Chapter 12: A Visit from the Least Expected

There was a series of loud bangs. I cracked my eyes open, to see the dimly lit room around me. I just sat in bed, thinking that it was only Temari and Kankuro fighting. Suddenly, there was another loud bang, and I heard Temari yell something, and then the banging stopped. Suddenly, everything got eerily quiet, and then there was the sound of the door closing, and someone making their way down the stairs. The door to my room soon opened, and someone I never expected stepped inside.

"Uncle Danny!" I heaved, trying to sit up in bed.

He came over to the bedside and helped me sit up. "Hey there, kiddo!" He said, ruffling my hair.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, putting my arm on his shoulder. "You shouldn't be in this world."

Before he respond, Kankuro and Temari charged into the room. They took one look at me, then at Uncle Danny. Their hostile glares simmered down and they just sat there, staring at me.

"Is this guy really your uncle, Esther?" Kankuro asked, motioning towards him. "You don't have to lie."

"I wouldn't." I said, shaking my head. "This really is my Uncle Danny, guys. I would know him better than anyone."

"Same goes for me." Uncle Danny said, giving a wide grin that made his wrinkles spread like ripples across his face and made his dark blue-gray eyes sparkle. "I've known this piglet since she was born, and everything about her, stuff that you would never know because she would be too embarrassed to tell you!"

I blushed and swatted him lightly on the shoulder. "Uncle Danny! You-" I suddenly started to cough, my body racked with spasms. Uncle Danny laid his hand across my back and held me steady, as they died down to a low hoarse sound.

"That's the reason I came here." He said, eying Temari and Kankuro. "I came to take my niece somewhere where she can heal."

"Heal? What do you think she's doing in here?" Temari spat at my uncle. She was not one to take insults lightly.

"You call this healing?" My uncle said, pointing to me. "How long have you been trying to heal her? Over a week and a half? Back where we came from, she would have been healed and up on her feet running around like the little bubble-head she is."

Temari looked away, taking offense to what he said. Kankuro, on the other hand, just looked at my uncle with more disgust.

"Uncle Danny.." I said, putting my hand on his. "You're not going to take me back, are you?"

"We're not going to let you." Kankuro said through gritted teeth before my uncle could respond.

Uncle Danny, feeling the hostility between him and the Sand Sibs, gave a little smile and swatted his hand through the air. "Of course not! Not unless she wants me too. That was our whole deal. The question is, do you Esther?"

I shook my head violently, remembering the night I had with Gaara. I couldn't leave now that things were finally looking up. "No! I don't want to go back with you! I want to stay here with all the people I love."

Uncle Danny laughed. "I thought that you would say that. Well," he said, getting up. "Esther will be living with me in my house here in the village. When she's all better, I'll send her back to you guys and I'll be on my way back to my family in the other world. That's final."

"Until she's all better?" Kankuro asked. "When will that be?"

My uncle shrugged. "Whenever she's back on her feet, functioning like a normal person. Maybe a few days if we're lucky. Maybe longer. Until then I think you should give Esther some space to be on her own and have a little peace of mind. I'm sure she's going crazy thinking that she's being a huge burden to all of you."

He got up off the bed and smiled down at me. "Ready to go, piglet princess?"

I cracked a smile, remembering the nickname he had given me since I was a little girl. "Whenever you are."

He suddenly picked me up in his arms, giving us all a shock. I clung onto his arms as he gave a little laugh.

"Oof.." He said, heaving a cough. "You sure have gotten heavier since the last time I picked you up."

"Hey!" Temari said, crossing her arms. "You don't seriously intend to take her right this moment? I still have to redress her wounds, and Gaara.. well, he's not-"

"He's not what?" My uncle said, looking at the woman. "He's the reason Esther's in this state, is he not? Well, truthfully, I don't care what that boy thinks. If he wants to speak to me, tell him to drop by my house later, with Esther's things. I have a few things I'd like to knock into his head first before he gets the wise idea of yelling at me, like I'm the one at fault here."

Temari just gave a shrug and moved out of the doorway. "At least tell us where your house is." she muttered, thinking logically.

"Of course. My house is the last house that you come to if you turn right from your house." My uncle said, his directions brief and to the point, like usual. "Well, we should be going before it gets too dark. Nice meeting all of you."

Neither of them muttered a reply. Uncle Danny just pushed past them and made his way out of the house. Outside, the sun had just set and the sky was just starting to darken. The streets were all deserted, as people were probably already home, getting ready to rest. Uncle Danny didn't say a word until I spoke up first.

"What do you mean I can't see Temari and Kankuro until I'm better?" I asked impatiently.

He laughed. "My, my. I'll tell you as soon as we get home, alright? I'm sure you have a lot more questions than that."

"Of course I do." I said, crossing my arms.

We finally made it to the house. Uncle Danny kicked the door, and with a loud bang it opened. We stepped inside, to a dimly lit hallway. Uncle Danny was always a little on the weird side, but this was just a little bit creepy. He, of course, lived like this and took it as a norm. He walked up a small flight of stairs to an upper level, and walked through one of the doorways.

Inside the room was a very girl bed and decor. It reminded me of a room that I would have had when I was a little girl. Somehow, though, it was weird just for uncle Danny to have a room meant specifically for a girl in his house. Finally, it all made sense.

"Uncle Danny, was this room for Miri?" I asked, thinking about my younger cousin.

"Yep." he said as he placed me on the bed. "When you really little, probably too little to remember, I was having some problems with my job in the art business. So, I sharpened this place up just in case worse came to worse and I had to bring my family over here. Luckily, I never did and I got to watch you and all my children grow up."

