Chapter 14: Getting to Know Gaara

Two days have already passed and Kira still couldn't get those chilling seafoam green eyes out of her head, his voice, his look, that smirk of his. She still got the shivers just thinking of him. Sasuke was still mad at her for some reason, it's not like she did anything wrong, she couldn't understand what was up with him.

"Is your brother late to everything?!" Sakura complained annoyed, slumping her shoulders. One of the veins in her head was starting to pop.

"Yeah, it's why I always bring a snack or a book." Sakura watched Kira pull out a few oranges out, peeling away the skin.

"Sheesh." She moaned reaching out and taking half the orange form the girl. Already popping a few slices of fruit in her mouth. She was so thankful that she brought the snacks. By the time Kakashi usually gets here they're always starving.

Kira extended her hand to Sasuke, offering him some of the fruit as well. He looked away from her still angry from yesterday but took the fruit. Naruto quickly munched his down in a matter of seconds.

"Okay, look! Are we going to just sit around and let them get away with this? Whenever we get called out, we end up waiting like dopes for the challenger to show." Sakura growled annoyed clenching her fists at her sides.

"She's right! Say it, Sakura!" Naruto cheered, being a very supportive friend.

"I mean, think how I feel. I overslept and didn't even get to blow dry my hair!" Sakura whined, you could see she hadn't blow-dried her hair only because a few pieces of pink hair was sticking out in various directions.

"Yeah! It's not right. I overslept too, and I didn't even pause to wash my face of brush my teeth!" Naruto exclaimed happily though that just gave him a gross look from Sakura.

Sasuke looked annoyed, glaring at the ground. Everyone knew he wasn't a morning person. Sasuke slid to the ground holding his head with one hand already feeling a headache forming.

"Need some medicine?" Kira asks cocking her head to the side staring at the boy. Sasuke quickly looked away.

'Yes I'd love for you to take care of me but I'm still mad at you. How dare she fraternize with the enemy! He's not even that special. Why was she blushing so much over that creep anyway. She should be blushing over me.' Sasuke thought hatefully.

"Whatever." She muttered under her breath annoyed. He could be such a drama queen sometimes. It was unnerving.

Kira let out a small sigh closing her eyes and trying to practice. Kaida said the fuzz meant she was getting closer to obtaining her goal. That if she broke pass the fuzzy sound she'd be able to hear as many peoples thoughts as she wanted. The next test would be blocking them out.

"Morning guys!" Kakashi waved. "Today I wandered a bit from the path of life…" He called squatting on one of the pillars up above.

"You are such a liar! Would it kill you to at least PRETEND to be sorry?!" Naruto yelled pointing an accusing finger at him.

Kakashi hopped down in front of all four kids. "It may surprise you, but I've recommended all four of you for the chunin selection exam." That surprised everyone.

Kira stared at her brother like he was crazy. How could he believe they were ready for the chunin exam?

"SAY WHAT?!"

"Good one, you almost had us."

Kakashi pulled out four applications from the side pocket of his vest. He wasn't kidding. Kira stared at her brother trying to figure out what he was thinking doing this. They weren't ready for this kind of thing were they?

The static fuzz grew louder and louder the longer she stared at her brother. Grasping the form in her hands.

"Master Kakashi, I love you!" Naruto yelled tackling Kakashi into a hug.

"Get off, you're embarrassing me!" Kakashi pushed Naruto off of him, letting out a small huff. 'Why can't he be quieter and less touchy about this stuff.' Kakashi groaned to himself while fixing his clothes back in place.

Kira's eyes widen in surprise did she just hear that? She shifted her eyes toward Naruto and all she heard was giggling. "If any of you don't wish to compete, the exam is entirely voluntary. The choice is yours." Kakashi explained shrugging his shoulders. "You needn't turn in those application forms unless you want to. If you do, report to room 301 at the school by 4:00 five days from now. That's all!" Kakashi disappeared jumping away to do something else.

"Dum-di-di- duh! The journeyman ninja selection exam!" Naruto read aloud excitedly. "I'll bet there'll be a lot of tough competition." Naruto and Sasuke were excited ready to show off their skills. 'LIKE HIM!' Kira could see the shape of a man with cat eared hoodie on? Wait she could see images? 'and the other one. I swear I'm not gonna let anyone beat me!'

