The room was filled with silence.

Gaara waited for Miyuki to continue and did not want to pressure her in doing so. He knew what she was about to say was something that did not come easy to her, and yet they have only known each other for a few days. He felt…special, in a way. That this strange girl would even trust him. Or perhaps she had other motives.

It was a moment before he noticed it.

The marks that flowed down her wrist and into her open palms, and snaked around her neck. If he had to guess, the same marks would also appear on her legs. It took him a while to realize what they were. They were names, and with each name came the element or type their chakra was accustomed to. What were these? And why were they tattooed on her skin in that manner?

Miyuki waited for Gaara to react, but the Kazekage remained silent. Waiting for him to continue on her own accord, but she could not find the courage to do so. Somehow, she was terrified of the thought of him going against her or hating her. She did not want to see the very same look people often give her, reflected in his eyes. No. Anyone but him.

She did not understand why, but knew it had something to do with the fact that Gaara was the first person she met who made her comfortable for who she was. He was the first person to not look away when confronted by her eyes. By the demon that she was and the thought of losing that…of losing someone who she felt understood her more than anything, was enough to make her doubt the course of her actions.

But she can no longer go back for she had already showed him the first part of her curse. The names of all those she killed. Each name carried with it a weight she had bore through the years. The guilt, the pain, and even the power. She held them all, and for that she felt disgusting and unworthy to be in the presence of someone people adored and looked up to for safety.

She had to get on with it, before she loses her nerve. Or before he loses his patience. She turned to him then, seeing as his eyes still held no accusation in them. Instead, she found his eyes comforting. She held back the tears that stung at the corners of her eyes, wishing she did not have to do this and wishing she would just do it.

She opens her mouth and closes it again. This she does several times, with Gaara just watching her. Waiting for her to speak until he felt like he needed to reassure her somehow, that everything would be alright. Even if it was not, it still would be.

So, he did what he thought would work and stepped closer to her. She noticed the action, her eyes glancing back at him with slight panic. Gaara sighs before standing up and doing the most unpredictable thing he has ever done in his entire life and sat on the edge of her bed.

He tentatively reached out to touch her, but decided that placing his hands where she could touch him was the best way to go, since most girls did not like being touched so openly without consent. He had learned that the hard way and ever since then he felt like he had to be careful around women with every move he intended to make.

Miyuki's eyes followed his every movement and her gaze ended to were he had placed his hand so openly on the bed. She wanted to hold it. To know what it would feel like to have her hands clasped in his. Would his hands be cold? Or would it be warm? She wanted nothing more but to have an answer for it but knew she could not. Not yet.

"It is not exactly the kind of gift one would be happy to have," she finally said, opening and closing her palms on her lap. "It is one that is deemed my curse, and my skill."

"I am not a good person, Gaara," she looked at him then, almost embarrassed to do so. "And I most definitely should not be alone in a room with you."

"Do you see all these names on my skin? They are everyone who fell prey to my gift," she continues, showing him the palms of her hands. "They are also the very reason why my gift still exists, because for each name on my skin, is equivalent to how long I would live. Sometimes one name would let me live years more, and other names, just days. And every single name is male, because they are the only ones my gift can work on."

"I had this curse when I was little, but at first, I did not know of it. My first victim was so innocent," she clenched her fist, as if the memory of it made her both angry and sad. "I did not mean it as he was only trying to help me. Yet, the next thing I knew, I was already draining the chakra from his body. I could not stop, and the pain was torture, but I could not stop until I had drained him for all he was."

"Eiichi had found my gift useful," she continues. "And he had also found a way to help me control it. But the price is always steep. And now I am left to pay the remainder of my debts to him. I have killed so many people… their names are my punishment. A reminder of why I do not deserve to live at all."

