Chapter 7:
Once they were caught into the crowd of the busy streets of Konoha, Raxiel started to look around to see if she could find a restaurant where they could eat.
Gaara, on the other hand, wasn't…
So many things had happened, and all of it had happened in less than an hour.
Friend…
"Does that mean our relationship has changed from stranger to friend?" he thought to himself. "Does that mean she'll be treating me differently?"
"You're still the boss," a voice inside him whispered. "Never let her forget that."
Finally spotting a cheap diner, Raxiel pointed towards it and they made their way inside it.
In a stern voice, Gaara began to give Raxiel orders. "Sit down, and I'll order. What do you want?" he snapped.
Raxiel looked up at Gaara, surprised by his strict voice. "Umm… just a salad is fine."
"Alright, sit down," he said dominantly.
Raxiel noticed the roughness in his voice and stared at him in bewilderment. Without questioning him, she walked away to pick a table where they could sit. Gaara quickly ordered and came back to sit down at the table Raxiel had picked. Noticing his face was not pleasant, Raxiel decided to try to cheer him up. She smiled and him and began to think of questions to ask him. "How long are you planning on staying in this town?"
Gaara tensed up even more. He hadn't thought of having to leave her. He lost his dominant glance at her and looked down sadly. "I'll have to go back as soon as possible, once we're done with the paper-work.
Raxiel gazed at his hands, which were folded on the table. "I see," she said in a depressed tone of voice. She knew that if he left, she would have no one with which to hang out with, and she knew…
She knew there was only a one percent chance that he'd actually ask her to go with him to his town…
Gaara looked up to find out that her face was troubled. "What about you? Are you planning to stay here?"
Raxiel sighed. "Well, I haven't really thought about it," she replied reluctantly. "I don't have anywhere to go."
Suddenly, as if on cue, a waiter came over to them with their food. The man set the plates of food down nervously and waited to be dismissed. As Raxiel studied his face, she noticed how terrified he was as he was looking at Gaara. Even his pupils were dilated which seemed very peculiar to her. She smiled at him, trying to get his mind off of the redhead who was sitting on the other side of Raxiel, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't smile back to her. Gaara glared at the man, knowing exactly what that man was feeling inside himself. The man saw this and became even more scared.
"How much do I owe –"
Raxiel was interrupted by the waiter, "Oh, no, mam! No charge!"
The waiter took off running…
And all Raxiel did was look over at Gaara with a confused face. Gaara, on the other hand, was smirking, looking as though he had just accomplished something wonderful.
"Don't you pay him a tip or something?"
"You heard him; he didn't want one. Now, eat," he said bluntly.
And without any more questions from her, they both ate their salads in silence. Once they had finished, they went back out into the streets.
Without warning, a ninja appeared in front of them, startling Raxiel. Noticing her jump, Gaara got in front of her, making sure she felt more secure.
"Your presence is requested at the Hokage's Office," the ninja said to Gaara. "Apparently, there's something bad going on in the village, and we were sent to retrieve the best ninjas here in Konoha, whether they be from here or if they're just visiting."
Gaara nodded in understanding. Soon following that, the ninja disappeared.
Gaara turned to face Raxiel who was giving him a look of curiosity. "You're welcome to follow, but once we get there, you'll have to wait outside," he said. Raxiel nodded in agreement, and soon they began to walk out of the town down a long road towards the Hokage's Office.
For some reason, Gaara was happy inside that Raxiel was following him there. Although no conversation had been started, just having his "friend" there made him happy.
Of course, Raxiel broke the silence.
"So what's a Hokage?"
Silence broke over them again until Gaara had the right words he wanted to say. "He's the leader of this country, the one who makes all of the decisions."
Raxiel's eyes slightly widened, "Wow! And you're going to see him?"
"Along with the other ninjas he has called, yes," Gaara replied bluntly.
"Aren't you the least bit nervous?"
Gaara suddenly stopped in front of Raxiel, making her stop, as well. "He's a leader, not a god. Why should I be?"
"Gaara! How could you say that? He's a leader, one of the persons who keeps this country running – like a captain of a ship, almost. If you didn't have a leader, there would be no village. You should at least respect him, right? If I ever met someone like that, I'd be scared to death." Raxiel said to him; this time, her words came out with harshness.
Gaara looked down sadly. "Are you sure you'd be scared?"
