Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…but would definitely love to own Gaara!! lol

A/N: Hi everyone!! This chapter is heavy in flashbacks…bear with me, they are needed to advance the story.

LOVE AND SECRETS

Chapter 2

Iruka thought he was doing the right thing. That was until he heard his second favorite student's voice. Did she just say shit? He thought, and she doesn't look too happy either. But I was positive they were together. Iruka thought that this project would be the perfect excuse for them to be seen together without people wondering or asking questions. Iruka would have sworn on his life that Akira and Gaara were together. He saw them together. He sighed as the memory came forward.

Iruka was excited to tell Akira that the class had finally been approved. She had fought so hard, mainly because he knew she believed that non-combat skills were equally important as combat skills. She would make an excellent sensei, he thought. As he rounded the corner he saw something he really shouldn't have.

The hallway Iruka had just entered was never really traveled but he came this way because he knew Akira like to take the long way to everywhere. He didn't realize this mouth was open until he felt his drool slide down his chin. Oh my fucking god, he thought.

Right there in the middle of the hallway was Akira and Gaara, in what Iruka believed was the MOST intense kiss he had EVER seen in his life. I don't even think I've ever been kissed like that, thought a very shocked Iruka.

Akira had her hand under Gaara's shirt, she was pressing his body closer to hers. Gaara had her up against the wall. Iruka could tell they had been kissing for a while because both redheaded ninja's lips were rosy red. As Gaara pressed his body against hers, she wrapped her legs around his perfect torso; both ninjas did all this never breaking the kiss. She had her eyes closed as Gaara moved his mouth to her soft spot right behind her left ear. She whimpered a little as the sand nin broke the kiss but softly moaned once Gaara had worked his way behind her ear.

"Hisui….mmmnnn…I've gotta…uuhhmmmnn…" Akira managed to get out. While her hands slowly roamed his upper body.

"You gotta what, Ai?" he responded bringing his lips back to hers. His hands were inching their way to Akira's bra.

Iruka watched the scene and blushed furiously. He felt as though he had walked into something sacred, something extremely private. Something that was only supposed to be shared between Gaara and Akira. He was going to clear his throat to get their attention when something occurred to him. He had NEVER actually SEEN Akira and Gaara together before this (and he had known Akira for a LONG time).

There had to be a reason he'd never seen them together. It's a secret, he thought to himself. Now he really felt like he walked in on something forbidden. He slowly walked back around the corner and decided to test his theory out.

He banged into a trash can to make as much noise as possible. Then he rounded the corner again. And sure enough a very composed Akira was sitting against the wall reading a book and the redheaded sand nin was nowhere to be seen. So it is a secret, Iruka thought.

"Iruka sensei! What are you doing here?" asked the rosy lipped ninja as she looked up from her book. She's good, Iruka thought.

Walking into a very passionate kiss, he thought blushing. "Nothing, just looking for you. The class just got approved…"

Iruka opened his eyes to see Gaara smirking; it was rare to see any emotion from the redhead. Akira had a pained expression on her beautiful face. Shit, he thought, they must have ended it. But why? With the passion those two have why would it have ended?

Iruka cleared his throat and asked, "Is there something wrong Akira?"

Milky chocolate eyes told him, yes there was something wrong. But the extremely skilled ninja answered, "No sensei I just stabbed myself with my pen."

Lair, everyone in the room thought, including Iruka.

Maybe it won't be too bad, Iruka thought as he saw Akira get up and make her way slowly to the already stoic sand nin. Oh was he wrong. Everyone in the class looked at Akira as she made her way to him.

Shikamaru watched as Akira walked over to stand next to Gaara. He shook his head and thought to himself, Relationships…so troublesome. If he didn't love Temari he wouldn't even bother. When Temari told him about Akira and Gaara he almost didn't believe it.

