-9-

Crazed Eyes

I rested an elbow on my remaining leg and rested my head in my palm as I stared at the pair with blank eyes, "What's the issue?"

They both flinched at the question, avoiding my eyes. I snickered, which only made them cower in fear once more. It was great, that even crippled I still scared people. They were so...weak.

"S-Something's w-wrong with him!" Temari finally exclaimed, closing her eyes and balling up her fists, like she was preparing herself for something to hit her. Did she think my arms were long enough to hit her from my spot on the bed? Because they weren't. I wasn't that much of a monster. Well, if I had puppet arms like Sasori-

Fuck. I was a moron wasn't I? I was in Suna for crying out loud! 'Holy shit Aisako, you fucking-'

I shook my head. I'd yell at myself later. For now...I had to deal with the Chibi Sand Siblings.

"Of course something's wrong with him, one of the only people who treated him like a human being tried kill him. And me, actually. Oh, and then your father crammed a monster inside of him. As I said, of course, there is something wrong."

"B-but, he's...he's gone insane!" Kankuro piped up.

"How so?"

"He's attacking everyone who goes near him...he threatened to kill father, a-and us..."

"At night...all we can hear is him screaming in his room, and stuff breaking."

Huh. Sounds like my house...you know, with Takeo screaming and me falling out of bed all the time.

"And what do you expect me to do about it? I can't exactly get up and walk to your place, now can I? I can't even get off the damn bed." At this, I lifted my stump and wiggled it around a little, to prove my point.

Temari gave me a look of horrified disgust, like she hadn't noticed that I only had one leg. Kankuro, while he looked a bit grossed out, had the stereotypical 'Wow that's an awesome injury' look that many boys had. If it was on anyone else, I'd agree. After all...its not everyday someone has a leg ripped off by a demon. You know, unless they live in Hell. Real Hell...not Suna-Hell.

"I don't know!" She snapped.

I smirked at the little blonde girl. It looked like she had finally grown a pair ad wasn't acting like she was treading on eggshells. it would be nice if everyone did that, so I didn't have to listen to stuttering morons. Of course...if they didn't fear me anymore, they might move on to attacking me for frequently. Jeez people were such pains.

"Look, Temari." I said, going back to my resting position, resting my elbow on my knee and head in my hand. She stared at me in shock, like she was surprised I knew her name. "I'll see what I can do...but it'll have to wait until I can leave here...Or until Gaara come here, to me. Until then, I want you, both of you, to grow the hell up. "

"Wh-What?" Temari asked, looking terribly confused.

"GROW UP!" I shouted, before continuing on in a much calmer way, feeling satisfied with the way they flinched at my shout, "Both of you need to learn to think for yourselves. You're just like every other sniveling child in this god-forsaken village. You alienated your own brother because of what everyone else said, but you never once tried to find out for yourself. Sure Gaara has hurt other children around the village, but has he ever purposefully hurt someone who treated him like an actual human being? Gaara and his sand have never hurt me, not until...that...night. And that wasn't even Gaara. That was the monster sealed inside him. This could have been avoided...all of it. If Gaara had more people who loved him, maybe he wouldn't have been so badly effected by what Yashamaru did. It's too late to stop it though, so you two, need to do your best to fix it."

"Why do we have to fix it?" Kankuro asked.

I narrowed my amber eyes and leaned forward, "Because you're his fucking family, that's why, you stupid little brat."

With the two Chibi Sand Siblings gone, I found myself gently slamming my forehead against the wall by the head of my bed, muttering profanities at myself. Good God I was a fucking moron. Sasori. Why the fuck hadn't I thought of this before? I was in SUNA for crying out loud! We made puppets and killed people with them!

I just needed to get my hands on a puppet leg. How would that even work? I guess I'd have to learn how to make strings to control the limb but- that was just inconvenient. If I had to twitch my fingers every time I took a step, I wouldn't be able to walk if something happened...or someone would notice what I was doing and aim for my legs...

Was it like...fuck, what was it called? The main character-thingie in Full...shit, what was the anime called? Fullmetal...alchemist? Yeah. So...was it like that...automail crap, where it attached to the nerves? Or in this case, it was probably a chakra path or something. Would it hurt?

Who cared. I could get used to pain. In fact, I was already getting used to being beaten up. It didn't hurt that much anymore.

Pain really didn't matter though. As long as I could walk. Actually, as long as I could run I was good. I needed running. Especially when I leaned to move like a ninja. Oh god, I just wanted to move at high speeds again. The wind whipping through my hair, the landscape blurring past me, the feeling of my body lurching slightly when I made a quick stop...all of it. Sure, I'd miss the screech of tires and the firm feeling of a steering-wheel in my hands...but I could live without those.

