Author's note:
I do not own the characters, world, or show which inspired this story. Those belong to Kishimoto.
Hotaru, Hideaki, Satoru-sensei, Chieko, Kenta, Maoko, and Reona (Mother) are all my invention.

Chapter 2: sweetness of blood

"Are you thirsty, mother?" A voice whispered to her right.
She stopped cold.
"It's been a while, hasn't it, since I gave you something nice to drink. But don't worry. Soon. Soon you'll have what you desire," the voice softly continued.
That voice made her shake with fear.

If he sees me, I'm dead. She thought with desperation.
Her heart thundered in her chest and instinct made her reach for her kunai, although she knew it was a useless gesture. In his twelve years, Gaara of the Sand had grown into a formidable shinobi: strong, and much more powerful than his peers. He was the perfect tool to use against Sunagakure's adversaries. His enemies could only stand frozen in fear as Gaara held them in his extended earthen grasp and crush them within a tomb of sand.

He was also insane. Those who were caught with him alone could end up dead.
Idiot, she scolded herself. You knew he was in town and yet you just had to practice chakra control on your own.

She enjoyed training alone. Solitude allowed her to concentrate on her chakra control- an essential component for Medical Ninjitsu, which is was her goal now that she was full-fledged gennin. But she was not disciplined enough yet. It had frustrated her to no end. So she would wander up the rooftops and practicing simple exercises. The rooftops were ideal for this because, being Suna, there weren't any parks or fields for her to practice alone. The large swathes of earth were only punctuated with buildings. So, for solitude, she looked above, and found solace in the rooftops where only the occasional patrol would interrupt her training. Especially since someone else had found solace in the rooftops, Gaara.

She knew it was a risk, but she took it anyway. Her dream was to become the best medical ninja in Suna, a dream driven by her father's untimely death, and for that, she would risk even her life.
Or so she thought.
Now that her death loomed so near, her bravado had slipped from her heart as sand between her fingers.

He can't see me, she thought with relief. If I just sit here quietly, he won't be able to see me.
She was fortunate that he was on the other of some freshly hung clothes that separated the two. Closing her eyes, she did her best to control her breathing.

I will be safe. Just don't make a sound and he will go away, she reassured herself. But she was very young and inexperienced. There were other senses that shinobi used to alert them of a stranger's presence. She was not safe.

With a start, she realized that he was no longer behind the swaying clothes to her right, but was standing before her. A wicked smile crossed his lips and the pupils in his eyes green eyes were shrunken to pinpricks. The hair of her neck stood on end.
"I could smell your fear," he said. "Now let me feel…"
"No," she whimpered.
Sand rose from his feet and slowly made its way towards her crouching body. Her hands were held in front of her defensively. The kunai, slipped, cutting her, and fell abandoned on the ground.

"Let me know I'm a live," she heard him reply.
I'm going to die. I'm going to die, her mind chanted.
At once, she was brought back to that day long ago, when she had heard him cry and watched him beg. Please don't leave me alone.

"I won't leave you alone," she gasped in desperation as tentacles of sand enveloped her body.
"I won't leave you alone!" she yelled again in fear.

The sand suddenly released her from its clutches and fell limply on the ground. Through green, teary eyes, she watched him grab his head with both hands and grimace in pain. She didn't wait to see the rest. Quickly, she jumped down the roof and on to an awning before landing safely on the ground.

The Monster screamed behind her. She was lucky, her blood was not sweet enough for his "mother," and so she was left to run back home unscathed.

Back in her room, she sat on her bed, her arms clutching her legs, shaking uncontrollably. Strawberry blonde hair hung damp with sweat. She rocked back and forth, the recent events played over in her mind.

"I won't leave you alone," she heard herself say. It was the cry that heralded her salvation.
Why did I say that? She wondered.
Her youngest sister entered unannounced.
"I'm here for you to train me!" she cried happily, but then stopped with a start, "Hotaru? What happened?"
She could not say anything.
"Hotaru, listen to me!" her sister shook her violently. Hotaru could not bring herself to reply or even acknowledge her presence.
"I'm going to tell mother," she said at last, heading for the door, her face full of worry.

Those words snapped her back to reality.
"No Chieko, please," she commanded blocking her way.
"But sister, I'm scared," pleaded.
Hotaru sighed, and gave her sister a hug.
"Something strange happened to me on the roof, but I'm OK. You can't tell mother because she will stop letting me practice, but I have to do it," she began to explain.
"But sister, I don't want anything to happen to you," Chieko interrupted.
"Listen, nothing is going to happen to me. But if I don't practice up there, then I won't be good enough to join the medical corpse when they begin recruiting this year. This is very important to me, do you understand?"

"No," her sister replied stubbornly, with angry tears streaming from her eyes. "It was that Gaara Monster, wasn't it? He was the one who scared you! Mama said that..."
"Shhh…" Hotaru placed her hand on her sister's mouth to silence her.
"I was just scared of him, that's all. He didn't want to hurt me," she lied. She hated lying, but in this case, she thought it best.
"What?" Chieko asked with confusion.
"He didn't want to hurt me because he said that he liked other people who lived on the roof. As long as I practice on the roof, I should be fine. But he told me not to tell anyone because if I did, everyone would join him and he wouldn't have a place to be alone anymore," She whispered, with a half-hearted smile.
How lame. I hope she buys this, Hotaru worried.
Her sister was smart, but she was also eight and completely given to sister worship.

"But what if he changes his mind," she whispered back.
"He won't. But even if he does, it is very important that I practice up there so I'll become a medical ninja, OK?"
Chieko nodded with understanding.
"So you can keep his secret?" Hotaru asked.
"Yes, but, please don't let anything happen," her sister pleaded with fear in her eyes.
"I won't. Now do you want to practice throwing shuriken?" She asked, patting her head.
"Yay!" Chieko replied loudly, her mood completely changed.