Disclaimer:

Haruhi-Hi my name is Haruhi Suzumiya and this is my new henchmen. *Gaara is in a panda costume* Gummibearninja couldn't be here today, so I am here today to give the disclaimer. Anyway WE DON'T OWN NARUTO!

Gaara-(She's even worse than the Gummibearninja)

Chapter 21

April 28th

Smiles

"Do you have to leave tomorrow?" Miniko asked to her Uncle while he was in her room saying goodnight.

"I'm afraid so." He said with a shrug. "But don't worry I'll be back before you know it."

"I guess…" Miniko said, sighing sadly

Taro gave her a smile. "Hey, if I stay here too long the Hokage might assume I went rouge and then I won't be allowed to return at all!" He exaggerated, as an attempt to cheer her up.

Miniko sat up and smiled slyly. "Hey, you're welcome to stay here if that happens."

Her uncle laughed and ruffled her hair. "Well that plan backfired, didn't it?"

Miniko giggled and said good night to her Uncle before he left her room. He went downstairs to the kitchen, where Chahiro had a cup of tea waiting for him.

"Are Miniko and Mayu asleep now?" Chahiro asked.

Taro sighed and sat down. "Miniko is in bed now and Mayu fell asleep by the time I finished reading her 5th or 6th book of the night. Honestly I don't know how you do it, Chahiro."

She chuckled. "Years of practice. Honestly, putting those two to bed is a breeze compared to Yuuri." Chahiro reminisced as she recalled Yuuri's childhood bedtime battles. "He would constantly be giving excuse after excuse to why he couldn't sleep. Some nights, he would keep at it till Auron got home."

"Where is that nephew of mine anyway? I haven't seen him since dinner." Taro asked.

Chahiro's smile dropped and she down at the table. "He went out to try and see if he can find any leads or information on Yuna or their leader." She gripped her hands together nervously and remembered her earlier conversation with her son.

"Yuuri, I know how you feel but we should wait till we can make a plan." Chahiro tried to pursue him.

"Alright we can wait and while we do that Miniko can just be taken from us right under our noses!"

"Yuuri!" Chahiro gasped.

"Mom, we don't know when they're going to attack next and who knows who there are going to attack next?! It could be me, Uncle Taro or you! Dad's gone, we can't risk waiting, and we need to take action!"

After saying that, Yuuri left and was gone for the rest of the evening. "I-I know in a way he's right. We can't wait around forever." Chahiro said.

"I know, Chahiro," Taro sympathized. "I plan on mentioning this to the Hokage when I return home. We will stop the monsters who did this."

Chahiro nodded. "I know as a mother, I am willing to sacrifice my life to protect my children. It's just if something did happen to me…" She couldn't finish her sentence before her hands began to shake. "I hate all of this Taro. I hate that Miniko has to live her life in fear, I hate that Yuuri feels he needs to be the one to take charge," Loose tears were rolling down her face now. "Most of all I hate that I'm scared of what will become of my children's future!"

"Chahiro…" Taro started, but she wouldn't listen.

"If I'm dead, there will be no one to protect them! I don't want to fail and put my children in danger!"

"Chahiro!" Taro snapped, getting her attention. "We can't live in fear of a future that hasn't yet happened, nor can we change the past. All we can do what we can do right now." He looked her in the eyes with his face full of determination. "And rest assured, whether something happens to you or not, I will do everything in my power to make sure that nothing happens to any of your children."

Chahiro could feel herself calming down and she wiped away her tears. "Taro, I'm so grateful for everything you do. I don't even know how I can thank you."

Taro smiled. "You don't need to, we're family after all."

Family….A single thought of the word brought Chahiro so much comfort. A small smile appeared on her face. Taro…What would I do without you.

XXXXXXXX

It was early in the afternoon and Gaara was walking over to Miniko's house. Minutes ago, Miniko used her telepathy to contact him, asking him if he wanted to do anything today.

"I'm sooooooo bored!" She whined, after inviting him. "Gaara, please you must save me from this boredom!"

Gaara hasn't seen Miniko since the funeral and he was relieved to hear from her again and even sounding more like herself. He couldn't stand seeing his friend looking so broken and he never wanted to see that look on her face again.

That wasn't the only reason though that made Gaara feel more at ease. Shukaku has also been a lot more active lately. Filling Gaara's mind once again with fears of abandonment and how caring for Miniko will only bring him pain.

"I'd say you're wastin' your breath, kit," Shukaku said to him last night. "You've been doing nothing but wait for that blondie to come see you ever since that death party!"

"Miniko just lost her Father…It makes sense that she would want to stay with her family for a few days." Gaara explained.

"So your plan is to wait instead of just going to see her?" Shukaku chuckled slyly. "But you won't because you know better….You know that in the end it won't do any good…"

"Stop it…" Gaara said quietly, knowing what Shukaku was going to say.

