Chapter 1: Germs!
Disclaimer: Check prologue
AN: Here's the next chapter.
ShiroKuro you said that it was maybe a little fast right? LoL the thing is I was afraid I'd hmm drag things out too much if I'd write more there, this chapter is a bit longer though hope you like it.
Rynx-Too-Genki: as you can see I actually did come up with a new sum thnx for the hint though.
Anyways without any further babbling from here enjoy the chapter people!
After the destruction of the Kinomoto Lands, the castle had been sealed off from the public. The massive gates had been closed and the rumours had started to spread around. Everyone, no matter where they lived, had heard about the tragedy that befell the Kinomoto family.
The person responsible for it all, laughed at the madness of it all. Oh how delighted he had been when his captain returned and reported to him, that the King and Queen were dead.
"What about the children?" he had asked his captain, who replied that they assumed to have been killed in the fire that had destroyed the entire west wing of the castle.
"Finally!" he yelled brightly, it had been the best news he'd received ever since the day he heard that his wife (or the bitch as he called her) had been killed in a robbery. He had given word of a huge celebration and even made it a national celebration day. He was a cold man indeed.
"What about their corpses? Did you bring the prove?" he had asked, at which the captain clapped his hands, and the two large oak doors opened to admit several soldiers carrying two bodies covered up in a bed sheet.
The man got up and looked at the disfigured bodies. It was grotesque to say the least. The captain then waved two more soldiers over whom were carrying two bags. They turned the bags over and the heads of King and Queen Kinomoto fell out on the floor, leaving a bloody mess.
"My Lord, what do you want us to do with them?" he asked bowing.
"Do what you do best captain." the man replied smirking. He looked like he was about to get up and dance around from sheer happiness, when he suddenly stopped and looked back at the two heads decorating his floor.
"You assume the kids are dead? You didn't bring back proof?" he asked the captain indignantly.
"We haven't found their bodies, but most of the place was already burned down by the time we reached the King and Queen's chambers." The captain said bowing deeper, if that was even possible.
"That won't do, I need proof. I can't have that little girl interfere with my plans! I need to know if she's dead. Now go and bring me back good news." He said and with a wave of his hand, he dismissed the Captain and everyone else still present.
"This one will do quite nicely." said a man with dark hair as he looked at his newly acquired possession.
"What's your name kiddo?" he asked looking down at the little girl. The only thing distinguishing her from a boy however was her hair and that wasn't a lot to go on, he just had to guess and hope he was right.
"S… Sa..Saku" she said hesitantly, not sure of what this man wanted from her at all.
"How did you end up here?" he asked her again, while he led her back to his place.
"Uhm… I .. I don't remember." she said eventually, looking like a little lost puppy.
"What 'bout parents? Or any other family?" he asked looking down at the little girl. He guessed she was about 4 or 5 years old, and by the looks of things, she had lost her memory, which in his book was only a good thing. That way no one would come looking for her.
At his question Saku shrugged her shoulders and went back to looking at her feet. She didn't know what was going on, but this man seemed nice enough.
"Well then, I don't usually do this, but I can offer you a place to stay." he said already congratulating himself in his mind. Oh yeah this was going to be a lot easier than he had originally thought.
She looked up at the man, at first scared but soon a little smile appeared on her face and she nodded fervently.
He smiled knowing he had made a good bargain buying this little kid. After all she could still be shaped freely.
"This," he said pointing at an old warehouse "is where I live, and from now on you will too." He whistled and suddenly all around them faces were popping up out of their hiding places chiming "welcome back boss!"
He smiled and looked down at Saku, who was currently hiding behind his leg. "Don't worry kiddo, you'll fit right in here." He said smiling genuine for the first time.
Saku had a thoughtful look on her face all of a sudden and looked up at the man. "Uhm…" she said softly.
"What's the matter?" he asked looking down at the little girl.
"What's your name?" she said then looking up curiously, one hand still clamped around his pants from trying to get his attention.
