"My Lady?"
"Mm?"
"May I ask a question?"
"That is a question."
Ukyo huffed quietly one dry afternoon. I only glanced at her before going back to my charts. "I can still feel your chakra wavering, Ukyo. If you want to be a medic, you need better control of your chakra," I scolded her without looking up this time.
The little brunette only whined quietly. "I know, my Lady. I understand that but I just have this one question.."
"You said that when you asked your fifteenth question an hour ago."
Again, she whined childishly. Well, if anyone ever asked why hadn't I taken on students long ago, the childish factor would be a top reason. Were all twelve-year old kids this whiny? Or was she thirteen? My lips thinned out in thought. Oh, wait. She's supposed to be asking something. "One more question and then you focus."
Ukyo was at my desk in seconds, smiling anxiously. I only quirked a dark brow at her. Sometimes Ukyo really reminded me of my sister or even Seiko. Kind, shy and a little nervous. But other times she could be sassy like Haruka. I hated her for it. Ukyo twisted her fingers into her shirt and smiled nervously. The smile I gave her back was done out of amusement and I patiently waited for her to work her courage up to ask whatever was bugging her. The girl only shifted nervously before finally opening her mouth. "What's it like to be in love?"
"Iunno," I shrugged, pressing my cheek into my palm before realizing my mistake. "Well, not that I don't know. It's just...hard to describe love," I said slowly. Yeah, okay, that sounded good. Her blue eyes were shining in curiosity and I almost felt bad for the massive lie I was about to feed her.
Almost.
I twisted my chair around to face her and slid my sandals off so that I could fold my legs underneath me. It was a horrible habit, taking my sandals off at the office. Sometimes I forgot they were off and would just get up and wander around the hospital barefoot. It was...normal in Konoha, no one really questioned it. Well, the first time they found me wandering around the Hospital without any sandals on, they questioned it. But after that, after they kept finding me barefoot, no one even commented on it. Except when they'd tell me my nail polish was pretty.
Now, here, in Suna? Completely different. The medics freaked the hell out after I came around the corner barefoot. Scared the living shit out of me, I dropped my cup of coffee and everything. They didn't even give me a chance to mourn over my coffee before they were up in my face shrilly asking what happened to my sandals. I didn't see the big deal but now I tried to remember to slip them back on if I had to leave the safety of my office. Especially if I was carrying a cup of coffee.
"We live in a world where love is...is not as important as it could be. Emotions causes shinobi to be weak. Love is a weakness that can be exploited but we allow it sometimes," I paused, trying to weave this lie together. "It's both wonderful and horrible."
Ukyo blinked her dark eyes at me in confusion and fascination. "It's wonderful because you have a person who loves you for you. Not the person you're supposed to be or the person everyone expects you to be. Just you. They love you for the little weirdo that you are," I shifted my head so I was leaning my cheek against my palm for the second time.
"And it's nice. It's really nice to be wanted by someone else. But you know, it can also be horrible. Sometimes you can't be with the person you love or sometimes the person you love does something to hurt you. But you know, that's just apart of growing up. The relationship will not always be sunshine and rainbows."
It's a good thing I'm a kunoichi cuz' if I wasn't already going to Hell for murdering people, I was certainly going to Hell for lying to this innocent child about love.
Ukyo's eyes fluttered and I could just see the utter fascination and hope she had for love. I only shook my head. "You have more important things to think about, Ukyo. Love can wait, yes?" I shooed her back to her corner and turned back around to finish my notes.
"Do you ever feel guilty about all the lies?"
Pretty blue eyes glanced at me for a quick second before focusing back on the task of watering the large cacti plants. I only rolled my eyes and plopped down dramatically on the couch knowing I wouldn't get an answer until the plants were taken care of. The only other person I've ever seen this obsessive over plant cultivating was Naruto. Ah...maybe it was a Jinchūriki thing.
"Don't tell me you're actually growing a conscious," Gaara suddenly spoke up, surprising me. He still had four more plants to water. Well, that was weird. He usually straight ignored me like I was some stepchild whenever he was caring for his little babies.
Realizing the question and sensing the teasing undertone, I snorted boyishly. "Of course not. Kind of too late to grow a conscious now," I laughed and pulled at my ponytail. "I just figured you might be feeling guilty about lying to your villagers like this, they're important to you, yeah?"
Gaara didn't answer at first, opting to carefully water the potted plant by the door. "Of course they're important to me," He finally said after a long pause. "But how they see me is also very important and if having a wife is something that will cause them to trust in me more, then I will get married," Gaara stated firmly. I only pursed my lips and chose not to comment on his warped mentality. "How is your side?"
My side? Oh, he meant the gaping wound I sustained by that bastard in black. The wound had been healed but it left behind an ugly but small scar. I didn't really mind it, I had a dozen scars, but I noticed Gaara would sometimes stare at my side. "It's fine, doesn't even hurt. Thrifty new scar though," I reached for the side of my shirt and tugged it up, revealing the new scar. I poked at it, feeling the ruined skin with a hum. "It's actually not as bad as I thought it was going to be and...are you okay?" I noticed a strange look overtake his face while I prodded at the scar.
Gaara carefully placed the watering can down in the middle of watering his plant and approached me with a wary expression. I only stared at him with pursed lips as he came within reach of me. He glanced at me for a quick second before reaching forward to brush his fingers against the scar. My hands twitched but I didn't do anything. His hand suddenly gripped my hip and he dropped into a crouch, eyeing the scar like it was something that fell out of the sky. I let out a muffled yelp when his fingers dug rather roughly into my hip.
"Uh..." I fumbled for something to say. Out of all the interactions and physical encounters we've had, this had to be the weirdest. If anyone were to come in at this very moment, I'd have no idea how to explain what the hell was happening. If Gaara sensed how uncomfortable I was with him caressing my scar, he did a damn good job ignoring it. His eyes suddenly flickered up at me and I smiled nervously. "You act like you've never had a scar before," I laughed in an attempt to make light of the tense atmosphere.
