Hello, yay I got an update in! I hope it is enjoyed, cause its gunna be the only one for a while, I've got a lot of homework to do, yeah even over break, my teachers weren't in the mood to be kind over break. please read and review!

Disclaimer: Yeah I know, I don't own Naruto

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Paint brushes and memories

Temari woke to a rustling sound. She opened her eyes to see Sakura stretching and walking around the room. Temari got up and joined her in starring out the tall window. Hinata woke up next, completing her own set of stretches and aerobics, followed by Tenten. Deciding not to wait for Ino's five hour wake up, they stripped her blanket off and shoved her off the couch. She woke up with a screech.

"I'M GUNNA KILL YOU!!!" she yelled as she began to chase them around the room.

"Aren't we lively this morning." Tal said from the door way, with an amused smile.

They all stopped, slightly abashed. Big mistake. Ino launched her self at Sakura's back and successfully pinned her to the ground.

"Good morning" they all said.

Sakura's came out as "gomornghmfd", making them all laugh.

Once they had all settled down, Tal said,

"I knew I chose right when I took you guys in." she grabbed Temari and Hinata and began to drag them unceremoniously towards the door. Sakura, Tenten and Ino took the hint and followed her.

"Time to show you your room." she smiled "I figured you'd like to share a room. The Attendant said y'all shared just about everything, and one of the foster reports said even though you had separate rooms, you still slept in the same room."

She led them up several flights of stairs. By the time they reached the top the five girls were panting.

Tal grinned "Its how I keep my figure." she let them breath for a minute before trekking on. She led them to an iron spiral stair and they all groaned and looked up and they saw a latch and looked curiously at Tal.

She smiled "its been a while since I last came up here, but i think this up here is the most appropriate for you guys. I used to come up here a lot, when I was younger. I called it my tower, but its a big room and its got a great place to relax and forget." she smiled and added "you guys might have a need to forget."

Now all of them were curious and climbed the spiral. Pulling themselves into the room they looked around. It was in the shape of an octagon, four tall windows spaced every wall. Two doors on the side revealed a walk in closet and a luxurious bathroom.

Ino grinned "I could definitely get used to this"

"Yeah" Sakura agreed "But it needs color" she said looking distaste fully at the white walls.

"then its a good thing were going to pick out paint then, isn't it?" Tal said with a minute.

"Sweet!" Tenten said "we definitely need to use some green though" she said almost pleadingly.

"Don't worry," Tal said "We are going to do this with some punk style"

Temari stood by the steps, "Well what are we wasting time for?"

Tal laughed "You guys got twenty minutes to get changed" she looked at her watch. "GO!"

They all raced to comply. They made it down the stairs in record time. When Tal met them at the bottom of the stairs and looked over their attires she smiled

"people might really think were related."

Ino's hair was up in a high pony tail and wore a black shirt with 'life's gonna suck' in bold letters across the front. She wore a black skirt over blue and black stockings and calf high boots. Hinata had an orange shirt over a long sleeved green shirt, saying 'I'm surrounded by optimists' in black letters. She wore black jeans with cuts up to the knee revealing fishnet coverings. Tenten had green pants with chains crisscrossing around her legs. Her shirt was black and had 'I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every second of it' in white letters. Sakura wore a red shirt over a black long sleeved shirt with 'Sarcasm, just another service I offer' across the front. Her pants were black and had about three different belts around her waist. Temari had black pants with red thread and purple strips in random places. Her shirt was purple with white letters 'one by one the penguins slowly steal my sanity'.

"I've tried to pay off some of those photographers, but some of them don't listen at all that way." they all looked at her, confused.

She smiled "the idiots try to get any 'big' news out asap, cause nothing real big ever happens around here. They should go away soon, but were going to have to deal for a little while."

Temari looked at her "'Big' news?"

Tal nodded "the heiress of one of the biggest company owners just adopted five orphaned girls. To them its something to stretch and twist to make it sound real exciting. They'll die down pretty soon." she sighed "for now," she flung the door open "RUN!" she yelled.

