Chapter One
Kohana ran as fast as she could, her feet sinking into the soft sand with every step and the wind whipping her hair all over the place. Her breathing was ragged and a stitch was stabbing into her side but she forced herself on, cursing at herself with every spare breath for being such an idiot. A quick glance behind her gave an added burst of energy as she saw just how close the sandstorm was. To be fair, she did have warning and she had seen a safe place to hole up for the duration of the sandstorm. But she thought she could make it to Sunakagure before it reached her. But she was wrong.
She just had to try to outrun the sandstorm; she chided herself in a sarcastic little inner voice.
Suddenly her foot caught on something and a stab of pain lanced through her ankle as she went down hard. As she fell she twisted so that she landed on her side instead of her stomach, protecting the bundle tucked securely inside her jacket from getting squished. For a few moments she couldn't think beyond the blinding pain coursing from her ankle, but after a few moments the pain faded long enough for her to gather her wits.
Gingerly she moved her injured foot to assess the damage and almost passed out from the pain. With a groan she flopped onto her back. Great, not only was a massive sand storm bearing down on her, she couldn't even make it to adequate shelter which was only a few minutes away.
"I fucking hate the desert." She murmured, it was not the first time she had voice this particular sentiment.
A soft caw sounded from her jacket followed by a long sharp black beak and a black head with beady black eyes peered at her. With a grimace she managed to get up into a sitting position.
"Stupid bloody desert, sand getting in everywhere, always so bloody hot..." she took out her frustrations by muttering under her breath. The crow looked up and gave another 'caw' a little louder then the first and a little more urgent.
"Shut up, I have to concentrate." she said as she closed her eyes, but she immediately felt a twinge of guilt at the way she snapped at the crow, her feathered friend didn't like the desert any more then she did.
She took a breath in, then out. Please work, she begged silently in her mind. She could already feel the first of the sand stinging against her face. She reached within herself to draw up the last of her strength.
But she was tired, thirsty, out of breath with a stitch burning in her side. And on top of that she had an injured ankle. She had no spare energy and the act of trying to draw on depleted reserves made her dizzy and faint.
No, she thought, I can't pass out yet. But before she knew what was happening she had slumped to the side, blackness edging in around her vision as she jarred her ankle, sending a fresh wave of pain over her already abused foot. She was aware of frantic squawks and stinging sand when suddenly a face loomed up into her vision. But her vision was too blurred to make out any details, but she could hear the person talking.
"... You're safe now."
At that moment she could hold on no longer and finally succumbed to the darkness.
***
Slowly she opened her eyes, her head feeling fuzzy. For a moment she struggled to comprehend why she was in a large airy room and not in her dark little attic room before she remembered what had happened. The haze cleared completely from her head as she remembered that she had been caught in a sandstorm. She had fallen and hurt her ankle, her ankle! She sat up in the bed to look at her ankle only to find it neatly wrapped up in plaster. She gave an internal groan; she didn't break anything, did she? She leaned over and poked at the hard plaster a few times.
"You really shouldn't do that."
Kohana almost fell out of her bed in surprise and she turned to find a young girl holding a tray of food. The girl smiled at her.
"You must be hungry; you've been out like a light for the past day and two nights." She settled the tray on her lap and continued to chatter as Kohana practically drooled at the sight of the food and drink, she was starving.
"My name is Dai and don't worry about your ankle, you didn't break anything, it's just a nasty sprain."
"That's a relief." Kohana said around a mouthful of food.
"But you're going to have to stay off it for at least a week or more so that it can heal properly." Dai continued.
"What!" Kohana spluttered, "I can't stay here for a week! I've got to get home." she flopped back onto her pillows, her food momentarily forgotten. "I'm supposed to resupply in Sunakagure then continue on straight away. Arrrgg, it's all because of that stupid sandstorm."
Dai planted her fists on her hips, "You should be more grateful then that! You could have been flayed alive out in that sandstorm! If it wasn't for the Kazekage you probably wouldn't be able to go home at all."
"Kazekage?" Kohana asked as she sat back up and continued with her eating, "Who's that?"
Dai rolled her eyes, "He's the leader of this village. He's also the one who rescued you."
