Author's Note:
Wow! I can't thank you enough for your reviews! They've all been encouraging, and have helped me out with making the story even better.
Another "wow" is this chapter, which is really long. Unfortunately this will be my last submission for a few days (roughly four, I believe). I'll be out of town, but don't worry! I'll still be writing down the story in one of my note books (believe me, guys, the story is not even half way over). I just hope you will stick with reading it, and I'll stick to writing it. The reason why I can update so quickly is because I have almost all of the story written down, therefore, all I have to do is copy it down. It might be a good thing that I will be away so I can finish the story and have it complete so I can still update every day (hopefully).
Okay, I'll shut up now, and let you read the chapter. I hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 13:
Raxiel sighed as she stepped in front of the mirror to see what kind of a mess she looked like even after getting ready.
The last time she saw her reflection was yesterday at the spring before Iruka had helped her out with her hotel door. Sleeping for a whole day and a half had made her hair almost impossible to look at least presentable. Therefore, she had pulled it up into a ponytail.
Now it was six o'clock in the afternoon…
A half hour later, and she'd be meeting Gaara for some unknown reason…
Raxiel's stomach growled. She knew she needed to eat, but when she caught a glimpse at herself even after showering and getting ready, her appetite slowly started to lessen.
"I might have to take another quick shower…" she thought as she sighed and made her way towards the bathroom.
"Or maybe if he sees me like this, he won't want to go out with me, and I can sleep some more…"
Raxiel yawned one last time before she shut the door to the bathroom.
"That's really selfish!" she scolded to herself.
XxXxXxXxXxXx
Once she was content with her appearance, Raxiel slipped on some flip-flops and headed towards the door…
The door to her refrigerator.
"A couple of quick bites won't hurt," she thought to herself as she pulled out an apple and glanced at the clock. "I should be down there right now…"
She shut the refrigerator door and made her way downstairs with the apple in her hand.
When she had made her way down the stairs, as expected, Gaara was waiting for her.
Already, she knew she was in trouble…
As she began to get closer to him, she noticed he was wearing something more formal than what she had always seen him in. He wore a mahogany overcoat that zipped up in front from the hips to the neck. Black pants and black flip-flops covered his bottom-half fully while the overcoat hung over the pants.
"Sheesh… and all I'm wearing is blue jeans and a shirt," Raxiel thought, as she made her way closer to him.
Without even taking one look at her, Gaara stated two words to her, "You're late."
Raxiel sighed. "By ten minutes, and ten minutes only. Consider yourself fortunate that my hair decided to allow me to pull it back."
"Why?"
"Because if it hadn't, then I might not be standing here right now, curious to know what's going on."
Gaara finally faced her. "I'll tell you later."
Raxiel nodded in agreement and lifted her apple up to take a quick bite out of it.
Unfortunately, a hand clutched onto hers before she could take her first bite…
"Don't eat that. It'll ruin your appetite," the skinny redhead ordered.
Once again, Raxiel sighed. "Well, if you hadn't eaten all day, you might not think the same."
"I haven't," he said blandly.
"…Oh…"
Gaara noticed her hand wasn't so fixed on the apple, and he took the apple away from her. He set it on a table and looked at her again, this time, with a more friendly face. "Let's go."
But before they even took a step, Raxiel began to make a comparison about her normal clothes to his more stylish clothes again. "Are you sure?" she asked uncertainly.
Gaara noticed her uneasiness. He closely looked at her face to see what was wrong. "Is something bothering you?"
"Well, when you said to wear something nice, I didn't know you meant that nice."
"Is that what she's worried about!" he thought to himself as he sighed unusually loudly.
"These were the only other clothes I brought besides my usual ones. You look nice. Let's go," he said rather quickly and without emotion. Raxiel knew she wasn't going to get anything else out of him about the concernment she had just stated. "All right, sure," she said nonchalantly.
"Did I just say she looked nice?" Gaara thought as they exited the hotel lobby.
XxXxXxXxXxXx
"But, Gaara," Raxiel started to say, "it looks really crowded… and expensive."
"I made reservations; besides, I'm paying for it," Gaara said to her reassuringly.
Raxiel started to become more uneasy as they entered the restaurant. It's not that she wasn't excited about going out to eat and actually having a "full meal," but something about this place told her that it wasn't your typical restaurant. It seemed as if only rich people went there…
Maybe millionaires…
Another thing that caught Raxiel's attention was the location of this restaurant. It was right by some beautiful landscaping and not at all close to village.
