DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the of the Naruto characters or franchise only the girls involved in the series of events that follow.
A/N: I don't know about you guys, but today is not a good day for me. I am a bisexual Latina with a lot of strong opinions that not all agree with and today is not a day that makes me happy for the future of the country I live in. Which is why I'll be open to any and all who would like an ear to vent to, a shoulder to cry on, or just someone to talk to. Please don't be a stranger and feel free to contact me anytime you feel like it. We don't have to talk about politics, we could talk about anything that's on your mind. With that, I want to say that I really love and appreciate all of you from the bottom of my heart! Until later!
Marisela- Your World is My World (Part V)
Gaara still doesn't make any eye contact with me and keeps an eye on the moving crowd. I take the time to watch his closely. He seems very distracted and a bit jumpy considering that his eyes won't stay in the same place for more than two seconds and he keeps unfolding and folding his arms over his chest. Something about him seems off. Earlier in his office there was a lot of paperwork and he was visibly stressed. He might just need to relax a little and get his mind off of his work.
I point to the stand across the street. "Want to go over there?"
Gaara follows my finger but then looks down. I step closer to him, Gaara's head jolting up with his eyes going wide.
"Come on," I prompt. When he still doesn't say anything, I gently tug on the hem of his sleeve and drag him across the street.
The stand sells masks, and a lot of them in a variety of colors and styles. I can't help but stop and take a look at one that resembles an owl. Running over to it, I waste no time putting it on. I love it! Even though I can barely see out of it. I take it off and show it to Gaara who got stuck talking to the stand's owner. The owner picks out a mask that looks like a bear, handing it to Gaara. Fumbling with the mask, Gaara nervously puts it over his face and the owner pats him on the back proudly. I smile at how cute Gaara is being, feeling little butterflies flap in my stomach.
"What do you say Lord Kazekage? It suits you, doesn't it?" he boasts with a grin.
I interrupt, seeing a better mask on a stand behind them. "Actually, I think this one is better." I pluck off the mask and give it to Gaara.
He takes the mask from my hand gingerly, still not making eye contact. "Thank you," he murmurs, making my cheeks redden.
When he puts it on, my heart almost stops. Gaara blinks behind the raccoon mask I picked out for him, unsure of what to do next. Unlike my owl mask, his only covers his eyes and even comes with large ears. He's so cute!
"That is better," the owner whispers beneath his breath.
I smirk. Of course it is.
As I turn around to put my mask back, I catch Gaara's eyes. Forgetting about everything, I feel myself get swallowed by his blue orbs that have me so entranced.
"You should try yours on missy."
I jump at the sound of the other man's voice but slip on the mask once again. Hiding beneath the mask, I glance back at Gaara. He's still looking at me… Blushing, I can't help but go ahead and compliment him.
"The mask looks good on you."
Gaara tilts his head towards the owner of the stand. His mouth is set in a straight line and it causes mine to curve into a frown. Talk to me Gara. I groan internally and take the mask off. Walking back to where my mask was placed, I stop midway as I hear Gaara's voice.
"I'll buy both."
The mask in my hand starts to feel hot or maybe that's just me. My frown disappears and is quickly replaced with a small smile. Catching up with Gaara, I watch as he hands the man a set of coins.
"Thank you Gaara," I happily say as we walk out.
He glances down at his feet but keeps his pace as we walk deeper into the brightly lit street. "You're welcome Marisela."
We continue to walk to see the other typical things you would see at a festival. Or at least what I know from reading manga and watching anime on this sort of stuff. We stop at a stand that has the fish scooping game and we each get our own pail and scooper. I scoop out a large orange goldfish in my first attempt and even give Gaara some tips, or at least try to. Describing something you do on instinct is too hard to do, but for him I'm willing to do my best. We even stop at a stand that sells takoyaki. Although some people start small conversations with Gaara, it beats him being surrounded by his fangirls. One quick glare from me and all of the ones that are within a thirty foot radius of us run for the hills. They should be happy that I can't take them all down with my powers.
I'm scaring off more fangirls when Gaara gets distracted by a shop that sells cacti. I send one last scowl and follow him and watch him as he takes different pots of cacti and inspects.
