Woo, Chapter three, eh? Yeah.. Ur.. Hope you enjoy it.. And my apologies for how short the last was. I'll attempt to make this one longer, 'kay?

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, you could bet your ass I wouldn't be wasting my time writing this…

Chapter Three

Gaara-Kun

Akemi hadn't stayed long after that. The two had remained in complete silence for the longest time. When Daichi didn't say anything, she concluded that the point had been made.

Now she was really alone, with only one place to go: Sunagakure. Why wouldn't she go there? After all, her life was there. For, what was there left in her life, if not to just be next to him? To keep her promise was everything.

Though, for now, she would wait. Going now would get her caught. Besides, she had too much on her mind. Using her cloaking jutsu then would be pointless.

She was tired. Her mind wouldn't allow her to sleep. It was just like before. He was haunting her dreams yet again.

Did he even know? She doubted it. The more she thought, the more she doubted it all. She doubted his recognizing her. She doubted he even remembered the little girl that had once been her. She doubted she could take this much longer.

She doubted he still had it.

A heavy, tired sigh left her lips, her body finally falling back into a tree, and then lowering into a sit at its roots. If she couldn't sleep, at least she could rest.

"Akemi? Akemi, are you done yet?" The voice was no longer simply warm and loving, but now fatherly in the little girl's ears. She turned away from the bathroom mirror, still fumbling with the short brown cloak's wide tie.

"Yuki-san, will you help me with this?" She called through the door timidly.

After a bit of muffled shuffling, the door slid open, revealing a smiling male standing there. Seeing her small, distressed form standing upon the bathroom counter, he chuckled, nodding his head. "Of course," he finally replied, wandering over to her and taking both ends of the cloak to tie upon her shoulder.

"Where did you happen to get this?" He asked, curiosity filling his voice as he concentrated on the knot.

"Gaara-kun gave me it!" She chirped happily, grinning. "He said that in the desert, it's a great form of protection." Yuki smiled warmly, nodding his head to show her he was listening. "And, he said, that with my skin being so pale, I'd probably get sunburn in the desert – So he gave me it," she finished, grinning as wide as ever.

"You really like Gaara-kun, don't you Akemi?" He asked softly, pulling the knot tight to make sure it didn't fall. The girl paused for a moment's thought, and then nodded.

"He's sweet," she agreed, looking over at the knot, then back at Yuki. "But, I don't think the villagers like him very much… Do you know why, Yuki-san?"

The older man's face had fallen at her question, looking almost grim. Slowly, he nodded. "Yes, Akemi-chan, I do. People are ignorant. They fear what they don't understand. And they certainly don't know Gaara-kun the way we do," he spoke softly, a sad smile upon his lips, as if thinking of another thing as he spoke.

The small girl smiled. "Yes, that's it. Maybe, one day, I can get them to understand."

Yuki's smile returned, his mouth opening to reply, when an urgent knocking pounded through the room. Both looked startled, Yuki grabbing a hold of Akemi to bundle her into his arms.

Moving out of the bathroom and into the main room, he dropped Akemi onto the mattress, and then walked to the door. For a moment, there was only silence, and then a burst of someone's voice.

"Yuki-san! I'm Ichiro, grandson to Kamio Jiro – He's sent me to tell you –" there was a break in his sentence, and then a few muffled whispers. Akemi sat in silence, a small sadness tugging at her heart.

This sort of thing had happened often and on many occasions and soon after, Yuki would take them both away, to a new village to stay. They had only been here for a couple weeks, a month at the most, but remembering Gaara now made her heart feel heavy and begin to ache like his had when the two had first met.

After only a few moments of these whispers, Yuki reappeared, his face showing a bit of worry, mixed in with confusion. Glancing to the small girl, he offered his smallest smile.

"Common Akemi-chan. We need to be going."

Akemi's scarlet eyes snapped open with a start, only to be greeted with the blinding rays of the sun. Flinching out of their burning light, she blinked repeatedly. Damn… Maybe I did fall asleep…

Grumbling soft, morning curses, her back arched as her arms stretched over her head. Hearing the soft, satisfying cracks of her bones, she smiled.

In no way had she slept nicely, of course, but she had slept. That was enough in her mind to smile about. Until, a sudden tickle ran down her leg. Her eyes scrunched up to the feeling.

