Dear Gaara
Life in Konoha has been, uneventful. I'm still practicing with that idiot and Yamato. We have the same routine day in and day out. We start practicing at 5:30 every morning, doing simple warm ups to get our bodies ready. The idiot is loud, Yamato is quiet and I have a headache by the end of it. Then after the warm ups we spare. This is basically me running away and Naruto making as many clones as possible until he wears my chakra dry. How can anyone have that much chakra supplies? It's ridiculous! I mean he just continues to attack with his clones until I'm worn out, every time it ends the same way. He does the same moves he's predictable and I'm always overwhelmed. Yamato says this is teaching me how to become original in how to conserve and use my chakra. I don't understand how Naruto with no concept of chakra limitations could help me with that! He's just so pathetically optimistic it drives me fucking insane! …Oh sorry I forgot you like Naruto. Sorry we just don't seem to have anything in common, Ahhh well, how have you been doing? I'm sure the whole Kage thing is being a bitch right? Still not sure if I entirely believe you are a Kage…You just seem so young…no offence…You know what forget that take offence; you're like Max's age for fucks sake.
So how are you're siblings getting along? You still worried about your sis falling for that Nara Guy? Well I personally don't know him, but I know his sister…she's pretty legit. If you ignore her ridiculous crush on my team mate. Your eldest brother still creepy? It seems to be a trait in the family that arrogant creepy thing you all have going on. (Take offence to that). Do you do anything besides meetings and talking to old people? It seems like in our lasts letters all you do is talk about Your Sis/Bro, or the council of elders. (Who all sound like super D-bags by the way). But don't worry about it our council of elders in Konoha isn't much better than yours from what I hear. That's kind of why I don't want to make Jounin, I figure I will have to deal with them less. Or at least wait until they all kick the bucket.
So Max got a job. Did I tell you that? He got a job, what a sell out! He is working at the kunai factory early in the day. And I have to tell you, it hasn't helped his nerves at all. I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm worried about the Fuck-tard. He's seems to be muttering under his breath all the time and constantly looking over his shoulder. He's always irritated with something or someone. He doesn't want to hang out. If I hadn't searched his apartment I would think he started using. But there was nothing there so…yeah. He's just-such a fucktard! Is it my fault he got a job? I mean we used to do everything together. But now all we do it fight. He's always worrying about me, when he's the one who is the wreck! Allie's been unbelievably quiet she's not lecturing me any more so that's always a good thing. So other than that nothing interesting is happening here.
Zaki
P.S. When are you coming to Konoha again? (I'm kind of excited!)
-s-
Dear Zakuro
It was nice hearing from you again. I am also very excited about going to Konoha for the exams, the team we sent is one of our bests, and I'm hoping they will make Suna Proud. I'm sorry to hear about you not getting along with Naruto. He's a good man and has a lot to offer the world. You just have to get past how loud he is and give him a chance. He's been through a lot and he's done a lot of very good things. I used to be in a very dark place Zaki, he pulled me out of it. Please just give him a chance. For our friendships sake. Yes despite the fact that I am relatively young, I am the Kazekage. I don't think I should have to remind you again.
My siblings are doing fine. Temari still is trying to hide her feelings for Shikimaru. I worry; I don't want her to think she can't come to me if something does happen between them. And I don't want either of them to act irrationally if things get a little more serious. The Nara's are a small but very important clan in Konoha, if they do wish to make that relationship permanent I would gladly try to do all I can to make it beneficial for both countries. It's just my sister is very impulsive and I have no doubt in my mind that if the two keep on dating, that they will eventually become sexually active (if they aren't already). And I don't think that Nara, is ready or willing to except the consequences of what might happen. By the way I do take offence to you calling my siblings and I arrogant and creepy, I can see how you can call Kankuro that, but I'm the poster child for happy and friendly (Ha Ha I told I joke, just like you taught me). Kankuro is doing fine by the way, he will be coming with me from Konoha. He's interested in training one of the Gennin on our team more but he wants to see how well he does first.
The council of elders is only an annoyance to Kage's you don't have to worry about them. I think you should strive to become a Jounin it's a great honor to get there and you certainly have the potential and personality to serve your country. I can train with you after the Chunnin exams, (not before because then it would look like I'm taking interests). If that will help. Don't sell yourself short Zaki, just because you weren't raised to be a Ninja doesn't mean you can't be.
I think it's great that Max is taking the initiative and getting a job. He sounded like a lazy bum when you described him to me earlier. He isn't just sitting around and waiting for things to happen to him anymore. About his personality change you are talking to the wrong person. I used to mutter to myself all the time, but I did that because I had a daemon inside me. I have no idea what Max's excuse is. Maybe Max is just worried you will outgrow him and move on to finer things in life while he will stay in the dumps doing nothing. That's probably why he got a job. I'm sorry Zaki but all the descriptions you gave me of this guy tell me he's bad news. He doesn't want you to continue being a Ninja and reaching your goals. He's just going to drag you down with him if you continue to hang out with him. Some people have no hope to become better Zaki, I would say Max is one of them. I'm glad Allie has decided to support you, in your goals.
Gaara
P.S I will be in Konoha by your birthday(I looked it up in your file) what do you want?
-s-s-
Yamato came home from his morning session to the smell of Coffee. He was so glad he asked Moses to live with him. They got along well together and between the both of them they always had a cup of fresh coffee ready. Their schedules worked out well and neither of them was in the others way, they saw each other often enough, but not too often where it got uncomfortable. But he doubt he would ever be truly uncomfortable with her.
Moses was an amazing woman, and they had so much in common, Yamato would have asked her out. She made it quite clear she didn't like staying in one spot for very long and she would be leaving a week after the festival was over. Yamato was at the time in his life where he was ready to settle down, she wasn't so he stayed away from the romance and hoped to keep a strong friendship with the woman.
As he walked towards the bathroom to go pee, he heard a knocking on the door. Mosses must have forgotten her key. Walking towards his front door he looked through the small hole. A delivery man stood with a package in his hand. "Package for Yamato,"
"That's me," signing for the package, Yamato finally realized what it was. It was Zaki's birthday gift. He had ordered it a couple months ago. Opening the package Yamato smiled. It was a side pouch for a shinobi's belt, it had a seal on it so it could hold more than it looked. It was useful for hiding scrolls and such, or just extra trail rations. He figured it would be useful in the long run.
-s-
Kaida walked along the crowded square with her team mate Keiji. They were looking for a present for Zaki. Neither of them could afford a nice one on their own. "What do you think she would like?" Keiji asked as they stopped in front of a little trinket store.
"I don't know…" Kaida replied as she went into the shop. There was lots of little box's and stuff, with wall hangings… knick knacks lots of knick knacks…"I don't think knick knacks are her thing…"
"Should we get her a new Kunai set then?"
"Hn…"
Kaida looked at her team mate the Chunnin exam was 4 days away, Zaki's birthday was tomorrow. They hadn't gotten her anything. They had just found out yesterday, Yamato had told them. He was throwing a surprise party for her at her godmothers place.
