Sooo... seems people liked my joke at the beginning of last chapter ;) Come on, once you realised I was kidding you laughed, didn't you ^_^ 6 reviews until 600! Woooo! So, exams started yesterday, english was evil. I wrote 12 pages in 2 hours and I STILL didn't finish! Then I had music today, which was slightly easier, and I'm off for the rest of the day and all tomorrow as well ^_^ Buuuuut... I've got to study for english extension *cries* Buuuut anyways, thank you so much to you EPIC people who reviewed last chapter, and anonymous person whatever, I've written a reply to your review at the bottom :)
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.:{}:.
This innocence is brilliant,
I hope that it will stay,
This moment is perfect,
Please don't go away.
-Innocence, Avril Lavigne
.:{}:.
It was quite early when I woke, with pre-dawn light streaming through my window and painting my room in a saffron hue. Gaara was still asleep, his demeanour peaceful and his breathing even whilst he was lost in the land of dreams. I smiled lightly, and gently ran my fingers along his cheek bone, his nose, across his lips and his temple, then finally his brow. Hesitantly, I traced the red kanji scar, waiting for him to wake at any moment. When he merely murmured something indecipherable and moved closer to me, I let out a breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding, and looked back at the scar.
In its early days of healing it must have been a horrid sight, but it now resembled a slightly raised, reddened tattoo more than anything else. Why had his father given it to him again? I sifted through my memories and found the one from when we were in the music rooms, and he was trying to teach me how to smile.
"W… Where'd you g… Get that?" I queried, pointing to the kanji scar on his forehead.
"This?" he asked, and lightly brushed it with his fingertips, as if remembering a buried memory. He huffed in dark amusement, his eyes turning cold and his fists clenched in his lap. "My father decided to permanently remind me of something I wasn't worth receiving."
The Blood of Ivory
.:{}:.
Chapter 36
I could feel my eyes well with tears as a wave of sympathy crashed over me. "Oh Gaara," I whispered, and traced his cheekbone once more. "I'm s… so sorry I hurt you. Y… you've been through s… so much, b… but still tried to h… help me. A… and I was so b… blinded by my p… pain I c… couldn't see how m… much you needed help t… too. I'm s… so sorry I hurt you." A small tear slid down my cheek, and I leant up and kissed his scar. "Y… you deserve more l… love than I can g… give… I d… don't know how t… to love," I confided, my voice still soft. "I w… want you to b… be happy, b… but I don't know h… how to make y… you happy," I said, then went quiet as his eyes started to flutter open.
We stared at each other for a long time, my face heating up with embarrassment at being caught. Finally, he smiled, and it was if a spell had been broken. He slowly tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, and looked deep into my eyes, capturing me with his beautiful sea-foam gaze.
"I don't know how to love either," he stated, his voice as soft as mine. "It's a frightening emotion, and at times I hate it. My father's love for my mother drove him to become the monster that he is now. I don't want to end up like that. But I've seen love do good things. Like with Sasuke. He wasn't even living before he had Sakura. He was just this husk of hatred and pain. But his love for Sakura and hers for him brought him back to life, and taught him how to live again. I'd like to think that that sort of future is possible. But happiness? That one's easy now." I looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue. "I didn't think happiness was possible either, until I got to know you. As crazy as it is, you make me happy, Hinata. I'm not expecting a happily ever after or anything like that, although, that would be nice. But I'd like it if you'd keep me around for a bit. I'd like to stay happy. It's a nice feeling. And who knows? Maybe one day I will feel love. And maybe one day I'll feel both happiness and love. Maybe it'll be with you, and maybe it won't. Fate's a bitch and a half and I'm not even going to try and predict it. But right now I've figured out how to be happy, and that's good enough for me."
Shockingly, I wasn't crying. I was just looking at him, a smile on my lips and in my eyes. "You m… make me happy t… too, Gaara," I muttered, feeling embarrassment crawl up my cheeks.
"Then let's stick with happiness and figure out the rest as we go," he said, and I nodded before allowing his lips to touch mine in a chaste kiss.
.:{}:.
Fine tremors flew up and down my spine as I waiting for admittance into the doctor's room. Gaara sat next to me, my hand held lightly in his. Kasumi had dropped us both off five minutes ago, and it was nearly ten. I was about to get my physical, and I was absolutely terrified. The policeman had told me it would be a female doctor, but the idea of someone looking and – and probing down there left me feeling quite nauseous. I did not want to do this!
"Hinata Hyuuga?" the secretary said, and my head shot up. "Doctor Tsunade will see you now."
I was barely able to stand, I was shaking so hard. Gaara eyed me, concern in his gaze, before he asked me, once again, if I was sure that I didn't want him with me. And again, I vehemently said no. No matter how much I might trust him or care for him, I was not ready for that. He was not coming anywhere near me unless I was fully clothed.
So I walked into the doctor's room by myself, shaking from head to toe before I had even met the doctor.
The room was the classically stereotypical doctor's office, with a cluttered desk and an old computer against one wall, two comfy chairs and a bed against the far wall, evidently used for physicals or to look over a pregnant woman.
