Forevermore ~Gaara~

Chapter 5

The trip from Konoha to Suna is a three day walk, one that is spent mostly crossing the desert. The first day is a walk through the bordering woods of the fire nation and it isn't until the second day in that the trees and vegitation begin to thin out and the soft dirt path is replaced with sand. Honiji had never left Konoha before this whole ordeal and the sight and smell of the expansive desert was amazing in it's own self. It was the heat and the lung full of sand that hurt her.

Konoha is known for it's humid summers, but this intense heat was dry and slowly baking. Gaara, having grown up in the wind nation, was use to this sensation. At the near end of the trip Honiji finally asked. "How can you walk through this like it's nothing? You aren't even sweating!"

Gaara mearly grinned, finding this funny. "Adaption is a great thing."

"Adaption my foot, that's magic."

"It's about as magic as removing my thumb." To illistarate, Gaara showed her the thumb trick, causing her to laugh in a fit of giggles that rung around them. He liked the sound of her laugh and wanted to hear more of it.

"You are secretly funny." Honiji flashed a smile that he returned in a smaller version. The past three days had been an interesting road. At first neither spoke much and it created an awkward atmosphere. One night however as they sat around the evening fire Honiji worked diligently on a small hand sewing project.

Gaara at first watched her from across the warm fire and the way her fingers moved with the cloth and the needle. It was amazing to him as he watched her careful movements and saw a small bag appear from the colorful cloth. He had watched her sew the first night out, and this was their second night. Honiji never noticed him watching the night before, but now she looked up and her grey eyes, alight in the evening fire, caught his blue ones.

Gaara couldn't tell very well, but it looked like a small blush had spread across her cheeks. "What?" She asked shyly.

"Nothing." But upon seeing her dip her face low, he knew he needed to say something to ease the tension out of her. "What are you making?"

"Oh... Um... It's nothing special. I make decorative purses as a side job." She reached into her bag and held out a finished bag to him. He took it and held it to the light. It was a small draw string purse, one that a girl might carry around with her at a festivel. The sitching was done almost perfectly and a small ornamentle flower with beaded willows had been sewn on to the ribbon near the top.

He handed it back to her. "It's very well made."

Honiji could feel her face flushing again from his compliment. Even if it was just to be polite, it felt nice to have her work praised. Gaara continued to watch her needle disappear and reappear in the cloth as she worked and gave small smiles when she would peer up at him on occasion, smiling herself before looking back down at what she was doing.

It was that night that they began to get along better and talk a little more. Now, both began to believe a little more in the possibility of this arrangment working out. Now as they entered the city of Suna, they joked around, something Gaara at one point never thought possible of his life. But that was a story for another time.

The city in Honiji's eyes was marvelous, built tall from sandstone with clothes lines running between a few buildings. Shops lined the street in a similar fashion to the leaf village and people milled about as they did their daily shoping and chores. A small group of children went running past as they raced to the park and Honiji smiled at their energy. It seemed like such a peacful place... like home...

The farther into the city they got, the more people noticed Gaara and stopped to wave or say a quick hello. Many seemed surprisd to see Honiji trailing behind him, but some also seemed happy. It didn't take very long to get the center of the city where the Kage tower and the adjoining building where Gaara and his siblings lived was located. Gaara held the door open for Honiji and they both entered together, catching the eye of a secretary who sat behind a tan colored desk. She looked up all smiles with a sucker stick hanging from her mouth and was ready to say something when she caught sight of the little blonde girl hiding herself behind Gaara shyly. Her jaw dropped and the sucker fell to the desk below.

Honiji felt shy under the woman's  shoked and awed gaze and unconciously gripped the back of Gaara's shirt like a small child. He paid no mind though and allowed her to hold on tight. "Kozuki, is all the village's tax paper work ready?" He asked.

Shaking her head, she spoke. "Uh... Yeah, I had Yosef put it on your desk." She spoke with a heavy city accent, one that was familier to Honiji. Her best friend back home spoke with the same accent and the horrific sound put her at ease.

"Good. Please tell Temari and Kankuro I'm home."

"Actually sir, Tem asked me to leave you a note on your desk." He nodded to her and walked forward, Honiji being pulled along from still gripping the back of his shirt.

It's a known fact that Honiji is shy and when people she doesn't know look at her strangly like the woman behind the desk she becomes very afraid. Keeping a grip on Gaara was helping with that though in this case. He lead her down the hall to the personal quarters.

Opening the door, it seemed that no one else was home. Honiji's bags sat by the door and she looked around the room in wonder. It was much different from home where the houses and buildings were made from wood and brick. Here, everything was a packed sandstone, sturdy and cool to the touch. She continued to look around the room. The first thing she noticed was the lack of photo's around the room.

Back home, the front room was always littered with photo's of family members and friends. Yet the walls and end tables were bare. Except for one lone photo of the siblings, much younger than now. Gaara looked no older than fifteen in the photo and there was a long crack down the glass. How strange.

Gaara watched her looking around and set down his bag. "I need to pick up the papers from my office. Make yourself at home, I'll be back in a few minutes." Honiji nodded and watched him leave. The room was large and bare and it left a slightly empty feeling inside. She was so used to her own home and the warm and live feeling it exuded.

Maybe this was just something she needed to get used to if she had any hope of the arrangment working out. Moving to her bag she looked through it for her bathroom supplies. After two full days in the desert she had never needed a shower more than then. It didn't take long for her to find the bathroom and start the shower. The water spit for awhile before letting out a steady stream.

After her shower, Honiji put on something comfortable and walked back into the livingroom. Gaara was back and looking through a pile of papers. He looked up when she walked in and gave a nod. "What's all that?" She asked, sitting near him on the couch and drying her hair.

"Tax information for this year. My secretary puts it together for me every year so all I have to do is double check the math."

"Would you like help? Math is where I excel."

Gaara glanced over at her. This was new. He had never had an offer of help with his work before. With a small smile, he held out a few of the papers. "Sure." She smiled at him as she took the papers. And there they sat together for most of the day and well into the night, small shy smiles being exchanged, bonding.