Hi guys… maybe some of you are mad that I haven't updated my chapters fast… y'see, I'm really busy now with my schoolwork. Another college entrance exam is on the way, I'll be taking it on Sunday, so good luck to me!

SHOUTOUTS: Lela Rye: thanks for the review, XiaBubbleQueen: hi! Haha, I always look forward to your reviews, thanks! And to Natalie101, hi thanks for the review! Hi to Lithiumxx: dyz-chan! Haha :)

Even my classmates at school are bugging me about my fanfic which is awesome daw feeling pressure! :) especially to hiromi, always asking about my ending :) you'll have to wait for it like everyone else haha

PS- Also, I'm planning to let my classmate scan my drawings/illustrations of Reiyka and Van, so you guys will know what they really look like… think it's a good idea? Let me know :)

Turns out, the festival had already ended, much to the disappointment of most people, when not a drop of rain fell. Although most of the stalls had dispersed, the strips of colored paper that Reiyka saw earlier were only remnants of the event. She saw the hawk land near the playground, and she trudged on forward, clutching the letter. Moments later, she saw Van's familiar stature near a very large wooden sandbox. As it was nearing sunset, not a lot of children were playing; the sun had cast a very warm orange glow to the place. The sunlight made Reiyka's rich blue eyes smolder with intensity.

"Good job," said Van, giving the hawk a small piece of meat. He looked at Reiyka, obviously glad to see her. "I've been sending it to the hospital everyday to see if you were awake."

Reiyka sighed and smiled wearily. "You're always looking out for me… I don't even think I deserve it."

"You're stubborn alright," he admitted jokingly, coming to her and messing her hair up. Van didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable. "It's my job, just like my father's job is to protect your father."

"And also because you're my bestfriend." sighed Reiyka, thankful to be with someone who knows her. She became the happy girl that she was when Van was around. They started talking about how were things back home, walking over to a swing set and sitting down, idly swinging themselves. They were unaware of the dark clouds that stirred above them silently.

Reiyka looked at Van hopefully. "The thing about… Gaara…" she started, measuring the words carefully.

Van looked at her, as if he had been waiting for this topic all along. "Did you know that he is the son of the 4th Kazekage?"

She cleared her throat uneasily. "I didn't actually… But actually, the girl you saw with him, that was Temari, his sister. And oh! He has an older brother also! His name's –"

Van's eyebrows were raised, annoyed. "Reiyka," he said softly. "Gaara, he's a Jinchuriki." He took the letter from Reiyka and set fire to it, as if destroying evidence. The flames almost seemed different; they spread out softly as if in slow motion. She watched it fall to ashes, trying to absorb Van's shocking words.

"What?"

"Or rather, he was. He was host to the Shukaku."

Beads of sweat formed on Reiyka's temples. She had remained motionless now on the swing. Her hands grew limp as her friend proceeded to tell her everything that he knew about Gaara. Albeit Reiyka had studied lots of subject when she was younger, her history subject comprised more of the history of her own village and less of other villages, much less than Suna. "That can't be, Van. He's not like that… He's not dangerous anymore."

She saw Van's face fell, surprised that she was actually defending him. Reiyka was surprised to hear her words also. "But still, Reiyka! You don't need me to remind you why!" Van knew instantly that he shouldn't have said that, but he didn't regret it, if that was the only thing to make Reiyka take back her words. He saw her eyes look down. "Reiyka," he said. "I respect your decision why you left Glass for a while. But… I'm just telling you this so you'll know."

"I know now," Reiyka said pointedly. "Thank you Van, really."

Van sighed tiredly. He stretched out his arm, and the hawk cried as it flew away. "I'll go for now, I'll leave the hawk to you. And inform me if you want anything. But I really don't want you to stay here." He stood up and walked away, but not after gently messing her hair up.

