Temari, Gaara, and Kankuro led Yuri and Yukina towards the Kazekage mansion. Temari showed Yuri and Yukina their rooms and helped them, get settled in. Then Temari turned to Gaara and Kankuro, who were standing by the doorway.
"Okay, you two can leave now."
"Why?" Kankuro asked. Gaara stayed silent.
"Um, I actually don't mind-" Yuri spoke. Temari walked over to them.
"This is girls' night only!" And she slammed the door in their faces.
"Women." Kankuro huffed, while Gaara blinked a little shocked by his sister's behavior. Temari turned back to Yuri and Yukina, who were sitting on their beds, and walked over to them.
"So, what's this about you having a sister now?" Temari asked Yuri. Yuri smiled.
"Well, I consider her one. Yukina's living with us and my parents adopted her." Yuri replied.
"So, what's your story?" Temari asked Yukina. Yukina looked over at Yuri, asking for something to write with.
"What's she doing?" Temari asked Yuri. Yuri grabbed into her bag and pulled out a notebook and pen, handing it to Yukina.
"Yukina can't talk. So, this helps her." Yuri told Temari and Yukina wrote.
"As you saw from the Chunin exams, I am from the Hidden Sound Village. My parents abandoned me. It was Orochimaru who found me in the streets before I starved to death and helped hone my ability. I didn't want to take part of the exams but was forced to."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Temari spoke, not sure of what to say.
"Yukina told me that if she returned back there, she would be killed. So, she's staying with me." Yuri told Temari.
"I must be nice having someone you can trust so easily." Temari told her. Yuri stared at Temari for a moment before she spoke.
"What happened to you? How come you stopped writing to me?"
"I have to put my village first. Father made us go through gruesome training so that we can be the elite shinobi. Emotions are a shinobi's weakness. They will only hold you back. It's one of the rules to shinobi. We are only a tool to fight." Temari said.
"That's a load of crap!" Yuri frowned. Temari's eyes widened a little.
"Not if you have people to protect. It makes you want to fight back stronger. There's nothing wrong with that." Yuri told her. "And I think you know that, otherwise, we wouldn't be sitting here right now, talking!" Temari stared at Yuri, silently, surprised by her outburst and she smiled, laughing softly.
"You really haven't changed at all since you left." Temari said.
"What do you mean?" Yuri asked.
"Tell me this, why did you want to be friends with me?" Temari asked her. "Most of the kids in the village was afraid to come close to me because my father was kazekage."
"And?" Yuri shrugged. "What does that have to do with it? Just because he's kazekage doesn't mean anything. He's just a village leader, that's all."
"There's your answer. You don't care. You don't care about people's status, whether they're a common or rich. You see them as an equal." Temari told her. "That's what I've always liked about you."
Yuri smiled. "This is nice, talking about this, getting it out. I thought you hated my guts back at the Chunin exams, maybe because I left."
"Like I said before, I'm sorry." Temari told her. "I was just following orders. We all were."
"It's okay." Yuri told her. "And I'm sorry, you know, about your father-"
Temari stayed silent. "It's fine. What's done, is done." She replied.
Nighttime had fallen on the Hidden Sand Village. Yuri sat up after she had tossed and turned in her bed, unable to sleep. She was too excited to be back. Yuri felt a little weight on her stomach and looked over to see that Yukina had sneaked out of her bed and crawled into hers. She was fast asleep, sleeping peacefully. Yuri slowly moved Yukina's arm as she slid out, trying not to wake her up and got up. Yukina stirred in her sleep, but still slept. Yuri sighed and pulled the blanket over Yukina's shoulders, covering her and she stepped out of the room.
She quietly closed the door behind her and saw from the windows that it was dark outside, probably the middle of the night. Maybe she could go stargazing for a bit. Yuri walked out of the house and felt the cold breeze hit her skin, shivering a little. Yuri jumped up on top of the rooftop, only to find that she wasn't alone. Her eyes widened when she saw Gaara, sitting on the edge, silently looking out over the village. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts.
"Come on, let me out." Gaara frowned as he heard his tailed beast voice, echoing from the back of his mind.
"No. I'm never letting you out again." Gaara heard Shukaku laugh.
"One day, you are going to slip up. And when you do, I'll kill everyone that you care about, starting with her."
"Gaara?" Gaara's eyes widened, and he turned around to see Yuri standing behind him.
"What are you doing up?"
Yuri stared at Gaara concerned for a minute before answering him. "I couldn't sleep. I thought I could do some stargazing before turning in. Looks like you're restless as well, as always." She walked over to him, sitting down.
"When I look up at the sky, it always helps calms me down. It's definitely beautiful tonight. " She told him. Gaara stared at her silently before he reached into his pocket. He pulled out the red ribbon and Yuri's eyes widen, recognizing it.
"Y-You still have it?" she sputtered in surprise. "But I thought you threw it away or lost it."
"No. No matter how much I tried to, I couldn't do it. So, I kept it. Although, I was sure that you forgotten our promise. I figured that you were like the rest that you hated me."
"No. Like I said before, I thought about you guys all the time, especially you. And I don't hate you. You're my friend. I care about you." Yuri told him, placing her hand on top of Gaara's. Gaara tensed up, not used to it.
"I'm sorry for what I did." Gaara told her.
"Well, you're back to your usual strange self now. What you told me, what you've been through all this time, I don't blame you." Yuri told him. "Although there are a couple of things that have been bugging me."
"What is it?" Gaara asked her.
"Well for one, back at the Chunin exams, I was supposed to fight Dosu. That guy doesn't seem like the type to chicken out on a fight."
"I killed him." Gaara told her. Yuri's eyes widened a little in surprise.
"What?"
"He came at me one night, in hopes to eliminate the competition." Gaara told her.
"Oh..." Yuri paused. "That makes sense about his disappearance. I was still hoping to get my revenge on him. I guess that's his own fault for picking a fight. But the other thing that's been bothering me is, since we've got to the village. I didn't see your uncle anywhere. Where's Yashamaru?"
Yuri saw Gaara flinch a little, closing his eyes before he opened them again. "He's dead. I killed him, as well, six years ago."
"What happened?" Yuri asked him.
"Do you remember what I said back at the hospital when my father tried to kill me many times?" Gaara told her and Yuri slowly nodded. "He sent Yashamaru after me with an order to kill me. He was the one to tell me that I was a threat to the village and that I was never loved...even my by the woman who gave birth to me, my mother."
Yuri frowned. "That doesn't sound right. He always seemed like that he loved and cared about you a great deal, from what I've seen when he came to pick you up." She said in disbelief. "Why would he want to do that?"
"He was my mother's brother and wanted revenge on me for taking her life." Gaara told her.
"It still doesn't make any sense." Yuri spoke before she heard a noise down below that sound like hammering. Within the distance, in the streets, there were several villagers starting to put up some stands and some colorful banners. "What's going on?"
"It's the founding of the village festival." Gaara told her. Yuri's eyes widened a little in excitement. The Hidden Sand Village never really celebrated or rarely had festivals. But this one was one of her favorites!
"Do you think we can go? All of us?" She asked Gaara. Gaara's eyes widened a little surprised.
"I-I don't know..." He said, unsure.
"Please!" Yuri pleaded. "I know it'll be fun! And this will be Yukina's first time seeing it! Can we go?"
"Alright." Gaara softly spoke.