Flowers
Gaara never wanted to be a tattoo artist.
For one thing, he never could draw very well and the sight of blood made him a bit happier than what was considered socially acceptable. Not to mention the numerous childhood… accidents he'd had with needles that made all of his family members wary of him with sharp objects in general. But it was either that or go into politics like his father, and that was unacceptable to Gaara. Even he had to have standards, though mostly they were buried somewhere deep below the dredges of society's.
It was his uncle who had convinced him to take care of the place, since it was his and his siblings' technically and he couldn't bear to work there since Gaara's mother had been the only one to really care for it. It had come into existence through her hard work, tears, and sweat, and it had been here that his parents met. Though Gaara wished this catastrophic event had never happened, seeing as how his father was a major asshole and his mother had died giving birth to him and had in doing so cost him a lot of grief. It was also from her he had inherited his heinous temper as well as the tattoo parlor, the trait that had ironically attracted his father to his mother in the first place.
And it was times like these that he wished he had a different mother to inherit traits from, or at least had never been born at all like all the rest of the world had wished.
Kankuro, back from whatever 'come out of the closest' workshop he attended more regularly than any type of church, was currently coddling him out about costumer appreciation. Occasionally, his elder brother brought up Gaara's problems to his group members who all either a) believed that Gaara was angry because he had yet to come to terms with 'his homosexuality or bisexuality' b) needed to get laid or c) was a lonely little boy who needed to be hugged and cuddled to the point where the cleansing tears of love and tenderness overcame him and baptized him into a better person.
Whoever voted 'A' should know that Gaara had in fact had many girlfriends, and was glad to get rid of them as soon as he did 'B'. And it was obvious why whoever the fuck believed it was 'C' was in a therapy group.
"You know Gaara," Kankuro was saying in his patient, 'see look I'm a good big brother even if I am a girl trapped in a man's body' bullshit voice, "I got twenty three complaints about your callous behavior just last week. I know that you are not a people person," here Gaara inserted a snort and continued to clean the equipment instead of taking up a needle and jabbing it in his elder brother's throat which would have made the lecture much more enjoyable, "but I know that as soon as you see that not all people are bad, you'll enjoy working here much better." At this point, Gaara had turned around, hands wound tightly across his chest, glaring down at his brother even though he was a good inch shorter.
The technique of making grown men cry at the slightest twitch of his pupils was something Gaara had perfected since he was little. It was also the reason his father never really wanted to hold him when he was a baby.
Kankuro had now effectively shut the hell up and retreated quickly into his office, leaving Gaara satisfied and alone. As it should be.
He turned around, ready to enjoy the silence he had earned and perhaps flip through some of the magazines Temari had lying around just to laugh at the newest 'fashions' when he met a familiar pair of apple green eyes. As soon as he made eye contact, instead of running for the hills like any sane person would have done, he was granted a brilliant smile and the sound of the non-hooker bell ringing as Haruno Sakura swung to the counter.
"Afternoon!" She said happily, seeming non-pulsed as he only shot her his 'didn't I tell you to go drop dead painfully and slowly in a ditch somewhere?' glare. For some odd reason, she'd been dropping by every afternoon at exactly four thirty, after she'd finished most of her school work and gone to stop by Choji's to pick him up number four.
He didn't know whether the food was to make sure he didn't kill her or because, as she put it, 'he was skinnier than a stick' and she needed to 'fatten him up'. If this treatment was so she could eat him, he wished she would hurry so he didn't have to put up with the fact that a girl brought him lunch every afternoon. He was just glad Kankuro was in his office and would most likely be whacking off in there until this place closed.
He accepted the package she bought for him faithfully everyday sullenly, since he knew if he refused she'd just hover over him until he ate it. Like he needed a goddamn mother. So ignoring her satisfied glance that he'd even taken the damn thing, he started eating methodically and refused to even look at her as he did so.
According to her, Choji was a good friend of hers and let her have free food anytime she wanted. It sounded suspicious to him, since 'free' to him made him think of cheap shit that fell apart as soon as you poked it, and though he wanted to ask what she gave Choji in return, he decided showing such interest like that would only encourage her to keep coming back here. He just decided that eating the stuff wasn't as bad as say, the mental imagery of Sakura doing anything to anyone.
"Sorry it's kinda cold. I would have come in earlier but your boss looked like he was giving you a lecture and I didn't want to have to help you hide the body." She started, and Gaara almost sighed. As soon as she was sure he was eating, she'd start blabbing. Anything from bizarre medical terms that sounded like venereal diseases to how her day had been fabulous cause she'd finally beaten this guy at Shogi who was supposed to be a genius. Mostly though, she talked about Sasuke. Unfortunately. He was pretty sure that he knew enough about this guy to write a fucking novel. He decided that he'd just tune her out if she so much as started a sentence with an 'S'.
