Chapter Fourteen: Truth Hurts

Since getting the job as a bartender, Fred had really begun to love Sunday. Mostly because she didn't have to worry about work, and got a decent night's sleep. But this Sunday was special. In light of her friends realizing she was just meandering through the show they'd essentially given her as homework, Lynne and Rox had decided that she wasn't to be disturbed today. They wanted her to get well into the Chunin exams, apparently. Lynne had also mentioned that that was when Kankuro and his siblings showed up, as well as the rest of the main cast, which Fred took to mean that she would finally be getting into something relative to their current situation.

As soon as the day started, she got a nice shower, ate some breakfast, and got comfortable in clean pajamas for a long day of binge-watching Naruto. She'd set herself up a cocoon of blankets and snacks as she watched.

She began zoning out a little during the battle on the bridge. The episodes just felt like ninety percent recapping the previous episode. The third time she saw Naruto perform the same jutsu, recapping the same moment, she let out a sigh and grabbed her sketch book and began working on some new drawings. The past year, she'd been drawing palm trees at sunset, and this was another one, except it was from the perspective of under the fronds looking up into the sun.

All three of the older girls were skilled at art. Even though Rox was the only one who wanted to study it in college, didn't mean she was the best of the group, although it was tough to decide between them which one was the better artist. If Fred had gone to college, she'd probably also study art, but the idea of going back to school was a nightmare. And yet, now she was in ninja school for another month. She hated it.

As she finished her palm tree drawing, she flipped the page to draw another picture, glancing at the screen to see what was going on. At some point while she was shading the fronds, the dynamic changed from fighting to peaceful. As she opened her notebook to another new page, she saw Naruto was playing with a kid called Konohamaru, and Fred found the kid supremely annoying.

She fidgeted with her pencil over the sketchbook, wondering what she should draw. Then she heard him. "Do you need something?"

She looked back at the screen to see a young Kankuro in a black jumpsuit with a cat hood looking skeptically at the child that just ran into him. His face paint was more detailed. Fred recognized Temari behind him, and she remembered suddenly that they were siblings. She'd forgotten that Kankuro was their first trainer's little brother.

Then as soon as he showed up, he was gone. The show then did a barebones introduction of Naruto's classmates that Fred had already met, like Shikamaru, Hinata, and Kiba. At a glance, she knew who they were, even though they'd clearly changed a lot over the years. Now, they were twenty, whereas in the show at the moment they were twelve or thirteen? So, seven or eight years provided a lot of change. The other three genin, Fred didn't know so well, but she knew the longer they stayed in this world, the more likely she'd eventually meet them.

Then, the show flicked back to Kankuro holding a struggling Konohamaru by his blue scarf. Fred pursed her lips, as she watched him. Kankuro was a lot cooler headed than this scene led on. If Fred had to guess, Konohamaru probably shot his mouth off, and Kankuro decided to act. But the way it was framed, Fred could tell Kankuro and his siblings were the bad guys of this season.

It was a weird thought given seeing him now, he and his siblings were very chummy with the Leaf Ninja. Hell, Fred recalled part of the difficulty surrounding Rox dating Shikamaru a month ago was that Shikamaru and Temari had been engaged.

Something clearly happened in that time. And now Fred was curious as to what exactly that was.


Rox followed alongside Akirama, silently wondering what steps exactly she'd taken that drove her to this moment. She wasn't the type of girl to jump between boyfriends. Sure, she and Shikamaru had been officially broken up for a month, which was almost four times as long as they'd actually dated, but still. When she started falling for someone, her feelings snowballed quickly, and then her heart just didn't move to someone else all that quickly. Her heart was almost as stubborn as she was.

Yet, here she was, a new beautiful iris bouquet that smelled heavenly sitting on her counter before they left. She appreciated the flowers, but at the same time made her feel a little guilty. She shouldn't be appreciating gifts from new men, should she? She didn't want to get super trussed up. So she wore a pair of bright red skinny jeans tucked into brown high-heel riding style boots, a white lacy-layered tank top and a golden key necklace. She'd tied her almost black hair back in a comfortable French braid, and applied her make-up, mostly in neutral tones with only a hint of red in her eyeshadow. Her lipstick wasn't as bold as when her sister painted it for her. She'd settled for a simple rosy shimmer.

Akirama looked attractive tonight, more so than the other times she saw him. He wore a white button-up shirt with rolled up sleeves and was unbuttoned to the point where is clavicle was visible, with a black vest over it. The button-up wasn't tucked into his gray pants, which settled nicely over his ninja shoes. He hadn't even attempted to fix his hair, leaving it a silvery mess.

His smile was easy as he turned to her and said, "I'm glad you decided to come out with me."

She made a face. "Did I have much of a choice?"

"Of course you did," he replied with a smile. She let out a small scoff that clearly said she begged to differ. "You got ready for our date, didn't you?" He pointed out.

"That's a very low bar," Rox commented.

"But an important one," he said with a supportive smirk.

She sighed, chewing on the inside of her cheek wondering if she should tell him how far he was from being on her romantic radar. "Look, what I told you yesterday about not being romantically ready, I meant it."

"I know," he said. He shrugged noncommittally before adding, "I actually know a lot more than you think I do."

She frowned at him for making such a comment. "You do." It was and odd statement that was also a question.

He nodded. "Kobe heard from his cousin Ino that you and Shikamaru were an item last month. And that he broke things off because he was put in charge of training you and your friends."

"Oh," she said after a moment of silence at his explanation.

"I also know that you aren't native to Konoha, but where exactly you're from is a mystery. Or highly classified. I know that you're eighteen, which is only two years younger than myself. And I also know you have a sister that went to live in Suna last month." He riddled off these facts as if they were inconsequential. He shrugged as he continued, "And that you have a friend who bartends at Nomu Ki, but she told me that one in front of you, so..."

Rox was fairly certain her heart skipped a beat just from the nerves and realization that he already knew so much about her.

"For the record, Shikamaru's an idiot," Akirama added, leaning towards her conspiratorially.

She glared at him. "Shikamaru is not an idiot," she defended.

His gaze connected with her, holding a little bit of pity as he replied, "He is when it comes to you."

She focused her thoughts by fiddling with her claddagh ring. "He's just being honorable," she excused for him as she rubbed her knuckle. "I am his student."

"Well, his honor is his downfall," Akirama stated. "I for one wouldn't let something so trivial get in the way of a relationship to a good woman."

She scoffed at the term.

He made an odd face, as if criticizing his own words. "Yeah, that didn't sound right."

"How would you know if I'm a 'good woman'?" she asked, using finger quotes around the identifier he'd used.

"Well," he started with an odd shrug, as if to say the identifier wasn't wrong, it just sounded off. "You're a beautiful, charming young woman with a good, virtuous heart," he defended. "The proverbial 'Girl-next-door'." She shook her head as he added, "Men probably throw themselves at you if they know you're single."

She blushed at the compliment, deflecting it with a joke, "You mean like you did?"

He gave a good-humored pursing of his lips with a shrug before stating, "To be fair, I wouldn't have gotten a date with you if I hadn't."

She decided not to comment on that, knowing it was likely true. Instead she asked, "And how do you know I have a good, virtuous heart?"

"I can tell," he stated, blandly. "It's not something I can explain. It's just something I see in you. Like an innate sense I have for people. You're a good person." He was looking into her eyes at the last statement, almost as if he was looking into her soul. She felt her heart skip a beat as he gave her a cocked smile, as he said, "That's why I'd like to get to know you."

She felt another blush rushing to her cheeks and she looked away, continuing on their path. They walked in silence for a moment, and Akirama let it linger, as if comfortable with just the soundtrack of their shoes on the road. Rox wasn't though. The silence made her think. Hard. Made her ask herself questions about herself. Was this his only option to talk to her? She knew she built up walls, but were they really so impenetrable? Most of the friends she had were because she had Cordi and Fred who were both so extraverted, they broke down her walls for others to get to know her. When it came to love and relationships, she knew she could be a little closed-minded to the idea of other options, especially when she was hung up on one.

She could see Akirama was attractive. Messy silver hair. Dark, reddish-brown eyes. And his face and stature reminded her very much of Henry Cavill from her world, an actor she'd loved since watching Count of Monte Cristo her freshman year in class. In all honesty, if she described her perfect man, he'd probably look a lot like Akirama here. Maybe even act like him too. He even had a spiked stud in one of his ears, giving him bad boy vibes. If Rox was certain of anything, it was that Akirama wasn't lacking in women's attentions. Just hers.

So, why wasn't she looking at him like she knew she usually would? The obvious answer was Shikamaru, even thought he'd made it clear they were done. Why was she still so hung up on him? It had only been three dates in the span of a week or two. Then one steamy moment on the training field. But she was hung up on Shikamaru Nara before that. It wasn't when she read the comics, because even though he was her favorite character, she was routing for him and Temari. They had good chemistry. And he was always the most passionate around the blonde kunoichi. She realized immediately that it was when she saw he was not only real, but available. He didn't end up with Temari, and that meant she had a shot with him.

But that didn't mean he was meant for her, she realized. She'd allowed an infatuation blossom into something bigger, even though its roots were clearly one-sided. She knew him as a character, not a person. Shikamaru didn't know her all that well when they had their first date. Sure they'd gotten to know each other during their three dates, but it wasn't enough to even remotely think it was actually love, right? Shikamaru had turned away, leaving Rox alone. Her friends suggested hooking up with Akirama when they first met, possibly because he looked like her exact type. Maybe he was. Maybe the whole reason behind her feelings for Shikamaru was his position on the show. Maybe if she knew as much about Akirama as Shikamaru, if Akirama had been more of a main character, she would have liked him more.

If that was the case, didn't she owe it to herself to find out?

"I'd like to get to know you too," she admitted, barely a few decibels above a whisper. But he heard her, and positively beamed at her.

"Good," he said with his winning smile. He gave a small chuckle as he added, "It's good to stretch your horizons a little. Embrace change."

"Embrace change?" she scoffed.

He gave a small shrug as he stated, "Well, you didn't seem inclined to get to know me before. I promise, I won't let you down either."

She could feel a small smile coming to her face too. "That's a big promise for someone you don't know."

He smirked. "I thought I'd made it clear I do already kind of know you. I just don't know the important parts."

She chewed her cheek a little nervously at that comment. She'd have to open up, and again that was difficult for her. Not to mention some of those possibly important parts were currently classified until further notice. "Like what?"

"No need to look so nervous. I'm not asking for your safe-word just yet," he stated. She balked at suggestion. He leaned in close to her, whispering conspiratorially, "Just so you know, mine is 'Granny.'"

"What?" Rox yelped. The conversation had taken such a sudden turn, she wasn't sure how to make heads or tails of it.

