They had decided to stop for the night, seeing how Kankuro refused to stop whining about the pain in his feet. They had made it out of the land of Iron and into warmer weather. The sun was rising through the windows of the old Inn. The girls had opted to share a room, to give themselves privacy from the boys. Everyone was sleeping peacefully, except one.

The sweet scent of flowers hung lightly in the air, and the soft sounds of birds singing in the early morning would bring any distressed man some peace; but not Nori.

Nori sat on the old stone bench in the Garden, brushing her long wavy hair as she hummed quietly to herself. Nori looked out into the Garden of the old Inn; it was beautiful, full of many flowers Nori had never seen before. She was tempted to get up and smell each one when she felt someone sit beside her.

"Good Morning," She said, trying to hide the fact that she was startled by him, "Have a good sleep Gaara?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Gaara looked out into the Garden himself, "Enjoying the scenery? Or were you out here all night?" He said looking at her through the corner of one half lidded eye.

Nori turned to look at him, her face was sweet, but a soft underline of sadness. "I spent too many years being half awake… I'm afraid if I go to sleep, I won't be able to get up." Nori was embarrassed to tell Gaara her feelings; she had never done that before, but he was helping her, why should she hide things from him?

"I spent most of my life not sleeping at all-"Gaara stopped himself, he didn't want Nori to know about his violent past, he was afraid of what she'd think of him. He looked back at Nori, she was looking at him with concern, and he realized she had placed her delicate hand on his knee. A shiver went down his spine and his cheeks began to burn like they had before.

"Gaara, if it is something too personal to tell me, you don't have to. I know I'm not to be trusted." Nori smiled at him, but her smile was sad. Gaara wanted to turn and head back to his room so he could hide his nervousness and the blush on his face, but with Nori's last statement he turned completely to face her, grabbed her shoulders and looked straight into her eyes.

"Why wouldn't you be trusted? You helped us and you have done nothing wrong to make me think otherwise" Gaara said as seriously as he could, though he was desperate to get away, to hide his bright pink face. Nori just looked back into Gaara's eyes, mouth slightly open, when her lips formed a small smile as she blushed and looked away.

Gaara was dumbfounded, he had made Nori smile…. And blush? He gulped, and took this opportunity to run back to his room. "I'll see you later-"

"Gaara... Would you walk around the Garden with me? I haven't seen flowers since I was a child." Nori asked looking out into the Garden, her cheeks still light pink. Crap, how could he say no to THAT?

"Sure." Gaara said, hanging his head in defeat. Nori pushed herself off the Bench and her armor threatened to pull her back down, so Gaara placed his hand on her back and helped her up.

"Thanks, I should probably get something different to wear." She smiled at him, Gaara replied with a simple 'No problem' head nod. They walked through the garden, Nori stopped to smell each and every type of flower, and talked about how different and unique each scent was. Gaara walked alongside her, giving some information about a few certain flowers he was familiar with.

"This one is my favorite, it's beautiful." Nori stopped and bent down. It was a white orchid.

"Would you like one?" Gaara asked looked down at an excited Nori, "I could have it arranged for when we arrive back at Suna." Nori began to snicker, an evil but cute snicker. "Gaara, are you offering to get me flowers?" Gaara soon realized what she meant and turned around, hiding his embarrassment. "That'd be very sweet of you; I'd love to have some flowers." Nori was suddenly in front of him, and smiling. Having full view of Gaara blush, Nori felt excited for some reason, her heart raced and she leaned up closer to Gaara. They both stood there, staring at one another, Gaara felt like he should lean in closer too. Her eyes were half lidded, and her mind was thinking a million thoughts, she was standing in front of the Kazekage himself, their faces were inches apart, but they still didn't seem to clue in as to what they were doing. Until Kankuro came outside, calling them inside to get their belongings and prepare to leave.

Before Nori could say anything Gaara had walked away and inside the Inn, leaving Nori to stand amongst the flowers alone.

Gaara got into his and Kankuro's room and slammed the door, breathing heavily he sat on the bed.

"Yo, Gaara, what were you doing outside with Nori?" he asked, with a sly grin, "If you need any pointers, you can always come to your bring bro!" Kankuro laughed and flopped onto the bed next to Gaara.

There was a long silence between them, "How would I know if I wanted to kiss a girl?" Gaara finally asked, looking down at his feet, too embarrassed to make eye contact. "Hypothetically."

Kankuro shot up from the bed, "Really? You want advice from me?" His facial expression was that of bliss, "Well, if you feel happy around her, or you get sweaty is always an easy tell. Also getting really nervous or feel like you need to kiss her now or you'll die." Gaara looked at his brother, and back at the foor.

"What about feeling relaxed and light headed? Is that because you like her?"

"I suppose it does little brother, I suppose it does."

Gaara put his hands in his hair and fell back onto the bed, "What do I do now?" Gaara was nervous and Kankuro could tell.

"One simple gesture," Kankuro got off the bed and placed his hand on his brother's shoulder, "Get her some flowers."