Island of Storms [Sakura]

Chapter 27 | Vase

Shino walked with the others along the bridge.

"There are a few things you should know," he started. "One is that Konohamaru is now Kosai, that's what the villagers know him as, so just stick with it."

Shino told them about the dos-and-don'ts of the village as they came to the end of the bridge.

"Woah..." was all Kankuro could get out as he took in the view from outside the village wall.

"What's that tower?" Temari asked, referring to the colossus that could be seen from the halfway point of the bridge.

"That's the Bird Gardens," their escort informed. "I'll ask Oginku to get someone to show you all around."

"The walls look like they were made by Yamato..." Shikamaru muttered to himself. They passed through the large gate to find a man reading a thick book titled Through Mist and Rain.

"Oginku," Shino greeted. The man looked up and grinned.

"Welcome back, Shino. Finished already?"

"These are my friends, Shikamaru, Kankuro, Gaara, and Temari." Oginku's face lit up.

"So you're the ones Ino's been watching for. It's nice to finally meet you, name's Oginku Hadou."

"Nara Shikamaru, nice to meet you."

"Kankuro, hey."

"Gaara, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Temari, it's nice to meet you."

"I should get back. Oginku do you think you could have Tidbit lead them to Ino for me?" Shino asked.

"No problem." Shino nodded and headed back out of the gate. Oginku pulled out an envelope and handed it to Shikamaru. "Alright, that there contains four ferry passes, you need those to take the ferry to Arashijima. However, you have to stay here for one night before you're allowed access to Arashi, so there's also four free room cards. Those are for the inn, ask whoever shows you around for directions, I'm terrible with them so I won't confuse you by trying. Okay, Tidbit, mind taking these folks to Ino?"

A bright pink hummingbird zipped up from under the counter and hovered in the air next to the man's head. The newcomers stared at her in surprise for a moment before she looked at each of the four people in front of her and sped over to Gaara, landing in his hair. He looked up, feeling the small bird bouncing on him. She took off again and hovered in front of his face before she flew around in a circle and zipped down a path across the road from the booth. They thanked Oginku and followed after the small bird.

After struggling to keep up with the hummingbird, they finally arrived at a small restaurant. Tidbit flew straight through a small flap in the door and disappeared inside. The moment she entered, a crashing sound erupted from the building, accompanied by a woman's surprised scream. The four quickly entered to find a woman on the floor with broken plates and ruined food scattered around her.

"Kirai! Are you okay?" a familiar blonde asked as she stood from her seat. Kirai squeaked and pulled her hands to her chest as she was unexpectedly lifted off the floor. She looked down to see a cloud of yellow sand under her as it moved to the entrance. She let out another squeak when it disappeared, letting her fall. Instead of hitting the floor, she fell into a set of arms. She blinked as she was set on her feet and her green eyes turned to meet teal.

"T-Thank you..." she murmured

"Are you hurt?" he asked.

"No," she said quietly. She looked down, catching sight of a cut on his hand. "Oh, but you are,"

She grabbed his hand gently with hers, examining the cut. "A piece of a plate must have gotten stuck in your sand cloud..."

She held his hand palm-up in hers and placed her other on top. A soft glow of light green chakra surrounded her hands. She removed her top hand, to show there was no longer a cut. She smiled up at him. "As a thank you for helping me."

Throughout the entire exchange, Gaara had no idea what exactly was happening. He pulled his hand off of hers, hesitant. He nodded.

"Thank you." He noticed a small blush come to her face. She looked over to the mess and sighed. "I'm not sure I can help much with the food, but..."

He held out his hand, sending sand to cover the floor. After a few seconds, the sand retracted and came to his hand, dropping a small white vase in his palm.

The others looked to the floor to see no reminisce of the shattered dishes. "This is the paint from the plates, it wouldn't combine with my sand correctly."

He held the pearly vase out to Kirai. She took it, confused, as Gaara walked away towards the table Ino and Tenten were at.

The two girls were able to make out a barely noticeable look of panic on Gaara's face. Tenten quickly slapped her hand over her nose, which Ino, Temari, and Kankuro caught. Ino gave her a confused look. Tenten squeezed her eyes shut as a dark blush covered her face and Ino thought she saw steam coming from her head. Slowly, a line of blood slipped through her fingers, causing Ino to once again bring her hand to her face. The brunette leapt from her seat and ran around the food that was still on the floor into what looked to be a restroom, slamming the door behind her.

"What?" Kankuro asked. Temari waved her hand dismissively.

"Tenten's an odd one," she sighed. She made her way over to the six-seater table, sitting next to the wall and across from Gaara. The redhead was asking Ino, who had sat next to him, about where the inn was. Shikamaru took the seat next to Temari, with Kankuro sitting next to him at the end.

"Is she going to be okay?" Shikamaru muttered, referring to the woman who had just shut herself in the bathroom. Ino rolled her eyes.

"She'll be fine."