Akina was on her knees in the center of a devastated village. Houses were burning down to the ground, and there was rubble in the place where houses used to be standing. There was the sound of screaming that could be heard in the distance, but Akina was the only living person left in the village. The corpses of hundreds of villagers laid scattered around the ground in a bloody mess. The bodies were of different ages, ranging from child to adult, and were of both males and females.

Akina was on her knees, her body shaking furiously. The young girl was covered in the blood of others. Her long white hair was stained with crimson red and her hands and arms were completely soaked with the same color. Her bloody arms were wrapped around herself as she tried to calm herself down. Tears streamed down her face, making small splashes as it hit the ground.

"I did what I could," she whispered to herself, "But it still wasn't enough."

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Akina shot up, breathing heavily. She looked around her, remembering that she was still in Gaara's home. She took in deep breaths and slowly let them out, calming herself down. She looked at the clock that sat on the dresser and sighed. It was a little past 8 in the morning.

Akina threw back the covers and got out of bed. She silently made her way out to the kitchen and got herself a small glass of water. She sat down in one of the chairs and slowly sipped on the glass. She sighed and laid her head down on the kitchen table.

"Why do I keep having these dreams?" she asked herself. "I know that it's not my fault, yet I can't help but feel somewhat responsible. I should have been to have done something."

Just then, she heard the front door open and shut. She smiled softly to herself, knowing that Kankurou must be returning from his mission. Still, she stayed where she the way she was until he came into the room.

"What are you doing up so early?" Kankurou chuckled as he walked into the kitchen. Akina smiled and sat up. Her smile quickly faded and her eyes widened when she saw him. He was covered in blood, and he had his puppet out as well, which was also covered in blood. Akina slowly stood up, clutching her glass in her shaky hands.

Kankurou looked at her in confusion, tilting his head to the side.

"Are you okay Akina?" he asked, taking a couple of steps towards her. Akina began shaking all over and tears began to stream down her face. Just as Kankurou was close enough to reach out and touch her, Akina dropped her glass and ran out of the room as it shattered into many pieces. Kankurou stood there for a moment, completely dumbfounded. He blinked in confusion when he heard the door to the bathroom slam shut and another door open.

"What's going on?" Gaara asked sleepily. Kankurou looked up to see his brother rubbing his eyes, obviously from just having woken up. Kankurou shook his had.

"I don't know," he answered truthfully. "I just got back from a mission and found Akina up. When I tried talking to her, she dropped her glass and ran into the bathroom I guess." Gaara frowned and shook his head.

"What did you say to her this time?" he asked, sounding a little aggravated. Gaara walked back down the hallway, Kankurou following close behind. "Akina, please come out!" he called through the door as he pounded on it.

"Leave me alone!" she screamed, sounding as if she had been sobbing. Gaara's eyes widened slightly as he realized that this was much more than her just being upset.

"Akina, I'm sorry for whatever I did," Kankurou apologized, "Just come out so we can talk about this."

"Go away! I don't want to talk to you! Just let me die here!" Kankurou and Gaara looked at each other with worried expressions. Gaara reached out to open the door, only to find that it was locked. He sighed in frustration.

"Akina, either you open the door or I'm breaking it down!" There was no answer.

"What in the hell is going on?!" Gaara asked himself.

Just as he was about to break down the door, it flew open and Akina came running out. Gaara grabbed her around the waist from behind, holding onto the kicking and screaming girl.

"Let go of me!" she cried, trying to break free of Gaara's hold. Instead of letting go, he tightened his grip around her. He looked back at his brother, who was watching all of this in shock.

"Let us…. be alone," he grunted. "Go change or something." Kankurou nodded and quickly left.

"Fuck Gaara! Let me go!" Her body was shaking uncontrollably and she was crying now. He could feel the tear drops as they hit the bare skin of his arms.

"Not until you stop this!" Gaara growled. He didn't mean to sound mean or anything. It was kind of hard to sound nice while trying to restrain the hysterical girl.

Akina struggled a few minutes longer before going limp in his arms and totally breaking down. Gaara got to his knees and held the sobbing girl against him. He looked down at her with saddened eyes. He had never seen her like this before, and it hurt to see her this way. All he could do at the moment was let her cry into his chest, soaking his shirt with her tears. He unconsciously kissed her forehead and began softly kissing her neck.

"S-s-so… much……. b-b-blood!" she choked in between sobs.

"Do you mean Kankurou?" he asked, looking down at her questioningly. Akina shook her head and buried her face deeper into his chest.

