All I Ever Wanted Was Love
I'm Damaged
Warning: this chapter is kinda like almost rated-R it has some intentional 'rape' but it's not really 'rape', more like loss of articles of clothing… here and there, no descriptions of anything AT ALL. Oh… and if ye are weak of stomach at the description of blood, please skip the nice chunk of nasty descriptions of loss of limbs. I think I'm a pretty gross person, aren't I?
Hm. Now that I think about it again, you might not have understood the ending to the previous chapter. You see, as I recalled from one of Gaara's 'talks', he stated that he lost a bit of himself whenever Shukaku took over his body- therefore, he doesn't sleep. But yeah, so if he 'lost' a part of him when Shukaku took over at the end of the last chapter, he would have become even more murderous (like the way he is now) and doesn't remember what its like to love (like the way he is now).
Now… onto the reason why you are here.
Gaara blinked a few times, before he sat up.
'Where am I?' he thought as he held his forehead and looked about the room. He was sitting on a bed that was in a corner of a large room that held a kitchen, a table, a desk, and a dresser. An open door across the room led to what looked like the bathroom.
'Huh…' Gaara noted, 'My sand gourd is gone.'
He shrugged it off- he could always make more. Suddenly, he realized whom he had been dreaming of.
"…Kisa."
Pain began to bear down in his mind as he tried to fight it off. He brought his head down onto his knees as his arms covered his head.
'Was it all a dream? Did I really see her again?'
Confused thoughts continued to swirl around in his mind when he realized that he had no idea where he was.
The red-haired boy wandered outdoors- it seemed that he was still in the forest and he had been sleeping in a cabin- some sunlight managed to make it all the way through the foliage. He welcomed the warmth of the sun on his skin. Looking about, he noticed that there was steam rising up from something behind several large boulders at the back of the cabin.
'What's that?' he let his curiosity carry him to the source of the steam.
Just as he rounded the side of the boulders, he saw something he didn't want to see- clothes on the ground and a girl in a hot spring. He expected her to do something other than just sit there and look at him, however that's exactly what she did- simply look at him. Gaara stared at her, not that he really meant to. Finally deciding that there was actually a girl there, he looked away at the sky.
"So you're finally awake, huh?" the girl asked, not moving.
Gaara glanced back at her.
"You really don't like talking do you?" the girl sighed as she stood up and began walking towards the silent boy.
The demon boy wasn't looking- he honestly wasn't- he was just watching her as she came up out of the water… naked. It was Gaara, after all- it made no difference to him. Apparently, it made no difference to her either. She grabbed a towel off the ground and wrapped herself in it. She then began wringing out all the water in her waterlogged, long, brown hair. During this whole time, Gaara just watched her silently and she ignored him.
She bundled up the clothes on the ground and then began to walk back to the cabin, still ignoring Gaara. The red-haired boy stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do.
'Was that…Kisa,' he questioned himself, 'That was Kisa, right?'
Gaara shook his head as he recalled himself from the trance, 'Did I just see Kisa without any clothes on?'
He stormed back into the cabin.
"KISA?"
The girl was in the middle of dressing and only had her skirt and other underclothes on.
"Yeah, Gaara?"
Gaara gaped at her, turning several shades of red before he could turn his eyes away.
"What? You didn't seem to mind that I was naked before." Kisa looked at him annoyed as she pulled her usual white tank on.
Gaara was really confused and pissed now. Why was she being like this? How could she act this way after talking to him for the first time in years?
"What are you doing? Why are you acting like this?" he asked in a shaky voice, "D-Do you enjoy seeing me suffer?"
Kisa narrowed her eyes at him.
"You can't be her…" Gaara couldn't bring himself to face the girl in front of him anymore and stared at the cabin floor as if it would give him some sort of answer to his questions, "She- Kisa… Kisa…"
Suddenly, Kisa moved in front of him and lightly placed a finger on his nose.
"And… what am I supposed to do if I'm not?" she asked solemnly, as his eyes crossed themselves again to look at her finger- just as they did so many years ago. Gaara was speechless. Somehow, he found all his questions fully answered, yet still unanswered within the silent conversation as their eyes met.
Was this really her? Yeah. And no.
"I'm…" Kisa took her finger away as her eyes fell and tears formed in her eyes, "I'm… sorry. I was wrong to think that we could just go back to being the way we were before. I just… I… I really missed you."
