"It is difficult to lay aside a confirmed passion." - Catullus

Kyan suffered from a strange sickness for a week. During that time, she stayed home in bed, not to far from a bucket we immaturely called the Puke Catcher.

My poor sister could hardly keep anything down, but she didn't lack any energy. While Kankuro and I fed her puréed food, Gaara kept an especially close eye on her and made sure she remained in bed. Missions were scarce, so while I tended to the restaurant, the siblings took care of Kyan.

But exactly a week after she first became ill, she was perfectly fine again, as if nothing had been wrong with her not even 24 hours earlier. She returned to working, making deliveries and serving as usual. However, that only lasted for about a month.

"Kyan? Kyan!" I called, running to my sister's body. She had fallen unconscious in the middle of the restaurant, causing a tray of glasses to fall down with her.

Customers surrounded her body, some fanning her head with their hands and some listening for breathing. I allowed myself to shove my way through them and lift her head into my lap. She was breathing, but her face was flushed and her eyelids fluttered violently, as if she were having a horrible nightmare.

Ryuinn flew from the kitchen, a damp cloth in his palm. Customers made way for his bulky body without hesitation. He pressed it to her forehead, running it along her cheeks and throat.

Over the loud talking and my own heartbeat, I faintly heard Keisuke speaking on the phone quickly, which was a huge surprise. In the month and a half I knew her, I don't remember her saying more than ten words a day to anyone. But now, she was explaining that we needed help fast, her eyes darting from Kyan to the window then back to Kyan.

In a swift motion, Kyan's eyes flew open and she rolled to the side, hacking up blood near my legs. People moved back instantly to avoid it.

"Can't…breathe," she whispered, inhaling and exhaling heavily to force some kind of air through her lungs.

"C'mon, everyone. Nothing to see here," Yano called, trying to herd the customers outside to give us all room. However, some decided it would be best to stay and watch with intensity, making Kyan incredibly uncomfortable.

"HEY! GET THE FUCK OUT!" Kasaji yelled, holding the door open. The look on his face lacked all the humor he contained in his body. Nobody questioned him as they filed out of the building.

As I looked back to my sister, who had closed her eyes again, Keisuke kneeled next to us. "The Medical Nin are going to be here soon to take her to the hospital," she told me in a calm voice. "I also called your house and told Temari."

I didn't reply. I didn't know what to say. I only stared at Kyan, fighting off the feeling that I was about to lose another family member.

()()()

The waiting room in the hospital felt inhumanly cold. I couldn't help but shake while beside me, Kasaji was perfectly fine. The rest of my employees decided to stay behind to run the restaurant until closing, which I was more than thankful for.

"Don't even worry about it!" Ryuinn had told me. "We'll take care of this place until you get back with a healthy sister."

Behind him, Azai had nodded. "Everything will be just fine."

"God, I feel like I'm going to puke," I whispered, uncurling myself from my strange sitting position to stretch my legs out.

Kasaji's eyes remained locked on the door, waiting for the siblings to come. I was a little eager for them to arrive, too. All I wanted to do was escape everything that was happening and with Kankuro, I could do that.

"Don't puke, honeybee," he told me. "I have a super weak stomach. Want me to tell you a story of legends past?"

I eyed him strangely, as if his bipolar personality had just taken a turn for the worst.

He cleared his throat before speaking. "When Kankuro turned five, my mother made him the biggest chocolate cake I'd ever seen. She warned him to slow down, but of course, the dumbass didn't listen. He inhaled half the cake. Now, keep in mind that Kuro and I weren't best friends at this point. Anyway, after eating most of the cake, not even three seconds later, he leaned to the side of the table and puked this awesome dark blue color because, you know, the frosting was blue. I saw the puke and my stomach decided to be a sheep and do the same. That's how we became best friends."

Surprisingly, I was able to crack a small smile. It was weird how easily people could become so close over simple things like…well, puking. Or, in my case with Kankuro, it was a simple walk.

"Take a walk with me."

At that moment, I never would've thought things would be an explosion between us. That simple sentence led to kisses, laughter, heartbreak, and then at some point when I thought nothing could ever come of it again, I was in love.

"Haketa?"

My head turned toward the door. At first, his figure was a blur through my tears, but when I blinked them away, I wasted no time launching myself at him.

Kankuro, fully clad in his mission attire (which would explain why it took him so long to get here), hurried to take the puppet off his back before catching me in a tight hug. I nuzzled my face in his neck, dampening his clothes with my tears.

Temari entered behind him and after taking a look at me, went to sit next to Kasaji, who wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Instead of punching him in the gut, she leaned into him, both of them wearing worried expressions.

"Have they said anything?" Kankuro muttered, placing his hand on the back of my head.

"No," I replied, burying myself closer into him.

As if right on cue, the door leading into the hallways opened and a calm-looking Medical Nin came out. She smiled softly toward me.

"Are you Miss Chikaku's sister?" she asked, her voice light and airy. I only nodded. "Has Kyan eaten any substance that isn't what someone would normally deem as edible?"

"Not that I know of," I replied slowly. "I'm not always with her when she eats, though."

"We went out to lunch not that long ago," Temari popped up. "Come to think of it, that was about three days before she got sick the first time."

"What did she eat?" the Nin asked.

"The same thing I did."

"And you were with her the whole time?"

"Well, I did get up to go to the bathroom once."

A long sigh came from the woman and she folded her hands in front of her waist. "We found a poisonous material inside Kyan's digestive system, one that can only be obtained by eating a compound made specifically in Kirigakure."

I grabbed hold of Kankuro's hand and took a step closer to her. "So someone from Kiri intentionally tried to kill her?"

"No," Temari replied before anyone else could. "They must've placed the poison in the wrong order. It would make sense to try to kill the late Kazekage's daughter.

Guess who is finally a high school graduate? That's right! And that also means I'll have more time to write, which is always good!

Thanks for reading!