A/N: Hey everyone! Once again, many thanks go to Megan for coming up with this idea! About the clothes that they wear for this chapter. I'm sorry they don't have much detail, but I have no idea how to describe them, so bear with me. And yes! I am evil enough to postpone the moment of truth; what were Sasuke and Tenten doing that day?
Onto reviews!
Denielle, you pointed out how Tenten and Hinata were calling each other –san and asked about it. It's not just for guys; –san is generally used for both genders.
And I realize that I made a mistake in Chapter 2 (thanks to punkgrl326 and Ayumi!) with Hinata's father's name. Sorry. Moment of uncertainty plus summer vacation equals brain dead Rini-chan. Ah well…Summer's almost over so brain-dead Rini-chan is gonna disappear…Of course, that means that I'll be swamped with school…
Oh, and to punkgrl326, I know that Hinata and Neji are just cousins, not siblings. Did it sound like they were siblings?
And there's not gonna be too much chatroom in this chapter. I don't want to make it too long.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed! On with the story!
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An incessant pounding on the front door woke Tenten from her sleep. Mumbling, she threw the messy covers to the side and stumbled half asleep to the door.
"Who is it?" she asked as she opened the door. Sakura stood there in a pale pink kimono with pink petals decorating it, panting.
"Sakura? What are you doing here so early?" Tenten grumbled.
"Early? Do you know what time it is?" Sakura surveyed Tenten's tousled chestnut brown hair and half closed eyes.
"What do you mean? It's only-HOLY CRAP!" Tenten screamed at the clock that read 11:30, now wide awake. The Cherry Blossom Festival started at noon and she was supposed be at Hinata's fifteen minutes ago so they could arrive together and Hinata would have time to set up.
"Yeah! Hinata-chan's freaking out because she thinks you blew her off!" Sakura scolded as she flopped down on the couch. Tenten ran into her room to change into a crimson red kimono with a dragon pattern and a slit down both sides and gold trim. She moved to her vanity and picked up a pair of pink hair chopsticks, figuring to do her hair at Hinata's house.
"Let's go, Sakura!" Tenten said as she emerged from her room, slinging a red purse over her shoulder.
"Alright then!" Sakura said, jumping up.
"Aren't you going to wear more appropriate shoes?" Tenten asked, raising an eyebrow at Sakura's ninja sandals.
"They're at Hinata-chan's. I'm switching into them later," Sakura said, opening the door.
"Oh," Tenten replied, seeing the logic. She slipped into her sandals, putting her other sandals and socks into her purse, along with some money, and followed Sakura out. Tenten locked the door behind them and the two kunoichis took off.
Five minutes later, they arrived at the Hyuga house breathless. As soon as they knocked, the door flung open and a worried Hinata greeted them.
"You're finally here! The Sand Siblings are meeting us there. We have to hurry!" Hinata said quickly as Sakura and Tenten stumbled through the door.
"Can I change into my other shoes and do my hair?" Tenten asked. Hinata nodded impatiently and Sakura and Tenten raced to the bathroom. Tenten took out her chopsticks and set them on the counter. She picked up a brush and ran through her tangled hair and expertly twisted it into a bun. Her fingers picked up the chopsticks and skillfully wove them into her locks to secure the bun. By the time she was done, Sakura had finished brushing her hair and the two went back to the living room with everyone else.
They were waiting, dressed up and ready to go. Ino wore a pale blue kimono with short sleeves, slits down the sides and a blue flower design. Her hair was in a half ponytail, some of it spilling over her shoulders and the rest cascading down her back. All the guys were wearing pretty much the same thing: a men's kimono with their own special colors. Lee had green, Naruto orange, Shikamaru with green-gray, Kiba wore gray, Neji white, Chouji had tan and Shino black.
"Is Sasuke here?" Tenten looked around. Hinata shook her head sadly and Tenten scowled. Sasuke, I really am gonna gut you like a fish now…
"Is everyone ready?" Hinata asked, looking around. They all quickly changed into their appropriate sandals and nodded. Hinata checked the time. 11:40. It was ten minutes from her house to the village center if they hurried. They could make it with time for her to prepare.
"Alright, let's go!" They all filed out the door, Hinata locking it behind her, and set off, buzzing with excitement.
