Black Roses666: and here's chapter 14 of my current project, A Dance with a Sandman! Thanks for all the people who reviewed!
Reiana: Here you go, freshly baked from the oven, the update.
ANONYMOUS-gsd: Thankies for the review!
Lose-your-voice:
Hey, it's hard to be friends with Gaara. Give Olha a break
XD
YamiKitsuneKami: It's not the book's fault, and they
weren't together to begin with.
Gaara's otome: Here ya go!
Aikari-chan:bows: thank you, thank you.
coolRiku: Thankies!
Ryo-yasha: Arigato!
Ryo-chan: Why, thank you very much!
Paprika012345: Coz it's very, very, VERY hard to gain Gaara's trust. I'm keeping him in-character and it hurts, I know…
Nocturnalwitch: Just be patient and it will come.
ILoveJohnCenaForLife: Dammit…and I wanted you to SO get in trouble…
Darklight03: Thanks a bunch!
Adventurous Dream Girl: Nobody's perfect…sad…
Black-bloodedvamp: but he DIDN'T coz he managed to RESIST the URGE XP
Gothshadowdragonofhell: it's supposed to be sad :pat:pat:
Disclaimer: I own Naruto…NOT
Note: A good friend of mine, o-Mirai-o needs more reviews for her KibaOC fic and she's kinda depressed so have a heart and give her a review! It's REALLY good!
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Fourteenth Dance:Curiosity
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Even if he is the strongest being in the Wind Country, even if he is the youngest Kazekage to ever go down in history, even if he has the demonic Shukaku within him, he cannot defeat it. It is not a person, nor an animal. It is a question.
Though he is very intelligent, though every move he made was planned and calculated before carried out in some unknown grace, he couldn't find a solution to his problem, even after hours of pondering over it.
Coming out of the shower only wearing his black pants, he wiped away the water trickling from his messy hair. Hanging the towel around his neck, he sat on his bed and messaged his forehead.
Something was coming, he could feel it. The sand in his gourd started to act unusually violent at the moment, revealing only one thing to him.
A sandstorm was coming…and it won't be a pretty one…
It won't be arriving until midnight, and Gaara always gets the early signs. Being the Kazekage and having the eternal mission of protecting his village, he approached Kankurou and told him to send word to all villagers that a sandstorm is coming and all should be prepared.
Gaara didn't even bother wearing a shirt now. When a sandstorm comes, the temperature rises, so what's the point of wearing a damn shirt when it will just melt him?
He couldn't care though towards those who don't bother preparing for the calamity. Better having a single person killed than summoning out his inner demon and start to massacre every citizen within range.
The worst part is, he can't sleep even though his head aches…
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Temari, Olha, there you guys are!" Kankurou shouted, running towards the two girls who were just walking along the streets.
"What's so urgent…?" Temari asked, crossing her arms in an annoyed fashion. It appears that she was having a very nice conversation with Olha.
"Gaara sensed a sandstorm coming…you girls better get indoors…" the male panted, taking a few deep breaths.
Olha patted his back in a comforting manner. "Damn…and we're so far from the hospital…"
"But we're near our home…" Temari finished, "hey, why don't you sleep over tonight? I'm sure the Kazekage wouldn't mind…"
The bluenette had to use all the chakra found in her body to prevent herself from squealing in excitement. She completely forgot to ask if she could stay over but it seems that she needn't any longer.
"Thanks..." she chirped, trying her best not to sound too enthusiastic.
"I better be going now…" Kankurou rejoined, "I have to tell more people…" and with that said, he dashed off to warn everyone in the village of the sandstorm was coming.
"Well, we better be going as well…" and so Temari and Olha went off to the Sand Sibling's manor for shelter against the force of nature.
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The Kazekage stared off to the world outside his window. He managed to spot his older brother, Kankurou, going from door to door and talking to its residence.
Gaara was right, the temperature was indeed rising. Usually, deserts would only experienced extreme temperatures but when a sandstorm comes, things change. Sweat has already started to fall down his pale skin in attempt to cool him off.
Sand cannot help his temperature drop; it would just make the heat even more unbearable than it already was. What he would need is a cooling breeze, most likely from Olha, but oh, how the gods hate him, she must be in the hospital taking care of her insignificant younger brother.
