Disclaimer: I dont own Naruto or anything related to it!
A/N: Here's chapter 6! This one and the chapter following will be fillers to enhance Gaara and Ayami's relationship. Enjoy and review.
The sand siblings rushed after the Four Celestial Symbols Men. Since they had become teachers at their own Ninja Academy, Gaara had obtained only one student. But due to this, Matsuri had became a target, seeing that the kidnappers saw her importance to the redhead. After realizing this, Gaara, Kankuro and Temari set out to bring her back. Suna had also sent word to the Konoha 11 for their assistance, settling the debt for the Sasuke rescue attempt.
"Did you tell Ayami?" Kankuro asked, looking toward his younger brother as they ran.
"She couldn't help with trying to save Sasuke, so I was unsure if she would be available now" Gaara answered. Ayami had sent her apologies but never given a clear statement why she was unable to lend a hand.
"Dont you think she would be useful in something like this?" Temari spoke. "With the mind reading and all"
Gaara didn't say anything this time. The last time he'd seen the girl, she'd been a tad... off. She wasn't herself and he was sure she didn't want anyone to know what was wrong. He didn't want to bother her if she didn't want to talk about it.
A strong gust of wind hit the trio, forcing them to halt. A woman with dark green and blonde hair stood a ways infront of them, grinning and holding two swords. She swung them again and wind swirled toward them, but they were able to dodge. "I guess, I'm gonna be taking this one?" Temari laughed. "You guys go on"
Gaara and Kankuro nodded, leaving the fight in the oldest siblings hands. The boys had only gone a short ways when another ambush was set. This time it was a male with blue hair and green eyes. He too wielded a sword, seeming very confident. "I got this one, Gaara. You go get Matsuri" Kankuro readied his puppets.
The redhead kept chasing. It was because of him Matsuri was in danger, it was up to him to rescue her. He was intercepted by a huge bulky man, who unlike the others, carried a spiked flail instead of a sword. The smaller boy steadied his sand for attack, noting that this man wore strange armour. They attacked one another.
Both males seemed to be defensive experts, Gaara's sand blocking all attacks, just as much as Suiko's armour. Gaara jumped back, landing high on his sand, taking in the situation. Matsuri was getting further and further. As the boy readied his sand for another assault, he came to see that the present waterways were preventing his sand from movement, he'd fallen for a trap. The redhead gritted his teeth as he saw Suiko's Water Release: Dragon Bullet charging toward him. Just then, Naruto and Lee broke through the forest and into the clearing.
"Gaara!" The blonde yelled, seeing the redhead trapped. He started to act.
"Lightning Dragon Tornado!" Just before the water dragon reached Gaara, it collided with an equal electricity/wind dragon, forcing the water to explode, showering everyone present. Before he could take in what happen, Johana was pulling him from the immobile sand, grin on her face. She quickly took him to Naruto and Lee, who were also stunned by the sudden intrusion.
Gaara looked around before spotting Ayami, just as she finished spinning. Her hair was more wild than usual, after being dampened. But her face held an odd expression, he could clearly see the conflicting emotions. The greenette was beside them in another instant. "Who's... Matsuki?" She asked.
"Matsuri, is one of my students" Gaara corrected.
"And she got herself kidnapped?" Ayami continued, ignoring the correction. "Cuz they thought she was important to you?" She read the minds around her. She wasn't really looking for someone to answer her.
"Ayami, how'd you know to come help us?" Naruto asked.
She shrugged. "Got a bad omen. So we-" She motioned to Johana. "-came as fast as we could"
"Good thing too!" Johana added.
"Yes! If it weren't for you Ayami-chan, Gaara-kun could've been in big trouble!" Lee gave her smile.
The greenette shrugged again. "Whatever. But I think we should just get this over with"
Johana sighed. Ayami hadn't been herself lately and no matter what, she couldn't get the girl to open up. She didn't smile as much, she didn't yell as much, the greenette had even stopped rhyming. The brunette had hoped seeing Gaara would help bring some life back to her but it didn't seem to be helping. And Johana was more than aware that Ayami knew what she was thinking and Ringo too. Though the grey haired boy hadn't bothered to come, he believed Gaara would be able to find out what was wrong. Johana looked up and was met with Naruto's eyes, so he was feeling it too.
