Alright, chapter 3 is up! Remember, bold is Shukaku. Oh, and thanks for the awesome reviews!

WARNING: Morbid thoughts, hints at violence, suggestive themes, considered rape. (Doesn't happen, don't worry!)

Review and I'llUpdate!!!

Kodu

3

- Sakura -

"If you think you can just walk away after pulling a stunt like that, you've got another thing coming."

He kept walking as if I hadn't spoken at all, though I knew he could hear every word I said. We were barely ten feet away from each other!

"Don't ignore me when I'm talking to you!"

Wow, I sounded just like my mother when we argued.

I saw him pause for a moment, and he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye as if he were surprised I had the ability to speak. Snorting, he turned away again, adjusting the strap on his gourd for better comfort.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I quipped, hoping this would catch his attention. "I didn't realize you were a coward."

This made him stop altogether, and I smirked knowingly at the reaction. Just like Naruto. Just like Sasuke.

Men were typical.

"Cowardice does not run in my blood." He tipped his head to the side, leveling a single, black-rimmed eye on my face. That cold bluish gaze gave me chills, but I forced myself not to show any kind of weakness. He looked like the kind of man who prided himself in pain; who enjoyed watching other's suffering.

He looked like a sadist.

His voice was monotonous; raspy, calming, intriguing in the way a bird with a broken wing intrigues a child. It held danger to it, a certain threat that was unavoidable, but also something deeper. The emotionless tone - meant to hide his feelings - only proved to show he had something to hide.

It was like wearing a mask. Your face - your secret - is protected from the prying eye. You are covered - clothed, if you will - and safe. Yet wearing such a thing only shows there is something wrong with your face. By not wearing the mask, your secret is revealed. By wearing it, you reveal that you have a secret. The secret may be hidden, but the mystery is not. Without the mask, you are naked. With the mask, you wear clothes hinting at what is underneath.

This boy, by hiding his emotions, revealed to me that he felt he needed to. Already, I knew a little of his personality. My mind was working in overtime, analyzing his movements, trying to pinpoint his weaknesses. That was the most frustrating thing about my character, though. I could size up an opponent within moments of meeting them, but that didn't mean I had the ability to act on my information.

Snapping back to reality, I realized he was still staring at me with a calculating look to his eye.

Wait, what had he said?

''Cowardice does not run in my blood,'' mocked Inner Sakura. 'What a masochist.'

He continued, and I had to force myself to listen.

"But I would feel almost ashamed to fight someone as weak as yourself."

Oh no he didn't! This time, Inner Sakura and I were in agreement.

Before I could think logically, I found myself up on my feet, racing towards the red-head, fist extended; just wanting to hurt something. Sure, a few simple words shouldn't have gotten my blood boiling in such a way, but it was the way he said it which stung the most.

He thought I was inferior.

It was as plain and simple as that. For some unfathomable reason, this egotistical jerk had set himself up on the proverbial pedestal of life, and shoved my face in the dirt while doing it. But that wasn't even a spark on the flame of emotions he had set lose in my body with his careless words.

He thought I was weak, and it hurt.

It hurt because I knew it was true. Fighting alongside Sasuke and Naruto, watching as they each performed complicated jutsus above normal genin level; standing by as Kakashi-sensei praised them, encouraged them, while I was but a shadow in their wake, a fly on the wall…

It hurt so much, and this idiot had to dig up that pain.

And now, all I wanted to do was make him feel what I felt.

"Yaaaaah!!" I yelled, throwing my fist at his face with all the strength within me. It inched closer, and closer, as time seemed to move slower, and slower.

I could see, out of the corner of my eye, some kind of shifting, wave-like movement near the base of his feet. As time ticked by, that vague shadow of an image grew and expanded until it rose up between us like a liquid wall.

But this couldn't be a liquid. Liquids didn't look so…solid. And if it was a liquid, I had no idea what kind would be so brown, and had no desire to find out. There was really nothing I could do about it anyways. My mind was very analytical - very quick-witted and able to solve complicated problems with ease -, but my body was nowhere near as toned. Even though I saw his defense, my body didn't have the speed to retract my arm.

My fist was slammed into a wall of sand, little grainy particles flying in every direction until I was buried in elbow-deep.

