Hello everyone, It's TLD again!!
I've had a few thoughts since I figured that "Please remember" might be longer than I thought, so I came up with a new Gaara/Ino story. I'm going to make it a one-shot. It's sad and full of angst so don't flame me… You like it, I like you. You don't like it; I don't like you XP just kidding. I wouldn't be able to go on without your encouraging reviews, everyone!!
The title of the story "safest place to hide" is taken from the album "Never gone" By backstreet boys.
Hope you guys like it...
The safest place to hide
His eyes suddenly open; he was lying on the ground, surrounded by trees. Gaara slowly sat up, his hand reached for his head.
"Ouch…" he mumbled. Then he checked his surroundings. "Where the heck am I?" he said, getting up quickly but it wasn't long till he fell back down. "Too fast…" he said, trying to get up slowly this time. He looked around to see a couple of bodies he didn't recognize, and then he remembered.
"I'm on a mission…" he said, sighing. It looked like…
" Mission accomplished" he said, smiling and walking off, Back to Sunagakure.
On his way home, he was smiling. He had a couple of successful missions the past few years, and he was going home to the most amazing woman. He smiled as he reached for his pocket, and got out a picture of the family of three… the parents and the child. Remembering that, five years ago, he had made the best decision he made in his entire life.
-Flashback-
20 years old Gaara was fumbling with his hands as he stood outside her house. They have been going out for a couple of years and he figured that today is a new day, they can't keep dating forever. He sighed when he checked his watch, it was almost 8pm. He didn't want to bring her home late, her parents might get worried.
His thoughts were cut when the door was opened. She was standing there, wearing a shimmering sleeveless black dress; her hair was in a high bun, tied with two Chinese hair-sticks. She smiled sincerely at him.
"Hey…" she said, walking towards him, and kissed him. He returned the kiss with more passion. She giggled in the middle of the kiss, making him pull away, smiling.
"Are you ready?" he asked, laughing. She laughed along. "Yeah, let's go" she said, linking her arm with his, both walking away.
A couple of hours later
They were both walking along the shore, laughing about silly stuff, making fun of each other or simply kiss.
She splashed some water on him and ran away. He ran, following her, and grabbed her arm, pulling her back to him and kissed her passionately. His arm went around her slender waist and pulled her closer. She gave him the entrance to her mouth, both chuckling and giggling against each other, her hands went around his neck and pulled his hair a bit, making him chuckle.
They broke the kiss, both leaning their foreheads against the others'. He was moving his fingers up and down her back in a slow, comforting motion, making her sigh in pleasure. She smiled and played with the hair on the back of his neck, both standing silently.
Gaara knew, every time she looked at him, every time he's close to her, that she's the one for him, the one he needs in his life, the one he wants to be his… forever.
"Ino…" he started; she looked at him with her wide baby blue eyes. "I have to tell you something" he said, looking down. Ino was feeling a bit uncomfortable, fearing that he would finish everything they had together. He could see the anxiety in her eyes and feel her heart beat against his chest. Gaara laughed and moved his hands to her forearms.
"It's a good thing, trust me" he said, rubbing her forearms. She sighed deeply and chuckled. He took a very deep breath and exhaled it loudly.
'Here goes nothing' he thought, he looked down for a couple of seconds and then looked up at her with a smile on his face.
"Ino…It's been almost three years since we first met. People predicted that this would never work, that we were the exact opposite of each other: you, having a good childhood and lots of friends, and me: terrible childhood with no friends at all. You know that my life wasn't half as good as yours." he said. Ino sadly smiled at him, nodding and playing with the buttons of his shirt.
"…but we can now go to everyone and tell them that whatever they had said haven't affected our relationship because I love you, and I know you love me as well…" he continued, taking her hands from his chest and held them tightly in his. After all of these years, she would always blush every time he held her hands and talked to her that way.
Ino wasn't really sure what he was about to say, but she swore she have never seen Gaara this happy. He was so happy that his eyes were glittery; the 'Ai' tattoo on his forehead seemed a bit brighter for some reason. She could also feel his hands shaking.
Ino's breath was caught in her throat when he slowly kneeled, never breaking the eye contact. She watched him as he slid his hand in his pocket and pulled out a violet velvet box. He opened the box with one hand and held her left hand in the other.
"Yamanaka Ino…" he started, smiling nervously. Ino was already in tears, tears of happiness, that is. She knew, that he was about to say the words any girl wished to hear from her boyfriend
"…would you give me the honor of being my wife?" he asked, taking the ring out of the box and held it between his thumb and index finger, waiting for her answer. Ino's tears were already ruining her eyeliners. She covered her mouth, tears strolling down her cheeks. Gaara was getting nervous. 'If she said no, I don't know what else I'm going to do' he thought. Ino slowly removed her hand away from her mouth to reveal a smile behind the tears.
"Yes, Gaara, yes!" she said, throwing herself at him. He hugged her and got up, spinning her around. He stopped and put her down, holding her left hand and with a smile, placed the ring in her finger.