"Again, not that you'll need to know that tonight, but …" he trailed off with a noncommittal shrug. He pointed to a building they were walking toward as he said, "We're here. I hope you brought your appetite." She let him drag her inside and get directed to the table he'd put on reservation. He scooted into the booth as the server dropped the menus on the table. When he noticed she still stood staring at him, he asked, "Are you going to sit?"

As she sat across from him, Rox sounded a bit pained as she demanded, "Why is your safe word 'Granny'?" The question was punctuated by one of those random moments of volume dropping in conversation among the other restaurant guests, so everyone heard her question rather than just Akirama. She blushed at the moment, trying to hide behind her menu. She may be sexually sheltered in comparison to her friends, but she'd seen Eurotrip. She knew what a safe word was and what it was for. He had brought it up, and now she had to know.

He made an expression as if it were obvious, ignoring the tittering of conversations around them as he picked up the menu. "Well, no one wants to think of their grandmother in that moment." He then shot her a curious smirk as he asked, "But the way you intoned that question does make me wonder …"

She blushed, shifting uncomfortably in her seat as she muttered, "I have uncomfortable memories of grandmothers and … that."

At that, he immediately dropped his menu in a comical fashion, putting his hands together in an almost praying stance, and propping up his head by his chin on his knuckles. He smiled with instant insatiable curiosity. "Do tell."

His expression was so disarming that she immediately began to spill. "My grandfather went into great detail about having marital relations with my grandmother in front of my … urm…" She stumbled, realizing he wouldn't know what a youth group was. So she settled for a substitute. "Mm… my entire class." It wasn't too far from the truth. The youth group contained several students from her school. "And my siblings and my parents."

Akirama looked thoroughly entertained by the idea, as well as in grotesque awe. "May I ask why?" he asked. "I mean something had to bring that about."

"Uhm, he was hired to be a sex-ed teacher after a field-trip turned debaucherous," she answered, pursing her lips at the end.

He nodded, accepting the answer. "I'm sure that was scarring," he offered.

"Yeah," Rox grumbled, "I can't think about drapes or curtains without convulsions." That earned an odd look, which she waved off, explaining, "That's what they would talk about during …" she suppressed a disgusted shiver, "you know."

"Yeah, that's … oddly detailed," Akirama chuckled. "If it's any consolation, I don't drapes either."

"I guess that saves me the burden of talking about them," Rox joked.

Akirama chuckled with her, adding, "You know, it could be your safe-word. If you don't have one, that is."

Rox blushed behind a smile at his joke, before picking up her menu. As Rox looked at the paper in front of her, she realized out loud, "You know, I don't think I ever told that story to Shikamaru."

Akirama nodded. "That makes sense to me." Rox questioned him with only a look. Akirama just shrugged, stating, "Shikamaru is observant in battle, but not so much on social queues. So, he would never know to ask something so crass." He pursed his lips in thought, only adding, "He also probably is less open about his sex life. I bet he wouldn't mention anything sexual unless staring at a bed."

"How open would you say you are?" Rox asked, fingering the corner of her menu nervously, unsure why she was asking something so forward. These were third date questions, not first.

He made an odd expression, clearly giving the question some thought. "Eh, I wouldn't say I'm prudishly closed about the subject, but I don't believe in kissing and telling either. I'm definitely not as open about my sex life as that Inuzuka guy. He is profligate about it."

Rox frowned, "Kiba?"

Akirama tilted his head as if unsure, scratching behind his ear. "If that's his name. Got a big white dog."

That made Rox a little uneasy, thinking about how much time Ronnie and Kiba had been spending together. Not to mention all the things they'd been doing. "What do you mean he's profligate about it?"

Akirama made another odd expression, but more uninterested in the topic as he answered, "Well, almost everyone knows his business. Before the cat lady, he was going after any girl he could get his hands on."

That took Rox by surprise. "Cat lady?"

"Tamaki, I think is her name," Akirama answered. "Sora had a mission with her, escorting her back to her hometown a month or two ago." He unsuccessfully suppressed a sneer, as he added, "Said he saw him slinking out of her apartment here the morning she was supposed to be going back."

"When was this?" Rox asked, feeling her heart sink as she heard Sora's account.

"I don't know," he answered, "Sometime around the Chunin Festival. Sora couldn't go because he was on that mission." He frowned as he asked, "Why are we talking about that asshole, anyway? I have much more important questions."

Rox looked taken aback by the sudden change, but gestured for him to go on.

"Ok," he said scooting forward in his seat, picking his hand up and positioning his fingers to signify the preciseness he wanted her to answer. "You've been shipwrecked, and are standing on a beach of a deserted island. What four things did you save from the shipwreck for you to survive?"

Rox quirked her head. "That's your important question?"

He nodded. "You can tell a lot about a person by their answers."

She pursed her lips, then answered, "Firstly, I'd probably take a book on building rafts."

"Is that something you carry around with you regularly?" Akirama asked curiously.

"No," Rox answered, giving him a shrewd look. "It's just something I'd like to have on a stranded island."

"Then that's not realistic," he argued. "It has to be stuff you'd take with you on a journey. Like for me, it would be my ninja pouch, because it has all the necessities for survival from knives and matches to food pills; my sleeping bag for a good place to sleep; my favorite book, Shuriken Shadows; and a bottle of whiskey."

"Why the whiskey?" Rox asked, hoping he wasn't a drunkard.

"It's good for cuts and infections, as well as something to drink," he answered, rubbing the pads of his thumb and fore-finger together.

"So, you carry this bottle of whiskey with you regularly?" Rox asked, parroting him.

He shrugged. "It's not unreasonable for a ship to have a bottle of whiskey somewhere."

"So, we can add anything that could likely be on the ship with us," she clarified.

"Of course."

"Ok," Rox breathed. "In that case, a lifeboat, a sail with rope, my ninja-gear, in which I will pack a compass regularly, and my art stuff."

"It sounds like you'd go straight from the shipwreck to getting back to civilization," he commented.

"Well, not quite. I'd have to modify the lifeboat to support a mast. Maybe hunt for food. But yeah, as soon as that was done, use my w … wind release to get back," Rox stated. Of course it was all hypothetical. Now she'd be able to fly back without trouble.

Before he could question more, the waitress arrived asking for their order.


Cordi stood in line at Jimen no Hi, waiting for her to go order. She'd searched high and low for a month for this meal, hoping to surprise Gaara for allowing her to live with him and his siblings for a month. But after that deadline, she settled for her first month work anniversary. She'd found most restaurants only had this meal for specials on certain occasions. Today was one such occasion, and she would not pass it up. And while the place was expensive, she currently had almost seven thousand dollars to her name. Back home, she was used to penny pinching from her tiny allowance, but here, she could splurge. A part of her thought it might do her well to invest it, but in what, she had no idea.

"Cordi?" someone asked behind her.

She turned, surprised to see that ninja from her first day in Suna. "Hey," she breathed awkwardly, realizing she'd kind of forgotten his name.

"Ryomen," he offered, gesturing to himself. He was still as beautiful as he was a month ago.

She waved him off. "I knew that," she chirped, covering for herself. "So, what brings you here?"

He shrugged. "My aunt's birthday. She's turning fifty, so my uncle's throwing a big dinner for her." He gestured over his shoulder at a table in the corner full of people. One who Cordi recognized on the Council, but couldn't for the life of her remember his name.

Cordi frowned. "Oh," she breathed, awkwardly setting her jaw. "I don't want to keep you then."

"Well, I was hoping I'd run into you," Ryomen stated.

Cordi was taken aback by this. "You—you did? You were?"

"Yeah," he smiled, tucking his hands in his pockets. His grey-green eyes gleamed with hope as he said, "You never answered my question."

"Huh?"

"You left before I could get where you're from," he clarified congenially. He shrugged nonchalantly as he added, "It's been bothering me, actually. There's something really curious about you."

"Oh," she scoffed as if to dissuade him. "I'm no one special. Currently, I'm from Suna."

He frowned at her, clearly still interested in her story. "What if I tempted you with dinner? Say, tomorrow night at six?"

"I'd have to say I'm busy," she replied honestly. Being the Kazekage's assistant was a full-time job. She barely got time to sleep now, depending on the national emergency. Quickly, she added, "My job is super crazy. But I'm really flattered you'd ask, because well …"

He quirked his head at that. "What do you do?"

"I'm …" she trailed, unsure whether to answer directly. She shrugged, realizing if he was a ninja, he'd probably see her at some point in the tower. "I'm the Kazekage's assistant."

"Oh," he chirped, his eyes flying wide at the realization. "So, you're actually busy."

"Yeah," she sighed awkwardly, scratching her head. "That hurricane over the weekend really fucked with my schedule," she joked.

"No kidding," he laughed with her. He sighed with a shrug. "Well, why don't I give you my info, and you can call on me when you're available." He gestured to the guy at the register for a pen and paper, which the man handed over. He scribbled down his information quickly, then handed it to her.

She looked it over. Ryomen living in the Nendo family compound near the North wall on First street. He'd be easy to find if she needed him. She smiled at him, and said, "Thanks. If it ever lets up, we should hang out."

"Definitely," he replied, his smile easy.

"Got an order for Cordi!" the guy at the register called out.

Cordi raised her hand, turning away from Ryomen. "That's me."

The cashier opened the bag, reading out, "Salted tongue with feijoada (black beans over rice). Medium rare steak with polenta and caramelized bananas. And an order of cheese buns."

"That's correct," Cordi mustered, grabbing the bag. She'd already paid and was starving. As she walked out, she waved at Ryomen with a worn, but bright smile, "It was good to see you again."

He waved back to her as she left the restaurant, and he smiled. She made her way through the bustling streets of Suna back towards the Kazekage tower. Cordi did have to marvel at how the city was built. It was intricate with aqueducts and bridges that connected many of the public buildings, so people could get around in an emergency. And these tubes and columns flowed effortlessly in the unique curving style and structure of the buildings, only broken up by straight-cut billboards or directional signs.

It seemed this was the time of day people escaped their shelters and moved around the outside. It was almost seven thirty, and the sun was setting nicely over the North western boundary. The temperature had begun to drop from what had to be over a hundred degrees to somewhere in the balmy low eighties. Having been here a month, she still hadn't learned how to translate the weather reports from the Celsius it was reported in to the Fahrenheit she understood. The extent of Celsius she understood from science class was zero was freezing, therefore thirty-two degrees in Fahrenheit, and 100 was boiling water, but fuck if she knew what that meant in Fahrenheit. Ungodly hot, she assumed. That morning, they reported a record high of forty-one Celsius, and only by Temari and Kankuro grumbling did she understand that it was fairly high. The low was supposed to be twenty-six. Again, it was all Greek to her.

