Because I Met You

Chapter 19: Finals

"Here! That's the jutsu section!"

"Shhh!"

Everyone in the library hushed me. I put both my hands in front of my mouth and mumble an apology. Gaara chuckles at the situation. Yukari and Ikki try to contain their laughter. At least they're subtle about it...

"Not funny, Gaara..."

I playfully pout at him. He pinches my cheek, which end up deflating them.

"Anyway, you should try to find a jutsu that interests you."

Gaara whispers to me. He then lets go of my cheek and gently rubs it to soothe the redness a bit. His hand feels so nice... I feel my blood starting to rush up to my cheeks.

"Are you alright, Kiu? Your cheeks are all red."

Gaara looks at me with a tiny bit of concern.

"I-I'm fine! No worries!"

"Shhhhh!"

"Dang it..."

I put my hands on my mouth again. I then see Yukari coming to me with a scroll in her hand.

"Hey, Kiu, I think this will be a good jutsu for you."

She hands me the scroll and I open it right away. Genjutsu? I never tried doing that. I don't even think that Yashamaru knew how to do that either, because I can't seem to know anything about it except for what we all learned in class. That would be interesting. I always wanted to try to learn new things. Up until now, every skill was just all within me from Yashamaru's body.

"Thanks for that, Yukari."

She smiles at me and nods. She then goes off in the search of more scrolls. I spot her trying to get one that's up too high for her. I should go help her. Before I can even reach, I see Ikki reaching up from behind her and giving the scroll to her. She blushes and flashes him one of her brightest smiles. There's definitely something going on between these two. They're both too shy to admit it, though. It's so obvious that they like each other. They've been so fond of each other since back when we first became friends with Ikki. I hope it goes well for them. I go sit on a nearby table, while still looking at both of them.

Lost in my thoughts, I feel someone sit next to me. I snap out of it and look to that person.

"Oh, Gaara, it's just you."

Gaara frowns a bit.

"What do you mean 'just me'?"

"Hehe, nothing. I'm glad it's just you. Anyway, look at what Yukari got me."

He takes the scroll from me and opens it.

"Genjutsu... You think you'll be able to do it?"

"I won't know unless I try, right?"

I start reading the contents of the scroll. Doesn't sound too complicated, in theory. Now all that's left is practice.

After finishing up in the library, all four of us go to the training grounds. I can't wait to try learning Genjutsu.

"Why is this so hard?"

I've been training for almost a whole week! I can't even cast the smallest of Genjutsu! I even tried learning some other jutsu that I didn't know, but it was no use. I can't learn anything at all. Even Gaara is surprised. He comes over and puts a hand on my shoulder.

"I think you should just stick to one of the jutsu you already know for the finals."

"That's probably what I'll do, but it's so frustrating."