Disclaimer: I so don't own Naruto. Don't keep reminding me...

Chapter Three - Research

Right.

Naruto was dead.

And they saw him die.

They heard his last words, that he never really deserved to be Hokage. And that he had considered Sasuke as his friend until the end. He got killed by the so-called friend in the end, who died as well in the process. They left a world devastated. No, I have to reconsider. Two worlds. Their world was as real as ours. I had to face it, when looking at their faces, while Kankuro told me the full and very complex story.

Yeah, right. Kishimoto-san had messed up. I hadn't liked where it all had been going. It was a disaster.

The other thing was, the latest chapter I have read some time ago in this very room, was lagging behind their latest events. I didn't know what happened after the Kages' summit and the war, that climaxed in Naruto's death, due to lacking releases.

But I really didn't want to now. I felt sick. It was surreal knowing it wasn't just some ink blots on random pages anymore. They had experienced everything in full conscience, had suffered, died and kept loosing friends and comrades in war and I couldn't bear it anymore.

I shot up from the spot where we were seated again, the couch in the living room. I had been listening to their story for hours. They had started, I guessed on purpose, at Sasuke's Retrieval only hinting on earlier events. Not that it mattered, of course I knew.

I retreated into my office, collapsing into my chair behind the desk, leaving the bewildered shinobis behind. It was such an awful feeling, I couldn't look at them much longer. It was so sad. I closed my eyes, focusing on my breathing.

In. Out. In. Out.

I wasn't really crying, because I felt foolish, if I would do so. But the lump in my throat hurt, so I let myself gulp audibly to get rid of the pressure.

When I heard the creaks of the wooden floor, I quickly turned my chair around, facing away from the door. I felt weak, because it had really affected me so suddenly.

"Are you alright?" It was Kankuro.

I swallowed hard, refusing to look at him. "Sort of." I replied abashed. "It's just, I needed a break." I explained my behavior truthfully.

I heard him coming closer, knowing he stood right in front of the desk. I sighed. "It's just...it's such a…sad story."

"I know." He sounded sympathetic.

"I understand the urgency of you going back. I will begin with my work shortly. Just give a minute, okay." Surprisingly, talking helped me to calm down a bit. I rubbed my face and turned around with my chair, to see it wasn't only the puppeteer, but Gaara stood there as well. His calm eyes looked at me with growing interest.

"Sorry." My voice sounded squeaky.

"Why do take it so personal?" Guess who bluntly asked.

I gladly would've answered something along the line 'Because I experienced everything with you for the last 5 years'. But, that wouldn't have been very wise.

"It's called sympathy." I responded a little hurt. It was amazing how easily the mood suddenly altered. I proudly held Gaara's scrutinizing gaze. "Besides, it's my job." I retorted, blindly rummaging around the files on my desk. I suddenly froze.

"Get out." My fingers had touched the manga, but luckily, its cover was yet hidden by some folders. Kankuro frowned at me, but I shot him a glare.

"You heard her." He sighed at his brother, stepping past him, then waited for the young Kazekage to eventually follow him out of my office. Gaara listened to him, but not before he could regard me a last wary look over his shoulder. He clearly didn't need words at all. He already could tell I was hiding something.

Even without his gourd and usual robes, he clearly hadn't lost his intimidating charisma. He had chosen the white shirt from the clothes I had given them earlier, leaving Kankuro the black one. However, it only had enhanced the red of his hair and the color of his black-rimmed, rigid eyes.

"Close the door on your way out." Was my snappy come-back to his veiled unspkoken threat. Right now, I really didn't feel like eyeballing him.

When he did, I grabbed the cursed book and flung it across the room. But, immediately regretted my action and retrieved it back from the opposite corner of the office. I should hide it. All of them. Up to this point, they were neatly organized, shelved in a cupboard right behind me, but I would store them down in the basement hidden from curious turquoise and black eyes.

How I would manage to do so was beyond me. For now, I just placed the latest publication of Kishimoto with his fellow companions and closed the cupboard tightly. Surely they wouldn't just go and dig through my things anyway. So with the cupboard locked, I relaxed a bit.

Think. I needed to think, remembered something else and opened the first drawer of my desk. I smiled at the tobacco pouch, reserved for rare occasions. My uncle had contracted this bad habit to a clearly unhealthy amount; I just smoked occasionally. I rolled a cigarette, placed it in the corner of my mouth and lit it swiftly with a match.

