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Chapter Eleven: The Black Sky

Kenoyo began to laugh happily as Gaara's eyes cracked open for the first time in fourteen hours. "Welcome back to the world of the living," she whispered, seeing him wince with the sudden loud noise of her laugh. He tried to sit up, but her hand pressed down firmly on his right shoulder, not letting him do so.

"Sorry, you're going to be bedridden for a few days, or at least hours" she murmured to him as he cringed from the sudden pain in his ribs. But what concerned her was that he wasn't speaking to her. He simply closed his eyes and turned his face away from hers.

'He's ashamed,' she thought immediately, lowering her eyes in sympathy for the sand ninja. 'He thinks that he's weak because he can't get up.' Simply to ease his pain, she gave him a soft smile and she ran her fingers through his hair. "You're quite courageous, Gaara. I don't think anyone else would've taken in the last drop of chakra in them to rid the village of a monster like the one you beat up," she murmured to him, sitting beside his body on the bed.

Gaara was still silent, but after a while he raised his ocean green eyes to her and said simply, "You came back."

His voice was heavy, strained, but at least he spoke. Kenoyo smiled and dropped her forehead to his, whispering on how badly she had missed him. He didn't give her an answer, but closed his eyes and allowed her to stroke his face and hair.

"I swear I'll never leave you again, Gaara. And anyways, look what happens when I do!" she snickered, teasingly looking at his closed eyes. A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his lips, but he didn't say a word concerning her comment.

But then Gaara broke her orders to relax and sat up painfully, pushing her away. He growled at the rush of heat in his side, but didn't complain out loud. Once he was seated, he looked around the room before giving Kenoyo the piercing look she had grown to love. She allowed his eyes to penetrate deeply in hers, sending a shiver of pleasure through her body. She proudly held his gaze, something that only she was able to do.

They both wanted the same thing, yet who would move first was the question. After a few seconds, Kenoyo grinned and slipped her arms around his neck carefully, and he moved only his right one to draw her close to him. She then gently leaned over and kissed his neck, then brushed her forehead against the place where her lips had been a second ago.

Gaara didn't react to her kiss, but he certainly felt it. "Let me get up," he said rather gruffly. She pulled away from him uneasily, then murmured, "You shouldn't, Gaara. You really shouldn't…"

But the Sand shinobi glared at her, saying with his eyes that he wouldn't let himself be controlled by a girl and she certainly wouldn't tell him what to do. Yet Kenoyo stood up in front of him and crossed her arms, looking down at him coolly. Like her Sensei had so brutally said, she had picked up some habits of his and glaring at others was one of them. "No," she simply said, deciding for him.

Gaara stared right back at her, but then his lips curled into a smirk. She was definitely changing. And he loved it. Without another word, he leaned back down on the bed and closed his eyes to relax, making Kenoyo smile. She then leaned over and gave him a soft kiss on his forehead, then left the room to go sleep.

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When Kenoyo woke up, it was jet black outside. Getting up groggily, she stood from her bed and got dressed into warmer clothing, then stepped outside her bedroom. Kankuro, who was just slipping in his bedroom, smiled at her and said, "It's about time you get up. You've slept through the whole day!"

Kenoyo stared at him unbelievingly, but he grinned and closed the door behind himself before she could react. Blinking in confusion, she then remembered why she had gotten up. Gaara. Was he still asleep, or had he 'woken up'?

Pushing open the door of his room, she found him standing up, looking at her. "Finally," he sighed when she stepped in, rolling his eyes coldly.

But Kenoyo saw right through the cold façade and slipped closer to him, burying herself in his embrace. "How are you feeling?" she asked, her voice muffled through his shirt.

He tightened his arms around her and answered her in his soft, controlled voice, "I feel better. The wound is nearly gone, thanks to the demon inside of me. I heal faster than most people."

The pair fell into a long silence before Gaara let her go and walked to the window in his room. He opened it and wordlessly climbed on the roof of his house. Also without making a sound, Kenoyo followed him up.

The night was black, with absolutely no stars and no moon. The air was slightly chilly, but he didn't seem to mind as he sat down and stared at the sky. She followed him and plopped down beside him, then started to look at the sky to mimic him. She struggled to find some stars, something that would make this night romantic. Yet the jet black surrounding did nothing for her and she sighed at the dark atmosphere that made her feel gloomier than anything else.

Gaara looked at her questioningly, still wordlessly. But Kenoyo sighed and brought her knees to her chest before murmuring, "I just came back from Konoha, where I've pretty much been exiled from, only to find Suna half destroyed. I also find my boyfriend injured and most of the town in complete chaos. This is just the perfect welcome back…"

She heard Gaara huff slightly at her whimpering and she sighed and hugged her knees before apologizing softly; she shouldn't whine like that. After a few more seconds, she stretched out her long legs in front of her and simply thought out loud, "My Sensei wanted me to stay in Leaf Village so badly. But I told him no. I couldn't stand to be far away from here, from you."

Kenoyo saw, with her peripheral vision, Gaara turn to look at her. She had had a chance to leave after all, but she didn't take it. She came back to him. The girl turned to face him, then gave the boy she loved a radiant smile even if he knew that deep inside, she was probably grieving the village she left behind.

The corner of Gaara's mouth turned up slightly, enough to make her smile grow even more. But then she avoided her eyes to look up at the black sky. Gaara moved closer to her and, with one hand, turned her face around so she'd look straight at him. She locked her eyes in his and smiled again, yet before she could say anything he leaned over and gently pressed his hot lips against hers.

It was so unexpected that Kenoyo didn't respond at first and he considered pulling away for a fraction of a second. She didn't allow him to back up, though, since she leaned in herself and kissed him back in a gentle fashion. Their first kiss, under a black sky.

Shivers ran up Kenoyo's back as he slid his arms around her and pulled her close, never breaking the kiss. She gladly circled her own around him and stayed put for a while, her mind draining of any other thought than him. Thoughts of Sabaku no Gaara and how badly she loved him. The slight regret about leaving Leaf village flew from her mind as she pressed her lips harder against his. She kissed him for a few more seconds, then gently pulled her lips away from his. Taking a long breath of air to clear her mind, she weakly leaned her head on her Sand ninja's chest.

"I love you, Gaara," she whispered, closing her eyes to lose herself in this perfect moment.

And for the first time in his life, Gaara murmured, "I love you too, Kenoyo."

A/N: Erm, yeah, thanks for the reviews people! ; Some more threatening than others, but they're all accepted! -Cough- Jayme -cough- ... XD

Lol, it's hilarious! Within 10 minutes of posting up chapter 10, I had a review! I love getting reviews so much!

I posted two chapters in one day! Wow! Props to me! I hope all my faithful reviewers will keep this in mind and will review.

Take care!