Hi guys! Just wanted to let all my readers know how much I appreciate you! To those of you who have been reading since the first day of Trust, I certainly thank you bunches for holding on with me through this ride!

Please continue to enjoy!

"I never trusted good-looking boys." - Frances McDormand

After lying in bed for about four hours, trying to get warm, I sat up and wrapped the blankets even tighter around my body. Why in the world was the house so cold at night?

I stood, placing my bare feet on the freezing floor, and glanced outside. There was no snow calling from the dark sky, or heavy winds whipping the flags about. Everything was still and quiet.

Pulling the blanket even tighter to me, I left my room and entered the dark hallway. I searched for about five minutes for Kankuro's room, finally finding it by the small hole in the wall I'd noticed earlier. It looked as if someone had kicked it.

"Kankuro?" I whispered, tapping quietly on his door. "Wake up, please?"

I pressed my ear to the door. There was some rustling then eventually slow footsteps. The door opened and a pair of two sleepy eyes rested on me, followed by an amused smirk.

"You look like a bug," Kankuro told me. I would've come back at him with some other kind of insult, but then I realized his clothing.

Sweats and a heavy sweatshirt. The exact opposite of my tank top and shorts.

"I'm cold," I muttered through the part of the blanket that covered my mouth. "Is the heater broken or something?"

"Heater?" he repeated, arching a brow. "None of the houses in Suna have heaters. This is the desert, in case you've already forgotten."

I narrowed my eyes at him, mentally telling him to shut up. With an exhausted sigh, he pushed his door open the rest of the way, allowing me in. His room was just as cold as mine was.

I sat on his bed, watching him move to a closet and pull out a heavy blanket. Before closing the door, he turned back to me and asked, "What are you wearing?"

Feeling extremely awkward at the question, I unwrapped myself from my blanket home, showing what little clothing I was wearing. He frowned and shook his head, turning back to the closet. Suddenly, a pair of sweatpants, a shirt, and a sweatshirt was thrown into my lap.

"Temperatures drop to below freezing here during the night," he explained, tossing the blanket onto his bed. "Please tell me you brought heavier clothing with you."

"Um, I didn't," I replied, slipping his clothes over mine. They were huge on me, but I instantly began to feel warmer.

He closed his closet and grabbed the blanket, wrapping it tightly around me. "We'll go shopping tomorrow," he said, then glanced at his clock. "Today, I mean. Anyway, sleep in here. My room is usually the warmest in the house."

Warm sounded fantastic, so as much as I wanted to argue with him, I didn't. I only curled up on his bed, nuzzling my face into his inviting pillow. The bed caved in next to me, so I did my best to scoot over to make room for him.

Within thirty minutes, Kankuro was asleep again, his arm draped over my waist and his breath soft in my ear. I felt his slow heartbeat on my back, even through all the padding of blanket and clothes. Every now and then, a random body part would twitch or his breathing pattern would change.

I nibbled on the inside of my cheek, thinking how odd yet right this felt. Surprisingly enough to me, I didn't have the urge to move away from him or sneak back into my own room. I just wanted to stay there, as close as possible, and fall asleep with my breathing in rhythm with his.

It took another hour for that to finally happen.

()()()

I woke up groggy and alone the next morning. I rolled over to an empty spot next to me. Sitting up, I realized my blanket cocoon was half way off my body, like I must've gotten too hot at one point during the night.

I looked outside the window, seeing the sun beginning to peek up from over the sand walls. The clock read 6:37, which was way too early for me to be awake.

As I left Kankuro's room, leaving the blanket behind, I made my way toward the kitchen. I stopped walking when I noticed a bundle of blankets on the couch, a foot sticking out from under them. I quietly searched the cabinets for glassware and filled a cup with water.

When I walked back through the living room, the pile of blankets shifted. They sat up and I noticed who it was right away, even from the extreme case of bed-head.

"Kyan?" I asked. "Why are you on the couch?"

Her sleepy black eyes met mine, an almost exact mirrored view, and a silent yawn came from her wide O-shaped mouth. "I g-got lost last night," she told me, looking up at a clock on the wall. "I couldn't find m-my way back to my room, so I st-stayed here."

We both jumped when the door open and two men walked in. One we knew very well, the other was a stranger, but they both smelled of sweat.

"Oh, hey guys," Kankuro muttered, panting softly.

I glanced toward the unknown person. He looked to be about Kankuro's age, if not a few years older. His face was matured, set with deep blue eyes and lightly fuzzed with brown hair on his chin. He had broad shoulders, a wide chest, and stood at an equal height with Kankuro. Light brown hair stuck to his neck with sweat.

"Hey," I finally replied to Kankuro, who turned toward the other.

"This is Kasaji. Kasaji, this is Haketa and Kyan, our new roommates," he introduced.

Kyan rushed to her feet and bowed to Kasaji the same time I did. "Its nice to meet you," we told him in unison. In respect, he did the same to us.