"Hinata," someone acknowledged, and I turned my head to look at a busty blonde woman tapping away at the computer. "No need to look so scared, hun, the physical shouldn't take any longer than five minutes, alright? Just go sit on the bed over there and remove your underpants. You can keep your skirt on. I'll be over in a second."
I gulped, and went to sit on the bed, but noticed another lady in the room. She was dressed in a police officer's garb, and upon seeing my curious look, decided to introduce herself.
"I'm Anko, Hinata. I'm just here to witness the physical and to testify the results in court."
"This case will g… go to court?" I asked, horrified. She nodded.
"You'll be expected to recount what was done to you, as you are the prime witness." If possible I felt even more sick, and swayed on my feet.
"W… why?" I asked her, needing answers to this.
"If this sick demon has raped you, he may have been raping other girls. And even if he hasn't, he was sexually abusing someone whom the government put in his care after he had volunteered to help said person. Not only did he sexually abuse and rape someone, but he had sex with a minor and took advantage of government regulations. He has a lot to pay for."
I gulped heavily, then went to sit on the cot, quickly taking off my underwear while neither of the females in the room were looking.
As Tsunade has said, barely a minute later and she was next to me. "Is it alright if I check your breasts, Hinata?"
I swallowed heavily, my face heating up, and I quickly turned to look at Anko. Said woman turned away, a silent reassurance that she wouldn't look.
"Don't worry, Hinata. I just need to check for bruising or swelling. To see how far he went."
My face flushed with terror, I slowly lowered the straps on my top and bra, before, with a mortified sob, I revealed my breasts to her. They were still bruised after Akumu's rape on Thursday, and Tsunade was quick to see this.
"Extensive bruising and swelling on her breasts, finger-shaped bruises dotting them." She turned to me. "Hinata, do you have a boyfriend?"
I nodded.
"Have the two of you participated in intercourse?"
I shook my head violently. No!
"Okay." She smiled kindly at me. "You can put you top back on. I need to look down the other end now." I was half way through scrambling to put my shirt back on when she said that, and felt myself feel faint at the prospect. "I know you don't feel comfortable with it, Hinata, but we need this evidence."
I closed my eyes and, against my better judgment, nodded.
"Just lie down on your back and take a deep breath. Try to relax. You're safe here, Hinata. I won't do anything to hurt you, I promise."
I obeyed her, and tried to concentrate on anything but what she was doing. I listened to her voice as she called out to Anko her observations.
"Extensive scarring." "Recent tearing around the uterus and anus." "Extensive bruising and tearing around the uterus and anus." "Large amount of re-opened wounds and slight infection." "Slight bleeding still evident."
Sometimes she would ask me questions.
"Hinata, did he ever orgasm inside your uterus or anus?"
And I would give my reply.
"Did he recently use something other than his phallus?"
I told her that he had fisted me on Thursday.
All the while, Anko was writing and recording this. I'd never felt so disgusting in my life.
I just want to get this straight. I've never taken a physical for this sort of thing, so it was half made up, half based off biographies and stuff where people went through it. I hope it was half decent :/
Reply to whatever: I appreciate what you're saying and where you're coming from, and for some of your things, I agree that there is a lack in authority in some parts of this story. But before starting this story, I read a number of books based around this topic (biographies, etc.), talked to my dad (who's a police officer) and consulted a few friends who have been in similar situations. I tried to keep this whole story as real as possible, even drawing upon a few of my own experiences. Of course, for the sake of the story, a few things had to be changed, but I kept that to a minimum. So, if you would remember back in the second chapter, I said that Hinata had asked to not keep in contact with social welfare, etc. And all of this recent stuff has happened between the Thursday night to Saturday night. 48 hours. They can send male policemen to inform the victim of what is going on, but it is female police officers who deal with personal things (confessions, physicals, etc). Plus, they are not allowed to do something when the victim does not want it. As there was no evidence saying that Kasumi and Sakura had had anything to do with the rape, they did not have a reason to remove her from the house, unless Hinata had said 'I don't want to stay here,' or something to suggest that she felt unsafe there. If you'll read that section again, it is 'my orders are to come and get you,' not 'let's set up an appointment.' Sakura originally said no, but it was only after Hinata had agreed with Sakura that the officer left. The police officer could not legally take her with him if she didn't want to go, otherwise it would be considered kidnap. There would have been a female police officer waiting for him in the car. There have been a number of cases where a victim will be left for weeks waiting for a physical, and there are a lot of filed cases that haven't been followed. Kids in foster homes are allowed to go back to their family should they request it, as the government is not legally allowed to keep them in a foster home if they don't want to. So yes, there is a lack at the moment, but that is only because it's only been 48 hours since Akumu was first accused, and Hinata did not want to keep in contact with Child Welfare in the first place. I hope that that answers your questions, and that this doesn't sound like I'm just having a go at you, because I understand completely why you're questioning that side of this story. Thanks for bringing that up :)
Much love, SapphireRivulet