(819): Sup?

(102): Hiya!

(819): You got anything to say?

(102): Yes. Please, someone else beside Megumi-sama read my fic! It's the only one I'll have on there since I deleted my last story and it has pictures! Orochimaru is in it and it's full of vampyres! Please read it!

Disclaimer: We don't own nothin'.


Ch.11: Possibly the Strangest and Most Violent Holiday of the Year (Aside From Black Friday)

Sasuke awoke to the smell of hot rice billowing into the air with just a hint of…

'Carrots?'

Sasuke looked up to find, indeed, a small mound of carrots rolled inside rice and nori sitting on the group of tables in the middle of the room. He walked over, looking past Naruto and Sakura to ask, "What the hell is that?"

Amaya replied in a similarly disgusted tone. "It's supposed to be sushi."

"Supposed to be?" he asked.

"We were supposed to make sushi," Megumi began, "but…"

"But those stupid idiots screwed it up! They didn't have enough rice! They didn't prepare the ingredients correctly! They didn't even have any tuna!" Amaya screamed angrily.

"What she said," Megumi stated eloquently.

Naruto smiled uneasily. "Calm down, it can't be that bad." He popped a piece into his mouth and his lips puckered. Sakura sent him a blank look. "That bad?"

He swallowed roughly. "Yeah."

Sasuke watched as Gaara ventured a piece and immediately began pounding his chest after swallowing. "It tastes like sand," he stated and after living in a desert his whole life, he would know.

As Sakura watched Megumi write a sign and place it over the sushi saying 'Caution, biohazard. Eat at your own risk.' Sakura had to wonder. "Why don't we just make our own?" she suggested gaining peculiar looks from every male around her. "What?"

"You suggested we make our own," Sasuke stated.

"Yes…Anything wrong with that?"

"Sakura, not to be rude or anything, but…your cooking sucks," Kakashi stated bluntly.

"No, it doesn't," Sakura said.

"Sakura-chan, when we were genin and you said you were going to cook, you burnt the rice and you set the fish on fire. We had to eat my ramen that night. As much as I hate to say it, sensei is right; your cooking sucks," Naruto said as he remembered that night. Though it was nice that Sakura said she'd cook, they never trusted her with cooking duty again.

Sakura blinked innocently. "No, it doesn't."

"Sakura, really, we're serious. Naruto is a better cook than you," Sasuke said knowing full well that all Naruto could really cook was salad and sandwiches. Anything outside the realm of instant ramen and those two items was automatically burned and deemed inedible.

"You guys do realize you've been had, right?"

The males of Team 7 blinked. "Huh?"

"All kunoichi know how to cook," Gaara stated.

"I'd be unfit to call myself a kunoichi if I didn't know how to cook," Sakura stated.

"Really?" Naruto asked.

"Yup. Name anything you want, I've probably made it."

"Onigiri?"

"Yup."

"Miso soup?"

"Yup."

"Sushi?" Gaara asked.

"Yup. Come on, guys; it's not like I'm going to kill you by cooking," Sakura said laughingly. At the uneasy look her male companions were giving her, she frowned. "Don't you guys trust me?" she asked.

"Yes…" they replied.

"So you'll let me cook?"

"Fine," Sasuke acquiesced and Sakura smiled. "You won't regret it."

And they didn't. It was some of the best damn sushi they ever had.


It wasn't long until Halloween came. After all, it was only two days after Megumi's birthday and the day after the sushi failure.

It was dark outside and the halls were empty and in the middle of the night, two figures snuck into the teacher's lounge.


Sakura flipped the pages of the magazine in her hand. Some teen fashion magazine. Strange that even though it was a teen magazine, the fashion seemed to be more for some no-holds-bar, paparazzi-flashing heiress (she'd learned that from her new female friends. Quite handy actually).

