Previously...

Frowning, Gaara looked over at her. "Why do you believe in me so much?"

Stoically, she met his gaze evenly, her silver-blue irises nearly luminescent in the rising moonlight. In her eyes, he could see the oxymoronic fire burning behind the icy color of her irises. Finally, she smiled. "Because you've already proven yourself to me. You may not realize it, Gaara, but you're the most inspirational person I know. If it were me in your place," she laughed. "I don't think I would have survived this long. You're stronger than you know, Gaara. Not only did you make it this far, but you're even putting in so much effort to change things for the better…"

Turning towards him, she suddenly pulled him into a hug, her hands snaking under his gourd to wrap around him snugly. "Don't let that baka ruin things for you. You've come too far to give up now. Just keep thinking of how much better things can be if you stick to it."

Gaara closed his eyes as he allowed himself to relax, wrapping his arms around her waist without thinking. It was almost frightening how quickly the pain vanished with her embrace. In her arms, he felt whole again. The memories that had haunted him before were banished, and Gaara's head was quiet for once. It was only the second time he had been hugged, but he could already feel addicted to her warmth.

Taking in her scent, void of sweat and tears this time but tainted by blood instead, he sighed. Pulling her tighter against his chest, he could feel her heart pounding, racing as if she were in the midst of battle.

Oddly enough, his own heart seemed to pick up speed too, pounding solidly against his chest.

Meanwhile, Kyoko's head was spinning. The hug she'd initiated was pure impulse, and she'd almost jumped away in embarrassment before Gaara's arms wrapped around her waist securely. Almost instantly, she'd melted in his arms, praying that he couldn't feel her racing heart. When he sighed, his breath had ghosted over the side of her neck, sending a shiver down her spine. Just when she thought her heart couldn't pound any harder, Gaara tightened his hold on her even more, and she could've sworn her heart was going to burst out of her chest.

Even with her mind spinning uncontrollably, she wondered why Gaara had such a dizzying effect on her. He was handsome, yes, but so was the Sasuke boy from Leaf, and she had appreciated his beauty for barely more than a few seconds before moving on. What was it about Gaara that caused her heart to race so much?

Chapter 13

"The ocean of the body crashes against the ocean of the heart. Between them is a barrier they cannot cross." — Rumi

"Admit it."

"No."

"Come on, stop lying. Aren't we old friends?"

"If we're old friends, can I please come in and knock some sense into you?"

"No way. I told you, you're not allowed in the same room as me as long as that little monster of a pup is around."

"I've never wanted Saryu to bite someone so bad in my life."

"You should just stop lying to yourself and admit it."

Kyoko sighed. A few days ago, when she hugged Gaara, she had completely forgotten that she'd sent a dingo to tell Temari and Kankuro that she had found him. The Sabaku siblings had arrived to see them lost in their embrace, and Kankuro hadn't let up on his teasing of Kyoko since.

"Where is Temari when you need her," she muttered.

"What was that? Was that a confession I heard?"

"I'm seriously going to break down your door and strangle you," Kyoko growled.

"Please do," someone snickered. "It would be doing us all a favor."

"Very funny, Temari," Kankuro said dryly from inside his workshop.

"Finally," Kyoko groaned, jumping to her feet. "You better have a good reason for me asking me over. You have no idea what I just had to endure."

Temari arched a brow. "He's still bugging you about hugging Gaara the other day?"

A pink tinge appeared on Kyoko's face as she nodded furiously.

Rolling her eyes, Temari pulled her fan off of her back. "Forget him. He's just an immature brat. Check this out!"

With that, she splayed the fan open and set it on the floor. With a wide grin, she bit her thumb and spread her blood over the iron canvas covering her fan's skeleton. Planting her palm onto her blood, she cried, "Summoning Jutsu!"

In a puff of smoke, a large white weasel appeared on Temari's fan, wearing an oriental black and red vest and an eyepatch over one of its eyes. Standing up on its hind legs, it hugged a large sickle to itself as it looked up at the two kunoichi.

"Ah," Kyoko exclaimed, kneeling down before the weasel. "It's so cute!"

"Isn't he?" Temari boasted proudly. "He's unbelievably fast and strong too. Once he starts moving, he can't be seen with the naked eye, and his wind attack power is strong enough to cut down an entire forest."

"Seriously?" Kyoko gasped. She looked back at the tiny weasel. "Wow. My wind power can't match up to yours anymore, Temari."

Before the older wind user could reply, a loud gurgling noise interrupted. In a flash, Kamatari was in front of Kyoko, pressing its little ear to her stomach. The black-haired kunoichi laughed at the cute gesture. "Guess that means it was my stomach that grumbled."

