It was getting dark outside. Yuki and Naoko sat cross-legged on the floor in Naoko's room. They were recording their progress and listing the jobs still remaining. Yuki was counting electronic parts and occasionally shouting out numbers, which Naoko scribbled down on a clipboard, documenting the parts they had left and making a note of the parts they needed.
"We've run out of small diaphragm ribbon transducers for the headsets, and we could use a new multi-core hard drive for the system core" Yuki announced. Naoko scribbled it down.
"I wonder if we'll see that Kankuro guy again" Yuki mumbled.
Naoko raised an eyebrow suspiciously. Yuki averted her gaze and blushed.
"Sounds like you have a thing for that dopey mummy-man" Naoko teased.
"NO! I just…think he seemed nice…that's all"
"Right. Sure" Naoko said sarcastically. "It's strange…they're brothers, but he's so different from Kankuro"
"Are you talking about the Kazekage?" Yuki asked.
"Gaara" Naoko said with a smile.
"Huh?"
"His name is Gaara". Naoko looked at her friend, who had a very shocked expression on her face.
"How do you know his name?" She asked.
"He told me. We had a little chat earlier". A giddy smile was fixed on Naoko's face.
"Aren't you scared of him?" Yuki asked. SHE certainly was.
"I'm not scared of anything!" Naoko snapped defiantly, her face setting in an adamant frown. Yuki rolled her eyes. Here she goes again with the tough girl thing, she thought.
"…Besides…" Naoko continued, "He doesn't seem so bad…just very serious…and closed off. Like he doesn't let anyone in. He's not difficult to read. Something must have made him that way. Something must have happened to him". Her face softened. "I intend to find out"
"Maybe he doesn't want you delving into his soul and prying like that" Yuki argued, worried by her friend's plucky stupidity.
Naoko silently thought about this for a while. Maybe Yuki was right. He'd frightened Naoko when they'd first met. She didn't particularly want to rouse his anger again- he had a terrifying temper. Naoko imagined the feelings of shinobi who had faced Gaara in battle. She pitied them deeply. She had never seen him fight and she knew nothing of his abilities but she imagined he was a force to be reckoned with. Afterall, he wouldn't be Kazekage otherwise.
The two girls were silent for a while. Naoko grinned.
"He's cute"
"That's not exactly the word I would use to describe him" Yuki replied nonchalantly. Then a thought crossed her mind…She turned to Naoko, a horrified look upon Yuki's face.
"Oh no, Naoko, don't tell me you have a crush on him?!"
Naoko cracked up laughing. Surprisingly, that thought hadn't really occurred to her yet. But now that her friend mentioned it, maybe it wasn't such a crazy idea. It would explain a lot of things: the way her heart raced when he spoke, the way she couldn't tear her eyes from his when he looked at her, the way she just had to know more about him.
"Maybe I do have a
crush on him…He IS good looking, don't you think Yuki?" She
decided to continue, enjoying her friend's obvious discomfort.
"I
bet he's a real Tiger in bed" She giggled, winking at Yuki.
Then it hit her. She'd intended that last remark to make Yuki uncomfortable, but the more she thought about it, a feeling began to well up inside her stomach. She imagined 'being' with the Kazekage. She blushed fiercely. She imagined those intense eyes. That strong, toned body exposed. The room didn't feel so cold anymore. In fact, Naoko felt hot and flustered.
Suddenly, there was a heavy knock on the door. The girls jumped, and Naoko was dragged from her lustful thoughts. She stood up and caught her breath, making her way to the door. She opened it.
Her heart jumped violently. She was sure that her chest visibly moved with the impact it made. It was Gaara. She looked at him. After the thoughts she'd just had she didn't see him in the same light anymore. She quickly regained her irreverent self. She wasn't going to let a man make her feel nervous. She toughened up her stance, placing a hand on her hip.
"Hey Tiger" she said, hearing her friend splutter with laughter behind her. An insider's joke.
Gaara narrowed his eyes at her, having no idea what was so funny. Tiger? Why did she call me that? He was starting to regret his decision to come here.
"I've assigned new rooms to you both" he said simply, matter of factly.
"Why do you care?" Naoko said harshly. He shot her a cold glare.
