Spiked Wings and Hearing Mishaps

Aria's POV

"GAHHH! Dammit, that hurts!" I yelled. "Just pull it out already!"

"I'm trying." Stated Gaara, clearly getting frustrated. "Quit moving and it will be easier."

"Well, hurry up and get it ou-AHHH!" I nearly screamed, feeling a sharp pain. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!"

"It's out." He said, showing me the bloody senbon. "I'll patch this up and then work on the others."

We were sitting on my bed with rolls of gauze and more senbon lying next to us. I had recently come back from an Akatsuki 'mission' with tons of senbon embedded in my wings. I had gotten most of them out, but Gaara had offered to help get them out of the bases of the wings. I gladly obliged. It really hurt, considering that my wings were probably the most sensitive part of my body. What didn't make things any better was that he was taking his time with it. He had patched up the one area and began to work on another.

Gaara's POV

I began to work on another senbon near her shoulder blade. They were deep. 'I'm surprised she was able to fly all the way back here…' I thought as I tugged at the large, needle-like object. She jumped.

"Ow! Could you be a little easier, please?" she snapped, turning to me.

"I'm trying. You keep moving!" I shot back, almost losing my temper. I usually tried not to around Aria, but I was getting irritated with the situation. "And how exactly did they get this deep, anyway?"

She turned back around, not facing me.

"Well…" she started, gritting her teeth and whimpering as I tugged out the senbon. "The ninja we went after was a rogue weapons master. He was also a big guy. He had thrown the senbon when my back was turned and that's how they got there."

"But I asked how they got so deep…" I started. She cut me off.

"I'm getting there…" she said. "But like I was saying. About in the middle of the fight, I had gotten most of the senbon out little by little. I was attacking the guy and then Hidan decided to be an ass and get in my way. I told him to move, but he wouldn't listen. I should have been paying attention. The rogue came at my side and basically smashed my back against a thick tree… and drove the senbon deeper into my back and wings…"

"Ouch…" I said working on another one. "That had to hurt…"

"It did… GYAHHAA!" she exclaimed as I pulled the one out.

"Sorry…" I mumbled.

I ran my hand over the ruffled feathers on her wings to smooth them down. Other than being partly covered in blood (not all of it being her own…), the feathers were soft and airy. Especially the ones near the bases and the tips of the wings. Though she slightly relaxed, she flinched every time my hand brushed over a patched up area. I had gotten most of the senbon out. All that was left was about one or two near the bases of the wings. I sighed. Those areas were the most sensitive and I from what I could tell were going to hurt the worst.

"Ok. There are about one or two left, but at the bases of your wings." I explained. She tensed up. "It's going to hurt, though… and probably be some blood…"

She sighed.

"I know." She said, taking a deep breath. "Just do it."

"Alright…" I said. I started to work on one near her shoulder blades.

"GYAAHHAAA!" she yelled. "Dammit, that hurts!"

Kankuro's POV

Me and Temari walked through the halls of the Kage building.

"Hmm, I wonder where Gaara and Aria are…" Temari wondered out loud. I just shrugged.

"Who knows. Maybe they are doing paperwork or something…" I replied.

As walked through the halls, we came past Aria's room. Inside, we heard voices.

"Sounds like Aria and Gaara…" Temari noted. We went over to the door to listen.

""It's going to hurt, though… and probably be some blood…" we heard him say.

"I know." She said. She sounded shaken. "Just do it."

"Alright…" he said. Then silence.

"What in the world…" I muttered. All was quiet until she screamed.

"GYAAHHAAA!" she yelled. "Dammit, that hurts!"

"Sorry…" he said. "I'm trying my best not to make it hurt as much…"

"Well, you're not doing such a good job!" she snapped. We could tell she was in pain by the slight wavering of her voice. "Stop taking your time and just pull it out already!"

"WHAT did she just say…" Temari stated with wide eyes.

"I'm trying to, but it's not that easy when you keep moving around." Our younger brother shot back. "And I always take my time with something like this. It would usually save you the pain, but apparently it's making it worse."

"WHAT did HE just say!" she nearly shouted.

"Shhh." I stopped her with a slight smirk. "This is getting interesting."