"Really?" I said, staring him in the eye. I could never imagine my loud-mouth cousins living in this world. They were the kind of people who needed to stay in modern-a-go-go land, not here in ninja world.

"Really." He said, ruffling my hair. "Now, what are the rest of your questions?"

I cracked a smile. He read my mind like a revealed card. "Why did you come here all of a sudden? How can you get to this world so easily? Why can't I see Temari and Kankuro? Do I have to stay in this room all the time? I'll get so bored!"

"Now, now," he laughed. "One at a time!"

"Sorry." I said, giving a sheepish smile.

"Anyway," he said, crossing his arms. "Since I'm the one that brought you into this world, I am able to get little flashes of what is happening to you here with those three. A few days ago, I got a flash of you, laying in a pool of blood with that boy, Gaara, standing over you a strange horrid, look in his eyes. Then, his eyes went all deathly frightened looking and he ran into the house, and that was the end of it. I was worried to death, and so I had to come back over here and check on you."

"To your second question, I can't really tell you. It's not something that can be easily shared. Let's just say it's good for the both of us if I can get into this world easy. Anyway," He said, scratching his head, "I'm going to be here to help you heal up so you can be up on your feet, like you want. I just want you to be alone for a while so that you can clear your mind, and decide what you what to do. If you stay, or if you come back home with me, it's going to be tough, let me tell you. Once you're able to move around a little, we'll move around to different parts of the house. Is that fine?"

"Yeah." I said, shrugging. "I guess. It's probably going to take a while for all of it to sink in, but that's just how it works with me."

He laughed. "I kind of guessed. Well, you should go and rest. I'll come and wake you up tomorrow morning, alright?"

"Yeah, but Uncle Danny," I said, laying down in the bed. "If Gaara comes, please be kind to him. He really is sorry for all he's done. Don't make the situation any worse than it can get at the moment. Alright?"

It was silent for a few moments. Finally, he got up off the side of the bed. "I'll try." He said, trying to sound as cheerful as he was a few moments ago, but I knew it was fake. He truthfully probably wanted to hurt him for all he did to me, or worse. "Good night."

I was tired of yelling at him, so I just rested my head against the feather-soft pillow. I stared at the pale pink wall and sighed. This was going to be hard, not seeing Temari, Kankuro, and even Gaara. I wanted to get better, but while they were around. This just made me make myself promise that I would get better as quickly as i could. With that confident promise, I fell into a deep, much needed sleep.

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"Wakey, wakey" Uncle Danny's voice called, shattering the peaceful energy I was sleeping in. "Eggs and baky!"

"Hmmmm.." I moaned, keeping my eyes shut.

"Come on!" He said cheerfully, shaking me slightly. "I have good news."

"What?" I said, trying to sit up. I finally got up after a few tries and little help. He had a small smile playing on his old face,

"Gaara came to visit me last night." He said, his smile dying down. "I didn't end up killing him, like I had assumed."

"Uncle Danny!" I cried, looking him with an aghast look on my face.

"I would say I'm just joking, but I'm not." He said, scratching his head. "Anyway, he just wanted me to tell you that he wishes, as well as his siblings, that you heal quickly. He also said that he will oblige to welcoming you back into his household when you are ready to return."

I gave a small smile. "He sounds more and more like a Kazekage everyday."

"That doesn't mean that he's responsible enough yet." He scoffed. "Even though he acts like an adult, he makes such large mistakes that he could have avoided. Just look at yourself. You're proof enough that he's still an insecure adolescent."

"Please don't keep saying such negative things about him." I said, frowning. "You know I don't like it."

"I'll try." he said, giving a small thumbs up. "Anyway, I think it's time that you had some breakfast. Hungry?"

"No, not really." I said. "Truthfully, I haven't had anything to eat since that incident happened."

"Ah." He said, looking down at me, as if trying to get a better look of my condition. "Well, how about a little bit of tea then? You can't take medicine on an empty stomach."

"Medicine?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, yes." He said, handing me a cup of tea. "Just drink up and I'll tell you what it is."

"Fine." I muttered.

I took a small sip of the tea, and I felt it travel through my body until it got to my empty stomach. It was a very nice tea; sweet, but easy on my stomach. I finished about half of the cup when I started to feel full.

"I can't drink anymore." I said, pushing the cup back to him.

He looked down inside of the cup, and gave a little frown. "Not even half." He muttered, shaking his head. "Well, here's your medicine."

He handed me two little pills, something uncommon in the sand. Everything here was healed by chakra, or salves, like what Temari had used on me. Machine-generated pain killers where so totally futuristic items in this world.

"How did you get this here?" I asked, looking back at him. "And what exactly is it?"

"That," he said, gesturing towards the pills. "Is morphine. It's what they would give you in a hospital to help numb your pain. It's some pretty powerful stuff, so don't expect to be moving around a lot. Plus, it makes you really sleepy. I brought them here just in case they were ever needed, and you're lucky to have them."

"Oh." I said, staring down at them. "Alrighty then."

I swallowed the morphine pills one by one, feeling them pass slowly down my throat. After I finished that, I just stared at him, a small smile playing on my face.

"So how is this supposed to help me?" I asked.

"It'll block out the pain while I put some stuff on your wounds that will help them heal much faster than that salve that they were using. Plus, it'll help stop the scarring, though I'll tell you now that you will have some scars."

"Oh." I said, looking down. "That's just dandy."

"I'm sorry." he replied, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Well, I have some work to take care of, so just call me if you need anything. Alright?"

"Yeah." I said, starting to feel the numbness spread through my body. I laid back down in the bed, and closed my eyes, and fell back asleep, as if my body was drained of energy.

AN: ah, and the story continues:) No reviews as of last chappie... Please do! I love to know what you all think!