Since first laying eyes on the boy at the Sand team's arrival into Konoha, TenTen couldn't stop daydreaming about Gaara. Gaara of the Sand. She had heard stories about him, how he killed without remorse. But they were just stories and hardly believable. Those same stories, though, made him all the more alluring to her.
She had walked into the exam building in a foggy daze, following slowly behind her teammates. They had been in their own world as well, barely noticing that anything was different in the girl's behavior. Without knowing what happened next, she was suddenly left alone, Lee having been distracted by Team 7 and Sakura, Neji having disappeared all together.
Snapping out of her daze at the abrupt abandonment, she looked around at the gathered teams, feeling a bit insecure and very much alone. That was, until her gaze settled on a spot of crimson across the way.
His arms were crossed in the same fashion they had been when she had first seen him, his gaze just as hard now as it was when he arrived. There was no expression on his face and his attention would slowly shift from one team to another, hardly interested in any one of them.
Was it possible for him to be more attractive now than he was only hours before?
TenTen's face flushed and she shyly smiled, knowing the answer was yes. With a sudden rush of courage, she weaved in and out between the teams and found herself sidling up to Gaara.
"Hi."
Gaara didn't bother to turn to her, or even acknowledge that some strange girl had seemed to appear beside him. He sighed deeply and continued looking around, half heartedly searching for his siblings.
TenTen bit her bottom lip and rocked back on her heels. "So...how do you like Konoha so far?"
Gaara's eyebrow rose in annoyance, his attention anywhere but on TenTen. "It wasn't my choice to come here, and had it been, I wouldn't be here."
Her lips quirked, not knowing how to reply. Before she could open her mouth to even attempt a response, Gaara had turned and began to walk away. Apparently, her company, or anyone else's for that matter, was not what he wanted.
She watched him round the corner, her chest heavy with dejection.
"What're you doing?"
TenTen turned abruptly and came face-to-face with Ino. "Oh. Hey."
Ino looked to where TenTen had been staring and smiled, seeing Gaara disappear around the corner. "So...you and the Sand kid."
"Shut it, Ino."
"Well, don't just stand there like an ass. Go after him."
"What?" TenTen shook her head, blushing. "No---"
"Oh, please, you won't get anywhere in life if you don't go after what you want. Just take me and Sasuke-kun for example."
TenTen tried to smile, but faltered. If only Ino could realize that Sasuke had no interest in anyone but himself, Ino included. But hey, she did have a point.
"What are you waiting for? A written invitation? Go!" Ino finally pushed at TenTen, urging her in the direction Gaara had left.
TenTen stumbled in the general direction, glaring half-heartedly at Ino. "All right, you don't have to be so rough."
Ino winked at her friend as she followed after Gaara of the Sand. "Oh, and hey, good luck. I heard he was a little..." She followed up with her finger twirling near her ear, a gesture signifying that she thought Gaara wasn't all there.
TenTen flashed a half smile over her shoulder before going around the same corner Gaara disappeared around moments before. She found herself faced with a hallway lined with open doorways and no sign of the crimson haired genin.
She slowly made her way down the hall, peeking into each separate room. It didn't take her long to find the lone boy, gazing out of one of the larger windows. She stood in the doorway for a moment, unsure of whether or not to enter. She watched him as he remained unmoving, arms crossed in front of him.
"What do you want?"
TenTen was taken by surprise at the disruption of silence by Gaara. He still hadn't moved, hadn't turned to see who it was that dared disturb him.
"I---"
Gaara pivoted around at the voice, his brow furrowed. "You again."
TenTen took in a shallow breath and attempted to smile. "Hi."
There was a moment of silence between them, both staring at each other, Gaara looking highly suspicious at the girl in the doorway.
"What do you want?" He repeated.
She took in a deep breath, wondering how to reply. "I---" She then remembered Ino's words and felt a bit braver. "I wanted to get to know you."