He was suddenly back at his full height, towering over me and trapping me between the desk and his body. I took a careful step back, only to bump into his desk. Sometimes, with his calm personality, I forgot just how intimidating he could actually be. The redhead reached slowly for my face, fingertip running across the scar at the corner of my lips. "I've never had a scar before," He broke the silence. "Absolute shield, remember?" I could just hear the smirk in his tone and what's worse, I actually felt myself blushing.
Maybe it just had something to do with our body heat.
Not because I was nervous.
Yeeeah.
My eyes roved over him, noting that his skin was actually the picture of perfection. Me, on the other hand, I was just riddled with scars. I never thought poorly of my scars, I liked them. They told many different stories and they set me aside from my family. I loved my little scars. But now...I suddenly felt very ugly.
Reaching up, I pushed his hand away while finding the floor very interesting. "Ah, come on, you don't have to poke and prod at my scars like that, I know they're ugly," I whined and tried to put some space in between us.
Gaara actually swatted my hand away like I was some four year old child and not his eighteen year old wife to be. Eh, that still sounded weird. He continued his strange obsession with the scar at my lips. "Do you have more scars?"
"Hm? Well, yeah. I'm kind of covered in them, actually. Well, ah, none of them are really that big. Except the one on my back but you've seen that, remember? The explosive tag?"
Oh my God, was I rambling?
"But you know, my clothes covers them so I don't have to worry about anyone staring at them..."
Oh my God, how do I stop myself?
My cheeks were burning and I suddenly felt like Sakura or Hinata trying to talk to Sasuke or Naruto. Ah, now I kind of felt guilty for constantly teasing the two of them. However, they actually were in love with those two knuckleheads. I, on the other hand, barely even liked Gaara, let alone loved him.
So why was I rambling and blushing?
The prodding at my lips suddenly stopped and for a minute, I thought he'd go back to watering his plants. Gaara decided to throw a damn curve-ball today because my shirt was suddenly up to my neck. A strangled wheeze came from me as Gaara busied himself with searching my torso for more scars.
My face was probably the same shade of a tomato while he thoughtlessly ran his hands over my various scars. "A-Ah..." I fumbled to say something. This was completely and utterly inappropriate and if anyone walked in right now, I would literally be at a loss for words. Honestly, how would I explain that this was not a result of a passionate romp without them giving me the 'really, bitch?' look.
His hands ghosted dangerously close to my breasts and I suddenly found my sense. "Wait a damn minute!" I exclaimed while palming his chest, putting some much needed distance between the two of us. "Gaara, you can't just feel someone up like this."
He had the gall to ask me, "Why?"
And he honestly looked confused! His lips pursed in question as his eyes wandered across my scar-covered stomach. "I was only touching your scars, I wasn't feeling anything up."
"I get that and everything but it was making me just a bit uncomfortable," I grumbled with that blush still in place. I wrestled my shirt from him hand and rolled it back down, successfully hiding my scar-riddled body. "You know, there's such thing called personal space..."
He didn't bother replying to my statement, finding the scar at my lips once more. "How did you get this one?" Gaara asked, thumbnail scrapping against the scar. Sometimes I forgot about that scar, it was so tiny and you'd have to be up in my face to even notice it. Like how Gaara was currently up in my face.
"I was on a mission once and they got lucky."
That's all I had to say because Gaara simply nodded. "They're not ugly," He suddenly said, startling me. I only blinked at him. "They suit you," Gaara's voice dropped to a low hum and I leaned in just to hear him.
A nervous laugh broke from my lips and I quickly shouldered my way out of his trap. "That's good to know," I crossed the room to stand by the doors, ready to escape if the situation got even more weird. "Oh, look at that...time for me to get back to the hospital! See you for dinner, yeah?" I hurried out, eager to get away from the strange Kazekage. I nearly ran into Matsuri in my haste to get away from him. I'm sure she asked me if I was alright but I simply waved her off and continued to hurry away.
What a weirdo.
Jura came barging into my office, only to freeze with wide eyes. I glanced up with a quirked eyebrow and Ukyo jumped, dropping the medical scroll. Jura looked around widely, making sure that he hadn't barged in on something he didn't want to see. "Good afternoon," I hummed casually. "Is there something you need?"
Realizing that it was safe, Jura smiled widely. "My sister came to visit," He said with bright eyes. "And...my brother. He came home from a mission today, he's resting at home. I was wondering if you'd like to come and meet them. You can come too, Ukyo, Hideki probably wants to see how you're doing with your medical training."
I puckered my lips and then fixed my face. "Suuuure," I laughed but it sounded awkward and forced. Jura took notice of the pathetic laugh because he frowned and titled his head to the side. His shoulders sagged just a bit and even Ukyo blinked at me.
"Is something troubling you, my Lady? You don't sound excited."
Oh, for fuck sake's, shut up Ukyo.
"No, no. Nothing is troubling me, it's just so sudden," I smiled tightly. "But sure, I'll come over to meet them."
"Good because I need you to come over now."
"Wait, what?"
Jura grinned sheepishly. "Well, he's kind of injured and I was thinking if anyone could heal him, it's you!" He exclaimed. I only stared at him with blank eyes and a frown. "Okay, okay, it's more so because you're my friend and I knew it would be easier to tell you to come heal him versus asking any of these other medics..."
Of course.
Jura lived in a rather big house, much to my surprise. I mean, it's not like I thought he was poor or anything. I just...never bothered to find out more about him. I knew he had four other siblings and his rank and...his last name. Christ, I'm a horrible friend.
How old is Jura?
Oh my God, I really am a horrible friend.
"Oi! I'm back!" Jura announced as we stepped into the house. There was a collection of noises that ceased as soon as Jura was finished shouting. "I brought our guests too!"
Hideki was the first one to stomp his way into the foyer of the house. "Ukyo!" He grinned widely and suddenly paused as realization swamped his features. "Uh, I mean..." He fumbled over his words, trying to regain his composure. "I mean, what's up, Ukyo?"
