Ahem… Well, sorry about the long wait. I know I suck… I really thought I'd get another chapter out before finals and papers got me too busy to think, but I kinda got sucked in, I'm really sorry! Just to warn you, finals are next week, so there may not be an update by that point. BUT! I'm not going out of town this summer, at least not right away, so (unlike last year, any of you who were reading Embrace at that time) there shouldn't be any trouble in getting chapters out once my semester ends (yay!). With that said, please enjoy the chapter!

Exodus

Chapter 07

With a groan Tenmar finally managed to pull his head out from under his blankets and stood, long-suffering sigh escaping his lips as he stretched. Unlike Uzu, who woke the morning after a battle feeling refreshed and energized, for Tenmar it was a pain. His body had worked all day yesterday traveling and fighting and then at night had it gotten the break it so sorely needed? NO! It had been forced to heal itself nonstop and now, most likely only an hour or so after his wounds were mostly healed he was waking up out of force of habit.

The habit in question was to be the first person awake so that he could analyze their situation, make sure they were safe from enemies and make breakfast. It was the latter of his morning routines that his brothers complained about. Although no one actually ever volunteered to make breakfast in his stead, not even dear, sweet Mina, it was well-known that Tenmar was the worst cook in the bunch, but he loved doing it. A fact made worse by the wonders of modern food technologies he'd found during their brief stay in Konoha. New spices and sweeteners, packaged dried food products, a plethora of different pots and pans and knives and mixers… It had all tickled his fancy and stoked his imagination, leaving him eager to cook every morning. The last few days he'd been beaten to the punch by his father, whom he had to admit, DID cook at least remedially better than he. But not today!

It was with no small amount of glee that Tenmar went about securing the camp and analyzing their current situation. He made a quick mental check of the area. It looked like Uzu had crawled into Ganten and Rin's bedding, THAT was going to cause problems when Ganten woke up… Also, Father was sleeping soundly on the far side of the fire, sprawled out like a kid on an over sized bed. And their new comer… Tenmar frowned slightly. Where was he? His bedding was empty, actually folded and placed near Naruto. His scent was cold; it had been a while since he left. Tenmar debated waking his father to tell him, but could not bring himself to do so. With a shake of his head Tenmar started his work; the boy would show up if he wanted to stay with them, if not it would do no good to force him.

He started with Mina, walking over to the girl; he could tell from this distance that she'd soiled herself. That was not unexpected, as they were force feeding her. Without any feeling of disgust Tenmar went about changing his sister's clothes. Her cot, which she was left to sleep both day and night, was made of an easily cleaned plastic, so after changing her clothes Tenmar leaned her against a tree and gently and quietly wiped the mess. He talked gently to her as he worked.

"How are you today, Mini-Mina?" That was the pet name his mother gave her. "We all had a big scare last night, but Father took care of it. He's really amazing, you know?" He paused a second as if waiting for her to reply, when she didn't he sighed again and continued on in his work. "I don't know how we got along without him… I was a terrible substitute for a father. I don't know what Father's getting us into now. That boy he wants to take in… I don't understand why. Not that I have a problem with it, mind you. If that's what Father wants than I don't care, but he's gonna be real sad when he sees that the kid's gone…"

Tenmar sighed as the girl remained unresponsive. The more time passed with her like this, the less alive he felt, like she was slipping slowly away from her body never to return. She been having less and less fits, tonight might have been the first since their departure that she hadn't woken the whole camp with her shrieks. It was good that everyone got their much needed sleep, but Tenmar was frightened by her silence…

With a suddenly far less happy hear then he'd had only moment before, Tenmar swooped his sister into his arms about to lay her back onto her cot. He paused for a moment, eyes lingering on her pale face. In an instant he felt the sorrow welling up in himself again and he buried his face into her hair, allowing warm tears to fall. "Come back to us, Mina… Come back," he whispered, voice shaking slightly, "We don't care what you've been hiding, we don't care about what happened with Kentaar, we just want you back." He paused for a moment, sobs racking his body, with a shuddering sigh he continued, "I'm sorry… Mina… I'm so sorry… I didn't realize you were carrying such a huge burden… Please…" He held her that way for a long time, when his tears subsided he sighed, laying her back down. He was glad that everyone else in the camp was asleep; it would have been embarrassing to be seen-

His eyes widened as they caught on a pair of pale blue eyes gazing at him curiously. Gaara had come back sometime while he'd been taking care of Mina… WHEN exactly? Tenmar stared at the boy, eyes wide in surprise and face flushing slightly with embarrassment. "G-good morning…" Tenmar stuttered hesitantly, scratching the back of his head in slight embarrassment. /What this boy must think of us…/

Gaara nodded in response, eyes cold and unreadable.

