Face Down
Chapter 3
Back to his old ways...
Gaara POV
Eventually, I was discharged from hospital, but Sakura didn't fail to warn me that I'd have to take it easy for a very long time which I knew wasn't possible with Sasuke. Even so, I knew I'd be fine. I had been through a lot and in most ways, it made me stronger.
"I'll come by tomorrow." Said Temari as I got out the car. She'd just dropped me off since Sasuke obviously was 'too busy' to do it himself. Lee offered, but remembered that he didn't own a car as he believed in walking.
"Thanks for the lift. Bye." I said, giving my sister a light hug.
"Remember to rest, yeah? Don't move around too much."
I rolled my eyes. "Temari, I'm twenty-one!"
"And you're still my little brother! Nothing will change that."
"Hn."
"See you tomorrow."
"Yeah." I watched as she drove off into the distance. Dread flooded me as I turned to my house. Baka... I scolded myself. It's my house, why should I be scared?
"Gaara." Said that voice I feared.
"Sasuke-sama." I replied, quickly making my way over to him.
"Get in."
I nodded and obeyed him. The hall was dark and I could smell alcohol... Alcohol and blood.
My blood
"If you have any more hospital visits from this day on, I will make sure that you never see daylight ever again!" He hissed. "Do you understand?"
"Hai, Sasuke-sama."
"I'm on the verge of beating you to a pulp, but then again, I don't think your sister would like to see her little brother laying dead on the floor in a pool of blood."
I shuddered.
"Make me dinner. I'm hungry."
"Am I allowed to eat? The nurses said I need to put on weight."
"No you don't."
"So I need to lose more?"
"Your weight is fine. Just leave it as it is."
"Well can I eat then?"
"No. I'm annoyed with you so you can go without."
Great. Looked like I would be sleeping on an empty stomach again. By now, I was so used to hunger pains that they no longer bothered me.
"Get to it then. I want my dinner."
"What would you like?"
"Surprise me."
As I prepared his ramen, I was very tempted to sprinkle rat poison on his noodles... Oh, I would have done if he wasn't standing behind me, watching my every move. That bastard.
"Are you done yet? I'm fucking starving." He growled.
"Yeah." I plated up and set the food down in front of him. My stomach ached and I winced.
"Look, if you're that hungry, why don't you clean up to take your mind off it?"
"Smoking helps a bit."
"Then smoke. Don't stand there staring at me like a lost puppy. Make yourself useful for a change."
I got up silently and proceeded to clean the hallway, which was hard with one hand. My right arm was in a cast and sling, so I could hardly do anything. I really struggled with Sasuke's dinner and you know what? He didn't even offer to help me. He just sat there, glaring daggers into my back. I suddenly felt faint and collapsed, breathing hard.
Sasuke looked at me and carried on eating.
Regaining my balance, I went into the kitchen. "Sasuke-sama, I really need to rest. I don't feel well."
"Can't you do anything without complaining? What is the matter with you?" He shoved me.
Oh God. Here we go...
"Gomen, Gomen, I'll be fine... just leave it to me."
"Good. After you've done the housework, then you can rest."
"Arigato." For most of the night, I forced myself to clean, despite how much pain I was in. To be honest, I didn't care. As long at Sasuke didn't hurt me, I was willing to do anything to keep him happy. It was midnight when I'd finished and Sasuke had gone to bed. I found some rice balls in the fridge and ate one of them. It felt so good to finally eat something...
"Gaara!" Sasuke yelled.
I shoved the rest of the rice ball in my mouth, chewing fast so he didn't notice I'd eaten.
"Gaara!" He shouted again.
"Coming!" When I got in the bedroom, he roughly pulled me onto the bed.
"I want to cuddle up to you. It's lonely when you're not sleeping next to me." He kissed me lightly on the lips and wrapped his arm around my body, pulling me close. "I've missed you."
I held back a scream as he put pressure on one of my ribs which was cracked and hadn't healed fully yet. He seemed to had forgotten that my abdomen was still hurting a lot from the surgery and that the painkillers had worn off. "I've m-missed you t-too." I lied.
000
Luckily, he fell asleep soon and I shifted out of his hold. It made me feel sick just to have him touch me. He was a sadistic bastard who needed to die. That's right, not a day went by when I didn't wish death upon him. After all the pain he put me through, wasn't it time he felt something of it? I had an idea. Getting up from the bed slowly as not to stir him, I put on a shirt and crept downstairs. I got to the front door and unlocked it shakily, but a hand on my shoulder made me jump.