I didn't believe it until I saw the way Gaara looks at her…as if she's the only one in the room, he thought. When Shikamaru finally realized that Akira and Gaara were together he thought that keeping the relationship a secret for two years must have put extreme strain on it. But secrecy wasn't the reason they ended, thought Shikamaru, nobody knows why. Actually, he was pretty certain Akira had ended it to protect Gaara; that's the type of person she is. Protect Gaara from what? Shikamaru had yet to find out.

Shikamaru had to admit that as troublesome as girls are, he had grown fonder of the chocolate eyed ninja. She was good at keeping secrets; after all she had kept her relationship with Gaara a secret for over two years. She had known about his and Temari's relationship and never said a word to anyone, not even her best friend. Although Shikamaru is pretty sure everyone knows about him and Temari; he's always like to keep their relationship private and Akira respected that 110. She's pretty easy to talk to too, thought Shikamaru as he remembered the first time she walked into Temari's room and found them lying on the floor.

Shikamaru was splayed out on Temari's bedroom floor with is hair out. It was uncharacteristic of him, he liked his hair in a ponytail but Temari liked his hair out. Women…such a bother, Shikamaru thought to himself. Temari was on the floor to with her head in his lap talking about…something.

"Are you even listening to me Shika?" Temari asked him.

"Of course I'm listening," he responded, "You were saying something about a mission you have to go on."

"I don't even know why I bother." Temari whispered.

Shikamaru pushed himself up with his elbows and looked into her beetle black eyes. "Because you love me." he stated. He was about to kiss her when…

"Temari I need your help!" Akira said as she burst into the room. She took in scene before her. She knew that she had interrupted a potential make-out session. My bad, she thought, that is going to have to wait.

"Have you ever heard of knocking?" Temari said.

"I could ask you the same thing Temari!" Akira smiled as she saw her friend blushed at the memory of walking in on her and Gaara.

"Good point. What do ya want?" Temari asked

Shikamaru was internally freaking out. He and Temari hadn't told anyone about their relationship and they had been together for about five months. He didn't understand how Temari was handling Akira so calmly. Usually she was the hot headed one and right now she was talking to Akira as if nothing. Shikamaru's distress must have been written on his face because…

"Chill out Shikamaru I've known about you and Temari for a while now." Akira told the surprised ninja.

Both Temari and Shikamaru were shocked to hear that Akira knew. "But how…how long…." Temari trailed off.

Akira smiled. Shikamaru noticed how it lit her face up. She should smile more often, he thought.

"A little before you caught me and Gaara together." She stated calmly. "Now can we focus on my problem! By the why Shikamaru your secret is safe with me so don't look freaked out"

"Enlighten me with your problem." Temari told her future sister in law.

"It's Gaara-"

"Isn't it always?!"

"Would you let me finish! Like I was saying its Gaara's birthday and he won't let me give him anything. I need you to convince him to-"

"Really? Just ignore him and get him whatever you were going to give him. My brother will take it trust me. Plus he's totally heads over heels in love with you. So it really doesn't matter what you get him. Wrap yourself up" Temari said with a wicked grin.

Temari is too much, thought Shikamaru.

"Maybe I will…" said Akira shooting Temari sinful smirk.

Girls are too much, Shikamaru thought when he saw Akira give Temari that sinful smirk.

"…oooooh Temari, is that what you gave Shikamaru for his birthday?" she said laughing as she left the room.

Shikamaru put his hands in his pockets and thought to himself, Poor Akira…she must miss Gaara. She must feel alone, not having anyone to talk to.

"This is going to be bad." Temari whispered next to him. Shikamaru had to agree. This had train wreck written all over it. What was Iruka sensei thinking?

Akira had finally reached her destination. I don't think I'm going to be able to this, she thought to herself. Having Gaara this close to her was making her weak in the knees. She could feel his body heat, his familiar scent…spring rain. I'm definitely not going to be able to do this, she thought again. Shit! I'm so fucking screwed its not even funny.

While she had seen Gaara in the five months since she ended it, she had never been this close to him. She wanted to touch him, she wanted to tell him she still loved him. But most of all she wanted to kiss him, to taste him. She missed his arms of steel around her. She missed his calming voice. She missed talking to him. Damn it Kankuro! Why did you have to tell me?!, she thought to herself.