As she continued to walk down the street, she saw kids playing tag or some form of cops & robbers game. Parents were out on the stoop chatting or sweeping sand from the door. A soccer ball came rolling towards her, and out of habit, she stopped it with her foot, even in her heeled combat boots. A few kids waved at her to pass it back, and she wound up her kick, and sent it soaring back to them over the sandy streets.

As she walked towards the Kazekage building, she caught some people staring at her and whispering. She shot them a smile and a wave, a friendly indirect move to show that they weren't being as subtle as they thought they were. They blanched at her, but one man waved back, only to get elbowed by his buddy. Cordi just laughed, walking into the Kazekage building. As she walked towards the elevators, the front desk lady called out, "Welcome back, Lady Cordelia."

"How many times do I have to say it, Haruki?" Cordi laughed good-naturedly, spinning mid-stride towards the front desk as she continued to the elevators. "I am no lady. Cordelia is just fine."

"Sorry, my lady," she replied, clearly without thinking.

Cordi froze, suddenly remembering something.

"Something wrong, La—uhm, Cordelia?" Haruki asked, eying the fire user worriedly.

Cordi walked over, grumbling, "I just realized I forgot to pick-up the mail today."

Haruki smiled. "And yesterday's. I was wondering why you hadn't," she stated as she turned to the mail room behind her.

Cordi shrugged, setting the food on the counter for a minute. "Well, with the hurricane over last weekend, everything has been absolutely crazy to the point I'd lose my head if not for my neck." Haruki frowned at Cordi's turn of phrase, returning with a large box of mail. Haruki set it in front of her with a sympathetic pout as Cordi sighed, "Shit."

"Yeah," Haruki sighed as well.

She should have known it was going to be bad. The Kazekage office mail was always mixed with the Kazekage penthouse mail. And since it was the beginning of the month, that meant all the magazine subscriptions had come in, office and personal that she'd have to go through. She'd been sorting the siblings mail for a month now.

"Whelp," Cordi huffed, moving the bag of food into the box on top of the mail. She pulled it off the counter, letting out a grunt when it's weight hit her.

"Do you need help?" Haruki offered.

"Just the elevator, if you please," Cordi huffed, readjusting her grip on the box's handles.

Haruki ran out, hitting the up button for the fire user as Cordi ambled her way over. The doors dinged open, and Cordi shuffled inside as Haruki hit the fifth floor and stepped out before giving Cordi a friendly wave goodbye, which Cordi reciprocated with a smile and a nod. She braced the box against her as the elevator dinged as it passed the other levels, her arms struggling with their load by the third floor.

As soon as the doors opened, she stumbled out in a rush towards her desk, passed the waiting area that had been set up at the elevator's entrance. She dropped the box on her desk with a loud thud before running her hand through her hair. She noted Maki sitting in the waiting area, reading a magazine. Ninja Now, with the lead article being Jutsu Training: Quantity Versus Quality, with a secondary article advertised as How Ocular Estimation Can Help You in Battle, and Shuriken Size: Sometimes Bigger isn't Better.

"Hey," Cordi breathed, shooting Maki a friendly smile.

"Oh," Maki gasped, dropping her magazine as her dark green eyes caught Cordi's. "Hi."

"You have an appointment with Gaara?" Cordi asked, a little skeptically. Cordi didn't have anything on the books for Gaara this evening. They were swamped.

"No," Maki said quickly. "I'm just waiting on Baki. He had to drop off some reports from the Anbu."

"Right," Cordi sighed. More work.

It was around that time Gaara's office door opened, and Baki stepped out. Cordi didn't have a lot of experience with the siblings' old jonin leader. She knew he was head of the Anbu, and only a couple years older than Kakashi, meaning he was in his mid-thirties. She knew from the Naruto guide books that he had questionable choices in food like Gaara, favoring freeze dried tofu and horse meat. And he was proficient in wind release, likely being the one who taught Temari everything she knew.

In the looks department, in the anime Cordi always thought he'd looked like the guy who played Imohtep in The Mummy, Arnold Vosloo. But in real life, he was definitely a copy of Billy Zane from Titanic, with red marks painted on his cheeks.

She'd learned from the month she'd been here, many people who used face-paint in Suna painted their family's mark. Both Maki and Baki did this, as both were apparently from prevalent families in the Sand. Baki was from the Kamikaze clan, known for their strong wind jutsu prowess. When Gaara mentioned that to Cordi, she'd joked, "So, not aerial suicide bombing?" That only confused Gaara, so Cordi had to explain what Kamikaze meant in her world. Her explanation of planes was not quite understood.

Gaara followed Baki out of his office, stating, "Your intel has been invaluable. Thank you."

Baki turned to his old pupil, and said, "Don't work yourself too hard this." Cordi noted he sounded more like a guardian than a teacher, and she remembered Baki had taken over Yashamaru's position in raising Gaara until he was old enough to join his own genin squad.

Gaara only gave a small acquiescing nod.

Baki sighed, clearly knowing that was all he was going to get out of the Kazekage. He turned, his perpetually stern gaze settling on Cordi. He straightened stiffly before greeting her, "Cordelia."

"Baki," she greeted back, a bright, yet slightly forced, smiled beaming back at him.

That was usually the extent of their conversations. So, she wasn't offended when he turned to Maki and asked, "Are you ready?"

Maki shot him an excited, pursed smile. "Yeah," she chirped, standing up. Something about the way she looked at him caused Cordi's eyes to narrow, shifting between the two Sand jonin.

Baki coolly gestured to the elevators, as if to say, "Ladies first." Maki followed his direction with Baki following closely behind her. Cordi watched them as Maki hit the button to go back to the lobby. As the doors closed, Cordi caught in an instant, Maki's hand brushing against his, and looking at him with a knowing look, biting on her lower lip, and Baki smirking back at her.

The doors shut, and Cordi pointed at the elevator full of confusion as she gawked.

"What is all this?" Gaara asked, walking over to her desk and seeing a box full of things and a bag of what smelled like food sitting on top. When Cordi didn't answer, he looked at her oddly, and asked, "Cordelia?"

"How long have Baki and Maki been bumping uglies?"

Gaara quirked his head slightly, glancing at the elevator quickly before glancing back at Cordi. "I'm sorry?"

"Baki and Maki," Cordi repeated, chuckling at the absurdity of her question, "Making the beast with two backs."

Gaara was still confused.

"Playing hide the salami." She frowned when that didn't clear things up for him. "Doing the big I.T.?"

Gaara shook his head. "I don't …"

"Well, I'm out of respectful euphemisms for fucking."

"What?" Gaara asked, still confused. She used the word so often, he thought she left off what she was actually talking about.

Cordi frowned at him then grumbled, "You cannot be that dense." He scowled back at her, and she sighed. She held up a finger and said, "Baki," then looked away as she held up a loose fist, "Maki." Then she rammed the finger into her loose fist, wrapping her hand around her finger. Her eyes connected with his, her gaze urging him to understand, but he still frowned in confusion, only now looking slightly worried. She looked away, feeling her cheeks blushing hard as she started to mimic the action with her hands.

"What!?" Gaara gasped, eyes flying wide and his voice jumping several octaves from the shock.

She dropped her hands thankful he finally got it. "You didn't know they were?" she snapped at him, dropping her hands to her hips like a disappointed parent.

He cleared his throat, crossing his arms as he asked in a snipped tone, "How do you know?"

She pointed at the elevator. "You didn't just see that?"

"See what?" he asked skeptically.

"Them flirting," she stated accusatorily.

He shook his head. "I didn't see anything."

She held up her hand frustrated at him, then sighed, "Whatever. It doesn't matter." He frowned at her, uncertain of the flip, but he wasn't going to question it. She turned back to her desk, pointing at the box. "I brought dinner. And I picked up the mail, which I missed yesterday. So, I'll be working on this well into the evening."

She reached into the food bag, pulling out and opening one container. She then passed it to him, and said, "This is yours, special." He grabbed it and she scratched her brow. "I'd wanted to do something nice, because we'd been working together a month, and you've all been so nice letting me live with you." She pursed her lips as she put her container on her desk. She plastered a smile on her face as she said, "So, happy anniversary."

He made an odd face before opening the container, recognizing the logo for Jimen no Hi, one of the most premier steakhouses in Suna. Inside was a perfect display of his favorite food. Salted tongue, sliced, grilled and garnished with cilantro and portobello mushrooms, with a side of feijoada, or black beans poured over rice. His heart filled at the sight, and he felt happy tears sting in his eyes. No one ever got him his favorite dish. Not even Matsuri. Although, he was also fairly certain she'd never asked, but still. Cordi was the first. She handed him another container and he looked at her with wonder as she added, "And some cheese buns." She gestured to her container on her desk, and said, "I already snagged a few for my dinner. What do you want to drink from the vending machines?"

He closed his container, dropping his hands a little, feeling warm from her gift. It was a gift. She may have gotten him lunch and dinner almost every day for the past month, but his favorite food was a rare delicacy. He also knew it was expensive, because cattle was an import from the Wind's northern regions, and restaurants like Jimen no Hi only accepted the finest quality meat.

"Why don't we eat at the penthouse tonight? We can eat, then finish our work there," He offered. It wasn't going to be a night off, but at least they'd be in the comfort of their own home.

Plus, Temari was out on a mission to the northern border to handle some bandits pillaging the export route to the Stone. Kankuro had just gotten back from a three-day mission in Futen after Shijima sent a message about a terrorist group sending threatening letters to the Daimyo. Kankuro and his team sussed them out quickly, turning them over to Shijima for interrogation. Turned out to be just a crazy man and his girlfriend hoping to get famous from a scheme that clearly wouldn't have worked as they'd thought. Kankuro returned home that morning and was currently "letting off some steam," as he called it. So, they would be alone.

She smiled at that, and nodded. "I'll grab my things," she said, putting her container back on the box of mail.

He walked over to his desk, grabbing his paperwork for the evening before shutting and locking his door with his sand. He saw she piled her inbox on top of the mail box and shifted the box carefully, only to be clearly straining to hold the box.

Wordlessly, he used his sand to carry it. She looked up at him, a mix of relieved and confused as she sighed, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

They walked on silently, Gaara cutting glances at Cordi who had a relaxed smile on her face as they made their way to the suite stairwell. He found himself smiling too, just content on getting to eat his favorite meal and relaxing in the penthouse. He liked having an office sometimes, but he also liked working from his home.

They walked through the front door and foyer, and Gaara used his sand to deposit their paperwork on the coffee table before making his way to the dining table. Cordi moved to grab her food off the mail box, but Gaara's sand picked it up, bringing it back to the dining table, placing her container next to his. Cordi pivoted, smiling as she sat next to Gaara as he went to grab them silverware and pouring them tea from the fridge. Gaara returned, placing her drink in front of her plate, then passed her silverware.