"What are you trying to do?" Sasuke growled in my ear. How could he have come down the stairs so quietly that I failed to hear him?
"I was making sure the door was locked." I replied calmly.
"But you just unlocked it."
"Ah. So I did. Gomen." I went to lock it again, but he slammed me into the wall.
"You were trying to escape, weren't you?"
I smirked. "As a matter of fact, yes I was. You are a sadistic, cruel and controlling bastard who makes himself feel better by hurting others."
He glared so intensely at me that I was surprised he didn't burn a hole in my skull.
"I hope you die a long, slow and very painful death." I added.
"You think this is funny? Are you trying to act all tough now?" He pushed me harder against the wall and I could hardly breathe, but I didn't care. It was so satisfying to say what I'd been desperate to say to him for years now.
"I suppose you haven't noticed, but look." I held up my hand to show the missing engagement ring.
"You've got a lot of guts, you know. I am an Uchiha. You don't stand a chance against me."
"Then die. Nobody loves you."
"The only person who's going to die tonight is you!" He dragged me into the kitchen and pulled out a knife. "I will make you love me!"
"Just you try it, dickhead."
He plunged the knife deep inside me.
I held back a scream of agony. It hurt, but not as much as I thought it would
"Had enough?" He pushed it in even deeper.
"Doesn't hurt." I said, glaring him right in the eyes.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
He started twisting the blade.
I was okay... it didn't hurt... didn't hurt...
"I love you." Sasuke pulled the blade out and started licking the blood away from my skin. It stung when he tongue ran over the wound itself and out of reflex, I pushed him away. "Fuck off!"
"Why should I? What are you going to do about it?" He asked menacingly.
I knocked the knife out of his hand and caught it in mine.
"You're going to kill me? Go ahead."
"You don't care?"
"No. Because I know you haven't got the guts to do it."
"Want to bet?"
"Sure. Bet on your life."
I was shaking like a leaf as I raised the blade. Sasuke suddenly punched me in the stomach, making me drop the weapon in pain and shock.
"Pussy." He punched me in the same place again, this time, harder. I felt the wound from my surgery re-open and blood was gushing out.
"Does this hurt? Does it hurt, you fucking slut?" He pushed me through the glass cabinet in the corner and the glass shattered, cutting me to ribbons.
"I want you to cry! Come on!" He dragged me out of the remains of the cabinet and punched me in the stomach again, then stabbed me forcefully in the leg. Great, what was he trying to do now? Prevent me from walking? I was trying so hard not to cry from the pain. On the inside, I felt like breaking down and begging him to stop, but I just had to be strong; I had to fight even if it meant my life. The thing I needed most at that moment in time was the satisfaction. I wanted to hurt him, make him feel the pain that I'd had to endure for years. I wanted him to bleed. Bleed like I had bled. Pushing him to the floor, I bit him on the hand, the hardest bite I could manage until I could taste his blood. He cried out in pain and slashed me a few times with the knife across my arms and back. The more it hurt, the harder I bit. Soon, I could feel and hear the bones his hand crack. Unable to hold on, I let his broken hand go, smirking. "How does it feel to be on the receiving end for once?"
He didn't reply.
"It hurts doesn't it?"
Sasuke growled and stormed over to me. He dragged me up the stairs again, purposely making sure that all the nails sticking out of them cut me open all over. Once at the top, he threw me back in that dreaded room yet again. That dreaded room where so many bad memories hung in the air. I looked at the floor, feeling sick. My own blood decorated the area like crimson paint that had been violently splashed up the walls and on the ground.
"You either apologize, or I leave you in here to die!"
"Ha. I'd rather be dead than be with you."
"Fine then. You can starve to death for all I care. That is if you don't bleed to death first." He slammed the door and locked it.
Despite all of this, I felt good. I'd finally hurt him... made him bleed, cry out in pain. Nothing could describe this feeling of success. It felt like I'd won something great. I felt emotions take over me and before I knew it, I was crying silently and curled up on the floor. Why did I feel like this? Was I crying because I was happy? Maybe it was just all in my head... Maybe I finally was losing my mind.
000
The next morning, I was awakened by a loud knock at the door. In fact, why did I wake up at all? Why didn't I die in my sleep like I'd hoped? There was blood everywhere and I could hardly move from how much pain I was in. A massive shard of glass was sticking out from between my ribs and I was covered in cuts and bruises. I looked at the glass in my body and slowly pulled it out, gritting my teeth against the pain. Once it was out, blood started spurting; so I pressed my palm against the wound to stem the flow. At least the worst of it was over. Moments later, I heard the front door open and then came Temari's voice.