"You know a stupid thing like 'bonds' and 'friendships' is all pointless, because it will only bring you suffering and pain."

"Stop it!" Gaara yelled, throwing his hands over his ears. "You don't know anything!"

Shukaku let out a shrilling laugh. "But I do, kit and you do as well."

All last night, Gaara's blood boiled with anger. That stupid Tanooki always acted like he knew everything about him. Despite being with him since birth, he really didn't know squat.

What does Shukaku even know? Gaara thought as he approached Miniko's house. He lifted his hand to knock on the door, when it swung open by Miniko. She had her small purse and was already in her shoes, clearly eager to get outside.

"Alas! My knight has arrived to save me from everlasting boredom!" Miniko dramatized, her fingers interwoven over her chest as she slightly crouched in front of Gaara. She fluttered her eyelashes up at him expectantly, putting on a cute smile.

Gaara froze awkwardly and a shiver went up his spine. His fist was still up in the air and he slowly formed it into a thumbs up. "Never fear, I'm here…" He said, practically having to force the words out of his mouth, more robotic then usual.

Miniko blinked, surprised that Gaara went along with her scene. They both held their positons for another moment before Miniko's face split into a grin and erupted into giggles, soon becoming uncontrollable laughter.

"Gaara, you're adorable!" Miniko finally said when her laughing subsided.

"W-What?!" Gaara stuttered, as his face began to heat up. He noticed his hands was still making the thumbs up and quickly brought his hand back down.

Miniko smiled at him once again before she turned her head and called to her Mother over her shoulders. "Mom, I'm going out!"

Chahiro then appeared behind her. "Okay, but make sure you come back for supper," Chahiro told her. "Oh, and Gaara you're welcome to eat with us as well." She added, looking at him.

Miniko smiled and nodded as she stepped outside. She reached her hand out towards Gaara and playfully said, "Come my knight! Lead me to the Suna playground!"

The embarrassment Gaara felt earlier returned. "Can we not do that again?" Gaara pleaded.

Miniko smiled slyly. "Okay, would you prefer to be the princess then?"

Memories of baby blue satin and silky red hair, touching his face came rushing back as his face began to burn like it was lit on fire. Gaara heard Chahiro gasp delightfully and notice she was making a dash to her bedroom. His pupils shrank. He didn't need mind reading powers to figure out what these two were thinking.

"Miniko, we need to go!" He stated as he took Miniko's hand and dashed away from the house as fast as his legs could go. There was no way Gaara was going to let Miniko and Chahiro take another photo of him in feminine attire. What even happened to that photo anyway? Gaara couldn't help but wonder.

The two of them soon arrived at the park. Gaara stopped running, deciding he put enough distance from Chahiro and her flashing camera of doom. He let out a relieving sigh. Finally safe…

"Ah, at last we have arrived!" Miniko said, moving next to him.

Gaara turned and watched Miniko as she admired the playground. She looked at him and gave him a smile. He missed seeing her smile. With how broken and defeated she looked after losing her Father, Gaara almost worried he would never see it again. But here she was, smiling at him once again and it brought so much relief to see it.

"You seem happy today, Gaara." Miniko said, breaking Gaara out of his thoughts. "You've been smiling at me since we arrived."

"Am I?" Gaara asked. He hasn't even noticed he was.

"Yup! But as I said before, I like it when you smile." Miniko giggled.

"I guess I'm just happy that you see you acting like yourself again." Gaara admitted. "I missed it."

Miniko went quiet and looked to the ground. She knew Gaara was referring to her father. "I'm going to miss him. I'm always going to be missing him…" she confessed.

Gaara felt Miniko squeezing his hand. He didn't realize he was still holding her hand. It felt as natural as breathing, like he's done this a hundred times.

"But I now know how much Dad cared for me." Miniko continued. "He didn't just want to protect me from an agency, but my life as well. He wants me to continuing living. To continue being happy." Miniko released Gaara's hand and stepped in front of him, smiling at him again. "So that's what I'm going to do. It's true a part of me will always be sad that he's gone, but I'm going to make sure that I will live as happily as I can! If I do that I think that will make Dad happy too!"

Gaara nodded. "Yeah that did seem to be the case when we spoke that one time." He agreed.

"It's all thanks to you Gaara. I was able to realize that, because of what you told me." Miniko said.

"What do you mean?" Gaara asked, surprised.

"Up till his funeral," Miniko started "I was able to hear everyone's own grief. My mom's regrets, Yuuri's anger and my sister's confusion, I could hear it all. It filled my mind with the idea that it was my fault they're all feeling like this. None of this would have happened if I didn't exist and because of that I figured I had no right to grieve." Miniko said, she shivered.