I started thinking of the puppet leg again. If it moved by chakra, would I need to know how to manipulate it? Or would it be an unconscious thing? Would it work the same as a normal leg, or would the movements be different? I had so many questions. Questions I knew that would have to wait until I could ask for one.

I promised myself the wait wouldn't be a long one.

Crazed yellow eyes coldly stared down at me, peering through the dark. The little light there was reflected off shining white teeth, bared in a twisted mockery of a grin. There was the ever familiar whisper of sand as the tiny grains, now dyed in red, slithered up my paralyzed legs like snakes, occasionally slicing into my skin. I could feel more of the sand wiggling around under my skin, slowly pulling it away from my muscles and rubbing the sensitive tissue underneath raw.

I tried to scream, but a hand was firmly clamped over my mouth. Then, more sand came, trickling in between my lips even though they were pressed as tightly together as I could. The sand moved through my mouth, scratching against my teeth ad slicing into my tongue until all I could taste was sand and blood. So much blood.

The hand was removed, but I refrained from screaming, knowing that if I did, more sand would flood in. I tried to filter the sand and blood through my teeth, so I could swallow the red fluid before I drowned in it or choked. Sand still got through, trailing down my throat, scratching the entire way down, into my system.

My heart was racing, pounding with effort. I was...scared? Yes. I was scared. Terrified.

Tendrils of sand wound their way around my arms, digging under the skin like they had on my legs. Speaking of my legs, I looked down to see that from my knees down, the skin had been flayed off, revealing bloody flesh below.

Sand swirled around my hands and feet, gathering to create orbs of shifting grains around it. A hand reached out from the darkness, palm down. I stared at it for a moment, wondering what it was doing, why he was holding his hand out like that. I got my answer as the hand clenched into a fist. The sand gathered around my hands and feet clenched with his hand, and I gave out an agonized cry as all my fingers and toes were shattered by the pressure. More sand flooded down my throat, cutting off my pained screams.

And soon, I was drowning in the sand.

As the darkness around us creeped into my eyes, darkening everything around me, those yellow eyes, now alight with sheer joy, turned to clear seafoam, wide with guilt and horror.

When I woke up, most of the hospital woke up with me. I was screaming bloody murder, after all. They actually had to sedate me.

I love my IV by the way. Such a lovely conversationalist. But...that might just be the drugs talking. I like those too. Do drugs, kids. They'll never let ya down. They'll only get ya higher.

My eyes flew open as someone stumbled into the room. It was Kazuko; looking nervous as ever. She held something tightly in her arms. It was a long, skinny bundle wrapped up in a brown sheet of fabric. Her brown eyes locked with mine. She looked really happy. And relaxed. That was nice.

Man, I was a bit confusing, wasn't I? I didn't want people to be afraid of me, but I loved seeing them scared? Meh. Still, Kazuko had gotten used to me, since she came in with Kazuo to visit me everyday. She even got used to me foul language. It makes me sooo proud.

"G-Good morning, Aisako-san." She greeted. The stutter wasn't out of fear. I had learnt early on that she had a speech-impediment.

I smirked and tilted an invisible hat, "Good morrow."

The door opened again and Kazuo and my Dad came strolling in. Somewhere down the hall I could hear Saki's maniacal laughter and what I think may have been Takeo screaming. My father's cousin was no where to be seen. Or heard. Of course, he didn't really talk a lot. Which was great, because I really didn't need two Taiki's going on rants about...love and justice and that crap.

"Ah, so the child has arisen from her slumber." The good (if one could call him that. I personally thought he was a bit of an ass at times. Of course, he had to be, if he could claim to be a friend of Saki's...) doctor said as he settled into a chair by my bed.

Taiki took a seat as well, but the man was practically vibrating where he sat, looking incredibly cheerful. It kinda made me wonder (not for the first time) how the hell he ended up with Saki of all people.

"What's up?" I asked, pushing myself so I sat up better. I was getting really tired of sitting around all day. I had to exercise just to stop from screaming in frustration. There was a reason I jumped around rooftops, and it wasn't because I liked to wake people up in the middle of the night when I thumped across their roof. Although that was an added bonus.

"We come bearing a gift." Kazuo said lightly as he took the bundle from his Aunt. He then placed it lightly on the bed in front of me, and motioned for me to open it.

I folded the sheet away from the gift and stared in shock.

It was a leg. Well...a prosthetic one, but still! A leg. A leg. They were giving me a fucking leg! Did this mean that...?

"H-Holy shit she c-can smile."

I blinked and looked away from the limb to stare at Kazuko. She offered an innocent smile in return. I looked at the adults in the room.

