AN: Hi guys! So I had to take a break from my other fics to bust out this pretty number for a GaaSaku fest. Hopefully I'll return to my other two, but this one is a gem and is nice and lengthy.
Now, for those who don't know already I am a rather dark writer. This is a bit more light hearted than some of my other fics, but it is still rather dubcon and not necessarily in the realm of normal romance.
Also, I'm very heavy on the smut. It's a curse. There is no such thing as a slow burn for me. At any rate, I hope you enjoy the story!
Blue.
The sky was a bright blue, like the shade of a robin's egg. She wondered if it was cooler up there too, wishful dreams had her wanting to reach up to disappear in the vast color. Away from all this burning yellow sand.
Sakura moved forward in the long line of frightened girls, she kept her eyes on her overworked sandals as they kicked through the ocre dust. The sun burned brightly above, as if it were pointing a judging finger at her.
The pinkette dreamt of a time when she was back in Konoha under the shade of brilliant green trees, but that time was so long ago, and she had been viewing the world through childlike eyes.
Eyes that had not seen war, famine, disease, and death.
Now she hated her life, she hated what had become of her people. Barely eighteen, and her life was technically over.
Naruto had failed. The beast inside the sand ninja known as Gaara had rampaged on the leaf, destroying almost everything in a wave of sand and dust. Her people had fought valiantly, some even pop up now and again to stir the pot, but it was and still is all in vain
Some called it an ongoing war, but she knew it for what it truly was. Suna had already won, and there was no changing that fact. With at least five years of enslavement under her belt she knew better than to hope for rescue, or to think things would go better since the sand's Kazekage, Rasa, was dead.
Sakura had never been more wrong.
When the sand village found out that their leader was deceased the council took charge, and unfortunately Suna's council was made up of a group of rather corrupt people.
Sasuke had left her behind, and Naruto had followed after him blindly, but she couldn't escape in time. In her attempt, she had been captured, and forced to perform laborious tasks for scraps. Luckily she was an intelligent girl, and they seemed to appreciate that, so they eventually upgraded her to better working conditions. The other girls were not so lucky.
However, today was not a work day, today felt like she was going to her own funeral. The former kunoichi marched painfully slow with the other women, and she realized that they must be gathering them all for something nefarious.
They were all lined up, and faced towards the blinding hot sun. A bead of sweat trickled down her brow, and she wiped it away with a sigh.
'I really don't want to know what happens next...' Sakura grimaced as a group of officials came walking by to inspect them.
'I have a bad feeling about this.'
"Welcome, ladies! Today is a very special day, and a few of you are going to be very happy!" A middle aged man dressed in white robes walked up and down the line looking over each girl. "You'll have good food, a warm bed, and clean living spaces-"
When he got to Sakura he seemed to pause for a moment before nodding, he did the same when he got to Ino, and even Hinata. Soon he was whispering something in one of the guard's ears, and started to point out the girls he had picked.
'I am not going to be in a fucking harem-'
"Alright, if you are approached please follow the instructions given to you!" The man shouted out, and it was made clear just how real this situation was becoming. A guard walked over to the former kunoichi, and waved her to follow him.
"I'm not going. I know what you are doing, and I'm not going to join a harem." Sakura stood her ground proudly, her eyes narrowed in the light of the burning sun. The guard sighed and went to grab her, but received a fist to the jaw for his efforts. "Back off! I'm not going to do it-!"
"You dare defy orders, girl?!" The official stormed over, and in her distraction the guard tackled her to the ground. She kicked, punched, bit, and spat at both of the men. The man towering over her was not pleased. "Kankuro deserves more obedient concubines, you can send this one to the beast's room. See if he'll actually take one this time around instead of killing it. I'd hate to waste such a pretty face-"
"It?! IT!? I AM A PERSON-!"