"I promised Gaara I'd come over today." I heard her say.
"He's not in." Replied Sasuke's dark, stoic voice.
"What do you mean? He's meant to be resting! Where did he go?"
"He wanted to see Kankuro. I was asleep when he went, but he phoned me to let me know."
"Oh right. I'll drop by Kiba's place then."
"Wait. Would you like to come in for a while? I want to get to know you."
"Sure. Why not? He's safe with Kankuro for sure."
I heard footsteps go into the kitchen and crawled in agony over to the locked door.
"Help..." I called weakly, trying to bang on the door.
The footsteps stopped. "Sasuke-san, do you hear that?" Asked Temari.
"I'm in here..." I called again. My voice suddenly choked up and blood rose in my throat.
"Ignore that." Came Sasuke's voice.
"What is it?"
"We have a ghost. Didn't I tell you?"
"A ghost? Is it bad?"
"Nah. He wants to get attention sometimes when we have guests. He likes to scare them."
"Oh."
Now, I was crying. "Temari..." I felt so alone and trapped. "Don't go..." By now, I knew for sure that I would die here. Alone. My sister left about an hour later. She didn't find me. Sasuke drowned out my voice with loud music. I could hear him and Temari having a good laugh. I so desperately wanted to tell somebody about this and I wished I had of done sooner before he locked me in here to die. Now, I knew I wasn't afraid of him; He was nothing. What was the worst he could do? Murder me? Then he'd be arrested and his sad little reputation that he'd built all his life would slowly crumble down and burn. How I'd love to see that.
Later on, I started to feel a little stronger and the pain had died down to dull throbs. I decided to try and come up with an escape plan. The old mattress was still there... so were the books... Maybe I could pile them all on top of each other and escape through the window? Deciding that was my best and only option at the present time, I put the mattress underneath the window and put about five books on top of it before climbing on. Almost... I could almost reach my freedom... Just a few more books should do it...
After a few minutes, I finally managed to pull myself up onto the window ledge; but with great difficulty because of my injuries. As I started trying to escape out of the window, Sasuke's footsteps pounded up the stairs. Fuck! Why wouldn't the window open? I fumbled around with the handle with trembling hands. Hurry up! Suddenly, I lost my balance and fell, sending the books crashing down with me. "Ow..." I groaned, pushing myself up. Try again.
"Gaara, what are you banging around for? What are you doing?" Yelled Sasuke's voice from the other side of the door. Shit.
"Nothing, Sasuke-sama. Just go back downstairs." I climbed on top of the books again, praying that I didn't fall. If I did, I was finished!
"I'm coming in!" I heard his keys jingle before the door unlocked. My heart was pumping so hard I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Out of sheer determination to escape, I started punching the glass, not caring how much it cut me and eventually, the window smashed, revealing the world outside, the bitter Winter air. I clambered through, and winced as the glass cut me deep. At that moment, Sasuke barged in and saw me half hanging out of the window. The look on his face was priceless.
"Gaara! Don't you dare!" He roared, grabbing my arm. I turned round and punched him as hard as I could right in the nose, feeling the cartilage crunch underneath my fist. Now to jump down... God only knew how I was going to do that, but I could hear Sasuke trying to get up again so I faced my fears and leapt right off the ledge. I landed hard in a heap on the floor. My leg twisted at a funny angle and dislocated at the knee, but I had no time to acknowledge the pain and forced myself to my feet; All I knew was that I had to keep going no matter what.
Dragging my injured leg along the floor, I desperately hobbled away. Tears ran down my face. God I was so scared... If Sasuke caught me, he'd definitely kill me; no doubt about it. It was raining heavily and I was thankful for it as it washed the blood away from my skin. I was going to find my siblings and return home with them to Suna.
000
Lee POV
Ugh... this felt like the worst thing ever. Due to my mind being completely stressed out with worry, I had forgotten to buy groceries and now, it was night and I was hungry. My only option was to get a takeaway. How I hated that stuff... but I guess it was better than starving to death. Maybe I could find a very healthy takeaway place. Fat chance. It was really cold out, so I was wearing my jacket. You could definitely tell Winter was on it's way. I got halfway down the street when the sound of crying met my ears, causing me to freeze on the spot. I looked around, concerned. A dark figure stood hunched over and trembling by the trees of the forest, visible from the silver moonlight. It was blatantly obvious that the sobs were coming from that direction.
"Hello?" I called gently, approaching this person slowly as not to scare them. "A-Are you okay?" As I drew closer, the figure looked up.