"It is not anything special...it is the same kind of limb we give civilians, although I will admit this one it more durable than normal." Kazuo began, "It is only meant for day-to-day use, and you should not do too much physical activity with it on. Especially roof jumping! You will be getting another leg that will be more suitable for some activities, like running, so you shouldn't get too far behind on your training. If you still want to continue on as a kunoichi, that is..."

As he trailed off, I gave him a dead look, which everyone could easily understand. 'Of course, you dumb ass.'

"We have limbs for doing other things, more...shinobi-esque things, but you won't be able to use those until your chakra network has grown a little more...you should be able to get one when you are closer to genin age." Kazuo continued, "This is because these limbs are attached directly to your chakra network, and may cause too much strain if you are too young. At the same time, we want to get your chakra system used to the limb before it becomes too...rigid, or set in its ways."

I pouted. I was five. I had to wait six or so years before I could get a puppet limb? For fuck's sake. I was definitely going to fall behind on my spar ranking after this. Actually...Fuck. I was probably failing right about now. When could I leave? I had school to go to!

But I still couldn't get over it. I had a leg. I was going to get an even better leg later on, but I still had a leg! I still couldn't believe I had been so stupid though. I had forgotten what village I was in, and what they specialized in. I was in the puppet capital! Stupidity aside...I was so...I had a leg. I would walk again. I would run again. I was...I'd be okay.

"Can I put this on now?" I asked, lifting the leg, which was a lot lighter than I expected it to be. It also looked fairly modern, compared to what i would have expected from this world. After all, Naruto was in this weird timeline where they had instant ramen but showed no sign of cars or TVs, or stuff like that, unless you included the Naruto movies, but I didn't really count movies as Cannon.

The doctor nodded before he helped me strap the leg on. I stared at it for a long moment, taking in the fact that 'holy crap there's something attached to my stump again'.

"When do I start learning to use this?"

"Today." The doctor said with a smile, before he politely excused himself and his Aunt. I heard him gently scolding her for swearing as they left.

Taiki let out a fangirl-ish 'squee' before he picked me up, twirling around the room. I did not smile. Or giggle. (Trust me, I would know. I was there, and you weren't, so stop giving my that fucking look!)

"Look at you!" He said, grinning at me, "We'll have you out and about in no time! I'm really sorry it took so long, but Kazuo wanted to make sure you were feeling okay before he let you leave, and then he had to special order your legs so you could still train to be a kunoichi. He thinks it'll take a while before you finish up in rehab, but he says we can take you home today, if you'd like! But we'll have to borrow a wheelchair from the hospital first...but back to the rehab thing, I know you'll finish up waaay sooner than what he thinks. He doesn't know my little girl like I do!"

And then he just stood there slowly squeezing the life out of me, hugging me like he expected me to disappear. I didn't hug him back until I realized he was shaking.

Now, as I'm sure you noticed by now, my parents and I aren't the closest. Saki hardly touched me, and it took Taiki suffering a mental breakdown for her to act like she really loved either of us, although I knew she clearly loved my dad. Taiki was the loving parent in the relationship. That being said, he was the one that told me he loved me, and did everything he could to make me happy. Still, it wasn't often my father actually picked me up and held me. For most of my time as an infant, he was hardly there at all. I wasn't sure why that was, and I never found out. There had been a point where I thought he was dead, and that the man that came to our home every once in a while was my mother's brother or something. They looked similar enough for me to think that...and it wasn't like they made it obvious that they were married. They never kissed in front of me back then.

But another thing, besides hugging me, that Taiki rarely did, was show his true feelings. Taiki was always super happy, excited, affectionate and talkative. He was probably the only reason why I wasn't super-depressed or something. But that wasn't really Taiki, or at least, it wasn't him all the time. The first glimpse I caught of the real Taiki was when he came back from those exams with only one surviving genin. From there, there were little moments when his smile would slip and he'd frown, his eyes glazed over in thought.

He wasn't happy all the time. He was hurting and doing a very good job of hiding it.

So, with him holding onto me for dear life and shaking like a leaf, I kinda felt a bit out of my element. More than I usually did around him. i had a pretty good idea why he was acting like this, so I decided to go with it.

'Let's see how good I've gotten at being touchy feely.'

"Daddy?" I asked, like I was confused,before I wrapped my arms around his neck, trying to hug him as tightly as he was hugging me, "Hey...it's okay."

He only gripped tighter and slid down a nearby wall so he was sitting on the ground, still holding me.

"Daddy, it's okay. I'm okay." I told him quietly, gripping his shirt slightly and curling up in his arms. I never really noticed how much bigger he was compared to me. I forgot he was an adult, and that I was a child sometimes.

"I'm alright now. Nothing's going to come and attack me. Nothing's going to hurt me. Nothing's going to take me away. I'm right here, and I always will be. I'm still alive, and I'm healthy, and before you know it, I'll be walking again. It's okay."