"Miniko that's-" Gaara was about to deny, But Miniko kept talking.

"I felt like I was in a black, endless void with no way of escape." Miniko's body stopped shaking and small smile then appeared. "But you helped me get out of that, Gaara. Because you came to the funeral and said what you said, the way you held my hand and stayed by me, I was able to see light again."

Gaara slanted his head to the right. "I just wanted to help you in some way." Gaara said, modestly.

Her smile grew into a grin. "And it's because you helped, I can smile again. Because of you, I want to smile." She gently took his hand again. "And I am so glad I have a friend like you." After saying those she lightly kissed him on his cheek.

Gaara jerked his head to her, his face even more red than ever. With all the times he blushed today, he would easily get mistaken for having a sunburn.

Miniko also had a small, rosy blush on her cheeks as she gave a nervous giggle, but yet her face showed no sign of regret from her actions. She began to pull and lead Gaara to the park. "Come on Gaara! Let's go!"

XXXXXXX

The two of them stayed at the park all afternoon, spending every second playing games, talking and overall just enjoying each other's company. There was no major events and both of them took advantage of every peaceful second of their time. They even became so engrossed with their visit, they soon lost track of time and found they were late for supper.

"If we are very, very quiet mom shouldn't notice." Miniko spoke in his mind, holding a finger to her lip as she tried to quietly open the door. But they weren't so lucky. Chahiro was already standing at the door, arms crossed as she looked at them.

"Busted!" They heard Mayu shout to them from the table.

"You two better be able to provide an explanation good enough to persuade me." Chahiro said with a cynical sweetness in her voice as she tapped her foot.

Miniko gulped and she turned to Gaara for help, but he turned away. Clearly he's already decided to leave Miniko with this job. "Well you see Mom," Miniko started. "We were playing tag and we both got tired so we sat down and we…We fell asleep!" Miniko quickly said.

Gaara face palmed.

Chahiro raised a suspicious eyebrow. "Really? Both of you?"

"Yup!" Miniko chirped.

She put her hands on her hip and leaned closer to Miniko. "Even Gaara?" She asked.

Miniko paled. "Uh….Yup….even Gaara…." She laughed nervously.

Gaara face palmed.

"I see," Chahiro nodded before looking over Miniko's shoulders at Gaara. "Is that true, Gaara." She in the same 'sweet' tone.

Miniko looked at Gaara, sweat running down her brow as she waited for his answer. When he didn't say anything she waved her hand franticly, gesturing him to hurry up, only to receive a 'you serious?' shrug from Gaara.

"Well Gaara?" Chahiro asked impatiently.

Gaara finally answered, darting a glare at Miniko the entire time. "Yes. I had a nap. For the first time in my life, I had a nap."

"See, I told you!" Miniko grinned back at her mother.

Chahiro looked at them for a few moments before finally standing up. "Alright then," Chahiro gave a slyly smile. "I guess since you two ae both so rested, you can do the dishes after." With that final statement, she turned on her heel and headed back to the kitchen.

Miniko turned and faced Gaara and gave him a thumbs up. "I think we nailed it!" Miniko beamed.

Again, Gaara face palmed.

After supper Gaara had to go home for the evening (after him and Miniko did the dishes of course).

"Today was fun!" Miniko said to him at the door. "We should do that again soon!"

"Well then what about we meet again tomorrow?" Gaara asked.

Miniko smiled and nodded. "Okay! See you tomorrow!"

Gaara also returned a small smile. "Yeah, see you tomorrow."

The two said good bye and Gaara headed back home, thinking of the afternoon he just had. There was no drastic events, no strange looks from villagers and no worries of agencies, only enjoyment. He almost didn't want today to end, but he figured as long as he had Miniko there would be a lot more days like this in the future.

What does Shukaku even know? Gaara thought, recalling what Shukaku said earlier. If he had that sands spirt cocky personality he probably would be laughing and pointing at him saying something around the lines of, "I told you so!" maybe stick his tongue out at him. Because he is friends with Miniko, he's not in pain or suffering. What even better, he now knows Miniko thinks the same thing.

"You make me want to smile!" Gaara thought back to Miniko's earlier words. He was so happy to hear that from Miniko. Those words brought a pleasant warmth to his heart, even when he just thought of them and a small smile appeared visible on his face.

I make her want to smile and knowing she thinks that makes me happy...Gaara thought. I think I finally understand now…why Miniko prefers hearing someone's words, instead of hearing their thoughts. A thought is just a thought until they let it out, then the meaning of the thought becomes a lot more powerful. Gaara stopped walking for a moment. Now if only he could find the right words to say to Miniko.

XXXXXXXX

Miniko was up in her room reading on her bed next to her window when she caught a glimpse of her brother walking outside. She gasped as a smile appeared on her face. She put her book down and hurried out of her room and down the stairs. He's been gone so much since the funeral. Often leaving early in the morning and returning late after Miniko's in bed. He's early! Miniko thought happily.

