Chapter 20

Sofia grabbed onto Kankuro to help herself up in a hurry and hid herself behind him. Aby gasped and backed away as well. Everyone turned their attention at once.

Akio, however, smiled with a knowing and excited look. Gaara straightened himself and frowned in surprise.

A small brownish, black with golden glowing crossed pupils eyes, filthy creature came out of the shadowed rocks, head lowered to the ground, raising it once only to sniff the air. His sharp clawed paws moved him slowly towards the group. His messy, tangled hair tail smacked the ground twice as he approached them, almost sideways. The weird catlike creature cautiously came under the moonlight. Wait … a cat or a raccoon? Or a bear? What the hell was that?

Abigail had seen the creature before, but couldn't quite place it, the familiarity was actually driving her crazy … but more importantly;

"Did that thing just talk?"

The creature's head sharply turned towards her and snarled, glaring with its yellow eyes.

"Heyyyy … that thing has a name, brat!"

"The one tail demon racoon!" laughed Akio.

"Oh! Shikaku!" exclaimed Sofia.

Shikamaru hissed at her. "Hey! Shikaku was my father!"

"Shukaku?!" Exclaimed Gaara with a surprised smile.

"Ok, seriously," Sofia said, "What's with all the names sounding the same?!"

"Old friend! What are you doing here?" asked Gaara.

"Hey boy; who is this gal; and the other gal; and those brats? I do not recognize them …"

He carefully approached Toshiko and sniffed him from head to toe and sneezed; which made him laugh.

"You! You are Shukaku?" Aby said in amazement. Why was he so small?

"So the brat knows me, but I do not know her …" he said, ignoring her question.

"They are friends, from another world," answered Gaara, kneeling beside the creature. "How have you been?"

Shukaku grumbled as a response. He approached Abigail carefully.

"You … you are different … you smell different, what are you?"

"She's the same as us!" said Toshiko excitedly.

He turned to him and grinned, showing his scary teeth, amused by the concerned face that Tori was giving him, hiding behind her brother.

"No, you are not," he said. "she has … something … else."

"It is true! Said Akio. "Technically, she is different than us!"

The creature seemed to notice the Gatekeeper for the first time. He turned to him, surprised and glared for a few seconds, before raising an eyebrow.

"And you," he said, confused. He looked between Aby and Akio back and forth. "You are the same, but … different." He turned to Abigail once more, as if obsessed with her, something he was desperately trying to understand. "You, you inspire authority for some reason; which is very surprising and humiliating. Why is it that I have this urge to treat you with respect?! I don't like that."

"I would follow your instinct if I were you!" answered the Gatekeeper with a smile.

"Darn it." he growled.

"Shukaku, what are you doing here?"

The one tailed beast looked at Gaara. "I was just passing by, then I smelled you. I miss that smell," he said to his old jinjuriki, stretching his back as a cat would do. "And thought I would warn you of a possible encounter a few miles away from here."

"What? Who?" asked Temari.

"Four idiots, looking as if they're up to no good. I know this 'coz they look like me when I'm up to no good, BWA HA HA HA!"

Shukaku let out a laughing growl that resonated across the land. Aby was grinning from ear to ear. Sasuke on the other hand, looked serious.

"What did they look like,"

"Huh," he answered annoyed. He yawned, and shook off a cloud of dust. "I don't know … they looked like … stupid?"

"Everybody look stupid to you, old friend," said Gaara affectionately.

"Huh. Well, let's see … one was bald, full of tattoos … I can't remember now. Oh! One had blue eyeliner and kept licking his knife. So disgusting."

Sasuke growled. "The three guys we encountered … the one with the knife managed to poison me."

"Another one was sitting a little away, black hair, with a pink cloth over it, I couldn't place him, but I'm sure I saw him somewhere. He had a familiar scent."

Abigail felt cold sweats on her spine. Was he talking about Chris?

"This last person you described, did he look like he was ok? Did he look like he was in trouble?"

"Not particularly. He seemed upset and wasn't talking to the other three. He was sitting a few meters away."

"Maybe they kidnapped him!" said Aby, suddenly worried.

"Did the guy have a weird key with him?" asked Shikamaru.

Shukaku looked at the man with disdain and rolled his eyes before answering. What? Were humans now forbidden to carry keys? How were they to keep their home safe? He scratched behind his ear where a few gnats escaped. He caught one in flight and swallowed it whole.

"Can't say …" he shrugged, "I didn't stick around. Why are you all so interested?" asked the beast, tilting his head in curiosity and blinking its eyes a few times.

"He could be in danger!" said Abigail in a moment of panic.

