Again, Gaara and other Naruto charaters belong to Master Masashi Kishimoto. I'm just an obsessed Gaara fan.

The sand beneath us began grow solid, and the air was no longer dry. Now, there was grass on the soil and mist in the air. It took us three and a half days from Sunagakure to reach the place of our mission. At first glance it was like Kirigakure, but it was a small vacationing area. Every other building was a hotel or a spa. Our client was the owner of the most prestigious of the places. Apparently, a so called demon had been haunting his hotel and killing some of his customers. It was lucky we arrived at dusk. Each of us took a different of the resort. Kankuro took the east, Temari the west, I took the south, and Gaara took the north. Somehow, it made me feel as if he wanted to stay as far away from me as possible.

We had lunch on the roof of our designated areas. While I ate, I found myself wondering if Gaara had eaten. Yet, the real question in my mind was: "Does someone as serious and imposing as he is, even need to eat?"

The night became deeper, and the stars brighter bringing memories of my past life, as a princes. Warm droplets of liquid fell to my hand, I thought they were tears, but it was my own blood streaming from a cut on my cheek. The enemy was already standing behind me, he did indeed looked like demon, and this time father wouldn't be around to protect me. I had to do it on my own, and so, I slashed at him with a kunai. He disappeared in thin air. His black face and red eyes resembled that of a rat, and in a second I was paralyzed in fear. He took advantage of my fear and punched me in the stomach. I fell and began fading as I heard Kankuro's voice come nearer, "Kuma hang on!"

This time I wouldn't fall without a fight, and so, I took out my weapon of choice, a simple spiked ball and chain. He would banish every time I was certain I'd hit him. All the damage I was making was on the roof of our client, and not the enemy. In a second, he stopped and began making hand seals. Next thing I know, the roof beneath my feet became water and I began sinking. Kankuro yelled my name again, and in a moment I was out on the roof spiting water and gasping for air. When I looked up, I thought I saw Kankuro's shoes, but on a closer look, it was none other than Gaara. Kankuro was fighting a copy of the demon, just a few meters away. Without a word, Gaara wrapped the demon in sand and crushed him, but something was missing… blood.

I stood up and stared wondering, 'If this is the real Gaara, why doesn't he kill him now?'

Just then, a hand of sand removed the mask from the one who turned out to be a shinobi from the village hidden in the mist (Kirigakure). His forehead protector was scratched, and he cursed at Gaara. The clones that were attacking Kankuro and Temari banished, and then the man said, "I'd rather die, and take you all with me than forfeit my inheritance!"

Gaara's eyes opened wide, and without wasting time he covered the man completely. There was still the shock of a great explosion, but Gaara managed to contain most of it in the sand. He was panting as the sand fell without any human remains. I looked at the sand and began to realize that he had tried to spare the man, but this was not like Gaara, was it?

Before I could say anything to him, Kankuro arrived and asked, "You ok Kuma? Lucky for you Gaara came".

At that moment Gaara turned back abruptly and as he began walking past me, he said to me, "If you bring such poor skills to the field, maybe you should go back to the academy…"

He was gone before I could reply, and Kankuro just said, "Don't pay attention to him, he's just tired."

As part of our monetary compensation, we received a full night of services as guests. Truth was, I didn't feel worthy after punching all those holes in the roof and not being able to hit the enemy once, but the owner was happy. His happiness was odd, because his brother had just died. As it turns out, the demon was his brother who had been disowned by their father after he decided to become a ninja. Their father hated any form of violence, and so the older brother was never acknowledged. After the old man died, the brother decided to abandon his life as ninja and return home, but his brother said he had been tainted with blood, and thus could never live to his father ideals. Hence, he became demon to try and take what once was his by force. It made me think, if I had lost what once was mine as well.

A hot bath in natural springs was always welcome, as long as it doesn't expose one's secrets. To my horror, this was exactly the situation. Since the old man offered full services, Temari –finally acting like the elder of the group- decided we all had to take bath, because she said, "I don't want to have dinner with a bunch of smelly boys. We'll eat after bathing. Kankuro, go get Gaara as well".

Kankuro sighed, and said, "Fine, let's go Kuma".

I didn't know, if to say yes, or run away, or faint. In the end, I said yes, and followed him. This was the first time I had been so terrified of bathing in my life. At least were lucky enough to get our own rooms, and there was also the chance Gaara wouldn't obey Temari's orders. Just as I was thinking maybe they would forgive me if I just fell asleep without bathing and dinner, Kankuro came knocking on my door, "Kuma! You ready!"

'Can't he take a single step without me?'

I said I'd meet him by the bath, and as I undressed I prayed that the mist of the hot water would hide me. After all, I was just thirteen, and puberty hadn't set in on me much. As some people would say, my feminine "attributes" were like mosquito bites. Still, I bandaged them to make sure and my plain black outfit hid my curves –if any.

I finally made it to the bath with my body tightly wrapped in a towel. It was a relief to see I was the only one there, so I made my way to the center of the bath where the mist was denser. Began to relax and submerged my body, but just then, I heard, "Hey Kuma!"

"What is it Kankuro?"

"Where are you? I'm gonna jump, so watch me!"

'How annoying…' I thought, but replied, "OK, just don't fall on me!"

He was standing on a high rock and I tried not to stare because he was just wearing a towel, and he did so, with all the confidence in the world. It must have been a high jump, or he did need to lose weight, but the reality was that the waves he created sent me splashing to another area of the bath. With my eyes closed, all I remember was that my chest hit against something. Before I could open my eyes I began looking for a rock with my hands, but what I found was moist and soft. Yes, it was skin. I rapidly hid most of my body in the water, and the opened my eyes. It was Gaara, and he was greeting me with that deadly glare. I froze, and with eyes wide open I blushed like I never had before. He moved past me like I was nothing. I could see his bare body from the waist up, and the he stopped and said, "You're completely useless".

Maybe he was right, but all I could think about in that moment was that we were in the same bath, and he was probably just wearing a towel. For someone that used to boys, I never thought something like this would shake me as much. As I was beginning to recover from the surprise Kankuro came over and began trying to play games with me, "Come on! Let's fight Gaara now! He's weak in the water". He said that playfully and then paused to think, "Hmm, why are you here? -I panicked- You're really close to the fence… Are you trying to peep on my sister!"

I splashed water into his eyes and began getting out as I explained, "Not at all! I'm just getting out! I told you she's not my time. Well, see ya before I get a cold" - That was close. Unfortunately, for my poor heart, it would get a lot closer...

In the approaching close encounter, will Kuma's heart be broken by her curious feelings over Gaara? Will her friendship with Kankuro stay as usual? And most important of all, is her secret truly safe?