(So yeah, Next time I mess up like that someone tell me lol. I just now noticed, after like a month, that chapter one was posted along with chapter 2. So I fixed it for all you future readers out there. I'm sorry guys. Hopefully I won't make that mistake again. It was a serious oops. Alright...happy reading!)
Chapter 2
Gaara walked down the streets of Konoha, making his way towards the Academy. For some bizarre reason Tsunade had decided that he, and several of the examiners, along with the winners from the preliminaries, should go and talk to the students.
He wasn't looking forward to it at all, he hated doing things like this. But it was just one of those things that came with being Kazekage, so he would endure.
As he walked along he suddenly heard a strange tapping coming up behind him. He turned his head to see what it was, and as he expected it was the blind girl, Nikomi, from the preliminary rounds.
She quickly caught up to him, which wasn't difficult considering he dreaded this so much he was walking as slow as possible. As she walked past him, he for just a moment met eyes with hers.
They were blank, she truly was blind. But in them was an intensity that he had only seen in a few other people in his life. It nearly gave him chills. There was hate in her eyes.
She didn't say anything to him, just continued on her way. He knew they would eventually have to exchange words. They were headed towards the same place after all.
Gaara reluctantly entered the academy. He was the last one to arrive, but it didn't really matter. He was still right on time. Tsunade, Iruuka, Shikamaru, and Naruto, along with the preliminary winners, all stood there waiting for him.
"Alright, everyone's here. The students will very much so enjoy this I'm sure. They need someone to look up to." Tsunade explained.
"That's right! Lets go!" Naruto yelled out, over zealous as always.
It was the first time Gaara had seen him in a while. But it seemed that he hadn't really changed at all.
"Naruto don't get too excited it's just the academy students." Shikamaru told him. "What a troublesome guy," he finished as always.
Gaara sighed. As cliché as it was, the more things changed around here, the more they stayed the same. Even though Naruto was inches away from being Hokage, he still was just as crazy and hyper as ever. Shikamaru was a top jounin and still would rather watch the clouds. It was like they were the same people from 4 years ago.
After a brief talk, they all dispersed heading off to different class rooms to talk to the students, two people to each class room. Gaara hadn't paid any attention as to who he had been paired up with, considering Tsunade had just told them each their room number not who their partner was. But to his surprise, and satisfaction, he ended up going to Nikomi.
As they walked down the hallways, she didn't say anything at all. It was like she was plotting something wicked at all times. There was something seriously wrong with this girl.
"So you're the sands kazekage huh?" She asked, finally breaking the awkward silence between two very stern people.
"Yes," Gaara answered bluntly.
"Do you have to come every time we have one of these stupid exams?" She questioned.
"Yes," He answered, once again very ingenuously.
"Hmph. More reason for me to never become a kage." She uttered.
Gaara looked down at her curiously. Now that he was getting a better look at her, she seemed older then the other students. Although she as tiny, probably only 4 foot 10 her face told him she had to be at least 15.
"What's with the jug?" She asked rather sarcastically.
"It's a gourd. And it's filled with sand," Gaara answered a little irritated.
"oh...ok. I guess that's why they call you Sabaku no Gaara."
"Yeah."
"Well so glad we could have this riveting conversation." She ended rather snidely.
Gaara narrowed his eyes at her. There was definitely something strange about this girl. Her out look on life was far too jaded. She had definitely been through some tough times before. Probably due to her blindness.
The two of them didn't exchange any words after that. They simply entered the classroom, did their speech, and left.
As they approached the exit Gaara noticed the girl continued to hold her stomach as if it were in pain. He thought maybe she hadn't eaten breakfast and was just hungry. But the expression she had on her face said otherwise. She looked like she was generally in pain.
Before they could take another step the girl let out a scream, doubled over, fell to her knees, then onto the floor. Gaara stopped and immediately knelt down beside her.
She was curled up in the fetal position, shaking, and holding her stomach. He didn't know what was wrong but he knew that she obviously needed medical attention. He quickly grabbed her up in his arms and began to rush her off to the hospital.
She didn't argue at all. It seemed as if she could hardly breathe. From what he could hear, her breaths were all very short and shallow. In his arms he could feel her temperature drastically rising. At this rate the fever would overtake her and she would soon be in critical condition.
In no time flat Gaara reached the Konoha hospital where he quickly approached the nurses sitting at the front desk.
