Caranril: Gomen about the lack of update last weekend, but it was Thanksgiving and I spent much time with the fam away from my computer and internet access. Yup yup yup, but here you go now.

Legolas: Thanks to Commisar of the Books. The authoress realizes the scene was kinda screwed up.

Caranril: Yeah, apologies that it was confusing. It was originally Asuma and Kakashi who conversed, so in the process of changing things to make them accurate, I may have totally screwed it up. Ah well, I think that's the only major thing affected by Kishimoto-sama's latest chappies.

Legolas: Onegai, review!

Caranril: Hm, an Elf speaking Japanese. (gasps) If you were drawn in manga form, you'd totally be a bishie!

disCLAIMER: While I do not own Naruto nor any affiliated subjects therein, Kishimoto-sama does and therefore he owns my soul.

Chapter 9: That Time of Year

Kakashi rubbed his right temple. Kaori and Sasuke were squabbling over who would get to take a hot bath first. They'd had a long day of training and on the way back were caught in a freak thunderstorm. With thunder and lightning the skies had doused Sunagakure with its annual rainfall. The storm was still raging, and Kakashi doubted at this rate that either of them would get a hot bath. The lights flickered, unhappy about the situation outside. He shut the television off and tried to tune into the sounds of the winds.

Kaori sat on the end of the bed, rubbing the side of her head and muttering. Sasuke had boxed her ear and managed to gain the upper hand.

"Kakashi-sensei, what does 'brains before beauty' mean?" she whined. Kakashi couldn't help but smile. It seemed self-explanatory to him, but Kaori wasn't used to cliches.

"It's a compliment, or an insult, depending on what you care about more. Did Sasuke say that just now?"

"Yeah, and he had that overused smirk, so I figured it wasn't very nice." Kaori made a face.

"He pretty much said you were stupid..."

"Ah geez! I knew it!"

"...but he also said you were attractive." Kakashi lay back on his pillow with his hands behind his head. "At least, that's sort of what he said. Of course, he did say it wrong. I think he combined the cliches 'age before beauty' and 'brains over brawn'."

Kaori mulled this over. Brains before beauty. Now that she thought about it, the phrase was really self-explanatory. She shook her head. Leave it to Sasuke to make sure every compliment was accompanied by an insult. But it a way he'd said she had beauty. Kaori felt a flutter of happiness. Or maybe he was being sarcastic. The flutter was replaced by annoyance. What a loser.

Both Kaori and Kakashi jumped at the ruckus in the hall. There were shouts and thumps, neither of which sounded pleasant. Kakashi leapt up and headed for the door.

"Stay put," he ordered, leaving in a flash. Kaori's curiosity was piqued, but she begrudgingly obeyed. Then she realized something was off. The noises in the hall had been so startling because the howling outside had stopped. She crept to the sliding glass door and pulled away the curtains. Then she opened the door and stepped outside.

It was beautiful. The eye of the storm had descended upon the Sand and allowed rays of the dusk sun to seep through. A good distance away she could still see the lightning and angry black clouds. The sandy ground was thoroughly soaked, and the plants that enjoyed lots of heat looked pathetic.

She sniffed the air, practically smelling the heavy rain. The eye would pass soon. She was about to turn back into the room when she heard a scuffle. Just the slightest noise. And her hair stood on end as she panicked. Before she could take one step someone leapt upon her. Her cry was stifled as she hit the deck hard. She turned in a panic to stare into bright blue eyes filled with concern.

"Kaori-chan! Are you okay?" he helped her stand. Kaori stood there blinking for a moment before he registered with her.

"Naruto!" she shrieked, throwing her arms around the soggy Jounin. He was tired and wet but his silly grin and ferocious hug in return indicated otherwise. She pulled away and danced happily.

"I didn't think you'd come all the way here!" she practically giggled.

"I came to see my favourite idiot battle in the Chuunin finals," he said with a goofy grin.

"Who's the idiot who's soaking wet from running around in the rain?" Kaori punched his arm. It made a squelching noise.

"I got caught in it," Naruto shrugged. "Besides, as soon as I got back to Konoha, I left to come here. And, man, I'm wiped!"

"Do you have a place to stay?"

"Yeah. Gaara's letting me crash at his place."

Kaori's eyes widened. "Kazekage-sama?"

"Eh, don't call him that it sounds so weird. Just call him Gaara."