She grabbed the utensils with an easy smile. "Thank you," she said, before opening her container. She put her hands together for a moment, closing her eyes, moving her lips, but saying nothing.

Gaara noted it, before putting his hands together and bowing slightly before saying, "Itadakimasu." Then he dug into his food, noting Cordi did as well. This was curious to him, because she didn't say the proper thanks to the food. But he did note she did something. It wasn't the first time he'd noticed her doing that either. "You don't say 'Itadakimasu' in your world?" he asked as he took his first bite. The chefs at the restaurant had prepared the tongue exquisitely, and it practically melted in his mouth.

She shrugged as she took her first bite, which he noted was a pretty rare steak. Most people he knew liked their steak well-done, but red juices dripped from the fleshy muscle. She held up a finger as she swallowed, indicating he wait a moment, then answered, "They do in Japan, where Naruto was written. But where I'm from, different families have different traditional dinner blessings they say."

"Ah," he grumbled, still a little confused. She hadn't said anything. "Does your family have one?"

She licked her lips, nodding as she said, "Yeah, but we don't usually say it out loud in front of people not in the family. Usually, in public we hold hands for a moment and say it mentally, so to not draw too much attention to us."

"You hold hands?"

"Again, that's not the standard. Just my family does it with our blessing."

He made a face at that. "Interesting." He took another bite, then asked, "So what is your family's blessing?"

She raised an eyebrow at him, then held out her hand. He looked at it curiously, and she stated, "If you want to hear my family's blessing, you gotta' hold my hand for it too."

He blinked, breathing sharply in his nose, then lifted his hand to hers. She grasped his, not too tight, but he did feel a little uncomfortable, his fingers warm and tingling at the sensation of her skin.

She closed her eyes, cleared her throat before looking slightly up before saying a small rhyme that sounded old. He thought to ask about it, but as she pulled her hand away from his and looked away and from the way she'd talked about it, he could see she was guarded about the topic. It was odd for him to think Cordelia Turner was conservative in some regards.

Usually she was an open audiobook. Her thoughts widely available for anyone who wanted to listen. But over the month she'd been with his family, he'd noticed she'd bristle at the mention of a few subjects: past relationships and crushes, her school life or her past pertaining to being bullied, her goals or dreams (which Gaara still had never shared with anyone, not that it had come up either), and now religion or family rituals. He decided not to push it, realizing she was similar to him in some aspects. Gaara was always rather guarded, and was always uncomfortable when pressed to open up. He'd only ever opened up to Kankuro and Naruto, and now Cordi a bit, since she already knew so much about him.

He swallowed his food, deciding the best course of action was to change topic, then asked, "What made you think Baki and Maki were having a relationship?"

She smirked at him, "You really didn't know?"

He shook his head.

"It was their body language after they hopped on the elevator," Cordi answered. "The way they looked at each other when their hands touched made it pretty obvious. You didn't see that?"

Gaara shook his head, realizing he'd been watching them too, but he hadn't seen it.

"Maybe you didn't have as good an angle on the elevator as I did," Cordi offered.

"Maybe," Gaara acquiesced, even though they both knew he was standing right next to her. He just didn't register something between them. It seemed problematic, because Baki and Maki went on several missions together over the past few years. It wasn't right to send ninjas in a relationship together on a mission. It opened ninja up to be emotionally compromised, and that was a breach in protocol. Yet he couldn't identify if his ninjas were in such entanglements.

"OH!" Cordi chirped, sitting up from her food. "Speaking of Baki, I have to show you Titanic."

He frowned at her, unsure what the correlation was.

She stood, grabbing her laptop, which she'd moved to the living room when they watched the first movie. She set up her laptop on the table, and pulled up the movie, explaining, "It's one of my all-time favorite movies. It was the first serious and mature movie I saw in theaters, when I was six … which was probably questionable on my parents' part." She added the last part airily before waving it off. "It's a historical romance based on a tragedy that actually happened in my world about a century ago. And the movie was an instant classic."

"What does that have to do with Baki?" Gaara asked.

"Oh, the guy who plays Cal Hockley, asshole extraordinaire, looks exactly like Baki," Cordi explained. "Anyway, you'll love it. You said you liked that Romeo and Juliet movie, right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You called it something and Rom."

"Tsundere and Rom," Gaara recalled, remembering their first conversation about movies when he went on his date with Matsuri. He sat up with interest as he asked, "Is that what this is like?"

"Forbidden romance, historical setting, and a sense of pending disaster, because the maiden voyage of the Titanic was a famously tragic catastrophe," Cordi listed.

Gaara looked a little uneasy as he asked, "What happened?"

"It sank," she answered bluntly, "killing over a thousand people. Actually, I think it was almost fifteen hundred if I'm not mistaken. All due to the hubris of the ship's owner." She turned back to her computer, pulling up her media player as she added, "They stuck very closely to all the accounts of the survivors. And very well done."

He paused his fork, fingering the metal nervously as he thought about it. She'd mentioned when they watched Jurassic Park that she was four when she watched that one first, and it had some gruesome deaths in it. "Your parents must not worry about kids seeing gore," he commented, eyeing her closely. While the ninja world was deadly, most parents were very strict on what their children watched before entering the ninja academy.

Cordi pursed her lips, then said, "You know, I didn't even think about that. Because, while the people die, it's not all that gory." Gaara looked at her warily as she said, "Mostly, I was commenting on the sex scene." He visibly bristled, and she held up a calming hand. "It's tastefully done. Again, I saw it when I was six, and it went right over my head." He seemed to calm, before she added, "Although, you might be uncomfortable with the, 'Draw me like one of your French girls,' moment."

He took a deep, bracing breath through his nose before taking another few bites of his food, then said, "Alright, play it."

Cordi laughed. "Oh, I'm just loading it up now. It's over three hours long, and you don't want any buffering in weird places."

He balked. "Three hours?"

"Yeah." She jutted her thumb to their paperwork and said, "It'll keep me up while we work."

He looked at her worriedly as she set aside her computer, as it clearly started loading the long movie. She didn't seem to notice as she gestured to his food. "How do you like it?"

"It's good," he replied quickly. He saw her forced grimacing smile. "What?"

She shrugged, shaking her head. "I don't know how you eat that stuff."

"What?"

"Salted tongue." She made a gagging face as she dug into her polenta.

"You've never had it?"

She shook her head hard.

He looked surprised. "It's delicious."

"Ugh," she visibly gagged again.

He made an odd face, cutting off a small piece of his meat as he said, "Shouldn't you try it before making a decision on it?" He held up the small piece toward her.

She looked at the extended fork as if it had wriggling worms on it. Her discomfort made him smile. Not out of malice. It was just nice to see her thrown off like he was so often around her. He urged it towards her, and she inched back, shaking her head again. "Nope. No way."

"I promise you'll like it. It's the same texture as a rare steak," Gaara offered. She shook her head in a resolute no. "How do you know you won't like it if you don't try it?" he asked, remembering when his Uncle Yashamaru would use that question to get him to eat his vegetables as a little kid.

She scowled at him. "Some foods you don't need to eat to know it's bad," she answered haughtily, "Like haggis."

"Haggis?"

"Scottish delicacy in my world, although I have no idea where it would be here," Cordi answered, eating more polenta. She smirked as she explained, "If I remember correctly, it's sheep heart, lungs, and liver with oatmeal, onion and spices, stuffed and cooked in a sheep's stomach." A disgusted shiver started in her head and down her spine at the thought of it.

Gaara looked pensive about it for a moment, then said, "Doesn't sound that bad."

Cordi shot him a look. "Of course not to you. You eat tongue and gizzard."

He pushed his fork at her again, and asked, "So are you going to eat it or not?"

She shook her head like a kid.

He shrugged and ate it happily. "I guess you're just a picky eater," he commented.

That, she took offense to. "I am the least picky eater of my friends!" she defended.

He shrugged again, stating, "Doesn't mean you aren't generally picky," as he cut himself another piece of tongue.

She glowered at him, then stabbed a piece of tongue with her fork, carving it off aggressively. He was surprised momentarily watching her angrily stealing meat off his plate, but held back an interested smile as she put it in her mouth, chewing a few times before swallowing.

"So?" he asked curiously.

She took a large gulp of tea. "I feel like I just made out with Bessie," she answered sourly.

Her expression made Gaara chuckle as he went back to his food. "So, you don't like it?"

She tongued her cheek before admitting, "I wouldn't eat it every day. But it wasn't bad." He laughed as she threw up an accusing finger at him, adding, "But I've had liver and gizzard before. And that shit is vile!"

"Fair," Gaara said, before taking another bite. "As long as you've tried it first."


"Oh my god! You did not!" Rox almost shrieked with laughter, wiping tears away from her eyes. Akirama was a surprisingly animated and funny story-teller.

He laughed with a perfect smile that light up his face. "Yes, I did. Admittedly, it was the dumbest thing I've ever done, but seeing Sora's face was totally worth it."

"I can imagine," Rox chuckled. "But why?"

"Why do it?" Akirama asked.

Rox nodded, still drying tears.

"I told you, it was a Wednesday and I didn't have any plans," Akirama stated as if that was the most obvious part of the story.

Rox chuckled more at his answer. The whole story was light-hearted and ludicrous, reminding her of some of the antics she and her friends got into back home. The whole night, she'd gotten a better understanding of Akirama and his friends. Both Kobe and Sora were on his genin team under a jonin named Daen Nara, and Hideo was Akirama's first cousin, graduating in Naruto's year, although in an earlier semester. Sora was the ninja who took himself too seriously and Kobe was the mild-mannered friend who the adults loved, while Akirama was the teammate who pranked others, frequently pulling Sora and Kobe into his antics. In this story, Sora had been the butt of one of Akirama's pranks that Kobe helped him pull off.

"How did you get Tenten to play along?" Rox asked.

"No, I was transformed as Tenten starting out," Akirama clarified. "From what I know of her, she wouldn't have stooped to anything like that. She's way too serious."

"Oh, well that makes a lot more sense," she chuckled soberingly. Rox had to admit, just this one evening made her realize Akirama was likely one of the funniest people she'd met. Once she'd begun to open up, his banter and witticisms made it clear he was more than just looks. He was very quick with a turn of phrase, and not easily fazed by lulls in conversation. Or topics.

Throughout the night, the more she and Akirama had talked, the more Rox remembered the video from her supposed future nephew. Rox was married to a ringer in chess, her dad had said. Of course, that descriptor easily applied to Shikamaru, but it could also apply to Akirama. She just didn't know his skills. It wasn't that she thought he was the one, just that she didn't want to pursue a relationship if he wasn't. His performance tonight earned him a second date, but that was the only factor holding her back.

