I sucked in a breath. "The market...?"

"Is there something wrong?" Gaara asked, speaking up from beside me.

I had pointed out to him if he wants to be important to someone, he needs to learn ot be himself first... which meant activities that he enjoyed. I figured that he rarely liked to leave he is during daylight, he didn't seem to like company. Then again, why'd he come to me otherwise? I shook my head, smiling a little.

"No, nothing. What do you want to do first? Look around?" Gaara nodded and walked forward. I walked hastily to catch up to him.

"If you don't mind me asking, why do you like this place so much?"

"It gives me a sense of peace... it used to anyways. I had learned to take pleasure in seeing others cower slightly as I passed. It's been like that... ever since I was born." Gaara kept on walking, but had moved his focus to the ground. "All of them..."

It was like I was seeing a whole different side to Gaara. The lonely and desolate side, the one he was trying to hide, the one side that puzzled him. I tried to smile.

"H-hey, not anymore right? If you want people to accept you and you are ready to go through the obstacles, then you're already halfway there." I assured him.

He nodded, but kept quiet as we walked around, looking at nothing in particular. "Sakura... you were inside that house for three years all alone, why is that?"

I looked up, eyes widening at the question, the same on I had been trying to avoid. I thought of lying or brushing off the subject completely, only to realize that Gaara trusted me with... basically what he really feels and confronted me about this character he met in Konoha. Seemed a little out of character for him, so it made me wonder again, who had he met in Konoha?

I swallowed, looking away. "Grandma Tsunade didn't feel it was safe when I moved here three years ago... she never told me why." I muttered under my breath, careful not to bring up the fact that it didn't seem to be because Grandma Tsunade was scared of what was trapped inside of Gaara.

"Why would you move to a town like Suna?"

"A-ah! That! Um... well... my dad kind of went on a rampage and killed my mother..." I whispered, in a very quiet tone, to make sure that no one else could hear me. I barely knew Gaara, but there was a gut feeling in my stomach, one that told me I could trust him. The words had tumbled out of my mouth before i could stop them, and I slepped my hand over my mouth.

"Hm? Is that so...?" Gaara stopped in his tracks and I realized that we had come to a less crowded area in the market.

"What is it?" I asked him in a surprisingly calm and steady voice. It felt like we'd been friends for ages. Gaara was staring ahead, at the setting sun, with his hands inside of his pockets.

"Sakura...? What do friends mean to you? Are we... friends?"

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Grandma Tsunade, what makes a friend a friend? A true friend?" I sat at the kotatsu, eating dinner with Grandma Tsunade.

Grandma Tsunade didn't even look up from food and her took her time to chew and swallow the rice in her mouth. "What made you think of such a question?"

"Just... hanging out with a friend who aske me the same thing." I answered casually.

"Calling this person a friend without first knowing what a friend is?" Grandma looked up, making me shrink back slightly.

Why hadn't I thought of that before? I assume she was looking at me as she began her next sentence.

"A friend...you hear the old stuff about someone sticking with you through good and bad, and they are your true friend. Have you considered this, it's someone who is willing to explore the paths of life, be it right or wrong, with you? Not only being with them through good and bad times makes you a good friend, but being able to show them the right path in life or to act as a guide, or even to help each other through the problems that others don't want to associate themselves with. Think of a flower... and rain."

"Eh...?"

All I could do was stare blankly at Grandma. Back in Konoha you would get a cmpletely different answer if you asked someone or even if you searched up the words 'define friends.' As for the other riddle... I'll ignore that for the time being; I've learned to do that.

Grandma sighed. "Baka. So who is this friend you speak of?"

I Irked slightly at Grandma's insult, I always used to giggle at her choice of words and believed that her words were set in stone and happened to be correct. Especially when I 'accidently' end up eavesdropping on some of her visitors, she would call them 'Baka' and that would silence everyone. I let out my breath as if letting go of that moment of when I got called a baka.

"A friend had asked me the same question. He wanted to know if we were really friends."

"What did you tell him?" Grandma went back to eating, staring down at her plate. She didn't try to pry on the 'he' part and didn't bother to ask the name.

"I told him that we were friends." I said, shrugging as i continued eating my dinner.

"You did, did you? Has your answer changed not that I have placed my input of a true friend in?"

I shook my head immediately, a small smile playing on my lips.

"Oh no. I went with my gut feeling fron the beginning, and believe me, I have no intention of letting go of him now. Not until I help him to get onto the 'right path.' We'll walk together down any path until we find the right one...together."