Hi! This is was supposed to be a one-shot, but whatever. More notes at the end of the story. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

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It was a sunny day at Konoha. Civilians bustled through the streets, completely oblivious to the shinobi, scampering on rooftops to get on their missions. So that meant that not many people noticed a redheaded genin lurking in shadows.

Gaara was taking a walk to the library. When he told his siblings about that, Kankurou nearly dropped the steaming pot on the ground. Based on his appearance, not many people could think that the middle sibling had taken a hobby in cooking. The first time Gaara saw his brother in pink apron with a cooking pan in one hand and a spatula in other — No, thought Gaara as he pushed the image at the back of his head, I'm not going to think about that. So it was completely safe to say that Gaara was freaked out even if he didn't show it on the outside.

Anyways, Kankurou was been very shocked. Gaara rarely went to libraries. And rarely told his sister and brother where he was going, why, and when. So it was natural for the puppet-user to think that the world was ending.

At first Kankurou thought that this was an impostor. But then he noticed the way the sand twitched in Gaara's hand, irritated that the older sibling was gaping at him for a long time now, Kankurou instantly knew that wasn't the case.

So he went with the safest routine — just nodded and grunted. Gaara turned around and was out of sight.

Now he was stomping towards a large building, having finally found it. Strolling inside, the redhead instantly found his way into the dictionary unit, snatched up the first book that came to his eyes and sat on a chair.

Book in his hands, he quickly went over some words that popped in his mind at the memory of the kiss.

Peck pɛk

noun

1. a stroke or bite by a bird with its beak.

2. a light or perfunctory kiss.

3. [mass noun] archaic, informal food.

Platonic pləˈtɒnɪk

adjective

(of love or friendship) intimate and affectionate but not sexual.

He sighed. In every dictionary he searched, the answers have been the same. Then a familiar pang in his head started. Carefully, he searched for the word of which he could never understand, word that brought him so much pain.

Love lʌv

noun [ mass noun ]

1. a strong feeling of affection.

2. a strong feeling of affection and sexual attraction for someone.

Was it really that hard to write an understandable explanation? Now he might never know if butterflies in his stomach whenever he thought of the pinkette were proof of deep love or a platonic crush.

But then, he saw a dusty book on the edge of the bookshelf. Taking it out, he looked for the publishing date, finding out it was printed long before he was even born. Blowing on the cover to get the dust out, he read the title.

It was called What is this Feeling? and had no author name on it. Cheesy name, thought Gaara, but it will do.

Cautiously flipping on the first page, he started reading.

###

That night Gaara came home late. Really late. But Kankurou wasn't surprised. That happened a lot back in Suna, since the red-haired jinjuriki felt the need to 'feel alive' every now and then.

But when Kankurou asked his brother who did he kill today — so he could erase the marks that would lead the murder to them — Gaara shrugged and said that he didn't. The puppet-user had no idea how much times Gaara would be surprising him this day. His younger brother was unfocused and dazed since they lost him at the Forest of Death and Kankurou suspected that something happened there.

Feeling a bit braver, the older sibling decided to know more. If anything happened, he would be able to escape anyways.

"Ahem… Gaara… Er, then why did you come so late in the night? Did you actually go to the library?"

Gaara looked at him like he was stupid. "Of course I did. That's why I told you."

Kankurou was suddenly uncomfortable. "Um, I… I thought that was just a cover story." Quickly deciding to change the topic, he asked "So why are you home in this hour?"

Gaara suddenly fumbled angrily with — what was that behind his back? Kankurou was about to flee, but the redhead spoke about something completely different.

"I know! I would have stayed longer but this Konoha library doesn't work at night! But," he took out the object behind his back and patted it fondly. "At least they allowed me to take out the book."

Kankurou inspected the book, already tired of being shocked every few hours. Squinting, he managed to read What is this Feeling? on the cover of an old, withered book. Then it all sank in as he felt his legs get wobbly and promptly crashed on the ground.

The sound alerted their sister and Temari went crashing through the door, armed to the teeth. Looking around wildly, she yelled "Who's attacking? COME ON OUT!" Then she noticed Kankurou on the ground and Gaara near him, holding what seemed a very ancient book.

"Gaara! Did you kill Kankurou? Oh no, you know we can't do that! Come on, he is your brother!"

But she was broken off by a groan that came from the puppet-user's mouth.

"Oh, shut up already, woman!" He sat up. "Can't you see I already have enough drama without you yelling my ears off!"

"But, what — what's happening?"

Kankurou just grudgingly pointed at Gaara's book. Temari wondered why did her angsty little brother suddenly decided to read, then squinted to read the title.

Gaara, already tired of the scene his siblings were making, hugged it to his chest and promptly informed them it's nothing, then fled to his room. Kankurou would tell her everything anyway.

Closing the door behind him, he turned a page and resumed his reading.