The first drag always hurt, but after a few coughs I inhaled the smoke deeply and let my poor functioning eyes gaze out of the window into the savaged backyard.

A plan. I needed a plan. And eventually I could find me some help. This was a special case, and I probably knew a guy who could help me out a bit.

That brought me back to flickering light. A flicker. My chandelier. Not to mention the strange sense of foreboding I had felt. Shortly after that, I had run into the siblings. Coincidence my arse.

I grabbed my notebook in search for a certain telephone number.

"He's weird…isn't he?" Kankuro leaned in to reluctantly whisper into my ear.

"Your standards or mine?" I whispered back at him, while we watched the old man waddle past us for the tenth time.

Kankuro shyly scratched his head, assuming he had just offended me.

I chuckled. "Don't worry. He is weird." After a meaningful pause, I added. "Even for our world."

The puppeteer didn't know whether he should act relieved, disturbed or horrified at my remark, so he performed a mix of all the previous listed reactions, which had me laughing at him.

Russell M. Jenkins is the name of the 62-year-old man, who currently examined the location, where Kankuro and Gaara had entered this world. He absolutely insisted on mentioning the capital of his middle name. I didn't even know what the full name was and he never had told me. But, he surely got mad if you would forget about it.

"Ah! Yes, yes, yes!" He old man exclaimed while pointing his small device into every possible direction of the clearing.

"What now?" The puppeteer inquired, curious about his behavior. I shrugged. "I have no idea. I'm not very familiar with his kind of profession. Research. Science. Whatever." Kankuro visibly went slack. "I just know, that he is supposed to be preeminent in his field." I tried to ease his apprehension.

We continued to watch him. Kankuro had his eyebrows raised in disbelief. I noted slightly disappointed, that Gaara apparently didn't want to share our conversation. He stood in the middle of clearing mildly interested in the old man with his arms folded over his chest. The customary scowl was ever present, I casually noted.

"What's his profession anyway?" The brown-haired ninja next to me suddenly asked. I bit my lip. He looked annoyed. I averted my gaze. Kankuro clicked his tongue, getting impatient.

"He's a...ghost hunter." I confessed in a small voice. Kankuro gaped at me. Oh, so he knew what a ghost hunter was, I mentally mentioned to myself, but my attention was instantly back on him.

"A what...!" His voice echoed through the woods. A flock of birds even took it as its cue to escape hastily.

I raised my hands in a protective manner. "Quiet you." I hissed at him viciously. I really didn't want my uncle's friend to feel offended. People who questioned his work didn't appeal him. Not at all. He then usually used to chuck the leftovers of his favored Graham Crackers at them, which he always had in the pockets of his old corduroy pants.

I once, and very stupidly, succeeded in catching those crumbs with my mouth one time when I was 12 or 13 years old. I would never forget the look on his face, it had been priceless. And my uncle had laughed his ass off. It rewarded us with some expletives a child should never hear and if it would, get scarred for life. My uncle had scolded him harshly with more expletives, while he covered my ears.

Thanks to him, I remained innocent. Or not.

"Boy, look alive!" And that was Russell's charming way of saying 'Get out of the way!' to a very grumpy looking redhead.

"He really knows what he's doing?" Gaara had joined us. Mostly because of the fact, that good ol' Russell had shooed him off, when he blatantly kept standing in his way.

"He's a ghost hunter." Kankuro muttered disdainfully at his brother behind my back. I gritted my teeth. "He's much more than that."

"Whatever he actually is, I hope he's done soon." The puppeteer continued to strain my nerves.

Gaara nodded at his statement. "We're not ghosts."

"No, but his devices can sense energy sources, like abnormalities in the electric-magnetic field. Usually it's used for ghost hunting, but some other paranormal activities also develop similar indications. There are rumors about space and time rifts in the world ever since humanity exists. You know, like people disappearing and suddenly plopping up somewhere else?" I ended and waited for them to let my last sentence sink in.

Gaara was seemingly satisfied with my elaboration. "And that's what he wants to find out at the moment?"

"Yeah, but since it's already been a day, it's hard to find evidence or a clarification what exactly the phenomenon was." I couldn't stop myself from looking at him, as I voiced out my concerns. His eyes were relaxed, his face actually displaying a more gentle expression. Right now, he resembled the boy he rather should be, than the Sand's Kazekage. Except for his lacking eyebrows, scar and black rimmed eyes of course, I mentally chuckled.

