Chapter 2! :D Hahah enjoy!

Disclaimer: I only own the idea :3 I don't own Naruto or anything Naruto related D:

Bets: Gaara Story

Chapter 2: Searching

It was now night time, and I was wandering the streets of Konohagakure. The others decided to search farther away from the hideout, going to different cities like Takigakure. Looking around, the streets were fairly empty, but a few teens ran around, laughing and joking. One was blonde, with shining blue eyes and what looked like whiskers. The girl next to him had bright pink hair with bright green eyes. She seemed to be drooling over some guy with black hair and dark, dull eyes. He looks very similar to Itachi, so he must be Sasuke. Standing next to the trio were a few others. One boy had dark black hair which was in a high ponytail. He had both his ears pierced and wore a green vest and had his hands behind his head, looking as if he was sleeping. There was another with long dark hair, which was tied in a small ponytail at the tip of his hair. He had lavender eyes and no pupils. Next to him was a girl that looked related to him, except her hair had a dark blue tint to it. Her eyes were the same as the long haired male, and she wore a purple outfit. There was a female with long, blonde hair, and what looked to be blue eyes. Her hair was in a ponytail in the back, and her bangs fell over her right eye. If Deidara was a girl, I'm sure they'd be duplicates. It was frightening how similar they looked…

Ha, it's the female Deidara.

I can't wait to tell him about this.

Next to her was a boy with scrappy brown hair and red triangles painted on his cheeks. A dog was sitting on his head, nuzzling the boy's hair. He had brown eyes and a small smile. He actually looked cute.

But what caught my eye was the red head sitting a few feet away from them, keeping to himself. He had mint green eyes and no pupils. His hair was as red as Sasori's and was scrappy and short. On his forehead was a scar that looked like the LOVE sign in Japanese. He had a frown in his face and his eyes looked cold and dead.

I liked it.

I liked it a lot.

His face held no emotions and he just stared at the group with his cold eyes. He sighed, and then looked away, towards me. By this time, I was hiding in the shadows, away from the group, making sure they couldn't see me. The red head and I locked eyes and he narrowed his to make it a glare. I smirked at him, not too sure if he could see me, or if he was just checking to see if he wasn't hallucinating. The boy stood motionless, just staring in my direction. His eyes intensified even more every second, until he lifted his hand, and motioned a finger to come closer. Now I knew he knew I was there.

Dammit.

He was hesitant, and watched me cautiously as I moved out of the shadows. This caught the attention of a few other members that were next to him. I smirked at the wary expressions and rolled my eyes.

"Hey, who are you?" the boy with the dog on his head asked.

"I'm Daniella," I lied. I wasn't able to tell them my real name, or else they could track me easier.

"Daniella, huh? Never seen you around before! Ya new?" the blonde boy beamed, showing all his bright white teeth. I giggled innocently and nodded.

"Yeah, I got here today. I'm trying to learn my way around the village," I shrugged.

"Why didn't you do that during the day?" the boy with the pony tail and green vest asked.

"Too many people," I pointed out. "It would be easier at night, that way I wouldn't have to concentrate on running into anybody."

"What a drag... I'm Shikamaru by the way," the boy said.

"Hey," I waved.

"Naruto, believe it!" the blonde boy said.

"Sakura," the pinkette with green eyes added.

"Kiba," the one with the dog smirked. I smiled at him.

"H-Hinata," the white eyes girl stuttered.

"Neji," her look alike said.

"Ino," Deidara's female version waved.

"This is Sasuke," Sakura added, pointing to Itachi's younger brother, who was glaring at me. I just smirked back at him.

"Gaara," a deep, cold voice added. Glancing behind the crowd of teenagers, I saw the boy with brick red hair and cold mint eyes staring at me once again. His gaze softened a bit now that I was out in the open, but it still was so cold, Hell could freeze over. I smiled softly at him, getting a deeper glare in reply.

"Nice to meet you all," I waved at them, giggling sweetly. They all smiled at me. The red head stood up and walked away, mumbling about 'how he had places to go'. We all watched him go, and then Naruto sighed.

"He's not a people person…" he said.

"I noticed…" I responded, pursing my lips. 'He wouldn't be bad for our bet. He's cute; no doubt he's smart and strong. But Jashin, I could melt in those eyes. I don't care how cold they look, I love them.' I added in my thoughts. I didn't dare say it out loud though.

"What?" Kiba asked, seeing my smirk grow.

"Well I'm a naturally curious person, and you're friend there has me curious…" I replied, deep in thought.

The others looked at each other, and then shrugged.

"Go find him if you want, but be careful. He's-" I cut off Kiba's warning. I had to stick to the rules of the bet. I can't know much about them.

I hate you, Hidan.

"I'll find out. Don't worry, I'll be fine. See ya around," I winked at the group then ran off in the direction Gaara went, turning on my spy instincts.