She fell into his arms as she began crying uncontrollably into his chest. The boy, who was unsure of what to do, wrapped his arms about the sobbing girl.
"I… I miss you… so much…" she choked out between sobs.
Gaara's only response was to hold onto her tighter.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Alright, I'm pretty sure a whole lot of Gaara-for-myself-only fans are going to come at me with… uh… butter…knives… now. But LOOK! Reread that second section of this chapter again! READ IT! Did you notice something VERY important? Yep. Gaara did not have even one single nosebleed. SEE? Read it again! Gaara's NOT a pervert! - now THAT'S my type of man.
Gaara nervously shifted in his sitting position on a mat on the ground next to a window. Kisa was making food in the small kitchen.
'When did she learn to cook?' Gaara pondered, 'Back then… only Yashamaru's cooking smelled this good.'
His stomach growled as blush formed on his pale cheeks. Gaara remembered that it had been a while since he ate- but it mattered not because he was too pompous to admit that he needed food. After all, it was Gaara- and for Gaara, food was for fools.
"Ah… Kisa?" Gaara started.
"Nani?" Kisa called back.
"Ah… Uh…" he was unsure of what to say.
'Why am I so nervous?' he argued with himself, 'Its Kisa. We were really good friends. Why…?'
Then, Gaara realized what his mind had said- We were.
We were.
His stomach interrupted his train of thoughts. Looking embarrassed, Gaara turned away to look out the window again.
"It's… nothing."
As the warmth of the sun's rays fell on his skin, he remembered what it felt like to have Kisa so close to him again, what it felt like to have her in his arms again. He remembered how she cried on for what seemed like eternity to him, but had actually only lasted a few minutes. The red-haired boy smiled… inside.
'Did it really feel this good to be around her back then?' he questioned himself, 'Or is this just a dream too good to be true?'
Gaara looked up at a pair of long legs that had appeared in front of him. Kisa stood before Gaara's seated figure, holding out a bowl of noodles to him.
"Here, Gaara, you must be starving- you were out for a few days, you know."
Gaara blinked before carefully accepting the food from her. A few days?
"Thank you," he mumbled.
"You're welcome," she answered cheerfully. Kisa turned to kick another mat over and sat down a few feet away from Gaara. She studied her bowl of noodles before picking up some with her chopsticks and blowing on it to cool it off. She looked up to see Gaara watching her with an unreadable expression and smiled at him.
"You know," she said as she twirled her chopstick to get more noodles and blew on it again, "It is edible. I'm not a horrible cook like Kyo."
She stuck her tongue out at him before shoving the noodles in her mouth. Gaara blinked at her before looking down at his bowl in his hands again.
"Itadakimasu," he recited monotonously as he broke the chopsticks apart to eat.
He looked up at Kisa to see her staring at him wide-eyed. She choked on her noodles as she struggled to finish swallowing.
"Oh no!" she gasped, "That's what I forgot!"
Quickly, she set her bowl on the ground as she bent her head, "Itadakimasu."
Lifting her head, she carefully opened one eye to look around, as if expecting a bolt of lightening to come down from the heavens to smite her. Gaara smiled… inside again. Kisa glanced over at Gaara.
"Ne," she said thoughtfully as she picked up her bowl and chopsticks. "That was kinda like back then… wasn't it?"
Gaara gave her a strange look. "Back then?"
Kisa gave him a sad smile, but shrugged his question off.
The two finished the rest of their meal in silence- neither wanting to break the peaceful atmosphere or the self-assuring knowledge that they were together again.
Gaara found Kisa quietly watching him finish the rest of his noodles- (she had already finished hers)- and blinked.
"Don't you know it's rude to stare?"
Kisa just smiled her mischievous smile again.
"Whoever said I was staring at you and not your food?"
She got up and took Gaara's now-empty bowl and headed for the sink.
"Oh…" Gaara tried remembering his manners, "Thanks for the food- your cooking was very good."
Kisa smiled, "Yeah… I suppose it is better than Kyo's in many ways."
There was a silence. She hadn't really mentioned where Kyo was, now that he thought about it. Gaara figured that he must be with some new girl or something… he should have been married by now…
"Where's Kyo-san?"
Kisa didn't turn around. She finished washing the last bowl and set it on the counter to dry, then dried her own hands on a towel.