"I...couldn't do that."

Naruto scratched his head. "Hm. Well, how about tomorrow I take you to meet him? Then you can call him Gaara."

"I'm guessing you know him?"

"Yup, we're pretty good friends." He placed his hands behind his head. "Even though he's not too much of the buddy-buddy type. He's...hm...sticks it through."

"Loyal?"

"Yeah!" Naruto brightened. "Geez, I've missed you Kaori!"

She grinned right back. "Ditto. Everything's been so quiet. At least Naruto quiet. Too much has been happening to me lately to call it 'quiet'." At the pressure of the pleading blue eyes, she filled him in on the happenings of the Chuunin exams. A great story couldn't be told with interruptions, but Naruto sure was doing his best to foil her narration. When she got to admitting the near-rape from several days ago, she turned away in shame and stared at valley the bodies had been dumped. And where they'd also disappeared.

Kaori was so absorbed in the frightening memories that she was startled when Naruto hugged her from behind. There was barely a moment of resistance before she let him take that vulnerable position behind her. There were close to none who she would trust her back to. She couldn't help smiling when he nestled his wet head into her shoulder. He was soaking her through.

And then something else caught her attention. It was just a prick at first, and then she knew exactly what was now jabbing her in the rear. Naruto squirmed his hips ever-so-slightly against her.

"Whoaaaaa, okay, Naruto," she said nervously, shoving him away and stepping back. Yup. The tenting pants proved he definitely had a hard-on. While he'd been hugging her. Kaori gulped, twiddling her fingers as Naruto recovered.

"Ah, ah, sorry Kaori-chan," he muttered, his face tomato red as his hand tried to hide his arousal. "It's that time of year and I can smell them and I was sort of in a rush to get here and forgot to take the nose-numbing medicine from Tsunade-'baachan and...sorry!" He took a couple steps back.

"What are you talking about?" Kaori didn't take a step closer, but she let him know she was listening.

"The foxes," he said, quaking. Apparently he wasn't in the mood to talk now. He continued to back up. "They get hot...and so do I...it's not my fault I'm sorry!" With that Naruto took to the rooftops. Kaori looked up, hoping to spot him, but already knowing it was pointless. A raindrop landed right in her eye and she yelped.

The curtain inside was thrown open. Sasuke stood there in a towel, looking furious.

"What the hell do you think you're doing out here all alone!" he practically screeched. "After all that's happened you still have the nerve to be out here?!" The thunder was roiling again and started to drown him out. Sasuke grabbed Kaori's wrist and yanked her inside as hail started pounding about her. He shut and locked the glass door with a click, then drew the curtains closed and turned on Kaori.

"You really are an idiot," he snarled.

"I wasn't alone," she growled defensively. Sasuke blinked a couple times.

"Huh?"

"Naruto showed up."

Sasuke stiffened, then sighed. "I see. But are you sure it was really Naruto?"

"I'm sure. But he was...acting funny."

He rolled his eyes. "If it was really Naruto, he's always acting funny."

"Yeah but he was..." Kaori felt odd saying this, but, "horny."

There was a beat before Sasuke's expression shifted into disbelief. Then to annoyance.

"He forgot his damn medicine. Great."

"Okay, what the hell is going on? He mentioned something about medicine too!"

"Uh, maybe that's something you should have him talk to you about. It's kind of a personal matter." Sasuke headed back to the bathroom when Kakashi entered the room. The older man looked back and forth between the other two.

"Don't tell me more funny business is going on," he sighed.

"Naruto was here," Sasuke said bluntly before fetching his clothes from the bathroom.

"I know."

"You know!" Kaori's jaw dropped. "How'd..."

"Apparently he was peeping through windows. At least according to the woman two doors down. And the one past her. And the guy past her."

"He was peeping?" Kaori groaned, though slightly relieved. "So it wasn't me."

"Eh?" Kakashi tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"It's that time of year and he hasn't visited Tsunade-sama," Sasuke said, zipping up his pants as he left the bathroom.

"...Oh." Kakashi chuckled and scratched his head. "Well, I then could understand his choice to undertake in peeping tommery and selecting on Kaori as a mate."

"WHAT?!"

When Kakashi's hair stopped blowing from the force of her question, he touched his chin nervously.

"Er, that's something you should talk to Naruto about yourself."