Scrunching up her face Kaida put back the heart shaped frame she had in her hand. Who would buy such a thing? A kunai set would be nice, practical too, maybe kunai cleaner/ sharpener set. "Let's get her a weapon cleaning set, she probably needs one." Kaida concluded.
Keiji grunted in agreement. "So how's training going for you?" He asked all of the sudden as the exited the Kunai shop.
"A lot better than it was, my aim has improved a lot and so has my stamina, I don't get as tired as quickly."
"Do you work a lot with your Kekkia Genkai?"
"No, I haven't transformed once, it's all chakra control, and the…I'm hoping to get more practice with it, I mean it's my ace in the whole."
"That's all I'm doing with Hinata, is working on my Kekkia Genkai, to make it more stable and useful, I have to memorize charts or chakra points and work on little control. It's …." Keiji couldn't really finish his sentence he was just so frustrated with the research and the training, it was so small and boring. The research made his head hurt, the words would just all jumble up and move around, then they escape him. He had no chance of becoming a Chunnin, He just wanted to go down to the office and give up now. But he couldn't let Hinata down like that, she was so nice and encouraging. Not like her sister or cousin at all. But when he thought about it he really couldn't do it.
He huffed as he looked at the streets, Kaida was going the other way now, and he would have to walk to the library, to do more research. And read the same chapter on chakra points he had yesterday and the day before that, so he could memorize it. Hinata said he had to know that stuff, so he wanted to impress her. "Do you want me to take it home and wrap it?" He asked Kaida, she nodded.
"Thanks, I really have no room at my house, with all my dad research and all. He doesn't like me cluttering up the living room with my stuff." Kaida explained, her father had been really on edge lately and it was starting to worry her. She had a feeling that it was the tablet he had been translating, but he had all his files in such a way, where if she moved them he would know about it and she would get into a lot of trouble.
"I'll see you at, what place do we have to go too again?"
"The Zoo, it's a bar, in the middle of the dregs, the one with the broken window."
"That one, why are we hosting her birthday in that place?" He never liked the look of the place it always had strange people going in and out. But if that's where it was, then that's where it was. "Who's going to distract her from going to the zoo to early?"
"Oh that Kage, she always talks about is coming into town, Yamato's going to talk to him before his meetings, he will distract her." Kaida informed. "Didn't you know that, I mean it was Adara's idea."
Keiji shook his head, why was he always the one last to find out about these things? Well at least Zaki was getting a party. It seemed as though she barely celebrated birthdays.
The month of training really showed how driven everybody was. Adara was working with her father to improve her techniques to beat her brother. Hinabi and Lee were seemed to be in some sort of marathon to see who could get the farthest. The sand trio could be seen training. Kaida had always been driven, but the closer they got to the exam the more her eyes changed into a goal driven blue. Even Zaki seemed to be training towards something.
Keiji just didn't want to get left behind.
-kk- -
Max looked behind his shoulder, no…nobody was behind him. Getting up in the morning to go to work. Delton was ok, sometimes and Max was starting to get a hang of what he was doing. He marked his kunai though, in case Zaki ever stumbled across them, he would never forgive himself if she was hurt because of his job. It was important to make sure if the other countries were causing trouble faulty Kunai's would help Konoha.
At least that's what max keeps telling himself, he's doing this to be…patriotic. He at least has money in his pocket. Money to buy Zaki's present, which he hadn't gotten yet. Letting him in with the key Delton made for him. Max went to the reject pile he was working on. Going into the lounge Delton was already chipping away.
"Hey"
"Hello"
"Why you so blue max?"
"I'm just tired that's all…"
"OH COME ON! You have to be a better conversationalist then that, You barely ever talk. I mean there is one thing to have silence when you are all by yourself, it's a whole other thing. You are almost as bad as the guy I used to work with, he NEVER TALKED! Drove me insane, couldn't stand him."
This peaked Max's interest Delton had another co-worker before? "You worked with someone else?"
"what, you jealous…I'm sorry Max but you weren't my first!" Delton joked throwing his hands in the air dramatically. "But yeah I did work with the guy, he was a silent type smoked like a banshee."
Max thought about this for awhile, a sinking feeling started forming in his gut, he wondered what happened to him. What if 'they' had killed him, the shinobi that would follow Max around some times, what had he done? That he was no longer employed here… Delton was staring at him."Heh…sorry Delton…I'm just distracted. My gir….my friend is having a surprise birthday, she's turning 15 and well I didn't get anything for her."
"Ahhhh I see, have you tried the pawn shop at the very beginning of the dregs? You can get some really nice stuff there for cheap." Delton thrust's his wrist into Max's face, there was a gold watch. It looked old. The watch was bulky and a had a dim shine to them. There was a 3 hands, two of them shaped like regular hands, the other one looked crooked. Like a lightning bolt. That one was pointed towards the three which seemed to stick out more than the others. The 3, 6, 9 and 12 all had that looked. It seemed as they were painted on round iridescent rocks of some kind. It wasn't a pretty watch, it just looked …useful. "I got this thanks to my last colleague, you see one day he came to work and told me he sold his watch so he could buy his little girl a birthday present. I had always liked the watch so I went there after work and bought it, dirt cheap!"
"How much do you want for it?" Max asked suddenly.
Delton retracted his hand as though he had been bitten. "Oh, I don't know if I want to sell it, it has…sentimental value to me."
"You got it from a pawn shop, how much sentiment can it have?"
The older man scrunched up his face as he examined the watch he had on. "Well I don't know, I just kind of like it…"
"300 dollars" Max said it without thinking, 300 was his next pay check, he got 1 every 2 weeks and he could last on less than three hundred for a month. Stale crackers weren't new to him.
"That's 6 times the amount I paid for it!" Delton exclaimed "I couldn't accept that kind of money from a kid like you, it would make me feel guilty."
"150 then."
"well it has so much sentimental value…."
"200"
"It was a friends of mine's…"
"250"
"My first co-worker, he showed me around this joint."
Max was confused, what the hell was this loon trying to get at? "310?"
"Ohh that's too much"
"275"
"It has significant value to me"
"298"
Delton stopped and smiled, "we have a deal, 298 dollars, for a priceless watch! What a bargain, we can go to the bank when the pay checks come in, where I can give you your change. I mean it's just rude to take a man's whole pay check."
Max looked at the watch "Can you give it to me today?"
Delton again looked like he was being bit by a snake. "With no money upfront?"
"Yeah," Max said.
The grey haired man looked at max and then squinted, he seemed to be sizing the boy up for some reason, and then a big smile formed on his chapped lips. "Sure you can have it"
Max too the watch and stuffed it into his pocket.
-s-
"BUT DAD, IT'S MY FRIENDS BIRTHDAY!" Adara yelled, as she stomped down the stairs towards her father.
"I don't want you going to that part of town Adara, it's not safe there!" Her dad yelled back as he plopped on the sofa. They were walking back from training when she told him she was going to Zaki's surprise party.
"MOM said it was ok!"
"and what exactly did you ask your mother?"