Tenmar took that as a sign to continue babbling, covering Mina up as he did so he added, "I was just taking care of my sister, Mina. She's… asleep right now and has been for quite some time now. My name is Tenmar, your Gaara, right?" The boy continued to stare at him and just when Tenmar was going to give up on receiving a response the boy nodded briefly. With an encouraged smile Tenmar replied, "Well, I was just about to start breakfast, but it looks like the fire's almost dead. Will you get firewood while I take care of Moab and get breakfast going?" Tenmar gestured towards the baby and the bag that held the group's food as he spoke. Once again the boy nodded in response, walking stoically out towards the woods.

"Not much of a conversationalist, is he?" Tenmar muttered, but not disagreeably. Perhaps they needed someone quiet, considering how noisy their family could be. He picked up Moab, who squirmed immediately as the warm hands wrapped around him. "And a good morning to you…" He cooed, walking towards a quiet end of the fire to start on the food. Sometime during the preparations Gaara returned with the fire wood and a little while after that Naruto also awoke, bright eyed and bushy tailed as Uzu would no doubt be once he woke up.

:BREAK:

Ganten awoke with the warm feeling of another body wrapped in his arms and smiled slightly. It was a pretty nice feeling… He must have rolled over in his sleep and grabbed hold of Rin. He shrugged mentally as he lay there for just a bit longer. There was also a warm arm around his waist, so it wasn't like Rin could solely blame Ganten for the action, right?

As the haze of sleepiness wore off, Ganten began to notice things about his companion, things he'd never realized before. For one, Rin's shoulders were wider than he thought. He'd always figured they had similar builds, but the man in his arms was almost the size of Tenmar. He was harrier than Ganten had been expecting, as well. He could have sworn the other boy had smooth, almost hairless skin. His smell was off too; it was a more wild smell, the tinge of animal blood was thick in his air. It was almost like he'd turned into…

Ganten's eyes flashed open and he rocketed away from his bedding, landing with a confused thud in the nearby dirt. His eyes hardened as a sleeping Uzu rolled away from the sudden chill left by Ganten's departure, rolling towards the warmth of the person on his other side. Soft chuckling reached his ears and Ganten's eyes shot towards the other side of camp where Tenmar and his father were enjoying breakfast with his father's new 'project'.

With a low growl Ganten prepared to serve a righteous elbow of justice towards this elder brother's face for not only crawling into his bed but also groping onto his Rin, but he was stopped by his father's gentle voice, "Let them sleep a bit longer, eh?"

With a begrudging nod Ganten trudged towards the not-sleeping members of the family and breakfast. "Not saying I'm not gonna make 'em hurt, but I can wait…" He muttered grumpily.

Naruto grinned. He'd noticed in their all too brief time together that Ganten often woke up a little short-tempered, but rarely did he complain. He wrapped an arm around his youngest son when he got closer, yanking him to stand in front of Gaara. "I don't think you've officially been introduced."

"Close enough." Ganten grumbled, eyeing Gaara darkly as he grabbed a bowl and filled it with whatever breakfast-substance gruel Tenmar had obviously thrown together. "Sure got acquainted with your sand." He continued, stumbling away from the group to a corner in which he could effectively glare at Uzu and Rin, who were still sleeping peacefully.

Gaara, for his part, seemed unfazed by the shortness of temper that was Ganten in the morning. Actually, he seemed rather unfazed by all manner of things today, including Naruto and Tenmar's attempts at drawing him into conversation. Despite that, the boy seemed less angry today and more curious.

Looking between his youngest son and Gaara, who had as of yet refused to offer any form of communication, Naruto settled back down to eat. When Naruto woke up not only was Gaara already awake, but he had also obviously gone somewhere as he now carried on his back a large sand-gourd that reeked of blood, just as his sand had during their battle, making Naruto think the boy must have gone to retrieve it. But he'd come back. That was interesting.