"Haha, you're right, I totally forgot to introduce myself!" he said laughing and then continued. "the name's Takashi, Kai Takashi, but you can call me Kai."
2 years had passed and Saku was still living with Kai and the gang. By now she was allowed to go out to the market on her own from time to time. It was only 5 minutes away from where they lived and since everyone knew everyone, there was always someone to look after her.
She strolled down the market, in hopes to find something to do. Since she was bored out of her mind, she was checking out what the market people were selling, and what sort of people would come and buy at their stand.
"Ah finally." she thought, spotting what she had been looking for. "Hmm that sure smells good." she thought longingly and took another deep breath.
Slowly she approached a bread stand and sniffed at all the different kinds of bread displayed to the possible buyers. A man saw the girl and smiled down at her. "Well little miss, see something you like?" he asked her friendly.
Saku smiled and nodded but didn't make a move to buy anything. When another customer approached the stand, the man moved over to the Lady and completely forgot about Saku.
"Madam what will it be?" he asked her politely gesturing to all the bread laying there. It wasn't for another few seconds until he finally noticed something wrong. One of his precious breads was missing, and the little girl from only moments ago, was now running for her life with the bread partially tucked away in her shirt.
"Get back here you little brat!" the man yelled and was about to give chase, when the woman held up her hand to stop him.
"I'll pay for it." she said shortly waiting for the man to turn around and get back to help her.
The man stopped dead in his tracks, and with an astonished look on his face, turned around to face the woman. "You sure madam? Because you don't have to pay me for that bread. That little brat stole it and once I get my hands on her, she'll wish she had never even been born!" he ended in a rage.
"I'll pay for it, no need to go chasing that kid. She will be long gone as it is." The woman said calmly. With that said she took her own purchase, paid the man for the bread and for her own stuff, and walked away. But not without whishing the man a good day.
Saku was now panting hard, as she had run as hard as she could for the past 10 minutes. She looked back over her shoulder every now and then to make sure the man hadn't followed her.
Saku walked over towards a fountain in the middle of a square and sat down on the edge of it. She took out the bread, which was now a little crushed, and started on her well deserved breakfast. She didn't really understand why the man was so angry at her, after all she was only hungry right?
Shaking her head Saku decided to enjoy her meal instead of pondering over strange things such as the man's odd behaviour. The sooner she was done eating, the better. After all the day was still young and there was a lot she still had to do, playing tag, hide and seek, and more important things.
By the time it was starting to get dark outside, Saku returned home, to find the whole gang up and waiting for her.
As soon as they saw her walk in, they jumped up, grabbed Saku, and dragged her over to the sitting area, where they usually talked about important things.
Saku who didn't know what was going on, was so surprised that she squeaked when they grabbed her. She soon quiet down when she saw Kai walk in and take a seat. That seemed to be the sign for everyone to shut up, as they all turned their attention expectantly towards Kai.
Kai looked around at his gang and, when his eyes landed on Saku he smirked. "I see you finally decided to come home." he said not without sarcasm. "We've been waiting for you."
Saku swallowed as all eyes were on her. Oh she messed up big this time. "I'm sorry!" she said getting up and bowing to Kai who, …. started to laugh?
Surprised at his reaction she sat back down and looked at Kai, waiting for his laughter to subdue. When he was finally done, he cleared his throat before speaking up again.
"Today is a very important day for you, Saku." he said looking at the little girl intently. "As a matter of fact, it is a very important day for all of us!" he exclaimed waving his hands around the room.
Saku seemed to be the only one who didn't know what this big day was about, since all the other guys around her cheered.
"Saku, tomorrow you will get your first job!" he said happily waiting for the girl to burst from excitement. When he noticed the confused look on her face he decided to elaborate.
"Tomorrow one of the guys will take you with him and show you how to do your job." he said.
This time she did cheer. She jumped up excitedly and ran over to where Kai sat, and jumped him in the arms giving him a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" she said very hyper.