"Oh." Kohana pushed her tray away, her meal finished, "Then I'll leave him a thank you note before I leave. Speaking of which, where are my things?"
She pointed over at the opposite corner of the room then folded her arms, "You're not planning on going anywhere, I hope?"
"What else do you think I'm doing?" Kohana said as she gingerly slid her feet off the bed, "By the way, where's the overgrown wren that was with me?"
Dai blinked a few times in confusion, "You mean that large crow?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Um, it flew away as soon as you within the walls, no one's been able to get it since."
"Good, can you bring over that small bag please?"
The younger girl picked up the tray from the bed and stuck her nose in the air, "No."
"Why not?" Kohana asked a slightly stunned look on her face.
"Because the Kazekage himself asked me to look after you, and at the moment, looking after you means making sure that you stay in bed." With that, Dai stuck the tray on the bedside table then planted her hands on Kohana's shoulders and shoved her gently back onto the bed. Kohana tried to struggle back up but found that she couldn't. She gave a curse when she realized that she didn't even have enough strength to put up any resistance.
It was while she was cursing and still struggling under Dai's hands that the door opened and someone entered the room.
"Are you having trouble Dai?" A male voice asked softly.
At the sound of the voice Kohana stopped her cursing and struggling and simply stared, open-mouthed at the new arrival into the room. His dark blood red hair, his pale green-blue eyes lined in black and his smooth pale complexion all combined to make up this gorgeous individual. His tall lean body just stood there, observing the scene before him.
"No Kazekage, I'm doing great." Dai replied with a smile.
Kohana was still just staring at him, "Damn you're hot!" she blurted out suddenly. The Kazekage's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but as soon as the words left her mouth though, she flushed a bright red and clamped a hand over her mouth. It was a real problem that she had, a tendency to blurt out whatever thought she had on her mind without stopping to examine the words first. Normally she could stop herself before damaging her intelligence but sometimes, like just now, she just made an idiot of herself.
Still blushing hotly Kohana just buried her face beneath her pillow and silently whished that she could sink into the ground itself. Dai just stood there giggling at her embarrassment. What Kohana couldn't see, with her face buried under the pillow, was that Dai was giggling at the Kazekage as much as she was giggling at her. The Kazekage had gone a shade of pink, embarrassed and somewhat unsure how to respond to such a comment. He scratched the back of his head.
"Um, thank you?" he mumbled, confused.
Kohana pulled her pillow off her face and shoved it back under her head; she had made a fool of herself far too many times now to let it affect her for long. The Kazekage, however, didn't have her experience and she was soon giggling like mad along with Dai when she saw that the Kazekage was still red in the face. After a minute or two of hysterical giggling the girls managed to calm down. Still grinning widely Dai picked up the empty tray and walked out of the room leaving them alone in the room. Now that she had calmed down and Dai was no longer holding her hostage Kohana resumed her efforts to get off the bed and moving. All traces of pink fled from the Kazekages' face and he took three swift steps over to the bed and gently pushed her back down onto the mattress. Kohana gave a sound of protest followed by a curse.
"What is this!" she demanded, "Why won't you let me up?!"
"Because you are injured. You should be staying in bed to rest and heal." He replied calmly. "Besides you don't even have the strength to make it to the door, let alone traveling."
Kohana just gave another vile curse. The most infuriating thing was that he was right, evident in the fact that he was keeping her pinned with one hand placed just on her collar bones. Her eyes drooped, she was also feeling extremely tired, her struggle against Dai sapped the last of the meagre energy that she had when she woke.
Her eyes drooped once, twice...
"Sleep, it will do you good." the Kazekages' deep soothing voice lulled her straight to the edge of sleep.
Her eyes drooped once more and she slipped into the darkness.
***
When she awoke again, the room was dark and her stomach grumbled loudly. She pushed herself up into a sitting position and looked over at the table next to her bed. Sitting there was a tray with a covered plate and an empty cup. Next to the tray a pitcher of water sat. Eagerly Kohana grabbed the tray, almost falling out of the bed in the process, and settled it into her lap. Removing the cover she found that the food was cold, but she didn't care, it was food, and she wolfed it all down. When she had finished she patted her stomach contently and poured herself some water, of which she took a huge gulp from. With her hunger satisfied she suddenly had another, more pressing need. Biting her bottom lip she pulled the covers off and slid her feet off the bed. Bracing herself she slowly stood up, keeping all her weight off the injured foot. She thanked her lucky stars that she didn't have to go far. Using the bed for support she went as far as it would allow her. Gathering herself she hopped from the end of the bed to the toilet door, grasping the wooden frame for support as soon as she got there.
