Sayune's eyes drifted over and immediately found mine.
"Kay-chan!" She shouted loudly. "You'll defend me, right?" Shikamaru looked at me and sighed a bit, his strong grip on Sayune still not ceasing. She growled at him, she would've attacked him if she hadn't been on probation. Well, maybe she would. I wasn't quite sure who I was dealing with anymore.
"Sayune. I… We need to talk." She looked at me curiously, stopping her attempts at fighting off Shikamaru. All four ninja's eyes were on me, and I couldn't think of what to say. I didn't want to say this in front of anyone, but I knew I had to for… for my own safety. Or maybe I didn't, I couldn't tell anymore. Being around Sayune now only tended to confuse me.
"I don't want you think that I'm not defending you because of Gaara… or because of this move to Konoha. I… I'm sorry. I see you every day, and I think you look the same, but the way you act is so different. Sometimes it's like… it's like I'm staring at a complete stranger." Sayune turned to me her eyes turning blank as my words sunk in. Everyone, except Gaara, had winced at my words. Even I felt my heart break a little, but I had to do this. I had to break all ties I had with my past, and move on with my life. It was obvious she wouldn't approve of anything.
"You can't just do that." She stated suddenly. Her eyes stared at me coldly; I could see the tears gathering in them though. "You can't just do that to me!" She stomped her foot and lurched forward, before Shikamaru could reach for her again she was standing in front of me and practically in my face. "You can't just abandon me after all you've done! You've done it once, how could you try and do it again!"
"Because best friends are supposed to be accepting of the others choices, Sayune. Or they're at least supposed to tolerate them-"
"Sorry I'm worried about your well-being due to you taking interest in a monster-"
"This is what I mean!" I hadn't meant to shout at her, but the rage inside of me had been building up. "This isn't how you used to be. You used to be kind and accepting of everyone, and now you're running around bitterly judging all those around you. What's happened to you? You used to love danger, you-" She pushed me back, earning an evil glare from Gaara, and headed back towards Shikamaru.
"And you used to care about me. But I guess what you said is right, I've changed. People change and you're proof of that, aren't you?" She hissed angrily. She left with Shikamaru on her tail; she left me standing there watching after her. The need to apologize rose in my head but I knew I couldn't do it, I had to stick to my word. I had to be as strong as I was for others, for myself. But I watched her leave with tears in my eyes and a broken heart.
"I do care…" I whispered. Temari placed a hand on my shoulder, giving me a sad smile. I gave her a weak on in return and instead turned to face Gaara. He was watching me, his eyes remaining on my face as I stepped closer to him. "I-I have a request…"
"I can't believe she did this to me!" Sayune screamed her fist connecting hard with the stone wall she had punched. She had left a slight indent in the wall and her knuckles had begun to bleed profusely, but she didn't care. The pain coursing through her heart distracted her from any physical pain she had begun to felt. "I was such a good friend and she just… ditches me for him!" She had thankfully escaped Shikamaru's sight.
Tonight was the night, she thought, her eyes glaring angrily before her. She'd be leaving tonight, returning to Haru to give him the report on the Leaf's defensive strategies and any other information she had to give forth. She scoffed as she looked back the Leaf Village in disdain.
"You took the only friend I could trust." She whispered, her angry glare suddenly turning to one a person would pity. She looked like a kicked puppy. "Haru was right. I can't trust anyone who'd just leave me behind." As she shifted her way through the forest, she heard the sounds of another. She scowled silently, crouching in some bushes. It was that girl that Kaylyn had befriended… Sayune scowled, taking a kunai from her pouch and slowly sneaking up on an unsuspecting Heena.
"This is for taking her!" Sayune shouted.
A scream of pain echoed through the forest, and then all was silent.
Gaara and I were alone on the rooftop, sitting and watch the moon together. My eyes kept drifting to my house; it was obvious it bothered me more than I could say. Gaara looked at me again, and I tried to search for the emotions Sakura had said she could see.
"Gaara-kun…" I murmured, for a second I thought I could see it, that little flash where he looked happy, and then he composed himself. "I'm sorry…"
"Don't." He stated simply, turning to look at the moon. I really couldn't get over how could he looked in the moonlight. "You can have my bed."