He remembered how, every time they would go out to earn some money, she'd be so disappointed that she couldn't come along because she was too small. He would never admit it, but he had really grown fond of the little girl. After taking care of her for about 2 yrs now, she had become the little sister he never had, and she on her turn had gained a whole lot of older brothers.
That evening Saku sighed contently as she was trying to get some sleep. Tomorrow was a big day for her. Finally they gave her the opportunity to pay them back a little, for taking care of her all this time. She had to give it her all and that's exactly what she was planning to do. If only she wasn't so nervous …
The next morning Saku had only just fallen asleep when Kai came to wake her up.
"Hey kiddo, had a good night sleep? Today's the big day." he said smiling slightly at the dishevelled looking girl.
For a moment she looked lost not at all knowing what he was talking about but that didn't last long, for the next moment she jumped out of bed and rushed off to get cleaned, and dressed up.
Kai slightly wondered how the usual sleepy girl could all of a sudden be so bright at an early morning but figured it was the excitement.
With a smirk he left her 'room' to give her some privacy. She may still be a little girl, but women were women, and eventually she'd grow up to be one. It had taken some time to get the other guys used to having a girl around, but with Kai's natural ability to make sure they remembered the most important things, it only took a few beatings for some of them to get the hang of it. They eventually learned how to tread a lady with respect (which was a foreign thing to them). Now that were sweet memories if he had to name some.
"Hey girl, what took you so long?" Taco asked smirking at Saku who was currently trying to regain her breath from rushing all the way down to the sitting area.
"Alright guys listen up. Since she's new to this, watch out for her and make sure things run as smooth as they always do." Kai said looking around the room to find pretty much everyone nod their approval.
"Saku you will be tagging along with Shino. Watch his every move and memorize them. Don't leave his side and, I never thought I'd ever say this but, listen to his orders and actually follow them. That's the only way we'll get this job done."
Saku nodded and made sure she caught everything Kai was saying. She couldn't afford to screw this up, not when they finally thought she was old enough to join them.
Kai explained their mission and gave each and everyone the instructions they were to follow. "Now as long as everyone does as I just explained everything will go according to plan. Any questions?" he asked and without waiting for a reply he continued. "Good everyone knows what to do, now go out and do it. May your eyes be keen and your reflexes fast, good luck." And with that said everyone left to their assigned posts, waiting for the 'go' signal from Kai.
"That's our cue." whispered Shino to Saku, who didn't even get the time to ask what he meant, as Shino grabbed her arm. He signalled the others that were with their group to go on ahead and do what they were supposed to as he pulled Saku along.
"Where are we going?" Saku asked looking over her shoulder several times to see that the others weren't even with them anymore.
"Shht! Right now we have to be very quiet." Shino whispered to her as he put a finger to his mouth.
Saku gasped and closed her mouth right away, to make sure no more sounds would escape from her.
They crouched low in an alley to catch their breath before they continued to run from building to building, hiding behind trees and what not, until they reached their destination.
"What are we going to do here?" Saku whispered trying to be as quiet as possible.
Shino sighed and, seeing she wouldn't be able to keep her curiosity in check unless he gave her some information, motioned her to come closer so he could whisper in her ear.
Eagerly she moved her ear closer to Shino's mouth as to hear what he had to say, but in her enthusiasm, bumped her head against his lip.
Shino inhaled sharply as he reached for his lip to find it bleeding.
Saku looked guiltily at Shino and was about to start crying for hurting him, when he silenced her by placing his hand over her mouth and pulling her around the corner of a building. "Shht, someone's coming!" he whispered to Saku who gasped and quieted down immediately.
By the time the woman had passed their hiding place he removed his hand and they both sighed with relief.
"I'm so sorry!" she said her lip starting to tremble again upon seeing the damage she'd done.
"Oh don't worry 'bout it, it's nothing." He whispered rolling his eyes at her concerned and guilty look. "Come on we have a job to do." he said and lead her to their destination.
