I personally think Gaara is a little...ok alot out of character towards the end of the story but I had to do it that way. There will be a few moments like that alot so I hope you don't mind. Anyways on with the story.

Disclaimer: (sniffles) Alright I confess I don't own Naruto there are you happy now blood sucking lawyers.

Ch. 16: A Confession

"Gaara-kun," Kaoru shouted at him. She was deathly afraid that this time Hiroshi had gone too far. The Kazekage was furious. When Sasori had told them who had given them Kaoru's name a wave of pure rage had flooded Kaoru's senses. It was coming from Gaara and directed at Hiroshi. The man would be lucky to be alive once Gaara was finished with him. The Kazekage was currently storming through the town with one intention…to kill Hiroshi. Everyone was running after him trying to talk him out of it. Well, everyone except Sasori. He was just following to see what would happen. They weren't having any luck. Kaoru was still trying, "Please, Gaara-kun. Don't kill him."

"Why not?" he demanded.

Kaoru didn't come up with a good answer fast enough. Gaara kept walking in the direction of Hiroshi and Kaito. He found them in the training area. Hiroshi stood up when he saw them but didn't get a chance to say anything. Gaara had walked right up to him a punched him dead in the face. Hiroshi promptly flew across the area and into a wall. He got up and glared at Gaara who was walking over towards him.

"What's the big deal?!" he demanded of the Kazekage. Gaara didn't bother answering instead he hit him again.

Kaito ran up and got in between his brother and the Kazekage, "Why the hell are you attacking my brother?"

Gaara got and evil grin on his face and hit Kaito. The twins looked at Kaoru and began to plead with her, "Please Kaoru. Tell him to stop. We didn't even do anything wrong."

Gaara was about to say something when Temari stormed around them and stood directly in front of Hiroshi. She drew in a deep breath then…hit him as hard as she could. She kept hitting him while shouting, "This is for telling the Akatsuki Kaoru's name and getting us both kidnapped! Do you realize that they could have killed us both?! And you claim to love Kaoru you dumb ass! How dare you talk to her like she owes you something!"

The twins were forced to keep dodging her attacks or be seriously injured. Temari wasn't holding back. Kaoru started to walk forward but Gaara grabbed her arm and shook his head, "She has every right to be pissed. It is their fault that the two of you were kidnapped."

"I know. It's just that…" Kaoru didn't bother finishing.

Sasori stepped up next to her and asked, "Do you remember what we wanted in exchange for the two of you?"

She looked at him in confusion, "Yes. You wanted Gaara-kun to turn himself over to you without a fight."

"Then do you remember what the cost would have been?"

Kaoru's eyes widened as it sank in. They had wanted the Shukaku inside of Gaara. The problem was to take the demon from Gaara would kill her friend. As all of this registered she felt her own temper rise. Gaara watched her with interest. It was rare for her to even get irritated let alone pissed off. She slowly turned to face Hiroshi and Kaito. They looked at her with nervousness. They hadn't seen her this angry before either. When she was standing in front of Hiroshi she punched him as hard as she could. He looked at Kaoru in shock. In fact everyone but Gaara and Sasori did. None have them had ever expected Kaoru to get angry like this. They had thought she was entirely too shy and kind to get angry with the twins for kidnapping her.

"Kaoru," Hiroshi said in shock.

"You were willing to let Gaara-kun die. You were going to sacrifice him just because you're jealous," Kaoru stated in a dangerous tone. Her blood colored eyes no longer held kindness or pity for the man. Instead there was nothing but rage directed only at him. "Let me tell you this. If Gaara-kun had died because of you I would have hated you for the rest of your miserable life. Which wouldn't have been long because I would have destroyed you."

"Kaoru, how can you stand up for that monster?! Gaara is heartless. He doesn't care about anyone but himself," Hiroshi shouted at her.

"Shut up! You don't know him. You never even tried to know him. The minute you saw that he was my friend you hated him. Why, Hiroshi?! Why?!" she demanded.

"You want to know why. It's because he's not just your friend. You love him, don't you?"

Absolute silence fell as what he had said sank in. Gaara's sea foam eyes focused on Kaoru in shock. When he looked around he realized he was the only one. Even Sasori didn't look surprised even a little. Was what Hiroshi said true? If it was how come no body even looked surprise? Surely he wouldn't be the only one that didn't know. He focused back on Kaoru. She was looked at Hiroshi with anger but the rage that had burned in her was gone now. Instead there was a spark of fear in her eyes. Gaara looked at Hiroshi who was glaring at Gaara with absolute hatred. For the first time Gaara began to wonder about Kaoru's feelings for him. He had always known that she cared about him but it had never occurred to him that she could love him. Now that it had he had to wonder about his own feelings as well. He didn't know how he felt and he knew it would take a while for him to figure it out. Gaara had started to allow himself to feel but he still didn't understand all the emotions.

He glanced back at Hiroshi and then shoved the thoughts away for the moment. Everyone watched in amazement as Gaara's temper cooled. The brother and friend were gone as he pulled on the Kazekage. Kankuro shook his head. It was a shock to see his little brother change from friend to kage without hesitation. The Kazekage began to do his duty. He gazed at the twins with cool eyes, "Kankuro, Baki, take them into custody. They will appear before the council in three days for sentencing."

