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Nikomi sat near her hospital window letting the warmth of the sun hit her face. It was a nice day out and she was stuck here for the next two days. She didn't have many visitors. Her two team mates and Neji all made a point of coming to her see her at least once, but that was just out of courtesy, nothing more.

The fact was Nikomi didn't have many friends. She hadn't lived in this village all her life like the other kids her age and to top that off she was older then most of the other genin. Of course she was pretty confident she would pass this Chuunin exam without any problems at all.

Just then the door to her room creaked open. She didn't even bother to turn and look to see who it was. She figured it was probably a nurse coming to check on her.

"You're awake…that's…good." A male voice said hesitantly.

Nikomi raised one eyebrow and looked around. There in the doorway stood Gaara, arms crossed, but looking rather nervous.

"Why are you here?" She asked abruptly.

"Nice to see you too." He answered, walking all the way in and shutting the door behind him.

Nikomi looked at him a little lost. Why in the world would he come to see her? She had only talked to him once and that was a very brief and boring conservation at the academy. After their speeches she had collapsed and…

She suddenly realized why he was here. She felt heat in her cheeks as she blushed and looked down at the ground. He had carried her all the way here from the academy.

There was a long awkward silence, neither one of them were really sure how to break it. Nikomi didn't have much recollection of that day, but she was pretty positive he did.

"Um…thank you." She finally said just loud enough that he could hear.

"Oh! Um…you're welcome. It was…nothing." Gaara said, pulling up the other chair and sitting in it across the room from her.

"How long…did you stay? I mean…after I collapsed. I don't remember much." She asked timidly.

"Oh…well I stayed pretty much the whole time. I had to help Sakura out. That looked like one nasty shot."

Nikomi held her breath for a second and turned an even brighter shade of red. I was afraid he would say that. She thought. He couldn't possibly have been the one that I…oh man.

"What's wrong?" He asked, seeing her mortified expression.

"Uh…um nothing nothing!" She said, making noting gestures and scratching the back of her head.

He totally saw me topless…didn't he? She asked herself. Oh man, oh man. This is terrible. And so embarrassing. I cuddled to him!

"Are you ok? You look a little feverish." Gaara asked concerned.

"I'm fine. It's just from the shot. It makes me run fevers on and off that's all." It was a total lie, but she had to think of something.

"Oh yeah. I forgot to ask Tsunade and Sakura but what was in that shot. I mean I kind of gathered they were pulling out that negative chakra but what was it that they put in you?" Gaara asked.

Nikomi had finally gained her composure and replied, "It's a chakra infused antidote. It basically replaces the negative chakra with regular chakra and helps to pull out what negative chakra is left. Basically it turns bad chakra into good chakra."

"I see. Will you eventually not have the negative chakra anymore?" He asked trying to keep the conversation going.

"No. Just like regular chakra the negative chakra replenishes itself over time. But so long as I don't release it it doesn't matter. Unfortunately I have no choice but to release it. It's the basis of my jutsu." She explained.

"I see."

Nikomi looked out her window and saw Tsunade coming into the hospital. She sighed and stood up ready to head to the bed, knowing she would be scolded for being out of bed.

Gaara's heart skipped a beat at the moment he saw her stand up. She was covered in bandages again, but that was all that was covering her upper half. His mind went straight back to the way she felt curled up against him.

He swallowed hard, fighting the urge to blush. He would not blush again if he could help it.

Nikomi sat hard onto the bed and stretched. She was getting cabin fever being stuck in this room all the time and really wanted to get out and start her training for the finals.

Gaara watched as she stretched, closing her eyes, putting her hands in the air, and making cute odd noises every now and then. Because her body was stretched out tall, little slits of bare skin showed through the bandages. Fortunately for him, is was mostly her stomach that showed. But he still couldn't help it. His face turned beat red and he instinctively dropped his head between his legs to hide his face.

Nikomi let out one last yawn then dropped her arms. She noticed his odd position and gave him a funny look. "Are you alright?" She asked.

Gaara looked up at her. His face had gone back to normal. "Yeah I'm fine." He said sounding rather laid-back.

"Are you sure? You look sick." She asked a little concerned about it.

"No really. I'm ok." He assured her.

"Ok. If you say so." She said, swinging her legs onto the bed and scooting back so she could rest her back on the back of the bed. She let out a very heavy groan and closed her eyes. She was so bored in this room.

The door opened slowly and in came Tsunade as expected. She looked and saw that Gaara was sitting there and smiled at him. "Hello. Came to see your new friend?" She asked knowing it would embarrass him.

