"Are you sure that you don't want to borrow my magazine?" Naruto asked as he walked his best friend to the village gate. Gaara blushed and shook his head.
"I'm fine Naruto," Gaara told him, smiling weakly. Naruto chuckled and nodded.
"Alright, I understand. I still can't believe that was your first time reading one of those."
"I don't know how that surprises you. I live with an older sister, remember? If she were to find one of those comics in our house, she'd flip. Temari is normally easy-going, but when you get her angry, she is lethal." Naruto laughed again.
"True," he chuckled. "Anyway, I hope that everything works out between you Akina-chan. I know that she really likes you, and I think that she would be thrilled to know that you like her as well." Gaara nodded and thanked the blonde boy.
"So when if her birthday anyway?" Naruto asked in curiosity. Gaara smirked at him.
"You should remember that," he told him slyly. Naruto frowned and rolled his eyes at him.
"I haven't seen her in a while either," Naruto replied.
"It's in less than two months." Naruto grinned and looked at Gaara with excitement.
"Do you know what you're going to do for her?" Gaara shook his head.
"I'm slowly coming up with a plan, but I still need to work on it." Naruto smirked. "I should have something by the time her birthday rolls around."
"You have to write to me and tell me everything that happens." Gaara smirked and nodded.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Another month went by uneventfully, which could be thought of as a good thing. Gaara was rather surprised and relieved about peace and quiet. It was nice not having to deal with anything troublesome. Of course, none of this lasted very long.
Gaara had sent Akina on a mission to a village that had been under attack, and that was likely to be attacked again. He knew that she was strong and that her healing abilities would be needed. He didn't think that it would be too difficult for her, so he didn't hesitate in sending her. She was gone for about two weeks, and Gaara was happy to hear about her safe return.
XXxxOOOOOOOOOOOxxXX
Gaara raised his head from his paperwork when he heard a knock on the door. Before he could say anything, the door was opened and Akina entered. She shut the door behind her and slowly walked over in front of Gaara's desk.
Gaara looked at her in curiosity while Akina stared back at him with blank eyes. There was something about her that was different. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it seemed as if there was something missing.
"I have done all that could be done," Akina told him, bringing him back from his thoughts. Gaara nodded and continued to stare at her.
"I'm glad to hear that," he replied softly. "What about you? Is everything alright?" Akina nodded her head.
"I'm just a little tired, that's all. I will probably end up going home and go to bed. I haven't gotten much sleep over the past 2 weeks." Gaara looked into her dull and emotionless eyes, searching for something but being unable to find it. Finally, Gaara nodded.
"I'll make sure that they don't assign you to hospital duty tomorrow," he told her. "You deserve a day off to rest and regain your strength." Akina thanked him quickly left the room.
As soon as she was gone, Gaara sat back in his chair and began thinking to himself about the meeting he had just had with Akina.
"She is definitely hiding something from me," Gaara thought to himself, "But what could she be hiding from me?" Gaara thought about this for a few minutes, but couldn't come up with anything. He didn't really know what bothered Akina. She was very good about staying positive and being happy. "Whatever she's hiding, it seems to be bugging her. I need to keep an eye on her, just to be on the safe side." Gaara knew that Akina wouldn't be very happy if she were to find out that he was worried about her, but he couldn't help it. He knew that something was bugging her, and he didn't want anything to happen. It was better to safe now than to be sorry later.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
The next day, Akina had come over for dinner. Gaara was in the living room reading over some mission reports while Temari and Akina prepared dinner. The two girls seemed to be quite happy, chatting away about random things. They mostly talked about Temari's engagement to Shikamaru and her wedding plans. Gaara smiled to himself as the girls started bursting out laughing. He was glad to see that Akina was okay. He was starting to think that it was just because she was tired.
"So your birthday is coming up soon," Temari brought up happily. Akina smiled and nodded.
"In about three weeks actually," she added, carefully chopping up the carrots.
"Are you planning on doing anything special?" she asked playfully, looking at her friend with cheerful eyes. Akina stopped what she was doing to look up at the blonde and shrugged.
"Not that I know of," she sighed. Temari looked at her in shock.
"Well, now you are! We'll throw you a party here! You and I can go out and do stuff during the day. We'll get you some new clothes, and I'll get you an amazing dress to wear, and I'll do your hair and makeup!" Akina giggled and nodded before returning to cutting up the carrots.
"That sounds like fun," Akina told her.
XXxxOOOOOOxxXX
Kankurou was gone, since he was still on a mission. Still, the three of them had a good dinner together. Temari and Akina enjoyed making fun of Gaara, even though he was the Kazekage. It was all in fun anyway. The two of them kind of made a contest on who could make Gaara blush the most. Gaara wasn't happy at all about this, but he didn't really have much say in the matter. Akina eventually won by telling him a secret about Naruto. Temari and Akina ended up falling over with laughter when they saw Gaara's expression.
After they had all finished eating, Temari and Akina cleaned up and washed the dishes while Gaara went up into his study to do some work.
"Temari, do you mind if I stay the night here?" Akina asked as she dried a plate. Temari looked over at her with a smile and shook her head.
"Not at all!" she told her with happiness in her voice. "You're more than welcome to stay here any time you want. The guest room is already made up for you."
"Thanks a lot. I think I'm going to head up to be right now. I still haven't fully paid off my sleep debt." Temari chuckled at the white-haired girl and nodded.
"Then go ahead. I'll finish drying off those last few things for you, and then I'll probably end up going to bed as well. I have to leave early for another mission and should probably go to bed early." Akina smirked and thanked the older female.
"Goodnight Temari and good luck on your mission."
"Thanks Akina. Goodnight to you too."
XXxxOOOOOOxxXX
It was about 2 o'clock in the morning before Gaara finally put down his paperwork and turned out the light in his study. He slowly walked down the hall towards his room. He stopped outside the guest room door, thinking that he heard a noise coming from inside. Not knowing that Akina had decided to stay the night, he quietly opened the door and silently entered the room.
He crept over to the bed and looked down at the girl that was writhing beneath the covers, softly whimpering to herself. His eyes showed a bit of sadness as he remembered everything that he had gone through when he had been sick. He remembered how horrible the nightmares had been, and how hard it had been getting over them.
Gaara leaned over the white-haired girl and gently shook her. The girl's eyes shot open and she shot up with a gasp. Her breathing was heavy and there were tears streaming down her face. Gaara sat down on the edge of the bed and put a comforting arm around her, just like she had done with him. He let her lay her cheek on his chest while she let the tears run down her face.
"Are you alright?" he asked as he ran a hand through her long white hair. Akina didn't say anything. All she did was nod. He stayed with her until she fell asleep about five minutes later. Once he knew that she was completely unconscious, he laid her back down and pulled the covers up to her chin. He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand before silently leaving her and going into his own room.
Gaara crawled underneath the covers and laid there, staring up at the ceiling.
"Is she alright?" Gaara asked himself. "Maybe she's falling ill, just like I had. It could have just been a simple nightmare, but I'm getting the feeling that it was much more than that. I should probably talk to her about it, but I think I'll wait and see if this continues to happen." Gaara closed his eyes and slowly fell asleep, not being able to stop worrying about his friend.