Chapter 20:

"You requested me, Hokage?" a blonde-haired, blue-eyed teen by the name of Naruto said.

A chair turned in the direction of Naruto with a blonde-haired woman sitting in it. "Please, call me Tsunade."

"Alright then, Tsunade. What do I owe the pleasure of getting a call from you?"

"I have a mission for you, an A-rank mission."

"Alright! Bring it on!" the blonde-haired cheerfully stated.

"Hold it, Naruto. I'm not just going to give it to you. You'll need a teammate, first, to go with you."

Naruto's smile soon faded. "Oh, but, Tsunade, Sakura's gone on another mission."

"Yes, your old teammate did go on another mission. That's why I want you to go out there and find another kunoichi to be your teammate for this mission."

Suddenly, a knock on the office door was heard.

"Who is it?" the blonde-haired woman shouted roughly.

"It's Iruka. I have some business to go over with you."

"Fine, come in."

As the door opened, there stood Iruka walking in with papers that seemed important. Naruto began to look at them curiously.

"Excuse me for interrupting, but that new kunoichi I talked to you about, Raxiel, well, she's ready to test at the Chunin Exams. Here's her paperwork. I'll leave it here for you to make your decision." Once Iruka had set the paperwork down on the desk, he casually walked out. He knew it'd probably be best for her to be left alone.

As Tsunade picked up the papers and began to look through them, Naruto held a conversation. "It has to be a kunoichi?"

"Yes," Tsunade mumbled, soon caught up in the paperwork she was looking at.

"Why?"

"I'll go over the details, once you get her."

"Why chose me then, since I don't have a teammate?" Naruto asked. He knew if he kept this up, soon he'd have Tsunade's full attention.

"Because the job I have for you is just your type," she smirked.

"Okay…" Naruto said dumbfounded about what he should say next.

Soon she banged her hand on the desk and looked directly at Naruto who had jumped a little from the surprised noise.

"And, Naruto, I think I've found you the perfect kunoichi…"

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Raxiel lay on her bed staring up at the ceiling. It was way past midnight, and she still could not go to sleep. Thoughts kept filling her head…

Thoughts about how her first kiss was stolen…

Stolen by a friend…

She remembered how the sensational feeling of his lips pressed against hers was and how she wanted it to last longer…

But she knew…

She knew that kiss was wrong. And that's why she knew she had to break it.

She wondered if their friendship would ever return…

Raxiel turned over to her side and glanced at the bouquet of flowers Iruka had given her two weeks ago for her seventeenth birthday, one of the few things she remembered about herself.

That was the day when she had been thinking about him.

Thinking about the Kazekage too much…

She missed him. It was strange how she had gotten so close to him in only about a weeks worth. She remembered when she had first saw him and how his eyes were so tense and serious.

She wondered if he looked the same…

Maybe he'd changed…

No, he couldn't have. Not as stubborn as he was…

Her eyes glanced back at the bouquet, soon bringing back that day. Iruka and Naruto had come to take her out to get ramen for her birthday. She could never repay them for that night.

That was the night when all of her memories were forgotten…

"Gaara, what are you doing now?" she thought. "What are you thinking about right now?"

Pretty soon, her mind drifted off, and she fell into a peaceful sleep.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

The moon's light spread out throughout the now-cool desert, making the sand look blue…

Water…

"If I'm water, then I'm all over her… I'm in her…"

The redheaded Kazekage sighed, depressed as he looked out the small window and out towards the moon. For nights he had not been able to go out of the small room due to the fact that it was too dangerous, especially since he was the Kazekage. The war had been long, but he knew they were slowly winning. Orochimaru's crowd grew less and less every day, and somehow from looking outside the only window in the small room for weeks, he could tell.

Gaara's mind though was not on the war that he was in the middle of winning…

He was concentrated on the full moon that he could see up in the sky.

Having to be in this room for endless nights, he was very bored, especially when he did not have to give out orders to the ninjas that were fighting the battles for him.

Every night when he looked up at the moon…

The cursed moon…

That cursed moon would remind him of that cursed statement that the cursed girl had said…

Her words…

"Hey, have you ever seen of the man on the moon?"

For nights, he'd been staring out his window, his eyes fixed on the moon…

He'd been trying to find that man…

It had made him so frustrated that he hadn't been able to see it. After all, he'd been trying to find it the past few weeks…

Perhaps he was looking for the wrong face…

Gaara closed his eyes for a minute…

He could almost see her face…

The cursed face that stayed with him wherever he went…

The cursed face… he had quickly grown to… like…?

"You know what that means?"

Laughter…

"It means we have no imagination."

He opened his eyes and, once again, searched for the face…

Her face…

And soon he caught onto something…

A smile…

He smirked. "Don't you dare tell me, Raxiel, that I don't have an imagination."

Imagination…

The imagination that sometimes took him too far…

Desperately wanting her

After all, she was basically his…

Yes, that imagination…

That cursed imagination he had…

And he knew it…

He needed more self-control…

He knew it…

Those feelings of love can never be buried…

They'll never leave you alone…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"If breakfast is the most important meal, how come every time I try to eat it, it makes me sick?" Raxiel was looking at the bowl of cereal she had pored herself for breakfast. Sure, she loved cereal, but not at eight o'clock in the morning. Sighing loudly to herself, she picked the bowl up and stood up to go clean it in the sink. While she was washing the bowl though, a knock came from her door. Raxiel dropped the bowl and her eyes widened. "Who could that be?" she thought. "Especially at this time in the morning." Slowly she walked over to the door and opened it. There outside her door, Iruka stood, eyes down on the tacky carpet.

A memory flashed through her head of seeing him there looking exactly how Iruka was.

Soon Iruka's eyes finally caught hers. "I'm here on business matters."

"…What is it then?" Raxiel could sense the tension between them.

"I spoke to the Hokage. She said she'd be glad to let you proceed with the final course. All you need to do is fill out a few papers and once you're done with that, come to the Hokage's Office, where you can begin." Iruka held out forms to her, and Raxiel gently took them.

Silence…

Finally Iruka spoke again. "Look, Raxiel, about last night, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to try to take advantage of you. It was just something I had really wanted to do for a long time." He sighed. "Anyways, I'll understand if you're still mad at me," and with that, he walked away.

Raxiel shut the door and finally breathed. She was glad for his apology, but she knew it would take a long time for her to gain his friendship back again. She slowly walked over to her calendar she had gotten a few months ago to keep up with the date in this world, and as she was getting closer to it, she started thumbing through the paperwork Iruka had given her.

"Hmm… I should try to get this done today," she mumbled to herself. Soon her eyes hooked onto the calendar.

"Four and a half months, starting today," she thought sadly. She thought that five months might push her to her limit.

After all, she was impatient…

She had to know if he was all right or not…

And she was tired…

Tired of waiting and being cramped up in the tiny hotel room…

Not to mention that she was running out of money. Iruka had given her some for her birthday, but she knew all too well that when that fifth month came, she'd be kicked out of her room for good.

That's when she knew…

She knew once the fifth month was here, it'd be time to go search for Sunagakure.

"Just two more weeks…"

Tossing her papers onto her bed and picking up a pencil, Raxiel tossed herself onto the bed, grabbed a pillow and the papers and began to fill them out.