Raxiel gave him a look of curiosity as to why he had just asked that. "Yes, I'm sure I would be."
"Leaders don't want people down at their feet, begging. They want to be treated like a regular person. How would you like it if people treated you more importantly than others?" he snapped.
Raxiel looked at him, surprised by what he had just said. "I wouldn't like it, but those people who have been chosen to be leaders have got to understand that they are somewhat more important than others. That's just the way things are." Suddenly, Raxiel shifted her gaze downwards to the ground. "Maybe that's the reason why we respect them so much."
Gaara calmed down a little. "What do you mean?"
"For taking on a responsibility so big, and for having to be treated so differently; maybe that's what we should respect them for, you know?"
Gaara sighed. "That's a good reason, I guess." He stepped beside her so they could walk together, and soon they were on their way again.
This time, it was Gaara's turn to start the conversation. "No one likes to be treated differently. Why couldn't people's respect for another be kept inside?"
"If we didn't show or even tell that person what we thought of them, they would think that they weren't appreciated," she said calmly as the tower that they were heading towards now was coming into their view.
"Yeah, I guess…"
Once they had reached the tower, Raxiel picked a spot to wait outside for Gaara. Gaara went inside without saying anything else to her.
"I wonder who this guy really is," she thought. "He sounds important, and yet he's just a regular person."
A half hour passed, and finally, ninjas started to come outside. Raxiel watched as each one of them came out. Anxiously she was looking for Gaara, but he didn't come. She sighed in disappointment.
Sand…?
Suddenly she felt sand falling onto her skin. She tried to brush it off, but it was effortless. Trying to figure out where the sand was coming from, she looked up at the roof that was above her. She gasped out of horror to see Gaara hanging upside-down from the roof with his feet. He was staring at her, intrigued by her carefree world again. Once she knew who he was, Raxiel sighed with relief. "How long have you been there?" she asked.
"Long enough."
"Well, how did it go?" she asked impatiently.
Gaara looked around and saw other people glancing over at them. Not liking this, he glanced back at Raxiel who was looking at him curiously. Gaara suddenly vanished into sand leaving Raxiel bewildered.
Raxiel looked around, trying to figure out where he was until suddenly she felt something crawl upwards to her waist. She looked down and gasped to see sand surrounding her from her waist down, the sand hardening by the second. She clutched the sand that was tightened onto her as it starting to lift her up towards the top of the roof. She looked up and saw Gaara on top of the roof. His arms were crossed, and he was glaring at her. She looked at him, scared as the sand spiraled around her touching her bare skin. She struggled to get free, but it was futile. Gaara walked over to her slowly.
"Are you… scared?"
Raxiel looked up at him again and stopped struggling. "Y-You're… -"
Gaara nodded as if he was reading her mind.
"Then no. No, I'm not scared. You just surprised me."
Gaara could see her body starting to relax. His eyes widened as shock crept over him from the sudden change of her body language. He gently let her down and summoned the sand back into his gourd.
Still a little nervous, Raxiel looked at him curiously. Gaara soon shifted his eyes towards her, and they both made eyes contact.
"Why did you do that?" she asked.
Gaara skipped the question. "The things I am to tell you, no one else should know about, okay?" Raxiel nodded, letting him know he could continue. "There's a gang of criminals around here that have been going around and killing other ninjas. There's no decision on what they want, but we've been sent to try to capture them. It's an S-rank mission - meaning it's the hardest. I don't know how long it will take, but I'll most likely be gone for a while."
Raxiel looked down, saddened by what he had just said.
"Listen to me, Raxiel, I don't want you wandering around in town. Stay close to your hotel room. When I get back, I'll come see you," Gaara said very seriously.
Raxiel looked up at him. "Yeah, but, Gaara, I –"
"No, you're staying in that hotel. Promise me, okay?
Raxiel looked away towards a forest that was on the opposite side of Gaara. Gaara soon caught on to her evasiveness. He took a step closer to her and glared at her. "Raxiel…"
"Okay, fine! I promise…"
Gaara sighed at her, making Raxiel glance at him. He slowly started walking towards the edge of the roof. "I'm your friend, right? So this is my way of making sure you don't get hurt."
