36

It was almost two weeks before Fuu felt vaguely human again. She couldn't say normal, since that was a relative term…but then again considering her Jinchuriki status she supposed human could be considered a relative term too. At least, by that point, she didn't feel as though she'd recently been dragged through a blender then glued back together with lemon juice and razor blades.

Fuu was yet to open her eyes until that point; instead settling for the throbbing red and black blots behind her eyelids that perfectly matched the brutal tempo in her head. It was in fact, the sound of whispers and giggles that finally had Fuu slanting her eyes open. Everything around her until then had been hushed, sombre conversation and quiet movement obviously designed not to disturb the patients. Or patient, Fuu mentally corrected with a wince. She still didn't know the state of Gaara and Ren; and some childish, flippant part of her didn't want to. She could force herself to believe they were fine until given proof otherwise.

Briefly she wondered when exactly she'd become so flippant about receiving answers. Was being adept at 'brushing things off' the only way she could have survived as the Jinchuriki of Takigakure? No, Ren and Gaara didn't exactly let things go. Which was better; obsessing and reliving every dark moment in your head or simply choosing to laugh it away like it had happened to someone else, somewhere else? But those thoughts only reared more unwanted concerns about her two travel companion; and it was like she could do more recon on that dilemma with her new 'Human Bruise' identity.

So in the end, it was more curiosity and a need for a distraction from chronic dry-mouth starring 'your body after being schooled in the world of pain' that had Fuu squinting. Despite the murkiness of the room, it still took Fuu a moment before her eyes stopped trying to wince shut again. And when they did, she found herself staring at the skinny back of a little boy.

He seemed to be arguing with two other boys about a trivial matter with the seriousness only a child could display when arguing about a trivial matter. Deciding whether or not the patients really needed the rice crackers his mother had left was life or death apparently. Fuu had to suppress a snort of amusement. Despite her tomboyish demeanour, she had a massive soft-spot for kids. Yeah, she might not be all calm and soft-spoken like those other maternal types but that didn't mean Fuu was unprepared or even the least bit sour about dealing with the little brats. In fact, she'd choose a pack of kids over adults any day.

It was only after the boys had apparently come to a decision (then promptly decided to overturn said decision) that Fuu realised she really should be taking more note of her surroundings. She seriously doubted that a mass-murder would allow their pint-sized minions to squabble over rice crackers (or feed their victims at all, for that matter), so it seemed that wherever she'd rocked up wasn't too ill-meaning. Unless they were cannibals trying to fatten her up of course, but…meh. It wasn't like Fuu could overpower anyone in her post-blender state anyway.

Shifting as she tried to pull herself up onto her elbows, Fuu hissed as the abused skin of her back pulled taunt. It took her moment to get her breathing back under control and slowly peel her eyes open again. When she did, two big, hazelnut eyes blinked back.

"Hello," the girl, who was had an adorably disturbing resemblance to a puppy with pigtails and a hoarding issue with winter clothing, smiled.

"Er…hey?" Fuu croaked, smiling and raising a brow.

The girl continued to stare at Fuu, still sat in her lap and dressed in a ridiculous get-up of puffed coat, woolly hat, at least three mittens and last but not least the biggest scarf Fuu has ever seen.

"Sooo," Fuu drawled in her parched voice, "what can I do for you?"

If anything the girl's eyes got wider. Actually now that Fuu thought about it, had the girl even blinked? The way she kept staring at her like Fuu was her own personal messiah or something was actually starting to unnerve the Jinchuriki a bit.

"You really are an angel," the girl breathed at last, tone all awe and worship.

"A what?" Fuu's face screwed up with confusion.

"An angel," the girl stressed, "I saw your wings before, but they've gone now. Hey, where did your wings actually go? Do you keep them in a box or something? Won't they get squashed or wrinkled? How come you're here, do you have some angel business? Are the other two angels too? How fast can you-"

"Woah, woah, woah," Fuu chuckled, raising her hands against the onslaught of questions. Fuu being a big talker too (and a speedy one at that) was miraculously able to keep up with the machine gun inquiry, but that didn't mean it made any more sense.

