Frozen Past (A Naruto FanFic/Gaara Love Story)

Chunin Exam Round Three: Let the Training Montage Begin! (eh, not really)

"Thanks for letting me stay here last night," I tell her, slightly embarrassed that I basically passed out in her hotel after sleeping for an entire week. "It wasn't a problem," she says. She smiles at me, then blanches when her eyes drift to a pile of sand on the floor. "I saw Gaara," I sigh, seeing her unasked question.

"D-Did he say anything to you?"

"Not really. He was on the roof, called out to me, used his sand to come inside, scared me out of my mind and caused me to fall out the window, then basically left."

"....You fell out the window?"

"He came out of nowhere!" I say indignantly, and she smirks.

Then she becomes serious. "Akari, about last night," she says slowly, and I internally cringe. "I understand why you don't want to see your... family, but where are you going to go?" I shake my head, pushing my hair out of my eyes. "Like I said last night, I think I'm going to ask Shikamaru. He's like, my best friend, and I can't ask Hinata because her dad hates me. And asking Kiba or Shino... too creepy."

"It's not creepy to ask Shikamaru even though he's a guy?"

"Not really. Shikamaru's different than the others. And I've been friends with him for years."

"Well, now that that's settled, what about the final round of the Chunin Exam? What are you going to do for training?"

"Oh, that. Yeah, before all this crap happened, I was thinking about asking Shino to train with me, since he's the only other person on my team who made it."

"I could help you, you know."

"...With what, exactly?"

"Your Wind Style Jutsu."

"I don't--"

"Baki told me that Ice Style combines Water and Wind Style to work, so technically you can use Wind-based jutsu."

"You'd do that for me?"

"Yeah, of course I would. We're friends aren't we?"

The grin that lights up my face right now is one of the biggest smiles I've ever given anyone, and much bigger than what I would've thought possibly given the circumstances. I resist my urge to hug Temari, knowing it freaks her out, and instead say, "You're a great friend Temari."

She smiles also, but softer, more fragile. "That's good to hear, Akari."

***

I left Temari and Kankuro a few hours ago. They said it would be for the best if I didn't stay at their hotel anymore, and I very much agree with them. When they told me I stayed in Gaara's room last night... Well, it made me want to run around in circles screaming.

I didn't, of course, but I really wanted to.

For the past few hours, I've just been walking around the Village. I talked to Shino earlier, and he said he'd train with me whenever I asked, and that Kiba would too. Hinata still isn't well-enough to fight, even in a mock-battle, so she'll only be offering moral support. But I'm alright with that; she risked enough fighting Neji, she doesn't need to give anymore right now.

At the moment, I'm by the Village gates. I'm not sure how I got here; I've been too preoccupied with thoughts of the Chunin Exams to really notice where I've been going. I'm deliberately focusing on my upcoming match with Dosu over less... pleasant matters.

Man, you know I've sunk really low when the idea of fighting someone from the Sound Village is more appealing than dealing with my personal life.

I've heard how awful the Sound Ninja were during the second Exam and the preliminaries. Dosu, Kin and Zaku. They attacked Sakura, an unconscious Sasuke and Naruto, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, and Lee in the Forest of Death, and defeated Lee easily with their damn sound-based attacks. Zaku and Dosu were even willing to kill their own teammate when Ino had taken over Kin's body. I know Dosu will be merciless during our fight, and I'm worried that I won't have the spirit to beat him.