Hello readers! I'm sorry about the down-hill direction of this, but truthfully, I'm only writing it for you guys; I've lost my inspiration for it. I want to write something better, because I can see (and I'm surprised I've yet to be flamed about it) that Rini is a Mary-Sue, or becoming one. If you really do want me to continue this, please review. I will probably either re-write this, or start a completely different GaaOC story.

Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me, and I will continue to update this for as long as possible!

Tess

The sand fell to join that on the ground, and a rather short red-head appeared, walking swiftly forwards, a petit blunette in his arms. He ignored the looks he was getting from the few maids, and swept through the entrance. Temari had hired about ten maids to look after the mansion, insisting that it was going to get far too dusty; frankly, Gaara didn't care, he wasn't even there half the time.

The girl was strange, she wasn't fearful, or at least determination over powered it. She'd put up a fairly good fight for someone who wasn't a ninja, if Temari had been telling the truth. She wasn't build right for a ninja anyway, she didn't have muscle, well, her legs did, but other than that she was… soft.

He could feel heat rising in his cheeks for some reason, and he was slightly bemused, he'd never felt this before; his stomach was squirming, though not with sickness, or anything like that, he just felt… uncomfortable. He paused at one of the hall mirrors, and examined his face. The heat he'd felt was still there, and pinkish patches had blossomed on his cheeks. He shrugged mentally, quashing the feeling in his stomach.

She wasn't like that pink-haired kunoichi, Sakura, who held more… natural beauty, like looking out at a forest full of life; no, she was more like the shyer one, the Hyuuga, Hinata. Hinata had been smaller, shyer, and more… cute, like you'd call a puppy cute, but a flower, or a bird, beautiful. Why was he even thinking about that?

He continued down the hall, all too aware of her proximity. She was warm, which he supposed was good, it meant she wasn't dead. She was soft too, almost no muscle, her skin was smooth where the sweat had dried, sticky where it hadn't. Her hair was long, very long, and it was in a plait. He wondered how long it would have taken to plait hair that long.

Finally, yet quickly, they reached a door, which he opened, and pushed through. Inside was a single bed, a window, and a bed-side table. There was a door leading to what he assumed was a bathroom, and a set of plain curtains shielding the room from the harsh sunlight.

He set her on the bed with no particular care, but not exactly dumping her there. He turned to leave, but as her hand hit the blanket, he noticed something. He turned back to the bed, and lifted her hand carefully. The skin across her knuckles, slightly raised and silvery, caught the light a little differently to the rest. His thumb brushed over it tentatively, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Scars," he murmured. "She's not a kunoichi… how... why would she have scars?"

He shook his head, trivial, like the comparison of her appearance. He turned, letting her hand fall back onto the bed. He left the room quickly this time, forcing all thoughts of the blunette from his mind. She was unimportant, a friend of his siblings'… he shuddered, and he had paperwork to get to.

Sound; feet moving, soft, distant voices. Images; blurred colour, movement, hands, feet, grass, trees, a snippet of white. Half-way there… Half-way where? She made herself wonder, the effort of conscious thought snapping the hold of sleep. The scents of the world reached her, the scent of dry sweat, sand, and crisp sheets. For a second, she was no one, just drifting in a sea of memory-lessness. Then a confusion of thoughts, feelings, snippets of her life, came back to her. In a split second, she was Rini Hikari again, not simply alive.

Her first desire of the day was to cry. Cry tears she wasn't sure she had, but she, as she had for the past few days, restrained the tears, closing her eyes against the burning, and waiting for her throat to loosen. Gradually it did, and she rolled into a sitting position.

'I'm such an idiot,' she thought, covering her face with her hands. 'I overreacted, I let my emotions get the best of me…'

'It was bound to happen, it was only a matter of time,' Hoshiko told her softly, landing outside the window. 'You were overloaded, you shouldn't have been there in the first place.'

'I… I couldn't handle being at home anymore,' Rini replied, her throat clenching as she opened the window. 'I needed to get out… and being with Temari and Kankuro is like being with my family, only… only a little different…'

'I know,' Hoshiko nuzzled against her hand comfortingly. 'I know… but maybe you should tell them… I know it's harder to talk to your family about this, but maybe you should talk to someone.'

'I don't need them treating me like glass though,' Rini argued, stroking the brilliantly coloured plumage. 'No, I'm better off just keeping this from them…'

'If you say so…'

Hoshiko rubbed her cheek against Rini's hand one last time, then swooped back out the window, vanishing in a streak of flame. Rini sighed, and began to explore the room. The floorboards felt smooth and slick under her feet, and the curtains soft against her cheek as she closed the window again. She wandered across the room, her fingers brushing against the bedside table, then along the wall. She pushed the door open, and found a small bathroom.

She turned the cold tap, and splashed lukewarm water against her face, washing the tears, sweat and dirt away. She took a flannel and cleaned her arms, face and neck up a little, then rung it out and set it over the railing to dry. She twisted the tap until the water stopped, and dried her-self with a fluffy white towel.

"I really need a haircut," the blunette murmured to herself, undoing the plait deftly.

She ran her fingers through it once or twice, then plaited it back up quickly; during this time, she reflected on her overreaction, and Hoshiko's advice.

'I really ought to apologise,' she thought, weaving more and more of her hair into the long, rope-like style. 'But… it's not really me… anymore… besides, it's always good to know just how far you can push it.'

