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Again he sat alone, again venomous looks were cast at his direction, and again his heart beat painfully at his chest. No one paid attention to the monster of the sand village. Gaara sat on a little swing in the far corner of the school yard, red messy hair shining in the sunlight, his face as pale as usual and the dark marks around his light green eyes sat there from lack of sleep, and most curious the red tattoo on his forehead which read 'love'.
The sand had always protected him from pain... but this pain it could never protect him from came from the words of the children. Although he didn't bleed on the outside, inside his heart still hurt.
A girl with long golden hair walked into the courtyard. The majority of the kids turned and looked at her. Like Gaara she looked like she was 6. She had long waving long hair that seemed to dance in the sandy winds. From the distance between them Gaara could still see her startling yellow and orange eyes sparkling behind her curtain of hair. She was alone, usually when a new kid comes to the school a parent or family member accompanies them, but she only had a teacher.
Some of the kids started to point others to laugh. She was dressed weirdly compared to the other kids. They wore brown and white clothing mainly but she walked in with a bright blue t-shirt and dark blue loose pants.
The teacher left her there and walked inside for a moment she stood there alone with her right arm holding her left in front of her. Laughter filled her ears and caused her to look up and see the girls laughing at her. Gaara cringed as though the blow had been dealt to him.
She walked away from the groups of people and went a one of the few trees in the courtyard and just sat under it. She faced the wall boundaries to the school, her arms hugging her legs close to her. Just staring off into space.
Hope sprung inside Gaara, finally someone was here, someone who new his pain, but didn't no he was a monster. He stood to walk towards her, to talk to her, his teddy bear close at hand. He started to walk towards the tree were she sat. He could see people from the corner of his eyes shoot scared looks at him, the girl and then to their friends. He was only a little way away from the pretty girl when a large bell rang and she sprung to her feet and ran towards the school building.
In his ninja classes he paid a lot of attention to the girl, his eyes almost always on her, he'd found that even in class rooms when no breezes were around her hair still seemed to dance on a breeze that was only there for her. She had come from the village hidden in the leaves, Konoha, and was only here for a short period of time.
In classes she did as she was told without fail. She was an excellent ninja but didn't talk much, and was teased a lot by the classmates. But every time he went to talk to her either his courage would fail or someone would interrupt.
After a week that seemed to last forever he gave up hope that he could be-friend her or that she would notice him. He admired her from a distance, but stopped trying to make contact.
One day 2 weeks after the girl had arrived, Gaara sat on the swing in the far corner of the courtyard during recess. He sat holding his teddy close to him; it was one of the only things that would be close to him. He saw her under her tree as usual but this time there were a group of 3 girls around her. He figured that she had made friends and looked back towards his teddy.
A loud cry. He spun to look back at her. Two of the girls were taller than her and held her up by the shoulders on her tree, pinning her were her feet couldn't touch the ground. The centre girl had plain black hair and plain grey eyes stood in front of her fist clenched. The girls had taken the new girl around to the other side of the tree so the hole courtyard could see.
Gaara was horrified to see the girl in front, who'd called him a monster so many times, punch the beautiful girl in the mouth again. Gaara now stood in front of his swing fists clenched as her saw the girl spit a large amount of blood on the sand.
The whole courtyard had started towards the tree including Gaara. Usually people would scream and run away from him, but now he was not what they all wanted to see. He was small, as most 6 year olds so he made his way to the front fairly quickly. As he arrived he saw her glistening hair, almost blinding, and those shimmering yellow-orange eyes burnt like fire yet seemed so innocent. Her soft pink lips now darkened red, sprayed with her blood. The plain girl again raised her hand to hit her.
'NO!' Gaara cried. Half the school was either muttering or egging her on so no-one herd the little boy. But Shikaku did. Her fist came crashing down Gaara's heart pounding. He closed his eyes and heard a howling cry of pain. But not the golden haired girl. He snapped his eyes open and saw a wall of sand around the new girl, and the bully had hit it. That was Gaara's wall of sand. The bully broke her wrist and started to cry, her friends dropped the girl and ran to her side. Everyone started to notice Gaara, and stumbled away as fast as their feet could carry them. The girl looked at Gaara venomously and sprinted off towards the school tears flowing from her eyes.
His wall was slowly lowered and he lifted his hand and dropped it again, the sand following his hand. The girl sat on the ground were she'd been dropped watching the sand that had protected her slowly trickle down to the ground. Once it was nothing but ordinary sand again she looked up at Gaara who stood there looking at the pile to. He'd never protected anyone with the wall except for himself.
Shakily she got to her feet, taking in the hair the eyes and the red tattoo on his face. And to Gaara's surprise she smiled and threw her arms around him.
Shikaku, the sand spirit that was placed in side him at birth, had always protected him, from physical pain, and from harmful touch. He actually expected him to send the barrier up around himself to stop the girl but it didn't. Her small warm body wrapped her small arms around his neck and she paced her head on her arms.
For what seemed like an eternity to her he to moved his arms to her back and hugged her back. She smiled to herself, eyes tightly shut. She finally had a friend! After all that time in Konoha people looking down weirdly at her clan. But she never understood why, there were the Hyuuga clan could see through walls, and the Uchiha clan who could copy people’s movements. Her clan could control air and chakra without jutsu what they could control was basically forces, a lot like telekinesis. But the reason Konoha looked at her clan so was because of their power, they did not use it to be ninjas. They would have been great ninjas but few did, she was one of the first to become one. Her family trained to use their power for construction and other tasks, but this was how she had decided to use he abilities.
Had she been more experienced she could have defended herself from the bully, but she was barely starting to learn to use her Kaki-Genkai.
She pulled away from this boy who had saved her, his shiny red hair seemed to be like flames, and his eyes so softly green. How could she have not notice him before! She blushed at noticing shed just spent all that time staring at him she looked away and asked shyly, “What’s your name?”
Such a simple question startled Gaara for a moment he didn't answer, no one had asked his name without calling him a monster. Without an answer she shot her gaze up to his. “Ga-Gaa-Gaar-Gaara...???” he asked as though he asked her his name.
It amused her and she burst out laughing, it was a nice name but she really thought that he asked her his name!
Her smile was warm and not accusing like the ones that were shot at him mischievously by his classmates. He smiled with her almost without knowing. “Well you know mine now what’s yours?” he spoke with a soft kind of voice. She looked at him and spoke as though if she spoke to loudly her would run away. Softly she said in a little more than a whisper. “Shigure, my name is Shigure.”
The bell for the school period started and she grabbed Gaara's hand and started running towards the building like she always did but now with her new friend.
………………….
For the next six months Gaara and Shigure did everything together, trained as ninjas (although Gaara didn't need to,) he did so he could spend more time with Shigure. They were the best students in their classes. Gaara started to learn to control Shikaku to some extent, and Shigure started to learn her Kaki-Genkai. Apparently it was a form of do-jutsu her startling fiery eyes contained it. Hand movements controlled and manipulated it but there were no need for hand signs and jutsu’s, if she raised her hands while using her Kaki-Genkai in her Chakra, then the force or chakra would follow them. She had also found out that her clan had a form of telepathy. They could more or less sense Chakra around them, and sometimes link into the mind, if ones power was strong enough.
After six months they were the best of friends and happier than they'd ever been. But Shigure's dads job had finished. He was helping construct the Kazekage's palace. And now they were going to head back to Konoha.
When her father told her of this she ran. After six months her hair had got longer and she wore it in a braid at the back. Her legs were slightly longer and her powers much stronger. She opened her mind to find Gaara, after a few seconds she felt his and Shikaku's power just north of the school. She followed it until she saw walking from a park into the boundaries of the palace were he lived with his father the Kazekage. She ran to him as fats as she could and tripped over a few feet in front of her.
She raised her hands to stop her fall, a few inches from the ground she levitated for a moment. She found her feet and stood. Gaara had started to run towards her. She looked at him, tears streaming down her face. And as soon as her reached her she threw her arms around him. He'd grown a few inches taller than her but she still hugged him.
She held him in her arms as he held her. They had spent so much time together. They'd spent their 7th birthdays together and loved each other’s company. A pain in her chest rose painfully and she feared would never go. She had to leave him, his protective arms and his kind soul. She wept in his arm for so long.
Eventually he pulled her back but still held her. “Shigure what's wrong?” he asked.
She dried her eyes and took many breaths to calm herself. She looked at him and told him. That she was leaving for Konoha and had no idea is she’d see him again. Tears started to muffle her voice again. Her cheeks were so wet, as though a storm had started but only rained on her.
As she spoke Gaara felt as though his chest had shrunk painfully. As she told him what was happening his gaze left hers and looked over her shoulders without seeing. He listened to her intently as she started to become hard to hear and sobs started to make her stutter. When she was done tears of his own ran down his cheeks, he pulled her close to him so she could again buried her face in his shirt. And squeezed her tightly he held her again tears running down his own cheeks.

After what felt like the smallest amount of time, Shigure's father came to the palace his daughter spent so much time with that red haired boy, there was no doubt she would be there. As he walked into the boundaries around the palace she saw her daughter, gold hair buried in the arms of the red haired kid, the Kazekage's son.
He held her close to him his hands around her back and hair. If they weren't 7 he would have thought something was up, but the ages, he figured that she didn't want to leave her friend. All seven year olds acted like that to their friends so he dismissed anything fishy.
He walked up to the pair. He reached his daughter and the Kazekage kid. Gaara stood to the older mans belly button approximately and his Shigure at his hip. He knelt down so he didn't tower over the two. He bowed his head to the boy to show his respect to the title Gaara had, and then turned to his daughter. “ We must go Shigure,” he said as kindly as he could. She looked up from her sanctuary into her father’s eyes; her soft fiery eyes were glistening and puffy. The boys shirt had a massive wet patch were her face had been. For a moment her eyes were dry, but seconds after her face left the boys shirt her cheeks were again dripping with tears.
He took his daughter softly and lifted her into his arm and stood. She looked at Gaara crying, ‘think Shigure think!!!’ She cried to herself, what could she say to make him remember her? She was about get out of ears reach. He watched her with sad eyes, tears still cascading from his gentle eyes. As a final attempt at something to say she yelled with as much composure as possible “please, never forget me Gaara!!! I love you!!!”