The shop is literally filled with cacti and the guy selling them was so shocked that Gaara walked in he froze. Gaara didn't even notice but just kept looking around at the cacti. He's really handsome. Okay, that's weird to say when all he's doing is grabbing pots of small cacti and staring at them. But he is.
He picks up a small cactus with a small green bud growing at the top. This one he stares at longer than the other ones. I walk to him and casually pretend to be looking at a huge cactus next to him. I gulp and try to make conversation with him.
"Do you like that one?"
He doesn't look up or say anything but I know that he does.
"It's pretty. I like it too."
"It reminds me of you."
"Huh?"
"It's strange." What?! "It shouldn't be able to bloom at this time." Oh.
Now that he's said it, it is the only one with a bud. All the other ones don't have any at all. It really is weird.
Then, he walks up to the man who I forgot was there and buys it. The man puts it into a little pink bag which is so adorable to see Gaara carrying. Not long after, we pick up where we left off and explore the remainder of the festival. He buys me more food which include a candied apple, fried noodle, and even cotton candy.
A thought jumps into my head, and even though I feel my head get dizzy, I force myself to go through with it. Holding out the cotton candy, I ask, "Do you want to try some Gaara?"
Gaara gapes at me. "I don't want to take from you."
Hearing his words, I pluck off some of the cotton candy and hand it to him. He appears baffled at first but still takes the small piece into his fingertips.
"T-Thank you," he stutters.
I watch as he takes his first bite, his eyes jumping out of their sockets the second the cotton candy is in his mouth. So cute.
"Do you like it?"
"It's good." He finishes his piece in seconds and looks at the rest of the cotton candy in my hand. I chuckle move the cotton candy between us.
"Here. You can have some."
Gaara mutters a quiet thank you and picks out piece after piece until there's none left. When he reaches into the empty bag, he pauses and send me an apologetic glance before pulling his hand away.
"Sorry Marisela. I shouldn't have eaten all of your food like that."
He looks like a puppy… "You don't need to be sorry Gaara," I respond. "We could go buy some more if you like it that much."
He shakes his head. "No, I do not want to impose any more than I already have. We should continue with what remains of the festival."
Smiling at his sincerity, we keep walking along the festive street. I haven't had time to think about it before, but isn't this kind of like a date? I blush the second the thought pops into my head as I finish the cotton candy. Any feeling of hope dies when I remember our encounter earlier today.
"There are no more left," Gaara quietly states.
Gazing up at him, I follow his eyes to the black shadows encasing the rest of the bare street. No more stands, lights, or people block our way. This has to be where the festival ends. Besides me, Gaara turns back around to the chatter and light of the festival.
"After all that, Temari is still nowhere in sight."
A sudden dark punch hits my gut at hearing his words. He was looking for Temari the entire time! I could laugh at how sad that is if I had the energy to do it but it feels like it was all drained away.
"Why did you come if you just wanted to find her?"
My voice ends up being harsher than I intended it to be but I ignore that and wait for his answer.
"She asked me to come and gave me this yukata to wear. However, I'm not sure why. I wanted to ask her my purpose for coming but it seems she doesn't want to be found which is not like her."
Temari asked me to come and even got Gaara to come too. Did she set us up? I get giddy at the thought of Temari putting me and Gaara together. She probably left on purpose so we could spent some time together. Now she's cooler than ever!
"Marisela."
Gaara's call is so faint it's almost impossible to hear. Almost.
"What is it Gaara?"
His eyes peer into mine, searching deeper and deeper with every second. The longer he stares, the more I feel my knees go weak. "Why do you have feelings towards me?"
I don't have any time to filter my words before they cascade out of my mouth. "Because you're so determined to do well for your people and want to protect everyone that surrounds you. You were also strong enough to face the hardships in your life and somehow remained calm throughout it all. I admire you because of that and it's also why I really like you."
Listening to what I said repeat over and over in my head, my mouth shits closed and my cheeks heat up. I can't even build the courage to look Gaara in the eye, so out of embarrassment, I turn on my heel and begin to walk away.
Marisela, walk faster, walk faster!
"Wait."
Something grabs a hold of my ankle, something grainy and rough. I could have tripped if I wasn't walking so slow. Looking down, I spot small grains of sand recede into the earth while shadows of dust decorate my ankle. I raise my eyes to Gaara's face. His bangs are covering his eyes and his hand is extended toward me. Did he just use his sand to grab my ankle?