"This wasn't my concern. I could've just killed them on the spot, but I prefered to keep going. I was hungry." The bijuu yawned and looked at Tori, grinning. She was still disgusted with the fly he just ate.

She hurried towards Abigail and held her hand, afraid that he would suddenly take her to eat her as well; she did not doubt that she looked more yummy to the weird tanuki, compared to a mere fly.

"It's ok Tori," she smiled. "He's just teasing you. Shukaku is actually a good guy as long as you treat him with respect."

"Ok"

Shukaku walked towards Gaara.

"She smells different," he said, "like power … a lot of it … but it seemed trapped in an awkward messy ball wrapped with rubber bands."

"It's a long story, but she discovered she has some special … abilities ...that she has yet to completely awaken, and she is somehow connected to us. We are going to Konoha where more of her friends are; so she can learn to use this power more effectively. I mean to help her as well, as my skills seem to be similar to hers."

"What, she can manipulate sand too?!" asked the tanuki surprised.

"No … water." Aby answered.

Shukaku looked at Gaara with inquisitive eyes … he remained silent for a moment, looked at her and back at him. He suddenly seemed to realize something and grinned.

"You smell different too," he said, while walking away, shaking off the gnats off him. "If you ever need me, I won't stay too far … send me a thought and I'll come to your aid."

Gaara raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"That is very kind of you. Thank you old friend."

"Yeah, yeah," Shukaku mumbled under his breath, already a few meters away. "Don't get stuck in the mud … BWA HA HA HA HA"

The group watched the one tailed disappear in the distance and walked on. This time, Aby caught up to Gaara ahead. She looked up to him shyly.

"Is it ok if I walk with you?"

Gaara smiled. "Of course!"

"That was cool just now … Shukaku."

"Was he what you imagined?"

"Oh no … I didn't recognize him right away! This world makes everything look so different; including Shukaku. And I thought … wasn't he supposed to be much bigger?"

"The tailed beasts like to be discreet as they are now roaming free. Only the nine tailed is still inside Naruto, of his own choice. But they could be as big as a mountain if they wanted to."

"Right … I can see why that'd be inconvenient …"

She walked beside him, trying to fight the awkward silence that didn't feel natural.

"Hum … what did he mean by 'don't get stuck in the mud?" she asked perplexed.

Gaara smiled and looked down to his side, where she was.

"I think he was referring to me using sand, and you, using water.

"OH!" Abigail laughed; so Shukaku had a sense of humor!

"Are you tired?"

She crossed her arms tightly while looking down; partly to suffocate the desire to hold his hand, and also to hide the goosebumps running along her arms. She was, yet again, remembering the kiss from last night. Damn! She thought with a smile.

"No, not really. I can still keep going!"

"Yes well, we'll stop soon anyway for the night. How are the children?"

She looked behind and saw Tori and Toshiko, enjoying their piggy back ride on Kankuro and Yashiko.

"They seem fine …"

She was being choked by the affection she felt for him, and couldn't find anything else to say to keep the conversation going.

The group walked on like this, silently, for another hour or so. Toshiko sighed heavily and was mirrored by Tori.

Abigail looked back, waiting for the 'are we there yet?' question that all children are expected to ask.

"I'm hungry," complained Toshiko instead.

"All right, this should be a good place to camp."

Gaara put down his sand gourd and stuff. He raised his hand to recreate his sand "tent" but was interrupted by something bumping into him. He looked down and saw Tori who apologetically looked up to him, seemingly afraid. He looked around in search of Abigail, only to find her a few meters away, sitting on a rock by the edge of the clearing.

They had entered the forest a few minutes ago, officially in the Land of Fire Territory. The path led them to a small clearing where they could hear the rush of water nearby; the waterfall Temari spoke of earlier. Her eyes met Gaara's and she smiled.

"Tori, are you hungry? I have some … I'm not sure what they are, but it's yummy … some kind of nuts I think."

To Aby and Gaara's surprise, she held onto Gaara's Kazekage shirt and stuck to him. She looked at the forest nearby which was pitch dark.

"Tori is afraid of the dark," explained Toshiko. "But not me!" he added proudly. Temari giggled at the cute sight.

"Awwwwww!"

Abigail's heart melted too. She looked behind her at the forest, which was about a meter away from the rock she was sitting on. Still, it was so dark that she couldn't see anything behind the first few rows of trees and bushes.

"It is quite dark in there."

"And she is right to be concerned!" Said Gaara, "you never know when enemies might jump at you!"

She glared at him. "That's not gonna help her getting rid of her fear,"

"She is safe here with me!" he smiled while picking her up, "that warning was meant for you!"

