A/N:

Well, this one was originally considered to be a One-Short for my drabble collection "The Lost Ones", but then it got quite...big, bigger than I had expected, so I figured it deserved to be a story of its own. This will be a 4-shot, basically ;) Enjoy.

Title: Letting go

Summary: I knew I was dying. I had known for a while. Just why did fate have to show me happiness when I'd already accepted death?

Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto.

Mother Nature is a bitch. Honestly. Why else would fate show me happiness when I'd already accepted death?

I can't change anything anymore, though. Now that it is almost ended, I might as well tell my story.

It was a beautiful night, the night I saw the person who turned my life upside down the first time. Well, of course I'd seen him before, but like everyone else in this village, I'd always kept my distance. No one wanted to get too close to Sabaku no Gaara, the Jinchuuriki host, even though they said he'd changed a lot after attending the Chunin exams in Konohagakure almost two years ago.

The night I really got to know Sabaku no Gaara the stars were shining brightly from unclouded sky, while the moon bathed the world in a silvery light. I inhaled deeply and closed my eyes. Sitting here upon the village's wall of Suna made me feel strangely at peace.

I knew I was dying. I had known for a while now. Some strange virus was attacking my body from the inside, gradually causing my organs to falter and slowly turning my lungs into a bloody pulp. There was no cure, and although the medicine I'd been taking for the past months slowed down the process, I only had little time left. A month, maybe. Maybe more, maybe less. "It all depends on how much you fight", the doctors had told me, and I'd been unable to restrain myself from rolling my eyes. Fight, uh? What for?

I had come to terms with my fate. Not that I was particularly keen on dying, but it wasn't as if I had much to live for, either. For a split moment, I considered just letting myself fall from the city walls. It would be quicker that way, and much less painful. Still, I couldn't get myself to do it. I stayed where I was and tried to enjoy the light, chilling breeze that was caressing my face. It was almost incredible how huge the contrast between day and night was in the deserts. I for my part had always loved the hot days more than the freezing cold nights, but ever since I had learned that I was dying, I found myself strangely drawn to the darkness. Maybe it was because it fit my depressed mood better than the bright sunshine.

Suddenly, I heard an almost emotionless, cold voice behind me that send shivers down my spine.

"You are sitting in my place."

Gaara regarded the girl before him with disdain. Why was she here? No one ever came up here; it was his place, where he came every night when the demon within him prevented his sleep.

"You are sitting in my place", he said irritably, convinced that she would run away as soon as she saw who claimed this spot. Like he had expected, she froze immediately – but much to his surprise, remained seated and didn't even bother to turn around to face him.

"I didn't realize the city walls belonged to anyone. At least I don't see a 'belongs - to – whoever' – sign anywhere", she responded, defiance clear in her voice.

Gaara folded his arms in front of his chest, growing more annoyed by the second. "I could kill you", he threatened quietly. It was a sentence he hadn't uttered in months, not since he had met Naruto, but she wouldn't know it was an empty threat, and hopefully would run off.

The girl sighed heavily and let her shoulders drop slightly. "What are you waiting for?", she asked. "Go in ahead, if it makes you feel happy – which I highly doubt. Alive, maybe, but not happy."

Gaara stared at her, dumfounded. No one had ever reacted so calmly to him or had dared to oppose him like that. Especially the last sentence she had said struck him. Not only did she obviously know why he had killed so many in the past, but she also seemed to know what had been going on inside of him. She'd unerringly hit his weak spot. It was exactly how he had always felt; killing hadn't brought him happiness. So instead of crushing her with his sand, he just kept on staring at her back.

After a few moments of complete silence, she finally turned around to look at him.

"Why don't you sit beside me?", she offered. "I'd say this wall is big enough for the two of us, don't you think?" A tiny smile played around the corners of her lips.

Wait- had she just smiled at him??? And had she really asked him to sit next to her? He wondered whether his hearing was failing him or whether she just had an acute death wish.

