Where you go, I will follow...
Summary: Hyuuga Namiko never asked to be placed on a team with Maito Gai, but maybe fate knew exactly where she belonged or was it ever in fate's hands? Maito Gai didn't like leaving things to chance after all.
Disclaimer: I do not own many of the characters in this story. This wonderful fandom belongs to its creator.
Chapter: Fear of Losing
Namiko grumbled in pain as she sat up, pushing the pristine white blanket away from her angrily. She blinked in the bright light of the hospital room. She hated this place, the way it looked, the way it smelled, the way it felt to be trapped in one of these damned rooms. She could feel the deep cut to her right leg. It was nearly to the bone on the outside of her thigh. She was lucky it hadn't severed any blood vessels. The doctor had told her they'd been able to reattach the muscles.
Namiko wasn't focused on that though. She was determined to glare as fiercely at Kakashi as she could manage while he told her what had happened. Gai… stupid reckless Gai had gone after him, the swordsman! He shouldn't be out there. It was stupid. It made her angry and she felt her fury rage in her, muffled only by a sharp sense of worry and anxiety. She wasn't sure which would win out for a minute, but it was the anger in the end, though the others clung on in close second. She forced the other emotions back, standing swiftly on her one good leg and ripping the IV out of her arm. It hurt and she could feel a slow leak of dark venous blood down her arm, but she was determined as she half-limped, half-hopped towards the door.
Kakashi stepped in front of her though, his dull black eye staring back at her. She knew that there was so much more behind that eye though. What she'd seen the moment he stabbed her had grown over the years, after Obito's death. It had grown to so much more, so much… He couldn't do this. She knew he would have done the same thing if Rin had gone out after the person who'd put him in the hospital. If he were in her shoes, he wouldn't have even hesitated. Still he stood firm before her.
"Move Hatake," she muttered, a sharp memory of the chidori shot through her reminding her that if she were to fight him, he would win. She didn't care though. Gai was out there. Gai needed her. The pain in her leg brought tears to her eyes, but she couldn't stop until she had Gai, until he was by her side. He'd spent years following her. She wanted to… she needed to follow him now.
Namiko would fight Kakashi to protect Gai because for all his stupidity, all his loud promises and statements about youthfulness and training… she cared about him more than anyone else. She didn't care about him in spite of it. Kami help her, he'd wriggled his way into her heart and all those things, those frustrating and beautiful things about him had helped him do it. The overconfident, arrogant baka had found a place in her heart and he didn't get to leave her. He was the only one she'd let in since she'd lost Takeshi and Yori… and Hana… and Jiro… and Matsu and Taro… She knew that as much as the silly man tried to hide it, he'd been working at her walls since they were initially teamed up together. He'd been trying to knock down those barriers since he'd first met her.
Namiko had to work hard to stifle her choking terror. He was out there, alone with THAT man, the rogue shinobi from the mist that had put her here. What if he was hurt? Kakashi had said he'd left two days ago when she was unconscious. Why had he gone? She needed him here damn it! He knew she wanted him with her. She'd acknowledged that she wanted him to follow her, albeit begrudgingly. DAMN HIM! She steeled herself, settling carefully into an edgy, cold demeanor as she balanced her weight upon her left leg.
"I may not win, but I will hurt you Kakashi, badly," she growled lowly. It was promise in her voice, not threat. She liked Kakashi as he was now, an honorable, brave shinobi who put his life on the line for his comrades, but she cared a great deal more for Gai and his well-being. Her chances of hitting Kakashi with this injury were low, but if she could manage it… If she could get only one shot on him… he would bleed. She would be sure.
"I made a promise," Kakashi said in a perfectly detached tone. She blinked, for a brief moment seeing Gai in Kakashi's place. Those were Gai's words. Never breaking a promise, that was a major component of GAI's nindo not Kakashi's. She felt frustration rage inside her. He didn't know anything about Gai's way of the ninja, about her way of the ninja.
"I will not let you keep me from him!" she screamed.
"Why?" he asked, lowly. She blinked, unsure how to say that aloud. She'd never been good at expressing her feelings. She'd suppressed what she felt for Gai so long, covering it with a thin, weak veil of hate that she had never really even thought to give words to the feelings.
"Because… because-" Namiko had never felt so insignificant, so unworthy. Could it be… she felt unworthy of Gai? The thought was sobering. She stumbled back, thinking for a moment then tensing to jump at Kakashi, but the door opened before she could push off of her uninjured leg, causing Namiko to stiffen.