She suddenly straightened up, alert, and looked back at the forest who was unusually quiet, and felt shivers run down her spine.

"Not funny," she said while moving away from the rock, towards the center. Gaara built his tent within 5 seconds with a wave of his hand, while holding on to Tori. She "hoooo!"ed in amazement and clapped excitedly.

"Gaara made magic!"

Sasuke created fire with a single breath, using the fireball jutsu.

Gaara approached Abigail, while the others built their own tents. She watched him come to her, like in slow motion, completely ignored by the rest of the group; except Sofia who was studying her friend's reaction.

"Do you need one?"

Aby was completely out of it. "One what?"

He pointed to the tent he just made, and Aby seemed to wake up at last.

"Oh! I will sleep with Sofia … but thanks!"

"Well … not 'with' me," joked Sofia. "You know … sharing the tent …"

Gaara and Aby looked at her, flustered.

"But uhm … are you sure? That you don't want your own tent?" Sofia asked Abigail, winking.

"Thank you, Sofia, for being so considerate, but I'll be fine, sharing a tent with you!"

"Uhm … then you won't mind helping me put it up right?" she said, disappointed. She just offered her a big piece of juicy meat and she managed to refuse it. That girl …

They put the tent up with Aby's help. Gaara also lent a hand while Toshiko and Tori observed Shikamaru setting dinner across the fire. She might ask next time, she thought, so she could learn how to make a proper fire. Surely they knew how to make one without the use of jutsu. She entered the tent and settled. Sofia stretched and gasped as she remembered the waterfall.

"I'm going to the falls for a swim!"

"Now?! It's too dangerous! It's pitch dark!"

"Our eyes will get accustomed! Come on! A night swim! To freshen up a bit!"

"Can't you wait later? We are about to eat! And don't go alone, wait for me at least!" Sofia snickered.

"It's fine, nothing will happen. Beside 'later' will be the time when you tell me the bedtime story of your kiss with Eyeliner Guy!" she said excitedly. "By the way, that was very stupid, you know?"

"It was … I don't know … it just happened ok? What's so stupid about that anyway? You're the one to talk!"

"Not the kiss, idiot! You could have been alone with him if you had said yes to the tent!"

Aby looked away. "I know … it's just. I don't know … I can't think straight."

"No kidding! That must have been something, that kiss!" she laughed as she was leaving.

"Sofia! Don't!"

But her friend was already gone. She sighed and left the tent to join the group who, for the most part, were already gathered around the fire; a pot was already steaming and the guys, minus Gaara and Sasuke, were singing a song she hadn't heard before; It sounded like an old folklore/army song. Even Sakura sang a few higher notes, complementing the guys.

She went to sit between Akio and Temari, right across from Gaara who seemed lost in thought. Or was he listening to the song? Or maybe a little bit of both? Not surprisingly, she could understand the words. Something about a father shinobi, needing to leave home …

Son and daughter, do not be distraught,

Do not lose hope, or sight of the honor sought.

For if misfortune, on his life is brought,

Look at what the hands of this great shinobi have wrought.

Honor and glory to your family,

His name will forever be.

Abigail raised her eyes to meet Gaara's, before Kankuro nudged her.

"Where's your friend? Is she not hungry?"

"I bet she is … she won't be long, she went to the falls to …"

Kankuro interrupted her by getting up to his feet, shaking his head in frustration, and disappeared in the dark forest.

"She should not have gone alone," said Sakura disapprovingly.

"Tell that to her! I already tried to stop her but …"

"You should have told us right away," Gaara said accusingly.

Aby looked up to him in surprise, while he seemed to glare at her, unless that was her imagination. She felt very stupid.

"I guess I should've. I'm sorry …"

"You guys are not even from here!" Sasuke added. "The creatures you might not know of are not the only things you have to worry about! There are three men on the loose and we don't know where they are!"

"Four" corrected Gaara.

Abigail felt attacked, and shamed, but the last statement made her cringe.

"Don't count him in."

"Don't count him out." he replied instantly.

"WELL!" Akio exclaimed, to bring the tension down. You are all right, it was a mistake that I'm sure she learned! It is not like she doesn't care about her dear friend! Everyone has … distractions … that makes them lose sight of certain things …"

Everyone looked down, feeling the Gatekeeper's words sink in. Gaara looked away and Aby sighed.

"I know you are right about Sofia … I'm sorry. She made it sound like she was in no danger, but I should've known better." She looked at Gaara defiantly.

"But I don't want to believe that Chris is a bad guy here. I don't see how he could be! He owns a store of handmade luggage and other stuff! His mother owns a spring! He is from my world!"

