((Three reviews-- and a PM! So I guess... FOUR reviews! happy dances))

sunstar234:

are you going to update your gaara's true light

(The PM)

Your Demon:

hehe. raccoon mafia? i don't even know you, but i secretly wonder what is
going on in your head. whatever it is, it creates good stories, though, so
it's accepted. thanks for the chapter. update soon

NeferNeferi:

I'm glad you're happy. Know that I'll review as long as I can.
Well, this was a really good chapter. Do I sense that Gaara is scared to hear
someone loves him? And that he's a little scared to find out that he just
might come to love someone? Ah, now I wonder what's the picture, although I
have a slight idea... What will he make out of it? And will he go after
Chikage again? Please update soon!

Kina Lupi:

yay, you mentioned me in ur thing :D grate chapter o

(I got Kina Lupi's review nine minutes after I posted the chapter)

((Okay... so last time, Chikage admitted her feelings and left Gaara alone with her sketchbook and the permission to look at a single drawing. Seems like a hollow victory for Gaara... oh well. I guess he's happy. lol. so now, onto the chapter.))

Chapter 13: Sometimes a Retreat to the Rear is Necessary

Gaara stared at the door. Chikage had left through that door. She had yelled at him... and rushed out of that door. And lived. His eyes adverted to the book on the floor. When she'd thrown it down, it's cover opened up to show a poorly drawn lump of spiky red hair upon a strange circle head with blue-green dots for eyes. It had been made out of crayon and the eyes looked like she had put on green then colored over it with blue. Her first drawing of him. The next one hadn't been much better but she tried to put a tree in the background. The tree ended up looking too big to be behind him. Over time, she had progressed to actually making him look like his head was an appropriate size for his body. Until that final picture. The one he still had yet to see.

Using his sand to get it, he held it gently. It suddenly felt so old and fragile to him, like the slightest normal touch would shatter it like glass. But he shook his head. Paper was not glass. Even substitution jutsus could not change that fact. Paper was paper and glass was glass. So he held it firmly and flipped through the pages once more. He was more impatient than last time and took only moments to reach the second to last drawing. He still thought that it was insane how she'd made him look. And not a drop of blood or a look of anger in the entire book to make him change his mind.

'But that last drawing... maybe it's a drawing of how everyone REALLY sees me. As a monster covered in the blood of innocent children, their corpses on the ground and their mothers mourning their losses,' he thought with a malicious grin. However, that fantasy was just that. And he knew it. 'She wouldn't draw something like that...' he continued silently in disappointment. So he braced himself for a nicey-nice picture. He could see it now...

Him and Chikage snuggling under a blossoming cherry tree, petals falling around them as they... as they...

He shook his head. Even in his mind, he couldn't imagine anyone KISSING him. So he tried to replace that one word with another-- hugged. It worked a little better than kissed but... it was still too outlandish for him to think about.

'Then again... this IS Chikage. For all I know... she could have made us having s-s-se-x...' He couldn't even think that word properly in his mind... but his pervy thoughts never went that far.

Turning the final page, Gaara's eyes widened in shock and disbelief. There, on paper, was a picture of him. A soft smile on his face as he looked at a picture of Chikage. He wore the Kazekage robes and just below the picture was a pile of fan letters, hearts and kissy marks on the envelopes. But he was holding into that picture, framed and covered in clear glass.

Dropping the book onto the floor, he walked quickly out of the room and entered the kitchen. The parents were in there, talking to that brat-son of theirs and his siblings. The mother looked up and asked, "Is there something wrong, Gaara-san? Where is Chikage?"

"I don't know where she went. And everything is fine. Temari, Kankuro... we're leaving."

Kankuro asked, "You couldn't find her?"

"I found her... she ran out again."

Temari huffed, "Then you should go after her again!"

"Don't order me, Temari. You have no control over me. If you try to make me do something I don't want to, I'll kill you. Now both of you, get up. We're leaving." The words came to Gaara easily and were like a familiar friend to him. He had no problem threatening his sister... and his words were even more monotone than usual. The old Gaara was resurfacing.

((Okay, a shorter chapter but it was very VERY important. Gaara finally saw the picture and now he wishes he hadn't. He's beginning to close the box that he was starting to come out of. What will Chikage do? Will Gaara kill her for drawing him in such a way? Can he be convinced to find her again after saying such words to his siblings? Or will Gaara have to decide on his own to go to her? Wait and read the next chapter to find out. Review chapter 13 please!! like I have to beg... I love you all!! ))