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"You... Know me?"

Gaara took a deep breath and exhaled, "Yes... I do." He released the clump of Asuka's hair and moved to her shoulder. He leaned in and laid his head on her shoulder while easing his arms around her upper back. She hugged him around his waist and felt him softly crying on her.

"Gaara..." She started to gently rub his back. "I'm sorry I left you."

"It wasn't your fault..." He choked out as he gripped her shoulders.

"What happened?" She tenderly nuzzled into his hair and up against his cheek.

"I-I... don't remember well... I just remember the pain of loosing you and n-never seeing you again... until now... I missed you so much." He cried softly on her shoulder while caressing her hair. "Your hair was always so soft... even if it's matted, your hair is still the softest."

Asuka smiled softly and kissed his cheek, "Thank you for letting me go into your memories, if I hadn't, then I would never have known of this." She softly squeezed his waist. "You have no idea how happy I am... you really don't." She gripped his shirt and cringed in pain; Gaara eased her back in her bed and pulled the covers over her numb body.

"I'm sorry I nearly killed you." He told her, "If I had known-"

Asuka put a hand on his knee and smiled. "Gaara, don't worry about it. I forgive you."

Gaara wiped away his tears and held her hand in his. "That smile… It hasn't changed."

She is a lie Gaara… Kill her now!

Why? I found my only childhood friend! Gaara responded to his darker thoughts.

Can't you see that this… human is merely a figment of your imagination? Mind's can play tricks with you, especially your weak mind.

But… Asuka seems so… real. Gaara shifted in his seat and looked at the ground while clenching his fists.

"Gaara? What's wrong?" Asuka asked while nudging his knee.

This is a cruel lie that will only hold you back, kill this female and fulfill your bloodlust.

Gaara started breathing heavily and growling. You mean… this is all fake?

Yes. So kill her NOW!

"Gaara?! What's wrong?" Asuka kept nudging his knees, practically begging for an answer.

Gaara looked at her with cold, enraged eyes. "You are not Asuka." He growled out as he grasped her wrist in his hand and squeezed. His sand started to form around her arm and both of her legs.

Her eyes shot wide as she struggled to get free. "Gaara! I am Asuka! Just a minute ago you said I was-"

"I FINALLY LEARN TO LET GO OF MY MEMORIES OF YOU AND THEN YOU COME BACK! This is just a cruel joke that needs to end." He squeezed tighter and started to crack her wrist slowly.

Asuka cringed in pain and let out a squeal. "Gaara..." She rasped, "I am not a joke… I am the real thing. I am Asuka."

"Lies!" His grip only grew tighter around her wrist, the sand followed and crushed her limbs slowly.

Asuka screamed in pain like she never had before, tears streamed down her face as blood oozed out of the sand and started to cover the sand with her blood. A loud bang came from behind Gaara, along with a swift punch to the back of his head and the sand released her.

"Leave my friend alone!" Lee had jumped in and stepped in-between her and Gaara, making him let go of her wrist and keeping him at arms reach. "What respect do you have if you try to kill a person who can't even fight!"

Gaara's eyes went wide as he looked Lee up and down, then to Asuka. Seeing how much pain he had put her through. He relaxed his tension and had realized what he had did. He growled in anger and held his head in his hands. "I'm sorry…" was the last thing he said before he used his sand to disappear elsewhere.

Lee quickly turned around and looked at her body, seeing the damage that Gaara had done to her. He clenched his fists before sitting on her bed side and holding her in his arms. "Will you be ok?" He asked in a calming tone.

Asuka looked over her bleeding limbs and held in a slight laughter. "Of course, you know me." She tried reassuring him with a smile.

"Asuka! This is not a joke!" He scolded her, "If I were not coming by to check up on you, who knows what that sand nin would have done to you!"

Her face saddened and looked away, "Yah… I guess…"

"Asuka… Just… Be more careful." He gently held her broken hand in his. "Please."

Asuka slightly cringed at his soft touch and looked back up at him. "Ok… I'll try."

"No, you will, for the sake of our team." He looked into her soft eyes dead on with his determined ones.

She closed her eyes and sighed. "Fine, I will be more careful from now on."

He slightly smiled. "Good, now I have to go, get some rest Asuka." He strokes her cheek before walking out of her room.

Morning comes not soon after Lee's visit, nurses welcome her awake and treat her wounds. Asuka tells them what happened and they figured, due to the dead Chūnins outside her door who's blood was mixed with sand.

