I do not own Naruto or the song Near to You by A Fine Frenzy.

After the Kazekage left my apartment, I went about my usual routine on autopilot, barely registering where I was going or what I was doing. I could almost have believed that the visit was nothing more than a bizarre and abnormally realistic dream had it not been for the two plates I encountered stacked in my sink the next morning when I got around to doing dishes.

The next night at work I decided to casually let my visit with Gaara slip in front of Mizuki, with the hope that she would confirm how non-extraordinary such encounters were. This would then, hopefully, smother my sense that the Kazekage was actually making an effort to befriend me.

Her reaction, however, was not quite what I expected. The last of the customers had left and Mizuki and I were quietly cleaning for the night before heading home. Naomi could be heard slamming around in the kitchen going off on what I could only assume was some innocent pot or pan she felt had wronged her in some way. Over the weeks, this had turned into a regular, comfortable scene. And while I was reluctant to disturb the calm, my curiosity forced my tongue into action.

"Does the Kazekage often make house calls to check in on the new citizens?" I nonchalantly asked, shattering the almost silence. I made sure to keep my eyes glued to the act of sweeping the floor, but out of my peripheral I could see my boss pause and look up from the glass she was drying, eyes wide in alarm.

"Never," she laughed shortly, setting down the glass and leaning against the counter in front of her. "At least, not that I know of. Gaara-sama isn't exactly a social being. I couldn't even imagine him trying to be hospitable." There was a short pause as her head tilted slightly to the side and I could plainly see her trying to picture it. After a few seconds she shook her head, smiling broadly.

"Nope. That's just not a pretty picture at all," she giggled, causing me to wonder just what image of the Kazekage being "hospitable" her imagination had conjured up.

But much to my chagrin, Mizuki's amusement rapidly changed to suspicion as she turned her narrowed eyes to me.

"Now why would you ask such a thing?" she wondered aloud, trying too hard to sound innocent.

In an effort to maintain my casual façade, I shrugged lightly and mumbled something vague about curiosity.

There was a stretch of silence and I immediately began to feel nervous. I have always been a horrible liar. I knew it. Mizuki knew it. Almost everyone I ever tried to lie to knows it. So naturally, I had expected her to see through my lie. And since Mizuki is not the type of person to let a topic such as this drop without gleaning every possibly detail, I was shocked and slightly worried when I finally looked up to find her staring straight at me, eyes still narrowed and gears clearly at work.

And then it all seemed to click as she gasped slightly and slammed her palms flat on the bar as if to steady herself from falling over.

"Wait. Hold on one minute. You're telling me that the Kazekage actually visited you?"

"No," I stated casually, returning to my sweeping. "You're saying that. I just asked a question and you made the assumption."

"Aha! But you're not denying it, are you? That's because it's true!" The grin that was splitting her face, coupled with the excited gleam in her eyes was starting to give her a partially deranged look. "I can't believe the Kazekage was actually in your apartment. I mean, you. A girl. Not that he probably even notices that you're a girl but still, this is certainly a momentous occasion. I didn't think he even had the ability to converse with other people unless forced. I mean really, I have loads of respect for the guy but, seriously, he needs to get out more."

I shook my head in confusion, not quite understanding why the other girl was so excited.

"I don't understand. I know he isn't the most talkative person, but surely he isn't a complete recluse. He's got to have some social skills. I doubt he would have been made Kazekage if he didn't."

Mizuki just shook her head, almost as if she pitied me for my lack of knowledge.

"Look," she explained slowly, as if she was talking to a small child, "Suna isn't like Konoha. Back in your Leaf Village they're all about peace and diplomacy. They don't pick fights and they avoid confrontation, so naturally, the leader would have to be someone who can easily talk his or, as it were, her way out of sticky situations. Suna has never been like that. Until recently, we could never dream of calling ourselves a peaceful country. We'd always very much been a war-oriented society. Because of this, our view of a good leader is whoever carries the biggest stick, so to speak."

I took a moment to think about what she had said. In Konoha, the Hokage was always a powerful shinobi. But it was true that power wasn't the only thing considered. If it were, Orochimaru would have quite possibly been made the Fourth Hokage in the place of Minato Namikaze. The idea made me shiver slightly and I suppressed the thought, turning instead to Suna. It seemed logical that for a military-based village, Gaara would be the obvious choice for a leader. From what I'd heard, that sand of his could pack quite the punch.

Which meant that it was quite possible, even probable that he really didn't have any hidden social talents that I was just overlooking.

"So," I began slowly, forcing my way through the question, "for him to visit me in my apartment would be considered…strange?"

"Definitely," my boss confirmed with a short nod, a brief smile fluttering across her expression. "You must have done something to catch that eye of his." For a brief second her smile twisted into an uncharacteristically venomous smirk as she added, "The adoring masses are going to love this."

I didn't make an effort to ask what she meant, content that my question had been answered, but troubled by the answer I had received.

I couldn't exactly pinpoint why the thought of a friendship with the Sand's leader troubled me. He had been nothing but kind to me since my arrival, and his allowing me to stay in the first place was nothing short of saintly. Despite his troubled youth, it appeared that, much like Naruto, he had become a stable and respectable man.

But perhaps this similarity to my best friend from Konoha is what made me reluctant. I love Naruto, but I would be lying if I said that he wasn't one of my reasons for leaving Konoha. I had wanted to move on with my life, forget the past and all of the painful memories it held. This task was made nearly impossible with people like Naruto and my mother constantly hovering over me, waiting, expecting me to break at the slightest reminder like some frail doll.

I didn't want the Kazekage thinking that he needed to fill that role. I didn't want anyone to fill in that role. I wanted everyone to see that I was capable of taking care of myself without their constant hovering and meddling.

Which is exactly why I found myself determinedly marching up to who I later learned to be the Kazekage's older brother, the next day in the market.

I had been making my usual rounds, stopping at the now familiar stalls to pick up the goods to get me through the next week, when I first noticed the strange looking man lurking across the street.

With his easily identifiable, black hooded outfit, I should have known the man immediately. But, unlike his younger brother, I had never seen Kankuro more than a time or two in passing and never had a reason to remember him. But there was still something vaguely familiar about him and it continued to tug at the back of my mind as I went on with my shopping.

It wasn't until I had moved through four more stalls that I realized he was following me. While I stopped to peruse one vendor's selection of apples, I couldn't help but notice the hooded man stop to examine a table covered in beautiful silk wraps, directly across from me. Thinking back, it occurred to me that he had remained parallel to me for at least the past fifteen minutes.

Wanting to test my theory while appearing to remain unaware, I proceeded to the next stall, not unaware of the fact that the man also moved. Halfway between, I stopped with the pretense of adjusting my bags and glanced over to find that my mysterious stalker had also stopped and was currently kneeling down, seemingly adjusting the straps on his sandals.

Had he been following me at night while I was on my way home from work or some place far from civilization, I never would have dreamt of approaching him. But the bustling market was swarming with shop owners and other customers, making me confident that the man would not try anything dangerous.

I could feel suspicion and anger building up in me as I made my way across the street, entirely prepared to lecture the stranger on the indecency of stalking a poor, innocent girl as she made her way through the market.

However, noticing my approach, the man straightened with a small smile and spoke, effectively preventing the commencement of my rant.

"So you've finally noticed me, have you? It took you long enough."

Mmk, well I know that this one is shorter than my last few chapters, but I kind of wanted the conversation with Kankuro to be its own chapter. I will sincerely try my darndest to get that completed within the next week or two, but with work and this lovely cold I am frantically trying to overcome, I make no promises.