I looked at him confused.
"Your bed?" He nodded.
"In the room."
"O-oh." I blushed a bit, remembering that he didn't sleep. "I couldn't do that…"
"Sleeping outside is better?" I had expected a comment like that from him; my eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"How did you know I slept outside?" He looked at me for a second, before placing his hand over his eye. Sand began to formulate in the air until it turned into the shape of an eye that peered around at its surroundings before landing on me. He dispelled the jutsu and looked away from me.
"Y-You watch me with that?" I squeaked, my cheeks turning bright red. With ability like that, it's no wonder I got the chills when I was alone, he probably spied on me while I was in my room, just like he did that night in the forest.
"I feel uneasy when you're not around…" He closed his eyes. "I use it to make sure you're safe." I blushed; he worried about me when I wasn't around? That was cute, to say the least. I felt my heart flutter a bit as I saw his cheeks turn light pink, hard to notice if you weren't really looking.
"Thanks…" I murmured suddenly, he turned to me with a surprised look. "People don't normally care about me, they think I can fend for myself and don't really worry. N-not that it's not true! I can! B-but it's nice to feel… cared about…" By now I was completely flustered and had my face buried in my hands; I can't believe I had just said that! After the whole Sayune thing I hadn't been able to think clearly.
"No one's ever defended me before…" Gaara said in reply to my rant. He turned to look at me and I tilted my head curiously.
"W-What are you looking at?" My eyes widened as his hand reached forward to cup my cheek. His eyes bore into mine; they were such a lovely color.
"You're beautiful." I let out a tiny gasp, almost tempted to clean out my ears to see if I had heard correctly. Had he really called me beautiful? I squeezed my eyes shut, maybe this was a dream and I'd wake up now and be disappointed. However the next time I opened my eyes, he was still there, and I still felt his hand on my cheek. I placed mine over his, innocently stroking it while the eye contact continued.
"Kay-sama!" Damn it, damn it, damn it! Who was breaking this utterly perfect moment? Sakura stood in front of me, ignoring the fact we were stuck in a sort of awkward position. I noted at first she was covered in blood, she also looked panicked. "Please, it's Heena-san, come with me!" At Heena's name I jumped up, my heart jolting in my chest.
"What's wrong with Heena!" I cried out, a bit louder than I had meant to. My legs began to get shaky as Sakura explained that she and Tsunade had heard something odd while the two of them were collecting a report from the guards at the front gate, and they had found her lying there. Her wounds were deep and her status was depleting… She had asked for me and Sakura had set out to find me.
"Let's go!" I looked back at Gaara; my eyes must've looked pleading as he stood up.
"I'll meet you there." He replied shortly. I nodded, following Sakura as we ran down the street to the Hospital. My heart was beating a million beats per second as I thought about what could've happened to Heena. Had she had another attack due to her disease? No, she wouldn't be bleeding like that. Heena… I tried to say focused on Sakura but my thoughts were more concentrated on Heena and how she was. Her health couldn't have been good, it sounded like a lot of blood had been spilled, and Heena's disease made her weak as it was.
Sakura easily bypassed the rest of the medic ninjas, holding onto my hand tightly. Gaara was waiting at the door to Heena's room for me, his arms crossed as a medic ninja questioned them. Sakura quickly explained that he was with us before we entered the room. Tsunade was standing beside Heena, blocking my view.
"M-move!" I pushed a medic ninja from way, realizing it was rude, but not really caring at the moment.
Heena was pale beyond comparison, her eyes were closed and cuts adorned her face. Her skin easily bruised; she had a dark purple mark on her neck leading down to her chest. Her abdomen was bleeding heavily, a nurse was patching her up now as Tsunade used attempted to heal another stab wound in her lung.
"H-Heena…" I felt the tears gathering in my eyes as I stared at her battered body. Who could've done this to her? Heena… A medic ninja asked me to move and I was forced to; I moved back to stand beside Gaara and Sakura. The pink haired medic ninja gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze before joining Tsunade in healing Heena. I was given a seat, which I gratefully took as my legs began to get weaker the many hours I was standing there.
