Chapter Five: Do you want rice with that?
"What a beautiful morning!"
Yukiko stood outside her apartment door and smiled. The warm, damp air was comforting to her. She stretched, overwhelmed with happiness that her cold had gone away, and gazed upward.
The sun hung low in the azure sky and painted it with bright colors of orange, pink, yellow, red, and purple. Brushing the ecstasy of colors were milky clouds, their would-be white bodies daubed over with hues of violet and deep blue. A gentle breeze ruffled her charcoal hair; the light from the sun gleamed in her amethyst eyes.
The world around her hung thick with silence. She stifled a yawn, and grasped the icy hilt of her katana. It was a good morning to train, and without glancing back, she headed off for her training area.
The training area was a small clearing in the dense forest near the bridge. Her journey was quiet. She passed by dozens of shops that sold a various range of items from shinobi tools to stuffed animals. Her pack swished with a dull sound. It was not very heavy considering its contents were a first aid kit, a blanket, two warm, golden brown croissants fresh from her own oven, a small jar of strawberry jam, and an empty canteen.
She stopped at the river to fill the canteen from her pack. The rushing water was cool and clear as it washed over her hands. She took a sip and enjoyed the sensation of the icy chilled liquid trickling down her throat. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and capped the container, tossing it into her pack.
Yukiko reached her destination within fifteen minutes of the bridge. She swung the pack off her shoulder and let it drop against a tree. She then began to stretch – her arms, legs, torso, and back were pulled and pushed into flexing positions to awaken her stiff muscles. The ritual continued for at least ten minutes. She was completely unaware that it was two days after Gaara and Sakura encountered behind her house, and he hadn't come back since.
Carefully, Yukiko lowered herself to the ground into a lotus position. She loved mediation; it was most relaxing. The girl closed her eyes and slowly drifted into the state of being where one felt in touch with the flow of the world: simply amazing.
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Gaara ambled through the forest for the pure pleasure of it. The woods were silent, no noise pollution from the annoying people to corrupt his thoughts. His walk, however, was abruptly interrupted.
"Chakra," he noted out loud. Gaara had picked up on the beings chakra like a dog picked up on the scent of a steak. Slightly curious, he followed the well up of chakra, seeking his point of origin. Five minutes passed, and he came upon a small clearing.
And there she was.
Yukiko swung her blade in a dance like state: plunging and slashing the katana ever so gracefully into invisible enemies. A thin layer of sweat enveloped in her body. Her heart beat in harmonious rhythm with the singing of her blade. Gaara was immediately entranced by her swordplay.
She was like a butterfly, elegant and poise in the air, landing on every flower ever so gently. One last slash of the sword and then she sheathed it.
Gaara snapped out of the trance – the dance was over, but that was hardly enough to pry his eyes away from what she did next.
Yukiko was terribly hot. Grateful that she had put on shorts today rather than her normal cloth wraps, she peeled off her dress to reveal her bound chest, which was enfolded carefully with a long strip of white cloth that covered from the top of her chest to two inches above her navel.
This was definitely stalking, he thought as he wiped away the seep of blood from his nose. Ignoring the fact that Yukiko was half-naked and sweating, which he, to his astonishment, was more difficult than he thought it was, he noticed her back.
It was scarred. Long, deep scars ran down her back. The lines traced out one kanji symbol: akuma (demon). His breath froze; there was no possible way that she could have done it herself, like he had. This was clearly the marking of someone else's hatred. And yet, here she was… still smiling.
Yukiko beamed – time to climb trees. Climbing trees using only your feet was an ideal way to maintain your chakra levels. She formed a hand seal, and focused her chakra. Perfect. Yukiko walked over to a tall pine, and began to walk up it. A simple task, but effective none-the-less.
Without warning, an unusual feeling of something falling on her shoulder befell her. She craned her neck – a Konoha leech was perched daintily on it. Now mind you, Yukiko was a perfectly calm individual. However, there was one teeny, tiny, problem.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
She was deathly afraid of leeches.
