A/N: I had intended to update this sooner. My connection to the Internet went down due to weather conditions. I only recently got it back, so I better post this while I have the chance.

+++Part 14+++

Fall

Cries of pain engulfed her ears as she clung to her protector.

When Gaara said he'd kill all that tried to hurt her, to take her away, he'd meant it. The unknown ninja lay motionless on the ground in a crimson splattered heap. Katherine was terrified. The body was shrouded in death. She did not want to face it; her young mind was not trained to handle this. She had to make it- imagine it- into something else.

"Is...is it jelly? It's...it's just strawberry jam, r- right?"

"Yes," he replied calmly.

Death and blood did not faze him in the slightest. He had seen it, caused it, for as far back as he could remember. However, he realized Katy was not regularly, if ever, exposed to this. So he played along in her denial. Somehow it made things better.

He stroked her hair, glaring out into the dark village. "Keep your eyes on me, Kitty- and stay near me. I won't let them have you..."

"We have to do something about Shukaku," roared an angry council member.

"We are still losing shinobi and citizens alike- how long do you intend to let this go on?"

"What have we learned from studying him?" chimed in another. "What of the girl?"

The Forth cast a sidelong glare to the man seated at his right. "Yashamaru...?"

The medic responded accordingly. "From what I have observed, she keeps him stable, for the most part. But it is when she is absent or endangered that he loses control. However, in all this time she has been hurt only once by the sand."

"And what does that tell us?" barked the same odious advisor. "Can it be controlled or not?"

"Our village's standing forces are diminishing! If we can't use Shukaku, our trump card, then what use is the jinchuuriki?"

"Yashamaru," the Kage called as the meeting neared to an end. "We need to talk later."

"Yes, sir."

He didn't understand why she'd brought it. It wasn't going to grow here. The tiny sapling- or whatever it was- would not thrive in this heat. But she wanted to try anyway.

"Where do you want to put it?" he asked.

It would not hurt to try.

The little brunette decided to plant it close to the wall where the hidden tunnel was. Though not too close- they did not want the location of their secret o be revealed. Katy plopped the clump of soil and roots into an easily dug hole in the shifting grains. After patting it in snugly, she took out a small bottle of water and carefully poured it over the tiny plant.

The scarlet haired boy looked on in doubt. Did she really think it would survive? The dry heat of the desert would surely make a quick end to it.

During the late evening, the two returned inside to his room.

"Ah, jeez," she sighed during another game of tic-tac-toe. "I have to...tinkle." As she rose, so did he.

Not again, she thought.

"Don't follow me this time!"

"But..." He looked torn.

Katy sniffed. "There are some things I need to do by myself! Just stay here, I'll be right back."

Reluctantly, he nodded and let her go.

As of the last attack on them, Gaara had become increasingly more protective...and possessive. He was totally convinced someone, somewhere, somehow, was trying to take her away. The result was him attempting to stay as near as possible to her at all times, whenever he could get away with it. The closer she was to him the easier it was to guard her.

Katy's mother had not helped. She recalled when they went along to the store with her. Katy had already built a reputation for wandering off in stores. So to deter her daughter from doing so, Charlotte went to scare her by saying someone could very well steal her if she went off on her own. Charlotte did not succeed in scaring Katy like she wanted.

But she had, however, succeeded in scaring Gaara.

He went so far as to follow Katy into the ladies' room and, only at the girl's insistence, waited outside the stall, glowering at anyone who came near.

Thankfully, not a lot of women were using the restroom that day.

It was more than a little embarrassing to her even though she didn't admit it to him. But she also knew why he was doing it.

He didn't want her to go away.

After washing and drying her hands, she made her way back through the halls to his room.

He needed her, wanted her- his friend. And now...she was the same.

She needed him too...

"We need to speed this up. I see how much the girl means to him."

Katy stopped her steps and train of thinking. Who was that talking?

"I want her to be the sole target of the next test. If Gaara keeps her from death then I shall postpone from having him dealt with."

Katherine reeled and terror took her in its iron grip. In some way her young mind understood what was being said and yet, at the same time, didn't.

"Are you sure, sir?"

Her mouth dropped- she knew that voice!

"See if you can find a willing shinobi to carry out the task. I will need you for the final test if this does not go well."

"...Understood."

The medic paused, looking over at the corner of the hall. "Miss Katherine?"