They all made a break for the car. Tal reached it first as they pushed and shoved through the crowd of cameras. Tenten finally lost her temper and punched one of them in the face, causing him to drop one of the cameras and yelp. They made it to the car without inflicting further injury. After the man had dropped the camera, the rest seemed less willing to try and get close. They jumped into the car and slammed the doors shut. Tal was already in the drivers seat.

"I learned early to run fast" she said with a grin. They grinned back and Tal slammed her foot to the gas. When they reached the hardware store all of them were wide eyed and clutching at the seats. Tal had paid no attention to street lights, signs and yelled at the other drivers. They realized the car had stopped and proceeded to unhook themselves from the car.

As they got out Sakura said "Temari, I'm sorry I ever criticized your driving."

A camera flash warned them that they still weren't out of the blue yet. They raced for the door, Hinata reached it first and yanked the door open and the others rushed past. Once they were all threw, Hinata slammed the door shut and had the satisfaction of a photographer slam into the door, blooding his nose. Hinata flashed a smile and shoved a two by four between the door handles, making it impossible to open. She flashed a smile at him and raced to catch up with the others.

Tal smiled "I wish I had thought of that a while ago, great idea." Hinata smirked and saluted her. Luckily there were few shoppers and they were able to pick out paint in peace. They chose purples, blues, greens, oranges and reds and of course they chose some black to go along with the rest. Tal disappeared and left them wondering for a short while.

When she reappeared they asked her what she went, all she said was "You'll see" leaving them insanely curious.

After selecting and purchasing there colors, they piled into the car and sped off, slightly more prepared for the ride.

"Never mind the roller coasters, will just go for a ride down to the ice cream store, and it'll be like a free carnival ride, just a little more lethal." Hinata groaned as they exited the car, after safely(moderately) pulled in and closed wrought iron gates behind them, none of them felt like dealing with any more idiots with cameras. They hauled their supplies up the stairs and began their project. They had been painting for a short while when Tenten spoke up.

"Hey, whats this?"

The rest of them gathered around at what Tenten was pointing at. Tal laughed.

"This is a small stairway," they all groaned. More stairs. Tal laughed again.

"Its not that bad, besides, I was planning to drag you guys up there once were done painting"

"Can't we go look now?" Ino whined.

"Of course not," she laughed wickedly "I cant torture you with it if we go up now."

"AHHHHH, TAL!!" they all yelled good-naturedly.

"Well the faster we finish painting, the sooner we go up there"

They all lunged for their paint brushed and quickly got back to work. They made record time in painting, finishing all of the first coat done within a few hours. They all circled Tal.

"Now can we go up their." they begged.

Tal chuckled "Of course, but you know, theres still some stairs between you and you target"

They all looked at each other for a moment before they all bolted for the slightly hidden stair case. They reached the top and fell over each other as they reached the top.

"How - pant- can -pant- one -pant- house have -pant-pant- so many stairs?" Sakura puffed.

"Who ever designed this place obviously wanted to torture people" Temari said.

"Either that of the guy had a grudge" Ino agreed.

"Well, whatever the reason, they should be shot and brutally murdered" Hinata panted collapsing onto the colorful floor.

"Well, you know, it'll keep you in shape," Tal smirked. She was loving having these girls with her. There reactions were the same as her own had been when here adoptive father made her come up here. By now she had long grown used to running up all of the stairs. She draped her self on a well used couch.

"Well? Are you guys going to stand there or come sit down?"

All of them dropped unfeignedly onto various seats, all except Hinata, who had no motivation to remove herself from the floor. Temari leaned back and huffed.

"Now, why did you have to torture us about coming up here?"

"Because it was fun"

Temari was to tired to care to much and just groaned inn unison with the other four. Tal watched them for a moment before asking,

"If you guys don't mind me asking, how did you guys all end up together? I mean its obvious that your not all related. So how did you guys end up together in an orphanage?"

