(Ten days left)

I woke up on Gaara's chest as a kitten. He hadn't moved all night. Purring, I rubbed my face on his chin. Gaara froze. I felt his fingers brush my fur.

I stood up and arched my back into his hand. My pupils expanded to signal I was happy.

Gaara suddenly growled. He grabbed the scruff of my neck and threw me across the room. I yelped and morphed as I hit the wall.

"Ow," I rubbed my back.

Gaara looked just as shocked as I felt, but I didn't show any emotion. It must have been Shukaku that threw me.

I crossed my arms and looked out the window, "It's morning. Can I go home for the day?"

The sadness was brief, and quickly replaced with confusion again, but I still noticed it. Gaara looked away from me.

"Sure, but take the front door this time."

I laughed, "Fine."

Temari was sitting at the dining room table. She stood up when she saw me.

"You, are you..?" She narrowed her eyes at me.

I stopped at the bottom of the stairs, "Kage no Akumu."

"What kind of name is that?"

"Mine," I pushed past her and left the house.

Yurei was training his upper body when I got back, doing pull ups on a low branch. His crutch was leaning on the tree.

"Hey, Kage!" He grinned when he saw me, "Tamashi is doing a lot better!"

"Really?" I ran the rest of the way to him.

"Yeah! He rolled onto his side today and said my name when I spoke to him!"

I tackled Yurei in a hug, "That's great!"

"Ow!" Yurei stumbled but laughed, "Calm down, kid, my leg is still broken."

I giggled and let him go, "Sorry, I just got excited. Can I go see Tamashi?"

"Yeah," Yurei grabbed his crutch and limped along next to me.

"Tamashi?" I nudged his shoulder.

He groaned, "Ka..ge...?"

I smiled, "Yeah, it's me, Onii-san."

Tamashi frowned. His eyes twitched behind their lids.

"Please wake up, Tamashi," I brushed his hair with my fingers.

"I haven't cleaned his gash yet," Yurei mentioned.

I sighed, "Go get me a wet washcloth and fresh bandages."

Yurei limped off to comply. He tossed me the stuff I asked for. Tamashi's wound wasn't much more than a long black scab on his pale face.

Tamashi was going to hate that. It was kind of funny, Yurei would have been the exact opposite. Yurei would do almost anything stupid if the thought he could get a cool scar out of it. He had a small eyebrow scar from a knife fight, a burn scar on his leg from another fight, and a scar around his wrist from an undercover mission.

I finished cleaning the wound.

"Yurei?"

"Yes?"

"When is the full moon?"

Yurei thought for a moment, "About ten days from now, why?"

I drew in a sharp breath, "No reason."

"Hmm, that's a lie," Yurei hummed.

I glared at him, "It's nothing, I can handle it."

"Fine..." Yurei limped to the bed, "I'm gonna take a nap, wake me up for lunch."

I left the boys to sleep. I wanted to look at the bear again. The bear wasn't on his usual shelf. Gaara must have kept him...

I sighed. There was a sudden knock on the door that startled me. Nervous, I walked over to the twins' room first. They were both sleeping still.

I looked out the front window next to the door. Three ninjas stood there, a blonde a boy, a girl with long pink hair and... I almost fell over backwards at the sight of the third boy.

Reluctantly, I opened the front door.  I looked at the ninjas defiantly, my tail swishing angrily. No one knew of this place, what were these people doing here?

"Can I help you?" I asked the blond boy.

He hopped from one foot to the other, his hands over his crotch, "Would it be possible for me to use your bathroom?"

I stared dumbfounded at him, "S-sure, I guess. It's upstairs-"

"K thanks!" He bolted past me.

The pink haired girl rolled her eyes, "Stupid Naruto. I told him to go before we left!"

"And you are?" I turned back to them.

The girl looked at me curiously, "Sorry, I'm Sakura. That big dummy was Naruto, and this... This is Sasuke!"

Sakura looked at my older brother dreamily. He never so much as looked at me. Even if he had, it wouldn't have made a difference, he didn't even know I existed.

"Uh, do you guys want to come in?" I offered.

"Sure!" Sakura gave me a huge grin.

Sakura and Sasuke sat at the dining room table. I asked if they wanted anything to eat.

"It's better if you don't..." Sakura warned, "if Naruto finds out you have food, we'll never leave."

I nodded in understanding, "I have a brother who is the same way!"

I thought of Yurei. The kid could eat like there was no tomorrow...

Naruto joined us. He looked solemn, "What happened to those boys up there?"

"What?" He had gone in the bedroom?! "That is none of your business! I can handle them!"

"Did you kill them?!" Naruto's eyes widened in shock.

"I would never!" I shouted back, "Those two are my brothers! Yurei is just sleeping, but Tamashi is in a coma. They were injured in an explosion the other day!"

That peaked Sasuke's interest, "An explosion?"

I glared at him, "Yeah, what's it to you?"

I was angry. Not at Sasuke, but at everyone else right now, "How did you guys even find this place?"

The three looked at each other. It was Naruto who finally answered me, "We were training nearby and we heard about the explosion. We were sent to investigate."

"Ah... I see," I said.

Sakura looked worriedly at me, "You said your brother is in a coma? I've been trained in healing jutsus, can I take a look at him?"

I hesitated, "Follow me. Also, tell your friends that they shouldn't snoop in stranger's houses."

Sasuke and Sakura glared at Naruto and Sakura punched the back of his head.

"Alright," Sakura straightened her outfit, "now bring to this boy in a coma."