Midnight Talks
Chapter 8

Tetsumari had a pretty good sleep until she was awoken by something moving. She opened her eyes startled, but it was just Gaara who had got up finally.

"Gaara?" she said.

"Tetsumari? Where am I? What happened?" Gaara asked.

"You don't remember?" Gaara nodded his head no, "You fell unconscious so I brought you to my house, Granny cured you a bit."

"Oh…" Gaara looked away.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Oh, okay… are you hungry?"

"Just a bit."

"Okay I'll look for something," Tetsumari said and walked to the kitchen to get some bread. When she came back, Gaara was gone.

"Where'd he go?" Tetsumari thought, she walked around her house looking for him than went on the roof.

"Hey Gaara," Tetsumari said when she spotted him.

"Hey, how'd you know I was up here?"

"Easy, I always go here when I want to think about things." Gaara smiled at her and motioned for her to come sit down by him. Tetsumari handed him a loaf of bread as she sat down, she had one for herself also to snack on.

"You have the same eyes as me..." Gaara stated, "Eyes that know the same pain I go through."

"What do you mean…" Tetsumari was confused, but it was all true.

"I can see it deep inside your eyes every time I look at them; it's full of anger, hate, and sadness."

"Oh…" Tetsumari didn't know what to say. Sadness started taking over her when she thought about what Gaara said.

"Why aren't you scared of me really?" he asked her.

"Silly Gaara, " Tetsumari smiled without looking at him," I told you, it's because you're different from others. Do you remember?"

"Of course, but that's just part of the reason. What's the true reason you're not scared of me," He was getting serious and was looking at her, but Tetsumari still kept her eyes away from his and was quiet.

"Last time I asked you, you seemed to be thinking of something else that was bothering you. So why is it that you aren't scared of me?"

"Because… I know how a wound of the heart feels, I know how it is not to have a mom because she died giving birth to me and a dad that hated me and didn't care about me at all. The only person that ever worried about me and took care of me when I was little died and it was all my fault!" Tetsumari raised her voice louder from anger while tears rolled down her face, "he died… because… I couldn't do anything… and I hated myself for it. Everyone in my clan hated me too, they all said I was cursed and I think I really am…"

"Tetsumari…" Gaara felt ashamed for making her relive her past.

"That's why… that's why I chose to become a ninja so I could actually do something and be someone, so I can protect everyone I care about…" Tetsumari sighed and wiped her tears away, "…like you Gaara, I want to protect you…"

"Tetsumari, you won't have to protect me because I will protect you."

Tetsumari's wet and teary eyes met Gaara's eyes.

"Thanks Gaara," she leaned over to give him a hug and a kiss on his forehead where it now says "Love"; Gaara blushed bright red.

"I feel warm inside," Gaara said.

"I do too," Tetsumari leaned her head on Gaara's shoulder again, but was interrupted when her necklace grew bright. She pulled her necklace out and took it off. Gaara and her looked as it glowed the beautiful colors of the tiger eye. When it was finished, there were two tiger eye necklace.

"What's that?" Gaara asked amazed.

"It's a copy of my tiger eye necklace."

"Huh? A copy?"

"It copies itself when the owner is starting to have feelings for someone else. My older brother, Moukoshi, gave me a copy of his before he died. Mine had copied once before for Granny.

"Oh."

"I guess it's for you then Gaara." Tetsumari handed him the necklace.

"Thanks," Gaara said and put it around his neck. Tetsumari than leaned on his shoulder again and fell asleep quickly.

"Tetsumari?" Gaara said, but she was asleep already. He smiled at her than carried her back into her room to lay her on her futon. Gaara sat down next to her like how she was doing earlier when he was unconscious. He closed his eyes to think about things.

As morning came by, Gaara woke Tetsumari up for school so they wouldn't be late.

"Gaara? You're here still?" she asked.

"Yeah, I didn't feel like going home."

"Oh it's okay you can stay here as long as you like."

"Thanks."

"Well let me get ready real quick." Tetsumari ran in the bathroom to wash up and change, she came back out after a couple minutes.

"Okay done, come on! I want to properly introduce you to Granny!" Tetsumari said excitedly, "You'll love her! She's the best!"

"Okay," Gaara followed after her to the kitchen. When they got to the kitchen, Tetsumari introduced Gaara and Granny. They seemed to get along with each other very well.

"Thanks for helping me yesterday," Gaara said politely.

"No, it's okay. Don't worry." They all ate and talked. Gaara told Granny about himself a bit.

"I like this boy Tetsumari," Granny whispered, "He's good for you."

"Granny!" she said back embarrassed if he heard.