A/N: Hey!! Long time no see, ne? HAHA!! I know many of you probably hate me (if anybody even reads this story anymore), but you must understand I've been very busy doing...other things like…HELPING THE POOR!! So um…enjoy this chap, and I'm sorry if you don't even remember the plot! But this chapter clears a lot of things for people who didn't understand where this story was going…SO U BEETER READ AND REVIEW, MY MINIONS!!

Disclaimer (never done one, there's one on my profile but…): I do not own Naruto…if I did I would not have such a huge problem with trying to find how to pronounce villages like Amegakure…

Chapter 10: Leaving

The winds around her came to an end and her eyes began to flutter against his shoulder blade. She was standing somewhere in the dark flushed against her love. Chest to chest, so very close, so very warm and curves fitting together perfectly; as if they were made to stand like this for eternity.

She unhooked her arms from around his strong neck and grasped his robe slowly gazing up at him, emerald meeting icy blue. And through a small twitch of the corner of his mouth, she saw a smile. But she still couldn't breathe, couldn't talk; she couldn't respond in a way that wouldn't make her seem clueless.

Gaara's gaze shot up, and it was then that he noticed the starry sky above her. Riko could still make out the slight smirk on his face, even against the dark, midnight sky.

His raspy, masculine voice—much different from when they were children—broke through the silence. "Do you know where we are?"

She watched his strong jaw move and then decided to look around a little. Riko saw large, full grown trees more than 40 feet above her and lush, green grass below her feet. And then she closed her eyes, listening to the sounds around. She heard a gurgling sound of a river and she gasped lightly, eyes popping open. "The oasis…" she whispered not wanting to tune out the pleasant sounds around her.

He looked down at her again, his eyes piercing through her as always. But this time, it did not send a shiver down her back. Instead, it was warm, welcoming. He sat down silently, pulling her down next to him. "Hai."

She nodded, seconding her own answer. "Hai…" she replied lost in thought. Riko kept hold of his hand not letting go as she gazed up at the contrast between the pitch black Suna sky, and the twinkling stars.

This place brought back so many memories—good and bad—flooding into Riko's mind. She was sure it was the same for Gaara, and she respected him for bringing them here.

Riko closed her eyes, leaving herself victim to these memories. She felt them, every emotion that held her and Gaara to this place: fear, curiosity, sympathy, hesitation, happiness, joy, peace, patience, sadness, sorrow, disbelief, devastation, frustration, anger, rage, truthfulness…love…All of these happened, started, originated, from what seem to be this place. This was the root of their tears, of their laughter, and she didn't know why.

She glanced next to her. There was a look of pure thought on Gaara's face. Riko understood that he was thinking the same thing. Gaara had brought them here to think, to remember.

Relief flooded over her; she knew she wasn't alone in this. But could Gaara really understand, put himself in her shoes? All these memories, these newfound thoughts, were too much for one girl to carry in so few days.

Riko quickly turned her head away trying to hide the tears that began to form in her forest green orbs. She felt Gaara's hand tighten around hers, and his body stiffen.

"Riko…" He had said it softly, with awkward tenderness, but she understood the slight scold behind it.

She turned her face toward the sky and batted her eyelashes to stop the tears. "Hai. Please forgive me."

Gaara took her chin into his hands and turned her to face his stern gaze. They were so very close again, and she could feel his breath tingling against her lips. "These feelings and memories hurt, Riko, that's why we need to get through this together. " He moved his hand to her smooth cheek, caressing it softly. "If we let this moment go, Riko, I fear the outcome of our future…"

Riko frowned slightly, reaching up to grab the calloused hand upon her face. "Our future, Gaara?" she whispered, tears stuck in her throat. Anger began to pour out of Riko's eyes as she glared at the young sand-nin, ripping his hand from her face. "We just finally saw each other for the first time in nine years, I was raped about a day ago, we just practically had sex in a bathroom, and you're Kazekage of a nation I'm not part of anymore…don't you…" She gazed down in thought, eyebrows furrowed and emerald orbs searching for an answer. "…don't you think we should be worrying more about the now, Gaara…about our present?"

He stared at her through emotionless eyes, as always; and waited for her to explain.

"I mean…isn't that what got us here in the first place?" She looked back up at him, eyes teary and words laced in confusion. "Back then…all we thought about was that 'we will be' friends forever, 'we will always be' different from everyone else. We never thought how things were at that moment in time—what we could do to help us then…" she trailed off, eyes hardening like his own jade orbs.

They both stared at one another, not awkwardly, but in a way of trying to communicate to one another without physically talking. It seemed easier this way to them, because the truth was; they were both at a loss of words.

Finally, Gaara's eyes closed slowly, as if ending the mental communication that was going on between the two. "I see." His voice once again, boomed through the darkness and made her let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Well then explain to me," he whispered as he grabbed her hand and pulled her closer so that they were as one once again.

