Chapter 22: Jealous Anyone?

The elevator stopped and let the group off on the 20th floor of the building. Izuka, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, Daisuke, and Ryu followed Mioka down the long hallway until they reached an ornate green door.

"You all will be staying in the rooms behind this door." says Mioka as she opens the doors for the group.

The group step into the room to see that it was a posh suite with a living room, kitchen, and at least five bedrooms. Two were on the right side of the suite while the other three were on the left.

"The girls' rooms are on the right. The boys are on the left." continued Mioka.

Kankuro ran through the suite to check out the bedrooms.

"Sweet! Each one has its own bathroom!" yelled Kankuro from the last bedroom on the right.

"I see the suite is at your brother's liking." commented Mioka as she turns to Gaara.

"He just gets excited about everything, that's all." returned Gaara as he walked deeper into the suite and sat in one of the living room's couches.

"Lady Sage san?" questioned Mioka as she turned her attention to Izuka.

"It'll do." said Izuka with a smirk as she continued to observe Kankuro running around the suite with a smile on his face and squealing like one of her fan boys.

"Okay then. Remember, dinner starts at seven sharp on the 30th floor. Clothes have already been provided for you to wear for the dinner. You'll find them in your rooms' closets."

"Thank you Mioka." said Izuka as she walked her back to the door.

"I'm just doing my job Lady Sage." said Mioka with a smile as she left the suite, closing the door behind her.

"Wait a sec. We've been invited to dinner?" asked Kankuro as he finally calmed down long enough to take a seat next to Gaara on the couch.

"Yes. The dictator is currently too busy to hear us out right now, so he has decided to invite us to dinner tonight. Even Ryu is invited." said Daisuke as he took a seat on the other side of Gaara.

"I feel so remembered." commented Ryu as she wiped an imaginary tear from her eye.

"Sweet! A nice room and free food? The dictator seems like a nice guy to me right now." said Kankuro as he picked up his feet and laid them on the coffee table in front of him.

"You do know it is a formal dinner, right? We're expected to wear the clothes they have provided for us for the occasion." said Temari matter of factly.

"I hate the man." said Kankuro bluntly.

"Because he has provided for us formal wear for the dinner?" asked Daisuke as he raised an eyebrow.

"That's exactly right!" exclaimed Kankuro as he crossed his arms out of defiance.

"Kankuro, stop acting like a baby." Gaara said as he gave his brother a stern look.

"Never!" he continued to yell out of defiance.

"So does that really mean that you admit that you're nothing but a big baby?" asked Temari as she lifted one of her blonde eyebrows at the puppeteer.

"I deny everything." said Kankuro bluntly soon after with a straight face.

Everyone got a good laugh out of that one.

"So what exactly happened inside the dictator's office?" asked Ryu after she calmed down from her laughing fit.

"Well, we shook hands with Dictator Kotowashi for a start. Actually, let me revise that. Gaara and I shook hands with the dictator while he kissed and shook Izuka's hand for a greeting." said Daisuke as he reclined in his seat.

"Did you just say that Dictator Seiriyu KISSED Izuka's hand?" asked an incredulous Temari as she stared at the advisor.

"That's exactly right." said Daisuke as he gave the wind mistress a curious look of his own. "Why do you ask Temari?"

"Oh nothing." said Temari as she looked away.

Izuka gave her a weird look. "Temari is something wrong?" she asked.

"Everything's fine it's just that I suggest you watch out for Mr. Dictator. He sounds like a player." said Temari with a knowing look.

"Pfft, like that's ever going to happen." commented Gaara a little sulkily. He looked at everyone else, who were giving him curious stares.

"What?" he asked.

"Are you jealous of Seiriyu Kotowashi?" asked Kankuro with a mischievous smirk.

"I don't get jealous." Gaara said bluntly as he looked his brother in the eye.

"Really?" asked Kankuro again, still with his mischievous smirk plastered across his face like the Cheshire cat's.

"Leave the matter alone Kankuro." Gaara warned as he narrowed his eyes.

"Just admit. You're actually jealous of the guy." said Kankuro as he started to dance around the room.

"Kankuro!" whined Temari as she witnessed her foolish brother dance around the room.