At 11:50, they showed up at the gates. Temari, Gaara and Kankuro rushed to meet them. Kankuro wore a black kimono and Gaara wore red. Temari had a deep purple kimono, decorated with a crane taking flight pattern, with a light purple sash and matching purple slippers. Her hair was up in the usual style, but tied with light purple ribbons.
"We've been here since 11:20! Where were you guys?" Temari asked. Gaara clung onto her arm, his eyes filled with yearning to go inside.
"I, uh, delayed them," Tenten replied sheepishly. Temari raised an eyebrow.
"Are we going in or just stand here? Because if we're just standing here, then I'm outta here," a deep voice said from the shadows. Everyone turned to the nearest tree and gasped in surprise, with following screams and squeals from Sakura.
"Sasuke-kun! You came!" she shouted and ran over. Sasuke glared at her for a bit and his face twisted into a scowl, matching his depressingly dark blue kimono.
"Are we going or what?" Hinata nodded and spoke quickly to the guard, a Chuunin. He looked at the large group of people and spoke to Hinata. She pulled a tag out of her kimono sleeve and the guard opened the gates to let them through.
If you can picture bees in a nest, that's what it was like inside the Cherry Blossom Festival. People were scurrying around like mad and had to yell directions at others. Tents and stalls were still being set up, decorations were still getting hung. Many of the merchants were setting up their merchandise or arguing with others. As Hinata led the group through the buzzing square, the group, mainly the girls, had to constantly tell the merchants they weren't interested in buying anything yet.
Hinata stopped at the largest tent, in the center of the festival. It towered above all other buildings, a bright pink silk cloth tent pitched on sturdy brown bamboo sticks. The flaps were open, tied with red string to the bamboo rods, allowing all to see inside.
"Hinata-chan! You're late! The director wants to talk to you!" A girl, the same height as Hinata, came running up. She wore the same outfit as Hinata, with long black hair and hazel eyes.
"Um, alright, Meira-chan. I'll be right there." Hinata turned to face the group. "Go ahead and look around at all the stalls while I help set up. I'll come find you all later." Everyone shrugged and started walking around. Gaara continued to hang onto Temari as she and all the other kunoichis went around, looking at all the shiny, sparkly, cute things that merchants were offering. The boys just followed them around like puppies, stopping every once in a while to inspect something that caught their eye.
The clock struck noon. Little by little, the square filled with villagers, shopping, making deals with the merchants, eating food and talking. Once in a while, some guy would come up and start hitting on a kunoichi, in which one of the boys would promptly take care of him.
As Tenten browsed through the stalls, she found that she was delighted by most of the things that merchants offered. After a couple minutes, she had already bought a pair of jeweled hair chopsticks and two red bangles with charms and bells, all at a ridiculously cheap price. After the purchase, she slipped off to the bathroom to replace her pink chopsticks with the red ones. A bangle on each wrist, she slipped the chopsticks into her purse.
"Tenten! Hurry up! The show's starting in, like, ten minutes!" Sakura called as Tenten stepped out of the bathroom.
"Ten minutes? That's more than enough time. I still want to look at some stuff," Tenten replied as she walked over to the group.
"We have to go so we can get good seats! So we can see Hinata!" Gaara cried ecstatically, clutching the recently bought pale PINK stuffed bunny.
"All right, let's go then, Gaara," Tenten smiled as Gaara cheered, pulling Temari's hand and begging her to hurry.
Inside, the tent was much bigger. It was actually covering the stage that the performers would use. Down the center of the floor was a flight of wooden stairs, hollow and echoing the footsteps. Rows upon rows of wooden benches were aligned just so and made so that everyone could see the stage. It was massive, stretching from one side of the tent to another. Two flights of stairs, one on each side, allowed them to actually get on the towering stage. Above the stage, hanging from a long bamboo rod, were multiple colored lights that people were now testing. The navy blue curtain was shut as the group climbed on the stage and made their way to the front row.
An announcement came on as they sat down in the front row, saying that the sow would begin in five minutes. Hinata came out from behind the blue curtain, along with another girl.
"Hinata! Over here!" Gaara cried, waving his hand in the air. Hinata looked over, cocked her head and walked off the stage.
"I thought I was coming to get you guys!" Hinata said, confused.
"Gaara wanted to get good seats, so we came early," Temari explained.
"Who's your friend?" Ino asked, pointing at the second girl.
