Here's the very first chapter...not counting the prologue. I'm definitely liking the story a lot better this time around. Anyways hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Ch. 1: Meeting Again

It was bright cheerful day in Suna but it had no affect on Kaoru. She was feeling very grumpy at the moment. The Kazekage was coming to the academy to talk about loyalty to him and to Suna. What a hypocrite. It wouldn't be so bad if she didn't have to be there. She hadn't attended the academy in several years. She was trained at the hospital as a medical nin. Her sensei Yuri had ordered her to attend the meeting. So here she was at the academy for the first time in years to listen to a man she hated.

"Class I would like to present the Kazekage."

Everyone but Kaoru and Gaara clapped. They were all excited to hear from their Kazekage. Kaoru just glared at him. He looked right at her and raised his eyebrow. She looked away with a 'humph' and preceded to ignore him. Well, she tried to just ignored him.

"Today you will all graduate from the academy years and become genin of Suna. You will all be expected to give your lives for this village without hesitation. You will also be expected to obey and serve me as your Kazekage. The life of a shinobi isn't easy. You will have to depend on each other and take care of each other."

The Kazekage continued to talk about loyalty and honor. It was making Kaoru sick. Finally she couldn't take it anymore. The girl stood up and walked towards the door. All eyes focused on her. Most held shock and disapproval. One pair of green eyes held mild curiosity.

"Kaoru Tsukino, sit down. The Kazekage isn't finished," the chunin that taught the class ordered.

Kaoru turned to him, "I don't care what his mightiness has to say. I'm going back to the hospital where I can to something useful."

"Yes, Yuri said you were doing very well. She believes you have the makings of the future head medic in Suna," the Kazekage commented.

"I'm glad she's proud of me," Kaoru said.

"Why don't you sit down, Kaoru. You still have to give your oath to me," the Kage stated.

"Does this oath say something to the effect of 'I promise to serve the Kazekage and obey his every command'?" she asked in a suspiciously sweet tone.

"Yes."

She glared, "No way. I won't promise any such thing."

"What?!" the chunin shouted.

"You heard me. I lost something very important to me because of the Kazekage and I refuse to give him anything unless I want to. Which means I can't make that oath."

The Kage tilted his head, "Why does that mean you can't give the oath?"

She gave him a scathing look, "I don't break my promises."

With that she left the room slamming th door behind her. Silence echoed in the room for a moment. Everyone was waiting for the Kazekage's reaction. To their surprise the man just shook his head with a resigned sigh. After the class the Kage was sitting in his office with his council.

"I expected Kaoru to act like that. She's hated me for quite some time now."

"What will you do? She isn't loyal to anyone on the council so there's no way around her hate. Why do you want her loyalty anyway?" one of the Jounin asked him.

"Kaoru Tsukino's kekkei genkai is the strongest of her clan's history. Not only that but she really does have great potential as a medical nin. And it is true that she isn't loyal to anyone in this room but she is loyal to someone and I can use that."

"But she only loyal to her clan," another commented.

"Now that isn't true. Kaoru is loyal to one other person."

"Who, Kazekage?"

"Gaara."

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Kaede found her in the desert. That was where Kaoru went when she was upset. There was a cliff overlooking the area. The girl would sit at the edge of the cliff with one leg dangling off the edge the other would be bent. She would find a spot with a rock close enough to lean against and stare at the land beneath her. Kaede shook her head at her granddaughter.

"I heard you walked out on the Kazekage today."

"Am I in trouble?" Kaoru asked.

"No. He seems to have expected it."

"What is he going to do about it?" she asked her grandmother.

"I don't know. Yuri wants to speak with you now though."

"Alright. I'm going."

Kaoru stood up and dusted herself off. Kaede watched her and knew that her temper was far from calmed yet. "Kaoru, maybe you should consider being a little less obvious about your hate for the Kazekage. You may be happier for it," she suggested.

Kaoru sighed, "I know. I just can't stand him. Because of him Gaara has turned into what everyone feared he would be."

"I know dear. But there is still hope for Gaara. You said he could still feel so he isn't all gone yet."

"But he only feels every once and a while and even then it's never a strong emotion," Kaoru said in exasperation.

"But he still feels. And you don't know what he feels for you."

That was true. Kaoru had the Tsukino clan's kekkei genkai which was a magical empathy. This power was especially strong in the women. Kaoru's was even stronger than most. She couldn't only tell what someone felt but why they felt that way. The only time she couldn't tell what someone was feeling was when they were feeling an extreme emotion that was directed at her. Kaoru sighed. She didn't bother telling her Granmother that there was no way Gaara felt anything strongly for her. If he felt anything towards her it would be weak enough that she would know about it.

"I'll see you later Grandma. I'm going to the hospital to see what Yuri wants."

"Alright dear. Be careful."