Honestly, when Naruto had told Ganten his desire to 'adopt' Gaara, he'd only been partially serious. Like Ganten had pointed out, Gaara was twelve and a full ninja. There was no way he needed to be babied, but Naruto couldn't help himself from wanting to provide a bit of the parental care the boy had obviously been deprived of. Perhaps it was partially selfish. Pouring some amount of affection into Gaara would be like making amends for the affection Naruto himself missed out on as a child; their stories were eerily similar. And it could help him keep his mind off Sasu- er… things.

"By the way, how are you feeling today, Father?"

Tenmar's sudden question broke Naruto's train of thoughts, causing the man to stare blankly at him for a moment before pasting a huge grin on his face. "Great!" He stretched a bit, as if to accentuate this point. "Nothin' like a good night's sleep to get you feeling' all ship-shape in the morning!" After a moment he added, "'Course, we could break camp now, but I figured we should wait until Gaara's companions show up so we can talk some things out. Anyway, you all needed your sleep. Even more so now that Ganten's gonna kill Uzu when he wakes up."

Tenmar nodded, then, with a chuckle replied, "Well, it's Ganten's own fault. He didn't set clear boundaries. If he doesn't want Uzu to mess with Rin he needs to make a claim on him!" He'd said that loud enough for the sulking Ganten to hear his words, dropping his voice he added, "Not that Uzu really cares about Rin like that, mind of course. He just likes seeing Ganten's hackles raise." Tenmar heaved a long sigh as he glanced at Rin's eyes, ever focused on the spot Uzu lay cuddled with Rin. "I have to admit, he really is cute like this…"

"Isn't he?" Naruto agreed, allowing his eyes to follow Tenmar's for a moment before returning his gaze towards Gaara. Prodding Gaara gently with an elbow he demanded, "Isn't he?"

Gaara allowed his eyes to travel towards the white haired boy. Cute was not a term he'd ever really focused on before, at least not since that day. He certainly wouldn't have considered the white haired boy cute, even when he was young. So, rather than responding he stared blankly at the blonde, whose elbow was still jabbing him lightly in the ribs.

"You must not have slept very well last night." Naruto stated dropping his elbow from the boy's ribs as it became obvious that he would not respond to any questions involving the word 'cute'. "You were up before Tenmar today."

After a long moment Gaara nodded. "I'm not used to it."

There was a surprised moment as both Tenmar and Naruto stared in shock at Gaara. Neither had heard him speak since the battle, and both were beginning to wonder if he was incapable unless agitated. Naruto was the first to recover, making an unsuccessful attempt at covering his delight he nodded, face beaming. "Makes sense. You haven't really been able to sleep much throughout your life, right?"

Gaara stared at him, questions rising in his mind. The most prominent was how this man could be so certain, despite everything he saw yesterday, that Temari and Kankurou would actually come back for him? He was certain they wouldn't, preferring to simply assume he was dead, but the way he viewed the world had changed drastically in the last eight or so hours and he had a feeling that even his siblings could possibly surprise him.

:BREAK:

Rin woke due to a mixture of two different elements. The first was a pair of large arms wrapped around him in a fierce embrace, gently pulling his body to and fro in the locale that was his bedding. The other was a very sharp, very annoyed sound of a voice practically screaming out his name. After taking a moment to orient himself, a moment made longer by the constant shakings of whoever was clutching into him, Rin realized that he was being held by Uzu. The screaming was mental and it was all coming from Ganten, although as to the boy's location at the moment, that was a mystery. All Rin was certain about was that Uzu was still sleeping and in his dream it was not Rin he was holding onto.

Rin sighed as once again Ganten began mentally screaming out for him. With a small amount of effort and a good amount of strategic movements Rin managed to free himself from Uzu's hold while succeeding in not waking him up. With a satisfied grin he stood, grabbing his shirt from the ground where he'd discarded it before going to bed. His grin waned slightly as Ganten's thought became more annoyed.

/WHAT were you doing like that? How long have you been awake? You didn't… You didn't actually LIKE that, did you/

Rin tactfully decided to avoid direct confrontation with Ganten until the boy had a chance to calm down, opting instead to join the group around the fire. Although he'd been traveling with them for only a short amount of time, Rin was already able to tell from the hardly edible scents that were wafting from the pot over the stove that Tenmar must have cooked this morning. None the less, food was food. "Good morning."

