A/N: Well this chapter is mainly me playing with the characters.
Because I was bored :D
Thanks so much for my reviews, enjoy chapter twenty-nine!
(wow 29 already...)
Oh and words like this is the Shukaku talking :D

Disclaimer: Just be glad I don't own Naruto.


A scream of delight escaped Layuki's mouth as the dove to the desert. Her eyes were closed and she was pretty sure her cap had come off and the wind was blowing through her short hair. But as she expected, she landed lightly on soft sand before she could fall very far.

"Are you trying to commit suicide?" Gaara's monotone voice drifted in the wind as his sand pile lowered to hers.

Layuki flipped over so she was lying on her back and laughed. "Haha, I wasn't trying to kill myself, I knew you would catch me. But I thought you would let me fall for a bit longer," She frowned when she saw the stoic look on his face. "Oh right, you've never felt the thrill of a near death experience." She giggled again and placed a hand over her erratic heart. "That was so much fun." Then she ran a hand through her hair and looked around. "Hm, I think I lost my hat."

"You shouldn't gamble your life like that. I might not have saved you." Then he sat down on his sand.

She grinned. "Yes you would have. If not because you wanted to, then you would have to save your alliance with the Leaf." She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the sand pile. "And my life is my own to gamble. What's the point of living if you don't take risks?"

"Life's not a game."

Her smile shrunk a little. "No it's not. In life, you don't have to play by the rules." Then her tone turned serious. "You would know all about that, wouldn't you? How many times have you killed? Weren't you kind of playing a game with their lives, taking out other players so you could dominate? That sounds like a game to me."

Kill her.

"Maybe it was. Their lives were the reason mine existed." He said, trying to push the Shukaku out of his mind.

She turned to glare at him. "There's no reason for anyone to exist, we just do. But no one asks questions. People just go with the flow. So, I wonder, why were you so different? Why did you need to prove your existence?"

I know you want her blood.

Gaara frowned as he once again ignored the demon. "Because I was alone."

"So you were." She looked away and up at the half-moon. "But everybody's been alone at least sometime. I remember when my onee-chan left I thought I would go insane even if I had other friends." She sighed. "But that's probably not the same thing you went through. She's still alive though, Satsuki-nee, I just saw her a while ago. She's so strong; I want to be like her. I love her so much."

"Love…" He whispered and he touched his heart. She turned around and smiled at him.

"Yeah. Love." Then she looked away and ran a hand through her hair. "Do you know what that is, Sabaku no Gaara?"

He stared at her for a moment then he looked away. "There is no such thing as love. If there is then it's a useless emotion."

Layuki didn't reply to him for some time. Then she muttered quietly, "I can see it in your eyes, Gaara. You can't fool me; you still want to kill me, don't you? Go ahead then, I already know that I can't beat your sand. It was pure luck that I got away those other times." She looked at him and smiled feebly. "I won't even resist. Just kill me, I know you want to."

She's given you permission.

Shut up. He turned his aquamarine eyes on the girl who was looking at him with kind eyes. "I think you should go back now." When Layuki nodded he lowered her sand pile to the ground. Still in the air, he watched her climb off and run back to the building she was staying in with her teammates. Then she closed the door without once looking back.

Too bad, kid. You missed your chance. Next time then.

Go away.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Kibaa!" Layuki whined. "I'm tired. The sun is too hot."

Kiba twitched. "Why are you telling me that?"

"Because I can't find Shikamaru, so I have to complain to you!" She threw down her kunai and promptly sat down. Kiba sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

"Stop complaining. Just because we're not in our village doesn't mean we don't have to train." When Layuki didn't get up he threw a shruiken so it landed only a couple inches away from her. "Get up! We're not finished sparring."

Layuki grudgingly stood up and picked up the throwing star, twirling it on her finger. "Since when are you so responsible? Just a minute ago you were making fun of my hair." The she stopped spinning the weapon. "Sparring with you is boring. Your Tsuuga (1)is too slow. It doesn't give me a challenge."

He scowled, annoyed. "It's not our fault, right Akamaru? We can't spin as fast in the sand." The small white puppy barked.

"That's no excuse. If that's all the reason you have then you need more jutsu. If you want to be a proper shinobi you have to adapt in any situation, sand or no sand." Layuki paused for a moment. "Though I agree with you. It slows me down too, kinda."

"If it effects you then don't lecture me. You're being hypocritical" Kiba could feel a vein popping in his forehead.

She smiled and tilted her head to the side innocently. "No I'm not. I never said I wanted to be a proper shinobi. Proper-ness is too boring." Then she threw the shruiken back at him, making the smallest cut in his cheek. For the sun, Kiba had ditched his huge jacket and instead wore a plain tee shirt. "But enough chatting. You're right. Back to sparring then."

"Can we train with you guys?" A giddy voice drifted through the air and Layuki turned to see the girl from yesterday. After a moment's thought she remembered her name was Meiumi. Along with the brunette were two boys that seemed to be her teammates. One was tall with shaggy blonde hair; the other was slightly shorter with hair that was a dark green colour.

Layuki stared at the trio for a moment. Apparently she had fought them before, but no matter how hard she thought she couldn't remember them. Before answering her question she looked to Kiba who shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Great." Meiumi grinned. "How about tag-teams?"

"Nah, We'll go three on three." Kiba said loudly. "Right, Akamaru?" the dog barked.

