**IMPORTANT READ ME! This is written like my Rock Lee fic, in a first person way for the same reasons. However, the POV changes sometimes in this one, but it's still meant to be read as if you are are person the story's about.
Have to keep going... you drag one foot after the other through the sand. It seems as though you will meet your death in this desert. What a miserable and pitiful end. After all the things I've been through, the ANBU hunters aren't even going to get their chance to fight me. To die; just shrivel up in this endless waste, you think.
You had run out of water nearly two days previous. Your eyes were red from the air and your lips were cracked. The only comfort offered to you in this hellish place was your umbrella, shielding you from the relentless sun. At the top of yet another dune you look out and see a small group of rocks quite a distance away. The only thing in this hell but me. No choice but to press on.
A misstep sends you tumbling down the steep dune, kicking up sand all the way down. You come to rest finally at the bottom, face up towards the brutal sun. You turn your head to the side and see your umbrella lying a few feet away, broken to pieces by the fall. Well, this must be it, you think. The end of my miserable life. Can't even say I enjoyed it that much. It had always seemed, even before this cursed desert, that life had something against you. You close your eyes, holding an arm over your face and think about your past. Moments coming to you more and more often in the last few days, haunting you, making you question your sanity.
Maybe I already died, and this is my hell. The thought actually brings a laugh up out of you. Lying there baking in the sun, you feel so tired. You think about going to sleep and resigning. It would be so easy just to drift... drift away...
Sound. Movement. You snap your eyes open, your keen ears picking up on the sound of small feet moving across the sand to your right. Moving your eyes over your heart quickens as you spot a desert lizard about the size of your forearm skipping across the sand. You move slow, getting in position as it ventures closer. You hold your breath, poised, and pounce. Glee fills your heart as you feel your fingers close around its wriggling form. Silently you thank it before killing it quickly. You tear its head clean off and drink, letting its blood flow down your throat. If you weren't so dehydrated you would cry tears of joy. After you drain the small creature of its fluids you start to eat greedily. Under normal circumstances, you do prefer your meat cooked, but it tastes delicious to you right now.
When you finish, you stand, shaking the sand out of your clothes and begin walking again with renewed energy and a slightly renewed spirit. I will reach those rocks before nightfall, you tell yourself.
An hour later however, you don't feel so optimistic. Even though the sun in sinking in the sky you feel as hot as ever, even hotter in fact. But you stumble on, staggering towards the rocks that still seem like mere dots to you.
You trip again and fall to your knees in the sand and stare down at your hands. What is happening to you? You feel so strange. There is a light feeling at the back of your neck, arcing through your arms and you watch sweat drop down into the sand in front of you. Each drop thundering down, was it really that loud? Or is that your heart you're hearing? You scramble up and start to run, alarmed at the symptoms you're feeling. What's going on with me? You think helplessly to yourself. This can't be just the heat, but what then?
You gasp as you top the next dune, stopping yourself so suddenly that you land face first in the sand. Eyes wide, you peek over the top down on about twenty shinobi battling. Under normal circumstances you would consider joining in, or simply stealthing around them, liberating a few money purses on the way, but again, this was definitely not any normal circumstance. It seems to be about four against the rest, you notice, but something seems strange. You rub your eyes. No way. You blink at a shinobi that is closest to you. He is dressed in black and is directing a battle puppet with blue chakra strings attached to one of his hands. There was also a man standing beside him with a puppet as well, mirroring his movements. Oh crap... you grumble as you realize you're seeing double. You think about if you should make your way back down the dune or just stick it out where you are. No one has noticed you so far.
But before you can decide, one of the attacking shinobi jump behind him and you react without thinking, planting a kunai in the back of his neck. The black-suited shinobi spins around, surprised at your appearance and action. You weave on the spot, the man multiplying and blurring before your eyes.
"Damn, I was aiming for the one in the middle," you say before collapsing into a world of darkness.
Temari's P.O.V.
You watch as your brother's would-be attacker was downed by a kunai produced by an unknown shinobi.
"Kankuro?" you call, concerned, finishing off the last of your enemies.
"I'm alright," he calls back, leaning on Karasu.
"What happened?" you ask as you walk up to him.
"I don't know, she just popped up out of nowhere," he said, gesturing to the crumpled form of a girl not too far away. "I guess I owe her one, but I didn't see what hit her." You walk over to the girl, checking her out. She was still breathing, but there was an unusual amount of sweat coming off her, and her breathing seemed labored.
"Kankuro!" you say quickly. He rushes over to see for himself.
"She's poisoned," he says. "I don't know what from, but I think I can treat it." He took out a small phial and tipped it into the girl's mouth before shutting it and holding her nose, ensuring that she would swallow it.
"That should do for now, but we should get her to Sunagakure as soon as we can."
"So where should we take her?"
"Well, she did save my life."
Later...
