I know, I'm a week late. I'm sorry, but I was sick. Still. Between a week long cold followed closely by a stomach bug, I'm just starting to feel normal. So, if this chapter's a little off, that's why. My brain was having a hard time working during those two weeks.

On another note, I haven't decided whether I'm going to keep this a chapter-a-week story, or if I'm going to drop it down to every 2 weeks so that I can work on some other stuff as well. Just thought I'd let you know so if I do decided to do that, I'm not leaving you hanging next week.

Anyways,

hope you enjoy,

Trouble 1

ps. tried to keep Gaara out of this chapter but he's a persistent little shit : )

pps. I did have this chapter up last night, but something went wonkie on the website and it never registered as an update. : \
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We sat there for a long time, neither of us so much as speaking as the ceremony progressed. The ANBU knew we were there; I could feel their eyes on us every couple minutes or so. But they didn't make a move to get rid of us either, which was kinda nice of them.

It turned out to be a couple hour ordeal, with lots of pretty words and traditions. But for once I didn't zone out, I didn't become bored, I focused on what was going on in front of be because the third deserved nothing less than my full attention.

I tried to keep a brave face and keep the tears at bay, and it worked, for a while. But when everyone started putting flowers on the casket, it all broke. I could feel the tears streaming out of my useless eyes and pooling inside my goggles until they found a small place to leak out of. It wasn't long after those first few tears left trails down my cheeks that I felt someone take my hand.

I glanced over to find that it was Fu's, which shouldn't have surprised me much, since she was the only one there, but it did. She looked back at me, squeezing my hand softly as if to give me some sort of reassurance, before turning back.

Neither of us spoke until the funeral was over and everyone had filed out of the area.

"So," I stated, getting her attention. "What's the real reason you brought me here, to this specific spot?"

"What do you mean? I did it so you could see the funeral."

"So it wasn't so once it was over we would have a secluded place to talk?"

"The thought never crossed my mind." She let go of my hand in order to cross her arms. I waited a moment. "But since you brought it up, this is a very good spot to talk about how you didn't tell me you're blind!"

"Honestly, I haven't told anyone," I answered with a sigh. "The only people that know figured it out on their own."

"And who knows?" she asked after a slight pause. "Other than me and our otato, that is."

"As far as I know, just Kaka-sensei and his medic-nin teammate." I leaned back, propping myself up with my arms. "If anyone else knows, they haven't said anything."

"You think others know?"

"Probably not. I've been really careful. Plus if anyone else found out, they'd have told on me and I'd be out of a job."

"You still haven't answered my question," she pouted, her face no doubt mirroring her voice.

"I've answered every one you've asked so far."

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

"It's a secret Fu, you don't go around telling everyone your secrets."

"I'm not everyone! I'm your friend!"

"I didn't tell any of my other friends either."

"That's not the point! You've seen all of them before! But-"

"But I've never seen you?"

"…Yeah."

We sat in silence for a little while as we both got lost in thought.

"Do you know how long I've been blind?" I asked out of the blue. She looked towards me, tilting her head.

"Well, no…"

"Then, I could have been blind since birth and there for have never seen any of my friends."

"Oh," She said quietly. "Is that true?"

"Nope!" I said with a smile. "But it could have been."

"How long have you been blind?"

"Little over a month. The second test to be exact. Walked into the forest with my sight, walked out without it."

"We didn't meet till after that."

"Officially, no. But I've seen you."

"Really?"

"You're kinda hard to miss when you make as big of a scene as I do."

"I wasn't that bad," she muttered, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment.

"Fu, you were jumping up and down before the first test as if the floor was lava."

"I was antsy."

"And when I gave the proctor my little speech about not giving up, you couldn't agree silently like everyone else. You had to stand up and proclaim exactly where he could shove his last question."

"Yeah, I'm surprised he didn't fail me for that."

"You and me both," I agreed with a chuckle.

There was silence for a moment before Fu continued the conversation.

"Do you remember what I look like?" she asked tentatively.

"Of course," I said, flashing her a smile.

"What do I look like then?"

I rolled my eyes at her question but began to describe her anyways.

"Your hair is short, a little past your chin. It's a minty green color too. I'm pretty sure you have clips holding your bangs back. Your clothes were kinda skimpy but I'm pretty sure Ino dresses worse so…Oh yeah! Your eyes! I really liked your eyes. They're a light orange color and I love orange," I said, earning a small giggle for my efforts.

"You're a bit taller than me, but that's probably more to do with you being older than anything else. Your skin's kinda dark too, which I thought was cool. I mean, we don't really see that a lot in Konoha. I thought you may have got more sun than we do. But we get a lot of sun here so I guessed it was just your regular skin tone, right? Either way, it's-"

Before I could finish she leaned forward and planted a small kiss on my lips, stunning me to silence. It took a few seconds after she pulled away before I could speak again.

"Uh… I guess I'm describing the right person then, huh?"

"Yes," She said as she laughed happily.

"Do you want me to keep going? I probably could if I really focused. I mean, I have a pretty good memory, contrary to popular belief. I just have trouble focusing on it."

She hummed in thought almost playfully before I got an answer.

"No, that is alright," A voice said that was definitely not Fu's. We both sat up straight and spun around to find Gaara sitting on the other side of me, peacefully watching the horizon as if he belonged there. "Personally, I would like to hear more about your disability."

