Lee ran out the window and disappeared before Gaara could even blink. 'Shit, he doesn't have his weights on, this is going to be IMPOSSIBLE!' he thought, remembering the first time Lee had taken of his weights. Gaara frantically searched for Lee; he looked all over Suna.
"LEE!? WHERE ARE YOU?!" Then, Gaara was a red blur run by him, "Lee?!" (A/N: in case you forgot, he's still wearing Gaara's clothes)
" HA HA! GAARA-NII! YOU CAN'T CATCH ME!" Lee was laughing as he ran circles around Gaara but then soon disappeared again.
"LEE! YOU STOP IT RIGHT NOW!" Gaara hated sounding like a parent, but it was the only way he could get Lee to listen to him…when he was in earshot. Gaara followed the direction of Lee's dust cloud into the heart of Suna's vast desert. He had been following Lee's trail for hours and there was still no sign of him, and it was starting to get dark. Huge, dark storm clouds had started coming in over the horizon. They were going to bring trouble, Gaara knew; he could almost sense a murderous intent coming from the clouds.
It had been 6 hours since Gaara had seen the boy and was getting increasingly worried. He decided to turn back and form a search party, when he heard sobs coming from far off in the distance. "Lee?" Gaara was off at a run again, listening to the sobs slowly start to crescendo as he got closer. He had come to the bottom of a cliff where there was a small crevice that Gaara could barely fit through. He remembered this crevice, though he hadn't been there for years. It was his secret hiding spot when he was still friends with HER.
Flashback
Gaara ran from the angry villagers. There were scratches on his cheeks, burning from the hot salty tears that ran down his face. There was a stab wound in his side from one of the villagers who had managed to get past his sand barrier. It wasn't fair. They had all jumped to conclusions just because he was the outcast, the weird one, the devil. Because he had been cursed as a demon at birth, he was the village's scapegoat. Anything that went wrong, was his fault. Including, what had just happened.
Flashback within flashback
Once again, Gaara was on the run. The kids of the village had just finished their taunts and had started chasing after him, all the while throwing rocks and chanting, "Run monster! Run!" One of the kids threw a larger rock and beamed it right at his head and Gaara fell to the ground. The gang started beating him up and kicking him in the stomach. When they were satisfied with the purple and blue marks and lumps on their victim, they spat on him, and left, laughing all the way. Gaara lay there sobbing and bleeding.
"Are you alright?" A girl with eyes dark as night was standing above him. She had a medical bag slung over her shoulder and an arm stretched out to the helpless boy. Little did Gaara know, that this was the beginning of a friendship…or maybe even more.
End flashback within flashback
During the past 10 years, Gaara and the girl, Kaya, had managed to keep their friendship secret and established a secret hiding spot. It was a cavern, hidden deep within the cliffs that surrounded Suna.
As often as they could, they would meet in their secret spot. During their younger years, they would frolic and play until dark. Sometimes, Gaara would make her fly using his sand. It made her so happy. Gaara would do anything to see his friend happy, and as years passed he realized that for the first time, he felt…love.
Then, on that one fateful day, within their secret hideout, was their last day together. They were collecting crystals that formed near the top of the cavern when Kaya's laughing face drooped into a somber frown.
She said, "Gaara-kun…there's something I have to tell you…" He looked at her and let her continue. "My father, he is…he…"
"What?"
"He wants me to…"
"To what? Kaya-san, what's happened?!"
"He wants me to…he's arranged for me to…" she blurted out the rest, "He's arranged for me to marry!" Gaara was stunned.
"Who?" He asked, his voice quivering.
"I—I don't even know…yet. All I know is that he's this noble from some Hidden Snow Village."
This hit Gaara hard. The one girl, no, the one person Gaara loved most was being sold to this man she didn't even know.
"So—so we won't…"
"No Gaara, I'll probably never—sob n-never s-see—" Her lip quivered, her voice was unsteady as she blubbered the last few words. She started to cry. Gaara reached out to her and was about to put his hand on her shoulder when instead; she ran into his arms and embraced him. It was their first embrace. He hugged her back hard. He could feel his shoulder dampen with her tears as she sobbed. He rocked her side to side and rubbed her back gently in effort to comfort her. They stood there, sobbing girl in the arms of her best friend.
"Kaya, you're only 15! How could you possibly—"
"I'm going to be 16 soon. You know that, and sniffle and as long as my father allows it then…plus…"
"…"
"…Well…this guy has had his eye on me." She sniffled; stifling her tears, "So he proposed to me…well he told father that he wished to have me for his own." She sniffled again, "At first, Father denied his request, but when the man revealed that he was a Kage, my power-hungry father sold me in the blink of an eye." He could sense the rising anger in the chakra she was emitting. Gaara clamped his arms around her even harder. "G-Gaara-kun cough I c-can't b-breathe." Gaara loosened his grip just enough to let his friend breathe.
"He's giving you away, for his own gain." Gaara's eyes changed. They were not the cool clear concerned ones, but dark and deadly.
"Gaara. Please…listen, I know how cheesy this sounds, but goodbye is not forever." Gaara couldn't speak. He was afraid that he himself would start crying. Tears had started falling from Kaya's eyes once more. Gaara couldn't stand to see her cry. She had never cried before.
"I—I would rather stay here for the rest of my life…with you." Gaara pulled back a little so he could look the older girl in the eye. "Gaara, I—I love you"
"Kay—ya…" Gaara's tears held back no longer. And he let himself cry. This girl he had loved so long, now loved him back.
"Gaara…"
"…sob…"
"Listen Gaara, my father will be looking for me, he wants me to depart with him….tonight." Gaara looked at her, shocked. This moment with her, might be his last.
"Kaya, I—"
"Yes Gaara?"
"I-I lo—"
"Shhh…I know." Gaara leaned forward, lips pursed, eyes closed. He was slowly starting to close the space between them. He was so close to kissing those beautiful soft lips when he heard shouts from outside.
"Has anyone checked this cavern yet?"
"Naw, she might be hiding in there she isn't anywhere else!" Kaya gripped Gaara's shoulders more tightly, and Gaara got the message.
"Hold on." He said as he picked her up bridal style and flew towards the ceiling on a cloud of sand. The men, and Kaya's father, came bursting into the cavern. They looked around and searched for any ninjutsu or genjustsu that could be hiding her, when one man looked up and said, "There! Someone! Go check that sand cloud, I bet that demon probably has her as his captive!"
Several ninjas ran up the wall and before Gaara knew it, his hands were empty, and he managed to see Kaya screaming in protest as she looked towards Gaara, arm outstretched.
"KA—" But Gaara was knocked out, never to see her again. When he regained consciousness, he stumbled out of the cave and into the bright light. HE was about to collapse again when he heard a loud long scream, that stopped abruptly, too abruptly. Gaara turned himself to sand and traveled in the direction of the scream, finding himself at the edge of a cliff. He looked over the edge, and in a pool of blood he saw…
"Kaya…KAYA! KAYA!" Tears fell from his check again as he screamed her name in vain He already knew that the girl…was dead.
"DAMN YOU DEMON! YOU'VE KILLED MY DAUGHTER!"
'No! You're wrong! I love her! I would NEVER kill her! It's you own damn fault for selling her!' Gaara mentally screamed as he was chased out of Suna…again
End Flashack
"Lee?" He called at the entrance to the all to familiar cavern. "Are you in here?"