I will apologize right now to the few of you who actually enjoy reading my story. I know it has been a while since I last updated. It is pretty sad that I have not put this chapter up seeing as it has been done for a long time. I have been having trouble writing lately and just bringing this up to edit seemed like too much work
Kara: "hmm...not like you do the editing."
I know, I'm lazy right? Haha. Well, I am sorry for the wait. Here's Chapter 7 for you. Enjoy!
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Night had fallen and it was starting to get chilly in the desert village. Street lights were starting to come on and the number of people on the streets started to diminish. Rayne and Kankuro were still laughing when they walk into the house around 9 o'clock that night. Temari had just returned home as well and they met her at the door.
"Hey guys. I assume the mission went well?" asked Temari as they all walked in. Kankuro glanced at Rayne who was covered in dirt and scrapes still, and they both let out another wave of laughter.
"What's so funny?" Asked Temari, very confused.
"Oh it went pretty great Temari" he laughed. "Real great acctually. Blew the roof off the place."
"My God Kankuro, I hope you are kidding"
"I wish"
"I don't even want to know" she sighed before walking into the kitchen with a smile. Rayne and Kankuro removed their shoes and then joined Temari and Gaara at the kitchen table. It wasn't unusual for them to eat this late seeing as they often got home late. After a quick dinner Rayne took a short shower to wash all the dirt and grime from today's mission off. After making sure all her scrapes were cleaned, she put on some spare clothing given to her by Temari and layed down on the couch in the living room where Temari was reading a book. She pulled the blanket she used the night before over her head and was sound asleep just moments after her head hit the pillow.
Gaara looked up from his desk as there was a knock on his door. Kankuro came into his office and sat down in one of the chairs across from the Kazekage's desk.
"How's it going Gaara? Temari said you might need a little help"
Gaara sighed and ran his hand through his dark red hair. There was a lot of work that still needed to be done but it was getting late and he wanted to go to bed. He had already gone throught the reports from Kankuro's mission today and that had put him in a foul mood. Now he was going throught the mission lists. They just didn't have enough Shinobi for all the jobs that seemed to be increasing. He had just finished reading another mission request. He had already gotten quite a few from a woman and she was starting to get on his nerves. "Well, I have been better" he said, sounding more annoyed than he meant to.
"What's that?" Asked Kankuro motioning to the mission request from the woman. "Anything I can help with?"
"It's this woman again. She has been demanding a team to retrieve a scroll that has been stolen from her family. They have established a meeting point but it sounds like a trap to me. She is one of those rich spoiled type so she demands the best we have but I really don't have anyone to send on this"
"Why don't you have me take care of it then? I know I am more than capable of handling something like this" said Kankuro hopefully. It had been a while since he had been on a good mission.
"What about your team? They are not ready for this high of a mission."
"I'll take them. They could definitely learn a thing or two from this. Plus, with Rayne with me I'm sure I can to handle this. That girl is tough. I'm sure she could deal with whatever we might come across."
Gaara thought about it and the more he did the more he started to wish he could be the one going on missions with her. He had been the one who saved her and the one who had brought her here but he had yet to spend much time with her. Instead it was Kankuro who-
"Well, what do you think Gaara?"
Gaara looked up at his brother. What was he thinking? Had he been almost... jealous? No, he was better than that. It didn't matter because they was nothing to be jealous of. Everything he was doing was for the sake of the village, there were no emotions attached. "I wouldn't even be considering this if it was almost anyone but you. You can have it, just be careful, we can't afford to lose any more people" he answered, handing the information to Kankuro.
"Thanks little brother, you won't regret this." he said with a smile.
"Make sure that I don't" he sighed.
"You'll be glad I helped" he laughed. "Well good night Gaara" waved Kankuro as he headed to the door.
Gaara waved him goodnight and whiped his face with his hand once the door was closed. He stood up from his chair and walked over the window. A cool night breeze came in as he opened the window and placed his hands on the ledge. He stared out at the village already feeling as though he was going to regret giving them this mission.
A few hours later Rayne bolted up out of bed with a small shout, pulling out a kunai she had hidden under her pillow. She looked around realizing that she had only been dreaming again. It had, of course, been the same dream again.
"Problem?" asked Gaara. He had been standing in the doorway to the living room watching her sleep, which he knew she would have found very creepy. He couldn't help it. She was interesting and he was drawn to her. He didn't mean to but he seemed to end up watching her more than he wanted to. To hide that he walked into the kitchen and got a glass of water making it look as though he had only been there by chance.
Rayne quickly whipped her head around to the direction his voice game from and gripped the blade tighter. "Wha-? Oh, it's you." She relaxed her grip on the the knife
"Is everything alright?" he asked looking at the raised kunai in her hand.
She swallowed and dropped the knife to the floor. There was a quiet "thud" as it landed on the carpet. "Yeah, everything is fine." she replied in a slightly suprised voice.
"Are you sure?"
Rayne simple gave a quick nod.
"Alright. Goodnight then." Gaara worried about her. He wouldn't admit it but he did. There was too much he didn't know about her and he didn't like it. He forced himself to turn around and leave the kitchen.
"Yeah"
Gaara returned to his room where he spent most of the night unable to sleep and instead listening to her tossing about in the living room.
Rayne was left breathing heavily in the living room when he turned and went to his own room. After waiting a few seconds, she fell back onto the couch with a sigh. She took a few deep breaths and whiped the cold sweat off her face. She waited until her breathing had returned to normal then flipped over burrying her face into the pillow. She tried to fall back asleep but ended up restlessly turning on the couch for the rest of the night.
