Chapter Ten
Pint-sized Evil Genius
Gaara wasn't sure about the new arrivals. They hogged up Hinata's time, made a mess, didn't really know what they were doing, and generally got in the way. Well, that's what it seemed like to him, anyway. Tenten was noisy and was sure that her way was the right way, no matter what he said about it, Chouji ate too much, forcing him to share his precious cookies, and Shikamaru was lazy. He felt like an outsider in his own home, since they were staying with them now.
Gaara hopped down from his perch on the roof, and made his way inside. It was six o' clock, meaning that the ovens were already up and running. Chouji munched on a bagel egg sandwich, as did Tenten. Shikamaru was asleep at the table. Hinata handed Gaara a breakfast sandwich, and he slipped out of the room with his prize. Tenten watched him leave.
"Sheesh, is he too good to eat with us or something?" Hinata gave her a look of disapproval, but Shikamaru spoke up before she got a chance.
"That's not it at all; he just doesn't trust us."
"Just what is that supposed to mean?!"
"Well, you have to be able to see it from his point of view. To him, we're all intruders in his home and territory. If he had his way, he'd have thrown us all out when we got here. The only thing stopping him is Hinata's acceptance up us. Although he does seem to have something in particular against you, Tenten."
"Me?! Why?! I didn't do anything to that little brat!"
"That's why he doesn't like you; you treat him like a dumb little kid, when he is far from it. I saw the books and courses that he's taking and I must say, they're impressive. They're all college level, and he's only six. Top it all off with the fact that he's more knowledgeable in this bakery than we are, you can imagine just how much it irks him when you patronize him. He should be the one patronizing us."
"But he's just a kid!"
"That kid handed the leaf village's butt to us on a plate, or did you forget? It is incredibly stupid to annoy someone who is both stronger and smarter than you are. We just got to give him time and a chance, as well as some space. I'm sure he'll come around eventually."
"Okay, fine, but that still doesn't explain why he won't eat with us."
"He doesn't trust us, and thus, he won't drop his guard around us by eating. Let Hinata give him some cuddles and he'll be fine, we do take up a lot of her attention, and he may be a tad jealous because of it."
"Jealous? Why? He still gets attention from her."
"Not like he used to; you forget, he had her all to himself for a while. She is the center of his universe, and we're in his way, as far as he's concerned. Try being a little nicer to him, so he doesn't see us as such a threat."
"Fine, I'll try. Temperamental little turd."
"Oh, c'mon, Tenten, he's not that bad, I think it's nice having him around."
"You would, Chouji, just because he eats about as much as you do! I swear, I've never seen someone so small put away so much food!"
"Well, he is a growing boy."
"Shut up, Shikamaru! Go back to sleep!"
"Troublesome woman." He put his head down and caught some more Zs, he needed them.
Gaara found Hinata alone in the office, and curled up into her lap, purring like a happy kitten. She smiled at him and ruffled his hair before pulling him into a hug.
"You're still number one, Gaara, regardless of the others. You know that, right?"
"You say that, but sometimes I'm not so sure, Hinata." He sounded so sad and forlorn, her heart ached. She opened her mouth to respond, but Gaara rushed ahead anyway.
"Then these moments happen, and I know that I'm still important, but I wonder sometimes, what is it that you see in that girl?" his voice was one of disapproval, and it sounded so strange from a child.
"Tenten has a strong personality, Gaara, and she resents the fact that she has to deal with a little kid. She doesn't realize that you're as smart and clever as you are."
"Flattering my ego is nice, but it doesn't change the subject, you know."
"I know, you little smarty-pants, just listen."
"I will if you keep that up."
"Keep what up? Ruffling your hair?"
"What? It feels nice…" he gave her a cute little pout, making her giggle, but she continued her explanation.
"She doesn't understand your trust issues, and thinks you're acting like a spoiled little brat. Again, she doesn't realize how intelligent or mature you are, or what you went through before coming here. Shikamaru stood up for you, though, and I think he likes you."
"Really? That lazy guy? I thought he would find such things too troublesome to bother with." He purred like a kitten when she stroked his hair, her hands were so soft and gentle, and she smelled good too…his purrs made her giggle softly. He was so cute!