Akira had just left Gaara's room. Now I just gotta sneak out of here, she thought as she walked down the hallway. She really wasn't worried about Temari catching her because Temari already knew about Gaara but Kankuro was another story. She definitely didn't want Kankuro to find her sneaking around Gaara's hallway because then they'd really be in trouble. The secret would be out if he finds out, thought Akira, God that boy has a big mouth!

As Akira rounded the corner of Temari's hallway, she found Kankuro sitting against the wall midway thru the hallway. He looked out of place; he didn't have his black hood on or his face paint on. She could see some of Gaara in him.

He's kinda handsome if you take a second look, she thought. His milk chocolate hair matched the color of her eyes. He shouldn't wear that ugly hood.

He was sitting against the wall with his legs drawn up against his chest. He had his chin on his knees and his were eyes closed; he looked like he was sleeping. She had already thought of her excuse for being in the house: Temari! She was looking for Temari.

But before she got anything out of her mouth Kankuro said, "You've got to end it with him." Not even bothering to open his eyes.

"W-w-w-w-what?" she stammered momentarily shocked by what he just said. He can't know, he can't possibly know.

"You and Gaara…you have to end it." he stated as if it were nothing.

"I don't know what your talking about." She told him. She was about to walk around him, when he opened his eyes and gently took her wrist into his hands.

"I've known for about five months. And I wasn't…I wasn't going to say anything because I thought you guys weren't serious. But you are serious, aren't you? And you haven't just been seeing each other for five months, have you?" He asked, his eyes were so full of sorrow Akira really believed it hurt him to ask the question.

She couldn't lie to him, he was Gaara's brother and for some reason she just couldn't lie to him. "What gave us away?" she asked as she slid down the opposite wall of him.

"Nothing anyone who wasn't family would notice. You two have been so good at keeping your relationship a secret…its scary." Kankuro told a confused looking Akira.

"He was asking you a question one day…you smiled and held up your hand and said that if you counted how many times he had asked you that stupid question…Gaara took your hand and counted your fingers…he told you that if you counted you wouldn't have enough fingers. My brother held your gaze just a little to long…and he never let go of your hand. I had to look twice to see it was a tender moment you guys had just shared. Classmates don't have tender moments." Kankuro explained.

The chocolate eyed ninja closed her eyes and said, "You know…three people in two years…we are pretty good at keeping a secret."

"TWO YEARS?!" Kankuro said, shocked.

"How else would you see that level of intimacy from one touch." She said simply.

Two years, he thought. I should have said something sooner. Somebody's heart is going to get broken. Fuck, Gaara is going to kill me if he finds out I even said anything.

"Why do you want me to end it with him?" asked the beautiful redhead.

"W-w-what? Oh maybe I shouldn't say anything thing." He said.

"Spit it out Kankuro!" she demanded.

"Do you love him?" he asked.

"Kankuro-"

"Do you love him?" he cut her off.

"Yes…" she told him.

Shit, he thought, this is going to break her heart. But she'd want to know. "Word around town is you learned this new jutsu…one where you can look into someone's memory and copy into your own. Sort like seeing into the person's past…" Kankuro said cautiously.

"WHAT THE FUCK?? AM I STUPID OR SOMETHING?! WORD AROUND TOWN? There are only three people who even know I learned that jutsu and I doubt Gaara or my brother told you. Its more like, word from Naruto! That little…what does that have to do with you wanting me to end it with Gaara?" asked Akira clearly agitated.

She looks cute when she's annoyed, Kankuro thought. "Its easier to explain if you copy my memories…trust me…"

"WHAT?! First of all I'm not allowed to use that jutsu, my brother said it was too dangerous. Second of all why don't you just tell me and stop stalling." She demanded

"I can't. I need you to see my memories and then I can explain everything. Trust me Akira its easier to understand if you copy my memories!" Kankuro told her.