Rayne's eyes quickly opened the next morning when she felt someone walk over to where she was suppose to be sleeping.
"Oh, good your awake." smiled Temari. The truth was Rayne had never gone back to sleep after last night but she didn't say anything.
"What's wrong?" she asked. It was morning now and light was shinning into the room from between the curtains.
"Nothing's wrong. I was just wondering if you wanted to go shopping. I figured you could use some new clothes."
"What's wrong with what I was wearing?"
"Nothing, it's just that those are all you have and they are getting old."
"I don't have any money" yawned Rayne. "How am I suppose to buy clothing?"
"My treat, so let's go." Rayne groaned as Temari pulled her out of bed and sent her to get ready.
"Temari! Don't you think this is enough" came Rayne's muffled voice from under the pile of clothing Temari had her carrying. The sand kunoichi laughed and led her towards the changing rooms in the back of the store. She shoved Rayne through one of the curtains and closed them behind her.
"Hurry up and change so I can see" said Temari. She had secreatly always wanted a little sister and was going to take full advantage of this moment. She continuously dragged Rayne in and out of the fitting room seeing each outfit she had picked out but soon discovered that Rayne was very picky. She didn't like a thing she tried on and rejected everything. Too loose. Too Tight. No ruffles. No stripes. Too bright. Too hot. No flowers. No patterns. Too revealing. Too much clothing. No Pinks. No Yellows. No dresses. No skirts. Nothing with heels. No sandles. Temari was starting to lose faith.
"Rayne hurry up and let me see the next outfit." called Temari as she sat in a chair outside the changing room. There was no answer from Rayne. "Rayne, you alright in there? Need a hand with anything?" Still there was no answer. Temari stood up and walked over. She pulled open the curtain and peered inside. Rayne was stuggling with a shirt that she couldn't get back over her head. She laughed a little until she once again noticed the large scar that took up much of her stomache. There was a similar scar, just as pale and jagged that covered the same area on her lower back. She caught herself staring and quickly looked up into the mirror to see Rayne's head sticking through the shirt with her arms still raised above her head. Rayne looked at her with an annoyed look on her face.
"Here, let me help you out of that" laughed Temari. She quickly helped pull the shirt back over Rayne's head and Rayne threw it into an mountonous pile of regected otufits.
"I'm going to go try to find something for a change" smirked Rayne as she exited the room.
In the end Rayne was able to pick some clothing they both liked. Rayne walked out of the store in her new outfit. She now wore a pair of short black shorts and knee high boots. On top she wore a gray strapless shirt made of a thick leather for protection, that laced up the back. Over that she wore a white tank top and on top of that a red one. Her last layer consisted of a black sleeveless v-neck shirt that also laced up the back. In the back the shirt ended at her knees but in the front it ended right at her waistline giving the illusion of a cape. A gray belt was worn around her waist and a black kunai pouch was on her right leg. Rayne thanked Temari for the third time and and the two of them headed home.
When they returned home, Kankuro was seated at the kitchen table waiting for them."Rayne, I have some news that I think you will like" he said with a grin.
"Oh and what would that be?" She replied, obviously curious. She took a seat across from him.
"My dearest brother has entrusted us with a mission."
Rayne raised an eyebrow, "Oh? And what would that be?"
"He has assigned our team a special mission, a B-rank mission. In this mission we will be helping a very wealthy, not to mention high-paying, individual. This woman needs us to retrieve a scroll that was stolen by a rival family. We are suppose to bring them money and make the exchange. We are to get this scroll and prevent any damage from coming to it. Between you and me, it sort of sounds like a trap, but I think we can handle it. What do you think?"
"Let's go kick some ass" she grinned.
"I had a feeling you would be excited for this"
"I haven't had a real good, legal fight in a long time. There better be an ambush waiting for us."
"Hey I haven't had a good fight in a while either so you better save some fighting for me."
"I can't promise anything." she smirked. "So, when do we leave?"
Akio and Hitoshi were waiting at the village gate the next morning. Unlike Rayne and Kankuro, they were nervous, Akio hiding it better than Hitoshi. To keep himself calm Akio went through all of his equipment in his head. He heard footsteps approaching and looked up to see Rayne and Kankuro walking towards them. Why are they always together? he thought to himself. As they got closer he felt a small blush creep up to his face. It had been the first he had seen Rayne really cleaned up. The times before she still had looked a little sick and worn out. Her clothes had been worn and a little too big for her. It had been obvious that she had gotten new clothes that fit, well. Her long red hair had been neatly brushed and was blowing slightly in the breeze. Her two swords were stored in her belt.
He looked away from her and scowled. "Is it even legal for shinobi to wear shorts that short?" he whispered to Hitoshi.
"It's perfectally legal. Don't worry, there is no dress code!" Rayne called to them.
"How does she do that?" he hissed. "You're late, again!" he yelled to the two of them.
"Your just always early" replied Kankuro walking up next to them. "So are you guys ready?"
The two of them nodded. "Let's get going then," sighed Rayne. "I want to get there as soon as possible."
"Alright then follow me" said Kankuro as he started walking towards where they were meeting their client.
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I know, I know. This chapter wasn't very exciting and wasn't worthy of the ridiculously long wait for it. I promise that the next chapter will be out very soon and will be a lot better so please keep reading.
Kara: "yes please do.. i like editing"
Haha alright then. Please review! You will definitely be my best friend if you do! Here's a deal. If you get two reviews up by Friday night I will put the next chapter up Friday at 11! I'll be checking so there better be some reviews :)
~Reiko