Gaara grew uneasy. Good things never happened when Kisa was silent.
"Kisa?"
She turned around and tried to smile.
"Nii-san passed away."
Gaara watched her. Death was nothing new to him. In a way, he was the basically like the grim reaper- killing people left and right. But… there was something about the way the pain was displayed on her face.
'The pain of losing someone dear to you…?'
"I figured you would want to know once you came around… but I never would have guessed I'd have to tell you today…" she trailed off, as her eyes grew distant.
Somehow, some way, Gaara didn't want her to be pained. He wanted…
"Kisa…"
She gave him a reassuring smile as she continued.
"Well, I guess I might as well get it over with."
six years ago, the day of Gaara and Kisa's anniversary of having met
Heavy rain pelted the figures of two people riding a horse through a dark forest. It was well past midnight, as the travelers had begun their journey before dawn. The horse kept at a dauntless gallop. Trees flew by as they raced through the thickness of the overgrown forest. The second figure felt a sudden weight added to the bundle in front of him. The little girl had fallen asleep, or at least she had been when her head bobbed right back up, trying to stay awake.
"Kisa, daijoobu-ka?"
"Hai. Kyo-nii-san."
The older of the two, lifted his determined eyes as he urged the horse to go faster.
nineteen hours later
Kyo nervously shifted in the seat of the saddle. Dark figures surrounded the horse and its riders, slowly edging towards them in the small clearing.
"Return her to us, Kyo," a deep voice came from one of the cloaked figures.
The horse neighed softly as the little girl sifted nervously in her brother's arms.
"No."
A soft laugh came from the figure that spoke before.
"You made a deal with us… do you really believe that we will let you walk back out of it?"
The soft laugh was carried around the encircling group.
"She belongs to us. Return her now…" a hand stretched out from within the cloak's fold, holding a kunai, "Or else…"
three days later
Kyo felt himself giving away to sleep.
He had been walking for hours- far behind him lay the rotting corpses of a once healthy and beautiful horse and several nins from their home country.
Fog and mist covered this area of the forest, making it seem as if he had been walking in a dream.
On his back, Kisa clung loosely to him, completely exhausted and fainted. He couldn't blame her, it had been a long day for such a small child.
Just as his eyelids closed, they shot open again. He shook his head, he had to stay awake… for her sake.
thirty hours later
"Stand aside."
An old wrinkled hand stretched out over a crowd that had formed around the unconscious bodies of two siblings. His sharp eyes stared down at the two that were obviously from the Hidden Village of the Sand.
His eyes narrowed when he saw the little girl with blood stained hands.
'What happened to them?,' he wondered.
"Hurry," he said turning around as his long, white robe blew about in the light early morning breeze, "Bring them to the hospital. There's not a moment to spare."
four days later
Kyo and Kisa both bowed down to the Hokage with their foreheads touching the floor of his office.
"Please, Hokage!" Kyo pleaded and begged, "If there is anything that you can do…"
"Please," Kyo went even lower on the ground (if possible).
Kisa felt herself coming to the verge of tears, 'Why doesn't this old fart understand our situation?'
The Hokage sat facing his large glass ball, acting as if he were pondering. His eyes went to the little girl. 'Isn't she the same age as him?'
The tired old man let out a long sigh. There was no other way. Their coming here had proved advantageous for the Hidden Leaf Village.
'Now we know what you have been doing in that village of yours, Kazekage,' the Hokage thought grimly, 'You and your monstrous projects… How far will you go?'
The Hokage stood up from his seat and walk around to where the two siblings of the Sand were bowing. Knowing what the Kazekage was doing would prevent Konoha from meeting any sort of destruction in the near future. The Hokage was in a huge debt- something he did NOT like to be in.
"Very well," the Hokage said, bringing the two siblings to look up at him, "You may remain here… in concealment."
He looked at the little girl again, "…We owe you both many thanks. And as the leader of Konoha, it will be my job to make sure that the two of you will be safe here."
Kyo and Kisa looked up at their new kage.
"In concealment?" Kyo questioned him.
"Yes, in concealment," the old man answered, "However, it's not the concealment you're probably thinking about. Only a few trusted others and I will know you and your younger sister's true identity. Otherwise, the rest of Konoha shall just know you as emigrants from outside the village walls. I'll give you two a place to live near these headquarters."