Oh, okay, he was crushing on the little brunette. How cute.
Ukyo smiled in greeting with a slight blush dusting across her cheeks. Well, the feelings were mutual. I openly stared at them, wondering how long it would take them to realize the mutual attraction. I also wondered how Usui would react to his teammate crushing on his sister. "Good afternoon, my Lady!" Hideki grinned at me, trying to play it all off. I only smiled, leaning down to ruffle his messy hair. The Chūnin whined and tried in vain to push my offending hand away. My smile grew in amusement as I sifted my fingers through his hair.
"You need a haircut, kid," I stated simply and finally backed off. "It's good to see you, Hideki," I stated kindly and gave him one final pat on the head. Hideki only huffed, glanced at Ukyo, and severally blushed when he noticed that she was giggling at the spectacle of us.
"Hideki, take Ukyo and introduce her to Asuna, yeah? Xin and I will check on Kyohei," Jura stated before pulling me up to the second floor of the house. I could hear Hideki talking animatedly to Ukyo, who I could only hear giggling. Those two had it bad for each other. I hope it didn't end with heartbreak.
Jura led me to the door at the end of the hallway and knocked on it once before swinging the door open. I dully noted that he and Hatsune really needed to learn how to properly knock before just entering. And so did Matsuri. Actually, most of the young Suna shinobi should learn how to knock properly. What the hell was wrong with all of them? It really wasn't that hard to knock before entering.
Mikawa Kyohei was propped up in his bed with bandages slapped hastily over his nose. Thanks to the low tank top he was wearing, I could make out a large bruise that bloomed over his chest along with another bruise on his throat. His arm was also bruised but the blotchy bruise was smaller.
My blood ran cold at the sight of the injuries but I didn't let it show. Instead, I smile kindly and stepped into the room. The oldest Mikawa sibling looked up and offered a very calm smile. "You must be the Kazekage's fiancée I've heard so much about."
Oh, I bet you have heard a lot about me.
"That would be me," I said instead as I neared him. "Rough mission I see," I hummed casually. "Have you reported to Gaara?" I continued casually as I approached the side of his bed. Without asking for permission, I settled down on the edge of the bed.
"Nothing I couldn't handle," Kyohei stated simply. I only glanced at him but said nothing. "I've gone to the Kazekage already. My teammate should be finishing up our mission report to turn in before our next mission."
I simply nodded and reached for the bandages slapped over his nose. I felt around the bridge of his nose, pressing a little too hard on the broken cartilage. He flinched away from my fingers but I ignored it and began examining his bruises. "Any other injuries I should know about?" I asked calmly. Kyohei was giving me a strange look but slowly pulled the side of his shirt up with just one hand. I leaned in to examine the large bruise around his rib area and began pressing. "Two broken ribs," I hummed calmly. "Was your mission a success?"
"It was."
Yeah, he successfully got his ass handed to him.
"I see, well, nothing to it but to do it, yes?" I smiled brightly at him before I started the process of healing him. Jura yammered away ignorantly, not fully aware of what his good friend and brother were feeling towards one another. Like I told Gaara before, I was a lot of things. And when I say a lot, I really meant it. But I was not stupid or oblivious. I recognized those murky blue eyes that resembled Hatsune's eyes. I knew them two days ago when they were staring at me through a haze of pain while they struggled to breath through a broken nose.
Kyohei was one of those crazy ninjas running around, trying to put an end to Gaara. And to some extent, me. Kyohei was not to be trusted. He was the enemy and if he attacked once more, I was going to make sure I killed him this time.
'He's Jura's brother.'
Well, shit. There's that. I had honestly forgotten that this traitor was related to my unofficial best friend. I wonder how Kyohei felt knowing his younger brother was friends with the women he was trying to murder. And then there's Hideki as well. Wow, what a dilemma. And more importantly, when did I get morals and how do I get rid of them?
"All better!" I stated cheerily after setting his ribs back into place so I could mend them together. "Do you feel better, Mikawa-San?" I asked politely while standing up. Kyohei didn't answer at first, opting to slowly climb out of bed.
"Much better, Hyuga-San."
I only looked at him, frowning. "I don't remember telling you her last name, bro," Jura laughed, not really realizing Kyohei's mistake. I only continued to stare at him with that same frown, waiting for his cover up story.
"Hatsune told me about her the minute you left to get her," Kyohei stated after a long pause. Ah, good one. It was plausible and Hatsune most likely said some things about me to her two older siblings. Score one for you, Kyohei.
"Sounds like Hatsune," Jura rubbed the back of his neck and grinned sheepishly. "They get along much better now, the best of friends," his grin was accompanied by my own snort of amusement. I playfully elbowed his side as he led us out of the bedroom. Kyohei watched our playful banter with a soft frown, eyes showing something much sinister that I only seemed to notice. However, I ignored it.
"You're really pushing it, Jura."
"Yeah, maybe you're right."
The trek downstairs was filled by Jura yammering away. He had yet to notice the tense atmosphere between Kyohei and I. I could just feel Kyohei staring at the top of my head, probably wishing it would burst into fire. I played it off, remaining oblivious of his staring.
Stepping into the kitchen, I almost stumbled over my feet at the sight of the oldest Mikawa daughter. She was almost the spitting image of Haruka before she died. Unlike the rest of her siblings who either had dark brown hair or light brown, almost blonde hair, Asuna's hair was platinum blonde. Her eyes weren't murky like Hatsune and Kyohei's eyes, they were clear blue, like an undisturbed river or something.
Her resemblance to my dead teammate was unnerving and I nearly faltered but quickly gathered myself. "Hello, you must the infamous Hyuga Xin," Asuna stepped away from the oven. I almost told her to stay away from me but caught myself at the last second.
"Anything Hatsune said about me is only slightly true," I said in a half jokingly way. At the table, Hatsune snorted into her palm, turning away from Ukyo with a scowl. I looked over at her, smiling in a way that I knew would piss her off.