They stopped at the back of a big mansion and Shino looked around to make sure no one was around. "Okay now listen up squirt, you're the only one who fits through this hole. I need you to crawl in there and find the nearest window, and open it up for me so I can come in."
Saku nodded and was about to climb in the dark hole when she turned around with big eyes. "There aren't any spiders or rats in there are there?" she asked looking horrified at the thought.
Shino mentally smacked himself for telling Saku all those scary bedtime stories. "Just trust me okay? Do I look like I would ever let anything happen to you?" he asked her earnestly.
She was about to point out how last time he had said the exact same thing to her, he ended up bringing a grumpy Kai to an old abandoned house, which Shino had left Saku in. He had thought it would be a cool idea to take her to an old house and tell scary stories with some of the other guys, but she ended up being so afraid that she was screaming and crying, and she didn't shut up until Kai finally arrived to 'chase away the evil ghosts' (or also known as his idiotic companions).
"Erm, okay never mind that." He thought for a second and got the perfect idea. "Would you really think Kai would send you along with me to look after you if he didn't think you would be safe?" he asked her smiling sweetly, hoping to convince her.
Thankfully she caved and soon smiled brightly at him before turning around and crawling into the dark hole.
"The least thing he could have done was give me something so I could see where I was going." she thought muttering something about stupid boys and not using their brains, as she slowly and carefully made her way through the tunnel.
By now her knees and hands were cold and wet, as she wondered where the stupid tunnel ended. Saku had always been scared in the dark, and without any light this was the scariest thing she had ever done in her short little life.
After a few turns she could finally see some light, signalling the end of the tunnel, when her hand touched something soft and warm. The thing suddenly squeaked loudly and moved away as fast as it could.
On the other hand Saku screamed loudly and crawled away from whatever it was, as fast as she could.
Still waiting outside, Shino heard the scream and anxiously waited for something to happen. He looked around, the house was supposed to be empty so that was the least of his problems. However people who might have passed by the house at that very moment, could have heard her scream and if they came to check things out, their mission would be screwed.
Shino held his breath praying no one heard. A minute passed and no one (besides a few birds) had reacted to Saku's scream, which he was very grateful for.
Saku hurried to find a window and opened the first one she saw. She stuck her head out and looked anxiously around for any sign of Shino but saw none. "Shino, Shino!" she hissed hoping he heard her.
Shino sighed in relief as he heard her calling his name and went to find the window she'd opened.
"Uhm Saku, do you think you can open a bigger window? One I can actually fit through?" he finally asked.
Saku looked at Shino, then at the window and once again back at Shino with a thoughtful expression. Then she shrugged and went to the next window, closest to where she was.
She looked around and saw a wooden chair. Ah yes, that was perfect. It should be able to help her get to the window. Saku was so caught up in dragging the chair towards the window that she failed to notice a pair of eyes burning at the back of her head.
"Hurry up!" Shino called from outside the window.
Saku poked her head out of that window as well before moving out of the way so Shino could enter. "Now what do we do?" she asked looking around the house in awe.
It belonged to a rich family, that thing was for sure. Saku was admiring the house while Shino got around to doing his job.
"Hold this." he said handing her a bag. When he heard the soft thud he turned around "Yo squirt!" he said drawing her attention away from a few expensive looking plates on the wall.
Shaking her head Saku looked expectantly up at Shino and said "huh?"
Shino rolled his eyes at the girl and said "Take the bag and follow me, okay?" and without waiting for a reply he took off.
Saku picked the bag up from it's position on the floor and followed him around. She watched him open doors and take things out, which he threw over his shoulders at her, leaving her in the difficult position to try and catch everything without dropping, or breaking anything.
"Listen up squirt." he started to say but stopped when she kicked him looking angrily up at him.
"Don't call me squirt!" she yelled but decided to listen anyways.
"Ouch! Now listen to me." he said rubbing his offended leg looking a little grumpy. "What we do here is very important. We take the things that are the most valuable to people and sell them later on to other people who need them more than these rich people do, and in return they pay us good money so we can survive for another while."