Gaara looked her straight in the eyes and breathed deeply, as if to contain words he would regret saying.

"But miss Abigail," Yashiko started softly, "with all due respect, you are known to be … a little naive,"

Gaara chuckled loudly, which was not unnoticed by anyone, especially Abigail. She felt anger at his, once more, sudden change of moods. However, she took a deep breath.

"I believe I did something that made him upset, which is also something I am known for …" she emphasized while looking at Gaara who returned the gaze. "I don't know what happened to the key! I don't know if it is a coincidence, if someone tried to frame him or if he just …" She was looking for words without choking. "Can't we just not accuse him before getting the facts first?"

Gaara stood up and walked impatiently to his tent. She felt a pinch in her heart. She knew he didn't like him, but why was he so upset with her? He seemed to accuse her of neglect with Sofia and it escalated from there to turn into a completely different matter. Temari nudged her.

"Ahhh don't worry about it! He just went full on 'General' on you. That's his job. When something is wrong, he will not coat it with honey." She then whispered in her ear. "He still likes you!"

"As for Sofia, we haven't heard any screams yet!" laughed Sakura. "Kankuro must have reached her by now! As long as he's with her, she'll be ok!"

Sofia found the falls to be more like a heavy stream of water, running down into a cute very large water hole; postcard worthy! Whoever the creator of this world was, had a very good scenery imagination. The moon was big and full above, giving enough light for her to see her surroundings. She let the flow of water run down her head for a few seconds; she felt the 'massage' on her head was very nice. She moved forward and closed her eyes, listening to the sounds that the forest had to offer at night. It was soothing. Crickets, owls, the water ... And the guy that was watching her.

She grinned.

She didn't hear him coming at all … she didn't hear him even now. A true ninja! She just knew he was there; a change in the atmosphere, the change in the sounds of the creatures. She smiled because his presence wasn't threatening. She thought she had an idea who it was, but not 100% sure.

"Came to enjoy the view?" she asked out loud.

"No," answered Kankuro, "just waiting for my turn," he added with a smile.

Sofia snickered. "And yet, you've been waiting for five minutes, right there, with a full view of the water hole."

Sofia stood up, and walked towards him, or rather, towards the tree branch where she left her clothes; completely unashamed of her exposed naked body. She expected a flustered reaction from him, looking forward to teasing him, but was surprised by his composed behavior. He stared her down for a second and smiled, shrugging his shoulders.

"All right … I came for the view," he started, without losing his cool.

Ohhh he's good! She thought.

"So? Is the view nice?" she asked while draining the excess water from her long teal hair with her hands; although they now looked more like deep blue, against her pale skin. She was quite beautiful.

"The best I've seen so far," he said without losing a beat.

She slightly reddened but shook it off with a smile. She grabbed her shirt that was two inches away from his face, without breaking eye contact. There wasn't an inch of embarrassment on his face which confused her.

"You should not go anywhere alone by yourself, especially at night." he added, looking serious.
"Even Shinobis usually have a partner."

"Then come with me next time," she said teasingly while pulling up her Suna pants. "You can protect me!"

He stared her down again and moved even closer. She started to feel uncomfortable, self conscious that he didn't react the way she expected; she didn't move back though, she didn't want to show her uncomfort.

"What makes you think I'm a good guy?" he said seriously. She remained silent for a second and chuckled.

"Because you are on the good side of the story. Nice try, you don't scare me … but you know, if you want a go …"

She gasped as he grabbed her by the neck and shoved her hard against a tree. Within a second, he had her uncomfortably pinned, his knee right on her pelvis holding her right hand above her head. Her eyes opened wide at the unexpected turn of events.

"You just come here at night," he whispered, "completely oblivious of your surroundings, show up in front of me, completely naked, and blindly trust me, a man, just because I'm on "the good side" of the story? Are you stupid?"

"You're hurting me."

"I'm a man, sweetheart and I'm wired like one too! To trust me or anyone blindly is very unwise!"

Sofia, for the first time, was scared. She tried to move but was pinned against that tree. Her free hand tried to push him back but he didn't move a muscle. The realization that he was much stronger than she thought gave her cold sweat. His face was so close that she could feel his breath on her's. He forced her to look him in the eye, grabbing her chin hard.

"What if I want you now?"

She remained silent with confusion, but it quickly changed to fear when he swirled her around, facing the tree. Somehow, he grabbed both of her hands and held them in her back with his right hand, the other one covering her mouth. He was pinning her so hard that she could hardly breathe. Her vision blurred with tears but was too paralyzed to make any sounds. She was scared, shocked, confused; she didn't understand why he suddenly changed. It's like he became another person. Or was it? She didn't know him that well, now that she thought about it. She didn't know who his character was … but wouldn't Aby tell her to warn her? To her shock, a third hand slid down in her pants and squeezed her thigh, hard, a puppet hand. She felt freaked and even more scared.