"Do you guys remember Meira? Meira, these are my friends. Tenten, Sakura, Temari, Sasuke, Lee, Naruto-kun, Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, Kankuro, Gaara, Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji and my cousin Neji-san. Everyone, this is Meira-chan," Hinata introduced quickly. Meira waved and bowed. The group greeted her with a chorus of hellos and an ocean of waves.
"Meira! Hinata! Back on stage! The show's ready to begin!" An older woman called and beckoned them.
"See you all after the show!" Hinata waved. The two ran back up and disappeared behind the curtain as people started filing in. In about a minute, the seats were filled up and people had to start standing.
"Wow, look at all the people!" Kiba said, Akamaru barking in agreement.
"Yeah! I hope none of the actresses get stage fright!" Temari joked.
"They won't! Their youth won't allow it!" Lee stood up and yelled, confidence blazing in his eyes. The others sweat dropped as the rest of the audience turned to stare.
"Lee! Get down!" Tenten hissed and yanked him down by the arm as people around started to whisper.
"But-!"
"Well, I guess we'll find out soon enough," Kankuro said as the lights dimmed. Silence fell over the audience as a spotlight appeared on the microphone stand. A woman came out in a pale purple yukata like Hinata's. Kiba and Shino did a double take.
"KURENAI-SENSEI!" Kiba yelled and stood up quickly, making Akamaru lose balance. The puppy yelped and fell backwards, landing in someone's lap in the row behind them. Ino and Sakura yanked him down, a furious look on their faces, as the others just slid down into their seats.
"I believe this cute little puppy is yours, young man," a woman handed Kiba Akamaru and he thanked her, setting his companion in his lap. He stared up at his sensei in disbelief. Kurenai too seemed a little shocked, but she covered it up.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 5th annual Cherry Blossom Festival. This year for the main performance, I am pleased to show our newest dancers who have worked very hard for this day. I am sure they'll do great. Ladies and gentlemen, the Cherry Blossom Dancers." Clapping rose from the audience as, one by one, the girls came out in their yukatas and the blue curtains were drawn up to reveal the backdrop with blooming sakura trees. When Hinata came out, the ninja group let their cheering be heard, claps and whistles and all.
The kunoichi blushed when she heard it and blushed even more when she saw Naruto was the loudest of them all. She got into her position, took a deep breath and froze, waiting for the music to cue them. As the music started, she focused solely on Naruto. Her eyes never left him and, to her, he was the only one there in the audience.
Of course, when the music started, signaling the start of the performance, the crowd quieted down with an occasional whisper here and there. They were all captured by the elegant and graceful flow of the dancers. Naruto looked on in excitement and Tenten couldn't help but notice that Hinata's eyes were on Naruto at all times. She smiled and settled back into her seat, letting the music take her away.
Sasuke frowned in disapproval. Instead of spending his valuable time training, he had been dragged here to watch a pointless dance. Tomorrow, he had another session with Tenten. He smirked; he would have his revenge on her tomorrow.
Gaara, on the other hand, was filled with more excitement than Naruto and Lee put together. He was still clutching onto Temari's kimono sleeve but he had leaned forward so he was on the verge of falling off. At one point, he tried to run upstage and dance with the girls. If it weren't for the fact that he was holding Temari's sleeve, he would've succeeded too. But, as it turns out, our little sand ninja in rehab fell on his butt when Temari pulled him back. His eyes had welled up when his sister had plopped him back in his seat and he was about to let loose a waterfall of tears if Temari hadn't hugged him, promised him ice cream and given him Mr. Snugglebottoms, so was the bunny named.
After the show was over and most of the audience had filed out, the group was talking casually as they waited for Hinata.
"Ice cream! Ice cream! Ice cream!" Gaara chanted, bouncing up and down next to Temari as she calmly chatted with Shikamaru.
"HINATA!" The sand ninja screamed as the kunoichi and Meira emerged from behind the curtain, chatting happily to each other. They looked up in surprise at Gaara's shriek. Everyone else in the group turned as well and called out to them. The girls exchanged glances and made their way down.
As they arrived, they were bombarded by "Awesome performance!" and "Way to go!" and more along those lines. The girls laughed and thanked them.
"Let's all go get something to eat! I'm starving!" Meira announced. They all agreed and headed out of the tent.
"The food stalls are over that way," Hinata pointed.
"Let's go!" Naruto yelled out, obviously happy to eat. Somewhere in the midst of it all, he had spied a-you guessed it-Ramen stall.