"Damn…where is she when you need a little breeze…?" he whispered, wiping away the sweat falling from his head.
Be careful what you wish for, it just might come true. Those were the first eleven words that came to mind after whispering that little spark for hope.
Out of nowhere, a cool breeze wrapped itself around Gaara, blowing away his sweat and bringing his body temperature down much more effectively. His eyes snapped wide.
"O…Olha…?" he stuttered, eyeing the door as if he had just seen a ghost. "No…it can't be…"
He calmed down once again, feeling the cool breeze caress his skin like a mother's touch. It was almost as soft as a cotton ball, and as gentle as a feather.
It all disappeared once he heard five consecutive knocks on his door.
"Enter…" he demanded, eyeing the wooden structure like a hawk to its prey. The door started to open, slowly, but surely at the same pace. Gaara recognized, though he didn't believe, his visitor at the sight of a few strands of dark blue hair shadowed with some sky blue cloth.
Dark blue hair is scarce around the Sand Village. Only one person can be found in the country with that certain shade of hair…the daughter of the Mizukage, and the outcast of Mist, Olha Livarte; the known shame of the Livarte clan.
The female popped her head inside and immediately saw the red head Sand shinobi sitting on the centerpiece of the bedroom, commonly known as the bed. At the sight of his naked torso, she turned away in order to hide a very light shade of pink growing on her cheeks.
"I…I'm sorry for disturbing you…Gaara-sama…" she spoke, half stuttering, half confidently. She took a deep breath, picturing him with his shirt on before speaking once again. "I…hope you don't mind if I stay over…I've heard that a sandstorm was coming and I was far from the ho-"
"No need to explain…" Gaara interrupted, waving his hand in a dismissive manner. "I understand…it isn't a problem…"
Olha kept her eyes away from the shirtless Kazekage. "Thank you…is there…anything I can do to repay you…?"
Gaara needn't think of anything. He simply replied the first thing that came to mind, "you can dance tonight…I need to cool down…"
The female opened her mouth to speak, or maybe even protest against his request, but we may never know for the only sound that emerged was silence.
"Don't worry…" Gaara stood, "I'll make sure the sight is less…disturbing…"
She nodded and quietly shut the door. Taking a few deep breaths, she started to make her way to Temari to tell her the terrific news that she could stay over tonight.
The moment Temari saw her, a smirk formed on her lips as she asked the question, "So, did you like what you saw?"
It caught the bluenette completely off guard and she almost tumbled down the stairs if it hadn't been for the wonderful invention known as the hand railings.
"Wha-what!" Olha half shouted, regaining her balance, although she had a slight idea of what she meant she had to be sure and not jump into conclusions.
The blonde smirked proudly. "You think my brother's hot without his shirt on, don't you?"
Olha's face turned red. "NO!"
"Aw, how sweet, you're in denial. Come on, just let the truth out!"
Her face became redder. "NO!"
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Kankurou was just walking to his humble abode, wishing to plop down onto the couch and eventually doze off until his older sister comes and whacks him on the head for being lazy, afterwards, it would be followed by a series of arguments about who is the most lazy person and who really does the work around the house which will eventually lead to them hitting each other with various objects until their youngest Sand Sibling comes in totally annoyed from all the noise and threatens to kill the both of them if they don't shut their traps and so forth ends the long argument making the two older siblings go to bed to end their day only to be repeated the next.
(A/N: That was one LONG run-on sentence XD)
He knows, for a fact, that Olha would be sleeping over, so to make and not to mention keep a good impression on her of the children of the previous Kazekage, there has to be absolutely no arguments.
To be honest, he has to practically beg Temari to keep a good impression on the Mist girl. He didn't know why but she's becoming like a younger sister to him.
He slowly approached the door and quietly opened it, but froze the moment he heard Temari's voice shouting.
"Come on! Tell me the truth! You think Gaara's hot without his shirt on!"
Kankurou's jaw dropped. Afterwards, another voice came out. To his dreaded surprise, it was Olha's feminine voice.
"Fine already…he's…kinda…cute…"
A boisterous laughter followed after from the ever-so bossy Temari. Kankurou's jaw dropped even lower. (Which is humanly impossible, but hey, he's batman!)