"You are nothing! Irritating shrew! Learn your place!" This time it was the official who spat at her, and kicked a good deal of dust in her face for extra measure. Sakura felt her legs push to lunge, but was swiftly cracked on the back of her head with something very hard.
Then there was darkness...
- ... - ... - ... -
The pounding pain came first, and she realized that it was too horrible for her to be dead.
l Her eyes creaked open to see a room doused in many shadows, with little to no light pouring through the boarded windows. The floor was made of wood, but the curving walls were clearly sandstone. All she could make out was a bunch of broken furniture, a ripped up bed with tattered pillows that ended up looking like a humanoid nest. Some scratched up curtains also seemed to be draped over the haphazardly boarded windows, and they fluttered slightly in the hot breeze.
Speaking of hot breeze, it was steaming in the room.
Sakura let herself shed out of her normal Suna clothing in favor of the black tank and shorts underneath. As the cloaking fabric plopped to the floor a creak resounded somewhere in the shadows, as if alerted by the sound of the cotton. She was just as wary, sitting ramrod straight as she looked in the direction of the sound. If she were an animal you would probably see her ears twitching about in an effort to pick up a predator's stalk.
"Who's there?" Sakura asked calmly, figuring it to probably be another prisoner.
"Fate." A rasped voice answered, as if the person had been drinking sand. It sounded deep though, so she would assume this person was male.
"That's a bit melodramatic..." The pinkette smirked to herself as she turned her cloak into a pillow. She rested her head on the balled up fabric, and groaned at the soreness of her scalp. "God, that bastard nearly broke my skull... I think I might be bleeding-"
"You're not." He answered again, only his voice sounded a bit closer now. It almost unnerved her, but she was still glad for the company.
"You checked on me?" Sakura smiled at the darkness, and again the floorboards shifted slightly.
"No, blood just has a distinctive smell-"
"Ah! I bet you were a butcher before this, maybe even a hunter. How long have you been here?" The pinkette looked to the ceiling, and wondered how they got them to round out like domes.
"One could say I am both of those things, and to answer your question I've been here for a very long time." The rasped tone sounded even closer than before, and it was then that she could make out a silhouette. A slimmer build, probably good at chasing down game.
"Do you miss your family? What am I saying, of course you do. I bet you have a young wife, maybe a child waiting for you at home..." Sakura rolled her head back to the silhouette, but it stayed frozen to its spot.
"I have none of those things-"
"What?! You don't have anyone? Seriously?" The pinkette was suddenly up off the pillow, and rolling into a seated position. "I'm really sorry about that, you seem like a nice guy too."
There was a hard silence in the room, with the exception of an oncoming sandstorm sounding off outside. She had to re-break this growing ice quickly.
"Well, my family is dead, and my team left me behind. I got thrown in here because I refused to be one of Kankuro's concubines, but now I'm wondering just what they are planning for me now." The silhouette shifted slightly, but she felt she was just barely hitting the surface with this person. "So... if it's any consolation... I'm here now to join you for whatever amount of time we have left in this world."
"You're going to die tonight." The man answered coldly, and she felt his tone pierce through her like senbon needles.
"How do you know? Did they tell you that?" Sakura was unconsciously getting onto her hands and knees, making her realize that her gut was trying tell her something crucial.
"No. They told me nothing. They just threw you in here, and spoke to each other about how you'll be dead by morning." The figure straightened from a hunched position into a more proper one, she couldn't see his eyes but his pale neck was visible. "You're the first one to not scream your head off after being thrown in here, I'm impressed."
"I'm not afraid to die." The pinkette answered truthfully, and it actually put a burden on her heart to think about it. "Actually... I can't fight back. I can't escape. My family is gone. There is no future for me... death sounds like a pretty good option."
"I wish I could die, but I want to exist too." The figure seemed to relax for a moment, and it helped to calm her nerves as well.
"Sounds like you are in limbo my friend, and possibly need a hug." Sakura giggled, but then jumped slightly when something got knocked over abruptly. "Hey, what the hell-?"
