Chapter 14: Whisper

There was something about this setting that didn't seem right. No one ever approached Gaara at school. Well, no one accept for Naruto, but then that was only one person. And it was so long ago...longer than he can count on his fingers. Days. Weeks. Months. Since November...that makes three months now. A week since he's moved in with the blond. And, although he has opened up a little to others, nobody, besides the kids he was previously acquainted to, came up to him of their own free will and spoke to him.

It never happened before.

So when the amber eyed male stepped towards him, to say the least, Gaara was a little surprised. His hair was medium length and snow white, his violet shirt had a large grey snake printed on the side, his grey pants were ripped and baggy; his wristband held an anarchy symbol. The teen was accompanied by a larger boy, light rust colored hair, red shirt that, like the other boy, adorned a snake, only his was a deeper red, and his jeans were black. Neither seemed too menacing...yet.

"So...you're Gaara?" The shorter one said, something mysterious shining in his eyes.

Gaara was confused. "What's it to you?"

The male flipped his white hair over a shoulder and shrugged. "You're cuter than I thought you would be. By the way he described you; I thought you'd look like a raccoon dog or something."

The red head frowned. "And who would he be?"

The male advanced, causing Gaara to back up against the bathroom sink; he felt the cold porcelain against his hands. The boy placed both hands flat against the mirror behind him, trapping Gaara in-between him and the wall; in the background the giant, russet haired teen stood quiet an indescribable expression on his face.

Gaara didn't have to be a rocket scientist to tell that something was very, very wrong here. As the male in front of him stared at him, his yellow eyes narrowing mischievously, Gaara couldn't help the tingle of apprehension that tickled his spine and almost made him want to gag. He felt sick, and dizzy...he wanted Naruto. But Naruto was no where in sight, in fact he was way on the other side of the school campus, sitting--very bored--in his classroom, receiving an equally banal impromptu lecture from some guy visiting from Shikon collage named Naraku. Even if he screamed, the blond wouldn't be able to hear him. Gaara blinked, his brow reaching low above his eyes.

"Poor little Gaara...it's a shame that you had to go and get on his bad side, if you would have just left Naruto alone, perhaps we could have been friends." He inched closer, bending his elbows so that he and the red head were nose to nose. "I hate to do this to you, I'm a pretty cool guy, once you get to know me."

Gaara's instincts were starting to twitch. The feelings he use to have were starting to resurface. After all this time, after how far he's come, he did not want to loose it yet. It has been so long since he's seen it, so long since he's had the urge to spill blood for his own sake. He was a changed person...he had to keep telling himself that. But this person was not making it any easier on him; his teeth, that looked like tiny razors stood out like a sore thumb on his otherwise pale face. He felt, rather than saw, the giant behind the shorter male shift slightly.

"Suigetsu..." the one in question gave the male a sidelong glance. "He said I would be the one to deal with this." He looked...unsure, rather than afraid. The taller teen clenched his hands absently, staring at the other with fading ruby eyes. Suigetsu snorted.

"You were, now I'm taking over." He turned back to look into Gaara's hard green eyes and smirked. "Yes, I think I'd enjoy this much, much more, considering what I have to work with." He gave Gaara's body an appraising once-over, causing the red head's scowl to deepen. "Lock the door Juugo."

Calm yourself Gaara. He repeated in his mind as he watched the mass titled Juugo walk over to the heavy, navy blue door, lock it, then turn around and lean on the frame, crossing his arms over one another. Gaara's heart beat noisily in his chest.

"If you're gonna beat me up or something, just do it. I don't have time for this." He managed to say the words calmly, in a monotone voice, but inside he was shaking. Why wasn't Naruto here now?

The snow haired boy shook his head, laughing softly. "What makes you think we were gonna jump you? Sorry, but we've been given special orders of how to treat you. Consider yourself lucky, if I hadn't been sent to tag along, you would just be dealing with big Juugo over there," He cocked his head towards the male currently staring at the tiled floor. "And what a waste that would have been, hmm?" He cooed, brushing the hair out of Gaara's face, he jerked back.

"What do you want from me?"

A chuckle. "I want what any healthy teenage boy wants."

Kiba had to go, and when he had to go, it was very badly. He bounced in his seat, waving one hand in the air while the other pressed down firmly on his crotch, legs shifting under the seat. He squeaked with impatience. His sixth period teacher was busy explaining a question one of the students had previously asked.

"Asuma-sensei! Asuma-sensei! It's urgent! ...Aaasssuuuummmaaaa-senseiiii!" The teacher looked back at the boy currently dancing in his seat.

"Are you sure this time, Mr. Inuzuka?" He sighed. This was the forth time today that he has been bugged by the boy since the class started thirty minutes ago.

"Yes! Yes, I'm positive!" He squealed.

Neji on the other side of him shook his head sadly, covering his face with his hand. "Could you please let him go to the bathroom? He's driving me insane."

Asuma nodded. "Very well, take a pass with you."

Kiba bolted up, grabbing one of the laminated pieces of paper shaped like a cigarette and had a big red 'X' on it that said: SAY NO TO DRUGS, and headed out the door chanting, "Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go."

