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Drifting off in Thoughts of you

Chapter Fourteen- Quiet Meetings

Kiyoshi looked up quickly as he put his dishes away.

"I completely forgot-! We have to meet Kazekage-Sama!"

Ai froze in her spot. Her hands began shaking furiously as she held the glass plate. The plate slipped as the sound of it colliding with the floor rang through the house.

"Ai, are you okay?" Temari asked, rushing over to her.

"Imouto-Chan?" Kiyoshi asked as he ran out of the kitchen. "Are you okay?"

Ai snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the broken plate on the ground.

"Yes, I'm sorry…" Ai said quietly as she bent down to pick up the broken pieces of glass.

"Itai-!"

"Imouto-Chan-!" Kiyoshi dropped to her side and inspected her bleeding hand.

"I'll get some bandages," Temari said quickly as she ran into her room.

"Imouto-Chan… What's wrong?"

Ai looked up and smiled sadly.

"Nothing, I'm fine, Onii-San."

Kiyoshi's brows furrowed as he looked up to see Temari handing bandages to Ai.

"Thank you, Temari-Chan," Ai said gratefully with a small smile. Temari smiled back, still concerned.

"Will you be okay?" She asked.

Ai nodded and began wrapping the bandage around her hand.

"I'll pick up the glass," Kiyoshi said as Temari helped him.

"Imouto-Chan, let's go!" Kiyoshi said, grinning happily as he walked to the door.

"Um… You go ahead, Onii-San… I have some work to finish…" Ai said quietly, looking at the ground. Temari stood beside Kiyoshi, looking at Ai curiously.

"You don't have to do anything, come with us, Ai-Chan," said Temari, smiling. Ai looked up nervously.

"But-…"

"I won't take no as an answer," Temari said firmly as she continued smiling. Ai sighed, defeated as she walked over to her brother.

"Okay…" she whispered.

"Temari-Chan!"

Temari, Kiyoshi and Ai came to a halt as an elderly woman walked up to Temari.

"Temari-Chan, dear… I know this is probably a bad time but I need help carrying some bags home…"

Temari smiled and picked up the bags on the ground.

"It's no problem," she began as she turned to Kiyoshi and Ai. "I'll meet up with you two at his office," she added as she walked home with the elderly woman.

"Come on," Kiyoshi said, smiling at his littler sister.

"Ah, Ai-San! Is everything alright?" Kenji asked Ai, grinning happily.

"Yes," Ai said quietly, smiling. Ai held Kiyoshi's arm and brought him forward gently.

"Kenji-San, this is my Onii-San, Kiyoshi," Ai added quietly. Kiyoshi held out an out-stretched hand.

"Nice to meet you," they said in unison.

"I'm from Konohagakure Village… I'm here to see Kazekage-Sama," Kiyoshi said, grinning. Kenji turned and looked at the large double doors with concern.

"I guess you could see him… I don't think he's in a good mood though…"

Ai turned quickly.

"Let's go then," she said. Kiyoshi turned and grabbed Ai's arm and walked towards the office doors.

"We'll put him in a good mood then!" he said happily. Ai looked back at Kenji to see him grinning widely. Her knees began shaking slightly as her heart began racing. Ai gulped in nervousness as Kiyoshi knocked on the doors. They heard a muffled voice telling them to come in.

"Onii-San, you can go in," Ai said quickly. "I'll wait out here."

"Nonsense, Imouto-Chan! He'll be happy to see you!"

Ai whimpered quietly as Kiyoshi pushed the large doors open.

"Kazekage-Sama!" Kiyoshi shouted loudly as the doors closed behind them. Gaara stood up silently as Kiyoshi walked over to him.

"Kiyoshi… What are you doing here…?"

Ai stood behind Kiyoshi, afraid to look up. Gaara's gaze ran behind Kiyoshi and noticed Ai looking down as a hint of red ran to her cheeks.

Kiyoshi looked back at Ai dumbly.

"Oh, I came to visit Imouto-Chan!" Kiyoshi pushed Ai ahead of him. "And I wanted to meet you too!" Kiyoshi grinned crazily. Ai stayed silent as she shifted uncomfortably under Gaara's stare.