So They asked her who did this and she said that she didn't get a good look at him. The nurses accepted her answer and ran off, leaving only one nurse behind to look after her.

ooOoO0OoOoo

It seemed like hours have past. Asuka was nearly in tears all day due to her unawake companion. All she did was eat the little portions of food the hospital gave her and stared up at the ceiling and occasionally out the window, wishing she could run again, but new she couldn't…

Knock. Knock.

She looked over to the door, "Come in." She answered.

"Hey, I just wanted to see how you were doing before I left."

She smiled, "It's good to see you Kakashi sensei. Why are you leaving?"

"I'll be training Sasuke for the next month, the second part of the preliminary rounds starts in a month, giving the competitors time to train." He put his hands in his pockets and had that plain expressionless look on his face. "And, I thought you'd want this." He presented her the rapier she fought with.

She happily smiled and reached for it, "Thank you for bringing it." He pulled it out of her reach.

"You could have died out there." He narrowed his eye at her.

She sighed, "I know…" She looked over at Hatsuharu and looked back down again. "I know…"

"You know what I think?"

She looked up at him and shrugged her shoulders.

He looked at her left hand then back at her. "I think, you need to work more with this sword, than your physical strength."

She cocked her head to the side. "Why?"

"This rapier is a very strong weapon, and you're only using a quarter of its true power. If you didn't use the inner gates, you could have lasted longer and have more of a chance to defeat that sand nin."

She looked out the window and avoided his stare. "You're… right. But…"

"What?" He queered.

"I don't know… I've always liked the thought of being able so sustain so much pain…"

"I suggested for you to not use the inner gates, not give up your strength." He corrected her. "Being as physically strong as you are now takes years of discipline, not a lot of people can do that. The only reason why I suggested for you not to use the inner gates again is so then you won't end up dead one day. I could tell Guy only showed you how to control the first two inner gates, not the first three. I know he taught you how to open the first six, but I know for damn sure he didn't teach you how to control them all."

She bit her lip and looked away. "You… saw that?"

"Yes, Guy and I both did." He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Before I go," He set her rapier up against the wall beside her, "I want you to remember this phrase I learned long ago. Ready?"

She perked up and listened carefully.

"A sword wields no strength, unless the hand who carries it has courage. Don't ever underestimate yourself Asuka, that sword is only an extension of yourself, always remember that." He poofed away, leaving her in her room, along with a note on her bedside stand. She opened it and read it, "I'm also sorry about Hatsuharu, Asuka."

Tears brimmed her eyes, but she managed to keep them in and relax in her bed. "Thank you Kakashi sensei…" She lifted her sword and twirled in her fingertips; holding it by the handle and smiled as she started remember the fights she had with it.

The door creaked open and revealed a sorrowful face.

"Gaara… what are you doing here?" She put down her rapier, but kept it close by just in case.

He looked at the floor, refusing to look up at her, but walked to her side and put his gourd up against the wall as he sat down. "I… I'm sorry… about last night…"

"Gaara, you said sorry last night but still tried killing me." She turned away from him and faced the window.

He sighed and gripped his knees. "I know… I'm just… dealing with this… thing in my head and… it's hard to remember which decision is good or bad anymore… or which ones are mine." He finally looked up at her. "I understand if you can't forgive me… I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry for what I've done. To you and your partner, I'm so sorry… I've already lost my only friend before… I can't bare to see you walk away and I can't do anything about it again… Please… Please be my friend… and don't leave again. I promise you, I won't hurt you or any of your teammates again…" He waited for a response from her. After waiting a moment or two with nothing but dead silence with the settle sound of the heart monitor, he got up. "I understand if you don't want to see me right now." He started to walk away, but she grabbed his hand before he could take more than a step away.

"Gaara… I'd love to be your friend if you really meant all that." She looked up at him as he turned around to face her.

"Of course I meant all of that!" He held her hand in his. "Do you… forgive me?"

"Well… I will on one condition."

"Anything." He sat down next to her once more.

"Tell me how our friendship grew." She gave him a warm smile and he returned the favor.

I have some explaining to do…

I just didn't have any inspiration to write this… simple as that.

But after I got some heart warming reviews… I thought, "I'm an idiot for quitting this, I would be mad too if a fanfiction I read just stopped." So here I am, ready to write, and I have some chapters ready. I'll be uploading a lot to make up for what I've missed.

Thank you guys so much for making me realize how big of a jerk I was being, thank you for making me believe this fanfiction is actually good, and thank you, so much, for reading what I write.

Chapter 25 *The First Memory*