As she flipped the pages absentmindedly, she saw Gaara reading a book by a man named Charles Dickens, Kakashi reading Icha Icha, Naruto playing with a plastic top he found in the courtyard, and Sasuke dozing against the wall. She chuckled to herself. Sasuke always chose the strangest places to sleep. When they were genin, he'd sleep far away from them, even if it meant on a rock or an uncomfortable tree branch. Once, she even found him sleeping upside down from Naruto's ceiling.

Smiling to herself, she turned the page and heard the door open. Looking up, she saw Megumi and Amaya at the top of the stairs, but they looked different. Amaya wore a white dress with ruffles, black satin at the hem of each ruffle and a black satin ribbon around her waist and neck. She also had her hair in curls and makeup on with a pair of white stockings and a pair of black Mary-Jane shoes. She looked like a porcelain doll.

Megumi wore a black dress that trailed behind her. It had a clean-cut plunging neckline with triangular scraps of fabric around the neckline. There was a slit at the left side of her thigh that widened to expose her left leg and (at the right angle) part of her right. The back end of the dress was tattered and her sleeves hung loosely at her wrists. She wore black heels, had black nail polish, and on her head was a wide-brim witch hat with a purple ribbon and a gold buckle.

Megumi smirked at the stunned faces below her before sliding down the rail and landing with ease at the bottom. "What?" She tugged on the neckline. "Too revealing?"

"Y-y-you're wearing a dress," Naruto stammered.

"Yes…"

"We've never seen you wear a dress," Sakura said looking the girl over and saw she got a hair cut. It was layered and her bangs fell over her right eye and cheek.

"Yes. It's a rare occasion that Megumi-sama wears a dress, but she wanted to be a witch for Halloween and it was part of the costume. Speaking of costumes," Amaya said. "Ja-an!" she cried as both girls pulled out clothing from the large paper bags.

"Um, what are those?" Sasuke asked.

"Halloween costumes."

"But you guys already have costumes on," Naruto pointed out. Amaya giggled. "They're for you guys."

"WHAT?!"

Megumi rolled her eyes. "You said that when Halloween came along, you'd dress up and come trick-or-treating with us. Don't you remember?"

Naruto blinked. He remembered that conversation.

"Nani? You were serious?"

"Halloween is always serious business," Megumi said handing him his costume before handing Sakura and Sasuke theirs, a pair of instructions tucked in each costume.

After that was done, the two girls walked over to the second floor of the teacher's lounge, listening to the sound of clothes hitting the ground. Frankly, the two of them really didn't care if they changed in front of them. Amaya had friends send her things on the internet that were probably worse and Megumi had a little brother that wouldn't and didn't know the meaning of modesty if it bit him in the ass. Thank god they had gotten separate rooms a few years ago.

Suddenly, the rustling stopped and the girls looked over the balcony or the stairs before walking back down. Sasuke looked disapprovingly at his costume. It was a baggy T-shirt and matching pants in a sea-foam color with bandages coated in red paint that encompassed most of his body. He frowned.

"This is degrading."

"Speak for yourself, teme. I look hot!" Naruto said as he titled his hat slightly and cracked his whip. "What are you supposed to be anyway?"

"I'm supposed to be a patient with bloodied bandages," Sasuke replied, cringing as the bandages on his left wrist sagged limply. He sighed and began unwrapping it. "What are you supposed to be?"

"I'm India John!" Naruto proclaimed proudly and Megumi chuckled behind him as she helped straighten his clothes. "I think you mean Indiana Jones," she said pulling on his brown jacket.

"Right," Naruto said with a foxy grin on his face before turning to Sakura. "What are you supposed to be, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura's costume was a white button-up short-sleeve shirt with a white mini-skirt that went mid-thigh. On her shirt were two red crosses, the same going for the small hat that rested on her head. She had white stockings with white heels and a stethoscope around her neck. She frowned and Sasuke rolled his eyes. "She's a nurse, genius."

"Ohhh…"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room…

Gaara glared, blatantly showing his disdain for the costume provided for him. It was all black (which he fully appreciated), but it was the way it was made. Black boots with black leather pants and a matching shirt; buckles adorning every inch of the clothing, including the boots. "No."