"You could have died." His voice was dead, but the way he held me, with my head pressed against his chest, made it hard for me to see his face, especially since he had slightly curled himself around me, his face somewhere over my own shoulder, too far back to see.

"But I didn't. I'm alright. It's okay. Everything is okay."

"He could have killed you." His grip tightened, and his voice had a slight tinge of anger.

"That wasn't Gaara and we both know it. Don't blame him for this, please don't blame him. Gaara is my only friend. He didn't mean for this to happen. It's the monster inside him's fault. The One Tailed Beast broke free because Yashamaru did something terrible- no- the Kazekage did something terrible to Gaara. He's hurt Daddy, more hurt than I am. I'm okay, and I'll only get better now. I'll learn to walk again, and the nightmares will go away. But for Gaara...if there isn't anyone there for him, the nightmares will only get worse until he doesn't even need to sleep for the night mares to come. Gaara will be fighting the monster every second of every day. I don't want Gaara to be hurt anymore."

"Why were you even there?" He asked, "Why didn't I notice you leaving the house? I'm a shinobi, I'm trained to know when someone's sneaking around, and I didn't even notice my five year old was jumping around on the rooftops?"

I didn't know how to answer that. At one time, I had gone out there to train. Then it turned into seeing Gaara, and after a while, it wasn't even anything close to training. I just ended up sitting with him somewhere. I also didn't know how to answer the other question. He didn't notice because...? Maybe he didn't notice because he didn't need to notice? After so much time had passed, I had kinda assumed he did know I was sneaking out, but let me because he trusted me.

I was saved from answering either question as Saki came strolling in. She took on look at the scene and sighed, letting out a long, "Fuuuuuuck."

She walked over and kneeled in front of Taiki and I, gently putting her hands on his face and pulling him to look at her.

"Taiki...why are you hugging our little Ai so tightly? You might break her if you aren't careful." She told him, staring deeply into his eyes. Her voice loft the rough tone she usually had, and it actually turned into something that sounded gentle and feminine. When you heard a voice like that, you could hardly believe she swore so often.

Taiki's arms loosened around me slightly, but it wasn't enough for me to escape, "I don't want to lose her a-"

"Taiki, don't be silly...our little Ai isn't going anywhere soon." Saki said, cutting him off, "Our little Ai is strong. How couldn't she be strong, when she's our daughter?"

"Against a demon...?"

"Even against a demon...and if she's not strong enough, we're here to help her."

"And Daddy, if you protect me now, when I don't need to be protected...how will I be able to protect myself when I do need protecting?"

Taiki freed his face from Saki's hands and looked down at me for a moment. While I was a little concerned with how he was reacting to all of this, I did my best to convey only that he needed to listen to me. It wouldn't do if he thought I was lying to comfort him. Which I was. Kinda.

Ever so slowly, he let go.

The trip home was...eventful. And amusing. And scary, actually.

As we walked down the sandy streets, Taiki carrying me with one arm, people stopped to openly stare at us. Every person we passed seemed to show a number of emotions. They were disappointed to see me alive, revolted to see me in the first place, terrified of my parents (who were glaring very angrily), and fearful of me.

"She survived?"

"It, not she."

"What's the point in having that weapon running around the village if it won't even kill that thing?"

"Maybe it couldn't kill her?"

"He's right you know, I know a few people who've tried, but she just doesn't die."

"Poison?"

"That was the first thing."

"Well that explains it. Her mother, that witch, is a Poison Mistress."

"No!"

"Of course. It's only natural any spawn of hers would be immune...no matter how unnatural the spawn is."

I could feel my father's grip tighten as we all listened to the whispers floating around us.

"Who's that boy with them?"

"The boy is his student."

"You mean the Kazekage actually gave a missing-nin a student?"

"He's had multiple three-man teams, but they always end up KIA. The boy is the only survivor of his last bunch. The other two died in the Chuunin exams."

"Do you think he does it on purpose?"

"What?"

"Kills his teams? You know, so we'll have less shinobi on the field?"

"Nah. That man's a bleeding heart. A shame that he ended up married to that witch."

"It takes two to have a child...there must be something wrong with him if they had that as a daughter."

Those bastards. Who the fucking hell did they think they were?! It was bad enough they were calling my an 'it', or that they were calling Saki a witch, but to accuse Taiki of purposely having his genin teams killed off?!

I could feel myself shaking with rage. my fists clenched and I glared hatefully at the filth that were talking about my family like that. I wanted to...I wanted to...

I really, really wanted to give them something to really be afraid of. They thought I was scary now? When I was missing a leg and only five years old? I'd show them. As soon as I could walk again, I'd show every last one of those damn morons just what they should fear. Just why they should fear.