Reiyka hadn't noticed the sky had changed colors. She hadn't noticed the children from the playground running away, yelping excitedly for an approaching event: rain. The drops fell softly from the sky, gaining momentum as the minutes passed, but Reiyka stayed where she was. She let the water be slowly absorbed by her clothes, just like she struggled to absorb all of Van's revelations.

"His father had the one-tailed monster be sealed inside him when he was born. The same time it was agreed that they would give it to our village, when all the Great Shinobi nations were fighting for the control of Bijuus. Remember that it was assassins from Suna that killed your mother, the very reason why your father's the way he is right now, because of their betrayal."

Reiyka lifted her face to the sky, feeling the cool water drizzle down her neck. She knew it in her heart that Gaara had changed, she felt it! But what did she know about him to be so sure? She felt foolish having talked back to Van. The raindrops cooled her burning eyes. She really wanted to know.

The rain was beating wildly on the rooftops of the Kazekage's office. Gaara stared at the drops that trickled on the glass windows, following their uncertain path the droplets traced. He heard a knock on the door, slightly muffled by the rain.

He opened it. "Reiyka!" She didn't look like herself. "You're dripping wet! Why did you leave the hospital?" Reiyka shared his surprise, why was his reaction one of concern? Didn't he want her to leave in the first place? She looked at him, feeling very uncertain.

"I… uh… h-honestly I don't know…" she said dizzily, stepping into the room. She suddenly became aware of the puddles that she was making. "I'm sorry. I promise I'll clean that up later." Gaara watched her, wanting to help her or something.

Reiyka took off her dripping v-neck sweater shirt and dropped it to the floor. It was the same clothes that she wore when we arrived at Suna. She removed her fingerless gloves and unbuttoned the details on her sleeves, turning them to damp flaps of cloth. Gaara blushed, he didn't know what to do. He stood in his long dark brown turtleneck coat with matching brown pants. He had on a sort of belted vest, and various straps clung to his outfit. He removed a long white cloth attached to his clothes and handed it to Reiyka. "Here." he muttered helpfully.

Reiyka also blushed, taking a part of it tentatively. "What am I supposed to do with it?" she asked. She felt all the more embarrassed when she saw him smile. He moved closer to her and wiped her face dry with it, his hands moving with some sort of caution. Reiyka took a step backward and pulled the cloth politely, doing the drying on her neck and arms by herself. A very awkward silence fell between them. Gaara could feel the small smile on his face linger as he watched her. He was glad that Reiyka was here, but he had not wanted her to be soaking wet.

Reiyka saw that he was blushing, a different expression was on his face. Is that a smile? she thought, putting the cloth away. She focused chakra in her fingers, then started to run them through her hair, drying them. Gaara waited for her to speak. He walked over to his desk and poured two cups of tea. It was a good thing they were still warm. He handed one to her, which she drank heavily. She closed her eyes, sitting down on the couch, feeling warm and soothed.

Hmm, he thought. "You really are interesting," he wondered aloud.

"Why is that?" she replied, eyes still closed. Reiyka heard him chuckle. She opened her eyes and saw Gaara drink his tea.

"Nothing," he said, smiling to himself and shaking his head. Reiyka felt flustered. "I have some of Temari's old clothes for you. But they might be big though… they're in my room. I mean really, you should get out of those wet clothes." Reiyka stood up in accord and left. After about 15 minutes, she returned, carrying her clothes, wearing a faded lavender t-shirt dress. Her hair was tied up.

"I have questions, Gaara. And I'd really like some answers." she said resolutely. She picked up all of her damp clothes from the floor and all of a sudden, steam rose from them. She's using her chakra, Gaara thought to himself. After drying them, Reiyka folded them carefully. "And if you have nothing to object, I'll begin now."

"Ok," said Gaara. He sat behind his desk. He noticed all her bandages were gone, and she looked much better now. Reiyka took a big breath.

