Hey, it's me again! Here's Chapter 10! ^_^
Chapter 10
A few days later, the team from Suna finally reached the gates of Konoha for the Chuunin Exams. After checking in at the gates and the hotel, Baki went off somewhere, leaving his students to their own devices. Temari immediately dragged Kankuro and Rika to the nearest store, while Gaara stayed behind to meditate.
"Temari, stop! You're going to tear my arm off if you keep dragging me." Kankuro whined, dreading his fate. Temari ignored him and continued to pull him until they reached a clothing store.
"C'mon! In here," the blonde entered the store, Kankuro following against his own will. He glanced at Rika, silently pleading for help.
Rika laughed. "I'm going to go check out the bookstore across the street, okay? Bye!" She told Temari before crossing the street to investigate the interesting-looking bookstore.
"Hello, young miss. Can I help you?" The older man behind the counter greeted as the brunette entered the store.
Rika smiled, "No, I'm just browsing." She headed to the back of the store where the familiar chakra signal was coming from. She had noticed it as soon as she and her team had entered the village. She blushed when she realized the section she was heading to: the Adult Literature.
"Aren't you a bit young to be reading these books?" A male voice asked from behind. Rika turned quickly, her hand poised to draw a kunai from her weapon pouch. The man held his hands up in surrender. "Easy, now. I'm sorry if I surprised you, but you don't usually find children in this part of the store."
Rika relaxed slightly, her hand hanging at her side. "It's okay. I was just looking for someone."
"Oh? Who might you be looking for?" The man raised an eyebrow. His face was mostly covered, except for his right eye and the surrounding area. His silver hair stuck up at an unusual angle away from his head. The lower half of his face was covered by a mask, while his left eye was covered by his hitai-ate.
"I'm not really sure who. I was following a chakra signal that seemed familiar." Rika smiled sheepishly, suddenly finding the floor interesting to look at.
The silver-haired man chuckled. "You're not from around here, are you?"
"No, sir. I'm here with my team for the Chuunin Exams. My name's Rika Takashi," she held out her hand.
The man shook her hand. "I'm Kakashi Hatake. Would your mother happen to be Nana Takashi?"
Rika drew back, shocked. "How did you know my mother?"
Kakashi looked strangely at the girl before him. "Few are in the shinobi business and don't hear of the Cold-Blooded Terror of the Sand. I consider her one of my friends. How is she?"
Rika frowned. Her mother, the sweetest lady, was the Cold-Blooded Terror of the Sand? "She died, five years ago next month."
Kakashi's face fell, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know." He shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts. "Well, it was a pleasure meeting the daughter of a close friend. I'll be seeing you around, Rika-chan." The man waved, his eye crinkling in a smile. Rika watched the man leave, confused.
"Wait, he was the chakra source I was following!" She smacked herself on the forehead, quickly following Kakashi. But, instead of finding the man, she came across her teammates. Kankuro was holding a little kid off the ground by his neck, Temari just standing and watching with a worried look. There was also a blonde boy being held back by a pink-haired girl and another girl with black hair. Two other little kids watched with scared looks.
"Kankuro! Just what do you think you are doing? Put him down, now." Rika ordered the older teen, an icy glare on her face.
Kankuro looked to see who was behind him and gulped. "Okay. Sorry Rika, but they started it." He dropped the boy and the other kids ran to see if he was okay.
"Shut up Kankuro, before I kill you. You're a disgrace." That was Gaara; he had used his sand to appear in the tree next to them. He then dropped down to stand next to Rika. A black-haired boy with chicken-styled hair also got down from the tree to stand next to the others across from the Sand Genin.
"R-right, Gaara. Sorry," Kankuro stuttered, scared.
Rika turned to the little boy that Kankuro had tried choking. "Are you okay? I'm sorry for how my teammate acted." She apologized, knowing that Kankuro wouldn't. "Here, let me see," She tilted the boy's head to see his throat. She saw the bruises starting to show and frowned, forming healing chakra in her hand and placing the hand on the boy's throat, instantly healing the bruises. She smiled at the boy before turning to her team.
"Kankuro! What were you thinking? And Temari! Why didn't you stop him? o you know what could have happened if I didn't stop you when I did? You could have killed the boy and ruined all chances of keeping peace between our village and Konoha! You idiots!" She ranted, glaring. "And you," She pointed to Gaara. "Don't threaten your siblings with death!"
Temari and Kankuro looked apologetic, while Gaara just glared at the younger girl. They knew she was right, but Gaara didn't care to be bossed around by anyone. If it was anybody else besides Rika, they would be dead by now.
The brunette from Suna turned to the kids behind her, her mood instantly changing. "Well, I'll be seeing you all. Bye!" She turned and grabbed Kankuro and Gaara by the arm and dragged them back in the direction to the hotel, Temari following behind.
