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Fix You Ch. 5
Tenten gaped at the bustling market around her as she fought to keep moving forward. In contrast to Konoha's wide pebbled streets full of delicate women pushing prams, Suna's marketplace was a rampage.
It was like a prized piece of meat had gone on sale and families had been starved for days. She wondered how children managed to hold on to their mother's arms as they were pushed and shoved amongst the crowds. Sand was kicking up and Tenten coughed and she put and arm over her face.
"Hey!" Kankurou tugged at her sleeve, "Follow me!"
Five minutes later, coughing and spluttering from the amount of dirt she had swallowed, Tenten, Kankurou and Kei had successfully darted into a silent side street safely.
As Kei shot off and Kankurou sighed exasperatedly after him, Tenten realised that they were standing at the entryway of a narrow street filled with quaint shops of all kinds.
"Not many people realise this exists," Kankurou explained as he motioned to her, "it sells just about the same stuff and more, and it's a lot more safer too," he added with a grin.
Tenten nodded in agreement. The shopkeepers were idling away in their shops or pleasantly chatting to one another. There were just enough customers to fill up the shops, but not crowd the streets.
It was just like Konoha.
After half an hour of browsing through the odd bits and pieces, Tenten spotted a grocery store on the other side.
"Kei," she called gently to the boy staring at the window display of robots, "What should I cook for dinner tonight?"
Kei eyes lit up at the mention of food. "LASAGNE!"
A sigh came from behind Tenten. Kankurou ruffled his hair as he told her, "Temari's cooking will kill you, so we've been living on takeaway for about half a year."
Tenten looked confused. "Lasagne?"
"Oh," Kankurou grinned, "Next on our list of things to try. Right Kei!"
As the two boys gave each other high-fives, another thought came into Tenten's mind.
"Does Kei live with you?"
Kei nodded happily as Kankurou shrugged. Tenten was curious to how Temari and Gaara reacted when they first met Kei, but she decided not to go there.
"Hmm, I might not be able to do lasagna, but I can definitely do pasta?"
"Pasta!" Kei grabbed Kankurou's hands and spun him around. "Pasta!"
Tenten burst out in laughter at the scene until something else came up in her mind.
"Oh, Kankurou?"
"What!"
"Where am I staying tonight?"
Kei slowed down as Kankurou tilted his head. "I thought the council had set up an apartment for you or something."
Tenten looked horrified.
Kankurou laughed, "Don't worry so much! Suna streets are really comfortable, but I don't know about the safe part of it…Jokes! Jokes! Just kidding!"
Tenten looked less horrified and more threatening.
"Stay with us!" Kei called.
"What?"
"Heey," a glimmer lit up his eyes, "that might be an idea. Good thinking Kei!"
As the boys gave each other another high-five, Tenten just stared at them blankly. There was absolutely no point talking to them.
"Oi! Tenten! Where you going?"
"Tenten?"
"Pasta?"
"Yeah! What about our pasta?"
"Cook it yourself!"
"We're home!"
"Pasta! Pasta! Pasta!"
Temari looked dubiously at the trio from where she was crouching in front of the oven.
"Kei…" Temari pouted as her arms opened wide, "I'm so sorry!"
Kankurou snorted as Kei asked "What happened?"
Temari sniffed as she pointed at the oven. "It was going really good! But…but then…"
Kei blinked as he stared at the melting plastic box. He turned to Kankurou with a questioning face, of which was replied with a painful shake of the head.
Kei turned back to Temari with a pitiful face. "It's okay, It's okay…"
Kankurou peeked at Tenten's disbelief and smirked. With a roll of his eyes, he announced "Temari, you are now dropped from your cooking duties as we have appointed a professional."
Temari's face of shock was too much for the brown haired girl as giggles escaped her.
"Tenten!"
"Tsunade-sama."
The busty blonde pouted childishly as she spotted stacks of white.
"No."
"Don't be difficult now," Shizune calmly said, dropping the stacks on the messy table.
With an unreadable expression, Tsunade swiveled her chair around to look at Konoha from her priceless window scenery.
Shizune knew she was still in turmoil about the young weapon mistress she had sent over to Suna.
"Tsunade, if you're worried about her fitting in or-"
"-I'm not. I'm just worried that she might have not realised how important she was here."
Shizune pursed her lips. "Obviously there was something wrong then, if she didn't realise it. Suna would perhaps provide some thinking time. I'm sure she'll come to the right decision soon."
Tsunade turned her mind to the relentless barrage of paperwork.
"Let's hope so."
Kankurou scoffed as he observed his sister's crestfallen face.
Tenten had taken control of the kitchen for the last fifteen minutes, and had probably made more edible stuff than Temari had in her whole life.
Kei rushed back from a quick shower, droplets spraying from his damp hair. Tenten saw him take a big sniff and settle back into the chair with a satisfied smile.
"How many plates will there be?" She asked.
