Sorry it took a while for the update but fanfiction wasn't being very cooperative. For some unknown reason it would let me login the other day. Oh, well. Here's the next chapter. I hope it doesn't sound too scatter-brained. The events are in chronological order it that helps any.

Disclaimer: unfortunately I do not own Naruto or any characters from Naruto. If I did then Sasuke wouldn't have become a bad guy...or he wouldn't have stayed a bad guy for very long anyway. Oh, and I would not have killed Gaara even for a moment...that really upset me.


Ch. 6: No Title (can't think of one)

Aya was upset. Well, that might have been an understatement. Gaara was about to leave on a mission but Temari and Kankuro wouldn't be there with him. As part of the 'change how the village sees me' plan, Gaara would go on missions with other teams. The part that worried Aya was that the other shinobi didn't want Gaara on their team. As soon as they realized that he wouldn't fight back they would make his life miserable. Nothing she or his siblings said could talk him out of this. Gaara was determined.

"Alright, fine. Have it your way," Aya told him in exasperation. "But if they hurt you I will murder them."

He smirked, "I don't doubt it."

"And I'm coming with you to meet them."

He nodded in acceptance. Gaara knew she was worried about him and couldn't really blame her. Normally, the shinobi of the village were too afraid to piss him off. However, on this mission he would have to hold his temper. Things would get very ugly when they realized that he wouldn't fight them at all. They walked up to the area where Gaara would be meeting his team for this mission. Aya looked around and relaxed a little. Her father was part of the team. She shot Gaara a look that told him that she didn't appreciate him keeping that bit of info to himself. He just shrugged in response. When she turned back to his team, she saw that the other two members of the squad were staring at Gaara with fright.

Kaito also noticed this and stepped forward and held out a hand. "Welcome to the team, Gaara."

Gaara took the offered hand with a nod. Aya smiled at her father with gratitude. She looked at the other two jonin then back at her father, "Which one of you is leading the mission?"

"I am," Kaito replied. "The other two just obtained the rank of jonin. This mission shouldn't be too difficult."

She nodded but was worried anyway. Aya always worried about her father when he left for a mission. Now she had two people to worry about. She looked between them, and released a sigh. This was going to be very difficult on her. She knew it.

"Kaito, it's time to go," one of the other two jonin stated.

"Oh, dear," Aya said and hugged her father. She gave Gaara the same treatment. "Promise me you'll both be careful," she begged them.

"We'll be fine, Aya. I promise we'll look out for each other," Kaito replied. Gaara nodded his head.

"Alright." She stepped back and waved as they walked away. Aya didn't move until she couldn't see them anymore. She made her way home and prayed for Gaara's and her father's safety.

That wasn't the last time Gaara left for a mission with other teams. Aya spent many worried night hoping things would be alright while he was gone with his team. Some of the shinobi that had been on his team began to accept him. Her father even began to request Gaara's presence on missions. They weren't all accepting though. Many still feared and hated him. Those were the ones that would give Gaara the worst jobs possible on a mission or make him stand guard every night of the mission.

The most determined of Gaara's haters was Hajime. Hajime was the most popular boy in the village. He was the same age as Gaara. Unlike Gaara, he was charismatic and generally good natured. He had shaggy black hair and deep blue eyes. The females of the village always stared at him in admiration, and the males respected his strength and intelligence. Hajime was the most sought after person in the village for one reason or another. Aya couldn't stand him and never had been able too. She always thought that he was a arrogant jack ass that needed to be put in his place. When he started making his hatred of Gaara obvious, her hatred for Hajime reached new peaks. She suddenly wanted to beat him to a bloody pulp every time she saw him. Unfortunately for Aya, her defiance and hatred of him attracted his attention simply because no one had hated him before.

"Hello, Aya," a cool voice greeted behind her several weeks after Gaara's return from the chunin exams. Aya was looking around trying to look for something. When Hajime spoke to her, she turned with a glare. What did he want? When she asked him that, Hajime merely grinned, "I was just going to offer to help you. You looked lost again."

