AN: I don't really have much to say this time. It's great that a ton of people are reading this, but if more people reviewed, that would be even better!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters blah blah blah.
Chapter Six: Arrival In Sunagakure
After flying for about an hour, Aleera and Cordi looked down to find that no one was around them. The Subakus were nowhere near them. They had already made it to the desert. Now Cordi felt really bad, because they had left the Subakus, who were still walking, in the dust.
"Sorry, I didn't realize we were going so fast," Aleera muttered.
"It's ok. I should have noticed, but I didn't. It's my fault," Cordi reasoned. Then she put her iPod back on full blast as Aleera landed on the hot sand to wait for the Subakus.
Ronni was walking down the main road of Konoha minding her own business as best she could. She couldn't help but notice the whispers from the crowd around her. "That's one of the girls from the other dimension, right? I heard they have dragons," and such like that is what everyone was saying. Suddenly she found something that could take her mind off anything.
"Oh, what a cute dog!" she squealed, walking over to a big dog. It was obviously a wolf hybrid. It was white, with brown tips on its ears and tail. It panted happily as Ronni stroked his ears.
"Akamaru! Where are you boy?" she heard a boy yell.
The dog looked up and barked. Suddenly, a boy with red streaks down his cheeks came running over. Akamaru stood up, tail wagging and tongue sticking out. Ronni stood up too and looked at the boy. He looked about Naruto's and Gaara's age. "Hi," Ronni said.
"Hi," he replied awkwardly.
"Nice dog. Akamaru, right?" she said.
"Yeah," he replied.
"My name's Ronni," she introduced.
"Kiba," he replied, shaking her hand. "You wouldn't happen to be one of the girls from the other world, would you?"
Ronni smiled, and closed her eyes. "Yeah, that would be me," she said, pursing her lips a bit.
"That is so weird!" Kiba said, smiling.
Ronni furrowed her eyebrows a bit. "You – aren't creeped out?" she asked.
"No, should I be?" he asked.
"No, I'm not that creepy," Ronni smiled, "It's just, everyone else is freaked."
He looked around and saw everyone suddenly avert their eyes. He furrowed his brows and said, "Maybe they just need to get to know you better."
"Maybe," Ronni laughed. "I'll see you around." She smiled, turned, waved, and walked away.
Akamaru barked and Kiba looked at him. "What, you like her?" He asked. Another bark and a big smile came from the canine. "Good vibe and was soothing when she pet you, those are your only reasons?" Akamaru barked and growled again. "Fine, I'll get to know her. But, Mom is going to kill us if we don't get back in time for the picnic." Another bark from Akamaru, and they left.
The Subakus were nearing the desert edge, where they were going to set up camp because it was getting dark, when they heard something strange from just beyond the tree line. There was a growling gruff voice singing with a woman. The song went something like this.
"They're gonna clean up your looks/ with all the lies in the books/ to make a citizen out of you./ Because they sleep with a gun/ and keep an eye on you, son/ so they can watch all things that you do./ Because the drugs never work./ They're gonna give you a smirk,/ 'Cuz they've got methods of keeping you clean./ They're gonna rip off your heads,/ your aspirations to shreds./ Another cock in the murder machine!/ They say that, 'Teenagers scare/ the living shit out of me!/ They could care less/ as long as someone will bleed!'/ So darken your clothes,/ or strike a violent pose./ Maybe they'll leave you alone,/ but not me!/ The, boys and girls in the clique,/ the awful names that they stick./ You're never gonna' fit in much kid./ But if you're troubled and hurt,/ What you got under your shirt?/ We'll make them pay for the things that they did!/ They say that, 'Teenagers scare/ the living shit out of me!/ They could care less/ as long as someone will bleed!' So darken your clothes,/ or strike a violent pose./ Maybe they'll leave you alone,/ but not me!/ OH, Yeah!"
They entered the desert clearing to see Cordi and Aleera bobbing their heads to what seemed to be a beat to a song. They were dancing a little, but not too much, just keeping the beat by shifting their weight slightly. Then they started again with, "They say that, 'Teenagers scare/ the living shit out of me!/ They could care less,/ as long as someone will bleed!'/ So darken your clothes,/ or strike a violent pose!/ Maybe they'll leave you alone,/ but not me…. Oh, hi guys," Cordi added nervously at the end, with a small wave. She quickly paused her iPod. "You're here."
"Yes, we are," Gaara stated in a bored tone. "How long have you been here?"
"Oh, an hour or so," Cordi didn't have the heart to tell them that they had actually been waiting since way past lunchtime.
Kankuro stopped to look at the scene, much like Jack Sparrow looking at the Black Pearl sailing through the desert on crabs, which made Cordi laugh. "How can she here what's coming from your headphones?" He asked
"We share a mind bond," Aleera explained, "I can hear her thoughts, and she can hear mine." The Subakus just blinked at this information.