"Fine. Stay in this hovel and freeze to death". He turned to walk away.
"No! Wait!" She stepped after him. "We'll take the new rooms" She said quietly.
He waited outside the door, arms folded, while they quickly packed their things. Yuki scuttled past him nervously back to her own room to pick up her bag. When they were ready, he led them out through the courtyard towards the main building. It was dark now, and the girls shivered in the cold air. The Kazekage seemed oblivious to the temperature.
Maybe he doesn't feel the cold, Yuki surmised. He's colder than ice anyway, so he doesn't notice. Is he even human? She tried to imagine him being kind or gentle, or laughing, but she just couldn't picture it. He reminded her of the inanimate machines she worked with.
Naoko watched him quietly. They were walking about a meter behind him. She concentrated on his feet. The steady pace of his footsteps. If it wasn't for the huge gourd on his back impeding her view, you could bet your bottom dollar she'd be checking out his ass. Unlike Yuki, Naoko didn't think he was inhuman. He'd taken the trouble to find better rooms for them both. That alone proved that he was considerate.
They were in the main Council building now, on the 8th floor. Naoko was almost breathless from walking up all those stairs. Gaara, of course, was completely unaffected.
Halfway down a long corridor, he stopped. He motioned to two doors, side by side. Room 5 and Room 6.
"Here" he said simply.
Naoko opened the door to room number 5. She gasped, stepping inside and looking around. There was luxurious mahogany furniture: a chest of drawers, a table in front of a large snug looking couch, a desk with a cushioned stool. The walls were a calm shade of beige and the large windows were draped with expensive looking curtains in a shade of burgundy. An elegant lamp provided a soft glow. It was a far cry from her previous room. And most importantly, it was warm. These must be the rooms they use for important visitors to Suna. Doors led from this main room into others. She whooped and ran off to explore. A kitchen, with a large table and four chairs. Fully functioning kitchen appliances. She left this room and came back into the main one, opening another door. The bedroom.
"Woah". She looked around. A double bed! Complete with soft, thick burgundy covers and pillows. A large glass door led out to some kind of balcony that seemed to run the entire length of this side of the building. Naoko looked at the bed. She took a running jump and began bouncing on it.
Gaara remained in the corridor. He could hear Naoko giggling along with a soft, rhythmic thumping/creaking sound. What the hell was this crazy girl doing now? He turned and looked at the other room, room number 6. Yuki had already shot in there and closed the door behind her. He turned back to room number 5. Naoko was now in the doorway, gazing at him intently with those deep forest eyes of hers.
"Gaara…thank you" she said softly.
His stomach flipped. It was incredibly rare that anyone spoke to him that way. Softly. Gratefully. He'd done something good. He turned away to stalk off down the corridor.
"My residence is at the end of the hall if you need anything" he said as he walked.
Naoko peered round the doorway to look at the room he was heading towards. The number on the door? Number 1 of course. She smiled and returned to her room, closing the door behind her.
……………………………..
Gaara finished the last of his blasted paperwork. He stretched, and rose from his chair. It was well past midnight. He walked to the window to close the curtains. He froze when he saw a figure on the balcony outside. It was Naoko. The Kazekage's room led out to the same balcony as Naoko's room. He watched her. She was perched on the wall gazing up at the night sky. She was wearing an oversized coat that looked funny on her petite frame. Her hair shone delicately in the moonlight. He used to sit in that same spot, gazing up at the moon in exactly the same way, back in the days when Shukaku prevented him from sleeping. Why was she still awake at this hour? Should he approach her? He didn't have time to answer that question. His feet decided for him. He walked over to the door and stepped outside. She turned around. God, she looked beautiful in the moonlight, he thought.
"Hey Tiger" she said softly, smiling.
He walked over to her. "Why are you still awake?"
"…couldn't sleep" she replied turning back to look at the sky. He stood beside her.
"I wonder how my uncle Kakashi's doing" she muttered to herself.
Hearing this, Gaara turned to her. "Kakashi Hatake is your uncle?"
"That's right. My mother's brother. Why? Do you know him?"
"Not personally. But I know his students"
Naoko giggled. "You mean Naruto? And Sasuke and Sakura?"