"Gaara?" I yelled, rushing over to him. It looked like he had some sort of a mental breakdown. There was a self-inflicted wound on his forehead... it was the Kanji for 'love' He was crying his eyes out and there was blood running down his face.
"What have you done to yourself?"
"Just go away! I don't need you! I don't need anybody!" He screamed, burying his face in his hands.
"Gaara, please. Let me help you."
He stopped crying and looked up, stared me right in the face. His eyes had changed. They were now pools of black with a menacing amber iris. "Leave me alone!" He hissed in a deathly voice. Shit. This was getting serious. Not only had he completely lost his mind, but now even worse, Shukaku was emerging from the depths of his consciousness. It only made me wonder what the hell had happened to him for it to have awakened his Bijuu. "Where's Sasuke?" I asked softly.
"Sasuke? Don't get me fucking started on that fucking cruel bastard!"
"H-Have you fallen out?" I was terrified. I'd seen him angry, but never like this. For the first time in my whole entire life, my best friend scared me. Sand started to swirl around us and by now. I knew I was in trouble. Real trouble. "Calm down! Please!"
"Calm down? How can I?" Shukaku hissed. The sand collected on the right side of Gaara's body and face, then took the form of a Tanuki. There was a very negative energy clinging to the air; it drained all happiness in the surroundings and I started to feel weak and depressed. I had no choice but to fight him. Either that or die. I couldn't hurt him whilst he stood in Gaara's body... I just couldn't... Gaara was my world and he'd just come out of hospital with serious injuries! What if I accidentally hit a vital point in his body and he died? I couldn't live with myself! Instead of attacking, I threw myself at him. The sand grazed me terribly but I didn't care. I pushed him to the floor, but it seemed to make him angrier.
"Just like Uchiha did! Are you going to attempt murder on my vessel too?"
That shocked me. Sasuke must've really upset him.
"I thought you were my best friend Lee." The demon said in Gaara's voice.
"Gaara hang in there! I have to get your Bijuu under control!"
"I need to feel alive! Don't you stop me!" He screamed even louder and started trying to hurt me. I had to wake up the real Gaara to stop this. The only was this would stop was to hurt him, but I couldn't do it! Then I remembered... the curse seal... maybe if I forced enough chakra into it, he'd be okay. It was worth a try. I ran up to him and placed my hand on his stomach, where the curse seal resided and focused chakra into the palm of my hand. He didn't move, like he was frozen, but a few seconds later, the sand slowly crumbled off and he went went limp. I was right. He was now back to his normal self. As he lay unconscious in my arms, my eyes travelled subconsciously to the symbol he'd carved into his forehead which was steadily bleeding and I wondered what in the world had made him do it. All the years I'd known him, he never came across to me as somebody who would inflict an injury upon himself, especially with his fear of his own blood. Now, I had to get him back home. The only thing was, I seemed to not want to give him to Sasuke. As awful as it sounded, I didn't trust him to look after my best friend. In the end, I decided to take him back to my house. He didn't look too well and his skin was ice-cold to touch. He was so thin as well and I was scared that if I held him too tight, he would break. As I carried him through the streets, I caught sight of Sasuke outside the hospital. Sakura was healing what looked like a badly broken nose. I hurried past him, not wanting him to see me and soon, we were at my house. I unlocked the door and set Gaara gently on the sofa. He seemed alright, just exhausted. All he really needed was rest. A lot of rest. I put a few blankets over him to warm him up and stayed at his side all night, just to be sure that he wasn't going to get any worse. By morning, I felt like a zombie from lack of sleep, but it was all worth it just to look after him
"Lee-kun?"
Oh crap! I almost fell asleep! "G-Gaara-kun? How are you feeling?"
"What happened?" Gaara asked, confused.
"You do not remember?"
"I was in the forest and I put love on my forehead... Then I remember nothing..."
"What about anything before that?"
"Ah yes. I remember everything before that." He stared at the floor, tears in his eyes.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine. Thanks a lot for looking after me."
I lifted his head up so he was looking me in the eye. "Gaara-kun, what happened to you?"
"Why do you ask?"
"No reason, except that I found you having a mental breakdown last night in the woods, you carved the kanji for 'love' on your forehead and you are ill with god knows what."
He let out a sigh. "I lied."
"You lied? About what?"
"About Sasuke. You were right, he is abusing me."
I stared at him.
"Abuse Lee! It was abuse!" Gaara shouted at me. I could see the agony in his eyes, the mental pain. No, it couldn't have been... Who could hurt the person they were meant to love? I couldn't believe this... But... I had to... I had to stand by Gaara and help him out no matter what.
