Lol I forgot to end chapter 2. Oh well.

"Why are you so happy, honey?" asked Mom after explaining that we were going to help with diplomacy between the two villages.

"Well, I never told you guys because I just never felt like it, but the night before the Chuunin matches, I couldn't sleep, so I went up onto the roof. I didn't like our roof because I would've fallen off, so I moved over to the next roof, which is flatter. There, I met this guy, a Sand ninja. We stayed up nearly all night talking, and he was a better friend than I've ever had here in Konoha. I haven't seen him in a long, long time, but I miss him a lot. And now I'll get to see him!"

"Well, that's good. You'll have already made a friend, even before we move there!" My dad smiled at me.

I smiled right back. "We're moving to Suna!" I squealed happily, hugged my parents, and ran to my room to pack my stuff.

Three days later, we arrived in the Hidden Sand village. We spent all day bringing in boxes and furniture, so I wasn't allowed to leave the house until eight that night.

Immediately, the second after the OK had been given, I took to the streets. Gaara had told me so much about his village, I knew the way to his house. I was perched on the roof directly across from his house when I saw him looking out of his window. His shirt was off, so it took me a few seconds to realize that he was crying.

'Gaara...he needs me.' I thought, then jumped down onto his windowsill.

"Hey." I said with a smile.

"M-Maru!"

He threw his arms around me, and I smiled at him happily, unsuccessfully trying to ignore the fact that his shirt was off and I was touching his chest. "Good to see you too, Gaara-kun."

"Oh, come on in." He stepped back from the sill and let me inside. He sat on his bed, and I sat in a chair across from him. Normally I would've been feeling awkward, being in a guy's bedroom, but Gaara was my best friend.

But I hadn't forgotten the tears that had been on his face, either. "So...spill." I said in a no-nonsense way.

"What...I don't know what you're talking about." He avoided eye contact with me, so even if I hadn't known he was lying, I would've been able to tell.

"Gaara...people don't cry like that for no reason."

"I...if you must know...I'm the Kazekage now, and it's a lot of pressure. And, also...I usually cry when I think of you." He blushed in embarrassment.

I smiled happily at him. "Well, I'm here now. So don't cry, ok?"

He smiled back and nodded happily. I stayed and talked with him until nearly two in the morning. Then, I headed home to get some sleep.

The next night, we were taking a moonlit walk when we heard malevolent laughter coming from the shadows.

"Hahaha...the 15-year-old Kazekage and his pretty little girlfriend." said a voice.

"Stay close to me." Gaara warned.

"Only if you stay close to me." I grinned at him, teeth bright in the moonlight. We pressed our backs together to defend them.

"Look at him!" laughed one shinobi.

"He thinks he can protect her." said another.

"She thinks she doesn't need to be protected!" jeered a fourth.

The ninja emerged into the light, and we saw that we were surrounded. We had already known that, though. Their taunting, intended to unnerve us, had only given away their positions.

We looked around and saw that there were eight of them and two of us. I leapt to attack, and once Gaara knew I would be alright, so did he. We took care of them with ease. Neither of us had actually seen the other fight, so we were both pretty surprised at that. We were also surprised to find that neither of us had killed.

When Gaara walked me home that night, we stood out on the porch for a little while, just talking. Then, because I 'just looked so beautiful standing there in the moonlight', as Gaara said later, he leaned in and kissed me, smack in the middle of my lips. Just as our lips touched, the door opened, and my dad was standing there. Gaara and I were both red-faced, and my dad paled.

"Honey? Our daughter is on the porch, kissing the Kazekage..." He shut the door, and Gaara and I looked at each other and laughed.

Gaara swallowed and smiled nervously at me, and I knew something big was coming.

"Maru...will you be my girlfriend?"

Well I bet no one saw THAT coming. sarcasm lol