Gaara nodded, not phased at all by it. "I wanted to make sure she was ok."

"Oh…ok." Tsuande said a little disappointed. "How are you feeling today?" She asked, turning her attention to Nikomi.

"Better. I think I'm ok to leave." Nikomi blurted out.

"I don't think so."

"Come on! I've been here for two days already. I'm bored to tears. I feel fine. My body is working perfectly. The chakra is suppressed. What's the issue?" Nikomi reasoned.

"The issue is we need to monitor you for a couple more days. I can't have you going out and there by yourself without any supervision at all. What if you have another problem? What if you collapse again? And more importantly I don't need you training!" Tsunade yelled at her.

"Hmph." Nikomi said simply, throwing herself against the pillows on her bed.

"You can complain all you want, but unless you can find some one to watch you constantly I won't release you." Tsunade told her point blankly.

"But Tsunade-sama!" Nikomi started.

"No…end of discussion."

Nikomi whined. She had one more trick up her sleeve. "Well. What if I just get a days leave. Like not even a day…just a couple of hours. I just need out of this hospital!"

"Do you have someone to watch you?" Tsunade asked, knowing she didn't.

"No." Nikomi answered dismayed.

"I'll do it." Gaara chimed in.

The two of them looked at him completely perplexed.

"What did you say?" Tsunade asked completely thrown by it.

"I'll watch her if all she wants is fresh air. It's really no problem at all." Gaara said, completely out of character for him.

"Well there you go!" Nikomi said as perky as she'd ever been.

Tsunade shot Gaara a dirty look and growled. "Fine. But you have to be back here before sun down. Got it?"

Nikomi nodded and quickly jumped out of bed. She was excited. She didn't have to be back for a few hours. She didn't care if she couldn't train. At this point all she wanted was to get out of this stinky hospital. "Just give me a minute and I'll be ready."

She snatched up her top and carefully slipped it on and began to lace it up.

Gaara watched closely, not realizing he was staring at her.

Tsunade gave him a side way glance as if to say, "Oh…I get it now."

Nikomi finished putting the final tie on her top and nodded. "Alright. Lets go!"

"Just sign her out." Tsunade instructed, not stopping them from leaving.

"Right! Will do." Nikomi said and she grabbed her walking stick and then Gaara and proceeded to drag him down the hallway. Gaara signed her out then they left the hospital

The moment she was out the hospital doors she dropped the perky act and turned to Gaara. "Thanks. I'm fine on my own now."

Gaara narrowed his eyes at her. "What?" He asked befuddled.

She was started to walk away, one hand holding her walking stick and the other waving at him. "Thanks for your help."

Gaara shook his head and quickly snatched her hand. "I don't think so."

Nikomi looked up at him in shock. "What do you mean you don't think so?"

"I told Tsunade I would watch after you. I can't break my word to her. It wouldn't be good practice considering she's the hokage and I'm kazekage." He explained to her in his normal darkened voice.

"But…I…' Nikomi couldn't find the words. She was in total disbelief that he actually wasn't going to let her go.

Gaara let go of her hand and started to walk. "So then what easy activity would you like to do?" He asked quite serious.

Nikomi didn't know what to say. She was still in a state of total disbelief.

"I know. Lets get some lunch. Do you like Ramen?" He suggested.

Nikomi blinked a few times. She just couldn't get it past that first layer of her mind. From what she understood this guy was always quiet and brooding. Now he was being kind of…well…strange.

"Come on. It's my treat." He told her, holding out his hand for hers.

"I don't need that. I can get around fine without a guide." She told him, looking down at his hand.

"Oh…right. Sorry." He said, pulling his hand back in. In all reality that's not what he was going for. But it was a good way to play it off.

The two began to walk down the street, heading to Ichiraku Ramen. Neither one of them said much, both feeling a little awkward with the whole situation.

When they got there only one other person was sitting in the resaraunt. Gaara helped Nikomi onto one of the stools then Gaara sat next to her. Again, not much was being said.

"Ga…Gaara?" Naruto asked a little confused to see him there. "Hey Gaara! I didn't know you liked Ramen!"

Gaara cringed as Naruto made such a fuss over him being there.

"It's not bad," He said emphatically.

Naruto looked at him then noticed the girl sitting next to him. He looked back and forth between the two, a little confused. Then his expression suddenly changed. He nudged Gaara in the side and leaned in to talk to him.

"Gaara…is she your…" he raised his hand and held up his pinky. (For those who don't know in Japan that means girlfriend/boyfriend.)