Temari chuckled. "Why don't you stay for lunch then? Especially since I made you come all the way here just to see Kamatari."

"Lunch sounds great," Kyoko exclaimed. Turning back to the door of Kankuro's workshop, she asked, "Oi, Kankuro-baka, you coming?"

"If you admit to liking Gaara, Kyoko-gaki," he called back, a smirk evident in his tone.

Kyoko bristled. "I changed my mind. Come out and I'll sic Saryu and Sakyu on you, you moron!"

Folding her fan back up, Temari linked her arm with Kyoko's. "Come on, let's go."

Kyoko perked up as Temari pulled her towards the kitchen. "Can I cook?"

"Don't be silly," Temari chirped. "You'd probably poison us all."

"So," Kyoko said, kicking her feet as she watched Temari flit around the kitchen. "I didn't want to ask Kankuro since he's being annoying and all, but where's Gaara?"

Temari chuckled, dodging Kamatari as the weasel ran away from an overly-eager Saryu. "He's arguing a case with the Council. He said that when he saw the kids you two worked with the other day, he decided that he wanted to make a public academy here that anyone can join."

"Oh," Kyoko gasped. "So that's why he had that look on his face. I was wondering why he was looking so thoughtful." Lifting her feet as the two summons dashed by again, she propped her chin up in her hands. "A public academy, eh? Where anyone can join?"

"Yeah, like Konoha's," Temari replied, spooning out a large bowl of leftover rice. She stuck the bowl in the microwave, pulled a packet of seaweed out of a cabinet, and rolled up her sleeves, prepared to make onigiri. "It's a good idea, but because it's Gaara who came up with it, I'm not so sure it'll be as accepted as it should be."

Kyoko frowned. "That's not fair."

"Life's not fair," Temari retorted. "We can only hope things go well."

Kyoko gave a slight affirmative grunt before allowing silence to fall over the two kunoichi.

"Just out of curiosity," Temari drawled after a moment, unable to stop the smile on her face. "Do you like Gaara?"

Immediately, Kyoko stiffened.

"Temari," she whined. "Not you too! I told you guys I was just trying to comfort him. You guys just showed up at the wrong moment and misunderstood things!"

Just then, the microwave gave a few short beeps.

"Kyoko, Kyoko," Temari sighed, pulling the bowl of rice out. She left it to cool on the counter as she slid into the seat across from Kyoko. Pinning the girl with her sharp teal gaze, she smirked. "Kankuro's not here right now so you can tell me the truth. Do you like Gaara?"

The barely-there scent of rice and nori was the first to greet Gaara's sensitive nose when he opened the front door. Inhaling deeply, his stomach growled as he removed his shoes. Unclasping the thick straps across his chest, he set his massive gourd down against the wall before moving towards the kitchen.

Just as he neared the open doorway of the kitchen, Temari's voice drifted out.

"Kankuro's not here right now so you can tell me the truth. Do you like Gaara?"

Just shy of entering the kitchen, Gaara froze. What an outrageous question. Of course Kyoko liked him; through his observations when he wandered the streets of Suna, even he knew that people couldn't be friends if they disliked each other. Why would Temari ask such a ridiculous question?

"No, I don't." Gaara barely had time to feel betrayal lick at his heart before he was thoroughly confused by Kyoko's next words. "He's just a friend."

"You're turning red," Temari observed triumphantly. "He's not just a friend to you, is he?"

Gaara frowned. What did that mean? What other relationships existed outside of family, friends, and enemies?

There was a long moment of silence, during which Gaara could almost feel the annoyance and frustration rolling off the black-haired kunoichi inside. Finally, she huffed and said, "It's complicated. I don't even know if I like him. I need a little more time to sort out what's going on so can you guys just let it go?"

Temari paused. "Do you want him to be more than a friend?"

"Not really," Kyoko admitted almost instantly.

Silently, Gaara slipped away from the doorway, his own mind cluttered with new thoughts and questions. Appetite gone, he retrieved his gourd, strapping it on securely before slipping into his shoes and pulling the front door open again. It closed behind him almost as silently as he left.

Completely oblivious, Temari frowned, cocking her head curiously at Kyoko's near-instant answer. "Why not?"

"Relationships are messy," Kyoko immediately answered. "They're hard to handle and make things more complicated than they need to be. They turn friends into awkward messes and if something goes wrong, then the friendship is forever scarred. Besides, as shinobi, we're supposed to keep our hearts and minds detached—in battle or not."

Temari arched a brow. "Aren't you just a positive little ball of sunshine."

"Very funny," Kyoko said dryly. "Besides, even if I theoretically end up liking Gaara, there's no telling who he would end up liking. For all we know, he could eventually fall for some random civilian girl."