"But it's J-rock, Gaara-sama. J-rock is greatly appreciated and besides, that's not all of the costume."

"There's more?" he asked, his eye twitching slightly. Dear Kami-sama in the sky, what was it? A matching mask?

Amaya smiled. "Of course, silly. I still have to do the make-up!"

At this, Gaara's face became stony. "No."

"Please?" she asked, her lips quavering as her eyes became wide and glossy and somewhere in the world, a man cried at the cuteness. Gaara, on the other hand, having been dealt with his hormonal sister (since Gaara became mentally stable, she was safe to release three years of backed-up hormones) who, whenever she wanted something, would pout and whine and cry. After a few weeks, he became immune (though Kankuro on the other hand…), and with his immunity, he looked her square in the eye. "No."

And then came the waterworks. "Wahhhhhh!" she cried and Gaara clamped his hands over his ears. God, she was worse than the time Temari wanted 'that cute top in the window' and some girl bought it before she could and since it was the last one, she cried for three fucking hours.

He sighed. There were only three ways to deal with a woman in this state.

Number one: Run away.

Nope. He had nowhere to run too. This was a safety zone from those freaks that tried to maul/rape him at the mall. In fact, this was the safety zone.

Number two: Kiss her.

Like with Temari, this answer came with a big fat red circle with a line going through it that screamed 'No.'

Leaving the third choice which was…

Gaara sighed and with a heavy heart, swallowed his pride and stuck out his hand. "Give it here."

Giving in and as soon as he did that, her tears stopped and he found himself encased in her arms. "Yay!!"

A blush encompassed his face. Sand. Where was his friggin' sand?

'Then again, if my sand did its job, she might be dead by now.'

He pushed her away. "Hn. How do you get this thing on me?" he muttered as he shrugged off his gourd and fumbled with the multiple buckles on the outfit.

She smiled. "Here…"

Megumi watched from the other side of the room as Amaya helped Gaara into his costume. It was a breeze for her. She'd been around clothes for years since she was a cosplayer. She even made her own clothes. A small mirror rested in Megumi's hand; she was going to ask her for help on Sakura's makeup since she didn't know a thing about makeup…or hair…or much about clothing (was there anything about the female persona that she did understand?), but Amaya was having a moment with Gaara and she'd leave the two alone. Suddenly, a frustrated groan was heard.

Megumi looked around the room. Naruto? No, busy arguing with Sasuke about their costumes. Sakura? Likely, seeing how she was getting annoyed by the two. Gaara? Probable, due to the fact that his costume was very complicated, but not likely. Amaya? No, she wasn't mad, and it wasn't her, so…

The raven-haired girl turned her head to see Kakashi looking at his clothes with disdain.

"Kakashi?"

The silver-haired man looked up in surprise, pausing the rant in his mind for the moment to pay attention to the girl. "Yes?"

"Is everything alright?"

Kakashi huffed and crossed his arms. Yes, he was acting like a child, but he had a very good reason. "No."

"Why not?"

"My costume makes a mockery of me," he replied calmly.

"Really?"

He could feel her look his costume over. A pair of tattered brown pants that went to his mid-calf, an old blue shirt with equally tattered sleeves that went past his wrists, bandages that wrapped around the lower portion of his torso, and a straw hat. Straw stuck out from various parts of his costume and in his hand was a raven plushie. She blinked up at him. "So? It's cute."

"So? So? Having my costume be a pun about my name is not cute. This costume is not cute; it itches. And this straw is poking in places that should not be touched with a piece of straw," he said muttering angry curses under his breath.

Really, it was bad enough that he had to dress up as something that mocked him, but the raven toy and the straw were too much. The only consolation was the fact he could keep his mask on. Oh well, at least he wasn't tacked to some wooden posts like a traditional scarecrow. That, and he had an eye patch which lead him to the question of why couldn't he have been a pirate?

