A/N: MADE OF AWESOME

but only for this story....

This chapter written by Baby Cougar

Chapter 15: Onward to Cheetos!

"What do you mean you've never driven! You're 16, almost seventeen. YOU'RE RUNNING A COUNTRY! And you've never been inside a car?!!"

Gaara did nothing but spare me a feeble glance before turning his eyes back to the road ahead. The light turned green, and the car jerked forward. I clung to my seatbelt fearfully. Not like I'm a great driver, either....

"I LIVE IN THE DESERT, COUGAR. AND I CAN RUN FASTER THAN THIS DAMN THING. I'M A SHINOBI, NOT A– "

"...CAR!!!"

The brakes slammed, and the tires screeched. Both our heads jerked forward from the momentum, and the said vehicle's horn blared as it went by. Smooth, Gaara. Real smooth. We got going again, not as jerky this time. "You'll wanna take a left of there... that's right, flip your signal.. Nono, it's on the left side.. Ack, that's the windshield wiper!" He groaned again, and I could tell he'd rather be doing other things. Like running his country... or spending time with big sis talking about sibling love, or maybe big bro and bonding by playing puppets... "Whatever you're thinking, stop it. The look on your face is unnerving." I could only giggle in response. His lined eyes tried to grapple with the road rules... right side, left side... which side was he to drive on? I could almost see it running through his mind. I would have giggled, had the answer not been the line between life and death. After all, we were just running to the store. No sense dying for a bag of Cheetos, now, was there? Chester would be disappointed.

There were still a few miles from our position and the parking space with our name on it at Walmart. A few, danger-filled, adrenaline rushing, attention-seeking miles. They sure as hell better have some special Cheetos on sale.

Oh, did I mention, since it's FEBRUARY, there's snow? Yea, poor Gaara and changing weather conditions. Luckily, thus far the roads have been clear, with no ice to slip on. But then. We haven't taken any back roads, either, just the main bypass, which we'd have to turn off of up here shortly. "You're gonna wanna change lanes.. no... wait unti- Use your mirror! Yea. There you go. Okay. See the green sign? You're gonna want to take that exit. Flip your signal." He begrudgingly followed my commands, not wanted to totally wipe out on a big stretch of road. He was already having trouble coping with Konoha's ...unusual... geography... but I'm thinking he connected it to my author powers. He gave me a sideways glance when I fistpumped in glory because of my magic pen. He turned, and we got off smoothly; luckily there was little traffic at this time of day.

Do do do do... decided to switch on the radio, since it had been silent. I settled it to a country station, not quite sure on what kind of music he'd like. Oh well, bugger'll deal, won't he? Suddenly, there was this sensation of gliding, and I could hear Gaara grunt and curse under his breath. Quickly, I looked up. Shit... ice! No traction in this spot, we slipped on a patch of black ice, and were careening towards the trees. I put up my hands to protect my face (because that was a cardnial safety procedure in a car crash) and braced myself for impact. Suddenly, we stopped, the crashing sound I had been expecting replaced by a thud, and the sound of sand running. I looked. Yay useful sand demon! Err... I mean... I looked over to the driver's seat.

"Maybe... maybe I should drive..."

"...I hate you..."

Hur hur, something he's not good at. We got out, and, after he pushed the car back onto the road, I got in the driver's seat and we took off. Onward to Cheetos!