"Well, you did suggest that I could have a go, right?"

This time, she let out a squeak, as that was the only sound that could come out.

"Oh look! The bunny! Now I understand what you meant by people who see it from behind can be happy too!"

He felt the warm tears run down his hand and she managed to let out another squeal.

"What's that? You don't want to?"

She let out another sob as her body shook uncontrollably. To her surprise, he let go of her completely. She took in a deep breath, swirled around and looked into his eyes, still paralyzed and even more confused. He backed away slowly, his behavior turned back to the old one. He grabbed an apple from his pocket and chewed off a bite.

"Itch a good thing I'm not a bad guy," he said while chewing.

He backed away two more steps and turned around and walked back towards the clearing, a few meters away, as if nothing happened. The light from the campfire could be slightly seen in the distance; but the path in between was still pretty dark. She watched him go, puzzled, paralyzed. She was slowly realizing what he just did and why. She looked around and couldn't help but see her surroundings in a different way. She was not safe. This place was not safe.

"Come on, hurry up and let's get back. I'm hungry!"

She sobbed some more, quietly, still shaken and ashamed and slowly followed him from a distance.

Abigail was handing another piece of cooked rabbit to Tori while using her other hand that Toshiko was wrestling with. She lost her smile when she saw Kankuro coming in the clearing. He looked totally normal, Sofia however, had her head down and walked as stiff as a tree. She saw her go straight into the tent, avoiding eye contact with anyone. She looked back at Kankuro to ask if something happened but he had already disappeared.

"Hey Toshiko, here," she said, handing over the cooked meat. She walked over to the tent.

Sakura watched Sasuke stirring the fire to keep it going. She sat down beside him.

"So, how's it going?"

"All right"

"Your head? Do you remember more stuff now?"

Sasuke froze for a second, looking for words.

"I'm fine … for the most part I think."

What does that even mean?! Does he remember or not?! she thought impatiently. She glanced at his hand, his arm leaning across his knee.

"Ok, that's good!"

She had no idea what to say. She was sure that was jealousy, earlier this morning. Did he remember but didn't want to bring it up? Why not?

She was looking for a sign, anything! But he wouldn't show any. She grabbed a cup from her bag and poured water in it; offered it to him. When he declined the offer, she drank from it. She felt agitated and anxious.

Damn it! You can't just kiss me and then pretend nothing happened! You can't do that to me!

She looked around where everybody seemed busy with stuff. She looked at his hand again and suddenly laced her fingers with his. He removed his hand back so fast that she jumped in surprise. The kids looked at him, perplexed. He watched her, puzzled, then stood up and walked away.
She watched him go, eyes tearing up. She furiously and quickly dried them and stood up to follow him.

I've had enough! You don't get to run away this time!

Sasuke kicked pebbles on his way to … nowhere really. He just walked on, his head full of questions. He stopped and paced back and forth. He knew this would happen. Of course it would happen! Now what?

"SASUKE!"

Sakura's voice rose behind him and he grimaced; she seemed angry. He couldn't get away from this one.

"We need to talk!"

"Uhg … I know …"

"You know?! What .. .What is going on?"

"Ok, look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to …"

"To what? Move your hand away?"

"No … the kiss …"

She gasped and stepped back.

"So you DO remember! So why? What was that talk about 'you didn't know how to tell me'?"

"Look, I wasn't myself back then, right? I didn't know what I was doing! I didn't even know what I was saying!"

She looked at him and the anger in her face was gone; disappointment replaced it. He looked away, finding the silence very awkward. But what else did he expect?

"You can't say that," she said. "You know how I feel about you. Everybody KNOWS how I feel about you! You can't just … do things and say things … and take them back as if it was nothing!"

"Sakura. I'm sorry. I don't mean to be like that, ok?"

"..."

"Listen. I … I can't return your feelings. I don't …" He didn't want to finish the sentence. She should know by now. "Sakura, I don't feel this way towards you." He looked up to meet her eyes. This was harder to do than he anticipated. With her anyway.

His chest squeezed when he saw her face. Her eyes were filled with tears and silently blinked out, running down her cheeks.

That was the conversation that should have happened years ago. That was the confirmation that she didn't want to face. She smiled and nodded and walked back to the camp. Sasuke couldn't move for several minutes. He finally sat down on the ground and digested what just happened.

