I do not own Naruto or Tokyo Mew Mew

Constantly, the wonder about the sweet girl plagued Gaara, especially during those sleepless nights he was cursed to endure. One night, he decided he wanted to finally find the answers to his questions. He silently opened the window of his bedroom, without waking his siblings, and jumped the rooftops to the inn where Ichigo said she was staying. He landed on the roof of the inn almost soundlessly, and slipped silently into a window leading into one of the hallways of the inn. He walked down the hall, quickly but silently, scanning the room numbers until he reached the one Ichigo mentioned, 110. He knocked on it, and in the door stood a woman with long, brown hair and green eyes. She wore and ninja top and skirt with a fishnet bodysuit under it.

"Can I help you?" she asked, seeming surprised to see a boy she didn't know at the door.

"Is Ichigo-san here?" Gaara asked.

"Um, she's sleeping right now. Do you want me to give her a message or--"

"What can you tell me about her?"

"What?"

The woman was confused.

Gaara pulled the woman out into the hall.

"I wanted to know about her parents."

"Her parents?" the woman pulled her hand from Gaara's. "Listen! I don't know who you are but--"

"I want to help her. I can't understand why but…" His voice trailed off. He looked to the ceiling as if in deep thought, pondering something.

The woman could see he was sincere from the look in his eyes.

"I'm Yukino Ichiei," the woman smiled gently. "Ask me what you want to know."

A small while later Yukino and Gaara were outside, in the small courtyard outside the inn, sitting on a stone bench.

"So what happened to her parents?" Gaara asked.

Yukino sighed, "Sometimes I wonder why fate brought her here. She was an extremely good ninja when she was brought here, from another dimension. Our enemy, Orochimaru, whom I'm sure your familiar with, didn't like how well she fought with Naruto-kun and the others. He wanted a way to drain her power, and as you know, our fighting spirits come from our emotions…Orochimaru found the way back to Ichigo's dimension and…killed her parents."

Gaara nodded slowly, understanding her problems. "And this Masaya?"

Yukino dropped her eyes. "The same."

"Did she…love him?"

"Yes."

"Thank you, Yukino-san."

Gaara got up and began to walk away.

"Gaara-san," Yukino called.

"Yes?" Gaara asked.

"Why did you need to know all this?"

Gaara stood there a while, pondering the matter. He looked up into the stars. "I don't know. I barely understand."

"Do not hurt her anymore than she has been." Yukino's gaze turned threatening.

"I won't." Gaara said.

With this Gaara left. He pondered, as he walked back home, why he spent so much time trying to help one insignificant person. She was no different from the others who had shunned him as a child. If she knew about Shukaku, she'd never even look at him. So what made him keep going back to her? Why did he care what happened to her? She was useless. But yet, she made him feel so nice when she was around. He stopped on the path and thought back to his childhood, and the words of his uncle.

"Is this what it means to 'love?'" he pondered aloud.

He wanted to find out; he wanted to try.

"Maybe I can learn," he said. "To love someone other than myself."

Sorry I took so long to update again! ^.^; Thanks for reading everyone!

~Katsuki Shizenno