"Huh. Well, just so you know, we're setting up camp here," Temari stated, pulling a sleeping bag and a pillow off of the carriage, as did Kankuro. Gaara did too, as soon as he stepped out of the carriage. Temari finished her statement with, "so find a place to crash for the night. Do you have a sleeping bag?"
"No, but I have a blanket, and I'll be good with that," Cordi replied while walking over to her dragon for her bed supplies. When she was standing next to Aleera, unhooking her stuff, she said, "Tomorrow, I will ride you, but we are walking at their speed."
"But that's so slow," Aleera groaned quietly.
"I know, but I don't want to get lost, one, and two, I feel really bad that they've taken us in, and we ignored them. So just deal with it," Cordi replied, turning back towards camp.
She quickly laid her blanket and pillow down completing the circle with the group and sat on it. There wasn't any wind, but it could always pop up. Aleera curled up around the group. Her head laid next to Cordi and her entire body encircled the rest of the group. As the sun set, Temari and Kankuro finished putting up logs for a campfire. They were about to light a match when Cordi went ahead and put her hand on a log, which then burst into flames, creating a gentle campfire.
Gaara sat the entire time in a quiet, meditative pose, eyes closed and everything. Temari pulled out a small pan, filled it with some bottled water and some noodles, and placed it on the coals on the side of the fire. They stayed quiet for a while, waiting for the noodles to cook. Cordi started to sigh, each time earning a small clenching of eyes from Gaara, and a grimace from Kankuro. After the third or fourth time Kankuro snapped. "Please! Stop, just please stop!" Kankuro begged.
This made Gaara open his eyes and scowl at his brother. "Sorry," Cordi apologized softly. "I just do that when it's too quiet. My sister hates it too, but I just can't help myself! It's a bad habit …"
"The noodles are ready," Temari stated, pouring four bowls of instant ramen. She passed out the bowls to each person, then the chopsticks. Everyone split the chopsticks evenly and started to eat in silence. "You know, Cordi, I've been meaning to ask you something," Temari started.
"What?" Cordi asked.
"Well, I heard that when you watched this 'TV show,' your favorite character was Gaara," Temari stated. "I was wondering why." Cordi looked at Temari, who looked genuinely curious.
"Yeah, I have been wondering about that, too," Kankuro said, looking at Cordi. Gaara tried not to look interested, but he put down his food, which made it obvious.
Cordi bit her lip, and furrowed her eyebrows, sadness gleaming in her eyes. She set her food down, crossing her arms, sighed and licked her lips. She took a long intake of breath then pursed her lips. "How do I put this?" she started. Temari and Kankuro were waiting, kind of impatiently. "I felt that Gaara and I shared a similar past," she answered, averting her eyes away from the siblings' eyes. She gave them a small smile and said, "The End."
She saw that Gaara was actually looking at her. His eyebrows were furrowed in curiosity. "How similar?" he asked.
"Can we not talk about this?" Cordi pleaded uncomfortably. Kankuro and Temari averted their eyes and muttered apologies, but Gaara still stared at her, his gaze piercing into her soul. "It's called Odd Girl Out Syndrome," she sighed, "And my school had a particularly bad case of it. It's normally between girls, because if guys have a beef, they just beat each other up, and it's over. Girls on the other hand hold a grudge and tear others down, by ruining their reputation and ridding them of friends. And the girls at my school chose me to be that girl. No one would hang out with me or try to be my friend because it was 'Social Suicide.' And normally it's for no reason except because the girl who has the most friends doesn't like someone, and turns everyone against them. I never heard a specific reason why everyone hated me. Ronni, who I met after several years of this, was the only one in my grade who accepted me. It was like everyone else couldn't stand the sight of me, and I was completely and utterly alone.
"Every time I came home, crying about how everyone mistreated me, including teachers, I could see how it tore my mom up inside. She was forced to watch as I had to fight a losing battle for acceptance. I eventually found an escape through my imagination and TV shows. My school grades dropped incredibly due to the fact that I just didn't pay attention because I escaped into my imaginary world. If I had homework, I ignored it for my TV shows, which gave me something to fuel my imagination during school. Eventually reading did, too. It became habitual, and got to the point where my grades were so bad that I was going to fail and get held back. My parents pushed me to finish work, but I did it halfway, only getting barely a passing grade
"When Ronni and I became best friends, several people tried to tear us apart. But she was the only one who stood by me, and I'm very thankful for that. When people told her she was hanging out with a freak or a weirdo, she'd laugh at them and say, 'But those people are the most fun!' She healed the broken hearts that experience caused my family as best as she could. That's probably why my mom says, 'She can get away with murder and still be accepted at my house,'" Cordi finished, a small teary smile on her face. She looked down, her stick straight dirty blonde hair falling as a curtain to cover her teary brown almost black eyes.
