Chapter Nine; A Childhood Friend
The next day Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and Keiko headed towards the sand village. "Is it my imagination or do you seem awful quiet today?" Naruto questioned his friend while he drove along the highway.
"Sorry, I was just thinking." Sasuke began.
"About Sakura right?" Naruto said.
"No. Actually it's about Keiko." Sasuke replied. "Maybe she isn't so bad after all. I mean, she actually seems like a really good kid." He told him as Naruto scoffed.
"Yeah, as long as she isn't trying to stone you to death." He told him.
"She's a strong shinobi. Much stronger than I was at her age." Sasuke told him as Naruto grinned slyly at him.
"Hmm,.. could it be possible by any chance that you are starting to have feelings for her?" he questioned.
"No. I'm not. All I said is that she was a pretty good kid that's all." Sasuke told him.
"Yeah, sure, whatever." Naruto told him. He could tell that Sasuke was lying right through his teeth.
…
About an hour or two later they arrived at their hotel in the sand village. Keiko was exhausted and collapsed on top of her bed as soon as they had made it to their room. "Are you alright?" Sasuke asked her.
"Yes, I fine. I just need to rest. I used way too much chakra." She told him referring to amount of chakra she had used to operate the magic carpet. She curled up on top of her bed and rested her hands underneath her head while she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Sasuke watched her for a few moments before he walked over to his own bed and grabbed his blanket off of it that had his Uchiha fan printed on the back of it.
Keiko yawned while he threw it on top of her and then he slowly turned around, turned off the light and left the room and headed into the bathroom quietly shutting the door behind him as Sakura smiled from the corner of the room having just witnessed the whole entire thing. About an hour or so later Keiko finally woke up.
"Hey big sis, do you mind if we go to the kezkza building? There's an old childhood friend of mine that I really want to say hello to." She said.
"Uh yeah, sure, why not?" Sakura replied.
"Why don't we walk?" Keiko suggested. "It isn't that far, and that way we can all go together." She told her as Sasuke smiled and nodded at her.
"Good plan." He told her.
So that afternoon after lunch, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Keiko all went into town together and headed towards the kezkza. "Damn it it's hot out here!" Naruto exclaimed while wiping the sweat off his forehead. "Phew!" he cried.
"I can fix that." Keiko replied before her eyes turned white and she looked up towards the bright blue sky. All of a sudden it turned gray and started to rain. "There, that should cool you down." Keiko said while her eyes returned to their normal color.
"Gee,..thanks!" Naruto cried sarcastically as Sasuke chuckled.
"Be careful what you wish for." He told him while Sakura tried her hardest not to stare at Sasuke. For the sight of him standing there in front of her soaking wet had made her blush. She slowly turned her head away from him and continued on her way before Keiko stopped her again.
"Look! There it is!" Keiko exclaimed pointing at the great big tannish brown building in front of them.
"Great! Let's go!" Naruto exclaimed before all four of them hurried inside the building to get out of the pouring rain.
"I'm soaked!" Sasuke cried. "We look like four sewer rats." He pointed out before he bent over and picked up Keiko and hoisted her inside of his arms.
"That's different." Naruto observed.
"Come on, which way do we have to go?" Sasuke inquired before Keiko pointed over at the desk.
"Straight over there!" she told him before he carried over her towards the desk and then smiled warmly down at her as they came to a stop in front of it.
"Hello my name is Keiko Haruno and I'm looking for Gaara. I'm a childhood friend of his. His nickname for me is the girl who is able to move rocks with her mind." She explained.
"Huh!?" Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all chorused together.
"Gaara's here?" Naruto questioned her with uncertainty before she simply just nodded at him.
"Yes, do you guys know each other or something?" she wondered.
"Yeah, we met him at the Chunin exams." Naruto told her.
"Right this way." The woman behind the counter told them before she led them around the corner and straight down the hallway.
"Hello Gaara." Keiko said happily while smiling brightly at him as Sasuke carried her straight inside his office.
"Well hello there Keiko. I never thought that I'd see you again." He told her.
"Me neither, but since my sister and our friends were going to be traveling with us, I figured that we might as well drop by and say hello to you." She explained with a warm and loving smile.
"Really? That's strange, I don't recall you ever mentioning the fact that you had a sister." He told her.
"That's because up until now I didn't even know that I had one." She replied.
"So that explains why Sakura's with you. And I can see you bringing Naruto with you since he's going to be the next hokage,.. but what is that Uchiha bastard doing here?" he wondered as Sasuke narrowed his eyebrows and scowled.
"You've got a lot of nerve calling my best friend that in front of me!" Naruto yelled. "Not to mention the fact that we've got a child present!" he snapped.
"I know, that's exactly my point." Gaara began. "How could you trust her around somebody who used to be a rogue ninja?" he questioned before Sasuke finally had decided that he had had enough and felt his blood broil over the top with anger.
"I don't know how we can trust her around somebody like you!" he snapped. "You used to think that killing people were the reason that you were alive." He said before a moment of silence passed between them.
"Good point. It looks like we have a lot more in common than you think." He told him.
"Sasuke-Kun,.." Keiko began before she turned her head and blinked at him innocently. "what does he mean?" she wondered before Sasuke took a deep breath and sighed heavily while he slowly turned his head away from him.
"It's a rather long story." He told her.
"We've got time." Keiko pointed out.
"Alright then,.. come on." He told her before planting a quick kiss on top of her head and carrying her away with him.
I'm sorry that I didn't post this yesterday like I originally had planned to, but there were complications with it.