"I wouldn't trust my littlest brother to a random civilian girl," Temari mused, leaning back in her seat. "I'd rather he end up with someone I trust."

Catching the blonde wind user's meaningful gaze, Kyoko shook her head fervently. "No way. You can't trust me with Gaara's heart. I've already messed up so many times just with his friendship. Who knows what I could do with his heart." When Temari opened her mouth to retort, anger flashed in Kyoko's eyes and she slammed her hands down on the table. "Wait, why are we even talking about this? Romance is completely out of the question right now. We should be focusing on just helping Gaara get back a semblance of a normal life."

Temari closed her mouth, her eyebrows pulling down in a small frown.

"Right?" Kyoko stressed when her elder didn't reply.

"Right," Temari sighed. "We shouldn't be letting ourselves get carried away by such trivial things. But—" she added when Kyoko's face relaxed with relief. Temari's teal eyes glittered. "Just saying, I think you two would make a cute couple."

Ducking her head, Kyoko sighed. "Please don't go saying stuff like that."

"Sorry," Temari chuckled.

At that moment, Kankuro burst into the kitchen, effectively startling the kunoichi inside.

"Ladies," he announced, grinning widely. Blue chakra flickered at his fingertips, stretching thinly to something outside in the hall. "I present the completed Kuroari, fully stocked and ready for battle."

With a flourish, he twitched some of his fingers. The chakra strings flickered, nearly invisible, and in burst a wooden puppet with a head of shaggy brown hair. Two horns on its head, three eyes on its face, and six arms resting against a dingy grey-brown cloak, Kuroari clicked its jaw.

Slightly dumbfounded, Kyoko and Temari stared at the puppet.

"Well?" Kankuro said after a long moment of silence, his enthusiasm dimmed by the lack of response.

"And I thought Karasu was creepy," Temari deadpanned.

Kyoko grinned. "Ne, Kankuro-baka, Kuroari's almost as ugly as you."

"You guys are ruining the triumph of my accomplishment," Kankuro said dryly, his face falling into a scowl. "Do you have any idea how long it took to assemble this?"

Chuckling, Temari went to start molding the rice into spheres while Kyoko sheepishly made amends.

"Okay, okay," the black-haired kunoichi laughed. "In all honesty, it is pretty cool. Are you sure you can control two puppets at once now?"

"That's more like it," Kankuro huffed, nodding his head approvingly at the praise. "As for controlling two puppets at once, I've been practicing in my spare time with the training puppets available at the puppeteer base. Handling both Kuroari and Karasu at once will be a piece of cake."

"Don't get too ahead of yourself there," Temari sniped, rolling her eyes as she wrapped a single sheet of nori around a rice ball.

"Oh?" Kankuro challenged as he sat down beside Kyoko. "How about you and that weasel of yours? Think you can handle your new raw power?"

"Naturally," Temari sniffed. "Most likely better than you and your stupid puppet."

"I'll make you eat those words," Kankuro snapped, scowling. Turning to Kyoko, he nudged her with his elbow. "So how 'bout it Kyoko? Want to come train with us tomorrow and judge who has better control over their new powers?"

With an almost regretful smile, Kyoko shook her head. "Sorry, guys, I've got a mission tomorrow. Won't be back for at least a week."

Temari's brows rose in interest. "Oh? What's the mission?"

"Some nobleman from the Abe Clan in Hot Springs Country was apparently vacationing in a nearby Wind Country village," Kyoko began. "He's going home now and needs some escorts back to his own country."

"All the way to Hot Springs Country?" Temari repeated. She let out a long whistle. "That's a pretty long trek. We'll send you off then!"

"Come on, guys, it'll only be for about a week," Kyoko said, rolling her eyes. "You don't need to come send me off. The last few times you came to send me off were unnecessary too."

Kankuro grinned slyly. "Why do you always send Gaara off then?"

At once, Kyoko's content expression sharpened with annoyance. "Because he's not used to people being there for him. I just want him to know that things are different now because he has people waiting for him to come home." When Kankuro continued to grin slyly, she scowled and slapped him upside the head. "It's the same reason you guys always send him off, right?"

"Okay, children, let's just calmly eat lunch, okay?" Temari sighed, throwing a completed onigiri at the two fifteen-year-olds at the table. She turned to Kyoko. "Alright, have it your way. Good luck on the mission then."

"Don't worry, Kyoko," Kankuro cut in teasingly. "I promise to make sure Gaara goes to send you off at least."

A vein popping in her forehead, Kyoko slammed her rice ball into Kankuro's face.