"Sounds like guilt to me," She stated simply, flipping some of her hair. My smile didn't falter, instead it only turned up in amusement. I approached her so I could pat her on the head much like I would do Ukyo or Hideki. Hatsune only huffed in offense as she tried to slap my hand away.
"Jealousy sure does suit you, huh?" I quipped.
Asuna laughed at my tormenting behavior. "They're like best friends, don't you think?" She mused while laughing into her fist. Hideki and Jura both snorted at the mere thought of their sister being my best friend. Now, that was really pushing it. Unless you considered our relationship a love/hate sort of thing. However, there barely was any love.
"The best of friends."
"Don't lie, you psycho!"
Kyohei eyed us uneasily before turning to Asuna. "How's Genji?" He asked casually. I was assuming that Genji was the husband who she lived with in Kiri. I glanced at Asuna, eyes focusing on her Chakra. There was something...
Oh.
Asuna took notice of my glance and smiled warmly. I only smiled back and waited. "He's doing well. He wanted to come with me but he got caught up with the council. I'm sure he'll be joining us in a couple of days," She explained with that same warm smiled. "Also...I have some exciting news," She was smiling even bigger as her siblings and Ukyo leaned forward in anticipation. They probably figured Asuna and Genji would be moving back to Suna.
Asuna rubbed her stomach fondly. "We're going to have a baby!"
Jura passed out.
"You missed dinner. Again."
Gaara shot me a quick look before going back to whatever he was obsessing over this time. "I'm not hungry," He stated simply before looking back at me once more. "Or tired, so don't bother trying to drag me back home. I have things to do and I'm behind on it."
I rolled my eyes and sighed heavily. It was well past midnight and after realizing Gaara wouldn't be home anytime soon, I threw some clothes back on, prepared some leftover dinner for him to eat and marched down to the tower. "Alright, I won't try but you could at least eat the food I brought for you."
"Xin..."
"Don't even bother, you're not the only one stubborn in here. Stubbornly stupid, maybe. Just eat the food so I don't have to fight you on this," I growled in exasperation before roughly placing the tupperware of dinner down on top of the current document he was working on. "I slaved over a hot stove, you're going to eat this shit or I swear I'll shove it down your throat."
"You're ridiculous."
"Fight me."
Gaara rolled his eyes and carefully placed his documents away before opening the tupperware. I nodded in compliance and turned to sway over to settle down on the couch. Seconds ticked by as we quietly left one another alone. But of course, me and my constant need to talk decided to ruin the silence. "I met Jura's older brother and sister earlier today."
Gaara simply paused in chewing. "Kyohei sustained some injuries from a mission so I went over there to heal him," I began to say casually, examining my nails. Gaara only grunted, a small indication that he was listening. "You know, on top on a very low Chakra, he had some peculiar injuries."
"Peculiar how?"
"The same injuries I gave to that rogue ninja the other night."
Gaara placed his chopsticks down and sat up a little straighter. "Xin, I know there's several things wrong with you but I know you're not paranoid and stupid."
"Are you trying to say I'm either paranoid or stupid?"
My redheaded pain in the ass said nothing, opting to innocently chew. I rolled my eyes and huffed. "Okay, hear me out, alright? I palmed the rogue in his throat and his chest, I broke his ribs and I kicked the shit out of him. I also broke his nose," I explained quickly. Gaara nodded, obediently following along. "Kyohei had a broken nose, two broken ribs and three bruises in the exact same places," I revealed to him, finally looking up from my nails. He was looking over at me, frowning.
"He's a ninja, Xin. Not only that, he's an ANBU member. He's going to sustain injuries out on missions but that doesn't mean you should accuse him of trying to assassinate us. Either way, he was out on a mission during the confrontation."
I stubbornly folded my arms. "I looked him dead in his eyes the first time and I knew those eyes when I saw them earlier today. I know my gut and my gut is telling me that Kyohei is not to be trusted. Now, you can sit in your glass bubble of ignorance all you want but I will not sit in there with you. Whether you want to admit it or not, Kyohei is trying to kill us, some of your citizens are trying to kill us and you should be just a tad bit more wary of who you let in."
"I've let you in."
"I'm not trying to kill you."
"Or so you say."
I only narrowed my eyes at him. Every time we were left in each others company, our conversations always turned to this subject. On whether or not I could be trusted not to kill him. "Don't you think I would have already killed you by now?"
"I don't know, Xin, you are a loose cannon. Why haven't you killed me by now?"
Gaara was a Kage for a reason at his age and it certainly wasn't because the villagers just loved him enough to allow this to happen. I could take care of myself just fine and I'd even say my skills are a lot more superior to any common shinobi. But that's the thing, Gaara isn't just some common shinobi. He's a Kage for a reason and I was just an ANBU member for a reason. I was strong. I was skilled. But my skills wouldn't cut it to be a Kage. Knowing that, I knew I had no business trying to actually fight Gaara, despite my many threats. I knew my place but that didn't mean I would let him know I knew.
"Because you're a wonderful kisser and how would I satisfy my craving for your kisses if you're buried out in the desert somewhere?" I asked tonelessly while widening my eyes and pursing my lips in an exaggerated manner.
Gaara eyed me for several seconds before I let a sly grin cross my face. He rolled his eyes and went back to eating. "I hate you," He mumbled quietly. My grin toned down into an almost tired smile. I shook my head and stood up.
"All I'm asking is that you be more careful around Kyohei, alright? I still don't like his vibe at all."
"You aren't very far along, Mikawa-San," I hummed thoughtfully as I checked over Asuna. "There's barely any traces of a Chakra signal," I continued to speak while laying a glowing hand over her flat stomach. "In fact..." I leaned a little closer as my Byakugan activated.