Kyo bowed down again in thankfulness. Kisa, however, looked at the Hokage blankly. Smiling, the Hokage guessed what she had in mind.
"You, Kisa, will be attending the Academy for young ninjas, starting tomorrow."
A smiled graced her lips as she nodded and thanked him again.
the next day
Kisa stood outside the door leading to her new class. She had never been in a class before- she already knew it was because of her abilities- but it didn't stop her from being a little nervous.
'Okay, maybe I'm more than just a little nervous…' Kisa shuffled a little closer to a big man attired in all black with a black trench coat and bandana standing next to her. She had to start her new life, but clinging onto others certainly wasn't the way to do it.
Kisa put on a determined face.
"Are you nervous?" asked Ibiki.
"Iie," Kisa replied in a shaky voice, "Not at all."
Kisa and Kyo had been introduced to Morino Ibiki yesterday- the Hokage introduced him as their bodyguard, if ever needed. Kyo had been a bit nervous around him, seeing to as his appearance was threatening within itself. Kisa, however, quickly embraced him as a friend- her first friend in all of Konoha. Ibiki, in return, embraced the small child as a friend.
A small, quivering hand stretched out to open the door.
'I have to start a new life…'
"Iruka-sensei," Ibiki called out in greeting as he stepped in the room, ushering the little brown-haired girl in as well.
A young man turned from his writing on the chalkboard to look at the visitors.
"Ibiki," he quickly strode over to the two and spoke in an urgent whisper, "Ibiki, can't you see that I'm in the middle of class?
"Yeah, but," Ibiki gently pushed the little girl forward, "her…"
Iruka looked at the young girl in surprise.
"Her?"
"Yes, this young lady is Kawamura Kisa," a voice explained
"Oh. Yes, yes, Kisa, eh?" Iruka nodded his head in agreement, and then looked up in surprise at the voice, for he knew it well.
"EH? HOKAGE?" the young teacher looked surprised, "What are you doing here?"
The elderly man made a gesture with his hand, motioning for the teacher to follow him outside of the classroom. The young man obeyed.
"Kisa," Ibiki kneeled down to the girl's eye level, "Why don't you go ahead and find a seat?"
Kisa nodded her head and timidly turned to the rest of the curious students to find a spot. She gulped. Why were they all staring at her so funny?
Her eyes skimmed the whole class. Everyone in there seemed to be around her age. It made her happy, the only person she ever met that was her own age was Gaara. But Gaara wasn't here now.
Her eyes continued to travel across the room until they fell on the figures of a boy with a high ponytail who was sleeping and a boy with sunglasses quietly sitting at the same table, while the rest of the class stirred uneasily. She turned back to the dark man next to her.
"There?" he looked over at the spot she indicated, "I'll be waiting downstairs in the lobby when class is over, alright?"
Kisa shyly nodded as she turned to go to her chosen spot.
"I'll see you after class," Ibiki said standing back up and left the room.
Kisa climbed the steps to the spot next to the sunglasses boy and the napping boy. As she went up, her new classmates turned and watched her curiously, none of them making any eye contact.
"Ah… excuse me…" Kisa quietly nudged the sleeping boy with drool coming out of the side of his mouth, "Hello?"
"Don't bother with him- he's really asleep."
Kisa looked up surprised at the sunglasses boy's sudden input.
"Oh."
"Go ahead and sit down, you're attracting a lot of attention."
Kisa, surprised, looked around. He was right. All the other kids were staring at her. She gulped and sat down. The rest of the kids slowly one by one turned back to their own conversations.
"Ah… Arigato," Kisa turned to thank the boy with sunglasses, who sat on the other side of the drooling boy. "I'm-"
"Kawamura Kisa."
Kisa blushed and nodded. This boy was strange, he hadn't turned to look at her the whole time that she had began talking to her. In fact, he hadn't seemed to move ever since she came into the room. And his sunglasses…
'Maybe he's blind?'
"I'm Aburame Shino," the boy continued, still not looking at her, "And this is Nara Shikamaru. He always sleeps during class."
"Oh… It's nice to meet you," Kisa said, bowing slightly.
"Yeah," Shino continued to look straight ahead, or at least it seemed like it- his sunglasses were completely tinted- it was impossible to tell.
Suddenly, the door to the classroom opened again as the teacher walked back in, looking slightly disturbed.
