Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Actions Speak Louder ❯ Unresolved Feelings ( Chapter 18 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: kuchiku

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Ura was running at a normal pace to Konoha, excited to go because it's been so long since she had been in the village she thought was the most beautiful place on earth! Feelings that she had given up were all coming back, the chance that something special could happen between her and Gaara. With one big leap, Ura was floating in the air, free as a cloud could be...maybe..there was still a chance for happiness... After she landed, Ura was near the Konohan gates, signifying her trip was coming to an end.

The sun was at the point of No Shadows, high in the sky, informing everyone it was noon. Though in the desert, everyone was inside at noon, in Konoha, it was the busiest time of day. Everyone was outside, enjoying the beautiful scenery, allowing to gape in the blooming sakura trees. Ura loved the feeling of the cool breeze move swiftly through her hair, erasing the days of the desert and starting new ones in Konoha...until...

"URA-CHAN!!! IS THAT YOU!?!?!?!?!?!?!?"

As soon as Ura had turned for a second to see who was calling at her, someone had already leaped right on top of her, squeezing her so tightly! Though she had little time to prepare for the greeting, she knew who it was from the voice... Rock Lee. Ura hugged him right back, trying to match his strength, "Lee! You're all better now! You're a Chunin!"

Lee got off of her and helped her up, "Yeah, I retested in the second Chunin Exam, with a new team of course, and I passed! I believe it is with your strong words that it is why I passed so well...but, I never got to say a proper goodbye, not after Sand and Sound invaded Konoha," Lee commented.

"That I am very sorry about, my team and I did not wish to part-take in that, but...that was the Kazekage's orders, not mine," Ura shrugged, "But all has been forgiven...right?"

"Of course, I knew from the beginning at least you couldn't have wanted that from your own country," Lee smiled and place a hand on her shoulder, "Come, we need to tell the others of your return! I am sure they will all be pleased to see you."

"I don't think that's really needed, I came just to speak with Hokage Naruto-sama, that's it, then I leave," Ura didn't want to make her entrance noticable.

Lee didn't give her the option, he just dragged her through the village, though Ura had pulled out her handy-dandy umbrella to mask her face from the world. Ura didn't want anyone from her past in Konoha, she was embarressed on how ruthless she acted, especially towards Neji and Sasuke. Then, Ura noticed Sakura and Ino together, this time they weren't fighting like before. Lee rushed over to them, pulling Ura along like she was some rag doll, "Sakura, Ino, guess who came back! Ura!!"

He snatched away her umbrella, shoving her lightly in front of them, Sakura then eyed her, "You aren't here to try and finish up the rest of us?"

"Sakura! Don't be like that, our country had made peace with her country," Ino commented, then turned to Ura, "Welcome back, we weren't expecting to see you, of all people, again. Why'd you come back? I mean, it's just so random that you popped out of no where."

"I'm just on a mission to speak with Naruto, that's it, then I get to go back home..." Ura explained, scratching her head, "I'm just staying a week."

Sakura then snided, "You'll be staying longer if you try to pull a fast one on Naruto."

"Sakura!" Ino elbowed Sakura in her ribs, "Sorry about that, Ura, my partner here doesn't understand how to put her fangs away properly."

"Partners? Are you two in the same team?" Ura was confused.

"Uhm..no...we're a couple, Sakura is my lover," Ino wrapped an arm around Sakura, "We've been a couple after Sasuke was kidnapped by Orochimaru."

"Sasuke was kidnapped by him!?" Ura was shocked, "But..but I heard that Sasuke ran off with Orochimaru!"

"He did, but..." Ino stepped closer to Ura and whispered, "Sakura never got over that, so everyone has been saying he was kidnapped for Sakura's sake..."

Ura then got the idea, "Oh...sorry..."

"It wouldn't be the first time you screwed things up around here," Sakura added drly.

"Please, Sakura, Ura never meant the many deaths that were taken that day, so do not consider Ura an enemy," Lee stated protectivly for Ura, "Though you two were never close to begin with, I believe Ura is my friend and never meant to do anything wrong."

Ura was proud to have Lee as her friend in Konoha, when no one else believed in her, at least on person could do her that favor. When Ura had looked at Lee in disbelief, she could see he, too, has changed over time. Lee had lost his boy-ish figure and has muscles of ten men conjoined to one. His eyes burned with more fire and passion for life than they were before, and the expression on his face seemed more adventurous and manly than the cute, kid-like phase of before.