"Is he really that rich?" she thought as a waitress approached them.
"Right this way, sir. It's all ready," she said as she started to walk towards some stairs leading upward.
As they followed her, Raxiel couldn't help but wonder where they were going to be seated. As they went up the stairs higher, the noises of people and the clanging of dishes became less audible. After climbing a few floors, they reached what appeared to be the roof of the tall restaurant. The waitress opened the door and led them into an unusual room.
The room was small – small enough to only seat two people there comfortably, It was a dark grey room with vines climbing two of the walls. On the outer wall, there was an opening that brought in almost all of the light from outside in exception to the tiny lights that were placed upon the climbing vines, but even so, the opening was narrow, making the room murky.
As they both took their seats at the small yet ornate table that was in the middle of the room, the waitress gave them menus and left the small room, leaving the two in silence.
Raxiel couldn't believe how unique the room was and didn't bother to touch her menu. Gaara soon noticed she wasn't reading the menu or, surprisingly, talking. He looked up from his menu at her, watching her look all around the room.
"It'll be here all night, Raxiel," Gaara said calmly, and she quickly looked over at him.
"Oh, sorry," she replied, taking her menu so she could find something that sounded likeable.
Just as she had guessed, the food there was outrageously priced way too high, and some of the names of the food, she couldn't even make out.
"Gaara, why does bread here cost seven times as much as the bread in the market costs?" she asked, her eyes widening each time she looked at another course on the menu.
Gaara glanced up to see the expression on her face. "Stop looking at the price, and pick something you want. I'm paying for it." He put his eyes back on his menu.
Sharply, Raxiel set down her menu, ready and excited to quarrel yet again with him. "What if I ordered everything on this menu, would you pay for it?" she asked, her voice still very polite.
"Why do you ask?" Gaara said, oblivious at how excited she was.
"Don't you think this place rips you off?"
"Do you not like it here?" he asked dully.
"No, I just –"
"Look, this is the best restaurant in this village. Of course, it's going to be expensive, but I thought you might like it here. If you want to get something cheap, that's fine. I was just… -"
"What am I telling her?" he thought.
But Raxiel caught on. "Look, I'm sorry. I was being ungrateful. I'm just not used to this kind of luxury."
Gaara looked up at her and nodded, understanding what she meant. "Would it make you feel better if we split something?'
Eagerly, Raxiel nodded. Gaara sighed, still looking at her with amusement. "What do you want?"
Raxiel's eager smile soon faded. "Oh, I don't know… Why don't you decide, since you're paying for it."
"She really doesn't like to take advantage of other people," Gaara thought as he finally chose what he wanted and waited for the waitress to come back.
Once he had ordered, Raxiel got up to walk over to the window. Gaara soon stepped beside her.
Raxiel decided to break the silence. "So, what brings you back so quickly? The mission wasn't as bad as you had thought?"
Gaara took a sip of his water that he had snatched from the table. "Apparently, someone had found some of the spies we were looking for already dead.
Raxiel's eyes widened. "Really?"
"What's more intriguing is the fact that their bodies were still intact with each other, no blood, no wounds, nothing."
Raxiel started to walk back to her seat. The shock that had just occurred in her body made her legs weak, and she didn't want to take any chances of passing out.
"Was it Itachi? Was it him who killed those spies?"
Gaara noticed her sudden tremors. He turned around to face her and leaned on the side of the wall. "It appears that they were mentally tortured," he said calmly as Raxiel sat down.
"Uh-huh…"
"Therefore," he continued, "we didn't have much of a mission after that."
"Was there any trace of any other humans there?" Raxiel asked hesitantly.
"No, nothing at all."
Raxiel started to play with the intricate tablecloth. "Gaara?"
"Yes?"
"Was the team of spies… were they Orochimaru's gang?"
Gaara's eyes slightly widened. "How did you know?"
The tablecloth ripped.
"Lucky guess…" she said, intermingled with her own world. A long silence was kept between them until an awkward noise was heard…
The sound of a stomach growling…
Raxiel's cheeks turned bright red as she wrapped her arms around her stomach and began to laugh quietly. Gaara watched her childish behavior and soon let a smirk escape from his face.
"I guess I'm hungry."