He stood there watching her get taken away, he didn't want to look away, this might be the last time he saw her, he watched her search for word and just as she walked through the boundaries of the palace she called out to him “please, never forget me Gaara!!! I love you!!!” his mouth gaped open; she sounded as though she stood next to him. Someone loved him. And she meant it; it wasn't a lie like his uncle. And he would never forget her. She smiled at him, and closed her eyes, he felt her again in front of him. But he saw her far away in front of him. He felt her soft lips brush his cheeks and kiss him, he looked at her, the real her, her eyes closed and her lips slightly pushed were her Chakra had kissed him. He looked to were her felt the kiss and brushed the air in front of him until he felt were her chakra was. He put his hand on her cheek once he'd found it and kissed her on the forehead. After a few seconds the force lifted and he looked to the distant figure of Shigure and smiled. He loved her too, and would never forget her
………………
As the years passed neither forgot each other, Gaara stuck to telling everyone his vow. That ‘he fights for himself, and loves only himself, that that was the only love he needed’. His father made many attempts on his life and slowly he started becoming 'unstable' in a way. And he was cold to everyone. He killed without a second thought, and became the strongest ninja in the hidden sand village, the Kazekage's secret weapon, and by killing he felt alive. But the truth was no matter what happened even though his mind slowly became unstable he always felt either the warmth of Shigure and their time together, or the harsh coldness of not having her around anymore.
In Konoha Shigure didn't make new friends, she was cold to nearly everyone, she was strong but wasn't the strongest, well that’s what they thought, she never showed her instructors what she could really do. She was an excellent ninja; no one noticed her because she was quiet. She didn't speak to many people, but she was polite when they did speak to her. But she never made any close contacts. She always felt empty without Gaara. True the Uzamaki kid was funny, and the Uchiha kid was mysterious and attractive. But she never paid any attention to them. She sat at the back of her classes and did her work.
For 6 years they both spent their time like this. Gaara had killed many for his father, and now was time for more killing. The Chuunin exam was to be held in Konoha. Konoha of all places! He didn't know if she would be there though, so he kept his mind on his mission.
Shigure herd of the Chuunin exam and her heart lifted when they said Gennin from the sand village were coming. But dropped when she realized, that Gaara wouldn't be a Gennin still, he was decently a Chuunin maybe even Jonnin. She returned to her training. She'd made Chuunin in the test 6 months ago.
Since she had come back from The hidden sand village she'd changes allot, her golden hair became silver, her eyes still fiery, but more fierce and held more red in the yellow and orange, she grew taller and had a good body. She was thin with long legs and a good-sized chest. She now wore instead of her blue clothes long dark jeans and a black sleeveless top that covered her chest and stomach. Over the top of it she was the netted training shirt. She was beautiful, but quiet so few noticed her, she liked it like that. Her kunai and shuriken's were held in containers on her legs and her ninja forehead protected was tied around her arm.
The contestants for the Chuunin exam arrived from the other villages, some of her old classmates were going to be in the exam. Naruto, Sasuke, Neji, Hinata and so on, nearly every one in her old class in the academy, she had become Chuunin early because one of her teachers saw her practicing in the forest. So he saw that she could do a lot more than she let on and recommended her for the exam.

The contest started and for a wile she had so many things to do, she was doing extra missions because of the lack of Jonnin running the exam and Gennin participating in it. After a month or so the finals had started all 4 girls from Konoha had failed and so had lee. He was badly injured by a sand ninja and could barely walk, word was he could never fight again.
She knew lee, he was a powerful ninja what kind of ninja could do that? She wondered as she walked to the stadium were the finals were to be held.
She found her way up to the stands. It was interesting. Naruto was really late and she couldn't see from how high she was but there were some weird looking people down there. Immediately she saw a guy with bright red hair. ‘Don't be sill it wont be him. He probability isn't even from the sand village anyway, it wont be Gaara.’ She said to herself with a certain amount of certainty though she wished she wasn't so sure, she could only see a large gourd and his hair anyway.
The fight between Neji and Naruto lasted a long time and Naruto won to her surprise. A fight was delayed, then a person from the sand village named Kunkuro forfeited against Shino. A boring match ended with Shikamaru and some girl from the sand village named Temari.
The village hidden in the sand's Kazekage, Gaara's father, was sitting with the Hokage from the hidden leaf village in the middle of the three stands watching the fights. It was so boring, there was meant to be a big fight with a guy from the sand village and Sasuke, now that she was slightly interested in. she assumed that was why the Kazekage was here, to watch the ninja who had maimed Lee fight again. At the end Kakashi Sensei and Sasuke arrived. The announcer called “Now with be the fight between Uchiha Sasuke and Sabaku no Gaara will commence.”
Her face dropped, 'Ga-Gaa-Gaara?' she almost screamed out loud, and she sounded an awful lot like Gaara the first time they met. She could see vaguely Sakura and Ino start to relax and become cheery amongst themselves. She politely asked to borrow the guy next to hers binoculars. He handed them over when she gave him a nice little smile. She threw them to her eyes, and watched the door were Gaara would come from. She could see it perfectly. Out came the boy with red hair she'd seen at the beginning. He was tall, he still had his red shiny hair, like flames on his head, the dark lines around his eyes were more pronounced, his tattoo on his forehead still stood. His clothes had changed to black, it looked like a once pieced outfit but she was sure it wasn't, he wore a white scarf around his shoulder and a massive gourd on his back, tied to him with a red scarf, he looked murderous, Shikaku had taken his toll on Gaara she thought sadly. He hunched with anticipation to the fight, we was clearly ecstatic. His pale skin seemed to call to her. She removed the binoculars as he walked towards Sasuke and gave them back to the man beside her.
The match started and instantly sand poured from the gourd on his back, she watched everything she could, she admired Gaara's technique, he was so talented, but Sasuke had found his weakness, speed. If he ran fast enough Shikaku couldn't keep up. ‘Dam that raccoon’, she thought venomously as she saw Gaara get hit again and again. She used all her might to prevent herself from jumping down into the arena and punching Sasuke and protecting Gaara, and even more so to stop herself from using her Kakai Genkai and hitting him from her chair.
Gaara summoned his ultimate defence and people stared whooping, this is the kind of thing they wanted, a hard out battle. Sasuke hit the barrier with all his might and spikes sprung out at the same time as his fist hit it. He bled and jumped backwards.
‘The ultimate defence has always been impenetrable’. After a few different things, Sasuke ran up one of the walls. He summoned electricity? She herd Gai Sensei telling Sakura and Ino it was called 'chidori' she watched in wonder. ‘They don’t call it impenetrable for nothing Sasuke’. She thought mockingly with a sly smile. Gaara would kill this boy. He ran down the electricity made a weird chirping noise, like a bird. He ran to the defensive sphere and dodged the spikes ‘not bad’ she thought, the chidori reached the barrier and his hand went through, ‘it went through?!’ She thought, unable to believe it as her face dropped.
Her heart broke. A massive scream of pain came from inside the dome. He screamed, she could even feel it inside her, her pain so immense, “Blood it’s my blood!” the sound echoed throughout the stands. Again Sasuke summoned the chidori while his hand was inside the dome, ‘but was he still touching Gaara?’ she asked herself desperately, he pulled out his arm, and with it followed by another arm, an inhuman arm, one made from sand, the arm of Shikaku.
Sasuke stood staring at the hole he made, staring at what no one else could.
He was injured, badly. Everyone was watching the fight intently no one noticed Shigure start crying. The sphere shaped dome that had been used to protect Gaara cracked all around, then slithered and seethed to the ground.
In the middle she could see Gaara standing there holding his shoulder, his blood was all too visible. Tears stung at Shigure's eyes as her vision began to blur and she began to feel tired, she felt a sleeping jutsu and dispelled it with an annoyed “kai!” and continued to watch Gaara. She opened her mind. Her mind shot passed the spectators in the stands high about the battle arena, her eyes moving like fires with the activation of her Kakai-Genkai, and then she came shooting down. She felt Gaara, week and bleeding badly, his chakra low.
He stood glaring at Sasuke who was obviously stunned and no doubting had seen Shikaku.
The blond girl Temari (who had beaten Shikamaru by default) and Kunkuro (who had for fitted his match against Shino) were standing in front of Gaara, his teammates? Gaara started shaking and clutching his head. ‘Fuck Shikaku please leave him’ she thought bitterly, without even noticing she'd risen to her feet. Gaara's Sensei came down and was also talking to the teens. Gaara fell to his knees. Shigure had jumped on to the chair in front of her only 4 seats away from Sakura and the other girls. Gaara was hoisted to Kunkuro's shoulder. Temari and Kunkuro carried the now unconscious Gaara over the wall, soon closely followed by Sasuke.
She hadn't noticed the ninjas starting to attack Kakashi or Gai nor the smoke bomb that went off at the Hokage's stand. As soon as Sasuke had left after them she was close behind.
She didn't seem to realize that she was chasing her enemy and willing to attack someone from her village to protect him. As she ran she lifted a pack of kunai from a dead Konoha ninja and strapped it to her own leg and kept running after Sasuke and Gaara.
Randomly a ninja from the sand would attack her. She would simply through the kunai and guide them with her chakra, not once did she miss. When a ninja from her own town attacked her that didn't recognize her she would just guide their kunai away from her and into an opposing villagers body, then continue after Gaara's chakra, witch she hadn't let her leave her minds kaki-Genkai.
Soon she was in the forest following Gaara with a lot more accuracy then Sasuke seemed to be. Soon she was right behind them.
She leapt through the trees as fast as she could. And jumped into view behind them. Kunkuro carrying the unconscious Gaara and Temari turned and faced her. Her eyes fell upon Gaara for the first time properly in such a long time. She stood there, in such pain to see him there. Staring into his closed eyes and trying to fix any damage she could with her kaki-genkai, speeding the healing and locking Shikaku behind a barrier only Gaara could break through easily, it would only last a little while though. She didn't notice Temari. Temari lifted her fan and swooped it at her in one powerful stroke. The air cut her face and chest and sent her flying backwards, away from Gaara as she lost her connection. She was sent crashing into a tree closely followed by Temari who jumped down in front of her. She could feel warm blood trickle down her cheeks and lips. Her arms and legs were no doubting cut.
Temari lifted a kunai from her weapons pouch and lifted Shigure's neck up to cut her throat. “ Stop” she heard someone call. Was Gaara healed already? She thought hopefully looking towards the voice, “we need to get Gaara out of here don't kill her!” the voice called, Kunkuro's voice. She looked down. ‘His injuries are severe he wont be healed yet’, She said sadly to herself.
Kunkuro jumped to a tree above her she looked up again. It hurt all her injuries but she had to see Gaara. Temari dropped the kunai and jumped up to Gaara and Kunkuro. “She is pretty” said Kunkuro looking at the bloody mess that was Shigure. She swore she saw Gaara's eyes open and look at her, but Temari threw something and she was knocked unconscious
……………
Minutes maybe hours passed, hey she could have thought even days. But she opened her eyes. Her wounds were dried but still bloody. With resistance from her arms she examined herself. She had a busted lip; a deep cut on her cheek, and her eyebrow was bleeding and she had a dried patch of blood on her hairline from whatever Temari used to knock her out. Her back was bruised but only from landing on the tree, her arms had cuts all along them, quite a few just missing her main arteries. She thanked something; she wasn't sure what because she never believed in a divine spirit. But she thanked something none the less.
She stood surprisingly well, her legs weren't that injured. She leaped to the top of the trees to see were she was.
Her mouth gaped open instantly, a mile away, maybe two she couldn't tell, was Shikaku in his full form and the, the, the... nine tailed fox? ‘No, the nine tailed fox died with the forth Hokage 13 years ago’. Well what was fighting Shikaku? ‘Wait... Shikaku?’ She thought still gapping at the tremendous fight “GAARA!!!” she cried as she leapt several feet forward when she saw the nine tailed fox turn into a giant frog.
She stopped dead in her tracks. What on earth was going on? After a wile Shikaku and the frog disappeared. This seamed to snap her back to reality as she saw a little yellow and orange speck and a red and black one go crashing to the floor. “Gaara” she whispered to herself again as she shot off towards the smoke coming from were he had landed.
After what seemed like an eternity of running without being able to see properly trough tears, ‘why tears I never cry!’ She finally reached were she'd seen Gaara fall. Sasuke was helping Naruto up but Gaara was no were to be seen.
Sasuke jumped into the trees and headed off in the opposite direction to Shigure. She opened her Chakra to be pulled to her knee's, she was running on hardly any chakra, if she wanted to get back to the village she'd had to run, fast.
And so she did. She ran all the way back to Konoha and collapsed in the gates of the city.