Sasuke and Naruto were thinking of all the good outcomes that this test could do for them. 'I don't want to. Forget Sasuke. I cant even keep up with Naruto. This exam would be too much for me…' Kira paused looking back to see Sakura looking down at the ground depressed.

"Sakura!" Sakura looked up confused Sasuke and Naruto glanced back noticing that both girls no longer were walking with them.

Kira ran over to her friend giving her a small smile, wrapping her arms around her pink haired friend. "Come on lets have some girl time." She spoke softly tugging her forward.

"Y-yeah, okay." The two girls walked off away from the confused boys. Naruto and Sasuke glance at one another confused. "I thought they didn't like each other." Naruto muttered confused.

Kira and Sakura walked in silence for probably ten minutes, just walking in random directions, spinning around to walk in a different direction. Sakura laughed when Kira spun them in yet another direction. At least she was trying to make her feel better.

"Okay so I don't know how to do girl time." Kira finally confessed looking away, a rather light blush spreading across her face. Sakura really wasn't surprised. Kira was always with Naruto and the guys never letting her have any decent girl time.

"We could go back to my house and we could paint each other's nails, or go get ice cream, or just hang out." Sakura suggested naming a few things she and Ino would do when they hung out.

"I've never had my nails painted before…" Kira muttered looking down at her nails imagining the different colors she could try.

"Come on, I'll paint your nails for you." Sakura giggled taking the lead of dragging Kira to her house. The girls started talking about different colors that would look good on them. Sakura really liked the color green on her, or a dark raspberry color.

Inside Sakura's room it was very clean, her large bed that could fit two was decorated in a bubble gum pink comforter folded up at the end of her bed. In the corner there was a small supply of makeup, nail polish, brushes, and a hair dryer next to her mirror on her desk, and a small variety of books resting on one of her dressers.

Sakura and Kira sat on the wooden floor looking at the variety of colors. There were so many. Reds, black, blue, pink, green, clear? Why was there a clear one? Did Sakura like the colors of her nails already?

Sakura saw the look Kira was giving the clear coat and started to laugh 'She really doesn't know anything about nail polish.' Sakura thought amusedly giggling to herself. "It's a clear coat to put over the color to protect it." Sakura's giggles intensified when the other girl made a small "ooooh,"

Kira settled for a sparkly red color watching as Sakura grabbed a few things like cotton swabs and some type of remover.

"The clear coat only lasts a few weeks if you're careful but if your nails start to chips it's fine, perfectly normal." Sakura explained grabbing the girls left hand and getting to work on painting. Kira sat patiently waiting for Sakura to finish.

She really wasn't into this sort of thing but she knew Sakura was, if it meant letting her teammate feel better then oh well.

"How do you feel about this test coming up?" Kira asked finally listening to what she said and what she thinks.

"It's exciting that Kakashi-sensei thinks so highly of us." Sakura said smiling at the other girl, but what she thought 'There's no way I'm going to be able to do this test. Sasukes right. I am a failure.'

"I'm honestly kind of nervous, I mean we're still new to a few things and there will be a lot of competitors who'll be better than us…who knows though. We might be good." Kira shrugged giving the girl a small smile.

"Wait I thought you were just as excited as the guys?" Sakura asked confused. 'Whats with her? One minute she's excited about this test now she's nervous about it? What gives?'

"I mean I am excited but I'm also nervous. The voice in the back of my head saying 'you aren't good enough', 'why bother', 'just quit while you're ahead.' As tough as this test might be, I feel like I halve to prove how strong I am. That I can do this, even if I don't pass I'd be okay."

Sakura was silent watching the girl talk. 'She has doubts in herself? Why? She's one of the strongest in our team.' Kira let out a small sigh staring out the window. The view of the village was very beautiful at this time around.

"Sakura, you're the smartest person on our team, you and Sasuke would really help us pass. You both are the better ninja's out of the four of us. Naruto is doing great advancing from where he once was, and I'm just there to make sure he doesn't get himself killed." She smiled to herself thinking of her and Naruto.