She hadn't realized how loud her panicked gasps had become. The blonde man walked to her with pity written on his face. "Miss Katherine..."

The Kage was looking over his shoulder, eyes narrowed. Had he known she was there, but spoke the words anyway?

Yashamaru reached for her, speaking comforting words that she could not process. She shook her head, willing it all to go away. When it didn't, she bolted. Down the halls, out the doors, and through the street. She ran until it hurt before falling to her knees, tears welling up and spilling over.

Peering down through blurred vision, she caught sight of the little sapling- wilted. Jadedly, she crawled over to it and wilted with it, arching over it and letting the rain from her eyes fall. The poor thing drank up the wetness like it had not had water in days instead of mere hours.

What she had heard back there... she didn't want it to be real, she wanted to will it away- turn it into something else- for both her sake and that of her friend's.

But it was real, and there was no denying that.

It horrified her; it confused her. Who would do such things...and to a child no less!

She wiped at her face, frustration tearing from her throat in a hiss. She had to go back for him...

Like the waves of the sea always came back for the sand.

Sniffing, she saw something wrong. How could things possibly get worse? The tears on her hand were not as they should be. Unlike the clear wetness she was used to...there was a strange blue-like tint mixed in. And that shade reminded her of...

It's like that light.

She nearly jumped from her skin. Whispers echoed behind her. Stumbling to stand, she frantically searched the area with her eyes.

There's no one here...

Suddenly the air and her body went from cold to freezing. The whispers came again, louder now. Katy shuddered violently. Unbeknownst to her, the little sapling was creeping back up from its withered state and was slowly climbing up to the sky. Katy spun around, eyes widened in disbelief. But what she saw next had her on the ground, scrambling backwards to get away. It was glowing, a mist of some sort.

And it was moving.

It shushed towards the tree and disappeared into its still growing trunk. As the minutes passed, her shaking subsided. The tree still grew, its branches reaching up and then bowing down to extend to the ground. Little buds turned into turquoise leaves in a matter of minutes. Finally it stopped. It was tall now, its trunk wide. It went from a tiny sapling to a medium sized tree in what seemed to be mere moments. The brunette gaped up at it in wonder. How did that just happen? The thin braches and leaves draped all around her, rustling lightly in the night wind.

She tried to stand and found that she was very shaky on her feet and ended up sitting back down. She was vaguely aware of sucking in a gulp of air when it reappeared, seeping out of the bark. The laminating vapor shifted and swirled.

It was taking on a form.

Katy's teeth clattered as her heart throbbed wildly in terror. It was taking on multiple shapes, as if trying them out, then settled on the form of a doe- a female deer. Its eyes locked onto her, the familiar blue moons circled by navy stared intensely. They were the same eyes that peered out at her from the light that had cut through the desert storm. And, supposedly, the same thing that led her back to the village with drips of water.

Katherine realized just then that she could see past it, the body was like a hazy cerulean fog. But the eyes... She could not see past those unblinking, unmoving eyes.

Her scream filled the night and broke her free from her frozen shock.

The girl ran...and the cerulean light gave chase.

Gaara had gone to find her. No one took that long in the bathroom, even if they were taking a bath! When he came across Yashamaru and asked if he'd seen her, the medic only gave a sad stare in response. The boy's pale eyes widened, that was not a good sign. He rushed back to the room; maybe she'd be there! Yes, she had returned and was waiting for him now. He opened and slammed the door quickly.

"Kitty...!" He stopped, petrified and alone in the empty room.

She's gone...

"No," his voice cracked. "No!"

He turned just as the door swung open again. His shaken friend stumbled into the room, huffing. He hurried over to her, catching her mid-fall.

"I...it..." she tried to verbalize.

He touched her tear-stringed cheek. "What happened? What did they do?" His teeth grit together, bitter and feral rage taking hold.

"I'll kill them," he hissed, "I swear I'll kill them!"

"N- no," whimpered Katy. "It was..."

"What? It was what?"

She gulped. "I think Bambi's mom is haunting me..."

Gaara's expression had turned from one of agonized concern to...more agonized concern. Did she hit her head? Slowly, he reached up to feel her forehead. He heard his uncle say people act odd when they are sick.

She produced a stubborn pout at his gesture. Grabbing his hand, she led the way to the tree.