The sound of feet loosing chakra adherence on a tree, which was kinda like a popping noise, echoed through the woods. Gaara instantaneously rushed over. She had started to fall at least 25 feet up; just enough to break something. He made it in time, partly caught her, and fell over.
Thwump!
"Ow…" he groaned.
"That voice…"Yukiko forced open her eyes.She was on top of Gaara – again. It was even worse than the first time. The two were nose-to-nose, forehead-to-forehead, body on body. A subtle blushswept her cheeks as his eyes fluttered open.
"This seems… oddly familiar," Gaara said dryly with a hint of humor in his voice. Yukiko practically leaped off of him, landing in a kneeling position, and he sat himself up.
"I'm really, really, really sorry!" she squeaked, bowing over and over in her sitting position, "you see, I got distracted when a leech fell on my shoulder, I'm deathly afra-"
"You mean that one?" he inquired with a deadpan face, pointing at her left shoulder. She craned her neck once more only to come face-to-face with the leech – again.
"EEIYAAA! GETITOFF-GETITOFF-GETITOFF-GETITOFF-GETITO-"
Poke.
Gaara's finger came into contact with her forehead. The gesture completely confounded her. The mahogany-haired youth leaned his face in close to hers.
"Don't move."
"H-hai," she stammered.
"Focus on me. Watch my eyes: don't look away."
She did as she was told. Yukiko gazed into his eyes, and flushed an even brighter red. Most people found his eyes to be "spooky" or unattractive, but she was the contradictory to popular belief.
First off, his eyes were a unique and striking pale green, unlike any eye color she had seen before. The black circles around them from lack of sleep, at least what she considered, gave the impression of a panda bear.
Cute. Sexy. Very sexy. So sexy tha-
"Gone."
"Huh?"
"The leech is gone; you're "safe" now," he stated more firmly, dragging her back into the depths of reality.
She shook her head, "That's not fair – you tricked me!" she protested, her cheeks full of crimson embarrassment. Well, what was she supposed to say? "Gaara-chan, your eyes are like a panda's, it turns me on"?
"Yeah, that'll boil over well…"
"It worked, didn't it?" he questioned. For a split second, the thin line that separated his lips curved upward in a miniscule amount.
"Did he…just smile?"
"Well I suppose it did… HEY! WAIT A SEC! You were spying on me you letch!" She barked angrily, covering her already covered chest. Stomping over to her dress, Yukiko picked it up and motioned for him to turn around – which he did without further indication of any sort.
"At least she didn't slap me… or punch me," he told himself, recalling the distasteful encounter with Sakura. An image of the scar surfaced to the peak of his mind again. He shook his head briskly, and then held it in his hand.
"Tell me something…" he said sternly, leaning his head against the tree trunk, and revealing an eye by parting his fingers ever so faintly. Yukiko stood behind the tree pulling on her dress, "how did you come to… obtain… that scar on your back?"
Yukiko flinched and froze, dress already clinging to the curves of her body. Shivers ran down her spine; a lump stuck in her throat. She tried to swallow, it wouldn't go down.
"You…saw it?
"A symbol of my worthlessness."
"Yeah."
The raven-haired girl slid down the side of the tree. The pine was a barrier preventing the two from being back-to-back with each other. She drew up her knees to her chest, and hugged them. Yukiko buried her head into her knees; a gust of wind flounced over the forest that late morning.
"I was five," she said emotionlessly, tightening her grip. She spoke with high detail and intensity, but with a reverie like state, "And it was shortly after my sister and I were exiled from the village. You see, before I came to Konoha, I resided in Kumogakure. Well, that very day, we were ambushed by a hoard of kumo nin. Their objective was to wipe me out, but that wasn't enough. The male nin wanted a little fun first – they wanted to 'play' with me. As they aproched, my sister shifted in front of me."
