Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. If it did, I sure as hell wouldn't be making up my own stories. Amanda is mine though.
A/N: Sorry about the Tarot session. I had a deck sitting out and figured it would be an easy way to figure out the story line. Those are the actual cards that I drew for this story. Creepy huh?
Kankuro looked down at the card and I swear I heard him make a noise much like a growl. He swept up all the cards and returned them to the deck before putting the deck back in his pocket. He looked at me and had one of those, 'Maybe this was a bad idea' looks. He stood up and walked towards the door, but stopped just short.
"Oh yeah, you wanna go for lunch? Gaara gave me the okay to take you out if you wanted."
That must have been the initial reason for his visit.
I stared at the spot where the Death card had been for a second before standing up and walking to the nightstand, "Yeah sure, just give me five minutes, I need to clean up a little bit."
He nodded, "Alright, I'll be waiting at the bottom of the stairs." He said and left, closing the door behind him.
I grabbed the gloves and the bandana off the nightstand and walked into the bathroom. It was not quite as nice as the one from last night, but it wasn't a motel size bathroom either. There was a decent sized tub with a detachable shower head, a sink, and a toilet. There was a mirror over the sink and when I looked into it, I barely recognized myself. I was still pale from the damn Tarot cards, and I still looked tired. My arms had a slight tinge of red, the beginnings of a sun burn, or possibly a tan. I prayed for the latter. I tied on the bandana and washed my face in the sink. I dried my hands on a towel and straightened out my shirt and ran a hand through my hair once more. Best I could do. It didn't look like there was any shampoo or anything else in the bathroom. Apparently this room hadn't been used recently.
I walked back into the room, pulled on my sandals and walked out of the room and into the hall way. I could see Kankuro sitting on the bottom most stair, waiting for me while shuffling through his deck of cards. I narrowed my eyes and turned to the door and closed it a little harder than I had intended. When I turned back he was standing and the cards were nowhere to be seen. I headed down the stairs and pulled on the gloves and stuffed my hands into my pockets.
"So what's on the menu?" I asked as I neared Kankuro.
He shrugged, "What do you want?"
It was my turn to shrug, "Doesn't matter as long as I can get a good drink." I said with a sideways glance at him. That was one of my universal solutions to hard times. Drown myself in a bottle. So far it hasn't really helped, but it hasn't hurt anything either.
"How old are you, Amanda-san? You don't look old enough to drink..."
"One thing before I answer that, what the hell is this 'san' you add to the end of my name? Does it mean something or is that a quirk of yours?"
"Oh, yeah. It's a suffix for people who we don't know very well, or are at a higher lever than we are. There's also 'Chan', 'Kun', 'Sama', and 'Koi'." he paused to make sure I was following the explanation, which I was, so far, so he continued, "When a guy adds 'Chan' to your name, he likes you. Girls use it with their friends and also for little kids. Same goes for 'Kun', but girls use it towards guys. 'Sama' is a form of highest respect. As for 'Koi', well, you don't hear it often in public, but it stands for..." He paused and held up his hand, with his pinky finger extended.
I raised an eyebrow, "And that means what?"
"Lover." He said simply and turned to walk down the hall, but he paused and turned slightly to look at me, "You going to answer my question or what?"
"Twenty two." I said as I caught up to him, he shrugged and led me down the hall and after a few minutes he led to me to main entry way. I could see the door from where we were but I could also see a particular red head who was currently on my shit list. I didn't like him at all, sure, at first, there was the potential for a 'nice guy' ranking in my book, but the minute he threw something at me that could have killed me, all hope was lost. I shot a glare in his direction and he returned it before disappearing in a shower of sand.
"He likes doing that, doesn't he?"
Kankuro looked over at me, "Who likes doing what?"
"Your brother and his disappearing sand act."
"Oh that. Yeah, it's what he does. He likes other things, but I'll let you figure them out for yourself." Kankuro said as he pushed open the heavy wooden door and let me step outside into the blazing sunlight.
I shielded my eyes and squinted, inside seemed like absolute darkness compared to out here, "I could care less what Sand man does in his free time." I said with a scowl.
Kankuro looked at me curiously, "I thought you guys hit it off pretty well, I mean, he didn't kill you right off the bat."
"No, not right off the bat, but he almost did last night."
"Yeah, I heard, but then again, you dodged. There's something different about you, Amanda-san."
I rolled my eyes, "Oh good god. Stop calling me that. Just Amanda, or Manda, or what ever else you want to call me, just not Amanda-san."