"Gaara-sama…can I…" They started confused, then noticed the quivering girl in his arms.
"Oh no! Quickly follow me." One of the nurses said, running towards the hospital rooms.
"Put her here," she gestured to a bed. Gaara followed her instruction and gently laid the girl down, who as soon as she touched the bed rolled over onto her side and curled up.
"You stay here with her. I'm going to get Sakura!" The nurse instructed.
Gaara stood there, watching Nikomi as she writhed in pain. He had never seen anything like this before. It was like one minute she was being obnoxious and overly sarcastic, and the next she was pratically dieing.
In a flash the door flew open and Sakura came running in. She didn't even acknowledge Gaara, she simply went straight the bed and knelt down.
"Nikomi," she said softly, not trying to startle the girl. "I need you to try to sit up."
Nikomi cringed and curled up even tighter. "No!" She managed to squeak out.
"I know it hurts but you have to, you know that!" Sakura urged.
"I can't." She said through clenched teeth.
Sakura sighed then turned to face Gaara. "I need your help." She said quite urgently.
Gaara nodded and walked over to the bed. "What can I do?" He asked, knowing he had no medical training at all.
"I just need you to sit her up while I take off her bandages." Sakura explained.
Gaara nodded once more and proceeded to do what he was told. Although Nikomi resisted quite a bit, probably due to the pain, Gaara managed to sit her up by sitting down in front of her and letting her rest her head on his shoulder.
It was slightly awkward for him. He had never had a girl so close to him in this intimate of a position. But it was something he had to. He knew this girls life depended on it.
Sakura reached around and proceeded to untie the girls top. It fell off behind her, and now all that was left was her bandages.
Gaara's eyes grew wide as he realized this girl was going to be topless in his arms. But he tried not to react. He had to put on a brave face, and act adult about it. He was the kazekage after all.
Sakura began to gently, but hastily, unwrap the girls bandages. With every one the girl cringed a little more.
Gaara watched curiously as the bandages came off. He wondered why the girl wore them all over her body. And he soon got his answer.
As the first few bandages came off a small purple mark was peaking through. As more and more unwrapped the spot got bigger and bigger. The more spots began to appear.
Gaara couldn't believe what he was seeing. Now that the bandages were unwrapped halfway down her back, he could see hundred of these odd markings. They were completely engulfing her body.
The girl's breathing had slowed and steadied a bit as she slipped in and out of conciousness. Gaara held onto to her shoulders as best he could without disturbing any of the wounds.
"Gaara…I need you to keep her awake!" Sakura shouted, almost finished with undoing her bandages. "If she falls asleep for too long it may be very difficult to wake her back up.
Gaara shook his head in agreement. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew Sakura knew what she was doing. He gently lifted the girls chin to look up at him.
"Nikomi," He said, searching for something to say. "You have to stay awake ok?"
He was terrible at this sort of thing. He wasn't really sure how to be affectionate, or caring. If he did it his way he would simply smack her everytime she dosed off. But he knew that wasn't the best method.
The girl wrinkled her nose and closed her eyes. "No," She said with a cracked voice.
"Yes. You know you have to." He told her once again.
"No," She stated once more, and nestled into his shoulder burying her face.
Gaara held his breath and clenched his teeth. He didn't know what to do. She was completely topless now and starting to cuddle with him. It was a little unnerving. "Nikomi. Please. Sakura's almost done. Just stay awake a little longer." He urged her.
Nikomi looked up at him with sad eyes. "She's not even…near finished." She told him, squinted and cringing all through the sentence.
"Yes she is," He argued. "The bandages are all off now."
"Gaara. I have to go get something hold her there and do not let her fall asleep!" Sakura told him, then ran out of the room.
Gaara reached out to stop her but knew he was useless to lowered his hand back down to her shoulder.
"She'll be back and everything is going to be fine." Gaara told Nikomi, just trying to make conversation to keep her awake.
"Heh," Nikomi said laughing, then started to double back over.
Gaara grabbed her tighter, keeping her from laying back down. "What's so funny?" He asked.
"This…is the worst…part." She said between shallow breaths.
Sakura flew back into the room holding some sort of kit. She set it down onto the table next to the bed and quickly flipped it open. Inside Gaara could see a huge needle and some sort of glowing blue serum in a bottle.
His eyes went wide when he realized that Sakura was going to inject this girl with that stuff using that needle. He now knew what Nikomi had meant when she said that this was the worst part.
