Hey there! First, thanks and cookies to Jestie Uchiha, MyLifeInWhole and jade for reviewing!
Secondly, I actually wanted to update this chapter last week but then my computer died. I don't know why but from one day to the other he was suddenly dead… Well, now he's alive again and… omg does that mean my computer is a zombie? Okay what I wanted to say is that now the next update will be next week. That's mostly because this chapter will end (again) with a cliffhanger and I don't want to have to guys to wait two whole weeks. One week okay but not two.
Thirdly: Kagami, Kagami, watashi no~ lalalalaaaaa~~ sweet song, just have to love it!^^
Okay, whatever. Now I'll just shut up and let you read this chapter!
Sins and Sunshine
Chapter 14: Unexpected Reunion
"And I then 'Gatsuga!' and he then 'Oh no, forgive me!' and then I and Akamaru kicked his ass and he then…" Kiba told us from his team's first C-rank-mission.
Our old clique, consisting of Naruto, Kiba, Choji, Shikamaru, Shino, Hinata and lil ol' me, decided to meet up at our regular café a few days after our team came back from the Land of Waves. Sasuke didn't want to come, he said he had better things to do. Sakura and Ino didn't come simply because we didn't invite them.
Right now we were exchanging stories of our missions and what we did do all the time we couldn't see each other. And of course Kiba totally exaggerated with his little story. Hinata told me that at the beginning he was so nervous he couldn't even walk straight without tripping over his own feet. But nonetheless we let him talk and then had Shino tell us the truth. Then Kiba got in a fight with Shino who won by using his scary close-up face.
"Our mission was really difficult, believe it!" Naruto then began.
"Originally we should only have escorted this old man to the Land of Waves but then those ninjas attacked us but we easily finished them off. Then…"
It was really cute listening to his enthusiastic speech, even thought half of it was completely made up, for example when he single-handedly beat up three enemies at once or when he saved Sasuke.
"Who saved whom, dope?" Sasuke said while entering the café.
"What are you doing here, teme? Thought you didn't want to come?" Naruto shot back. Aww and few days ago they were such good friends, pity.
"I didn't want to but Kakashi told me to look for you guys. We has to tell us something."
"What is it?" I asked him curious of what our sensei had to say, but Sasuke only shrugged being indifferent like always.
"Well, sorry guys but we have to go." I waved goodbye to my friends as I left the shop pulling Naruto behind me.
"Maybe we can meet some other day."
Our whole team waited on a bridge for Kakashi to finally show up. And we waited, and waited, and waited…
"Now where's our oh-so reliable sensei?" I asked no one in particular after two hours of pointless standing around and waiting.
"Hey guys!" Kakashi-sensei greeted as he magically appeared on the bridge. Well magically or ninja-like, depending on how you look at it…
"Sorry I'm late, I'm afraid I got lost on the path of life." was his all-explaining excuse. I had to postpone my friends so that I could wait with my team two whole hours just to hear this lame excuse. Sometimes I wonder why I actually always wait for Kakashi to show up instead of going home and sleep. Then I remember him being our sensei and all. Sometimes life is playing really mean tricks on me…
"So what's up?" I asked him silently cursing my bad luck in life.
"We have new missions!" he announced happily. Naruto started again that he wanted some really difficult ones then starred at Sasuke and had flames in his eyes. He probably thought about saving Sasuke so he'd be the cool one this time. Poor little Naruto, being so predictable.
Our first "mission" was weeding the garden of an old lady. But Naruto didn't just pull up weed but actually all plants in this garden which brought him a black eye by the herb woman.
Next we had to collect trash from the river. Then Naruto slipped and almost fell off the waterfall if it wasn't for Sasuke saving him. Irony…
Then we had to walk dogs and Naruto wanted by all means the biggest one. But this dog dragged him into a restricted area where they had to blow up something. How Naruto could actually survive that and the dog didn't get hurt, we'll never know.
On the way to retrieve our next so-called "mission" Sasuke and I had to carry the blown up Naruto. When Pinky and Sasuke (!) started mocking him because of that he snapped and accused Sasuke of thinking of himself as better than anyone else.
"Not better than anyone else." he retorted "only better than you."
