back into our proper mind sets, he rushes to the bathroom and I run towards into his bedroom and lock myself in. My heart is beating rapidly, that was so weird. I take another deep breath, feeling the blush start to leave my skin. I walk over to the drawer I claimed in Sasori's room, I pull out some undergarments and slip them on before grabbing a pair of black leggings, and a bright purple dress with green and black little bats on them. It goes down to my knees and is very flowy, the top ruffled almost like a blouse. I towel dry my hair and draw a braid threw it, deciding that my hair would look nice naturally curly. My heart beat is finally under control and my hands have stopped shaking.

I distract myself by setting out my Halloween costume for the party. I had a dark green corset with black stitches and brass buttons running down the chest. A white shirt with a ruffled front and off the shoulder sleeves is what I'm going to wear underneath it. I have a pair of really tight black pants and a pair of brown heels that look old fashioned. I still need a belt and some fake weapons preferably a sword and gun to wear with it. I had decided to dress as the Princess from Fable 3, and I was liking my decision more and more as my outfit came together. I write down the items I should look for on a post it note and shove it in my purse. I slip on my black wedges and step out of Sasori's bedroom. I make my way to the living room; the shower in the bathroom is still going. God that was an embarrassing situation, I cringe and try once more to remove it from my mind. I hear a rustling from the couch and see Gaara stirring from his slumber; he looks around the room, then down at Ino who is leaning into his body. He lets a smile fall onto his face and he places his head down and seems to fall back to sleep. I smile and am tempted to get my camera and take a picture but decide not to. They really are adorable together; I wonder when I will find someone. I feel a hand touch my shoulder and I turn quietly to see Sasori, dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a red and black plaid shirt. He gestures towards the door and I nod, grabbing my purse we head to the garage. It's a little chilly and I shiver slightly in my dress. I hop into the front seat and soon we are rolling down the street towards IParty. I have Sasori's outfit all planned out in my mind, and I know he will totally go for it. We are going to continue with the zombie theme, except we are going to make him a Zombie Puppet. The joint parts, wood rot and termite spots, the works for a dead puppet. All I really needed for him was a ripped up zombie suit of some kind and it would be easy doing the rest. I start to bounce up and down with excitement when we finally pull into the parking lot. He sighs and watches as I bolt out of his car and begin to skip happily towards the Halloween store. I run inside quickly, not even waiting to see if Sasori is following me.

Sasori's POV

I let out a sigh as I see Mayumi disappear into the front door of the store. I slide my car keys into my pocket and follow, it's the day before Halloween, how crowded could it be? As soon as I stepped into the door I was greeted by a mass group of people shuffling around, trying on costumes, throwing costumes, dancing with boas, there was even a clown girl uni-cycling down the aisles. Apparently an IParty the day before Halloween was like Black Friday. I scan the front of the store trying to spot Mayumi but no such luck. She's so short anyway it would be difficult to spot her. I sigh and begin to search, trying to avoid some of the odd people walking through. I wonder what she is thinking of putting me in. I cringe as I pass a section of pink girlie men costumes, as long as it's not that. After tripping over costumes and scanning down aisles I finally find her looking at a bunch of makeup with her head tilted to the side like a puppy, it's rather adorable. I freeze and smack my head at the thought. I make it to her side to see her reaching for a package of brown, green, and black makeup. She turns to look at me and gives me a smile before grabbing my hand and dragging me to another location the store.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up," She says, pulling us into a costume aisle, "I found the perfect attire for you." She smiles as we stop in front of a section with different torn and tattered clothing.

"The pirate one is out of the question of course but the ripped tuxedo will work best for your outfit." She says, pointing towards a ripped up tux outfit, "It kind of makes me think of a Zombie prom date."

"This would be a lot better if I knew what you were dressing me up as." I sigh, scratching the back of my head, "Hidan's already a zombie, I don't want to take his idea."

"Well you're going to be a very different kind of Zombie let's just say," She chuckles, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "Grab your size, we're getting the tux."

I sigh and flip through a few of the costumes until I find my size. As soon as it's off the rack Mayumi clamps her hand down around my wrist and begins to drag me into another location of the store. This one is filled with different types of fake weapons. I watch as she takes a few different fake guns off the wall, looks them over in the palm of her hand, and mumbles to herself in an adorable fashion. I sigh and tug a bit at my hair, trying to get another thought out of my head. Mayumi lets out another girlish chuckle and I turn just in time to see her running down into another aisle like a kid. I follow behind her as best I can; it's almost like hide and seek, except I'm the only one really playing. I find her once again pulling out a thick looking brown belt that has fake leather qualities to it. She smiles and tries it around her waist, watching as it slides down to an angle on her small hips.