"She told them that she'd die before they even laid a finger on me. So the shinobi took her instead," tears streamed down her cheeks. She choked back uncontainable sobs, "And then, they grabbed me by the shoulders, and forced my eyes open. I helplessly stood there, watching each man defile her over and over again. And after that t-they," she let out an immense cry, "k-killed her! It is my entire fault: I wasn't strong enough. The shinobi were after me – not her! But then they did go after me. One man reached out to touch me and I bit him. The ninja that gripped my shoulders thrust me into the ground. I couldn't see, but I felt the steel cut into my flesh swiftly and numerously on my back. That's when the rage took over – I suddenly lusted for their blood. I, unintentionally formed a hand seal, and released the combined chakra of the Gobi no Sokou. Each body imploded in a symphony of lightning and thunder: it soaked me in blood. And you know what I did?"
Gaara's insides burned with anger, empathy, and remorse. But he remained silent.
"I laughed. Long and hard and loud, that's what I did. Killing had brought a pleasure inside me that I had never felt before. That one technique, my bloodline justu, could be executed at my youthful will. And from that moment on, I swore I would slay anything that crossed my path, which I did, until a year later when I met my sensei."
Gaara was completely and utterly taken aback. She had been so akin to him and he never had a passing thought about it. All this time it had been right under his uncaring nose. That scar was a symbol of her agony – both physically and emotionally. The most physical pain she had ever felt in her life was from the blade of a relentless kumo shinobi; hating her for what she didn't ask for. But the sense of helplessness, and guilt for the death of her sister… much more painful, but both scarred her deeply. And for the first time since his loss of sanity, Gaara felt that he could actually start to trust someone – this girl.
He stood up, and walked around the tree to the tear stained girl. She gazed up at him, and he extended his hand.
"It seems that… I simply can't hate you."
She couldn't help but smile. Yukiko mind translation: "I like you, let's be friends".
"And… I just can't accept your stupid 'charity' of ramen. I…er… owe you. So maybe, if you want to…not that you have to or anything, I'm just saying… but if you did, maybe, I could pay you back by, um, you know. Giving, uh… taking you to a, ummm- Do you like dumplings?"
"Translation: 'I feel bad for mooching a free meal off you with out a second thought to your person. Would you like to accompany me to dinner? Perhaps the consumption of pork-filled, wrapped, fried foods would be appealing to you taste?"
She tried not to laugh as she entwined her hand into his, "more than life itself."
"Good," he breathed, helping her off her feet, "then…what, um when – no… you? No, no…er"
"Friday at dusk?" she asked for him. Today was Monday, then which Friday was so far away…
"Yeah that."
"I commend you for your extensive knowledge of my true intentions. Jolly good show… okay, he would totally not say 'jolly good show…'"
"And will we meet there, or will you meet me at my apartment?" she inquired once more.
"The, uh… you. Me-meet-apartment," he stuttered.
"Great! See you Friday!" She flounced over to her pack, and threw it over her shoulder. She turned to Gaara, waved and smiled, and walked away.
"Heh," he mused, leaning up against the pine again, griping his arm. He grinned and flushed very slightly, wondering how he was going to explain this to Kankuro and Temari.
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(A/N: Gobi no Sokou – the five tailed dog demon. The two-tailed one is actually a cat. From now on the demon Yukiko contains is Sokou. Sorry for the mix up!)
"YEOWCH!"
"Yuki-chan, hold still!"
"We're almost done!"
"PAIN! GAH! You are ripping my hair out!" Screamed Yukiko as Sakura and Ino twisted, brushed, and pinned her hair out of her face. Ino reached for the soaking flowers on the nightstand, and entwined the stem into Yukiko's hair – a pale lily.
"Finished," she concluded stepping back and admiring her handy work, "you're so pretty! He'll be drooling over you."
Yukiko giggled shyly at her comment, and shifted on her feet. She was wearing a basic lavender kimono with cherry blossom print and her hair was pulled into a spiky ponytail embedded with the lily, though several strands of hair managed to escape and hung loosely on the left side of her face.
"He's just paying me back for the meal, it's really nothing serious," she confirmed, turning around to face them.
Both Sakura and Ino exchanged glances and the same, knowing smirk was plastered to both of their faces.
"Yeah right. It's a date and you know it!" they said simultaneously.