"An angel?" Fuu asked and the girl nodded.

"Me?" Fuu pointed a finger under her own bruised jaw and the girl nodded.

"Pshhhaaww," Fuu bubbled her lips before grinning, "Jeez, I appreciate the flattery kid, I really do, but I'm not an angel."

"But…but you have wings-and-and you were wearing white," the girl struggled.

"Honestly I'm not an angel."

If anything the girl looked offended by Fuu's rebuttal but nodded her acceptance nonetheless.

"I…guess, if you say so," the girl conceded with a tone that suggested she was accustomed to grudgingly accepting whatever her elders told her, "does that mean the other two are angels then? They don't look like angels…they look kinda mean."

Mean? Yeah, Fuu couldn't argue that point when Gaara was concerned. The boy still intimidated the hell out of Fuu, so it wasn't difficult to imagine what effect his blunt scrutiny would have on a bunch of kids. But Ren too? Yeah, Ren wasn't exactly all rainbows and sunshine. She spent 80% of her time insulting you, your mother and/or your life choices and the other 20% telling you exactly why hers were infinitely better; but at a glance Ren appeared the most harmless by far. Superficially Ren looked innocent, vulnerable even like a little kid who'd lost their mother at a busy festival. And Fuu was convinced that nearly everything that spilled out of Ren's mouth were either lies or bravado anyway, so like most things in life she didn't let it bother her. She couldn't be sure if that was actually the case or if Fuu was superimposing her impression of a person onto the reality of them again (something she was prone to do) but those odd moments of startling sincerity from the other Jinchuriki hinted that she'd at least got it half-way right.

"So…" the girl prompted, drawing Fuu from her reverie, "are they angels?"

Fuu choked out a laugh, "Ren-chan and Gaara-kun are a lot of things, but angels? No. No way."

The girl pouted.

"Alright," Fuu shifted further, moving her aching arms to lift the little body from her lap, "I think it's about time I got off my ass. Are the others up too?"

"You need to say in bed," this was voiced by a boy in a bucket hat who appeared at her side. There was an air of stubborn maturity around this one and the other kids seemed to follow suit, the girl slipping away from Fuu and settling behind the boy's back.

"Kaa-san and Gramps said so," the boy continued, "your body still needs rest."

Fuu smirked and raised a challenging brow, "and you are?"

"I'm Inari," the boy introduced then nodded at the girl, "that's Rika-chan," his head moved to a shorter boy with sharp features, "Yuta-kun," then finally rested on a plump boy with a huge apple sewn into the front of his hooded jacket, "and Arashi-kun."

"Nice to meet you," Fuu grinned, "Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna go find my…"

'My…what?' Fuu wondered. Did Ren and Gaara count as teammates? Friends? Younger siblings? Traveling companions seemed the closest term for what they were to each other, but was the description too close for their relationship or too loose?

"The scary red-head and the short ass with a sharp tongue," Fuu finished, chuckling and shaking her head to herself, "You've seen them?"

"Kaa-san and Suzuki-san moved the girl to another room, and the boy's out front but…" the boy gave her an assessing look, "….I dunno, I still think you should rest."

Completely ignoring what instructions the boy gave, Fuu grinned, "thanks."

She managed to heave herself up without any major wobbles and began to navigate through the organised chaos of futons, bandages and used plates towards the door.

"Hey, hey! Wait, come back!" the boy panicked but remained where he stood.

Once again Fuu disregarded his advice (she was also an expert at choosing to mishearing things or just not hear things altogether) and slid the door open; humming that soft, melancholy tune Ren was partial to as she did so. A muffled 'I knew we should'a given her the biscuits' came from the room before Fuu finally pulled the sliding door closed. It was only when she reached the end of the corridor that she realised that she had absolutely no idea how to get outside. For since a tiny and simplistic house, the front door was ludicrously elusive. She was also ashamed to say she was out of breath by then too.