You and Kankuro are at your home inside the walls of Sunagakure, the village hidden in the sand. You had taken your guest from the desert inside where Kankuro and a few other medical nin worked out a proper antidote for her.
"So she was poisoned by a lizard?" You fold your arms, leaning back against the wall in your living room facing your brother.
"Yeah. The wild shishito lizard. It inhabits the desert around Suna, but their bite is poisonous," Kankuro replied from his place on the couch. "The only thing is that usually a bite or two isn't enough to come close to killing a person. She however, had massive amounts in her system that definitely would have killed her. I don't suppose she could be stupid enough to eat one, who would eat a bright orange lizard anyway?" Your laughs were cut short when your younger brother appeared in the doorway.
"G-Gaara..." Kankuro stammered, staring at the red-head. You decide to take over, knowing that Kankuro still got nervous around Gaara sometimes.
"Gaara, we have the report on the Reishi shinobi, but we well, we picked up a guest in the desert. She appeared out of nowhere you see when we were fighting the Reishi and saved Kankuro's life before passing out." Gaara's face remained unreadable as he stood there and listened. You decided to plow on then. "It turns out she was poisoned, so we took her here, gave her an antidote and she's sleeping in the guest room right now." Gaara's eyes traveled to his brother, who did not appear to be injured in any way, then back to his sister.
"Did she really save his life?" he asked.
"Uh, well I suppose I could have survived that kunai in the back of the neck maybe. Yeah, I guess I owe her one," Kankuro said in a resigned tone. Gaara turned and walked down the hall toward his study. He didn't even pay attention to his steps as he walked through the cooradores, his mind occupied with his task at hand. A strange girl or woman had saved his brother's life today. Gaara was now the first to admit that in these past few trying years as Kazekage, he had learned to value his family, maybe even appreciate them. He frowned as he reached his destination and turned the doorknob. Inside was a room with a desk, bookshelves, and many windows. Gaara settled down in the chair behind the desk and sighed before starting to go over the paperwork that was jumbled about on top of it. He decided he would deal with the girl later. After all, Temari had said that she was resting at the moment.
Your P.O.V.
You sit up suddenly, waking from your sleep and startling Temari and Kankuro who were in the room. You put a hand to your swimming head before blinking up at the world. Relieved, you see that everything is coming into focus, and your head is no longer pounding. You look at the two other people in the room nervously and scoot backwards on the bed.
"Where am I? And who are you?" you ask quickly. When your eyes fall on the man in the room, realization strikes your memory. You remember the fight out in the desert. That was the guy with the puppet jutsu that you had saved, for sure. But that still didn't explain where you were.
"Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you," the blond girl explained. "My name is Temari and this is my brother Kankuro. You're in our house in Sunagakure."
"Suna... gakure?" you rub your temple a bit, trying to remember things fully and correctly. Just where had you been heading?
Temari began to explain everything that had happened. About you being poisoned and all. You blush but remain silent when she told you that it was that lizard that had poisoned you. You supposed it had it's last laugh there, you think to yourself. Temari seems very nice, and Kankuro seems a little louder and annoying, but he was the poison expert who saved your life, so you thought you could overlook that.
"So, what's your name? Why were you out in the desert?" Temari asked after they had explained everything. You look down at the sheets on the bed you're on, unsure how to take all of this kindness.
"Kyo. I was just trying to get from here to there," you say shortly. The siblings exchange a look as you keep your gaze down.
"Well, we'll let you get some more rest now," Temari said, standing and moving toward the door, followed closely by Kankuro. "Feel free to make yourself at home then; bathroom is on the right and the kitchen is to the left," she said, pointing. She paused when they were almost all the way out. "Oh, and don't worry if you run into our younger brother, he can be grumpy sometimes. But don't worry, we already told him about you. He's usually busy being Kazekage and all, so you might not even see him. Anyways, get some rest now!" And they were gone from the room. You lay back down on the bed and relax, letting your eyes close again. You suppose it couldn't hurt to get some more rest.
An unknown number of hours later...
You wake up to find your room empty. Stretching out a bit, you decide to test out how well you'd recovered from the poison so far. You stretched your limbs out and around and found that you were in pretty good shape. You just couldn't believe that stupid lizard had been poisonous! Well, I guess I've learned my lesson then... never eat a bright orange lizard even if you're about to starve. Although, would I rather die of starvation or poison? Hmm... your thoughts wandered a bit as you make your way out of the room and down the hall to the right.
As you emerge from the bathroom again, you look around. All the lights in the house were turned off, so although you couldn't see out a window at the moment, you were sure it would be some hour in the night. So everyone's asleep and I'm wide awake, you think to yourself. Just great...
Deciding not to try skipping town just yet, you wander around the house for a while longer, observing, before hopping out of an open window and crawling onto the roof. From up there, the cool desert night air blows past you, billowing under your clothes and through your hair. You sigh, tucking long red tresses back behind your ears as your eyes look all around the sleeping village of Suna. It wasn't until you hear a cough beside you that you realize that you are not alone up on the roof.