"You know, I really should be thanking you." That got his attention despite his efforts, since no one thanked him for anything. Not Kankuro for letting butterflies flutter out of here alive, not from Temari for keeping this place spotless since she was a slob, and certainly not from his father for anything. He watched her silently for a moment as she flipped through his artist's portfolio, not quite sure why he even let her touch his most prized possession. She still had yet to pick out a tattoo.
"Ever since I started coming over here to talk to you, I've been Sasuke-free for almost two months." She gave a slight laugh, staring directly at him, eyes shining. He decided ignoring her was still the best tactic and continued to shovel food. Once again, she didn't take the hint and continued on. "The only time I managed to do that was when I was so sick I was almost dying. Time I figured I wanted to be a doctor actually." She paused, looking back at him. "So thanks. I know it must be a huge pain in the ass for you to have to suffer through my presence all the time."
She paused, and when he didn't deny it, she gave him a playful hurt look. "Fine, I'll just take the food and go." When she reached for it, he moved it easily out of her grasp. He never ate breakfast and since she started bringing him food, he saw no reason to make himself lunch. Don't get any wrong ideas like thinking he liked this shit.
He ignored her small laugh, letting her go back to flipping through his portfolio. Though they'd been through countless designs, all the ones on the walls, his sister's portfolio, and his own, she never seemed impressed with any of them. It infuriated him to no end, but at the same time he had to respect the fact she took this seriously. Seeing her with such a concentrated look made him wonder how long it took her to pick a college. He was shocked that she even knew what she wanted to do with her life.
"But I have another huge favor to ask." When Gaara sent her a glare, she only smiled innocently. If she hadn't just fed him, he might have had to maim her. "Naruto is throwing a party today, and I was wondering if you want to go with me." He was so sure he'd heard about Naruto almost as much as he'd heard about Sasuke. Not fucking likely he'd go anywhere near that guy.
When he didn't seem impressed, she sighed, blowing up her pink bangs. "Fine! I need a buffer from Naruto and Lee because in my quest to stay Sasuke-free, I cut off a lot of my friends for a while. I know that was wrong, but I had to get away from all of them. They are good friends, but most of them would only try to get me to make up with Sasuke for 'my own good'." She paused, biting her lower lip slightly, searching his face. Though she hadn't known him for long, she had this uncanny ability to pick up on what he was thinking or even sometimes how he was feeling. Since Temari's form of women intuition was when was the right time to kick a guy's ass or whenever there was a sale on decorative fans, he had yet to get used to Sakura's sharp senses.
"And Sasuke will most likely be there since I told Naruto I'd be there." When Gaara only crossed his arms across his chest and glared down at her, she clasped her hands in front of her, eyes begging. "Please! I'd like to think we've become good friends, and friends help each other out. Even though I'm annoying as hell and you never talk doesn't mean you have to leave me out to dry!" Still, he wasn't impressed. Then she got down on her knees, hands folded as if she was in prayer. She looked close to tears. Now Gaara gave a slightly nervous glance to Kankuro's office, which thankfully was still closed. He didn't know how he'd explain this to his elder sibling.
"Get up." If anything, that only seemed to translate to her to make herself more comfortable on the floor. Foolishly, when he'd accepted the food, he'd stood in the little doorway that the counter had to let costumers in the back so they could get their tattoos. Now Sakura had wedged herself around his legs in the tiny space, tugging on his shirt with her face pressed next to his leg. He was not going to illustrate how uncomfortable this made him, especially since no amount of squirming would get her untangled. Gaara HATED being touched. He was going to jab this fork so far up her ass she'd never get the idea of doing this ever again. When he tried to do just this, it seemed Sakura used her freakish intuition and pinned his arms to his sides. And the snotty little bitch was stronger than she looked!
"Please Gaara!" It was then he noticed she wasn't so much as crying as she was laughing. She was fucking dead.
"Get the hell off me." He was trying to pry her head away from his leg when the non-hooker bell rang again, and his other sibling from hell waltzed in, looking happy but tired. Shit. Of all the times for Temari to get up off her fat ass to help out…
"You would not believe this antique store I found! It had all these fans- What the fucking hell is going on in here!" His blonde haired sister stopped in front of the counter, eyes bugging out. Gaara and the pink haired prison had both frozen and all three just looked at each other dumbstruck. He was sure he could hear the rarely used cogs in Temari's head grind to a screeching halt as she tried to process the scene. And then everything exploded into motion.
"Holy fuck Kankuro! You have got to see this!" Temari hollered just as the door opened to admit his other sibling, who was complaining about the noise. Sakura had the common sense to let go of Gaara, who didn't know who to stab first with the plastic fork, since he knew he'd only get about one good shot with it before it broke. Like he said, cheap shit.
"Keep it down!" Kankuro said, just as he noticed that they in fact, had a costumer. Instantly he was Mr. Salesman, next to Sakura before anyone knew what the fuck was going on and starting his spiel about how lovely this tattoo parlor was and how everything was about quality here. And yes, he used the fucking pussy word 'lovely'.
