This was my first one shot, definatly not my best, but I thought it was okay. On Quizilla I got 9 votes, an average of 4.74 out of 10. I hope you still like it!

The desert wind blew across your skinny face, lifting your long brown hair off of your thin neck. The sound of sand and rocks crunched beneath your delicate feet and gave one of the only hints that you were coming.

You could see it now, your hometown, Sunagakure.

You'd just returned from an important solo mission, which was easier than you'd expected.

Your name is Mizu. You are 14 years old, and a Chuunin. You're quiet, and don't have many friends, but you like it that way. You don't want anyone to betray or hurt you, so you spend most of your free time reading or drawing.

You stepped into the village. A few kids were bouncing a ball nearby, and one of them threw it too hard. It landed by your feet.

The kid rush over to get it. You picked the ball up and handed it to him nicely. He thanked you and ran away again.

You stood up straight and felt hot breath on the back of your neck. You turned around quickly, and saw that boy Gaara standing behind you. You recognized him, and knew he was some kind of monster, but you'd never seen him up this close.

He stared at you with his icy blue eyes, and you felt yourself blush. You tried your best to keep a stern face, "Hello. Can I help you?"

He snapped out of his trance and ran away down an alley.

You watched him leave, and almost felt sad that he went without saying anything.

The moon was high in the sky as you were walking home with your groceries. You hummed a tune to yourself, as you saw the stars. Something dropped in front of your view. It was a rose, and when you took it you realized it was made of sand. Gaara jumped down from the roof of a building, and looked at the ground, trying not to make eye-contact.

You looked back and forth between him and the rose. Finally you held it out to him. He seemed surprised, then reluctantly took it back.

You crossed your arms. "Gaara..." you said, "Please, you don't even know my name yet!"

He spoke for the first time, raising his head eagerly, "What is your name?"

"It's Mizu," you told him, "And if you're trying to ask me out or something I really don't want to get into that kind of relationship. EVER. Sorry."

You walked away silently and Gaara looked back at you, absolutly crushed.

You woke up to a tapping sound on your window pane. You looked out and saw Gaara standing there, hoping desperatly that you'd let him in. You opened the window and he held something out to you. It was another rose.

"It's real this time," Gaara said coldly, "Do you like it?"

You suddenly felt like you couldn't take it anymore. "Gaara..." you said, "Please. Come inside."

Gaara stepped in through your open window. He looked around, getting used to his surroundings. Your room was small, and the walls were covered in your notebook drawings. Your bed seemed too big for you, which gave the room a lonely feel. It was covered in a velvet purple comforter, with pink flowers circling the edges. The floor was made of hard wood and it tapped loudly when you walked on it. A bedside table sat in the corner, and on it was a tiny lamp, an old horror novel and a scetchpad.

Gaara was silent. "Well, aren't you going to say something?" you asked.

He stared at the floor, not knowing what he could say. You sat down on your bed and motioned for him to sit beside you. He did, and looked at your shoes as though they were the most interesting thing in the world.

"Gaara..." you whispered, "Please look at me."

He brought his eyes to your face, and carefully examined your beautiful features. The longing in his eyes made you shiver. You fiddled with the rose in your left hand, and pricked your thumb on a thorn. You ignored that, and sighed to him,

"Gaara, why do you torture me this way? I told you once before that I'm not ready for this type of thing... I'm sorry, I truly am."

Gaara looked back at the floor, and thought this over. "But..." he mumbled, "Mizu... I..." the rest of what he said was to quiet to be heard.

"What?" you questioned him, hoping unintentionally that he said what you thought he had.

Gaara focused back onto your sandals. He sighed... and almost even blushed a little. He muttered, "I love you... Mizu."

That was it. He really did say it. You felt your heart swell up in your chest. Your mouth stayed in it's downward emotionless arc, but your hazel eyes couldn't help but sparkle with this new emotion you felt; love.

Suddenly, the morals you'd adopted from your past experiences came back to you. They reached up with their cold hands and snatched you out of your little cloud, pulling you back to the sick reality of your life. What were you thinking? You just met this guy and he was already trying to bring you into commitments that you knew nothing about, and surely couldn't keep.

You moved a few inches away from him, and said the words that had been engraved deeply into your heart since childhood, "I don't beleive you."

"What?"

"I don't beleive you, Gaara, I DON'T BELEIVE YOU!" you shouted, your voice shaking like an earthquake had struck, and tears welling up in your eyes. The terrible disappointment on Gaara's face was what made you snap. You sobbed into your shirtsleeves, staining them with water.

You wanted to believe him so much, but your consience kept reminding you things that you didn't want to remember.

You felt the sand from Gaara's gourd slowly curl up around you. It gently hugged your body and stroked your cheeks. You couldn't believe that he was trying to comfort you, even after you'd rejected him so harshly. Was this the boy that people called a monster?

He waited until your cries were reduced to short gasps. He spoke to you lightly, "Why are you so quiet, Mizu? Please tell me what's wrong."

Something inside of you told you that you could trust Gaara, so you opened up to him with a tale that you'd never told anyone before.

"I was born... with a mentally unstable mother who had no clue who my actual father was. She was abusive and angry. She went through boyfriends quickly and each one treated me however they wished. But still, every night before bed she'd say that she loved me before closing me into this dark, lonely room. Eventually, I couldn't stand it anymore. One night I just yelled at her, 'I don't believe you!' I woke up the next morning to find her lying dead on the kitchen floor. She killed herself... Turns out, she was depending on me more than I was on her. Ever since then I don't beleive in love... I just... don't want to be hurt anymore."

Gaara stared in shock. He felt so sorry for you, and he also realized how simaler the two of you were. His sand carefully lifted you up, and brought you close to him. He wrapped his arms around you. Somehow that felt right... somehow it seemed like that's what you'd need right now.

You didn't pull away from him. Normally you would, but your body felt unusually warm in his grip. You fell asleep in Gaara's arms.

Morning sun shone brightly through your curtainless window. As you regained full consiousness, you realized that the blanket was pulled up to your pointy chin. Your pillow was placed neatly underneath your chocolate brown locks. You pulled off the covers and saw Gaara sitting patiently at the foot of your bed.

He remained silent, but for him to stay here all night with you... you crawled closer and slowly embraced him. You didn't care what happened before, who hurt you or what you did, because Gaara would always protect you and never bring you any harm. You loved Gaara, and he loved you.

His sand crept up your arm and slipped below your chin. It brought your sparkling eyes up to face his tired ones. His mouth inched towards yours, and he kissed you on the lips.

TEH END!! 3