Gaara remained in silence, an eyebrow raising skywards. He remained quiet for a long time, almost to the point where TenTen considered walking back out, it became so unbearably uncomfortable in the room.
"Why?" He finally questioned.
"Well..." She blinked, her gaze moving away from Gaara and to an empty spot on the wall. Why ask why? she thought. She wanted to get to know him better, simple enough, wasn't it? "It's generally what people do when they're...attracted...to someone." Her gaze then turned back to Gaara, his face expressionless. This couldn't be a good sign, she thought.
Another gap of silence followed TenTen's answer as Gaara seemed to assess the situation he currently found himself in.
"You...want to get to know me?"
TenTen nodded.
Gaara snorted and turned back to stare out of the window. "There's nothing to know about me and there's nothing that I care to know about you." His head turned slightly to look over his shoulder at her. "So you can leave."
She had gotten this far, and this is what she was faced with? It seemed that her heart had fallen right into her sandals.
As Gaara turned back towards the window, she turned to walk out, once again coming face-to-face with Ino.
"Where do you think you're going?" she hissed at her. Ino stood in TenTen's way, refusing to let her just walk off. "Go back and force something out of him."
"You're kidding, right?" TenTen questioned in a low voice.
"Does it look like I'm kidding?"
"Have you been here the entire time?"
"That doesn't matter. Just go back there, show some initiative."
TenTen let out a sigh of defeat, glancing over her shoulder to Gaara. His back still remained facing her. "He's not the talkative type."
"Who said you had to talk?"
TenTen looked back to see Ino smirking, a glint in her eye. For the second time that day, she was shoved by the blonde haired girl in Gaara's general direction.
'Kiss him,' Ino mouthed when TenTen looked back in confusion.
'What?'
'Kiss. Him.' At that moment, Ino grabbed at Chouji who had unfortunately come looking for her at the wrong moment. In demonstration of what TenTen should do, Ino threw her arms around Chouji's neck and planted a big wet one on her teammate's lips, much to the surprise of both TenTen and Chouji.
Ino nodded enthusiastically at TenTen's flustered expression and urged her on. It was only then that she noticed the dire mistake she had just made.
"Ino-chan?"
"Oh no." Ino groaned as her cheeks flushed and she pushed Chouji down the hallway, far from TenTen and Gaara, back to where the teams were gathered.
Gaara had heard the slight scuffle behind him, but only turned when Chouji had spoken out loud. "What was that?"
Without much more thought on the matter, TenTen found her opportunity and leaned forward, capturing Gaara's lips with hers. Just like when she attempted to converse with him, he remained unmoving.
When she finally pulled away, she was met with a stiff gaze, as if he were saying to her, how dare you. As Gaara continued to stare at her, silent as ever, TenTen became increasingly frustrated.
There had to be something that would incite reaction from him. Taking another steadying breath, she went against reason and kissed him again.
Her lips pressed against his, urging him to react to her kiss. TenTen's eyes closed, content just being able to do this much, as Gaara watched her kiss him. He was unsure on how to feel, how to respond to her action. His hesitation in movement had ceased TenTen to this point, and she took a step back to look up at Gaara. His brow had creased in confusion now and TenTen took another step back.
"I'm sorry."
Gaara's eyes narrowed. "Why did you do that?" He finally questioned.
TenTen shrugged and attempted a half smile. "I wanted to see what you'd do this time."
He continued to stare at her with dark green eyes. "What did you want me to do?" He asked after a brief moment of hesitation.
"Kiss me back?"
Gaara stiffened slightly at the thought. Kiss her back? What was the point? He shook his head, looking to the girl in front of him. "Is there a reason to it?"
TenTen stood silently ahead of him, unsure how to answer. A moment passed by in silence before TenTen thought of a sufficient reply. "To feel." She reached her hand over nervously to her wrist, twisting the loose bandages left over from a previous training session around her finger. "To feel anything, love, lust, dislike...anything, Gaara," she whispered.
He knew what dislike meant, and love was completely foreign to him, having been shunned from it for so long. "Why do I need to feel any of that?"
