Woohoo! I have my first commentor! Aquamatri! :D Nice to meet cha!

I hope you all enjoy the second chapter, and please let me know if I am doing anything wrong... or right! :D

Gaara's eyes twitched as he sat in the Hokage's office. Temari and Kankuro were doing most of the talking, so for the time being Gaara's thoughts went to other places. Namely, to that girl. He couldn't get her eyes out of his head, and his body prickled every time he replayed her words in his mind.

Gaara sprinted through the woods towards Konoha. He could hear his brother and sister behind, screaming for him to slow down. But how could he? The smell of the village is gone, only the girl's scent remained. She smelled of blood. The girl remained unconscious in his arms, not really showing any signs of life. "Just a little bit farther," he mumbled to her, somehow expecting her to hear his words.

Ahead he could finally see Konoha's gates. Guards could be seen in position, so against his better judgement Gaara started to slow to a stop. When he did, the guards rushed to meet him. His siblings approached from behind. Questions flooded his ears and hands reached out, trying to gently take the girl out of his arms.

Bit mistake.

"Don't touch her!" He screamed, his sand colliding with one ninja that was far too close for his comfort. They landed a few yards away from the rest of the group. Paralyzed by his actions, Gaara began contemplating why on earth he would do such a thing. After all this time trying to change and be a better person. How would anyone see him as anything but a monster? His head started to pound.

'What is happening to me?'

Everyone there had to fight Gaara off to get to the girl, although he didn't put up much of a fight after that. All he did was scream in agony. He was angry because they were taking the girl away. But he was also scared, because he didn't know what he was doing. Gaara didn't understand it. This girl will bring out the evil in me again, he sighed to himself. Even so…

"How is she?" he asked, breaking the conversation that was going on in front of him. He didn't know what they were actually talking about at that time, nor did he really care. All he could remember were those blood red eyes… The three shinobi in the room turned to look at him.

"Actually, I wanted to speak to you about her," Tsunade said. "Where exactly did you-"

"Is she still alive?" Gaara growled. Why did he have to report to this lady? She isn't even from the sand village. Still though. "I want to see her." The tone of his voice, or lack thereof, made Kankuro laugh awkwardly. Tsunade was not amused.

"Of course she is still alive. Aside from some scrapes and bruises, there wasn't a mark on her. That's the thing I wanted to ask you about. Since she didn't seem to have any life threatening wounds, we suspect-"

"Where is she?"

At this, Tsunade slammed her fist into her desk, breaking it in half. Kankuro jumped back in terror while Temari's eyes just widened. Gaara, they thought in unison, what the hell do you think you're doing?

"Listen you! We are trying to get to the bottom of this and figure out who caused this destruction! So stop thinking about that little girl and start thinking about exactly what you saw! She is fine, and under leaf-"

"Is she in the hospital still?" Gaara asked emotionlessly.

"custody! Now, if you can just explain-"

"I'll go find her myself then." And with that, Gaara stood up.

"DON'T YOU DARE WALK AWAY WHILE I'M TALKING!"

The door shut behind Gaara.

Nurse June walked stiffly in terror. She tried her hardest not to look back to the strange boy that was following her. He had come to her desk asking to see their most recent patient. Each footstep made her shake a bit inside, for she had heard of Gaara's bloodlust before. Maybe she should call someone. She pondered how she could escape this situation.

"Are we almost there?" Gaara breathed from behind, causing the nurse to tense up dramatically. She turned her head and awkwardly smiled at the boy.

"A-ah, Gaara-san, please be kind when you speak to her. We haven't gotten a single word out of our little Jane-Doe yet." When the boy nodded in response, the nurse couldn't help but worry for the little girl's safety. What if she was bringing death to the patient's door? No turning back now, she sighed, but why do I have to be stuck with the weirdos?

Nurse June knocked upon the door and got no response from the silent patient behind it, as expected. "Darling," she called as she cracked the door open, "You have a visitor!"

"I can handle things now," Gaara said. The nurse froze and backed away from the door. She stared into his eyes for a moment, and then ran down the hall in terror. "G-Gomenasai!" she screamed. Gaara sighed, his eyes downcast slightly.

Always a monster…

As he stepped into the room, he was surprised to see the girl staring at him. She had a curious look upon her face, and she tilted her head to the side slightly, as if trying to get a better view of his face. Her silver hair was much neater now, but random strands still fell into her face. Her eyes… Her eyes still pierced Gaara's soul in a way that scared him. He swallowed quite loudly, and was shocked by his body's reactions to her stare. Pull yourself together… She's just another human. "Hello."

"Hello Shukaku," she said calmly. Gaara's eyes narrowed.

"Don't call me that."

"But you are Shukaku."

"My name is Gaara."

The girl paused, and frowned. She mouthed his name, trying to feel it on her tongue. It wasn't cutting it for her. "Shukaku," she muttered.

Seeing that he was getting nowhere, Gaara sighed. He stepped closer to the girl, but did not sit near her. Instead he stood, staring down at her. "Shukaku is a demon sealed within me. You don't have to fear it, or call me by that name." At this, the girl's lips raised into a small smile.

"I'm not afraid of him."

"Then why do you call me Shukaku?"

The girl paused once again. She tried to catch her words. "Because I know Shukaku more than I know you, Gaara-san."

Gaara sighed inside his head. Of course the girl has heard of the demon. Who wouldn't? But that doesn't mean she had to call him by a monster. Wasn't he trying to stay away from that? "Please call me Gaara," he said, more quiet than before.

The girl smiled more. "Gaara-san and… Shukaku."

"What's your name?"

The girl's eyes snapped to his own. She seemed to look THROUGH him. Gaara felt a growl form from deep inside him. There was something about her… but he just couldn't put his foot on it. He didn't like this though, and thought that maybe, just maybe, he could leave and never look back. He never had to look into those eyes ever again.

"My name…" The girl muttered… She didn't know what to say. So many named flowed about her mind. So many… What was she to do?

Gaara nodded, awaiting her answer. Why the hell was she taking so long? Did she want something bad to happen to them both? He could feel his demon, restless inside him. He felt as if it could take over any moment. But why?!

"My name is Kana."

Neji sat and watched as Lee and Tenten sparred over at the training grounds. It was not often that he had breaks so often, but today he had made an exception to go and visit his teammates.

"If I win," Lee exclaimed, "I will fight Neji next!"

"Not a chance," Neji sighed, "I have things I have to do before the day ends."

"What? Like what?"

"That's none of your business." Neji scowled. Being a Jonin was a lot of work, sometimes it was even more stressful than dealing with Lee all the time.

"But Neji!"

Sometimes.

"Look," Neji said, "Once I'm done with my duties, the three of us can grab dinner tonight, alright?" Lee began smiling brightly. Unknown to him, some of Tenten's weapons made his way into his blind spot and crashed down upon him. As the green ninja cried in pain and shock, Neji just shook his head. Ridiculous.

A loud crashing noise came from the center of the village. All three heads snapped towards the sound.

"Neji."

"On it. Byakugan!" There was a pause from the Hyuga. "Come on, we have to go. One of the hospital wings are on fire."

Honestly not sure when Neji became a Jonin exactly... and I don't know if that ties in with Gaara being kage. Please let me know if you know? Let's say this story is right before he becomes Kazekage as well alright?

HAVE A GREAT DAY!