A/N: Sorry again for the late update! I promise I'll have this one done by the end of the month, however! Thank you for your patience!
Temari managed to drive Gaara's 1970 Pontiac GTO down to Naruka's house without putting so much as a scratch on it. After putting on his Schott 650 leather jacket, Gaara took the wheel, and all four headed down to the Yamato Steak House. One of a few locations in southern New England to bear the name, this joint was somewhat packed on this particular Saturday. Fortunately, Gaara and co. got their table soon enough.
"So, what do we feel like ordering?" asked Naruka.
"Well, I've always been a fan of their yakiniku," said Gaara.
"Come on, bro!" said Kankuro. "Everybody knows the filet mignon is where it's at!"
"You're both wrong!" said Temari. "The miso soup has got a leg up on both of them!"
"I gotta agree with my girl Temari," said Naruka, "but the seafood soup rocks, too!"
Gaara and Kankuro glared at Naruka.
"What?" said Naruka.
Soon enough, the waitress came by.
"Can I get you something to drink?" said the waitress.
"I'll have a Coke," said Naruka.
"Green tea for me," said Temari.
"I'd also like a Coke," said Gaara.
"Got any Mountain Dew?" asked Kankuro.
"We don't have Pepsi products here," said the waitress.
"OK, get me a ginger ale, then."
The waitress departed to retrieve their drinks.
"So Gaara, tell me more about your day today!" said Temari.
"Well, Naruka and I played a bunch of games today, including Global Thermonuclear War," said Gaara.
"You played Global Thermonuclear War!?" said Kankuro. "That's one of my favorite games of all time!"
"You actually enjoy that strange game, Kankuro?"
"Of course! I mean, the only losing move is not to play!"
Gaara gave Kankuro a disbelieving squint.
"You wouldn't believe how ticklish your little brother is!" said Naruka.
"NARUKA!" Gaara turned bright red when she mentioned this.
Temari giggled. "Gaara, there's nothing wrong with being ticklish!"
"Maybe not, but it's not exactly something to brag about in public!" said Gaara. "OOF!"
Naruka gave Gaara a hearty shove.
"Come on, babe, lighten up a little! This is supposed to be the best day of your life, isn't it?"
"I guess you're right," said Gaara.
"Huh?" At this moment, Naruka raised her eyebrows, her attention suitably aroused.
"SAKURO!" Naruka got up from her seat, quickly walked over and hugged Sakuro Haruno. "How's my favorite pink boy doing!?"
Sakuro returned Naruka's hug. "I'm doing all right, Naruka! How about you?"
"Just awesome!"
Satisfied, the two broke away from the hug.
"Say, who's that mama that's with you?" asked Naruka.
"Naruka, this is my girlfriend Marie. Marie, this is my friend Naruka."
"How do you do?" Marie Romanelli – a tall brunette – shook hands with Naruka.
"I'd love to stay and catch up, but I got a date of my own," said Naruka. "Nice meeting you, Marie!"
"Bye, Naruka!" said Sakuro and Marie.
By the time Naruka returned to her table, the waitress was serving their drinks.
"What can I get you?" asked the waitress.
"I'll have the yakiniku and vegetable combo," said Gaara.
"Get me a filet mignon dinner entrée," said Kankuro.
"I'm ordering the miso soup," said Temari.
"Me too!" said Naruka.
The waitress went to fulfill their food order.
"Veggies, huh?" said Temari. "I didn't know you were so health conscious, little brother!"
"Well, I'm not just doing it for the ladies," said Gaara. "OOF!"
Naruka gave Gaara another shove. "Still being so modest, babe?"
"What, me modest?" Gaara chuckled. "Surely, my dear, you jest!"
"I don't jest, and don't call me Shirley! OOF!"
This time, it was Gaara who shoved Naruka. She turned to face him, and he dropped his jaws when he noticed a frown on her face and tears in her eyes. Kankuro and Temari shot disapproving looks at their youngest sibling.
"W-why would you even do that to a lady!?" said Naruka. "After all I taught you!"
"Naruka, I…I'm sorry!" said Gaara. "I was only joking around! I didn't even mean to hit that hard!"
Suddenly, Naruka started laughing.
"HA!" Naruka gently jabbed Gaara in the rib cage. "I can't believe you fell for that one!"