Naruto was truly something else. She loved him like crazy, he was always running off into battles head first wanting to be the victor and show off how well he's done.

Sakura frowned shaking her head feeling a need to change the subject. "He's still oblivious huh?" Sakura asked already knowing the answer.

"Yeah, I feel like I might as well just quit this crush thing with him. I just wish I could flip the switch and just see him as a friend." Sakura thought it over for a bit.

"Well is there any other guys you might like? Naruto is okay looking, but come on, there's a whole village of boys to choose from." Sakura beamed at her. Talking about boys and crushes was a top priority when having girl time.

"Wellll…." Kira started blushing heavily thinking of those seafoam green eyes. She couldn't take her eyes off him. He was so beautiful.

"So there IS another guy. Who is it? Whats he like? Do I know him?" Sakura giggled leaning forward switching hands to let the first one dry.

"Well you're not going to like this." Sakura furrowed her brown suspiciously. 'She better not be talking about MY Sasuke-kun!'

Kira made a face of disgust staring at Sakura. "It's not Sasuke. He's someone from another village…" Kira looked away blushing even more now.

"The guy with cat ears?" She asked confused. That guy Kankuro was a jerk, why would Kira like him?

"No! God I wanted to snap his bones so he couldn't walk or anything." Kira growled thinking about Kankuro. He was an ass and needed to be kicked five hundred times.

"That creepy red head?" Sakura asked surprised. Her eyebrows shot into her hair when she saw the girl go very red in the face. She kept glancing away from her, avoiding all eye contact. "Seriously? That guy? He's such a creep!" Sakura screamed.

"He's so cute though! His messy hair, those eyes, he just screams 'I'm a badass', he looks so scary on the outside but I'm betting he's a total sweetie on the inside." Kira sighed happily thinking of her scary prince charming.

"Girl you crazy. But at least it's not my Sasuke." Sakura sighed thinking of her man of her dreams. Both girls giggled thinking about the boys they fancied.

"Well, he's going to be in the exam right?" Kira nodded smiling to herself. "You'll probably need to fix your hair. It's always tucked back in a braid. Why don't you wear your hair down tomorrow?" Sakura put up her red nail polish and looked over Kira's hair.

It was held back in a regular braid. "Does Kakashi braid your hair?" Sakura asked looking over the loops.

"No, he does when I'm too tired to but I usually do it when I get out of the shower." Sakura nodded in understanding.

"Okay, come meet me at my house before we meet the guys. We'll work on your hair and give you some make up." Sakura instructed. "That boy won't have any idea whats in store for him by the time I'm through." Kira let out a small snort but shrugged her shoulder. The idea of having Sakura change her appearance worried her. What if she didn't like how she looked?

"Alright, I'll meet you at your house." Though she was very doubtful of attracting any kind of attention with her hair down and her nails painted. She had to admit the color was pretty.

"Thanks by the way," Kira looked up confused. "For cheering me up," Sakura elaborated. Kira gave off a smile.

"No problem, we're gonna kick ass tomorrow." Kira announced before leaving to get home and make dinner.

Sakura shook her head, but couldn't help smiling. It seems their rivalry has finally passed.

Kira walked across town, she kept looking down at her bright red fingers feeling the polish with her thumb. The texture felt so weird to her.

"What am I gonna make for dinner? I could make that salmon, oh! Stir fry!" Kira jumped with the idea excited to have some yummy stir fry again. Kakashi would like it and he usually adds leftovers from the night before in his stir fry.

"I just have to stop by the market real quick and pick up some vegies. I better hurry." She muttered to herself rushing to the market, quickly going over the ingredients in her head. The voices from around her bombarded her all at once as soon as she left Sakura's.

It was so loud! How could people be thinking this loud!? 'Relax your body child, calm your mind. Focus on your breathing.' Kaida's voice boomed over the others. Kira focused on her breathing, concentrated on the air around her. The cool air wrapped around her like a glove, calming her to the world around her.

When she was fully relaxed she opened her eyes. Jumping to see the red head staring at her. Arms crossed over his chest as he observed her. Gaara was here. 'Oh god be cool, Kira, act cool.' She told herself giving off a nervous smile before spinning around to the other side of the market.