Russell had put his measuring devices, such as a magnetometer, Geiger counter, etc. down, humming to himself, so I decided to join him in the middle of the clearing

"So, find anything?" I asked the grizzled old man.

"Well." He looked down on his EMF meter, a simple, chunky, but valuable equipment used to measure electromagnetic vibrations. "It could be anything. But since we're in the middle of the forest, I'd say there definitely was something. But it's really too faint to really detect it. It also could be the effect of a cell phone at the moment."

He eyed me suspiciously. "I don't have one on me." I said firmly, he registered it with a mere grunt.

"So?" I pressed, looking around the clearing, as if I could sense anything.

"You mentioned the electricity acting weird." I nodded at his remark. He gave me an annoyed look and shook his head disappointed. "Some investigator you are."

"Gramps, please. Would you get to the damn point?" I matched my annoyance to his.

"Just call the fucking electricity company, stupid kid." I opened my mouth and closed it again. Seriously, some stupid investigator I was. Russell was always harsh with it words. You shouldn't take it seriously though, just his kind of attitude. I was used to it and in fact, he didn't mind when I retorted with the same attitude.

"They said they didn't notice anything. Apparently everything had worked just fine that evening." I had called the company and asked some dense questions, got laughed at and now I was miffed. We sat at my kitchen. The four of us. I and Russell had some coffee, while Kankuro and Gaara stuck to their mandatory glasses of plain water.

"Weird. But it's possible they haven't registered anything because it was so minor?" I reasoned, my hands hugging the mug in front of me.

"Bullshit." I frowned at Russel's blunt response, surreptitiously nodding at my other two guests, making it clear for him that he should mind his language. And of course, he didn't give a damn. "I don't give a damn." There, I had it.

Kankuro grinned at me. He seemed to like the quirky old man somehow, now that we had spent the entire day with him. I ignored Russell's swearing - I was merciful for the sake of the puppeteer's entertainment.

"So, kid. What's the deal with yer look anyway?" Russell suddenly croaked at Gaara. I slapped my hand over my eyes, covering my shame and avoided to look at the redhead, who, I just knew, was glaring death at the old man next to me. "Stop being so rude. Up to this point, he's seen more than you ever had in your entire life." I hissed at him from behind my hand.

Gaara stood up and left. Great. I let out an exasperated groan.

"She's right, old man." Kankuro said, equally offended, and followed his brother. Russell blinked at me. Well, the puppeteer had obviously stopped liking him. Well done, Russell.

"You still haven't learned to shut your mouth." I stated irritated, emptied my cup and rose from the chair to place it in the dishwasher.

"I'm amazed you let them stay here. They could be just a pair of wackos, you know?" I raised my brows at him. "Oh? The only one I see is you."

He suddenly roared with laughter, I was sure it shook the entire house. "Forgive this old fool. But I am amazed, you brat stood up for him. You know, I was getting worried you would end up as an old hermit like me after your uncle died." Through all of his harsh words, I was able to sense his kindness.

"I'm only 24. Gramps." I smirked with the last remark. "Besides, the fact that it's hard for me to find someone worth my time doesn't mean I've already given up on it."

"I see. Very well then." Russell replied slyly and stood up. He gently placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it lightly. "Then, make your time worthwhile."

I followed him to the front door to see him out. "I will see what I can do for you. I've already might have an idea, who could be of more assistance. I'll let you know about the results."

I hugged him firmly. "I knew I could count on you. Thanks. I'll make it up to you." He smiled cockily. "Like I would need that." He mocked me, I knew my eyes just had twitched. I rudely shut the door without bothering to say goodbye. He was so damn irritating.

"Stupid old man." I muttered to myself on my way to look for the Sand siblings and a phone to order some food.

"Hey, you know what?" I asked, chewing on my Yakitori when I laid lazily on the couch. Since we had been elaborating the food question, I had informed them that their kind of food was also available in this world. Kankuro's mood had lightened up instantly from that very moment.

"What?" Kankuro replied, happily stuffing himself with Akashiyaki sitting on the floor in front of the low living room table. Gaara once more was situated in the wing chair. I could only guess he had taking a liking to it.

"I just remembered your story and all that stuff about chakra and fighting and jutsus." I started my self-set task to explore the way it would work in this world. I knew when they had stopped my sorry-excuse-for-a-try of running away from them when we met, that they had used their abilities.

