Note From The Author: Hello folks! Name's GrandLordAtos, formally 'shadowzero1989'. I'm off to a new start of fanfic writing, and decided awhile ago to devote myself to a Naruto pairing other than NaruHina. XD That's when I remembered Matsuri, from the final filler arc.

Matsuri, like many of the other well thought out filler arc characters, is ignored and shunned by many for being filler, sadly. The thing is, in my opinion, the fillers were better than having 2 and a half years of reruns.

I liked the pairing of GaaMats, and so I created this fic. I hope you all enjoy it, because it took me a little while to complete all the chapters. There are 10 in the series, but they were short on my Deviant Art page, so I decided to splice the chapters together to add some length. In other words, this'll likely be a 6 chapter or so series. I'll upload a new chapter every day, since the series is complete.

A final word; PLEASE go easy on me with the reviews. I'm not used to romantic literature, and I'm a little wet behind the ears in writing, especially during the early stages of this fic. But anyway, I hope you all like it.

Disclaimer: [in the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Hang up, hang up, lawyer phone - You no sue cause me no own!

Chapter One: If Feelings Could Talk For Us, What Would They Say?

It was a sunny day in the Sand Village. Well, as sunny as it could get in the desert, that is. The streets flourished with merchants, the academy bell echoes through the valley the village resided in, and not a trace of the damage from Akatsuki's attack a month ago could be seen.

The cheerful noise of the villagers soon woke up young Matsuri, and after getting dressed, she walked over to her calendar and smiled upon seeing what day it was. "It's already January 19th." She said to herself, pulling open a drawer near the calendar and taking out a small box wrapped in red paper. "That means...Gaara-sensei turns 15 today..." Matsuri held the gift close to her, blushing at the thought of giving it to her sensei. It had only been two and a half years since her training under Gaara had begun, but to her, it felt far longer. As though she had known him her entire life. She couldn't explain this feeling she had...it was just there.

"I...I hope Gaara-sensei likes the gift I made for him." she whispered to herself. A moment later, the clock buzzer went off, and she began to panic slightly. "Oh my! I'm going to be late!" Grabbing her backpack, the Chuunin girl rushed out of her room. However, she was in such a rush, that she had completely forgotten she had set a pot of tea on the burner of her stove, and left the stove on.

The walk from her apartment to the Kazekage Building wasn't a long one, but fighting through the crowds always slowed Matsuri down. When at last she burst through the front doors of the building, she had run straight into Temari, Gaara's older sister.

"Whoa, Matsuri. Watch where you're going!" the Sand Sibling said in a stern, yet somewhat playful manner. Temari had been like an older sister to Matsuri over the past few years. She had been a substitute mentor for her whenever Gaara was on a mission, and recently for whenever Gaara was too busy with his duties as the Kazekage. She was strict, but fair, and always seemed to treat the girl with respect and kindness you'd only see in an older sister. A nice one, at the least.

"S-sorry, Temari. I wasn't thinking."

"It's alright." Temari eyed the small wrapped box in Matsuri's hands and gained a mischievous look. "Hoy, that for my little brother?" she teased, elbowing the now beet red girl. Temari was also the only person in the entire village who had known about Matsuri's feelings for Gaara, even though Matsuri herself was only half aware of them.

"Y-yes. I wanted to get here early so I could give it to him before my mission."

"Well, hurry up then. He's got a meeting pretty soon, so the sooner you act, the better."

Matsuri nodded and rushed to the stairs to the next floor. Temari smiled as the girl scurried up the staircase. "Such a nice girl. Gaara's lucky to have such a devoted student."

Butterflies rushed through her stomach as she stood in front of Gaara's office, holding the gift behind her. For the past minute, she stood there, ushering her hand to knock on the door but pulling it back before giving the chance. "Come on..." she told herself. "Why can't I move?" Taking a deep breath, she gathered her courage and moved her hand foreword again.

This time, however, the door swung right open, and she knocked on the forehead of Kankuro, Gaara's older brother. "Hoy, watch it! Oh, hey Matsuri."

Embarrassment rushed through her body again, like when she had run into Temari. "S-sorry, Kankuro. Um...is Gaara-sensei in here?"

Kankuro nodded. "Yeah. I just got done giving him the morning report. You should go on in before his meeting starts."

The girl nodded, and entered the room. When she approached the Kazekage's desk, she gave a respectful bow. "G-Gaara-sensei...G-good morning! And um...H-happy birthday."

The maroon haired Kazekage turned his chair to face Matsuri, with a bit of a surprised look on his face. "Matsuri. I didn't expect to see you so early."

She blushed as she rose her head. "I...um...Wanted to be able to...um...See you for a bit before my mission, or your meeting...um...whichever came first." Her voice was really beginning to stutter as she spoke.

"Are you okay?" Gaara asked with concern. "You look a bit ill. Perhaps you should see the medical team before starting any missions."

Matsuri shook her head, and slowly brought the gift in her hands to her front. "N-no. Um...I just...I have something to...give to..." Before she could finish her sentence, Temari burst through the door with Kankuro.

"Gaara, we've got trouble! Some of the houses down the street have caught fire, and the firefighting unit is unable to contain it!" Temari said.

