Disclaimer: In no way, shape, or form do I own anything Naruto. I do own Amanda. She's nothing special, don't know why anyone would want her anyways.
A/N: Sorry the last chapter was so short. I wasn't quite sure how to end it, and I was running out of Ideas as far as conversation goes. This one should be a bit longer. Anyways, on with the story!
Gaara led me down winding halls, all darkened except for the occasional candle set on a stand on the wall. I didn't like it. Too dark, too many halls, and it was far too quiet for me. I wanted the break the silence and attempt to start conversation, but I couldn't think of anything to say. So far, the questions that could be answered had been. We finally came to a set of stairs and Gaara broke the uncomfortable silence.
"Your room is at the top of this flight of stairs. Mine is right next door. I don't suggest you wander around after dark without an escort, although, I highly doubt you'll be able to find your way. This building is created like a maze. Many dead ends and traps for those who don't know the layout." Gaara said as he looked up the stairs into the darkness.
I frowned, "So I'm a prisoner?"
"I'm not putting you in a cell. You'll have a room, with a door and a lock." he said matter of factly.
"A lock?"
"On the inside."
"Ah." There was nothing else to say, so I followed him as he started up the stairs. There was a small landing and almost directly in front of us was a large wooden door with some sort of symbol painted in red in a black circle. I raised an eyebrow but shrugged it off as he led me inside. He reached over and flicked a switch and the room was bathed in pale yellow light.
Good, electricity. That was a good sign. I looked around the room. There were two other doors, one was clearly the bathroom, it was cracked open and I could see a tub on the other side. Another plus, plumbing. The other door appeared to be a closet. It was much slimmer than the bathroom door and there was a coat hook on the back of it. In the center of the far wall was a large bed, had to be a king sized mattress. It was low to the ground, but that seemed to be the style. It had a sheer red canopy and there had to be about ten or twelve pillows.
"Satisfied?" Gaara interrupted my examination of the room. He was leaning against the wall, eyes closed.
"Yeah. It's fine." I walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it. It was surprisingly soft.
He was looking at me now. He had that look like he was unsure of what to say, but that quickly disappeared as he turned to leave.
Just as he was about to shut the door, I called out to him, "Hey, good night. And thanks for believing me."
He paused, shrugged his shoulders and left, closing the door behind him with a click.
"Tch, what an ass." I said as I kicked off my sandals and fell back on the bed.
My eyes felt heavy, like I hadn't slept for days. I guess first thing's first. I sat up and pulled off the gloves and the bandana and set them on the small night table. I stood up and crossed the room to the door and switched off the light. It was time to get some sleep. I was dead tired and there wasn't much else I could do. He had pretty much told me I can't wander around without someone with me, so there was no need to leave the room. I had a bathroom, and a bed. What more could I ask for at the moment.
I threw myself down on the bed and before I knew it I was out like a light.
--
A pounding on the door pulled me from my sleep. I groaned and rolled over. Part of me didn't want to open my eyes. I could tell from the soft blankets and the spongy bed that everything that had happened yesterday had not been a dream. I was still in the little room with the giant bed. The pounding continued.
I rolled off the bed onto my feet and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, "Ah'right, 'm come'n."
I shuffled to the door and ran a hand through my hair and cracked the door open and peeked out. It was Cat Head, "Wha'd you want?" I said and yawned.
He narrowed his eyes, "Did I wake you up? It's like almost three in the afternoon." He put his hands on his hips much like my dad used to. He had never approved of my sleeping habits.
I shrugged, "I was tired. Walking through a deser-HEY!"
Kankuro had pushed the door open and walked into the room, "I got something for you, might keep you from getting bored until the envoy from Konoha gets here." He said and sat down in the middle of the floor.
I shut the door and glared at him. He looked up, clearly unaware of the trespass, "Sit down." He said and pointed at the floor in front of him.
I sighed and sat down in front of him, "So what do you have for me?"
He pulled a deck of what looked like oversized playing cards. They were navy blue with a thin white border. The blue was dotted with golden star bursts. I looked at him and shrugged, "So what, we're going to play poker?"
He shook his head, "They're Tarot Cards. I bought them in Konoha on my last mission, they're supposed to tell you your future or something like that. Temari said she didn't want anything to do with it, Gaara doesn't care for things like this, and there's no one else to do this with, so I figured we could kill an hour or so." He gave that 'Please please please' look that my sister got when she didn't have anyone else to play with.
I shrugged, "Sure. What do I have to do?"
He handed me the deck of cards, "Just shuffle, I'll do the rest."
I did as was expected of me. I shuffled the cards and then handed him the deck and he pulled the card off the top and laid it on the floor.
"Ten of swords. This represents you. Seems about right, mental anguish." He snickered.
"Ha ha. Funny." It was about right. Oh well, he could always be making this stuff up just to mess with my head. If he was, in fact telling the truth about the meaning of the card, it had to be luck of the draw.
He pulled the next card and placed it long ways on the first card, "The Hermit. This is your immediate influence."
I nodded as he pulled the next and placed it above the first two, "Justice. Interesting for a goal."
Me, want justice? Ha. Right. I believe in a little thing called Karma. You get what you give. I watched as he pulled the fourth card and placed it to the right of the first two.
"Distant past, Five of cups. A friend-ship without meaning." He glanced up at me and I narrowed my eyes.
"So far it's true, isn't it?"
I replied with my standard issue glare and silence. It was true, and it was bothering me.
He watched me for a moment before pulling a fifth card and placing it below the crossed cards.
"And for recent past we have, The knight of wands. Advancement to the unknown." He quirked an eyebrow as he told me the explanation to the card. He waited for a second, glanced at me, and pulled a sixth card, and placed it face up to the left of the first two cards. It was upside down.
"Inverted king of pentacles. That's not good." This time he didn't tell me the meaning and when he reached to pull the next card, I stopped him.
"Why isn't it good? Tell me what the sixth card means." I was now very curious. Everything seemed to be dead on, and I wanted to know why this card in particular was 'not good'.
He pulled his hand back, "It represents a future influence. The King of pentacles is usually good, but because it's upside down, the meaning changes. With it being inverted like that, it stands for corruption, or someone who will use any means to achieve what they want."
I looked at the card and pulled my knees up to my chest and rested my chin on them.
"Do you want me to stop?" Kankuro looked slightly worried with the drawing of the cards.
I shook my head, "No. It's just cards, they don't mean anything."
He shrugged and pulled four cards, and placed them one by one, face down to the right of the first six in a column, starting from the bottom. I watched him as he flipped over the bottom most card.
"This one is another one about you, it's the Eight of Pentacles. It means you're a quick learner, and you put forth a lot of effort in what ever you do." He didn't even look at me as he flipped over the next card.
"Temperance. Usually a good thing, but it's inverted. This describes the environmental factors that influence you. Pretty much impatience."
I nodded. It made sense. Gaara didn't seem to have any patience for me, and even Temari seemed a little short. I glanced at Kankuro who gave me a cheesy grin.
"And your inner emotions are..." He flipped over the next card. It was also upside down, "Inverted three of swords. It means you're confused and feeling alienated." He narrowed his eyes at the card and shrugged, "Don't worry, it can't get any worse." He said, trying to reassure me as he flipped the last card. He didn't even look at the card, but I did and the look on my face said it all.
The card he had just flipped had a black robed figure on it. Not really scary but the fact that the body under the robe was a skeleton, and the field that the skeleton was standing one was littered with mangled bodies. The five letters on the bottom of the card clearly read 'Death'.