"Gaara... what has he been doing to you?" I asked, my blood boiling.
"Everything... rape... isolation... beating... he killed our child inside me!"
"I am going to kill him!"
"No Lee-kun! Sasuke-sama is very strong!"
"I do not care Gaara! sometimes you have to put the person you care about first before caring about yourself!"
"Lee." Gaara said sternly. "Remember who he is."
"As I said before, I do not care! He has hurt you and he will not get away with it!"
"Le-"
"Stay here. I will be back soon!" Before Gaara could stop me, I rushed out through the front door and saw Sasuke walking home.
"Hey, you!" I yelled, running up to him."
"What the fuck do you want? I have a razor if you want to shave your overgrown eyebrows."
"I did not think you could sink any lower but it looks like you already have?"
"What are you talking about?" He handed me some money. "Go buy yourself some fashion sense."
I punched him hard across the face. "I know what you have been doing to Gaara-kun!"
"Where is the little bastard? I'll fucking kill him!"
"You will not go anywhere near him!"
"Says who?"
"Me."
"Pfft. You're not worth it. I'd hurry back to Gaara if I were you."
"What do you mean?"
"I know people. Criminals. I have already sent them out to bring Gaara back to me and this conversation is currently being recorded and sent to them via headphones." Sasuke said smugly.
"Karin, you know what to do." He said into a tiny microphone sat between his fingers. I'd only made all of this worse for Gaara.
000
Nothing seemed abnormal when I got through the door. Gaara was on the sofa still and nothing seemed out of place.
"Are you okay?" I hugged him
"Yeah."
"I am so sorry!"
"For what?" He asked, patting my back.
"What if I have made things worse for you?"
"You haven't. He's a coward really and relies on his gang to do all the dirty work for him."
"But his gang are trying to find you and they know you are with me!"
"They don't know where you live though, do they?"
"Well no, but still, I put you in danger!"
"Stop blaming yourself! You saved me from him and that's what matters!"
He was right. "I promise you will never be touched by him again!"
Gaara smiled. It was small, but genuine. "Thank you." He shifted at little in my arms and I let go.
"What is wrong?" My eyes drifted down to his blood-soaked hand which clutched at a wound on his stomach. "You are hurt!"
"He stabbed me. I think I re-opened the wound."
"When did he do it?"
"Yesterday." He moved his hand so I could see the injury. It was pretty deep.
"Hold still, I need to stem the bleeding." I lifted up his torn shirt and saw some more deep cuts alongside numerous bruises; indicating fractured ribs.
"It's not as bad as it looks. I've had much worse than this."
I managed to stop the bleeding after a few minutes and cleaned him up. "Keep pressure on it whilst I get some bandages." I instructed. He nodded. Luckily, I found some special glue made for sealing open wounds. It was a good job I'd been on a medical course before and I knew how to apply it. I rushed back to Gaara and used the glue to seal the injuries. Once that was done, I bandaged him up tightly to ensure he wouldn't start bleeding again. "I will phone a medic in the morning to take a look at you."
"You don't have to do all this for me, but thanks."
"Gaara-kun, nothing is more important to me in the world than helping out my best friend. I am very happy to look after you until you are better."
"We'll look after each other, right?"
"Of course." I said, then noticed him trembling. His eyes were half-open and teary as he stared at the floor breathing shallow. I could read him like a book. "Is it hurting?" I questioned softly.
He nodded slowly.
"Alright. I will get you some painkillers."
"Thank you."
I got the paracetamol and water, then handed them to Gaara. He swallowed the pills dry and then drank the water.
"Do you need anything else?"
"I'm fine at the moment thanks.
"Good. Try and get some rest." I put a blanket over him and sat on the other sofa. After a while, I guessed the painkillers were working because he fell asleep. I went over to him and touched his face to check his temperature. "Lee-san... I love you..." He mumbled incoherently in his sleep. I found myself blushing like crazy.
"I love you too, Gaara-kun." I whispered. Unable to hold back my urges, I leant down and kissed his soft, pale lips tenderly. Time seemed to stand still. Gaara kissed back, unconsciously of course. He tasted so nice... perfect. I then realized what I was doing; taking advantage of his weak form! He couldn't fight back, he couldn't do anything if the kiss was not wanted! Not to mention he was engaged! I was utterly ashamed of myself and pulled away, though so many questions lingered on my mind: Were his words true? Did he really love me? No, it couldn't be... he was delirious... He didn't know what he was saying.
...Did he?