"ICE CREAM!" Gaara screamed joyfully.
"Lunch! Thank goodness! I haven't even eaten breakfast!" Meira laughed and strode forward.
"Meira!" Hinata cried out as her new friend stopped short, her knees giving way. The ever-moving crowd knocked her over and, as she fell, they caught a glimpse of the girl's pale and ashen face. She fell backwards into Kankuro.
"Woah!" Kankuro exclaimed in surprise and nearly fell backwards with the unexpected weight. He picked her up and set her down back inside the tent, safe from the trampling crowd.
"Meira! Are you okay? What happened?" Hinata said frightfully as Kankuro laid her down on the wooden bench.
"Let me have a look," Sakura edged her way in and started to inspect the passed out girl. "Don't worry. She just didn't have enough to eat. A good lunch should be enough to get her all better," the medic-nin prescribed and stood up. A pale Hinata nodded.
"I'll buy lunch and bring it back here. I'm sure it'll be alright to eat in here. What would you guys like?"
"RAMEN!" Naruto said quickly and fished out his yen from his pocket, handing it to Hinata. She blushed as she took it and nodded.
"ICE CREAM!" Gaara cried out just as quickly.
"Gaara! No dessert for lunch! Get something else and eat ice cream afterwards!" Temari scolded. Gaara pouted and sighed.
"Okay, sister dearest. Ramen and ice cream please!" A huge smile was plastered over his face, which scared the living daylights out of everyone for a minute.
"Right…Um, anyways," Temari said, still a little disturbed, "I'll just have some takoyaki, if you don't mind. What about you, Kankuro?" she asked as she gave Hinata the yen to pay for her meal and Gaara's.
"Eh, just get me some takoyaki," Kankuro said nonchalantly as he handed over his yen.
"Ramen for me, Hinata-chan," Sakura said, giving her yen to the dancer.
After two minutes, Hinata had everyone's orders: Ino, Shikamaru, Temari, Kankuro, Sasuke, Shino and Kiba wanted takoyaki. Ramen orders were for Naruto, Sakura, Gaara, Hinata, Meira, Neji, Tenten and Lee. Chouji wanted both dishes and a bag of chips. Hinata made mental notes of the orders and set off, casting a worried glance at Meira.
"Mmm…" Everyone turned to see Meira waking up. Her eyes blinked once, twice and she struggled to get up. Sakura instantly moved next to her and pushed her back down gently on the wooden bench. The girl gave in instantly and went back to sleep.
Five minutes later, Hinata came back, her hands trying to hold all of it at once. Naruto instantly rushed to help her, leaving the kunoichi stuttering (more than usual) and very red. Meira woke up soon afterwards and soon they were all eating and chatting nonchalantly.
"The Cherry Blossom Parade is about to start in five minutes."
"LET'S GO!" Gaara screamed after hearing the announcement. Everyone shrugged, finished up their meals, disposed of their containers, and headed out the tent.
"The crowd's already getting pretty big. Let's hurry," Tenten observed as they started worming through the hordes of people.
They finally broke through to the very front and sat down on the sidewalk, talking until the announcer came on again, saying that the parade had just started.
The next hour or so was spent watching a fascinating array of floats, performances in which Hinata and Meira took part of on the floats, flying confetti and loud music.
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A/N: Sorry to interrupt. I don't want to take any longer on this chapter and it's getting kinda long so I'm not gonna go into anymore detail on the parade. Sorry! And the ruler thingy isn't working for me so I'm using improv.
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"That was fun," Temari commented after Hinata and Meira had rejoined them after the parade was over.
"Yeah. Let's go look at some more stalls before we head home," Ino said, practically yanking Shikamaru's arm off.
"This is so troublesome…" the genius muttered before Ino dragged him off. Everyone shrugged and split into their own little groups (Hinata, Meira, Tenten and Neji; Temari, Kankuro and Gaara, Sakura, Sasuke, Ino and Shikamaru; Shino, Kiba, Akamaru, Lee and Chouji), agreeing to meet up at the gates in an hour's time, since it was already getting dark out.
Hinata, Meira and Tenten browsed from merchant to merchant, Neji sullenly following. At least one of them would something from each stall they went to, laughing and talking all the way.
Sakura and Ino dragged the boys along to each stall, all the while flirting, giggling and getting the boys to pay for their things. Not very interesting. Let's move on.
