Beautiful Silence

Chapter 35: Terminal

When Riko opened her eyes, she found herself in an unfamiliar room.

"Riko-chan, good morning."

Tenten said as she yawned and got up from next to Riko. They were sharing the same futon for their stay in Sunagakure and had a room for themselves, since they didn't really want to share a room with the guys.

Riko waved at Tenten to respond to her good morning. They both then got ready for the day.

"I was so worried when I heard you collapsed from exhaustion yesterday."

Riko smiled sheepishly.

"I was even more surprised when someone came in carrying you."

Tenten added emphasis on the "someone" and chuckled. Riko cocked her head in confusion. She then took out her notepad.

Wasn't it Neji?

"Oh, Neji was there too. But the one who was carrying you was none other than your little sweetheart Gaara."

At the mention of Gaara's name, Riko's heart jumped. She then blushed and hid her face behind her notepad.

"Aw, you don't have to be so embarrassed! In any case, he said he'd come by in the morning to see how you're doing. Aren't you lucky?"

When Riko heard that Gaara would be coming to see her, she ran to the bathroom and started arranging her hair and trying her best to look good. Tenten couldn't help but giggle at how worked up Riko was getting.

Just then a knock is heard on the girls' door. Tenten went to see who it was, since Riko was still busy trying to adjust her appearance as best as she could.

"Well, look who we have here!"

Tenten said in a loud enough voice for Riko to hear her.

"Good morning. Is Riko here?"

Gaara said in a formal tone, not knowing how to respond to Tenten's over enthusiasm.

"Let me go check up on her. She's been quite worked up ever since this morning. I wonder why."

Tenten said in a playful tone while giggling to herself. She then went to the bathroom and opened the door slightly. There she found Riko sitting in the corner, her face buried in her hands. Seeing that, Tenten went up to her, feeling a little concerned. She crouched next to Riko and put her hand on her back, patting it gently.

"Riko-chan? Is everything alright?"

Riko shook her head.

"What's wrong? Tell me."

Riko then took her hands away from her face and wrote with her finger on the ground what she was feeling. Tenten followed along, reading as Riko wrote.

"I... feel... so... unattractive..."

Tenten then exhaled in relief, realizing it wasn't something extremely serious.

"Look, you're just being insecure. Doesn't that mean that you're realizing your feelings for Gaara?"

At the mentions of her feelings, Riko's heart jumped and her face turned a deep shade of red.

"I'm sure he finds you very attractive, anyway. You're just overthinking things. Come on, he's waiting for you!"

Before Riko could interject, Tenten had already dragged her out of the bathroom and brought her to the door where Gaara was still waiting. As soon as Riko saw Gaara, her knees became weak and she started shaking. She couldn't look him in the eyes and her face was still very red.