After the fight, Kunkuro and Temari carried Gaara back towards the hidden sand village to be healed. But he'd seen her. He was sure of it. Briefly he had strength to open his eyes, he saw her. Temari towering over her, the little girl, 7 years old with cuts on her face crying. Looking up at him he couldn't help, he’d trained so he could be strong and protect her, but he couldn’t do anything for her. But he knew this was a dream, or a delusion. He'd often daydreamed about her, Shigure, but she was probably on a mission, or in some other town, or even dead. And it couldn't have been her, because she wouldn't have been 7 still.
Temari interrupted his train of thought. “I didn't think they'd send that week girl after us. Sasuke was understandable but that other girl just stood there staring at Gaara. It was pathetic.”
He looked up at her. She was talking to herself, Kunkuro was exhausted from his fight, Temari wouldn't be quiet though, and now he was thankful. “What girl?” he demanded weakly, listening to her with undivided attention.
She looked at Gaara slightly scared, like she always did but gave in, “This girl she came up behind us, so I attacked her, would have killed her,” Gaara stiffened at these words “if it wasn't been for Kunkuro that is.” she finished and they both sighed.
With all the strength he could muster he asked for details about her. This time not only Temari but also Kunkuro told him about her. Her long silvery hair tied back in a braid, her dangerously red burning eyes and her clothing, which was given in a detailed description by Kunkuro with a large smile of reminiscence on his face.
It sounded like her, how she would turn out to be, beautiful. But now their villages were enemies, and who would know how long this war would last.
He felt like crying, or the first time since he'd gotten over her leaving. He actually wanted to either cry or die. Either would suite him perfectly. He had to find her, to talk to her. 'Please, never forget me Gaara!!! I love you!!!' he could still hear her voice, he always could. That voice got him up in the mornings, that voice gave him strength. Made him smile when people called him a monster and brought him back to sanity when all he wanted to do was kill.
What if she didn't remember him though? ‘Girl just stood there staring at Gaara.’ That’s what Temari had said. She would have had to remember him if she was staring at him.
He closed his eyes. He was so low on Chakra but all he wanted to do was run back to the village to her. He felt a throbbing in his chest, a painful throbbing more pain then from Sasuke's electric hit. But it wasn't from his wound.
……………………..
Days turned into weeks. And both Shigure and Gaara lay unconscious in the beds in the hospitals of their village. Gaara was healing fast but his wound was deep. Shigure was injured not as badly but she used a lot of Chakra. After the 9th day they both woke up.
They woke up simultaneously, miles apart. The image of each other burned into their eyes. Gaara saw the little girl staring up at him helplessly wile Gaara stood unable to help, or move. Shigure saw Gaara, menacingly smiling up at Sasuke, then the helpless form being held up by Kunkuro only a slither of his eyes cold be seen looking down at her.
Shigure stood and walked to the window, soon followed by Gaara who walked to the door of his hospital room.
Shigure looked over Konoha, her home being rebuilt but with no sand ninjas around. Were they all dead? Did Gaara die? Despite her relief for her hometown she couldn't help but pray for the safety of Gaara.
>He stood facing the door. He was alive, but did everyone in Konoha die? Did they complete the mission without him? Or did something happen to make them retreat. That kid he fought was strong. Was it because of him that it all ended? He looked down to his feet sorrow pressing against him like an iron fist. He clutched his heart and walked to the gourd next to his bed were his sand rested. <
She tried to fight off tears at the thought that she couldn't help him. Silently one single tear fell down her smooth skin.
“He-hem” someone cleared his or her throat behind her. She spun around to look at the impostor. “I'm sorry to interrupt you said the timid young nurse. She laid down a plate of ramen next to her bed. “Its terrible what they did. Lucky they retreated.” she said sadly.
“What happened?” Shigure asked, there was something that had happened that she didn't know about.
The young girl looked up tears in her eyes. “He died,” she spoke with a dry throat.
‘She can’t be talking about Gaara! No one knows about us!’ She screamed to herself.
“It wasn't the Kazekage there with Hokage-Sama on the day of the exam, it was an Orochimaru. He killed him. When the people from the sand found out, they re-instated the treaty between us and swore a vengeance on Orochimaru. He's killed their Kazekage to take the form of him.” The young nurse ended and ran out of the room tears spilling from her brown eyes.
Shigure looked to the ground. She'd been so busy with looking for Gaara she'd forgotten about her town. She walked to her food and ate it with increased enthusiasm. It was a lot but didn't fill her. She closed her eyes, hoping that she'd have enough Chakra to attempt such a feat. At the moment she didn't care what happened to her. She sat on the bed and closed her eyes in meditation.
She opened her Chakra and slowly reached out of the town. She had to find him. She'd never tried somewhere so far away but she had to know he was OK. She reached beyond Konoha without difficulty, then beyond the forest surrounding it. She felt her range thinning. She lowered her range to a thin line and shot straight through all the obstacles. She finally reached the sand village. Her Chakra was low but she widened her range and felt for his presence. She felt it in the hospital. ‘No, no please be OK!’ She cried to herself.
She found him in a room ‘not a morgue!’ She felt him, and then slightly saw him. He was standing next to his gourd, just staring. There was Shikaku in the gourd. She smiled he was well. She softly tapped into his mind and whispered to him. “It'll be OK, remember not to forget me,” it was all she could think of before being rudely interrupted by a nurse. She fell back to her hospital bed. A new nurse was standing over her.
She looked at the nurse with the most venomous look she could muster, “please don't over exert yourself mistress.” She spoke with a lot more confidence than the other nurse. She silently handed ate the food given to her by the new nurse and fell back asleep.

Gaara looked at his gourd lost in thought. He felt someone looking at him; he turned to the door and heard a soft, weak voice. Instead of having someone standing in front of him, he felt a soft body touching him; no one was there though. “It'll be OK, remember not to forget me,” whispered a soft voice from the body he felt. Then nothing, no voice no body he was alone in his hospital room. ‘Shigure. She's OK’. He smiled to himself, for the first time in a long time, not with the joy of the kill or the fight, but with just joy.
A knock on the door brought him from his joy. He rearranged his features to be neutral, as they always were, “come in.” he said with a plain voice. A sturdy senior doctor walked in. her old face lined with wrinkled and her grey hair tied back in a tight bun at the back of her head. She walked in. for someone who was senior doctor and supposed to be very harsh, she watched all her movements and was very careful around Gaara. She came in and laid a large plate of roasted meat and vegetables on his bedside table. And walked slowly towards Gaara.
“Please s-sit down.? she said quite composed for how scared she looked. He obliged and sat down n the bed looking her in the eyes. They shifted from his to the food to the bandages several times. She muttered that she needed to change his bandages.
He reluctantly lifted his shirt off his body. It revealed a nice body. It was pale but it was slightly muscular, not as much as normal ninjas because he didn't need all the training. She removed the bloody bandages from his chest, opening them slightly, then cleaned them and did a quick but sturdy re bandaging with her clean bandages. She gave a curt nod and walked out of the room, soon followed by Gaara.
………………..
Months passed and Shigure didn't hear form Gaara. She went on many missions. But this time it was less trivial; it was going to be hard. She spent the majority of the fight against the rouge sound ninja protecting her teammates. Whilst in hand to hand combat several times she would have to jump away to press a shield up against a easy target of a team mate.
She threw kunai randomly and guided them with her kaki-genkai, but unfortunately her Chakra was wavering and the sound-nin had the advantage. She was cornered on a rock face. 3 of the 5 sound ninjas were blocking her escape. The only way was up or down and she wasn't that great at going underground like Naruto. So she used her Chakra and sent kunai flying as a distraction. With there sound abilities they knocked them away quite easily.
She pushed herself up with the air she used to control her kaki-genkai and push herself over their heads. She threw a hand full of shuriken's and killed two of them. She'd already killed 4 of the ninjas and spent most her time saving her comrades.
She shot a hand full of shuriken's into one of the ninjas attacking one of her team mates and then flipped forwards at the unsuspecting sound ninja and kicked him in the nose, sending the cartilage in his nose into his brain.
The remaining female sand ninja threw two shuriken's at Shigure witch were kicked slightly off path buy the hidden leaf ninja but only managed to stop her from dealing a critical hit. She was hit below the shoulder and on the shoulder blade. Shigure's teammate stabbed the sound ninja in the throat and killed her.
The blow to Shigure surprised her. She went tumbling forwards and hit her head on the rock face she was just recently cornered in. she fell to her knee's blood dripping down the side of her face, then to the ground unconscious.
Her teammates hurried to her side. One was bleeding badly from the side of his face, half the skin grazed. The other had a deep wound to the side of her arm and many small cuts that would have been fatal had it not been for Shigure.
After that fight there was no way they would leave the girl who saved the here to bleed to death. The boy lifted her in front of him, like a husband would his wife. The girl picked up the scroll that had been there mission and followed close behind the boy.
After what seemed like hours of running threw woods and mountains they finally reached Konoha.
Finally Konoha had a new Hokage. She was good, really strong and an excellent doctor so they would go straight to Tsunade-sama. They headed towards the hospital, no longer running with excellent ninja speed but jogging still. Neither new how to dress wounds so they'd all lost a lot of blood. But soon enough they reached the hospital.

Gaara had been sent to Konoha on a good faith mission as it were. Someone had gone missing and he and his brother and sister, Kunkuro and Temari had to go and help some Konoha ninjas. Trivial and dull, but it was Konoha and he was sure that Shigure would be there. When he first arrived there he was briefed by there new Hokage Tsunade-sama and was sent away straight away.
He finished his mission in a couple of hours and went back to the village. They didn't leave straight away they were given time to recover their strength etc. but that didn't matter, but it gave Gaara time to look for her. He walked the streets searching. Occasionally asking old people that wouldn't fear him, or know what he'd done. Eventually someone told him about a girl who fitted her description. Her father had died 3 years ago and her mother had withered shortly after his death. She had a 4-year-old brother but that was all. She hadn't been seen lately so the old man assumed that she'd gone on a mission. The problem was that he was leaving for the hidden sand village in 2 days time. And who knew when she'd be back.

She woke up, her mind wondering around with restlessness. She pulled herself together and sat up. The holes in her back healed well and she felt great. But why was she in Konoha hospital? Did her good-for-nothing useless team-mates bring her back? Whatever had happened she was healed now, that was all that mattered.
She stood up and changed out of her hospital clothes into her black tube shirt, her netted training shirt and her long jeans. She fixed her hair into her usual braid and ate the food that was set beside her bed, and left the depressing room.
She signed herself out of the hospital and started walking around Konoha. She moved along the streets her head facing forwards just simply thinking. Not about anything in particular she just felt like thinking, letting her mind wander. So she did, she opened her mind, even since Gaara had come she opened her mind a lot more. She often opened her mind these days, it started just to sense if Gaara was around, now she just enjoyed the feeling.
She looked out towards the forest that surrounded Konoha and walked towards it. She loved sitting in the tree's just enjoying the peace and quiet.
She felt something. Just briefly a really strong Chakra move by her it didn't feel like Naruto though. She was one of the few that new about the Chakra that Naruto had before anyone else. She could always feel his; it almost blinded her from others. But this was different. She tuned her head, but the street was full and could only see a mixture of brown, blond, black and red hair.
This Chakra though was so powerful. Shed only felt Naruto and Gaara have such Chakra before. She opened her mind a little further to try and see who it was. There were so many people around and so lose together it seemed like just only one big puddle of chakra she looked away and continued towards the forest.
As she walked she closed her mind. All the power around her was unnerving. After 10 minutes she reached the city doors. She walked through the usual path and into the forest.

