I'm sorry, to all you! I couldn't update cos of exams and major assignments… but now that that's all out of the way, I can start updating more regularly!
Anyways, I gots some romance in this chapter!(my first time too!) XD Okay, more like hinting at it, but still! Heh heh, sorry, I'm excited for this. It's a bit of some one-sided romantic thoughts (from Gaara's POV), although the chapter is a bit on the short side… So I hope you will all enjoy!
I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!! (Or Gaara, no matter what I may like to think XD) MASHASI KISHIMOTO DOES!! *the lucky bastard*
Chapter 3 ~ A Mistake
'NATSUMI-CHAN!! WAIT, NATSUMI-CHAN!'
Thinking back to this moment, had said raven actually stopped, the young Kazekage wouldn't have known what to say.
From the moment she had walked into the room, to the second she had fled, misty-eyed and heartbroken, Gaara's emotions had been running amuck.
'This feeling… What is it..?' He placed a hand on his chest, directly over his heart. 'I've never felt like this, before.'
Hoping to rid himself of this alien feeling, Gaara stood up slowly and wandered aimlessly over to one of the large windows that ringed his office. Sighing, he gripped the frame of the window that overlooked the main gate. Suddenly, the red head caught sight of two shadowy figures which he recognized to be his older siblings.
Smiling inwardly, Gaara recounted the days when he had been known solely as Suna's greatest weapon; a lethal killing machine without a heart. He had hated and resented Temari and Kankuro, along with everyone else in the village that knew about the Shukaku sealed inside him. He remembered the countless times he had threatened to kill them, for being too loud, of looking at him the wrong way. His motto was love only yourself, fight only for yourself, but that was all in the past. It somehow seemed to be a part of another life altogether.
Gaara was about to turn away, when a third figure approached the duo. Judging from the height, the frame and the way the person was walking, he knew it was a young woman.
'Natsumi-chan…' The name slipped past his lips in a whisper, and for some unfathomable reason, his breath caught in his throat and his heart began to race. Eyes wide and mouth agape, he couldn't understand what was going on. Gaara's grip on the window frame tightened. He was starting to break out in a cold sweat, which had never happened to him before. He felt happiness, sorrow, angry and joyful, all at the same time. 'What's happening to me?' Releasing his death grip on the window frame, he began to pace restlessly.
Trying to make sense of these feelings within him, the Kazekage thought back to that day's mission briefing. That's when he realized his mistake.
'Damn it, it was when I mentioned the park.' he cursed himself for not thinking before mentioning it. He didn't know her feelings on the topic. 'I guess, she felt bad over what had happened those ten years ago.'
Closing his eyes, he pushed himself back into the memories of his childhood, just before the beginning of the dark years. Thinking back to their first meeting, he found the most likely cause, the one moment in time Natsumi could have been thinking about.
'Then, does this mean, that we're… that we're friends?' 'Yes, we're friends. No, now, we're BEST FRIENDS!' , they had continued to go on and plan to meet up the next day and play.
Although they had planned to meet up the next afternoon, she had never showed up. That is why he had been on the roof that night his uncle had tried to kill him. THAT, was the start of what became known as the dark years. Sighing again, he couldn't figure out why she would have left in tears.
Gaara watched silently as the three figures swiftly dashed into the desert, towards Kohona. Sighing heavily, he walked over to his desk and sat down, pushing some papers aside. His heart was still pounding, his head a bit fuzzy, and he had a curious feeling in the pit of his stomach. Almost like birds flapping their wings, a tickling sensation never experienced by the red head before.
'Maybe, I'm…' Contemplating what these strange feelings were, the Kazekage reached for the china cup filled with steaming hot tea. Just as he wrapped his fingers around the base, he heard a cracking sound.
Glancing up, his sea foam green eyes fell upon a crystal vase filled with water.
A large crack spread from the rim of the vase almost down to the bottom. Water was seeping out of the crack, reaching out like long, wet fingers, soaking the documents closest it But that wasn't what caught Gaara's eye, and made his heart skip.
Inside the vase, its lifeblood spilling over the Kazekage's desk, was a single red rose.
Done! Now everyone knows that I can't write romance! Heh heh! See, I've never been in love, so I don't know what Gaara should have been feeling here. Ah, but hey, I think I did okay. So, R&R and comments are welcome. The next chapter will be longer, I promise!
I also want to put a shout out to two very good friends of mine, Devildemonchild_luvscookies and .woman, who has helped me through the writers block and has been there with Pepsi and pocky in my time of need! XD! LUVS YOU DEARS!!!