*Go little recap thing!*
"Come on! You need to hurry up... We're leaving in a few days and you'll miss your chance!" I sighed, knowing she was right. Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro would be leaving. And who knows how long it would be untl I saw them again?
'You'll miss your chance...'
Kankuro's POV
"Come on! You need to hurry up... We're leaving in a few days and you'll miss your chance!"
Gaara started back at me, his light eyes narrowed.
"Would you stop that?"
"Not until you kiss her!" I pointed at him from where we were both sitting on the ground in my room.
See, my little brother like Kitsune. A lot. Temari and I are smart enough to see that, even if he doesn;t realize quite how much he likes her.
And that girl is head over heels for Gaara.
Said boy looked away from me, glaring at the ground.
"You know you want to! If you wait too long, you'll never see her again."
"You want me to kiss her and leave her?" Gaara looked back at me and I sweatdropped.
"N-No... I mean... Ugh." I groaned. "If you date her then she'll visit us! You guys can spend time together or somethin'." I could see my words were starting to have an affect on Gaara. He was listening to me.
"And if I do, you'll leave me alone about it?"
"Well don't do it because we're bothering you! Do it 'cause you like her." I grinned.
We had a mini staring contest. My dark brown eyes against his pale green ones. And of course, I won!
"Fine." Gaara sighed, looking to the side again.
*End recap*
I stared down at the ramen on the table. This was our breakfast, since we basically had nothing else left in the house to eat. Not that I cared, ramen was always my favorite food! But as the five of us all sat around the table together, nobody really talked.
We were all thinking our own thoughts, lost in the daydreams of our imaginations. My thoughts were scattered and unorganized. I was happy that Gaara and I were kind of getting somewhere (well... Kind of somewhere) , nervous about talking to Tsunade later, and scared. Scared because the Sand shinobi would be leaving in two days. The air in the room was delicate, like the calm before a storm.
"Thanks." Kankuro mumbled slightly as Temari set his bowl in front of him. She smiled and sat next to me, and started eating. I ate, too, but within three minutes Kankuro and Kiba had already finished.
"Slow down, kitty-chan!" I laughed a little at Kankuro. He stopped chewing for a second to look at me, one of his eyebrows raised. He tried to talk, but I couldn't understand anything he said through his full mouth. Temari frowned a little, reaching over the table and hitting him on the head.
"Don't talk with your mouth full!" I laughed a little and continued eating my ramen. For the next few minutes things continued. The silence wasn't awkward or anything, in fact we all welcomed it. It was nice. Just enjoying each others company. And every now and then I would look up and catch Gaara's light gaze on me. A twinge of a smile pulled at my lips. He was trying to be subtle, but I could tell he was getting at something.
'Save it for later. Talk to Tsunade first...' I stood up and stretched.
"Well I'm done so I'm gonna go talk to Lady Tsunade now." I muttered. I set my bowl in the sink, the clatter of it against other piled dishes meeting my ears before I waved a little. The others said stuff, but I was already on the way out. Walking down the streets I knew so well...
The streets I would be leaving soon.
Realization hit me like a rock. I stopped walking completely, the wind still sliding through my hair and across my body.
Leaving.
I had never really known anything other than this. Other than the town I knew like the back of my hand. The people I saw and offered smiles to every day, the familiar smells and sounds of daily life. Training, fighting and missions. I knew nothing more than the shinobi life I had lead, and the friends along the way.
I was about to tear myself away from all of that for an undecided amount of time.
What if I forgot? What if it was years before I returned, and Konoha changed? Time wasn't about to stop just because I was leaving.
'It didn't stop for Naruto, either.'
The mention of my blonde friend had been hitting a little too close to home recently. I missed everything about him. His smiles could brighten anyone's day, his enthusiasm about anything and everything was hopelessly contagious. And of course, his fierce determination that kept him going.
Thats why he left. To get stronger. To bring back Sasuke and protect what he loved, even if that meant breaking away from it for a while.
If Naruto could do it, so could I.
I shuffled my feet, walking again. My eyes stayed fixed on the ground. More thoughts of the Uzumaki entered my mind, and as I walked through the same dusty streets I had for what seemed like so many years, memories flooded my dull brain.
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Third Person POV
"So you're really gonna do it?" Kankuro was leaning on the counter, smirking down at his younger brother. Said brother glared with a sigh.
"Stop making a big deal." But being Kankuro, he wouldn't. They were leaving soon, and Gaara was getting pretty ticked off at Kankuro's bothering. Constantly.
"Not until I see your lips meet hers." that statement was made worse by handmotions. God Kankuro used hand motions a lot. Excessivly, actually.
"I said I would, ok? When I do is up to me." Gaara's pale green glare intensified on his older brother. His patience was running short with this whole thing. Sure being in Konoha was pretty fun, but being trapped in the same place for months at a time was getting a little old. But in the short time, he had no doubt changed.
His words were kinder, he snapped less at his friends. Oh yeah, he actually considered his siblings friends now. His smiles were bigger. Few and far between yes, but bigger and more meaningful.
And then there was Kitsune.
The reason for his siblings constantly pegging him to slam her into the wall and make out with her.
Gaara of course, would have none of that. Sure he liked her, but he didn't quite know how to show affection. Having never been shown too much himself, this new emotion confused him. Midnight conversations with Temari and Kankuro had lead him to belive Kitsune loved him.
But did he... Love her back?