"Is that why you came here?" Gaara asked, he could not help it. He was piecing everything together. Miyuki and the rest did not stumble upon his village by accident. He knew something was up the moment this girl stepped foot on the sands connected to him, because technically, she had not. His sands could not touch her, and the way the secrets shielded them like armor was enough for his doubt to multiply. But why was it he was so confident the girl beside him right now would not harm him? Why was it, when she had just confirmed the fact that she was in fact here to kill someone, probably him, the need to know what she feels like close to him felt overwhelming?

Was there something wrong with him? Why did he ask that? What if she would say yes? He would have no choice but to get rid of a threat-

"No," she answers quietly. Miyuki could feel the burn on her lie on her tongue. She was not technically lying. She knew sand would not affect her, and therefore she discreetly placed this on Eiichi's map. What she had not expected was for the Kazekage to trust her. She had not expected the Kazekage at all.

What she planned to do was leave when the time was right. To just disappear when she knew the other girls would be in a place like this. It was almost impossible to navigate the dunes outside of this city, much less find this city again if one were to get lost. She wanted to drive Eiichi away and finish him were no one else would be a victim or a casualty.

But she could not tell Gaara that, not when it could pose a great threat to his own life. Miyuki could simply not risk it. There were too many people relying on this young man. The weight on his shoulders must be quiet as heavy and their lives are so contrasted, Miyuki shattered every hope inside her that this was the place she could stay in. A place where she would be safe.

The only way to be safe was for her to be gone. She was a danger to everyone, even herself. She could not allow herself to dissuade from her own teachings and rules. She must abide them always, it was the only was to avoid casualties. The only way- her thoughts stop running for a moment as soon as his hand had touched hers.

"Then why are you here?" he asks, almost like a whisper. Like he was unsure why he was asking that, but he was, and he wanted to know, more than anything, what had brought her here. What had brought her into his life and why he was suddenly believing in miracles?

Miyuki closed her eyes, trying to ignore the fact that his hands were warm. She was risking everything and that was something she did not do. She never risked anything or gave it to chance. Yet here she was, her hands clasped inside a someone she knew nothing about save for a name and a status.

Why had she felt so connected to him then? Even if his strengths were weaknesses against her? Was this part of the curse she was dealt with? To have feelings for someone she could easily destroy? Why had she chosen this place? Why had she thought then, the Kazekage would not be a problem? Because she had not anticipated Gaara. Not at all.

She pulls her hand away, her eyes turning away from him and towards the empty chair beside her bed.

"If you knew any better, you would stay away from me."

Gaara merely raises an eyebrow at her warning. He was not entirely being vulnerable to attacks right now. He still did not trust the reason they came here, but he somehow trusted her enough not to hurt him. Perhaps it was because of the connection he felt with her. Temari would laugh outright if he had told him about it. But something about Miyuki had always felt…right.

"Well," Gaara finally says after a while. "That is why I am asking you, aren't I? To know better."

Miyuki actually smiles at this, before shaking her head at him like he was being foolish. He had never had anyone react to him that way ever since he became Kazekage. He had not grown up like Naruto and the others, were friends would react in such a way when they know you were being foolish, but they did not judge you for it.

"I believe it is quite unfair that I keep sharing with you, things about me and you have not done the same," she says suddenly. "If I tell you what happened in the mines, would you tell me about that tattoo?"

Her fingers were suddenly on his skin as she ran her index finger on the length of the tattoo on his forehead.

"It means love, doesn't it?"

Gaara merely nods before saying, "It was something I had always looked for when I was little. Something I thought was given to everyone for free. Which was why I had it tattooed on my forehead, to remind me how it was not given to me."

Miyuki's finger stopped as her eyes fell back on him. They were so close she could practically breathe, and they would be kissing. She had not realized how much she had leaned towards him until that moment, where everything she thought she knew about him, came shattering down on her.

She knew nothing about him after all.

Hey guys, sorry for the late upload. But at least right? Also, I just wanna know if you guys are okay with the whole "falling in love so fast" thing and we get to the intimacy and stuff or do you guys prefer it if they get to know each other a little bit? Either way, I am still determined to make you guys cry at some point. XD