- Chapter 12 -

Good Old Times

Akira pressed the bell button and waited for the door of the residence to be opened. Today, she was going to do it. She was going to bring back in life her friendship with Gaara.

Yesterday was a hectic day. After accepting her fate to live the rest of the school year with a hyperactive teenager who had sugar allergies and a Spiderman obsession, she had to put up with the rest of Hidan's tour. She had seen the kitchen and the basement, nothing special. But what was troubling her the most was the fact that they weren't looking like a criminal organization. More like. . . a wannabe thug club. For example, what did a teenager with an elementary student's brain was doing in the Akatsuki? He should be taking an afternoon nap, not playing around with the proclaimed 'dangerous gang'.

Maybe father has taken the wrong information from somewhere and this is a huge misunderstanding, Akira hopefully thought and let out the breath she didn't know she was holding.

Suddenly, the clicking sound of the handle was heard and the door in front of her was opened. The face she wanted to see the most at the moment was shown to her and she felt her body stiffening from anxiety.

"Hey, Gaara."

. . .

Both teenagers began walking down the empty street. Weekend was favored by everyone but there were no other passengers except them, like they were the last survivors of the human race. Akira was restraining herself from explaining everything to him right away and made a deal with herself to stay silent until he would make the first step to talk. However, they continued walking and none of them was making any moves to start a conversation or to break the thick wall of ice which had been created in between them.

"Why are you still trying?" Gaara was the first one to talk. He had grabbed the chance, not because he wanted but because he had no other choice. His conscience was prevailing his mind and was triggering him to let the girl speak up.

Akira spared a glance at him before turning her gaze back on the road, "Because you won't listen."

They had arrived in an open playground which was surprisingly empty at that time. She casually walked in the place and sat upon a swing, holding the steel ropes as tightly as ever. Gaara followed after and soon, he was seated besides her as well.

"You know," Akira exclaimed, starting swinging herself back and forth, "I do all of this for a reason."

"Obviously," Gaara replied monotonously and watched his friend moving in sync with the swing. How many days did they have to spend some quality time together.

Akira continued squirming around her seat in order to move her swing faster but failed in the end; swings had always been her weak point in a playground. She hopped off the stone-hard seat and sat on the bench across the swings, in a way she could have Gaara in her point of view. She had so many things she wanted to tell him yet she knew that her confessions would only make her position worst. All she had to do was to gain some time with her blabbering and lame excuses.

"Ya know, Akatsuki isn't that bad. They seem to be a bunch of harmless fluffy balls than a notorious gang," she joked, hoping to lighten up the mood or make him understand that she intended to force everything back in the way they were.

Thankfully, Gaara looked down with a playful glimmer burning in the back of his eyes, "Then, you can take them down instantly, no?"

Akira faked a frown and began playing with her fingers, "Bummer; I'm weaker than at least 60% of them. So. . . Nah."

Gaara stood up from his position and began walking towards a certain direction, his eyes following something. Akira stayed on the bench, following every movement of his body, every single twitch. The red-head bent down and picked up something round which proved to be a football ball. She nearly let out a small laugh; Gaara had randomly found a ball. That was sure bringing memories back.

"Wanna play?" he asked innocently, his eyes flickering to her current position.

Akira was ready to agree but her senses held her back. Despite her will to spend some quality time with him, she had to talk to him. "Can we talk?"

Gaara's facial expression changed almost immediately, his excitement being replaced with seriousness. Without any complains, he let the ball roll on the ground and he sat besides her on the bench. He entwined his fingers and leaned forward, in an angle he could watch Akira's movements.

"Gaara. . . Can we. . ." Stay as we were before? Akira was hesitating whether to say it or not, taking into consideration the situation they were in. She had imagined this conversation taking place a million times in her mind but she had never thought that such anxiousness could make her lose her words.

"I don't know."

Akira snapped her steady gaze towards him and began analyzing his face. She wanted to consume as much of his appearance as she could before she would lose him forever. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that. . . A lot of things have changed, Akira. No one is the same anymore. You have changed as well, no matter from which angle you'll see it. However, as many times as you change, you will always be my friend." A small smile lingered in Akira's face but Gaara continued talking, "You did hide things from me, though. There is no logical explanation why would you hide from me that you are going in an all-boys' school; hell, I don't even know why you began attending there."

Guilt was chocking her at the moment. Filling her up to her throat and creating a huge lump. There is a logical explanation, Gaara. . . she whispered inwardly, noticing the tears which were already forming in her eyes. He had trusted her but she had hurt him in the end. It was no fair for him, therefore he deserved to know the solid truth.

"I. . ." Akira whispered as if her voice would break if she would speak louder, "I want to protect you. That's the reason behind this. I can't tell you who wants to harm you or the actual explanation behind this but. . . All I know is that I still consider you as my best friend and I, I don't want to lose you yet. Not now."

Gaara couldn't help but look at her. He was neither shocked nor indifferent. All he felt at the moment was pure bliss for the fine explanation, no matter how crazy it sounded. He was surely mad that he wouldn't have access to the actual information and he was pondering whether he would learn it or not, yet he couldn't help but feel relief for receiving the truth.