Twenty minutes later she had managed to make it back to her bed without incident, but the short trip however had left her feeling tired again and a little dizzy so she gladly snuggled down in the bed to get some more sleep. But just as she was closing her eyes the sound of rustling wing beats sounded in her room. Kohana just kept her eyes shut; maybe if she pretended then the crow would just leave her alone. But unfortunately she had no such luck. She felt the crow jump from the end of her bed onto her foot before fluttering down to the floor. She heard the clicking of the claws on the floor as he made his way across the floor and up to the head of her bed. After about a minute of silence she felt a finger poke her in the shoulder.
"I know you're awake." The voice was harsh yet oddly melodious.
Kohana cracked her eyes open to find herself looking into a pair of jet black eyes set into a face that was a dark olive with very pointed features, topped off with a mop of straight blue-black hair. She poked her tongue out him.
"Go 'way, I'm trying to sleep." she said.
He just merely smile and rested his chin atop of arms that he had crossed on her mattress.
"I just wanna know how your foot is. It's hard to eavesdrop and avoid being captured at the same time, especially with this mob. They are very fast and well trained for a group of humans."
Kohana rolled her eyes, "Didn't you listen to Sensei at all. Remember she told us that these lands had elite warriors trained from childhood to use chakra for fighting."
He pulled a face, "I know, I know, I just didn't expect this level of training, that's all. But back to the original question, how are you doing?"
This time it was Kohana's turn to pull a face, "I am told that I sprained my ankle, the cast was just to stop me from making it worse with any abrupt movements. But they want to keep me here for at least a week, but we are leaving in the morning."
"Oh no we aren't. We will wait the week."
Kohana sat up abruptly, "But we can't! Sensei is expecting us home in two days."
He just gave a shrug, "its fine, she'll understand. Besides you don't only have a sprained ankle, you were also dehydrated and depleted of chakra. I think a week should be long enough for you to recover enough to travel."
"No!" she hissed quietly, "We leave tomorrow."
A mischievous gleam twinkled in his black eyes, "Well then I hope you're a good swimmer 'cause I won't take you. Not until the week is up anyway." he said.
Kohana gasped then grabbed the pillow and whacked him over the head with it. He just laughed and in a flurry of blue-black chakra became a crow and flew out the window. Kohana just gave a huff of annoyance as she settled back into try and get some sleep, muttering darkly about a certain stupid overgrown wren.
***
Kohana abruptly woke and sat up with a start. It was late in the morning and she was alone, not even a tray of food waiting for her. Her stomach grumbled hungrily as she looked around. Great, she thought, I'm hungry and there's no way for me to actually get anywhere. She adjusted her pillow behind her so that she could sit up properly and leaned back. She figured she might as well see what the damage to her foot actually was. Somehow she felt that 'nasty sprain' wasn't a real answer. She closed her eyes and turned her focus inwards. She was pleased at how fast her chakra had regenerated, the crow had been hanging around her more often then she thought, although the rest and good food helped a lot as well. Still with her eyes closed she leaned forward and put her hands on either side of wrapped and bound foot, the presence of the hands drawing the chakra from her abdomen down her leg and to her foot where she used it examine the damage she had done with her little trip to the sandy ground.
As the chakra pulsed invisibly around her foot sending her information about her injury she ground her teeth in frustration. It was worse then she first thought she found at least two tendons in the top of her foot snapped, massive bruising on the tissues and, even worse, hair line cracks on the bone. No wonder her foot ached. With a resigned sigh she drew some of the chakra into her hands and focused on her foot again. Sending the energy in deep she worked on the bruises first. That should help ease some of the ache. Next she focused on reattaching her tendons and strengthening them. After that she smoothed over any other rips and tears that she could find.
