badfic_manor | Sabaku no Temari | 08

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Sabaku no Temari | 08 | [In Person]

[There's a small blond girl kneeling outside in the snow, her expression as she looked at it screamed that she'd never seen such a thing before in her life. Anyone that knew her elder self would know this was true. Unlike her older self though, she was unsure of herself. She didn't know where she was or where her daddy was, but maybe if she was good he'd come to get her? But why would he leave her in the cold? It wasn't like the time that he'd left her out in the desert. At least there, she knew what it was and how she could survive...but she couldn't find anything in the cold white stuff. All she could find was powdery stuff and colder slightly wet stuff.

She wanted to go in the building, it looked warm...but what if daddy came to get her? He might not be able to find her; or worse. He would find her and be angry that she went inside.

Moving to a tree, she sat at the base and just shivered. She didn't know what she was supposed to do. What was perfectly clear though, was that as pretty as the white stuff was, it didn't make her feel good. Staying quiet, she waited, not know what exactly she was waiting for.]

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But...

[She wanted so badly to refuse...but the offer of food and warmth was very tempting...

Sighing softly to herself, she stood with one last look around her]

Okay.

[He smiles and without a second thought takes her up under her arms and places her on his shoulders, making sure she still had his jacket draped around her shoulders]

So kiddo, what's your name?

[Gasping quietly as he picked her up, she wrapped her hands in his hair as soon as she was seated on his shoulders. It was strange to be this high up, but she could get used to it.]

Temari~...Like the ball.

[He paused for a moment as he suddenly remembered the name... he remembered her... just older. Things were still foggy, but the more he thought about it the more it came to him. She was his invaluable friend.]

I'm Hayato. It's very nice to meet you Temari. [again.]

[He ducks a bit as he heads into the house, and reaches up to duck her head a bit so she won't hit the door. He was aware he was a tall man after all.]

Watch your head.

Hayato? ...I like that name...it's nice.

[She meant it too. She didn't know many people by name, but the ones that she did usually had boring names that didn't roll off the tongue right.

Looking up, she was already ducking as she saw the door frame coming closer. She wasn't stupid, she knew that it would hurt if it hit her.]

I am. 'M not gonna let it hit me.

[He smiled a bit, that was quite a change to what he was used to. Back in Italy his heritage got him beaten up, in Japan it earned him quite a few questioning glances.]

Thank you.

[And he heads into the kitchen, once again watching out for the girl's head. Once inside he reached up and took her off his shoulders, and sat her on the table, still bundled up in his jacket as he started rummaging through cabinets for something to eat and drink. He finds some hot coco, and for food he settled on pasta.

all he had to do was boil some water. He could manage that. So he set a kettle and a pot of water on the stove and boiled some water.]

Hope you don't mind I'm not exactly a world renowned chef.

Welcome.

[Nuzzling the top of his head, she yawned softly, somehow feeling very relaxed and protected with this stranger. He wasn't like the other adults she was used to; he didn't talk down to her or treat her like she was stupid...it was a nice change from how she's usually treated.

Mentally groaning as he lifted her from his shoulders, she let him place her on the table without a complaint. She knew better than to complain to an adult, especially one that was as big as Hayato.]

I don't mind...do you need help?

I got, this. I'm not sure how well you would know how to make Italian dishes.

[He takes the pasta out of the box and pours it into the water... despite it not boiling ~~amazing cook he is~~, and nicks his thumb against the edge of the hot pot.]

Ow.

[He shakes his hand and blows on it before putting the burn in his mouth for a moment, then he chuckles a bit]

I'm not sure how well I know how to make them either.

Itah...Italian?

[Tilting her head in confusion, she wrinkles her nose at the name. she hadn't heard of that before, but it sounded funny.

Sitting a little straighter as he burned himself, she looked worriedly at the silver haired man.]

...Are you okay? [Concern laced her tone, not wanting the man that had been so nice to her to be hurt. Especially if he was hurt on her account.]

[Right... she was from some... ninja village... in a desert... or something.]

Right, you probably haven't heard of it. You see, this house takes people from all sorts of different worlds to visit for a little while, and when you go back home, no one knows you left.

[Hopefully that sounded harmless enough, he didn't want to traumatize the girl.]

Italy is a Country in my world, that's sort of shaped like a boot. Ironically it's very well known for it's food... that I can't cook.

[And then the kettle starts to whistle. Perfect timing. He takes it off the stove and prepares the hot cocoa]

Don't worry about it. It's just a little burn. I get worse on the job all the time.

...

[Someone took her from home and put her here? And...no one was looking for her? No one knew she was gone? Lowering her gaze to the table, she fought to keep from showing just how scared about that she was. She'd never been quite this far from home before, she'd always only been about a day from home if that. Even then, there was usually someone hidden but watching her to bring her back if she got too hurt or passed out.]

...So...Daddy's not coming for me?

[It was a blessing and a curse in one. She missed the safety that she felt with her family, but she didn't have to worry about him being angry that she came inside.

After a few minutes, she looked up. Trying her best to look brave like her sensei would want.]

What do you do? [He was very clearly not a ninja...maybe a fisherman?]

[He moved the cups of hot cocoa to the table, ans scoops Temari up again as he sits down, setting her on his knee. Again, the realization of a father not coming was something that resonated deeply for him. He wouldn't make her feel unwanted or discarded like he had. At least in this case it wasn't an intentional case of abandonment]

Hey, it's not permanent. You'll go back soon. Think of it as a little vacation. How about I look after you in the meantime, hm?

