In the Naruto world, where there aren't any cookies (Book 1 of The New Noblesse)

Training Start

"When...?" I asked, looking at them. Gaara snickered slightly.

"When I was stari-" he cut himself off, and we both went back to being red. I looked away, and cleared my throat to change the subject, while Temari and Kankuro were exchanging knowing glances with each other. They nodded, and Temari looked over at me, and motioned for us to go to a tree. I nodded and smiled at Gaara before I left, noticing that Kankuro was staying with Gaara and was talking to him.

We reached the tree, and I shooed Lucifer away, far enough that he couldn't hear us, but were still in his line of sight. Temari rounded on me as soon as Lucifer was out of hearing range.

"You like Gaara, don't you?" she asked, smirking. I turned a few hundred shades of red.

"W-What? No, of course not, I don't, not at all, Nope." I said quickly. Her smirk widened.

"You do, don't you?" she asked, and I sighed. "Maybe, I don't know, I think I might..." I trailed off, seeing the disbelieving look on Temari's face.

"Do you or don't you? I won't have you hurting my brother, you know." she said. I smiled and shook my head.

"I would never. Even if I could, I wouldn't." I said, smiling at nothing in particular. Temari looked shocked, to say the least.

"Why?" she asked. I gave her a blank look.

"Why what?" She sighed.

"Why do you like him and not fear him like everybody else? Hell, even Kankuro and I are scared of him, and we've known him for all him life." she said, looking at me. I shrugged.

"Honestly..." I started. She leaned in.

"I don't know." I said, making her look at me in disgust.

"You don't know? How could you not know? Then, do you really not like him?" she asked, backing away from me. I glared at her, making her flinch.

"Of course I do, but if you ask me why, I can't give you a reason. There are so many reasons in my head, but when I have to say them, they just go away." I said truthfully. She sighed and leaned away.

"You don't like my brother, you really love him, don't you?" she asked, looked down at me. (Why the hell am I this short?) I nodded slowly, feeling my face turn neon red. She laughed.

"That's good. Gaara needs someone to love." she said. I looked at her, bewildered.

"What are you talking about? He doesn't like me back!" I said. She looked at me, surprised, then burst out laughing.

I looked at her, confused, but she was too busy laughing to notice. Soon after, Kankuro burst out laughing as well, and Temari dragged me over to them. Kankuro and Temari nodded to each other, and looked shocked, then evil grins set on their faces, then they turned to me. I backed away and hid behind Gaara.

"Panda-chan, help!" I squealed. There was no movement, no sound, just a lightbulb over my head when I figured out what I had just said. Temari and Kankuro were looking at me in shock, while Gaara had his head down, not looking at any of us, and hiding his face from us. I stepped out from behind him and laughed nervously.

"Oops..." I said. Gaara looked up at me and I was surprised to see he was as red as I was before. He looked at me and turned away, making me turn red and turn away as well. Lucifer then came back with a scroll in his hands, and broke the quiet atmosphere.

"Master, I have-" he said, but was cut off by a death glare from Temari and Kankuro, who were looking like they would explode of they didn't let out their laughter. Thankfully though, this was an opportunity.