The arm wrapped around me tightened and Taiki whispered to me, very quietly, "You need to calm down, Ai."

I glanced at him for barely a second, before I when back to glaring at the crown.

"I-it's staring at me!"

"Don't look into its eyes."

"Why's it staring at us?"

"Maybe it can hear what we're saying?"

"Shut up! Don't give it a reason to look at us."

"Mommy, why are you shaking?" A child asked, rather loudly, I focused on his voice. Might as well see how that played out.

"Mommy isn't shaking honey."

"Yes you are. Why? It's only Aisako-san and her family."

"How do you know them?"

"Aisako-san is on my class-"

"Stop using that name!"

"A-Aisako? Why? It's a pretty name-"

"Stop it! That creature is bad! I don't ever want to hear you use that name again!"

Wow. What a bitch, yeah? Although it made me feel kinda powerful. Like I was Voldemort or something. Hide all your prophesied children, for I will stalk them until they are all grown up! Boooooo!

Still. It was kinda cool. I was the fuckin' Voldemort of Suna.

Maybe I should put the fear of Aisako into all of them?

"Can I mess with them?" I asked, not caring which parent answered me.

"Sure." Saki said, shrugging as she strutted along beside us. Her head was raised high and she was already baring her unhinged grin.

At the same time, Taiki quickly said, "Maybe not. Let's just ignore them."

And of course, sweet little Takeo (although he was physically older than me) said, "Yes!"

Well shit. Saki and I ruined him already. What a shame. It was funny making him freak out.

"Majority wins." I told my father, patting his cheek.

Then, I gave my own unhinged grin.

"WHY is it SMILING?!"

"Ne, Mother of Mine," I said, speaking loudly so they could all hear me. My family stopped walking so they could all focus on what I was saying. God I loved these people.

Saki grinned, "Yes, Beloved Child of Mine?"

I tried not to smile genuinely at those words. I was...happy...to hear her call me her child.

"Can I play with all the kind people who stand on this street?"

The woman paused for a moment, like she was trying to decide before she spoke, "Why yes, Beloved Child of Mine! In fact, why don't we all play with the people on this street?"

"Oh could we?" Takeo asked, joined Saki and I in our little game.

"Why yes, Son of Mine." Saki said. I took a moment to notice the happy smile Takeo had when he heard those words. Wow...Saki was having a good Mom day.

"Father of Mine, will you be joining us as we play?" I asked Taiki, silently begging him to play along. It had been far too long since I had gotten to toy with the civilians. And besides...Taiki was mad at them too. It wouldn't hurt for us to just...ruffle their feathers a little.

"Why yes, Daughter of Mine, I shall be joining you as you play. What game will it be that we play with them?"

"I was thinking we could play puzzle today."

"And how do we play puzzle, Sister of Mine?" Takeo asked.

I grinned maliciously, eyeing the listening people.

"Well, dear Brother of Mine, I appear to be missing a part." I told him, pouting as I gestured to my missing leg, "And I was thinking, perhaps, one of these kind people happened to have a leg that fit."

"A leg that fits?"

"Yes, and when we find one, we shall ask the kind owner if they would be willing to give it to me. And because they are all so kind, I just know that they will give me their leg, even if they pretend not to be kind and say 'no'."

"Why yes, Daughter of Mine," Taiki said, grinning in a nearly predatory way, "I'm sure the kind people will not mind giving you a leg, even if they say 'no'."

"Shall we start the game?" I asked in an innocent tone, blinking out at the people on the street.

It's rather amusing how quickly a street can clear. It's even more amusing that they think that just because I couldn't see them I wouldn't make them pay for saying those things about my family.

What could I say?

They were growing on me.

Rehab was Hell. Really. I had discovered so many different kinds of Hell it wasn't even funny. There was Suna-Hell, Hell-Hell, and now there was Rehab-Hell too. Too much Hell. And from me, that was actually saying something, seeing as I though Heaven sounded more boring than fuck.

Now, learning to stand and walk had been annoying the first time around, when I was a mere baby and my legs didn't even know what the fuck they were doing, and I had to built up the muscles in them before they could even start working normally.

This, was different. I had one leg that was still good for walking and it knew what to do, how to bend and turn and all that crap, but my new leg? PAH! I spent most of the time trying to figure out how the fuck to make it bend! I couldn't even stand without the railing.

It certainly didn't help that Saki stood off to the side cackling with glee every time I fell over, Taiki would let out a worried noise before shouting endless words of encouragement, and Takeo and one of the nurses were openly betting on how long it would take for me to learn to walk again. The cheeky little bastard. He was soooo getting flipped off by another doodle.