"Hey, are you good at chess?" she asked, bolstering herself for whatever his answer was.

He frowned. "What's chess?"

She winced, realizing her error. "Sorry. It's called shogi here."

"Oh, yeah, I play," he answered. "You?"

"I'm ok," she replied, a little miffed he dodged her answer. "Just, my dad always has a thing about challenging any guy my sister or I date to chess … er shogi."

"Hmm," he grumbled, putting his hands in his pockets. "So, you're saying your father's approval is hinged on beating him in shogi?"

She shrugged as she clarified, "Really it's board games in general, but Shogi is his favorite. He used to be on the Shogi team when he was in school. It's a whole thing…"

"It's alright," he smirked, suddenly looking cocky. "Not to brag, but I beat sensei all the time, so."

She frowned. "Who's your sensei again?" She knew he'd mentioned him earlier, but she'd forgotten his name already.

"Daen Nara," Akirama clarified, "Most noted for holding the Ten Tails back in the fourth war with several others of his clan, including his little brother Maen. Also being Enchu Nara's grandson. That's the Nara clan's elder. Anyway, you know how those Naras are with playing shogi. That clan takes it to a whole new level." She nodded her response vaguely. That part she knew. The rest though …

The more Rox found out about the Fourth War, the more she realized that even though the Five Kage Summit was only a few months before, a lot happened that didn't make any sense and just made her feel clueless. How big was the Nara clan? How many members held back the Ten Tails? Was Shikamaru among them? Who was Enchu, and was Shikamaru directly related to him?

She stopped her train of thought, realizing wondering about the Nara clan was pointless. She wasn't joining them. She and Shikamaru were broken up, and Akirama had given her wonderful date.

She cleared her throat, realizing she was a little nervous about the realization that Akirama did actually apply. "So, if my dad ever challenged you…" Rox filled in.

"I'd probably kick his ass," Akirama finished with an easy smirk and a charming wink. "But, that will have to be later," he sighed, gesturing to the building on their right. "Now, it's time to say goodnight."

Rox looked up, realizing just now that they'd arrived back at her apartment. "Oh," she breathed.

"You sound disappointed," he noted, stepping closer to her. She couldn't articulate an answer. This night had destroyed her expectations. It was almost like he could tell. She could feel his hand gently grabbing her elbow, turning her back to him. Time seemed to slow as he lifted a hand to her cheek, using just a knuckle to guide her face to his as he leaned down, sweeping her lips in a kiss. Her heartbeat quickened, and her eyes fluttered close of their own accord. She felt him breath against her, his hand moving to cradle the base of her head sending shivers down her spine, pressing his lips harder into hers. But she was the one who put her arms around his shoulders. The one who pulled herself up, and licked at his mouth for the deeper connection she sensed between them.

It was weird. For almost a month, she thought Shikamaru was it for her. But as her lips moved against Akirama's, feeling a similar pulse between them, an almost identical driving force, she realized Akirama fit too. Shikamaru was more guarded than Akirama, and Akirama was more of a jokester, but that didn't matter. Here and now, Akirama wanted to be with her, and she could feel something building between them. Something that could last if she fueled it right.

Akirama pulled away with a gleaming smile. "I had a wonderful night," he stated, and she felt his fingers dancing gently between the strands of her hair.

"Me too," she admitted, feeling confusion whirling through her, not understanding her feelings at all. Just that this felt just as right as Shikamaru did.

Akirama's grin widened, and he leaned in for another kiss, which she accepted, only to stop as they heard footsteps. They pulled away, Rox's eyes darting around for a source until she saw the familiar silhouette of Shikamaru, minimally lit by the street lamps, out for a walk, she suspected.

Akirama spoke first, an easy smile on his face as he said, "Hey, Shikamaru. Didn't see you there." His tone was sincere, clearly trying to brush over the fact that he and Rox had just been kissing.

Shikamaru didn't say anything, only giving a pained smirk. But his hurt gaze on Rox told the wind user all she needed to know about his perspective of the situation. She had moved on, and despite him doing the breaking-up, he hadn't yet. She stood straighter, feeling guilty for being caught, while at the same time angry that the shadow ninja was acting so jealous when he stepped away from the relationship.

Guilt. Hurt. Anger. They all broiled in her brain and made her heart thud in her chest until she realized the only right answer was to walk way. "Goodnight, Akirama," she said, reaching her hand out to shake.

Akirama took her hand, but instead of shaking, he turned it to kiss her knuckles. "Goodnight, Rox," he replied, shooting her a debonair look, as if almost pleading her to remember she deserved better than Shikamaru's jealousy, noncommitment, and guilt-tripping. She deserved better than what Shikamaru offered, and Akirama was willing to give it.

Rox looked back up to see Shikamaru had shunshined away, and she bit back a sneer as she walked to her door. She did deserve better, she decided as she plunged her key into the door, almost violently, wrenching it open. So much better. And she wasn't going to wait for the shadow ninja to be ready for her to take what she deserved.


"Hey, where's Sasuke?"

"I'm fighting Dosu, but he's missing too."

"Yeah, because he's fucking dead!" Fred called to the screen at the doofy genin. "Sandy handled that for ya'," she added, chuckling into her drink. It had happened only five episodes before.

A part of her realized she should be horrified by that aspect. She'd met Gaara, and seeing him go through his emo phase was eye opening. It was a lot easier for her to refer to evil Gaara as Sandy, because that wasn't the Gaara she'd met. Just the previous episode, Sandy was seriously attempting to straight up murder Shikamaru, Naruto, and Lee, whom Fred had tremendous respect for. She hadn't met him yet, but he seemed really nice from the show. She'd also seen Sandy kill a grand total of four people already, permanently injure a fifth, and mark three more for death.

It made her seriously question Cordi's sanity with going with him willingly. Although, knowing he was rather mild-mannered as an adult, except for the whole blabbing to Kakashi about their powers did make things rather confusing. In her experience, people didn't change. Not unless something life-altering happened to them, like a near death experience. And again, only eight years had passed between then and now.

On the other hand, she completely understood Kankuro as he was. The siblings were tasked with assisting the Sound in a hostile takeover, which went against a treaty that they'd signed, but ultimately was supposed to force their feudal lord or daimyo, or whatever the hell, to focus more on his own people for his matters. Really, to get their feudal lord to realize short-changing his own military by outsourcing to another village was problematic. Back in their home-world, people would have rebelled and threw over the feudal lord. But no. Here, they just attacked the ally who benefited more from the deal. Made sense. Insert eyeroll.

Kankuro by extension was essentially flying by the seat of his pants to make sure that his brother got to the point to play his role in the crush. She could see his role in the team was the person who gathered information in an unassuming fashion. He watched people and observed their nuances, read between the lines to see what made them tick with calculated accuracy. He remained relaxed in the face of danger. Cool even, but not unfeeling like his brother. The only one who made him visibly angry was Gaara, and Naruto that one time during Gaara and Lee's fight, but he got over that one rather quickly.

Also after seeing his puppet trick in the second-round qualifiers, she also made a note to buy rope or gauze for the next time he came to Konoha.

Despite knowing he was the bad-guy in this arc, nothing he'd done made her forget the promise he'd made her before he left for Suna for another one-night stand. Just the same, nothing she'd seen made her want to forget it either. He may be on the wrong side of the situation here, but he wasn't a bad guy.

If anything, it made her see just how much of a shortsighted asshole the previous Kazekage was.

The episode ended and she moved to take another sip of her drink, only to realize her cup was empty. She frowned as she looked up, huffing that she needed another drink. As she walked over to her kitchenette, she saw the clock read 12:05. Her eyes bugged at that. Time had really flown. It didn't feel like she'd been binging the show for a straight fourteen hours or so.

She decided to shut the computer and get to sleep. She set the computer aside on the desk, then put her drawing notebook on it, which was emblazoned with a drawing of Kankuro.

As she turned off the lights and curled up in her bed, she began to drift off to the memory of her and Kankuro's night together, and falling asleep in his arms. Suddenly her eyes shot wide again as she realized she'd developed a crush on the Sand Jonin. And it wasn't like when she'd met him and felt like she could get ahead of it by getting him out of her system. Just watching this show and fondly recalling her night with the sand jonin made it painfully clear that he was coursing through her system stronger than when she first saw him and was struck by his gaze. So, maybe crush was a weak word for her feelings. But what was a stronger version of a crush?

Love?

She decided, no, it couldn't be love. But it was definitely a strong crush. Which was problematic. She was too mature for a would-they-won't-they relationship with a known playboy. Especially knowing she was ending up with a man who was likely married now. Kankuro was just a wrench in everything.

She clutched her pillow to her, fingering the pillowcase at the realization. "Shit."


Cordi and Gaara finished their meal in good humor, then moved to the living room to do their homework as Cordi started the movie. When the movie started, Gaara was confused, because the technology seemed rather advanced for being based a hundred years ago, then the old lady started telling her story, and he understood. He was surprised seeing how advanced Cordi's world's engineering was a hundred years ago. The ship looked magnificent, and probably paralleled the cloud's turtle island for size. Cordi was also right. The man who played Rose's fiancé, Cal Hockley, looked significantly like Baki. He'd believe they were brothers if Gaara didn't know this film was from an alternate dimension.

The romance between Jack and Rose was also oddly relatable. Jack reminded him of Naruto, or Cordi. All three were the type of person to seize life by its struggles, and make it a positive. Living every day to the fullest, or as Jack said, "Making each day count." It was an admirable objective.

Rose, on the other hand, Gaara saw a lot of himself in her, oddly. A child from an upper-crust family being forced to live a certain way because of a stringent parent. Like Rose, Gaara understood how she felt like her life was careening towards a fate that would destroy her, and she'd rather throw herself off a ship than pretend everything was fine. He felt like that when he fought Naruto. And slightly when the Council forced him into that betrothal with Hakuto. He still felt the effects of their pressure. But when he was around Cordi, he didn't feel it, instead worrying about his lust for the fiery young lady.

Thankfully, the French Girl scene she'd been talking about at dinner passed while she went to the kitchen to get them some water. He stopped his work once the line was dropped, and crossed his arms tightly around himself, blushing as Rose dropped her robe to be fully exposed, and pursing his lips to control his thoughts. Although, when Cordi walked back in, she brought him back to Earth by mentioning, "Fun fact. That scene was like their first day of filming. When Leo said, 'Lay down on the bed … I mean the couch,' he actually fucked up the line. They just decided to keep it," as she placed a glass of water in front of him. Then she went back to sorting the mail.