Before he could further the thought, he felt something touch his hat and something leave his hand. Looking around his person, he found his hat tilted up slightly and the raven out of his hands and in hers. When she noticed him looking at her in question, she donned a smile and petted the toy. "What? You said it further mocked you and every witch needs her familiar."

Before he could ask her what she was really up to, Amaya climbed onto a table and shouted, "Okay, we're going to have a trick-or-treating contest. We'll split into groups of two with one group of three and we'll go around the neighborhood getting candy. Group with the most candy wins!"

"What do we win?" Sasuke asked. This made Amaya pause.

"Uhhh…you don't have to make popcorn for the movie later?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Aa." It beat doing manual labor. Carry a sack, steal some candy, how hard could it be?


With Gaara…

Gaara walked with a dark scowl, arms crossed over his chest with an air of boredom and disdain around him. He turned to the girl skipping cheerfully at his side, a Halloween pail in the shape of a ghost in her hands before letting his gaze stray to the blonde who was shouting to the skies about how he was going to fill his paper bag full of candy and beat Sasuke-teme. Gaara rolled his eyes.

"How did we get stuck with him again?"

"We drew straws and you drew the short straw," Amaya answered when Naruto stopped in the middle of the block. "Come on, Amaya-chan! I think I found a house!"

"Candy!" she squealed happily.

Gaara watched Amaya run towards him, her dress fluttering behind her as he walked slowly behind. He never understood this holiday. He understood the pagan ritual behind it, but commercialism seemed to have sucked the fun out of it. It was no longer about dressing up and scaring other people silly; it was about candy brands and strange objects to stick on your house. As he walked, he saw Amaya and Gaara jump around in a circle, a happy grin on their faces and Gaara had to wonder why he felt like this was going to be a baby-sitting job rather than an outing for free candy.

"Gaara, get your butt over here!"

"Gaara-sama, hurry up!" Amaya called out to him and it seemed that, as much as he wanted to go slower to spite Naruto, once Amaya called him over, his feet had other things in mind. Not wanting to even bother with fighting his body, he moved slightly faster and three minutes later, he was standing with them in the middle of the block.

The house they stood in front of was like many other houses on the block. Two stories, but unlike the Spanish-style houses beside it, this light blue house was Victorian in architecture. It had a well-kept lawn with a white picket fence in front and lawn flamingos and lawn gnomes. Along the brick walkway was a string of lanterns and in the windows were cut-outs of skeletons and bats. The three walked up the path (actually, two walked, the other was forcibly dragged) and rang the doorbell and an elderly woman opened the door, a pair of cat ears and six black streaks on her face. She was a cat.

"Trick or treat!"

"Ooh! Trick-or-treaters. My, what wonderful costumes," the woman smiled. Naruto gave her a grin. "Thanks!" Amaya gave a nod.

Gaara watched from the back as the woman gave them candy when she looked up at him. "Don't you want any candy too?"

He blinked. The question caught him off-guard. As much a he hated sweets, he didn't want to be the one have to microwave popcorn and smell like artificial butter. Hesitantly, he walked towards her and held out his generic paper bag. Judging by her expression, she couldn't make heads or tails of his costume. To be honest, he couldn't either. He just went with whatever Amaya said.

She looked at him expectantly and he blinked when he felt Amaya elbow him slightly. "Say trick or treat."

"Trick or treat," he murmured, but she kept looking at him. Apparently he hadn't said it loud enough, but before he could try again, he felt Naruto elbow him and he rubbed his arm and glared at the boy. "Smile, Gaara."

Smile? He wanted him to smile? Wasn't it bad enough that Amaya forced him to leave his gourd back at the school? Sure, he was exhibiting the classic signs of separation anxiety, but he never left without his gourd and when he did leave, he swore he could feel his sand's distress…or maybe that was his? But still, smile? Scowls, grim lines, hell, even a smirk, but a smile?! He sneaked a glance at Amaya to find her opinion on this matter when he saw her pouting up at him. Was the entire world against him on this matter?