"I'm not your friend!" The man growled ferociously, and it was so intimidating that she felt herself immediately recoil. Two hauntingly blue eyes were hit by the light, shining frighteningly in the shadows. "Ha ha ha... you see? You are afraid of me-"
"Well when you snap like that, yeah! What did you expect?!" The pinkette felt a fire within her so she stood up proudly on her feet. "If you keep acting rude I'm not going to talk to you anymore!"
"It's a good thing that's not what you're here for." The figure moved painfully slow into the slivers of light revealing a head of crimson hair, more pale skin covered by a netted t-shirt and black pants. His coal rimmed eyes were familiar, and the character for 'love' on the left side of his forehead gave her an even clearer indication of who she was dealing with.
Her blood ran cold, finding difficulty in pulsing properly through her veins. She felt dizzy, and nauseous.
"There it is... that face." The redhead laughed in a way that made her deeply disturbed. "I don't smell urine on you though, another feat to be sure-"
"Sabaku no Gaara... the beast of the sand-" Sakura placed her hand on a wooden crate to steady herself, but the wood was rotted enough for her hand to fall through while her body slammed to the floor. Her muscles tightened with anxiety as she heard him practically stomp over to her, his form crawling over her angrily before slamming both of his fists onto the boards next to either side of her head.
"Scream!" Gaara growled in her face, showing off his glistening fangs. His breath was hotter than the already steaming air, and it flayed uncomfortably close on her skin.
The redhead's eyes bored into her own like a predator savoring the split moment of the kill. Her eyes couldn't turn away from the haunting ones staring back at her, she felt like she was already dead.
His brow furrowed before his hand snatched up her chin painfully. The young woman winced at how hard he was gripping her, and hissed when he violently turned her head to the side with his sweaty palm.
"Why do you keep looking at me!? Look away-!"
"Why? Do you feel guilt when your victims look at you?" Sakura strained her eyes to stare him down from the side, and only just barely twitched when his other fist slammed down once more.
"I don't like your eyes." The redhead bared his teeth again, but it did nothing to scare her anymore.
She already felt empty. He was trying to break someone who was already broken. Too bad for him.
Just then, something about the redhead changed. His grip on her chin relaxed in favor of being placed on the floor. She turned her face to stare lifelessly at him, as if this were just some sort of dream.
Perhaps it was a dream. Maybe this whole world was just a nightmare, and she was just stuck in a coma.
"What's wrong with you? Scream." Gaara huffed, but it did nothing to get the response that he wanted. Her head finally rolled to the side, and her eyes stared at the cracking boards over the window. They were rotted, just like everything else in this room.
"Like I said, death no longer frightens me. Do whatever you want, I don't care anymore." The former kunoichi's voice went from a normal speaking tone into a saddened one. The more she spoke on it the more she found that she no longer had any fight left in her. She just wanted to die-
Suddenly pain hit her neck like a dog biting down on the flesh. The growling was also reminiscent of an animal. Her adrenaline spiked as her fight or flight response activated, and she cursed her brain for even having such an ability. She squirmed under the pain until it detached, and two pale hands slammed down her shoulders.
"You can't lie to me! You're afraid to die-!"
"My body wants to live, but I assure you my mind is made up. Finish it." Sakura kept her head turned, but was quickly forced by his hand to look at him again. His eyes seemed... confused. Like he had never encountered this before.
His ghostly orbs grew closer, more invasive, until finally he had placed his lips over her own.
'What?!'
At that moment she felt everything flip, from her stomach to her brain; everything shuddered painfully at the realization that he had different ideas other than just to kill her.
He was going to-
No, she would not let him take the last thing she had. She bit his lip hard, and he pulled back snarling.
"BITCH-!"
"Touch me again, and I'll rip your dick off. Do you understand me?" The young woman channeled his own energy right back at him, and it made him blink in surprise.