It was then that a bearded, older man shuffled round the corner, bottle to his lips and legs slightly akimbo as he walked. Fuu stared at the man; the man removed his bottle and stared back.

"Do I know you?" he asked in a gruff voice, his head lowering from where it had been raised to collect the last drops of whatever was in that bottle and his glasses slipping further down his nose as he did so.

"Is that a trick question?" Fuu grinned.

"What?" the man squinted, clearly unamused, before recognition kicked in"….ah! You're one'a those kids Tsunami put up. What you doin' strollin' around, aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

"I was looking for-"

"The kid's out back," the old man cut off before she could finish the question.

"Alright, thanks I guess," Fuu lifted a brow and chuckled, tickled by the man's simultaneous helpful and rude conduct.

"Don't mention it, 'cuse me," the older man began to once again make his way down the narrow corridor.

A wave of vertigo washed through Fuu. Before she knew what was happening it felt like her brain had floated above her skull and the rest of her body was pitching downwards. Tan, wrinkled hands caught her at the shoulders before she could fall any farther then slipped under her armpits and hoisted her to her feet again. Mercifully, they did not fail her a second time.

"You alright?" the old man's watery eyes were full of concern despite his gruff voice.

"Just a bit dizzy," Fuu launched energetically into the next topic in an attempt to divert the previous one, "Hey, you said Gaara-kun was out back right?"

"…yeah," the man answered dubiously, still watching her as if she'd projectile vomit at any moment.

"Can you show me where? Your house is small but I still can't find my damn way about the place," Fuu asked with a robust grin.

The man frowned at the house comment (a social no-no that went completely unregistered by Fuu) but nodded anyway, "…alright."

"Thanks!" Fuu's face stretched into her customary easy-going languid smile, "Oh! And thanks for putting us up and patching us up too."

"Don't mention it. My daughter did most of the work anyway," the man answered roughly.

"Yeah, well thanks…" Fuu's smile wavered, "….To be honest, I really thought we were all gonna die out there. We probably would have if you'd just left us."

The old man glanced uneasily at her once before resolutely redirecting his gaze to the corridor ahead. Fuu's arm was slung over his back just in case but she was mostly walking unaided (it was more a precaution…and the guy did reek of spilt alcohol). Fuu gave herself a mental shake, shrugging off the morbid thoughts. If she didn't want to think about crap like that she sure as hell didn't want to talk about it. What's done is done. No point agonising over it especially when she was still fortunate enough to be breathing.

"But I'm still alive and kicking," Fuu said cheerfully, "so no point getting worked up about it."

"Yeah, guess you're right," the man barked a rough laugh.

"But…" he began a moment later, "what's the deal with you? Are you kids in some kind of trouble?"

"I guess you could say that," Fuu chuckled uncomfortably; "To be honest even I'm not entirely sure what's going on."

Which was the truth, she'd left, Ren said some guys were trying to kill the Jinchuriki and then some guys had shown up and beat the living daylights out of them. The 'who's', 'why's' and 'what's' hadn't really entered Fuu's head despite this directly happening to her.

"Are you're alright with that?" the guy looked dubious.

Fuu smiled in her laid-back manner and shrugged.

The old man just looked at her a moment before sighing deeply, "it's none of my business…just don't bring it to my daughter's door."