And worst of all, was Machiko. The adorable little...chibi-fen-Naruto-thing showed up for nearly all of my appointments. it was kinda creepy how she knew when they were, but I suspected that either Kazuo or Kazuko were telling her behind me back. Now, I would be fine with her being there, if she didn't take it upon herself to be my 'personal cheerleader'. It really didn't help that Taiki joined in with most of her cheers.

"Go Aisako! Listen to Machiko! Go Aisako! Go, go Aisako!"

She wasn't that good at being a cheerleader.

Kazuo, however, said I was 'doing well'. I was happy about that because it meant I was a little closer to escaping Rehab-Hell.

I was back at the academy now, and like I guessed, I was way behind everyone else. Gaara didn't show up for classes, so I couldn't ask him to help me, or keep me awake when Carl-sensei started bitching about some topic or another, and since I was still in a wheelchair, I couldn't participate in the active portion of the day, which included all physical training and sparring, other than meditation. That was sooo much fun. Please note the sarcasm.

And to make the school days even more beautiful, they introduced a wonder known as kunoichi classes while I was gone, so I was behind in that as well. It was optional after the first two years but...until then I was stuck with it.

I didn't mind some parts, but the rest was total sexist bullshit. Oh! And I have a new teacher. I call her B.S. The 'S' stands for sensei. Can you guess what the 'B' stands for?

Apparently, kunoichi's need to be ready to give themselves mind and body to the village. Especially body. Like...they were teaching five year olds how to seduce people. You know...so when we finally got out onto the field we could get laid by enemy ninjas and steal their blood lines for the village. Which meant carrying a little parasite for nine months, getting emotionally attached in the process, only to be prepared to have the village snatch it away once it clawed its way out.

And that was just one of the things we learned. We also learned how to make weapons look like jewelry so if we ever go under cover we can still stab people. They also make up dance. And they tried to make me sing. I scared the hell outta the hag teaching us. Maybe I shouldn't have started singing A Little Piece of Heaven by Avenged Sevenfold? They got a little creeped out by the heart-ripping-out bit...and maybe just the entire song in general? Meh.

I could tell they were trying to make it all seem fun, and make the girls want to be kunoichis, but my age let me see past the 'you get to wear cute outfits' and 'cute boys will talk to you' and see it for what it really was.

It made me kinda wish I was born a tree-hugger in Konoha, ya know? They just arranged flowers and shit. Otherwise Sasuke's fangirls would have actually used their seduction lessons instead of screaming in response to seeing him. How come Konoha girls didn't have to deal with this shit?

I stared blankly at the group of children. They looked like they were part of the graduation class this year, all decked out in weapons and dressed in durable clothing. i could even feel a bit of their chakra, unlike the rest of the students at the academy, who were still too young with too little chakra to even matter. The only thing the group in front of me was lacking were their headbands.

"So you really did lose a limb." One of the boys said, a taunting grin on his face as he leaned closer to me.

I simply continued to stare up at him from my wheelchair, casually eating the dango Taiki had packed for my lunch.

"What are you even still doing here?" One of the two girls in their little group asked, crossing her arms, "You can't be a ninja any more, so get lost. No one wants you around anyways. Go be a little civilian or something."

"A civilian?" I asked, tilting my head, "Do you really want me to be a civilian...serving people food? Interacting with people in stores? Working as a secretary for some business that upholds our already unstable economy? Do you, as 'shinobi' want to lose me in the throngs of civilians, where you can't see what I'm up to...what games I'm playing?"

"The hell does that mean?" A second boy questioned, taking a step forward, like he was expecting me to flinch away from him.

Instead I only smirked, leaned back in my chair and spoke in a slight drawl, "It means, little ninja, that I'd have more opportunities to commit terrible acts if the military isn't in charge of me. I could poison people. Mislead people. I could even lure them somewhere dangerous and do such terrible things. Maybe I could get a new leg? Or maybe I could work my way up the ranks of a large company and then have it shut down, leaving hundreds of civilians unemployed, starving on the streets...more than there already are. Maybe I won't even be subtle about it, maybe I'll start planting bombs. That would be so amusing, wouldn't it? Watching this village go up in smoke."

"A-Are you threatening to betray the village?!" The second girl screeched.

I winced, "Could someone shut that creature up? And heaven's no. I would never hurt your sweet little pile of shit and sand. I live here too. So does my family. This village will have to stay for a while."

"That still doesn't explain why you're still here!" A third boy snapped.

"I'm here so I can continue learning how to be a kunoichi. I will not be in this chair for too long. I intend to get a new leg."

"A new leg? Ha!"

"Hey, hey...maybe we should break the rest of her. Then we'll see what good having another leg is." The last member of the group suggested.

I snickered, "You kids really are fucking stupid."

"What was that?!"

