The Anime Lover's Must Read: One-Shot Collection

Caught You! ~Gaara One-Shot~

"Why does it have to be so hot out here?!"

"We're in the middle of the desert. And it's your fault you're wearing black."

"Hn."

Midori just chuckled and beamed at the black-hooded Suna ninja. She always thought about how down-right stupid he could be sometimes; like his wearing of a full black body suit in weather that reached over 100 degrees farnheit. It always made her laugh, but not in a mean way; it was more carefree and friendly. Tucking one of the long lime green bangs of her hair behind her ear, she sighed.

Finally, after completing a three-day recon mission, they were heading back to Sunagakure. She was pretty excited, mostly because it meant relaxing after walking for several days straight; her feet were on fire and killing her. To keep her moving, she visualized the feeling of being able to sit down at home and eat something cold and sweet, like ice cream or a popsickle. The thought of that almost made her start drooling.

"Oi, stop day-dreaming. We're almost here," Kankuro's voice invaded her thoughts, shattering her mind's illusions of dancing sweets. Looking over at him, she put on a face of false sadness. Kankuro had always found a strange kind of fun to bring the girl back to reality when it was so much easier to just think and wander along in her own little world. It was a nice way to go about things rather than piddling around in real life conflicts.

"Kankuro no baka! It was a good day-dream," She whined with the phony tone. He only gave a smirk in return, flashing a toothy grin at her. The two returned their gazes in front of them, watching as the familiar heat hazed village that they called home. The sight was beyond comforting and it wasn't long until the two burst out in a dead sprint, desperate to get home and finally relax. She was also looking forward to seeing a certain redhead there, the thought of him causing her legs to increase in speed and space between each step.

But inside of her, she felt a little lonely. Despite the fact that she always smiled and seemed so happy when around people, it was different inside. That certain redhead always failed to notice her; never take wind of her when she was standing right next to her. It was almost as if she was invisable- no that wasn't it. It was as if he kind of ignored her in a way, just not rudely. And she didn't take offense to it, it was more of a mutal dislike. She didn't know what he thought of her, and that was something she couldn't stand; something utterly frustrating! She had always wondered to herself if he really liked her, or if he just thought of her like some other Sunagakure villager. The thought of that made her heart drop.

As they approached the gates of Sunagakure and identified themselves to the gate keepers, she gazed out at the village and sighed. It felt amazing to finally be home, to finally not have to worry about any fighting or any work. Of course, when she went to wave goodbye and merrily march home, Kankuro decided to stop her.

"Oi, we have to report to the Kazekage before going home, dummy," He reminded her, and she gave a longing look in the direction of home before turning back to him and giving a reluctant nod. "Besides, my brother probably wants to see us after so long away."

She sighed at him before grinning. "You just wanna torture me a little more, don't you?"

"Maybe," He responed with a joking smirk. "Come on, let's get going."

~~~^.^~~~

The sound of Kankuro's fist knocking on the door echoed throughout the empty, open hallways. "Reporting in," he called before opening the door and peering in. Midori poked her head in also, eyes catching the ruby red hair of the young Kazekage. They both watched as his pen stopped, his clothing rustling as he lifted his head to stare back at the two with light, captivating teal eyes.