All of them were silent. Tal looked form Temari's face to Tenten's to Sakura's to Hinata's to Ino's. All of them had solemn looks and it seemed like all of them were reliving a piece of their past's. Tal began to worry. She could only pray they wouldn't kill her for bringing it up. Temari gave a forced smile.

"Well I suppose you have the right to no, I mean you did take us in." She said, slightly nervous. She looked at the other girls. In one voice, they all yelled,

"You go first!!" Sakura was pointing at Ino. Ino was pointing at Hinata. Hinata was pointing at Temari and Temari was pointing at Tenten. Tal once again looked from girl to girl and sighed.

"Why don't we do from oldest to youngest? That way you guys wont have to fight to much." 'I hope' she added silently.

Temari heaved a sigh and took a deep breath. "I'll start" she said softly, tucking her knees under her chin.

"I had two brothers and my father. My mom died when my youngest brother was born. My dad blamed it on him. As we got older, everything was his fault, even when there was no way he could have been involved. His name is Gaara. The older of the two is Kankouro. Kankouro was never there he was always hiding or out doing something, basically anything that got him out of the house. Gaara wasn't so lucky. He never got the chance to join anything. Dad would always get there first, telling whoever was in charge of overlooked something, and tell them how horrible he was. In school he didn't have friends and everyone was afraid of him. He had insomnia, a condition were he cant sleep most of the time. I felt sorry for him, almost responsible for his condition. But i never seemed to allow myself to go and be a big sis, because, deep down I know, I was afraid of him too, and maybe.. Maybe I hated him a little as well. Even though I kept telling myself that I didn't blame him for moms death, I was just trying to fool myself. Deep down I realize now, I had hated him." she choked on tears.

She swallowed rapidly before continuing.

"One day, dad just lost it, throwing things yelling and all around throwing a fit. And it was all directed at Gaara. I guess at that moment I decided that it was time for me to act like a big sister for once. I tried to talk to dad, to try and make him stop throwing things at Gaara. He just started yelling louder and he stared throwing bottles and things at the walls, me and Gaara, so pretty much anything in the room. Then he chucked a beer bottle at Gaara. I don't really know what happened. I just stepped between Gaara and dad and the last thing I could remember was a sharp pain and some one yelling my name. The next thing I knew I was on a hospital bed with the works(IV, monitors,etc.) with none other than Gaara sitting next to me. He just sat there for a while before a nurse walked in. I was in the hospital for three days and every time I woke up, there was Gaara. Then the day I was allowed to leave, he just disappeared and I was taken to the orphanage. After all of that, I went from foster home to foster home, till I ended up here. I have no idea where my siblings are now, but I hope I can find at least Gaara, so maybe I can make it up to him." she scrubbed her eyes before pointing at Tenten.

"Your turn," she said with a shaky smile, "spill."

Now it was Tenten's turn to curl up. She sat for a few minutes before beginning.

"My parents never cared about me. My mother was always out. My father was a drunk. So to them I was nothing more than a shadow, useless and unimportant. I was beaten often by my father. Sometimes mom would actually remember to feed me, but most of the time I had to fend for myself. I had to steal my own mothers money to get even some thread bare clothes. Then one day my mother never came back. My dad forgot about me unless he needed something to hit. Then he would remember that little girl that was always around. So finally one of the neighbors reported to cops about a disturbance. When they got there the beer bottles and cans, a bruised and bloody me, explained it all. So they took me way, then dumped me with foster parents and kept moving me around until here." She gave a wavering laugh.

"Now its your turn" she pointed at Hinata.

Hinata inhaled slowly and shakily. She stretched out her legs and braced her hands on her knees.

"My fathers name is Hiashi Huyga"

They all stared at her. The person she just mentioned was a wealthy business man who owned several shipping companies. Why would his daughter have to be sent to an orphanage?

