A/N: Hello everyone. Sorry it took so log for the update. I had a convention to go to, a death in the family, and I got strep throat all within a few weeks of each other. Add to that I am taking on a writing job that is going to PAY money and needless to say I have been really busy. I'm not going to let this story fizzle. I'm still going to continue writing it because it's just too damn fun to write. Meanwhile, let the wackiness continue…
Normal
"Speech"
Thought
Kyuubi
Warnings: I STILL do not own Naruto (sad isn't it). Rated "M" for language and adult situations.
Chapter 42: Sibling Disaster
Temari and Shikamaru arrived at the little bistro on the west side of the village. The blonde sand ninja scanned the area looking for her younger brother, but there was no sign of him.
Shikamaru picked up on his girlfriend's rising temper. "He probably asked you with the intention to go somewhere else."
Temari turned and glared at Shikamaru.
"What? It's what I did to keep Ino out of my business."
Temari continued glare at Shikamaru.
"Temari, I know you just as well as your brothers. You are troublesome and have become overly protective of Gaara. He is the Kazakage, I'm sure he knows what he is doing." Shikamaru shrugged.
"But I want to meet her." Temari finally relaxed her glare and started to pout.
Shikamaru shook his head. "He will introduce her when he thinks you can handle it. Now let's eat, I'm starving."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Gaara sat on the other side of the table from Sephie. There had never been a time Gaara could remember being truly scared to the point of running. Here he was, face to face with Persephone, and he wanted to run for his life. But he was Sabaku no Gaara, his pride would not allow him to move from his chair.
Sephie was delighted that Gaara had taken her to a restaurant that served food she considered "normal". She happily munched on her cheeseburger, fries, and sipped on her soda. The sounds of Sephie hitting the end of her soda brought Gaara out of his thoughts.
"Would you like some more Ms. Persephone?"
"No thanks." She set down her cup. Sephie looked up to notice Gaara hadn't eaten much and was pushing his fries around. She put her elbows on the table and her head in her hands. "Penney for your thoughts?"
Gaara blinked up at her. "I do not understand the question."
Sephie smiled, "What'cha thinkin' about?"
Gaara blinked again. "I do not think you would be interested in my thoughts."
The blonde girl sat up straight, looking a little shocked. "Sure I am. You sat and listened to my sob story, so it's only fair that I listen to yours."
The stoic Kazakage lowered his eyes to the table. "I… I find myself in a situation I am ill equipped to handle."
Sephie tilted her head, confused, yet curious. "How so?"
"I am not sure how to explain." Gaara admitted. It was true, he wasn't sure what to do, what to say or anything. For a moment Gaara wished he was more like his boisterous blonde friend.
Sephie crossed her arms on the table and leaned towards Gaara, "Start at the beginning."
Gaara looked up at Sephie. It was an easy enough suggestion, but the stoic red head simply didn't know how to respond. Worse, he didn't know where to start. Sephie may not have had the trained senses of a ninja, but she could see that Gaara was trying to tell her something. She needed to get him in a place where he felt more comfortable.
Sephie got up out of her chair and looked at Gaara. Smiling widely at him, she grabbed his hand and started to pull the surprised Kazekage. Gaara momentarily stared at her hand on his. This was the second time they had actually touched. Both times, it was she that had touched him. The first time Sephie had placed her hand on his shoulder to steady her self after laughing.
He had waited for her to flinch, but she hadn't. He passed the moment off by telling himself that she was too busy laughing to notice anything. However, this time, he couldn't pass if aside as an oversight. Sephie wasn't pulling away from him in fear, no, she was pulling him towards her.
Gaara had to think for a moment. Sephie didn't know of his past. She didn't know that he was someone to be feared. Sephie didn't have all the shinobi training to sense his chakra. She was normal and unaware of the shinobi world that circulated around her. Sephie hadn't flinched because she didn't know she was supposed to.
Gaara took her hand and got out of his chair. A true smile crossed his lips which made Sephie giggle.
"It's nice when you do that." They both blushed. "Now, come on, let's take a walk." She pulled Gaara onto the street. Gaara followed, rather dazed by the odd feeling of warmth coursing over him. They walked in silence for a little while, both with an odd smile.
Soon, Sephie noticed they were hopelessly lost in the labyrinth of Konoha. She nudged Gaara. "Do you know where we are?"
