It occurred to me that Naruto and Kaien call each other Oniichan and Oneechan- when these two honorifics each mean big brother/ big sister- without actually explaining to you readers why that is. They call each other that because the two of them don't actually know who is the older twin. I suppose, by that logic, they could probably also call each other otouto/ imouto... but it doesn't have the same ring to it ^^;

Well, enjoy! :D

P.S. You may hate me but also love me for this chapter. :3

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"Temari!" I gasped, feet faltering backwards a step as cold dread setlled through my veins. Her eyes were wide.

"Kaien?!" the teal orbs flicked to Gaara, "And Gaara?! What-?!"

Gaara's hands wrapped around my upper arms, pulling me back against his chest and not letting go. I looked up at him- his gaze was hard, but there was a slight trace of hurt in them, too.

"I wasn't going to confront you yet, Temari. But since you know now, I may as well. Why did you lie to me about Kaien's whereabouts?" Naruto reappeared, lining up beside Gaara, and I felt somewhat relaxed. Although I shouldn't think this way, it comforted me to know I had my two boys to protect me. Gaara and Naruto wouldn't let anything bad happen to me.

"How long have you known?" Temari whispered, leaning against the doorframe. Seeing that Gaara wasn't going to answer, she continued, "I thought that if you thought she had passed then you would move on and find someone better for you- it was wrong of me to do and I'm sorry, and I felt by no means good about doing it-"

"But you still did it." the calm cracked, and Gaara's hurt became more visible, "You're my sister and I trusted you, how could you lie to me about something so important?"

"I know, I've been a terrible sister!" she said back, "But you don't understand how much it worried me to see you heartbroken like that! And as long as you thought she was still around, you were never going to move on, so I did what I thought I had to do...."

I dropped my gaze guiltily. I remembered what Gaara was like when I met him- cold, distant, not even slightly hesitant to harm those he should have been calling 'family'... now he finally had those bonds, and I was the one driving them apart.

"Gaara, stop. It's not her fault, it's mine." I said, turning to face him and placing my hands on his chest. "Although what she did was wrong, she would have had no need to do such a thing if it weren't for me." I glanced over at my frowning brother, "Naruto... do you still live in our old apartment in Konoha?"

He scratched his head, "Yeah, the Hokage building's way too big and lonely by myself... why?"

Gaara seemed to realise my train of thought, and his grip on my arms tightened. I gave a slight breath of pain- my bones weren't as strong as they used to be- and it loosened. "No, Kaien."

"I think it's for the best, Gaara." I said quietly.

"No." there was slight insistence in his tone, mixed with desperation; I just got you back, don't leave me again.

"Gaara, I don't want to, but I think I need to be away from the Sand village for a while, be back in my hometown." the further I got in my words, the more right it sounded, "I need some time away to think things through, and let everything die down if I want to be able to be seen outside here ever again." Gaara's expression told me that he knew I was right, but was too stubborn and too against me leaving to admit it. I smiled slightly, "I've made up my mind, Gaara."

"Well... if you're sure..." he finally said, and I again looked to Naruto, who was barely managing to contain his excitement.

"That okay with you?" I asked him, and he grinned.

"Like you even need to ask! When shall we leave? Right now?" I felt Gaara's wince, and sweatdropped at the tactlessness of my brother.

"Ah... no... I need to pack and stuff- we'll leave tomorrow morning, all right?" I said, and he yelled something incoherent before dashing out of the room. I noticed that Temari had also taken her leave at some point.

"Well... it's settled..." I mumbled after a moment, and Gaara sighed.

"Yes..."

The rest of that day was sad, but wonderful. The happiness I felt at being with Gaara again outweighed the distress at leaving by far, especially since we were almost back to our old selves again- if a little bit worse for wear. Even simple things such as sharing a bed with him felt like a luxury. And then there were the true luxuries- such as seeing him smile again, and being able to just lean over and kiss him, just because I felt like it. Those were the things I missed the most.

We were thoroughly tangled up in bed that night, so close together that I could feel it every time he drew in a breath, but it was nice. I could hear his heartbeat, and I was content.

"How long are you planning to stay in Konoha for?" he asked, voice quiet because of the relaxed atmosphere of the dark night. I hummed slightly in thought.