[He hands her a cup of the cocoa]

I'm in the mafia. [From what he remembered... she was ninja... so the best way to explain it was] It's sort of like being a ninja, only it's based in Italy. We use different weapons and tactics, and it's very family exclusive.

[Gripping the front of Hayato's shirt tightly, she refused to shed any tears. She'd do her best to be strong, especially in front of the stranger.]

Vacation? ...Do you promise that Daddy won't know that I missed my training? If he knows, he won't be happy... [As brave as she was being though, she couldn't help the fear that slipped into her tone. When daddy was angry, it never went well for the one he was upset with, family or not.

Taking the cup, she stared at the liquid before slowly taking a sip. Her eyes widened slightly at the sweet taste; drinking a little deeper, she looked up as he said he was like a ninja. Like a ninja is still not a ninja, but she was intrigued.]

Only certain families can be in the...mafia? ...There must not be many people then.

[He pet her hair a bit to try and calm her]

He won't have a clue, unless he comes here, and in that case-

[He smiled and gave her a little tap on the nose]

It can just be our little secret, how does that sound?

[He took a sip of his own hot cocoa... not bad considering his ability to muck up food... though he would have preferred coffee instead.]

Well the families are very old, and are very extended. Sometimes Mafia even includes family friends, but there are lots of rules. I shouldn't be part of the mafia technically, but my boss was a very good man and he took me in when no one else would.

He won't know?

[Relaxing slightly as she felt his hand moving gently over her hair, she watched his face closely, looking for any signs of deception. Seeing none, she nodded after a minute.]

I'd like that...

[It would be their secret. No one had trusted her enough to keep a secret before, and he was willing to keep the secret to keep her safe. That was a great step for him in earning her trust and it would transfer over when she was back to her proper age too.]

...I would take you in. You're nice, even though you're an adult...

[Generally, adults weren't nice. That was something that was almost always true in her experience.]

Well when he took me in, I wasn't so nice. I didn't trust anyone, and I only cared about myself. In fact, when I first met him I tried to kill him. But I messed up and nearly killed myself, but he rescued me and I followed him until... Well... a little over ten years.

[He ruffles her hair again]

But I thank you that would let me be a ninja.

...You nearly killed yourself? You should have known your weapons better...

[He wouldn't have been allowed in the field if he made a mistake like that in her home...But since he was okay now, she assumed that he had learned how to use his weapons better.

Grinning slightly as he ruffled her hair, she took another drink of her hot chocolate.]

[He laughed]

You're right I didn't. I was very reckless, I didn't value my own life at all. My boss was the first person that did that. He was a very good man.

[And OH RIGHT! PASTA!]

Alright, sit here for a sec, I gotta take care of the spaghetti.

[And he lifts her up as he stands and sits her on the chair as he goes to the stove to strain the pasta]

If you were in that mafia thing, you should have valued yourself. You're job is to protect them at all costs.

[Or that's how it was in a ninja village. She already knew hew life had only as much value as she could contribute...but if he knew how to use a weapon, he had to have a greater value than her.

Pouting as he moved from the chair, she set her cup on the table and looked over the back of the chair. Seeing the noodles, her nose wrinkled slightly. It didn't look too appetizing, but it was still food.]

Is it good?

It took me some time to learn that... and I gave it my best.

[The smile faded a bit as he continued preparing the pasta, grabbing some butter, salt and tomato sauce. He had done his best to protect the Tenth... but he still failed.

He put the smile back on his face and took the two bowls and placed on in front of Temari, and put another one by the spot next to her and sat down.]

Normally it's very good. Personally I'm just aiming for edible.

[Unfortunately he had left the pasta in the water too long it was a bit slimier and bigger then it was supposed to be... but luckily that was about it. There's only so bad you could mess up something as simple as pasta]

[Not knowing how her words affected him, she didn't bother apologizing. She'd had that drilled into her head all her life; her only value was how well she could protect her village.

Turning back to face the table, she plopped down in the chair, going back to her chocolatey drink.

Looking up when he set the bowl in front of her, she looked back at the spaghetti with a wary look. That was to be eaten? Setting her drink by the bowl, she reached in to poke the noodles cautiously. After a moment of her close scrutiny, she picked up a noodle in her hand and brought it to her mouth to taste it.

Chewing a piece of the noodle for a second, she gave a nod.]

'S good.

[He chuckled at the very serious business manner in which she approached the spaghetti. He took the fork next to the plate and handed it to her.]

Might be a bit easier with this.

[And he took his own fork, twirling the noodles onto it and took his bite. He paused thoughtfully... well it didn't suck.]

Not bad.

Eh...

[PFFT! WHAT IT THIS METAL POINTY THING?! ~~IS IT A HAIR BRUSH?!~~

Watching what Hayato did with the fork, she put in in the noodles, bringing it out there was....a rather large ball of the spaghetti on the end of the fork.

Biting into the ball, of course, the sauce was not contained to the noodles and she ended up with more on her cheeks and mouth than what she should have.]

[Don't laugh. Don't laugh... well much to his credit he does not laugh...

but that's because he's too busy choking.

Alright, alright, give him a second to calm down...]

Let's get you some chopsticks. Might be easier.

[because if he has to see that again he might hurt himself...]

[Frowning around the large mouthful of noodles, she doesn't understand why Gokudera is choking.

Taking a moment to swallow her noodles and NOT choke, she licks some of the sauce from her lips...which does absolutely nothing for the mess.]

...Are you okay?

[Why do you worry her like this. You give her food and then you choke on said food.]

Sabaku no Temari | 08 | [In Person]

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