Yukiko chewed her lip bitterly. She couldn't let them get away with heckling her like this. She pondered for a brief moment and then it came to her. A sinister smirk spread across her face.
"You know, I guess you're right, Ino-chan. And I do suppose that you going over to Shika's for dinner isn't a date, ne?"
Ino turned bright red, and started to fidget nervously, "What do you mean by that! He invited me over to discuss training techniques."
"Ohhh, so what kind of training? Are you going to train your tongues? Or perhaps you will engage in playing with his-"
"OK! THAT'S ENOUGH!" She shrieked, Sakura burst out into fits of laughter. Yukiko turned her head evilly and beamed once more.
"Don't think you're getting off either, my pink-haired friend," she said slyly, "now, according to my research, I don't believe you were sent on a mission to break into Naruto-kun's house and… what was it, hug his old shirts and inhale the scents of… body smell without a bath for one week, toothpaste and ramen?"
Sakura leaned over blushing furiously. This time, it was Ino's turn to laugh. But it wasn't for long…
Sob Sob (hic)
"UWAAA! I'm sorry! I made you cry! Don't cry! D-don't cry, Sakura-chan!" Yukiko squealed frantically.
"Eh heh… he.. ha… HAHAHAAHA!"
"Huh," she questioned glumly. Sakura lifted her head, and beamed. There was no indication of tears, not one.
"Gotcha! But that was still not funny, I do miss him terribly," she stated, folding her arms against her chest. An awkward silence picked up in the room, and then Yukiko broke it.
"Let's just face the music… we're all utterly, hopelessly crushing on these really cute, mysterious, spiky haired, panda-eyed… sexy-"
Thwack.
"Ehehehe, sorry… I got carried away," she rendered, rubbing the sore spot where Sakura's hand came in contact.
"Ya got that right," she snapped irritably.
Knock Knock.
"OMIGOSH! HE'S HERE!" they squealed in unison. Sakura and Ino ran around nervously, and Yukiko started to walk towards the front door.
Outside was Gaara, rubbing the back of his neck impatiently. He sighed: he was in his same outfit, a single blood rose in his hand. He twirled it between his fingers.
"How many girls am I taking to dinner?" he asked himself sarcastically. Then again, this wasn't nearly as bad as earlier.
(An hour ago…)
"Gaara! Can you please go out and get some more wood? We're almost out! And you still need to help decrypt this scroll!" yelled Temari, hand placed on her hip.
The council of Suna had sent them out near Konoha, on some mission of the sort. The sand siblings had stayed in an old abandoned cottage. Not perfect, but at least livable, about a thirty-minute walk from the outskirts of Konoha. The house fairly small, and one level: three bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a table for eating. Even so, Temari was relieved that they weren't going to war.
She detested war.
"GAARA!" She yelled a little more impatiently. Ever since that Uzumaki guy hit her brother, it must have knocked some sense into him because normally she would have been killed for getting testy like this.
"CAN'T!" he said in a loud voice. Gaara never yelled, and probably never would.
Temari folded her arms across her chest as her younger brother ambled into the kitchen. He looked normal, save that he was hiding something behind his back.
"What do you mean "can't"? You seriously don't think that Kankuro is going to help me?" Blank stare. The older sister eyed her brother carefully, "what. Do you have a hot date or something?"
Gaara flushed a pale pink, and nodded.
"EH? You're… joking right?" she inquired smirking.
"Is he for real?"
He hesitated, and then gave a brief nod – an indication of yes.
"Ah ha… AH… HAHAHAHHAHAAH" she laughed.
Fwump! Temari fell over, and began to roll on the ground in hysterical fits of laughter: she was even crying.
"Oh… my… aha… gotta, gotta tell… Kankuro," she heaved, still giggling. But when she looked up, she regretted even making the 'hot date' remark in the first place.
Gaara glared at his older sister: his death glare, the worst possible glare ever. If looks could kill, the core of the planet would have already incinerated her before Gaara could even get a finger on her.
"K-KAAANKUROOOO!" She screamed, hopping to her feet and running away: far, far away, "HE'S GONNNAAA KILLL MEEEEEE!"
