Arrivals

None of them were entirely sure how this had happened. It was a part of a number of missions, they knew, as all of them had different missions to attend to, but there wasn't a single one of them that could put a finger on why they had ended up living with each other in this large house. They were to be operating from this place for a few months. That's all they'd been told.
Kiba and his squad had arrived just today. They were the last to get there. They knew all the other teams that they knew from Konoha would be there, but all three of them were surprised to see the three siblings from Suna sitting around on the grass a short walk from the front path, all dressed in more casual clothing than usual. Though, Kankurou was still wearing that face paint of his.
"I'm starting to think they're just trying to get us out of the way," Kiba grumbled, watching the siblings as they walked by them. The three foreigners paid no attention to the new arrivals.
"There's a higher number of jobs being requested from the towns in this area," Shino replied quietly, "They're most likely just seeing how having a post here will work out."
"And what if something big gets thrown at us? There's no jonins here, only the woman who gives us our missions."
"There's never been a serious problem here. That's probably why they chose this place to test the idea."
"And this is all just a theory, of course?"
"Of course."
Kiba rolled his eyes, and stepped through the open doors of the entranceway. There was a desk, with a single woman behind it, reading through paper after paper. She looked up at them, cocking a dark eyebrow, and lowering her reading glasses slightly. "Names?"
"Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Hinata Hyuuga."
"You're twenty three minutes late for your check in."
"Check in…?" Kiba looked irritated again, reaching up to move Akamaru from his head, to the ground.
The woman raised both eyebrows this time, "Yes. We have to make sure everyone has arrived, is marked as being here, and has signed the papers, before we can start accepting and distributing missions according to-"
"Fine, fine. Just…give us the paper work. My feet are killing me."

After all the paperwork was filled out, signed, and dated, they went through the doors on the other side of the room, only to find themselves outside again. They were at one end of a long courtyard, with the building around them like the walls of a box. For the most part, it was only two stories, but directly across from them, it was five stories tall, and was topped by a steep, curved roof. Kiba squinted and put a hand over his eyes as he peered up at the highest balcony."What's up there?"
"We've seen as much as you have, Kiba. But I suspect that's where the messenger birds are kept.""What the hell do they need all that for?" Kiba gestured to the taller part of the building, "We're the only ones here, and that woman said all the rooms were on second floor. Can you believe they separated the boys from the girls? Do they really not trust us that much?"
"Kiba. Think about what you know about yourself. Would you trust you?"
Kiba glared and opened his mouth to say something, but Hinata spoke up nervously, "Maybe we should all go find our rooms…it was a long walk."
"Yeah, yeah…"

Hours later, Kiba was wandering the grounds, Akamaru tucked into his jacket, still sleeping. They'd both gone down for a nap, and stayed asleep for a long time. It was dark out now, and everyone else seemed to be asleep. He rubbed at his arms as the night's chill started to hit him. He looked up at the windows as he walked past them. All the lights were out, except for one on the left hand side. The curtains were open, as was the window, and Kiba narrowed his eyes to make out the small figure huddled on the window seat. It took him a minute, but his eyes adjusted, and he made out the red-brown hair, and tired eyes of Gaara, who paid Kiba no mind. Kiba had a feeling the boy hadn't even noticed him, too busy staring at the sliver of moon. He watched for a moment longer, then started to feel uneasy, so he heading to the double doors at the north end of the courtyard.
With a light grunt, he pushed one door open, and looked around the dark and empty entrance room. He stood there for a minute, not sure whether he should just leave again. There was nothing in here, really…and it was a little creepy. But he eyed a piece of paper on the desk that was separate from the rest, and curiously went over, picking it up.
"Huh…Guess this is everyone that's here." He frowned, and shook his head, feeling awkward for having been talking to himself. He was a little uncomfortable he'd be honest.
He read over the list, frowning slightly, lifting the paper to use what little light there was to read. Teams Ten, Seven, and of course Eight, were all there, along with the three from Suna, and Rock Lee's team. And that was all. Kiba frowned, and shook his head.
"This doesn't make any sense."
"It does, if you really think about it."
Kiba jumped horribly and spun around to find Gaara in the doorway, arms crossed as usual, and head tilted a little to the side as he watched Kiba. "You were all in the same class together, or are friends, and it was easier for them to do this, than trying to get people who hadn't spent any time together to live and work in the same place."
"So…why are you and your brother and sister here?"
Gaara paused for a moment, seeming to be picking his words carefully, "It was Temari's idea. She said it would help with the bond between our villages. It would also be a learning experience, and things like that. I liked the idea, but Kankurou wasn't fond of leaving Suna for such a long time. The older they are, I guess, the harder they are to move."
"That usually only applies to, y'know…seniors."
"Then he's just very stubborn."
Kiba couldn't, for the life of him, figure out why he was keeping such an odd conversation going, when he really just wanted to go back to his room, after that scare.
"Doesn't he like it here?"
"Not really. He thinks it's too humid. And he has a problem living with so many people."
"Tell him to suck it up…"
Kiba moved over to Gaara, and edged around him, to head out the door. Gaara turned with him, frowning slightly.
"Why are you up, Inuzuka?"
"Um…none of your business?" Kiba said, though he sounded more nervous than sarcastic.
"I still make you uncomfortable, don't I?"
Kiba froze, and suddenly felt a little guilty. Gaara was on their side now… "I won't lie, it's hard to forget the kind of things you did."
"Don't explain." Gaara said, and stepped outside, before heading up the stairs to the men's rooms at a pace that was painfully slow for Kiba, who felt too awkward to go anywhere before the other boy had disappeared from view. Kiba watched the top of the stairs, eyebrows high and mouth set in a hard line. Akamaru poked his head out, and licked at Kiba's chin, whining softly.
"I guess it's a sensitive subject," Kiba muttered to him, rubbing the dogs chin, "These are gonna be some really long months."
He took another quick look around, and as a breeze hit him, shivered as he too went up the stairs. He crept down the long hall, not wanting to wake anyone. He'd already counted how many doors there were along the right side, twelve bedrooms, and two bathrooms, one on each end of the hall. All the rooms faced the courtyard; there was none on the left side of the hall. He counted the doors that he passed, until he reached the fifth one, and he pushed it open, then quickly shut and locked it, letting out a slow breath.
He looked around, frowning at his room. It was so bland. He hadn't decorated it yet. It was so unfriendly, not like his messy, but bright and familiar room at home. He couldn't sleep here.
Flicking the light on, he moved to his large bag, pulling out some of the things he'd been able to bring with him. He smiled, and started to put them up, and set them around his room, as Akamaru curled up on his pillow. He continued to make his room feel more comfortable for a few more hours, before he passed out beside Akamaru, still clothed, not even bothering to remove his shoes before he fell asleep.