Gaara couldn't help but laugh, too. His laughter proved infectious to Temari and Kankuro as well.
"In all seriousness," said Gaara, "you really need new material. I mean, what self-respecting adult steals jokes from 80s comedy movies anymore?"
Naruka frowned and crossed her arms. "Oh, I need NEW MATERIAL? HA! This one coming from a guy who still creates memes from Perfect Dark screenshots!"
"So YOU'RE going to devalue my artistic endeavors now!? I oughta…AHAHAHA!"
"Oughta what?" said Naruka.
"AHAHAHA! DON'T TICKLE ME IN PUBLIC!"
"Tell you what: don't threaten me and maybe I won't tickle you in public!"
"ALL RIGHT! AHAHAHA! I'M SORRY!"
Naruka withdrew her tickle attack. Gaara did his best to suppress a smile, but it didn't seem to work very well for him.
Temari giggled. "Gaara, you need to lighten up sometimes! Being tickled isn't the end of the world!"
"Maybe not," said Gaara, "but there's a time and place for everything. Still, she's not nearly as bad as Kobi."
Naruka smirked. "Maybe not, but I can be."
"Er…no thanks!"
By this time, the waitress was back with their food.
"Naruka, would you care to join hands with us in prayer?" asked Gaara.
Naruka smiled. "Sure!"
And so, Naruka locked hands with Gaara, and Temari locked hands with Gaara. They all bowed their heads.
"Dear God, thank you for providing us with the ingredients to make this meal possible," said Gaara. "May they return to the earth, to be born once again. And thank you for bringing us together as companions, that we may create happy memories with each other for the time we are together. Amen."
Everyone let go and lifted their heads up, and then they began eating.
"Wow, this miso soup is DELICIOUS!" said Naruka.
"This must be your first time trying it, then," said Temari.
"Believe it! How are you enjoying your stuff, guys?"
Kankuro put down his chopsticks. "Good as always! You gotta try this filet mignon some time!"
Gaara smiled. "I for one will always remain loyal to the yakiniku, but I understand where you're coming from, Kankuro!"
"And that's why I'm happy to be a part of this family!" said Temari. "We've come such a long way since middle school!"
Gaara pointed a thumb at Naruka. "Thank my favorite woman over here. Without her, I might never have seen the light!"
"Hey, some of that was on you too, babe!" said Naruka. "You were the one who was willing to change!"
"I suppose you're right. I mean, no man does it all by himself, right?"
"True!"
Eventually, it came time to pay, and as per Gaara's recommendation, everybody chipped in for the bill. Gaara even took care of the tip. The four companions exited into the night laughing and generally being jovial.
"That was really nice of you to invite me along, Gaara!" said Naruka.
"Of course!" said Gaara. "You're always welcome to my family outings!"
"And it will be the last one you'll ever attend!" said a mysterious voice.
The four companions turned around and saw four unknown figures wearing long coats, their faces obscured by the light shining from the restaurant onto their backs, in addition to the darkness in general.
"Who the hell are you?" Gaara clenched his fists.
"Glad you asked!" said the same mysterious figure. "You see, we're friends of Sasuke!"
"Sasuke?" said Naruka. "But how…?"
"How did he know that your asses were gonna be showin' up at this two-bit dive?" said another one. "Well, let's just say that coincidences and daily visits add up real nicely!"
(Sakuro…he couldn't have!) thought Naruka, trying to keep a smile on her face. "Oh, I get it! He just wants to take credit for other peoples' screwups!"
"Very friggin' perceptive, Naruka Uzumaki! Too bad it's not gonna give you a goddamn advantage in this fight!"
"Look, just shut up and tell us how you know our names!" said Kankuro.
"For once, it's certainly not due to money," said another one, "and for once, my idiot partner was on point."
"Blow it out your ass, Kakuzu!" said the second one.
"Need I remind you whose side you're on, Hidan?" said the one known as Kakuzu.
"Enough of this banter!" said Temari. "If you're going to fight us, do it now!"
"Very well," said the fourth one, the only female in the group. "But, we must warn you that you're going to die."
Gaara smirked. "Bring it."