"Oh..oh, your eyes. Is that normal?" Asuna gaped at the appearance of my eyes, mouth shaped in a little 'o'. It was only a few days after making her announcement that Asuna came to the hospital to get checked up. For one reason another, she specifically requested that I be the one to see her.
What the hell was with this family?
"Ah? Oh, yeah. It's my family's kekkei genkai. It helps me view Chakra," I explained shortly, "Anyway, there's no problems as of now but like I said, you aren't very far along. You're barely a month along," I hummed while straightening up. "Do you have any concerns at the moment?"
Asuna frowned in thought, twirling a bit of her hair around her finger. "No, not at the moment," She said after a long pause. "I was thinking of returning to Suna with my husband to raise our child here," She suddenly said completely out of nowhere. I quirked an eyebrow and wondered why the hell she was telling me any of this.
"You see, my husband doesn't have any family in Kiri. They all died years ago so it's just us. But in Suna, there's Jura, Hatsune and Hideki. Plus Kyohei, whenever he's around. I've been thinking that it might be good for my child to grow up with a big family. And plus there's Ukyo-Chan and now you've come along."
Wait, what? Now I've come along? What in the world was that supposed to mean? It wasn't like I was marrying into her family or anything. Why would she consider me an important factor in her child's life? I'd probably end up corrupting the little one.
"May I ask you something personal, my Lady?"
"Doesn't everyone?"
"A-Ah?"
"Nothing, nothing. Go ahead."
Asuna seemed a little amused but continued on. "Since you're marrying Gaara-Sama, you are fully aware of his past, aren't you?"
I only stared at her. Oh dear...
I reclined in my chair, folding my legs underneath me. I noted that Asuna glanced at my bare feet with a quirked eyebrow but said nothing. "What exactly are you trying to ask, Mikawa-San?" I asked casually while balancing my cheek against my knuckles. Asuna twirled a lock of her pretty blonde hair around her finger. I wanted to just chop all that damn hair off. The resemblance between my teammates and Ukyo and Asuna really bothered me. Bothered me to the point where I wanted to punch the shit out of both of them.
But they probably frowned upon hitting pregnant women and children.
Not that I would hit...er...never mind.
"It's just...my Kazekage doesn't have the cleanest past. Actually, it's a nightmare, his past. I just hope you're well aware of all the things he's done when he was younger. You seem like a nice girl, a little quirky, but nice..."
I smiled sweetly, eyes closed. "I appreciate your concern, Mikawa-San. However, I know of his past and it doesn't bother me. The the way I see it, we're all shinobi and at some point, we're going to murder someone else. Some of us are just better at it or enjoy it more. I've done my share of deeds in the dark and let me tell you, my past isn't all that pretty either."
Asuna shifted when I opened my eyes to look at her. "Well, I'm glad you're so accepting of it. It's taken some time for Suna to accept him, let alone forgive him but you seem just fine," Asuna smiled tightly. She untwisted the lock of blonde hair and I watched as the lock curled up. Did she hate Gaara or something? Oh Christ, was she like her psychotic brother, hellbent on murdering Gaara? For fuck's sake, I didn't ask for any of this. What did I do to deserve being stalked? Oh, that's right. I agreed to marry Gaara. God, I hate everything.
I should really reevaluate my skills in making decisions.
"You aren't upset with what happened during your Chunin Exams? I heard the results of Suna's cooperation was your Third Hokage being killed," Asuna suddenly stated. I tapped my nails against my desk, tongue twisting and curling in my mouth in order to stop myself from viciously attacking her verbally.
"Orders are orders, aren't they? It's not like the Sand Siblings woke up one day and said 'let's go fuck shit up at the Chūnin Exams in Konoha', did they? They were ordered by the former Kage. It's in the past, I can't do anything about it," I tried to say calmly but I was ready to kick this woman in her face.
She's pregnant...she's pregnant...
When in the fuck did I get morals, damn it!?
"As for the Third, he died protecting our village. It was upsetting but these things happen, our Kages aren't Gods. They won't live forever, you know? Instead of worrying about Konoha's Hokage dying, shouldn't you worry about the circumstances of the former Kazekage's death? Heard he was murdered and the murderer dressed up as him and you Sand ninja were none the wiser. Now, I think that's some disrespectful shit."
Asuna's cheeks puffed out and I figured I hit a sore spot. I didn't need any more enemies than I already had, what with her crazy brother trying to run me through with his katana. So, I beat my annoyance back and shrugged nonchalantly. "But you know, that's all in the past. Konoha and Suna both have fully capable Kages. And we're even on better terms now, with me and Gaara getting married and all."
Which was a load of bullshit because if we were on better terms like I thought, I wouldn't have to get married to a former psychopath that didn't know or understand the meaning of personal space. But hey, what do I know to begin with?
Asuna nodded, smiling widely. More blonde locks slipped over her shoulder and I fantasized about hacking it all off. I almost felt like asking if she had any relations to Haruka. But what were the odds of that? Even if the resemblance was uncanny...and you know, Haruka had that suck ass personality like she was Hatsune mixed together with Asuna.
What were the odds?
"So, Ukyo seems to be alive. Still."
I only glanced at Kankuro with a look that clearly said I wasn't impressed. "Yes, she's still alive. And the sky is blue and I have no pupils. Anything else you want to discuss, Captain Obvious?" I snorted boyishly around a mouthful of food.
"Your sarcasm isn't attractive."
"Yeah? You know what else isn't attractive? My foot up your ass so shut the hell up."
Temari sighed loudly. "You guys. Not at the dinner table," She stated tonelessly. "And don't talk with your mouth full, Xin," She admonished me. I didn't bother glaring at her and opted to quietly chew with my mouth shut. Kankuro frowned, shooting me a glare. I only stuck my tongue out at him before downing a cup of my coffee. Temari eyed the beverage warily. "Xin, how many cups of coffee have you had since this morning?" She asked slowly. I only glanced at her and then glanced at my mug of coffee.