Though she had vigorously objected to the Sand Siblings coming to send her off on her mission, Kyoko couldn't deny the small pang of disappointment that hit her heart when she spotted only three figures by the village gates, none of whom were redheads.

Yawning, she walked over, feeling a little guilty for being the last one to arrive. "Yo! Sorry I'm late."

Basking in the warmth of the sun's first rays, the three shinobi looked up—two male genin and a female chunin Kyoko had worked with before.

"Tsuchino, Megumi," Kyoko exclaimed with a grin, coming to a stop before them. Looking at the other boy, she tried to pair a name with his face. "Tomari, right?"

The black-haired boy, one of the boys Yashamaru saved from Gaara when they were kids, grinned. Absently, Kyoko wondered if his attitude towards Gaara had escalated like Kashike's or mellowed out like Tsuchino's.

"Yup. Long time no see, eh?" he said.

"No kidding," Kyoko chuckled. She glanced at the only other kunoichi, a fellow chunin. "Megumi, you're our field medic?"

The girl smiled, her short brown hair partially hidden by the standard cloth headpiece displaying her hitai-ate. "Yup, taichou. Good to be working with you again."

"Ah, so you're leading our mission?" Tsuchino asked.

Drawing herself up to her full height, which unfortunately still made her the shortest of the four, Kyoko nodded. "Yeah, so don't go goofing off or anything. No one messes up my missions, got that?"

They all laughed at her playful tone before Kyoko stepped towards the gates.

"Back onto business," she said, leading the way out of the village after flashing their assignment scroll at the gate guards. "Let's head out."

The knock came several days after Kyoko's departure, and with all the noise coming from the kitchen, it was a wonder Gaara had even heard it. Making his way towards the front door, Gaara shook his head, slightly exasperated. Even from his room, he could hear Temari shouting at Kankuro for polishing his "stupid" puppet at the dinner table. In the face of her accusations and sneered insults, Kankuro had wasted no time in retorting that if Temari could bring her "filthy" weasel to the table, then there was no reason he couldn't bring Kuroari.

Sighing softly, he wondered how the argument would end, though he was fairly confident in his sister's ability to end fights by finally brandishing her fan threateningly. Kankuro, Gaara was sure, would soon be silenced by a good whack on the head with Temari's iron fan.

Pulling the front door open after another urgent knock sounded, Gaara blinked up at Baki.

"Where are your siblings?" the jonin asked, immediately surging in without needing an invitation.

Mutely, Gaara pointed to the kitchen, though Baki had already started for it, having heard the shouting. Following behind the wind marshall, Gaara entered the kitchen just as Temari's fingers began reaching for her fan.

"Oi!" Baki roared, immediately capturing the two siblings' attention.

"Baki?" Kankuro exclaimed.

Temari frowned, frozen in the middle of reaching for her fan. "What are you doing here?"

Brushing aside the useless questions, Baki lifted an opened scroll, gesturing towards it with as serious an expression as ever. "We have an emergency. Konoha just sent us this distress message."

At the mention of the Leaf Village, the three genin immediately crowded around it.

"One of their genin seems to have left the village," Baki explained, allowing Gaara to take the scroll. Both taller than the redhead, Temari and Kankuro peered over his shoulders to read. "They want us to send a team to assist the team they sent."

"Just for one genin?" Kankuro asked skeptically, looking up.

Temari whacked him over the head. "No, you idiot. It says here that the kid is Uchiha Sasuke, that really cute black-haired kid on Uzumaki's team. He's going off to Orochimaru and is being escorted by four shinobi under Orochimaru's orders."

"Gosh, Temari, no need to yell," Kankuro snapped. "I hadn't gotten to that part yet."

Baki cut in before an argument could surface again. "They need you there as soon as possible. Their fastest messenger bird can cross the distance between our villages in about half a day so their team should already be dispatched, if not commenced in battle already. I suggest you three get going now."

"Hold up," Kankuro exclaimed, a look of incredulity on his face. "It takes three days to walk to Konoha, two to run, one and a half if we don't stop at all. How in the world are we supposed to get there in time to be of any help?"

Having been quiet throughout the entire debriefing, Gaara realized the answer before Baki even opened his mouth. Despite knowing the massive amount of chakra he would need, Gaara looked up from the mission scroll and announced, "I can teleport us all there."

MHJ: Yeah, this wasn't my best chapter... ^^; Honestly, it turned out more like a filler than anything, but I promise you that the next chapter will make up for it! :) Next chapter is canon rather than filler so I'm assuming most of you have seen it, but in case you haven't, you might want to check out Naruto Episodes 124 to 127 (Sasuke Retrieval Arc) before you read the next chapter. Okay, ja ne~