One of the great things about being able to control sand, Gaara decided an hour or so later, was the ability to keep it from sticking to sweaty skin. He felt sated, and drowsy, and not at all inclined to move. At some point in their activities, he'd ended up under Neji again, and he found the position to be rather comfortable. Only the many years of training kept Gaara from simply drifting off to sleep here, cushioned by the sand and warmed by Neji.
Neji, however, seemed to have given over to exhaustion, and Gaara didn't attempt to wake him. Neji's family was still waiting for his return, probably very impatiently now, and Gaara was not yet ready to return Neji to them. He wanted to keep Neji to himself for just a little while longer. Once Neji returned to the Hyuuga household, he would no longer be Gaara's.
"Not that he was really mine to begin with," Gaara thought. Carefully he shifted out from under Neji, the sands shifting as well to make the move comfortable and keep from disturbing Neji's sleep. Gaara sat up, studying Neji's face. Like the rest of their clothing, Neji's Konoha headband had been tossed to the side somewhere, revealing the thin, elegant lines of his curse seal.
Gaara had heard Neji explain the curse seal and its purpose to Naruto during the chuunin exam finals, though at the time of course, Gaara had not found the information to be pressingly important. Neji's family had placed that mark on him, in order to control him. To kill him, if it became necessary, if Neji were to betray them.
"You're lucky your family never thought to put a seal like that on you," Shukaku commented. "Not that I would have let them."
"When did you wake up?" Gaara asked.
"Just now," the demon assured him. "Looks like I missed all the good stuff, too. So how was he? He must have been good, since he seems to still be in one piece… Come on, kid, I want details. Every touch, every moan, every scream."
"It's none of your business." Just because Shukaku took up residence in Gaara's mind, didn't mean Gaara was going to discuss the details of his sex life with the demon.
Shukaku huffed in annoyance. "Fine, be that way. But you're not getting rid of me so easily the next time you two do it."
"There isn't going to be a next time," Gaara said. "When he wakes, we'll return him to the Hyuuga household. And then we're going home."
Shukaku was silent for a long moment. Then he said softly, seriously, "We can't leave him here."
"We have to. He's not ours."
"Like hell he isn't. You've laid claiming marks on him. Your scent is all over him, and the sands smell of your mating. And you bit him," Shukaku pointed out.
Gaara glanced at Neji's bare shoulder, where a half-ring of teeth marks stood out an angry red against the paleness of Neji's skin. Gaara only vaguely remembered biting Neji in the heat of the moment- Neji hadn't seemed to mind at the time. The bite hadn't broken the skin; even as Gaara watched, the mark was starting to fade. "Temporary marks. They'll soon be gone. That's the only way he was ever mine- temporarily."
Gaara's fingertips gently traced over the one mark that was permanent on Neji's skin, and it wasn't one he had made. The curse seal on Neji's forehead was graceful and beautiful in design, but Gaara couldn't help but want to erase it.
Neji shifted a little at the touch, opening his eyes. Gaara quickly pulled his hand back, unsure that Neji would appreciate having the seal touched. Likely it represented a host of unpleasant memories.
Neji sat up, studying Gaara with thoughtful intensity. Finally he said, "I like yours better."
He reached out to touch Gaara's kanji, and Gaara didn't even flinch this time. Oddly enough, Gaara found it didn't bother him when Neji touched it. When Gaara had made the mark on himself as a child, he hated it. Love was not something to be admired, not after what it had done to him. He was feeling more favorable toward it now. After being with Neji, the kanji for love represented something more positive.
"Shukaku thinks I should mark you," Gaara said quietly.
"Does he now?" Neji murmured, smiling faintly. "And what do you think?"
"Shukaku is an animal at heart," Gaara said. "He thinks that the act of marking is something finite, the establishing of definite territory. With my scent on you, with my mark, he thinks that would just decide everything, and you'd be mine, undisputed. I know it isn't that simple. It holds a certain appeal, though. Leaving a token to remind everyone that once, if only once, you were mine."
