AN: Wow, short chapter is short indeed. This chapter has been rewritten: 1-16-13

"Sometimes you put up walls not to keep people out, but to see who cares enough to break them down."

-Socrates

Chapter 10: Muddy Faces

I sat with my feet floating in the stream bed, watching peacefully as the little minnows swarmed under my toes. Dancing in simple little circles around my ankles, chasing each other in dizzying patterns like any other young thing will do. I hadn't been sitting here for very long before I'd noticed Gaara had joined me and was resting in the tree beside the river. Not that he was trying to hide himself. If he had been I doubt I ever would have noticed him sitting there, but with his whole body exposed and his legs dangling just a few feet above my head he made his presence fairly obvious.

After some time had passed he eventually dropped down from his perch to join me at the water's edge, and now we were sitting not quite side by side, but still together. Staring into the crystal clear water as we both enjoyed the serenity of the surrounding forest. The sunlight bleeding through the branches above bathed us in a gentle, emerald glow. I felt warmed to my bones by the luxurious heat.

Sitting with Gaara like we had when we were still children had felt strange at first, but I soon found his quiet company almost soothing in his own odd little way. The silence that I would have found unsettling with someone else was somehow comforting in his presence.

"You're not afraid," his voice was raspier than usual, almost as though he hadn't used it since yesterday morning.

I leaned back on my hands without taking my eyes off the little minnows at my feet, "Nope, why do ya ask?"

Looking straight ahead he mumbled softly, "I didn't ask."

An exasperated sigh escaped me. So much for the silence. Tilting my head to the right I stared at the stoic boy who refused to meet my gaze. "Fine, then why did you say it?"

The sunlight from the river reflected off his opaque eyes, and a light breeze ruffled his wispy hair. "I'm a monster, people fear monsters. It's only natural."

Sighing I pondered what he's said. "Do you mean because you're a jinchūriki?"

Tensing his jaw he sat a little straighter and glared acidically at the trees on the far bank. The air seemed to suddenly grow heavy.

Unimpressed I sat back up and shrugged, "I'm not afraid of monsters, and besides the way I see it you're not one anyway."

He met my eyes with a dubious glare. "Everyone is afraid of monsters. That's why we're called monsters. To say you feel otherwise would be a lie," there was an edge to his voice that hadn't been there before.

Chewing on my lip I cocked my head to the side. "Well, let me try to explain the way I see it," I muttered looking around for something to use. Spotting the mud from the riverbank I dug my hand deep into the wet soil, and pulled it out with gunk up to my wrist. Reaching over I stretched my arm out and streaked the mud across Gaara's face.

Snarling he flinched and jumped back to his feet, "What the hell!?"

Cool, I got him to speak above a whisper.

Towering over me he stared me down with an almost glorious fury in his pale eyes. "What game are you playing at?"

The gourd he'd left leaning against our shade tree rattled, and I could hear its cork squeaking.

Raising my hands in surrender I smiled up at him. "Now hold on, I said I would explain, and I will, but you've gotta sit down first," I patiently waited until he grudgingly sat back down, this time with a tense posture and farther away, before I continued. "The way I see it is just the same way that I see the mud."

Gaara looked even more confused than before and the fury still smoldered in his cyan eyes.

Tearing my gaze from him I held my hands up and inspected my dirty nails. "You see, just because the mud's there doesn't mean you're not underneath it. You're still you regardless of anything else that can be seen on the outside."

Wrinkling his nose he sneered. "No, I don't see. The mud on my face isn't dangerous, my bijuu is," he said slowly, as though if he spoke too fast I wouldn't understand.

Tapping my chin with my clean hand I puffed out my cheeks. "Okay, lets put this another way." I scooted closer and twisted around to face him straight on.

Baring his teeth he shifted and leaned away from me, watching my hands cautiously.

I laughed at his distrustfull glare. "Don't worry, I promise no more mud." Leaning forward on my palms I brought my face up to his, ignoring the sands warning hiss. "Okay, now look at me, and I mean really look at me. What do you see?"

He stared at me for few seconds before giving up, "What am I looking for?"

"Everything, tell me everything you see. I wanna hear what goes through your head when you look at me."