"Argh, that's what Uchiha said!" Kaori threw herself on her bed. She groaned in disgust. "Why would Naruto need to... want to mate...with me?!"

"Why not?" Kakashi shrugged. "You'd make an excellent mate." He bit his lip when he said those words, wanting to smack his own head before Kaori even had a chance to. But instead of attacking she groaned again and buried her face in a pillow.

"Nooooo," came the whine.

"Hey, are you going to get a bath or not?" Sasuke demanded.

Kaori slowly sat up and faced him, a grimace on her face. And then the lights went out.

"Guess not."

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

When Naruto came calling the next day, Kaori pretended to be sick and asleep in bed. Naruto was disappointed, but Kakashi said he needed to speak to Gaara anyway and left with him. Sasuke wanted to train but Kaori said she really was sick and needed rest. She told him a list of things she wanted that would make her feel better, and Sasuke said the only thing she was going to get was a smack in the face. But he left anyway.

As soon as she counted to two minutes, Kaori was up in a flash. She didn't want to train, but she didn't want to hang around in bed either. She wanted to just walk the streets during the daylight hours. She enjoyed the evenings, but noon provided such good entertainment. Since the near-rape incident, she'd had someone with her at all hours of the day. And it was either Sasuke or Kakashi. She really shouldn't be out alone, but in a street full of people she doubted her danger. Plus, thanks to Sasuke's rigorous training, she had much more confidence in her skills as a ninja.

Hm, she really ought to thank him properly. Besides entertainment, Kaori sought out possible thank-you gifts for Sasuke. She thought about getting a gift for Kakashi, then decided against it, for becoming a Chuunin would definitely be a wonderful gift for him. They could go on real missions as a real team.

She was eating a red bean bun and looking at some souvenir fans when a presence made itself known behind her.

"A little girl like you shouldn't be out here all alone," it said sinisterly in her ear. She whipped around with her fist balled, only to have a very pale hand stop it in place. Neji looked at the other fist stopped centimeters away from the side of his head.

"Very good," he conceded. Both of them relaxed their arms. The shopkeeper wasn't so sure he should relax just yet.

"That's not very nice, sneaking up on me like that," Kaori complained, socking the younger man in the arm.

"Better me than...someone else, right?" he said creepily.

"Gr, stop that voice, it's freaky." She tilted her head. "I never thought you could do a voice like that."

"I'd use it to scare my cousins. Back before I trained to treat them respectfully." Neji cleared his throat. "Or course, my voice hadn't changed yet, so it sounds odd to me too."

"You have a weird family."

Neji ignored her comment and looked at the fans. "Doing some shopping?"

"Yeah, I was gonna get Uchiha something," Kaori admitted, returning to her perusal. Her fingers gently traced a bright yellow silk fan that was intertwined with lizards. "You know, as a sort of thank you for helping me train. He doesn't have to."

"But he's your teammate. Isn't he obligated?"

Kaori shook her head. "I know how frustratingly unskilled I am. He's been really patient."

"Yes, because yelling at you for failing is patient."

She smiled. "Patient for Uchiha. I've gotten to know him far more than I'd like."

"I couldn't say whether or not he feels the same way. Sasuke-san is a mystery to me."

"Maybe I'm getting him a gift out of pity. Like, 'sorry you have to work with me'?" Kaori paused thoughtfully. "Nah, I'm not sorry. Geniuses like him deserve to work with the lowlifes."

"You realize your talking down about yourself."

"Yeah, but that's because I don't think highly of myself," she said matter-of-factly. "I don't know..." she trailed off as she spotted a stand displaying wind-up things.

"No way," she whispered, dashing across the street towards the stand. She looked eagerly at the strange, worthless things that did strange, worthless things when one wound them up. One was a clock with the pattern of a Sharingan eye for the face. Except there were four tomoe for the noon, three, six, and nine, instead of the three of an actual Sharingan eye. When the shopkeeper saw her eyeing the eye, he wound it up and set the alarm to demonstrate. Kaori didn't know what to expect, but she didn't expect the clock to start laughing hysterically in a high-pitched voice. She couldn't help but crack up at the ridiculous piece and agreed to buy it. When the clock was wrapped and placed in a bag, Kaori turned around to see Neji behind her.

"Did you see that?" she asked eagerly. He nodded his head, one eyebrow lifted in amusement.

"And you think that will be a good gift for Sasuke?"