"If that's an offer," Neji said, his voice soft but serious, "I agree with Shukaku as well." His fingertips traced the lines of the kanji again, feeling their subtle texture- it was a scar, not a real tattoo, after all. "I want a mark just like this. To remind me I was yours once, if only once. And perhaps to remind my family that though I bow to their demands… you were my first choice."
"It'll hurt," Gaara warned.
That made Neji smile. "I wouldn't be much of a shinobi if I couldn't withstand a little pain, now would I?"
Gaara nodded, calling up a measure of sand from the mass. "Close your eyes." Gaara wasn't sure he could do this if Neji were watching him. Neji obligingly closed his eyes, holding carefully still. Gaara took a deep breath, and let the sand strike.
Neji didn't cry out, didn't even move as the sand made precise, deep cuts into his skin. It was over in a moment, and the sand fell away. The mark was smeared with blood- the sand brought up Gaara's discarded shirt, and Gaara ripped a piece of the hem off to carefully wipe the blood away. The kanji for love stood out in lived redness on Neji's forehead, in the same place as it was on Gaara's. It's bloody color made Neji's curse seal look pale, fragile.
Neji touched the spot carefully, smiling when his fingertips came away dotted with blood. "Thank you, Gaara." He sighed, looking up through the treetops at where the sunlight glinted though the thick canopy of leaves. "As much as I'd like to stay here forever, it's getting late."
Gaara nodded. "I did tell Hinata I'd bring you home. They may have started the search for you again, we've been out long enough."
Neji stretched, a graceful cat-like gesture that had Gaara's body temperature rising with renewed desires. Before slipping off the branch to retrieve their scattered clothing, Neji kissed Gaara, one last time. "No matter what happens after this," Neji said, "I regret nothing that happened here."
Gaara followed after with some reluctance, calling the sand back into its gourd, and gathering up the wayward clothing strewn over various branches. Various articles took somewhat longer to track down; neither of them had been paying that much attention to where things were getting tossed. At last they were both dressed again, and Neji tied his headband back on, covering both the curse seal and the kanji. They left the forest in silence, taking as much time as they dared in returning to the Hyuuga home.
"Neji," Gaara said, as the gates of the Hyuuga complex came into view. "If things turned out differently… if you didn't have to marry Hanabi, if you were given the choice… would you come back to Suna with me?"
"Yes," Neji answered, after only a brief hesitation. "I would… miss it here. My family is here, and despite everything, I care for them. My teammates are here, and it would be near impossible to replace them. But if I were allowed to choose, I would come with you."
Gaara nodded. "Let me talk to your elders."
"Gaara…"
"Please," Gaara said. "I don't want to give you up. I thought just one time with you would be enough. But you make me feel alive like nothing else ever has, and I just can't go back to having… nothing."
Neji let out a faint sigh. "I don't know that it will do much good, but you can talk to them if you want. You are the Kazekage, maybe they'll listen to you."
"And if they won't," Shukaku said, "can we kill them?"
"No, Shukaku."
Hinata was standing outside the gate as the two walked up, and she was clearly relieved to see them. "Thank goodness you're here!" The gate opened, and Hinata did her best to hurry them inside. "The elders… when no one could find you, they were in such a bad mood…"
No one impeded them as they passed through the halls of the main house of the Hyuuga family; in fact, most everyone seemed to hurry out of their path. Neji ignored all of them, his gaze fixed determinedly ahead, his expression one of a shinobi just before battle.
Two of Neji's family members waited for them outside the doors to the meeting all. "Go on in. They've been waiting for you," one of them informed Neji, in a tone that clearly said, "what took you so long?"
The door was opened, and Neji stepped inside. When Gaara moved to follow, the two guards blocked his path. He looked up at them with his best glare, and though it clearly made them uneasy, they did not move.
"We're very sorry, Lord Kazekage," one of them said, "but this is a private meeting. For the Hyuuga family only."
"I wish to speak to your clan's elders," Gaara said, in a tone that promised them pain if they refused him.
"We're very sorry," the guard reiterated. "We can't let you pass. You can speak to the elders once their meeting is finished."