"I don't need or want your help, Hajime. I don't want to talk to you either. Go away." She turned her back on him and stalked off. She was lost again but that didn't mean she was going to tell him that. She sensed that he was still behind her and nearly growled. Stupid annoying prick, she thought to herself. Just when she thought she was going to have be nasty she saw Kankuro. Gaara's older brother smiled when she called out and waited for her to catch up. "Please get me out of here. I don't care where we go just as long as Hajime isn't there," she pleaded.

Kankuro laughed and led her through the village. "I was just on my way to meet Temari for lunch. You can join us if you like."

"I would thanks."

"You were lost again weren't you?"

She stuck her tongue out at him. Kankuro liked to tease her but that was okay. He teased all his friends. It was when he didn't joke or tease you that you had to worry. That meant he didn't like you or he was very angry. She took the teasing for what it was, an offer of friendship. They walked into the restaurant and saw Temari waving them over. She greeted them both as they sat across from her. Aya liked Temari. The older girl was strong and intelligent. She didn't let anyone push her around and anyone that thought Temari was a pushover soon learned their mistake.

"What took you so long, Kankuro?" Temari demanded.

"I lost track of the time. Good thing too. Our lost little friend here needed saving from the big bad Hajime."

"Bastard," Temari grumbled. Like Aya, she didn't appreciate Hajime's treatment of Gaara. This attracted his attention to her as well. Aya was often amused by Hajime's attempt to talk to Temari. The wind mistress would frequently hit him for his troubles...or at least attempt to. Hajime was on the same level of skill as she was so he managed to block or dodge the attacks...most of the time.

"I agree," Aya replied with an annoyed sigh. "Can't he bother one of his fan girls?"

"Apparently not," Temari stated with a sigh identical to Aya's.

Kankuro shrugged, "You'll just have to put up with him."

"But I don't have to like it," Aya countered.

Kankuro's grin flashed then he said, "By the way, Aya. Gaara will be returning from his mission tomorrow."

"That's great. I hope everything went alright."

"Even if it didn't, Gaara won't say anything. You know he doesn't complain about anything," Temari replied with some annoyance.

Eventually they left again and headed their separate way. The next day Gaara returned to the village but didn't stay long. A call for help arrived from Konoha. Sasuke Uchiha had left the village to join Orochimaru. Gaara and his siblings were sent to help the Konoha shinobi retrieve Sasuke. They were gone for several days and Aya worried about them the entire time. When they did return, she was sad to hear that, although no one died, the mission had been a failure. Sasuke Uchiha had become a missing nin.

"Why is this Sasuke guy such a big deal?" she asked Gaara while they ate lunch the next day.

He shrugged, "He's strong and determined. More importantly, his friends didn't want him to leave. Orochimaru is their enemy and Sasuke betrayed them by joining him."

"Oh...what's this Sasuke like?"

"Like I was. He's full of anger and bitterness. One day he'll see what I did. You can't live with those emotions alone. They're like a poison. They'll slowly eat away at who you are until there's nothing left."

"I suppose he'll learn that one day. How did his friends take the failure?"

"Not well."

She thought about how she would feel in there place and shook her head, "I can't blame them. That kind of thing would hurt...a lot. To have a friend betray you like that...I don't even what to think about it."

Gaara shrugged, "I wouldn't know."

Aya looked at him with a frown. Gaara didn't have any friends...unless he counted her. She was never sure what he thought of her, and she couldn't bring herself to ask. What if he didn't? Could she bare to hear it? Aya didn't think she could, so she didn't ask. Instead she continued acting as a friend because she saw him as one. She hoped that one day he would tell her what he thought of her. That way she could quit worrying about it. She didn't think that would happen any time soon though. Although Gaara had changed and was more friendly that he had once been, he still wasn't comfortable showing emotion or discussing his thoughts. He probably never would be.

"What will happen if they ever catch him now?" she wondered.

"I don't know. The penalty for being a missing nin is death, but I don't think his teammates could kill him or allow anyone else to. They'll fight anyone who tries."

"Do you think he'll ever return?"

"I don't know. It depends on him I guess."

