Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its plot or characters. I own any OC, my plot, and anything else you don't recognize unless otherwise stated.
First paragraph of this chapter is from the wikia but I'm too lazy to thing of another way to write it. But also this is me telling you guys I don't own that paragraph.
I don't want this moment to ever end,
Where everything's nothing without you.
I'd wait here forever just to, to see you smile,
'Cause it's true, I am nothing without you.
With me- sum 41
Having realized that something had happened to their Kazekage, Sunagakure scoured the Land of Wind looking for him. They finally found his body and, realizing they had been manipulated into the invasion by Orochimaru, immediately informed Konoha of what had happened. They surrendered to Konoha and offered their apologies, which Konoha accepted. The two villages formed a peace treaty and Sunagakure, inclined to make amends, would thereafter come to Konoha's aid if ever there was need.
…
Gaara let out a sigh of content as Rin snuggled closer in his arms. Her head was tucked under his chin, her hair tickling his nose, and her arms were between them. One of her hands had a loose grip on his shirt. Rin shifted slightly and made a small waking up noise.
"Good morning." Gaara said as Rin opened her eyes. She smiled up at him.
"Good morning." She whispered.
"Did you sleep well?"
"Mhm." Rin hummed as she tucked her head back under his chin and put her arms around him. Gaara smiled and closed his eyes. Rin suddenly made a sad whine into his shirt. Gaara opened his eyes and frowned.
"What's wrong?" he asked as he gently stroked her hair.
"I miss Ai."
Ai and Shikamaru sat, staring at each other, a game of shogi between them. Shikamaru sighed.
"When is she coming back for you?" he groaned.
"Shikamaru Nara?"
"Yea-?" Shikamaru turned and stopped when he saw the cat, Hayate. "Another one?"
"You are Shikamaru, yes?"
"Yeah."
"My mistress has asked me to deliver a message to you." The cat cleared his throat before reciting the message from memory. "I'm sorry for just leaving Ai with you, I thought I would be able to come back for him but Gaara was hurt worse than I thought. I'm really really sorry, I hope you don't mind him staying with you for a week until I can come and get him."
"A week? It's already been a two weeks!" Shikamaru said with a frown.
"She suggested asking Naruto to take him but then immediately said never mind. She's under the impression that none of the leaf ninja like her anymore because of what happened even though the two villages are allies once more. She probably wouldn't want me to tell you but she's scared to come back."
"Couldn't you take him back with you?" Shikamaru asked.
"It's a long journey and I am unable to carry food and water."
"How did you get here then?"
"I can survive off less food and water than the average… house cat." Ai shot the other cat a glare.
"This is such a drag." Shikamaru sighed. "If she's so scared to come get him, how exactly does she plan on getting him?"
"She was going to have me come to fetch him once she was outside the village." Hayate said. Shikamaru sighed again.
...
Shikamaru knocked on Naruto's door. A moment later the blond opened it.
"Oh, hey Shikamaru. What brings you here?" Naruto asked. Shikamaru held out Ai by the scruff of his neck. Naruto blinked.
"Here."
"Isn't this Rin's cat? Is she here?" he looked utterly confused as he looked around.
"She had to leave him behind last week. He's been staying with me."
"So why are you giving him to me?"
"She's not coming to get him for another week."
"Oh."
"Yeah." Naruto took the cat from Shikamaru. Ai immediately glared at Shikamaru who turned away. "Have fun." Naruto blinked and looked down at the cat that looked up at him.
"I've never had a cat before." Naruto said with a small smile. Ai suddenly looked worried.
"I'm sure Ai is fine." Kankurō said. "You left him with a smart one right?" he asked before taking a drink of tea.
"Yeah I know." Rin said with a frown as she pushed her breakfast around on her plate. "But Shikamaru is so lazy what if he forgets to feed him?"
"I'm sure Ai will just figure out a way to open the fridge." Kankurō said with a shrug.