Gaara stood up. "Which street?!"

"The main street from the east of this building!" Kankuro replied.

Matsuri's eyes widened at this news. Her house was on the East Main Street, she thought. Then she suddenly remembered that she had left the stove on. In a panic, she darted out the door, bumping against her superiors along the way and dropping her gift.

"Matsuri-chan, wait! Where are you going?!" Gaara yelled after his student.

But she did not reply. For what she knew, this disaster could have been all her fault, all because she did something foolish. As she approached the source of the now visible clouds of smoke, she cursed herself. Could she even face Gaara after all this was over? Or would she be doomed to his scorning?

The fire she had caused was far worse than Matsuri had expected. When she arrived at the scene, her eyes widened in horror at the blaze that clouded the sky with smoke. Her apartment had not only been consumed in fire, but the apartments next to hers were also starting to blacken and burn.
"Oh...dear lord...Wh-what...What have I done?" Her head spiraled to get a clear view at the panic around her. People gathered in droves, pointing at the spectacle, firefighting nin rushed around and entered the buildings, embers flew from the buildings and landed on the streets. It was absolute mayhem.

"Alright, everyone! Keep it moving!" yelled one of the firefighting nin to the crowd. This man was apparently in charge. Matsuri stumbled over to her man and spoke to him in a panicked and tearful voice.

"Sir! Sir, please tell me! Is anyone still in these buildings?! Please, I have to know!"

"Miss, you need to leave the scene at once." the man replied sternly. "The last thing we need is casualties and--"

Another firefighting nin emerged from the entrance, guiding out a woman whose face had been blackened by soot and ash. He yelled over to the man in charge, guiding the woman to another nin. "Hoy, captain! This woman says she can't find her son! The only place left to check is the fourth floor, and it's a hazard zone in there!"

Matsuri looked to the man to see what his response would be, praying inside that it was to risk it all and rescue the boy. All of this had been her fault, because she was too dazed to think correctly. A human error for sure, but not one she wanted to live with, especially knowing that it would cost a life. But in the next moment, her heart sank when the man lowered his head and shook it.

"We can't risk leveling the whole building. If that happens, then the rest of our men inside will be in danger."

The girl grabbed the man by the collar and pulled him to her face. "What are you saying?!" she yelled. "You're firefighting nin! You're supposed to prioritize the life of citizens above your own!"

"B-but miss, there are over a half a dozen men still in there and--"

Matsuri drew her hand back and laid her palm out flat, and with a wind lashing noise, she smacked the man across his face, leaving a red hand print on his cheek. She let go of him as he stumbled backwards, and yelled with a river of tears in her eyes. "To be a ninja means to fulfill the duty given to you even at the cost of your life. You...you...you make me sick!"

With that, she ran over to the building and jumped up on a balcony of the second floor, doing the same to the third and then entering through the balcony opening on the fourth floor, busting through the burning door.

"That girl...is nuts!"

The heat of the raging fire made it hard for Matsuri to breath, and even covering her mouth with her neckerchief did her little good against the noxious hazard of the smoke. "Ack...I've got to...find that child...Hack..."

Though having only been in the building a minute or so, her body felt completely drained of water, and her skin felt as though it was about to crack like an eggshell. The building itself was beginning to creak, and she knew that it wouldn't be long before it collapsed. Still, she couldn't find even the slightest trace of the boy.

The main hallway of the apartment was almost entirely littered with burning rafters, making it difficult for her to make her way into the other apartment rooms. She would have begun to call out to the boy, but she discovered that the smoke already damaged her voice to the point where her words were turned into mere raspy squawks.

One minute passed, and then a few more. Doors were knocked open and rafters nearly crushed poor Matsuri. And at last, she looked inside the final room. Surely the boy had to be in here, she thought. The final door crashed to the floor in a heap of wood and embers, and she tumbled in weakly, looking frantically at all corners of the room.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a child sprawled out on the floor. Rushing to the boys side, she rolled him on his back, and noticed he wasn't breathing. A look of shock consumed her face, and she pressed one ear against the boy's chest to listen for a heartbeat. There was none. She had arrived far too late.

Despite the dangerous situation, she seemingly ignored her predicament, and held the boy's small hands in her own, tears pouring down her cheeks, being evaporated from her face. "No...This can't have happened...It's...It's all my stupid fault. How could someone die because of such a foolish mistake?!" She managed those words through her broken voice, before the fumes and heat suddenly began to overwhelm her, choking her to the floor.

As she fell backward and hit her head upon the fragile floor, she in-took the visions of fire dancing before her eyes, and thought to herself. "Gaara-sensei... ... ... ...I'm so...very...sorry..."

For a moment she laid upon the floor, aware of the situation she was in, as well as the pain. Her tears began to surpass even the heat, and made a tiny pool upon the frail floor. As her vision began to blur and blacken, she saw something wrap around her. It looked like...sand.

END CHAPTER

So what did you all think? If you liked this chapter, but can't wait another day to read the next, chapter 3 and up ((my original chapter 2 was where this chapter ended)), you can always visit my Deviant Art page: http://grandlordatos. in all, be sure to review, peeps. Chapter 2 will be up tomorrow, about the same time. Thanks for reading!