I growled in anger and tried to pull back my arm, but found that the sand was gripping onto it, climbing higher and higher up the appendage. After realizing he wasn't going to stop, I began to panic and jerk away with enough force to pop my shoulder out of its socket.

The sand continued to rise, and soon I noticed scratchy tendrils wrapping around my legs and climbing up my body. After I was successfully trapped, the substance around my body began to harden, and I was lifted a few inches off the ground and made to hover closer to my red-haired captor.

"Let me go!" I yelled, and I was just summoning up enough courage to spit in his face when his chilling voice stopped me.

"Shut up, or I'll kill you."

- Gaara -

It was happening. Again.

Bloodlust.

Stupid kunoichi. I began to wonder why people couldn't mind their own business; why people had to have that stupid thing called dignity. Couldn't she have just let it go? So what if I was rude? At least she could have lived.

But not now.

Shukaku - curse the moody demon - finally found it convenient to actually come and guard me, though I doubted I would need his help when dealing with such a weak girl. Apparently, when hostile, the pink-headed female was considered somewhat of a threat. Any other time, though, my demon didn't seem to mind her presence. How strange. I might have been curious, had she not insulted my reasons for leaving her alone.

Women talked too much.

This one would pay the price.

It was almost amusing when she charged me. Almost. I found myself leaning more towards annoyed the closer she got. Oh well. She would soon learn.

No one messes with Sabaku no Gaara.

I am the desert, and I would be her death.

In those few moments before my sand shield shot up to protect me, I saw recognition glint in her eyes. She must have seen the move coming, and yet she kept charging. She was probably too weak to pull back the power she had forced into such a bold punch.

The fight ended before it even began, and I found myself slightly disappointed.

This was a waste of time, I thought while pulling the girl closer. She struggled in the sand's grasp, and I had to keep myself from rolling my eyes. Did she really think she could get away?

I leveled my gaze to her jade green eyes and stared at her coldly.

"Let me go!" she yelled, and I unconsciously gripped her tighter at the harshness in her voice. No one speaks to me like that.

"Shut up, or I'll kill you." Technically, she would be dead either way, but if her incessant ranting continued, I would end her life much more quickly.

Her body instantly went limp, and I found myself bored with her submission.

'Take her. Take her in the way all women fear most.'

Shukaku - usually eager for blood - seemed to be craving pain today. He could smell this girl's fear - which meant I could smell this girl's fear - and it excited him on a rather sadistic level.

I'm a monster, not a rapist. I don't know why I argued with the demon. Usually, I just did what he commanded. It was much less painful for me. And, as sure as the droughts in Sunagakure, that splicing ache in my head cut through my mind as soon as I thought such rebellious words.

'Do it! She mocked you! Make her regret ever living. She does not deserve existence. She is weak. You've had to strive for purpose since the day of your birth, while this pitiful excuse for a human has done nothing but waste the oxygen in the air.'

He had a good point.

As the pain intensified, I found my hold on the kunoichi loosening, and before I knew it, she had broken free from my sand and was rising up on wobbly legs. If I didn't act soon, she would escape.

'Kill her! Kill her! Kill her!'

The chant beat out it's rhythm inside my head, each pound of the drum raising the level of agony which pierced my skull. My breath came out in pants as I fell to my knees, grabbing at my head as if that would rid it of such pain.

I will! I'll kill her. I promise, for mother. To see her blood…yes, all of it. Spilling out, staining the sand. Would you like to taste it, mother? Would that quell your anger, Shukaku? Don't be mad at me…yes. I'll kill her.

'No! I want more. I want her pain! Make her bleed. Make her bleed on all levels. Rip out her heart, and rip out her soul. Do this, and she will be but a hollow shell; a wisp of what she once was. Like you, my son. Like your pain. Like Yashamaru.'

The name sent jolt of electricity through my body, and I had to fight to keep the tears from my eyes.

"W-why…?" I mumbled, pulling harshly at my hair, hating myself for the memories that flooded my mind; drowning me in their dark, icy depths.

I was on the edge, on the brink of madness, ready to let Shukaku take over, when a harsh voice snapped me back into reality.

"Gaara!"