He was walking down the street trying to find the place the old man had said she lived. Maybe she would be at home and he could see her again before he left. Maybe. ‘Am I crazy? I’ve spent 2hole days looking for her and I have to leave tomorrow!’ He cursed at himself and looked to the ground, he hated looking people in the eyes. There were a lot of people in the road, it must have been a market of some sort most of the people were off to the sides. He sped up his pace, he was going to cut across the girl in front of him and go through an ally instead of this crowd.
He sped up his pace and lifted his eyes from his feet and stepped in front of her. Her head snapped up and turned to the side and looked around. Her searching red eyes ‘Red eyes?’ He turned to look at her again. She was standing in the middle of the street looking around. He was slowly getting pushed away the crowd had just decided to move from the stalls. But she started walking away again.
Kunkuro was right. Her sparkling silver hair shone in the sunlight, like a moon of the day. And her eyes were as bright as the fires of the sun! She was beautiful in so many ways.
After the shortest period of time he was pushed into the ally were he was heading and she was no were to be seen. Without moving his sand sprung from its holding place and followed Gaara's silent instruction.
It fell to the floor a puddle of sand. Gaara stepped onto in and sat on his knees. Without need of commands it lifted to the sky and soared over the crowd.
In the sunlight so many people's hair looked silvery. After just a few seconds he had kids pointing up at him and showing their parents and friends, he sighed and continued faster. ‘She has her hair in a braid. That might help’. He lowered his search to slivery braided hair. He searched everyone he could see he didn't want to miss her again! Her flew around the crowd three times. Slowly widening his range.
He soared off towards the city gates, they were close he could watch from there. So he sped off and landed on top of the city gate. He sat his feet over the edge and searched the faces of those in front and below him. He thought he'd seen her but when he looked again, no one was below him after half an hour he realized she would be gone by now. The pain he held in his chest seemed to grow. She had been so close but he let her slip through his fingers, again. He turned towards the forest and jumped down from his large look out point. His sand came crashing down under his feet before he was even half way down. It carefully placed him on the ground. He looked out along the forests it was so much nicer and cleaner than in the sand village. Just the simplicity and the beauty of the trees always seemed to calm him.

She walked into the forest happy to be out of that crowd she jumped up into the trees and ran just out of sight from the people leaving and entering the village. She found her usual seat. A long thick branch a little way away from the village and sat in the comfortable grove she always did.
She opened her mind and just relaxed in the feel of the life of the tree's around her and the animals and insects that scattered themselves around the forest, it was so relaxing. She'd forgotten totally about the strong Chakra she'd felt and just sat with the light that shone threw the leaves warming her just enough for comfort. She closed her eyes, her mind wondering and dozed off. She was at peace so much. She was barely conscious of what she was doing, because all she was doing was sitting there. Her mind opened to just along the forest in front of the village and further on her other side.
For ages she sat there just enjoying the peace, she found it so much easier to let her mind wonder these days, it was easier than trapping it inside herself. She lazily scanned the trees and animals on the edges of the forest but there was something just out of her view. She stirred and widened her range. Just a little more it was probability just a villager looking into the forests. She was about to dismiss it when the person turned and she felt the Chakra again. She stopped her mind wondering and focused on the one person, a man, she now knew and felt a powerful gourd on his back. A gourd! She almost cried out. And inside was Shikaku, she didn't notice before, he was so much more controlled and powerful now. But he was leaving, back into the large crowd; she'd never find him there! She leapt to her feet and with one swift motion ran towards the village.
She never could remember running any faster. She even pushed with her power to make her move faster. She was at the edge of the forest within no time but he was almost in the crowd. She dove to the ground behind him. She felt Shikaku about to block her and put up his automatic defences but she pushed with all her telekinesis powers and all of her might against them.

Gaara started to turn at the sudden change in Shikaku and turned in time to feel soft warm arms be thrown around him. He fell backwards straight away only his sand stopping him from hitting the ground. She even knocked the wind out of him.

She had jumped from the trees into him arms almost simultaneously so she still had all he force of her hug. She wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could. She felt him, HIM! He was here in her arms after so many years of waiting.
He looked down in shock, ‘who on earth?’ He screamed in his head. But as he looked down he saw silvery hair, silvery? Below the hair she was wearing her black sleeveless shirt and netted training shirt and jeans, just like Kunkuro had said.
She looked up at him, her red eyes seamed to be alight and moving as if a fire was truly behind them. Tears were silently dripping from her eyes. He was shocked that the water wasn’t slowly draining the fires away. He knew it was a stupid thought but he thought it none the less. He smiled at her with more joy he'd ever felt. He was so happy, just to feel the same joy he felt all those years ago. To be able to hold her in his arms gave him so much pleasure he could not describe it.
He lifted one hand and wiped away her tears. They seemed to glow like diamonds in the sunlight. She smiled; he'd never seen something so beautiful. With that one action he could see she'd needed him as much as he'd yearned for her.
And as though like Kunkuro with his puppet they came together. Gaara's hand resting on her cheek still and Shigure's arms tightly wrapped around his neck.
He slid his free arm onto her back as she softly moved her face closer to his. And they kissed. Her soft sweet lips touching his and his moving along hers. Together it seemed like an eternity that their lips seemed to caress the others, neither seemed to want to part.
It was a long time she new but still she moved her lips away from his so unwillingly. Yet they held each other’s gaze though with a bright pink line appeared across their cheeks.
It was just what they'd hoped; their first kiss was with each other. ‘Crap I hope I didn't kill the moment, Shigure please stop yourself next time!’ Shigure screamed at herself suddenly unable to look out of his beautiful green eyes. She smiled and took his hand, like she used to so often before they had parted all those years ago.
She led him into the forest fingers entwined until she came to a stop below her usual branch. Wordlessly Gaara’s sand lifted and took them up to it like to her branch like an elevator. Gaara sat in her usual seat and she lay in his arms.
For hours they talked, about everything they'd missed of all those years. Shigure told Gaara about her life, what she was doing in the Chuunin exam, how much she'd lived emotionless without him. She was so afraid that what she was saying would make him think she was crazy and run, but for 6 years she showed no emotion. Not when she killed, maimed or even seen her father in his grave, she felt like if she didn't do it now she would never show any emotion again, and the pain that hurt her so much so she had to take the small risk. She hoped he would understand as she told him this. But not once did he turn from her, discussed by her words like she'd thought he would, after all they both had a bleak outlook on emotions, and above all love.
Gaara told her about his life, his father, and what he'd done. The lives his taken and the lack of emotions doing so made him feel. He spoke with a monotone; his voice didn't show any of the pain he held through the years. But he was unaware as he spoke his face showed it all. What hurt him more though was that he wasn't repentant for what he'd done.
He was afraid that she would run off calling him a monster like most people would. But she lay there in his arms. And listened to his words as though they were sacred. When he was done, he looked away, unable to face her soft look.
‘I don't deserve this I don't deserve her. I deserve to find some place and kill and wait to be killed.’ He couldn't bare it. He was about to stand and walk away from her, when her soft hands startled him, again. She'd moved to her knees in front of him. Facing him her hands clamped on his cheeks.
‘He doesn't deserve this!’ She cried to herself. “What you did, is what anyone would have done, what I've done.” she spoke trying to make sure she used the right words, “you cannot blame yourself for living or for doing your job.”
He kept his face turned away as though her soft gaze was a harsh glare. She used one soft hand to move his face towards her. He looked again into those fiery eyes. Expecting a punch or something but all he saw were tears spilling from the corners of her eyes.
“I always knew the p-pain you'd gone threw, though I tried to help you I n-never could stop it.” she started to stutter as she chocked back tears as she stared into those shocked, unwavering light green eyes. “I'm so sorry I couldn't be there for you.” she finished as her head dropped forward suddenly and started shaking in front of him, still trying to hold back the impossible.
Gently her put his arms around her and drew her close to him. She wrapped her hands around his neck again and wept on his shoulder. He smiled and he held her tight enough to calm her but without squeezing her uncomfortably.
This was all he ever wanted. For six years he waited for this moment were he would be with her again. Though of course she wasn't crying when he imagined it, now he was just so happy to be able to hold her again.
“It was never your fault, it was only you that ever stopped me from killing everybody I knew, my sister, my brother, everybody. You were always there for me, just like you said you would be.” he smiled as he spoke. And gradually her breath started to calm down. “Please don't blame yourself, your all that’s kept me sane, well as sane as someone like me could get.” he smiled again as she relaxed in his arms.
They sat in Shigure's special tree for hours until the sun fell behind the horizon and the moon shone threw the gaps in the leaves. Gaara stood and helped Shigure up. Though hours they spent together they still felt as though they didn't spent enough time together.
Gaara's sand flew them back to Shigure's apartment. He took her to her window and she climbed in and helped Gaara in.
…………………..
They laid together on her large bed for the smallest time, Shigure in a really baggy bed shirt and short pants and Gaara in his long black pants, gourd, shirt and red and black coat on the floor next to the bed.
Gaara was scared, he though about it a lot as she sat in between his legs, her legs wrapped around his back. He felt a large stirring in his baggy black pants as she edged herself closer between his legs until her groin was against his. He tried to push the impulse from his mind. He'd never done what she was planning before, then again neither had Shigure but she was confident she could do it, so he let her. She sat in front of him and put her hands on his temples, she closed her eyes and she did his. She called up her chakra and strengthened the shield around Shikaku. She felt Shikaku fighting against her and sometimes even trying to attack her, that made it hard, but with the help of Gaara and doing the shields but she got it, eventually. She strengthened it so he couldn't posses Gaara's body, even through sleep, for at least 17 hours and when it began to loosen, if Gaara was asleep he would wake up, like a timer on an oven.
When she was done she removed her hands from his face. It was secure so he should be fine.
He opened his eyes to see her still in front of him, he'd feared that she might have disappeared or Shikaku had attacked her. He smiled and hugged her. But he felt surprisingly light headed as she dropped her head on his shoulder, still in the same position on his legs.
After ages of talking in Shigure's bed Shigure fell asleep. Her head on Gaara's chest and her arms tightly wrapped around him. He was so happy just watching her sleep. He rearranged her as he moved to lie on the pillows next to her. She had a comfortable big queen sized mattress. It was awfully comfortable all he wanted to do was sleep. ‘I can’t sleep what am I thinking id kill her!’ He thought angrily. But just as the though left his mind he remembered the shields she'd put up against Shikaku. ‘I have to believe in her. She would have done it right.... I have to trust her, and if I kill her, it was her own fault, no I believe in her abilities; she wouldn’t have screwed this up. He thought.
Her placed his hands in front of his and did the hand signs just to make sure. He uttered softy 'forced sleep jutsu' and fell asleep instantly.

to be continued....

