Hey there everyone, new chapter is new.
That's about all I have to say.
As always, any questions, just ask. I like talking to people. My psych lecturers tell me that's just part of being people.
Huh, second time lucky. If you find any mistakes please TELL ME! I'm a perfectionist. If I find them later myself (one day I will actually read this) I might just cry.
Neji watched, the usual smirk plastered across his refined features, as Gaara rejected the two young girls without hesitation… or a clue. The red headed demon carrier glanced away from his paperwork for the first time in hours and frowned. It was just the slightest downward quirk of his lips but it was enough to empty his office of the two high pitched annoyances. Neji resisted the urge to snicker; the act much too common. Instead he simply raised an elegant eyebrow. His silent question was unexpectedly met with an answer in the form of a sigh. The Kazekage pushed back his chair and stood, features settling back into the apathetic mask he was so well known for.
"Let's go. It's about time we visit them."
Without another word Gaara glided past the young Hyuuga and out of his office.
Now we're getting somewhere.
The two shinobi briskly walked through the curved halls of the Kazekage's mansion before descending the stairs and making their way out onto the street.
I swear there are more of them following us.
Neji felt his brows furrow in concentration as he sensed the faint chakra signatures of the anbu team that had been with them since morning. They had arrived just after Shikamaru left and had yet to actively alert the Kazekage to their presence; not that he hadn't been aware of them immediately. Neji had noticed the slightest flicker of…annoyance maybe… cross his features the moment they had arrived. In itself, this raised more questions about the enigmatic sand shinobi beside him.
Can Naruto sense them the same way?
The shadows passing over their heads began to increase and Neji stole a glance at his surroundings. He was sure he'd never entered this part of Suna before. The buildings were older and a lot larger. Quite a few were crumbling around the edges.
So this is where the magic happens?
They stopped walking suddenly. Neji peered through the dim light. He didn't notice anything out of the ordinary as his eyes swept the area around him. Except...
"Byakugan" The world faded away and the visual conformation seared into his retinas. No chakra. Not a trace. There was nothing within a 200m radius that contained charka. There were however several mutilated bodies.
Is that blood coating the… dear gods!
Pooling his courage he turned to Gaara, who was simply staring forward, and noticed that a slight twitch had developed under his left eye. With his enhanced eyes he could clearly see the fight between man and demon as Shukaku's chakra tried to take over his body. But Gaara was putting up quite the fight. Feeling unusually awkward at observing something so private Neji gave his companion his back and walked a few paces forward observing the battle scene presented to him. Nothing new came before his eyes. Not a flicker of life. It had all been extinguished.
A slight noise had him glancing back over his shoulder. Gaara was staring intently at the ground. The internal battle seemed to be over and Neji felt a swirl of pride for his friend. Fighting back a sappy expression, he simply decided to wait for Gaara to speak.
"I'm all good. Let's see… what happened."
The two continued their journey, a more serious ambiance filling the space between them as they descended into the building.
As the door at the bottom of the long stairwell creaked open he couldn't help suck in a deep breath. And regret the action almost immediately. No matter the number of gruesome things one saw it never got any easier to stomach. Especially the smell; all metallic and musty.
They walked through the hall, a slight sloshing generated with each step, as they surveyed the damage. A consistent drip drop echoed down the hall. The blood soaked, organ splattered walls brought forth the slightest nausea. After entering the last room and finding it as devoid of life as everything surrounding them, Gaara turned and walked back the way they came. Neji stayed behind. The office was torn apart, documents scattered over every surface. A forearm poked out from under the toppled filing cabinet, a headless torso rolled from behind the door as Neji pushed it further towards the wall.
Where's the head?
He stepped into the room, unsure of the reasoning behind his search for the interrogation captains missing body parts. It just felt important. After a brief search of the room and no head, he turned to re-join Gaara and search the other floor. The floor which had formally contained the three high level prisoners they had originally come to see. Dread settled into the pit of his stomach as he obediently followed Gaara through a secret door, or would be secret. The door was against the other wall having been violently ripped off its hinges by whoever had demolished the place.
As they walked down the hall ominous shadows reached off the flickering scones like grasping fingers, searching for the living souls disturbing the residue of the day's violence. The air was so thick Neji swore he could cut it with one of the many kunai on his person. They silently passed door after door, only briefly making eye contact whenever they had to navigate through the labyrinth of debris. Most of the fallen stone blocking their path was simply moved or crushed by Gaara's sand. The two shinobi floated over the larger, more troublesome piles on a platform.
Upon reaching the last door in the 'zone of terror' as Neji had dubbed it, they cautiously peered into the inky darkness. Not a whisper of sound escaped the room. It was so dark that even the visual prowess of his blood limit did little to cut through the eerie gloom. It was clear that something horrible had been left inside. A message to the Kazekage?
Is this the reason for the anbu? Wouldn't they have said…?