"I asked her if I could go to a friend's birthday party tonight, and she said she was fine with it."
"I like how you conveniently forgot to mention, it's at a bar in the middle of the dregs."
"Her god mother owns it, and she's the one who is throwing the party, she asked Yamato to invite Zaki's school friends! If you don't want me walking alone I can go to Keiji's and walk to her party from there. Then Keiji can walk me home."
"I don't want you being at that place in the first place!"
Suddenly they heard the back door open,. "Adara, Shikaku, help me with the groceries!" It was her mom. Adara exhaled some air before stepping into the kitchen.
"MOM! Didn't you say I could go to Zaki's party tonight."
"Yes, could you keep the ground beef out I'm making hamburgers for dinner" Her mother handed her two bags and her father went outside to get more.
"Dad says I can't go."
Yoshino rolled her eyes and opened the door, "Shikaku, I told Adara she could go to this party two weeks ago."
"Did she tell you where it was?" Her father answered as he brought in a box filled with stuff, Adara meanwhile was putting all the groceries away.
As she opened the refrigerator door to put the cheese in she could feel her mother's eyes on her. "Where is the party Adara?"
"At a place her god mother owns…" the silence told her she better elaborate. "It's a place called the Zoo, dads freaking out because it's in the dregs, but I mean I'll walk there and back with Keiji, and when I am at the party there will be Yamato a jounin and teacher there, plus Naruto, plus the kazekage!"
"What's the Kazekage and Naruto doing there? Her mother asked in shock, I wouldn't think an establishment in the dregs would suite them."
"Naruto has been training with Zaki this past month, and The Kazekage saved her life at like the end of August and apparently they have been keeping a correspondence. Can I go, PLEASE?"
"Shikaku what do you think?" Her mother asked her father.
"I don't like it, I don't like the idea of her going down there at all"
"BUT IT'S MY FRIENDS BIRTHDAY! And I've been training really hard lately! I should get a break"
Her mother sighed and looked at her father, "If Keiji walks you there and back, and you don't leave the sight of Yamato-sensei I have no problem with it."
Shikaku shook his head in disagreement and Adara squealed for glee, "I'll go get ready then"
-s-
Gaara walked out of the short meeting with every intention of going quickly to the ramen shop to meet Zakuro as soon as possible. But his eyes couldn't help but be drawn to Naruto and the jounin Yamato waiting just outside.
"HEY GAARA!" Naruto yelled as he started waving his arms in the air to get his attention. Gaara smiled and gave a small hand wave, as he started walking towards the two. "Sorry Naruto, I already told another friend I would spend time with them." Gaara told him, he wasn't sure how the blonde would react if he told him it was Zakuro.
"Yeah, we know, you are hanging out with Zaki right?" Naruto replied grinning from ear to ear.
"Yes, Zakuro and I were planning on going out for dinner and talking." Gaara couldn't help but twitch his eyes a little, he didn't like how he frazed that statement, it just sounded too intimate. He was just going out to dinner with a friend, who happened to be female.
His grin turned mischievous, "Ok, so can I ask you a favor, We are having a surprise party for Zakuro, and we thought you could keep her away from the Zoo, that's the place her god mother owns…until about 7 o'clock so we can get ready for the surprise."
Gaara's eyebrows raised, "Am I invited"
"Well no duh! She wouldn't be having a birth day without you!" Naruto exclaimed as he slapped Gaara across the back in a friendly manner. "So will you do it?"
Gaara pursed his lips, Zakuro didn't seem like the type of girl that would like surprise parties, but if they were throwing one anyway, it's not like he could stop them. "Sure" he agreed.
As he departed from Naruto, Gaara couldn't help but ponder how odd his and Zakuro's relationship was. In no sooner than 2 weeks of getting to know each other and slew of letters written back and forth, she knew more about him than anyone. And she was still somewhat mysterious. He liked that. He liked how it all worked out, he liked having someone to talk to and not worry about pretenses.
Zakuro was sitting at the ramen shop, twiddling her thumbs, she was wearing dark pants, not as natty as some of her other pairs, she wore in Suna, and she wore the top that Gaara had given her. It was Temari's but it no longer fit his sister. "Hello Zakuro," He said as he sat in the chair next to her.
Zakuro looked up and smiled at him, she didn't try to hug him. That was really nice of her. "I was starting to worry that you lost your way."
"I've been here enough times with Naruto to know how to get here from the Hokage tower."
Zaki snorted a small smile on her lips "I know what you mean, I think ramen runs through the child's vain."
"I don't think you have a right to call anybody child, how old are you?"
"15, today"
"Naruto's 19 that means he's 4 years you're senior, you should show him respect"
"wow Gaara,"
"What"
"I never knew you could do basic math!" Gaara rolled his eyes, another thing he liked about Zakuro, was that she wasn't afraid to make him the butt of her jokes. Most people thought he was too sensitive for that.
Gaara felt a smile coming, and he was ok to let it show. It ended quickly then because he notice the shop keeper giving them the eye, they were taking up counter space and not buying anything. "The owner is starting to stare at us, do you want to eat here or somewhere else"
"Um… I don't know, where do you want to eat?"
"It's your birthday you should decide"
"Well I guess we can get out of here, I'm sick of ramen." Zakuro then stood up and Gaara followed.
-s-s-
Max wiped the tables one more time, the party was arriving soon. "What in good god's name possessed you to throw a surprise birthday for her?" he asked Allie, she was currently hanging up decorations.
"I don't know, that man…Yamato came in asking if I was throwing a birthday party for Zaki, and I didn't want to say 'no' because he had already ordered her gift. And trying to plan a party for Zaki with Zaki wouldn't have worked at all. So I came up with an idea for the surprise party."
"Well she's going to hate it!" The door opened and Sodo came in with a skip in his step. He was high.
"Hey guys! I didn't miss the party did I?"
"Sodo! I don't remember inviting you." Allie barked, as she through a rag at the degenerate.
"Heh, heard about it from Max over here, I've been Zaki's friend too, I'm hurt you guys didn't invite me. Just because she's been hanging with some upper class folks now doesn't mean she can forget those friends at the bottom!"
Max looked at the older women, Allie was getting paler and paler, she had gone out of her way for Zaki's other friends. They don't need to know about her past. She deserves to get a new start, she had worked hard for it. Allie had the urge to throw a chair at the junkie in front of her. He wasn't going to ruin Zaki's evening.
"Plus I'm here to tell you Jr. will be arriving with Tank and maybe a couple of others…" Sodo looked away from Allie, as she stared at him. He used to be so naive and have so much potential to do something. But no he fallen in the wrong crowd and this is what happened to him. A washed up druggie working for the local gang lord for his next hit.
"Ok, well the party doesn't start until 7, so unless you're going to help. Please leave" Max snipped, he knew how important this was to Zaki, it was her birth day after all and he knew she would be devastated if her Kazekage had to meet a druggie like Sodo.