He also had to agree with Cordi that the sex scene was tasteful, unlike the movie Matsuri took him to. It showed nothing but a hand on fogged glass, then the pair wrapped in each other's embrace, trembling. He chanced a look at Cordi, noting her watching it with a curious expression, then immediately turning back to her work. A small smile playing on her lips at an amusing thought.

He had to admit, this movie was a work of art. Because even though Cordi had told him during dinner that the Titanic sank, he still felt the shock of the statement in his heart when Mr. Matthews said the sinking was a "mathematical certainty." He didn't even breath as the captain asked how long they had, and how many people were on board. As soon as the captain said, "I believe you'll get your headlines, Mr. Ismay," the screen cut to black saying "Put in disc B."

Gaara leaned back in shock. "Is that the end?" It didn't seem right. What happened to Jack and Rose? Surely something, since Rose was sharing her story as an old woman. But there were so many other unanswered questions. Like the diamond.

"No," Cordi answered, quickly, spinning the laptop back towards her. "I've got to load the second half." She waved him off as she added blandly, "Now would be a good time for a pee-break or something."

Gaara shook his head, grabbing his water for a sip. "No. I can't just leave it off there."

Cordi gestured towards the computer and said, "Well, it's got to load for a bit. And I just found this in Kankuro's mail." She held up a smut magazine called Busty Kunoichi, with the picture of a scantily clad woman licking a kunai like a lollipop with plump, glistening lips and large breasts pressed together provocatively. Gaara's eyes flew wide, almost choking on his water. Cordi smirked, not noticing his reaction as she grabbed the post-its she brought for labeling purposes and a pen as she said, "And while it loads, I plan on screwing with your brother a little bit."

"By that you mean?" Gaara managed, putting his water down.

Cordi shrugged, standing up as she began to flick through it. "Oh, write commentary. You know. Ruin it for him."

Gaara looked at her disappointedly for a minute, realizing that was something Temari would have done if she'd been in charge of the mail. Cordi already scribbled one note out, and slapped it on the front before flicking through and scribbling another note and placing it strategically over the girl's torso. Gaara rolled his eyes at her antics, before taking her advice to take a break. He would not be a party to that. Instead, he decided to clean up their dinner and refill their water.

He saw the clock in the kitchen, and noted it was almost ten fifteen. While outside looked dark and dreary, and the movie he was watching with Cordi had fifteen hundred deaths pending, and all other notions to the contrary, it was still rather early for Kankuro to be home yet.

Kankuro had gone out for another night of cavorting. They wouldn't see him back until eleven at the earliest. Gaara sighed, wondering exactly what part of that lifestyle appealed to his brother. Gaara wasn't a fan of drinking. He'd have the occasional beer if he was out with friends, as it was an understood custom to drink to peoples' successes, but it wasn't his favorite, since it was usually so bitter and made him feel loopy after a second glass. Of all the alcoholic drinks, it was barely tolerable. He still hadn't forgiven Kankuro for giving him whisky at the marriage meeting in March. That drink was foul, and it burned all the way down. Kankuro had just been so pleased with himself that he got his little brother to make such a disgraceful expression at the taste, that morphed once the liquid had started to burn. Such a horrible experience made it so Gaara would never understand Kankuro's drive to spend a whole night drinking such swill to the point of vomiting in the early morning.

He saw Cordi jump up, done with her little project as she darted back towards Kankuro's room. Gaara pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering how he could be attracted to a woman who acted like such a child.

She sauntered back down the hall, making a weird rhythmic sound with her hands and snapping fingers before entering the main living area of the penthouse. She gestured over her shoulder, stating, "I placed it on his pillow, so he can't miss it."

"I think you're overestimating Kankuro's drunken awareness on nights like this," Gaara stated blandly, sipping his water.

Cordi scowled at him, wrinkling her nose before walking back towards the living. "Are you ready to finish the movie?" she asks, plopping back down in her chair.

Gaara gestured for her to proceed as he made his way back to the sofa to finish his work. It was clearly going to continue well after the movie was done. He'd barely gotten a quarter of the way through it, and the movie had already gone almost two hours.

Cordi started the last part of the movie, and they got back to work. Cordi only finished sorting the mail around when Rose assaulted the elevator boy, and moved onto her own paperwork, which mainly consisted of visitors logs, medical deferrals, and D rank report signatures. Most of the D ranks were already signed off on by the issuance office as done and paid. They only required the Kazekage's office signature to issue it into official ninja records.

It was eleven fifty-five when Rose decided to throw the diamond into the ocean, and Gaara let out a groan. "Really? She knows they're looking for it, and instead of telling them she has it, she throws a priceless gem into the water?" There wasn't much that angered the young Kazekage anymore. But people not being forthright with information was one of those things.

"I know, I was angry the first time I watched it too," Cordi sighed.

He frowned at her. "But you're not now?" he filled in.

Cordi shrugged. "It's very symbolic. Every time I see it, I see another facet of the diamond's symbolism," she explained. "Not just in the story, but in this scene. Like, the second time I watched it, I saw she was giving the Heart of the Ocean back to the ocean. The time after that, I realized she was finally letting go of the last piece of her past."

"I see," Gaara sighed, realizing he too had been looking at the scene too literally, watching as the camera panned over old Rose asleep in her bed by all the photos of her life, presumably after the sinking. Cordi pointed out that every photo had a relevance to what Rose and Jack talked about doing after their voyage as the last scene played in, starting in the ship's watery depths, then seemingly coming back to life. Cordi pointed out as it showed the crowd on the Titanic that everyone who died that night was in that scene, all standing in first class to show everyone as equals in death. Gaara felt the poignancy of that observation.

The movie was a masterpiece. He could understand why Cordi claimed it was an instant classic. "Thank you," he said after a little while, "for sharing that with me."

She waved him off, stating, "I'd have probably shown it to you eventually," as if it was nothing.

Gaara didn't push it, instead returning to his work as Cordi shut her computer and returned to her work. But he was thankful, because even though she probably didn't realize, he was getting a good idea of how her world worked from the films she'd shown him. They may not have ninja or ninshu or chakra, but they weren't incredibly different from this world they'd found themselves in. What made people human was integral to them across dimensions.

They worked silently for the most part. Gaara made his way through the forest of reports steadily, until the sound of snoring broke his concentration. He looked up and saw Cordi had curled her legs underneath her with her paperwork sitting on a hard book, pen in hand poised to write, her left arm propping up her head from the armrest, but had clearly fallen from its original position as her head was also being supported from by her cheek resting on her left breast, which had been squished up by her left arm. Her mouth hung slightly open as she snored softly.

She'd warned him before that it didn't matter if she was comfortable or not, if it was late enough, she would go to sleep. He didn't believe her, but decided not to argue it at the time. Maybe he shouldn't have doubted, because there was no way she was comfortable enough to sleep, and yet…

"Cordelia," he uttered, pausing from his work.

She woke with a start, asking, "What? I'm awake. What?"

He gave a pitying look as he said, "You were snoring."

She sat further straight, stretching her neck as she excused, "I probably just drifted off for a moment," rustling her paperwork as she got into a different sitting position. One that she clearly felt would keep her awake, although Gaara had his doubts now. She let out a groan as she stretched her shoulders and arms for a moment as Gaara did his best to not see how sensually her body moved when she made that noise. "What time is it?" She asked.

He looked at the small clock on the bookshelf to the left, which he was sitting closer to. "Almost one," he answered, pausing his work to rub his stiff hand. He moved to get up, asking, "Should I make us some tea?"

Cordi shook her head. "You don't have to. Caffeine doesn't really keep me awake."

That didn't make any sense. He rolled his eyes at her. "I'll make you some tea," he stated as he got up, striding easily towards the kitchen. He grabbed his usual pale green teapot, and began brewing his favorite all-nighter tea, Keemsam Ginger tea. The blend of the black teas provided enough caffeine to jolt anyone awake, while the ginger hit the tastebuds with a shocking zing. He grabbed two matching yunomi and saucers for each of them. He paused, realizing since she'd been getting their morning drinks, he didn't know how she took her tea. He reached into the fridge, deciding to add the sweet milk and sugar to the tray with two stirring sticks. Once the tea finished brewing, he added it to the tray. As he made his way back, he noticed she'd begun dozing again while waiting for the tea. He cleared his throat, stirring her awake with a slight shock and groan as he set the tea tray on the coffee table.

"You do fall asleep quickly," he commented as he poured them each their cups carefully, aware of her eyes on him as he did so. He placed the tea pot back down, gesturing to the milk and sugar as he said, "I don't know how you like your tea," chewing on his cheek, wondering what else did he not know about her. It felt like he knew so much, but in that moment, it also felt like very little.

"Thank you," she said anyway, grabbing the sweet milk and pouring it in before adding a couple sugars, and stirring them in.

Gaara put in his two sugars, stirring them in as well, before watching her take her first sip. She nodded appreciatively, as she placed the cup back down stating, "That's very good."

He just gave a blank nod, but felt his heart swell a little at the compliment. "Good tea is one of life's pleasures I've become accustomed to since becoming the Kazekage," he stated blandly. "Especially on long nights."

Cordi shrugged. "Usually, where I'm from, everyone just drinks coffee or Redbull for all-nighters."

"Coffee or Redbull," he repeated slightly confused. He knew what coffee was. It was a bitter drink made from beans grown in the Land of Cocoa to the west. It was very popular to drink in the Land of Lightning, and even flavored a lot of the food pills Kumo made for the last Ninja War. It had a higher concentration of caffeine, but the taste was hardly worth it. "I've had coffee before, but I'm not a fan. But I've never heard of Redbull."

"It's a sugary energy drink from my world," Cordi answered, sipping on her tea. Once she finished, she put her cup down, and went back to work. "Most of my country prefers coffee regularly to stay awake."

He frowned as he finished his own sip. "I thought you said your country liked iced tea."

"Different regions in my country drink iced tea differently," she answered with a sigh. "The south likes sweet tea, and the further south you go, the sweeter and thicker it is. To the North, it's usually unsweet."

Gaara accepted that answer, moving onto his work again once the tea filtered through him, reawakening his veins with its warmth. They finished their tea silently and continued working with minimal discussion. Usually they didn't talk much during the work day except for one or two daily conversations, usually about nothing and everything, and a few clarifying questions. Gaara appreciated the comfortable silence between them during their work day, when he wasn't beset with lustful thoughts towards the young woman.

It was strange. He'd never been afflicted with such wicked intrusive thoughts. Violent intrusive thoughts he'd dealt with since he was a child. But not really lewd. Of course he'd seen women he'd found attractive. Hakuto was a beautiful woman, but he'd never thought of her in that capacity. Well, he did when he remembered they were meeting to be married, and he'd have husbandly duties. But the thought made him uncomfortable for several reasons. Shijima was just as beautiful, but he definitely never thought of her in that way either. Matsuri was average. If he used the word, he might have described her as cute. Definitely girlish. Even having seen her in a somewhat sexual capacity, he wouldn't say he was comfortable with thinking of her in that way either.