"I'm going ahead to get Matsuri" Gaara announced.
Ayami whipped her head back to him. "Your leaving to go after her?"
The redhead nodded once. "I have the utmost confidence in all of you" The group watched as he and Ayami seemed to be having a silent conversation. Finally the girl turned her head away and slightly growled. Johana grinned, atleast her best friend could still feel jealousy.
Gaara started away as the remainder of the group engaged an almost forgotten Suiko. The attacks were rendered useless as the armour kept protecting the man. "You kids should just give up! There's no way any of you can bypass my Chakra absorbing armour!" He laughed at them.
Ayami scowled. She was here, fighting this guy, while Gaara was off rescuing that girl. He didn't see her as anything more than a friend and student but she was not as... not infatuated according to his head. Ayami wondered if Gaara even noticed or decided not to see it that way. Seeing his thoughts of Matsuki made her want to pull her own hair.
"Ayami!" Naruto yelled. The greenette looked up in time to dodge an attack from the large man. What was wrong with her? The blonde hurried to her side. "Hey, whats up with you?"
"What are you talking about? I'm fine" Ayami said. "He just caught me off-"
"No. I mean your whole... self is backwards" Naruto told her. "What is it?"
"I said nothing"
"Is it cuz of Gaara and Matsuri?"
"There is no Gaara and Matsuki" A vein popped out on Ayami's forehead.
"Naruto-kun! If Ayami-chan doesn't want to talk about her feelings for Gaara-kun, you do not have to pester her about it" Lee spoke matter-of-factly.
"W-what?" The greenette stammered.
"But Bushy brows! If she wont admit it, how can we help?" Naruto scratched the back of his head.
"Simple really! If Ayami-chan wants to tell Gaara-kun how she feels, hard work and dedication is the key" Lee said wisely. "If she works hard enough, I'm sure he will return her feeling. As with Sakura-chan! She will see the light of my work one day"
Naruto looked at Lee dumbly. "Or... She could just say she likes him and be done with it"
"Why...?" Ayami started. "Why does everyone jump to the conclusion of me liking him? If I do, then who even says that's enough?" She frowned at the ground.
"Ayami..." Johana whispered. No, this was bad. Her friend never spoke of Gaara like this. She really did harbor those kinds of feelings for him but what would make her talk like that? Surely training with A wasn't that bad. And Ayami always had her, Ringo, Kirume and Killer B to talk to. If only Johana was the one with Shikorida.
"You kids need to stop ignoring me, all you do is stand around and talk!" Suiko yelled, bringing attention back to him.
"Johana?" The greenette looked at her friend, who nodded. "Naruto, Lee, could you by us some time?" Both boys nodded and the girls disappeared. The blonde launched himself at the huge man, kunai drawn. The man caught his arm, sufficiently pulling at the Chakra. Lee jumped in, leg swinging for a kick, forcing Sukio to release Naruto to dodge.
Ayami waited for an opening, only Lee could create. "I wish you would talk to me" Johana snarled.
"We do talk. We cant now though, were busy" The girl replied. She saw her friend roll her eyes. She could hear Johana wanted to know what was wrong with her, but she couldn't say it yet. Ayami would tell her as soon as she got things straight. "Now!" Lee had just delivered as upper kick that had sent Sukio into the air. Ayami and Johana appeared infront of him almost instantly. Crossing arms, they charged their respective hands with lightning, each taking hold of the mans neck. Putting equal force, the girls slammed Sukio into the ground, shattering his armour and ending the fight.
Naruto cheered. "You guys did it!"
Ayami shrugged. "Lets go" Johana shook her head at Naruto and the group start to trail the redhead.
Naruto's group was the first to arrive at the final battle point. It seemed that Hoki had sacrificed his own life to bring back Takumi's "Ultimate Weapon" Seimei. Somehow, he'd trapped Gaara in mental sphere and began draining his Chakra to power this decision.
