Gaara stalked into his office at the end of the day, slamming the door behind him. He was not in a good mood at all. He had been at meetings all day long, and most of them were completely irrelevant. They just wanted to find a way to waste his time. He walked over to his desk and started gathering up some paper work that he would take home to complete. He stopped when he noticed a small, brightly colored box on his desk. He raised an invisible eyebrow and picked the box up in his hand. He opened it and found a letter. He opened that up as well and quickly read it.

Gaara-kun,

HAPPY 16TH BIRTHDAY!! I knew that you were super busy today, so I left your present on your desk along with this note. I know that it's not much, but I found this rock on a mission several months ago and thought of you when I found it. It's the same color as your eyes, and has all these speckles on it that are the color of your hair. Isn't it cool?! If you get out of the office early, come find me and we can do whatever you want. Oh, and by the way, I named the rock too! I know that it's weird, but I'm a weird person. I named it Freckles. He can be Panda-chan's pet rock or something like that. Anyway, I hope that you have a great day. Try not to work too hard so that your brain ends up getting fried.

xoxoxoLOVExoxoxo

Mouri, Akina

Gaara smirked to himself. It sounded as if Akina was better again, but he knew better than that. She still had a lot of recovering left to do, and he knew that.

Gaara looked up at the clock hanging on the wall and stuffed small rock and note into his pocket. He turned out the lights to his office and left.

He slowly walked down the streets of Suna, running his fingers over the smooth surface of the rock. Thoughts were running in and out of his head, none of them lasting for very long.

Gaara quietly entered his home, peeling his Kazekage robes off and hanging them up in the closet. He then silently made his way down the hallway and entered Akina's room. He looked at the empty bed in surprise and jumped slightly when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He whirled around and stared at the young female standing in front of him.

"Were you looking for me?" Akina asked slyly. Gaara smirked and nodded. He reached a hand in his pocket and pulled out the small rock, holding it out in front of him.

"Freckles?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Akina giggled softly and nodded.

"Don't you like it?" she asked with a smirk.

"I like the rock, but did you really have to name it?" Akina smiled and shook her head.

"I guess not, but I did." Hesitating at first, Gaara inched his arm around her and gave her a small hug. He quickly ended it, noticing that Akina was slightly uncomfortable. The young girl had been that way for awhile now. She didn't really like being touched unless she had allowed it ahead of time. She had snapped at a few people before, but she had never said anything to Gaara. Her body would respond negatively to his touch, but she just stood there and took it. She knew that Gaara would never try to hurt her, and she trusted him. Also, she still loved him.

"You look tired," Akina commented. Gaara nodded slightly.

"I haven't really gotten much sleep this week," he sighed. Akina frowned at him and shook her head at him in disappointment.

"Then you should try to get some sleep tonight," she told him. Gaara smiled and nodded. She held her hand out with her fingers fanned apart. Gaara interlaced his fingers with hers and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Akina did this whenever she wanted to hug him, but didn't want to get into close contact. It would vary from day to day. Some days, she wouldn't mind giving hugs and receiving them. Other days, she wouldn't even want another person touching her. She was working hard to overcome her fears and was very slowly improving herself.

"Goodnight," Akina said softly.

"Goodnight, and thank you," Gaara replied. He let go of her hand, letting her walk passed him and into her room. Gaara turned and went to his own room. He undressed and laid himself down on his bed. He stared up at the dark ceiling, thinking about different things. Most of his thoughts were about Akina though.

"What is this feeling?" he asked himself over and over again. "Why do I always get this feeling whenever I'm around her?" Gaara kind of knew the reason behind these feelings, but he was just having trouble accepting it. He wanted to accept it, but with all of the things that have happened, it kind of scared him. He was afraid about how Akina would take it. After all, he didn't want to lose her as his friend. He also wanted more.

Gaara laid in his bed, all these thoughts and questions tugging at him. He tossed and turned for several hours before finally falling into a restless sleep. Throughout his dreams, he kept hearing the same phrase over and over again.

"You sent her on that mission. All of that could have been prevented. It's your fault."

XOOOOOOX

In the other room, Akina lie awake, distracted by her own thoughts.

"Why did this have to happen to me?" she asked herself. She didn't blame anybody except the person who had done it to her. No one else could've done anything, and she knew that. Still, she couldn't help but ask herself why.

"Will I ever be able to love Gaara the way I want to?" She loved Gaara to death, and wanted to show him. Still, there was something inside of her that wouldn't allow her. There was something inside of her that terrified her. She trusted Gaara, but it seemed as if it wasn't enough.

She rolled over onto her side and mentally kicked herself.

"I need to stop thinking like this!" she snapped at herself. "All I can do is try. Nothing is going to get better if I keep going on like this. I will get through this."

She smiled to herself and wrapped the blankets around her even more. She wasn't going to give up. That just wasn't like her. She didn't give up on finding Gaara, even after not seeing him for over 6 years. There was no way that she was going to give up on something now. Not after everything she had been through.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Hello to all! I'm so sorry about it taking so long for me to finally update. I was fully prepared to post it, but then we took it to the shop unexpectantly and it was there for a month and I didn't have a back up copy. Anyway, I just got my laptop back today! I'm so happy!! Since I had the chapter already typed up, I just read it over and posted it up right away. I'm really sorry about all of this trouble.

I will post another chapter up ASAP, to make up for all the time that I haven't posted.

Please review! I will be oh so happy if you do!

I'd like to thank the following reviewers:

demona013, Dragon of Twilight, flower391169, Kina Lupi, NeferNeferi, Kita Kudai, slack-jawed cheese hugger, and Hinata11235.

You guys are truly awesome.

On another note, while me laptop was in the shop, I have been working on two new stories! Yay me! Here is what I have done before now.

I posted a new chapter of "A Helping Hand".

I currently have 3 chapters posted up of my newest GAAARA x OC fic called "Make Me Whole". I have been working like crazy on it, and I absolutely love it right now. Please check it out and let me know what you think!

Because I have posted nothing but GAARA X OC fics, I am also currently working on something that is a bit different. It will be a oneshot focused around Naruto. I will give you all more of a description once I get more of it written out.

Alright, that's all I have to say for now. I'll try and post again really soon. Please Review!!