"I-I-I….. I c-c-couldn't…… s-save them!" Gaara looked down at her in shock. He didn't think that it would be so bad. He knew that there would be deaths, but he didn't think that Akina would take it so hard. She probably hadn't been around that much death at one time though.

Gaara kissed her forehead again and began running his fingers through her long white hair. Akina continued to sob into his chest for another 15 minutes before becoming exhausted and falling unconscious. Gaara picked her up and carried her into his room. He laid down on his bed with her curled up close to his body. He laid there for what seemed like hours before drifting to sleep. He hadn't really intended on going to sleep, but it kind of just overwhelmed him. He didn't really care either. It wasn't like he had anything better to do.

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Gaara woke up a few hours later, finding Akina still snuggled up against his chest. He looked down at the sleeping girl with worried eyes. His eyes widened when he caught himself running his had through Akina's hair. He quickly pulled it away and looked at it in shock.

"Why do I keep doing this?" Gaara wondered. "Do I really have deep feelings for her?" Gaara frowned and shook his head. "No, it's too soon for that."

Just then, Akina began whimpering again and started struggling under her covers. Gaara gently shook the young girl awake and immediately gathered her in his arms when she started sobbing. His once wet shirt became wet again as it soaked up all her tears like a sponge. Gaara rubbed her back with the palm of his hand, doing his best to calm the distressed female.

Akina finally stopped crying after about 5 minutes, which allowed Gaara to talk to her easier. He didn't want to bring the matter up just yet, since he didn't want her to break down again.

"Are you hungry?" he asked softly. Akina nodded, but didn't look up at him. Gaara sat up, Akina sitting up with him. He gathered her up in his arms and got up. He carried bridal style, out into the living room and set her down on the couch. When he saw her face, he was glad to see a small smile. "What do you want?"

"What can you make?" she asked, softly. Gaara frowned, which made Akina smile a little more.

"Toast," he sighed. Akina giggled a little bit, and nodded.

"That's fine with me." Gaara smiled and went into the kitchen.

5 minutes later, Gaara came back in with a small plate of butter toast and handed it to Akina. He sat down next to her watched as she nibbled on a piece of toast. Akina grinned at him as he reached over and stole a piece of toast from her plate.

"Thanks for everything Gaara," Akina whispered. The red-head nodded.

"What happened?" he asked before taking another bite out of his toast. Akina frowned and looked down at the ground with sad eyes.

"That mission you assigned to me didn't go as well as I said it did," she told him. Gaara looked at her with serious eyes. "We were only able to save a few people. It was horrible. I couldn't save them." Gaara's eyes softened and he eased an arm around her. She laid her head up against his chest and let run her fingers through her hair.

"I'm so sorry Akina," he whispered into her ear. Akina shook her head at him.

"It's not your fault. I don't know why this is getting to me. I think that I just need some time." Gaara looked at her in uncertainty before nodding his head.

"If you ever want to talk, you know where I am most of the time." Akina smiled and nodded.

"Thank you Gaara."

Just then, Kankurou cautiously entered the living room, clean from all the blood that had covered him earlier. He smiled uneasily at Akina and gave her a small wave.

"Are you okay Akina?" he asked, slowly approaching the white-haired female. Akina smiled and nodded.

"I'm fine now Kankurou," she assured him. Kankurou sighed in relief and smiled. "I'm sorry about that. I hope I didn't cause too much trouble." Kankurou shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. I was just afraid that you were mad at me or something." Akina giggled and shook her head.

"No Kankurou, I wasn't mad at you." Kankurou grinned and nodded.

"That's good to hear. Anyway, I've got to go. I'm supposed to meet someone in an hour." Akina and Gaara looked at him in curiosity, Akina raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Do you have a date?" Gaara asked.

"With a girl?" Akina added, smirking at him. Kankurou's face turned a light shade of red as he nodded. Akina laughed and Gaara smirked.

"I knew you would find someone sooner or later," Akina told him with an innocent voice. Kankurou smiled uneasily and nodded.

"I'll see you two later. Play nicely while I'm gone." Gaara and Akina frowned and narrowed their eyes at him. He chuckled and quickly left the two of them. Akina and Gaara looked at each other with a sly smile before Akina started laughing.

"Your brother is so lame!" she laughed. Gaara nodded, rolling his eyes at her.

"How long did it take you to figure that out?" he asked. Akina stuck her tongue out at him and giggled.

I hope that you all enjoyed. Please Review, and then I will post the next chapter! I'll post the next chapter as soon as I get 5 reviews, or after 5 days. Which ever one comes first. So if you want the next chapter out sooner, then all you have to do is REVIEW!!!