"You heard me. You see, I'll only heal. You don't really think you can kill me, do you? After all, so many other people have tried...and when I'm all healed up, and walking again, I'll walk right into your homes. And I'll make you wish you were never born into this life."

A few of the kids backed off, sharing uneasy looks.

"After all...I know where some of you live."

That, got all of them looking scared. It was all lies of course, but I had learned to bluff pretty well in this life. Although...I was pretty sure I'd seen a couple of them through windows...

"I've played on your rooftops, listening to your parents talk to you, tell you all sorts of scary things about me. I've heard your siblings argue, you cry over your crushes and I've even heard your parents still tuck a few of you in at night." Amusingly enough, the third boy flinched. Ha, what a child.

I was still surprised when they all left without hurting a single hair on my head. I guess they actually chose to listen to my warnings for once.

Maybe I was finally training them?

Five weeks. It took me five weeks to learn to walk again. But lemme tell you, I had never been so happy to stand up in my life! Either of them! Although there was that one time in the Test Drive when some ass hit me with his car and I thought I was paralyzed for a moment, until I realized I had only had the wind knocked outta me. I have bad luck with cars, don't I?

But you should have seen the civilians when they realized I was out and about again. Some guy nearly pissed himself.

It was morning as I walked down the street, heading for the academy. I weaved my way between the people heading about their daily lives, and only a few recognized me. They had all gotten so comfortable, thinking I couldn't walk on my own anymore. They were keeping a look out for Taiki, not me.

"Good morning!" I said to a street vendor. Because i sounded like any other girl, the man looked up and smiled. he was half way through saying his own greeting when he realized who I was.

"Hello young la-!"

"It's a nice day, isn't it?"

"Y-Yes..."

"I got a new leg, see?" I asked him, rocking back and forth on my heels. I wore the more active leg today, knowing I would likely end up running now that my body guards, Taiki, Saki, Takeo and Gaara, were no longer with me. Since I could walk, Saki wasn't going to take me to school and my dad and brother-pet-thing were meeting new team mates today. A week or so ago, a team had a nasty run in with some bandits and missing nin, leaving one student dead and their Jonin hurt pretty badly. She filed to rejoin ANBU after she recovered, meaning her remaining students had to get passed off to someone. And who better than the man cursed to have bad luck with genin?

My father, of course.

"I-I see." The man said, staring at the leg in something akin to horror.

"I got it from the hospital, since no one wanted to play Puzzle with me. Although, I guess they were kinda scared. I'm a little creepy, you know?"

"U-Um...no? Y-You're not creepy a-at all. I'm s-sure you're a very s-sweet little g-g-girl..."

"Why thank you." I smiled pleasantly at the man before wandering off towards the academy. Behind me, I heard him take in a gasping breath before he began muttering to himself. Maybe I broke him?

The academy 'playground' was already littered with children who arrived to school early. As I walked last the little clusters of boys and girls, all merrily playing their little games, the children all seemed to freeze, staring at me in fear. I didn't even look at them as I entered the academy, making my way to my usual seat, where I knew I would sit alone for yet another day.

I put my feet up on the desk, one leg plainly man-made, parts of wood and other materials clicking as the muscles in my stump twitched, making the leg itself move. As children walked in and cast me uneasy looks, like they did every morning, I could see their little eyes widen at the sight of the leg. I offered them a cheerful smile and a wave, making them scurry to their seats.

Ah. It looked like they were more scared of me than ever before. Wonderful. Just...

Wonderful.

...?

The sun was setting again, dying the ocean of sand in hues of orange and yellow and red, like a sea of sparking grains of fire. Waves of heat rolled off the sand, adding to the idea. There was a breeze, gusting through the emptying streets as I walked home. Every one else was eager to get to their houses as well, before the heat ran out and it got too cold out.

I took my time, enjoying the feeling of moving too much to want it to end too soon. I even jogged a little, my heart flying in what I guessed to be joy as I picked up speed. I loved moving fast. I had missed it.

I wasn't ready for roof hopping, but some day I'd be able to run around up there again. I could do it soon, if I had Gaara with me. He could just make little sand bridges for me- No.

I...didn't think I was willing to trust my life to the sand. Not now. Maybe someday? Maybe...

If I ever saw Gaara again.

He was avoiding me again...not that I could blame him. I hadn't seen him since the hospital, his little sea-foam eyes peeking in from the window, curious and so full of guilt.

I didn't see him on the streets. I didn't see him on the rooftops from my window. I didn't see him at school. It was like he was never there.

And I was...lonely. Again. I missed Gaara. I missed my friend. I didn't like this. Not one bit. I always ended the day feeling cold and numb and alone and my chest felt heavy and god it was so fucking annoying! I just wanted to talk to him! I wanted him to know I didn't hate him. I wasn't afraid of him- I was afraid of the monster they put inside of him.