In exactly nine months later, Ino was in her room in Sunagakure main hospital, delivering their baby. Gaara was waiting nervously outside the room, pacing back and forth. Kankurou, Shikamaru and his wife Temari were waiting nervously outside as well, trying to calm Gaara down in the process. Not until they heard the cry of a baby, Gaara's face lit up as he saw the doctor walk out of the room.
"Well, congratulations, Kazekage-sama! You have just become a father to a beautiful baby girl." He said, walking off. Gaara clasped his hands and moved them to his mouth, thanking god. His siblings and brother-in-law were telling him to go inside, and he did.
He walked in into the big room and saw them, both his wife and his child. Ino looked up from the child to Gaara, Smiling from ear to ear.
"Hello, daddy, I'm finally here." Ino said, mocking a childish tone. He laughed and walked to her side. He took a look at his child. Though having his hair, she resembled her mother in an unbelievable way. The baby girl had Gaara's eyes yet her mother's eye color. She was wriggling inside her little pink blanket. Gaara looked at Ino and kissed her forehead. "We have come all this way, haven't we?" she asked, smiling at him. He simply nodded and turned his attention back to his baby girl.
"What should we call her?" he said, touching his child's head carefully, smiling at her. Ino was thinking about it when she heard the sound of trickling water. Both of them looked at each other and then looked at the window. Gaara smiled and Ino gasped.
"It's…It's raining" she stuttered, nudging Gaara. He chuckled. "It has never rained in Suna…" he said, looking at his child who was now asleep. He smiled and looked at his wife. "I think I know what we should call her…" he said. Ino looked at him, smiling back, also having an Idea about their child's name.
"We'll call her Ame" he said, smiling. Ino laughed. "That's great, right, Ame?" she said, talking to her baby girl. Gaara knew at this moment that he has been blessed. He was starting to think that his terrible childhood has happened for a reason. If his childhood wasn't as bad as it was, his future wouldn't have been this great. He looked at the window to see that now it was pouring. He knew that this girl was blissful, Not only to them, but to Sunagakure.
-End of flashback-
Gaara was nearing Sunagakure. It's been almost 5 months since he last saw them. He missed Ino, missed the way she looked, the way she smiled, the way she made him feel, missed her love and passionate ways of making him happy. His little Ame was as beautiful as he mother, he missed her as well. When he left, she was on her last day of kindergarten. She was a bright young girl, sometimes having her mother's cheerful attitude and sometimes she turns to her father's dark side. Overall, she was one amazing bless.
That's when he saw it, the gate of Sunagakure. He smiled as he walked closer to it. He saw a guard standing there. But he looked as if he was in a trance. Gaara greeted him, but the guard didn't reply, making Gaara grimace. As a Kazekage, he was expecting to get a more respectful homecoming greeting. He was very tired to even argue with him so he walked straight home.
'Nothing has changed', Gaara thought as he saw the same shops and restaurants with the same people that were always buying and shopping from. He smiled when he saw a hint of the building he lived in. He couldn't take it anymore so he ran as fast as he could…
It seems like yesterday when I said "I do"
And after all this time my heart still burns for you
If you don't know by now that you're my only one
Take a look inside me and watch my heartstrings come undone
He saw her, she was holding their daughter's hand with her left and holding a couple of grocery bags in her other one. Little Ame was holding a small transparent bag that held about half a dozen of red apples in her left hand. Gaara smiled as he walked closer to them. Ino and her daughter walked inside the building and the door closed. He went there and pushed it, only it wasn't being opened. Gaara pushed the door again,
'What the heck…?' he thought. The door suddenly opened and little Ame came running outside as fast as she could, yelling to her mother.
"I'll be back later, mother!" she said. He called her once, twice, three times but she didn't look back. He sighed and walked inside the house.
"Ino, where are you? I'm home, baby" he said, looking inside the house. He noticed that the decoration of the house was different. It was more like Ino now. He smiled and walked inside, looking left and right for his blonde wife.
"Ino!" he called out loud, but there was no response. "I know you're in here, I saw you come inside, Ino…" he stopped in his track when he saw her sitting on the windowsill, holding her fist against her chest, tears strolling down her face.
"Ino…" he whispered. She took a deep breath and exhaled it. More tears strolled down her cheek as she opened her mouth to speak.
"Why did you have to go? You promised me you'd stay with me no matter what." she whispered, sobbing silently.
I know I promised you forever
Is there no stronger word I can use
to reassure you when the storm is raging outside
you're my safest place to hide
Gaara was hurt to see her like this, "Ino, I'm sorry. The mission took a great deal of time to be accomplished and I couldn't come back without…"
"Why did you leave me?" she cut him off. She cried hard now, holding her fist near her chest, when she opened it, she took a look at what was inside. Gaara's breath was held back. It was a ring, his wedding ring, and it was hung in a delicate chain around her neck. He looked at his hand to see that ring was gone, making him grimace. 'What in the world…?' he thought then looked up at his wife.