'What the hell was that?! Running away from a cute boy?! God you're such an idiot!' Kira screamed at herself smacking herself in the head a few times, forcing herself to look over some broccoli, grabbing a few before moving onto another vegetable.

"What are you doing?" Gaara's voice called over to her. Kira practically jumped out of her skin hearing his voice, tossing the pepper in her hand in the air surprised.

"You startled me!" She squeaked looking up at the majorly cute boy beside her. "Gaara right?" he nodded.

"Were you looking to find food for dinner also?" Gaara looked down at Kira never blinking. He watched her blush under his stare. 'Why am I even bothering to talk to her?' Kira blushed nervously hearing this. He wanted to talk to her? Her of all the people in the village!

"Yes."

"Oh, cool. D-do you need help?" She stuttered mentally smacking herself for looking so stupid around him.

She wasn't expecting him to answer, he was so cool and mysterious, so devilishly handsome. "Yes…" Kira stared at him surprised, he agreed to her help.

"What were you thinking? You could make Okonomiyaki, Omurice, Shogoyaki, um…" Gaara placed his hand over her mouth to stop her from talking. Kira's face was enflamed. He was touching her. "Sorry…" she muttered under his hand. He was so warm.

"What are you making?" He asked pulling away his hand watching her shift her gaze away from him. She started to scratch the back of her neck nervously.

"Just some S-Stir fry, my brother can't cook…" Gaara nodded, grasping the girls hand dragging her behind him as he walked. Kira's brain melted and flowed out her ears. Gaara was holding her hand. A goofy smiled graced her lips, letting him drag her around. He picked up a few things before throwing them in her basket.

"Kira." He remembered her name. Cue fangirl giggle.

"Y-yeah?" She looked up at him surprised to see him studying her face again. He's been doing that a lot.

Gaara nodded toward the nice lady who usually checked her out when she bout groceries. "Oh! Hi Mrs. Tanaka!" Kira called smiling at the nice elderly lady.

"Making dinner for your brother and this young man I see?" Kira laughed with Mrs. Tanaka.

"I suppose I am, how is Mr. Tanaka feeling? You said he was in the hospital last week? Is he doing any better?"

Gaara watched Kira chat with the elderly lady about simple things, even he didn't couldn't understand why he wanted to be around her. Possibly he wanted to see how far he could be with her? Or perhaps he was just bored. His siblings were afraid of him. Temari was a terrible cook. He couldn't trust them to make him dinner.

"Thank you Mrs. Tanaka! See you soon!" The girl called to the elderly lady.

"You too dear."

Kira glanced up at Gaara again noticing he was spacing out. She wondered what he was thinking. Was he going to hurt her? She heard no thoughts only saw dark black eyes with gold irises. That's weird.

Gaara looked down at the girl, grasping her hand again and let her walk on. She led him down a series of streets, lots of people looked on and watched interested in spying for the next string of gossip. They stopped in front of a house a little bit away from everyone else. Gaara noticed out back there was a large backyard with a few kennels.

"This is my place," Kira called staring at the tiny home she grew up in.

"Its nice." Was all Gaara could think to say. He let her hand go watching as she started to walk to the front door, half expecting her to run.

She didn't. She glanced back at him confused. "Aren't you hungry?" He grunted following her through the front door. Glancing around it wasn't much. Tiny. The living room had one couch, one chair, a bookshelf full of books, there were a few pictures on the walls.

There was a big open window to stare into the living room from the kitchen. There was another hall that led to bedrooms he supposed.

"You want anything to drink?" He shook his head no walking into the kitchen watching her wash the fresh vegetables. He watched her move about the tiny kitchen, grabbing various spices, pots and pans, rice, and sauces.

Kira was busying herself because she didn't know what the hell to talk about! Gaara as attractive as he was didn't talk much, or at all! He said few things but she wasn't sure what to say. 'Hey there you're really hot. Want to kiss and stuff!' Thats by far the stupidest thing she could ever say!

"Whats Suna like?" Kira tried small talk hoping it would open him up a bit. He must have wanted to hang out with her or else he wouldn't be here. He had to like her to an extent.

"Hot." Kira frowned at his one word answers. Okay so he's not much of a talker.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" She tried again.

