Chapter 20
My hair was still dripping as I knocked on the Kazekage's door. My stomach settled a little bit as I heard Temari's voice call for me to come in, maybe I wasn't in as much trouble as I thought. My stomach tied in a knot once more as I thought about him sending me back to the hidden leaf. With a deep breath I opened the door to meet my fate.
"Finally!" Kankoro whined, he was standing next to Gaara who seemed to be finishing up some paper work.
"I'm sorry." I bowed my head waiting to get it over with.
Gaara looked up at me, "we'll deal with that when we get home." his voice didn't give away him mood.
"Home?" I tilted my head to the side.
"Yea! We're gonna go to the hot spring! You can come right?" Temari was ecstatic.
"Isn't that up to Gaara?"
"She meant are you going to melt." Kankoro interrupted before anyone else could reply.
"I-I don't think so, I've never been." I scratched my head a smiled.
"Let's find out then."Kankoro put an arm around my shoulder.
I growled at him and hit him in the ribs with elbow careful not to break anything but making sure it would hurt. What the hell was he thinking! Temari laughed as Kankoro wheezed from his bent over position, Gaara just watched us with a neutral expression that made my heart drop a little.
"Come on let's get going!" Temari seemed to notice my expression and led us outside. I fell in to line walking silently besides Gaara. I wasn't sure why but there seemed to be a barrier between us that was never there before. He was much different from the Gaara I first met but at that moment he seemed like more of a stranger.
By mid-afternoon we arrived at the location of the hot springs. I couldn't shake the small feeling that this was a bad idea, but I shrugged it off and decided to ignore. If it wasn't a screaming gut feeling it can't end up being that bad right?
Temari had to stop me from fallowing the guys into the male side of the hot springs. Thankfully there wasn't anyone else there so no one else witnessed my lack of knowledge.
"Should I have brought a swim suit?" I asked once we got into the changing room.
"Oh!" She chuckled a little bit, "you haven't been in a bath house either I guess? Well...you don't wear anything." She gave me a small wave and stepped into one of the changing stalls after grabbing a towel.
Blushing slightly I fallowed her example and stripped down, after a second of thinking, folded my clothes and proceeded to wrap a towel around my self. I grabbed my clothes and exited the changing room, once I saw where Temari had placed her clothes I sat mine down next to hers.
When I walked out of the changing room and into the area of the hot springs I looked around in surprise. A tall wooded wall separated the different gendered pools, there was steaming water coming out of the mouth of a dragon and the sweet scent of lavender in the air. I was caught off guard a little bit to see that Temari's hair was down and the towel she had worn out was folded on top of her head. She was sitting farthest away from the dragon so I timidly folded the towel and placed it onto my head and sank into the water next to her.
A hiss escaped me as the hot water touched my skin. Temari looked over at me and then down at her chest, "are yours actually bigger."
My face turned red, either from the heat of the water or from what she said, I covered my chest and moved away sinking under the water a little bit. It was around this time that I noticed that the usual barrier of cold I kept around me was gone. I shrugged it off it was a little uncomfortable but at the same time the water did feel good.
"You know," Temari rested her arms on the side of the pool, "Matsuri has pretty much convinced Gaara that you're dating Kankoro."
"What!" I yelled standing up in frustration and causing water to splash everywhere, "why the hell would that little runt do that! You know it's not true right?"
She threw her head back and laughed, "of course I know it's not true! The question is what are you going to do about it?"
I sank back into the water and sighed. I was probably not going to do anything about it, in all honesty Gaara was better off thinking I was in love with his brother. He no longer had the curse of the jinjuruki hanging over his head so he had the chance to have a normal life, if I got too involved with him then that would ruin any chances he had at normal.
"Matsuri had feelings for Gaara, does he feel the same way about her." I asked, I could hear the guys talking about something on their side of the wall but I couldn't make anything out over the sound of the water.
"I think he just cares for her as a student. You're the one he really cares about! He's been worried this whole time that you've changed your mind but wasn't sure how to tell him."
"The reason I haven't approached him yet is because I knew he would give me missions that would cause me to leave the village. I wouldn't be able to look over him until he healed then. When he was with you guys I would go play with the children in the orphanage." I started rambling feeling guilty about making him worry.
"So that's what you've been up. Why have you stayed out of site from us then?"
"I would have been captured a lot sooner if I had been seen now wouldn't I?" I smirked then fidgeted slightly, "Hey Temari?"
"What is it?' She looked over at my sudden change of tone.
"Did," I took a deep breath, "Gaara didn't hear what Lady Chiyo was talking about with me did he?"
She smiled but didn't answer the question instead choosing to close her eyes and lean back. So does that mean he was able to hear it? Or is she just toying with me? What on earth was sparkling over by the dragon anyway!? I had noticed it for a while now but was trying not to pay too much attention to it. Deciding to give into my curiosity, and distract myself from Temari's lack of reply, I got out of the water and walked over to where the light was coming from and knelt down next what appeared to be a tiny puppet. Kankoro was going to pay for this!
I stood up more quickly than I should of causing me to get light headed. This in turn caused me to loose my footing and fall into the hottest part of the spring. The instant I hit the water I could feel my chakra drain and the last thing I heard was Temari calling my name as the world went black.
I couldn't tell how long I was out for but I came to to the sound of an argument between Gaara and Temari. Even though they were so close I couldn't really make out what they were saying just that Temari thought I should be taken to the hospital.