"You wouldn't live long enough to even reach it." Gaara scoffed for a moment, but practically hissed when her hand reached for him quicker than lightening. With her fingers curled to claw she grasped at what was between his legs, and held it threateningly.
His entire body tightened, his face quickly turned to stone at the realization. Sand began slithering across the floor before slipping over her whole frame. It tickled her skin as it almost caressed her, but it was also quite frightening as well.
"If you're going to kill me, than do it! Don't sully your name further by becoming a rapist as well as a murderer!" Sakura hissed at him, and surprisingly the expression he gave her was an interesting one.
He seemed confused again. Almost shocked, and completely innocent to what she had just accused him of.
A pounding at the door had his sand lunging for her arms and legs, tying them up almost instantly before he backed a few feet away from her. A dark yet familiar form slowly opened the door.
"Gaara, are you done with-?" Kankuro entered before looking at the former kunoichi in shock. He blinked for a moment before turning cautiously to his crazed brother. "She's still alive?"
"She wants to die. I'm waiting until she wants to live again to kill her." Gaara said it so nonchalantly that it made her chest tighten. He was waiting until he could get a full emotional rise out of her before killing her in cold blood. The elder brother looked back at the young woman with widened eyes.
"Sakura, if you'd like... I can take you away from here-"
"SHE'S NOT YOURS!" The redhead howled as his sand violently yanked her over to him. He grabbed her form possessively into his arms as if she were his favorite teddy bear. The young man nuzzled his face against her shoulder while his hands greedily gripped at her ribs and waist. "This one is mine... they threw her in here... so she belongs to me..."
Sakura felt her body rocking forwards and backwards with his own, as if he was trying to soothe himself like a lonely child. His form behind her was tense, and yet hot to the touch. She could feel the man's heart pounding on her back, it was disturbingly intimate. Kankuro merely looked on in horror at the display before looking to the floor with guilt.
"Yes, Gaara. She's yours, and a part of you. So instead of killing her you should try to keep her safe." The elder brother looked over to the corner of the room where Sakura saw a real teddy bear laying lifelessly on the floor. It seemed to be surprisingly in tact. "Think of her like a toy, you never seem to destroy your toys-"
"I will do whatever I please with her! Unless you have work for me you will leave us!" Gaara snarled like a rabid dog foaming at the mouth, and the display had his brother backing up fearfully. The pale hands holding her began clawing at her frame forcing her to wince in discomfort. This did something to Kankuro, something akin to guilt, and that surprised her beyond belief.
"Okay, I'm leaving. There's no need for anger..." Kankuro placed his hands in the air as he retreated, and closed the door gently behind him.
Suddenly she felt very alone, and more frightened than before. The redhead was panting hard against her ear, but it sounded as if he were in some sort of pain. One hand abandoned her, rising up to grip at his skull while he groaned in discomfort.
He seemed to be in a lot of pain, and her conscience pushed empathy through her as he started to whimper from it.
"...Are you in pain?" Sakura spoke just above a whisper so as not to startle him, but it only made him snarl at her while digging his fingers into her abdomen.
"It's none of your concern!" Gaara shouted in her ear, leaving it ringing painfully. Suddenly he wrapped his legs around her, as if he was trying to make her belong to him completely. She needed to try harder with him.
"I like to be useful... since I'm staying here with you, will you allow me to help?" The pinkette asked gently, only receiving an irritated grunt. She decided to try again. "I'm not strong enough to hurt you, and you know this, but I can help with that headache."
The redhead stilled his fidgeting as he ingested her request. His fingers digging into her flesh relaxed, but his tone was still threatening in her ears.
"How?" He growled, and placed his mouth on her bare shoulder like a pouting child. Had it been someone she cared for it would have been cute.