Kaede watched her granddaughter run off. The truth was Kaoru didn't have much of a temper. If anything she was normally very calm and hard to anger. Only two things have ever made Kaoru truly angry. Someone badmouthing Gaara or the Kazekage. Normally Koaru tried a little to hard to please the people around her. Occasionally Kaoru would even let people run over her in her efforts not to make them angry. Kaede prayed that someone would look out for her granddaughter and keep others from abusing her nature to please.

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Kaoru walked into Yuri's office. The woman behind the desk looked up with a smile. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. Yuri was the beauty of the village. She was also the head medic in Suna. The medic had seen Kaoru's potential as a medical nin and took her in for training. Kaoru had been happy with the arrangement because she hated to fight anyway. Being a medic would suite her just fine.

"Grandma said you wanted to see me, Yuri."

"Yes. Come in and sit down, Kaoru." Yuri examined the girl she thought of as her own. Kaoru had a good heart that might be just a little to big for her own good. The head medic had done her best to protect the girl from the people who would exploit Kaoru's kindness for their own reasons and had so far succeeded. Now she was about to put the girl in a situation where she would have to fend for herself. "Kaoru, you will need to join a team of genin to receive the rest of your training."

Kaoru's eyes widened, "But..."

Yuri held out a hand to stop her from talking, "Hear me out. You need field training. It's true you have the most potential of all the trainees at the the hospital but you have no training outside of this hospital. You'll need some because there will be a time when you will have to go on a mission with a team as a medic and you will have to fend for yourself. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now I'm assigning you with Team Baki. They are at their training grounds right now. You will go to meet them. Baki is expecting you. Any questions?" (A/N: i know i know. there is normally only three genin to a team and one jounin but I needed her on this team so there it is. Sorry to anyone who doesn't like it.)

"Yes. Will I still train at the hospital?"

"You can in your spare time but it isn't a requirement at this time." Kaoru nodded and stood up to leave but was stopped at the door when Yuri spoke again, "And Kaoru."

"Yes?"

"Be careful. Don't let anyone bring you down or run over you to get what they want."

Kaoru nodded again and left. About an hour later she was standing at the edge of Team Baki's training grounds. She wanted to turn around and leave. Why the hell hadn't Yuri warned her that this was Gaara's team? In the center of the area sat Kankuro and Temari. Their sensei, Baki, was standing in front of them. A little behind his two older siblings stood Gaara. Kaoru tried to swallow around the lump in her throat and walked towards them. Baki saw her first because the others had their backs to her.

"Ahh, there she is. Now let's get started. I would skip this part because the three of you are related but Kaoru doesn't know you so we'll go through the process anyway. I want you state your name, age, and something about yourself. Kaoru, you start."

"Oh, alright. My name is Kaoru Tsukino and I'm 12 years old. I will be a medical nin as soon as my training is finished."

"Then why are you here? I thought medics trained at the hospital," Temari asked.

"They do but they also usually train during the academy years. I didn't. Yuri, my trainer, says that I need field training so here I am."

"Makes sense I suppose. But didn't your parents teach you this stuff?" Kankuro asked.

Kaoru looked away, "I don't have parents. They died when I was 5."

"Oh, sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Kaoru said with a small smile.

No one noticed Gaara look over at her. His green eyes were emotionless but the pain in her eyes pulled something in him. He thought he had let all these emotions go. Oh well, they would be gone soon enough. Still...

Kankuro was next, "I'm Kankuro and I'm 14 years old. I'm a puppeteer."

"My name is Temari and I'm 15. My specialty is strategy and using my fan here."

Everyone turned to Gaara to see if he would speak. Kaoru hoped so. It had been a long time since she had heard his voice. Gaara looked at them for a moment before saying, "Sabaku no Gaara. 12 years old. Sand Jutsu."

Kaoru blinked. She hadn't actually expected him to speak. His voice was scratchy as if it hadn't been used much. He still seemed to feel nothing for the things or people around him. His green eyes looked into her crimson eyes. She smiled shyly at him. His eyes widened a fraction before returning to normal. That smile had brought back a memory of a little girl smiling at him in the exact same way with kindness in her crimson eyes.

"Alright then. I want to see how skilled the four of you are. I'll fight you one at a time. Kankuro, you first."

After a few minutes Kankuro lost and then it was Temari's turn. She lasted a little longer than her brother but she still wasn't any match for Baki. Kaoru looked at him nervously when it was her turn.

"I've never been trained how to fight," she stated.

Baki's eyes widened, "Never."

"No, sir. They sent me straight into medical training and ignored any other kind of training."

"Alright then. You'll practice with Temari. She'll help you catch up."

Kaoru nodded and her and Temari got to work. Everyone but Gaara trained for the rest of the day. Kaoru was sore and tired. She couldn't seem to get it right. That didn't surprise her. She hated to fight at all. The skill didn't come easy to her because she didn't want it. Oh well, she would get it eventually.