"Ayami, you get Gaara!" Naruto told her. "I'm gonna handle this guy"
The greenette nodded, breaking her eyes from the girl who caused this mess. She ran to Gaara, swinging her blade to try to break through the barrier. She could feel it was stealing her Chakra too, but too bad. Gaara was hurt.
She caught a glimpse of Naruto being pushed back. Now that Seimei guy was about to release a fatal attack. Ayami froze, which one did she help? Gaara or Naruto? She didn't have to decide. That Matsuki girl stepped in and saved the blonde, using something that the redhead had taught her. The greenette sighed with relief, her worries forgotten for the second.
"A-Ayami..." Gaara grabbed the girls attention. "Get back!" She furrowed her eyebrows. Then she caught the growl of the beast and jumped back just in time to avoid the explosion. She landed near Johana and the saw that the rest of the Konoha 11 had arrived. Good, they might need them all if Gaara didn't stop the transformation.
She could hear the beast in his head, telling him to let go and let Shukaku have control. But Gaara was fighting back, stating he didn't need the one-tails power to protect everyone, wanting to rely on his own power for then on. Then the redhead did the unthinkable. He stopped the transformation and stood up to fight Seimei.
They clashed and Gaara pulled up enough strength to use a new technique. Throwing the Spear of Shukaku, he broke through Seimei's advanced armour, weakening the man greatly. All ninja present were amazed at the redhead's power, wondering where it came from. Using his last bit of Chakra, Gaara contoured up enough sand to create a Sand Waterfall Imperial Funeral, ending the fight. Then he fainted.
Gaara opened his eyes, slowly. Glancing around he found he was inside the Konohagakure hospital. He also found Ayami, asleep in a chair. Kankuro, Temari and Matsuri were there too, but very much awake. He rose himself to his elbows.
"Gaara!" Temari said in a hushed whisper. She hurried to his side. "Your okay!" Matsuri joined her by his bedside. Kankuro just smiled.
Gaara eyed the greenette. From how he'd seen her lately, she finally looked calm and relaxed. He wondered what had been making her so anxious, it certainly wasn't anything remotely good. "Is she... okay?"
"Ayami's fine. If you want my opinion she needs to sleep for about a week, she's too tense. She's been here for 2 days and just fell asleep" Kankuro grinned.
Ayami opened her eye's almost immediately. "Shut up, I'm awake" She yawned. Then she looked at Gaara. "I didn't mean to be such a grouch lately, I'm sorry. I'm good now"
"Why were you upset?" Gaara asked.
The girl shrugged. "Just being moody, I bet" She gave him an actual smile and he was slightly relieved. Though he could see her eyes were clouded. The nurse came in and looked glad to see Gaara was finally awake. Ayami promised to visit Suna to see all of them soon. "Even Matsuki!" She grinned.
"Its Matsuri" The redhead corrected again. He was glad the girl was feeling better, sadness was not for her.
"Gaara! That's what I said, now bye, I'm in a hurry" Ayami proceeded to exit the room. She went down the hall a bit and entered another room. "How are you, Naruto?"
He jumped at her sudden entrance. "Oh, I'm good, Ayami" He gave her his signature smile.
"I'm glad. Now I dont have to worry" She crossed her arms. "I heard your leaving to go train for a bit"
The blonde nodded his head excitedly. "Yep! Pervy sage is gonna make me way stronger than I am now, believe it!"
Ayami nodded. "Sure thing" She gave him two thumbs up and he laughed. "We'll have to race when you get back" She exited the hospital foreal this time. Her best friend was waiting.
"You better now?" The brunette asked, smiling.
"'Course!" The girl answered. "Sorry to put you through that"
"Gaara snapped you back. You gonna tell me why?"
"I can only try" Ayami admitted. "But yes he helped"
Johana nodded, happy that the girl had had some kind of break through. "Alright, enough sulking! Let's go"
A/N: Well, please review. It wouldn't matter if you skipped this chapter when you found out it was a filler. But the next one you should probably read. Anyway, criticism makes things better so please review!