Author's Note:
I just wanted to say a quick sorry about the last chapter. I was rushing on it a little, so it might not sound as good as the others (I might go back and edit a couple of things on it… someday).
Also, I would like to say that I am not ungrateful for the reviews. They have given me more confidence in my writing (I've never posted a story before). I thank you for the reviews, whether they're encouraging, or need-improvement reviews. The more you review, the quicker I will probably post another chapter or edit a chapter (depending on my schedule).
Anyways, I'll let you read the next chapter now.
Chapter 9:
"When do you think you'll be back?" Raxiel asked curiously as they stood by the entrance of the hotel.
Gaara shrugged his shoulders. "Depends on if we catch the enemies, or if they retreat."
"So there's really no way of telling, is there?" Raxiel said sadly.
Gaara noticed her melancholy. He took a step towards her. "I'll be sure to come get you, as soon as the mission is done."
Raxiel smiled at him. "Do you mean it? Thanks, Gaara!"
Gaara's eyes widened a little. Someone was actually glad that he would visit them. Someone wasn't afraid of him…
"She is different…" he thought to himself as he looked down, examining the cracks in the concrete that was underneath them. Raxiel's face turned into concernment when she saw tenseness in his face. "Are you okay?"
Gaara quickly looked up at her. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Raxiel nodded. "You'd better get some rest for tomorrow."
Gaara glanced down at her shirt, seeing that she was still drenched and that the shirt still clung to her skin. "Right; you should get some sleep yourself."
"Heh, well, I might just do that once I get a shower," Raxiel said, slightly laughing at how he was looking at her wet-self. "But aren't you going to get a room yourself?"
Gaara shook his head. "I've still got some things to do in preparation for the mission," he said while taking out the apple she had given him earlier. He tossed it in the air a few times. Raxiel smiled at him and quickly picked up the bags they had set down on the ground. Gaara started to walk away when he calmly called out to her.
"Hurry up and get in your room," he ordered.
Raxiel sighed as she saw him walk away. She was a little annoyed with taking
orders from him, but non-the-less, she did so due to the fact that she needed to take a shower.
Making her way up the stairs of the hotel and entering into her room, she set her bags down on a table. She walked over to the only window in her room, sighing as she pulled the curtains aside. She looked out towards the sky to see the moon was out and the stars were shining brightly. Gazing out at the stars had caused a smile to creep out of her. She glanced downwards to see the people walking on the road that Gaara and her had come from.
"Maybe being on the second-floor isn't so bad after-all," she said to herself as she walked over to the bags to put the food that needed to be in the refrigerator away.
Once she was done clearing out all of the bags and putting her new attained items away, she grabbed some of her new clothes and made her way towards the shower.
XxXxXxXxXxXx
The moon that was once beautiful was soon covered up by grey clouds, making the moon appear downright ugly. What seemed to be like a peaceful night turned into a downright terrible night for Gaara as he was making his way to the city before it closed for the night. Just as he was out of the sheltered forest, all hell broke loose as the rain clouds started to pour out rain like there was no tomorrow. Dirt holes quickly became a home to puddles in just a few seconds. Nothing outside that wasn't sheltered was easily drenched in less than a minute.
Gaara was one of them…
He grunted in frustration. He didn't like to get wet, especially since he still had a mile to go before the town could even be seen. The apple that he had eaten while he was in the forest did give him enough energy to walk a little quicker, but there was no use of walking any faster since he was already soaked from head to toe.
What gave him more frustration was the fact that he didn't even want to go on the mission. To him, this mission was basically a camping trip and maybe a little game of "war".
He grunted again. This was not going to be a good week at all…
XxXxXxXxXxXx
As the hot water poured over her body, Raxiel couldn't believe how good it felt to get wet. The hot steam made the air relaxing, taking all of her cares and concerns away. As she turned the water off and reached to grab her towel, she noticed grains of sand that were on her arm that she had failed to scrub off. She started to wipe her arm, hoping to remove the sand, but the sand remained on her, not moving a single millimeter.