"You left Ai with him?" Temari asked.
"Yeah. What's wrong with Shikamaru? You won your match against him." Rin said.
"She didn't win, he gave up." Kankurō corrected into his cup. Temari shot him a glare.
"Ai will be fine." Gaara said putting a hand on Rin's arm. "If you're worried you could send Hayate to stay with them."
"Yeah I'm sure Shikamaru would appreciate that." Rin said before putting her head on the table. Gaara frowned and rubbed her back.
"Why don't you just go and get him sooner?" Kankurō asked.
"Kenta is on a mission so I have to help out at home while he's gone."
"I could do that." The three looked at Gaara. "That way you can get Ai."
"You're not going with her?" Kankurō asked. Gaara shook his head with a frown. "She'll be gone for a week. Three days there, three days back, plus she'll probably stay there a day or two." Gaara's frown deepened.
"I know." He almost growled as he resisted the urge to glare at his brother.
"It'll be good for them." Temari said. Kankurō raised an eyebrow at her and Gaara looked at her in confusion. "Gaara, you've been attached to Rin ever since we got back." Gaara looked away as his face started to match his hair.
"Give the guy a break, Temari, he thought she was dead." Kankurō said as he nudged her with his elbow. Rin took Gaara's hand and he gave it a squeeze.
"I understand that." Temari said. "But a girl needs her space sometimes."
"Um, Temari?" Rin asked.
"Hm?"
"Could…Could you come with me?"
"Of course, Rin, what are big sisters for?" Temari smiled. Rin's face lit up.
"Thank you."
"We could leave tomorrow morning."
"Okay." Gaara's hand twitched. Rin turned to him. "When I get back we can have a huge sleepover, okay?" Gaara nodded.
"Don't you think it's time for you to sleep in your own house?" Kankurō asked. Gaara shot him a glare. Rin frowned slightly.
"I guess you're right." She said. Gaara looked at her with wide eyes. "We'll just have the sleepover at my house!" Gaara looked relieved and smiled. Kankurō chuckled and shook his head.
"So, I'll see you in about a week." Rin said. Gaara nodded with a frown. She went on her toes and kissed his cheek.
"Be careful." He said.
"Don't worry, I'll have Temari. And I am a ninja remember?" Gaara chuckled and didn't look reassured.
"Just be careful, okay?" Rin pouted and stuck her tongue out at him. He smiled and kissed her cheek. Rin blinked and tried to hide a smile. "See you in a week." Rin threw her arms around him in a hug and he hugged her back tightly.
"Alright, come on you two. It's not the end of the world." Temari said. Gaara hesitantly let Rin go.
"See you." He said. She kissed his cheek again.
"See you."
"Let's go, Rin." Temari said.
"I miss Gaara already." Rin whined. Temari sighed.
"Just think, you'll get to see the loud blond kid again." She said.
"But what if he's mad at me?"
"Why would he be mad at you?"
"I never got to tell him that I had nothing to do with the attack."
"I'm sure someone told him. Or I'm sure he already knew that."
"What if the others are mad? I never got to talk to Sakura or the others before we left."
"Rin, stop worrying, everything will be fine."
…
"State your business." One of the leaf ninja at the gate said.
"U-Um I'm here to get my cat back." Rin said. The ninja blinked before looking at his partner. "I left him with Shikamaru Naru."
"A black cat?" The ninja asked. Rin nodded. "Last we saw, it was with Naruto."
"Oh."
"Oh great." Temari sighed.
"How long will you be here?" The ninja asked.
"Only for one night." Rin answered.
"Alright." The ninja gave the two their papers back and let them in.
"Do you remember where the kid lives?" Temari asked.
"I think so but I don't think he would be home at this time of day. He's probably training. We could ask Teuchi."
"Who?"
"The man who owns Ichiraku Ramen." Rin answered but then stopped. "Actually, that might be where we can find him."
"Lead the way."
