Snowy Heart. (Naruto FF)

'Is it possible...that I can be loved again?'

   Saruko reached in to grab her third senbon from her pouch, this time putting it between her lips and rolling it over the tops of her teeth, as she did the previous one. Her nerves were starting to get to her, and the harsh words of her literal demon weren't very helpful. 

   She had seen them. Though they had grown much over the years, she could still recognize them without a doubt. And she knew that they knew she was here. She sensed them moving through her 'fanboy' crowd to get to her, but couldn't will herself to move. Where could she go? She was fighting with her previous friends and her brother, and Gaara probably wouldn't protect her. She was abandoned, with no one to lean on. 

   She was alone again.

   Just as she saw the head of the Kirigakure team break through the final line of fanboys, a certain look in his eye that made her skin crawl, she found herself swept away by a cyclone of heat and sand. Feeling herself be transported, Saruko nearly collapsed upon landing if she wasn't caught by a very familiar pair of warm arms. "Easy now, easy."

   Looking up, she saw that her one friend and herself were now in the hallway before the exam doors, a worried expression in the sea green eyes of her sand ninja. "Saruko...you're crying. What happened?"

   Sure enough, there were two thin streams of tears running down her whiskered face, dripping off of her chin. Instead of answering them, however, Saruko just buried herself in his shoulder, releasing all her pent-up emotion over the past few weeks, and the fear that she had been holding onto for years. Her memories were racing through her mind, submitting her to the emotions tied to them. 

   "They're back. Why are they back? They don't belong here. I don't belong here. I should've left when I had the chance. I-I can't..." Saruko clenched onto the white sash Gaara wore around his body, pressing against the boy desperately. "It hurts, Gaara. It all hurts. I don't wanna be here anymore. I wanna be with my Papa." 

   Gaara's dark-ringed eyes went wide, using his arms to wrap tightly around her relatively petite figure. "Don't talk like that, Saruko. You can't leave yet, not for a while. Kin needs you, doesn't he? He needs you to raise him and care for him like your mother cared for you. And I...I need you too, Saruko. So don't talk like that anymore, alright?"

   Gaara said the last few lines softer than the others, surprising Saruko with the sincerity behind his words. Loosening his grip and pulling away, the red-headed genin pulled away and proceeded to wipe away the tears from his friend's face, an attempt of a smile on his face. Though, to Saruko, it looked like Gaara was both cringing and snarling. And, honestly, it was a pretty entertaining sight. 

   Saruko started to snicker, covering her mouth as she turned away and giggled. "What? What's so funny?" The question made her laugh even more. The boy blushed, starting to half-glare at the once sobbing girl in his arms. "Hey! What's so funny, huh?"

   "Y-Your smile...looks so...so...stupid!" Saruko managed through her fit of laughter, lightly pounding on the flustered boy's chest, feeling his embarrassed glare on her back. 

   "Well sorry that my smile isn't the best, alright? I don't really do it often." Cleaning up her humor fit, Saruko straightened herself out and reached up towards his face. 

   "You just need to practice then. Here, just pull up the corners of your lips like this. Aaaaaand, there. See, not so hard?" Saruko said, looking at his face as a whole. The once cruel and fear-inducing qualities of his expression were quieted a bit, revealing a gentler and more approachable side of his face. It was much different than what Saruko had seen on his face before, and she liked it. 

   The half-blonde looked away, her cheeks a dark pink hue as she found herself flustered. Dropping the induced smile, Gaara grew a more confused look as he leaned in a bit, bewildered with her reaction. "Saruko? What's wrong now? Did I do something?"