"Oh, Kisa. You found a seat already," Iruka looked up at the new girl in his class. "I trust must have already met Shino and Shikamaru…"
Iruka trailed off as he noticed the young boy napping. He picked up a chalk eraser off the board and chucked it with all his might at the sleeping boy.
"NARA SHIKAMARU!"
Kisa stared wide-eyed at the pineapple-head boy next to her as he groggily sat up. His classmates all quietly giggled and Shino still looked straight ahead.
"Nani?"
"I'm guessing you haven't met the new student then."
"Eh?" The boy called Shikamaru looked around then noticed a person sitting to his right.
"Who are you?"
"That's Kisa!" a student at the table in front of them called out.
"Kisa?" Shikamaru eyed her warily, "Geez. A girl is sitting here now? How troublesome."
The class started again as the students started taking notes as Iruka-sensei began lecturing again, Shino stared on, and Shikamaru settled down for another nap. Kisa gave a small sigh. Shikamaru was right… with the way things were starting off, this was going to be a bit troublesome.
two days later
Kisa stretched her arms. She wasn't used to sitting at a desk for so long- she usually spent her days running free around the Hidden Sand Village with Gaara. Now, she had to sit in an uncomfortable desk for hours.
Kisa looked over at the sleeping figure of Shikamaru. She really envied him- how on earth could he fall asleep so easily like that?
On the other side of Shikamaru, Shino sat looking straightforward again, except today he had a notebook out and was twirling his pencil.
It had been three days since Kisa had started going to class. She found most of what Iruka-sensei had to teach very interesting. She liked coming to class, except for sitting still the whole time.
She shuffled about in her seat.
"You're being too noisy, again."
Kisa looked to her left to see an agitated Shino. Well, she couldn't really tell that he was agitated- that big collar covered up most of his face and his eyes were covered by those super-tinted sunglasses. The only way she could tell that he was annoyed was by his eyebrows- they were slightly scrunched- if you could say that by just looking at eyebrows.
"Ah… gomen," Kisa quietly apologized.
Shino went back to the twirling of his pencil as Kisa went back to listening to Iruka-sensei.
"Alright, any questions?" the young teacher asked.
"SENSEI!" a blonde boy in the front stood up.
Kisa watched him curiously. He seemed to be the class clown- always being loud and pulling pranks.
"IRUKA-SENSEI! I cannot do the assignment!" he practically yelled.
"Naruto!" Iruka looked at the boy annoyed, "You don't have to yell. Quiet down!"
"Ne, gomen ne?" the boy called Naruto scratched the back of his head in an embarrassed fashion, "Sensei, I cannot do the assignment."
"Why?" Iruka looked at him impatiently.
"Some girl stole my notebook."
Iruka raised a brow.
"Stole your notebook?"
"Yeah. She bumped into me and made me drop all my stuff, and then when I had picked it all up I noticed that she had run off with my notebook."
"Do you remember what she looked like?" Iruka seriously asked him as he motioned for Naruto come down to the front.
"Yeah," Naruto squinted his eyes as if in deep thought, "She looked like this… "
A flurry of smoke appeared in the front of the classroom, consuming Naruto and Iruka with its thickness. Slowly, the smoke began to disappear, revealing a stunned teacher and a figure of a naked girl, just barely covered by the traces of smoke left.
"AHHHHH!" Iruka flew back with a huge stream of gushing blood spewing forth from his nose. He landed headfirst on the other side of the room, twitching as Naruto changed back into himself and the class burst out laughing.
Kisa couldn't help but giggle. It was perverted, but it was just too funny. If only Gaara were here…
"What a dork."
Kisa turned to look at her classmate. Shino sat there with an unreadable expression, but Kisa could tell that he, too, was laughing at the trick that the class clown had pulled. Kisa smiled as the whole class continued to laugh at the twitching lump on the ground who used to be their respected teacher.
"Hahahahahahaha!" Naruto stood at the front of their classroom, laughing his head off, "Iruka-sensei is a PERVERT!"
one year and seven months later
Kisa stood amidst the large crowd; she was the youngest there, holding onto her new forehead protector. It's shiny metal plate reflected the bright sun. She smiled.
It was a sign that she was really a part of this country- a sign that she was a real ninja. She couldn't wait to go show Kyo.
She quietly slipped away from the loud celebrating of all of her older classmates that had graduated with her, and started down the street towards the third-largest building in Konoha.
