I woke up and took in my surroundings. It was very dark and I could just make out the figure of someone close to me. I sighed and rolled on top of Gaara. I laid my head on his chest and listened to his heart beating. It was a little accelerated compared to being normal.
“You’re nervous.” I stated.
“I’ve never been in this kind of situation before.” Gaara said.
“Well, now you have.”
“What did you dream of?”
“Huh?”
“You whimpered and sighed occasionally while you were asleep.”
“Oh. I didn’t realize that I was doing that.”
“So then what did you dream of?”
“I dreamt that I was falling off a cliff, but then flew up in your cloud of sand and caught me. We then danced in the moonlight together.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“We should get working on your training.”
“But I’m comfortable!”
“You’re the laziest genine I’ve encountered.”
“I’ll be a chunin soon. I just need to finish my training and then the test.”
"Well, you need to finish your training and you have just barely begun.”
“Blah, blah, blah. So what did you dream about?”
“You know that I can’t sleep.”
“So? You can daydream. So what did you dream of?”
“I don’t know. I was just thinking and reviewing your lesson yesterday.”
“Well, you couldn’t have been doing that the whole time I was asleep. So tell me what you dreamed of!”
“Well, I guess I dreamed of you too. I dreamed that you were training very hard with me.”
“Not funny.”
“I thought it was.”
“You never told me what you wanted to do.”
“What?”
“I challenged you to find me and you did. But, you never told me what you wanted to do.”
“Oh. I’m not sure.”
“Come on! You have to want to do something!”
“Fine. I want to go train.”
“Fine. But we have to play another game.”
“Okay. As long as you get off and meet me on the roof.”
“Okay.”
I concentrated and transported myself onto the roof top. The sun was rising as I got onto the roof. I gasped and sighed. It was beautiful and it stained everything an orangey-pink. I heard a soft pop and knew that Gaara was on the roof with me.
“Sensei, it’s so beautiful!” I said.
“Yes. It is.” He agreed.
“I wish this moment could last forever. Watching the beautiful sun rise with Sensei. A perfect moment.”
“It would make a good picture.”
“Okay!”
I pulled out my camera from a pocket in my pouch and carried it over to Gaara.
“Here, take a picture of me and then we can take one together.” I said.
“Alright.” He said.
I walked over to the edge and then turned to look behind me with a smile on my face. As I was turning around, Gaara took the picture. He reviewed the picture and then nodded. I walked over and grabbed the camera from him. I threw an arm around him and pressed my cheek against his and smiled.
“Smile Sensei!” I said and snapped the picture.
I looked at the picture and laughed. Gaara’s eyes were a little wide and he was blushing while I was smiling and blushing next to him.
“Sensei! You look so funny!” I said giggling.
“Delete it.” He said.
“No way! That picture is just too perfect!”
“Alright. Enough goofing off. We have to start your training.”
“Alright. What are the conditions?”
“You have caught me. We’ll stay in the village. If you catch me, we can watch the sun set and the moon rise again.”
“If I don’t catch you?”
"Then you have to take me out for dinner.”
“That’s not fair! I’ll have to bring you all the way to the Leaf Village for that!”
“Why?”
“Because I only ate ramen when I got to eat out.”
“You make everything complicated.”
“That is also what the big goof rewarded me with so that’s what I got use to.”
“Alright. Your training begins now.”
Gaara took off with me closely following behind him. It took me an hour to finally get my surroundings down. It then took me three hours to figure out how to block him off. An hour later, I threw out my daggers and caught him in a corner.
“Gotcha!” I said and jumped at him.
Unfortunately, he transported to the roof a few blocks away.
“I give up!” I yelled and sat down.
Gaara raced over to me and looked down at me disapprovingly.
“Don’t give me that look! I’ve been chasing you around all day without any food!” I said.
“Chase me for another two hours and if you haven’t caught me by then, we’ll go to the Leaf Village for ramen.” He said.
I propelled myself at him and he jumped away. I sighed and chased him for another hour before cornering him. I made three clones and launched at him. He transported again and my clones smacked their heads together and disappeared. I jumped up and chased him for another hour before he stopped us. I sat down on the roof of the building we were on and threw my head back.
