A/N: All right then… will start writing the chapter of magic now!... and now!... ok… now!
Disclaimer: And I will own Naruto now… and now! And… screw it, I'd rather have Trinity Blood.
"Gaara, will you please go and get Takira?" Temari asked, walking about the kitchen and pulling out the ingredients to make pancakes.
As Kankuro walked in the room (Gaara winced as he noticed he was just barely dressed, in pajama and pulling on a black shirt), he grabbed a skillet and some unidentifiable piece of orange meat that Gaara seriously doubted went into pancakes. "Don't. Touch. The. Food." Kankuro said slowly.
Temari worked up a glare and snatched the skillet back, hitting her older brother on the head with it. "I was just getting everything ready for Takira!" she huffed. She turned her attention back to Gaara. "So, Gaara will you?"
Gaara, knowing that it would have been normal at that moment to ask why (and certainly wondering it himself) merely arched an eyebrow. Over the years, he had become more outspoken, though had not taken to speaking unnecessarily.
Temari shrugged and smiled weakly at his unasked question, "Takira will hear either me or Kankuro before we get in the door, and she might attack. Besides, even if you fail at not being detected, you are the only one of us who will probably be able to fend off one of her attacks."
Gaara nodded and left the room. He waked to the end of the hall, and was once again reminded as he always was, that he wished that the hallway had been built larger. When he was younger, and had taken it so many times before, it had not seemed nearly so small. Now, however, his shoulders would bump the walls if they were just a few inches broader, and he was not a muscular man.
He walked to his old room that the girl inside unknowingly slept in. He doubted very much whether she realized that none but his closest friends (mainly, Naruto and Sakura) had ever set foot within its walls since his childhood. He opened the door and let out a small sigh, to wake Takira but not alert her.
Takira's eyes snapped open to be blinded by the sun. She groaned miserably and flipped over on the bed, pulling a pillow over her face. Gaara could just make out her grumbles.
"Er… hate the sun… going to kill it…"
Smiling slightly at her antics, Gaara cleared his throat.
"Ah!"
Surprised, Takira had tried to pop out of the bed, but had rolled and wrapped herself in the blankets and sheet so much during the night, tripped on her own knees and toppled to the floor, thus pulling all blanket, sheets, and pillows with her. She was completely covered by white. A moment later, her hand shot into the air, pointing upwards.
"You did not see that!"
Gaara let out a small chuckle, and replied, "As you wish." He left her muttering muffled curses.
Takira quickly combed her fingers through her hair and set her clothes to rights. She ran out of the room a moment later, ignoring how the walls seemed to close in on her in the narrow hallway.
She walked into the kitchen, surprised to find that the odd green-colored paint and light wood cabinets comforted her. Briefly, she remembered that she was home and should she choose it, she would wake up to this same room everyday. A small chill of excitement passed through her—she had never lived in a real house after she had left her family at age ten. She was not entirely sure that she would like being cooped up in a house, continuously feeling the need to report back there every time there was a storm or it was the 'normal' sleeping hours of the night. She calmed herself only by remembering that she did not exactly live with normal people and that she was an adult. Damn it, she would do what she wanted and either her new family would respect that or she would leave.
…
So what did she want?
…
She wanted to make breakfast for her family.
Smiling that the decision had been made, Takira stepped into the kitchen and gently took a piece of odd orange meat from Temari's hands.
"I'll take that," Takira frowned and sniffed the meat. It might have once been bacon… or ham. "Why don't you sit down… over there… away from the food." Takira added a bit more each time Temari did not sit down. When Temari still did not respond, Takira cocked her head slightly, as was habitual. "Temari? You okay?"
"You… you're smiling!" With that as her only preamble, Temari threw her arms around Takira's neck, causing the younger woman to stumble back a bit, muttering curses as she fell.
"What is with this family and mentioning my looks!" Takiran exploded half-jokingly, remembering Kankuro's remarks about her bottom (which she repaid him for by sinking his face into the wall) and Gaara's remark about her eyes (which she repaid him for by making him sit in his bedroom for a morning).
Her new 'family' laughed and took their seats, Takira cooking breakfast. A quarter of an hour later, and the pancakes were done, completely orange meat free. They ate in companionable silence, the talk increasing gradually as the amount of food available decreased. Finally, when even Kankuro was forced to put his fork down, Gaara stood.
"I have one meeting today, and then I'll be coming home. Tomorrow my schedule is free, so I suppose I'll be taking complaints then. I'm leaving it to you all to inform anyone who needs knowing."
Kankuro and Temari nodded obediently. "Right."
Gaara left. They listened to his soft footsteps as he left the house and the close of the door. When he was gone, Takira looked at both Kankuro and Temari, and quietly began talking as she cleaned.
As Gaara left the office, he sighed heavily and pushed his hair back. These proceedings necessary to keep lonely has-beens and ambitious could-bees feeling important grated on his nerves.
Consoling himself that it was, at least, over, he began walking home, considering whether or not to make a suggestion of his favorite meal to Takira or not. He stopped as he thought he heard something.
There was no noise.
He began walking again, just to stop three paces later, sure someone was following him. His sand began to leak out of his gourd to protect as darkness closed around him.
A/N: Yay new chapter!