Discovering The Meaning Of Love-A Gaara Love Story

I turned down the next street. I was on my way to the village gate to meet up with my team: Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. The street is peaceful and quiet, for everyone would be asleep at this hour. It's quite warm out tonight. Miserable in my opinion. I never did like the heat, but I have dedicated myself to my village and don't plan on leaving.

I walked up to my team. Everyone was wearing their usual attire. Temari, my best friend for as long as I can remember, smiled at my approach. Kankuro seemed tired, guess he just left a party or something. The only thing out of the ordinary was Gaara. He glanced up at me from his seated positoin with anxious eyes. My heart fluttered at the thought of having Gaara's eyes on me. I smiled and greated them, happy I hadn't tripped.

"Hey, guys!"

"Hello, Miki!" Temari said with a hug.

"Hey." Kankuro said with a smirk. I didn't want to know what was up with him.

Gaara just sat there.I never really expected a response from him, for he's more of the quiet, secretive type. 'Wait...Was that a blush?!' I thought. 'Did Gaara just blush?' There was a slight line of pink on his cheeks. 'No!' I contradicted myself. 'That would be impossible! Gaara has never done that before.' Before i knew it, I no longer saw it. 'Yes, it was just my imagination then.' I told myself.

"Ok. So guys, what is our mission today?" I wondered.

"Well, we actually have a mission to go after the Akatsuki," Kankuro explained.

"Sweet! That sounds exciting! What is the cause for that?" I asked, getting excited.

"We are actually trying to gain information onthem, for we have reason to believe they havedecided to come after Gaara now..." he said, his voice trailing off. My excitement was instantly gone. I threw aworried glance at Gaara. He was staring at the ground. I knew why they wanted him, butI would not give him up!

"What reason do we have for that?"I asked worriedly. I could tell my voice was shaky, butI didn't care. Temari answered this time.

"When Baki was out on his last missioin, he got a run in with Sasori," she hissed his name,"a former member of our village's ninja. He was asking about Gaaraand said Shakaku would help them acheive their goal of world domination. Pretty original, huh?" she added sarcastically, trying to lighten the tension.

"Yeah, original." I mumbled sadly, staring at the ground now.

"Are youalright Miki?" Kankuro asked concerned. Gaara quickly lookedat me, waiting anxiously, it seemed, for myreply. I met his eyes for a second, then looked away.
"...Yes," Ifinally managed to say. "I'm fine...I'm just worried about Gaara, you know?" I could feel Gaara's eyes on me.

"Aw, come on, Miki!" Kankuro said, while patting me on the shoulder. "Don't worry about Gaara, he's strong."

"Yeah...I know." I said quietly. Gaara lookedback at the ground. 'Man, he's acting strange today! Well...I'm one to talk. I was acting like a worried sister or girlfriend andI was neither to him. Gaara doesn't seem to date, so I know nothing would happen.' I sighed and looked at my teammates.

"Come on, lets go, then."I said with a fake smile. They seemed to have bought it.

Kankuroturned and led the way. We walkedthrough the gates and towards the forest outside the desert. Kankuro led the way in front,Temari and Iwalked side by side in the middle, and Gaara walked behind us. We didn't say much, except when Temari and I started talking about a planned shopping trip for a while, until Kankuro and his "macho" ego got fed up. I knew he wasn't mad. He's like my older brother. He could never stay mad at me formore than a minute before he gave up.

The sun slowly began to rise.