He then provoked the blonde a bit more until they were on the brink of fighting.
Pinky was frightened, I was bored. That's not the first time and won't be the last time that those two fight, so why bother?
Then Kakashi gave us the rest of the day off to stop the quarrelling couple – or to not have to bear with the consequences of it. Yep, that's more like Kakashi. But who cares. Yay, sweet leisure time!
"And, Minari." sensei turned to me.
"Come with me. We have to talk."
So long, sweet leisure time…
Kakashi made his disappearing-trick but this time with me disappearing along with him.
We were a few streets away from the others and now I felt dizzy. Why couldn't he just talk to me where the others were? It couldn't actually be something important. I mean, it's Kakashi we're talking about!
"You probably know that soon the Chunin exams will take place here in Konoha?"
"Yeah?" I answered/questioned. The others told me about that but I didn't see his point there.
"Then you probably also know that only teams of three can participate?"
"You're going to kick Pinky out of the team?" I asked him hopefully.
"No."
"So you gonna kick me out of the team?" I then said sadly, really sadly.
"Not directly 'kicking out'."
"Then what?"
"From tomorrow on until the Chunin exams are over you're transferred to another team who lack one person."
"Why do they lack one person?"
"He ran away for some unknown reason."
"U~hu~…" I hummed guessing why he would have probably run away. And I didn't like my guesses one bit.
"So why is it me and not Pinky?" I persisted. Seriously I don't want to leave my team. We're so good friends, I simply don't want to!
"Because I think it's easier for you to integrate in a new team than anyone of the others."
"And why-"
"You're meeting your new team tomorrow on the third training ground at noon. Try to get along with them." Kakashi then explained and disappeared again before I could ask him any more questions. Instead I now stood there all alone and pouting.
Stupid Kakashi, kicking me out of the team. Stupid rules only allowing teams of three…
Still pouting I strolled along the street not really paying attention as to where I was going.
A new team, huh? I was really sad that I had to leave my friends and just as we started to act like a real team. And now I get thrown into some strange new squad with strange new people that scared away their previous team member. Why would Kakashi think that I of all people would be able to befriend which such guys?
And how do I tell this my old team?
Okay Pinky will be thrilled to bits that I'm finally out of her way but Naruto will surely be lonely without me, with the others picking on him and all. Would Sasuke be disappointed? Naah, he's an Uchiha. It's impossible he'd actually miss me, except for the fact that I then can no longer protect him from the pink danger.
It'd be best I tell them now, I thought then stopped to orientate me. It's good that Kakashi didn't teleport me too far away. Easily I found the way back to the street I left the others but obviously they were no longer there.
I kept looking for them and wandered through various small alleys and the one I was currently following lead to a bigger street.
There I could actually see all three of my team colleagues, together with three little kids. They appeared to talk to someone but the edge of a building was blocking my view. Not that it mattered much to me. I just cursed that Pinky was with them. Now I had to see her sardonic grin when I told them the sad news.
Nonetheless I crossed the broad street and went directly to my friend plus Pinky and kids.
"Hey guys. I have to tell you something."
"Oh, hey Minari." Naruto greeted me. It's not like we just saw each other about one hour ago. No, he just had to greet me.
"Minari?" I turned to see the person who just now said my name and froze in my movement. No. Could it be?
In front of me stood three suna-nins and actually three certain suna-nins that I knew just too well.
The blond girl with four ponytails and the boy with makeup and black playsuit starred at me completely shocked. But I ignored them. All my attention was on the boy with the red hair and cyan eyes.
"Minari." he breathed my name, disbelieve in his black-rimmed eyes.
I felt something hot and wet rolling down my cheek as I starred at the redhead. All the memories that I had suppressed for so many years finally came back up to the surface. With a bittersweet smile forming on my lips I whispered the only words that my mind would come up with in this moment.
"Hello, Gaara."
Woot! Gaara's appearance, finally! Sorry that he only came at the very end but isn't that like really dramatic and all? And like I already said/wrote next week you get the next chapter! :D
If you still think there wasn't enough Gaara in this story, let me tell you that soon there'll be more than enough sweet Gaara and Minari scenes. Apart from that I'll just go and hide somewhere^^