(( History has just been made... between the hours of 10 AM and 7 PM, I recieved not one... not four... but NINE reviews!! is totally feeling the LUV and huggle-strangling every reviewer to read and... well, review her work THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Now... as I'm reading and putting the reviews on, like last time, if the people end up telling me not to put up the reviews, that will take effect in chapter 13. I do love raccoons... but they have an evil side to them as well. huggles raccoons for absolute cuteness

Gaara-frenzy:

o blood... aw raccoons are cute

grr i dont like Shimo and you should watch your writeing half way through you
started calling her Shino insted of Shimo and Shino is a guy so it was a
little weird.

a wow Chi is running around like that. thats kinda weird gaara should go
after her its his fault afterall

ep shes changing and he's transporting into her room! this will end up akward
wont it. and weird family much i would hate to be in Hito's place, no good
food. im glad you updated XD

((Gaara-frenzy gave a review for chapters 8, 9, 10, and 11))

Your Demon:

heehee. you mentioned me. thank you! i feel appreciated, and you made me
smile! thanks! this chapter was really good too. :giggles: good job.

Angel Fate of the Desert:

Interesting chapter. I liked the fact that Chikage and Gaara seemed to have
come to some terms. Now I wonder how you will thrust them together? Please
update soon.

Kina Lupi:

oh you i knew this was yours!! UR AWSUM! lol another story on the favs list
se ya

NU CLIFFHANGER OH I HATE U!! jk awsum story1!

(( Kina Lupi gave a review for chapter 1 and 11... the beginning and where I left off.))

NeferNeferi:

Aha! Another update.
I liked this chapter; there was more interaction between Gaara and Chikage,
even though it was a little...awkward given the situation. I sincerely hope
she's not rejected again. What will Gaara do now? What will happen next?
Please update soon!

((Okay... so far, no one's told me not to put up the reviews. And Your Demon says that she liked being mentioned so... I'll keep them posted. If someone doesn't want me to put their name or review or both on these chapters, just tell me. Now... I'm gonna write this chapter, check out Shimo's name count and correct it again. Sorry for the confusion, Gaara-frenzy, and the weirdness. lol))

((Now, without further ado... and the end of the accursed time waster... I present... this chapter))

Chapter 12: Admit the Truth So the Heart Will Heal

She stood outside the door of her house. Her hand was poised to open the door. But there was a problem-- she still held Shimo's heart in her other hand. Would she be able to enter her home with such a thing? Probably not... which was why she was planning on trying to sneak in through the front door. As lame as it sounded, her room's window was locked so she couldn't climb in through there. And there was no back entrance. She could just as easily abandon the heart-- she didn't exactly have a place to put it, after all.

'But... Gaara-san gave this to me... so I must treasure his kindness,' she thought, trying to find another reasonable excuse as to keep it with her. In her mad frenzy for reasons, she failed to notice the sand kicking up...

"It's about time you got here... but I told you that I would meet YOU in here. Meaning you were supposed to wait for me and get pants on before I came to talk to you." Chikage looked up to find herself no longer on the front porch... but in her room! And Gaara was in front of her, his hands on her waist. Jerking out of his grasp, her face turned red and he stated, "Don't think too much about it. I just needed to have some sort of contact with you in order to take you up here with me."

She just nodded. Her voice was lost somewhere between her throat and Limbo.

"Now... I know that you know that I heard what that blond girl said to you..." Another nod later, he continued, "Why did you defend me?"

Limbo wasn't as far away as it seemed and she soon stammered out, "Y-you were mistreated... by us... no one wants to admit it... but I know that w-we are at fault... that we h-hurt you-u ve-ry mu-much..."

Gaara nodded. "Now... tell me the truth."

"T-tru-uth?"

"Temari thinks that you are in love with me. I want to prove her wrong... because I know that you aren't in love with me. Just tell me what I want to hear and I'll be out of here." Straight and too the point... but which point was he trying to make? Obviously the one where he was once again the self-loving demon and no one could ever feel anything for him. But when Chikage didn't say a word, he looked at her with strange sea foam eyes. "Why aren't you saying anything? Deny her accusation."

"I can't..." she whispered.

Gaara stared at her before stating, plain and simple, "You don't love me."

"I..."

"You DON'T love me." His tone was getting stronger... almost panicked.

"I... I--"

"You CAN'T love ME!"

"But I do..." she whispered, looking down at her feet.

"No!"

"Yes!!" she declared loudly, clenching her eyes shut as she tossed her beloved sketchbook onto the ground. She wrapped a sarong around her waist and yelled, "If you don't believe me... look at the last picture! But don't tell me what I can and can't feel!!" She ran out of the room and out of the house. She seemed to do a lot of that... but she didn't go to the park. She didn't tell her parents where she was going and she ignored Hito's questions of where she was going. She just left Gaara there... with the final piece of her puzzle. The sketchbook with the picture, long sought out by him. True... it had only been maybe a few days but to him... an eternity had gone by since he first came across the girl. He just wasn't sure if he regretted it or not.

((At long last, Gaara has been given permission to look at the picture. But exactly what is the picture? What does it signify? And was it worth the wait and the stress? Probably not but hey, life is full of little disappointments. And Gaara can always Sand Coffin those disappointments for being completely unfair! Review and I'll put up the next chapter. If not... well, I'm not in a threatening mood so I'll just give you the evil eye. And my raccoon allies will target your trashcans until you do review. I'm not threatening you... the raccoons will do it for me. suddenly thinking about a raccoon mafia I want one...))