"Dunno. Five? Six? I had two cups before my lunch break was over and then I had another an hour later. Ukyo spilled that one cup so I didn't have some for awhile and then...I stopped by Gaara's office and had one on the way there...and then before making dinner I had three medical reports to fill out so I had one..."
"So you've had about seven cups, excluding this one right now..."
"Sounds about right."
"You have a problem."
I huffed and then puffed my cheeks out. "It's not a problem."
"Problem, addiction, obsession. Call it what you want but it's not healthy."
Before I could rebuff Temari's accusation, Gaara waltzed right into the dining room. The three of us turned to look at him, caught off guard. I looked down at the table to see that, yes, we were currently having dinner and that it was only eight o'clock in the evening. Way too early to have Gaara home. He ignored our stares, settling down and making a plate for himself. I glanced at his siblings and realized they were too damn stupefied by his sudden appearance to form a coherent sentence. Which left that up to me. As usual.
"Uh. Excuse me, sir. You lost or something? It's only eight o'clock. Does this look like an office to you?" I droned out, leaning over to nudge him with my shoulder. He only glanced at me before getting back up to pour himself some green tea.
Gaara settled down with his mug of green tea and looked over at me as if he'd forgotten I asked a question. What an asshole. He blinked three times before answering my question. "I know what time it is, no I'm not lost and no, this does not look like an office to me. It looks like the dining room in my house."
I only hummed and sat back, sipping my mug of coffee. It was quiet for a long time, it's not like him joining us for dinner bothered me. That just meant I wouldn't have to come to the office around midnight and fight with him to eat.
"Xin, that's your eighth cup, isn't it?"
"Oh my God, yes. Let me live, damn it!"
Gaara seemed a little disturbed with my sudden outburst. "We were just discussing Xin's unhealthy addiction to coffee before you came," Temari explained calmly, ignoring the vicious glare I sent her. I heard Kankuro mumble about how disgusting it was and made sure to glare at him too.
"It's not an addiction."
Gaara snorted. "Every time I see you, you have a cup of coffee. In the morning before leaving, coming to my office, hanging around my office, leaving my office, at the Hospital. Here. Cafes. You have a problem, Xin."
I gaped at him, offended. "Okay, listen here, you hypocrite, it's not an addiction or an obsession. It's a necessity. Ever worked at a Hospital? As a medic? Huh? You know how stressful that shit is? Of course not because no one ever asks us, they just come in with broken limbs and kunai knives sticking out the side of their fuckin' heads like fix me. It's draining. Okay? And you leave and think it's over for the day, right? Fuck no, you thought wrong. Medical reports to fill out for everyone! You wanna help me figure out how much pain medication I should prescribe to someone with reoccurring migraines without having them overdose? No? That's math. Are you good at it? Cuz' I'm not. I suck."
"You're bad at math? And here I thought you were a genius."
"Who the fuck said anything about me being a genius? Do I look like Neji to you?"
The Sand Siblings shared a disturbed look. "I'm not a genius," I huffed after several seconds. "I'm just good at certain things. Math obviously isn't one of them. I don't drink coffee because I like it. That shit can be disgusting, I don't even taste it anymore, honestly. But people are trusting me with their lives, you know? And it's not going to help anyone if I'm falling asleep at the operating table."
Gaara slowly nodded before starting on his dinner. Kankuro stared at me for a couple more seconds before he also went back to his meal. Temari was the only one who was still looking at me, a thoughtful expression across her usually calm face. I looked up at her, eyebrow quirked. Did I have some rice stuck to my face or something? Why was she staring at me like that?
"You know," She said slowly with a smile. "Once you get past the foul cursing and the obscene threats to kill anyone that breaths wrong, you're a pretty good person."
"Ew, don't be weird."
"Shut up and eat your dinner."
"Would you look at that. It's still dead..."
Ukyo pouted childishly and threw a dirty look at me. I whistled innocently and peered over her shoulder at the dead fish. "My office is beginning to smell like dead fish, Ukyo. Are you having trouble concentrating?" I asked while folding my arms over my chest. Ukyo's face darkened and she huffed, making a show of trying to concentrate on the fish. "Ah..." I mumbled and leaned further over to see what she was doing. "Staring at it won't do anything, you know," I hummed blandly. Ukyo's shoulders stiffened and she hunched closer to the fish.
Watching her for several seconds, I decided to take pity on her. "You know, if something is bothering you, you can tell me. I'm your teacher for a reason. Maybe you want to quit your training? Is medical training too much too much to handle on top of regular training?"
Training to be a medical ninja on top of regular training was probably the worst experience of my life. And I've had some pretty fucked up experiences. I remember once in the middle of training with Seiko and Haruka, I was distracted by trying to memorize all the medical terms in my head. Spacing out in the middle of a spar, Haruka punched me directly in my face and broke my nose.
I kicked the living shit out of her for that. To this day, I'm convinced she did it on purpose. If someone looks spaced out in the middle of a spar, you don't hit them hard enough to break their nose.
"I don't want to quit!" Ukyo suddenly exclaimed, knocking me right out of my thoughts. "It's just..um..." She suddenly paused, losing her nerve. Smiling, I settled down, kicking my shoes off. I shifted around, getting comfortable and nodded that I was ready. Ukyo turned away from the fish and tugged at a piece of her hair. "How do you know if someone likes you?" She asked, catching me off guard. I made a confused noise and blinked at her. I hadn't been expecting a question like that. I thought it was the training bothering her.
"Is this because of what I told you about love the other day? Remember I said it's not important now, you know? You're young," I reminded her of our chat the other day when she asked me about the silly notion of love.
"You and Kazekage-Sama are young and you're getting married."
Well. Shit. She had a point. Twisting my lips up, I nodded along to her words. "Well, this is true. But by the time I met Gaara, I was sixteen and working on my way to becoming an ANBU member. And you know...healing fish was a cakewalk to me by then..."
"My lady! Don't be mean!"