"No," Gaara answered a little annoyed.

"Oho…I see." Naruto said, being his typical self. "Want to keep it on the down low right?" He whispered.

Gaara growled and ignored the spastic boy. He then put in his order and Nikomi put in hers.

"On a date?" The man behind the counter asked.

"N…" Gaara started but was soon interrupted.

"Yeah! He's her…" Naruto interjected raising his pinky once more.

"Really? Nikomi is…" The man asked a little confused. He then looked back and forth between the two of them. Neither one of them looked like they were in a relationship together.

Naruto continued to babble on about how Gaara and Nikomi were a couple. He was exaggerating a lot of it, considering this was the first time he had even seen them together. But that didn't really matter.

"Gaara." Nikomi finally said, breaking the silence between the two of them. "I've had enough."

Gaara turned and looked at her. "What? You want to go back to the hospital already?"

Nikomi chuckled and shook her head. "No…I can't eat anymore. I'm stuffed. Are you almost finished?"

Gaara sighed. He was afraid Naruto had annoyed her to the point where she wanted to go back to the hospital. He looked down at his Ramen. He had barely touched it. It wasn't his favorite food. "I'm done."

Naruto looked at them again. "You two are…" He started rather seriously.

Gaara and Nikomi bothed stared at him, wondering what he was going to say.

"Such a good couple!" He shouted. "I want to find a girl too! One that's smart, and pretty, and likes Ramen!"

Gaara and Nikomi both ended up with anime sweat drops down the back of their heads. This guy was seriously nuts.

Gaara got up and helped Nikomi off the bench. Naruto all the while was watching them in envy.

"It was nice talking to you…Uzumaki Naruto." Gaara said as he walked off.

"Right. Have fun with your new girlfriend…Gaara!" Naruto yelled out.

Gaara flinched a little at that. He really didn't want the whole village thinking she was his girlfriend. But now nothing could be done.

"He's always like that." Nikomi told him, continueing to walk.

"I know."

"But Naruto-sensei, he's a good person." Nikomi assured him.

Gaara huffed out half of a laugh and shook his head. "Naruto-sensei huh? I never thought I'd hear that."

Nikomi looked up at him and wrinkled her forehead. "What do you mean?"

"He's always said he's going to be Hokage. It doesn't seem so farfetched now." Gaara explained, still half laughing.

Nikomi shrugged her shoulders. She didn't know this village very well. She hadn't lived here that long. So she assumed that Gaara knew what he was talking about.

"So what now?" She asked, turning the subject away from Naruto.

"What do you want to do?" Gaara replied with a question.

"I don't care…so long as I don't have to go back to the hospital." Nikomi informed him. She then let out a huge yawn and momentarily paused to stretch. "But I guess Tsunade-sama was right. I don't have much energy at all."

"Will you be alright?" He asked.

"Yeah. I just don't think I'll be doing anything that takes a lot of energy." She told him.

"Right. Then what should we do?" Gaara asked.

"We?" She said mockingly. "You're really getting into this aren't you?"

Gaara closed his eyes and clenched his teeth, realizing what he had just said. "I mean. I am watching you after all. So I have to at least be there whatever you do. Right?"

"Nice save." Nikomi mocked him once more.

Gaara growled and crossed his arms in his normal manner. He was not going to let this girl get the best of him.

"I want to go into the woods. It's soothing." She told him.

"The woods?" He asked a little confused.

"It's just something I like to do." She explained, heading in the wrong direction.

"Well then you're going the wrong way." He told her.

She stopped and found herself deeply embarrassed. "Right…I knew that."

"It's ok if you want my help." He told her.

"I don't need it!" She snapped. She was tired of everyone trying to help her and underestimating her. She felt she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself.

Gaara glanced down at her. She suddenly looked pissed. He had obviously pushed a button he shouldn't have pushed.

"Don't get so worked up." He told her bluntly.

She suddenly stopped and clenched her fist. Then out of nowhere she took off running towards the woods.

"Wait!" Gaara yelled, but it was no use. She was running off before he could stop it.

"Damn it." He scolded, and then took off after her.

The pursuit was more work then he would have liked. She wasn't slow by any means, despite her injuries. He chased her clear into the woods and then lost sight of her. He scolded himself for being so stupid.

He searched for a while, trying to find where she had gone. The trees were dense and there wasn't much hope of finding her like this. But he had to try.

He heard a strange noise coming from a distance. He went to investigate and saw two familiar faces practicing.