Sakura field the needle with the serum and sat down behind the shaking girl. "Ok, here it comes. Are you ready?" Sakura asked softly.
Nikomi shook her head. "No…but…just do it." She commanded.
Sakura began to count, "1,2…" She paused as she prepared the needle.
Nikomi closed her eyes and clung tight to Gaara's shirt.
"3!" Sakura yelled out then jabbed the needle into the base of her spine.
Nikomi let out a blood curdling scream and squeezed as Garra's shirt as tight as she could.
Gaara watched, emotionless on the outside, but horrified inside. What was wrong with her? Why did she know what was going to happen? Did this happen to her often?
Just then Gaara felt a drop of water on his hand. He looked and saw that the girl who was clinging to desperately to him and broken down in tears. He looked over to see if Sakura was finished, but she wasn't.
Sakura continued to pump the girls body with whatever this strange substance was. Once it was in, Gaara without knowing it, let out a sigh of relief. But then he could feel the girl shaking her head back and forth as if to say "It's not over yet."
Gaara watched Sakura intently and realized that with the same needle she was puling out some kind of weird purple liquid. Then he realized that the marks covering the girls body were dissipating, leaving behind feint scars where they once were. Now that the marks were gone, Gaara could see that her whole body was scarred up by whatever this weird stuff was.
Nikomi clenched her teeth, and was now practically digging her nails into Gaara's skin. If it weren't for the layer of clothes and sand covering him, he would have surely ended up with tiny marks where her nails had scratched him.
Sakura pulled the needle out slowly and sighed. "You let it go too far this time Nikomi." She said as she cleaned up the mess.
Nikomi was shaking, still buried in Gaara's chest, clutching to him as if she would fall over if she let go. "I…know…" She said through sobs.
Sakura then pulled out a new role of the bandaging and sat back down. "I need you to sit up on your own." She instructed.
But Nikomi shook her head no. She didn't want to move. Her body was still fighting her. She was comfy here. This person who was holding her was warm and strong. It made her feel secure. She really wasn't even sure who it was, but she didn't want them to let go.
"Please Nikomi. We have to reapply the bandages and I'm sure Gaara-sama has things he has to get done." Sakura insisted.
But Nikomi wouldn't budge. She simply let out a large sob and held on tight to Gaara. Her whole upper body was wrapped in his warmth. It was soothing. As much as her entire body ached right now this was all she wanted. She knew it didn't really mean anything, but she had never really had anyone to hold her or console her when she was sick or sad. So when this happened, and the nurses held onto her, she never wanted to let go. But this time was even better then all the others. This person was stronger then most of the nurses and seemed to feel genuinely concerned about her. She never wanted them to let go.
"It's alright Sakura." Gaara chimed in. "She'll let go when she's ready."
Sakura sighed. "Are you sure?" She asked concerned.
"Yes. I'm sure. I'm the sands kazekage. She may not be a sand ninja, but she's still some one who needs to be taken care of." He explained to her, holding onto the shivering girl in his arms.
Sakura stood up, setting the bandages down on the table. "Ok then. If you're alright with it. If she falls asleep now it's alright. She's no longer in danger." Sakura explained to him. "I'm going to get Tsunade-sama. I'll be back shortly."
Sakura then left the room, leaving Gaara alone with the frightened and pain ridden girl.
Nikomi buried her face even more into Gaara's chest. He could feel the tears penetrating his clothes, but it didn't really bother him. Right now all he cared about was her well being.
After a few minutes the sobbing slowed then came to a halt. Her grip on his clothes had let up quite a bit and occasionally her body would twitch followed by a single sob then a slow breath out.
Gaara closed his eyes and took a deep breath then let it out and looked at her. Her eyes were closed. She was no longer shaking and seemed completely relaxed. She had fallen asleep in his arms.
He grabbed the blankets and gingerly wrapped them around her, covering her whole body. He then began to carefully lay her down. But the moment he started to let go of her she wined and grabbed hold of him again.
Oh boy. He thought. What have I gotten myself into?
He sat back up with her, letting her cuddle with him. She was covered up by the blankets, which made him feel a little better, but he still felt awfully out of place. But no matter how he tried, any time he tried to let go of her she would wake up just enough to grab hold of him once more. He decided that he would simply wait for Sakura and Tsunade to get back so they could take care of her.