The sand hissed angrily in the gourd, but Neji's voice calmed them. "Please, Gaara. I'm sure this won't take too long."
Though part of him still itched to crush both guards into a fine paste, Gaara finally stepped back, acquiescing to wait until the meeting was finished. Both guards were obviously relieved they would not be forced to fight him. The door to the meeting hall was closed, and Gaara waited.
He could hear nothing of the meeting going on within, and as the minutes stretched out into an hour, he began to regret agreeing to wait outside. Just as he was contemplating performing some jutsu to allow him a peek at the proceedings, the door opened, and Neji emerged.
Proud Neji had his head down, and he didn't even look at Gaara. "I'm sorry, Gaara," he murmured as he passed by him. "It's too late." He said nothing more, and kept on walking down the hallway, leaving Gaara staring after him in shock. He took a step to follow, to demand an explanation, when the guards at the door called him back.
"The elders will see you now."
Quite determined to figure out what had upset Neji so, Gaara stalked into the meeting room, ignoring the Hyuuga clan elders' offer of a chair to sit in.
All the Hyuuga elders bore the gleaming opal eyes that were the standard of the family. The assembly was mostly aged men, their long hair white, and Gaara suspected that some of the white eyes that stared at him might truly be blind. Among those whose seating suggested the highest authority was a somewhat younger man, his long hair and vibrant eyes very reminiscent of Neji's. Beside him sat a young girl- Hanabi, Gaara assumed. The man must be the uncle Neji had told him of, Hiashi.
"Lord Kazekage," one of the elders greeted him. "It is an honor that you have graced our humble clan hall. Might we inquire as to the nature of your visit?"
Gaara forced himself to relax, to speak respectfully, as would befit the Kazekage. The last thing they needed here was a diplomatic incident. "Venerated elders of the esteemed Hyuuga clan… I've come here to propose an alliance between Konoha and Suna, an alliance between myself and Neji Hyuuga. If it meets with your approval, I wish for him to come back with me."
The elders hardly looked stunned by his request, and Gaara suspected they had been expecting it, and had already decided on the matter. His suspicion was confirmed, when only a token discussion between the elders took place before they gave their answer.
"Though it is a very gracious offer, Lord Kazekage, we regret to inform you that Neji Hyuuga has already been promised in marriage to another. The official engagement between Neji Hyuuga and Hanabi Hyuuga was declared only moments ago. Please accept our deepest apologies."
"Neji doesn't want to marry her," Gaara said, giving up any pretense of politeness. "He wants to be with me. If Neji is nothing more but a pawn to you…" The sand grated and hissed in the gourd, adding to the implied threat.
The elders' cold eyes regarded him with clear disdain. "Lord Kazekage, we have welcomed you into our clan home because Konoha and Suna are currently at peace. We have listened to your offer out of respect for your position. But this is not your country, and you have no authority here. We do regret that we could not agree to your request. We believe it would be in everyone's best interest- including Neji Hyuuga's- if you accept that graciously."
"Furthermore," another of the elder's added, "we must respectfully request that you cease your courting of Neji Hyuuga. With his upcoming marriage, it may be better if you didn't see him anymore at all."
"Kill them," Shukaku hissed. "Crush them to pulp. Color the walls with their blood. Destroy their worthless little lives, and wipe out their pathetic clan. Kill them all, and take Neji for yourself. How dare they make demands of you!"
So tempting. A bloodbath would be so much easier than diplomacy. It would be so easy to give into Shukaku's urgings, and Gaara wanted to. He wanted to kill these arrogant bastards more than he'd wanted to kill anyone in a long while. But they were Neji's family, and they held control over his life. Only that prevented the slaughter, forced Gaara to make a stiff, polite bow, and stalk out of the room without further comment.
Gaara passed through the halls of the Hyuuga complex, intent on finding Neji, seeing him again, no matter what the elders said. The other members of Neji's family were quick to get out of his way and let him pass.
He'd not yet made it to Neji's room when a voice called him back. "Lord Kazekage?"