On the way there, she stopped at the flower shop that she had bought a flower from each time she came along this way. A young blonde girl sat inside, keeping over watch of her family's shop. Kisa remembered this girl, she was the same age as her…
"Hello," Kisa greeted her as she gave her the money for the flower.
"Hello," the blonde looked over the edge of the counter at the object in Kisa's other hand.
"You graduated today?" she raised an eyebrow.
"Yep!" Kisa smiled, holding the forehead protector up to her forehead.
"Wow…" her clear blue eyes shone with admiration as she looked at her in a whole new light. She knew that the girl wasn't any older than herself. The blonde wrapped the flower up.
"Thank you!" Kisa called out as she left.
She reached her destination in a couple of minutes, and quickly walked up to the reception desk to sign in.
"Visiting Kyo-san again?" the receptionist smiled at the little girl.
"Yes!"
"Go right on ahead, the doctor should have finished his check up by now."
Kisa thanked the lady and rushed to go to her brother's room.
"Kyo-nii-san!" Kisa called out as she entered his room.
Kyo laid on a white bed, propped up by several pillows. He weakly smiled as his younger sister entered the room.
"Nii-san! I graduated!" the little girl rushed over to his bedside to give him a big hug.
"Really?" Kyo asked weakly, "Good job, Sa-chan. I'm really proud of you."
Kisa smiled, and handed him the flower and her forehead protector. Kyo held the metal band in his hands, letting the hospital light shine on it.
"It's beautiful," he softly chuckled.
"Yep," the young girl nodded her head in excitement, "We're having a meeting in 3 days- I'll meet my team then. Then I'll bring them here to meet you. Then later, when you get better, you can come watch us train!"
Kyo sadly smiled and nodded his head in silent agreement as Kisa stood to put the flower in the vase on the other side of his bed, still planning on a future for the both of them that he knew would not come.
three days later
"Alright," A man with dark brown hair, with his forehead protector bound to his forehead spoke to three genins sitting before him, "We're going to introduce ourselves to each other since the third person to this team is here and I'm new to this team as well. We'll say our name, age, hobbies, likes, dislikes, and whatever comes to mind… now, we'll start with the little lady."
Kisa nervously smiled. She wasn't used to being around older kids… yet. Not only that… the two genin boys had a strange feeling to their presence.
"I'm Kisa Kawamura. I'm 8 years old. I like to go bug collecting with my friend, Shino. I like a learning and training and I dislike sandstorms."
The jounin standing before her gave a slight nodded approval as his eyes travel over to the boy sitting on her right.
"I'm Yusaka Satashi. I'm 17 years old. I like hanging out and training with Hitari here," he pointed over at the boy next to him, "I like and dislike the same stuff as him, so he'll tell you."
The boy called Hitari growled angrily at his friend then turned back to his task.
"I'm Hitari, like Satashi said. Goyuko Hitari. I'm 17, too. I train a lot with Satashi…"
A distant look came over his dark grey eyes as his dirty blonde hair covered them.
"I used to train a lot with our old sensei and Hitomi… I really liked Hitomi…"
Satashi glared at the boy next to him. But it wasn't an angry glare. Satashi's eyes were a grey-blue that held oceans and oceans of sorrow.
"Hitari… stop talking about them."
Hitari looked downcast as Satashi's raven-colored hair reflected the darkness within their souls.
"You see, Yuada Hitomi was the girl that was in our team. She was killed during one of our class B missions along with our sensei, Kisate-sensei."
Their jounin leader shifted, slightly uncomfortable with the way the conversation was going. Kisa, however, felt a wave of guilt. Those nins that had attacked them almost two years ago… how many people mourned over their loss?
"Mmm…" the jounin spoke up," I'm Kumi Murai. Just call me Murai. And I'm pretty sure you three will figure out the rest of me soon enough."
one year and two months later
"…Tonight?" Hitari spoke in a hushed voice as his eyes watched the ten-year-old girl of their chuunin team scurrying about the grassy training field, picking flowers.
Satashi watched his friend's intense stare at the little girl. He almost felt bad for her. Almost.
"Sensei!"
A grumpy jounin glared at the figure that had suddenly joined him on a shaded branch of the large tree in the middle of the field. He had almost dozed off again.