"Why is it not coming off?" she said to herself in confusion. Resolved about getting the particles of sand off of her, she picked at them for as long as five minutes only to irritate her skin. She sighed with defeat and started to get dressed.
She had a feeling that this week was going to be awful…
XxXxXxXxXxXx
Once the clouds had all dispersed, the sun came out as brightly as it could, making the air humid and hot. Mosquitoes made themselves welcome to the townspeople who were outside. Gaara happened to be one of them.
As he made his way through the town, he could see all the damage that had been caused by the storm. Signs were falling off of the shops, windows were broken, and the rain had caused the ground to smell sickening.
To say the least… the village looked like a wreck…
"What a waste," Gaara thought, as he looked at the stores to see most of the products were wet due to so many broken windows that the wind has smashed by its speed and force. He sighed, "Sunagakure will never see this much rain in its lifetime," he thought to himself.
As he made his way towards the entrance gates to Konoha, he heard a voice yelling his name. Abruptly, he stopped; his eyes widened. He looked behind him to see Raxiel, scurrying to catch up to him.
"What is she doing outside!" he thought. "I thought I told her to stay inside…"
As Raxiel slowed her pace down now walking nonchalantly, Gaara glared at her in a stubborn manner. Once Raxiel had stopped next to him, her smile she once had vanished…
"What's that face for?"
"I told you to stay inside," he snapped.
Raxiel rolled her eyes. "Oh, please! I just came to see you off. After that, I'll obey, good enough?"
"Five minutes, Raxiel. You have five minutes."
Raxiel laughed at Gaara's face, and his glare intensified. "You think it's funny that someone could kill you?"
"Do you really think a villain would come into a hotel just to kill some innocent people?"
"Yes, I do. There are callous people out there."
"…Okay, so you do have a point. But I can defend myself," she said stubbornly.
"It doesn't matter," Gaara said, refusing to give up. He started walking away. "Besides…"
Raxiel ran to catch up to him. She started to walk beside him. "Besides what?'' she restated to him.
He glanced at her. "You might be caught off guard. Weren't you the one who said, 'Sometimes, the most ready people need the most help'?"
Raxiel's eyes widened. "So, he was listening," she thought. She sighed with defeat, "Okay, fine. I'll stay inside; I promise."
Gaara smirked, knowing he had won. As they reached the gates, he came to a halt while turning to her. Raxiel stopped and looked over at him.
"This is where you go back," he said bluntly. He could hear the other ninjas who had been requested to come on the mission call to him from a little ways away, waiting for him so they could begin.
Raxiel sighed. "Hey, listen, Gaara. Be careful, okay? I don't want my friend getting injured, so you'd better stay alert."
Gaara's eyes widened…
The ninjas called to him again…
Knowing he had to leave, he started to walk away. "Um…sure. You be careful, too…"
Raxiel smiled. "Sure thing."
And so they left…
Left each other…
Gaara watched her as she walked down the road and studied her silhouette. He'd never seen such a body that was so perfect in every way.
"Why am I thinking like this?" he thought as he turned to face the other ninjas who were about to leave without him.
XxXxXxXxXxXx
As Raxiel entered her room, she quickly looked out the door one more time and sighed.
"What can you do in a hotel room for who-knows how long?" she thought to herself as the door to her room closed. She made her way over to her bed to sit and think. As she was doing so, something else slowly caught her attention…
Her window was open…
Her window that she had locked that morning was open…
Her eyes widened; she stood up and started to head for the bathroom. The door to it was wide open.
"Good," she thought, "just the way I left it."
Once she had peeked in the bathroom, she headed towards the closet she had put her clothes in. When she opened the door, to her relief, she found no one.
"Maybe the maids did it…" she thought as she lay on her bed, sighing with relief.
Soon she drifted into a peaceful sleep…