Opening one, lonesome eye, she gazed down upon her leg, watching silently as the soft, last bits of sand fell from her legs and to the forest ground below.

"Gaara," she murmured in quiet realization. Standing quickly, her eyes flung themselves every-which-way in search of the redheaded boy, only to see nothing but the cursed trees before her. Sure that the boy was nowhere in site, she let out the breath she had been unaware of holding in. She didn't understand why the thought of him being there made her so nervous.

He was here, she thought bitterly, looking down upon the tiny grains of sand lost in the dirt. And he wanted me to know it.

Running her long, slender fingers though her soft white hair, her face twisted into a troubled expression, her mind running with thoughts once more. One single thought broke through the rest, able to show itself to her conscious mind. Sooner or later, that boy is going to drive me mad.

"Hn… A female, you say?" The voice was older, much older then the three ninja that sat far from its maker. Temari and Kankuro nodded in reply, while Gaara remained completely silent and unmoving, lost to his thoughts.

"Any ideas as to why she was there?"

Temari was the first to speak up, "No, Sir. Gaara was the first to realize her presence –"

"He's been sensing her a lot lately, for the past few missions, maybe before that," Kankuro suddenly cut in, getting his own words into the conversation. He may have continued, had the Kazekage's attention not left him, to travel to the youngest sibling.

"Is that so, Gaara…? May I acquire as to the reason you did not report it?"

Gaara's aqua eyes slowly lifted, staring back at his father with obvious distaste.

"Because the matter is of no concern to you – any of you," he replied coldly, only leaving the Kazekage's eye to look to his siblings once.

"How can you say that!" Kankuro suddenly shouted, his eyes narrowed at his brother. "She was watching –"

"- Me," Gaara ended the sentence, without even glancing to his brother this time.

"And how do you know that?" Kankuro retorted dryly, as Temari and their father merely watched the argument with hidden interest in the answer.

Gaara, however, did not intend to give one. Instead, he got to his feet, and disappeared from the room, the only signs of his being there the twirling grains of sand, left to flutter in the air.

The Kazekage did not look pleased.

"Temari, Kankuro. Watch him closely from now on. I want to know when he leaves, where he goes, how often he goes, and what he does there – got it? One of you will be watching him at all times," he ordered.

"But –" the two started to protest at the same time, only to have the Kazekage's dark eyes settle upon the two. Reluctantly, they nodded their heads, bowing soon after.

Temari and Kankuro returned to their home in complete silence. At the site of their missing brother, they both sighed.

"We shouldn't be surprised. He's only home during the day when we have no missions," The elder sister stated the obvious.

Kankuro rolled his eyes, annoyance evidence in his purple-painted features.

"Well, should we look for him? Those are our orders…"

Temari wheeled on him, her hands on her hips in a particularly feminine fashion. "You know as well as I do that if Gaara doesn't want to be found, he won't be. Don't worry about it. The Kazekage wants more information about that girl, and he knows Gaara won't tell him anything he knows. But, if Gaara finds her –" she smirked, shrugging her shoulders, "I doubt she'll be much of a problem anymore."

Gaara-kun, Akemi's dark eyes seemed illuminated by the moonlight that streaked into the room. It looked just as it had in her childhood. Of course, she never expected Gaara to be one for decorating, but… The room hadn't changed at all; the same (now bloodstained) carpeting, the same old, unneeded bed, with the same, old, sand covered teddy bear laying upon one of the neatly placed pillows. Of course, the toy chest had long been thrown out, and the lone stand setting to the side of the room was now completely bare. Akemi stared at this for a moment, her eyes softening.

"Com'on Akemi! It's in here," A smaller, happy Gaara called down the hall to the while-haired child, waving her towards him. Akemi giggled, running down the hall towards what she supposed to be his room. "Coming, Gaara-kun!"

Watching his red head disappear around the doorway, Akemi quickened her run, soon reaching the end of the hall, and turning into the room sharply. Inside, she found Gaara standing directly in front of her. However, he was looking away, leaning upon his nightstand and staring at something. Seeing her enter, he grinned shyly, watching as she moved to his side.

Moving closer, she slowly discovered a picture frame, a young woman pictured inside. For a fleeting moment, she thought it was Temari, only to realize the woman pictured was much older then Gaara's sister.