"I… had fun. With you." Keeping his head down, his mouth opens and closes several times. I wait patiently for his next words feeling like I'm being pulled in little by little by a tiny string to get closer to him. "Marisela…"
A sudden bright light illuminates the sky and for a mere second, Gaara's hidden face becomes visible with a reddish glow. I see that his cheeks are delicately patterned with a pink blush. His eyes are filled with panic yet compassion but it's all taken away with a loud bang.
My head instinctively rotates towards the direction of the sound where a bright red firework had just announced itself. The crowd in front of me murmurs ooh and ahs but my interest is solely focused on the one person I took my eyes off of. Turning around as fast as I can, my eyes meet with the dark path that I had seen only recently, Gaara nowhere in sight. My shoulders drop as I scan my perimeter with determination. The racing of my heart won't cease or quiet so all I can hear are its frantic beats followed by the pops and sizzles of the firework display above me. Where did he go?
At the end of the night, I gave up on locating Gaara. I went back to my temporary home and fell flat onto the bed. For some reason, I pull open the drawer of the night stand. Inside, Little Gaara pokes his eyes at me. My heart begins to thud loudly the moment I grab hold of him, placing him in atop the nightstand with his eyesight directed at me. Flashbacks hit me, Gaara staring at me with panic stricken eyes that could mean the end of something precious but compassion that could start something wonderful. They held an answer.
…
For the first time in my life, I was looking forward to waking up. Little Gaara was the first thing I saw when my eyes opened and memories of last night flooded my mind like a storm. I put a hand to my forehead and scrub my face with it. I need to talk to Gaara. Repeating the line over and over again, I find a way to drag myself out of bed and up on my feet in order to get ready to head out.
The streets don't show any sign that a festival took place which leaves me to wonder how they could clean up so fast. The thought only sticks for a millisecond before my original plan kicks it out. I need to talk to Gaara. He still hasn't given me a verbal answer to my question and that makes me curious as to why. Not mad, curious. Why won't he give me an answer?
Barging into the building, I follow the only path I know how to take and open the doors to his office in the blink of an eye. Unlike yesterday, the piles of papers that were on his desk have vanished into thin air with the exception of a scroll that's neatly unfolded at his desk.
Gaara head jumps from the scroll to me. His mouth opens and shows his surprise. However, it fades when he averts his eyes back to the scroll and he motions for me to sit. Now the surprise come to me. Taking his orders, I sit in the chair in front of his desk and hold my tongue so he can speak.
"This letter arrived moments ago. It seems the Hokage of the Leaf has come across important information that has to be delivered," his eyes lock on me, "about you and your friends."
Clenching my hands is all I can do. I have no words for this sort of news. Why did this have to happen now of all times?
"The Hokage says she will be coming herself, along with your friend. They should have departed sometime yesterday which means that they should arrive in two days."
Thalia's coming? And what sort of news? Nevermind, that can wait until later. Right now, I got more important things to be dealing with.
"Gaara," I start, "what about my answer?"
Panic and compassion fill his eyes again. He sighs and straightens the scroll on his desk to get rid of invisible wrinkles. Finally, he sets his hands in a firm clasp and clears his throat. "I'm still searching for my answer, Marisela. I have never been so confused and lost like this before. Finding a way to give you a response is like walking down a road with no direction or sight. I want to give you an answer but all I can afford to say are blank words. I'm sorry."
A sad smile creeps onto my face. "Your apology is accepted. Just give me an answer when you have it."
The cool exit that I was about to make gets interrupted by the growl of my stomach. In a matter of seconds, my cheeks turn bright pink and my limbs lock in place. Why now!?
"Are you… hungry?"
I swallow the shame down my throat and laugh nervously. "Yeah I forgot to eat breakfast before coming here."
In one swift move, Gaara gets up from his seat and moves to make an exit himself. Over his shoulder, he says, "I know a good restaurant, if you'll join me?" On his face, I catch the slightest trace of a smile.
My heart melts at the speed of light. I return his smile, unafraid of the blush I feel tinting my cheeks. "I'd love to."
Sorry again for the length of this chapter! And seriously, I love each and every one of you! Also, don't be a stranger, I'd love to get to know each and every one of you 3