Gaara was slammed against the wall, much like how his father use to do to him. Only this time it really hurt because the school bathroom wall, be it because it was made of some type of sturdier, harder material, hurt way more than the wall of his bedroom or living room. But, and like he use to do with his father, he said nothing, only making a small, almost inaudible sound of pain. The male that inflicted such pain on the red head smirked, flashing another glimpse of his teeth, causing him to look eerily ominous in the dimmed bathroom light. A fist connected with his stomach.

Suigetsu watched as Gaara doubled over in pain, gasping for the air that had just been knocked out of him; he clutched his shoulders, attempting to push him back. A lightly muscled leg moved between Gaara's tightly clothed ones, parting them; he pushed harder on the snow haired boys chest, growling a warning.

"Get off of me." Yellow eyes narrowed in amusement.

He lifted Gaara's head from his shoulder, capturing his pale lips in a forced kiss. His sharp teeth scraped against Gaara's lips, drawing blood from the helpless boy, that's when he reacted, pushing the male backwards and off of him, bringing his sleeve up to wipe his mouth; it stung a little and tasted metallic. He spat on the bathroom floor near Suigetsu's feet.

Said boy swiped away at the blood--that belonged to Gaara--on his own lips with the back of his hand. "So I suppose we'll have to do this the hard way then, huh?"

Gaara said nothing; his scowl deepened. He longed to run from this situation right now, but the blockade at the door was preventing him from doing so. He was trapped and he felt really small right now, he didn't notice until that very moment. How had he walked into this? And who were these people? Why were they doing this to him? Obviously it was something to get back at Naruto, but still...to go this far. There wasn't one person that he could think of that would do anything like this...

...Unless...

The boy, Suigetsu, grabbed him by the arm--the good one--then, twisting him around, shoved Gaara face first into another wall. His chest hurt from the impact, but that was the least of his worries: the strange boy started caressing his hips and backside with his free hand, pressing himself against the read head's back. He licked his ear seductively and Gaara cringed at the icky contact.

"Behave now, or I'll have to get Juugo to lend a hand." He pressed himself harder into Gaara's backside so that he could feel his growing erection.

Gaara couldn't scream; he wouldn't give the bastard the satisfaction. So many things were running through his mind right now that he couldn't think straight, all he knew was that if, by chance or some greater purpose, someone didn't intervene right now, he would be in a lot of trouble. He started to struggle, but only to find the grip on his arm tighten, twisting it upwards even more; he let out a pained hiss.

"I told you to behave...i won't bite, much." He chuckled lightly, snaking his hand around to Gaara's middle, moving it under his shirt, then to the buckle of his belt, removing it then stripping Gaara's hips of the accessory. "I'm suppose to make this as painful as possible," The boy behind him was saying. "But if you cooperate and be a good little emo and just bend over and cry quietly--without screaming--I'll make it a little more bearable." He lowered the zipper of Gaara's pants, pushing down the material, revealing black boxer-briefs.

The hand that had been undressing the red head moved again to burrow underneath his underwear, when there were three soft knocks at the door; the hand stilled. Gaara almost sighed with relief, until the intruder on the other side of the door spoke.

"It's me. Let me in."

Kiba darted around corner after corner, in search of the bathroom. He finally found it, tears of joy almost sprang to his eyes, then that's when he noticed him. The familiar male walked up to the door of the rarely used fourth floor boy's bathroom and...knocked? That's strange, Kiba thought. Why would he be knocking on the bathroom door? But all curiosity at the boy's actions were lost when he heard the boy speak.

"What do you mean by 'who is it'?" He said angrily into the closed door. "Who else could it be? Now open the god damn door!" The heavy door was shut for a few more seconds before it opened slowly and the raven haired boy disappeared inside.

Kiba was stuck in his tracks, his sudden emergency left forgotten. Instead anger washed over him, his face contorted into a deep scowl.

What the hell is he doing here? He pondered, moving forward to go see exactly why the Uchiha was in the bathroom of a school he was no longer registered in, before stopping suddenly.

I can't just go in there now, he probably has a couple of his friends in there with him. But what could they be doing in there?

Instead of darting in the bathroom--where entry most likely wouldn't be allowed--blind and alone, Kiba turned and headed back towards his classroom.

If anything I should probably go get Neji and Shikamaru...just in case.

He sped back towards the classroom, in more of a hurry than he was previously in. He didn't know what it was--probably his canine instincts, or 'Lassie's intuition'as Neji so often referred to it as--but something didn't feel right. And he had a feeling it wasn't little Timmy trapped down a well.

Sasuke was up to something.

When he entered the room again, Asuma wasn't there. He walked over to the serious faces of Neji and Shikamaru that hardened into confusion at the expression on his face. Neji stood.

"What happened to you? Lady Tsunade on the hunt again?"

Kiba waved off the suggestion, shaking his head vigorously. "No, something else." He panted, gasping for air.

Shikamaru looked at him with a bored expression. "Oh? Then why were you running this time?"

