~Shika's POV~
"Why?" I whispered to Ryu, who was sitting across from me with Lori's motionless body as a partition. For a split second, I gazed down at her pale, fragile form and swallowed back my fear before looking the ninja in the eyes.
Ryu's orbs were hazy with thought and some other emotion I couldn't quite place. "Rain had some people after her: strong and dangerous people that even the two of us might not beat. She didn't want anyone in the Leaf Village get hurt because of her," he explained.
For a moment, the room was completely silent except for the beeping and humming of the many machines. Then I actually comprehended what the guy had said.
My jaw just about hit the floor.
"She thought that we would get hurt?" I hissed. Ryu nodded.
I stood up with a jerk and started pacing back and forth, not able to decide whether to put my hands in my pockets or start tearing at my hair. "Lori has got to be the most stupid, stubborn, selfless person I know. She wouldn't come and ask me for help if her life depended on it, which it did!" I cried, exasperated. "The Leaf Village could take on anyone if we wanted to. Hell, we could kick the collective ass of any village on the continent!"
A loud buzz alarmed me as one of the machines went on the fritz. A nurse came rushing in, only to sigh and replace the filter on the oxygen apparatus. I let out a breath I'd been unknowingly holding. A quick glance at Ryu showed me that he was worried not just about Lori, but about me. His gaze was trained on me like I were a rabid animal. Probably because you look like you're about to lose any grip you have on your sanity. All you need is the foam at the mouth.
Slowly, steadily, I calmed myself down. "Why would someone be after Lori anyway? She never mentioned anything about it."
A pained look spread across the brunette's face as he looked down and brushed some hair out of her eyes. "That is something that she will have to tell you herself. No matter how much I want to, I can't tell you about Rain's…demons, you might say."
If I had been any other guy, I might have tried to shake it out of him instead of sitting back down. Frankly, I almost did. But that tiny thread of sanity I did have told me it wouldn't help. Not now.
"Okay then," I said, trying to change the subject to lighter happenings, "Everyone else calls her Lori and she says that is her nickname, too. Why do you call her Rain?"
The young man relaxed back into his chair and smiled sadly. "That's a funny story, actually. When we were younger, I called her Lori like everyone else. But then this really weird guy came to our village and his name was Laury. Rain hated the pervert so much that she went around and told everyone that she didn't want to even share a name with the man. No one listened to her, of course. They all thought that it was just one of those fazes all kids go through."
"But Rain was my best friend, so I went with her wishes; I thought that Lorraine was too long to say though. So I started to call her Rain instead and the name stuck. I don't even think she remembers why I call her that herself. Maybe I'll tell her when she wakes up." For a second, I could have sworn tears welled up in his eyes before he looked away.
It made sense. Her best friend from childhood and her fellow trainee for Dragon Keeper would have amusing and irrelevant stories from their past. Then it clicked. "Do you understand Ancient Dragon?" I asked, swiftly pulling out the letter that I always had from the secret pocket.
"Yeah…Why do you ask?" I unfolded the letter and pointed to the bottom section.
My stomach flip-flopped for some reason I probably would never find out. "Can you translate this for me? Kyo said that he didn't know what it said."
He took the letter from me gingerly as if it were a piece of glass and examined the faded script. A look of shock crossed his face, then something I couldn't understand. "She'ara monsen tomuri resa is a pretty simple letter ending in our village. It is nothing special."
I sat there for a moment, taking in what he had said. "What does it translate into completely?" I asked. My heart leaped up into my throat, waiting for the understanding that his words would bring me. For some reason, those ten syllables had been eating away at me the moment I laid eyes on them, almost as if I were entranced by some spell.
"It is a farewell between…good friends." Ryu replied almost hesitantly. Before I could interrogate him about his behavior, Sakura walked in.
Her appearance reminded me that there was something I should probably do. But I couldn't leave Lori's side. Not just yet. So I asked the pinkette to do me the simple favor. She ran off before I could blink.
Then I took the sleeping girl's hand in both of mine and rested my chin on our intertwined fingers.
~Gaara's POV~
During one of my many lessons in morals, ethics and life from Lorraine, she talked to me about retribution. "When you fight for someone else, it shouldn't be for revenge, but to protect him or her. By the time you need revenge, it means you couldn't protect them in the first place," she had said. Her voice had been bitter but resonated strongly in my mind. The kunoichi had spoken of it like she had experienced the feelings herself.
I had chewed over it many times afterwards. At first, it occurred to me that I would never feel the need to get revenge against someone. Though I supposed that maybe, possibly, she was right.
But after Lorraine had died, the notion left my head. The sudden smoldering sensation in my chest left me gasping for breath whenever I thought of the people who were to blame. It became so hot sometimes that it burned like cold fire, erasing any doubts about what I was going to do.
I would fight to avenge Lorraine's death. Those stupid Leaf Village shinobi should have protected her. But they didn't. So they needed punishment.
If there is anything I can do, it is cause some pain.
My fight with Naruto, the Uchiha and their little pink haired teammate brought it back to the forefront of my thoughts. I wasn't too fond of that, to say the least. Lorraine's words echoed in my ears sadly, pounding away at the walls between me and the rest of the world.
When I was finally let out of the intensive care unit the day after the battle, I ran into the pink girl I attacked while I was wandering the halls. Her name was easy enough to remember: Sakura. She seemed slightly apprehensive of me, but definitely not afraid.
That silly voice in my head that had strangely begun to sound like Lorraine reminded me of the conscience she had helped develop. "I'm sorry for hurting you." I murmured as she gave me the evil eye.
With that, her face softened and she asked, "You and Lori were still friends after our mission, right?" I nodded. Sakura seemed to think for a moment before grabbing me by the elbow and tugging me along back towards the ICU. Her touch should have sent sand flying in all directions, but my chakra was so depleted any my will was so shattered that even Shukaku didn't bother.