Shino, Kiba, Akamaru, Lee and Chouji decided that there was nothing they wanted so they ended up waiting at the gates for the others.
Meanwhile, Temari was leading her two brothers through the maze of people and stalls.
"If you get lost, go back to the gates, okay?" Temari told Gaara.
"Okay!" Gaara said happily licking his ice cream, not really listening. He still clung tightly onto, uh, Mr. Snugglebottoms with one arm and Temari's sleeve with his free hand. Kankuro just aimlessly tagged along, eventually leaving to go to the gates.
"Can I have cotton candy, sister dearest?" Gaara asked, seeing a couple walk by with a bag.
"No, Gaara. You've had too much sugar already," Temari said dismissively, looking at some jewelry.
"But sister dearest, I want-!"
"Gaara! No cotton candy!" At this, our rehabilitated sand ninja started tearing up and crying.
"I WANT COTTON CANDY!" Gaara screamed at the top of lungs over and over again. For emphasis, he let go of Temari's sleeve and started flailing. Some poor bystanders also got drips of ice cream flung on their faces. Those who were near enough to hear Gaara (namely, everyone at the festival) covered their ears.
"Gaara!" Temari clapped her hand over his mouth, using her other arm to clamp his arms to his side. "Be quiet." she hissed in his ear, shadows playing over her face. His green eyes, wide and still full of tears, looked up and saw the face. Immediately, he became still and limp in his sister's arms.
Temari dragged him off to the side and sat him down on a bench in the center of the festival grounds, kneeling in front of him and holding him by the shoulders. "Stay here. I'll be right back, okay? I'm going to get Kankuro to come watch you." Gaara slowly and sadly nodded and Temari left, cursing quietly underneath her breath.
"All…I…wanted…was…cotton…candy…" sniffled Gaara, hugging Mr. Snugglebottoms, "She's…so…MEAN!" At this point, he started to cry again.
A passerby walked up and leaned forward. "What's wrong? Are you lost?" the woman asked gently.
"N-no…I…need money…for cotton…candy…" Gaara answered, wiping his nose on the back of his hand.
"Oh, then. Here you go," the passerby ruffled his red hair and held out some yen.
"R-really?" Gaara looked up, a small smile playing on his face.
"Sure! Go buy some cotton candy!"
"Thank you! You're nice!" Gaara said happily, taking the money from the woman's hands. She smiled and walked off.
"Wheeee! Mr. Snugglebottoms, let's get some cotton candy!" Gaara said, leaping up and running off, spying a cart off in the distance.
"I'm telling you, Kankuro! Gaara's even worse now!" Temari said, weaving through the crowd.
"Maybe you shouldn't have put him through rehab?" Kankuro suggested, following the sand kunoichi.
"Well, I only did it so-Gaara?" Temari stopped suddenly, looking around. The bench that she had sat Gaara down at was empty. "Gaara!" she called again, looking around frantically.
"Where is he?" Kankuro asked, oblivious to what was going on.
"I don't know! He was right here when I left!" Temari answered, her voice quickly showing signs of panic.
"Calm down, I'm sure he just-," Kankuro began.
"Calm down? CALM DOWN! I JUST LOST GAARA!" Temari screamed hysterically.
"You what!" Hinata, Meira, Tenten and Neji had just appeared, hearing Temari's frightened calls.
"She lost Gaara," Kankuro said simply, earning himself a slap upside the head from Temari. He made a face and rubbed his sore spot, knowing not to protest.
"You lost Gaara!" Sakura and Ino appeared, dragging the boys by the arm.
"I just went to get Kankuro!" wailed Temari.
"What's going on? We could hear Temari across the square," Kiba came up, Shino, Lee and Chouji in tow.
"GAARA'S GONE!" Temari howled and buried her face in her hands. Kiba arched his eyebrow but said nothing.
"Let's split up. We'll search the grounds. We'll find him." Tenten patted Temari on the back. "Go with the people that you went shopping with. Kiba, your group searches the north part. My group will go right. Sakura, go left. Temari, take Kankuro and go south. Meet up here when you finished searching. If you find him, bring him back here and wait for the rest of us. Let's go, people!" Tenten directed with authority that she didn't know she had. The group hurriedly split up, calling for Gaara.
An hour later, they all met up at the bench.