Kankuro, who was sitting in his room eating a bowl his diner now in mock peace, sighed.
"What the hell did she do to make him angry now?"
Gaara sighed at the ruckus. What was that word that the boy who controlled shadows used? Oh yeah… troublesome. How… troublesome his siblings were.
(End flash back)
Lost in his train of though, he did not hear the door swing open.
"Gaara-san, are you ready?"
"Huh? Ah…. Uh," Gaara was at a loss for words. Yukiko stepped out of her apartment, and beamed. She was wearing a pale lavender kimono that flattered her amethyst eyes, her hair was pulled up into a ponytail, and a slight flush was spread across her cheeks. And here he was, standing here in normal attire. In fact, he'd worn this shirt yesterday…
"Are we going?" she asked shyly, holding kimono sleeve in front of her face daintily.
"Yeah… uh… here," he said, extending his arms and showing her the blood rose, "I um found it. I don't like it or any thing, but I figured you might like it… because its pretty, well not to me but its like you because… um."
"Its lovely," she glowed. Taking it gently, and brushing his hand, she turned around, "Let me go put it in some water. I'll be right out."
In and out in five seconds, she reappeared before him. He was glad she hadn't hid on him or anything.
"Gaara-san, ikurio!" she squealed brightly.
"Hey! You don't even know the waaaaaaaaaay." She grabbed his hand, and dragged him. He staggered trying to run with her: she ran so fast.
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"Ah… that was delicious," Yukiko sighed contently. The pair sat in the restaurant, empty plates with scattered crumbs sat in front of them, "you really missed out you know, ordering those liver-filled dumplings instead of the pork gyoza…"
"I like liver," he said flatly, but a slight smile lit up his face, "But I did try your pork gyoza… it wasn't all that bad."
"Heh heh, you're supposed to say 'I'm glad you liked it'," she corrected, wiping the corners of her mouth with her napkin. The meal had been already been paid for, and she leaned into her booth seat sleepily.
Gaara stood up: Yukiko panicked inside her head.
"Was this really just payment for the ramen!" she thought anxiously.
"Walk?" he asked her, extending his hand.
Yukiko was taken aback slightly by the friendly gesture. She looked up at him, and gave him her most sincere and happy smile: hoping it didn't look fake.
"I'd love too," she answered, grabbing his hand, and leaving the restaurant, long, long behind them.
The night air was calm and cool against her skin. A waning moon hung high in the sky, and the forest had an earthy damp smell to it. It felt so good to walk along side a companion, and to for once actually be conversing with Gaara.
"So, do you have any siblings?" She asked him, stepping over a fallen branch. They weren't heading anywhere in particular; just strolling through the depths of the woods, so care free.
"Yeah… both older than me… a sister and a brother," he told her, pulling his arms behind his head.
She giggled, and he quirked an eyebrow at her. She stifled it with a sleeve, and then spoke up, "Do the sister and brother have names?"
"Temari… and Kankuro. Both of them annoying; we don't get along very well," he said nonchalantly, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
"GAARA!" she scolded, which took him by surprise, "You shouldn't say things like that! What if one of them was seriously injured?"
"I wouldn't give a damn," he told her. She stopped walking, and looked down. He heard the pause of footsteps, and turned to her.
"I would take a thousand kunai's in the heart just to hear my onee-chan's voice again," she muttered sadly. Gaara then felt something he hadn't felt in a long time: regret.
"Uh… I didn't mean-"
Sniff. Hic.
"Aw hell…"
"N-no. Please, not that…" he whined. She backed up against a tree and slid down. Holding back her tears, the raven-haired girl gazed up at him.
"Don't cry," he said kneeling down beside her, "please don't. I… I'm… sorry."
"It's a miracle…"
"This is stupid."
"Shut up, Kankuro," snapped Temari quietly. The two older siblings were crouched down in a nearby bush, spying on their younger brother, "Don't you see it? Our little brother just apologized to a girl: a girl who is probably his girlfriend. It's kind of… sweet, in a weird way—ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME!"
"Whatever," he replied, "She's just a kid. I hate kids. Gaara'll probably kill her one way or the other."