She pulled a hair band off her wrist and tied the end off, she glanced at herself; she was somewhat presentable. Shrugging, she turned her attention to where she was. She assumed it was the Kazekage mansion, as she knew it wasn't her home, and thought it fairly likely that Temari would have dragged her somewhere she could be watched.

This was confirmed as she opened the door, the halls, which stretched through the mansion like veins, carrying the people like blood to their destination. The rooms were so numerous, she noted as she walked the vein-like halls, they could be compared to the cells of the body.

Mentally, she shook her head, she was a medic-nin, but really, there was no need for the anatomy comparisons.

Carefully, Rini poked her head around one of the lounge room doors; there were many lounge rooms in the Kazekage mansion, but the family of the Kazekage, and the Kazekage himself, or herself, had an entire wing that was theirs alone, and thus, she wasn't too surprised to find the two elder siblings in the room.

"Hey, welcome to the world of the living, Rin," Kankuro grinned, pausing on his walk towards the door Rini had just entered through. "You okay?"

"Yeah, thanks," the blunette replied, smiling slightly. "The beds here are amazing."

"That's good, we were getting a bit worried, you've been out for hours," Temari did indeed sound relieved.

"Hours?" Rini asked, slightly panicked. "B-but, then it must be getting-."

"Hey, hey," Kankuro interrupted soothingly. "We stopped by your place; your parents know you're here."

"You did?" Rini asked, blinking. "Thanks."

"Welcome," Temari replied in Kankuro's place, scanning Rini's petit form critically. "You need to get out of those clothes…"

"Er, yeah," Rini mumbled. "These feel icky."

"I'll be right back," Kankuro called back to the girls. "There's gotta be something that'll fit you."

"Oi! I'm not that small!" Rini shouted crossly.

Temari laughed, and waved Rini over to one of the lounges. The blunette complied, settling lazily into the cushions.

"Here you go," Kankuro tossed a pair of pants and a black t-shirt in Rini's direction. "I hope that fits…"

Rini stood and held the black shirt to her chest to measure; it was a little too big, but she supposed it would do. She rather liked the cut, and the mesh sleeves. The pants were loose, and a maroon colour.

"Thanks, these look fine," Rini grinned at Kankuro. "Where can I change."

Kankuro smirked slyly. "Here if you want."

Rini scowled, and threw the hastily balled pants in his direction. "Baka."

"You can change in the kitchen, the door locks, and there's no one in there," Temari offered.

"Thanks," Rini acknowledged. "Can I have those back?"

Kankuro threw the pants back, and Rini followed Temari to the kitchen.

"Thanks for the clothes," Rini said, closing the door behind her, her dirty clothes balled in her arms.

The clothes were loose on her, but they were comfortable; she found it strange that clothes belonging to any of the siblings would fit her, as they both had a larger build than she.

"You're welcome," Temari replied after a moment, staring at Rini with wide eyes, then turning to Kankuro who was smirking. "… Nice choice."

There was only a small amount of sarcasm in her tone, the rest of it was shock and sincerity. Rini frowned, was there something she didn't know? She shrugged it off, and fell gracelessly into the lounge; despite the fact that she'd been sleeping (or rather, unconcious) for several hours, she felt tired, which was probably because of the chakra she'd used. She watched lazily as Kankuro left, probably intending the fix one of his puppets or some such, and murmured a goodbye in return.

Temari, since the moment Rini re-entered the room, had been planning, the clothes she now wore were Gaara's, as she herself was too tall for her clothes to fit the blunette, and Kankuro was easily taller and broader than either girl; Gaara, however, was still rather short and lithe for his age and gender, something that worked in Rini's favour clothes wise. Temari had scanned her friend critically, and come to the immediate conclusion that Rini was simply too cute in Gaara's clothes for it to not be a sign. She'd argued with herself about whether to matchmake with the two, as it could cause more problems than it was worth, but eventually, it was not that part of her that won.

"Temari?" Rini asked, looking mildly confused. "You okay? You've been staring for five minutes..."

"Er, right, sorry," Temari blinked, realising that Rini was right.

Rini took her silence after that as a cue to start the conversation, however, what she began with was rather abnormal for her.

"Got a crush on anyone?"

What?

"No, I don't," Temari was quite startled by the question. "My brothers have warded anyone who would want to ask me for a date off; they're rather protective. Besides, I'm a kunoichi, I don't have time to date."

"I'm living proof that being a kunoichi doesn't mean that you can't date," Rini pointed out, a small smirle teasing her lips. "My mother and father were both ninja before, and while, they met."

Temari glared, "Since when do trivialities such as romance and dating interest you?"

Rini continued to smirk. "Since hormones."

This chapter is dedicated to Lucy-chan/Kunoichi-in-training, who's feeling kinda down right now. It's also in honor of all my faithful reviewers!

Okay, now, a bit of shameless self-promotion.

Lucy and I are planning to co-write several things, but before we do that, I'm rewriting one of her fics, and reposting it on a joint account. The account is Halftheworldaway, and the fic is Do Friendships Always Last. There are several of you who have probably drifted here from there at her recommendation, and there are probably some of you who were disappointed when she announced she was going to stop writing it. Well, take a look at the rewrite, so far, we have a total of one chapter, and one review, please make those numbers change by contributing your review!

Please review, I'm getting quite depressed by the lack of reviews those who have alerted (& faved) it are giving.

Tess