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Olha's face was furiously red now. There seemed to be 500 shades of red on her face before she hid it in shame using the trust palms of her hands.
"ShutupshutupshutupshutupshutupSHUTUP!" she shouted, stomping the ground like a childish girl. Her semi-wailing caused Temari to laugh even harder; she even groped her sides and bent forward when her laughs became silent due to the lack of air.
Suddenly, the door busted open to revealing what seemed to be a very pissed off Kankurou.
"YOU THINK MY BROTHER'S CUTE!" he bellowed, staring directly at Olha.
Olha, who was petrified from the sudden outburst, lost her balance and started to fall down the stairs. Temari and Kankurou were not prepared for that event. Even if they were, they wouldn't be fast enough to save her.
Olha closed her eyes and prepared for the impact that was to come…but it didn't. She felt herself suspended in air with something rough wrapped around her wrists and ankles. She remained traumatized, taking in deep breaths to calm herself down.
"What the hell is going on in here…?" came a dark and eerie voice belonging to only one person in the whole Village of Sand, Sabaku no Gaara.
The bluenette's eyes snapped wide as her breathing quickened. Glancing at the remaining two, her eyes pleaded for help, but as we all know, they are totally weak against the red head. After all, he is the youngest Kazekage ever.
Olha felt herself being lifted up the stairs, defying gravity itself until the rough items around her ankles and wrists settled her on her feet. It turned out, to her surprise, to be sand as the golden yellow grains slithered back into the gourd which wasn't even to strapped onto the still shirtless Gaara, but was just beside him.
"Uh…" she started, hoping that an excuse would pop up into her head, but she realized that Gaara wasn't, in fact, looking at her but at his own siblings who were stuttering random excuses at the same time that you couldn't understand a single word they were saying.
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Gaara let out an exasperated sigh. To be polite, he was merely waiting for his siblings to finish blabbering their nonsense. He glanced at Olha who seemed to keep her eyes diverted away from him. He knew perfectly why.
Finally, the two Sand Siblings finished their constant stuttering. Olha sighed as the two were looking at the Kazekage and the bluenette.
"I'll show our guest to her room…" Gaara said, turning his back and started walking. Olha followed, knowing that punishment for disobeying him would be immediate death.
As they ventured down the hall of the manor, the temperature started to rise, obviously meaning the storm is coming near.
"Come to my room at midnight…"
The Mist nin almost tripped on the soft carpet at the sound of his voice. "O-okay…" she stuttered still slightly embarrassed at herself for being such a burden on her first night.
She continued to walk absent mindedly, not noticing that Gaara had already stopped and she felt herself crash into his bare backside.
"Ah, I-I'm sorry Gaara-sama. I-" she stopped when she realized something was wrong. He had his gourd right beside him, but why didn't the sand protect its master? She raised a brow in a questioning was as Gaara turned towards her.
"This is your room. I'll see you then…" with that, he dragged his gourd with him back to his room. Olha sighed and went inside, and immediately plopped down on the bed. Temari came in and dropped the stuff Olha bought, miraculously not seeing the stuffed raccoon.
Since it was still rather early, she went to the bathroom and started to do the main thing in the bathroom which became the reason why it was called the bathroom in the first place…take a bath…
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The sandstorm made the temperature higher than he expected. More sweat trickled down his skin. He looked like he was taking a damn bath. He even wore a black shirt which now seems tight on him due to the sweat.
Finally, he heard five consecutive knocks on the door. It creaked open and the head of the outcast of Mist popped inside with one eye open, obviously implying that she was being prepared in case he as still half naked.
Looking now at his…rather tight shirt which became transparent and sowed his finely toned abdomen, Olha turned away with a thin shade of pink on her cheeks.
Gaara, being ever-so clueless, looked down to check why the hell did she turn away.
"Damn…"
He took off his shirt, grabbed the nearby towel, and wiped out his sweat as he approached his closet to get another black shirt. Olha sat down on his bed while he was getting ready.
As he turned around, he didn't know whether what he was seeing was a mirage or reality. He couldn't recognize the bluenette who was wearing a light blue evening gown with spaghetti straps, and showed off her slim figure. She didn't wear her hat, making her hair seem free.
