Beautiful Silence

Chapter 11: Thank You

Riko was on the medical team that was waiting for the contestants at the tower. It was explained to her that the goal of the test was to go through the Forest of Death and make it to the tower with two scrolls to be able to succeed. Other rules also included that all three members of each team needed to arrive at the tower together. If even one of them was missing or incapacitated, the team would immediately fail. Riko's job, along with the medical team she was part of, was to tend to the incapacitated members of the teams that would be disqualified.

Every member of the medical team was then given an earpiece that would be used to receive orders and instructions from the team leader. For the time being, they were given the permission to go about freely in the tower, until their help was required. They had all arrived at the tower right before the start of the test, therefore they had quite some time before their work was required.

Riko decided to go around and explore the tower, given her curious nature. While looking around, she started remembering what had happened the day before. Her body trembled at the horrifying memories. She held and shook her head, trying to erase the images from her mind. All the blood, the unrecognizable body parts, the sand, and that awful smell... Riko felt like that was what death smelled like. Riko then leaned on one of the walls, feeling a bit nauseous. She slowed her breathing down and calmed herself. She then slipped down to the ground. She had isolated herself from the rest of her team. She was sitting close to the entrance of the tower. It was the farthest place she could get to. She didn't feel like being around anyone. She then started thinking more rationally about what had happened. How did these Kusagakure shinobi die, she asked herself. It all happened so fast. The sand had something to do with it. Someone was controlling that sand. It then instantly dawned on her. That boy from Sunagakure, Gaara, when he was on the tree, he had transported himself in front of her. She didn't know how he did that, but she remembered seeing particles of sand flying around. And that smell, even though faint, was the same as the one she smelled during the incident. Her heart clenched painfully. She didn't want to believe that he was capable of something so cruel. Even though, deep down, she knew he was, since she saw cruelty in his eyes. Her eyes started stinging her; tears were threatening to come out. She swallowed, trying to keep control over herself.

She didn't know how long she'd been sitting there, until a voice sounded in her earpiece.

"Attention all medical team members, the first Genin squad is here in the record time of one hour and thirty-seven minutes. All three have passed, so don't administer any healing to them."

The voice then cut. Riko quickly got up. She wondered who that team could be. Before she could think of anyone, the entrance to the tower opened. When Riko saw who it was, her body started shaking a little. It was Gaara's team. When he passed by, his eyes slightly looked in her direction, without him slowing his pace. Riko smelled the same blood smell that she smelled the day before. She was sure this time that it was Gaara. She wondered why he did it. She was still scared, but grateful at the same time. She wanted to tell him that she was. Without what he did, she didn't dare to imagine what would have happened to her, or to them. She knew that she might've ended up being the murderer if things got too desperate.

Riko decided to go see Gaara if he ever found himself alone without his team members. Knowing how uncomfortable they felt around him, she knew they'd get away from him as soon as they could. Sure enough, as Riko had expected it, Gaara was standing alone in an isolated part of the tower.

Riko felt nervous about talking to him. It wasn't fear this time, but something else. She made sure she had her little notepad and a pen. She then slowly made her way to where Gaara was. He noticed her coming from far and looked at her suspiciously. When her eyes met his, she stopped in her tracks. She felt that he didn't want anyone to come near him, but then... there was a tiny hint of curiousness hidden there. That's what gave her the resolve to keep approaching him. She knew that his curiosity would get the best of him.

Seeing her getting closer, Gaara slightly frowned. He didn't feel any danger from her. The fact that she was approaching him so fearlessly was intriguing him. What did she want, he asked himself. To his surprise, he noticed that her cheeks were getting tinted in a light shade of red. His frown eased up a bit, giving in to his curiosity.

Seeing how his expressions eased up, Riko's lips formed a small smile that she tried to hide behind her notebook. Gaara still noticed it, however, and it made him more confused about her.

Riko was finally standing right in front of him. She nervously waved at him slightly.

"What do you want?"

Gaara tried to make it sound more like a threat than a question, but Riko saw right through it.

"Ah! Uh..."

She took her pen and wrote something down. Gaara stood there, impatiently waiting to read what she had to say. He knew that she couldn't speak. He had figured it out from the first time he saw her. He didn't know why, though, and didn't care to know. At least in the beginning he didn't care to know.

After Riko had finished writing down what she wanted to tell him, she tore the paper out of her notebook and handed it to him. He slowly took it from her and read it.

Thank you for yesterday.

That was all it said. It was also all it took for Gaara to feel a strange warmth in his heart. Riko saw it. She saw his surprise, which overpowered all other emotion. There was also a bit of anger, but not very noticeable. Another emotion that was even less noticeable was happiness. It only appeared for a second though, before Riko couldn't sense it anymore.

Gaara didn't know how to react to this. No one had ever thanked him before. Everyone was afraid of him. He also thought that Riko was afraid of him, but she fearlessly approached him and even told him about her gratitude. He didn't even do it for her sake. He wanted to tell her that, but he couldn't. The innocence in her eyes was catching him off guard.

A voice sounded in Riko's earpiece again.

"Attention all tower medical team members. A team is arriving at the tower. One of them is in very critical condition. Your assistance is required immediately at the tower entrance."

"Ah..."

Riko felt the alarm, but she also felt a bit disappointed that she couldn't talk to Gaara more. She quickly waved at him while running towards the entrance.

When she was gone, Gaara folded the paper she gave him and placed it into his weapon pouch.