This brought max a bitter taste in his mouth. Her Gaara was coming to Konoha for the exams and he would be coming to her party. Which mean he would be here, and Max would get to meet the guy. Zaki couldn't stop talking about. There was defiantly jealousy whenever he thought of that man. He seemed too good to be real. But no, it just bothered Max that he didn't see her as often anymore. But things change and he just hoped he wasn't one of the things to go. Sodo left soon after he heard Allie say the words help and work.
-s-
Yamato walked through the dregs as fast as possible, it was 6:45 he wanted to get there to help her god mother. Allie was a conundrum to him. She seemed to not want Zaki to be a shinobi, but she didn't want her staying in the dregs that was certain. It just seemed like nobody knew what Zaki really wanted, out of this. She was ready to become chunnin, Yamato knew it…but he would never tell her that. He didn't want her getting complacent.
Yamato would tell her that Naruto, was only a gennin like her, that she should be able to defeat him. And it was a basically a lie, Naruto was about jounin level with Kage level chakra, he wasn't supposed to be defeated by Zaki. But when he told her those things, she had such a resolve in her eyes to nock some sense into Naruto that it made Yamato want to egg her on more. His other teaching techniques didn't work. So he tried another, not so nice one. And it seemed to be working, different people respond differently.
As he walked into the bar, he saw the man named Max. His hair had gotten longer and he had it tied up behind him in a pony tail. The little fuzziest he used to have had given away to a full 5 o'clock shadow. His cheeks were no longer so round or boyish, they were high and hallow looking. His chin seemed to jut out more than it used to, and his eyes were still that shockingly deep blue.
The blue eyes looked at him and seemed to look past him for a minute as if somewhere else talking to somebody more important.
-s-
"MAX! stop dawdling and do something, people will be arriving soon. One's already here you no good lug!" Sara yelled in his head. She wasn't as a constant annoyance any more, but she still popped up, especially when it was something about Zaki. She was pestering him to put more decorations up. Max spun around to face the apparition.
She had eyes exactly like her daughters, that shockingly hazel. "Zaki won't like the decorations, there is no sense in putting them up." He replied as he moved a table to the wall, they had put three tables next to it for the wall, for the food Allie had prepared. Yamato walked up to Allie and they had started talking. Allie looked at him "Start getting the food, it's in the left fridge in the basement." Max nodded he looked at Sara to see if she was following.
"No way, I've never liked that basement it's creepy. You can go down there yourself." Sara then walked behind Yamato and Allie and listened to their conversation. Max rolled his eyes and headed down the stairs.
The basement had concrete floors and a feel of a horror movie. To the left barrels of Sake and other liquors to the right fire wood. Further down the hall past another door was the freezers. As Max walked he did a double take, there was a man on one of the barrels of sake.
It was the man he had met before he started working at the Kunai factory, except this time he seemed almost transparent and fuzzy, not nearly as solid as before. His grey hair was the same color as the walls. And his green eyes seemed to be the only thing with life around him.
"Hey max, I need to talk to you quick." The man said, his voice almost an echo, Max stepped closer.
"How did you get down here?"
"A lot of effort, but never mind that. I can't stay for long, can you tell Allie something for me."
"what?" Max was so confused what was happening, why was this guy straining so much to just stay put. Max had gotten used to the idea of ghost, but really only Sara's that seemed to be so solid she could hit him. This one seemed to almost dissipate before his eyes.
"Tell her, its time that she gets rid of those old letters." Then the man smiled at max, "by the way, Thanks for getting my watch back." And before Max could blink the grey haired man was gone. Shaking himself off Max continued to the freezer and loaded him up.
By the time he was back upstairs a blonde with spiky hair was chatting loudly with Yamato. A women with long red hair and a taller man with spiky blond hair was behind the first one. Max's heart sunk, before the women even made eye contact he could tell they were dead. That means they were not going to leave him alone the whole party.
"HEY MY NAMES UZAMAKI NARUTO!" the alive blond bounded towards him taking some casserole dishes from max to help him out. "What's yours?" The deep blue eyes widened in fascination as he looked at Max.
"Max." the naïve eyes kept on looking at him, "I don't have a family name."
"Oh…" Naruto pursed his lips as if trying to hold back a question. "Why's that?"
The boy was right in front of max at this moment and he couldn't get around him without looking rude. "because my mother was a prostitute that dumped me off at the nearest orphanage at the time."
The boy took a step back at Max's tone, he had the look of kids of killed shinobi all over him. They were better taken care of after their parents died, other shinobi would take care of them, and so they usually had nice apartments to grow up in. Max walked past him, Allie looked at him with a critical eye. She gave him the signal to come over towards her. Max gave a huff and walked over.
"Be nice to these people!" she spat, she was taking out a big bowl and some of her cooking supplies, "go get the cinnamon out of the cupboard."
Max went behind the bar and started looking through shelves, where was that dam cinnamon? As he was scrounging around on tip toes on the top cupboard his hands grabbed two envelops. Pulling them down he looked at the first name. It was in a small curvy letters it said: To Gai. The grey haired man has said something about letters. "Hey I found some old letters, you want me to throw them away, and they say To Gai and To Zaki?" Max asked non-challantly, he could feel Allie stiffen behind him and before he could try to open one she snatched them out of his hands.
"Give those to me, its rude to look at other people's mail." Her eyes were wide with shock as she looked at them, her hands were trembling. She quickly put them in her apron pocket. "The cinnamon is in the other cupboard Max."
-s-
Adara walked besides Keiji as they quickly went through the dregs. She was in her Shinobi gear, so was Keiji, people wouldn't mess with them that way. She looked at her tall friend he looked down at her. They both smiled at each other, Adara had to suppress a blush. "Trainings been going good?" She asked as she looked away.
"Ok"
"That's …good. Are you worried about your first battle?"
"Don't know….are you?" Keiji asked her, she was facing one of the sand trio, he kind of knew what Kristi was good at. Adara's was a complete mystery. Her face was looking at the ground and Keiji couldn't help but think she had a cute profile.
"well I can only hope you know?"
"Yeah…So what did you get Zaki?" Keiji asked, he had the kunai cleaner in one of those decorative bags with the tissue paper to make it look nice. He was horrible at wrapping presents.
"Ugh Kunai cleaner," Adara replied as she showed him a small wrapped box with balloon print on it. "What did you get her?"
"…Kunai cleaner, Kaida and I pulled our money together to get her 2 big jars of the stuff."
"I only got her one big jar."
"Well now we know what not to get her for Christmas…" Keiji said. Each jar was supposed to last 6 months.
They met Kaida right before going into the bar. It was decorated with a banner on the wall that said "Happy Birth day Zaki" Hanging from it, two big bundle of balloons was soon going to be joined with by a third that Yamato and Naruto were making. Her god mother was nowhere to be seen and the blond man from before was sweeping.
Naruto was the first to see them and he waved happily, his face red from concentrating on blowing a red balloon bigger than his face. Yamato waved and smiled as he tied a string to an end of a balloon Naruto just blew. "Hey guys!" He said smiling. "come and help us with these balloons."