Another wave washed through Fuu, though not the same emotion the guilt that hit Fuu then was just as stomach-curling as the dizziness had been before. Were they bringing trouble down on the heads of these people? She'd only just met them, yet they'd healed her for no other apparent reason than human decency. To just repay that kindness by dragging them into the power struggle of the shinobi world and a Jinchuriki's life as nothing but a tool for that power struggle was wretched. Fuu could easily be considered far too trusting (especially for a shinobi) but she'd never really seen any reason not to be…previously anyway. People were always trying their damned hardest to stay away from her, not delude her into a false sense of security or manipulate her. That's why she didn't swallow down the urge to latch onto any willing human contact like a particularly persistent barnacle. She wanted to believe these people, she may have written off everyone in Takigakure after a total sum of fifteen years of neglect, but these people…

Just like her, these people hadn't done anything wrong but were still going to pay for the selfish actions of others. So who was in the right? Were the Jinchuriki the bad guys for potentially dragging a group of innocent people into their problems (that is if those terrifying men were still pursuing anyway)? Or were the Jinchuriki the victims and the Kage in the wrong considering Fuu would only be a human weapon if she stayed anyway? But the Kage were only protecting their people, so were they also victims of their situation?

This was all giving Fuu a headache. She was somewhat relieved then when the old man began to haphazardly push one of the doors open with his foot; if only because it gave her rest from dangerous lines of thought.

The old man jerked his head towards a lone figure sitting on the last stone step of the stairs leading up to the house, "He's over there…you gonna be alright?"

Wow which option did Fuu want to avoid more, debating whether or not she should have (or even deserved) the right to skip away with the other Jinchuriki, or attempting to talk to Gaara without Ren present? That was a toughie.

She couldn't say that shehated Gaara; she couldn't even say she disliked him. She just didn't 'get' him, they didn't 'mesh' and quite frankly whenever he did pay her any attention more than a cursory, apathetic glance he never failed to make her feel uncomfortable. Fuu just couldn't deal with bluntness to be honest. She liked messing around, she'd liked playfulness and she enjoyed teasing. Yeah, she could handle serious stuff (to an extent) but she hated being serious about it.

Gaara, on the other hand, was just humourless, unrelenting truth. Fuu had no idea why Ren seemed to take comfort in that, when all it did was make Fuu feel unpleasantly awkward like Gaara could see and judge every little thing Fuu had ever done. Man, she was usually so unflustered around people too but it didn't help that she wanted the other Jinchuriki to like her. And she still wasn't certain whether or not she was growing on either of them. It wasn't like she was religiously trying to please or anything, she was still Fuu, but she believed that eventually they could work together. Like real teammates or, in the wistful and giddier unvoiced corners of her head, maybe even family.

So with that wish in mind Fuu returned the old man's concern with a smile, "Yeah I'll be fine. Thanks…er…."

"Tazuna," the guy huffed, "Your welcome."

Another wiry smirk graced Fuu's face as Tazuna disappeared back into the house, then she returned her gaze to Gaara.

His skinny frame was ramrod straight despite there being a handrail he could have easily leant his weight against. With life passing by in the appearance of housewife's chatting and collecting shopping, children yanking at each other and attempting to overtake one another in juvenile races, and small clusters of youths laughing and flirting in their groups ; Gaara looked oddly removed on that little step despite him being less than six steps away from the street.

He looked smaller somehow, younger too.

It took Fuu a moment to realise that this was the first time she was seeing Gaara completely on his own. Yeah, he and Ren were by no means buddy-buddy but they always seemed to distantly circulate one another. Even though Gaara sat away from them both at camp, he was never too far away. Seeing him on his own, completely on his own and watching everyday life with a glassy stare was just…sad honestly. It made Fuu's gut wrench. It also strongly reminded her of how many times she'd commited the same action.

'Hey,' Fuu smiled to herself, 'maybe for all their disparities she and Gaara weren't too different after all.'

"Hey!" Fuu called and parked herself beside the boy, "What's up? You alright?"

Gaara didn't even glance in her direction, never mind answer. Fuu sighed with grim humour, 'okay and maybe that previous thought was stretching it a bit.'

"Are you feeling alright? You didn't get too injured did you?" Fuu continued.

"…No," he eventually rasped, the two letter word escaping his mouth in a puff of cold air.