"Wait! What's your name?" The black-haired boy asked, stepping forward. The Sand Genin stopped and turned around.
"Who, me?" Temari asked, fluttering her eyes at the boy.
He scoffed, "No, the boy with gourd and the other girl." Temari's face fell, causing Kankuro to chuckle and Rika giggled.
Gaara looked the boy in the eye. "My name is Sabaku no Gaara, and this is Rika Takashi. And you?"
"Uchiha. Sasuke Uchiha."
"Hey, I bet you're dying to know my name, right? I'm Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki!" The blonde boy exclaimed enthusiastically.
Gaara stared at the boy for a moment, "I could care less." He wrapped a possessive and protective arm around Rika when he noticed the way Uchiha was looking at her, like a piece of meat.
Rika giggled at the way the blonde's face fell. "Nice to meet you Naruto. Who are you two?" She directed the last part to the two unnamed girls.
The pinkette stepped forward, "I'm Sakura Haruno."
"And I'm Kei Himura. I'm gonna be Hokage someday!" The black-haired girl grinned.
Naruto whipped around. "No, you're not! I'm going to be Hokage!"
Kei laughed, "Yeah right! Who in their right mind would pick you as Hokage when they could choose me?" The two were toe to toe. Sakura stepped up behind them and whacked their heads together.
"Alright you two, that's enough." Sakura chastised before turning to the Sand nin. "Why are you guys here? Yes, our villages are allies, but the ninja can't come and go as they please."
Temari scoffed. "These are the Leaf Genin? Don't you know anything? We're here for the Chuunin Exams." She flashed her passport as proof. The others showed theirs as well.
"The... Chuunin Exams?" Naruto tested the words, confused.
"The exams for Genin to become Chuunin. Our team was chosen from our village." Rika explained, smiling. She wanted to get to know Naruto better. He seemed like a great person to have as a friend.
"C'mon, Rika, we need to check in with Baki-sensei." Gaara tugged at the girl, his arm still around her waist. Rika looked at him strangely but didn't say anything as she waved goodbye to the Leaf Genin.
"Bye Rika-chan, see ya later!" Naruto yelled, waving back enthusiastically. Kei smacked him upside the head, waving with her other hand, but not as energetically as the blonde.
Rika giggled, "Bye Naruto-kun." When the Suna team were far enough away, she turned to the red-head that still had his arm around her middle. What was wrong with him? Gaara was never this touchy-feely, even as a child. "Gaara, what's wrong? We don't have to check in with Baki-sensei until dinnertime."
Temari and Kankuro turned to listen because they were also curious in their brother's actions.
Gaara frowned. "I didn't like the way that Uchiha was looking at you. He was staring at you like you were a piece of meat and he wanted to eat you. But you're not his, you're mine!" He growled, a bit of Shukaku's influence slipping through.
Let's go back and kill him. How dare he even look at our Rika-chan like that! The demon snarled, enraged and trying to get loose. Gaara let go of Rika and gripped his head. "No, no. You can't get out." He choked out, fighting the tanuki for control.
"Gaara, are you okay?" Rika cautiously placed a hand on the boy's back, unsure of what she should do. When Gaara didn't react, Rika gently and slowly turned the jinchūriki so he was facing her and cradled his cheek. This time, Gaara unconsciously leaned into the touch.
"Rika? Will you be okay if Kankuro and I go ahead to the hotel?" Temari asked, fear lacing her voice. At the nod from the younger girl, Temari quickly dragged her make-up wearing brother off to where they were staying.
"Gaara, talk to me, please. I want to help you," Rika looked into eyes full of pain and suffering. Cyan was starting to turn yellow. "Gaara, please don't give up. I believe in you. And about that chicken-haired boy, I would never willingly go anywhere with him, not unless you were there. Honestly, I find him a bit scary and freaky. I promise I will never, ever leave you." She removed her hand from Gaara's cheek and held back a giggle when the boy frowned and growled at the lost of contact before wrapping her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.
Slowly, Shukaku started to calm down at the contact with the brunette girl. In turn, Gaara started to relax and returned the hug. "Thank you, Rika," He murmured into the shorter girl's hair. Rika pulled back a bit to grace the red-head with a smile.
"You're welcome. Should we head to the hotel to meet up with Temari and Kankuro?" Gaara nodded, reluctantly releasing his hold.
Rika grasped Gaara's hand in her own and started to head to where they were staying. Fifteen minutes later, the two entered the hotel suite assigned to the Sand Siblings, Rika, and Baki. Temari looked up from making minor repairs on her fan, relief evident in her expression.
"There you two are! Kankuro and I were starting to get worried!" The blonde kunoichi rushed to embrace Rika and hesitated before also including Gaara in the hug.