Kankuro nodded then took Hiroshi while Baki grabbed hold of Kaito. The two dragged them off to the prison until their appearance before the council. Gaara then turned to Kaoru and was the friend again. He tilted his head to the side, "You were angry because I could have died. Not because you got kidnapped."

"Of course," Kaoru responded as her anger returned. "You're my friend. I refuse to let anyone threaten your life without paying for it."

"Kaoru…you should worry about yourself a little more."

She smiled, "But if I did that then who would take care of you? You obviously don't do a very good job. Have you even eaten lunch yet?"

Temari grabbed Sasori and dragged him away. She knew her brother wouldn't comment on what Hiroshi had said until they were gone. Yuri followed them silently hoping that Gaara didn't hurt Kaoru. Her student was in love with Gaara. Yuri took one last look over her shoulder. Kaoru was looking at Gaara nervously. He was just watching the medic with those calm sea foam eyes. They left the two of them alone.

"Come with me, Kaoru," Gaara ordered.

Kaoru did exactly what he asked. Curiosity and a twinge of fear raced through her. What would he do now? He had heard what Hiroshi had said. Would Gaara ignore it? She was so worried about it that she hadn't noticed when he stopped. Kaoru crashed into his back and almost fell backwards. The sand reached up and caught her then just stayed there. She had a feeling it was there to keep her from running scared which, she would admit, was a very real possibility. He turned around to face her. She gulped.

"Do you see it?" he asked.

The medic blinked then looked around. Gaara had led her to the cliff that over looked the village. She gasped when she saw the large crater a few feet in front of her. It looked as if someone had slammed something huge into the ground. Kaoru looked at Gaara and finally answered him, "Yes."

"This is what I did when I found out what had happened to you."

Her eyes widened in surprise, "You did this? Why?"

"I was…angry and scared."

"You were…scared," she asked in disbelief. Kaoru couldn't think of anything that scared Gaara. He was always so calm that she couldn't even imagine it. If anyone had told her that Gaara was afraid of something then she would have laughed at them and then have them committed. "Of what?"

"Losing you. You're my best friend, Kaoru, and have been for several years. Do you know why I let Hiroshi live even though he pissed me off?"

"Why?"

"Because you didn't want me to kill him."

"I don't understand. What are you trying to tell me, Gaara-kun?" she asked him in confusion. Kaoru had an idea but she didn't want to get her hopes up.

Instead of answering her he asked, "Is what he said true? Do you really love me?"

Kaoru looked at him in consideration. When the feelings were directed at her she couldn't really tell what they were. She would sometimes get a small indication if it was powerful enough but most of the time she didn't even get a clue about what they were. If she told him her feelings first she would be doing so with no guarantee that he felt the same at all. She knew he cared about her and that she was his friend. But she only knew that because he told her so and his actions backed that up. Her crimson eyes looked directly into his sea foam gaze. Even now he appeared calm and collected. You couldn't even tell what he was thinking inside that over active brain of his. After a moment she took a deep breath and smiled, "What do you want me to say, Gaara-kun?"

"I want the truth, Kaoru," he stated.

"Gaara-kun…I…that's a loaded question. No matter what I say something changes and it might not be in a good way. I won't do anything to jeopardize our friendship. Don't ask me to," she pleaded without looking him in the eyes.

He reached out and took her chin in his hand forcing her to look at him. Her crimson eyes were filled with fear and desperation. Gaara kept his voice as calm as he could, "Kaoru, do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Then answer my question. Was what Hiroshi said true?"

"Yes," her voice was a barely audible whisper and a single tear fell down her face.

Gaara felt something in him fill with an unfamiliar emotion. He couldn't identify it and he wasn't sure it mattered if he did. The only thing he did know was that she loved him for whatever reason. Now he knew he wouldn't let her go. Gaara worded his answer carefully, "I don't know how I feel, Kaoru. All I can say is I like knowing that you love me. I can also tell you that I don't like the idea of any other guy with you. Knowing how you feel sure as hell doesn't end our friendship."

She smiled, "That's a relief but what are you going to do about it?"

"When I know, you'll know."

"Alright."

He looked at her in disbelief, "It's that simple."

"Yes. Look, Gaara-kun, I don't expect miracles. To be honest I never even expected you to say that there was even a chance you loved me. Besides, it doesn't really matter if you do or not. It won't change how I feel. As long as you're still my friend I'll survive."

He shook his head at her, "You're weird."

Kaoru smiled, "Probably."

Gaara was about to comment when Baki came up to them, "Gaara-sama, we've just received word form the Land of Water. The Mizukage is ill and none of their medics can do anything. They've requested that we send our best medic in hopes that we'll have better luck."

Gaara nodded, "We'll send Kaoru. I will go with her."

"But…"

"That's my decision, Baki. She's originally from Kirigakure and I won't let her face those memories alone."

"As you wish, Gaara-sama," Baki said with a small grin. He then left to tell Yuri that he believed her student would be just fine.

Gaara turned to Kaoru, "You better get packed and make sure Kaede can care for Kohaku. We'll be leaving tomorrow." Kaoru nodded in agreement and started to head off but Gaara took her chin again, "This isn't over, Kaoru. I will figure out what's going on in my head and heart. When I do we'll talk again."

"Alright, Gaara-kun," she said with a smile.

Ok so he's not as out of character as I originally thought. That's good. Please send be a review.