"A few months, probably. Quarter of a year at most." I replied in a murmur, feeling him tense. "It won't be so bad, we can keep in contact-"

"Won't be so bad?" my world turned, and I found myself pinned into the mattress, my love leaning over me. "Kaien, I lived believing you were dead for what felt like years. I just finally got you back again, and now you're leaving again tomorrow. You can't possibly tell me that it 'won't be so bad'."

He rested his head in the crook of my neck, and I wound my fingers in his soft red spikes. He shivered slightly, making me smile. "We can send letters." I said, then tacked on the end in an effort to comfort him, "Suna does have the fastest Messenger Hawks of all five of the Great Hidden Villages."

He just sighed, rolling off of me, so I sat up and leaned over him instead. I kissed him quickly, and he soon caught my drift, because he pulled away.

"Kaien, your body-"

"My body's just fine. So I'm a little more fragile than usual." I grinned, "Just means you'll have to be extra gentle."

\(X///X)/

I settled into Leaf Village life with ease. It was nice seeing all of my old friends again (two or three of them in particular had grown rather handsome -coughKibacough-), and my Shishou and Sensei. Tsunade and Kakashi had seemed pretty surprised to see me, even beaten up as I was, and Tsunade had insisted on healing up my remaining bumps and bruises. It was so easy living here that the weeks flew by without me even noticing them go.

It wasn't until a night that I caught Naruto attempting to sneak out of the apartment that it began.

"Ugh..." I groaned quietly at the hissed curse from outside my bedroom door, then quickly sat up. Who was that? Was it a burglar? Or a murderer? I scowled. Wake me up in the middle of the night, will he?

I grabbed the nearest weapon-worthy object I could find (which happened to be a coat hanger) and carefully opened my door, moving silently along and then letting loose a battle cry and body-slamming the burglar into the ground. Only it wasn't a burglar. It was Naruto. And he wasn't sneaking in; he was sneaking out.

"Going somewhere, Oniichan?" I asked, snapping on the lights, smugness leaking into my expression as he jumped out of his skin.

"Er, I was just out to- to get some more ramen! We're out!" he exclaimed. I frowned, and opened the cupboard, deciding to play dumb.

"Silly Naruto! There's loads in here!" in a move to trap him, I smiled innocently, "If you want some that badly, I could make it now. It'll be nice to have a meal together."

He shifted awkwardly, and I continued to just satre at him, until he sighed.

"Fine... yeah, let's have some ramen." Naruto sat up, rubbing his head. "Jeez, you aren't what I'd call heavy but that still hurt."

I just grinned at him, putting a couple of sachets of instant ramen noodles in a saucepan with water. After a few minutes, it began to boil, the aroma wafting around us. When it was finished, I dished it into bowls, and we sat.

"So..." I said around a mouthful, "Where were you really going, Brother?"

He froze and clutched at his throat, coughing and spluttering after choking on his noodles. He finally gasped for air, but before he could speak, I cut him off with a frown.

"Hey, do these taste weird to you?" I asked, and he shrugged, slurping more. "I think they might be off."

"Seem fine to me." he said, "And anyway, the best before date on that ramen is for years from now."

"Oh God...." I quickly covered my mouth with my hand, eyes wide, and dashed to the bathroom.

"Kaien?!" I was rinsing out my mouth when Naruto finally got his act together and rushed through, worried, "Kaien are you all right?!"

"Yeah, I'm fine-" I cut off just in time to throw up again, barely managing to reach the toilet in time. I groaned, "God damnit... Naruto?"

"Yeah?" he replied, sounding completely terrified. He was not good with sick people, I could remember that much.

"I'm not okay..." I mumbled miserably, puking again.

Naruto disappeared for a long period of vomiting misery for me, and when he returned he brought with him an audience. "Go away..." I groaned.

"What happened?" Tsunade's voice asked as I wondered how my stomach could possibly have anything else to heave. Apparently it did.

"We were eating ramen and then she suddenly ran out of the room to throw up." Naruto replied, "Oh, and she did say something about the ramen tasting weird- but I had some too, and I'm fine."

"Says the guy with the iron stomach..." I croaked, and Tsunade tsked. I felt her glowing hand rest on my head, and then on my lower back, doing a scan of my body. She jolted back in surprise.

"Impossible..." she whispered.

"What?! What is it, Baa-chan?! What's wrong?!" Naruto panicked, and Tsunade finally snapped back at him,

"Quiet Naruto! There's nothing wrong, she's pregnant!!"

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WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Ah, will the clichés never cease? A fast paced and abrupt chapter, but meh. Enjoy, vote, comment.