"Hey Kaoru," a familiar voice called.

Kaoru turned to see a friend of hers running towards her, "Hello Hanna."

"I heard you got placed on the same team as Gaara. I'm sorry."

Kaoru tilted her head to the side, "What for?"

"Everyone knows that Gaara is a monster and now you're stuck on the same team as him," Hanna replied as if it was the simplest thing in the world. Kaoru drew in a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself and it would have worked if Hanna hadn't of had more to say. "He is so cold. I can't see why the Kazekage hasn't had him killed yet. He's an abomination."

"Hanna, shut up," Kaoru said through gritted teeth.

Hanna blinked in surprise, "What?"

"I said shut up. You're wrong about Gaara. He isn't a monster and I would appreciate it if you didn't talk about him like that."

"Kaoru, I know you use to talk to him but he has always been a monster. You just have to face facts."

"No I don't because you're wrong. For your information I didn't just talk to Gaara. He was my friend and just so you know he was a very good friend. It was the Kazekage and the people of this village that made him the way he is now."

Hanna was insulted now, "What makes you think it was us?"

Kaoru's temper snapped, "Because all he wanted was to be accepted and it was the one thing everyone denied him. His own father wanted him killed and the rest of the village ignored and feared him. How did you expect him to turn out?"

"Now see here..."

"No, I'm done listening to you. You can have your own opinion all you want but don't talk about Gaara that way in front of me," Kaoru interrupted before storming off leaving Hanna standing there in shock.

Neither noticed Gaara standing in the shadows. To say he was surprised would have been an understatement. No one had ever defended him like that. "I will always be your friend Gaara. One day you'll believe me." Her words from long ago echoed in his head. He shook his head to get rid of his thoughts. It was impossible. She didn't care about him and never would. He turned and headed home.

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A few days later Baki told everyone that they had the day off and to enjoy it. Kaoru stayed in the field even after everyone had left. She wanted to train some more. Something was wrong with her stance and she couldn't figure out what it was. She was so absorbed in her training that she didn't see the person watching her.

Gaara had seen her stay behind. He also knew that after training everyday she would go to the hospital to work. The girl was going to wear herself out. For some strange reason that bothered him. After he saw that she was going to train right through lunch if she wasn't stopped he walked over to her. He didn't bother thinking about his actions or the reasons behind them. He kept thinking about how she had defended him even though he had been just a cruel to her as he was to everyone else.

"You should eat."

Kaoru stopped when she heard the voice behind her. She knew that voice. Slowly she turned around to face him, "Hello, Gaara."

He didn't say anything else. His green eyes stayed focused on her as she looked at him expectantly. When it became obvious he wasn't going to say anything else she broke the silence.

"I'll eat in a little while."

"You've been training nonstop for five hours."

"I'm fine."

He let out a mental sigh. Had she always been this irritating or was that a trait she developed after she grew up? He started walking over to her. It surprised him when she didn't back away or look frightened. Her reaction was curiosity. The girl wasn't afraid of him. He reached out and placed a hand on her arm. She still didn't back up or pull away.

"Your stance is wrong," he stated and then corrected it.

Kaoru examined the stance he put her in to make sure she remembered it. Then she performed some simple taijustu. When she was finished she wasn't in the right stance anymore. This frustrated her. The problem was the right stance just felt wrong. She didn't want to stand in that position. Gaara walked to her and adjusted her stance again but kept her from moving.

"The stance isn't natural to you. Instead of practicing your taijustu or ninjutsu practice the stance."

"How do I do that?"

"When you have the time just take that stance for a count of 10 then move on with your day. Repeat that several times a day."

She considered this. He was right. Eventually the stance would be normal and wouldn't feel so wrong. Gaara watched her think then barely kept himself from blinking in surprise when she smiled at him.

"Thanks, Gaara."

"Now will you go eat," he asked feeling exasperated.

"Yes."

"Good."

Gaara turned and began to leave. Then what he had just done hit him. What in the world had gotten into him? He didn't help people and he sure as hell didn't talk to them for that long. He had to be sick. That was the only explanation. Gaara had just come to that conclusion when he heard someone shouting his name. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Kaoru running towards him. He stopped.

"Gaara, do you want to come eat with me?" she asked.

Gaara swore he was going to tell her no. He didn't eat with other people or spend any amount of time with them. Too bad his body didn't agree with his head. It nodded his head against his will. She smiled and began to walk towards the village. That was fine he just wouldn't follow her. But his traitorous body began to walk behind her. Now he knew he was sick.

There it is. I'm working on the next chapter for the Prisoner right now so I probably won't update for a few days. Now don't forget to review. Constructive criticism is good but absolutely no flames. those will be ignored so they are a waste of your time.