"About ninety percent of the time a headache is caused by muscle strains, I assure you that at least part of your headache will go away if you let me tend to your shoulders." Sakura spoke carefully, she knew that this man was unpredictable, and if she was going to survive this without getting assaulted she would have to get him on her side somehow. She needed to build some sort of trust with him. "I know it must seem odd, but I assure you that I won't be able to hurt you-"
"If you think I'm scared of people touching me you are mistaken. I just don't like it." Gaara huffed stubbornly again, and his heated breath flayed over her shoulder making the area sensitive. She shivered for a moment, but then collected herself.
"It might ache a little bit if you have a lot of knots in your muscles, but I assure you that you will feel better afterwards." The pinkette countered, and received another hot exhale on her skin.
It was silent for a long while, and while she waited for an answer she stared at the dust floating through the air. The cracks of light making it highly visible.
The redhead suddenly released her, but she waited for a moment before moving away so as not to make it seem like she was afraid of him. She patted on the floor in front of her with a gentle smile.
"Laying down is best-"
"I'm not an animal, I refuse to be beckoned with gestures." Gaara growled at her, and yet he still laid himself out of the ground in front of her.
Only... he was laying on his back...
"Um... I need you to lay on your stomach... please." Sakura looked around the room to avoid whatever scrutiny he had planned for her, but all she heard was an irritated groan before he rolled himself over. Smiling to herself she scooted closer to him, and leaned over to start massaging his neck.
The muscles there were like literal rocks. She wondered how he could even turn his head with the flesh so knotted up. She would have to get serious if she were to provide him with relief.
The pinkette swung her leg over him, straddling his waist but not placing any of her weight on his back. He seemed to stiffen a bit, but as her hands came back to his neck and shoulders he seemed to relax again.
Sakura started out with extreme gentleness, and after a few minutes she added more pressure. He gave a long exhale, which had her wondering if her ministrations were affecting him at all. She added more pressure, gaining a strained yet relieved moan from him.
Why was she blushing? He was just making a sound, it's not supposed to be a big deal.
The muscles were finally starting to loosen a bit, so she placed more pressure into her hands to work out the next layer of tension. This time he hissed, obviously feeling some discomfort, but he let her continue regardless.
"Harder..." Gaara groaned, leaving the pinkette absolutely flustered. No one had ever said such a thing, and in that tone of voice to boot. With a deeper blush she pressed down hard, using a good deal of her body weight to work out the knots. He snarled through his teeth, and just as she thought he was about to ask her to keep going he quickly turned underneath her.
Suddenly the redhead was facing upright, glaring at her while showing his gritting teeth. He grabbed both of her wrists, pulling her forward slightly to look at her more closely in the eyes. Her knees slid out on the ground, forcing her to literally straddle his lower abdomen.
"That hurt!" Gaara barked at her, but all she could think about was ways to get off of his lap. She tried adjusting her knees inwards to get herself off of him, but he kept pulling her down by her wrists. "You said you wouldn't hurt me-!"
"I can't physically harm you, and it didn't harm you!" Sakura argued with him, and his face soured over the fact that she would even try it. She tried wriggling out of his grip once more, and just as her hands got free his found their way to her hips to hold her there.
"Stop trying to run!" The redhead growled, holding her so firmly that it pressed her weight down on him further. "You're afraid of me! I knew it-!"
"I'm not scared! I'm just uncomfortable sitting on you!" The pinkette shrieked at him, his coal rimmed eyes growing wide in confusion. When his seafoam eyes darted to where their bodies met his hands quickly slipped away from her.
This time she darted away quickly, wanting nothing more than to be far away from him. She scurried over to a dark corner of the room, hiding her face in the corner of a wall.
He was going to come after her, she just knew it.
Footfalls, and they sounded angry.
'He's going to attack-'
The slam of a door was what had her whipping her head around. Gaara was gone... and now she was completely alone.
She wondered if she had insulted him with her accusing behaviors. After all, he didn't seem to care about her being a woman in the slightest. Perhaps she didn't even interest him that way, but rather just the fact that she was another human being in his space.