"Ino, what's going on?" he asked, walking a bit closer to her. She didn't look at him. Ino took a deep breath.
"Did you hate me, honey? Is that why you left me all alone?" she asked, crying her heart out. Gaara was in total shock. What she was talking about did not make sense to him. He shook his head in frustration.
"Leave you? Honey, I went on a mission. I would never leave you. I don't even hate you. How could I hate the only person who was able to see who I really am? Who was able to understand me out of all people? How can I hate the person I chose to be with me for the rest of my life?" he said…
You see colors no one else can see
in every breath you hear a symphony
you understand me like nobody can
I feel like my soul unfolding like a flower blooming
She held the ring between her two index fingers and thumbs and kissed it. Holding it again in her fist against her chest and getting up. Gaara called her name but she didn't even look at him. Ino walked past him and went upstairs, to their bedroom. His eyes followed her every move until he saw something he'd never thought he'd see.
On a big chest in the main room was a kind of incense sticks that Gaara loved to have around his office and in the house. Beside it was a wrapped box. Behind all of that was his picture, framed with two black ribbons. Remembering Ino's words…then it hit him…
"Why did you have to go? You promised me you'd stay with me no matter what."
"Why did you leave me?"
"Did you hate me, honey? Is that why you left me all alone?"
Gaara's eyes widened, 'that's impossible' he thought, shaking his head, and fell to his knees. He held his head in his hands and started putting the pieces back together. The guard at the gate, his daughter, Ino… all of them, they didn't see him. They couldn't talk to him because he was…
"Dead…" he said, tears forming in his eyes. "…I-I…I'm dead" he stuttered, Shaking his head in frustration. The tears fell onto the ground, one after another. He couldn't believe it because it didn't seem physically possible, No, it didn't seem possible from all aspects.
"Ino…" he mumbled, shivering. "…I need you, Ino" he said, slowly getting up. He turned around, feeling a great deal of pain in his chest, 'I'm dead; why the hell would I feel something?' He took heavy steps towards the stairs.
In a few seconds he was upstairs, standing in front of their bedroom door. He reached for the door knob, but then jerked his hand away. He couldn't go inside, couldn't see her. He couldn't see her without touching her, holding her in his arms, kissing her and making love to her. He knew that if he's dead, he won't be able to do all of that. The thought of it scared him. Gaara took a couple of steps back and leaned against the wall, sliding down and sitting down with a thump. His tears were starting to flow.
"Ino, please…open the door. I need you"
When this whole world gets too crazy
And there's nowhere left to go
I know you give me sanctuary
You're the only truth I know
You're the road back home
Gaara thought it was some kind of a miracle for the door to be opened, he saw her standing there, looking at him, No, right through him. She couldn't see him yet she could feel him. She left the door open and walked back to her bed, sitting down.
Gaara got up and walked towards her, feeling uneasy with every step he took. When he was right in front of her, he fell to his knees and yelled on top of his lungs.
"Ino…" he started, "I don't want to leave…Not yet" he yelled, slamming his fists to the ground. Ino was sitting still, staring blankly at the ground then closed her eyes. Gaara looked up at her; he has never seen as calm as she was then. He reached his hand to touch her wet cheek, but he couldn't. He didn't know what would happen if he did.
Can you see me, here I am
I need you like I needed you then
When I feel like giving up
I climb inside your heart I still find
You're my safest place to hide
"Gaara…" she said, opening her eyes. Gaara felt like she was looking right into his eyes. 'Can she see me?' he thought as he saw her smile then moved her eyes to the ceiling.
"…I know you're here… people would think I'm crazy if I told them but you are here…I can feel you, Gaara" she said, sobbing. Ino buried her face in her hand and cried as loud as she can. Gaara couldn't help but to cry silently along with her…
Can you see me, here I am
Standing here where I've always been
And when words are not enough
I climb inside your heart I'd still find
You're my safest place to hide
…My safest place to hide
"Ino…" he said, putting his hands on each side of the bed. His face was inches from her crying figure; he leaned closer to her ear.
"…please…be strong, for me…"
Ino jerked her head up. She swore she just heard Gaara's voice telling her to be strong. 'Gaara…my friend, my lover, my husband, my life…' she thought, wiping away her tears. "I'll be strong for you, my Gaara" she said, looking at the ceiling. She leaned back and lied on the bed, closing her eyes. She figured that every time she closed her eyes, she could hear him.
"Gaara…please…" she said, spreading her arms on each side of the bed. Her tears were trickling down her cheeks, "Stay with me…" she said, taking a deep breath. She felt a warm breeze beside her, it was paranormal. She smiled deeply. She knew, deep inside, that he would always be by her side.
"…I will always…be with you…"
FINISH
PS: Ame means "Rain" in Japanese.
-Crying- Aww, screw it! This is so sad. He's friggin dead and I'm friggin evil.
I started this story today and finished it today as well.
Please review while I'm crying