"You are so negative, now shh," she hushed, placing a finger over her mouth to somewhat enforce silence upon him.
"- but from what you said, they sound so nice!" they caught Yukiko say, "Temari must be really intelligent, using a fan embedded with chakra – its such a unique weapon and I bet its really effective against other weapons. I bet she's really pretty too, because she's your sister!"
This made Temari smile, "See? Such a cute little thing! She'll make a great sister-in-law."
"Don't you think you're getting a little ahead of yourself?" Kankuro inquired.
"-and Kankuro sounds so great too! Using a puppet, such an interesting style! Ooh, I hope I can spar with them sometime – and of course, I want to cook for them too…"
"Well, a free meal doesn't sound too bad," he stated.
"Yessss. Gaara's little house wife cooking me all my favorite dishes," he though.
"You disgust me," Gaara told her jokingly.
"I know!"
"Ugh," Gaara clenched his head in his hands.
"Gaara?"
"No…it can't be. Not now…"
Heh heh heh. I'll devour the woman's flesh. You can watch.
"Shukaku," he spat in his mind. Gaara groaned again: more pain. Not now, he couldn't loose control.
Pathetic human, I thought you needed no love.
("Gaara-san!")
"I won't…"
Outside his mind, Gaara was holding back the incomplete transformation. Yukiko instinctively clung to his arm, and held it tight.
"Fight it," she told him. She knew what was going on.
"…let you…"
("Gaara-san, ikurio!")
"Don't touch her!" he snarled, she hugged his arm even tighter. Gaara felt the presence of Shukaku slowly ebb away.
"That chakra… is dissipating," Yukiko realized.
"Daije bu ka?" she asked him, loosening her sloth grip on his arm.
He nodded wearily. The thought of Shukaku taking over and devouring her had scared him, but not enough to notice a certain pair crouched behind juniper bushes.
"I'm fine. But I don't think two suna nin will be in a few seconds," he growled.
"Shit, he spotted us," Temari thought frantically. Both her and Kankuro started to inch away from the other couple.
"Don't Move," he hissed in a death-friendly tone.
Both sand siblings froze in their spots – eyes wide open.
"What's gong on?" she asked him, completely unaware of the situation. Gaara walked over and stood in front of the particular bush. He then turned to Yukiko with an evil grin that sent unpleasant shivers down her spine.
"You are about to witness the most painful death of two very nosey sand shinobi," he told her calmly. A bit too calmly. Turning back to his brother and sister, he cracked his knuckles.
"HE'S GONNA KILL US!" they screamed, running as far as they could away from there extremely pissed off brother, "RUN AWAAAAAAY!"
Gaara sighed, "I'll deal with them later."
"Pardon me for asking, but were those you siblings?"
Gaara gave a brief nod: "Their very annoying, you see?"
"Oh but," she clasped her hands together, "they look even more wonderful than I imagined! Although I must agree that they are a handful… but you must introduce me!"
"Of course," he said, nodding, "See you again? Perhaps next week?"
"I'd love to!" she replied. Gaara turned to leave, but before he made a few feet's progress…
"Gaara-san?"
He halted in mid step, "Hmm?"
"Thank you for being such a good friend," and with that, and an almost melting Gaara, the two went their separate ways.
"Never in my life would I have ever thought I'd have…"
"I'm going to kill you two," he said icily to them. Gaara had reached the house and the pair stood outside the door nervously.
"P-please Gaara, be reasonable," Temari fessed, holding her hands up in a gesture of defeat, "mercy!"
"Fine. Be thankful I'm in a "reasonable" mood today or else I would have imploded both of your stupid heads and entertained myself by watching it rain blood."
And with that, he walked right past them, into his room, and closed the door behind him.
"I, Sabaku no Gaara, made a friend…"
Author: To be continued… unless you people don't review! (more sobbing)
Gaara: Please review… I'm being used as a stuffed animal/ tissue.
Author: (latches on to Gaara) for his sake… (smiles) then again, I don't mind this one bit…
Please review, see ya soon!