What was to happen to her now?
- … - … -
He knew her face.
Those piercing eyes had haunted his waking dreams, and now she was in his space. That girl was probably still shivering in a corner.
"Sakura." The redhead remembered her name, and said it aloud to himself as he wrapped his bloodied sand around a rebel shinobi. The screams were merely background noise as he clenched his hand, feeling the phantom pressure of life in it. Like a child squeezing an invisible porcelain doll he felt the ninja crack, and squish in his palm.
Blood rained down on him, but all he could think on was how he once had the pink haired kunoichi in his grasp too. He had squeezed his sand around her body, ready to crush her like all of the rest of his victims.
Her pained eyes, her whimpering cries of agony... it had done something to him when he was thirteen... and it was doing something to him now as an adult.
It thrilled him, yet he didn't want her dead. He wanted her to keep making such pained noises for the rest of her days. Trapped in his grasp, squirming and whimpering like an injured animal.
"Sakura..." Gaara's gruff voice slithered past his lips, the sound of her name tickling his ears while prickling the tongue. Perhaps this fascination with her would fade, or maybe it wouldn't. He didn't care, it was distracting enough for right now.
The job was done. He could return back to where they had placed her, in that tower where they allowed him to be as insane as he desired. They even brought him presents, although for some odd reason it was mostly young and 'pretty' women...
They brought the redhead a young man once too, but that didn't last very long, and he assumed that they figured out that men irritated him more than the women. He enjoyed how females would give shrill screams before they died, and it was a nice change of pace in comparison to the cowardly begging he was used to from most males.
When they threw Sakura into that room, and unconscious to boot, he found himself oddly curious. They had never thrown anyone in with him that was completely knocked out before, nor had anyone been as striking in appearance. He knew her instantly, but kept his distance until she had gotten a bit familiar with him.
Too familiar, it made Gaara pissed that she had enough gall to call him 'friend'.
Yet that anger faded when he realized that she had no fear of death, but she did have another fear that he was not used to. A type of humiliation that was foreign to him, and that he never considered acting on due to his hatred of human contact. Something about touching her had the girl clenching up...
This intrigued him, yet he had no clue what it would take to get her to scream. He would just have to continue to test the waters.
The redhead was drenched in rebel blood, but walked through the halls of the Kage building without care. The trail of red dripped behind him, and his bloodied hands opened up any doors that blocked his path. The staff knew to lower their eyes, and as he passed some even bowed respectfully towards him. It was a good gesture, but just one slip up and he would grind them into pink meat.
"Are those rebels taken care of?" The only man not afraid to look him in the eye for the most part, Baki, called over to him from the end of the darkening hall. The sun had finally set, reddening the world around them brilliantly as a dark blue invaded the sky outside.
"They are all dead, nothing but their blood is left behind. I made sure to leave their headbands though, so expect more threats from any comrades that find them." Gaara's voice sounded more grated then usual, even for him. Perhaps it was just fatigue. He'd have to sit down for a while to try to regain some strength.
"Good, I'm sure if they try anything else we'll have another mission for you-"
"I can't wait." Although the tone was monotonous, the small smirk gracing his lips let the jounin know that the thrill of the kill was still pumping inside of him.
A passing thought hit him then, the rebels he killed were former leaf ninja. He wondered about the one locked in the tower.
"The girl the council placed in the tower... is she awake?" The redhead lowered his voice then, as if he didn't want anyone else to know about his new toy. Baki stopped writing up a report to raise a brow curiously, something about the question had gotten his interest, although the bloodied ninja couldn't fathom why.
"No, she went to sleep about an hour ago. I'm surprised you haven't killed her yet." The jounin narrowed his eyes, as if he knew something that Gaara did not.
He wanted to know, he hated being left in the dark.
"Why are you surprised?" Gaara's query was plain, but it got another questionable expression out of the older man.
