Chapter Seven: The Order She Was Given

"No, no, no, no…" R.J. muttered as she slowly kept backing away from the Kazekage's desk. She began to panic. Did he read the whole file yet? If he did, she'd have to flee again.

Gaara watched her cautiously. Seeing her lose her façade made him wary of her. What was in her file that would make her so afraid right now? Just what has she done?

"Please, don't read that file," She looked at him with pleading eyes. She couldn't let him see or remember what she's done to him. "I beg of you…"

"Why should I listen to you? As far as I remember, I'm the Kazekage. I don't take orders from you, Mio."

She froze up completely upon hearing her real name. She couldn't remember the last time she heard someone say her name or even the time when she started calling herself by an alias. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply in an attempt to calm herself but her effort was in vain. Her heart was pounding rapidly, body was shaking. She forgot how to think rationally, forgot how easy it would be for her to flee from the man before her. Without opening her eyes, she let out a shaky breath and said,

"Forgive me, Kazekage-sama, but I advise you to not read that file," She slowly opened her eyes to look at him. "Because, if you do read it… I can assure you that you will not like what you read."

Gaara made his way to her, once again leaving the comfort of his chair. As he got closer to her, she visibly stiffened but kept her eyes focused on his. He stopped just inches away from her and it was made clear just how much taller he was than her; almost a whole head taller.

"Just what did you do to make your file so hard to obtain?" His voice was deep and frightening.

"Please… don't make me say it." Mio whispered softly. Fear and regret was evident in her voice and it almost made him hesitate what he was doing.

"What. Did. You. Do?" He repeated with more force. Mio tried to take a step back to get away from him but he didn't let her. He grabbed a hold of both her wrists in his right hand and held her in place.

"I…I…"

"You..?"

"I…I… I was given an order to kill you!" She shouted and shut her eyes tightly as she felt his hand tighten around her wrists. She was sure she was not a welcomed guest anymore.

Mio didn't dare open her eyes even though Gaara has been silent for quite some time. She didn't know nor wanted to know what was going through his mind at this moment.

"…Why don't I remember this attempt at my life?" Gaara said slowly.

"I failed to even try."

When he stayed quite she continued as she opened her eyes to stare at the ground.

"I don't know where my Kekkei Genkai originates from but I do know it's not from Suna. I was born here and taken away from my parents because of my abilities. From then on I was trained solely for the purpose of killing you." She winced as his grip became painful, but she pressed on with her story anyways.

"I was around five, almost six when I was given the order. And for months I watched you, trying to find your weaknesses and come up with ways to dispose of you. I didn't know what it was at that time, but as I spied on you, I realized just how lonely I was and in turn began to question my mission. The elders became aware of this and decided I was no longer useful. They issued an order to have me detained and disposed of, and then as the shinobi that came to kill me threw a kunai at me, my instincts took over and I was able to fake my own death." Mio let out a heavy sigh as she finally revealed a huge part of her past to him. She still felt scared but she also felt sort of relieved to finally get it out.

"Look at me." Gaara said in a low growl. Mio kept her eyes glued to the ground not wanting to meet his eyes.

"I said, look at me!" He growled louder as he used his left hand to grab her chin and forced her to look at him. Their eyes met and all she could do was stare at him with wide, confused eyes.

Just why was he smirking at her?

"I had already finished reading the file before you came into my office."

Mio felt as if her heart stopped for a second. "You… What?"

"I would have never guessed it was truly yours if you didn't make it so painfully obvious." He said with a hint of amusement.

"I… You… "

"I have changed. Surly, you have realized the effect Naruto has on people. It's a gift." He said with a small chuckle, so unlike him.

How could she not? Naruto was the one who stood by her side when everyone else in Konoha thought she couldn't be trusted. He made her feel like she was needed, like she was useful. She owed him a lot, but he wouldn't ever let her make it up to him. He was selfless, kind and understanding. Mio smiled a sad smile. She understood what Gaara meant.

"He was my crutch for the longest time." She whispered as her soft breath reached his lips once again because of their close proximity. She realized just how he was still holding her and her cheeks began to heat up a little. Her heart started to beat faster again and no matter how much she wanted to look away, she couldn't. His eyes locked her in place.

He didn't understand what was happening to him. Why was his heart beating faster when he got this close to her? What was with this nervousness he felt? He didn't know what to do. He was the first to break eye contact and proceeded to step away from her.

"I must get back to work. Same with you." Gaara said; sounding as if what just happened, what he felt never occurred as he went back to his desk.

Any thoughts she had about what just happened would never be voiced because she didn't know how or what to say. Mio just nodded silently and quickly left through the door.