Beautiful Silence

Chapter 9: What She Felt

Riko was on her way home from the hospital when she bumped into Naruto who was talking to three kids from the Academy. Riko remembered seeing them before. One of them was the Hokage's grandson, Konohamaru. The odd thing about the scene, though, was that Sakura was chasing them. Riko decided to follow them, since she was curious about what was happening. They turned a corner, and, when Riko reached that corner, she saw a guy holding Konohamaru up by the collar. Seeing this, Riko was feeling that Konohamaru was in danger.

"Let him go!"

Naruto was shouting at the stranger. When he attempted to land a punch, the stranger slightly moved his fingers which resulted in Naruto tripping over thin air. Riko didn't understand what was happening, since she couldn't sense chakra. She just desperately wanted to do something to help Konohamaru. Without thinking, she stepped forward and stood in front of the threatening male. She then also noticed that a girl was with him, trying half-heartedly to stop him.

"Riko-chan!"

Naruto exclaimed, surprised to see her. When the guy noticed her, his eyes narrowed.

"You want a piece of me too, little girl?"

"Aaah, uuuh!"

Riko tried to convey to him to let Konohamaru go. Of course, he didn't understand her intentions.

"Hah, what are you? Can't even speak normally?"

"Don't talk like that to Riko-chan!"

The stranger with face paint mocked her. Naruto was getting angry instead of her. She didn't care, however, about the mocking. She just wanted him to let Konohamaru go. Her strong desires manifested, and the stranger started getting lifted in the air. Astonished and horrified by what was happening, he let go of Konohamaru and started flailing his arms and screaming in horror.

Riko caught the falling Konohamaru, and the stranger fell to the ground.

"W-What was that?!"

"Kankuro, I told you not to mess around..."

The female stranger beside him said, just as shaken as he was.

"You little...! I won't let you get away with-"

"Kankuro, you're a disgrace to our village."

A voice came from a tree behind the strangers. Everyone shifted their gaze towards the origin of the voice. What they saw was a boy, around Riko, Naruto, and Sakura's age, standing upside down, using his chakra, on the lower part of one of the tree's branches. He had blood red hair, light turquoise eyes, which were surrounded by black rings, contrasting with his pale skin. He carried a gourd on his back and was looking coldly at the one he called Kankuro.

"G-Gaara..."

Kankuro was clearly nervous at the new arrival. No one had sensed him there. How long had he even been there? Riko was wondering. When she looked at him, she felt like he was hiding a very deep sadness. This ability to see someone's emotions was something that she had noticed only lately, since she was still young to understand emotions until recently.

"Losing yourself in a fight, how pathetic... Why do you think we came to Konohagakure?"

The one named Gaara said in a very cold tone of voice. It was almost threatening.

"Listen Gaara, they started it and..."

Kankuro hurried to justify his actions.

"Shut up... I'll kill you..."

This time it was definitely a threatening tone that he was taking. It made Riko shiver a little. Her great affinity to emotions and feelings made her very vulnerable to them when others projected them strongly.

"Alright, I'm sorry..."

Kankuro quickly responded in fear.

"I'm also really sorry..."

The girl who was with him also said. Gaara then shifted his eyes towards Riko. He then transported himself down in front of her.

"Sorry to you guys."

He was very curious as to how Kankuro was lifted in the air like that. He didn't even sense any chakra, so it may not had even been a jutsu. Instead of answering, Riko just kept staring into his eyes, trying to read the complicated emotions he had. He also kept staring back, trying to figure out how she did it. Gaara then broke the eye contact and turned around to Kankuro and the girl.

"It looks like we got here early, but we didn't come here to play around."

"I know that..."

Kankuro mumbled almost inaudibly.

"Let's go."

Gaara said in a commanding voice.

"Hey, wait!"

Sakura stepped forward. At her voice, the three strangers turned towards her.

"What?"

Gaara answered in an annoyed voice.

"Judging from you headbands, you guys are from Sunagakure. You may be allies with Konohagakure, but it is forbidden for shinobi to enter each other's villages without permission. State your purpose. Depending on it, we may not be able to let you go..."

Riko looked at Sakura strangely. Wasn't she aware of the Chunin exams? Riko was quite sure that those three were here for that. Maybe Kakashi-sensei didn't tell them yet.

"Hah, talk about clueless... Don't you know anything?"

The girl from Sunagakure said mockingly. She then took out a pass.

"You're right, we are from Sunagakure. However, we have proper permission to be in Konohagakure. You see, we are here for the Chunin exams."

"Chunin Exams...?"

Naruto looked confused. The girl explained to him what it was, exasperated at his lack of knowledge. When she was done, Naruto turned excitedly to Konohamaru.

"Hey, Konohamaru! Think I should enter this Chunin exam thing?"

Gaara then turned his attention back to Riko who was still staring at him.

"What's your name?"

Gaara wanted to know more about that strange girl. He had acknowledged her mysterious power, and was genuinely curious in knowing more about her. His voice seemed to snap her out of her staring at him.

"Ah! ah..."

She didn't know how to tell him her name. She then pointed at her mouth and made an X with her arms.

Gaara, confused by what she was doing at first, finally got it.

"Can't talk..."

Riko then pulled on Sakura's sleeve who was standing the closest to her.

"What is it, Riko?"

Riko then looked at Gaara, seeing his reaction to her name.

"Riko... You're interesting."

He then turned towards the other two shinobi from Sunagakure.

"Let's go."

They all then went on their way. Riko just kept staring at them until they were out of her line of sight. During the whole time she kept eye contact with that Gaara boy, she found nothing but negative emotions. Hate, anger, sadness, hopelessness... She wanted to know more about him. She wanted to help him. However, his wounds weren't physical, like the ones she's used to healing. His wounds were much deeper, and much more painful. The emotional pain and turmoil inside him made Riko's heart squeeze in sadness. She sincerely wanted to erase all of his negative emotions and replace them with happiness.