"I think he likes you, although he did go back to sleep right after his explanation. I should probably go wake him up so we can open the shop…"
"Leave that to me." He slid off her lap regretfully, and then went into the kitchen, mischief on his mind. He stealthily slid in close to Shikamaru's ear, and leaned in close to his ear. The others watched him warily.
"GET UP, YOU LAZY PINEAPPLE HEAD!" Shikamaru bolted upright, and gave him an exasperated look.
"Man, you're louder than my mom! Troublesome little turd."
"Useless slacker, you'd sleep the whole day away if I let you!"
"Hey, I'm not useless; I just like to do things at my own pace. Noisy chibbi!"
"A snail moves at a faster pace than you! Bothersome bum!"
"I move at the speed of the clouds outside, you pint-sized terror!"
"You moron, there are no clouds outside! You're in a desert; there are hardly any clouds here, ever! Do your job, you overgrown turtle, or I'll show just how terrifying I can be!"
"I don't have to listen to you! Shorty!"
"Yes you do, I'm your boss, I have seniority, and I am a demon vessel who can kick your butt! So get going, or so help me, I'll slip horse laxatives in your food! We'll se just how fast you can move then, lackey!"
"All right, all right, enough already, I'm going! Troublesome, pint-sized troll," he grumbled as he made his way into the kitchens. Gaara smirked triumphantly, and sauntered in as well. Maybe things would work out after all.
He rolled in one of his homemade carts, and loaded it with the fresh bread, muffins, and cookies. He then rolled the cart out to the display cases, where he gave them all a thorough check just to make sure they were clean. Cleanliness was a very high priority here, second only to quality ingredients and hard work. The kitchen was kept spotless, top to bottom, and their ingredients were all neatly labeled, sorted, and stored away unless they were being used. The outside cases were thoroughly cleaned every morning and night, and were checked before anything was put in. Hinata and Gaara took great pride in their bakery, and it showed.
He got out the labels, and neatly labeled each section with their respective cards. He then slid the goodies inside, and rolled the cart back in the kitchen, and wiped it down before rolling it into the storage room. He then snatched up a broom and took outside to their walkway. He willed the sand to move away, and swept the area clean of any remaining dust .before switching the sign from closed to open. He made sure that the bell was in place before returning inside.
He made sure that he had the keys to the cash register were in his pocket, and opened it up to add a few bills to each little section, and some change as well. Hmm, he would be sure to get Hinata to pick up some more coin rolls from the bank, because their change jar was getting to be quite heavy.
The bell jingled as the door opened, signaling the arrival of a customer. The man was from a nearby business that frequently ordered doughnuts from them.
"Hey, where are the doughnuts?! I'm going through withdrawal!" the man joked a bit. Gaara banged on the door leading to the kitchen.
"Hey turtle! Move your butt and hurry up with those doughnuts! Old Lady Chiyo can ice faster than you!"
"I'm coming, you pint-sized dictator! Sheesh!" Shikamaru pushed the door open with the cart, and displayed the variety of the sugary sweets to the customer.
"Fresh from the oven! The usual, Mr. Takuri?"
"Mm, those smell good! Yeah, two dozen glazed and one dozen of the filled sticks. Thank you, Gaara, keep the change, okay? See you later!" the man exited with the box of doughnuts in tow.
"We have a wedding cake to do today, and it has to be done by one. We should probably start that now, just to make sure it's cool enough to ice."
"That's the yellow cake with the red icing, right? White daisies on top?"
"Yeah, the center has to be left blank, though, just the red icing. The florist is making a daisy bunch to go on top or something."
"Yeah, it sounds like a weird cake, though. I thought wedding cakes were all supposed to have white frosting or something. Women are at their most troublesome when they're getting married."
"Yeah, well, at least we don't have to eat it. We just have to make it. Next Saturday is still open for me, right? No big orders or anything?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I have to go take my ACTs and SATs; it's the only day that they're both going on at a feasible time. I will only have a half-hour for lunch, though, and I won't be home until dinner."
"Both on the same day, Gaara? That's a tall order."