"It should be here soon," Gaara said, taking another drink of his water. Raxiel also took a sip of her water, but soon was interrupted with another thought…
"By the way, I think I had some of your sand on my arm when you were gone. I tried to get it off, but it wouldn't budge. Do you know what that's all about?"
Gaara's eyes widened…
"If I tell her, she'll be livid with me," he thought, desperately taking another mouthful of water to give him time to decide whether or not he should tell her.
"Maybe I could make her understand…" he thought.
"It's a sensor; I put it on you to make sure you were okay."
Raxiel's eyes widened. "Wh-What do you mean?"
"If he finds out where I've been, he'll be livid with me," she thought, anxiously awaiting his reply.
"If the sand had come into contact with blood, then I would have sensed danger. Therefore, I would have come back to see if you were all right. Seeing as though it never touched blood, I knew you were alright."
"But how!" Raxiel thought. "That's impossible! I was covered in blood, unless…
Unless…
Itachi."
Raxiel nodded and took another drink of her water. Surprised by her calmness, Gaara's eyes widened.
She wasn't mad…
She was perfectly fine with it…
"Your dinner is served!" said the waitress carrying a hug plate of food and another medium-sized plate with nothing on it. As she set the plates down, Raxiel said a "thank you" to her, while Gaara simply nodded.
Raxiel's eyes widened. As she looked at the tender meat and the beautiful vegetables that went along with it, her mouth watered, making it almost impossible for her to control herself. Gaara glanced at her and saw her eyes glistening. He couldn't help but grin at her, making Raxiel take her eyes off the food and put them on him.
"Are you laughing at me?"
"What? No, I was just –… glad to see you were content," Gaara said, knowing she knew he was lying. His smile soon vanished.
Raxiel eagerly took the extra plate and started to pick out some of the food she wanted. As she piled the food up on her plate with her fork, Gaara started to watch her curiously. When she reached over to grab another piece of meat, he took careful notice of her bare arm that was reaching out almost towards him.
He wondered what it felt like…
What her bare arm felt like…
He wanted to call his sand… wanted to make it touch her arm…
Unfortunately, he had forced himself to leave it at the hotel in Raxiel's room. He knew it would make her more comfortable if he did.
"Gaara, you'd better eat before it gets cold," Raxiel said, making Gaara snap out of his concentration. Soon he started to eat, as well.
"By the way," Raxiel said with a bite-full in her mouth. Gaara could see she was starving, "I talked to Iruka yesterday."
Gaara almost choked. "You did? How so?" he said trying to swallow some water.
"He came to see me. We were talking, and he thought I should consider becoming a kunoichi."
Once again, Gaara choked, this time, though, he was coughing. Raxiel stopped her eating to see if he was okay.
"Do you even know how rough the life of a kunoichi is? Do you know it's putting your life in danger?"
"Well, sure I do; I just thought, since I'm going to be here for a while, I might as well make something with my life here, don't you think?"
"Anything but that," Gaara mumbled.
Raxiel was starting to get impatient. "Well, I don't want to spend my time here stuck in a hotel."
Gaara glanced at her again, this time, with frustration in his eyes, as well.
"It's not even official yet if he's going to take me as his apprentice," Raxiel said defensively.
"Next time, when you are stuck in a hotel, don't answer the door. It seems to cause trouble," Gaara stated calmly and quietly.
"Why is it trouble! Can't you just be happy for me?" Raxiel said angrily, startling Gaara.
"That's not something to be happy about," he said blandly.
Raxiel sighed with stubbornness and looked down at the floor. A long silence followed. Gaara was starting to get annoyed with her attitude. He picked up the menu, acting amused.
"Sunagakure wants me back soon."
Raxiel finally took her eyes off the floor and put them on his. "Your home-town?" she asked quietly.
"Yes," he glanced back at her.
"What for?"
"I have to sign some paper-work and help out around town. About two months ago, my country was attacked by another land. Since then, the townspeople have been trying to rebuild the land." He put his eyes back on the menu.
"Oh, I see. I'm sorry."
"A lot of people died…" Gaara said, still trying to change her mind about becoming a kunoichi.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I'll die." Raxiel knew all too well where he was going with his conversation.
"I'm aware of that. But that doesn't mean you couldn't get hurt."
"Well, then I guess I'll have to train twice as hard, eh?"
