Leslie
"It's the third day of us being out here. We ran out of water yesterday. We have no food and we're in a desert. Can it get any worse?" Serena asked.
"I could fry up your little cat body and eat." I suggested.
"You wouldn't dare."
I smiled and pulled out a kunai and aimed it at Serena.
"Wanna bet?" I asked.
She screeched and dashed off in the wrong direction.
"Serena! The Sand Village is the other way!" I yelled.
Suddenly, my vision got blurry and I couldn't tell what direction I was facing. I fell onto the hot sand. I closed my eyes against the beating sun.
"Are you alright?" A deep voice asked.
The heat was suffocating and it choked me.
"Ser....en...a." I choked out.
"It will be alright." The voice said.
I tried reaching my arm up and was somewhat successful. Something grabbed my arm and pulled me up. My legs shook for a second before they were hoisted up into the air. I gasped with shock and my head landed on a shoulder. My arms hung at my side while my legs draped over an arm.
"Relax. I have you now." The voice said.
I breathed heavily in reply. I felt the rush of wind as the person started to run.
"I need to go to the Sand Village! I have to....carry out my mission." I coughed.
"That is where we are heading."
With those words, I blacked out.
***
I heard mumbling in this background and tried to wake up. I could feel myself slowly being dragged up from a heavy sleep. When I got close to waking up, I could feel sweat covering my body and plastering my hair to my face. I sat bolt right up and screamed, covering my head with my hands. My sweat turned into ice and separated from my body. The daggers then flew in every direction. I heard the shred of cloth and the breaking of glass. After a second of silence, I opened my eyes. I was in a round office. The cloth that had covered the window was shredded and glass covered the floor. In the center of the office stood a wall of sand. Slowly the sand began to slide away reviling Gaara of the Sand behind it.Temari and Kankuro were also behind it. In Temari's hand was a lump of black fur. Serena jumped out of Temari's hand and ran to me.
"Leslie!" She cried.
"Serena! I told you not to run off! You could have died out there!" I said.
"You could have just killed us all! Did you have that nightmare again? You're supposed to be a medical ninja! You should remember to take your medicine before sleeping!"
"Isn't that why you're my sidekick?"
"Half it is! The other half is because our families are intertwined! We were paired up at birth!"
I heard someone cough and glanced up.
"Oh!" I said pushing Serena off my lap.
I tried standing up, but my legs collapsed under me. I felt the rush of wind and then something warm and soft.
"You seem to fall a lot." A deep voice said.
I blushed as Gaara sat me down. I bowed until my head was touching my knees and then sat up again.
"I'm sorry. Please forgive my rude behavior." I said.
"You have some explaining to do! You almost shredded us to pieces with your ice daggers! Give us a reason why!" Temari snapped.
I flinched and bowed my head a little. I pulled my legs up to my face until my knees were touching my chin.
"My family was brutally murdered almost a year ago. I was on a mission and didn't find out until a week after the killings. I returned home and buried my family. I then trained to be a medical ninja and was the first to ever learn all the skills within a one month period. Every since then, I have been going around healing as many people as I can. I have a nightmare of my family being murdered and unless I take an herb mixture.....That happens." I explained.
"Well, that still isn’t reason enough..." Temari began.
"Temari! Enough!" Gaara said.
Serena jumped onto my head and put her paw on my forehead. My eyes glowed for a minute with the picture of someone outside the window. I stood up, ran to the window and looked down.
"Naruto! I thought you were going to let me do this mission alone!" I yelled.
"I was worried about you! You're supposed to tell your Sensei when you leave for a mission!" Naruto yelled back.
I jumped back as Naruto jumped in the window.
"What's up, Gaara?" Naruto asked.
"Temari, Kankuro. Leave." Gaara said.
Silently, Temari and Kankuro left the office and shut the door behind them.
"Naruto! I was just about to tell them why I was here." I said.
"Then go ahead!" Naruto pushed me forward.
"Gaara, I have been assigned to be your apprentice/guard." I said with a bow.
Gaara stayed silent for a moment.
"What about Naruto?" Gaara asked.
"He's just some big goof that keeps checking up on me." I said.
"Leslie, you know I'm right here." Naruto said.
"Don't make me tell Sakura that you followed me again." I said.
"You wouldn't." Naruto said.
"I will as soon as I get back to the village if you don’t scram!" I said.
"Alright! I'm leaving!" Naruto said and jumped out the window.
"Take care of her Gaara! I'm counting on you!" Naruto called up.
