A/N: This is the last chapter of Of the Sand, but I have a sequel and the first chapter to that has been posted. Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed!

Chapter Twelve: The Decision

A few days later, Temari took a seat next to Jack at the cafeteria table. The group was currently split between the infirmary and the cafeteria, as most of the other rooms were deemed to be too dull to stay in. Daniel was still stuck in the infirmary, though he was getting better, but that was why Gaara and the black haired girl were there instead of the cafeteria. Cam, Teal'c, and the younger brunet boy were sitting with Kankuro, talking about something or another. Temari was glad to see her surly younger brother getting along with someone at last. She refused to think about how strange it was that her other younger brother was being friendly with someone other than his teddy bear.

The redheaded boy was sitting at another table with the blonde girl, who had bits and pieces of something strewn across the table. Temari had no idea what was going on there and she wasn't sure that she wanted to know what exactly they were doing with the mechanical thing. She just knew that whatever was going on, the whole group was interested in it, although they left it alone to the blonde girl.

And then there was Jack, seated at a separate table from the others, yet still in a position to keep watch over everyone in the cafeteria. He split his time between watching over Daniel in the infirmary and watching over the others in the cafeteria. Although, to be fair, the rest of them split their attentions between the two rooms, too. In fact, Daniel was the only one who hadn't been in both rooms and that was because he was the one who was sick.

Even Temari had just come from the infirmary, although she was more checking up on Gaara, who spent most of his time watching and talking with Daniel. Sitting down next to Jack was the logical choice, as it was a relief to see Kankuro talking to other people willingly and she didn't want to disrupt that. She had thought about sitting down at the blonde's table, but she seemed to be too focused on the device in front of her. Temari knew that the girl would be too distracted to talk to her at the moment. But, Temari also wanted to talk to Jack, though she was quiet for the first few minutes.

"So, your brother is getting better," she finally said.

"Yeah, he'll be trying to escape from the infirmary soon enough," Jack replied, giving her a smile as he finally noticed her.

"And I hear that Toshiro found a place for you guys to live?" Temari continued.

"The apartment next to his," Jack confirmed. "It's a bit small, but at least the girls and guys can have separate rooms."

"It doesn't sound that bad when you put it like that," Temari reflected, thinking about her own house. She and her siblings had more than enough room in their building and, given how antisocial both of her brothers were, she was kind of glad of that. Still, Jack and his siblings seemed to be much closer than Temari and her brothers were. Hopefully there wouldn't be any bloodshed.

"Part of me still wishes that we were allowed to stay at the cavern in the cliffs," Jack mused, staring off in the distance.

"Why?" Temari asked. The cavern had looked like a complete wreck to her and she really couldn't see why anyone would want to stay there when they didn't need to.

"Oh, just not used to staying in the village yet, I expect," Jack replied. "But Toshiro says that we can go back when Daniel's better to pick up some more things. He says that Daniel can have a lot of the old temple rocks, since no one really cares about them anymore."

"That's good." Temari paused and looked at Jack out of the corner of her eye. "So, you're staying, then?"

"Huh?" Jack looked at her and then darted a glance around the room. "I guess we are, for now."

"You have a place to stay in the village, friends, and others who are interested in you," Temari pointed out, "it seems like a good thing to me."

"It is a good thing," Jack agreed, grinning at her.

"So, have you given any thought on the Academy?" Temari asked, almost rushing the words in her eagerness for an answer. "Because school starts in a couple of weeks, and it will take Toshiro and Baki about that long to get you and some of the others registered."

"Is this the ninja academy?" Jack asked.

"Yes," Temari answered. "I'm already signed up to attend this year. I tried to get Baki to keep tutoring me one on one, but both he and my father insist that I attend the academy. I suppose it's only fair for me to come by the ranks normally, but it's going to suck not knowing anyone in class."

"I still don't know," Jack said, looking hesitant as well. Temari really didn't know what he had against the Shinobi Academy, but hoped that he would consent to becoming a student there.

"I got it," the blonde exclaimed. She had put the device back into one piece once more, although there were still stray bits from other devices strewn across the table.

Jack got up without saying a word to Temari and hurried over to the table. The other siblings got up from their own table and also joined them, until even Temari and Kankuro were standing over the device.

"Near as I can tell, a few of the crystals had been switched around, but I think it will work now," the blonde explained as she held the device up. "I mean, I'll have to be near the Mirror to test it out, but we can find out when Toshiro takes us back."

"And then what?" Jack asked, looking from face to face and seeming to have forgotten Temari and her brother's presence. "Then what do we do if it works?"

"I don't know, sir," the blonde replied.

"Toshiro will still be there," Teal'c pointed out.

"I think the safest thing to do at the moment is to wait for them to make contact first," the redhead decided, his voice holding some weight to it. "We'll test it to make sure that it works, but we can't leave just yet."

"Right," Jack agreed.

"What are you talking about?" Kankuro asked, annoyed at not knowing what was going on.

"Just talking about whether we should stay here or go back the way we came from," Cam finally said.

"You're leaving?" Kankuro asked.

"Not yet," Cam said. He put an arm across Kankuro's shoulders and led him back to their table. "We'll stay here for a while yet."

"Are you going to attend the Academy?" Temari asked again.

"What do you say, George? Teal'c? Do you want to become ninjas?" Jack gave the two boys a wide grin.

"I am most interested in learning how to become a ninja, O'Neill," Teal'c replied.

"Chance of a lifetime," George agreed.

"Then let's go tell Daniel that we're going to be ninjas," Jack said. He paused before he could turn towards the door. "We're not stuck and we have our own lives, so why not become ninjas?"

"Ninjas of the Sand," Jonas added.

"Ninjas of the Sand, I like that." Jack chuckled before wandering out of the cafeteria.

Fin.