Chapter IV: Tension Mounting by Ravensbff

A boy Gaara's age opened the door. He had tousled blond hair and bright blue eyes that were now somewhat glazed over. He did not have on socks or shoes, but only a pair of baggy blue jeans and a black t-shirt. All in all, he looked like he hadn't been taking very good care of himself lately.

"Gaara, what are you doing here? In Konoha. At my house. And who are these people?" he asked.

Gaara stepped forward. "Those two are Kasumi and Ryu. This" he indicated Ayane with a movement of the head "is Ayane, my friend from Suna. We need to talk to you, Naruto."

"Your friend? I thought they were all afraid of you. Oh well. Come in and tell me what it is." He stepped back from the door way to let the visitors inside.

A girl with shoulder-length pink hair was sitting on the couch. She looked like she had not been expecting anyone to interrupt them. Naruto sat down wearily next to her and rested his elbows on his knees, looking at the floor.

Kasumi, ever the most forward and tactless, stepped forward to explain the situation.

Sakura appeared nervous, glancing between Naruto and Gaara. Naruto simply looked the assembled group up and down as if evaluating their skills and merit.

"I don't need anyone to protect me," Naruto said.

Ayane, Kasumi, and Ryu looked between each other.

"Naruto-san," said Ayane, "the Hokage has ordered us to protect those who play host to a demon. None of us has a choice."

He glared at her in a way that, could he have seen himself, would have reminded him of Sasuke. "Fine. Follow me around if you want to. I don't care. It's not like I'm going anywhere, anyway."

Kasumi rolled her eyes and stepped into the small kitchen. Ryu quickly followed after her. Gaara simply stood with his arms crossed, staring at the floor with his eyes unfocused. Ayane was unsure of what to do. She finally settled on scoping out the location: entrances, weak points, layout, and the like. After a thorough exploration in which she discovered that Naruto was completely disorganized and did not check the expiration date on his food, she returned to the living room where she found everyone exactly as she had left them.

She sighed. This is not going to be a fun mission. She settled down on the windowsill to watch the passersby. After what seemed like hours in which few people walked past, Ayane, frustrated and bored, growled low in her throat and turned back to the room.

I wonder what Ryu and Kasumi have been doing in the kitchen for this long? Not sure she wanted to know, and not wanting to disturb the two on the couch, she walked over to Gaara.

"Hey." No response. "Hey! Gaara!" He blinked and looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. Ayane inclined her head toward the windowsill she had vacated. He followed her over to it and they both sat down on it.

"Do you remember the first time we met?" Ayane asked suddenly. Gaara glanced at her.

"Yes, I remember," he said quietly.

Ayane was sitting outside the classroom of the sensei who had been her teacher when she was an Academy student. A Jounin she had never seen before suddenly ran around the corner and threw open the classroom door, disregarding the fact that class was still in session.

"They're back!" she heard him say. "They're back from Konoha! Come on!" The Jounin then ran back out through the door and back around the corner.

"Class, we're taking a field trip. Follow me."

The teacher, followed by her entire class, walked quickly out the door and started to follow the Jounin. Ayane caught up to the older woman and asked, "Sensei, what's happening? Why is everyone making such a big deal about the team coming back from the Chuunin Exams? It's not like Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara are the only promising genin the Sand has ever had."

Ayane's sensei looked down at her and replied, "They shouldn't be back right now. It's too soon. They haven't had time to complete their mission."

"Mission?" Ayane asked sharply. "Don't tell me we violated the treaty? We invaded Konohagakure? Assassinated the Hokage?"

"I don't know, Ayane. The plan was for an invasion, but if they've returned this quickly then they can't have completed the mission."

By this time they were walking down a dusty street with the wind whipping in their faces. Suddenly, sand seemed to explode in front of them. People in the road darted down side streets or through doorways. Soon the way was clear and three small figures could be seen approaching. Some of the younger children started to cry as sand rose from the ground and circled around the smallest figure.

"Shukaku!" they said.

The teacher ushered them through an open door into a small junk shop.

"Ayane! Get in here! Gaara has killed people when he's like this," she called. Ayane moved into the shade of the overhang, but stayed outside the building. The shop owner finally forced the teacher to close the door, leaving Ayane as the only lone figure on the entire street.

Three adolescents were about fifty feet away. As they came closer, Ayane moved forward to get a closer look. Just as they came adjacent to the post behind which Ayane was hiding, the younger boy sent her a sharp look out of the corner of his eyes. He looked so threatening that she started when he looked at her. He stopped in his tracks and suddenly Ayane was surrounded by a wall of sand. It dragged her forward until she was standing in front of the three shinobi. All three crossed their arms and glared at her. Ayane glared right back.

The older boy, Kankuro, took a step forward. "What are you doing? You should run away like the rest of these cowards."

Ayane raised her left hand so that they could see the hitai-ate wrapped around her wrist. "I'm not afraid."

"Gaara isn't feeling well right now," the girl said. "You should leave us alone."

Ayane looked at the redhead standing right in front of her. His dark-rimmed eyes bored into her. So this is Sabaku no Gaara, she thought. I love his eyes. She looked at him intently.

He took a small step toward her and his two companions visibly blanched.

"You aren't afraid? You aren't going to run away from the monster?"

"What monster? I don't see one around here. I just see a tired boy who needs to rest from taking the Chuunin Exam."

"What's your name?"

"Nyuudo Ayane."

"I'm Gaara."

"Gaara, what are you doing?" asked Kankuro. "Aren't you going to crush her, or at

least get her out of our way?"

He received an evil glare, along with a low growl.

"Sorry. It's your business."

"Goodbye, Nyuudo Ayane," said Gaara.

"See you around, Sabaku no Gaara," she replied.

"Why didn't you kill me, like Kankuro said?" Ayane asked.

Gaara stood and turned to face her. "You weren't afraid of me, and you didn't hate me. You gave me a chance no had before. You didn't judge me. How could I let someone like that get away?"