"You better get alive from there," was all he replied before standing up and glancing at the sky. Noon had arrived, his favorite part of the day, and he intended to spend it with the person he cherished the most at the moment. "And who wants to hurt me?"

Akira felt eased in mind after his statement and let herself fall back on the bench, "Precisely. . . I don't know. I'm just receiving orders. What I can reassure you for is that as long as I'm alive, no one will dare to lay their finger on you."

"Big words for a person like you," the male exclaimed, no matter how rude it sounded. Akira had always been looking at the superficial side of the things and was never going deeper in order to find what was hiding behind the cover. Thus, she was taking his safety -and hers as well- for granted instead of being a realist and speaking her mind.

All she could do was to stay passive to the insult and draw her attention on the drenched grass. It had rained last night and a few droplets of rain were still remaining on the grass and on some flowers. Akira pressed her foot against the grass and surrendered it after a while, realizing with indifference that the droplets had vanished.

"I may say big words but I mean them," she struggled to say, adrenaline rushing in her veins. She had never opposed someone with a great comeback but now was her chance to do so. "When I say that I will stay alive in order to protect you, I mean it. Now, if you don't believe in my words, that's your problem."

Meanwhile, she had turned her attention on him, who was still dozed off. An unexpected chuckle left his mouth and he covered it with his hand, letting his gaze wander back on the grass.

"You sure have changed."

A small smile cracked on her lips, "I know."

Gaara took a step behind and turned his body towards her, a gentle expression crossing his face, "Want to see something nice?"

It was Akira's turn to chuckle but she quickly nodded and stood up. With Gaara on the lead, the two of them began running off to somewhere. Never in her life had Akira felt so free, so unrestricted and footloose. The person she cared about the most was with her again and she could feel the familiar bubbly sensation in her stomach again. At the moment, she cared for nothing and for no one; the Akatsuki, her father, her duties, everything was forgotten.

They only stopped running when they arrived in a clearing which was ending with the sharp edge of a cliff. It was the only part of the city which had plenty of trees and there were even cherry tree cultivation close to the clearing. As if luck was with their side, a sole cherry blossom tree was eight meters away from the edge of the cliff which immediately attracted their attention.

"I go firs-"

"Called it!" Gaara interrupted his friend and snickered internally while running towards the tree. Unfortunately, Akira hadn't had any more energy to follow after him in the same pace, therefore she decided to simply walk.

Once she had arrived under the tree, Gaara had already climbed it and was now sitting on its biggest branch. Akira whined and began scratching the tree like a cat or a retarded zombie until the moment Gaara would help her up. She was sure impatient but on the other hand, Gaara was really patient. Not to mention that he was forced to put up with everyone's shit every day.

"Please help," Akira exclaimed with a slightly annoying tone.

Gaara's head peaked from the tree, "And you say you can take Akatsuki down. Are you sure?" His negative criticism gained him a groan and a piercing glare. Rolling his eyes, he leaned down and extended his left hand while the right was holding on tight. Akira took it and, with as much energy left in her, she managed to climb on it and throw herself on the steady branch.

She was panting the moment she had arrived but that didn't prevent Gaara to tease her a bit more. Of course, the girl replied with muffled sounds which were indicating her annoyance.

When both settled down, they sat besides each other on the tree and stared off to the horizon. That's when Gaara noticed something crucial, making him shake his head. His friend looked at him and waited for him to say something.

"We missed the sunset," he exclaimed finally, averting his gaze on the now darkened sky.

Akira stayed silent for a few moments before cracking up. No sooner had she started laughing, Gaara was looking away from her, trying to suppress his sudden uneasiness. He felt awkward due to his realization that his statement was utterly stupid and cheesy.

When Akira stopped laughing, she turned her head to his side, surprisingly finding his face also looking at her. A warm feeling overtook the previous bubbly feeling in her stomach and happiness mixed with uneasiness ran through her whole body when he shifted forward.

Not wanting to cross the borders of friendship, Akira leaned forward as well and pulled him in a wholehearted hug. She closed her eyes momentarily and squeezed him, "Thank you."

Gaara stood frozen, his hand slowly creeping on her back and hugging her back with one hand while the other remained on the branch. He glanced at the only element of hers which was visible, her chestnut hair falling free on her back for once.

If only. . .

。。。＊ 。。。＊。。。＊。。。

Hello, loyal fans of this book! I hope you enjoyed this update; took me years to write it. I have some very important news to tell you. First, this book has reached nearly 800 votes (cue gross sobbing in the background) and even got ranked! Action category, #696 (I swear, Wattpad knows how to play games with my "innocent" mind). Second, I have entered this book in AkatsukiWattyAwards so you can go and vote for it (under the "AU" category) if you like it :) You can even vote for it in the Favorite Pairing category (let the ship wars begin) or in the Best Cover category.

That's all up to now; thank you for reading! [did you notice the GaAki to the side? *winks*]

Dedicated to UnchainedHeart for the wonderful review of this book. Go and check out both her works and her review book; I tell you, you won't leave disappointed.