Mixing of Snow and Sand

Chapter 21: The Curse Grows

When I woke up the next morning, Gaara was already gone. Though it hadn't been too long since he had gotten up. The heat from his body still on the sheets.

Okami was also missing. Gaara must have taken him for a walk. I got up from the bed and changed into my normal outfit.

"Good morning." Temari said as I opened the door.

"Morning." I smiled and walked out to the balcony.

"You seem to be in a good mood this morning." She followed me as I leaned out in the morning light.

"Oh shut it, Temari." I chuckled.

"Does it have something to do with my little brother?" She continued to mock.

"If you wanna continue we could go and ask Shikamaru..." I stated and I saw the redness come into her face.

"Wow, that's cold." I chuckled once more.

"Hello, Shinobi of the Snow." I joked. She rolled her eyes.

"Speaking of my brother, where is he?"

"Probably out for a walk with Okami. They were both gone when I woke up." I muttered and she looked at me confused.

"They were both gone? Did you stay in the same room?" She questioned, eyeing me up and down.

"Don't get any weird ideas. I will punch you into the ice age." I glared at her. I heard the door to the room open. I looked back with Temari to see Gaara, Kankuro and Okami walk through.

"Didn't realize the three of you went out." Temari walked back in with her hands on her hips annoyed.

"Okami needed to go for a walk and Mia needed to rest." Gaara stated without looking at me.

"I could have taken him out. Or you could have woken me up to tell me." I went and stood beside Temari with my arms crossed over my chest. Kankuro looked between Temari and I, with a concerned look on his face.

"Gaara, I wouldn't mess with them. They don't look like they're in the mood this morning." I sighed as Okami jumped into my arms.

"Did you have fun with Gaara and Kankuro?" I asked him.

Yup! We saw Akumaru and Kiba!

"Did you play with Akumaru?"

Yeah, we sniffed some trees and chased some butterflies around!

I giggled.

"It sounds like you two had a great time. Did you thank them for taking you out?" He nodded.

"You little runt! You peed on me and cowered behind Gaara!" Kankuro yelled.

"Give it some time, Kankuro. He'll warm up to you as he did with Gaara."

"I've never seen him act strangely with Temari either." He continued.

"That's because animals especially baby animals have a soft spot for females. Because of their mothers." I looked down as I thought about my own mother. Everyone who had talked to me about her had said she was an amazing person who was kind and caring. I turned away from everyone. "I think I'd like to sit on the balcony for a little bit, some fresh air might do me some good." I walked back out onto the balcony with Okami and sat down on the ground.

Is everything alright? Okami asked me with a concerned expression on his cute face.

"I'll be okay. Just thinking about my mom is all."

Yeah...sometimes I think about my mom too, it makes me sad...

"I think that's a natural feeling for both of us. To feel sadness when we think about those that are no longer with us." Temari, Kankuro and Gaara we sitting in the other room. They looked like they were talking about something important, but I didn't bother to train my ears to hear it.