"Gaara is jealous! Gaara is jealous! J-E-A-L-O-U-S!" chanted Kankuro like a cheerleader as he did the Macarena. Ryu was filming the whole thing for YouTube.

"Kankuro stop taunting Gaara! You are so not a good brother!" exclaimed Temari as she tried to control her brother, but to no avail.

Everyone was so distracted by Kankuro dancing that they never noticed Gaara leaving the living room. It took a good ten minutes for Izuka to be the first to notice his disappearance.

"Ryu, where did Gaara go?" Izuka whispered into her dragon's ear.

"Probably to one of the bedrooms to be alone." answered Ryu as she continued to video tape Kankuro with his own video camera.

Izuka only nodded her head in response. She got up from her seat and walked to the first bedroom on the left. She opened the door to peer inside the room, but the room was empty. She checked the second room, but he wasn't there either. She looked into the third room to see Gaara sitting on the bed with his head in his hands.

"Gaara?" asked Izuka as she entered the room.

Gaara lifted his head to see his girlfriend stand beside the door. He shook his head.

"I'm fine Izuka. You don't need to worry about me." said Gaara in a tired tone.

"Your thoughts say otherwise." returned Izuka as she crossed her arms.

"I'm not jealous of Seiriyu, alright." said Gaara as he stood up from the bed.

Izuka lifted a blonde eyebrow. "Then how come you're letting Kankuro's taunts get to you. You usual ignore them, but this time, your stoic façade began to crack."

Gaara looked at Izuka in silence. Jade eyes met ice blue ones as the two continued to stare down each other. As the room fell more and more silent, Gaara let out a loud sigh.

"Is this our first fight?" Gaara asked all of a sudden.

"I don't want it to be." Izuka said sincerely as she closed the gap between her and the red head.

"Me neither." said Gaara as he opened his arms. Izuka stepped into to the embrace and encircled her arms around Gaara's neck.

"Thank you and I'll admit I was tad annoyed about the whole dictator kissing your hand thing." said Gaara as he stroked Izuka's back.

"I could tell by the blank stare you gave Daisuke back in Kotowashi's office." said Izuka as she enjoyed the feel of Gaara's hand on her back.

"Apparently you know me so well." said Gaara as he moved his head back so that he was staring at Izuka's face.

"I've only known you for three years." answered Izuka in return as she smirked at the young Kazekage.

"Touché" Gaara said as a return of his own.

Without their sandals on, Gaara and Izuka were the same height. Gaara leaned his head forward to come in to contact with Izuka's. Soon their lips connected in a sweet kiss, which was soon interrupted by a knock on the door.

"WHAT?" exclaimed the two teens as they broke their kiss to look at the door.

"It's me." said Daisuke." If you guys don't mind me interrupting whatever you are doing in there, I need your assistance in prying your sister off your brother. She currently has him in a death lock."

"Serves him right." muttered Gaara under his breath as he looked at the floor.

"Now don't be like that. We both know he deserves to be punished, but not to be sentenced to Temari's death lock." said Izuka as she placed her hand on Gaara's cheek and brought his face to face hers.

"You're right. We'll continue this later?" he asked her while giving her a knowing look.

"Definitely." said Izuka as she walked out of Gaara's embrace to the door. Gaara followed after her and the two were soon in the living room.

The two witnessed Temari giving Kankuro a head lock, but being Temari, she called it a death lock. It was basically a more painful version of the headlock.

"Temari, let go of me!" Kankuro choked out.

"Never!" yelled Temari in return.

"What happened in here?" asked Izuka as she gave the two siblings a wide eyed look. Gaara looked on in amusement.

"It went from Temari trying to stop Kankuro from dancing to calling her a prissy, airhead of a valley girl." said Ryu as she continued to video tape the scene in front of her.

"Oh boy. We have to get them away from each other and get to dinner. It starts in 45 minutes." whined Daisuke as he scratched his head.

"Izuka if you may?" asked Gaara as he gestured toward his siblings.

Izuka walked over to the two feuding siblings, who were too distracted to notice her presence. She raised her finger and summoned a bolt of electricity to appear on the digit. She walked over to Temari's backside and shocked her right on her rump.

"OWWWW!" yelled Temari as she rubbed her sore booty.

"Yes I'm free and I didn't even get the shock!" yelled Kankuro with glee.

Izuka immediately shocked him soon after his statement.