Sighing in defeat, he held out his bag and forced the corner of his mouth to twitch into what he hoped was a smile. "Trick or treat."

The older woman paled and her eyes widened considerably. "Just take it! Just take it and go away!" she screamed, shoving the entire contents of her large glass bowl and the money from her purse before slamming the door. From inside, they could hear locks falling and the lights turn off and the curtains close.

They stood there, blank expressions on their faces as they blinked. Then Naruto reached into his bag and grinned. "Hey, twenty bucks!"

With Sasuke and Sakura…

"This is stupid."

"No, it isn't."

"Yes, it is."

"Okay, then how is it stupid?"

"Well?"

"Dammit, answer me, Uchiha!" Sakura shouted, hands on her hips as she leaned slightly towards him. Unfortunately, she didn't realize that she was giving him a very good view down the plunging neckline of her costume. All she saw was a flustered Uchiha.

"Hn."

Miffed, she turned away, but when she looked back, he saw that he was covered in girls, some as young as seven. A little girl walked up to him. "Hey mister, do you want some candy?"

He gave no response, but she went ahead anyway and reached into her bag. "It's a Crunch bar. They're my favorite, but I'll share them with you," she said dropping three into his paper bag. Sasuke paused and looked at his bag slowly before turning to her. Before he could stop himself, he smiled at the girl and ruffled her hair. His hands were calloused slightly from years of fighting, but she didn't seem to mind.

"Thank you."

The little girl smiled and hopped away to her mother before stopping to wave goodbye and began to walk away once more. The women stared after the tiny girl before looking into their own bags and grabbing handfuls to shove into his bag. "Do you like Skittles?"

"How about Butterfingers?!"

"I have chocolate!"

Sasuke watched, unfazed, but he smirked inwardly. This was easy.


Sakura watched as girls fawned over Sasuke while he stood calmly, almost looking like he was bored out of his wits. He probably was. I mean, getting chased by girls can only give you a thrill for so long before it gets old…or annoying. Sakura winced. 'Did that used to be me?'

'Yup.'

'God, I was so desperate back then.'

'Yup.'

'You know, that means you too?'

'I know. I've accepted it and dealt with it a long time ago.'

'You've matured a lot.'

'You haven't done too bad yourself.'

'Thanks.'

Suddenly, Sakura felt fingers wrap around her arm and she was ready to shout when she looked up and saw Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun?"

"Sorry girls, I already have a girlfriend," Sasuke shouted over his shoulder, eliciting disappointed moans from his female followers. Sakura blinked, her face as red as a beet.

"Ano, Sasuke-kun, I'm not—"

"Just shut up and walk Haruno," he said pulling her along as he walked briskly ahead. She turned to him testily and he glanced back and she followed his gaze to the group of menacing women huddled together sending her dirty looks.

So that's why he told her to move.


"How much did we get from her?" Sasuke asked as they departed yet another house. The elderly woman who handed them the candy looked at them strangely. Really, it was like she'd never seen a seventeen-yr-old teen wrapped in bandages and another one in a revealing nurse outfit.

"Three small candy bars and two lollipops," Sakura answered fingering the candies.

"She gypped us," he murmured.

"What?"

"She gypped us. The two little kids before us got three lollipops," he muttered.

"So? Jeez, Sasuke. It's just a contest to get out of making popcorn. All you do is stick it in a microwave. It doesn't matter if we win or lose."

Sasuke turned to face her, sharingan revealed as he clenched his jaw. "Uchihas never lose."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She looked around the block. 'Kindergarteners, little kids, little kids, giant bunny, turtle, ladybug, house lights are off, off, off, of—'

"Hey, how about there, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked pointing to the open garage door with strobe lights. When she heard no response, she turned to see Sasuke was still sulking about her comment about his need to win. 'Get over yourself,' she thought in annoyance.

"Are you coming, Sasuke?"

"Hn."

"Fine! I'll get the candy BY MYSELF and when I find Naruto, I'll give it TO HIM!" Crossing the street in a huff, she walked up the driveway and that's when Sasuke realized the full brunt of her words.