Sofia was lying down, while silent tears kept on running. She tried to calm down, but was not able to. She felt so embarrassed and ashamed. This was not only applicable in this world … but in her's as well. She had been so naive for so long; not taking things seriously. She had to be slapped in the face by a manga character to finally wake up. Things could have gone wrong so many times.

Abigail looked down as she entered the tent.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly.

"Nothing,"

"Bullshit,"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"Just tell me if something happened, you don't have to go in detail …"

Sofia shrugged. "It's Kangar … Kankuro."

"What about him? Did he say something to upset y …" she started, but saw her right wrist with a slight bluish color.

Sofia sat down slowly and massaged her thigh and looked up to her friend. She was about to answer that he didn't but she saw a horrific expression she never saw before.

"What the ..." Aby murmured, backing off. She turned to exit the tent in a fury, leaving Sofia in a daze. She remained seated for a minute before realizing what her friend was thinking. Her eyes grew.

"Oh no!"

She got up as fast as she could and followed after Abigail, trying to ignore her sore body.

Aby was furious. She let herself in Kankuro's tent, ready to beat the crap out of him; but he wasn't there. She left with an aura that terrified everyone who looked at her.

"Where's Kankuro?!" she yelled at no one in particular.

"I think he's with Gaara …" Shikamaru pointed to the sand tent. She flew there within a heartbeat, boiling inside.

Whatever conversation they were having, they were interrupted by her sudden intrusion.
Gaara was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, puzzled by the uninvited interruption. Kankuro was still in mid sentence when he looked at her face. She had fire in her eyes.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HER?!"

"What?"

"DON'T PLAY DUMB! HOW DARE YOU!"

"HEY! I didn't do anything!"

Gaara watched his brother and Aby, completely lost. "Kankuro, what's going on?"

"YOU'RE FREAKING DEAD, YOU HEAR ME?!" She threw herself at him and started punching blindly at his face, which of course, missed every single time. The sight would have been really funny if she didn't look so upset. Gaara jumped in to stop her.

"Wooooo! Hang on! Calm down!"

"LET ME … LET GO!" She was kicking and crying, frustrated that she couldn't land a single hit on him, and even more furious that Gaara was trying to stop her.

"She is my friend! How can you … what are you?! How could you do that?!"

"KANKURO! WILL YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHAT SHE IS TALKING ABOUT!"

"Well … I think she is misunderstanding something …"

"HE RAPED HER! HE FUCKING RAPED HER!"

Gaara let go in a moment of puzzlement and her fist reached Kankuro's face right on the nose. She let out a satisfied victory/pain cry, but it was short lived as the Kankuro in front of her disintegrated into a pile of sand.

"Huh … no I didn't,"

She spun around so fast, her hair slapped her face; again. Kankuro was leaning against a 'sandtable', arms crossed, as calm as ever. She yelled in outrage, feeling her knuckles throb with pain.

"Ok, Aby, calm down! As he says, maybe you are misunderstanding something …"

"ABY?"

All three looked at the entrance of the door where Sofia entered, breathless. Gaara pinched the bridge of his nose, to relieve the pressure.

"I need to teach you girls how to enter a Kage's headquarters properly …" he mumbled.

"Aby, I'm sorry, you misunderstood, he didn't do anything to me … I mean … He did but … not what you think." Sofia glanced towards him and blushed. She looked back at Aby with sad eyes.

"He just … he tried to make me see something. He was just trying to make me understand ... He didn't do anything wrong, I promise!"

"Ohhhh and I suppose he could only make you understand by beating you up?"

Gaara noticed the bruises on Sofia's hands, and looked up to him, disapprovingly.

"Brother, what the hell did you do?!"

"He didn't beat me up … he just … used force."

Aby looked at Sofia with anger. "You don't need to bruise someone to make them realize something!"

"I believe it was needed in my case," she said quietly, her head down. Aby looked between Kankuro and Gaara.

"I might have been overdoing it a little … I'm sorry." Kankuro lowered his head apologetically.

"I can behead him for his transgression if you wish," Gaara added, in the most casual tone, which slightly amused his brother who smirked, his head still low.

Sofia smiled without looking at them and left the tent. Abigail glared at both men. Gaara observed her.

"Let's go to the waterfalls," he ordered.

"What, now?" she said unimpressed. She was still angry.

"Yes,"

"Why?"

"Because you're angry … good opportunity for training."

The sound of the falls, the bright moon above them, the stars which would usually bright up her mood, did nothing to help. She had followed him silently, calmer, but still pissed. She didn't quite know why she couldn't calm down; Sofia clearly explained the situation and even defended Kankuro's behavior, despite being upset. Kankuro also apologized, so did Gaara on behalf of his brother, although it didn't seem very serious. She didn't know if it was a normal thing for them or not. Maybe she was upset that Gaara didn't side with her right away. She was, deep down, expecting him to take the matter more seriously; his brother hurt her friend and in her world, that would have been a serious thing. In her world.
She sighed. She wasn't in her world. Things were different here.