Gaara gazed at me with a questioning look. Kankuro, to occupied to say something, motioned at me to continue.

"How does it work?" Inwardly, I was too curious about how they would react to realize that they mostly had been anticipating it. "Your abilities I mean."

Kankuro gulped the last bit of his food down, to give me sly smile. "You really wanna know?"

My forehead wrinkled at this unnecessary question. "I wouldn't have asked, if I didn't." I was about to take another bite from of my Yakitori.

"Alright. But, you already have experienced it." His coy grins were getting on my nerves. Gaara, who was finished with his fried omelet, shook his head at him then turned to me. "You didn't fall back then. I made you fall. I used the sand of the surroundings to my advantage."

"You what?" I feigned my surprise and inwardly my excitement heightened. "How?" His pointy stare towards the gourd was my answer. It stood near his chair in the corner of the large room. I remembered our very short conversation about it when he had the trunk-issue. "The sand in there." I muttered, he nodded.

I soft creak was heard and took my anticipation to the next level as Gaara uncorked the gourd. The sand slithered out of it and danced lightly in the corner, before it slithered towards me, but stopped an arm's length from my face. Well, technically I knew about it. But see to it in real action yet amazed me. My eyes followed the movement it made. And I could see how it still worked fine, even with Shukaku gone.

"Can I touch it?" I asked tentatively. There was silence for moment. He apparently was pondering about it. I had asked subconsciously, but nonetheless eagerly. And why not? The menace that had semi-control of the sand was gone. He was the only one with power over it. It sure wouldn't be dangerous, unless Gaara alone wanted it to be.

"Extend your hand." I heard him say calmly. I was astonished though. I never had guessed he'd really let me. Maybe all this Kazekage business made him more obliging. No, that wasn't quite right. He was trying to get along. As in being friendly. My heartbeat suddenly sped up.

I complied, holding my breath, as I saw the sand moving closer. Like a snake, it slowly darted forward and I felt it around my spread fingers until they were covered with a thin layer. I gulped in astonishment. "It feels different." I managed to whisper, staring at the sand, when a streak branched out from the layer, wound itself around my wrist and forearm. It felt smooth, not rough or grainy at all.

"It's special." He clarified. "Infused with my chakra. It's far from being just normal sand."

I finally ripped my gaze away from my arm and smiled at him, feeling the slight tingle in my stomach. "It comes in handy I guess."

At that Kankuro cleared his throat rather exaggerated. "Are you two done yet?" The sand slowly retreated and I put my hand down, still feeling the light tickles it had caused on my skin. I lazily grabbed another skewered grilled chicken, hearing the sound of the gourd getting corked.

"Gaara's sand techniques are rare, but so are my abilities. And they are far more entertaining." He sneered at me, the cocky shinobi he was. However, I thought he only acted that way, because he wanted to provoke or polarize. I think it was his idea of entertainment as well.

"Showoff." I spat teasingly, deliberately ignoring to look at him and instead focusing on eating my food. I already sensed in my mouth, but when I bit down it was gone. "What...?"

I caught view of the silvery thin strings and followed the trails up to Kankuro's right hand. With an amused grin, he wiggled the skewer at me which was supposed to be in my stomach at this point. "Neat." I cocked my head. He glared.

"Wait a second." He shot up and sped off. With a questioning look I turned to his brother. Gaara sighed. "You shouldn't provoke him." He said with a meaningful nod towards his brother as said one reentered the room with his scrolls. I had completely forgotten he even had those with him.

Oh? Oh. Oh!

I blinked at him incredulously. I wasn't supposed to know about the puppets I reminded myself. But, I apparently would learn about them the hard way. Something in my stomach tightened. He wouldn't summon them all, would he? The living room was big, sure, but not big enough for an army of puppets.

I felt a familiar tug on my head, which caused me to slump forward. I had zoned out. I seriously shouldn't do that so often. Seeing his hand move, I knew he had pulled me. "Stop that." I waved my hand around, like I was waving off off flies. This time the strings were invisible. "Alright, alright. It is useful then, I give you that."

"You haven't seen anything yet. Enjoy the show!" Gaara's eyes and mine widened at him simultaneously. He enrolled a scroll and suddenly I was staring at Karasu right in front of me. I shrieked and ducked away with the attempt to hide behind the couch. He sure knew how to scare someone out of his or her wits. Even me. Who actually was supposed to be expecting what was coming.