Gaara looked away and nodded. They did have a similar history, but she wasn't even jinchurriki like he used to be and Naruto was. He felt kind of bad for her, but definitely empathetic with her story. He quietly picked up his ramen and continued to eat.
The Subakus heard Cordi start to sniffle . "Excuse me," she said quickly, getting up and walking away from the group. Aleera uncurled herself and walked away from the group following Cordi.
"Are you alright?" Aleera asked.
Cordi wiped her eyes and her nose and said, "It's just been a while since I cried. It's been, oh I can't remember, since before I stopped caring about what happened."
Aleera looked back at her and said, "You know, you can't change your past."
"Just learn from it," Cordi finished.
"Well, I was going to say hope for a better future, but that works, too," Aleera added. Cordi laughed a little at Aleera's attitude as few more tears slid down her cheeks.
"Sorry," they heard a gravelly voice say behind them. Cordi quickly turned around, drying her puffy red eyes as best she could. Aleera just swiveled her head around to face the red-headed man.
"Oh, it's not your fault," Cordi assured.
"I pressured you into talking about something personal that you weren't ready to share. For that I'm sorry," Gaara stated. "I didn't mean to make you cry."
Another tear fell as she smiled at him. It was a sad smile, but a genuine one. "Thanks, and it's alright," She reassured him, wiping a tear away from her eyes.
He walked towards her looking at his steps, until he was beside her. "The only other person with a similar past to me that I've met was Naruto, and I don't get to see him that often. It's …" he paused to find the correct wording he was looking for, "refreshing to meet someone that I can relate to and see more often."
"I know the feeling," she replied, chuckling a little. "My mom used to tell me that before the crap happened to me, I was a funny girl that was always good for a laugh. I wonder if she got that girl back, and if my mom did, was she an exact version of what she was originally or a more cynical and sarcastic copy of that little girl." Gaara nodded in understanding. He was young, innocent, and impressionable before he found out his uncle hated him, like everyone else had. He often wondered if he ever became that innocent young boy again, or was he a darker, more pessimistic version of the little boy he once was.
They didn't say anything else while standing there, looking at the desert horizon, but she knew she had earned a kind of respect and trust from Gaara.
Baki stood watch with several others at the Sunagakure wall. Today was the day that Gaara and his siblings were supposed to be returning. They had received a message from Gaara several weeks ago telling Baki to get the normal Kazekage house decorators to get one of the guest bedrooms ready, although he didn't really state how long the guest would be staying with them.
"Are they here yet?" a girl behind him asked. He turned around to see Gaara's old student, Matsuri. She had been asking about them for the past couple days, like a love-sick teenager.
"Not yet. But it'll be anytime now," Baki said, turning back to his post.
"But it's been so long," she whined. Baki rolled his eyes. Sometimes, her fanaticism of his old student and her teacher really bothered him.
"They'll be here today," Baki growled. Matsuri frowned at his harshness. She knew he wasn't too fond of her, but did he have to show it all the time?
"Fine," she pouted, "I'll wait at the opening." With that, the light brunette left the senior ninja alone.
They each waited an hour for their Kazekage and his siblings and this much awaited guest. Baki, tired of standing turned to find the chair he brought up just for this purpose. Just as he sat down, he heard another guard yell, "Something on the horizon!" Baki, rolling his eyes, stood up grudgingly to see this "something." Indeed, it was something. It looked like a small caravan with a giant lizard walking through the desert.
"Hand me your telescope," Baki ordered the guard who called in the caravan. The guard spluttered in confusion, patting his pockets for the telescope. Obviously, his hopes of finding the telescope were being dashed as he continued his search.
When he found it, a victorious grin crossed his features. As he handed it to Baki, he smiled nervously and said, "What you're looking for is always in the last place you look for it."
"Next time, make sure you look in the last place first," Baki scowled. He knew skipping his usual coffee today was a mistake. He quickly extended the telescope and put his eye to the small lens. It took him a little while to find the caravan with the small viewing hole. There was a woman wearing black with a fan on her back and a man in black with what could only be called a bandaged thing on his back. Next to them was a carriage with white drapes and blue lining covering the windows. On top of the carriage sat Gaara's trademark gourd. Next to the carriage was what he correctly described earlier as a giant lizard. It was red, and looked like it held wings close to its body. A gem gleamed brilliantly on its forehead. The lizard looked to be three times the height of the oxen-pulled carriage. "That's the Kazekage's caravan, but I have no idea what is walking with them."