"Here we are," he said, needlessly.

"I can see,"

He pointed to the water. "That thing you did to me the first time we met. Do it again."

"You want to be in it?" she snarled. Gaara only smiled.

"No … I wish to remain alive during the training,"

She rolled her eyes and raised her hand as she did before. A wave of water twirled round into a ball and rose above the water. She grabbed a hand size rock and threw it in, before looking back to Gaara for instruction.

"Why are you looking at me? Destroy it!"

"How? I can't do that!"

He sighed and stepped closer. "Rule #2, I don't ever want to hear 'I can't'; doubting, even for a second, will kill you … beside, you can't decide the outcome until you try,"

She sighed impatiently and made up the fist. Expectedly, the rock stayed intact. Her breathing became deeper as she lost patience.

"Calm down,"

"I thought you said anger was the perfect opportunity! Well I'm angry! What do you want from me?!"

"Yes, It's an opportunity for you to learn to forget about emotion and focus on the task at hand … you won't go anywhere by being angry … quite the opposite, you'll drown in your own emotional state."

She laughed.

"I can't destroy it with water! I can only choke or drown."

"I said I don't want to hear I c …"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAID, THIS IS MY ABILITY! I KNOW MY LIMITS!"

Gaara suddenly walked to her and grabbed her by the shoulders, lowered himself to eye level and waited until she finally gave in and looked in his eyes.

"Calm. Down." he said.

Somehow his eyes calmed her. She nodded with a deep breath and a tear of anger leaked through.

"I just don't understand how water can destroy a rock."

"Pressure can destroy anything,"

"Ok fine, if you say so; but the water can only pressurize as far as my fist can go …"

"That's because your mind is limited by physics … you 'think' you can only manipulate the water as far as your hand can reach … but your hand is not what manipulates the water … your mind is. Your hand helps, but your mind does the job."

She let the words sink in and turned to the water. She started the process again and again. Her arm started to cramp after a while. Gaara walked behind her as she rotated her shoulder to get some relief. He ran his fingers at the base of her neck and whispered in her ear.

"You're still agitated. Take deep breaths, close your eyes." Her heart told her that his presence behind her would do anything but calm her down, yet, she closed her eyes.

"You hear that? The water flowing down? That's your domain. Move it with your mind."

She opened her eyes and raised her hand again. She clenched her fist hard, but Gaara reached out for it.

"Relax your hand … I told you … your hands help, but they are tools. Use your mind. Talk to the water. Command it."

She saw the rock and water completely immobile. Her arm was getting tired and shaky, but she tried to hold on.

"Do you feel the rock somehow? Or the water working on it?"

"I'm not sure … not really …" the water bubble and rock fell back into the ponds her hand gave up. She suddenly felt very weak.

"Ok, that's enough for now," he said. "It's draining, but you're making progress." She turned to face him.

"How? The rock didn't get as much as a scratch!"

"You're missing the connection. Once you can feel the water with your mind, you'll click, and it will be easier."

"If you say so," She sat down on a rock nearby and he sat beside her.

"My brother … I apologize on his behalf." he said, unsure if it was a wise decision to bring up the cause of the earlier chaos once more.

"You already did,"

"Yes, but I just wanted to say; we do not know how you do things where you are from; but here … I believe he only wanted to make her understand the danger she could have been in."

"I don't even know what happened," she admitted.

"He told me earlier that she, well, she was kind of … towards him …"

"Say no more," she waved him off with a laugh as he was struggling to find the words. "I know she can be carefree but she's not 'THAT' girl. I think she is trying to, maybe, confirm to herself that she is still attractive, or lovable … something like that. She's like this when she breaks up with a guy."

"Sounds to me like she is trying to cover the sadness in her heart," he said, pensive. "I used to do that,"

Dirt lifted off the ground and formed a heart that cracked in different places.

"You flirted with other girls?"

"No … I killed people …"

"Oh," she ignored the last statement and waved her hand to bring some water to fill the cracks in the dirt heart.

"I think it's a natural response to want to fill the holes …"

The water ended up leaking through the dirt and the heart dropped on the ground with a 'splat', as a big pile of mud.

They stared at it a moment, before Gaara turned away and snickered. Aby gasped.

"Did you just laugh?"

"No," he said, still looking away and covering his mouth.

"You did!" She watched in shock as his body shook uncontrollably, trying to contain the laughter. However, one look at her and he lost it.