Gaara didn't even flinch I incidentally noted, while dangling half off the couch. I awkwardly tried to position myself back to my original state. My head throbbed. "Are you crazy? Don't…" I gaped and pointed at the cackling puppet. "Don't ever do that again!"

Kankuro laughed his ass off, enjoying my agitated outburst. "Not until you admit that my puppet technique is awesome. And awesome is keyword." Karasu inched a bit closer, just for lending some more substance to his words. I shook my head to refuse his not exactly polite request.

"Don't make me call them all." He threatened jokingly. "More?" I asked suspiciously. Then something happened. With a poof Karasu disappeared, leaving a huffing Kankuro in its wake.

"What now?" I stood up in surprise and staggered towards the puppeteer. He seemed somewhat strained. "Well…." He breathed out heavily. "That seems to be the problem of being here."

I turned my head to see Gaara's concerned expression, silently asking him for an explanation. "It's taking up too much chakra than it normally would. We really can't maintain the standards of our performed jutsus. It's hard to keep the focus and control over it as well. It wears us out, faster than in our world."

"You can't do anything about it?" I wanted to know, steadying the sand shinobi at my side as I lead him back to the couch to sit down.

"I don't know." Gaara lowered his head.

"We could try to train our abilities." Kankuro ventured slowly, as I removed my arm from him. "How?" I perked up.

"That's not the problem. It would be where to train." The puppeteer sighed as he leaned back and scratched his neck, while he looked around the room as to measure how big it actually was. I shook my head at him, understanding his train of thought perfectly. "Not in here." I warned.

"I don't think we can just go outside, that'll cause you trouble." Gaara muttered darkly. I snickered at him. "That'd get you into a research institution with needles being stuck into every possible and impossible part of your body. They'd drain your blood, cut you open, just to find out how you function only to discover, they can't put you back together properly."

Kankuro paled at my somewhat detailed description of how it would be to end up as guinea pigs. "Let's not go outside. Ever."

I poked his side. "I'm just joking. Though, you never how mad a mad scientist can actually get. Oh! And by the way, we'll go shopping tomorrow."

Kankuro tensed. "What didn't you just get in 'Let's not go out'?" He snarled slightly disturbed. Gaara regarded me with mild confusion.

I rubbed my forehead. "You can't just go and walk around in my clothes. You need to get your own."

Like sleeping suits.

Toothbrushes.

The list could get on and on like that.

Underwear...

At this I gagged, drawing unwanted attention towards me. I shouldn't pursue my thoughts any further. What the hell did they wear under my clothes all this time?

I eyed the gourd suspiciously. I wonder if it also was functioning as some sort of bag. I laughed, imagining how Gaara randomly pulled stuff out of it, like a magician off his hat, saying something like 'Tada!'. I suddenly erupted into laughter. This would be too funny.

Me: I want ice cream.

Gaara: There you go! –pulls it out of his gourd-

Me: -chokes on sandy ice cream- It's sand.

Gaara: Eat or die.

Me: -swallowing the cone in whole- Never mind.

Gaara: Good.

"Hey!" Kankuro shouted at me and I shot up. Wow, I managed to completely zone out. Bad.

"What's gotten into you?"

"Sorry. I just remembered something funny." I lied and grinned at him stupidly. I really needed to stop daydreaming like this.

"Does it happen often?" Was that a tint of amusement in the redhead's voice? If so, it was…pleasant, though his deadpan surely gave nothing away. But right now, it was so not appropriate. It flustered me. With that kind of attitude, he sure would one day be a good user of dry humor.

The epitome of dry humor.

And that again humored me. My stupid grin widened. And I had managed to zone out again.

"Stop it. You're weirding me out!" Kankuro wailed and scooted away from me.

Later that night, I was getting ready for bed, swiftly brushing my teeth after I, politely as I was, had let the Kazekage use the bathroom first. It's not like he had asked, he just did.

I stepped into the already dark and silent hallway, assuming they had gone to bed. I snuck up to my door, as a dark shape formed before my eyes. I couldn't really tell which one of the guys it was, that casually leaned against the wall next to my door.

In this kind of dim light it could be either and the fact, he wasn't announcing his identity, disgruntled me. Though, I already had a feeling. The shadow moved, stepping in my way.