"Morning." Tenmar replied, small smile on his face as he glanced between Rin and Ganten. He found it endlessly amusing that Ganten stubbornly refused to join them at the fire now that Rin was awake. Obviously he wanted Rin to join HIM, not the other way around.

Catching Tenmar's eye Rin nodded, rolling his own eyes in the direction of Ganten. He carefully mouthed the words, 'Bad mood.'

Tenmar nodded, thinking, /You don't have to read minds to know THAT. It's all because of Uzu, though./

Rin shrugged in response, shaking his head from side to side as if to indicate that he also was willing to take partial blame for the situation. He may have been asleep, but he would have woken up if he were uncomfortable.

Naruto grinned as he watched the two men communicate without words. Tenmar obviously adapted to things well, it only took him a few days to get used to talking to Rin mentally and to pick up on Rin's facial expressions and hand gestures. Ganten also had gotten used to Rin's powers, however, Naruto could tell his youngest son was always attempting to find a way around them; that was just the kind of person Ganten was. Uzu on the other hand was much more like Naruto. Prone to speak his mind directly, mind reading powers didn't have much use towards him. Of course for someone like Gaara, such powers would provide a wealth of information. "Gaara, have you thought about my proposition last night? Like I said last night, I can't guarantee that the binding will last for more than a year, possibly less. I know I didn't give you much of a choice in the binding, but I will give you a choice in this. I think it would be best for you to come with us. We are headed to someone that should be able to help you learn to control Shukaku. If you want nothing to do with it, than by all means, leave with your brother and sister when they arrive. But be aware, the only way that road will lead you is to more anger and hate; if we meet again, don't expect me to look the other way as I did last night.""

The redhead turned his pale blue eyes towards Naruto and stared at him for a long moment. "I'll do as you say." He replied at length.

Naruto blinked once, not expecting the boy to be so agreeable. "But what do you WANT?" He asked, perturbed when it became obvious that his question was going to be ignored. "You have to want SOMETHING. Everyone wants something."

"Naruto…" Rin broke into the blonde's conversation, saving Gaara the trouble of spelling out his desires. "He's given you his answer. What he WANTS is to travel with us."

"Aha!" Naruto called out jumping to his feet as if he had just figured out the answer to an ancient riddle. "I see. Why didn't you just SAY that?"

"He feels he DID," Rin replied for the red head. After a moment he sighed, turning towards Gaara. "Yes… I'm Rin."

Naruto stared at the brown haired boy, wondering momentarily if he had missed something. Then he remembered who Rin was; of course he had missed something. He had probably responded to one of Gaara's thoughts. Glancing at Gaara, it was obvious that he appreciated Rin's talents more than the rest of the group. Rin sat down next to the boy and so began an almost completely one-sided sounding conversation. Naruto grinned, moving to sit next to Tenmar and Moab in order to give the boys some privacy. Rin was probably best suited to understand Gaara in this situation, and for reasons beyond that of his mind reading abilities.

:BREAK:

Rin sat next to Gaara, talking to the boy until his throat felt dry. The other boy had a lot of questions, a lot of issues; Rin was amazed how deep his thoughts ran, how different the boy was from most other people he had met. It was obvious that in all of Gaara's twelve years, last night was the first time he'd been shown anything resembling kindness. He was fascinated by Naruto, the others, too, but Naruto specifically. Not that Rin was surprised. Gaara's actions and feelings towards Naruto were a lot like his own towards Ganten, although not as complicated or intense.

In many ways the two of them were very alike. Both had lived lives in which they felt unwanted, both had developed a deep hatred for the inhumanity of mankind and both had been forced to realize that perhaps mankind wasn't as bad as they thought by people who were just as outcast as they were. He found himself enjoying the companionship of Gaara and at the same time desiring to help ease the boy's transition as a new member of the Naruto-group.

"No, he's not usually like that." Rin replied quietly to Gaara's mental questions about Uzu. "He just looses control when he fights; they all do at points, except maybe Naruto. He's kind of always in a half animalistic state and half in a human state. The others have more made themselves alternate personalities (kind of) for their animal instincts, although Uzu's is much closer to the surface than Tenmar or Ganten's. I'm not sure about Mina."