Description
Again he sat alone, again venomous looks were cast at his direction, and again his heart beat painfully at his chest. No one paid attention to the monster of the sand village. Gaara sat on a little swing in the far corner of the school yard, red messy hair shining in the sunlight, his face as pale as usual and the dark marks around his light green eyes sat there from lack of sleep, and most curious the red tattoo on his forehead which read 'love'.
The sand had always protected him from pain... but this pain it could never protect him from came from the words of the children. Although he didn't bleed on the outside, inside his heart still hurt.
A girl with long golden hair walked into the courtyard. The majority of the kids turned and looked at her. Like Gaara she looked like she was 6. She had long waving long hair that seemed to dance in the sandy winds. From the distance between them Gaara could still see her startling yellow and orange eyes sparkling behind her curtain of hair. She was alone, usually when a new kid comes to the school a parent or family member accompanies them, but she only had a teacher.
Some of the kids started to point others to laugh. She was dressed weirdly compared to the other kids. They wore brown and white clothing mainly but she walked in with a bright blue t-shirt and dark blue loose pants.
The teacher left her there and walked inside for a moment she stood there alone with her right arm holding her left in front of her. Laughter filled her ears and caused her to look up and see the girls laughing at her. Gaara cringed as though the blow had been dealt to him.
She walked away from the groups of people and went a one of the few trees in the courtyard and just sat under it. She faced the wall boundaries to the school, her arms hugging her legs close to her. Just staring off into space.
Hope sprung inside Gaara, finally someone was here, someone who new his pain, but didn't no he was a monster. He stood to walk towards her, to talk to her, his teddy bear close at hand. He started to walk towards the tree were she sat. He could see people from the corner of his eyes shoot scared looks at him, the girl and then to their friends. He was only a little way away from the pretty girl when a large bell rang and she sprung to her feet and ran towards the school building.
In his ninja classes he paid a lot of attention to the girl, his eyes almost always on her, he'd found that even in class rooms when no breezes were around her hair still seemed to dance on a breeze that was only there for her. She had come from the village hidden in the leaves, Konoha, and was only here for a short period of time.
In classes she did as she was told without fail. She was an excellent ninja but didn't talk much, and was teased a lot by the classmates. But every time he went to talk to her either his courage would fail or someone would interrupt.
After a week that seemed to last forever he gave up hope that he could be-friend her or that she would notice him. He admired her from a distance, but stopped trying to make contact.
One day 2 weeks after the girl had arrived, Gaara sat on the swing in the far corner of the courtyard during recess. He sat holding his teddy close to him; it was one of the only things that would be close to him. He saw her under her tree as usual but this time there were a group of 3 girls around her. He figured that she had made friends and looked back towards his teddy.
A loud cry. He spun to look back at her. Two of the girls were taller than her and held her up by the shoulders on her tree, pinning her were her feet couldn't touch the ground. The centre girl had plain black hair and plain grey eyes stood in front of her fist clenched. The girls had taken the new girl around to the other side of the tree so the hole courtyard could see.
Gaara was horrified to see the girl in front, who'd called him a monster so many times, punch the beautiful girl in the mouth again. Gaara now stood in front of his swing fists clenched as her saw the girl spit a large amount of blood on the sand.
The whole courtyard had started towards the tree including Gaara. Usually people would scream and run away from him, but now he was not what they all wanted to see. He was small, as most 6 year olds so he made his way to the front fairly quickly. As he arrived he saw her glistening hair, almost blinding, and those shimmering yellow-orange eyes burnt like fire yet seemed so innocent. Her soft pink lips now darkened red, sprayed with her blood. The plain girl again raised her hand to hit her.
'NO!' Gaara cried. Half the school was either muttering or egging her on so no-one herd the little boy. But Shikaku did. Her fist came crashing down Gaara's heart pounding. He closed his eyes and heard a howling cry of pain. But not the golden haired girl. He snapped his eyes open and saw a wall of sand around the new girl, and the bully had hit it. That was Gaara's wall of sand. The bully broke her wrist and started to cry, her friends dropped the girl and ran to her side. Everyone started to notice Gaara, and stumbled away as fast as their feet could carry them. The girl looked at Gaara venomously and sprinted off towards the school tears flowing from her eyes.
His wall was slowly lowered and he lifted his hand and dropped it again, the sand following his hand. The girl sat on the ground were she'd been dropped watching the sand that had protected her slowly trickle down to the ground. Once it was nothing but ordinary sand again she looked up at Gaara who stood there looking at the pile to. He'd never protected anyone with the wall except for himself.
Shakily she got to her feet, taking in the hair the eyes and the red tattoo on his face. And to Gaara's surprise she smiled and threw her arms around him.
Shikaku, the sand spirit that was placed in side him at birth, had always protected him, from physical pain, and from harmful touch. He actually expected him to send the barrier up around himself to stop the girl but it didn't. Her small warm body wrapped her small arms around his neck and she paced her head on her arms.
For what seemed like an eternity to her he to moved his arms to her back and hugged her back. She smiled to herself, eyes tightly shut. She finally had a friend! After all that time in Konoha people looking down weirdly at her clan. But she never understood why, there were the Hyuuga clan could see through walls, and the Uchiha clan who could copy people’s movements. Her clan could control air and chakra without jutsu what they could control was basically forces, a lot like telekinesis. But the reason Konoha looked at her clan so was because of their power, they did not use it to be ninjas. They would have been great ninjas but few did, she was one of the first to become one. Her family trained to use their power for construction and other tasks, but this was how she had decided to use he abilities.
Had she been more experienced she could have defended herself from the bully, but she was barely starting to learn to use her Kaki-Genkai.
She pulled away from this boy who had saved her, his shiny red hair seemed to be like flames, and his eyes so softly green. How could she have not notice him before! She blushed at noticing shed just spent all that time staring at him she looked away and asked shyly, “What’s your name?”
Such a simple question startled Gaara for a moment he didn't answer, no one had asked his name without calling him a monster. Without an answer she shot her gaze up to his. “Ga-Gaa-Gaar-Gaara...???” he asked as though he asked her his name.
It amused her and she burst out laughing, it was a nice name but she really thought that he asked her his name!
Her smile was warm and not accusing like the ones that were shot at him mischievously by his classmates. He smiled with her almost without knowing. “Well you know mine now what’s yours?” he spoke with a soft kind of voice. She looked at him and spoke as though if she spoke to loudly her would run away. Softly she said in a little more than a whisper. “Shigure, my name is Shigure.”
The bell for the school period started and she grabbed Gaara's hand and started running towards the building like she always did but now with her new friend.
………………….
For the next six months Gaara and Shigure did everything together, trained as ninjas (although Gaara didn't need to,) he did so he could spend more time with Shigure. They were the best students in their classes. Gaara started to learn to control Shikaku to some extent, and Shigure started to learn her Kaki-Genkai. Apparently it was a form of do-jutsu her startling fiery eyes contained it. Hand movements controlled and manipulated it but there were no need for hand signs and jutsu’s, if she raised her hands while using her Kaki-Genkai in her Chakra, then the force or chakra would follow them. She had also found out that her clan had a form of telepathy. They could more or less sense Chakra around them, and sometimes link into the mind, if ones power was strong enough.
After six months they were the best of friends and happier than they'd ever been. But Shigure's dads job had finished. He was helping construct the Kazekage's palace. And now they were going to head back to Konoha.
When her father told her of this she ran. After six months her hair had got longer and she wore it in a braid at the back. Her legs were slightly longer and her powers much stronger. She opened her mind to find Gaara, after a few seconds she felt his and Shikaku's power just north of the school. She followed it until she saw walking from a park into the boundaries of the palace were he lived with his father the Kazekage. She ran to him as fats as she could and tripped over a few feet in front of her.
She raised her hands to stop her fall, a few inches from the ground she levitated for a moment. She found her feet and stood. Gaara had started to run towards her. She looked at him, tears streaming down her face. And as soon as her reached her she threw her arms around him. He'd grown a few inches taller than her but she still hugged him.
She held him in her arms as he held her. They had spent so much time together. They'd spent their 7th birthdays together and loved each other’s company. A pain in her chest rose painfully and she feared would never go. She had to leave him, his protective arms and his kind soul. She wept in his arm for so long.
Eventually he pulled her back but still held her. “Shigure what's wrong?” he asked.
She dried her eyes and took many breaths to calm herself. She looked at him and told him. That she was leaving for Konoha and had no idea is she’d see him again. Tears started to muffle her voice again. Her cheeks were so wet, as though a storm had started but only rained on her.
As she spoke Gaara felt as though his chest had shrunk painfully. As she told him what was happening his gaze left hers and looked over her shoulders without seeing. He listened to her intently as she started to become hard to hear and sobs started to make her stutter. When she was done tears of his own ran down his cheeks, he pulled her close to him so she could again buried her face in his shirt. And squeezed her tightly he held her again tears running down his own cheeks.

After what felt like the smallest amount of time, Shigure's father came to the palace his daughter spent so much time with that red haired boy, there was no doubt she would be there. As he walked into the boundaries around the palace she saw her daughter, gold hair buried in the arms of the red haired kid, the Kazekage's son.
He held her close to him his hands around her back and hair. If they weren't 7 he would have thought something was up, but the ages, he figured that she didn't want to leave her friend. All seven year olds acted like that to their friends so he dismissed anything fishy.
He walked up to the pair. He reached his daughter and the Kazekage kid. Gaara stood to the older mans belly button approximately and his Shigure at his hip. He knelt down so he didn't tower over the two. He bowed his head to the boy to show his respect to the title Gaara had, and then turned to his daughter. “ We must go Shigure,” he said as kindly as he could. She looked up from her sanctuary into her father’s eyes; her soft fiery eyes were glistening and puffy. The boys shirt had a massive wet patch were her face had been. For a moment her eyes were dry, but seconds after her face left the boys shirt her cheeks were again dripping with tears.
He took his daughter softly and lifted her into his arm and stood. She looked at Gaara crying, ‘think Shigure think!!!’ She cried to herself, what could she say to make him remember her? She was about get out of ears reach. He watched her with sad eyes, tears still cascading from his gentle eyes. As a final attempt at something to say she yelled with as much composure as possible “please, never forget me Gaara!!! I love you!!!”