"I told you about her the last time you came to visit," Kiyoshi added. Gaara snapped out of his thoughts and nodded.

"I remember… Have a seat."

Kiyoshi and Ai sat down as words poured out of Kiyoshi's mouth. Ai's gaze fluttered to Gaara's face when he wasn't looking. Her eyes ran over his lips. She quickly looked back down as Gaara turned to look at her.

"Hokage-Sama is doing well too," Kiyoshi continued. Gaara nodded once in a while and smiled faintly from time to time. Bits of their conversation ran through Ai's ears.

"Hinata-San as well-…"

"He started laughing so hard-…"

"And bam! He fell down, just like that-..."

'Onii-San talks a lot…' Ai thought, smiling. An hour passed by slowly. Ai looked up at Gaara shyly when he turned to Kiyoshi.

"So, I ended up here with the Old Man," Kiyoshi grinned and sat back in his chair.

"I'm glad you could come," Gaara began quietly. "If you need anything, feel free to ask," he added.

"All I need is for everyone to be okay," Kiyoshi replied, smiling. Ai looked up at a clock on the wall.

"Temari-Chan hasn't come yet…" Ai said quietly, absentmindedly. At those words, knocking could be heard from the other side of the doors. Everyone looked at the doors to see Temari walked into the room.

"Hey, sorry I'm late," she said with a small grin. Ai got up and motioned to the chair.

"Have a seat Temari-Chan," Ai said quietly.

"No, it's okay- I'll get another one," Temari said as she turned back to the doors.

"Kenji! Get another chair!"

They heard someone yelp in surprise outside and within a few minutes, another chair was brought into the room by Kenji. Ai took her seat again after Temari had taken hers. Gaara stared at Ai for a moment before Temari cleared her throat. Gaara snapped out of his thoughts again and looked at Temari questioningly. Ai felt the heat rising up to her cheeks. Kiyoshi looked from Gaara to Ai dumbly. He resisted the urge to scratch his head in confusion.

"How long will you be staying?" Gaara asked after a moment of silence.

"A week," Kiyoshi replied with a smile.

"Onii-San…" Ai began quietly. Kiyoshi and Gaara looked at her curiously. "Perhaps we should leave Kazekage-Sama to his work…" Ai added, barely above a whisper as a pale color of red rose to her cheeks again. Kiyoshi grinned, noticing his younger sisters' shyness.

"She's got a point," Kiyoshi said, looking at Gaara. Gaara nodded as he stood up along with everyone else.

"It was good seeing you again," Gaara said with a small smile. Kiyoshi nodded and continued grinning.

"Likewise," he replied. Temari looked at Ai for a moment, seeing her eyes flutter to Gaara's face. She suppressed a grin and followed after Kiyoshi as he walked out the door. Gaara and Ai stood in an awkward silence.

"Let's go, Imouto-Chan!" Kiyoshi shouted happily as he walked passed Kenji. Ai sent a small smile to Gaara and hurried out the door towards Kiyoshi and Temari.

A faint blush crossed Gaara's cheeks as he closed his office doors.

A knock could be heard at the door. The elderly woman stood up and walked towards the door, muttering. She opened it and looked at the person standing there.

"Katashi? What are you doing here?"

A young man with chestnut brown hair stood with a small smile on his face.

"Sobo, how are you?"

"Good thing you remembered to call me that, I won't have you calling me anything else… I heard about Ichiro…" She began, allowing Katashi to walk inside her house.

"Such a shame… He was such a sweet boy too…"

"Sobo," Katashi began quietly. "O-tou-San would like to meet you right now… If you do not come along willingly, I will have to use force…"

The elderly woman looked at him strangely.

"Katashi, What are you talking about? What's this nonsense about using force…?"

Katashi pulled out a kunai knife from his pouch and walked forward.

"If you do not come with me now… I will have no choice but to hurt someone… Perhaps Nori-San would like to meet O-tou-San instead…"

"No, let's go now… I'll speak to your father about this…" Sobo said quietly, glaring at Katashi.

"Good," Katashi started as he put his kunai knife away. "Let's go then."

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