A laugh broke its way out of my mouth. "Right, right. Well, you see, the thing about love is that it's very tricky. Some people mistake kindness as flirtation, you know? Unless you're pretty confident, I don't think you'd be able to just tell if someone likes you. Unless they've hinted at it, I suppose."
"Then how did you know Kazekage-Sama liked you?"
"Well, he didn't murder me when he had the chance and I figured that was a pretty good sign," I laughed at her disturbed expression. "After meeting each other the first time, we started to spend a lot of time whenever he would come to Konoha with his siblings. I couldn't really tell, it's hard to read him. Honestly, I just took a chance with it and just kissed him one day."
Which was sort of the truth because I did randomly kiss Gaara one day.
"So you're saying I should just kiss him."
"Uh, no. I'm not saying that at all. You're twelve, don't boys still think girls are gross? I was being serious when I said you're too young right now. When I was twelve and saw Gaara at our Chūnin Exams, did you think I had love on my mind? No, I was trying to beat the crap out of my opponent because I wanted to be a Chūnin. You need to get your priorities in line, Ukyo. I'm telling you, love can wait."
Ukyo pouted under my harsh scolding. I sighed heavily and sagged my shoulders. "Ukyo, I'm telling you, there will be a time for it. Just not now, okay? You're just too young right now. Trust me, I've seen how distracting love can be when you're too young for it."
The little brunette continued to pout but nodded before turning away from me. I watched her for a couple more seconds before I turned back to the seventh report I'd neglect to fill out that day.
It took Ukyo thirteen more tries before the fish twitched.
Making progress.
One thing I always trusted was my gut feeling.
And right now, my gut feeling was telling me something was wrong in the house. Gaara was still at the office, Temari had something with the council and I think Kankuro might've gone out on a mission. I don't know, I still tended to tune him out. Which left me alone at the house. I eyed the house, noting how everything seemed so ominously quiet. Sighing heavily and deciding to just play into it without cheating, I slowly entered the house. I placed the medical reports down on the table next to the door.
Hearing nothing, I slowly slipped off my sandals. Glancing down at the floorboards and remembering which one was squeaky and which wasn't, I took deliberate steps. My chakra was already low from the exhausting day so it wasn't really a problem masking it. Whoever was in the house was probably aware that I was down there but not aware of how slowly I was making my way up.
The first four steps were squeaky and I had to hop up to the fifth step, landing on the tips of my toes. Placing my hand on the wall, I stopped myself from losing my balance and windmilling back down the stairs. Good God, maybe it wasn't a good idea to go around searching for trouble when you're running low on chakra.
Well, I've never been known for good ideas anyway.
Carrying on, I made my way up to the top of the stairs without anything happening. I made my way towards the front of the house, hand splayed out along the banister. Suddenly the linen closet door flew open and a black shape blurred out at me. I saw a flash of sliver and quickly dodged back. The katana gleamed in the moonlight from the window as it swung down, slicing into the banister. Twisting around in a quick spin, I swung my leg up and crashed the heel of my foot into the side of his head. I watched with blank eyes as the black figure toppled over the banister and down the stairs.
Hopping up on the banister, I stared down as he tried to gather his wits. I jumped off of the banister and pointed my feet straight down. He managed to scramble out of the way at the last second and my feet slammed into the stairs. I broke right through the foundation, causing a huge hole in the staircase and fell right into the basement.
Well, fuck. The Sand Siblings were going to be pissed.
I had only seconds to roll out of the way when the figure came down with his katana blade ready to stab through my head. The only light I had to help me see was coming through the hole in the stairs. And it wasn't much. Well. Fuck me. I stared at the figure. Familiar body type. Familiar stance. And if I squinted hard enough, familiar murky blue eyes. I scowled harshly, I literally just healed this fucker two days ago and he was already back for more.
"I'm going to break your fuckin' kneecaps," I snarled at him. "And then I'm going to tear that arm off and beat you with it. I'm going to rip your tongue out and shove it back down your throat. And when your siblings find you on their doorstep, I'm going to heal you just enough that you're not dead but you're still too injured. I'm going to keep you alive and slowly but surely torture you."
The figure said nothing, probably trying to feign ignorance. "I know who you are," I stated simply, readying myself. "And if you don't leave now, I will kill you."
Still, the figure in black remained quiet. Pursing my lips, I nodded and held my fists up. He darted at me with a quickness that made me curse. My chakra was too low so I didn't even bother with my Byakugan. That meant I had to rely on regular taijutsu alone. Which wasn't much of a problem but let's not forget that my opponent is fully healed with his chakra at max power. Plus, he was pretty damn good with a blade and seemed like he was too quick to handle.
I flipped backwards, my foot catching his chin and causing him to stumble backwards. He recovered quickly and swung the blade horizontally. I ducked out of the way and suddenly felt like my ponytail was lighter.
Oh hell no. This fucker cut off a chunk of my hair.
Already crouched down, I rolled forward and caught him by extending my leg and throwing it against his chest, pinning him down to the ground. I was up, stomping him in the chest and causing him to heave and gag. I lifted my leg high in the air (grateful that today I was wearing pants and not a skirt) and slammed it down. He managed to scramble out of the way and my bare foot painfully created a dent in the cemented floor. I spun on that same foot and slammed my foot into his head. I think that with all those kicks to the head, he probably had brain damage at this point.
I paused, ready to see if he was down for the count. Remembering that he wasn't tired as I was, he came right back at me. I cursed and barely dodged out of the way. My sloppy and slow reaction cause the katana to slice into my cheek. The blood poured out of the cut immediately . He swung the katana again, catching my forehead with the tip as I scrambled backwards. Blood gushed out of the wound and into my eye, momentarily blinding me. Damn it all to Hell, that was never a good thing.
I flew at him, jumping up and and locking my legs around his throat. Twisting my body and using my weight to my advantage, I swung around and threw him to floor. Had I been using the move seriously, I would've been able to snap his neck. But where's the fun in that?