"OWWW! What was that for?" whined Kankuro as he rubbed his backside.

"That was for taunting your brother." said Izuka as she gave him a cold look.

"Okay then." said Kankuro as he looked away from the annoyed Sage.

"We have to get ready for dinner." said Gaara loud enough for everyone to hear.

"FOOD!" exclaimed Kankuro as he ran straight for one of the bedrooms to get ready.

"And he whines when he has to wear formal wear." said an incredulous Temari as she walked to her room.

"Just remind him that there's food involved and he will forget about everything else." said Daisuke with a knowing smirk as he walked to his room.

Ryu slithered in to Izuka's room.

Izuka and Gaara looked at each other.

"You're siblings are unbelievable." said Izuka as she walked to her room.

"I can't disagree with that statement." said Gaara as he walked back to his room to get ready for the near festivities.

AT 6:50 P.M.

Gaara was standing next to the suite's main door waiting for the others. He was dressed in a dark brown men's kimono with beige detailing that looked like slivers of sand blowing in the wind.

"Well, Seiriyu's assistants know how to pick outfits." thought Gaara.

"And you look great in yours." commented a new voice.

"Izuka?" asked Gaara.

"Turn around." she said out loud.

Gaara did what he was told and turned around. His jaw instantly dropped, figuratively. Literally, he stared wide eyed in stunned silence.

"Izuka?" he asked tongue tied.

Izuka stood before him dressed in a lavender colored silk kimono with a light blue sash wrapped around her waist that accentuated showing her hour glass frame. The sash was tied in the back in a big bow. She had her hair down and out of its usual braids, accessorizing it with a jeweled headband. Her amulet and rosary shown in the middle of her chest and complimented her whole outfit.

"What do you think?" she asked him as she blushed bright pink. She then looked at the floor, too nervous to look him in the eyes.

Gaara walked over to the suddenly shy Sage.

"You look absolutely breathtaking." he said as he picked up her chin so that he could look her in the eyes.

This only made her blush harder. He let out a low chuckle.

"Calm down, will you? You don't have to be nervous around me." he said with sincerity laced throughout his voice.

"Not when you hear compliments like yours." returned Izuka as she looked Gaara in the eye.

"Now isn't this is a pretty sight." said Temari as she walked out of her room to join the two younger teens at the door.

Temari was dressed in a royal blue kimono, tied in the back with a silver bow. Little silver fans were etched into the kimono's edges. She wore her hair down and had a silver hair clip fastened on the right side of it.

"What did I miss?" asked Temari as she crossed her arms and gave them a knowing look.

"Nothing." answered Gaara and Izuka as they looked away from Temari, blushes creeping onto their faces.

Daisuke and Ryu soon stepped into the room. Ryu was wearing a jewel encrusted collar while Daisuke wore a red men's kimono with black detailing.

"Nice collar Ryu." said Izuka as she observed her dragon companion.

"Don't I look fly?" asked Ryu as she modeled for the group.

"They show know how to pick outfits." commented Temari as she watched Ryu do her own version of a runway walk. Daisuke and Gaara nodded in agreement.

"Now where's Kankuro? We're going to be late because of him." said Izuka as she looked toward the bedrooms.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" exclaimed Kankuro as he emerged from his room. He was dressed in a dark green men's kimono with black detailing.

"And you called me a tree, Mr. Bush." commented Daisuke as he looked at Kankuro.

Everyone chuckled except Kankuro, who only scowled at the advisor.

"Karma's a bitch, isn't it?" asked Ryu.

"Shut up!" he yelled as he walked out the door. The others followed him.

"Is it weird that I have this strange feeling that tonight is going to be one eventful night?" asked Temari all of a sudden.

"It's not weird Temari. I'm getting that strange feeling as well." said Izuka as she looked at the wind mistress.

"In other words, be on guard. We don't know what to expect." said Gaara as they walked into the elevator. He pressed the button for the 30th floor. The door closed and the platform started to rise into the unknown.

End of chapter 22

A/N: Please review :)

Birthday Shout Outs: Tomorrow is Bleach's very own 10th Division Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya's birthday (12/20). Happy birthday Hitsugaya! Plus, this Friday (12/21) is 13th Division Captain Jushiro Ukitake's birthday. Happy Birthday Ukitake! :)