The soft sound of sand moving across the floor made Neji glance up to see Gaara had grabbed one of the torches. Flowing past him the light seemed to pulse in the darkness, illuminating the grisly scene laid out before them. Three heads were balanced on three chairs, each facing the door, chakra wires slashed and curled out over the floor.
I guess that answers that.
Neji watched the minute traces of expression crossing Gaara's face. It was clear the young shinobi was more than a little distressed by what lay in front of him. Anger, sadness and pity flickered across his features as Neji watched before a deep seated rage settled into his burning eyes. His struggle with Shukaku had seriously increased. Not too sure of the proper social graces when dealing with someone who was trying not to be possessed, Neji decided to follow his earlier actions.
He took a hesitant step into the room, feet following a path of their own as he walked towards the head of an elderly man situated on the middle chair. Something was tugging at the edge of his consciousness, a feeling that there was something important here he was missing. A concept he had yet to grasp. Carefully manoeuvring the barbed wires spread across the cool stone floor he meandered his way into the centre of the cell. Reaching the three corpse-less heads he paused.
What am I doing?
Deciding to trust his intuition Neji reached forward and opened the man's mouth. Inside was a…rumpled piece of paper? Brows furrowed he diligently worked the lodged document out and unfolded the sheet. Eyes quickly roamed the page before widening. He gave an audible gulp and turned back to Gaara. Apparently he had found the results of their interrogations.
Temari opened her eyes to an incessant headache. Glare cut across her gaze, obscuring her view of the unfamiliar room she was in. Moving slightly she felt a pull in her arm. A tube connected her to a small trolley and unknown medical equipment. She closed her eyes and focussed.
'Where the hell am I? And why on Earth do I hurt this bad?'
She relaxed slightly and drew her attention inwards, taking stock of all the injuries currently screaming for her attention. Her leg was the worst. It felt like liquid fire was being poured into her veins. This was closely followed by her shoulder. This was more of a stabbing pain, like a few kunai embedded in her skin at several strategic points.
'Multiple fractures then.'
Her ribs were definitely bruised. If not broken. Each breath made a wet, gurgling sound and drew the fire deeper. Each of her fingers burned, like they were being held in the still glowing embers of a deadened fire. She was sure at least three were broken.
'I've really done it this time. Now I just need to figure out…'
A creak across the room and the sound of light footsteps approaching alerted her to the other presence in the room.
'Wow. Kankuro's right. I really am off my game.'
Temari opened her eyes and looked into one of the last faces she expected to see.
"Hey Tem…" Kankuro's face loomed over her own. Although he was wearing his usual black ensemble, both his hat and purple war paint was curiously missing.
'He had to grow up to fast… no wonder he's crooked.'
"Kankuro. You have three seconds. Three. Two. GET THE HELL OUT OF MY FACE YOU MAKEUP WEARING FREAK!" Temari shouted. Kankuro moved back, if only slightly, and continued to peer down at her. The look in his eyes… Temari couldn't quite place it. It was completely foreign and that unnerved her.
"Back to your old self I see. Happy and loving as always. Great to know you care. After I carried you all the way here and everything." Kankuro's statement reminded her of their unfamiliar surroundings.
"Where exactly is here?" At the question, Kankuro blanched and squirmed, throwing fleeting, desperate glances at the door. Temari raised an eyebrow. It wasn't like her brother to show his discomfort.
Unless you were saved by…
'Great the annoying voice is back.'
You know I am you? And it's not normal to be speaking to a voice inside your head. Gaara and Naruto are two of a possible nine exceptions.
"Oh. Maybe I should… Umm" Kankuro pulled her from her ever so slightly delusional thoughts.
"Kankuro."
"Itwasn' ' … Hidden Leaf. Please don't hurt me." She raised a single eyebrow at his unexpected drabble.
'Oh shit.'
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Although she schooled her features with relative ease the shock and disbelief still leaked into her voice.
"You carried me to the Leaf?"
"Well… not exactly. I walked next to you though. Kept a keen eye on the young man who carried you. You know, protective brotherly sort of stuff."
Temari felt her cheeks begin to redden. She had a few guesses where this was going. Not that she enjoyed any of them.
Pfft. Yeah right. Just keep telling yourself that. Let's see how that works out for you.
'Can you go find someone who cares?'
Heh, maybe, I wonder what Shika would think?
Left eye twitching in irritation, Temari looked over at her younger brother.
"Who. Carried. Me?" She asked voice calm, devoid of emotion. Kankuro gulped, not liking the almost feral look in his sister eyes.
I'm about to die. I'm about to die because she is going to kill me. How on Earth did Sakura talk me into this?
"…Shikamaru..." Kankuro answered, simultaneously diving behind the chair he had been previously occupying as a kunai sped towards him.
How is it that she always has a weapon on her?
Before Kankuro could burst into tears at the injustice, the kunai stopped mid-flight and the door to the room opened.
"How troublesome."
Shikamaru and Sakura walked through the door, surveying the scene before them.
Not as bloody as I expected. Seems like Kankuro's good at dodging... Probably had a lot of practise.
