My apologies for the late chapter!

A special thanks to my readers and reviewers! I love you all!

Drifting off in Thoughts of You

Chapter Thirteen- Smiles and Frowns

Ai's eyes opened quickly and she shot up in bed.

"Onii-San-!"

Ai looked around the room to find it empty. She swung her legs over the edge of her bed and ran out the door.

"Temari-Chan-! Where's-…?"

Ai trailed off to see a young man with blood red hair and emerald green eyes smiling at her. Ai's eyes filled with water quickly. She ran forward and embraced him as tightly as she could. Kiyoshi kept his arms around Ai as his eyes fluttered around the room.

"Onii-San…" Ai cried quietly.

Temari looked from Kiyoshi to Ai strangely.

"O-tou-San… said you were gone…" Ai added as a sob escaped her mouth.

Kiyoshi's teeth gritted as Nori's face ran through his mind. He continued to hold Ai tightly.

"Where were you? Why didn't you come back sooner?" Ai said angrily as she let go of Kiyoshi. She raised her hands and pounded on Kiyoshi's chest.

"Why were you gone for so long?" Ai asked as she dropped to her knees. She buried her face in her hands and continued crying. Temari bent down quickly and wrapped an arm around Ai's shoulders.

"Imouto-Chan…" Kiyoshi began as he bent down in front of her.

"Please forgive me…"

"I think you have some explaining to do…" Temari said as she helped Ai stand up. Kiyoshi smiled and nodded.

"Imouto-Chan… Calm down, please…"

Ai gulped and nodded as she took a seat.

"Nori… He-…"

"He lied…" Ai said quickly, stopping Kiyoshi from talking. "He said you were dead…"

"Dead?" Temari began. "Of course he wasn't dead, I saw him just a few months ago."

"Temari-Chan… You know Onii-San?" Ai asked, sniffling. Temari nodded with a smile.

"We helped out with the last Chuunin exam," Kiyoshi added. Ai looked down as her bottom lip began quivering again.

"Why couldn't you come sooner…?"

A pained look fell onto Kiyoshi's face.

"I can understand that you're upset… But the old man's a retired jounin, he teaches genin now... And I'm an ANBU member- We've been really busy, this was the first time in a while that we had nothing to do at the same time. So, we decided to come visit."

Ai's head snapped up quickly.

"You're not staying? You can't go again, not again- please!" Ai said loudly as she dropped to her knees, holding her brother's hands.

"Not again… Not this time, Onii-San…"

Kiyoshi held onto Ai's hands and bent down so that he looked her in the eyes.

"I know you're okay… And you know I'm alright… I'll have to go back eventually…"

Ai lowered her head again and nodded slightly.

"How long will you be staying here…?"

"A week…"

"That's not long…" Temari spoke up.

"Well, you know how it is, Temari-San," said Kiyoshi with a smile.

"And… O-tou-San…?" Ai asked quietly.

"He's with Okaa-san right now," Kiyoshi replied, grinning. Ai smiled and chuckled.

"Figured as much… Okaa-San missed him…" Ai said quietly. Kiyoshi nodded.

"Old Man missed her too," he added.

"Emi-Chan will be happy to see you, Onii-San," Ai said smiling. After a moment of silence, Temari and Ai's eyes widened.

"Oh shit…" Temari muttered.

"What's wrong?"

Ai slapped her hand to her head.

"We forgot about Emi-Chan's wedding!"

Kiyoshi raised his eyebrow.

"She's getting married? To who?"

"Akira-San," Ai said quickly as she ran to the phone. She dialed Emi's number quickly.

"Hello? Emi-Chan? It's Ai… I'm so sorry- Temari-Chan and I forgot about-…" she stayed silent for a moment. "What happened? Is everything alright?" Ai shook her head.

"At least she's alright… Yeah, we'll be there… Next week? Okay, okay, bye..."

Ai put down the phone and turned to Temari and Kiyoshi.

"Is everything alright?" Temari asked, standing up.

"Akira-San's mother isn't well, they postponed the wedding… It's in a few days," Ai said with a smile. "Onii-San, you'll come too, won't you?"

Kiyoshi grinned and nodded.

"Of course."

The elderly man tapped his fingers on the desk before him. He sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead. His frown grew.

"Stupid brat… She'll pay for this…" he muttered angrily.

"Okaa-San, lunch is ready!" Natsumi shouted as she set up the table. Hiroshi and Arisu walked down the stairs, side-by-side. Their hands brushed against each other lightly. Arisu looked away shyly as a hint of red rose to her cheeks. Natsumi resisted the urge to laugh and giggled quietly as everyone sat at the table.

"What about Onii-San?"

Hiroshi tore his eyes away from Arisu reluctantly and smiled at Natsumi.

"He probably went to meet Ai," he said, continuing to smile. Natsumi's smile faltered slightly, but nodded as they began to eat.

"Here you go, Onii-San," Ai said happily, handing the plate of food to her brother as she took off her apron. Temari smiled and thanked Ai for making lunch before she began eating.

"Imouto-Chan, this tastes great! Better than the ramen I treat Hokage-Sama to!" Kiyoshi said happily. Ai looked at Kiyoshi curiously.

"You eat with Hokage-Sama…?"

Kiyoshi nodded, stuffing his face with food.

"He's a great guy- one of my best friends!" Kiyoshi said loudly while chewing his food. Temari looked at how fast Kiyoshi ate his food. Kiyoshi picked up his plate.

"More food, please!"

Ai giggled and gave Kiyoshi more food.

"Natsumi, this food tastes great! Better than the ramen Kiyoshi forces me to eat!"

Natsumi looked at Hiroshi curiously.

"The ramen he forces you to eat?"

Hiroshi nodded and talked as he chewed his food.

"It's because of Hokage-Sama; Kiyoshi always treats Hokage-Sama to ramen! Hokage-Sama's obsession with ramen rubbed off on Kiyoshi- now it's the only thing he eats!" Hiroshi shouted happily as he gulped his food down. Natsumi raised her eyebrow and shook her head.

'How strange…' she thought, laughing.

He looked down at the picture of Ichiro and narrowed his eyes.

'I will… hurt you so much… Little whore…' he thought angrily.

"Katashi-!"

A young man walked into his father's room quickly.

"Yes…?"

"Send a note to our friend… I would like to meet her tomorrow…" he said, not bothering to look up.

The young man bowed.

"Yes, O-tou-San…" he said quietly as he walked out the room.

Chapter Thirteen- I hope you enjoyed it! I know it's a little short, I'm sorry for that, but it seemed like a good place to stop. Anyways, review please!