“You’re too fast for me.” I said and lay down.
Suddenly, sand came under me and lifted me off the ground. I screamed and sat up. Gaara was stand right next to me with his gourd open. Sand poured out and made a shield below us. I grabbed onto Gaara’s leg and hugged myself closely to it.
“What are you doing Leslie?” Gaara asked.
“I’m afraid!” I said.
“Of what?”
“Of falling! I don’t like being up high!”
“We were just running around on buildings!”
“That’s different!”
“How?”
“It just is!”
“You’re supposed to be a ninja!”
“I know that! I just don’t like heights.”
Gaara sat down next to me. I let go of his leg and clung onto him. He chuckled and then we began to move. We moved very fast until we got to the border of the Leaf Village. Then we jumped into the trees and began moving through them. I liked the wind on my face, but then I felt something caress my cheek. I looked over and saw Gaara.
“Sensei?” I asked.
“You were crying.” He explained.
I touched my cheek and felt the moisture there.
“Oh.” I said.
“Is this were it happened?” He asked.
“Yes. In this very forest. My family decided that they would rather live in the woods than in the village. The hokage of that time allowed us to move our little cottage in the forest, but close to the village so that my sister and I could go to school and train.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
I looked at him and saw that his face was expressionless.
“I know a lot about you. Naruto told me all that he knew. He asked me to see if I could open your heart up a bit.”
“You weren’t supposed to tell him that!” Naruto’s voice said in my ear.
I screamed and ran into Gaara. We both grabbed onto each other as we began to fall from the tree. I closed my eyes as we fell. A few second later, I felt the brush of lips against my forehead and then my feet lightly touched the ground.
“Open your eyes.” Gaara’s voice whispered.
I opened my eyes and realized that Gaara had saved us with his sand. I hugged him tightly before slipping out of his arms and attacking Naruto.
“You idiot!” I said.
I put a little bit of my chakra on the end of my fist and punched Naruto in the face. I could feel hi cheek bone break underneath my fist before he went flying into a tree trunk.
“Ow!” He screamed.
I walked over to him and pressed my foot up against his broken cheek.
“Ow! Stop! That’s hurts like hell!” Naruto screamed.
“Say you’re sorry and I’ll heal you.” I said.
“Sorry!”
I took my foot off his face and sighed. I held my forefinger and middle finger together and kissed them. They began to glow and emit a very light smoke. I held my finger against Naruto’s broken cheek and it briefly glowed before both my fingers and his cheek stopped glowing.
I stood up and began to walk towards the village.
“Incredible healing method.” Gaara said to Naruto.
“It’s a work of art. Her own method too. Although, Sakura taught her most of the things she knows. The rest she learned from scrolls.” Naruto said.
“She’s incredible.”
“She’s your apprentice. You’re lucky to have her.”
“I truly am.”
“So don’t abuse the connection you have with her.”
“What connection?”
“Come on Gaara! I thought you were smarter than this!”
“What are you talking about?”
“She obviously cares for you and you obviously care for her. The sooner you realize that, the happier you’ll be.”
“Naruto!” I hissed.
“Oh man!” Naruto said and ran towards town.
I sighed and followed him while Gaara followed silently behind me. When we got to town, it was almost dark out and my stomach was growling fiercely. I walked a little hunched over and moaned a few times.
“Gaara, aren’t you feeding this girl?” Someone asked.
I looked up and saw Sakura standing a few feet ahead of us.
“Onee-chan!” I called and ran to her.
I flung myself at her, almost knocking her down. I wrapped my arms around her neck and lifted my feet. She easily held me up with her strength. She wrapped her arms around my waist and swung me around a few times before putting me down.
“You’re the same as always, Chibi-chan.” She said.
I smiled and then let go of her. I then shuffled my feet and hung my head.
“Onee-chan, Naruto followed me to the Sand Village yesterday. And then he scared me outside the village by jumping out at me.” I said with a sniff.
“Nar…u...to!” Sakura hissed.
“It didn’t happen exactly like that Sakura! I didn’t mean to scare her! I just said hi!” Naruto said backing away.