"Yes." Kira almost smacked herself when he wouldn't speak again. "You've already met them though," Gaara added leaning against the counter.

"I have? Are they your teammates?" He nodded.

"Is it just you and your brother?" This time Kira nodded. Smiling softly to herself as she sliced veggies with one of the knives.

"Yeah it's been just us for a while now. Our dad died when I was four," She muttered the last part mostly to herself.

"Sorry to hear about that," He spoke actually sorry to see her upset. He surprised himself with that one. He didn't like seeing the girl before him upset. It was a strange for him.

"It's okay, it happened a while ago." Kira moved to put the vegetables in the pan, stirring it in a few times in the oil. They sat in a semi awkward, mostly comfortable silence. Gaara watched her cook, her gray hair pulled back away from her face.

The door to the front door opened two minutes before dinner was finished. "I'm home," Kakashi called from the front door.

"In here! I have a friend over!" Kira yelled from her spot in the kitchen. Kakashi quickly took notice to the red haired boy standing very close to his sister, the headband showed he was from one of the neighboring villages, Suna. 'That was fast…' Kira looked up from her food staring at her brother confused for a moment before shaking her head.

"So who's your friend? You're new boyfriend?" Kira's face went scarlet in a matter of seconds. Kakashi snickered at his baby sisters reaction, so it's true she did like the boy.

Gaara stared at her waiting for her reaction, her saw her body go rigid. 'She likes me? Yeah right.' Kakashi squeezed by looking over her shoulder at their meal.

"Ya know, if you were going to cook for him you could have done something more romantic," Kakashi teased.

"Will you shut up, you lazy freak of nature. Get out of my kitchen!" She snapped glaring up at her older brother wanting him to leave her alone. Great. Whatever progress she had with Gaara is now ruined because Kakashi had to tease her and be a jerk.

"Anyway, your name is?" Kakashi asked staring at the boy expectantly. "Gaara," Kakashi nodded looking him over. There was something familiar with him that he couldn't put his finger on. "How'd you meet her?" Kakashi started to interrogate the boy. Gaara stared at the man not feeling intimated at all. If he needed to, he could kill him. It would be nothing new to him.

"Leave him alone Kakashi." Kira growled smacking him with a wooden spoon.

"I get it, I get it, you want alone time with your new boyfriend." Kakashi sang boyfriend snickering to himself as he ran away from his younger sister. She tried hitting him repeatedly until he locked himself in his room. She kicked the door hatefully.

"You suck! I'm burning your books!" She yelled storming away very pissed at her brother. Gaara was very amused, she got so flustered just then. It was sort of cute, watching her run about chasing her brother. Something he never knew of.

"Sorry about him, he's a pain." She apologized glaring down the hall he watched them run.

"It's fine." she let out a deep sigh walking over to the cabinets and pulled out three plates, placing one aside in the microwave so that Kakashi could heat it up later. "Thank you." She gave him a small smile and led him to the table where they ate in silence.

Gaara watched her nervously eat her food, most likely trying to figure out what to say. "He doesn't normally act like that." She suddenly said pushing her tofu around. "He's usually pretty laid back. But he's used to seeing Naruto around here all the time he's not used to other boys being here." She confessed.

'Naruto?' Gaara thought confused. 'So she is taken, it must have been that blond.' Gaara stared at his food. It wasn't half bad. It wasn't any salted tongue or gizzard but it was nice.

"Naruto's my best friend. We've been friends forever. He asked if you wanted to know his name and you said no." She muttered shoving some flavored tofu in her mouth. "I see."

Kira frowned. This was insane how was she supposed to have a conversation with a boy who only gave her one worded sentences? At least Sasuke gave her his point of view, or he just insulted her or whatever. Gaara as cute as he was, he barely spoke.

"What do you do for fun?" He asked her watching her shift from leaning back in her chair to leaning forward again.

"Well I mostly read, if I'm not reading I'm hanging out with Naruto, or I'm training my with my group." She said nonchalantly trying to play it cool. Gaara gave her a small smirk.

That's how dinner went. He'd ask her questions and shed answer them. It was nice the two of them enjoying each others company. "Aren't your siblings worried about you being out this late?" She asked worried he might get in trouble.