Saku nodded. This wasn't so hard to understand. She actually knew what he meant!
Shino continued on rummaging through the house as Saku admired it. "Now," said Shino turning around as he took the bag from her grip. "you search those rooms," he said pointing down a long hall way. "and I'll go over here." he said pointing in the other direction. He gave her a bag and waited for her to nod and go.
"One more thing." he said as Saku stopped and turned around. "If anything happens, get the hell out of here."
"How will I know when something is going on?" she asked looking a little scared now.
"Oh don't worry squirt, you'll know when it happens." he winked at her and left to his side of the house.
Saku gulped but went on anyways. She walked into the first room and looked around for something that would be valuable to people. "Hmm, what would be valuable to me …" she wondered a lout.
Her eyes fell on a painting at the wall. It was from a family smiling happily at the artist who had obviously painted it. All were smiling except for one little boy.
"Why wouldn't he be smiling?" she thought to herself. "He looks sorta familiar though …"
With that in mind she continued to look for valuable things, whatever they may be. The guys could have at least told her what she was supposed to look for.
There were all sorts of pretty things around here but she didn't know if they were valuable or not. Then she looked back at the picture. That woman also looked familiar. She had a fan in her right hand, and a very nice and expensive looking necklace around her throat. Oh right! That was the woman from the bread stand the other day!
Saku's eye fell on something laying next to a bed. "Ahah!" she exclaimed picking it up and putting it in the bag. She looked down at the bag in her hands with pride. "So that's what the guys were talking about when they meant something valuable!"
With renewed hope she looked through the room some more and left for the next one. It looked like it belonged to a girl, if the pink colours was anything to go by. Saku felt right at home, after all pink was her favourite colour.
After 3 more rooms and more valuable items in her bag she went to the final room. It wasn't girlish like the other rooms had been. "hmm, must be that boy's room." she thought and started to look around the room.
Saku was still looking around when she heard something behind her. She froze and didn't know what to do. She felt something against her leg and even though she had promised herself not to scream, she did.
"Aaaaaaaaah!"
Within a few seconds Shino was in the room shouting. "What happened! Are you hurt? Who did it to you! I'll kill him!"
When he finally looked around the room he noticed Saku on the floor, and burst out laughing.
"I see someone made a friend!" he exclaimed looking at the girl lying on the floor, too scared to even move, with a big dog licking her face and wagging its tail.
"Saku, don't ever scream like that again while we're on a mission. It draws too much attention to what we're doing." Shino lectured after he had helped the girl up from her position on the floor.
Saku grumbled a bit about not knowing what to do with a big dog like that and blushed a nice shade of red.
Shino, who was still laughing and making fun of her, went back to the last room so they could get the hell out of the house. That scream from Saku might have already drawn someone's attention and that could end up very badly for them.
Oh how right he was. The moment he entered the last room at the hall, the front door opened.
"Damn it! Shit, shit, shit, not now! Now I have no way to warn Saku! Well I hope she heard the door and got out safely. I'm probably being silly and while I'm worrying here, she's waiting for me to turn up at the meeting point. Better hurry up and get out of here before I'm caught!" and with those thoughts he jumped out of the window on the top floor.
Saku on the other hand, was too far away from the front door to have heard anything and went on with her search; the dog on her trail still wagging it's tail.
"What do you want? Leave me alone already." said Saku, who was getting annoyed with the dog following her around everywhere. Weren't dog's supposed to guard houses? This was one weird dog, but now that he wasn't drooling all over her, kind of cute as well.
She petted the dog on it's head and continued on looking through things that might be valuable.
After a few more things, she turned around and walked out of the door, still clueless about the whole situation.
"What did Shino say again? Oh yeah, if you're done, walk out either the front or the back door. We meet up at home." With that in mind she walked down the stairs, completely missing the strange looks the people, who had just arrived back home, were giving her, and wanted to walk out the door.
Everything would have gone fine, if it wasn't for a certain dog blocking her way out.