"Nope, but it'll annoy the hell out of him, and that's worth every ryou!"

After stuffing the gift into her pack, Kaori walked the busy streets of Suna, visiting vendors, game booths, souvenir shops, though neglecting to buy anything else. Neji followed along dutifully, and Kaori would have questioned his presence if he didn't appear to be having a good time. She was beginning to slow down when she spotted a very welcome sign indeed.

"Hot springs!" she checked her wallet. She had just enough money. "Come on Neji! Let's relax!"

"I must refuse," he said calmly.

"What? Why? Come on, it'll be fun!" Then she froze. "You're not...shy are you? Oh, Tenten, right? Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's not that. These are not unisex springs, and therefore I could not keep an eye on you."

"Oh, so you wanna..." Kaori's face hardened. "You've been here this whole time because you have to keep an eye on me? Oh that's..."

"No," Neji answered quickly. "I was here on my own accord, and then I saw you by yourself. I knew I'd feel much better if you weren't alone, but I didn't want to just stalk you until you met up with someone. So I joined you."

"Hm, okay, but that still sucks. I can handle myself much better now."

"I don't doubt that. But Kaori-san, for your safety and my sanity, please cooperate. I'll make you your own personal hot spring."

Kaori's eyebrows went flying up at this, but she agreed anyway. On the way back to the hotel Neji stopped for a few things, though he wouldn't let Kaori see. When they returned, Neji told her to stay in the kitchenette while he set up the bath. The noises were so enticing and she was so damn curious that she was proud that she managed to stay put until he left the steaming bathroom.

"Your hot springs are ready, bubbles and all."

Kaori titled her head and went into the bathroom. The bath smelled funny, but it was so steamy and nice-looking that she didn't care one bit. She stepped a toe in and yanked it back.

"Hot!"

"Careful, Kaori-san, these are hot springs," he said through the door.

"Yes thank you, Neji-kun," she snorted. This time she was prepared, and after a few moments of slowly sinking into the bath, she relaxed completely. She couldn't be happier.

About twenty minutes later, she was wrong. She emerged from the bath feeling all wiggly and funny from the heat and reached for a towel. When mostly dry she put on one of the fluffy bathrobes, and discovered something in the pockets. She pulled out a lovely wrapped gift. She glanced at the door, then back at the package, which seemed to belong to her. She unwrapped its beauty and squealed at what lay inside. It was the yellow lizard fan she'd been admiring earlier that day. Kaori dashed out of the bathroom and found Neji staring out the balcony door. She practically jumped up and down like a silly young girl as she repeated her thanks.

"You're welcome, I say again," he said with his small half-smile. Kaori was fawning over the simple fan like it was some precious treasure. Clearly she didn't get things she wanted very often.

Kaori plopped on her bed and sighed contentedly.

"Does that mean you're happy?"

"Oh. Yeah."

Neji cleared his throat nervously. "I'm not very good about talking to other people about this sort of thing, but I need a woman's opinion. Even though you hardly act like a woman, I think you'll understand what I'm trying to do."

"Are you trying to compliment me? Cause it's not really working."

"Sorry. I said I wasn't good at this. See, in a few weeks it'll be a year since Tenten and I started dating. I've been planning a night for us, but some things I don't know if she'll like."

"After a year you're not sure what she'd like?"

"That's the difficulty with relationships between Shinobi: the mission comes first. Hokage-sama doesn't give us very much down time."

"I see." Kaori sat up attentively. "So what do you wanna know?"

"Do you think she'd like the bath? This would be after dinner, and then I'd have a dessert ready. She'd find a gift like you did."

"If you do all that and include something chocolate, she's bound to love every bit of the evening!" Kaori sighed.

"Hm, Tenten's allergic to chocolate."

Kaori's eyes bugged out. "Allergic? To chocolate? I'd die! She collapsed with a choking sound and lay still. "Neji-san?"

"Hai."

"Do you love her?"

Neji made an embarrassed noise. "I...don't know for sure."

"I think you should decide by that night. And if decide you do, tell her then, and your anniversary will be perfect."

"Yes. Thank you."

"And do your hair all nice-like."

"...Hai."

Kaori rolled over and gave him a goofy grin. "And take pictures!"

"Must I?"

"Nah. I believe you'll sweep her off her feet. I don't need pictures to prove it."

Neji half-smiled. "Thank you, Kaori-san."