"No, I tend to go as I please." That was more that two words!

Dinner was finished, Gaara was surprised to see such kind hospitality from someone he didn't know, he wondered if she was like this toward all strangers. He watched her bring his dirty dishes to the kitchen, she returned moments later leaning against the wall trying to think of something.

"Thank you, for your hospitality." He spoke softly standing from his seat walking toward her.

"It's not a problem, I hope you enjoyed it. Would you like me to give you some more for your siblings? Or for you later if you get hungry again?" She asked curiously, she didn't want him to starve and miss another meal.

He didn't answer, he watched her run into the kitchen and put some extra food into a togo container filled to the brim with extra food. "It's not much but you'll have some extra for the next day or so." She shrugged handing it over.

"Thank you," She smiled up at the boy walking him to the door.

"Make it back to your hotel safe alright?" She asked genuinely worried. Gaara gave the girl a nod before walking off. Kira closed the door behind her letting out a small sigh. She just spent the rest of her day and most of her night with Gaara, as annoying as it was that he didn't talk back it was nice to be around him. He was so quiet and cool. She hoped he would want to come over again.

Kira started to giggle with her excitement. She hasn't felt something like this for anyone besides Naruto, it was strange having such strong feelings for a boy she only met a day ago. "He seemed nice." Kakashi called exiting his room giving her a lop-sided grin.

"He was," She sighed happily. Her heart still thumped hard in her chest, she's surprised the whole village couldn't hear it.

"He's not much of a talker is he," It wasn't a question. Kakashi could hear everything even if he wasn't trying to. Not only from years of practice to pick up on every sound but the walls were thin. She was only a little annoyed that he was listening in on her conversation.

"No not really, but that's okay. He must have his reasons." Kakashi nodded grinning to himself. She glanced up confused. They were home alone, he would usually have his mask off when it was just the two of them…so why did he still have his mask on still? Was this a test?

A knock on the door surprised her. Looking out the peephole she didn't see anything just darkness. Slowly opening the door, she saw a tall man with white eyes. His mouth and nose were covered in a dark cloth like Kakashi wears. On his head there was a sun visor with his head plate. He was from Amegakure, the village hidden by rain.

What would he want?

"Can I help you?" She called politely but, on the inside, she was confused as hell. What was this guy doing here?

"Yes," His voice wasn't recognizable at all. It couldn't have been one of her friends playing a trick on her so what did he want. "Back out of the Chunin exam. It's far more horrible than a little Genin like you could comprehend."

"Right…You're crazy so bye." She started to close the door.

His body moved on its own accord, sending kunai's and throwing stars in Kakashi's general direction. Some of them actually hitting him dead on. Her eyes widen in shock. "Back out of the Chunin exam." The man repeated. Kakashi slumped back holding his wounds surprised. His eye growing dimmer.

"That's a crappy illusion." She called staring up at the man. The man at the door backed up as she advanced. "If you're so scared of this test you back out but I'm not." Her hands moved on their own. Water formed in the air around her, shaping and forming into shuriken. As soon as they finished they launched after the man who dodged her attacks running away.

"Next time study harder you idiot! My brother wouldn't fall for that crappy excuse for an attack!" She growled storming back inside. How rude. How dare he ruin her perfectly nice night with Gaara by trying to get her to avoid doing this test. Now she was most definitely going to participate.

Walking back inside she saw that her 'brother' was missing and replaced with a straw body. "What an idiot." She muttered picking up the thing and tossing it in the back yard.

"Everything good?" The real Kakashi asked walking out mask down at his sister.

"Yeah…foods in the microwave." He grinned and ran to the kitchen excited to eat. Yeah…that was definitely her brother. But how'd that weirdo get a fake Kakashi in her house with the real one in his room? They'd have to do a full sweep of the house to make sure nothing was broken.

Well I originally wanted to do this chapter all together but I kind of started having fun with the idea of Gaara making Kira spend time with him, He might be OOC but I don't know. I came up with this at work. If you don't like it please let me know and I'll take it down. I really had fun writing this though. It made me laugh just thinking of Kakashi being the older brother who would be the protective parent type as well as the evil jerk of a brother who never stops teasing their baby sister when it comes to boy.