The whole process took almost an hour. She withdrew her chakra and sat back against her pillow again, a sheen of sweat across her brow. She had made a good start; over the next few days all she had to do was strengthen the healing tissue so that her foot could retain full and effective function once fully healed. Her stomach gave a loud grumble and she remembered that she hadn't eaten since whatever time last night. Wistfully she looked over at the door leading out, now that she knew the true extent of her injuries she didn't really want to be walking around on her foot the way it was at the moment. But it would appear that someone up in the heavens loved her because at that moment the door opened and Dai walked in carrying a tray of food for her. Kohana clapped her hands in delight as the food was bought over and placed in her lap.
"I figured you would want something more substantial then stew or mashed vegetables today." Dai said as she lifted the cover away.
"Fank yoo." Kohana said around a slice of cold meat that she had already stuffed into her mouth.
Dai just shook her head and sat down in the chair that rested in the corner to patiently wait for her to finish her meal. Ten minutes later Kohana had polished off every last scrap of food on her plate and patted her stomach contently. Dai got up and collected the tray and plate cover and set them on the bedside table.
"The doctor should be here soon to check on your foot." Dai said as she dragged the chair over to the side of the bed so that she could sit next to Kohana.
Kohana just nodded. Even though she knew exactly the condition of her foot and ankle she kept her mouth shut. One thing her Sensei had stressed to both her and the crow was to not let the northerners know that she could manipulate chakra. The other thing she was warned about was not to reveal the true nature of Kuro, the crow. She was told that these people wouldn't understand the nature of the relationship that she shared with her feathered friend. So for now, she kept her mouth shut.
"So...," Dai's voice bought Kohana out of her internal musings, "I was wondering.... what exactly where you doing out in the desert in a sandstorm for? Surely you would have been warned?"
Kohana gave a laugh, "Yeah, I was told that but I thought I would have enough time to make to Sunakagure before it actually hit." she scratched the back of her neck and gave a small shrug, "Obviously I was wrong."
"Obviously." Dai said dryly, "Where are you headed?"
"Home."
"Where do you live?"
"A little village tucked into the woods far to the south."
As Dai opened her mouth to fire another question at the strange girl the door suddenly opened again and the doctor walked in followed by a nurse wheeling a tray piled with bandages and some sort of cutters. Behind the nurse, however, was the Kazekage.
The doctor immediately went to the end of the bed where he drew his chakra and started to examine the foot. The Kazekage stood just behind Dai and looked down at the patient. Gaara hadn't forgotten the bold little statement that she had made when she saw him for the first time; it hovered in the back of his mind like an annoying little fly. The girl turned her attention away from the doctor to peer intently at him. As Kohana studied him she noticed something that she had missed yesterday. The Kazekage had a character drawn on his forehead, just above his left eye. She tilted her head slightly, that was strange.
"How on earth do you stay so pale in this environment." she asked him suddenly.
Caught a little off guard, this girl seemed to have an unerring ability to do that, he just shrugged. She just gave an 'hmm' and continued to study him, so he took the chance to study her in return. Her long blue-black hair rippled, unbound, down past her shoulders to spread out over the pillow and bed sheets. He guessed the length of it to reach to at least her buttocks. Her skin was a light honey coloured and she had dark blue eyes set into a round face that sported a short, straight nose and lips that were fuller on the bottom, giving her a wicked pout.
"Well, this is looking good. You are certainly a fast healer." The doctor said as he straightened up.
The girl looked at the doctor with a grin, "I sure am." she said.
"Well now that your awake we can take off this cast and just wrap a bandage around it to hold it." He said as he reached for the cutters, "Don't worry about these, they won't hurt you... uh, what would your name be?"
"Oh, it's Yabun, Yabun Kohana."
With a nod the doctor started to cut off the plaster. Kohana turned back to the Kazekage.
"I never got your name," she said to him, "I don't want to spend my entire incarceration here calling you 'Kazekage'"
"Incarceration!" Dai said indignantly, "Your not a prisoner, we just want to make sure your fully recovered!"
"It's Gaara." the Kazekage said quietly, "Subaku no Gaara."
"Gaara." Kohana breathed the name out, "I like it."
Suddenly flapping was heard and the crow appeared on the window sill. Everyone in the room just stared for a moment before the doctor gave a frown.
"Can someone get rid of that filthy creature, this is a hospital."
