Notes from teh Bayo:
Hey again, dudes! Thanks so much for the reviews! ;3 Keep 'em up—they're making me so happy! ♥ I love you all! ;w; Sorry for taking longer than usual with this chapter; I was feeling oddly unmotivated. Oo; Heheh, some of you accusin' poor Reuben, eh? Mmm! You'll see, you'll see… that's all I'll tell yah. X3 I apologize if this chapter seems off to you… I didn't exactly write it to have much meaning, and I meant it to be a like a filler chapter. xP But I at least put something interesting in… so yeah. ;3
So no I present to you chapter seven!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, unfortunately… I only own my characters and this story! ;3
c h a p t e r . seven
Interrogation
I was running through complete and utter darkness. There was no ground, no sky, no surroundings—I was sprinting, alone, through a pitched abyss. No wind met me, no voice reached me; I could feel nothing, save for the beating of my heart and the intense fear that swept through me…
"You can't keep running, Nadine…"
"Leave me alone!" I screamed, tears streaming down my face. I was running… running from something, someone. I didn't know who, and I didn't know why; all I knew was that I needed to get out of there, away from whatever was following me.
It scared me to death.
I could feel the presence behind me, chasing after me—I pushed harder, faster, all in vain. In the distance, I could see a faint light—almost like a star in the midnight sky—a little ways away. My eyes widening, I dashed toward the light… and as I grew closer, that light formed into a figure. His formed was faded, but I knew he was facing me. It was pitch black, but I could see his hand reaching to me… a calm, gentle help that was being offered to me.
"Please, help me!" I plead, extending my hand to him. He remained silent; I could hear my pursuer coming closer.
"You can't keep running…"
"I will protect you," whispered the shady man, his voice audible now that I was closer.
I leaped forward, my tears trailing behind me, our fingers about to make contact…
"Wake up."
I woke up in a cold sweat, the first thing that met my eyes being the soft peru ceiling. My eyes widening, I found myself breathing heavily and my body trembling; my fingers tightly grasped the couch I was lying on as I slowly tried to register my surroundings. "Wh-What…?"
"You were having a nightmare."
My eyes rolled over to the side to meet Gaara, who was standing over me and gazing blankly at me. "A nightmare…?" I repeated, attempting to get into a sitting position. "When did I go to sleep…?" I couldn't remember anything right now.
Gaara stared at me passively. "Two days ago."
I paused. "… Two days ago?!" My eyes locked with his in shock. "I've been out for two days?! Why?!"
"You tell me. I found you unconcious in the library," he replied, inspecting me skeptically.
My gaze traveled to my hands as I tried to think of what had happened. Two days… I've been asleep, err, unconscious, for two days… I was in the library, about to read a book… then all of a sudden… oh, yeah! "Reuben…" I whispered incoherently, and I quickly held my tongue, hoping Gaara didn't catch that. I cast a small glance to him; he didn't look like he did. But then again, he WAS Gaara… "I guess I must've slipped and hit my head or something…" I blinked at him.
"Not a surprise…"
I pouted, but chose to avoid that comment. How mean! "Um… where're Temari and Kankuro?" I asked, peering around. So far, it was only me and the red-head devil in the living room. I didn't hear any hollars or arguments; unusual in this household…
"They're out," Gaara simply replied. "What were you doing in the library?"
"I got curious, since I was left all by my lonesome down here last—err, two nights ago," I shrugged, stretching my arms and neck. "I love to read and libraries, so…"
"… I see," he said, albeit a little doubtfully.
"Um…yeah," I blinked, standing up. My hands slipped into my pocket—and it bumped into something that wasn't there before. It felt like… paper. Trying hard to restrain myself from looking surprised, I grinned and stepped to the side. "Yeah, well, thanks for finding me… I think I'll go take a little stroll now."
I slid out the door, his sea green eyes watching me as I left.
As soon as I was a ways away from the mansion, I unfolded the paper in my pocket. Right as my eyes scimmed the words, I gasped—it was Reuben's writing. It read:
Dear Sis',
Hey! Sorry I had to hit you; my pals come from a rough background and tend to be extremely secretive. But anyway, just a reminder: be ready in a few weeks, 'cause I'm expected back as soon as renovation is done over here. I need to ask a favor of you, though; you know that plan I emailed you about? You're an official part of it, so you need to know: there's something that we need that's only in Sunagakure.
I don't know where it is, but it should be somewhere in the Kazekage's mansion. It's an old, ancient-looking book with only two or three pages written inside. It doesn't have a name, but I know it's a dark blue color. If you can have that ready with you when I come to pick you up, it'll make everything a whole lot easier. So do your best, eh? Sorry I'm making you wait; but in only a matter of weeks, we'll be together again.
Love yah,
Reuben
Holding the piece of paper in my hand, I blinked, and paused by small section of the village that was solely dedicated to shop. I plopped onto a bench propped against a building, and read it over again. Reuben wanted me to find something for him? "A book," I arched a brow. Could it be in Gaara's library? Maybe he was looking for a history book or something…
"He still didn't tell me what he's gonna do," I pouted, folding it and putting it in my pocket again. "But I've got no choice I guess… duh, I'm gonna help my brother…"
Peering out into the streets, I saw people buzzing everywhere. Some were shopping, others were talking, groups moved as one, knocking down poor passer-byer's in their way. It was pretty lively, to say the least; shop managers were shouting out bargains, sales, and fashions at low prices, making me whimper. If only I grabbed some money before I left, I'd shop 'til I drop…
But that wasn't the case here.
So I just hopped to my feet and decided to wander around, torturing myself as I gazed around at all the cute clothes and accessories that lined display tables and the likes; Sunagakure had some really nice stuff. I eventually came across a tent that was secluded in an alleyway, and I stopped by it and took a small peek inside. Nobody was around here; and I probably wouldn't have noticed it if it wasn't broad daylight right now.