She didn't know what was going on in that boys head but she was seriously getting annoyed. She could see it in his eyes that he was serious about it but still…This better not be some stupid prank…I swear if I see him having sex or something I'm going to kill him, she thought

"Fine…but not here in the hallway because if Gaara comes out…I don't want him to know you know. Lets go to your room. Is it decent for company?" she asked with a slight smile.

"Yes…clothes thrown around but its decent. And if Gaara catches you in my room he'll kill me" Kankuro said nervously as he led Akira to his room.

Once inside the messy room Akira sat down on the floor to prepare for her jutsu. She wasn't use to the mess…Gaara room was always so clean.

"Ok. Sit your ass down, so I can get this over with." She stated

"Ok but before you-"

"Kankuro, just sit down!" she ordered cutting him off.

He should warn her but…

Akira did a complex series of hand signs…when she was done as soon as she touched his hands she said…"Show me". Then bam… she saw what Kankuro wanted her to see. Akira's mind was slammed with images and voices she had never seen or heard:

A black haired ninja from the village of sand was saying, "She's evil…he would never pick her."

A sand ninja with purple eyes was expressing her fear, "Did you hear she killed her father with she was 7 years old. Freak is what she is. Our future Kazekage would never go for someone like that!!"

Her blacked eyed friend responded, "You are soo right! Plus everyone was suppose to stay away from her. She killed her dad…Old Man Kioshi's prodigy son!"

"The sand village never forgets what happens to one of their best…even if she was a child…"

"She will always be a murder in our eyes…no matter what she does…"

Some old men were sitting in a room talking about who would be the best for a strong alliance between the Sand Village and the Leaf Village. "I think he's interested in the redheaded girl..."

"He can't be…she's a murderer…and she will never be accepted in this village" responded a grey haired man.

"She's never even asked for Old Man Kioshi's forgiveness…crazy bitch"

"I don't care what she has done for the Leaf Village…she still…"

It was too much for Akira…she not only received the memory, the jutsu also gave her all emotions associated with the memory. She was on an overload of hate, rage, anger and revulsion. She felt like she couldn't breathe.

The amount of pure hate the memory was feeding her was making her sick. She disconnected from Kankuro with tears of pain in her eyes. It hurt…and she knew exactly who the sand villagers were talking about. It's me, she thought.

"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST KANKURO!! You could've warned me…" yelled Akira trying to catch her breath.

Kankuro was truly scared. He could tell Akira was in an extreme amount of pain. She had her hands on her knees and was leaning over trying to breathe. He was scared something bad had happened to her. Well something bad did happen…I showed her those memories.

"Akira…are you ok?" he asked cautiously approaching the wheezing ninja.

"NO I AM NOT!!" she yelled back. "Didn't Naruto tell you that I receive all the emotions in the memory…OH MY GOD!! I can't breathe!!"

"Akira I'm so sorry!! I thought it was like a movie! He never said anything about emotions…" Kankuro said worried about her.

"It's me…(gasp)…they are talking about…(inhale)…weren't they?" she asked with tears down her cheeks.

She looked so broken Kankuro almost wanted to tell her no. But he couldn't lie to her, he would never lie to her. "Yes," he whispered. "Akira…I'm…I wasn't-"

"That's all I'm ever going to be to you guys? No matter what I do. No matter how many times I've put my life in danger to save a teammate…I'm always going to be the 7 year old freak who killed her father?" she said barely above a whisper. "So I can't be with Gaara because they won't name him Kazekage? Even though he's the best ninja for the job…and I'd be the reason he wouldn't get it…right?"

Akira was in pain, oh boy was she in pain. But she was dealing with it. She was use to feeling hated and dislike…it was the story of her childhood. But as an adult, things had changed, people had actually treated her like she was human and not a freak. She hadn't felt that hated since she was 16. She thought she was past that but what she just experience proved her wrong.

She was use to pain, she always handled it very well but for some reason she couldn't keep the tears out of her eyes. Maybe it was because she had gotten soft or maybe it was because of what she just saw made her realize that Gaara wasn't going to be able to be the strong shoulder she turned to. I should have known it was too good to be true. Stupid me…actually thinking I had found the person who—she thought with tearing rolling off her cheeks. Something had occurred to her…

"Who is Old Man Kioshi?" she asked Kankuro.