Gaara blinked out of his daze. "Um…" He looked around. He had never been in this part of Konoha and was just as lost as she was. "No. I do not know where we are."
"Oh crap…" Sephie pulled out her cell phone and looked back up at Gaara. "I REALLY don't want to have to bug Myra…"
Gaara smiled. "I unfortunately I do not have a way to contact anyone else. We could try and navigate our way out of this."
"That's a good idea." She looked around as did Gaara.
"The buildings are too high for us to see the Hokage Monument." Gaara turned around to Sephie and put a tentative hand around her waist. "Hold on."
Sephie's eyes went extremely wide. "Wait!" Before she could really protest, Gaara had made a few leaps to the top of the buildings. He set her down and went to look at the edge of the building to see where they were.
"I think if we head in that direction, we will safely make it back towards the main streets of Konoha." He turned back around to see Sephie looking very pale. "Ms. Persephone?" he blinked. She looked horrified and had a blank stare. Sephie was breathing heavily and had a death grip around a small pipe.
Sephie turned her head to him and gulped. "Did I mention that I hate heights?"
Gaara stifled a laugh. "Does this mean we can not take the direct root out of the area?"
"If you are talking about hopping over the buildings… You can, but please get me down on the ground before you go." Sephie was fighting back the panic.
Gaara extended his hand to her. "I will not allow you to fall."
Sephie continued to fight back the panic of being so high up in the air. There was something extremely romantic about the idea of hopping across the buildings, but her fear was keeping her glued the pole. Through sheer force of will, she extended her hand to meet his.
"Close your eyes and just hold on. I promise I will not allow you to get hurt. I do not want to have to explain to Myra-san how you were injured." Gaara gave her a slight smile. He wouldn't forgive himself, should she get hurt.
Sephie nodded, letting go of the small pipe and then clutched onto Gaara. He scooped her up and took hold of her bridal style. Sephie clutched his shirt and buried her eyes into his chest. She was trembling in his arms.
"It will be all right Ms. Persephone. I can see the main street and it will only take us a few jumps to get back." He tried to console her. He felt her tense up in his arms and she nodded into his chest signaling that she was ready. Gaara jumped across three roof tops and down to the main street. The whole time, Sephie didn't move or breathe.
Gaara landed near the park and under the tree. He set Sephie down, but she was still very attached to his shirt. "You can let go now." He said softly, although, it felt kind of nice having her there.
Sephie took a deep breath and slowly started to let go of Gaara, but she didn't completely release his shirt. She looked up at him with very teary eyes. "Thank you for not dropping me." She sniffled.
"I told you I would not allow you to fall."
"I was never worried about falling, at least not to my death." She had to qualify. Sephie took another deep breath and placed a quick kiss on his cheek. "Like I said, thanks for not dropping me." She padded his chest and started to walk away.
Gaara stood, stunned, like a deer in headlamps. More than the kiss that shocked him, was the fact that his sand had not stopped it. The sand did not see her as a threat. He put his hand on his cheek and looked at the petite girl walking away from him.
Sephie turned around to look back at Gaara, who was still a bit perplexed by the whole thing. "Come on silly…" She smiled. "It's getting late and as much as I do NOT want to interrupt Myra and Naturo's," she cleared her throat, "training, I promised her father I would make sure she was packed for the camping trip."
Gaara composed himself and started after her. "You are not going with them?"
"Oh HELL NO! I hate camping. I don't sleep anywhere there isn't solid roof over my head and a place to plug in my hair dryer."
They started to walk back to the apartment and the conversation went silent again. Sephie had tried to get him to open up and talk a little more, but it wasn't working like she had hoped. He was definitely an enigma to her, and it was beginning to frustrate her to no end. He was obviously more introverted than anyone she had ever met. He was going to be a tough nut to crack, but she loved a good challenge.
Gaara was trying to keep the conversation going, but he honestly didn't know what to talk about. The small kiss still lingered on his cheek. He was curious to know more about what it was he was feeling. He had been kissed in the same spot by Temari once, but it hadn't made him feel giddy. Matsuri had tried to hug him once only to be stopped by his sand. Since becoming Kazekage, he had garnered a small following of fangirls that would throw themselves at his feet, but he hadn't paid much attention to any of them. Why now? Why her? Why at all? He thought to himself.