The mention of Ganten's name had Rin wincing, as his mind automatically searched the boy's out. He was still pissed. Actually it seemed he'd gotten angrier as time progressed. Rin turned to stare at him, he was still glaring at Uzu, but after a moment he turned angry eyes to stare at Rin. He didn't like how Rin was ignoring him, he didn't like how Rin was sitting close to Gaara, he didn't like how Rin had allowed Uzu to hold him last night, but most of all he didn't like how he was acting about it.

Rin blushed, glancing down at the fire as Ganten's glare softened and he apologized mentally. Ganten wasn't the type of person to admit he was wrong often, in fact, this might be a first. Of course, he was still pissed at Uzu, to be honest, Rin was a little perturbed as well. He wasn't sure why, but it had felt like the red head disturbed something very… private.

"Rin." Naruto's teasing voice broke into his thoughts, causing Rin to look up in surprise. "Why don't you just go talk to him, ne?" He glanced pointedly at Ganten. "I'll take over talking to this guy." Naruto grinned at Gaara, waving dismissively at Rin.

Rin glanced in surprise at the forgotten Gaara, who was staring at him, slightly annoyed at being ignored, but not minding the switch over to Naruto. He looked down, bowing his head slightly, "Sorry." Rin said quickly before rising to his feet and moving to stand next to Ganten.

Behind him he could hear Naruto saying in a loud, happy tone, "Don't worry about him. He gets that way." Lowering his voice, but not enough to not be heard he added, "Especially when it has to do with Ganten."

Rin stood for a moment next to Ganten, who looked up to stare at him. "Can I sit down?"

/Of course./ Ganten's thoughts replied automatically. He didn't voice the thought, but patted the ground next to him, indicating where would be best for Rin to sit.

Rin smiled, lowering himself to the ground. They sat side by side in companionable silence for a while. Neither thought about anything in particular, each enjoying the others presence.

:BREAK:

Naruto sat next to Gaara and talked. And talked… and talked. The redhead was about dizzy from all the talking the blonde did, but it was nice. Mostly the man told Gaara about his childhood, or, the childhood he'd had while sealed, at least. Raised in the leaf village as a ninja, outcast and unwanted, it was very familiar; the differences lie in the way the blonde took everything. He talked of becoming hokage in a tone that left Gaara certain that he planned on returning to claim the title one day. He had a genuine love for the people that lived in that village, even those that shunned him.

"I probably would have stayed there forever with Sasuke and Sakura-chan." Naruto finished, wistful look across his face.

"I'm sorry, Father…" Tenmar broken in quietly, looking down at the fire. The look of sorrow and regret that crossed his did not go unnoticed.

"Oi, oi! Don't be like that! I'm glad you came for me! I'd regret missing your lives far more than I regret leaving that place! You're my children." Naruto said quickly, replacing his wistful expression with a smile quickly.

Gaara stared at the blonde. For a moment, between the wistful look and the smile, it seemed like he had seen the true nature of the man. A sudden, strange, yet recognizable look had been in his eyes, but it passed quickly as he moved to cheer up his son. Gaara wasn't sure why, but beyond his promise from the fight he felt a drawing to the blonde next to him. Even if Naruto hadn't asked, even if he'd told him not to, Gaara had the feeling that he would have wanted to go with the man, that he would follow him.

Gaara's thoughts were interrupted when the mind-reader jumped from his position next to the white hared boy, calling out sharply, "Naruto!"

The blonde man nodded, as if both were in tune to a secret code that the others seemed to lack comprehension of. Naruto turned to Gaara. "It would seem that your brother and sister have finally decided to come for you."

:BREAK:

"Shush… He'll wake up." A low voice whispered, effectively setting into motion the thing it had been attempting to avoid.

Shikamaru woke to the sounds of hushed voices and he did not move. There were five of them, maybe a sixth keeping look out. He must have slept longer than he'd intended and now he was being targeted. He wasn't sure what the men were after exactly, perhaps they had heard of the fortune he'd paid for transport across the bay, or maybe it was something more carnal than that. The thought left him feeling slightly disgusted and he was slightly relieved when the hands of the intruders groped at their belongings rather than his body.