"Hn"
"Those guys are great" she smiled. There was a comfortable silence. Finally Gaara spoke.
"You're originally from Konoha then?"
"No. I was born and raised in Kumogakure. The village hidden in the clouds. I was raised as a ninja, I passed the Chuunin exams when I was 9." Gaara looked at her. She was a ninja? Then he noticed a painful sadness in her eyes.
"My family was murdered when I was 10. I haven't been back home to Kumogakure since. And I stopped training as a ninja. I'd already seen enough violence to last a lifetime. I've been moving from place to place ever since. I started working as an electrical engineer. I like technology… the mechanics of it… the logic… Machines don't lie. Not like people. Machines can never leave you on your own. And when they die, you can fix them again" She stopped.
Gaara listened in silence, his mouth open slightly. She'd been through so much. Like him. There was a lot to this girl.
Naoko suddenly strolled off a little way. She skipped to a stop. Turning around, she smiled at Gaara, back to her usual mischievous self.
She pointed to the object on his back. "What's with the gourd you always carry around with you? What's in it?"
"My weapon" was all he said.
"Your weapon, huh?" She flashed him a cunning smile. "You must be a really powerful ninja". Let's see how good you are, she thought with a wicked grin.
He saw the grin. What's she upto, he wondered.
She held out one hand. Nothing too extreme, she told herself. She wouldn't use a fatal voltage. Just enough to give him a bit of a shock. This would be fun!
A blazing spark of electricity shot from her extended arm, straight towards Gaara. The sound of impact.
She blinked. Sand?!
A wall of sand had sprung around him, protecting him from her attack. The sand gradually began to recede, revealing a very unimpressed looking Kazekage. She stared at him. She was astonished.
Before she had time to speak, she felt herself being lifted from the ground. She panicked. Looking down, she saw sand wrapped around her lower body, lifting her into the air.
"What the fuck?!" she screamed.
The pressure increased as the sand began to squeeze her. It wasn't painful, but it squeezed hard enough to send her a clear message: this was a warning. She glared at him.
"So this is your weapon? Very clever. Now put me down"
He stayed perfectly still, looking up at her, his arms folded across his broad chest. Naoko looked down over the edge of the balcony. She saw the village. It was a long way down.
"Seriously, Gaara…put me down…I'm scared of heights". She looked worried.
"Then close your eyes" he growled.
She began struggling, beating the sand with her fists. It didn't help. Then something very strange happened…
Gaara smiled. A real smile. She could see his perfect teeth. God, he looked handsome. She glared.
"You're cruel" she snapped.
"You have no idea" he replied in a low growl.
"I don't like you anymore" she said, pouting. She's funny like this, Gaara thought to himself.
He laughed. A deep, gorgeous sound, that reminded Naoko of thick treacle. It sent a thrill through her body.
He was enjoying this, she thought. He liked seeing her like this, helpless. He liked having her at his mercy. She was annoyed. She wasn't used to feeling this helpless. He'd won… again.
"Ok, you're gonna have to put me down now. I really need to pee"
Gaara raised his hairless eyebrows at her. After a few seconds, the sand gently lowered her to the ground, unwinding itself from around her body and flowing back into the gourd on Gaara's back.
She frowned and began to walk back to her room. Suddenly, she stopped and turned back to him, a look of desperate questioning in her eyes.
"Gaara… what do you think of me?"
He watched the raven-haired girl, the moonlight illuminating her curves. He thought about her question for a few seconds. Finally he answered.
"I think you're the most foul-mouthed girl I've ever met"
Silence.
"And what do you think of me?" he asked.
"After that, I think you're a prick" and she disappeared into her room, slamming the door.
Gaara watched, smiling again. He could get used to this smiling business, he thought. Especially with Naoko around. He felt more relaxed around her, and she entertained him, and despite her irreverent attitude, he liked her. He walked back to his room.
Once back inside, he noticed that the emptiness in his heart had somewhat subsided. It seemed less gaping, less painful somehow.
Suddenly he felt a yearning. He yearned to be with her, to hold her. He was confused. What was this girl doing to him? He felt completely defeated by this power she had over him.
His Shinobi mind kicked in: All his years of training had not prepared him for this kind of attack.