The next morning, they'd all gathered in the courtyard. Many of them hadn't seen the others arrive, having gone to their rooms right away. Most of them were excited to see the others, and for the most part, seemed eager for this experience to start. It meant more independence for them, but for Kiba, who was very close to his family, it was harder to accept that he'd be away from them. But he was smiling, and enjoying the company of all his friends. It wasn't often that they were all in the same place.
Sakura, who knew more about the situation than the rest of them, thanks to her closeness with Tsunade, was the one who was giving them a quick run down.
"We're going to have a week to get settled, then they're going to start giving us missions. But that's not what matters right now. Because it's just us here, we're going to have to cook and clean for ourselves." She smiled, seeming pleased by this, "I know we're all capable of it, but it's…it's a big house. I'm going to write up a job chart for the next week. If there's anything you want to do, you can-"
"I'm cooking."
Kankurou had raised his hand a little, but the way he spoke left little room for argument.
"Well…we can all…"
"No. I'm not having any of you cooking my food. I'm not gonna spend months eating instant ramen, and processed food." He lifted his hands, and started counting things off on his fingers, "I want the vegetables grown here. No spinach, God help me if I find spinach. Local meat. No turkeys unless it's a special occasion, because they're hard as hell to cook. And I don't want to see any junk food in the kitchen. I'll burn it."
"Anything else, sir?" Kiba grumbled, crossing his arms. He was tired and grumpy after getting so little sleep last night.
Kankurou cocked an eyebrow, and smirked, "I'm sorry, I won't eat anything I can get my hands on. I like to eat healthy."
"Looks like you just like to eat," Kiba said, patting his stomach, and grinning.
Kankurou didn't look irritated, and that pleased Kiba. The two of them had got along better after Kankurou saved Kiba. Kiba's mood seemed to lift after the banter, and Sakura continued her spiel.
"Ok, Kankurou, if you want to cook three meals for everyone, every day, then go ahead," she said, frowning, "Anything else anyone wants?"
"I'll garden," Temari said, a little less demanding than her younger brother, "I'll do other things, but I'll take care of that garden His Highness wants." She said, jabbing a finger in Kankurou's direction. "Because God only knows he can't do it himself."
"I could."
"You somehow managed to kill a potted cactus. I'm not letting you near anything green unless I want some kind of plant genocide."
"Ok, Kankurou's cooking, Temari's growing a garden, is that all?"
Everyone started talking at once, listing off jobs that they wanted to do. Kiba shrunk away from the sudden noise, smiling awkwardly when people addressed him. He hoped their excitement would wear off, because it was making him feel like a downer that he wasn't enjoying himself.
Sakura just watched them all with a frustrated expression, as people started getting more absurd with their job ideas.
"Having a trainer could be useful to everyone!"
"Lee, we're going to want to RELAX for this week. How often do we get a week off?"
"What about a guard? Incase someone tries to attack us?"
"There's jutsu set up around the property that will alert us of anyone that trespasses."
"I'll decorate the house!"
"I'll walk the dog!"
"Hey! He's MY dog!"
"None of this has anything to do with looking after the place! Listen, never mind, I'll make a chart, and people can sign up for something when it's up, ok? Don't worry about it now." Sakura sighed, shaking her head, "We need to go shopping. And there's a LOT that we need to get, so we're all going. Especially if Kankurou is so picky about food," she smirked, putting her hands on her hips.
"You won't be complaining when you eat it," Kankurou huffed, pouting in an annoyed way, "But you're right, I don't want any of you picking the wrong thing."
"I think I know more about cooking than you," Sakura said coldly, eyes narrowing.
"Uh…yeah, I don't think so."
Before an argument could break out, Temari stepped in, and got everyone in gear, to go get ready. Kiba was amused by the tension that had so quickly built up between Sakura and Kankurou. He could tell from Sakura's frown, and stiff posture that she had fully expected to be the 'mother' or 'in charge' figure. Kankurou seemed to have similar ideas, and was more forceful about it. Kiba frowned, then laughed out loud at the mental image he got of Kankurou in an apron, taking care of everyone.
He got odd looks from them, so he looked down and hurried off to get ready to leave.