TenTen sighed, just now noticing the fraying edges of her wrapped bandage. "You don't need to, I suppose," she said as she unsheathed a kunai, preparing to cut off the frayed edge, "but if you don't feel, Gaara, you're---you're not human." As she completed her sentence, she had sliced through the ribbon, but managed to slip and nick her finger in the process. Blood began to pool together in a thick drop on the pad of her finger.
Gaara's gaze had now been diverted to the glimmering drop of crimson now running down the length of TenTen's finger. "Does it hurt?" he asked in a shadow of a whisper.
Sucking in breath through her teeth, TenTen frowned and looked to Gaara. "Of course it hurts!" She almost had her finger to her mouth in a vain attempt to suck it dry of blood, but Gaara had stopped her, his hand gently holding her wrist. He was completely enthralled by this point.
"What does it feel like?"
TenTen looked down at the cut, wanting to see what Gaara saw. "It hurts."
"How?"
"I don't know...it just does."
Gaara took his index finger and wiped away the small river of blood flowing down her hand. It was now on his own hand, running down his own fingers. It was her blood, and yet, all he could think of was her pain and how it might feel.
"Gaara..."
He glanced over at TenTen in time to see her slice through the remaining bandage and right into her pale skin. A thin red line of blood slowly grew to be another dripping river down her arm.
"Why did you do that?"
TenTen smiled slightly. "It got your attention, didn't it?"
He stepped closer to her, watching the blood drip on to the ground. "But it hurts?"
She nodded as he got even closer to her.
Gaara couldn't tear his eyes away from the deep red gash along the inside of TenTen's arm. The blood drawn moments before had been through accident, but now she had cut herself on purpose---to get his attention.
It had worked.
TenTen placed her bloody finger into her mouth and let the coppery taste linger on her tongue. She closed the small gap between herself and Gaara and once again kissed him, the taste of blood now on his lips.
He was just as surprised this time as he was last time she dared to kiss him, but something was different. It was that taste, that taste that reminded him of the smell of his sand. The taste of blood. And it was TenTen's own. A new type of feeling rose in him and he suddenly needed more of that taste, more of the girl so willing to give him that taste.
TenTen abruptly pulled away, startling Gaara.
"You kissed me back."
He had and he couldn't remember why he did. He took a step back, unsure of how to act. Now that he had come back to his senses, he was beginning to feel uncomfortable in the small room, surrounded by the intoxication of her blood.
"No, Gaara, wait," TenTen pleaded as he took one more step back. She lifted the kunai in her hand and placed it in his before pulling away the tunic fabric covering her collarbone. Taking the hand he held the kunai in with hers, she drew the blade along her skin, cutting herself once more.
"I thought it hurt," he questioned, his voice becoming husky.
"It does," TenTen answered, the blood already forming rivulets that ran down into her tunic.
"Then why do you continue?"
She pulled him back towards her so that they were just a few inches apart. "Because you can't turn away from it."
His gaze dropped to the cut she had helped him make across her own skin. His breathing came in short, heavy spasms and it became impossible to turn away from her.
TenTen reached out and took hold of the front of his shirt, pulling him to her until they were pressed against one another. Her head fell back so that she could look him in the eye, her grip on his shirt never faltering. She felt that she was holding on to him for dear life, this was so unlike her.
Gaara managed to tear his attention away from the self-inflicted wound if only to look to TenTen. He could barely form logical thoughts nonetheless words to say to the girl held against him.
She was nervous, honestly not believing that she would ever wind up in this position with Gaara, and now that she had, she didn't know what to do next. With anxious breaths, numb and shaking, she slightly smiled, her hands letting go of the cloth and slithering upwards towards Gaara's shoulders. "You...can taste it, if you want," she whispered. A moment later, she tilted her head back further, turning her face away. Her eyes closed anticipating his next move.