"We are going to cover the whole ceiling with them!" Naruto exclaimed.
Max turned around sharply, "Three bundles is quiet enough, she doesn't like a lot of decorations." Quickly biting his lips realizing his tone. "Sorry, um …yeah….Allie should be back with the cake soon…"
"Did she buy one?" Adara said looking around, everything looked so grimy, she was afraid to sit down.
"No she's baking it upstairs, theirs uh…no oven at the bar." Max responded.
He then quickly turned around sharply and swatted something away, "URGH get away!" the blond man growled. He then stopped and looked at them, "Uhhh…flies." He quickly went back to sweeping.
-s-s-
That red headed women was more annoying than her son. "You can talk to him for us!" She yelled in his ear as he swept. "You can tell him how much we love him can't you?" She was clinging to him now. This was really pissing Max off "URGH get away!" He swatted at her for her to stop touching him. Stopping as he realized the others saw him, he made up a lie quick. "Uhhh….flies."
The older blond man put a hand on his wife shoulder, "Kushina, what do you expect him to do? Go up to a complete stranger and give him a hug and tell him that his parents love him?"
"Thank you" Max yelled in his head. The red head wasn't so easily tamed though.
"Well we've finally found someone who can talk to us, we can use that to talk to our son!" She had started crying. Oh dear Max felt guilt coming over him. But what could he do about it? It wasn't his fault the lady died while her son was a child.
"sorry I can't help you" max told them, it was one thing for Sara to bug him he knew her, then there was the grey haired men, he just gave advice. Now there were these two, whining that they wanted to talk to a son that Max did not know. And wanted no pleasure of knowing.
"You should help them!" Sara had appeared again. "Hello, my names Sara…oh my god, you're the 4th Hokage!" She shrieked as she pointed at the blond haired man.
"It's your duty to help these two max, that one was a Hokage, she informed him as though he hadn't just heard her."
"The kage's can go suck their nonexistent balls for all I care!" He shot back in frustration. Why did he have a duty to a position that had done nothing for him and never would?
"Hey can someone help me with this cake?" Allie called from the stairwell. The tall boy on Zaki's team rushed and took it from the small women. "Thank you put it on that table over there."
"There's no frosting on the cake!" The little ginger exclaimed.
Max and Allie answered in unison "Zaki doesn't like frosting"
"Oh"
Yamato looked at his watch, "Ok its 6:55" we should all hide, Gaara should be coming with Zaki any minuet.
…s…..s..
Gaara had never laughed so hard in his life. He could feel tears forming at the corner of his eyes, he was laughing so hard. Zaki was laughing just as hard beside him. They had decided to take a walk through Konoha after going to eat some Tempura. They had seen a guy chase after a girl just to fall into her breasts, when Zaki started giggling, then Gaara couldn't help but chuckle, and it increased from there. The more he laughed the more Zaki laughed.
He heard Zaki take a deep intake of breath as though she was drowning, "Oh my gosh I have to stop laughing…I feel like I can't breathe." She admitted. Gaara took a similar breath, looked at his watch it was almost 7.
"Oh we have to go" Gaara said as he stopped laughing. Zaki pulled herself together and smiled at him.
"Why?"
"Well, other people are throwing a surprise party for you and they told me to bring you around 7, and it's around 7."
Her face sobered up, "what?" She snapped.
"They are throwing you a party, at the your god mothers bar, I'm supposed to take you there." He informed her starting to walk towards town.
"When was I going to be informed of this?" She asked walking faster to catch up.
"When you got there."
As they walked back into town, Gaara had to face the uncomfortable fact he had no idea where he was going. Stopping he turned to Zaki who looked flustered. "Where are we going?"
"The Zoo," Gaara didn't respond, it took her a while to realize he knew that. A small blush crept up on her face.
"You don't have to go…its kind of far away, a person of your stature shouldn't be seen in that area. Thanks for the walk though it was really nice!" She tried to get away from him, Gaara quickly blocked her.
"Nonsense, I love cake" Gaara told her, "Now where is it."
Bowing her head in defeat "let me show you" They headed towards the dregs.
-s-
Keiji was waiting just like everyone else in the bar, the lights were turned off. They heard the door creek open right before the lights turned on. "SURPRISE!" he yelled with Adara and Kaida, the others just spoke it. As Keiji saw the look on his team mates face he couldn't help but feel that this was a bad idea. Zaki's face was fighting off a scowl as she looked at the decorations. The older blonde boy named Naruto caught on right away.
"You told her didn't you Gaara!" he accused. That's when Keiji Noticed the menacing man behind her, he had blood red hair and a strikingly maroon eyes. He had a love tattoo on his forehead. This must be Gaara. He was shorter then Keiji expected. The Kage shrugged at the blonde.
"Was I not supposed to tell her?" Gaara asked, the crowd. He could feel others head shake no behind him. "oh" Zaki was still looking around in semi shock. Her godmother was the first to go up to her, and hug her.
"Happy Birthday," The hug ended and Allie kept the younger and taller girl in her arms. "Now I know you don't like parties, and you don't like surprises. But I think after all your achievements you deserved a party, and planning one with you is like pulling teeth." Zaki nodded and hugged her god mother again. The stranger and the blonde were talking adamantly. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Keiji decided to walk up to the older boys.
The red head stopped and looked at him, as the blonde kept talking. "H-hi.' He said trying to get in the conversation. Standing next to them he realized how short the Kazekage was. The red head came up to only halfway to his shoulder. The blond at least got up to his chin. "My n-names um, Keitarus Keiji. I'm Zaki's team mate." He extended his hands in greetings the red head blinked.
"Oh don't worry about it!" Naruto exclaimed, "He doesn't shake hands."
Gaara nodded his head lightly. "hello"
"Hello" He heard his voice break a little, and he could feel the blush form on his cheeks. "My name is Keiji, I'm Zaki's team mate. And I-uh I and hm" As he looked down on those intimidating eyes he forgot his train of thought. "Wanted to thank you for saving Zaki, from the river and all." Keiji felt like an idiot, the blue green eyes kept staring.
"You are welcome" he stated. Keiji backed off and scanned the room, Adara and Kaida were in line to talk to Zaki, he should go over there.
-s-s-
Max was keeping to the back of the group, her team mates had gone up to her with Allie. The Naruto boy and the Kazekage were talking. The Kage looked more like a boy then Max had imagined. His pale round face was very feminine. His hair was an obnoxious red, the kind of red that had to be dyed. And it looked like he got make up tips from a raccoon. He was also a lot shorter then Max had pictured him. As he saw her team mates and sensei go towards the food table so did the other two. Max went up to her.
"Sorry," he said right away. "I tried to tell them to keep it low on the balloons." Zaki didn't look at him he head was bent in thinking.
"That's ok." And before he was even ready she flung herself at him, giving him a big hug. Max smiled to himself, "I've missed you too." He started feeling wetness on his shirt. She was crying. Leaning in closer to her ear he whispered, "It's going to be ok."
"ARE WE GOING TO EAT THIS CAKE OR NOT!" the Naruto boy yelled. Zaki wiped her eyes and smiled.