"We need to talk." It was nothing but a silent murmur, but resolute. There would be arguing. "Now?" Well, at least I tried it and he naturally ignored it. He pushed himself off the wall and I knew I was to follow him. My jaw clenched as he opened the door to his temporary accommodation and went inside, not even bothering to check if I even would follow him, like he already knew I would anyway.

"Shouldn't your brother be here as well?" I asked just to by me some time. Gaara waited patiently for to get inside, before answered. "It's just between you and me."

I shut the door behind me as I stepped inside, when my eyes fell on the bed as soon as Gaara switched the lights on. It looked untouched, the pillow was exactly like I had adjusted it. There was not a single crease as evidence that he had used it. Nowhere. Had he still his sleeping problems or had he camped out in Kankuro's bedroom? I couldn't tell since whenever I got in the morning up, they already had been awake as well.

My attention snapped back at him. "Sit." One single word. Yet, it was all he needed, to make his point clear. This would take a while.

"What do y-" I prompted, but Gaara intervened bluntly. "You're hiding something." And it caught me off guard. He scrutinized me. His eyes searched mine for some reaction and I'm sure he detected it as he yet again repeated his earlier demand. "Sit."

I refused. I wouldn't let myself be bossed around in my house, my room. Gaara took a step towards me and his features had darkened significantly. I took a step back. It was just a staring contest for moments, until he spoke again. "I know, that there is something about you. You're definitely hiding something and there's no point in denying it. I can see it clearly. Tell me." He was fuming, yet it was subtle but intense at the time. He stood perfectly still before me, only inches away.

"I-I…" Here I was, stuttering. The close proximity had apparently frozen my brain. He was so handsome. He was so near. I could see the scar on his forehead perfectly. I could distinguish all the single hairs of his red strands that partially covered it. His eyes flickered with impatience. I noticed, slightly agitated, that I had unfortunately zoned out for a short amount of time.

I needed to get a hold of myself. Now.

His vibrant voice snapped my attention back on the situation. "Tell me." He really did snarl this time.

Short temper, I reminded myself. Think, I forced myself. Think, dammit. Now! There had to be a way out of this. I manipulated people, I lied occasionally, and it was part of the job. So, why couldn't I do it now?

He took another step towards me and could feel the wall in my back as I proceeded to maintain the gap of an arm-length between us. "I can't tell you." His eyes hardened, and I continued fixing my gaze on the kanji on his forehead, rather than his eyes. That should keep myself clear off spacing out again.

At this point it occurred to me that, since I could easily study his scar, we were actually almost the same height. He maybe was an inch or so taller. I bit the inside of my cheek. Hard. And the pain helped to remember that I needed to stay focused already.

"I can't, but it's not important for you to know. And it won't affect our deal. I just have some things that I must keep to myself. For now." I made it without a stutter, but my voice had lost its edge completely. With any other person, I was sure I would have done better. But not with him. Not this close.

"It's a matter of trust." Gaara assumed slightly annoyed. I shook my head. "Then what is it?" He pressed, but luckily I was spared from him taking another step into my personal space. Not that it lessened the tension one bit. I cringed visibly, he stood perfectly still, and the only thing that moved were his eyes.

"But, you can't tell me, because we don't know each other. You seem very uncomfortable about it. So, I can assume, that it has something to do with me or my brother for that matter."

Internally I collapsed. Of course, it had to do with him. Did he even realize what affects he had on me just now? I blinked at him, making my puzzlement visible. "I'm sure, you weren't telling me everything about you either." I shot back. I had no options left, than to counter-attack. For the shortest of moments, I suddenly saw understanding evident in his expression.

Gaara suddenly he withdrew. I let myself rest against the wall. I had hit a nerve. I knew about his past, which he hadn't bothered to elaborate completely, when they had told me about the shinobi world and their lives. I felt dirty, using my secret knowledge, but this was a crucial point. It was too early to confront them. Hell, they still needed to adjust to that fact, that they had traveled to another world.

As much I hated it, it was necessary.

Gaara sat down on the bed, avoiding his gaze for once. "I guess that makes us even then." He muttered with a sigh. Guilt welled up inside of me.

"It's just natural." I replied matter-of-factly, crossing my arms over my chest. "Yet." I added purposefully.

He looked up at me, surprised. "What do you mean?" Still slow on the social side I see.