"Now now, Sakura, let's not do anything hasty," he said following her. She simply ignored him and walked up to the guy standing outside the garage. "Hey."

"Hey cutie. Come for the party?" the guy asked. He had blonde hair and brown eyes and was dressed up with a pair of devil horns, a trident, a red cloak, and was swinging his tail in his right hand.

"I don't have an invite," she said with a girlish smile.

"I'm sure I can get you in," he said smiling darkly and trailed a finger along her jaw line. She giggled. Sasuke seethed. 'Don't start what you can't finish, Haruno.'

"Actually, I wanted to ask if you had any candy. You see, my friends and I made a contest where whoever gets the most candy wins," Sakura said holding the paper bag in her hands. Sasuke watched like a hawk from the curb.

"Hey Josh, what are you doing out here and—hey, who's your friend?" asked the guy in the vampire costume.

"Sakura," the pink-haired medic introduced herself. The vampire smiled and took her hand and kissed it. "Enchantè," he murmured to her. She giggled. This would be a piece of cake.

"So Brandon, wanna help? She needs some candy for a contest."

"Sure. I'll get the guys."

Sasuke watched as the male named Brandon walked into the garage. As much as he'd like to slaughter the suspicious male, news of a murder in this suburb would raise suspicions and Sakura would not be pleased. Instead, he kept a leash on himself and waited patiently. Besides, he knew it was all an act. It was a common tactic in their line of work, but nonetheless, he didn't like it. Especially since she was dressed like that.

Soon, Brandon returned with a group of guys, each holding a bag of candy and Sasuke smirked to himself as they began entering the candy into her paper bag mindlessly; too busy drooling to really pay attention. Really, he didn't understand why everyone made a big deal about this. Trick-or-treating was a piece of cake. But he noticed the guys were moving around her and saw something. He ran.


Sakura smiled and laughed when Josh said she reminded him of this cartoon his little brother watched when she felt someone grab her by the shoulder and pull her away and she just managed to close the bag together with only two pieces of hard candy falling out of the bag.

She stumbled backwards, trying to keep pace with Sasuke as best she could as he pulled her backwards away from the house, only letting her stop when they reached the street corner. She tore herself out of his slackened grasp and turned around. "What the hell was that for?" she demanded, fists balled at her sides.

Sasuke snorted and folded his arms over his chest. "He pinched your butt."

Sakura's face fell. "Oh."

And they walked in silence after that and luckily for him, Sakura had forgotten all about giving her candy to Naruto.

With Kakashi and Megumi…

"Come on."

"No."

"Come on!"

"No."

"One more house. Please!"

"No."

"Come on!"

"No," snapped Kakashi. At her shocked face, he sighed and took off his hat, running slightly calloused fingers through silver hair. "Why do you even care? It's not that bad if we lose," he amended.

"I don't want to smell like artificial butter!" she shouted, one hand in the air as another pointed to herself. She took a breath and seemingly calmed down. "Look. One more house. My little brother got grounded and I promised to snag some candy for him cuz he missed out this year."

"Why doesn't he go buy some?"

"That's why he got grounded. My mom gave him money to buy the candy for the trick-or-treaters. He bought the candy, but he ate it all and my mom was so pissed, she grounded him after she had to clean up the vomit in the bathroom."

"Oh."

"And the little moocher begged me to get him some in exchange for some CD's he stole from me," she explained as they walked down the block.

"Oh…he stole from you?"

"Wouldn't be the first time. Damn klepto," she said rolling her eyes. "Oh wait. I think I see a house."

She led them to a white house with green trim. There were two hedges that bordered the stairway leading to the front door. They walked up, Megumi picking up her dress and Kakashi stuffing his hair back under his straw hat before she rang the doorbell. He could make out the sounds of heels before the door opened and his eye widened. In the doorway was a massive man wearing a white dress, a crown, white heels, wings, and makeup and—was that a wand in his hand?