The redhead showed the same reaction to the tree as Katy did. The pair gawked up at it.

Still gaping in awe, he questioned, "Its branches are bent down, why?"

"Um... I think it's a weeping...pillow?" The five-year-old searched for the correct term. "Willow. Yep, it's a weeping willow. I don't see a lot of 'em around the farm- I mean, Haven- I didn't know when I picked it."

"I like it."

Katy relaxed at the flow of the boy's soft voice. "...Me too."

His brow wrinkled in thought. "Where did Bambi's mom go?"

"Oh," She tensed up again. "She- she ran into me and disappeared. Again."

"What?"

Katy only shrugged in reply. Then the willow jolted her memory...of why she had been out here in the first place.

"We have to go! To Haven!"

"Why?"

"I'll- I'll tell you later. Le's go!"

She grasped his arm and took him away...from them.

Katherine did her best to explain to Gaara what she had discovered in the conversation she overheard. However, her limited vocabulary made it very difficult.

Exasperated, she gasped out, "I think your uncle's evil!"

"What are you talking about?" He narrowed his eyes and for a split second she saw that other man...the one giving the orders. But why would her friend resemble him?

"I...just..." She was afraid to go on, afraid he would be angry with her for saying such things about a member of his family. "Just...stay here."

"I'll have to go back eventually."

"No!" She blinked away the stinging tears. "No!"

"Kitty," he spoke gently. "It's all right. I'll keep you safe."

She couldn't say anymore. Instead she bowed her head and squeezed her lashes shut. With her stringy hair draped around her face, she looked very much like that weeping willow.

That night, after he went back, she prayed. Prayed that he would be okay, that whatever powers he possessed would keep him from all harm. And it would, physically at least. But his heart was open and vulnerable, threatening to bleed at any jab directed at it.

And she'd be the one to mend it...

She waited in consternation for the "test" that was ordered to be carried out more than a week ago. In all that time she looked over her shoulders constantly and jumped at any sudden noises. Gaara noticed the change in her and assured her he'd not let anything hurt her. Katy was no longer embarrassed or tired of his constant need to be near her whenever possible, now she was thankful for it. Only when they were in Haven did she revert back to her carefree spirit.

The leaves are changing color.

Shades of yellow, brown, red, and orange adorned the trees. Already her father had cut the tall golden grass of the fields and raked it into large roundbales. The noise of the tractor had disturbed the red head and he was glad when the farmer's job was over and done with.

The smell of the sweet hay and leaves filled her nostrils. They were sprawled out under the apple tree again. The once sour green fruit was now a pale juicy yellow. The friends had helped themselves to some before declaring them the best apples ever. She took him around the farm to try everything. Fall was harvest season and almost everything was bearing edible goodies. The grapevines in the garden were especially bursting with little treats.

"I really like the strawberries," he announced quietly.

She froze, a scene playing in her mind.

The blood...

It- it's just strawberry jam, r- right?

He must have seen the look of dread on her face because he became alarmed. "Kitty? What's wrong?"

She blinked repeatedly. "N- nothing. So, uh, you wanna climb on haybales?"

The golden bales were hard to resist for the child, even if she wasn't supposed to be mountaineering over them like a monkey. He was about to agree when she shrieked in delight, effectively startling the boy.

"Look, look! Morning glories! A BLUE one!" She rushed to grab it. Inhaling its scent, she spun with it. "Yum."

The redhead looked thoroughly perplexed, but said nothing, opting to watch silently.

"Okay," she chirped with the morning glory still in hand. "Le's go to the fields!"

The companions ran side by side, an occasional bright leaf glided down around them. Katy pondered how Gaara would take to jumping in a pile of those leaves with her. They played in the fields, from climbing roundbales (or leaping up like a ninja in the redhead's case), to chasing grasshoppers that bounded from the grass blades with each footstep they took. It was fun, but Katy couldn't help the worry from creeping in.

She knew the attack was coming, in time.

She shoved her fears to the back and focused on him.

If she were to fall, it would be protecting him. And, besides, she knew...

If she did fall...

He would catch her.

A/N: I know some of you may still be confused as to what Katy saw. If you go to my profile picture, you'll see what I had in mind. I used photo manipulation to make it look like what I had imagined while writing this.

And it seems Gaara is getting very possessive again...

Reviews are appreciated. Feel free to drop a line. :)

Thanks for reading.