…
The two girls walked up to Ichiraku ramen and Rin saw the orange clad ninja sitting at the counter. Rin hesitated.
"Go on." Temari gave her a little push.
"T-Temari, I can't, what if-?"
"What if nothing. Go on." Temari gave her a harder push. Rin stumbled into the ramen shop. Naruto looked up from his bowl upon hearing her and glanced back.
"Oh hey Rin." He turned back to his bowl. Rin blinked and noticed Ai sitting in the chair next him with his own bowl. Ai meowed and Naruto lifted his head. "Wait a sec-" he turned to Rin again. "Rin!" Naruto said with a huge grin. Rin blinked in confusion. "You're here to get Ai back right? Shikamaru said you weren't coming for a week." He said with a frown. "It's been kinda fun having a cat."
"I would've been here later but I was just worried about Ai being with Shikamaru." Rin said as she rubbed the back of her neck.
"Oh well, I've been taking good care of him." Naruto said with a smile. "Isn't that right, little buddy?" Naruto rubbed Ai's head. Ai meowed.
"I'm sure you have." Rin said with a smile. "Thank you, Naruto, and…" Rin hesitated and looked down. Naruto tilted his head. "I'm sorry about… everything. I-I really hope you believe me when I say-"
"I know you had nothing to do with what happened." Naruto said with a soft smile. "Shikamaru and Shino vouched for you."
"Those are the last people I would think would vouch for me." Rin admitted. Naruto patted the seat beside him.
"Here, have some ramen." He ordered a bowl for her. Rin sat down.
"Thank you, Naruto."
"So um… how's Gaara?"
"He's okay." Rin said with a smile. "I don't know what you said to him but… you changed him."
"Huh?"
"He used to only be calm and relaxed with me but he's slowly opening up to other people. So.. what's new?"
"Oh well, Grandma Tsunade is the new hokage so instead of being the fifth hokage I'll be the sixth." Naruto said with a grin. "She healed Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei and Lee! Kakashi's going to be out of the hospital tomorrow. We'll be going on a mission soon! Oh, I learned a new jutsu too! I went with Pervy Sage to get Grandma Tsunade and he taught it to me."
"Should you really be calling her that?" Rin asked with a sheepish smile. "She is the Hokage after all."
"Aw she doesn't care." Naruto waved a hand dismissively.
"Oh alright." Rin's bowl was placed in front of her and she thanked Teuchi before she started eating.
"I take it you missed Ramen." Naruto said with a laugh.
"Uh-huh." Rin said with a smile. After a moment Rin giggled. Naruto blinked.
"Huh? What's funny?"
"Oh nothing, I was just thinking about how this is gunna be the longest I've been away from Gaara and I'm wondering how he's doing without me. Don't tell him I told you but he really is the cutest sometimes." Naruto blinked and looked utterly confused. "He hasn't left my side since we got back. Temari said he follows me around like a puppy. To be honest I haven't really notice because I'm so used to having him around." She said with another giggle. "I can't blame him though; he really thought I was dead."
"Are you two dating?" Naruto asked bluntly.
"H-huh!?" Rin blinked as her face went red. "W-why would you ask that?" She asked before looking away. Temari laughed and entered.
"Huh? What are you doing here!?" Naruto shouted as he pointed at her.
"I came with Rin." She said before sitting beside the girl. "Rin's been Gaara's only friend since they were little. He's very protective of her."
"Temari." Rin whined.
"Don't 'Termari' me."
"What made you be friends with him?" Naruto asked. "I mean, if none of the other kids wanted to be."
"Well, some kids were picking on me and he stood up to them for me." Rin said with a smile.
Hey. Give it back.
"I couldn't understand why they didn't like him but I didn't care. And now that I know, I still don't. I don't care what he does or doesn't have inside him he's still the Gaara I-" she cleared her throat. "The Gaara that stood up for me."