Slowly, you swivel your eyes to the side and see a figure sitting not too far away, at the edge of the roof. It's a guy. And he's staring right at you.
"Gomen, I didn't mean to bother you," you say quickly, bowing respectfully. Then you remember just who this probably is. He had short hair the same color as yours and was wearing a dark outfit with a large gourd on his back. Actually it was a ridiculously big gourd. But you recognize it. You knew about Sunagakure's new Kazekage. The youngest son of the previous Kazekage, Sobaku no Gaara... it was still a feared name. You were surprised to see how young he was as you looked at him, but knew not to underestimate him for that.
You hover on your toes, unsure weather you should step forward and thank him for the use of his home or make a swift retreat. Fortunately, you were saved from making the final decision when he spoke. It was a cool and measured tone through which you could not detect emotion.
"Come here." It wasn't a request, but not quite an order. You still feel your feet compelled forward until you find yourself standing right beside him.
"H-hai?" you question, sounding more uncertain than frightened. He stood up and faced you. You look into his eyes and blink with a little more surprise. He was taller than you. You had to look up slightly to meet his aqua gaze, waiting for the explanation of why he had called you over.
"Are you the one Temari and Kankuro brought out of the desert?" he finally asked.
"Hai." There was a long pause.
"Arigato." You blink. "For saving my brother," his words catch you off guard. You avert your eyes from his piercing stare, getting slightly embarrassed. You kick yourself mentally. What the heck are you doing?
"No, it was nothing really," you say, rubbing the back of your neck and keeping your gaze down, scanning the tiles on the roof one by one. "I'm surprised I hit the right target actually," you mutter. "That poison had me seeing double." You plop down on the roof, and run a hand through your hair, letting a small laugh escape your lips.
"Can you imagine, two guys running around with black kitty hats on?" You see Gaara's eye twitch slightly.
"One is enough," he says simply. You were glad he was not meeting your gaze, because you had just barely suppressed a laugh at his reaction. You took a deep breath and looked back out over the peaceful village. The night breeze blew over your skin and you looked at each house, thoughts bubbling up in the front of your mind. Just how long had it been since you had stayed in a large village like this, even set foot in one, and been able to sleep in an actual bed? How long had it been since you had even spoken with another person? You sigh again. A long time.
"I never had any siblings," you say, trying to derail your train of thought. Gaara swiveled his gaze to you, but you were lost staring over the smooth dunes of the desert in the darkness. "They always seem to get on each others' nerves, but I think it would be nice, worth it you know... You'd always have people that will stick with you. So, I'm glad I was able to save your brother Gaara-sama. I'd hate the idea of a family being broken up." You leaned back on your arms and stared up at the twinkling stars above your head. You heard a noise from Gaara.
"Nani?" you ask.
"Don't use 'sama' with me. I get that enough from everyone already," he said. You picked up on a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"Oh. Ok, then uh, Gaara... san." There was no further complaint. You breathed a sigh of relief. You definitely wouldn't feel comfortable referring to the young Kazekage any more informally. In fact, now that you thought about it, you couldn't believe that you were up on a roof having such an informal conversation with a guy you had just met, who was the Kazekage!
"It's a beautiful night though, right?" you prompt, looking over at him. He was already looking back at you with those eyes of his. As you meet his gaze steadily you feel something behind your navel stir nervously.
"Hai." His lips barely move with the syllable as he takes his time returning his gaze to the horizon.
"I never thought that it could be this nice in a desert though," you say. "It gets real cold at night though. I was wandering around out there long enough to notice that." You rest your head on your knees again. You glance over at him a bit, expecting him to question you, but it doesn't come. You simply sit out in the night air, wondering when the sun would peek over the horizon. Unfortunately, you couldn't last that long. After what seemed only a short while, you feel your eyelids start to droop. Your blinks became elongated, promising you sweet sleep with each one until you feel yourself begin to truly drop off. Your body fell backwards towards the roof but you feel your shoulders slump against something soft, warm, and... flowing? You open your eyes and see much to your surprise that you are now laying on a bed of sand drifting out of the gourd on Gaara's back. He walked along the roof toward the open window that had served as your exit, you drifting along beside him.
He's going to carry me back to bed, you think groggily, smiling a little to yourself and feeling a slight flush come up to your cheeks. Arriving in the guest room you had stayed in previously, Gaara set you down gently on the bed. You shift and give a slight moan as he does this, waking from yet another mini-sleep. You stare up at him through half-lidded eyes.
"What's your name?" you hear him ask.
"Kyo..." you whisper before the comfort of the bed completely enraptures you and you fall asleep.
....
Heehee! Gaara-kun dai ski!! Ahem. Hope you liked it!