Seeing Myra and Naruto had changed all that. Gaara had admitted to Naruto about being jealous about his relationship with Myra. Granted, Myra was different in so many respects. Persephone was different too, the biggest difference being she was normal and didn't know in the slightest how dangerous the world was around her.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Lunch between Shikamaru and Temari had gone as expected and as planned. They had both finished a leisurely walk through the park so Shikakamru could waist time and watch the clouds. Temari was still a bit upset about Gaara, but she had also come to realize, though she would never admit it to him, that Shikamaru was right. She was being a little nosy and over protective. If a girl got him one step closer to being happy, she wasn't going to stand in his way.
She would, however, make his life miserable in the process. It was a perfect revenge to get back at Gaara for the abysmal attitude he gave Shikamaru after they confessed about the relationship. While Shikamaru watched the clouds, Temari just allowed her mind to wonder all over the place, thinking about the perfect girl for Gaara.
As they got closer to the main street of Konoha, Temari spotted Gaara leaping down from one of the buildings with a girl in his arms. They landed under a tree. Temari elbowed Shikamaru. "Look over there." And she pointed towards Gaara. Shikamaru yawned and blinked a few times to get his eyes to focus. The little blonde girl was standing very close to Gaara, then it looked like she kissed him. Shikamaru turned his attention back to Temari who looked like she was ready to kill. Temari grabbed shikamaru's hands and started to drag him in the direction of Gaara and the girl.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Sephie couldn't stand the silence anymore. "Um… Gaara, what are you doing tonight when you get done with all your quasikage stuff?"
"It's Kazekage, and hopefully he will be sleeping." A deep fuming female voice boomed from behind the two. Gaara turned to see a red faced and rather annoyed Temari. Shikamaru had stepped a few feet away from his obviously pissed off girlfriend.
"Good afternoon, Temari. Nice to see you Shikamaru-san." Gaara kept calm.
Sephie looked from Gaara to the tall blonde and back to Gaara. "So is this your sister?"
Gaara nodded. "Ms. Persephone Marshal may I introduce my sister Temari and the man standing back a few feet for fear of his life is Shikamaru Nara."
Sephie smiled and stuck her hand out to Temari. "Nice to meet you."
Temari just glared at Sephie and ignored her. Temari walked passed Sephie and stood eye to eye with Gaara and continued to chastise. "I thought you said it was just lunch?"
"It was just lunch at the time. But it seems I have been invited for a night of watching movies until I pass out from boredom. Or at least that is the way Ms. Persephone described it."
Temari crossed her arms. "I thought you were going to talk with Tsunade? You know, about sleeping."
"I have already spoken with Lady Tsunade. As for what the outcome of that meeting was, it is none of your business until I deem that it should be. In the mean time I am exploring alternative advice given to me by a third party." Gaara glared at his sister. Naruto's words echoed in Gaara's head. Get yourself a girl and you'll sleep like a baby.
Sephie had walked over to stand next to Shikamaru and was watching the exchange like a tennis match. "Are they always like this?"
Shikamaru didn't need to understand what Sephie had said to know what she asked. He simply nodded his head in the affirmative. "Hai, so desu." Mumbling "troublesome" under his breath.
"Gaara, you need to…"
Gaara raised his voice and cut Temari off. "Temari! ENOUGH!"
Temari backed down and stepped back away from Gaara.
"I will do as I please in this matter, and I will not hear another word about it from you. AM. I. CLEAR?" Gaara glared dangerously at Temari.
"Yes, Gaara-sama." Temari bowed her head and walked back over to Shikamaru, shooting a nasty glare to Sephie.
"Ms. Persephone, I will walk you back to Myra's apartment now." Gaara held out his hand.
Sephie looked back smiling at Temari and Shikamaru. "It was nice meeting you." And ran back over to Gaara.
Shikamaru and Temari watched as the two walked away. "You shouldn't try to be so bossy with him. You are the first person to remind other people he is the Kazekage, but there are times when I think you forget."
Temari turned her gaze to her feet. "That is the first time he's actually yelled at me like that in a long time. I mean, we have our spats every now and then, but he actually scared me this time around."
Shikamaru placed a gentle hand under Temari's chin and brought her eyes up to meet his. "You are a troublesome woman. You need to stay out of this. Let him alone to find his own way. Or are you trying to get back at him for the way he acted when you finally told him about us?"
Temari slugged him in the shoulder. "Baka!"
"Ow… So you ARE trying to get back at him."
She let a slight smile pass her lips and slugged him in the other shoulder. "BAKA!"