Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and Kudozaki Lucine. The rest belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

| Kudozaki Lucine |

One would think that after going through so much in the forest we would be able to go home, or at least get a break. Instead I am forced to sit here in a crowded room, my clothes all torn up with the rusted smell of blood still clinging to my skin.

It was not my appearance nor smell that bothered me though. That redhead that I had met before the exams was staring at me from the other side of the room, which was truthfully a bit unsettling. It was as if he wanted to eat me, literally eat me.

I sighed as I closed my eyes. This entire situation is annoying.

And Sasuke was not making the situation much better. He was sitting way too close, his arms wrapped securely around me, one could say that I was practically sitting on his lap. He is being very affectionate, which is rather strange since we're in public. When other people are around, he almost never makes any physical contact since I told him not, but it appears that after the little stunt I pulled in the Forest of Death, that rule has been nullified. It had been rather out of character for me to cling to him like that, but at the moment it had felt like the only right thing to do. Seeing him act so... monstrously, was one thing that I wouldn't like to repeat.

Even so, I did not feel comfortable with him running his fingers through my scalp and hair, undoing all the tangles and knots. His uncharacteristic affection made us earn some weird looks from our old classmates from the academy, even Sakura remained quiet. However, she hadn't spoken a single word to Sasuke ever since the events in the forest. She was after all the only one who witnessed Sasuke's grotesque mini massacre, so she is probably still wary of him.

Tired from all the staring we were receiving, I finally spoke out. "Let me go." I said monotonously.

All I got from him was even less space and him nuzzling my neck with his nose, his bangs tickling my throat slightly. Sighing in irritation, I nudged him away with my elbow and stood up, resisting the urge to wince at the strain it up on the still healing wound on my leg. "I'm going to the bathroom." I informed blankly, before proceeded to do just that.

I heard Sasuke stand up behind me, about to follow me, I assumed. "I'll come with-"

"No." I said firmly, leaving no room for argument. He didn't look to happy with that, but he after the glare I sent his way he kept his mouth shut and sat back down.

Quickly I made my way out of the crowded room and into the grey hallway, allowing me to finally breathe freely. It was so quiet here compared to the room I just left, and for every corner I turned I felt more relaxed. Finally I arrived to the bathroom. I entered and locked the door behind me. When I saw my terrible reflection staring back at me I almost flinched. "Way to go, Lucine. You got your ass kicked." I whispered to the girl in the mirror, watching the way she glared back at me.

I am still so very weak.

My clothes were really torn up, thanks to Zaku's decapitating airwaves. My right eye and cheek were so swollen I almost looked deformed, and all the exposed parts of my skin was littered in numerous cuts and bruises. The only deep wound on my body was the bandaged injury on my right calf, which still hurt but at least I could walk on it. My ribcage felt worse, and I knew that at least two of them must be severely damaged, if not broken. A blue, huge bruise was formed there and I knew that was the first thing I'd fix after the preliminaries.

Grabbing some towels, I moistened them with water from the sink and added a bit soap. Then I started wiping away the dirt and dried blood from my skin. When clean enough, I ripped away the last of my shirt, leaving me in my chest bindings. I was revealing way too much skin, which left me feeling vulnerable so I used bandage to cover up more of my abdomen and hide the bruises on my ribcage.

When decent enough, I moved my attention to my hair that had dried blood in it. Some of the blood made chunks of my hair cling together, which disgusted me, but at the moment I felt too lazy to do anything with it. In resignation, I pulled out a kunai and held it to my hair, about to chop it all off.

"Your hair is so soft and lovely, you should keep it long."

The voice that echoed in my head made me freeze as my blood turned cold. I can't believe his words still has this effect on me. Even after what he did.

I shook my head and strapped the kunai back to my thigh in annoyance. How childish.

In the end I decided to let my way too long hair loose, trying my best to wash off all the blood. When finished, I exited the bathroom, deeming myself decent-looking since the unbearable blood scent was gone. I glanced up at the clock on the other side of the wall. I've been gone a long while, I better hurry back since it's starting in 5 minutes.

While walking with a fast pace, I did not make it long past the hallway until I was halted by this sudden tug on my ankle. The feeling on my ankle felt odd and dry, and to some extent it was almost soothing in sick, unsettling sort of way... the texture reminded me of... sand? In a split second the feeling had spread up to my knee, and now it felt as if someone was running their hand up my leg. When I looked down I saw sand shaped as some kind of large hand moving up my thigh.

"What the..." It spread quickly and now the sand was wrapped around my whole leg and was about to creep up my hips. Only when I felt it tighten, did I understand its intention. Swiftly, I jumped away, mere seconds away from having every bone in my leg mashed to pieces.

The sand tried to crush my leg, I thought in disbelief, my guard up immediately. I watched the sand retreating backwards towards a figure that stood on the other side of the hallway.

I blinked in wonder, not expecting him to actually approach me.

Gaara tiled his head to the side curiously as he looked at me. "You escaped my sand." he stated blankly, which made me frown, not understanding why he'd point out something so obvious. I didn't respond, choosing look at him with a calculating gaze. Did he come here to fight me?

"What do you want?" I asked nonchalantly, standing upright from my crouched position.

His face remained emotionless as he walked up to me, taking slow but decisive steps as they echoed throughout the empty hallway. When he was in front of me, the look in his eyes changed back to that I-want-to-eat-you vibe. Surprisingly, he reached out to grab a lock of my hair. "What I want..." he repeated silently to himself. He pulled on my hair, forcing me to take a few steps closer to him, which made me glare at him. He then spoke in a low, threatening voice which almost gave me shivers, "I want to see the walls forever stained by your blood. I want to hear your screams of absolute, anguished terror. I want the floors showered by your intestines. I want many things from you. But, most of all..." he moved his face closer to mine, his eyes briefly glancing down at my lips before meeting my eyes again, "I want you."

I eyed him impassively, completely unfazed by his disturbing, detailed description of what he wanted to do to me. What a weird guy. "How cute. I'm truly flattered." I spoke sarcastically, "But, perhaps another time, because right now I would appreciate it if you let go of my-"

His lips were pressed against mine before I could finish my sentence.