So...now that I had my leg back...every day after school, I called to him.

"Gaara! Gaaaaaaarrraaa! GAARA!"

I'd been doing it for about a week, just walking down the streets calling for him. I took a different route home every day, so he could never tell where to avoid me.

"Dammit Gaara get your ass over here!" I shouted, my hands running through my messy burgundy hair in frustration, "I need to fucking talk to you, so stop fucking avoiding me!"

There was no answer.

I was fed up. Really I was. I was tired of trying to find Gaara, trying to catch him walking down the street, trying to get him to come out and talk to me, so, I decided to wait for him.

In his own house.

When I knocked on the door, it was opened by Temari, who went from having a polite smile to looking openly terrified, "W-What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to wait for Gaara."

"W-Why!?"

"Because you asked me to help him, and I can't do that if I can't find him. I only want to talk to him, that's all."

"I...I don't know if you should even be here. What if my father finds out?"

I brushed past her and into the house, "I don't know, tell him I threatened to cover the Kazekage building in mirrors so it looked like a giant disco ball if you didn't let me in."

Actually...that was a good idea.

She walked after me into what looked a sitting room. the place was very well-furnished and there was hardly any sand inside.

"I...uh...um..." She looked around nervously before suddenly calling up the stairs, "KANKURO!"

The boy came running down the stairs, looking a little worried. Then he looked terrified when he saw me, "W-What's she doing here?!"

"Why is that always everyone's default reaction to seeing me?" I asked myself with a sigh.

"Kankuro, you look after our...guest. I have stuff to do. Really important stuff." Temari said before turning and speed-walking back to the door.

"What kind of stuff?!" Kankuro questioned after her.

"Stuff!" She snapped, before slamming the door shut.

The boy and I stood awkwardly in the living room, looking at each other and then back to the door where his sister had disappeared to.

"So..." Kankuro said, shifting from foot to foot.

"Do you like puppets?" I asked him suddenly.

The boy blinked, looking confused before he slowly nodded, "Yeah...I guess. I kinda wanna be a puppet master when I grow up...why?"

"Just wondering. I'm gonna get a puppet limb in a few years."

"What? Really?"

"Yeah!" I said, smiling as I gestured to my prosthetic, "This is just a civilian version, but once I'm older and my chakra network is more stable, they'll be attaching this to my chakra so it works more fluidly, it'll be ore durable AND my doctor says they'll be able to upgrade the limb so it'll be better in combat...like it could launch kunai or something, ya know?"

"Sweet!"

"I know! I can't wait!"

"So...how does this one work?" he asked, staring at the fake limb.

I grinned and did my best to explain.

It was dark out, the sun was nearly gone and the moon was raising again. The full moon.

Isn't it funny that the moon was full on the very night I confronted Gaara, like it was when we were attacked?

Gaara arrived home, opening the front door. I really hadn't taken him for a front door kind of person, but hey, we all can't sneak in and out of the house through the window.

I was waiting for him on the upstairs landing, leaning against a wall. he almost walked right past me on his way to his room, but froze up the moment he noticed me.

My amber eyes narrowed as they locked with his. For a moment I was...scared. Scared of the crazed look in his sea foam eyes.

"Gaara...I think we need to have a talk."

And there's the ninth and REALLY LONG chapter of Demon Eyes! This one was actually pretty easy to write. I dunno why, but I was expecting it to take a bit longer. I originally intended to have Aisako and Gaara speak in this chapter, but changed my mind when I realized the chapter was already over 6000 words long, so I decided to put a stop to it.

But anyways, Aisako's out of the hospital and she's got a new leg! I've had the whole 'puppet leg' thing planned for a long time, even before I got the landslide of reviews telling me to give her a puppet limb, but I'd like to thank everyone who suggested it anyways! We got a better look at Taiki today and the bonds Aisako's family share. Taiki's had a lot of bad things happen, and he's not 100% okay anymore. He's been like his a long time, and I find myself liking Saki a little bit more every time interacts with Taiki...

I dunno, I just think they're adorable together, no matter how much of a bitch Saki can be at times.

The next chapter will be a special from the POV of the one and only Gaara! I'm actually really looking forward to writing that chapter! Thank you to everyone who voted!

Speaking of Thank Yous: Thank you Enbi, bored411, Manillalu, wolfzero7, Trisana, KumorikoKumoriko, SortaCore, Guest, xbox432, xela521, jharpe, SamanthaManga, FleurSuoh, BloodyCamellia, Alies16, randomy, KillerCupcakes, Arashi - IV of VI, , Guest, kageko, and Shadowmage97 for reviewing!

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