Gaara pulled out a snub-nosed Smith & Wesson Model 19 from his jacket pocket and shot Hidan in the head. The others pulled out longer guns from their coats, prompting the rest of Gaara's group to flee. Gaara himself even made tracks for his GTO as machine gun fire chewed up the pavement and random parked cars. Thankfully, everybody made it to Gaara's car without so much as a scratch. Gaara was even kind enough to fold the front seats down to let Kankuro and Temari get in first.
Once he and Naruka were inside, Gaara fumbled around for his keys, found the right one and started the car. By this time, the three still-living gang members were upon them, so Gaara quickly dumped the transmission into first and ran down another one as he fish-tailed it out of the parking lot, leaving a trail of burnt rubber and smoke. The two remaining gang members spat lead at the GTO without so much as a concern for innocent bystanders, some of whom were videotaping the entire incident. With Gaara's car rapidly peeling away, the two gang members headed for their own car – a black 1974 Plymouth Fury.
"Gaara…WHY were those people after us, and what did Sasuke have to do with any of this!?" asked Temari.
"I'm not totally sure," said Gaara, "but it must be because of the time I saved Naruka from being raped."
"Wait…YOU saved Naruka from bein' raped?" said Kankuro.
"Yes, I did, Kankuro, and it boggles me as to how you've been out of that loop."
"Hey, I was outta town that time! Cut me a goddamn break, will ya!?"
By now, Gaara and co. were in Apple Valley Plaza, where Gaara pulled the GTO into the parking lot and killed the headlights once he found a suitable parking spot near where Radio Shack was. He then shut off the car entirely.
"Everybody down and stay quiet!" said Gaara.
Everybody unbuckled their seatbelts and ducked out of sight. Gaara listened intently for the engines of other cars. At this time of the night, those were starting to become less frequent, but he heard quite a few. Most of these were foreign-made inline-4 and inline-6 engines that were all the rage nowadays. Sometimes, he would hear big V8 engines of pickup trucks and SUVs, but nothing that really stood out to him.
Meanwhile, Naruka, Temari and Kankuro were shaking and sweating with fear. They hoped that the police would get to Sasuke's wayward companions before the latter found out where they were parked. Naruka in particular was hoping to be able to give Gaara his present before any of them were among the few murder victims in Smithfield. Temari and Kankuro considered their continued survival to be a present all in itself.
Then, Gaara's ears perked up. In the distance, he heard the familiar peal of a Whelen electronic siren typical of emergency vehicles in the State of Rhode Island. Were the police going to give the scumbags what they deserved? He hoped so, for he hadn't brought that many bullets with him. Then, his ears also picked up a sound he was not hoping to pick up: that of a Chrysler 440 ci V8. As he heard the engine slowing down, he knew that they were all screwed if he hesitated for even a second more, so Gaara winged it and fired the GTO back up. He also turned the headlights on and sped away. Unfortunately, the Fury had the same idea.
"Everybody buckle up!" shouted Gaara.
Everybody did as they were told. Meanwhile, the chase continued west on Route 44, the occupants of the Fury still spitting hot lead at Gaara's crew.
"Shit, if I'd known we were gonna be shot at, I'd have brought my own piece!" said Naruka.
"Never mind that," said Gaara. "Just check the glove compartment!"
Naruka fumbled around in the glove compartment, expecting another gun.
"Gaara, if they have guns, then why do we have carpet tacks!?" said Naruka.
"They're technically drywall nails," said Gaara. "When I give you the signal, dump those!"
"Right!"
Gaara sped down Austin Ave, activating his car's vacuum-operated exhaust. Unfortunately, even with it delivering extra power to the mighty Ram Air engine, the Fury still kept up. Meanwhile, Temari and Kankuro were busy trying not to get shot in the head and assuring themselves that what their youngest sibling was doing was actually par for the course.
"NOW!" shouted Gaara.
Naruka did as she was told and dumped the nails out on a particularly dangerous curve. Gaara slowed down some in order to avoid crashing, and the driver of the Fury gunned it, seeing it as an opportunity to ram Gaara off the road. However, running over the nails caused the Fury to lose control and crash into a rock wall, thereby putting it and the occupants out of action.
"YES!" Naruka pumped her fist in triumph.
Meanwhile, Temari and Kankuro wiped the sweat off their brows, grateful not to have suffered any puncture wounds.
Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.