Secrets.
"Ugh…" Kohaku mumbled to herself as she caught her breath. She stepped over carnage and dead bodies as she made her way to the collapsed tent on the other side of the camp. She glanced at the dead ninja before her, her keen eyes like an owl's in the pitch black of midnight. One, two, three, she counted in her head, four, five, six...seven. There were seven of them, sprawled out on the ground. Their warm blood still dripped off her hands. Her hands still tingled from the rush of chakra she'd put through them, but now her chakra had fizzled out, and she was left nearly empty. She kneeled down next to one of them with a kunai protruding from his temple. She rolled him over and examined his headband. Her eyes narrowed. Upon his forehead lay a Sound village headband, splattered in his own blood. She inspected all the other ninja, and they all wore the same symbol upon their brows. Huh. If this is how they want to play, I guess this is war. she thought. Sound village ninja had been spotted throughout Sand village territory, murdering civilians, stealing livestock and utterly terrifying everyone who dared to come out at night. She stood up from the body she was looking at, and wiped the sand off her knees. The black tights that she wore with her skirt were torn. Her black, elbow-length-sleeved shirt had slashes in it, front and back, from where shuruken had been thrown. She felt the warm and slow trickle of blood down her torso and back from where she'd gotten cut.
"I see this mission was a success."
Her lips twitched, but not into a smile. "It certainly appears that way doesn't it Gaa- Argh!" she felt a sharp pain above her right rib and saw whiteish clear stars flash before her eyes, spinning in all directions.
She felt two hands on her waist and catch her as she stumbled slightly forward. "Woah, easy." Said Gaara, and then he felt her warm blood dribble down his right hand. He detected the iron scent as it swirled through the air up to his nose. He pulled his hand away and saw the blood drip off into the sand below. "You're bleeding."
She looked down and studied the wound. The blood was bubbling at the torn edges, it was maybe a half an inch deep, and six inches long. A rugged cut. "Not too bad…I can heal it myself, tomorrow."
He tore a strip of cloth off his shirt and said, "The way your bleeding out of it now, you might not make it 'til tomorrow…here, let me see it." He stepped forward a step.
She reluctantly lifted her shirt up just above her ribs to expose the wound. A breeze blew by the camp, and her skin lifted with gooseflesh as the wind passed over her body. Gaara carefully wound the strip of cloth around her waist, and tied it into a knot. The blood seeped through a little, but for the most part, the makeshift bandage stayed intact. "That should hold it until Sakura can tend to you." he said.
She nodded in his direction as she searched the Sound village ninja squad leader tent. She was trying to find anything useful that might tell them when and where their next attack would be. "Thanks."
He shrugged.
"So, what brings you here? Did someone send you out here, too?"
"No, I just got the feeling that you were in trouble and could use some help."
"Ha. Thanks, I think."
He always showed up whenever she was in pain, or fighting someone, and that was usually when she'd been sent on an S or A ranked mission alone, like this one. He was always there to help her, and even though she acted like he got in the way, she secretly liked it.
He smiled at her in the dark, and even though a smile felt strange crossing his features, she couldn't see it in the dark as she searched the tent. He helped her search, and upon finding nothing, she sighed.
Her shoulders slumped. "Another empty quest."
He shrugged. "At least you got rid of some of them."
She looked up at him. "Just a few thousand more to go. I'll just have to remember to be much less careless next time."
"Careless?"
"Yeah, Careless. Look what I let them do to me."
"It wasn't carelessness. They were advanced ninja, you're only one person."
"I guess so."
She straightened what was left of her tattered skirt and looked up at the stars. "hm…maybe three or four hours left 'til dawn. I had better get moving, and return the news to your father. Er…I mean, the Kazekage."
"Okay, I'd better leave, too. I have a mission to carry out."
"I thought you said you weren't sent out here on a mission!"
"I wasn't sent here on a mission. I have to go to the Village Hidden in the Rain."
"Oh…I see."
"Yeah."
The silence hung in the air, leaving the mood feeling like a heavy lead ball.
Gaara then turned and began to walk away out of the camp and on the way to the Village hidden in the Rain. There seemed to be an empty feeling, a word unsaid, an unfinished dream-like state around the area.
"Gaara!"
He turned around quickly, as he'd been waiting, wishing for her to say something. "Yes?"
She hesitated. She had no idea what she was going to say. She just blurted out his name without really thinking.
Gaara stared at her.
Kohaku just said the first thing that came to mind. "Good Luck, Gaara."
He nodded. "Thanks, you too."
And then he continued to walk away into the distance.
She turned and began to walk, when suddenly,
"Kohaku!"
She turned, surprised and yet delighted to hear his voice say her name.
"Yes?"
"Uh….do try to be more careful on your next mission, okay?" he said with a small grin.
"Will do."
He then turned and sprinted off.
Kohaku smiled weakly. It's so sad…why can't I just tell him before it's too late? I must be weaker than I thought. She thought as she put her hand against the crude bandage made out of a scrap of his shirt. He's always been so kind….given me every reason to tell him….so why can't I just say it?! Ugh…
She then turned and headed back towards the sand village, thoughts of him swimming in her mind.