Sakura smiled brightly at Temari and walked past the floating kunai without comment. Temari watched as she took her chart off the bedside table. For the first time she noticed the bright yellow, orange and pink tulips sitting in the green and purple vase beside her.
"I'm glad to see you're finally awake. You gave us all quite the scare." Sakura said without looking up at the patient, still reading her charts.
"Oh." Temari looked at her hands, feeling overwhelmed and slightly guilty. It was hard to adjust to the differences between their villages. If she had woken up at home she would have just walked out as soon as she was able to stand. Here, she felt like she mattered. Like people cared about her. Rather than people just caring about the Kazekage's sister. She looked up and noticed Kankuro's wide grin and scowled. Sakura glanced between the two siblings and sighed.
"Kankuro, would you mind coming with me? I'm going to pick some medical herbs to take back with you." Before he could answer Sakura roughly grabbed his hand, pulled him out of the room and closed the door. His continuing protests could be heard as she marched him down the corridor and around the corner.
As soon as they were gone the air in the room seemed to get denser. Temari fiddled with her sheets, quite unable to meet the dark gaze of the boy before her. Finally, Shikamaru moved forward, grabbing the kunai out of the air as he walked to Temari's bedside.
"I assume that's yours?" Temari murmured so quietly that Shikamaru had to lean closer to hear.
"I thought you might want to kill something when you woke." He shrugged.
"Thanks." She avoided his gaze.
"You know… it really was… tense." For once the Leafs 'two hundred plus IQ' ninja seemed to have trouble finding his words.
Gaining courage, she looked up. He was staring straight into her eyes. The intense gaze speared her to the spot. She couldn't look away and admit defeat. She couldn't afford to show him any more weakness. It was a clash of wills. After a few seconds, which seemed to last hours, he raised his hands in defeat. A smile slowly curved its way across her face. The awkward tension in the air dispersed.
"Not too much crying?" She teased half-heartedly.
He looked away, abashed; mumbling something under his breath. Something that sounded suspiciously like 'worried sick' and 'for no reason' but she couldn't be too sure. All she did know was that the thought of Shikamaru being concerned about her welfare caused bubbles of happiness to flurry through her chest. Trying to control the increase in her heart rate and the treacherous rise of blood to her cheeks, she scanned the room, gaze finally resting back on the beautiful flowers.
"The tulips are…?"
"Officially from Ino, Hinata, Tenten and Sakura. They argued for about two days about them. They've all been visiting you too…"
"The colours remind me of the desert." Her eyes softened as she gazed at the beautiful flowers.
"Yeah, that's why I suggested them." He lent back against the wall and scratched the back of his head. She knew it was something he did whenever he was embarrassed. Although she couldn't guess why.
'Unless he cares..? Do the flowers mean something?'
Temari frowned. She'd never gotten flowers before. Once, when she'd been really ill, Gaara sat with her overnight. But he'd only done that because he honestly thought she was dying.
'Why do these people go to all the trouble? Why do they even care? At home, no one cares. Why should they?'
Shikamaru stepped forward, now was as good a time as any to break the bad news. And breaking a leg or two in a hospital was really the best place to do it. He was just being proactive.
Solid logic. Real solid logic.
"Hey Temari, on a scale of one to ten, how attached were you to your fan?"
Ever so slowly Temari lifted her head and turned to face him. A predatorial gleam lurking in their depths, her teal orbs watched him, her left eye twitching in annoyance.
"Probably an eight. My uncle gave it to me for my birthday. Why?"
He started to sweat under her intense scrutiny. He was going to die before 10am. Shaking only ever so slightly he withdrew a scroll from between the bed stand and the wall.
"I have a present for you since the old one…" He leaned over and passed the scroll to her quickly, still unable to meet her eyes.
She raised an eyebrow but decided not to call him out on his unusual behaviour and instead turned to study the object in her palms. She opened in and… nothing. It was completely blank. Confusion blanked her features for a second before she realised what she was holding. She bit her thumb until the skin broke and smeared the droplet of blood across the white page. A few seconds passed before a large fan appeared on her lap in a small puff of smoke. Immediately she noticed the differences. Several scratch marks were missing along it's metal edge and upon revealing the first star the almost unnoticeable dark smudge was gone.
'My fan…'
"How did you get it to match the other one? My uncle designed and made it." She bit her lip, trying not to think of her uncle. Remembering his bright, warm smile or his soft, understanding voice was one of the only things that could make her cry. He was a man she had loved and respected so much but had hurt Gaara more than anyone else ever could. It was something she and Kankuro could never forgive.
"It was troublesome but I drew it for our weapons dealer and he made it up." He glanced away, a light blush spreading across his cheeks.
"Thank you. It means a lot. More than I could ever possibly say."
A soft smile spread across his face at her soft words. Temari may be a lot of things to him, feisty, determined, homicidal, sharp, shrewd came to mind easily, but never had she been so openly gentle. It touched his heart to see a side of the downright menacing woman in front of him.
"So, how long do you think the nurses can hold you back?"
I love having the last word.