Gaara felt weakened as his gaze went back to the blood spilling carelessly beneath her tunic. His arms encircled around her, pulling her tighter against him as his mouth lowered hungrily to the viscous fluid. His tongue inched out to run across her collarbone, gathering the red liquid as he moved steadily forward. His breath came out hot against her skin causing TenTen to wriggle in his grip, her hands moving upwards to take hold of his crimson hair.
She felt him stop but could still feel his breath on her skin. TenTen opened her eyes slowly and turned to face Gaara, but as she attempted to smile again at him, she noticed something disturbingly different in his demeanor.
He was smiling back at her. Not smiling. Grinning. And the shell of sand that encased him, a shell she had no knowledge of before, was cracking. She gasped, her eyes widening. Suddenly, it no longer seemed like such a great idea to be in this type of situation with Gaara, a rumored psychopath. She pushed against him, trying fruitlessly to escape his grasp.
"Yes, quite the position you've got yourself in, isn't it?" He continued grinning at her, the Shukaku demon taking more control over the boy's actions. The blood had excited and awakened it and now it hungered for something more than just blood: it wanted to kill.
TenTen pushed harder, beginning to panic. She whimpered as Gaara's embrace only tightened, crushing her to him. "Gaara, please..."
"Gaara, please what? Spare you?" He squeezed tighter, his mouth going to her ear. "If only." He whispered dangerously.
Tears began to roll down her cheeks, trying desperately not to succumb to what she knew may have been her fate. No one else knew that she was with Gaara at this moment, no one that knew what danger she was in, at least, so who was going to come look for her? Save her from him?
"This is what you wanted, wasn't it, TenTen? To get to know me?"
She sobbed, still struggling with him. It was when she felt he was going to snap her in half that she finally screamed out loud. It didn't take long for Temari to answer the girl's scream.
"Gaara!" She shouted at her younger brother, her eyes wide in fear. She rushed forward to pry him off of TenTen, all the while yelling for Kankurou to come help her.
Soon, the entire Sand team was gathered in the room, as well as Lee who had come bounding in not moments after Temari. It wasn't long until TenTen was freed from Gaara's vice grip and he was pinned down on the floor by his sister.
Temari turned an angry glare on to TenTen, struggling with Kankurou to calm Gaara down. "What were you doing? Are you out of your damn mind?" She screamed at TenTen. "GET OUT!" Temari couldn't muster any other words to say to the Leaf girl she had found in the room with Gaara, feeling only rage towards her. What the hell had that girl been thinking?
Lee's brow furrowed at the mess, but his concern remained only with his teammate. He ushered her out of the room to safety, looking over at her cuts, suddenly feeling just as outraged as Temari.
"What did he do to you?" He questioned fiercely. "Did he hurt you?"
TenTen couldn't manage to get the words out, to tell him that it was her fault. She remained silent, her eyes glazed over from the shock, barely noticing the condescending look she was receiving from Neji. He scoffed at her as she and Lee walked past him towards the gathered teams.
Her attention faded in and out to what Lee was saying, her eyes remaining unfocused on anything or anyone around her.
"...I'll make him regret ever touching you, TenTen-chan. Did he hurt you? TenTen?"
So that was the infamous Gaara of the Sand and she had almost seen first-hand what he was capable of. Had it been worth it? Was she satisfied now at what she caused?
"TenTen?"
Her gaze drifted slowly to Lee and she offered him a small smile. "I'm okay."
Lee frowned, hardly content with her reply. "I'll defend your honor to the death, TenTen-chan. And that's a promise."
She shook her head. "Don't, Lee. You don't stand---" She closed her mouth, seeing that Lee had struck the nice guy pose. There was no talking him down now. Luckily, she was spared having to say anything else to him, or having to face the sand team for now, for the first stage of the Chuunin exams were to begin.
With a last glance over her shoulder, she caught sight of the sand team, each older sibling protectively at the sides of Gaara, Temari glaring in TenTen's direction.
Without another distraction, TenTen followed Neji and Lee into the exam room, putting everything that didn't involve the Chuunin trials behind her.