She understood what he had asked for, even though it was more of an order than anything. Riko had so much to say, so many new things to tell him, happy and disappointing. The green eyed girl melted into his embrace, fitting her head into the nape of his strong neck and taking in his tempting scent. "Hai, but first…"

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The sinister chuckle of a blonde haired lady filled the air. "So the bitch beat you up, ne?"

Silver eyes glared through the darkness. "Tch…more like her little boyfriend," scoffed a young man that by looks seemed about twenty or so. "Plus, the men you gave me to do the job were nothin' special…"

Another girl scoffed slightly. "Well raping her over and over aint gonna get the job done, Hisashi…" she deadpanned rolling her onyx orbs. "What are you gonna do next time?" the girl giggled in a sly voice as she twirled a small finger in her orange hair, her black lowlights mixing in with the dark Suna sky. "Rape the Kazekage instead, ne, dumbass?" she jeered with a raised eyebrow.

He scowled as he found himself glaring into two onyx orbs. "Your humor kills, Kazumi…" He ran a hand through his shaggy chocolate locks with a smirk. "You weren't usin' that name when I 'raped' you last night, though…"

The young red-head clenched her fists and teeth as she took a deadly step forward, a dangerous glint in her obsidian orbs. "Shut your mouth, you bastard!" she growled. "There was no me and you last night so keep your dirty comments to yourself!"

"Kazumi, Hisashi, you will silence yourselves now," hissed the blonde, her caramel orbs filled with frustrated tears, and back facing the two.

The two immediately silenced themselves as they looked over at the girl with slight disbelief. To see their new leader in this state of paranoia and sadness, was not only discomforting, but also a harsh thrust back to reality—back to the reason they were after Riko's neck.

"Because of those two," she started, voice low and filled with tears, and venom. "Isao is dead!" she screeched. Both the brunette and red-head flinched at her harsh words. "Who would think…" she began again as she turned on her heels so they could see her red, sleepless eyes. "…that the daughter of such a trusted man in Suna would side with the likes of that damned Kazekage, when she was to help our village!" She seemed breathless when she was finished, her chest heaving up and down with every breath.

"Chiharu is right."

All eyes turned to a pale young man, his solemn, light green eyes half-lidded. "If the Kazekage and Riko are together, she is a threat to our village and if the war thickens between Sand and Rain, our defeat is absolute," he stated dryly as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "Your foolishness must stop."

Hisashi stepped forward with a growl, not liking the idea of being told what to do, but something caught his arm.

He looked down to see a serious looking Kazumi. "Listen to Kunio for once, wont you, Hisashi-kun?"

Hisashi glared at the short girl touching his arm a little and then sighed, averting his silver eyed gaze. "Then what do you suppose we do this time?" he questioned stiffly.

Chiharu's eyes seemed to lighten up, even if just a little. "The council of Amegakure informed me of something that not even the Suna council knows…" she murmured.

"Why does that even matter?" asked Kazumi, onyx orbs questioning.

"Yea, what's the damned point?" asked the brunette.

Chiharu smirked slightly, her full pink lips losing their pout. "Because it involves Masako Riko leaving Suna without its consent…"

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"You're leaving…?"

Like always his questions were said as a command, urging the person that was asked to answer him right away.

She glanced away from him and pulled a fisted hand to her chest. "H-Hai…next week; the end of summer."

"Riko…" His eyes changed from a wondering gaze, to the stern, solemn look of a politician. "It will benefit our side in the war…" he murmured to himself, blue orbs thoughtful.

"Excuse me?" inquired Riko, as she turned back to him. He closed his obsidian rimmed eyes. Gaara was not fond of repeating himself, but just this once…"Where you're going…it will bring benefits to our side, yes?"

Riko wriggled closer to him, cuddling into him as he brought his arm around her waist out of habit. "Hai, I suppose so…" she responded with a slight shrug.

Gaara glared down at the top of her head in suspicion. "What help will you bring them that they do not already have?" he inquired sternly.

Riko winced at the coldness in his voice. She knew that he did not mean what he said the way he had said it, but it still stung.

"My clans' ninjutsu technique's," she replied in a matter-of-factly tone, her eyes closing as she sighed into his toned, yet comfortable chest. Her hand that had snaked its way across his lower chest, now played with the smooth grass below it nonchalantly. "Though I will not share with the village all of my clans' most sacred technique's, the lot of them will be taught at such a young age as the academy there. Jiro and I will go under training until we are able to become jonin, which by then, we will have been sensei's at the academy for a while…"explained the eighteen year old girl.

Her techniques? Gaara's eyes narrowed. That could be dangerous. What if they were to use these against his people? Furthermore, in so many hands, the information could leak to other shinobi nations. Was Riko really thinking this through? This was the shinobi world she was talking about and giving out such important information was fatal and could leave Suna completely helpless.