She really does know how to hold her own, Kankuro thought to himself. He was amazed to see how fast she managed to get herself back together. But it was breaking his heart to see the tears streaking her face. For some reason she hadn't stop the tears.

"He's a Senior on The Council" he responded.

"Why should I be asking for his forgiveness?" she asked completely confused. Why would I ask for a sand ninja's forgiveness?

"You really don't know who he is?" he asked the beautiful redhead. "Akira…he's…he's your grandfather."

"I'm GOING TO FUCKING KILL HIM!!" she said tears still spilling out of her chocolate eyes. "My brother! I'm going to kill him! Do you have any idea how tired I am of people lying to protect me! That bastard told me my father was a hidden leaf ninja! Son of a bitch!"

"He lied to you? Why would he lie to you?"

Akira had a sordid past, everyone knew about it but never really talked about it. When she was 7 years old she killed her father. Gaara had seen glimpses of that memory but never the entire memory. Ever since his death then she's been trying to atone for her offense.

Her father didn't really deserve the extreme amount of guilt she felt for killing him. It was actually the first time she ever used her extremely rare kekkei genkai. Her father was abusive, always had been, he used her mother as a punching bag; Akira believed that's why her brother left home. Akira's father never really touched her but she knew that was because of her mom. Her mother always protected her no matter what.

"Because he wanted to protect me. Because he thought I probably didn't need to know. It all makes sense now…why he told me to stay away from Gaara. All of it makes perfect sense now." She said barely audible.

Kankuro didn't know what to tell her. He didn't know that they were serious. He actually felt guilty for telling her the truth. He was about to say something when she asked him something he was not expecting.

"So who is she? Who do they have in mind for Gaara," she asked with no emotion in her voice.

"What?"

"The Council was talking about a strong alliance. Who's the girl?"

"You weren't suppose to see that-"

"But I did. Tell me Kankuro…what is her name?" she asked once again. She didn't sound upset. She sounded defeated. She still had tears streaming down her face.

"Sakura" Kankuro told Akira. Why hasn't she stopped the tears?

"He doesn't even like her. He thinks she's useless. No respect." She scoffed.

"I know…Akira-" the look in her eyes was breaking his heart. He never want to hurt her. He always liked her…her smile…her attitude.

"You're going to have to give me a week Kankuro." She cut him off. "Your going to have to give me a week to cut him out of my life. Because I've been seeing him for two years. I don't think I can do it cold turkey. I've gotten use to him…I…I've never gone to sleep without his voice. It's going to be hard. So I just need a week." She said all this in a dejected voice. She wouldn't even look at Kankuro.

Akira turned her back to Kankuro. She refused to see his face, she didn't want to see his guilt or pity. "Just give me one week…" she said slowly walking out of his room.

Kankuro knew he should stop her, he knew she needed someone to comfort her. But he also realized that her only person who could her make her feel better was the one person she couldn't see.

A few hours later….

Akira was sitting on the steps while the rain pounded her back. She was soaking wet but refused to go inside her house until she spoke to her brother. Her tears were warm and welcome on her cheeks. She saw her brother's figure before she heard his voice.

"Akira what the hell are you doing in the rain?" Hiro asked her.

"Remind me again…why Gaara is not good for me?" she asked not bothering to look at him.

"What?" he said. She knows, Hiro thought.

"Why did you lie to me Hiro? WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THE TRUTH?! Did you think I couldn't handle the truth about our father? Was it guilt for leaving your family when we needed you the most? Why…just tell me why…" she asked her brother finally looking at him. Her expression was heartbreaking.

She's been crying, he thought. "How did you find out?"