He stood there watching her get taken away, he didn't want to look away, this might be the last time he saw her, he watched her search for word and just as she walked through the boundaries of the palace she called out to him “please, never forget me Gaara!!! I love you!!!” his mouth gaped open; she sounded as though she stood next to him. Someone loved him. And she meant it; it wasn't a lie like his uncle. And he would never forget her. She smiled at him, and closed her eyes, he felt her again in front of him. But he saw her far away in front of him. He felt her soft lips brush his cheeks and kiss him, he looked at her, the real her, her eyes closed and her lips slightly pushed were her Chakra had kissed him. He looked to were her felt the kiss and brushed the air in front of him until he felt were her chakra was. He put his hand on her cheek once he'd found it and kissed her on the forehead. After a few seconds the force lifted and he looked to the distant figure of Shigure and smiled. He loved her too, and would never forget her
………………
As the years passed neither forgot each other, Gaara stuck to telling everyone his vow. That ‘he fights for himself, and loves only himself, that that was the only love he needed’. His father made many attempts on his life and slowly he started becoming 'unstable' in a way. And he was cold to everyone. He killed without a second thought, and became the strongest ninja in the hidden sand village, the Kazekage's secret weapon, and by killing he felt alive. But the truth was no matter what happened even though his mind slowly became unstable he always felt either the warmth of Shigure and their time together, or the harsh coldness of not having her around anymore.
In Konoha Shigure didn't make new friends, she was cold to nearly everyone, she was strong but wasn't the strongest, well that’s what they thought, she never showed her instructors what she could really do. She was an excellent ninja; no one noticed her because she was quiet. She didn't speak to many people, but she was polite when they did speak to her. But she never made any close contacts. She always felt empty without Gaara. True the Uzamaki kid was funny, and the Uchiha kid was mysterious and attractive. But she never paid any attention to them. She sat at the back of her classes and did her work.
For 6 years they both spent their time like this. Gaara had killed many for his father, and now was time for more killing. The Chuunin exam was to be held in Konoha. Konoha of all places! He didn't know if she would be there though, so he kept his mind on his mission.
Shigure herd of the Chuunin exam and her heart lifted when they said Gennin from the sand village were coming. But dropped when she realized, that Gaara wouldn't be a Gennin still, he was decently a Chuunin maybe even Jonnin. She returned to her training. She'd made Chuunin in the test 6 months ago.
Since she had come back from The hidden sand village she'd changes allot, her golden hair became silver, her eyes still fiery, but more fierce and held more red in the yellow and orange, she grew taller and had a good body. She was thin with long legs and a good-sized chest. She now wore instead of her blue clothes long dark jeans and a black sleeveless top that covered her chest and stomach. Over the top of it she was the netted training shirt. She was beautiful, but quiet so few noticed her, she liked it like that. Her kunai and shuriken's were held in containers on her legs and her ninja forehead protected was tied around her arm.
The contestants for the Chuunin exam arrived from the other villages, some of her old classmates were going to be in the exam. Naruto, Sasuke, Neji, Hinata and so on, nearly every one in her old class in the academy, she had become Chuunin early because one of her teachers saw her practicing in the forest. So he saw that she could do a lot more than she let on and recommended her for the exam.

The contest started and for a wile she had so many things to do, she was doing extra missions because of the lack of Jonnin running the exam and Gennin participating in it. After a month or so the finals had started all 4 girls from Konoha had failed and so had lee. He was badly injured by a sand ninja and could barely walk, word was he could never fight again.
She knew lee, he was a powerful ninja what kind of ninja could do that? She wondered as she walked to the stadium were the finals were to be held.
She found her way up to the stands. It was interesting. Naruto was really late and she couldn't see from how high she was but there were some weird looking people down there. Immediately she saw a guy with bright red hair. ‘Don't be sill it wont be him. He probability isn't even from the sand village anyway, it wont be Gaara.’ She said to herself with a certain amount of certainty though she wished she wasn't so sure, she could only see a large gourd and his hair anyway.
The fight between Neji and Naruto lasted a long time and Naruto won to her surprise. A fight was delayed, then a person from the sand village named Kunkuro forfeited against Shino. A boring match ended with Shikamaru and some girl from the sand village named Temari.
The village hidden in the sand's Kazekage, Gaara's father, was sitting with the Hokage from the hidden leaf village in the middle of the three stands watching the fights. It was so boring, there was meant to be a big fight with a guy from the sand village and Sasuke, now that she was slightly interested in. she assumed that was why the Kazekage was here, to watch the ninja who had maimed Lee fight again. At the end Kakashi Sensei and Sasuke arrived. The announcer called “Now with be the fight between Uchiha Sasuke and Sabaku no Gaara will commence.”
Her face dropped, 'Ga-Gaa-Gaara?' she almost screamed out loud, and she sounded an awful lot like Gaara the first time they met. She could see vaguely Sakura and Ino start to relax and become cheery amongst themselves. She politely asked to borrow the guy next to hers binoculars. He handed them over when she gave him a nice little smile. She threw them to her eyes, and watched the door were Gaara would come from. She could see it perfectly. Out came the boy with red hair she'd seen at the beginning. He was tall, he still had his red shiny hair, like flames on his head, the dark lines around his eyes were more pronounced, his tattoo on his forehead still stood. His clothes had changed to black, it looked like a once pieced outfit but she was sure it wasn't, he wore a white scarf around his shoulder and a massive gourd on his back, tied to him with a red scarf, he looked murderous, Shikaku had taken his toll on Gaara she thought sadly. He hunched with anticipation to the fight, we was clearly ecstatic. His pale skin seemed to call to her. She removed the binoculars as he walked towards Sasuke and gave them back to the man beside her.
The match started and instantly sand poured from the gourd on his back, she watched everything she could, she admired Gaara's technique, he was so talented, but Sasuke had found his weakness, speed. If he ran fast enough Shikaku couldn't keep up. ‘Dam that raccoon’, she thought venomously as she saw Gaara get hit again and again. She used all her might to prevent herself from jumping down into the arena and punching Sasuke and protecting Gaara, and even more so to stop herself from using her Kakai Genkai and hitting him from her chair.
Gaara summoned his ultimate defence and people stared whooping, this is the kind of thing they wanted, a hard out battle. Sasuke hit the barrier with all his might and spikes sprung out at the same time as his fist hit it. He bled and jumped backwards.
‘The ultimate defence has always been impenetrable’. After a few different things, Sasuke ran up one of the walls. He summoned electricity? She herd Gai Sensei telling Sakura and Ino it was called 'chidori' she watched in wonder. ‘They don’t call it impenetrable for nothing Sasuke’. She thought mockingly with a sly smile. Gaara would kill this boy. He ran down the electricity made a weird chirping noise, like a bird. He ran to the defensive sphere and dodged the spikes ‘not bad’ she thought, the chidori reached the barrier and his hand went through, ‘it went through?!’ She thought, unable to believe it as her face dropped.
Her heart broke. A massive scream of pain came from inside the dome. He screamed, she could even feel it inside her, her pain so immense, “Blood it’s my blood!” the sound echoed throughout the stands. Again Sasuke summoned the chidori while his hand was inside the dome, ‘but was he still touching Gaara?’ she asked herself desperately, he pulled out his arm, and with it followed by another arm, an inhuman arm, one made from sand, the arm of Shikaku.
Sasuke stood staring at the hole he made, staring at what no one else could.
He was injured, badly. Everyone was watching the fight intently no one noticed Shigure start crying. The sphere shaped dome that had been used to protect Gaara cracked all around, then slithered and seethed to the ground.
In the middle she could see Gaara standing there holding his shoulder, his blood was all too visible. Tears stung at Shigure's eyes as her vision began to blur and she began to feel tired, she felt a sleeping jutsu and dispelled it with an annoyed “kai!” and continued to watch Gaara. She opened her mind. Her mind shot passed the spectators in the stands high about the battle arena, her eyes moving like fires with the activation of her Kakai-Genkai, and then she came shooting down. She felt Gaara, week and bleeding badly, his chakra low.
He stood glaring at Sasuke who was obviously stunned and no doubting had seen Shikaku.
The blond girl Temari (who had beaten Shikamaru by default) and Kunkuro (who had for fitted his match against Shino) were standing in front of Gaara, his teammates? Gaara started shaking and clutching his head. ‘Fuck Shikaku please leave him’ she thought bitterly, without even noticing she'd risen to her feet. Gaara's Sensei came down and was also talking to the teens. Gaara fell to his knees. Shigure had jumped on to the chair in front of her only 4 seats away from Sakura and the other girls. Gaara was hoisted to Kunkuro's shoulder. Temari and Kunkuro carried the now unconscious Gaara over the wall, soon closely followed by Sasuke.
She hadn't noticed the ninjas starting to attack Kakashi or Gai nor the smoke bomb that went off at the Hokage's stand. As soon as Sasuke had left after them she was close behind.
She didn't seem to realize that she was chasing her enemy and willing to attack someone from her village to protect him. As she ran she lifted a pack of kunai from a dead Konoha ninja and strapped it to her own leg and kept running after Sasuke and Gaara.
Randomly a ninja from the sand would attack her. She would simply through the kunai and guide them with her chakra, not once did she miss. When a ninja from her own town attacked her that didn't recognize her she would just guide their kunai away from her and into an opposing villagers body, then continue after Gaara's chakra, witch she hadn't let her leave her minds kaki-Genkai.
Soon she was in the forest following Gaara with a lot more accuracy then Sasuke seemed to be. Soon she was right behind them.
She leapt through the trees as fast as she could. And jumped into view behind them. Kunkuro carrying the unconscious Gaara and Temari turned and faced her. Her eyes fell upon Gaara for the first time properly in such a long time. She stood there, in such pain to see him there. Staring into his closed eyes and trying to fix any damage she could with her kaki-genkai, speeding the healing and locking Shikaku behind a barrier only Gaara could break through easily, it would only last a little while though. She didn't notice Temari. Temari lifted her fan and swooped it at her in one powerful stroke. The air cut her face and chest and sent her flying backwards, away from Gaara as she lost her connection. She was sent crashing into a tree closely followed by Temari who jumped down in front of her. She could feel warm blood trickle down her cheeks and lips. Her arms and legs were no doubting cut.
Temari lifted a kunai from her weapons pouch and lifted Shigure's neck up to cut her throat. “ Stop” she heard someone call. Was Gaara healed already? She thought hopefully looking towards the voice, “we need to get Gaara out of here don't kill her!” the voice called, Kunkuro's voice. She looked down. ‘His injuries are severe he wont be healed yet’, She said sadly to herself.
Kunkuro jumped to a tree above her she looked up again. It hurt all her injuries but she had to see Gaara. Temari dropped the kunai and jumped up to Gaara and Kunkuro. “She is pretty” said Kunkuro looking at the bloody mess that was Shigure. She swore she saw Gaara's eyes open and look at her, but Temari threw something and she was knocked unconscious
……………
Minutes maybe hours passed, hey she could have thought even days. But she opened her eyes. Her wounds were dried but still bloody. With resistance from her arms she examined herself. She had a busted lip; a deep cut on her cheek, and her eyebrow was bleeding and she had a dried patch of blood on her hairline from whatever Temari used to knock her out. Her back was bruised but only from landing on the tree, her arms had cuts all along them, quite a few just missing her main arteries. She thanked something; she wasn't sure what because she never believed in a divine spirit. But she thanked something none the less.
She stood surprisingly well, her legs weren't that injured. She leaped to the top of the trees to see were she was.
Her mouth gaped open instantly, a mile away, maybe two she couldn't tell, was Shikaku in his full form and the, the, the... nine tailed fox? ‘No, the nine tailed fox died with the forth Hokage 13 years ago’. Well what was fighting Shikaku? ‘Wait... Shikaku?’ She thought still gapping at the tremendous fight “GAARA!!!” she cried as she leapt several feet forward when she saw the nine tailed fox turn into a giant frog.
She stopped dead in her tracks. What on earth was going on? After a wile Shikaku and the frog disappeared. This seamed to snap her back to reality as she saw a little yellow and orange speck and a red and black one go crashing to the floor. “Gaara” she whispered to herself again as she shot off towards the smoke coming from were he had landed.
After what seemed like an eternity of running without being able to see properly trough tears, ‘why tears I never cry!’ She finally reached were she'd seen Gaara fall. Sasuke was helping Naruto up but Gaara was no were to be seen.
Sasuke jumped into the trees and headed off in the opposite direction to Shigure. She opened her Chakra to be pulled to her knee's, she was running on hardly any chakra, if she wanted to get back to the village she'd had to run, fast.
And so she did. She ran all the way back to Konoha and collapsed in the gates of the city.

