Living Out A Prophecy

Chapter 14

     Gaara looked up at the moon with a glare. Nao was still missing and the final exam, the tournament, was a few days away. He had the feeling things weren't going to go as planned, he knew they wouldn't go as planned. Gaara sighed and stood from his spot on the roof. He had a hunch at where Nao was, but he didn't want to get caught. Normally he wouldn't care at all if he did something wrong, but something made him care even if he didn't understand the feeling quite yet.

     Gaara muttered a few words under his breath as he did some hand signs and a sand replica of him appeared. Gaara looked it up and down and deemed it perfect. "Make sure they don't realize I'm gone," he ordered the clone, in which it nodded.

     Gaara disappeared in a flurry of sand and appeared out on the balcony of the bedroom he barely used at his home in Suna. So much chakra was used in the teleportation that he had to wait a few moments. It was normally a three day travel and to do it instantly took too much chakra. Gaara hesitated for a moment as he reached for the door hearing slight breathing coming from inside the room. He quietly opened the door to find exactly what he had suspected, Nao asleep on his mostly unused bed.

     He took slow, quiet steps towards her sleeping body, the only thing telling he was there being his own quiet, steady breathing. Gaara looked down at her sleeping form and studied her. It was the first time he could really study her, despite him watching her for the entirety of his stay in Konoha.

     Her short hair gently laid on the pillow spread around her head like a halo of sorts, her red bangs resting gently against her forehead almost reaching her eyes. Her lips were a soft pink that seemed inviting to him in a way he didn't understand. He leaned down a little more when all of a sudden, her face contorted in pain and fear. He leaned back and stood straight as he watched her start to almost thrash under the covers, sweat starting to form on her fair skin.

     Gaara put out his hand but stopped before he could touch her. Her face turned towards him; pain clear on her face as tears poured from under her tightly closed eyelids. He slowly ran a finger over her cheek, following a tear trail making her start in her sleep. He slowly ran his fingers over her cheek then rested his hand on her cheek, her hand moving in her sleep over it and clutching his fingers. Her face started to relax as she grasped his hand, and her breathing went back to normal as her face turned completely peaceful after a few moments.

     Gaara removed his hand as he watched her in curiosity, curiosity of what just happened and curiosity on why his touch had calmed her. Sand started to swirl around him as he was lost in thought, he didn't even realize it when Nao's eyes opened slowly.

     At first, she thought it was just a dream when she saw Gaara, but when she found she was still in the room in Suna, she knew it wasn't. She began crying finally making Gaara aware that she was awake. He didn't know what to do about a crying girl since he rarely had any interaction with anyone, let alone a girl. The sand dissipated around him, and he slowly sat down beside her on the bed. He was surprised when Nao suddenly hugged him tightly, her burying her head in his shoulder.

     At first, he thought she was trying to attack him, so sand started to swirl around them, but then he remembered Yashamaru doing the same thing to him when he was younger. It was just a hug, and even so if she was going to hurt him his sand would restrain her. He just put his hand on her back not knowing what else to do. Soon enough she stopped crying and fell back asleep, her fingers lightly clutching his shirt. Though her grip was light, it was enough that he couldn't get her to let go and he sighed as he sat with his back against the headboard of the bed and her over his lap with her head buried in his shoulder.

     "Why aren't you scared of me?" He asked knowing no answer would come from the sleeping girl.

     He shook his head and leaned back against the wall to stare at the ceiling as he thought about all the new feelings and thoughts going around in his head. It made his chest feel lighter than it had in a long time, made him feel like there was something to live for other than killing. He pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind though and stayed put only for his questions to be answered.