By the time she was down stairs, Yuuri was coming through the door. She lunged at him, nearly making them both fall and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Yuuri!" She squealed.

"What with the greeting?" Yuuri laughed. "You act as if I'm never around."

Miniko let go and placed her arms on her hip. "Well that's pretty much the case! I rarely see you at breakfast anymore!"

"Sorry…" Yuuri chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

Miniko giggled and smiled as she looked at her brother. "Well you're back for the night now, so I guess I can forgive you."

Yuuri shook his head. "No, I just thought I'd get something to eat, gather more supplies and then go out and search again."

Miniko's heart sank as she watched her brother head to the kitchen. She knew what Yuuri meant when he said 'search again'. He soon noticed her obvious hurt and smiled at her.

"Miniko, you don't need to worry about me. I only wants to play my part in protecting you." He smiled and put his hand on her shoulder. "Besides Miniko, I'm a lot stronger then I look."

Though she knew Yuuri's words were meant to comfort her, that final sentence made her body shake. He's strong. He won't die so easily. Those phrases played over and over in her mind, bringing more and more fear and anxiety each time. "You're strong…" Miniko repeated his words in a meekly tone.

"That's right." Yuuri nodded, smiling.

Still Miniko's fear remained. "You said the same thing about father though, but he still died!"

Yuuri looked at her surprised and before he could say anything, Miniko brushed his hand off her shoulder and dashed to the stairs and up to her room. She ran passed her mother in the hall, who was just putting Mayu to bed.

"Miniko?" She called to her confused, just as Miniko slammed the door of her room. Thinking it was best to leave her alone for now, Chahiro headed down the stairs and saw her son kneeled at the door. "Yuuri, do you know why you sister's upset?"

Yuuri didn't say anything though and soon he too stood up and walked to his room as well.

XXXXXXX

Later that evening Miniko walked out of her room. Across the hall she could see Yuuri's bedroom door open. She walked over and stood at the entrance and found her brother sorting his supplies on his bed, like he does every time he prepares for his missions. He soon noticed her.

"Hey…" He said before turning back to his tools on his bed. Miniko still didn't say anything. Yuuri sighed. "Look Miniko-" He started before Miniko interrupted.

"You're going out again to search for Yuna and the others aren't you?" Miniko confronted him.

Yuuri looked away and she could hear him give a frustrated sigh. "Yeah…" he admitted. "And I'm not resting till those monsters are gone. I'll do whatever it takes, even if it means sacrificing my life. I'll do whatever it takes to protect you and avenge dad…"

Sacrifice. The word made Miniko's blood boil. Her hands formed into a fist as her body shook with anger. "I don't want you to die though!" She suddenly erupted. "I want you to stay here, with me! I don't want to lose you like we lost Father!" Miniko shouted, hot tears rolling down her face.

Yuuri stopped what he was doing and looked over at his weeping sister. He walked over to her and kneeled down to her level. "Miniko," He started, after sighing. "As shinobi, whether it's protecting you or the village we always have our lives on the line. I know it's hard, but it's important to understand that. Father explained that to you, right?"

Miniko's crying continued. "H-He did, but I just, I just don't want to the agency to take anyone else away from me." Miniko hiccupped, wiping her tears as the streamed down here face.

His sister's crying made Yuuri's heart ache. She still had much to learn about the shinobi world. Realizing that explaining this to her wasn't going to help right now, he instead hugged her close, allowing his shoulder to catch her tears.

"I don't want you to die…" Miniko whimpered, when her crying finally calmed.

"Miniko, even though you can read someone's thought, the future is always going to unpredictable." Yuuri said to her. "Whether I die tomorrow, or in 50 years, death in unavoidable and it happens to everyone eventually. Still, we can't live in fear of it either." He let go of her and looked into her eyes. "You understand right?"

Miniko nodded slowly, slanting her eyes away from her brother.

He gave her a small smile. "Look if it will make you feel better, I'll be sure I'm here tomorrow morning to have breakfast."

Miniko looked at him. "You promise?"

Yuuri grinned. "I promise!"

Miniko finally gave a small smile. "Okay, you better be there when I get up then."

Yuuri chuckled and ruffled her hair. "I'll be there."

XXXXXXX

Back at the agency, Yuna was preparing weapons in her room, when the door opened. "I know it's you Father." Yuna said without turning around. "As you can see, having eyes are overrated." She joked, her pun intended.

Father sighed. "You understand tonight's plan, right?"

Yuna zipped up her weapon pouch and attached it to her battle clothes. "I do. Don't worry Father, I won't let you down."

"We only have one shot at this plan, so see that you don't." Father warned