Inside I found nothing but a long table and a bunch of boxes scattered on the ground. "A storage…?"
"Hello, hello, welcome!"
I squeaked and jumped back as an old lady suddenly appeared behind the table, smiling warmly at me. She was short and stout, with sun-kissed skin and unusually pretty blue eyes. "We are not officially open yet, but I am so happy that someone noticed my tent! This was the last spot in the bazaar, so I might as well take it!"
I blinked. "Um… hi."
"Well, come in, come in, dear; how can I help a pretty youth like you?" she waved me in.
"Oh, no, I don't have any money…" I told her, rubbing the back of my neck sheepishly.
She shook her head, "It does not matter! I will give you a freebie for being my first customer!"
'… And I thought she wasn't in business yet,' I thought to myself. "I couldn't…"
"It is no problem, dearie! Come!"
I sighed—she wasn't about to let me leave… "All right, then." I shyly walked in and sat in a chair in front of her. "What is it that you do…?"
The woman smiled proudly at me. "I make accessories and charms! My name is Amano Yufu; what is yours?"
I couldn't help but smile back at her cheerfulness. "I'm Nadine."
"Nadine? What a pretty name," Yufu said, reaching down to a box beside her. I subconsciously leaned to the side to try and catch what she was getting—and quickly straightened up as she did. "Well, let us get started then, shall we?"
"Okay…"
"First, I must needs question you," she informed me, making me gulp. "But do not worry, Nadie-chan; they are general questions."
I paused—she called me 'Nadie.' Smiling wider, I found myself starting to like this lady; she reminded me of Kira, personality-wise.
Yufu spread out an assortment of items on her table. There were pretty stones, cute little statues, beads of every color in the spectrum, letters, and other random shapes and characters. "Question number one: what is your favorite color?"
"Mmm… green."
She pulled out a few green beads. "Question number two: when is your birthday?"
"March 24th."
She wrote on a piece of paper and drew it to herself. "Question number three: what is your favorite animal?"
I paused to think. "Uh… I like panda's?"
"Perfect," she smiled, jotting on a piece of paper again. "Question number four: would you prefer sunshine or rain?"
"Sunshine," I answered quickly, my gaze dropping. Rain… I hate rain.
I could feel Yufu eye me before continuing. "Last question, Nadie-chan: are you single?"
I arched a brow. "Yeah…"
She clapped her hands and rose to her feet, her smile still in place. "We are finished!" she declared, dropping her results into a separate box. "I will get started on it right away! But I will take a while—do you mind waiting, dear?"
I shook my head. "No, not at all… what're you gonna make me?"
Yufu turned to me with a secretive grin and winked. "You will see, dear, you will see!"
"Aww…"
"Now shoo! I must begin," she ushered me out of the tent, and gave me another one of her innocent smiles that I've come to adore. "I will see you in a few weeks!"
"Fine…" I sighed, faking a pout. "Thanks, Yufu… sama," I said to her, bowing awkwardly.
"Oh, it's fine! This will be a fun project!" Her eyes twinkled with hidden joy. She patted me on the back and quickly shut the tent curtains behind me.
I was left staring at the green tent, wondering what had just happened. "Heh… she's so cute," I grinned to myself, turning on my heel and trotting away. At least I now know there're some nice people here; after meeting Gaara, I was beginning to wonder if such species were extinct in this time.
"Where should I go next…?" I didn't really feel like going back to the house. Seeing Gaara every day is torture enough; just the thought of being held under his stare made me shudder. Reuben was expecting me to stay with him for a month… hopefully I'd live. Ugh. I'm not the best liar, either. 'What if he asks me about something personal?'
Just tell him the truth—you're a freak from a different dimension.
"I can't tell him tha—" I halted in mid-sentence, and blinked, looking around. Who said that? There were people everywhere, but none of them even seemed to notice I was there… forget that, nobody SHOULD be looking my way because I was thinking to myself. "I… guess it was my inner self or something…"
Heh heh… inner self, Inner Sakura. Anyways.
I had continued to stay glued to my spot, staring ahead and wondering where I was going, before someone called my name.
"Nadine!"
I spun around to see Kankuro jogging towards me. "Kankuro… what's up?" I asked as he caught up to me.
He looked at me through his purple face paint. "Just hanging around," he replied with a shrug. "But it's boring right now. You wanna go get something to eat?"
"With me?" That was an offer I didn't hear every day.
"Well, since you're probably gonna be staying with us for a while, we might as well bond, right?" Kankuro grinned, causing me to grin back.
"Did Temari pay you to do this?"
"Nope! This was all an act of my kind soul," the older teen replied proudly, before turning and pointing in a different direction. "It's not too far from here! C'mon, let's get going before it gets too dark."
We weaved through the crowds of people, I trying my best to keep up with the unusually speedy guy. He gave me a small tour of the village by showing me different shops, restaurants, and monuments—which were all pretty interesting. There were a whole bunch of clothing and accessory stores that I didn't suspect of being stores, the restaurants were good-looking and took up a lot of the area (as Kankuro told me—"Food is a personal gift from God"), and he showed me statues and memorials of past Kazekages and historical stuff we'd pass.
I stared at Kankuro as he talked about another restaurant (we could actually walk now—the crowd was dying in this nick fo the village), and I briefly saw an image of Reuben flash through my mind as he smiled and laughed.
I looked away, smiling.
'Reuben…'
A/N: That's all for now, folks! ;3 Nothing really to say, 'cept... REVIEW! Yeah! xD
-- Bayo-Bayo, signing out