"I hope so. I like happy endings."

Somehow that didn't surprise him. Gaara looked at her and smirked, "I suppose you liked fairytales as a child."

"Of course. They always end happily. Real life is depressing enough without my stories being sad too."

He shook his head at the happy girl across from him. If she ever found real life depressing he would be very surprised. Aya was always happy and the proof that she saw a beautiful world was hanging on the wall in his bedroom. The painting she made for him now served as a reminder to himself that the entire world isn't an ugly place. Sometime, if you looked, it can be worth living in. He called the painting "Aya's World" because that was how Aya saw the world around her. Perhaps if Sasuke had seen that world in Konoha he would have thought twice about leaving it behind. Oh well, things couldn't be changed now. Gaara had his own issues to deal with. Sasuke Uchiha could wait until later.

A few weeks later, Gaara found himself walking through the village with Aya. He was miserable. It wasn't Aya that bothered him, though she was disgustingly cheerful even though it was just an hour after dawn. He thought it was way too early to be cheerful and usually he grumbled at her about it in the morning. That wasn't what bothered him today though. Today it was where they were going. His siblings had insisted that he come. As the strongest shinobi in the village it would be very beneficial to others for him to be there. There was a school. Gaara scowled. Why in the world would he want to go to a school to train others? They would be too afraid to learn from him. Besides, he couldn't teach. Teaching required speaking in full sentences to people he barely knew. Gaara was just getting comfortable doing that with his family and Aya. How in the world was he suppose to do that with strangers?

They reached their destination. Gaara looked at Aya, "You don't have to come."

"I want to. I like to watch. It's interesting to see other's fight believe it or not."

"Have it your way," he told her with a shrug.

Gaara held the door open and let her enter in front of him. All fell silent when they saw Gaara walk in. Aya looked at the trainees. They all looked nervous to have the infamous Sabaku no Gaara in their presence. Aya found a comfortable spot to sit and watched the class unfold. She knew Gaara didn't want to be there. He was forced to come to keep him busy. Gaara had just returned from a difficult mission and had used up a great deal of chakra. Her father had prescribed rest so that Gaara could recover from using so much of his chakra. Since Gaara refused to rest like a normal recovering person, his siblings told him to help them in the school. At least then they could keep an eye on him to make sure he wasn't over doing things. Aya came so she could keep an eye on Gaara as well, though she told him it was so she could watch the training.

When the students were told to pick their teacher, the kids split themselves between Temari and Kankuro. Aya was about to get up and go to Gaara when she saw that one of the kids was standing in front of him. The girl was asking for him to teach her. She was about thirteen years old with shoulder length brown hair and dark eyes. Aya recognized her as the girl that had been nervous about using weapons. She couldn't help the smile. Sure it was only one girl but it was still a decent start for Gaara. Yesterday there wasn't even one girl that would speak to him. Now one wanted to train with him. Perhaps there was hope for Gaara yet.

Gaara took Matsuri under his wing. Aya pulled out her sketch pad and occupied herself while they trained. Soon she noticed a shadow fall over her sketch pad. She looked up at the owner of the shadow. Gaara raised an eyebrow, "You've been sitting there for several hours. Time for lunch."

She started to get up but nearly fell. Her muscles were stiff from sitting in the same position for too long. Gaara grabbed her arm and helped her up. She thanked him and looked around. The area was empty. Aya looked back at him, "Where did everybody go?"

"To lunch or training."

Her stomach growled, "I guess that's where I need to go too."

He nodded. Aya stood and followed him out of the building. Just outside they saw Temari and Kankuro talking to a guard that had been beaten. Gaara frowned. He recognized the shinobi as one of the ones that guarded the gate to Suna. If he was here and beaten then something was very wrong. He caught up to his siblings and they told him everything the guard had told them. A group called the Shitenshounin had said they would kill someone important to Gaara for every day that he didn't respond to their challenge. Gaara glanced around and saw that everyone that mattered to him was right there except for... He suddenly turned and started to run. The others followed him wondering where he was going. When they reached the training yard everyone saw a Jouhyou laying on the ground. Gaara's student, Matsuri, was no where to be found.