After the fight, Kunkuro and Temari carried Gaara back towards the hidden sand village to be healed. But he'd seen her. He was sure of it. Briefly he had strength to open his eyes, he saw her. Temari towering over her, the little girl, 7 years old with cuts on her face crying. Looking up at him he couldn't help, he’d trained so he could be strong and protect her, but he couldn’t do anything for her. But he knew this was a dream, or a delusion. He'd often daydreamed about her, Shigure, but she was probably on a mission, or in some other town, or even dead. And it couldn't have been her, because she wouldn't have been 7 still.
Temari interrupted his train of thought. “I didn't think they'd send that week girl after us. Sasuke was understandable but that other girl just stood there staring at Gaara. It was pathetic.”
He looked up at her. She was talking to herself, Kunkuro was exhausted from his fight, Temari wouldn't be quiet though, and now he was thankful. “What girl?” he demanded weakly, listening to her with undivided attention.
She looked at Gaara slightly scared, like she always did but gave in, “This girl she came up behind us, so I attacked her, would have killed her,” Gaara stiffened at these words “if it wasn't been for Kunkuro that is.” she finished and they both sighed.
With all the strength he could muster he asked for details about her. This time not only Temari but also Kunkuro told him about her. Her long silvery hair tied back in a braid, her dangerously red burning eyes and her clothing, which was given in a detailed description by Kunkuro with a large smile of reminiscence on his face.
It sounded like her, how she would turn out to be, beautiful. But now their villages were enemies, and who would know how long this war would last.
He felt like crying, or the first time since he'd gotten over her leaving. He actually wanted to either cry or die. Either would suite him perfectly. He had to find her, to talk to her. 'Please, never forget me Gaara!!! I love you!!!' he could still hear her voice, he always could. That voice got him up in the mornings, that voice gave him strength. Made him smile when people called him a monster and brought him back to sanity when all he wanted to do was kill.
What if she didn't remember him though? ‘Girl just stood there staring at Gaara.’ That’s what Temari had said. She would have had to remember him if she was staring at him.
He closed his eyes. He was so low on Chakra but all he wanted to do was run back to the village to her. He felt a throbbing in his chest, a painful throbbing more pain then from Sasuke's electric hit. But it wasn't from his wound.
……………………..
Days turned into weeks. And both Shigure and Gaara lay unconscious in the beds in the hospitals of their village. Gaara was healing fast but his wound was deep. Shigure was injured not as badly but she used a lot of Chakra. After the 9th day they both woke up.
They woke up simultaneously, miles apart. The image of each other burned into their eyes. Gaara saw the little girl staring up at him helplessly wile Gaara stood unable to help, or move. Shigure saw Gaara, menacingly smiling up at Sasuke, then the helpless form being held up by Kunkuro only a slither of his eyes cold be seen looking down at her.
Shigure stood and walked to the window, soon followed by Gaara who walked to the door of his hospital room.
Shigure looked over Konoha, her home being rebuilt but with no sand ninjas around. Were they all dead? Did Gaara die? Despite her relief for her hometown she couldn't help but pray for the safety of Gaara.
>He stood facing the door. He was alive, but did everyone in Konoha die? Did they complete the mission without him? Or did something happen to make them retreat. That kid he fought was strong. Was it because of him that it all ended? He looked down to his feet sorrow pressing against him like an iron fist. He clutched his heart and walked to the gourd next to his bed were his sand rested. <
She tried to fight off tears at the thought that she couldn't help him. Silently one single tear fell down her smooth skin.
“He-hem” someone cleared his or her throat behind her. She spun around to look at the impostor. “I'm sorry to interrupt you said the timid young nurse. She laid down a plate of ramen next to her bed. “Its terrible what they did. Lucky they retreated.” she said sadly.
“What happened?” Shigure asked, there was something that had happened that she didn't know about.
The young girl looked up tears in her eyes. “He died,” she spoke with a dry throat.
‘She can’t be talking about Gaara! No one knows about us!’ She screamed to herself.
“It wasn't the Kazekage there with Hokage-Sama on the day of the exam, it was an Orochimaru. He killed him. When the people from the sand found out, they re-instated the treaty between us and swore a vengeance on Orochimaru. He's killed their Kazekage to take the form of him.” The young nurse ended and ran out of the room tears spilling from her brown eyes.
Shigure looked to the ground. She'd been so busy with looking for Gaara she'd forgotten about her town. She walked to her food and ate it with increased enthusiasm. It was a lot but didn't fill her. She closed her eyes, hoping that she'd have enough Chakra to attempt such a feat. At the moment she didn't care what happened to her. She sat on the bed and closed her eyes in meditation.
She opened her Chakra and slowly reached out of the town. She had to find him. She'd never tried somewhere so far away but she had to know he was OK. She reached beyond Konoha without difficulty, then beyond the forest surrounding it. She felt her range thinning. She lowered her range to a thin line and shot straight through all the obstacles. She finally reached the sand village. Her Chakra was low but she widened her range and felt for his presence. She felt it in the hospital. ‘No, no please be OK!’ She cried to herself.
She found him in a room ‘not a morgue!’ She felt him, and then slightly saw him. He was standing next to his gourd, just staring. There was Shikaku in the gourd. She smiled he was well. She softly tapped into his mind and whispered to him. “It'll be OK, remember not to forget me,” it was all she could think of before being rudely interrupted by a nurse. She fell back to her hospital bed. A new nurse was standing over her.
She looked at the nurse with the most venomous look she could muster, “please don't over exert yourself mistress.” She spoke with a lot more confidence than the other nurse. She silently handed ate the food given to her by the new nurse and fell back asleep.

Gaara looked at his gourd lost in thought. He felt someone looking at him; he turned to the door and heard a soft, weak voice. Instead of having someone standing in front of him, he felt a soft body touching him; no one was there though. “It'll be OK, remember not to forget me,” whispered a soft voice from the body he felt. Then nothing, no voice no body he was alone in his hospital room. ‘Shigure. She's OK’. He smiled to himself, for the first time in a long time, not with the joy of the kill or the fight, but with just joy.
A knock on the door brought him from his joy. He rearranged his features to be neutral, as they always were, “come in.” he said with a plain voice. A sturdy senior doctor walked in. her old face lined with wrinkled and her grey hair tied back in a tight bun at the back of her head. She walked in. for someone who was senior doctor and supposed to be very harsh, she watched all her movements and was very careful around Gaara. She came in and laid a large plate of roasted meat and vegetables on his bedside table. And walked slowly towards Gaara.
“Please s-sit down.? she said quite composed for how scared she looked. He obliged and sat down n the bed looking her in the eyes. They shifted from his to the food to the bandages several times. She muttered that she needed to change his bandages.
He reluctantly lifted his shirt off his body. It revealed a nice body. It was pale but it was slightly muscular, not as much as normal ninjas because he didn't need all the training. She removed the bloody bandages from his chest, opening them slightly, then cleaned them and did a quick but sturdy re bandaging with her clean bandages. She gave a curt nod and walked out of the room, soon followed by Gaara.
………………..
Months passed and Shigure didn't hear form Gaara. She went on many missions. But this time it was less trivial; it was going to be hard. She spent the majority of the fight against the rouge sound ninja protecting her teammates. Whilst in hand to hand combat several times she would have to jump away to press a shield up against a easy target of a team mate.
She threw kunai randomly and guided them with her kaki-genkai, but unfortunately her Chakra was wavering and the sound-nin had the advantage. She was cornered on a rock face. 3 of the 5 sound ninjas were blocking her escape. The only way was up or down and she wasn't that great at going underground like Naruto. So she used her Chakra and sent kunai flying as a distraction. With there sound abilities they knocked them away quite easily.
She pushed herself up with the air she used to control her kaki-genkai and push herself over their heads. She threw a hand full of shuriken's and killed two of them. She'd already killed 4 of the ninjas and spent most her time saving her comrades.
She shot a hand full of shuriken's into one of the ninjas attacking one of her team mates and then flipped forwards at the unsuspecting sound ninja and kicked him in the nose, sending the cartilage in his nose into his brain.
The remaining female sand ninja threw two shuriken's at Shigure witch were kicked slightly off path buy the hidden leaf ninja but only managed to stop her from dealing a critical hit. She was hit below the shoulder and on the shoulder blade. Shigure's teammate stabbed the sound ninja in the throat and killed her.
The blow to Shigure surprised her. She went tumbling forwards and hit her head on the rock face she was just recently cornered in. she fell to her knee's blood dripping down the side of her face, then to the ground unconscious.
Her teammates hurried to her side. One was bleeding badly from the side of his face, half the skin grazed. The other had a deep wound to the side of her arm and many small cuts that would have been fatal had it not been for Shigure.
After that fight there was no way they would leave the girl who saved the here to bleed to death. The boy lifted her in front of him, like a husband would his wife. The girl picked up the scroll that had been there mission and followed close behind the boy.
After what seemed like hours of running threw woods and mountains they finally reached Konoha.
Finally Konoha had a new Hokage. She was good, really strong and an excellent doctor so they would go straight to Tsunade-sama. They headed towards the hospital, no longer running with excellent ninja speed but jogging still. Neither new how to dress wounds so they'd all lost a lot of blood. But soon enough they reached the hospital.

Gaara had been sent to Konoha on a good faith mission as it were. Someone had gone missing and he and his brother and sister, Kunkuro and Temari had to go and help some Konoha ninjas. Trivial and dull, but it was Konoha and he was sure that Shigure would be there. When he first arrived there he was briefed by there new Hokage Tsunade-sama and was sent away straight away.
He finished his mission in a couple of hours and went back to the village. They didn't leave straight away they were given time to recover their strength etc. but that didn't matter, but it gave Gaara time to look for her. He walked the streets searching. Occasionally asking old people that wouldn't fear him, or know what he'd done. Eventually someone told him about a girl who fitted her description. Her father had died 3 years ago and her mother had withered shortly after his death. She had a 4-year-old brother but that was all. She hadn't been seen lately so the old man assumed that she'd gone on a mission. The problem was that he was leaving for the hidden sand village in 2 days time. And who knew when she'd be back.

She woke up, her mind wondering around with restlessness. She pulled herself together and sat up. The holes in her back healed well and she felt great. But why was she in Konoha hospital? Did her good-for-nothing useless team-mates bring her back? Whatever had happened she was healed now, that was all that mattered.
She stood up and changed out of her hospital clothes into her black tube shirt, her netted training shirt and her long jeans. She fixed her hair into her usual braid and ate the food that was set beside her bed, and left the depressing room.
She signed herself out of the hospital and started walking around Konoha. She moved along the streets her head facing forwards just simply thinking. Not about anything in particular she just felt like thinking, letting her mind wander. So she did, she opened her mind, even since Gaara had come she opened her mind a lot more. She often opened her mind these days, it started just to sense if Gaara was around, now she just enjoyed the feeling.
She looked out towards the forest that surrounded Konoha and walked towards it. She loved sitting in the tree's just enjoying the peace and quiet.
She felt something. Just briefly a really strong Chakra move by her it didn't feel like Naruto though. She was one of the few that new about the Chakra that Naruto had before anyone else. She could always feel his; it almost blinded her from others. But this was different. She tuned her head, but the street was full and could only see a mixture of brown, blond, black and red hair.
This Chakra though was so powerful. Shed only felt Naruto and Gaara have such Chakra before. She opened her mind a little further to try and see who it was. There were so many people around and so lose together it seemed like just only one big puddle of chakra she looked away and continued towards the forest.
As she walked she closed her mind. All the power around her was unnerving. After 10 minutes she reached the city doors. She walked through the usual path and into the forest.