For awhile he searched my face, his eyes darting across my features, and just when I was sure he wasn't going to answer my question he finally spoke, "I see a girl with red-hair, green eyes, freckles, a wide mouth, straight nose, you're smiling now so I see teeth…stop that."

My face spasmed as I fought back a cheeky smirk.

Frowning he continued, "Now I see that you face is scrunched up and your eyes are twitching…okay fine, smile."

Chuckling I let the grin go, full force.

Shrugging he looked away for a moment, "I see a normal girl."

"Yes, and is there something, anything, about this girl that stands out? Does she look nice, mean, tall, short…dangerous?"

He gave me a strange look. "I know you're not a ninja."

Slapping my knee I sat back. "Ah, now you're catching on!" I crowed in triumph.

"I still don't understand." His face was starting to go cold again, obviously growing tired of my game.

"You've just said it. I'm not a ninja, I couldn't protect myself from…well there's not a whole lot of people that I could fight off if they wanted to hurt me. So, to me, the whole world's full of people just as dangerous as you are. So why should I be anymore afraid of you than everyone else?"

He seemed to have been following up until that last part. "Wouldn't that give you more reason to fear?"

"Well, yes. I can see how most ninja would see it that way, but because I'm not one I see the world as full of people, not just full of opponents. So even though you have the mud on your face, or as other shinobi might see it, your bijuu, I only see the person under the mud. What kind of power you have just doesn't matter to me. Do you get what I'm trying to say?" I leaned forward as I spoke, washing the mud from my hands in the freshwater.

He blinked and seemed to run what I'd said through his mind. "I think I understand now," he looked at me with a thoughtful expression.

Smiling I lowered my head and peeked at him through a curtain of my hair, "Good. Now come here, let's clean that mess off of you," I pulled my coat off and dipped a corner into the stream. Reaching forward I took his chin gently into my hands and wiped the muddy streaks off his face. I could feel his cheek jump under the contact and see how his brilliant cyan eyes twitched slightly wider under my ministrations. His nostrils flared open taking tense, shallow breaths.

I went slow, wiping the dirt from his face gently. My hands held his jawline with a soft grip, so that it would allow him to pull free if he chose too. Keeping my fingers feather-lite, I only touched him with the faintest bit of pressure. Secretly fascinated I wiped the sludge from the crevices of his scar, my fingers ghosting over the deep rivets and bubbled flesh. By the time I was done the tightness in his shoulders had loosened, though he still watched me with weary eyes. Pushing his bangs back from his wide forehead to check for more streaks I discovered that Gaara's hairline formed a deep widowspeak. Smiling to myself I pulled back, satisfied that all the mud was gone and his bone-white face was once again flawless. The master of the sand really had grown into an attractive young man; it was almost a shame our friendship had become so stressed. "There, you see? All that's left now is Gaara," I muttered reaching forward to give his chin one last playful swipe.

"Hn."

I couldn't help but notice a brief flash of openness in his features, but before I could be sure it was already gone. Wordlessly we both turned back to the river, leaving our conversation behind as though it had never happened. I sat there pondering what he had said for a few moments when, suddenly, a sharp pain flashed through my left foot sending tremors up my calf. "Shit!" I jumped back swinging my legs from the water and all but crashing into Gaara's side in my haste to escape the water's edge.

Scowling he glared at me. "What?" he asked, almost managing to not sound annoyed.

Holding up my dripping foot I checked for teeth marks, "Something bit me!"

"Hn," he grunted with what sounded suspiciously like amusement.

"It's true! I think it was one of those little fish!" I accused while pointing an angry finger at the little minnows that were swimming about innocently; as though one of them hadn't almost maimed me. "Enjoy this while you can, Little Fish, cause I'm comin' back someday when you're bigger, and when I do I'm gonna catch ya and roast you over my fire!" I could see Gaara giving me a strange look from the corner of my eye, but didn't care. Let him think what he wants so long as I get back at that stupid minnow Gaara can do as he pleases!

AN: This wasn't even supposed to go in this fic, but I thought it could use a little fluff. There are now pictures to go with the story, the link is on my profile.