Readying myself for another attack, I suddenly paused when I heard the front door upstairs open. "Xin?" Temari called out, clearly not noticing the gaping hole in the stairs. I didn't take my eyes off of my opponent, waiting. He glanced up and suddenly pulled something from his pouch.
Seeing what it was, I gaped at him. "Hold the fuck on you pathetic exuse-" the insult didn't have time to leave my mouth when he threw the smoke bomb down. The bomb exploded, filling the basement with smoke. There was the sound of something slamming and I assumed it was the basement door.
I had to wonder why he didn't take this chance to kill me. He totally could have, what with blinding me not only with the smoke but with the blood pouring into my eye. Maybe with all those kicks to the head, he was just as disoriented as I was. My head was spinning and I wasn't sure if it was from the smoke or the blood loss.
"Oh my God, what the hell happened to the stairs!? Xin!"
Yeah, sure, blame it on the victim...
Well, I'm proud to say I didn't punch any of the medics this time, so there's that. When they asked me how I managed to sustain two heard injuries, I told them I fell through a weak floorboard. I'm pretty certain that they saw through my shitty lie but with a crack of my knuckles, they backed off. My feet were also bruised and oh yeah, there's that chunk of hair I'm now missing. I'd grown my hair out just slightly past my waist and now it was hanging diagonally above the middle of my back. I was going to have to cut it to even it out.
Just as I was climbing out of the bed they forced me in, the door swung open to reveal two of the Sand Siblings. I glanced up at them through my bangs and sighed heavily before slowly settling back down before they could tell me I wasn't cleared to leave yet. "So," I said first, breaking the awkward silence. "How was your day? Stressful?" I asked casually, fingering a strand of my hair. The two glanced at one another before looking back towards me. I could see they were not amused with my blase attitude.
"What the hell did you do to my house?" Temari demanded, eyes light up in fury. I only looked back at her with a furrowed brow. Okay, yeah, never mind the fact that I was attacked for the third time in the the span of two months.
"Because you know, my day was pretty stressful. As usual. But that's nothing new, I guess. You know, regular shit that happens to any kunoichi. Oh, but you know, there was that one moment today when a rogue came running out of a linen closet intent on stabbing me through the head with his God-forsaken katana. I fell through the stairs, was blinded by my own blood and oh, got a chunk of my fuckin' hair cut off. On top of all of this, my Chakra count is practically nonexistent so I had to rely on the moonlight and just simple taijutsu to defend myself. But I'm alright. Could totally use a cup of coffee."
The room was silent for several seconds as they stared at me. I only stared back, one eyebrow quirked with pursed lips. "I..." Temari glanced at her youngest brother. "I'm going to see if she's cleared to leave."
Ah, yes, Temari, get out while you can.
The room was swallowed up into awkward silence for the umpteenth time. "Xin..." Gaara approached me, regarded me carefully like I was some desperate and cornered animal. "Are you alright?"
"Really? That's what you ask? Am I alright. Do I look alright to you? My hair is missing! It's lying on a basement floor!" I suddenly snapped at him. I almost threw the pretty vase of flowers at his head but decided not to. Gaara glanced at the door and I'm sure he was regretting letting Temari leave without him. I only scowled harshly at him. I pulled my mangled hair over my shoulder, the frown turning into a pout as I caressed the ruined midnight blue locks.
My husband to be closed in on me, standing at my bedside. "It was Kyohei again," I said, making it a point to ignore his expression. "I know what I saw, Gaara. I know it was him and he knows that I know it's him. You can't tell me shit else."
He settled down on the edge of the bed next to me and didn't say anything for a long time. "What do you want me to do, Xin? There's no real evidence against him to incriminate him."
"Who says we need evidence? Let me just break his fuckin' legs, bet he'll admit everything if we just use a little of my interrogation skills."
"He put you in the Hospital."
"Yeah? And I kicked him in his head several times. He probably has brain damage now. Twenty bucks says Jura will be in here tomorrow asking me to come see him and this time I'm not going to heal him. I want his stupid ass to suffer. Suffer for what he did to my hair."
Gaara stared at me and I'm sure if he had eyebrows, one of them would be quirked. But he didn't so he looked at me with a pretty blank expression. "You've been rambling a lot, lately."
"I ramble all the time, Gaara. It's nothing new, really."
He seemed thoughtful and nodded. "Well, high-strung, then. You seem high-strung lately. Do you need a break from the Hospital?"
I sighed heavily and leaned my head back. "No, Gaara, I don't need a break from the Hospital. I need to kill something. I'm constantly being targeted by a man I can't fuckin' kill. I'm getting cabin fever and if something isn't done, I'm going to murder one of you. Likely one of the Mikawa siblings."
"Even the boy?"
"No. I like the boy. The boy is safe, he can stay."
Gaara laughed and I laughed along with him. Although my laugh sounded exhausted and pathetic. The redhead suddenly reached over and I almost dodged backwards, remembering his problem with understanding the concept of personal space. A rough hand dipped into my ruined hair, tangling and coiling the locks around fingers until his hand was barely noticeable. He pulled his hand away seconds later, pushing my bangs away to probably check if there had been any new scars. Luckily, the medics had gotten to the gushing wounds quick enough.
I only stared at him before slowly reaching up to push his hand away. "I feel fine, you know. I think it's time we head home and try to figure out what to do about the stairs. Wouldn't want anyone to fall through the that big ass hole. You know. Like I did."
Gaara regarded me with a strange look in his eyes. Like he was finally taking notice that I actually had a face or something. Slightly unnerved, I slipped out of the bed and rounded the bed towards the door, leaving him at the bed. "Well? Come on," I urged without looking at him.
The three of us returned to the house just in time to see Kankuro fall right through the hole in the floor.
Totally not my fault.
I blinked and suddenly it's August, Jesus Christ on a stick, where did the summer go? lol. I'm alive, don't worry guys. I'm totally here. Sort of. Anyway, hope you guys haven't abandoned ship and you're still here. Feed me reviews. Promise I won't take two months to update again.