“You idiot!” Sakura yelled and punched Naruto in the face.
Naruto flew back about ten feet and then landed on the ground. I smiled as Sakura approached him again.
“Onee-chan, I’ll meet you at the ramen shop!” I called.
She held up a finger in recognition and then grabbed Naruto’s shirt and held him up.
“What did I tell you about her being old enough to handle things on her own? And didn’t I tell you not to jump out at her?” Sakura shouted.
I giggled and then looked at Gaara. He had his hand covering his mouth and his eyes were watering.
“Sensei?” I asked.
“What?” He chocked out.
“Are you okay?”
“That…..that was so funny! The way you ratted out Naruto!”
“Sensei is usually so serious. This is new to me.”
“Remind me to never get you mad.”
“Okay. Let’s go to the shop, but first give me your gourd.”
“What?”
“Stand your gourd up for me.”
“No.”
“Just do it!”
“Fine!”
Gaara carefully took his gourd off and stood it in front of him. I took out some water and poured it on the gourd.
“Hey!” Gaara said.
I concentrated and turned the water into ice. I then proceed to make it shrink. Sweat began to form on my body and I had to concentrate really hard to shrink the gourd down to pocket-size. After a few minutes, I was successful.
“What did you just do?” Gaara asked.
I leaned down and picked up the gourd. I blew on it and the ice fell off.
“I made your gourd pocket-sized. It still has the same amount of sand in it, it’s just smaller.” I said.
I handed the gourd to him and he put it in his pocket. I looked Gaara up and down two times.
“What?” He asked.
I got close to him and pulled his hood up and over his head.
“There! Now people will stop starring at us.” I said.
I grabbed Gaara’s hand and pulled him towards the ramen shop. I could still heard Sakura shouting as we made our way into the shop.
I sat down in a stool in the center and Gaara took his seat right next to me.
“We’ll have four specials please.” I said.
“Coming right up.” A man behind the counter said.
“Why four?” Gaara whispered in my ear.
His breath tickled my ear so I giggled before answering.
“One for me, one for you, one for Onee-chan, and one for Naruto.” I said.
“Oh.” He said.
A few minutes later, Sakura dragged a very beaten up Naruto into the shop. They sat down next to me and our orders were placed in front of us.
“Eat up!” I said and we all grabbed chop sticks and began to eat.
Naruto got a little blood in his bowl and whined about it for a second before Sakura gave him a look. We all ate in silence otherwise. When we were finished, Sakura, Naruto, and I paid for dinner. Once everything was paid for, Sakura and Naruto walked Gaara and me to the gates.
“Goodbye Onee-chan!” I said giving Sakura a hug.
“Goodbye Chibi-chan!” Sakura said.
“Goodbye Gaara, Leslie.” Naruto said.
“Goodbye idiot!” I said and walked away.
Gaara gave a nod and then began to follow me.
“Remember what I said Gaara!” Naruto called.
Moonlight was filtering down through the canopy and splashing across the dirt road. I twirled around in it and lifted my arms. I closed my eyes and twirled for what seemed like ages before I opened my eyes and realized that I was flying with Gaara on his sand. I screamed and Gaara spun me around so that I was facing him.
“Calm down! Just look at me! Don’t look down!” Gaara said.
My eyes were wide with fear and I could feel a tear slip down my cheek. Gaara wiped it away.
“Keep dancing.” Gaara said.
“But I can’t twirl with you.” I whispered.
“Do you know how to do the tango?”
“Yes.”
“Then follow my lead.”
“But there’s no music.”
“That hasn’t stopped you before. One, two, three.”
We danced and it was magical. We swayed and stepped and twirled. It was like flying. I blushed the whole time and I noticed that he blushed too. When we ended with him dipping me, our faces got really close and I could feel his breath on my skin. It took us a minute to figure out that we were outside his office window.
“Sensei?” I asked.
“Yes?” He asked.
“Have you figured out what Naruto said yet?”
“Not entirely.”
“Then what do you get?”
“That I could lose you soon.”
“To what?”
“Anything.”
“And what else?”
“I’ve realized some of my feelings.”
“What feelings?”
“Feelings of love.”
“Me too Sensei.”