Sakura and Ino had left, so Lee took Ura's wrist again and began walking with her through the village again. Ura was more at ease with Lee now, she felt that he was protecting her from anyone that might give her grief. He was like a brother to her, now that they were together again, and Ura felt more and more comfortable around him by the second. Lee then took her to the Hokage's mansion, "When you need to speak with Naruto, he will be right in this mansion. Naruto never leaves this place unless he has to leave the country, otherwise he has everyone come to him, even if it is for take-out meals."

"How sloth-like..." Ura commented with a sweat drop, "Are you serious?"

"No... Naruto is taking every advantage he can make, but he is doing a perfect job for our village. That is why no one is complaining about him, Naruto watches everyone..." Lee looked admirably at the mansion, "Someday...maybe I, too, can become the Hokage..."

Placing a hand on his firm shoulder, Ura smiled at Lee, "Maybe that wish will be granted to you someday, Lee, but for now, enjoy what you have."

Lee looked down at Ura with one of Gai-sensei's old smiles with a 'thumbs-up' sign, "I am proud to have what I have been given and for who I am now!"

A low grumble was heard, Ura's face went up in flames, she hadn't eaten in ten hours, "Well...maybe my wish can come true on getting something to eat...where is a resturant?"

"Right this way!" Lee took her wrist again and ran towards the nearest resturant, "This is one of my favorites, they have the spiciest sasami in the entire country! Plus they have fair prices so you do not have to worry about how much food cost."

Ura and Lee were directed to a table instantly and were given an appetizer to start off with, Lee wasn't really hungry, so Ura bought the first meal for herself. The two caught up on old times, both telling stories about each other's missions and how they were doing in their own personal lives. Lee didn't know that Ura had loved Gaara before, but when Ura told him the knews, he was shocked beyond belief, "You really loved Gaara? But he seemed so...so..."

"Ruthless. Crazy. Maniacal. Insane. Blood-thirsty. Angry. Hater. Cold. Isolated. Cruel. Heart-less. Mean. Selfish... All of those?" Ura sighed, "I could keep going..."

Lee was dumb-founded on all the words that she could use to describe Gaara, but he didn't understand why she did. Ura had said that she once loved Gaara, so why was she so angry now? Lee then asked, "Does he know that you love him?"

"I don't love Gaara anymore...one can go so far until when they recieve nothing for their efforts, the chase becomes useless. I gave up on him a long time ago, i'm on my own now," Ura drank a little bit of her water, "And to my friends, i'm too macho to have a man of my own."

"You should give Gaara a second chance... From what Gai-sensei told me, you told Naruto and Shikamaru to give Gaara a second chance on their own opinon of him. Maybe you should follow your own advice," Lee shrugged.

"I don't know though... If I spend the rest of my life chasing someone who is showing every notion that he does not feel the same way, then why bother?" Ura was getting angry at the same conversation she had with Kankurou, and everyone else she knew, "I'll just grow to be an angry person, and I don't want to end up alone."

"I promise you, if Gaara does not accept your love for him, then you can always come here and find a better man that will give you everything you want. But before you do, please, see if you can win Gaara over one more time," Lee took her hand.

The rest of the day went by in a breeze, Lee had other things to tend to, and Ura had to find the place she was staying in. A shrine caught her eye, it had the sign of Sand on it, meaning Gaara had gone all out to make sure everyone knew what country she was from. Ura entered it, the shrine inside was half the size of Gaara's massive mansion, but it suited Ura, not too big but not too small. The wood flooring gave the shrine a country look, paintings of Konoha and the Sunagakure were on the walls, there was even a bathing part of the shrine. Ura placed her bags next to the lavender couch, the entrance room had a pine scent to it, probably from the wood or the trees a mile away from the shrine. She walked around the shrine for her, each room had it's own bed and bathing room inside, but there was one bedroom only for Ura, and herself only. Inside her room were pictures of Kankurou, Temari, Baki, and even Gaara when they were only Genin.