"Riko…" He shook his head back in forth slightly. "I never gave permission for this, nor would I or the council approve of it," he stated in a stern voice.

Riko pushed herself off of him enough so she could look in his eyes, her determined ones gleaming at him. "This isn't yours or that damned councils' to accept—you don't have a choice!" she spat harshly. "If you don't remember, I don't belong to Suna anymore; you can't control me while I'm away from the village. Besides," she crossed her arms with an indignant snort. "I've already confronted my father about it, and he finds the idea of sharing some techniques with our alliances, a wonderful way to create stronger bonds between the two villages and make this war a win-win situation." She smirked, proud of herself. "The whole Masako clan is having a meeting about it the day before Jiro and I plan to leave."

Gaara grunted and kept his narrowed eyes on the girl. She was right. Not only were Jiro and Riko retired shinobi of the Sand, but if the head of the Masako clan was all for it, he had no say in the matter. Even if he were to talk the clan out of it, that did not change the fact that Riko was no longer part of Sunagakure and could do as she pleased, even if it meant going against their clans' wishes.

Gaara kept his gaze on the confident girl. It was best to leave Riko's plans alone. Riko was a smart girl, and her explanation seemed somewhat sound. She knew what she was doing.

Even so, Gaara had hoped to spend the last day she was here with the young chuunin. To not be able to do that was a major set-back and even he would admit to missing the girl while she was gone.

"Hn…" he grumbled finally closing his eyes as a soft breeze rustled his blood red hair. "How long will you be gone?"

The young girls confidence seemed to plummet, her eyes getting shifty and hand finding its way to the back if her neck.

"Um…" She began to rub the soft skin back there, as if it were irritated. "…three or four…" she mumbled in a kinda-sorta voice.

Gaara raised a non-existent eyebrow. "Days, months?"

She coughed awkwardly and turned the other way. "Years…"she whispered almost inaudibly.

The young Kazekage's eyes widened if only a fraction, his whole body stiffening, and then he began to feign calmness.

There was an awkward silence, for even Riko knew the Kazekage was surprised and even worried to hear such a thing.

She grabbed on to her arm and looked to the left as he shifted to the right, looking just that way. "…I see…"

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Kazumi raised an orange eyebrow. "Again?"

Kunio nodded, closing his mint green eyes. "Yes, what is the purpose of you telling us if she has alredy done so before?"

Chiharu's smirk grew as she sauntered over to the onyx haired boy playfully. "Think about it, Kunio-kun, the fact that she quit Suna for another should say enough." She combed a lock of her short, choppy, dirty-blonde hair out of her eyes and behind her ear.

Kunio only nodded and smirked knowingly. "I understand."

Hisashi exchanged confused looks with the red-head to his right. "What the hell are you two talking about?!" he barked as he marched up to them, Kazumi in tow; a hand on her curvy hip saying she was suspicious as well. He grabbed Kunio's shoulder and whipped him around, his silvery gaze narrowing. "Explain!"

Chiharu chuckled softly, giving the two a side-glance look. "She's going to do the same thing we wanted her to do for Rain."

Kazumi's obsidian eyes widened noticeably, a small gasp leaving her lips. Then she slowly gazed up at Hisashi. No doubt he was feeling the same way about this.

The caramel eyed girl continued. "The rest of Suna doesn't know, but think how angry they'd be once they found out only one day in advance…it'll be a repeat of what they used to do to that Gaara-bocchan, ne?"

"Where…where is she going?" Kazumi asked, her disbelief changing to excitement.

The blonde only smirked sinisterly, a breeze rustling her hair.

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Another cool breeze rushed pass her face causing a single tear to drop unexpectedly from one of her forest green orbs. Her voice finally broke the silence.

"It's a nice place…" she sighed. She shifted her hand closer to his to feel his warmth, to feel the massive radiation of heat pour into hers for one of the last times in a long time.

He gazed at her out the corner of his eye, still deadly silent.

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The two moved closer to the amber eyed blonde, anxious for her answer.

Finally she licked her soft lips, opening her mouth slowly to hiss one word…

...

"Konoha…"

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Gaara closed his eyes to let her last words sink in. She had told him before, but it was still so far away and for such a long time.

He grabbed her hand slowly, and tenderly interlaced his fingers with hers. "Hn…"

Istantly the blonde haired, blue-eyed boy's laughing face appeared in his mind. Naruto, Sakura, Lee…take good care of her…

A/N: So the plot thickens. Hope you liked it! If this confused anybody plz let me; I'm willing to answer any questions! Well, since I haven't updated in so long, I decided to lengthen the chap when I wrote it, so it took a while! Hope you liked it! And also 'bocchan' is a suffix used for a young child who is rich, it can also be used as an insult too…SO! REVIEW!! LUV U AND LATERZ!!

--SAYURI--