(( Thank you all for reading and being so kind as to tell me what you thought!! Unfortunately, I didn't realize that the seventh chapter was shorter than the last... DX I'm trying so please don't give up on me!!))

Chapter 8: Before Dinner Fight

Gaara stood in the door way, watching the girl with blank eyes. She seemed frozen on the spot and her large lavender eyes were fixated on his. Cocking an imaginary eyebrow, he asked, "Are you going to let us in?"

Chikage seemed out of it as she asked, "U-us?"

Temari and Kankuro waved from behind their younger brother. And each of them held a knowing smirk... drenched in slight denial.

Chikage moved out of the way as though the Plague had just stepped in front of her. "P-please come in. My parents have been expecting you... though they'd failed to tell me in time. My name is Chikage Aoi. It's nice to meet you all," she said with all the shyness she'd tried holding back.

The redhead just walked in as if he owned the place, followed by his brother and sister, who introduced themselves just to be polite. "So what's for supper?! I'm starved!" Kankuro asked, sniffing the air.

Temari slammed her fist into Kankuro's skull, shouting, "You idiot! Don't be so rude!"

"But I'm hungry! And you don't feed us!!"

Chikage chuckled lightly and said, "Please don't shout... there's plenty for every--"

"I do too feed you!!" Temari declared in anger. She completely ignored the young hostess' words.

"If you can call that charcoal food, you must have been born without any common sense!" Kankuro shot back loudly.

Chikage bit her lip. How does one make two trained ninja's stop arguing without risking your life?

"Kankuro, Temari... shut up. You're an embarrassment... to your family." Gaara was suddenly behind Chikage, raising the hair on her neck up in surprise. She turned to look at the boy and she gave a small bow of gratitude.

"Come... it's time to eat. And there's plenty for everyone," she invited cheerfully as she took both Temari and Kankuro's hands and lead them to the kitchen like a child would drag her parents to the Christmas tree.

And the elder siblings just smiled, though Kankuro's was a bit more lecherous than Temari's. And Gaara followed, feeling a little left out-- not that he would show it. But once in the kitchen, his annoyance came out when Kankuro exclaimed over and over, in every way he could think of, how much food had been made on their behalf.

"Just be happy that Mama didn't make that. We'd be taking you to the hospital, Kankuro-sama, while the rest of us stayed behind to starve," Hito replied laughing.

Gaara looked in slight curiousity as Temari asked, "What do you mean?"

"Mama can't cook and Papa doesn't cook because that's a girl's job, he says. So Chikage cooks when she gets the chance. And when she doesn't, I just don't eat."

Mama laughed nervously as she sat down in her usual chair to the right of the table head. "Don't be rediculous, Hito. I cook excellent meals. But Chikage insisted that she do the cooking tonight. She's learning quite a lot from her mother..."

Hito would have burst out laughing if it were not for the stern glare Mama had given him. A glare that Gaara had seen. So he asked, "Where did the girl go?" He wasn't afraid of the mother... he just wanted a break from her over-perfumed self.

"Chi went to her room--" the brother replied. And that was all that it took. Gaara was gone in a puff of sand. "-- getting... changed..."

((I am so sorry!! I've had this ready for so long! But I didn't realize it... so I had made a new one... but I had a kunoichi sister named Aoi (lol) because I'd forgotten about the last name... and in the end, Gaara was going to Chikage's room while she was changing... but I liked this one better... though it was a bit shorter... next chapter, we're gonna see what's gonna happen when it comes to Gaara being in Chikage's room... or better yet, her closet... of course, this chapter is free of charge since I forgot about it for SO LONG! I am totally bashing my head against a memory barrier here. Bad Kitsune Slave, Bad!!))