He was walking down the street trying to find the place the old man had said she lived. Maybe she would be at home and he could see her again before he left. Maybe. ‘Am I crazy? I’ve spent 2hole days looking for her and I have to leave tomorrow!’ He cursed at himself and looked to the ground, he hated looking people in the eyes. There were a lot of people in the road, it must have been a market of some sort most of the people were off to the sides. He sped up his pace, he was going to cut across the girl in front of him and go through an ally instead of this crowd.
He sped up his pace and lifted his eyes from his feet and stepped in front of her. Her head snapped up and turned to the side and looked around. Her searching red eyes ‘Red eyes?’ He turned to look at her again. She was standing in the middle of the street looking around. He was slowly getting pushed away the crowd had just decided to move from the stalls. But she started walking away again.
Kunkuro was right. Her sparkling silver hair shone in the sunlight, like a moon of the day. And her eyes were as bright as the fires of the sun! She was beautiful in so many ways.
After the shortest period of time he was pushed into the ally were he was heading and she was no were to be seen. Without moving his sand sprung from its holding place and followed Gaara's silent instruction.
It fell to the floor a puddle of sand. Gaara stepped onto in and sat on his knees. Without need of commands it lifted to the sky and soared over the crowd.
In the sunlight so many people's hair looked silvery. After just a few seconds he had kids pointing up at him and showing their parents and friends, he sighed and continued faster. ‘She has her hair in a braid. That might help’. He lowered his search to slivery braided hair. He searched everyone he could see he didn't want to miss her again! Her flew around the crowd three times. Slowly widening his range.
He soared off towards the city gates, they were close he could watch from there. So he sped off and landed on top of the city gate. He sat his feet over the edge and searched the faces of those in front and below him. He thought he'd seen her but when he looked again, no one was below him after half an hour he realized she would be gone by now. The pain he held in his chest seemed to grow. She had been so close but he let her slip through his fingers, again. He turned towards the forest and jumped down from his large look out point. His sand came crashing down under his feet before he was even half way down. It carefully placed him on the ground. He looked out along the forests it was so much nicer and cleaner than in the sand village. Just the simplicity and the beauty of the trees always seemed to calm him.

She walked into the forest happy to be out of that crowd she jumped up into the trees and ran just out of sight from the people leaving and entering the village. She found her usual seat. A long thick branch a little way away from the village and sat in the comfortable grove she always did.
She opened her mind and just relaxed in the feel of the life of the tree's around her and the animals and insects that scattered themselves around the forest, it was so relaxing. She'd forgotten totally about the strong Chakra she'd felt and just sat with the light that shone threw the leaves warming her just enough for comfort. She closed her eyes, her mind wondering and dozed off. She was at peace so much. She was barely conscious of what she was doing, because all she was doing was sitting there. Her mind opened to just along the forest in front of the village and further on her other side.
For ages she sat there just enjoying the peace, she found it so much easier to let her mind wonder these days, it was easier than trapping it inside herself. She lazily scanned the trees and animals on the edges of the forest but there was something just out of her view. She stirred and widened her range. Just a little more it was probability just a villager looking into the forests. She was about to dismiss it when the person turned and she felt the Chakra again. She stopped her mind wondering and focused on the one person, a man, she now knew and felt a powerful gourd on his back. A gourd! She almost cried out. And inside was Shikaku, she didn't notice before, he was so much more controlled and powerful now. But he was leaving, back into the large crowd; she'd never find him there! She leapt to her feet and with one swift motion ran towards the village.
She never could remember running any faster. She even pushed with her power to make her move faster. She was at the edge of the forest within no time but he was almost in the crowd. She dove to the ground behind him. She felt Shikaku about to block her and put up his automatic defences but she pushed with all her telekinesis powers and all of her might against them.

Gaara started to turn at the sudden change in Shikaku and turned in time to feel soft warm arms be thrown around him. He fell backwards straight away only his sand stopping him from hitting the ground. She even knocked the wind out of him.

She had jumped from the trees into him arms almost simultaneously so she still had all he force of her hug. She wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could. She felt him, HIM! He was here in her arms after so many years of waiting.
He looked down in shock, ‘who on earth?’ He screamed in his head. But as he looked down he saw silvery hair, silvery? Below the hair she was wearing her black sleeveless shirt and netted training shirt and jeans, just like Kunkuro had said.
She looked up at him, her red eyes seamed to be alight and moving as if a fire was truly behind them. Tears were silently dripping from her eyes. He was shocked that the water wasn’t slowly draining the fires away. He knew it was a stupid thought but he thought it none the less. He smiled at her with more joy he'd ever felt. He was so happy, just to feel the same joy he felt all those years ago. To be able to hold her in his arms gave him so much pleasure he could not describe it.
He lifted one hand and wiped away her tears. They seemed to glow like diamonds in the sunlight. She smiled; he'd never seen something so beautiful. With that one action he could see she'd needed him as much as he'd yearned for her.
And as though like Kunkuro with his puppet they came together. Gaara's hand resting on her cheek still and Shigure's arms tightly wrapped around his neck.
He slid his free arm onto her back as she softly moved her face closer to his. And they kissed. Her soft sweet lips touching his and his moving along hers. Together it seemed like an eternity that their lips seemed to caress the others, neither seemed to want to part.
It was a long time she new but still she moved her lips away from his so unwillingly. Yet they held each other’s gaze though with a bright pink line appeared across their cheeks.
It was just what they'd hoped; their first kiss was with each other. ‘Crap I hope I didn't kill the moment, Shigure please stop yourself next time!’ Shigure screamed at herself suddenly unable to look out of his beautiful green eyes. She smiled and took his hand, like she used to so often before they had parted all those years ago.
She led him into the forest fingers entwined until she came to a stop below her usual branch. Wordlessly Gaara’s sand lifted and took them up to it like to her branch like an elevator. Gaara sat in her usual seat and she lay in his arms.
For hours they talked, about everything they'd missed of all those years. Shigure told Gaara about her life, what she was doing in the Chuunin exam, how much she'd lived emotionless without him. She was so afraid that what she was saying would make him think she was crazy and run, but for 6 years she showed no emotion. Not when she killed, maimed or even seen her father in his grave, she felt like if she didn't do it now she would never show any emotion again, and the pain that hurt her so much so she had to take the small risk. She hoped he would understand as she told him this. But not once did he turn from her, discussed by her words like she'd thought he would, after all they both had a bleak outlook on emotions, and above all love.
Gaara told her about his life, his father, and what he'd done. The lives his taken and the lack of emotions doing so made him feel. He spoke with a monotone; his voice didn't show any of the pain he held through the years. But he was unaware as he spoke his face showed it all. What hurt him more though was that he wasn't repentant for what he'd done.
He was afraid that she would run off calling him a monster like most people would. But she lay there in his arms. And listened to his words as though they were sacred. When he was done, he looked away, unable to face her soft look.
‘I don't deserve this I don't deserve her. I deserve to find some place and kill and wait to be killed.’ He couldn't bare it. He was about to stand and walk away from her, when her soft hands startled him, again. She'd moved to her knees in front of him. Facing him her hands clamped on his cheeks.
‘He doesn't deserve this!’ She cried to herself. “What you did, is what anyone would have done, what I've done.” she spoke trying to make sure she used the right words, “you cannot blame yourself for living or for doing your job.”
He kept his face turned away as though her soft gaze was a harsh glare. She used one soft hand to move his face towards her. He looked again into those fiery eyes. Expecting a punch or something but all he saw were tears spilling from the corners of her eyes.
“I always knew the p-pain you'd gone threw, though I tried to help you I n-never could stop it.” she started to stutter as she chocked back tears as she stared into those shocked, unwavering light green eyes. “I'm so sorry I couldn't be there for you.” she finished as her head dropped forward suddenly and started shaking in front of him, still trying to hold back the impossible.
Gently her put his arms around her and drew her close to him. She wrapped her hands around his neck again and wept on his shoulder. He smiled and he held her tight enough to calm her but without squeezing her uncomfortably.
This was all he ever wanted. For six years he waited for this moment were he would be with her again. Though of course she wasn't crying when he imagined it, now he was just so happy to be able to hold her again.
“It was never your fault, it was only you that ever stopped me from killing everybody I knew, my sister, my brother, everybody. You were always there for me, just like you said you would be.” he smiled as he spoke. And gradually her breath started to calm down. “Please don't blame yourself, your all that’s kept me sane, well as sane as someone like me could get.” he smiled again as she relaxed in his arms.
They sat in Shigure's special tree for hours until the sun fell behind the horizon and the moon shone threw the gaps in the leaves. Gaara stood and helped Shigure up. Though hours they spent together they still felt as though they didn't spent enough time together.
Gaara's sand flew them back to Shigure's apartment. He took her to her window and she climbed in and helped Gaara in.
…………………..
They laid together on her large bed for the smallest time, Shigure in a really baggy bed shirt and short pants and Gaara in his long black pants, gourd, shirt and red and black coat on the floor next to the bed.
Gaara was scared, he though about it a lot as she sat in between his legs, her legs wrapped around his back. He felt a large stirring in his baggy black pants as she edged herself closer between his legs until her groin was against his. He tried to push the impulse from his mind. He'd never done what she was planning before, then again neither had Shigure but she was confident she could do it, so he let her. She sat in front of him and put her hands on his temples, she closed her eyes and she did his. She called up her chakra and strengthened the shield around Shikaku. She felt Shikaku fighting against her and sometimes even trying to attack her, that made it hard, but with the help of Gaara and doing the shields but she got it, eventually. She strengthened it so he couldn't posses Gaara's body, even through sleep, for at least 17 hours and when it began to loosen, if Gaara was asleep he would wake up, like a timer on an oven.
When she was done she removed her hands from his face. It was secure so he should be fine.
He opened his eyes to see her still in front of him, he'd feared that she might have disappeared or Shikaku had attacked her. He smiled and hugged her. But he felt surprisingly light headed as she dropped her head on his shoulder, still in the same position on his legs.
After ages of talking in Shigure's bed Shigure fell asleep. Her head on Gaara's chest and her arms tightly wrapped around him. He was so happy just watching her sleep. He rearranged her as he moved to lie on the pillows next to her. She had a comfortable big queen sized mattress. It was awfully comfortable all he wanted to do was sleep. ‘I can’t sleep what am I thinking id kill her!’ He thought angrily. But just as the though left his mind he remembered the shields she'd put up against Shikaku. ‘I have to believe in her. She would have done it right.... I have to trust her, and if I kill her, it was her own fault, no I believe in her abilities; she wouldn’t have screwed this up. He thought.
Her placed his hands in front of his and did the hand signs just to make sure. He uttered softy 'forced sleep jutsu' and fell asleep instantly.

to be continued....