Gaara really did go all out to make her feel at home in Konoha, did he know that she loved this village? She placed a hand over her heart, as much as she wanted to be away from Gaara..in his own way, Gaara was seeping back in. Ura lightly dug her nails into her skin, she wanted to rip her heart out, to not feel for Gaara anymore. As a young girl, she had lived and breathed for Gaara, each day waking up for him, in hope that he could come to her in love. But as time went on, those feelings began to fade, and fade, and fade...until they were masked in the anger of her soul. She lived up to her Nindo when she was after Gaara, making everyone believe different of her... But her mother meant differently about Ura's Nindo, to Ura...her mother had meant to make Gaara shocked knowing Ura loved him so much. Yet her mother didn't know about Ura's feelings for Gaara...

That didn't matter though, Ura undressed, wrapped a tan towl over her body, and walked to the bathing area. The hot springs were warm enough for her skin to not be overly hot, but either way, the water felt nice. It lured her mind into a state of no return, enjoying the steam envoloping her worn out face.

Why? Why was Gaara so ignorant to not see her!? What did she have to do to get his eyes on her!? Kill someone? Ura began to get frustrated at the thoughts re-entering her mind, but pushed them out, only thinking about how useless it would be to chase after him all over again. Besides, Gaara was a Kazekage now, he had responcabilities that he made sure were pulled through. He didn't have enough time for a love life, or a mate...plus, he may be unwilling to even commit to a relationship. Gaara had every opprotunity to bed with another woman that didn't even deserve him! With the thought of another woman in Gaara's bed infuriated and made Ura insanely jealous, "That bitch!"

Ura then looked around, remembering where she was at, Ura sighed in embarressment. Gaara was taking over her again, in his own idled way, he was consuming her mind all over again. That was the least Ura needed now, she had a mission to complete that was very important this time.

***Gaara***

Gaara had just finished his paperwork, but he wasn't ready to go to bed, he was restless this evening. Temari had gotten back from her own mission, so he decided to pay her a visit, wanting to know more about the mysterious woman. He got up and walked, may be another woman's touch in his life wouldn't hurt as much. He wondered how it would feel to have a woman to wake up to every morning, to have her entire devotion and love all on him. Gaara wasn't much into seducement from the women that wore too much make-up, and he wasn't into women that cared too little for their own bodies to not even bathe for weeks. Would this woman be in between?

The Kazekage was so wrapped up in his own mind that he didn't see himself knocking on Temari's door. Temari opened the door, she looked tired, but she had enjoyed spending more time with Gaara ever since he had recovered from losing Shikaku.

"Good evening, I wasn't expecting to see you," Temari leaned on the doorway, "Is something wrong?"

"Who is the woman that Kankurou said had loved me?" Gaara bluntly asked.

"Oh...uhm...well..." Temari didn't know what to say, she didn't want to give Ura the reason to hate Temari, "I don't really remember..."

"Kankurou said that this woman told you both, no one is that stupid of doing such a disgraceful act," Gaara crossed his arms, "Now tell me who she is and I will not throw you out of this shrine."

"Gaara please, let's be rational now... I know you want to know who she is, but at this point in your life, it is best to keep women out of your bed, not keep them in it," Temari commented, trying to avoid the 'name' subject with Gaara.

"I don't sleep with women, and I don't hold my power for the taking. All the women here are power-hungry wenches, if I see that this woman actually cares about me and not the inheritance, then i'll make that decision on my own. But until then, I need her name to track her down," Gaara was getting angry at his own two siblings knowing something he wanted to know.

Gaara had pulled Temari out of her room and into the hallway, her little brother was getting too aggressive, but even the mighty Temari didn't want to anger the Kazekage. She sighed, "Lets just say we all know her, in a way."

"Excuse me?" Gaara didn't like being toyed with words, "I don't want word games, just tell me her name now."

Temari didn't know how to put out a good word mask to hide Ura's identity from Gaara, "You've known who she was for the longest time, but... Somethings that are precious are invisible to the human eye."

The Kazekage contemplated his sister's words, he knew a lot of strong women, but most of them were older than him. He kept thinking, and thinking, and thinking...until... Temari saw a glint of surprisement in Gaara's eyes, did he had finally catch on? He then looked her dead in the eye, he seemed unnerved.

"So...do you understand now?" Temari asked, hoping that maybe Gaara would finally see.

Temari held her breath as Gaara eyed his sister, then he shook his head, Temari wanted to ram his red-head into the wall at why he didn't understand. Gaara then said, "What you're saying doesn't make any sense to me...tell me her name."

