Alright. Someone liked the story enough to review (thank you by the way Gaaras1Girl). And since I'm already finished with the second chapter I'm putting it up now. Hope you like this chapter.

Disclaimer: no...no...no...I don't want to say. You can't make me....(looks at glaring lawyers)....fine I'll say it. I don't own Naruto. Happy now. (Lawyers nod)...glad someone is.


Ch. 2: Sketches

Gaara walked away from the training grounds in a terrible mood. Not that being in a bad mood was abnormal for him, but it was worse today than normal. His father had given him that look. The one that said, 'Gaara, you are a worthless monster'. Gaara was aware that he was a monster. They didn't have to keep telling him. For some reason it was always worse when his father gave him that look. If anyone else did Gaara would just shrug it off. But he never could when the Kazekage did.

Because he was in a foul mood, Gaara chose not to go into the village. Instead he went up to the cliffs that overlooked the village. Normally no one ever went up there. It would seem Gaara's world was starting to be full of the abnormal, because sitting at the edge of the cliffs was the girl he had met last week. She seemed to be concentrating on the pad of paper in her lap. Curiously, Gaara walked over and looked over her shoulder. It was a sketch pad and she was drawing Suna. It was good too. Even Gaara, who rarely noticed others, was impressed.

Aya felt something brush her and let out a startled squeak while jumping. The next thing she knew she was starting to fall. She had jumped forward which had been a very bad idea considering she had been sitting on the edge of the cliff. She jerked when someone grabbed her wrist causing her stop suddenly. Whoever had her wrist pulled her up and set her back down on the cliff. Aya got a look at her savior and smiled.

"Hello, Gaara."

"You nearly fell to your death but you smile like nothing happened."

She shrugged, "What else am I suppose to do?"

"I don't know," he admitted.

"What are you doing up here anyway? Don't genin have missions or something like that?" she asked curiously.

"We were training. Now we're done."

"Oh...what an eventful day you've had."

Gaara chose to ignore the sarcasm. He wasn't even sure why he was talking to her. The girl always made him feel...odd. He wasn't quite himself whenever he looked into those blue-green eyes. He knew he shouldn't encourage her belief that he wasn't a monster. He was after all. But some part of him didn't want her to be afraid of him. She was the first person in years to look at him without any trace of fear. Part of him didn't want to lose that. Odd, he thought he had given up emotions a long time ago.

"What were you doing up here?" she asked, bringing out of his thoughts.

He shrugged. Originally he had wanted to avoid people. Ironic that he found himself socializing now. He looked at the sketch pad she had managed to hold on to when she fell. She saw his gaze.

"I was sketching the village. When I'm finished I'll paint it."

"You paint?"

She nodded and seemed to get excited, "Yes. I love to paint. It's part of the reason I get lost so often. When I see something beautiful or attention grabbing I end up concentrating on it instead of where I'm going."

"One of the reasons?"

Aya suddenly looked sheepish, "I also have absolutely no sense of direction." Her eyes lit up as an idea occurred to her. "Can I ask you something?"

He gave her a 'what?' look. Gaara wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"Can I sketch you?"

He blinked once...twice... "What?"

"Can I sketch you?" she repeated with excitement.

"Why?"

"You have an interesting face."

Gaara wasn't sure he believed what he was hearing. No one had ever said that before. He didn't think anyone had even thought it before. That was one question he never expected to be asked. Aya began to fidget in front of him and still he couldn't make himself say anything at all. He ended up saying the first thing that came to mind which wasn't an answer to the question. "What?"

She laughed, "You never expected that did you? I'm sorry. I won't if you don't want me to. It's just that your eyes. They're so expressive even though your face is expressionless. The contradiction makes me want to paint you."

He sat down with a shrug. Why not? He didn't lose anything by it. It wasn't like he had something else to be doing. It could be interesting to see what she painted. It would be like seeing himself through someone else's eyes. Generally he tried to avoid doing that since he already knew what others saw in him. However, this girl didn't see what others did. If she had then she would be scared just like everyone else. Perhaps this would answer the questions she brought out in him. Maybe this would tell him why she wasn't afraid.

Aya was thrilled. She sat and immediately began the sketch. She was afraid he would change his mind. Gaara was obviously not use to attention and he didn't seem to like it. She found it amusing that he was confused by his own actions. It was like he didn't expect himself to be so calm around her. She remembered a question she had for him.

"Ummm, don't get mad but my dad told me something about you. I was wondering if it was true."

He glanced at her to show she had his attention.

"He said that you killed your uncle. Did you?" When she saw the look in his eyes she quickly said, "You don't have to answer. I was just wondering. It's really none of my..."

"Yes, I did."

"...business." She blinked, "You did? What did he do to you?"

