Chapter 2
Once his siblings arrived at their temporary apartments, Gaara disappeared in a flurry of sand. He went in search of the girl.
He jumped up to one of the rooftops, the best vantage point, and quickly scanned the area. Spotting something green flash by on the outskirts of the village, he looked closer at this strange phenomenon, attention caught. One thing Shukaku had given him was better senses in a kind of not-so-symbiotic relationship.
It was two people actually. The female blending in better than the man with a bowl cut and bright green jumpsuit. She had changed from when he’d first seen her. The black cargo pants remained, but she now wore a dark green crop top and had her hair up in a high ponytail. Looking at her she still caused that twinge in his stomach.
Running with Lee always worked up a good sweat. Her speed and his “youth” made them evenly matched. As she was walking down a side street as a shortcut to her apartments, toweling off the sweat from her long hair she felt a wisp of sand encircle her wrist.
It didn’t hurt, instead, the sand seemed to stroke her pulse point, sending small shivers through her.
At the slight tugging sensation, she turned around.
It was the boy in the tree. His spiky red hair falling into bright green eyes that were staring at her with faint confusion. She wanted to run her hands through the strands, and her hands twitched.
“Who are you?” he asked without inflection.
She smiled brightly, “Yo’ung Sora. And you?”
A faint dusting of pink swept across his cheeks, “Gaara no Sabaku.”
She stared at him for a few moments but her attention was caught by yelling coming from around the corner. It sounded like Sakura. Kakashi must have done something again for her to hit that pitch.
She focused her attention to make sure it wasn’t anything more and then turned back to Gaara. But he wasn’t there.
The sand encircling her wrist remained, however.