"What's wrong?" she asked the dog. "You know I have to go now. I can't play with you right now. You see I'm on a mission." she told the dog proudly, who still didn't move from his spot in the doorway.
Saku walked behind the dog and tried to pass him, but the dog simply moved a bit aside.
Saku frowned. "I already told you doggy, I can't play with you right now but if you let me pass I'll come back tomorrow and play with you extra long!" she told him happily thinking that she had just won the 'battle'.
When the dog still didn't move and just kept staring at her, she shrugged and turned around. If she couldn't get out through the front door, then she'd just go out the back.
Saku smiled at herself for being so smart. Oh yeah they were going to be so proud of her once she got back.
The dog had left his spot at the door and happily trotted after Saku.
Saku had reached the backdoor and could already smell the glory. She speeded up a little and … bumped into something big.
"Doggy…." She groaned, rubbing her ass as she got up from the floor.
The dog on his turn, just licked her face again, but didn't move from it's spot.
"Moa! This is so not fair! How am I supposed to get out of here if you keep blocking my path!" she cried out in exasperation.
When Saku looked away from the dog, she noticed for the first time, the people whom had gathered at the backdoor. She recognised them from that painting she'd seen earlier.
Saku swallowed as she looked at the people surrounding her. "Aaah! Where's Shino and the other guys! What happened to that whole 'you are safe as long as you listen to Shino' thing!" she thought frantically, as the lonely and lost feeling started to get stronger. "Now what's going to happen to me…"
"Who are you?" asked the woman, whom she recognised of being the one with the pretty necklace.
"…." Saku didn't say a thing. She didn't know what to say or do for that matter. "Just smile and everything will turn out all right." she thought to herself and plastered her best 'I'm innocent' smile on her face.
The woman called the dog back and turned her gaze back to Saku, apparently still waiting for an answer.
"… I'm Saku…" she finally managed to squeak out, still smiling a little more nervously now. The woman frightened her slightly. Her whole posture was one of authority, dignity and she held her head up proudly. Even so she still managed to have a certain elegance showing in her every move, that made her look more like a royalty to Saku than anything else.
"Well Saku." the woman said. "What are you doing in my house?"
At that same moment her attention was drawn to the front door. Either someone desperately needed to talk to someone in this house or they just had the mad urge to bust in the door.
Saku was thankful for the interruption and instead of hanging around to answer the question she made a mad dash for the back door.
"Yes! I'm free!" she thought as she ran through the back yard. She could already see the fence, which was the only thing still standing between her and her freedom.
"Come on legs, just a little more and we're free!" she thought desperately as her legs started to get tired from the sprint.
A few more steps and she would be able to jump over the fence, 4 more, 3, 2, … crash!
Saku fell to the floor and slid several more feet forwards on her face, until she finally came to a stop. "Ouch.. that hurt."
She turned around expecting some sort of a tree root sticking up out of the ground, or something else which caused her to trip. She had even thought of the dog being in her way again, but instead she saw a foot.
Her eyes skimmed over the foot and, wondering who had tripped her, moved on to the person that came with the food.
It seemed to be a boy. He was crouched low as if he was looking for something that fell onto the floor, but honestly who'd look for something on the floor with one leg stretched out in a weird angle, and his hands on the floor for support.
It was as if he'd tripped her on purpose… That thought seemed to trigger something in her memory, as she remembered that same pose, Kai…
"Where do you think you're going!" asked the boy suspiciously glaring at her, as he slowly rose to meet her at eyelevel.
"Uhm … home?" she said hoping he'd let her go.
"I don't think so, give it back." was all he said.
"Hum, let me think…. No I won't. I worked real hard for this you know! And then you come along and think I'll just hand it over to you?" Saku said getting more than a little annoyed.
"Give me the bag." he said coldly.
"No." was the stubborn reply.
"I'll get it one way or another. I'll leave the 'how' up to you."
"I earned this fair and square!" came Saku's reply.