'Yes.' Even if it was a miniscule amount of the thing, Sabaku no Gaara deffinatly felt a pang of love for the red haired girl. He tried to cover it with feeble attempts of harshness, and not to be weak and show his true feelings.
And little did the Sand Shinobi know, Kitsune truly did love him. Head over heels, puppy love, crushed love. The kind you only hear about in love stories and silly legends passed down by village elders.
But this was so real. So close to both of them, like they could reach out and touch it. Like if they didn't embrace it soon, it would carefully flutter away from both of them, never to return again.
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Kitsune's POV
It had all happened so fast. It had to be a dream. It had to be. I couldn't handle this . The fear of them leaving and being alone... The pain of the fact they were actually leaving.. The worry of if Gaara was just leading me on, even if he didnt know or coudln't help it.
It was too much. My mind was bending in ways it shouldn't. Sanity was cracking around me. I thought I had been scared the first time I found out they were leaving, but now he seemed to only mean more.
He was the only person I had ever admitted to myself and others I loved. He was the only person I truly did love. Other than my parents of course, but this love was obviously different. It made my heart flutter when I saw him or made it drop if a frown or glare settled on his face .
That anger had long melted away. He kept himself guarded when we were friends. Now that I thought about it, he was probably just scared. Never letting anyone in. Except, I had broken my way through.
I pushed passed his resentment.
I tore the walls he built up and it granted me with a special place beside him, holding him up, letting him be open. And I did the same.
I allowed him to pull me apart. I had long since kept myself closed up from others. Giving off the false sense of being a strong shinobi. Someone that never needed help and that always laughed things off. With Gaara, I couldn't just blow him off anymore. He would immediately call my bluff and my defenses would crumble.
Another thing I loved about him. He cared so much. He hated to show it, and tried his best not to, but he did. He wouldn't let anyone be without bringing everything out in the open. Many times, I had cursed him for it, but in the end I knew it was just another adoring feature.
It mixed with his heart and stubborn mind to form a package of overly loving mush only masked by his thick layer of hate and irritation. Once you got past that, it was easy to see how vulnerable he kept himself. Well, easy for me at least. I could read the boy like a book. Then again, I had spent months living with him. Gaara... He kept every emotion splattered across his face at all times.
And oh god those eyes.
Those eyes that could break down the strongest will. One look and they could melt the world. One look and they could make you fly.
And it was all ending? No. No I wouldn't let that happen. I couldn't!
'Dammit I have to do something...' My pace quickened as I returned to the house. It was late... Probably a little too late to do anything. They were leaving and...
And I had spent the entire day at the Hokage's office.
A day I could have spent with them before we would both take our leave. Go our seperate ways...
I finished that off with a long drawn out sigh.
Nobody was awake. Or so it seemed... I closed the door behind me, seeing somebody passed out on the couch.
'Probably Kiba...'
I used my awesome ninja skills to sneak up the stairs and into my room. I opened the door to my balcony with extreme care and climbe donto the roof.
The view almost took my breath. I had been up there many times but... The moon was full. It was exceptionally bright, giving light to everything in its path. The lake below moved in shallow waves, pooling against the sand. And above it all, that same figure's sillouhette was illuminated against the moon.
Not too tall, but skinny. It was of course, Gaara. My heart did backflips.
The light breeze shifting through his hair, and- Oh god he was turning around and looking at me.
And smiling.
And saying something.
And I couldn't hear much but my heartbeat was practically in my ears. I found my feet leading me closer to him.
"Hey." I breathed.
Everything was too perfect. We were standing so close to each other, the night wasn't hot or cold, the moon shining down with the help of millions of stars, the wind blowing around both of us, leaving only a hint of a chill in the air.
And slowly, I felt one of his hands gently tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear. It took everything I had not to lose it then. But the way he was leaning towards me and stopped, just mere centemeters from my face, I was almost frozen.
"Have you ever been kissed... Kitsune?" His voice was quiet. I didn;t say anything in response, only shake my head the best I could. The lightest trace of a smile spread across his pale lips before they met mine.
Oh.
God.
That was just too much. One light, soft kiss held so much emotion I thought I would faint.
But I didn't faint, it would have ruined the moment.
The oh so perfect moment, that I would have been perfectly happy living in forever.
'Take a picture, it'll last longer.'
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Not sure what's with that last part. Just felt right. IT'S SO SHORT, IMMA GO CRY NOW.
SOO CHEESY! But we all knew it would happen sooner or later, am I right? (Well I knew, if nothgin else. HURRAY FOR GAARA'S EXTREME OUT OF CHARACTER-NESS)
Wow!
Long time no... Type? Write? Talk? I guess? Yeah...
ItriedtomaketherecaplongbecauseIforgotwhathappenedlastchapter.
I'm really sorry about the wait for this chapter! School and its dreaded finals came, I was in two musicals at my school, sports tryouts, and everything else got in the way.
BUT IT'S HERE!
I hope you guys liked this chapter, I worked pretty hard on it!
IIFFF you didn't like it.... Sorry? Never said ya had to! Uh..
Anyway, next chapter will be the last :/
I don't know how to feel about that. Happy? Sad? Excited?
Well I'm more just trying to make it an epicly amazing end!
ALSO!
Thanks to eveyrone who's been commenting and voting on my chapters, your support is awesome! It's really inspiring to know poeple actulaly like this story that started out as what I thought would be 10 chapters on Microsoft Word. Thanks for your patience with me and procrastination problems! XD
I love you all my lovelies~!
Two votes until next chapter, I'll try to have it out ASAP!
<3!