Gaara looked away from her. She was the first person to ask what Yashamaru did to him. Everyone else just assumed he killed him for no reason at all. However, even during a moment of insanity (how else could he explain his actions around this girl) he wouldn't ever talk about that night. Gaara merely looked away without saying anything.

Aya shrugged. If he didn't want to talk about it then she couldn't make him, even if she wanted to. So she returned to her sketch and worked at quickly as she could without missing anything. The two sat in silence for several hours. Aya didn't even notice the time passing until it was too dark to see her sketch pad. She blinked at it and then looked around. The sun was setting and it made a beautiful image. She couldn't wait to paint that either. She had wanted to finish the drawing of Gaara first. Speaking of Gaara, she looked over at him to see him watching her.

"I didn't get to finish. Ran out of light." She closed the pad with a small sigh of regret. Aya didn't think he would be willing to sit for more another sketching. He didn't seem to like people, her included. Not that she could blame him if the rumors she'd heard were true. The entire village hated and feared him. Even her clan, who she always thought above such things, feared him. When she asked why, no one could really give her an answer.

"Oh, I owe you another thank you, don't I?" she commented.

He looked at her in question.

"You saved me when I fell."

Gaara shrugged.

Aya swore that boy could speak more with one gesture than most people could with an entire paragraph. She smiled, "I'll get you something to thank you. I would offer to buy you lunch again but I get the impression you don't like being around others so I won't make you suffer my presence."

He didn't really care if she did anything to thank him or not. He couldn't even explain to himself why he saved her. It had just happened. Aya took the lack of a response as an agreement and turned to leave. She paused and looked back at him. "I don't know why everyone is afraid of you, Gaara. They won't really give me an answer. But, for what it's worth, I'm not afraid of you." She continued to make her way back down to the village, leaving a stunned Gaara behind her.

Aya eventually made it home. Her grandfather was waiting up for her. He gave her a small smile. Lord Hayate Hayashi was just as imposing as his son. He had salt and pepper hair that was more salt that pepper now. His blue eyes held wisdom that came with years of living. The old man adored his granddaughter. Aya was the jewel of his life and was made aware of that every time she saw her grandfather.

"So how was your day, Aya?" he asked her.

"Interesting. I saw Gaara again."

"He didn't hurt you did he?" her grandfather demanded.

"No. He startled me but that was it. I just turned around and there he was." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "He really should make more noise when he walks. Otherwise he'll give someone a heart attack."

"All he had to do is look at someone and they have a heart attack."

"But why?" Aya asked. "He doesn't seem that scary to me."

Hayate sighed and motioned for her to sit down. "Look, Aya. I'm not proud of what happened to Gaara. I want you to know that. But it happened."

"What?"

"Gaara is what we call a jinchuriki, a host of a tailed beast. While he was being born, the spirit of Shukaku was placed into his body. At first that was the only reason most of the village feared him. But something changed when he was about five or six years old. The death of his uncle. Yashamaru was the only person who took care of Gaara, so I was surprised when I heard he accepted the mission."

"What mission?"

"To assassinate Gaara. Because Shukaku lives in Gaara, the sand protects him on its own. When Yashamaru attacked Gaara the sand injured him and protected Gaara. As a result Yashamaru died. Ever since, Gaara has been...cold and cruel."

"Do you blame him?" she demanded, feeling angry on Gaara's behalf.

"No. But that doesn't change the facts. Everyone is afraid of him because Gaara is unstable and cruel. His only reason for living is to kill so he does. He's become a monster. Whether or not he's always been one or not doesn't matter anymore."

"I don't see a monster when I look at him. I see someone who wants just one person to care. I don't think he lives to kill. He might think that but it's not true."

"Then what does he live for?"

"I don't know. I don't think anyone can know until he does." Aya ran her fingers over the sketch book. Perhaps when she finished it she would know what was inside Gaara. But at the moment, she only knew what everyone else told her. Unless he suddenly decided to start talking. She didn't think that would happen anytime this century. "I'm going to go to bed."

"Aya."

She glanced back.

"Be careful. Gaara isn't stable. He could kill you at any moment and he would without hesitation or remorse."

"I know." She smiled, "But he still doesn't scare me. I don't fear death so he's got nothing to scare me with."

"Everyone is afraid to die."

She shook her head, "There are worse things than death, grandfather. Sometimes living is scarier. Gaara should know that better than everyone. He's in a living hell after all."

"Just make sure you don't join him there."

She smiled and wished him good night. Aya laid on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. Gaara wasn't a monster. That much she was sure of. She was also sure that Gaara didn't agree with her. He believed he was a monster. That was why he lived to kill. It was the only way to prove he was still alive. Otherwise how would he know. He couldn't be hurt so their was no pain to remind him. The village avoided him so there was no one to tell him he was alive. All he had was killing. Aya closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep. There would be time to deal with Gaara tomorrow.


That's the second chapter. Let me know what you think.