###

Kankurou stared at the door that Gaara closed just a few moments ago, then motioned Temari into the kitchen. After six cups of tea, a bit of medicine for shock, and a whole bowl of cookies, he was finally finished telling her the story of the whole day.

Temari's brows were furrowed as she sat in silence for what seemed like hours. Then she shrieked so suddenly, Kankurou's ears managed to pop.

"What the hell is this about! Are you trying to make me deaf?"

But Temari wasn't listening. She danced around the room, giggling excitedly. Kankurou massaged his temples tiredly. Either the whole world gone mad or it was just him.

He was snapped out of his thought as his sister seized him by shoulders and said — more quickly this time, thankfully — "I think Gaara had chosen a girl!"

Her brother chocked on his eighteenth cookie. "What?!" he asked, shocked. But then pieces had started falling together in his head.

"That's so cute! I though he would always be so cold and brooding, but it seems like somebody had finally melted his heart!" She stopped, her face getting serious once more. "I wonder who is it? And when did he have time to fall in love? I thought he never said or did anything to other people except for us…"

"Nah, he did talk with that Sasuke guy before chunin exams, remember? But there was a tim—"

"Wait, are you saying that Gaara's ga—"

"No!" Kankurou looked at Temari disbelievingly. "Of course not! I'm saying that there was a time in the Forest of Death when we lost him, remember? Maybe there?"

Temari regained her serious face as she considered this. "Hmm, it might be true — wait, the Forest of Death? The one in which part two of the chunin exams were held?"

"Um, yeah? You were there yourself, remember?"

"It's not that! It means Gaara has a crush on somebody who's one of his rivals — the competitors for passing! What if she's from another village?!"

"Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no. Gaara, what have you gotten yourself into?"

###

The next day passed uneventfully. Temari went out for a walk and Kankurou was in the kitchen, making cookies. Gaara remained shut in his room.

When a warm feeling erupts, it is for the better not to ignore it. This love is different from the other kinds we talked in previous chapters. It is not brotherly/sisterly, nor it is the love for a native village. It is a kind of love in which the person wants to be with his or her loved person. An example would be a married couple or a secret mutual crush. This kind of love includes having sexual desire for the person, doing things such as kissing, holding hands, or declaiming eternal love.

Gaara grimaced, trying to ignore the last few words. He continued to read.

This kind of love could also include jealousy. That happens when another person is trying (accidentally or on purpose) to get the crush's attention. Jealousy could be strong, not allowing for the lover to feel safe with his/her lover around people. Or it could be feeble — either because the person is sure that the crush will not be attracted to anybody, but the lover or since the person does not care enough. We can learn to control our jealousy by —

"Gaara! Come on out! You have been holed in there for the whole night! It's noon already, and I need someone to try and rate my cookies!"

He is getting braver around me, Gaara thought wryly. But I don't feel like scaring him away.

He silently closed the book and walked into the kitchen.

###

The cookies were amazing. Kankurou was definitely getting better.

Now having a comfortable feeling in his stomach — Gaara didn't even realize he was hungry until his brother shoved a dish in front of him — the redhead decided to have a walk. He left the book behind, better not to be seen with it.

After walking for half an hour, Gaara's thoughts suddenly turned to a certain pinkette. He wondered how was she doing. It had been exactly 3 days since the start of the second faze of the chunin exams. Was she okay? Gaara hoped she was. He kinda wanted for her to pass.

The redhead quickly shook his head. No. She was an enemy who might stand in his way. Even worse, she was from another village. Besides, he wasn't actually falling in love with her. For the past 24 hours he had been obsessed with the book just for his own curiosity. Nothing else. Nope. He definitely didn't hope for her falling in love with him. And even if he did had a slightest idea on that — these were just hormones. He was nearing the teen stage, after all.

Even so, he still took another hour of convincing himself that he was not in love. Ten minutes after that, he created a sand eye and sent in into the Forbidden Forest and find Team 7.

I'm doing this just because I want to see if Sasuke is a worthy opponent.

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Yay! I finished the second chapter! That actually took a month to be made, but meh. Hey, it was originally a one-shot, so I didn't exactly have an outline. I do now, though I'm still not sure how much it would take me. Just so you know I did not include Sakura for a reason. Anyway, the next chapter would probably be all about her, so no worries!

Oh, and by the way, this isn't going to be Mature story. Just nope. First, I'm not good at writing something like that, and second, there are kids here that lie about their age. There should be more fics without, ahem, mature parts. Not saying that there should be completely no rated M stories. +

Still thinking about the love triangle... Hmm...

Review Replies:

manthabanana: Aww, thank you! It nice to know that people like this! You cheered me on, and here you go - another chappie!

Grey-Gaara: But of course. Thanks for the review, I really care :D. Here, have another chapter and try to ignore that it took a month for me to upload.