"Uhh, about five?"
"Gaara is coming to eat?"
Temari nodded. "He normally makes an effort to come home, although I'm not sure what he eats…or if he eats."
When Tenten set down five plates of pasta and steaming sauce, Kankurou and Kei were literally drooling.
"Should we wait for Gaara?" Tenten felt unsure at what would happen if she intentionally left the Kazekage out.
"Nah," Kankurou picked up his fork, "Just let him sit in his office with those things…"
"Things?"
"Oh, right, I forgot they're people, because apparently they have emotions-GAH!"
Tenten dropped her forkful of pasta back into her bowl as sand materialized at the head of the table. Gaara appeared in the empty seat, staring at the shocked faces with a vacant expression.
With a quiet "Itadakimasu," he picked up his fork and started eating as if appearing out of nowhere was a nightly occurrence.
Tenten took a moment to recover and after sharing a few glances with the other two siblings, she started eating dinner.
She peeked at Kei who was sitting next to her. He was so absorbed into shoving food into his mouth she doubted he noticed at all.
She didn't mind if all her dinners were going to be like this. Didn't mind at all.
Hinata didn't understand.
She didn't understand why Tenten would leave her by herself, she didn't understand why she didn't tell her, and she didn't understand what Akamaru was trying to say!
She concentrated deeply as the white dog waved his paw at the men's restroom where Kiba had gone, shook his fur furiously and then waved his paw at her.
"Ah!" Akamaru looked hopefully at her, tongue lolling out.
Hinata's shoulder's fell. "I'm sorry Akamaru, I don't know what you mean. Maybe you can tell Kiba when he comes back?"
Akamaru whimpered and looked at her with eyes that looked horrified.
"Okay, okay! I know! No telling Kiba!" Hinata giggled. "Kiba must be lucky to have someone like you, right? I'm envious."
"No need," a voice interrupted, "You're lucky not to have him." Kiba slid back into his seat and took a gulp of his drink. "He can be a real pain in the ass, right Akamaru?"
Akamaru stuck out his tongue and looked out the window. Kiba shot an I-told-you-so look at Hinata as she smiled gently.
Kiba leaned forward. "Hinata, even though you were close to Tenten, you have other friends too."
Hinata looked down guiltily. "Just…I…"
"It's okay." Kiba nodded, reassuring her. "I won't say I understand, but just know a whole bunch of us will be willing to listen to you. Me included."
Hinata nodded. "Thank you."
Kiba grinned, fangs showing. "That's what friends are for! Now, let's drink!"
The white eyed girl made a sound of agreement as she sipped her own drink. She could always count on Kiba to cheer her up. Oh, and Akamaru of course.
"No."
"Why?"
"Yay!"
"No!"
Temari sighed as Tenten pouted.
"Tenten, no kidding," the blonde said, "The couch is way better than his room, I swear that place is a graveyard."
The four of them, including Kei, were debating where Tenten was going to sleep that night. The brunette herself insisted on not disturbing Temari and instead kicking Kankurou out onto the couch so she could share the room with Kei.
"Hey!" A hurt Kankurou exclaimed, while Tenten looked interested.
"Why? Does it stink?"
"Yeah, but that's not the reason." Temari started packing up the dishes and Tenten hopped up to help her.
"You keep your weapons in your room right?" Temari directed to Tenten.
"Yeah…" Tenten replied slowly.
"Yeah…well he does too." Temari jerked a thumb back at her brother who was having a burping contest with Kei.
Tenten good-natured smile dropped as a pale colour spread over her face. The prospect of sleeping in the same room as those puppets did not sit well with her at all.
"Tenten, you okay?" Kei asked innocently.
As if snapping out of a reverie, Tenten turned to the little boy and cutely smiled.
"Yep! I think I'll sleep on the couch after all."
"Yes!" Kankurou yelled as Kei's face dropped at her words.
Temari gave Tenten a wary glance before ushering them all out of the kitchen to help set up Tenten's makeshift bed.
"Hey Tenten," Temari called, "Out of interest, where did you sleep last night?"
"Oh," she replied before she disappeared out the door, "I was stuck in the hospital the last few days."
A sly grin grew on the blonde's face as she turned back to the dishes. "Oh little brother, now I know what you've been up to."
"So this is it," Kankurou gestured to the couch as Kei jumped excitedly on top of it.
Tenten tilted her head to the side and uttered a thoughtful "hmm."
"What's with the 'hmm'?"
"I don't know," Tenten said as she went to join Kei who had buried himself under the covers, "I'm just excited I guess. Excited to live here. It's like an adventure!"
"Adventure!" Echoed Kei.
Kankurou gave an exasperated look as he beckoned to the little boy. "Okay, play with Tenten tomorrow. You need to get to bed!"
Tenten watched as Kankurou fondly rubbed Kei's head as the latter dragged himself across the room complaining about the early bed time.
It sure was going to be an adventure.
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