“Maybe we should go inside.”
“Yeah. Before someone notices us.”
He stood me up and we jumped into his office. As soon as my feet touched the floor, he had me in his arms and we were kissing. His soft lips gently brushed mine and his hands caressed my back and cheeks. My arms were wrapped behind his neck pulling him closer to me. The kiss seemed to deepen as the minutes went by. Eventually, we made it to the bed. After a while, we were breathless and under the sheets. I rested on top of Gaara as his finger traced my back.
“That was……” I said.
“Wonderful, breath-taking?” Gaara offered.
“Beautiful.”
“I agree.”
We kissed briefly before I rested my head on his chest. I listened to his heart beat and began to drift to sleep.
“I love you Sensei.” I whispered.
It was quiet for a moment before I heard him whisper back.
“I love you too.” He breathed into my ear.
I sighed and fell asleep.
***
“Leslie?” I whispered.
It was silent in the room. She must have fallen asleep. I continued to trace her back until she moaned in her sleep. I didn’t want to wake her so I rested my hand on her lower back.
“She said she loved me. And I told her that I loved her back. But what happens now?” I whispered to myself.
“Gaara.” Leslie sighed.
“Yes?” I whispered.
No reply. She was still asleep. I looked down to see her lips slightly parted. I pushed Leslie up a bit so that our lips were close to each other. Then, I kissed her. It lasted for only a second so that I wouldn’t wake her. She blushed and moaned again. I held her to me and daydreamed about her. I dreamed about her smile and about her dancing. I dreamed about her soft lips and her kindly spoken words. I dreamed so much about her. That it took the whole night. All too suddenly, she began to stir.
***
I dreamed about Gaara kissing me, but I wasn’t sure if it was a dream or not. It felt so real. I woke up and noticed that I couldn’t hear Gaara’s heart beat. Then I noticed that his lips were just inches from mine. Suddenly, Gaara’s lips were on mine. His soft lips caressed mine and made my body tingle. All too quickly, it was over.
“Good morning.” Gaara’s voice was deep, but soft.
“I was enjoying that!” I said.
“Sleeping?”
“No. These.”
I reached up a little and brushed my lips against his ever so lightly. I could feel him smile and blush. Then he rolled over so that I was lying on the bed. Then we picked up where we had left off last night. After awhile, he was lying beside me and we were both breathing heavily and smiling. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the back of my neck.
“Beautiful?” He asked.
“Wondrously beautiful.” I said.
“How so?”
“We’ve gotten somewhat better.”
“Well, I hate to ruin this moment, but it’s time to eat and then train.”
“No. I think I’ll just stay like this for the rest of the day.”
“I would enjoy that too, but we still have to train you and work on your dancing lessons.”
“What do you mean work on my dancing lessons?”
“There is a ball tomorrow night. It is to congratulate me on becoming Kazekage. I want to show you off as my new apprentice and you are required to know the tango, the waltz, and other ballroom dances.”
“So are we working on those dances today?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s go eat. I’m starving.”
We climbed out of bed and pulled on out clothes. He grabbed my hand and we walked to the door. Gaara opened it a crack and then pushed me onto the bed.
“Stay here.” He whispered and then walked out of the room.
“Temari, what are you doing in my office?” Gaara asked.
“I came to find you and tell you that all the preparations for the ball tomorrow are complete.” She said.
“Thank you.”
“Where is your apprentice?”
“She should be on the roof, preparing for her lesson.”
I took that as a cue to get up to the roof. I took a deep breath and then transported myself to the roof. Up there, I took a ribbon out of my pouch and tied my hair back. A few second later, Gaara landed on the roof with a muffin in his hand. He handed it to me and I ate it quickly. After I was done, he grabbed me and brought me close to him.
“Ready for another tango?” He asked.
"Yes.” I said.
We began and it was the same as last night. It was magical and we flew on the roof, our feet barley touching the ground. After that was the waltz, which I mastered after a few tries. Then came the salsa, the rumba, the mambo, and the foxtrot. I learned them all by the end of the night. Gaara and I went back to his office and ate dinner there. Afterwards, we headed to his bedroom where we burned off the calories.