"AAHHHHAAAA!" She yelled again. "DAMMIT, JUST YANK IT OUT ALREADY!"

"What part of 'I'm trying' do you not understand?" he said calmly. "It's not my fault that it's as deep as it is…"

I glanced at Temari and nearly died laughing. Her face was redder than a tomato and her eyes were huge.

"Are they…" she started.

"Apparently." I replied trying not to laugh. Aria screamed again.

"GYYAAAAHHHHH!" she yelled and then started panting.

"There…" stated Gaara. I raised a brow. "It's out. Better now?"

"Y-yes…" she panted. I looked at Temari again. She looked as if she were about to explode.

"I was right… there is blood… not a lot, but still…" he said.

I was about to say something when Temari finally snapped. She shot up and threw the door open, revealing a very shocked and flustered Aria and a slightly irritated Gaara. Both had wide eyes. They were sitting on her bed surrounded by gauze and bloody senbon. Aria's wings were fanned out and covered in bandages.

"W-what are you two doing…" Aria started, still in shock at our sudden entrance.

"No, the question is, what were you two doing…" Temari started.

"Isn't it obvious?" Gaara asked, the irritation clearly shown in his voice. "I was helping her get some senbon out of her wings."

"PHEW!" I said, rubbing my forehead. "and here we thought you two were f- ~SMACK~- OUCH! WHAT THE HELL!" I yelled as Temari smacked me. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR!"

If possible, the two's eyes got even wider. Aria blushed furiously and stood up.

Aria's POV

I felt my face heat up. I stood up, leaving Gaara sitting down.

"You thought we were WHAT?" I shouted.

Kankuro shrunk back.

"W-well…" he started, stuttering, "We heard you… than we heard him… and…"

"And what?" I said glaring at him, my voice lowered.

"And... and… uhhh…" he attempted.

"Wrong answer…"

Gaara's POV

"Wrong answer." Aria said, clearly agitated.

She shifted and I saw a glint of silver. I looked at the spot on her lower back. There was a senbon on the very base of the wing. I glanced up to see Temari looking at me and shaking her head. 'And what does she think I'm doing… oh. Right. I'm looking at Aria's lower back. It must look like something else from where she is standing…' I thought. 'Hmm… well if she thinks THAT looks bad, I wonder how she'll react to this…'. I reached my hand out for the senbon. As I expected, Temari widened her eyes. 'Hmmm… dirty mind, much…' I thought as I grabbed the senbon lightly. I braced myself for Aria's immediate reaction (which usually involved someone getting hit, that someone in this case probably being me…) and with one quick move, yanked out the senbon.

Aria's POV

I felt a sharp pain go up my spine. My eyes went wide.

"GGYAAAAHHHHHHH!" I screeched.

I whirled around and smacked Gaara in the back of the head. Hard. REALLY hard. I nearly sent him flying off the bed.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!" I yelled as he rubbed the back of his head, making him flinch.

"No," he shot back, surprising me, "what the hell was that for!"

Temari and Kankuro both shrunk back at his voice.

"Well," I started, glaring at him, "I smacked you 'cause you did something!"

"I did this." He stated calmly, holding up a large bloody senbon. I just stared at him.

"I… I… uhh…" I stuttered trying to find words. "I… I'm s-sorry… I…"

His gaze turned from hard and scornful, to soft and forgiving. He let out a little smile.

"It's ok." He said. "I understand." I immediately felt bad.

I looked over at Kankuro and Temari. Who weren't there.

"Where did they…" I started.

"I don't know." He replied looking up at me.

I sat back down on the bed and leaned my head on his shoulder.

"I really am sorry." I mumbled. "I didn't know there was a senbon there…"

I nuzzled my face into his shoulder. He sighed and leaned against me.

"It is really ok." He replied and closed his eyes. I yawned.

"I'm tired…" I complained jokingly. I laid down, wings almost fully extended. Gaara lay down next to me so that my face was in the crook of his neck. He held me protectively.

"Goodnight, Aria." He said softly.

"Night, Gaara."

I nuzzled his neck and fell asleep.

A/N: Sorry I haven't been on in a while... to much crap to do... -.-' I'm still working on 'Happy Birthday to Both', though. I'm also working on a song-fic so it'll take a while...