The full moon was out tonight, so everything had a natural glow about it. I perched myself on a roof top, standing silently and motionless, only letting my eyes flicker around the area. I could sense something near me, but how close I wasn't too sure. Suddenly, I felt something wrap around me. It didn't hurt, so I wasn't too worried about it, just slightly annoyed that I didn't notice where it was. Looking down, I saw it was sand. It had encased me, leaving my head and the tips of my shoulders free.

"Looking for something?" the cold, dead voice I had been searching for asked. I grinned. The boy was standing behind me, so I couldn't see what he was doing, or how close he was to me.

"Not anymore," I responded, looking at the roof top to see his shadow. Judging by its position, he was standing about two or three feet away from me, hands to his sides, and legs slightly spread apart. Even his shadow looked hot…

"You were looking for me," he said. It wasn't more of a question than it was an accusation. Shrugging, I nodded.

"Was it that obvious?" I retorted, grinning to myself.

"Why?" he hissed, his voice darker.

Sighing, I looked up at the moon. 'So I can fuck you and get ninety bucks out of my teammates who work in the Akatsuki' I said in my head. I knew I couldn't tell the truth, not that I had been from the very beginning. So I said something half-true.

"I was curious about you. You seem….different. I like it," I shrugged again. This time, he remained silent. I could hear a bit of movement, and then he was standing directly in front of me, still encasing me with sand.

"Curious?" he asked. I could see he wasn't believing me completely, but I was getting there.

"Hmm," I hummed, nodding. He looked at me, deep into my eyes. I just smiled back at him, batting my eyelashes innocently. Then he sighed and released the sand, moving to sit on the roof. Looking down at him, who was leaning on his gourd, simply looking at the moon, I decided to join him.

"What was with the sand snuggie?" I asked softly.

He merely shrugged and stared at the moon, showing no emotion on his face.

"Precautions," he said.

"Precautions for what…?" I asked hesitantly whilst sitting down next to him, pulling my knees to my chest.

He looked at me, straight into my eyes. "I know you're in the Akatsuki. You work for them as a spy, correct?"

I was taken back. How did he know? I thought I was so thorough… Well that hurt my ego…

Dammit, nothing ever goes my way.

It's all Hidan's fault.

The asshole.

"Y-yes, but how…how did you know?" I asked.

"You looked familiar. I remember you once talking to a guard in Sunagakure. He worked for me. I heard you have named yourself 'Hakita', instead of 'Daniella'. I know neither are your real name…" he simply replied. I was in shock. This…this boy could read me like an open book! I met the kid like twenty minutes ago!

I officially lost my pride.

Sighing, I looked away from the moon, to him. He looked so calm, but yet he confined himself into a bubble, not letting anyone get close to him to actually feel his warmth or sweet scent. I don't know why…but I felt bad for lying to him. He looked so innocent…but I knew he wasn't. This boy was dangerously familiar, but from where, I don't remember…

"Sorry…" I mumbled, looking down. I don't know why I was apologizing, but I was. His head snapped around to look at me.

"Why are you apologizing?" he snapped.

Looking up to meet his gaze, I shrugged.

"I didn't expect you to recognize me, and truthfully…I feel bad about it. I don't know why I do, but I do," I sighed, frowning.

His eyes widened and I was suddenly encased with sand once again, still having my head and shoulders free.

"Are the Akatsuki planning something to endanger the people here or in Sunagakure?" he growled, glaring at me.

"Huh? No, not right now, why?" I asked, a bit shocked at his sudden hostility.

"Then why are you here?" he hissed, tightening his grip on the sand. I had to admit, it hurt a little, but I'd have to deal with it. "Don't bother lying, because I can tell when you do."

Sighing, I knew I couldn't escape it. "Fine, I'll tell you, but I doubt you'll believe me…"

"Try me."

"Well…my friends Deidara and Hidan decided to create a bet where any member who agreed to know about it, would have to be a part of it. Me, being a gambler and pretty competitive, wanted to know. They explained that I would have to seduce, then sleep with a random person, whether they are off the street or a friend of a friend, it didn't matter, just as long as I only knew their name, it was okay. So Deidara, Sasori, Kakuzu, Itachi, Hidan, Kisame, Zetsu, Tobi and I all bet ten dollars and had left the hide-out, unbeknownst to Leader-Sama, to go win the bet. I decided to come here, since I am most familiar with this area, and I ended up finding you. You had been so cold, and I'm always up for a challenge, so I decided to follow you. Since I only knew your name, I figured, 'Hey, why not'?" I explained, gasping for air at the end. I panted slightly, having said all that in one breath. I knew I probably shouldn't have told him all the names of the Akatsuki, but I couldn't take it back now.

Yeah, fuck my life.

Gaara looked at me, disbelief in his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off.

"Hey, if you don't believe me, fine, but I'm telling the truth. Even a group of S-Rank criminals gets bored."

He just stared at me for a few minutes, searching for any hints of falseness in my eyes, and apparently he saw none, for he let me go and leaned back.