Cordi was different, and he couldn't explain it other than she was the only one who refused to bow to his every word. And while it frustrated him to no end, another part of him found it incredibly sexy. If he delved deep, he'd probably realize at its base understanding it was a dominancy thing. He understood sex was seen as a dominating act, and he was a dominant male in most regards. He never lost a fight, and was always chided for being stubborn. Clearly, she was a dominant female, and as he'd come to know, she was just as stubborn as he was. Even though they had fought physically, mentally and verbally, it always ended in a draw. And ties never sat well with Gaara.

He looked up from his work as his neck grew stiff, and chanced a look at Cordi, wondering if he should act on his lusting impulses momentarily. He balked when he saw her head lulled into an uncomfortable angle with her mouth hanging as she took the long steady breaths of a deep slumber. Gaara frowned, looking towards the clock only to find it had been thirty-seven minutes since they finished their tea. "Hm," he grunted to himself, realizing with surprise she hadn't been lying. Caffeine did not help her stay awake in the slightest, and if her body wanted to sleep it would. She'd mentioned the second part to him when he first suggested they'd need to pull an all-nighter for the paperwork. She just laughed, and told him that wouldn't work because she would just go to sleep. He thought she'd been kidding.

He sighed, dropping his paperwork and pen on the coffee table. There was no way her neck was comfortable, and if she stayed in that position, she'd have to go to the hospital to get the kink out. He stepped over the boxes, carefully grabbing her paperwork and pen out of her hands and putting them on the table. She didn't even stir.

He then pulled her towards him, and picked her up bridal style. It was the easiest way to carry a body. As he carefully moved out of the couches towards the dining area, he felt her snuggle into his chest, and he worried she was stirring, so he froze. The familiarity of their positions was not lost on him, and he felt his heart thud in his chest. When she didn't move again, he began walking again, carrying her carefully down the hall back to her room.

Gaara placed her on the bed, pulling off those ridiculous boots of hers, then tucked her into her bed, again feeling awkwardly familiar with the action. He licked his lips as he stood up straight, giving a small affirming nod at his work and turned to leave, only for Cordi to grabs his hand. He froze, looking at their conjoined hands, then looked at Cordi, who looked earnest, but still very much asleep. "Don't trust that cat."

That confused him. "What cat?" he dared to ask back.

Cordi shifted her shoulders, digging her face into her pillows, and grumbled, "That shifty fucker. I know he's stealing my salmon."

Gaara chuckled, realizing she was a somnambulist, or rather someone who talked in their sleep. She still had a firm grasp on his hand, so he gave her hand a small squeeze, saying, "I'll keep that in mind," before trying to pull his hand away.

But as he pulled his hand away, she uttered something that shook him.

"I love you."

He was completely frozen, as her hand went slack, dropping his hand before she curled in on herself. She loves me? No. There's no way she means that. She's unconscious. Although, Kankuro always told him he was the most honest when he was tired. Did Cordi harbor secret feelings for him like he did for her.

"You could at least kiss her. … You'll feel the spark … The spark … the feeling you get in your gut when you kiss a girl," Kankuro's advice rang through his head from their conversation a few days ago.

Gaara leaned over her, debating if he should follow that advice. They were alone, and he would know once and for all if there was something between him and Cordi that wasn't between him and Matsuri. Something crucial. He leaned closer over her, leaning his hip a little on the bed as he lifted his hand to her face. His heart pounded with trepidation as he tilted her head up to face him. He looked at her full lips, and felt an almost magnetic pull on his head to hers, urging him to push his lips against hers. His eyes fluttered closed as he inched closer, mentally preparing himself. He had no idea why his body was reacting so nervously.

His lips brushed gently against hers, then pressed. They were soft and warm. He felt an urge to linger against her, a need to feel her lips move with his. He felt relief when he felt her pucker just the slightest back at him. It was relief and hunger at the same time. He pushed his lips against hers harder until he felt her lips move against his. His heart skipped from the sensation. He kept his lips against her until he realized he needed a deep breath to break the spell he was under.

He saw her frown, her eyes still closed as she asked, "Gaara?"

"Hm?"

"Is this a dream?" she asked sleepily.

He wasn't sure how to answer that. "Yes," he blurted, realizing she was coming awake, and he wasn't sure how to explain himself.

"Ok," she hummed contentedly. When he didn't move, worried he'd wake her fully, she asked, "Is that all I get?"

"You want more?" he asked back.

She smiled doofily. "Mmhm."

He leaned down again and pressed his lips against hers gently. This time, though, her lips moved against his, kissing him back with her soft lips three or four times. Something in his heart shot electricity to his navel at the sensation. He felt another urge building within him to taste her. So, he pulled away again, worried his urges were straying into much darker territory.

She hummed happily as she snuggled closer to him. "You have very soft lips," she declared, half mumbled by sleep.

He straightened himself, muttering a small, "You too," all the while unable to sedate the smile from his face as he muttered, "Goodnight, Cordelia."

He stepped out of her room, shutting the door behind him quietly wondering what one Earth had possessed him into kissing his not-even-conscious assistant. He knew it was the question that had been bothering him for weeks, but that wasn't an excuse. She was his subordinate, not to mention ward essentially in the eyes of the Council. Also, he had a girlfriend who definitely wouldn't be keen on him kissing another woman.

He heard shuffling in the hall, that made him pause until he saw Kankuro walking in. Clearly from another late-night escapade. He was humming, and clearly not as plastered as usual, which Gaara knew meant Kankuro had screwed a lady at the nightclub. It wasn't the first time Gaara knew of.

His older brother frowned at him, almost as if he didn't recognize Gaara standing there, his hum stopping as soon as he stepped into the hallway. "Gaara?" he asked. "What are you doing outside Cordi's bedroom?"

Gaara removed his hand from the knob as he blandly replied, "Nothing."

Kankuro smirked. "Taking my advice and hooking up with Not-Cordi for a bit, huh?" Gaara answered his brother with a slight scowl. "So, how'd it go? Didja' find the spark?"

"Goodnight, Kankuro," he grumbled turning around to go to his room.

"Goodnight, Casanova," Kankuro trilled in a girly voice before cackling his way into his room as he added, "Nice lip-gloss."

Gaara quickly rubbed at his mouth, feeling the slightly sticky substance his brother had been referring to. He'd forgotten Cordi wore natural looking make-up for work, including gloss on her lips. He licked his lips as he walked into his room, grumbling to himself trying not to enjoy the berry flavor. Gaara knew he was anything but a Casanova. A Casanova wouldn't have waited until a woman was asleep before he kissed her. Gaara was just a coward with a lot of confusing feelings that were no clearer now than before. He shut his door and got ready for bed. He checked his clock as he crawled into his sheets, noting he'd have only five hours before he'd have to wake for the next day.


Training on Monday was rough. More so than usual. Hinata was out on a mission for the week. And after running Shikamaru's newest obstacle course for the fourth time, each of the other-worldly girls braced themselves, struggling to control their gasping breaths. Rox even more than others, surprising the oldest of the group that she wasn't pulling out her inhaler yet. Lynne and Fred watched her carefully, wondering if Rox's asthma would keep itself at bay after such rigorous exercise. "You've got your inhaler?" Fred asked worriedly, her voice low so Shikamaru wouldn't hear.

Rox shook her head. "Went dead last Thursday," she whispered between gasps.

"Shit. Ok, don't panic," Fred murmured, stepping closer.

"I'm not panicking," Rox replied, although her underlying tone said otherwise.

Fred glowered at her, not appreciating her lies. "Just breath with me, ok? Don't think about it." Rox nodded, following Fred's instructions as best she could.

Shikamaru looked over to the older girls, ignoring Ronnie finishing up her fourth obstacle run and jogging back to the group. His brow furrowed at the scene, and he asked, "Is she alright?" His question sounded emotionally distant.

Lynne spun on her heel, snapping at Shikamaru, "Better question. Are you?" She knew picking a fight with him would distract him enough while Rox recovered. Having played soccer with Rox their last two years in high school, Lynne had seen Rox in worse states with her asthma.

Shikamaru frowned. "What?" his question was laced with a warning tone.

Lynne shrugged as she crossed her arms. "Suddenly, you've got us running 'til we're ragged, with no explanation." Her gaze narrowed on him as she added, "Methinks you're punishing us for something."

Something akin to hurt flashed in his brown eyes, smothered quickly with a cool, deadpan look. "It's not punishment. It's training. Something you all are severely lacking."

But Lynne already knew the truth, plucking it straight from his brain. "Wow," she sneered. "You're jealous." He scowled back at the redhead. "Rox has a new boyfriend, and you can't stand it."

Shikamaru didn't have a comeback, instead setting his jaw.

"Really?" Rox huffed, her breathing slightly more in control than before, wind whipping up around them. "Is that what this is about?"

Shikamaru met her gaze only for a moment before looking away, then closing his eyes before stating, "Whoever Ms. Turner sees in her own time is her own business."

"Bullshit," Lynne scoffed.

"IT IS!" Rox howled over her redheaded friend. She threw arm out gesturing to the whole course and snapped, "This whole session is because your mad I kissed Akirama last night. And you're punishing my friends because of it."

"I don't care who you kiss," he lied through bared teeth. "Again, it's none of my business how quickly you jump in bed with another man."

Rox's glare turned icy, and the wind swirled around her in a vortex, stilling the air ominously around everyone else before shooting what was essentially a jet stream at Shikamaru, knocking him back twenty feet before he got his bearings. She stepped towards him, growling, "It was you who said you wanted to end things. You who said you wanted things to be professional, Sensei." The way she said the honorific sounded oddly like she'd actually said "Asshole."

He sneered back as he snapped, "It's kind of hard to keep things professional when you and your friends have been blurring the lines since you got here."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lynne challenged.

"Please," he scoffed, his glare at Lynne deadly. "Beyond you all practically pushing Rox and I together from the beginning? Fred sleeping with a man who was almost my brother. Ronnie fucking one of my best friends while he was still dating a nice girl. And your constant snooping in my brain!" He huffed, trying to calm himself. "You're right. I'm the one not keeping things professional." He sighed, turning to leave, "Training's dismissed." Before the girls could say anything, he'd shunshined away.

Rox, who was usually so reserved and calm, howled angrily, "Ugh! I could strangle him!" She began to pace as she said, "Like, what!? I'm not allowed to move on when he did the breaking up!? What kind of horse-shit is that!?"

Fred frowned worriedly, looking at her sister. "What did he mean Kiba was seeing another girl?"

