Alright, so I got the request about making the chapters longer. I didn't do that for this chapter, but, starting next chapter, the chapters will be maybe twice as long or even longer. However, that means it'll take me more time to update. I'll do my best though!


Chapter 35: Thank You

"We're here!"

And without any other useless confrontations. Koji and Maru also look like they're happy to have finally arrived at the tower. The sun is starting to set already. Good thing we don't have to spend the night outside.

We go in the tower and we are greeted with a text hanged on the wall. We all quickly read it.

"So basically, we can open the scrolls now?"

"How'd you figure it out, genius?"

Koji answers Maru with a lot of sarcasm. And now they're back to bickering at each other. I guess I'll just go ahead and open these scrolls myself. According to the text on the wall, I should open them together.

As soon as I unroll both of them, white smoke starts coming out. I instinctively throw the scrolls on the ground.

"What the…?!"

Maru and Koji finally shift their attention to the scrolls. Something is coming out of the smoke!

"Sensei!"

We all exclaim. Otokaze-sensei smiles proudly at us.

"You guys made it! I'm so proud of you."

"What are you doing here, sensei?"

I ask him, a little confused by this whole turn of events.

"Well, this scroll contains a summoning jutsu. Each Jounin was assigned to their team, unless there's a special circumstance. We were instructed to knock you out if you opened the scroll before reaching the tower. But you guys played by the rules and made it here in less than a day! You are one of the fastest teams. My job now is to just congratulate you for this. All that's left to do is for you to stay in the tower until the end of the exam period."

We all look at him, processing all the information he's giving us.

"Anyway, I don't have much time left here, so I'll bid you farewell for now and rest up for the remainder of the exam."

He vanishes as suddenly as he appeared. The three of us exchange confused looks.

"I guess we just go in and wait for another four days then?"

It's the only thing I could think of to say to them. Maru scratches the back of his head and Koji sighs.

"It's not like we have much of a choice."

Koji says as he leads the way in. The first thing I notice is how there's a large circular area in front of us. There's absolutely no decorations or anything apart from the two huge ninja statues situated at the opposite end of the circle. Stairs went up on both my left and right side to balconies surrounding the area. This place looks like an arena. As far as I can see, there are only two teams that are here, apart from us. One team is a Konohagakure team, and the other is… Gaara's team! Without saying anything, I instinctively run up to them.

"Kiu, you made it."

Gaara smiles at me as he sees me rapidly approaching.

"You're better than I thought, kid."

Kankuro sounds like he's teasing me, but his smile seems genuine. Temari also smiles at me.

"I'm so happy to find you guys here. But of course, you were probably the first team to make it, right?"

"That's right. We didn't waste any time. A bunch of Kusagakure ninja attacked us, but Gaara pinned them to the ground with his sand while Kankuro and I got the scroll from them. Luckily it was the scroll we needed. After that, we tied them up and immediately headed for the tower."

I tell them how we handled things on our side. I didn't talk about how the shinobi we were facing died though. The fact that I actually felt eager to learn their jutsu is kind of disturbing me right now. I shouldn't think about it too hard. I also told them about how Mari and her team kind of slowed us down. That's when I noticed that Maru and Koji didn't follow me. I turn around and find them leaning against a wall, a bit far from where I am. Maru's staring off into nowhere in particular. Koji, on the other hand, is practically glaring at me. He always gets like this when I'm with Gaara. What's his deal?

"You should… go be with your team."

Gaara averts his gaze when he says that.

"I've been with them this whole time. I want to spend more time with you, Gaara."

Does he not want me around? Am I being a bother?

"It's just that I feel that your teamwork might be negatively affected the more you spend time with me."

By this point, Kankuro and Temari have already left us alone. I hesitantly take Gaara's hand in both my hands and look at him with a smile.

"Gaara… I told you before. No matter what happens, I'll never leave you. Not for anything or anyone's sake."

We look into each others' eyes for a while. Gaara then chuckles. What? Did I say something funny? Due to him chuckling, I take my hands away.

"What are you laughing at?"

He looks at me with a bright smile. It's been a while since I've seen him smile so innocently. It's like back then. Back before we became shinobi.

"I'm not laughing at anything. I'm laughing because I'm happy."

"Happy?"

"I'm happy. Ever since I met you, Kiu, I've been really happy. I never thought I'd ever be happy, but… You came along and stayed by my side."

All I can do is stare at him with my mouth slightly open. I never knew that I made such a difference. What would've happened if I wasn't there for him? When Yashamaru attacked him… He would've been devastated. Even more so that he was.

Without any warning, Gaara holds my arm and pulls me towards him. He then embraces me in a tight hug and I notice his sand surrounding us, hiding us in the process. I hug him back, letting his warmth envelop me.

"Kiu… Thank you…"

I feel his warm breath on my neck as he speaks softly to me. I close my eyes, relishing this moment as much as I can, because I know it won't last as long as I want it to. Then again I want this to last forever, which most probably won't happen. But for now, I should just not think about anything else other than Gaara.


How did you like the little fluffiness at the end? :3 Tell me what you think in the reviews! Thanks for reading ;D