Fuu eyed him and supposed he didn't look to be in too bad shape. He was paler (a feat Fuu wouldn't have believed was possible beforehand) than he was before and there were definite lingering evidence of exhaustion; but besides that he didn't look like he'd recently been doing anything anymore dangerous than home cooking. Fuu couldn't exactly say the same for herself.

The silence stretched on while Fuu practically vibrated in her seat. The demon buzzed restlessly in her head and Fuu physically manifested her own discomfort by taping her finger against her knees. Man, she hated the quiet. Fuu eventually decided that five minutes was an abnormally long time to sit next to someone in absolute silence and decided to break through and into conversation like a steamboat cleaves through ice.

"So," she licked her lips, "where's Ren-chan?"

Ah, Ren the conversional buffer between Fuu and Gaara. How your absence is missed in this awkward moment. Damn it was cold; Fuu hugged her legs tighter to her body to ward of some of the biting early winter winds.

"She's…" Fuu swore she could see Gaara's eyes darken as he answered, "…comatose."

"What?" Fuu breathed.

"The Genjutsu has put her in a coma," Gaara replied, "she's not responding to anything."

"But…she'll break out of it right?"

Gaara didn't answer. The tapping of Fuu's hands grew more anxious in the quiet that followed.

"So what are we going to do now?" Fuu asked if only because it was something to say and something to distract her from worrying about Ren.

Gaara was quiet for a long while and Fuu sighed, believing that he'd chosen to leave her question unanswered.

"I'm leaving," Gaara spoke just as Fuu had moved to get up.

She paused, "Er, come again?"

"I'm going," Gaara repeated, "the other Jinchuriki. I'll find them."

"Yeah," Fuu laughed nervously, brows knitted with unease, "Yeah, WE'RE gonna find them TOGETHER. All three of us."

"No."

"What do you mean 'no'?"

Gaara just looked at her sharply, "You fight only for your own survival. I believed Ren understood that. We weren't…connected but merely all moving in the same direction. As she is now, she's weak. I'm not carrying dead weight."

"Dead weight?" Fuu breathed in disbelief before anger bubbled over, "What the hell are you talking about?! We can't just leave her because she's not on top form right now!"

"Why not," it wasn't a question but Fuu answered anyway.

"Because she's the one that came up with the idea in the first place, plus she's…" Fuu struggled on a description as to what the other two were to her again; meanwhile Gaara stared with cold, unnerving focus back at her as Fuu floundered.

Fuu changed tack and glared down at Gaara, "do you think she'd leave one of us if we were in her position, huh?"

"…." Gaara just glared back. Neither of them were entirely sure what Ren would do in their position, both answers seemed just as likely.

"I can't believe you're saying this," Fuu muttered with disgust, her sleeves coming up to wipe furiously at her nose, "I really thought…for a second there, when we were all travelling together I honestly thought…."

"I live only for myself," Gaara rasped, cutting her off, "As does everyone else. Selfish, cruel that's what we all are. Demons. Whether you choose to believe it or not," Gaara lifted himself to his feet and made for the door only turning his head to address her, "that's the truth."

Then he disappeared inside.

Fuu was left staring at the spot where his turned back had occupied seconds before. She gritted her teeth and ground her palms into her sore eyes.

"Shit."

….

Ren's hand was limp in Fuu's warm one. Fuu wasn't exactly sure why she'd accosted the younger Jinchuriki's hand when she came to check the damage later that evening; but there she sat all the same cross-legged on the floor beside Ren's futon and holding the girl's small hand in-between both of her larger ones.

A foul smog of depression had settled like a shroud over Fuu's mood after her confrontation with Gaara. She'd lost her direction, her energy but most importantly her reasons for doing this. Yeah, she'd leapt into the decision to join the other two before she'd even really looked at it, but that was in Fuu's nature. Allowing herself to look back on the wisdom of those decisions was not.