The girl frowned upon his hesitation. "Of course you can stay there and cool your heels if my company isn't good enough for you", she stated dryly.

Gaara threw her a suspicious look. "Do you know who I am?"

She scoffed in response. "Of course I do. There isn't a single person in Suna who doesn't know Sabaku no Gaara. And now sit down already, will you? I don't bite."

Slowly, he approached the girl and finally sat down a few feet away from her, carefully keeping his distance. She flashed him another quick but genuine smile and lifted her face to watch the stars again.

Gaara eyed her curiously. He was pretty sure he'd never seen her before, so she was probably no Kunoichi. He could have told that from her figure as well. Unlike the Kunoichi of this village, she wasn't muscular at all; in fact, she was quite the opposite. She was extremely thin, so thin that a strong gust of wind might just blow her off the wall. Her light brown hair was short and hung languidly around her pale, delicate face. Her smile was kind and genuine, but somehow it just never seemed to really reach her eyes. She had dark circles under her likewise brown eyes, witnesses of restless nights.

Had he been searching for one word to describe her, he would have chosen fragile. She wasn't exactly pretty, but she definitely wasn't ugly either. All in all she was one of those girls who would blend in and disappear within a crowd of people without anyone noticing her. But there was something about her he couldn't quite grasp that intrigued him. Maybe it was just her unusual manners; she obviously wasn't afraid of him, but rather insubordinate, and when he looked at her, he found that despite his presence she almost seemed to be at ease.

Just who was this girl?

"The stars are beautiful tonight, aren't they?" The words had left my mouth before I could hold them back. Immediately I bit my tongue. I couldn't believe I was actually trying to engage Gaara in a conversation. I might just have been pushing my luck a bit too far with that.

Surprisingly, he neither killed nor ignored me, but actually gave me an answer, even if it was only a short one. "Yes."

Somehow thrilled by the success, I babbled on. Usually I liked the silence more than conversations, but adrenalin shooting into my system the second he turned up apparently made me go slightly mental. "I've seen you here quite often", I continued. "Almost every night, to be precise. Why is that?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I have to do something during the night. Watching the stars is better than doing nothing."

"How about sleeping?"

"I don't sleep. Ever."

"Oh." That threw me off for a minute. "Sorry, I forgot", I mumbled weakly when I had regained my composure. At least he didn't seem to be angry – although this was hard to tell, considering that his facial expression never changed even once.

"It's fine", he said. "You couldn't have known that I mustn't sleep because of Shukaku."

Somehow I got the feeling he only emphasized this fact because he wanted to warn me not to come too close to him. Too bad for him that I didn't really have anything left to fear in my short life.

"Is that really all you see in yourself?", I inquired. I knew that wasn't my place to ask, for it was far too personal. Still, since he seemed to be in a good mood, I decided to take the risk. "Do you always only think about yourself as the Jinchuuriki?"

"It is what I am", he stated simply.

"It is what is inside of you", I corrected. "It's not what you have to be. You can either bear the burden – or you let the burden rule your life. At least that's what my grandmother used to say."

He was obviously too surprised to answer, so I fell silent again. We stayed like this for hours, just sitting next to each other, watching the sky, not talking at all. And I wouldn't have thought his presence would feel so comforting.

It was almost midnight when I shakily got up and stretched my stiff legs. "I gotta get going", I announced. It wasn't as though anyone would miss me or would be worried if I didn't come home, but I was growing tired and really didn't feel like sleeping on the cold stone.

Gaara's facial expression didn't change at all; I wasn't even sure whether he had heard me, but I figured in that case I might as well just walk away. To be true, I had to admit I was probably lucky that I had gotten out of here alive and that he didn't consider me worthy of his attention. I'd already taken a few steps when he suddenly spoke up.

"I think it would be very rude of you", he stated, "if you went away without even telling me your name."

I couldn't oppress the smile that slowly crept onto my face.

"It's Kasumi."

And without consciously deciding it I knew that tomorrow night I would be sitting at exactly the same spot again.

A/N.: Reviews, anyone?