The Return (Book 2 of It's Not Forever) COMPLETE

Chapter 6

    As I lead drunken Kaida through the house, which takes longer than I thought, we pass Kankuro who throws her a nasty glare. In response I have to hold both her hands because she set the edge of his sleeve on fire. I bite at both of them to behave then tell him to make sure if she finds sake to take it away from her. I don't need her drinking herself to death. We make it to her room and I pull out a shirt and pair of shorts for her to change into. She complains as I make her hold still until I can get her weapons off of her. I hand her the clothes afterward and she pulls up her shirt, causing me to turn around. She giggles and teases me for 'freaking out' about it. I roll my eyes and hear a thud a moment later. I turn around and laugh. She got lost in the t-shirt and fell over. I help her stand and tug the shirt down. I turn back around and wait for her to change into her shorts, which she manages to do without falling over this time. I get her to sit on the bed rather than trying to get me to dance with her and she pulls on my hand until I sit with her.
"Gaara-kun?"
"Yeah?"
"I don't want to go back." She mutters quietly.
"Why not?"
"I don't belong there Gaara-kun. I never did. I miss Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru though. Asuma-sensei too, I wasn't there for him and he died..."
"Your sensei understood why you weren't there, I'm sure. He's proud of you. If you miss them, why don't you want to go back?"
"It's not home anymore. I can see them whenever I want to go back, so I don't have to live there."
I nod and feel her rest her head on my shoulder. She gets really quiet and I think she's fallen asleep.
"Gaara-kun?"
"Yeah?"
"Close your eyes."
I comply, then freeze in shock as she presses her lips onto mine. I don't know what to do, I've never been kissed before. I realize that my arms have wrapped around her and she's moved to sit on my lap. I feel myself start to kiss her back then stop myself and pull away.
"Kaida, you're drunk right now. We can't do this."
She doesn't respond but lays her head on my shoulder. I hear her yawn and a moment later her breathing is slow and steady. I let her sleep like that for a few minutes before carefully laying her down on the bed and covering her up. I try to stand up but her hand is latched onto my shirt. I sigh and carefully take the gourd off of my back and prop it against the night stand before lying down next to her. I may as well let her sleep without disturbing her. She needs it.
~~~Switch to Kaida~~~
                 I wake up in the morning with a pounding headache. I smell sake, did I drink last night? I don't really remember much. I sigh and force myself to stand up and pick out clothes to wear after my shower. Afterward I trudge into the bathroom and shut the door behind me. While I shower I search my mind to try to find out what happened last night. I remember dinner with Gaara and going up to the rooftop, then I think I finally exploded and blurted out a vague version of my life, then nothing. What happened afterward? I sigh and brush my hair out before returning to the bedroom to attach my weapons. I'll make some coffee before I head over to the office and maybe a small lunch for him. I walk into the kitchen and notice Kankuro sitting at the table with a cup of coffee. I pour two cups and set them aside before making Gaara a sandwich and cutting up some fruit to put in a bowl for him.
"When are you leaving?" I hear Kankuro ask.
"I'm not sure. Why?"
"You've been here forever. Taking up space..."
"Gee, thanks. I feel so special." I roll my eyes and put the food and a few more snacks inside a bag.
"You uh, make him happy. Thanks for that I guess. And lay off the sake, you were a drunken mess last night."
"Thanks? And sorry. I don't even remember last night really."
"You set me on fire."
I look up and choke back laughter. "You probably deserved it."
I don't wait to hear his response before walking out with the bag and drinks.
I pass by a genin team on my way who are chasing after a dog. They call out a greeting to me as they pass and the dog doubles back the way they came. I laugh and click my tongue twice and the dog comes running up to me and sits at my feet. The genin thank me and ask me not to tell their sensei they didn't catch him on their own. I wink and tell them the secret is safe with me before moving on to the office. I've run into that team a few times off and on, they're a nice group, sadly resembling Naruto's team by personality traits. I push open the door to the building and greet the secretary before heading up the stairs to his office. I knock on the door and hear him call to enter. He looks up from his paperwork as I walk in and I place the bag and one of the cups on the desk for him before taking a sip of my coffee. I need to kill this headache. A strange look crosses his face and I raise an eyebrow.
"Good morning Gaara-kun."
"Good morning Kaida. How did you sleep?"
"I slept alright. I woke up with a killer headache. Kankuro said I got drunk last night and set him on fire?"
He smirks slightly. "Yes, you did."
"What happened? The last thing I remember is finally blurting out the gist of my life's issues on the roof, then nothing." I ask, curling up on the windowsill with my own bowl of fruit.
He signs another paper and takes a sip of coffee before responding.
"You started crying after you told me and I took you here to get my bottle of sake, you looked like you needed a drink, you ended up drinking the whole bottle in ten minutes then wanted more but I said no. You told me who your father was and pretty much everything that happened while you were gone then made me take you to the training hall so you could show me your powers. After that I took you to your room to try to convince you to sleep, along the way you bumped into Kankuro and he got mad so you lit him on fire. I gave you sleep clothes to change into and you tried to undress while I was watching and made fun of me for looking away, then got lost in your clothes and fell over. You then tried to dance with me until I got you to sit down, then uh..." He trails off, his face tinting pink.
"What? I didn't do anything stupid did I?"
"You uh kissed me, but I stopped it because you were drunk. Then you fell asleep on me."
"Oh..." I respond feeling my face burn. "I'm sorry about all of that."
"It's alright. I'm glad you finally opened up about everything."
"Me too. I feel strangely better. I'm sorry about kissing you while I was drunk though."
"Only because you were drunk?" He asks, my usual playful tone present in his voice.
I look up at him and drop the fruit in my fingers. "Only because I wasn't sober enough to remember it, Gaara-kun."
His face reddens again and I laugh.
"I love messing with you like that. It's too easy."
He sighs and returns to his paperwork, leaving me to finish my fruit. So, I kissed Gaara? That seems so strange. I'd never kissed anyone else besides Shikamaru, and I was sober when I kissed him. I feel like I should feel guilty for doing it because of Shikamaru, but I don't. Shikamaru has Temari and they're happy. Gaara makes me happy. I deserve to be happy. But do I think of Gaara in that way?
"It's so confusing!" I whine before leaning my head back against the wall.
"What is?"
"N-nothing. I think I'm going to go train for a while, work through the hangover... I'll come back later."
I mutter, collecting the dishes.
"Okay?"