"Sorry, we're coming" Zaki replied finally letting go of Max.
"Why isn't there frosting on the cake?" The blond asked.
"Because I don't like frosting." Zaki answered as they crowded around. Allie started cutting the cake, and placing them on plates.
"does everyone want a piece?" Allie asked.
"Yes" was the general murmur.
"Hey are we going to sing happy birthday?" The blond asked.
"NO!" Zaki interrupted before he could finish. "I'm sorry I hate that song."
"AWW COME ON! FIRST YOU DON'T LIKE CAKE, NOW YOU EX THE BIRTHDAY SONG!" he whined.
"Shut up Naruto" A gruff voice commanded, it was the boy-Kage "It's her birthday." He then nodded to Allie as she handed him a piece of cake.
Zaki's face brightened. "Oh Max, I haven't introduced you to Gaara" The grey haired girl then lead him by the hand to the red head. "Gaara this is Max, Max, Gaara." Max nodded his head in respect. He felt the cold aqua marine eyes look him up and down, and then at his and Zaki's hands as Max was still holding it.
"Hey Gaara, Zaki talks a lot about you."
-s-
His voice was a clear baritone, Gaara noticed as he talked to the dirty blond. His hair was disheveled and he wasn't cleanly shaven. His face was very square and his chin protruded out a little to form a clef. His eyes were a deeper blue's than Naruto's. He was holding Zaki's hand, unnecessarily. The girl didn't seem to mind though…
"Well, that's kind of her. She mentions you a lot also…Max-san" There was no reason not to be formal.
Zaki had left to get cake and talk to Her god mother. The deep blue eyes stared at him, Gaara knew Max was judging him just as hard as he judged Max. "We should thank you, None of this would have happened if you hadn't saved her." There was a silence falling between them, Gaara kept his eyes on the blue ones. They showed emotions easily. There was a sadness in them, "especially me, I …couldn't have, It was a very dark time here, when we heard about the accident. A lot of things would have…Just I really want to thank you. And I mean that." When their eyes met, there was an understanding between them. Gaara just nodded and turned away towards his cake. Gaara wasn't lying before, he really loved cake.
Gaara's eyes traveled to the room. Yamato was getting everyone's gifts out and Zaki was talking to the other girl her age. The girl her age looked like somebody Gaara knows, and it was bothering him that he couldn't place it. She had a certain face, but the hair was different. Suddenly out of the corner of his eye he saw a small tangle of red hair behind him. He didn't even notice she was behind him. That was rare.
"You're a Kage aren't you?" she demanded.
"Yes"
"Do people ever look down on you because you're young?"
"yes"
"How do you get over it?"
"Ignore them" or kill them he added privately to himself.
"Even when they are really annoying, and act as though your 7"
Gaara had to think of that answer, when people doubted him they generally kept it private for fear of him lashing out at them. "Show them you are not 7"
The girl scrunched up her face, "Hey I'm Kaida, Zaki's team mate." She stretched out her hands and took his without his permissions shaking it thoroughly before dropping it. Gaara was about to answer she interrupted, "You are Gaara the Sand Kazekage." He just nodded.
"Was it hard being a child prodigy?"
Gaara's eyes twitched, "you could say that."
"Ok everyone time for presents." Yamato announced bringing them all out. Gaara's noticed how Zaki's hazels eyes widened at the tiny gifts coming out. He knew that look, he felt it the first time his siblings celebrated Christmas with him.
"Open mine first!" Naruto demanded. He handed Zaki a poorly rapped jar. Zaki carefully opened it.
"Kunai cleaner, Thanks Naruto" The next present was the brunette her age. Zaki opened the box. "Kunai Cleaner, Thanks Adara."
Then it hit him the girl was Nara's little sister. The really tall boy quickly handed a bag to Zaki. "Kaida and I got these for you."
Zaki stuck her hand in the bag, and pulled out a jar, then another. "Two more jars of Kunai cleaner, ok guys I get the point. I'll take better care of my Kunai," the grey haired girl then barked a laugh.
"Mine next," Yamato said handing her a box. She opened it, a small black pouch was inside. It looked like just a regular kunai pouch, but Gaara new better. It had a seal on the bottom that let it carry more then what it looked like. "Those pouches there nice for long missions, because you can carry more food rations in them, and you don't have to worry about the extra weight. But I have to warn you, don't carry a lot of your weapons in there, because it's hard to reach for them." Yamato explained.
Zaki smiled "Thank you-"
"DID WE MISS THE CAKE?" a new voice asked, it came from the door way. Gaara spun around, it was Uchiha Sasuke! But a lot twitchier then Gaara remembered.
"Sasuke?" Naruto whispered. The stranger spun around.
"Where?" then turning around he spas med a little "Oh, no, my names Sodo. I'm a friend of Zaki's. I don't know any Sasuke" He ran his hands through his hair and pulled his sleeve down a little. He was talking really fast, and was really jumpy. "Hey Zaki happy birthday!"
Gaara looked towards the grey haired girl and she was as still as a rod, so was her god mother and Max. The Sasuke impersonator went straight for a piece of cake. Two more people entered. The first one to come in was about medium hair, smallish build, brown hair and brown eyes. He was in a nice business suit. "Happy birthday Zakuro" The voice slithered. Allie rushed to get a piece of cake. "No cake for me Ms. A."
The older lady straightened up, "I was getting one for tank"
That's when Gaara noticed the monster of a man behind the suit one. He would make Chouji look small. "Ahhh" the bass voice boomed, "Thanks Ms. A, Happy birthday by the way little Z" Allie went over to the two men and gave the big one a huge piece of cake. As she passed the smaller one, he said something in a whisper that made Allie turn around and reply sharply. She quickly moved back to the table.
"Unfortunately I have to leave soon for business, so I'm here to give you this Zaki" The man slinked over towards Zaki. He pulled out of his breast pocket an envelope. Zaki was staring at him like he was going to hit her. He grinned at her, and gently tapped the tip of her nose with the envelop. "This is for you, so you can remember your old friend Jr., especially when you become a chunnin, understand?" He then handed her the letter, which she took with trembling hands.
The man, 'Jr.' Gaara was pretty sure he said that was his name. Well Jr. Straightened up and nodded towards Max, who just nodded back. "I'll see you all later." His voice suddenly became strong "Sodo, let's go!"
"But boss I was-"
"NOW!"
The twitchy Sasuke look alike, put his plate down and followed the other two out the door. "Yes boss". A silence fell on the room and Gaara looked at the others, Yamato eyes were moving from the door towards his student in worry. Kaida hugged herself, the tall boy had moved in between the Nara girl and the three strangers.
Allie was the first to break the silence "Do we have any more gifts?"
"Yes" Gaara Then dug down in his side pouch to pull out a brown package wrapped in string.
Zaki shook her head "I couldn't take anything more from you Gaara," She insisted. Gaara didn't want to hear any of that.
"I got it for you, believe me I would have no use for it, so please take it." He insisted. Zaki took the package.