"Most of the girls we give you are dead within hours, this one has managed to live an entire day. I'm wondering if you have any special plans for her this evening-"
"I'm not following." The redhead deadpanned, but it only got a smirk in return.
"Plans that involve more than just killing her. She is quite beautiful, don't you think?" Baki's smirk grew a bit further on his cheeks leaving his pupil to blink for a moment as he registered the comment.
'Beautiful?' Gaara thought to himself before furrowing his brow. His eyes darted to the floor in deep thought. 'Why would it matter if she is beautiful or not? All bodies crush the same way-'
"Perhaps a more gentle hand would be best on her, or perhaps even a kiss." The jounin overstepped his bounds causing the redhead to glare at his sensei.
"If you are talking about the pressing of lips I already tried." He growled at the older man, but didn't expect his mouth to click with surprise.
"How did it go?"
"She bit me." Gaara seethed, making Baki recoil slightly.
"I see, spirited. No matter, she'll break eventually, or you could always just hold her down with your sand. I personally wouldn't kill her just yet, it would be a waste of her beauty." The jounin sighed before going back to his paperwork.
There was that word again, 'beauty'. As if such features would sway whether he killed her or not. Why was it important whether a woman was beautiful or not? What was so pleasing about a symmetrical face, a healthy body, and bright eyes? He didn't get much joy from just looking at her...
Perhaps that was the problem, she wasn't supposed to be 'just looked at'. Baki had mentioned kissing her, and that act was foreign to him as well. He had seen love conveyed in such ways, but he did not love her.
What purpose was it for? Why do it at all?
This thought bothered him as he made his new destination the tower. He climbed the tall spiral stairs, making his way up in an almost foreboding fashion. Each step had his mind clouded with confusion.
Why touch? Why kiss? Why do any of these things if he was just going to kill her? What was so pleasing about her that he should keep her alive?
Kankuro told him to keep her alive too, in fact he wanted her for himself. Something about that made him feel a bit possessive, as if she was something to covet. Why did Kankuro want her? Was it because she was considered to be beautiful?
Gaara had held her forcefully in his arms, he remembered her body was warm and soft. He had pressed his mouth on hers on a whim, and although he felt a charge from it the initial bite from her had him bitter. She was quite weak in his arms though, and it made his heart pound strangely. The thought that he could throw her around... force her to do anything was empowering. However, what things he would force her to do were lost on him.
Warm, and soft... perhaps holding her again was the key. A 'gentle hand', maybe he needed to touch her some way to get some sort of payment from her presence.
Gaara approached the door, and the guard opened it graciously for him before allowing him through. As the way became shut behind him, he looked around the pitched room to see her laying in the place he liked to sit.
Something strange hit him, she was sleeping so peacefully in his space. Almost like she belonged there... like she belonged to him.
The redhead crossed the room quickly until he could crouch down at her feet. He watched her chest rise, and fall, again and again. It was hypnotizing, he'd never seen anyone so calm in his life.
She stirred with a whimper, and the sound pierced through him like a knife as she turned her form from her side onto her back.
Her chest was so strange, and it rose up with each breath like it was asking for something. He almost felt like leaning forward and biting on one of her breasts.
'That was an odd thought.' Gaara blinked at himself in disbelief, finding no merit in actually biting such a place. Yet he still felt the strange urge to do so. Perhaps this was the beauty they spoke of, and maybe that's what other men wanted from her too. 'It almost sounds like mating-'
Her body jolted awake, distracting him from his initial thought. Her eyes looked around herself blindly, unused to the darkness where as he could see her clear as day. She seemed tired, and confused, yet he was slightly enjoying the idea of watching her while staying hidden in shadow right in front of her.
So close, observing her in her natural state...
A new sort of thrill went through him, and it strangely resonated pleasantly in his stomach. While he enjoyed it, it was so foreign to him that he instantly felt angry about it. It was unexpected, and he didn't like surprises.