"Fair and square? Don't make me laugh, you obviously stole it, now hand it over."
That boy was so annoying; but if he thought he'd get it back this way he'd have another thing coming. "Shino where are you?" Saku thought silently as she prepared herself to start running again. With a little luck she'd be able to outsmart this boy and get away safely.
"Come on Saku, think, think!" She wanted to get away desperately, but with that boy watching her like a hawk, that wasn't a likely thing to happen.
The boy chose that very moment to lunge forward and made a grab for the bag.
Saku who had been caught up in her own thoughts, wanted to move out of the way at the last moment but that ended up in her falling onto her ass, and she took her assailant with her…
The two kids were sprawled over the floor and when the shock wore off, they both blushed a dark crimson, and at the same time yelled. "Eew! Germs!"
They didn't know how fast they had to get away from each other and instead settled for glaring at each other from a safer distant.
"Give it back right now, or I'll make you pay!" the boy hissed at her.
"No way!" was all she managed to say before the boy lunged at her once more, this time however it turned into an all out brawl.
"Syaoran?" a stern voice yelled from inside the house.
The boy, now known as Syaoran, got distracted yelling "Yes mom?" and in turn discovered that girls, when afraid, would stoop to fighting dirty.
Syaoran doubled over in pain, as she had kneed him where it hurts most, and not wasting another second, made a mad dash for the fence and disappeared out of his sight. "Damn, I'll get you later." he muttered before he slowly got up and awkwardly made his way back to the house.
Back at the old warehouse the guys were anxiously watching their boss who was close to blowing a few fuses.
"Shino! What did I tell you! You were supposed to watch her and bring her back safely! What part of bringing her back safely didn't you understand!" Kai raged. Ever since they told him that Saku was missing, he had been yelling and if anyone was unlucky enough to say something stupid, he'd be feeling pain for the next several weeks…
"You!" he yelled, "are going back there right now, and aren't coming back until you find her!" he finished furiously emphasizing each word with a poke to Shino's chest.
Shino didn't need any more convincing from his boss and reached the door in record time. He was about to pull it open but someone beat him to it, and the door ended up right in his face.
Saku ran inside as fast as she could, still clutching the bag against her chest as if her life depended on it.
She didn't stop until she bumped into the furious Kai who yelled "What!"
His angry face turned around the second he recognised exactly who had bumped into him, and without a second thought he scooped her up and gave her a hug.
Kai had gotten Saku completely by surprise. She wasn't used to getting hugs, especially not the kind where they cut off your air.
Kai seemed to realize what exactly he was doing and dropped her on the couch. He glared at the guys, daring them to say one thing but they all knew better than that. After all she was the little one of the group, and even though they wouldn't admit it, they had all been worried sick about her.
"Now that we're complete," he said having calmed down a great deal. "we can check out our purchases."
After they had looked through all the bags, only the one from Saku remained. "Yo squirt, put the bag down. We have to check what you brought back." Shino said, who by now, had recovered from his run in with the door.
"Don't call me squirt!" she yelled but gave the bag to Kai anyway. When Kai opened the bag Saku couldn't look more proud.
"Erm … guys?" said Kai slowly raising his head. "It looks like we've got our work cut out for us."
All the other guys formed a circle around Kai to take a look at the contents of the bag. Oh yeah, Kai was right. She still had a lot to learn before they could let her go out on her own…
That was the day Saku had learned a valuable lesson … A lesson which, next to surviving, was maybe the most important one she had ever learned in her whole (so far very short) career.
AN: Thanks for reading :) Oh yah don't forget to review any comments etc are very welcome! Oh yah on a side note, I changed the rating to R just to be safe ... --
Another note: YIPPIE! I actually went back and fixed all the mistakes I could find :-) Oh yeah what I wanted to say is, that everyone who has already read this chapter, might want to check back, since there was a part missing (I just discovered that but fixed it) It might clear a few things up, like Saku's age and how she got with the gang ... It's the second scene of the chapter :-) Sorry 'bout that everyone!