_-s-sA_
Max looked at the package Gaara handed Zaki, it was rather big. Her dainty hands started untying the strings to it. Max didn't know what to think of the red head. He seemed like a very strange and serious guy. Zaki usually hated guys like that, guys who thought they were too good to show emotions. He was just like that, but in her eyes, Max saw only admiration. Max heard Zaki gasp. She pulled up a beautiful piece of clothing up.
It was a Kimono. Max heard the girl Adara and Allie booth oo in delight. It was black mostly, with dark violet butterflies, they looked like they were flying and leaving a trail of the same purple a little behind them. The Obi was a darker purple. Max's hand went instinctually to the watch in his pocket. What was his watch compared to that kimono.
"Gaara" Zaki whispered, "You shouldn't…this is too much" She tried giving the package back to the Kazekage. He held up his hands in protest.
"No, I don't have any use for it. Keep it" His voice was stern and cold, but it didn't take a genius to hear the compassion in it.
A little voice in Max's head wanted to rip it out of Zaki's hand and stomp on it violently, but then he saw her face. She was so happy; it had been a while since Max had seen it like that. Well if that Kage made her happy, then maybe max should just be happy for her.
It took all his effort but he smiled at the red head. Zaki's eyes twinkled, "Thank you Gaara, for everything"
Allie looked at her watch, "Oh my, it's almost 9:30, I'm sorry but I need to be open by 10" She looked at all the outsiders. "Max and I can take care of this you can all leave. Zaki why don't you go walk them to the outside of the dregs?"
"I should be getting to bed soon!" the blond stretched his muscles; he grinned hugely at Allie and Zaki. "I'll see you tomorrow Zaki, Thank you for the Meal Allie-San"
The woman and the man behind Naruto had been quiet during the party, Max was very thankful for that. They waved goodbye to him. And there was a feeling of guilt set in. In the end it was not his problem. Dead people should just learn to stay dead and quiet.
Yamato smiled at the blond, "I should probably leave with him, good bye Zaki, and tomorrow…5:30 sharp. No exceptions"
"Urgh I have to go!" The little one whined, "My parents want me home by 10."
"I'll walk you home Kaida," Keiji the really tall boy offered.
"I'll go with you two; Kaida's house is on the way to mine anyway." The brown haired girl said. She smiled and waved at them, "This was really fun, we should do it again sometime" And before max could really blink, it was only Allie, Zaki, him and the red headed Kage.
"Gaara do you need somebody to show you the way out of the dregs?" Zaki offered. The grey haired girl looked at Allie and Max, her eyes still with that happy twinkle. "Do you guys need me to stay here and help?"
Max felt blood rush to his ears, she seemed to really like that rich boy. "Go ahead Zaki, Max and I can stay here and get ready."
"Ok thanks!" She then tilted her head in the direction of the door to the boy. He nodded yes and followed. Max was sure his face was red with anger.
"You're jealous!" Sara had come up and shouted in his ear, Max had to jump a little from the noise. "I think you should just accept the fact that, he's better than you."
"Go away!" He hissed.
"what is your problem today?" Allie asked him. "wait let me rephrase that, what has been your problem for the past month?"
"There's no problem, sorry I was just, uh talking to myself."
"Well stop it!"
-s-
The day had gone well, Zaki had taken it better than Allie had hoped. Oh gosh she was 15, her little Zakuro was 15. She was all grown up, and going to be a chunnin. A weight pulled her down and she had to put the chair down she was holding. Those envelops, they were written by Zack, she had received other envelop to Gai when Allie was ready. She tried to purposefully forget about them. Zaki hadn't been ready, but she was going to be a Chunnin soon. Zack would have been so proud. His little girl was making Chunnin, just like Gai.
The cigarette slowly burned out on the ash tray, and the music in the background was a whisper of guitarre. It was a hot humid day and Allie felt her cloths stick to her skin. She watched a small patch of grey hair play with an old watch, the small fingers trying to make the hands go faster. The little girl giggled and licked the face of the watch. She quickly made a face after she realized that it wasn't food. She then held it out towards Allie
A chuckle escaped out from the man beside her, his green eyes sparkled as they looked at his little daughter playing with his watch. "Zaki what do you want her to do with it?" He asked lovingly. "Honey can you give it back to daddy?" The toddler tried standing up but fell back on to her diaper. "Did you fall down?" The little one nodded her head yes. "You want to try again?" The little one nodded her head no.
Allie laughed as she saw the determination in the green eyes beside her. He bent down on his knee's "come on honey walk to Daddy!" holding his arms out ready to catch her if she were to fall. The little girl shook her head no again. Sticking the watch back in her mouth.
A thought struck Allie as she asked "Hey did you get that job at the Kunai factory?"
"Yeah I did, I told the man I had a little girl to raise, so he gave me the night/early morning shift…I uh start the machines in the morning for the factory workers."
"Good pay?"
"Decent enough, and chance for promotion, at least that's something." He sniffed the air and raised his hands to his noise, "Zaki! Did you make a stinky?" She giggled and bit the watch one more time. "Yes you did!" In one fluid motion the man picked up his daughter and checked her diaper. "Allie could you hold the girl while I go get the changing supplies?" He asked her.
"Sure, give the little rascal to me," she soon felt a little girl in her arms. She looked at the hazel eyes in the childs eyes, they were her mothers. They seemed older and sadder than an eighteen month old could handle. In a reflex Allie scrunched up her face at the babe. Zaki responded in kind. "I'm always surprised how much she looks like her mother," She shouted towards Zack.
"Yeah, I know it's kind of like Sara is just wearing a grey wig."
"Oh she has more than that from you, she has your sense of…" Zaki gave off a big fart, then started laughing again, "humor."
"Oh but she's going to be smarter than I or her mother are." Zack took her from Allies hand and placed her on a changing mat.
"She gets that from me."
He chuckled, "I thought she got your stobborness to stupidity."
"No that would be-" She stopped herself before she could finish that sentence. He had left exactly 3 years 6 months and 6 days ago. He hadn't called her, he hadn't come by, well he did come by to pick up his clothes. Maybe she shouldn't have set them all on fire, but then again she didn't even see him that day. So it didn't count.
She felt a hand on her's "He'll come back, I mean its Gai! Allie, he always comes back."
Allie looked away, no he wouldn't come back, he came back for his clothes he was too busy being a high class shinobi to stop and chat with the people he owed it too. She had stood by him all the way to the top, but when he got there it was him who dropped her like a sack of moldy potatoes. She had worked double shift and kept the Zoo going. She had smiled and encouraged him when he was down. She did all of that for him. And he, had the gull to accuse her of cheating on him. To assume that she was sleeping with men who came to the Zoo regularly, like she was a common prostitute.
