Feel the Rain
Hitaru
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Don't hurt me!
Summary: It's raining, not hard but not light either. As she leads him out, Sakura's about to find out: Gaara and rain. Who knew that they mixed?
Author Rambles: Yet another Gaara-Sakura one-shot. Just love these things. Yea! Please, R&R!
She glanced over at the stoic figure who was staring out the window. Just staring, never blinking, his pale jade eyes following the patterns the rain drops made as it hit her window pane. As he stared out into the raining streets of Konoha and as her emerald eyes stared at him, she wondered to herself what he, this-this person, she reasoned, was thinking
"Gaara…" She started, but when he turned to face her, she shook her head, as if trying to rid any thoughts that were cluttered in her mind. Her frown deepened a bit at her guest of now six months.
When the idea to switch Konoha's and the Sand Country's leaders, to strengthen their alliances, it was up to her to house the Kaze, Gaara of the Sand. At first, she was nervous to be even in the same village as him, remembering what happened a few years ago when she jumped to save Sasuke. Every time they were even in the same room, she'd shy away, afraid.
Yet, days turned into weeks.
And weeks turned into months.
And as it turned to month number six, she had grown use to his aloofness (use to it already so many years ago with Sasuke), to his mood swings, his muses. She didn't sweat when he was near, nor does she flinch when they brush each other in the hallways.
He had…
He had become...
Become something familiar, normal, even.
Even with all that, him living with her, she was still, at times, puzzled at what he was thinking, even feeling.
Like right now.
Looking at the man that sat before her again, she asked without hesitation this time,
"Gaara, do you like the rain?" His face remained that stoic way which he wore all the time. To others that new nothing about it, they'd think that he wasn't really listening, or even plain out ignoring the question. Yet she knew better, he was sitting there, wondering whether or not to answer such a question. She bit her lip, wondering what, if he did, he would say.
Gaara continued to stare out the window, debating silently if it would be a waste of time to open his mouth and reply back. He considered it a bit, before blinking once more. True, it would be rude of him not to answer back, but he wasn't so sure how to answer. He lived in the desert; when it rained, it'd happen for only a few minutes, an hour or two if they were lucky.
But here, in this hidden village, rain was bountiful. He was still a bit startled as to how long it rained here; he was counting the hours, amazed that it didn't stop. As if the very sky itself was emptying itself right here; even on days that could be barely be called a drizzle, it lasted for hours, a whole day sometimes even. He thought again before turning to face the pinked-hair Kunoichi that stood in front of him, waiting patiently for his reply.
"I'm…not use to it" he said bluntly. At his explanation, she seemed to not understand, so he tried a different approach.
"I live in the desert." Ah, he thought, she understands now. Turning back to the window, he pressed his index finger to the cooled glass, following the trail of a raindrop sliding down. When he heard a stifled giggle, he turned to see an unsure Sakura smiling at him. When he first came to stay here, he was startled enough to show some expression when she first did it; now, her smiling at him seemed as normal to him as breathing.
"Gaara, would you like to actually feel the rain?" Once again, he regarded her with a blank face. She had to joking. As he observed her holding her hands behind her back, waiting, he saw that she wasn't.
"I felt water before. I've taken showers before" he said, wondering exactly how smart she was. He focused back onto her face as she once again smiled.
"No, I mean, the rain, not water" she said carefully, as if explaining to a young child.
"Rain is just water, water it just…wet." Sighing, she shook her head and prepared for another lecture.
"No, rain is more…more…pure" she said wistfully with glazed eyes. When she snapped back to reality, she saw the disbelief in the others eyes and sighed. Guess it was time to show him, she silently thought. Pulling, tugging, half dragging, she somehow got him to the front door. Before she flung it open to let him greet the rainy world, she paused. Suppose he refused? Or tried to kill her with his desert coffin? Reaching behind her, her hands met and grabbed the first umbrella, a pink one with a rose adorned at the center. She opened it and somehow dragged the sand nin out.
Gaara wrinkled his nose a bit. What was she thinking? Where did she get the gale to hold his hand, drag him out, expecting him to enjoy this? Glancing at the Haruno and saw she was looking at him, as if waiting for something, he gingerly reached out to feel the smooth, cool liquid run down through his fingers. He gave her a there-you-go look and swung his arm back limply to his side.
She laughed a bit and asked how it felt. He retorted the same way as before.
"It's water. It feels wet." She smiled an innocent smile and swung the umbrella off both their heads, letting the softly pouring rain wet both their heads. He almost looks shock, she reflected happily. Feeling giddy at the thought, she twirled, accidentally flinging some extra drops into Gaara's face. Still smiling that smile, she turned her head upwards and closed her eyes, feeling the rain roll down her face in bliss.
Gaara stared in fascination at the girl's actions, his eyes trailing a particular drop of rain that slid down her cheek then neck, finally disappearing into the fabric of her outfit.
"See? It feels better." Snapping out of his trance, he suddenly felt, well, wet. Closing his eyes like she did before, he felt strangely at peace, or as close to it as possible.
Inhaling through the nose, he was suddenly aware of the scent that surrounded him, not the dried blood he carried with him, no, it was different. It was more than only the soft sakura fragrance that he was use to smelling when near her, it was mixed with something else, something more natural. Sniffing again, he stopped when Sakura started to laugh a bit.
"That's the rain, Gaara."
Opening his pale jade eyes, he met her emerald ones. Then he glanced at her pink hair that was plastered to her wide forehead and cheeks. Her smile never left her porcelain colored face.
"Gaara, do you like the rain?" she repeated once again, her eyes glistening.
The Japanese redhead looked down at their hands that were still entangled with each other. Looking back into her eyes, he nodded his head.
"Yes, I do" and closed his eyes once more to inhale the strange mixture of the smell of rain and Sakura.
OWARI
Short and a hint of fluff. Hurray for me. Now, to find chocolate!
After reading the reviews you readers WILL drop off, of course. ;P
Fin- Dec. 23, 2005, 10:40 P.M.