"How many times to I have to tell you? Call me Murai!" he grumbled, "'Sensei' makes me sound old…"
He looked at the figure in front of him. She was holding out a bouquet of flowers towards him.
"Nyuh-uh!" Kisa stuck out her tongue as she thrust the flowers into his arms and smiled cheerfully. She stood there for a moment before something clicked in her mind.
"Oh yeah! I need to go get some for Kyo-nii-san!" she exclaimed as she rushed off into the field again. The raven-haired chuunin watched her with his friend this time.
Her movements were so graceful, especially for such a young child. She wore a red sleeveless shirt that zipped up in the front and short black shorts. Her forehead protector was tied about her waist, used as a belt since she was leaner than most girls her age. Her brown hair went down to the small of her back and was tied near the end with the same red piece of cloth.
He looked back at his best friend. He stared at her almost hungrily.
It was true that the two boys saw many of Hitomi's qualities in this girl. She was almost like her double, except younger. Hitomi had always enjoyed picking flowers and annoying their sensei, but she was sweet like that. It just turned out that turning their mission, Kisate-sensei died protecting Hitomi…
Satashi stopped his train of thoughts and looked at Kisa again. She stood still, facing northeast, holding a small bouquet of flowers as the setting sun's rays danced upon her brown hair.
'She is quite lovely…'
"Yeah…Tonight."
"Ano… Sat-chan…"
Kisa turned to see a slightly blushing Satashi, rubbing the back of his head, approach her with Hitari silently following behind him.
"Yes? Satashi-san? Hitari-san?"
A look of something indistinct flashed through the dark eyes of Hitari when she said his name. However, Kisa didn't notice, and neither did Satashi. The raven-haired chuunin squatted down to the ten-year old chuunin's eye-level.
"Sat-chan, would you mind if we accompanied you home tonight?"
"Eh?" Kisa looked at him and Hitari quizzically.
Lately, Hitari had become more moody and dark while Satashi had become even nicer. It was strange, but Kisa enjoyed it all the same. She was actually treated more equally when they were training- the two eighteen-year-old boys didn't hold back on her as much, despite their age difference. Satashi and Hitari learned to respect her because of her talents, and all the more, her abilities. Of course, even though they lost, they never let her know that they were still holding back from their full strengths. But then again, neither did she.
"Or are you going to still visit your brother?"
"Oh…" Kisa looked a bit thoughtful, "I guess not… it's getting late and Nii-san is probably asleep around now… so… Okay!"
Kisa smiled cheerfully at her teammates.
"Oh, but shouldn't we tell Sensei that we're leaving now?"
Satashi looked over at the branch were their team leader was snoozing.
"No, it's alright. I don't think he'd want to wake up…"
Kisa nodded in agreement as she and the two boys turned to leave their training field.
'Huh?' Kisa groggily opened her eyes, 'Why is it so dark?'
Her eyes quickly adjusted to the surrounding darkness.
'How did I get in my room?' she reached for a spot on the back of her head where she felt immense pain. The last thing she remembered was reaching the door of her small home when there was a sharp pain on the back of her head and everything went dark.
"So you're awake…"
Kisa looked towards where the deep voice came from.
"H-Hitari-san?" she exclaimed. He was shirtless, and advancing on her. She looked down, blushing when she realized that her clothes were gone.
"Wh-what's going on?" she asked him fearfully.
"Nothing… you woke up just in time," he wore a lustful grin on his face.
This wasn't Hitari.
This couldn't be Hitari.
This wasn't the Hitari that she had spent her last year with training, going on missions, and struggling with.
"Why?" she choked out a sob as he came upon her.
"Because, you see, Hitomi betrayed me, so I couldn't have her… but now I have you."
He grabbed her face, forcing his lips upon hers. Tears began to stream forth as images of corpses lying in pools of blood replayed themselves in her head.
Hitari forced her back onto her bed as her once blood-stained hands began to glow blue again as they reached for her weapons that lay under her pillow.
Murai sat up suddenly at the sound of clashing thunder as rain began to pour down on him.
'Huh… there weren't any clouds at all today…'
Suddenly he realized that he was all alone on the training field.
"Oh no…"
The sudden violent thundershower was a definitely a bad omen… but he hadn't expected this.
He almost stumbled as he entered the Kawamura residence; furniture was overturned, there were several large holes in the walls, and blood was splattered everywhere. He hadn't expected anything like this.