"No one found him!" Tenten asked, receiving a bunch of "No"s as an answer. Temari started to sob in her hands again.
"We searched the entire park. Even Akamaru couldn't track him down!" Kiba said, stroking his puppy. Akamaru started to bark and leapt off of Kiba's head.
"Akamaru?" Kiba looked at his barking companion, "He said he has Gaara's scent. Quick, let's go!" The group, upon hearing the news, kicked it into high gear and followed the dog through the crowds.
"I like cotton candy too!" Gaara's voice was eventually heard.
"I hear him!" They all said at the same time. They broke through the crowd in time to hear "Yeah, she's so hot." This made them stop dead in their tracks.
"Gaa…ra?" Temari asked cautiously. There he was, sitting on a bench, eating a bag of cotton candy. Next to him was…a pigeon?
"Yeah, she's pretty cute," Gaara said to no one in particular. He looked up. "Hi sister! Look, a nice lady gave me money for cotton candy!" Gaara said, holding up his treat, a wide smile on his face. The group took a moment to shiver from the smile, then ran to surround the sand shinobi.
"I'M SO HAPPY I FOUND YOU, GAARA!" Temari hugged Gaara as he flailed, trying to insert some cotton candy in his mouth.
"Uh…Temari?" Kankuro put a hand on Temari's shoulder, "You might want to let Gaara go before he dies from lack of air,"
"Oh," Temari, a sheepish look on her face, let Gaara go and stroked his hair, "Don't you EVER scare me like that again, you hear?"
"I'm sorry sister…I just wanted some cotton candy," Gaara answered.
"It's dangerous to wander around by yourself."
"But I wasn't alone!"
"Huh?" The group said in unison again.
"I had Shu-kun with me!"
"Shu…kun?" Temari asked hesitantly. Gaara nodded.
"Actually, it's Shunichi, but, eh, I let him call me Shu," a voice said. The group did a double take, unable to find the source of the voice.
"Who said that?" Hinata asked, eyes wide.
"Down here! Yoo-hoo!" The group looked down at the pigeon. "Geez, you all are slower than a snail. And trust me, my friend's a snail. Don't get me started on how I gotta keep up with her, okay?"
The group stared. And stared. And stared. They were unable to grasp it; a pigeon was talking. To them.
"Hello? Are you guys awake?" Shunichi flew up and stared Hinata in the face.
"EEK!" Hinata screamed and swung her arm, swatting the pigeon away. She breathed heavily, wide-eyed, staring at the groaning pigeon.
"What the heck was that for? Dang, y'all act like you never seen a talking pigeon before!"
"WE HAVEN'T!" The others yelled.
"Temari-chan, can I keep him? Please? I'll take care of him, I promise!" Gaara pleaded.
"Yeah, I won't make a mess of the house. Pigeon's word." Shunichi pledged, raising a wing. All eyes turned Temari, who was pale. Her eyes went from Gaara to the pigeon, to Kankuro, back to Gaara and again to the pigeon. Her mouth opened and closed, unable to speak.
"I…" she started to say, but stopped, still staring at the pigeon.
"Please!" Gaara and Shunichi asked in unison, looking at her with the biggest eyes they could muster.
"…Fine."
"Yay!"
"Now let's just go home. I think I've had enough for one day…" Temari took Gaara's hand as the others agreed. They walked to the gates, Shunichi on Gaara's shoulder, and bid each other good bye.
"Oh, uh, Shunichi?" Tenten asked, feeling awkward talking to the pigeon.
"Hm?" Shunichi turned towards the weapons mistress.
"Back there, who were talking about? The one that Gaara agreed was cute?"
"Oh, her? This smoking hot squirrel walked by. Man, I'd like to crack some nuts with her sometime," the pigeon said wistfully.
Silence. All eyes turned to Gaara and Shunichi.
"What?"
"…No, don't ask. Let's just go," Temari said.
"Yeah," agreed everyone else. They started to walk away as the Sand Siblings and their new pet started to walk toward their home village.
"Can we come back to this place tomorrow? I want to see that squirrel again," Shunichi asked.
"…No. Just, no. End of discussion."
"But-!"
"NO."
And so, the Sand Siblings ended up going home with a new and, er, talented pet and they all went home with an unbelievable tale to tell.
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A/N: Yeah, I had writer's block so I couldn't figure out how to end it. Sorry about that...