Training Session

Aria's POV

"HAHA! Got you!" I shouted, swinging my fist at Gaara.

"Hmm… Don't think so!" he stated calmly as he dogged the hit.

We were training in the desert just far enough from the village so we wouldn't disturb it, but close enough that we could still see it and a few lingering eyes watching us train. Gaara took a swing at me with his fist. I caught it with my arm and threw a punch at him. He leaned back, easily dogging it. He did a back flip and came back at me with a kunai.

"Oh, cheating a little, aren't we?" I said smirking. "Well, I guess I'll play your game."

I pulled out a kunai myself and rushed at him.

Kankuro's POV

They rushed at each other, kunai in hand, at lightning speed. Though he was small in size, my little brother was big in spirit. Aria was just the same. I watched as the two went after each other, throwing hits and punches and dogging.

"Kankuro, what are you doing now?" asked Temari. "They are training. Leave them alone."

I let out an irritated sigh. She may be my big sister, but she annoyed the ever-living hell out of me sometimes. She sat next to me.

"What do you want now Temari?" I asked, now irritated that she wasn't leaving.

"I just wanted to see how those two were coming along." She said, smiling at the two as they trained. "I know they haven't spent much time together since the war…" she trailed off, frowning at the mention of the previous war.

"I guess you're right…" I mumbled. Between Gaara with his paperwork and Aria with her training, this had been the first time in a while the two spent time together. 'Wait… time TOGETHER…' My eyes widened. I got an idea.

"Hey Temari," I asked with an evil smirk. "you think you could do something for me?"

"Sure. Wha-" she noticed my smirk. "Kankuro, what are you planning…?"

I beckoned her closer. I whispered my plan to her. She gasped and pulled away.

"Kankuro!" she scolded, smacking me in the head, irritating me further. "That's horrible!"

"Hey, I thought it was funny!" I shot back, rubbing my head. 'Geeze, when did she hit that hard?'

"Uugghhh…. Fine! I'll do it. But you owe me. Understood?" she said reluctantly. I smiled.

"That's what I thought." I said smirking. She glared at me.

-*SMACK*-

"OUCH! Dang it, that hurt!" I yelled.

I had my plan. Now I just had to wait for the right moment.

Aria's POV

I attacked from behind him. Gaara spun around and kicked my fist away. He threw a punch. I barely dogged it as his fist grazed my cheek. I quickly grabbed his arm and twisted. Hard. He had a look of surprise as I flipped him over onto his back. He landed with a 'thud' as I slammed him down to the ground, making sand go everywhere. When I let go, he sat up and groaned. He looked up at me.

"Aria…" he said getting up and rubbing his arm. "this is just practice, not the real thing. You should know better."

"Sorry." I said not-so-apologetically. "I couldn't help myself. I saw the opportunity and I took it." I shrugged as I said these words. He groaned.

"Ok. Well just be a little careful next time, alright?"

"Right."

We went back to our standing positions.

"Ready…" he said, standing tall.

"Set." I replied, bracing myself.

"GO!" we yelled at the same time, charging at each other.

As he came at me with a fist, I dogged and jumped in the air.

"RRAAGGHHHH!" I shouted. Gaara looked up and widend his eyes.

As I came down, he jumped, narrowly avoiding my hit. My fist plunged into the sand sending ripples along the gound. My blood was roaring through my head. My vision was going fuzzy and my muscles tensed. I glanced up to see Gaara landing with a soft 'thud' and then coming towards me. I looked back down and stood up trembling and wavering. I clenched my fists and winced as I felt pain go up my arms. I looked at my hands. I had claws. 'Great… not this again…' I thought. As he neared me, I unintentionally growled. He froze. I had no control. He knew it. I growled even louder as I shot after him, throwing hits that he dogged. I lashed out with my claws. It seemed as if he had dogged. Suddenly I felt sand wrap tightly around my wrists, legs and waist.

"What the-" I started as the sand twisted me around so that I was facing Gaara. I snapped out of my trance as I saw blood on his cheek. My eyes widened. I had gotten him.

"G-gaara?" I said, voice wavering, eyes still wide.

"Aria." He said standing in front of me. I could see for bloody scratches on his cheek. "You lost control again."

I looked down and to the side, not wanting to make eye contact.

"I… I'm sorry…" I started. He grabbed my chin and made me look up at him. He looked hurt.

"Don't apologize." He said, letting go of my chin. "You tried your best."

Kankuro's POV

Me and Temari looked on, amazed at what had just happened. Gaara wrapped his sand around Aria to control her. His cheek was bleeding.

"She… she got him?" Temari said, blinking a few times. I nodded.

"Seems like it…" I mumbled. Now he was right in front of her. Time for my plan.

"Temari!" I said. She knew what I meant.

"Right." She said reluctantly as she pulled out her fan.

"Ready… and… NOW!" I yelled. She obeyed and sent a blast of air towards the two.

Aria's POV

Gaara released the sand but still stood in front of me. He was about to say something when a huge gust of wind caught us off guard and sent us toppling over, sending sand and dust everywhere. He landed on me, knocking the wind out of me. As the dust cleared, he moved on top of me, making me wince.

"Nrgggg…" I managed as he propped himself up above me.

I opened my eyes to see Gaara on top of me, rubbing his head. I propped myself up on one elbow, rising to his height. His cheek was covered in smeared blood and dust. I reached up unconsciously to try and wipe it off. He just stared at me. I shook my head and looked down. I blushed as I realized why he was staring. Not only was the neck of my shirt covered in the blood from his cheek, his knees were on each side of my waist and his arms were on each side of mine. And I had my hand on his cheek. I blinked twice and took my hand away.

"Ummm…" I started, unaware that we had 'attracted' some attention.

We heard a noise and tore our gazes of each other and looked to the side. Kankuro and Temari were standing there. Kankuro started to laugh. Temari just looked at us apologetically. I looked back at Gaara and again realized our positions. I pushed him off of me. He landed on his back as I stood up. Kankuro fell to the ground laughing as I attempted to dust myself off. Unfortunately, the blood only smeared even more.

"Dude, that was PRICELESS!" Kankuro gasped. We turned to him.

"Kankuro… you…" Gaara started, getting up himself. Temari sighed.

"Unfortunately, yes." She said. We all sent daggers at Kankuro, who was still rolling on the ground.

"Kankuro…" Gaara started dangerously, going towards him. I held my hand up. He stopped. "Aria?" he looked at me.

"No." I said, walking towards Kankuro. "I got this."

Temari gladly took a few steps back as I approached. I stopped in front of him. He stopped laughing.

"I would suggest you run." Gaara pointed out. Kankuro's eyes widened.

"I strongly agree." I added in viciously. Kankuro shot up and sped away fast as he could. I chased after him, leaving Temari and Gaara laughing behind me.