Quick as a flash Dai was up and over next to the window sill with her hands reaching for the crow. But the crow was quicker, jumping off the sill and onto the ground below Dai's reach, before launching itself back into the air with a couple of wing beats to rest on the head of the bed.
"Wait," Kohana said, raising her hand to stop Dai's second attempt at capture, "the crow is with me."
"That's right, you asked about the crow that was with you when we bought you in." Dai said with a slight frown, "I've never seen a pet so tame, he must be hand raised."
A look of intense disgust crossed Kohanas face, "He is not a pet." She spat out the last word, "He is my partner."
Gaara gave a slight frown at her choice of words. He looked over at the crow only to find the crow looking straight back at him with a disturbingly high amount of intelligence in its beady black eyes. Suddenly the crow ruffled out his feathers with a shake before hopping down onto Kohanas shoulder. Kohana reached up her hand to give Kuro a quick scratch on the breast.
"OW!" Kohana gave a small yelp as the doctor moved her foot to slide the cast away.
"I apologise for that," the doctor said, "would you like a pain killer?"
With her face screwed up in pain Kohana could only nod and wonder why it wasn't offered before he moved her foot. The doctor gave a nod to the nurse who jabbed a needle into her leg. After a few moments the numbness spread across her foot and halfway up her calf and she relaxed back into the pillow, forcing the crow to perch back up on the headboard.
"Again I apologise." the doctor said as he wrapped the bandage around her foot, "I'm more used to treating the shinobi who refuse the pain killer because it causes lethargy, which slows down ones reflexes and concentration. A state that leaves any ninja nervous."
"Ninja? Those are the people who are trained from childhood to fight, aren't they?" Kohana asked.
Dai gave a nod, "I'm a ninja." she jerked a thumb at Gaara, "But the Kazekage is the strongest ninja in the village."
Kohana raised her eyebrows, "The strongest? I hope that is not sole criteria for being a leader of a village full of living weapons?" There was a faint tone of disbelief in her voice. Like she couldn't believe people could that stupid.
"Obviously not." Gaara said, "Basic leadership and diplomatic skills are usually a must."
Kohana just gave a quiet 'hn' and turned back to watch the doctor as he finished up the bandaging of her foot. He secured the loose end then straightened up. A look came on his face that Kohana recognised all too well. It was the 'stern-but-deeply-concerned-doctor-about-to-give-a-lecture' face.
"Now young lady, you are to stay in bed for the next couple of days, you are not to go walking anywhere on that foot of yours. I will send up a pair of crutches so that you can make it to the bathroom, but that is the only place you will go. Got it?" He gave her a heavy stare.
Kohana held up her right hand, "I promise I won't do anything to further harm my foot." She gave a sickly sweet smile at him. The doctor gave a slow frown but after a few moments he gave a curt nod to the nurse who grabbed the trolley and wheeled it out of the door followed by the doctor. Dai just gave a gleeful grin of her own before skipping around the bed and grabbing the empty food tray. She then almost practically skipped out the door, closing it shut behind her leaving Kohana alone with the Kazekage. Again. It seemed to be a recurring theme Kohana noted.
"Is she always like that?" Kohana asked pointing at the door.
Gaara just gave a slight shrug of his shoulders before crossing his arms.
"You're not planning on staying in that bed, are you?"
"What ever could have given you that idea?" Kohana said innocently. A noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort came from the crow.
"Your choice of words."
"Hmm, that obvious was it?"
Gaara nodded, "I'm not the Kazekage for nothing."
"Did you hear that!" Kahona said poking Kuro in the breast, "I do believe our friend here has a sense humour." Kuro just shook out his feathers.
"Promise me you will stay in bed." Gaara said evenly.
Kohana opened her mouth to say that she would make no promise that she couldn't keep when something stopped her. She closed her mouth and stared intently at Gaara, there was something in his eyes, well hidden, but still there. As she stared at him, Gaara felt trapped by her gaze. Unable to look away he just stared right back into her dark eyes. Finally she blinked and broke the eye contact.
"I promise I won't leave this bed unnecessarily until the doctor allows me." She said calmly.
"Thank you." Gaara said quietly.
There was a thump and an indignant squawk as Kuro fell off the head board in surprise and disbelief.