"I was never good enough to impress him. No matter how good my grades were or how well I did, my younger sister would always surpass me. My cousin lived with us because uncle died when I was 3 and his mom died when he was born. He was always better than me as well. Father often compared us and would always ask why he got me instead of Neji. So one day he decided he didn't want me and sent me packing. I stayed with a family in the area for a while and some times Neji would come and visit me. Then I moved and well here I am." she tried to stifle tears, but failed miserably.

She broke down crying and Tenten joined her on the floor to comfort her. Hinata let herself cry for a little while before pointing to Sakura.

"You up, Saku," she trembled a little.

Sakura took a deep breath and looking as if she was going to begin she let it out and put a finger to her lip. She crossed her legs and then crossed her arms, then sighed.

"Well I guess there's no real good way to explain it, so I'm just going to go with my side. I was the youngest of eight children. I never understood any of them. It was like living with a bunch of mindless robots. I was always breaking the rules and I never did anything right in my parents eyes. While my sisters wore dresses, I wore faded jeans, sometimes purely out of spite. My parents hated me for it. All of there other children were 'perfect' so to them I was a failure, like the runt in a litter of puppies. They began to beat me, trying to 'correct' me. Every time the put me in a dress I would do something to ruin it then run of to put jeans on. So they lost any hope they could 'correct' me and turn me into one of there perfect children. So they took me to the nearest orphanage and simply said they didn't want me any more and left. So I stayed there for a while and I learned something about my family. Many people, though always polite, though or family was kinda creepy, how almost everyone was perfectly behaved. On man told me that seeing one kid acting up was almost a relief, like proof that we were human." she chuckled. "Well at least almost human. Any way I went from house to house until, boom, I'm here."

Sakura looked over at Ino.

"I let you fill in the blanks." she grinned and pointed at her. "Your turn!!" she yelled.

"Thanks for dumping the hard part on me." she glared at Sakura. Sakura just grinned "No problem!"

Smiling brightly, she scooted out of Ino's range and smiled. "Were all listening" she said propping her chin on her hand.

"I was the second youngest of eight children. I always did my best and never understood why my sister always acted up and protested and went against whatever our parent said, even if it was something as simple as wearing green or blue. She was always getting into trouble and causing problems. Eventually they just got tired of fighting with her and dumped her off at the closest orphanage. I started to think. I mean seriously, why couldn't we do things the way we wanted? So sometimes I would sneak out and run around the city just because my parents told me that it was against the rules. I met people and I saw what we looked like from another persons view. Then I saw that we were the freaks and beautiful children that only crazy parents would create. So I started acting up just like my little sister. But to be honest, she wasn't really my younger sister, I mean really, 5 minutes shouldn't matter that much. So after I started screwing around, my parents yelled that my lil'sis had infected their 'perfect child' so they dumped me off at the same place that Sakura was at, and we made the people who found foster homes for the for the orphans keep us together. And so that should cover it." she heaved a sigh, then quickly lunged a Sakura and smacked her head.

"Owww... what was that for?" Sakura whined.

"For making me explain the hard part!"

The other occupants of the room were staring at them.

"What?" they asked in unison.

"You guys were twins and never told us!!" they yelled together.

"Well it was never all that important and you guys never asked" Sakura said nonchalantly.

"Well you could have at least mentioned that you were at least sisters!" Temari yelled.

The two had to defend themselves from countless questions and the barrage of pillows. Finally they got tired of throwing things and sat down, satisfied that they had punished the two enough.

"Okay, well I think thats enough excitement for the day." Tal huffed, tired from her own contribution to the cascade of pillows.

"Ya know, I'm not going back down the stairs, I don't care if I have to sleep on a couch, I am not going down or up any more stairs today" Tenten groaned.

"Sound good to me" Temari agreed.

Tal laughed, "Okay, but you guys have to find blankets by yourself" she stood with a sigh "But I'm going to go take shower and sleep in a real bed." She yawned "Night" she called over her shoulder, before disappearing down the stairs. The girls located blankets in a worn cabinet and almost the second they laid down, they fell asleep.

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