Aby watched his body shake as he roared with laughter, tears in his eyes. He kept looking at the mud and couldn't speak the words; he held his hand on his belly; trying to breathe.

"The heart! It just ... You tried to fill it … but … the water … that was so bad!"

She couldn't believe the sight of him laughing! She started to surrender to the contagious sound.

"Stop laughing at me! You ought to cut me some loose here … I'm still a novice!"

"I'm sor … I'm sorry!" Clearly he wasn't; as he fell backwards from his sitting position, still laughing. He finally calmed down and took a few breaths. She offered him a hand and helped him back up, while wondering how often he would laugh like that. He gave a big smile, with eyes sparkling like two emeralds.

"I don't think I ever heard you laugh before …" she said smiling.

He stared and wondered for a few seconds. "I don't remember either …"

He stretched his head towards her and kissed her.

If she ever wondered, the answer was confirmed right then; that kiss, he longed for it too.

Finally! she thought.

As if reading her mind, he switched positions and kissed her again. The only thing that could be heard was the rush of the waterfalls and the wind picking up between the leaves. One would never have realized there were more people nearby, as they were pretty quiet; presumably getting ready to sleep as the night grew darker, the moon being the only source of light. They truly felt in their own world.

They would gaze at each other once in a while before kissing some more. It was soft, delicious and euphoric. Gaara ran both hands in her hair and neck; hers were tied around his neck, but loosened them and ran them down his chest. He was quite slim, but the muscles were toned; she could feel them flexing with each movement he made, which excited her. She looked for a way through his red burgundy shirt. She wanted to feel his skin, and without thinking, created a reaction within Gaara. He mirrored her by sliding one of his hands down her arm, and found a way back up under her shirt. His mouth put more pressure on hers, and he used a finger to outline her breast which was still covered by her undergarment. Abigail responded with euphoria. Their tongues were already at work, but it wasn't enough anymore. He pulled her body against his, short of breath and she started to feel dizzy as she realized that she wasn't breathing. His touch, that was gentle until now, became more and more gripping. When she finally reached the skin within his shirt, she started to lose her senses. She pressed firmly against him and the contact was still not enough. She started to realize what was going on, she opened her eyes and pushed back in fear.

Gaara watched her, in surprise. She was crossing her arms, looking confused. His eyes opened wide.

"I'm … I'm sorry," he said, catching his breath. "Aby, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry! I didn't even realize!"

She shook her head and raised her hand apologetically.

"No! No, it's me … you did nothing wrong! I felt … it felt …"

"... it felt good ..." he said quietly. She nodded.

"… and I got scared. I'm sorry."

He stood up and shook himself up a little. "Wow …"

"Yeah …"

"That escalated quickly!" he nervously laughed and she smiled. He wasn't sure if he was disappointed or relieved; this was not how they did things here. What was wrong with him?!
He offered his hand.

"Let's go back,"

"Uhm, ok."

They walked back a few meters and entered the clearing, which was still lit by the fire. Everyone seemed to be already in their tent, except Sasuke who glanced towards them. He saw them holding hands and stared at them, shocked.

She didn't want to let go; but wondered how Gaara would be affected. He didn't let go either.
Instead, he led her to sit by the fire, both shared a crimson color on their cheeks. She looked at Sasuke, who was obviously preoccupied by something else.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Uhm … not really."

Gaara gave him an inquisitive look. "Where is Sakura?"

"Sleeping, I think."

"Did something happen?" she asked again, sure that something was going on, despite his answer. His reply did not surprise her.

"Nothing that concerns anybody. Don't worry about it. So you guys are a thing now?"

Gaara kissed the back of her hand and let go of it. "Nothing that concerns you either," he said, while breaking a few twigs and throwing them into the fire. "You can go to sleep if you wish, I'll stand watch first"

"It's fine, I'm not sleepy yet."

Gaara turned to Abigail and smiled affectionately.

"You should go to sleep. We have another day of walking tomorrow. We'll be in Konoha Village on the third day."

"Ok," she said. She looked at Sasuke, knowing something was wrong, but knowing his character, nothing she could say would help. She just put a hand on his shoulder, which surprised him.

"Good night guys,"

" 'Night," they said in unison.

Gaara watched her leave and enter the tent she shared with Sofia, and sighed. Sasuke looked at him and smirked.

"Forgive my intrusion in your personal life, Lord Kazekage, but … the girl from another world?"

He just stared at the tent in response with a faint smile.

"I guess, we don't have control over our heart."

Sasuke stirred the burning wood some more, in a daze. He remembered Sakura walking away and her face haunted him.