Swan Song of the Sand: Aria and Gaara
Chapter 3: Chance Of A Lifetime
As Aria wrapped a towel around herself, she stole a glance at the red-haired boy standing less than a metre away. She was certain that he mentioned his name but had been too panicked to have registered what he said. He was staring at the ground, his face a practiced blank but his folded arms and defensive stance suggested some embarrassment. Well, she thought, there's nothing to be done by just staying in the pool. So she rested her palms on the hard rock edge and hoisted herself out of the water, dripping droplets of clear blue water from her hair. The boy looked up then and said, "Could I talk to you?" Aria smiled to herself and gestured to the hidden cavern, "sure, welcome to my humble abode. I have some questions for you too."
Gaara didn't know how he ought to react. Not only did he invade her privacy when she was bathing, he had also said some of the stupidest things in his whole life. But instead of rebuffing and rejecting him, she had invited him into her home. The expression in her eyes was not of anger and fear, but of intrigue and friendliness. Gaara's chest flooded with pain at the thought of how this was probably the first time someone looked at him like that. That feeling was quickly replaced by a strange warmth, similar to the feeling he last had when he was six. "Love is the medicine that heals all wounds." Yashamaru's words echoed dimly in Gaara's head. He clenched his teeth and fixed his gaze on the ground, fighting all the pent-up anger from his past, swallowing his rage. It's useless, Gaara thought, I'm never going to get anyone to love me for the monster that I am. She treats me nicely now but what will she do when she knows who I am? I might as well kill her now. But Naruto's voice crept into his head, reminding him of his mission to start afresh, to trust the girl and find a friend worth risking his life for. Feeling conflicted and confused, Gaara looked up and met the girl's watery violet eyes, emanating a genuine kindness and warmth that Gaara had never known. She smiled and all of Gaara's doubts dissolved away as he walked into the rocky cavern.
As the red-haired boy settled down on the futon, Aria watched him and thought of all the fragmented memories she had picked up from him. His thoughts had been too messy for Aria to understand them completely, but she picked up the words Naruto and Yashamaru. Moreover, she had felt the feelings of confusion and hate that reverberated so strongly from him. This boy must have a lot of demons to fight. "My name is Aria Modaiyo. I didn't quite catch yours."
He looked up at her, but this time his face was the same practiced mask she had seen before, showing no hint of the emotions he felt just moments ago. "I am known as Sabaku no Gaara. Have you not heard of this name?"
Aria smiled, "Should I have?"
"Perhaps it is better that you have not then."
Aria wrapped her robe around herself before kneeling in front of Gaara. "I set more than 40 traps around this area. You must have some skill as a ninja to get past all of them completely unscathed. Moreover, my trail was pretty difficult to track but yet you found this place. I see you are carrying the forehead protector from Sunagakure. What would you, a full-fledged ninja from the sand, want from a plain shopgirl like me?"
"You are not a plain shopgirl. You know how to set ninja traps, scale impossible mountain cliffs at jounin-level speed and you can channel your chakra as well as I can. A plain shopgirl would not know such things. Neither would she know how to seal her sleeping place from others."
Aria stared at him in shock. For him to have realized that she had sealed the cavern when she had not made any handseals in front of him must mean he was stronger than she initially thought. "My training was... incomplete. All I wanted was to remain hidden." But Aria knew this was a lie the moment she said it. A ninja had finally found her! Someone who could match her skill, maybe surpass her! All she wanted was for Gaara to offer her a place to train. She didn't want to remain cooped up here, working for a glass shop all her life. Subconsciously, she hoped that Gaara would offer to teach her himself, so she could spend more time with this mysterious stranger. Oh god, please just grant me this wish. Haven't you taken enough from me?
Gaara's deep voice was somewhat hesitant but its meaning was clear enough to Aria. "Come to Sunagakure with me. You can receive more training there. That is, if you want to." His words were like a salve on her wounds, bringing her relief and happiness. She burst into a hearty laugh, possibly the first in 6 years and nodded her agreement. Finally, she could fulfil her dream and become as strong as her father.
Gaara was initially unsure if he had made the right decision. After all, he ought to have consulted Baki and his siblings before deciding to help train Aria, But seeing the twinkle in her eyes and hearing the joy in her laugh, made him feel that it was indeed the best thing to do. It almost brought a smile to his face.