A few more minutes, the caravan was a few meters away from the stone wall surrounding Sunagakure. Matsuri squealed with delight as the Subakus came close enough for her to see them. Gaara stepped out of his carriage and greeted his old student with a smile and a hug. "Ah, Gaara-sama. It's so good to have you back," Matsuri sighed. Cordi furrowed her eyes at the scene. She had never seen Gaara be so affectionate. Aleera helped Cordi get back on the ground. Cordi noticed Gaara look at Matsuri with a look of longing passion as they pulled away from each other, but it was hidden as well as he could have hidden it.
Matsuri then walked over to Kankuro and hugged him too. "I've missed you so much, Kankuro-san!" Matsuri stated.
"Me too," Kankuro replied, looking at her the same way Gaara had, but masking it too. Cordi was obviously confused, but she didn't voice her observations.
When it was time for Matsuri to greet Temari, all she did was give her a curt nod and a small, "Hello, Temari," in a slightly catty voice.
"Hello, Matsuri," Temari replied in an equal voice. The scowl Temari gave Matsuri was obvious, which made her two brothers frown a little.
"Who is this?" Matsuri asked, turning towards Cordi and smiling, ignoring Temari's glare.
Cordi smiled back, not really sure of herself. "I'm Cordelia Turner," she replied. Something about Matsuri rubbed Cordi the wrong way, and Aleera could feel her uneasiness. She wasn't sure if it was the fact that both male Subakus seemingly had a crush on her, which would definitely cause a rift in the family, or the fact that Temari, who was a rather good judge of character, didn't really trust her.
"Are you from Konoha?" Matsuri asked congenially.
"Technically, no," Cordi replied. "I'm, uh, from another world." Cordi blushed a little. Matsuri laughed at the answer.
"Haha, right, and I rule the free world," Matsuri scoffed. "You can't be that special." Matsuri laughed at her sarcastic comment.
Cordi pursed her lips, then gave Matsuri a sarcastic smile in return. "Have you met my dragon?" Cordi asked in a sickeningly sweet voice, pointing to Aleera like a model on The Price is Right. Aleera lowered her head and snorted in Matsuri's face, whose eyes were the size of turkey platters. Temari smiled at the young brunette's discomfort. "Her name's Aleera."
"H-h-hi," Matsuri stuttered, trembling slightly in fear.
Aleera sniffed the air around Matsuri which smelled like cinnamon. The scent was so obvious, Cordi could even smell it. "Are you wearing seasoning?" Aleera asked Matsuri. Cordi laughed, and Matsuri paled, as did Gaara and Kankuro. Temari was still smiling.
"No, Aleera, no. That's just her perfume," Cordi replied.
Just then, Baki joined them, greeting the Subakus happily. "So, who's this visitor?" Baki asked.
"This is Cordelia Turner, and her dragon Aleera," Temari smiled, pointing to her newly found friend, due to a common enemy or discomfort.
"How long will they be staying?" Baki asked, nervously eyeing Aleera.
"Indefinitely," Gaara replied.
"But …" Baki started. Gaara shot him a short glare. "Sir …" Baki started again.
"She is my guest until she, her sister, and her friends find a way back to their normal world, where they can observe our world from the safety of their couches," Gaara explained, not looking at his old teacher. His face showed a bit of annoyance with Baki's audacity to undermine his authority. "Konoha happened to be short on housing, and I offered a room in my own house. Are we clear?"
"But, Sir, what about her dragon?" Baki asked.
Aleera snorted. "I'm here, and I do have a name," she growled. Baki rolled his eyes slightly at her outburst, but turned back to Gaara. "Don't roll your eyes at me. I've been a little hungry lately, what with the lack of game around here. You just might sate my appetite for a couple hours or so, little man." Baki now looked at the carnivore with worried eyes, as Aleera showed her sharp teeth, meant for tearing meat from bone with a quick bite.
"Aleera, stop, or your grounding will be longer," Cordi warned, narrowing her eyes at Aleera.
"Yes, ma'am," Aleera replied to Cordi.
"Now, apologize," Cordi demanded, nodding her head towards Baki, who looked as though he'd seen a ghost. Matsuri looked as if she was about to pass out.
"I'm sorry," Aleera said to Baki, lowering her head a little.
"For?" Cordi reminded.
"I'm sorry for threatening to eat you," Aleera finished grudgingly, head still lowered. Baki's mouth hung open at the display.
"Aleera chose Cordi to be her adoptive mother and partner," Gaara leaned into whisper in Baki's ear, whose mouth was still open in confusion. "If there was anyone to be careful around out of that pair, it most likely is Cordi. Although, Aleera is strong too."
"Nicely put Gaara," Cordi stated. Aleera nodded in agreement. Matsuri fainted. After Gaara and Kankuro got her back on her feet, Baki showed Cordi and Aleera into Sunagakure, followed by the Subakus and Matsuri.
AN: PLEASE REVIEW!!! I love to reply to my reviewers, and I love hearing feedback! Seriously, it doesn't take long.