I sighed and looked at Gaara. He looked back at me with an expressionless face.
"So, you’re my apprentice/guard?" He asked.
"Yes! I'm supposed to learn from you and protect you as much as I can." I said with a smile.
"Then your training begins now. Go get me some coffee."
"No! I'm your apprentice! Not your slave!"
"Try to get past my defenses. If you land a scratch on me, we can do whatever you like."
"Then we should probably move to a training ground."
"The roof."
"I'll race you!"
I jumped out the window and propelled myself upward until I landed on the roof. To my disappointment, Gaara was already there.
"You should have more patience."
I sighed. I pulled out four kunai and threw one at him. Sand came out of nowhere and cover Gaara's face. My kunai thudded to the ground. As expected. I pulled out my water reserve and threw the water into the air. The water droplets instantly froze and turned into ice daggers. I concentrated and shoved forwards with my hands. The daggers flew out at Gaara from every direction and I charged behind them with a kunai in hand. The daggers hit the sand and dropped but I flew up around the sand and managed a small cut on Gaara's cheek before having to avoid the sand. I landed beside Gaara and kissed his injured cheek. I took a step back and watched Gaara's face blush as he felt the spot where my lips had touched his skin. He then felt the cut and turned to me. I smiled in triumph. Gaara stared at me for a moment before tackling me to the ground. I let out a small scream in surprise before landed on the ground. My hair flew out and scatter over the ground while Gaara's hung down. His hands had trapped my arms and his legs had mine pinned to the ground. I blushed as Gaara's face was close to mine.
"Sensei?" I asked.
He bent down and kissed my cheek before getting up. I could feel my whole face turn red as I stood up.
"You managed to land a blow. Very good. It seems you are too fast for my sand. Not fast enough to land a big blow though. What would you like to do now?" He asked.
I thought for a moment before deciding what to do.
"I want to watch the sun set and watch the moon rise!" I said.
"That’s a lot to ask for." He said.
"I'm just asking for your company."
"Alright. I know the perfect place to watch."
Gaara jumped off the roof and onto the roof of a different building.
"Hey! Wait up Sensei!" I called and followed him.
I chased him around the village until we finally stopped on the roof of the tallest building in the village. I sat down and watched the sun set. I sighed and silently watched as the moon slowly rose. I got up and began to twirl around the roof. My flung my arms out and lifted my leg occasionally to leap. I twirled and stopped right behind Gaara. I leaned in and whispered in his ear.
"Now it's your turn Sensei. Find me and we can do whatever you like. I'll be hiding somewhere within the village. Good luck."
I disappeared just as he turned around. My jutsu worked! I managed to transport myself into his office. I sighed as I looked around.
"Serena. Warn me if you see him coming. Keep post at the window." I said.
"Okay." Serena replied.
I began by picking up the glass and throwing it away. I cut myself a few times before picking up all the glass. I took out a roll of bandage and wrapped my fingers up before moving on. I took down the cloth that was shredded and began to sew it back up. It must have taken me an hour before I finished the cloth. I hung it back up and then began to sew the couch back together. That took me at least another hour. Then I moved onto the chair and began to sew that up. I finally finished an hour and a half later. I bit the thread and stored my needle back into my pouch. I rested my head on the chair and closed my eyes.
"That’s not a very good hiding place." Gaara said.
I opened my eyes and saw Gaara kneeling down next to the chair.
"Well, it did take you three and a half hours to find me." I said.
"Actually, it took my half an hour to find you." He said.
"What?"
"I thought you were doing a nice thing so I let you continue."
"You watched me clean your office for three hours?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I enjoy watching you."
"Sensei."
"Yes."
"I need to sleep now."
"Alright."
Gaara stood up and then lifted me out of the chair. I gasped and threw my arms around his neck. He carried me to a door next to the bookcase and opened it. Behind the door was a very dark room, but I could make out the shape of a bed. He carried me to the bed and laid me down on it. I kept my arms around him and pulled him down onto the bed with me.
"Please stay with me tonight. I know you can't sleep, but please stay with me. Let me pretend that I still have my sister to snuggle with at night." I said.
A tear slipped down my cheek and fell onto his hand.
"Alright." He said and laid down.
I grabbed a vial out of my pouch and pressed it to my lips. The sweet liquid flowed down my throat and then was gone. I put the vial back in my pouch and pulled Gaara closer to me. I laid my head on his chest and kept my arms wrapped around his neck.
"Thank you." I whispered and kissed the base of his neck.
I could feel the heat in Gaara's face rise before I fell asleep.