"I find it hard to believe that the Akatsuki would play such childish games," he replied.

I scoffed.

"Oh please, you don't know the half of it. The maturity level with us all in the same room is very low. You'd be amazed," I chuckled. Sighing, I added, "I probably shouldn't have told you any of this. You have valuable information about us. I hope you realize that if you mention it to anybody I will get the Akatsuki to come and kill you all."

Gaara looked over at me and nodded. "I understand."

"So can I trust you to keep me and my family safe?"

"Yes, I won't tell anybody. They haven't hurt my village in a while, and I don't want to antagonize them. I care for my village too much."

I lie down next to him and look at his peaceful face. He seemed so calm…

"You're a lot nicer than I thought you'd be," I whispered, smiling at him.

"What is your real name?" he asked.

"_," I replied, biting my lip. I was nervous telling him information relating to the Akatsuki, which is a dangerous thing to do, but I couldn't help but trust him. He captivated me like no other has done before.

"_...I like it," he mumbled before looking away, back at the full moon that hung in the black void of space. I couldn't help but blush at that. He liked my name…

"Do you still plan to carry on with your bet?" he asked suddenly.

"Huh? Oh…I'm not sure. The only reason I agreed to it was because I would ninety dollars if I won, though I'm not too fond if losing my virginity to a complete stranger…" I said, my voice fading at the end.

He looked at me, then reached into his pocket and pulled out something. "Here," he said, holding it out.

I took it, and then realized what it was. He just gave me ninety bucks.

"What? Gaara, I can't accept this. It's your money, you deserve it. I was the one whoring myself out."

"I'd rather have you take money from me than having sex with a stranger," he responded. I blushed lightly. He'd give up ninety dollars for a girl he just met?

"It's just a silly bet, I could just say I lost, no one would think any of it," I said.

"It's alright. Keep the money. I have too much anyway," he sighed.

"What do you mean?" I asked, propping myself up on my elbow so I could look at him.

"Did you give up on using me in your bet?" he responded.

"The bet isn't important, so yes. Now, what do you mean you have too much?"

"I'm the Kazekage of Sunagakure."

"Then why are you here in Konoha?"

"You, well the Akatsuki. They were all paranoid because it seems like you all went into hiding, and then you would all come out at once and kill everything."

I scoffed. "That's crap. Don't worry; we aren't going to attack you anytime soon. We have just been getting worried because there have been people passing dangerously close to our hide-out, so we are trying to stay hidden so no one can track us."

"That's why you all decided to play this little game?"

"Yup, having eleven S-Rank criminals crammed in a small hide-out all day and all night gets very frustrating, so we usually place bets to ease the tension."

"I see…"

"Do you believe we are evil, Gaara-san?" I asked, suddenly allowing my voice to become much softer. He looked at me curiously.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because you murder innocent people who just try to protect their village."

I sighed and shook my head. That's not true. No one would understand that.

This time it was his turn to ask why.

"Because, Gaara, we aren't evil. Truly, we aren't. All we do is attempt to catch the tailed beasts of this world. No one honestly likes them, so we extract them. We haven't attempted to start a war yet, and we only kill those who wish us dead. We defend ourselves and each other, the way you do for your village. We follow the orders of our Leader-sama, like they do with you, since you're Kazekage. We have to do what we can, or we are killed. If we mess up in battle, we die. If we disobey our Leader-sama, we die. This is why we protect our comrades, and fight the way we do. We have no choice!" I exclaimed. Sighing, I shook my head. I don't expect him to understand, but I could at least try. We aren't evil killers…

"I don't understand why anyone would wish to join…"

"No one really wanted to join, Gaara-san."

"Then why are you all in it?"

"Because we were recruited. Either we came by choice when Leader-Sama sent members out to get us, or they would drag us by force. If we retaliated and fought, they would kill us. We either join or die. That's how it works. The reason we didn't fight against Leader is because we all understand each other. No one in the Akatsuki had a simple life, yet that makes people label us as evil. Our lives range from Deidara, who was exiled at a young age because of his choice in art, to Itachi, the man who murdered his clan. Yet because of this, everyone assumes we aren't good, that we should be damned to Hell…"

Gaara looked at me with more attentiveness now. His eyes were locked on my face as if her were trying to understand. He had a small frown on his pale complexion.

"I never thought about it that way before. I suppose no one has," he said softly.

"People always assume the worst of others, of everything…"

Suddenly, my ring started to glow, alerting me I had to get back to the hide-out. Mentally cursing, I looked at Gaara, whom was also looking at my ring. His eyes flashed to mine.

"I have to go…I'm sorry Gaara," I said, standing up. As I was about to leave, I felt his hand grip my wrist.

"Will I see you again?" he asked. Looking at him with a smile, I nodded.

"Yes, I'll see you soon."

And with that I bounded off, running at full blast towards my destination.

Towards my home.