"Don't" My voice was quiet but my heart was racing, "people will get hurt, have to stay with Gaara."
"What do you mean." Gaara knelt down infront of me his eyes slightly averted.
I took a couple deep breaths, "The me that's not me. She will attack anyone that could be a threat. Use the crow, contact Kikashi."
"Kankoro's puppet? How will that help us get in contact with Kikashi?"
"The bird not the puppet. There's a scroll in my clothes. Make a contract, he wont effect anyone's summons. Can travel between planes and get there faster. Please," I struggled to grab a hold of his hand, "please don't let me hurt anyone."
"I wont" His eyes were serious as he said this and I gave a small smile before I was out once more.
Some time had passed before I was awake again, my hair was wet but it was a different water than the hot springs. I felt like someone else was moving my body as I looked around the room I was now in. It was dimly lit and had no windows. I was guessing we were underground somewhere. There was a desk in the room as well as some chairs. The sounds of low talking filtered through my ears as I took a closer look at the desk. It looked as if Gaara, Matsuri, and Kankoro were all gathered around it.
Gaara was the first to notice that I was awake, his posture stiffened slightly and then relaxed as the others began to notice something was wrong. I couldn't hear what they were saying but I could hear the sound of a racing heart beat and for some reason that brought a smile to my face.
"So you're who Kikashi spoke of." Gaara rose his voice but kept head was down while he continued doing whatever they were doing.
"Ah so you were able to get a hold of him were you? Tell me, what did he say about me." The words that were coming out of my mouth weren't the one's I wanted to say.
"All he said was that you needed to feel safe and being around people you weren't accustomed to would cause you to become aggressive." He glanced my way for a second before turning back to his task. He made sure he never made eye contact.
My body tried to stand causing me to wince. I felt as if every muscle was weighed down and on fire. "what on earth did she do to herself. The first time I come out in years and we can barely move."
"Then maybe you shouldn't be moving." Kankoro spoke up, it wasn't his heart beat that put me edge so it must be Matsuri who's fear was causing my blood lust.
"Maybe you should watch you're tongue before I rip it out." A could feel a smile on my face as I barked the harsh words. "Will you stop whimpering you did this to yourself!"
She could hear me? The me that was not me. Give me my body back.
"I will, then I'll go back to sleep but first I want to have a little fun." She was slowly moving closer to the desk that the others were gathered by. I could hear the faint rush of sand as it fallowed me though I wasn't sure if it was to stop me or catch me if I fell. "Before I kill her would you please get the child out of here? Her fear if making it really hard to behave."
Matsuri moved to run for the door before Gaara's sand stopped her, "she stays."
A low growl escaped me at his challenge, he still had to prove to us that he was our alpha, "her blood is on your hands then if she doesn't calm herself."
"Matsuri. I need you to calm down and stay here. It's important that you know the full story before you run off and start telling people what happened." He looked at me again and I noticed he didn't have his amourer on, "please sit down Yuki before you fall. No one here is going to challenge your rank until you're fit to defend it."
So Kikashi had informed him on more than just the other me. Maybe this won't end badly.
"Don't get you're hopes up. After all it's you're fault I exist." she snapped causing the others to look at me weird. "Your Yuki is giving me a headache is all." I sat down at the only chair available, which happened to be next to Gaara.
"Why is it Yuki's fault that you exist?" He seemed genuinely curious so she decided it would be fun to play along.
"Demons grow at a much slower rate than humans but our minds develop much more quickly. When our pack was destroyed Yuki was able to remember all of it. Even her mother handing her off to one of the Shinobi begging that she be spared. That Shinobi happened to be Kikashi. As she grew she was warned to hide her true self and so her personality was divided into two so that she could easier fit into the human world. She shut out off the information, all the things that made her who she is and became someone complaint and loyal to those who wanted to kill her. Until she is truly comfortable with who she is I will always exist. Dwelling inside her mind until an opportunity arises to take over for a little bit." I rested my chin on my hands and watched the emotions play over Gaara's face, he seemed to want me to keep talking but I wasn't sure about what.
Don't you dare!
"So," The others were quiet and the me that wasn't me seemed to want to make sure this got said before she went back to sleep, "did you know wolves mate for life?"
"I've read that somewhere." It was Kankoro who answered this time.
"Well the main reason I came out was not only to protect Yuki but to get a good idea on who the one she wants as a mate is. It's not uncommon for a demon to mate with a human after all and she really doesn't have much choice." she was still watching Gaara's face as she spoke. "when a demon and a human decide to become mate that humans life span is expanded for a few hundred years, though it doesn't prevent them from dying from disease or injury."
"Looks like Kankoro will be living a long time them." It was Matsuri who spoke up.
I turned to her and gave her a toothy smile, "I should tear your throat out for even speaking those words. You know that's not who she wants as her mate." my breathing was heavy and I could see spots dancing in the light.
Matsuri tensed and scooted her chair back causing a horrible screech. Kankoro was laughing about the whole thing though Gaara remained silent.
"It's about time you got shut up for that rumor!" Kankoro wiped a tear off his eye.
I flinched and snarled as a cold hand touched my forehead, when had Gaara stood up. "Your fever is back you need to rest."
"You need to give her an answer. Whenever she is healed let her know if you feel the same way she does. Her heart belongs to you and I'm tired of hearing her doubt and worry about if yours belongs to her. Please watch over her and make sure that I'm able to disappear for good." I leaned back against him as I spoke my eyes closing once more.