"He cares for me," she thought as he jumped off the roof and onto the ground. She slowly edged herself closer to the edge of the roof when she suddenly felt sand wrap around her again. It lifted her up off the roof and placed her gently on the ground. Raxiel looked at Gaara again.
The sand moved across her face, almost caressing it…
"Gaara… could you make it let go?"
Gaara stared at her, intrigued by her face and how hesitant it was. "Her skin is softer than the finest sand…" he thought.
Gaara finally motioned his hand, and the sand let go of Raxiel and traveled back into the gourd. They both stared at each other not for any reason in the world.
It was just wanted by them…
Just needed…
Gaara finally broke the stare and looked at the road they had come from.
"Let's get going."
As they reached the road, Raxiel looked down at her moving feet. "Could he feel my skin? Is that why he moved it to my face?" she wondered. "I almost could have promised I saw him smiling when it touched me."
Gaara broke the silence. "You could always come with me to Suna," he said, still looking straight ahead of him at the road. "I could pay for you to have an apartment, and you wouldn't be lonely with me being in the same town."
Raxiel looked up at the back of his head. "He's always wanted me to walk behind him – for me to follow him. Is he afraid?"
"Raxiel?"
Her thoughts were interrupted by Gaara's voice. Raxiel snapped out of her mesmerization and realized that he was now looking back at her with curiosity.
"Oh, sorry," she said a little too apologetically.
"Something's wrong," he stated to her. He stopped in front of her forcing her to stop, as well. She looked at him with confusion as he turned to face her, staring at her curiously. A long silence was kept between them.
"…Well? Why are you not yourself?"
Raxiel looked down. "It's nothing. I just had something on my mind."
Gaara took a step closer to her. Raxiel quickly snapped her eyes back onto him noticing their distance had closed in a little. Now realizing how close they really were, Raxiel's eyes widened, showing uneasiness.
Gaara, on the other hand, was not uneasy at all. He was too busy examining her. Noticing her uneasiness hadn't stopped him from looking. He wished he could have made himself stop, but with her being so close, it was almost a good excuse to actually look at her in more detail.
To actually get a glance at her small scar next to her eye…
To catch a glimpse of actually how big her mahogany eyes were…
To be able to hear how fast she was breathing…
Slowly, he raised his eyes to catch her eyes with his. She had caught him glaring at her. She had caught everything, from the first glance to the last eye'ås glance at her lips.
Caught like a hawk with its prey…
Caught like a bear in a trap…
And her reaction…
Fear… Anxiety…
And his reaction…
"I've hurt her again," he thought.
Raxiel broke the awkward silence, although still shaken by the way he had looked at her. "When are you leaving for the mission?"
"Tomorrow morning…" He turned around and continued walking. After a while, he could hear her footsteps behind him.
"So, what's Suna like?" she asked genially, trying to shake off the anxiety between them.
"Windy," he said nonchalantly.
Raxiel looked down, "Oh, windy…"
And then, something caught Gaara's attention…
Laughter…
Loud, happy laughter from behind him…
He turned to face her, and noticed she was laughing at him: HIM, Gaara of the Desert.
He quickly stopped and turned around, glaring at her, but trying to make her stop had only caused her to laugh even harder.
"What?" he said bluntly.
Raxiel managed to control her laughter after a few seconds. "You're not a very descriptive person, you know?" she said kindly.
"Why should I be?"
"I don't know, but you really don't know how to hold a conversation," she said, starting to laugh again. This time, Gaara almost felt a smile come across his face. He quickly turned around and continued to walk down the road. Raxiel quickly caught up, making her steps quicker which brought her to Gaara's side. Gaara quickly looked at her, noticing her smile was back.
"Did I get her smile back?" he thought. Silence fell over them except for the crunch of their footsteps. "I've got to make sure she won't get hurt," he thought.
"You'll have dinner in your room. I don't want you coming out tomorrow, unless it's an emergency," he stated to her.
Raxiel game him an uneasy look. She sighed, depressed about the situation she was going to be in. "That's no fun…" she murmured.
Gaara sensed her agitation. He wasn't trying to be patronizing, but it was just his way of seeing things done. He hesitantly began to speak to her again, "Umm… Do you need anything in town?"
"Hm?" Raxiel mumbled.
"Well, since you're going to be in your room for a while, I just thought you might need some things."
"Oh, yeah; I see," she said still depressed.
Agitation…
Or protection…?