"Temari, they need to breath at some point in order to keep living." Kankuro muttered loud enough for his sister to hear as he entered the room. He flinched at the icy glare he got from his older sibling as Rika and Gaara were released.
"Shut up Kankuro!" Temari yelled, her face turning red. She chased after Kankuro, trying to main her brother in some way. Kankuro laughed and ran.
Rika giggled at the antics of the two teens. She leaned back against the wall, smiling. 'If only we could stay like this,' she wished fervently. The brunette felt the weight of Gaara's stare on her and turned to acknowledge the red-haired boy. "Do you need something, Gaara?"
"Why? Why aren't you scared of me like Temari, Kankuro, and everyone else?" The twelve year old asked, a look of puzzlement crossing his face. Even when he had killed mercilessly in front of the younger girl, Rika had never shown fear. It bothered and confused the jinchūriki to no end.
Rika sighed and was silent for a moment before answering. "You ask why I am not scared of you, but do you ever ask the others why they are scared? You have never shown me reason to be scared of you. I know that you would never harm me on purpose, so why should I be frightened? But don't think I'm not scared, because I am, just not in the way others are. I'm scared for you. I'm scared that, someday, you might not be able to hold Shukaku off and end up losing your sanity and who you are." 'And how could I be scared of the one I love?' But of course, she did not voice this out loud, for fear of losing the friendship she had worked so hard to rebuild with the silent boy. "I trust you, Gaara. With my life."
Before anything else could be said between the two, Kankuro strolled nonchalantly back in the room, Temari nowhere in sight. "Rika, I'm hungry! What's for dinner?" The puppeteer took note of the blush on the girl he thought of as a little sister and he could almost cut the tension in the air. "Did something happen that I should know about?" He questioned suspiciously. "You two didn't do anything, did you?"
Rika's blush became more pronounced at the older boy's words. "No! Why would you think that, Kankuro?" She laughed nervously before asking where Temari was.
Kankuro shrugged, "I don't know. Last I knew, she was chasing a clone I-here she comes." He ducked, avoiding two shurikun that flew through the window, followed by an enraged blonde kunoichi.
"Kankuro, you idiot! You made me look like a fool! I ought to-" She paused and turned to Rika. "Why is your face red? Are you blushing? What happened? Tell me!"
Rika sighed, knowing that she had no choice but to tell the older girl. So she whispered what had occurred into the wind-user's ear, her blush intensifying.
Kankuro turned to his younger brother. "Do you know what she's saying?"
Gaara answered with a blank stare that said "And why should I tell you?" before turning and retreating to the room that he was assigned to.
The brunette boy sighed and went to his own room. He had better things to do, anyway, besides listen to the girls gossip. Like working on his puppets in preparation for the exams.
After Rika finished explaining what happened, Temari smiled softly, thanking whatever deity was listening that the young girl in front of her was part of their lives. Rika had done so much for the three siblings, and she probably didn't even realize it. The eleven year old had taken on the job of mothering them when she had moved in for a while after her mother died.
"Hey, how did you calm Gaara down earlier?" Temari asked, honestly curious. Rika was the only one to ever calm the boy down so Shukaku wouldn't get out and wreak havoc. In fact, Gaara could only sleep if he was near the brunette girl.
"I don't know, honestly. I just reacted on instinct. I have a feeling that Shukaku calms down if I'm in the vicinity or in contact with Gaara, but it's just a theory." Rika sighed, silently hoping that was true because it would mean that Gaara, or at least Shukaku, had some feelings for her. "Temari, what do we do if something happens during the exams and I can't get to Gaara?"
Temari shrugged. "I don't know, but don't worry about it. With you here, nothing could go wrong. You're our good luck charm." She smirked, gently elbowing the younger girl in the side. "If you worry too much, you'll get wrinkles and gray hair prematurely."
Rika gasped, remembering the man from the bookstore. "Oh my goodness! I totally forgot something! I'll be back in a while, promise." With that, she exited through the window, running down the side of the building.
"Rika, wait! Oh, never mind. What are we going to do with that girl?" Temari sighed, face palming. Kankuro peeked out his door, hearing the commotion.
"What's going on? Where did Rika go?"
"Oh, I don't know. She just up and left, saying she forgot something."
Unbeknownst to the two, Gaara had slipped out of the suite and was tailing Rika, thinking to himself. 'How could she leave without saying where she was going? What if something happened and we didn't know where to look for her?' Boy, it sounds like you like Rika-chan, and as more than a friend. Shukaku cackled, getting a kick out of annoying his host into insanity.
'Shut up. I'm trying to concentrate.' Gaara snarled in his head to the demon. Shukaku answered with another evil chuckle.
So, what did you think? Please review! For the past few chapter, I've only had one person reviewing. Thanks NC. Rose!
Peace out! n_n ~Elfgurl96