Than a week after that accusation came out and him sleeping on the floor. She was pulling a double shift that night. And was greeted by a beautiful red haired konoichi and informed her that she was here to tell one Might Gai that he was needed by the Hokage. Then after Allie informed her that he was not in upstairs at the moment. The red head asked non-chalantly if she could see his apartment. Allie said that Gai's roommate wouldn't agree. The red head looked shocked. She swore that during one of their missions he said he lived alone above a bar. Then the red head goes on to admit that she wasn't actually here for a mission, she was here to talk to Gai. About their encounter during their last mission.
Allie of course being curious when she saw the obvious blush on the skinny girls face, asked what encounter. The girl promptly sat down and explained to her that after months of flirting and feeling kind of awkward with him, a heated moment during a mission turned into a heated night of passion. And as she explained Allie stood there, a fool. She stood there and listened to a love sick girl talking about HER husband. How she would talk to him, and it seemed like she knew him so much. She had such a deep connection it's was like they knew each other their whole lives. Except the perky petite red head didn't even know that the supposed love of her life, had a wife. And she was talking right too her!
"He's never coming back, Zack. That's a pipe dream, he's moved on to better things. He doesn't need us anymore."
Zack looked at her as he stood up, his little daughter in his arms. "Well he at least needs to come back to see his God daughter."
"Did you even tell him she was born?"
"I tried giving the message to his building manager, he was out at the time."
"He hasn't gotten back in 18 months Zack, he's not coming now."
"He's probably still on a mission."
"Still on a mission, sounds like Gai for you."
The little girl was resting her head on his shoulder, a small yawn escaped her. Zack looked down at his little girl and smiled. "I want her to meet him, they probably won't get along at first. But, they will eventually. I want her to be like him-Without the whole cheating thing. I want Zaki to leave the dregs, or at least be able to choose where she lives. My family's been stuck here since the beginning of Konoha, Sara's family has been stuck here. You got to have 10 years freedom when you were little Allie. Gai had a shred of light. He went to the academy, he was talented. His sensei looked after him. He had a way out. He took it, I can't blame him. If you live in this place for too long, it's like suffocating on mustard gas. The sweet smell gives off hope for a home, but you are actually slowly11 dying. I don't want my little girl to die."
-kk-
As Max waited he felt his heart keep sinking, how long would it take them to get out of the dregs. The kimono lay neatly folded, on top of the pile of Kunai cleaners. He debated weather or not he could sell the watch back to Delton, he would probably lose a bit of money. But after that Kimono, why would she like his gift. She would look beautiful in it though.
Zaki came back a smile plastered on her face and a small blush on her cheeks. Max felt like something was anger rise in his stomach. He really did not like that Gaara. "I'm glad to see you guys tidied up without me." She announced as she opened the pouch Yamato gave her and started putting the jar's of kunai cleaner inside. She stopped when she came to the envelope that Jr. gave her. She hadn't opened it when company was around. She opened it to pull out a check. A snarl replaced her happy features and she ripped the check up right in front of them. "I don't need money that badly." She stated as she threw the pieces into the trash.
"Your friends are very nice Zaki." Allie stated, Max could see she reached for the envelops in her pocket. "I especially liked that Gaara, he was quite something…" Her words were slow as though she was choosing them carefully. She went up to her god daughter and hugged her, "Just be careful, around him… I'm not exactly sure what his intentions are with you."
Zaki pulled away, "Gaara's not like that! He's a friend, that's all."
"I can see that, just be careful…Just remember you have choices." Allie said. She finally took the envelop out of her pocket. "Open this when you are at home and alone." The grey haired girl look confused, but nodded, she placed it on the top of her pouch.
Stuffing his pockets with his hands, Max looked at the ground. "Do you want somebody to walk you home Zaki?" He knew the answer would be no, but asking just seemed like the polite thing to do.
"Yes," Max looked up, did she just agree. The grey haired girl shrugged "we really haven't had time to talk a lot" Max nodded in agreement. Allie seemed to be off in her own world as she looked at the other letter.
"Bye Allie" Zaki called as she placed the pouch on her side, and picked up the Kimono package delicately, and walked out of the store. Max quickly followed.
He walked behind her a few steps, the moon was out, and she was beautiful. The white light shined down on the two walking. She stopped and let him catch up. The smile she had worn almost all night was on her face again. "So, you had a nice walk with Gaara?" He asked, "He seems to really like you."
She rolled her eyes, "Not you too! We are only friends why can't people realize that?"
"I'm just saying, rich men don't really give expensive presents to young girls…unless they are expecting something from them in return."
Zaki furrored her brows, "Gaara's not like that, he's a generous he likes giving things to people. He's not playing on any angle. Plus he's a Kazekage not allowed to date outside of the villiage."
"I don't think he would be interesting in dating but-"
"WOULD YOU STOP IT!" She interrupted, "he's not asking for anything in return Max. Nothing, some people outside of the dregs help others because its kind, not because they are looking at getting anything out of it."
"I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news Zaki, but people aren't like that. They are always looking to gain something."
"Yeah the people in the dregs, if you had any interaction with real people outside of that you would see that. But you are stuck here in this god-forsakin part of town."
"If you hate your home that much why don't you just leave?" Max shouted out of bitterness. If she wanted to move on, if she felt she was too good for them, then let her leave.
"Gaara says that I should sell the house and move to the apartment complex's Naruto lives in. It would be more conducive to my training." She shot back.
"Well I guess if your precious Gaara says to do it, I guess you have to!"
Zaki stopped and looked down on the ground, maybe he shouldn't have said that. "I don't want to leave." She whispered. "That's why I wanted to talk to you, I don't like how we are growing apart."
"I don't like it either." Zaki looked at him her hazel eyes glowing. They were side by side, she was looking up at him. "I don't want to fight." He admitted.
"Gaara and I had a …ar...we didn't really argue, it was more of discussion. He says that my letters have gotten sadder the more I talk about home. He says if I'm not happy I should move on. But I can't leave this place. The world outside, its, its not for me. I want to stay here. And I want to be happy, and I want to continue being a shinobi, and I don't want to choose between my home and my career, but I'm tired of feeling lonely. I go to that house, and there's nothing there, I sleep on the floor in the living room because I don't like any of the bedrooms. But I'm not leaving that house. It's my family's home. It's just so empty that I dread going there every night" Her nostrils flared as she looked down on the ground biting her lip. A determination fell over her, Max had never seen that look before, "I want you to move in with me Max."
"what?"
"Yeah, I mean it makes sense, you have the furniture, I have the house, you won't have to pay rent anymore. And I don't know, we could fix up my place a bit." '
Max couldn't believe what he was hearing. Live with Zaki? "Like a couple?" He didn't know if he was excited or petrified.
"Well…together, I don't know what you want to call it, but right now I'm just going to say together." She held out her hand, and max took it in his.
"I guess, we should go home then."
"Yeah let's go home"
I KNOW KAIDA AND KEIJI WERE BARELY MENTIONED IN THIS CHAPTER! I'M SORRY IT WAS SUPPOUSED TO BE FOCUSED ON ZAKI! I PROMISE NEXT CHAPTER IS THE START OF THE THIRD CHUNNIN EXAMS AND THEY ARE BOTH GETTING THERE OWN THINGS TOO! I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY!