"...there's a sandstorm approaching," [Name] repeated what Temari and Kankuro told her before departing to gather the genin. No one was able to predict the weather for the second day of the exam, unfortunately it is to be postponed. She casually stood next to Gaara as he faced the replica of the desert. She waits for his report as he used his Third Eye.

"...Matsuri and her team," he forms a clone out of sand to take the space in his chair. "They're caught in quick sand," he points at a spot in the map and then opens the window, preparing a layer of sand to sit upon. "If I don't return in an hour, then come look for me around that area."

"Do you want me to get any back-up?"

"No," he answered sternly, hoisting himself on the floating sand. She pokes her head out, seeing the smirk on his face, "Unless you actually need back-up?"

Is he teasing me?

"...we'll see who will be needing back-up," she responds with her natural sass. "...careful, okay?"

"Hmm...it's been an hour," she muttered while glancing out the window. "The sandstorm has gone down though." She had his sand dummy facing another corner of the wall, feeling uncomfortable in it's presence. She could hear a rampage of footsteps echoing closer from one end of the hall outside. She turns the clone by swiveling the chair to face the window. "Oh, they are going to be pissed at you." Next thing she knew she had pounced out of the window, "Arrival of a Thousand Petals." As a flower being plucked, her body tore into petals, giving herself boosts that teleport her as far as one mile from her original place. As convenient as it is, it takes a drain of her chakra if not measured and timed efficiently. Unfortunately, he did not use her time well studying the desert. Four miles deep and already feeling lost, the heat bearing down on her. Although her sleeves contained many hidden pockets of convenient weaponry she lets her jacket hang by her obi while she ran. "One more...time," she pushes forward for an extra mile, suddenly running past familiar faces. "Oh! Yukata. Mikoshi. You guys are all right?"

"Senpai!" Yukata stepped up first, "Senpai, you got to help Lord Gaara!"

"What?"

"Some guy playing a sort of lute has Lord Gaara trapped! He's extracting the beast out of him!" exclaimed Mikoshi, attempting to summarize the whole situation. "...we were just used as bait, Matsuri went to find someone to help."

"He uses fuinjutsu chains, we tried to pull them out of Lord Gaara, but...it just repelled us," added Yukata, [Name] understood the helplessness they displayed.

She placed a hand on Mikoshi's shoulder, and gave Yukata a reassuring look, "Thanks, I needed someone to show me the way. You two did great." She stares in the direction Yukata pointed, hearing a faint sound of acoustic strings, it's melody sounding deadly and foreboding. "It's not too far...I can make it," she sprints, hoping to restore the chakra lost from travel. Her heart pounded rapidly, but she kept a calm, steady breathing, not wanting to fall into an uncontrollable panic as yesterday. Akio's pale face haunted her, his bloody, unconscious body in her hands as she wept. She doesn't want to replicate that sort of moment with Gaara, or anyone precious to her ever again. She hummed a chord, and then heard a melody of strings follow through. She fell silent, and listened carefully at the ominous sound echoing through the desert. As she slowly turned her head for the tiniest outline of a figure, she saw sand rise and fall. "There."

A flash of petals, and she traveled the distance in a mere second. What a painful sight. A chain coated with red linked with a young, bald man with monk attire. The one playing the lute, and on the other end of his chain...Gaara. A kunoichi near him struggled to pick herself up, and she could already see it is Fuu. [Name]'s presence is made as excess petals drift in her opponent's direction. "Hm?"

Her shadow wiggled underneath her, and she immediately dispensed into petals once more, as she reformed from afar, she could see that it had stretched from the ground. While she dodged swiftly she tried to piece together the situation. The chain is pulling into the man from Gaara. What is he extracting?

The tune and the pace of his strumming changed dramatically, and [Name] watches snake-like black chakra slip flick towards Fuu. No hesitation was made when she appeared before the kunoichi, pressing her whole body against her as she laid on top, bearing the pain that dug into her lower back. She could hear the enemy cussing from afar. "Ninja Art: Cocoon!" she laid on her side, watching a cloak of chakra surround the three, hardening around the chains. However, it didn't stop the movement, only slowed it. She lazily stared up at the one who summoned the barrier. "Nee-chan, are you okay?" bright orange eyes filled with concern stared down at her.

Gaara held a more petrified expression.

She attempted to push herself up, but immediately felt weak, her forehead now felt cool against the cracked ground. She tried her best to respond, but nothing but blood poured from her mouth, she's never experienced anything excruciating like this before. Her vision is already fading as she fell to her side, watching her arm twitch, the girl and the Gaara leaning over her, collapsing, and spouting words that she can no longer hear.

...looks like I could've used some back-up after all. How embarrassing...

...

"We need to transport her to the medical unit, right away!"

"She's lost a lot of blood, there's risk of her going into hypovolemic shock!"

"Shit, she's also almost out of chakra..."

"Lord Gaara, I don't think-"

Breathe.

[Name] shot up from her bed, drenched in sweat, clenching her stomach, wanting to heave, but nothing came out. She swung her feet over the edge, feeling her bare feet touch the cold floor. Firm hands are placed on her shoulders, denying her to stand, and she fluttered her eyes. Her head felt heavy to tilt up, and so it fell forward against whoever held her down. An earthy smell, reminded her of home, and she sighed into the scent, unconcerned that she is currently clinging onto a stranger. She is then caught by surprise when her hug is returned. A tight embrace, his auburn hair nuzzling her shoulder, in a heartbeat she knew who held her. Her hands slinking to his back. Taking another breath of air, feeling her own heartbeat, accepting the paralyzing fact that she almost died. The closest she had been to death.

The closest Gaara had came to losing a friend.

"Are you okay?" she asked as he wiped his eyes with his sleeve, taking a seat beside her on the bed.

"...yeah," tears that have been held back suddenly ran down his usual, stern face.

It shocked her and she frantically searched her bedside for tissues, of course there are none, but there was a cactus sitting among unopened letters. She ignored them at the moment, pulling her knees on the bed, and then throwing her arms around Gaara's neck, feeling warm tears fall against her bare shoulder. "Don't cry..." she pleaded softly.

"I'm not."

"You are," she said blandly, losing the motherly tone in her voice.

"...you finally woke up," he brushes his eyes with a sleeve.

"...how long was I unconscious for?" the beds around her are empty, a good sign. The windows displaying Suna's buildings coated in black.

"...three days," when the second day was ending without any movement, the nurses and doctors already believed her to be a goner. If he wasn't so insistent they probably wouldn't have bothered to help her. Then again, if he wasn't present, Fuu would probably have had her way with them, or his siblings, anyone with the right mind and sympathy. With medical assistance and knowledge by Sakura, [Name]'s chances rose on the first day. He is thankful for those who came to their aid without question.

Fuu is the first to leave, her subordinates waiting outside of the hospital. She turned to the window where she can see Gaara's shaggy hair peeking out. It saddened her, having to leave her savior, her friend, but her village could not wait any longer.

"Her breathing stabilized," assured Sakura, pulling the blanket over [Name]'s bandaged torso. The group surrounding [Name]'s bed kept their distance, only Gaara stood close to her side, holding her hand. A sight no one thought of seeing as Gaara's gaze never left her face. Even Sakura's curiosity was peaked, but stuck to her analysis, "She probably won't wake up until she regains most of her chakra."

"Senpai, you better wake up!" cried Kazami.

Burami also wept along with him as Muyami nudged his glasses, "Quit it, you two..." asserting himself for once, speaking for the first time around so many people. "[Name]-senpai...is definitely going to wake up...and scold us for not passing," he is disgusted as he's swept up by his team. "Stop it!"

Yukata and Mikoshi are able to giggle at the sight, but Matsuri bravely stepped towards Gaara. She bows, apologizing in the most sincere way she could, "I'm sorry. If I found help sooner, maybe...[Name]-chan wouldn't be here."

He didn't turn to her, but responds lowly, "It's not your fault. No one's at fault here but me."

"Gaara-" Rock Lee wished to say comforting words, but Neji stopped him.

"If everything is to your satisfaction, Lord Gaara, we'll be taking our leave now," he claims, knowing this tender moment should not be shared with any outsiders. "Let's go, Lee, Tenten."

Ino and Chouji motion to Sakura, "...we should go too."

"Right," she nods at Gaara who could not break himself from [Name].

"Thank you," was all he could sputter. As the visitors left leaving their condolences, two more bodies entered the room, Kankuro and Temari. He knew they came to drag him back to his responsibilities as Kazekage.

[Name] truly woke up when she inhaled the bitter scent of the tea Gaara poured her. "Is this what you drank before?"

"No," he pours a cup for himself. "Chiyo made it especially for you."

"Granny Chiyo?" one of Suna's elders. A peculiar individual she befriended not too long ago when the old woman haughtily entered her shop challenging their knowledge and opinions over the flavor of tea. It was unknown to him that the two even shared a relationship until the elder paid a visit to her on day one.

"I'm sure she will be wanting-no-needing, a sip of this once she wakes up," she pats the container of tea powder she had prepared in Gaara's hands. "A sweet fragrance and taste like hers are just going to fill her with fat and do nothing for her muscles. The bitterness of my herbs are going to wake her up just fine." She sent a mischievous grin in [Name]'s direction, sighing knowing she won't get a response.

On the second day, she received letters from the young and old, those familiar with her shop. He watches her becoming sloppier as she proceeded to scan through the papers. He realized the impact she held among the villagers, the connections made when he wasn't around. Her tenderness, he paused, catching himself gently brushing away the strands of hair reveal her cheeks. She moved to his touch, returning the hair to hide her reddening face.

"Please take care of her, Lord Gaara," bowed a young kunoichi.

A tiny boy with arms held out a letter, "Lord Gaara! Please!"

"Here," a middle-aged man put a tea box in his hand, "She said cardamon cinnamon was your favorite, so I bought a bit too many. Now that her shop won't be open for a while, I figured you would need it more than me."

Their gestures towards him were influenced by her. She produced the "changed" self he wished to portray to his people.

"Thank you," he confidently wraps an arm around her shoulder as he's seen his brother do, however, she doesn't reject it.

"For what?" she places the last letter beside the cactus.

"For..." he wasn't sure how to express his gratitude, unsure of the right words. "For..." he lists through his choices:

For being here?

For existing?

For being my friend?

None of them were good enough to say, "For...everything."

With his arm wound on her shoulder, his face was close to hers when she faced him. She can never familiarize herself with him enough where she could stop reacting to his touch. Her lips tense to hold a gulp while staring at his, just a few inches apart, close and tempting. She pulled herself from his gaze, staring down at the empty cup of tea in her hands, his scent drifting in her direction. Her stubbornness losing control of her desires that she hid away starting from the day they coincidentally collided on the balcony. She knew very well, but did not want to disrupt the innocence of their friendship. However, if they continued with their closeness, she knew there would come a day where she wouldn't be satisfied with the term "friend."

[Jutsu]:

wiki/Earth_Release:_Floral_Entrapment

wiki/Arrival_Of_A_Thousand_Petals