He got back his composure quickly as he sat beside the female and gestured to the center of the bedroom for her to dance. She swallowed but then managed to form a smile on her lips before standing up and approaching the front of the Kazekage.
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She was within an arm's reach when she lifted her arms, one circling the other before her right hand came down towards him, palm exposed.
He raised an invisible brow in a questioning manner, looking at her hand, and then at her. She edged her hand closer to him, as if asking him to take it. Reluctantly, he did. She enclosed her fingers on his hand and ever so gently dragged him to the center of the room.
"What…are you doing…?" he asked, completely naïve. She didn't give him any answer. She simply took his other hand and slid it around her waist. His eyes widened at her actions as she brought the other hand to the side and placed he free hand to his shoulder.
Both knew what this is, it is he position when dancing a ballroom dance for couples. With a breath, Olha began to lead Gaara in a dance, apparently, it was only then did she learn that he had two left feet, making her hold on to him to make sure he didn't trip.
The good news in all this mess was the fact that Gaara was a fast learner and he got the hang of it quite quickly, and soon, they were dancing like a professional couple. As they dance, Gaara realized he couldn't old the question any longer. He had to ask her now.
"Why…are you doing this…?"
Olha passed him a smile. "Because…"
"Because…?"
"Just because…now, why isn't the sand reacting…?"
Gaara gave her a look, implying that he was close to smirking. "Because…"
"Because…?"
"Just because…"
The bluenette merely giggled, trying to show that she had no trouble whatsoever in her life, but Gaara was way smarter than that. He can see all her troubles in her eyes, and he had the ability to hear hesitation in her laugh.
"You're way too easy to read…what's bothering you here?" he asked, leading her to another direction as the wind followed them, making the air cooler than before.
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"Why…" Olha started, "won't you consider me as a friend…?"
Both ninjas stopped, the wind swept their hair gracefully to the side as Olha's innocent light blue eyes stared deep into Gaara's blood stained, teal ones, hoping to find an answer past the emotionless face, failing miserably afterwards.
The male then approached the bed and sat down, eyes looking at the floor. "Are you afraid of death…?"
She looked around the room, eyes tracing the many things around, as if she was memorizing every detail, when in reality; she was searching through the files of her brain for an answer.
"Who do you think I risked losing my life two nights ago?" (Refer to chapter 10)
"It was a fifty percent chance…you must've been a bit afraid…"
"Well, you're probably right…but I really feel like I ant to die at times…"
"You should be afraid…"
"And can you explain why?"
"Because death is right in front of you…"
Olha gave out a sigh after swallowing hard. She gave him a single nod and headed to the door. As she touched he knob, she opened her mouth to speak.
"I thought I told you not to find yourself…I thought you understood…"
With that said she exited the room and left the sand bearer alone to contemplate on his thoughts.
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Gaara clutched a handful of his messy hair after hearing the door close once again. What was wrong with her? This girl seemed to be from another plant. She wasn't afraid even though she should be.
She seemed to have given up on life as it is. She hasn't found her meaning yet...if his meaning as not to kill, then it is to protect his village.
After all she said, she wasn't even following her own advice. Hasn't she heard of the saying 'you are what you do, not what you say'?
These were his thoughts as he scanned his room. He looked outside the window to see that the storm had finally subsided. Everything was calm and peaceful once again.
"I did understand…" he whispered, "You just don't know how hard it is…"
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Inside the guest room, Olha clutched a handful of her skirt as she sat on her bed. Her head swarming with questions she doesn't, and may never know the answer to.
Was she really not afraid of death? Did she really want to waste her life away? Does she have a reason for living at all?
The last question struck her like a bullet. Did she have a reason? Her brother is to be the next Mizukage, her father is to protect the Water Country, Gaara is to protect the Wind Country, and Jue is striving to be the next Kazekage for it is what she believes in…so what is her part in the world?
Everyone should have a role in life, so why doesn't she have one?
"I guess…" Olha's eyes started to water, "I'm better off dead…"
Glancing at the book, she read the last line of the page.
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"Kill me now…" the dancer whispered, "and pretend this never happened…"
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Black Roses666: And so ends my longest chapter so far! Hurrah, yay, blah…oh well, now, time to review! Thank you!