"She was the only one who could calm him down or get through to him." Temari said. "She's the only other person besides himself that he's ever loved." Naruto noticed how Rin's cheeks went pink. She turned her head to look at him and he looked to his food.
"Wow..." Naruto said. "So... he isn't always..." Naruto made straight face and glared with his arms crossed. Rin chuckled.
"No. He's very caring and sweet… well to me. But he's getting better with other people."
"Huh..." Naruto stared down into his food. Rin giggled.
"There was this one time when we were kids..."
...
Gaara sneezed and blinked a few times with a frown.
"Looks like someone's talking about you." Mrs. Hayashi said with a smile. "Maybe it's Rin." Gaara blinked.
"Rin?"
"Of course. She's always going on and on about you. It's adorable really." Mrs. Hayashi said with a chuckle. Gaara's face went pink and he looked back down at the dishes he was drying with a smile.
"Do you have to leave tomorrow? You just got here!" Naruto whined.
"We only came to get the cat." Temari said with a shrug.
"We'll come and visit again." Rin told him.
"You'd better." Naruto said with a grin. "Hey! You never got to go shopping for souvenirs!"
"Oh, well, that's okay." Rin said with a sheepish smile.
"Come on!" Naruto grabbed her hand and started to pull her along.
"I-I'll see you later, Temari!" Rin called back with a laugh. Temari sighed with a smile as she shook her head.
…
"Naruto?" Rin asked as the two walked through the village, Rin had a small shopping bag.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think you could take me to see Lee?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, of course." Naruto said with a nod. "I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."
"I wanna stop to get him a flower first."
"Huh?"
"I brought him a blue iris every time I visited him last month."
"Oh." Naruto said, realizing why she had been at the hospital when he and Shikamaru found Gaara in Lee's room.
"So I thought I'd bring him one more."
"I see." Naruto said with a smile. "Come on." He started jogging to the flower shop.
…
Naruto knocked on Lee's hospital room door.
"Hey Lee!" He called before opening the door.
"Oh, Naruto. Good Afternoon." Lee said with a slight smile.
"You've got a visitor!" Naruto said with a grin.
"Huh?" Lee blinked. Rin moved out from behind Naruto and smiled. "Rin!" Lee's face lit up. Ai ran and jumped onto the bed. Lee smiled and pet the cat who curled up in his lap.
"Hi, Lee, how are you feeling?" she walked over to him and held out the iris. "I got you another flower."
"Thank you very much. What are you doing here?" he asked with a smile as he took the flower.
"I kinda left Ai here a few weeks ago." Rin admitted as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Shikamaru was taking care of him for a while before he gave him to Naruto."
"She's only here until tomorrow." Naruto said with a pout. "I tried to convince her to stay longer."
"I'm sorry, Naruto, but I told you, Gaara would start to worry." Rin said with an apologetic frown.
"Yeah, I know." Naruto said. Rin sat on the edge of Lee's bed.
"So how've you been, Lee?" she asked with a smile. Lee's smile faltered slightly but not enough for her to notice.
"I have been well." He said.
"That's good. How are Gai-sensei and the others?"
"Neji and Tenten have been training. Gai visits me three times a day."
"Well, I hope you fully recover soon." Rin said. Lee smiled.
"I will." He said. Rin giggled.
"Looks like Ai's comfortable." She said. Lee looked down at his lap to see that Ai had fallen asleep.
"Hey Rin, did you know Ai can play Shogi?" Naruto asked.
"Huh?" Rin blinked.
"Yeah, he was playing with Shikamaru the other day."
"I never knew he knew how to play." Rin said looking down at Ai.
"He sure is a smart cat. Where'd you get him anyways?"
"Gaara gave him to me for my 11th birthday." Rin said. "I don't know where he got him from but I would assume the pet store." She added with a shrug.
"Well he made a good choice." Naruto said with a nod.
"It's getting kinda late, I should get back to Temari." Rin said as she stood. "It was great seeing you again, Lee." He smiled up at her.