The glimpse of green in the corner of her eye was enough to tell her exactly who had just arrived. She launched herself at him, all her strength coming from her left leg, her right dragging behind her. He was caught unawares, stumbling backwards into the hallway with the force of the tackle, his head hitting against the opposite wall, but she didn't care. He deserved it! He deserved to hurt after what she'd just felt.
"Don't you EVER do that to me again!" she meant to growl, but it came out weak… pleading even. She meant to shout at him, to shake him, but she was the one shaking instead and the only sound that came from her after those words was a soft sob, muffled by his green jumpsuit. The stupid man placed a hand on her head, smiling down at her for a moment before it faded into something more serious.
He didn't make any promises, didn't apologize, didn't tell her he wouldn't risk his life for her again, but he did find his senses. He knelt down slightly to get a good grasp around her waist and pull her flush against him, her chin coming up over his shoulder as he lifted her up in his arms, her feet barely touching to the ground as he crushed her against his chest. His other hand cradled the back of her head, gently stroking her hair.
Namiko nuzzled his neck, breathing him in and willing this horrible aching inside her to abate, but it wouldn't go away. She suddenly had an idea and slid her arms from around Gai's neck to place her hands on his chest between them. He grumbled softly, lowering her back to the ground and pulling back enough to look at her, their faces level, his forehead pressed to hers though her headband biting into his flesh couldn't feel good. She lifted her right hand up and placed it tentatively on his cheek, her other hand moving to the back of his neck.
In retrospect, he should have seen it coming, should have expected it, but when she fitted her lips to his, he'd only registered shock. She kissed him hard, full of desperation and after a few moments he realized what was happening he quickly turned the tables, kissing her back and stepping towards her. She nearly stumbled and he quickly remembered her injury, lifting her easily with his large hands on her ribs and carrying her backwards until they were in the cover of her hospital room, away from the prying eyes of the hallway, away from Kakashi who gaped at them from behind his mask.
Gai kicked the door closed with a sharp bang, his lips not leaving Namiko's. He guided her gently back against the door, bearing down on her with a passion she'd never allowed herself to think about because she knew it would consume her, that he would consume her: swallow her whole. It scared her to realize just how easily she would embrace it… getting lost in him.
Finally, Namiko was forced to break the kiss, gasping for air, clutching his jumpsuit over his chest and leaning forward to place her forehead against his sternum, trying to find some clarity, some respite, but Gai's hands moved, one down to her hip which caused her breath to quicken, remembering the night in the bar and the many nights and days since then when he had purposefully… accidentally…. purposefully brushed her with those hands, strong confident hands that she had always known never moved without reason. His other hand raised to her face and he lowered his head, pressing his mouth to her throat and kissing lightly, his tongue flitting out against her delicate skin. She moaned softly, embarrassed by the sound, but needing to kiss him again.
She quickly found his lips and this time his tongue pressed between hers, and she could feel it gently run along her own tongue, coaxing and sensual. Her pulse quickened, heart threatening to pound straight out of her chest. When she finally got the courage to move her tongue against his in response, his hand on her hip tightened a deep groan escaping him and the sound struck her deeply, lowering to her already pulsing groin which in turn drew a matching sound from her. She felt his hand at her hip, wrap further around to her low back and pull her tightly against him.
The feel of him, his strong muscled body stole her breath completely and she was sure she stopped breathing and she was also sure Gai realized because he quickly moved his head back, his dark eyes burning into hers. She swallowed hard, gasping for air. His very presence winded her.
"Gai stop," she whispered, her hands shaking: one against the side of his neck, the other against his chest. His brow furrowed as he took hold of the hand against his chest, steadying it, grounding her. "If you don't stop looking at me like that, I will be unable to control myself."
"And you are all about control," he whispered, a relieved smile coming to his lips as he continued to gaze at her. She laughed, truly and sincerely laughed because she'd just jumped Maito Gai in the middle of the hospital. Her having any form of control was a ludicrous suggestion in light of that.
"I've been waiting for you to lose it… I don't want you to suddenly grasp hold of it again," he whispered huskily and she hummed in response, frowning at him, but he only laughed, kissing her again. She pulled away after only a moment, but only enough so there was a minuscule space between their lips.
"You're still a baka Maito Gai," she whispered.
"One who will follow you to the ends of the earth Hyuuga Namiko," he responded in kind.
Author's Note: Thank you for those reviews. They encourage me to post chapters more quickly. I swear they do. I had drill this weekend though and we had our medic testing so it was a bit overwhelming. My internet access was utter crap as well. Excuses are like ***holes though… so I'll stop supplying them now.