"That doesn't matter-"

"I didn't think you needed to know. We were never going to go to the Sand Village…so it never mattered. Maybe part of the reason I didn't want you to know is guilt…guilt for leaving you with him…guilt for not being there when mom died. I wanted to protect you from him even if he was dead…"

"I love him…I love Gaara so much it hurts. I just thought you should know" she said slowly getting up. "I would have never let myself love him if I had known the truth. Don't protect me Hiro…I thought you would have figured out by now that I can protect myself…"

"Akira…you…love…" Hiro couldn't finish. How could she have fallen in love with him, he thought, they don't even talk to each other.

"I'm tired of lies. So I just thought you should that I love him…that we've been together for two years and now I've got to break his heart and mine. You can add that on your list of guilt…" Akira told her brother as she slowly walked away from him.

Gaara could feel Akira's distress; that meant one thing…her mental blockade was weakening. He could smell her…ummmm cinnamon. He was just about to touch her hand when she spoke more loudly than usually.

"UMMMM…Iruka…I need…ummm….I need some….I'll be back" she said as she quickly walked out of the room.

Iruka was shocked. She never calls me by my first name in the class. I've tried to get her to but…she must really be uncomfortable.

"Did she really just walk out the room?" Temari whispered.

"Yep!" replied Shikamaru.

Oh my god, she still loves him, thought Naruto.

Everyone in the class was in for another surprise when they watched Gaara walk out right after her. He didn't even bother to give an excuse for walking away.

Gaara was worried about her. He knows Akira would never leave the room like that. He could see her a few feet ahead of him. She was walking so fast she was practically running.

"Akira! Wait!" Gaara told her.

"Stay away from me Gaara!" she said but she slowed down…as if to give him a chance to catch-up with her.

"Now why would I stay away from you" Gaara said as he reached her. He grabbed her by the waist and put her against the wall.

Akira was about to push him away but Gaara took her wrists and put them up against the wall. He was pushing her body against the wall with his body. He's so warm, she thought. God I miss him.

"Remind me again why I should stay away from you?" he asked her with a smirk starting on his face. He really wanted to kiss her. All he had to do was lean in.

"Why won't you just leave me alone?" she replied.

"Because I just want to know why…why did you end it?" he whispered in her ear.

His breath tickled her ear. She wanted to kiss him so bad it wasn't even funny.

"Hisui…"

"I haven't heard you call me that in five months, Ai" he said still whispering in her ear. "Just tell me why, Ai…and I'll walk away"

He used her nickname. Akira's resolve was quickly dissolving. If this keeps up any longer she not going to be able to stop herself.

"I keep thinking about our last kiss. I go to sleep at night thinking about it and wake up thinking about it. I should have made it last; I knew it was going to be our last one and I should have made it last. It was short and sweet…like we were going to do it for the rest of our lives. Do you remember Hisui? Do you remember our last kiss?" Akira whispered into his ear. Her voice sent shivers down his spine.

Does she still love me? He asked himself.

"Of course I remember. I think about it all the time. You were late for a meeting with Tsunade and I wanted you to stay with me and you couldn't. So you leaned in and said you'd see me later. I was upset and you took my face into your hands and told me to stop acting like a baby. And then you kissed me; it was sweet, not too desperate, enough to reassure me that there was more to come…that you loved me. Was it all a lie, Ai?" Gaara told her looking into her eyes.

"Hisui…it was never a lie-" she began but Gaara cut her off.

"But do you know what really keeps me up at night? I can't stop thinking about making love to you…the taste of your skin, your soft spots, how easy it is to make you moan, your perfect breasts-" Gaara whispered into her ear once again.

"Stop…just stop…" she pleaded. He is not making this easy.

"I can't…" her mental blockade was slipping fast and all of a sudden he was hit with all of her emotions. Shit…she's in real pain…even more than mine.

"Ai…you still…love me…" it wasn't a question. It was a statement.

Gaara leaned in, he could almost feel her soft caramel lips. They were about to kiss when…

"Let her go." Growled an all too familiar voice.

A/N: There's chapter 2 guys!! Hope you like it!! Let me know what you think. Sorry about it being a little long but I Figure if you like the story than long is A-OK!! LOL