"I am from the Village of the Glass; we are not far from here actually. Our village's situated in such a place that it is both rich in sand and water. This is beneficial to us for we use sand to our best advantage, glass making, our village's most renowned technique. Also, our village manufactures and exports glass products, be it windows, china, etc, and just recently, weaponry. Glass kunais are getting famous, the ones that are almost transparent, for you could put anything in them: liquid gas, poison, smoke screen, and possibly even chakra.

No one knows exactly who founded our village, but my ancestors, my forefathers, were the ones who governed Glass. When my father took the throne, he had wanted our village to be illustrious, and so decided to strengthen our military force. He had always wanted to acquire a Bijuu. Pretty soon, he was getting attention from the other nations. It seemed that the Bijuu he was close in getting to was the Shukaku."

Reiyka paused slightly, her eyes on Gaara. His expression was calm and intent, so she continued. "Since we had immense power over sand, Suna, who was my father's fiercest competitor with the Shukaku, was an easy target. From what I know, he threatened Suna to back away or they would launch war on them. But you see, my mom, she never really supported my father's plan. My dad refused to listen to her. And then, we found out that the 4th Kazekage of Suna had obtained the Shukaku and had managed to keep it sealed. My father was furious, but there was nothing he could do. Ever since then, Glass once more became a secluded village."

He just continued to watch her as she finished, taking a deep breath. Reiyka stood up and set her empty cup on Gaara's desk. "I came here, because I wanted to see the world, with my own eyes. I thought that no one would find me here, I was surprised that Van found me. It's just that, I don't really know anything about you. Your father had the Shukaku sealed inside you before, but no you don't…" Her eyes flashed fiercely at him, but her tone was undemanding. "Why?"

"My mother died while giving birth to me, the effect sealing the Shukaku within me. The monster inside me rendered me terrifying to everyone, and I… never really had anyone's affection. Before, I was a ruthless, sadistic, and remorseless killer, cold even to my siblings. I was the perfect weapon. Just around 5 years ago, me, Temari and Kankurou were to go to Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, under the orders of invading it during the Chuunin Exams." Gaara opened his eyes a bit, peering at Reiyka, but her face was turned downward. "But, a person stopped us and forever changed my perspective and attitude in life… We returned to Suna as new persons. I was appointed Kazekage.

Just around 3 years ago, I suddenly became the target of the criminal organization named Akatsuki. Their plan was to seize all the Bijuu in the world, and harness their power for world domination… They had taken my Shukaku, but it's all done now…" Reiyka felt that it was the end of the story. He took a deep breath. "I, I never told you this, because I didn't think I had to… I'm sorry."

Reiyka's face broke into a wry smile. "Nah, it's ok, you shouldn't apologize. I'm sorry if Van attacked you…"

Gaara shrugged. "He only did it because he was worried about you."

She blushed. "He's my bestfriend," she explained. Gaara wanted to open his mouth suddenly to say that it looked like Van liked her as more than a friend, but he got a hold of himself and swallowed hard. "I have another question," she remembered. "Where have you been sleeping all this time? I mean, I have been falling asleep on your bed."

"Well, you see… before, when I still had the monster inside of me, falling asleep would allow it to take control of my body, thus making it unstoppable." explained Gaara gradually. Is that why your eyes are like that? Reiyka wanted to ask, but she didn't want to seem impolite.

"But why don't you sleep now?"

"I don't know," he replied simply. "I don't really want to, I never tried falling asleep on my own." Reiyka felt much, much better now, but she felt unpleasantly cold. She sighed and crossed her arms.

"I'm sorry, about your mother." Gaara said quietly.

"It's ok. We're both just victims of this…" she said distractedly, deep in contemplation. She looked at the window; the rain was unrelenting. "Wow, it's really coming down hard!"

As if on cue, a lighting bolt crackled just outside, and thunder crashed menacingly, plunging the room in total darkness. The whole of Suna was thrown into a blackout.

"Oh great," cursed Reiyka, feeling very scared.