/What's Sasuke doing/ Shikamaru wondered, opening one eye a crack to try and glance at the other boy. He couldn't stop himself from letting out a small huff when he saw the empty bedding of the other boy. He wasn't even there. From his slightly open eyelid Shikamaru could tell that he was the only person still below deck besides his assailants, the ship must have stopped somewhere as it wasn't rocking as bad as it had been the day before.

For a moment he wondered blankly if they had reached Port Town and Sasuke had decided to attempt to loose him the new city. With an hours head tart he would be almost impossible to catch up to. A feeling of dread briefly wavered through him as Shikamaru wondered why he hadn't bothered to set up any precautions to warn him of Sasuke's leaving before he went to bed last night. /No… Port Town is still at least half a days travel away, we've just stopped at an island on the way. Sasuke wouldn't leave, I still have all of the money./ Shikamaru could still feel the heavy pouch of cash, coin and valuables pressed against his chest. It would only be a matter of time before the thieves realized that the money would be on his person. Realizing this, with a definitive air Shikamaru sat up, yawning and stretching.

"He's awake!" One of the voices muttered.

"Grab him quickly. We can kill 'em and dump his body in the ocean. No one'll notice he's gone." Another replied.

Shikamaru glanced at the men as they moved quickly towards him. They really were fools to attack a ninja, especially THIS ninja in such a dark room. The sun's light may have spread across the world above deck, but below was filled with shadow; this was his world. Well, to be fair to the men, she wasn't wearing his ninja gear. On the outside he looked like any other young boy. Shikamaru clasped his hands together, quickly forming the seals to bind the men.

"Arrag-" One of the assailants cut off mid attack scream, realizing that his body was suddenly immobile. The others stared at each other in confusion and surprise.

"What magic is this?"

"Idiot, it's no magic. The boy's a ninja!"

"A ninja!" This voice sounded filled with fear. "Oh, by the gods! We didn't mean anything by it, please! I have a wife and child!"

"Shut up, you fool!" The ringleader replied, staring at Shikamaru with frightened, yet determined eyes.

"Good, you realize the position your in." Shikamaru said softly. He'd used a form of jutsu to immobilize the men, but he wasn't sure what to do with them next. He could force them up the stairs, but then the sun would free them from their binding. He could call for help, but what if no one remained above cabin? He was certain he could release them and beat them easily in a fight, but that would be bothersome as there were so many of them.

"Oi! You still sleeping?" Sasuke's voice never sounded so sweet. Shikamaru grinned as the boy appeared in the doorway, and began to limb down the stairs. His eyes widened as he noticed the six extra occupants of the room. "I didn't know you had company."

"They're after the money, I think. Probably working with the captain, don't know how else they would have found out about it." Shikamaru explained, adding, "Do you think you could tie them up, this is getting troublesome."

Sasuke nodded, tying the men up with a long piece of rope.

Shikamaru sagged gratefully as the men were bound and he was able to drop the jutsu. That was far too much work in the morning. "What are we gonna do with them? We could kill 'em and dump their bodies." He added, remembering that had been their plan for him.

Sasuke shrugged, assuming that Shikamaru's suggestion had not been serious. "Hand them into the local authorities?"

"If we do that, they'll tell on the captain…" Shikamaru said slowly. "That means we'd haveta wait another day or two for a new ship to come across. In that kind of time span we may miss Naru- our target." He finished changing his wording. If they let these men go it was better not to leave them with the name of their contact.

"Then let's make sure they can't tell… yet." Sasuke replied, cracking his knuckles with a dark smile on his face.

The man that claimed having a wife and daughter screamed as Sasuke approached him. "Oh, gods, NO-"

:BREAK:

Well, did you like it? I decided it was high time for Sasuke and Shika to get some action going on, and since they were obviously loaded, thieves (bumbling ones, but thieves nonetheless) were the best route for me (I think). As for what gonna happen with Gaara and his sibs, well, I donno. Anyway, I'm gonna get back to studying, but please review this chapter (I get encouraged to write the next one much quicker when I get reviews)!

Oh, here's a quote, for you all. "Whatever you are, be a good one." -Abraham Lincoln. (this quote is what inspired me to neglect my writing in order to study… gomen).