Ronnie stayed silent, crossing her arms around her defensively, her lips forming a confused pout. Rox slowed at the question, as if not noticing that being rattled off in Shikamaru's earlier tirade. "What?" she squeaked, sounding clueless?

"Lynne," Fred tried, turning to the psychic friend. "You were reading his mind. Did he elaborate on Kiba?"

Lynne's brow furrowed in thought as she tried to go back through Shikamaru's thoughts during his tirade. "I mean, that's kind of the issue," she sighed. "He didn't hold back any thoughts, and it was kind of a lot."

"Well, what I'm about to do to Kiba is kind of a lot," Fred growled dangerously.

"Fred," Ronnie hissed, garnering her sisters attention. She shook her head, stating, "We don't even know what Shikamaru knows."

"Lynne knows!" Fred argued, pointing at the redhead.

"What I'm saying is he could be misinformed," Ronnie snapped back. "I'm sure Shino, Naruto, or Hinata would have said something to me if it was entirely true." All the girls knew the excuse was flimsy at best. All three had known Kiba since he was a kid, and only barely knew Ronnie.

"You're giving him the benefit of the doubt," Fred scoffed, her green glare betraying her uncertainty of Ronnie's emotional fortitude at such a discovery.

Ronnie only scowled at her older sister tiredly, before looking away. Lynne could see that something in Ronnie needed Shikamaru to be wrong. For Kiba to be as true as he seemed.

Lynne's shoulders sank as she realized she had caught a name from Shikamaru's mental onslaught. "Does the name Tamaki mean anything?" she asked. Lynne knew it did immediately from Ronnie's expression. But, oddly, Rox also recognized the name.

"Tsume said …" Ronnie said, her thoughts moving a thousand miles faster than her voice could articulate. She licked her lips, then went to her pouch and pulled out a slip of paper, handing it to the spirit user. "I have an address."


Lynne found herself standing in front of a red door to an apartment across town from their dorms, mentally preparing herself to pitch some random bullshit to a stranger, much how she imagined the door-to-door salesmen did back home. Armed with only what Ronnie mentioned she knew, what Rox added from the snippet she caught on her date with Akirama, and Shikamaru's thoughts. She took a deep breath before raising her fist and rapping her knuckles against the wood.

"Hold on!" she heard someone call from inside.

Lynne braced herself as she heard footsteps from within come closer. The door swung open, and Lynne was greeted with a young woman roughly her age with caramel eyes and mousey brown hair that reached the middle of her back. The woman smiled and asked, "Can I help you?"

Lynne had one mission standing there. Touch Tamaki and download everything she knew about Kiba Inuzuka. "Hi," she started, holding her hand out. "My name is Lynne. Kiba recommended I talk to you about adopting a ninneko," she lied.

"Erm, Tamaki," the cat kunoichi greeted, grasping her hand. And just like that, the psychic download was done. "How do you know Kiba?"

"Oh, erm, friend of a friend," Lynne shrugged her answer off as if it were a meaningless connection. She had to linger until the conversation allowed her to leave. Meanwhile, she combed through everything between Tamaki and Kiba. Them meeting on a mission, and the clan forbidden romance that blossomed between them for several months, just as steamy as Ronnie's relationship to the dog trainer.

"Ok. And you want a cat?" Tamaki asked.

"Erm," Lynne stumbled, trying to focus, "yes. I'm currently in the middle of a transition, and in a month or so, I'll be in a place to adopt a cat, which is something I've always wanted." It wasn't untrue. Lynne's last cat had passed a few months before she graduated high school, and she'd been trying to convince her parents to let her get another.

"Well, you said ninneko earlier. Are you a ninja?"

Lynne shrugged, "Uh, it depends on who you ask. Again, transition period."

Tamaki pursed her lips as she sighed, "Right. Well, have you ever worked with ninnekos before?"

It was Lynne's turn to purse her lips awkwardly, "No. But I had a cat as a kid. He passed a year back."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Yeah."

"Well," Tamaki sighed, "we also have civilian cats in need of good homes."

"You do?"

Tamaki nodded with a bright smile. "Let me give you my grandmother's contact. She's the one who usually handles the adoption paperwork." Tamaki disappeared back into her apartment, then reappeared with a card, stating, "She lives in the Neko Village to the north, just east of Nekomata. I'll tell my grandmother to look out for you.""

Lynne took the card. "Great. Thanks."

"Always happy to help another cat-lover," Tamaki stated with a happy smile.

Lynne stepped away, waving back at Kiba's original girlfriend. She walked back towards the tea shop the other three girls were sitting in two blocks down.

Ronnie saw her first, and immediately stood. "So?" she asked, her voice full of hope.

Lynne puffed out her cheeks, knowing her friends weren't going to take the news well. Lynne was barely taking it well herself. "It was definitely serious. Definitely Kiba."

"When did it end?" Ronnie demanded, making it clear it was the only part that mattered to her.

"Ehr, that's kind of tricky," Lynne stated awkwardly. She licked her lips as she straightened the memories. "So, he suggested they go on a break, but three days later he apologized, and they fucked … a few times, leaving everything really open-ended."

Something about that answer had hit Ronnie, and her usually bubbly exterior was solid stone. "So, when was that?"

Lynne winced. "The night before the festival," she answered. She chewed on the inside of her cheek before finishing, "She still thinks they're together even though …"

Ronnie was already sprinting out the door, Fred and Rox downing their teas and dropping cash on the table before chasing after her, Lynne following behind.


"I'll turn in the report," Shino said, stepping away from his old team.

"Thanks, Shino," Hinata called back to him before he shunshined away, and Kiba gave him a small wave. They'd only just gotten back to Konoha from Otter lake, about a nine hour walk from Konoha. They'd been there for two days tracking down some bandits. Generally boring work.

Kiba had other things on his mind. More pressing at least. "Hinata?" he asked.

The Hyuuga heiress turned to him, her pale eyes wide and curious. "Yes?"

"When did you know you were in love with Naruto?" he asked.

She blushed hard. "K-Kiba!"

"I'm serious," he asked. "Was it something he did, or said? Or was it just immediate? You saw him, it happened."

She shook her head hard, hiding her face with her hair as she said, "Why are you asking me this?"

"Because…" Kiba bit his lip hard. He didn't have anyone he could really talk about this with. There weren't a lot of healthy relationships he knew about, except Hinata's feelings for Naruto. He knew that was true love. "Because I let slip that I love Ronnie, and it was awkward because it was the heat of the moment, and she didn't say it back. And sometimes I just feel so strongly for her that I think it's real love, but I don't know. I've never been in actual love before, I think…" He rattled off his explanation so quickly.

Her expression softened. "Kiba …"

He scoffed at himself, pressing his fingers to his eyes before pinching his nose. "I sound so whipped."

"No, Kiba," Hinata tried. "I didn't realize it was that serious."

He chewed the inside of his cheek nervously. "I know," he grumbled. "I'm not sure she meant for it to get serious either. But … I can't stop thinking about her. I've never felt this way."

Hinata smiled. "It sounds like you're in love."

"You think so?" he sounded so relieved.

Hinata nodded.

"Then … Do you think I should tell her?" he asked, scratching the base of his skull.

Hinata frowned. "Didn't you say you already tried that?"

He shrugged as he answered, "Well, there were other factors involved. It's possible she didn't hear me."

Hinata nodded, giving him a supportive smile. "Then you should tell her. Put it in no uncertain terms."

He nodded nervously. "I should tell her?"

"Absolutely," Hinata answered, holding her fist up as if to cheer on his inevitable victory.

"Yeah?" he more asked himself than Hinata. He chewed his lower lip, his nerves slowly easing as he said, "I love Ronnie Buchanan." He smiled brightly at his old teammate who smiled proudly back. He laughed, then yelled, "I LOVE -!"

Before he could finish his declaration, a wall of water nailed him, pushing him several yards back out the gate. He sputtered, water in his airway as he tried to orient himself. It had come out of nowhere. "What just …?" he rasped. But before he could even sit up fully to see what had happened, someone's fist collided with his nose hard, and he heard a sickening crack. Torrents of blood ran down his throat. He could tell by the coppery taste. His nose was broken.

Fighting instinct took over, and he swept the legs out of whoever was standing over him, only for his leg to get drenched again instead of making contact. He looked up, seeing it was Ronnie standing over him with her fist balled as she glared daggers at him. He held his nose, which was in growing excruciating pain. "Ronnie?"

"I can't believe you," she hissed.

"What?" he asked, confused by everything. What had happened? What did he do?

"You, me," Ronnie said, gesturing between them, shaking her head in disappointment as she added, "We're done."

"What? RONNIE!" he called back, still so confused as to what prompted such an explosion. Nothing in recent memory that he could recall. But, she had already spun on her heel, storming back towards her friends who had clearly just skidded onto the scene, past a confused Hinata and Akamaru. "Ronnie!" he yelled again, but she wouldn't listen.


AN: This one took a while because it's much longer, while the moments were smaller and more spread out. Some people have mentioned a dislike for Ronnie and Kiba's relationship, which I understand, but I'm hoping that starting with this chapter and the next few chapters change your view on them. Starting out, they're supposed to be superficial and shallow, focusing on the physical connection. Although, I've alluded to Ronnie and Kiba's similar baggage, which will be coming back up soon in full force. So I'm hoping ya'll will see the dimension of each of them as characters as their story unfolds.

I also want to note, Cordi and Gaara's first kiss wasn't originally like this, but in one of the later chapters, and the end of their scenes in this chapter originally ended differently… more comically. But when I was editing a few days ago, I realized while comical, it felt slightly undermining of their storyline. I also realized Gaara's curiosity would have made any deterrent impossible without going into ridiculous territory, which wasn't right tonally. So, instead I gave him the follow through, but not to the level of an actual romantic kiss, rather just a stage or movie kiss.

Fun facts! I've hit 200,000 words with just story, (no AN) so that's a feat the original story just barely hit only with Ans (without, I think it was only in the 190,000s). And while that was 46 chapters in, and everyone was finally getting together, we're only halfway through Part 1 here, with a planned total of 5 parts or so. With actual book formatting, that's 896 pages so far. We're just short of HP Order of the Phoenix in length, but by the time Part 1 is done, it'll be longer than all the GOT books (except maybe Storm of Swords. I'm going by my chapter average, which is 14,222 words per chapter roughly, landing us at about 384,938 total for Part 1 when it finishes). I had to do a lot of formatting stuff with the document I'm writing on, because pulling up just the Legendaries document was freezing my computer, making me take so much longer writing.

Also, I've finally gotten into our new house, and I have my office. So, hopefully with less drama going on in my life, I'll be able to get the next chapters out faster, which have a lot of the plot twists I've been so excited to get to, as they were the first excerpts I wrote for this version of the story. So, until next time.