"Gaara?" I asked the same time Fu.

"We were having a moment!" Fu continued, making me shake my head.

"Apologies," he stated simply. "But I found no better point to interrupt than this."

"What are you doing here?" I asked, trying to hide the bit of nervousness I felt by having him so close. I mean, we did have a bit of an understanding but he did try to kill me a few days ago. "Aren't you supposed to be under lock down or something?"

"I am, this is a clone."

"Oh. Sand clone?" I asked out of curiously. He nodded in addition to making a small, agreeable hum. "You have enough chakra for that already?"

"Barely," he states simply. "I will not be able to keep it long."

"Wow, and I can hardly get a good picture with my chakras let alone make a clone."

"You are unused to using byju chakra, correct?" he asked. I nodded. "I am sure once you are more in tune with its chakra you will be able to regenerate it, and your own, at a quicker rate."

"Sounds about right."

"Wait!" Fu shouted, getting both mine and Gaara's attention. "How long have you been up here?"

"I am not. This is a clone."

"Fine. How long's your clone been up here."

"I formed it here only a few minutes ago," he replied simply.

"So you didn't hear our conversation."

"I did. Our I had read it," Gaara stated. I gave him an odd look that Fu was no doubt mirroring. He raised two fingers to one eyes as a small sphere appeared next to his head. "Sand eye."

"Don't we get any sort of privacy around here!" Fu exclaimed angrily.

"If you wanted a private conversation then maybe you should have snuck out more quietly."

"Why you!" She exclaimed as she tried to lunge over me to no doubt attack him. I grabbed her bag before she could get far.

"Down Fu," I said, almost bored. I pulled her back down next to me where she crossed her arms with a huff. "There's no need to kill the clone."

"He's being an ass," she pouted. I shook my head at her before turning back to Gaara.

"You had questions?"

"Yes," he said as he turned back forward. "I believe Fu and I are of the same mind. That we could like to know more about this secret we shall be keeping."

"That's the only thing that's the same," she muttered angrily.

With an amused smirk I flopped back onto the ground, folding my arms under my head to act as an impromptu pillow.

"Ask away."

Gaara and Fu looked at each other before doing exactly that. They asked a lot of questions, or at least Fu did. Gaara seemed content to let her take control of the conversation, occasionally injecting one of his own.

Oddly enough, I didn't mind answering whatever question they conjured up. In fact, I kinda enjoyed being able to talk about it to people my own age, knowing they'd never give away my secret. After a bit I even let my Chakra echoes fade out, feeling more comfortable with my surroundings then I have in a long time.

"You stopped pulsing," Gaara pointed out in the lull of the conversation. I turned my head towards him, giving him a confused look. "You're echoes."

"Oh, you noticed?"

"My sand is very sensitive," he said as I heard the grains shift around him lightly at their mention. "Once I know what to look for, it wasn't hard to find."

"Cool," I said with a smirk before turning back towards the sky. "And yeah, I turned it off. Saves on chakra and I can focus on my other senses better. I really don't want people eavesdropping on this conversation."

"I believe this, particular conversation is about over regardless," Gaara pointed out simply. "My clone will not last much longer."

"Well I'm glad you stopped by," I said, sitting back up with a stretch. "You know, you're pretty cool when you're not trying to kill us and all."

"You as well," he said. His sand started to shift more, sounding as if it was starting to fall onto the outcrop. "But, before I go…I would like to ask you two something?"

"Go ahead," I said while Fu said something similar.

"I have been thinking a lot about your suggestion from before. About proving my existence by protecting precious people." Gaara paused, seemingly a little lost at what to say next.

"That's cool!" I exclaimed with a wide grin. "Did you decide on anything yet?"

"I believe I will try this, to see if it does, indeed, do a better job than my…current method."

"That's awesome!"

"But…" he started again, but the words once again escaped him. Whatever he was going to say next, seemed to be the important part so, I waited patiently until he found them. But Fu, apparently had other ideas.

"But what? I thought that was a really cool concept? What 'but' could you have with it?" she asked.

"Nothing at all," he said, taking a breath before continuing. "I was simply wondering if, it would be alright, if I counted you two as some of those people."

Fu and I were stunned for a moment, unable to come up with responses ourselves.

"So let me get this straight," Fu started once she had recovered her voice. "Three days ago you had been trying to kill, not only us, but our teammates simply because you could, and now you want to protect us?"

"Is that strange?" he wondered.

"Just a bit," she said, a smile hidden in her voice. She brushed against me as she leaned towards Gaara, followed by the sound of hair being shifted playfully. "But it's part of your charm. I'd be honored to be thought of as such, Otato."

"Me too," I said, placing my hand on his shoulder. It felt like it was starting to fall apart a bit but I ignored it. "We Jinchurikis need to stick together after all."

"Thank you," he said, a small smile appearing in his voice as well. We had a small moment before his shoulder disintegrated completely, indicating his departure.

"We should go too," I said after a moment, earning a sigh from Fu. "They're probably missing us by now."

"I know, but can't we stay for just a little longer? I'm not ready to deal with them yet." She leaned against my side, laying her head on my shoulder.

"Alright," I relented, bringing a hand up to rest on her shoulder. "I'm not ready to deal with them either."