The kunoichi sighed, why was it so hard for Gaara to not see this woman was so close to him, but so far away. If only Ura could just tell Gaara how she felt then may be things would be easier to live with than just to haveGaara down Temari's and Kankurou's throats every waking moment of the day. Yes, it did have to do with Gaara's past, but being blind for so long made Temari worry if Gaara would ever notice how Ura smiles more when she's around him. How her eyes light up with happiness when he pays attention to her, even when she's trying to stop loving Gaara.

"Gaara...when your eyes are ready to see her, then she will appear before you with loving arms. Until then, you are not willing or able to love her like she loves you," Temari gave a sad look to Gaara, "But i'm telling you here and now, this woman has tried to give you everything, even when you were just a Genin in Konoha. She was there when no one else was, putting up with your anger and ways. Everyone told her to go on, to find someone else, but she kept to you and you only. If you ever see her Gaara, I hope you treat her like an emperess, because she has waited for 14 years just for you to look at her."

Temari walked back into her room, Gaara was even more interested in this woman now... She was there the entire time when he was a Genin? This woman was either a spy, an assassin that doesn't give up, or...someone even closer to him. Gaara knew his siblings wouldn't give more info out to him, now he was on his own, searching for the one who loved him. He went back to his office, seeing how Temari was through talking with him, his mind was traveling through every woman he has known since day 1.

When he reached his office, he sat down in the far corner of the room, only thinking about that one subject. Who was she? Why did she care so much? And how was she able to wait 14 years just for him? Gaara thought that maybe she could be some crazy wench that was loose from the Institute of Insanity People, but maybe she was devoted to him truly. He had to find her, though the love of his siblings and friend were enough to keep him at peace with himself, Gaara needed more. The lonely Kazekage desired soft skin against his own, to feel the he was desired for his own body, and to have a family of his own... He wanted so much more than what he was ever given, but if this woman was able to wait for him, then Gaara was able enough to find her, and make her wish come true.

**Temari**

Kankurou was visiting Temari in her own room, it was a few minutes after Gaara had left. The sand siblings were wondering if they should tell Gaara against Ura's will, but if they did, Ura would not come back, feeling embarressed that her emotions were set free without her consent.

"But she's almost in her twenties, she needs a lover at least," Kankurou stated, he didn't want Gaara to have Ura.

"You can't be her lover, Kankurou, she's obviously still in love with Gaara, and brother-against-brother is irresponcable!" Temari commented, "Gaara is too busy to deal with drama like that, and Ura would never want you two to fight over her."

"Gaara doesn't deserve Ura in any way! I know I can't be the one for her because there isn't a connection between us!" Kankurou snided, "Ura needs a strong man who can treat her like she was the brightest star in the sky, like she was the moon and the sun. Gaara deserves a rag-doll whore who'll give him a free blow job."

"Kankurou! That's our brother you're disgracing! Gaara needs Ura, and Ura needs Gaara, that's just how the world is going to turn. Ura needs a strong hand in her life to say to her that she is not needed for battle and that someone loves her to the core of their being. And Gaara needs a woman that will give him nothing lower than love and a soft heart that can heal the wounds on his own heart," Temari explained, "They were meant for each other, and both are unwilling to see it like that."

"Because Ura has moved on, or at least she wants to move on. Ura is tired of waiting for Gaara to come around, and it's easy to see that he's not going to at any time. He's just going to pittle around, looking at the wrong women," Kankurou angrily said, sitting on Temari's bed.

"That's where you're wrong though," Temari protested, "Gaara is trying very hard to find out who she is, and when he finds out, he'll be surprised and will want to love her back. Then he'll see why she did what she did in their past together."

"I doubt it...Gaara will only see her as a kunoichi he grew up with, and when he's through breaking her heart, Ura will not want to live anymore," Kankurou concluded, "Which Gaara will not care for in the least bit because he's a selfish pig."

Temari was tired of fighting with Kankurou, she knew that Kankurou and Ura were friends with benefits, but he didn't need to be so childish. She believed a little bit that Gaara didn't really deserve Ura, but she knew her little brother was very lonely and only wants love. If Gaara would find out that it's Ura, Temari knew Gaara well enough he would be willing to see if they could work out as a couple. Kankurou then stood up, "Look, I want Gaara and Ura happy, but I am still hoping Ura finds someone else besides Gaara. Then Gaara will know how heart break can hurt more than any other flesh wound."