"Can it you dumbass! She's with Gaara." That made both of them look at Sakura as if she had just announced that she was made of money and could shit the stuff out for them for their viewing pleasure. At least she looked sheepish and embarrassed enough that Gaara almost felt like not burying her. Almost.
"She is not." He said shortly, arms once again crossed over his chest as he frowned at his siblings. In an amazing show of apathy, they ignored him and quickly sat Sakura in a chair and starting firing off the questions.
"How long have you two been seeing each other?"
"You're the one that always brings him lunch! How sweet!"
"What do you see in him? He's a little psycho!"
"Do you know about his criminal record?"
"Do you really know what you're getting into by being with him?"
"Has he sent you to the hospital yet?
"How many times have you hugged him? Cause I can count the times on one hand that I have and still have fingers left over!"
"Is your hair really pink?"
"Shut up." Instantly all eyes were back on Gaara, who felt as if he was spewing nuclear energy. It didn't help that Sakura looked more amused now than embarrassed. Instead of them doing as he commanded as they usually would, Temari and Kankuro turned on him.
"How come you never told us you had a new girlfriend?"
"Where'd you two meet?"
"Awww! Does she make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?"
"Do you see yourself having a future with her?"
"Please tell me she'll make you less homicidal!"
"She doesn't look like the usual whores you pick up. How'd you score her?"
"Is her hair really pink?"
"Yes!" Sakura finally said, turning the attention back to herself, though she looked as startled as everyone else. Finally, she cleared her throat and said in a smaller voice, "My hair is naturally pink. Don't ask how it's possible." Gaara didn't know whether to be grateful she was answering his siblings' outrageous questions or angry at her for even bothering to acknowledge their stupidity. Guess which one he chose.
He glared at Sakura, who smiled sheepishly at him. Instead of heading for the door like she should have been, she turned back to his siblings.
"We're just friends is all. I've only known him for two months, but he's been really helpful to me. See, I've just gotten over this really toxic relationship…" Gaara couldn't fucking believe this. Kankuro was nodding his head and being all sympathetic like he learned in group therapy and he was surprised Temari didn't start taking notes. He hoped all of them could still be this chummy as they suffered a long time in hell. "…So I want him to come with me to a party my friend is throwing as support, you know? He's been really helpful to me so far, and I was hoping I could ask one more favor. I guess it was stupid of me to even assume he'd want to help me anymore though. I'm such a mess." Kankuro was patting her hand comforting and Temari was actually being something close to feminine by saying soothing things, even if it was a bit awkwardly. Both of them, however, managed to glare at him. If they thought they were going to make him feel guilty enough to even consider this crazy shit…
That's when Sakura glanced up at him, the same hopeful look she'd given him the first time he'd seen her, and it twisted up inside like steel and needles. This time she looked close to tears for real, and he didn't know what happened to the tissue box he kept in case of emergencies, and it's not like he could slap the shit out of her when she was this down. He fucking hated her.
"It's just one party Gaara, it can't kill you! God damn prick, she's your friend!" Temari snapped, and Gaara fought the urge to roll his eyes or get the baseball bat in back. All of them were morons. Why did they buy her story so easily? He decided conveniently not to recall that he had done the same thing too, when he first met her.
"This might be therapy for you too, Gaara" Kankuro added thoughtfully. Between all three of them, he was fucking trapped. He glared at all of them, but none of them so much as batted an eyelash.
"Forget it." The stalemate was broken as Sakura stood up, chair shrieking as she smiled at both Kankuro and Temari. "I didn't give enough notice anyway. Besides, part of being strong is being able to stand on your own, right?" None of them looked convinced, though Gaara couldn't agree more. However, there was something broken about the way she smiled at him, waved her hand to signal that she was leaving. If she walked out of here, she probably would never come back…
"Choji will be there." Why the hell did he say that? It seemed like his IQ had been steadily dropping with each lunch she brought him. Fucking pink haired bitch probably poisoned it with stupid spray. She paused at the door, glancing back at him quizzically. He gestured to the take out she'd brought him, and her smile widened.
"Of course! It'll be a huge feast! You don't even need to stay with me all night! You can just pig out to your heart's content!" He shrugged, and he'd never seen her look so happy. She smiled, and somehow it was enough. When she left, he glared back at his two siblings, daring them to say something.
"Well, looks like we're going to have to dress you up a little." Temari said, frowning slightly at him in disapproval.
"Have you seen his wardrobe? Nothing in it but funeral colors. What are we going to do with him?" Kankuro complained, though they looked at each other mischievously, all but rubbing their hands together.
Choji have better have cooked enough food to feed a fucking army.
Author's Notes I know, it took forever and this chapter is still kinda iffy. To tell you the truth I never was going to continue this. Just thought about it a bit and you guys convinced me! Thank you all for your support! And I do desperately need a beta reader, so if anyone is interested, let me know! Please do read and review!