Hours later the sand siblings emerged from the council's meeting room. Aya jumped up and rushed forward. "Well? What happened?"

"They're sending us out without any back up teams," Temari stated in disgust. "They all believe it would be better if Gaara died during this attack."

Aya's eyes widened and she looked at Gaara, "Is that true?"

He nodded.

"Those stupid, idiotic, bastards," Aya snapped. "How could they be so cold? I'm going in there and giving them a piece of my mind."

She started to stalk into the council room but Gaara stopped her. She glared at him. He shook his head, "Now is not the time. Matsuri comes first."

Aya released a sigh, "Fine. But I will have a long talk with them later."

He found himself smirking, "I don't doubt it." Gaara looked at his siblings, "Let's go."

Aya couldn't go. She wasn't a shinobi. Not only would she not be able to keep up with them, but she would probably be in the way. So she returned to her clan's compound to wait. She paced back and forth as she waited. Occasionally one of her clan members would come to check on her but no one disturbed her. She didn't want them too. Aya was worried and like any other emotion she showed it without reservation. Eventually she started to paint, hoping that would take her mind off of her friends' danger. It took what felt like an eternity for them to return to Suna. Aya heard her father calling and rushed out with a prayer. Please, tell me Gaara returned safely, she begged any listening god. When she came within sight of the door, she put on a burst of speed and felt relief flood her system. Aya threw her arms around Gaara's neck.

Gaara felt something slam into him and barely kept himself from falling. He knew it was Aya so he didn't attempt to make her let go. Instead, he waited until she was calm again to step away from her. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine. How about you? Matsuri? Temari and Kankuro?"

"We're all fine. A team from Konoha arrived just in time to help us."

She smiled, "That's great." Aya suddenly frowned, "But...wasn't Konoha chasing after Sasuke Uchiha?"

"They don't know where he is. Time doesn't stop. They have other things to worry about too."

"I guess you're right. I wish them luck though." Aya felt sadness on Konoha's behalf, "I don't know what I'd do if someone I cared about had betrayed me, like he did them."

Gaara shrugged, "You just keep going until you can't anymore."

She nodded. Her father looked between them and let out a sigh. Kaito knew his daughter well. He knew where her feelings for Gaara were going if they weren't already there. If she wasn't already in love with him, she was on the verge of it. As her father he wanted her happiness, but at the same time, he wanted to strangle any boy that thought himself worthy of Aya. She was and always would be his little girl after all. Kaito looked at Gaara again. Oh well, at least she picked someone semi worthy of her. Gaara was a good kid and would grow up to be a honorable man...one day anyway.

"Why don't you and your siblings join us for dinner, Gaara. Since you're here and it's time," Kaito offered. The three sand siblings nodded and followed Aya and Kaito inside. There they told the Hayashi clan about the mission and answered all of the questions. Aya looked at Gaara with a smile. He tilted his head, "What?"

"Nothing," she replied. "I'm just happy for you."

His eyes widened in surprise then he nodded in acceptance. He didn't know that his eyes, usually distant and guarded, had softened just a little as he watched Aya. Everyone else did though. They knew that Aya was beginning to get to Gaara. After that Aya's clan began to make bets with each other on how long it took Gaara to notice his feeling towards the girl.


That's it. Let me know what you think. I'm almost finished with ch. 7 so it should be posted soon. Sakura, Kakashi, and Sasuke are in it. I would put Naruto in there too but he's training with Jaraiya so he'll just have to waint until he get's back to be in the story. Anyways, don't forget to send me a review for this chapter.

By the way, I am working on a story that I've made completely from scratch. In other words it has my own characters, plot, and even my own world. I want to see if it's any good before I spend too much time on it. If anyone would like to read it and let me know what they think of it please let me know because I will not be posting it. Instead I'll e-mail you the chapters...if you want anyway. (that means I will need an e-mail adress if you want to read it. mine is .) If you want to read the story just send me an e-mail and I'll send you the prologue and first two chapters.