Lee was beating the hell out of a practice stump while Ten Ten was practicing with her weapons scroll.

Neither one of them noticed him right away. Ten Ten had already let loose at least ten kunai, each in the direction of Gaara.

She gasped when she noticed him standing there, but it was too late.

Gaara didn't even flinch. The sand that he carried with him immediately flew up and protected him from the attack.

Ten Ten landed onto the ground and sighed with relief.

"Have you seen a blind girl come by?" he asked the two of them, not missing a beat.

"You mean Nikomi-chan?" Lee asked, ceasing his kicking of the stump.

Gaara nodded. "She ran off." He explained in a very brief matter.

"I can't say I've seen her. Neji said she was in the hospital." Ten Ten told him.

"She's on a day's leave, but she ran off just a few minutes ago." He explained a little more detailed this time. "If you see her, bring her back to the hospital." He instructed then continued on with his search.

A few minutes passed before Gaara heard a set of voices arguing with each other.

"I won't loose this time. Last time I underestimated you." A boys voice said.

"So what? You want to end up in the hospital again?" The other voice, a female one, replied.

"We'll see who ends up back in the hospital."

Gaara followed the voices and to his alarm Kyoshi and Nikomi both stood there ready to fight.

Kyoshi didn't bother with punches this time. Instead he went straight to his jutsu.

He made three hand seals and called out the jutsu. In an instant a whirlwind was headed toward Nikomi. She laughed and jumped to dodge it, but as feared her body decided to betray her.

Her knees buckled underneath her and her eyes grew wider as she saw the chakra infused wind getting closer. She closed her eyes and braced for the attack. But after a moment she noticed it was gone and a strange barrier was up in front of her.

She looked up and down and realized that there was a person in front of her too. Moments later the barrier began to break down and go back towards the person in front of her.

"Kazekage-sama!" Kyoshi yelled out. "Why are you interfering?"

Gaara didn't answer he simply turned around and knelt down beside Nikomi.

"Are you alright?" He asked, holding out his hand to her.

She looked at him with angry eyes. "I'm fine," she said while swatting his hand away.

"No…you're not. You could have dodged that normally. I think it's time I take you back." Gaara told her point blankly.

"No!" She yelled.

"Kazekage-sama, what's going on?" Kyoshi asked once again.

Gaara stood and faced the young boy. "You should be heading back. I'm going to tell your sensei about this."

Kyoshi looked at him with fear and respect. "Yes…of course." He didn't hesitate. He knew Gaara's reputation. He wasn't going to argue. He quickly ran off back to the village.

Gaara then turned his attention back to Nikomi. "That was stupid."

"Who are you to tell me what I can and cannot handle?" She yelled, still angry about him telling her she wasn't ok.

"I'm not telling you what you can and cannot handle. I am simply stating what I see. You're weak now. He would have destroyed you." He told her, reverting back to his normal monotone scary voice.

"Don't underestimate me!" She yelled, jumping to her feet.

She started to throw a punch then cringed and collapsed.

Gaara automatically caught her, expecting it the entire time. "You see." He pointed out. "You don't even have the stamina right now to throw a single punch."

Nikomi sat, breathing heavily, clenching her teeth together, pushing back tears. "I'm not weak." She said under her breath. "I can handle myself."

"I don't doubt your strength. But you need to realize when you're outmatched." Gaara told her, still holding unto her.

She couldn't hold it in anymore. She let a single tear fall down her cheek and fell down to her knees.

Gaara rose to his feet and looked down at her. "It's not wrong to admit weakness. Once you do that you will know yourself better, and become an even better shinobi."

Nikomi wiped the tear from her face and looked up at him. "What do you know about it? You've never had to endure the things I've had to. Being blind isn't the half of it!"

"I know the pain of loneliness, and the feeling of being rejected, if that's what you mean." Gaara told her.

Nikomi looked at him confused. "What?" She asked.

"We're a lot a like. Now…will you let me help you?' He asked once again, holding his hand out for her.

She hesitated a bit, then grabbed it, letting him pull her up. "Don't take me back. Please." She pleaded.

"I wont…not yet." He assured her.

"Thank you."

Nikomi grabbed her walking stick which she had dropped when she collapsed and her and Gaara started to walk back toward the village.

The sun was setting over Konoha. Nikomi could feel the temperature dropping as she sat staring off into nothingness. She knew that her day of semi-freedom would soon be coming to an end.

"I suppose we should be headed back." Gaara said.

"I guess." Nikomi agreed disappointed.