"I just...saw someone. Sasuke...in the boys bathroom..."

Both boy's stiffened. Neji placed his hands on Kiba's shoulders, lifting him upright. "Are you sure?" The brunette nodded. "Where?"

"Bathroom...at the end...of the hall." Each phrase was said between gasps for air as he willed his heart to catch up with the rest of his body. Neji looked at Shikamaru.

"We should go check it out." The long haired boy nodded before heading out the room, the lazy teen not far behind, Kiba hurried to catch up with them.

"Wait for me!" he screamed, clutching his side.

When the bathroom was in sight, the door was still closed. All three boys walked carefully to it as not to warn anyone inside of their presence. It was quiet for a moment as Neji, Shikamaru and Kiba stood outside the door, waiting for conformation that Sasuke Uchiha was inside. After a few seconds of hushed noises, Neji moved to knock on the door when he heard a voice coming from inside that sounded much too familiar.

"I told you to let Juugo handle it. Don't you ever listen?"

Another voice snorted bemusedly. "I couldn't help myself, he's just so darn cute."

The other voice--the one believed to be Sasuke--sighed. "Leave it up to you to do what you want. It doesn't matter, as long as you make him suffer..."

"Aww, I wanted to have fun..."

"Fine, have fun, but don't get distracted. And make sure he doesn't make too much noise, we don't need to bring any more attention until Naruto finds him."

Three pairs of eyes widened in shock. There was only one person they could have trapped in there right now...

"You here that Gaara-kun?" The other voice sneered. "When I'm done your boyfriend will be the first one to see what a good job I've done at training you. Perhaps he'll thank me." A dramatic gasp. "Unless you've already been deflowered, then there won't really be any need to be gentle, now will there?" There was silence from inside, then a mild cackle. "Priceless! Virgins are always fun."

"Whatever, just hurry up."

Neji and Shikamaru--with their hands clasping tightly to his mouth and arms--drug Kiba down the hallway to an open, empty classroom. They heard the door of the bathroom open again and waited until the footsteps of the Uchiha disappeared before removing their hold on the brunette, which was a mistake.

"They've got Gaara in there! What the fuck are you two doing? We have to go help him." Shikamaru put a restraining arm on the tattooed boy, holding him in place.

"Calm down, Kiba. We need to think this through." Shikamaru mumbled, still a little in shock.

What the two--Sasuke and his companion--were talking about... They didn't truly intend to...

"We need to go get Naruto." Neji said, peeking out of the doorway and into the empty hall. Shikamaru nodded.

"Kiba," he started. "You're the fastest, go find Naruto and bring him back here--he should still be in Iruka's class--me and Neji will see if we can get through that door."

Kiba growled. "Right." before making another run out of the room.

Gaara was right. Although he never got a look at the boy, he knew the voice. He remembered it from that day, on Christmas Eve, and those eyes that looked at him with such anger and malice.

Sasuke Uchiha.

It was he who was behind all of this. Him who had planned to make him suffer. But at what cost? To harm him...or Naruto? Gaara's heart ached and, for the first time in eleven years, he felt like crying.

The man behind him was not gentle. He pressed Gaara's captured hand against the tiled wall, fumbling to get his pants down the rest of the way.

He wanted to scream.

He wanted to blame Sasuke Uchiha for all that was happening to him. He wanted desperately to fight back against his captor, but all those years of being numb to his father's blows prevented him from doing so. Never, not once did he swing against his father, he made a promise to himself; to never hurt another person again. The face of his uncle flashed across his eyes and, in that instant, he almost pushed against those feelings.

He wanted Naruto here, not this creature doing these despicable things to his body. Another image flashed across his mind:

He was six, his uncle was kind, and so were his words. He loved him, or he thought he did, and showed him all the time. Sometimes with a kiss...or a touch.

Tears welled in his green eyes, but he blinked them back, refusing to allow a memory to hurt him.

The hand that touched him moved places only the blonde's hands were allowed to roam. He felt dirty. Each time the male named Suigetsu's hands moved across his bare skin, it felt like someone dumped a bucket full of sewer water all over him. Kisses were spread sloppily all over his neck and he tried his hardest not to jerk away in disgust for fear of upsetting the monster in the corner. Gaara's boxers were pulled down roughly and he felt the skin contact with his backside. Another vision came to mind:

His uncle, behind his much smaller frame--like Suigetsu was now--whispering words of reassurance.

'I love you, Gaara. It makes me happy to know that I still have something here...something to remind me of her. You are the youngest; you meant the world to her. You mean the world to me too.'

Those were his words, filled with such hypocrisy... Gaara could remembered his uncles hands roaming over his pale body too...the stinging pain.

Screams.

Tears.

...Blood.

His uncle lying in the middle, knife balancing on his limp hand. He remembered how the skin gave way so easily, even though he hadn't been that strong. The gurgled sounds of near death, then the words that will be forever etched into his brain, 'I never loved you, Gaara.'

And right there, all hope left from his body, it grew limp with helplessness...

Tears welled and spilled over; Gaara began to cry.