"Are you guys hungry?" Kankuro asked, heading toward the kitchen.

"Not really," I replied, also answering for my sister, who plopped her tired self back onto the couch. I followed the two men into the kitchen and took a seat next to Kasaji at the table. "Did you guys just come back from running a marathon or what?"

"Yep," Kasaji answered, even though I meant it as a joke. "There's a trail that goes along the outside of the village. Its probably more miles than I can count, but we just jog the four mile mark, don't we, Kuro?"

Turning around from the open fridge, Kankuro delivered an almost painful death glare. "You know not to call me that, but yes, every other day."

I rested my cheek on my palm, somewhat hiding my smirk. From what I could tell between the two, they were close friends. Not quite best friends, but almost there.

The fridge door closed and Kankuro walked past, slapping Kasaji on the back. "Find your own self something to eat. I'm going to shower," he ordered him, and then gave me a soft smile.

Once he was gone, Kasaji stood and began searching through the cabinets. I watched him open doors, stand for three seconds, close them, and then repeat at a different part of the kitchen. Each time he moved, he let out a loud sigh of frustration.

"You're Haketa, right?" he finally asked without looking at me.

"Yeah."

"Kankuro's ex?"

"Um, yeah. Why?" I shuffled my feet on the floor uncomfortably. I didn't exactly like being questioned by someone I didn't know, especially when something so personal was brought up.

Finally, he took a seat in front of me, peeling an orange. "I'm just wondering how he ended up back with Serisu after you."

"It's a long story," I muttered, glancing away to avoid his awkward stare. I focused on a small cactus on the counter.

"If it involves the attack on Konoha, don't bother talking about that part. I was involved in that. Not on your side, of course," he explained, shoving a piece into his mouth. "Is that why you dumped him?"

My left leg began bouncing nervously. It was almost as if he was trying to make me upset by telling me he aided in the attack. "There never really was a 'dumping' part of our relationship. We just split after the fight. Hasn't Kankuro told you about this?"

Kasaji shook his head and took his time chewing on a juicy piece. "Nope. He refuses to talk about it with anyone. Its not healthy, in my opinion. But he'll talk about you for hours."

My cheeks instantly began to feel warmer. "What does he say about me?"

My question seemed to spark his interest. His eyes lit up and he inclined himself closer to me. I could really smell the sweat on his body now. "Why don't we play a little info exchange game? You tell me about the whole break up, and I'll tell you what he says about you."

"Why do you want to know so badly?"

"Who knows? Maybe I'm just that level of intense nosy?"

My mouth formed into a hard line until I blurted everything out. I told him all about Kankuro's stay in my village, how close we became during that short time, and about why we ended up parting ways. I even threw in details in hopes I would learn more from him.

"That's it?" Kasaji asked when I was done. My only reply was a quick head nod. He sighed and leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. "What does he say about you, hm? I guess the better question is what doesn't he say about you? You're prettier than Serisu. He and I established that after I saw a picture of you."

"A picture of me?"

"He wanted to show me, so we looked up the Shinobi registry in the Kazekage office. You'd be surprised at how many Shinobi there are in this world. Anyway, he told me you have soft hands. Maybe I'll get to experience them?" With that, he sent an awkward wink my way.

I entwined my fingers with each other under the table and gave him a fake smile. "Um, no. Sorry."

He sighed in a defeated manner and straightened his back. "Fine. Well, continuing with our conversation. He told me he really did love you, but the way things worked out with the attack ruined everything. While we were out this morning, he seemed to be in a much better mood than he norma-"

"Kasaji, what are you whispering about?" Kankuro's voice demanded from behind.

Kasaji and I both turned to look at him in a panic. Kankuro's eyes, almost covered with his damp hair, locked with his friend's in an imaginary "boys-only" battle as he leaned against the doorframe. I looked between the two, not entirely sure where I stood in the situation.

"Just talking about how Haketa keeps her hands so soft," Kasaji finally replied with a sly look about him.

"Get out."

Kasaji stood and raised his hands up. "Oh, I'll go. But I'll be back later today."

"Don't."

"I will be."

"Just go."

With a dramatic whisk of his body, Kasaji was gone from the house. Kankuro shook his head and looked toward me, an almost embarrassed look in his face.

"Sorry about him," he muttered, looking toward the door. "He's that friend I keep around for comic relief. He says stupid things and flirts with everything that moves."

I grimaced, suddenly missing Naruto.

"Anyway," Kankuro continued, "why don't you go get ready and I'll take you to get some appropriate clothes?"

I stood up from the chair and nodded, hurrying past him. I noticed the fresh-shower scent about him, taking in as much as I could before I was too far away.

As I searched through my own clothes that I had brought and readied myself for a shower, Kasaji's words repeated many times in my head. I tried thinking about something else, but they pulled at me until I finally accepted that I was okay with hearing them.

"He really did love you. He really did love you. He really did love you."

"And I really did love you, too…