I went over to stand in the middle of the room, but looked at the direction of the window. "It's normal, that we can't just trade secrets that easily. We're still strangers to one another. Maybe it is a matter of trust all right. But I already trust you well enough to not rob me and murder me in my sleep." I tried a faint attempt of humor on him, but it went unnoticed for he stared down at his hands. I could only fathom, what he was thinking right now.

"But to trust someone needs time, I think. You just don't go and 'bam' it's there. It builds up constantly with the evolving of a relationship. You can't force it." Yeah. My point actually was, I wanted to know more about him. Not just his past and present. I wanted to know what he was thinking the very moment he thought it. It was hard to figure him out.

And maybe, he still had a hard time figuring himself out as well.

There wasn't much stated in the manga about his personal feelings, except for his drive why he'd wanted to become Kazekage. But I felt it wasn't enough for me. Not anymore. He intrigued me to no end. Saying I wasn't interested was a downright lie. I admitted that the moment, he had let me touch his sand. And then it suddenly made sense. He was trying.

He was already trying. "Naruto." He whispered into the silence of the room. The first friend he had. And the first he had lost. "He trusted me and I don't even know, how it happened. He trusted me with his life." He spoke quietly to himself, completely lost in his memory.

"I'm so sorry."

"Why?" Again, there was this surprised disbelief. Was it still hard for him to acknowledge, that someone beside his siblings cared? I had seen the exact same expression before, when he had returned to Suna after he was rescued from the Akatsuki and the whole village had been out to welcome him back home. Shock. Confusion. Surprise.

I ignored his question, waving my hand dismissively. "We already had that discussion."

"How long does it take?" What? I raised my eyebrow, wondering. "To build up trust." He elaborated.

I chuckled slightly. "Just as along as takes. It's not something you can actually measure. Some people trust others easier, some people never trust others. You just have to go and find out." I was sorry for sounding like some kind of teacher, but wasn't it true anyway?

"I see." He nodded at me, his face finally relaxed. "I will try." He rose from the bed and I knew I looked confused when he approached me. I fought the nervous twitch in my eye and the urge to retreat. Again a small gap remained between us, but this time he bridged it with extending his right hand.

"We already did that too." I reminded him quietly, but Gaara slowly shook his head. "This is for something else." I swallowed hard, hesitating for a second. He stoically waited for me, until I finally grabbed it. "I want to attest the desire of forming a bond."

I almost gagged. This was so unnecessarily awkward. But, on a side note, I felt fuzzy. And tingly. However, I was proud of myself as I managed to match his straight face. He really was different from anything I knew. "I have no objections." I complied with a shaky voice, failing to ignore the insane speed of my heartbeat.

Something happened to his lips. It was faint, but it was there. But as soon as I blinked it was gone. He nodded a firm nod and let go, then turned away from me.

"Alright. Then I let you get some rest. Goodnight." I was on the door, when I heard a click. Like something got unlocked. Then there was a bit of shuffling. I peered over my shoulder and froze. "Uhm, what are doing?" He had opened the window and I watched him rather astonished as he tied his gourd to his back.

He was half out of the window with on foot on the flat roof of the porch of the house. "What does it look like?" He counter-questioned blankly as if it wasn't obvious.

"No, I mean, what do you think you're doing? You can't possibly just go and sit on the roof. What if somebody sees you? That's unusual for people in this world." I groaned rather loudly, emphasizing my irritation, before I continued. "It'll raise suspicion or at least cause the neighborhood to gossip around. And I seriously don't feel like fighting off rumors of strange people no one had ever seen around, sitting on a roof in the middle of the night and to top it all with this thing on your back." I gestured towards the gourd.

"You clearly are underestimating my abilities." He stated flatly.

Okay, where did the quiet I-wanna-bond-with-you-Gaara of a second ago go? Boy, he sure did a 360° spin. He was suddenly talking - scratch that - discussing. Plus, he sounded like he was slightly angry.

"Well, last time I checked this was my house. Get back in." I hissed through clenched teeth.

He rudely ignored me and shoved his other leg out, then disappeared completely into the dark of the night. I sighed. Well, it was dark, so maybe nobody would see him. And I learned a valuable lesson. Gaara didn't take orders. Not from me at least.

A/N Thanks so much for the reviews, guys. That sure made me happy and even more eager to post another chapter. And on another note, I have to apologize for eventual misspelling, typos, writing errors - whatever. I try to prof-read all the time, but I bet some still just slipped past me, can't be helped, I guess...

Anyway, how'd you like it so far? Con-crit is always appreciated.