Kankuro grinned, "Well, I know you don't want me to call you Baka..."
I glared at him and balled my hand into a fist, he saw this and shrugged, "So what the hell does that mean anyway...it sounds like an insult." I asked.
"Idiot, basically." He said as he started walking down the street.
I followed him silently down the street. I was too preoccupied with the various little shops that lined the main street. There were clothing shops, small snack stands, and even a few weapon shops. It wasn't until Kankuro stopped that I realized that we had walked all the way across the city.
He glanced over his shoulder at me, "Well, this is it." he said as he walked into a small building.
I followed him inside and to a small table in the back of the restaurant. A waitress came over and he ordered a bottle of Sake and two bowls of ramen. Strangely enough, I knew what both were. I've had Sake before at a friend's house, and I lived off of ramen throughout my high school years.
"So, any more questions?" Kankuro asked as the waitress set a bottle and two small cups on the table between us.
I shrugged, "No, not at the moment." I paused for a second, "Well actually, yeah. Where can I get some more clothes?"
Kankuro grinned, "As soon as Temari gets back from her mission, she's going to have some stuff dropped off at your room in the Kazekage building. You'll just have to last until then. She should be back before nightfall." He said as he poured sake in the cups and placed one in front of me, "Drink up, we've got all day. Gaara doesn't have anything more he wants to ask you." He said as he downed what was in his cup and poured himself another.
I nodded and followed suit. It was strong stuff. A few more cups of this stuff, and I would be flat on my back, wither very drunk, or passed out.
The both of us made it through the whole bottle before the actual food was brought to us, with another bottle of sake. I think I surprised Cat Head a bit when he saw me use chopsticks. It's amazing what you can learn after ordering Chinese take-out for three months. Surprisingly enough, the Ramen was pretty good, better than that instant stuff I had at home.
It wasn't until I finished cup number twelve that I noticed Kankuro was talking to someone standing behind me. I leaned my head back and found myself looking up at Gaara, and he didn't look to happy.
"I said you could take her out, not get her drunk." Gaara had his arms crossed.
"Hey, she's old enough. There's nothing wrong with a few drinks with dinner." Kankuro said with a shrug.
Gaara looked down at me and shook his head, "I can tell she's had more than a few."
"Who cares 'ow many I've 'ad." I said as I glared up at Sand man, "Like 'e said, Ah'm old 'nuff." I crossed my arms over my chest and stared down at cup number thirteen, which Kankuro had just filled for me.
I reached for it but my hand stopped a few inches from the cup. I narrowed my eyes, there was a trail of sand going from around my wrist, down to the floor, and then back up to the gourd on Gaara's back.
"'Ey, lemme go." I said and tried to brush off the sand.
"You've had enough. You're coming back to the Kazekage Building with me. Now." Gaara said with that demanding tone that drove me nuts. Be it my parents, my boss, or any one in general, when people took that tone with me, I never listened, even if it was for my own good. Yeah, I know, I'm stubborn.
I shook my head and looked away from Gaara and focused on a painting on the wall across the restaurant.
There was a sudden pressure on my wrist and I winced.
"The envoy from Konoha arrived a few minutes ago, so you are coming back with me weather you want to or not." And with that said, I felt myself being lifted from my seat.
I squealed and looked down to see that my waist was encased by sand and I was hovering about three inches off the ground and less than a foot in front of me was Gaara, glare still intact.
"Put me down."
"Are you going to come quietly?" The sand loosened slightly and I looked down to see some of it drifting to the floor.
"Can I have my last cup?" I asked with a slight pout.
He shook his head.
I glared back at him, "Then I guess I have no choice." I said and relaxed slightly.
He nodded and the sand drifted back into his gourd. He looked over at Kankuro and opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted as my hand flew up and smacked him. His eyes widened and he stared at me in shock, one hand on his cheek where my palm had met his face.
"Don't ever ever, grab me like that again." I turned on my heel and walked for the exit, but a hand on my wrist stopped me, I tensed and looked to see who it was, it was Cat Head, looking at me like I had just cursed in church.
"What?" I demanded.
He nodded to Gaara and let me go. I looked back over my shoulder and was slightly surprised. Gaara was staring at me, open mouthed.
"What? Never offended a woman before?"
Sand man seemed to be at a loss for words, so I shrugged.
"Well, I'm heading back. Stop me, follow me, or what ever." I said and left.