"It was great to see you again too." He said. He gently stroked Ai's head and the cat lifted his head with a meow.
"Time to go, Ai." Ai stretched and licked Lee's hand before jumping off the bed.
"See ya later, Lee!" Naruto said before the two left.
"Is there anyone else you wanna see?" Naruto asked.
"Um, well, if you could just tell everyone else I said hi…"
"Why don't you tell them yourself? I'm sure we could find everyone, it shouldn't take that long."
"It's not that… I'm… I'm just nervous about seeing everyone again after what happened." Rin looked down.
"I already told you, Shikamaru and Shino vouched for you."
"To… everyone?"
"Yeah! Everyone knows you're too nice to every have anything to do with something like that." Naruto said. Rin blushed and smiled.
"Thanks, Naruto." She said. He smiled back.
"I'll come by tomorrow to see you off."
"Okay. Goodnight, Naruto."
"Night, Rin!"
"We're ba-ack!" Rin blinked and looked at Kankurō who was hugging her.
"Thank god." He said pulling away.
"Kankurō?" Temari asked with an eyebrow raised.
"He's been so… depressed since you two left." Kankurō said.
"Where is he?" Rin asked with a frown.
"In his room." Kankurō jerked a thumb behind him. Rin put down her bag of souvenirs and took something out. "Oh, whacha get me?" Kankurō reached for the bag but Temari swatted at his hand.
…
Rin walked up to Gaara's closed door and knocked.
"Go. Away." Rin jumped in surprise at the tone of his voice but opened the door anyways. "What did I just-?" Gaara turned his head to shoot a glare at whoever was at the door but stopped. "Rin?"
"We're back." Rin said with a smile as she walked over to him. In a second he was off his bed and pulling her into a hug. Rin giggled and hugged him back. "Kankurō said you missed me." Gaara groaned slightly in the I'm-going-to-hurt-him-for-saying-that way. "I missed you too." Rin kissed his cheek. Gaara smiled down at her. "Oh, I got you something." Gaara blinked. "Close your eyes and don't open them until I say so." She said as she pulled away from the hug.
"Can't I just hold you a bit longer?" Gaara asked with a frown. Rin's face went red and, after realizing what he'd said, Gaara's did too. He let her go and looked away.
"Close your eyes." Rin said. Gaara closed his eyes. He felt Rin go on her toes and bring her hands behind his neck. His heart rate sped up and he hope his face hadn't gotten any more red. His brow came together when he felt something cold touch his neck before Rin took her hands away. "Okay, you can open them." Gaara opened his eyes and looked down at the necklace Rin had put on him. He lifted the chain to look at the half heart pendant that hung from it. He looked to her in confusion. She smiled and pulled a chain out of her shirt. "I have the other half, see?" She took his pendant and clicked the two pieces together so there was a heart between them. Gaara blinked as he looked at the heart before looking at Rin. "Do you like it?" she asked. Gaara pulled her back into his arms, tucking her head under his chin and smiled.
"I love it."
"Hey Gaara?"
"Yeah?"
"Where did you get Ai?"
Flashback
Eleven-year-old Gaara walked into the pet store. Immediately the owner started to sweat. Gaara walked up to the counter.
"Ye-Yes? H-Ho-How can I help you?" the owner squeaked.
"Do you have any black cats?" Gaara asked.
"All-All our cat- kittens are over-over there." The owner pointed to a large playpen by the window of the store. Gaara walked over and immediately all of the kittens meowed and moved away from him. They could sense something was off about him. They were all huddled in the corner, all but one. One little black kitten walked right up to him, sat there, and simply stared up at him. Gaara stared down at the kitten for about a minute before turning to the owner.
"How much for this one?"
Flashback end
Gaara shrugged.
"I got him at the pet store."
Thought the little extra scene about Ai would be cute/funny. Kinda like one of those little funny scenes at the end of an episode. If anyone has any ideas for cute scenes let me know. ^_^