Gaara turned, scowling at the younger man that had been at the meeting, whom he assumed to be Hanabi's father, Neji's uncle. He was in no mood to be diplomatic anymore, so whatever this was about, it had better be good.
"Lord Kazekage… if I might speak to you?"
"Make it quick."
Neji's uncle stepped into a nearby room, and after a moment Gaara followed, watching as the man closed the door and checked to make sure the room would be secure and private.
"What is this about?" Gaara finally inquired.
"Though I understand that you may be tempted," Hiashi said, "it would be very unwise to attempt to kidnap Neji."
Gaara stared at him. "What makes you think I was going to try?" He had been planning to try, of course. That wasn't the point.
"Almost everyone at that meeting expects you to try," Hiashi said. "Even Neji half expects it. And I want you to know, it would be a bad idea."
"Why?"
The man regarded him with cold, assessing eyes. "When Neji addressed the council, he made it very clear that he does not want to marry Hanabi. We knew that already, of course. What surprised all of the elders, however, was when Neji expressed a desire to leave, move to Suna… with you. They found that entirely unacceptable, as you may have noticed."
"I noticed." It had been hard to miss.
"My point is, if Neji were to disappear now, after the elders have expressly forbidden him to be with you, they would assume he had betrayed the family. He would be killed." Neji's uncle regarded him seriously. "Neji wears the curse seal of the Branch Family. If Neji was declared a traitor, that seal would be activated. There would be nothing you could do, except watch him die."
"Are you telling me to leave him, then?" Gaara demanded. He could hear the sand rushing in the gourd, itching to be released, to kill. "Just give in to the whims of your elders, and never see him again?"
"I'm not saying that."
"Then get to the point."
"As you like." Hiashi smiled faintly, as if relishing a secret. "We of the Hyuuga clan tend to be… somewhat arrogant. Very secure in the knowledge of our own power. And you, mighty Kazekage, have become tame. The locals may still fear you from your reputation, but we have all seen that you've changed. You're not the monster you were. The elders do not fear you, and that is why they felt safe in declaring Neji off-limits to you. There is no way now for you to take Neji, without causing Neji harm. But perhaps you could convince them to… trade him to you. If you were to have something- or someone- that they wanted in return. Or returned to them."
A hostage. Someone the elders wanted more than Neji- someone they could not manipulate with their curse seal. Like the little heir to the family. "Hanabi?"
"One pawn from the Branch family would be a small price to pay to have our heir returned…" Hiashi murmured, noncommittally.
"Why are you doing this?" Gaara demanded. "Why would you help me? It's your clan."
"I owe Neji this much at least," Hiashi said. "I owe my life to Neji's father, my brother, who died in my stead. He went willingly to his death, because it meant he would finally be free from this family and their rigid control over his life. And if Neji were to remain here, he too would one day willingly give up his life, just to escape us. And I would have to live with the knowledge that I played some part in driving him to his death, just as I had driven my brother to his."
Gaara was silent a long moment, the only sound in the room the gentle hiss of the sand in the gourd, until it too had settled. In the new silence, Gaara declared, "I'm going back to Suna today. That should please your elders."
Hiashi gave a short nod.
"Tell Neji I'll be back for him," Gaara said. "And don't let him get married in the meantime." Without waiting for a reply, Gaara turned and left the room. He strode with long even strides out of the Hyuuga household, not even sparing a glace for those that paused in the hallways to stare at him as he passed.
Once he was safely out of sight of the complex, Gaara started to run.
Both Temari and Kankuro were waiting for him in his room at the hotel, looking expectant. And a little disturbed, when they saw that Gaara was grinning. It was the way he was grinning, a this-is-going-to-be-bloody-and-vicious-and-fun sort of grin.
"Uh, Gaara?" Kankuro finally said. "So… are we going home today, or aren't we?"
"We're going home," Gaara declared. "Long enough to gather every shinobi that will come. We're going to need an army."
"An army?" said Temari, looking bewildered. "What for?"
"We're going to start a war."