"Gaara-kun! She's so pretty!" She said, finally seeing the full image, and leaning closer to get a better look. Gaara seemed to blush at this, moving aside for her to get a perfect view.

"Do you... Really think so?"

The girl nodded, smiling as she examined the motionless woman. Gaara was silent a moment or two, before speaking softly, "She's my mother."

Akemi's eyes widened, turning to the boy. "Really?" With his nodded reply, she smiled brightly, looking back to the picture. "Where is she now?"

Gaara was silent, before muttering a single word, "Dead."

Afterwards, there was only silence. Even as sadness radiated off Gaara, Akemi smiled, though sadly. "You're lucky," she whispered at last, moving over to the older of the two. "At least, you can see her. And you can know what she looked like. How pretty she was…" She smiled warmly as his sad eyes lifted to her. They always seemed so sad, so heartbroken. She'd come to love those eyes.

"Thank you, Akemi-chan."

Akemi smiled at the memory fondly, stepping closer to the nightstand, until something cracked beneath her feet, startling her. Looking down, her eyebrows raised, recognizing the dark frame immediately. Her silver brown knotted together between her forehead, confusion setting hard into her features…

"Gaara-kun… What happened while I was gone?"

"Nanni? Did she just call Him Gaara-kun?" Kankuro's purple face turned to his sister, his eyes wide with his question. The blond haired girl had a thoughtful expression, watching the white-haired stranger through the small crack they had opened in Gaara's door.

The intruder looked young, younger then Gaara even, with startling red eyes, and snow-white hair, traits uncommon to those within Suna.

"Hey, Kankuro, does she look familiar to you?" she whispered back, ignoring her brother's question. He did as well, leaning into the door and studying the girl's features within.

"Hey, is that that one girl that Gaara hung out with when he was little?" He asked slowly, still staring at her. She had aged as Gaara had, but still, like Gaara, carried those childish features – round cheeks and a small frame. If she had been a couple of years older, he wouldn't have recognized her all together.

The girl from their childhood had been inside-out innocence – However, at the same time, her eyes had shown this great understanding of the world Kankuro's young self had never understood. Of course, he had never really pondered it. If he saw his brother's young playmate in the streets, in passing, or within their home, he merely ignored her. As did everyone else with the village. Play? With Sabaku no Gaara?

It was like playing with the devil in their ignorant eyes.

"I think so… Akemi, wasn't it?" Kankuro nodded his head to his sister's question, their eyes set intently upon the intruder.

"Well, if she's a shinobi, she's a pretty damned bad one…"

"Who is?" The sudden voice startled both siblings, each turning with surprise to their baby brother, as he stood there, arms folded, glaring at them.

"Gah-Gaara!" Temari stuttered. The older Sand Siblings had never been allowed within Gaara's room, even their uncle had told them it was off limits as children. Soon, Gaara had made it a rule of his own, though he had never said so directly. The two just knew.

"Someone is snooping around your room, we were just –" Kankuro began to explain themselves. Of course, Gaara paid him no mind, moving towards his door and pushing it open easily, stepping in soon after.

Both Temari and Kankuro slowly peered inside, staring wide-eyed at nothing but an empty room. The girl had vanished! And worse, made them look bad.

Gaara's eyes narrowed, turning back to his siblings.

"Leave."

The two obeyed robotically, neither finding any reason to object – not one good enough to be killed over, anyway.

Temari paused for only a minute or two, looking at Gaara with the smallest hint of worry in her young features.

"We really saw her. I think… It was that Akemi girl that you used to play with." There was no reply from her brother, as expected. She sighed, slowly pulling the door shut, and leaving the hallway soon after.

Gaara remained in his spot, standing silent and unmoving for an unnerving amount of time. Until, finally, his eyes slid to their corners, staring deeply into the shadows that connected within the corner of the room.

"Show yourself, before I make you."

The After Thoughts of Genji Maeko: Woo! That was five pages of reading. And only after I re-read it, I realize how very random my chapters are.. They jump around a lot..

Oh well… Hope you liked it (or are liking this) anyway! Gaara and Akemi moment coming up! D Be prepared! What will happen?

…Even I have no clue! My chapters are impulses.. Ha!

What is Kazekage planning for our Miss Akemi-chan? What will he do when Temari and Kankuro report the sighting? Will they report it!

Read the next one to find out!