Fuu stared pensively down at Ren. Beside the unnatural stillness of the girl, Fuu could almost pretend she was watching a younger sibling sleep. Almost.

Were her visions of family related through their shared unfortunate fate so far-fetched? Ren argued with Fuu but the girl still sought her out, still wanted her company whether she was willing to admit it or not. And Gaara. Were his actions earlier an indication of his own worry and unhappiness with Ren's predicament? Was he just rapidly distancing himself now that there was a possibility that he may get hurt again (because it was obvious to anyone with eyes that he'd been hurt in the past)?

Or…

Or was Fuu making excuses up in her head again? It was better to be the person who'd attempted to help two emotionally wounded people than being the fool who followed two emotional-less people around like a pathetic puppy wasn't it? Was she just fabricating reasons and alibis for the people around her because only then they could be wedged into the family portrait Fuu had conjured in her head? Was she ignoring the truth of these people altogether?

"Whether you choose to believe it or not, that's the truth."

But how could you tell which was which when the two people in question were an accomplished liar and a complete emotional introvert? What had even made her follow in the first place?

A hope for something better. To actually be someone beside the weapon. To be accepted by people who understood.

Squeals of childish laughter rang out from the window and Fuu instinctively tightened her grip on Ren's hand. Turning her head towards the direction of the noise Fuu's thoughts strayed elsewhere. Were those things worth the cost? Were she and the others the selfish ones in this situation?

Could she even ever have those things for herself?

Fuu hung her head and gripped Ren's small, slim fingers tighter. Now that Ren was unconscious she wasn't pushing Fuu away at least. And right now, to be honest, Fuu hadn't felt lonelier and more confused. Hazarding a paranoid glance at a still un-receptive Ren, Fuu gently peeled back the thick quilt. She squeezed into the futon, her own cold tones making contact with the steady heat of Ren's bed-bound body. Fuu shifted until she was comfortable then slowly, as if still worried Ren may spring awake; she wrapped her arms around the lithe, tiny body and pulled it against her chest. It was warm. Fuu couldn't remember hugging anyone before and it was pleasantly warm.

Fuu smoothed back Ren's hair, revelling in the fantasy that this actually was a younger sister, small, dependent and adoring.

"But…thank you," Ren breathed; Fuu simultaneously felt a rush of triumph at the blush of sincerity that bloomed on Ren's cheeks and twinge of concern at the way the girl turned her head away as if expecting a rebuff.

Unsure of what exactly she was doing Fuu continued to comb through Ren's hair, the lullaby Ren sang to herself working its way onto the older Jinchuriki's lips. Distantly she wondered she if was being creepy right now, but for the moment she didn't care. If-when Ren woke up she wouldn't permit such affectionate contact. If they were still travelling together…if Ren woke up at all. There were too many 'ifs' in the future, for now Fuu was free to feed her dreams of home and family if only for a moment.

Fuu felt her eyes close with the steadily creeping drowsiness and warmth.

It was a nice thought, falling asleep with a little sister close. Maybe even Gaara watched protectively from a nearby chair, elbow on the windowsill and head on his fist as he watched the neighbours pass underneath. Maybe they'd all exhausted themselves after a day of games and good food. Maybe it was Fuu's birthday and Ren had sang while Gaara gifted her with a rare smile. Maybe…

Fuu drifted to sleep with a content smile on her lips, even if Fuu got the foreboding sense that the hope Ren and Gaara had told her of was about to fall down around their ears.

A/N:

Short chapter (like the vast majority of my chapters XD ) but wanted Fuu's POV on current situation and the tension between Fuu and Gaara, since I want how the other members of the group interact with each other rather than just Ren. Plus I like writing about Fuu's reasons for doing this because she's a lot more honest with her feelings than the other two. Not much plot development but hopefully you enjoyed it anyway :]

As for Gaara's reasons for planning to leave, I'll leave you decide whether you believe Fuu's interpretation or what Gaara actually says.

THANKS FOR READING! :D