"Yes, but I must do it. The council found out that the college is allowing me to take their courses, and they are demanding that I either go to the campus or prove that I don't need help from the professors, and this is the only way for me to prove that I'm earning my grades. You know that we can't afford to be short-handed in here. Even with the extra help, we're rushed, and someone needs to make sure those two mob families don't decide to wreck the place or something."
"Why would the mob families want to wreck the place?"
"I may have kinda sorta torched their drug warehouses, heheh," he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. Shikamaru stared at him in shock.
"Why did you torch their warehouses?! Those families are wealthy enough to hire ninja to do their dirty work for them!"
"I'm not afraid of them. There isn't a sand ninja in the village that can take me on and win! Besides, I want them gone. This is my territory now, and crooks and thugs aren't welcome!" he looked at Shikamaru defiantly.
"Okay, alright, sheesh, I get it. We're all ninja anyway, so we should be able to handle a couple of mob criminal families."
"And three gangs."
"WHAT?!"
"I told you, I don't want thugs and criminals here! Besides, it's more like two and a half gangs, because one's starting to give up. I keep finding their drugs and weapons and incinerating them. I wrecked two meth labs last week."
"That is incredible dangerous, those things can blow up at the drop of a hat! And they'll take out the entire building with them!"
"I'm not an idiot, Shikamaru, I know haw to handle chemicals and unstable equipment! Besides, I have my sand if anything does go wrong. Besides, I intend to use some of the equipment for my science project."
"You brought the stuff here?!"
"Not all of it, I incinerated the chemicals separately, and cleaned it up before I brought it here! Beakers are beakers, you know, and they don't come cheap! Although the hotplates do seem to have faulty wiring, so I may end up having to scrap at least one of them for parts…"
"What science project?!"
"I need to design a new flare for the ANBU. The ones that they have burn out too fast and go off too close to the ground. They want one that'll fly up higher in the sky before going off, drift down slower, and still be small and easy to carry. It's a contest between a lot of the students. I could win fifteen thousand bucks; more than enough to fix the place up, and get another oven for the kitchen."
"Wait a second, are you sure that they won't be biased against you? And what about your college expenses?"
"I have a scholarship, and everybody in the contest is assigned a number. You bring your finished project in, and you go to your little cubical with your number on it and wait. A judge will come by and tell you when it is time for you to present. You go behind a dune where no one will see you, and you launch your design into the air after they give you the signal. You're then scored based on your design, its effectiveness, practicality, originality, and how easy it would be to use. The winner must have scored high in all of these areas. I have an idea; I just need to see if it works. Lab equipment is too expensive to buy, and why should I bother with all of the meth labs around here? I know I have to make sure all of it is in decent repair before I use it, but it's the best way to go. It also helps to cut down on the drugs on the street."
"Man, you're a devious little thing, aren't you? You don't even bother with the legal stuff either, like a search warrant, or anything else."
"They've had free reign over this neighborhood long enough! I'm sick of them and their crap; they drag everyone else down with them! Someone has to stand up to them, so why not someone who can dish out a bit of punishment? I'm going to drive them out one way or another, you just watch!" Gaara lifted his chin defiantly, daring him to argue. Shikamaru couldn't help it, he was impressed. The kid was an evil genius who used ruthless, merciless tactics to get what he wanted. He was hitting the crooks where it hurt most; their money. Gaara was likely costing them thousands of dollars each time he went after them, and he had them all freaked. Gaara had shown them that they couldn't hide from him, and that they were never safe here, no matter what time it was.
It was rather humorous if you thought about it; a six-year-old kid had all of the gangs running scared, and he could act without fear of retribution because he had nothing to lose. Everyone he cared about was a ninja, and they were tough at that. Hinata could dish out some serious damage if you got close, had excellent aim and superb vision even in the dark, and was nimble and light on her feet. Tenten could turn her enemies into mincemeat at a distance, and Chouji could crush anyone who stood in his way. Shikamaru knew he was a great tactician, and had more than a few tricks up his sleeve, and Gaara was a pint-sized army.
"You know what? I'm in; let's teach these punks a lesson. We can all handle ourselves, and I'm sure hat we can take them out, even if it takes a while. Yeah, let's get 'em, you pint-sized army!" Gaara smiled and nodded. There was much fun to be had in the future.