Gaara glanced up at her. Raxiel quickly smiled at him. "Yeah, I guess," his gaze back on the menu.
"I'm winning!" Raxiel thought. "I've got to think of something else…"
Soon Raxiel's eyes lit up with an idea. She leaned over the table with her face almost too close to Gaara's. Gaara quickly shifted his eyes upwards to see her right in front of him. Her smile seemed… almost different.
"You know, Iruka might even be able to give me a few pointers on all of the kunoichi stuff…" Raxiel shifted her eyes upwards, looking up at the ceiling. Gaara sensed that this was all too different from her usual-self. He started to move his eyes downwards to look at the menu, but before he could make it all the way down, something else caught his attention…
"That shirt is showing off too much with her leaning forwards," he thought. But still that was the very thing he couldn't take his eyes off, and Raxiel seemed to be oblivious about it as she kept looking up at the little lights dangling from the ceiling.
"No, I can't think like this. She's too… too good…"
Red…
The color of her shirt…
It signaled if he was trustworthy or not…
Trustworthy to her…
Trustworthy for her…
Gaara set the menu down on the table and leaned back in his chair, trying to obtain more of his personal space. Raxiel quickly glanced at him, noticing that he was moving away.
"What makes you want to be a kunoichi if you don't even know anything about it?"
"Um, well,…" Gaara glanced at her to see he had caught a weak spot. Quickly after, she replied defensively, "It's never too late to learn, right?"
"You mean, it's never too early to learn."
"No, I meant what I said. And why not learn a different type of combat?"
"Because, Raxiel, this "type" of combat that you are talking about takes years to learn," Gaara said, growing more impatient.
"Well, Iruka said that if I considered it, he'd teach me everything quickly so I could try to pass the Chunin Exams. Don't you think I could do that?"
Abruptly, Gaara leaned forward, breaking both their personal space.
"I couldn't care less about this "Iruka" guy you're talking about. You've only talked him a few times, and yet it seems like you both are close friends."
Raxiel's glittering eyes soon turned into anger. "Kind of like we are, eh?"
Soon Gaara was losing control of his temper. He leaned even more forward, now noticing that Raxiel's eyes were beginning to widen with concernment.
"No, you seem to be better friends with him. I couldn't help but see the way the both of you smile at each other. Taking it that the only reason you smile at me is because I helped you and still am, I suppose I'm nothing more than a –"
Raxiel stood up and banged her hands on the table. "Are you saying I'm just using you!"
Gaara looked up at her. "Yes, I suppose I am," he said calmly. Raxiel's eyes widened as Gaara stood up straight. "That's how I feel about everyone. I'm just a puppet to be toyed. Why would anyone care for a money-maker?"
Raxiel shook her head in rebellion. 'How could you even think that! Are you saying that all of this time, you were only faking me as a friend? Is that what you're saying? Because I thought we were actually close. I thought we were even closer than I am with Iruka. I really wanted to be your friend, you know?"
Gaara's eyes widened as he remembered what she said just a few days ago…
"I'm your friend…"
"Why did I just lash out on her like that?" he thought.
Red…
"Gaara, are you okay!" Raxiel said as Gaara held his head, covering the red tattoo that he had on his forehead.
Soon he felt her hands placed on his shoulders with a gentle yet firm touch.
Jealousy…
Recovering himself, he stood up straight and turned his head to look behind him at her. Raxiel's eyes were dancing with concernment.
"I'm fine. Just… I lost myself for a minute."
Raxiel soon eased her grip on his shoulders and relaxed a little. "I see…" Soon she let go of him and walked back over to her chair to grab her newly purchased purse he had bought her.
"Come to think of it," she thought, "it's almost like he owns me…"
"I think I should go now," she said in a gentle voice.
But Gaara wasn't ready for the night to be over. "Uh-wait! Wait a minute, I thought I could… order some dessert, if you want some…"
Raxiel looked into his eyes.
She wanted to leave the weird atmosphere they were in. She wanted to cool off and try to stay away from him for a while.
Her efforts automatically failed when she saw in his eyes desperateness…
And loneliness…
She set her handbag down on the floor and sat back down in her chair. As Gaara sat down, Raxiel could hear him sigh with relief.
"Only if you choose," Raxiel said quietly.
"That's fine," he said, trying to regain his composure.
"What's wrong with me?" Gaara thought as he looked down at the menu again, choosing what to order.