No, he was done with this. It was best if he just confronted her, and get this kill over and done with.
"You're in my spot." The redhead growled, and as her whole form jumped he noticed her knees rise up defensively towards her chest. He thought about pinning her down, and forcing her body to stretch out.
Perhaps playing a bit wouldn't be too bad of an idea. He did want her to scream after all.
"I'm sorry... it was the best place to sleep-" Sakura tried to explain, but he could tell there was an unnerved tone to her voice.
"If I don't sleep then you won't either." Gaara made it known that his word was law around here, however, his words seemed to make her back away from him. Her face containing a suspicious fear that had his heart pounding with excitement.
'She's afraid of me... something has changed in my favor...' He began to give a sinister smile at the thought, and before he knew it his hands started to move towards her legs.
"You were so fearless earlier, I'm curious as to what changed your mind?" The redhead gripped fast at her ankles to yank her whole body towards him, the shrill scream of terror that came out of her made his skin break out in gooseflesh. A dark laugh came from his throat, the sinister sound had her frightened and fighting him with her feeble arms.
She was grunting, whimpering fearfully like a cornered animal. It had his blood thrumming through his veins with anticipation for more.
"Now you're really scared! I liked that little scream of yours, do it again!" Gaara pulled hard on her thighs to bring her even closer to him. As he hovered over her the pinkette's fists punched at his chest desperately.
He scoffed at the pitiful attempt, eyeing her creamy neck with intent. Executing his thoughts his hand gripped hard around her throat to pin her to the floor, he could feel her rabbit pulse pounding under his fingers as he squeezed. Wheezing for oxygen she still fought him, and it only made him laugh more. "Beg me not to do it! Beg!"
Something broke in her, he could see it. Sakura's face twisted as she prepared to cry, although he was used to that reaction. Something about it this time, however, seemed to hit him in a place that he thought he had buried away. It stung slightly, but he pushed it down knowing that he would be killing her eventually-
"Please... Gaara... don't... don't do this... please, don't force yourself on me!"
Gaara froze, feeling the accusation wash over him like a cold splash of water.
'She thinks... I'm going to... rape her...' His eyes went wide to that, surprised that she would assume he would even desire someone in such a way. He didn't want that, he had never wanted that nor had he ever even tried.
The redhead continued to gawk at her, looking at her whole weakened form underneath him. She was sobbing like a child.
"Gaara... please-"
The plea made something snap inside him. He was a murderer, yes, but he hadn't completely submitted to the beast inside of him.
"Why do you keep thinking that I'm going to do something like that?" Gaara barked at her, his temper boiling over as her form jolted in his hands. He couldn't contain the emotional reaction rising up in him, he felt himself begin to explode. "IS THAT THE ONLY THING THAT FRIGHTENS YOU-?!"
"Yes." Her small frightened whimper had him straightening in disbelief. His eyes darted around her body, watching her cower away from him not because of the threat of pain or death, but because of the harm he could do to her simply because he was the opposing sex.
Sex. Mating. It made sense as to why it would frighten her. He knew such acts to be intimate even amongst animals, to use such a thing as a weapon was heinous.
Was he capable of such a thing? Could he truly live up to her expectations? He had killed men, women, and children... torturing them just to pass the time...
But could he use an act of bonding to also satisfy his bloodlust?
"That's all it takes... to make you scream?" The way he asked was as if the question were rhetorical, but it didn't stop her from shivering.
The redhead watched that fear move through her, and while he felt something tell him not to do it, his crazed mind told him that it could be fun. This was new... a fresh look on how he could torture.
Gaara scoffed mostly to himself, watching the moonlight glitter over her through cracks in the boards on the windows. She was very pretty, he had finally decided, agreeing with the people who had tried to make that known to him earlier. Perhaps it was time he actually tried doing something other than mindless killing for a change.
"Well... there's a first for everything." The redhead said lowly, watching with sadistic glee as her expression grew mortified.