The Man Behind The Mask

Chapter One

Gaara POV
I run across the rooftops to reach the kazekage office to receive my mission. I arrive at the building and walk inside it. The long hallways are dimly lit but that doesn't matter, I know these halls by heart. The kazekage's door creak slightly as I open it and face him. I kneel before his desk. "Lord kazekage I am here for my assignment." "This is an A rank escort mission I have reserved for you, my best ANBU," he replies.
"The client is the land of waves feudal lords grand daughter, Elizabeth," he informs me. "You will be returning her home to the hidden must from here where she was visiting a friend." "You will begin your journey immediately, she will be waiting at the village entrance in 20 minutes, I expect you won't make her wait?" He says. "No sir, thank you sir," I reply.
With that I rise and exit the large office. I race back down the hallways and across the curved rooftops to my small, tidy apartment. I collect my mission kit and extra food pills along with another mask. I don't know why I bother with the mask. It's easy to identify me by the sand I carry on my back. The door clicks and I race away towards the village entrance. When I arrive I don't see the granddaughter anywhere around. I start to walk towards one of the guards to ask him if he's seen her when someone taps my shoulder.
A figure stands behind me adorned in clothes identical to the ones we would wear in the hidden sand. "Who are you," I ask quickly while scanning the crowd for Elizabeth. "I'm your client," the person says. She looks up and for the first time, I notice her feminine features and blonde hair. "My apologies ma'am, I didn't notice you," I say. "It's fine. I like it better when people don't notice me," she responds. Great. I don't want to deal with some depressed teenager for a two week journey. "Are you ready to go?" I ask. "Yes."
I start walking out of the village gates with her in tow. We are both silent for the first few minutes of the trip. The only time I speak to her is to offer water and breaks from walking, she always refused the latter. This silence turns into hours and eventually night comes. Naturally, we are still in the dessert so I find a deep dune and lead her down it. After we are both down in the dune I make a cover with my sand and light a fire. She starts setting up her bed and unpacking extra clothing for the cold desert nights. I boil some water and make a stew from cabbage and pork. We both sit in silence and watch the soup cook while I occasionally stir it.
When it's ready I dish out her bowl and mine. "Thank you," She murmurs when I hand her a steaming bowl. We start eating but her voice cuts the silence. "I can't stand it anymore! Don't you ever talk at all?" She says loudly, like she's been waiting to say it all day. "I only spoke when I'm spoken to," I respond with a flat tone to my voice. "That sounds like it sucks," she says through a bite of soup. "I was trained to do so." Another few minutes of silence pass while we both finish or soup. "The soup was good," she says. "Thank you," I say cooly. I rise and start packing away the items I used to make my dinner. I feel her eyes trailing me the whole time. When I reach for her bowl she has already thrust it towards me which cause it to smash into my fingers. "Oh my gosh I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" She gasps. "I'm perfectly fine, why don't you go ahead and get some rest while I finish tidying up," I suggest to get her out of my way. "Yeah okay," she complies. She gets up and walks over to her side of the little dune.
"I have to change so could you--like...turn around?" She says awkwardly. "Of course," I answer and turn my back to her as I finish up my work. I pull tight the drawstring on my food bag and put it next to the other pack. I then unroll my sleeping mat and standard sized blanket. I lay down on my mat still wearing my day clothes on in case I need to move quickly. Complete silence settled over us again once elizabeth is in her sleeping bag. "Good night," she whispers very softly.