Sakura knocked on a door and I heard a muffled, "Come in." We did so and I almost passed out with what I saw. Lorraine was hooked up to half a dozen machines by wires and tubes, but she was alive.
Cautiously, I stepped towards her. The stronger of the boys sitting by her stood up and blocked her protectively. "Who are you?" He eyed me suspiciously before a light bulb lit in his head. The image would have been rather amusing if I had a better sense of humor. "Wait, I know you. You're that Sand guy that Rain is friends with." I nodded but thought, Who the hell is Rain? I thought we were talking about Lorraine.
Lorraine looked bad. Even under the loose hospital gown, I could tell that she had lost some weight. There were bandages wrapped around her shoulder and leg. The lazy boy who I remembered had given me the letter from her sat by Lorraine's bedside with his hands wrapped around hers, his eyes staring at her face, begging her to wake up.
Anger then bubbled up in me. "Who did this to her?"
The strong one said, "She already killed them. No need for revenge, Gaara. By the way, I am Ryuuga Hibachi. Rain…I mean Lorraine told me about you."
"Oh, she did? How wonderful." I drawled, letting the sarcasm slip into my voice.
A tiny smile flitted across Ryuuga's face, but disappeared. "I can understand why Rain took a liking to you."
As he said that, I could hear Shukaku speaking to me in my mind. I could never understand how a powerful demon sounded like a hick from Texas. Woah there partner! This guy has a powerful little snaky in that body of his. Wonder where that came from. Snaky? You folk around here call them dragons. Just over grown, egotistical lizards, if you ask me.
"Are you that boy that Lorraine said had a dragon inside of him?" I asked bluntly. He flinched, but nodded. Hmm…This is one of Lorraine's friends. Interesting.
"It seems like she was talking about me too. That figures." He pulled me aside and onto the tiny fire escape outside the window. Why there would be a fire escape in the ICU, I would never know.
Then he and told me how Lorraine had left to protect everyone in her new village and all of her friends. "If anyone needs protection, it is her." I said. Ryu nodded and a look of understanding crossed between us. We may not be friends ourselves, but our need to protect Lorraine came first. I got a cryptic answer on why someone would be chasing her from the tall brunette.
Temari busted through the door like one of the whirlwinds she manipulated yelling, "Gaara, what the hell did you think you were doing, checking yourself out from the ICU without…" And then she saw Lorraine.
Temari had never been close friends with her, from what I know, but her hand still covered her mouth, trying to cover the gasp of shock that escaped her lips. Kankuro came in after her with a similar reaction.
"How in the world…I thought she was…" Kankuro stuttered.
"Yeah, so did we." Shikamaru managed to croak.
It was the first time my attention really focused on the guy. He looked horrible, even to me. There were dark circles under his eyes and he was as pale as a ghost. There was an awkward moment of silence before Ryu beckoned to my siblings. "Come on," he faked with enthusiasm, "Let's go down to the cafeteria and get some nasty hospital food. I'll explain what happened when we get there."
When they left, the lazy boy didn't even seem to notice. His focus was on Lorraine's face. "You should go and get some food yourself. And some sleep." I said, trying to be nice. It didn't come out too well.
He continued to sit there as still as she was. "If she wakes up, you'll be the first to know. I won't leave her for a second until you get back." Something about what I had said or how I had said it seemed to break through his trance. Shikamaru nodded and said something about going back to his place to get some new cloths. The ones he was wearing were coated in dried blood and dirt.
Alone, I took his seat by Lorraine. After years of just having to sit for 8 hours when others were sleeping, I let myself back into the familiar rhythm of flowing through memories. Instead of the hellish ones of my childhood, I remembered when Lorraine first came to the Sand Village. Somehow, she had won me over, and convinced me to let her into my personal bubble. That crazy girl had actually hugged me. Me, Gaara of the Desert, the mass murdering psychopath.
Then I recalled how she had helped me fall into the peacefully black realm of sleep. Sleep that was actually restful. Sleep without nightmares.
An unfamiliar feeling crept up when I remembered a tear falling down her face as she let me rest again. It was a strange and painful feeling that I still had not placed. Her voice whispered through my mind. There are some times that no matter what you do, you can't do anything to help your friends. That is one of the bad things to having close bonds with people. It hurts when you can't help. At least I understood that part now.
It continued like that for about 45 minutes before a wet but clean Shikamaru came in. A look of shock went across his face, and I instantly turned to Lorraine. My sand had taken on a mind of its own and was floating around her. It wasn't in a threatening way, for once. The sand swayed with a gentle rhythm, looking like tiny wisps of a cloud in the sky. I pulled the sand away and stood up, moving to a couch underneath the window.
Temari, Kankuro and Ryu came in a moment later. Ryu sat on a stool by her bed. Temari and Kankuro gave each other a strange look before asking, "Can we sit beside you?" I was surprised. Never before had they ever done anything that would put them close to me.
Then I saw Ryu smirking at me, and realized that he must have…persuaded them to act more like my siblings. I nodded, and moved over to one side. They sat down, but were going out of their way to sit as far away from me as possible.
Suddenly, the weight of sleep that had become oh so familiar crept up on me. Ryu somehow sensed it and said, "Don't worry, Gaara, you can sleep here. Temari and Kankuro explained how Rain had let you fall asleep with no intrusions. I think it is because my dragon's aura rubbed off on her slightly, but was enough to keep the Shukaku from wanting to come out and face her. Since the real dragon is here, I think you'll be fine."
That damn little punk! I ain't afraid of no little snaky, no I am not. Just let me at 'em right now, I tell you…
I fell asleep despite Shukaku's protests.