"Hello."

Megumi blinked. "Trick or—Mr. Schmidt?"

The man blinked. "Megumi?"

Megumi grinned as Kakashi blinked. She knew this guy? "Hi Mr. Schmidt. How have you been?"

The man chuckled. "Oh, great. And look at you in that sexy little number," he said pointing his wand at her dress. She giggled. "Thanks."

"So you're a witch and—oh! You brought a friend. He's hot."

"He's taken," she said hastily and Kakashi sent her a grateful look as he tried to steady his heartbeat. The man smiled knowingly. "Okay, I won't bother your boyfriend anymore."

"He's not my boyfriend."

"I'm not her boyfriend," Kakashi interrupted.

"Really, it's fine. I won't tell your parents that you're dating an older man," Mr. Schmidt said.

"But--I'm--he's--forget it," Megumi said exhaustedly. Kakashi sent her a pitying look, not noticing the man's thoughtful one. "You know, the two of you remind me of Wicked."

"The Broadway show?"

"Yeah! I always knew I liked you for some reason. So, want some candy?" he asked.

"Um, sure." She held out the bag and the two watched as he dumped the entire bowl (which was quite a lot) into her bag. She looked up at him fretfully. "Are you sure we can take this much? I mean—"

"Go ahead. You guys are the only ones who came to my house."

"Oh."

After exchanging a few smiles and goodbyes and more pop culture references than Kakashi cared for, the two descended the stairs. "Bye Mr. Schmidt!"

"Bye you two. Get home safe and happy Halloween!"

The two walked down the block from his house. They were only three houses away when Kakashi spoke up. "So…how do you know him?"

"Oh, he was my teacher freshman year," she answered.

"And you weren't surprised that he wore that?"

She shook her head and moved her arms closer together. "Well, he dressed up as Dorothy that year. Besides, didn't Gai dress any weirder in Konoha?"

Kakashi nodded reluctantly. Really, he didn't know what was worse. The fact he just saw a man dressed up as 'Glinda the Good Witch' or that he just had a flashback of the time Gai thought it good to dress up as Tarzan in a loincloth and only a loincloth. He had nightmares for weeks after that.

"Are you okay?" she asked stopping him while accidentally pressing her chest against him.

No. No. No. No indefinitely. "Yes," he said waving her off.

Lying was always the best policy.


When they got back, the school was quiet. Then again, it was about 9:30 at night. Kakashi opened the door and let Megumi go inside before going in himself. As soon as he got into the room, he heard a bag drop and Megumi ask, "What happened to you?!"

Kakashi looked over the stair rail to see Gaara doubled over in pain as he coughed, Naruto and Megumi looking at him worriedly as he hissed in pain. Amaya came over with a glass of water. "An old lady pepper-sprayed him when we went trick-or-treating. Here, drink this," she said handing him a glass of water. He took it thankfully, but the coughing made it a problem for him to drink, but he managed to get a sip or two.

"You should rinse your eyes out," Megumi suggested and he nodded. Slowly, Sasuke and Naruto walked him over to the sink when Kakashi asked, "How do you know?"

She played with the crow plushie in her hands. "I, um…I kinda accidentally touched my eyes after chopping up a jalapeno pepper. My skin was burning for about an hour and after two hours, my eyes were okay again. When I did that, my mom told me to wash it off as best I could," she replied.

Kakashi blinked at the girl, trying to choose between gaping at her stupidity or fearing for her safety. Before he could ask why she did that, Gaara had returned from the sink. Amaya dabbed his eyelids with a paper towel when Sakura pushed them aside. "Gaara, I'm going to need you to open your eyes, okay?"

Gaara nodded, but as soon as he did, he shut them again. "It burns," he hissed.

"I know, but if you want me to do anything to fix that, I need you to open your eyes."

Gaara nodded and sat silently for a minute before opening his eyes, the jade orbs focused on something that seemed miles away.

'He put himself in a trance,' Kakashi noted.

