The Sand Meets the Light (A Naruto fanfiction)

Chapter 15: Goodbye

        They finally arrived at the drop off point, where the Sand Siblings should be able to check their location with their map. Kei looked over Kankuro's map and studied it for a short moment. Afterwards, he showed the map to the Sand Siblings and pointed to a spot on the drawn part.

"We're here right now. If you walk down south through the forest along this path here, you should be able to get back to this route and then take a left. It'll take you directly to a road that will lead straight to your village," Kei explained as his finger moved along the map. Kankuro looked at it momentarily to process his instructions and nodded. He rolled the map and put it away in his satchel.

"Thanks," Kankuro nodded. He reached his hand out, prompting Kei to take it and they shook hands. "If you guys need to reach out, just send a letter to the Sand Village directly to the Kazekage's office."

"We do have to maintain the privacy of this place for reasons that I've mentioned, but of course. I'm sure Yuka would love to write those letters," Kei said as he looked over to Yukari who was distracted.

"Say hi to your kids for me. If they ever want to try flying, come by to the Sand Village," Temari light-heartedly suggested to Kei.

"Sure, they'd love that," Kei nodded with a smile.

"Can we get moving already? The sun's going to rise soon," Makoto said loudly with a yawn.

"Makoto," Kei said her name with a sharp tone and a glare. "Manners."

"Joking, Kei," Makoto replied with a sheepish grin and a shrug. She slapped Kankuro on the arm playfully. "Up your drinking game, the next time we meet."

"Oh, sure, I'll go drink with you again," Kankuro said sarcastically and with an unamused look on his face. Deep inside, there was something about Makoto's presence that he enjoyed, but he'd rather die than admit it. Makoto proceeded to ignore him and address Temari and Gaara.

"Don't die on your way back. If you do, I'll be laughing all the way from the village," Makoto told them with a cheeky smirk.

"Uhh... thanks?" Temari hesitantly replied, but she knew Makoto was just saying it sincerely, just in her own way. She couldn't help but crack a smile of her own.

"Yeah, stay safe out there," Kei replied.

"We will," Temari nodded. "And thanks for all your help."

The older bunch of the group looked over to the younger ones, their leaders who were silent this whole time. They were actually just listening to their older members just talking to each other but didn't manage to get a word in at all. Temari, Kankuro, Kei and Makoto all exchanged looks while Yukari and Gaara were puzzled with their behaviours. Makoto decided to break the awkward silence and cleared her throat.

"Ahem, why don't we just leave these kids alone to talk privately while the adults go somewhere else for a second," Makoto suggested, glancing at Yukari with a sly look. The rest exchanged looks with each other before shrugging and nodding in agreement. They started to walk away. Yukari looked alarmed, as she suddenly realized what Makoto was trying to do.

"Makoto! I- What are you even-" She called Makoto out, but couldn't really find the words to argue with her. Makoto winked at her and even sneakily showed a thumbs up.

Gaara stared at them as they walked away, feeling a little panic inside him as well. Though over what, he didn't know. After a few seconds, Yukari and Gaara took their eyes off of their team members and glanced at each other. For some reason, they suddenly started to feel shy and embarrassed even though they had spent some time together alone before. Almost ten seconds passed before the silence was broken.