Shrugging, Layuki walked over to stand by Kiba's side. When she reached him, she muttered so only he could hear, "I'm not too sure about these guys, but there's something about them, especially that girl. I'm pretty sure she wasn't at the exams."

"What's that supposed to mean to me?" He whispered back.

"She told me she was. But they're all trying really hard to hide her thoughts, and it'll take me too long to scan through their memories." It took Kiba a moment to realise that her Hirukagan was activated. "They're weak, you can tell by their chakra signals. If we work as a team then I'm pretty sure we can end it fast and I can figure out why they want to fight us so much."

Kiba shrugged and then both of them noticed that a small crowd had formed around the two teams. "You guys ready? Meiumi shouted from a couple yards away. As soon as she nodded, all three of them disappeared.

"Behind. I'll get them into position, and then you hit them with Tsuuga, got it? If that doesn't work, then you take over, I'll follow what you're thinking." With a nod she was gone. Appearing behind the boy with green hair she caught him by surprise and tackled him to the ground. Then the other boy came at her, and she jumped and landed on them. Meiumi was running towards them. "Now Kiba!"

Jumping away two swirling jets came and hit the three. After a large collision two Kiba's stood there grinning. Their smiled were wiped away when their opponents turned out to be sand clones. Before she had a chance to react, she was hit from behind with an amazing force. As she flew through the air she did a flip and landed on her feet next to Kiba.

"Die!" Meiumi's shout echoed through the air. Both Layuki and Kiba turned around to watch her fly through the air with a katana. Both leaf shinobi sighed and stepped to the side as the girl landed in between them.

Kicking the sword out of her hands and then putting a kunai to her neck Layuki said, "If you were aiming to kill, it wasn't smart to shout out what you were doing while we still had time to react. And I do believe you were aiming to kill. Do you mind if I ask why?" Then all of a sudden her two teammates appeared on either side of her holding kunai's with the point's aimed to her head. "You guys are pathetic, you know that?"

Kiba and Akamaru appeared on either side of her as well, and with a punch they made the two boys fly through the air. Meiumi scowled. "I hate the leaf. My brother was killed in the invasion, and as you two are leaf shinobi I swear to kill you."

"When were you made genin?" The brunette girl frowned but didn't answer, making Layuki scowl. "You're wasting our time. Come on Kiba, Akamaru, we need to find Shikamaru." She put her kunai away and walked out of the training field with Kiba.

"You're mean, you know that?" Kiba said as he placed Akamaru, now in dog form, on his head. "I mean the girl only wanted to avenge her brother."

Layuki didn't stop when she spoke. "Maybe I am. But the invasion was their fault not ours. Besides, she was stupid enough to not ask her teammates to do anything. I can tell they're stronger than her. She kinda reminds me of Naruto-kun, though."

"Nah. Naruto's stronger." Then he looked behind them. "She's following us."

She ignored him. Sensing a familiar chakra, she looked up and spotted Gaara looking down at them. Without taking her eyes off him she said, "Let her. She won't do anything with the Kazekage watching." She stared at him for a moment and then tore her gaze away. "Come on Kiba, Akamaru. Let's go."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Looking at the clock beside her bed, Layuki saw it was past midnight. Sighing, she stood up, opened the window and climbed out. As soon as she was on top of the roof she jumped from one building to the next trying to relocate the place she had met Gaara the night before.

As she had hoped, he was there when she finally found the spot. "Do you come here every night, Gaara?"

The redhead didn't reply for a while. "Whenever I can." He stood up straight and looked at her. "You should go, it's not safe for you to be with me."

"I could care less. Like I said, what's life without a few risks?" She walked over and crouched down beside the burned area. With two fingers she traced the outline of the body. "This place obviously means something to you." She said quietly. "Will you tell me? Will you let me try to get to know you?"

There was a slight pause. "You're like him too." Layuki tilted her head to the side curiously. And he said, "Uzumaki Naruto."

She smiled. "Yeah Naruto-kun's great. I think he should be a therapist; his random outbursts affect people quite a bit. He's a goof, but an overall good guy." She laughed. "I still find it hard to believe that the only reason I got out of my depression when my onee-chan left was because he yelled at me to get a hold of myself. That kid is one of a kind."

"He is." Then it was silent between to two for a moment.

"So," Layuki started, "you're not going to tell me, are you?"

He didn't say anything until she began to walk away. "This was the place where I first felt pain." Then he told her. About his uncle, about the village, about everything. When he finished Layuki smiled at him.

"That's some past you've had. Almost make's me sorry for you, but don't worry, I won't give you my pity. I find that wounds take longer to heal when people keep bringing them up." Then she chuckled. "I'm surprised though, I wasn't sure if you were capable of talking that much at once." Then she paused. "I have one more question though. Have you ever smiled?"

The question took Gaara aback, but he didn't let his surprise show on his face.

When he didn't say anything Layuki spoke again. "You should, sometime. And not a smile of mocking-ness, just a genuine one. It'll make you feel better." Then she looked at the moon. "I should get going now, Gaara. Thanks, for everything." With one last look his way she jumped off the building and ran back to the place she was staying.

Watching her back, Gaara felt the corners of his lips twitch upwards in a small, small smile.


A/N: Ah, I can't write romance T-T
It just doesn't work for me..oh well.
Thanks for reading, reviews are loved!
Also: (1) Tsuuga is Kiba and Akamaru's attack. The swirly one (:

PS. I have a NejiTen fic, it's my first one with no OCs as main characters.
Read pwease:3
Thankies!
fanny-kun