Food shopping took five hours too long. It was afternoon before they got back, all carting bags of food, and for some people, whatever other things they felt that they'd need. Gaara bought far too many books, Naruto bought packets upon packets of ramen, Ino and Sakura bought clothing. And just when they'd thought they were done, someone had made the suggestion that they have a party to celebrate their living together, so they had to buy even more food, and even more things, mainly decorations.
"Ok, I think the kitchen is this way," Sakura said, leading the way, and casting a smug look at Kankurou as she moved passed him. They went through a large doorway, into a dining room with a very long table, made to fit all of them. The room was too big for the table.
"There's only one table because there's not many of us," Sakura said matter-of-factly, leading them across the room, to the door in the far left corner. She opened it, and let out a surprised gasp at the kitchen. It was a cross between modern, and traditional, and had sliding doors that led into a patio, and a small, walled off garden. It was very open, and light, with one large fridge, and one smaller one.
"We'll use that one for drinks," Kankurou said, heading over to the smaller one, "Just put all the food onto the counter and I'll deal with it."
"Wouldn't it be easier if we all helped?"
"No. If you're all helping, you'll put things all over the damn place, and I won't be able to find what I need. I'll do it."
Sakura huffed, and put her bags down heavily, "Fine. We have a party to set up. Have fun, the food has to be ready by..." she looked to the clock on the wall, "An hour from now," she smiled at him, and he glared.
Everyone with food left it on the counter, and left to either set up the party, or put away the other things they'd bought. Kiba, who had had nothing else, stayed where he was, watching as Kankurou opened one fridge, and started loading it with milk, juice, and other such things.
"What the hell is that all about?" he asked after waiting for him to finish with the drinks, not able to stop the grin that crept onto his face.
"What are you talking about?" Kankurou grumbled, shutting the fridge with his foot.
"This sudden…unfriendliness towards Sakura."
Kankurou said, shaking his head, "I'm not going to put the well being of my…myself into the hands of a twelve year old girl who thinks that because her mummy showed her how to chop some veggies, she's a master chef."
"And…a fourteen year old boy is a better bet?"
Kankurou sighed, "I know how to cook."
Kiba just chuckled, looking into one of the bags, while Akamaru nosed in the direction of the patio.
"You don't believe me?"
"Not really."
"Alright. What is something you want me to make for you?" Kankurou said, starting to load stuff into the bigger fridge, "Anything at all. I'll make you a special dish," he said it rather sarcastically, but Kiba looked at him thoughtfully.
"Pork chops."
"Pork chops? That's all? No cheesecake, nothing like that?"
"Nope. I want pork chops. And because it's easier than cheesecake, it better be amazing."
Kankurou blinked, then smirked, "Fine. But, if its amazing, and I'll know if you think it is," he stepped towards Kiba, leering, and make the younger boy lean away, eyes wide, "You will be my dishwasher for a week."
Kiba gulped at the wicked grin on Kankurou's face, but nodded slowly, "Alright. Fine. I'll wash all the dishes if you make the most perfect pork chops I've ever tasted."
"I'll put the dishcloths out for you," Kankurou said, smiling, "Now, leave me so I can create," he said, waving his hand in a pompous way. Kiba couldn't help but grin, even if he now had a feeling of impending doom. He got a warm feeling in his stomach when he and Kankurou got along like this. He felt proud because he never saw Kankurou act silly with other people.
"When will the food be ready, really? I mean, ignoring Sakura."
"Nah, I can get it done in an hour, we don't need a big meal for a party. Your pork chops will take the longest time to make."
"Ok. If you need help…" Kiba didn't bother to finish, or wait for an answer, because he could tell Kankurou wouldn't ask for help. He just left, moving over to the others who were dressing up the dining room.