"Mu…rai…"
Murai's green eyes traveled over to where he heard his name called. There lying on the ground, writhing in pain, was Satashi- or at least what left of him.
"Oh god…"
His raven-colored hair was matted down with blood. Satashi bent over his student to get a better look on his wounds. He suddenly realized what was missing- his ears. He visibly gulped as Satashi let out painful groan. Murai closed his eyes for a moment, trying to prepare himself to see the rest of the damage. As he examined the chuunin, he found that his limbs were missing and there were many new holes and gashes in his once scar-less and tan skin.
"K-Ki…sa…"
Murai already understood. He had always known what she was capable of… but this was… this was…
"Mutilation…"
Immediately, he stood up and reached into his jounin vest and pulled out two scrolls. This was definitely an emergency. He threw them open as a cloud of smoke appeared along with two medics.
"Hurry, get others here, and get him treated."
The medics at first were shocked as well, but quickly shook themselves out of their trance and went to attending Satashi.
"Hi…tar…"
Murai looked gravely at the boy.
"There is another chuunin here… but he may not be alive…"
The medics nodded in understanding as they rushed away.
Murai waited a few seconds to make sure there was no one else there, as he pulled out a pair of gloves.
'I never thought I'd have to use these so soon…'
He raced up the stairs- or at least what was left of the stairs- they, too, were falling apart.
As he reached the top of the stairs, he came to face the doorway of room that belonged to Kisa. Inside was completely dark, only lit up when lightening struck outside.
Murai almost threw up at the sight of his other student. If he had thought that Satashi was mutilated, Hitari was beyond any help at all. Kisa had basically slaughtered him… she had even blinded him.
Several medics had appeared behind him. He motioned towards his near-dead student on the floor of a bloodstained room as he carefully made his way through the litter of furniture and flesh towards a small figure huddled in the far corner of the room.
"Kisa?"
She was clutching a bloodstained blanket to herself as she turned her eyes towards her teacher.
Her eyes were green- 'the same color as mine…' Murai realized.
Even in the dark, he could tell that those eyes were full lifeless hatred- eyes searching to destroy.
Whoever it was staring up at him out of Kisa's body, definitely wasn't Kisa.
In a quick motion, he knocked her onto her back as he pulled the gloves over her hands and used a jutsu to seal them there.
Soon after a fruitless struggle, she calmed down as her eyes returned to their natural, brown-black state.
"S-Sensei?"
A medic rushed into the room with a light.
"Sensei, wh-what happened in here?" Kisa asked looking around, confused and almost crying.
Now, Murai could take in account of what had happened, for Kisa was still naked.
"Take this girl to the hospital, too."
The medic with the light gaped at the girl who was splattered with blood, especially her hands, which seemed to have been soaking in blood.
She quickly rushed over to the girl, wrapped her up in a clean and un-bloodied blanket, and led her away.
seven hours later
"You know there is no way you can stay here now."
Kisa looked up at the white-robed figure seated in his large seat at his desk.
"I know that much… but why not just condemn me to die? Is that not what I deserve?"
The Hokage looked down at his folded hands in his lap.
"That may be what you deserve, but on your case… there is a differentiating factor."
Kisa looked back down at her gloveless hands which still had a slight hint of blood stained upon them.
"Is it because I am from the Sand?"
The Hokage stood up and he walked over to a window- the dawn was just in a few hours.
"You must leave here before people hear about this," he continued, ignoring her question, "If you value your life at all… you will leave this place until it is safe for you to come back."
Kisa looked at him questioningly.
"Do you mean Kyo-nii-san?"
Silence.
"Your brother passed away a several hours ago."
Silence again.
Slowly, Kisa curled herself up into a ball where she was seated.
"Kisa…"
"I knew it would have been soon… but I didn't know that it would have happened while I was…"
The old man looked sad and he pitied the poor girl. She never deserved this… No one deserved this.
"Kisa-chan, there is a cabin in the northern woods of the Fire Country."
Kisa looked up at the Hokage again.
"There is a genjutsu surrounding it so nobody can find it, but it is only broken when you tell someone that it is there."
Kisa silently listened to the old man's words.
"Kisa?"
Silence.
"I'm just a little tired… I'll leave in a couple of hours…"
The Hokage's eyes softened as he nodded understandingly as he went back to his desk to await the hour when the villager would learn of the news.