Sakura nodded in approval before focusing the chakra to her hands and placing them over Gaara's eyes. Her green chakra threaded themselves in and over his eyes, soothing the inflammation and irritation. She slowly removed her hands. "Better?"

"Much," he said before he went into a fit of coughing. Naruto looked to Sakura worriedly. "Can you do anything for his coughing?"

"Not really, but I can soothe his throat," she replied and put her hands to his throat. Amaya watched fretfully. When she was done, Amaya sat beside him, her hands folded in her lap as she bowed her head.

"I'm so sorry. I should've never pressured you to do this and you're hurt and it's all my fault and--"

A finger was pressed to her lips and Gaara smiled before coughing. "Next time you tell me to leave my gourd here, I'm going to call you crazy and bring it with me," he chuckled, causing another fit of coughing to occur. Amaya smiled and gave him a hug, whispering a small 'arigatou' in his ear. Though he didn't interact using human touch and this hug was the first contact that showed any love and he had frozen on contact, he hesitantly returned the gesture and decided that hugging wasn't so bad after all.

After a minute, she released him and he, unsure of what to do with his hands, let her return them to his lap before she and Megumi went to count the candy. Naruto sat before him. "How do you feel?"

"Like shit," he replied wryly.

"You sound like it too."

"Hn."

"We're done counting!" Amaya declared. "Winner's are Sasuke and Sakura with 624 pieces of candy, and the losers are Megumi-sama and Kakashi with 99 pieces."

"The difference was that much?" Megumi answered sounding slightly depressed.

"Hai, Megumi-sama. Gomen."

"It's okay. Now that I think about, you have it worse because you have to get the T.V. for the movie," Megumi smiled, grabbing popcorn from the table by the stairs and Amaya huffed before going to the back of the room and wheeling out the T.V. Megumi blinked. "I thought you had to get that down the stairs."

"Nope. I got it wheeled down through the cafeteria," she replied, tapping on the metal door in the teacher's lounge. Megumi hn'ed in response.


Kakashi sat at the back of the room, eye patch and hat tossed lazily onto a table after an hour of removing straw from various places in his body. He was 98 percent straw-free (the other 2 percent would be removed when he had a private moment). They had been watching a movie, The Nightmare before Christmas. He said 'had been' because most everyone had fallen asleep.

Naruto was slumped on a chair upstairs, deciding to turn in early after gorging himself on candy. Sakura was asleep on a chair in the kitchen area, Sasuke asleep with his head in her lap. Amaya was slumped over a table while Gaara slept peacefully on the therapist couch upstairs, his coughing having finally stopped. Amaya had worried herself sick when Gaara said he was having slight trouble breathing in the beginning and had exhausted herself, finally letting herself sleep half an hour after Gaara did.

Kakashi turned his attention from his friends to the flickering television. He didn't know why, but he liked Jack. It might have had to do with the dog or his ability to sing, but there was something charming about Jack. The dog was the deal-breaker. Now if only Pakkun could pick up a few tips from him…

A shift was felt on his shoulder and he looked down to see Megumi shuddering in her sleep. She was cold. It wasn't surprising. This room wasn't exactly known for heat retention and the fabric of her dress was thin. He was surprised she hadn't frozen outside, but she seemed fine. After all, she was sleeping soundly, but that probably had something to do with the fact she had some candy and crashed from her sugar-high only minutes ago. He chuckled at the memory of her half-awake state, murmuring something about cucumbers having a war with pickles and cabbage. She shuddered again and murmured in her sleep about the cold, clutching his jacket. Kakashi blinked for a minute, trying to think of what he could do. He couldn't just ignore her. She was a friend, but he couldn't take off his jacket not only because he'd freeze, but it would also wake her up. There was only one thing he could do.

Moving his arm, he draped it over her shoulder, moving her head to rest more comfortably against him. She gave a pleasured sigh and snuggled into the warmth he created before falling asleep once more. Kakashi chuckled softly, wondering how she could be so many people crammed into one body before he too, fell asleep.