"Why do you love Halloween so much?" I ask, not even aware that the question had slipped through my lips; she turns to me with the brightest smile.

"It was always a family holiday," she answers quietly, "Christmas was never fun because we never had the money for Christmas presents but Halloween was the best time of year. My parent's never wanted us to go out alone Trick or Treating, since the neighborhood was so bad. So we'd all go walking around in our homemade costumes and get four pillowcases full of candy. But that's not all we would do. We'd take the day off of school if we had it and have a breakfast of pumpkin pancakes, then we'd go apple picking, then we'd go to a haunted house and then finally go Trick or Treating, it was just the best. It was the only time that I felt like we were a family." The sad little smile on her lips is enough to make me smile.

"It sounds nice," I whisper, a plan already formulating in my head for the Thirty First of October.

Mayumi's P.O.V.

With my final costume items purchased, and all of the stuff for Sasori's costume we head over to the Tea Shoppe for some pumpkin Coffee's before arriving at work. The whole store for the first time I had ever seen it is crowded with people, buying glue, paints, and all other types of things one may need for a Halloween emergency. Kakashi was nowhere in sight, which Sasori continued to complain about as the lines began to pile up and the customers more impatient. It was around the time where employees should be getting a break when I noticed it. In the corner of the back register area sat a scarecrow, all tucked up in the corner. I have to admit, it creeps me the fuck out. I did my best to ignore the ratty thing and keep the lines moving at my register. When my customer line ended I found myself staring at it. Its straw hat had tears in it with tuffs of straw sticking out. It wore a flannel shirt and a pair of very long ripped up jeans with more straw sticking out. Then in my moments of staring at this object it moved. I froze; ok I did not just see that, it can't be moving, I must be crazy. Then it moves again, it raises its head, revealing a bag like face with blood around its mouth, I can't help it.

"Sasori!" I scream, running over to his register and jumping onto him.

"What, what is it?" he asks, grabbing my waist, I bury my head into his neck.

"The scarecrow in the corner is trying to kill me!" I cry.

"What?" He asks, "Holy shit!"

I look up and see the scarecrow limping towards us with its hand extended. I push my body closer into Sasori's side, god this is horrifying. For one thing the monster is a freak show, but I'm putting my life in Sasori's hands. The beast reaches its hand up to its head, and I'm afraid it's going to rip off its head and reveal its scary monster abilities. Slowly the mask and hat fall back and reveals….silver hair.

"Wow were you really scared? Iruka said it was a stupid costume!" Kakashi jests.

"You bastard!" I scream, "That's not fucking funny!"

"Not to mention the fact that we've been struggling with overcrowded registers!" Sasori chimes in.

"Oh it gave you too some time to bond, and by the looks of it you're still bonding," he said with a raise of his eyebrow.

"What do you mean!" we yell in unison.

"Well you're holding each other."

I felt a light blush coat my cheeks at the realization, Sasori and I were still clinging to each other. We immediately retracted our limbs and just stared. Well this is the second most embarrassing moment of the day, although this morning's towel incident tops this by far. Its awkward, god I hate this and Kakashi the stupid bastard caused this with his fucking scarecrow costume. Some boss he is.

"Fuck this I'm done for the afternoon," I shout, walking into the back room and clocking out.

A few minutes later Sasori walks in and copies me, we collect our items in silence. We step out of the building and simply stand as the door slams loudly behind us. It's slow as if in sync, but we look at each other and it seems we have a joint thought, Sasori voices it.

"Did we just rage quit?" he asks.

"Yes, we did." I answer.

Then we burst out laughing, crazy deep from the gut laughing. I have to grip his shoulder to keep from falling to the ground with how hilarious it is. Even more so when Kakashi walks outside in his full costume and I realize he isn't wearing shoes. He simply stares at us as we laugh about Rage and Kakashi's pale rather hobbit looking feet.

"If you two are done," he sighs, "I really need you to finish your shift, I'll pay you double for the last hour just please, come back in."

"Fine," I say, "Throw in a bag of whoppers and you got a deal."

"Whoppers?" Sasori asks in a surprised tone.

"Disgusting," Kakashi mumbles.

"Hey don't be dissing Whoppers or we will be leaving!"

"I actually like Whoppers," Sasori says, "Weird."

"Fine I'll buy you guys whoppers just come finish your shift, I can't handle all of the customers on one register!"

With the promise of whoppers and double our salary for the last hour we both agree to come work the last hour. During which Sasori and I discovered we like a lot of the same candies, strange.