Gaara didn't leave my side; he took off his gourd and placed it next to him, as he had taken to leaning against the wall with crossed arms and closed eyes. I was getting sleepier but I just couldn't go to sleep, what if something happened when I passed out? I couldn't sleep until I talked to Heena again. I sighed softly as I heard birds chirping outside; the morning hours had already started and Heena had finally been helped as much as she could.
She was bandaged up, her stomach, arms, and neck completely covered in the white cloth to prevent any cuts from opening and bleeding again. They were minor wounds and her pierced lung had been taken care of. I sighed softly, taking my place beside her as all the medics exited the room. Gaara stayed in his spot, choosing to watch me carefully.
Heena's breathing had become even after the hours of work they had put in on her, her fingers twitched now and again and she turned about in her sleep, but her moving was limited. I had begun to wonder when her eyes would open again, when Sakura stepped in once more to hand me her medical report.
"She was still conscious when we found her…" Sakura shook her head. "She was going off about seeing oddly colored eyes, she said they were-"
"S-Sakura-chan…" Heena's voice was hardly above a whisper but I had heard it. I whipped around and leaned down to her.
"Heena!" Her eyes fluttered open slowly, appearing unfocused at first before they looked over at me. She smilled weakly.
"Sensei! I didn't think you'd come to visit me…" She suddenly coughed hard, blood splattering on the sheets.
"I'll get new ones." Sakura stated before leaving the room to fetch the seats. Heena stared at the blood that had been splattered on the sheets before smiling weakly at me.
"I got… pretty messed up, huh?" Her eyes watered as she leaned back on the pillows; her hands gripped the sheets tightly, turning her knuckles white. "I really haven't been getting stronger after all…"
"Yes you have…" I murmured softly, stroking her hand gently. "You have been."
"But I got beat so easily…" She whimpered, her one hand touching the wound on her abdomen.
"You survived, didn't you?" I smiled at her, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "You're getting stronger and stronger every day."
"Thank you, sensei." She seemed distracted, slightly out of it. I figured it was because the blood loss, but something else had been bothering her. "Sensei… I have a request." I looked at her curiously.
"What is it, Heena?" She glanced nervously at Gaara, who had been silently observing out conversation.
"Don't worry about him, he won't tell anyone what you have to say." She nodded.
"My father is… is dying. His condition is worse than before…" She clenched her fists again, squeezing her eyes shut but not before a few tears slipped down her cheeks. "He collapsed the other day; any day now he could die. I have to be home, please. Please help me escape from here and take me home…"
"Heena, I can't! You're still healing. You shouldn't even think of moving with all those wounds." I scolded. She looked at me, disappointed.
"B-but I can't… I can't…" Her eyes watered again. "I didn't have a chance to say goodbye…" I bit my lip; my mind was telling me it was a completely stupid idea to possibly even consider doing it, my heart told me otherwise. Who was I to deprive her of saying goodbye to her father before he died… I could help her get the chance I never had.
I placed my hand on her head, pushing her bangs back and giving her a reassuring smile.
"I'll figure something out; you'll see him by tonight." Her eyes lit up and she leaned forward to wrap her arms around me, but winced in pain from her wounds and fell right back on the Hospital bed. "We'll be returning immediately afterwards, Heena. I'll never forgive you if you bleed all over my back!" I teased her, stroking her hair lovingly. Gaara was watching me curiously, especially as I left her side to sit down as a few medic ninjas re-entered to speak with her and change her sheets.
I sighed, rubbing my temples in pain. I already had a headache from the fact I'd have to break Heena out of a Hospital. Gaara glanced down at me before commenting.
"You acted like… like you were her mother…" I looked up at him curiously. "In the village I've seen mothers handle their children with the same gentleness you used with her.
"She's fragile…" I murmured back in response. "It feels like if I don't look out for her, she'll be all alone. I know what it's like to be alone in the world; I don't want her to feel like I had." I crossed my arms. "Will you help cover for me tonight?" He looked down at me, his eyes curiously searching mine to see if I was serious before he nodded.
"You care about her…" The smallest of smiles made its way to his face for a few seconds before falling.
"I do…" I murmured softly before making myself comfortable in the chair and catching up on my sleep.
If I was going to break Heena out, I'd definitely need the energy.
e
